Hong Kong: FS opens Disneyland new spot

Financial Secretary Paul Chan

We're here today to formally launch "Ant-Man & The Wasp: Nano Battle!" This high-tech interactive adventure is the first Marvel attraction based on the Ant-Man & The Wasp movie at any Disney theme park in the world.

It's also brilliantly linked to Hong Kong Disneyland's "Iron Man Experience". Thrill seekers, myself included of course, get to join Ant-Man, the Wasp and Iron Man as they battle it out with Hydra and the Swarmbots in defence of Hong Kong.

The adventure's state-of-the-art gaming features are cinematic in scope, production values and storytelling. Not surprising, given that Ant-Man director Peyton Reed and his movie production team helped in producing this attraction. And that Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, also known as Ant-Man and the Wasp, also star in Disneyland's Nano Battle.

What makes the innovative experience even more inviting is the local storyline created just for Hong Kong Disneyland. And down the road, I know there will be more Marvel superheroes to marvel over, creating Asia's ultimate hub of exciting Marvel experiences at Hong Kong Disneyland in the years to come.

Hong Kong Disneyland has been a major tourist attraction since it opened in 2005, attracting more than 77 million visitors from all over the world to date, here to enjoy the Disney magic. That, in turn, has brought significant economic benefits and employment opportunities to our tourism-related businesses.

The Disney magic will continue to bring us fabulous attractions, including a reimagined castle with new stage shows, and a novel theme area featuring the princesses Elsa and Anna from the mega-hit movie Frozen.

Hong Kong's expanding ties with the Mainland of China, including the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Hong Kong section of the high-speed rail between Guangdong, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, will create new markets, and new fans, for Hong Kong Disneyland. Even more so as the vast Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development comes together, over the years and the decades.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan gave these remarks at the Hong Kong Disneyland "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle!" opening ceremony on March 28.

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Dr. Lauren Ferrante, critical care expert, becomes inaugural Hurria awardee at #AGS19

The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the AGS Health in Aging Foundation today conferred one of their newest honors on Lauren Ferrante, MD, MHS, a pulmonary and critical care physician with a unique commitment to researching better care for older adults. An Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., Dr. Ferrante will receive the inaugural Arti Hurria Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in Internal Medicine at the AGS 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS19; May 2-4 in Portland, Ore.). Dr. Ferrante's research presentation, "Predictors of Functional Decline among Older Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Survivors," identifies promising markers of poor functional recovery, which could help target older adults for interventions to improve function after ICU care.

"Arti Hurria, the namesake for this award, built a bridge between other specialties and geriatrics," notes Laurie G. Jacobs, MD, AGSF, AGS President. "Dr. Ferrante exemplifies what that connection can accomplish. Her research on function before and after being admitted to an ICU has helped us identify novel factors that can aid recovery, prevent disability, and perhaps even reduce deaths following serious hospitalization."

For Dr. Ferrante, the passion for finding solutions stems from a career built at the crossroads of geriatrics (the health specialty dedicated to caring for older adults) and critical care medicine, which addresses health concerns at the "extreme" of human disease, when patients are admitted to an ICU with life-threatening illness.

As more people benefit from increased longevity, those extremes--and care to address them--are becoming more common. In 2015, for example, older adults accounted for one in four admissions to the ICU, an experience that can complicate the ability to recover function and maintain health, safety, and independence. In Dr. Ferrante's research on display at #AGS19, she worked with colleagues at the Yale School of Medicine to evaluate what factors might help predict functional decline among older people discharged from the ICU. Looking at data on Medicare beneficiaries in the National Health and Aging Trends Study, Dr. Ferrante and her team observed that eight factors--advanced age, exhaustion, a low level of activity, slowness, probable/possible dementia, and vision impairment--all were associated with a greater risk for persistent functional decline after an ICU stay. Her team hopes these predictors can lead to better tools for identifying particularly vulnerable patients at the time of discharge and assisting in their recovery.

Board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, and critical care medicine, Dr. Ferrante was able to launch her research program at the intersection of geriatrics and critical care medicine with a Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Subspecialists' Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR) award in 2015. That support--coupled with other age-focused honors, including a Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging, a Pepper Center Career Development Award, and a T. Franklin Williams Award--allowed Dr. Ferrante's research on functional outcomes after a critical illness to flourish, and get the recognition it deserves.

Like Dr. Ferrante, Arti Hurria, MD--namesake of the Hurria Award--championed AGS programs connecting colleagues outside geriatrics to the rewards of supporting health, safety, and independence for us all as we age. Dr. Hurria, who passed away in 2018, believed in the need to infuse geriatrics principles across all specialties. The Arti Hurria Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in Internal Medicine is one of several honors conferred by the AGS at its Annual Scientific Meeting. The award recognizes the accomplishments of junior and mid-career clinician-investigators in general internal medicine and its specialties. Chosen from hundreds of research presentations submitted to the AGS, the Hurria awardee will present ground-breaking research on the geriatrics aspects of their specialty at #AGS19. With our other 2019 award recipients, the Hurria awardee represents a cadre of more than 20 healthcare leaders championing care for older adults. For more information, visit Meeting.AmericanGeriatrics.org.

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About the American Geriatrics Society

Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals that has--for more than 75 years--worked to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Its nearly 6,000 members include geriatricians, geriatric nurses, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and internists. The Society provides leadership to healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public by implementing and advocating for programs in patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.

About the Health in Aging Foundation

The Health in Aging Foundation is a national non-profit established in 1999 by the American Geriatrics Society to bring the knowledge and expertise of geriatrics healthcare professionals to the public. We are committed to ensuring that people are empowered to advocate for high-quality care by providing them with trustworthy information and reliable resources. Last year, we reached nearly 1 million people with our resources through HealthinAging.org. We also help nurture current and future geriatrics leaders by supporting opportunities to attend educational events and increase exposure to principles of excellence on caring for older adults. For more information or to support the Foundation's work, visit HealthinAgingFoundation.org.

About the Arti Hurria Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in Internal Medicine

Arti Hurria, MD, namesake of the Hurria award, joined the AGS in 2006 and championed some of our most influential programs connecting colleagues outside geriatrics to our principles, and to the rewards of supporting health, safety, and independence for us all as we age. Dr. Hurria, who sadly passed away in November 2018, believed in the need to infuse geriatrics into all specialties. She not only put that belief into action but also became a model for making it a priority across clinical care, research, and education. The Arti Hurria Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in Internal Medicine recognizes the geriatrics-focused accomplishments of junior and mid-career clinician-investigators in general internal medicine and its specialties. Chosen from a review of hundreds of research presentations, the Hurria Awardee presents ground-breaking scholarship on the geriatrics aspects of their specialty in a special plenary session at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting.

About the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting

The AGS Annual Scientific Meeting is the premier educational event in geriatrics, providing the latest information on clinical care, research on aging, and innovative models of care delivery. More than 2,500 nurses, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, long-term care and managed care providers, healthcare administrators, and others will convene May 2-4, 2019 (pre-conference program on May 1), at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore., to advance geriatrics knowledge and skills through state-of-the-art educational sessions and research presentations. For more information, visit Meeting.AmericanGeriatrics.org.

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The top legislator made the affirmation at a meeting with Moroccos Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani in Rabat on March 28 (local time) as part of her official visit to the African country.

Highlighting the close ties between Vietnam and Morocco during the past struggles for national liberation, Ngan said the two countries have responsibility for passing down the friendship to their young generations.

Ngan briefed his host on Vietnams socio-economic development in 2018, with economic growth rate at 7.08 percent and the stable macro economy.

Vietnam has also integrated intensively and extensively into the world, she said, adding that the country has signed and implemented 12 free trade agreements (FTAs) and is negotiating four others, both multilaterally and bilaterally.

In November 2018, the Vietnamese legislature approved the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), she said.

The Vietnamese legislative leader noted that although the political relations between Vietnam and Morocco are developing fruitfully, their economic-trade ties have yet to match their potential and aspirations, with two-way trade reaching only US$212.7 million last year.

With a population of about 90 million, Vietnam is willing to serve as a gateway for Morocco to enter the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market, the leader stressed.

int efforts to accelerate the opening of air routes between the two countries and strengthen cooperation in the banking sector in order to make it easier for enterprises of the two sides to expand investment and business in the future.

Ngan used the occasion to thank Morocco for its support and cooperation with Vietnam at multilateral cooperation mechanisms, saying to narrow the geographical distance, the two countries should cooperate more closely and effectively.

She conveyed Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs invitation to the Moroccan PM to soon pay an official visit to Vietnam, and asked the PM to convey the invitation of Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong to King Mohammed VI to pay a State visit to her country.

For his part, the Moroccan PM said Ngans visit takes place amidst the thriving bilateral political ties, and suggested the two sides strengthen their economic and cultural relations.

Congratulating Vietnam on socio-economic achievements the country has recorded last year, he said Morocco is also opening up the economy and has signed FTAs with major economies like the US, the EU and many Arabian countries.

The PM said as Morocco is playing an increasingly important role in Africa, the country stands ready to serve as a door for goods from Vietnam and other countries to penetrate Africa.

He urged Vietnam and Morocco to enhance their economic links and sign more agreements to facilitate those links, saying enterprises of the two countries need to step up their connectivity to seek investment and business opportunities.

With political stability, both countries are safe for investors, he said, noting that Morocco has attracted the largest number of foreign investors in Africa.

In tourism, Morocco leads North Africa in terms of foreign holiday-makers and expects to welcome about 12 million in 2019, he added.

The leader thanked Vietnam for its support to Morocco at international forums as well as at the regional level like cooperation with ASEAN.

The Moroccan Government has great determination to deepen and diversify relations with Vietnam, he said.
This is the first time VIB has held its AGM in Ho Chi Minh City

Also, the meeting (AGM) passed all reports and proposals of the Board of Directors (BOD), the Supervisory Board (BOS), as well as approved the members of BOD and BOS in the new management term.

According to the AGM prospectus, VIBs performance in 2018 was the most upbeat in the last five years with exceeding revenue and profit targets.

In particular, its pretax profit reached VND2.743 trillion ($119 million), doubling year-on-year and equal 137 per cent of the target; total assets reached nearly VND140 trillion ($6.08 billion); lending growth reached 17 per cent and non-performing loan was kept at 2.2 per cent.

According to the AGM prospectus, VIBs performance in 2018 was the most upbeat in the last five years with exceeding revenue and profit targets.

VIB has bought all bad debts from state-owned Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) and also became the first commercial joint stock bank to be approved by the State Bank of Vietnam to apply Basel II.

After receiving 41 per cent of cash dividend and bonus shares in 2018, VIBs shareholders agreed with the plan to pay 5.5 per cent in cash and 18 per cent in bonus shares and 3 per cent in treasury shares in 2019.

Dang Khac Vy, chairman of the BOD, shared VIBs 10-year transformation strategy lasting from 2017 to 2026, focusing on customers, products and humans.

To customers, VIB has built and strongly implemented a win-win model, sharing profits and maintaining best quality services. To products and services, VIB has always targeted to have preeminent products, which are highly competitive, innovative and pay due heeds to customers benefits.

To humans, VIB has focused on improving the capacity of employees, as well as giving the most attractive welfare package.

The bank has been operating in light of Vietnamese and international risk management standards, including Basel II and anti-money laundering (AML).

Regarding the banks profit target which was set at VND3.400 trillion ($147.8 million) in 2019, Vy said that VIBs profit targets are usually modest and cautious.

In 2017, its pre-tax profit reached VND1.405 trillion ($61 million) and exceeded 87 per cent of the target. In 2018, pre-tax profit hit VND2.743 trillion ($119.2 million), up 37 per cent of the goal.

The VIR leader, therefore, hopes their pretax profit in 2019 would be upped 20-30 per cent compared to the plan.

This is the first time of VIB to hold its AGM in Ho Chi Minh City after being approved by the central bank to relocate its headquarters to the city last November.
Vu Thi Thu Hien and Le Huu Hong Chuyen of Tilleke & Gibbins, Southeast Asias leading full service regional law firm

The market for pharmaceuticals in Vietnam is developing rapidly, in step with the countrys growing and aging population, rising per capita income, and increasing awareness of foreign brand-name drugs, which many Vietnamese consumers consider to be more reliable than generics and local brands. Naturally, Vietnam has become an attractive investment destination for foreign pharmaceutical companies eager to target new customers.

The government is doing its part to encourage this investment, as seen by its participation in international free trade agreements and ongoing legislative reform. A revised Law on Pharmacy was issued in 2016 followed by subsequent guiding legislation, but obstacles to overseas investment remain. One thing is certain: the business environment in the pharmaceutical sector is constantly changing.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a multilateral trade agreement signed by 11 countries on both sides of the Pacific, officially came into force in Vietnam in January. Among its provisions, the CPTPP requires each of its members to have a system of pharmaceutical patent linkage. Prior to granting marketing approval to any generic drug, Vietnam must notify the original drugs patent holder of the generic drugs application for approval.

By virtue of such notice, the patent holder would then have adequate time and opportunity to seek judicial or administrative proceedings and expeditious remedies, such as preliminary injunctions, for the timely resolution of disputes concerning the validity or infringement of an applicable patent.

Instead of the above-mentioned system, Vietnam may alternatively adopt a non-judicial regime to preclude the issuance of marketing approval to generic drugs based on the available patent-related information. This may come from co-operation between Vietnams intellectual property office and the Drug Administration of Vietnam, the marketing applicant, or the concerned patent holder.

Within the framework of the CPTPP, Vietnam also reached agreements on marketing approval with some other members such as Japan, New Zealand, and Canada. By means of such agreements, Vietnam has the right to establish conditions, limitations, or exceptions when implementing the obligations set forth under Article 18.53 of the deal.

Foreign firms are being encouraged to seek legal assistance when doing business in Vietnams pharmaceutical market, Photo: Le Toan

Changes in the legislative framework

The governments Decree No.54/2017/ND-CP of May 2017, the primary legislation guiding the implementation of the Law on Pharmacy, took effect in July 2017. Subsequently, last year two noteworthy guidance documents were issued for the pharmaceutical sector.

The first was Circular No.07/2018/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health (MoH), effective from June 2018, on guidelines for some articles on pharmacy business of the Law on Pharmacy and Decree 54. The other was the governments Decree No.155/2018/ND-CP of the government, effective in November 2018, amending some regulations related to investment and business conditions under the management of the MoH.

Circular 07 confirms that only drug business establishments are allowed to hire medical representatives, also known as drug introducers, to introduce drugs to healthcare professionals. After Decree 54 took effect, a representative office cannot hire new medical representatives, as the definition of drug business establishments excludes representative offices.

However, Circular 07 allows the representative offices to continue employing medical representatives who have valid drug introduction cards until the cards expire. Accordingly, several foreign pharmaceutical companies who are operating through representative offices in Vietnam are restructuring their operations to comply with the new regulations. Only drug business establishments can issue drug introduction cards to their medical representatives. The local department of health is no longer the entity that will issue these cards to the medical representatives.

Though Decree 155 does not create any substantial changes to the rights and obligations of a drug business establishment, including drug importers, it creates less regulated, more pro-business conditions by shortening the time or lessening documents required for the issuance of the Certificate of Eligibility for Pharmaceutical Business (CEPB).

For example, technical documents and human resources according to the principles of Good Distribution Practice for drugs and drug raw materials are not required in the application dossier, as the requested scope for CEPB does not cover the right to sell drugs and drug raw materials to retailers or medical service establishments.

Furthermore, the statutory timeline for the authority to issue the CEPB is 20 days, instead of 30 days under Decree 54, from the date recorded in the application receipt in cases where physical and technical facilities and human resources have been verified and assessed as conforming to the respective good practice of the business operating area, and onsite assessment at the applicant establishment facility is not required.

Import licences for drugs

Decree 155 makes the import licence procedure clearer and simpler. For example, to obtain an import licence for a new drug without a marketing authorisation in Vietnam, Decree 155 no longer requires such drug to have full clinical documents on efficacy and safety as mentioned in Decree 54. This change may give foreign manufacturers quicker access to the Vietnamese market.

Additionally, if such new drugs were previously granted an import licence, there is no need to submit clinical documents when requesting a new import licence, unless the drug has undergone major changes. Regarding the quantity of the drug to be imported, Decree 155 uses the business needs of the local importer as a basis, rather than the progress and scope of the targeted disease as in Decree 54.

Decree 155 abrogates previously strict conditions on drugs for special treatment and allows such drugs to be imported more liberally based on the countrys needs. Also, for import licence dossiers in all scenarios, Decree 155 relieves the burdens on trading entities by reducing the documentary requirements.

The import registration dossier must include the drugs label and package insert which are used in the manufacturing or exporting countries, instead of in the certificate of pharmaceutical product (CPP)-granting country as required in Decree 54. Furthermore, it is required to submit a legalised original label and package insert for parallel import licences only; for other import licences, a copy of the label and package insert can be submitted, provided they are stamped by the manufacturer, the product owner, the marketing authorisation holder named on the CPP, or the local importer.

Decree 155 abrogates regulations on amendment and re-issuance of Certification of Drug Information and Certification of Drug Advertisement Contents. The administrative procedures for amending and re-issuing these certifications no longer exist.

The procedure for new issuance of such certifications under Decree 54 is unchanged. However, Decree 155 removes the requirement to submit the marketing authorisation or import licence in the applications for the certifications. Furthermore, the CEPB issued by the Ministry of Health is no longer required in the application if the applicant is the pharmaceutical business establishment who owns such CEPB.

Slowly but surely, the Vietnamese pharmaceutical sector appears to be falling in line with international standards and practices. The reduced bureaucratic requirements and improved intellectual property protection are certainly positive signs and may encourage further market entry. However, international pharmaceutical companies looking to do business in Vietnam may still encounter regulations and restrictions that do not exist in other jurisdictions, and would be well advised to seek professional assistance from a legal perspective to ensure strict compliance with the law.
Mavin Group is one of the leading Australian businesses taking advantage of the CPTPP's benefits in Vietnam

A few weeks ago, Vietnam-Australia joint venture Mavin Group officially put into operation its 1,000 square metre warehouse in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giangs My Tho city.

Mavin also inaugurated a 49,000sq.m, $30 million feed mill in the nearby province of Dong Thap last May, which was its fifth feed mill in the country. So far, the group has invested $120 million in Vietnam.

Mavins chairman David John Whitehead told VIR that the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is considered one of the key enablers for Mavin to do business in Vietnam.

The CPTPP provides great opportunities for Vietnamese agribusinesses. The reduction or removal of tariff barriers creates an even playing field for manufacturers and producers in both import and export markets, he said. Mavin has positioned itself over the last 15 years to be an international-standard player in the Asia-Pacific region, and it is professional companies like us, that want to do business in an environment that is more transparent and internationally competitive. So, the CPTPP gives us great opportunities to import and export in the market with players from Australia and Japan.

Recently, Yutaka Yamamura, vice president of Food Company at Japans Itochu Corporation, met with Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong. The former said Itochu is conducting a market study in Vietnam, planning to buy domestic agricultural products and then distribute them in Japan and other foreign markets. Itochu is now importing frozen vegetables from Vietnam and wants to increase this trade.

Itochu has also been co-operating with Thailands CP Group since early 2015. CP, which is boosting the import of Vietnamese agricultural products to export to Thailand and other overseas markets, is planning to export chicken from Vietnam to Japan.

Opportunities

Nguyen Lan Phuong, partner of Baker McKenzie, and Vo Y Binh, associate of the law firm, wrote to VIR that the CPTPP can be viewed as an opportunity for Vietnam to attract foreign investment into its agricultural market.

With higher standards, reduced tariff rates, and increased transparency in the livestock industry, foreign and domestic enterprises alike may choose to increase investment in the areas of genetics and husbandry, they said.

Investors from Japan are among the CPTPP members looking to take advantage of the deal in Vietnam. For example, Japanese-backed Koyu & Unitek was established in 2014, focusing on producing chicken in southern Vietnam and beginning to export chicken products to Japan since last September. This is also the first company based in Vietnam to export these products to Japan.

According to investment consulting firm Seiko Ideas Corporation, Japanese investors want to expand agro-forestry-fishery investments in Vietnam because it would be pressured by the CPTPP. Specifically, under the deal, Japan must open its agricultural sector to many sensitive items. As a result, Japanese agricultural products will have to compete in price with other countries agricultural products, which will make it difficult for small, inefficient, and costly producers. Therefore, Japan has boosted investment in Vietnamese agriculture as Vietnam is a CPTPP member with great potential in this sector. When exporting to Japan, the tax rate will be 0 per cent. Besides, this can meet the condition that export products must have 70 per cent of materials coming from the CPTPP.

According to Seiko Ideas, while Japan needs a key partner for agricultural development, Vietnam needs a relevant padlock to exchange agricultural technology in agriculture and has many advantages over other CPTPP countries.

Domestic firms are also expecting benefits from the CPTPP. For instance, Vietnam NTC JSC is busy making preparations to begin expanding its warehouse system at the end of June 2019. The 2,000sq.m system in Hanoi will be used by NTC to hold and preserve meat products imported from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. We import meat from India and the US, and will now expand import markets to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, NTCs director Nguyen Tao Chuyen told VIR. Some types of meat products from these three new markets will enjoy 0 per cent import tax rate from 2019 under the CPTPP.

Great pressure

However, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the domestic agricultural sector, especially animal husbandry, will face difficulties due to truncated import tariffs under the CPTPP.

Specifically, upon the CPTPPs entry into force, import tariffs on many livestock products like beef, pork, sheep, goat, poultry, and many types of frozen aquatic products, as well as dairy products, animal feed, and poultry eggs will begin to be gradually reduced to 0 per cent within 3-10 years.

Products from nations that are strong in livestock production like Canada, Japan, and Australia will come to Vietnam massively. This will have a negative impact on domestic livestock production, explained an expert from the MARDs Livestock Production Department.

Moreover, under CPTPP commitments, any product with a registered national brand name can be exported to all CPTPP nations without quota, provided that it meets the importing nations conditions. Not only raw products, but also finished products from the CPTPP member states will be imported to Vietnam, the expert said.

Right after the CPTPP took effect, the Canadian government issued a report on how the CPTPP can benefit Canadian businesses in the agricultural sector in Vietnam and other markets.

The CPTPP will provide new market access opportunities for Canadian pork, beef, fruit and vegetables, malt, cereals, animal feed, maple syrup, wines and spirits, baked goods, confectionery, and processed food and beverages, the report said.

Gains from tariff elimination and improved market access for Canadian agriculture in the CPTPP are especially significant in the markets of Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam, stated the report. In these markets, Canada currently faces high tariffs and has no preferential access. The average tariffs that Canada faces in these countries are 17.3 per cent in Japan, 17 per cent in Vietnam, and 10.9 per cent in Malaysia.

Phuong and Binh from Baker McKenzie also said that as a signatory of the CPTPP, Vietnams livestock products will be challenged.

Specifically, the chapter on national treatment and market access for goods commits CPTPP parties to eliminate agricultural export subsidies and lower tariffs. This is significant for Vietnam which has high tariffs in place for certain meat and seafood products. Vietnams current tariff rates for certain products (ranging from under 5 per cent to around 30 per cent) will eventually be reduced to 0 per cent.

When this takes place, the livestock products of other countries, including Canada and Japan, will flood into Vietnam, resulting in domestic products becoming less competitive, the expert said.

However, Whitehead of Mavin told VIR that the great challenge for animal husbandry in Vietnam right now is not the CPTPP itself, but disease control. Foot and mouth disease and African swine fever pose grave threats to livestock farming. For Vietnam to actively play a part in CPTPP export, we must convince our CPTPP partners that our farmed animals and their meat products are disease-free. Only then will we be able to compete effectively, he said. One of the challenges to Vietnam is that the CPTPP imposes high standards of governance and transparency.

Despite these challenges, Mavins strategy and business plan has always looked to the future to serve the Vietnamese domestic market, while considering opportunities for exports. We see the CPTPP and perhaps the future inclusion of the US, as providing great opportunities for companies like us to show that Made, Manufactured, and Grown in Vietnam is a great thing, a sign of quality and stability in the market, Whitehead said. We take note of history when Made-in-Japan was regarded as a symbol of low quality in the past, only to be a mark of high quality now. So, we are confident and excited about the opportunities that the CPTPP offers to businesses in Vietnam generally.

According Vietnams Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnams agro-forestry-fishery export turnover hit a record $40 billion last year, up from over $36 billion in 2017. The key export markets included China (22.9 per cent of Vietnams total export turnover), the US (17.9 per cent), Japan (19.1 per cent), ASEAN (10.64 per cent), and South Korea (6.9 per cent).
Mergers and acquisitions are likely as international banks team up with local businesses in order to travese the regulatory landscape in Vietnam, Photo: Le Toan

When it comes to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), most talk has been focused on Vietnams exports and manufacturing sector rather than finance and banking. However, the CPTPP does have a separate chapter on financial services among its 11 members, and experts believed that the countrys banking system will change dramatically thanks to this historic trade deal.

The most significant impact of the CPTPP is that trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region will increase, and Vietnam is expected to receive a bigger flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) from member countries along with the rest of the world.

According to Farhan Faruqui, CEO of International Banking at ANZ, more cross-border business activities will lead to a greater need for financial services in Vietnam, ranging from transactions and foreign exchange to trade finance. He noted that the banks home markets of Australia and New Zealand are both members of the CPTPP alongside Vietnam, which is why ANZ views the CPTPP, as well as other trade pacts that Vietnam recently signed, in a very positive light.

Faruqui added that with its long history of serving businesses in Asia-Pacific, ANZ will ensure that it can assist multinational companies investing in the country, and major Vietnamese businesses looking abroad. Vietnams economic integration and buzzing trade activities provides great opportunities for the bank, as we pride ourselves in helping the regional flow of trade and capital, Faruqui told VIR.

Other experts stated that Vietnams integrated market upon joining the CPTPP means good business for banks. Oliver Massmann, general director of law firm Duane Morris, noted that the trade deal will stimulate domestic reforms in the financial sector, making Vietnam a great investment environment for financial institutions.

Besides the CPTPP itself, banks also emphasised Vietnams appeal as a growing market for financial services. This includes a vast population, a rising middle class with higher disposable income, and a need for more sophisticated services. Among CPTPP members, Vietnams banking sector is among the least developed, which means ample room for funding from regional and overseas banks.

Foreign partnerships

In a recent study, analysts Nguyen Thuy Linh, Vu Ngoc Diep, and Le Mai Trang from Vietnam University of Commerce pointed out that the CPTPP allows banks to operate overseas without a physical presence there. This means a Japanese bank can offer services such as credit cards or cross-border transactions to Vietnamese consumers, without having to open a branch in Vietnam. According to the researchers, the most likely target for these overseas banks is middle-class consumers in urban areas. A wider range of services, from both Vietnamese and foreign banks, benefit consumers and enhance the competitiveness of the Vietnamese banking sector.

When expanding their business in Vietnam for the CPTPP, overseas banks may also choose to team up with a Vietnamese partner in a merger and acquisition (M&A) deal. This is a quicker and more convenient route than seeking licences for a new branch, and foreign banks can take advantage of the existing local network and know-how of the domestic partner. Simultaneously, the Vietnamese side gains access to international standards of banking, creating a win-win relationship.

Foreign banks have the clear advantage of financial capacity, human resources and technology. They may choose to be a strategic partner of Vietnamese banks via M&A transactions for quicker access to the local market, said the analysts from Vietnam University of Commerce.

M&A deals with banks from other CPTPP members also inject fresh money into Vietnams banking industry, which is struggling with capital requirements for the Basel II banking regulation recommendations. Specifically, local commercial banks are racing to increase their funding to satisfy the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of Basel II, which means seeking deep-pocketed foreign partners. Data from the World Bank shows that Vietnam has the lowest CAR among all CPTPP member countries, which weakens the defence of Vietnamese lenders against loan defaults or bank runs.

According to economist Can Van Luc, the CPTPP and other trade deals signal to the world that Vietnam is ready to join a level playing field on global markets, and investors can find opportunities in the countrys banking sector. The government is also looking to divest from some major lenders, and scores of private banks are also preparing for their public listing.

Integrating globally

Still, difficulties remain for foreign banks to enter Vietnam, especially those looking for M&A transactions, said Luc. This is due to a strict limit on the foreign-owned stake at banks, currently at 30 per cent for all overseas investors. One strategic partner can own only 20 per cent of stake at a Vietnamese lender. The level of transparency in Vietnams banking sector is also low although there have been improvements in recent years, said the economist.

To integrate our economy as part of the CPTPP movement, we need to gradually and cautiously revise the foreign ownership cap at Vietnamese banks. The first step can be relaxing the limit to 49 per cent, and in the long run, the government can continue to consult the trade deals in their subsequent decisions regarding this limit, said Luc.

Luc emphasised the need to balance between Vietnams openness to foreign banks while still maintaining a level of control over the domestic system, which is a conditional and highly-sensitive sector of the Vietnamese economy.
Arriving to Ha Giang at the end of March, visitors from Ho Chi Minh City chose Maison Teahouse Homestay as a transit stop to move to other famous destinations such as Meo Vac or Dong Van. Pham Thi Minh Hai, director of Thanh Son Co., Ltd., the owner of the Maison brand, introduced Shan Tuyet Tay Con Linh, the hundred-year-old tea tree.

When the visitors returned to Ha Giang, Hai shared with VIR that local travel enterprises wish the province could become an attractive destination for domestic and foreign visitors, building on its unique tea products, delicious food, beautiful accommodation, dedicated service, and especially affordable prices.

To realise the dream, Thanh Son Co., Ltd. is gradually investing in facilities to build Ha Giang tea culture space that will include a closed tourism chain including picking tea, visiting production facilities, enjoying the taste of tea, and finally buying tea as a souvenir.

The following are images of visitors enjoying Shan Tuyet Tay Con Linh tea.

Located 2,000 metres above sea level in Tay Con Linh mountain, Shan Tuyet Tay Con Linh is a marvel to behold

Nguyen Thi Thuy, an ethnic Tay girl picking tea for guests to enjoy

Sitting under the ancient tea trees of Tay Con Linh mountain and drinking tea while listening to Nguyen Vu Ha, the tour leader telling stories about tea makes for an unforgettable memory

Every early morning, the Dao and Mong women climb up the tall trees to pick the best tea buds. The task is traditionally reserved for women due to the popular belief that their soft hands will make the harvesting painless for the tree and allow them to quickly grow new branches

Tourism enterprises in Ha Giang see great potential in developing tourist services in the province

After picking tea leaves, visitors can join the sorting of tea buds
Foreign retailers raise the local game, illustration photo

Under commitments of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), five years after the agreement comes into force, Vietnam will abolish the regulation that foreign retailers wanting to open their second outlets in Vietnam must ask local authorities for permission and be subject to Economic Needs Test (ENT) criteria.

According to local experts, the elimination of those obstacles may result in foreign retailers flocking to Vietnam.

The latest newcomer taking part in the retailer race in Vietnam is Fujimart Vietnam Retail, a joint venture between Japanese trading house Sumitomo and local retail and real estate conglomerate BRG Group. Fujimart hopes to use its modern Japanese-style retail expertise to attract increasingly well-off consumers in Vietnam.

The number of foreign retailers will increase at a steady pace, especially from 2024 as the ENT will be removed for retailers coming from the other 10 CPTPP members.

That means foreign-invested businesses could set up their own retail outlets anywhere easily for distributing their products to end-users across the agreements countries, and so competition will increase sharply, said Dinh Thi My Loan, chairwoman of the Association of Vietnam Retailers.

The ENT refers to criteria for the establishment of retail outlets that Vietnam has set in order to protect the domestic retail industry. It does not apply to foreign retailers in case they set up retail outlets of less than 500 square metres each in areas with sufficient infrastructure for commercial activities.

Vu Vinh Phu, former chairman of the Hanoi Supermarket Association told VIR, Foreign-invested retail chains have captured 50 per cent of total market share. Sales are seven- or eight-fold higher than domestic equivalents.

Giants such as Central Group, Lotte, AEON and Auchan have reshaped the countrys retail.

In the fashion and apparel sector, Japanese brand Uniqlo has acquired 35 per cent of a Vietnamese fashion company, and plans to launch its first store in Vietnam this year. Along with Zara and H&M, Uniqlo is the third brand in the top five of the worlds biggest fashion brands to set foot in Vietnam, putting significant pressure onto leading Vietnamese companies which are making up a modest market share and only 20 per cent of the total export turnover.

In the context that Vietnam is opening the door for foreign retailers, local counterparts are being forced to invest in technology to increase their competition capacity.

Vietnamese supermarket chain VinMart has launched Scan & Go in 13 of its stores. Shoppers can use the VinID app to scan the barcode on products before adding them to their virtual cart in the app. After payment, they can arrange to have their order packed and come back to collect it later, or have it delivered within two hours. The app will also provide information about product manufacturers and origins. According to the plan, from March 2019, shoppers using Scan & Go will also be eligible for promotional offers and discounts on their purchases.

Along with VinMart, Saigon Co.op has also come up with many solutions to continue attracting customers. The first is the diversification and modernisation of retail models, and creation of unique features in line with market trends.

To reach customers effectively in the online environment, most retail models of Saigon Co.op such as Co.opmart and Co.op Food use digital tools and have their own social networking site to interact with customers.

Co.opmart supermarkets are rapidly adopting the Scan & Go tool to help customers shop quickly. The application of this tech makes shopping at Co.opmart easy, convenient, and fast, a Saigon Co.op representative said.

This year the group, besides continuing to expand the network and raise goods standards, will also launch a new modern shopping model and apply technology throughout all retail models.

It is still early to estimate the effects from these apps at VinMart and Saigon Co.op. However, Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) is an outstanding example for enterprises succeeding through investing in technology.

At Hanois Investment, Marketing, and Retail forum on March 20, Tran Trong Tuyen, general secretary of the Vietnam E-commerce Association said that many businesses may join the e-commerce sector and reap positive results, under the condition that they are able to take advantage of technology. Getting involved in the sector will cost them a large amount of capital if they fail to apply technology to their operations.

There is a difference in offline revenue of FPT Shop and online revenue of MWG. In the 2014-2018 period, the offline revenue of FPT Shop increased 2.3 times from VND6.56 trillion ($285.5 million) to VND15.3 trillion ($665.1 million). Meanwhile, the online revenue of MWG rose 14.5 times from VND851 billion ($37 million) to VND12.35 trillion ($537 million). In order to acquire this revenue, MWG have made a massive and methodical investment in technology and the IT team, said Tuyen.
Dau Anh Tuan , General Director, Legal Department, VCCI, Director of PCI program announced the ranking 2018

This information was released in the annual report on PCI by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the United States Agency for International Development in Vietnam.

Since 2005, the first year that the PCI report was released, 2018 reported the highest PCI figures. The report was based on the responses of over 12,000 enterprises, including almost 11,000 private enterprises operating in 63 cities and provinces and over 1,500 foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) across the nation.

The 2018 PCI report showed a positive change in the business environment. Informal charges continue to be cut, the business environment for the private sector is becoming more equal, and administrative reforms are improving clearly. However, enterprises expect more transparency in the business environment, better quality labour force, and improvements in business supporting services.

With 49 per cent of private enterprises and 56 per cent of FIEs planning to expand business in the next two years, the report showed positive business prospects.

Standing at the top of the ranking is Quang Ninh with 70.36 out of 100 points. All the 10 indicators of this northenr provinces PCI range between 6.04 to 7.96 points.

Over the last year, Quang Ninh has maintained the speed of reforming its business environment. The province has implemented the four-on-site method, including receiving, appraising, approving, and returning results for administrative work at the provincial and district levels.

This helps save a lot of time for enterprises, Nguyen Van Thang, Vice Chairman of the Quang Ninh Peoples Committee, told VIR. Quang Ninh has made great efforts to improve the investment environment and strengthen management so that the government and enterprises can work together and enterprises difficulties can be handled in time, he added.

Last year, 80 per cent of enterprises responding to the PCI survey in Quang Ninh said that the administrative procedures were shorter than required in regulations and 74 per cent of enterprises was of the opinion that the paperwork here was simple (the highest rate in the country).

While many businesses and investors in other provinces have difficulties with land administration procedures, 65 per cent of enterprises in Quang Ninh said that they have no trouble. That is why Quang Ninh ranks at the top in this indicator with 7.77 points.

In 2018, Quang Ninh attracted over VND 70 billion ($3 million) in investment capital.

Meanwhile, Hanoi jumped four ranks since 2017 to be at the ninth position.

In the six-year PCI ranking, Hanoi has increased by 41 levels from 51st in 2012 to 9th in 2018. This is a long journey with big efforts, Nguyen Doan Toan, Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, said.

According to him, the PCI is useful information, an indicator, and a clear goal for Hanoi to reach. Improving this index has become one of the city's top missions, Toan emphasised.

Over the last year, Hanoi has showed significant changes in the quality of the one-stop shop for business registration. 71 per cent of Hanois enterprises said that bureaucratic staff have professional knowledge (57 per cent in 2017), while 86 per cent said that the staff are enthusiastic and friendly (53 per cent in 2017). The rate of enterprises having to wait for more than three months to complete procedures in setting up a company has dropped sharply from 17 per cent in 2017 to 5 per cent last year.

Hanoi has outlined a programme dedicated to improving its PCI score. Accordingly, by the end of 2020, Hanoi was to be among the top 10 cities and provinces with the highest PCI score. But we have managed to do it in 2018. This is a great point of pride for Hanoi, though we still have to improve more, Tran Ngoc Nam, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment, told VIR.
Over the past few months, how much insurance did employers pay after their foreign employees in Vietnam and how many are liable to pay social insurance?

The Vietnam Social Securitys (VSS) statistics showed that as of February 28, about 8,730 employers and 51,524 foreign employees complied with their obligation to pay social insurance in Vietnam. In addition, the total insurance collected from the employers was VND100.8 trillion ($4.38 million).

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), the total number of foreign employees across the country is around 83,046, 90 per cent of whom hold work permits.

Thus, after three months of carrying out the decree, about 64 per cent of foreign employees participated in the compulsory social insurance scheme. This is a quite satisfying result for a new policy.

What difficulties does the VSS face during implementation of Decree 143?

Compulsory insurance for foreign employees is a brand new policy in Vietnam, so making Decree 143 work remains difficult.

No circulars guiding the implementation of the decree have been issued yet, which makes it complicated for both local authorities and employers to comply with the policy.

Over the past three months, we have noticed numerous troubles related to targeting subjects of compulsory insurance. Currently, our local branches are entering into co-operation with local authorities to create an up-to-date register of foreign employees affected by the policy, and to guide employers to perform their tasks under the decree.

In addition, the language barrier remains a premier obstacle when carrying out Decree 143. Foreign employees identity papers are all written in foreign languages, which causes further difficulties.

Finally, foreign employees in Vietnam may pay insurance in their home country, which could make exempt them from Decree 143. To deal with this particular issue, the Vietnamese government has assigned the MoLISA to negotiate and sign bilateral and multilateral agreements on social insurance aimed to avoid the issue as well as to ensure the rights of employees of both countries.

What is the current overall situation of overseas foreigners working in Vietnam?

As global integration accelerates, over the past few years, both the number of foreign workers in Vietnam and the number of Vietnamese workers in other countries have increased. The latest data published by the MoLISA indicated that the number of foreign workers increased from 63,557 to 83,046 during 2011-2016. In addition, the MoLISAs Department of Overseas Labour stated that more than 140,000 Vietnamese people were working overseas in 2018, up 7 per cent on-year.

Currently, Vietnam and South Korea are over four rounds of negotiations on signing a bilateral agreement on social insurance. Japan is still researching the issue before entering into negotiations with Vietnam. Germany has agreed with Vietnam on the negotiation content. Finally, Taiwan is also doing research before deciding to sign an agreement.

Overall, what benefits should Decree 143 bring, and will it avoid contradicting international practices?

Although there is an increase in both foreign employees here and Vietnamese employees overseas, many nations have already applied similar rules, so it should not contradict international practices, and there is precedent that it can be made to work with international partners.

The launch of Decree 143 is aimed to create equality for both foreign employees and Vietnamese employees in the country, which means that foreign employees are entitled to the same social benefits as Vietnamese employees.

Thanks to this, foreign employees could be safe while working in Vietnam, which would contribute to a favourable working environment and lure in highly skilled employees, whom Vietnam needs as it turns towards Industry 4.0.
I do: A bride and groom walk along Pyongyang's Taedong river on a foggy evening. (Photo: AFP/Ed JONES)

With an economy crippled by international sanctions, isolated North Korea is keen to boost its nascent tourism sector by attracting more foreign visitors, the bulk of whom currently come from China.

A North Korean tourism official said it is prime time for Vietnamese visitors to travel to the country after Hanoi hosted Trump and Kim for a second round of nuclear talks in February.

"We had a very successful summit in Hanoi ... this is the right chance, the golden chance for us to generate a tourist market of Vietnam to DPRK," Ham Jin of the official Korea International Travel Company (KITC) told AFP Thursday.

His company hosted a booth at a tourism fair in Hanoi this week - with brochures advertising a dolphinarium, a science and technology complex and the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in "ever-changing" Pyongyang - while others urged skiers to pay a visit to the Masikryong mountain resort.

Kim paid an official visit to Hanoi after his meeting with Trump, piquing curiosity among some Vietnamese eager to know more about the reclusive leader and his country.

"I want to discover this mysterious country because there are many things to see," said Do Thi Phuong Thuy, who signed up for a tour after Kim's trip.

SAFETY CONCERNS

North Korea receives an estimated 100,000 foreign tourists a year, according to industry insiders, though Pyongyang does not publish visitor data.

Ham put the number at double that and said visitor numbers grew by as much as 50 per cent last year, though his figures could not be verified.

"We (use) tourism to contribute to economic development," he told AFP.

A Vietnamese tour operator at the fair said his client numbers have surged this year, but that some travellers remain wary.

"People are concerned North Korea isn't safe or is closed to the world ... there are the difficulties for us when we promote tours to North Korea," Nguyen Cong Hoan, director of Hanoi Red Tours, told AFP.

The United States has banned Americans from travelling to North Korea after the death of student Otto Warmbier, who was jailed after allegedly stealing a poster from a hotel.

He was released in a vegetative state and later died on US soil.

Once-popular tours from South Korea to Mount Kumgang near the border came to an abrupt end in 2008 when a North Korean soldier shot dead a tourist from the South who strayed off the approved path.

Trump has heralded North Korea's economic potential, praising its "great beaches" that he said would make ideal locations for condos.

North Korea is currently building a sprawling seaside resort known as the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in a zone that has previously been used for artillery drills and ballistic missile launches.
New trade agreements are forcing pharmaceutical businesses to invest more in order to remain competitive, Photo: Duc Thanh

After facing a difficult year in 2018 due to increased competition within the sector, CVI Cosmetic & Pharmaceutical Co., JSC (CVI), a relatively-young player in the pharmaceutical industry, is investing more in technology. It is also developing its marketing process, as well as its business and sales governance in preparation for the upcoming opening of its new high-tech factory in Hanois Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park in late 2019.

In 2019, we will invest heavily in new and advanced medical technology for the new factory. Instead of concentrating on functional products which have a low market protection, we will venture further into others with a higher market protection such as traditional medicines. We aim to increase traditional medicines to 30 per cent of our total products in 2019 and then to 50 per cent beyond, Phan Van Hieu, chairman of CVI, told VIR.

Thus far, CVI has signed a co-operation agreement with the Korea Testing & Research Institute which will enable it to export products to 100 countries worldwide.

Along with young players in the sector, giant drug producers such as Domesco, Vietnams third-largest listed drug maker, Hau Giang Pharmaceutical JSC (DHG), the countrys biggest publicly-traded drug maker, and Imexpharm, the countrys fourth-largest drug maker, are making similar moves. They are giving priority to innovations in technology as well as research and development to stand firm amid new challenges emerging from the enforcement of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

According to a reliable source, Imexpharm, whose 48.96 per cent stake is owned by foreign stakeholders, is going to put into operation its Vinh Loc hi-tech antibiotic plant in Ho Chi Minh City, costing VND180 billion ($7.82 million) in late 2019. This will go along with the hi-tech Binh Duong pharmaceutical plant, which is set to cost VND370 billion ($16.8 million), in early 2020. Both meet the standards set out by EU-GMP certification.

With our new facilities, we aim to increase revenue from prescription drugs (ETC) to make up 40 per cent of our total revenue in the future. We also aim to get 50 per cent from over-the-counter, non-prescription drugs, and the remaining 10 per cent from exports, said a source from Imexpharm.

Similarly for Traphaco (TRA), the countrys second-largest publicly-traded drug maker, its annual investment in research and innovation activities make up 3 per cent of the companys revenues from production.

For our sustainable development strategy between 2017 and 2020, we aim to develop our production technology to be among the most advanced in the nation and on par with global standards. We have equipped our new western factory with the latest modern technology, said a TRA leader.

At present, State Capital Investment Corporation, Magbi Fund Ltd, and Super Delta Pte., Ltd, are TRAs biggest shareholders with stakes of 35.67, 24.99, and 15.12 per cent, respectively.

Industry insiders said that the move is a way for drug makers to venture further into the profitable segment of ETC which is currently dominated by multinational corporations.

Due to growing competition, 2018 was a challenging year for domestic pharmaceutical companies. The difficult year saw a number of giant drug markers fail to meet their business targets. TRA reached consolidated revenues of VND1.8 trillion ($78.3 million), meeting just 75 per cent of its yearly target, and a 4 per cent drop on-year. Moreover, the company also saw consolidated after-tax profits of VND157 billion ($6.83 million), fulfilling just 51 per cent of its yearly target, and equal to just over 65 per cent of 2017s figure.

This uninspiring outlook was also seen at DHG, a company which has Japans Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings as a major shareholder with a 32 per cent stake. The company made consolidated net revenues of VND3.88 trillion ($168.7 million), down 4.43 per cent on-year.
Jill Weinlein

Planning a weekend getaway, we wanted to go somewhere within two hours from Los Angeles offering beauty, wine and culinary delights. After the winter rain, the Super Bloom is transforming California's landscape into pastures of Spring wildflowers on full display. In the charming town of Buellton in Santa Barbara County, the verdant green hills are blanketed with vibrant yellow mustard flowers.

Buellton in Central California is an idyllic getaway for tasting some of the state's best wines and culinary fare. It also offers some unique experiences that you won't find anywhere else.

We stayed overnight at the renovated Santa Ynez Valley Marriott offering spacious wine county designed rooms. What makes this property desirable is its sparkling swimming pool. It's the largest swimming pool in the region. This hotel also is the only property in the area with complimentary Tesla Supercharger stations. There are 9 in the parking lot, making Marriott the most popular charging spots for road travelers driving from Southern to Northern California.

The key to wine tasting is to start with a great breakfast. You dont want to start sipping on an empty stomach, so we first enjoyed omelets, French toast and eggs Benedict at Marriott's Gate Restaurant while mapping out a day of wine tasting. With over 80 wineries and tasting rooms, we chose the nearby LaFond Winery and Vineyards in the picturesque Sta. Rita Hills for a visit.

Driving down the driveway, we passed corrals of miniature goats, donkeys, sheep and turkeys to the one-story tasting room. Picnic tables were scattered on grassy bluffs overlooking 150 acres of vineyards. This winery offers a charging station for electric cars too.

An informative LaFond staff member named Diane greeted us and invited us over to the tasting counter. She presented us with a wine tasting menu offering five different tastings and a 16-ounce souvenir glass, included in the $15 tasting fee.

Diane has worked at LaFond for 12 years pouring Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah wines. She first gave us a package of breadsticks to neutralize our palate before tasting the different wines, while informing us It takes three sips of wine to know if you like it or not. The 2016 Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay was a crowd pleaser with a nose of lemon, hazelnut and honeysuckle aromas. On the palate there is a Meyer lemon zest, with richer hints of browned butter and toasted almond.

We learned winemaker Bruce McGuire is a pioneer in the development of Pinot Noir and Sarah in the Santa Barbara County and in California. He has been making wine for over 30 years.

The 2015 Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir offers spice, which we learned is a pleasing trait in Pinot Noirs. This elegant red wine offers earthy fruit forward dark berries, with a streak of earthy minerality. Next the 2014 LaFond Vineyard Pinot Noir has more oak offering a smoother and creamier finish. This is the winemaker's favorite. The 2014 Sta. Rita Hills Syrah is ideal to pair with lamb, steak or chocolate. "No white fish or salad with this wine," said Diane. Last we finished with a 2014 LaFond Vineyard Syrah that is from grapes on an older vine with 55 days of skin contact and barreled longer for more mouthfeel.

After the equivalent of one glass of wine, we thought we better eat lunch and chose the iconic restaurant The Hitching Post II. It gained popularity after the hit movie Sideways premiered in 2004. This culinary destination is known for its traditional Santa Maria barbecue. Pulling into the parking lot, we noticed the owner, chef and winemaker Frank Ostini opened a tasting room and culinary annex across near his famous restaurant.

It's ideal for lunch and in the early evening before, during and after wine tasting Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post wines. Tri-tip sandwiches, burgers and the famously grilled artichokes are prepared in the main restaurant and delivered by a three-wheel bicycle to outdoor tables underneath ancient oak trees.

Winemaker Gray Hartley came out to our table with bottles of three of their famous Hitching Post Pinot Noirs - the Fiddlestix, Perfect Set and Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Highliner. Hartley was an Alaskan fisherman for 28 years, before meeting Ostini and helping him make award-winning wines. "Highliner is one of the best fishermen in the fleet, and this name honors the great men of the Alaskan Salmon Fishery," said Hartley. It was also one of the featured wines in the film Sideways.

While sipping wine, Hartley pointed out a flock of ostrich roaming in a pasture next to the property. For $6 guests can enter OstrichLand U.S.A. to stand close and feed some of the tallest and largest birds in the world. Besides herds of ostrich, there are flocks of emus to admire. It's one of the many unique immersive experiences visitors can enjoy while in Buellton.

We drove back to the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott to rest and relax, before spirits tasting at Dorwood Distillery and dinner at the nearby Industrial Eats. Dorwood Distillery uses locally grown Chardonnay wine grapes to create creamy and smooth Vodka, G7 gin, Habapeno, White Hawk Malt Whiskey and Limoncello. Tastings are available daily except on Wednesday.

To plan a trip to Buellton, go to Discover Buellton.

Jill Weinlein

The Super Bloom in Buellton.

Jill Weinlein

You can park and charge your Tesla at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott.

Jill Weinlein

LaFond Winery and Vineyards is a must to experience in Buellton.

Jill Weinlein

Winemaker Gray Hartley pours Pinot Noirs at Hitching Post II

Jill Weinlein

Up close experiences at OstrichLand U.S.A in Buellton
While large-scale Singaporean corporations maintain healthy interest in Vietnam, SME investment is also on the rise, Photo: Le Toan

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bilateral trade turnover between Singapore and Vietnam doubled over the past decade to reach S$20.9 billion ($15.51 billion) in 2018. Besides, Singaporean investment in Vietnam are diversified in various geographical regions and sectors, including services, processing and manufacturing, and real estate.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment reported that as of February 20, 2019, Singapore remained the top investor from the ASEAN bloc and third-largest foreign investor in Vietnam, with the total registered investment capital hitting $48.4 billion for 2,190 projects.

Amid the recent move to increase regional integration within Southeast Asia, Singaporean investors are continuing to fund Vietnams various sectors with attractive prospects.

Norman Lim, president of the Singapore Business Group (SBG), told VIR that Vietnam signing a wide range of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has enhanced the local investment environment, as well as facilitated funding from foreign companies, including those from Singapore.

He further noted that Singaporean investment spans many sectors such as oil exploration, industrial manufacturing, agriculture, and forestry and seafood processing. It also, most notably, is involved in the fields of infrastructure, business services, and real estate. This has stimulated economic growth in the country by generating more jobs, and production enhancement leading to an increase in Vietnams total exports.

Real estate investment from Singapore

Among different sectors which have seen funding in Vietnam, Singaporean investors are big fishes in real estate development.

Singapores CapitaLand has been present in Vietnam for more than 20 years, with more than 8,600 residential units in 15 projects, 6,300 serviced apartments in 24 projects, two integrated developments, and a portfolio of around $1 billion across seven major cities in Vietnam.

According to CapitaLand Vietnams CEO Chen Lian Pang, Vietnam plays an important role in the corporations development strategy as the third-largest market for CapitaLand in Southeast Asia, after Singapore and Malaysia.

Vietnam is a key growth market for CapitaLand and we are seeing strong demand for vibrant, high-quality live-work-play spaces due to rapid urbanisation and the evolving lifestyles of young and mobile Vietnamese people. Harnessing our vast experience across different real estate types, this upcoming integrated development will offer best-in-class practices in homes, offices, and malls, which will attract young Vietnamese urbanites, multinational companies, and local startups, Chen said.

Another big name from Singapore, Mapletree Investments, has grown to be one of the largest Singaporean real estate companies in Vietnam by capital, with a portfolio of about $1 billion in assets under management since first investing in this market in 2005.

According to Wendy Koh, regional CEO for Southeast Asia at Mapletree, Vietnam is currently the groups largest Southeast Asian market outside of Singapore.

Other giant property developers from Singapore, such as Keppel Land and VSIP, have also invested billions of USD into the country.

Mergers and acquisitions on the rise

Besides direct investment, Singapore investors have also been active in Vietnams merger and acquisition (M&A) market with numerous mega deals in existence.

The largest initial public offering last year was that of luxury residential property developer Vinhomes, of which Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited recently acquired a stake. The deal made Singapore the largest investors in Vietnams M&A market in the first six months of 2018.

Meanwhile, 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). A part of this fund will be poured into the Vietnamese market.

In March last year, CapitaLand announced the acquisition of two projects in Ho Chi Minh City, which will be targeted for completion by 2021.

According to Australias Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances (IMAA), Singaporean investors wrapped up 86 M&A deals in Vietnam between 2007 and 2017 with the total value of $1.86 billion.

Yeu Huan Lai, senior portfolio manager at Nikko Asset Management, said that Singaporean financiers are eyeing local companies which benefit from Vietnams rising affluent class and stronger demand for consumption. Besides real estate development, capital flowing from Singapore will channel into Vietnams consumer sectors such as food and beverages, tourism, consumer finance, retail, and energy.

Interest expands to SMEs

Lim of SBG noted that due to the impact of the CPTTP, the trend of Singaporean investment to Vietnam has recently expanded from large business groups to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Along with large corporations, there are also SMEs flocking into Vietnam. The main reason is that the government of Singapore is pushing SMEs to go abroad to fund new ventures, Lim cited.

When all of these SMEs look around neighbouring countries, Vietnam emerges as one of the most promising investment destinations. Most of the SMEs are specialised in the service industry such as in supply chains, and legal and accounting services. In addition, some SMEs are also bringing Singaporean cuisine to Vietnam by opening franchise restaurants here, Lim added.

According to HSBC Singapores latest report, the most significant kickers of the CPTPP will be the liberalisation of service sectors and the staving off of cross-border data restrictions, two significant commercial pain points for SMEs, which make up around half of Singapores economy.

Furthermore, Singaporean investment is further expected in Vietnams technology and e-commerce sectors. Singapore-based Grab is ramping up expansion efforts in the market beyond ride-hailing. Meanwhile, Singapores e-commerce platform Shopee is stepping up its operations in Vietnam to capitalise on the lucrative market.

Vietnam has all the ingredients for a thriving e-commerce economy thanks to a young population, and growing Internet and smartphone adoption. In particular, the younger generation of Vietnamese is tech-savvy so shopping online has become a daily norm, said Lim.

A separate HSBC report showed that overall investment into the ASEAN region until 2020 is expected to rise amongst Singaporean-based companies, with Vietnam to be a key beneficiary.

Winfield Wong, country head of Wholesale Banking at HSBC Vietnam said, Whilst Vietnams growing consumer base is already well recognised by Singaporean companies, the report shows that many Singaporean companies are looking to double down on the demographic dividend.

Beyond this, Vietnams manufacturing sector is now entering a higher-end space. So while many corporations may base their treasury and other back-office functions in Singapore, a lot of revenue-making operations are being driven into Vietnam. This is only expected to ramp up with the countrys widening along the supply and value chain, he added.
Supporting industries take the reins, illustration photo

As one of the few local businesses operating in electronics solutions, Nguyen Dinh Quang, director of industrial trading hub KNK Vietnam, is upbeat for his business as the company recorded nearly 30 per cent growth and continues to see rosy results to the increasing demand.

Vietnam is shining as the electronics hub of the region with an influx of investment. It has so far attracted billions in foreign direct investment from global giants including Samsung, Foxconn, LG, Panasonic, and Intel. We believe that our company can expand further as the development of the electronics industry moves on, said Quang. I believe any business that wishes to succeed must have a rapid and thorough response to global competition and tap opportunities  and Vietnam is no exception.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is expected to boost many industries in Vietnam. Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said that the country is entering a deep international integration period. This means the Vietnamese products participating in the global value chain will face competitive pressures from other countries. In particular, the context of globalisation and Industry 4.0 does not allow Vietnam to delay in improving competitiveness.

The countrys supporting industries are determined to play the role of an essential foundation to improve the competitiveness of industrial products. With the CPTPP and also other free trade agreements (FTAs), Vietnam must speed up the pace and quality of the supporting industrys development, he stressed.

For instance, to reap the benefits of the CPTPP, the textile and footwear sector needs to develop a supporting industry to reduce reliance on the import of raw materials, enhance competitiveness and boost high-value exports. This is due to the fact the CPTPP sets strict requirements on product origin, a big challenge for Vietnamese enterprises in the textile and footwear sectors, as they are heavily dependent on material sources imported from China, India, and other ASEAN members.

Vietnamese exporters have been advised to continue promoting support industries, and ensure the origin of raw materials for production.

Echoing this view, General director of Misumi Vietnam Co. Ltd., Yasuo Shimokura, also stressed an urgent need for Vietnam to develop its supporting industries amid an uptrend in automation. I believe that the demand for factory automation will increase dramatically in the coming decade, he said. Two key factors support this view. Increased foreign direct investment (FDI) and higher labour costs support our vision of a dramatic shift towards factory automation in the next decade.

Deputy managing director of Reed Tradex Co., Ltd., Suttisak Wilanan said, As FDI flocks to the country, the supporting industry sector will keep their footing and create more added value.

Managing director of Thailands Hexagon Metrology Ltd., Taveesak Srisuntisu, said that to prepare for the CPTPP and others, the company has a plan to expand its business both in domestic and international markets. For foreign markets, Hexagon also oversees those of Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Pakistan.

Out of these markets, the outstanding one is Vietnam. Here, automotive and industrial parts-makers are investing heavily in manufacturing factories where Hexagon has provided products and technologies tailored to manufacturer requirements. The company has a long-term plan to constantly expand this market base and strengthen the Hexagon brand both in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Srisuntisu said.

In the same vein, Shimokura added, I believe that Misumi Vietnam can be a tool for the Vietnamese manufacturing industry  not only as a source for the latest manufacturing products, but also as an information centre, as we compile the thoughts and opinions of many engineers and designers from around the world.

As one of the priority industries, it is a major concern whether the Vietnamese automobile manufacturing industry can latch onto the upcoming opportunities, added Wilanan of Reed Tradex. The industry is a hi-tech one, and is a driving force for many other supporting industries, such as mechanics, electronics, plastics, rubber, glass, informatics, and automation.
A ship anchored at Da Nang Port. The port company has announced its principle shareholders had sold a 20 per cent stake to Taiwanese shipping firm Wan Hai Lines.-VNA/VNS Photo Le Lam

The Taiwanese firm purchased Da Nang Port shares through its sub-unit Wan Hai Lines (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Wan Hai Lines bought 19.83 million shares in Da Nang Port JSC via put-through transactions last Friday, the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Da Nang Port shares were purchased for VND20,000 (US$0.86) per share, bringing the total value of the deal to VND396.6 billion ($17 million).

On Wednesday, the Vietnamese firm announced two of its principle shareholders  Lam Thi Mai and Vu Van Hai  had sold all their 11.55 million shares.

Mai and Hai owned 5.91 per cent and 5.76 per cent of Da Nang Port JSC before the deal.

Other sellers remain unknown. The largest shareholder in Da Nang Port JSC is the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), which owns 75 per cent.

The ports management firm started putting its 66 million shares up for trade on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) on March 30, 2016 under code CDN.

The company cancelled its UPCoM launch and moved to the HNX on November 30, 2016. Its market ticket remained unchanged.

One year after moving from UPCoM to HNX, the company sold 33 million preferred shares to raise capital to VND990 billion.

In 2018, the company earned VND695 billion in total revenue, up 15.6 per cent year on year, and VND148 billion in post-tax profit, up 12.6 per cent year on year.
Thanh Cong is owed around $4.1 million from US giant Sears but may find it tricky to recover the debt, Photo: Le Toan

According to Nguyen Thanh Ha, managing partner of SBLaw Company, Vietnamese companies should look carefully at business contracts to seek out provisions which could protect their rights and interests, or stipulate sharing risk among parties in case the unthinkable occurs.

Businesses should carry out tasks quickly and proactively in order to get any compensation they are due in an early fashion, such as preparing documents, collecting data and information related to transactions and other parties, and seeking legal support from those who deal in similar cases of international trade, emphasised Ha.

Has advice came after the case of the US retail titan Sears Holdings which has filed for bankruptcy and owes Vietnamese textile firm Thanh Cong Textile Garment Investment Trading JSC (TCM) about $4.1 million.

Ha said that US Bankruptcy Court will calculate how much property Sears has left and how to repay in turn. The first priority is Sears employee salaries, followed by federal taxes, payment for suppliers of goods and services, and finally bank loans.

Thanh Congs ability to seize debts from Sears depends on numerous elements such as the giants remaining assets, the number of employees and their rights, and the fulfilment of financial obligations to the state and other creditors.

In my opinion, it is very difficult to identify the debt recovery ability of Thanh Cong in this case, said the SBLaw managing partner.

Consideration of legal provision of the countrys partner is also due. If bankruptcy procedures and order of handling property under the US bankruptcy rules is understood by TCM, the Vietnamese company could send the letters to take part in the bankruptcy case in the US based on the legal provisions to protect their rights and interests.

Additionally, assistance from experienced and reputable lawyers in the international trade sector is essential in legal proceedings, added Ha.

Sears filed for bankruptcy after failing to make a $134 million debt payment tranche. Its subsidiaries, partners Roebuck and Kmart, contribute about 7 per cent to TCM revenue every year. Sears remaining debt to TCM is VND95 billion ($4.1 million), equivalent to 3 per cent of the Vietnamese firms total assets, according to TCMs third quarter report.

Tran Nhu Tung, director at TCM, told VIR that his company is still awaiting a decision from the US court [US Bankruptcy Court] on the proceedings the retail chain filed in October 2018. We have also been trying to negotiate with Sears to switch from pay-after-delivery to a letter of credit, and our company has made a provision to offset our bad debts, he said.

According to Tung, Sears had ordered certain fabrics to produce fashion products. As they were being made to specific designs, the company would find it hard to sell them on, even if Sears ended up returning them. Exports account for 88 per cent of TCMs revenues.

In January, a bankruptcy judge approved Sears chairman Eddie Lamperts deal to pour around $5 billion into restructuring the company, which would ultimately keep the company and its 400 stores in operation.

Previously in a similar case, the 2016 bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping Global, South Koreas largest and the worlds seventh-largest container shipping company, affected Vietnamese business export and import as well as activities related to around 5,000 containers, causing a huge amount of costs for storage at international ports, which was estimated at hundreds of billions of VND. It was reported that the South Korean company had run up a debt of about $2.5 million to Ho Chi Minh City-based Saigon Newport Corporation, and over $200,000 to other ports in northern Vietnam.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer played down expectations ahead of the meeting in Beijing, which is due to be followed by more talks in Washington in early April. (Photo: AFP/MANDEL NGAN)

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are expected to resume talks in Beijing with China's top economic official Liu He, the first since China put into law new measures seen as an olive branch in their high-stakes stand-off.

While US President Donald Trump has voiced hope that he could soon hold a signing ceremony with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, negotiations have dragged on, suggesting substantial differences remain.

But Lighthizer sought to play down expectations ahead of the meeting in Beijing, which is due to be followed by more talks in Washington in early April.

"I'm hoping but not necessarily hopeful ... If there's a great deal to be gotten, we'll get it - if not, we'll find another plan," he told National Public Radio earlier this week.

The two sides have slapped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods since last year, hitting a slew of businesses ranging from manufacturers to farmers in both countries, with knock-on effects for other economies.

And Trump suggested last week some of those tariffs should stay in place after a deal is reached to ensure China follows through.

REMAINING DIFFERENCES

But Beijing has taken steps to address some US complaints. Earlier this month China's rubber-stamp parliament rushed through a law that seeks to protect foreign firms from the forced transfer of technology.

Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday repeated his pledge to step up punishment for intellectual property infringers to ensure they "bear an unpayable cost", addressing a major bone of contention in Washington.

"We will again widen foreign firms market access," Li pledged at the Boao Forum for Asia, a Davos-like annual meeting hosted by China.

While the US has hit out at Chinese practices, Lighthizer said on NPR that "the kinds of things that we're asking for are not anti-Chinese at all".

"Protection of intellectual property is not anti-Chinese. Stopping people from forcing transfer of technology is not anti-Chinese. In fact, the reformers would say it's pro-Chinese. It will help their economy, not hurt their economy," he added.

Negotiators hope to iron out remaining differences on other issues including Beijing's subsidies to state-owned firms and policies to build up Chinese companies in strategic sectors.

"In our conversations with the US government they've indicated that subsidies which create an uneven playing field between foreign and domestic companies are most definitely something that continues to be negotiated," said Jacob Parker, vice president of the US-China Business Council.

"I suspect this is one of the areas China is pushing back on, (and) it remains a core of the negotiations," Parker said.

When Li presented the government's 2019 policy plans earlier this month, he made no mention of its controversial Made in China 2025 industrial policy, which had called for Chinese firms to take control of many strategic industries.

A LACK OF TRUST

Still analysts say Beijing's push for self-reliance and indigenous innovation will continue in practice.

Foreign tech companies have also long been locked out of China's market with many services such as Google, Facebook and Amazon blocked or facing restrictions.

Beijing has yet to give in to demands for greater market access to foreign cloud computing providers or loosen restrictions on overseas data transfer, the Financial Times reported this week.

At a recent forum on the issue, Chinese academics and bureaucrats criticised related US policies.

"China does not trust the US government... we don't believe that once our data is in America, the US government will handle it appropriately," said Xu Chengjin of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

American lawmakers and regulators have expressed similar concern about sharing US data with Chinese firms.

The two sides also need to resolve when to remove the punitive tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of goods and how to enforce any deal.

"The question will be the details and enforceability," Lighthizer said, outlining a mechanism for US companies facing problems in China to bring cases to the US Trade Representative for discussion with Chinese officials.

"They're committed to do this, but it's going to be a question of whether they can get all the layers of government, I think, to follow through," he said.

Premier Li also mentioned creating a mechanism for foreign firms to protest against government decisions in his speech.
Talks between Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and President of the Moroccan House of Representatives Habib El Malki in Rabat on Thursday. - VNA/VNS Photo

The Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Moroccan Ministry of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development inked a document on co-operation in environment and sustainable development.

Moroccan Minister Aziz Rabbah said that as a developing nation, his country pays special attention to sustainable development and building a green economy. With the signing of this document, Vietnam and Morocco will become companions in the fight against climate change and the promotion of sustainable development.

He also stressed the importance of stronger co-operation in this area between the two countries, saying both sides need to realise the deals signed this time for the sake of sustainable development and future generations.

Vietnamese Minister Tran Hong Ha said that like Morocco, Vietnam is a beautiful country with many natural wonders and a stable and secure political environment. However, the strong development process is posing problems to sustainable development. The country defines developing a green and sustainable economy as an important task which needs the two countries co-operation.

Also on Thursday, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Moroccan Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and the Digital Economy signed a MoU on establishing a sub-committee for co-operation in commerce and industry (SCCCI). The SCCCI aims to promote win-win commercial and industrial partnerships.

The two ministries also inked another MoU, in which both sides agreed to enhance collaboration in trade and industry so as to bolster bilateral trade and the exchange of industrial knowledge and technology. They will increase the sharing of information about business opportunities, especially for commodities with high trading potential like agricultural and aquatic products, textiles and garments, footwear, mobile phones and components, computers, electronic products and components, phosphate and coal.

They will also share their experiences with trade and industry development mechanisms and policies, promote investment in and the establishment of joint ventures and boost worker training to develop industrial and technical sectors.

The two sides agreed to set up a Vietnam-Morocco working group for commercial and industrial co-operation to resolve joint issues. They will also work out new strategies for enhancing commercial and industrial relations.
Influential figures in Washington are calling for the establishment of a bilateral free-trade agreement with Taiwan, even as U.S. and Chinese officials move toward a resolution of their long-running trade dispute.



"We have a lot of issues with Beijing, and a lot of opportunities with Taiwan," said Edwin J. Feulner in an interview with VOA. Feulner is the founder and former president of the Heritage Foundation, an influential think tank in Washington known for its conservative views and ties with the Republican Party.



Feulner thinks trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing will most likely conclude within 60 days, at which point a full-force push for a bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan could begin. Those talks would be "more or less independent of what's going on with bilateral negotiations with Beijing," he said.

WATCH: Feulner: Taiwan Not Seen by Administration as 'Bargaining Chip'

Feulner predicted "huge bipartisan support on Capitol Hill" for such an agreement. "Both Republican and Democrat, both House and Senate members, are overwhelmingly positive that a free China can exist, and can be there in the world community today," he said.

WATCH: Feulner: 'We Intend to Strengthen Our Friends'

However, any such deal could be expected to anger authorities in Beijing, who see Taiwan as a renegade Chinese province and adamantly oppose any initiatives that treat the island as an independent country or entity.



The international community has seen how Beijing tries to make Taiwan pay for any inroads it makes toward international recognition, said Scott W. Harold, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, a global policy research group. But Beijing's problem, he said, "is that they've dialed the pain up so high, so often, that it's hard to see what more they can do."

On Wednesday, Feulner invited Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen to participate by Skype in a conference at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Tsai, on a stopover in Hawaii after visiting three Indo-Pacific nations that still maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, told the audience her government was enthusiastic about the prospect of bilateral trade talks with the U.S.

"If we can have a breakthrough in trade with the U.S., this will be very helpful in terms of encouraging many other trading partners to do the same," she said, adding that a trade deal with the United States would reduce Taipei's reliance on China "as they increase their political influence in Taiwan, primarily using economic actors."

Tsai expressed hope that talks with Washington will include discussion about Taiwan's role in the global high-tech supply chain "amid concerns of technology theft and control over 5G networks" by Beijing.



Two prominent members of the U.S. Congress joined Feulner in welcoming Tsai to the U.S. and expressed their support for a bilateral free-trade agreement. Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, a Republican and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, called the pursuit of a bilateral free-trade agreement with Taiwan "imperative."



Common values

Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the most senior Republican on its subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation, told Tsai and the audience that "trade is important between our nations, but more important than that is our common belief in the values we hold, the democracies that we have together. That in itself is the thing that really binds us together."



Steve Yates, former U.S. government official and longtime observer of U.S.-Taiwan relations, told VOA that President Donald Trump has "unhesitatingly signed" a series of resolutions and bills in support of closer ties between Washington and Taipei. To him, this signals it might be time "for the administration and Congress to be able to cross that bridge and get some results."
((PKG)) PIA  SHAHROOZ SHEKARAUBI

((Banner: Connecting Through Art))

((Executive Producer: Marsha James))

((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))

((Map: New Orleans, Louisiana))

((Courtesy: Shahrooz Shekaraubi))

((Shahrooz Shekaraubi, Founder & Director, Aftab Committee))

We immigrated here when I was a year old to Virginia and that was when things were kind of changing domestically in Iran. We decided to go back for a trip, my mother, myself, my brother and through that trip, I had an epiphany about who I was and what I wanted to do.

((NATS))

((Shahrooz Shekaraubi, Founder & Director, Aftab Committee))

My name is Shahrooz Shekaraubi and I am the founder and director of the Aftab Committee. We empower Iranian- American artists through facilitating different types of events, whether it's art exhibits, comedy shows, concerts, etc. but also as a means for it to be a bridge between these artists, their art, and the Iranian-American community with other communities here in the United States.

((NATS))

((Courtesy: The Aftab Committee))

((Shahrooz Shekaraubi, Founder & Director, Aftab Committee))

So, the name Aftab in the Persian language means sunlight and that was the vision behind the nonprofit organization, was like, just like sunlight, it doesn't really directly interfere with the growth of what it's helping them grow, but it's a source for positivity and growth.

((NATS))

((Courtesy: The Aftab Committee))

((Shahrooz Shekaraubi, Founder & Director, Aftab Committee))

The Aftab Committee supports all artists that are Iranian- American. So, it doesn't matter if they are comedians, musicians, visual artists. Everyone is doing something and what's been really interesting is that every day, I come across three or four new artists that I didn't know existed. Each artist is different, each artist is unique, so each time an artist comes to us for support, we sit down and have a long conversation with them to kind of try to figure out what they really want to achieve. And then often with the newly arrived artists that just moved here from Iran, the advice I give them is to try to really indulge themselves in American life as a means to better adapt to navigating their career here in the States.

((NATS))

((Courtesy: The Aftab Committee))

((Shahrooz Shekaraubi, Founder & Director, Aftab Committee))

A lot of our success is that actually the changing atmosphere and environment here, just within the United States. A lot of people are curious about the Iranian-American community and then art that maybe being created within the community. We had a collaboration with Prizm Art Fair and Prizm Art Fair is the largest African Diaspora Art Festival, located in Miami, Florida. They created a space for artists on behalf of Aftab to be present at events and so this is our opportunity for the Iranian-American community and the African-American community to kind of create to learn about each other's communities through art where, I think, is the best tool to bring people together.

((NATS))

((Courtesy: 2018 Prizm Art Fair))

((Shahrooz Shekaraubi, Founder & Director, Aftab Committee))

A lot of times these artists are not only sharing their own human experience, but they reflect to a certain extent, experiences of their own communities, whether it's the Iranian-American community or whatever other community you may be in. So, because it's genuine when people come to a space where data is being presented, there's an energy that helps people kind of connect.

((NATS))

((Courtesy: The Aftab Committee))


((PKG)) GARY SINESE FOUNDATION

((Banner: An Actors Service))

((Reporter/Camera: Kane Farabaugh))

((Map: Chicago, Illinois))

((NATS))

((Bryan Anderson, Iraq War Veteran))

And most people pre-911 join the military to get college money or to get out of a bad situation or to get an extraordinary life or whatever. That's why I joined was to go see things, see the world. When September 11 happened, that day, we got on the buses, and we were driving to Fort Leonard Wood. I, kind of, thought that recruits would be like, Oh, no, what did I do? I got to figure out a way to get out of this, and it was the exact opposite. It was, you know, it really sucks that our country got attacked but at least we get to be the ones to do something about it. We get to be the tip of that spear and we felt good about that. October 23, 2005. That's the date that I got blown up.

((NATS))

((Bryan Anderson, Iraq War Veteran))

I still smoke, can't be too mad at it because it, kind of, saved my right hand.

How so?

((Bryan Anderson, Iraq War Veteran))

When I got blown up, I had both of my hands on the bottom of the steering wheel, and right before the explosion went off, I took my hand off, grabbed a cigarette, stuck in my mouth. When I want to go light it, the explosion happened and it took the whole bottom of the steering wheel on my left hand off. My legs were laying on the floorboard. My hand was in the passenger seat. Soldiers don't think about coming back halfway. You either think you're going to make it or you're not. It literally felt like three seconds from the time that I closed my eyes to the time I opened them again, and when I opened them, my moms face was there and I'm like, mom, whoa, what are you doing here? She's like, no, no, it's okay. You had an accident. I'm like, I know an accident. What the heck you're doing here? She goes, its seven days later, and you're at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. I am like, what? And I'm waking up as a triple amputee and I'm kind of like, okay, now what? I didn't know what life was going to be like? What kind of quality of life I was going to have? At Walter Reed, there are a lot of pure visitors or celebrity visitors. At the time, I was practicing walking on prosthetic legs. I'm trying to like, excuse me, excuse me, can I get by, can I get by? I fell forward and I landed right into somebody and I grabbed his chest and he stood strong and he held me up and I pushed back and I stand up and I'm like Gary Sinise, and he's like the real Lieutenant Dan.

((NATS))

((Bryan Anderson, Iraq War Veteran))

And let me tell you something about Lieutenant Dan.

((Courtesy: Forrest Gump, Paramount Pictures))

((MOVIE NATS))

Forrest.

I never thanked you for saving my life.

((NATS))

((Gary Sinise, Actor; Founder, Gary Sinise Foundation))

On the news every night, there were casualty reports from Vietnam and guys just a little bit older than I was were off at war, getting shot at, and then they were coming home to a nation that was torn apart, and there were protests on college campuses, and it was just a terrible time for the army, terrible time for our military. And I learned a lot, you know, in those 70s and 80s. And so, I started supporting local Vietnam Veterans groups in the 80s. Then the 90s came along and I got the audition to play a Vietnam veteran.

((MOVIE NATS))

((Gary Sinise, Actor; Founder, Gary Sinise Foundation))

And about four weeks after the movie came out, I got a call from the Disabled American Veterans. They are the largest, sort of, nonprofit advocacy group for wounded veterans that's out there. They have almost 2 million members, wounded veterans. They wanted to give me an award. I walked out on stage and the ballroom was filled with over 2000 wounded veterans, and they were cheering for Lieutenant Dan and the guy who played Lieutenant Dan.

((Courtesy: Forrest Gump, Paramount Pictures))

((MOVIE NATS))

He never actually said so, but I think he made his peace with God.

((NATS))

((Bryan Anderson, Iraq War Veteran))

From that point on, I stayed actively involved with the DAV, and then September 11 happened and I just dove in full force.

((NATS))

Alright, we are here live with Gary Sinise.

((Gary Sinise, Actor; Founder, Gary Sinise Foundation))

I just felt compelled to support our active duty service members responding to the attacks of September 11 to try to ensure that what happened to our Vietnam veterans wouldn't happen to them, that they would go off to war, responding to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda and the attacks on our country, and then they would return and feel appreciated.

((Courtesy: Gary Sinise Foundation))

And we must do all we can to meet the critical needs of our defenders.

((NATS))

((Gary Sinise, Actor; Founder, Gary Sinise Foundation))

Theres a program we have at the Gary Sinise Foundation, called RISE - Restoring Independence, Supporting Empowerment. It is there to provide especially adapted the housing, adapted vehicles to our wounded.

((NATS))

((Courtesy: Gary Sinise Foundation))

((Gary Sinise, Actor; Founder, Gary Sinise Foundation))

You volunteered to serve your country.

I've been involved in building over 70 some houses for badly wounded serviceman. All the origins of the programs are documented in Grateful American and where they came from.

((NATS))

((Courtesy: Gary Sinise Foundation))

((Gary Sinise, Actor; Founder, Gary Sinise Foundation))

There's so much in the book. It really is a journey from self to service, and it's not, I don't mean selfish or anything like that by that. I just mean, in the early days, my career that's documented in the book, I had a singular focus on my acting, my directing, and my theatre company, and I thought I would write a book about how I got to the service work and trace those steps, and the importance of the veterans and my family, and the seeds that were planted along the way, to get us to what has become the Gary Sinise Foundation.

((NATS))

((Courtesy: Gary Sinise Foundation))

Let's welcome Gary Sinise and the Lieutenant Dan band.

((NATS))

((Bryan Anderson, Iraq War Veteran))

He's a humble guy too. Hed probably respond that we can never do enough. I'm just trying to do my little part. I got the sense that he felt a little guilty that he never served and that he took the path that he did. But I tried to tell him, look, we all serve in our own ways and we do the best we can, and you're more of a patriot than some of the guys that I've served with, and so, I want him to know that just because he didn't serve doesn't mean he's not serving or isn't like probably one of the best biggest patriots in our country.

((NATS))

((Courtesy: Gary Sinise Foundation))

((Gary Sinise, Actor; Founder, Gary Sinise Foundation))

No beans??

No.

Lieutenant Dans beans.
Mexico is bracing for the possible arrival of the mother of all caravans, even as doubts arise over whether the group of Central American migrants will be all that big.

Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero has said a caravan of migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala could be forming.

We have information that a new caravan is forming in Honduras, that theyre calling the mother of all caravans, and they are thinking it could have more than 20,000 people, Sanchez Cordero said Wednesday.

But a WhatsApp group calling for people to gather Saturday in El Salvador to set off for Guatemala only has about 206 members.

Activists: False reports used to create fear

Activist Irineo Mujica, who has accompanied several caravans in Mexico, said reports about the mother of all caravans were false, claiming this is information that (U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen) Nielsen is using to create fear.

His group, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said in a statement there was no evidence the new caravan would be that large, noting there has never been a caravan of the size that Sanchez Cordero mentioned. Indeed, past caravans hit very serious logistical hurdles at 7,000-strong.

She and others suspect the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump may be trying to fan fears of a big caravan to turn the U.S. national agenda back to the immigration issue.

Honduran activist Bartolo Fuentes, who accompanied a large caravan last year, dismissed the new reports as part of the U.S. governments plans, something made up to justify their actions.

A caravan of about 2,500 Central Americans and Cubans is currently making its way through Mexicos southern state of Chiapas. The largest of last years caravans in Mexico contained about 7,000 people at its peak, though some estimates ran as high as 10,000 at some points.

Mexico eager not to anger US

Mexico appears to be both tiring of the caravans and eager not to anger the United States. It has stopped granting migrants humanitarian visas at the border, and towns along the well-traveled route to Mexico City sometimes no longer allow caravans to spend the night.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday that Mexico is doing its part to fight immigrant smuggling.

We are going to do everything we can to help. We dont in any way want a confrontation with the U.S. government, he said. It is legitimate that they are displeased and they voice these concerns.

Sanchez Cordero has pledged to form a police line of containment around Mexicos narrow Tehuantepec Isthmus to stop migrants from continuing north to the U.S. border.

The containment belt would consist of federal police and immigration agents, but such highway blockades and checkpoints have not stopped large and determined groups of migrants in the past.
Russia is trying to influence the outcome of the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine by stirring up division and amplifying negative news stories, according to several analysts who have been monitoring Kremlin propaganda surrounding the March 31 poll.

The first round of voting is set for Sunday, with 39 candidates on the ballot. The second-round runoff will be held three weeks later.

With no overtly pro-Russian candidates taking part in the poll, analysts warn the Kremlin has resorted to using social media and covert influence on Ukrainian media outlets to try to disrupt the election.

Since the revolution of 2014, Ukraine has turned decisively to the West, as Kyiv seeks European Union and NATO membership. However, Moscow isn't giving up and sees the election as just the latest in a series of strategic battles, said analyst Vladislav Inozemtsev, director of the Moscow Center for Post-Industrial Studies and author of a recent report, Kremlin-linked Forces in Ukraine's 2019 Elections.

'Second revenge'

"In 2004, in 2005, it was the first defeat," Inozemtsev told VOA in a recent interview. "They got some kind of revenge in 2010 when [Viktor] Yanukovich was elected. Then of course there was nothing to do actually in 2014, because it was absolutely sure that the pro-European forces will win. And now we have a kind of second revenge which can be achieved if the Kremlin's politics is quite wise and comprehensive."

Ukraine has ejected many Russian television channels and Kremlin-linked political figures, and has blocked pro-Moscow propaganda sites on the internet and social media. Yevgen Fedchenko, co-founder of the organization Stopfake.org, which was set up to highlight disinformation coming from Russia, said the Kremlin has looked for new channels of influence.

"They are looking more and more to find new outlets that can be used, including Facebook, as one of the platforms, but also trying to influence the Ukrainian media, through just buying them or influencing their editorial policies or influencing just individual journalists," he said.

The head of Information Security at Ukraine's Security Service, Oleksandr Klymchuk, said the government has been proactive in countering that influence.

"We provided Facebook with information about 2,000 fake accounts and bots. They have already been blocked. Within the last two weeks we have provided information about 40,000 more bots," Klymchuk said.



Objective seen as division

Fedchenko said Moscow's strategy was no longer to support a single candidate, but to sow division.

"For them, the most important thing is that anyone but [Petro] Poroshenko can be president," he said. "So they used to endorse some candidates, including those who will be running against Poroshenko  the closest ones, like [Yulia] Tymoshenko, like [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy  during different periods of time. But also they try to create the atmosphere of chaos, and try to portray Ukraine as a kind of chaotic place where you just cannot have elections."

The rise of comedian-turned-politician Volodymyr Zelenskiy has taken Russia by surprise, Inozemtsev said.



"[The] Zelenskiy factor shows that Ukrainian politics now asks for new names," he said. "And on the Kremlin side there is none, because the people in Moscow used to work and collaborate only with the existing politicians."



The Kremlin denies trying to interfere in the election and says the accusations are part of a political campaign designed to win votes.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr said on Friday the Justice Department is preparing a redacted version of the special counsel's nearly 400-page confidential report on the Russia investigation and will be in a position to release it by mid-April, if not sooner.

In a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, Barr wrote that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is assisting the Justice Department in scrubbing the report of secret grand jury material and other confidential information.

"Our progress is such that I anticipate we will be in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner," Barr wrote in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina.

But Barr said he does not plan to share the report with the White House to get President Donald Trump's greenlight, noting that Trump has left it up to him to release it in whatever form he deems appropriate.

"Although the president would have the right to assert privilege over certain parts of the report, he has stated publicly that he intends to defer to me and, accordingly, there are no plans to submit the report to the White House for a privilege review," Barr wrote.

Congress is out for a two-week spring break from April 12 to April 28, making it likely the report could be delivered when lawmakers are out of town.

Mueller concluded his 22-month investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election last Friday, writing in a final report to the attorney general that he had found no evidence that Trump or anyone associated with his 2016 presidential campaign had conspired with the Russian government to change the vote on Trump's behalf, according to a summary of the report Barr released Sunday to Congress. But Mueller left unresolved the question of whether Trump had obstructed the investigation.

The attorney general drew fire from Democrats and other critics for "summarizing" in just four pages a report that is hundreds of pages long, and determining that Trump did not obstruct justice because he'd not been involved in an "underlying crime" in connection with the Russian election interference efforts.

Barr's pledge to release the Mueller report came after the chairmen of six committees in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives gave the attorney general until April 2 to disclose the complete report and to start handing over underlying evidence Mueller used to write it.

In a statement Friday, Nadler said that deadline still stands.

"As I informed the Attorney General earlier this week, Congress requires the full and complete Mueller report, without redactions, as well as access to the underlying evidence, by April 2," Nadler said.

Trump has repeatedly called Barr's summary of the Mueller report a "total exoneration" of the president and has said it would be fine with him if the report was made public.

In his letter to Nadler and Graham, Barr said he's available to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1 and before the House judiciary panel on May 2.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Friday in Florida that Venezuela is "a big fat mess," on a day when other White House officials hinted that economic sanctions may be on the way.

Trump took questions from reporters on a wide range of subjects Friday afternoon, including on what the United States will do about Venezuela.

"Venezuela is a big fat mess," Trump said. "Electricity's gone, power's gone, gasoline for cars. When you talk about socialism, take a look at Venezuela."

Earlier Friday, the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has a list of options, including economic sanctions, for dealing with the presence of Russian troops in Venezuela. Two Russian air force planes landed outside Caracas last Saturday and were believed to be carrying Russian military personnel and equipment.

"I would just say that we have options and that I think it would be a mistake for the Russians to think they have a free hand here," Abrams told reporters Friday at the State Department.

Asked about Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's announcement this week that opposition leader Juan Guaido is banned from Venezuelan politics for the next 15 years, Abrams said, "I don't imagine that Juan Guaido is deeply worried, because the Maduro regime  while it might be around in 15 days, [it] is not going to be around in 15 years. So it's a ludicrous effort on the part of the regime to keep Mr. Guaido quiet."

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton spoke to Reuters news service Friday afternoon, just hours after issuing a statement warning other countries not to send military resources to Venezuela.

Questioned about economic sanctions on Venezuela, which were mentioned by the U.S. envoy to Venezuela just hours earlier, Bolton said "we're considering what options to follow through on."

"We're not afraid to use the phrase 'Monroe Doctrine' in this administration," Bolton said, referencing a U.S. policy from 1823 that guarded against foreign interference and colonization.

He said any sanctions on Venezuela would be designed "to prevent the Maduro regime from being able to finance itself."

Humanitarian aid

Meanwhile, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has announced it will begin distributing humanitarian aid in Venezuela, where food, medical supplies, and other necessities are scarce.

The head of the Red Cross, Francesco Rocco, told reporters in Caracas the organization will not allow political interference to keep it from doing its job.

He said the Red Cross should be ready to begin distribution in two weeks. "We hope to help 650,000 people at first," he said.

Aid supplies have been stockpiled just outside the Venezuelan borders in Colombia and Brazil. Maduro has refused to let the aid into the country.

Guaido in February tried to deliver aid to Venezuelans, staging the deliveries in Colombia and Brazil. But Maduro called the efforts an attempted invasion by the United States. Security forces refused the supplies and clashed with protesters at the borders.

Military support

Also Friday, the White House warned nations, including Russia, to not send military resources to Venezuela, while condemning disputed President Maduro's "continued use of foreign military personnel in his attempt to remain in power.

"Maduro will only use this military support to further repress the people of Venezuela; perpetuate the economic crisis that has destroyed Venezuela's economy; and endanger regional stability," Bolton said. "We call on the Venezuelan military to uphold its constitutional duty to protect the citizens of Venezuela."

The White House national security adviser also said the United States "strongly" cautions actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela or elsewhere in the hemisphere, with the intent of establishing military operations. The statement says any such actions would be viewed as a "direct threat" to regional security.

On Wednesday, Trump told a reporter several times, "All options are open," in response to a question about whether the United States is willing to put "boots on the ground" to remove the Russians. Trump added that Moscow is well-aware of the U.S. stance.
The Chicago city government will seek $130,000 from Jussie Smollett to cover the cost of the investigation into his report of an attack that police say was staged to promote his career, city officials said Thursday.

A spokesman for the city's legal department, Bill McCaffrey, confirmed the amount after Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the city would try to recoup the money from the Empire actor.

Hours earlier, President Donald Trump tweeted that the FBI and the Department of Justice would review the outrageous case, calling it an embarrassment to the country.

Prosecutors infuriated Emanuel and the police chief this week when they abruptly dropped 16 felony counts that accused Smollett of making a false police report about being the target of a racist, anti-gay attack in January.

Smollett has maintained his innocence and insisted that the attack was real.

The prosecution offered little explanation for the dismissal and sealed the case, but authorities still say the actor concocted the assault. Prosecutors offered no additional information Thursday during a court hearing where media attorneys argued that the public has a right to know what happened.

Trump tweeted: FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!

The Justice Department sometimes brings federal cases after state prosecutors have declined to file charges, including after police shootings that the federal government believes might constitute civil rights violations. But department policy generally restricts prosecutors from bringing federal charges after state charges have been resolved, unless they can establish that the potential crime at issue is a federal one and involves a substantial federal interest.

Investigators believe Smollett, who is black and gay, hired two brothers to stage the Jan. 29 attack in downtown Chicago and that Smollett hoped the attention would help advance his career. Police also allege that before the attack, Smollett sent a letter threatening himself to the Chicago television studio where Empire is shot.

The FBI, which is investigating that letter, has declined to comment.

Smollett attorney Tina Glandian said the two brothers are lying. She said Smollett had hired one brother as a personal trainer but had no idea who attacked him along a Chicago street until the brothers were later identified by police.

Smollett has repeatedly said the two masked men shouted slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck and poured a substance on him. He also told detectives that the attackers yelled that he was in MAGA country, an apparent reference to Trump's Make America Great Again campaign slogan, police said.

Prosecutors initially charged Smollett with one felony count in February. A grand jury indicted him on 15 more counts earlier this month. But in a stunning reversal Tuesday, prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges, just five weeks after the allegations were filed.

In return, prosecutors said, the actor agreed to let the city keep his $10,000 in bail.

During Thursday's court hearing, prosecutors promised to notify media outlets if Smollett's lawyers tried to expunge his record. But lawyers for major news organizations, including The Associated Press, told the judge that the case has not been transparent.

The public is entitled to know what happened and what's happening in this proceeding, media attorney Natalie Spears argued.

Judge LeRoy Martin said court proceedings had followed the law and that there was no nefariousness.

In an interview with Chicago television station WGN, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx said Wednesday that the law allows Smollett to have his police records sealed, but that the court files should never have been sealed. She said she believes it was done in error but that should not have happened.

Also among those sure to keep pressing for answers is Emanuel. He appeared blindsided by the decision to drop the charges and visibly angry during a Tuesday news conference where he called the decision a whitewash of justice

Foxx recused herself before Smollett was charged because she had discussed the case with a Smollett family member. The case was then handed to First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats.

On Wednesday, the ex-chief of staff for former first lady Michelle Obama said she approached Foxx regarding the case on behalf of the actor's family. Tina Tchen released a statement saying she's a friend of Smollett's family and knows Foxx from prior work together.

Tchen said her sole activity was to put the prosecutor in touch with an alleged victim's family. Tchen said the Smollett family had concerns about how the investigation was being characterized in public.

Email and text messages that Foxx's office provided to the Chicago Sun-Times show Tchen contacted Foxx to set up a telephone conversation with the Smollett relative. Foxx told the Sun-Times the relative expressed concerns over leaked information.

Foxx told the Chicago Tribune that she regretted dealing with the relative in the investigation's early phases.
The crisis at the U.S. southern border deepens as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen turns to Congress for help while President Donald Trump threatens again to shut it down.

In a letter to Congress Thursday, Nielsen asked for faster deportation of unaccompanied migrant children from Central America, as well as the ability to detain families while they await their day in court. Noting that Congress has tasked DHS with taking "operational control of the border," Nielsen wrote that "we are increasingly unable to uphold that responsibility given the emergency situation."

In her letter Nielsen said that this month, DHS is on track to apprehend nearly 100,000 migrants.

"We face a cascading crisis at our southern border," Nielsen said in a statement. "The system is in free fall. DHS is doing everything possible to respond to a growing humanitarian catastrophe while also securing our borders, but we have reached peak capacity and are now forced to pull from other missions to respond to the emergency."

"The system was not built for this. Our laws are just not built for this," a senior DHS official said of the current arrival numbers at the border, during a call with reporters Friday afternoon.

DHS has repeatedly attributed logistical challenges at the southern border to a shift in demographics  with an increasing number of families arriving, compared with single men in earlier waves. By law, families can be detained for only a limited time. Nielsen is asking Congress to extend that.

She is also asking that children from Central America be treated the same way as Mexican children, who may be returned to their home country if they "have no legal right to stay."

In the meantime, DHS is planning to pull hundreds of customs agents from ports of entry to aid in detainee processing, the agency announced Thursday. It has also asked for employees from across the department to volunteer for temporary placement to work at the border.

Friday, for the second day in a row, Trump called in a tweet for shutting down the border if Mexico does not immediately stop all illegal immigration to the U.S.

Later in the day, Trump reiterated his tweets during remarks in Florida. "So Mexico's tough, they can stop them, but they chose not to, and if they don't stop them, we're closing the border. And we'll keep it closed for a long time. I'm not playing games."

Asked whether the agency intended  as Trump threatened  to close ports of entry, the DHS official demurred, saying "it's short at the moment of a full closure of any port."

The official added that the reassignment of customs officers to detention work at the border could reduce the flow of vehicles and pedestrians through ports, however, and cause delays.

"What the president is making clear," the official said, is that if the agency has to close ports of entry, "we will do that," making the issue a possibility, rather than a fully made decision.
China has launched a month-long nationwide probe into hazardous chemicals, mines, transportation, and fire safety one week after a chemical plant explosion in eastern Jiangsu province killed 78 people.

Observers say that will put the worlds largest chemical industry under tighter scrutiny and regulation of the management of hazardous chemicals to prevent similar man-made disasters from happening again.

Some argue the sectors malpractice and corruption is so deeply-rooted, however, that any quick-fix measures are unlikely to change the blood-stained growth pattern of the industry.

Ongoing probe

Authorities continue investigating the cause of last Fridays blast in Chenjiagan Industrial Park in Xiangshui county, which injured another 600 people.

State media reported that a manufacturing facility belonging to Tianjiayi Chemical Co that contained benzene, a highly flammable chemical, has been linked to the blast.

Tianjiayi Chemical is a pesticide maker and producer of more than 30 chemical compounds. In February, the State Administration of Work Safety found 13 types of safety risks at the factory, including the mishandling of toxic benzene tanks.

According to local environmental protection bureaus, the producer has rolled up more than $262,000 in fines since 2016 for breaches of environmental regulations.

The explosion in Xiangshui has uncovered much negligence in law enforcement. For example, the staffs [lack of] qualifications [in managing hazardous chemicals], said Cao Mingde, professor of law, environment legislation at the China University of Political Science and Law.

Also," he added, "two top executives of Tianjiayi Chemical who have been convicted of violations of environment pollution and illegal management of hazardous chemicals, should have been banned from undertaking similar business ventures for a minimum period of two years.

Lessons not learned

Mingde said a sweeping overhaul of Chinas chemical sector is much needed, with an urgency to facilitate legislation governing the management of hazardous chemicals and tighten regulations to ensure strict enforcement.

Similar calls, though, were heard in the wake of the 2015 blast in Tianjin that took 173 lives.

But few lessons appear to have been learned as statistics show that 620 chemical accidents have occurred over the past three years, claiming a total of 728 lives.

There is an urgent need to enact the Dangerous Chemical Safety Law and bring systemic change to chemical management, said Greenpeace East Asia toxics campaigner Deng Tingting in an email to VOA.

She noted that a national law, which was proposed after the Tianjin explosion, is still being drafted. The law has been slowed because of government restructuring and resistance from industries.

After the Tianjin blast, the investigative body proposed using market mechanisms to encourage better management, increasing transparency, and improving the legal system. But she said few of those suggestions have been implemented.

Illicit industries

Citing the matters sensitivity, a representative at Jiangsu Chemical Industry Association and a chemistry engineering professor, contacted by VOA, refused to comment.

An industry insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, blamed illicit businesses, saying the government cant possibly monitor the countrys 26,000-strong chemical producers 24/7 like a babysitter.

He also argued that the minimum distance between a chemical plant and a residential area, currently at 500 meters by law, should be flexible in accordance with the risk level a chemical plant poses.

Both Cao and Deng urged increasing the minimum distance as it seems insufficient to prevent risks after several schools and kindergartens, located two kilometers away from the Jiangsu blast site, were found to have been affected. Estimates show that one-third of the countrys chemical producers are set up in densely-populated areas.

Blood-stained industry

Wu Lihong, a long-time environmental activist in Jiangsu, is pessimistic about pledges to overhaul the sector. He claimed local officials not only cut corners, but also take bribes and collude with businesses to maximize the provinces or their own personal gains.

The province has the highest number of chemical producers with approximately 4,500.

Over the past decade, Jiangsu has made one of the largest financial contributions to the central government," said Wu. "It serves as a cash cow for the central government. So, businesses go to authorities, who will cut corners for them by lowering environmental standards or making their trouble go away, even if an explosion is involved.

Making things worse, the sectors financially-disadvantaged workers often side with their business owners in fending off environmentalists or reporters, who try to bring their malpractice or pollution to light.

Workers at chemical plants [are fully aware that] their own health is at risk, but they are given a salary level, which is 35 to 50 percent higher than that of their peers in the shoemaking and metal hardware industries," Wu said. "So, many take up the chores, putting incomes before their health. People in the poor county of Xiangshui [are short-sighted and] would prefer to be poisoned to death than starved to death,

Any whistleblowers there will be violently suppressed or even imprisoned, he said.

This is something he knows from personal experience; Wu previously served a three-year jail term when a local court enacted retribution for his 10-year crusade against pollution in the Jiangsu's Lake Tai.
Democrats intensified their demands for Robert Mueller's full report after learning the special counsel's findings from his Trump-Russia investigation run to more than 300 pages, while President Donald Trump boasted of total exoneration based on a four-page summary by his attorney general.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler was told by Attorney General William Barr that there's no intention of giving the confidential report to Congress immediately as he redacts grand jury testimony and other elements.

Democrats say they may subpoena the report if it's not forthcoming by their Tuesday deadline, which Barr has said will not be met.

Through the day, tempers were rising on Capitol Hill.

Shaking her fist for emphasis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Barr's summary, which cleared Trump of campaign collusion with Russia and criminal obstruction of Mueller's federal probe, was "condescending" and "arrogant."

"Mr. Attorney General," she said, "show us the report and we'll come to our own conclusions." She asked what Trump and the Republicans were afraid of and mocked them as "scaredy-cats."

Trump himself headed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a Thursday campaign rally, where he deemed the probe "the greatest hoax in the history of our country" and warned that those behind it "would be held accountable."

"After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is dead," Trump told a packed house of roaring supporters. "This was nothing more than a sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people."

The length of Mueller's still-confidential report makes clear that there are substantially more details that he and his team have documented in their investigation than Barr disclosed to Congress and the public. The volume of pages was described Thursday by a Justice Department official and another person familiar with the document.

The Justice Department official said Barr discussed the length of the report during a phone call Wednesday with Nadler, who would only indicate it was less than 1,000 pages.

Both the department official and the other person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the document.

Barr would not commit to providing the full report with its underlying evidence, according to a House Democratic aide granted anonymity Thursday to brief reporters.

The attorney general has been going through the report amid Democratic concerns that what has been made public so far was tilted in Trump's favor. It's unclear whether whatever Barr might release next will be Mueller's own words or another summary. Nadler offered to join Barr to seek a judge's approval to unseal grand jury testimony, the aide said.

Barr has said he'll provide Congress with at least a partial version in April and told Nadler he would agree to testify before his committee.

'No faith' in Schiff

As that battle brews, House Democrats barreled ahead with their own investigation of the Trump administration, and Trump resumed his attack on Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., just as the chairman of the intelligence committee was about to gavel his panel into session.

"Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress!" Trump tweeted early Thursday.

Republicans picking up on Trump's complaints formalized their demand that Schiff resign as chairman of the intelligence panel over his comments that there was significant evidence the president and his associates conspired with Russia.

"We have no faith in your ability to discharge your responsibilities" in line with the Constitution, the Republicans wrote to Schiff in a missive they read aloud at the hearing.

Republicans pointed to Barr's synopsis, released Sunday, that said Mueller's probe didn't find that Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Schiff stood by his remarks, listing the meetings that people in Trump's circle had with Russians. He noted Trump's pursuit of a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

"There is a different word for that than collusion, and it's called compromise," Schiff said, as he opened the session. The hearing was called to provide an overview on how Russia in the past has blackmailed Americans.

Since Barr's findings were released, Schiff this week has repeated his assertion that evidence of collusion is in "plain sight." He says Mueller's failure to find a criminal conspiracy with Russia does not absolve the Trump campaign.

Pelosi stood by Schiff, saying she was proud of him and taunting Republicans  including Trump  for fearing the chairman, whom she called a "patriotic leader."

"What is the president afraid of, Is he afraid of the truth?" she said. "They're just scaredy-cats."

'Political operative for president'

Democrats complain that Barr overstepped by making the determination, with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, that Trump did not obstruct the investigation.

While Barr's summary Sunday said Mueller did not find that the Trump campaign "conspired or coordinated" with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election, it also said Mueller reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed the federal investigation, instead setting out "evidence on both sides" of the question.

"I would hope the attorney general would not be acting as a political operative for the president," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the Judiciary Committee. "The Department of Justice should not be involved in a cover-up of what's actually in the report."

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Wednesday he was disappointed Barr would take weeks, not days, to release the report.

"The president has now an opportunity for weeks, it sounds like, to do these victory laps," said Cummings, noting that Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, is among those headed to jail as a result of the probe. "Cohen goes to jail, the president runs a victory lap."

Barr told the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that he's combing through Mueller's report and removing classified, grand jury and other information in hopes of releasing the rest to Congress.

Trump has said he's fine with releasing the findings. "The president said, 'Just let it go,' and that's what's going to happen," Graham said.
Five years after a deadly separatist conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine, the front line between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has become a de-facto border, cutting off a generation of first-time voters from Sunday's presidential election.



Only those who left their homes in the east to live in areas under government control will be able to cast ballots for Ukraine's new president.



Since 2014, a separatist war in Ukraine's industrial heartland of Donetsk and Luhansk has killed more than 13,000 people and has prompted many to seek the relative stability of government-controlled areas.



The mood on both sides has become increasingly entrenched. The people who stayed behind in Donetsk are often viewed in Kyiv as Moscow supporters, while those who fled for the government-controlled areas are sometimes treated as traitors in their hometowns.



The residents of Donetsk and Luhansk were able to vote in Ukraine's last presidential election in May 2014, when Petro Poroshenko was elected president. Election officials and voters were intimidated by separatists who shut down some polling stations but many stayed open. This year, the Ukrainian government has no presence in the rebel region and anyone wanting to vote would have to cross the front line to do so, which could bring retaliation at home.

Ukraine says 35 million people will be able to vote in Sunday's election, but does not say how many of those voters are stuck in separatist regions or in Russian-occupied Crimea.



The Donetsk and Luhansk regions were home to more than 6.5 million people before the war but statistics agencies this year put their current population at 3.7 million. Crimea, annexed by Russia five years ago, has about 2 million people. None of them can vote in their cities and towns.



On a recent morning in Donetsk, a lecturer was teaching a class about the current, chaotic situation in Venezuela, stressing how the United States picks and chooses the regimes they like in the Western hemisphere. The presidential campaign in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where the U.S. has a major footprint, seemed like it was happening in another country.



Maxim Kaluga, who studies international relations at the Donetsk National University, toes the separatist line that the latest Ukrainian presidential election is not legitimate because Ukrainian authorities are oppressing people.



Kaluga was 16 when Russian and Russian-backed gunmen seized the administrative building in his native city of Donetsk, once a bustling commercial center. Several months later, the war was in full swing. One afternoon, his friend nearly died when a bus stop was shelled near Kaluga's house.



That was the scariest thing, he says.

Speaking out in favor of re-uniting with Ukraine is risky in Donetsk, where activists have been detained, tortured and faced bogus charges on suspicion of being Ukrainian government sympathizers. But what is perceived as Ukraine's blockade of the east has also embittered many against the Ukrainian government.



After Russia annexed Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014, Russia threw its weight behind separatists in eastern Ukraine but stopped short of annexing the region. There has been no indication from the Kremlin that Russia wants to annex Donetsk and Luhansk, which are too economically depressed and are nowhere near as predominantly Russian-speaking as Crimea.



Asked if he could see his region returning under the Ukrainian government's rule, the 21-year-old student says they are not compatible anymore.



We're hoping to join Russia or just keep our identity and become an independent state, Kaluga says.



Nearby, in muddy trenches that look like they are straight out of World War I, a 20-year-old soldier who goes by the nom de guerre of Bach patrols the front line, 700 meters (less than half a mile) away from Ukrainian government positions in the Donetsk region.



Hostilities here died down after a tentative peace accord in 2015 but never fully stopped, meaning that thousands of people like him have to man front-line positions on both sides of the unending conflict.



The fighter says many young people in the east are conflicted about the future of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.



Young people are divided here, he says. Some think that we have no prospects on our own or as part of Russia, only as part of Ukraine. Some support the Donetsk republic but are too afraid to fight.

In Kyiv, 18-year-old Ivan, whose family left Luhansk in 2016, studies on a full scholarship at a private college. He hopes to eventually enroll in a university overseas to study waste management, something that is still an obscure concept in Ukraine. His parents have spent all their savings to move to Kyiv.



Living in an unrecognized separatist republic would close too many doors for us, says Ivan, who asked that his last name not be used for fear his relatives in Luhansk would face repercussions.



Ivan is eager to vote in the upcoming presidential election because he is convinced that an individual can make a difference.



I do believe I can make a difference, he said. Every citizen should have a position because if you don't come out, if you don't do anything, nothing will ever change.



Many natives of eastern Ukraine who left feel it is too dangerous for them to come back to the region even for a visit because of their pro-Western views.



Kateryna Savchenko works in radio in Kyiv and acts in a theater collective mostly made up of internal exiles. She left her eastern hometown of Horlivka in 2014 but is optimistic about her future in Ukraine.



I see no room for development there. Things are much better on the Ukrainian side, she says. It's great that in this country we have an opportunity to choose.






President Donald Trump will meet with Egypt President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi next month at the White House.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says in a statement released Friday the leaders on April 9 will discuss bilateral concerns, including conflicts in the region and military, economic and counterterrorism issues.

Egypt under the ex-general has rolled back many freedoms won by the 2011 uprising in the country. El-Sissi has silenced most dissenting voices in the media and restricted civil society groups.

El-Sissi led the military overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, an elected but divisive Islamist whose rule inspired protests. El-Sissi was elected president in 2014 and re-elected to another four-year term last year after challengers were arrested or pressured to withdraw.

El-Sissi's supporters say he needs more time to develop the economy and defeat an Islamic State-led insurgency.
One of Egypts most prominent pro-democracy activists was released from prison early Friday after serving a five-year sentence for inciting and taking part in protests, his family and lawyer said.

Alaa Abdel-Fattah rose to prominence with the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that swept the Middle East and in Egypt, toppled long-time President Hosni Mubarak. To many, his imprisonment three years later  at a time when authorities imposed draconian laws banning public gatherings and unauthorized demonstrations  was another sign of Egypts return to Mubaraks autocratic rule.

Abdel-Fattahs sisters, Mona and Sanaa Seif, posted on Facebook that Alaa is out, along with a video of him at home, playing with a dog. His lawyer, Khaled Ali, confirmed the release by posting: Thanks God, Alaa Abdel-Fattah at home.

Detained several times

An outspoken dissident, Abdel-Fattah was detained several times before. He was sentenced to five years for taking part in a peaceful demonstration following the militarys ouster in July 2013 of Egypts freely elected but controversial Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

After Morsis ouster, Egypts military-backed transitional authorities waged a heavy crackdown on his supporters who had rallied against his ouster, including a sit-in by Islamists in Cairo that was broken up by security forces in an operation that left hundreds dead.

Within weeks, the government also went after secular and liberal activists who opposed a newly introduced law banning street protests without prior permission from authorities. The new law required participants to formally ask the Interior Ministry three days in advance whether they could hold a rally while also setting prison terms and high fines for violators.

Military tribunals

The demonstration that led to Abdel-Fattahs arrest and sentencing was against trials of civilians before military tribunals, known for their swift and harsh rulings.

Security forces raided his house after the protest, beat up his wife and confiscated his laptops but he was not there. He later turned himself in.

I dont deny the charge, he wrote in a statement released at the time. Its an honor to hold responsibility for peoples rallies in defiance of legalizing the return of the rule of Mubarak.
The future for a quarter million refugees in Kenya is uncertain as authorities are threatening once again to close the 25-year-old Daadab camp on the border with Somalia. Rights groups warn refugees face violence and drought if they are forced to return to their home countries.

Twenty-one-year-old Nyamouch James, a South Sudanese refugee living in Daadab, at least, for now, is one of 250,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the camp, the third-largest in the world.

But, according to leaked United Nations documents and Kenyan media, authorities have revived threats to shut down the camp by August, citing security concerns.

Nyamouch said shutting down the camp would amount to punishing thousands of innocent refugees, like herself.

"Its like they are grouping all people on this side of the camp as bad guys," she said. "And they should consider this young generation that is benefiting from free education, free food, free accommodation. They will be messing [up] lives for thousands of people.

Officials argue the camp, home mainly to Somali refugees, breeds insurgents who carry out terror attacks inside Kenya.

The January al-Shabab militant attack on a Nairobi hotel that killed 21 people spurred the latest effort to close Dadaab. Kenyan media report some of the perpetrators were traced to the camp.

But rights groups say closing the camp would not solve Kenyas security problems.

We asked them whether there are any people who are facing prosecution for terrorism or terror related charges and we can trace them to Daadab. They did not have," said Otsieno Namwaya, an Africa Researcher for Human Rights Watch, said

"We also asked them whether there are any cases that are being investigated of people who are related to Daadab," he continued. "They did not have, up to now [they] have never produced any evidence apart from this blanket condemnation. So we dont believe this fear is backed by evidence.

Kenyan authorities declined requests for a comment on the leaked report and the future of the camp.

In a written response to the Kenyan government, The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said it continues to work with them for a lasting solution. The agency said that includes voluntary repatriation, resettlement into third countries, or relocation to the Kakuma refugee camp on the border with South Sudan.

Forcing the refugees to return to violence and drought in their home countries would be inhumane and would violate Kenyas international obligations, said Namwaya.

Kenya has international treaties that it has signed, its own laws that it has passed," he noted"Therefore it has its own international obligations which it is also violating by what they are doing.

Not the first time

This is not the first time the East African nation has threatened to close the Dadaab refugee camp. In 2016, Kenyas interior security ministry announced it would close the camp for reasons that included the environment, economic burden, and national security.

A year later, Kenyas high court stopped those plans, ruling that closing the camp would be unconstitutional and a violation of international obligations.

Kamanda Mucheke, with Kenyas National Commission on Human Rights, which filed the case, said the leaked documents show Kenyan authorities are intent on pushing for the camp to close.

We feel this is a way of circumventing the court order by exerting pressure on UNHCR, he said.

A voluntary repatriation process from 2014 to 2018 helped over 80,000 Somalis in the camp return home. But refugee numbers have remained steady since, according to Kamanda, due to rising violence inside Somalia.
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Hundreds of Haitians protested in Port-au-Prince, Friday, March 29, to protest against corruption and to ask President Jovenel Moise to resign. Some protesters burned tires and threw rocks at cars as they marched through the capital.
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.



Border crisis



Migrants are swamping the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection predicted that the total number of migrants detained after crossing the border in March would be about 100,000. The head of CBP, Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, said Wednesday in El Paso that the "surge numbers are just overwhelming the [U.S.] system."

San Diego County, Calif., is suing the federal government because migrant families are released there with no direction or guidance. The result is chaos.

Shut the border down?



President Donald Trump said he would close the border or parts of it next week if Mexico didn't immediately stop all illegal immigration into the U.S. His latest remarks came via tweets on Friday:

It was the second day in a row that Trump had threatened to close the border, something he had not done since last November.

His tweets were at odds with a new Latin American security accord. The Department of Homeland Security has been finalizing what it calls a regional compact to "stem the flood of irregular migration and develop a regional approach to addressing the ongoing humanitarian and security emergency at our Southern Border."



Liberians



Trump is extending a humanitarian program that allows Liberians to live and work in the U.S. The White House said Thursday that Trump signed a one-year extension of the program for immigrants who came from the African nation to escape environmental disasters and war. The status for thousands of Liberians had been set to expire Sunday.

Tabla for two

A Western woman and an Eastern man make beautiful Afghan music together, both playing the tabla, an Eastern percussion instrument. To Abigail Adams Greenway, the Western half, every note that emerges from the tabla is a "prayer."

"It's mathematically perfect and very meditative," she said.
Iraqi lawmakers are demanding members of the Islamic State terror group pay for their crimes, and not just with prison terms or the death penalty.

The speaker of Iraq's Council of Representatives said Friday that Iraqis should be compensated monetarily, as well.

"The Iraqi parliament will formally demand all countries whose citizens have either committed crimes inside Iraq [or] brought damage and harm to the Iraqi people ... bring those criminals to justice and compensate Iraq for the crimes they did to Iraq and the Iraqi people," Mohammed al-Halbousi told reporters following a speech in Washington.

Al-Halbousi, who spoke through a translator, did not provide details about when the Iraqi parliament will make the formal demand or about how the claims would be calculated or filed.

During his speech, he said Iraq would also seek to hold the individual foreign fighters liable for damages.

"We will ask for compensation from foreign nationals who did hurt Iraq," al-Halbousi said. "This is a right for Iraqis to compensate families who lost their property, who lost their family members."

Earlier this month, Iraq began legal proceedings against 14 suspected French foreign fighters who had been captured by U.S.-backed forces in Syria and transferred to Iraqi custody.

Legal sources, speaking with Reuters on condition of anonymity, said all 14 had previously signed confessions, admitting they had been in Mosul between 2014 and 2017, when it was under IS control.

Al-Halbousi said Friday that more recently, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces had turned over about 250 foreign fighters to Iraq.

Suspected IS fighters convicted of committing terrorist acts against Iraq or Iraqi citizens are eligible for the death penalty, though al-Halbousi said foreign fighters from Western countries would face justice in their countries of origin.

"Western nationals, they will be taken care by their own countries," he said. "Countries know exactly how to apply their own laws and their own justice on their own nationals."

A U.S. State Department official would not comment directly on Al-Halbousis remarks, but said Washington agrees the pain and suffering inflicted by IS fighters must not be forgotten.

Those who fought for ISIS, including foreign terrorist fighters, and brought damage and harm to the Iraqi people, need to be held responsible for their crimes, the official told VOA.

As part of that effort, a special United Nations investigative team has been on the ground in Iraq, to collect, preserve, and store evidence of ISIS crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, the official added, using an acronym for the terror group.

Foreign fighters

Senior U.S. counterterrorism and defense officials estimate at least 45,000 fighters from about 110 countries flocked to Syria and Iraq to fight with IS and other groups. Officials say about 8,000 of those fighters are from Western countries.

But there are questions as to how many foreign fighters remain.

U.S. defense officials have said the majority of the terror group's foreign fighters have been on the battlefield.

As of earlier this month, a senior U.S. defense official said more than 1,000 foreign fighters have been in the custody of U.S.-backed forces in Syria. But some SDF officials have indicated the number may be even higher.

Both the U.S. and the SDF have been urging countries of origin to repatriate the foreign fighters for prosecution.

VOA has reached out to the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, as well as to the Pentagon and to the international coalition fighting IS for additional comment.
The head of a Philippine online news site, which is among media agencies critical of President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested Friday in a second case in two months, this time over an alleged investment law violation.

Police served an arrest warrant to Rappler Inc. CEO and executive editor Maria Ressa after she arrived at Manilas international airport and she later posted bail at a regional trial court.

Ressas co-defendants posted bail for the new charge earlier in the week. Ressa was returning from a trip to the U.S. after securing a travel bond allowing her to leave the country while other criminal cases against her are pending.

Every action takes us farther into a descent into tyranny, Ressa told reporters outside the court in suburban Pasig city. This is the weaponization of the law.

Ressa and some media watchdogs said the latest government move was an attempt to muzzle independent media and other critics of Duterte, particularly over his deadly crackdown against illegal drugs.

The Duterte administration has denied her cases were a press freedom issue, saying she and Rappler have breached Philippine laws and have been charged by authorities and should answer before the judicial system like other violators.

The charges stemmed from a complaint by the National Bureau of Investigation that accused Rappler of violating the law by allowing a foreign investor, U.S.-based Omidyar Network, to inject funds in the online news outfit.

The Philippine constitution bans foreign ownership of news media, but Rappler has argued that it did not grant Omidyar the power to control or influence its news operations.

The countrys corporate watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission, has revoked the sites license over what it ruled was a breach of the constitutional ban on foreign ownership and control of Philippine media outlets. Ressa is facing separate complaints for allegedly violating tax laws in connection with the foreign funds that Rappler received.

Omidyar donated its money in Rappler to its key editors and staff, so an appeals court has ordered the SEC to re-examine if that action should warrant a reassessment of the license revocation.

Ressa was arrested last month and freed on bail in a libel complaint filed by a businessman, who accused Rappler of linking him to illegal drugs, human trafficking and murder in a news report without getting his side or any evidence.
Malawi is struggling to get relief aid to victims of Cyclone Idai, which killed at least 60 people and displaced hundreds of thousands earlier this month. While the heaviest-hit southern areas are largely cut off, one Malawian activist is on a personal mission to help those affected.

Businesswoman Abida Mia has collected $20,000 worth of food, blankets and clothes for Malawian victims. Her charity, Reach Out and Touch, delivers maize, fish, blankets, clothes, and plastic sheets for makeshift shelters to those most in need.

The work began about two weeks ago, when Mia saw firsthand the destruction caused by cyclone flooding.

"It happened so suddenly, and I obviously had some money that I budgeted for other things to do. So, I took all that cash aside and said, 'Let's buy maize and go into the field and assist the people' because there is such huge need, and people were starving and didn't have anything to eat," said Mia, who with her husband raises livestock and operates one of Malawi's largest butcheries.

People noticed Mia's efforts and began bringing their donations to her home in Blantyre.

"And I was really shocked," she said. "People were actually walking in from their homes maybe 15 to 20 kilometers away with some clothes that they wanted to give, and they were bringing fairly new clothes."

Mia estimates Reach Out and Touch has helped over 1,000 flood survivors.

The group brings the aid to hard-to-reach areas like East Bank, where roads and bridges suffered severe damage.

Despite their efforts, flood-affected Malawians like Modester Jackson say there are still many people in need.

Jackson says that despite the aid, their homes are empty. The victims are appealing to the government to provide seeds so they can replant after the water recedes.

Malawi's Department of Disaster Management and Preparedness says Cyclone Idai affected nearly a million people in the country.

Officials say $30 million is needed for flood-displaced villagers living in 187 evacuation camps.

Alfred Fundi, manager of Chikwawa's Mphimbi Evacuation Camp, says they were given only four tents for accommodation, and many people have no proper place to sleep. It gets worse when it rains, he says, adding that some people find refuge in school classrooms, while others squeeze in at the health center.

In the long term, Mia says, villagers need to be moved to higher ground to avoid flooding, but in the meantime, Reach Out and Touch will to do what it can to help Malawi's victims of Cyclone Idai.
Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie has taken charge of U.S. Central command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, central and southwest Asia.

Speaking at the change of command ceremony Thursday at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., McKenzie said his command "remains at the ready to do what has to be done" as the U.S. wraps up counter-Islamic State operations in Iraq and Syria, and continues efforts to pressure the Taliban in Afghanistan.

McKenzie took command from Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who has led U.S. Central Command since March 30, 2016.

Votel praised U.S. and international efforts in the region and military leaders from other nations attending the ceremony.

"Because of us, a once-defeated and retreating Iraqi army has risen like a phoenix from the ashes of 2014 and now proudly defends their country," he said.

Islamic State's control of Iraq and Syria peaked in 2014. International forces announced the defeat of the group last week after retaking its final stronghold in eastern Syria.

"We can never allow extremists to use this area as a platform to attack our homeland," and "we must safeguard access to the critical waterways that support global commerce and freedom of navigation," Votel said.

Votel also addressed the ongoing fight in Afghanistan, praising Afghan and international partners for creating "the military pressure that has brought the Taliban to the table and provided us a real path to a negotiated settlement to this long war."

While Afghan security forces are leading the fight against extremists in Afghanistan, the U.S. military has been fighting in Afghanistan in varying capacities for nearly two decades, a fact the U.S. president has strongly criticized.

"As our president said recently, great nations don't fight forever wars, and we shouldn't. It is time to bring these conflicts to a conclusion," Votel said. "This won't be as quick as anyone would like, but it can be done."

There are about 14,000 U.S. troops based in the war-torn nation.

Prior to taking command of CENTCOM, McKenzie served as the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A career infantry officer, he graduated from The Citadel in 1979.

His career includes deployments to Afghanistan in 2004 and Iraq in 2005 and 2006.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Friday became the latest Democratic presidential candidate to release his tax returns, while bashing President Donald Trump for refusing such a disclosure.

"It's time for him to come clean with the American people," Inslee said on Fox News' Fox & Friends, adding that he was issuing his challenge on the Republican president's "favorite show," a nod to Trump's habit of watching the network's morning show and often tweeting in response.

Trump first refused such disclosure as a candidate ahead of his 2016 election, saying he was under audit. Trump's business dealings and his now-shuttered foundation have been the subject of various investigations and Democratic attacks. Still, Inslee, who announced his campaign at the beginning of this month, is just the third announced Democratic White House contender to release his personal returns, joining Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

As he appeared on Fox, Inslee's last 12 personal tax returns were posted on his campaign website. The span is from 2007 to 2018, covering his last three terms in Congress and his first six years as governor.

The returns for Inslee, 68, and his wife, Trudi, show relatively consistent income and taxes paid over that period, with essentially all of their income stemming from his public salaries and congressional pensions.

2018 income, deductions

In 2018, the Inslees paid $29,906 in federal taxes on an adjusted gross income of $202,912 and taxable income of $172,915. That gross income  $162,870 of it from Washington state and $44,028 from a congressional pension  puts the couple in about the 94th percentile of U.S. households.

Among their deductions, the couple noted $8,295 in charitable contributions (about 4 percent of their total income), $12,422 in home mortgage interest and $3,000 in capital gains losses, the maximum amount the IRS allows for routine capital-loss deductions.

Inslee claimed no foreign holdings, a point of contention for Democrats who question whether Trump's real-estate entanglements across the globe compromise his job as president.

During Inslee's congressional tenure, he did report paying a small amount in foreign taxes. An Inslee aide said it was for payments he received for a small part in a movie, The Deal, filmed in Canada with lead actor Christian Slater and released in 2005. Inslee played a senator.

2017 comparisons

Inslee's returns show he was a beneficiary of the Republican tax bill that he has hammered as a presidential candidate and previously as Democratic Governors Association chairman during the 2018 midterm campaign. His 2018 tax bill was $2,791 less than his $32,697 tax bill the prior year on essentially the same income. That's about an 8.5 percent tax cut from 2017 to 2018.

The Inslees were among the high earners and property owners affected by new caps on the state and local tax bills that a filer can deduct when figuring federal taxable income.

In one of the more controversial provisions of the tax law  and one that hurt Republicans in affluent suburban House districts in 2018  households can deduct a maximum of $10,000 for state and local taxes. Previously there was no cap, allowing wealthier households with hefty state income tax bills and property tax bills on more expensive real estate to deduct those costs.

The Inslees reported paying $14,280 in state and local taxes, meaning the new provision cost them $4,280 in deductions.

Trump broke with decades of tradition by not releasing his tax filings during his 2016 campaign. He argued that he couldn't release his taxes because he was under an audit by the IRS, but being under audit is no legal bar to a candidate from releasing tax returns.
Investigators looking into a Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia that killed 157 people have reached a preliminary conclusion that an anti-stall system was activated before the plane hit the ground, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people briefed on the matter.

U.S. safety investigators have reviewed data from the black boxes that were aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, four people briefed on the investigation told Reuters Thursday. A preliminary report is expected as early as next week, the U.S. officials said.

The plane crashed March 10 shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa.

737 MAX grounded

Investigators of a deadly 737 MAX crash in Indonesia in October have also focused on the new anti-stall system, called MCAS. Boeing on Wednesday said a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the center of safety concerns.

Boeings fastest-selling 737 MAX jet, with orders worth more than $500 billion at list prices, has been grounded globally by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulators, although airlines are still allowed to fly them without passengers to move planes to other airports.

The manufacturer said it had developed a training package that 737 MAX pilots are required to take before the worldwide ban can be lifted, proposing as it did before two deadly crashes that those pilots do not need time on flight simulators to safely operate the aircraft.

On Thursday, a lawsuit against Boeing was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda, who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The lawsuit alleges that Boeing had defectively designed the automated flight control system. Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit.

Training questioned

The amount and quality of training that Boeing and airlines provided to 737 MAX pilots is one of the issues under scrutiny as investigators around the world try to determine the causes of two 737 MAX crashes within five months.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Boeings development process and what Boeing disclosed about MCAS. The U.S. Transportation Department said Monday that a new blue ribbon commission will review how the FAA certifies new aircraft.

U.S. and European regulators knew at least two years before the Indonesian crash that the usual method for controlling the 737 MAXs nose angle might not work in conditions similar to those in two recent disasters, Reuters reported Friday, citing a document.

The European Aviation and Space Agency (EASA) certified the plane as safe in part because it said additional procedures and training would clearly explain to pilots the unusual situations in which they would need to manipulate a rarely used manual wheel to control, or trim, the planes angle.

Those situations, however, were not listed in the flight manual, according to a copy from American Airlines seen by Reuters. Boeing declined to comment on the EASA document.
Europes centrists will be looking this Saturday to Bratislava, hoping that a 45-year-old anti-corruption lawyer running on an avowedly liberal platform will win Slovaks presidential elections, thereby bucking the continents populist trend.

The environmental activist, Zuzana Caputova, comfortably won the first round of the elections earlier this month with 40 percent of the vote and is facing off against European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, whos backed by the ruling leftist populist Smer-SD party.

Caputova is an icon of a new emerging generation of women leaders in Central Europe, but she is, above all, a liberal figure on a continent thats preparing for a monumental political clash in May between pro-EU liberal and Euro-sceptic nationalist populist parties in elections for the European Parliament.

Liberal activists hope a Caputova win will act as a boost for centrists ahead of those polls, which have the potential, if nationalist populists win big, of sending shock waves across Europe and shaking up all European institutions. They also hope it will mark a turning point in central European politics, which have been dominated in recent years by nationalists like Hungarys Viktor Orban. Next door, in the neighboring Czech Republic, a pro-Russian populist, Milos Zeman, is president.

Caputova, a divorced mother of two, who would become Slovakias first female president in the event she wins, has not been shy to cast the election as a major symbolic battle, even though the post is largely ceremonial and her opponent is hardly a populist firebrand.

The 52-year-old Sefcovic is an establishment figure but his efforts to distance himself from the countrys former prime minister, Robert Fico, who resigned last year in the wake of the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak, hasnt been helped by his association with the Smer-SD party.

The party was originally pro-EU but has become more skeptical and has adopted a hardline anti-migration stance.

The journalists murder, which shocked Slovak and triggered the largest street protests since the Velvet Revolution in 1989, prompted Caputova to enter electoral politics. She began to emerge as a political figure after heading a campaign to shutter a landfill in her home town of Pezinok. The landfill company has ties with a well-connected businessman who Slovak prosecutors have charged with ordering Kuciak's slaying. The killing, prosecutors allege, was ordered because of Kuciaks probing of ties between businessmen, high-profile politicians and an Italian mafia group.

If she wins, it will be proof that the majority of people in Slovakia care about their country and are fed up with the corrupt and criminal system of Mr. Fico, according to liberal journalist Matus Kostolny.

Sefcovic has been pitching himself as a defender of Christian values in his bid to attract voters on the right of the political spectrum and has criticized Caputova as a proponent of the liberal agenda. He has attacked her for approval of same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption and for her pro-migration stance, but the LGBT issues, which should have played well for him in the largely Catholic country, have failed to have had much impact on the campaign, according to analysts.

One does not seem to have to abandon their values, one can be authentic and true, and not have to choose a populist vocabulary to address voters  maybe just the opposite, Caputova told supporters after her first-round success.

Local polls taken two weeks ago predicted Caputova could win handsomely with 60 percent of the vote in the run-off with Sefcovic. The killing of Kuciak  he was murdered alongside his fiance Martina Kusnirova  appears to be shaping public opinion in the lead-up to voting.

There have been year-long protests about the murder, and the slaying has fed into public disgust generally about rampant public corruption and cronyism. The EU's civil liberties committee last month expressed worries about corruption, organized crime and judicial independence in Slovakia.

Caputova's rise from little-known political newcomer to the front-runner has surprised traditional politicians. When she started on the campaign trail her polling numbers were in single digits but support skyrocketed for her after televised debates between the presidential candidates.

Focus groups conducted by pollsters after the debates found voters favoring Caputova saw her as fresh, moral and decent and said the country needed a major change.

Firstly, people are desperate and tired of the emptiness of current Slovak politics; secondly, by bad governance and overwhelming corruption; and most importantly, by the ugliness of public life, which is full of aggressiveness, rough interactions, and an almost psychopathic brutality, sociologist Michal Vasecka told the Slovak Spectator magazine.
South African police sniffer dogs have been sent to parts of Zimbabwe hit by Cyclone Idai to help look for those who are missing and presumed dead.

Survivors of the storm hope to find the bodies of their loved ones and give them a proper burial.

To conduct the search, a South African police officer guides his sniffer dog in Ngangu, one of the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani district, Zimbabwe.

The area has been engulfed by a putrid smell that locals believe could be decomposing bodies trapped under the earth.

WATCH: South Africa Police Dogs Search Cyclone Idai-Hit Areas

Search for grandmother

Wonder Toms grandmother was lost when Cyclone Idai hit the area March 16.

Tom, 35, hopes the sniffer dogs will help them find the 82-year-olds body so they can give her a proper burial.

They will help us to discover our relatives, Tom said. Because I think here, in our country, we dont have the machines to see that under this ground there is somebody who is trapped there. So, it will relieve all of us to retrieve our relatives bodies and bury them nicely, although they are already bad.

Almost all of the 330 people missing from when the cyclone hit Zimbabwe are from Chimanimani district.

South Africans search large area

Ian Hoy is with the South African police sniffer dog team. He says they will be in Chimanimani for five days to search an area with a radius of about 60 to 80 kilometers.

The devastation here, to be honest, is very bad, Hoy said. Even if we were here for three, four, five weeks it wouldnt be enough. But we here for now, we doing what we can, and we gonna accomplish what we can with the time available to us.

On the first day of searching, the South African sniffer dogs and Zimbabwe security officials say they have made progress. Zimbabwe army troops are expected to start digging for the bodies in areas identified by the dogs.

Hope only for remains

The assistant commissioner of Zimbabwes police Ndofandaedza Jaboon is leading the recovery.

So far so good, we have identified quite a number of places and we will excavate to try retrieve the bodies. We will dig and try find out if we can retrieve bodies underneath, Jaboon said.

Since the cyclone unleashed muddy floodwaters into villages, locals have used shovels, picks and even forks to dig for their relatives bodies.

While there are no hopes here for survivors, the South African sniffer dogs will at least narrow the search zone for what remains can be found.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will travel to the United States in two weeks for a summit with President Donald Trump on the stalemated North Korean nuclear diplomacy.

It would be their first meeting since Trumps second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi last month collapsed because of disputes on U.S.-led sanctions. The breakdown of that summit put Moon, a liberal who has shuttled between Washington and Pyongyang, in a difficult position on how to further engage North Korea and facilitate the nuclear diplomacy.

Moons office said he will visit the United States April 10-11 discuss how to strengthen their countries alliance and achieve North Koreas complete denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The White House said Trump and first lady Melania Trump will welcome Moon and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, to the White House April 11. It said in a statement the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

Earlier this month, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui threatened to pull out of the nuclear negotiations with the United States citing a lack of its corresponding steps to match some disarmament measures North Korea took last year. She said Kim would soon decide whether to continue the talks and his moratorium on nuclear and missile tests.

North Korea later withdrew its entire staff at a liaison office with South Korea before sending some of them back to the office at the North Korean border town of Kaesong. North Korea hasnt provided any reason for its action.

Some experts say North Korea still hopes to keep diplomacy with the United States alive because it is desperate to win sanctions relief to revive its troubled economy.

Moons push to expand ties with North Korea and resume dormant inter-Korean economic projects is in doubt as U.S. officials maintain that sanctions on North Korea would stay in place unless the country takes significant denuclearization steps.

In a possible reflection of its resolve to press ahead with its engagement policy on North Korea, South Koreas Unification Ministry on Friday reiterated its position that it will push to hold a regular summit with North Korea and realize Kims promise to travel to Seoul
A member of the Texas 7 gang of escaped prisoners won a reprieve Thursday night from execution for the fatal shooting of a suburban Dallas police officer after claiming his religious freedom would be violated if his Buddhist spiritual adviser wasnt allowed to be in the death chamber with him.

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Patrick Murphys execution about two hours after he could have been executed.

Murphys attorneys had said that Texas prison officials efforts to prevent the inmates spiritual adviser, a Buddhist priest, from being with him when he is put to death violated Murphys First Amendment right to freedom of religion. Murphy, 57, became a Buddhist almost a decade ago while incarcerated.

Lower courts had rejected Murphys argument.

But in a concurring opinion Thursday night, the newest justice on the court, Brett Kavanaugh, said the Texas prison system allows a Christian or Muslim inmate to have a state-employed Christian or Muslim religious adviser present either in the execution room or in the adjacent viewing room. But inmates of other religious denominations who want their religious adviser to be present can have the adviser present only in the viewing room and not in the execution room itself, he said.

As this Court has repeatedly held, governmental discrimination against religion  in particular, discrimination against religious persons, religious organizations, and religious speech  violates the Constitution, he wrote. The government may not discriminate against religion generally or against particular religious denominations.

Kavanaugh said Texas cant move forward with Murphys punishment unless the state permits his Buddhist adviser or another Buddhist reverend of the states choosing to accompany Murphy in the chamber during the execution.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel the state would review the ruling to determine how to respond.

I knew there was a thin thread of possibility, a smiling Murphy said from a holding cell just a few feet from the death chamber after he was told by the warden he received a reprieve.

Murphy was among the inmates who escaped from a South Texas prison in December 2000 and then committed numerous robberies, including the one in which they shot 29-year-old Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins 11 times, killing him.

The escaped inmates were arrested a month later in Colorado, ending a six-week manhunt. One of them killed himself as officers closed in and the other six were convicted of killing Hawkins and sentenced to death. Murphy would have been the fifth to be executed. The sixth inmate, Randy Halprin, has not been given an execution date.
President Donald Trump has been celebrating the report by special counsel Robert Mueller on the Russia investigation. Mueller cleared the president and his 2016 campaign of conspiring with Russia, but he did not make a judgment on whether Trump sought to obstruct justice. That decision was made by Attorney General William Barr. The political fallout from the Mueller report could reach well into the 2020 presidential campaign, as we hear from VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone in Washington.
Now that we know the conclusions of special counsel Robert Muellers report, how does that reset the U.S. political landscape looking ahead to the presidential election in 2020?

According to the summary provided by Attorney General William Barr, Mueller found no conspiracy or collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere in the 2016 election.

But Mueller did not make a judgment on whether Trump sought to obstruct justice in connection with the Russia investigation. According to Barr, while Muellers report did not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.

In the end, it was Barr who decided that the evidence Mueller developed on obstruction was not sufficient to move the matter forward.

At the Capitol this week, Trump was said to be in a triumphant mood in the wake of Barrs summary of the Mueller report.

It was proven very strongly no collusion, no obstruction, no nothing, Trump told reporters before his meeting with Republican senators. We are doing so well. We have never, probably, had a time of prosperity like this. It has been great.

WATCH: How Mueller Report Could Affect Presidential Campaign

Time for a reset

Trumps Republican allies now believe the president has an opportunity to reset his political agenda.

You are probably stronger today than you have been any time in your presidency. This cloud has been removed, Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters. The question for you is, how are you going to use it? What are you going to do? That remains an open question.

Trump has talked about political retribution for those behind the Russia probe.

There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things. I would say treasonous things against our country, Trump said at the White House on Monday.

But political strategist Karl Rove, a former key adviser to former President George W. Bush, is among those warning the president not to devote too much time rehashing the Russia probe.

The president should focus his time, voice and tweets on the roaring economy, impressive job creation and bigger paychecks, Rove wrote in The Wall Street Journal.

Democrats press for full report

Democrats remain focused on demanding that the full Mueller report be released to the public, especially given the lingering questions about why Mueller did not come to a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday that she found Barrs summary letter to Congress condescending and arrogant.

Pelosi added, No thank you, Mr. Attorney General, we do not need your interpretation. Show us the report and we can draw our own conclusions.

It was a call echoed by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Our main thrust on this issue is simply transparency. Release the report, then come to conclusions, he said.

A boost for Trump

Analysts believe the Mueller report finding of no collusion with Russia is a political boost for the president as he heads into the 2020 presidential election cycle.

For President Trump, the preliminary reports on the Mueller report are all very, very positive, said American University expert Bill Sweeney. But the questions remain about what is in the Mueller report and how will the administration release that information to the Congress and the American people.

Sweeney predicted that the fallout from the report could be limited as the 2020 election draws closer.

I think President Trumps base stays with President Trump. I think those opposed to President Trump remain opposed to President Trump. So far, the Mueller report has done nothing to change the hearts or minds or soul of any undecided voter going into this election, he said.

Recent polling seems to back that up. A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found the presidents approval rating ticked up from 39 to 43 percent.

The latest Morning Consult and Politco poll found the presidents approval at 42 percent, with 55 percent disapproving, virtually the same as the week before.

And the most recent Quinnipiac University poll found Trumps approval at 39 percent, with 55 percent disapproving. That was little changed from earlier in the month.

The polls also show that Democrats may be on firm ground in demanding the Mueller report be released to the public. Eighty-two percent in the Morning Consult-Politico survey said the full Mueller report should be released, as did 84 percent in the latest Quinnipiac University poll.

Focus on 2020

To many Democrats, the outcome of the Mueller report suggests they need to focus on beating the president at the polls in November 2020 instead of a long-shot effort at impeachment.

Even before the Mueller report findings were released by Barr, voters in general seemed disinclined toward impeaching Trump. A Quinnipiac poll in early March found Americans opposed to impeachment by a margin of 59 to 35 percent.

So now the political focus for both parties will shift strongly to the election contest next year.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is the latest Democrat to officially join a crowded field of presidential contenders, and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet says he is interested in running, as well.

In the end, Democrats could field between 15 and 20 White House contenders in the year ahead, all of whom see Trump as vulnerable.

You would not see this many candidates running if they did not think that they had a real shot at unseating an incumbent for the first time since Bill Clinton did it in 1992 to (President) George H.W. Bush, said George Washington University expert Matt Dallek.

But given that history favors presidents seeking a second term and that voters see the economy as strong, Democrats should be wary, said University of Virginia analyst Larry Sabato.

Democrats have to find a way to break up that Electoral College majority that Trump got. There are ways to do it, reasonable ways to do it. But it is not even close to being assured, Sabato said via Skype.

In the wake of Muellers findings this week, Sabato and colleague Kyle Kondik summarized the political landscape in the weekly political newsletter known as Sabatos Crystal Ball.

2020 should be a close, competitive high-turnout election with both sides energized. The fate of the Trump presidency is on track to be decided at the ballot box, as opposed to a courtroom or impeachment proceeding.
U.S. President Donald Trump proclaimed his total vindication in the investigation into alleged ties between his 2016 election campaign and Russia, rousing supporters at a political rally late Thursday with a blistering attack against cheerleaders of the 22-month probe by a special counsel.



In the 82-minute speech, Trump said the group of major losers went beyond personal attacks and tried to tear up the fabric of American democracy, refusing to accept the results of the presidential election. They were trying to sabotage the will of the American people Trump told the boisterous rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

He warned that those behind the probe "would be held accountable."



Although special counsel Robert Muellers report has not been released, the president is claiming it totally exonerates him based on a four-page summary released by the Justice Department this past Sunday.

The summary, written by U.S. Attorney General William Barr, states that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

'Collusion delusion'

But taking a victory lap on the rally stage, Trump declared that after three years of lies, smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead. The collusion delusion is over.



Trump unleashed particular vitriol at two powerful House Democrats, Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, who are among those in Congress vowing to continue investigating him, his election campaign and Trump businesses.



Earlier in the day, Schiff faced calls from Republicans to resign as committee chairman. He immediately hit back at them citing what he called evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia.



Nadler is among the Democrats requesting Barr send Congress the full Mueller report by April 2.

'Deep state'



Show us the report and we'll come to our own conclusions, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday in a message directed at the attorney general.



Pelosi questioned what the president and the Republicans are afraid of, mocking them as scaredy-cats.



Trump, on stage in Michigan, said the Democrats will now have to decide if they will continue defrauding the country with ridiculous bulls--t.



Trump also continued with his criticism of the fake news media, who he accused of teaming with the deep state of trying but failing to overturn the results of the 2016 election.

Many people were badly hurt by this scam, but more importantly our country was hurt, said Trump.

Thursdays verbal barrages fired by the Republican president and the opposition Democrats put on stark display the deepening political divide in America.

A diverse group of Democrats, including six women, as well as black, Hispanic and openly gay candidates, is vying to challenge Trump in 2020.


U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging the international community to step up its commitment to the organization's peacekeeping operations, particularly in improving its specialized equipment and troop needs.

"As conflicts become more complex and high-risk, our operations must keep pace," Guterres on Friday told more than 100 defense ministers, foreign ministers and diplomats.

The U.N. chief appealed for critical capabilities, including armored personnel carriers to protect peacekeepers in Mali and medical evacuation helicopters for its mission in the Central African Republic.

"Elsewhere, we need armed utility helicopters; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance units; quick reaction forces, and air medical evacuation teams," Guterres said. "I urge you to consider contributing these high-value and critical capabilities, and I assure you that they will be utilized effectively and efficiently, in accordance with our command-and-control policy."

U.N. troops and police have had to adjust to asymmetrical threats, including from armed groups and terrorists. Last year, 27 peacekeepers were killed in the line of duty. New kinds of technology and equipment are needed to better prepare and protect them from these threats.

The world body has nearly 100,000 troops and police from 127 countries working in 14 missions in Haiti, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. The peacekeeping department has a budget of nearly $7 billion a year.

As the U.N. looks to achieve gender parity throughout the organization, the secretary-general noted that it is "unacceptable" that only 4 percent of peacekeepers are women. He said his staff will present a strategy to increase their numbers to the Security Council next month.

"Beyond better equipment and readiness, we must increase local engagement," Guterres said. "Women peacekeepers and civilian staff are essential to improve those efforts."

"If we want to substantially increase the number of women in peacekeeping operations, we need to increase the numbers of women in our respective militaries," Canada's Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan pointed out to the assembly.

Ethiopia's female defense minister said her country is both the leading troop contributing country with 8,000 troops in U.N. missions, and it has the most women (800) deployed.

"However, while it may be the highest number from a single country, it is still barely representative of the possibilities," said Aisha Mohammed Mussa.

U.N. peacekeeping has also struggled with allegations against some of its blue helmets  as the peacekeepers are known  of raping or sexually exploiting the civilians they are sent to protect. After a "zero tolerance" campaign started under the previous secretary-general, the numbers of such cases are starting to come down. A report earlier this month said the number of cases in peacekeeping and political missions dropped to 54 in 2018 from 62 in 2017 and 104 in 2016.

Ministers also made new pledges of troops, equipment or other capacities at Friday's meeting.

Nepal's defense minister said his country is ready to double its peacekeeping presence to 10,000 blue helmets if the U.N. requests the additional personnel. Brazilian Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva said his government would deploy a jungle-experts warfare team to the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mongolia's minister said his country was adding a rapid deployment battalion to its existing peacekeeping contribution.

The United States, which is the top funder of U.N. peacekeeping, providing a quarter of its annual budget, said it is focused on the development of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, which are critical to improving the effectiveness of U.N. peacekeeping operations.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday that climate change was moving faster than international efforts to mitigate it.

"It is important that we tackle climate change with much greater ambition," Guterres told reporters at the launch of a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) annual report on the subject.

The report warns that key climate change indicators are becoming more pronounced.

Levels of carbon dioxide  a main driver of global warming  are the highest they have been in 3 million years, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As a result, oceans are heating up and their waters are becoming more acidic, affecting all kinds of marine life.

Higher temperatures

Temperatures on land are also rising  2018 was the fourth-warmest year on record, and the years 2015 to 2018 were the four warmest in global temperature record-keeping, the WMO report said.



The secretary-general said it was necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent over the next decade in order to be carbon neutral globally by 2050.



"If not, it will be irreversible, not to be able to achieve the goals that were established in Paris," Guterres said of the 2015 climate agreement. "We are very close to the moment in which it will no longer be possible to come to the end of the century with only 1.5 degrees. We have very few years to reverse these trends, because the concentrations of CO2 [carbon dioxide] in the atmosphere will not disappear."

The aim under the Paris Agreement is to keep the planet from warming well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Scientists hope to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.



"We have both the technical and financial means to reach the 1.5 percent target," WMO chief Petteri Taalas told reporters at the launch.



But if the world fails to make the necessary changes quickly, the U.N. warned, a warming planet can lead to all sorts of difficulties. Droughts and floods could destroy crops and livestock, causing food insecurity; changes in the oceans will affect fishing and ecosystems; rising sea levels could jeopardize large coastal cities; and humans will feel health effects from pollution and heat waves. Such upheavals will also lead to more displaced persons, increased migration and social instability.

Weather disasters



Extreme weather events are already on the rise, with this month's Cyclone Idai just the most recent example. The storm's deadly winds and huge rainfall struck parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, killing hundreds and wiping out homes and livelihoods. Last year, the report counted 14 weather- and climate-related disasters in the United States, costing nearly $50 billion in damage.



The U.N. is hosting a summit in September on the margins of the annual General Assembly gathering of leaders that it hopes will mobilize new climate mitigation and adaptation initiatives.
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Washingtons top diplomat for religious freedom is calling on China to stop its growing oppression of people of faith.

Sam Brownback, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, told journalists, China is at war with faith, but it is a war they will not win.

The Chinese Communist Party does not seem to trust its own people to allow them to choose their own path for their souls, he said. There is over a billion people at stake here.

Brownback said the crackdown means Muslims can no longer name their children Mohammed, nor can Tibetan Buddhists choose and venerate their own religious leaders as they have for more than 1,000 years. He said churches are being destroyed, and others are forced to install surveillance cameras.

Human rights groups have accused China of putting a million Uighurs in detention camps. China says Uighurs are in vocational education centers to stop the spread of religious extremism and to stop a surge in terrorist attacks. Critics of the Chinese policy say the measures are aimed at destroying Uighur identity.

Pompeo meets with Uighurs

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met at the State Department in Washington Tuesday with four Uighur Muslims affected by the crackdown in Chinas autonomous region of Xinjiang, the countrys largest region.

State Department officials say Pompeo met with Mihrigul Tursun, a Uighur Muslim who survived horrific conditions and abuse in a Chinese internment camp in Xinjiang. He also met with three other members of the Uighur Muslim community: Gulchehra Hoja, Ferkat Jawdat and Arfat Erkin, whose relatives have been detained in the camps or sentenced for crimes by Chinese authorities.

The State Department said these individuals family members are among the more than 1 million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs and members of other Muslim minority groups whom the Chinese government has detained in internment camps since April 2017. Pompeo commended them for speaking out about Chinas abuses, and pledged U.S. support to end Chinas campaign of repression against Islam and other religions.

At a State Department briefing, Pompeo condemned Chinas practice of putting Uighur Muslims in internment camps.

The numbers are in the, certainly, hundreds of thousands. This is  I think we use the word, or words, historic human rights abuse  and were working to convince the Chinese that this practice is abhorrent and ought to be stopped, he said.
Federal legislation proposed Thursday would give state prison officials the ability they have long sought to jam the signals of cellphones smuggled to inmates within their walls.



U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and U.S. Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee introduced companion bills in both chambers, The Associated Press learned.



The legislation could help solve a problem prison officials have said represents the top security threat to their institutions. Corrections chiefs across the country have long argued for the ability to jam the signals, saying the phones  smuggled into their institutions by the thousands, by visitors, errant employees and even delivered by drone  are dangerous because inmates use them to carry out crimes and plot violence both inside and outside prison.



But the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the nation's airwaves, has said a decades-old prohibition on interrupting signals at state-level institutions prevents the agency from permitting jamming on that level. Wireless industry groups have said they worry signal-blocking technologies could thwart legal calls.



Prison officials, including South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling, have pushed for the ability to jam signals, saying it's the best way to combat the dangerous devices. In 2017, Stirling testified at an FCC hearing in Washington alongside Robert Johnson, a former South Carolina corrections officer nearly killed in 2010 in a hit orchestrated by an inmate using an illegal phone.

Phone aided escape



Also that year, an inmate escaped from a maximum-security prison in South Carolina, thanks in part to a smuggled cellphone. In 2018, seven inmates at a maximum-security South Carolina prison were killed in what officials have said was a gang fight over territory and contraband including cellphones.



The FCC has shown willingness to work on the issue, holding a field hearing in South Carolina at the invitation of then-Gov. Nikki Haley. Last year, making good on a pledge to do so, Chairman Ajit Pai hosted a meeting with members of Congress, prisons officials and stakeholders from the wireless industry.



After last year's meeting, Kustoff told the AP he was encouraged by the FCC's action on the issue. Officials from wireless trade group CTIA, who also attended the meeting, thanked Pai for organizing the gathering and said its members ``recognize the very real threat that contraband devices pose in correctional facilities across the nation, and we appreciate the commitment of all stakeholders to identify and implement lawful solutions to this problem.''



Jamming is legal in federal facilities, although it hasn't been used. Last year, federal officials tested micro-jamming technology at a federal prison in Cumberland, Md., saying they were able to shut down phone signals inside a prison cell, while devices about 20 feet (6 meters) away worked normally.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is in Beijing, posted on Twitter Friday that he has held constructive talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

A new deal could possibly end hefty tariffs both countries have imposed on each other during the last eight months. The United States has taxed $250 billion of Chinese imports while China has imposed levies on about $110 billion of U.S. goods.

The United States is demanding wide changes to Chinese industrial policy, including an end to large-scale state intervention in markets, subsidies for various industries and the alleged theft of American technology.

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he was confident the United States could strike a deal with China, but added, If this isnt a great deal, I wont make a deal.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow says the talks are not time-dependent and could last weeks or even months.
American and Chinese trade negotiators made progress during "candid and constructive discussions" Friday in Beijing and will continue talks in Washington next week, according to the White House.

The two sides are working to strike a deal to lift eight-month-old tariffs affecting $250 billion of Chinese imports to the United States and about $110 billion of American exports to China.

The latest round of talks comes amid a report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis that the U.S. trade deficit with China again rose in 2018.

"The 2018 goods and services trade deficit with China alone was $379 billion. That's $70 billion, or 23 percent, higher than in 2016. It's more than 3 times the size of the 2018 deficit with the entire European Union. China by itself contributed 61 percent of the total U.S. deficit both in 2016 and last year," according to Derek Scissors, Resident Scholar of American Enterprise Institute.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is in Beijing, posted on Twitter that the talks will continue next week.

The United States is demanding deep changes to Chinese industrial policy, including an end to large-scale state intervention in markets and policies that force foreign companies to transfer technology to their Chinese partners.

China is considering several reforms aimed at addressing Washington's concerns, including ending forced technology transfers and opening more parts of its economy to foreign competitors. But analysts say the key to persuading Washington will be in how Beijing enforces the new policies.

"At this stage, the U.S. side wants more than just renewed reform pledges. They want to see meaningful commitment that they can enforce and follow through," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.

Even with pledges from the central government to improve the climate for foreign businesses, enforcing those policies across China can widely vary depending on the preferences of local officials, said University of South Carolina business professor John Olin.

"In China, local authorities always have ways of getting around policies from higher up, and there is strong local protectionism among provinces and cities, which even the Communist Party can't do much about."
The U.S. State Department in Comoros is urging Americans to reconsider traveling to the Indian Ocean island nation following violence surrounding the countrys disputed presidential election.

The State Department upgraded its travel warning Friday for Americans to Level 3, meaning "Reconsider Travel," one step below the top Level 4, "Do Not Travel."

U.S. officials say U.S. personnel on the island already have been ordered to leave temporarily.

Four people died Thursday in a gunfight at a military camp in Comoros where the police had detained an opposition presidential candidate following Sundays disputed presidential election. VOA's Swahili service reported that at least seven people were injured.

Comoros is experiencing civil and political unrest, including armed conflict, roadblocks and protests, following a contested election, the State Department advisory said.

Earlier this week, Comoros electoral commission declared that President Azali Assoumani had been re-elected easily with more than 60 percent of the vote, but the opposition said it did not recognize the result, alleging widespread fraud. Then, opposition candidate Soilihi Mohamed declared himself the head of a transitional authority that aims to replace Assoumani.

Violence broke out after police arrested Mohamed, one of 12 politicians who ran against Assoumani in the election. Police also took into custody more than a dozen women who were protesting against Assoumani's government.

Abdushakur Aboud, from VOA's Swahili service, reported Thursday that an armed group attempted to help former Maj. Faissoil Abdou Salam, and others the group considers to be political prisoners, to escape from prison in the capital, Moroni. Faissoil had been jailed for plotting against Assoumani.

Observers from three regional bodies  the African Union, the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa, and the African Standby Forces of the East  have said Comoros election was full of irregularities that led them to conclude it lacked credibility or transparency.

Assoumani came to power in a coup in 1999 and led the government until 2006. He was elected president again in 2016.

Late last year, he ordered elections to be held after Comorans voted to support changing the constitution to extend presidential terms from one five-year term to two. The opposition boycotted the referendum.

The change alters a balance of power established in 2001 that sought to end separatist crises. Under the old constitution, the presidency rotated among the presidents of the country's three main islands  Anjouan, Moheli and Grande Comore, which also is known as N'gazidja.

Comoros, with a population of about 850,000 people, is one of the world's poorest nations. It has experienced a series of military coups and attempted coups since independence from France in 1975.
At the height of the conflict in 2014, the people of Mariupol, Ukraine, feared their city would be the next to fall to Russian-backed rebel forces.

The threat of annexation by Moscow has subsided for now. But the front line lies just six kilometers (3.7 miles) to the east  and the conflict continues to have a big impact on everyday life in the city.

Moscow's detention of two dozen Ukrainian sailors seized in a naval clash just offshore in November underlines the continued threat.

Faced with such challenges, how do the people of Mariupol view Sunday's presidential election? And who holds the key to ending the conflict? Amid the election campaigns, frustration and exhaustion are palpable.

"I like any of the candidates, but not the one who is in power now. We need more authority for us to have peace, for our economy to grow, for us to be prosperous," Mariupol resident Tatyana told VOA.

Aleksandr Sidorov, a soldier on leave from the front line, believes the next president can do little about the war with Russia. He's focused on domestic issues.

"The main issue for me is for all the corrupt people to be imprisoned," he said.

Young mother Alina Arabadzhi plans to vote for comedian-turned-presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Why Zelensky? Because it is a new face. Because he has no vested interests. He hasn't been in politics a single day," she said.

WATCH: Voting on the Front Lines of Ukraine's War With Russia

The war is having a huge effect on the local economy. Mariupol used to be an export hub for the Donbas region, Ukraine's former industrial powerhouse. Most of that region is now controlled by Russian-backed separatists and has been all but cut off.

Two giant steel plants still dominate Mariupol's skyline, bringing prosperity but also choking pollution. The products are shipped around the world from the nearby port. However, since its forceful seizure of Crimea in 2014, Russia controls shipping access to the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait  effectively giving it a stranglehold on a key artery of Mariupol's economy.

The director of the port, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich, said he is losing over $7.5 million a year in business.

"Starting in April 2018, Russia started to search all the ships which enter the Azov Sea to reach Ukrainian ports. Then after loading, they check them again when they return back to the Black Sea. The waiting time, the route time, has increased, and it's had a great financial impact on our export clients," Aleksandrovich told VOA.

Amid the upheaval, there has been progress in some areas. The organization, Halabuda, began as a group of volunteers taking supplies to soldiers on the front line. It has now morphed into an advice group for residents and businesses.

"A question that concerns every single citizen of Ukraine is corruption. Compared to the corruption in law enforcement that we had five years ago, now after the reforms, we nearly eradicated corruption at the level of the traffic police," said Halabuda founder Dmitry Chichera.

Corruption and conflict: generational challenges with no easy answers. The people of Mariupol are desperate for change and for the war to end. They know that whoever becomes president, the threat from the east is unlikely to end anytime soon.
Victims of Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe are calling on the government to expedite relief aid. As Columbus Mavhunga reports from the hard-hit city of Chimanimani, the government is appealing to the international community for help with medicine, food and infrastructure.
U.S. President Donald Trump says Russia "has to get out" of Venezuela, following the recent arrival of Russian military personnel in the country. Trump made the comments as he spoke to reporters Wednesday at the White House alongside wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Alyssa Milano has penned a letter to Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and governor Brian Kemp  signed by dozens of Hollywood stars  promising to fight filming in Georgia if the controversial fetal heartbeat anti-abortion bill is passed. The bill would ban abortion after six weeks, except if pregnancy threatens the abortion seekers life or in the case of rape or incest. If it is a case of rape or incest, the abortion seeker must provide a police report to that effect. This dangerous and deeply flawed bill mimics many others which have already been deemed unconstitutional, the letter reads. We cant imagine being elected officials who had to say to their constituents I enacted a law that was so evil, it chased billions of dollars out of our states economy. The letter was published by Deadline and signed by such actors as Uzo Aduba, Christina Applegate, Alec Baldwin, Patton Oswalt, Colin Hanks, Alia Shawkat, Bradley Whitford, and Gabrielle Union.
The power couple. Photo: Getty Images

Double, double, toil and trouble, etcetera etcetera! Per Deadline, Joel Coen will write and direct an adaptation of Macbeth for A24, with Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington in talks to star. In Shakespeares tragedy  which you definitely read and did not just SparkNotes-skim in high school  a trio of witches convinces Macbeth that hes destined to be king of Scotland, and he and his ambitious wife scheme and murder for the throne. Variety reports that Washington would play the lord, and McDormand would play his wife.

The Macbeth adaptation will be Joel Coens first movie without his brother and writing/producing/directing partner Ethan Coen. (Their most recent film together was The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, for Netflix.) There have been plenty of big screen adaptations of Macbeth, most notably Orson Welless in 1948, while McDormand played Lady Macbeth onstage in a Berkeley Repertory Theatre production in 2016. A24s Macbeth will reportedly begin shooting before the end of this year.
Excerpt from All in the Family. Photo: LB Lee

Think, for a moment, about what it would be like if you learned you didnt exist. Not about what the world would be like if youd never been born or what itll be like after you die  I mean knowing for certain that you, yourself, arent real and never have been. That youre a figment of someones imagination. Worse, that the someone whos imagining you is doing so because of trauma and mental illness. But heres the catch: You cant stop thinking you do exist. You have ideas, emotions, a body type, a life story. No matter how often people say there is no you, no matter how much science they offer up to prove it, you dont disappear. Now imagine, on top of that, struggling with questions about your sexual orientation. And dealing with the realities of being transgender and having an eating disorder. Oh, and trying to understand that many of your best friends ostensibly dont exist, either.

Welcome to just a fraction of the burdens borne by Rogan Lee. Hes a brilliant and prolific cartoonist who, on one level, is based in the Boston area. On another level, hes merely based inside a brain. Rogan is part of a system of eight-ish people who live inside a single body. They refer to themselves as a multiple and, collectively, they sign the Xeroxed comics they publish with the name LB Lee. LB is short for Loony-Brain, Lee is a pseudonym  the system is hiding from the family that sired their body. Rogan is fully aware that he is what medical professionals refer to as an alter. The brain he and his headmates occupy has dissociative identity disorder (DID), the condition once known as multiple-personality disorder. Rogan shares the LB body with more than half a dozen headmates: gruff Biff, childish Gigi, mischievous Sneak, and mature Miranda, to name a few. Some go by he, some go by she, one goes by zie, and the group prefers that people refer to them in total as they. The brain they share is unwell, and they can all be described as symptoms.

But, again, put yourself in Rogans place. If you knew you were an alter but couldnt stop thinking, stop feeling, how would you conceive of yourself?

Rogan has veered back and forth on that question. To wit, in a comic called Leap of Faith, he recounts his romance with his now-husband, a slightly genderqueer, Texas-twanged fellow LB headmate named Mac. Early on, Rogan suppressed his attraction, and not just because of internalized homophobia. In text above an image of his stocky, plaid-shirted avatar leaping across a knoll (LALALA IM IN DENIAL LALALA! reads a speech bubble), he explains: My reasoning (if you could call it that) was, I cant be gay, because I only exist as a psychological metaphor. Ergo, my existence isnt real, my gender isnt real, and neither is any sexuality I might hypothetically have, which I dont. I am merely the fantasy of the Real Girl, who most definitely does exist, unlike me!

Nevertheless, in spite of these empirical, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Rogan and Mac did fall in love. Their marriage, as detailed in the LB Lee comics, is, like corporeal marriages, in turns tender and frustrating, passionate and nuanced. Over the years, their relationship has allowed Rogan to grapple not just with his identity, but also with a brutal history of familial rape that the system says their body endured in its youth. And yet, even on that last count, Rogan and his headmates admit that they are unreliable narrators, struggling to sort out exactly what happened in their past and what might be inadvertently manufactured.

Experiencing Rogans stabs at love and truth  as well as those of headmates Gigi, Sneak, M.D., Miranda, and others  are just a few of the many pleasures of the LB uvre, which is heretofore an unknown quantity in the comics industry. Its only slightly overstating matters to say no one has heard of these books. LB are dirt-poor, barely getting by on disability subsidies and the hawking of their comics at conventions and local shops. But attention should be paid. In an era when memoirs about gender, sexuality, mental health, and trauma are surging in importance, LB Lee deserves to become a much-better-known name, not in spite of their works challenges, but rather because of them  and because of their comics untrained and exhilarating beauty. Indeed, by elegantly and brutally exploring the fringes of fluid identity, LB Lee makes one rethink what it means to be human.

Photo: LB Lee

I dont wanna go viral. Rogan tells me while the body he occupies sits on its elevated mattress in a cramped bedroom, surrounded by comics and self-drawn portraits of the LB headmate family. The body is slender and blonde, presenting as boyish  it was assigned as female at birth, but has since undergone top surgery and adopted a masculine presentation. The body is clad in jean shorts and a t-shirt that begs, in stenciled letters, SHOW ME YOUR HUMANITY. As is typical of Rogans speech patterns  which are wildly distinct from those of his headmates  he is talking in a neutral American accent through a voice thats slightly too loud and just a bit nasal. Are you kidding? Im a fucking tranny-faggot-lunatic existing in public. It wouldnt be a matter of if I get Gamergated  itd be a matter of when, he continues, referring to the infamous conservative online harassment campaign. Instead, I try to have this slow growth. Slow, careful growth.

Its a sunny afternoon in the Boston area, a few hours after I met the LB system at a noodle shop for lunch. Rogans headmate, Sneak, had previously proposed over email that we merely get cupcakes because LB are more or less broke, and they were elated when I informed them that my employer would happily spring for a meal. LB are very much estranged from the bodys well-to-do family, so money is always an issue for them. They make hardly any of it right now, but they also fear making too much of it. They face a cruel catch-22 shared by countless Americans: If they get above a certain level of wealth, theyd no longer be entitled to government benefits, but likely still wouldnt have enough to provide for themselves. People are like, Oh, have you considered Kickstarting? Rogan says. Well, heres the problem: What if my Kickstarter becomes way too successful? I get the money that Im not legally allowed to have and I lose everything for one fucking book, a success I may never be able to replicate again.

If that one book were to exist, it would likely be a collected edition of LBs remarkable and gripping four-part narrative All in the Family. You wont find the series on Amazon or any digital-comics retailer. Hell, you probably wont find it anywhere unless you somehow stumble across LBs itch.io store or you live within a ten-mile radius of the apartment where the body dwells.

I happened to be in Cambridge, Massachusetts a few months ago and stopped by one of the oldest and best comic-book stores in the country, Million Year Picnic. I have a general policy where, if Im visiting a comics shop, I ask if they have any photocopied pieces from local creators  the idea being that I cant find that stuff anywhere else, so this is my one shot to discover it. The policy has led me to buy a metric ton of mediocre, self-indulgent crap, but every once in a while, something magical appears. I asked the guy behind the checkout counter what local stuff he liked and his voice dropped to a hushed volume. Dude, he said, you have to check out LB Lee.

Photo: Matthew Norris/MGNorris Photography

No further explanation was given, nor did I want any. I flipped through the local-comics shelf and, of all the LB comics, was most struck by the cover to the first chapter of All in the Family: a crucifix of black flame is suspended in midair with accusing eyes etched into its crossbar; below that is a blank-faced, crown-wearing human that envelops three more figures, one of them grinning awkwardly and the other two wearing masks etched with ominously banal smiles. I picked it up and went back to my room to dive in. What I found between the covers made my jaw drop.

All in the Family is one of the most brutal and engaging comics Ive ever read. It begins with a page both charming and intriguing, in which the author informs the reader that what they are about to read is the work of a multiple system  a.k.a. multiple personalities. The internal dramatis personae are presented with headshots and brief summaries: Rogan, grumpy artist, Gigi, spooky girl, Mac, fabulous hubby, Falcon, retired imaginary pal, Sneak, ray of sunshine, Miranda, voice of reason. Ill admit I was skeptical, having read in the past about individuals who purport to have multiple personalities out of self-delusion or a desire for attention. But still, Id never read a comic made by anyone even claiming to have the disorder, so my interest was piqued.

The first handful of pages look crude in comparison to what follows  as Id learn later from Rogan, those initial pages werent initially intended for publication, but rather were made as drawn diary entries during a time when the system was plagued by ominous nightmares. The first panel depicts a simple sketch of a brain along with text reading, For two weeks now, I have been crazy. More so than usual. We see panels of the systems body struggling to stay awake and walking through a corridor while hugging itself. A faceless black mass occasionally follows it. I feel like Im being hunted, the narration reads. I am afraid. But I dont know whats hunting me. The body yells at the mass: What do you WANT? TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT! The narration goes on: But it never answers. It just follows me. Waiting.

One of the core components of DID is eerie gaps in memory that fill themselves in at inopportune times, and the system eventually realizes that theyre being haunted by the ghost of a headmate who vanished years ago for reasons none of the others can remember, a teenage androgyne in a manky leather jacket named M.D. She returns to full form and brings with her a recovered memory of unspeakable agony. A disturbingly paced trio of panels lays it out. Panel one: a blank background and text reading, Yup. Grampa totally molested us. Panel two: the word MOLESTED written hundreds of times, to the point where its barely legible and the image looks like furious static. Panel three: another blank background, this time with tiny letters at the very bottom reading, Fuck.

What follows is a whirlwind narrative that is made compelling by its specificity and idiosyncrasy. Over the course of the four installments  which you can purchase as PDFs here  Rogan recounts months of agony and investigation. Although hes the headmate in charge of making most of the comics, all of the headmates feature in the narrative as characters and all of them deal with the trickle, then flood, of awful memories that come to the systems brain. It becomes clear to them that their grandfather, with the help of their aunt, repeatedly raped them over the course of their childhood. As of the time when these memories were coming back, LB were still in contact with their parents, but the filial relationship deteriorates as the system asks the parents about the trauma and find only resistance and denial. The terrifying climax arrives when various clues are strung together and LB come to the conclusion that their father also raped them.

It is here that I must point out that there is no conclusive proof that LBs family members molested them. While that ambiguity is true of so much sexual abuse in the world, the situation is more complicated here. Amnesia about personal history is one of the defining aspects of DID, but recovered memories are a profoundly controversial matter in the psychological community. Without getting too far into the weeds, suffice it to say there are those who say there is no such thing as a recovered memory, and that such abrupt reminiscences are manufactured, either deliberately or accidentally, by the patient. LB are entirely aware of this debate and will be the first to tell you theyll understand if you dont believe what they say. At best, all I can say is Im doing my best to tell the truth as I know it at the time, with the caveat that my knowledge is probably significantly more flawed than the average persons, reads a recent message for LBs Patreon subscribers. I can use that uncertainty to build the discussion, and give my readers more to think about. After all, what better way to show all narrators are unreliable than to engage with that directly?

Photo: LB Lee

There are also those in the medical and scientific communities who say DID is over-diagnosed and that many people who claim to have it actually dont. However, although Im no expert, Im inclined to say LB arent fakers. DID has debilitated them and created massive problems for their collective life  they cant hold down a job and theyre alienated from people who get uncomfortable with their abrupt switches from one headmate to another (Mac has a Southern accent, Miranda has a British one, Sneak sounds like a squeaky doorpost, and so on, turning a conversation into an auditory rollercoaster ride). Its unclear to me why a person would make all that up for the meager reward of interesting comics that are hardly read by anyone. Given that DID is widely thought to be induced by childhood trauma, Occams Razor suggests that were dealing with a brain that endured horrific transgressions in its youth and, as is true of all DID patients, saw its sense of self shattered into splinters.

That said, there was a time before the abuse and the subsequent regime of the headmates, when the body was simply occupied by a single personality, which LB refer to as the Original Girl. LB say their body was born with the name Erin (they decline to give her surname) in 1988 in Texas and raised there by a financially comfortable, emotionally repressed family. LB recall sexual abuse from as early as 1993, but it wasnt until roughly 2000 that the Original Girl started to share her brain with sassy M.D., the first headmate to arrive. Then, throughout the early 2000s, more arrived.

Initially, the Original Girl figured these were simply imaginary friends. As Rogan recalls, You leaf through our journals, you see us talking about each other, or to each other, or having fights over what to do, but  and here, he adopts a sarcastic tone  oh, it wasnt real or anything. The Original Girls consciousness died while the body was being raped by a boyfriend (a physically existing person, not a headmate) in 2005.* But even then, hard as it is to understand for an outsider, the headmates still assumed they were imaginary and the Original Girl would reappear. It wasnt until the spring of 2007, when the system discovered other multiples on LiveJournal, that they recognized that this state of being wasnt going away.

Art provided solace. In her teens, the Original Girl had gotten into comics. First came Marvels X-Men stories: If you feel like a freak, X-Men is there for you, friend, Rogan says. Later, she was elated to discover the work of cartoonist Sam Kieth, who has a knack for visually and verbally depicting fractured consciousnesses: Our Original Girl was like, Man, you can really depict these amazing psychological states of mind through comics in ways that you cant really do with any other medium, Rogan recalls. While attending college, the system adopted the LB moniker (it was initially a roommates nickname for the system) and made its first comic  a brief exercise called MPD for You and Me (MPD being short for multiple personality disorder), created for a class assignment. LB were still closeted vis-a-vis DID at the time, so they passed this off as fiction. But it was the beginning of a calling.

Rogan argues that there is no better medium for depicting DID than comics. You can try to represent the lived experience of the disorder simply through words, but what are you supposed to do to show how distinct every alter is without visuals? You can stage a film or play in which different actors play different alters, but at that point, youre ceding control of your narrative to other humans. Meanwhile, in comics, you can show how each alter looks, speaks, and thinks within the confines of the brain, while acknowledging that the alters arent real in the conventional sense. Take, for example, a comics thought bubble: Everyone knows that that thought bubble does not literally exist, Rogan says, but there it is, speaking for someone. And we can also utilize each others different art styles. Like, if you read All in the Family, you know that Gigi draws like a kindergartner. Voila, an astoundingly complex brain filled with individual, non-corporeal people is presented in a way that anyone can understand. LBs comics are a quiet expansion of how we understand sequential arts power.

They are also a clarion call for greater empathy toward the mentally ill and those with unconventional identities. I spoke to multiple medical professionals with expertise in DID and asked all of them if it would be a problem for me to treat LBs alters as individual people. I was worried that acknowledging the headmates was somehow encouraging the disorder when I should be trying to convince them that theyre actually a single person. I was told in no uncertain terms that the latter, actually, is the more dangerous approach. In fact, the medical consensus is that its almost impossible for people with DID to unify back into a single personality, so theres no sense in trying.

I commonly talk to my patients as you all and they refer to themselves as we, says Dr. Richard Loewenstein, the medical director of the Trauma Disorders Program at Baltimores Sheppard Pratt Health Systems and a professor at the University of Maryland. Just say youre mostly interested in understanding and want to be very respectful and make sure youre not treading into territory that may cause undue distress. In other words, although being transgender or gender-nonconforming is very different from having DID, the same principle, so radically important and newly acknowledged in mainstream thought, applies: If someone with an uncommon identity wants to be called something, its your duty to comply, however awkward it may seem at first.

Thats not the only respect in which LBs comics feel eminently of the moment. They also play into a much-needed trend in contemporary literature  especially comics  toward frank discussion of mental illness. There are plenty of memorable depictions of DID in film and prose: Sybil, The Three Faces of Eve, and M. Night Shyamalans horror film Split being some of the most notable. LBs headmates despise most of these fiction and nonfiction accounts and the stereotypes they reinforce. If you want to come out as multiple to someone, there are very few things you can give them to reassure them you are not, in fact, an axe murderer, Rogan says. My comics are, in a way, a desperate attempt to create the resources that I couldnt find.

Photo: LB Lee

They accomplish that task beautifully. Although All in the Family is primarily a piece about excruciating pain, many of LBs works are expressions of the ecstasy that can come in spite of mental illness  indeed, they explore the unique joys that one can only experience if you have DID. For example, Alter Boys in Love digs into the romance between Rogan and Mac, and one is left with a kind of envy of the fact that the LB brain is able to find love and even sex  although Rogan declines to describe the external physical manifestations of that  within itself. A short comic called Whats Great About Multiplicity? features short works by various headmates, not just Rogan, in which they talk about how being multiple allowed them to survive and escape abuse, experience a sense of community, and have shared dreams inside one headspace. Speaking of community, comics like LB Goes to Alaska show the systems relationships with other systems and the special friendship that comes among a group of misunderstood outsiders.

That friendship is woefully necessary, given how impoverished and isolated LB are. According to Rogan, their biological family was perpetually in denial about the DID, assuming everything would return to normal eventually. Not only did that not happen, but LB had to cut off all ties with their family after the events of All in the Family. The family denies any and all of the rape and molestation, and Rogan says their father is trying to track them down to convince them that he never raped them  ergo LB asking that I not reveal where, exactly, they live in the Boston area. They recognize that theres a chance he didnt rape them and that their memories are false, but they cant stop the memories from existing and torturing them. They have to live with their own truth, however unreliable others may find it to be.

I didnt want to believe it, Rogan says. Now, its been four years and Ive been at this whole miserable process long enough that Im just like Eh, it is what it is. Ive just kind of come to my own peace with it. Once again, we see a way in which LBs comics are profoundly relevant at this particular moment in time: As a society, we are grappling with the question of how much we should believe those who accuse others of sexual misconduct. Comics like All in the Family force the reader to confront that question with a unique urgency, reminding us of the leap of faith we take when we believe an alleged survivor.

As of now, readers are few and far between. The LB system doesnt seem to mind that much. They collect the government disability subsidies they get due to their DID, go to therapy, and make a little money selling their comics and getting Patreon-subscriber support, all in an effort to achieve that slow, careful growth Rogan talks about. Theyre planning to collect the four parts of All in the Family in an omnibus edition sometime soon, though its unclear when. They just put out a book of prose fiction called Infinity Smashed. They are, in their own way, on a healing path.

Part of me is nervous about publishing this article, for fear that LB will go viral and the financial apple cart will be turned over. But wonderful art deserves an audience, and perhaps LB can find enough success to become a full-time artist. Publishers should pick up the digital editions of LBs comics and take note of this boldly honest and lucidly emotional talent  or perhaps I should say talents, plural. And if that doesnt happen, theres always the hard-won comfort of creation, which will always remind the headmates that they exist and have value. Work is my self-care, Rogan says. I get to be something besides a trauma sponge.

*An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Original Girl died in 2004.
Matthew McConaughey. Photo: Atsushi Nishijima/Neon

Harmony Korine teases you  even his first name seems ironic. In his druggy symphonic poem, The Beach Bum, he feigns harmoniousness, but the movie is full of dissonances, small and mighty. You dont always know how youre supposed to take the title character, Moondog (Matthew McConaughey), a Southern Floridabased poet and novelist whose dissolution is positively zealous. If Moondog isnt holding a giant spliff, sucking down PBRs, dancing around in a Jimmy Buffetish haze, and injecting himself into other peoples spaces, he doesnt really exist. Is Korine celebrating Moondogs life force even when his antics bring death? Or is Moondogs relentless boundary-flouting meant to be tragic, to suggest a drive towards self-immolation and oblivion? A true dramatist doesnt need to choose between those extremes or render any sort of judgment whatsoever. But I cant tell if Korine is a true dramatist or a simpleminded provocateur who lives to mess with our heads. Both, probably. To him, the joke is that its all movie fodder. Moondog is an existential hero for a weightless universe.

McConaughey is certainly flying high. He sing-speaks his lines (some of them improvised) in a higher register, as if etherized. He doesnt walk  he bops, he swivels. In his baggie shorts and loose, tie-dyed shirts, hes always jazzed. Hell snuggle with anyone (hes a groper), but still go back to his wife, Minnie (Isla Fisher), an heiress with a Miami manse who has made peace with his long sojourns to the Keys because she accepts hes a genius from another dimension  and maybe because she finds sexual fulfillment in the meantime with Snoop Dogg as a musician/drug dealer known as Lingerie. Moondog returns in time to make a spectacle of himself at his daughters wedding to a guy he calls a milk-drinking closet case. Hes momentarily nonplussed seeing Lingerie fondle his wife, but his philosophy of life only hardens.

Theres a have-it-both-ways element of The Beach Bum. Korine is strenuously honest in showing that this boho needs a lot of money to live as he does  although when Moondogs circumstances change and he has no money, he gets by, sleeping on a beach beside other burnouts. Korine probably means to say that its the money that has made Moondog soft, unable to produce a book in years.

He also makes sure that you cant get off on the romance of drunk driving. Theres an event midway through The Beach Bum that would  if this were a mainstream movie  shred the fabric of what has preceded it. In other circumstances, that event would lead to despair and self-hatred and a lingering sense of loss that no joyride could dispel. Youd get a 12-step film, like Dont Worry, He Wont Get Far on Foot: Time to accept a higher power. But Korine, bless him or curse him, has the courage of his convictions  or lack of convictions. Moondog keeps drinking, keeps smoking. Its Korines contention  which might be meant as an ironic, movie-ish, feel-good fantasy, like the demented climax of Spring Breakers  that Moondog can hit the skids and still, while perched on a beam under a pier as the tide rushes in, pounding away on his manual typewriter  create the Great American Down and Out Novel. I like to have fun, baby. Funs the fuckin gun, he tells a journalist. And for Moondog, it appears to be just that. Even then, there are ironies. Moondog picks up a stray cat in the films first scene and keeps it alive, even at his most destructive. Hes loose with pussy, but not with a pussycat.

I imagine that Korine and his editor, Douglas Crise, would like you to think they were high as fuck in the editing room. They freewheel back and forth in time for no apparent reason except to seem as freewheeling as their protagonist. The chestnut-laden soundtrack, though, is fluid. This isnt a cheapjack indie movie. Jimmy Buffet pops up  how could he not? Martin Lawrence has a delightful, gross-out bit as a dolphin-sighting tourist boat captain whos so stoned that he wants to swim with dolphins even when said dolphins have triangular fins. Jonah Hill turns up as Moondogs agent, a louche Southern dandy  another attempt by Hill to prove hes a chameleon actor instead of the blob we first met in Superbad. All right, already, Jonah  you can act. Except youve rarely been as authentically great as you were in Superbad.

The Beach Bum would be more entertaining if it werent the same scene over and over, with escalation in lieu of evolution. But thats Korines strategy, for better or worse, possibly both. I watched the movie from the vantage of someone who still curls up with a bourbon and Charles Bukowski, regretting only that I bought the book instead of stole it. I also watched the movie as a bourgeois materialist who cringes at vandalism (windows smashed, paintings defaced) for its own mindless sake. My reaction to the film can be summed up as follows: Get the fuck off my lawn, Moondog  but can I get a hit of that first?
Photo: Claudette Barius/Universal Studios

A young girl wanders across a beach at night, her eyes drawn away from the crashing waves to a strange building that beckons to her: Shaman Vision Quest Forest, it reads. The 1980s funhouse has a hokey Indian theme, with a totem pole standing out front. A smaller sign with an arrow points down through the open entrance. Find yourself, it tells her. In she goes, to a hall of mirrors where she will, quite literally, find herself.

Right away, I understood this scene  one of the first in Jordan Peeles new horror movie, Us  to be a sly nod to the many ways Native culture is misconstrued in mainstream culture. So many non-Native people who seize aspects of our spirituality often do so in an effort to find themselves. Hollywood, in particular, has a knack for distilling Native spiritual practices down to the onscreen equivalent of a Sephora smudge kit with white sage. In a movie explicitly based on the writer-directors fear of American society, the decision to have the young girl descend into this particular funhouse felt extremely intentional.

From that point on, Us  a movie thats sparked 1,000 theories and interpretations  became a story about Native appropriation for me. I watched as Little Adelaide walked into the funhouse only to be welcomed by a startling voice, that of a noble savage, the broken-English, one-with-nature, prophet trope. A mechanical owl popped out next, causing the girl to jump. Owls, for some tribes like the Dine, Lakota, and Hidatsa, are perceived to be messengers of death. (When a grown-up version of Adelaide encounters the owl years later, she makes sure to bash it in.)

Fans of horror will certainly have taken notice of the funhouse scene for one reason or another. It not-so-coincidentally mirrors the introduction of a familiar horror setting: the Overlook Hotel. Peele has admitted that The Shining served as major inspiration for his Get Out follow-up. In the Stanley Kubrick classic, the Torrance family car winds its way around the mountains until the ominous building comes into view. The image of the hotel, which we will later learn was built on Indian burial ground, looms large over Jack, Wendy, and Danny, foreshadowing its role as their central antagonist. Today, fans pore over the symbolism in The Shining, still hoping to find unclaimed Easter eggs. Peele, a student of horror, clearly wishes the Us audience to do the same. And so I did.

I noticed the whistling  at night, which for the HoChunks and other tribes is ill-advised; parents and grandparents say that whistling after dark will call bad spirits. And, yup, sure enough! As soon as Adelaide whistles, she hears a whistle in return, coming from somewhere within this hall of mirrors. Suddenly, she sees the back of her tethered twin, a double that looks just like her. Twins are powerful figures in the stories of many Native tribes. The HoChunks have Hero Twins that fight monsters. The concept of duality is even represented in our ribbonwork designs that are mirror-image florals of contrasting colors. They represent a world seeking balance between light and dark, a struggle in Us, as well.

The majority of Us takes place outside of Shaman Vision Quest Forest, but its image never really leaves our protagonist  or, more accurately, lets her go. Fast forward to that grown-up, present-day version of Adelaide (played by Lupita Nyongo), who has unwillingly returned to the beach of her childhood. She sits in front of the waves next to a friend (Elisabeth Moss), whos flipping through a magazine. She happens upon a page featuring a model wearing an Indian headdress, and thats when Adelaide once again gets the feeling that something is wrong. Is it the funhouse, calling her back? She realizes her son, Jason, is missing, and she runs in the direction of the mirrors.

But the present-day version of the funhouse is different. The Shamans Vision Quest Forest of 1986, based on a mish-mash of real Native tribes and Hollywood tropes, is now Merlins Forest, based on a mythical European wizard. On the one hand, Peeles decision to swap the names could be interpreted as a nod to horrors history of setting stories like The Shining on a twisted portrayal of sacred Indian land. (Stephen King was a serial abuser of the Indian Burial Ground trope.) Although Peele packs his movies with nostalgic references, he has helped change the genres relationship to these recurring themes too; Merlins Forest puts fake white history in the funhouse instead. On the other hand, the hall of mirrors transformation could reflect a grander American scheme. Does the erasure of the Shamans Vision Quest Forest mirror the ways the U.S. government has attempted, through policy and education initiatives, to deny the very existence of Native people? Either way, there is still a lone totem pole standing outside Merlins forest, suggesting that whatever transformation were seeing is not complete.

I choose to read the name change, and the movie on the whole, as commentary on settler colonialism. I openly laughed when Adelaides tethered double  a woman not subtly named Red, whod just invaded Adelaides home  playfully cautioned her son, Pluto: Try not to burn our house down. It played out like a perfect metaphor for settlers laying claim to Native land. If thats not clear cut enough for you, the tethered come from underneath the funhouse, another allusion to horrors persistent Indian burial ground trope. The way they lack language, eat raw meat, and move in an animalistic manner plays into the savage anxieties to which Native and Black people alike have been subjected. After having been forgotten and erased by their oppressors, the tethered literally rise up and create a Hands Across America-esque barricade with their bodies, creating a physical barrier not unlike the protests of Standing Rock and Ferguson.

Peele has made it clear that Us is not specifically a movie about race. And really, it isnt. Its about much more than that. The true genius of his work is that it allows us to see so many things in the hall of mirrors, including direct reflections of ourselves, our socioeconomic reality, our generational angst. The eeriness of his movie depends on which of his references and symbols grip audience members. In a way, the funhouse never really leaves us either.

In the end, we learn that the woman weve come to know as Red was born on the surface, and it was Adelaide, a tethered, who forcibly switched places with her double in that funhouse years ago. We are invited to be shocked, at both the idea of Adelaides betrayal and the fact that Red is now hellbent on committing mass genocide against the original people. But there were clues along the way, as many people have pointed out, tipping us off to Adelaides big secret. The biggest for me was when Adelaide asked Red, Who are you people? And Red answered in the truest way possible: We are Americans.
The seats were full today in the House Chamber at the State House, but it wasn't the usual representatives debating bills.

100 8th grade girls from all around the state got to go to Augusta Friday for Girl's Day.

They learned about public policy and how it gets determined.

"Our hope is that we'll spark in them some interest to continue to be engaged in shaping the world they live in," said Eliza Townsend, executive director of the Maine Women's Lobby Education Fund.

They talked to lawmakers and even got to debate a mock bill.

"We get to experience what it's like to be all girls in government and be able to crush the male patriarchy and bring ourselves up into government and have our roles there so we can know if we want to get into politics some day," said student Eva Therrien.

Girls told us they had a great time participating in the lawmaking experience and are looking forward to maybe sitting there more often in a decade or two.

"You can reflect on these experiences and they can help you choose your career choices," said student Kelsey Stevens. "And I think that's just really important to have these types of experiences."
FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2019 file photo, Kendall Jenner watches an NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers in Los Angeles. U.S. immigration authorities have arrested a Canadian man who has twice been convicted of trespassing at the California home of model and Kardashian family member Kendall Jenner. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Friday, March 29, 2019 that 38-year-old John Ford was recently arrested in the parking lot of an Albuquerque motel after agents received a tip that he was in New Mexico. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
The migrants reached the Greek island on board a dinghy from Turkey. An operation was still underway to locate the missing.

The nationalities of the survivors and the missing have not been identified.

More than one million people have landed on Greek shores since 2015, mainly via the Aegean Sea from Turkey's coasts, seeking refuge in Europe from warzones and extreme poverty.

Hundreds have perished in the waters, and despite the closure of the Balkan route to central Europe three years ago, thousands continue to risk their lives to cross into Europe.
Italian government decree sets out details of residency, healthcare rules.

As Brexit looms and many British nationals living in Italy are unsure of how they will be affected, the Italian government has issued a decree outlining emergency measures to be implemented if the UK leaves the EU without a deal  the so-called hard Brexit.

British nationals registered as residents in Italy are not currently required to obtain a new non-EU residency permit. However, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, they should obtain a new non-EU residence permit before 31 December 2020, states the decree.

Those who have lived in Italy for 5 years or more will be eligible for a permanent residence permit. If you have been living in Italy for less than 5 years you will be eligible for a temporary permit. Temporary resident permits will be valid for 5 years.

Both types of residence permits will protect your rights, including access to healthcare, right to work and access to social benefits. UK nationals will need to attend their local police station in person to obtain the new residence permit before December 2020. Your current EU residency certificate (either temporary or permanent) will remain valid until you have obtained your new one.

The decree also confirms that the Italian government is committed to providing healthcare for S1 and S2 holders until 31 December 2020 for those who have previously paid into two systems before the UK leaves the EU.

The S1 is a certificate of entitlement to healthcare if you don't live in the country where you are insured. It is useful for posted workers, cross-border workers, pensioners and civil servants and their dependants. The S2 is the authorisation to obtain planned health treatment in another EU or EFTA country. You should be treated the same as a resident of that country  but you may have to pay a percentage of the costs up front (known in Italian as a ticket).

If you are a UK national applying for Italian citizenship and you have the required 4 years of residency in Italy before the date of the UK leaving the EU, your Italian citizenship application will be considered on the basis of EU nationality until 31 December 2020.

The full text of the decree (in Italian) is available on this page of Italys Gazzetta Ufficiale.

Already last December, the Italian government had confirmed that it will fully implement the rights in article 18.4 of the Withdrawal Agreement if the UK leaves the EU with a deal. It would apply a declaratory procedure that will recognise the rights of all UK nationals legally resident in Italy before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.

This, said the Italian government, is a simple and quick way of protecting the tens of thousands of Britons who have chosen to live in Italy, in line with the open and constructive dialogue launched with the British authorities to fully protect the rights of Italian citizens living in the United Kingdom.

The British embassy in Rome provides more guidance on this and other matters of interest to British nationals on their page Living in Italy.
On the run through France, Mexico, Brazil and Bolivia.

Cesare Battisti, 64, has been extradited back to Milan, after almost four decades on the run, to face trial for four homicides in 1978 and 1979, which he has now for the first time admitted carrying out.

Im aware of the bad I have done, and I ask the victims to forgive me, Battisti told Alberto Nobile, Milan anti-terrorism prosecutor, who interviewed him on his arrival in Milan, and who is investigating the network of helpers who presumably helped the fugitive during his flight through France and Mexico to Brazil.

Battisti was convicted in 1979 of belonging to a far-left terrorist group called the Armed Proletarians for Communism (PAC). He escaped from prison in 1981 and was later convicted in absentia for personally killing a prison guard and a plain-clothes police officer, and for being involved in the death of two shopkeepers during fund-raising robberies. During one of these, a jewellers 14-year-old son was severely injured and became a paraplegic. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

He fled first to France and from there to Mexico. He returned to France during the period of the Mitterrand doctrine under which former terrorists who had given up their activity were declared exempt from extradition. He was twice briefly held, but released each time pending appeal. Learning that his appeal had been rejected by the ECHR, he fled again.

He settled in Brazil, where he was arrested in 2007. However, the then president Lula da Silva on his last day in office granted him political asylum, accepting his claim that he was a fugitive for his protest activities. A heated debate ensued In Italy and Brazil between those who condoned his political motives and others who were appalled by the killings.

Battisti settled down and wrote 15 crime novels. However, Lula was disgraced, the regime changed, and the new Brazilian president Temer in December accepted Italys demand for extradition to face criminal rather than political charges.

Learning that the extradition was about to be carried out, Battisti made a last dash across the border to Bolivia, but he was run to ground there in January and held until the legal formalities were completed, arriving back in Milan last week.

Battisti had always admitted being a member of the PAC, claiming that the killings for which he was responsible were episodes in a just war against the state. For him at the time it was a just movement, Nobile told media after interviewing Battisti. Now he is aware of the madness of those years of lead, as the terrorism-plagued 1970s are known in Italy.

When he comes to trial, his confession may have the effect of saving him from the rigorous Article 41bis hard prison regime reserved for mafiosi and unrepentant former terrorists.
Rome street art in response to alcohol ban in S. Lorenzo.

A mural depicting Rome mayor Virginia Raggi with a beer bottle in hand appeared on Via dei Dalmati in the city's S. Lorenzo district on 27 March.

The image, signed by street artist Fulcro, is believed to be in response to the alcohol restrictions introduced by the mayor in S. Lorenzo following the tragic death of 16-year-old Desiree Mariottini last October.

The legislation prohibits the outdoor consumption and takeaway sale of alcohol after 21.00 in S. Lorenzo and other districts associated with Roman nightlife. The ban remains in place until 26 April.

Photo Dario Castriota - Twitter @lacittapiubella
I agree we should take the best. We should stop thinking the best are only men, De Croo said in an interview with The Washington Post, shortly before his appearance at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, where he pitched his message that feminism is good for the economy, for women and for men. Its one he draws from his book The Age of Women: Why Feminism Also Liberates Men, which is soon to be released in English.
Four tankers on Thursday were preparing to offload or pick up cargoes in the busiest U.S. oil port, the first signs of an easing of the bottleneck that cut 1 million barrels per day of shipments, according to vessel tracking data. The Houston Ship Channel reopened this week with operating restrictions following a fire at Mitsui's Intercontinental Terminals in Deer Park, Tex. That blaze sent fuel and chemicals into the waterway, which is home to nine refineries.
At the same time, at a private Senate Democratic lunch nearby, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) was arguing for the need to defend Puerto Rico, saying that if Trump gets away with depriving Puerto Rico of needed money, he could target New York or California next. At the same lunch, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) gave an impassioned speech reminding colleagues that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens who need their support. The senators comments were recounted by a person familiar with them who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private remarks.
Underlying all the maneuvering is the complicated politics of trade, which has long divided Democrats and grown only more complex in the Trump era. The president has forced his protectionist impulses onto a Republican Party that traditionally supported free trade. With a presidential campaign looming and numerous Democrats vying for their partys nomination  including some who have denounced the deal  passage will only get tougher as time goes by. But lawmakers on both sides say much work remains to be done for the agreement to stand a chance on Capitol Hill.
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One of the charms of this piece, which is just over an hour, is the plain-spoken dialogue. Thats what Jones started with: transcripts of recorded conversations with his mother-in-law, which he intended as a gift to his husband, Bjorn Amelan. (Amelan also is Joness longtime artistic collaborator, who created the elegantly simple movable panels and other elements of the decor.) It turned out that Jones had a remarkable account on his hands, of an ordinary-extraordinary person navigating through the horrors of history with a straightforward, openhearted approach. In Analogy/Dora, the dancers take turns picking up the mic and taking on the characters of Dora and Jones, one asking the questions, the other answering, and the story moves back and forth in time, like a conversation over dinner.


Migrants behind the fence of a makeshift U.S. detention center in El Paso on Wednesday. (Sergio Flores for The Washington Post)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is sharply curtailing the number of families it will hold at a detention center outside San Antonio, because the agency is unable to transport them there amid an influx of migrant families at the southern border, U.S. officials said Friday.

Beginning Monday, ICE will temporarily use part of the Karnes County Family Residential Center to detain about 700 adult women, with a smaller portion of the jail reserved for families. Earlier this month, the facility had 528 family members detained, but by Friday that had been reduced to 63 parents and children.

Officials expect the facility to return to exclusively detaining families after about three months.

[U.S. has hit breaking point at border amid immigration surge, Customs and Border Protection chief says]

The current volume of family units crossing the Southwest border has overwhelmed ICEs limited transportation resources to the point that ICE is currently only able to route a limited number of families apprehended at that border to the one other family residential center in Texas  the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Tex., ICE spokeswoman Danielle Bennett said in a statement.

The move comes as Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other officials are making urgent appeals to Congress to boost detention funding as a way to address the surge of migrants.

ICE said its adult detention space is near capacity, with 49,447 in custody as of last week. Nearly 75 percent of the 259,365 people booked into custody from October through March were apprehended at the border.





The shift reduces family detention space at one of ICEs two largest family facilities and ensures that more migrants, after crossing, will be released directly into the country, where they will await an immigration court hearing  a process that can take months or years. Immigration and border officials already were releasing most families because of legal limits on how long they can detain children.

The head of Customs and Border Protection said this week that his agency is reluctantly releasing asylum-seeking migrants directly into the country  without ankle bracelet tracking devices or extensive vetting  because the U.S. border law enforcement apparatus is overwhelmed.

Overall, more than 76,000 migrants were taken into custody  whether apprehended after crossing illegally or stopped at legal checkpoints  along the Mexico border in February, including a record number of families, many of them seeking asylum. This month, Nielsen said, CBP is on track to apprehend nearly 100,000 people.

In a letter to members of Congress on Thursday, Nielsen reiterated an urgent appeal for more money and authority to swiftly detain and deport Central Americans, including minors, to make room to process asylum cases. She warned that the Department of Homeland Security is increasingly unable to take operational control of the southern border.

We are grappling with a humanitarian and security catastrophe that is worsening by the day, and the Department has run out of capacity, despite extraordinary intra-departmental and interagency efforts, she wrote. I am especially concerned about the level of families and unaccompanied children arriving at our borders and in federal custody.

In addition to families, she said, hundreds of unaccompanied minors are spending too much time in crowded Border Patrol holding cells. Under federal law, children and teens traveling on their own are supposed to be swiftly transferred to Department of Health and Human Services shelters and then placed with a parent or guardian.

HHS is taking steps to rapidly add thousands of shelter beds, Nielsen said in the letter, first reported by NBC, but is hitting peak capacity.

HHS had about 12,000 minors in custody this week and was unable to immediately confirm Nielsens statement.

Families detained at the border end up in ICE custody, but space is limited to roughly 3,000 beds. Karnes is one of ICEs largest facilities.

As of Friday, 63 family members were being held at Karnes, with 1,025 at the South Texas facility in Dilley, which is down about 400 people from earlier this month, and nine at a smaller facility in Berks County, Pa.

Advocates for migrants have called for releasing them to await court hearings. ICE says it makes bond determinations on a case-by-case basis.

Border Patrol apprehensions remain well below their peak of 1.6 million in 2000, but the Trump administration says the nature of the flows has transformed from mostly adult Mexican men, who are easily deported, to asylum-seeking families and unaccompanied minors from Central America who have protections under federal law.

[The Conveyor Belt: U.S. officials say massive smuggling effort is speeding immigrants to  and across  the southern border]

At a Michigan rally Thursday, Trump said the asylum system is swamped by claims from Central Americans who are aware that the government is unable to detain them, calling it a big fat con job. Trump has tried to get Congress to fund the construction of barriers along large stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border, and he has worked to narrow the ways foreigners can seek asylum in the United States. But many of the Trump administrations efforts have been stymied by legal challenges.

Advocacy groups have argued that the Trump administrations tough approach to the border violates federal asylum law. They say Central Americans are fleeing drought, hunger and violence at home and that the migrants should be treated as refugees.

And they have questioned Nielsens concern for child migrants, noting that she signed off on a policy last year that separated more than 2,700 children from their parents at the border, over the objections of experts who warned that it could inflict long-term emotional and physical harm.

Nine months after Trump ended the policy, a federal judge is still trying to verify that all families have been reunited.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in response to Nielsens letter that he would support funding to shelter migrants more humanely on the border, noting that some were being held this week under a highway overpass in El Paso. But he opposed her efforts to deport children and families more quickly.

There is no legitimate reason for migrants to be held in horrid conditions or encamped under bridges, he said in a statement.
Natural can be an excuse for lazy winemaking, and I am not just posing a straw man here. I have heard pretentious importers claim their wines were so natural they represented the true terroir of their region, while I could only conjure the terroir of a toilet bowl. And I have tasted electric and vibrant natural wines that seized my attention and held on until I drained the last drop from the bottle. That type of winemaking requires meticulous care, in the vineyard and in the winery.
Jura, in eastern France, is a darling region in the natural-wine movement, partly because winemaking techniques there have not been swept up into the modern (industrial) age. The Domaine Joly Les Varrons is all chardonnay, but its made in an old-fashioned way with the grapes fermented on the skins. The result is a slightly hazy, amber-colored wine with more tannin than we expect from modern white wines. That gives it a sense of bite on the palate, as well as the stuffing to match heartier foods than we might usually pair with white wines. Try this with a spring stew of veal or lamb, a pork roast or roasted chicken. ABV: 13 percent.
The vistas of distant mountains across a wide and unsullied valley were difficult to enjoy. I inched forward at walking speed, hugging the naked rock face on my right around hairpin curves which were obviously not wide enough for two cars to pass. We had seen only a couple of farm pickups in the 45 minutes wed been driving on the PRIMITIVE ROAD, but just one more coming in the other direction would mean disaster. I pressed the horn about 50 feet before each curve and kept it blaring until we were safely on the other side.
Grand aboveground mausoleums and family tombs draw hordes of tourists to New Orleans graveyards. We stopped by a few of these cities of the dead, taking in the stately, megabuck monuments, before visiting the haunting, hidden-away Holt Cemetery in the Navarre neighborhood. Nothing fancy or pretentious at this humble site, a resting place established for city indigents in the 1870s. Despite the citys high water table, almost all the departed here are buried below ground, and flooding can push up bits of bones and burial goods that keep death very real and very present. I was stirred as I wandered the muddy cemetery, taking in beloved stuffed animals now covered in muck, half-buried Mardi Gras beads, sunken graves, bouquets of dusty plastic flowers, pieces of PVC pipe laid out in rectangles to mark off family plots, ripped bits of shroud cloth and hand-lettered wooden tomb markers leaning underneath old trees hung with moss. I kept thinking of poet John Donnes famous line: Death, be not proud. 
In my case, I decided to stay in Africa, a conclusion I reached after consulting with my fathers primary physician, a hospice worker, my mom and sister, and my inner self. I spoke with my family every night, maneuvering around power failures and spotty service. With my mothers help, I FaceTimed with my father and played back my day for him. I told him about an upcoming visit to a refugee camp and my mastery of driving on the left side, including conquering roundabouts. I reminded him of how grateful I was to have him as my father and told him that I understood if he needed to let go before I returned. I ended every phone call with three little words in case Aug. 31 or Sept. 1 or Sept. 2 would be our last conversation.
I think the issue of the quality of justice and the perception of justice in the community suffers when theres not a fulsome representation of the community on the court, said former federal and Fairfax County judge Gerald Bruce Lee, who is African American and has pushed for more diversity on the bench.
The United States of America . . . and defendant [Maria Butina], respectfully request that the Court sign the attached proposed Order of Judicial Removal on the day it sentences the defendant, both sides said in the Friday court filing. Butina said she would not contest her deportation after pleading guilty to a felony while in the United States on a student visa.
It ultimately opted to go with a map submitted by an Oregon-based writer for the liberal politics blog Daily Kos. Meanwhile, two of the commissions unaffiliated members resigned after it was determined they were not eligible to serve in the group. One had been a registered lobbyist, while the other had not been a Maryland voter for at least three consecutive years.
He later became a Peace Corps official in Washington and then worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He received a masters degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1967 and a doctorate in economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1973. He was teaching at the University of Wisconsins Milwaukee campus when he entered electoral politics, winning a seat in the state Assembly in 1976.
Todays court filing marks an important step toward vindicating the rights of these three courageous men, who throughout this ordeal have showed themselves to be exactly the kind of police officers we all want to see in America, by standing up to racism and retaliation infecting law enforcement, despite steep personal costs, said Deborah Jeon, legal director of the ACLU of Maryland. Now, we look forward to turning the full force of our collective efforts to right the wrongs done to Detective Savage, who has had his life literally turned upside down by the defendants race discrimination and retaliation.
According to the affidavit, Britton said the shooting was the result of a dispute between people who live at Columbia Heights Village apartments and other who live near Belmont Street, about six blocks south near Meridian Hill Park. He told police that Columbia Heights youths had threatened his friends and one shot at him the day before the fatal shooting.
At a Friday news conference, Fairfax County Department of Family Services Deputy Director Ron Chavarro said Hammond had been employed by the county since 2008, and had worked at Ravenswood Elementary and Rolling Valley Elementary, as well as West Springfield.
More than 30 relatives of those who died in the Lion Air crash have sued the company. In lawsuits filed last week, the families of two Lion Air passengers alleged that Boeing failed to warn pilots and airlines about a flight-control problem on the Max aircraft, and also pointed to flaws in the certification process of the jetliner, handled by the FAA. Marks, who also represents the families of 20 Lion Air victims, said his clients are also planning to sue the federal government.
The race- and sex-related scandals crippling the three Democratic men who lead Virginias government have boosted efforts within the party to elevate a new generation of candidates for statewide office  particularly women of color.  At least two female African American lawmakers  state Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan (D-Richmond) and Del. Jennifer D. Carroll Foy (D-Prince William)  are considering statewide campaigns for 2021 even as they gear up for their reelection efforts this fall.  Younger and more liberal Democrats tout both women as antidotes to the damaged men who, until last month, had been front-runners to be the partys next nominee for governor: Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who has denied two allegations of sexual assault, and Attorney General Mark R. Herring, who admitted wearing blackface as a college student in 1980.
There is an urgent need to make Virginia roads safer by addressing distracted driving  Governor Northam has proposed amendments to spur action from legislators, she said in an email. The Speakers determinations are his own, though the governor and his team will continue to pursue the bipartisan deal that has received overwhelming support from the General Assembly.
Two-Spirit, an umbrella term for non-binary definitions of gender and sexuality from Native American traditions, takes inspiration from terminology in the Ojibwe language for men who filled womens roles in society, or women who took on mens roles. Many of North Americas indigenous traditions include more than just male and female understandings of gender, but hundreds of years of forced assimilation stamped out many tribes customs and oral traditions. Two-Spirit powwows are part of a growing movement among Native Americans who say rigid ideas of gender and sexuality are unfortunate remnants of colonization  participants say its time to rethink native identities on their own terms.
On the other side, some opponents of abortion have said the bill is not strict enough. The executive director of Georgia Right To Life, Zemmie Fleck, sent a letter to the groups supporters Tuesday asking them to urge lawmakers to oppose the measure, arguing that the bills exceptions for medical emergencies, rape and incest, when reported to police, are discriminatory toward the unborn.
Trump weighed in Thursday with an early-morning tweet, saying the FBI and Justice Department would review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. Speaking to reporters later, he did not elaborate on what such a review would entail, saying: I have asked that they look at it. I think that case is an absolute embarrassment to our country, and somebody at least has to take a very good, hard look at it.
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The latest preliminary results, which the commission said were based on a count of all votes, showed that Palang Pracharat, a party allied with the junta, won the most votes. The commission said earlier that the main anti-junta party, Pheu Thai, had won the most constituency seats. Final results are not required until May.
When designing a mission-critical fly-by-wire system in which a failure is likely, one would generally try to have three independent sensor inputs. If one of the three inputs is wildly different from the others, a majority voting system would disregard the third input and go with the two that were in agreement. In this case, the pilot would be considered the third sensor. If the two angle-of-attack sensors were in disagreement and the pilot was trying desperately to override the automated system, the pilot should get the final vote. The system could express its dismay by playing an automated voice or shaking the stick, but it should disable the outvoted sensors input and have the MCAS either switch to using the sensor that agreed with what the pilot was trying to do or else turn over full control to the pilot.
The federal minimum wage does need an update, having last been raised in 2009. It has lost 15 percent of its purchasing power in the interim, and now stands at roughly a third of the median national wage, the lowest such ratio in the developed world and well below U.S. historical standards. To be sure, higher state and local minimums mean the $7.25 law applies to only about 40 percent of the U.S. population, but that is still a lot of workers. McDonalds has announced it will no longer resist a higher minimum wage: If even the nations quintessential low-wage employer is open to an increase, it may be past time for one.
Anyone who lived through the Districts financial crisis in the 1990s knows it was the kind of calamity this city must avoid repeating. I watched the event unfold from my perch on The Posts editorial board, where we opined nonstop about the looming disaster. It took a federally imposed District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority, a.k.a. control board, to pull the city back from the financial abyss toward which it was hurtling.
War torn, the March 24 front-page article that gave readers an intimate look into the life of Shannon Kent, who was killed by an Islamic State suicide bomber while she was on deployment in Syria with the U.S. Navy, was a heartfelt lesson for every American. Kents family had a history of service. Her husband, a former Green Beret, is a veteran of 11 combat deployments. Kent worked diligently at her career, devoting 15 years to military service to her country, committed to honorable goals and, after many dangerous missions and out of a sense of duty, couldnt bring herself to avoid yet another perilous deployment. She and her family have done their bit for king and country.
We noted last summer that Mr. Xu was saying interesting things in a very open way. On July 24, he published a lengthy essay, drawing upon ancient Chinese philosophy, literature and political theory, to squarely question Chinas current direction. He described Mr. Xi as a throwback to Maoism and said an emergency brake must be applied to the personality cult of the Chinese president, expressing fear that China is returning to totalitarianism with the elimination of term limits on the president. Translator and Sinologist Geremie R. Barme said the content and powerful literary style of Mr. Xus piece, as well as its tone of moral outrage, not to mention the authors scathing humour, will resonate deeply throughout the Chinese party-state system, as well as within Chinese society and among concerned citizens more broadly. Mr. Barme added that Mr. Xus powerful plea is not a simple work of dissent, as the term is generally understood in the sense of samizdat protest literature. Rather, he said, Xu has issued a challenge from the intellectual and cultural heart of China, to the political heart of the Communist Party.
True, our Parliament can be exasperating. But in a democracy, that is also its job. The mother of parliaments is proud, fiercely independent and sovereign. If the British government must fight for every vote on something as crucial as our countrys place in Europe, that is as it should be. If we lose sometimes, that, too, is democracy. For all the pressure it puts on me personally, I take pride in answering to a Parliament that is impossible to suborn.
The puzzle doesnt end there. Like many other places, France does have big gaps between the rich and the poor. But unlike the United States or Britain, the French system makes major efforts to address inequality. In fact, France already has the most redistributive welfare system in Europe. To put it differently, more money flows from rich to poor in France than it does even in Sweden. Yet this fact is also either unknown or unappreciated. This could be because the French president, Emmanuel Macron, started his term by lifting a wealth tax on the very rich, on the grounds that it was driving entrepreneurs out of the country  a decision that drew attention to the top 1 percent and caused a great deal of resentment. It could be because the flows are still insufficient. But it could also reflect a deeper problem, one that is not peculiar to France.
Shalev Hulio, an Israeli who is one of NSOs founders, said in an interview with CBS Newss 60 Minutes that was broadcast March 24: I can tell you that in the last eight years that the company exist, we only had real three cases of misuse, three cases . . . and those people or those organization that misuse the system, they are no longer a customer and they will never be a customer again. He didnt specify which customers or countries.
In other words, Putin is all-in with his support for Maduro. He is doing this in part to prop up an old ally, and because it adds to Russias clout in global oil markets, but above all because it furthers Putins central foreign policy objective  the formation of a global anti-American coalition of countries that can frustrate U.S. purposes and usher in a more multipolar world. Putins efforts seem designed to taunt the United States, which announced the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, warning foreign powers to stay out of the Western Hemisphere.
Mr. Nazarbayev managed to hold it all together, keeping a door open to the United States and the West, balancing the demands of Moscow and Beijing, and building a national identity at home without a major outbreak of ethnic violence. Like most other leaders in the newly independent states of Central Asia and the Caucasus, he ruled as a strongman, suppressed any political competition and dissent, tightly controlled the news media, and cracked down on independent trade unions and civil society leaders. The nations authoritarianism recently extended to trying to silence an activist calling attention to the incarceration of ethnic Kazakhs and others in Chinas concentration camps in Xinjiang province. Mr. Nazarbayev would have been wiser to view dissent and democracy with more tolerance. Sadly, there is precious little history of it in this part of the world.
The March 27 news article Pence calls for NASA to send humans to the moon within five years had an absurd statement: to return to the lunar surface . . . [is] a bold and exceedingly difficult challenge that would push NASA to its limits. Whaaat? It was a bold and difficult challenge in the 1960s. This July will be the 50th anniversary. Go see the documentary Apollo 11 if you forgot how to do it. You probably could get the hardware from various museums.
As parents of children in the D.C. public school system, we find the lack of transparency deeply troubling. We want our children to learn by example, and silencing parent and public voices betrays democracy. When we dont know how money is being spent and what is and what isnt being prioritized, we cant advocate alongside teachers and administrators for our children.
Heres the rub: Absent a decision by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of this practice, it will take a lawsuit by a homeowner whose rights have been taken away without his or her consent to correct a practice the court says is outside the boundaries of the common law  the established jurisprudential guide as contained in the Virginia Constitution. The court has said that a restrictive covenant running with the land that is imposed on a landowner solely by virtue of an agreement or vote entered into by other landowners would have been unheard of under English common law. The court has further noted that an amendment such as the one above affects the forfeiture or revocation of the recorded easement rights of the owners of garaged lots in derogation of their titles. The court is clear in its distaste for the creation of new restrictive covenants that take away previously recorded easement rights contained in an original title.
It was the fourth time the measure has been introduced since 2015. I want to tell the advocates that I am sorry we couldnt get this bill passed, Ms. Pendergrass told us. I know there are people who are now suffering who would have been helped. At the same time, though, Ms. Pendergrass and other backers of the bill were encouraged by how far the bill advanced this year. Previous efforts stalled in House and Senate committees, but this year the bill advanced to the floor of both chambers, easily passing in the House before just failing in the Senate.
Second, Barrs letter leaves important questions unanswered concerning what then-candidate Donald Trump and his associates knew about Russian interference, and how they responded to Russian overtures to assist the campaign. While Barrs letter states that the investigation did not establish that the campaign reached an agreement with the Russian government to take actions to impact the election in Trumps favor, it reveals that the campaign did field multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign. Yet President Trump and others have repeatedly claimed that they had no contact with Russians, or knowledge that Russians were acting to assist his campaign. Moreover, the Trump campaign did not bring the Russian outreach to the attention of law enforcement but secretly allowed a foreign adversarys assistance. Remarkably, after the release of the Barr letter  which makes it undeniable that the Russians were seeking to help the Trump campaign  the president still denies it. Why? Why was the Trump campaign willing to allow the help of one of the countrys foremost geopolitical adversaries rather than report the overtures to law enforcement? And, as importantly, does the role that the Russians played in his election have any bearing on Trumps current approach toward Russia? Only by seeing the full Mueller report can Congress and the American people make an informed assessment.
The mortifying mom from Notre Dame makes one giant mistake in her logic. She reasons from the assumption that guys of high school and college age are occasionally distracted by thoughts of sex. The opposite is closer to reality. While the claim that young men think about sex every seven seconds has been debunked, better science finds that the subject crosses their minds an average of about 19 times per day. Occasionally, these thoughts are stirred by the sight of an attractive woman, but often the topic arrives without cause or context, in the middle of history class, or while walking across a parking lot, or taking pizza boxes to the trash.
This is decent. This is right, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said as he announced that the administration was cutting funds to the Organization of American States because of its support of abortion advocacy [Pompeo cuts aid to OAS over groups advocacy for legalization of abortion, news, March 27]. And I am proud to serve in an administration that protects the least among us.
In the Middle East, Obamas passive actions and policies  including a now-infamous unenforced red line  led to the rise of the Islamic State and left an open door for Russian ground and air forces. Russian troops and their proxies, aligned with Iranian and Syrian forces, now occupy large swaths of territory in Syria. Nevertheless, the Trump administration has unleashed the United States military might in Syria, leading the efforts to destroy the Islamic State territorial caliphate and militarily punishing Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad for his use of chemical weapons. When Russian-backed proxies and possibly Russian military forces got too close to our Special Operations forces in Syria and failed to back off as warned, they were systematically destroyed by the U.S. military. And while much has been made of the presidents announcement of withdrawing troops from Syria, he has since pulled back to keep U.S. and NATO troops in the country.
Though Trump and his team are savaging the media for its coverage of the scandal, the president is benefiting from its shallowness. Much news coverage is based on an electoral paradigm: Who won, and who lost? These events are more complex. Barrs summary of the Mueller report is the most favorable interpretation Trump is likely to get. The report itself may be a catalogue of horrible judgment, unethical behavior and noncriminal corruption. It may put Trump Inc. in a very bad light. If and when it comes out in full. In the meantime, the Trump administration is defendant, judge and jury.
In opposition to President Trump, Republicans and Democrats agree on the need to continue funding the Environmental Protection Agencys Chesapeake Bay Program. The Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan is a federal-state partnership that includes six states and the District. Mr. Trump proposes slashing the budget by 90 percent. I agree with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) that, in addition to the obvious environmental concerns, the economic benefits, including tourism, seafood and boating, are great. The benefits to the economy will entice Republicans. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), the chairman of the Chesapeake Executive Council, has always expressed the need for strong legislation to promote a clean and flourishing bay.
Describing floods in terms of 100-year, 500-year and 1,000-year often makes people think the disaster was the most severe to occur in that time frame  as encapsulated by President Trumps tweet calling Harvey a once in 500 year flood! Hes not alone. When researchers from the University of California at Berkeley surveyed residents in Stockton, Calif., about their perceived flood risk, they found that although 34 percent claimed familiarity with the term 100-year flood, only 2.6 percent defined it correctly. The most common responses were some variation of A major flood comes every 100 years  its a worst-case scenario and According to history, every 100 years or so, major flooding has occurred in the area and through documented history, they can predict or hypothesize on what to expect and plan accordingly and hopefully correct.
What in the report might challenge Trumps claim that he has been exonerated? The initial portion could document the intervention by military agents of a hostile foreign power in an American presidential campaign. Yes, we already know the outlines of this attack from the allegations in Muellers grand jury indictments of Russian operatives. But it would nonetheless be startling to read a coherent account of this brazen attack on democracy. The counterintelligence portion may prove deeply embarrassing to those who argue that Muellers investigation should never have existed. Will those critics really maintain that Congress and the American people should be kept in ignorance about such an attack on the United States? This section may also establish that the media obsession with Russia-gate was entirely proper, indeed essential.
These were just some of the Russian mobsters who gravitated toward Trump as they laundered money and cultivated politicians. Over time, they learned how to work the system. They paid large sums for the most powerful legal talent in the land  enough, at times, to woo the very men who had once been charged with pursuing them. In 1997, former FBI director William Sessions traveled to Moscow and alerted the world to the horrifying dangers of the brutal Russian Mafia. But 10 years later, he took on as a client the Ukrainian-born Mogilevich. At the time, the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating racketeering charges against Mogilevich over questionable energy deals between Russia and Ukraine. Sessionss successor as FBI director, Louis Freeh, also later represented Russian clients. All perfectly legal. In Freehs case, the client was Denis Katsyvs Cyprus-based Prevezon Holdings. Freeh helped Prevezon settle a money laundering probe by the U.S. government after the company was accused of laundering more than $200 million in a Russian tax fraud scheme in which an American hedge fund manager and his firm, Hermitage Capital, were said to have been framed by the Russians. The ensuing scandal culminated in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, Hermitages accountant, and led to the passage of the Magnitsky Act, which sanctioned high-level Russian officials. Natalia Veselnitskaya, Prevezons defense lawyer, attended the much-discussed June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.; Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
The relevant Texas policy allows a Christian or Muslim inmate to have a state-employed Christian or Muslim religious adviser present either in the execution room or in the adjacent viewing room, Kavanaugh wrote. But inmates of other religious denominations  for example, Buddhist inmates such as Murphy  who want their religious adviser to be present can have the religious adviser present only in the viewing room and not in the execution room itself for their executions.
Oh, yes. Yes. You sacrifice a generation. You think, Man, we might get some policy goals in the next year or two  look at the long term. Look at the long term, at what youre doing for the party, because people dont want to be associated with it, Flake said.
It is still unclear which departments could feel the squeeze. But in the coming weeks, as House Democratic appropriators write bills funding agencies and departments across the federal government, they will be working with chairmen to find what one official called pressure points to force compliance, according to multiple senior House Democrats familiar with the strategy. The Democrats spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the strategy.
Trump had stopped in Grand Rapids in the early morning of Nov. 8, 2016, Election Day. It was a last-minute decision by his campaign team to stop in this crucial state, where his narrow victory helped power his upset over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. During that rally, which took place at 1 a.m., Trump had promised to bring back manufacturing jobs, including those in the auto industry, to Michigan  and told more than 4,000 supporters he would return to the state many times once he did.
House Democrats are not in full agreement about how forcefully they want to continue to pursue the Russia matter now that Mueller has completed his report. But they are unanimous in their defense of Schiff and their insistence that Trump isnt in the clear until they can see the full extent of the special counsels findings.
Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that for the first time in more than a decade, his agency is reluctantly performing direct releases of migrants, meaning they are not turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they are not detained, they are not given ankle bracelets to track their movements, and they are allowed to leave with just a notice to appear in court at a later date.
Sissis earlier visit to the White House in April 2017, three months into Trumps tenure, was the first by an Egyptian president in eight years. Appearing before the press in the Oval Office, Trump praised Sissi for doing a fantastic job in a very difficult situation.
Earlier in the week, Trump traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Republicans about the issue and spoke on the phone afterward with a handful of senators to urge them to help write a new law  a request that many consider unrealistic in a divided Congress and politically perilous ahead of next years elections.
The house, which is built into a hillside along the water, has undergone three significant transformations, two of which occurred during Webbs ownership. Right after he bought it, Webb modified the main level. He combined the two bedrooms in the back of the house into a master bedroom, moved the kitchen from the front to the back of the house and turned one of the rooms near the entrance into his office. He also redid the floors in Brazilian cherry.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a keynote speech at the opening plenary of the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, March 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BOAO, Hainan, March 28 (Xinhua) -- At a time when trade protectionism rises and pressure on the global economy mounts, the world is in dire need to find a way to achieve sustainable development.

At the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference, China has voiced its answer loud and clear.

"The world should work together to seize opportunities, embrace challenges, seek win-win results in cooperation and inject confidence to the world economy with an open mind, inclusiveness and coordinated action," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday at the opening plenary of the BFA in China's southern island province of Hainan.

By further opening its economy, promoting multilateral initiatives and advancing structural reforms, China is offering its solution to increase certainties for the world.

UNWAVERING OPENING-UP

Attendees of the BFA know one thing for sure: China will open its economy wider to the world.

On Thursday, Li announced a new set of measures to further open up the economy, offering reassurance to global investors trying to tap into the country's gigantic market.

China will further relax controls on market access and shorten the negative list for foreign investment this year, he said.

The country has also started to formulate matching regulations and rules to support the implementation of the newly-adopted foreign investment law, Li said.

"It is a very encouraging sign for investors in general. For us, it's an additional confirmation that we can continue with our plans," said Robert Aspell, president of Asia Pacific for Cargill, a U.S.-based agriculture and food company.

Following the company's additional investments last year in northeast China's Jilin Province, the company is looking at more investment opportunities in the value-added oil field, as more Chinese are living healthier lifestyles and crave different kinds of oil, Aspell told Xinhua on the sidelines of the BFA.

"We are in China for the long term," he said.

Economists and entrepreneurs at the BFA agreed that openness and cooperation are the keys to address the so-called "black swan" events, or incidents that are rare but could cause catastrophic ramifications.

"There's an old Chinese saying that we should cope with shifting events by sticking to a fundamental principle," said Zhang Yuyan, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"The fundamental principle here is that the world should always work together to counter the uncertainties," Zhang said.

INCLUSIVE GROWTH

During a heated discussion at the BFA titled "Global Economic Outlook 2019: Certainties and Uncertainties," panelists saw the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by China as an effective way to deal with the uncertainties that the world faces.

Michele Geraci, undersecretary of state of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, said the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China on the BRI will bring win-win results in areas including infrastructure, especially for water transport projects.

Geraci said that he expects other countries to follow Italy to join the initiative and sign the MoU.

"We will do more business with China and lead other European countries to see the benefits," Geraci said.

Initiatives such as the Belt and Road not only bring Chinese firms more opportunities to expand overseas but add to the chance for the global community to achieve common prosperity, participants at the BFA said.

China and other countries should push forward regional integration, build a more dynamic Asian market and better align the BRI with development strategies of all countries, Premier Li said at the opening plenary.

Hiria Ottino, president of the Pacific-China Friendship Association, said the BRI has offered a new perspective on how the international community could work together.

"In the past, we didn't want to share our knowledge or experiences because we feared losing out. Now we are looking at each other not as competitors but as partners. This is the most important thing about the BRI," he said.

INNOVATION-DRIVEN ECONOMY

At the international conference center of the BFA, two photos showing the sharp contrast of farming in central China's Henan Province have drawn the attention of the participants.

In one picture, farmers were plowing a field with two cattle in 1957. In another photo taken last year, several harvesting machines were reaping wheat in a similar field.

Technological innovation in the past decades has fostered world economic growth, and it will continue to be the key driving force for global prosperity, analysts said.

China has been intensifying its efforts to restructure the economy, with incentives introduced to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation.

On Thursday, Premier Li urged all countries to strengthen cooperation in innovation and create an open, fair, transparent and predictable business environment, which will facilitate the sharing of innovation resources and achievements.

For Aspell, China's commitment to better protect intellectual property helps companies like Cargill tap into the innovation that is thriving in the country.

"There are a lot of young people in China sitting in their apartments coming up with very interesting things," Aspell said, adding that the company is particularly interested in digitalization.

In a world that abounds with uncertainties, fostering innovation is one certain thing that countries should resort to for achieving sustainable growth, said Zhang Tao, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"Innovation can provide a variety of new technologies which provide opportunities for higher productivity," he said.

Hans-Paul Burkner, chairman of the Boston Consulting Group, believed there are more certainties than uncertainties in the future.

"The future requires more effort, more restructuring, more reform and more change," said Burkner.

"The key is to see that the future is in our hands. It does not just happen. We make it happen," he said.
If there isnt, he said, then basically we are in begging territory in which we have to throw ourselves at the mercy of the E.U. for a longer extension. He said that the price for that will be heavy. It will be European Parliament elections that would see Britain electing candidates to an institution from which it was supposed to be withdrawing.
Surveys show that Ukrainian disenchantment with their political system has only grown since the countrys pro-Western revolution in 2014. Just 9 percent of Ukrainian residents have confidence in their government, according to a Gallup World Poll published this month  the lowest level measured by Gallup anywhere in the world. The poll found that only 12 percent of Ukrainians believe in the honesty of their elections, and 91 percent see widespread corruption in government.
The shift does not mean that the E.U. has averted turmoil or that Europes political insurgents are happy with the status quo. Europes class of populists and nationalists  a mix of ruling parties and clamorous outside voices on the left and right  remains buoyed by discontent over low economic growth, migration and the perceived imperiousness of E.U. elites. Those populists want to decentralize power within the E.U. and are hoping to use European parliamentary elections in May to expand their influence and carry out their ideas.
The Vatican said last month, at the end of a four-day summit on the protection of minors, that the new abuse-related measures were in the works. Church officials have also said they will soon release a handbook for bishops worldwide with guidance on how to prevent and handle sexual abuse incidents.
Desperate to deliver better living conditions and deflect mounting frustrations, Hamas has again tried to ramp up pressure on Israel in recent weeks, analysts say. The Palestinians have sent more than a dozen incendiary balloons across the border into Israel, an activity Hamas had agreed to stop. A rocket, which the Israeli military said was launched by Hamas, struck a house near Tel Aviv on Monday, triggering Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and more rocket volleys from the enclave. The hostilities highlighted the potential for violent escalation ahead of Israels April 9 elections.
In an opinion piece for the Financial Times last month, Guo said that the United States was opposed to Huawei because the more its equipment was installed around the world, the more it hampers U.S. efforts to spy on whomever it wants. He cited revelations from Edward Snowden about how the U.S. monitored electronic communications.
Its unclear how much time Abdel Fattah will be allowed to spend in society. He has to report to the police every day. At the very least, he will need to sign a logbook at the station. At worst, he will be required to spend the night. Thats what happened to Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zaid, widely known as Shawkan, who was freed from jail three weeks ago also after serving a five-year sentence.
President Trump backtracked on his December announcement that all 2,000 U.S. service members in Syria were leaving immediately and agreed last month that 200 could stay in the northeastern region from which the Islamic State has been routed. A U.S. official said that plans are for the withdrawal, which has not started, to hover at a plateau of about 1,000 troops for an undetermined period of time, before eventually falling to 200.
Human rights and press freedom advocates have thrown their support behind Rappler and Ressa. But the journalist and her organization have also been the target of rampant and vulgar criticism online, widely believed to be the work of paid trolls. Rappler has monitored and reported extensively on networks spreading disinformation, particularly on Facebook, which counts the Philippines as one of its biggest markets.
The 29 parents, who were assisted by the legal organization Al Otro Lado, decided their best chance at seeing their children again was showing up at the border and pleading with U.S. officials. But after being escorted to Calexico, only 12 parents  those who had come with other children  were released and told when to appear in court. The other 17 are still detained at Imperial Regional Detention Center in Calexico.
A Malaysian man who tried to import more than 10 kilograms of the drug precursor ephedrine into WA has been jailed for more than five years.

Soon Keat Low, 36, was arrested in October 2017 by Australian Federal Police after border force officials had earlier intercepted two consignments destined for his Perth rental properties.

Some of the ephedrine imported by Low in 2017. Credit:AFP

The two packages contained more than 10 kilograms of pure ephedrine, which is used to manufacture methylamphetamine.

Initially Low denied any involvement in the drug enterprise, but he eventually pleaded guilty to his role in the attempted importation.
Australians who travel to Asian countries and sexually abuse children have been warned the law will catch up with them on their arrival home, as a 61-year-old Perth man was jailed for 11 years on Friday for molesting a Filipino girl.

Terrence Hainsworth , 61, travelled regularly to the Philippines up until 2012, and for a period of time to 2008, lived in Angeles City, one of the most infamous fleshpots in Asia.

Terrence William Hainsworth relaxes in the Philippines with an unidentified woman.

During his time living in the country he groomed, molested and attempted to rape a girl over the course of two-and-a-half years from when she was about five years old.

The Crown prosecutor said under Commonwealth law, Australians who go overseas and sexually exploit children under the guise the abuse is less detectable and enforceable, can be charged upon their return home and face lengthy prison terms.
Two brothers accused of murdering a business associate over a perceived debt of about $300,000 were allegedly framed by a gang of violent Estonian men, a Perth court has heard.

Peter Davis' body was fond in the boot of his own car.

Ambrose John Clarke, 54, and Xavier Gerard Clarke, 52, are on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court charged with murdering 51-year-old Peter Davis, whose body was found in the boot of his vehicle at the Great Eastern Motor Lodge on May 31, 2011.

The father-of-four was allegedly lured to an address in Malaga the day before and killed after intimidation and attempts to recover the money through an unlicensed debt collector failed.

Prosecutor Paul Usher argued Mr Davis was bashed and suffered a "fatal cardiac event". But Xavier Clarke's defence counsel Jonathan Davies told the jury in his opening address on Friday that police and prosecutors got it "dead wrong" and had built a case around speculation and supposition.
A bushfire advice remains in place for those in Clayton Street, Wilkins Street and Katharine Street in Bellevue and Helena Valley in the Shire of Mundaring after a fire earlier threatened lives and homes in the area.

The blaze was reported at 3.25pm on Friday and started near the intersection of Stuart Street and Great Eastern Highway in Greenmount.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services advises there is no more running fire, but there still is a lot of smoke in the area.

While there is no immediate danger, residents were advised to be aware and keep up to date in case the situation changed.

WHAT TO DO:
People continued to try and use the highway despite Mr Tasker's vehicle blocking the road, and he said he believed he turned dozens of cars away and towards Salmon Gums throughout the afternoon. Trevor Tasker (inset) saw the firestorm approaching from Esperance. He called the fire in to the Kalgoorlie office and requested resources to help fight it, along with the local government and WA Police. He told them the road needed to be formally closed in the opposite direction. All that time I was just hoping someone had shut the north side, he said. Eventually the fire jumped the highway and began to drop off about 3.30pm, and Mr Tasker was able to continue on to Esperance.

About 5pm, he hit the roadblock set up by volunteer firefighters near Grass Patch Road, near Scaddan. He was told about the massive Cascades fire that had torn through the area and was threatening to break containment lines that were barely being held by volunteers. It was at this point Mr Tasker realised those who had taken refuge at Salmon Gums were marooned by the two fires  with one burning near Norseman and another burning Cascades, the evacuation point was firmly in the middle. At this news, he immediately began driving to check on the evacuees. Salmon Gums When he arrived, Mr Tasker said he was "very popular".

Fortunately for them and unfortunately for me, I was in uniform, he said. It was clear panic had set in. The Salmon Gums townsite was engulfed in ash and smoke, and embers were carried up main roads. More than 100 locals were waiting on the town oval for further instructions, with some elderly evacuees covering their noses and mouths with handkerchiefs. Several things are going through my mind at this time and the locals were giving me options, he said. One said we should put them into a paddock ... or in the grain silo. But I thought of some awful things that could happen there.

I looked at alternate places ... nothing was suitable in my mind. The full significance of the situation slowly hit Mr Tasker, as he realised he was the only senior DFES officer on the ground and communications with his superiors had broken down, essentially leaving him alone with upwards of 100 people as smoke, embers and fire closed in. I knew I had to shift people. I had no other option, he said. Goldfields firefighter Trevor Tasker saved hundreds of lives by stopping drivers from unwittingly heading into the Esperance firestorm. Credit:Trevor Tasker He called his DFES manager Gary Gifford about the plan, who then told him to clear it with personnel in Albany, but Mr Taskers phone signal dropped out.

Before he could get formal permission to begin, other emergency service workers agreed to help Mr Tasker. The convoy I dont know where my mind was, he said. It was in another sphere. I wasnt thinking about anything other than the safety of these people. If Id left them, then 90 per cent of people would have survived. But I could guarantee some wouldnt. Mr Tasker organised people into vehicles, and made them form a line on the highway.

He sent a lead DFES vehicle up ahead, and a Main Roads repair vehicle at the rear. Volunteer firefighters were stationed on either side of the convoy to protect them as they passed through the fireground. One by one, Mr Tasker spoke to each driver as they passed him. I told them windows up, air vents closed and they werent to stop for anything. Not anything, he said. Slowly but surely, the convoy made its way towards Norseman through the fireground. When the last car pulled in, Mr Tasker said it wasnt without anxiety  volunteer firefighters had not come in as expected.

At a community meeting on November 18, he found out they had been called to fight the Cascades fire as it continued to grow and he finally heard about the full scale of the bushfires. Coroner Sarah Linton said if it seemed if it wasnt for Mr Tasker, there would have been more fatalities. Its fair to say you got more than you bargained for on your trip down to Esperance? she said. The Campbells The inquest also heard from members of the Campbell family, who had employed Tom Butcher, Anna Winther and Julia Kohrs-Lichte on their property in November 2015.

David Campbell spoke highly of all three workers, and said Mr Butcher had gone out of his way to try and help in the lead-up to the blaze. When it became clear the fire was likely to hit their Scaddan property and Kym Curnow came to warn them, Mr Campbell said he told Mr Butcher to either leave immediately or get ready to defend. Mr Butcher wanted to save his friends horse Cougar from the oncoming fire, but as a diesel mechanic, he stayed back to try and help the workers get a water tanker working. At the height of the blaze, hundreds of firefighters were on the ground. Credit:DFES When the hydraulic system continued to fail, he eventually had to leave. Ms Winter and Ms Kohrs-Lichte went with him.

The Campbell family stayed to defend their property throughout the blaze, and only found out what happened when their son Greg was contacted by his aunt Jen. I heard Jen on the two-way asking if everybody was accounted for, and she asked if people had left, he said. I told her Tom had left the farm, with the girls. Then I just heard I should come to Grigg Road. Mr Butchers car was found on its side, and all three workers had died. Obviously your family were devastated when you heard about Tom and the girls? Ms Linton asked Mr Campbell.

Absolutely, he said. 'Grossly insufficient': $25,000 a year for mitigation works The inquest also heard from Parks and Wildlife manager Greg Mair and Esperance district manager Robert Blok, who both agreed the $25,000 annual budget allocated to them to carry out mitigation works on the nearly six million hectares of unallocated crown land was grossly insufficient. Mr Mair said a review into the model currently in use  which dictates parks and wildlife is responsible for the crown land's management but local governments are responsible for bushfire response  was overdue. Its outdated, its confusing and the expectation on volunteer firefighters and local governments is, in my opinion, unreasonable, he said.
Police say they have no evidence to suggest a young woman was injected with drugs at a Northbridge nightspot last Friday night.

Earlier this week police said they were investigating a report of a needle-stick injury which was alleged to have happened at Universal Bar on William Street on Friday.

The young woman said she was attacked with a syringe on a night out in Northbridge. Credit:9 News Perth

The teenager had claimed at the weekend she had been stabbed with a needle while on the dance floor, but questions were asked when the incident couldnt be found on CCTV and initial toxicology reports reportedly came back negative.

Police had called for calm as a media storm brewed in the wake of the allegation.
Three WA Police officers have recently been recognised with Australian Bravery Awards.

Armadale officer Senior Constable Stephanie Bochorsky, Constable Jeremy Forster from Bunbury and Albany based officer First Class Constable Kurt McKain were presented with the awards by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.

Senior Constable Bochorsky was among the three officers recognised. Credit:Luke Foster

The awards recognise acts of bravery by people who put themselves in jeopardy to protect the lives or property of others.

Senior Constable Bochorsky was awarded a Star of Courage for rescuing two young children from a house in Doubleview in 2015.
Companies would face fines of up to $50 million or 30 per cent of the value of the annual sales for products that rip off consumers, under a Labor plan it says will help drive economic growth.

On Saturday Labor will announce its plans to dramatically increase the penalties for breaches of Australian Consumer Law and the Competition and Consumer Act, which were lifted only last year.

Under the proposals, a company found to have breached Australian Consumer Law would face a fine of up to $50 million, compared with the current $10 million.

Breaches of competition law would attract penalties of up to $50 million under a Labor proposal. Credit:Sasha Woolley

A breach under the Competition and Consumer Act would also attract a maximum fine of $50 million or 30 per cent of the annual sales of the product or service relating to the breach, multiplied by the number of years the law had been broken. This will bring Australian law into line with recent moves by the European Union.
The way Teena McQueen rose to the top of the Liberal Party left cabinet ministers aghast at their federal council meeting in Sydney last year, when a factional shoulder-charge propelled her onto the partys federal executive.

McQueen was the unlikely winner from a crude exercise in power by the angry faction of a divided gathering, where a few factional heavies were so determined to elevate one of their own that they shrugged off the damage to the wider party.

Liberal Party vice-president Tina McQueen is said to be paid about $400 every time she appears on Sky News. Credit:Sky News

Now she is a minor star or a major embarrassment, depending upon your opinion of her performance on the ABCs Q&A program on Monday night. While conservatives loved her message, she was a poor ambassador for the Liberals among the swinging voters, who they will need at the coming election.

The election of McQueen as one of the partys vice-presidents, decided in June last year by 110 delegates to the federal council, was another sign of the gulf within the party between conservatives and moderates. It remains emblematic of the struggle among the Liberals to achieve, rather than merely promise, the unity needed to run a coherent government.
The Senate seat of One Nation's Peter Georgiou is in doubt after his party moved to open up the number one spot on its Western Australian ticket to challengers.

Senator Georgiou, who is the party's only senator aside from Pauline Hanson, took the seat of his brother-in-law Rod Culleton, who was declared invalidly elected by the High Court, at the beginning of 2017.

Senator Pauline Hanson with her WA colleague Peter Georgiou, who was face a challenge to keep his own job. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

He was re-endorsed by the party to recontest his seat in June 2018.

But WA One Nation leader Colin Tincknell said the party had opened nominations for the Senate ticket to "see what else is out there".
Award-winning journalist Maria Ressa, a high-profile figure on the issue of media freedom in the Philippines, has been arrested in Manila.

Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler. Credit:AP

Ressa, the chief executive of news website Rappler, was taken into custody at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, according to ABS-CBN News, for a violation of the so-called "anti-dummy" law.

She had been arrested in February on cyber-libel charges but then released after a global outcry.

Rappler has reported critically on the Philippine's strongman president Rodrigo Duterte in recent years, making Ressa a target of the government. Ressa is an internationally known journalist, whose battles with Duterte are seen as a indicative of a wider authoritarian crackdown on media.
The study emerged amid major developments in the emotionally charged debate over how to responsibly treat pain. On Thursday, New York state filed one of the most sweeping legal cases yet against the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid OxyContin. The sequence of events that led scientists to investigate Cameron's genes began about five years ago. She was living a happy, ordinary life on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland with her husband, she said. After a hand operation, a doctor seemed perplexed that she was not experiencing any pain and did not want painkillers. Jo Cameron, 71, who has a rare gene mutation that scientists believe inhibits her from feeling pain or anxiety. Credit:New York Times "I guarantee I won't need anything," Cameron recalled telling Devjit Srivastava, a consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine at a National Health Service hospital in northern Scotland and one of the authors of the paper. A few follow-up questions revealed that Cameron was unusual. At 65, she had needed to have her hip replaced. Because it had not caused her pain, she had not noticed anything was amiss until it was severely degenerated. Cuts, burns, fractures  these did not hurt either.

In fact, it often took the smell of burning flesh or her husband identifying blood for her to notice something wrong. She also reported that eating Scotch bonnet chilli peppers left only a "pleasant glow". Srivastava referred her to University College London's Molecular Nociception Group, a team focused on genetic approaches to understanding the biology of pain and touch. They had some clues for her. In recent decades, scientists have identified dozens of other people who process pain in unusual ways. But when Dr James Cox, a senior lecturer with that group and another author of the new paper, inspected her genetic profile, it did not resemble that of others known to live without pain. Even though she burned and cut herself quite often, her injuries rarely left scars  which scientists believe is connected to the mutation. Eventually he found what he was looking for on a gene the scientists call FAAH-OUT. All of us have this gene. But in Cameron's case, "the patient has a deletion that removes the front of the gene," he said. Additional blood work confirmed this hypothesis, he said. Cameron said she had been shocked by the interest in her case. Until her conversation with Srivastava, pain was not something she thought about. Perhaps it helped that even though she burned and cut herself quite often, her injuries rarely left scars  something else that scientists believe is connected to the mutation.

A number of articles have been written about parents of children with similar conditions. Many live in fear that without pain, their children won't learn how to avoid hurting themselves. Her parents never made it an issue, she said. She suspects this may be because she inherited the mutation from her father. Loading "I can't remember him needing any painkillers," she said. "I think that's why I didn't find it odd." Unfortunately, because he died before the discovery, it will remain unknown whether he carried the mutation. Her mother does not share it. Neither does Cameron's daughter. Her son "has the same microdeletion in FAAH-OUT, but does not have the other mutation that confers reduced FAAH function," Cox said. In other words, her son shares some, but not all, of her pain insensitivity.

Scientists are also intrigued by Cameron's extraordinarily low anxiety level. On an anxiety disorder questionnaire, she scored zero out of 21. She cannot recall ever having felt depressed or scared. "I am very happy," she said. In retrospect, she sees how her genetic disposition may have aided her at work. After years as a primary-school teacher, she re-trained to work with people with severe mental disabilities. Erratic, aggressive behaviour never riled her, she said. But though having this mutation may sound like a dream, there are downsides. One is that she is quite forgetful; prone to losing her keys and her train of thought mid sentence. The other is that she's never felt the "adrenaline rush" that other people talk about, she said. The researchers said they would now focus on trying to better understand how FAAH-OUT works so that they can design a gene therapy or other pain intervention around it. Turning a discovery of this sort into an actual pain or anxiety treatment requires many steps, many years and many millions of dollars. It's rare for a product to emerge.
A German professor has brought international attention to the south-west German town of Zweibrucken after repainting an observatory to look like the Star Wars robot R2-D2.

Hubert Zitt, a professor of electrotechnology at the Zweibrucken University of Applied Sciences in Rhineland-Palatinate, is known for giving his lectures a science-fiction feel. For decades Zitt has discussed the real-life possibilities of science fiction technology and how they could be achieved.

He came to international prominence by discussing the potential for beaming and warp-drive technologies in his class The Physics of Star Trek at universities, which he also presented at science fiction conventions around the globe.

Self-confessed sci-fi nut, academic Hubert Zitt and his observatory tribute to Star Wars robot R2-D2. Credit:Hochschule Kaiserslautern

And thinking that he needed to bring a little science fiction flavour to the observatory, Zitt got together a team of painters  including his father and several of his students  to transform his observatory.
Brasilia: The Russian troops sent to Venezuela should leave if their purpose is to maintain the country's leftist government in power, Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said on Thursday.

Ernesto Araujo, Brazil's foreign minister. Credit:Bloomberg

In an interview with Reuters, Araujo said he hoped Russia would recognise that propping up President Nicolas Maduro would only deepen the collapse of Venezuela's economy and society, and that the only way out of the crisis was to hold elections under an interim government led by opposition leader Juan Guaido.

"If their idea is to keep Maduro in power for longer that means more people starving and fleeing the country, more human tragedy in Venezuela," the minister said.

"Anything that contributes to the continuation of the suffering of the Venezuelan people should be removed," he said in a telephone interview.




By Ko Dong-hwan







If you live in Korea and missed 1999's highest-grossing British romantic-comedy hit "

" or want to re-experience the movie, then here is your second chance.







The film is slated to open on Apr. 17 exclusively at Lotte Cinema theaters, marking the 20th anniversary of the original Korean screening.







Written by Richard Curtis and directed by Roger Michell, "Notting Hill"  starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant  won plenty of fans in Korea. Reviewers described the film as "a lifetime rom-com you must watch before you die" and a "paragon of romantic comedy."







In the movie, London bookstore owner William Thacker (Grant) coincidentally meets acclaimed Hollywood actress Anna Scott (Roberts) in his shop and, they embark on a topsy-turvy course of loving, parting and reconnecting.







In 2000, the film won the "audience award for most popular film" category at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards and the "best comedy film" award at the British Comedy Awards.







It received three nominations at the Golden Globe awards, including "best motion picture," "best motion picture actor," and "best motion picture actress." Its soundtrack,

, won "best soundtrack" at the British Awards.


"Now, Here, France" by Kim Sun-mi / Courtesy of Mimesis Publishing



By Kim Ji-soo



Everybody has a preferred place or country outside their homeland that they find enchanting.



To Kim Sun-mi, a journalist for the Korean vernacular Dong-A Ilbo newspaper and author of "Now, Here, France" the aforementioned country is that place.



Having studied French in high school in Seoul, the opposite-to-trepid reporter had a chance to study at Paris ESMOD-ISEM in 2016.



"Now, Here, France" is a book that offers a diverse array of topics related to the European country  from trees in Paris and in-city events to collaborations of fashion artists and technology, and education. As a mother of two, she describes her children's experience at elementary school and kindergarten there.



Through these topics, the writer tries to illustrate the country's undercurrent of a focus on culture and independent thinking, and the will to continue to creatively innovate.



One of the noticeable chapters is the second, titled "Innovation and Luxury."



It provides a glimpse into the rapidly budding technology scene in France. The author carries the experience of participating in the annual Viva Technology in 2018, observing French President Emmanuel Macron actively seeking both a flow of manpower and investment into his country, along with global companies investing in France.



It might be a model that South Korean policymakers would want to emulate as the country looks to revitalize its economy.



There is also an introduction to Station F, set up by the telecom giant Iliad's Chairman Xavier Niel in the Paris 13th arrondissement that houses some 1, 000 start-up companies with a workforce close to 3,000, and built with Niel's own funds. He was mentioned as the eight richest man in France with 6.1 billion euro in 2018.



Niel also founded a free coding school Ecole 42, where coding fanatics come together to teach and learn.



As the weather warms in Korea and more runners are out on Seoul streets, the story about Run My City Paris, where runners run past landmarks like the Palais Garnier opera theater, should have people musing. Seoul city government officials should ponder whether they could do the same for runners here by allowing them to pass through Seoul City Hall or Sejong Cultural Center, or Korea's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, as the writer suggests. As the author noted, it doesn't have to only be Seoul  famous localities such as Gyeongju, the old capital of the former Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.  935 A.D.), could very well host one too.


The DMZ (demilitarized zone) viewed from the Cheolwon Peace Observatory in Cheolwon, Gangwon Province. GETTYIMAGESBANK



South Korea will independently begin spadework to excavate Korean War remains in the Demilitarized Zone next week in the absence of a North Korean response to its call to conduct what is meant to be a joint project, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday.



Under last year's bilateral military accord aimed at reducing tensions and building trust, Seoul and Pyongyang are set to carry out the project in the Arrowhead Ridge, a notorious battle site during the 1950-53 conflict, from April through October.



But the North has remained silent about Seoul's request to start the excavation as planned. It has appeared lukewarm about the enforcement of the military accord since the no-deal summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and its leader, Kim Jong-un, in Hanoi last month.



"(South Korea) plans to start conducting additional demining operations and basic excavation work (in the ridge) south of the Military Demarcation Line on April 1," the ministry said in a press release.



"(The independent work) is designed to prepare in advance for the inter-Korean joint excavation project that the two sides are set to carry out in the Arrowhead Ridge area under the Sept. 19 military accord," it added.



The two Koreas' defense chiefs signed the military accord at the close of the third summit between President Moon Jae-in and Kim in Pyongyang last September. It entails a series of confidence-building and arms control measures.



Under the accord, the two sides were supposed to exchange lists of the staff for the excavation project by the end of February. But they missed the deadline as Pyongyang was then preoccupied with the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi.



Seoul sent the list of its own excavation staff to Pyongyang on March 6, but the communist regime has yet to respond.



The defense ministry also said that it will put on hold a decision to allow full civilian access to the Han River estuary until the two Koreas work out detailed plans for free navigation along the waterway where civilian access has been restricted due to military tensions.



The military accord also includes a decision to seek military measures to ensure the safety of the Han River estuary that ship operators have hoped to use for tourism, ecological protection and the collection of construction aggregate.



In January, the two sides agreed to start allowing civilian ships to navigate through the estuary on a trial basis in April. (Yonhap)




(This video provided by Republic of Korea Air Force shows a welcoming ceremony for the arrival of two F-35A fighter jets, South Korea's first stealth fighter jets, at a military base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Friday afternoon.)





An F-35A, South Korea's first stealth fighter jet, arrives at a military base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Friday afternoon. Courtesy of Defense Acquisition Administration Program



By Jung Da-min



The first two F-35 stealth fighter jets for South Korea arrived at 2:35 p.m. Friday at a military air base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.



The arrival came after the United States approved a plan to export Lockheed Martin's latest F-35 jets to South Korea. South Korea had agreed to buy 40 F-35A stealth jets. The complete delivery of the jets will be done by 2021. In 2014, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) clinched the deal, which has a value of 7.4 trillion won ($6.5 billion).



The first batch of the jets departed from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona on March 22 (local time). After maintenance and technical checks, the jets will go into operation in April or May, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).



Eight more F-35As are expected to arrive in South Korea by the end of this year. The arrival of the stealth jets helped the country join the ranks of Asia's few radar-evading warplane operators that include China, Japan and Russia.



"We expect the deployment of the stealth fighter jets could enhance the Air Force's operational capabilities by strengthening military readiness posture against possible threats from all fronts," DAPA chief Wang Jung-hong said.









Citing the fighter jet's decoy operational scenario and capability, military officials say the jets will play a bigger role to serve as a centerpiece of South Korea's strategic targeting scheme, previously called "Kill Chain," to defend against North Korea's possible aggression.



In 2016, when geopolitical tensions were high on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea's fifth nuclear test happened on Sept. 9 that year, the government announced its three-axis defense system including the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike program, as well as the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR).



Seoul later redesigned the three-axis defense system as the current administration of President Moon Jae-in is moving ahead with its "engagement-centric policy initiatives" toward North Korea.





An F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jet, one of the two fighter jets which arrived in South Korea on Friday afternoon, is on its way to the Republic of Korea Air Force's key base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, after departing from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona on Wednesday. Courtesy of Defense Acquisition Program Administration
Shim Baek-kang, president of the Korea National Culture Research Center, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Lee Han-na



Southeast Asia, and Vietnam in particular, is becoming an important region of growth and development that has Korean corporations and education institutions seeking investments and cooperation.



The amity between the two countries is expected to increase further in tandem  and the closeness between the two countries may well hail from the historical commonalities the two peoples share, a passionate historian of early Korean history and Chinese characters opined.



According to historian Shim Baek-kang, the president of the Korea National Culture Research Center in Seoul, Korea and Vietnam are brothers and sisters by blood, sharing an origin from the Maek tribe.





A copy of 'Complete Book of Historical Record of Great Viet' by Ngo Li Sien. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



His statement is based on resemblances in documents and traditional Chinese characters. In "Complete Book of Historical Record of Great Viet" (1479) by Ngo Si Lien, Vietnam's first kingdom starts with the Hung King. The father of the king, Lac Long Quan, shows how Vietnam is rooted in the Maek tribe with the traditional Chinese character of Lac meaning "Maek."



Another finding is that there is much resemblance between the two countries' first kingdoms  Van Lang of Vietnam (2879-258 B.C.) and Gojoseon of Korea (2333 to 100 B.C.). The father of Korea's first king, Hwanung shares the same character with the Hung kings of Vietnam which also means "Maek tribe" suggesting how both countries are rooted from the same tribe. Both kingdoms also lasted for 2000 years with 18 monarchs from Hung King and Hwanung respectively  with Gojoseon having 19 other succeeding monarchs.

Figure depicting the resemblance of the traditional Chinese characters of the two kingdoms By Lee Han-na
Palang Pracharath party wins more votes but Pheu Thai party gets more MP seats: Thai election commission

BANGKOK, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Palang Pracharath party won most votes in Sunday's election, but Pheu Thai party won most MP seats, according to the Thai Election Commission (EC).

The EC announced on Thursday that it has finished counting raw votes from all polling units nationwide and that Palang Pracharath secured 8.43 million votes, followed by Pheu Thai party's 7.92 million votes and Future Forward party's 6.26 million votes.

Besides, Democrat Party won 3.94 million votes and Bhumjaithai party gained 3.73 million votes.

Though Palang Pracharath won most raw votes, Pheu Thai party won most MP seats among all contestant parties, accounting for 137 MP seats or over out of a total of 500, followed by some 118 MP seats for Palang Pracharath, 88 MP seats for Future Forward and 50-plus MP seats for Democrats and Bhumjaithai each.

Winning the most MP seats in individual constituency mode, Pheu Thai gained none in party-listed mode.

The number of MP seats for the top five parties might be eventually increased or reduced, pending calculations on party-listed basis by the polling agency.




South Korea's industry ministry said Friday it has expressed concern over China's anti-dumping investigation into hot-rolled stainless steel plates, claiming locally made products do not negatively impact Chinese industry.







The move came as Beijing carries out an anti-dumping probe on imported hot-rolled stainless steel plates from South Korea, Japan, the European Union and Indonesia.







The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy claimed South Korean products are not in competition with Chinese rivals in terms of material or price and that most of the imported volume is consumed by South Korean firms operating in China.







Thus, the ministry claimed that anti-dumping regulations will not help the Chinese industry and could potentially have an impact on regional economies in which South Korean firms operate.







Top South Korean steelmaker POSCO echoed this view, urging the Chinese government to end the anti-dumping probe as the company is not causing any damage to Asia's top economy.







The ministry said it will utilize all necessary measures until the Chinese government delivers its final verdict, which is slated for July. (Yonhap)


President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump / Korea Times file



President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, plan to hold a summit next month in Washington D.C. the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday, amid a stalemate in nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea.

Moon will arrive in the U.S. on April 10 and hold a summit with Trump the following day, his office said.

It will be their first meeting since the breakdown of last month's summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi.

"The leaders will have in-depth talks to discuss ways to strengthen the Seoul-Washington alliance and to coordinate their stance on setting up a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula through complete denuclearization," Yoon Do-han, senior secretary for public relations, said at a briefing.

The Trump-Kim summit ended without any agreement due to differences on the scope of North Korea's denuclearization and sanctions relief by Washington.

The U.S. said the North demanded the lifting of sanctions "in their entirety" in exchange for its offer to dismantle only the main Yongbyon nuclear complex. Washington wants denuclearization in other areas, reportedly including uranium enrichment facilities hidden elsewhere.

But the North claimed that it only demanded partial relief of sanctions linked to people's livelihoods and that the U.S. pressed the North to do more in addition to removing the Yongbyon facilities.

The U.S. said it remains open to dialogue with North Korea despite the summit breakdown, and will seek denuclearization talks while maintaining pressure and sanctions on the North. (Yonhap)
Board of Regents Approves Doctor of Nursing Practice at Weber State

March 29, 2019

OGDEN, Utah  The Utah State Board of Regents approved the first doctoral program at Weber State University, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), which will be offered in two emphasis areas: Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Leadership.

Contingent on receiving approval from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the DNP expects to begin admitting 35 students fall 2019.

This is an amazing time for Weber States Annie Taylor Dee School of Nursing, said Susan Thornock, chair. The Doctor of Nursing Practice degree is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication by past and present faculty and staff. Weber State has always believed in, and promoted the stackable-credentials model to enhance the workforce and provide the best educational choices. This degree is just another example of how WSU serves our community.

With this degree, Weber State will now provide education for every level of nurse, from the practical nurse to the registered nurse all the way to the doctoral-prepared nurse.

Currently, two institutions in Utah provide accredited DNP programs: University of Utah, which provides a number of specialty DNP programs, and Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. Data shows that Rocky Mountain issued 32 DNP degrees from 2015 to 2017; the University of Utah issued 213 DNP degrees over the same period. Weber State University anticipates 20 annual program graduates in the family practice emphasis and 15 graduates in the leadership emphasis in each of years three, four and five following program implementation.

Students at Weber State will earn a clinical doctorate degree, not a research doctorate, which is consistent with a regional universitys role to serve workforce needs.

According to the Utah Department of Workforce Services, the median income for a nurse practitioner is $98,260, and job openings average 110 per year.

The DNP-Leadership program prepares nurse leaders within the interdisciplinary health care systems level, working to improve quality of care, patient safety and patient outcomes.

We are honored and excited to be able to provide a DNP degree to help elevate care and collaboration with other health care professionals in our community, said Julie Gee, Master of Science in Nursing director. The results of this degree program will greatly benefit and influence the health care outcomes for our community.

On April 20, 2018, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) made the commitment to move all entry-level nurse practitioner (NP) education to the DNP degree by 2025. This commitment was made in response to NONPF and other professional nursing organizations that have advocated raising the standards required for entry into the nurse practitioner profession.

Weber State's MSN program currently has three emphases from which students can choose: nurse educator, nurse executive and nurse practitioner (MSN-NP). The nurse educator and nurse executive MSN programs will have the option of a post MSN to DNP degree.

The DNP-FNP program prepares clinical nurse leaders to meet the changing demands of the nation's complex health care environment. Nurse practitioners integrate clinical practice experiences through direct or indirect care. They provide administrative oversight of nursing functions and health care within organizations. They also design and implement health care policy to influence individual and community health care outcomes.

We are pleased to have the opportunity to enhance our existing master's in nurse practitioner program with augmented clinical experiences, said Deborah Judd, WSU MSN-NP director. The DNP advances the role of the nurse practitioner and promotes improved health care outcomes for individuals, families and our community.

About the Annie Taylor Dee School of Nursing

The Weber State Annie Taylor Dee School of Nursing is housed in the Dr. Ezekiel R. Dumke College of Health Professions. It has approximately 60 full-time faculty members and educates nearly 1,000 nursing students each year. The key to the programs success is its flexibility and the ability to deliver nursing education to the student and the community using the stepladder approach. The School of Nursing will now offer four nursing program levels: associates, bachelors, masters and doctoral with a selected focus on administration, education or leadership. This format provides nursing students with the option to enter or exit the program at different times or levels in their education. More than 65 years ago, Weber State Universitys Annie Taylor Dee School of Nursing opened its doors as part of an innovative program to educate nurses during a time of critical scarcity, Thornock said. The program retains its national reputation for excellence and flexibility and continues to provide highly trained nurses who provide quality care in both urban and rural settings around the region, state and nation.

For photos, visit the following links:

photos.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2019-Photos/March-2019/i-73ZVw6n/0/ac40fb4c/X2/nursing_stacked-X2.png

photos.smugmug.com/Colleges-and-Departments/Health-Professions-Dr-Ezekiel-/Nursing/Nursing-Sim-Lab-Feb-2019/i-JfnNrHv/0/a789d413/X2/022719%20Nursing%20Sim%20Lab%2022-X2.jpg

photos.smugmug.com/Colleges-and-Departments/Health-Professions-Dr-Ezekiel-/Nursing/Davis-Nursing/i-Vz28qgP/0/bd479f82/X2/031119%20Davis%20Nursing%2034-X2.jpg

photos.smugmug.com/Colleges-and-Departments/Health-Professions-Dr-Ezekiel-/Nursing/Annie-Taylor-Dee/i-G2mDmHg/0/f7f9172c/X2/DSN_768_full-X2.jpg

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
U.S. President Donald Trump and President Moon Jae-in shake hands after signing a trade agreement last September. AP-Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



President Moon Jae-in will have a summit with President Donald Trump at the White House in April to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea, Cheong Wa Dae said, Friday.



"U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump invited President Moon and first lady Kim Jong-sook to the White House," chief presidential press secretary Yoon Do-han told a press conference.



"Moon accepted the invitation. He will visit Washington D.C. for two days from April 10. President Moon will have the summit with Trump on April 11 (local time). The summit will cover the latest updates on North Korea's denuclearization and specific steps on how to strengthen bilateral ties for a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula by achieving complete denuclearization," the press secretary Yoon added.



Moon's Washington trip was an "official working visit" not a "state visit," according to the presidential office.



The meeting comes amid stalled nuclear disarmament talks after the after the failed Hanoi summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Experts hope the Moon-Trump meeting will be an opportunity for Seoul to inject momentum into the diplomatic process.



"They will have deep conversations about all things relating to the North Korean nuclear issue," Yoon said. "Before the summit, all main issues will be settled on through working-level discussions between representatives of both sides."



In a statement, the White House confirmed that Moon and Trump would discuss the "latest developments regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as well as bilateral matters."



Another senior Cheong Wa Dae official said second deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office Kim Hyung-chong planned to visit Washington early next week to set the agenda. Notably, next month's meeting  the seventh between Trump and Moon  will take place while the first session of the North's 14th Supreme People's Assembly is taking place in Pyongyang, April 11.











President Moon Jae-in waves as U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes him to the White House last May. AP-Yonhap
BRIDGEPORT  Almost everyone gathered by the police substation in the citys East End on Thursday morning agreed that reopening it would help stem violent crime.

How and when that might happen, elected officials cant say. And as many noted afterward, staffing the facility would be only a first step in building trust between the community and law enforcement.

If its a one-sided thing, it wont work, East End resident Gloria Brown said. The new police department kids dont know anything about this community. So why would you bring them in here and turn them loose when they dont know what theyre doing; only that theyve got a badge  thats their authority, their power  and their gun?

State Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport, organized a press conference in front of the substation at 1149 Stratford Ave. to discuss ways to end violence in the city, where there have been seven homicides so far in 2019. There were 11 in all of last year.

The most recent killing happened this month on Hollister Avenue, when 20 shots were fired into a parked car, killing 21-year-old Tyron Heard and wounding two others.

Bradley began the press conference by noting a number of revitalization projects in the works in the neighborhood, saying Bridgeport is city on the move.

At the same time, he said, Our community isnt safe right now.

Reopening the substation, which was last open briefly in 2017, would help, he said. But Bradley and others said police need to do more to reach out to the community.

It isnt a secret how we stop crime. Weve done it in the past and we know we can do it in the future, Bradley said. We need people here who not only look like us, but understand us, who are organically from the community, who know who each and every single one of us are, so we can effectively work with law enforcement.

We always need to do more

Mayor Joe Ganim said the substation is and will continue to be a priority for the city.

Ganim, Bradley and City Councilman Ernie Newton said they would work with police to see where things stand, but they didnt know how much funding would be needed to reopen the substation, or where the money would come from.

It might be too ambitious, because it requires a lot of moving pieces to come together, but before the summer starts, I want to see this substation open, I want to see it active, Bradley said.

We always need to do more, and more, and more, Ganim said. Weve been in and out of here, its been opened and closed, weve made commitments, lets follow up on that.

Newton said Police Capt. Lonnie Blackwell is working to bring back foot patrols to the area. Newton vowed to walk the beat with officers, to introduce them to residents.

Tony Barr  a community activist whose stated plans to run for mayor have not yet been formalized  said, The police have to come in our community and make sure that they understand the people theyre dealing with on a daily basis and build a relationship.

East End political leader Ralph Ford said officials need to demonstrate a long-term commitment to community policing, not just a one-time thing.

Weve had these openings, weve had these press releases before, Ford said. Weve had police out here for a few weeks and then its over.

Calls for outreach

Afterward, Barr said the police department should do more to hire officers from the community. Beyond that, he said, the city needs to provide more opportunities to young people.

Bridgeport has nothing to offer but sadness, he said. Theres nothing here for our kids.

City residents Clive Walters and Paul Williams, who happened upon Thursdays press conference while walking around the neighborhood, agreed.

Walters said leaders need to reach out to the community more.

First of all, you need to find out what they want. Get a summit with the kids to find out what they really want, he said.

Williams said systemic change is needed, and that the community is still reeling from the effects of decades of the war on drugs.

The reason why there are a lot of drugs being sold in this area is because theres nothing for anybody to do, Williams said. If the cops stopped enforcing the tactics of (the war on) drugs, everybody would feel more free and thered be less tension and less violence.

After the press conference, Williams spoke with Ganim briefly, and the mayor said hed reach out to discuss the issues more.

Others who live in the area said bringing back the substation isnt a fix-all, but a good first step.

We need it open and we need foot patrols, a whole lot of them, Ann Barnes said.

Its not going to be enough, but its a start, Deborah Caviness said. And we have to start somewhere.

ethan.fry@hearstmediact.com
BRIDGEPORT  The citys police department is expecting to be reimbursed for the more than $1 million spent on the body and dashboard camera program that went live last summer.

The total is $1,150,449 for cameras and video storage devices.

The state reimbursement for our body cameras is most appreciated, and we applaud the efforts of our delegation for their hard work, Mayor Joe Ganim said in a statement. The advancements made in policing and technology under Chief (Armando) Perez holds officers accountable, while providing them and our residents with additional measures of transparency and security.

The reimbursement goes through the State Bond Commission, which is next scheduled to meet on April 2 in Hartford to give a final vote on the matter.

The timing for this funding could not be better in light of the miscommunications between our police and our community, said state Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport. These cameras will help support the police in the way of transparency and give the community solid proof of what transpires during incidents. Increased transparency is good for the people of Bridgeport and our public safety officers.

Various other state senators and state representatives for praised the state for moving forward with the reimbursement.

In the relatively short amount of time they have been in use, body cameras have been a key investigative tool in a number of important cases, said state Rep. Chris Rosario, D-Bridgeport. I thank the governor for supporting this funding for Bridgeport and consider it a good investment that will have a positive impact on overall public safety.

The cost of the program was handled through a reimbursement federal grant, officials said after the department announced it. The cost included cameras ans five years of unlimited, guaranteed storage.

Training was completed for all 255 patrol, traffic, K9 and Tactical Narcotics Team officers. Dashboard cameras were installed in 97 police vehicles.

Back in January 2018, Police Chief Armando Perez said the department was looking into a pilot program for officers to test out different products from different vendors. By February 2018, the pilot program began.

Between the end of the program ran from Feb. 1 to April 30, 2018. There was a lot of behind the scenes work, including figuring out who would be in charge of monitoring the stored footage  and handling media requests for footage from incidents  and installing technology to move forward with the program.

In 2015 then Police Chief Joseph Gaudette said he wanted to push for officers to wear body cameras.

In the years following that, activists and community members called for body cameras to improve transparency and to ensure police are held accountable for their actions. The fatal police-involved shooting of 15-year-old Jayson Negron on May 9, 2017, was a driving factor behind that push.
STAMFORD  As part of the sixth annual Cinderella Project, Stamford High School students were able to select and try on brand-new and gently-used prom gowns, graduation dresses, tuxedos, special occasion shoes and jewelry. All were provided at low prices to the students. Students Make-up, nail polish and manicure gift cards are given out as door prizes while supplies lasted.
HARTFORD  A Republican campaign manager who was fired in February after one of her tweets was criticized as anti-Semitic is suing the Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut and the ADL of Connecticut for defamation.

The civil lawsuit filed in New Britain Superior Court this week says that the campaign manager, Nicole Palmieri, has suffered emotional distress arising from the decision of the two organizations to label her as an anti-Semite on social media.

Palmieri has said in statements that she is sickened at the implication that this tweet was motivated by any racial or religious bias. And I am saddened that people would rush to such judgement (sic) and believe that I would engage in such hurtful and awful speech.

Palmieri has declined to remove the tweet and instead hired attorney Norman Pattis to represent her in the lawsuit.

Michael Bloom, executive director of JFAC, declined comment on the pending litigation. The ADL of Connecticut did not return calls or emails seeking comment Thursday.

According to the lawsuit, the ADL was the first to criticize the Feb. 20 tweet. When Palmieri tried to challenge the effort to smear [her] name, the ADL responded by accusing her of using a stereotype around Jews and money.

Palmieri tweeted a photo of Sen. Derek Slap shaking hands with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and added a caption that said: Even Dick isnt safe from Slaps money grabbing.

JFAC then posted on its Facebook page: This type of stereotyping Jews as money grabbing is irresponsible and unacceptable. The use of anti-Semitic language and imagery as contained in this tweet is becoming normalized in our society and we must stand up and demand it stop.

They called on candidate Bill Wadsworth  for whom Palmieri was working during the special election for the 5th Senate District  to apologize.

Wadsworth not only apologized, but he also fired Palmieri.

The lawsuit says that the resulting firestorm of social media activity led Mr. Wadsworth to fire the plaintiff from her job as his campaign manager. It also led to widespread calls for her to resign from her position on the Plainville Board of Education.

The complaint goes onto state: Not one of the critics, including the defendants, the social media writers, the politicians ever reached out to discuss the matter with the plaintiff before condemning her publicly.

And, according to the complaint, The tweet was no more than ironic commentary that even politicians prey upon one another for contributions. Ms. Palmieris tweet was identity-neutral commentary on the behavior of a political opponent.

The aforesaid mention tweet is neither anti-Semitic nor offensive. Indeed, whether Mr. Slap is, in fact, Jewish, is a matter unknown to the plaintiff, Pattis wrote in the complaint.

Palmieri is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $15,000.
It was motor vehicle violations that got him stopped.

It was the guns and heroin that got him arrested.

On Thursday Ismael Mangual, 43, of Bridgeport pleaded guilty to the drug and gun charges during his appearance before Senior U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in U.S. District Court,in New Haven.

Mangual pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute 100 grams of heroin and a count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and a maximum of 40 years when he sentenced June 20 by Arterton.

Milford police stopped the car Mangual was driving near the former Howard Johnsons motel on the Boston Post Road just before 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2017. At the time he was driving an unregistered, uninsured car with improper plates.

Inside they found a loaded Glock 27 .40 caliber handgun and a Glock 30 .45 caliber handgun. The latter gun was determined to be stolen. The loaded .40 caliber gun was found near the foot of a six-year-old boy.

A further search turned up the heroin and a digital scale.

Mangual was arrested on state charges of weapons in a motor vehicle, theft of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, risk of injury to a minor and violation of protection order. He also was charged with the following motor vehicle offenses: failure to insure a motor vehicle, failure to renew registration, operating a motor vehicle without a license, improper use of license plates, and transporting a child without a child seat.

Those charges as well as kidnapping, burglary and home invasion charges from an earlier incident are pending in Milford Superior Court. He is scheduled to appear there on April 4.

Mangual has prior narcotics convictions in Fairfield and Waterbury Superior Court.

The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale and was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force.
Another person has died in a Connecticut house fire.

It was the fifth fire death in the state in less than a week.

Officials in Somers are investigating the cause of a house fire that killed one and injured two firefighters on Thursday.

At approximately 6:28 p.m., Troopers from Troop C-Tolland responded to a report of a residential structure fire in the area of 60 Juniper Hill Road in Somers.

Upon the arrival of troopers and firefighters, heavy fire and smoke was observed emanating from the rear of the occupied structure, state police said.

Several occupants of the house were able to safely escape the blaze; however one occupant of the residence was discovered to be unaccounted for. During suppression activities, firefighters located human remains on the first floor of the residence.

State Police-Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit was requested to respond to the scene to assist local fire marshals with determining the cause and origin of the fire. Detectives from the Connecticut State Police-Eastern District Major Crimes Squad also responded to the scene and will also assist in the investigation.

As a result of the confirmed fatality, the Medical Examiners Office was requested to respond to the scene and will be conducting an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.

The identity of the deceased will be provided pending the notification of the next of kin and completion of the Medical Examiners autopsy.

A neighbor who was outside grilling told WTNH that he heard and explosion and the house "immediately" burst into flames. Fire departments from multiple towns raced to the scene to help with the two-alarm blaze.

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the blaze.

The blaze happened hours after a house fire in Danielson killed one.

Last Saturday, three people were killed in a house fire on ONeill Road in Oxford.
F-35A stealth fighters / Yonhap



The Air Force received two U.S.-made F-35A fighter jets at a key base in South Korea on Friday to join the ranks of Asia's few radar-evading warplane operators, Seoul's arms procurement agency said.

They arrived at an air base in Cheongju, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, at 2:35 p.m. after several stopovers for refueling following their departure from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona last Friday, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said.

The date for their full operational deployment has yet to be decided, but a ceremony to publicize their introduction is expected to take place next month or in May, DAPA said. The two fighters are among the six F-35As that the Air Force had received in the U.S. until last year.

A total of 10 F-35A fighters, manufactured by the U.S. defense firm Lockheed Martin, are set to arrive in South Korea by the end of this year. In 2014, Seoul decided to purchase 40 F-35As for deployment through 2021 at a cost of 7.4 trillion won (US$6.5 billion).

"We expect (the F-35As) to enhance the Air Force's operational capabilities in response to the neighboring countries' introduction of stealth fighters, and to strengthen the readiness posture against threats from all directions," DAPA chief Wang Jung-hong said.

In 2017, South Korean Air Force pilots began receiving training on the operation of the fifth-generation warplane.

The F-35A fighter is expected to serve as a centerpiece of South Korea's strategic targeting scheme against potential enemy forces. It can fly at a top speed of Mach 1.8 and carry top-of-the line weapons systems, such as joint direct attack munitions.

The F-35A is the fighter's air force variant, while the F-35B and F-35C are for marine and aircraft carrier-based operations, respectively.

Amid diplomatic efforts to denuclearize North Korea and foster lasting peace on the peninsula, Pyongyang has responded sensitively to Seoul's new fighter deployment plan.

In January, the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, warned that the introduction of the F-35As could spoil the atmosphere of efforts to improve inter-Korean military ties. (Yonhap)
STAMFORD  In the summer of 2016, after a Darien woman reported she had been raped by a driver who picked her up outside a popular downtown Stamford bar, police feared they had a dangerous predator on their hands.

The woman reporting the sexual assault went to Stamford Hospital and was examined. Evidence was collected, but because she had been drinking that night she had no idea what the man looked like, police said.

It was the work of veteran police sergeant George Moran that led to Wednesdays arrest of Henry Revolorio-Depaz, 27. Revolorio-Depaz, formerly of Carolina Road in Stamford, was extradited from Kansas and is being held on $1 million bond for allegedly raping and kidnapping two women who he picked up outside Stamford nightclubs.

On the morning of July 8, 2016, the downtown sergeant was dispatched to the hospital to take a report of the reported rape. After talking to the Darien womans friends, It sounded very believable that something very bad had happened, said Moran, a 20-year member of the department.

But he also knew the DNA of the man taken during the examination would only get them halfway to solving the crime.

Without finding the man who matched the DNA, the case would become cold.

The next week, Moran said he and other city cops made it a priority to try to find the mysterious driver.

But they didnt have much to go on.

The woman, who called for an Uber to bring her home to Darien, didnt remember much of that night and didnt speak to or take any notice of the man driving the SUV that she got into after attending the Alive@Five concert by O.A.R. in Columbus Park.

The woman told police she thought she got into a Chevy Suburban. But when police combed through surveillance cameras near Bar-Q where she was picked up, they discovered that she did not get into the car that was sent for her. From a camera in the rear parking area of Bar-Q on Clark Street, they could see she got into a GMC Yukon, but only a 4 and 3 could be seen on the Connecticut license plate.

Moran began conducting surveillance, thinking the suspected driver might be hanging around outside downtown bars waiting for other intoxicated women who could mistake him for their ride home.

The guy was out there and could do it again, Moran said.

Within a week, Morans efforts paid off when he spotted a Yukon with a Connecticut plate that read, 143ZXO, and pulled it over near Washington Boulevard and West Broad Street around 11 p.m. on July 13, 2016.

I was hanging around that area several days later, kind of seeing if the guy would pop up again, Moran said. I was trying to get a bad guy off the street.

Moran said the man behind the wheel was Revolorio-Depaz.

According to his arrest affidavit, Revolorio-Depaz admitted to investigators that he picked up the Darien woman and took her home. But he said the woman initiated the sexual encounter by groping him, which she denied, court records said.

Revolorio-Depaz provided a DNA sample, which turned out to be inconclusive and he was not arrested.

The case remained open until last December when Greenwich police sent out a surveillance photo of a large SUV they believed was involved in a sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman who was picked up outside a Stamford bar.

Moran said he recognized the Yukon and told them Revolorio-Depaz was their suspect.

Greenwich police compared and matched the DNA profile from a swab taken from the Greenwich woman and that of a swab taken from the Darien woman, according to court records. Then they matched the DNA from the Greenwich woman to the sample collected from Revolorio-Depaz two years earlier, according to court records.

Re-energized, Stamford investigators resubmitted DNA evidence from the 2016 case for new testing under improved methods. The second time around, they got a match to Revolorio-Depaz, the affidavit said.

Revolorio-Depaz was charged with two counts each of second-degree sexual assault and kidnapping.

Without connecting the vehicle allegedly used in December 2018 with the one from July 2016, police would have had a harder time linking the two cases.

I got lucky, I guess, Moran said Wednesday, shrugging off the attention of having a leading role in the arrest.

Bureau of Criminal Investigations Lt. Tom Scanlon was more effusive.

That was the break in the case that allowed everything else to move forward, Scanlon said. I know how conscientious he is and how much he really pays attention to things and is aware of what is going on in his district.

Scanlon said last year Moran solved a rash of downtown car burglaries by staking out a parking lot that was hit numerous times. Scanlon said Morans arrest in those crimes resulted in plummeting reports of car burglaries in the area.

Sgt. Paul Guzda, the lead investigator in the Revolorio-Depaz case, gave Moran a lot of credit in helping make an arrest.

Sgt. George Moran is a great street sergeant and is on top of everything in his district. In this case, he took this terrible crime to heart and would not let it go, Guzda said. Hes out there on the street and it would have been easy to move on to another call, but he continued to look for this car until he found it. And without his extra efforts, there is a very high probability that we would not have found that car or him at that time.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
WESTPORT  Discussion of social change was done the old-fashioned way Thursday evening when the Westport Historical Society hosted its first Saugatuck Social.

With womens suffrage as the general theme, visitors to the free event were privy to readings, songs and background history, as well as informal discussion.
Aquarion Water Company today announced a water main replacement project beginning April 1 on Franklin Street and Riverside Avenue in Westport.

Additional water main replacements on Railroad Place, Kings Highway North, Iris Lane, Old Hill Road, East Meadow Road and Valley Road will also be completed later in 2019.

The project, which will replace 11,200 feet of water main, is part of an ongoing program to improve Aquarions water distribution system and to ensure the highest quality water, the announcement said. The infrastructure upgrades will also help to reduce leaks and water main breaks that can cause service interruptions.

During the project, customers in the area may experience temporary service disruptions or discolored water, the company said. The company recommended customers store water in their refrigerators for drinking and cooking in case these circumstances arise. Customers also should refrain from washing laundry if their water is discolored. Prior to resuming use, customers should run their cold-water faucets until the water appears clear.

We greatly appreciate residents patience during this project, said Michael Hiltz, Aquarions manager of utility programs. We will work closely with our customers, contractors, and town officials to coordinate the work and minimize any disruptions.

Due to construction, customers should expect minor traffic delays and possible detours during the working hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Westport, CT-based A.J. Penna & Son will be serving as the contractor for the water main replacement project.

To keep customers informed about scheduled/unscheduled work, Aquarion utilizes a CodeRED notification system to call affected customers. Customers are encouraged to sign up for this free service at www.aquarionwater.com/codered.

Project updates describing the construction status, schedule for the following week, changes in traffic patterns, and detours will be posted weekly on Thursday evenings at www.westportct.gov.

Customers with project-related questions may contact Mark McCaffrey, Aquarions project manager, at 203-362-3070. For service or water-related issues, contact Aquarion Customer Service at 1-800-732-9678.
HARTFORD  A small group of activists, led by a Tony Award-winning actor who watched his wife of 50 years waste away from pancreatic cancer, made a last-minute plea on Thursday for aid-in-dying legislation.

But the bill, which has failed during legislative sessions dating to the mid-1990s, might be on life support in the Public Health Committee.

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Actor James Naughton, of Weston, joined advocates including Sharon Hines, of Middletown, a stage IV lung-cancer patient, stressing that terminally ill patients deserve the option to end their suffering.

We told that its closer than its ever been, by a lot, Naughton said during a late morning interview in the cafeteria of the Legislative Office Building, where the group huddled at a table to discuss strategy.

One or two votes, Naughton said. If we do that, I think weve got it. It seems kind of cruelly ironic that at a time when nationally the latest Gallup Poll says that 72 percent of Americans are in favor of this legislation, that this committee might not allow a vote in the House, again. That doesnt seem really fair to me.

Its really a grassroots effort, Hines said. Its not been a major campaign, but really people hearing about it, people supporting it are letting their legislators know that its important to them. Hines said she wants the option if she needs it, if she becomes more ill.

The committee co-chairman, state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, said the bill will be on the agenda Friday, but with the deadline to act next week, he may not ask the 26-member panel to debate it until then, to possibly give the advocates more time to change minds if it looks like it might not pass on Friday.

I think its very much up in the air, Steinberg said Thursday afternoon. Its one of those controversial subjects that people feel passionate about on both sides.

Opposition is mostly based on religious beliefs, and part of the medical community that believes modern drugs can relieve most of the pain for the terminally ill.

The bill, which failed to survive the committee process in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 would allow terminally-ill patients get medications from their doctors to end their lives. On Monday, New Jersey passed similar legislation and it awaiting the governors signature.

There are folks on this committee who still are saying to us Oh maybe there should be a few more safeguards, a few more provisions, said Naughton, who won a 1990 Tony Award for the musical City of Angels.

Well okay, vote it out of committee and we can continue the conversation, because if you dont, its going to end again and we cant address those issues again for another session or two, and it could be too late for a lot of people.

It may be too late for me, Hines said. I may not be here next year.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter:@KenDixonCT


By Jung Da-min







South Korea will push forward with a planned project for inter-Korean excavation of war remains in the border area, independently, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday.







Under the inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) made last Sept. 19, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to start the joint war remains excavation project in April this year at Arrowhead Ridge, an upland area in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province.







On March 6, the South's defense ministry notified the North that it had organized members of a taskforce which will handle necessary preparatory work on the project.







But because there has been no response from North Korea, the ministry decided to resume clearing landmines and explosives in the area of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), in preparation for excavating war remains.







The ministry will also carry out a test-navigation of civilian vessels through Jeollyu-ri Port in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, to the Han River estuary but will not enter the Han River estuary.







In their earlier military talks, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to devise military measures to jointly use the Han River estuary along the western border on a trial basis.







On March 18, the defense ministry,also proposed to the North to hold a high-level military talks, but has not received a response.







"We are ready to implement the related measures as soon as we receive a response from North Korea," a ministry official said. "We will do our best to ensure that this year's planned implementations of military agreements will be conducted smoothly."







Meanwhile, North Korea is remaining passive on another inter-Korean project, the inter-Korean liaison office in Gaeseong, a border city in the North.







The two Koreas agreed to hold director-level weekly meetings at the inter-Korean office but no such meetings have been held since the second summit between North Korea and the U.S. ended without an agreement last month.




A crashed car lies on a coastal road after being salvaged from the sea in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Tuesday. Five teenagers were killed as the car hit the guardrail and fell into the sea. / Yonhap



Gov't plans to set regulation punishing ID lender



By Kim Jae-heun



A recent car crash that killed five teenagers has shown the lax system used by car rental apps is not sufficient to identify the person renting the vehicle.



On Tuesday, three men and two women, all 19 years old, were on a trip to Gangneung, Gangwon Province, when their rented vehicle crashed into a guardrail and fell into the sea.



They rented the car through a car rental service on a mobile phone application. The company requires drivers to be at least 21 years old and have at least one year of driving experience.



None of the five teenagers satisfied the company's terms and conditions but they had no problem renting a vehicle as all they needed was an acquaintance's account information of the car rental app  one of them borrowed the name and driver's license from a 22-year-old neighbor.



The car sharing and rental app only requires users to register their identification and driver's license information once, and afterward the users are able to rent a car at a nearby parking lot anytime. No one is there to check that the actual driver matches the registered information.



This kind of system could lead to drivers renting cars with borrowed IDs  as was the case with the Gangneung accident  meaning minors, unlicensed adults or even drivers suspended for drunk driving can rent and drive a car without being checked.



"In the past, you had to go to a dealer to rent a car in person but now all you need is your older brother's or sister's account," a senior high school student told The Korea Times, Wednesday. "It's very simple. You just see what cars are available in the closest parking lot and reserve your favorite model."



As a result, accidents involving vehicles rented through car sharing and car rental services are frequent.



In 2017, a middle school student had a car accident after he borrowed a vehicle with his mother's ID. Last year, a college student rented a car and caused a drunk-driving accident, killing three friends onboard and injuring two. In another case, nine teenagers stole several adults' account information and borrowed nearly 100 cars. They caused about 20 hit-and-run accidents.



Socar, one of the country's biggest car sharing and car rental services, said it sends text messages to customers notifying them of the rental and the payment so they can be alerted if somebody else has used their account.



"However, if the account holder actively cooperates with other people to allow them to borrow their ID, there is not much we can do to prevent them from renting a car," a Socar official said.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport admits the current car rental system has a loophole in which anyone can rent a car with an account they borrow or steal.



Since last year, the ministry has been seeking measures to enforce a rule whereby people are only able to rent a car through one mobile device which they have registered upon making the account ID, so other people cannot use the borrowed ID on their own phones.



However, such a system has not been adopted yet and the ministry is urging the car-sharing application company to introduce the technology earlier than they planned.



Socar is also planning to adopt secondary identification with biometric technology in which customers have to use their fingerprints or face in the final procedure of renting a vehicle.



Some industry watchers suggest the government set up a rule to punish those lending out their IDs to others.


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/ Yonhap



By Jung Min-ho

The government announced Wednesday that it has begun to put "blind hiring" into force for all public jobs  a major step to change the country's highly intrusive recruitment practices.

Most notably, state-run companies are no longer allowed to request job applicants' photos and information that isn't directly related to job, including their physical appearance, family background and the names of schools they attended.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said it will distribute new guidelines to all 332 public institutions, which must carry out the policy immediately. The 149 public institutions under the control of local governments will follow suit next month after receiving the ministry's education.

A draft of a new resume for public jobs / Yonhap

"The government came up with the policy to ensure that all job seekers can compete fairly," Vice Minister Yi Sung-ki said.

But exceptions are allowed for certain positions. Employers, for example, may ask about the job applicants' eyesight for security positions. Even then the information they request should only be "essentially job-related."

Also during job interviews, employers should continue to comply with the rule: no questions about anything unrelated to work.

The ministry will also push ahead with making a law to require private firms to do the same. Meanwhile, it plans to distribute the recruitment manuals to 400 major firms and run training for them.
















Korean boy band phenomenon BTS on Wedesday (March 27) gave fans a sneak peak at their upcoming album "Map of The Soul: Persona" by releasing a new teaser trailer.

BTS, who are a seven-member band, announced earlier this month that "Map of The Soul: Persona" would be released on April 12.

Media reports suggest the new video, which features the group's lead rapper, RM, is for the new album's first track, entitled "Persona."

BTS, who have been together since 2013, have gained a worldwide following, winning over fans across continents and helping popularize the K-pop music genre further afield from Asia.

In 2018, BTS became the first K-pop performers to have a no.1 album on the Billboard 200 with "Love Yourself: Tear" and they made UK chart history soon after by becoming the first K-pop group to have a Top 40 single in the British charts. (Reuters)




Prof. Hwang speaks about China's growing role. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Hwang Jae-ho



Although the summit did not produce any results, it is not over yet. It is the usual drama on the Korean Peninsula. It is due to the distrust between the two countries that the summit ended without an agreement. Kim Jung-un does not buy Trump's designation of him as "best friend". Therefore, Kim will not simply hand over to the U.S. what it wants until he sees complete results. And the U.S. sought to drive a hard bargain this time, having in mind North Korea's track record of breaches. However, there is too much investment to quit now.



The most disappointed side after the summit must be South Korea. Had the Hanoi summit achieved success, it would have directly led to Kim's South Korea visit. It certainly is a blow to Moon's peace timetable. However, there is little reason for concern  President Moon is just two years into his presidency, with three to go.



The Hanoi summit left some things to be desired, but we can still learn a few lessons. The first lesson we learned from the Hanoi Summit is the establishment of negotiation. There must be several challenges coming, but one thing to be clear is that negotiation must sustainably be there without suspension. Because it is not a crisis, it does not need to be managed. Instead, more attention is needed on prevention.



Furthermore, an exit strategy should be sought. Institutionalized dialogues and well-organized negotiations are also necessary. Here, South Korea's role as a third-party mediator could be useful. We need to find the Korean way of calculation that can find the interface when both the U.S. and DPRK stand with a different way of calculation.



How we practically use China is terribly critical for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. China's influence on the Korean Peninsula is definite. After China's National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference end, Kim will decide whether he himself heads to China or sends a delegation for a message.



They are already in a relationship where both can share strategic communication frequently. In this context, China can somehow influence North Korea not to make a rash decision after the shock from Hanoi.



On the other hand, China considers that South Korea is making its best effort to improve the situation for the Korean Peninsula. It even seems to understand that China's effect on Korea's diplomacy was not very high till last year.






OTTAWA - The federal government says it is considering subsidizing farmers hit by China's $2-billion ban on Canadian canola imports, and is pushing the People's Republic to prove recent shipments were in fact contaminated.

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This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canola grower David Reid checks on his storage bins full of last year's crop of canola seed on his farm near Cremona, Alta., Friday, March 22, 2019. Canola seed exporters report Chinese companies -- one of their major markets -- have stopped buying their product, according to an industry group. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

OTTAWA - The federal government says it is considering subsidizing farmers hit by China's $2-billion ban on Canadian canola imports, and is pushing the People's Republic to prove recent shipments were in fact contaminated.

Two federal cabinet ministers and a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday the government is looking at financial options to help farmers.

"I am doing a review of the different tools we have in terms of financing support for our farmers," Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told The Canadian Press in Saskatchewan, where she joined International Trade Minister Jim Carr in meetings with canola industry representatives.

Bibeau also said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is having "ongoing conversations" with Chinese customs officials that are "based on science" in order to validate China's claim it found hazardous organisms in the recent shipments of two major canola exporters, Richardson International Ltd. and Viterra, Inc.

"We are asking them to show us evidence of the pests that they said they have found in our shipments," Bibeau said, adding that a second Canadian analysis of the returned samples came up empty.

"We still haven't found any irregularities in these shipments, so we are asking for evidence."

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the federal cabinet is seized with helping canola farmers, and she's had conversations with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale of Saskatchewan, where half of Canada's canola is produced.

Bibeau and Carr are leading the effort, she said, and "they have the very strong support of all of the cabinet in this, and are working on a broader plan to support our canola farmers."

Earlier Friday, Conservative MPs on the House of Commons agriculture committee failed in their attempt to persuade the Liberal majority to compel Carr, Bibeau and Freeland to testify. The Conservatives wanted the ministers to address what they say is a broader political crisis with China that's affecting the livelihoods of Canadian farmers.

The Liberal majority rejected the motion, angering the Conservatives, who also directed plenty towards China.

NDP agriculture critic Alistair MacGregor said the Liberals should have allowed the ministers to speak at the committee so Canadians could learn about the government's contingency plan.

"Our canola producers should not pay the price for Liberals mishandling the dispute with China," he said.

China's decision to ban $2 billion worth of Canadian exports is widely seen as retaliation for Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the founder of telecom giant Huawei, at the behest of the United States.

"To claim the canola sent to China didn't meet quality standards is completely absurd," said Tory MP Luc Berthold.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said China's decision has no basis in scientific fact.

Mark Agnew, senior director of international policy for the chamber, said he trusts the assessments by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that Canada's crop is safe.

Agnew stopped short of linking the arrest with the canola issue.

"When you look at the numbers the canola industry has put out, there's a massive market here that looks like it's being shut off for Canadian canola exporters," Agnew said Friday in an interview.

"We trust what Health Canada and CFIA say about the safety of Canadian exports. It's quite easy to see there's not a science-based justification for what China is doing to Canadian canola exports."

China was infuriated by Meng's Dec. 1 arrest on a U.S. extradition warrant alleging fraud.

Nine days after Meng's arrest, China imprisoned two Canadians  ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and the entrepreneur Michael Spavor  and accused them of violating China's national security.

China is the recipient of about 40 per cent of Canada's exports of canola seed and the only country to raise a technical issue with the product.

The Canadian canola industry is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to press China for solutions.

Canadian farmers say China's ban has created uncertainty ahead of the spring planting season. Along with the Canola Council of Canada, they are calling on the government to send a delegation to China to address the issue.

Earlier this week, Trudeau mentioned the possibility of sending a delegation to China, as he defended the quality control of the product as "top-notch and world-class."

Asked Friday, if subsidizing farmers was a possibility, Trudeau's spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon said: "We are working with farmers, companies, and various levels of government to support the industry through a difficult time, and we are looking at all options."

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Saskatchewan Conservative MP Randy Hoback said the cabinet ministers need to provide "comfort" to farmers that they will have a market to sell to this fall.

Hoback warned that unless the government can repair the damaged relationship with China, other sectors could be vulnerable to retaliation, including maple syrup or seafood.

Earlier this week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China's actions on canola were "scientific and reasonable."

Without mentioning Huawei directly, Geng said China hopes Canada can "get along with us to ensure the sound and steady development of China-Canada relations."

Geng said Canada should "take practical measures to correct the mistakes it made earlier" in the bilateral relationship.

 with files from Stephanie Taylor is Saskatchewan
CALGARY - Shares in Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. fell by as much as 35 per cent Friday after it proposed a deal that would leave its existing shareholders with just 16.5 per cent of the company.

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This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY - Shares in Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. fell by as much as 35 per cent Friday after it proposed a deal that would leave its existing shareholders with just 16.5 per cent of the company.

The Calgary-based oil and gas producer says it intends to exchange US$146 million in senior unsecured notes due in 2020 for US$100 million in new debt maturing in 2023, plus common shares totalling 51 per cent of the company's float.

It is also offering to trade $50 million in convertible debentures for another 32.5 per cent of its common shares following the recapitalization.

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Bellatrix says the transactions  which are subject to approval by debtholders and court and regulatory authorities  would reduce its total outstanding debt by about $110 million to about $328 million and reduce annual interest payments by over $12 million.

Two weeks ago, the company warned investors that its ability to continue as a going concern was in doubt given a pending credit review and uncertainty about refinancing its senior notes.

It said its net loss in 2018 was $146 million, compared with a net loss of $91 million in 2017.

Fourth-quarter 2018 production was about 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, 71 per cent natural gas, down six per cent from the same period of 2017.

Bellatrix shares, which traded as low as 40 cents on Friday morning, were down 9.5 cents at 44.5 cents in late-afternoon trading.

Companies in this article: (TSX:BXE)
WINDSOR, Ont. - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles says it plans to cut the third shift at its Windsor, Ont., assembly plant later this year at a cost of about 1,500 jobs.

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This article was published 28/3/2019 (990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Workers arrive for their shift at the Chrysler (FCA) assembly Plant in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins

WINDSOR, Ont. - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles says it plans to cut the third shift at its Windsor, Ont., assembly plant later this year at a cost of about 1,500 jobs.

The move to end the shift starting Sept. 30 is to "better align production with global demand," said company spokeswoman LouAnn Gosselin.

She said retirement packages will be offered to eligible employees and would work to find positions for others.

"The company will make every effort to place indefinitely laid off hourly employees in open full-time positions as they become available based on seniority," she wrote in an email.

Unifor Local 444 president Dave Cassidy said in a statement that the decision was unexpected.

"I was shocked and disappointed that FCA has announced today the elimination of the third shift," he wrote.

"We will continue to meet with the company on alternatives of new products. We will need the support of all levels of government as we move forward."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his government will "fight tooth and nail" to protect the jobs in Windsor.

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"In the face of this extremely disappointing announcement from Fiat Chrysler, our government will not waver in our support for the thousands of men and women that go to work in Ontarios auto sector every day," Ford said in a news release.

Ford said Fiat Chrysler shouldn't make its decision based on what he called the anti-business policies of the former Liberal government.

"Our government is lowering taxes, lowering electricity rates, and slashing red tape. There has never been a better time for auto-manufacturers to invest in the province of Ontario."

The plant, which produces the Chrysler Pacifica and its hybrid version, as well as the Dodge Grand Caravan, has about 6,100 employees.

FCA announced in late February that it would invest US$4.5 billion in Michigan to build a new assembly plant and upgrade other operations and create 6,500 jobs in the process.

The planned cut in Windsor comes as Ontario's auto sector is already reeling from General Motors' plans to end production at its assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont., by the end of the year at a loss of about 2,600 unionized workers.
The Irish-style pub and eatery Fionn MacCools has shut down their Regent Avenue West location in Winnipeg for the foreseeable future.

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This article was published 28/3/2019 (990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Irish-style pub and eatery Fionn MacCools has shut down their Regent Avenue West location in Winnipeg for the foreseeable future.

It remains unclear when the chain restaurant  whose brand is owned by the parent company Recipe Unlimited Corporation  will open again. A sign hanging on the building this week announced  but did not explain  the closure.

"Recipe Unlimited Corporation wishes to advise guests and neighbours that this Fionn MacCools restaurant is now closed," the sign reads.

"Recipe wishes to thank the employees of the Regent Avenue Fionn MacCools for their hard work and service. Recipe also extends gratitude to the guests that have visited this location over the years for their business."

A spokeswoman for Recipe Unlimited Corporation confirmed the closure in an email to the Free Press Thursday, citing a change of ownership. She did not shed any light on how long the restaurant is expected to be closed.

"We have temporarily closed the Fionn MacCools located on 1582 Regent Ave. W due to a change in ownership. We plan to reopen again as soon as possible and apologize for the inconvenience," the spokeswoman said.

The restaurant was the first Fionn MacCools location to set up shop in Winnipeg. It opened its doors for business on Oct. 27, 2014. At the time, it was owned by Paul Belanger, who had been a long time chef for Earls Restaurants.

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In 2014, a spokesman for the chains parent company  which used to operate under the name Cara Operations Ltd.  said there were plans to open up to five Fionn MacCools locations in Winnipeg during the next seven years.

"Winnipeg is a great market for us," said Alex Gerzon, Caras vice-president of franchising, at the time. "Our Plan is to build three to five Fionn MacCools (in Winnipeg)."

A second location in the parking lot of the Grant Park Shopping Centre was opened in June 2017.

The business describes itself as the "largest Irish-Canadian restaurant brand" and regularly has live music throughout the week.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe
MONTREAL - Quebec's pension fund manager could play an outsize role in whether SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. eventually pulls up stakes for the United States.

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This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A logo for the Caisse de Depot et Placements, Quebec's pension fund, is seen Wednesday, February 21, 2018 in Montreal. Quebec's pension fund manager could play an outsize role in whether SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. eventually pulls up stakes for the United States. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL - Quebec's pension fund manager could play an outsize role in whether SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. eventually pulls up stakes for the United States.

The engineering and construction giant told federal prosecutors that its "Plan B" in the event of criminal prosecution on corruption charges is to move its headquarters south of the border and shed more than 60 per cent of its 8,700 Canadian jobs, internal documents reveal.

Quebec's Caisse de depot et placement holds a roughly 20 per cent stake in SNC-Lavalin, making it far and away the biggest shareholder. The pension fund also has a $1.5-billion loan agreement with SNC-Lavalin stipulating that the firm must remain rooted in Montreal until at least 2024, though refinancing may be an option.

The roughly $1.18 billion in company shares held by the Caisse  which has a mandate to grow Quebec business  gives the pension fund extra clout at the boardroom table, said Altacorp Capital analyst Chris Murray said. The loan, while partially paid off, adds leverage to a pension fund whose investing pedigree carries respect.

"A 20 per cent shareholder has some pretty significant influence," Murray said.

The Caisse also aims to grow its investments, making a move to the U.S. potentially more attractive as conflicting mandates collide, said Karl Moore, an associate professor at McGill University's business school.

"SNC being one of our larger firms, it would absolutely fall within [its] mandate and the Caisse would not want them to move. On the other hand, as good business people, they might see that as the best course.

"They absolutely would have a pipeline to [CEO] Neil Bruce," Moore added.

Last month Caisse chief executive Michael Sabia said the pension fund would "be a rock'" for SNC-Lavalin and ready to boost its stake in the company, barring any technical barriers.

The Caisse declined to comment for this story.

Internal SNC-Lavalin documents  part of a PowerPoint presentation for prosecutors last September and obtained by The Canadian Press  state that criminal prosecution "will likely have very negative consequences for Canadian employees, shareholders, pensioners, customers" and other groups.

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Earlier in the week, the firm walked back a statement by its chief executive, who said he never cited the protection of 9,000 Canadian jobs as a reason the construction giant should be granted a remediation agreement.

Opinions vary on the impact of an exit by the 108-year-old company.

SNC-Lavalin is working on the five biggest infrastructure projects in the country, according to trade magazine ReNew Canada. Those contracts alone amount to $52.8 billion, and include projects for Bruce Power and the Darlington nuclear plant in Ontario as well as the Site C dam in B.C.

"It will be sad, very sad, because we will lose decision centres, we will lose key jobs and all of the impacts on the accounting firms and law firms," said Michel Nadeau, a former Caisse executive.

Local construction contractors and suppliers would likely find work for other firms while sought-after SNC-Lavalin layoffs would quickly be snapped up, he said.

But the disruption would still be sizable, according to Murray. "You just can't take something of that magnitude out of the system and not expect there to be impacts."Companies in this story: (TSX:SNC)
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - The Latest on Michigan officials halting work toward a Great Lakes oil pipeline tunnel (all times local):

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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - The Latest on Michigan officials halting work toward a Great Lakes oil pipeline tunnel (all times local):

8:15 p.m.

Canadian pipeline company Enbridge says it's "surprised and disappointed" by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's finding that a law authorizing construction of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath the waterway linking Lakes Huron and Michigan is unconstitutional.

Nessel issued her opinion Thursday. Afterward, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered state agencies to take no further actions under the law that the Republican-led Legislature enacted in December.

Enbridge chief legal officer Bob Rooney says the company worked in good faith with Michigan on the tunnel project.

Republican state Rep. Triston Cole of Mancelona says the opinion is "flimsy" and that Nessel "split legal hairs."

Environmentalists are praising Nessel and Whitmer and calling for the shutdown of Enbridge's Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.

Liz Kirkwood of For Love of Water says the tunnel plan was based on "backroom deals" that "can't survive the rule of law."

___

4:25 p.m.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered state departments and agencies to take no further action on legislation enacted in late 2018 authorizing construction of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath lakes Huron and Michigan.

Whitmer made the move Thursday after Attorney General Dana Nessel issued an opinion labeling the law unconstitutional.

Whitmer and Nessel are both Democrats who were elected last year. They had opposed a deal to build the Straits of Mackinac tunnel reached by former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and Canadian pipeline company Enbridge.

Legislation to establish a panel that would oversee the project was rushed to enactment in December.

After taking office in January, Whitmer asked Nessel to examine the law's constitutionality.

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___

4 p.m.

Michigan's attorney general has deemed unconstitutional a 2018 law that established a panel to oversee construction and operation of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath the channel linking Lakes Huron and Michigan.

Democrat Dana Nessel says in an opinion released Thursday the title of the bill approved by lawmakers did not accurately describe its contents as required by the Michigan Constitution.

The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the measure during a lame-duck session in December. Then-Gov. Rick Snyder signed it and appointed members of the new Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority, which later approved a deal Snyder's administration negotiated with Enbridge Inc. to build the tunnel.

It would house a more than 4-mile (6.4-kilometre) section of Enbridge's Line 5, which carries oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario.
WASHINGTON - In an apparent bid to kick-start the long-stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline, President Donald Trump on Friday issued a new presidential permit for the project, two years after he first approved it and more than a decade after it was first proposed.

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WASHINGTON - In an apparent bid to kick-start the long-stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline, President Donald Trump on Friday issued a new presidential permit for the project, two years after he first approved it and more than a decade after it was first proposed.

Trump said the permit issued Friday replaces one granted in March 2017. The order is intended speed up development of the controversial pipeline, which would ship crude oil from tar sands in western Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

A federal judge blocked the project in November, saying the Trump administration had not fully considered potential oil spills and other impacts. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ordered a new environmental review.

An appeal filed by the project's developer, Calgary-based TransCanada, is pending.

The company said in a statement that Trump's order "clarifies the national importance of Keystone XL and aims to bring more than 10 years of environmental review to closure."

Trump "has been clear that he wants to create jobs and advance U.S. energy security, and the Keystone XL pipeline does both of those things," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and CEO.

Keystone XL will create thousands of jobs and deliver crude oil to U.S. refineries "in the safest, most efficient and environmentally sound way," the company said.

But project opponents said the White House order would not have an immediate impact.

Stephan Volker, an attorney for environmentalists who sued to stop the project, said he had not yet reviewed Trump's permit declaration but could not foresee any action that would allow work on the pipeline to proceed without court approval.

"It would be highly unlikely that any court would allow an end-run on its well-considered injunction that's been affirmed by the Ninth Circuit (Court of Appeals). The likelihood of that is virtually non-existent," Volker said.

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The Keystone XL, first proposed in 2008 under President George W. Bush, would begin in Alberta and go to Nebraska, where it would join with an existing pipeline to shuttle more than 800,000 barrels a day of crude to terminals on the Gulf Coast.

After years of delay, former President Barack Obama rejected the project in 2015. Trump reversed that decision soon after taking office in 2017, saying the $8 billion project would boost American energy and create jobs. A presidential permit is needed because the project crosses a U.S. border.

After environmental groups sued, Morris said the administration had not fully considered potential oil spills and other impacts and that further reviews were needed.

TransCanada disputes that, saying Keystone XL has been studied more than any other pipeline in history. "The environmental reviews are clear: the project can be built and operated in an environmentally sustainable and responsible way," Girling said.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings, Mont., contributed to this story.
NEW YORK - The federal government charged Facebookwith high-tech housing discrimination Thursday for allegedly allowing landlords and real estate brokers to systematically exclude groups such as non-Christians, immigrants and minorities from seeing ads for houses and apartments.

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NEW YORK - The federal government charged Facebookwith high-tech housing discrimination Thursday for allegedly allowing landlords and real estate brokers to systematically exclude groups such as non-Christians, immigrants and minorities from seeing ads for houses and apartments.

The civil charges filed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development could cost the social network millions of dollars in penalties. But more than that, they strike at the heart of Facebook's business model  its vaunted ability to deliver ads with surgical precision to certain groups of people and not others.

"Facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live," HUD Secretary Ben Carson said. "Using a computer to limit a person's housing choices can be just as discriminatory as slamming a door in someone's face."

In a statement, Facebook expressed surprise over the charges, saying it has been working with HUD to address its concerns and has taken steps to prevent discrimination, including eliminating thousands of ad-targeting options last year that could be misused by advertisers.

Just last week, Facebook agreed to overhaul its targeting system and abandon some of the practices singled out by HUD to prevent discrimination, not just in housing listings but in credit and employment ads as well. The move was part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union and other activists.

"We're disappointed by today's developments, but we'll continue working with civil rights experts on these issues," the company said.

The HUD charges were seen as a possible prelude to a wider regulatory crackdown on the digital advertising industry, which is dominated by Facebook and Google. And the case was yet another blow to Facebook, which has come under siege from lawmakers, regulators and activists and is under investigation in the U.S. and Europe over its data and privacy practices.

HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said the agency has reached out to Google and Twitter to "better understand their advertising practices." But he said neither is currently under investigation. Twitter says it doesn't allow discriminatory advertising, while Google says its policies prohibit targeting ads based on sensitive categories such as race, ethnicity and religious beliefs.

Google, in particular, has ad-targeting options similar to Facebook's.

The technology at the centre of the clash with HUD has helped make Facebook rich, with annual revenue of close to $56 billion. Facebook gathers enormous amounts of data on what users read and like and who their friends are, and it uses that information to help advertisers and others direct their messages to exactly the crowd they want to reach.

HUD said Facebook is allowing advertisers to practice a sort of high-tech form of red-lining by excluding people in entire neighbourhoods or ZIP codes from seeing their ads. The company was accused, too, of giving advertisers the option of showing ads only to men or only to women.

Facebook also allegedly allowed advertisers to exclude parents; those who are non-American-born; non-Christians; and those interested in Hispanic culture, "deaf culture," accessibility for the disabled, countries like Honduras or Somalia, or a variety of other topics.

The case will be heard by an administration law judge unless HUD or Facebook decides to move it to federal court.

"The nature of their business model is advertising and targeted advertising, so that is a slippery slope. That is their business model," said Dan Ives, an industry analyst with Wedbush Securities. "The government launched this missile and caught many in the industry by surprise."

Ives said the move may mean U.S. regulators are taking broader aim at the digital advertising market. "This is a clear shot across the bow for Facebook and others," he said.

Galen Sherwin of the ACLU likewise warned: "All the online platforms should be paying close attention to these lawsuits and taking a hard look at their own advertising platforms."

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Facebook is already under fire for allowing fake Russian accounts to buy ads targeting U.S. users and sow political discord during the 2016 presidential election. The company has also been criticized for allowing organizations to target groups of people identified as "Jew-haters" and Nazi sympathizers.

HUD brought an initial complaint against Facebook in August. Facebook said in its statement that it was "eager to find a solution" but that HUD "insisted on access to sensitive information  like user data  without adequate safeguards."

In its settlement with the ACLU and others, Facebook said it will no longer allow housing, employment or credit ads that target people by age, gender or ZIP code. It said it will also limit other targeting options so that these ads don't exclude people on the basis of race, ethnicity and other legally protected categories, including sexual orientation.

"Unless and until HUD can verify that there is an end of the discriminatory practices, we still have a responsibility to the American people," said Raffi Williams, deputy assistant HUD secretary.

___

Ortutay reported from San Francisco. AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman in Newark, New Jersey, and AP Technology Writer Rachel Lerman in San Francisco contributed to this report.
NEW YORK - Wells Fargo's CEO Tim Sloan stepped down Thursday, saying he'd become too much of a political target after a rocky tenure during which the deeply troubled bank dealt with a seemingly unending wave of scandals.

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FILE- In this Oct. 3, 2017, file photo Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer and President Timothy Sloan looks down as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., questions him as he testifies before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sloan stepped down on Thursday, March 28, 2019, effective immediately, after less than four years on the job during which the deeply troubled bank dealt with a seemingly unending wave of scandals. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

NEW YORK - Wells Fargo's CEO Tim Sloan stepped down Thursday, saying he'd become too much of a political target after a rocky tenure during which the deeply troubled bank dealt with a seemingly unending wave of scandals.

Sloan said in a statement he will give up his roles as CEO and president as well as his seat on the board, effective immediately. He will fully retire from the bank on June 30.

Sloan led the banking giant for less than three years. A longtime insider, Sloan was chosen to replace outgoing CEO John Stumpf, who resigned in October 2016 after Wells Fargo employees were found to have fraudulently opened millions of bank accounts in order to meet the company's unrealistic sales goals.

While Sloan sought to clean up Wells' reputation following the accounts scandal, new improprieties repeatedly came to light. The bank was found to have tacked unnecessary auto insurance onto the accounts of car loan customers. Tens of thousands of customers were unable to afford the payments and, in many cases, got their cars repossessed. The bank also foreclosed on the homes of hundreds of customers accidentally.

Those are just two examples in what became a game of scandal "whack-a-mole" at the nation's second-largest bank.

Sloan has faced considerable criticism from Congress during his time as CEO. Just two weeks ago, he was grilled by Democrats  and some Republicans  on the House Financial Services Committee, who questioned Wells Fargo's commitment to compensating all the victims of the various scandals at the bank over the past few years.

Sloan told investors Thursday on a conference call that the target on his back from politicians was one of the reasons he decided to step down.

"There's too much focus on me," Sloan said. "I could not keep myself in that position as I was becoming a distraction. It's a hard decision step down; I can assure you of that."

Wells Fargo's board of directors said it chose Allen Parker, who is currently the bank's general counsel, as interim CEO and president. The bank also said in a statement that it will be looking at external candidates for its next CEO. Sloan was the bank's chief operating officer and was also chief financial officer under Stumpf, and was not a popular choice as CEO with the public. While Sloan said he had no knowledge of the bank's bad practices, many experts felt Wells needed someone from the outside to help clean up its act.

Federal regulators lost patience with Wells Fargo's continued bad behaviour and inflicted harsh punishments. Wells had to pay a $1 billion fine last year to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. But more importantly, the Federal Reserve stepped in and handcuffed Wells' ability to grow its business until the bank could prove that it had gotten its house in order.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters earlier this month that he did not believe Wells Fargo had made enough progress to warrant less scrutiny.

"We will not lift (our restraints) until Wells Fargo gets their arms around this, comes forward with plans, implements those plans, and we're satisfied with what they've done. And that's not where we are right now."

Among politicians, Sloan was a favourite target of Senator Elizabeth Warren, who crusaded against Wall Street and the big banks as a Senator from Massachusetts and continues to do so in her campaign for the presidency in 2020. Sloan testified in front of Congress earlier this month, where he continued to face heated questions about himself and Wells' business practices.

"About damn time. Tim Sloan should have been fired a long time ago," Warren said on Twitter.

Republicans are just as angry, if a bit more constrained.

"The bottom line is that we've not seen the type of cultural or institutional change so desperately needed at Wells Fargo," said Patrick McHenry, who is the top Republican sitting on the House Financial Services Committee.

Due to the harsh political climate facing Wells Fargo, and considering it could get worse as the 2020 election approaches, it was maybe the right time for Sloan to step down, analysts said.

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"(Wells Fargo) was going be a punching bag through 2020 if he didn't step down," said Kyle Sanders, a bank analyst with Edward Jones who covers Wells Fargo.

Regardless of his legacy, Sloan is retiring a very rich man after being with the company more than 30 years. The compensation analysis firm Equilar estimates Sloan's total compensation  salary, stock and benefits  from 2011 to 2018 was roughly $150 million.

Also, Sloan will receive a standard retirement package and has stock grants that Equilar estimates are worth about $24.5 million, based on Wells' closing price Thursday of $49.09.

Wells Fargo shares rose 2.3 per cent to $50.20 in after-hours trading.

____

Ken Sweet covers banks and consumer financial issues for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at @kensweet.
Something closer to daylight shines down from the courtroom ceiling, as a 20-year-old man takes a seat in the prisoners box.

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Something closer to daylight shines down from the courtroom ceiling, as a 20-year-old man takes a seat in the prisoners box.

The familiar fluorescent glare of institutional overhead lights is gone. So is the click-clack of the court clerks keyboard  its been replaced with a sleek and silent model. A sign outside the Winnipeg courtroom, illustrated with a cartoon gavel, cautions spectators not to walk in and out  the swinging of the heavy wooden door would be yet another distraction.

Crown attorney Jodi Koffman greets the young man, using his nickname. Theyve seen each other often over the past eight years.

The man has been in and out of court since he was 12, most recently for a string of breach charges and for methamphetamine-fuelled crime. The drug worsens the effects of his alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder, and hes just spent 13 days in jail for being caught with a knife on a Winnipeg Transit bus.

Over the years, hes memorized his defence lawyers phone number and has undergone every type of court-ordered assessment imaginable.

His is the only name on the docket Thursday at the opening session of Canadas first court designed for people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The lawyers, and presiding provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie, hope it will be different.

'The idea behind this court is that we not take a business-as-usual approach'  Provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie

"The idea behind this court is that we not take a business-as-usual approach," Harvie tells the man, talking to him clearly and plainly as she takes a moment to think about his case.

The young man is a fitting example of the need for an FASD court in Winnipeg  one that has been years in the making. It began as an expansion of the provinces FASD Youth Justice Project, which started in 2004 to assess and diagnose young people who had been criminally charged and were suspected of having cognitive challenges because they were exposed to alcohol in the womb.

In an interview, Harvie said the project didnt involve anyone 18 or older, and this weekly court will. It relies on lawyers to refer clients who have previously been diagnosed with some type of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Collaboration with Winnipegs FASD Centre, treatment centre officials, probation officers and correctional officers was key to getting the court up and running, Harvie said.

While there are some mental health courts in Canada that work with people who have FASD, Winnipegs court is the first of its kind, Harvie said. Its particularly important in light of high court rulings that say judges must have clear evidence there is a link between someones cognitive disabilities and their crimes before they make that connection.

'Its important for us to know what it is thats contributing to any offenders behaviour and whether or not there is some deficit which we should be taking into account'  Provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie

"Its important for us to know what it is thats contributing to any offenders behaviour and whether or not there is some deficit which we should be taking into account. Because FASD is often, not always... a hidden disability and is sometimes masked by other behaviour, its really critical for us to know whether or not that is a contributing factor to their offending behaviour and whether or not there are supports out there that might assist in ensuring they dont get into trouble again," Harvie said.

The court is only for youth and adults who have already been diagnosed  even though an FASD diagnosis can be difficult to establish, especially for adults.

"We want to monitor the demand for the court, first of all. We want to try and monitor whether individuals are being married up with supports they might not otherwise be receiving. We want to try and see if were catching people who are falling through the cracks," Harvie said.

The 20-year-old in court Thursday was one of those people, Koffman and defence lawyer Aaron Braun agreed.

Even though hes been in the care of Child and Family Services since he was a baby, and was given an extension of care after he became an adult, there was no placement for him when he turned 18. Now, hes homeless  a fact that gave Harvie pause as she prepared to release him on time served to complete probation.

'We want to monitor the demand for the court, first of all. We want to try and monitor whether individuals are being married up with supports they might not otherwise be receiving. We want to try and see if were catching people who are falling through the cracks'  Provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie

As Harvie talked to his probation officer about his living situation, the 20-year-old interjected.

"Can I say something?" the young man asked in a near-whisper, the hair on the left side of his head spiked up as if hed slept on it. He stood up and began to explain, almost apologetically, he had stayed in 24-hour shelters and with friends because he had nowhere else to go.

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"I dont want you to think were being critical of you," Harvie said. "Im just wondering if theres a way that we can do just a bit more to help you out."

In the end, Harvie decided to release the man from jail Thursday, and continue his sentencing hearing next week.

"Im hoping this court will shine a light on where the resources he has can do better, and Im sure this court will be very helpful for people who dont even have the resources that he has in place," said Braun, the mans defence lawyer.

"Im also very hopeful for situations like today, where someone may have resources but they havent quite been working the way wed hoped and we can kind of get to the root of the problem and change things."

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Children from northwest China's Shaanxi Province perform a folk dance during the opening ceremony of the Silk Road Stories program on board the Majestic Princess cruise ship in Italy on May 21, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Na)

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's first overseas trip in 2019 has achieved a train of tangible results, thus further unlocking potential for more dynamic and productive cooperation between China and its many European partners.

The Europe tour, which took him to Italy, Monaco and France, has helped bolster Belt and Road cooperation, stimulate inter-cultural exchanges, and build up a global consensus on safeguarding multilateralism for a better and more shared future.

B&R BOOSTER

During Xi's visit to Italy, the two countries inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on jointly advancing the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Rome's official endorsement of the BRI makes it the first Group of Seven member to do so.

In a joint communique issued by the two countries, Beijing and Rome agreed that the BRI boasts huge potential in promoting infrastructure connectivity.

The two sides stand ready to strengthen the alignment of the BRI and Trans-European Transport Networks, and deepen cooperation in ports, logistics, marine transportation and other areas, according to the document.

The BRI, proposed by Xi in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond.

Xi told Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during their meeting that China and Italy are at the two ends of the ancient Silk Road, thus they have every reason to carry out cooperation on the BRI.

Conte, in response, said Italy is glad to seize the historic opportunity, adding that he strongly believes that it will help fully explore the potential of Italy-China ties.

Manlio Di Stefano, Italian Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said "it is evident that Italy is a natural European terminal for the Belt and Road Initiative."

Among the key sectors of the Italian economy that will benefit from the BRI, he added, are those "related to high technology and high specialization, in which we are a leader," as well as "the infrastructure sector and its supply chain, which are other priorities for us."

"In this way, we can open the way to the huge Chinese market for our highly specialized SMEs (small or medium-sized enterprises)," said the senior diplomat.

Matteo Bressan, a professor on international relations at University LUMSA, echoed Di Stefano. He said Italy's port advantage can facilitate the Belt and Road's construction and promote cultural exchanges and trade between the two countries.

Alessia Amighini, a senior associate research fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, a think tank, said Xi's visit and the BRI MoU are important to Italy and meaningful to the Europe.

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

Apart from boosting bilateral practical cooperation, the visit has also become a platform for Xi and European leaders to compare notes on how to build a shared future in a world of growing uncertainties.

While in France, Xi, together with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, attended in Paris a global governance forum co-hosted by China and France.

Addressing the forum, Xi warned of a rising volatility, uncertainty and protectionism facing nations, and raised what he termed the "four deficits" in global affairs, namely in governance, trust, peace and development.

To address these deficits, he proposed a four-pronged approach of fairness, consultation and understanding, joint efforts and mutual assistance, and win-win results.

He pledged that China would work with all parties to firmly uphold multilateralism, improve global governance and jointly address global challenges.

Macron said the meeting of Chinese and European leaders sent a positive signal to the international community that the EU and China firmly uphold multilateralism.

France and the EU are willing to further enhance mutual trust with China, and shoulder together the historic responsibility of promoting world peace, security and development, he said.

Merkel said Germany attaches importance to China's key role in international affairs, highly appreciates its support for Europe's prosperity, and is ready to work with China to advance multilateralism.

Juncker also said the EU and China could do great things together in jointly addressing global challenges.

David Gosset, a French expert on international affairs and China, said Xi's visit to France has bolstered cooperation between China, France and the EU in tackling climate change, maintaining multilateralism, enhancing the role of the UN and promoting trade connections.

The convergence is a source of hope for the world, Gosset said.

DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

Creating a better world requires a need for nations across the globe to better understand each other.

In his 2014 keynote speech at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris, Xi laid out his vision of civilization, one featuring diversity, equality and inclusiveness.

"We need to encourage different civilizations to respect each other and live together in harmony while promoting their exchanges and mutual learning as a bridge of friendship among peoples, a driving force behind human society, and a strong bond for world peace," Xi said.

Five years on, China is joining various countries and regions to promote inter-civilization exchanges. As a result, the rest of world is becoming more knowledgeable and understanding of the Asian country.

Sonia Bressler, a French writer and sinologist who has made six trips to China, said China cannot develop without the world and vise versa.

The BRI connects the Chinese dream to the world's, she said. "The Belt and Road Initiative accords with the trend of the times."

"The China-Europe Railway Express has already transported goods between China and Europe. I believe I can continue my train trips to China again in the near future," said Bressler.

Prince Albert II, head of state of the Principality of Monaco, described Xi's visit to his country as a "historic" one.

Albert II, who has traveled to China 10 times, said he was deeply impressed by China's development.

"China has undergone tremendous development, as evidenced by its leading position in the global economy. But what strikes me most is Xi's determination and will to pursue green growth not only in China, but also at global level by participating as much as possible in all discussions on climate change and the protection of biodiversity," he said.

The prince told Xinhua earlier that he shares in the notion of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" proposed by Xi, saying Monaco and its neighboring countries have a similar saying for a "community of a shared destiny."

Extending the notion to the global level is an innovative move, the prince said, adding that it will benefit not only China but also the entire world.


By Sidney Tarrow





In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network in late March, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pronounced that he thought "President Trump right now has been  raised for such a time as this, just like Queen Esther, to help save the Jewish people from the Iranian menace" (Jerusalem Post, March 24).



Pompeo was referring to Trump's tweet that he intended to recognize Israel's effective annexation of the Golan Heights, which has been illegally occupied since the Six-Day War in 1967.



If this was a "one-off" move it would not be surprising: Trump wanted to help his friend, Prime Minister Netanyahu, secure his re-election in a tight Israeli election campaign.



But Trump was also aiming to please Trump's Evangelical base  which supports Israeli possession of the "whole" land of Israel  and gain support from Jewish-Americans in his own re-election campaign.



Trump's interference in the Israeli election is part of a broader shift in American politics under his reign: the use of foreign policy for domestic purposes. This has profound implications for the Republic of Korea and for America's international alliances in general.



Consider how Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord soon after his election. True, the move followed from the president's distaste for binding multilateral agreements and from his disdain for America's European allies.



But it also carried fuel  both literally and figuratively  to his supporters in the domestic oil and gas lobby, which has profited handsomely from his administration's reversal of domestic hydrocarbon regulations at a time when climate change is an increasingly growing certainty.



Or think of how Trump interfered in the British Brexit debate. With studied indifference to the negative effects of Brexit on the U.K.'s economy and its place in the world if it blunders out of the European Union, Trump and his acolyte, Steve Bannon, are trying to push Britain towards the same kind of nativist isolation they want to foist on their own country. (It is no accident that Trump's closest British friend is the extreme nationalist, Nigel Farage, who campaigned for him in the 2016 election).



Foreign policy analysts might argue that these moves are no more than an expression of the increasing globalization of world politics in which the line between domestic and foreign policy has been blurred. That may be so, but this does not gainsay the negative effects of Trump's domestic nativism on America's allies  among them the Republic of Korea.



In a time of increasingly delicate relations among the U.S., the ROK, and the DPRK over the latter's nuclear threat, the Trump administration has been largely indifferent to the effects of its policies on its South Korean ally. A recent example is symbolic of this indifference.



In February, after Trump failed to gain congressional support for his plan to keep undocumented immigrants out of the U.S. by building a 2,000-mile border wall, he proclaimed a national emergency. This, he claimed, gave him the power to shift money from congressionally-approved projects in order to finance the wall.



Congress and most of the public disagreed, but on March 17, Trump's acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan provided Congress with a list of projects to be taken from the military construction budget to help pay for the wall (the New York Times, March 18).



Most of these projects are to be built on American soil. But largely unnoticed in the political outrage over Trump's unconstitutional move was information that the Pentagon would take $70.5 million from the budgets for two U.S. bases  Camp Tango in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and Kunsan Air Base in North Jeolla Province.



In a time of increased tension  but also possibilities for improved relations  on the Korean Peninsula, President Trump appeared indifferent to the effects of his policies on his South Korean ally.



Political realists expect that big countries will outweigh small ones in international politics. But savvy hegemons take account of their allies' interests  especially when these allies are under stress, as is the case on the Korean Peninsula today. They are also expected to separate their domestic policies from their foreign policy initiatives. Neither of these precepts have been evident in the Trump administration's foreign policy in East Asia.



The implications go well beyond the military base policy of the USFK, and even beyond Washington's critical relations with Seoul. As the Moon administration tries to manage its delicate relations with the North, an erratic and ill-informed American president supported by a recumbent Republican base may be threatening to destroy the edifice of international cooperation built up over the last seventy years. Loyal allies, like the ROK, should take note.





Sidney Tarrow is the emeritus Maxwell M. Upson professor of government at Cornell University. He is the co-author, most recently, of "The Resistance: The Dawn of the Anti-Trump Opposition Movement."


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This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hundreds of fake drug tests for Canadian truck drivers have landed a Winnipeg business owner in criminal court.

Colleen Faye Robinson, 54, is waiting to be sentenced after she admitted to forging test results for her company, Precision Health Ltd.

The company was tasked with testing truck drivers' urine for drugs and alcohol, according to standards set by the U.S. Department of Transportation, but Robinson admitted she submitted results for urine samples that hadn't been tested or were improperly tested.

As owner of the company, Robinson failed to properly test more than 400 urine samples from May 1, 2017, to Sept. 6, 2018. She was charged with fraud last year.

After she pleaded guilty March 12 to uttering forged documents, Crown attorney Peter Edgett stayed charges of fraud over $5,000 and forgery.

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"After falling into financial difficulties, Ms. Robinson began issuing forged testing results to make it appear as though urine samples collected by her company had complied with the proper protocol when in fact they had not," Edgett told provincial court Judge Sidney Lerner. "The testing results had either not been tested or tested in a manner that did not comply with the relevant regulations."

She pleaded guilty with assistance from defence lawyer Saul Simmonds, who warned her the conviction could affect her nursing licence and her ability to travel to the United States. The amount of restitution Robinson is expected to repay is still to be determined, Edgett said, and her sentencing date has not yet been set.

Formerly based on Dublin Avenue in Winnipeg, the Precision Health laboratory appears to have shut down and the company's website has been taken offline.

After Robinson was charged last fall, the Winnipeg Police Service said investigators had been looking into her testing practices since October 2017. At the time, WPS spokesman Const. Jay Murray suggested Robinson continued to charge her clients full rates for testing, even though the testing wasn't being properly done, before providing falsified results to truck drivers.

The company was also responsible for testing Winnipeg Transit bus drivers for drug and alcohol consumption, a City of Winnipeg spokesperson previously confirmed to the Free Press. Precision Health was the only accredited company doing such testing in Winnipeg, the spokesperson said, and the city used its services for more than 10 years.

Six years ago, the Manitoba government took legal action against the company, but the case never resulted in any civil court hearings, according to Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench registry.
The union that represents the largest number of Winnipeg Transit employees says management appears unconcerned about a turnover rate among its members that has reached an alarming rate.

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The union that represents the largest number of Winnipeg Transit employees says management appears unconcerned about a turnover rate among its members that has reached an alarming rate.

Aleem Chaudhary, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, said the number who quit or resign annually has now reached 10 per cent.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Aleem Chaudhary President of the Amalgamated Transit Union: 'Transit is losing people with experience and its taking a toll'

"Transit is losing people with experience and its taking a toll," Chaudhary said this week. "They should have the exit interviews to discover whats going on. Those are the kinds of things we want to get to the bottom of. This is something that has to be addressed. Its been going on for such a long time."

Local 1505 represents about 1,460 Transit employees, with 1,000 of them employed as drivers and the rest employed as mechanics and building and vehicle maintenance staff.

Chaudhary said the union had lobbied Transit management to conduct exit interviews for more than a year before it agreed last month to undertake them. However, he said the union has not seen any sign Transit is acting on that commitment.

The union said seven members resigned in the past month, and none were involved in exit interviews.

The Free Press requested an interview with a Transit official on the issue. Instead, a Transit spokeswoman replied in a statement that interviews are routinely conducted with staff who have quit.

"Winnipeg Transit operations supervisors meet with operators who are leaving their positions to determine their reason for doing so. That information is logged and tracked," the spokeswoman said in an email to the Free Press.

Turnover Click to Expand March 2018- March 2019 Membership: 1,460 Resignations: 138 (9 per cent) March 2017-March 2018 Membership: 1,457 Resignations: 87 (6 per cent) March 2016-March 2017 Membership: 1,436 () Resignations: 117 (8 per cent) -- Source: Amalgamated Transit Union

That position was not supported by minutes of union-management meetings provided to the Free Press by the ATU.

According to a series of meeting minutes, Transit human resources manager Todd Slatnik indicates he is receptive to initiating exit interviews, stating they used to be done and it would be a good idea.

For example, from April 2018: "Todd confirmed this was done in the past and can follow up with corporate HR if there are plans to resume this practice. Todd to provide an update next month."

From August 2018: "Todd to follow up provide an update next month  No new updates at this time will continue to discuss at HRLG. Todd to draft the few questions we would like to ask and review with ATU."

The Transit spokeswoman later clarified its policy, one day after being told the Free Press was aware of the union-management meeting minutes, casting doubt on Transit having committing to an official exit interview process, as Chaudhary said.

"We don't have a formal exit interview process, we have an informal process," the spokeswoman said in a second email. "The informal process we have in place provides us with the information needed for tracking purposes relating to employees reasons for leaving."

A second request from the Free Press for an interview with a Transit official garnered no response.

Transit strike possible: city City officials have raised the possibility of a strike by Winnipeg Transit employees  a scenario the transit union is trying to minimize. The City of Winnipeg issued a statement Thursday saying it has presented a tentative offer to Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, which represents about 1,460 employees, which, if rejected, "will provide the union with a strike mandate." However, Local 1505 president Aleem Chaudhary said its members can reject the city's offer, with a strike mandate requiring a second vote. click to read more City officials have raised the possibility of a strike by Winnipeg Transit employees  a scenario the transit union is trying to minimize. The City of Winnipeg issued a statement Thursday saying it has presented a tentative offer to Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, which represents about 1,460 employees, which, if rejected, "will provide the union with a strike mandate." However, Local 1505 president Aleem Chaudhary said its members can reject the city's offer, with a strike mandate requiring a second vote. "It is unfortunate that the City of Winnipeg feels the need to bring negotiations between the city and the ATU 1505 into the public for the second time in four years," he said in a statement released Thursday by the union. "If the City of Winnipeg felt that they had made a fair offer to our membership, then we sincerely doubt that they would be releasing public statements regarding the proposal to the media and general public." Chaudhary said if the members reject the offer, he expects bargaining would resume. The collective agreement between Local 1505 and the city expired Jan. 12. Union members will vote on the new deal next week, with final results expected to released April 5. Among the 1,460 Local 1505 members, about 1,000 are Transit drivers, with rest employed as mechanics, building and vehicle maintenance staff. Close

Chaudhary said with increasing incidents of assaults, both verbal and physical, on drivers, the job has become extremely stressful.

Transit credited part of its $13.6-million surplus in 2018 to an unexpected number of employee resignations and retirements, which it said amounted to $5.1 million in savings.

Winnipeg city council allocated $3.1 million of the surplus to cover the installation of driver shields on all buses. Transit staff told a council committee late last year it preferred to see the surplus assigned to a capital reserve account.

Chaudhary said additional monies should have been set aside for enhanced training, as the workforce is increasingly comprised of inexperienced employees.

He also said any exit interviews should be done by an independent third party.

"Nobody is going to say to the employer, in a face-to-face, why theyre leaving. Not honestly, anyway," Chaudhary said. "Especially if they have any hostility or any kind of feelings towards the company."

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
Does Premier Brian Pallister have the constitutional authority to call an early election, as he has speculated he might do? Or do the relevant provisions of the Manitoba Elections Act providing for fixed-date elections mean the next election must occur on Oct. 6, 2020?

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This article was published 29/3/2019 (990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Does Premier Brian Pallister have the constitutional authority to call an early election, as he has speculated he might do? Or do the relevant provisions of the Manitoba Elections Act providing for fixed-date elections mean the next election must occur on Oct. 6, 2020?

Pallister claims the law sets a "drop-dead" date for the next election, but nothing prevents him from going to the polls early. Recently, he has indicated he would not do so while under the threat of spring flooding.

The murkiness around the constitutionality of a fixed-date election system allows the premier to make this claim, but a premature election might be seen as opportunistic and a violation of an emerging constitutional convention regarding control over the timing of elections. Conventions are unwritten norms of behaviour regarded as binding by the relevant political actors, but are not enforceable through the courts.

Most provinces and the federal government now operate on a fixed-date election system. Having greater predictability than under the traditional system of unfixed election dates was supposed to deliver such benefits as fairer competition among parties, more opportunity to recruit quality candidates who would know when to leave their jobs, better planning and administration by election agencies, and less voter cynicism due to the perception that premiers would only call elections when conditions favoured their party.

In theory, fixed-date election laws are not complicated; in practice, things are not so simple. The complications arise from the attempt to do four things through the passage of a law.

The primary purpose is to remove the prerogative of the premier to determine the timing of elections, a prerogative that has been used regularly by prime ministers and premiers of all parties to gain a political advantage over their opponents.

Democratic accountability must be upheld, so therefore the legislature must remain free at all times to vote no confidence in the government, an action that might lead to an election. Also, the potential futility of a minority government being unable to pass bills or approve spending had to be avoided, so there must be an escape mechanism to allow a premier to recommend the lieutenant-governor call an election.

Fixed-date election laws must respect the royal prerogative of the lieutenant-governor to dissolve the legislature and to set an election date. Almost always, his/her decision is based on the advice of the premier, but this can be controversial  as witnessed at the federal level in 2008, when the governor general accepted then-prime minister Stephen Harpers request for a prorogation of Parliament when his government was in danger of being toppled by a coalition of opposition parties.

The final purpose or effect of a fixed-date election law is to set the maximum life of the legislature to four years. Previously, the maximum life of the legislature was five years. Short extensions of the life of the legislature can occur to avoid overlap with federal election campaigns.

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Fixed election dates came to Manitoba in 2008, when the NDP government of Gary Doer had the legislature pass the omnibus Bill 37, containing a series of reforms to election and lobbying laws. Other parts of the bill were controversial, but the Opposition Progressive Conservatives supported the fixed-date provisions. That support was based on principle, but it also reflected the result of the 2007 early election call that caught them unprepared and may have contributed to the NDPs victory.

Since the fixed-date election law does not remove the right of the premier to recommend an early election, and because the lieutenant-governor almost always acts on that advice, critics argue fixed-date elections laws are a hoax. In response, defenders of the laws argue they represent a new constitutional convention that places limits on the right of first ministers to control the timing of elections.

In a case challenging the prorogation granted to Harper in 2008, the courts declared there was, at that time, no constitutional convention. For a convention to exist, there must be precedents; a convention must also be precise, identifiable and workable. For a convention to apply, it must be recognized as binding among the relevant political actors. And, finally, courts can recognize the existence of conventions but breaches of those norms of behaviour are penalized in the political arena, not in the legal arena.

The past two provincial elections, in 2011 and 2016, took place on the dates set out in Section 49 of the Manitoba Elections Act. It might be argued these two precedents represent a developing convention. However, conventions depend for their effectiveness on political actors regarding them as binding.

Apparently, Pallister does not see the law in this way. He must also believe, if he goes early to gain political advantage, he will not pay a price in terms of voter support because the initial charge of political opportunism will quickly be displaced by other election issues.

Paul G. Thomas is professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba.
Each and every year following the release of the provincial budget, Premier Brian Pallister will remind Manitobans that his government is spending more on health care now than any other government in the history of the province. And he is not wrong.

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This article was published 28/3/2019 (990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Each and every year following the release of the provincial budget, Premier Brian Pallister will remind Manitobans that his government is spending more on health care now than any other government in the history of the province. And he is not wrong.

Health care spending is expected to be higher this year than any previous year under any government. However, that metric only tells part of the story of health expenditures in Manitoba. To get to the truth, you have to look at key indicators such as the number of priority surgical procedures  hip and knee replacements, and cataract surgeries  that the health system performs each year.

In the most recent report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) on priority surgical procedures, the province has fallen farther behind on hip and knee replacements and cataract surgeries. Manitoba has had among the longest waits in the country for these procedures; over the last three years of Tory government, the situation has become even worse.

Related Items Click to Expand Articles Mar 28, 2019: Waits get longer for hip, knee, cataract surgery Carol Sanders

Fewer than half of all Manitobans requiring a hip replacement, and only about a third requiring a knee replacement, are getting them within the national standard of six months. Less than one-third (29 per cent) of Manitobans who need cataract surgery get it inside the standard of 16 weeks.

Of greater concern, Manitoba's performance in those critical areas has worsened in the past three years.

CIHI did identify those areas where Manitoba meets or exceeds national benchmarks, such as for the treatment of hip fractures and radiation therapy for cancer patients. Manitoba also made meaningful improvements in wait times for MRIs. These are areas where, historically, Manitoba has always ranked near the very top of all provinces.

How did we lose so much ground in hips, knees and cataracts? It's simple economics, really.

The province's austerity strategy has forced it to cut or freeze spending in almost every department of government. The effect of that austerity is difficult to spot in some departments. In health, there are so many tools to measure outcomes that the consequences of this strategy are easy to spot.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Swaddled by surgeon's hands, a knee replacement implant gleams under the surgical lights at Concordia Hospital.

In health, the impact of austerity is pretty stark.

In 2016-17, the first year the Tories were in power, spending on health care topped out at 6.546 billion, an increase of $309 million over what the former NDP government had spent the previous year. However, in 2017-18, the first full year that the Tories had their hands on the fiscal levers of government, austerity set in.

Total spending in 2017-18 was $6.483 billion, $198 million less than budgeted and $42 million less than it spent a year earlier. It was the first time since the 1990s that health care spending had ever been less year over year.

The final numbers are not in yet for 2018-19  public accounts for that fiscal year won't be tabled until early fall  but Health Minister Cameron Friesen has already suggested that expenditures in his department may come in at $240 million less than budgeted. Friesen said half of that amount is due to a change in accounting procedures at the regional health authorities but that still leaves the province $120 million under budget.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Premier Brian Pallister reduced the PST to seven per cent.

How concerned are the Tories about this record of austerity? The spin machine is working overtime to try to downplay the underspending and amplify those areas where there has been increased capacity.

In the news release from Friesen on the CIHI report, he highlighted the positive results in wait times for MRIs, CTs and hip fracture repairs. He also noted a one-time $5-million increase in funding for hips, knees and cataracts in 2019, announced last November, six months before the 2019-20 budget was tabled.

You have to get down to the fifth paragraph before you read anything about what the province calls "suboptimal" wait times for hips, knees and cataracts. In the news business, we call that "burying the lede."

The one-time increase in funding for these priority procedures is, of course, welcomed. However, it does not help all of the patients who were forced to wait even longer for hips, knees and cataract surgeries, many of whom are older and have less capacity to endure delays.

The worst part of this story is the refusal of the Pallister government to admit what is going on.

Pallister inherited a government mired in deficit financing. Thanks to his relentless attention to detail on fiscal oversight, every penny is being scrutinized in ways unheard of in Manitoba. That has produced a significant reduction in the annual deficit, a worthy accomplishment.

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Pallister has also kept his promise to reduce the PST back to seven per cent before balancing the budget. Everyone loves a tax cut, of course, but this one comes with a cost.

Cutting the PST will cost the treasury $330 million annually in lost revenue. This is a key point: Pallister decided to forgo all that revenue at a time when he and his government knew it was still in deficit and falling farther behind on priority surgical procedures.

The cause (austerity on expenditures, tax cuts) leads us to the effect (longer waits for surgery).

If the premier or his health minister were willing to admit to the real cost of the PST cut  at least in terms of hips, knees and cataracts  then Manitobans could make an informed decision about whether the government they elected with a thunderous majority in 2016 was delivering on what they promised. But the Pallister government won't admit that.

So, that leaves voters in the next provincial election to connect the dots on their own. Heaven help the Tories if they figure it out.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has issued sweeping new sex abuse legislation for the Vatican City State and Vatican diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of allegations to Vatican prosecutors, as he seeks to create a model policy for the Catholic Church.

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This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pope Francis attends an audience with participants of a course on the Internal Forum promoted by the Apostolic Penitentiary Court, in the Pope Paul VI hall, at the Vatican, Friday, March 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has issued sweeping new sex abuse legislation for the Vatican City State and Vatican diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of allegations to Vatican prosecutors, as he seeks to create a model policy for the Catholic Church.

The mandatory reporting provision, while limited in scope to Vatican officials, marks the first time the Holy See has put into law requirements for Catholic officials to report allegations of sex crimes to police or face fines and possible jail time.

Francis also issued child protection guidelines for Vatican City State and its youth seminary, acting after the global sex abuse scandal exploded anew last year and The Associated Press reported that the headquarters of the Catholic Church had no policy to protect children from predator priests.

While the new norms only cover Vatican City State, affiliated institutions and the Holy See's diplomatic corps, they were still symbolically significant and were welcomed by a former seminarian whose case helped spark the reform.

"I see this as something positive," Kamil Jarzembowski told the AP.

The law for the first time provides a Vatican definition for "vulnerable people" who are entitled to the same protections as minors under church law. The Vatican amended its canon law covering sex abuse to include "vulnerable adults" in 2010, but never defined it.

According to the new Vatican definition, a vulnerable person is anyone who is sick or suffering from a physical or psychiatric deficiency, isn't able to exercise personal freedom and has a limited capacity to understand or resist the crime.

The issue of whether "vulnerable people" can include seminarians, religious sisters or other adults who are emotionally dependent on clergy has come to the fore in the wake of the scandal over ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a once high-ranking American cleric who molested seminarians, and revelations of priests and bishops around the world sexually preying on nuns.

The new law covers all personnel who live in or work for the Vatican and any abuse that occurs in the Vatican, the 44-hectare (110-acre) city state in the centre of Rome and its other territories, as well as the Holy See's vast diplomatic corps.

The Vatican's own ambassadors have figured in some of the most scandalous cases of sex abuse in recent years, with papal representatives accused of groping, distributing child pornography and sexually abusing minors in their far-flung posts.

The provisions to punish them criminally are now contained in the city state's criminal code, and are separate from the canon law which also imposes canonical penalties, such as defrocking, for predator priests worldwide.

The law now requires any Vatican public official who learns of an allegation of abuse within the law's jurisdiction to report it to Vatican prosecutors "without delay." Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to 5,000 euros ($5,615) or, in the case of a Vatican gendarme, up to six months of prison.

Information obtained during confession is exempt from the reporting requirements, in keeping with Catholic doctrine.

"With this document the Vatican wants to send a message that it takes these crimes seriously, wants to prosecute them, to avoid cover up, and also to create an atmosphere that prevents these crimes from happening in the first place," said Ulrich Rhode, a canon law professor at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University.

Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability, an online database about clergy abuse, said any law that protects even a single child is to be applauded. But she faulted its limited scope as reinforcing the Vatican claim that it is only responsible for protecting children in the city state.

"Let's hope (Francis) finds the courage soon to enact new, sweeping laws in this larger jurisdiction," she said.

Francesco Zanardi of the Italian survivor advocacy group Rete L'Abuso (Abuse Network) echoed her call, saying: "If minors have the luck of being abused in the Vatican City State, their rights will be protected. Outside, we can't do anything."

Many of the law's provisions answer longstanding victim complaints about how they are treated by the church, while also ensuring that the accused are entitled to a defence and efforts to restore their reputations if the claims are not substantiated.

The legislation requires that victims be welcomed, listened to and provided with medical, psychological and legal assistance, and sets the statute of limitations at 20 years past the victim's 18th birthday.

They must be kept apprised of the investigation, a significant point given that victims are usually kept in the dark about canonical sex abuse investigations.

Victims and their families are to be protected from any retaliation. Jarzembowski, who reported abuse at the Vatican youth seminary, was kicked out the following year.

Mimicking some provisions in place in the U.S. church, the guidelines require background checks for Vatican staff and volunteers working with minors and calls for safe environment training for all Vatican personnel.

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The Vatican's editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, acknowledged that very few children actually live in the Vatican City State. But he said Francis decided to make the legislation and accompanying guidelines a model.

Last year, the AP reported that Vatican City had no policy to protect children, even though the Holy See required such policies in Catholic dioceses around the globe and had told the U.N. in 2013 that such a policy was in the works.

The absence of clear-cut policy became evident following revelations that Jarzembowski, then a teenage seminarian in the Vatican's youth seminary had, in 2012, accused one of the older boys of sexually molesting his roommate.

Nothing came of it. Vatican police, who have jurisdiction, weren't called in to investigate. A series of bishops and cardinals said they investigated, but no one ever interviewed the alleged victim. The accused was eventually ordained a priest.

On Friday, Jarzembowski told the AP the law answered many of the loopholes into which his case fell, particularly its recognition that the youth seminary falls under Vatican jurisdiction.

"Before, there was a situation where a group of kids were there, in the Vatican City State, but they were seemingly in a legal limbo," he said.
Local musicians selected for honor band The following Winterset High School musicians were selected from over 350 applications for the Drake University Honor Band. They rehearsed with other students from across Iowa and performed a great concert on Saturday evening at...

Listen and learn with Coffee and Conversation Iowa Learning Farms (ILF), the Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach conservation and water quality education program, will host Coffee and Conservation, Wednesday, Dec. 15, from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the Warren Cultural Center in...

Around Town Blood drive  Generous community members who give blood with LifeServe Blood Center are directly impacting their neighbors in local hospitals, as LifeServe is the sole provider of blood to the medical centers in this...

WHS students perform during annual festival The Winterset High School instrumentalists and vocalists pictured were among more than a thousand of the top music students chosen to perform at the 75th Annual All State Music Festival. Music students from all across...


By John J. Metzler





UNITED NATIONS  Beijing's ambitious "Belt and Road" infrastructural initiative has scored its first significant beachhead in the Mediterranean, as Italy has signed on to the expansive Chinese globe-spanning project.



China's President Xi Jinping was feted in Rome with a grandiosity fit for a visiting emperor as the Italian government signed 10 business deals worth $23 billion.



"Xi in Rome; The Escort fit for Kings," headlined the newspaper Corriere della Sera. Italy is the first of the industrial G7 countries to formally join China's Belt and Road plan. Yet amid commercial euphoria in Italy there's a growing unease in the European Union and the U.S. over China's investment inroads, and especially its beachhead in two key ports.



The populist Italian government signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding involving a wide range of expanded links with China involving the energy giant ENI, as well as engineering firms and banks.



Importantly an agreement between the China Communications Construction Company and the Ports of Trieste and Genova will allow Beijing easier transportation access to both Southern and Central Europe. A few years ago, the Chinese bought a 51 percent interest in the Greek port of Piraeus.



The port of Trieste is particularly significant. Situated on the nexus of the Adriatic Sea, the old Austro-Hungarian port was a maritime lifeline for landlocked Central European and Balkan states. Though in need of infrastructural upgrades, Trieste has historically been a "free port."



China's Belt and Road, also known as the Silk Road, has emerged as a massive debt trap for many countries along its global route. Italy's Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini, interestingly has warned about potential security threats from China.



As the eurozone's third-largest economy, Italy seeks to boost trade and investment ties with China.



But beyond the obvious, the "Belt and Road" deal allows Beijing to gain an extraordinary level of legitimacy with a key European Union member. Jean-Francois Dufour, who heads the Paris-based DCA China-Analysis consultants, told France 24, "It's a strong diplomatic gesture that is, above all, symbolic."



"It is true that, politically, Italy could become a Trojan horse for China, because Chinese investment will push Rome to try to temper other European powers' intransigence toward Beijing," Dufour added.



A spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council said that the Italian government had no need to "lend legitimacy to China's infrastructure vanity project." Such a stinging rebuke for a close ally is rare.



"China is a partner, but it is at the same time a competitor," Sebastian Kurz, Austria's chancellor concedes.



But let's not just blame the Italians for the bonhomie with Beijing. It would be unpardonably arrogant not to mention that Germany and France have long had deeper business and trade ties with the People's Republic of China. Just last year in Hamburg, I was amazed how this huge German port serves as a conduit for Chinese trade and commerce in northern Europe.



After Italy, Xi Jinping's road show went to Monaco and France to commemorate diplomatic ties opened between Paris and Beijing 55 years ago, and to build upon decades of established commercial links.



A series of Sino-French deals on nuclear power, aerospace and telecommunications totaling $40 billion were signed. Purchases of 290 Airbus 320 aircraft are being finalized.



Despite Huawei's controversial technology being banned by the U.S., Canada and in many European countries, France has not yet decided on the matter.



Though the French favor widening trade with Beijing, at the same time the Macron government and civil society are decidedly nervous about the wider geopolitical implications of a militarily strong China, which has emerged as the EU's largest trading partner.



"Europe has woken up about China," Macron said, "Since the beginning of my mandate, I've called for a defense of European sovereignty."



Speaking at the state banquet with Xi in Paris, Macron called for a "strong Europe-China partnership," based on "fair and balanced" trade. Recently the EU described China as "a systemic rival."



Clearly the Europeans are trying to maintain a delicate balance between presumably profiting from closer Chinese commercial ties and the very real threat of widening trade deficits, technology theft and political rifts with Washington over the Trump administration's tough China trade policy and robust stance barring Huawei 5G telecom technology.



China has been playing the Europe card as a hedge against a more aggressive American trade and security policy. Indeed, until recently Europe too was willing to play the China card to counter the U.S.; now Europeans are having nervous second thoughts.





John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism: The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China."


Asiana Airlines chief takes responsibility for accounting malpractice



Kumho-Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo resigned from key managerial posts Thursday, holding himself responsible for the recent controversy over an audit report for Asiana Airlines.



Park had bet all on improving the flag carrier's financial structure through a self-rescue plan. Then came the audit report pointing to accounting malpractice and damaging trust in the entire group. He seemed to have no other option but to step down in his last effort to normalize management.



Park's crisis began when Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kumho-Asiana's outside auditor, issued a "qualified opinion" on the airline's 2018 annual report four days ago. It led to the suspension of the trading of Asiana Airline's stocks from Friday to Tuesday. After Park's decision, the auditor upgraded its opinion to "unqualified," and stock trading resumed.



In the process, however, investors' confidence in the smaller of Korea's two full-service carriers all but vanished. In the revised audit report, Asiana's debt jumped from the initial one while operating profits plunged to a one-third level. Hiding liabilities and overstating profits are typical examples of window-dressing.



The pressing circumstances that Chairman Park faced were not incomprehensible altogether. However, it is hardly forgivable if his highly intentional accounting irregularities had confused the market. Aside from putting down all managerial titles, he should take legal responsibility if necessary.



It was, however, fortunate that the outside auditor scrutinized the report and found problems. Otherwise, few could say a massive accounting fraud, like that of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2016, would not have occurred.



Asiana Airline's main creditor, Korea Development Bank, has expressed an intention to help recover the carrier's management if it succeeds in regaining the market's trust. The carrier ought to strive to restore investor confidence with sheer determination. Above all, it should offer a plausible explanation about what happened and seek shareholders' understanding.



Coincidentally or not, Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho also lost his CEO title at Korean Air, the nation's first and largest flag carrier, Wednesday, when the company's shareholders voted down his reappointment bid. Other tycoons should learn a lesson from the two cases: Even the owners of major conglomerates can't help but step aside when they make grave managerial mistakes.






The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: 87 Leonard Development LLC, ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Acacia (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Accounting Solutions Holding Company Inc, Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Amber Investments S.a r.l., Ambidexter GmbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BHW Kreditservice GmbH, BNA Nominees Pty Limited, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, BTAS Cayman GP, BTD Nominees Pty Limited, Baincor Nominees Pty Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Barkly Investments Ltd., Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Biomass Holdings S.a r.l., Birch (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Blue Cork Inc, Blue Cork Inc., Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cape Acquisition Corp., CapeSuccess Inc., CapeSuccess LLC, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Career Blazers LLC, Career Blazers Management Company Inc, Career Blazers Management Company Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc, Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services of Washington D.C. Inc. Washington D.C., Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc, Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc., Carpathian Investments Designated Activity Company, Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Centennial River 2 Inc., Centennial River Corporation, Chapel Funding, Charlton (Delaware) Inc, China Recovery Fund LLC, China Recovery Fund LLC, Cinda - DB NPL Securitization Trust 2003-1, City Leasing (Thameside) Limited, City Leasing Limited, Consumo S.p.A., Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, D.B. International Delaware Inc., D.B. International Delaware Inc., DAHOC (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DAHOC Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB (Pacific) Limited, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB Abalone LLC, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Alps Corporation, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Asia Pacific Holdings Limited (in voluntary liquidation), DB Asset Finance I S.a r.l., DB Asset Finance II S.a r.l., DB Aster II LLC, DB Aster III LLC, DB Aster Inc., DB Aster LLC, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Investments Sarl, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Commodity Services LLC, DB Consorzio S. Cons. a r. l., DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Covered Bond S.r.l., DB Credit Investments S.a r.l., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Commodities Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Enfield Infrastructure Holdings Limited, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance International GmbH, DB Ganymede 2006 L.P., DB Global Markets Multi-Strategy Fund I Ltd., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holding Fundo de Investimento Multimercado Investimento no Exterior Credito Privado, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (South America) Limited, DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Immobilienfonds 1 Wieland KG, DB Immobilienfonds 2 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 4 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG, DB Impact Investment (GP) Limited, DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB Io LP, DB Litigation Fee LLC, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Managers LLC, DB Municipal Holdings LLC, DB Nexus American Investments (UK) Limited (in members'voluntary liquidation), DB Nexus Investments (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios Interactivos Agrupacion de Interes Economico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB PWM, DB Portfolio Southwest Inc., DB Print GmbH, DB Privat- und Firmenkundenbank AG, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB RC Holdings LLC, DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Finance 1 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Finance 2 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Holdings Luxembourg S.a r.l., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a r.l., DB Value S.a r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita S.A., DBAB Wall Street LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBCIBZ2, DBFIC Inc., DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBOI Global Services Private Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management IA Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management US IB L.L.C., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUKH No. 2 Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBX Advisors LLC, DBX ETF Trust, DBX Strategic Advisors LLC, DBO Vermogensverwertung GmbH, DEBEKO Immobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUFRAN Beteiligungs GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK A.S., DG China Clean Tech Partners, DI Deutsche Immobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DIB-Consult Deutsche Immobilien- und BeteiligungsBeratungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DNU Nominees Pty Limited, DSL Portfolio GmbH & Co. KG, DSL Portfolio Verwaltungs GmbH, DTS Nominees Pty Limited, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, De Heng Asset Management Company Limited, De Meng Innovative (Beijing) Consulting Company Limited, DeAM Infrastructure Limited, Deloraine Spain S.L., Delowrezham de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (Mauritius) Limited Port, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (France) SAS, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, Deutsche Asset Management S.A., Deutsche Asset Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (Chile), Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anonima Institucion Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Bauspar-Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance LLC I, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance Trust I, Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency of Delaware, Deutsche Bank International Limited, Deutsche Bank Investments (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Deposits, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Note Programme, Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company Los, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Polska Spolka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao Sao, Deutsche Bank SPEARs/LIFERs Series DBE-8011 Trust, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Services (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Societa per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Management Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Colombia S.A.S., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 1 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 2 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 3 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 4 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankterHaftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Deutsche Holdings (Malta) Ltd., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche Immobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Inversiones Dos S.A., Deutsche Inversiones Limitada, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mandatos S.A., Deutsche Master Funding Corporation, Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a r.l., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Public Limited Company, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC I, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC II, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC III, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Deutsche Securities S.A., Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Securities SpA, Deutsche Securities Venezuela S.A., Deutsche Securitisation Australia Pty Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trust Company Limited Japan, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsches Institut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.I., Elba Finance GmbH, Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, Emerald Asset Repackaging Designated Activity Company, Erste Frankfurter Hoist GmbH, European Value Added I (Alternate G.P.) LLP, Exinor SA, FARAMIR Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs GmbH, FRANKFURT CONSULT GmbH, Fiduciaria Sant' Andrea S.r.L., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Franz Urbig- und Oscar Schlitter-Stiftung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-037, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-039, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-040, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-041, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-043, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-044, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-047, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., G.O. IB-US Management L.L.C., G918 Corp., GAC-HEL Inc., GWC-GAC Corp., Galene S.a r.l., Gemini Technology Services Inc., German American Capital, German American Capital Corporation, Gladyr Spain S.L., Global Markets Fundo de Investimento Multimercado, Global Markets III Fundo de Investimento Multimercado - Credito, Greenwood Properties Corp., Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer Landstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Kerpen-Sindorf Vogelrutherfeld GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Leipzig Petersstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Wiesbaden Luisenstrae/Kirchgasse GbR, HTB Spezial GmbH & Co. KG, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, IOS Finance EFC S.A., ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, Immobilienfonds Mietwohnhauser Quadrath-Ichendorf GbR, Immobilienfonds Wohn- und Geschaftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul Inkasso GmbH, Kradavimd UK Lease Holdings Limited, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Latitude Australia Secured Personal Loans Trust, Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo III Initial GP Limited, Lindsell Finance Limited, London Industrial Leasing Limited, MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MHL Reinsurance Ltd., MIT Holdings Inc., MIT Holdings Inc., MPP Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Securities Corp., Motion Picture Productions One GmbH & Co. KG, NCW Holding Inc., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., New 87 Leonard LLC, Nordwestdeutscher Wohnungsbautrager Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentre", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Holding GmbH, OPB-Nona GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPB-Quinta GmbH, OPB-Septima GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM Flottenfonds V GmbH & Co. KG, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, OPS Nominees Pty Limited, OVT Trust 1 GmbH, OVV Beteiligungs GmbH, Opal Funds (Ireland) Public Limited Company, PADUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, PARTS Funding LLC., PB Factoring GmbH, PB Firmenkunden AG, PB International S.A., PB Spezial-Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PBC Banking Services GmbH, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, PT. Deutsche Verdhana Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Peruda Leasing Limited, Plantation Bay Inc., Plantation Bay Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Immobilien GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH & Co. Objekt Leipzig KG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank Service GmbH, Postbank Systems AG, QR Tower 2 LLC, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, REO Properties Corporation, RREEF, RREEF America L.L.C., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisors Private Limited, RREEF Management L.L.C., RTS Nominees Pty Limited, Reference Capital Investments Limited, RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables LLC, Route 28 Receivables LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SCUDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SEDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SENA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Kamenz KG, SIFA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SOLIDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SP Mortgage Trust, SPINO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SPV I Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, SPV II Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, STATOR Heizkraftwerk Frankfurt (Oder) Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim Alternative Investments GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. AG & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Komplementar AG, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Service Company Four Limited, Sharps SP I LLC, Singer Island Tower Suite LLC, Somkid Immobiliare S.r.l., Stelvio Immobiliare S.r.l., Structured Finance Americas LLC, Structured Finance Americas LLC, Swabia 1. Vermogensbesitz-GmbH, Suddeutsche Vermogensverwaltung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, TAKIR Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TELO Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, TEMATIS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TERRUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Halle I KG i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Nordhausen I KG i.L., TOSSA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRIPLA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRS Aria LLC, TRS Leda LLC, TRS Maple II LTD, TRS Oak II LTD, TRS SVCO LLC, TRS Scorpio LLC, TRS Tupelo II LTD, TRS Venor LLC, TRS Walnut II LTD, Tagus - Sociedade de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Tasfiye Halinde Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Tianjin Deutsche AM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Limited, UKE Beteiligungs-GmbH, UKE Grundstucksgesellschaft mbH, UKE s.r.o., Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksgesellschaft Kirchnerstrae GbR, Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft Disternich GbR, Ullmann Ullmann Krockow Krockow Esch GbR, VCJ Lease S.a r.l., Vesta Real Estate S.r.l., VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, WEPLABeteiligungsgesellschaftmbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., Whale Holdings S.a r.l., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., World Trading(Delaware)Inc., Zumirez Drive LLC, db PBC, and norisbank GmbH.
The following companies are subsidiares of NOV: AG Holding UK, APL France SAS, APL Management Pte Ltd, APL Norway AS, APL do Brasil Ltda., ASEP Group Holding B.V., ASEP Otomotiv Sanayi Ticaret Ltd., Ackerman Holdings C.V., Ackerman Holdings GP LLC, Ackerman International Holland B.V., Advanced Production and Loading, Advanced Wirecloth, Aggregate Plant Products Co., American Pipe and Construction International, Ameron B.V., Ameron Holdings Pte. Ltd., Ameron International, Ameron International Corporation, Ameron Pole Products LLC, Ameron Polyplaster Industria E Comercio de Tubos Ltda., Ameron Singapore Holding, Ameron Singapore Poly Holdings Pte. Ltd., Ameron Trading Holdings Pte. Ltd., Andergauge Limited, Andergauge Redback, Andergauge USA, Arabian Rig Manufacturing Company, Axiom Process Limited, Belco Manufacturing Company, Big Red Tubulars Limited, Bondstrand Ltd., Bowen Downhole Inc., Bowen Downhole LLC, Brandt Interests, Brandt Oilfield Services (M) Sdn. Bhd., C.M.A. Canavera S.R.L., CJSC Fidmash, CJSC Novmash, CSI Inspection, Camco Drilling Group Limited, Chemineer, Coil Services Middle East LLC, Containment Solutions, Containment Solutions Services, Couoperatie Intelliserv Holding U.A., Couoperatie NOV NL U.A., Danco AS, Denali Incorporated, Denali Management, Devin International, Dreco Canada L.P., Dreco DHT, Dreco Eastern Europe ULC, Dreco Energy Services ULC, Dreco International Holdings ULC, Dreco LLC, E.C. Motors, Elmar Far East Pty Ltd, Enerflow Industries, Enerpro de Mexico, Environmental Procedures LLC, Ershigs, Fabricated Plastics Acquisitions Limited, Fabricated Plastics Limited, Fiber Glass Systems, Fiber Glass Systems (Qingdao) Composite Piping Co., Fiber Glass Systems Holdings, Fiber Glass Systems Oman L.L.C., Fiber Glass Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fiberspar, Fiberspar Australia Pty. Ltd., Fiberspar Corporation, Fiberspar Linepipe Canada Ltd., Fibra Ingenieria y Construccion S.A., FidService, Fjords Processing (Shanghai) Co., Fjords Processing 1 AS, Fjords Processing AS, Fjords Processing Australia Pty Ltd, Fjords Processing France SAS, Fjords Processing Korea Co. Ltd., Fjords Processing Limited, Fjords Processing UK Ltd., Fryma S.a.r.l., GOT German Oil Tools GmbH, GP USA Holding LLC, GPEX, German Oil Tools (Middle East) FZE, Grant Prideco (Jiangsu) Drilling Products Co., Grant Prideco (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Grant Prideco AB TCA Holding LLC, Grant Prideco European Holding, Grant Prideco Holding, Grant Prideco III C. V., Grant Prideco Inc., Grant Prideco Jersey Limited, Grant Prideco L.P., Grant Prideco Mauritius Limited, Grant Prideco Netherlands B.V., Grant Prideco PC Composites Holdings, Grant Prideco S. de R.L. de C.V., Grant Prideco USA, Grant Prideco de Venezuela, Greystone Technologies Pty. Ltd., GustoMSC B.V., GustoMSC U.S., Hebei Huayouyiji Tuboscope Coating Co., Hitec AS, Hydralift AmClyde, Hydralift France SAS, Hydralift Holdings UK Limited, Inspecciones y Pruebas No Destructivas, IntelliServ Norway AS, Intelliserv, Intelliserv GP Holdings LLC, Intelliserv International Holding, Intelliserv LLC, Interval LLC, JiangYin Tuboscope Tubular Development Co., Merpro Group Limited, Merpro Products Limited, Merpro Tortek Limited, Midsund Bruk AS, Mono Group Pension Trustees Limited, Mono Pumps New Zealand Company, Monoflo NOV S.A.I.C., Moyno Inc., Moyno de Mexico S.A. de C.V., NKT Flexibles I/S, NOV (Asia), NOV (Barbados) Holding SRL, NOV (Barbados) SRL, NOV (Caymans), NOV (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., NOV - Oil Services Angola LDA., NOV APL Limited, NOV ASEP Elmar Mexico, NOV Africa Pty Ltd, NOV Australia Pty Ltd, NOV Azerbaijan LLC, NOV Brandt Europe France, NOV Brandt Oilfield Services Middle East LLC, NOV CV1 GP LLC, NOV CV2 GP LLC, NOV Completion Tools AS, NOV Completion Tools LLC, NOV Completion and Production Solutions Korea Ltd., NOV DH de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., NOV DHT Canada Holding ULC, NOV Denmark Cooperatief U.A., NOV Downhole Argentina, NOV Downhole Bolivia S.R.L., NOV Downhole Colombia, NOV Downhole Comercializacao de Equipamentos para Petroleo Ltda., NOV Downhole Congo, NOV Downhole Eurasia Limited, NOV Downhole Europe B.V., NOV Downhole Germany GmbH, NOV Downhole Italia S.R.L., NOV Downhole Kazakhstan, NOV Downhole Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., NOV Downhole Pty Ltd, NOV Downhole Thailand, NOV Dreco GP LLC, NOV EU Acquisition SNC, NOV Elmar (Middle East) Limited, NOV Elmar NL B.V., NOV Elmar Pte. Ltd., NOV Enerflow ULC, NOV Eurasia Holding LLC, NOV European Holding LLC, NOV Expatriate Services, NOV FGS Malaysia Sdn Bhd, NOV FGS Singapore (Pte.) Ltd, NOV Fiber Glass Systems Fabricacao De Tubos E Conexoes Ltda, NOV Flexibles Equipamentos E Servicos Ltda., NOV Flexibles Holding ApS, NOV Floating Production AS, NOV Fluid Control B.V., NOV GEO GP LLC, NOV GEO LP1 C.V., NOV GEO LP2 C.V., NOV GP Holding L.P., NOV GP1 Holding LLC, NOV Gabon SARL, NOV Germany Holding GmbH, NOV Ghana Limited, NOV Grant Prideco Drilling Equipment Manufacturing LLC, NOV Grant Prideco Drilling Products Middle East FZE, NOV Grant Prideco L.L.C., NOV Holding Danmark ApS, NOV Holding Germany GmbH & Co KG, NOV Holding Germany Management GmbH, NOV Holdings B.V., NOV Hydra Rig Pte. Ltd, NOV India Private Limited, NOV Intelliserv UK Limited, NOV International Holdings C.V., NOV International Holdings GP LLC, NOV Intervention & Stimulation Equipment US LLC, NOV Intervention and Stimulation Equipment  Aftermarket Comercio de Equipamentos e Servicos Ltda., NOV Kenya Limited, NOV Kostroma LLC, NOV Kuwait Light & Heavy Equipment Repairing & Maintenance Co., NOV LP (Trading), NOV MSI Pipe Protection Technologies Inc., NOV MSI Pipe Protection Technologies Mexico, NOV Mexico Holding LLC, NOV Middle East FZCO, NOV Mission Products UK Limited, NOV Mozambique Limitada, NOV NL Mexico Holding B.V., NOV Netherlands Finance Holding C.V., NOV Netherlands Finance Holding LLC, NOV North America I/P, NOV Oil & Gas Services Egypt (S.A.E), NOV Oil & Gas Services Uganda Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Ghana Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Nigeria Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, NOV Oilfield Services Tanzania Limited, NOV Oilfield Services Vostok LLC, NOV Oilfield Solutions Ltd., NOV Park II B.V., NOV Process & Flow Technologies AS, NOV Process & Flow Technologies Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., NOV Process & Flow Technologies Pte. Ltd., NOV Process & Flow Technologies UK Limited, NOV Process & Flow Technologies US, NOV Rig Solutions Pte. Ltd., NOV Romania, NOV Saudi Arabia Co. Ltd., NOV Saudi Arabia Trading Co., NOV Services Ltd., NOV Servicios de Personal Mexico, NOV Subsea Products AS, NOV TV2 LLC, NOV TVI LLC, NOV Tanajib Kuwait for Services and Maintenance of Oil Rigs Refineries and Petrochemicals, NOV Tuboscope Italia S.R.L., NOV Tuboscope Middle East LLC, NOV Tuboscope NL B.V., NOV Tubulars and Connectors Ltd., NOV UK (Angola Acquisitions) Limited, NOV UK Finance Limited, NOV UK Holdings Limited, NOV UK Korea LP, NOV Wellbore Technologies Norway LLC, NOV Wellbore Technologies do Brasil Equipamentos E Servicos Ltda., NOV Wellsite Services Germany GmbH, NOV Worldwide C.V., NOV-BLM SAS, NOVM Holding LLC, NOW Downhole Tools, NOW International LLC, NOW Nova Scotia Holdings LLC, NOW Oilfield Services, NQL Holland B.V., National Oilwell (U.K.) Limited, National Oilwell Algerie, National Oilwell DHT, National Oilwell Middle East Company, National Oilwell Services de Mexico, National Oilwell Varco (Beijing) Investment Management Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco (Thailand) Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Algeria, National Oilwell Varco Almansoori Services, National Oilwell Varco Bahrain WLL, National Oilwell Varco Belgium SA, National Oilwell Varco Denmark I/S, National Oilwell Varco Egypt LLC, National Oilwell Varco Eurasia, National Oilwell Varco Guatemala, National Oilwell Varco Guyana Inc., National Oilwell Varco Hungary Limited Liability Company, National Oilwell Varco Korea Co., National Oilwell Varco MSW S.A., National Oilwell Varco Mexico, National Oilwell Varco Muscat L.L.C., National Oilwell Varco Norway AS, National Oilwell Varco Peru S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco Petroleum Equipment (Shanghai) Co., National Oilwell Varco Poland Sp.z.o.o., National Oilwell Varco Pte. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Rig Equipment Trading (Shanghai) Co., National Oilwell Varco Romania S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco Solutions, National Oilwell Varco UK Limited, National Oilwell Varco Ukraine LLC, National Oilwell Varco de Bolivia S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco de Chile - Servicios Limitada, National Oilwell Varco do Brasil Ltda., National Oilwell de Venezuela, National-Oilwell Pte. Ltd., National-Oilwell Pty. Ltd., PT Fjords Processing Indonesia, PT H-Tech Oilfield Equipment, PT NOV Oilfield Services, PT National Oilwell Varco, PT PROFAB INDONESIA, Pesaka Inspection Services SDN.BHD., Pipex Limited, Pipex PX Limited, Pipex Structural Composites Limited, Pridecomex Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Pridecomex TA Industries, Procon Engineering Ltd., Profab Engineering Pte. Ltd., Profab Services Pte Ltd, Quality Tubing FSC, R&M C.V., R&M Canada Cooperatief U.A., R&M Energy Systems Australia Pty Ltd., R&M Energy Systems de Argentina S.A., R&M Energy Systems de Venezuela, R&M Environmental Strategies, R&M Singapore Holding LLC, R&M UK Holding LLC, RE.MAC.UT. S.r.l., RHI Holding LLC, ReedHycalog, ReedHycalog International Holding, ReedHycalog LLC, ReedHycalog UK Limited, Robannic Overseas Finance A.V.V., Robbins & Myers, Robbins & Myers (Suzhou) Process Equipment Company Limited, Robbins & Myers B.V., Robbins & Myers Foundation, Robbins & Myers GP LLC, Robbins & Myers Holdings, Robbins & Myers Holdings UK Limited, Robbins & Myers Inc, Robbins & Myers Italia S.R.L., Robbins & Myers N.V., Rodic S.A. de C.V., Romaco S.a.r.l., STAR Sudamtex Tubulares S.A., STBH2O TUNISIE, STSA, Screen Manufacturing Company Unlimited, Seabox AS, Slip Clutch Systems Limited, Smart Drilling GmbH, Soil Recovery A/S, South Seas Inspection, Subseaflex Holding ApS, T-3 Energy Preferred Industries Mexico, T-3 Energy Services, T-3 Energy Services Cayman, T-3 Energy Services Cayman Holdings, T-3 Energy Services India Private Limited, T-3 Energy Services Mexico, T-3 Investment Corporation IV, T-3 Mexican Holdings, TVI Holdings, Telluride Insurance Limited, Tianjin Grant TPCO Drilling Tools Company Limited, Tube-Kote, Tubo-FGS, Tuboscope & Co. LLC, Tuboscope (Holding U.S.) LLC, Tuboscope Brandt de Venezuela, Tuboscope Machining Services AS, Tuboscope Norge AS, Tuboscope Pipeline Services Inc., Tuboscope Services, Tuboscope Vetco (Deutschland) GmbH, Tuboscope Vetco (France) SAS, Tuboscope Vetco (Oesterreich) GmbH, Tuboscope Vetco Canada ULC, Tuboscope Vetco Capital Limited, Tuboscope Vetco Moscow CJSC, Tuboscope Vetco de Argentina S.A., Tubular Coatings Solutions Ltd., Tucom Composites Polyester Sanayi Ticaret Ltd., Varco BJ B.V., Varco CIS, Varco Canada ULC, Varco I/P, Varco International de Venezuela, Varco L.P., Varco US Holdings LLC, Vetco Coating GmbH, Vetco Enterprise GmbH, Vetco Saudi Arabia Ltd., Visible Assets, Wilson International, Woolley, XL Systems, XL Systems Antilles, XL Systems Europe B.V., XL Systems International, voestalpine Middle East Free Zone Establishment, voestalpine Tubulars Corporation, voestalpine Tubulars GmbH, and voestalpine Tubulars GmbH & Co KG.
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The following companies are subsidiares of AON: 6824625 Canada Ltd., 7193599 Canada Inc., A.B. Insurances Limited, ADIS A/S, AIB Services Limited, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency Inc., AIS Insurance Agency Inc., AMXH LLC, ARM International Corp., ARM International Insurance Agency Corp., ARMRISK CORP., AS Holdings Inc., ASPN Insurance Agency LLC, Access Plans USA Inc., Acumen Credit Insurance Brokers Limited, Adm Administradora de Beneficios Ltda., Administradora Aon C.A., Admiseg SA, Admix, Admix - Administracao Consultoria Participacoes e Corretora de Seguros de Vida Ltda., Aeropeople Limited, Affinity Group Insurance Services Limited, Affinity Insurance Services Inc., Affinity Risk Partners (Brokers) Pty Ltd, Agenion N.V./SA, Agility Credit Insurance Brokers Limited, Alexander & Alexander Holding B.V., Alexander Clay, Alexander Insurance Managers (Netherlands Antilles) N.V., Alexander Reinsurance Intermediaries Inc., Allen Insurance Associates Inc., Alliance HealthCard Inc., Alliance HealthCard of Florida Inc., American Insurance Services Corp., American Special Risk Insurance Company, Aon (Bermuda) Ltd., Aon (CR) Insurance Agencies Company Limited, Aon (DIFC) Gulf Limited, Aon (Fiji) Ltd., Aon (Isle of Man) Limited, Aon (Thailand) Limited, Aon 180412 Limited (in liquidation), Aon ANZ Holdings Limited, Aon APAC Holdings B.V., Aon Acore Sarl, Aon Adjudication Services Limited, Aon Affinity Administradora de Beneficios Ltda., Aon Affinity Argentina S.A., Aon Affinity Chile Ltda., Aon Affinity Colombia Ltda. Agencia de Seguros, Aon Affinity Mexico Agente de Seguros y de Fianzas S.A. de C.V., Aon Affinity Mexico S.A. de C.V., Aon Affinity Servicos e Participacoes Ltda., Aon Affinity do Brasil Servicos e Corretora de Seguros Ltda., Aon Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Americas Holdings BV, Aon Angola Corretores de Seguros Limitada, Aon Antillen N.V., Aon Aruba N.V., Aon Assurance Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Australia Group Pty Ltd, Aon Australian Holdco 1 Pty Ltd, Aon Australian Holdco 2 Pty Ltd, Aon Australian Holdco 3 Pty Ltd, Aon Austria GmbH, Aon Bahrain W.L.L., Aon Belgium B.V.B.A., Aon Benefit Solutions Inc., Aon Benfield (Chile) Corredores de Reaseguros Ltda., Aon Benfield Argentina S.A., Aon Benfield Australia Limited, Aon Benfield Brasil Corretora de Resseguros Ltda., Aon Benfield Canada ULC, Aon Benfield China Limited, Aon Benfield Colombia Limitada Corredores de Reaseguros, Aon Benfield Fac Inc., Aon Benfield Global Inc., Aon Benfield Group Limited, Aon Benfield Inc., Aon Benfield Israel Limited, Aon Benfield Italia S.p.A., Aon Benfield Japan Ltd, Aon Benfield Latin America SA, Aon Benfield Limited, Aon Benfield Malaysia Limited, Aon Benfield Mexico Intermediario de Reaseguro SA de CV, Aon Benfield Middle East Limited, Aon Benfield New Zealand Limited, Aon Benfield Panama S.A., Aon Benfield Peru Corredores de Reaseguros SA, Aon Benfield Puerto Rico Inc., Aon Bermuda Holding Company Limited, Aon Bermuda QI Holdings Ltd., Aon Beteiligungsmanagement Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Aon Bolivia S.A. Corredores de Seguros, Aon Botswana (Pty) Ltd., Aon Brazil Holdings LLC, Aon Broking Services SA, Aon Broking Technology Limited, Aon CANZ Holdings B.V., Aon CANZ Holdings N.S. ULC, Aon Canada Holdings N.S. ULC, Aon Canada Inc., Aon Canada Intermediaries GP, Aon Captive Services Antilles N.V., Aon Captive Services Aruba N.V., Aon Cash Management B.V., Aon Central and Eastern Europe a.s., Aon Centre for Innovation and Analytics Ltd, Aon Charitable Foundation Pty Ltd, Aon Chile Holdings LLC, Aon Commercial Insurance Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Commercial Services Ireland Limited, Aon Commercial Services and Operations Ireland Limited, Aon Consolidation Group Pty Ltd, Aon Consulting & Insurance Services, Aon Consulting (Chile) Limitada, Aon Consulting (Thailand) Limited, Aon Consulting Bolivia S.R.L., Aon Consulting Ecuador S.A., Aon Consulting Financial Services Limited, Aon Consulting Inc., Aon Consulting Kazakhstan LLP, Aon Consulting Limited, Aon Consulting Private Limited, Aon Consulting Romania SRL, Aon Corporate Services (Isle of Man) Limited, Aon Corporate Services Limited, Aon Corporation, Aon Corporation Australia Limited, Aon Corporation EMEA B.V., Aon Credit International Insurance Broker GmbH, Aon Cyprus Insurance Broker Company Limited, Aon DC Trustee Limited, Aon Danismanlik Hizmetleri AS, Aon Delta Bermuda Ltd., Aon Delta UK Limited, Aon Denmark A/S, Aon Deutschland Beteiligungs GmbH, Aon Direct Group Inc., Aon Edge Insurance Agency Inc., Aon Energy Caribbean Limited, Aon Enterprise Insurance Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Finance Bermuda 1 Ltd., Aon Finance Bermuda 2 Ltd., Aon Finance Canada 1 Corp., Aon Finance Canada 2 Corp., Aon Finance International N.S. ULC, Aon Finance Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Aon Finance N.S. 1 ULC, Aon Finance N.S. 5 ULC, Aon Finance N.S. 8 ULC, Aon Finance US 1 LLC, Aon Finance US 2 LLC, Aon Financial & Insurance Solutions Inc., Aon Finland Oy, Aon France, Aon Global Holdings 1 Limited, Aon Global Holdings 2 Limited, Aon Global Holdings 3 Limited [In strike-off], Aon Global Holdings Limited, Aon Global Operations plc, Aon Global Risk Consulting B.V., Aon Global Risk Consulting Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Aon Global Risk Research Limited, Aon Grana Peru Corredores de Seguros SA, Aon Greece S.A., Aon Groep Nederland B.V., Aon Group (Bermuda) Ltd., Aon Group (Thailand) Limited, Aon Group Holdings International 1 B.V., Aon Group Holdings International 2 B.V., Aon Group Inc., Aon Group International N.V., Aon Group Pty Ltd, Aon Group Venezuela Corretaje de Reaseguros C.A., Aon Hewitt (Bermuda) Ltd., Aon Hewitt (Ireland) Limited, Aon Hewitt (PNG) Ltd., Aon Hewitt (Thailand) Ltd., Aon Hewitt Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Aon Hewitt Consulting Korea Inc., Aon Hewitt Financial Advice Limited, Aon Hewitt GmbH, Aon Hewitt Health Market Insurance Solutions Inc., Aon Hewitt Hong Kong Limited, Aon Hewitt Inc., Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting Inc., Aon Hewitt Investment Management Inc., Aon Hewitt Japan Ltd., Aon Hewitt Limited, Aon Hewitt Ltd., Aon Hewitt Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Aon Hewitt Management Company Limited, Aon Hewitt Middle East Limited, Aon Hewitt Risk & Consulting S.r.l., Aon Hewitt Risk & Financial Management B.V., Aon Hewitt Trust Solutions GmbH, Aon Hewitt US Holdings Limited, Aon Holding Deutschland GmbH, Aon Holdings (Isle of Man) Limited, Aon Holdings Antillen N.V., Aon Holdings Australia Pty Limited, Aon Holdings Austria GmbH, Aon Holdings B.V., Aon Holdings Botswana (Pty) Ltd, Aon Holdings Corretores de Seguros Ltda., Aon Holdings France SNC, Aon Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Aon Holdings International B.V., Aon Holdings Israel Ltd., Aon Holdings Japan Ltd, Aon Holdings Limited, Aon Holdings Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Aon Holdings Mid Europe B.V., Aon Holdings New Zealand, Aon Hong Kong Limited, Aon Hungary Insurance Brokers Risk and Human Consulting LLC, Aon Insurance Agencies (HK) Limited, Aon Insurance Agencies (Macau) Limited, Aon Insurance Brokers (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Aon Insurance Brokers (Pvt) Ltd., Aon Insurance Management Agencies (HK) Limited, Aon Insurance Managers (Antilles) N.V., Aon Insurance Managers (Barbados) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) Ltd, Aon Insurance Managers (Cayman) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Dublin) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Guernsey) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Holdings) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Isle of Man) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Liechtenstein) AG, Aon Insurance Managers (Luxembourg) S.A., Aon Insurance Managers (Malta) PCC Limited, Aon Insurance Managers (Puerto Rico) Inc., Aon Insurance Managers (Shannon) Limited, Aon Insurance Managers (USA) Inc., Aon Insurance Managers (USVI) Inc., Aon Insurance Managers Gibraltar Ltd., Aon Insurance Micronesia (Guam) Inc, Aon Insurance Underwriting Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers Philippines Inc., Aon International Cooperatief U.A., Aon International Energy Inc., Aon International Holdings Inc., Aon Investment Holdings Ireland Limited, Aon Israel Insurance Brokerage Ltd., Aon Italia S.r.l., Aon Japan Ltd, Aon Jauch & Hubener Gesellschaft m.b.H., Aon Korea Inc., Aon Latam Holdings N.V., Aon Lead QI B.V., Aon Life Agency of Texas Inc., Aon Life Agente de Seguros S.A. de C.V., Aon Life Insurance Company, Aon MacDonagh Boland Group Ltd, Aon Majan LLC, Aon Management Consulting Taiwan Ltd., Aon Mauritius Holdings, Aon Meeus Assurantien B.V., Aon Mexico Business Support SA de CV, Aon Mexico Holdings LLC, Aon Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., Aon Middle East Co LLC, Aon Nederland C.V., Aon Netherlands Operations B.V., Aon Neudorf Finance S.a.r.l., Aon New Zealand, Aon New Zealand Group ULC, Aon Norway AS, Aon Overseas Holdings Limited, Aon PHI Acquisition Corporation of California, Aon PMI International Limited, Aon Parizeau Inc., Aon Pension Trustees Limited, Aon Pensions Insurance Brokers GmbH, Aon Polska Services Sp. z o.o., Aon Polska Sp. z o.o., Aon Portugal - Consultores Unipessoal Lda., Aon Portugal - Corretores de Seguros S.A., Aon Premium Finance LLC, Aon Private Risk Management Insurance Agency Inc., Aon Private Risk Management of California Insurance Agency Inc., Aon Product Design & Development Australia Pty Limited, Aon Product Design and Development New Zealand Limited, Aon Product Risk Services Hong Kong Limited, Aon Property Risk Consulting Inc., Aon Qatar LLC, Aon Re (Thailand) Limited, Aon Re Bertoldi - Corretagem de Resseguros S.A., Aon Re Bolivia S.A. Corredores de Reaseguros, Aon Re Canada Holdings SARL, Aon Real Estate B.V., Aon Realty Services Inc., Aon Reed Stenhouse Inc., Aon Retirement Plan Advisors LLC, Aon Retirement Solutions Limited, Aon Risiko & Unternehmensberatungs GmbH, Aon Risk & Asset Management Pty Ltd, Aon Risk Consultants Inc., Aon Risk Insurance Services West Inc., Aon Risk Management (Pty) Ltd, Aon Risk Services (Chile) Corredores de Seguros Limitada, Aon Risk Services (Holdings) of Latin America Inc., Aon Risk Services (Holdings) of the Americas Inc., Aon Risk Services (NI) Limited, Aon Risk Services (PNG) Ltd., Aon Risk Services (Thailand) Limited, Aon Risk Services Argentina S.A., Aon Risk Services Australia Limited, Aon Risk Services Canada Inc., Aon Risk Services Central Inc., Aon Risk Services Colombia SA Corredores de Seguros, Aon Risk Services Companies Inc., Aon Risk Services EMEA B.V., Aon Risk Services Ecuador S.A. Agencia Asesora Productora de Seguros, Aon Risk Services Holdings (Chile ) Ltda., Aon Risk Services Inc. of Florida, Aon Risk Services Inc. of Hawaii, Aon Risk Services Inc. of Maryland, Aon Risk Services Inc. of Washington D.C., Aon Risk Services Northeast Inc., Aon Risk Services South Inc., Aon Risk Services Southwest Inc., Aon Risk Services Venezuela Corretaje de Seguros C.A., Aon Risk Solutions (Cayman) Ltd., Aon Risk Solutions Agente de Seguros y de Fianzas SA de CV, Aon Risk Solutions of Puerto Rico Inc., Aon Riskminder A/S, Aon Romania Broker de Asigurare - Reasigurare SRL, Aon Rus Insurance Brokers LLC, Aon Rus LLC, Aon S.p.A. Insurance & Reinsurance Brokers, Aon Saver Limited, Aon Securities (Hong Kong) Limited, Aon Securities Investment Management Inc., Aon Securities LLC, Aon Securities Limited, Aon Service Corporation, Aon Services (Guernsey) Ltd, Aon Services (Malta) Ltd, Aon Services Group Inc., Aon Services Hong Kong Limited, Aon Services Pty Ltd., Aon Sigorta ve Reasurans Brokerligi ve A.S., Aon Soluciones S.A., Aon Soluciones S.A.C., Aon Southern Europe UK Limited, Aon Sp. z o.o., Aon Special Risk Resources Inc., Aon Superannuation (PNG) Limited, Aon Superannuation Pty Limited, Aon TC Holdings Inc., Aon Taiwan Ltd., Aon Treasury Ireland Limited, Aon Trust Company LLC, Aon Trust Corporation Limited, Aon Trust Services B.V., Aon UK Group Limited, Aon UK Holdings Intermediaries Limited, Aon UK Limited, Aon UK Trustees Limited, Aon US & International Holdings Limited, Aon US Holdings 2 Inc., Aon US Holdings Inc., Aon Ukraine LLC, Aon Underwriting Agencies (HK) Limited, Aon Underwriting Managers (Bermuda) Ltd., Aon Underwriting Managers Inc., Aon Versicherungsberatungs GmbH, Aon Versicherungsmakler Deutschland GmbH, Aon Vietnam Limited, Aon Ward Financial Corporation, Aon-COFCO Insurance Brokers Co. Ltd., Aon/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services Inc., Asevasa Argentina S.A., Asevasa Caricam S.A., Asevasa Chile Peritaciones e Ingenieria de Riesgos S.A., Asevasa Mexico S.A. de C.V., Asevasa Panama S.A., Asian Reinsurance Underwriters Limited, Asscom Insurance Brokers S.r.l., Association of Rural and Small Town Americans, Associacao Instituto Aon, Assurance Licensing Services Inc., B E P International Corp., B.V. Assurantiekantoor Langeveldt-Schroder, BMS Insurance Agency L.L.C., Bacon & Woodrow Partnerships (Ireland) Limited, Bacon & Woodrow Partnerships Limited, Bain Hogg Group Limited (in liquidation), Baltolink UADBB, Bankassure Insurance Services Limited, Bayfair Insurance Centre Limited, Beaubien Finance Ireland Limited, Beaubien Finance Limited, Beaubien UK Finance Limited, Becketts (Trustees) Limited, Becketts Limited, Beech Hill Pension Trustees Ltd, Bekouw Mendes C.V., Benefit Marketing Solutions L.L.C., Benfield Advisory Inc., Benfield Corredores de Reaseguro Ltda., Benfield Finance (London) LLC, Benfield Group, Benfield Investment Holdings Limited, Benfield Juniperus Holdings Limited, Benfield do Brasil Participacoes Ltda. (dormant), Benton Finance Ireland Limited, Benton Finance Limited, Blanch Americas Inc., Bowes & Company Inc. of New York, CEREP III Secondary Manager LLC, CFSSG Real Estate Partners I LLC, CFSSG Real Estate Partners II LLC, CIF-H GP LLC, Cammack Health LLC, Cananwill Corporation, Cananwill Inc., Cardea Health Solutions Limited, Casablanca Intermediation Company Sarl, Celinvest Amsterdam B.V., Chapka Assurances SAS, Citadel Insurance Managers Inc., CoCubes, CoSec 2000 Limited, Coalition for Benefits Equality and Choice, Cocubes Technologies Private Limited, Coles Hewitt Partnership, Contingency Insurance Brokers Limited, Contractsure Limited, CoverWallet, Coverall S.r.l. Insurance and Reinsurance Underwriting Agency, Credit Insurance Brokers (Reynolds) Limited, Crion N.V., Custom Benefit Programs Inc., Cut-e, Cut-e (UK) Limited, Cut-e Assessment (Hong Kong) Limited, Cut-e Assessment Solutions Europe Limited, Cut-e Australia Pty Limited, Cut-e Consult DMCC, Cut-e Danmark A/S, Cut-e Finland Oy, Cut-e GmbH, Cut-e Ireland Limited, Cut-e Nordic AS, Cut-e Norge AS, Cytelligence, Delany Bacon & Woodrow Partnership, Dempsey Partners, Denney O'Hara (Life & Pensions) Limited, Doveland Services Limited, E. W. Blanch Holdings Limited, E. W. Blanch Investments Limited, E.W. Blanch Capital Risk Solutions Inc., E.W. Blanch International Inc., EW Blanch Limited, Elysium Digital IP Products LLC, Elysium Digital L.L.C., Ennis Knupp Secondary Market Services LLC, Essar Insurance Services Limited, Exploitatiemaatschappij Beukenlaan 68-72 B.V., Farmaseg - Solucoes Assistencia e Servicos Empresariais Ltda., Farmsure Limited [In strike-off], Finaccord Limited, Financial & Professional Risk Solutions Inc., Futurity Group Inc., GTCR/AAM Blocker Corp., Ge.f.it. S.r.l., Gefass S.r.l., Glenrand M I B (Mocambique) Corretores de Seguros Limitada, Global Safe Insurance Brokers S.r.l., Globe Events Management, Gotham Digital Science LLC, Gotham Digital Science Ltd., Grant Liddell Financial Advisor Services Pty Ltd, Grant Park Capital LLC, Groupe-Conseil Aon Inc., Grupo Innovac Sociedad de Correduria de Seguros SA, HIA Insurance Services Pty Ltd., Hall Rhodes Holdings Limited, Hall Rhodes Limited, Hamburger Gesellschaft zur Forderung des Versicherungswesens mbH, Harbourview West Lake Co-Invest (GP) LP, Health Index Advisors LLC, Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, Henderson Corporate Insurance Brokers Limited, Henderson Insurance Brokers Limited, Henderson Insurance Partnership Limited [In strike-off], Henderson Risk Management Limited, Hewitt Amalco 3 ULC, Hewitt Amalco 4 ULC, Hewitt Amalco 5 ULC, Hewitt Associates (a partnership), Hewitt Associates Administradora e Corretora de Seguros Ltda., Hewitt Associates Corp., Hewitt Associates Outsourcing Limited, Hewitt Associates Pty Ltd, Hewitt Associates S.C., Hewitt Associates SAS, Hewitt Associates Servicos de Recursos Humanos Ltda., Hewitt Beneficios Agente de Seguros y de Fianzas S.A. de C.V., Hewitt Holdings Canada Company, Hewitt Insurance Brokerage LLC, Hewitt Insurance Inc., Hewitt International Holdings LLC, Hewitt Management Ltd., Hewitt Risk Management Services Limited, Hewitt Western Management Amalco Inc., Hogg Group Limited, Hogg Robinson North America Inc., Huntington T. Block Insurance Agency Inc., I. Beck Insurance Agency (1994) Ltd., IAO Actuarial Consulting Services Canada Inc., INPOINT INC., IRM/GRC Holding Inc., Impact Forecasting L.L.C., Inspiring Benefits, Inspiring Benefits Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Insuractive Limited [In strike-off], Insurance Broker Aon Kazakhstan LLP, International Risk Management (Americas) Inc., International Risk Management Group Ltd, International Space Brokers Europe Limited, International Space Brokers France, International Space Brokers Inc., International Space Brokers Limited, Inversiones Benfield Chile Ltda., J H Minet Puerto Rico Inc., J. Allan Brown Consultants Inc., JDPT Manager LLC, Jenner Fenton Slade Limited, John Reynolds & Company (Credit Insurance) Limited, John Reynolds & Company (Insurances) Limited, John Reynolds & Company (Life & Pensions) Limited, Johnson Rooney Welch Inc., K & K Insurance Brokers Inc. Canada, K & K Insurance Group Inc., K & K Insurance Group of Florida Inc., K2 Technologies Inc., KVT GP LLC, Kloud S.a.r.l., Krumlin Hall Limited, Lake Erie Real Estate General Partner Limited, Lake Tahoe GP LLC, Lake Tahoe II GP LLC, Lake Tahoe III GP LLC, Lake Tahoe IV GP LLC, Lenzi Paolo Broker di Assicurazioni S.r.l., Lincolnshire Insurance Company PCC Limited, Linx Underwriting Solutions Inc., Lombard Trustee Company Limited, M.A. Shakeel Management Ltd. Amalco, MacDonagh Boland Crotty MacRedmond Ltd, Marinaro Dundas S.A., Marinaro Dundas SA, Mark Kelly Insurance and Financial Services PTY LTD, McLagan (Aon) Limited, McLagan Partners Asia Inc., McLagan Partners Inc., Membership Leasing Trust, Minet Consultancy Services Ltd, Minet Group, Minet Holdings Inc., Minet Inc., Minet Re North America Inc., Modern Survey Inc., Muirfield Underwriters Ltd., NBS Nominees Limited, National Insurance Office Ltd., Nauman Insurance Brokers Limited, Nexus Insurance Brokers Limited, One Underwriting Agency GmbH, One Underwriting B.V., One Underwriting Health B.V., One Underwriting Pty Ltd, Optica Agency A/S, Optimum Risk Solutions Limited, Ovatio Courtage SAS, P.G. Bradley & Co Limited, PGOF Manager 1 LLC, PRORUCK Ruckversicherungs Aktiengesellschaft, PT Aon Benfield Indonesia, PT Aon Hewitt Indonesia, PT Aon Indonesia, PWZ AG, Paragon Strategic Solutions Inc., PathWise Solutions LLC, Penn Square Manager 1 LLC, Penn Square Manager II LLC, Portus Consulting, Portus Consulting (Leamington) Limited, Portus Consulting Limited, Portus Online LLP, Praesidium S.p.A. - Soluzioni Assicurative per il Management, Premier Auto Finance Inc., Private Client Trustees Ltd., Private Equity Partnership Structures I LLC, Probabilitas N.V./SA, Protective Marketing Enterprises Inc., Randolph Finance Unlimited Company, Rasini Vigano Limited, Redwoods Dental Underwriters Inc., Richard Kiddle (Insurance Brokers) Limited, Risk Laboratories LLC, Riskikonsultatsioonide OU, Ronnie Elementary Insurance Agency Ltd, SA Special Situations General Partner LLC, SG IFFOXX Assekuranzmaklergesellschaft mbH, SLE Worldwide Limited, SN Re S.A., Salud Riesgos y Recursos Humanos Consultores Ltda. (former Aon Corporte Advisors Ltda.), SchneiderGolling IFFOXX Assekuranzmakler AG, SchneiderGolling Industrie Assekuranzmaklergesellschaft mbH, Scritch Inc., Shanghai Kayi Information Technology Co. Ltd, Sheppard Netherlands B.V., Specialty Benefits Inc., Sports Insure Limited [In strike-off], Strategic Manager-III LLC, Stroz Friedberg (Asia) Limited, Stroz Friedberg Inc., Stroz Friedberg LLC, Stroz Friedberg Limited, Stroz Friedberg Risk Management Limited, Superannuation Management Nominees Limited, Suresport Limited [In strike-off], Swire Blanch MSTC II SA, Swire Blanch MSTC SA, TTG BRPTP GP LLC, TTG Cayuga Bavaria Intermediate 2 S.a.r.l, TTG Core Plus Investments LLC, TTG German Investments I LLC, TTG Investments II LLC, TTG Irish Investments I LLC, TTG Manager LLC, Tecsefin S.A. en liquidacion, The Aon Ireland Mastertrustee Limited, The Aon MasterTrustee Limited, The John Reynolds Company Limited, The Key West Saxon Group LLC, The Townsend Group Inc, The Townsend Group LLC, Townsend Alpha Manager I LLC, Townsend Alpha Manager II LLC, Townsend Alpha Manager III LLC, Townsend Group Asia Limited, Townsend Group Europe Ltd., Townsend HWL GP Ltd., Townsend Holdings LLC, Townsend Lake Constance GP Limited, Townsend REF GP LLC, Townsend Re Global GP Limited, Townsend SO Manager I LLC, UAB One Underwriting, UADBB Aon Baltic, UK Credit Insurance Specialists Limited, UNIT Versicherungsmakler GmbH, US Underwriting Solutions S.r.l., USLP Underwriting Solutions LP, Underwriters Marine Services Inc., Unidelta AG, Unirobe Meeus Groep, UnitedPensions Deutschland AG, Univers Workplace Solutions, VERO Management AG, Ventiv Technology, WT Government Services LLC, WT Technologies LLC, Wannet Speciale Verzekeringen B.V., Wannet Sports Insurance GmbH, Ward Financial Group Inc., West Lake General Partner LLC, West Lake II GP LLC, Wexford Underwriting Managers Inc., White Rock Insurance (Americas) Ltd., White Rock Insurance (Europe) PCC Limited, White Rock Insurance (Gibraltar) PCC Ltd., White Rock Insurance (Guernsey) ICC Limited, White Rock Insurance (Netherlands) PCC Limited, White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd., White Rock Insurance Company PCC Ltd., White Rock Insurance PCC (Isle of Man) Limited, White Rock Services (Bermuda) Ltd., White Rock USA Ltd., Willis Towers Watson, Worldwide Integrated Services Company, Wrapid Specialty Inc., Zalba-Caldu Correduria de Seguros SA, and cut-e USA Inc..
Closer Korea-US cooperation key to breaking deadlock



President Moon Jae-in will visit Washington, D.C., for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on April 10 and 11. His visit is aimed at putting stalled nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea back on track. It is also designed to step up the bilateral alliance with the U.S.



Moon and Trump are expected to focus on how to break the deadlock following the U.S. president's failed Hanoi summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last month. We hope the two leaders hammer out a strategy to revive momentum for the North's denuclearization.



Given the growing tension between Washington and Pyongyang, resuming the suspended bilateral negotiations is easier said than done. This explains why President Moon needs to be more active as a mediator to keep the denuclearization talks going. No one can do better that Moon to carry out shuttle diplomacy between the two rivals.



But Moon's visit to the U.S. will not automatically bring any breakthrough, so he should leave no stone unturned in using his diplomatic skills to facilitate dialogue. For this, he must help Trump and Kim narrow their differences over the terms of nuclear disarmament and sanctions relief.



Moon must understand why the second Trump-Kim summit broke down. The U.S. wants a package deal that calls for the North to dismantle not only its nuclear arsenal but also other weapons of mass destruction in return for sanctions relief. This hardened position has only angered the Kim regime which wants most sanctions to be lifted after destroying only its Yongbyon nuclear facility.



As long as the sides refuse to compromise, prospects for denuclearization look gloomy. The problem is how to help both countries find the middle ground and reach a viable solution to the nuclear standoff.



Most of all, Seoul and Washington should reaffirm their united front to prod Pyongyang to move toward denuclearization. As a matter of fact, the South and the U.S. differ about how to denuclearize the North.



The U.S. is taking an "all or nothing" approach with a hard-line stance that sanctions will remain in place until final, fully verifiable denuclearization. But the South prefers a broad deal with step-by-step implementation. The Moon administration wants sanctions to be eased or lifted when the North's denuclearization process reaches a stage of being irreversible.



Another issue is Moon's push for inter-Korean economic cooperation projects. Moon wants to reopen the closed inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea's border town of Gaeseong as well as resume the suspended Mount Geumgang tourism program. He regards the resumption as providing impetus to boost South-North reconciliation, thereby speeding denuclearization. However, Trump is against it.



Moon and Trump should overcome such differences immediately, otherwise they may deepen a rift and weaken the alliance. In that case, their shared goal of complete denuclearization of the North will be only a pipe dream. Worse, Kim may seek a "new way" when he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin, possibly in mid-April.






3 hours ago

California may cut rooftop solar incentives as market booms

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Californias 26-year-old program to get more people to put solar panels on their homes has been wildly successful, but state regulators may lower the incentives for people to go solar in a bid to reduce electricity bills for the rest of residents in the most populous U.S.

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Deutsche BArse AG operates as an exchange organization in Europe, the United States, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates through seven segments: Eurex (Financial Derivatives), EEX (Commodities), 360T (Foreign Exchange), Xetra (Cash Equities), Clearstream (Post-Trading), IFS (Investment Fund Services), and Qontigo (index and analytics business). The company engages in the electronic trading of derivatives, electricity and gas products, emission rights, and foreign exchange; operating of Eurex Repo over the counter (OTC) trading platform and electronic clearing architecture; and operating as a central counterparty for on-and-off exchange derivatives, repo transactions, and OTC and exchange-traded derivatives. It also operates in the cash market through Xetra, BArse Frankfurt, and Tradegate trading venues; operates as a central counterparty for equities and bonds; and provides listing services. In addition, the company offers custody and settlement services for securities; investment fund services; global securities financing services; and global securities finance and collateral management, as well as secured money, market transaction, and repos and securities lending transaction services. Further, it develops and markets indices, as well as portfolio management and risk analysis software; markets licenses for trading and market signals; provides technology and reporting solutions for external customers; and offers link-up of trading participants. Deutsche BArse AG was founded in 1585 and is headquartered in Eschborn, Germany.

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8 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Eurofins Scientific in the last twelve months. There are currently 2 sell ratings, 4 hold ratings and 2 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should "hold" Eurofins Scientific stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in ERFSF, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for Eurofins Scientific or view top-rated stocks.
Fresnillo Plc is a holding company, which engages in the production of gold and silver. It operates through the following segments: Fresnillo, Saucito, Cienega, Herradura, Soledad-Dipolos, Noche Buena, and San Julia. The Fresnillo, and Saucito segments are located in the state of Zacatecas, an underground silver mine. The Cienega segment includes San Ramon satellite mine which are both located in the state of Durango, an underground gold mine. The Herradura, and Noche Buena segments are located in the state of Sonora, a surface gold mine. The San Julian segment operates on the border of Chihuahua/Durango states, an underground silver-gold mine. The company was founded on August 15, 2007 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

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Harris Corporation provides technology-based solutions that solve government and commercial customers' mission-critical challenges in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Communication Systems, Electronic Systems, and Space and Intelligence Systems. It designs, develops, and manufactures radio communications products and systems, including single channel ground and airborne radio systems, multiband manpack and handheld radios, multi-channel manpack and airborne radios, and single-channel airborne radios, as well as wideband rifleman team, ground, and high frequency manpack radios. The company also offers vision-enhancing products; wireless communications systems; and Internet protocol based voice and data communications systems, as well as single-band land mobile radio terminals and multiband radios comprising a handheld radio and a full-spectrum mobile radio for vehicles. In addition, it provides electronic warfare, avionics, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions for defense and classified customers; and mission-critical communication systems for civil and military aviation and other customers. Further, the company offers intelligence, space protection, geospatial, earth observation, exploration, positioning, navigation and timing, and environmental solutions using advanced sensors, antennas, and payloads, as well as ground processing and information analytics for national security, defense, civil and commercial customers. Harris Corporation was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Florida.

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By Jung Min-ho

The social status of parents tends to influence the job prospects of young people seeking work, according to a number of studies. This has even greater significance in Korea, where some parents with political or economic influence directly ask companies to hire their children.

That is exactly what Rep. Yoon Hu-duk from the New Politics Alliance for Democracy is believed to have done for his daughter, a lawyer who got a job at LG Display in 2013 under questionable circumstances.

His daughter, fresh from a law school that year, sent her resume to the firm when it was looking for a lawyer with at least four years of experience in the field of fair trade.

Yoon reportedly called the company CEO Han Sang-beom and said that his daughter had applied for the position. The company later changed its plan and decided to hire two lawyers, including his daughter.

After the issue made headlines, the lawmaker admitted that the allegations against him were true and made a public apology.

Yet the Seoul Bar Association believes that his apology was not sufficient. It is asking the National Assembly to call an ethics committee to punish Yoon immediately.












Datang International Power Generation Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in power generation and power plant development activities in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through Power and heat generation, Coal, and Other segments. It generates electricity through various sources, such as coal-fired, thermal, hydro, wind, nuclear, biomass, and solar. As of December 31, 2019, the company managed an installed capacity of approximately 68,278.10 MW. It also engages in heat supply; the import of power related fuel; coal mining and trading; silicon and aluminum smelting; production and sale of alumina; cargo shipping; sale of coal ash and integrated application of solid waste; power plant construction and operation; repair and testing of power equipment; research and development activities; and provision of power related technical services. The company was formerly known as Beijing Datang Power Generation Co., Ltd and changed its name to Datang International Power Generation Co, Ltd. in April 2004. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. Datang International Power Generation Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of China Datang Corporation Limited.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Centene: APS Parent Inc., AWC of Syracuse Inc., Absolute Total Care Inc., AcariaHealth Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #11 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #12 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #13 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #14 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy Inc., AcariaHealth Solutions Inc., Access Medical Acquisition LLC, Access Medical Group of Florida City LLC, Access Medical Group of Hialeah LLC, Access Medical Group of Lakeland LLC, Access Medical Group of Miami LLC, Access Medical Group of North Miami Beach LLC, Access Medical Group of Opa-Locka LLC, Access Medical Group of Perrine LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa II LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa III LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa LLC, Access Medical Group of Westchester LLC, Accountable Care Coalition Direct Contracting LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Chesapeake LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Community Health Centers II LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Community Health Centers LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers II LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers III LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers IV LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers V LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers VI LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers VII LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Florida Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Georgia LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland Primary Care LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Mississippi LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of New Jersey Inc., Accountable Care Coalition of North Texas LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northeast Georgia LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northeast Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northwest Florida LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Prime Health LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health II LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health III LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Physician Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Texas Inc., Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Tennessee LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Texas Inc., Agate Resources Inc., AirLogix, Ambetter of Magnolia Inc., Ambetter of North Carolina Inc., Ambetter of Peach State Inc., America's 1st Choice California Holdings LLC, American Progressive Life and Health Insurance Company of New York, Apixio, Apixio Inc, Arch Personalized Medicine Initiative LLC, Arkansas Health & Wellness Health Plan Inc., Arkansas Total Care Holding Company LLC, Arkansas Total Care Inc., B2B Gestion Integra S.L.U., B2B Salud S.L.U., Bankers Reserve Life Insurance Company of Wisconsin, Blackcrow Asistencia Medica S.L, Bridgeway Health Solutions LLC, Bridgeway Health Solutions of Arizona Inc., Buckeye Community Health Plan Inc., Buckeye Health Plan Community Solutions Inc., CCTX Holdings LLC, CMC Real Estate Company LLC, CT Poprad s.r.o., CT Presov s.r.o., Calibrate Acquisition Company, California Health and Wellness Plan, Cantina Laredo Clayton LP, Cardium Health Services, Care 1st Health Plan of Arizona Inc., Care1st Health Plan Administrative Services Inc., Carolina Complete Health Holding Company Partnership, Carolina Complete Health Inc., Casenet LLC, Casenet S.R.O., CeltiCare Health Plan Holdings LLC, CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts Inc., Celtic Group Inc., Celtic Insurance Company, Cenpatico Behavioral Health LLC, Cenpatico Behavioral Health of Arizona LLC, Cenpatico of Arizona Inc., Centene Center I LLC, Centene Center II LLC, Centene Center LLC, Centene Company of Texas LP, Centene Europe Finance Company Limited, Centene Health Plan Holdings Inc., Centene Institute for Advanced Health Education LLC, Centene International Ventures LLC, Centene Investments LLC, Centene Management Company LLC, Centene Venture Company Alabama Health Plan Inc., Centene Venture Company Florida Inc., Centene Venture Company Illinois Inc., Centene Venture Company Indiana Inc., Centene Venture Company Kansas Inc., Centene Venture Company Michigan Inc., Centene Venture Company Tennessee Inc., Centro Inmunologocia De La Comunidad Valenciana S.L., Centurion Correctional Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, Centurion Detention Health Services LLC, Centurion LLC, Centurion of Arizona LLC, Centurion of Delaware LLC, Centurion of Florida LLC, Centurion of Kansas LLC, Centurion of Minnesota LLC, Centurion of Mississippi LLC, Centurion of New Hampshire LLC, Centurion of Pennsylvania LLC, Centurion of Tennessee LLC, Centurion of Vermont LLC, Centurion of West Virginia LLC, Centurion of Wyoming LLC, Chrysalis Medical Services LLC, Clinica Santo Domingo De Lugo S.L., Collaborative Health Systems IPA LLC, Collaborative Health Systems LLC, Collaborative Health Systems of Maryland LLC, Collaborative Health Systems of Virginia LLC, Comfort Hospice of Missouri LLC, Comfort Hospice of Texas LLC, ComfortBrook Hospice LLC, Community Medical Group, Community Medical Holdings Corporation, Comprehensive Health Management Inc., Comprehensive Reinsurance Ltd., Coordinated Care Corporation, Coordinated Care of Washington Inc., Country Style Health Care LLC, Discare CZ a.s., District Community Care Inc., Dr Magnet s.r.o., Elche-Crevillente Salud, Envolve Benefits Options Inc., Envolve Captive Insurance Company Inc., Envolve Dental IPA of New York Inc., Envolve Dental Inc., Envolve Dental of Florida Inc., Envolve Dental of Texas Inc., Envolve Health, Envolve Holdings Inc., Envolve Inc., Envolve Optical Inc., Envolve PeopleCare Inc., Envolve Pharmacy IPA LLC, Envolve Pharmacy Solutions Inc., Envolve Total Vision Inc., Envolve Vision Benefits Inc., Envolve Vision IPA of New York Inc., Envolve Vision Inc., Envolve Vision of Florida Inc., Envolve Vision of Texas Inc., Essential Care Partners LLC, Exactus Pharmacy Solutions Inc., Family Nurse Care II LLC, Family Nurse Care LLC, Family Nurse Care of Ohio LLC, Fidelis Care, Forensic Health Services LLC, Foundation Care LLC, Godgrace Asistencia Medica S.L., Golden Triangle Physician Alliance, Grace Hospice of Austin LLC, Grace Hospice of Grand Rapids LLC, Grace Hospice of Illinois LLC, Grace Hospice of Indiana LLC, Grace Hospice of San Antonio LLC, Grace Hospice of Virginia LLC, Grace Hospice of Wisconsin LLC, Granite State Health Plan Inc., Growly Asistencia Sanitaria S.L., HHS Texas Management Inc., HHS Texas Management LP, Hallmark Life Insurance Company, Harmony Behavioral Health IPA Inc., Harmony Behavioral Health Inc., Harmony Health Management Inc., Harmony Health Plan Inc., Harmony Health Systems Inc., Health Care Enterprises LLC, Health Net Access Inc., Health Net Community Solutions Inc., Health Net Community Solutions of Arizona Inc., Health Net Federal Services LLC, Health Net Health Plan of Oregon Inc., Health Net LLC, Health Net Life Insurance Company, Health Net Life Reinsurance Company, Health Net Pharmaceutical Services, Health Net of Arizona Inc., Health Net of California Inc., Health Plan Real Estate Holdings Inc., HealthSmart Benefit Solutions Inc., HealthSmart Benefits Management LLC, HealthSmart Care Management Solutions LP, HealthSmart Information Systems Inc., HealthSmart Preferred Care II LP, HealthSmart Preferred Network II Inc., HealthSmart Primary Care Clinics LP, HealthSmart Rx Solutions Inc., Healthy Louisiana Holdings LLC, Healthy Missouri Holdings Inc., Healthy Washington Holdings Inc., Heritage Health Systems Inc., Heritage Health Systems of Texas Inc., Heritage Home Hospice LLC, Heritage Physician Networks, Home State Health Plan Inc., HomeScripts.com LLC, Hospice DME Company LLC, Hospinet S.L., Hospital Polusa S.A., Hospital Povisa S.A., Hudson Accountable Care LLC, IAH of Florida LLC, Illinois Health Practice Alliance LLC, Infraestructuras y Servicios de Alzira S. L., Integrated Care Network of Florida LLC, Integrated Mental Health Management LLC, Integrated Mental Health Services, Interpreta Holdings Inc., Interpreta Inc., Iowa Total Care Inc., Kentucky Spirit Health Plan Inc., LBB Industries Inc., LifeShare Management Group LLC, LiveHealthier Inc., Louisiana Healthcare Connections Inc., MH Services International Holdings (UK) Limited, MHM, MHM Correctional Services LLC, MHM Health Professionals LLC, MHM Services Inc., MHM Services of California LLC, MHM Solutions LLC, MHN Government Services LLC, MHN Services LLC, MHS Consulting International Inc., MHS Travel & Charter Inc., MR Centrum Melnick s.r.o., MR Poprad s.r.o., MR Zilina s.r.o., Magnolia Health Plan Inc., Managed Health Network, Managed Health Network LLC, Managed Health Services Insurance Corporation, Maryland Collaborative Care LLC, Maryland Collaborative Care Transformation Organization Inc., Mauli Ola Health and Wellness Inc., Medicina NZ spol s.r.o., Meridian Health Plan of Illinois Inc., Meridian Health Plan of Michigan Inc., Meridian Management Company LLC, Meridian Network Services LLC, MeridianRx IPA LLC, MeridianRx LLC, MeridianRx of Indiana LLC, Michigan Complete Health, Mid-Atlantic Collaborative Care LLC, Nebraska Total Care Inc., Network Providers LLC, New York Quality Healthcare Corporation, Next Door Neighbors Inc., Next Door Neighbors LLC., North Florida Health Services Inc., Northern Maryland Collaborative Care LLC, Novasys Health Inc., OB Care, OB Klinika, Ohana Health Plan Inc., Oklahoma Complete Health Inc., One Care by Care 1st Health Plans of Arizona Inc, Operose Health (Group) Ltd., Operose Health (Group) UK Ltd., Operose Health Ltd., OptiCare Health Systems - Managed Vision Business, PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, Panther Pass Co LLC, Panther Specialty Holding Co LLC, Pantherx Access Services LLC, Pantherx Specialty LLC, Parker LP LLC, Peach State Health Plan Inc., Penn Marketing America LLC, Pennsylvania Health and Wellness Inc., Phoenix Home Health Care LLC, Pinnacle Home Care LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Illinois LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Indiana LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Kalamazoo LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Missouri LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Wisconsin LLC, Premier Marketing Group LLC, PrimeroSalud S.L., Pro Diagnostic Group A.S., Pro Magnet CZ s.r.o., Pro Magnet s.r.o, Pro RTG s.r.o, Progress Medical A.S., Prowl Holdings LLC, QCA Healthplan Inc., Qualchoice Life and Health Insurance Company, Quincy Coverage Corporation, R&C Healthcare LLC, RMED LLC, RX Direct Inc., Rapid Respiratory Services LLC, Ribera Lab S.L.U., Ribera Salud II, Ribera Salud Proyectos S.L., Ribera Salud S.A., Ribera Salud Tecnologias S.L.U., Ribera Slaud Infraestructuras S.L.U., Ribera-Quilpro UTE, Salus Administrative Services Inc., Salus IPA LLC, Secure Capital Solutions 2000 S.L.U., SelectCare Health Plans Inc., SelectCare of Texas Inc., Seniorcorps Peninsula LLC, Servicios De Mantenimiento Prevencor S.L.U., SilverSummit Healthplan Inc., Social Health Bridge LLC, Social Health Bridge Trust, Specialty Therapeutic Care GP LLC, Specialty Therapeutic Care Holdings, Specialty Therapeutic Care Holdings LLC, Specialty Therapeutic Care LP, Sunflower State Health Plan Inc., Sunshine Health Community Solutions Inc., Sunshine Health Holding LLC, Sunshine State Health Plan Inc., Superior HealthPlan Community Solutions Inc., Superior HealthPlan Inc., The Practice Properties Limited, The WellCare Management Group Inc., Torrejon Salud S.A., Torrevieja Salud S.L.U., Torrevieja Salud UTE, Traditional Home Health Services LLC, Trillium Community Health Plan Inc., U.S. Medical Management Holdings Inc., U.S. Medical Management LLC, UAM Agent Services Corp., US Script, USMM Accountable Care Partners LLC, Universal American Corp., Universal American Financial Services Inc., Universal American Holdings LLC, WCG Health Management Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of America, WellCare Health Insurance Company of Kentucky Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Louisiana Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Nevada Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of New Hampshire Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of New Jersey Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Oklahoma Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Washington Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Wisconsin Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Arizona Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Connecticut Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Hawaii Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of New York Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of North Carolina Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Southwest Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Tennessee Inc., WellCare Health Plans, WellCare Health Plans of Arizona Inc., WellCare Health Plans of California Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Kentucky Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Massachusetts Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Missouri Inc., WellCare Health Plans of New Jersey Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Rhode Island Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Tennessee Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Vermont Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Wisconsin Inc., WellCare National Health Insurance Company, WellCare Pharmacy Benefits Management Inc., WellCare Prescription Insurance Inc., WellCare of Alabama Inc., WellCare of Arkansas Inc., WellCare of California Inc., WellCare of Connecticut Inc., WellCare of Florida Inc., WellCare of Georgia Inc., WellCare of Illinois Inc., WellCare of Indiana Inc., WellCare of Kansas Inc., WellCare of Maine Inc., WellCare of Michigan Holding Company, WellCare of Mississippi Inc., WellCare of Missouri Health Insurance Company Inc., WellCare of New Hampshire Inc., WellCare of New York Inc., WellCare of North Carolina Inc., WellCare of Ohio Inc., WellCare of Oklahoma Inc., WellCare of Pennsylvania Inc., WellCare of Puerto Rico Inc., WellCare of South Carolina Inc., WellCare of Texas Inc., WellCare of Virginia Inc., WellCare of Washington Inc., Wellcare Health Plans Inc., Western Sky Community Care Inc., Windsor Health Group Inc., Winning Security S.L., Worlco Management Services, and nirvanaHealth LLC.
John Wood Group PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides consulting, project management, and engineering solutions to energy and built environment worldwide. It operates through four segments: Asset Solutions Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia; Assets Solutions Americas; Technical Consulting Solutions; and Investment Services. The company offers operations solutions, including maintenance, modifications, commissioning and decommissioning, and aftermarket services, as well as industrial services, such as painting, insulation, scaffolding, rope access, E&I, asbestos removal, and civil and earthworks services; engineering, procurement, and construction management; plant operations and life extension; technology solutions; supervision and management services; fabrication and inspection services; and construction and field services. It also provides environment and infrastructure solutions comprising environmental studies and compliance, environmental remediation, public infrastructure, and geotechnical and materials services; clean energy solutions; mine planning and design, mineral processing and metallurgy, mineral resources and project assessment services; and automation and control solutions, such as asset protection and facility and process automation solutions, as well as simulation, learning, and virtual systems. In addition, the company offers subsea and export systems, including subsea, umbilical, riser, and flowline design, as well as planning, design, and development of marine terminals and pipelines; and hull and marine services. It serves oil and gas, infrastructure, industrial and manufacturing, mining, power, and government sectors. John Wood Group PLC was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Aberdeen, the United Kingdom.

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Kibo Energy PLC, together with its subsidiaries, explores for and develops energy projects in Sub Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom. The company holds a 100% interest in the Mbeya Coal to Power project located in Songwe Regio, Tanzania. It also holds an 85% interest in the Mabesekwa Coal Independent Power Project located in Botswana; and 65% interest in the Benga Power Plant Project located in the Tete province of Mozambique. In addition, the company owns a 100% interest in the Bordersley power plant located near Birmingham. Further, it engages in power generation and treasury businesses. Kibo Energy PLC has a collaboration agreement with ESS Tech Inc. to develop energy storage solutions. The company was formerly known as Kibo Mining Plc and changed its name to Kibo Energy PLC in July 2018. Kibo Energy PLC was founded in 2008 and is based in Galway, Ireland.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO ENERGY, XTO Energy Canada, and XTO Holdings LLC.
KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu bangs the gavel at a general meeting of shareholders at KT R&D Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of KT



By Jun Ji-hye



KT held a general meeting of shareholders, Friday, with unions and civic groups gathering in front of the meeting venue and calling on KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu to step down.



About 50 members of unions and civic groups staged protests two hours before the beginning of the meeting, claiming Hwang should take responsibility for recent controversies, including allegations that he offered sizeable payments to powerful people for lobbying.



"Chairman Hwang has focused only on privatizing KT for the past five years," said one group comprised of KT's former and incumbent employees. "KT has recently faced a management crisis due to the CEO risk, but what Hwang is doing is just keeping himself in office."



Protesters also called on prosecutors to carry out thorough investigations into the allegations.



About 100 security guards were hired to block the front gate of the meeting venue.



Last year, journalists were allowed to enter the meeting to collect news, but were not allowed to do so this year. They could watch the meeting through a monitor in a separate room.



Hwang encountered booing and criticism during the meeting as well.



A shareholder said, "KT employees are suffering from low morale following a fire at a KT building in Ahyeon-dong and allegations over the firm's unfair hiring. Hwang should resign if he really cares about employees and the people."



The fire broke out in the basement of the KT building in Ahyeon-dong, western Seoul, last November, causing unprecedented internet and phone disruptions.



Another shareholder claimed recent controversies surrounding the mobile carrier have resulted in a fall in the firm's stock prices, saying, "Stock prices will increase only after Hwang leaves."



Hwang kept mostly silent while listening to criticism from shareholders, nodding his head several times.



He made remarks only regarding the fire, saying, "I feel truly sorry about the Ahyeon-dong fire. KT has been preparing measures to prevent the recurrence of such accidents."



Hwang refused to comment on the ongoing investigation of the persecution, saying the issues were unrelated to agenda of the general meeting of the shareholders.



During the meeting, five agenda were approved including the appointment of two new executive directors  Kim In-hoe, president of KT's corporate planning group, and Lee Dong-myun, president of KT's future platform business group.



The two presidents have been cited as leading candidates to become the next leader of the country's largest broadband service provider as Hwang raised hopes for an in-house figure, not an outsider, to succeed him.



An executive director is cited as the post closest to the next chairmanship, according to industry sources.


The following companies are subsidiares of Hyatt Hotels: CHANCELLOR STREET CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION INC., GLENDALE HOTEL PROPERTIES L.L.C., HT-SEATTLE HOLDINGS LLC, 1379919 ALBERTA INC., 319168 ONTARIO LIMITED, 3385434 CANADA INC., ADMINISTRACION DE PERSONAL ANDARES S. DE R.L. DE C.V., AIC HOLDING CO., AIRPORT PLAZA ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, AIRPORT PLAZA HOTEL LLC, AIRPORT PLAZA OFFICE BUILDING LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, AMERISUITES FRANCHISING L.L.C., ARANCIA LIMITED, ARUBA BEACHFRONT RESORTS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, ARUBA BEACHFRONT RESORTS N.V., ASIA HOSPITALITY INC., ASIA HOSPITALITY INVESTORS B.V., ASIAN HOTEL N.V., ATRIUM HOTEL L.L.C., AUSTIN RESORT BEVERAGE LLC, AmeriSuites Hotel, BAKU HOTEL COMPANY - AZERI, BAKU HOTEL COMPANY - CAYMAN, BASTROP MARKETING L.L.C., BAY II INVESTOR INC., BELLEVUE ASSOCIATES, BH PLAZA LLC, BRE/AMERISUITES PROPERTIES L.L.C., BRE/AMERISUITES TXNC GP L.L.C., BRE/AMERISUITES TXNC PROPERTIES L.P., BURVAN HOTEL ASSOCIATES, CAL-HARBOR SO. PIER URBAN RENEWAL ASSOCIATES L.P., CELAYA RESORTS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., CHESAPEAKE COMMUNITIES LLC, CHESAPEAKE RESORT LLC, CIUDAD DEL CARMEN DIAMANTE RESORT S. DE R.L. DE C.V, COAST BEACH L.L.C., COMPAGNIE HOTELIERE DE LAGON BLEU, CPM SEATTLE HOTELS L.L.C., CRW INVESTMENT LLC, CTR INTEREST HOLDCO INC., DALLAS REGENCY LLC, DENVER DOWNTOWN HOTEL PARTNERS LLC, DESARROLLADORA HOTELERA ACUEDUCTO S. DE R.L. DE C.V., DH BEVERAGE LLC, DIAMANTE RESORT LA PAZ S. DE R.L. DE C.V., DISTRICT HOTEL PARTNERS LLC, EXHALE ENTERPRISES GIFT SERVICES COMPANY, EXHALE ENTERPRISES II L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES III INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES IV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES V L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES VIII INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES X INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XIV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XIX L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XV TCI LTD., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVIII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XX L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXI INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXIV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVIII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXIII INC., FAN PIER L.L.C., FAR EAST HOTELS INC., G.E.H. PROPERTIES LIMITED, GAINEY DRIVE ASSOCIATES, GALAXY AEROSPACE COMPANY LLC, GHE HOLDINGS LIMITED, GRAND HYATT BERLIN GMBH, GRAND HYATT DFW BEVERAGE LLC, GRAND HYATT SAN ANTONIO L.L.C., GRAND HYATT SF L.L.C., GRAND RIVERWALK BEVERAGE LLC, GRAND TORONTO CORP., GRAND TORONTO VENTURE L.P., GREENWICH HOTEL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, H.E. ATLANTA CENTENNIAL PARK HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. AUSTIN L.L.C., H.E. BERMUDA L.L.C., H.E. CAP CANA L.L.C., H.E. DRISKILL LLC, H.E. GRAND CYPRESS L.L.C., H.E. IRVINE L.L.C., H.E. KANSAS CITY L.L.C., H.E. LENOX L.L.C., H.E. NASHVILLE L.L.C., H.E. NEWPORT L.L.C., H.E. ORLANDO L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC HOTEL L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC PARKING L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC RETAIL L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA SANSOM L.L.C., H.E. PORTLAND HC L.L.C., H.E. PORTLAND L.L.C., H.E. PROPERTIES HOLDING L.L.C., H.E. PROPERTIES L.L.C., H.E. SAN ANTONIO I L.L.C., H.E. SAN ANTONIO L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON JV L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON OWNER L.L.C., HAPP INVESTOR LTD., HARBORSIDE HOTEL LLC, HARBORSIDE LAND LLC, HC PORTLAND JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HC ROYAL PALMS L.L.C., HCV CINCINNATI HOTEL L.L.C., HE ORLANDO HOTEL LLC, HGP (TRAVEL) LIMITED, HH NASHVILLE HOLDINGS L.L.C., HH NASHVILLE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HH PORTLAND L.L.C., HHMA BURLINGTON BEVERAGE L.L.C., HI HOLDINGS (SWITZERLAND) GMBH, HI HOLDINGS BAJA B.V., HI HOLDINGS BRAZIL S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS CELAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS CIUDAD DEL CARMEN B.V., HI HOLDINGS CYPRUS LIMITED, HI HOLDINGS CYPRUS-INDIA LIMITED, HI HOLDINGS GUADALAJARA B.V., HI HOLDINGS HP CABO B.V., HI HOLDINGS HP TIJUANA HOTEL B.V., HI HOLDINGS KYOTO CO., HI HOLDINGS LA PAZ B.V., HI HOLDINGS LATIN AMERICA B.V., HI HOLDINGS NETHERLANDS B.V., HI HOLDINGS PLAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS RIO S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS RIVIERA MAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS VIENNA S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS ZURICH S.A.R.L., HI HOTEL ADVISORY SERVICES GMBH, HI HOTEL INVESTORS CYPRUS LIMITED, HIHCL AMSTERDAM B.V., HIHCL HP AMSTERDAM AIRPORT B.V., HIHCL HR AMSTERDAM B.V., HILP HOTEL SERVICE PROVIDER LLC, HOTEL AM BELVEDERE HOLDING GMBH, HOTEL AM BELVEDERE HOLDING GMBH & CO KG, HOTEL INVESTMENTS HOLDING CO LLC, HOTEL INVESTMENTS L.L.C., HOTEL INVESTORS I INC., HOTEL INVESTORS II INC., HOTEL PROJECT SYSTEMS PTE LTD, HOTEL SERVICES CIUDAD DEL CARMEN S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HOTELS CS CELAYA S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HP ATLANTA CENTENNIAL PARK JV LLC, HP AUSTIN L.L.C., HP BEVERAGE DALLAS DFW AIRPORT LLC, HP BEVERAGE SUGAR LAND LLC, HP BOSTON HOLDINGS L.L.C., HP GLENDALE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HP GLENDALE L.L.C., HP INDIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, HP LAS VEGAS BEVERAGE L.L.C., HP M STREET L.L.C., HP ROUTE 46 TEXAS LLC, HP SAN FRANCISCO L.L.C., HP SAN JUAN L.L.C., HP TEN TEXAS LLC, HPHH ATLANTA L.L.C., HPHH DENVER L.L.C., HPHH SAN JOSE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HPHH SAN JOSE L.L.C., HQ CHESAPEAKE LLC, HR LOST PINES RESORT LLC, HR MC HOTEL COMPANY S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HR MC SERVICES II S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HR MC SERVICES S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HRHC LLC, HT- WAILEA LLC, HT-AVENDRA GROUP HOLDINGS L.L.C., HT-AVENDRA L.L.C., HT-CHESAPEAKE COMMUNITIES INC., HT-CHESAPEAKE RESORT INC., HT-HOTEL EQUITIES INC., HT-HUNTINGTON BEACH INC., HT-JERSEY PIER INC., HT-JERSEY PIER L.P., HT-JERSEY PIER LLC, HT-LONG BEACH L.L.C., HT-MIAMI BEACH L.L.C., HT-PARK 57 INC., HT-SEATTLE LLC, HT-SIERRA L.L.C., HT-VANCOUVER INC., HTLB L.L.C., HTS - NS L.L.C., HTS - NY L.L.C., HTS-ASPEN L.L.C., HTS-BC INC., HTS-INVESTMENT L L.C., HTSF L.L.C., HTW BEVERAGE LLC, HY LONG BEACH HOTEL LLC, HYATT (BARBADOS) CORPORATION, HYATT (JAPAN) CO. LTD., HYATT (THAILAND) LIMITED, HYATT ARUBA N.V., HYATT ASIA PACIFIC HOLDINGS LIMITED, HYATT AUSTRALIA HOTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LIMITED, HYATT AUSTRIA GMBH, HYATT BEACH FRONT N.V., HYATT BORNEO MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED, HYATT BRITANNIA CORPORATION LTD., HYATT CC OFFICE CORP., HYATT CHAIN SERVICES LIMITED, HYATT CRYSTAL CITY LLC., HYATT CURACAO N.V., HYATT DISASTER RELIEF FUND, HYATT DO BRASIL PARTICIPACOES LTDA, HYATT EQUITIES L.L.C., HYATT FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INC., HYATT FRANCHISING CANADA CORP., HYATT FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT FRANCHISING LATIN AMERICA L.L.C., HYATT FULFILLMENT OF MARYLAND INC., HYATT GLOBAL SERVICES INC., HYATT GTLD L.L.C., HYATT HOC INC., HYATT HOLDINGS (UK) LIMITED, HYATT HOSPITALITY SERVICES L.L.C., HYATT HOTEL MANAGEMENT LIMITED, HYATT HOTELS CONSULTANCY SERVICES ASIA PACIFIC LIMITED, HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION OF KANSAS, HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION OF MARYLAND, HYATT HOTELS FOUNDATION, HYATT HOTELS MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, HYATT HOTELS OF CANADA INC., HYATT HOTELS OF FLORIDA INC., HYATT HOTELS OF PUERTO RICO INC., HYATT HOUSE CANADA INC., HYATT HOUSE FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT HOUSE HOTEL HOLDING COMPANY L.L.C., HYATT INDIA CONSULTANCY PRIVATE LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL (ASIA) LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL (EUROPE AFRICA MIDDLE EAST) LLC, HYATT INTERNATIONAL - JAPAN LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL - SOUTHWEST ASIA LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL -ASIA PACIFIC LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL -SEA (PTE) LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, HYATT INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS CO., HYATT INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANAGEMENT (BEIJING) CO. LTD., HYATT INTERNATIONAL MILAN L.L.C., HYATT INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (BEIJING) CO. LTD., HYATT INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL SERVICES INC., HYATT JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HYATT LACSA SERVICES INC., HYATT LOUISIANA L.L.C., HYATT MAINZ GMBH, HYATT MARKETING SERVICES INC., HYATT MARKETING SERVICES NIGERIA COMPANY LIMITED, HYATT MINNEAPOLIS LLC, HYATT MINORITY INVESTMENTS INC., HYATT MSS L.L.C., HYATT NORTH AMERICA MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC., HYATT OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HYATT OF BAJA S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HYATT OF CHINA LIMITED, HYATT OF FRANCE S.A.R.L., HYATT OF GUAM LIMITED, HYATT OF ITALY S.R.L., HYATT OF LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN L.L.C., HYATT OF LATIN AMERICA S.A. DE C.V., HYATT OF MACAU LIMITED, HYATT OF MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., HYATT OF PHILIPPINES LIMITED, HYATT PARTNERSHIP INTERESTS L.L.C., HYATT PLACE ANNE ARUNDEL BEVERAGE INC., HYATT PLACE CANADA CORPORATION, HYATT PLACE FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT PLACE OF MARYLAND INC., HYATT REGENCY COLOGNE GMBH, HYATT REGENCY CORPORATION PTY. LIMITED, HYATT SERVICES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED, HYATT SERVICES CANADA INC., HYATT SERVICES CARIBBEAN L.L.C., HYATT SERVICES GMBH, HYATT SERVICES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, HYATT SHARED SERVICE CENTER L.L.C., HYATT TRINIDAD LIMITED, HYCANADA INC., HYCARD INC., HYSTAR L.L.C., Hyatt Corporation, INFORMATION SERVICES LIMITED, INTERNATIONAL RESERVATIONS LIMITED, JOINT VENTURE ITALKYR CLOSED JOINT STOCK COMPANY, JUNIPER HOTELS PRIVATE LIMITED, KSA MANAGEMENT INC., KYOTO HOLDING CO., LHR-PARTNERS LTD., LORING PARK ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, LOST PINES BEVERAGE LLC, MACAE PARTNERS S.A.R.L., MAHIMA HOLDINGS PRIVATE LIMITED, MARION RESERVATION CENTER L.L.C., MEXICO CITY HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V., MILAN HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V., MIRAVAL ARIZONA GUARANTOR LLC, MIRAVAL GROUP LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA HOLDINGS LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA OPERATING CO. INC., MIRAVAL RESORT TUCSON LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS I LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS II LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS III LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS TRUST, MRG ATX BEVERAGE HOLDINGS LLC, MRG ATX HOLDINGS II LLC, MRG ATX HOLDINGS LLC, MRG ATX INVESTMENT LLC, MRG ATX MANAGEMENT I LLC, MRG ATX MANAGEMENT II LLC, MRG ATX OPERATIONS LLC, MRG CRW HOLDINGS LLC, MRG CRW MANAGEMENT I LLC, MRG CRW MANAGEMENT II LLC, MRG CRW OPERATIONS LLC, MUNICH OPCO GMBH, Miraval Resort, OASIS LUXURY RENTALS INCORPORATED, PARIS HOTEL COMPANY B.V., PARK HYATT HAMBURG GMBH, PARK HYATT HOTEL GMBH, PARK HYATT WATER TOWER ASSOCIATES L.L.C., PH NEW YORK L.L.C., PHMC RESIDENCIAS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., POLK SMITH REGENCY LLC, PT HYATT INDONESIA, PVD INVESTMENT COMPANY S.A.R.L., Peabody Hotels & Resort, RCG PROPERTIES LLC, REGENCY BEVERAGE COMPANY LLC, REGENCY RIVERWALK BEVERAGE LLC, RESERVATIONS CENTER L.L.C., RIO JV PARTNERS PARTICIPACOES LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS S.A.R.L., ROSEMONT PROJECT MANAGEMENT L.L.C., ROUTE 46 MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES CORP., RUNWAY HOLDING L.L.C., RUNWAY L.L.C., SAO PAULO INVESTMENT COMPANY INC., SAO PAULO INVESTORS LIMITED, SASIH, SDI EQUITIES INVESTOR L.L.C., SDI INC., SDI SECURITIES 11 LLC, SDI SECURITIES 6 LLC, SELECT HOTELS GROUP L.L.C., SELECT JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., SEOUL MIRAMAR CORPORATION, SERVICIOS DE HOTELERIA SAN JOSE S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SERVICIOS HOTELEROS LA PAZ S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SETTLEMENT INVESTORS INC., SHG PUERTO RICO INC., SIERRA HEALTHSTYLES LLC, SJC DESARROLLOS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SKS CORP. N.V., SMC HOTELS B.V., SOROCABA PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA, SOROCABA PARTNERS S.A.R.L., STANHOPE L.L.C., STARHILL LORING PARK L.L.C., SUGAR LAND/HP LLC, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL COMPANY LIMITED, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, TIJUANA PARTNERS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., TR MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT LLC, TUCSON VILLAS HOLDINGS LLC, TUCSON VILLAS LLC, TWO SEAS HOLDINGS LIMITED, Two Roads Hospitality, WAILEA HOTEL & BEACH RESORT L.L.C., WAILEA HOTEL HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS L.L.C., WEST END RESIDENCES L.L.C., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY INC., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, ZURICH ESCHERWIESE HOTEL GMBH, and ZURICH HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V..
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.

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iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF's stock was trading at $108.64 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, IWD shares have increased by 51.6% and is now trading at $164.67.

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President Energy Plc engages in the exploration, evaluation, and production of oil and gas properties primarily in South America. The company holds exploration assets in Argentina, the United States, and Paraguay. It also sells hydrocarbons. The company was formerly known as President Petroleum Company PLC and changed its name to President Energy Plc in September 2012. President Energy Plc was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Leeds, the United Kingdom.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Occidental Petroleum: 1PointFive Inc., 1PointFive P1 LLC, APC Aviation Inc., APC International Holdings LLC, APC Midstream Holdings LLC, APC Venezuela Srl, ARCO Long Beach, Altura Energy, Amarok Gathering LLC, Anadarko 20-25 Company, Anadarko 20-36 Company, Anadarko 20-47 Company, Anadarko 20-48 Company, Anadarko 20-49 Company, Anadarko Algeria Block 403 c/e Company, Anadarko Algeria Block 406B Company, Anadarko Algeria Company LLC, Anadarko Algeria Oil & Gas Company, Anadarko Brazil Investment I LLC, Anadarko Brazil Investment II LLC, Anadarko Canada E&P Limited, Anadarko China Holdings 2 Company, Anadarko Colombia Company, Anadarko Consolidated Holdings LLC, Anadarko Cote d'Ivoire Block 103 Company, Anadarko Cote d'Ivoire Company, Anadarko DBMOS Operator LLC, Anadarko Development Company, Anadarko Development Holding Limited, Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC, Anadarko Egypt Holdings Company, Anadarko Energy Holding Limited, Anadarko Energy Services Company, Anadarko Exploracao e Producao de Petroleo e Gas Natural Ltda., Anadarko Finance Company, Anadarko Gabon Company, Anadarko Ghana Mahogany-1 Company, Anadarko Global Energy S.a.r.l, Anadarko Global Funding 1 Company, Anadarko Global Funding II Ltd., Anadarko Guyana Company, Anadarko Holding Company, Anadarko International Development S.a.r.l, Anadarko International Energy Company, Anadarko International O&G Company, Anadarko International Trading Corporation, Anadarko Jordan Company, Anadarko Kenya Company, Anadarko LMM S.a.r.l, Anadarko Land Corp., Anadarko Mexico B.V., Anadarko Mexico S.a.r.l, Anadarko Midkiff/Chaney Dell BR Corp., Anadarko Midkiff/Chaney Dell LLC, Anadarko Natural Gas Company LLC, Anadarko New Zealand Company, Anadarko OGC Company, Anadarko Offshore Holding Company LLC, Anadarko Offshore Well Containment Company LLC, Anadarko Oil & Gas 5 LLC, Anadarko Peru B.V., Anadarko Petroleum, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Anadarko Realty LLC, Anadarko Rockies LLC, Anadarko Royalty Holdings Company, Anadarko UK Corporate Limited, Anadarko US Offshore LLC, Anadarko USH1 Corporation, Anadarko Venezuela Company, Anadarko Venezuela LLC, Anadarko Venezuela Srl, Anadarko WCTP Company, Anadarko West Texas BR Corp., Anadarko West Texas LLC, Anadarko Worldwide Holdings C.V., Atlantic Rim Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Aventine LLC, Baseball Merger Sub 2 Inc., Bear Branch Exploration LLC, Big Island Trona Company, Bitter Creek Coal Company, Bravo Pipeline Company, Cain Chemical, Cain Chemical Inc., Carbon Finance Labs LLC, Concord Petroleum Corporation, Conn Creek Shale Company, D.S. Ventures LLC, DMM Financial LLC, Deerwood Exploration LLC, Downtown Plaza II, Elk Hills Field, FLAG Development LLC, FP Westport Commodities Limited, FP Westport GmbH, FP Westport LLC, FP Westport Limited, FP Westport Services LLC, FP Westport Trading LLC, Fosters Mill Exploration LLC, Glenn Springs Holdings Inc., Globrep Representaciones S.A., Grand Bassa Tankers Inc., Grupo OxyChem de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Headwater II LLC, Houndstooth Resources LLC, INDSPEC Chemical B.V., INDSPEC Chemical Corporation, INDSPEC Chemical Corporation, INDSPEC Chemical Export Sales LLC, INDSPEC Holding Corporation, Ingleside Cogeneration GP LLC, Ingleside Cogeneration Limited Partnership, Interore Trading Ltd., Joslyn Partnership, KERR-McGEE TT E&P LTD., KM BM-C-Seven Ltd., KM International Insurance Ltd., Kerr-McGee Corporation, Kerr-McGee Natural Gas Company Inc., Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Onshore LP, Kerr-McGee Shared Services Company LLC, Kerr-McGee Stored Power Corporation, Kerr-McGee U.K. Energy Corporation, Kerr-McGee Worldwide Corporation, Kerr-McGee do Brasil Ltda., Kerr-McGee of Canada Northwest Ltd., Laguna Petroleum Corp., Laguna Petroleum LLC, Liwa Oil & Gas Ltd., MC2 Technologies LLC, Mariana Properties Inc., Marico Exploration Inc., Miller Springs Remediation Management Inc., Moncrief Minerals Partnership L.P., NGL Ventures LLC, Natural Gas Odorizing Inc., New OPL LLC, OEVC Energy LLC, OEVC Midstream Projects LLC, OIH LLC, OLCV CE Holdings ULC, OLCV CE US Holdings Inc., OLCV Net Power LLC, OLCV Services LLC, OOG Partner LLC, OOOI Chem Holdings LLC, OOOI Chem Sub LLC, OOOI Chemical International LLC, OOOI Chile Holder LLC, OOOI Ecuador Management LLC, OOOI Oil and Gas Sub LLC, OOOI South America Management LLC, OPM GP Inc., OPM Holdco LLC, OTCF LLC, OTH LLC, OXY CV Pipeline LLC, OXY Campus LLC, OXY Inc., OXY LPG LLC, OXY Libya E&P Area 103 BR4 B.V., OXY Libya E&P Area 35 Ltd., OXY Libya E&P Concession 103 Ltd., OXY Libya E&P EPSA 102 B.V., OXY Libya E&P EPSA 1981 Ltd., OXY Libya E&P EPSA 1985 Ltd., OXY Libya E&P NC 143 144 145 150 B.V., OXY Libya Exploration SPC, OXY Libya LLC, OXY Little Knife LLC, OXY Mexico Holdings I LLC, OXY Mexico Holdings II LLC, OXY Middle East Holdings Ltd., OXY Oil Partners Inc., OXY PBLP Manager LLC, OXY Support Services LLC, OXY Tulsa Inc., OXY USA Inc., OXY USA WTP LP, OXY VPP Investments LLC, OXY West LLC, OXY of Saudi Arabia Ltd., OXYCHEM (CANADA) INC., OXYMAR, Oakwood Exploration LLC, Occidental (Bermuda) Ltd., Occidental (East Shabwa) LLC, Occidental Advance Sale Finance Inc., Occidental Al Hosn LLC, Occidental Angola Holdings Ltd., Occidental CIS Services Inc., Occidental Canada Holdings Ltd., Occidental Chemical Asia Limited, Occidental Chemical Belgium B.V.B.A., Occidental Chemical Chile Limitada, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Occidental Chemical Export Sales LLC, Occidental Chemical Far East Limited, Occidental Chemical Holding Corporation, Occidental Chemical International LLC, Occidental Chemical Investment (Canada) 1 Inc., Occidental Chemical Receivables LLC, Occidental Chemical de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Occidental Chile Investments LLC, Occidental Chile Minority Holder LLC, Occidental Colombia (Series G) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series J) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series K) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series L) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series M) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series N) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series O) Ltd., Occidental Crude Sales Inc. (Canada), Occidental Crude Sales Inc. (International), Occidental Dolphin Holdings Ltd., Occidental Energy Marketing Inc., Occidental Energy Ventures LLC, Occidental Exploradora del Peru Ltd., Occidental Exploration and Production Company, Occidental Hafar LLC, Occidental International (Libya) Inc., Occidental International Corporation, Occidental International Exploration and Production Company, Occidental International Holdings Ltd., Occidental International Oil and Gas Ltd., Occidental International Services Inc., Occidental Joslyn GP 2 Co., Occidental LNG (Malaysia) Ltd., Occidental Latin America Holdings LLC, Occidental Libya Oil & Gas B.V., Occidental MENA Manager Ltd., Occidental Middle East Development Company, Occidental Midland Basin LLC, Occidental Mukhaizna LLC, Occidental Oil Asia Pte. Ltd., Occidental Oil Shale Inc., Occidental Oil and Gas (Oman) Ltd., Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation, Occidental Oil and Gas International Inc., Occidental Oil and Gas International LLC, Occidental Oil and Gas Pakistan LLC, Occidental Oil and Gas of Peru LLC, Occidental Oman (Block 27) Holdings Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 51 Holding Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 51 LLC, Occidental Oman Block 65 Holding Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 65 LLC, Occidental Oman Block 72 Holding Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 72 LLC, Occidental Oman Gas Company LLC, Occidental Oman Gas Holdings Ltd., Occidental Oman North Holdings Ltd., Occidental Oriente Exploration and Production Ltd., Occidental Overseas Holdings B.V., Occidental PVC LLC, Occidental Peninsula II Inc., Occidental Peninsula LLC, Occidental Permian Ltd., Occidental Permian Manager LLC, Occidental Permian Services Inc., Occidental Peruana Inc., Occidental Petrolera del Peru (Block 101) Inc., Occidental Petrolera del Peru (Block 103) Inc., Occidental Petroleum (Pakistan) Inc., Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Occidental Petroleum Corporation Political Action Committee, Occidental Petroleum de Venezuela S.A., Occidental Petroleum of Nigeria, Occidental Petroleum of Oman Ltd., Occidental Petroleum of Qatar Ltd., Occidental Power Marketing L.P., Occidental Power Services Inc., Occidental Qatar Energy Company LLC, Occidental Red Sea Development LLC, Occidental Research Corporation, Occidental Resource Recovery Systems Inc., Occidental Resources Company, Occidental Shah Gas Holdings Ltd., Occidental South America Finance LLC, Occidental Specialty Marketing Inc., Occidental Tower Corporation, Occidental Transportation Holding Corporation, Occidental West Texas Overthrust Inc., Occidental Yemen Ltd., Occidental Yemen Sabatain Inc., Occidental del Ecuador Inc., Occidental of Abu Dhabi (Bab) Ltd., Occidental of Abu Dhabi (Shah) Ltd., Occidental of Abu Dhabi Holdings Ltd., Occidental of Abu Dhabi LLC, Occidental of Abu Dhabi Ltd., Occidental of Bahrain Ltd., Occidental of Bangladesh Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Chipiron) Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Cosecha) Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Medina) Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Putumayo) Ltd., Occidental of Colombia (Teca) Ltd., Occidental of Colombia PUT-36 LLC, Occidental of Dubai Inc., Occidental of Iraq Holdings Ltd., Occidental of Iraq LLC, Occidental of Oman Inc., Occidental of Russia Ltd., Occidental of South Africa (Offshore) Inc., Occidental of Yemen (Block 75) LLC, Oceanic Marine Transport Ltd., Opcal Insurance Inc., Oryx Crude Trading & Transportation Inc., Oxy BridgeTex Limited Partnership, Oxy C & I Bulk Sales LLC, Oxy Canada Sales Inc., Oxy Carbon Solutions LLC, Oxy Carbon Storage LLC, Oxy Climate Ventures Inc., Oxy Cogeneration Holding Company LLC, Oxy Colombia Holdings LLC, Oxy Colombia TopCo Ltd., Oxy Delaware Basin LLC, Oxy Delaware Basin Plant LLC, Oxy Dolphin E&P LLC, Oxy Dolphin Pipeline LLC, Oxy Energy Canada Inc., Oxy Energy Services LLC, Oxy Expatriate Services Inc., Oxy FFT Holdings Inc., Oxy Holding Company (Pipeline) Inc., Oxy International Ventures Ltd., Oxy LPG Terminal LLC, Oxy Levelland Pipeline Company LLC, Oxy Levelland Terminal Company LLC, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures LLC, Oxy Midstream Strategic Development LLC, Oxy Oleoducto SOP LLC, Oxy Overseas Services Ltd., Oxy Permian Gathering LLC, Oxy Permian Plaza LLC, Oxy Petroleum de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Oxy Renewable Energy LLC, Oxy Salt Creek Pipeline LLC, Oxy TL LLC, Oxy Taft Hub LLC, Oxy Technology Ventures Inc., Oxy Transport I Company LLC, Oxy Vinyls Canada Co., Oxy Vinyls Export Sales LLC, Oxy Vinyls LP, Oxy Westwood Corporation, Oxy Y-1 Company, OxyChem Ingleside Ethylene Holdings Inc., OxyChem do Brasil Ltda., OxyChile Investments LLC, Oxychem Shipping Ltd., Permian Basin JV Tax Matters Member LLC, Permian Basin Limited Partnership, Permian VPP Holder LP, Permian VPP Manager LLC, Phibro, Placid Oil LLC, Ramlat Oxy Ltd., Rio de Viento Inc., Rodeo Midland Basin LLC, San Patricio Pipeline LLC, Scanports Shipping LLC, SequestCo LLC, Stetson Exploration LLC, Sun Offshore Gathering Company, Swiflite Aircraft Corporation, Transok Properties LLC, Troy Potter Inc., Turavent Oil GmbH [in liquidation], Tuscaloosa Holdings Inc., UP Petroleo III Ltd., Upland Industries Corporation, Venezuela US SRL, Vintage Gas Inc., Vintage Petroleum, Vintage Petroleum Argentina Ltd., Vintage Petroleum Boliviana Ltd., Vintage Petroleum International Finance B.V., Vintage Petroleum International Holdings LLC, Vintage Petroleum International LLC, Vintage Petroleum International Ventures Inc., Vintage Petroleum Italy Inc., Vintage Petroleum South America Holdings Inc., Vintage Petroleum South America LLC, Vintage Petroleum Turkey Inc., WGR Asset Holding Company LLC, WGR Canada Inc., Wardner Ranch Inc., Western Gas Resources Inc., Western Gas Resources-Westana Inc., Western Midstream Holdings LLC, Woodlands International Insurance Ltd., and YT Ranch LLC.
Microsoft Korea CEO Alfred Koh speaks during a news conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in central Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Microsoft Korea



By Jun Ji-hye



Microsoft Korea is seeking to vitalize an artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in Korea through keen cooperation with government agencies and enterprises here, the head of the IT company said Friday.



During a media conference in central Seoul, Microsoft Korea CEO Alfred Koh said multi-pronged cooperation in politics, society and culture is necessary to maximize benefits from AI, suggesting the firm's vision to play a role in laying the groundwork for the nation's comprehensive development.



"AI would be the last stop of the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Koh said. "Humans can obtain information and insights from AI and data analytics. AI will create a substantial amount of added value."



Koh announced four plans to achieve the firm's goal of supporting Korea's growth through AI  enabling digital transformation, building coalitions for responsible innovation, closing the skills gap and enhancing employability, and creating sustained societal impact.



The CEO noted his company has been working to enhance cooperation with government agencies, industries and academics here to build coalitions for responsible innovation.



AI technology can also contribute to resolving a variety of social issues and supporting the underprivileged including those who are visually impaired, he said.



"Our strategy is to build a best-in-class platform and productivity services for an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge infused with AI," Koh said, stressing Microsoft has invested in AI strategically and begun basic research in national language, speech and vision in 1991.



During the conference, the firm also unveiled the results of its survey assessing Korea and the Asia Pacific region's growth potential through AI.



The firm noted 72 percent of the respondents of its survey said AI is instrumental to enhance an organization's competitiveness in the next three years. But only 9 percent of organizations in Korea have adopted AI as a core part of their business strategy, while 19 percent have started experiments with AI as part of their strategy.



The survey also showed Korea was ahead of the Asia Pacific region in terms of investment and data, but was behind in culture and strategy dimensions.


The following companies are subsidiares of Procter & Gamble: "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, Agile Pursuits, Agile Pursuits Franchising, Arbora, Arbora & Ausonia, Arborinvest, Billie, Braun (Shanghai) Co., Braun GmbH, Braun-Gillette Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG, Celtic Insurance Company, Compania Procter & Gamble Mexico, Compania Quimica S.A., Corporativo Procter & Gamble, Cosmetic Products Pty. Ltd., Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., Eurocos Cosmetic GmbH, FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Fater S.p.A., Fountain Square Music Publishing Co., Gillette (China) Ltd., Gillette (Shanghai) Ltd., Gillette Aesop Ltd., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette Canada Holdings, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, Gillette Gruppe Deutschland GmbH & Co. oHG, Gillette Holding Company LLC, Gillette Holding GmbH, Gillette India Limited, Gillette Industries Ltd., Gillette International B.V., Gillette Latin America Holding B.V., Gillette Management LLC, Gillette Nova Scotia Company, Gillette Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Poland S.A., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay, Giorgio Beverly Hills Inc., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, LLC "Procter & Gamble Novomoskovsk", LLL "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", Laboratorios Vicks, Liberty Street Music Publishing Company, Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', Limited Liability Company with foreign investments Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, New Chapter, New Chapter Canada Inc., Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G Prestige Service GmbH, P&G South African Trading (Pty.) Ltd., PGT Health Care (Zhejiang) Limited, PGT Healthcare LLP, PPI ZAO, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Procter & Gamble (Chengdu) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (East Africa) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Egypt) Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble (Enterprise Fund) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Health & Beauty Care) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Jiangsu) Ltd. China, Procter & Gamble (L&CP) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble (Manufacturing) Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble (Shanghai) International Trade Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Acquisition GmbH, Procter & Gamble Administration GmbH, Procter & Gamble Algeria EURL, Procter & Gamble Amazon Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Amiens S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Argentina SRL, Procter & Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Australia Proprietary Limited, Procter & Gamble Azerbaijan Services LLC, Procter & Gamble Bangladesh Private Ltd., Procter & Gamble Blois S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Brazil Holdings B.V., Procter & Gamble Bulgaria EOOD, Procter & Gamble Business Services Canada Company, Procter & Gamble Canada Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Chile , Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, Procter & Gamble Commercial de Cuba S.A., Procter & Gamble Czech Republic s.r.o., Procter & Gamble DS Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Danmark ApS, Procter & Gamble Detergent (Beijing) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Deuttschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing (Philippines) Inc., Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distribution Company (Europe) BVBA, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana, Procter & Gamble Europe SA, Procter & Gamble Export Operations SARL, Procter & Gamble Exportadora e Importadora Ltda., Procter & Gamble Exports, Procter & Gamble Fabricacao e Comercio Ltda., Procter & Gamble Far East, Procter & Gamble Finance (U.K.) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care, Procter & Gamble Hellas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holdings (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership (KKT), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings, Procter & Gamble Indochina Limited Company, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama, Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Investment Company (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment GmbH, Procter & Gamble Italia, Procter & Gamble Japan K.K., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea, Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble Lanka Private Ltd. Sri Lanka, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Marketing and Services doo, Procter & Gamble Maroc SA, Procter & Gamble Mataro, Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Investments B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Nordic, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan (Private) Limited, Procter & Gamble Partnership LLP, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals France SAS, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo, Procter & Gamble Product Supply (U.K.) Limited U.K., Procter & Gamble Production GmbH, Procter & Gamble Productions, Procter & Gamble Productos de Consumo, Procter & Gamble RHD, Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services BVBA, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Satis ve Dagitim Ltd. Sti., Procter & Gamble Seine S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services (Switzerland) SA, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Share Incentive Plan Trustee Ltd., Procter & Gamble South America Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. (Ltd.), Procter & Gamble Sports and Social Club Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology (Beijing) Co., Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Verwaltungs GmbH, Procter & Gamble Vietnam, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil S/A, Procter & Gamble do Brazil, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Redmond Products, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Richardson-Vicks do Brasil Quimica e Farmaceutica Ltda, Riverfront Music Publishing Co., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Scannon S.A.S., Series Acquisition B.V., Shulton, Surfac S.R.L., Sycamore Productions, TAOS - FL, TAOS Retail, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving - FL, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble GBS Company, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon (Shanghai) Academy, Vidal Sassoon Co., WEBA Betriebsrenten-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Walker & Company Brands, and iMFLUX Inc..
Weatherford International plc, an oilfield service company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere. It offers artificial lift systems, including reciprocating rod, progressing cavity pumping, gas, hydraulic, plunger, and hybrid lift systems, as well as related automation and control systems; pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, such as acidizing, fracturing and fluid systems, cementing, and coiled-tubing intervention; and drill stem test tools, and surface well testing and multiphase flow measurement services. The company also provides safety, downhole reservoir monitoring, flow control, and multistage fracturing systems, as well as sand-control technologies, and production and isolation packers; liner hangers to suspend a casing string in high-temperature and high-pressure wells; cementing products, including plugs, float and stage equipment, and torque-and-drag reduction technology for zonal isolation; and pre-job planning and installation services. In addition, it offers directional drilling services, and logging and measurement services while drilling; services related to rotary-steerable systems, high-temperature and high-pressure sensors, drilling reamers, and circulation subs; managed pressure drilling, conventional mud-logging, drilling instrumentation, gas analysis, wellsite consultancy, and open hole and cased-hole logging services; reservoir solutions and software products; and intervention and remediation services. Further, the company provides equipment and drilling tools; tubular handling, management, and connection services; equipment rental services; and onshore contract drilling and related services through a fleet of land drilling and workover rigs. Weatherford International plc was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.

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The following companies are subsidiares of SAP: Abakus, Abakus Europe Limited, Abakus Ukraine Limited Liability Company, Adatfeldolgozasban Informatikai Kft., Altiscale, Ambin Properties Proprietary Limited, AppGyver, Ariba, Ariba Czech s.r.o., Ariba Inc. Palo Alto, Ariba India Private Limited, Ariba International, Ariba International Holdings, Ariba International Singapore Pte Ltd, Ariba Slovak Republic s.r.o., Ariba Software Technology Services (Shanghai) Co., Ariba Technologies India Private Limited, Ariba Technologies Netherlands B.V., Beijing Zhang Zhong Hu Dong Information Technology, Business Objects, Business Objects Holding B.V., Business Objects Option LLC, Business Objects Software Limited, CNQR Operations Mexico S. de. R.L. de. C.V., Callidus Software, CallidusCloud, Christie Partners Holding C.V., Clear Standards, ClearTrip Inc., ClearTrip Inc. (Mauritius), Cleartrip MEA FZ LLC, Cleartrip Private Limited, Coghead, ConTgo Consulting Limited, ConTgo Pty. Ltd., Concur (Austria) GmbH, Concur (Canada), Concur (France) SAS, Concur (Germany) GmbH, Concur (Japan) Ltd., Concur (New Zealand) Limited, Concur (Philippines) Inc., Concur (Switzerland) GmbH, Concur Czech (s.r.o.), Concur Holdings (France) SAS, Concur Holdings (Netherlands) B.V., Concur Technologies (Australia) Pty. Limited, Concur Technologies (Hong Kong) Limited, Concur Technologies (India) Private Limited, Concur Technologies (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Concur Technologies (UK) Limited, Concur Technologies Inc. Bellevue, Contextor, Coresystems, Crystal Decisions (Ireland) Limited, Crystal Decisions Holdings Limited, Crystal Decisions UK Limited, Emarsys, EssCubed Procurement Pty. Ltd., Extended Systems, Factory Logic, Fedem Technology AS, Fieldglass Europe Limited, Financial Fusion, FreeMarkets Ltda., Frictionless Commerce, Gigya, Gigya Australia Pty Ltd, Gigya Ltd., Gigya UK Ltd, GlobalExpense Limited, Highdeal, Hipmunk, Hybris (US) Corp., Hybris GmbH, Inxight Federal Systems Group, KXEN, Khimetrics, LLC "SAP Labs", LLC "SAP Ukraine", LLC SAP CIS, MaXware, Merlin Systems Oy, Multiposting Sp.z o.o., Nihon Ariba K.K., OpTier, OutlookSoft, OutlookSoft Deutschland GmbH, PLAT.ONE, PT SAP Indonesia, PT Sybase 365 Indonesia, Pilot Software Inc., Plat.One Inc., Plat.One Lab Srl, Plateau Systems LLC, Quadrem Africa Pty. Ltd., Quadrem Brazil Ltda., Quadrem Chile Ltda., Quadrem Colombia SAS, Quadrem International Ltd., Quadrem Netherlands B.V., Quadrem Overseas Cooperatief U.A., Quadrem Peru S.A.C., Qualtrics, Recast.AI, Right Hemisphere, Roambi, Ruan Lian Technologies (Beijing) Co., SAF, SAP (Beijing) Software System Co., SAP (Schweiz) AG, SAP (Schweiz) AG Biel, SAP (UK) Limited, SAP (UK) Limited Feltham, SAP AZ LLC, SAP America, SAP America Inc. Newtown Square, SAP Andina y del Caribe, SAP Argentina S.A., SAP Asia (Vietnam) Co., SAP Asia Pte Ltd, SAP Australia Pty Ltd, SAP Australia Pty Ltd. Sydney, SAP Belgium NV/SA, SAP Beteiligungs GmbH, SAP Brasil Ltda, SAP Brasil Ltda Sao Paulo, SAP Bulgaria EOOD, SAP Business Compliance Services GmbH, SAP Business Services Center Nederland B.V., SAP CR, SAP Canada, SAP Chile Limitada, SAP China Co., SAP China Co. Ltd. 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Hanjin KAL CEO Suk Tae-soo speaks during the Hanjin Group holding firm's shareholder meeting in Jung-gu, Seoul, Friday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, ousted from the Korean Air board on Wednesday, has managed to keep control on the group after shareholders of de-facto holding firm Hanjin KAL on Friday rejected a proposal that could have stripped Cho of his board seat.



Hanjin KAL shareholders also approved the reappointment of Cho's close aide to the board, allowing the troubled aviation tycoon to cling to the group's management until next year's Hanjin KAL shareholder meeting.



During the Hanjin KAL annual general meeting, shareholders rejected a proposal to tighten the requirements of the firms' directors, stripping executive status from anybody in the group found guilty of a crime, following the opposition of 49.29 percent of attending shares.



The articles of incorporation state that such a proposal requires the approval of two-thirds of the attending shares. The meeting was attended by shareholders owning 77 percent of Hanjin KAL's total shares with voting rights.



A combined 28.93 percent stake in Hanjin KAL is held by Cho and his family members, followed by the activist fund Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI) with 10.81 percent and the National Pension Service (NPS) with 7.16 percent.



The NPS proposal could be a critical blow to Cho, who is on trial for allegedly receiving 19.6 billion won in unfair commissions from Korean Air suppliers through a paper company. Including other charges, he is suspected of embezzling 27 billion won.



Those charges, along with his family's misconduct  including the "nut rage" by Cho's daughter, former Korean Air Vice President Heather Cho  played a critical role in the NPS move to spearhead Cho's ouster from the Korean Air board at the carrier's shareholder meeting on Wednesday.





Hanjin KAL CEO Suk Tae-soo drinks water during the Hanjin Group holding firm's shareholder meeting in Jung-gu, Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
Utica, N.Y. - Brittany Beane has joined WKTV as the Local Sales Manager.

Beane has ten years in the Media Sales business divided equally between the Orlando and New York markets. Upon graduation from Nazareth College in Rochester NY, she started her career in New York working for SNY in Local Sales Support and then was promoted to National Sales Coordinator. She left SNY to join WPIX TV/CW in New York as an Account Executive.

In Orlando, Beane was a member of the Orlando Magics Premium Sales Team, before returning to broadcast sales as an Account Executive with the Hearst owned Orlando NBC/CW station.

It was difficult to leave a great position with Hearst Television in Orlando, however, I had been looking for the right opportunity in the broadcasting business in Upstate New York that would allow me to move closer to home. I am thrilled to be back in the area and working for the market leading television station that I grew up watching.

WKTV General Manager Steve McMurray said We are thrilled to be able to welcome a local native back home. Brittany brings a diverse level of experience and a fresh perspective to our Sales operation. Im confident shell enhance what is already a top-notch sales team.
ROME -- The proposed 2019-2020 budget for The Rome City School District includes 115 staff positions being cut.

Superintendent Peter Blake says most of the current budget issues are due to a decrease in funding from the state.

State lawmakers are currently working on creating a new budget that could allow for additional funding for schools in the state. Blake says the school district won't know until next week whether or not they will receive any additional state funding.

Hundreds of teachers, staff, and parents are pushing for more state funding to support the school district.

At a rally on Thursday, teachers say they are aiming to raise awareness for the budget issues that the school district is facing.

The proposed 2019-2020 budget is $114,672,532 and includes a nearly 4 percent tax increase.

The school board has until April 23 to approve the budget.
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Utica police welcome a diverse group that includes two minorities and the first ever Karen Utica police officer.

The police chief says it was a grueling six months of meeting physical, personal and psychological requirements for the officers to get to this point.

"For them, it starts in September when they take the written test," Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said. "Then, in November, the results came back, they have to go through a physical agility test, which we see a failure rate of about 50 percent and then after that, background process starts, background investigations are done, then they're given polygraph examinations."

The seven graduates will start police academy on Monday.




South Korean President Moon Jae-in and world-famous K-pop band BTS were nominated for TIME magazine's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, a list showed Friday.





Moon and BTS were two South Korean candidates competing for the annual list, with which the TIME editors recognize the most innovative and best-performing artists, leaders, scientists, activists and entrepreneurs, according to the TIME list of candidates released earlier this week.





With 4-percent support, BTS was leading a reader poll for the list which TIME is conducting. After closing the poll on April 16, TIME will make public its final decisions two days later.





North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and United States President Donald Trump, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, are also candidates for the list.





Other contenders are athletes, like Serena Williams, and politicians, like Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido.





Some of the youngest influencers nominated include Greta Thunberg, the climate activist from Sweden and Taiwanese American actress Constance Wu whose 2018 film, Crazy Rich Asians, made a splash across the world. (Yonhap)


Suffering from a knee injury and unable to get to the hospital? Just download the home nursing services app onto your smartphone, register and authenticate your identity, upload your current prescriptions and medical record, then simply order from a range of care services.

(Photo/Peoples Daily Overseas Edition)

In the last few years, with some app developers noticing the demand for home nursing in China and targeting the service booking app market, a variety of apps focused on care services have sprung up. Using these apps, users can book services such as injections, transfusions, blood sampling, dressing changes, urinary catheterization, and removal of stitches. Nevertheless, the growing market also spells a series of safety risks and related regulatory issues.

On Feb. 12, the National Health Commission (NHC) of China issued a notice to local health authorities, announcing that China is piloting an "Internet plus nursing" program. Running from February till December this year, the NHC aims to test the management system, service patterns, service specifications and operation mechanism for Internet plus nursing to suit the countrys status quo. Six provincial-level regions in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong have been selected as the program's pilot regions.

This signals that after being propelled by social force for the last two years, home healthcare services, provided by clinical nurses, have now been recognized at a state level. Meanwhile, more binding norms and stricter regulations will be implemented in the coming year.

Internet Plus fosters the healthcare industry

First unveiled by Premier Li Keqiang in March 2015 when delivering the government work report, the Internet Plus concept was widely considered the application of Internet platforms in traditional industries. In fact, just like online dating, online food delivery and online car-hailing, this mode of consumption was already a part of Chinese peoples life before 2015.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of 2017, China's population aged 60 or above reached 240 million, accounting for 17.3 percent of China's total population. Moreover, the number of senior citizens with chronic diseases reached 150 million, accounting for 65 percent of the entire senior population. With the increasing number of elderly citizens and empty nesters, the demand for in-home nursing care has surged.

Meanwhile, statistics from the same year published by the NHC showed that China had more than 3.8 million nurses, nearly 800,000 of whom were working in primary care. The nurse to doctor ratio reached 1.1, reversing the situation of more doctors than nurses.

Confronted with the huge demand for care among seniors, there are still quite a lot of deficiencies in the countrys nursing personnel. Besides, continuing to support nursing talent development and supply, we do hope to motivate the initiative of nurses and empower them to be more productive by means of Internet Plus, Jiao Yahui, an NHC official, told Peoples Daily Overseas Edition.

As another instance of Internet Plus, seeing a doctor online is much easier than before with various service mode options. On your smartphone app, voice emergency treatment connects you with doctors from Level III Class A hospitals in China within 60 seconds; a dermatologist can diagnose your skin problems after you upload a photo of your face. Nevertheless, in-person care is still a necessity for many ailments.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) -U.S. Sen. Todd Young of Indiana hopes a bill he's cosponsoring will help stop robocalls for Hoosiers.

Like many others, August Tharp gets about four robocalls per day.

"It's just so constant," said Tharp. "It's like, why do I even answer the phone anymore?"

Sometimes, you can't avoid it. Tharp is waiting to hear back from a potential internship opportunity so she's expecting a call from a number she doesn't recognize.

"And you get excited because it's like a number you don't know and then it's just an automated message telling you that you won a cruise or you need health insurance," said Tharp.

They aren't usually local calls.

"A lot of them have been coming from Pennsylvania recently," said Tharp. "Like I've blocked the numbers and they'll just come up with a new number again."

U.S. Senator Todd Young said it's a problem he has been working to fix.

"We've all been on the receiving end of these annoying phone calls," said Young. "What we propose is that we give the FCC more power to impose stiffer fines on these individuals and we also want to give them a little more time to go after bad actors."

Lawmakers are also wanting tele-communication companies to invest in technology that can filter out robocalls.

Young said he wants more people to hear about it. He can't imagine why someone wouldn't want this legislation.

"They interrupt our dinner conversations, they interrupt our daily lives and we ought to all come together and support this. And I think most Senators, members of the House and the Administration will indeed support this."

If you would like to view this bill, click here.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind (WLFI)A bill that would make it harder for people to change their marked gender on their license has been shelved.

Legislators removed that bill from Tuesdays commitee meeting.

The bill would require transgender and non-binary hoosiers to present a birth certificate with their current gender.

Right now a gender change on a hooseris state-ID only requires a certified physicians note.

Vice President of Pride Lafayette Lorne Sadler says he hopes legislators will leave the bill alone.

"I'm hoping that maybe, we might change some minds about how people perceive our comunity," said Sadler.

Indiana law still requires applicants to include imformation regarding their gender.
China is an East Asian nation. It is the second largest Asian state by area after Russia. China is the most populous nation in Asia with its citizens representing about 31.35% of all the people living in Asia. East Asian is the cradle of various civilizations including the Mongol Empire, ancient Korea, ancient Japan, and ancient China. China is one of the oldest cultures on earth which emerged in Yellow Rivers fertile basin in the North China Plains. China has influenced the region for centuries since it was the leading civilization in East Asia that exerted its influence and prestige on other East Asian states.

Geography of China

China is one of the largest countries in the world and it occupies an area of about 3,700,000 square miles. China has jurisdiction over 4 directly-controlled municipalities (Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Beijing), 5 autonomous regions, 22 provinces, and the special areas of Macau and Hong Kong. China has the longest land border on earth measuring about 13,743 miles from Tonkin Gulf to River Yalu. Chinas terrain is quite diverse and vast ranging from the subtropical forests in the southern parts of the country to Taklamakan and Gobi deserts in the north. China is separated from the Central and South Asian states by the Tian Shan, Pamir, Karakoram, and the Himalaya mountain ranges. China is home to some of the longest rivers in the world (Yellow and Yangtze rivers) which stretch from the Tibetan Plateau to the eastern seaboard. China is bounded by South China, East China, Yellow, and Bohai seas plus it has a 9,000 mile-long coast with the Pacific Sea.

Chinese Economy

The Chinese have had one of the biggest economies on earth for the last two thousand years which has experienced a cycle of decline and prosperity. Since the 1978 economic reforms, the country has evolved into one of the most significant players in international trade with a highly diversified economy. Some of the most competitive industries in China include banking, telecommunications, e-commerce, automobiles, and mining among others. China has the second-biggest economy on earth by nominal GDP. The Chinese economy has been the biggest in the world by PPP (purchasing power parity) since 2014. China has over 3.5 million millionaires and 338 billionaires. The Chinese government has brought many people out of poverty than any other government in the world. The number of Chinese living in extreme poverty reduced from 756 million (1990) to 25 million (2013) individuals.

Demography and Languages

China is the most populous state on earth with over 1.4 billion people. According to the 2010 national census, China had a population of over 1,370,536,875 people. About 13.26% of the population was over 60 years old, 70.1% between 15 to 59 years old, and 16.6% below 14 years old. The country recognized 56 ethnic groups with the biggest being the Han Chinese. The Han Chinese is the biggest single ethnic group in the world making up over 91.51% of the total Chinese population. There are over 292 living languages used in China with the most commonly used belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. The most commonly spoken language in China is Mandarin (used by over 70% of the population).
Around the world, cities are becoming more and more diverse, and increasingly multicultural. Large metropolitan cities are mosaics of culture and heritage, blending belief systems, habits, cultures, foods and style from all over the world. This mix of ethnic backgrounds makes for rich and vibrant cities where difference is celebrated, and neighbours from differnet backgrounds coexist in harmony. This list looks at some of the most multicultural cities from around the world.

Toronto

Celebrations of the 41st Annual Festival of India in Toronto, Canada.

Toronto is generally thought to be the most multicultural city in the world. As the largest city in Canada - one of the most multicultural countries in the world - it boasts a large population of people from all walks of life and a variety of cultural backgrounds. Toronto has a population of roughly 3 million people, and of that, roughly half were born outside of Canada, and/or are part of a visible minority. The largest ethnic groups in Toronto are East Asian and South Asian, though populations from the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as Italy are also large. Additionally, the city is home to a wide variety of neighbourhoods and communities which celebrate different cultures. Along with Chinatown and Little Italy, Toronto has Greektown, Koreatown, Little India, Roncesvalles Village (unofficially Little Poland), Portugal Village, and Little Malta.

Sydney

Darling Harbour Fiesta in Sydney showcases the Latin culture.

Another highly multicultural city is Sydney, Australia. Sydney is a popular city to immigrate to, and roughly 40%-50% of the population (which is an estimated 5.3 million) has moved to Sydney from elsewhere. Due to its location, many people from nearby countries such as China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan can be found in Sydney, as well as a strong population of people from commonwealth countries, specifically the United Kingdom. This diverse and booming city is a safe and successful city full of culture, food and wine, and recreation opportunities that draw visitors and immigrants from all over the world.

New York City

Little Italy neighborhood in New York City. Editorial credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com

As one of the larger cities in the world, with a population of 8.4 million people, New York is a bustling hive of activity and culture. At least a third of its extensive population was born somewhere other than the United States, and it is estimated that as many as 800 different languages or dialects are spoken in the city, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Neighbourhoods, restaurants and cultural centres sit side by side, celebrating ethnicities from all over the world. In fact, the headquarters for the United Nations is located in New York, due both to its large size and population, and its multicultural nature.

Paris

Women posing for the camera at a traditional African wedding ceremony in Paris. Editorial credit: Cflgroup Media / Shutterstock.com

Paris is one of the most multicultural cities in Europe, and has a population of roughly 2 million people, or 11 million if including the surrounding suburban areas. At least 20% of people living in Paris are considered first generation immigrants, while this number expands to 40% if you factor in second generation immigrants - that is, people with at least one parent who moved to Paris from somewhere else. The majority of Parisian residents who live but were not born in the city, are actually not considered to be immigrants, though, as they relocated from other French overseas regions, such as the French West Indies, of French-speaking countries in Africa. Aside from these French regions, though, citizens of Paris can be found from all across Europe, Maghreb, Egypt, Turkey, Asia and the Americas, making for an extremely diverse city.

London

People from across the world arrive in London to join the multicultural workforce of the city. Editorial credit: JuliusKielaitis / Shutterstock.com

Like Paris, London is one of the most multicultural cities within Europe. Approximately one third of the people living in London were born outside of the United Kingdom. Also, there are thought to be more than 200 different languages spoken in the city at any given time. London is an extremely cosmopolitan city, featuring people, food, styles, and cultural buildings from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Roughly 270 or so different nationalities are represented in London and this can be seen throughout the various neighbourhoods and areas that make up the mosaic of people in this major city.

Sao Paulo

A carnival performance in Sao Paolo, Brazil, a city known for its great ethnic diversity.

Sao Paulo is thought to be the most multicultural city in South America. The city is located in southeastern Brazil, and is a bustling busy city full of people from all over the world. While tourism is especially high here, there are also strong populations of people who have moved to Sao Paulo from elsewhere. Various neighbourhoods such as Liberdade, the Japanese quarter, and Bixiga, the Italian quarter, are nestled in and amongst the Brazilian neighbourhoods. Together, these cultures form a diverse atmosphere where cuisine, religion, and ethnic backgrounds come together in harmony.

Amsterdam

People of various ethnic groups waiting at a bus station in Amsterdam. Editorial credit: Birute Vijeikiene / Shutterstock.com

Amsterdam is an extremely welcoming and friendly city in the heart of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the country, and is home to people from over 175 different backgrounds. Amsterdam is specifically known for being a safe and tolerant place for asylum seekers, and as such often has immigrants from a variety of countries who likely do not speak Dutch. However, this city is extremely multilingual, and offers a wide range of language classes to help new residents adjust. Similarly, they have a festival known as DRONGO Festival, which aims to celebrate the many languages spoken throughout the city.

Los Angeles

Chinese festival celebrations in Los Angeles.

Like New York City, Los Angeles, on Californias west coast, is another one of the United States' most multicultural cities. Los Angeles is a popular city for its weather and sunshine, as well as for being a land of opportunity. Even within the United States, many Americans relocated to L.A. in order to follow their dreams of art-related fame or fortune. Similarly, there are many people from other countries who have relocated to L.A. due to its booming art and culture scene - namely, Hollywood, but new residents also move here more widely in search of a new life in America. The city is unique in that it does not have a strong majority population, and there are people stemming from over 140 different countries, speaking nearly 100 different languages. An abundance of culturally diverse neighbourhoods including Latino communities, Little Tokyo, Koreatown and the like, help to make Los Angeles the multicultural hub that it is today.

As the world grows, and globalization continues to be the norm, the mixing, melding, and celebrating of different cultures and ethnicities flourishes. Major cities are becoming increasingly multicultural as people from different backgrounds relocate for work, pleasure, asylum, or family reasons. As the world becomes figuratively smaller, large cities become more and more multicultural, and the harmony of sharing in your neighbours culture will hopefully continue to grow.
Vietnam is an East Asian country located on the Indochina Peninsula. The country is heavily forested and mountainous. The country is known for having a high level of biodiversity. However, many of Vietnam's wild areas have become denuded habitats. Over 300 species of animals have disappeared from the country and more than 100 living there today are threatened. Below is a list of some of the most threatened wild animals of Vietnam.

Siamese Crocodile

The Crocodylus siamensis or the Siamese crocodile is one of Vietnams most threatened animals. It is critically endangered. Historically, the Siamese crocodile lived throughout Southeast Asia. Today, it is nearly extinct in the wild in most parts of its range. It almost entirely vanished from Vietnam before it was reintroduced at the Cat Tien National Park. There are about 200 members of this species in this national park. The Siamese crocodile lives in a wide variety of freshwater habitats like rivers, lakes, marshes, and swamplands. Habitat occupation and human disturbance are the biggest threats to the species.

Delacour's Langur

The Trachypithecus delacouri or the Delacour's Langur is another critically endangered species found in Vietnam. In fact, this species occurs only in Vietnam. It is one of the most threatened primates of the world. It is distributed across an area of 6,000 square km in northern Vietnam. The Delacour's Langurs largest population is found in the Van Long Nature Reserve. Here, these animals live in open forest up to 1,076 feet. Hunting of the species for traditional medicine and loss of natural habitat are the biggest threats to this species. Only about 250 Delacour's Langurs are believed to survive in the wild as of 2010.

Black Crested Gibbon

The Nomascus concolor or the black crested gibbon is also one of Vietnams most threatened species. Like the other species mentioned above, this animal is also critically endangered. Four geographically separated subspecies of this gibbon survive in a fragmented range including parts of northern Vietnam, China, and Laos. They live on trees in small groups generally at high altitudes ranging from 2100 to 2400 m above sea level. Only about 1300 to 2000 wild members of this species is estimated to survive today.

Black-Breasted Leaf Turtle

The Geoemyda spengleri is a turtle species found only in Southeast Asia. It is also called the Vietnamese leaf turtle as Vietnam is one of the countries where it occurs. It is also found in Laos and China. Poaching and capture for the illegal pet trade are the biggest threats to this species.

Tonkin Snub-Nosed Monkey

The Rhinopithecus avunculus is a monkey that is famous worldwide for its unique appearance. However, its fame has been unable to ensure its survival as it is now a critically endangered species. It is found in fragmented habitats at altitudes ranging from 700 to 3,900 feet in Vietnam where it is an endemic species. Habitat loss and hunting for food and sale in the wildlife black market are the primary threats to the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey.

Indochinese Tiger

A subspecies of tiger, the Panthera tigris tigris or the Indochinese tiger survive as small populations in parts of Southeast Asia including Vietnam. It is one of the most threatened tiger species and the IUCN has listed this tiger as Endangered. Only about 20 members of this tiger subspecies live in Vietnam. It is believed that this population is too small to sustain itself for long. The Indochinese tiger prefers mostly forested habitats but also adapts itself to living in grasslands, hills, and mountains. For years, this tiger has been hunted for traditional medicines used in Vietnam and China. Today, their habitats are also in great danger with much of it being lost to human settlements and agriculture.

Golden-Headed Langur

Two subspecies of the critically endangered Trachypithecus poliocephalus survive today. The subspecies in Vietnam is called the golden-headed or Cat Ba Langur. It is endemic to the Cat Ba Island island in the country. Less than 70 individuals of the subspecies are known to exist in the present day. In 1986, the Cat Ba National Park was established to protect the langur from threats like poaching and habitat destruction. The animal was poached to supply its body parts to produce traditional medicines.

Other Highly Threatened Species of Vietnam

Many other species found in Vietnam are also highly threatened like the critically endangered grey-shanked douc langur, several threatened turtle species, the crested argus, an endangered bird, and more.

Conservation of Vietnamese Wildlife

Decades of neglect have claimed the lives of thousands of wild animals in Vietnam. The ignorance of the people has also encouraged a flourishing illegal wildlife trade industry. The sacrifice of animals for traditional medicine preparations have pushed many species to the brink of extinction. Conservation of Vietnam's wildlife is thus a top priority of the country's government today. International wildlife protection societies have also collaborated with the Vietnamese government in this regard.
The Bahamas is a country in the Caribbean located in the Lucayan Archipelago. The country is made up of more than 700 islands, islets, and cays within the Atlantic Ocean. The Bahamas is the wealthiest nation in the Caribbean and the 3rd richest country in the Americas. Although the Bahamas is still a developing nation, it has one of the most stable economies in the region and the country had a population of 391,232 people in 2016 while its economy is heavily reliant on offshore banking and tourism. In 2012, the country had a GDP of $11.04 billion and GDP per capita of $31,300. In the same year, it was estimated that the service industry accounted for 90.8% of the GDP while industry accounted for 7.1% of the GDP and agriculture accounted for 2.1% of the country's GDP. Some of the main industries in the Bahamas include banking, tourism, oil transshipment, cement, pharmaceuticals, salt, aragonite, and rum among others. The population of Bahamas is concentrated mainly in the urban areas particularly in Nassau and Freeport; however, there are traditional small farming and fishing activities in the villages particularly in the south-eastern islands. The Bahamas gross national product per capita is one of the highest in the Caribbean region.

Tourism

Tourism in the Bahamas is an important economic activity, and it is estimated that it contributes about 60% of the country's GDP while employing almost half of the country's labor force. In 2012 Bahamas received about 5.8 million tourists out of which 70% were cruise visitors. In 2016 more than 3 million tourists arrived in the Bahamas and the majority was from Canada and the United States. There has been a steady growth in tourist arrivals in the country over the years, and similarly, there has been a boom in construction of new resorts, hotels, and residences which has seen tourism industry growing for several years. The government has also taken a proactive approach true to market the country as a tourist destination in Latin America, Europe, the Far East, Canada, and the US.

Agriculture and Fisheries

The natural resources of the Bahamas have allowed for the agriculture and fish industries to account for about 5% of the country's GDP. The country exports fish and lobsters although it does not raise them commercially. There is no commercial large scale agriculture in the Bahamas, and most of the agricultural output is consumed locally. The country imports foodstuffs valued at $250 million every year, and it represents approximately 80% of the food consumed in the country. The government is planning to expand food production in the country and reduce imports of foodstuffs to generate more foreign exchange. The government has tried to seek foreign investment to increase agricultural output, particularly in food items. Some of the areas the government is targeting to increase in production include pork and beef production and processing, dairy production, fruits and nuts, vegetables, and shrimp farming (mariculture). Only a small portion of the land is arable in the Bahamas on the soils are shallow. The sunny climate in the Bahamas is suitable for cultivation of fruits such as mangoes, bananas, guavas, pineapple, tomatoes, sapadilla, grapefruit, soursop, and sea grape among others.

Financial Services

Financial services industry is the second most important industry in the Bahamas and accounts for about 17% of the GDP. The country adopted the International Business Companies Act (IBC) in 1990, which transformed the nation into one of the leading financial centers in the world. The Act reduced and simplified the procedure and cost of incorporating an offshore company in the country. After only nine years following the adoption of the act, Bahamas had more 84,000 IBC companies in the country. The Bahamas has a friendly tax regime in the country, and all foreign investors do not pay tax on personal income, inheritance, capital gains, or gifts. The country has become an international center for banking and finance and it has attracted numerous financial institutions because of its reputation and stability. There are more than 250 banking and trust companies from 25 different countries around the world which have been licensed to do business in the Bahamas. The laws in the country protect the right to privacy of bank clients, and the country has been referred to as a tax haven. The country has strict laws against illegal financial activities like money laundering. The Bahamian Central Bank regulates all financial entities in the country including foreign organizations operating in the country, by providing a safe environment for banks focusing on private banking, portfolio management, and mutual fund operations.

Manufacturing and Processing

There are few industries in the Bahamas and some of the notable include the pharmaceutical company, PharmaChem Technologies in the Freeport city and the BORCO oil company also found in the city of Freeport, which is involved in transshipment of oil in the country. Other major companies in the country include Commonwealth Brewery in the capital city of Nassau, which manufactures beers such as Heineken, Kalik, and Guinness; and Barcadi Corp in Nassau, which distills rum for export to the US and the EU markets. There is also sun drying of salt sea facility located in the Great Inagua and a cruise ship repair at Freeport.

Prospects of the Bahamian Economy

In 2017, the GDP of Bahamas was valued $12.16 billion and represented 0.02% of the world economy. In the same year, the GDP expanded by 2.5% from the 2016 values. From 1990 to 2017, the annual growth rate averaged about 1.6% and recorded the lowest growth of -4.20% in 2009 and the highest of 7.90% in 1997. According to econometric models by trading economics, it is projected that the Bahamas GDP will stand at $13.6 billion by 2020. It is also expected to grow at a rate of 2.7% annually.
The California golden trout is the official state freshwater fish of California. It was designated the official status in 1947. The California golden trout is native to the state of California and can be found in several streams including the South Fork Kern River and the Golden Trout Creek. The fish was successfully introduced to isolated rivers and lakes in the state as part of conservation efforts. The native habitat of the trout is located at high elevations with little riparian vegetation and unpolluted waters. The lifespan of the golden trout is about nine years, and they can grow to between 7 and 8 inches. Lake dwelling trouts grow faster and bigger compared to their river and stream counterparts. They reach sexual maturity between three and four years and begin spooning from late spring to early summer. The golden trout was introduced to other states for sportfishing including Montana, Idaho, Washington, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The trout was unsuccessfully introduced to the high-elevation lakes of Nevada.

California Marine State Fish

The Garibaldi is the official state marine fish of California. It was designated the official status in 1995. The fish is native to the subtropical Pacific Ocean from Guadalupe Island to Monterey Bay. It is the largest of the damselfish family and can be found in the shallow coastline of Mexico and southern California. An adult garibaldi is golden-orange and grows to about 14 inches in length. On sensing disturbance, the Garibaldi produces a thumping sound that can be heard by divers. They are mostly found in depths of up to 98ft especially in water with rocky reefs.The species is of no immediate concern to the IUCN. Healthy populations can be found in marine protected areas in the United States and Mexico.

California State Marine Mammal

The California grey whale is the official state marine mammal of California. It was designated the official status in 1975. The whales have been sighted traveling in groups along the coast of California during the 7000-mile journey from Baja California to the Western Sea Bearing. The marine mammals measures between 35 and 50 feet in length and weight as much as 40 tons. Global warming has reduced the ice caps in the poles causing drastic changes to the feeding grounds of the whales in the Bering Sea.
Ohio is a state in the American midwest. The first people to have ever lived within Ohios borders were nomadic communities that arrived in the area in 13,000 BCE. Ohio was later home to several Native American communities including the Adena and the Maliseet. Ohio borders Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky.

Pennsylvania

Ohio shares part of its eastern border with Pennsylvania. The entire border between Ohio and Pennsylvania follows a relatively straight line. The borderline is locally referred to as the Ellicott Line. This name was chosen in honor of Andrew Ellicott who led a team to survey the Pennsylvania-Ohio boundary in 1786. One of the rivers that flow across the boundary between Ohio and Pennsylvania is the Mahoning River which runs for roughly 113 miles and drains an area of 1,132 square miles. The Pymatuning Reservoir is another famous feature along the boundary between Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Indiana

Ohio shares its entire western boundary with Indiana. The boundary between Ohio and Indiana follows a relatively straight line for its entire length. Maumee River forms part of the boundary between the two states. This river flows for roughly 137 miles and drains in the area of 6,354 square miles. The Maumee River flows into Lake Erie and provides roughly 5% of the lake's water. Several cities are located on the Indiana side of the border such as Portland and Bryant. Celina and Greenville are some of the cities located on the Ohio side of the border.

West Virginia

The boundary that separates West Virginia and Ohio is located on the southeastern edge of Ohio. The border meanders, following the path of the Ohio River. In 1609, King James I issued a grant that ended up placing the Ohio River under the control of West Virginia, known as Virginia at the time. In 1803, after Ohios admission to the union as a state, leaders sought more control over the Ohio River as they considered it a vital economic resource. They presented the issue to the Supreme Court and explained that their understanding was that the boundary should have been located in the middle of the river. The Supreme Court decided that since the Ohio River was initially under Virginias control, it would remain under its jurisdiction.

Kentucky

Kentucky and Ohio are separated by a border located in the southern edge of Ohio. The Ohio River forms the major part of the boundary between the two states and has led to controversial border issues. In the late 1970s, the dispute was presented to the Supreme Court for resolution. The court ruled that the boundary between the two states was marked by the 1792 low-water mark situated on the northern edge of Ohio River. The court also decided that the states were responsible for determining the exact position of the border. The states utilized data collected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine the exact position of the border leading to the end of the dispute. In 1872, a bridge that linked Ohio to Kentucky was officially opened. Known as the Purple People Bridge today, this bridge built over the Ohio River stretches 2,670 feet long.

Michigan

Michigan and Ohio are separated by a border that is located on Ohios northern edge. Lake Erie forms part of the border between the two states. In 1835, a bloodless boundary dispute arose as both Michigan and Ohio claimed control over an area of 468 square miles that was later named the Toledo Strip. Historians believe that the dispute was made worse by poor understanding of the geography of the Great Lakes. The dispute got worse when Michigan petitioned Congress to recognize it as a state and both Michigan and Ohio began passing laws in an attempt to make the other give up its claim to the area. Ohio and Michigan also sent militias to the area to defend their claim to the area. In 1836, Congress requested the leaders of Michigan to give up their claim to the Toledo Strip in exchange for the Upper Peninsula and official recognition as a state.
A second individual, known as the London patient, has been recently confirmed to be free of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection after receiving a bone marrow transplant for Hodgkins lymphoma from a donor with a genetic resistance to the virus. Thirty months after the transplant, multiple tests indicate there is no return of the virus.

At this stage, the virus is considered to be in remission. Specialists in the field suggest a three- to four-year period to confidently confirm the cure.

A possible third case was recently announced on March 6 at a conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections held in Seattle. The Dusseldorf patient has shown no signs of infectious HIV more than three months after discontinuing antiviral medications. There are six other HIV-infected patients who have received bone marrow transplants from donors resistant to the virus and might in the future be deemed cured.

HIV is a sexually transmitted virus and the precursor to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), one of the most widespread and deadly diseases on the planet. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 36.9 million people worldwide are infected with HIV/AIDS and that an additional 1.8 million individuals become newly infected each year, approximately 5,000 new cases per day.

Timothy Ray Brown, initially known as the Berlin patient, was considered the first HIV-infected patient to be cured. Brown had acquired HIV in 1995 while attending university in Berlin. For 10 years he remained well on antiviral medications that kept the infection in check. In 2005 he developed acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood cells that develops in the marrow of the bones. This leads to symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue and can be rapidly fatal without treatment.

Initially, he underwent chemotherapy, which put the cancer into remission. As a precaution, Browns oncologist obtained a blood sample to test for a possible stem cell transplant as a next option in case the remission was of short duration. Most patients wont find a donor match, but fortuitously for Brown, he had 267 matches, which led his doctors to consider finding a donor with recently identified mutations in their white blood cells that make them resistant to HIV infection. (This inherited mutation is called CCR5 delta 32 and is discussed below.)

When the leukemia rebounded in late 2006, Brown decided to go ahead with the transplant. Such medical procedures are, however, complex and carry significant and potentially lethal complications. They are generally only used after more conventional treatments for cancer have already failed. He stopped his antiviral medications, and within three months the HIV was no longer found in his bloodstream.

In Browns case, his leukemia recurred a year later, and he underwent a second transfer with the same donor. Complications with the second procedure included severe brain injury that left him nearly blind and paralyzed with a prolonged but eventually full recovery.

As a result of the two bone marrow transplants, however, Brown has since remained free of HIV.

The white blood cells searched for by Browns doctors are those with a mutation to their CCR5 receptor on CD4+ T-cells. These cells, helper T-cells that express the CD4 protein on their surface, assist other white blood cells by regulating immune responses to an assortment of infections or pathogens. Helper T-cells are infected by HIV when the virus uses a combination of the CCR5 protein and the CD4 receptor to infiltrate the cell, in turn disrupting the coordinated functioning of the immune system.

When the number of infected CD4+ T-cells are sufficiently suppressed, this leads to the symptomatic stage of the infection, making the patient susceptible to a host of opportunistic infections popularly known as AIDS. An untreated person with AIDS can die from a common cold in a matter of days, much less from more virulent infections.

Proof of individuals resistant to HIV emerged in 1994 when Stephen Crohn was found to be free of the virus after multiple sexual encounters with partners infected with HIV. He was found after several years of research seeking to understand the molecular mechanisms that lead to viral entry into white blood cells. When investigators analyzed Crohns blood, they found a mutation that makes a malfunctioning CCR5 receptor, preventing the HIV virus from entering helper T cells.

Since the identification of this mechanism, considerable research has gone into developing therapeutic interventions to block the function of CCR5. Though several drugs called CCR5 receptor antagonists have been studied, Maraviroc, developed by Pfizer and approved by the FDA in August of 2007, remains the first and only CCR5 inhibitor on the market. The drug was found to achieve complete suppression of the virus in 60 percent of people who have had significant resistance to other HIV drugs, though potential serious liver toxicity requires close monitoring.

Advances in HIV treatments, however, have not made access to the drugs for those infected universal. Only 59 percent of people living with HIV are receiving antiviral treatment, leaving 15.2 million human beings constantly in fear of dying from a minor infection.

Moreover, stem cell transplants from CCR5 mutation donors are unlikely to be realistic treatment options for millions affected by the virus. Combination treatment regimens are available, and the transplants carry significant harsh side effects, including the risk of death.

However, having elucidated the molecular pathways and applying the proof of concepts in the treatment of these individuals provides a tremendous impetus towards designing new cures and targeting the treatment for eradicating HIV and possibly future diseases. This will require a global collaborative effort, unfettered by the capitalist market and profit considerations, to coordinate and translate these findings into measurable outcomes.
Nearly three weeks after the second of two deadly plane crashes that claimed the lives of 346 people, the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation and Space convened Wednesday to question the heads of the federal agencies responsible for overseeing the verification of new aircraft.

The hearing is in response to the March 10 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, when a Boeing 737 Max 8 airplane nose-dived into the ground six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 passengers and crew. It occurred in the wake of a similar disaster five months earlier, when a Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air crashed thirteen minutes after leaving Jakarta, Indonesia, killing a further 189 people.

The day after the March 10 crash, countries around the world grounded the 737 Max 8, citing safety concerns. The United States was the last holdout, claiming that the aircraft had continued airworthiness until finally grounding the plane on March 13.

The witnesses at the Senate hearing included FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt and Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel. Their comments made clear that the interests of the aerospace giant dominate the federal oversight and regulatory agencies.

Elwell detailed the process through which Boeing is allowed to review its own safety systems under a program called Organization Designation Authorization. The Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program is the means by which the FAA may authorize an organization to act as a representative of the FAA, allowing that organization to conduct inspections and tests and issue certificates on behalf of the FAA. This program, established in 2005, has let Boeing and other airline companies operate with virtually no independent oversight of the safety of any new civilian planes.

In particular, it allowed Boeing to produce the Max 8 variant of the Boeing 737 without FAA oversight. Elwell stated, As a result of regular meetings between the FAA and Boeing teams, the FAA determined in February 2012 that the [Max 8] project qualified  [a] project eligible for management by the Boeing ODA.

This extended to the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmenting System, or MCAS, the system which is suspected to have caused the crash in October 2018. It is also suspected as the cause of the March 10 disaster, with Ethiopian Airlines chief executive, Tewolde Gebremariam, stating that he believed the system was in fact on during that crash.

The hearing also exposed the role of the various pilots unions that authorized pilots to fly the Max 8. Elwell stated, To a group, we [the pilots unions] are absolutely confident in the safety of the aircraft and our pilots level of training in flying it.

In reality, individual pilots did in fact raise issues about the safety of the Max 8, and particularly the MCAS anti-stall feature. Many have come out stating that they were unaware of the system and that it was not mentioned in manuals or Max 8 flight training. They also did not have access to flight simulators that could replicate the problems caused if MCAS is given faulty sensor data, the most likely reason for the two crashes.

These truths reveal the real relationship between Boeing and the aerospace industry as a whole and the US government. Boeing is the second largest US contractor, next to Lockheed Martin. It received $23.4 billion in 2017, mostly from the Department of Defense and the Air Force. It is the worlds fifth largest defense contractor and largest US exporter.

Moreover, Boeing is a key part of the US financial system. Since the 737 Max 8 series was released in 2017, the 5,011 orders Boeing has received have accounted for 50 percent of the companys profits. Since the March 10 crash, Boeings stock has lost half of its gains since the new year.

Boeing has immense influence on the US political system. Its political action committee donates large sums to both parties, including among its beneficiaries Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Last year the company spent $15 million in lobbying and employed more than a dozen lobbying firms. The acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, is a former Boeing executive.

Even as the hearings were underway, Boeing executive Mike Sinnett, rejected calls for new oversight over Boeings aircraft development process. He also defended the relationship between the FAA and Boeing, including the ODA program, despite being under scrutiny by Congress, a Department of Transportation audit and a Department of Justice criminal investigation.

During the hearing, Senate Democrats attempted to posture as fighters for increased regulation and oversight. Richard Blumenthal stated that he was preparing legislation to increase FAA oversight. Tom Udall noted Boeings longstanding insider connections with the US political establishment. Ed Markey demanded that the FAA ban selling safety features a la carte to airlines.

They are fooling no one. The Democrats, no less than the Republicans, have been at the forefront of deregulating the airline industry. The first step in this process came under the Carter administration, which passed the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978. It disbanded the Civil Aeronautics Board, which up to that point treated interstate airlines as a public utility, setting routes, schedules and fares.

Carter, supported by Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, instead allowed airlines to set their own fares and routes. The resulting consolidation of the industry in the past half-century has produced higher fares and fees, more crowded planes and an industry dominated by only four major carriers. It has become one of the most unregulated industries in the country, essentially allowing companies to act as both manufacturer and safety regulator, at the expense of human lives.
Cassandra Fairbanks, a US online journalist, has published an account of a visit she made to Julian Assange on Monday, which confirms that the WikiLeaks publisher is being politically gagged and subjected to conditions in Ecuadors London embassy that resemble those of a maximum-security prisoner.

Julian Assange

Yesterday marked one year since Ecuadorian authorities severed Assanges internet access, curtailed his right to receive visitors and banned him from making any political statements, including about his own plight.

The Ecuadorian government, which previously granted Assange political asylum in 2012, has come under intensifying pressure from the US and its allies to force the WikiLeaks founder out of the embassy. Assange would face immediate arrest by British police on trumped-up bail charges, and the prospect of extradition to the US, on manufactured espionage and conspiracy charges that carry maximum sentences of life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Washington has escalated its pursuit of Assange in recent weeks. On March 8, Chelsea Manning was arrested, and jailed indefinitely, for refusing to testify at a closed-door Grand Jury hearing aimed at concocting the charges against Assange.

Manning, who in 2010 courageously leaked US army war logs and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks exposing Washingtons war crimes and global diplomatic intrigues, was imprisoned for seven years under the Obama administration. Now she has been held in solitary confinement for the past three weeks.

Fairbanks article demonstrates that Assange and Manning, whose plight as political prisoners is inextricably linked, are being subjected to similarly punitive conditions.

Fairbanks said it was the third time she had visited Assange over the past year, and each time the atmosphere seems progressively worse. She wrote: When I visited for the first time, which I believe was a year ago to the day, the atmosphere was far more welcoming. The staff and ambassador that were there during my first visit have since been replaced.

Visitors now are not allowed to keep their phones when they meet with Assange. If they bring a phone to the building, they are compelled to hand it over to Ecuadorian authorities, and provide detailed data, including its serial number and make. Fairbanks said she had been advised that Ecuador could not be trusted to hold my phone.

Fairbanks said she was searched after entering the embassy, and directed to a conference room where two large visible cameras were pointed at the table. Assange appeared at the rooms door, but was not allowed to enter.

Embassy staff demanded that he submit to an apparently unprecedented full-body metal detector scan before meeting Fairbanks. It appears that this was intended to prevent Assange from bringing any device into the room, such as a radio, which could be used to prevent his conversation from being recorded and monitored by embassy officials.

According to Fairbanks, Assange protested, declaring: I dont want to do the body scan. It is undignified and not appropriate. I am just trying to have a private meeting with a journalist.

Embassy staff shut the door to the conference room. Assanges lawyers were compelled to undergo a full-body scan before entering and apprising Fairbanks of the situation.

When they left, the door to the conference room was shut. Fairbanks later attempted to leave the room, only to discover that she had been locked in. She was effectively detained for an hour. During that time, Fairbanks said she heard Assange opposing the actions of the embassy staff.

Fairbanks was subsequently released from the room and ushered to the lobby. She said she overheard Assange ask: Is this a prison? This is how you treat a prisoner, not a political refugee! The Ecuadorian ambassador, Jaime Alberto Marchan, allegedly responded that the measures were for our protection and to protect you!

Fairbanks then recounted the following exchange: You have been illegally surveilling me, Assange sternly insists. I want you to shut up, the ambassador says. I know you want me to shut upthe Ecuadorian president has already gagged me, Assange fired back. I am banned from producing journalism.

Assange later declared: You have been working with the US government against me, its disgraceful! You are an agent of the US government, and there will be consequences for your illegal acts.

Ecuadorian embassy staff effectively scuttled the meeting between Assange and Fairbanks. They were able only to briefly greet each other in the buildings lobby.

Following the publication of Fairbanks article on Tuesday on the right-wing Gateway Pundit website, the official WikiLeaks Twitter account issued a post stating that Assanges legal team had confirmed each factual element of her account.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, who was appointed as WikiLeaks editor-in-chief last October, following the Ecuadorian governments silencing of Assange, tweeted: The treatment of Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy is unacceptable. It is despicable that a nations government turns against a man it has granted diplomatic asylum in such a way that he has less rights than a prisoner.

The conditions documented by Fairbanks appear to have become even more onerous than those outlined by well-known journalist John Pilger earlier this month at a Socialist Equality Party rally in Sydney called to defend Assange and demand his immediate freedom.

Pilger, who had last visited the WikiLeaks founder on December 31, likened the conditions in the embassy to Room 101 in George Orwells dystopian novel 1984. The Australian journalist had been compelled to communicate with Assange by passing notes and whispering to avoid the surveillance measures in the room.

The hostile conditions imposed upon Assange are a further warning of plans to force him out of the embassy and into the hands of the US and British authorities, who represent the governments whose crimes and mass surveillance he has done so much to expose.

WikiLeaks drew attention last week to the fact that a US Department of Justice aircraft, previously used in rendition operations, had flown to London, only to return on Saturday. The dispatch of the plane was accompanied by an increase in the number of plainclothes police officers around the Ecuadorian embassy.

Yesterday, Ecuador Foreign Minister Jose Valencia, who has close ties to US authorities, pledged firm and sustained measures against Assange, because the WikiLeaks Twitter account, which Assange does not control, Tweeted media reports about a corruption scandal involving Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno and his brother. According to WikiLeaks, Ecuadorian state media also suggested Assange should be arrested over the coverage of the scandal.

The latest developments underscore the urgency of extending the campaign in defence of Assange and Manning, including by participating in rallies being held across the United States by the SEP and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality.

Assanges defiant statements, as reported by Fairbanks, demonstrate that, as Pilger declared at the Sydney rally, the WikiLeaks founder will never obey Big Brother.

The brutal treatment of Assange and Manning is an indictment of successive Australian governments, Labor and Liberal-National alike, which have participated in the US-led vendetta against Assange, an Australian citizen. It is also a damning exposure of those organisations, such as the trade unions, the Greens and the pseudo-left, that once claimed to defend the WikiLeaks founder but have since abandoned him.

The demand advanced by the SEP rallies in Sydney and Melbourne this month, for the Australian government to take immediate action to secure Assanges release and safe passage to Australia, with a guarantee against extradition to the US, must be raised by all defenders of democratic rights. It will be a central feature of the SEPs campaign in the upcoming Australian federal election.
The campaign for the April 11 and April 15 meetings in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan on The Threat of Fascism and How to Fight it has begun in earnest with teams from the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) reaching out to workers at area auto factories and other work locations.

Christoph Vandreier, deputy national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party--SGP) in Germany will be the featured speaker at the meetings. Vandreier, a leader in the fight against fascism in Europe and author of the newly released book Why are They Back? Historical Falsification, Political Conspiracy and the Return of Fascism in Germany, will be on a two-week speaking tour in the US, starting with an April 8 public meeting in Berkeley, California.

The critical importance of the meetings was underscored by the horrific massacre of 50 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15. The fascist gunman, who had connections to several far-right organizations in Europe and his home country of Australia, specifically praised Donald Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity" and repeated the American presidents denunciations of immigrants and refugees as invaders. The neo-Nazi gunman who murdered 11 Jewish people at a Pittsburgh synagogue on October 27, 2018 used similar fascist language.

Warren Stamping workers reading the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter

SEP and IYSSE members spoke to workers at Fiat Chryslers stamping plant in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Michigan earlier this week about the New Zealand massacre and the importance of the public meetings on the fight against fascism.

Workers reacted with shock and horror to the mass killing and some stopped to discuss the meaning of the event. Several workers saw the promotion of anti-immigrant hatred as an effort to divide workers and scapegoat immigrants for the loss of jobs and deteriorating living conditions.

Worker discusses meeting at campaign table

The murders in New Zealand were horrible, one worker told the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter. The problem is not the refugees, its the rich folks, the one percent, he said.

Another worker added, Its not the immigrants, the divide is between the rich and the poor.

Several workers made the direct connection between the racist campaign against Muslims and immigrants and the efforts by corporate management and the United Auto Workers union to pit young and old, black and white and part-time and full-time workers against each other inside the factories.

Its divide-and-conquer, just like they do inside here, one worker commented. Another said, The killing in New Zealand is awful. Its these companies that want us against each other. Here they try to turn us on workers who get transferred from other plants like Jefferson.

Another worker said the fascist murders were Totally wrong and inhumane--its like the stereotyping of Muslims and immigrants. Its lies and propaganda. I dont usually talk about politics because were not in control of anything. I stopped believing in voting after the 2000 election, when they stopped counting votes and handed Bush the presidency.

Chrysler is making record profits with all the Jeeps and trucks they are selling. They are not sharing any of that with us. We got a $5,000 profit sharing check and a lot of that was taken away in taxes. Theyve got young workers right next to me in the plant doing the same work but at half the pay. That only undermines our unity.

Several workers expressed their deep hatred for Trump, while others expressed political illusions that the election of Democrats or stricter gun control laws would prevent future atrocities. A small minority, influenced by Trumps fascistic rants, expressed support for the anti-immigrant witch hunt. In so far as such views have any support in the plants, this is largely due to the decades-long promotion of nationalism and militarism by the United Auto Workers union, which, while overseeing the destruction of workers jobs and living standards, has led a racist campaign blaming Asian and Mexican workers for job losses and wage cuts.

Many workers in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and other so-called Rust Belt states, which Trump carried in the 2016 election, had originally voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries, attracted by his calls for a political revolution against the billionaire class.

One worker who stopped at the table said he had backed Sanders and was angered over how the Democratic National Committee (DNC) had sabotaged his campaign in order to secure the nomination for Hillary Clinton.

SEP member discusses fight against fascism

The Sanders campaign had attracted many workers by pointing to the crushing levels of social inequality in America, only to endorse Clinton, a shill for Wall Street and a warmonger. Sanders had downplayed the illicit maneuvers of the DNC and joined the bogus campaign against Russian meddling in the elections. By supporting Clinton, Sanders handed the election to Trump, who was able to tap into deep social discontent by presenting himself as an opponent of the status quo.

Several workers bought pamphlets and donated to the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter. Campaigners distributed hundreds of newsletters, which prominently advertised the April 11 meeting and carried articles on the New Zealand shootings and the recent indictment of UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell for taking bribes from Fiat Chrysler. While autoworkers are considering what they will confront in the contract fight this summer, the discussions at the Warren Stamping plant express a turn by increasing numbers of workers to broader political and historical questions, including how the working class can fight and defeat the danger of fascism and war.

Fascism is not a mass movement like it was in the 1930s. In Germany and other European countries, far-right parties like the Alternative for Germany have been cultivated by a network of pro-fascist academics and state intelligence operatives. In the US, Trumps endless denunciations of the danger of socialism reveal the real fear of the ruling classes all over the world that the growth of the class struggle against social inequality, war and dictatorship is leading workers to draw revolutionary conclusions.

The meeting with Christoph Vandreier will review the historical lessons that must form the basis for the building of a powerful socialist movement of the working class capable of preventing the disaster of Nazism from taking place on an even greater scale today. The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter urges our readers to attend the upcoming meetings.
According to leaked documents provided to local San Diego news station NBC 7, a government database has been targeting journalists and activists at the southern US border. As news has spread of the operation many other groups and organizations have also spoken of increased surveillance and harassment by the Border Patrol, ICE, and other government agencies for covering immigration in Mexico.

The database was part of Operation Secure Line, the Trump administrations military operation to block immigrants who were travelling in last years Central American caravan. Images of the 59 persons targeted were included along with personal information and descriptive tags like journalist and organizer along with a large green X over some of the faces.

These markers would indicate that an alert had been placed on the persons passport and if they were stopped would be forced into secondary inspection. Many activists and journalists would be detained for hours or had their passports held in limbo without being offered a credible explanation by the border authorities.

While many have long suspected that the government was tracking their whereabouts at the southern border, the documents obtained by NBC 7 prove the Trump administration is expanding its war on immigrants to attack the democratic rights of the entire population.

ACLU staff attorney Esha Bhandari told the Guardian, I have not seen this kind of systematic targeting of journalists and advocates in this way, adding, I think it is very troubling, very disturbing.

Bhandari said, It means that the debate about immigrants rights, about the treatment of immigrants, about the treatment of asylum seekers, is going to be suppressed or censored because the people who are speaking out with a voice thats critical of the government are going to be singled out for harsher treatment or punished.

New York City activist Ravi Ragbir, director of the New Sanctuary Coalition, lived in the US for 23 years before he was arrested after a routine meeting with ICE. He was set to be deported to his native Trinidad before he was eventually released by a judge after public protests.

Ragbir told the media how his arrest was in retaliation for his campaign to free Gambian immigrant Baba Sillah, who also arrested after a routine check-in with ICE. Its just very uncertain and very traumatizing to know the government is watching you, Ravi told the Guardian. But I cant allow that to debilitate me  If theyre going to move me, I might as well fight as hard as I can.

Other groups pro-immigrant groups have also faced increasing surveillance by the state. Last October, three activist groups in Washington sued the government for retaliating against their members.

In November, the Vermont-based group Migrant Justice filed a lawsuit alleging the government had been spying on its members for years, including using an informant. One of the organizers, Will Lambek, told the Guardian how CBP detained and arrested at least 20 of its members between 2016 and 2018.

This month Nation magazine obtained a spreadsheet used by ICE to monitor protests planned in New York City, including the New Sanctuary Coalition. The revelation prompted the House Committee on Homeland Security to write a letter to the acting director of ICE to obtain more information about the spreadsheet.

The same committee, led by Democrat Bennie G. Thompson, sent a letter to CBP commissioner Kevin McAleenan expressing great concern about the agencys spying. It stated, the CBPs targeting (of) journalists, lawyers, and advocates raises question about possible misuse of CBPs border search authority and requires oversight to ensure the protection of Americans legal and constitutional rights.

The panels Subcommittee on Border Security set a March 14 deadline for the CBP to provide a full list of individuals under surveillance, as well as dossiers on targeted individuals, a list of how many times they had been stopped by CBP, and other information. As of this writing, the CBP has failed to provide any of these documents.

In an effort at damage control, the CBP did release a statement saying the program was a necessary response to the so-called assaults on the border patrol in November of last year, when federal agents along with the US military fired tear gas at immigrants approaching the San Ysidro crossing on the Mexican border.

The CBP stated, efforts to gather this type of information are a standard law enforcement practice, and said the agency, does not target journalists for inspection based on their occupation or their reporting.

An internal review had been started by the CBPs Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Homeland Security to ostensibly check for any wrongdoing. However this had only been started after NBC 7 had contacted the government agencies on February 27.

Alex Mensing, an activist with Pueblo Sin Fronteras whose name appeared in the database, told NBC 7, What is especially concerning is the number of human rights defenders and journalists who are being interrogated and added to this list, which is only designed to intimidate them and discourage them from speaking out.

He added, Its upsetting to know the U.S. government is using its resources to monitor human rights defenders and journalists who are doing their work.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and local Democratic congressmen also criticized the program while the government of Mexico denied any involvement in the program. The foreign secretary said, The Mexican government does not conduct illegal surveillance on anyone, for any type or category of activity.
On Monday, presidential spokesman Gen. Otavio Barros announced to the press the unprecedented decision taken by Brazils fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro to order military institutions to prepare due celebrations of the anniversary of the 1964 US-backed military coup that brought down the bourgeois-nationalist government of President Joao Goulart.

The coup inaugurated a blood-soaked regime that would last until 1985 and that would prove instrumental in the installation of three other genocidal military regimes in the following years, in Chile and Uruguay in 1973 and Argentina in 1976, that murdered, tortured and persecuted millions of South Americans.

Bolsonaro has insisted that the military regime was not a dictatorship and that its seizure of power in 1964 was not a coup. He has defended torture and insisted that the solution to Brazils problems is to do the job that the military regime didnt do: killing 30,000.

Bolsonaros order is yet another milestone in the protracted and sharp turn to the right taken by the Brazilian political regime since the re-election of Workers Party (PT) President Dilma Rousseff in 2014. Although such celebrations have been held furtively in the countrys military institutions, especially military schools and academies and retired officers clubs, it is the first time an elected president orders such ceremonies and publicly defends the former dictatorship.

The return of such open celebrations again exposes the lies of all those in the former opposition to the dictatorship, first and foremost in the PT, that a stable bourgeois democracy could be built in Brazil if only there was respect for their treacherous agreements granting a blanket amnesty to the sadistic murderers and torturers of the regime.

Every president following the dictatorship abided by this amnesty, despite public outcry. This included former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, an exile stripped of his university tenure by the regime, Lula, jailed as leader of mass anti-dictatorship strikes and Dilma Rousseff, who succeeded Lula, a former urban guerrilla fighter, imprisoned and tortured by the regime.

The so-called amnesty law was defended by the PT until its last moments in power. Even when it allowed investigations by a belated truth committee into the regimes crimes in 2011, the PT effectively blocked the work of this panel, publicly declaring it was against the persecution of military criminalsthe same language used at the end of the regime to promote the amnesty. The commission was wound up in 2014 without a single indictment.

Mondays presidential decree, certainly long in preparation, was nevertheless given an extraordinary impulse by the reaction of both the press and the PT opposition to Bolsonaros visits to the US and Chile. The tour provided another opportunity for Bolsonaros supposed political opponents to incite military elements within the government against the presidentnot as members of an elected government, but as tried and trusted state agents, the only legitimate moderating political force in the country. Against such a backdrop, Bolsonaro has sought to reinforce his own fascist appeal, building up his support among wider layers of far-right officers in the military and, just as importantly, in the murderous police forces across Brazil.

Bolsonaros pro-imperialist tour was met with a fierce factional attack led by the countrys oldest daily, O Estado de S. Paulo, a traditional mouthpiece for the military, which published no less than five editorials, during and after both trips It set the tone for the other three major papers, Folha de S. Paulo, Valor Economico and O Globo, denouncing Bolsonaros alignment with Trump as counter to Brazilian economic interests. This culminated with a piece in the March 21 edition of O Estado, headlined Diplomatic victory, yes, but for Trump. The editorial charged that the trip was useless at best, and that Bolsonaro had approached a president, not a country, given that even in the Republican Party, Trumps values face resistance. It went on to cite approvingly the fact that China has resisted US demands.

Highlighting the sharp turn towards US imperialism sponsored by Bolsonaro and his military and corporate backers, the tour had plenty of ominous references to the crimes committed by US imperialism and its nationalist military collaborators in Latin America. This included Bolsonaros unannounced visit to the headquarters of the CIA, which played a key role in orchestrating the 1964 coup, and a radio commentary by Bolsonaros chief-of-staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, one day before the Chile visit, in which he declared that Pinochets bloodbath was necessary.

Significantly, after his visit to Washington, Bolsonaro went to Chile to participate in the founding of a new pro-imperialist union of South American nations, the PROSUL, which was created to bury the initiative of the former pink tide governments in founding the now-defunct UNASUL in 2008. As a lifelong apologist for the Pinochet regime, he was met with popular protests, but embraced by the right-wing government of President Sebastian Pinera. Bolsonaros far-right politics are an essential component of the new PROSUL.

The celebration and vindication of torture and murder were the least of Estado de S. Paulos concerns, as its editorial on the Chile trip demonstrated. Everybody knows Bolsonaros position on these issues, an editorial titled Looking for a President said, but as Brazils representative, he should keep these opinions on dictators and dictatorships in neighboring nations to himself, as they naturally cause discomfort. It later concluded: Worried about the petty concerns of his base, Mr. Jair Bolsonaro appears to have given up a government for all.

Coming from a paper that is up to its neck in the red-baiting and coup-mongering against the Venezuelan government, which was supportive of the Brazilian dictatorship, which regularly features military commanders in its opinion pages and which has directed its fire at Bolsonaro for sidelining the career generals in his government in favor of his family circle, these lines were a shot across the bow. The factional warfare that has gripped the Brazilian bourgeoisie since the beginning of Rousseffs second term in 2015 is escalating.

Not coincidentally, Bolsonaros vice president, Gen. Hamilton Mourao, met with 600 businessmen at a dinner last Tuesday, in what was obscenely dubbed the trillion reais dinnera reference to the total worth of the participants, US$250 billion. Next week, Mourao himself will travel to the US and meet businessmen at Harvards Brazil Conference.

The conflicts unfolding around Bolsonaros alignment with Washington are profound. They have dominated Brazilian political life since the end of the commodity boom and the launching of the US pivot to Latin America. These developments narrowed the possibilities of relative independence from US imperialism that existed during the pink tide, and curtailed the capacity to use export profits to finance minimum poverty relief programs. These factors made Brazil more susceptible to the gravitational pull of US imperialism over Latin America, which, acting with the strength of a natural law, draws an economically decelerating Brazil closer into its orbit.

A new international alignment thus became a central issue for the ruling class in the last elections, along with a massive restructuring of class relations, embodied in the so-called pension reform. The pro-US shift was based on calculations above all regarding Brazilian interests in the face of great power conflictsi.e., between the US and China and Russiawhich have become the central focus of US foreign policy.

However, both immediate and long-term problems highlighted by the US visit are related to the decline of US imperialism and the trade war imposed on China by Washington, which may cut deeply into Brazilian exports to and investments from China without any tangible compensation from the US. Valor Economicos Assis Moreira clearly outlined the most immediate worries: if the US is able to impose the end of its trade deficit with China, US exports would jump from $600 billion in 2024 compared to $155 billion in 2018. This would cut into Brazilian exports by 10 to 20 percent.

With rising rivalries across the globe and the gangster tactics of Trump, no one should take his promise to support Brazils membership in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as good coin, or, even if he kept the promise, that it would offer any way out of Brazils protracted economic slump.

Such distrust animates Bolsonaros bourgeois opponents. Moreover, factions of the ruling class are worried that the openly pro-US alignment and its accompanying fascistic rhetoric may stir popular opposition and derail the vote on the pension reform. Such calculations were exposed in a Financial Times article of March 8, titled Will Bolsonaros cultural wars derail the reforms? What the Financial Times euphemistically calls cultural wars are Bolsonaros litany of god, family and nation which have provoked widespread revulsion in Brazil and are exposing before broad layers of the population the rot of his government and the political system which produced it.

To the extent that the military criticizes what has been dismissively dubbed the ideological wing of the government that dominated during the US trip, it is not out of any sympathy for democracy or independence from imperialism, but rather an awareness of the extremely limited support these ideas enjoy within the population.

To oppose the crazy ideologues with calls for increased powers to the reasonable military will not change the sharp dangers confronting the working class one iota. Such a campaign is a treacherous cover-up of the deep crisis that produced Bolsonaro, and must be relentlessly denounced.

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[2 April 2014]
Next Tuesday April 2, a run-off election will decide the next mayor of the city of Chicago. Two Democratic candidates, both African-American womenToni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoothave been locked in a bitter and ugly fight for the mayors office.

The third largest city in the US, Chicago is characterized by extraordinary levels of social inequality, a reality that has been demonstrated at each stage of the municipal elections so far. All candidates accept the fiscal limits laid down by the billionaires and big business, leaving virtually no funds for social services or wage and benefit increases for public sector workers.

After decades of cuts and givebacks, there are major areas where social investment is needed: housing, transit infrastructure, schools, hospitals and health care centers. But Preckwinkle and Lightfoot, while desperate to portray themselves as progressive, have spoken of little but the constraints they accept and will work under.

The primary elections of February 26 narrowed the crowded field of 14 down to two: Toni Preckwinkle, chairwoman of both the Cook County Board and the Cook County Democratic Party, and former federal prosecutor and longtime Chicago Police Department official Lori Lightfoot. The new mayor is set to take office May 20.

Given the choice between Preckwinkle, who has cut the better part of $1 billion from the Cook County budget and boasts about it regularly, and Lightfoot, who has represented the Chicago Police Department in different roles throughout her long career, voter turnout next week is likely remain near a historic low.

Even by the standards of the filthy corruption and violence that characterize Chicago capitalist politics, its difficult to imagine how the options could be much worse than machine-hack cost-cutter or defender of police violence.

The voters that decided the run-off would be between Lightfoot and Preckwinkle numbered less than 541,000, or just one-third of those registered to vote in the city. The near-record low turnout reflects the widespread disgust with Democratic Party rule in the city, especially among youth, who largely abstained from votingonly 3.5 percent.

The vast majority of African-American voters who voted in the primary did not support either Lightfoot or Preckwinkle, making it more difficult for either candidate to proclaim themselves the representative of the black community and in that way give themselves a left image. This has been a major stumbling block for both campaigns, even as the candidates attempt to assure business that its interests will also be served.

In the primary, both candidates attempted to portray themselves as progressive reformers, distorting their own records beyond recognition. Both candidates have decades-long careers in which theyve thoroughly integrated themselves into the Democratic Party apparatus and the business interests it serves, especially investment banking and real estate.

Both campaigned on their race and gender identity in an effort to order to obscure their basically right-wing politics and distinguish themselves in the large primary field. Both candidates are African-American women and Lightfoot is lesbian.

But once the run-off campaign began and the two had to distinguish themselves in a head-to-head contest, the dynamic shifted. The race became nasty, alienating the city population even further. Homophobic attack ads against Lightfoot were circulated on the south side.

On Monday March 25, a poll by WTTW, Temkin and Harris was released indicating a significant lead for Lightfoot of 53 percent to Preckwinkles 17 percent. Another recent poll indicated white middle-class voters, mainly on the north side, support Lightfoot 64 to 13. Much of Lightfoots support during the primary was in the upper middle class and wealthy areas on the north side.

In trying to win support on the south and west side Preckwinkle, recently enlisted the help of US Representative Bobby Rush, who declared at a campaign event in Bronzeville: This election is really about what type of police force were going to have in the city of Chicago, and everyone who votes for Lori, the blood of the next young black man or black woman who is killed by the police is on your hands. If youre against police brutality and murder, you ought to be for Toni Preckwinkle. Shes the only one who is going to have the police under her control.

While there is no reason to believe Preckwinkle would have the Chicago Police Department (CPD) under control, and neither Preckwinkle nor Lightfoot support removing law enforcement from public schools, Lightfoots entire career and her campaign statements have aimed at repairing and improving the reputation of the police.

At a recent debate she claimed, The police and the community need each other. The rift that has developed has to be healed. We have to get to a place where the police are doing their job, serving and protecting in a way that's constitutional but, more importantly, with respect and empathy for the people they're serving.

Chicago has spent more than $100 million in settlements involving police abuse. Lightfoot is more concerned about the money paid out than the suffering and death at the hands of the police thugs, for which the money is small compensation. She said, Thats unacceptable. I think its offensive to taxpayers in the city. We need to be proper stewards of precious tax dollars. Were not looking at risk management systems and redundant systems that could save money.

In trying to portray herself as a reformer, Lightfoot described her long record as a mayoral appointee to police oversight commissions as signifying opposition to police corruption and murder. Those who have pointed out her utter failure at police reform in those years are absolutely correct to do so, but they also risk missing the point. These appointments are political positions, and likely key to the favor Lightfoot has won recently from business interests.

Once a federal prosecutor, Lightfoot was the head of the Chicago Police Board, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) Office of Professional Standards and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the latter two ostensibly oversight divisions that put part of the Chicago police department in charge of investigating complaints against its officers. A senior equity partner for the corporate law firm Meyer Brown, Lightfoot also represented CPD in suits brought against it. One of these cases involved a settlement to the family of Christine Eilman for more than $22 million after it was found CPD bore responsibility for its officers dumping the young woman in a dangerous area while she was in a mental health crisis, acts that were determined to have contributed to her violent death.

Lightfoot enjoys the public support of the Illinois Education Association, US Representative and Bernie Sanders surrogate Jesus Chuy Garciawho ran against former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015and prominent feminist (and one-time CIA asset) Gloria Steinem. Both the Chicago Tribune and the Sun-Times have endorsed her.

In an effort to portray Lightfoot as inexperienced, Preckwinkle has boasted of her proven ability to cut costs, lay off workers and find efficiencies, including cuts to workers compensation the system of payment when workers are injured on the job.

She said, In the last 9 years weve made $850 million in cuts. The first obligation of the mayor is to look for efficiencies. Thats why Ive talked about not just tax increment finance reform, but workmans comp reform.

This is the candidate that has the support of the Chicago Teachers Union. Preckwinkle is endorsed by Ken Bennett, an aide to outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel; Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White; Valerie Jarrett, the senior adviser to former President Barack Obama; three Service Employees International Union (SEIU) locals; Teamsters Local 700 and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 881.

Preckwinkle was recently re-elected President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. She is the first African-American and woman to serve as Chairperson of the Cook County Democratic Party, which controls the city and county governments for the most part.

Prior to taking over as head of the county board in 2011, she served as an Alderman for 19 years representing the citys 4th ward in Hyde Park. Preckwinkles decades in the city council have given her close ties to its often felonious cast of characters, like recently indicted alderman Ed Burke. The Chicago Teachers Union has directly intervened in this years mayoral race, a role the union reprised from 2015. Preckwinkle claims to support the expansion of certain staff in public schools and has agreed to a four-year moratorium on school closures.

Both candidates claim to support an elected school board. The Chicago Public Schools board has been since the 1990s under mayoral control.

Negotiations between the city and CTU for the Chicago Public Schools teachers contract got underway in January, and part of CTUs strategy is to ensure they have a good political relationship with their new boss. CTU President Jesse Sharkey, a member of the International Socialist Organization, issued a statement following the primary election in which he hailed the election of either candidate on the basis of their race and gender, not what class they represent, declaring, An African-American woman on the cusp of the mayors seat is a monumental achievement.

Chicago has had a previous African-American mayor, Harold Washington, and a previous female mayor, Jane Byrne. Neither lifted a finger to help the working class, and both served the interests of corporate Chicago. There is no reason to think that a blending of the two, an African-American woman, cut from the same mold of capitalist politics, will prove any different.

The question of city finances has been left to debates in the very last days in the run up to the election. The citys now-permanent state of budget crisis has been a weapon in the Democrats political arsenal in years of attacks on the living standards of working families. Every effort has been made to lower expectations in this election for any serious improvements to needed city infrastructure, housing, jobs, social services.

For all the noise made about progressives taking office in Chicago, their proposals leave the massive wealth of the financial aristocracy completely untouched. Neither candidate supports taxing the financial aristocracy. When asked about the so-called Lasalle Street Tax on financial and investment banking transactions, both firmly said no. Both candidates also support the expansion of casino gaming. Lightfoot has courted big business and recently earned positive press from Crains Chicago for her statements of opposition to rent control and any kind of tax on financial transactions.

According to the proposed 2019 city budget, an astonishing 21.6 percent of all city of Chicago spending will go to financial institutions in the form of debt payments, much of which is pension debt. That amounts to more than $1.9 billion.

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[2 March 2019]

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[25 February 2019]
Just six days after the March 15 Christchurch mosque shootings in which a fascist killed 50 people, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week announced a ban on military style, semi-automatic guns and assault rifles.

Ardern declared: On 15 March our history changed forever. Now, our laws will too. We are announcing action today on behalf of all New Zealanders to strengthen our gun laws and make our country a safer place. Changes to the law in the aftermath of the 1990 Aramoana massacre, when a local resident shot and killed 13 people, did not go far enough, Ardern said.

The Labour Party-led governments legislation, which has full cross-party support, will be introduced under urgency procedures when parliament sits next week. Under an Order in Council, the ban on trading and use of such weapons came into force immediately.

The population remains shocked by the horrific events that unfolded in Christchurch. On March 22, people observed an official call for two minutes silence. Some 20,000 gathered in Christchurch and 15,000 in Dunedin to attend vigils in memory of the victims. The widespread anger over the shooting, and sympathy for its victims, is being channelled toward gun control for definite political purposes.

International media coverage seized on the initiative, as well as moves to restrict freedom of expression on social media platforms, to praise Arderns inspirational leadership. A glowing March 21 editorial in the New York Times, entitled America Deserves a Leader as Good as Jacinda Ardern, proclaimed that the world should learn from the way Jacinda Ardern has responded to the horror.

Democratic Party members who are falsely presented as lefts also applauded her. Presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders posted on Twitter: This is what real action to stop gun violence looks like. We must follow New Zealands lead, take on the NRA [National Rifle Association] and ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons in the United States.

This campaign seeks to cover up the responsibility of the political establishment and the state in New Zealand, as well as in US, Europe and Australia, for fanning the growth of the far-right by stirring up anti-immigrant xenophobia and racism.

To present gun control as a solution to the type of far-right extremist violence unleashed in Christchurch is a fraud on many levels. As Brenton Tarrants manifesto makes clear, he planned his attack over a two-year period in a highly-disciplined and determined manner and was not wedded to using guns. Little has been said about the fact that two explosive devices were discovered on a car following Tarrants arrest.

Moreover, Tarrant had a long history of connections with known far-right groups and made his plans known online before the massacre, raising disturbing questions about why police and intelligence agencies did not prevent the attack.

Alongside the gun control measures, New Zealands chief censor banned Tarrants manifesto. This is an anti-democratic move aimed at preventing ordinary people from seeing the striking similarity of Tarrants racist and anti-Muslim rhetoric and that of the establishment political parties, most obviously NZ First, which is a coalition partner in the Labour-led government, alongside the Greens.

The focus on guns goes hand-in-hand with censorship. It aims to obscure the fact that successive Labour and National-led governments have overseen a social crisis since the 1980s and a quarter century of criminal US-led wars that has helped create the conditions for the re-emergence of fascism as an international phenomenon.

As Tarrants manifesto boasts, there is widespread sympathy for fascism in governments, the military, police and intelligence agencies. Yet the mass shooting is being exploited to bolster the powers and resources of the state apparatus.

The ruling elite views gun control as one way to expand police powers and prepare to suppress the growing struggles against deteriorating living standards and the drive to war. The law change coincides with a push to arm police with guns. New Zealand is one of a handful of countries where front-line officers do not routinely carry firearms, but in recent years this has begun to change. Killings by armed police have become more common.

Officially, Tarrant is the sole suspect in the Christchurch attack. Yet despite him being in custody, the country remains on a high threat alert, meaning a terrorist attack is assessed as very likely. It is the first time New Zealand has had a high threat level, and it has been used to deploy police on the streets with semi-automatic weapons.

Under the new restrictions, weapons similar to those used in the terrorist attack will be outlawed. Related parts capable of converting guns into semi-automatics (MSSAs) also will be banned, along with high-capacity magazines. A buyback scheme will allow gun owners to return weapons. After a reasonable time those who continue to possess the guns could be prosecuted. Current gun law penalties are up to $4,000 and/or three years in prison, but the new law would increase these.

On Monday, Police Minister Stuart Nash told TVNZ the immediate bans would be followed with laws to tighten vetting procedures, licensing and storage of weapons. Yet questions remain unanswered about why the police granted the Christchurch shooter a gun license, despite his many public statements on social media in support of fascists, and threats to kill Marxists and globalists.

Ardern claimed Tarrant had exploited loopholes in the law. Police, however, said he obtained his license after being vetted. In late 2017, police interviewed him and also spoke to two referees who reportedly vouched for his character. Police have not revealed what they discussed with Tarrant, nor the identity of his referees. A former police firearms control officer, Joe Green, told the media that the referees were a father and son whom the far-right extremist had met in an online forum.

All the parliamentary partiesgovernment and oppositionhave vowed to prevent a repeat of the atrocity, but for decades they have created the reactionary political climate that enable the rise of fascist groups. All of them have supported the bogus war on terror, including the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, which have fuelled anti-Muslim xenophobia. The entire political establishment has backed immigration restrictions, suggesting that immigrants and refugees are to blame for the social crisis created by the austerity measures of successive governments.

Workers should oppose the strengthening of the state apparatus, which will inevitably be used against the struggles of the working class, as will the gangs of fascist thugs. The only way to end the threat of fascism is to abolish its root causethe bankrupt and decaying capitalist system.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is unleashing a massive crackdown on Central American immigrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border. According to CBP figures, the agency made 66,450 border arrests in February, the highest monthly total in years.

The border region has been placed under military occupation and is turning into a legal no mans land. Video and images released Wednesday show immigrants being detained underneath an overpass in El Paso, Texas. In the images, hundreds of immigrants huddled behind barbed wire appear beneath a freeway surrounded by trash and armed guards.

The decision to hold immigrants under an overpass is a calculated, provocative maneuver. Trump, emboldened by the collapse of the Democratic Party-led Russia witch-hunt, is giving the green light to his fascistic supporters within the military and immigration agencies who are demanding a dramatic expansion of the network of immigrant internment camps across the US.

Late yesterday, NBC News reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will imminently ask Congress to provide billions of dollars in emergency funding for detention centers, including those specifically intended to jail thousands of children.

Immigrant children, the DHS letter complains, cannot be expeditiously removed due to outdated laws and resource constraints. The letter blames protections for immigrant children as a pull factor that encourages immigration. We are witnessing the real-time dissolution of the immigration system, the letter states, warning of a system-wide meltdown.

The DHS letter calls for granting emergency authority to restore order and stem the historic flows of immigrants, including through the elimination of legal protections for detained immigrants, the building of temporary processing facilities and the deployment of at least hundreds of additional personnel to support CBP and ICE.

The government is currently holding over 1,300 children without their parents in cold holding cells, including over 250 who are under the age of 12. This does not include the 12,000 children who are dispersed throughout the country at longer-term child detention centers. The Trump administration also recently requested that the military agree to hold 5,000 children at Goodfellow Air Force Base outside of San Angelo, Texas.

The Washington Post reported that the detainees in cramped internment camps have a variety of ailments and communicable diseases. Many of the migrants are seriously ill, the Post wrote, including infants with 105-degree fevers, a 2-year-old suffering seizures in the desert, a 19-year-old woman with a congenital heart defect who needs emergency surgery and a 40-year-old man suffering from multiple organ failure. ICE recently acknowledged it had detained over 2,500 pregnant women since 2016.

On Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter to denounce Mexico and Central American countries for doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our countryThe Dems dont care, such BAD laws. May close the Southern Border!

At a rally Thursday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Trump declared: National emergency it is. If you look at the border, and you look at the hundreds of thousands of people who are invading our country We are building it [the border wall] very rapidly. Earlier this week, Trump successfully earmarked $1 billion for wall construction in Texas and Arizona.

The scale of the border crackdown is without precedent. In the first four months of the current fiscal year, CBP arrested 136,150 people who crossed the border as families, far surpassing the 107,212 family units arrested during the entirety of the last fiscal year, which broke the prior record for the most family arrests in history.

Family arrests have risen 338 percent so far this year across the border, with a 1,690 percent increase in El Paso and a 696 percent increase in the San Diego, California area. With more favorable spring weather, crossings will increase further.

Roughly 4,700 soldiers remain deployed at the US-Mexico border on the orders of President Trump. Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley supported the deployment of troops to the border, saying it did not detract from force readiness.

Despite the Trump administrations claims that the military is playing only a technical role, those units deployed include the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, the Marines 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, the 505th Military Intelligence Brigade, the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, the Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and more. Trump has consistently referred to immigration as an invasion and last year said soldiers would be able to shoot immigrants at the border.

In addition, the Trump administration is attempting to deputize officials from non-immigration agencies to travel to the border and engage in the ongoing mass roundups.

The Post reported that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is readying a plan to ask volunteers from the US Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration and other Homeland Security Agencies to go to the border to help with the flood of Central American families. One official told the Post: We are burning red hot right now, and we are looking everywhere for help.

Already, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has trained over 1,500 local and state police to arrest immigrants. ICE Acting Director Ronald Vitiello said on Tuesday that local police arrested 160,000 immigrants on immigration charges in 2018.

The attacks on immigrants and democratic rights take place with no real opposition from the Democratic Party, which opposed efforts to stop Trumps long-planned efforts to expand the immigration internment camp network constructed under Democratic President Barack Obama.

The fact that so many families are escaping Central America despite Trumps fascistic anti-immigrant program testifies to the degree of the social devastation wrought by US imperialism over the past century of corporate exploitation of the region.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration reached a new agreement with several Central American countries to fund police and military operations aimed at stemming the flow of immigration. In reality, such agreements will only further fund US-backed death squads that roam these countries, collaborate with drug cartels and protect the rule of the corrupt national bourgeoisies in the most unequal region in the world.

The US governments attack on immigrant workers in the US and Central America is an attack on the international working class. In the midst of a growth of the class struggle on a world scale, American finance capital is expanding its international military-police-intelligence apparatus aimed at suppressing the class struggle and protecting the profits of US corporations through brute force.
Larry Krasner was elected Philadelphia District Attorney in November 2017 on the promise of reforming the criminal justice system that plays such a devastating role in the lives of the poor and heavily African-American population of the largest city in Pennsylvania. Krasner, a former public defender, won the Democratic Party primary earlier that year, with the enthusiastic support of the pseudo-left Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Socialist Alternative.

Only a bit more than a year later, Krasner was put to the test, after a Pennsylvania Superior Court judge ruled last December 27 that the internationally known political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has spent nearly 40 years behind bars while steadfastly maintaining his innocence, was entitled to a new opportunity to appeal his conviction. Before an agreement in 2011 to reduce his sentence to life imprisonment, Abu-Jamal had spent nearly 30 years on death row for the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

Abu-Jamals original trial in 1982 was held under conditions of a law-and-order frenzy, and Amnesty International, among many other organizations, accused the prosecution and judge in the case of unfairness and racial bias. Defense attorneys have introduced numerous examples of misconduct, including an affidavit that the trial judge, Albert Sabo, had declared, Yeah, Im going to help em fry the nigger. An international campaign has been waged on behalf of the Abu-Jamal, who has spent his time behind bars writing several books, as well as speaking on Prison Radio.

Krasner, the progressive hailed by the DSA and assorted other pseudo-lefts, announced on January 25, 2019 that he would appeal the decision of Justice Leon Tucker giving Abu-Jamal another chance to reargue his appeal. This action by the DA, in essence acceding to the demands of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and Faulkners widow, further prolongs the period during which Abu-Jamal, now 64 years old, sits in prison without the opportunity to make his case, if not permanently snatching away the chance for him to challenge his conviction.

Justice Tucker was forced to recognize that former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille should have recused himself in a 2012 appeal by Abu-Jamal, because Castille had been Philadelphia District Attorney in the late 1980s, at the time when the original conviction in this case was being appealed.

The district attorneys move exposes the complete fraud of the claim by pseudo-left organizations like the DSA that it is possible to secure fundamental democratic and social rights through the mechanism of the Democratic Party and the capitalist state which it represents and defends.

Various lefts have hailed some relatively minor measures taken by Krasner. He has effectively decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, as have the authorities in a number of other major US cities. He made a splash when he first took office by firing several dozen prosecutors, and he has also made some changes in bail demands. But the Abu-Jamal case is different. It is one in which a bipartisan coalition has stood firmly behind the police. There is no constituency within the ruling class for the defense of democratic rights, and Krasner has toed the line.

The district attorney attempted to defend his action in the Abu-Jamal case. He called the decision of Judge Tucker incredibly complex and nuanced, and claimed it would potentially affect thousands of other cases. I hope that the people who are critical will take a deep breath and wait and see what it is we actually say in the brief that we file, he added.

Some longtime defenders of Abu-Jamal have expressed outrage. The organizers of the Rebellious Lawyering Conference at Yale Law School had invited Krasner as their keynote speaker, but rescinded the invite in response to the appeal of the Abu-Jamal ruling.

Pseudo-lefts like Socialist Alternative are squirming as they attempt to justify their earlier full-throated support for Krasner, while maintaining a pose of disappointment with his latest move on Abu-Jamal. Krasner is rightly seen as one of the most progressive DAs in the country, they write. Socialist Alternative strongly supported the demands of the campaign that elected Krasner but warned of the limits of relying on a DA specifically and one individual generally to carry out the profound changes to the criminal justice system that we need.

According to these middle-class anti-Marxists, what is required is not a break with the Democratic Party, but instead stepping up a campaign to push it to the left. We call on Larry Krasner to boldly and actively apply the full power of his office to re-balance the scales of justice, they continue. Further, he must use the bully pulpit that comes with elected office to build the movements that could force changes to the law.

Marx, the founder of scientific socialism, long ago provided the refutation of such opportunist arguments in his book on the Paris Commune of 1871, The Civil War in France. The Commune proved that the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes, he wrote, it must rather erect its own state structure, the genuine democracy to which he gave the name dictatorship of the proletariat.

When genuine socialists run for political office and seek a bully pulpit, it is NOT as Democrats or other defenders of capitalism, not to lay hold of the ready-made state machinery, but as representatives of the working class fighting to educate, expose and organize for the socialist reorganization of society.

Krasner is demonstrating in one US city the political and class essence of the campaign to transform the Democratic Party by backing figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It is designed to sabotage the struggle against the system that is behind the imprisonment of Mumia Abu-Jamal, along with mass incarceration, the moves towards censorship, and the drive towards dictatorship and war, by channeling the movement behind efforts to regulate and defend the capitalist status quo. There can be no defense of democratic rights without a break with the Democratic Party, and the fight to mobilize the working class independently in the struggle against the system.
On Tuesday, members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and its student and youth wing, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), held a rally at the center of the San Diego State University (SDSU) campus to demand the immediate release of the courageous whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

Manning was imprisoned on March 8 for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury which has been impaneled to bring frame-up charges against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. She has been held in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day for three weeks.

Manning spent seven years in prison from 2010 to 2017 for leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks which exposed US war crimes in the Middle East, including video of an attack by a helicopter gun ship in Iraq which killed two Reuters journalists and multiple other civilians dubbed Collateral Murder by WikiLeaks.

Tuesdays rally advanced an international strategy to mobilize youth, students and the broadest layers of the working class against the imprisonment of Manning and the witch-hunt against Assange. The event was part of a series of rallies and meetings organized by the SEP and IYSSE throughout the US and around the world in defense of Manning and Assange.

The opening speaker, IYSSE at SDSU President Anthony del Olmo, spoke to attendees about the US imperialist war crimes Chelsea Manning exposed in 2010:

The documents that Manning and WikiLeaks released exposed the War on Terror as a complete lie, giving the US military the green light to trample over international law and democratic rights to inflate military budgets and stock portfolios to the tune of over $1 trillion.

Her courageous decision to reveal the war crimes being covered up by the Bush and Obama administrations, with the full support of the corporate media, is truly heroic and proves that the ruling parties in this country, who speak only for the ultra rich, would rather see innocent people die than have any infringements on their conquest for global hegemony.

Del Olmo went on to expose the horrific conditions facing Manning today as she has once again been thrown in prison: For over two weeks, Chelsea has been detained in the Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria, Virginia, for exercising her First and Fifth Amendment rights by refusing to participate in a secret grand jury convened by the Trump administration to prosecute Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.

The imprisonment of Chelsea Manning is cruel, criminal and totally unjustifiable. The White House wants to set a precedent for jailing whistleblowers and journalists who publish information critical of the military and state apparatus.

Del Olmo concluded by connecting the silencing of whistleblowers and destruction of democratic rights with the systematic elevation of fascistic and right-wing governments across the world by official bourgeois parties.

From New Zealand to Pittsburgh, Germany, Poland and elsewhere, anti-Semitic and xenophobic violence is resurging with a vengeance at a time when far-right governments and individuals in power are being promoted by state functionaries and capitalist donors while left-wing and oppositional voices are being silenced.

But there is no mass base for fascism. In nearly every country on the planet, youth and workers have gone on strike or protest against right-wing violence, against attacks to their living standards, against government inaction to climate change, and every other ill created by the capitalist system.

The fight to defend democratic rights goes hand in hand with the fight against authoritarianism and fascistic violence both of which require the political mobilization of workers and youth independent of all the organizations of the capitalist class, Democratic and Republican alike.

The next speaker, Kevin Martinez, a member of the Socialist Equality Party, continued by highlighting the abandonment of Manning by supposedly left organizations and the role of the Democratic Party.

I remember watching Collateral Murder when it was released and being absolutely sick to my stomach. This is what the brave US military was doing to people around the world in my name and with my tax dollars, in your name and with your tax dollars.

Only our party has continued to defend these class war heroesAssange, Manning, Snowden and others. Everyone else has abandoned them. The fake left, the International Socialist Organization (ISO), the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and all the rest have remained silent on Mannings imprisonment.

Not a word was said when Obama and the CIA bled Syria and Libya white. They supported it. They called it a genuine revolution. Obama bailed out the banks. Obama deported more immigrants than any other administration in history. And we wonder why people didnt run out in droves to vote for Hillary. Obamas greatest legacy is Trump.

The pseudo-left represents the upper middle class, not the working class. Their obsession is with sex, race and gender with no talk of war, capitalism, and socialism.

The final speaker, Norisa Diaz, also a member of the Socialist Equality Party, concluded the rally by placing the suppression of Manning and Assange in the context of the emerging struggles of the working class and youth around the world. She explained that, the attempt to paint whistleblowers as criminals is part of a larger campaign of censorship and an assault on fundamental democratic rights underway around the world.

The working class and youth are on the move. From France, to Algeria, Mexico and the US, teachers and autoworkers throughout the world are fighting back. Millions of young people around the world are becoming politicized, participating in protests against climate change and to put an end to mass shootings which have become normalized on the campuses.

However, the capitalist oligarchs and their governments are terrified that a mass movement of the working class and young people is developing internationally against ever widening social inequality and the growing danger of nuclear world war.

It is this fear of growing hostility towards capitalism, particularly by young people, that is compelling the ruling elites to turn to dictatorial forms of rule, relying on the far-right fascistic elements to suppress the fight against austerity, capitalism and imperialist war.

The rally drew a crowd of students and faculty who spoke to our reporters on the importance of the rally and the defense of whistleblowers.

Cid, a sociology student, said: The rally was a great way to bring attention to the injustices put on those who speak out against the actions of the military and those in power. Its crucial to bring attention to these political prisoners as the establishment media and pseudo-left organizations continue to stay silent. These tactics of suppression from the elites contribute to the growing fascist threat world wide.

Betty, a political science graduate student, told reporters that, the speeches given were very insightful, detailing many reasons why students and workers should stand up for whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning.

I think the rally demonstrated the fundamental right to freedom of speech which in todays world is becoming more and more limited. Censorship is one of the gravest problems assisting in the erosion of our democratic rights.

On April 9, the IYSSE at SDSU will be hosting Christoph Vandreier, Deputy National Secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) in Germany, a respected leader in the fight against fascism in Europe.

The meeting will address the role of the SGP in exposing the network of pro-fascist academics and state intelligence operatives who are paving the way for the far right. The meeting series will also take up the historical lessons that must be learned in order to build a mass working class movement capable of preventing the return of fascism.
PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5

First wave: Prieto isolates Matamoros workers and saves the Villafuerte union

Only two day later, on January 9 and 10, maquiladora workers in Matamoros at Polytech, Dura, Autoliv, Cedros and AFX Industriesall affiliated to the SJOIIMbegan partial work stoppages over the non-payment of their usual bonuses. Workers began pressuring union delegates and inquiring about their contract, so management claimed AMLOs minimum wage increase meant that workers lost their bonus, while Juan Villafuerte, the SJOIIM leader, argued that workers had no right to the doubling of their salary.

On January 11, workers at Edemsa, APTIV, Parker, Autoliv and other plants also carried out partial walkouts, while a mass assembly was organized on social media for the following morning. An auto parts worker at Trico Componentes, Delfina Martinez, told reporters that the federal increase of the minimum wage was a pretext for the factory not to pay us what we would normally receive each January.

Some 2,000 workers met at the main plaza at 9 a.m. the following day. There and at meetings outside the plants, workers elected rank-and-file representatives at each plant to represent them in negotiations and to organize a strike, even where union delegates claimed to be on the workers side.

Online and at these initial meetings the sentiment was nearly unanimous to leave the union, with some arguing we dont need the union to negotiate. Suddenly able to communicate democratically after the union had blocked this for decades, workers began raising their own demands, including a 100 percent wage increase, a return to the 40-hour week, the bonus of 32,000 pesos, the elimination of union dues consisting of 4 percent of salaries, no firings, as well as other issues. Workers continuously insisted that the raise and bonuses were victories that had to be defended.

Faced with an angry sea of workers that rushed into the union offices, Villafuerte agreed on Saturday, January 12, to negotiate a 20 percent raise and the full bonus, but ordered workers to postpone any strikes until Wednesday.

Defying this, workers, starting with the rank-and-file committee at Autoliv, pitched in to pay for their own red-and-black flagsthe traditional symbol of a strike in Mexicohanging them outside of the gates. Wildcat strikes spread across the 48 plants within hours, followed by an arduous fight to convince fellow workers from all shifts to join.

Workers then organized on social media a mass assembly at the plaza for the evening of Wednesday, January 16, to get rid of the union. Once Wednesday arrived, the SJOIIM didnt strike, but only filed a strike announcement or  emplazamiento , which legally requires six to 10 days before a strike can start.

Hundreds of auto parts workers at Tridonex, which is affiliated to a different union, joined the strike that day with a statement that said, All workers disagree with the injustice sustained by the trade union and with the dues they take from us weekly. Today we can fight for a change, all of us together.

Between January 11 and 15, over 3,000 maquiladora workers carried out wildcat strikes at Levolor in Agua Prieta and Stewart Connector Systems at Cananeaboth border cities in the state of Sonora a few miles from Tucson, Arizona.

The Mexican and international corporate media responded with a virtually total blackout, fearing that the wildcat strikes would spread and merge.

On Wednesday evening, claiming that workers had invited her on social media, Susana Prieto arrived at Matamoros and took over the stage at the mass assembly. One of her first statements was to warn that 98 percent of whats on social media is false. By then, the World Socialist Web Site had published two articles on the strike, on January 15 and 16, that were being shared and accessed by thousands of striking workers through Facebook amid the media blackout. One of these articles warned: Striking Mexican workers must not lose the initiative by placing their trust in any politician, the union or in those who falsely claim this corrupt organization can be reformed.

The WSWS articles also included calls by Tridonex and Autoliv workers for an international struggle with US and Canadian Autoworkers, along with a message by American auto parts workers telling Mexican workers to stand together as a united global force.

In this crucial moment, Prieto denounced the SJOIIM and argued in favor of the wildcat strikes at the 48 SJOIIM plants, with radical-sounding statements such as its time to make a decision and where there is a worker, there is a leader.

She then claimed that AMLO didnt want to screw the unions himself but was hoping for you to do it. However, she concluded: This movement that you made already escapes the control of Villafuerte. You organized yourselves alone. But, this is why they have so much power because you cant authorize a strike if its not through a union You must pressure, to begin with, the union. You cant free yourselves from Villafuerte for now.

In other words, any alleged support for the technically illegal wildcat strikes, with Prieto even marching with workers the next days to call all shifts out, was a two-faced way to prevent them from organizing outside of the union.

On January 17, thousands of maquiladora workers at Kemet and APTIV (formerly Delphi Automotive, the spun off parts division of General Motors) in the Tamaulipan city of Ciudad Victoria were inspired by the walkouts of their fellow workers 200 miles northeast in Matamoros and struck demanding a 30 percent raise. That day, a team of WSWS reporters went to the GM Detroit-Hamtramck plant and several auto parts suppliers in Michigan to discuss the Matamoros rebellion. Sally, a US worker, declared We need to unite! Stay strong. The WSWS also posted statements of support by auto parts workers in Ontario, Canada.

An Easy Way worker in Matamoros appealed through the WSWS to workers across North America, Together we can defeat all of those exploiters that have enriched themselves thanks to that enslavement that we live.

Prieto, on the other hand, thoroughly defended Villafuerte at a mass assembly on January 17 outside of the SJOIIM offices, claiming workers were cretins and ignorant for denouncing him after he filed the strike announcement.

On the 18th, hundreds of APTIV workers in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, only 55 miles west of Matamoros, were fired for demanding a 100 percent raise.

That morning, Prieto flew back to Ciudad Juarez through Mexico City, presumably to participate in the demonstration she had called for the 19th. Traveling thousands of miles and being in contact with workers across the border facing the same conspiracy by the companies and the Morena administration, Prieto made no serious effort to unite these struggles.

Instead Prieto was organizing delegations of workers to go to Mexico City and Monterrey to meet with union bureaucrats. There is no innocent explanation to this: as in 2016, she was working to isolate the struggles and keep them under the restraints of a union apparatus tied to the state and imperialism.

During the last two weeks of January, the WSWS posted 12 different articles with statements from workers across the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe expressing support for a joint struggle independent of the unionsan average of one article per day. On January 19, the WSWS warned about Prietos position: Despite warnings that this is the only legally sanctioned path, it will lead inevitably to a sell-out with the companies and the betrayal by the union to leave workers to fend for themselves once the company and state authorities counterattack against the most militant workers with a vengeance.

Without Prieto in town, far from the movement falling apart as she claimed later, workers took steps toward developing their rank-and-file initiative and amplifying their class-based appeals. On January 18, the workers committee from Parker made a call from outside the SJOIIM offices: send two representatives from each maquiladora to be present as a committee to discuss future actions. Several plants sent a committee that night.

The next day, workers at maquiladoras with other unions, including Avances Cientificos, Varel, Sliding, Fisher Dynamics and others, struck to demand the 20/32. Dozens were quickly fired, while the leader of the Union of Workers in Maquiladora and Assembly Plants (SITPME), Jesus Mendoza Reyes, defended the firings, calling the strikers criminals and sending police and thugs to threaten picket lines.

On January 19, the WSWS first published a report by a US worker at the Ford Assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, indicating production was being shut down due to parts shortages caused by the strike in Mexico. Similar reports in the following days and weeks from workers across the US and Canada were later confirmed by other media outlets.

On Sunday, January 20, workers organized by themselves a mass demonstration across the city behind the banner The union and company kill the working class. Its purpose was to call workers across Mexico to join them in a Day Without Workers on Monday, January 21. The appeal was then broadened internationally on Monday, when tens of thousands of workers from different unions and sectors, students and youth all marched in the largest demonstration so far in the rebellion to the international bridge with Brownsville, Texas. Carrying signs that included slogans such as Today will go down in the history of the labor movement, everyone stand up, workers shouted at American workers: Gringos, wake up!

Without Prieto to intervene that day, Mayor Mario Lopez was compelled to address the crowd once it reached the plaza to defend the right of companies to protect their profits. After he was booed, a leader of the Miners Union at Tamaulipas, Javier Zuniga Garcia, intervened. Lets give our mayor our trust, he said, We have to keep trusting our institutions. If Villafuerte or Mendoza come, they will have the same rights as the mayor.

At a time when union thugs, state and federal police, along with Navy soldiers, were harassing the picket lines, reports appeared that workers had formed their own defense committee to protect strikers.

Workers were also reporting to the WSWS that its articles had been read by everyone and even came up in negotiations with the companies. Seeing their power to shut down production across the continent and organize independently, as well as to appeal to workers internationally, workers were drawing revolutionary conclusions. The evening of January 21, a Dura Automotive worker said in an interview published three days later by the WSWS, I would like the international working class to rise up against the companies that keep them repressed, tired, that keep them poor to keep having cheap labor at their disposal.

On January 22, the main employers organization in the country, the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), called for AMLOs intervention since this moment of instability that the labor and business sectors confront in Matamoros can bring irreversible consequences for the regions economy. Later that morning, Villafuerte seconded this call to AMLO.

As the strike movement threatened to grow further out of control, Prieto returned and monopolized the microphone again at another mass assembly that day. The full significance of her words and actions needs to be digested. We need the federal government, she claimed, echoing the calls of the business leaders, before inviting a local journalist, Mario Ramos, to speak. After calling on workers to distrust publications on social media, he launched a 15-minute diatribe against socialism. This movement is not communist nor socialist. It doesnt appear to me that you can have a peaceful movement if you are socialists or communists, he said.

Then, Ramos admitted, Im a capitalist, I like money. Prieto nodded and said, me too. Workers laughed and shouted for Ramos to get off the stage. When he asked if he could speak later, the crowd yelled in unison No!

In his morning press conference the next day, on January 23, AMLO responded to the call by the CCE and Prieto and addressed the Matamoros strike: It seems workers have rebelled against their union leaders, and the matter has grown out of control. Although it is not a matter of our direct attention to put ourselves into the life of the unions, we must be respectful if we are looking for a fix and conciliation.

In other words, matters had to be brought again under the control of the unions. According to a February 1 article of the Associated Press, business leaders reported that, far from a hands-off approach, the Morena administration actively discouraged the Matamoros union from seeking the pay increase.

Prieto, however, responded to AMLOs address by attempting to confuse the workers, saying, I dont think the federal government disagrees with what were doing. Then, when workers raised concerns about the AMLO administration and the unions, she again argued, Dont follow whatever garbage you read on social media, and derisively denounced workers for having opinionitis. This was interpreted by workers as a swipe at the WSWS.

On January 24, Polytech was the first to agree to the 20/32 demand. Distrusting the union, workers at most plants asked Prieto to give a green light regarding the legal validity of each new contract.

A few more plants agreed to 20/32 shortly before and after the SJOIIMs strike announcement came into effect at 2 pm on Friday, January 25, which made the strike legal at those plants. At 1 p.m., however, the federal sub-secretary of labor, Alfredo Dominguez Marrufo, and federal representative for the state of Tamaulipas, Jose Ramon Gomez Leal, held a press conference as AMLOs direct envoys to Matamoros and unsuccessfully called for a postponement of ten days or more to avoid a strike that could lead to unexpected consequences.

That morning, Prieto visited several plants appealing to workers not to stop companies from taking away machinery and to be ready to comply with an order by the SJOIIM to postpone the strike . This is not the time to fight with your union delegates union delegates are nothing but workers like you with a license to represent, she claimed. With the fate of the SJOIIM and his leadership still on the line, Villafuerte didnt try to postpone the strike.

The saving of the SJOIIM, whose responsibility rests strictly with Prieto, allowed the international corporate media to begin reporting on the events in Matamoros, while leaving out the rank-and-file rebellion against the unions that the ruling class feared would spread. After a total silence for two weeks, the Associated Press published an article on January 26 that set the tone for other publications, citing prominently, Union leader Juan Villafuerte thanked union members who had stood outside in the rain and cold, noting we hope to soon conclude this labor action.

The widespread sentiment among workers was still in favor of organizing independently of the unions, both before and after the companies agreed to the 20/32. After the strike turned legal, an Autoliv worker told the WSWS: I think that, indeed, the independent committees are much more useful than the union because we have been asking ourselves, This is the proposal, what do we do?something that the union never did. The WSWS warned that Prieto was sidelining the work that rank-and-file committees have been doing in communicating democratically with their fellow workers and deciding on steps to take.

Labor authorities announced that 13 auto parts plants were listed by NAFTA under federal authority, which meant that the strike announcement filed through the local board was invalid. On Saturday, January 26 and early Sunday morning, the AMLO administration had the Morena leader of the Senate, Ricardo Monreal Avila, call Villafuerte and Prieto asking them to shut down the strike.

On January 27, Villafuerte said to workers at Autoliv that Monreal had given him orders from the federal government to communicate the threat that the state police would violently break up their picket lines. Prieto then arrived while talking to Monreal and warning him that he was on speakerphone. He proceeded anyway to say: We are not going to let the economy of the state and municipality crash. The criminal lawsuit [against workers] is already in the General Prosecutors Office. I understand these are just starting, but I hope they are stopped and prosecuted.

Realizing that Monreal had not only exposed the federal crackdown against Matamoros workers, but the anti-worker character of the Morena administration more broadly, Prieto began crying and frantically sought to cover her own tracks yelling, I believed in Lopez Obrador because I believed that he would end corruption, but I was naive. There are too many interests involved! As the video of the incident spread, Monreal released a statement claiming that it was not his voice.

The next day, Prieto told reporters that Monreal also said, I am calling on behalf of our friend [president] Andres Manuel The maquilas must open on Monday. Since workers trust you, convince them to lift the strike. She responded that workers would lynch her if she made such a proposal.

Seeing such a confirmation that the AMLO administration did not support their struggle, workers appealed with greater determination to their brothers and sisters internationally to back their fight. We call for your support, to be heard around the world, as a desperate cry since our economy everywhere is in the hands of a few that are threatening our integrity with state forces, declared Rosalinda, a striking worker at Kearfott, which produces navigation systems for the US military and other clients.

On January 29, the WSWS called on workers not to let Prieto and the union shovel them back to work, adding, With the backing of the union and the government, the companies will try to claw back any concessions given at the first available opportunity, just as they did when they scrapped their bonuses. It also published a statement titled, Defend the Matamoros workers! For a united fight by US, Canadian and Mexican workers to defend jobs and decent living standards! by the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Rank-and-File Committees, which is composed of workers across the US fighting to unite their struggles internationally and independently of the trade unions and the political establishment.

To be continued

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5


On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a six-day tour of Europe that took him to Rome, Sicily, Monaco and Paris. This trip and the signing of multiple business and strategic agreements between China and the European powers have exposed the deep conflicts that exist between the United States and its nominal European allies.

Before Xis trip, the press had leaked news that Italy planned to endorse Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for transport, energy and industrial infrastructure across Eurasia.

This provoked bitter opposition from Washington. After launching a pivot to Asia to militarily isolate China in 2011, the US has now repudiated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty to allow it to deploy large numbers of nuclear missiles targeting China and Russia. On Twitter, the US National Security Council warned Italy it was legitimizing Chinas predatory approach to investment and will bring no benefits to the Italian people.

The European Union (EU) powers thrust aside US objections, however. After the EU powers all signed on in 2015 to the BRIs funding arm, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, this weekend Rome signed a Memorandum of Understanding endorsing the BRI.

Paris bitterly complained that Rome had sidelined its EU partners in its talks with China. However, when Xi arrived, it proceeded to sign its own multi-billion-euro deals with him. The biggest, a 30 billion deal for Franco-German firm Airbus to sell jetliners to China, included a large new order as China abandons the Boeing 737 MAX for Airbus A320s after two horrific crashes. French President Emmanuel Macron then met Xi together with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said she saw nothing to criticize in Italys deal with Xi endorsing the BRI.

These meetings unfolded amid explosive tensions with the United States over policy towards China and Russia. This month, after Merkel rejected US calls to boycott Chinese tech firm Huaweis products, US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell threatened to suspend US intelligence cooperation with Germany. At the same time, Washington is threatening Berlin with sanctions if it does not abandon its Nordstream 2 pipeline bringing Russian gas to Germany.

Despite their remarkable clashes with Washington, the policy of the European imperialist powers is not fundamentally different, or less predatory and reactionary. They plan to plunge hundreds of billions of euros into their military machines, financed by austerity targeting the working class, to give them the military might to better confront Washington.

Londons Financial Times laid out the militarist implications of attempts to pursue an independent European policy in its editorial yesterday. The EU fears being squeezed between the US and China as the Trump administration takes an ever-harder line towards Beijing. European leaders do not want to be forced into a choice between the two, it wrote, adding that EU member states either take Chinas direct investment or put a premium on exporting to China.

In Europe, the FT continued, Some argue for building an autonomous foreign and defence capacity. But for years to come, Europe will be unable to stand alone. It euphemistically called on the major EU powers to think more strategically and take the lead. In plain English, this means Europe should hurry to rearm.

The European heads of state themselves do not know whether the weapons they are building would serve to join a US onslaught against China, a Chinese war against America, or some other conflict. However, two years since US President Donald Trump speculated about an end of the NATO alliance and threatened trade war against German car exports, longstanding international arrangements underpinning the affairs of world capitalism are rapidly disintegrating.

The contradictions of capitalism that the great Marxists of the 20th century identified as leading to the outbreak of world war and the October 1917 Revolution in Russiabetween world economy and the nation-state system, and social production and private appropriation of profitare reasserting themselves.

The BRI is a multi-trillion-dollar plan, laid out in 2013, placing China at the hub of a vast web of rail and road networks, ports, energy pipelines and industrial facilities ranging from China across the Eurasian landmass to Europe, going as far as East Africa and Indonesia. Hundreds of billions have already been spent on initiatives like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, regular Chinese freight train service to Iran and Germany via Russia, and Indian Ocean ports. Chinese state-owned enterprises are coordinating enormous international operations as much of Eurasia industrializes.

This brings Beijing into headlong conflict with Washington. It also creates the conditions for a potential conflict with the European powers if they align themselves with the BRI. On Xis Europe tour, the Washington Post quoted analyst Jacob Shapiro, who warned that pan-Eurasian plans lay the groundwork for precisely the type of power the US has been obsessed with thwarting for over two centuries. As overly ambitious as Chinas larger strategic goal may be, it is precisely that strategic aim that so irks the United States. While it doesnt particularly care if China builds a port in Italy or high-speed rail in Poland, it does care about the potential emergence of a dominant power in Eurasia.

Washingtons main strategy, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 threw open Central Asia to imperialist intervention, was to dominate this region as the key to controlling the Eurasian land mass. It launched a series of wars in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and beyond. Despite growing commercial rivalries with the United States, the European imperialist powers largely joined these wars. They cost millions of lives, shattered entire societies and discredited the ruling classes of the imperialist countries among workers internationally.

But the debacle of these neo-colonial interventions has only led Washington to up the ante, preparing new, even bloodier wars and provocations targeting Russia and China directly.

The European imperialist powers attempts to formulate an independent imperialist policy do not offer a peaceful alternative to Washingtons wars. Their rearmament, financed by austerity, goes hand in hand with a relentless march to the far right and towards police state rule. While right-wing extremist professors legitimize Hitlers crimes to justify German remilitarization, French President Emmanuel Macron has hailed fascist dictator Philippe Petain and given authorization to shoot down yellow vest protesters opposed to social inequality and war.

Ultimately, the deepening global antagonisms rending the global geopolitical order carry with them the immense danger of a new world war, this time fought with nuclear weapons. The working class is the only social force capable of opposing the imperialist war drive.

The most urgent political task is the building of an international anti-war movement in the working class amid an upsurge of the class struggle. The eruption of mass protests for the downfall of Algerias military regime, the yellow vest movement and strikes against EU wage freezes across Europe, reports of growing social protest in China, and strikes by US teachers and Mexican autoworkers against both the unions and the companies point to an enormous radicalization of workers. The critical issue is to orient them to the great tasks posed by the objective situation.

The only way to rationally organize the international productive forces created by modern society and prevent a new relapse into horrific wars is the expropriation of the capitalist classes by the working class, fighting on a program of world socialist revolution.
Ever since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Labour Party leader in 2015, a hysterical witch-hunt against him and the wider left has been led by the Blairites, the media and the ruling Conservative Party equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.

No allegation has been too fantastical and contrived to avoid being heavily cited amid banner headlines, with the necessary comments solicited from pro-Zionist MPs and groups.

These smears and lies, designed to rewrite political history to associate the left with anti-Semitism, have been conducted by newspapers all but blind to the naked Islamophobia and racism within the Conservative Party.

This month an anonymous Twitter account, @matesjacob, sent damning material to the Guardian which it was obliged to report. On March 5, the Guardian reported that 14 Conservative members had been suspended for allegedly making Islamophobic comments on social media that could have been easily unearthed by any major newspaper. In total, the party suspended more than 40 members over allegations of anti-Muslim behaviour.

On March 18, the BuzzFeed news site reported that another 25 self-proclaimed Tories had posted similar offensive material on Facebook. Buzzfeed noted that the Tories refused to say how many of the 25 had been suspended.

Within days, on March 24, the Guardian reported that 15 of the suspended Tory members, who served as elected councillors, had been quietly reinstated. The Guardian noted that its research suggested that in the majority of cases where a councillor was reprimanded for retweeting or sharing offensive content, they were later readmitted to the party.

Conservative councillor Martyn York, in Wellingborough, a moderator for the Facebook page Boris Johnson: Supporters Group, was recently suspended for Islamophobic comments, including some inciting violence, that were allowed on the site with 4,800 members.

Dorinda Bailey, a former Conservative council candidate and member of the group, replied to a user saying of mosques, Bomb the f****** lot: I agree, but any chance you could edit your comment please. No swearing policy.

Group members referred to Muslims as ragheads and described immigrants as cockroaches. One told a black soldier to p*** off back to Africa and for black former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya to be put on a banana boat back home.

Two Conservative councillors from East Staffordshire resigned following criticism for liking and sharing a post which showed the queen beheading London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

On the same day as it reported the reinstatement of the councillors, the Guardian published evidence of five more Islamophobic social media postings by Tory party members.

One said, Muslims are cavemen who should be rounded up, alongside offensive remarks about Muslim women on a Facebook page, the Jacob Rees-Mogg Supporters Group.

A filthy social media posting, uncovered by matesjacob, and written just days before the fascist gunman Brenton Tarrant murdered 50 people in a massacre at two mosques in New Zealand, declared, I was going through a few magazines the other day down the local mosque. I was really enjoying myself. Then the rifle jammed. The Guardian reported that the author of these lines "photographed himself with Boris Johnson in 2015." Johnson is a leader of the Torys hard-Brexit wing, former foreign secretary and expected future leadership contender.

Other comments included, turf all Muslims out of public office. Another wanted to get rid of all mosques, agreeing that no Pakistani should become prime minister. Another read, A practicing Muslim should not be allowed to work in any of the emergency professions. No Muslim will get my vote, read one post and another, stand against the Islamification of our country. A vote cast for Home Secretary Sajid Javid would be a vote for Islam to lead this country, wrote another.

Most sinister of all, one post in the group showed a map where all mosques are situated in the UK, eliciting several racist responses including, [W]ere just letting the takeover happen.

Brentons Tarrants massacre in Christchurch was followed by a number of attacks on mosques in the UK. In 2017, the fascist Darren Osborne drove a van into Muslim worshippers outside Londons Finsbury Park Mosque that left one dead and 10 injured.

Racist views pervade the highest echelons of the party. Conservative MP for Harrow East, Bob Blackman, posted an article on Facebook last year with the inflammatory header Muslim Somali sex gang say raping white British children part of their culture. He invited Indian anti-Muslim Hindu politician Tapan Ghosh to Parliament last year. While in Britain, Ghosh met with Tommy Robinson, the far-right ex-leader of the English Defence League (EDL).

The leader of Swale Borough Council, Andrew Bowles, found himself suspended after sharing a post defending Robinson as a patriot. He was fully reinstated after just 13 days. Solihull Borough Councillor Jeff Potts was also readmitted after his suspension last September for tweeting that all Muslims should face deportation, otherwise they would kill innocent people for generations to come.

Another reinstated councillor is Mike Payne from Calderdale, who posted, France slashed benefits to Muslim parasites.

A Conservative candidate for Hounslow council, Peter Lamb, was forced to resign, though his initial suspension was lifted, after tweeting in 2015, Islam is like alcoholism. The first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem.

The Muslim Council of Britain has been calling since 2016 for the Conservatives to hold an inquiry into Islamophobia in the party, the scale of which they describe as astonishing. The Council told VICE that racists clearly feel emboldened by Boris Johnsons Islamophobic comments.

Last Summer, Johnson was denounced for dog-whistle Islamophobia by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a former Conservative chair and the UKs first Muslim cabinet minister, after he compared Muslim women in burqas to letterboxes and bank robbers.

Warsi has accused her party of institutional anti-Muslim behaviour and turning a blind eye to prejudice. She has demanded an inquiry into Islamophobia in the party for three years.

While trying to downplay evidence of widespread racism within the party, ConservativeHome editor Paul Goodman was forced to acknowledge that it has a Tommy Robinson tendency. However, the site, owned by former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party Lord Ashcroft, is itself littered with Islamophobic comments.

The VICE website reported that one posting on the site likened the burqa to SS uniforms and raised the need to eradicate the cancer of Islam and Middle Eastern cultures. Another wrote, People like the EDL want to protect English communities from the very apparent depredations of Muslim grooming gangs and other predatory behaviour. Another asked, Do we English wish to be integrated with the foreign populations colonising, displacing and replacing Us?

The Conservative Party has a long history of whipping up racism in a divide-and-conquer strategy to legitimise its policies of austerity, militarism and war.

Since 2002, 63 people belonging to the Windrush generation of West Indian migrants residing legally in the UK have been snatched from their homes and deported illegally.

For a month in mid-2013, the Home Office sent vans into six London boroughs with high immigrant populations plastered with the slogans: In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest. May launched this policy as home secretary in the Cameron-led Tory government.

In January 1978, Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made the infamous statement that people are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture. In 2014, then Conservative Defence Secretary Michael Fallon repeated Thatchers words, declaring that towns in Britain are being swamped by immigrants. They were under siege [with] large numbers of migrant workers and people claiming benefits.

The postings uncovered from only a small number of the many pro-Conservative social media pages must be taken together with the innumerable comments posted in pro-Tory newspapers as proof that Britains ruling party is a hotbed of fascist reaction. While fascism does not yet have a mass social base, a rabid, fascistic layer is being deliberately nurtured and encouraged by the Conservatives, as with other bourgeois parties internationally, as they move to more authoritarian forms of rule and make ready the forces who will be used to combat a resurgent movement of the working class.
On Monday, March 25, the San Diego Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) board held a public hearing to outline its negotiating plans with the teachers union. The Sweetwater Education Association (SEA)s contract expires June 30.

Hanging over the proceedings, however, is the threat of bankruptcy or state takeover as the district faces a $68 million shortfall. The source of the shortfall is in dispute, with the district mired in a series of ongoing fraud and mismanagement investigations over their accounting practices.

Two weeks ago SUHSD announced it would lay off 87 administrative support staff for the 2019-20 school year and plan to cut at least $22.5 million dollars in the next academic year. Worried administrative staff are currently on their spring break and will be issued notices this Saturday, March 30.

The boards public hearing provided no specifics or documentation to the over 50 teachers, students, and community members who attended. The audience was angered at both the tens of millions in proposed budget cuts and the lack of information by the district which had merely uploaded a list of the contracts articles to be negotiated on its website, but handed out no new information.

When the meeting began, a parent spoke out. I have been to a lot of public hearings and normally before I go to a public hearing there is information to review, but there is no information here, none at all. So to me, this is basically smoke and mirrors, it's not transparency.

She continued, What if your bank asked you to share your opinions on changes they were going to make but they failed to educate you on the specifics? We were told the deficit would not affect the students, yet  now undoubtedly with the deficit youre not going to be lowering the class size.

So what youre asking our educators to do is take on more students. What youre going to be asking our students to do is learn in larger sized classrooms. The parent challenged the board to enumerate its additional, but unspecified, cuts to special education. When are we going to be told what these SPED changes are?

While ending the discussion after only five minutes and failing to provide any specifics on proposed cuts, the district has already made its intention clear, calling for negotiations on a wide-ranging numbers of topics. These include: Article 5 (Alternative Education), Article 6 (Calendar), Article 7 (Class Size), Article 12 (Duty Hours), Article 15 (Extra Service), Article 18 (Health and Welfare Benefits), Article 34 (Teaching Assignment), Article 35 (Transfer), Article 36 (Wages), and Article 37 (Special Education).

Article 7, class sizes, is a primary concern among educators, as they fear both the elimination of jobs and a worsening learning environment for students. Within the current SUHSD/SEA contract, teachers can be required to teach no more than 176 students in a five-period day. For physical education teachers, the maximum is 255 students. Class sizes are limited to 12 for moderate/severe or emotionally disturbed special education students, while SPED classrooms with moderate students are capped at 18.

In a feeble and belittling attempt to address the concerns by teachers and community members over cuts to the SPED programs, the district is hosting a series of meetings beginning April 9 titled Cookies with Carrie to discuss the future of special education in the district. Responding to the condescending invitation, one educator stated on social media, What if we all brought our own cookies and then just told them that we dont need cookies. We have our ownwhat we want is transparency, no bs and our input to be listened to!

After the district announced the $68 million shortfall last October, investigations, particularly by the Voice of San Diego news media, have pointed to millions of dollars apparently mismanaged by former Director of Finance Doug Martens and Chief Financial Officer Karen Michel.

For months, Sweetwater Union High School District officials insisted no one knew anything was amiss until revelations first came to light last September. However, multiple workers have come forward claiming they had sounded the alarm to Martens, who himself created many of the dubious entries, stating that Martens had told them not to worry.

District personnel unsatisfied with these non-answers went to Chief Financial Officer Michel, who also reiterated that nothing was wrong. Martens and Michel both mysteriously retired from the district over the summer.

An investigation was initiated by the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) in December 2018 by a Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team (FCMAT), although to date no charges have been made. However, the FCMATs Chief Executive Officer Michael Fine told a December 17 board meeting that 302 entries in the district accounting system had been manipulated to show that the district had more money than it actually did.

For its part, the Sweetwater Education Association is proceeding as if it is business as usual and doing nothing to fight in defense of teachers or students. While parents, educators and residents are up in arms over likely criminal activity and mismanagement, the union has accepted that the shortfall must be considered the basis of negotiations. It has gone so far as to oppose demands by teachers and education staff to force the board to resign and implement financial transparency.

The SEA has already colluded with the district in pushing out older teachers and blackmailing them with reduced retirement benefits, eliminating personnel in the Adult Schools and cutting other student programs. Vital programs such as English language and workplace training classes have been eliminated.

An SEA official has already signaled the unions foregone capitulation to draconian budget cuts, saying, The investigation is still unfolding, until any charges, we plan to bargain in good faith. Students, parents, teachers and educators must reject the line of the district and the unions that they should be made to pay for the corruption and embezzlement of funds and instead demand full funding for public education and all of its vital programs.

San Diego teachers must look to the lessons of the Oakland and Los Angeles teachers strikes, which resulted in sellout contracts pushed on the membership by the unions who function as little more than public relations staff for district administrators and the budget-cutting Democratic and Republican politicians. After the passage of these historic victories, nearly one third of the public schools in Oakland are slated for closure, with $22 million in cuts agreed to by the Oakland Education Association.

Teachers and community members should form rank-and-file committees independent of both the unions and the politicians to fight any budget cuts or layoffs and conduct an independent public inquiry into the fraud allegations with full transparency. There would be an outpouring of support for such an initiative. As one educator pointedly remarked at recent SEA meeting, This board will likely be brought up on fraud charges, why should we bargain with them, why should we accept their numbers when theyre the ones who got us into this mess?
On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping ended a six-day tour of Europe in which the major euro zone powers made business deals with China and signaled support for its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for infrastructure across Eurasia. As Washington threatens both China and its nominal European Union (EU) allies with trade war sanctions, deep divergences are emerging between Washington and the EU over relations with China.

As part of its pivot to Asia to diplomatically isolate and militarily threaten China, Washington has opposed the BRI, which US Vice President Mike Pence mocked last year as a constricting belt and one-way road allowing China to trap the world in debt. In 2015, the EU powers defied US calls to boycott the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the BRIs funding arm. Now, they are again ignoring Washington.

On March 5, the Financial Times reported that Italy would sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) backing the BRI, making it the first major EU power to do so. The FT said this would undercut US pressure on China over trade and would undermine Brussels efforts to overcome divisions within the EU over the best approach to deal with Chinese investments. The White House told the FT endorsing the BRI would end up harming Italys global reputation.

The US National Security Council Tweeted that by endorsing BRI, Italy would legitimize Chinas predatory approach to investment and will bring no benefits to the Italian people.

Nonetheless, Xi was greeted in Rome with full honors, including a cavalry guard for his car, state dinners, and a concert by tenor Andrea Bocelli. Rome then signed the MOU endorsing the BRI, together with deals worth 2.5 billion for building oil pipelines and steel plants, and promoting Italian agricultural exports. Italy will also be allowed to finance its massive 2.3 trillion sovereign debt by issuing so-called panda bonds directly to Chinese citizens.

At last Fridays EU summit, French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Romes unilateral deal with Beijing, insisting that on China, The period of European naivety is over. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, however, that she was satisfied with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Contes assurances that Romes BRI deals complied with EU law: As far as he explained it, I have nothing to criticize for now, but have already discussed that it is even better if we act together.

Italian Undersecretary of State Michele Geraci dismissed Macrons comments, telling the South China Morning Post: All the other (European) countries will follow Italy and sign an MOU, and I can give you two names but I wontthey are in the pipeline. In reality, all European countries want to be part of the belt and road. He dismissed criticism of Romes initiatives in Europe: If Italy wants to be the terminal of Chinas Silk Road, of course this affects Hamburg, Rotterdam, Marseille.  Its a competition, so I understand their jealousy.

Geraci admitted that the US was not very happy about Italys decision. But he rejected US warnings that Italy will fall into a Chinese debt trap, pointing to the $1.13 trillion of US debt held by China: The US should worry about having debt in Chinese hands. They are in a situation where they need to be concerned, thats why maybe they worry.

After Xi promoted agricultural exports to China while in Sicily and toured Monaco, which will set up 5G Internet service using products from Chinese firm Huaweidefying US calls for a boycott of Huaweis products as threatening NATO securityXi went on to Paris. There, Macron dropped his criticisms of Xi and of Italy for breaking supposed European unity on China and, extending Xi full state honors, signed his own raft of deals with Xi.

In Paris, Chinese state-owned enterprises signed multi-billion-euro contracts for container shipping, wind energy, and construction projects with French firms. Macron and Xi signed a 30 billion deal between Franco-German firm Airbus and China Aviation Supplies Holding for 10 A350 and 290 medium-range A320neo jetliners.

Airbus appears to have done this deal at Boeings expense, after the recent grounding of its 737 max jets after two major accidents cost hundreds of lives. Frances Le Point wrote: There was regular discussion of ordering a total of 180 jetliners since President Macrons last visit, a bit more than a year ago, in Beijing. Now there are 120 more A320neos. Should we take this as a consequnece of the B737MAX and the rejection of Boeings medium-range jetliner after two accidents with Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines? That would be a very rapid reaction.

Finally, Macron invited Merkel and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to Paris for talks with Xi. Macron and Xi issued a joint statement calling for a swift conclusion of an ambitious global investment agreement between the EU and China, and Merkel said she saw nothing to criticize in Italys deal with Xi.

The Belt and Road, or Silk Road, is an important project, and we Europeans want to play an important role here, Merkel added, while demanding reciprocity and concessions to European firms in China.

This points to deep contradictions in world capitalism and a breakdown of longstanding alliances that point to a rising danger of war.

On the one hand, the European imperialist powers remain with Washington in the NATO alliance, as US imperialism imposes trade war tariffs and carries out a global military build-up targeting both Russia and China. After years of proxy war with Russia in Syria and of naval stand-offs in the South China Sea, Washington even repudiated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) treaty, allowing it to station nuclear missiles in Europe and the Pacific, targeting Russia and China.

On the other, as Chinas economy grows, and as the European powers relations with Washington grow increasingly tense, they are orienting to closer economic relations with Beijing. The Guardian called Xis Paris meeting a show of unity in the face of Trumps tariffs aimed across both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

In this situation, every capitalist power or bloc of powers is steeling itself for conflict against all potential adversaries. Last year, French President Macron publicly announced that Europe had to be prepared to militarily confront Russia, China or the United States.

This year, even as the European powers ignored US denunciations of the BRI, they are at the same time adopting resolutions branding China as a potential enemy. At a recent summit on China, the EU decided to stop calling it a strategic partner and identified it instead as a systemic rival promoting alternative models of governance and an economic competitor in the pursuit of technological leadership.
"Il est de plus en plus reconnu que le commerce et les regles commerciales constituent un mecanisme utile qui contribue a l'autonomisation economique des femmes. Ce changement d'attitude est a attribuer a la Declaration de Buenos Aires de 2017 sur le commerce et lautonomisation economique des femmes", a dit le Directeur general, Roberto Azevedo. "Cent vingt-deux Membres et observateurs ont maintenant signe cette declaration. Elle a donne une reelle impulsion a cette question a l'OMC. La Declaration cite plusieurs outils qui peuvent nous aider a mieux comprendre les liens entre le commerce et l'autonomisation economique des femmes, et les Membres s'emploient a y donner suite."

Le Directeur general s'est exprime lors de la seance d'ouverture de l'atelier coorganise par l'Islande, le Botswana et la Conference des Nations Unies sur le commerce et le developpement (CNUCED) en collaboration avec l'OMC et le Centre du commerce international (ITC). "J'espere que les debats d'aujourd'hui nous permettront de mieux comprendre comment les femmes pourraient tirer davantage parti du commerce de maniere generale, et qu'ils susciteront de nouvelles idees en la matiere. Une chose est claire: toutes les donnees montrent que le fait de donner aux femmes les memes chances qu'aux hommes ameliore la competitivite et la productivite, ce qui a a son tour une incidence positive sur la croissance economique et la reduction de la pauvrete", a-t-il ajoute. Son discours integral est disponible ici.

"Nous nous trouvons sur une courbe d'apprentissage", a estime M. Harald Aspelund, Ambassadeur et representant permanent de l'Islande aupres de l'OMC. "Jusqu'a recemment, l'egalite hommes-femmes etait rarement evoquee en meme temps que le commerce mondial. Heureusement, les choses changent rapidement et les preoccupations liees a cette egalite occupent une place de plus en plus centrale dans nos programmes relatifs au commerce. Nous avons fini par nous rendre compte que la question de l'egalite hommes-femmes etait presente dans tous les domaines, et que le commerce pouvait jouer un role important dans l'amelioration de l'autonomisation des femmes."

Isabelle Durant, Secretaire generale adjointe de la CNUCED, a souligne que l'importance des donnees pour l'evaluation de la participation des femmes dans le commerce international selon differents angles, et a observe que toutes les questions liees a l'egalite hommes-femmes ne pouvaient pas etre examinees sous l'angle du commerce. "Meme si les politiques commerciales devraient etre utilisees pour favoriser l'autonomisation des femmes, il ne s'agit pas d'une solution miracle, car les responsables politiques ne peuvent pas resoudre toutes les questions liees a l'egalite hommes-femmes grace au commerce. Cela nous ramene a l'importance que revetent les politiques nationales qui doivent etre mises en place dans les domaines de l'education, de l'acces des femmes et des filles a l'education, de la numerisation, de l'information, des possibilites economiques, etc.", a-t-elle dit.

Arancha Gonzalez, Directrice executive de l'ITC, a mis en evidence la dimension sexospecifique de la participation des petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) au commerce international. "Les femmes font face a des obstacles particuliers: obstacles reglementaires prenant la forme de lois et reglements discriminatoires, prejuges culturels, acces inegal aux ressources, aux actifs et au financement, ainsi qu'a l'information et aux renseignements, et contraintes de temps differentes. Il en resulte que les entreprises gerees par des femmes sont plus petites que l'entreprise moyenne geree par des hommes, ce qui les rend plus vulnerables aux couts fixes du commerce", a-t-elle souligne.

Sefatlhego Matebekwane, attachee agricole du Botswana, a dit: "Nous avons besoin d'evenements tels que le seminaire d'aujourd'hui pour mieux comprendre l'autonomisation economique des femmes et partager les donnees d'experience acquises et les enseignements tires a ce sujet. Nous savons qu'il n'y a pas de solution universelle, c'est pourquoi nous devons elaborer des politiques ayant des effets differents sur des societes differentes. Le seminaire d'aujourd'hui nous permet d'analyser le chemin parcouru jusqu'a present et de nous assurer que nous disposons de suffisamment de connaissances et de donnees pour concevoir des politiques commerciales inclusives qui ne laissent personne sur le carreau".

Au cours de l'atelier, les intervenants ont examine le role des accords de libre-echange dans la promotion de l'egalite hommes-femmes et ce qui avait ete accompli jusqu'a present s'agissant des accords d'integration regionale et des regimes commerciaux preferentiels. Ils ont egalement discute de nouvelles idees sur la maniere de renforcer les consequences concretes pour les femmes de l'integration des questions liees a l'egalite hommes-femmes dans les accords commerciaux.
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President Xi Jinping's first state visit this year saw him travel to Italy, Monaco, and France from March 21 to 26. During the visit there were several memorable firsts for the history books.

President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan on their arrival in Rome, Italy on Thursday, March 21, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua]

Italy became the first country in the G7 to join the Belt and Road Initiative with the signing of a memorandum of understanding witnessed by President Xi and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

President Xi Jinping and Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte hold talks in Rome, Italy on Saturday, March 23, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua/Li Xueren]

In another first, President Xi and Prime Minister Conte also witnessed the signing of an intergovernmental agreement between China and Italy for the repatriation of cultural relics. The agreement signed in Rome on Saturday will see 796 artifacts returned to China. It will be the largest repatriation of lost Chinese cultural relics over 20 years.

Hundreds of cultural relics are being repatriated from Italy. [Photo: CCTV screenshot]

President Xi's visit to Monaco was the first by a Chinese head of state. During the visit, President Xi held talks with Prince Albert II, Monaco's head of state, on strengthening bilateral ties. President Xi's state visit to Monaco reflects China's philosophy of treating all countries equally regardless of their size.

The national flags of China and Monaco in front of the Royal Palace in Monaco on Sunday, March 24, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua]

A copy of the first French translation of "An Introduction to the Analects of Confucius", published in 1688, was presented to President Xi as a gift to China from French President Emmanuel Macron when the two met on Sunday in Nice. The only other copy of this edition is kept at the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts in Paris. The gift reflects the longtime friendship between China and Europe, said a commentary in the French daily Le Parisien.

A copy of the first French translation of "An Introduction to the Analects of Confucius" is given to President Xi as a gift to the nation by French President Emmanuel Macron in Nice, France on Sunday, March 24, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua]

This week also saw the first time that leaders of China, France, Germany and the European Union Commission met for a global governance forum co-hosted by China and France. The meeting was attended by President Xi, President Macron, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. President Xi said that China is willing to cooperate with other countries to safeguard world peace, security, and stability, and to uphold multilateralism and free trade. Leaders from Europe agreed the meeting is a positive signal that EU and China are willing to contribute to the work of safeguarding multilateralism.

President Xi Jinping meets with President Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during a global governance forum co-hosted by China and France in Paris on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua/Ju Peng]

Italy's joining of the Belt and Road Initiative, the return of hundreds of cultural relics from Italy, the state visit by President Xi to Monaco, and the global governance forum are clear signs of attempts by both China and the EU at actively building a partnership for peace, growth, reform and progress of civilization.

President Xi Jinping meets with President Macron, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during a global governance forum co-hosted by China and France in Paris on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua/Ju Peng]
Angelina Jolie delivered a rousing speech advocating for more women to join the United Nations peacekeeping force.

The 43-year-old activist and actress, who has been working with the UN Refugee Agency for 18 years, appeared in front of the UN Defense Peacekeeping Ministerial in America for the first time on Friday. Jolie was appointed special envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2012 and has since traveled the world advocating for refugees and women and children, in particular.

This time, the Oscar winner furthered her work in fighting to eradicate sexual violence during war.

Around the world there are countless examples of women rising, taking leadership, taking their destiny into their own hands, inspiring all of us. But women and girls are still the majority of the victims of war. They are over half of all refugees, and the vast majority of the victims of rape and other sexual and gender-based violence, she said in her speech.

WATCH: Angelina Jolie Travels to Jordan with Daughters Shiloh and Zahara to Meet with Syrian Refugees

Women are at the absolute epicenter of modern conflict, in the worst possible sense, she continued. But more often than not they are still on the outside looking in when it comes to politics and decisions about their future. If we went by the principle that those affected by a problem should be in charge of determining the solution, then the majority of the worlds peace negotiators, foreign ministers and diplomats would be women. We all know the reality.

RELATED: Angelina Jolie Gets Blessing as She Visits Peru to Meet Brave Displaced Venezuelan Refugees

Bintou Keita (United Nations Assistant-Secretary General for Africa), Angelina Jolie (U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees special envoy), and U.N. Peacekeeper Lt. Cmdr. Marcia Andrade Braga | Bebeto Matthews/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Jolie went on to call for more women to take places in leadership positions in the peacekeeping missions, and for nations around the country to include women in the highest positions of decision making.

Denying half a population representation in peace negotiations or in government is not the route to long-term stability, she said. As long as we continue to put almost every other issue ahead of womens rights and participation, we will remain stuck in a cycle of violence and conflict. We will have learnt nothing. And our institutions will count for far less than they should.

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RELATED: President Angelina Jolie? Actress Teases a Future in Politics: Ill Go Where Im Needed

Bebeto Matthews/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Jolie, who is making her return to the big screen in the fall with Disneys Magnificent 2, ended her speech by outlining how things need to change to meet that goal.

There is still much more to do to increase the number of women in the ranks of peacekeeping missions. Having met some formidable female peacekeepers this morning I think this change cannot come soon enough for the effectiveness and impact of UN peacekeeping, she said.

New actions by your governments in all these areas can make a huge difference. But I believe they must also be accompanied by commitments to ensure womens representation in peace negotiations, to be consistent in the defense of womens rights, in all places, and to address the deep-seated societal reasons for inequality and violence against women, Jolie explained.
'Fresh Off the Boat' First Look: 'Kim's Convenience' Star Simu Liu Drops by 100th Episode (Exclusive)

Fresh Off the Boat is hitting a pivotal TV milestone: 100 episodes!

ABC's groundbreaking Asian-led comedy will reach the rare landmark on Friday, April 5, making it the first Asian American series on network television to do so. To count down to Fresh Off the Boat's historic episode, ET exclusively debuts a first look from the upcoming installment, featuring special guest star Simu Liu from the beloved Canadian comedy Kim's Convenience.

In the episode, titled "Under the Taipei Sun," Eddie Huang (Hudson Yang) travels to Taiwan as part of a cultural exchange program, ignoring his parents' advice about how difficult it was for them when they immigrated to America. But when he gets separated from the group with no money and next-to-no language skills, Eddie finds himself in a heap of trouble. That's when Liu, who plays a noodle vendor named Willie, comes into play.

Richard Cartwright/ABC

Richard Cartwright/ABC

"What are you doing in this part of town? This isn't a tourist area," Willie asks Eddie in the clip.

"I got separated from my cultural exchange group and then I blew all my money on gifts, then my a** got lost too," Eddie replies, the challenges of being stuck in a foreign country starting to sink in.

"Rough," Willie says. When Eddie asks Willie if he can use his phone so he can call his big aunt to pick him up, his new friend agrees -- with a caveat of his own.

"Why don't you help me out for the day? And then when we're done, you can use my phone," Willie proposes. "How are you with a knife?"

"Not as good as I am with a spoon!" Eddie quips in a failed attempt at a joke, but Willie's bewildered expression says it all. Watch ET's exclusive sneak peek above.

In February, Liu posted a selfie while filming the 100th episode of Fresh Off the Boat, commending the inclusion he experienced in front of and behind the camera as he compared it to his day job on Kim's Convenience.

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"Im struck by how similar our sets are; full of laughter and diversity in front of and behind the camera. I felt so welcomed!" he wrote. "Cant wait for you guys to see what we cooked up (pun intended )."

Created by Nahnatchka Khan, Fresh Off the Boat is based on author and chef Eddie Huang's memoir of the same name and loosely inspired by his childhood and family. The '90s-set half-hour series, which debuted on ABC in 2015, follows Eddie's Taiwanese family as they relocate from Washington, D.C., to Orlando, Florida, to run a cowboy-themed steakhouse. Randall Park, Constance Wu, Yang, Ian Chen, Forrest Wheeler, Lucille Soong, Chelsey Crisp and Ray Wise star in the revolutionary series.

Fresh Off the Boat airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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Ive seen four episodes of the new Twilight Zone, coming to CBS All-Access on Monday, April 1. Statistically, at least one episode should be good. The anthology was scattershot from its 1959 debut onwards, parading brilliant-kooky-crazy-lame ideas through very long seasons of broadcast television.

The best episodes of Rod Serlings original series represent the apex of TV storytelling: Terrifying and funny, safe for kids yet utterly unsentimental about humanitys inhumanity, their very cheapness a tangible special effect undercutting any normative Hollywood ideals about glossy moral decency. But there have been mediocre Twilight Zones since the Eisenhower administration  and the worst chapter in 1983s Twilight Zone movie was directed by Golden Age Steven Spielberg.

Temper your expectations, is what Im saying. Then throw them out the window. The first four episodes are all bad, a mess of sleepy conceits grasping toward topicality with on-the-nose dialogue spoken by boring characters. A couple sharp performances cant triumph against nonstop plot contrivance. This is one of 2019s first great disappointments.

The headline name in the credits is Jordan Peele, writer-director of the phenomenal Get Out and the new doppelganger thriller Us, which is a very entertaining movie until people start going up and down the escalator. Both films are theme-chomping science-fiction freakouts, horrific Americana set in a Twilight-adjacent zone.

Peele appears onscreen as the Serling-ish narrator. But nothing comes close to the vitality of his big screen work, or the scathing satire of Key & Peele, the sketch series he co-created with Keegan-Michael Key. Notably, every executive producer listed after Peele is worrisome. Theres Simon Kinberg, one of those mega-franchise hacks who has written expensive popular movies without ever developing a notable style or tangible substance. Theres Marco Ramirez, showrunner of Daredevil season 2 and The Defenders, so thats probably why every story feels twice as long as it should be.

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As for the actors: Never has such an exciting and diverse cast been wasted so much. The first two episodes both arrive on April 1, and they are just awful. Nightmare at 30,000 Feet threemakes the paranoid tale of a man going in-flight crazy. William Shatner and John Lithgow starred in the previous versions, and I hope theyll forgive Adam Scott for his part in this abomination. Instead of a nightmarish gremlin, Scotts tormented by (sigh) a podcast predicting his own deadly future. Thats an example of the warmed-over modernization you find in the new Zone: Black Mirror rewritten by your uncle who just got on Facebook.

The new Nightmare exemplifies the series problems. Aspects of the story are immediately unbelievable. Scotts traveler is on a flight from D.C. to Tel Aviv. On the planes screens, travelers can see footage of the pilots flying the plane. The cockpit of this particular aircraft, explains the unseen podcaster (Dan Carlin), Was equipped with cameras that allowed the passengers to watch the flight crew from multiple monitors. A commercial plane that lets passengers watch the pilots? In what world?? And thats not part of some surveillance-state twist, to be clear. Its a cheap narrative trick, assuring that the passengers will freak out later when Something Happens in the Cockpit.

The Comedian is even worse. Kumail Nanjiani plays a stand-up comic, Samir. When we meet him, hes a striving Important Comedian ranting about the Second Amendment. After meeting a mysterious funnyman (Tracy Morgan), things take a Faustian turn. Samir starts to tell new jokes, and strange things start to happen.

Now, the melodramatic sociopolitical seriousness of stand-up comedy has become a done-to-death cliche this decade. And this particular depiction of stand-up is biopic-level bad: You dont choose comedy because you want a fine life, says Samir, You choose comedy because you want it all. Any comedian who would say that out loud must be terrible at his job. Nanjiani  a comedian himself, yeesh, an Oscar-nominated writer!  looks lost in the ludicrous melodrama.

The third episode, Replay, is the most pointed political statement, and comes closest to developing a captivating story. Sanaa Lathan plays a proud mom driving her son (Damson Idris) to college. Shes holding an old camcorder, and when she hits rewind the whole world rewinds; yeesh, did someone pull these scripts out of cold storage? But beyond the goofy techno-contrivance lies legitimate fear. Their drive is haunted by a racist policeman, played by Glenn Fleshler with monolithic quiet. Lathans performance is great, powerful even when shes fully unglued. You see profound strength and emotional frailty: Heres a woman living with perpetual paranoia, fearful of what America will do to her African American son.

Replay turns painfully speechy, though, as if worried youre missing the point. Theres something just a little too nice about this version of Twilight Zone, a sentimentality that feels less retro than archaic. Maybe this ground has just been covered too much? The fourth episode, A Traveler, casts Steven Yeun as a mysterious stranger who arrives at an Alaskan police station during the annual Christmas party. Yuen radiates the same vampiric glee that powered his magnificent performance in 2018s Burning. But hes styled like every other omniscient sci-fi mystery man, old-timey hat-and-suit combo borrowed from Dark City and Fringe and whatever The Adjustment Bureau was.

A Traveler is probably the best episode Ive seen, insofar as its precisely as entertaining as a middling episode of American Horror Story. Will the episodes get better? I have my doubts. The pacing so far is painfully slow, and sometimes Peele doesnt start his narratorial introduction until the 10-minute mark.

Should we blame Peele for this Twilight Zones failure? A couple of twists recall the Escalator Problem from Us, a gaping hole drilled into the plot to make room for blessed Themes. But the new Twilight Zone feels like a collective failure. Sadly, its just another bloated TV property: a famous franchise rebooted with zero inspiration, a bold creator bestowing indifferent attention to a side project that could only exist in a churn of infinite content, a failed attempt at relevance with all the depth of a Saturday Night Live sketch.

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This image provided by Google shows the animated Google Doodle on Thursday, March 21, 2019. Google is celebrating composer Johann Sebastian Bach with its first artificial intelligence-powered Doodle. Google says the Doodle uses machine learning to "harmonize the custom melody into Bach's signature music style." (Google via AP)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP)  Google is celebrating composer Johann Sebastian Bach with its first artificial intelligence-powered Doodle.

Thursday's animated Google Doodle shows the composer playing an organ in celebration of his March 21, 1685, birthday under the old Julian calendar. It encourages users to compose their own two-measure melody.

Google says the Doodle uses machine learning to "harmonize the custom melody into Bach's signature music style." Bach's chorales were known for having four voices carrying their own melodic line.

To develop the AI Doodle, Google teams created a machine-learning model that was trained on 306 of Bach's chorale harmonizations. Another team worked to allow machine learning to occur within the web browser instead of on its servers.

The Doodle will prompt users who are unsure of how to interact with the animated graphic.
On Monday the Pennsylvania House of Representatives swore in its first Muslim woman. But the occasion was clouded by an alienating opening prayer from a fellow lawmaker who repeatedly referenced Jesus and asked for his forgiveness.

That was protest. That was not an invocation. That was not a prayer, the representative being sworn in, Movita Johnson-Harrell, tells PEOPLE. It was a protest to the first Muslim woman coming to the House of Representatives.

In a roughly two-minute prayer, Rep. Stephanie Borowicz stood at the front of the chamber before Johnson-Harrell and others and invoked Jesus by name 13 times. God forgive us, Jesus, weve lost sight of you, she said.

God forgive us, Jesus, weve lost sight of you, she said.

I, Jesus, am your ambassador today, she said.

At the very end of her prayer, Borowicz quoted the Bible: Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, Jesus, that you are Lord.

Johnson-Harrell says the verse Borowicz referenced is considered a condemnation of non-Christians. That was saying if you are not Christian then you are damned to hell, she says.

Borowicz, who did not mention Islam or Muslims specifically, ended her prayer after a brief touch from House Speaker Mike Turzai, who was standing next to her. A representative in the chamber also shouted object!

Johnson-Harrell, a Democratic representative from Philadelphia, tells PEOPLE says that both Democrats and Republicans lawmakers have since apologized to her for Borowicz. (Reached on Thursday, Borowiczs office said they would be providing a statement to PEOPLE about the incident but have yet to do so.)

However, Borowicz told one local reporter that I dont apologize ever for praying.

Thats how I pray every day, she said, according to Andrew Bahl.

Pennsylvania Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell (left) being sworn-in on Monday | Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Johnson-Harrell says she initially welcomed the opening prayer from Borowicz and stood and bowed her head  but then Borowicz began speaking.

It started being Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus over and over again, Johnson-Harrell says. Then she started talking about the forefathers, some of whom have owned slaves, and I said, Something is not right here. 

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Johnson-Harrell says that she tried to make eye contact with Borowicz but Borowicz avoided her.

Borowicz, a Republican, also mentioned President Donald Trump and thanked him for his position on Israel and his support of its right-wing government.

The reference to Trump-Israel relations was a direct slam at Islam, Johnson-Harrell says. Borowiczs repetition of Jesus also felt like a personal attack because most people do not understand the significance of Jesus in Islam, she says.

She talks about President Trump, she talks about Israel  and I said, This aint no prayer,  Johnson-Harrell recalls.

Borowicz and two colleagues rushed out of the chamber after her prayer, Johnson-Harrell says.

At that point the focus was no longer on her, Johnson-Harrell says. It was on my family and my guests.

It was on the behalf of her 55 guests that she was truly offended, Johnson-Harrell says: Members of her interfaith group were there to support her as well as her 92-year-old grandmother and other family members  many of whom are Muslim.

RELATED VIDEO: Meghan McCain Slams Donald Trump for Attacking Her Dad  My Father Was His Kryptonite

While her induction didnt start out as planned, Johnson-Harrell says she has received overwhelming support from the Democratic caucus and many of her Republican colleagues. Even some of Borowicz constituents have apologized, Johnson-Harrell says.

At a reception with supporters following her swearing-in, Johnson-Harrell says she told them, We were not going to let that occurrence ruin our day.  This actually created an opportunity for learning, an opportunity for teaching and an opportunity for dialogue that should be happening in the State House.

Johnson-Harrell charges President Trump with normalizing Islamophobia. The president campaigned on banning all Muslims from entering the country, citing abstract security concerns, and once in office he moved to stop immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries.

[People] are feeling comfortable to attack others, Johnson-Harrell says.

Johnson-Harrell describes herself as privileged to be colored and covered (referencing her hijab), and says she will not be dissuaded from her work. She decided to seek office after her 18-year-old son, Charles, was fatally shot in 2011; she is also the founder of The Charles Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps at-risk children.

Im going to continue to fight for marginalized and disenfranchised communities, she says. Im going to continue to fight for inclusion and equality and equity. And my presence creates that conversation.
George Clooney has a long relationship with Deadline, often on matters beyond film and television. In a guest column, he calls for the immediate boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Hotel Bel-Air and six others to protest the imminent legalization of laws that make it open season on the LGBTQ community in Brunei.

The date April 3rd has held a unique place in our history over the years. Theologians and astronomers will tell you that Christ was crucified on that date. On April 3rd Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan, arguably the greatest postwar intervention in the history of man. The first portable cellphone call was made on April 3rd. Marlon Brando was born on that day.

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But this April 3rd will hold its own place in history. On this particular April 3rd the nation of Brunei will begin stoning and whipping to death any of its citizens that are proved to be gay. Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone.

.

Brunei isnt a significant country. Its population is less than 500,000 people, pretty small in relation to most of its neighbors, The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia. But Brunei has oil. This year it was ranked as the 5th richest nation by Forbes. Good for them. Of course they havent had an election since 1962 and have adopted the most extreme version of Sharia law so, not so good for them. At the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world. The Big Kahuna. He owns the Brunei Investment Agency and they in turn own some pretty spectacular hotels.

A couple of years ago two of those hotels in Los Angeles, The Bel-Air and The Beverly Hills Hotel were boycotted by many of us for Bruneis treatment of the gay community. It was effective to a point. We cancelled a big fundraiser for the Motion Picture Retirement Home that wed hosted at the Beverly Hills Hotel for years. Lots of individuals and companies did the same. But like all good intentions when the white heat of outrage moves on to the hundred other reasons to be outraged, the focus dies down and slowly these hotels get back to the business of business. And the Brunei Investment Agency counts on that. They own nine of the most exclusive hotels in the world. Full disclosure: Ive stayed at many of them, a couple of them recently, because I hadnt done my homework and didnt know who owned them.

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Theyre nice hotels. The people who work there are kind and helpful and have no part in the ownership of these properties. But lets be clear, every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery. Brunei is a Monarchy and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws. But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations? Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens? Ive learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you cant shame them. But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.

Below Ive listed the nine hotels. Its up to each of us what we want to do.

George Clooney

The Dorchester, London

45 Park Lane, London

Coworth Park, UK

The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills

Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles

Le Meurice, Paris

Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris

Hotel Eden, Rome

Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan

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George Clooney is calling for the boycott of Dorchester Collections hotels, including The Beverly Hills Hotels and Hotel Bel-Air in California, after he says their owner has actively discriminated against the LGBTQ community.

The actor spoke out against the Sultan of Brunei, the head of the Brunei Investment Agency, which owns the Dorchester Collection of hotels and resorts in a column for Deadline.

On April 3, Brunei, a country in Southeast Asia, will enact a new death-penalty law that allows stoning people who engage in homosexual activities to death.

At the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world. The Big Kahuna, the Catch-22 star writes. He owns the Brunei Investment Agency and they in turn own some pretty spectacular hotels.

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The hotels owned by the Dorchester Collection are: The Dorchester in London, 45 Park Lane in London, Coworth Park in the United Kingdom, the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Hotel Bel-Air in L.A., Le Meurice in Paris, Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, Hotel Eden in Rome, and Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan.

The BIA and the Dorchester Collection did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.

Previously, many people in Hollywood boycotted the Hotel Bel-Air and the Beverly Hills Hotel because of Bruneis treatment of the gay community.

Clooney says they canceled a big fundraiser they had hosted at the Beverly Hills Hotel for years, and many others followed suit. However, the boycott didnt last long.

WATCH THIS: George Clooney Comes to Pregnant Meghan Markles Defense, Comparing Her Plight to Princess Dianas

Like all good intentions when the white heat of outrage moves on to the hundred other reasons to be outraged, the focus dies down and slowly these hotels get back to the business of business, Clooney writes. And the Brunei Investment Agency counts on that. They own nine of the most exclusive hotels in the world.

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The actor even admits that he has stayed at many of the luxurious resorts in his lifetime, writing, Full disclosure: Ive stayed at many of them, a couple of them recently, because I hadnt done my homework and didnt know who owned them.

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But Clooney says thats about to change, and he hopes other people will join him in boycotting the resorts, no matter how luxurious they may be.

Theyre nice hotels. The people who work there are kind and helpful and have no part in the ownership of these properties, he writes. But lets be clear, every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery.

Brunei is a Monarchy and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws, he continues. But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations? Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens? Ive learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you cant shame them. But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.
On CNN Tonight With Don Lemon, Rob Goldstone, the publicist who set up the infamous Trump Tower meeting in 2016 between Donald Trump Jr. and a Kremlin-connected lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, explained why he wrote what he did in his initial email to Don Jr. At the direction of his client, Emin Agalarov, one of Russias biggest pop stars and son of a Russian oligarch, Goldstone reached out to the Trump campaign to set up the meeting. Goldstone explained that he chose to contact Don Jr. because theyd met in the past. In the email, Goldstone promised dirt on Hillary Clinton to which Don Jr. replied, I love it. But according to Goldstone, he didnt actually have dirt on Clinton, he was just embellishing to get the desired response from Don jr.I didnt make up the email, I made the scant details that my client had given me better, or worse depending on which side youre on, Goldstone said. He later added, As publicist, I pitch people all the time. I have done for almost 30 years. If I pitched you on somebody for your show and said, Theyre okay. Its okay. Its kind of interesting, you wouldnt even read the email. If I puffed it up, youd probably read it.

Goldstone also said he has a couple regrets in the situation. The first being that he wrote the email in the first place and didnt push back harder against doing so. The second is using Clintons name at all, because as he explained, she was just an innocent bystander.. It really had nothing to do with Hillary, Goldstone said. If Joe Biden had been the candidate, if you had been the candidate, it would have been your name that I used.
In a forgotten region of Southern Italy, projected against a sweeping cliff overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, La Guarimba International Film Festival screens a dynamic program of boundary-pushing short films  all at no cost to an eclectic audience of Catholic nonnas and independent filmmakers from around the globe. Amantea is a tiny seaside town in Calabria, the poorest region in Italy and one of the poorest in all of Europe. Every summer, La Guarimba floods the town with young cinephiles and adventurous Italian tourists. But the provocative, inclusive, and avant-garde programming is sometimes more challenging than the audience may have bargained for.

Now in its seventh year, La Guarimba has played short films from nearly every continent, earned the support of the Ministry of Culture and U.S. Embassy, and showcased nearly 50 films that later earned a Vimeo Staff Pick badge, one of the highest honors a short can receive in the internet age. Frequent visitors to the grotto include the experimental video and sound artist Vincent Moon and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo.

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With a stated mission of bringing cinema back to the people and the people back to the cinema, fostering community for artists and filmmakers while remaining committed to social justice is central to La Guarimbas mission. Progressive politics are in the fabric of the festival, as evidenced by its name: La Guarimba comes from a Venezuelan slang word meaning political protestor. Before resettling in his grandparents hometown, festival co-founder and artistic director Giulio Vita fled Venezuela, where he was raised, after being imprisoned and tortured by the Hugo Chavez regime.

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We are obviously lefties. We are obviously anti-fascist, anti-racism. We try to program things that are against conservative politics, but we dont try to shove it in your face, said Vita, adding that to screen an LGBT film or bring a musician from Senegal is, for him, like a big, big hit in the base of the power.

Festival co-founders Giulio Vita and Sara Fratini with Senegalese programmer Keba Danso.

And the power base has taken notice. Vita and his staff regularly encounter roadblocks from local government, whether its not allowing volunteers to clean up the park where screenings are held or being forced to use a certain (more expensive) mafia-controlled rental chair company. The mayor of Amantea is a sworn enemy of Vitas, going so far as to call him an arrogant little boy over WhatsApp.

I dont know why people, especially politicians, are so afraid of culture, said Vita. We live in the region of Ndrangheta, which is the name of the mafia here. The most powerful mafia in the world is here, and people fight against some dudes that want to do a free cinema.

The toe of Italys boot, Calabria is nestled between the more popular regions of Sicily and Puglia. The Ndrangheta may not be as famous abroad as its Sicilian rival, but Italians know it as the most powerful and violent of the Italian mafias. Their presence, as well as Calabrias economic depression, keeps the region off the radar of many tourists, even Italian ones.

This is one of the poorest region of Europe and everybody leaves, said Vita. I decided to come back, back to my roots and do the festival here because I think that is a political act.

According to Nils Clauss, a filmmaker whose work has shown at Cannes and who has directed music videos for M83 and Royksopp, Vita is like a guerrilla when it comes to festival organizing. Giulios political idealism is what keeps La Guarimba strong. It gives the festival a strong sense of identity, which makes it stick out in the big pool of cinema related events around the world, he said via email. He does not hold back being confrontational, and that shows not only in La Guarimbas selection of political films, but also in big political statements which Giulio spreads during the festival.

A full screening in La Grotta

One of those political acts is to hire some of the towns refugees for film shoots, integrating them with Italians and providing documentation of employment. The refugees have a document where it says this association that is recognized by the Minister of Culture is saying hes a good impact for the society, said Vita.

The conservative Catholic region has accepted a significant number of refugees in the last 20 years; Amantea has 12,000 residents and has taken 300 refugees. But it has not come by its burgeoning multicultural status without friction. Through its wide array of international programming, La Guarimba hopes to open local minds to their new neighbors.

On any given night during the 2018 festival, audiences may have been treated to a surprisingly plaintive South Korean film about loneliness at a gay orgy, a disturbing hyperreal documentary about a cross-dressing photographer, or  if they could stay awake until 3 am  a beachside art porn screening. (Full disclosure: I served on the jury of the 2018 festival).

Its a tough undertaking to gain peoples interest in art cinema, especially if Berlusconi television has a daily presence in their lives, said Clauss. But what works is not only the fact that all the screenings are free, but also that La Guarimba is making a huge effort to make the community part of the festival.

This democratization of art is the ultimate soul of La Guarimba, and is why Vita chose to set the festival in Amantea rather than Madrid, where he lives part of the year. Nobody want to invest in Calabria, he said. Our culture is just in some places, just for the people that can afford it.  So, doing something like this, here, is a big impact.

The 2019 La Guarimba International Film Festival takes place in Amantea, Italy from August 7-11. Short film submissions are open through April 6.

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Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau Are Splitting Up After Reconciliation: 'It Just Isn't Working'

Mary Kay Letourneau and husband Vili Fualaau are moving forward in their separation after reconciliation attempts have failed.

PEOPLE confirms a legal filing with the King County Superior Court that states that the couple is moving forward with private arbitration to finalize the split. A source close to the couple also confirms to PEOPLE that the couple is seeking to end their relationship.

It may be the end of a relationship that began when Fualaau was just 12 years old and Letourneau was his sixth-grade teacher. Ultimately, she was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison ehind bars for child rape in connection with their relationship and remains a registered sex offender in Washington state. She twice became pregnant with Fualaaus children before he was 15.

After finishing her prison sentence, Letourneau and Fualaau married in 2005 and quietly settled down in King County, Washington. They raised their two daughters, Georgia and Audrey.

But the controversial couple returned made headlines again in May 2017, when Fualaau filed for legal separation.

Im not surprised that they got married, Letourneaus lawyer and friend David Gehrke told PEOPLE at the time, and Im not surprised, in this day and age, that they are separating.

Vili was the one who filed a petition for separation, which is usually a precursor for filing for divorce, Gehrke continued. It gives legal notice to creditors and the like that the debts wont be joint. She could try to contest it, but thats legally tough to do.

But the couple didnt follow through on the plans to separate. Letourneau, 57, and Fualaau, 35, still lived together. They were occasionally spotted out in the Seattle area.

But the reconciliation didnt work. PEOPLE confirms that the couple has resumed private arbitration to end their marriage  and a source close to the couple tells says that it seems to be real this time.

They really gave it the old college try, says the source They have a long history with two kids, but it really seems to have run its course. They worked really hard to fix things, but it still fell apart. The reconciliation just didnt work.

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Heidi Gutman/ABC/Getty

Last year, friends and family told PEOPLE that the controversial relationship would always endure, regardless of the separation.

This developed into something deep, family friend Anne Bremner said. They went through this gauntlet of celebrity and scandal. I give them a lot of credit. They will always have a bond.

RELATED VIDEO: Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaaus Relationship Through the Years  from Prison to Marriage

The source tells PEOPLE that the couple appears to be headed to an eventual divorce.

They still love each other very much, says the source. Theyre family and always will be. It just isnt working, and theyre going to have to call it.
Nic Cage, Erika Koike

Nicolas Cage is calling it quits on his marriage just four days after tying the knot.

According to court records obtained by The Blast, Cage filed Wednesday for an annulment with Erika Koike in Clark County, Nevada.

There were stories that the actor had applied for a marriage license in Las Vegas last week, but it turns out he got hitched the same day because a marriage certificate was issued on March 23 for the then-happy couple.

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Its unclear what happened to the newlyweds, but days later Cage now wants out of the marriage. He is asking for a divorce, if an annulment is not possible. The couple has been together since April of last year and surprised everyone when they appeared to be taking their love to the next level.

His new bride, who is a makeup artist, has not yet been served with the legal papers.

This will be the fourth failed marriage for the 55-year-old movie star.

Divorced stars

The post Nicolas Cage Files for Annulment With New Bride After Surprise Marriage appeared first on The Blast.
This March, CBSi is marking Womens History Month by celebrating the amazing female power in Marvel film and television. Click here to see more on all of the powerful female forces that make up this comic universe, and read on for more on the godmother of the MCU as it exists today: Peggy Carter.

The current iteration of the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with the very first Iron Man film, back in 2008, so it seems fitting that the latest epic trailer for Avengers: Endgame -- a culmination of 22 films' worth of origin stories, twisting plot lines and heart-wrenching deaths -- begins with Tony Starks voice, issuing a farewell to Pepper Potts from a dark corner of space when all hope seems lost.

But then, there is another voice -- one perhaps even more central to the MCU as a whole.

The world has changed, and none of us can go back, Peggy Carter says wistfully, over clips from Captain America: The First Avenger. All we can do is our best. And sometimes the best that we can do, is to start over.

Astute Marvel fans will recognize the quote from a scene in the second Captain America film, The Winter Soldier, when a conflicted Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) visits Peggy as an old woman, as she lies in a rest home, memory starting to fail her. And while there are likely Endgame clues to be gleaned from the use of Peggy's quotes in the trailer, her inclusion highlights the significant impact the groundbreaking agent has had on the cinematic universe as a whole.

It may have been Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who assembled the Avengers, but Peggy had a hand in several origin stories that made the team possible. She and Howard Stark (played in early years by Dominic Cooper) helped turn the Strategic Scientific Reserve into the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (and gave it an acronym, S.H.I.E.L.D., for their fallen friend, Captain America). And, of all the characters that have died in the MCUs run so far, Peggy Carter -- played to perfection throughout several cinematic decades by Hayley Atwell -- was the only one to be given an on-screen funeral.

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While there may not be direct links from Peggy to every single Avenger, her status as a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D. links her intrinsically to the heroic group and their efforts to save the world from evil time and time again. So here is a very unofficial, fan-centric look at the impact Peggy Carter has had on the MCU, and the ways in which she helped bring Earth's mightiest heroes together as a team. All we can do is our best, after all.

1. Captain America

Marvel Studios/Paramount Pictures

The most obvious entry on the list, of course. Peggy was instrumental in Skinny Steve Rogers becoming the Star-Spangled Man With a Plan from the very beginning. In the weakest of fanboy biographies, she is reduced to the mere role of Caps girl, but anyone with half a brain understands that Peggys role in Captain Americas evolution runs deeper than that. From her support of Steves first solo rescue to the way she carried on his mission throughout her time at the SSR, and eventually, the founding of S.H.I.E.L.D., Peggy kept Cap's heroic memory alive until the day he returned.

There are many theories out there regarding how the ill-fated pair might finally get their shot at that dance somewhere in Endgame's epic, three-hour runtime, but even if they don't, Captain America's legacy was shaped by Peggy Carter. Every word.

2. Iron Man

ABC

A self-made man in the same way that Kylie Jenner is a self-made billionaire, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) likely spent his childhood years on the receiving end of some very disapproving glances from his fathers friend and close confidante. Howard's working relationship with Peggy -- sans fondue, of course -- is established in The First Avenger, but their friendship is explored even further in Agent Cartersstellar two-season run on ABC. The pair teamed up to save the world more than a few times, forging a bond so strong, it's impossible to believe that Peggy wasn't a part of young Tony's life -- and that she didn't have an impact on the hero he grew up to be.

And besides that, if Howard had died in Agent Carters season one finale, as he came very close to doing, Tony would have gotten scrubbed from the timeline, Marty McFly-style. Thanks, Aunt Peggy.

3. Ant-Man (and the Wasp)

Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Another fairly obvious one. Peggy worked with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) at S.H.I.E.L.D., and unknowingly protected him when she and Howard Stark (in later years played by John Slattery) let him walk in Ant-Man's1989 flashbacks, rather than listening to the advice of Head of Defense Mitchell Carson (Martin Donovan), who suggested they not "let him leave the building."

Peggy and Howard's dismissal of Carson may have saved Hank's life, and tech, as Carson was later revealed to be an undercover HYDRA operative who was attempting to procure the Ant-Man suit -- and later, the derivative Yellowjacket -- for the authoritarian organization. By allowing Hank to escape with his proprietary tech, Peggy and Howard set in motion the events that would ultimately land Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in the Ant-Man suit and on the Avengers team.

4. Black Widow

Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Here, we have to dig a little deeper, but theres still a strong connection between arguably the two most important women in the entire MCU. (Carol Danvers may ultimately prove to shake up that ranking, but well have to see how she fares in Endgame.) The connection between these two is also a little more tragic -- which will likely surprise no one with any sort of understanding of the history of female comic characters.

In a season two episode of Agent Carter, titled The Iron Ceiling, Peggy reteams with the Howling Commandos to infiltrate the Red Room Academy, a Soviet facility in Belarus where young girls are trained to become elite assassins. The program birthed one of Agent Carters most delightfully diabolical antagonists, Dottie Underwood (Bridget Regan), but was also a predecessor to the program that shaped Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) into a ruthless spy. Peggy and some of the Commandos escape the facility with their lives but not much else, failing to glean much important info or put a stop to the torturous training program, thereby allowing it to continue for years under the KGB and spawn the assassin known as Black Widow.

5. The Hulk

ABC

In the final scenes of Agent Carters first season, Peggy is seen destroying the only remaining sample of Steve Rogers blood in a tearful farewell to a love long lost -- or so she thinks at the time. While the moment is scripted as heart-wrenching character development, it also has several implications in the MCU beyond Peggys emotional (and, some might argue, moral) decision to erase the possibility of recreating the exact Super Soldier Serum that turned Skinny Steve into Captain America.

In the canon of the MCU, Bruce Banner (Edward Norton, and then Mark Ruffalo) became the Hulk because scientists were trying to recreate that serum, and exposure to Gamma radiation -- rather than the Vita Radiation that changed Steve -- turned him into the raging green monster. Had Peggy never destroyed Steves blood, it's possible that the military scientists would have been able to recreate the serum that catalyzed Captain America, thereby sparing the world of the Hulk. And while Banner would undoubtedly argue that it would have been for the best, the Avengers (and the world) may not have survived to the Endgame without the green guy.

6. Captain Marvel

Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

OK, so this one is more fanon than actual MCU canon, but, given the timeline established in Ant-Mans flashbacks -- where Peggy is still in an active leadership role at S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1989 -- it seems likely that she would have heard of a daring young Air Force recruit named Carol Danvers, and even more likely that she would have been made aware when Carol returned to Earth six years later and was being pursued by then-agents Fury and Coulson.

And if youre trying to tell me that Peggy Carter, even in her 70s and close to or newly retired from S.H.I.E.L.D., wouldnt have wanted to meet the most powerful female force in the galaxy -- let alone another hero who calls herself Cap -- well then god, Jed, I dont even want to know you.

Avengers: Endgame soars into theaters on April 26.

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The 2019 MLB season is now in full swing, and one player is making sure his son is all smiles when he walks to the plate.

Elvis Andrus of the Texas Rangers picked the viral Baby Shark song as his walk-up music for games at GlobeLife Park this season and will keep it as long as it doesnt result in bad luck, of course.

Its my at-bats, its my song, I can do anything I want, Andrus told MLB.com. I am very superstitious, if it gets a hit every day, I am going to keep it. If I dont get any hits, it might not be up there. Hopefully, it will be the song I hit well with.

Andrus said he was swayed into choosing the tune because of his two-year-old son, Emilio Elvis.

Its awesome, its my boys favorite song, he told Fox Sports.

He added to Dallas News: It reminds me of my son and gets me where I want to be for an at-bat You will get used to it. I did.

Elvis Andrus | Stephen Brashear/Getty Images

RELATED: John Legend and Daughter Luna Simone, 2, Sweetly Sing Baby Shark and Sport Matching Sunglasses

The kids song shot up the charts late last year thanks to a music video that sees a little boy and girl singing and dancing along to its repetitive-sounding lyrics while they tell the story of a family of sharks  a baby, mommy, daddy, grandma and grandpa  who hunt and avoid danger together. The video was originally uploaded to YouTube in 2016 by an educational brand from South Korea.

Ahead of the Christmas holiday, a line of plush Baby Shark toys by WowWee sold out on Amazon, prompting third-party sellers to put them up for grabs at astounding markup prices.

RELATED VIDEO: Baby Shark Has Officially Hit the Billboard Hot 100  See Its Surprising Rank

Andrus said that while the song is for his son, he hopes it also has another effect: annoying pitchers.

That would be nice. I heard people clapping [Monday] when I came up, so that is cool and would be good in a big situation, the told the Dallas News. Hopefully they will be clapping and maybe its for the song, but Ill think its for me. It will give me some good energy.

Andrus made his debut with the song during an exhibition game against the Cleveland Indians. The Rangers faced the Chicago Cubs for Opening Day on Thursday.
Paul Nicklen is different from the rest of us. He likes to swim in 29-degree water beneath the Arctic ice, alone, in search of potentially predatory animals. Which can sometimes get him into trouble, like when he was nearly body-slammed by a 7,000-pound elephant seal. The only thing, almost ever, that can kill you is panic, he says. Its not that Im willing to die. I think that Im just not scared.

A marine biologist and wildlife photographer with more than 20 National Geographic assignments and 5.2 million Instagram followers to his credit, Nicklen grew up in Canadas far-north Nunavut province and lived in the Arctic on and off for 25 years. Being around big animals and nature and the cold and diving and ice is definitely my comfort zone, says Nicklen, 50. To have a 25-foot-long massive male killer whale come within two feet of me in the middle of a feeding frenzy is very calming to me. Its beautiful.

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A lifetime of seeing the Arctic landscape through the camera lens  for years there was no TV, radio or telephone growing up, but his mom had a darkroom  has also made him a firsthand witness to climate change in the polar ecosystem. Its changing very dramatically, very quickly, he says. The biggest difference is in the disappearance of multiyear ice, which is the backbone of the Arctic and home to a host of species that evolved to hunt and breed on it. Since 1985, 95 percent of it has melted. I was completely lost in this bay that Id been to many times, Nicklen recalls of a recent trip to Svalbard, Norway. I didnt recognize it. The ice was gone. Where there used to be glaciers, there was now islands and rocks.

In 2015, he co-founded SeaLegacy, a nonprofit that uses visual storytelling to raise awareness of ocean-conservation issues. A 2017 video he shot of a starving polar bear sifting through garbage for food did just that  its been viewed almost 2 billion times on YouTube. I use charismatic mega-fauna like polar bears, leopard seals, orcas to connect people to that ecosystem, he says. Everything for me, when Im in the polar region, at the core of that assignment is climate change.

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And he goes to extremes to do it. Nicklen  whos been in two plane crashes, including one where he found himself trapped upside down in his cockpit in an Arctic lake  spends up to two months at a time camped out at the floe edge, where the ocean meets the ice, waiting to capture never-before-seen moments in the animal kingdom. You want to be out there on the front lines of where a bowhead whale might pass by, and you can slip into the water, he says. I just want to see things that nobody else has ever seen. And not only see it but capture it on video or still pictures and share that with the world.

Rolling Stone talked with Nicklen about the changes in the Arctic hes witnessed, what scares him the most (it might be the human animal), and what its like to camp out on the ice.

How did you first become interested in photography?

As a kid, growing up where we lived in the Arctic, we didnt even have a grocery store, we didnt have a telephone, a radio. We didnt have anything. But my mom had a darkroom. And she would shoot black-and-white film, and it would take three months to get those negatives processed. Wed have to ship them out on an airplane. And then when the film would eventually come back, it was just such a magical process to watch these beautiful black-and-white images appear. Inuit hunters out on the land, out on the ice, sort of capturing the culture, capturing the scenery, the beauty of it. I think thats when it stuck to me. I was already in love with the Arctic, but it was just sort of like a new way of seeing.

And then, when I went to University of Victoria, I saw they advertised this really intense scuba-diving course. Im like, What do you mean I can get a camera and go underwater and take pictures? My invertebrate zoology professor was a world authority on the underwater marine ecosystems. And I remember coming back with some so-so pictures, and he was just blown away. He didnt realize thats sort of how it all looked down there. The fact that I was able to impress somebody of his caliber, somebody I really looked up to, just made me feel like, at the age of 18, I had a purpose in this world.

How many people in the world do what you do, as far as diving in Arctic waters?

Theres all these different ranges of ability, and risk-taking. Its one thing to dive, to go scuba-diving anywhere. Its another to go in the cold waters of British Columbia [where Nicklen lives], and its something altogether different to put on a rebreather, a closed-circuit rebreather, and then go under the ice for an hour. At that level, it becomes very, very extreme. I am trained in some of the hardest diving in the world.

It seems like theres multiple ways that you could die there.

Yeah. Weve had some scary moments. You learn a lot from those, and you just dont take anything for granted, for sure.

Is an hour the max amount of time you could spend in water like that because of the temperature?

So, if you take water thats 29 degrees Fahrenheit  which is basically as cold as salt water can get before it freezes  its like diving in this slushy soup. Its burning cold. And youve got a wet hood, which means water gets in under your hood and onto your head. The idea is that Neoprene is supposed to warm up that water. Id say the first three to four minutes, you start to lose all feeling in your face, your lips, your cheeks, whatever is exposed. And then Id say after about 15 to 20 minutes you lose all feeling in your hands. You have to look at them on the shutter of your camera, and you cant feel yourself, but you can hear your camera clicking.

Id say after about half an hour to 40 minutes, your body starts to shiver violently. And then you know youre still OK, because your body is still functioning. And its when the shivering stops at about 55 minutes to an hour, maybe an hour and 10 minutes, thats when everything starts to cramp up, everything stops working, and thats when youre entering the early phases of hypothermia. Thats when you start to enter the danger zone.

Svalbard, Norway, working on a story about melting sea ice

Paul Nicklen in Svalbard, Norway. Photograph by Jed Weingarten

And are you generally doing this by yourself?

When you look at the best cave divers in the world, often they dive alone. And its the same with ice diving. Somebody else whos less experienced becomes a liability. Generally, I want to be alone. I want the animals to interact with me. If Ive got a big group of narwhals coming down the crack, you dont want anybody else in the water, you want them to hopefully pass by you, and allow you to get that shot.

How long are you usually out for a shoot at a time?

So well live on the sea ice for up to two months at a time. And thats just the best way to get those shots. I see big film crews come in, and theyll set up there for two weeks, and theyll throw all their money at, sort of Go big or go home. Where my whole motto is, stay nimble, light, small, flexible, and save your money that way, but where you spend your money is just by allowing yourself to be there for months in one spot, waiting. Narwhals for example, I went back there every year for six years before I finally figured out how to film narwhals. And nobody else had ever figured it out either. In six years of trying, it came down to five hours, five good hours of shooting. And then thats how we got our coverage. Thats sort of how it works in the Arctic. You just have to put in your time. You live on the sea ice. But the risk with that is that that ice is constantly breaking up and drifting out to sea. And so you could be moving your tent maybe every  Ive moved my tent four times in one day. Ive drifted out to sea on a pad of ice and had the tides bring me back.

Wow.

We were four miles offshore. Four miles out on the open ocean on a piece of ice, and then the tide switched and brought the ice back. We were very lucky. Other people have had to be rescued.

I think you must be a master of not panicking.

In diving, when youre around animals like polar bears, or leopard seals, the only thing, almost ever, that can kill you is panic. So the more stressful it gets, the more calm you have to be.

Do you think thats because the animals react to that panic, or just that youre not going to be thinking clearly and you wont be able to make the best decision?

Both. We have something called perceptual narrowing. The more panicked you get, the more narrow your focus is, the less able you are to think on your feet. I let these animals dictate the encounters. I never push them. I always act very calm. I rarely make eye contact with them. I just sit there very peacefully, and I let them go on about their day. And eventually, Ill start introducing camera noises to the situation, and before you know it, youre 30 feet away from a polar bear, just acting naturally as can be. And thats when youre in your dream situation.

So is it fair to say that youve witnessed first-hand things no other human has witnessed?

I think definitely by being under there. Its one thing to be a scientist, sticking a probe in the ice. I mean, I was working on a big climate change project up in the Northwest Passage, and working with some of the top scientists in the world. And one of the scientists said, My dream is to solve the mystery of where the polar cod live. And Im like, Really? I mean, from being a kid, growing up with Inuit, we learn that you dont take a fishing lure and dump it deep in the ocean to catch polar cod. You put it down four inches, because theyre living within the cracks and the layers of the sea ice. So I took his camera, I filmed a whole bunch of polar cod living inside the layers of the ice, gave it back to him, and he was just crying. He was euphoric. He was like, I solved the mystery of where the polar cod live.

If you had to name your most harrowing moment with an animal, what do you think it would be?

Id say my biggest, scariest moment was getting in the water with a 7,000-pound breeding elephant seal bull, who had a harem of 300 females on the beach. These animals, they completely turn their brains off that time of year. They just go into full-on kill-or-breed mode. They kill and chase away every male that they can. And all of a sudden, here this big bull saw me in the water, and he came shooting over to me and just saw me as a competitor for his harem, and tried to crush me, tried to lunge at me. I had an assistant on the beach, but he was slow to react, and this elephant seal almost got me. It was almost a cathartic moment, because Ive had a lot of close calls, but this was a moment where I was like, Now I know Im going to die. But that was my mistake. Nobody had jumped in the water with a big breeding bull on purpose like that. I went and tried it, and it turned out not to be a smart decision.

Lesson learned. You seem fully prepared to die for your work, how do you explain that about yourself? I dont know. You cant control how a polar bear or a leopard seal or how an animal is going to react. But you use common sense, you use research, you use your knowledge, your experience. You listen to your gut a lot. Its not that Im willing to die  I always say, You cant take pictures when youre dead  I do want to stay alive. But Im good at what I do, and Im very focused, and I just have a lot of experience. You know, where I am actually truly, truly terrified, where I am out of my comfort zone, where you can see panic in my eyes, is you put me into the streets of New York at 1 in the morning, on a Saturday night, and you will watch fear. I got attacked once in the subway station in New York. Because I was absolutely petrified. There was this huge guy, and he probably just picked up on my energy, pushed through a big crowd of people and grabbed me and threw me into the wall. When youre that out of your comfort zone, youre going to show fear.

Is there an animal that you have not seen yet that youre really dying to? Is there a kind of white whale out there that youre dying to photograph?

I get asked that a lot. I honestly cant say that there is. Ive been so lucky to see almost everything. I just swam with blue whales. Thats always been on my dream list. I just swam with sperm whales. There was a big pod of sperm whales being attacked by pilot whales. Youre sitting there pinching yourself, like, Are you kidding me? Am I witnessing this? So I think what Im more excited about is to really witness truly rare moments. When a whale dives deep, you wonder what theyre doing down there. How are they feeding? When a blue whale  something thats 80 feet long, and its apparently taking 100,000 pounds of water in its mouth with each gulp to get all that krill  I want to be down there witnessing that from five feet away. Those are the moments that feed my soul much more than saying, I saw a certain species.

Ive never been to the Arctic or any polar region. A part of me wonders about the smells or the sounds of it. What might people not realize about the sensory experience of being there?

Id say the sound is one of the biggest things. When youre standing out there on the sea ice, where its just a blue sky and the water is calm at the ice edge. You dont hear anything. Its truly, truly the word silence. Youre just sitting on the Barren Lands, and you cant hear anything. And again, when I freak out, I freak out in New York when theres an ambulance and a fire truck and a jackhammer and people are honking and screaming. Im so used to that silence and that solitude. I mean, I never turn on music, I never listen to music when Im out there. I just love the sounds of being out there. The next sound might be a blizzard and the wind blowing 70 knots. And it sounds like a jet, you know? And then your tent is whipping. Or even the packed ice, or the sea ice rubbing against each other. Its just really, really beautiful, that nature symphony. And in Antarctica, you get all that same thing, except its usually drowned out by the sounds of thousands of penguins.

So with climate change, what have you witnessed with your own eyes. From being a child in the Arctic on Baffin Island to now, do you see a change and a difference?

For sure. Theres so many different variables. I mean, the biggest one is, you used to see multi-year ice, and thats ice that lives for many years. Its ice thats 10 feet thick, its extremely hard. So thats the ice thats disappearing. I mean, when I went through the Northwest Passage 18 years ago, were on Canadas biggest icebreaker, smashing ice, and it was loud, it was aggressive. In just 18 years, people are now going through the Northwest Passage in little homemade sailboats. I was up there last summer on a friends boats thats not allowed to touch ice, and we could go through all these places that we wanted to go because there was no ice.

Wow.

Its that shocking. When I did a big assignment for National Geographic 15 years ago in Svalbard, Norway, we had to put that assignment on hold year after year because the story was to be out on the ice filming polar bears, and there was no ice. Even in the winter months there was no ice. And this was 500 miles from the North Pole. And then I have personal anecdotes where, I was working in Svalbard with a very good friend of mine, and I left and two days later he went to a place where he traditionally goes by snowmobile, and he went through the ice and he died, just because all the ice was gone.

So ice is getting thinner and thinner every year. In places where youre used to seeing walruses out on the ice, even up in the Beaufort Sea, now youve got 30,000 walruses packed up on land, where normally theyd be out floating on multi-year ice. Theres examples everywhere of this changing ecosystem. Its changing very dramatically, very quickly.

How overall hopeful or pessimistic are you about whats happening in the Arctic?

Im sort of hopeful in a way that I feel like people are waking up around the world, theyre sort of starting to get it. I think Trump has actually been good in waking up the world, to realize they cant just sit there waiting for politicians to do everything for them. But when I look at places like the polar regions, I get very worried. When you look at places like Miami, and theyre putting the $14 billion retaining wall around the city because of rising sea levels, and yet theyre still denying climate change. But theres a lot of smart people out there working on really smart solutions. These things are happening, just not happening fast enough. And even if we did stop all carbon emissions tomorrow, the Arctic and the Antarctic will still suffer greatly, just because of the damage thats been done. Its not good. So yeah, Im very fearful for whats going to happen to the polar regions and the species that live there.

Launch Gallery: Wildlife Photographer Paul Nicklen Captures a Vanishing Arctic

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Woman Wakes up to Strange Man Licking Her Face, as Police Search for Suspect Seen on Surveillance

A 28-year-old New York City woman awoke early Sunday morning to an unpleasant odor  and then realized a strange man was kissing her and licking her face, say police.

The courageous woman grabbed the balding, bearded mans hands and told him to get out of her Upper East Side apartment, forcing the man to run off, the New York City Police Department confirms in a statement to PEOPLE.

Police are still searching for him.

The woman was not physically injured in the bizarre break-in, say police, according to Patch.com.

The man slipped into her building on 1st Avenue near 65th Street in Manhattan at about 6:35 a.m., according to the NYPD.

Police believe he began trying apartment doors inside to see if they were unlocked, CBS New York reports.

Finding the womans door unlocked, he went inside. While she was sleeping in her bed, he began kissing her and then licking her face.

 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.

Authorities have released surveillance video and a photograph of the suspect and are asking for the publics assistance to identify him.

He is described as a dark-skinned male, balding, with a beard and mustache, say police. He was last seen wearing a dark colored jacket and blue jeans.

The strange attack has left neighbors shaken.

I feel terrible about it. Its very, very, very terrible people do things like that, Upper East Side resident Melvin Laufer told CBS New York.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
Photo: Anthony DelMundo/Getty Images

As a businesswoman, reality star, and mom of three, Kristin Cavallari balances a hella hectic schedule, which means she can't spend hours on her daily beauty routine. But Cavallari still make sure to squeeze in a little time between packing school lunches and running her jewelry brand, Uncommon James, to keep her skin-care game on point.

The always-on-the-go mom crams in a sweat sesh before her kids wake up, so needless to say she doesn't always get as much sleep as she wantsbut you'd never catch her with dark circles or puffy eyes. To stay refreshed and camera ready, Cavallari relies on 111SKIN's Sub-Zero De-Puffing Eye Mask (Buy It, $105, dermstore.com).

"If I'm filming my show that day, I'm going to have on 111 Eye Masks just to kind of de-puff," she shared in a recent video for Yahoo!Lifestyle. (FYI, it's the same brand that Ashley Graham uses before an event for brighter, more hydrated skin.)

The skin around your eyes is the first to take a beating when you're dead tired. But Cavallari's cooling hydrogel eye mask pick will have you looking like you've just returned from a restful vacay in the Maldives.

That's because it packs a powerful punch of fatigue-fighting and anti-aging ingredients. Formulated with the peptide Eyeseryl, the eye mask lightens dark circles and reduces puffiness by preventing liquid from accumulating under your eyes. Plus, it blocks collagen breakdown to increase your skin's elasticity, keeping those dreaded eye bags at bay.

The second impressive, multipurpose ingredient in this must-have eye mask is a natural marine complex called Phyco'derm. Crafted with seaweed extracts and glycerin, it not only alleviates inflammation, fades dark circles, and enhances skin's luminosity, but also combats environmental pollutants, dryness, and crow's feet.

But that's not the end of this eye mask's all-star lineup of ingredients. Cavallari's go-to product also includes the natural compound CoQ10, which protects your skin against harmful external stressors, decreases oxidative damage caused by UV rays, and improves wrinkles. And, topping off the list of potent skin protectors are the powerful antioxidant and free radical fighter vitamin E, plus castor oil, a vegetable oil rich in fatty acids that softens and hydrates skin.

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Besides the dream team of skin-care ingredients, what Cavallari loves about these eye masks is the get-up-and-go convenience. The multitasking mom wears them around the house while she checks emails and readies her kiddies for school. But if you're looking for a more pampered, chill eye mask experience, just pop them in the fridge beforehand for a relaxing, cooling sensation. #DIYHomeSpaDay.

One reviewer writes: "This product worked miracles within 20 minutes. I put them on while I was doing my hair for an event and couldn't believe the difference." Another gushes: "I've used similar eye masks before which didn't deliver much. But these are amazing! My eyes looked like I'd been sleeping for the last 10 yearsrefreshed, YOUNGER. In love  OK, expensive. But worth it."

At $105, this luxury product is definitely a splurge, but one package comes with eight pairs and according to fans of the product, each one is worth every anti-aging, de-puffing penny.
At 32, she arrived in the United States by way of communist Romania, unable to speak English. Thirty years later, after tending the brows of Amal Clooney and Oprah  in addition to building a multibillion-dollar beauty brand, Anastasia Beverly Hills  Anastasia Soare adjourns to a bathroom with a view and welcomes Allure into the marble-blanketed chamber.

It should come as no surprise that someone whose beautifying skills have been trusted by so many clients does her own hair and makeup in this glamorous space each morning. "I spend a lot of time here, at least in the morning," she tells Allure of her bathroom. Then, motioning toward her long, blonde waves, "I do my hair and makeup every day like I'm going to a party."

Sometimes, an actual one-person party takes place right in her own bathtub. You can find it beside a floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the lush view. "When I'm in the bathtub, I could have my champagne here and my caviar, just to be glamorous enough," she says. Unapologetic about the indulgence, "I work really hard and I deserve everything," she adds.

Joyce Lee

Although Soare says she doesn't do a beauty routine in the tub, it's not far from her stash of products. Organized by type, her drawers under the sink are immaculately filled with makeup, skin care, hair tools, and styling products. "I dont like to see mess," Soare says.

The products she does want to see, however, are placed on Hermes trays. She often switches up serums and lipstick shades, but Soare is committed to a single scent displayed on one of the orange trays. For fragrance, I only wear Portrait of a Lady by Frederic Malle. People at work know Im there when they smell it," she reveals. "I dont wear Chanel, but I think it looks so chic in the bathroom."

Joyce Lee

Needless to say, Soare makes exceptions for her Anastasia Beverly Hills products  not only because she loves using her own brand but because she also insists on testing new creations. "This is the place where the magic sometimes happens. I get all the products and I have to approve samples," she says. "I have to try it myself. It's the ultimate test."

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Joyce Lee

You can learn more about Anastasia Soare's beauty routine, her design inspirations, and how she became the most recognizable name in eyebrows by watching the full video above.

More on Anastasia Beverly Hills:

Now watch Gemma Chan try nine things she's never done before:

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While many celebs are in the business of collecting real estate in and around LA, Sandra Bullock has long maintained a varied repertoire of A-list properties that spans from Austin, Texas, to New Orleans. So when it comes to the requisite celeb-owned beach escape, its no surprise the actress and star of films like Hope Floats and The Blind Side passed up Malibu in favor of the sleepy seaside town of Tybee Island, Georgia.

According to Variety, Bullock first set down roots on the secluded northern side of the island in 2001, eventually acquiring nine parcels and two separate residences which now make up the actress dreamy beach estate. Now, more than 15 years later, Bullock is moving on and looking to unload her one-time vacation escape to a lucky someone with $6.5 million to spare.

Lindsey Mixon/Celia Dunn Sothebys International Realty

Set on nearly three acres and 200 feet of beachfront, the estate comes with two separate houses offering seven bedrooms total. In the slightly larger main house, 3,360 square feet of space includes a gourmet kitchen, private gym, and wraparound screened porches. The neighboring guest house, at 2,838 square feet, boasts a private kitchen and game room plus a rooftop crows nest with never-ending ocean views.

Lindsey Mixon/Celia Dunn Sothebys International Realty

Lindsey Mixon/Celia Dunn Sothebys International Realty

Judging by both homes interiors, it seems Bullock was partial to laid-back beach decor. In each house, white slipcovered sofas pair with wood floors, woven furniture, and nautical accents like model ships. And if the style speaks to you as much as it does the Bird Box star, youre in luck: Both homes come fully furnished.

Related: This Bermuda-Inspired Beauty on Florida's 30A Is an Entertainer's Dream:

But while itd be easy to coop yourself up inside these cozy hangouts, youll definitely want get outdoors and enjoy the main attractionwater. With the ocean just steps away via a private gated pathway, days on the sand are easy to come by. If gorgeous pools are more your thing, the pad comes with one of those, too.

Ready to snatch up Bullocks seaside paradise in time for summer? The property is listed with Celia Dunn Sothebys International Realty for $6.5 million. See more photos here:

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Lindsey Mixon/Celia Dunn Sothebys International Realty

Lindsey Mixon/Celia Dunn Sothebys International Realty

Lindsey Mixon/Celia Dunn Sothebys International Realty

Lindsey Mixon/Celia Dunn Sothebys International Realty

Lindsey Mixon/Celia Dunn Sothebys International Realty
The Daily Beast

Nuccio DiNuzzo/GettyA juror in the Jussie Smollett trial has explained several reasons why the jury felt there was no way they could acquit the star actor in his bombshell trial for staging a fake hate crime attack on himself.The female juror, who declined to be named, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the jury of six women and six men didnt have any major disagreements but took nine hours to deliberate because they wanted to properly consider all the evidence.Some doubted that prosecutors had pr
Vienna (AFP) - Austria's far-right Freedom Party has again found itself in hot water over possible links to extremists just as it gears up for crucial European elections in May.

The latest headache for the FPOe -- part of the ruling coalition since late 2017 -- stems from alleged ties to a nationalist group, which made international headlines this week after receiving a donation from suspected New Zealand mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant.

Martin Sellner, who heads the Austrian branch of the Europe-wide Identitarian Movement (IBOe), confirmed Monday he had indeed been sent an unsolicited donation of 1,500 euros ($1,700), but insisted he had never met Tarrant.

However, Austria's government has threatened to disband the IBOe if an ongoing probe determined it was a terrorist group.

At a press conference earlier this week, FPOe leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache was quick to distance himself from the IBOe, insisting his party had "nothing to do" with the radical group, known for its anti-immigration stunts.

The focus on the FPOe's links with more radical elements will be particularly unwelcome ahead of Europan parliamentary elections, where the FPOe hopes to become one of many far-right forces across the continent to capitalise on anti-immigrant sentiment.

"It is a long-known problem (for the FPOe) -- it always has to distance itself from far-right fringe elements," political analyst Peter Hajek told AFP.

But Austrian media reports have now emerged documenting links between FPOe members and IBOe activists.

The Standard daily on Thursday re-published a photo which has previously appeared in the Austrian media showing Strache sharing a restaurant table with several IBOe members.

Strache himself previously shared a video promoting the IBOe on his Facebook page, but said on Wednesday that at the time he thought they were a "counter-cultural youth movement against the left".

- Conspiracy theory -

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It is not the first time that the FPOe faces scrutiny since it became a junior partner in the government of conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Founded by former Nazis in the 1950s, the FPOe has in recent years sought to clean up its image, with Strache saying the party rejects all extremism.

In one of the most prominent cases last year, a lead candidate for the FPOe in a regional election was forced to stand aside after it was revealed that the student fraternity that he belonged to had previously published virulently anti-Semitic songbooks.

He has since returned to politics for the party.

Analyst Thomas Hofer told AFP it was "a delicate situation for the FPOe".

He said it was often a "balancing act" for the party to keep their conservative voters onside while still appealing to a more radical constituency.

The Freedom Party and the Identitarian Movement have in the past both railed against the so-called "Great Replacement," a conspiracy theory propagated in a 2011 book of the same title by French writer Renaud Camus.

Popular in white nationalist circles, the theory argues that white Europeans are being deliberately supplanted by non-white immigrants.

Tarrant's manifesto was also titled "The Great Replacement".

- Central figure -

Analysts say the IBOe is unlikely to be disbanded unless links to terrorist activities emerge beyond the donation.

Sellner has been described as a central figure of the "identitarian" movement, which originated in France but has since spread across Europe and to the US.

On Thursday, Sellner said that his travel authorisation to the US had been revoked "based on my background", interfering with his plans to marry his fiancee there.

British authorities also denied Sellner entry to the UK in March last year, saying his presence would not have been "conducive to the public good".

In July last year, Sellner and 16 other IBOe members were found not guilty by an Austrian court of charges of criminal association and hate speech.

Two of the accused were, however, found guilty on lesser charges over the storming of a university lecture hall during a refugee policy talk in 2016 and another stunt.
At this point, Boston Dynamics has gotten quite adept at scoring headlines for the videos released by the secretive lab showing off its fascinating robots. Theyre machines that have been able to do everything from open doors to jump up steps and often lead to lighthearted speculation that the robot takeover of humanity is nigh.

Along these lines, the firm has just released a new video of yet another robotic creation  specifically, its an update of the companys Handle robot it unveiled two years ago. The new robot looks kind of like a long-necked mechanical bird, and its designed to  stack boxes.

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As you can see in the video at the top of this post, Boston Dynamics decided to go a little more mundane with its latest creation and showcase two robots moving cardboard boxes onto a conveyor. Handle, according to the company in text accompanying that YouTube video, is a mobile manipulation robot designed for logistics.

Handle autonomously performs mixed SKU pallet building and depalletizing after initialization and localizing against the pallets. The on-board vision system on Handle tracks the marked pallets for navigation and finds individual boxes for grasping and placing. When Handle places a boxes onto a pallet, it uses force control to nestle each box up against its neighbors.

The boxes used in the video weigh about 11 pounds, but the robot is designed to handle boxes as heavy as 33 pounds. This version of Handle is also shown working with pallets that are 48 inches deep and 68 inches tall.

If you head over to Boston Dynamics webpage, youre greeted with a message in the middle of the screen about the companys intent to change your idea of what robots can do. The lab got started as a spinoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where it began developing robots that could run and maneuver like animals.

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Now, according to the company, we are taking the next step, combining the principles of dynamic control and balance with sophisticated mechanical designs, cutting-edge electronics, and software for perception, navigation, and intelligence. Boston Dynamics has an extraordinary technical team of engineers and scientists who seamlessly combine advanced analytical thinking with bold engineering and boots-in-the-mud practicality.

In other words, sometimes that means developing robots like the new mechanical factory worker. But there doesnt always have to be a serious purpose, like this Boston Dynamics robot thats got some sweet dance moves:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHBcVlqpvZ8?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent&w=782&h=440]

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Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers Hamas have backed an Egyptian proposal to foster calm on the Israel border ahead of major expected protests, two Hamas officials said Friday.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli side on the potential agreement.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are expected to gather Saturday for the first anniversary of the often violent protests along the border, which Hamas has strongly backed.

Egypt, the United Nations and others have been trying to mediate an agreement to limit the level of violence.

An Egyptian delegation held talks with Hamas and other factions in Gaza in meetings that stretched into the early hours of Friday, the officials said.

A Hamas official who took part in the meetings told AFP on condition of anonymity they had backed an Egyptian proposal that will see protesters stay several hundred metres from the border.

Hamas-backed attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank would also cease, the official said.

In exchange, the official said, "the Egyptians informed us that the (Israelis) promised to ease their measures".

In particular the Israelis will not fire on protesters unless they approach the border fence and will also allow Qatar to increase the amount of aid it funnels into the Gaza Strip.

His remarks were confirmed by a second Hamas official.

At least 258 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests began on March 30 last year, most during the border clashes.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran called on Friday on Palestinians to be steadfast in their resistance against U.S. President Donald Trump's moves in support of Israel on Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Iran spoke on the eve of "Land Day", an annual commemoration of the deaths of six Arab citizens of Israel killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations over government land confiscations in northern Israel in 1976. "The U.S. president's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital...and the occupied Golan Heights as part of the illegitimate Zionist regime...shows clearly that Palestinian resistance and perseverance as symbolised by 'Earth Day' is the right path," Iran's foreign ministry said on its website. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move that the 15-member U.N. Security Council declared "null and void and without international legal effect". Palestinians seek an independent state in territory taken by Israel in the 1967 war. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been frozen since 2014. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait on Tuesday criticized the U.S. decision on the Golan and said the territory was occupied Arab land. Non-Arab Iran echoed the comments. "Americans are breaking international law on a daily basis...and recently in regards to the Golan Heights," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in remarks carried by state television. "We should resist this and, God willing, we will come out victorious." Tensions between Tehran and Washington have increased since Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers last year and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Crispian Balmer and Cristiano Corvino

POMPEII, Italy (Reuters) - Nearly 2,000 years after Pompeii was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, the ancient Roman city is still giving up its long-buried secrets.

Fantastic frescos, preserved mosaics and obscene graffiti are just some of the discoveries emerging from the largest archaeological dig at the site since the 1950s.

As teams of construction workers shore up mounds of earth pressing down on the excavated areas to prevent them crushing the ruins, archaeologists and conservationists are busy restoring newly discovered art and bolstering fragile walls.

The burst of activity marks the final stages of the "Great Pompeii Project", launched in 2012 after a spate of cave-ins, with the European Union and Italian state handing over 105 million euros ($118 million) to halt the decay.

"The risk of collapse, of serious damage is past. Now Pompeii is quite safe," said Francesco Muscolino, 42, an archaeologist working on the program.

The extensive conservation work has enabled scholars to uncover a few more areas of Pompeii still buried under volcanic debris, including two large houses, alleyways, highly decorated interiors and a brightly colored snack bar.

Pompeii was submerged by volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius exploded in AD 79, killing thousands of Romans who had no idea they were living beneath one of Europe's biggest volcanoes.

Memory of the catastrophe faded over time and it was not until 1748 that any meaningful exploration was undertaken. More systematic excavations were launched the following century, but by the end of the 20th century, neglect, lack of funds and repeated flooding were taking a heavy toll.

In 2010, less than 15 percent of the excavated area was accessible to tourists, wild dogs roamed the paved streets, and only 10 buildings were open, against 64 in 1956.

Today, around 70 percent of the uncovered city is accessible and more than 30 fully restored buildings can be visited.

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CHARCOAL INSCRIPTION

The improved access has helped lift tourist numbers, with some 3.5 million people coming to Pompeii last year, an increase of one million in just a decade. Even more visitors are expected as the latest finds are gradually unveiled to the public.

Among the highlights are a fresco of the Greek mythological figure Narcissus leaning languidly on a block of stone and staring down at his own reflection in a pool of water.

In the same house, archaeologists found a small, exquisite wall painting portraying the seduction of the Spartan queen Leda by the Greek God Zeus, disguised as a swan.

"It was wonderful because it is very beautiful and in very good condition," said Stefania Giudice, one of the conservationists tasked with preserving the new discoveries.

The fresco's bright colors have already faded since the ash and pumice were painstakingly removed last year as moisture on the surface of the wall dried out, dulling the rich tones.

"We will clean it and protect it and get the beautiful colors back," Giudice said, predicting that the fresco-rich house, still partially buried, would be opened to the public within one or two years as new tourist routes were laid out.

Elsewhere, some graffiti contains graphic sexual references.

Perhaps one of the most significant finds was the least spectacular at first sight - a brief charcoal inscription which cites the date Oct. 17 written in the hallway of a grand house where at least six bodies were also discovered.

Archaeologists believe the faint note might have been written just before the eruption, meaning the disaster probably struck two months later than previously thought.

Muscolino predicted it would take many years for scholars to assimilate and interpret all the material recovered in recent months, with trays of delicate glass, fresco fragments, plaster moldings, coins and amphora stored away for future research.

More than 270 years after the first serious excavations began, a third of the city, which covers roughly 165 acres (66.77 hectares), remains buried and unexplored.

But there are no plans for further, major digs after this latest project ends, with the emphasis now on conservation.

"Excavations are like having children. You have to take care of them. You can't just abandon what you find and move on to the next thing," said Giudice. "It is a real responsibility."

($1 = 0.8909 euros)

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
The smoky back room. (Illustration by Dick Collier for Yahoo News)

Democrats last year moved to restrict the role of party insiders, known as superdelegates, in presidential primaries in the hopes of convincing voters to put more trust in the party, but the size and structure of the 2020 primary now threatens to undermine that plan.

We have to move forward  to ensure that were continuing that ongoing process of rebuilding trust, making sure that everything we do day in and day out as Democrats is designed to ensure that everybodys got a fair shake, Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said a year ago as the organizations rules committee worked through the process of reducing the superdelegates role.

But as the 2020 election has started to come into focus, some observers have sounded the alarm that the superdelegate loophole  which gives them a vote at the convention if the party has not settled on a nominee  may come into play this election, further sowing outrage and distrust of the DNC, the exact opposite of what was intended.

Superdelegates could be more influential than ever if the Democratic primary devolves into a floor fight, Dave Wasserman, of the Cook Political Report, wrote recently in the New York Times. And the potential for back-room deal-making or heavy-handed Democratic National Committee refereeing could only further fuel grass-roots suspicion that the partys elites are running the show, setting ablaze the prospect of party unity.

Superdelegates are DNC members, elected members of Congress and others, who are free to support whomever they want in the party primary. After supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., decried the perceived influence of superdelegates on the 2016 primary, the DNC made changes in an attempt to heal wounds opened by the fractious battle between Sanders and the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

But there were not enough votes among the DNCs membership to completely eliminate superdelegates, and so the compromise agreement reached last August barred them from voting at the convention on the first ballot. That means if the primary process in 2020 produces a consensus candidate who has a majority of delegates heading into the convention in Milwaukee in mid-July, then superdelegates will play no role.

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However, if there are two, three or even four Democrats who all win significant victories in the primaries and are all determined to stay in the primary into the convention, then there might not be a nominee after the first vote of the convention delegates. And on the second ballot, the superdelegates votes would then be counted, setting off a potentially chaotic sprint to win their support.

There are currently 3,768 pledged delegates whose votes will count on the first ballot. There are 764 superdelegates, also known as unpledged delegates, who in a contested convention would suddenly represent one-fifth of the entire delegate total.

For those who pushed for reform, the prospects of superdelegates determining the candidate in a contested convention would look like a bait and switch. The DNC reforms were done in the name of increasing fairness and democracy, but a superdelegate process would come across to many as an insider-driven decision.

But some DNC veterans who know the primary process well said they dont believe the Democratic primary will result in a deadlocked convention. And, some added, even if it did, the superdelegates influence would be welcomed rather than decried.

I just dont see it happening, said Kathleen Sullivan, a DNC member from New Hampshire.

Florida consultant Steve Schale, an ally of former Vice President Joe Biden  a possible 2020 contender  agreed that a deadlock is unlikely. I think its a long shot, he said.

When you look at the number of candidates, its possible  but its unlikely, said Larry Cohen, chairman of the board at Our Revolution, a group that supports Sen. Bernie Sanderss candidacy.

Elaine Kamarck, an at-large DNC member who is one of the partys foremost rules experts, was one of several who argued that the primary process will winnow the current field long before the convention approaches. There are currently 15 declared candidates in the Democratic field, with Biden and a handful of others threatening to push the final number above 20.

Kamarck and others also argued that if the primary result was not conclusive, the public would welcome the superdelegates role.

Theres a source of legitimacy to say, look, the voters didnt decide. And if the voters didnt decide, you cant rerun 50 elections, Kamarck told Yahoo News. The natural people to decide are the leadership of the party, and that would be the superdelegates. I think theres a legitimacy that people would be willing to accord it.

Perhaps a bit surprisingly, Cohen agreed.

Is it great that superdelegates come in on the second ballot? I would say not, but its not the end of the world, Cohen told Yahoo News. Something has to break a deadlock.

David McDonald, a DNC member from Washington state who is on the Rules & Bylaws committee, agreed but also said that if there were a contested convention, the handful of Democrats still in contention would know that if they do not work out something between themselves, the superdelegates will vote on the next round. That, he said, could be a powerful incentive to reach a compromise.

But McDonald said that if no agreement could be reached among the primary candidates, the superdelegates could conceivably produce a nominee who had not even run in the primary.

Were the superdelegates on the second round to facilitate a wholly new unity candidate, I believe the public would like it better than the alternative the pledged delegates had arrived at, McDonald told Yahoo News.

This is what happened at the 1952 convention, when Democrats chose Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, who went on to lose in a landslide to Dwight Eisenhower.

McDonald argued that choosing one of the candidates from within a group who were splitting the vote three or four ways would be divisive, and choosing someone from outside that group as a unity candidate could be a solution.

But the idea that Bernie supporters, for example, would be OK with superdelegates picking some new person as the nominee in the event of a three- or four-way tie is far-fetched, said Cohen, the Sanders supporter.

I dont see it, Cohen said. I dont think that would be popular.  Unless there is some legitimate reason, like health, I dont think people are going to accept a candidate they had nothing to do with.

Cohen also said there is a legitimate concern about the sudden reemergence of superdelegates on a second ballot, but the argument he and others would make is that all delegates become unpledged on the second ballot.

If everybodys unpledged, why is the wisdom of someone who ran as a delegate for X any better than the wisdom of a state party chair? Cohen said.

Democrats, of course, hope that it doesnt come to this, but that may be wishful thinking. In particular, the Democratic primary is governed by strict proportionality, said at-large DNC member Jeff Berman, another top rules expert in the party. That means no candidate can sweep up the majority of a states delegates simply by winning the largest percentage of the primary, as happens in the Republican primary.

In 2016, for example, Donald Trump won all or most of the delegates in many states while garnering only 30 or 40 percent of the vote. In the Democratic primary, a candidate with a third of the primary vote would get a third of the delegates in that state, generally speaking, and the candidates who finished with lower percentages would receive delegates corresponding to their percentage of the vote, with one big caveat: Candidates have to receive more than 15 percent of the vote to receive any delegates.

The 15 percent threshold is a significant winnowing factor that will narrow the field. But the strict proportionality still means that there is greater potential for multiple candidates to win delegates in multiple states and to argue that they are credible contenders. This is especially the case since at least a third of all the delegates, and possibly as much as nearly half of them, will be awarded in the first month of the primary.

Schale argued that the first two contests  Iowa and New Hampshire  will play an outsize role. Not that Iowa and New Hampshire dont mean a lot every time, but given the fact that the field is so big, I think in a lot of ways they will really narrow the field. You spend yourself to broke to get through those first few states, and if you finish ninth in Iowa, I dont know what the argument is to keep going, Schale said.

But as Wasserman pointed out, the contest will quickly move after Nevada and South Carolina to Super Tuesday on March 3, when massive numbers of delegates will be the prize. California has moved its primary up to that day and will award 416 delegates, as has Texas, where there are 228.

The Democrats other hope of avoiding an ugly contested convention is that their voters act pragmatically and look for a consensus candidate to unify around.

I just think the importance of defeating Trump will keep them from pursuing sort of lost causes, Kamarck said.

If things do head toward a contested convention despite all that, theres always old-fashioned bargaining, Kamarck said. The first way to do this would be to bargain for the vice presidency, she said.

And if the voters do not unify behind one candidate, and the handful of candidates still standing at the end cant work out a compromise, then Democrats are prepared to absorb some complaining about a superdelegate-driven result.

Its not like we did this in secret. Its been established since last year, Kamarck said. People will complain and then it will be pointed out to them that this was always the case.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
MALE (Reuters) - A court in the Maldives on Thursday ordered the release of former president Abdulla Yameen, saying there was not enough reason to hold him beyond a month under the law. Yameen was arrested on February 18 to face charges of money laundering stemming from the lease of islands for hotel development during his tenure. A three-judge bench of the High Court said the prosecution had not provided any reason to extend his remand in custody. Yameen, who cultivated close ties with China, lost an election in a surprise result last year. His critics accused him of abuse of power and graft. (Reporting by Mohamed Junayd; Writing by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
By Steve Friess

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Reuters) - Diana Jones and her father were having a lovely visit at her favorite hipster eatery in Grand Rapids, Michigan, one evening this week. Martin Jones, a retired machinist who lives in a rural area about 40 miles away, shared vacation photos on his iPhone and Diana talked about a new boyfriend.

Then they were asked to discuss politics. Suddenly, they could barely look at each another.

We dont talk about that, Diana Jones, 22, muttered. Its not a good idea. It never goes well.

President Donald Trump on Thursday will hold his sixth political rally in this booming Midwest city of almost 200,000. It will be his first major appearance since Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation into whether Trump conspired with Russia to win the 2016 election.

Mueller found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, while his findings on whether Trump obstructed justice were inconclusive, according to a summary of his report released by U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Sunday.

But if the schism between the Joneses is indicative, the Mueller probe will not be the final word on questions about Trump's dealings with Russia and the issue may continue to play out as Trump's re-election bid heats up.

Diana Jones, who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential contest, thinks Trump is a criminal, an animal, a racist and an embarrassment. She is angry with his anti-immigration stance, efforts to ban transgender people from the military, and reversal of several Obama-era regulations intended to protect the environment.

"He definitely obstructed the investigation, and why would he do that if he didnt have something to hide?" she said over coffee at The Old Goat.

Her opinion echoed a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, which this week found 53 percent of Americans continue to believe Trump tried to stop investigations into Russian influence on his administration and 48 percent still think Trump or someone from his campaign worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

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"And theres a lot more there besides Russia. One of these other things will catch up to him," Diana Jones said.

On the other side of the divide is her father, who owns two hats with Trump's Make America Great Again slogan and predicts that Trump will go down in history as one of the greats.

He didnt win because the Russians helped him, he won because he came here to Michigan and Wisconsin and spoke to working people, said Martin Jones, 64. And hell win again in 2020 because he has delivered what he promised us.

TRUMP AND "FURNITURE CITY"

Michigan is one of Trump's main early targets for his re-election bid. Michigan, which had long been a Democratic stronghold with heavy backing from union members, helped Trump capture the White House, as did Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The Grand Rapids area holds special significance for Trump. He closed his 2016 campaign in the early hours of Election Day with a rally in the "Furniture City," nicknamed for its historic manufacturing industry of home and office goods.

He went on to net nearly 9,500 more votes than Clinton in Kent County, which encompasses the increasingly Democratic city of Grand Rapids as well as a ring of Republican-heavy suburbs and farming communities. Trump won Michigan by just 10,700 votes.

He returns to Grand Rapids not necessarily to appeal to young voters like Diana Jones but to a vast swath of rural, conservative, white Michigan.

Those voters have reason to be happy. Among Rust Belt cities most battered by decades of outsourcing, Grand Rapids is the only one of those regions that has more manufacturing jobs today than it did in 1990, according to an August 2018 report by City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute.

"With the economy firing on all cylinders as it is, especially in west Michigan, theres no reason for these people at this point to be disenchanted with Trump, said Bill Ballenger, a former Republican state legislator who now analyzes Michigan politics at The Ballenger Report.

Theyre probably grudgingly saying, The guy may be crude, he may say some outrageous things, there may be some things hes done we dont like, but, man, hes really delivered on the economy and thats what we care about.'"

Yet Diana and Martin Jones are emblematic of the divide in their area, a traditional Republican stronghold becoming more of a battleground. In 2018, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer won Kent County as part of her victory in the Michigan governor's race.

Diana Jones is an urbanite who picks up cosmetology gigs through Craigslist and whose diverse range of friends includes gays, Muslims and undocumented immigrants.

Her father has spent his life in a small farm town, his social circle comprised almost exclusively of other white people he knows from the factory or his church.

Theyre trying to hold on to the old ways, Diana said of voters like her father. Thats what Trump is to them. I just hope that, in the long run, there will be enough of us to keep them from what the Republicans are doing to our country.

Martin Jones disagreed.

This is why we dont talk about these things, he said. I feel as misunderstood as Trump does. Were never going to change each others minds. Maybe shell understand when shes older.

(Reporting by Steve Friess; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Leslie Adler)
LONDON (Reuters) - A no-deal Brexit on April 12 is the most likely scenario right now for Britain, Conservative Party lawmaker Oliver Letwin said on Thursday. "I think that at some point or other we either have to get a deal across the line or accept that we have to find an alternative if we want to avoid no deal on April 12, which I think at the moment is the most likely thing to happen," Letwin, the architect of a series of votes on alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, told BBC radio. If Britain wants to hold a referendum or an election it would need to delay Brexit by at least several months but it is unclear if parliament would vote for such a long extension, Letwin said. (Reporting by William Schomberg; writing by Guy Faulconbridge)
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan dismissed Russian assurances on Thursday that its troops in Venezuela posed no security threat, saying: "I'm not sure I always believe what they say." Russia said earlier in the day it had sent "specialists" to Venezuela under a military cooperation deal but said they posed no threat to regional stability, brushing aside a call from U.S. President Donald Trump to remove all military personnel from the country. Shanahan, speaking to a small group of reporters in Florida, did not elaborate on what he thought the Russian forces were doing in Venezuela. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Piers Morgan labelled Meghan a social climber on Australias Today Show [Photos: PA]

Piers Morgan has branded the Duchess of Sussex a social climber, and accused her of using people to get to the top, in another tirade against the former actress.

The Good Morning Britain presenter, 53, claimed Meghan, 37, ditched me like a sack of potatoes when she started dating Prince Harry, on Australias Today Show.

Presenter Deborah Knight asked Mr Morgan: Is Meghan really fake and a piece of work as I know youve said before?

He responded with: Im sorry to have to say to this, but Im afraid I think she is. I got to know her quite well over a two-year period and we would message each other a lot, email each other a lot.

Although some people are falling for this act, Im afraid I see a bit of a hard-nosed actress whos been using people on her way up to what is now, of course, the top.  @piersmorgan shares his thoughts on the Duchess of Sussex. #9Today pic.twitter.com/rsxjPKLM9S  The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) March 27, 2019

Morgan says the pair began corresponding after he began following her on Twitter in 2015 and recalled the time they met up in his local pub when she visited London in 2016.

She said Im coming to London, can we meet up? We went to my local pub, I had a couple of pints of real ale, she had a couple of Dirty Martinis and we chewed the fat for a couple of hours.

She said afterwards from her cab, I had such a great time, love to see you again. It was purely platonic, I hasten to add.

But she went in that cab that night to a party where Prince Harry was at and the next night she went on a date with him. I never heard from her again, ever.

Morgan claims Meghan ditched him when she began dating Harry [Photo: Getty]

Morgan said he thought it was rude, adding: It showed me that she, Im afraid, is probably a bit of a social climber.

Story continues

Although some people really like her and are falling for this act, Im afraid I see a bit of a hard-nosed actress, whos been using people on her way up to, what is now of course the top, which is marrying into the Royal Family.

READ MORE: Rumours of a rift are undoubtedly true, says royal author

When Harry and Meghan announced their engagement in November 2017, Morgan revealed how delighted he was for the couple in his column for The Daily Mail.

He said that it was perfectly understandable under the circumstances, that he hadnt heard from Meghan again after news of her relationship broke.

It seems that hes changed his tune since then and has continually bleated about being ditched by her.

Meghan is expecting her first child next month and has no more scheduled public engagements in her diary.


North Korea has almost completed rebuilding a long-range rocket site it had promised to close, Seoul lawmakers told reporters Friday after a closed-door meeting with South Korean intelligence officials.

The claim comes a month after a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February ended without an agreement, deepening a gap between the two on how to achieve "complete denuclearisation".

Shortly after the end of the Hanoi summit, a series of satellite images emerged suggesting increased activity at the North's Sohae rocket site, triggering international alarm that the nuclear-armed state might be preparing a long-range or space launch.

"The North began rebuilding the centre, which was partly dismantled last July, before the North-US summit in February," lawmaker Kim Min-ki told reporters after the closed-door briefing by the National Intlligence Service.

"The work is almost complete with some maintenance activity being underway," he said.

North Korea has been banned by the UN Security Council from carrying out space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

But earlier this month the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said there was "deliberate and purposeful" activity going on at the Sohae rocket site.

Friday's latest assessment by Seoul could suggest a reversal in policy by Kim, who agreed to shut the Sohae site at a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang last year.

Experts have warned a launch of any kind would send the stuttering talks on denuclearisation into disarray.

Moon Chung-in, the presidential special advisor on national security, said the outcome would be "catastrophic".

The nuclear-armed state is also "operating uranium enrichment facilities" at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, the lawmaker added.

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In the aftermath of the Hanoi summit, Pyongyang and Washington have both sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock.

Pyongyang said it had proposed dismantling the Yongbyon complex -- a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities -- in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions that have strangled and isolated the North.

But US officials have said it was not clear exactly which facilities at the Yongbyon complex the North was willing to give up, while Trump has said that "the weapons themselves need to be on the table".
By William James, Kylie MacLellan and Elizabeth Piper

LONDON (Reuters) - MPs rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for a third time on Friday, sounding its probable death knell and leaving Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in turmoil on the very day it was supposed to quit the bloc.

The decision to reject a stripped-down version of May's divorce deal has left it totally unclear how, when or even whether Britain will leave the EU, and plunges the three-year Brexit crisis to a deeper level of uncertainty.

"I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House," May told parliament after the defeat. "The implications of the House's decision are grave."

(Graphic on Mays rejected Brexit deal - https://tmsnrt.rs/2V4on0S)

Within minutes of the vote - which took place as thousands of Brexit supporters protested outside parliament - European Council President Donald Tusk said EU leaders would meet on April 10 to discuss Britain's departure from the bloc.

A succession of European leaders said there was a very real chance Britain would now leave without a deal, a scenario that businesses fear would cause chaos for the world's fifth-biggest economy.

White House national security adviser John Bolton told Reuters that President Donald Trump sympathised with May, and restated that the United States was keen to sign a trade deal with Britain once it was no longer in the EU.

May had framed the vote as the last opportunity to ensure Britain actually left the EU, making a passionate plea to lawmakers to put aside party differences and strongly-held beliefs.

But in a special sitting of parliament, they voted 344-286 against the EU Withdrawal Agreement, agreed after two years of tortuous negotiations with the bloc.

"The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on April 12," May said.

She cautioned that any further delay to Brexit would probably be a long one beyond the current deadline, and would mean Britain holding elections to the European Parliament.

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The British pound, which has been buoyed in recent weeks by hopes that the likelihood of an abrupt 'no-deal' Brexit is receding, fell half a percent after May lost, to as low as $1.2977, but then recovered some of its losses. [GBP/]

"If the deadline is extended longer, we will re-engage with sterling because that will be the start of the slow death of Brexit," said Salman Ahmed, global investment strategist at Lombard Odier Investment Managers.

TALKS TO CONTINUE

May had offered on Wednesday to resign if the deal passed, in a bid to win over eurosceptic rebels in her Conservative Party who support a more decisive break with the EU than the divorce her deal offers.

The vote leaves her Brexit strategy in tatters. With no majority in parliament for any Brexit option so far, it is unclear what May will now do. Options include asking the EU for a long delay, parliament forcing an election, or a "no-deal" exit.

However, May's spokesman said she would continue talks with opponents of the deal and some political correspondents said she could bring it back a fourth time, perhaps in a "run-off" against any alternative that parliament itself came up with.

Britain now has under two weeks to convince the 27 members of the EU that it has an alternative path out of the impasse, or see itself cast out of the bloc on April 12 with no deal on post-Brexit ties with its largest trading ally.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking as parliament voted, said the EU needed to accelerate no-deal planning and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that unless Britain came up with a plan, there would be a "hard" Brexit.

May's deal had twice been rejected by huge margins this year and, although she was able to win over many Conservative rebels, a hard core of eurosceptics, who see "no-deal" as the best option, and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which props up her minority government, refused to back it.

The DUP's deputy leader, Nigel Dodds, said avoiding future customs checks between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland - which might be required under May's deal - was more important than leaving the EU.

ANOTHER ELECTION?

On Monday, lawmakers who have tried to grab control of the process will attempt to agree on an alternative Brexit plan that could command majority cross-party support in parliament. The options that have so far gathered most support involve closer ties to the EU, and a second referendum.

A first attempt at non-binding "indicative votes" on Wednesday failed to produce a majority for any of the eight options on offer.

Many lawmakers believe the only way to solve the crisis will be a snap election - even though it would throw up a host of unknowns for the major parties.

(Graphic on indicative votes - https://tmsnrt.rs/2WrCOw9)

"The last thing this country needs right now is a general election," transport minister Chris Grayling told Sky News. "We've actually got to sort out the Brexit process, we can't throw everything up in the air."

The 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU revealed a United Kingdom divided over many more issues, and has provoked impassioned debate about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and what it means to be British.

Hundreds of thousands of Britons marched through London last Saturday demanding a second referendum, while on Friday thousands of angry Brexit supporters protested in the capital.

"What should have been a celebration is in fact a day of betrayal," Nigel Farage, a leading Brexit campaigner, told Reuters.

The uncertainty around Brexit, the United Kingdom's most significant political and economic move since World War Two, has left allies and investors aghast.

Opponents fear Brexit will make Britain poorer and divide the West as it grapples with both the unconventional U.S. presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China.

Supporters say that, while the divorce might bring some short-term instability, in the longer term it will allow the United Kingdom to thrive if cut free from what they cast as a doomed project to forge European unity.

(Writing by Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge; Additional reporting by Costas Pitas, Kate Holton, Alistair Smout, Andrew MacAskill, Andrew R.C. Marshall, Andy Bruce, William Schomberg and David Milliken; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Rosalba O'Brien)
Tempers flared between Wow Air customers at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday, March 27, after the Icelandic budget carrier ceased operations.

The airline announced the closure in a statement posted to its website on Thursday, leaving passengers stranded.

Travel blogger @travelgirltoc shared a clip of passengers arguing at Toronto Pearson International Airport after their Wow Air flight WW214 to Keflavik International Airport in Reykjavik, Iceland, was canceled. Credit: @travelgirlto via Storyful
Berlin (AFP) - More than 20,000 German youths went on strike from school on Friday, joining Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg as she took her protest against climate change to Berlin.

Armed with homemade posters bearing slogans like "It's getting hot in here" or "Our house is on fire" or "You're never too small to make a difference", the teenagers packed into central Berlin to sound the alarm about global warming.

From a park in front of the economy ministry, they marched to the Brandenburg Gate, where Thunberg addressed the crowd.

"We should worry, we should panic," Thunberg said, adding that people should step out of their "comfort zone" and change their behaviour.

"We want a future, is that too much to ask?"

She promised that the fight will go on.

"We haven't seen anything yet. This is only the beginning of the beginning," said Thunberg, to cheers from the crowd.

Organisers had expected to draw around 15,000 marchers, but a police officer in charge of the operation said that more than 20,000 had turned up.

Vowing to keep the protests going until there is tangible change, Franziska Wessel, one of the Berlin organisers, vowed: "We're going to continue skipping classes every Friday because we can't keep going like that with the climate. We have to pull the emergency brakes."

Since December, teenagers across Germany inspired by the 16-year-old Thunberg's climate fight have been marching weekly instead of sitting in classes.

With the protests coming at a time when a government commission recommended that coal be phased out by 2038, the youths have seized on the theme to demand a halt to the polluting fuel by 2030.

The youth engagement has left politicians divided on how to react.

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has urged students not to skip school saying that demonstrations are not less effective outside class hours.

But Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed their fight.
ALGIERS (Reuters) - Leading Algerian businessman Ali Haddad, a backer of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, resigned as head of the country's FCE business forum, the website of Ennahar TV said on Thursday. The website quoted Haddad as saying in a resignation letter dated on March 28 he had "decided, in my conscience and without constraint, to leave the chairmanship of the Business Leaders Forum from now on." He described himself as "anxious to preserve the coherence and especially the sustainability of our organization." The resignation is another blow to Bouteflikas shrinking inner circle. Bouteflika is under huge pressure to resign after the army called for his removal and allies deserted him. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi, writing by Hesham Hajali, Editing by William Maclean)
By Roberta Rampton and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday warned Russia and other countries backing President Nicolas Maduro against sending troops and military equipment to Venezuela, saying the United States would view such actions as a "direct threat" to the region's security. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been given a list of options to respond to Russia's growing presence in Venezuela in support of Maduro, including new sanctions, said Elliott Abrams, the U.S. special representative for Venezuela. "We have options and it would be a mistake for the Russians to think they have a free hand here. They dont," Abrams told reporters at the State Department. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week said "Russia has to get out" of Venezuela and said "all options" were open to force Russia to do so after two Russian air force planes carrying nearly 100 military personnel landed outside Caracas. Trump's national security adviser John Bolton issued a second warning on Friday in a strongly worded formal statement. "We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations," Bolton said. "We will consider such provocative actions as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region. We will continue to defend and protect the interests of the United States, and those of our partners in the Western Hemisphere," he said. RUSSIA SENDS 'SPECIALISTS' The United States and most other Western countries support Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who invoked the constitution in January to declare himself interim president, arguing that Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Russia and China support Maduro, who has said Guaido is a puppet of Washington. Maduro retains control of state functions and the country's military. Russia has said it sent "specialists" to Venezuela under a military cooperation deal but insisted they posed no threat to regional stability, brushing aside Trump's threat. Abrams said it was unclear whether Russia would continue to beef up its presence in Venezuela, noting that the newly arrived personnel appear to be trying to help Maduro's officials with a Russian-made ground-to-air missile defense system believed to have been damaged during recent massive power blackouts. "One of the things they are doing seems to be - and weve thought this from the very beginning - is helping the regime with the S-300 ground-air missile system, which apparently got all screwed up by the blackout," Abrams said. RED CROSS AID Abrams confirmed that U.S. officials have been having "conversations" with oil trading houses and governments around the world to convince them to further cut their dealings with OPEC member Venezuela. Oil provides 90 percent of export revenue for Venezuela. Earlier this year, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela , known as PDVSA, to try to cut off revenues to Maduro. Years of economic mismanagement have left Venezuela's economy in shambles, causing hyperinflation. Severe shortages of food and medicine are common. The United Nations estimates that about a quarter of Venezuelans need humanitarian aid, according to internal UN estimates seen by Reuters. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Friday it was prepared to channel such aid to Venezuela. Abrams said the aid was "very welcome" but said it was only the beginning of what was needed. "This aid is not going to solve the problems that Venezuelans face. The kind of aid that is needed for a broad recovery of the Venezuelan economy really cant be put in place until the regime is replaced by a democratic government," he said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Lesley Wroughton, additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Tim Ahmann; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and James Dalgleish)
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump will host his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House on April 9 to discuss military, economic and counterterrorism cooperation between their countries.

The pair "will discuss strengthening the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt and building on our robust military, economic and counterterrorism cooperation," the White House said in a statement.

"The two leaders will also discuss developments and shared priorities in the region, including enhancing regional economic integration and addressing ongoing conflicts, and Egypt's longstanding role as a lynchpin of regional stability."

One of Washington's biggest allies in the Middle East, Cairo has received $40 billion in US military aid and $30 billion in economic aid since 1980.

Trump hosted Sisi at the White House almost exactly two years ago.

Turning a page on Barack Obama's approach -- Trump's predecessor was critical of the Egyptian leader's crackdown on dissent and refused to invite Sisi to the White House -- Trump praised the Egyptian leader, saying, "He's done a fantastic job in a very difficult situation."

The White House at the time applauded Sisi's "courageous efforts" to promote what it said was a moderate brand of Islam.

Egypt carries considerable influence in several of the regional crises in which the United States has a stake, above all the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As the Egyptian army chief in 2013, Sisi came to power amid mass demonstrations against his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi. Sisi then suspended the country's constitution.

Since then, he has clamped down on dissent, banning protests and jailing both Islamists and liberal and secular activists.
Palm Beach (United States) (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Friday reaffirmed that he would stop new sanctions on North Korea, saying the country was suffering and he valued his relationship with its authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump shed light on his tweet a week ago that took Washington by surprise in which he said he was rolling back sanctions on North Korea that the Treasury Department had planned.

"They are suffering greatly in North Korea. They're having a hard time in North Korea," he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

"And I just didn't think additional sanctions at this time were necessary. Doesn't mean I don't put them on later but I didn't think additional sanctions at this time were necessary," he said.

A month after his latest summit with Kim ended in stalemate in Vietnam, Trump said he got along "very well" with the young leader, adding: "We understand each other."

"I think it is very important you maintain that relationship at least as long as you can," Trump said.

Trump's announcement last week on the sanctions raised eyebrows as he said he was reversing sanctions that had been announced that day but which had not.

Answering a question Friday, Trump said the sanctions had been set to be announced at the time but that he stopped them.

The United States nonetheless last week took a separate action of sanctioning two Chinese shipping companies for dealing with North Korea.

Senior administration officials have said that the United States will keep imposing "maximum pressure" on North Korea by maintaining sanctions until Kim gives up his nuclear program.

Trump appeared to heed his advisors in Hanoi when he walked away, with the North Koreans seeking immediate sanctions relief.

Trump's warm rapport with Kim and reluctance to cause economic harm comes in stark contrast to his stance on other US adversaries such as Iran and Venezuela, on which his administration has relentlessly imposed sanctions.
Adana (Turkey) (AFP) - Like many students of her age, 16-year-old refugee Fatmeh dreams of becoming a doctor. And a modest monthly sum of less than 10 euros could make all the difference.

Originally from the Syrian city of Aleppo, the teenager has been living in Adana in southern Turkey for six years with her father and three small brothers.

To help feed the family, the father sells Syrian pastries that she helps make at home.

"I missed the first term of school to help my dad look after my three little brothers and prepare the pastries," she told AFP between classes at public school in Adana.

Fatmeh is one of 460,000 refugees in Turkey -- most of them Syrian -- whose family benefits from monthly supplements aimed at keeping school-age children in class rather than out working.

The money -- 35-50 Turkish lira for boys, and 40-60 lira for girls ($6-$11/5-9 euros) -- is part of the Conditional Cash Transfer for Education programme, funded by international sources like the European Union and managed by the UN children's fund UNICEF, the Red Crescent and the Turkish authorities.

- Meagre sums -

If the sums seem meagre, it can be a boon for poor Syrian families who often live on basic aid and informal work, especially those with several school-age children.

The amount is similar to that given to Turkish families by the social services so as to avoid complaints that Syrian refugees get preferential treatment, says Mathias Eick, a spokesman for the EU's humanitarian operations.

"We've assigned 86 million euros to the programme to date," he told AFP.

Turkey is home to around 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and most of those benefitting from the programme are Syrian.

According to UNICEF data, around 600,000 school-age Syrian children are in education in Turkey while another 400,000 are not.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of students who have officially signed up for classes end up skipping school to work and help their families survive.

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At Fatmeh's school in Adana, teachers listed absent students and contacted their parents to persuade them to let their children return, with the programme as an incentive.

"The teachers in school were able to persuade my father by explaining how the aid could help," she said. "It wasn't hard because he always pushed me to go to school, but it was me who helped out in the house."

- 'A big difference' -

Twelve-year-old Moussab, also from Aleppo, found himself back at school three weeks ago after missing the first term.

"We needed the money so I skipped school to work in a tailor's workshop. I earned 500 lira a month," he said.

Reem Zeidane, one of the school's administrators, said last month they managed to bring back 45 of the 150 children who were absent from classes.

"This payment makes a big difference for the families, especially those who have four or five children," Zeidane said.

Turkish authorities and UNICEF have also set up a "non-formal" education programme, including Turkish courses, for refugee children and adolescents who have not attended school for at least three years.

As part of this programme, 13-year-old Ali takes Turkish lessons every morning in a youth centre in Adana. In the afternoon, he works in a car workshop for a monthly salary of 400 lira.

Ali's father, Hamza, is unemployed after two accidents at work, and his mother is ill. With four sisters, three of them in school, he is the main breadwinner.

"If one day our situation improves, I'll quit work and sign up for school," he said.
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. safety investigators have reviewed data from the flight recorders or black boxes that were aboard crashed Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, four people briefed on the investigation told Reuters.

The National Transportation Safety Board has reviewed raw data from the flight data recorder and listened to the cockpit voice recorder, the sources said. The review was reported earlier by ABC News. A preliminary report is expected as early as next week, U.S. officials said.

Under international rules, Ethiopia safety officials are in charge of the investigation and are the only entity that can release information about the probe. An NTSB spokesman declined to comment on Thursday.

Boeing unveiled new software upgrades and training on Wednesday after two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes in five months led regulators around the world to ground the planes, including the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

The March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 on board has set off one of the widest inquiries in aviation history and cast a shadow over the Boeing MAX model intended to be a standard for decades. It followed an October crash of a 737 MAX operated by Indonesia's Lion Air, which plunged into the Java Sea after takeoff from Jakarta, killing 189.

NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday that the board was getting all the cooperation it needed from the Ethiopian and Indonesian governments.

"I have no indication at all that the Ethiopians are not sharing with us the information that we need," Sumwalt said.

It is unclear how long it may take the FAA and other international regulators to decide when to allow the 737 MAX to resume flying, but officials first want details from the preliminary findings of the Ethiopian crash. The FAA also has not yet formally received Boeing's proposed software upgrade.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Tom Brown)
LONDON (AP)  Britain's Brexit logjam has become a pileup. Lawmakers have voted, and the results are a mess. They don't want Prime Minister Theresa May's EU divorce deal, don't want to leave without a deal, and don't want any of the other options on offer.

The country faces a deadline of April 12 to present the European Union with a new plan or crash out of the bloc.

A look at the most likely options:

MAY'S DEAL

After almost two years of negotiations, Britain and the EU struck a divorce deal in November, laying out the terms of Britain's departure from the bloc and giving a rough outline of future relations.

It needs to be ratified by the British and European Parliaments  and U.K. lawmakers have rejected it twice by huge margins, first in January and then in March.

The deal is a compromise that has pleased almost no one. Pro-Brexit lawmakers think it keeps Britain too closely tied to EU rules. Pro-EU legislators argue it is worse than the U.K.'s current status as an EU member.

May still wants to try again, and has called a new Brexit debate in Parliament for Friday, though it has not confirmed whether it will include another vote on the deal.

In a dramatic bid to win over opponents, May promised to quit if her deal passes and Britain leaves the EU. That has led some pro-Brexit lawmakers to say they will support the agreement, but the key Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland remains opposed.

___

CUSTOMS UNION

With May's deal stuck, Parliament took control of the Brexit process Wednesday to hold a series of "indicative votes" on possible alternatives, from quitting the EU without a deal to canceling the decision to leave.

The exercise did not provide clarity  all eight options on offer were defeated. But it did hint at a potential compromise. The measure that came closest to a majority, defeated by 272 votes to 264, called for Britain to remain in a customs union with the EU after it leaves.

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May has always ruled that out, because sticking to EU trade rules would limit Britain's ability to forge new trade deals around the world.

But it would ensure U.K. businesses can continue to trade with the EU, and would solve many of the problems that bedevil May's deal. In particular it would remove the need for customs posts and border checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland

There's a good chance a withdrawal agreement that included a customs union pledge would be approved by Parliament, and welcomed by the EU.

___

NEW REFERENDUM

The other option with significant support called for any deal to be put to public vote in a "confirmatory referendum." The idea was backed by 268 lawmakers and opposed by 295, and has significant support from opposition parties, plus some members of the Conservatives.

The government has ruled out holding another referendum on Britain's EU membership, but could change its mind if there appeared no other way to pass its Brexit deal.

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NO DEAL OR LONG DELAY

Parliament has voted repeatedly to rule out a no-deal Brexit  but it remains the default position unless a deal is approved, Brexit is canceled or the EU grants Britain another extension.

While a minority of lawmakers would welcome what they call a "clean Brexit," most politicians, economists and business groups think it would be disastrous.

The alternative to 'no-deal' is to delay Brexit for at least several months while Britain sorts out the mess. The EU is frustrated with the impasse, and says it will only grant another postponement if Britain makes up its mind on a new course before April 12.

The bloc is reluctant to have a departing Britain participate in May 23-26 European parliament elections, as it would have to do if Brexit is delayed. But EU Council President Donald Tusk has urged the bloc to give Britain the extension if it plans to change course.

A long delay also raises the chances of an early British election, which could rearrange Parliament and break the political deadlock.

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Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit
Top negotiators from China and the United States began a fresh round of trade talks in Beijing on Friday to settle a bruising dispute that has threatened to blight the global economy.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were greeted by Vice Premier Liu He at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse as they seek to resolve the months-long trade war between the world's top two economies.

As the US delegation left its hotel for a full day of talks, Mnuchin told reporters the officials had a "very productive" working dinner on Thursday.

"It's a pleasure to see you again," Mnuchin told Liu as they exchanged pleasantries before their meeting.

Officials are seeking to iron out major differences over US accusations that China has been using unfair trade practices for years by heavily subsidising its companies while snatching the technological know-how of American firms.

US President Donald Trump has said that the two sides were close to a deal, but officials have played down expectations of an imminent agreement.

Liu will travel to Washington next week for another set of negotiations.

In Washington, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Thursday the talks could last weeks or even months if necessary.

The Chinese commerce ministry said a "large amount of work" remains to be done.

The two sides have imposed tariffs on $360 billion in two-way trade since last year but Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in December.

Trump suggested last week that some of those tariffs should stay in place after a deal is reached to ensure China keeps its end of any bargain.

Beijing has taken steps to address some US complaints, rushing through a law this month that promises to protect foreign firms from the forced transfer of technology.

But US officials want China to show that it will enforce any law that aims to protect intellectual property rights of American companies.
Washington (AFP) - The United States on Friday welcomed a Red Cross announcement that it would distribute aid in Venezuela and said it may send assistance through the international organization after Washington's own forceful bid failed.

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent said it would impartially distribute badly needed assistance in the economically battered country in two weeks, initially reaching 650,000 people.

Elliott Abrams, the envoy heading the US effort to oust President Nicolas Maduro, praised the Red Cross initiative and credited appeals by Juan Guaido, the opposition leader considered interim president by the United States and some 50 other countries.

"This looks like a real opportunity, and we think that it is a response to the efforts that interim President Guaido has been making," Abrams told reporters.

"So it's very welcome, we hope it works, and -- assuming that it does, which we do -- the United States would be happy to put some of our aid into this method of reaching the Venezuelan people," he said.

The United States worked with Guaido on a high-profile effort on February 23 to force assistance through the Colombian border.

Venezuelan security forces successfully thwarted the aid amid scattered clashes, with Maduro warning that the operation was a precursor to a US invasion.

The United States argues that Maduro only gives aid to regime supporters, not necessarily to those most in need.

Abrams nonetheless said the Red Cross assistance was no substitute for toppling Maduro.

"The kind of aid that is needed for a broad recovery of the Venezuelan economy really cannot be put in place until the regime is replaced by democratic government," Abrams said.
Washington (AFP) - A Russian military deployment to Venezuela that has prompted warnings by the United States was meant largely to fix a broken missile system, a US official said Friday.

Elliott Abrams, the US envoy heading the US effort to oust President Nicolas Maduro, said that Washington believes that Moscow sent around 100 people to provide "technical assistance."

"One of the things they are doing seems to be, and we have thought this from the very beginning, helping the regime with the S-300 ground-to-air missile system which apparently got all screwed up... by the blackout," Abrams told reporters.

The S-300 is a major missile defense program designed to shoot down aircraft and other missiles that was designed by the Soviet Union. Russian official media in 2012 reported an S-300 shipment to Venezuela.

The economically crumbling country this week suffered its second nationwide blackout this month, knocking out transport, water supplies and communications and paralyzing the crucial oil sector.

John Bolton, the US national security adviser, on Friday urged Venezuela's military to "uphold its constitutional duty to protect the citizens of Venezuela."

"Maduro will only use this military support to further repress the people of Venezuela; perpetuate the economic crisis that has destroyed Venezuela's economy; and endanger regional stability," Bolton said in a statement.

The statement did not specify what exact actions the US wanted the Venezuelan military to take, but Trump has said its army chiefs could play a "vital role" in the country's future if they abandoned their support for Maduro

The statement Friday warned that any effort by "actors external to the Western Hemisphere" to deploy military assets to Venezuela with an eye to military operations would be considered "a direct threat to international peace and security in the region."

US President Donald Trump earlier called on Russia to "get out" of Venezuela.

Story continues

Russia has said that its forces, which it described as military experts providing technical help, will stay "for as long as needed," calling the US effort in Venezuela an attempted coup.

Two Russian military planes landed at the main airport outside Caracas on Saturday and offloaded the equipment and troops. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo soon afterward raised objections in a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The United States and 50 other countries say that the leftist firebrand Maduro is no longer the legitimate leader of Venezuela and have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.
By Deisy Buitrago and Angus Berwick CARACAS (Reuters) - Opposition leader Juan Guaido held talks with Venezuela's public sector unions on Tuesday about staging strikes to help bring down the government, as President Nicolas Maduro said a "crazed minority" bent on destabilizing the country would be defeated. The strikes would ratchet up pressure on a weakened Maduro by giving several million state employees, a traditional bastion of government support, a chance to demonstrate their frustration with an administration that has overseen Venezuela's deepest ever economic crisis. The opposition is also seeking to capitalize on momentum spurred by Guaido's triumphant return to Venezuela on Monday to press for an end to Maduro's rule. Guaido flouted a travel ban to tour Latin American countries to muster support for his plan for a transition government ahead of free and fair elections. "They thought the pressure had already maxed out," said Guaido, who is recognized by most Western nations as Venezuela's legitimate head of state. "They better know that the pressure has barely begun," he told a news conference. Maduro, speaking for the first time since Guaido's return, said he would not allow "anything or anyone to disrupt the peace." He called for "anti-imperialist" demonstrations across the country on Saturday, coinciding with marches called by Guaido. "The crazed minority continues in their bitterness. We are going to defeat them, be absolutely sure," he said during a ceremony to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the death of his predecessor Hugo Chavez. While Guaido had publicly speculated that authorities would detain him when he returned, he passed through Caracas' international airport without a problem. He then sped to a march where he mocked the government for letting him in so easily, telling the crowd: "Somebody didn't follow an order." The socialist government had kept unusually silent since Guaido landed, with no top officials commenting until Maduro spoke at the ceremony, held at the military barracks where Chavez launched a failed 1992 coup. He became president seven years later. Maduro accuses Guaido of leading a coup, orchestrated by the U.S. government, and has said he will "face justice." The former trade union leader denies there is a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and has blocked the opposition's attempts to bring in aid to alleviate shortages of food and medicine. "THE MOMENT HAS COME" Washington's top envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, said on Tuesday it was hard to see a role for Maduro in future democratic elections. He said the Trump administration was considering secondary sanctions against non-U.S. citizens and entities tied to the Maduro government. "If he wanted to build a democratic Venezuela, he had the opportunity to do so, but he did not," Abrams told reporters. The United States has already imposed sanctions on Venezuela's vital oil sector and announced asset freezes and travel bans targeting top government officials. Guaido said the strikes would be staggered and aim to paralyze the public sector. He has called on state officials, who have been historically pressured by the ruling Socialist Party to publicly back Maduro, to disavow the government, and has promised future amnesties for those that do. "The moment has come and our call, our request, and our complete support for public employees, is to bring about this strike," Guaido said after meeting with state workers. He did not say when the strikes would be held. "It's a proposal from the workers, that they aren't going to keep collaborating with the regime," Guaido said. Union leaders for state telecoms firm Cantv, national power company Corpoelec, and the foreign ministry told Reuters they would join a public sector strike. There was no investment and tens of thousands of employees had abandoned their positions in recent years, they said. Guaido had secretly left Venezuela for Colombia, in violation of a Supreme Court order, to coordinate efforts there on Feb. 23 to send aid into Venezuela. But troops blocked convoys of aid trucks sent from Colombia and Brazil, leading to clashes that killed at least six people along the Brazilian border, rights groups say. Guaido says Maduro's presidency is illegitimate after he secured re-election last year in a vote widely considered a sham. Maduro retains control of state institutions and the loyalty of senior figures in the armed forces. (Additional reporting by Vivian Sequera and Shaylim Valderrama in Caracas and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Tom Brown)
HANOVER, Germany  Volkswagen has signed a deal to develop a pickup truck with U.S. rival Ford and continues discussions about extending its alliance to include autonomous driving and mobility services, the German carmaker said on Thursday.

In June, VW and Ford said they were in talks to develop a range of commercial vehicles, later extending the discussions to include electric and autonomous cars as part of an alliance designed to save billions in costs.

"We are in constructive talks about taking a stake in Argo, the Ford division for autonomous driving. A joint company for offering mobility as a service is also a possibility," Volkswagen's commercial vehicles chief executive Thomas Sedran said on Thursday.

The talks will conclude in the coming months, Sedran said.

Ford spokeswoman Jennifer Flake said the discussions with Volkswagen were productive but declined to discuss further details.

Ford bought Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based self-driving startup, in 2017, but with spiraling development costs for autonomous cars in recent years, the company and other carmakers have sought alliances and outside investors.

VW said it has signed a contract with Ford to develop a successor to its VW Amarok pickup truck. Ford has a platform for its Ranger midsized pickup truck, which could help VW lower development costs.
Icelandic airline Wow Air has suddenly stopped all flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded around the world.

A travel alert published on Wow Airs website said that the airline is ceasing all operations and cancelling future flights as efforts to raise more money failed. The airline, which flew a total of 3.5 million passengers last year, advised passengers to book new flights on other airlines, and said some may be eligible for compensation.

The reality is that we have run out of time and have unfortunately not been able to secure the funding of the company, said Wow CEO and founder Skuli Mogensen in a letter to the companys 1,000 employees, Reuters reported. Wow Air operated short and long-haul routes to various cities in Europe, and to Washington, Boston and Detroit in the U.S.

In the travel alert released on Thursday, Wow Air said that passengers scheduled on flights to or from Iceland with Wow Air on March 28 can cancel their reservation for a full refund, or change their reservation to the next available Wow flight. Passengers are concerned they will not get a refund on the abruptly cancelled flights.

If a person booked directly through Wow Air, theres limited protection and its hard to say whether people will be fully refunded, but if they booked through a travel operator theyre more likely to be refunded or compensated, a spokesperson from the London-based Civil Aviation Authority, who did not wished to be named, tells TIME.



Advice for passengers



So far, two airlines have stepped in to help. Icelandair announced its going to give stranded passengers discounted fares to and from North America (Boston, Edmonton, New York, Toronto and Washington D.C) starting at 100 dollars, and to and from Europe at 60 dollars (excluding taxes and fees). Norwegian Air also said repatriation fares would be available at a 25% discount until April 8, subject to availability and only with a valid Wow Air booking.

Story continues

The Icelandic Transport Authority (ICETRA) tells TIME that they are offering people stuck in the U.K. an alternative route using the EasyJet airline from Edinburgh, London Gatwick and London Luton airports to Keflavik Airport in Icelands capital city, Reykjavik. It is also providing rescue fee of 110 cover the cost of flight. This only applies to customers returning to Iceland up to April 14 and they must request it before April 7, or they will have to pay out of their own pocket to get home.

ICETRA writes that passengers who bought their ticket from a European travel agent (within the European Economic Area) as a part of a holiday package are protected by the Package Travel Directive, an E.U. law protecting consumers who purchase package holidays. Those passengers should contact their travel agent to arrange an alternative flight.

Passengers who bought travel protection, or whose credit card terms may include such protection, might be entitled to claim compensation and assistance due to delays or travel disruption. But such compensation is often limited.

Passenger reactions

Disgruntled passengers and relatives have been sharing their experiences on social media.

my husband hasnt been home in ten years. we finally book flights to surprise the family and @wowairsupport goes and cancels all flights. #WowAir #bullshit  jacqui (@jacquirosee) March 28, 2019

When I asked #WOWAIR if I should proceed with my flight they literally told me you might as well fly to Reykjavik to see the northern lights. Thank god for my family for sending me home on a flight home to Toronto with @aircanada I know its actually legit  Sarah Gleason (@gleasonsarah) March 25, 2019

Other passengers are criticizing WOW for the lack of communication about refunds, with one person complaining that they were supposed to get money back six weeks ago.
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  March 28, 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: American Airlines AAL, SkyWest SKYW, Alaska Air ALK, Delta Air Lines DAL and Southwest Airlines LUV.

Here are highlights from Wednesdays Analyst Blog:

Busiest Spring Ever for U.S. Airlines?

According to a projection by Airlines for America (A4A)  the trade organization for leading U.S. airlines  companies in the airline space are set to be extremely busy in the 2019 spring travel season (Mar 1-Apr 30). The projection mirrors a 4.3% increase in passengers flying to various destinations over the period compared with last year.

This bullish forecast further confirms a solid demand for air travel. Affordable ticket prices have also contributed to the favorable projection. With the advent of spring, many people spend on outdoor activities and traveling. After all, very few can travel in the harsh winter months characterized by inclement weather.

A4A's Projection

According to the forecast put forward by the Washington-based trade group, passengers traveling on U.S. airlines during the spring travel period this year will reach an all-time high of 158.2 million. Notably, 151.7 million people chose to travel by air in the same period last year. The forecast translates into 2.59 million fliers per day during the above-mentioned period.

To meet the surge in travel demand, U.S. carriers are increasing the number of available seats by 129,000 per day. Also, with the U.S. economy improving and consumer confidence remaining strong, more Americans planning for vacations.

Affordable airfares in addition to rising disposable income and low unemployment have provided added incentive for consumers to opt for air travel. Driven by the above reasons, the two-month period is likely to see 106,000 additional passengers taking to the skies per day on various U.S. carriers.

Story continues

Impressively, the solid spring season travel forecast made by A4A comes close on the heels of the findings of the A4A commissioned research, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs.

According to the survey, 50% participants revealed that they flew at least once in 2018. The figure compared favorably to 39% recorded in 1997. Per the research findings, 72% Americans resorted to air travel for personal reasons including vacations, with overall flight satisfaction exceeding 80% last year.

Oil Price Decline Bodes Well for Airlines

The upbeat performance by airline stocks during the 2018 Thanksgiving holiday period and the bullish projection for the spring travel season this year coincide with the decline in oil prices. With oil prices declining in excess of 20% from the highs of $76 a barrel touched in October 2018, operating expenses of airlines have decreased.

In line with the decline in oil prices, carriers have issued a favorable projection for the metric. For example, American Airlines anticipates fuel costs between $1.97 and $2.02 per gallon in the first quarter of 2019 compared with $2.10 recorded in the year-ago quarter. The same for 2019 estimated to be between $1.99 and $2.04, lower than $2.23 in 2018.

American Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Low Taxes: A Boon

The current tax law, which came into effect in late 2017, is a huge positive for the airline industry. A considerably lower corporate tax rate is boosting cash flow and improving the bottom line of carriers. Huge savings owing to the reduction in corporate tax rate implies that more cash will be available to fund their capital expenditures, acquisitions and share repurchases, among others. Shareholder-friendly activities apart, lower tax related outflow of most carriers have enabled them to undertake employee-friendly activities such as profit sharing.

Carriers like SkyWest and Alaska Air have already increased their dividend payouts this year. Dividend hikes from the likes of Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines are expected through 2019.

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Raed Saleh was 5 years old when his family left their Palestinian village in the West Bank for a better life in Germany. Now 41, the Muslim has become one of Berlin's top politicians and is spearheading efforts to rebuild a synagogue in the German capital that was destroyed by the Nazis 80 years ago.

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What may sound utopian in parts of the world where hostilities between Muslims and Jews run high has become a reality in Berlin: Jews, Muslims and Christians have joined forces to rebuild what used to be one of the city's biggest synagogues.

Thewindows of the so-called youth-synagogue, the remaining building of the 'Fraenkelufer' synagogue, are illuminated in Berlin.

Co-existence isn't always easy in Berlin, either, but with the blessing of people like Saleh, who heads Berlin's Social Democrats and is a lawmaker in the city's government, the interfaith effort may come to fruition in a few years.

"In the past, Berlin tore down the wall between west and east," Saleh said during a recent visit to the synagogue. "Today, we must tear down the walls of hatred."

Jonathan Marcus a German member of 'Fraenkelufer' synagogue

"The growing anti-Semitism and hostility toward Muslims, the growing intolerance toward each other -- this cannot go on," Saleh said.

The Fraenkelufer synagogue was opened as an Orthodox house of prayer in 1916 and held 2,000 worshippers. Before the Third Reich, Germany's flourishing Jewish community counted about 560,000 people and was known for its cultural and intellectual prominence. In 1938, however, five years after the Nazis had come to power in Germany, mobs destroyed parts of the building during the Night of Broken Glass, or Kristallnacht, in which synagogues, Jewish stores and homes were vandalized across the country. In the Holocaust that followed, the Nazis and their henchmen murdered 6 million Jews across Europe.

Palestinian-German politician Raed Saleh poses for a photo near a remembrance plaque

Today, only a side wing of the building, known as the youth synagogue, remains in the middle of what has become a mostly Arab and Turkish immigrant district dotted with mosques, tea houses and kebab stands.

Nonetheless, the small synagogue has attracted a growing number of young Jewish families who have moved to the German capital in recent years from Israel, the United States, the former Soviet Union, South America and Australia.

Saleh said he met up with some of the temple's members over hummus and falafel a while back and asked them how he could help support the growing community.

The answer was clear: they asked for more space.

'Fraenkelufer' synagogue, in Berlin

"When we have bigger events and celebrations, this space is bursting at the seams, it's very quickly getting very tight," said Jonathan Marcus, 38, who is a fifth-generation German member of the Fraenkelufer synagogue. He said there's also a need for additional prayer space, study rooms and a kindergarten.

Saleh promised to turn his words into action last year and now chairs a diverse board of trustees including Jews, Christians and Muslims who seek to raise the estimated 24 million euros ($27.3 million) needed to rebuild the temple's main building, which before the war was a white neo-classical structure fronted by columns.

There are no architectural blueprints yet, but many enthusiastic supporters who hope to collect enough donations to break the ground five years from now.

Remembrance plaque

One of them, Nirit Bialer, a 40-year-old Israeli business development manager who moved to Germany 13 years ago, said she can't wait for her dreams of a cultural center within the synagogue to become real.

"I think it's great that Berlin enables us to work together -- people of different faiths, of different backgrounds," Bialer said before attending a prayer service on the eve of the Purim holiday inside the synagogue's somewhat cramped prayer room. "The fact that Raed Saleh is Palestinian by roots is a non-issue ... for me he is a Berliner."

So far, Saleh says reactions to the project have been overwhelmingly positive. Even some Muslim communities vowed to collect money for the synagogue in their mosques after Friday prayers.

"In the end this synagogue is more than just a synagogue: It's a sign for togetherness of religions, cultures and traditions," Saleh said.
Deep in the West Bank, Israeli settlers have transformed an archaeological site into a biblical tourist attraction that attracts tens of thousands of evangelical Christians each year.

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Tel Shiloh is believed to have been the site of the biblical tabernacle, but not everyone is pleased at how the ruins are presented to visitors.

The archaeological site of Tel Shiloh in the West Bank (Photo: AP)





Like many Holy Land sites, Tel Shiloh sits at the confluence of competing narratives of archaeology, religion, and nationalism. Critics say the site promotes a narrow interpretation of history popular with Israeli settlers and their Christian supporters.

The hilltop mound, 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has been excavated by several archaeological missions, starting in 1922, and has yielded remains spanning over 3,700 years.

For centuries, Jews, Muslims, and Christians have associated the site with the home of the biblical tabernacle, the portable shrine where the Israelites housed the Ark of the Covenant.

Because of its biblical significance, the archaeological ruins have become a pilgrimage site for evangelical Christians.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Tel Shiloh with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and settler leaders, calling it Israels first capital.

Huckabee, a television host with a strong evangelical following, tweeted that Shiloh is proof from 3000 yrs ago this land was home to Israel site of ancient Tabernacle.

In 2009, Tel Shiloh hosted 30,000 visitors, 60 percent of whom identified as evangelical Christians, according to the Israeli government. In 2012, the government allocated about $4.2 million for a plan to preserve and upgrade the site, inaugurating a new visitors center the following year.

The archaeological site of Tel Shiloh in the West Bank (Photo: AP)

Since its completion, Tel Shiloh  rebranded as Ancient Shiloh: City of the Tabernacle  has seen tourism skyrocket to around 120,000 visitors in 2018, said site director Lilyan Zaitman. Over half were evangelical Christians.

Unlike other major sites in the West Bank, Tel Shiloh is managed by the local settler council and Mishkan Shiloh, a private nonprofit organization, rather than Israels Nature and Parks Authority.

The site is inside the Jewish settlement of Shiloh, founded after Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war. The tourist attraction is built on private Palestinian land but Palestinians are barred from entering, according to a recent Amnesty International report.

The Palestinians have demanded the West Bank as part of their future state, and most of the international community views the settlements as illegal.

The Second Protocol of the Hague Convention for the protection of cultural property prohibits archaeological excavations in occupied territory save where this is strictly required to safeguard, record or preserve cultural property. Israel is not one of the protocols 82 signatories.

Zaitman said visitors should understand that the roots of the Jewish people began here, calling it the first capital city of the Jewish people before Jerusalem.

Despite Tel Shilohs long and varied history, the site drives home its Jewish relevance, with little attention paid to other periods or peoples, whether Canaanite, Byzantine or Muslim. This has drawn criticism from archaeologists and activists.

The archaeological site of Tel Shiloh in the West Bank (Photo: AP)

Emek Shaveh and Yesh Din, Israeli NGOs, charged in a 2017 report on Israeli archaeology in the West Bank that Ancient Shiloh aims to reinforce the connection between the biblical Shiloh and the modern settlement, in a manner not necessarily based on the archaeological discoveries at the site.

The goal, they argue, is to create a broad consensus about its importance as an indivisible part of the state of Israel.

Among the ruins are three Byzantine-era churches and two mosques. One of the two historical mosques is located outside the archaeological park, while the second is unmarked and undeveloped for visitors. A Byzantine church has been reconstructed and serves as a venue for events.

A new three-dimensional hologram presentation entertains viewers with a representation of the tabernacle and a description of the rituals performed there, based on the Bible.

A small museum inside the visitors center makes scant mention of nearly 1,400 years of Muslim rule, and a film depicting the sites history deals exclusively with the biblical account.

The archaeological record, however, is more complicated.

Tel Aviv University archaeologist Israel Finkelstein led excavations at Tel Shiloh in the 1980s. He said there is evidence of continuous religious activity at the site for centuries leading up to the early Iron Age, the period associated with the emergence of the ancient Israelites.

The archaeological site of Tel Shiloh in the West Bank (Photo: AP)

What exactly was the nature of the cult, whether there was a temple there, and also the exact location of this cult place at the site, is not very clear, Finkelstein said. As with any archaeological site, Finkelstein said our responsibility is to give the facts, and then we can of course say that there is more than one way to interpret the finds.

No evidence of the tabernacle has been found, but archaeologists are looking. Excavations are being carried out by the Associates for Biblical Research, whose stated aim is demonstrating the historical reliability of the Bible through archaeological and biblical research.

Scott Stripling, head of the current excavation, is one of a handful of evangelical archaeologists currently excavating in the West Bank. Evangelicals are the only non-Israeli teams involved in West Bank digs. Except for Tel Shiloh, however, the others operate in conjunction with Israeli universities.

We will likely be the largest excavation in Israel once again this summer, Stripling said. Despite broad academic stigma involved with excavating in the West Bank, Stripling said his organization is completely apolitical, and we would be excavating the same region, regardless of political changes.

Rico Cortes, a tour guide from Orlando, Florida, who led a Spanish-speaking group through the site earlier this month, said Shilohs connection to the state of Israel is unquestioned.

I bring everyone to respect Israel, the people and the Book, he said. The fact that the presence of God one time dwelled here is overwhelming.
As a person who was born and who has lived all of her life in southern Israel, I had no other choice but to get used to the twisted reality that disrupts my life. The same reality that paralyzes me with fear every time I get into my car because I will be helpless should the air raid alarm sound. Because of this reality I think twice before taking a shower. Its is a depressing reality.

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For too many years, we in the south have not known what is to have a normal routine. Instead we have rockets, balloons with firebombs attached, and - every now again - a cease-fire. Amd then it all starts again from the beginning. It is a nightmarish routine.

Residents of southern Israel protesting the security situation (Photo: Avi Rokah)

When the first rocket "accidently" landed in central Israel, I must confess I was a tiny bit happy. I said to myself, "now it is going to end."

For when a rocket lands even "accidentally" in central Israel, there is a response that includes an urgent cabinet meeting, live news broadcasts into the night, the deployment of IDF units and thoughts and prayers for the people affected.

Tanks on the Gaza border

This week I was horrified by the destruction caused by the rocket that hit a house in Mishmeret.

It was miraculous that no one was seriously injured.





The Mishmeret home destroyed in a rocket strike from Gaza (Photo: Yair Sagi)

But I'm tired of praying for miracles. I want action!

And when the rockets began falling on the south again - as expected - we never got the same reaction.

In reality, no one cares when residents in the south are constantly running for shelters - not even Culture Minister Miri Regev who dismissed us all with a simple: "So what if Ashkelon is under fire?"





A young resident of Kibbutz Nir-Am filmed herself crying as she huddled in a bomb shelter with her dog

So how am I supposed to feel now? My parents came to this country out of pure Zionism, and are now having second thoughts about life here after the elections.

I think it is time for someone to take matters into their own hands and find a permanent solution for the people in the south. A real solution that will bring peace to our little corner of the world. I don't think that it's really too much to ask.
Jewish organizations and the Israeli government criticized German hard rock band Rammstein on Thursday for a video promoting its new single that features group members on an execution gallows dressed as concentration camp inmates.

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Several organizations called the music video for the upcoming single, Deutschland, tasteless and unacceptable.

File photo: Rammstein performs with flares on stage during heavy metal Wacken Open Air (WOA) Festival 2013 in Wacken, northern Germany. (Photo: AFP)

His criticism was echoed by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

This Rammstein clip, using the Holocaust for advertisement purposes, is shameful and uncalled for, ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted. We join the many voices calling for its immediate removal.

The bands provocative imagery and lyrics long has drawn accusations its work promotes far-right nationalism, an allegation Rammstein rejects.

For one its previous music videos, Rammstein used clips from Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahls film about the 1936 Olympics.

File photo: German hard rock band Rammstein, with Till Lindemann, right, and Christoph Schneider accept the award for Best Live Band at the 3rd Annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, USA in 2011 (Photo: AP)

The Deutschland video features scenes from 2,000 years of German history, presented in the gory style thats a trademark of the band and its music genre.

Berlin actress Ruby Commey appears as a personification of Germany. In one scene, she appears to wear a Nazi-style uniform. The band members, dressed in the clothes of prisoners at a World War II Nazi concentration camp, are executed while rockets blast off in the background.

The lyrics of Deutschland include the line: Germany, your love is curse and blessing. Germany, I cant give you my love.

Karl Freller, a conservative German lawmaker who directs a foundation that manages war memorials in the state of Bavaria, invited the band to visit the site of the Dachau concentration camp, where tens of thousands of people died.

The suffering and inhumanity of the Holocaust shouldnt be used for advertising purposes or gimmickry to promote a product, regardless of what it is, German news agency dpa quoted Freller as saying.
ISTANBUL - Less than a year after Tayyip Erdogan celebrated election triumph with fireworks in Ankara, Turkey's all-powerful leader faces the embarrassment of losing his capital in local polls marred by bitter campaign rhetoric and economic storm clouds.

Erdogan has ruled Turkey for 16 years with an ever-tightening grip and his June 2018 national election victory vastly expanded his presidential powers, alarming Western allies who fear Turkey is drifting deeper into authoritarianism.

But the 65-year-old president could be brought down to earth on Sunday when Turks vote in municipal elections which threaten to inflict the first defeat for his Islamist-rooted AK Party in Ankara or the country's biggest city and business hub, Istanbul.
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump will meet with Egypt President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi next month at the White House.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says in a statement released Friday the leaders on April 9 will discuss bilateral concerns, including conflicts in the region and military, economic and counterterrorism issues.

Egyptians currently are mediating cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas.
RYAN ZIETLOW, CEO of Northwoods YMCA, left, inspects the college's heating and humidity equipment above the pool area with Erik Guenard, dean of business services/co-interim president at GCC.

By BRYAN HELLIOS

[email protected]

IRONWOOD - Roughly 50 members of the community attended the Gogebic Community College Board of Trustees meeting Thursday to hear about partnership opportunities with the Young Men's Christian Association, including the possibility of bringing back GCC's pool.

Ryan Zietlow, CEO of the Northwoods YMCA, said community support is vital to the sustainability of his organization.

"We currently have 4,000 members (in Rhinelander, Wis.) which consists of about 2,000 individual units," Zietlow said. A unit could include a couple or a family with childre...
Premier Li Keqiang delivers the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia on Thursday in Boao, Hainan province. [Photo/Wu Zhiyi/China Daily]

Li cites progress on equal treatment for foreign investors and IPR protection

China will further open up to foreign investors and offer them treatment equal to that of domestic companies with firm protection of their legitimate rights, Premier Li Keqiang said at the Boao Forum for Asia on Thursday.

The country will fully adopt pre-entry national treatment and negative lists for overseas investment, Li said at the opening ceremony of the forum's annual conference in Hainan province.

By the end of June, China will release the amended negative lists for foreign investment access, he said. "The negative lists will only be shortened.  We will ensure fair competition and common development for Chinese and foreign companies with fair supervision," Li told more than 2,000 participants.

A negative list shows areas where investment is prohibited; all other areas are presumed to be open.

The government has started formulating matching regulations and rules to support implementation of the Foreign Investment Law, adopted two weeks ago, Li said, adding that supporting regulations will take effect along with the law on Jan 1.

The draft amendment to the patent law has been submitted to China's top legislators. It sharply increases compensation for infringement to a cost that violators will not be able to afford, he said.

Forced technology transfers are prohibited and violators will receive harsh penalties, Li said. The complaint mechanism for foreign-invested companies will be perfected to improve exchanges and coordination between the government and investors, making it an effective way to protect the legal rights of foreign companies, he said.

China will not resort to massive economic stimulus to boost growth, but will continue to open up and innovate to energize market players, Li said.

The country will further open up its financial sector and accelerate the process to fully lower the market access threshold for foreign investments in banking, securities and insurance, the premier said. Service sectors, including medical care and education, will be opened up along with transportation, infrastructure and energy, he said.

Li said China will further make it easier for foreign companies to set up a venture capital presence and will improve regulations on foreign investors' strategic investments in listed companies and their mergers with and acquisitions of domestic enterprises.

Also, preferential policies for investments from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will remain unchanged, and greater development opportunities will be offered for them, Li said.

Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization, said he was impressed by Li's speech to clean up rules and regulations inconsistent with the Foreign Investment Law as well as to launch a more streamlined negative list.

"It shows China's attitude of further opening-up, which is a higher-level and more concrete commitment of China," he said.

Leif Johansson, chairman of global biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, said Li's speech reflects the determination to create a more open, fair and transparent investment environment.

"Such an optimized market as well as a positive and dynamic investment climate will inspire us to expand our footprint in China and promote more cooperation with domestic firms to realize mutual development," he said.
Today

A mix of clouds and sun early, then becoming cloudy later in the day. High near 70F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later at night. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 72F. SE winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 15 to 25 mph.
Gold and Silver Precious Metals Setup Final Buying Opportunity

Our research team, at Technical Traders Ltd., has been all over the precious metals markets for the past 16+ months. Weve been so deep into research and study with regards to price action and technical/fundamental data, that weve been able to call market moves many months in advance.

Recently, over the past few months, weve been warning that an April 21~24 date is likely to set up an ultimate price bottom in the precious metals market. It could prompt a broader upside price swing that should eventually lead to a much bigger upside breakout move. On March 8, 2019, we posted this article that clearly outlined our thinking at that time saying a bounce to $1315-1320 before heading down to $1255.

Take a minute to read that article and consider this current downside price action as a gift the precious metals markets are allowing for all of us. This is the move that weve been warning about for months  the retracement from the $1315~1320 level that should bottom out near $1240~1265 and will ultimately become the momentum base for the future upside move. Precious metals are starting a move that we predicted many months ago. Our researchers believe Gold will trade below $1275 for a brief period of time (likely just a few days or weeks) before setting up a broad-based momentum bottom. Our objective is to leg into this setup with a series of long trades for the ultimate upside breakout.

Our research suggests that near the end of April 2019 or in early May 2019, Gold prices will likely begin a strong upside price move that will quickly target the $1500+ price level. We believe this current price swing will set up as the last real opportunity for skilled traders to accumulate long positions in precious metals while we wait for the April/May breakout move. Any opportunity to buy near the lower range of our Buy Zones would be an excellent entry position given our future prediction that a massive upside breakout move is just 20~30 days away from starting.

This Daily Gold chart shows just how deep the Buy Zone is for Gold. Any price activity below $1275 would be a solid entry for skilled traders. Any further opportunity to add to that position below $1265 is even better. Ultimately, we believe the $1240 to $1250 level will hold as support for the momentum bottom.

This Weekly Gold chart highlights our Buy Zone in broader price perspective. As you can see, the $1250 level corresponds to a price peak back in October/November 2018. We believe this level will act as long-term support and that price will bottom between $1240 and $1265 before the upside price swing begins.

This last Weekly Silver chart highlights the fairly narrow Buy Zone in silver that will allow traders to accumulate long position near of just above $14.50. We believe this $14.50 level will become key support throughout this April 2019 lower price rotation. Remember, near the end of April or in early May, we strongly believe a new upside price move will take place that will blow through recent highs and prompt a 12 to 25% upside price move. Our target for Gold is above $1500 (likely $1575 to $1675). Our upside target for Silver is $17.50 to $19.50 with this first upside leg. Our opinion is that this initial upside leg could be the start of a much larger and much more profitable price advance  lasting many months.

If you want to join a group of professional traders, researchers, and friends, take a look at our trading newsletter to learn how we can help you find and execute better trades each month. In fact, we are about to launch our newest technology solution to better assist our members in creating future success with our complete Wealth Building Traders Newsletter with Long-Term investing signals, Position trades, Swing trades, and our pre-market gap fill and spike day trades.

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.




VILLANOVA, Pa.  Georgia Papaefthymiou, PhD, professor of Physics at Villanova University, has been awarded a 2019-2020 Fulbright Scholar grant by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) to teach and conduct research in Greece. She will be at the National Center for Scientific Research (NCSR-Demokritos) in Aghia Paraskevi, Greece from September 2019 to January 2020.

Each year the Core Fulbright Scholar Program offers nearly 470 teaching, research or combination teaching/research awards in over 125 countries. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as a record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields.

Dr. Papaefthymiou will teach two courses at NCSR-Demokritos for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. She will also visit and lecture at the University of Ioannina in Epirus, the Democritus University of Thrace, and the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education in Athens. Dr. Papaefthymious time as a Fulbright Scholar in Greece also includes STEM outreach at high schools in Athens.

I am very honored and humbled by this opportunity extended to me by the Fulbright Foundation to visit Greece, my homeland, as a Cultural Ambassador of the United States, my adopted country of citizenship. I am thrilled to contribute to scientific and educational exchanges between the U.S and Greece, said Dr. Papaefthymiou.

While in Greece, Dr. Papaefthymiou will further her study of the electronic and magnetic properties of iron-based nanoparticles of core/shell morphology and dipolar magnetic interactions in assemblies of monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles. Dr. Papaefthymious work contributes to fundamental Physics in nanomagnetism and has implications for cancer treatment and neurodegeneration in Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease patients.

True to Villanovas teacher-scholar model, Dr. Papaefthymiou will use her time as a Fulbright scholar to conduct important international research, teach and engage in meaningful outreach programs, said Amanda Grannas, PhD, Associate Vice Provost for Research at Villanova University. This cultural and academic collaboration will have a positive influence on students and researchers in Greece and at Villanova. We congratulate Dr. Papaefthymiou on her much deserved award.

Dr. Papaefthymious application for the Fulbright Scholar grant was supported by the Universitys Center for Research and Fellowships (CRF) within the Office of the Provost. Dedicated CRF staff work one-on-one with faculty and staff Fulbright candidates like Dr. Papaefthymiou, offering guidance and support throughout the application process. This commitment to personalized attention is yielding remarkable results with 10 members of the faculty and staff selected as Fulbright Scholars since 2015. Recent Villanova recipients represent a range of disciplines including public health, robotics, psychology and administrative law. Visit the CRF website to learn more.

The Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), the scholar division of the Institute of International Education (IIE), is well known for its expertise and extensive experience in conducting international exchange programs for scholars and university administrators. For nearly seventy years, CIES has administered the Fulbright Scholar Program, the United States flagship academic exchange effort, on behalf of the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova Universitys Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six collegesthe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nations top universities, Villanova supports its students intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.
The three Police Emergency Command Centres (PECCs) have recorded over 750,500 prank calls between midnight of January 1, 2019, and midday of March 27, 2019.

Out of the 761,101 calls made to the three PEECs in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale, 751,217 were prank calls, while only 9,884 were genuine calls.

According to officers in charge of the PECC in Accra, some people just call in to insult the people on duty, some to demand mobile phone credit, others to make fun of the police, while others claimed it was their children who dialled the numbers without their knowledge.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante-Apeatu Source: UGC

Source: Getty Images

READ ALSO: 5 things Ghanaians should thank Akufo-Addo for

But the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante-Apeatu, said those prank calls often impeded access to persons who might genuinely need the services of the police.

He, therefore, admonished those who made the calls to desist from the act.

PAY ATTENTION: 12 Times Meghan Markle Went Against Royal Rules

Ghana Nti: I can't think far about Ghana's energy sector| #Yencomgh

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Source: Yen
A defeated flagbearer aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alban Bagbin, has argued that the party is the best to deliver Ghanaians from economic hardship.

A Citinewsroom report quotes him as saying that anytime the NPP was in power, they eventually derailed the development agenda to irritate Ghanaians into going back to a leftist party.

According to him, the reason the NPP had failed to advance the development of Ghana anytime they were in power is that the partys political philosophy did not respond to the needs of the country.

READ ALSO: UEW SRC reveals identities of those responsible for the demonstrations

He further noted that the New Patriotic Party (NPP)s achievements under former presidents Busia and Kufuor only widened the gap between the rich and the poor.

He pointed out that the NDC had the highest number of schools built, the highest number of hospitals built, had factories such as the Kumasi shoe factory and the Komenda sugar factory to its name, while the NPP had none.

READ ALSO: Stonebwoy shoots music video with top musicians

Yenkasa: Can the Gh. Cedi ever catch-up with the U.S. Dollar?| #Yencomgh

Use the comments section below to share your views on this story. Do you have a story to share or you have information for us? Get featured on YEN.com.gh. Message us on Facebook or Instagram

Source: Yen.com.gh
New Delhi: Cab hailing platform Ola on Friday announced that it has launched its services in three new cities in the UK  Liverpool, Birmingham, and Reading  after local councils granted the platform with both Taxi and Private Hire licenses.

The easy to use app will transform commuting experiences in these areas providing the community with greater travel choice as well as quicker and easier access to cabs. Celebrating the launch, Ola offered customers in Liverpool free rides on green tuk-tuks last week in a limited time period, as a part of the promotional campaign, the company said in a statement.

We are delighted to launch our services in Birmingham, Liverpool and Reading thus solidifying Olas presence across 7 large metropolitans in the UK, Ben Legg, Managing Director of Ola UK said.

Ola had launched its services in Cardiff in August 2018, Bristol in October 2018, followed by Bath and Exeter in November 2018.

Olas arrival in Liverpool, Birmingham, and Reading completes the launch of seven cities in the UK in just seven months, with many more planned across North England and the Midlands in the coming months, the company added.

Founded in 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola is one of the worlds largest ride-hailing companies.
Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu will look to book her place in the semi-final of the Indian Open when she squares off with eight-seed Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark in the last-eight clash of the tournament on Friday.

Sindhu, the winner of the 2017 edition of the tournament, had earlier hardly broken a sweat to sweep aside Hong Kong's Deng Joy Xuan 21-11, 21-13 in a one-sided pre-quarterfinal clash of the women's singles event that lasted 32 minutes.

The 23-year-old Indian will now face Barcelona Masters winner Blichfeldt, who stormed into the quarter-final with a 21-8, 17-21, 21-13 triumph over rising star Riya Mookerjee.

In the men's singles event, HS Prannoy will lock horns with second-seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, while third-seed Kidambi Srikanth will meet fellow countryman B. Sai Praneeth for a place in the last-four.

Prannoy, who is still recovering from a stomach problem that marred his last season, had earlier seen off a stiff challenge from second-ranked Danish star Jan Jorgensen 21-19, 20-22, 21-17 to enter the quarterfinal.

While Srikanth registered an easy 21-11, 21-16 win over China's Lu Guangzu, Praneeth rebounded strongly to clinch an 18-21, 21-16, 21-15 win over compatriot Sameer Verma.

Elsewhere, the Indian pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy will take on compatriot Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Shivam Sharma in the quarter-final of the men's doubles event.
Film: "Junglee"; Director: Chuck Russell; Cast: Vidyut Jammwal, Pooja Sawant, Asha Bhat, Makarand Deshpande, Atul Kulkarni, Akshay Oberoi, Vishwanath Chatterjee; IANS Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Action-thrillers like "Junglee" are God-sent to skilled actors looking for a chance to cut loose and have fun. From the looks of it, Vidyut Jammwal as Raj has a grand time playing the protagonist in the film.

He is a veterinary doctor practising in Mumbai, who returns to his roots after ten long years. His roots are in the jungle where his father is a conservationist. Once home, he realises, that everything is not hunky-dory as it appears to be. Elephants are poached for their tusks and that he must stay back home to be their saviour. How he uses all his skills to help the cause, forms the crux of the tale.

Helmed by Hollywood filmmaker Chuck Russell, obviously the expectations are high. But unfortunately, this tale of a man and his elephants which shares a message about family, friendship and conservation of elephants is dumbed down to the audience.

The story is simple and straight-forward. There are nuggets of beautifully-created moments which are layered on a lazily crafted plot and careless direction. Apart from major cinematic liberties, Kerala and Odisha seem interchangeable. Also, the director seems to focus more on exhibiting Vidyut`s skills in Kalaripayattu than the story itself.

Visually, the film appears to be mounted on a lavish scale. Mark Irwin`s cinematography keeps you hooked to the screen. He captures every bit of moment with sincerity. The lush green jungles and the serene tamed elephants are a balm to the eye. Some shots are picture perfect and seem straight out of "The Jungle Book".

The action sequences are astutely choreographed but they lack gravity. Throughout the film some of these moments appear more comic than serious, except for the fight sequence in the climax. Vidyut`s poses and parkour movements are well-captured.

There is an awe-striking moment in one particular scene when he escapes from the narrow prison window in a sweeping jump. The edit here is flawless and worth a mention.

Among the rest of the cast, debutantes Pooja Sawant and Asha Bhat are impressive in their roles. Akshay Oberoi as Raj`s friend Dev, Makarand Deshpande as Dev`s father, Atul Kulkarni as a poacher and Thalaivasal Vijay as Raj`s father; all in one-dimensional roles are sincere and have their moments of on-screen glory.

The song, "Yaad ayegi teri dosti..." seems like a remix of a previously heard number and song "Fakira ghar aaja..." is infectious. But overall, the music is not at all impressive.

This film a below mediocre fare that will appeal to animal lovers.
London/New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's bail application has been rejected by the London's Westminster Magistrate court. In his next date of hearing on April 26, Modi will be produced through video conferencing.

On March 20, during Modi's first hearing, the District Judge Marie Mallon denied him bail and he is in the custody since then. He was arrested by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch on March 19.

Modi, the main accused in the USD 2 billion PNB fraud case, had fled from India immediately after the PNB Scam surfaced last year. A Red Corner Notice was issued by the Interpol against him in June last year. Meanwhile, the External Affairs ministry has already sent an extradition request to the United Kingdom.

India's premier investigative agencies, the Enforcement Directorate as well as the CBI are probing the PNB scam involving Modi and his Uncle and aide Mehul Choksi. Choksi also fled India last year and has taken refuge in Antigua.

The CBI has registered an FIR against Modi, Choksi, Modi's brother and wife. While his wife Ami is a US citizen, his brother Nishal is a Belgian citizen.

Modi along with Choksi allegedly cheated Punjab National Bank through fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertakings (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs).

During his first court appearance, it emerged that the diamantaire accused of defrauding India's state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) via fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) had been in possession of multiple passports since revoked by the Indian authorities.

While one passport is now in possession of the Metropolitan Police, a second expired passport is lying with the UK Home Office and a third with the UK's Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) for a driver's licence.

Besides the passports, Modi also possesses multiple residency cards, some of them expired, but covering countries/regions such as the UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong.

His defence team tried to establish his very "visible" and "lawful" residence at his luxury Centre Point apartment in London's West End, paying his local council tax and also using a National Insurance number, allocated to legal UK residents for purposes of work.
New Delhi: Realty major DLF Thursday fixed an issue price of Rs 183.4 per share under its QIP programme that closed Thursday.

On Monday, DLF, the country's largest real estate firm in market value, had launched its qualified institutional placement (QIP) offering up to 17.3 crore shares to investors.

In a regulatory filing, DLF said the Securities Issuance Committee has declared the closure of the QIP on Thursday.

The panel also approved the issue price of Rs 183.40 per equity share, which is at a discount of 4.98 percent (i.E. Rs 9.61 per share) to the floor price of Rs 193.01 per share.

At Rs 183.4 per share, the company would raise Rs 3,172 crore.

According to sources, DLF's QIP issue was oversubscribed by two times, enabling the company to raise around Rs 3,200 crore.

Major institutional investors who participated in QIP offer include Oppenheimer, UBS, HSBC, Marshall & Wace, Myriad, Key Square, Goldman Sachs, Indus, Eastbridge, Tata Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund, sources had said.

With an aim to become a debt-free company, DLF had last year announced plans to issue shares through QIP to raise funds and pre-pay loans.

This is the third major fund raising from DLF. In 2007, DLF had raised about Rs 9,200 crore through an initial public offering (IPO). In 2013, the company had raised nearly Rs 1,900 crore through an institutional placement programme.

DLF's group Chief Financial Officer Ashok Tyagi recently said the QIP proceeds and further infusion of Rs 2,500 crore from promoters against the issue of warrants would help the company significantly reduce the debt that stood at around Rs 7,200 crore as on December 31, 2018.

DLF promoters K P Singh and family have already infused Rs 9,000 crore in the company and would pump in Rs 2,250 crore more.

The company made a preferential allotment of compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) and warrants to the promoters against the infusion of funds.

As infusion of the fund by promoters will lead to an increase in their shareholdings beyond permissible limit of 75 percent, the company planned QIP to maintain minimum public shareholding of 25 percent in a listed entity.

In August 2017, the promoters had sold the entire 40 percent stake in rental arm DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for Rs 11,900 crore and infused bulk of this amount in the company to cut net debt.
Mumbai: Over 1,000 pilots of the struggling private carrier Jet Airways have decided to go ahead with their "no flying" call from April 1 following the airline failing to receive funds from the banks Friday, its pilots' guild has said.

The National Aviators Guild (NAG), the body claiming representation of some 1,100 pilots at Jet Airways, had last week announced its decision not to fly from April 1 if their pending salaries were not cleared and clarity on the revival plan not provided by March 31.

Days after that, the airline management went into the hands of SBI-led consortium of banks under a debt-recast plan.

"A part of the expected interim funding from SBI was supposed to be actioned on March 29. Unfortunately, the fund transfer has not taken place, and there is also no update on salary payment from the management. The collective decision of pilots taken at Mumbai and Delhi open house effective 1 April prevails," NAG president Karan Chopra said in a late evening communication to his members.

Earlier in the day, a source said that around 200 pilots had written individually to Jet CEO Vinay Dube, threatening to go on "leave of absence", and they were also planning to take legal recourse over non-payment of salary.

A source in the pilots' community said around 200 pilots have written to the CEO flagging concerns about non-payment of salaries. The pilots are also members of the NAG, the source added.
Srinagar: Terrorists on Friday shot at a civilian and him in the Tral area of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said here.

Naseer Ahmad Ganaie, a resident of Nowpora in Tral, was shot at by the ultras outside his home, a police official said. He said Ganaie has been rushed to a hospital and a case was registered.

"The officers are at the spot to establish circumstances of this terror crime," the official said.

This is the second incident of attack on a civilian in Tral in as many days.
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New Delhi: The Election Commission on Thursday said it is examining and will decide on Friday if Prime Minister Narendra Modi violated the model code of conduct (MCC) when he announced the successful test of anti-satellite missile (A-SAT) in his address to the nation on Wednesday.

Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena, who heads the committee to look into the issue, told a press conference that the poll panel is examining three aspects of the matter -- MCC, law and media. He said the committee had written to Doordarshan and All India Radio seeking details of the source of the video feed.

"The committee of officers set up yesterday (Wednesday) to examine the issue has had two meetings -- one yesterday and one today... We are going into the entirety of the matter essentially to see if there was a violation of the MCC. It is being inquired. We are quite hopeful that we should be able to complete it very soon. We are trying by tomorrow we should be able to complete our inquiry," he said.

He added that Doordarshan and All India Radio have submitted their replies and the panel is examining them.

To a question, the poll officer said that the Prime Minister had neither sought permission nor informed the Election Commission about his address.

Saxena added that the Election Commission had also sent notices to four producers of "PM Narendra Modi", a biopic based on the life of the Prime Minister that is scheduled to be released on April 5.

A Congress delegation had met the poll panel on Wednesday requesting it to stop the release of the film, saying it is a violation of the model code of conduct.

"The Commission sent notice to the four producers of the film. Comments from the political party concerned have also been sought," Saxena said.

Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi, who plays Modi in the biopic, also appeared before the panel on Thursday, along with his lawyer.
New Delhi: Giving a clean chit to the Prime Minister, the Election Commission on Friday said that Narendra Modi's 'Mission Shakti' announcement did not violate the model code of conduct (MCC). The Prime Minister had on Wednesday announced the successful test of an anti-satellite missile (A-SAT) while addressing the nation.

The Commission noted that PM Modi, in his address, neither mentioned his party nor appealed to voters to vote in his favour.

The decision was taken based on the report of a committee which concluded that the prime minister's address did not violate the provisions for 'party in power' in the poll code. "The committee has, therefore, reached the conclusion that the MCC provision regarding misuse of official mass media...Is not attracted in the instant case," the commission said, citing the report of the committee constituted to look into the case.

Citing meetings with top Doordarshan and All India Radio officials and correspondence received from the two, the committee said, it is clear that Doordarshan has only used the feed provided by a private agency and the All India Radio has taken audio output as broadcast by Doordarshan News for dissemination over its network. It said the AIR has also clarified that the address was broadcast live but "taken as a news item".

Doordarshan said, the telecast of the address was not live and the source was the play out of the video received from the private agency. The DD also told the EC that the PM's message was telecast on more than 60 news channels in addition to Doordarshan.

The Commission said the panel set up by it examined the PM's address in the light of the provision in the model code dealing with 'Party in Power'.

The provision says, "Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in the power shall be scrupulously avoided."

On being asked why the report is silent on the content of the speech, a senior functionary explained that since the state/government media was not

used, the issue of content does not arise.

Another functionary said, "He did not seek vote. He did not describe the missile launch as an achievement of the government. He only hailed scientists. There was no electioneering involved."

There was a view in the Commission that the speech did not violate the model code in the letter, "but we can't say it about the spirit of the code".

Several opposition parties had raised the issue to the Election Commission alleging the violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

On Wednesday, India achieved a major milestone in its defence capabilities in space by shooting down a low earth orbit satellite using an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile. PM Modi congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation scientists involved in developing the anti-satellite missile technology which is possessed only by the US, Russia and China.

"In the journey of every nation, there are moments that bring utmost pride and have a historic impact on generations to come. One such moment is today. On 27 March 2019, India has successfully tested the Anti-Satellite (ASAT) Missile. Congratulations to everyone on the success of Mission Shakti," he had said.

The low orbit satellite was in an orbit 300 kilometres above the earth when the missile successfully shot it down bringing India at par with the above-mentioned countries in terms of space defence. The Prime Minister also announced that Mission Shakti was an indigenous effort and all the capabilities for the anti-satellite missile were developed in the country.

"The main objective of Mission Shakti was to demonstrate to the world its capabilities which are purely defensive in nature and are not against any country. This mission is about the economic and technological development of the country. Mission Shakti was a highly complex one and it was conducted at extremely high speed with remarkable precision. It shows the remarkable dexterity of Indias outstanding scientists and the success of our space programme," PM Modi had said.

The successful test of the ASAT missile gives India the ability to target enemy satellites in space as well as other objects which can be used to launch an attack on the country.

The PM, however, had said that while the A-SAT missile will give new strength to India's space programme, he assured that the international community that the capability won't be used against anyone. "It is purely India's defence initiative for its security. We're against arms raised in space. This test won't breach any international law or treaties," he had said.

"India's achievements in the space sector is to maintain the security of the country. India does not believe in war. The success of the mission will help us in preparing ourselves for future challenges. We need to make adapt new technologies to make our future secure. We aim to make Indians feel secured. Together, we will build a safe, secure and prosperous India," he had said.

USA, Russia and China, the major military powers, developed ASAT capabilities several years ago and can target satellites in space using direct-ascent and co-orbital missile systems. The USA operationalised the system to shoot down a satellite in space in the early 1960s, while Russia (then the USSR) has had the ASAT capability since 1970s. China joined the club in January 2007 with India storming into the elite list on March 27 2019.
New Delhi: Supporting New Delhi's fight against terrorism, Israel announced that it will help 'precious friend' India in its fight against terror with the transfer of technology and crucial know how.

Reacting to Zee Media's question on how Israel is supporting India in counter-terror efforts said, a top Israeli government source said, "India is a precious friend. What friends do is that they help each other to defend each other. As far as India needs our help, assistance, sharing of technology, know how to defend, we are here, that is our values, that is what friends do. Whatever India needs from Israel, will share our experiences, our technology, in order to defend themselves."

The whole world including Israel is suffering from terrorism and no compromises will be made on that issue, said the source.

We learn from history, no compromises with those who speak the language of power since they do not understand any other, the source added.

The development comes against the backdrop of reports saying India used Israeli-developed SPICE (Smart, Precise Impact, Cost-Effective) 2000 bombs during its non-military preemptive air strikes in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 to eliminate Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camps.

Speaking on India's relation with the Arab world, the source said, "So far as diplomacy is concerned everyone has different interest, we understand it. Friends can be frends and agree and disagree and can still be friends."

The bilateral ties between India and Israel have grown in the over the past few years with a number of high-level visits between diplomats and ministers of both the countries. Prime Minister Narendra became the first Indian PM to visit Israel in July 2017. It was followed by a visit by Israeli PM Netanyahu to India in January 2018.
A total of six terrorists were killed and an American M4 sniper rifle was also recovered in three encounters with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 24 hours. One terrorist has been captured alive.

The M4 carbine is a lightweight and a shortened variant of the M16A2 rifle. It is a gas operated, air cooled, magazine fed, selective rate, shoulder fired weapon with a collapsible stock. The M4 is equipped with a shorter barrel, and detachable carrying handle (with a built-in accessory rail) and it provides soldiers operating in close quarters with improved handling and the capability to rapidly and accurately engage targets at extended range, day or night.

It provides the individual soldier operating in close quarters the capability to engage targets at extended range with accurate, lethal fire. The M4-series Carbine achieves over 80 per cent commonality with the M16A2 Rifle and replaces all M3 .45 caliber submachine guns, and selected M9 pistols and M16 rifles.

The manufacturer is FN Herstel, Colt, it weighs 6.36 lbs, and its length is 33 in (stock extended). The barrel length is 14.5 inches, Caliber is 5.56x45 mm, the max rate of fire is 950 rpm, muzzle velocity is 2,900 ft/s and the maximum range is 600 m.

In an encounter that took place in the wee hours of Friday in Budgam district, two terrorists were killed and five soldiers injured. The terrorists are from the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist organisation. The encounter, that ensued in Sustu village in the district, has ended and search operations are underway, news agency ANI reported quoting the Jammu and Kashmir police.

One AK47 has also been recovered. It is worth mentioning that the M4 is used to target forces from long distance and is mostly found in Pakistan's Sataa. The Srinagar Police has issued an advisory asking locals not to visit the encounter site as it is being sanitized by Bomb Disposal (BD) squad of the state police.

On Thursday, four terrorists were killed in two encounters with security forces in Shopian and Kupwara districts of the state.

The security forces had launched an operation in Yawran forests in Shopian following information about the presence of terrorists there and in the ensuing gunfight, three terrorists were killed. The slain terrorists have been identified as Sajad Khanday, Aqib Ahmad Dar and Basharat Ahmad Mir, all residents of Pulwama, news agency PTI reported quoting a police spokesman.

According to PTI, the police records said that it was a combined group of proscribed terror outfits Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The spokesman asserted that Dar was involved in conspiring and executing many terror attacks in the area. Khanday and Mir were also involved in many terror attacks and several terror crime cases were registered against them. Incriminating materials, including three AK rifles, were recovered from the encounter site.

In another encounter, a terrorist belonging to the JeM was also killed in an encounter at Yaroo area in Handwara region of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, the police said.

An alleged Hizb-ul- Mujahideen terrorist, Rameez Ahmad Dar, was arrested from Bijbehara, Anantnag on Thursday. He was arrested following intelligence inputs to security forces about his location.
Delhi's Patiala House Court on Friday sent alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist Sajjad Khan, a close associate of Pulwama attack mastermind Mudassir Ahmed Khan, to judicial custody till April 26. He was produced before a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court at the end his remand by NIA, where the investigation agency didn't ask for any further remand of him.

On March 21, Sajjad (27), a resident of Pulwama, was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell from the Red Fort area in the national capital. He was roaming in Delhi as a trader of shawls. Sajjad had knowledge about the Pulwama attack and was in contact with Mudassir, who was killed in an in the Tral encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Reports suggest that he had provided the van used in the attack and explosives to Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar. He was also involved in plotting multiple IED blasts in Kashmir valley. Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in Pulwama district after a JeM terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into their bus, which was part of a convoy going to Srinagar from Jammu on February 14.

On the instructions of Mudassir, Sajjad had moved to Delhi and lived here under the guise of a shawl vendor to establish a sleeper cell of JeM. On the day of the Pulwama attack, Mudassir had contacted Sajjad on Whatsapp and informed him about the attack on CRPF convoy.

Mudassir sent him Sajjad a video of Adil Dar - the fidayeen who carried out the attack and later deleted it from his phone, news agency PTI reported quoting Pramod Singh Kushwah, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) had said. He was also tasked with radicalising and recruiting Muslim youth from Uttar Pradesh and other states, provide them weapons training, explosives and field craft, raising funds and collecting weapons, Kushwah added.

Mudassir instructed Sajjad to spot young Kashmiri youths for fidayeen attacks. Sajjad then motivated and recruited Bilal, a resident of Gadpora in Jammu and Kashmir and Tanveer, a resident of Midura in Tral, he said.

NIA had recently registered a case in which Sajjad along with Mudassir Khan was named as accused. Sajjad's two brothers were slain JeM terrorists, Kushwah said.

The three brothers were initially engaged in stone pelting. In February 2015, Sajjad's brother Ishfaq was arrested under Public Safety Act (PSA) for stone pelting and remained in Srinagar jail for about nine months, he said.
NEW DELHI: Two days after India announced the success of Mission Shakti with A-SAT missile launch, Russia urged India to take the effort to prevent an arms race in outer space

Russia, intends to continue to make necessary effort to prevent an arms race in outer space. The idea of developing a multilateral legally binding instrument for keeping outer space peaceful based on the Russian-Chinese draft treaty, Russia said in an official statement, quoted news agency ANI.

We noted the test of anti-satellite weapons conducted by India on March 27, as a result of which an Indian spacecraft - a target - in a low earth orbit was hit by an interceptor ballistic missile.

"We highlight the nondirectedness of this test against any specific country declared by the Indian leadership, as well as the reassurance of the continuity of New Delhi foreign policy to prevent the deployment of weapons in outer space and thereby the development of an arms race in it, it added.

In a televised speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the successful test-firing an anti-satellite missile by shooting down a live satellite. India became the fourth country across the world after the US, Russia and China to acquire the strategic capability to shoot down enemy satellites.

Russia also slammed the United States for weaponisation of outer space. "Russia has repeatedly warned that the destructive actions of the United States to undermine the entire architecture of international security and strategic stability, including unilateral and unlimited development of the US global anti-missile defense systems, as well as the reluctance to abandon plans for the weaponization of outer space, make other states think about improving their own equal potentials in the interests of strengthening their national security" the statement added.
At least two terrorists were killed on Friday after an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. With this encounter, the total number of encounters in the state in less than 48 hours has increased to eight.

The terrorists have been identified as Pakistani nationals and incriminating material has also been recovered from the site of the encounter, said the Jammu and Kashmir Police. They have been identified as Ali and Idrees.

A cordon and search operation was launched in the morning by the police and security forces based on credible inputs about the presence of terrorists in Sutsoo Kalan area of Nowgam village in the outskirts of Srinagar.

The search party was fired upon by hiding terrorists and the fire was retaliated.



Earlier in the day, in an encounter in Budgam district, two Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists were killed and five soldiers injured. An American M4 sniper rifle and an AK47 was also recovered.

On Thursday, four terrorists were killed in two encounters with security forces in Shopian and Kupwara districts of the state. The security forces had launched an operation in Yawran forests in Shopian following information about the presence of terrorists there and in the ensuing gunfight, three terrorists were killed. The slain terrorists have been identified as Sajad Khanday, Aqib Ahmad Dar and Basharat Ahmad Mir, all residents of Pulwama, news agency PTI reported quoting a police spokesman.

According to PTI, the police records said that it was a combined group of proscribed terror outfits Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The spokesman asserted that Dar was involved in conspiring and executing many terror attacks in the area. Khanday and Mir were also involved in many terror attacks and several terror crime cases were registered against them. Incriminating materials, including three AK rifles, were recovered from the encounter site.

In another encounter, a terrorist belonging to the JeM was also killed in an encounter at Yaroo area in Handwara region of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, the police said.

An alleged Hizb-ul- Mujahideen terrorist, Rameez Ahmad Dar, was arrested from Bijbehara, Anantnag on Thursday. He was arrested following intelligence inputs to security forces about his location.
SRINAGAR: Two terrorists were killed in an ongoing encounter between terrorists and security forces in Sutsu village of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district. At least two more terrorists are believed to be trapped in. Four jawans were also injured in the incident.

The security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area.

The slain terrorists are believed to be affiliated to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

This comes a day after an alleged Hizb-ul- Mujahideen terrorist arrested from Bijbehara, Anantnag in South Kashmir on Thursday. Rameez Ahmad Dar was arrested following intelligence inputs to security forces about his location.

Three terrorists were neutralised on Thursday in an encounter in Shopian. The terrorists have been identified as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba affiliates, Jammu and Kashmir Police said.

Another terrorist belonging to the proscribed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) was on Thursday killed in an encounter at Yaroo area in Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir`s Kupwara district, police said. The slain terrorist was involved in several terror attacks and many cases were registered against him, the police added.
Srinagar: Pakistan on Friday violated ceasefire in Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. The Defence Ministry said that an exchange of heavy fire took place between Indian and Pakistani soldiers on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch.

"Around 7.30 a.m., Pakistan initiated the attack violating the ceasefire agreement. There was unprovoked attack launched by the Pakistani soldiers in Mankote and Krishna Ghati sectors," Ministry spokesperson Lt. Col. Devender Anand said.

Pakistani troops resorted to mortar shelling and also used small firearms to target Indian positions. The Indian Army retaliated effectively, he added.

(With inputs from IANS)
Secunderabad: The BJP faces a tough challenge in retaining its lone seat in Telangana after a dismal performance in the recent assembly polls, but the saffron party has pinned its hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma and its leaders say they are confident of pulling off victory.

The Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, where the BJP had 33.62 per cent vote share in 2014, has become a crucial battleground for all three main parties -- the BJP, the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Trying to ensure that each vote counts, the prime minister and the BJP president Amit Shah will both be holding rallies from Friday onwards, to bolster the party's prospects in a state it was hoping will be its gateway to South India.

Leaving nothing to chance, the BJP has dropped former Union minister and sitting MP Bandaru Dattatreya and replaced him with G Kishan Reddy -- former BJP state president and three time MLA -- in a bid to retain the treasured seat at all cost.

Dattatreya has been contesting from the constituency since 1991, but faced consecutive defeats in the 2004 and 2009 elections.

In 2014, he won with a massive majority of 2,54,735 votes against rival Congress. He was given the portfolio of Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment but was removed as minister in September 2017.

Kishan Reddy -- considered an outsider in this constituency -- was defeated from the Amberpet assembly segment in 2018 by a TRS candidate on a small margin.

Admitting that he is under pressure to win the lone BJP seat, Reddy exuded confidence that the BJP's gambit will pay off.

"I am a three-time MLA. I am ready to take this challenge. People are looking at this election differently from the 2018 Vidhan Sabha polls. This election is not to elect a chief minister but a PM of this country. If TRS wins, it will not benefit as the PM will not be made from a regional party," Reddy told PTI in the midst of his busy rally.

He added that Modi's rallies will bring in voter confidence and improve the party's winning prospects.

Unwilling to let the BJP's plan succeed, the TRS, which won six of seven assembly segments in the Lok Sabha constituency in 2018, has fielded the state's youngest candidate.

State minister T Srinivas Yadav's son Sai Kiran Yadav is just 32 years old and is ready to take on the BJP and the Congress with the help of friendly party AIMIM, that won the seventh assembly seat in this Parliamentary constituency.

Claiming that Modi's charisma is on the wane, Sai Kiran Yadav is appealing to people in the constituency to vote for a regional party that can play a key role in forming a non-BJP, non-Congress government at the Centre

Ask why should people vote for TRS, he said, "We were insulted by the Union government that sacked outgoing MP Dattatreya as a central minister. It shows BJP does not want any representation from the state. People want to take revenge this time and vote for the TRS."

The Congress has fielded M Anjan Kumar Yadav again this time to take on the BJP candidate.

Dismissing any electoral threats from TRS candidate, Yadav -- who won twice in 2004 and 2009 was later defeated by Dattatreya in 2014 -- accused the BJP and the TRS of winning elections with malpractices.

"This election fight is between BJP and Congress and TRS is nowhere in the picture," he said.

Secunderabad -- which is named after Sikander Jah, the third Nizam of Asaf Jahi Dynasty -- was established in 1806 as a British Cantonment and was ruled by the British till 1948 despite it being part of Hyderabad state ruled by the Nizams.

The Secunderabad parliamentary constituency, created in 1952, has been won by either the Congress (12 times) or the BJP (four times) with the former having a slight upper hand till 1998.

In the 2018 assembly poll, the saffron party could win only one seat out of 119.

Political analysts are of the opinion the TRS appears to have a clear edge this time, buoyed by its landslide victory in the recent assembly elections and with opposition parties looking demoralised.

Suffering setbacks due to defection of its MLAs to TRS, the Congress is struggling to put up a strong fight against the regional party, while the BJP's prospects too look remote.

According to the Election Commission, there were 19,54,813 electors in Secunderabad constituency as on February 22, up from 18,90,075 in 2014.

Elections to 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana will be held on April 11, 2019. The state will see a single phase election and the counting of ballots for the entire country will be held on May 23.
Indian Air Force's raids on terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot are not an election issue and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will eclipse its 2014 tally and win more seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in an exclusive interview to Zee News on Friday. Rajnath said the faith of the people on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong leadership has increased greatly in the last five years as they are aware of his work and performance.

The senior BJP leader added that people look at a leader and party which works for the development of the country, and ensures its safety and security.

"The difference in 2014 and 2019 is that BJP will win more seats than the last election. People knew about Narendra Modi but they were not aware of his performance. Now they have seen how he works and performs. People want strong leadership. People have more faith in PM Modi's leadership in 2019 as compared to 2014. I don't believe that people do not vote on the development agenda. People look at a leader and party which works for the development of the country and ensures safety and security," said Rajnath Singh in the interview with Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary.

Speaking on the February 26 airstrike by the IAF in Balakot, Pakistan, the union minister clarified that the raid is not an election agenda but it was an action against terrorism. He asserted that the airstrikes clearly highlights that the nation is in safe hands and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will always act against terror.

After the Pulwama terror attack, Rajnath Singh said that the government was restless but ready to act, stating that there was no doubt that the Indian forces will cross the Line of Control (LoC) and target terror camps inside Pakistan. Thanking the Army, IAF and the Indian Navy, Singh added that the surgical strike was well planned and executed.

He added that India will not hesitate to conduct more strikes on terror camps inside Pakistan if attacks by terror groups from across the border do not stop.

The BJP leader also said that the Indian forces attacked only the terror camps and not the Pakistani army and defence or its people. He added that the strike was carried out based on credible intelligence. He further added that India has never attacked any country but if challenged India will respond.

In a piece of advice to Pakistan, Singh said that if the neighbouring country is unable to stop terrorism then it can seek India's help in tackling the terrorists.

"Pakistan will have to mend its ways and stop exporting terror. If Pakistan is not able to stop terror groups, then it can seek India's help in tackling these terrorists," said Singh.

He added, "We should not politicise actions which make our country strong. We should congratulate the soldiers, scientists and leaders. This is not for politics."

The senior leader asserted that the anti-satellite missile test has put India in a league of four nations with such a capability.

Speaking on the Opposition, Rajnath Singh said that the BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh has no credibility. "This alliance was formed with a negative mindset just to stop PM Modi. Such alliances do not work. This alliance is unnatural and will not work. It can break anytime and it will happen soon," added Singh. He added that Congress has once again tried to fool the poor people of the country with its proposed NYAY scheme.
Gujarat High Court on Friday rejected a plea filed by Hardik Patel for the suspension of his conviction in a riots case. This, effectively, slammed the door on the Patidar leader's Lok Sabha election plans after he had recently joined Congress.

Hardik had filed a plea in the Gujarat High Court, asking for a suspension of the conviction in a case related to a riot in Visnagar in Mehsana district. In July of 2018, a sessions court at Visnagar had convicted him and sentenced him to two years in prison. The sentence was suspended in August of last year by the High Court and while Hardik was granted bail, the conviction was not stayed.

Hardik, who joined the Congress earlier this month, wanted to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jamnagar and for this, his plea in the High Court asked for a suspension of his conviction. It had been opposed by the Gujarat government and was eventually shot down by the High Court.

Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Hardik, therefore, won't be able to contest in the election.
New Delhi: Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar has been asked to furnish his reply to an Election Commission notice, issued for his remarks against the Congress over its minimum income guarantee promise, by April 2.

Official sources said Kumar had sought time till April 5 from the Election Commission to respond to the show cause notice as he was abroad.

The poll body, however, Friday decided that he be asked to respond by April 2 evening. Earlier, Kumar was to respond by Thursday evening.

The Niti Aayog vice-chairman had accused the Congress of promising "moon to win elections". He had also tweeted, "The proposed income guarantee scheme fails the economics test, fiscal discipline test and execution test."

In another tweet, Kumar claimed, "True to its past record of promising the moon to win elections, Congress President announces a scheme that will bust fiscal discipline, create strong incentives against work and which will never be implemented."

Kumar is reported to have made similar remarks during an interview as well.

At a press conference here Monday, Rahul Gandhi announced that 20 per cent families belonging to the poorest category will be given Rs 72,000 each annually as minimum income if Congress comes to power.

Sources in the poll panel said Kumar being a bureaucrat should not have made such political comments.
As the battle for the high-profile Chandigarh constituency gathers steam amid intense lobbying for tickets within parties, its coffee versus tea inside the BJP with hopefuls using the humble beverages to mobilise support in a bid to put forward their case.

While the party's sitting MP, actor-turned-politician Kirron Kher, is on her "Coffee with Kirron" drive, city BJP chief Sanjay Tandon, who hopes to be fielded this time, has been holding "Chai pe charcha" to connect with people.

Over coffee, Kher has been talking to voters from different walks of life -- from techies to senior citizens, banking on the work she has done in the last five years.

She is credited with getting the Centre's nod for changes in the Union territory's employees' housing scheme, which was pending since 2008, the approval for need-based changes in houses of the Chandigarh Housing Board and in the industrial areas.

Besides, the conversion of leasehold to freehold residential properties has also been allowed during her tenure.

She is also credited with the increase in the upper age limit for entry into government service in the UT, from 18-25 to 18-37 years and construction of five new sport complexes, among others.

Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "chai" sessions, Tandon, who has been in the saddle as the BJP's city unit chief for over eight years, is gathering support over tea, discussing issues that the city faces.

The Chandigarh unit of the BJP is faction ridden and Kher and Tandon are known detractors. The two often hold parallel events and rarely attend each other's programmes.

The core committee of the party's city unit, which met here recently, has shortlisted three names for the seat -- the other one being that of former MP Satya Pal Jain.

On who could be the party's choice for Chandigarh this time, Tandon said it was up to the central leadership to decide.

In the rival Congress camp, Pawan Bansal, the former railway minister, is facing a tough challenge from former Union minister Manish Tewari and Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Manish Tewari, a former MP from Ludhiana, has been holding public meetings on a regular basis over the past few months here.

Bansal, on the other hand, exudes confidence that the party would repose faith in him by giving another chance from Chandigarh.

"I have been living here for 54 years. I have been the secretary of the University of Panjab and University Students' Council, secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, then got into the Youth Congress," he said.

"After having worked all these years, I know the people here. I know the geography and history of Chandigarh. I enjoy very good rapport with people in the party and outside," he added.

On Bansal and Tewari also vying for the seat, Navjot Kaur, the former MLA from the Amritsar-East seat said, "It is for the party to decide (on giving ticket). If Pawan Bansal gets it, I will be the first person to help him out."

Chandigarh usually goes with the trend at the national level, with voters electing candidate of the party that comes to power at the Centre, a feat recorded 11 times.

Despite facing fierce contest from Bansal and Aam Aadmi Party's Gul Panag in the last Lok Sabha polls, Kher won the seat by nearly 70,000 votes.

This time, the AAP has decided to field former Union minister Harmohan Dhawan, who recently switched over from the BJP.
Several historians and political analysts see 1989 as the year when coalition politics dawned in India. While parties coming together to oppose the Indian National Congress had already been witnessed after the tumultuous years of Emergency in the 1970s, the party has managed to ride on a sympathy wave after the assassination of Indira Gandhi to hand the PMs post to a young Rajiv Gandhi. Sympathy, however, cannot be milked for a prolonged period and concrete work at the ground level is what matters.

While Rajiv began his innings as PM on a slightly wobbly note  considering he had limited experience as a national leader, he soon began firming up his work, position and clout. In the Seventh Five Year Plan (between 1985 and 1990), the country had moved towards being more self-sustaining and had a focus on upgrading industries with newer technologies. The objective of working for the upliftment of the poor and oppresses was taken up even as a target growth rate of 5 per cent was eventually bettered at 6.01 per cent.

With accolades come brickbats and this is perhaps why Rajiv found himself ducking by the end of his term in office. Terrorism in Punjab remained a key threat and a major issue through the court of 1980s while the civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE in the south became a major headache for the Indian government as well. The decision to send an Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka eventually backfired with Rajiv paying the ultimate  and unfortunate - price.

And then there was the Bofors scandal, the Shah Bano case and the Ayodhya dispute  which continue to have deep repercussions for the India of today.

Bofors scandal:

The Indian government had signed a deal worth $285 million with Swedish arms company Bofors for Howtizer field guns in 1986. Around a year later, a Swedish radio channel alleged that Bofors had paid kickbacks in various countries  including India - to secure defence deals. An enormous backlash flared up even more when the name of Ottavio Quattrocchi emerged as a middleman. It was alleged that Quattrocchi was close to Rajiv and his family. Facing fire, the Indian government scrapped the deal and blacklisted Bofors.

Many feel the damage had already been done by then and an investigation launched continues till date.

Shah Bano case:

It is said that Congress tried to fight fire with fuel in relation to the Shah Bano case which pertains to a Muslim woman taking the legal course of action for alimony after her husband had divorced her. While the case was first filed in a local court in Indore in 1978, the matter reached the Supreme Court in the next few years. The apex court, in a unanimous decision in 1985, ruled that Shah Bano must be given maintenance by her husband.

The judgement was protested against by several sections of the Muslim community who tried to portray it as interference with Muslim Personal Law. Street protests were taken out and the Congress government eventually came out with The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. Under this, a Muslim husband had to pay alimony only during iddat or for 90 days since the divorce. Congress had hoped to calm flayed Muslim nerves, but the move backfired. It was alleged that the government was playing religious card for political gains and had eyes set on the 1989 elections. While groups for womens right were absolutely outraged, rival political parties said Congress was doing appeasement politics. This also became a major charge against Congress during the campaigning phase.

Ayodhya dispute

While the Ayodhya dispute dates back to the 1850s, the matter flared into national prominence in the 1980s. The birth of BJP from the erstwhile Jana Sangh saw the party win just two seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha election. Looking to reach out to the Hindus in the country, the party became the face of a movement which sought to reclaim Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and construct a temple there. It is believed that the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram.

While the movement was launched by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, BJP leaders soon became the proponents. The issue became a raging topic of debate with the BJP using it as a plank during its pre-poll campaigning.

Interestingly, it was Rajiv Gandhi who had ordered the locks at the site  in place since 1949  to be opened in 1985. His critics say this was his appeasement policy at work, this time towards Hindus. It eventually led to the movement launched by VHP and carried by BJP getting even stronger.

Run-up to the 1989 election:

Allegations of massive corruption, coupled with plaguing security problems and tense religious situation, shrouded the good work done by the Rajiv government.

VP Singh, the defense minister under Rajiv, had been removed from the Cabinet and he subsequently resigned from Congress.

This further added to Congress rather tarnished image in the eyes of people at large because it was suspected that VP Singh had evidence of wrongdoing in the Bofors scandal although the man himself would clarify later that Bofors was not the reason for his resignation from the party.

Politics and elections are also about perception and imagery, and VP Singhs ouster and exit only further hurt chance of Rajiv getting another term in office.

After bidding a bitter farewell to Congress, VP Singh formed Jan Morcha along with Arun Nehru and Arif Mohammad Khan. Jan Morcha would eventually join the National Front led by Janata Dal and  together with a number of regional parties  bring down Congress for only the second time ever in the history of independent India.

Status of states:

The Lok Sabha 1989 election was conducted across 525 seats (election in 18 constituencies) were postponed) in 31 states and union territories in the country. These were:

Andhra Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh

Bihar

Goa

Gujarat

Haryana

Himachal and Pradesh

Jammu and Kashmir

Karnataka

Kerala

Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra

Manipur

Meghalaya

Mizoram

Nagaland

Orissa

Punjab

Rajasthan

Sikkim

Tamil Nadu

Tripura

Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Chandigarh

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

Daman and Diu

National Capital Territory of Delhi

Lakshadweep

Pondicherry

After Goa was made into a state in 1987, Daman and Diu became a union territory.

Political parties in the fray:

There were eight national parties and another 20 regional parties which fought the 1984 Lok Sabha election. There were also eight registered (unrecognised) parties. These were:

The national parties:

Bharatiya Janata Party

Communist Party of India

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Indian Congress (Socialist-Sarat Chandra Sinha)

Indian National Congress

Janata Dal

Janata Party (JP)

Lok Dal (Bahuguna)

The state parties were:

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

All India Forward Bloc

Indian Congress (J) Tirkha Group

Jammu and Kashmit National Conference

Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party

Kerala Congress

Kuki National Assembly

Maharashtrawadi Gomantak

Mizo National Front

Manipur Peoples Party

Muslim League

Naga National Democratic Party

Peoples Party of Arunachal

Peasants and Workers Party

Revolutionary Socialist Party

Shiromani Akali Dal

Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal)

Sikkimsangram Parishad

Telegu Desam

The registered (unrecognised) parties were:

Amara Bengali

All India Shiromani Baba Jiwan Singh Mazhbi Dal

Akhil Bharatiya Jan Sangh

Bharatiya Krantikari Kisan Sang

Bharatiya Krishi Udyog Sangh

Bharatiya Lok Kalyan Dal

Bharatha Makkal Congress

Bharatiya Republic Paksha

Election 1989:

The Lok Sabha election of 1989 was held between November 22 and 26 and the campaign in its run up saw a number of violent outbreaks including the infamous riots in Bhagalpur.

A number of political parties were accused of either resorting to or supporting incidents of violence for electoral gains.

Nonetheless, political parties entered the electoral battle with gusto with as many as 6,160 candidates in the fray  the highest-ever in Lok Sabha elections till that point in time. As many as 49 million people were eligible to vote  the highest-ever in India till that point in time.

While Congress had to campaign on a two-pronged strategy  highlight achievements of the Rajiv Gandhi government while deflecting the proverbial mud from the Bofors scandal, rival parties mostly focused on levelling corruption charges and charges of inefficiency.

VP Singhs role is of significance as his exit from Congress acted like a shot in the arm for opposition parties. He would eventually merge Janata Dal with a number of regional parties like TDP, DMK and Asom Gana Parishad  called National Front  to provide a third alternative to people in a Congress vs BJP contest.

Promises, as usual, were of bringing the moon and the star to the people of India. The National Front, in its manifesto, urged people to break free from the past and vote for change. It assured decentralisation of administration by giving more powers to panchayats and nagarpalikas. It assured a clean government which was efficient as well. Promises of rooting out corruption were made aplenty. Direct action on those guilty in the Bofors scandal were made as well. The issue of price rise was addressed though no concrete manner of solving the problem was put forth.

The BJP, however, was more direct in a number of ways. While it promised action against the guilty in Bofors and weeding out corruption, it also suggested setting up of lokayuktas with PM and CMs under it, setting up of a price commission to regulate prices, establish uniform civil code for all religious groups and adopting a national population policy. It also gave a number of assurances about promoting small-scale and cottage industries, giving impetus to the agricultural sector and a ceiling of 0 per cent on income tax rate.

The Congress, in contrast, mostly attempted to deflect blows and highlight its achievements from the last five years. The party had doled out rozgar (employment) schemes in the months leading up to the election and assured more of the same if voted to power. The party also vowed to decentralise some of the power and tackling corruption  ironical because the party was mainly attacked on charges of corruption.

Eventually, a rather rickety Congress failed to find a connect with people as VP Singh, with the outside support of BJP and CPI (M) managed to bring down Rajiv Gandhi.

Janata Dal had managed to strike gold in states like Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, parts of Rajasthan and Bihar to secure wins in 143 seats. Its main alliance partner in TDP had failed miserably  falling to two seats from 30 in 1984. Nonetheless, with outside support of BJP which had risen from 2 to 85 and CPI (M) which had won 33 seats, the National Front managed to form the government.

Congress on its own had managed to win in 197 seats with triumphs mostly in south and east India. This, nonetheless, was a dramatic fall from grace from five years back when it had won 414 seats. It may still have been the single-largest party but had to concede power to the National Front owing to outside support it had from right and left forces.

Out walked Rajiv Gandhi from what would be his only stint as PM of the country. He would be assassinated by LTTE terrorists two years later while campaigning for a Lok Sabha Congress candidate in Sriperumbudur.

For VP Singh, it was a rather short-lived celebration. His government came crumbling down when BJP withdrew support for the arrest of LK Advani who had taken his Ram Rath Yatra towards the direction of Ayodhayas Babri Masjid.

VK Singh would exit from office but coalition politics was here to stay  and command  in the Indian political scene.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address eight election rallies in Maharashtra where voting in total 48 Lok Sabha seats will be held in four phases starting April 11, a senior BJP leader said on Thursday.

Modi's first rally is scheduled to be held on April 1 in Wardha constituency, where polling will be held in the first phase, he said.

"He is likely to hold eight rallies in the state. The number may go up as more constituencies will go to polls in th a senior BJP leader said on Thursday.

Modi's first rally is scheduled to be held on April 1 in Wardha constituency, where polling will be held in the first phase, he said.

"He is likely to hold eight rallies in the state. The number may go up as more constituencies will go to polls in the third and fourth phases as e third and fourth phases as compared to the first two phases," the leader said.

As of now, two rallies each have been planned for the four-phase Lok Sabha polls, to be held on April 11, 18, 23 and 29 in the state, he said.

Asked about Modi's public address schedule in Mumbai, which has six Lok Sabha seats, he said, "Only one rally has so far been planned in the city, where Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will share the stage with the prime minister."

The BJP-Sena alliance won all the seats in Mumbai in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. This time, state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Thackeray have agreed to hold separate rallies of their respective parties.

"We want to create more impact, so instead of holding joint rallies, it is better to address separate public meetings so that we can cover more areas," the leader said.
New Delhi: Union Home Minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Friday evening gave an exclusive interview to Zee News, speaking on the Anti-satellite missile test, Balakot strike, PM Narendra Modi, and the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2019.

Thank you for joining us. Do come again on Saturday (March 30) for election live updates.

Here are the updates from Wednesday (March 29):

* Our government is not idle on bringing Dawood Ibrahim to justice. USA and France are helping India on Masood Azhar: Rajnath Singh

* We are acting against those offenders who have fled the country. We are trying to extradite fugitives like Nirav Modi: Rajnath Singh

* Ayodhya issue is sub judice. But everyone wants Ram temple in Ayodhya. Even a majority of the Muslims want the Ram temple in Ayodhya: Rajnath Singh

* BJP will win more seats in 2019 than it won in 2014: Rajnath Singh

* I have never given any thought about Rahul Gandhi as an opposition leader: Rajnath Singh

* Our scheme is not a sop or dole. We have a target to double the income of farmers by 2022. Our scheme will help the farmer in increasing their income: Rajnath Singh

* Congress has once again tried to fool the poor people of the country: Rajnath Singh on Rahul Gandhi's proposed NYAY scheme

* This is a hypothetical question: Rajnath Singh on BJP not getting a majority in 2019 Lok Sabha election and some other leader being chosen as the prime minister of India.

* I have not thought about my role when we come back to power. The party will decide what role I should play and I am ready to do it: Rajnath Singh

* I have one regret that more could have been done for our Central Paramilitary Forces. They are extremely brave and need work in very difficult circumstances: Rajnath Singh

* We need a debate on Article 35 A. Jammu and Kashmir has suffered because of this. This is my personal opinion: Rajnath Singh

* We formed the government in Jammu and Kashmir with Peoples Democratic Party in the interest of the state and the country. But unfortunately, it did not work out: Rajnath Singh

* The Kashmir issue is very old and chronic. It will take some time to resolve. But we are determined to ensure Kashmir's development for the welfare of its residents: Rajnath Singh

* Lal Krishna Advani-Murli Manohar Joshi era has not ended. They have contributed a lot in making the BJP strong. We have immense respect for them: Rajnath Singh

* I have achieved most of the targets working as Home Minister. We have successfully tackled the Naxal menace. Naxalism has been contained in 130 districts. The moral of our security forces have been strengthened. The situation will change for the better: Rajnath Singh

* BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh has no credibility. This alliance was formed with a negative mindset just to stop PM Modi. Such alliances do not work. This alliance is unnatural and will not work. It can break anytime and it will happen soon: Rajnath Singh

* People have more faith in PM Modi's leadership in 2019 as compared to 2014: Rajnath Singh

* I believe that the opposition should forget political difference when it is about the country. This is essential for a healthy democracy. We try for coordination with the opposition. There is a shortcoming in the opposition. Politics is not just for power, it is about the country: Rajnath Singh

* We should not politicise actions which make our country strong. We should congratulate the soldiers, scientists and the leadership. This is not for politics: Rajnath Singh

* We were a bit restless as our soldiers had been killed in Pulwama. But we were ready to act and there was no doubt that our forces will cross the Line of Control and target terror camps inside Pakistan. We prepared and thought about the pros and cons but the surgical strike was well planned and executed. I thank the Army, IAF and Indian Navy: Rajnath Singh

* Our forces did not attack Pakistani army and defence or its people. We attacked only the terror camps. The strike was carried out based on credible intelligence. While Pakistan is rattled due to the airstrike, there are some people here in India too have are not happy: Rajnath Singh

* Anti-satellite missile test has put India in a league of 4 nations with such a capability. India will not hesitate to conduct another surgical strike on terror camps inside Pakistan if there is another attack here: Rajnath Singh

* India has never attacked any country but if someone challenges us, then we will respond: Rajnath Singh

* Balakot is not an election agenda but the airstrikes show that the country is in safe hands and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will always act against terror. Pakistan will have to mend its ways and stop exporting terror. If Pakistan is not able to stop terror groups, then it can seek India's help in tackling these terrorists: Rajnath Singh

* I don't believe that people do not vote on the development agenda. People look at a leader and party which works for the development of the country and ensures safety and security: Rajnath Singh

* GDP growth rate has gone up. Our prestige in the eyes of other countries has increased. The people and weaker sections have benefitted from several developments schemes: Rajnath Singh

* The difference in 2014 and 2019 is that BJP will win more seats than the last election. People knew about Narendra Modi but they were not aware of his performance. Now they have seen how he works and performs. People want strong leadership: Rajnath Singh

* Union Home Minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh speaks to Zee News on Lok Sabha election and brand Modi

* With your vote, two important things will be done on April 11, 2019. There is 'Sun' & 'Son'. On that day, there will be 'sun'rise of Andhra Pradesh and 'son'set of corruption. For the 'sun'rise of Andhra Pradesh, there should be 'son'set. Your vote will ensure the double engine for the development of Andhra Pradesh - BJP govt in the state and BJP govt at the centre: PM Narendra Modi in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh

*

Mumbai: Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar begins her election campaign. She had joined Congress party recently and will contest from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/oDAnrKbDpv  ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

* Mutyala Papa, former MLA from Narsipatnam, joins TDP along with her husband Peda Babu and her followers, in presence of TDP president and Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh's Amaravati.

Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh: Mutyala Papa, former MLA from Narsipatnam, joins TDP along with her husband Peda Babu & her followers, in presence of TDP president & Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu. pic.twitter.com/rB8RDiCSxJ  ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

* BJP's Sambit Patra files his nomination for Puri Lok Sabha Constituency, at District Collector and Magistrate's office in Puri.

Odisha: BJP's Sambit Patra files his nomination for Puri Lok Sabha Constituency, at District Collector and Magistrate's office in Puri. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/6hSlse1Ra7  ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

* Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the citizens in the country were moving forward sans any fear as the 'chowkidar' has been 'alert.' He asked the people of Telangana to vote for a "new Bharat" where the people of the state will also benefit. In his first rally in Telangana post the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls, PM Modi said despite abuses and attacks against him, he has steadfastly moved ahead with his development agenda due to the 'blessings' of the people. The Prime Minister described CM K Chandrasekar Rao as the "face" of dynastic and appeasement politics.

* Hardik Patel won't be able to contest in the upcoming election.

Gujarat High court rejects Congress leader Hardik Patel's plea seeking suspension of his conviction in a rioting case of 2015 in Mehsana. As per the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Hardik Patel won't be able to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha Election due to his conviction

* Addressing a rally, Amit Shah said, "We will bring NRC in Bengal and throw out all illegal immigrants." He also said that TMC stands for three T's -- Trinamool, Toll, Tax. He added that the party is "running government to help syndicates flourish in Bengal". He jibed, "On one hand you have Narendra Modi and on other 'Thugbandhan' leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav." The BJP chief added that "Narendra Modi has given befitting reply to China on Dokalam Issue and Pakistan for its terror tactics".

* The 2019 Lok Sabha election is very important for this nation but for West Bengal, it is important for its identity. It will decide if there'll be democracy here. The manner in which Mamata didi governed this state, they only worked towards destroying the culture of Bengal: Amit Shah in Alipurduar rally.

* Out of Rs 6,500 crore accumulated under District Mineral Fund, Odisha govt has only spent Rs 1,000 crore for the poor tribals: PM

* PM Kisan Yojana is providing financial assistance to the farmers. However, Odisha govt hasn't provided us with the list of eligible farmers: PM Modi

* Odisha government refused to be part of Ayushman Yojana and thus deprived the poor of their right for quality healthcare: PM

* In India, 1.5 lakh wellness centres are being built, mothers and infants are being vaccinated. However, people of Odisha aren't able to make the most of them: PM Modi

* Odisha is rich in natural resources but people are poor. This situation proves that Congress and BJD have failed to develop Odisha: PM

* Can those who are involved in Chit fund scam make Odisha strong? Can those who are working with mining mafia and deprived tribals of their rights and resources make Odisha strong, asks PM in Odisha.

* This is the right time to punish the Congress and BJD who were given ample time in Odisha to develop the region. However, they have failed miserably: PM Modi

* It's about time to give an apt answer to people who are insulting the capabilities of our scientists and the armed forces: PM

* Odisha became a witness of a historic moment that showed the world India's capability. India can now keep an eye in the space, too: PM

* To provide employment to the youth and women, Self Help Groups are being empowered. Under MUDRA Yojana, they are being given collateral free loans: PM Modi

* Five years ago, MSP was available for only 10 forest produces. It's been now increased to 50: PM Modi

* It's because of unflinching support of people that I was able to carry out welfare work for the people of the country: PM

*As a Pradhan Sevak, I've left no stone unturned in serving the people of the country: PM Modi

* PM Modi addressing a mega rally at Odisha's Koraput.

Happy to be in Odisha. Watch my speech in Koraput. https://t.co/mi2PCQuvnl  Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 29, 2019

* Actor-turned-political Urmila Matondkar, who recently joined the Congress party, will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency.

* Ram Shankar Katheria, the chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate for Etawah Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, stoked controversy after threatening to break fingers raised against the party or its members. Today our government is in the state and centre, so now if anyone raises a finger at us, that finger will be broken, said Katheria rally in Etawah on Thursday.

* Opposition's anti-BJP 'grand alliance' failed to take the desired shape as Congress president Rahul Gandhi chose not to "override" the sentiments of state leaders who did not favour the move, party veteran and thrice Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said. He, however, rubbished the BJP's allegation of the Congress being a "dynastic" party, insisting it was the "most democratic" in the country.

* BJP national president Amit Shah will visit West Bengal today and hold a public meeting at Alipurduar Parade ground.

* Shah will also address a rally at Bihar's Aurangabad.

* Congress president Rahul Gandhi is all set to sound the poll bugle in Haryana from today by addressing a rally at Jagadhri in Yamunanagar.

* Uttar Pradesh East Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is scheduled to visit Ayodhya and hold a roadshow today.

* The Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address public rallies at Mahbubnagar in Telangana and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh.

* PM Modi will visit Odisha for poll campaigning and address a mega public rally. He is also scheduled to address a rally at Jeypore in Koraput district.
With the BJP denying tickets to 12 MPs in Uttar Pradesh, the opposition is planning to cash in on the clout of these disgruntled parliamentarians in the upcoming general elections.

In its list of 61 candidates, the saffron party has refused tickets to 12 MPs, four of whom have already switched sides and joined the rival parties -- Samajwadi Party and Congress.

Allahabad BJP MP Shayama Charan Gupta and Bahraich MP Savitri Bai Phule are now official candidates of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress from Banda and Bahraich, respectively.

Another BJP MP Anshul Verma from Hardoi also joined the SP ahead of the polls, terming the ruling party "anti-Dalits."

Although Verma claimed that he joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led party "without any condition," the Samajwadi Party is planning to utilise his support base among the Dalits, especially in Hardoi area.

BJP's Etawah MP Ashok Kumar Dohre on Friday, joined the Congress in presence of its president Rahul Gandhi.

Asked about giving preference to BJP turncoats this election, SP MLC Rajpal Kashyap said such a strategy is only aimed at "exposing misdeeds of the ruling party" in the state.

"They are the ones who were on the ground for five years. They can very well tell the electorate what the BJP is and expose their misdeeds," he said.

"Our alliance with the BSP and the RLD is very powerful and that is why these leaders have faith in us," Kashyap said.

The SP has tied up with Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Chaudhary Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for the Lok Sabha elections.

BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule, who resigned before the Lok Sabha polls were declared, is now a vocal critic of the saffron party.

"The BJP did nothing for Dalits and backwards. Its government functions in an unconstitutional manner and is conspiring to end reservation. I will ensure defeat of the BJP in my constituency and am ready to campaign wherever my party sends me," she said.

Ballia BJP MP Bharat Singh had recently written an open letter to the people of his constituency.

"What is my fault? Why was I denied ticket? I have always taken up issues related to the constituency. The candidate announced from Ballia has no connect with the people here," he wrote. Singh, however, did not talk about his future course of action.

BJP's Fatehpur Sikri MP Chowdhury Babulal has also openly shown his resentment after being denied ticket.

In Kushinagar, supporters of BJP MP Rajesh Pandey protested against the denial of ticket to their leader and demanded the leadership to re-consider the decision.

Other prominent BJP leaders who are missing from the party's list of candidates this time are Murli Manohar Joshi (Kanpur), Prikanka Rawat (Barabanki), Union minister Krishna Raj (Shahjahanpur-SC), Anju Bala (Misrikh-SC) and Satypal Saini (Sambhal).

Commenting on the trend of leaders switching allegiance over denial of tickets, BJP spokesman Shalabh Mani Tripathi said, "This happens during election time when leaders look for opportunities."

"Our cadre is intact and people have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. There will be no impact of these leaders going to other parties," he added. Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats, the highest in the country.
Pinning its hopes of an 'overwhelming victory' in the 2019 polls on the 'high level' of awareness, the BJP on Wednesday claimed the SP, BSP and Congress would be wiped off the country's political landscape.

"The people of the country are aware of developments taking place in the country and in their vicinity," UP BJP general secretary Pankaj Singh told PTI in an interview.

"Parties like the SP, BSP and the Congress were earlier confined to a few states and seats in the country. But this time the people of the country will completely wipe them off the electoral landscape," he added.

Reacting to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's recent statement that the BJP will face difficult times in the Lok Sabha polls, Singh, the sitting Noida MLA, said, "Earlier the SP used to fight on 80 seats in the state and bag four or five seats. Now with the SP contesting on 37 seats, you can very well imagine (the result)."

"In fact, the Congress, SP and the BSP are fighting the last battle for their existence. This time, UP will see their end," said Singh, the son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

He also exuded confidence that the wining margin of his father, the sitting BJP MP from Lucknow, in the coming polls would be bigger than what it was in 2014.

Singh also claimed that Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, handling the eastern Uttar Pradesh will be able to make 'no impact' on the state's electoral scenario.

The people of the country, harassed and exploited by the Congress for several decades, have now become enlightened.

"In 2014, the people elected Narendra Modi, and in the past five years, they have seen the government's functioning. They now know how a government is run. They know how basic facilities are given to different sections of the society. People of the country want a leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.

Pankaj Singh also accused the BJP's rival parties in Uttar Pradesh of indulging in politics over Lord Ram and the Ganga.

"Both Lord Ram and river Ganga are a matter of faith. There should be no politics over them. It is unfortunate that the Congress, SP and the BSP are indulging in politics over them," he said.

He also termed the Congress' poll promise of a minimum income of Rs 72,000 a year to the 20 percent of the poorest in the country a 'stunt.'

"The Congress gave the slogan of Garibi Hataao, but in reality, they never worked to eradicate poverty. This is an election stunt of the Congress. This is an effort by the party to dupe the poor," he said.
Continuing on his two-day poll campaign blitz, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's next stop will be in Odisha's Koraput and Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool on Friday, March 29.

PM Modi will address public meetings at Odisha's Jeypore and Kalahandi, before heading off to Kurnool in AP to reach out to the electorate through Vijay Sankalp Sabha to show BJP's strength in the state. Later, he will address another public meeting at Telangana's Mahbubnagar district on March 29.

"The Prime Minister will start his election campaign for eastern parts of the country from Jeypore in Koraput tomorrow," Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Thursday.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is also slated to address three election rallies in Telangana  Zaheerabad, Nagarkurnool and Nalgonda Lok Sabha segments  on April 1.

Modi launched the BJP`s election campaign for the coming Lok Sabha polls with three mega rallies at Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, Uttarkhand's Rudrapur and Jammu's Akhnoor. Identifying national security and development as key issues, the PM slammed the Opposition and pitched the national elections as a fight between "dumdaar" (strong) BJP and a "daagdaar" (corrupt) opposition.

"The country has seen many governments which believed in sloganeering, but for the first time it has seen a decisive government which knows how to fulfil its commitments. Be it land or sky or space, the government of your `chowkidar` has shown courage to conduct surgical strikes," Modi said at Meerut.
Les membres du Cabinet ont pris note que le Building Control (Amendment) Bill sera introduit au Parlement, des retombees du recent voyage du chef du gouvernement a Vienne, des conclusions du Directeur de lAudit, de la fermeture de la sucrerie de Medine depuis la fin de la coupe 2018 entre autres.

1.Cabinet has agreed to the introduction of the Building Control (Amendment) Bill into the National Assembly. The main object of the Bill is to provide, in case a notice sent by registered post by a local authority on the owner or occupier of a dangerous building returns undelivered and personal service of the notice could not be effected on the owner or occupier by an officer of the local authority, for substituted service to be effected on the owner or occupier by :

(a) affixing a notice at the owners or occupiers last known residence or business address;

(b) affixing a copy of the notice at the dangerous building; and

(c) publication of the notice in two newspapers, subject to the publication of the notice in the second newspaper is effected not later than 15 days after the publication of the notice in the first newspaper.

2. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent mission of Hon Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister to Vienna, Austria and the United Kingdom (UK). In Vienna, the Prime Minister was invited by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to participate in the Ministerial Segment of the 62nd session of the Commission on Narcotics Drugs. The Commission decided to convene a Ministerial Segment at its 62nd regular session to take stock of the implementation of the commitments made to jointly address and counter the world drug problem, following the adoption of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to counter the World Drug Problem in 2009.

The Prime Minister addressed the Ministerial Segment Meeting and underlined the measures that Government was taking to address the drug scourge in Mauritius as well as in the region. He also indicated that one of Governments main challenges in Mauritius was the establishment of a well-structured psycho-social support for drug users. He stressed that one of the priorities of Government was the rehabilitation and social reintegration of drug users through the development and implementation of a health-based and a person-centred approach.

The Ministerial Segment also adopted the Ministerial Declaration on strengthening the actions of Member States at the national, regional and international levels to accelerate the implementation of the joint commitments to address and counter the world drug issue.

In the margins of the Ministerial Segment Meeting, the Prime Minister had meetings with :

(a) Mr Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UNODC, who expressed his appreciation on the actions being taken by Mauritius to contain the scourge of drugs to whom a request for capacity building for the Forensic Science Laboratory was also made; and

(b) Dr Amado de Andres, UNODC Regional Representative for Eastern Africa and his team with whom he reviewed the areas of cooperation.

In the UK, the Prime Minister met, at the request of the British authorities, the

Rt Hon Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the presence of the Rt Hon David Lidington CBE MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the British High Commissioner in Mauritius to discuss, among others, the Chagos Archipelago issue. The British Prime Minister emphasised the good relations between the two countries and expressed her desire to further strengthen those relations by exploring new avenues of cooperation and joint initiatives in sectors of interest to Mauritius.

The Prime Minister welcomed the different proposals put forward by the UK, but at the same time, pointed out that the Chagos Archipelago issue would go back to the UN General Assembly. Mauritius and other countries would be tabling a draft resolution at the United Nations General Assembly towards the end of April 2019.

The Prime Minister also had a working session with Professor Philippe Sands QC on the Chagos Archipelago issue. He also had discussions with :

(a) the Chairperson of the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence, His Lordship Clement-Jones and Lord Anthony St John of Bletso to discuss the way forward for Mauritius with respect to Artificial Intelligence, while taking cognizance of the latest developments in this field in the UK; and

(b) Lord Meghnad Desai, Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics, David Marsh and Philip Middleton, Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum to discuss new strategies for the Mauritian economy and for the International Financial Centre.

3. Cabinet has taken note that a Submission has been made by the Republic of Mauritius to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) on 26 March 2019, for an Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) of an approximate area of 175,000 km2 in the Southern Chagos Archipelago Region. The Submission has been made in the light of the Advisory Opinion delivered by the International Court of Justice on 25 February 2019 whereby the Court concluded that the Chagos Archipelago had been unlawfully detached from Mauritius by the United Kingdom.

4. Cabinet has taken note that the Prime Minister led a delegation comprising the Minister Mentor, Minister of Defence, Minister for Rodrigues, the Minister of Health and Quality of Life, the Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security and senior officials to Rodrigues Island on 28 March 2019, to have an in-depth assessment of the damages caused by cyclone Joaninha.

He took the opportunity to take stock of the progress achieved by the different stakeholders on site and noted with satisfaction that the electricity supply which was badly damaged had been restored at around 40%. The Prime Minister also met some planters at

Anse Quitor/Corail, Montagne Goyave, Anse Ally and St Francois who suffered loss of their crops and visited maize fields which were affected by the Fall Army Worm. The Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security would assist in the fight against the outbreak. He also visited a few radiers at Baie du Nord and Bay Malgache which were severely flooded during the cyclone and families at Montagne Cimetiere whose house had been damaged.

The Prime Minister had a working session with the Chief Commissioner and his Commissioners on the post cyclonic situation and the immediate actions taken to restore essential public services, namely, transport, electricity, telephone and water.

5. Cabinet has taken note that following the tabling of the Report of the Director of Audit for Financial Year 2017-18 in the National Assembly, the Prime Minister has set up a Committee under the chair of the Senior Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice,

Human Rights and Institutional Reforms, to examine the Report in consultation with Ministries/Departments and to propose measures to address the weaknesses and shortcomings mentioned therein. The Committee would also comprise the representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Ministry of Civil Service and Administrative Reforms. The Internal Control Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development would follow up with Ministries/Departments to ensure that remedial actions proposed by the Committee are implemented.

6. Cabinet has taken note that the Minister of Health and Quality of Life would make Regulations under the Dental Council Act for the recognition and listing of two dental institutions, namely the Gulf Medical University, United Arab Emirates and the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, as recommended by the Dental Council of Mauritius.

7. Cabinet has taken note of the activities that would be organised to mark World Health Day 2019, observed on 7 April. The following activities would be held at the Trianon Convention Centre on 8 April 2019 :

(a) the launching of a booklet on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors;

(b) the screening and counselling for NCDs; and

(c) an exhibition on health related issues and cooking demonstration.

Sensitisation campaigns would also be held on TV/Radio as well as in Community Health Centres, Women Centres, Social Welfare Centres, schools, urban/rural community settings, on the risk factors of diseases and the preventive measures to be taken.

The theme for this year is Universal Health Coverage: everyone and everywhere.

8. Cabinet has taken note that the Municipal City Council of Port Louis has organised a public collection of funds to help the victims of Cyclone IDAI which hit Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Special bank accounts in the name of The Municipal City Council of Port Louis  Victims of Cyclone IDAI have been opened for the public to donate funds as follows :

(i) State Bank of Mauritius: A/c No. 50300000374763; and

(ii) Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd: A/c No. 000446801003.

9. Cabinet has agreed to the closure of Medine Sugar Mill with effect from the end of crop 2018, subject to certain conditions, in accordance with the provisions of the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority Act. The Mauritius Cane Industry Authority recommended the closure after consultations with relevant stakeholders including planters, employees, trade unions and receiving sugar mills. The packages to planters and workers and staff have been worked out in line with the provisions of the Blue Print on Centralisation of Sugar Milling Operations in Mauritius of May 1997. Arrangements are also being made with other factories to receive the canes from Medine.

10. Cabinet has taken note that the second edition of the 12-Hour Relay Walk, Jog, and Run for Health and Fun would be held on Saturday 30 March 2019, from 06 00hrs to 18 00hrs, at

Maryse Justin Stadium, Reduit.

11. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of recent mission of the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Local Government and Outer Islands and Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare to New York where she participated in the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The priority theme for the year 2019 was Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and the review theme was Womens empowerment and the link to sustainable development, from the 60th session of the CSW. In her statement at the Plenary Session, the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Local Government and Outer Islands and Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare laid emphasis, inter alia, on :

(a) the efforts of the Government to strengthen the existing welfare state through various support programmes to ensure that no one is left behind; and

(b) the use of the National Steering Committee on Gender Mainstreaming as a platform for policy dialogue and exchange of best practices.

In the margins of the visit, the Vice-Prime Minister had bilateral meetings with :

(a) HE (Mrs) Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia on assistance to Mauritius in the field of ICT and e-governance; and

(b) HE David Stanton, Minister with responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration of Ireland on sharing of best practices, including the policies and programmes to curb gender based violence.

12. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent mission of the Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Human Rights and Institutional Reforms to Geneva where he participated in the 40th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council where the Universal Periodic Report (UPR) of Mauritius was considered for approval. In his introductory statement, he expressed his appreciation to Member States for their participation, constructive recommendations and recognition of the progress achieved by Mauritius so far and also explained the various challenges faced by Mauritius. The session was transmitted live on the UN Web TV and the adoption of the UPR of Mauritius was published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Various Member States commended Mauritius for accepting most of their recommendations which, inter alia, related to :

(a) fight against corruption;

(b) domestic violence;

(c) protection and promotion of human rights;

(d) empowerment of women;

(e) setting up of the Independent Police Complaint Commission; and

(f) equal employment rights;

In the margins of his visit, the Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Human Rights and Institutional Reforms met HE Mr Le Yucheng, Vice-Foreign Minister of the Peoples Republic of China and Mr Sanjoy Hazarika, Director Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.

13. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of :

(a) the Board of the Wastewater Management Authority with Mr Sulaiman Hansrod as Chairperson; and

(b) the Board of the Irrigation Authority with Mr Kissoonduth Sarju as Chairperson.

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The controversy over the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple will help the BJP make inroads into Kerala, says the party's candidate K Rajasekharan while stressing that the disconnect between the people and the governments of the Congress and Left is an ever widening one.

Rajasekharan recently resigned as governor of Mizoram to contest as the BJP's candidate from Thiruvananthapuram against Congress' Shashi Tharoor, a two-term sitting MP from the constituency.

He said the people of Kerala have understood that BJP stands for the preservation of their culture and traditions and will never play with their sentiments.

"People from all religions in Kerala want to have the liberty to maintain their traditional customs. They want the liberty to observe, perform their customs and traditions, may it be temples, mosques or churches," Rajasekharan told PTI in an interview.

The 66-year-old, who began his career as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker in the 1970s, said only the BJP can preserve the state's diversity.

"The Sabarimala issue will feature prominently during the saffron party's campaign in the state. The BJP is for preservation of diversity of such issues and we are highlighting the Sabarimala issue. People of Kerala know that we are for the protection of the state."

"The BJP will gain from the Sabarimala issue. There is a disconnect between Congress/Communist governments and the people over various issues, including the Sabarimala controversy," he added.

The Sabarimala temple of Lord Ayyappa witnessed frenzied protests by devotees opposing implementation of the landmark September 28, 2018 Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all age groups to enter the hill shrine.

The temple had a centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstruating age in the sanctum sanctorum.

The BJP voiced its protest against the Supreme Court verdict and asked the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the state, to file a review petition against the apex court's decision.

Rajasekharan was president of the Kerala unit of the BJP between December 2015 and May 2018, following which he was appointed governor of the northeastern state of Mizoram.

It was under Rajasekharan's leadership that the BJP opened its account in Kerala, by winning the Nemom seat in the 2016 assembly polls.

The saffron party stood second in several other assembly constituencies where it struggled to bag even a couple of hundred votes, party workers pointed out.

Given his popularity in the state, BJP president Amit Shah asked him to resign as governor and contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Kerala capital, they said.

Rajasekharan said the people were getting fed up of the coalition fronts, such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) which have been ruling the state since late the 1970s.

He claimed the people of the state wanted a government, that would implement the Centre's schemes and not just make hollow promises.

"Kerala's people have already seen the UDF and LDF. They could not retain the respect from the public. They could not attend to the problems of the general public," he said.

According to Rajasekharan, Kerala continues to suffer the most basic lack of infrastructure even 63 years after attaining statehood.

"The lack of adequate highways, railway connectivity and employment avenues in villages are only some of the problems," he said, adding that the disconnect between governments and the people has long been widening.

He also alleged that a sum of Rs 6,000 crore given to the Kerala government by the Centre for developmental work, has neither been utilised nor been accounted for.

"The Narendra Modi-led government gave nearly 6,000 crore in the last five years, but the state government did not implement any of the works, making it a major issue."

"The projects were mostly given for national highways and roads in rural areas. However, the state government can't even give proper records on where was it used," he said.

Talking about the Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary constituency, Rajasekharan said the existing parliamentarian was not even listening to the woes of people.

The Thiruvananthapuram representative does not even have time for his own people," he said without naming Tharoor.

"Under this Congress parliamentarian, even the city metro rail project has seen many hurdles. What is he for if he cannot stand for the welfare of the people and his constituency," he added.

"The last 10 years were honeymoon years for him (Tharoor) but this time he will be thrown out as the people have realised the need for a BJP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram," Rajasekharan signed off.
Rae Bareli: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has thrown a hint that she is not averse to taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his own Lok Sabha constituency.

"Shouldn't I fight from Varanasi?" Vadra said when a party worker asked her to contest from Rae Bareli, according to a participant at the meeting.

During a visit to Rae Bareli, the constituency of her mother, Sonia Gandhi, Vadra held meetings with party leaders and workers late into Thursday night and faced fresh demands for entering the electoral battle from the constituency.

On Wednesday, in a brief interaction with the media in Amethi, the constituency of her brother and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Vadra had said she would contest the election if the party wants her to do so.

At the Bhueymau guest house in Rae Bareli on Thursday, the Congress incharge of eastern Uttar Pradesh had asked the party workers to highlight among the people the alleged failures and failed promises of the Modi government.

There is no dearth of issues for the Congress. Workers have to go among the people, Vadra told the party workers who had come from all the assembly segments, as well as the workers of the Jan Adhikar Party, the grand old party's alliance partner.
Union minister and BJP candidate from the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday, claimed that he is getting phone calls from Congress workers pledging support to him.

The BJP stalwart kick-started his campaigning and said he will seek votes on the basis of development work done by him in the constituency, which will vote on April 11.

Gadkari said he is getting best wishes from non-BJP parties, including the opposition Congress.

"I have worked for all irrespective of their caste, religion, language and party affiliation. A huge number of Congress workers and office-bearers phone me and tell me not to worry," claimed Gadkari.

"They say though we are physically there (in the Congress), our hearts are with you (Gadkari) and hence I have support from all," he added.

He asked the BJP workers to reach out to the people with confidence and advised them to be humble in their conduct. He also told them to understand the difference between confidence and arrogance.

"One should have confidence, but not arrogance. Hence, reach out to the public with humility and tell them about the work done by the party," he said.

Seeking re-election from Nagpur, Gadkari said he will win the upcoming poll with a bigger margin than in 2014 and announced that he had initiated developmental projects worth Rs 70,000 crore in the constituency.

"I have decided not to take the name of opposition candidates and not criticise any party. I will tell the people about the work that I have done and will seek the votes on the basis of work done by me," said Gadkari.

"We have completed the works promised in the last manifesto. We should not give false assurances to public. We will do what we have assured. We will say what we have done," said the Union minister.

The Union minister inaugurated the Central Election Campaigning Office of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in Nagpur, and asked the workers not to comment on anyone's statements.

"The public is intelligent and knows everything. We have done our work and won the trust of people. People love us irrespective of caste, religion, community and party and this love for us will ensure our victory," said Gadkari.
New Delhi: Bollywood stunner Huma Qureshi recently went on a vacay to picturesque California. Taking a break from her work commitments, the 'Jolly LLB 2' actress took a break to enjoy her time in California.

The actress posted some images on her Instagram handle and we cant get enough of the mesmerizing beauty of the place and the amazing holiday Huma enjoyed.

Check out her pictures:

From indulging her inner wine connoisseur to a luxurious trip to Napa Valley to her snow play fun at the Yosemite Park, the helicopter and cruise tour in San Francisco the actress seemed to have the time of her life in California.

While her pictures are giving us some serious travel goals, her recent trip to California is the staycation we all need.

On the work front, Huma starred in Tamil movie 'Kaala' featuring Rajinikanth in the lead role. The 'Jolly LLB 2' actress made her sensational debut in Anurag Kashyap's 'Gangs Of Wasseypur' in 2012.
New Delhi: Bollywood's gen-next actor Varun Dhawan is one of the most bankable actors around. His personal and professional life both hog the limelight and make headlines quite often. While he is busy promoting his upcoming mega-starrer 'Kalank', fans want to know whether he is looking forward to settling down with ladylove Natasha Dalal this year or not.

The actor has recently revealed that the wedding will have to wait for this year. In an interview with Filmfare, Varun was asked about the impending marriage with childhood sweetheart Natasha Dalal. He said, Its not going to happen this year. Im not saying I wont get married but its not this soon. If Im doing all these movies, I need to find the right time for that.

He also talked about Natasha's equation with his parents. The 'Kalank' actor said, She and I went to school together. So, she knows my parents since ages. Shes been attending functions with my parents before also but it wasnt photographed then. Shes my rock, shes my anchor. Shes the stabilising factor in my life. Its pretty much like family.

On the work front, Varun is busy with Dharma Productions' 'Kalank' starring Alia Bhatt, Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha and Aditya Roy Kapur. The movie is slated to hit the screens on April 17, 2019.

The actor is also busy shooting for Remo D'Souza's dance film titled 'Street Dancer 3D' with Shraddha Kapoor and Nora Fatehi. The movie will hit the screens on November 8, 2019. The actors will be seen performing some kickass dance moves in the entertainer.
New Delhi: Private sector ICICI Bank Thursday said it has launched two instant home loan products for up to Rs 1 crore.

The instantaneous home loan facilitiy enables customers to get final sanction letter for new home loans as well as for a top up loan in a fully-digital way, the bank said in a release.

'Instant Home Loan' enables pre-approved salaried customers of the bank to avail loans up to Rs 1 crore for a tenure of up to 30 years (based on the age of the customer) using internet banking facility, ICICI Bank said.

'Insta Top Up Loan' helps existing home loan customers of the bank to avail the facility of topping up loan instantaneously upto Rs 20 lakh for a tenure of up to 10 years in a paperless manner.

The facility helps the customers get the top up amount disbursed immediately in their account as compared to the industry practice of approving and disbursing a top up home loan in a few working days, the bank said.

"As a result of our continued endeavour, we have the largest mortgage portfolio among private sector banks in the country with the lowest delinquency levels. Instant home loan facilities are extensions of this same endeavour. These facilities will help new home buyers as well as the existing customers," ICICI Bank Executive Director Anup Bagchi said.

The bank's outreach to tier II, III cities and micro-markets and focus on affordable housing is the key to rapid growth for its mortgage portfolio, he said.

"In line with this strategy, we have expanded our mortgage business to over 500 tier II, III, IV markets this fiscal. With this expansion, we are now offering home loans at over 1,500 locations, the maximum among private sector banks," he said.

The bank's disbursement in these markets is growing at a CAGR of over 20 percent, as compared to the industry average of 12 percent.

The bank has identified 500 high-potential branches for mortgages, where-in a dedicated area has been created for mortgages along with new technology-led workflow to ensure better experience for customers, the release said.

"ICICI Bank has the largest mortgage portfolio among private sector banks in the country. In 2016, we crossed the milestone of cumulatively disbursing mortgage loans of Rs 1 trillion. We are on course of touching a mortgage portfolio of Rs 2 trillion by March 2020," Bagchi said.
Suryakantham released on Friday and actress Niharika Konidela, who is playing the lead role in this film is confident that she will win the hearts of people this time with this latest youth entertainer. The film is directed by debutant Praneeth Brahmandapally and has Rahul Vijay as the hero.

Ahead of the release, the actor spoke to the media and said that she could always relate herself to the character of Suryakantham. I was pretty impressed with the plot when Praneeth narrated me the script. I signed for this film in the first half of last year and was just waiting for Happy Wedding to be over so that I can start shooting for Suryakantham. It suits up very much to my bubbly character, she said.

She also said that people have many expectations from her as she comes from the mega family and she is the only actress from the family. But she feels that she is not a heroine material and so, is not expecting glamorous roles and life-changing scripts.

My plans are different. I want to be an actor for a few more years, then get married and take care of the production house of my father. I want to help him in production and I feel that it is one way to be in the industry and with your beloved ones always. I believe that to be in this industry, a girl always need not to be the heroine, she added.

The press show was held on Thursday and the film is receiving positive feedback from all over.
Actors Ram Charan Tej and Jr NTR took off to Vadodara for the shooting of the upcoming schedule of their film RRR. Jr NTR clicked photographs of their boarding passes and shared them on his official Instagram account and updated the fans about the ongoing schedule of the film.

The team which comprises Charan, NTR, Rajamouli and others flew to Vadorara and from there, they will also go to Ahmedabad for canning some action sequences. Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt will be joining this schedule and will take part in the shoot for a few days.

Ajay Devgn is also part of this film and he will be seen playing a key role. However, he will be joining the next schedule, not this ongoing one.

The film is being made under a budget of Rs 350 crore and is produced by DVV Danayya.

Pan- India audience have their eyes on this film as it is being directed by Rajamouli. Baahubali franchise has increased expectations on this film.

The Rajamouli directorial is all about Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sita Ramaraju and their days before they took part in the freedom fight. While Jr NTR will be playing the role of Komaram Bheem, Ram Charan Tej will be seen as Alluri Sita Ramaraju. Alia will be playing Sita and pairs up with Charan.

Daisy Edgar Jones is the second leading lady and she is a British actor who has been part of many films and web series too.

Keeravani composes music for this film which will hit the screens on July 20, 2020.
New Delhi: At least eight people died and 30 others injured in a bus accident on Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday morning.

Visuals: 8 dead and 30 injured after a bus rammed into a truck on Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida. pic.twitter.com/sTxNeNhowI  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 29, 2019

The accident happened at around 5 am after a bus full of passengers rammed into a truck on the expressway.

The accident spot falls under Greater Noida Rabupura Police Station area.

The injured have been rushed to the hospital, some of whom are in a serious condition.

Last month, as many as seven people died and four were seriously injured on the Yamuna Expressway when an ambulance collided with a car.

The ambulance was carrying the mortal remains of a family member of the victims of the accident. The mishap took place when the ambulance was hit by a car while it was crossing a road divider.
LONDON: Lawmakers rejected Prime Minister Theresa May`s Brexit deal for a third time on Friday, sounding its probable death knell and leaving Britain`s withdrawal from the European Union in turmoil on the very day it was supposed to leave the bloc. The decision to reject a stripped-down version of May`s divorce deal has left it totally unclear how, when or even whether Britain will leave the EU, and plunges the three-year Brexit crisis to a deeper level of uncertainty.

After a special sitting of parliament, lawmakers voted by 286 to 344 against May`s 585-page EU Withdrawal Agreement, agreed after two years of tortuous negotiations with the bloc. May had told parliament the vote was the last opportunity to ensure Brexit would take place and cautioned that if the deal failed, then any further delay to Brexit would probably be a long one beyond April 12.

"There are those who will say: `The House has rejected every option so far, you`ll probably lose so why bother?` I bother because this is the last opportunity to guarantee Brexit," May told the House of Commons. "If we do not vote for this motion today, people will ask: `Why did you not vote for Brexit?`"

Sterling, which has been buoyed in recent weeks by hopes that the likelihood of an abrupt `no-deal` Brexit is receding, fell. [GBP]. It was the third failure for May, who had offered on Wednesday to resign if the deal passed, in a bid to win over eurosceptic rebels in her Conservative Party who support a more decisive break with the EU than the divorce her deal offers. It leaves May`s Brexit strategy in tatters; her strongly pro-Brexit trade minister, Liam Fox, had said Friday represented the last chance to "vote for Brexit as we understood it".

The deal had twice been rejected by huge margins and, although May was able to win over many Conservative rebels, a hardcore of eurosceptics and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which props up her minority government, refused to back it. On Monday, lawmakers who have tried to grab control of the process will attempt to agree on an alternative Brexit plan that could command majority cross-party support in parliament, something largely unheard-of in Britain`s political system.

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The defeat means Britain now has until April 12 to convince the 27 capitals of the EU that it has an alternative path out of the impasse, or see itself cast out of the bloc from that date with no deal on post-Brexit ties with its largest trading ally. Many eurosceptics see this as their preferred option but businesses say it would cause huge damage not only to the world`s fifth-biggest economy but also to that of neighbouring Ireland.

However, any further extension would not only require Britain to take part in European Parliament elections in May, but also bring months of fresh uncertainty.

A second referendum could then be in play, although many lawmakers believe the most likely outcome and the only way to solve the crisis will be a snap election.

The 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU revealed the United Kingdom divided over many more issues, and has provoked impassioned debate about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and what it means to be British. Meanwhile, the uncertainty around Brexit, the United Kingdom`s most significant political and economic move since World War Two, has left allies and investors aghast.

Opponents fear Brexit will make Britain poorer and divide the West as it grapples with both the unconventional U.S. presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China. Supporters say that, while the divorce might bring some short-term instability, in the longer term it will allow the United Kingdom to thrive if cut free from what they cast as a doomed attempt to forge European unity.
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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to close the US border with Mexico next week, or at least large sections of it if Mexico "doesn`t immediately stop all illegal immigration coming into the United States" from the region.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to close the US. border with Mexico in the past, but this time the United States government may follow through as it struggles to deal with a surge of asylum seekers countries in Central America.

A senior official with the Department of Homeland Security said the agency is moving border officers from ports of entry to areas between official crossing points where asylum seekers are turning up. "If we have to close ports to take care of all the numbers who are coming, we will do that," the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity shortly after Trump`s announcement on Twitter.

"It`s short at the moment of a full closure of any port," the official said.

Trump delivered his latest threat in a series of Twitter posts amid reports that a surge of migrants in El Paso, Texas, threatened to overwhelm border protection officials there.

"CONGRESS MUST CHANGE OUR WEAK IMMIGRATION LAWS NOW, & Mexico must stop illegals from entering the US through their country and our Southern Border," Trump said.

"Mexico has for many years made a fortune off of the US, far greater than Border Costs. If Mexico doesn`t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week."

Migrants illegally crossing the US border have caused persistent tension between the United States and Mexico ever since Trump began his bid for the presidency almost four years ago, taking a hard line on immigration and saying Mexico was sending rapists and drug runners into the United States.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday that tackling illegal immigration is an issue chiefly for the United States and Central America to address.

The US officials say they face an immigration crisis along the southern border because of a dramatic increase in asylum seekers, many of them children and families, fleeing violence and economic hardship in Central America.
Russia is keen to cooperate with and explore the possibilities of exporting its latest Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter to India. Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov told the Interfax news agency that the twin-engine multirole fifth-generation air superiority and attack fighter is the latest supersonic stealth jet in the world and several countries would be interested in having the lethal aircraft in their arsenal.

Manturov pointed out that "confidence in the supplier is one of the key factors when it comes to purchasing weaponry of this kind" and India was the biggest market for Russian defence products and could be interested in the Sukhoi Su-57 jet, formerly known as Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation (PAK FA or T-50). The Indian Air Force (IAF) flies over 250 Sukhoi Su-30MKIs, a 4++ generation fighter.

According to Russia's Rostec defence industrial holding company's international co-operation and regional policy director Viktor Kladov, the makers of Su-57, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), will soon get the clearance to export the fighter. The export version of the fighter will be called Su-57E (Export).

Kladov claimed during a press conference at the 2019 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition in Malaysia's Langkawi that Rostec and UAC have submitted "all the necessary documentation" required for the approval to export the Su-57E to the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin is likely to give his consent soon.

Once the export clearance is obtained, Russia plans to officially unveil that Su-57E during the November 2019 Dubai Air Show. Klodov was confident that Su-57 will generate a lot of interest in several countries including India and China as the air forces of both these countries already fly different versions of the Sukhoi fighters.

He also dismissed the apprehension that the threat of US Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) will dissuade the potential Su-57E buyers.

Some Russian Su-57s had taken part in combat training missions in Syria in February 2018. According to Russian defence officials, the Su-57s were deployed in war-torn Syria to "undergo real-world testing" and "combat training".
Senior South Korean officials, including President Moon Jae-in, are launching a series of meetings with US counterparts, in a bid to jumpstart stalled denuclearisation talks with North Korea and mend fraying ties in their alliance.

Moon will hold a summit meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington on April 11 to discuss North Korea and other alliance issues, the White House said on Friday.

"The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in the region," it said in a statement.

The second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fell apart in Hanoi in February over differences about the limits Pyongyang was ready to put on its nuclear programmes and how willing the US was to ease sanctions.

Trump`s failure to seal a deal was a blow to Moon, who has been vocal in his conviction that Kim is willing to abandon his nuclear arsenal.

Washington and Seoul have also tussled over the cost of US troops in South Korea, with Trump demanding that Seoul pay more toward maintaining some 28,500 of them.

The North has nearly completed work to rebuild its Sohae missile launch site in the northwestern town of Tongchang-ri that Kim, at his first summit with Trump last June, had vowed to dismantle, South Korean lawmakers said on Friday.

The lawmakers, briefed by Seoul`s intelligence agency, added that a uranium enrichment facility at the North`s Yongbyon main nuclear complex was operating normally, though a 5-megawatt reactor there has not been operational since late last year.

Ahead of the Trump-Moon summit, South Korea said it was sending its foreign and defence ministers, and other senior officials, to meetings in Washington.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is set to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday to discuss ways to move forward after the failed Trump-Kim summit.

Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo will meet the U.S. acting secretary of defence, Patrick Shanahan, on Monday, the ministry said.

The lack of progress with North Korea has become a domestic problem for Moon, who has staked much of his political capital on improving relations with Pyongyang.

A Gallup poll on Friday showed Moon`s approval ratings at a record low of 43 percent as respondents complained about the stalemate with the North while the economy suffers.

The Hanoi summit`s breakdown hit rapidly improving ties between the neighbours.

South Korea`s defence ministry said it proposed military talks with the North last week but there was no response from Pyongyang.

Last week the North also pulled out of a liaison office with South Korea agreed during Moon`s summit with Kim, only to reverse the move and send back some officials three days later.

On Friday, the Unification Ministry said the North`s staffing at the office had returned to "normal levels", though a weekly meeting was not held as the North`s chief representative was absent.
KATHMANDU, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A four-day photo exhibition to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the campaign of democratic reform in China's Tibet Autonomous Region has been open to public here on Thursday.

Speaker of the Nepal's House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara inaugurated the photo exhibition amid the presence of parliamentarians, leaders from various political parties, civil society members, media persons and among others.

Addressing the event, Speaker Mahara said that China's Tibet Autonomous Region has made tremendous socio-economic, political, religious and cultural transformation in the past 60 years.

"Tibet has been playing the role of gateway for both Nepal and China to promote trade, culture, people-to-people contacts and political communications," said the speaker, adding that the photo exhibition will contribute to further deepening age-old cordial bilateral ties between the two countries.

Reiterating Nepal's commitment to the one-China policy, the speaker said that the country will never allow anti-Chinese elements on its soil.

Talking about his country's participation in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), he said that Nepal is looking for a meaningful cooperation under the BRI framework.

"We would like to reap benefit through enhanced railroad connectivity and trade under the BRI framework," Mahara said.

On the occasion, Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi said the exhibition will be helpful for Nepali people to know more about the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.

Senior government officials, media persons, diplomats and people from various walks of life visited the photo exhibition on Thursday.

The "Present and Past Days of Tibet" exhibition will run till April 1 at the Nepal Academy in the heart of the capital.
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MANILA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Philippine ruling PDP-Laban party have expressed their willingness to enhance their cooperation and achieve "even better" relations between the two countries.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, also chairman of the PDP-Laban party, said in his meeting with Song Tao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, on Wednesday that he was satisfied with the current bilateral relations.

"The Philippines and China are good partners and the cooperation in various fields has yielded remarkable results, and I am happy with that," he said, adding that the Philippines is willing to increase the exchanges between the two parties and promote regional peace and prosperity.

For his part, Song said the CPC was willing to implement the consensus reached by the top leaders of the two countries with its Philippine counterpart to boost the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, push forward the bilateral relations and safeguard regional peace and prosperity.

Song also met with Vicente Sotto III, president of the Senate, during his three-day visit to the Philippines.
University of Hawaii team records self-destructing asteroid

Astronomers once thought asteroids were boring, wayward space rocks that simply orbit around the sun. Only in science fiction movies were they dramatic, changing objects.

New observations are turning science fiction into science fact, showing that asteroids are anything but dull. Asteroid Gault, discovered in 1998, has begun to slowly disintegrate. The crumbling was first detected earlier this year on January 5, by the University of Hawaii at Manoa Institute for Astronomy (IfA) Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescopes on Mauna Loa and Haleakala. Later investigation proved there were no asteroid collisions.

"Each night the ATLAS survey scans the sky looking for hazardous near-Earth asteroids, and we also observe tens of thousands of known asteroids in the main asteroid belt," said Larry Denneau, an ATLAS project scientist. "Our collaborator Ken Smith in Belfast, Ireland, found an unusual looking moving object, and he alerted us that it might be a new comet. Instead, it turned out to be an asteroid in the main belt that just developed a comet-like tail. These events are rare and mysterious, and we were lucky to detect the event right after its turn-on."

Gault is a well-known asteroid and the newly found tails are the first evidence of any misbehavior. These new observations suggest that asteroids are dynamic, active worlds that can ultimately disintegrate due to the long-term subtle effect of sunlight, which can slowly spin them up until they begin to shed material.

Astronomers estimate that this type of event is rare, occurring roughly once a year among the 800,000 known asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. That's why only the latest astronomical surveys--like ATLAS--that map vast swaths of the sky nightly, can catch asteroids as they fall apart.

"Asteroids such as Gault cannot escape detection anymore," noted Olivier Hainaut, a member of the observing team of the European Southern Observatory in Garching, Germany. "That means that all these asteroids that start misbehaving get caught."

Once the new tail was discovered, Denneau and IfA colleague Robert Weryk looked back into archival data from ATLAS and the UH Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) telescopes. The tail also turned up in data taken as far back as December 2018. In mid-January, a second shorter tail was detected by IfA astronomer Jan Kleyna using the Canada France Hawai`i Telescope (CFHT), as well as by other observers.

An analysis of both tails suggests the two dust releases occurred last year around October 28 and December 30.

Tantalized by this new discovery, IfA astronomers Kleyna and Karen Meech, along with colleagues worldwide, began to observe Gault with telescopes around the world and in space. Spectacular images of asteroid 6478 Gault from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show two narrow, comet-like tails of debris streaming from the 2.5-mile-wide asteroid. The tails are telltale evidence that Gault is beginning to come apart by gently puffing off material in two separate episodes over the past several months.

Gault is only the second asteroid uncovered whose disintegration is decisively linked to a spin-up process, known as a YORP (Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack) torque. When sunlight heats an asteroid, infrared radiation escaping from its warmed surface carries off momentum as well as heat. This creates a tiny force that can cause the asteroid to spin faster and faster. If this centrifugal force overcomes gravity, the surface becomes unstable, and landslides send dust and rubble drifting into space.

Watching an asteroid come unglued by this natural process gives astronomers the opportunity to study the makeup of these space rocks without sending a spacecraft to sample them. Analyzing an asteroid's ingredients as they are spread out into space offers a glimpse into planet formation in the early solar system.

"We didn't have to visit Gault," explained Olivier Hainaut of the European Southern Observatory in Garching, Germany, a member of the observing team. "We just had to look at the image of the streamers, and we can see all of the dust grains sorted neatly by size. All the large grains (about the size of sand particles) are close to the object and the smallest grains (about the size of flour) are the farthest away, because they are being pushed fastest by pressure from sunlight."

For astronomers, piecing together Gault's recent volatile activity is an astronomical forensics investigation, involving telescopes and astronomers from around the world. The first clue was the accidental detection of the first debris tail.

Follow-up observations with the William Herschel Telescope and ESA Optical Ground Station in La Palma and Tenerife, and the Himalayan Chandra Telescope in India, measured a two-hour rotation period for the object, close to the critical speed at which a loose "rubble-pile" asteroid begins to break up. "Gault is the best 'smoking-gun' example of a fast rotator right at the two-hour limit," Kleyna said.

But the seeds to this self-destruction may have been sown 100 million years ago, a time when the dinosaurs roamed Earth. Pressure from sunlight slowly began spinning up the tiny asteroid at an estimated rate of 1 second every 10,000 years.

"It could have been on the brink of instability for 10 million years," Kleyna said. "Even a tiny disturbance, like a small impact from a pebble, might have triggered the recent outbursts."

The researchers suggest that as the asteroid rotated ever faster, destabilized material began cascading toward the equator. When the rotation rate reached a critical point, landslides sent debris drifting off into space at a few miles per hour, or the speed of a strolling human. Gault's weak surface gravity couldn't hold it any longer. The gentle process was like scattering powdered sugar into the air, where wind - or, in the case of Gault, sunlight - stretches it into a long streamer.

An analysis of the asteroid's immediate neighborhood by Hubble revealed no signs of excess dust, which rules out the possibility of a collision with another asteroid causing the outbursts.

Hubble's sharp imaging also reveals that the tails are narrow streamers, indicating that the dust was released in short bursts, lasting anywhere from a few hours to a few days. These sudden events puffed away enough debris to make a "dirt ball" approximately 500 feet across if compacted together. The tails will begin fading away in a few months as the dust disperses into interplanetary space.

Based on observations by the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope in Hawaii, the astronomers estimated that the longer tail stretches over half a million miles and is roughly 3,000 miles wide. The shorter tail is about a quarter as long.

Added Kleyna, "If the dust cloud lasts a couple of months, and the surveys see things once a month, we will see them. But if traditional observers are looking every couple of years, they'll miss these events."

The team said that this discovery shows the synergy between all-sky surveys such as ATLAS and Pan-STARRS, ground based telescopes and space-based facilities like the Hubble Space Telescope. This discovery would have been impossible without contributions from all three.

The researchers hope to monitor Gault for more dust events.

###

The team's results have been accepted for publication and will appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The NASA-funded ATLAS program is described at http://atlas. fallingstar. com .

Photo caption: Hubble Space Telescope captured this striking image of asteroid (6478) Gault, showing two narrow, comet-like tails of dusty debris. Each tail represents an episode in which the asteroid gently shed its material -- key evidence that Gault is beginning to come apart.

Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Meech and J. Kleyna (University of Hawaii), and O. Hainaut (European Southern Observatory)

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- "To me, the moderate tea drinker and the passionate beer lover represent two ways of understanding life and knowing the world, and I find them equally rewarding," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a speech at the College of Europe in Belgium in 2014.

During that trip, the Chinese leader made the tea-beer comparison to describe connections of various civilizations.

As Xi wrapped up his first overseas visit in 2019, the China-Europe relationship stands as profound, solid and vigorous as ever, and the comparison he made five years ago still rings true today.

Tea, with its cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavor, represents the implicity of the East. Beer, on the other hand, with its yeasty, malty, and refreshing taste, symbolizes the passion of the West.

The two kinds of beverage speak for two different lifestyles and ways to understand the world, just as Chinese and European civilizations both have their respective strengths and no one civilization can be judged superior to another.

Xi's just concluded Europe tour, brimming with warmth and goodwill, has reaped the fruits of trust and friendship. Within a week, the world has not only witnessed crucial common understandings reached among the leaders and fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation, but also captured touching moments in the area of people-to-people exchanges.

The international community has seen a splendid dialogue between tea and beer, a wonderful interaction between East and West.

China, Italy and France, all blessed with age-old cultures, have been deeply connected since ancient times, continuously cementing the foundation of their friendships throughout history.

As early as over 2,000 years ago, China and ancient Rome, though thousands of miles apart, were already connected by the Silk Road. During the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), Chinese emissary Gan Ying was sent to search for the Roman Empire, known as "Da Qin" in China at that time.

Over seven centuries ago, the young Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo embarked on a trailblazing journey along the ancient Silk Road that led him through Central Asia to China, becoming the pioneer of cultural exchanges between East and West. He was followed by a long list of explorers over the centuries.

During Xi's visit to France earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron presented him the original French version of "An Introduction to The Analects of Confucius," published in 1688, as a national gift when the two leaders met this time in Nice.

The more exchanges different civilizations seek, the better understanding and mutual respect they will achieve.

Today, an increasing number of European countries are looking at the spectacular development of China with an open mind, and look forward to working together with the Asian country.

As Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in his meeting with Xi, Italy believes that China's rejuvenation will make new historic contributions to world peace and prosperity.

Prior to Xi's visit, eight students from Rome Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II, an Italian boarding school, together with President Paolo M. Reale of the school, wrote to Xi to express their expectations for the visit and their willingness to promote friendship between the two countries.

Monaco is also witnessing a growing number of students learning Chinese. So far, 131 Confucius Institutes have been established in European Union (EU) member states.

In 2018, nearly 40,000 Chinese students were studying in France and more than 100,000 French students were studying Chinese; a record number of Chinese tourists visited France.

The vivid people-to-people exchanges between China and Europe, sincere and intense, will stand the test of time and remain strong in an uncertain world.

Although China and Europe differ in political and economic systems, cultures and levels of development, like the different tastes of tea and beer, they can live in harmony without uniformity and join hands to elevate China-Europe ties to a new level.
HARRISBURG  In an effort to help get a Gwynedd Mercy University renovation project off the ground, state Reps. Liz Hanbidge and Mary Jo Daley announced a $2 million state grant that will be used to launch phase 1 of the Triplex Project, the renovation of Loyola Hall. The funding is being awarded to the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority through...
As an important event on the world calendar, the Boao Forum for Asia has once again attracted worldwide attention, as it brings together business and political leaders for exchanges on vital economic and trade issues.

The forum, which runs from March 26 to 29 this year, is held in Boao, a coastal town in Hainan province. With the theme Shared Future, Concerted Action, Common Development, it attraced over 2,000 delegates, including government officials, entrepreneurs, and scholars from 60 countries and regions.

As the worlds second-largest economy, Chinas contributions to the world were hailed by the delegates at the forum.

Chinas development mode, featuring openness, innovation, and win-win cooperation, has brought benefits for the world economy, said former French President Francois Hollande at a panel discussion.

Hollande said the reason China has made unprecedented achievements in the past 40 years is that the country has been constantly adjusting and redefining itself to keep up with the changing international environment.

Chinas success has inspired other countries to follow a development approach that is suitable for their national conditions, said Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines and former Philippine president.

Delegates also expressed confidence in Chinas long-term development.

Chinas economy has maintained steady growth, and the fruitful results in areas such as big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning have garnered high praise, said Chris Marlin, president of Lennar International, the largest American homebuilder.

The Belt and Road Initiative stimulates investment in infrastructure and extends across the world to include many emerging economies, said Elizabeth Gaines, chief executive officer of Australian iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group.
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Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Photo/Chinanews.com)

South Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region plans to attract 821 billion yuan (about $121.84 billion) of foreign investment in 2019, Lu Wanqing, deputy director of the Investment Promotion Agency of Guangxi said at a press conference on March 28.

The foreign capital intended to be used in the region in 2019 is $750 million, while the government will strive to fulfill a higher goal of $850 billion, noted Lu at the press conference in Nanning, capital of Guangxi.

At the press conference on Guangxis plan to attract more foreign industrial investment in 2019, Lu stressed that under the theme of introducing new projects and fostering new driving forces, greater efforts will be focused on the three major areas of health, big data, and logistics, and the three fields of new manufacturing, new materials, and new energy.

The region will also endeavor to attract large and competitive overseas enterprises and talents in key industries including economy, finance, and high and new technology, Lu added.

In recent years, Guangxi has rolled out a series of policies to improve the regions business environment, and has also allowed local governments to formulate relevant supporting policies to create favorable conditions in areas including construction, water and electricity supply, financial support, and talent support.

According to sources, Guangxi attracted 795.9 billion yuan in foreign investment in 2018, when the region started to put into practice its three-year action plan (2018-2020) to intensify efforts to attract foreign industrial investment.
With approval of its board of trustees, the University of Dayton will bestow an honorary doctorate degree on Ro Nita Hawes-Saunders, CEO of the world-renowned Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, at spring commencement exercises Sunday, May 12, in the University of Dayton Arena.

We are delighted to honor Ro Nita Hawes-Saunders for her many contributions to the vibrancy and culture of the Dayton community, her commitment to education, and her advocacy for minority business ownership in Dayton, said University of Dayton President Eric F. Spina, who made the announcement at the Universitys Celebration of the Arts March 28. She epitomizes what it means to be a partner for the common good and build a diverse community.

Under her leadership, DCDC expanded the companys community networks, board of directors and administrative staff to facilitate new art production and educational programming; developed institutional partnerships with the University of Dayton, Central State University and Wright State University; and eliminated long-term debt and increased revenue streams. DCDC received the 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Revival, presented by Dance/NYC and the New York Dance & Performance Awards. Considered the Oscar of the dance world, dance companies and dancers outside New York City historically do not receive Bessies.

I am honored and humbled by this prestigious recognition. I thank God for the opportunity to serve our beloved community, Hawes-Saunders said. Dayton Contemporary Dance Company is a community treasure whose mission is to promote unity and amity through the spirit and power of its performance art. It is my hope that we may all be inspired to make a similar commitment to excellence.

Spina highlighted the close relationship that has grown between the University and the internationally renowned, culturally diverse dance company rooted in the African-American experience. The company, which has toured the world and performed in Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia and South Korea, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

DCDC brings dancers and choreographers to campus for performances, classes and artistic collaborations that add to the Universitys arts and intercultural education programming, Spina said of the partnership.

Since the 2010-11 academic year, DCDC has provided community artists-in-residence to work with students from all majors and at all levels of dance experience to introduce them to the art of dance and its relevance to learning. University faculty and students from all disciplines also work with DCDC to create new academic and experiential learning opportunities. Current artist-in-residence Amy Renee Jones works with the Universitys theatre, dance and performance technology program. As part of the campus residency, DCDC holds several free public events on campus.

Hawes-Saunders became CEO of the dance company after selling the two Dayton radio stations  WROU and WRNB  she built from the ground up. At the time, she was one of just 10 African-American women nationwide to own a radio station.

She launched programming and public initiatives designed to renew energy among the areas minority community, Spina said. Ro Nita is an advocate for business ownership by minorities and women and has won numerous national awards for her service, dedication and commitment to this cause.

Hawes-Saunders has earned a Marconi Radio Award, the nations top radio broadcasting award, and several National Black Programming Coalition and ABC station of the year awards. Radio Inc. magazine named her among the top 25 African-American leaders in the radio industry.

A theater, film and English graduate of Denison University, she served on that universitys board of trustees from 1993 to 2017. For her 24 years of service as a trustee, she is now a lifetime member of the board. Hawes-Saunders also earned a masters degree from The Ohio State University.

She also serves on the board of CareSource Foundation and is an advisor for the Center for Global Renewal and Mission. In 2018, she was honored by the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio as a community pillar.
Whats the most overlooked aspect of the Great Connecticut Toll Debate? Its the record-breaking $100 billion transportation infrastructure spending plan.

Im amazed and alarmed that this aspect of the toll question has been largely ignored in the tolls brouhaha. This prodigious spending, proposed by former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, is the root cause of the projected financial crisis in the Special Transportation Fund.

Heres the big picture: Connecticut faces the greatest financial crisis in state history, driven by over $80 billion in unfunded liabilities that come due in the next 30 years.

If we spend a further $100 billion on transportation infrastructure over the same period, we will more than double the liabilities that are already pushing the state to the brink of insolvency.

Has anyone even considered the dire financial implications of the grandiose transportation spending plan?

Barring an economic miracle, the combination of unfunded liabilities and $100 billion in additional transportation capital funding is an impossible financial burden for state taxpayers. We simply have no choice but to trim our spending to what we can afford for a functional transportation system

But the legislature has not done its job to vet the Malloy transportation plan. During the tolls hearing the Transportation Committee Chairman called the plan aspirational. In other words a $100 billion wish list.

Lets look at the $100 billion transportation infrastructure wish list.

First, the amount allotted to highways and bridges is about $67 billion, about two-thirds of the proposed spending. If tolls should be adopted, this is the spending they would finance, not the entire $100 billion (how does the Lamont Administration propose we pay for the remaining $35 billion?)

Second, about $49 billion of the bridge and highway spending is targeted for preservation, i.e., what must be done to get roads and bridges into good working condition for the next 30 years.

Third, if we were to adopt a practical approach to solving our roads and bridges problem, we could limit the spending to preservation for our highways and our bridges, $49 billion.

We know that about 25 percent of the $49 billion is earmarked for two projects, the Waterbury Mixmaster ($7.1 billion) and the Hartford Viaduct ($5.3 billion). We also know that the Waterbury project is now being developed as a rehabilitation project for $200 million, rather than a replacement project for $7.1 billion. If we assume a similar alternative is available for the viaduct project, we could save another $5 billion reducing the infrastructure spending on roads and bridges to about $37 billion.

The savings on the Mixmaster are real and are being implemented now. There is every reason to believe that savings are available on other state transportation projects. The detailed Department of Transportation data clearly shows that we can cut the projected road and bridge spending by almost 50 percent and still have good working roads and bridges.

This is just a cursory review of the projected spending behind the tolls debate. If we engage in a robust public discussion about bridge and highway infrastructure spending, we may find that we can solve the problem without tolls. Its time for the legislatures Transportation Committee to do its job and conduct hearings and a thorough review of the grandiose and yet-to-be-examined transportation infrastructure plan before there is a vote on tolls.

A vote on tolls to finance an unvetted record-breaking transportation spending plan is grossly irresponsible. Lets not put the cart before the horse. Lets agree about what we must do and how much we must spend before we figure out how to finance it.

Len Suzio is a former state senator and vice-chair of the Transportation Committee.




Guo Cunyong introduces a bamboo piece in the Yuhua Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, central Chinas Hunan province. (Photo/ people.cn)

Yuhua Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, founded by a carpenter in central Chinas Hunan province, is now serving as a local cultural hub.

To date, the 50,000-square-meter museum has gathered 359 projects and over 200 inheritors of intangible cultural heritage. It also has 12 institutions and 32 study and research platforms.

The museum's founder, Guo Cunyong, is full of confidence for the museum's future development, even though it was hard for him to begin his journey five years ago.

Unwilling to see traditional handicrafts fade away in modern society, Guo decided to halt his furniture business and engage in intangible cultural heritage.

The cultural value of traditional handicrafts is incalculable. It would be a shame to lose them, said Guo.

Over the past five years, he has been to 14 cities in Hunan province. He also left footprints in Jiangsu province, Guangdong province and even the Tibet Autonomous Region, searching for artists who could join him in preserving intangible cultural heritage.

Despite the lack of capital, Guo has never asked for financial support from these craftsmen. He even sold his own property to keep the museum running.

We gather inheritors here to offer them an opportunity to show and sell their work, as well as a platform to communicate and spark new ideas, said Guo.

I hope one day, our museum can be home to all intangible cultural heritage in China, he added.
On the worst days, no one expected to get through it alive. A despair set in among members of the battalion that the older ones, the veterans of two other wars, had never seen before. The bestselling book, "Dispatches," a 260-page memoir by war correspondent Michael Herr, includes this up-close perspective of the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War.

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It is regrettable that the momentous era of the first female Doctor was paired to a writer of so limited talents It can't be disputed by...
By PTI

MUMBAI: The income tax department Tuesday evening auctioned the artworks owned by the absconding diamantaire Nirav Modi, who fled the country after duping state-run lender PNB of a whopping Rs 14,000 crore, for Rs 59.37 crore.

Of the gross proceeds, the department will get a net of Rs 54.84 crore, with the rest being the commission to the auction house Saffronart and the buyers' premium.

This is the first time that a government department has sold artworks adopting the auction-route involving a professional art-house. The department had put up a total of 68 works for auction to recover Rs 97 crore from the scamster.

An untitled work by the abstract artist VS Gaitonde fetched a winning bid of Rs 25.24 crore, including the buyer's premium, which however, is lower than the Rs 29.3 crore his work had fetched in 2015, making it the most expensive bid for an artwork from the country ever.

The great Raja Ravi Varma's 1881 work depicting the Maharaja of Travancore and his younger brother welcoming Richard Temple-Grenville, and Chandos, the third Duke of Buckingham and the governor general of Madras, got sold for Rs 16.10 crore through a phone bid.

Potential investors and art lovers started trickling in into the central Mumbai gallery Tuesday evening, but it was the bids over the phones and the Net which were higher at the auctions that began early evening but extended through the course of late night.

None of the artworks, "lots" in auction-speak, saw intense bidding, though. As many as 13 works out of 68 had to be passed or returned unsold as the bids were lower than the reserved price.

Barring a few works which could not be sold, many of the artworks were sold at prices above the reserve price.

Modi's collection of paintings by FN Souza which saw significant interest from the collectors, with "cityscape" and "golly-wog" notching up bids of over Rs 1 crore each.

Akbar Padamsee's "Grey Nude" completed in 1960 got a winning bid of Rs 1.72 crore as against an expected price of Rs 1.5-2 crore.

Throughout the bidding that lasted over 120 minutes, eight dedicated agents worked frantically on the phones getting the bids from investors and art lovers.

The online bids came in from diverse places like Seattle in the US, Toronto in Canada and Belgium in Northwestern Europe, which has emerged as the nerve-centre of the global diamond trade now.

Works by some Chinese artists also generated considerable interest among the bidders, with all of them fetching more-than-expected prices.

Every buyer will have to pay a 15 per cent premium for works costing up to Rs 20 crore, while the same for the ones above Rs 20 crore is a tad lower at 12 per cent. The premium goes to the art gallery. A successful bidder has to pay 10 per cent of the amount plus the buyers' premium within four days and pay up the remaining in a month's time.

The sale is being undertaken under relevant sections of the Income Tax Act of 1961. The department was looking to raise up to Rs 97 crore, which is the tax liabilities of Modi shell firm Camelot Enterprises.

The tax department reportedly discovered the paintings in a climate-controlled room at his house in the metropolis.

As many as 68 artworks went under the hammer this evening and included works by the greats like Raja Ravi Varma, VS Gaitonde, FN Souza, Jogen Chowdhury, and Akbar Padamsee among others to recover dues and the department was expecting to mop up over Rs 97 crore from the artworks which had a reserve price of Rs 50 crore.

The auctions took place after a special PLMA court had on March 20 allowed the law enforcement agencies to sell 173 paintings and 11 luxury vehicles owned by Modi, who is currently in a London jail seeking bail, which will come up for hearing on March 29.

The auctions came in ever after Camelot Enterprises, a firm owned by Modi, sent a legal notice to against the auction, terming it unlawful late last week.

"The Saffronart online art catalogue lists 68 artwork due for auctions, overlooking the fact that only 19 of the artworks from the 68 belongs to the company," said the legal notice, sent through its law firm India Law Alliance Advocates to the department.

"Given this circumstances, the purported auction is unlawful and liable to be cancelled forthwith," the legal notice added.

The legal notice also claimed that the sole director of the company Hemant Dahyalal Bhatt is in judicial custody and all the papers and records of the company are with the statutory authorities.

The paintings belonging to Camelot and other arms of Modi-promoted firms and were seized by the tax department as part of their probe to recover tax Rs 95.91 crore.

The revenue department is also probing a Rs 4,000 crore missing amount from the books of the Modi group of companies. The remaining paintings and artworks will be auctioned by the ED.

The ED, CBI, and the department of revenue

intelligence (DRI) are investigating Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal and uncle Mehul Choksi-the prime accused in the Rs 14,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.
Sunitha Natti By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Career statistician PC Mohanan questioned the governments move of referring NSSOs unemployment survey report to a Standing Committee, which is subordinate to the National Statistical Commission (NSC).

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, the survey report is likely to be released by March end after feedback is received from the Standing Committee.

Mohanan, who was NSCs acting Chairman, and another member J V Meenakshi had resigned in January, protesting the delay in release of the unemployment report.

The standing committee is appointed by NSC and, hence, subordinate to the Commission, which is the final authority. Now, referring something that the Commission had already approved back to the committee, which it appointed, is not a proper thing, Mohanan told Express.

In fact, Chief Statistician of India Pravin Srivastava, who is also the Secretary NSC, had approved the report during NSCs meeting in December.

How can you refer it back to the subordinate committee? questioned Mohanan. Anyway, I have no problem with that. They (committee members) are technical people and if they want to examine it again, they can do so.

Chaired by former University of Calcutta Professor S P Mukherjee, the committee includes eminent economists and statisticians. As per protocol, the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) prepares the draft survey report, submits it to the standing committee for examination. It then goes to the Commission for final approval.

Meanwhile, the first quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for urban areas was expected in April-May, but it is likely to be delayed as the Commission has no members. Done once in five years, the last survey report was released in 2011. However, starting 2016-17, NSSO started PLFS, including quarterly surveys for urban areas and annual surveys in rural areas. Importantly, sampling methodologies were changed, which some in the ministry are objecting to.

Some people are unfamiliar with the sampling methodology, but the credibility of data cant be doubted. Its a statistical methodology and one can always question technical inconsistencies, but not releasing the data isnt the correct thing, Mohanan explained.

Considering the elections, its likely that appointments will be made by the new government. The NSSO is supervised by the NSC, which decides survey topics for next year. In the absence of the Commission, there will be some impact on its functioning.
Naushad Bijapur By

Express News Service

BELAGAVI: A surprise pick of candidates by BJP on the recommendations made by the RSS in Chikkodi and Raichur  denying tickets to candidates supported by state party chief BS Yeddyurappa - has not only upset a large section of BJP leadership in the state but it could even boomerang for the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. However, the party chose to field sitting MP Sanganna Karadi from Koppal who was reportedly opposed by a section of RSS leaders, who had favoured a local leader - Dr Basavaraj.

Sources said the BJP is expected to suffer a massive rebellion from insiders in Chikkodi and Raichur given the way the party high command ignored popular leaders while favouring the RSS choices. A shocked Katti brothers are unwilling to accept the partys decision of fielding Annasaheb Jolle from Chikkodi and said that they will wait for the party to reconsider its move.

We (Katti brothers) have appealed to the BJP high command through Yeddyurappa to reconsider the decision. As we have worked for the party and its victory in Chikkodi region for the last several years, we strongly believed till today that Ramesh Katti (former Chikkodi MP) will be the candidate, Umesh Katti, brother of Ramesh and eight-time Hukkeri MLA said.Umesh said the brothers will wait until April 4 for the party to reconsider its decision and decide their future course of action.

Follow our full election coverage here

Hitting back indirectly at BJP for denying ticket to Ramesh, Umesh said money had played a big role in denying ticket to his brother. He did not clarify as to who paid the money to whom and said, We never did politics by squandering money for tickets or elections but always faced elections fairly, he said.

The Kattis question partys logic behind denying ticket to Ramesh as the latter was a popular leader in Chikkodi despite losing to Prakash Hukkeri (Congress) in the last election by 3,000 votes. Also, Ramesh is closely associated with most of local bodies in the constituencies with strong links to people at the grarssroots for his active role in the cooperative movement, which is powerful in Chikkodi than any other region.

The Katti family, which commands a huge political clout in Chikkodi region, could cause damage to the partys prospects for denying ticket to a family member. A close association between the families of sitting MP Prakash Hukkeri (Congress) and Kattis could swing a large number of Katti traditional votes in Prakash Hukkeris favour.

According to Ramesh Katti, Jolle had the support of RSS leaders while all other party leaders supported him when it came to allotment of the ticket. He is shocked that Jolle who was far behind in terms of gaining points in the partys recent surveys for ticket was supported for the ticket.

RSS attempt clicks in Raichur

Raja Amaresh Nayak, who was supported by RSS, managed to get BJP ticket from Raichur. Efforts of Tipparaju Hawaldar and Ananth Raju Nayak, however, went in vain despite their lobbying through some of the noted local BJP leaders. The party had to delay allotment of ticket in Raichur as it was caught in a dilemma owing to the interference of RSS leadership, sources said adding that the survey of RSS found Amaresh as the fit contender to take on the sitting MP.

Sanganna Karadi again from Koppal

The RSS team failed to deny ticket to sitting Koppal BJP MP Sanganna Karadi who managed to squeeze through at the last moment to grab the party ticket. According to sources, a large section of BJP leadership besides RSS teams also had supported Dr Basavaraj over Karadi for Koppal seat and the party was under intense pressure to take a final call.
S Lalitha By

Express News Service

BENGALURU : Mandatory Rs 50 minimum balance on Metro Smart cards has not gone down well with commuters. While regular office commuters who top up cards once a month are unaffected, those who are not daily commuters have overwhelmingly opposed this move. Announcements were being made at all 40 Metro stations on Thursday about the new rule and printouts pasted announcing it. With the Smart cards (known as Varshik cards) offering a 15 per cent discount on each ride, a majority of Metro commuters prefer it over buying a travel token.

M Kavya, Project Engineer at Ozone, rushed to board her usual Metro train as the announcement was being made about its arrival. The AFC gate would not open when she placed her card. Reason: The mandatory Rs 50 balance was not there. She rushed to stand in the queue and top up her card to up the stored value. I really do not understand why this sudden rule has been announced. My one way trip from J P Nagar to Cubbon Park costs me just Rs 29. I have Rs 40 on my card right now but cannot travel. It feels unfair. I am waiting for the next train now, she told The New Indian Express.

Bank Manager S Rajendar, who commutes for work between Kevempu Road and MG Road Metro stations, was also displeased. This is not good. Many a time, I have heard counter staff at Metro stations asking for cash instead of cards saying card machines were not working. Unless you top up online in advance, one needs to stand in a queue and take out cash to top up the card in case the balance is not there. The reverse of a digital India is taking place here, he pointed out.

Saranya P, an employee at Vidhana Soudha, said that though a balance of Rs 50 in the card is not a big deal, it makes the big difference between going to office on time or reaching late if one train is missed.

Missing a train during peak hour due to insufficient balance is really upsetting, she added.

Anup N, finance executive at DynPro India, said, There was so much confusion at Vijayanagar Metro station this morning with the lights showing red when many used the card at the gates. They were then told by the staff around about the minimum balance. A bit of time needs to be given. How can Metro announce and implement it within a day?

We had informed commuters in advance: BMRCL

Asked about the sudden step, Executive Director, Operations and Maintenance, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, AS Shankar told TNIE, We had been telling commuters on and off over the last two months that maintaining a minimum balance of Rs 50 on smart cards was necessary. It is only that we chose to implement it from Wednesday.

Insisting that it was done only to avoid inconvenience to the majority of commuters, Shankar explained, When a train reaches the destination station, a good number who alight do not have enough money on the card. Only when the balance is paid at the customer care centre, do the gates open up and the passenger can exit. The queue created at such stations near the AFC gates causes much inconvenience to other commuters. BMRCL was also forced to pay up in some cases, he added. Meanwhile, BMRCL had begun putting up circulars at Metro stations regarding the new rule.
Samuel Merigala By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Following Express report on the alleged sexual harassment of girl students of Madras Christian College by their professor during a department trip, the institution has initiated an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) probe. This move has been welcomed by students, who are happy the management has finally woken up to the situation.

We have passed on the matter to the ICC and met with representatives of the Zoology department on Thursday morning to inform them about this development, said A Duraisamy, principal-in-charge.

It is learnt that the ICC will conform to UGC norms and will be headed by a senior female faculty member and will begin its hearings shortly.The victims should use this opportunity to voice their grievances so the committee can ensure the college is a safe environment for women, said a former ICC member, assuring utmost confidentiality in the hearing process.

Alumni speak up

While it was unclear whether the professor in question, had prior allegations of sexual harassment, Express story triggered a series of allegations from alumni of the Zoology department, some of which are two decades old.

We had complained to our head of department when our juniors told us this professor had harassed them during the department trip and the disciplinary action taken against him. Even I had faced harassment by him but our class boys were very protective so he wasnt able to trouble us, said Bridget Mary, a student of the Department of Zoology (vocational stream) between 1997 and 2000, who wanted to go on record. Another woman student from the 2006-2009 batch, also reached out with allegations of harassment. Back then we (I) didnt have the guts to speak up. I am happy that now girls are speaking up. He is not fit to be a professor, the victim said.

Students in the Zoology department were overwhelmed by the allegations. Our Head of the Department had told us that we had filed the first complaint against this professor. Repeat offenders should not be spared, a representative said, warning of protests if the management backtracks on its promises.
Harish Murali By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: In a bid to tap the rising number of Bangladeshis visiting Chennai for health tourism, US-Bangla Airlines, a private airline based in Bangladesh, will be operating three weekly flights from here beginning Sunday. This will be the second carrier connecting Dhaka apart from the existing Maldivian Airlines.

A senior official from the airport said the airline will be connecting Dhaka to Chennai via Chittagong.There will be services on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday through its 164-seater Boeing aircraft and this was also included in the summer schedule of the airport, he added. The bookings are already open in the website with flights connecting Chittagong and then to Dhaka, which takes over an hour to reach.

The minimum round-trip fare of Dhaka-Chennai-Dhaka has been fixed at Rs 19,500 while it is hovering in the same price for Chattogram-Chennai-Chattogram route, according to the website.

Flight BS 205 will leave Dhaka at 9.10 am and reach Chennai at 12.45 pm and transit at Chittagong around 10.45 am. On the return sector, flight BS 206 will leave Chennai at 1.30 pm and reach Dhaka at 6 pm. The arrival in Chittagong will be at 4.30 pm.

According to H Ubaidullah, an independent aviation consultant, the passengers to Chennai from various cities of Bangladesh, have been increasing over the years as medical tourism in the country is becoming affordable. He further added that several carriers flying to the country are even offering special medical packages for patients.

The US-Bangla airways has also tied up with Apollo Hospitals offering special medical packages for the patient who can avail the offer, said a senior official from the airport.
MUDITA Girotra By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Earlier this month, a student of Delhi Universitys Lady Sri Ram College was allegedly harassed by two men, one of whom grabbed her by her throat, in a lane adjacent to the hostel, prompting her to send an anonymous message on several WhatsApp groups to alert others to be cautious.

The members of the institutions Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) approached the police, which promised regular patrolling, but the paths (leading to the campus, as well as hostel and nearby paying guest accommodations) remain as scary as before. More than 1,000 girls stay on the college campus and other hostels and PGs in the area.

Most girls living in the hostel and PGs nearby said they had been victims of sexual assault on these lanes, even after the MCD installed street lights. The lights dont function most of the time. That is the issue the authorities need to address, one of them said. A hostel boarder said that men on a regular basis park their cars nearby to consume liquor and target girls in the area.They masturbate looking at us. It is scary to even think of taking these lanes at night, one of them said.

Last year, we heard that a girl went missing from the area. She was apparently picked by a few men, who later let her go.A third-year student who lives in a PG in the area told this newspaper that incidents of catcalling, eve-teasing and masturbation in public are common, but this recent incident shook us all.

While there was no response from the police, college and hostel authorities, a student representative in the colleges Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) said, We have been receiving a number of verbal complaints of harassment but written complaints have been few.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Cyberabad cops arrested a head constable and a licensed travel agent for their alleged links with an international human trafficking and visa fraud racket that was busted recently.

The arrested persons are Manjoor Khan and Anjaneyulu Naidu. Khan was earlier working at the Bureau of Immigration at the RGI Airport. After the racket was busted on March 19, he was repatriated to his parent department.

Investigations revealed that he collected huge amounts from suspicious foreign travellers without proper documents. Anjaneyulu used to procure passports, entry VISAs, Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) via courier at the Kuwait Embassy in Mumbai. He then got the passports stamped and sent back the passports to Hyderabad.
China and Italy have maintained their friendship and both countries expect to advance comprehensive cooperation, especially in aerospace and heavy industry.

Seeing Chinas brilliant achievements in outer space and great potential in space industry, Italy as well as the European Union (EU), have shown zealous ambitions to cooperate with China in this cutting-edge industry.

Specifically, China and Italy in 2017 signed an agreement for future cooperation in space science experimental research, space orbital facilities, and experimental loads, under the witness of President Xi Jinping and his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella.

Last February, Chinas first seismo-electromagnetic satellite, Zhangheng 1, was successfully launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in NW Chinas Gobi Desert to study seismic precursors. The satellite carried high-energy particle detectors, some of which were provided by Italian partners, to complete the joint mission.

At present, the two countries are cooperating on the Zhangheng 2 satellite project. This march, China, together with Italy, South Africa, the Netherlands, and other countries, jointly founded the Square-kilometer Array Radio Telescope (SKA) project, which is designed to address a wide range of questions in astrophysics and other areas.

Chinas space activities are rapidly developing and Italy hopes to board Chinas future space station. For Italy, cooperating with China is a new way to carry out scientific research and space technology, said Piero Benvenuti, president of the Italian Space Agency.

Besides outer space, China hopes to work with Italy on the Belt and Road Initiative to jointly build a the new era on sea, on land, in the air, and in culture, according to President Xis signed article in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Over 600 Italian companies have benefited from Chinese capital, creating nearly $20 billion turnover and more than 30,000 jobs. Meanwhile, some 2,000 Italian companies entered the Chinese market, with about $28-billion turnover, according to the statistics released by the Italian-Chinese Cultural Association.

Italy was one of the first European countries to confirm its participation in Chinas first International Import Expo (CIIE). Covering 5,300 square meters, a total of 190 companies were exhibited, ranking the second among the EU countries.

Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri signed a contract with China State Shipbuilding Corporation at the expo to jointly build a large-scale cruise ship. Chinas first large-scale cruise ship has already entered the implementation phase and will be delivered in 2023, said Giuseppe Bono, the CEO of Fincantieri.

We are actively looking for development opportunities and working with Chinese partners to create a stronger competitive advantage, Bono added.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: Jain (deemed-to-be) University will open its off-campus centre at the Knowledge Park, from 2019-20 academic year with 30 course programmes in undergraduate and post-graduate levels in Commerce, Business Studies, Economics, Computer, Life Science, Applied Science and other domains. The admissions to all the courses of the university will be through an entrance examination.

The off-campus centre at Kochi will offer higher education that blends skills, entrepreneurship and choice based specialization with the aim of increasing employability among young people and to create an army of job providers through training in entrepreneurship. In Kerala, we will follow a unique five pronged approach to education, research, placements and training, which include skills for tomorrow, entrepreneurship, choice-based specialized education, research and innovation and placement and training, Jain University chairman Chenraj Roychand was quoted in a release.

He added the institutes Kerala strategy is to work closely with the government to ensure the right skilling agenda is in place to align all the efforts of the institute to make right contribution to the society. As a futuristic education venture, Jain University is always keen to contribute to the national and state skilling agenda through a variety of vocational courses. We are very ambitious and equally excited to work with the administration, he said. The students from Kerala campus shall have access to the universitys centralised placement and training cell in Bengaluru, he said.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With people gearing up for the upcoming elections and candidates going out of their way to woo voters through campaigns, a set of guidelines have been prepared by the Thiruvananthapuram district administration along with Haritha Keralam Mission and Suchitwa Mission to make the elections green.The green protocol is a set of guidelines to reduce the generation of waste and restrict the use of non-biodegradable material.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has already issued an advisory to all parties and candidates to not use single-use plastic in election campaign materials. As per the green protocol, the political parties are allowed to use boards, banners and posters made using cloth materials. Apart from campaigning materials, the authorities have asked the candidates to use disposable plates, plantain leaves, earthen pots, steel plates and glasses to serve food and water.

FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

To persuade candidates from using plastic materials and flex boards, awareness programmes are being conducted under the district administration. The District Collector held a meeting with candidates of political parties so the green protocol rules are strictly followed during the campaigns. "Facilitation centres will be set up at three levels- district, taluk and panchayat so the candidates are persuaded from violating the rules of the green protocol. The candidates have already been given the directions to avoid any kind of plastic material during the campaign," said R Ajay Kumar Verma, executive director, Suchitwa Mission.

The facilitation groups, to be formed at all levels, will include government officers who will take the message to the booth-level.

After a meeting was called by Collector K Vasuki, the candidates have started avoiding the use of flex boards for the election campaign at a certain level. "As per the High Court rule, flex boards have been banned, is illegal and cannot be used. We welcome this concept and have already directed our party members not to keep any flex boards. Likewise, we are trying to find alternatives to plastic glasses and plates to serve food during campaigns," said one of the campaigning managers of a political party which is in the election fray.

The candidates and party workers have also been told to rent out steel plates and glasses from Kudumbashree. In polling stations also, food and water will be served in steel glass and plates as an alternative to plastic.

"Many political parties have taken a positive step and have changed to sticking poster and wall graffiti instead of flex boards," said TN Seema, executive vice-chairperson, Haritha Keralam Mission. Even after the polls, a massive clean-up exercise will be conducted where paper waste generated will be recycled.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Global warming could expose as many as one billion people to mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and Zika by 2080, according to a study that examined temperature changes on a monthly basis across the world.

The news is bad even in areas with only a slight risk of having a climate suited for mosquitoes because the viruses they carry are notorious for explosive outbreaks when they show up at the right place under the right conditions, according to the study published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

ALSO READ | Prior dengue infection may protect against Zika

"Climate change is the largest and most comprehensive threat to global health security," said Colin J Carlson, a postdoctoral fellow in Georgetown University in the US.

"Mosquitoes are only a part of the challenge, but after the Zika outbreak in Brazil in 2015, we're especially worried about what comes next," said Carlson.

The team, led by Sadie J Ryan of the University of Florida and Carlson, studied what would happen if the two most common disease-carrying mosquitoes -- Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus -- track and move as the temperature changes over decades.

According to the World Health Organization, mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals in the world, carrying diseases that cause millions of deaths every year.

Both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus can carry the dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses, as well as at least a dozen other emerging diseases that researchers say could be a threat in the next 50 years.

With global warming, the researchers say almost all of the world's population could be exposed at some point in the next 50 years.

As the temperature increases, they expect year-round transmissions in the tropics and seasonal risks almost everywhere else.

A greater intensity of infections is also predicted.

"These diseases, which we think of as strictly tropical, have been showing up already in areas with suitable climates, such as Florida because humans are very good at moving both bugs and their pathogens around the globe," said Ryan.

More severe climate change would produce proportionally worse population exposures for the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

However, in areas with the worst climate increase, including West African and southeast Asia, serious reductions are expected for the Aedes albopictus mosquito, most noticeably in southeast Asia and west Africa.

This mosquito carries dengue, chikungunya and Zika.

"Understanding the geographic shifts of risks really puts this in perspective. While we may see changing numbers and think we have the answer, imagine a world too hot for these mosquitoes," Ryan said.

The researchers looked at temperatures month by month to project risk through 2050 and 2080.

The modelling did not predict which type of mosquito would migrate but rather accounted for a climate where their spread would not be prevented.

"Based on what we know about mosquito movement from region to region, 50 years is a considerable long time and we expect a significant spread of both types of insects, particularly Aedes aegypti, which thrive in urban environments," Carlson said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday asked the Gujarat government to complete disciplinary action against erring police officials convicted by the Bombay High Court in the sensational Bilkis Bano gang rape case during the 2002 riots.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it will hear on April 23 Bano's plea seeking enhanced compensation.

Bano refused to accept Rs 5 lakh compensation offered by the Gujarat government before the bench also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, The high court had on May 4, 2017 convicted seven people -- five policemen and two doctors -- under sections 218 (not performing their duties) and section 201 (tampering of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The top court had on July 10, 2017, dismissed the appeals of two doctors and four policemen including an IPS officer challenging their conviction by the high court saying there was "clear-cut evidence" against them.

The court while rejecting their appeals, had said the trial court had unreasonably acquitted them.

"You all have been unreasonably acquitted by the trial court in the case despite there being clear-cut evidence against you," the court had said while dismissing the appeals.

IPS officer R S Bhagora, currently serving in Gujarat, was convicted along with four other policemen by the High Court, overturning the trial court order acquitting them.

One policeman Idris Abdul Sayed has not appealed against his conviction.

Counsel for Bhagora had said he was unnecessarily caught in the web of circumstances and had no direct role in the incident.

The bench, however, had refused to go into the matter saying Bhagora was the supervising officer in the case and everything happened under his nose.

Advocate Shobha, appearing for Bano, had opposed the appeals of the convicts.

A special court had on 21 January, 2008 convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment 11 men for raping Bano and murdering seven of her family members in the aftermath of the Godhra riots, while acquitting seven persons including the policemen and doctors.

The convicts had later approached the Bombay High Court challenging their conviction and sought quashing and setting aside of the trial court.

The CBI had also filed an appeal in the high court seeking harsher punishment of death for three of the convicted persons on the ground that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.

According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2002 Bilkis Bano's family was attacked by a mob at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots and seven members of her family were killed.

Bilkis, who was five months pregnant at the time, was gang raped while six other members of her family managed to escape from the mob.

The trial in the case began in Ahmedabad.

However, after Bilkis expressed apprehensions that the witnesses could be harmed and the CBI evidence tampered with, the Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.

The convicts had challenged the order on three main grounds  that all evidence in the case was fabricated by CBI, that Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident, proving that she could not have been gang raped, and the failure to find the bodies of some of her family members which proved that they were not killed.
By PTI

AGARTALA: Former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was prevented from addressing an election meeting at Mohanbhog, a village in Sipahijala district by a group of BJP workers despite presence of police and paramilitary forces, a senior CPI (M) state leader claimed Friday.

Sarkar, who is leader of the opposition in the Tripura assembly, faced BJP workers wrath on Thursday when he had gone to the place to campaign in favour of the party candidate for West Tripura constituency, Shankar Datta.

Despite the presence of police and the paramilitary forces, Sarkar was not allowed to address the rally and he had to come back, CPI (M) state leader state secretary Gautam Das told reporters.

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The village falls in Sarkars home turf Dhanpur.

Das said, Datta lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) through Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Sriram Taranikanti and demanded for proper measures against political violence.

When contacted, BJP spokesperson, Nabendu Bhattacharya said no BJP activist or supporter were present at Mohanbhog.

"We have heard that he faced Sarakar go back slogans and the people gathered there also showed him black flags," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, CPI(M) Lok Sabha candidate for West Tripura constituency Shankar Prasad Dutta accused BJP of attacking him during poll rallies in different parts of the state.

Das alleged that ever since BJP came to power on March 3 last year, they have let loose a "reign of terror in a fascist manner" as a result of which many CPI(M) activists were forced to flee from their houses and a number of the party offices demolished.

He said, police remained silent spectator to these incidents while the "constitution is throttled in the state."

The party secretary alleged that CPI(M) East Tripura candidate Jitendra Chaudhury and that from West Tripura seat Shankar Datta, both sitting Lok Sabha MPs, have been attacked several times during their poll campaign.

He alleged fear psychosis prevailed in the state as the BJP activists were intimidating the opposition party workers and supporters, including those of the Congress.

Das said, a delegation of the CPI-M, led by party General Secretary, Sitaram Yechuri had met the ECI on March 6 last and demanded to take appropriate actions for creating conducive atmosphere for elections.
By Online Desk

A recent investigation into the Budgam Mi17 V5 helicopter crash on February 27 has revealed that an Indian air defence missile was fired shortly before it crashed near Srinagar. The incident claimed the lives of six air force personnel and a civilian.

The final moments of the crash are being investigated to determine whether the IFF (Identity, Friend or Foe) system was off or on, reported the Economic Times.

The investigation will now proceed in a technical direction to find whether the IFF system failed despite multiple layers of security and how the system can be improved.

The missile was activated after the air defence alert was sounded over Jammu and Kashmir after 25 Pakistani jets were detected in the morning.

As per the report, the alert indicated that low flying UAVs also might cross the border and it was possible that a slow-moving target like the Mi 17 V5 helicopter could have been mistaken for a UAV. The report also said that the Air Force might conduct an inquiry into the matter.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: The friendly contest between allies National Conference (NC) and Congress on two Valley seatsAnantnag in south Kashmir and Baramulla in north Kashmirwould make the election interesting, but also give an edge to embattled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti.

As per the seat sharing agreement between NC and the Congress, NC will not contest two Jammu seats and the Congress will not field any candidate for the Srinagar seat. Both parties will field candidates for three other seats, including two in the Valley and the lone seat in Ladakh.

Political observers are of the view that the friendly contest between the two parties for the two Valley seats would divide votes and help the PDP, which is otherwise facing anger in the Valley for its three-year alliance with the BJP in the state.


By UNI

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat High Court on Friday rejected the plea of Congress leader and former convener of the Patidar Ananmat Aandolan Samiti (PAAS) Hardik Patel seeking stay on the conviction by a local court in Mehsana district to enable him to contest the coming Lok Sabha poll.

The court of Justice AG Uraizi had completed the hearing on Thursday and pronounced the verdict on Friday.

It refused to put a stay on the lower court order and treat the case like that of Navjot Singh Sidhu as argued by the Hardik's counsel.

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It was not immediately clear as to whether Hardik after this jolt would approach the higher court or not.

One of his counsels in the matter Salim M Saiyed said that they were awaiting the detailed order but would definitely suggest Hardik to move the Supreme Court if he sought advise.

Notably, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi who appeared for the state in the court on Thursday had vehemently opposed the plea saying that a lawbreaker should not be made a lawmaker.

He also argued that it was not necessary to become MP or MLA to do social service.

He said that there were several FIRs against Hardik.

He had also said that there was difference in the case of Punjab Minister and then MP Navjot Singh Sidhu who had got relief from Supreme Court after getting disqualified as MP following conviction by the High Court.

Notably, the counsel of Hardik IH Syed and Rafik Lokhandwala had sought treatment for Hardik like that in Sidhu's case from the court.

The AG had requested the court to not give any special treatment to Hardik.

READ HERE | Hardik Patel mocks PM Modi's 'Chowkidar' campaign, adds 'Berojgar' to his twitter handle

Hardik's counsels had also maintained that the conviction should be stayed as there was no proof of his presence on the spot during violence, the government counsel opposed his plea saying that there were many criminal antecedents of the former PAAS leader.

In the affidavit submitted by the government counsel, it was argued hat Hardik was not showing respect for law and was flouting the bail conditions in various cases.

Hardik had moved High Court on March 8 seeking stay on the verdict in a rioting case of July 2015 so that he was not disqualified from contesting the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll.

Notably, Hardik who had joined Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders on March 12 had expressed his willingness to contest LS polls from Jamnagar seat.

The nominations have started on Friday and would end on April 4.

The case was pertaining to the violence, arson and attack on the office of the then local BJP MLA Rushikesh Patel in Visnagar town of Mahesana district during a pro-quota rally of PAAS on July 23, 2015.

A local court had on July 25 last year held Hardik Patel, SPG leader Lalji Patel and another Patidar leader AK Patel guilty in the case and sentenced two years' of simple imprisonment and imposed Rs 50 thousand fine.

The court had acquitted the other 14 accused.

The trio was granted regular bail by the Gujarat high court in August last year.

As per existing law, a person convicted in any case with a jail term of two years or above can't contest an election.

Hardik had earlier moved high court against the lower court order seeking its quashing.

He had submitted that he did not commit the crime or done anything wrong.

That appeal is still pending for hearing and the court had not stayed the conviction.

The court would hear that appeal later.

Police had filed a chargesheet against Hardik and 16 others in March 2016 in the case.

Police had pressed the charges under sections 337 (causing hurt by endangering life or personal safety), 394 (causing hurt while committing robbery), 427 (causing damage to property) and 435 (using fire or explosives to cause damage) of Indian Penal Code and also under Gujarat Police Act against him and others.

They are accused of being part of a group of around 500 youths from the Patel community which vandalised the office of the BJP legislator, torched a car kept outside, attacked a journalist on July 23, 2015.

"The group attacked a journalist who was recording the incident, broke video camera and injured him. They also looted a mobile phone worth Rs.10,000 and set a car on fire," the chargesheet had alleged.
By Online Desk

NEW DELHI: India Friday summoned Pakistani deputy high commissioner Syed Haider Shah after it was found that Pakistan has included controversial Khalistani sympathiser Gopal Singh Chawla and Bishen Singh in a committee appointed by Islamabad on the Kartarpur Corridor.

A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement said India has conveyed to Pakistan key proposals put forward by New Delhi at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.

India has also conveyed to Islamabad that the next meeting on modalities would be scheduled only after they receive a response from the neighbouring country over the indicated concerns, the statement further said.

The next round of talks was scheduled to be held on April 2 at Wagah border.

READ HERE | India blasts Pakistan for 'rampant encroachment' of Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara land

In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, the statement said.

The Indian government remains committed to realising the long pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner, it said.

India has asked Pakistan to allow pilgrims to travel on foot, if they wish.

ALSO READ | Pakistan response on India's demands on Kartarpur Corridor inadequate: Amarinder Singh

It also urged that another 10,000 pilgrims be allowed access on festivals like Baisakhi and Gurupurab.

Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: The three-day visit of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Amethi and Rae Bareli culminated in a 65-km road show to the temple town of Ayodhya on Friday. Priyanka is the third Gandhi scion to visit Ayodhya just ahead Lok Sabha elections. Nearly three decades ago, in 1989, her father Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, visited the temple town and had launched his election campaign from Ayodhya.

Almost three decades later, in September 2016, Rahul Gandhi visited Ayodhya becoming the first Gandhi to visit temple town after the demolition of Babri structure in 1992. He had not only skipped a darshan of Lord Ram but also a reference of Ram in the land of Ram. He had restrained himself to a small stopover at Hanumangarhi temple, Priyanka also followed his footprints and winded up her road show by having darshan at the same temple of Lord Hanuman.

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However, during her road show, Priyanka launched a blistering attack on PM Modi accusing him of ignoring the poor and deprived even of his own constituency Varanasi. She asked him if he had visited any village during the last five years.

The PM finds time to travel the world from US to Japan, China to Africa, but he doesn't have time for his own people, she claimed while addressing a gathering at Adilpur, a location en route her road show to Ayodhya.

When I asked people in Varanasi, if the PM visits villages, they said no. I was surprised. I was thinking that with such a strong campaign, he might have done something but while embracing the world

he forgot his own people, she averred.

While the farmers are pressed under rising debts in Modi regime, uplift of poor is not on governments agenda, she said. She accused the Centre of helping a handful of crorepatis but having no money

to waive off farmers loan. This government priority is to make the rich richer, but no concern for poor and needy, she maintained.

Without taking the names, the Congress leader claimed that the Central government led by the BJP was anti-democracy, anti-people, anti-farmer and anti-institution. They can go to any extent to get

the power. This is a fight to save the country, the constitution and the democracy, she stated.

They have been lying to the people for the last five years. This is the weakest government in the political history of the country, said Priyanka. She also blamed the present dispensation for

shutting down MGNREGA scheme and claimed that workers under the scheme had not been paid for six months.

Earlier, starting off from Kumarganj on Friday forenoon, her caravan, protected by a huge contingent of SPG and state police, reached Hanumangarhi in Ayodhya at 5:30 in the evening. During her road show, the Congress general secretary stopped at nine locations to receive peoples greetings and hold small interactions.
An electric bus factory of Chinese car manufacturer BYD in Campinas, Brazil

A decade after Chinese enterprises ambitious stride into the Latin American market, confidence in the robust investing activities from the Asian economy in the far-end region remains high, according to international observers and Chinese business operators.

There is a natural marriage between Latin America and China, as China is a major commodity consumer and Latin America is a commodity producer, Shelly Shetty, head of sovereigns ratings Latin America at Fitch Ratings, pointed out at a panel discussion during the 9th Latin America China Investors Forum hosted in Beijing on March 26.

Such a relationship will go forward, as China, with global infrastructure construction experiences, could feed the thirst of Latin America, which is longing for such investments to increase its competitiveness, Shetty noted.

For the past 30 years, they have already built up fantastic infrastructure in this country. China created a high-speed rail network bigger than that in the world in ten years, echoed Gaston Fernandez, a partner of international law firm Hogan Lovells.

Liu Wei, global head of resource banking at ICBC, agreed that Chinese enterprises are good Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contractors with unique strength and strong financing capability, thus the strong investment in local markets in Latin America.

China, historically, has not been known as a leader in external investment arena, but thats changing. The nature of that investment is starting to change. Infrastructure investors and contractors are now eager to engage, whether in Brazil or Argentina, or any bigger or more advanced economies in the region, Taimur Ahmad, CEO of LatinFinance, a leading intelligence source about financial markets and economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, told Peoples Daily Overseas Social Media.

Latin America is rich in resources, which means a broad market. The business environment in some countries is not inferior to those in developed countries like in Europe and America. It is a new blue ocean for Chinese companies, a Chinese business operator in Brazil surnamed Wang commented.

Chinese enterprises used to stay for shorter period in Latin America, with immediate sell-out after the purchase. Now that Chinese businesses are expanding to other areas, from car manufacturing to road construction, the previously inexperienced Asian investors are gradually gaining local expertise through cooperation with local partners, and the necessity to stay for the long-term has become a widely-recognized rule, Liu observed.

Strong Chinese investment in local markets can in turn provide a sound buffer for Chinese commercial banks to provide longer-term financing services, he added.

China has become the second largest trading partner of Latin America, while Latin America is ranked the second for Chinese overseas investment, following Asia, data from Chinas Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed last year.

In 2017, trade volume between the two sides was $257.8 billion, up 18.8 percent year on year. The same year, Chinese enterprises invested $387 billion in Latin America, and the contracts signed were worth $164.2 billion. Turnover from completion of contract projects was $112.9 billion, Xinhua reported.

We need a very stable Latin America. In the coming five years, for myself, I will try to encourage more investments into those countries, not just buy and sell. We want to stay there longer. It is like a marriage. We have to pledge each other future, Liu concluded.
Sana Shakil and Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: The confessional statement given by Swami Aseemanand in the Samjhauta blast case was not accepted as credible evidence by the Special NIA court in Panchkula which on March 20 acquitted Aseemanand and others due to lack of evidence.

Aseemand had recorded his confessional statement under section 164 CrPc on January 15, 2011 but later retracted from it on May 12, 2011 claiming, he was tortured by NIA to make the statement.

While acquitting the accused, Special Judge Jagdeep Singh said corroboration of confessional statement is necessary if retracted but in this case, there was no corroboration of Swami statement given by Aseemanand to prove his guilt.

Citing judgments of the Supreme Court, the judge said retracted confession can be relied upon if it is found that retraction made by the accused was on a false premise. However, he added that there was reasonable doubt whether the confession statement in this case was voluntary.

Judge Jagdeep Singh said certain safeguards are to be followed to ensure that the confession is made voluntarily by the accused after being apprised of the implications of making such confession.

The court pointed out that Magistrate Rakesh Singh who recorded Aseemanands statement had not inquired from the accused since how long he was in police custody prior to 13.01.2011 when NIA moved the application to record Aseemanads statement. Also, the magistrate did not ask the accused whether he was in police remand at the time when he was produced before him, the court said, adding that Aseemanand had been in police custody for some 20 days prior to recording of his statement.

Thus, from the circumstances leading to recording of the statement u/s 164 Cr.P.C. of accused Aseemanand before learned Magistrate and also in the light of the fact that said accused retracted from his statement at the earliest opportunity. A reasonable doubt may be entertained about the voluntary nature of the statement made by accused Aseemanand, the judge concluded.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that the Congress should apologise to the society for propagating 'Hindu terror' theory which has been categorically discarded by the Panchkula court.

Addressing a media briefing here on Friday, Jaitley attacked the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which was led by the Congress, for its stand on Samjhauta blast case.

"Last week the Panchkula court gave the decision on the Samjhauta blast case of 2007. Since 2007, it was very clear that the state department of the United States would repeatedly provide us with information about the actual terrorists who were involved in that act. But apart from investigating on those lines, there was a theory of Hindu Terror and this slogan of Hindu Terrorism was given by Congress for a vote bank. They created this theory on fake evidence," Jaitley said.

ALSO READ | Samjhauta Express blast: Dastardly act of violence remained unpunished for want of evidence, says Special court

Taking a swipe at Congress leaders visiting temples, Jaitley said: "People who believed Hindus as terrorists are today busy showing their respect towards religion. People can never tolerate calling a whole section terrorist."

He read out a few excerpts of the Panchkula court's decision and emphasised that the judge has said that this is a case of no evidence.

"Yet for the first time in history, the whole Hindu society has been defamed by creating this theory of Hindu terror. Congress and UPA are responsible for this. Society will not forgive them for this. Innocent people lost their lives but real culprits were not probed," he added.

Accusing the Congress of defaming the Hindu society for electoral benefits, he said: "It is our accusation that for the political benefit the Hindu society was defamed through a fake theory. This is why Congress is not even giving a statement on this decision. It is time for them to seek forgiveness from the society."

On Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's visit to Ayodhya, he said: "It is good they are going but should also accept that this is the real birthplace of Ram."

On March 20, a special NIA court in Panchkula had acquitted the four suspects - Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary - in the Samjhauta blast case.

On February 18, 2007, explosions hit the India-Pakistan trans-border Samjhauta Express in Panipat area of Haryana and 68 people died in the blast, including 44 Pakistanis.

Out of the deceased, 33 were men, 19 women and 16 children. Later, two unexploded bombs were also found from the site, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) had said.
By PTI

UNITED NATIONS: In a veiled reference to Pakistan, India said countries that are "apologists for terrorists" will continue to provide "alibis" justifying their actions and inaction, as it called on the Security Council to ensure crucial sanctions measures against the UN proscribed terrorists and entities are strictly enforced.

The Security Council on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution calling upon the Member States to step up efforts to combat and criminalise the financing of terrorists and their activities.

India welcomed the adoption of the resolution, describing it as a "milestone" in global efforts to set up a normative framework to criminalise terrorist financing.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, participating in the Security Council open debate on 'Preventing and Combating the Financing of Terrorism', said New Delhi specifically welcomes the recognition in the resolution of the essential role of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in setting global standards, especially in the context of preventing and combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

Akbaruddin, however, asserted that the Council "can and needs" to do a better job of overseeing the implementation of its resolutions relating to terrorist financing and of the various sanctions measures under the 1267 Al- Qaida and 1988 sanctions regimes.

ALSO READ: North Korean cyberattack looted USD 13.5 million from Indian bank: UN

India warned that "non-compliance of crucial sanctions measures in case of the UN proscribed terrorists and entities renders all of us, Member States, at high risk of facing challenges from these terrorist organisations who are well funded and armed despite international measures."

"As the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in its eating, the utility of any council resolution will, therefore, be in its implementation," he said.

"Also, the unfortunate reality is that States who are apologists for terrorists will continue to provide alibis to justify their actions and inaction too, as was done by a serial offender earlier today," he said, a veiled reference to Pakistan.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi, in her statement during that debate, said that it is important that the FATF and the 1267 sanctions regimes are "not used as political tools by some to advance their geopolitical objectives."

She also made a reference to Jammu and Kashmir in her statement. Akbaruddin asserted that the international community needs to be determined to "continue evolving our toolbox and go by our rule book, rather than be distracted and stray from our determination. Our toolbox consisting of effective implementation of UN sanctions measures could assist in curtailing these activities in some measure."

Describing terrorism as a scourge that is tearing at the fabric of societies across the globe, Akbaruddin said it is a menace that is not quarantined to any region.

"People now live in fear of terrorist threats in countries across the world. Combating Terrorism is viewed by many States and their people as one of the most fundamental security policy priorities that require global responsiveness," he said, calling the adoption of the resolution an answer to "a felt need.

"The global community is impatient for action. The UN collectively needs to do more and do it much more effectively. For its part, India will be a willing partner in this endeavour," he said at the open debate convened by France under its Presidency of the Security Council for the month of March.

Akbaruddin further highlighted that many Council resolutions, including the various sanctions measures under the 1267 and 1988 sanctions regimes, where asset freeze is a core part of states' obligations call for regular reporting under these measures.

While welcoming the resolution's focus on ensuring full compliance with the measures imposed by the Security Council, Akbaruddin voiced concern that no effective action is taken on instances of reported non-compliance with the sanctions measures.

He pointed out that the report of the 1267 sanctions Monitoring team dated January 15, 2019 notes that Member States have reported to the Monitoring Team, on an ad hoc basis and a comprehensive review of frozen assets has not been undertaken.

He expressed hope that there will action on this front by member states.

"We welcome the Council and its various bodies taking note and rectifying instances of non-implementation to enhance awareness and effective implementation of the various council resolutions on Counter Terrorism.

We believe that this work could be strengthened with more cooperation between the FATF and the various UN entities" "Bodies such as the FATF have listed risks posed by Da'esh, Al- Qaida,?Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation?, Lashkar-e-Taiba?,?Jaish-e-Mohammed?, Haqqani Network, and persons affiliated with the Taliban," he added.

By other terms of the resolution, all States shall in a manner consistent with their obligations under international law ensure that their laws and regulations make it possible to prosecute and penalise, as serious criminal offences, the provision or collection of funds, resources and services intended to be used for the benefit of terrorist organisations or individual terrorists.

The resolution also calls upon Member States to conduct financial investigations into terrorism-related cases and to more effectively investigate and prosecute cases of terrorist financing, applying criminal sanctions as appropriate.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Though troubles between the BJP and the Shiv Sena havent completely died up, leaders of both the parties are not leaving any opportunity to show that saffron alliance has gelled well. A similar exercise would be seen in Gandhinagar on Saturday when BJP president Amit Shah would lead a grand road show before filing nomination.

Shah spoke to Thackeray on Thursday night to invite him to Gandhinagar at the occasion and Thackeray too has accepted the invitation, party sources said here on Friday.

After the break-up of the alliance in 2014, the Shiv Sena had always remained particularly harsh about Amit Shah. He was always referred to as Afzalkhan by the Shiv Sena leading to bitter battle of words between both the parties. However, now the Shiv Sena is said to be trying to keep him in good books to keep its share of power in the state.

The NCP took potshots at the Shiv Sena after the news broke out that Thackeray would attend Amit Shahs rally. Would it mean that the tiger from Maharashtra has now found a safe place in the lap of Afzalkhan, asked NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: Security forces on Friday recovered a US-made M4 assault rifle from the two Jaish-e-Mohammad militants, who were killed in an encounter in central Kashmirs Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A police official said a joint party of police, CRPF and army launched search operation Nowgam area in central Kashmirs Budgam district last evening after inputs that two Jaish militants were hiding there.

As the search operation started, militants hiding in the area fired on troops. The fire was returned by troops and in the ensuing gunfight, two Jaish militants were killed, he said. Sources said four army men sustained injuries in the gunfight and have been hospitalised.

ALSO READ | Two militants killed, 5 soldiers injured in Jammu and Kashmir encounter

DIG of police central Kashmir Vidhi Kumar Birdi told this newspaper that US-made M-4 assault rifle and an AK-47 rifle was recovered from the slain militants, whose identity was being ascertained. M-4 carbine rifle is being used by Pakistan and US special forces. It is the second M4 rifle seized in militancy-hit Kashmir in last six months.

Earlier, on October 31, 2018, security forces had recovered M4 rifle from the encounter site in Tral in south Kashmirs Pulwama district.

Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhars nephew Usman Haider, who headed sniper squad of the outfit, was killed in the Tral gunfight and M4 rifle was recovered from his possession.
Santwana Bhattacharya By

Theres just a fortnight or so left for polling to begin. And just the other day, answering a reporters query, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said something curious: If the party asks, she would contest. There are two ways to read that remark. Perhaps it was just a diplomatic, non-committal, open-ended way to parry a question frequently asked. But supposesince it was a public statement and candidates are still being selected for the latter phasesthat this was a candid reflection of the state of play.

Could there possibly be a shorter time-frame within which to plan the electoral debut of someone like Priyanka? Even with her Indira-esque allure, wouldnt such a late entry into the fray be tempting fate? And thus, wasting a factor of unknown potential? At the very least, does this not speak of a lack of definiteness in planning?

With the Congress, you often see such a split between a corporate flowchart-like plotting of the future and a near-shambolic absence of any plan that you want to ask: Is there a method to the madness, or do the method and the madness work together, on different planes?

Both elements seem to infect the party, almost like a split personality. The NYAY scheme belongs to the side of method. Rahul Gandhi has been talking about such a scheme for a whilethough few noticed, despite the huge awareness of distress and joblessness. But the indecisiveness gene is very much there too, sometimes even on fundamental questions. Congress planners should have asked themselves long ago one such: Should we go for a grand pan-India alliance of anti-BJP parties or not? And a firm decision on that one way or the other would have entailed cohesive patterns of behaviour thereafter. A willingness to subsume the partys selfish interests under a larger objective, or going for broke solitarily.

The required answer has been clear since the Bihar Assembly elections. But one finds the Congress still prevaricating, still partly maladjusted to the contemporary nature of Indian polity, where a multitude of social blocs all have their independent voices. Mayawati exists, with all her faults, as a forceful political personality. So does Mamata Banerjee. But their ambivalence towards the Congress is entirely reciprocated, and the latter perhaps happened first. April is almost upon us, and talks are still going on with the AAP in Delhithough Sheila Dikshits ego may prevail in the end. Some late alliances were firmed up in the nick of time. The impression is hard to shake off that it was in the alliance game, but lost out on big stakes. And that its partly because the December Assembly elections had left it contemplating a more grandiose summer. That it is still drawn by nostalgia for the old Pax Romana model.

Yes, there are games that move entirely on the play of chance. And then there are those that call upon the players deepest strategic reservoirs and tactical alertness. It is not surprising that politics, seen in this light, is often compared to chess. Balancing cosiness with the Left in Delhi, a fuzzy friendship in Bengal and outright skull-n-bones in Kerala calls for a grandmasters skills. Yet, the sheer unpredictability of events, the shifting fuzz of things beyond ones control, does not disappear. There are disappointments and happy accidents, there is a heuristic discovery of what works and what does not (like those much-hyped elections to the Youth Congress), there is space to look out for the bowler doing the Mankad, and a time to move tactically with things like the temple run.

But all of it cannot be play. Soft Hindutva is not to be trifled lightly with, secularism is not just a T-shirt slogan, these are forms of politics that call for deep commitment, that have a serious content. Can you be a janeudhaari party, for instance, and claim to speak seriously on behalf of Dalits? The Congresss tactical fluidity on deep political issues has led India to the edge of the precipice on far too many occasions. Its always a slippery slope, with potential for deep social consequences.

Yes, there is a vital need for tactical sharpnessand one cant fault a party for being alive to that. But can the Congress field someone like Navinchandra Bandiwadekar, a Sanatan Sanstha man, from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg and still claim to be doing meaningful politics? Tactics, tactics... partymen may say. But whats with waking up at the last minute and replacing Sanjay Nirupam with Milind Deora as the Mumbai unit chief? Even if Mumbai goes last to polling in the state? And pray, what was the voluble Nirupam doing there in the first place? His Shiv Sena past is one thing. More to the point, in the context of Maharashtra, is his Bihar nativity. Before him, we once had the UP-origin Kripashankar Singh there. What precise strategic brilliance was involved in placing figures from the north in charge of a city riven by nativist, anti-north rage, even if one doesnt buy into that politics? Was it a reading that, since the Maratha space is taken, one might as well go for the migrant vote?

Even with all the room available in politics for a creative harvesting of incompatibles, there is a limit beyond which the voice with which you speak becomes incoherent. You cant be liberal in New Delhi and play atavistic games on the Konkan coast or a Kerala temple without attracting the charge of duplicity. Do all the loose ends tie up in a neat economic vision? The claim, as of now, seems to rest on that, with NYAY being offered as a source of succour for those at the bottom of Indias vast pyramid. There are those who say there is a touch of madness to that method too, but thats another debate.

Santwana Bhattacharya

Political Editor, The New Indian Express

Email: santwana@newindianexpress.com
Karamatullah K Ghori By

A friend in need is a friend indeed, goes an old adage. Ask a Pakistani if the dictum is still good and he will say, indeed it is.

Pakistan is proud of its steadfast friend, China. An oft-repeated slogan says the two countries friendship is deeper than the ocean and higher than the Himalayas.

Recently, at the UN in New York, China served a reminder to the world that its commitment to Pakistan was more than sloganeering when it helped its friend, once again, to dodge the UN Sanctions Committee on Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

The US, UK and Francesharing membership with China on the committeehad moved a resolution to have the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, declared a global terrorist. However, China scuttled the move on a mere technicality; it needed more time to study and evaluate whether Azhars shenanigans justified a place for him on the ignoble list.

It wasnt the first time that China bailed Pakistan out of a tight corner. It had rendered the same service to its all-weather friend, in 2016 and 2017, to keep Azhar beyond the reach of the sanctions committee on similar technicalities. It didnt think, on those occasions, that there was enough evidence to nail Azhar as a global terrorist, a la Osama bin Laden.

The move against him, this time around, had better credentials. It had the Pulwama carnage in the perspective, which raised the expectations of India and its western friends for a different outcome. By the same token, Pakistan had more to be concerned with the possibility of an outcome qualitatively different than before, which could only raise the stakes against it at a time of a tense, eye-ball to eye-ball, stand-off with India where both are staring down each other in a battle of wrecking nerves.

Pakistan may well have dodged the bullet at the UN, courtesy of its tested friend. But it doesnt make it any easier for it to end the menace of terrorism that has been plaguing it for so long on both domestic and international fronts.

Apart from putting it at loggerheads with immediate neighbours, like India and Afghanistan, the monster of terrorism has exacted a heavy toll in lives and loss of property at home. Pakistani leaders and spokesmen never fail to remind their audience, worldwide, that ever since joining Americas war on terror, 17 years ago, Pakistan has lost more than 70,000 civilians and soldiers in its battles against terrorists, besides incurring a loss of tens of billions of dollars.

Its not only that in China that Pakistan has a reliable foil on the international front but for the first time it has a leader who isnt shy to take on terrorism.

Imran Khans detractors at home may have routinely sullied his image in the past as Taliban Khan for point scoring but he has proved them wrong by taking on the extremist and fascist politico-religious outfitslike JeM and JuD (Jamaat-ud-Dawa), successor to erstwhile LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) and headed by the notorious Hafiz Saeedhead on since becoming Pakistans leader last summer.

In the wake of last months Pulwama incident, and the ensuing bloody duel with India, Imran has come down hard on these radical extra-state actors. Days before China throwing his government a lifeline, Imran cracked down harshly on both JeM and JuD, seizing their assets, arresting hundreds of their followers and putting both Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed under house arrest.Azhars son, fire-belching like his fanatical father, has been jailed.

Even the so-called humanitarian and social-welfare activities of these outfits have come under government scrutiny. They will henceforth be overseen by official administrators to ensure they dont use their humanitarian foil for fascist endeavours.

Whats novel in Imrans bid to sever the fiends head is taking all the madrassas (religious seminaries) under government control. These madrassas have been seen as the hatcheries breeding future terrorists. Imrans move is, thus, unique in aiming to drain the swamp.

The long overdue course-correction by Imran on an issue that has had Pakistan in its thrall for over two decades is a stitch in time. The Pulwama attack may have provided him with just the right calculus to go on the offensive against those who have used religious angularities and sensitivities to augment their fascist agendas. Imrans political opponents may blame him for succumbing to outside pressure. Be that as it may, but what hes doing is in the best interests of Pakistan itself.

Religious fanaticism of a rabid species has morphed into a rampant culture of terrorism. Nihilistic preaching from the pulpit has brainwashed a whole generation of Pakistanis and afflicted their psyche in ways unthinkable in Pakistans early years. A young,viciously indoctrinated, college student recently killed his professor in Bahawalpur, central Punjab, because he wouldnt denounce saying welcome

as un-Islamic. Back to the Stone Age?

Karamatullah K Ghori

Former Pakistani diplomat

Email: K_K_ghori@hotmail.com
By IANS

KURNOOL: In a scathing attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu for promoting his son into politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged people to vote for 'son-set' to ensure 'sunrise' of the state.

Launching BJP's campaign for April 11 elections to Andhra Pradesh Assembly and all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state, he said he was sure that there will also be sunset of corruption in these polls.

FOLLOW OUR FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

Modi hit out at the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief for dynasty politics and corruption. He alleged that the schemes in the state were designed for scams.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, who earlier kicked off the campaign in Telangana and targeted its Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao for dynasty politics, voiced concern over the trend dominating the country. He said be it TDP, YSR Congress or Congress, he was fighting against this mindset.

Listing out the Central institutes sanctioned for the state and works done by the Centre during last five years, Modi said had he got cooperation from the state government, he would have done more.

"I did my best but those in power have no intention to develop Andhra Pradesh," he said targeting Naidu, whose TDP walked out of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in 2018.

Calling Naidu 'U-turn Babu' Modi alleged that there was corruption in developing the new state capital and various other projects.

"People know what are the tricks being played and whose coffers are being filled. When your chowkidar raised questions and held him to account, 'U-turn babu' took U-turn from the promise of developing Andhra Pradesh and distanced himself from NDA."

"U-turn Babu found friends who are on 'bail-gadi' and treading the path where Pakistan is treating them as the hero," said Modi.

He also accused the TDP chief of spreading lies for vested interests and to hide his failures. Pointing out that the TDP and the Congress ruled Andhra Pradesh for decades and Naidu was the Chief Minister for a long time, he said they neglected farmers and cited Polavaram as a living example.

"The project is being built for seven decades. Our government released Rs 7,000 crore but this project remained incomplete as the state government is going on increasing the project cost," he said.
Jayanth P By

Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Andhra Pradesh on Friday, the BJP has finalised the schedule of the tours of its star campaigners for the ensuing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Besides the two public meetings by the PM, visits of BJP National President Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have been finalised.

While PM Modi would address the second meeting in Rajamahendravaram on April 1, his cabinet colleague Rajnath Singh would also campaign in the State.

Rajnath Singh will visit Vizianagaram and either Narsapuram or Narsaraopet on April 2. Party chief Amit Shah will address a rally and public meeting in Tirupati on April 4. He will also hold a road show in Visakhapatnam. On April 5, Yogi Adityanaths visit has been confirmed. The venues are yet to be fixed, BJP national general secretary and co-incharge of State party, Sunil Deodhar, told TNIE.

FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

The party had initially planned to schedule another meeting by the PM in Chittoor/Tirupati, but it could not materialise.

Similarly, the State leaders are trying to have Amit Shah address another meeting in the State, which is still under discussions. As for the PMs Fridays visit, Narendra Modi, who kick-started the poll campaign across the country on Thursday, is scheduled to reach Kurnool by 4 pm after concluding his election campaigns in Odisha and Telangana. He will land on the new air strip and proceed to the city in a chopper.

He will reach the venue  STBC Grounds  and address the public. As per the schedule, the meeting would conclude by 5 pm and the PM would leave for New Delhi, the BJP leaders explained. This will be the first visit of Modi to Kurnool as the PM.

Schedule of star campaigners

March 29: Narendra Modi to visit Kurnool

April 1: The PM to visit Rajamahendravaram

April 2: Rajnath Singh to visit Vizianagaram and Narsapuram/Narsaraopet

April 4: Amit Shah to visit Tirupati and Visakhapatnam

April 5: Yogi Adityanath to visit (venues to be finalised)
Arabinda Panda By

Express News Service

CUTTACK: The embers of the pyre of Pulwama martyr CRPF constable Manoj Kumar Behera of Ratanpur under Niali block had hardly cooled down, but the family has been caught in a political tussle.

A competition of sorts had erupted among the three political parties - the BJP, Congress and BJD - to capitalise on the tragedy which even went to the extent of offering Manojs wife Ililata ticket to contest in the elections from Niali Assembly seat. Ililata, still trying to cope with her loss, flatly refused.

Leaders of the three parties had approached me to contest the polls but I refused. When my husband laid down his life fighting with the enemies of our country, how I can fight the electoral battle with my neighbours and well wishers, the martyrs wife explained.On being insisted, she gave a proposal to the leaders to ensure she is elected uncontested if they truly honour her martyred husband. However, they termed it impossible.

Beheras wife Ililata with her daughter

I Expres

Meanwhile, as the election frenzy grips the State, the mood in the village and the region is still sombre as the people continue to grieve the loss. Amid the gloom, though, prevails a sense of satisfaction brought by Indias retaliation by conducting air strikes on terrorist camps at Balakot 12 days later.

Ililata and the villagers, especially youth, expressed happiness over the air strikes and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modis bold move. I lost my husband just two years after my marriage. But I am obliged to Prime Minister Modi for avenging my husbands death by eliminating Pakistan-sponsored terror ists, she said. In fact, the Balakot air strike seems to have enhanced the image of BJP in Ratanpur which has a sizeable supporters of both Congress and the ruling BJD. The impact of Indias fierce reprisal is more visible among the youth who are in complete admiration of the move.

However, Cuttack District Congress Committee general secretary Kedarnath Sahoo and BJD-supported Sarpanch of Ratanpur Abhimanyu Sahu claimed that the Balakot air strike claim would have a very little impact on the electoral decision of voters. Ililata said she has received an assistance of `25 lakh from the State Government and an ex-gratia of `35 lakh from the CRPF. The CRPF authorities had also offered a job to her. But since Ililata has the responsibility of her 1-year-old daughter Manaswini, she is yet to take up the job offer.

The State Government had promised to name the local school and road after Manoj besides setting up a martyrs memorial in the village. However, the assurances are yet to be fulfilled, she said.Ililata, who is a graduate, also pleaded with the State Government for providing a job in a nearby place as it would help her look after the family. Manojs father Jatadhari Behera (65) and mother Sabitri Behera (58) said the ration card which they had availed under Antyoday Anna Yojana was withdrawn by the State Government recently during the implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Jia Wenqi and Jia Haixia, the former who is blind in both eyes and latter who is a double amputee, have made their names known to the world with their touching perseverance that led them to plant trees for 14 years and turn their desolated village into a thriving green ground.

The two 60-year-old elder men from Jingxing County in northern Chinas Hebei province, took social media by storm in 2016 thanks to a documentary about the pairs tree-planting efforts. However, shortly after their rise to fame, their trees were flooded, leaving their decade-long efforts in ruin.

While the pair are rarely seen working together like before, villagers say the old men are still striving on their own planting businesses, leading their own teams respectively to cultivate more trees in different places, which they believe can also encourage more people to join their project, as well as enlarge the forest area.

Throughout 2017, Jia Wenqi planted no trees, but went to Hunan, Inner Mongolia, and other places for meetings and activities related to tree planting. He said that these experiences have broadened his horizons. The beautiful scenery in southern China and the blue sky and grassland in Inner Mongolia not only strengthened his determination to green his hometown, but also made him realize that he could not simply grow fast-growing poplar trees, but must also involve other economic forests and engage in diversified operations.

Jia Haixia, unlike his fellow, did not get distracted with other things, and insisted on growing poplar. By the autumn of 2017, more than 2,000 trees have been planted, and the survival rate is quite good. The old man said he plans to grow 4,000 more in 2019 and 2020.
MVK Sastry By

Express News Service

NIZAMABAD: For the first time since EVMs were introduced in India, ballot papers are making a comeback in Nizamabad. Hopes of using EVMs evaporated on Thursday, as 185 candidates were left in the fray after four withdrew their nominations.

The contest for Nizamabad is significant as incumbent MP and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Raos daughter K Kavitha is contesting on a TRS ticket. She is pitted against the Congress Madhu Yaskhi and the BJPs D Aravind.

Also in the fray are 178 farmers, who filed their nominations to protest against the Centre for not conceding their demand for MSP for turmeric, and setting up of a turmeric board. Election officials are now busy allotting symbols to each of the contestants.

ALSO READ | Cross-check more votes on VVPATs, SC tells Election Commission

The Election Commission used ballot papers till 1999, and EVMs were introduced for the first time in the then undivided state of Andhra Pradesh in the 2004 General elections.

Though political parties havent expressed an opinion on using ballot papers in Nizamabad, there is a growing feeling among voters that the number of invalid votes would go up. Officials fear the entire exercise would be time-consuming as each person would take about 10 minutes to vote. The counting of votes would also take very long.

Polls to be postponed?

There are fears that the polling date might be postponed because the printing of ballot papers and voter awareness programmes would take time. However, there has been no communication on this from the poll panel.

FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

TRS candidate K Kavitha said she is not worried about the mass nominations but wants the farmers to know who was responsible for the inordinate delay in announcement of MSP for turmeric and setting up of a turmeric board.

Congress Madhu Yashki said he welcomed the development as it illustrates an awakening among the farmers.

D Aravind (BJP) said that in the backdrop of the mass nominations filed by farmers, the BJPs assurance in favour of farmers demands is being received positively by the farmers community.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, profoundly seen as a battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AICC chief Rahul Gandhi, have much room for regional parties? The TRS working president KT Rama Rao, while speaking to select media houses here on Thursday, affirms that regional parties are also capable of having a national outlook and that they need not wear a national party tag to have an agenda pertaining to the entire nation.

The pink partys star campaigner is said to intensify his poll campaign starting with his very own constituency, Sircilla, on Friday. He is set to address more than 24 roadshows and several public meetings across State until April 9. Here are the excerpts from his interview:

In the battle between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, what would TRS role be?

The common notion that regional parties do not have a national agenda is inherently wrong. A political party does not have to be a central party to have a national outlook. The TRS government has supported the families of soldiers killed in the Pulwama attack, helped people affected by natural calamities in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and others states. The BJP and the Congress, are in fact, just bigger regional parties in some sense. The BJP has no presence in the South, except in Karnataka while the Congress is limited to just four states. Lets put it this way: while the Congress and the BJP are like bigger regional parties, the TRS is a small regional party.

FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

If the TRS has a national agenda, then why did it not react to the Triple Talaq issue?

The Triple Talaq issue was brought to the national forefront by just one party  the BJP  and was opposed by another party  the Congress  primarily to garner votes. We are not going to look at the Triple Talaq issue just for votes.

The Congress party had alleged that the TRS won the Assembly polls due to EVM tampering. Further, they also won the Council polls for which ballot papers were used. Comments?

The Congress is blaming the EVMs for its defeat in the Assembly polls. At the same time, they had also won Assembly elections in other states where EVMs were used. If the results are against the mandate of the people, they will revolt against it. When NTR was dethroned from power, people were up in arms. Congress should respect the peoples mandate. As far as the TRS party is concerned, it does not matter if it was ballot papers or EVMs that were used. Ballots were used in the 2010 by-elections but around 25,000 votes were invalid in Sircilla at that time. Taking that into consideration, using ballot papers in Nizamabad may affect the victory margin of the TRS.

Rumours of your cousin and former Minister T Harish Rao being sidelined by the party have been doing rounds for a while now, especially since he was not given a Cabinet post. Comments?

People must understand that I am also not in the Cabinet now. Do you think I have also been sidelined by the party? When I had first joined the party, I had worked like any other ordinary party worker. At that time, Harish was given a prominent post. Right now, both of us are out of the Cabinet. Some people are making an issue out of nothing. One should remember that nobody is indispensable in a democracy. Both Harish and I will do the job the party entrusts us with, whatever it may be.

You had mentioned that your father K Chandrasekhar Rao has the capability of becoming the Prime Minister. In case that materialises, will you step into his shoes and become the Chief Minister of State?

I had only said that KCR has the capacity to lead the nation. In actuality, I wish for him to lead the State of Telangana for the next 10 to 15 years. I have no illusions, I am fortunate enough to be in the TRS party and do not have any grand ambition or plans.

In the event of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu getting into the race for the Prime Minister post after the elections, will the TRS party support him?

The stark reality is that the people of Andhra Pradesh are going to defeat the TDP in the Assembly elections. Naidu has no role to play in national politics. He will not even have any role to play in AP post elections. Naidus manipulative skills and his ability to fool people are not going to work anymore. Though the TRS is not contesting the AP elections, Naidu keeps uttering the our Chief Ministers name more than NTR himself. The same leader tried to forge an alliance with the TRS in the Assembly polls. When we refused to have an alliance with him, he began attacking KCR.

There have been numerous allegations of the TRS becoming the B-team of the BJP. Comments?

When Narendra Modi visits Hyderabad, he keeps alleging that TRS is a B-team of the Congress. Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, says that TRS is the B-team of the BJP. We (TRS) are not subordinate to anyone anymore. In fact, we are the A-team and the only team true to the people of Telangana.
By AFP

DHAKA: The death toll from a horrific blaze that ripped through a Bangladesh skyscraper rose on Friday to 25, including some who leapt to their deaths, as firefighters combed through the charred shell of the building.

A day after flames tore through the 22-storey FR Tower in Dhaka, trapping hundreds of office workers, police said they intended to talk to the owner of the building as part of their enquiry.

Some of those stuck inside made it to safety by sliding down cables on the side of the building, but as shocked onlookers watched, others took their chances and jumped in a bid to escape the smoke and heat.

At least six people including a Sri Lankan national died in this way, officials said.

Senior fire service official Mohsin Ali said that rescuers were scouring the building, concentrating on the worst-affected eighth-to-tenth floors. The fire department initially put the death toll at 19 but police said Friday that six more had died in the fire.

"The death toll is 25. We have handed over 24 bodies to their relatives," deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Mostak Ahmed said. The other victim's remains are being held until relatives are located.

Ahmed said police also wanted to speak to the owner of the building after authorities alleged the tower lacked adequate safety measures.

There was no immediate indication if others are missing, but more than 70 people were treated in hospital in the wake of the blaze. The fire erupted on Thursday afternoon in the upmarket Banani commercial district.

Firefighters backed by military specialists -- some in helicopters -- tackled the blaze, lowering ropes to help people escape, while rescuers on long ladders smashed through windows.

Bangladesh authorities have ordered a probe into the incident to examine claims that the skyscraper lacked fire equipment, its fire exits were inadequate and it had been illegally extended.

Fire disasters regularly hit Bangladesh's major cities where safety standards are notoriously lax.

The latest inferno erupted barely a month after at least 70 people were killed in Dhaka apartment buildings where chemicals that were being stored illegally exploded -- unleashing a blaze that took more than 12 hours to control.

Death traps

According to a 2012 study by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, most high-rise buildings in the capital have inadequate fire safety measures.

"We found only two buildings fully compliant," BUET professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansari said of the survey on 112 buildings, adding that some they looked at were little more than "death traps".

Fire department director Shakil Newaj said they had warned the FR Tower management to improve fire safety standards, but they did not pay heed.

"Fire safety measures in the building were very weak. There were no sprinklers. Fire exits existed only in name," Newaj told AFP.

A June 2010 fire in the nearby neighbourhood of Nimtoli, one of the most densely populated districts of the capital, killed 123 people.

In November 2012, a fire swept through a nine-story garment factory near Dhaka killing 111 workers. An investigation found it was caused by sabotage and that managers at the plant had prevented victims from escaping.

Experts said inspections of buildings in the city frequently found fire stairs blocked with stored goods and exit doors locked.
By IANS

WASHINGTON: China poses a security threat to the US and its allies, and its infrastructure as well as connectivity projects, including the One Belt One Road (OBOR), have an element of "national security", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said.

Pompeo's comments came as China is preparing to host the second Belt and Road Forum in April.

The OBOR, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative, aims to connect Europe, Asia and Africa through a wide network of roads, highways, sea lanes and ports. Its jewel project, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), cuts through Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi did not attend the launch of the Belt and Road forum in 2017, saying the CPEC violates its territorial sovereignty.

Pompeo, during a conversation with Rich Lowry at the National Review Institute's 2019 Ideas Summit, said on Thursday that Beijing posed a security threat to the US, its friends and allies.

"They're moving into the South China Sea not because they want freedom of navigation. Their efforts to build ports around the world aren't because they want to be good shipbuilders and stewards of waterways. They have a state national security element to each and every one of them.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is no different," Pompeo said.

"We've said this every place we've gone, every - if you talk to any of our ambassadors or our charges, they will tell you we are happy to compete on a fair, transparent basis under rule of law with the Chinese anywhere in the world. We'll win more than our fair share, but we'll lose some to them too.

"But when you're showing up with a non-economic offer, whether that's through state-facilitated, below-market pricing or handing someone something knowing that you can foreclose on their nation shortly, so predatory lending practices, that's not straight and we are working diligently to make sure everyone in the world understands that threat."

The world is waking up to this threat, Pompeo said.

"I think Asia and, Southeast Asia in particular, are waking up to this risk, and I hope the State Department can continue to be a part of making sure that they see that, identify it, and that it becomes more difficult for the Chinese to engage in these practices."

Indian envoy to Beijing Vikram Misri had said earlier this month that New Delhi cannot be a part of China's Belt and Road Initiative as it ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"India shares the global aspiration to strengthen connectivity and it is an integral part of our economic and diplomatic initiatives," Misri had said.

"We are ourselves working with many countries and international institutions in our region and beyond on a range of connectivity initiatives.

"However, it is also our belief that connectivity initiatives must be based on universally recognised international norms, good governance and rule of law.

"No country can participate in an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity," the envoy said in an oblique reference to the CPEC.
By Online Desk

LONDON: Indian fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, the main accused in the Rs.13,000 crore Punjab National Bank scam, has been denied bail for a second time by London's Westminster Magistrate court on Friday. The next hearing in the case is fixed for 26 April.

Arguing on behalf of the Indian government, the UK prosecutor told Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot that there was a "substantial risk" that the prime accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud to the "amount of between USD 1 and 2 billion", would flee and attempt to interfere with witnesses and evidence. He alleged that evidence related to the case was destroyed on behalf of Nirav Modis orders.

"Given the nature and seriousness of charges and the resources available to him, there will be an overwhelming desire to flee the jurisdiction and interfere with the administration of justice," said Cadman, representative of Crown Prosecution Service.

The UK prosecutor also alleged that Modi had called up Ashish Lad, a witness in the PNB fraud case and threatened to kill him, and also offered him an incentive of Rs 2 million to provide a false statement.

Nilesh Mistry and three other witnesses were similarly targeted by Modi and mobile phones and a server holding "material critical to the fraud" were destroyed at request of Modi, the court was told.

"Due to the nature of his business he has at his disposal diamonds, gold and pearls," added Cadman.

Looking more dishevelled and dressed in a similar white shirt as his first court appearance last week, the 48-year-old fugitive was brought to the dock to be produced before the Chief Magistrate and sat behind a glass enclosure as the hearing got underway.

The court was also told about Modi's attempt to attain citizenship in jurisdictions less likely to be willing to extradite him to India, including Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean at the end of 2017 on the basis of a USD 200,000 investment.

However, Vanuatu citizenship request was declined as a result of the ongoing Indian criminal investigation.

Modi's defence team, led by barrister Clare Motgomery - who was also the barrister for former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya in his extradition case - opposed the CPS claims of Modi being a flight risk and stressed that in fact Modi sees UK as a "haven where his case will be fairly considered".

"The size and nature of these allegations is not a safe touchstone by which you can judge if he should be granted bail," said Montgomery, who claimed a series of "underlying issues" were behind PNB withdrawing insecure lending.

At the very start of the hearing, Judge Arbuthnot said she was getting a sense of "deja vu", in reference to her having ordered the extradition of Mallya in December last year.

"Do we know which part of India he [Modi] is being sought in," the judge asked, to try and establish which jail Modi is likely to be held in.

She was told by the CPS that it would be an extradition to Mumbai and that he may in fact be held in the same Arthur Road Jail as that prepared for Mallya, to which the judge said in a light-hearted vein that it could even be the same cell as we know "there is space" from the previous video submitted during Mallya extradition trial.

In another throwback to the Mallya trial, Montgomery raised the issue of the state of the paperwork submitted by the Indian authorities, claiming it "made her cry" at one stage.

The judge concurred with her and was very firm about proper indexing of all documents to be submitted to the court in relation to the case.

Cadman assured the court that the 'point had been conveyed' to the Indian authorities.

A three-member joint Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) team from India was present in court and handed over a new file of evidence which was review by the judge before the hearing.

Modi is believed to have been living in the UK on an Investor Visa, applied for in 2015 - at a time when the so-called 'golden visa' route was relatively easier for super-rich individuals to acquire residency rights in the UK based on a minimum of 2-million pound investment.

The greater the level of investment, the faster the process to acquire indefinite leave to remain (ILR).

According to official Home Office data, around 76 Indian millionaires have used this visa category to gain permanent settlement in Britain since 2009, with a peak of 16 Indian applicants in 2013 and seven last year.

The UK government has since tightened the criteria for the category over concerns of its misuse for money laundering purposes.

Under reforms unveiled earlier this year, applicants must now prove that they have had control of the required investment for at least two years, rather than 90 days, or provide evidence of the source of those funds.

Modi had been denied bail by District Judge Marie Mallon at his first hearing soon after his arrest by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch as he tried to open a new bank account and has been in custody at HMP Wandsworth prison in south-west London since then.

During his first court appearance, it emerged that the diamantaire accused of defrauding PNB via fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) had been in possession of multiple passports, since revoked by the Indian authorities.

(With PTI inputs)
By IANS

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump told supporters at a rally that he had vanquished a corrupt group of Democrats, the news media and the Washington elite, who tried to "nullify" his "historic" election victory by painting him as an "agent of Russia".

"After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead," Trump said at his rally at Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday night.

"The collusion delusion is over," The New York Times quoted the President as saying.

This was his first rally since Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up his the 22-month investigation and found no evidence of collusion between the Trump's presidential election campaign and the Russian government.

"The Democrats need to decide whether they will continue to defraud the public with ridiculous b******t," Trump said during his 22-minute speech.

READ HERE | No proof that Trump campaign conspired with Russia to influence 2016 election: US attorney general

In vilifying his opponents, Trump was not troubled by the fact that the 300-plus-page report by Mueller is yet to be released, or that Attorney General William P. Barr, in his summary of Mueller's findings, stipulated that the report did not exonerate the President, even if it did not find him guilty of conspiracy or of obstructing justice.

"It's interesting," Trump said. "Robert Mueller was a God to the Democrats. He was a God to them until he said 'no collusion'. They don't like him so much now."

He called the Russia investigation "an extravagant waste of time" and underlined the need to "drain the swamp", and he celebrated his cheering supporters over what he described as the faithless elites in Washington.

READ HERE | Where the investigations related to President Donald Trump stands

"I'm President and they're not... They came, and they didn't even know these people existed," Trump said of the elites.

"I have a better education than them. I'm smarter than them. I went to better schools than them... Much more beautiful house. Much more beautiful everything."

Trump also went after the "fake news" media, celebrating what he claimed was a sharp decline in ratings for CNN and MSNBC after the Mueller findings were released, and predicting they would never regain their credibility.
By Bloomberg

A demographic shift has left the Spanish countryside with hundreds of ghost villages, telling tales of people like Gustavo Iglesias.

Iglesias, like others in the hamlet of Acorrada in the northern Spanish region of Galicia, moved to a larger town for work, leaving behind a village with six gray-stone houses and two horreos, or grain stores, overlooking a lush valley. His family had lived there for generations, growing wheat and tending to cows, but by the time his father died about 30 years ago, it had emptied out, abandoned and left to crumble.

Now, the 57-year oldwho works as a port policeman in Burela, a fishing town on the Galician coasthas joined with other owners to put the hamlet up for sale, trying to give it a new life. The asking price? Just 85,000 euros, or Rs 66 lakh.

Id like someone to buy it and do it up so that it continues to have a life, said Iglesias.

Spains countryside is dotted with hamlets like Iglesiass that are being sold after their owners abandoned them. For the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who made the reversal of rural depopulation a key policy issue when he came to power last year, such efforts can help stem rural desertification before it tips into crisis territory. Sanchez, who faces a general election in April, will on Friday discuss with his cabinet measures to reverse the trend.

A deserted house in a Spanish village. (Photo | Bloomberg)

We need to be aware of the demographic winter that threatens a large part of our territory, he said at a forum on Tuesday. Half of Spains municipalities have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, and a large part of our territory is at risk of depopulation.

Adventurous foreigners and enterprising Spaniards are starting to be seen as part of the solution as they buy some of the hamlets, taking advantage of bargain prices. Aldeas Abandonadas, an estate agency specializing in such sales, last year sold about 40 villages, with foreign buyers accounting for 90 percent of the transactions. The company recently got a boost after Gwyneth Paltrow flagged one of its villages on her website as a good Christmas present.

People are coming from all over the world to buy, said Pepe Rodil, a manager at the agency, who pointed to the areas famous foodoctopus, scallops, and clams as well as heavy winter bean broths with chorizo and pork and chorizo in cideras a draw for potential buyers of hamlets like Iglesiass.

Not Enough Babies

There are about 1,500 abandoned hamlets in Spain, said Elvira Fafian, the founder of Aldeas Abandonadas. An increasing number of them are being put on the block since local councils require owners to maintain their properties, which many cant afford to do. The ghost-village phenomenon is likely to grow, she said.

While urbanization is emptying rural areas across large swathes of Europe, the trend is dramatic in Spain. About 53 percent of Spain has a population density of fewer than 12.5 inhabitants per square kilometer  among the worst rates in western Europe. Depopulation is rapidly becoming a campaign issue for the April elections, with the opposition Ciudadanos party last week proposing a tax cut for municipalities with fewer than 8 people per sq km. A new political party called Partido Ene has emerged, championing rural Spain and pushing for policies to combat depopulation. It plans to compete in the municipal elections slated for May.

Spains fertility rate of 1.3 percent in 2017 was the second-lowest in the European Union, after Malta, and the gap in the country between urban and rural births is one of the widest in the EU. A lack of young people means the population isnt replenished, while the regions also lose the entrepreneurs who might have generated employment and driven the local economy.

A recent European Commission report highlights depopulation in rural areas and the pressure on Spains cities among issues of concern. Madrid, Barcelona and the string of smaller cities along Spains sun-soaked Mediterranean coast dont yet face the challenges of pollution, traffic congestion and strain on infrastructure seen in mega-cities, but theyre sure to surface in the future.

Lots of experts say that 70 percent of the population is going to live in mega-cities by 2050, Isaura Leal, commissioner for the government on rural depopulation who stepped down ahead of elections, said in an interview in Madrid. We believe we have the capacity to reverse that process. There is still time.

Public and Private

Tiny steps are already underway. Increasing the reach of broadband internet that allows people to work from home is one measure being studied. Providing incentives for people to move into rural areas is another. In Asturias and Galicia, the local government partly funds the restoration of roofs on traditional houses.

The private sector effort may come from people like Alberto Hidalgo, an advertising and fashion photographer from Madrid who bought a 35-hectare hamlet in northern Spain for 120,000 euros through Aldeas Abandonadas.

On a balmy day in February, he was meeting a pair of local architects to discuss how to convert the place into a spa retreat. Hidalgo and his make-up-artist girlfriend had effectively bought their own valley, whose steep banks are covered with oak, chestnut and eucalyptus trees. The main house sits on the knoll surrounded by stone buildings that they plan to convert into accommodation. Below, an apple orchard tumbles down toward a brook and in the distance, the murmur of a small waterfall complements the lowing of grazing cows.

We were looking for somewhere where we couldnt see anyone, Hidalgo said.

He has kept in touch with the previous owners, a family whose members had lived there for 118 years. The familys been back to visit after moving to a nearby town and leaving behind almost all their furniture and crockery. Dozens of tools, as well as an old cider press and grape mill, are stacked up in a barn.

Whether its a desire to preserve Spains cultural history or because technology now makes it possible to work from anywhere, people are starting to trickle back. Persuading people to move back in significant numbers, though, may be too ambitious, said Luis Antonio Saez, a professor in applied economics at the University of Zaragoza. The best that Spain can hope for is to stem the bleeding.

Bit by bit, what well see is a certain restructuring, rather than a repopulation, Saez said.

For his part, Iglesias, who for decades resisted selling his childhood home for sentimental reasons, said hes ready to do his bit.

I prefer to sell it, so it can have a life again and people can enjoy it, he said.
Saturday of the Second Week - Ss Peter and Marcellinus

The Third Sunday of Lent - St Lawrence Outside-the-Walls

The procession passes though the churchs side aisle...

and descends into the crypt...

past the slab of marble on which St Lawrences grill was set up...

and the relics of Bl. Pius IX.

Monday of the Third Week - St Mark

This photo of the procession is by Jacob.

Tuesday of the Third Week - Santa Pudenziana

Thursday of the Third Week - Ss Cosmas and Damian

We continue our annual Lenten visit to the station churches with our Roman pilgrim friend Agnese, this year joined by Mr Jacob Stein, author of the blog Passio XP This church was originally constructed in the 4th century, in honor of two Roman martyrs of the persecution of Diocletian, the priest Marcellinus and the exorcist Peter; they are named in the Canon of the Mass, and their feast is kept on June 2nd. By the mid-18th century it had fallen into ruins and had to be completely rebuilt. It is below the level of the modern street on which it sits, at the corner of the via Merulana and the via Labicana, but not as severely as San Vitale, which we saw in the previous post of this series.This is one of Romes oldest churches, built by the Emperor Constantine in the first years of the peace of the Church, over the site of the great martyrs burial. Pope St Sixtus III (432-40) built a second church on the site, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, flush with one of the walls of the Constantinian structure; this wall was then taken down in the time of Pelagius II (579-590, St Gregory the Greats predecessor), transforming the Marian church into the nave of St Lawrences. The sanctuary was then rebuilt at a rather higher level than the nave, with a large crypt beneath it. The dedication to the Virgin Mary of what is now the nave is remembered in the traditional Gospel of the day, which ends with the verses from Luke 11 commonly read on Our Ladys feasts, and at Her Saturday Votive Mass. And it came to pass, as He spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to Him: Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps that gave Thee suck. But He said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.The altar of the crypt, behind which, the relics of St Lawrence rest in a large marble box (inside the cage), together with those of St Stephen the First Martyr, a portion of which were brought to Rome in the early decades of the 6th century.The church was originally dedicated by Pope Mark, who reigned for less than 10 months in 336 AD, to his namesake the Evangelist. Because the latter is the Patron Saint of Venice, which nicked his relics from Alexandria in Egypt in 828, it has often been given as the cardinalitial title to the bishops of that city; six Popes have been elected while cardinal of this church, four of whom were Patriarch at the time of their election. (Gregory XII, 1406-15, the last Pope to resign before Benedict XVI; Paul II, 1464-71; Clement XIII, 1758-69; and John Paul I, 33 days in 1978.) The church is now surrounded on three sides by the Palazzo Venezia, formerly the embassy of the Venetian Republic to the Papal States, and later on, of the Austrian Empire to Italy.These next two photos are also by Jacob: the apsidal mosaic, which dates from the reign of Pope St Gregory IV (828-44); the Pope himself is the figure on the left, with a square blue halo to indicate that he was still alive at the time the mosaic was made.The bodies of the Persian Martyrs Ss Abdon and Sennen, (), of St Restitutus and very many companions, whose names are written in the book of life, which were dug up a long time ago from the cemeteries around the city, and placed in this crypt by order of Pope Gregory IV, and in the year 1474 translated under the main altar next to the body of Pope St Mark, were finally returned to their original place in the year 1948, the tenth of the Pontificate of Pius XII.Like San Vitale and Ss Peter and Marcellinus, the Basilica of Saint Pudentiana is now sunk below the street level, as new layers of buildings have been built up around it. In the 1920s, the church required such an extensive renovation that an alternative station was appointed for this day at the church of St Agatha. From 1556 to 1565, the Cardinal-Priest of this church was Scipione Rebiba; the vast majority of Latin Rite Catholic bishops (and therefore the priests ordained by them) today derive their Apostolic succession from this man through Pope Benedict XIII (1724-30).Corn(eliae) Pudentianeti / benem(erenti) q(uae) vixit an(nos) XLVII / d(iem) I Val(erius) Petronius mat(ri) / dulc(i) in pace.  To Cornelia Pudentianes, well-deserving, who lived for 47 years and one day; Valerius Petronius (made this) for his sweet mother (who rests) in peace.The apsidal mosaic was made around the end of the 4th century. It has been heavily patched and restored, and clipped off at the edges by a major renovation of the 1590s; despite this, it remains an important example of the early Churchs use of the iconography of imperial power. Christ is dressed as the Emperor, and the Apostles as senators. Many of the early Christian Emperors did not believe that their authority ended at the churchs door, and many of the early heresies were either promoted or created by the Roman Emperors. Images of this sort send the message that in the Church, Christ and His Saints are the ruling power.This is the sixth year we have done this series on the Roman station churches, and for six years in a row, the station church for the Wedensday of the Third Week, San Sisto Vecchio, is closed for restoration. The station is therefore transferred across the street to the Basilica of Ss Nereus and Achilleus.(I have explained the churchs other name, Titulus Fasciolae - the title of the bandage, which is seen here written over the door, in an article on the station churches of Holy Week .)The martyrs Ss Nereus and Achilleus were buried at the catacomb of Donatilla, about 2 miles away down the via Appia; Pope St Gregory the Great preached a sermon about them in a small church on the site. Their relics were later removed to the church of St Adrian in the Roman Forum. In 1596, the famous historian Cesare Baronius, one of the first Oratorians and a close friend of St Philip Neri, was made cardinal of this church, then practically a ruin, which he restored from top to bottom, and transferred into it the relics of the titular Saints. He also had the full text of St Gregorys sermon carved into the throne, imagining it (incorrectly) to be the very throne from which it had originally been delivered.Cardinal Baronius was also the author of the first post-Tridentine revision of the Martyrology, and worked with St Robert Bellarmine on the second edition of the Roman Breviary, published in 1602. His work focused on the lives and passions of the Saints, and was particularly concerned to emphasize the witness which the martyrs of the Rome had borne to the perennial Faith of the Catholic Church, against the claims of the early Protestants that Rome had corrupted the true teaching of the Gospels. He therefore had several images of the early martyrdoms painted on the walls of this church, dedicated to two very ancient martyrs, traditionally said have suffered in the later part of the first century.
Photo courtesy to Science and Technology Daily

China will assist more developing countries to build seamless earth system prediction under the World Meteorological Organization framework, Chinas meteorological center director revealed after the first WMO workshop.

Seamless earth-system prediction not only refers to short-term forecasts but also long-term ones, but also covers the whole world in scale, Wang Jianjie, director of National Meteorological Center, said in an interview with The Paper.

In terms of forecasting factors, we not only forecast weather, but also consider the impact of weather on related fields, such as secondary disasters, Wang explained.

The Meteorological Information Comprehensive Analysis and Processing System

(MICAPS) developed by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has been applied in many European and developing countries, enabling them with information analysis and weather satellites data collection for better weather forecast services, according to Wang.

For example, CMA provided weather services for African countries when the intense tropical cyclone Idai was hitting Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.

The main problem is that there is too much information on the crisis reporting system of developed countries, while there is not enough high-tech support in developing countries, which elicits a slew of questions over data collection and processes, said Paolo Ruti, director of the World Weather Research Program at the workshop.

CMA was officially recognized as one of the worlds meteorological centers at the 69th session of the WMO Executive Council in 2017, and is currently the only world meteorological center in developing countries.
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Sitting on a key location of the Belt and Road Initiative, southern Chinas Hainan province has seen strengthened connections with world, thanks to the Boao Forum for Asia.

In recent years, Hainan has continuously participated in the construction of the Belt and Road by prompting trade, investment, tourism, environmental protection, humanities cooperation, and exchanges. Such connections have grown stronger under the Boao Forum for Asia, which serves as a bridge to multiple countries and regions under the Belt and Road framework.

Now, with an eight-hour flight from Hainan, people can travel to Asia, Oceania, Europe, and Africa, with 59 countries and regions, accounting for about 67% of the worlds population and 41% of the worlds GDP. The number of Hainan international routes has increased from 37 in 2014 to 74 today, and by 2020, another 100 international airlines will be opened.

Hainan has also focused on building ports with international shipping capacity for two continents and two oceans.

Thanks to the advanced transportation facilities, Hainans total volume of trade related to Belt and Road countries reached 2.62 billion yuan ($3.89 billion) in January, a year-on-year increase of 43.5%, accounting for 27.3% of Hainans foreign trade.

In addition to the develop of infrastructure, the provincial government is using the Forum to promote cooperation and exchanges, supporting enterprises to go overseas and participate in Belt and Road construction.

For example, several enterprises on hybrid rice have successively established overseas research and breeding bases in Belt and Road countries, expanding rice cultivation to about 90 million mu in India, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
Secretary for the Environment KS Wong will depart for Macau tomorrow to attend the 2019 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition (MIECF) and the Hong Kong/Macao Special Report under the Fourth National Assessment Report on Climate Change launching ceremony.

Mr Wong will jointly officiate at the MIECF opening ceremony with Macau officials in the morning.

He will also have a courtesy meeting with Secretary for Transport & Public Works Raimundo Arrais do Rosario.

That afternoon, Mr Wong will attend the special report's launching ceremony and deliver a speech at the MIECF Green Forum.

He will also visit the Macao Meteorological & Geophysical Bureau and the Office for the Development of the Energy Sector.
Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau says the project allows locals and visitors to rediscover the city through design.

Different types of typography are displayed at Kong Wan Fire Station as part of the three-year creative tourism project.

The HKACT! Act 1 BeHere exhibit of the Design District Hong Kong project uses augmented reality to immerse locals and visitors in the citys history and culture.

Visitors can immerse themselves in history and culture in a new and innovative way through the augmented reality HKACT! Act 1 BeHere exhibit under the Design District Hong Kong (#ddHK) project.

People can step into the past and take a picture next to a dai pai dong, a roadside food stall, at the historic Blue House using AR on their mobile devices.

A traditional barber shop and children playing can also be found there.

The Blue House is one of our locations of the AR work, actually from the past to nowadays, the Blue House area has not changed a lot, it still looks the same as it was, Hong Kong Design Centre Project Consultant Sam Lam said.

We think it is a very good location that we can actually have the historical site as a background and then we tell the little stories about old Hong Kong.

Stroll over to Lee Tung Avenue and watch workers haul large blocks of ice, and travel to the Old Wan Chai Post Office to see a letter writer at work in scenes performed by actors through AR technology.

Ms Lam said: I think nowadays it is very important to use new technology for tourism projects.

We find that it is very good that we can actually recreate the whole scene of the past and present it in the present and it also acts as a very good tool for us to capture the past moment that it also attracts the tourists.

Innovative tourism

The AR exhibits are part of the larger #ddHK, a three-year creative tourism project presented by the Tourism Commission.

The project also features #ddCreativePlacemaking, which spices up public spaces with design twists such as creative typography displayed on the gates of Kong Wan Fire Station.

Graphics emulating a lush natural environment on the ceiling of a busy footbridge in the heart of Wan Chai can also be found.

The project also showcases a green tram decorated with white graffiti to add colour to the districts streets.

Opening the project today, Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau said locals and visitors can rediscover the city through design.

The #ddHK project, particularly with the hashtag, meaning that we connect design and Hong Kong, we connect the new and the old, we connect business with daily livelihood through design, he said.

#ddHK is focusing on Wan Chai and Sham Shui Po in its first year by exploring the districts traditions, heritage and history through a variety of creative activities.

Residents will be able to reconnect with these historic places and visitors can learn about, and even fall in love with the city through the project.
The Government will provide the second dose of measles vaccine to children aged 18 months from the first half of 2020, Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan announced.

Prof Chan told lawmakers today, under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme, children are given the first dose of the combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine when they are one year old at Maternal & Child Health Centres, followed by a second dose of the MMR vaccine at Primary One.

As varicella vaccine has been incorporated into the programme, children born on or after January 1, 2013, will receive combined Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella (MMRV) vaccines as a second dose of measles-containing vaccines when they reach Primary One.

She said the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases considered that those aged between one year and Primary One who received only one dose of MMR vaccine would have a higher risk of measles infection if they travel to places with high incidence or outbreak of measles.

The committee thus recommended the second dose of MMRV vaccine to be advanced from Primary One to 18 months.

The Department of Health has already started planning for the change, including the arrangement of the tender process for vaccine procurement and other logistics and manpower issues.

It is estimated that the Maternal & Child Health Centres will provide the second dose of MMRV vaccine to children aged 18 months from the first half of next year.

She also noted the committee will hold a meeting in early April to discuss the measles-containing vaccination for non-immune adults.

The Centre for Health Protection will take note of the committees recommendations and announce the details in due course.
Mr Wong (left) pays a courtesy call on Secretary for Transport & Public Works Raimundo Arrais do Rosario.

Secretary for the Environment KS Wong delivers a speech on Hong Kongs energy policy at the Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition.

Secretary for the Environment KS Wong today visited Macau to attend the 2019 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition (MIECF) and the launching ceremony for the Hong Kong-Macao Special Report under the Fourth National Assessment Report on Climate Change.

Mr Wong first officiated with Macau officials at the opening ceremony of the MIECF and toured booths set up by Hong Kong exhibitors.

He later paid a courtesy call on Secretary for Transport & Public Works Raimundo Arrais do Rosario.

After participating in the official luncheon hosted by the Macau SAR Government, Mr Wong together with Minister of Science & Technology Wang Zhigang attended the special reports launching ceremony.

Mr Wong delivered a speech at the MIECF Green Forum on the theme "New Opportunities in the Eco Bay Area - Creating Green Energy Cities", illustrating Hong Kong's energy policy.

He then went to the Macao Meteorological & Geophysical Bureau to exchange views with officials on decarbonisation policies and experiences in combating climate change and visited an aerosol lidar and radiometer.

Mr Wong also called on Macaus Office for the Development of the Energy Sector and discussed matters related to the feed-in tariff and promotion of renewable energy with Macau officials.
Mrs Lam (third right) meets young reporters during the forum.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam today attended the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019 in Hainan and met central ministry, province and city leaders.

The forum theme this year is "Shared Future, Concerted Action, Common Development".

Mrs Lam listened to the keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony by the Premier Li Keqiang.

Premier Li said the country would broaden market access for investment from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, further open sectors such as finance, professional services and high-end manufacturing, and continue to roll out policy initiatives to facilitate the movement of Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland people as well as the flow of factors of production.

Mrs Lam said these measures will be welcomed by Hong Kong enterprises and various professional sectors and show once again the Central Government's support for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

She also said she believed these measures will further enhance Hong Kong's integration into the overall development of the country.

After the opening ceremony, Mrs Lam met the State Councils State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission Chairman Xiao Yaqing.

Mrs Lam expressed her gratitude to the commission for its staunch support for Hong Kong to participate in the Belt & Road Initiative.

It includes the co-organisation with the HKSAR Government of various activities regularly to foster the establishment of partnership between different trades, the state-owned enterprises (SoEs) and the professional services sector of Hong Kong, its encouragement of participation by SoEs in the capacity building initiatives of the HKSAR Government for countries along the Belt & Road, and its proactive participation in the annual Belt & Road Summit organised by the HKSAR Government.

She said she hoped to maintain close co-operation with the commission to make contributions in promoting the Belt & Road Initiative.

In the afternoon, Mrs Lam met Hebei Province Governor Xu Qin.

She said she hopes Hong Kong may participate in the Xiongan New Areas development and contribute to it.

She welcomed the news that Mr Xu will lead a delegation to visit Hong Kong next month, and said she believes the visit would help explore more areas for co-operation between the two places.

Mrs Lam also met CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee Deputy Party Secretary Ren Xuefeng.

She said Chongqing is a vital strategic location in the Western Development Programme and a main connecting point of the Belt & Road and the Yangtze River economic zone.

As an international maritime centre and a regional logistics hub, Hong Kong is able to provide support services to link up the networks of the two places, so they can both tap into opportunities of the Belt & Road Initiative, she added.

After the meeting, Mrs Lam joined the Women Roundtable themed The Power of Women & the Value of Balance to discuss women's potential and the promotion of womens development.

Mrs Lam said she, as the first female Chief Executive of the HKSAR, has a huge and important responsibility in advancing women's development.

She briefed the participants on the Governments measures to foster women's development, including efforts to unleash the female labour force, allowing them to give full play to their potential.

In the evening, Mrs Lam joined The Night of Hainan, a thematic dinner hosted by the Boao Forum for Asia.

After arriving in Boao yesterday, Mrs Lam also attended a dinner hosted by Premier Li and met Hong Kong student volunteers.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks at the ASEAN-China Governors/Mayors Dialogue session at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam attended the ASEAN-China Governors/Mayors' Dialogue session at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019 in Hainan today.

Mrs Lam told participants about the pivotal role Hong Kong can play in strengthening ties between Mainland China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"ASEAN members are important Belt & Road economies, and are well positioned to reap the benefits brought by the visionary initiative. In this connection, Hong Kong has a world-class financial and professional services sector, which includes bankers and lawyers, accountants, risk managers, marketing and communications specialists and many more. They can bring expertise to bear in everything from project design and planning to construction, operation and management.

"In short, Hong Kong will be the perfect partner for ASEAN on Belt & Road projects," she added.

Mrs Lam then visited the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone where she toured the exhibition centre, the traditional Chinese medicine clinic and the hospital.

Given the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area includes creating an environment favourable for Hong Kong and Macau residents to retire in Guangdong and promoting integration of medical and elderly care in the bay area, Mrs Lam said the pilot zones development model has considerable reference value.

Mrs Lam also met CPC Hainan Provincial Committee Secretary Liu Cigui.

She said Hong Kong and Hainan have close ties with frequent exchanges of people, goods and capital.

She added the two sides are actively exploring more collaboration in various aspects including tourism, economic and trade affairs, and youth exchanges to further strengthening ties.

Before returning to Hong Kong, Mrs Lam met Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob.

She welcomed Thailand enterprises to leverage Hong Kong's capital raising platform and encouraged Thailand firms to make use of the city's financial services.
Medical members of a Chinese rescue team provide treatment to people at a temporary shelter for victims of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique on March 27, 2019. The Chinese rescue team has provided medical treatment to more than 500 people, and delivered 60 liters of drinking water and other materials to 1,000 affected people since March 25, after Cyclone Idai wreaked havoc in the southeastern African country. (Photo provided by the Ministry of Emergency Management)




Government has suspended Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) chief executive officer David Chawota, who is before the courts facing two counts of criminal abuse of office.





In the first count, Chawota is accused of authorising payment of $56 042,76 for promotional material from his company without doing a comparative analysis.





The second charge involves the awarding of a tender amounting to 27 900 000 euros to a Spanish company for the procurement of the countrys airspace management systems.





Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza confirmed the suspension which took effect yesterday.





Yes, we have suspended him. Remember he is before the courts and we want those processes to be cleared first, he said.





We want those processes to be completed before we decide on the next step.





Harare magistrate Mrs Rumbidzai Mugwagwa yesterday dismissed a bail application by Chawota saying he was interfering with witnesses.





Chawota allegedly awarded a Spanish company a tender even though the Supreme Court had nullified a previous award to the same company.




Accordingly, the exception dismissed by this court was set aside and both accused persons were found not guilty and acquitted of all the counts, he said. This, therefore, means allegations are quashed and accused persons are free.
Chamisa was the first to throw spanners into the works after he declined an invitation to participate in the talks saying they were conditions which had to be met before dialoguing. One of the conditions was that Mnangagwa must accept that he does not have the legitimacy to govern following the disputed July 30, 2018 election results.
(Newser)  A college student says L. Douglas Wilder, former governor of Virginia and the first black person elected governor of any state, sexually harassed her in 2017. Sydney Black says Wilder kissed her without her consent, told her she could live at his house, and offered to take her on foreign trips and pay for law school for her, the Washington Post reports. Black, 22, was an office assistant at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at the time, at Virginia Commonwealth University. She made complaints to the university and police; VCU has told her it's investigating. Black filed the report nearly two years after the incident. "I have been hesitant to report this incident because I was afraid of the power this individual possessed over my career and education," she said in an email to VCU. The university would not discuss the case with the Post, citing privacy laws. (Virginia's current lieutenant governor is accused of sexual assault.)
(Newser)  Attorneys for a Texas death row inmate have asked the US Supreme Court to stay his lethal injection until a Buddhist minister can be present with him in the execution chamber, the AP reports. Patrick Murphy's lawyers argue that executing the 57-year-old "Texas 7" member without his spiritual adviser present would violate his right to religious freedom. Murphy became a Buddhist almost a decade ago while incarcerated. A federal appeals court on Wednesday denied a request to stay his execution on the same grounds, upholding a lower court decision. Murphy is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was convicted in the shooting death of a Dallas-area police officer during a Christmas Eve robbery in 2000.

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His attorneys also say his pending execution is unconstitutional because he didn't actually shoot; they argue he was only the lookout during the robbery and was not a major participant in the crime. He was among the inmates who escaped from a South Texas prison in December 2000 and then committed numerous robberies, including the one in which they shot 29-year-old Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins 11 times, killing him. Hawkins, who had been on the Irving force about 14 months, had just finished Christmas Eve dinner with his family when he responded to the call about the robbery at a sporting goods store and was ambushed. The escaped inmates were arrested a month later in Colorado, ending a six-week manhunt. One of them killed himself as officers closed in, and the other six were convicted of killing Hawkins and sentenced to death. Murphy would be the fifth to be executed. The sixth inmate, Randy Halprin, has not been given an execution date. (The high court previously denied a similar request from a Muslim inmate.)
(Newser)  A tourist trying to get the perfect photo stumbled over the rim of the Grand Canyon and fell to his death, authorities say. David Leibowitz, a spokesman for Grand Canyon West, says the man was part of a group taking photos very close to the canyon's edge at Eagle Point, adjacent to the Skywalk attraction, the Arizona Republic reports. A helicopter recovered the man's body from 1,000 feet below the rim. The tourist was identified as a man in his 50s from Macau who was traveling with a tour group from Hong Kong, reports the South China Morning Post. According to the Post, the man was trying to take a selfie.

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Signs at Eagle Point, where there is no barrier between visitors and the rim, warn people not to get too close to the edge, the AP reports. The site is on the Hualapai reservation outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. "People are too dedicated to getting that perfect shotthey forget that just one little slip can be fatal," travel writer James Hong tells the Post. CNN reports that the man is the second international tourist to die at the Grand Canyon this week. The body of a person believed to be a foreign national was found in a wooded area south of Grand Canyon Village on Tuesday evening, authorities say. The National Park Service says the cause of death is unclear. Rangers and the coroner's office are investigating. (Read more Grand Canyon stories.)
Hong Kong: New measles case reported

The Centre for Health Protection is investigating a new case of measles infection involving a 49-year-old man working at Hong Kong International Airport.

The patient developed a cough on March 24 and rash on March 27. He sought treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital after consulting private doctors twice.

The centre said the patients measles vaccination history is unknown and he had no travel history during the incubation or communicable periods.

He visited several public places during the communicable period.

The patient reported that he did not have contact with measles patients during the incubation period. His home contacts have remained asymptomatic and are under medical surveillance.

The centre today completed hiring 100 people for blood tests at the airport to better grasp the overall immunity against measles among staff there.

It will announce the subsequent arrangements for the measles vaccination exercise at the airport after considering the test results.

As at 5pm today, 5,495 people have received measles shots at the airport's vaccination stations. The stations will remain open until April 4.

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This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The TAG Heuer Monaco watch was launched in 1969 at simultaneous press conferences held in Geneva and New York. It was revolutionary at the time as the worlds first watch with a square case that was water resistant. The calibre 11 automatic chronograph movement used in the TAG Heuer Monaco would also have been the worlds first automatic chronograph, had Zenith not presented its El Primero movement just two months earlier. The original Monaco watch bore the Chronomatic movement name on the dial, in reference to the name of the calibre that Heuer developed in conjunction with Hamilton-Buren, Breitling and Dubois-Depraz.

The original Monaco, 1969, in its presentation box  TAG Heuer

The most striking element in the TAG Heuer Monaco was the square case, which had previously been the preserve of dress watches, since it could not be made water resistant. The original Monaco watches also came with the crown in an unusual position on the left-hand side of the case, with the chronograph pushers on the right-hand side of the case. The metallic blue dial on the original watch was also unusual for the era. The only thing about the Monaco that could be considered normal for the period was the perforated black leather strap that was the fashion at the time for drivers watches.

Steve McQueen and Jo Siffert  TAG Heuer

To say that the Monaco watches did not enjoy universal appeal is almost an understatement. Even in the view of Jack Heuer, the companys boss at the time, the audacious new design was something of a risk. But the TAG Heuer Monaco was made famous just two years after its launch when Steve McQueen wore the watch in the legendary film Le Mans. Steve McQueen went to great lengths to ensure that his character  a racing car driver in the 24-hour race  was accurate. His racing driver friend Jo Siffert, who just happened to be a spokesman for Heuer watches, lent him his own racing overalls with the Chronograph Heuer badge and the Monaco was the natural watch to complete the look. The overalls also included the Gulf racing livery, which has since found its way on to the blue dial of the steel Monaco watch and was re-issued in 2018 to celebrate the union between Heuer, Gulf Oil, Steve McQueen and the Porsche 917 in the legendary Gulf livery. TAG Heuer continues to use still images of Steve McQueen wearing the watch in the film to promote the Monaco chronograph. The original watch with blue dial was reissued in 1998 as a limited edition of 5,000 watches.

Steve McQueen  TAG Heuer

Although the original blue McQueen watches are highly sought-after among collectors, another watch that received less publicity is equally as rare and in demand. The Dark Lord Monaco was one of the earliest watches to use a PVD black coating. With a black dial with Monaco HEUER inscription and a matching black leather strap, the Heuer Monaco Dark Lord chronograph ushered in the era of the all-black watch.

Monaco Dark Lord  TAG Heuer

Halfway through the 1970s it became clear that the Monacos design was too avant-garde for watch fans. The appetite for the Monaco waned and the watches disappeared from the Heuer catalogue in around 1975, not to be revived until the late 1990s, when Heuer had become TAG Heuer in the meantime. A Monaco re-edition in 1998 with the reference CS2210 had a black dial and black leather strap with double chronograph registers and the original Monaco HEUER inscription.

Monaco reference CS2210, 1998  TAG Heuer

In 2004, the Monaco regained its avant-garde spirit when the Monaco V4 was presented at the Baselworld watch fair. The V4s unique movement was driven by belts rather than gear wheels and had a linear winding mass aligned vertically in the centre of the case back. Another unusual development followed the next year, when the Monaco Sixty Nine introduced a two-faced watch with the conventional dial on one side, powered by the automatic Calibre 2, and the back side with a digital display driven by a quartz movement. In 2009 the Monaco 24 watch introduced a calibre 36 movement that was suspended from the four corners of the square case and was reputed to be capable of withstand an impact of 24,000g.

Monaco V4  TAG Heuer

Echoes of the Dark Lord Monaco can be found in one of the current best sellers, ref. CAL2113.FC6536 with is slightly larger and slightly more curved case, black dial and black calfskin leather strap (price: CHF 6,750).

The original TAG Heuer Monaco in stainless steel with the blue dial and the calibre 11 automatic chronograph movement (ref. CAW211P.FC6356) is still one of the brands best sellers today, price: CHF 5,700. The same watch in stainless steel with a blue dial but with the calibre 12 automatic chronograph movement (with the crown on the right-hand side of the case  ref. CAW2111.FC6183) is equally popular and comes in slightly cheaper at a price of CHF 5,200.

Monaco Calibre 11, 2015  TAG Heuer

As proof of just how versatile the square case of this watch is, the TAG Heuer Monaco is also available in a ladies version with a slightly smaller 37mm case and a quartz movement. Dressed entirely in white or entirely in black, with variations in between (including a special edition Kingsman model in brown with a matching brown calfskin leather strap) and with the option of diamonds on the dial, the Monaco has proved universally popular despite the initial doubts half a century ago.
(Newser)  President Trump continued his Mueller report victory lap with a rally in Michigan on Thursday night, where he ripped into the "fake news media," Democrats, and the FBI, among others, and declared that "the Russia hoax is finally dead." At the Grand Rapids rallyhis first since Attorney General William Barr released his summary of the special counsel's reportthe president slammed DC "elites" and listed ways in which he sees himself as better than them. "I have a better education than them, I'm smarter than them, I went to the best schools; they didn't. Much more beautiful house, much more beautiful apartment. Much more beautiful everything. And I'm president and they're not," he told the packed arena, per Fox News.

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Donald Trump Jr., who warmed up the crowd, slammed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as unqualified, to shouts of "AOC sucks," reports USA Today. The president, who spoke for more than 80 minutes, heaped scorn on Democrats who called for investigations, particularly House Intelligence Committee chief Adam Schiff, the New York Times reports. "Theyre on artificial respirators right now," he said. "Theyre giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Little pencil-neck Adam Schiff. He's got the smallest, thinnest neck Ive ever seen." Democrats, Trump said, "need to decide whether they will continue to defraud the public with ridiculous bulls***." The president, who won Michigan by fewer than 11,000 votes in 2016, also praised the "roaring" economy and spoke about local issues including Great Lakes restoration and bringing back auto companies, BuzzFeed reports. (Read more President Trump stories.)
(Newser)  A teenager who went into the hospital with groin pain died because of a tapeworm infestation in his brain. The 18-year-old had gone to an Indian hospital with swelling over his right eye, and was experiencing regular seizures that caused him to fall unconscious, reports CNN. An MRI revealed cysts all over his cerebral cortex and brain stem that were caused by parasitic tapeworm larvae that crawled out of eggs and embedded into his brain tissue. The tapeworm likely came from the man having ingested infected pork, reports Live Science. This sort of infection is commonplace in developing countries, though this case was particularly severe.

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Doctors decided not to treat the patient with antiparasitic meds, as the damage was too extensive and risked him losing his vision. Two weeks after he arrived in the ER, he was dead. The infection, neurocysticercosis, is the main cause of seizures around the world and each year over 1,000 related cases happen in the US. If not treated, these tapeworms can live in the body for many years, per ABC. (It wasn't fatal, but a California man had his own brush with a tapeworm.)
(Newser)  A member of the "Texas 7" gang of escaped prisoners won a reprieve Thursday night from execution for the fatal shooting of a suburban Dallas police officer after claiming his religious freedom would be violated if his Buddhist spiritual adviser wasn't allowed to be in the death chamber with him. The US Supreme Court blocked Patrick Murphy's execution about two hours after he could have been executed. Murphy's attorneys had said that Texas prison officials' efforts to prevent the inmate's spiritual adviser, a Buddhist priest, from being with him when he is put to death violated Murphy's First Amendment right to freedom of religion, the AP reports. Murphy, 57, became a Buddhist almost a decade ago while incarcerated. Lower courts had rejected Murphy's argument.

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But in a concurring opinion Thursday night, the newest justice on the court, Brett Kavanaugh, said the Texas prison system allows a Christian or Muslim inmate to have a state-employed Christian or Muslim religious adviser present either in the execution room or in the adjacent viewing room, and religious discrimination is unconstitutional. "The government may not discriminate against religion generally or against particular religious denominations," he wrote. Kavanaugh said Texas can't move forward with Murphy's punishment unless the state permits his Buddhist adviser or another Buddhist reverend of the state's choosing to accompany Murphy in the chamber during the execution. (Last month, the court allowed Alabama to execute a Muslim inmate who wanted to have his imam present in the chamber.)
(Newser)  On the day that Britain was originally scheduled to leave the European Union, lawmakers will vote Friday on what Prime Minister Theresa May's government described as the "last chance to vote for Brexit." The House of Commons is voting a third time on May's twice-rejected European Union withdrawal agreement amid continuing opposition from hard-line Brexit supporters and Northern Ireland lawmakers. The agreement still faces substantial opposition even after May sacrificed her job for her deal, promising to quit if lawmakers approved the deal and let Britain leave the EU in May, the AP reports. Most analysts say there is little hope of approval unless May can secure the support of the Democratic Unionist Party, which has refused to back the agreement because it treats Northern Ireland differently than the rest of the UK.

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Two years ago, Britain triggered a two-year countdown to Brexit, with the departure date set for March 29, 2019. But with British politicians deadlocked over whether to approve a divorce deal, the EU last week granted an extension. Under its terms, if the withdrawal agreement is approved by 11pm UK time, Britain will leave the 28-nation bloc on May 22. If it is rejected, Britain has until April 12 to announce a new plan, or leave the EU without a deal, risking severe disruption for people and businesses. International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said Friday was "the last chance we have to vote for Brexit as we understood it." President Trump offered encouragement to May on Thursday. Speaking to reporters at the White House, he called her a friend and said he wished her well with the "Brexit movement and everything happening there." (Read more Brexit stories.)
(Newser)  Expected within days, the preliminary report on the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 will give "the strongest indication yet" that the Boeing 737 MAX's stall-prevention system was to blame, as suspected with the earlier Lion Air crash in Indonesia. That's according to the Wall Street Journal, which reports investigators have reached the preliminary conclusion that the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System automatically activated before a nosedive. The Journal reports the information, based on the jet's black box recorders, was relayed during a Thursday briefing at the FAA. Ethiopia's Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges previously said black-box data showed "a clear similarity" between the two crashed flights, which claimed 346 lives in all.

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The report is required within 30 days of the March 10 crash. The one produced following the October 29 crash of Lion Air Flight JT610 in Indonesia found a sensor failure caused MCAS to kick in and push the plane's nose down more than 24 times as pilots raced to rectify the issue, per CNN. Boeing has already updated the system to rely on data from two sensors, rather than just the one, though an official said Wednesday that several "thorough audits" since the Lion Air crash showed nothing of concern. Asked by the BBC about the Journal's reporting, Ethiopia's Ministry of Transport said it had seen the report and would "comment shortly." Meanwhile, family members of Rwandan citizen Jackson Musoni are the first to sue Boeing over the crash, per the Guardian. (Read more Ethiopian Airlines stories.)
(Newser)  Thor Heyerdahl's most famous feat didn't involve Easter Island: The Norwegian explorer is best known for sailing more than 3,700 miles from Peru to Polynesia on a reed raft dubbed the Kon-Tiki. But just shy of a decade after that 1947 journeyan attempt to prove people from South America could have theoretically settled Polynesian islandshe led what the BBC calls the "first coordinated excavations" on Easter Island, bringing thousands of artifacts home with him. Now, those carved pieces and human bones will be returned to Chile.

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The AFP quotes Heyerdahl's son as saying the repatriation is the realization of a promise his father made to return the objects, which had been held in Oslo's Kon-Tiki museum, "after they had been analyzed and published." The elder Heyerdahl died in 2002. They're not all Chile wants back: It's seeking the return of the Hoa Hakananai, described by the AFP as "one of the most spiritually important of the island's moai." The statue was taken from the island in 1868 and given to Queen Victoria; it resides in the British Museum. (Read more Easter Island stories.)
(Newser)  Hate standing on your feet all day? So much that the thought of staying in bed for two months is appealing? Good news: You can do just that, contribute to NASA research, and get paid $19,000 for your troubleso long as you speak German and are free from September to December. NASA and the European Space Agency are looking for participants to spend 60 days in bed at the German Aerospace Center in Cologneplus an additional 19 days preparing and recoveringin a study on "Artificial Gravity Bed Rest." Essentially, researchers are looking to better understand the effects of long-term weightlessness on the body. "Bed rest simulates this condition," reads a German-language statement, per USA Today.

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Participants aged 24 to 55 will undergo blood, muscle, and cognitive function tests as they exercise, eat, and shower, keeping at least one shoulder on the mattress at all times, reports NBC News. The beds will be tilted a bit so fluids move to the upper body when the person is lying down, per CNN. Some participants will spend time each day being rotated in a human centrifuge, which will force blood to the extremities. In the end, participants won't just be richer; they can boast of providing new techniques to reduce the negative effects of weightlessness on future astronauts. (First up: a return to the moon.)
(Newser)  Unless Mexico puts an immediate halt to illegal crossings into the US, President Trump said Friday, at least parts of the border will be closed as early as next week. Trump likewise threatened to close the border near the end of last year but didn't, the Hill points out. In a series of tweets, Trump blamed Democrats for what he called the world's "weakest immigration laws," and said "Congress must change" the laws now. He said Mexico has the strongest and makes "more than $100 billion a year on the U.S."

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Trump and his administration have stepped up warnings recently that there's a crisis at the southern border. On Thursday, the head of Customs and Border Protection said that illegal border crossings were at a breaking point, and that agents are having to free hundreds of people at a time in Yuma, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas. In February, the Times reports, there were 76,000 crossings at the border, which was an 11-year high. Stopping the crossings, Trump tweeted, "would be so easy for Mexico to do." It's not clear, CNN reports, whether the closing would apply only to individuals or would include trains and trucks carrying goods back and forth. That could cause major trade problems. (The Pentagon has approved the transfer of $1 billion to build part of a border wall.)
(Newser)  The news was jarring: The small nation of Brunei plans to start stoning to death people who have gay sex or commit adultery. Now, George Clooney hopes to inflict some economic pain in the hope of getting sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to rescind the Sharia law punishments, reports the BBC. In an op-ed at Deadline, the actor is calling for the boycott of nine luxury hotels around the world owned by the Brunei Investment Agency. Two are in the USthe Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.

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"In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone," Clooney wrote of the new laws, scheduled to take effect next week. He acknowledged that a boycott might not get the nation to backtrack, "but are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations?" The other hotels are the Dorchester, 45 Park Lane Hotel, and Coworth Park in the UK; Le Meurice and Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris; Hotel Eden in Rome; and Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan. (Read more George Clooney stories.)
(Newser)  A 26-year-old man is going to federal prison for 20 years because of his prolific "swatting"calling in phony reports of emergencies to police. In the worst case, a fake call that Tyler Barriss of Los Angeles made to police in Kansas about a hostage situation got a man killed, reports NBC News. When police stormed the Wichita address given by Barriss, 28-year-old Andrew Finch stepped outside, raised and lowered his arms, then was fatally shot by an officer. Police say two gamers had asked Barriss to "swat" Finch because of a beef over a video game. Those two are awaiting trial, reports the Wichita Eagle.

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"We hope that this will send a strong message about swatting, which is a juvenile and senseless practice," said US Attorney Stephen McAllister. "We'd like to put an end to it within the gaming community and any other context." The Kansas case was far from Barriss' only crime. He pleaded guilty to 51 charges involving calls all around the country, including bomb threats made to the Federal Trade Commission and to the FBI headquarters. (Read more swatting stories.)
Prominent Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah was released from prison on Friday after serving a five-year term for illegally protesting, rioting and attacking public servants.

Abdel Fattah, 37, will be placed on probation for five years and will be required to spend each night at his local police station during that period.

The case dates back to November 2013, when clashes erupted outside parliament between police and protesters demanding the committee which was then tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution remove articles allowing for military trials of civilians.

Abdel-Fattah, a blogger, programmer, and human rights activist who belongs to a prominent family of rights campaigners, was charged alongside 21 others arrested in the incident.

In 2014, a criminal court sentenced him to 15 years in prison, but in 2017 an appeals court reduced the sentence to five years in prison and five years probation.

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A Stryker vehicle with 4th Platoon, Charlie Co. 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team patrols a neighborhood in Mosul on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005, as soldiers of the Iraqi Army follow in pick-up trucks. Margaret Friedenauer/News-Miner
A US court jailed a Virginia man for life on Thursday for the rape and murder of an Egyptian-American teenage girl.

Darwin Martinez Torres, 25, was sentenced to life without parole for the rape and murder of 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen in June 2017.

Hassanen, the daughter of Egyptian immigrants, was kidnapped, beaten and killed after she and her friends were chased near their mosque in Virginia during Ramadan as they were getting a pre-dawn meal.

In November 2018, Torres pleaded guilty to eight charges, including capital murder and rape, in a plea deal that spared him the death penalty.

US authorities say that there was no evidence to indicate it was a crime of hate.

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Japanese people now have a time for the unveiling of the name of the country's new era, which will start when the new Emperor takes the throne on May 1. The Chief Cabinet Secretary says the long-awaited announcement will be made at approximately 11:30 a.m. on Monday.

Yoshihide Suga says before that, he'll meet with an expert panel and hear their views on name proposals. After more discussions, the Cabinet will decide. Then around noon, Suga says the Prime Minister will explain the selection.

On Friday, the Prime Minister met with Emperor Akihito to report on state affairs. It's believed Shinzo Abe briefed the Emperor on the progress being made to select a new era name.

The era name is common in many facets of daily life and is used to mark the year. Dates on official identification and documents including driver's licenses use that system, not the western calendar.

The system has been used continuously for more than 13 centuries.

Japan will usher in the new era on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the throne. Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate the day before, bringing the current Heisei era to a close.
Senior delegations from the United States and Egypt met on 20 to 22 March in Washington, D.C., for the 31st meeting of the Military Cooperation Committee, a statement by the US embassy in Cairo read.

The delegations discussed "a broad range of defense issues, including "counterterrorism, border and maritime security, security assistance, and security cooperation."

"The MCC is the premier bilateral defence forum for coordinating defense cooperation, identifying shared security objectives, and consulting on a wide array of strategic issues," the statement read.

The statement also highlighted that the "US and Egypt remain committed to a strong bilateral relationship built on common interests and mutual respect."

According to the statement, the two countries stressed that "the defense relationship has served as one of the key foundations of the broader strategic partnership for nearly forty years, and the MCC reflects the mutual commitment to cooperation and consultation based on shared priorities."

"Specific discussions focused on ways to increase cooperation on counterterrorism and border and maritime security issues. Both sides hailed exercise Bright Star as a pillar of the military-to-military relationship and committed to continuing and expanding these efforts," the statement read.

"US officials also acknowledged the 40th anniversary of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, which was was signed on 26 March, 1979 in Washington, D.C., and extended appreciation for Egypts continued regional leadership."

According to the US embassy, the US delegation was led by Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Kathryn Wheelbarger and the Egyptian delegation was led by Assistant Minister for Defence for International Relations Major General Mohamed Elkeshky.

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers on Friday condemned the recent ban on the public rallies and protests in the state. ...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers on Friday condemned the recent ban on the public rallies and protests in the state.









The position was made known by the party through a statement issued in Port Harcourt by Mr Chris Finebone, its State Publicity Secretary.









The party considered the ban announced by the Rivers Government as the height of absurdity.









It also described the ban as an act of illegality, reminding Gov. Nyesom Wike that Rivers people and indeed Nigerians had a legal right to peaceful protest.









Wike should be reminded that Honourable Retired Justice Adekeye J.S.C. once stated that, A rally or placard carrying demonstration has become a form of expression of views on current issues affecting government and the governed.









It is a trend recognised and deeply entrenched in the system of governance in civilised countries.









We must borrow a leaf from those who have trekked the rugged path of democracy and are now reaping the dividend of their experience, it said.









The party wondered that Why Wike would after wasting the peoples commonwealth on frivolous protests and in less than 24 hours, after the last of those protests, pronounce a ban on protests?









The reason can only be that those protesting on the opposite side are now providing Rivers people and Nigerians better perspectives on the happenings in Rivers.









The governor is simply acting like someone with a weak and incoherent argument against the more coherent, sensible and logical argument of the opponent.









Another reason for the ineffectual ban is to scuttle further exposure of the ills and atrocities of the state government that have punished civil servants.









It added that pensioners, civil servants, workers of RSSDA and Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority and others might soon protest their alleged abandonment and suffering.









It is necessary at this point to inform Gov. Wike that his ban on the protest is simply a waste of time and space.









Nigeria police cannot enforce an illegal ban except the governor intends to deploy his usual gun-toting hoodlums.









He should remember that this is not 2015; this is 2019. If the governor tries it, he will not like the outcome and he knows it, it said.









Rivers State Government on Thursday banned public protest in the state.








An application for joinder filed by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, for the Delta APC annulment judgment, was on Friday dismissed by the Court...





An application for joinder filed by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, for the Delta APC annulment judgment, was on Friday dismissed by the Court of Appeal, sitting in Benin, for lack of merit.





Omo-Agege is the Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District.





The Court also struck out an application for joinder by the lawmaker-elect for Ughelli North, South and Udu Federal Constituency, Francis Waive.





Omo-Agege and Waive had approached the Court for leave to be joined as parties to the suit in which the Federal High Court, sitting in Asaba, sacked the Jones Erue-led APC State Executive Committee, which conducted primaries where both of them emerged as candidates of the party for the 2019 National Assembly election.





In a unanimously decision read by Justice Philomena Mbua Ekpe, the court ruled that both applications filed by Omo-Agege and Waive lacked merit and subsequently dismissed the case with a fine of N300, 000 against the appellants (Omo-Agege and Waive).





The Appeal Court said the plaintiffs could not claim to be unaware of the case, hence they could not seek to be joined or challenged the judgement, at this moment.





The Court held that only Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) that were parties to the case could bring an application to appeal the Asaba Federal High Court annulment judgment.





Recall that Omo-Agege and Waive had through their Counsel, Alex Iziyon, SAN, while seeking the leave of the court to appeal the judgement, filed an exparte motion which was granted to enable them serve Chief Cyril Ogodo by pasting service at the state party secretariat in Asaba.





The Federal High Court 1, Asaba, in its March 18, 2019, judgement delivered by Justice Toyin Adegoke, sacked the Jones Erue-led State Executive Committee, and upheld the Cyril Ogodo faction as the authentic partys State Executive Committee.




Jibrilla Bindow, outgoing governor of Adamawa state, has conceded defeat and congratulated Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, the winner of the sta...





Jibrilla Bindow, outgoing governor of Adamawa state, has conceded defeat and congratulated Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, the winner of the state governorship election, held on Thursday.





Bindow congratulated the governor-elect and further wished him a successful term of office in a state broadcast on Friday.





In view of the outcome and declaration of the results by INEC, I wish to congratulate the Governor-Elect Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri over his election as the incoming Governor of Adamawa State and wish him successful tenure, he said.





As a democrat, I cherish democratic norms and values, as it is practised in the civilised world.





Finitri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was declared winner of the state election by Andrew Haruna, the returning officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), after he secured 376,552 votes to defeat Bindow of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who scored 336,386 votes.





Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP, having satisfied the requirement of the law and scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner and returned as elected governor of Adamawa State, said Haruna.




President Muhammadu Buharis Personal Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, has condemned the decision of the Rivers State Gove...





President Muhammadu Buharis Personal Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, has condemned the decision of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to ban all forms of public protest in the state.





Onochie warned that Wike has no right to infringe on the rights of people of the state by placing a ban on peaceful protest.





Wike, through his Commissioner for Information, Emma Okah, had on Thursday, said the ban on public protest in the state takes immediate effect.





All security agencies are directed to enforce the ban in the interest of public peace, safety and order in the state.





The public is requested to comply with this interim measure as defaulters will have themselves to blame, he had said in a statement.





However, Onochie, in a series of tweets, wrote: Protests have been banned in Rivers State by Wike. He has no right to infringe on d rights of Nigerians to stage peaceful protests









Protests have been banned in Rivers State.





Me: Is this not an infringement on the rights of Nigerians who reside in Rivers State to protest?





This is a taste of what would have happened if @atiku won the election.
The Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN) has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari over his victory at the presidential election, ...

The Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN) has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari over his victory at the presidential election, held last month.









The executive council of the association, numbering about 30 led by the president, Dr. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle met with the president at the State House, Friday.









Speaking after the meeting held behind closed doors, Ayokunle said the association was not under pressure to congratulate Buhari.








Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ndokwa nation of Delta have lent their support to the partys choice of Sen. Ahma...

Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ndokwa nation of Delta have lent their support to the partys choice of Sen. Ahmad Lawan (Yobe-North East) for the top job of the President of the Senate.









The group made its position on the contentious issue known in a statement signed by its Coordinator, Chief Paul Odili, and issued to newsmen at the end of its meeting on Thursday in Asaba.









The group also urged the national leadership of the party to endorse Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta- South-South) for the position of the Deputy Senate President.









The statement read in part, that after due consideration, we, the Ndokwa Nation APC stakeholders, throw our support behind steps taken by the party to ensure the stability of the 9th National Assembly by adopting Lawan as the Senate president









Odili stated, We call on all the APC senators to rally round the decision of the party to ensure stability and cohesiveness of the National Assembly and avoid the mistakes of the past.









He also stated that there were indications that the party was working on a zoning arrangement for the various offices for the 9th National Assembly billed to be inaugurated in June.









We are at this point in time urging President Muhammadu Buhari and leaders of our party, our Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, and other stakeholders, to consider the South-South in the zoning of top offices in the Senate.









Looking at the performance of APC in the zone, we believe that the APC in Delta has recorded tremendous progress, considering where the party was in 2015 and today.









Odili contended that the position of Senate president or deputy senate president is most equitable for Delta, given that it polled 220,000 votes for the president, being the highest in the zone.









And for that reason, we canvass that Omo-agege, a ranking senator and strong believer in the policies of change and Next level of the APC, should be considered for the deputy senate president, he said.









The group described Omo-Agege as a smart lawyer, an able administrator and a brilliant legislator, widely loved in his constituency and across the entire state.








Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, the Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government and a son of former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Ala...





Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, the Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government and a son of former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, has advised Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the state not to be distracted by the antics of the opposition political parties in the state.





The junior Alao-Akala gave this advice on Wednesday while delivering a speech during the flag-off of the construction of three road projects in the council area.





The council boss, while speaking, told Ajimobi not to be distracted in his service delivery.





He however urged politicians in the state to embrace politics of development and peaceful coexistence.





He added that he was in the council in order to complement the efforts of the state government, adding that he believe that he can complement the efforts of the state government by bringing about physical and human developments.





Alao-Akala said, Ajimobi should not to be distracted in his service delivery, I urged politicians in the state to embrace politics of development and peaceful coexistence.





The efforts of the government at the state level would be complemented by my administration in the local government by bringing about physical and human developments.





This excavator we are using for the constructions of the road projects were ordered by the Oyo State government in 2018, inaugurated by the governor last Friday and delivered to the council chairmen on the same day. The excavator will, to a greater extent, boost agricultural activities in Ogbomoso North LGA, helpful in our safety and rescue operations, as well as our urban renewal agenda.




The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate in the July 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, ...





The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate in the July 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, on Friday rejected the judgement of the Court of Appeal in a suit he instituted to challenge the victory of Gov. Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress, APC.





The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Olusola-Eleka also said he would challenge Thursdays Court of Appeal judgement which affirmed Fayemi as the duly elected governor of Ekiti state.





He expressed regrets at the manner in which the Appeal Court dismissed his appeal, saying that it suggested that our democracy is endangered.





The judiciary is being gagged and justices are constantly being molested and persecuted, Olusola-Eleka said.

He assured his followers, party and the people of Ekiti that his legal team would study the Appeal Court judgement and take necessary actions.





Olusola-Eleka expressed optimism that justice would be served in the end.





He commended the people of the state for the hope and confidence reposed in him, assuring them of victory eventually.





Let us remain prayerful, it is not over, until its over. I have hope in the judiciary and I strongly believe that in the end, justice will be served,  he said.





The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had on Thursday upheld the victory of Fayemi as governor of the state.




Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), says she was once asked f...

Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), says she was once asked for bribe by the house of representatives committee on healthcare services.





Speaking when she featured on a Channels TV programme on Friday, Adeyeye said the committee asked her for the bribe in the form of money for welfare when they visited her in December, 2017.





The NAFDA DG said this happened at a time the agency was bleeding profusely as a result of lack of funding.











According to her, when I came to NAFDAC, there were a lot of things that were wrong. Take oversight function or whatever that is done, I was shocked when I was told to give money, I said money for what?  money to the committee that visited us. The health care services committee of the house of representatives.

This was 2017 December, not even a month to my resumption. We dont have another country, this is Nigeria. I was shocked first because, this was the same day I went for a Powerpoint presentation we dont have equipment, about 70 percent of our equipment need to be upgraded.





We dont have vehicles and you use vehicles to go after the bad guys or to ensure compliance. Our directors didnt have computers, laptops, it was shortly after that, they then asked me (and said) we need welfare.





The video:

THREAT FOR REFUSAL





I said I cannot. For just the visit? I couldnt believe my ears because it saddens me. Yes, it can be referred to as them asking for bribe. It saddens me. This is an organisation that was bleeding profusely.





Adeyeye added that that day was the worst day of my professional life as NAFDAC DG and that her refusal did not go down well with the lawmakers.





It wasnt taken well at all. I was threatened and I couldnt believe that too, you are threatening me? she said.





Somebody that was acting like this from the US was also out. It saddens me because we dont have another country.





NOT THE FIRST TIME





This is not the first time the members of the national assembly would be accused of demanding bribe to carry out their statutory duties.





In 2018, Attahiru Jega, former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said the federal lawmakers were notorious for demanding bribes.





While delivering a lecture in Abuja, Jega had said: Members of the national assembly engage in bribe taking when they pursue committee works and oversight and I wonder what is happening with intelligence and investigative responsibilities of security agencies in policing our national assembly. Some chairmen of the committees in the national assembly have become notorious on this issue of demanding bribes with impunity.




Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Thursday expressed happiness that his party walloped the Peop...





Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Thursday expressed happiness that his party walloped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, during the 2019 general elections.





Tinubu said APC gave him a birthday gift by massively defeating the opposition party in the 2019 elections.





Speaking at his 67th birthday colloquium held at the International Conference Center, ICC, in Abuja, the former Lagos State governor also thanked Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the party, and the National Working Committee (NWC) for working with the leadership of our party to achieve a victory for our party.





According to Tinubu: We still have the President for second term. We won the National Assembly with resounding majority. Kudos to APC.




The Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Abou El-Gheit said on Friday that the United States' recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights would not change reality, adding that if occupation constitutes a crime then seeking legitimacy for it is a major wrongdoing.

Abou El-Gheits statements came during preparatory meetings of member states foreign ministers ahead of the 30th Arab League summit, which is scheduled to be held on Sunday in Tunisia.

He also said that the Palestinian cause will remain the central Arab issue despite the crises in the region.

Arabs have agreed on this principle at all summits and most recently at the Arab summit of Dammam in Saudi Arabia, he said.

He stressed the necessity of committing to the principle of maintaining the nation state in all Arab countries facing crises, like Syria, Libya and Yemen, in order to preserve their independence and territorial integrity against the threat of division.

Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is participating in the preparatory meetings for the summit in Tunisia.

The Arab League summit will discuss issues of joint Arab cooperation and ways to deal with various regional challenges and crises, an earlier statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry said.

Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said ahead of the preparatory meetings on Friday that his country is working on combining efforts with other Arab states to contain any repercussions from the USs decision to recognise Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

We will work with the rest of brotherly Arab countries and the international community to contain all possible repercussions of this resolution in various international and regional platforms, Jhinaoui stated.

In his speech to handover the summit chairmanship from his country to Tunisia on Friday, Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf reiterated the Kingdoms rejection of the USs decision on the Golan Heights.

Al-Assaf also reaffirmed the kingdom's rejection of any decision that affects the legal status of Jerusalem, describing the Palestinian issue as the Arab nations top issue.

The Saudi forign minister slammed Iran for its "interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries."

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Donald Trump has called the Jussie Smollett case outrageous and an embarrassment to the nation. Recall that all charges again...

Donald Trump has called the Jussie Smollett case outrageous and an embarrassment to the nation.









Recall that all charges against the Empire star were dropped on Tuesday.He had been accused of arranging a fake racist and homophobic attack on himself.









The US president says the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will now be investigating the case.









Separately, Jussies lawyer has accused authorities of continuing their campaign against the actor.









The mayor of Chicago  the city where the alleged attack happened  said dropping the charges was a whitewash of justice.









Jussies lawyer says the case is closed and no public official has the right to violate her clients rights.









Patricia Brown Holmes says the 36-year-old star is innocent until proven guilty in the court of law.









She said: We respectfully request all government agencies involved live up to the ethical tenants of their office.









The case was dismissed. We should all allow Mr Smollett to move on with his life as a free citizen.









Jussie Smollett claims two men beat him up and put a noose around his neck on 29 January.









In February he was charged with filing a false police report.









In yet another twist to the case, all the charges against him were dropped on 26 March.









But since the Chicago police and the citys mayor, Rahm Emanuel, have been publicly very critical of the actor.









Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Jussie had dragged Chicagos reputation through the mud.









While Rahm Emanuel maintains that Jussie has lied about the alleged attack for self-promotion.








Sensational actress and mother of three, Mercy Johnson has revealed that her biggest fear is not being alive to take care of her childre...

Sensational actress and mother of three, Mercy Johnson has revealed that her biggest fear is not being alive to take care of her children.









The 34-year-old screen goddess made this known via her Instagram page on Friday.









My biggest fear in life? It would be Not being alive to take care of and watch over my kids Happy Mothers day Friends and may we be alive to watch them grow into Great personalities, may we enjoy our children in good health and prosperity with God as the Center of it all, she wrote









Right after her secondary education, Mercy auditioned for a role in The Maid, a movie that was to launch her into stardom. Her performance in that movie paved way for her into getting more roles in movies such as Hustlers, Baby Oku in America, War in the Palace, and many more.








The police in Port Harcourt on Friday dispersed both pro-APC/AAC and Pro-PDP supporters with teargas as both groups were marching toward...

The police in Port Harcourt on Friday dispersed both pro-APC/AAC and Pro-PDP supporters with teargas as both groups were marching towards the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Aba/Port Harcourt Expressway, Rivers State.





This is coming as Governor Nyesom Wike banned all forms of protest in the state.





The two protesting groups had earlier gathered at the Port Harcourt Polo club marching towards the INEC office when they were accosted at the popular GRA junction by officers of the Rivers State Police Command.





Protesters scamper to safety as police shot teargas canisters at them.





since the suspension of the electoral process since March 9, INEC, the Rivers Government placed a ban on all public protests in state till further notice. Sequel to persisted protests on the streets of Port Harcourt,since the suspension of the electoral process since March 9, INEC, the Rivers Government placed a ban on all public protests in state till further notice.





The ban, announced by Emma Okah, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications said security agencies had been directed to enforce the ban in the interest of public peace and order.





The protesters are divided into two opposite political divides; those asking for the redeployment of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Obo Effanga and a stop on the collation of results, and those supporting that the REC should stay and complete his job of announcing the remaining results.





However, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has kicked against the ban on protests by the Rivers State Government, describing it as the height of absurdity by any government.





The APC said perhaps, Wike who authorised the ban was unaware that Rivers people and in deed Nigerians had inalienable right to peaceful protest.





Perhaps the governor should be reminded that Honourable Justice Adekeye J.S.C. (rtd) once stated that, A rally or placard carrying demonstration has become a form of expression of views on current issues affecting government and the governed in a sovereign state. It is a tread recognized and deeply entrenched in the system of governance in civilized countries. We must borrow a leaf from those who have trekked the rugged path of democracy and are now reaping the dividend of their experience.





The party said in a press statement signed by its Spokesman, Chris Finebone, that the reason for the ban could only be that those protesting on the opposite side were now providing Rivers people and Nigerians better perspectives on the happenings in Rivers State.





The opposition party argued that another reason for the ineffectual ban was to scuttle further exposure of the ills and atrocities of the Rivers State Government under Wike who believed that pensioners, civil servants, workers of RSSDA and Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority and others might soon protest their abandonment and suffering by the governor since he accidentally got to power in 2015.





The party warned that Wikes ban on protest was a simply waste of time and space, saying that the Nigeria Police could not enforce an illegal ban except the governor intended to deploy his usual gun-toting hoodlums.





He should remember that this is not 2015; this is 2019. If the governor tries it, he will not like the outcome and he knows it, APC said.





However, the Police had condoned off the INEC office on Aba/Port Harcourt Expressway diverting vehicles by GRA junction through Tombia Street causing serious gridlock.





Meanwhile, the Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised fresh alarm over an alleged attempt by the APC faction loyal to the Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi to scuttle the collation and announcement of the results of the March 9, 2019 Governorship and State Assembly elections.





The PDP urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Transportation Minister to order even as the party further called on the Inspector-General of Police to keep a close tab on the activities of Amaechi in the State.





The party said it was clear that the APC was kicking against the government ban on public protests as the ban would deflate their alleged plans to cause crisis in the State.




Godswill Akpabio, senator representing Akwa Ibom north-west, says some clergymen in Akwa Ibom state have been casting aspersions on hi...





Godswill Akpabio, senator representing Akwa Ibom north-west, says some clergymen in Akwa Ibom state have been casting aspersions on him since he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).





In August, 2018, Akpabio who was minority leader at the senate, resigned his position and renounced his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).





Responding to how his critics have taken his decision to join APC, Akpabio said his defection overshadowed every discussion in Akwa Ibom state and cast a spell of fear over the PDP who started paying clergymen to lie against him.





I am happy that God is not like some of His priests, he wrote in an article.





Ever since I decamped to APC, they have been praying against me and they have joined in peddling the lies about me. Very well known Church prelates and Bishops that dined with me for 8 years while I was governor, despite my benevolence to them and their families joined the fray calling me killer herdsman for joining APC.





But some of these men of God were in this same Country in 2012 when the farmers/herdsmen clashes claimed the lives of over 1000 people in the Benue/Plateau/Mambilla axis. At that time, a Christian was the President but was not accused of being a killer of Christians. The farmers/herdsmen clashes predate Nigerias Independence.





The clashes have occurred under various leadership. Yet the men of God have been unconscionable in accusing the current President of masterminding genocide against Christians because he is a Muslim. I am happy that God does not condemn a man based on one mans testimony, but He sees the heart and judges our motives and intentions. Whether one is a Christian or Muslim, we all worship the same God WHO will at the appointed time judge us from our deeds in words and actions.





Akpabio said in the course of this election, he had been photo-shopped by propaganda merchants who told the lies about him. He said his letterhead and signature had been forged by the same merchants to write falsehood as if he wrote them.





He alleged that they conscripted women from South Africa who claimed to be foreign observers and paid them to lie that he detained them using thugs.





Akpabio also said he met Udom Emmanuel , governor of the state, performing the duties of a deacon in Qua Iboe Church, Surulere , Lagos, and he immediately adjudged that as a deacon, he would superintend over the affairs of the state with the fear of God.





Whether I was right or wrong is for history to judge. Nevertheless I picked him to succeed me and by the grace of God and the votes of Akwa Ibom electorates, he won the election. So God made him governor, he said.




Tonye Cole says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should conduct fresh governorship and house of assembly elections...





Tonye Cole says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should conduct fresh governorship and house of assembly elections in Rivers state.





Cole was the gubernatorial candidate of a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state before the party was disqualified by the courts.





Before the general election, the supreme court had affirmed the verdict of an appeal court which upheld the decision of a lower court that nullified the primary polls of APC in Rivers.





Based on this circumstance, APC could not field candidates during the election that was held on March 9.

The election which was marred with violence among other irregularities was declared inconclusive.





The electoral commission has fixed between April 2 and 5 to resume collation and April 13 for supplementary polls where necessary.





In a statement on Friday, Cole said Rivers is the only state the courts silenced almost all political opposition to an incumbent, nearly making way for a walkover election.





Cole, who is of the faction of Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, said it would be grossly irresponsible to proceed with concluding an electoral process that hardly anyone believes in.





We are the only state that is yet to conclude an election three weeks after voters went to the polls. We are the only State that armed militants and the military faced off violently. We are the only State that continues to be a cause of deep concern to the international community, he said.





We are the only state that the electoral body is being brazenly accused of unparalleled bias. We are the only State that is openly labeled as electorally violent. We are sick and tired of these negative headlines.





In this atmosphere, it would be grossly irresponsible to proceed with concluding an electoral process that hardly anyone believes in.





One side accused the security agencies of conspiring to steal the elections while the other side was accused of using the independent electoral institution to hijack the electoral process and steal the mandate. In the wake of the accusations, all driven by what politicians fear the most, which is FEAR itself, we saw death visit us as a people and destruction lay siege on our communities.





Like politicians are want to do, each side was quick to blame the other where the one with more money and influence with the media ends up shaping the narrative that the world sees, hears and ultimately believes.





INEC must therefore declare the entire elections of March 9th null and void and set out a new date for fresh elections.




President Muhammadu Buhari says his decision to observe the Jumaat prayers at the Presidential Villa and not the National Mosque in A...





President Muhammadu Buhari says his decision to observe the Jumaat prayers at the Presidential Villa and not the National Mosque in Abuja, is to prevent the constraints and inconveniences presidential movements may cause to the people.





A presidential spokesman Femi Adesina, in a statement in Abuja on Friday, said the President disclosed this when he responded to a request by a delegation of Imams and Senior Islamic Scholars from all states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).





The delegation, led by Prof. Shehu Ahmad Galadanci, the Murshid, National Mosque, was at State House to congratulate the president on his overwhelming victory at the Feb. 23 presidential election.





The president said: Regarding your request for me to be attending Jumaat prayers in the National Mosque, I implore you to note that I personally started observing Jumaat prayers in the State House in order to reduce hardships which people may pass through.





As you all know, Presidential movements require roadblocks and other attendant restrictions which could subject worshippers and other people to a lot of difficulties.





President Buhari welcomed the counsel of the Islamic scholars on the teachings of the Prophet about the obligations of leaders towards their subjects, and vice-versa.





He thanked them for their prayers and support for his administration, assuring that the administration would leave no stone unturned in addressing the security challenges facing the country.





While congratulating the President on his re-election, Galadanci had said that the victory demonstrated the desire of the majority of Nigerians to ensure the continuity of the administration to the Next Level.





He prayed that Almighty Allah would grant the President the ability to continue with the excellent work he is doing for the country.





Galadanci highlighted noteworthy achievements of the Buhari administration in the area of security, agriculture and the fight against corruption.




A presidential decree issued last week stipulates that the Ministry of Social Solidaritys Fund for Drug Control and Treatment of Addiction (FDCTA), will start to screen government employees for drug addiction.

If a government employee is found positive, he or she will be sent to the Administrative Court and legal procedures will be taken which could result in the employee being fired.

According to the FDCTA, the percentage of drug abuse in Egypt is 10.4 per cent, twice the global rate. Around 27 per cent are females.

The Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali has called for more drug campaigns and that the FDCTA coordinate with all government bodies to scan for drug use in the administrative body of the state so that the presidential decree is effectively carried out.

Deputy Minister of Social Solidarity and head of the FDCTA Amr Osman said that the most frequently used drug was cannabis, at 74 per cent. Osman said that as the campaign began the number of employees from government and non-government institutions alike using the hotline for help increased. Around 3,000 government employees have used the hotline so far. He added that anyone seeking to be cured from addiction will be treated as a patient and in complete privacy.

The law states that anyone who steps forward voluntarily to be cured of drug addiction will not be legally punished, FDCTA legal advisor Hassan Harak said. When an employee takes a drug test, the analysis is done in his presence since this removes any fear or doubts he may have, like mistakes in the analysis or suspicions that his sample was swapped for someone else, for example, Harak said.

If that person is found to be positive, and if they feel they were treated unjustly, they are referred to a medical examiner from the Ministry of Health with the same sample. So, if the employee objects, there is a third party that is neutral, Harak said. If he still has doubts, then we send the same sample to the Ministry of Health for confirmation, he said, adding that if a person takes a certain medicine with a percentage of narcotics in it, like Tramadol, he will be examined to see whether the illness he can be cured using this kind of medicine.

In the end, it is an employees career on the line so he has to be sure he was not treated unjustly, Harak acknowledged. If somebody has a severe back problem, for example, and has a doctors prescription, he must undergo a medical examination since it is impossible to contact all the doctors who wrote the prescriptions.

For a patient to be given a narcotic medicine for medical use, Harak explained, several written consents are needed from government pharmacies that have a record of the patients medical information. These are accepted by the FDCTA medical team that conducts the test.

FDCTA treated over 116,000 people in 2018. Eight per cent of addicts who used the hotline were between the ages of 15 and 20.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 28 March, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Drug-free government

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"President Donald J. Trump will welcome President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt to the White House on April 9, 2019," the Press Secretary of the White House said in a statement on Friday.

"President Trump and President Al Sisi will discuss strengthening the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt and building on our robust military, economic, and counterterrorism cooperation," the statement read.

Egyptian President El-Sisi last met his American counterpart Trump in New York last September on the sidelines of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

"The two leaders will also discuss developments and shared priorities in the region, including enhancing regional economic integration and addressing ongoing conflicts, and Egypts longstanding role as a lynchpin of regional stability," the statement explained.

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Tagammu Party opposes proposed amendments to the constitution as submitted by MPs from majority Support Egypt parliamentary coalition. Party head Sayed Abdel-Aal explains to Gamal Essam El-Din the reasons

What was your position when the amendments were debated in parliament on 13 and 14 February?

When I took the floor I was clear that the Tagammu rejected the proposals. The front-page headline of the partys newspaper Al-Ahali also announced last week that the Tagammu rejects the constitutional amendments and proposes alternatives.

Speaking in parliament on 13 February, and during a press conference on 13 March, I explained that the amendments proposed failed to tackle the very real shortcomings of the current constitution. We were clear as far back as 2014 that the constitution was far from ideal. At the time the late Hussein Abdel-Razek, then a member of Tagammus political bureau, described is as a constitution of necessity. What he meant was that the party was supporting the 2014 constitution because circumstances left it with no other option, and in the hope it would be amended at the earliest opportunity.

But what of the current amendments?

They fail to address the shortcomings of a constitution that contains many articles that need to be amended or revoked. The Support Egypt coalition took everyone by surprise when it submitted its proposals on 3 February.

They should have consulted with other political forces in parliament before submitting their amendments. After all, changing the constitution is a matter of national concern, it is not an issue exclusive to the Support Egypt coalition.

If Support Egypt had consulted with the Tagammu and other political forces it could have started to build a consensus around the changes. Now, after consulting with our regional offices, we have decided to submit our own version of the changes we think are most necessary. We will present these in the hearing sessions being held by parliaments Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee. We are urging parliamentary officials to allow MPs enough time to thoroughly debate the amendments. The constitution is a document that must be dealt with carefully, and without haste.

What is your position on the amendment increasing presidential terms from four to six years?

The Support Egypt coalition has proposed that Article 140 be amended to state that the president of the republic can be elected for six years, beginning on the day following the end date of the term of his predecessor, and that he cannot run for more than two terms. But the coalition is alos proposing a transitional article which states that at the end of his current term, the current president of the republic can be re-elected in line with the amended Article 140.

What we are proposing is a transitional article that reads: The current term of the incumbent president of the republic can be increased by two years to come to an end on 2024 [instead of 2022] and this will be considered his first term in office. He can then run for a second six-year term, ending in 2030.

What about changes reinstating the post of vice president?

We approve the proposal submitted in this respect. What we would insist on, however, is that the appointment of a vice president not be the exclusive concern of the president but that any nominee must be approved by parliament.

Do you have any reservations on the creation of a second house?

Support Egypt has proposed three amendments in this respect and all of them show the majority coalition wants the second chamber to be a consultative and advisory body. But what is the point of setting up a second house, which will cost a lot of money, if it has only symbolic powers? What we want is a second house with legislative and supervisory power. We also want the second chamber to be limited to no more than 240 members who serve a five-year term.

How do you see the proposal to reserve 25 per cent of parliamentary seats for women?

We have no objection to the amendment.

What articles in the current constitution would the Tagammu change?

The current constitution stipulates that the government spend seven per cent of GDP on education and scientific research, and three per cent on health each year. This is impossible for any government to implement, particularly as nobody has correct figures on Egypts GDP.

Article 242 states that local council elections should be held within five years from the date of the constitution going into effect (18 January 2014). It was difficult for the government to implement this article and the deadline expired on 17 January 2019. Similarly, Article 241 stated that a law on transitional justice should be passed by 2016. We have a lot of flawed or redundant articles which must be amended or, in some cases, eliminated.

We need a new constitution that truly reflects the aspirations and hopes of 2013s 30 June Revolution. We approved the 2014 constitution only out of necessity, in order to end that dark black period when a sectarian movement was able to take control of the country. Now it is time to move on.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 28 March, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Beyond necessity

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About one million people took to the streets of Algiers on Friday to demand the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, police officers at the scene said, in the biggest demonstration since unrest erupted six weeks ago.

The protests, which erupted on Feb. 22, have been largely peaceful but have put pressure on the military to stabilise the North African country, a major oil and gas producer which cooperates with the West in fighting terrorism.

Police opened fire with tear gas after youths hurled stones at them, a Reuters witness said.

Some demonstrators called for the entire political elite to go, saying that while they were against Bouteflika they also rejected the army's intervention in civilian political life.

"Streets pressure will continue until the system goes," said student Mohamed Djemai, 25, as hundreds of riot police kept an eye on the protests and helicopters flew overhead.

"We have only one word to say today, all the gang must go immediately, game over", said Ali a merchant, as other protesters shouted "the people want the fall of the regime".

Families stood on balconies above the streets cheering the marchers, who shared out dates and water and bought ice cream from street vendors.

The army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, on Tuesday asked the constitutional council to rule whether the ailing 82-year-old president is fit for office.

The move piled pressure on Bouteflika, who has failed to placate Algerians by reversing a decision to seek a fifth term.

Key allies have deserted the head of state, who has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013 and now faces the biggest crisis of his 20-year-old rule.

Ambitious demands

Protesters have ambitious demands in a country long- dominated by veterans of the independence war against France who are seen by many Algerians as too old and out of touch.

They want to replace the establishment with a new generation of leaders capable of modernising the oil-dependent state and giving hope to a population impatient for a better life.

The powerful military has stayed in the barracks. But Salah's call for Bouteflika to go was a clear reminder to Algerians that the army intends to retain its vast influence in politics.

Saadia Belaid, a woman crying as she wore the flag of Algeria, said: "I cry because they kidnapped Algeria and the army's proposal is a real travesty."

"We want the departure of Salah," read a banner.

Salah's call, however, received backing from the ruling FLN party and the main trade union, signalling that Bouteflika's time was all but up.

In the latest blow to Bouteflika, one of his few remaining influential supporters, leading businessman Ali Haddad, resigned as head of the influential FCE business forum, a resignation letter seen by Reuters showed.

Haddad, who was awarded large public works projects by the government and has investments in the media, has helped to fund Bouteflikas election campaigns over the years.

"Corrupt people must go. We are determined to clean the country," said post office employee Noueddine Menar, 33.

Under the constitution, the chairman of parliament's upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days after Bouteflika's departure. But even if Bouteflika quits, there is no clear long-term successor.

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President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to close the U.S. border with Mexico next week, or at least large sections of the frontier, if Mexico "doesn't immediately stop all illegal immigration coming into the United States" from the region.

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66-million-year-old deathbed linked to dinosaur-killing meteor

The beginning of the end started with violent shaking that raised giant waves in the waters of an inland sea in what is now North Dakota.

Then, tiny glass beads began to fall like birdshot from the heavens. The rain of glass was so heavy it may have set fire to much of the vegetation on land. In the water, fish struggled to breathe as the beads clogged their gills.

The heaving sea turned into a 30-foot wall of water when it reached the mouth of a river, tossing hundreds, if not thousands, of fresh-water fish -- sturgeon and paddlefish -- onto a sand bar and temporarily reversing the flow of the river. Stranded by the receding water, the fish were pelted by glass beads up to 5 millimeters in diameter, some burying themselves inches deep in the mud. The torrent of rocks, like fine sand, and small glass beads continued for another 10 to 20 minutes before a second large wave inundated the shore and covered the fish with gravel, sand and fine sediment, sealing them from the world for 66 million years.

This unique, fossilized graveyard -- fish stacked one atop another and mixed in with burned tree trunks, conifer branches, dead mammals, mosasaur bones, insects, the partial carcass of a Triceratops, marine microorganisms called dinoflagellates and snail-like marine cephalopods called ammonites -- was unearthed by paleontologist Robert DePalma over the past six years in the Hell Creek Formation, not far from Bowman, North Dakota. The evidence confirms a suspicion that nagged at DePalma in his first digging season during the summer of 2013 -- that this was a killing field laid down soon after the asteroid impact that eventually led to the extinction of all ground-dwelling dinosaurs. The impact at the end of the Cretaceous Period, the so-called K-T boundary, exterminated 75 percent of life on Earth.

"This is the first mass death assemblage of large organisms anyone has found associated with the K-T boundary," said DePalma, curator of paleontology at the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History in Florida and a doctoral student at the University of Kansas. "At no other K-T boundary section on Earth can you find such a collection consisting of a large number of species representing different ages of organisms and different stages of life, all of which died at the same time, on the same day."

In a paper to appear next week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he and his American and European colleagues, including two University of California, Berkeley, geologists, describe the site, dubbed Tanis, and the evidence connecting it with the asteroid or comet strike off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago. That impact created a huge crater, called Chicxulub, in the ocean floor and sent vaporized rock and cubic miles of asteroid dust into the atmosphere. The cloud eventually enveloped Earth, setting the stage for Earth's last mass extinction.

"It's like a museum of the end of the Cretaceous in a layer a meter-and-a-half thick," said Mark Richards, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of earth and planetary science who is now provost and professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington.

Richards and Walter Alvarez, a UC Berkeley Professor of the Graduate School who 40 years ago first hypothesized that a comet or asteroid impact caused the mass extinction, were called in by DePalma and Dutch scientist Jan Smit to consult on the rain of glass beads and the tsunami-like waves that buried and preserved the fish. The beads, called tektites, formed in the atmosphere from rock melted by the impact.

Tsunami vs. seiche

Richards and Alvarez determined that the fish could not have been stranded and then buried by a typical tsunami, a single wave that would have reached this previously unknown arm of the Western Interior Seaway no less than 10 to 12 hours after the impact 3,000 kilometers away, if it didn't peter out before then. Their reasoning: The tektites would have rained down within 45 minutes to an hour of the impact, unable to create mudholes if the seabed had not already been exposed.

Instead, they argue, seismic waves likely arrived within 10 minutes of the impact from what would have been the equivalent of a magnitude 10 or 11 earthquake, creating a seiche (pronounced saysh), a standing wave, in the inland sea that is similar to water sloshing in a bathtub during an earthquake. Though large earthquakes often generate seiches in enclosed bodies of water, they're seldom noticed, Richards said. The 2011 Tohoku quake in Japan, a magnitude 9.0, created six-foot-high seiches 30 minutes later in a Norwegian fjord 8,000 kilometers away.

"The seismic waves start arising within nine to 10 minutes of the impact, so they had a chance to get the water sloshing before all the spherules (small spheres) had fallen out of the sky," Richards said. "These spherules coming in cratered the surface, making funnels -- you can see the deformed layers in what used to be soft mud -- and then rubble covered the spherules. No one has seen these funnels before."

The tektites would have come in on a ballistic trajectory from space, reaching terminal velocities of between 100 and 200 miles per hour, according to Alvarez, who estimated their travel time decades ago.

"You can imagine standing there being pelted by these glass spherules. They could have killed you," Richards said. Many believe that the rain of debris was so intense that the energy ignited wildfires over the entire American continent, if not around the world.

"Tsunamis from the Chicxulub impact are certainly well-documented, but no one knew how far something like that would go into an inland sea," DePalma said. "When Mark came aboard, he discovered a remarkable artifact -- that the incoming seismic waves from the impact site would have arrived at just about the same time as the atmospheric travel time of the ejecta. That was our big breakthrough."

At least two huge seiches inundated the land, perhaps 20 minutes apart, leaving six feet of deposits covering the fossils. Overlaying this is a layer of clay rich in iridium, a metal rare on Earth, but common in asteroids and comets. This layer is known as the K-T, or K-Pg boundary, marking the end of the Cretaceous Period and the beginning of the Tertiary Period, or Paleogene.

Iridium

In 1979, Alvarez and his father, Nobelist Luis Alvarez of UC Berkeley, were the first to recognize the significance of iridium that is found in 66 million-year-old rock layers around the world. They proposed that a comet or asteroid impact was responsible for both the iridium at the K-T boundary and the mass extinction.

The impact would have melted the bedrock under the seafloor and pulverized the asteroid, sending dust and melted rock into the stratosphere, where winds would have carried them around the planet and blotted out the sun for months, if not years. Debris would have rained down from the sky: not only tektites, but also rock debris from the continental crust, including shocked quartz, whose crystal structure was deformed by the impact.

The iridium-rich dust from the pulverized meteor would have been the last to fall out of the atmosphere after the impact, capping off the Cretaceous.

"When we proposed the impact hypothesis to explain the great extinction, it was based just on finding an anomalous concentration of iridium -- the fingerprint of an asteroid or comet," said Alvarez. "Since then, the evidence has gradually built up. But it never crossed my mind that we would find a deathbed like this."

Key confirmation of the meteor hypothesis was the discovery of a buried impact crater, Chicxulub, in the Caribbean and off the coast of the Yucatan in Mexico, that was dated to exactly the age of the extinction. Shocked quartz and glass spherules were also found in K-Pg layers worldwide. The new discovery at Tanis is the first time the debris produced in the impact was found along with animals killed in the immediate aftermath of the impact.

"And now we have this magnificent and completely unexpected site that Robert DePalma is excavating in North Dakota, which is so rich in detailed information about what happened as a result of the impact," Alvarez said. "For me, it is very exciting and gratifying!"

Tektites

Jan Smit, a retired professor of sedimentary geology from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam in The Netherlands who is considered the world expert on tektites from the impact, joined DePalma to analyze and date the tektites from the Tanis site. Many were found in near perfect condition embedded in amber, which at the time was pliable pine pitch.

"I went to the site in 2015 and, in front of my eyes, he (DePalma) uncovered a charred log or tree trunk about four meters long which was covered in amber, which acted as sort of an aerogel and caught the tektites when they were coming down," Smit said. "It was a major discovery, because the resin, the amber, covered the tektites completely, and they are the most unaltered tektites I have seen so far, not 1 percent of alteration. We dated them, and they came out to be exactly from the K-T boundary."

The tektites in the fishes' gills are also a first.

"Paddlefish swim through the water with their mouths open, gaping, and in this net, they catch tiny particles, food particles, in their gill rakers, and then they swallow, like a whale shark or a baleen whale," Smit said. "They also caught tektites. That by itself is an amazing fact. That means that the first direct victims of the impact are these accumulations of fishes."

Smit also noted that the buried body of a Triceratops and a duck-billed hadrosaur proves beyond a doubt that dinosaurs were still alive at the time of the impact.

"We have an amazing array of discoveries which will prove in the future to be even more valuable," Smit said. "We have fantastic deposits that need to be studied from all different viewpoints. And I think we can unravel the sequence of incoming ejecta from the Chicxulub impact in great detail, which we would never have been able to do with all the other deposits around the Gulf of Mexico."

"So far, we have gone 40 years before something like this turned up that may very well be unique," Smit said. "So, we have to be very careful with that place, how we dig it up and learn from it. This is a great gift at the end of my career. Walter sees it as the same."

###

Co-authors with DePalma, Smit, Richards and Alvarez are David Burnham of the University of Kansas, Klaudia Kuiper of Vrije Universiteit, Phillip Manning of Manchester University in the United Kingdom, Anton Oleinik of Florida Atlantic University, Peter Larson of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota, Florentin Maurrasse of Florida International University, Johan Vellekoop of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and Loren Gurche of the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History.

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
'The new discovery will change, for the first time, the plan of the temple more than 160 years since its discovery,' said the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities

Excavation work carried out in Ramses IIs temple in Abydos, Sohag, has uncovered a new temple palace belonging to the 19th Dynasty king.

The discovery was made by the New York University mission, directed by Sameh Iskander.

It is a very important discovery which will change, for the first time, the plan of the temple more than 160 years since its discovery, said Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

He describes the new discovery as an important contribution to our understanding of the development of the temple palaces during the Ramesside period.

The location and layout of the palace exhibits a noteworthy parallel to the temple palace of Ramses IIs father Seti I in Abydos some 300 metres to the south.

During the work of the mission around the temple to recover the architectural elements south of the temple, Iskander told Ahram Online, the mission accidently stumbled upon a stone walkway at the south-western door of a temple.

This walkway led to an entrance of a palace building that contains the cartouches of Ramses II.

He explained that the walls are built of limestone and mud brick, the floors are made of limestone, and the temples second hall has a sandstone column base and lintels with inscriptions of the king. Other fragments decorated with stars were found.

Ayman Ashmawi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department, stated that the temple foundation inscriptions have an extremely rare depiction of Ramses IIs cartouches.

They appear on all four corners of the temple, showing Ramses IIs birth and throne names painted in a golden colour. They are surmounted with double feathers with a sun disk in between, and beneath them a decorative gold sign.

ramses

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In the past few years, when far-right nationalists are banned from social media, violent extremists face boycotts, or institutions refuse to give a platform to racists, a faux-outraged moan has gone up: So much for the tolerant left! So much for liberal tolerance! The complaint became so hackneyed it turned into an already-hackneyed meme. Its a wonder anyone thinks this line has any rhetorical force. The equation of tolerance with acquiescence, passivity, or a total lack of boundaries is a reductio ad absurdum that denudes the word of meaning. One can only laugh at unserious characterizations that do such violence to reason.

The concept of toleration has a long and complicated history in moral and political philosophy precisely because of the many problems that arise when the word is used without critical context. In some absurd, 21st century usages, tolerance is even conflated with acceptance, approval, and love. But it has historically meant the oppositenoninterference with something one dislikes or despises. Such noninterference must have limits. As Goethe wrote in 1829, tolerance should be a temporary attitude only; it must lead to recognition. To tolerate means to insult. Tolerance by nature exists in a state of social tension.









According to virtually every conception of liberal democracy, a free and open society requires tense debate and verbal conflict. Society, the argument goes, is only strengthened by the oft-contentious interplay of differing, even intolerant, points of view. So, when do such views approach the limits of toleration? One of the most well-known paradoxes of tolerance was outlined by Austrian philosopher Karl Popper in his 1945 book The Open Society and Its Enemies.

Popper was a non-religious Jew who witnessed the rise of Nazism in the 20s in his hometown of Vienna and fled to England, then in 1937, to Christchurch, New Zealand, where he was appointed lecturer at Canterbury College (now the University of Canterbury). There, he wrote The Open Society, where the famous passage appears in a footnote:

Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.  In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant.

This last sentence has been printed on thousands of bumper stickers and fridge magnets, writes Will Harvie at Stuff. The quote might become almost as ubiquitous as Voltaires line about defending to the death the right of free speech (words actually penned by English writer Beatrice Evelyn Hall). Popper saw how fascism cynically exploited liberal toleration to gain a foothold and incite persecution, violent attacks, and eventually genocide. As he writes in his autobiography, he had seen how competing parties of the Right were outbidding each other in their hostility towards the Jews.

Poppers formulation has been been used across the political spectrum, and sometimes applied in arguments against civil protections for some religious sects who hold intolerant viewsa category that includes practitioners of nearly every major faith. But this is misleading. The line for Popper is not the mere existence of exclusionary or intolerant beliefs or philosophies, however reactionary or contemptible, but the open incitement to persecution and violence against others, which should be treated as criminal, he argued, and suppressed, if necessary, he continues in the footnote, even by force if public disapproval is not enough.

By this line of reasoning, vigorous resistance to those who call for and enact racial violence and ethnic cleansing is a necessary defense of a tolerant society. Ignoring or allowing such acts to continue in the name of tolerance leads to the nightmare events Popper escaped in Europe, or to the horrific mass killings at two mosques in Christchurch this month that deliberately echoed Nazi atrocities. There are too many such echoes, from mass murders at synagogues to concentration camps for kidnapped children, all surrounded by an echo chamber of wildly unchecked incitement by state and non-state actors alike.

Popper recognized the inevitability and healthy necessity of social conflict, but he also affirmed the values of cooperation and mutual recognition, without which a liberal democracy cannot survive. Since the publication of The Open Society and its Enemies, his paradox of tolerance has weathered decades of criticism and revision. As John Horgan wrote in an introduction to a 1992 interview with the thinker, two years before his death, an old joke about Popper retitles the book The Open Society by One of its Enemies.

With less than good humor, critics have derided Poppers liberalism as dogmatic and itself a fascist ideology that inevitably tends to intolerance against minorities. Question about who gets to decide which views should be suppressed and how are not easy to answer. Popper liked to say he welcomed the criticism, but he refused to tolerate views that reject reason, fact, and argument in order to incite and perpetrate violence and persecution. Its difficult to imagine any democratic society surviving for long if it decides that, while maybe objectionable, such tolerance is tolerable. The question, these days, writes Harvie, is can a tolerant society survive the internet?

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Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness
Paris joined in the fascination with the treasures of the ancient Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamun last weekend with the opening of a major exhibition in the French capital

Half a century after the success of the last exhibition of the treasures of the ancient Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamun to hit the French capital, a new exhibition, this time at the Grande Halle de la Villette rather than the Petit Palais, is displaying more than 150 treasured pieces from the tomb of the young Pharaoh to thousands of appreciative visitors to the exhibition in Paris.

Paris was seized by Egyptomania this week when the Tutankhamun, the Treasures of the Pharaoh exhibition opened for its second stop after opening in Los Angeles in the US last year.

Streets, shops, buses, the metro, the facade of buildings, hotels and restaurants were all plastered with posters of the symbolic golden coffin of the boy-king, one of the pieces in the exhibition, or of a gilded wooden statuette depicting the king riding a black leopard, or of the Ka, a wooden guardian statue with gilded head-dress and skirt and gold jewellery studded with coloured precious stones.

Tut

The mystery of the golden king has stirred up worldwide curiosity since the discovery of his tomb in 1922, and now the Tutankhamun, the Treasures of the Pharaoh exhibition in Paris is fascinating visitors yet again. It features 150 pieces, 60 of which have never before been seen outside Egypt, and its theatrical design and exhibition scenario helps to reconstruct the path of the king into the afterlife.

The gate of the Villette exhibition ground was glittering with the name of Tutankhamun this week, while the Grande Halles galleries were transformed into an ancient Egyptian necropolis with dark walls and soft lighting. Giant screens showed films documenting the work of British archaeologist Howard Carter in discovering the intact tomb of Tutankhamun and its treasures, taking visitors back in time to the early 20th century, with strains of oriental music filling the air in the display areas.

Before going into the exhibition, visitors enter an immersive environment that begins with an introductory film on a 180-degree screen meant to transport them to the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor where Tutankhamuns tomb was discovered.

The camera sweeps across the mountainous and desert landscape. Groups of men studying maps, digging rocks, or sifting sand are shown. Visitors then enter the first room of the exhibition proper, where images, lighting and sound are used to create the impression of the imminent finds.

Tutankhamun

During the nine-gallery exhibition that follows, guests pass through the six gates of the underworld as they travel with the king on his journey to eternity. Along the way, they encounter good-luck amulets, weapons meant to fight off demons, alabaster containers of oils that the ancient Egyptians believed enabled the king to see and hear in the underworld, and figurines of gods meant to guide and protect him.

The second gallery is dedicated to the gods. It is here that one finds the most impressive pieces, including the kings guardian, a powerful black-and-gold statue that has watched over the kings sleep for nearly three millennia, and a delicate miniature sarcophagus that contained his embalmed viscera.

Then comes the kings rebirth, illustrated by an arch of light evoking the journey of the god Re from sunrise to zenith. This room presents the fabulous treasures found in the boy-kings burial chamber, including bracelets, tiaras, amulets and ornaments in which gold and precious stones mingle.

The penultimate part, using video and digital images, evokes the discovery and study of the mummy. The last room leaves visitors facing a colossus in stone representing the boy-king.

Tutankhamun

TECHNOLOGY

3D scans of objects are shown on video screens on top of the display cases, so viewers can zoom in and spin objects on screen for an interactive experience.

Theres a lot more technology in this exhibition when it comes to being able to help tell the story. With these videos, visitors really get to see these objects in a way they have never seen them before, John Norman, director of exhibitions of the IMG company that organised the show, told Al-Ahram Weekly.

For the next six months, the Grande Halle de la Villette will display 150 magnificent objects from the collection that has captivated French audiences since its first tour there in the 1967, he said. Dramatically laid out in nine galleries, it relates the story of one of the most interesting and perplexing kings in ancient Egyptian history almost 3,300 years ago. Each section showcases the dazzling craftsmanship of ancient artisans that characterised the earlier Tutankhamun exhibition.

Norman said the exhibition used multimedia displays to stimulate interest in the science related to archaeology. Visitors also learn how the scientific analysis of the boy-kings 3,000-year-old mummy had revealed new information about his health and lineage, as well as how cutting-edge archaeological tools were assisting in discovering tombs and analysing existing ones in ways never before imagined.

Tutankhamun

The last galleries in the show focus on the discovery of the tomb itself and the history of Egyptian archaeology, along with new scientific analyses of the mummy. These are provided through a video table showing scan data of Tutankhamuns mummy. The scans are from 2005, but advances in technology have made it possible to glean more information from them, including that Tutankhamun had a club foot and an impacted wisdom tooth.

New DNA testing shows that the young king also suffered from malaria and had a badly broken left leg above the knee that pierced his skin. This likely resulted in the infection that caused his death.

The exhibition takes visitors through the afterlife, visualising it through objects from the tomb. It combines technology, music and animation in novel ways. We have used a lot of technology in the exhibition, Norman added, describing it as a very theatrical experience. He said that each gallery space had its own music to ground viewers in ancient Egypt and provide context for the exhibition.

Egypts Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany, who officially inaugurated the exhibition along with French Minister of Culture Franck Riester, described the exhibition as an appetiser for French audiences to encourage them to travel to Egypt to admire the rest of the kings collection in its final resting place at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), due to open in 2020.

It is a message of peace and security from Egypt to the whole world, El-Enany said.

He also highlighted the strong friendship between Egypt and France, adding that archaeology had always had a special place in the hearts of the French, who had contributed a lot to it over the last two centuries since French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered hieroglyphs in 1822.

During his speech, El-Enany highlighted the recent discoveries and inaugurations of archaeological projects carried out by the ministry last year. He also invited the French public to witness the announcement of three new discoveries within the next few months and to visit Egypt to see the transportation of the royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the new Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in the Cairo district of Fustat.

Tutankhamun

Some 200,000 tickets have already been sold for the Paris exhibition, with 5,000 people visiting the exhibition on its first day and queuing outside la Villette. It is expected that the number of visitors to the Paris exhibition will reach one million people before it travels to its third stop in London.

The exhibition is soothing and most moving, whispered Severine, one of the first-day visitors to the exhibition. She said the darkness of the exhibition design provided a beautiful atmosphere which brings out the gilding.

What is impressive in this exhibition is seeing that almost everything is intact, Severine continued, fascinated, like fellow visitor Sylvain, with the figurine of Horus, one of the oldest Egyptian deities, and amazed by the details and materials used. To know the techniques that they had at that time is just incredible, he said.

Sylvain had anticipated the crowds, and like his friends he had bought a ticket in November for the exhibition. Jean-Marie, at the exhibition with his children, had also bought tickets three months ago to be sure to be able to get in. He had good reason to be present on the first day, as he had also been half a century ago at the first Tutankhamun exhibition in Paris at the Petit Palais.

I visited the exhibition 50 years ago when I was ten years old, which is the current age of my daughter, he said. In 1967, the exhibition of the century attracted more than 1.2 million visitors, a record never equalled. I absolutely wanted to pass this on to my children because it is a great moment of emotion for me. It is of an absolute and timeless beauty, Jean-Marie told the Weekly.

Tutankhamun seduces all generations, however. What is amazing is that there is gold everywhere. It is a precious material, and you get the impression that the ancient Egyptians had lots of it, said one 13-year-old visitor.

Janette, an 80-year-old visitor on the second day along with her two friends, was found in a corner of the exhibition crying. We are very sad, Janette told the Weekly.

Fifty-two years ago when the Tutankhamun exhibition was first in Paris we came to visit it. We were then four friends, and now we are only three as our fourth friend passed away a few months ago. We were hesitant whether to buy tickets and go to the exhibition, but we decided to do so in order to make our fourth friend happy. But upon our arrival we could not stop crying as we see her all around us, Janette concluded.

Tutankhamun

*A version of this article appears in print in the 28 March, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Treasures of Tutankhamun opens in Paris

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Sonoco Names Rick Johnson as Chief Information Officer

Rick Johnson

March 29, 2019 - Sonoco announced that Richard (Rick) Johnson has joined the company as Chief Information Officer, effective March 26.

Previously, Johnson served as Vice President and CIO of HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI) of Muscatine, Iowa, a multi-brand, multinational manufacturer of office furniture and hearth products. Prior to that, he held executive leadership roles at Johnson Controls, Capgemini and Ernst & Young LLC., and he started his career at General Motors Corporation.

Johnson holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Clarkson University.

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. To learn more, please visit: www.sonoco.com .

SOURCE: Sonoco
What do you write about someone who has seen and done it all, been through hell and back, currently lives between heaven and hell, and has become an absolute legend in their lifetime? This is the challenge of profiling the prolific and transcendent Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, who has created 300 albums of genreless, but no less influential, music and art  both solo and in bands like Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV  since he/r teens, growing up in England.

I'm 30 years old, and identify as non-binary. S/he is 69, and has created he/r own category to encapsulate he/r singular experience of gender, called "pandrogeny." I want tattoos, but fear the pain of a needle. S/he not only has numerous tattoos, but has fearlessly gone under the knife so that s/he could become he/r late partner, the artist Lady Jaye. I have, thus far, been in love with one person that I hoped would last forever, and they could be dead for all I know. Though P-Orridge says Lady Jaye has "left he/r body," s/he was and remains the love of he/r life. P-Orridge even went to Benin, Africa to have Lady Jaye properly immortalized in the form of a figurine that s/he talks, consults, and prays with daily.

Though it may seem we have very little in common, P-Orridge and I are ultimately bonded by love  a religion so powerful, it works with or without faith.

---

Love is sacred, P-Orridge tells me, and s/he knows this because s/he lives it. There are many examples in art and culture supporting this idea, but even if it is promoted, how widely is it accepted, and then, actually practiced?

Queer musicians such as Olly Alexander have written songs about the sacrament of love like in Years & Years' "Sanctify." Lana Del Rey's entire discography is, by this point, an iconic, repetitive time-warp capturing the pitfalls and triumphs of practicing love as devotion. Reality shows from The Bachelor to Flavor of Love depict competitive, conditional love afforded by the monetary gain of its contestants. Spiritual guru Marianne Williamson teaches weekly courses based on the seminal A Course In Miracles text, in which she proffers the virtues of a much-needed  and much-lost  "return to love."

When P-Orridge was 17, s/he recorded he/r first album while enrolled at a West Midlands, England private school, and was enduring bullying. Back then, the music s/he made was "terrible," but it was an exorcism of personal demons. In art and the occult, s/he found a sacred calling, and the ability to express "exceptional revelations," to "inspire everyone else to understand themselves a bit better"  a type of love both selfless and, ultimately, unconditional.

Lady Jaye & Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

P-Orridge continued to make music and tour the world. Combating Christian dogma and the church's oppression of people for centuries, s/he created Thee Psychick Bible, which outlined TOPY's guiding principles, "occulture" texts, and he/r own observations on the subject of love as the sole answer to a world perpetually in manmade crisis. It has been translated to many languages, including Spanish, French, and most recently, Russian.

P-Orridge has lived long enough to see types of social progress in he/r home country of England, and in America, where s/he has lived since the '90s. S/he witnessed and closely followed the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s, and seems to have always been guided by the principles of love as a tool for progress. S/he co-founded in the '80s a radical group, Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (TOPY), for those seeking individual liberation through community-building and magic. Unlike the cult it was publicly accused of being, the group consisted of "only leaders, and not followers," according to P-Orridge. TOPY's very existence made he/r a target for the English government, and following a raid about 10 years later, s/he decamped to the U.S.

Consider government leaders throughout history who have risen up against radical artists and activists like P-Orridge  people using their bodies to make bold anti-establishment statements, often by literally putting their money where their mouths are. Consider the rise of Trump in America, and his insistence on finding ways to oppress the most marginalized among us, from divisive rhetoric and promoting various forms of LGBTQ discrimination to separating families at our borders. Voices like P-Orridge's have staked their reputations and legacies on promoting unity, as afforded by love of one another, even as s/he criticized "thee [sic] sleeping masses." Upon realizing s/he was an artist, P-Orridge believed he/r role was "to care for others, altruistically."

"Isn't the body really just another tool for which you can experience sensation?"

"It's what you can give back to the species, in the hope that it improves everybody's experience of being alive," s/he says. "And the body is not the person." As Lady Jaye used to say, "The body is a cheap suitcase that carries around the consciousness." The body may wear out or betray itself until someday it is discarded, but consciousness doesn't.

In recent years, P-Orridge has endured a prolonged battle with leukemia. Earlier this year, s/he said he/r live shows with Psychic TV in Europe would likely be he/r last, after touring and playing for 50 years. Whether you find inspiration or repulsion from he/r art and beliefs, what does it mean to lose a voice like P-Orridge's? While s/he is still here, he/r revolutionary thoughts on what motivates us  gender, body, politics, money, love all matter. And they will continue to once he/r physical body is not here.

---

Today, P-Orridge is very familiar with the body's inevitable self-destruction, as if s/he weren't before, having surgically altered he/r entire body to match the love of he/r life as an artistic project and an exploration of what the body can handle. Because if it really is just a cheap suitcase, as Lady Jaye once said, you can decorate it how you like  adding or subtracting items as needed in the name of enhancement.

P-Orridge wrote a book detailing the whole thing retrospectively. It's a thick, hardcover assemblage of intimate photographs and essays called S/HE IS (STILL) HER/E. Sitting in he/r Lower East Side home, I'm flipping through copy 647 of only 1,323 printed editions while also reading news items about he/r battle with leukemia, which began in the 2017 while on tour with Psychic TV. Seeing photos of fluid drainage from he/r lungs on Instagram, all while watching he/r take breaths from oxygen tanks in he/r living room is surreal. S/he's in high spirits, but also in a great deal of discomfort.

Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

In S/HE IS STILL HER/E, P-Orridge elaborates on pandrogeny, created after s/he met Lady Jaye in 1993. "Thee body has been at thee centre of all art. It's thee great mystery of existence, thee body versus death, thee mortality fear that runs so deep. While it's there, have fun with it. Fuck you, DNA!" In one black-and-white post-op image, s/he writes: "We never felt we were physically attractive. It took Jaye a couple of years to persuade me that s/he meant it when s/he said we were beautiful. S/he's thee only person who's told me that we're beautiful and we've believed it. No one else  not my kids, my parents, no one."

Considering all the physical transformations s/he has undergone, whether intentionally or naturally, P-Orridge says that the body is a vessel, but not how organized religion might teach. "You get these holdovers that still get repeated in society today: 'Your body is a temple, and it must be kept clean and pure!' and we say to that, 'Well, why do we want it to be such?'" s/he says. "Isn't the body really just another tool for which you can experience sensation? At its best, the body is good for sensation. And mobility. Until it isn't."

Perhaps when a person is dying, they become clearer not only on deciphering their own lives, but the world around them  something P-Orridge has spent he/r whole career exploring, from the disastrous state of climate change to American political uproar du jour. What seems to be keeping he/r alive is generosity, from within and outside the self. P-Orridge tells me that a GoFundMe, started by fans and friends to help cover medical expenses, raised around $62,000. "It saves my ass to this day," s/he says. "It is still so moving to know that my cancer diagnosis revealed how deeply people care for and trust me." Optimism, despite he/r health challenges, is also keeping P-Orridge going. "We will always report back as best we can on any given health situation, we will look for the best way to explain it. Now: would you like some tea?"

"Hating what's different, what we don't understand, and thus not being unified  that is perhaps the original sin."

As P-Orridge prepares English-style tea with milk and honey, I notice the Psychic TV crosses and other occult memorabilia lining the walls of he/r studio apartment. There are serpentine walking staffs and symbols representing the number 23, which holds special significance to P-Orridge. In numerology, it is often cited as a number representing freedom and fluidity with deep spiritual and religious context. In Christianity, Psalm 23 is often invoked as a sort of "last rites" passage: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

It is the sacred number of Eris, the goddess of discord. In Islam, the Quran was revealed over the course of 23 years to Prophet Muhammed. For P-Orridge, the number 23 dates back to he/r fellowship Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth. It's a number of sacred ritual designed to achieve a deeper understanding of self, in order to be serviceable to others. But also, 23 is the number of typical chromosomes found in human sex cells. Our scientific understanding of sex has evolved over the past century to include sexes that go beyond X for female and Y for male. This nuanced understanding of sex and gender is what P-Orridge has always represented and advocated for.

---

The most instant way to understand P-Orridge's ideas of gender fluidity is through the surgically altered love story of P-Orridge and he/r beloved "other half" Lady Jaye. The long story starts like many a love at first sight tale  like, "truly, unconditionally in love. And obsessed," P-Orridge says. The two met in the early '90s when P-Orridge watched transfixed as Lady Jaye paced back and forth in a basement chain smoking. Lady Jaye was a registered nurse. They soon embarked on cross-country road trips and art-making around the world, together.

This romance developed until the couple wished to be fully absorbed into each other's lives. For millennia, this wish has been at the center of how many couples define and solidify their unions, for better or for worse. In the biblical story of Adam and Eve, which P-Orridge specifically cites, God created Adam, then fashioned Eve from his rib or the side of his flesh. P-Orridge believes this original, divine state of humanity of one being part of another, is what "we've been seeking to return to." As Christians worship the story of creation, for P-Orridge and Lady Jaye, becoming each other in the flesh was their own divine ritual.

Musty Dagger & Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

"It's not male or female, not either/or  just complete," P-Orridge says. "We thought it was important to remind people of that idea, and as artists, we figured the best way to do so was visually. The body has always been the subject in art, from the get-go. If we are going to survive as a species, we have to stop the endless cycle where someone must be scapegoated, then attacked and destroyed  whether it's within groups, in society or in a war for land. How do we start to change human behavior, so that it's not being governed by being trained to hate what's different, when we are all unified, and already complete? Hating what's different, what we don't understand, over and over again, and thus not being unified  that is perhaps the original sin."

After a life-threatening house fire in California, a court case with producer Rick Rubin, and paying off medical bills from injuries P-Orridge sustained from the fire, s/he and Lady Jaye reviewed what was left over financially to begin their series of surgeries.

"Hating what's different, what we don't understand, and thus not being unified  that is perhaps the original sin."

"We had about $650,000 left," s/he explains. "We thought, we could be sensible and put this in a bank or a 401k and not have to worry about bills for a long time, and live a comfortable, safe life. Or, we could decide that this lump of money gives us the freedom to not have to work at all, and spend it all on making art and creating new options and possibilities. We looked at each other and realized we may never get that chance again." As Lady Jaye once said, "See a cliff, jump off."

Upon finalizing calculations and risk assessment, P-Orridge says that s/he and Lady Jaye came to an agreement. Considering the procedures they wanted to undergo to match one another, the process would take up to 10 years. Having also survived raids in he/r Brighton home of he/r life and work archives, following accusations of "satanic abuse" of "cult members," which were later disproven, the 1995 marriage of P-Orridge and Lady Jaye gave rise to a third form of being. Padrogeny was born between the two of them as a holistic way of life by doing as well as believing. "It's a word with no baggage or political association," P-Orridge says. "It doesn't even have to entail gender. We are at a point now where we can decide we want to have green skin or fur all over us, or I would love to be able to have gills and live underwater. It's only our imaginations that limit what our bodies can become."

In S/HE IS STILL HER/E, there are photos of P-Orridge and Lady Jaye in identical hair and makeup, nude or clothed. Lady Jaye taught P-Orridge to love hair salons, about wearing sexy heels and shoes that you could also run to catch a bus in. He/r favorite image of shoes were the Yves Saint Laurent heels worn by Catherine Deneuve in the French 1967 classic Belle de Jour, which were dragged through the mud after Deneuve was untied from a tree. P-Orridge and Lady Jaye shared shoes; their natural size was a women's 7.5.

Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

As a nurse, Lady Jaye was able to film the face and implant surgeries P-Orridge underwent. There are photos of P-Orridge with needles in he/r penis, and penis pumps attached to he/r breasts, and close-ups of Lady Jaye's removal of varicose veins. Both of their heads are wrapped in post-op bandages as they wear furs. After both getting 60 sets of lip injections at $700 per visit, P-Orridge got a metallic mouth, inspired by actor Pierre Clementi's metal teeth in Belle de Jour. The dentist's invoice was more than $38,000. He/r dentist told her s/he had the "Rolls-Royce of mouths."

The graphic images of transformation, P-Orridge says as I flip through the book, are only terrifying if you haven't yet come to terms with the fact that underneath our clothes, we are all naked. "In evolution, mutation is law. And who says that we're finished evolving?" P-Orridge says. "There have been papers found by Stephen Hawking where he's saying we'll be superhumans in the future, and yet, it has taken how many hundreds of thousands of years to become what we are now? People are scared of breastfeeding, of sexual activity, of evolving. How will those in power react when someday people go, 'I'm gonna have four horns and two dicks'?"

---

P-Orridge and I continue talking about the environment, magic, twins, and how grief has transformed he/r. After Lady Jaye died, P-Orridge wanted to put an offering into the Ganges river in Nepal, one of their favorite places together. The water of the Ganges is said to be sacred too. A year later, a longtime friend and collaborator, Hazel Hill McCarthy III, suggested P-Orridge take a trip to a coastal town in Benin called Ouidah  an area known both for its voodoo festivals celebrating high priests and priestesses, and its unusually high population of twins. Globally, the number of twins born per every thousand births is seven. In Benin, that number is 32.

When P-Orridge immersed he/rself in the culture, s/he learned that the people of Ouidah believe twins can be born from different mothers. It was decided then that Lady Jaye was P-Orridge's twin. Every year the town hosts a twin festival that lasts two weeks: the first week honors twins who have died, and the second honors those who are still alive. During this time, P-Orridge says s/he and McCarthy were invited to participate in a special ceremony by the town's high priestess of twins. There, songs were sung for Lady Jaye in he/r honor, and a doll was fashioned in he/r likeness, which P-Orridge carries in a pouch and gives food and water. It is her way of maintaining contact with the love of he/r life. The process helped he/r realize that grief can be celebratory. I watched the whole experience with P-Orridge, captured in an hour-long documentary by McCarthy called Bight of the Twin.

"We can decide we want to have green skin or fur all over us, or I would love to have gills and live underwater. It's only our imaginations that limit what our bodies can become."

"You know, in the West, it's almost a matter of shame," P-Orridge says, holding Lady Jaye close to he/r bosom between sips of oxygen from an air can. S/he exhales: "You're not supposed to bother people with the fact that someone has died. You're supposed to feel like it's your fault  that grief is something to be ashamed of, because now everyone feels awkward around you. But in Benin, they say, 'They're still alive. Here they are.' You still talk to them because they are still around. That's a much more positive and healthy way to deal with someone dying, don't you think?"

---

Well into the afternoon, we begin staging a few photos of P-Orridge with he/r monk-like Pekingese dog, Musty Dagger, who once belonged to a member of the Smashing Pumpkins, and was taken in to ease the grief of losing BigBoy, the dog s/he owned with Lady Jaye. Since this interview, Musty Dagger has died, or as P-Orridge would say, "Dropped the body."

After a few shots, Musty Dagger grows restless. P-Orridge sets he/r eloved pet down and joins me on he/r couch. P-Orridge and I shift to activism, and how people seem to be more mobilized than ever since Trump became President. We discuss Trumpian politics and how rapidly news spreads through social media to fuel out fears. Of course, P-Orridge is quick to remind me that though Americans are currently sucked into this vortex, the fight against such fear is as ancient as patriarchal rule itself. It's not just the government we're fighting against, s/he says.

"I've always felt like there's nothing more precious than fighting for the world  for the species," s/he says. "It has always seemed like the only option. They, meaning the people in control  which is partly the government, partly bigger corporations, partly bigots, and party organized religion  want to continue to control by pitting us against each other. And control needs time, like a junkie needs junk. Control runs by perpetuating itself."

How do we break free from the prison of our 24-hour news cycle, I ask he/r. It seems everything we consume is designed to make us feel hopeless. And that's because, P-Orridge says, "it is."

But change, as we've seen through history, happens in stages. S/he explains it in circular language: because when we don't learn from the past, the worst parts of history and mankind's influence of it, repeat themselves  again and again.

Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

"First you change yourself, then you change your bedroom, and then you change your house, and then you change the street you live on, and then you change the area you live in, and then you change the town," P-Orridge explains. "It's incremental, in other words. You just change the bits you can."

S/he continues: "But then you'll notice that when you've changed your house, the person next door has changed theirs, and then you get together and you both change the street. And then, all the people on the street think, 'Let's change this town.' So, that's where optimism comes in. You also find out who else is an activist, who has realized similar things, and has a similar desire to guide the future differently."

P-Orridge shares a recent example of how s/he has had to advocate for he/rself, while on tour with Psychic TV. At a Phoenix stop, s/he got a call saying the band's gig might need to be cancelled. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had announced they were going to protest at the venue due to a policy stating that trans people couldn't use the restroom they felt was appropriate.

"So we rang the club, and spoke to the guy who ran it, and we said, 'This is impossible,'" P-Orridge says. "He goes, 'Oh, don't worry. You can use my private toilet. You don't have to use the men's toilet.' And I said, 'Well that's even worse.' You're giving me this special privilege as though you pity me? Is it a pity bathroom or is it because you don't want to lose any money? It's not acceptable." The band cancelled the show and moved to another club in Phoenix. At the next place, Psychic TV was told by club owners they couldn't perform because of the building owner's religious views. If Psychic TV played there, the club could be shut down.

"The audience became this amazing, weird mix of people who had their breasts removed, people who had normal breasts, people who are just growing breasts..."

During that same trip, the final try for a Phoenix show was in a biker bar. "It was fabulous," P-Orridge recalls. "There was no AC and it was a red moon outside. Halfway through the gig, we said 'fuck it' and tore our shirts off and went topless. Then the audience followed suit, and it became this amazing, weird mix of people who had their breasts removed, people who had normal breasts, people who are just growing breasts, and so on. It was brilliant."

Before the show, having caught wind of Psychic TV's difficulties in securing a venue to play in, an ABC News crew approached P-Orridge and asked he/r to comment about the discrimination s/he experienced, and why s/he had such strong views about it. "I looked right in the camera, and said, 'Transsexuals are the stormtroopers of the future.'"

---

That line rings in my head days after our six hours together, and I call P-Orridge again. "It is up to you to make sure you make a difference," s/he reminds me over the phone. I tell he/r that I am feeling hopeless about an anti-trans memo that Trump released last October. In the memo, the Department of Health and Human Services outlined a biological, old-world definition of sex and gender arguing that both exist within a binary based on "immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth." There within, the memo also discussed eliminating prior steps forward for trans healthcare, housing, and other means of social support services. It would also institute archaic practices such as sex testing, based on one's birth-assigned genitalia, and using birth certificates to definitively decide someone's gender.

I mention that there is a protest against the memo starting in Union Square, and that I feel too tired to go  something many of us experience these days, and often use as an excuse. Not missing a beat, P-Orridge hears the notes of resignation in my voice and calls bullshit. S/he's right.

"Go out and fight for what you believe in," s/he says. "Who cares that you're tired? You still can, so why not do it? It's a shame to sit around waiting for change when we can do something about it. Because the truth is, the majority who have somehow colluded in this power system are equally to blame for where we are now. Everyone who didn't bother to vote is to blame, as well."

I'm reminded of a chance encounter with P-Orridge on the Lower East Side about a month before this interview. S/he came into a Mexican restaurant wearing a "Thank God For Abortion" T-shirt by Viva Ruiz, portable air tank in tow. S/he walked with the support of one of he/r many wood-carved walking sticks. As I approached he/r, wanting to say hello, s/he ordered a stiff drink. I asked if I could sit and chat with he/r for a moment, which stretched into hours.

Only a week prior, s/he had been in the hospital getting large sacs of fluid drained from he/r lungs. S/he talked about fear that the country could, at any moment, become a totalitarian police state. S/he spoke about physically fighting evil forces who threatened he/r, so I cautiously brought up he/r perilous health condition. S/he looked at me with an expression that was peaceful, but unflinching. "It's a tragedy, where we are," P-Orridge said, trailing off. "I wonder if I'll be here to watch."

If s/he's still fighting, for life, for love, for humanity  why can't we?
Now tapping DJ Peggy Gou for Ray-Ban's latest collaboration, out now, the iconic sunglasses brand has released a new campaign starring the Korea-born, Berlin-based musician. Gou was notably the first Korean woman to play Berlin's famed Berghain club and has since amassed an international following. She's revered for continuing to break barriers in the world of electronic and techno music.

Related | Steven Klein Wants You to Fight For Personal Freedom

For their collab, Gou has helped reimagine a classic '70s square frame with a blue-grey lens, as well as a smaller violet-tinted oval shape. The two-piece collection also includes Ray-Ban's first gold chain accessory to go with the glasses, inscribed with the Techno Queen's initials.

Behind the Scenes

Having studied fashion in London before eventually falling in love with music, Gou's own fashion line is called KIRIN and means "giraffe" in Korean (her favorite animal). The brand of luxury streetwear is reflective of the DJ's personal style and adds to a growing list of ventures for the house music aficionado, such as her Ray-Ban collab.

The electronic producer followed the release of her 2016 EP, Art of War, with an American tour, and has played alongside other women DJs of note like The Black Madonna, Nina Kraviz, and Honey Dijon. The abstract house music Gou makes, as shown by her recent release, "Starry Night," makes you want to jump onto a dance floor until the early morning.

In the campaign video, below, Gou talks about what makes her heart beat, her origins in fashion and the feeling of being home in Korea. For more information, click here.
Peaceful Iranian Labor Activist Arasham Rezaee Sentenced to Prison Without Access to Counsel

03/29/19

Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran

Rezaee Struggling to Financially Support Family from Prison



Mahmoud Arasham Rezaee

Labor activist Mahmoud Arasham Rezaee has been issued a lengthy prison sentence at a trial that unlawfully took place without prior notice or the presence of his lawyer, his mother Keshvar Rezaee informed the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on March 27, 2019.

Rezaee was supporting his family at the time of his arrest and is now struggling to take on any job he can in the prison to continue supporting them.

"I have heart disease and his sisters are in school," his mother told CHRI. "He was our only breadwinner."

"He's not only suffering from being in prison but he has also been working during the day and washing dishes and clothes for this and that person in prison to send us some money," she said.

The 27-year-old construction-building painter was arrested by agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Intelligence Organization in Tehran on January 7, 2019, and taken to Evin Prison.

On February 27, Rezaee was handed a summons in his cell to appear at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court that same day.

Judge Mohammad Moghiseh sentenced him without the presence of a lawyer to a total of 8.5 years in prison for the charges of "propaganda against the state," "assembly and collusion against national security" and "insulting the supreme leader."

Based on Article 134 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code, which stipulates that defendants must only serve the longest prison sentence in cases involving convictions on multiple charges, Rezaee must serve five years of that sentence (subject to appeal).

Rezaee was illegally sentenced without a lawyer during his trial. It is not clear whether he was denied the lawyer by the judge or could not obtain one in time given that he was denied prior notice of the trial.

Article 25 of Iran's Constitution states "Both parties to a lawsuit have the right in all courts of law to select an attorney, and if they are unable to do so, arrangements must be made to provide them with legal counsel."

Article 48 and 190 of the Criminal Procedures Regulations also grant prisoners the right to counsel.

Keshvar Rezaee told CHRI that her son was arrested in January 2019 for allegedly participating in peaceful protest rallies, informing the public about the condition of political prisoners and meeting with their families.

Two other labor activists, Majid Hosseini and Mohammad Hosseinzadeh, who were detained around the same time as Rezaee were released on bail at an unknown date. Rezaee was unable to post bail because his family had insufficient funds, his mother said.
Jafar Panahi's "3 Faces" opens in U.S. theaters

03/29/19

Source: Kino Lorber

"3 Faces," a film by renowned Iranian director Jafar Panahi, opens today at select theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Encino and Hartford with screenings in other cities to come.



3 Faces

Iranian director Jafar Panahi's fourth completed feature since he was officially banned from filmmaking is one of his very best. Panahi begins with a smartphone video shot by a young woman (Marziyeh Rezaei) who announces to the camera that her parents have forbidden her from realizing her dream of acting and then, by all appearances, takes her own life. The recipient of the video, Behnaz Jafari, as herself, asks Panahi, as himself, to drive her to the woman's tiny home village near the Turkish border to investigate. From there, 3 Faces builds in narrative, thematic, and visual intricacy to put forth a grand expression of community and solidarity under the eye of oppression. - New York Film Festival

3 Faces

Year: 2019

Running Time: 100

Color Type: Color

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Country: Iran

Language: Farsi with English Subtitles

Genres: Drama

Subjects: Middle Eastern Studies, Women's Studies, Film Studies



Cast

Behnaz Jafari

Jafar Panahi

Marziyeh Rezaei

Maedeh Erteghaei

Narges Del Aram



Crew

Directed by Jafar Panahi

Writer Jafar Panahi

Screening Schedule in United States:

March 29 - April 4: Encino, CA; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Hartford, CT

March 29: Detroit, MI

April 4 - April 14: Minneapolis, MN

April 9: Iowa City, IA

Coming Soon: Chicago, IL; Santa Fe, NM; Oklahoma City, OK; Pittsburgh, PA

Find details of screening venues and information on ordering tickets at: kinolorber.com/film/3-faces



Related Information:

Renowned Filmmaker Jafar Panahi, Banned by Iranian Government, Speaks Out Via Statement Given at the New York Film Festival Premiere of 3 FACES on October 8

NEW YORK, October 9, 2018 - Prior to the October 8th US premiere of master filmmaker Jafar Panaji's latest film, 3 FACES, at the New York Film Festival, his friend, Iranian-American film scholar Dr. Jamsheed Akrami, took the stage to deliver some introductory remarks to the packed theater at Alice Tully Hall as well as a statement from Mr. Panahi himself.

Mr. Panahi-director of such internationally acclaimed films as The White Balloon, The Circle, Crimson Gold, and Taxi-was unable to attend the screening of 3 FACES, winner of the prize for Best Screenplay at Cannes, as he has been banned by the Iranian government since 2010 from directing films or leaving his native country. Despite these restrictions, he continues to make movies and 3 FACES, a poignant yet playful exploration of oppression, is his fourth film since being banned from filmmaking in Iran. It stars Panahi and well-known Iranian actress Behnaz Jafari (both playing themselves) as they embark on an eventful road trip to the rural northwest of Iran to find out about the fate of a girl whose family has forbidden her from attending a drama conservatory in Tehran. They soon discover that the local hospitality is challenged by a desire to protect age-old traditions.

Introductory statement by Dr. Jamsheed Akrami prior to NYFF screening:

"Thank you for coming to see an Iranian film by Jafar Panahi. Unfortunately Iranians living in Iran don't have the same opportunity because Mr. Panahi is officially banned from making films in Iran so his films are not shown there.

Not only he is banned from making films, he is also banned from leaving the country, which explains why he is not here tonight, or wasn't present at Cannes Film Festival a few months ago to receive the award for Best Screenplay.

What led to the ban following a 3-month detention was Mr. Panahi's activism in support of freedom of expression in Iran. In the parlance of the Islamic Republic that kind of activism is translated as "acting against national security" or similar bogus charges, which led to Mr. Panahi's imprisonment for 3 months in 2010.

But even before 2010, the Iranian government had shown little tolerance for the kind of socially conscious films Mr. Panahi was making, and repeatedly accused him of showing the country in a bad light in movies like The Circle, Crimson Gold, and Offside, which is why those films were never shown in Iran and were also deprived of opportunities such as Oscar considerations despite their artistic merits. This year, it was "3 Faces" that lost that opportunity. Nothing against the Iranian entry, "No Date No, Signature" which is also a very good film. But the problem is Mr. Panahi's film was not even considered, and that's not fair play.

You might be wondering if Mr. Panahi has been banned from making films for the past 8 years, how come he has managed to make 4 films over that period. Well, with great difficulty, Mr Panahi will tell you. The authorities are obviously aware of his films. Why they don't stop him? It's partly because Mr. Panahi makes his films surreptitiously and partly because his detention in 2010 caused an international uproar. In their damage assessment, maybe the authorities would rather turn a blind eye to Mr. Panahi's violation of the ban than causing another international embarrassment by arresting him again. "

Statement from Jafar Panahi:

"I would like to thank the New York Film Festival for selecting my film, 3 Faces, for screening in the festival. I'd also like to thank Kino Lorber for distributing the film. I hope they won't regret their decision! I am especially thankful to my dear friend Dr. Jamsheed Akrami who has always supported my films in the United States.

I was invited to the New York Film Festival in 1995 with my first film, The White Balloon. At the time I could never foresee that there would come a day when I would be barred from attending a festival by my government. I would have loved to be present and see how an American audience would react to my film.

I am still so grateful that my films continue to be shown in many countries. Sadly I cannot say the same thing about my own country. Only my first film was publicly screened in Iran. Unfortunately, none of my following 8 films received screening permits.

Despite the obstacles that I was facing after the ban, I kept telling myself that I couldn't give up and had to find a way to keep working. I am not alone. Many other Iranian filmmakers work under difficult circumstances. But instead of quitting or complaining, they persist and still make their films despite all the hurdles. Their determination to keep working against the odds makes me so hopeful about the future of Iranian cinema."

Dr. Jamsheed Akrami is a scholar of Iranian cinema. A former editor of Iranian film magazines, he has published extensively, presented numerous lectures, curated film series, and produced a number of films, including the feature-length documentaries The Lost Cinema, on political filmmaking under the Shah, and Friendly Persuasion, on Iranian cinema after the 1979 revolution and 2018's A Cinema of Discontent, which completes his documentary trilogy on Iranian cinema. The films were screened in international film festivals and enjoyed theatrical runs and television screenings in the US and Canada. They are distributed by Kino Lorber.
The government would wean-off some beneficiaries under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, Mr Frank Adjei, the Kintampo Municipal Director of the Department of Social Welfare, has said.



Most to be affected are orphans who have attained 18 years, and still enjoying the cash grant and they would be supported to engage into sustainable trade to fend for themselves.



Government through the LEAP programme provides cash grant ranging between GHC 64 and GHC 106 to beneficiaries for their upkeep.



They comprised vulnerable people who are 65 years and above, people with severe disabilities, pregnant women, orphans in a household.



In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of an experience sharing forum held at Kadelso in the Municipality, Mr Adjei said the LEAP programme is introduced to support only vulnerable and extremely poor people in society.



LEAP is basically meant for susceptible people who could not engage in any economic activities due to their vulnerabilities, he said.



The forum, was jointly organized by the Coalition of Right to Information, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), and Community Youth Development Foundation (CYDF), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), another NGO.



It was aimed at sensitizing the people on the LEAP and identifying basic challenges and helping to resolve such problems to sustain its implementation.



Mr Adjei said though the LEAP programme was impacting positively on the socio-economic livelihoods of the beneficiaries, there is the need to identify and support orphan beneficiaries who were school dropouts to go into employable skills training to secure their future.



This, he said, would also pave the way to register and include more qualified people who are not benefiting from the programme.



Mr Adjei said his department has received information that some of the beneficiaries were into alcoholism, and other unhealthy lifestyle and warned the department would not hesitate to wean-off beneficiaries who failed to use the cash grants judiciously.



Madam Mina Mensah, the Head of Africa Office of the CHRI, noted that cash grants provided to beneficiaries were inadequate and called on the government to increase the amount.

Source: GNA









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Our Elders are not far from the truth when they say that, The horns cannot be too heavy for the head of the cow that must bear them..The process of human change begins with us. We all have tremendous potential. We all desire good results from our efforts. Most of us are willing to work hard and to pay the price that success and happiness demand for humanity.



This has been the case ofH. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the president of the republic of Ghana and Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. He was born on 29th March, 1944; and raised in Accra at his fathers residence, which was effectively the headquarters of the countrys first political party, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), after it was formed at Saltpond on 4 August 1947.Akufo-Addo's maternal grandfather, Nana Sir Ofori Atta, King of AkyemAbuakwa was a member of the Executive Council of the Governor of the Gold Coast before Ghana's independence. Three of the Big Six, the founding fathers of Ghana, were also his blood relatives: Joseph Boakye Danquah was his grand-uncle, William Ofori-Atta was uncle and Edward Akufo-Addo (the third Chief Justice of Ghana and later ceremonial President of the Republic from 1969 to 1972) was his father.



Akufo-Addo received his primary education first at the Government Boys School, Adabraka, and later at the Rowe Road School (now Kimbu), both in Accra Central. He did his O-Level and A-Level examinations at Lancing College, Sussex, England. He returned to Ghana in 1962 to teach at Accra Academy Secondary School, before going to read Economics at the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1964, earning a BSc(Econ) degree in 1967.He subsequently studied law in the UK and was called to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in July 1971. Akufo-Addo was called to the Ghana bar in July 1975.



He is married to Rebecca Akufo-Addo, the daughter of judge, Jacob Hackenburg Griffiths-Randolph, (Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana during the Third Republic).Their daughters are GyankromaFunmi, Yeboakua, Edwina Nana Douka and Adriana Dukua.



The Man in the Arena



Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, rightly postulated in the speech: Citizenship In A Republic that,It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat."



President Akufo-Addo started his political career in his early thirties, as General Secretary of the broad-based Peoples Movement for Freedom and Justice (PMFJ), which was composed of political stalwarts such as AkwasiAmankwaAfrifa, William Ofori-Atta, Komla AgbeliGbedemah, Albert Adu Boahen, Sam Okudzeto, Obed Asamoah, Godfrey Agama, K. S. P. Jantuah, Jones Ofori-Atta, Johnny Hanson and Nii AmaahAmartefio (Mr. No). This group led the NO campaign in the UNIGOV referendum of 1978, designed to solicit popular support for a one-party military-led State.The No campaign ultimately brought about the downfall of the Acheampong military government on 5 July 1978, and the restoration of multiparty democratic rule to the country in 1979. Akufo-Addo had to go briefly into exile after the referendum, when his life was in danger. But, from Europe, he could be heard constantly on the BBC World Service, vigorously criticizing the military rulers back in Ghana and calling for a return to democracy.



He is acknowledged as one of the leaders of the pro-democracy movement in Ghana. In 1991, Akufo-Addo was the chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Danquah-Busia Memorial Club, a club dedicated to the preservation of the memory and ideals of the two great advocates of Ghanaian democracy, J. B. Danquah and K. A. Busia, Prime Minister of the Progress Party government of the 2nd Republic of Ghana. Akufo-Addo travelled throughout Ghana to establish branches of the Club all over the country in the grassroots style for which he is known.



These branches eventually transformed into local organs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) prior to the elections of 1992, which heralded the reintroduction of democratic governance under the 4th Republic. In 1992, he was the first national organizer of the NPP and, later that year, campaign manager of the partys first presidential candidate, Prof. Albert Adu Boahen, the man of courage who broke the culture of silence in Ghana and played such a crucial role in the reintroduction of democracy.



In 1992, Akufo-Addo set up and financed The Statesman newspaper, which was to become the unofficial mouthpiece of the NPP.He was the first Chairperson of DHL (GH) Ltd; Chairperson, Kinesec Communications (Co) Ltd, publishers of The Statesman; and the first Chairperson of the Ghana Committee on Human and Peoples Rights. He was also responsible, through his association with the US Company, Millicom for introducing mobile telephony into the country.



Yes, he is indeed the man in the Arena!!



KumePreko



In 1995, President Akufo-Addo led the famous KumePreko demonstrations of the Alliance For Change (AFC), a broad-based political pressure group, which mobilized hundreds of people onto the streets of Ghana to protest the harsh economic conditions of the Rawlings era.The protest took place in opposition to the Value Added Tax (VAT) initiative which was introduced under the Jerry John Rawlings administration. It is said to have been one of the biggest protests ever organised in the country, with an estimated 100,000 people participating.Some pundits in Ghana believe that this was instrumental in re-establishing the NPP as a more formidable force after Prof. Adu Boahen. The demonstration was initially billed as a peaceful protest but quickly became violent when unidentified assailants shot live bullets into the crowd resulting in the deaths of a few protestors.And like the tree that stands in the middle of the market, it is never troubled by noise, the brave Nana Akufo-Addo still fought for his ideals and what he has always stood for.



The Lawyer of Choice (a Professional Par Excellence)



President Akufo-Addo is well known for giving free legal assistance to the poor and fought for the rights and liberties of the Ghanaian people. Indeed, many of the important constitutional cases of the modern era, which, inter alia, protected the independence of the judiciary, the right of the citizen to demonstrate without police permit, and the right of equal access of all political parties to the State-owned media, were undertaken by him. He has served on the boards and committees of a number of political, legal, commercial, and social organizations in the country.Legal practice saw Akufo-Addo stay in France for five years as a lawyer at the now-defunct New York-based international law firm Coudert Brothers. Apart from the welcome exposure to the dynamics of international corporate transactions, his stay in France also made him fluent in French. In 1975, he returned home to Accra to continue with his legal career.



He joined the chambers of U. V. Campbell from 1975 to 1979, and in 1979 co-founded the law firm Akufo-Addo, Prempeh& Co., which has become one of the prominent law firms in Ghana if not the best. Some Ghanaian lawyers who passed through his law firm are among the most outstanding lawyers at the Ghanaian bar and bench today. They include the current Chief Justice of the republic, Her Ladyship Sophia Akuffo; Hon. Gloria Akuffo (Attorney General & Minister for Justice); Joyce Darko; Daniel AfariYeboah; Philip Addison; Hon. Joe Ghartey, a former Attorney General and Minister for Justice and current Minister for Railway Development; Alex Quaynor; Frank Davies; Kweku Paintsil; Hon. Ursula OwusuEkufful (Minister for Communications; Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea, Akufo-Addos successor as MP for Abuakwa South constituency and Minister for Works & Housing; Akoto Ampaw; Yoni Kulendi; Kwame Akuffo; KwakuAsirifi; and Hon. Godfred Dame (Deputy Attorney General & Minister for Justice). Like the Doyen of Gold Coast politics, J. B. Danquah, and others before him, Akufo-Addo used his law practice to champion the cause of human rights, rule of law, justice, freedom, and democracy.And as Attorney-General, he was responsible for the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law.



The Abuakwa South Calling



Akufo-Addo has never relented in any service to his people. He was elected three times between 1996 and 2008 as Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa South constituency in the Eastern region of Ghana. A position he used to offer diligent services to his people.



The Kuffour Era



Light they say cannot be hidden in darkness. Despite contesting H. E. John Agyekum Kuffour in the NPP primariesof 1998, Nana Akufo-Addo was the chief campaigner for then candidate Kufuor in the 2000 election and became a Cabinet Minister in the Kuffour era. From 2001 to 2007, first as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice for two years, and later as Foreign Minister for five years, Akufo-Addo served in the government of President John Kufuor with distinction. As Attorney-General, he was responsible for the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, which, hitherto, had been used to intimidate the media and criminalize free speech.The repeal has enabled the Ghanaian media become one of the most vibrant and freest in Africa. Under his chairmanship of the Legal Sector Reform Committee, the implementation of the court automation programme was initiated.



As Foreign Minister, he was fully involved in the successful Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peace efforts in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Guinea Bissau, and was chairman of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council in 2003. In 2004, Ghana was elected as one of the 15 pioneer members of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council, a mandate that was renewed at the AU Summit in Khartoum, Sudan in January 2006. H. E Nana Akufo-Addo was chosen by his peers on the AU Executive Council to chair the Ministerial Committee of 15 that fashioned the Ezulwini Consensus, which defined the African Unions common position on UN Reforms. He negotiated for the 2007 AU Summit to be held in Accra as part of Ghanas Golden Jubilee celebrations, and chaired the AU Executive Council in 2007. Ghana was elected by her peers to take the non-permanent West African seat on the UN Security Council for 2006-07. Also, in August 2006, Akufo-Addo chaired the meeting of the Security Council which took the decision that halted Israels massive incursions into Lebanon. Again, Ghana was elected to the new UN body, the Human Rights Council, with the highest number of votes183 out of 191of any country, and as a pioneer member of another UN body, the Peacebuilding Commission.



The Perseverance of a Man that Heeds a Call to Serve his Nation& the Battle of the Pink Sheet



Akufo-Addo resigned from the Kufuor government in July 2007 to contest for the position of presidential candidate of his party, the NPP, for the 2008 elections. Competing against 16 others, he won 48% of the votes in the first round of that election, but was given a unanimous endorsement in the second round, making him the partys presidential candidate.



In the 7 December 2008 presidential race, he received, in the first round, more votes than John Atta Mills, the eventual winner. In the first round, Akufo-Addo received 4,159,439 votes, representing 49.13% of the votes cast, placing him first, but not enough for the 50% needed for an outright victory.It was the best-ever performance for a first-time presidential candidate in the Fourth Republic. In the run-off, Mills received 4,521,032 votes, representing 50.23%, thus beating Akufo-Addo by the smallest margin in Ghanas and indeed, in Africas political history. Akufo-Addo accepted the results without calling even for a recount, thereby helping to preserve the peace, freedom and stability of Ghana.



Akufo-Addo again contested in the 2012 national elections against the NDC candidate, the late Mills successor as President, JohnDramaniMahama, and lost. That election generated considerable controversy and was finally decided by the Supreme Court in a narrow 5/4 decision in favour of H. E. John Mahama in what I call the battle of the Pink Sheets. Akufo-Addo is credited with helping to preserve the peace of the country he loves so much by the statesman-like manner in which he accepted the adverse verdict of the Court, at a time of high tension in the country. He and his co-petitioners (Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Jake OtankaObetsebi-Lamptey of blessed memory) could have rallied their supporters to take to the streets to register their displeasure especially looking at how close the verdict was. But the peace loving Akufo-Addo chose to graciously accept the verdict despite his disagreement. In his own words As I said earlier, whilst I disagree with the Courts decision, I accept it. I accept that what the Court says brings finality to the election dispute. We shall not be asking for a review of the verdict so we can all move on in the interest of our nation. Everything in my bones, in my upbringing and in what I have done with my life thus far makes it imperative that I accept a decision made by the highest court of the land, however much I dislike or disagree with it.I am saddened by the verdict and I know that many of our supporters are saddened too. However, for the sake and love of our country, we must embark on a path that builds, rather than destroys, to deal with our disappointment.I appeal to all members and supporters of our party, the NPP in particular to accept the verdict of the court. Even in our disappointment we can take pride in the way we have conducted ourselves. Even in our disappointment we can take pride that the NPP has again led the way in deepening Ghanas democracy...



In March 2014, Akufo-Addo again announced his decision to seek his partys nomination for the third time ahead of the 2016 election. He secured an unprecedented, landslide victory of 94.35% of the votes in the partys presidential primary in October, 2014, in a contest of seven competitors. Akufo-Addo also took time off to serve as Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Mission for the South African elections in 2014, building on his reputation as a Former Foreign Minister.



Induction into the Hall of Fame (A Dream Come True)



After two unsuccessful attempts at the presidency, H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo took his oath of office as the 5th president of the republic of Ghana under the 4th republic on 7 January 2017 after winning the 2016 general elections with a very wide margin in excess of 1 million votes. It was indeed the first time an incumbent president was defeated by an opposition candidate in the history of Ghana. His inauguration was held at Black Star Square in Accra. Twelve presidents from African and European countries attended the ceremony. They included Edgar Lungu of Zambia, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. Indeed, it was a day of fond memories and mixed feelings. Here we were with a man that had passed to be called the most vilified leader under the 4th republic. A man that his opponents have suggested could never be president of Ghana. But as in the biblical parable, what God has put together, no man can curse; H. E. Akufo-Addo defied daunting odds to achieve his dream. It was a dream come through at last.



The Generational Thinker



The Chinese couldnt have said it better when they opined that, If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people. H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos name will forever be inducted into the African hall of fame for the successful implementation of the FREE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (SHS) policy despite the challenges. Indeed, when a determined hunter goes for elephant hunting, he doesnt do stop overs to pelt stones at rabbits. The implementation of the FREE SHS makes President Akufo-Addo a generational thinker. He thinks not of himself but the future of generations yet to come. Posterity will be the judge on how a man could be so selfless in his service to a people and to a nation.



Also, H. E. Nana Addo need to be commended for the establishment of the Zongo Development Fund to bridge the development gap in our inner cities. The digitization of our economy to increase productivity through ease of doing business, establishing three Development Authorities (Northern, Middle Belt and Coastal), establishing an Office of the Special Prosecutor to deal specifically with Corruption, the construction of Factories & Warehouses in each district towards industrialization and modernization of agriculture, dealing with the destructive galamsey menace, the creation of six new regions to ensure the equitable distribution of our nation wealth.



Again, Henry VII was right when said that "Talking isn't doing. It is a kind of good deed to say well; and yet words are not deeds." H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo moved beyond theusual rhetoric to deal decisively with the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute. In my opinion, PresidentNanaAkufo-Addo ABUDANI Ideserves a global peace award for showing exemplary leadership in permanently resolving the age-long Dagbon chieftaincy debacle.According to the people of Dagbon, the President's contribution to the successful implementation of the final roadmap to peace restoration in the Dagbon Traditional Area is unprecedented. This act and the successful implementation of the FREE SHS alone, for me, will make President Akufo-Addo the best president in the history of Ghana.



Conclusion



When a nation was craving for an industrious leader to rescue its people, H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo heeded to that call. It is exactly on this special day that you were born, 75 years ago. It has been 75 years of dedicated service to humanity and your country. 75 years of blessings to the world.It is my prayer that the good Lord will continue to bless you with more prosperous years to continue the good works; for Kola nuts they say last longer in the mouth of those who value it. Happy 75th birthday to you Sir!!!



AssalaamuAlaikum!!!



The battle still remains the Lords...!!!



By: Prince Anuwar-Sadat Amadu

Email: [email protected]



Mobile: (0244456674)







Source: Prince Anuwar-Sadat Amadu/ [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.

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Ghana's dominance of the top position of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) International Excellence Awards was broken by a candidate from Nigeria, the biggest country of the five-member WAEC countries.



The International Excellence Awards are given to candidates who excelled in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates.



Ghana, before last year had often emerged winner of the overall best candidate award at the International Excellence Awards.



This is in addition to the first and second runners up awards. However, during the 2018 WASSCE, Master Peter Seunara Arotiba from Nigeria broke Ghanas jinx when he recorded a total score of 657.8256. He had A1 in Economics, A1 in Civic Education, A1 in Tourism, A1 in English Language, A1 in Mathematics, A1 in Biology, A1 in Chemistry and A1 in Physics.



Miss Wilhermina Opoku, formerly of the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast, who was the Overall Best Candidate in Ghana, had the second prize at the International Excellence Awards with a total score of 649.7693. She had Social Studies A1, English Language A1, Mathematics (core) A1, Integrated Science A1, Mathematics (elective) A1, Biology A1, Chemistry A1 and Physics A1.



The third prize award at the International Excellence Awards went to Ms Imelda Naa Ayorkor Adjei also a former student of the Wesley High Girls' School, who was adjudged Overall third Best Student in Ghana.



She had a total score of 646.8677, having scored A1 in Social Studies, A1 in English Language, A1 in Mathematics (core), A1 in Integrated Science, A1 in Mathematics (elective), A1 in Biology, A1 in Chemistry and A1 in Physics.



At the opening ceremony of the 67th Annual Meeting of WAEC in Freetown Sierra Leone, the three candidates were honoured with the WAEC International Excellence Awards for their outstanding performance in the 2019 WASSCE for School Candidates.



The three winners emerged from a total of 1,976,537 candidates who sat WASSCE for School Candidates in 2018 in The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.



The meeting ended with the election of the countrys Chief Government Nominee on the council, Dr. Alhaji Mohamed Kamara, as Vice-Chairman for a one-year tenure. He succeeds Mr Ebrima Sisawo of The Gambia.



At the meeting, council appealed to international donor agencies, corporate organisations and philanthropic private individuals to collaborate with WAEC by instituting other awards to encourage more students in the sub-region to strive for academic excellence.



The meeting was opened by His Excellency Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Sierra Leone, who was represented by the Chief Minister, Professor David John Francis.



In his keynote address, President Bio described WAECas a veritable sub-regional body administering credible examinations and unifying the member countries.



He lauded the council for constantly demonstrating its commitment to academic excellence, regional cooperation and global best practices, adding that his government had prioritised investment in human capital development by introducing Free Quality School Education aimed at providing access for all eligible pupils and students in Sierra Leone.



He called on WAEC to continue to uphold standards and integrity in its assessment process, adding that there should always be relevance between assessment and curriculum so that the outcomes of assessment would accurately reflect the individuals competence or attainment in relation to tasks or further studies.



He also stressed the need for synergy among the various country offices of WAEC and urged the council to constantly deploy cutting-edge technology in its operations across the sub-region.



While reaffirming his governments commitment to the fulfilment of all obligations to WAEC, the President advised the council to do everything necessary to sustain its reputation as a leading examining board in Africa.





Source: Graphic.com









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Members of the Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of Menzgold (CACM) have hinted at picketing the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Attorney Generals Department from 2 April 2019, over the failure to retrieve their locked-up investments from gold dealership firm Menzgold Ghana Limited.



President of the Coalition, Timothy Binob, noted in a press statement on 28 March 2019 that: The coalition has buried more than 15 of its members due to shock and heart failure, as a result of their locked-up funds, hence the action.



The group said the latest action has become necessary due to the state actors lackadaisical attitude to the plight of the suffering customers.



All Menzgolds offices have been vacated and put under lock and key following a court order freezing the assets of Menzgolds embattled CEO, Nana Appiah Mensah.



SEC shut down the company over regulatory infractions in August 2018. Since then, thousands of customers have had their investments locked up and have held several protests aimed at getting their investments back but to no avail.



The government made efforts to have Mr Mensah extradited from Dubai after news of his arrest in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seeped through but those efforts proved unsuccessful. Mr Mensah is being held for a misdemeanour charge over a US$23 million deal gone bad. He is currently being held on remand at the Al Barsha police cell.



A Dubai-based businessman reported Mr Mensah for fraud in May 2018. Unaware that he was on the Dubai polices wanted list, Mr Mensah went to the Emirates with the hope of receiving a huge amount of money due him as a result of his earlier transactions with the Emirati only to be arrested when he presented his passport to undergo immigration formalities.







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.

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Two men have been charged with a series of offences including rape after a group of British schoolgirls was attacked at gunpoint in Ghana.



A number of armed men entered accommodation where the pupils and their teachers were staying during a school trip to the west African country in December.



Police said a Ghanaian security guard was shot and the female victims were "subjected to serious sexual assaults".



Some of their possessions were stolen.



Police in the UK said Ishmael Akyene, 34, a Ghanaian national, had been charged by Ghanaian police with 14 counts of robbery, one count of rape, one count of conspiracy to rape, one count of possession of a firearm, one count of possession of an instrument intended for unlawful entry and one count of money laundering.



A second man, Daniel Akpan, 29, a Nigerian national, has been charged with 14 counts of robbery, two counts of rape, one count of conspiracy to rape, one count of possession of a firearm, one count of possession of an instrument intended for unlawful entry and one count of money laundering.



Both men have been remanded in custody.



A search is continuing to find a third suspect.



Police say the victims are continuing to be supported by specially-trained police officers, their school and other agencies.

Source: bbc.co.uk









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Director of Elections of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has questioned the intransigent attitude of the Electoral Commission(EC) in taking major decisions in advancing Ghanas democracy.



A Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission(EC), Dr. Bossman Asare has told the NDC that the Commission does not need its consent or opinion before a new voters register can be compiled.



The main opposition NDC has rejected the proposal by the Electoral Commission to compile a new voters register for the 2020 elections.



The Electoral Commission has served notice a new voters register will be compiled ahead of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.



The Electoral Management Body is currently inspecting offices of political parties, according to a press statement after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting Wednesday.



After meeting stakeholders over the issue, the EC said a new register will be used for the next general elections.



But the NDC has served notice that it will resist any attempt by the EC to push the idea of a new register since there are not enough grounds for the creation of a new one.



But speaking on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa FM Thursday, Dr. Bossman Asare stated that no political partys view can hold sway over the ECs decision to compile a new voters register.



The constitution has clearly defined our functions if the EC wants to compile new voters register we dont need the consent or otherwise of the political parties before we do so. Sometimes its just nice that the EC discusses some of these issues with the political parties but their views are never binding on the EC, He told host Kwaku Owusu Adjei.



However, Hon. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah stated this attitude of the EC is problematic.



Im shocked by the comments of Dr. Bossman Asare, if this is the sort of thinking and attitude theyll be putting up during their tenure at the EC then well have a huge problem on our hands going into the future. We know the constitution mandates the EC to do certain things but IPAC was set up based on experiences within Ghana and from other countries. Such major decisions concerning the political parties have never been carried out without the input from the parties.



He added: The EC has discussed other issues with us but the compilation of new voters register which is the foundation which will determine the credibility of an election he claims the EC doesnt need our input because the constitution empowers them to do so. This is unacceptable, Dr. Bossman Asare is new at the EC he should find out, every time new voters register is to be compiled the political parties which are major stakeholder thoroughly discusses the issue before implementation. That does not take away the authority of the EC.

Source: kasapafmonline









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Director of Elections for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Elvis Afriyie Ankrah says the Deputy Chair of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Eric Bossman Asare must go back to school to learn more about politics after describing him as a 'Trickster'.



According to him, Dr. Bossmans comments on the ECs decision to compile a new voters register were unfortunate and inimical to the peace and stability of the country.



He must go to GIMPA to learn more, he said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie.



The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced it will be compiling a new voters register for the 2020 general elections.



This announcement comes after a stakeholders meeting with the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) on Wednesday.



The NDC has strongly denied such a conclusion has been reached and asked the Electoral Commission to withdraw the "deceptive" and absurd communique.



Reacting to the claims by the NDC, on Eyewitness News, Dr. Asare intimated that, the EC will not engage in any partisan media banter, a comment Elvis Afriyie did not take kindly.



Dr Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman of the EC, speaking in an interview on Citi Eyewitness News Thursday, was emphatic that it lies only in the bosom of the EC to determine if and when "a new register is necessary", adding that the Commission will provide a new register in 2020 no matter the objections from any political party.

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.

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The General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party, John Boadu says even though the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) did not discuss the issue of a new voters register, they were informed of it.



He has also agreed that the Electoral Commission (EC) should not have indicated that the new voters register was discussed at the meeting when it was not.



They ought to have singled out voters register, he indicated during a panel discussion on Peace FM morning show Kokrokoo.



Watch video below





A release by the EC after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting indicated that it would compile a new voters register for the 2020 General Elections.However, the NDC issued a statement denying contents of the statement saying the decision for a new voters' register was not discussed at the IPAC meeting and further demanded that the EC withdraw what it describes as a deceptive communique.

Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who turned 75 years today, left Ghana on Thursday, March 28, 2019, to begin a nine-day visit of the United States of America and the Republic of Cuba.



President Akufo-Addo will spend three days in Cuba and will deliver a speech at the Law Faculty of the University of Havana.



The President's visit is at the invitation of Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, President of the Councils of State and of Ministers of State of the Republic of Cuba.



Speaking to this during a panel discussion on Friday's edition of 'Kokrokoo', Kwesi Pratt said after Akufo-Addo sees the 'magic' of Cuba, he would love to go there over and over again.



Listen to him in the video below





Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has criticized Dr. Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) form some comments he made while discussing the issue of a new voters' register.



Click to read Bossman's comment



Contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', Kwesi Pratt said the Commission needs to give some level of respect to Ghanaians and not only political parties because 'every Ghanaian matters'.



According to him, "every Ghanaian opinion is important; not just political parties . . . Ghanaians have the power to bring another body other than the EC to supervise the elections . . . and so they should speak with some level of decorum and respect; to say nobody can tell you what to do is in bad taste . . . he should learn a lesson from this . . . "



Watch Kwesi Pratt's submission below





Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com









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Television personality, Nana Aba Anamoah has posted a screenshot of chat of a Ghanaian lady begging her to assist her financially buy a wedding dress.



The lady, Eugenia who apparently is preparing to get married to a jobless man slid into the DM of Nana Aba Anamoah and begged her to help her with a wedding gown and money as well.



She wrote; Hi sis Im Eugenia I wish to get some help from u I need a wedding dress please help me.



She added, Hi sis Im getting married and I need financial support please help.



Nana Aba Anamoah posted the chats with the caption, I beg eh, kindly break this down for me. I dont get it!!! Errrmm.



See the screenshot of the chat below.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Andrew Ross sits for a portrait in his Denver office on Friday, March 22, 2019. Ross, a Marine who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, is facing 18 years to life in Oklahoma if he is convicted after he was arrested in January while providing security for a load of state-certified hemp from Kentucky. Federal legalization for hemp has created a quandary for police as authorities lack the technology to distinguish marijuana from agricultural hemp at a roadside stop. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)
File-This March 22, 2019, file photo shows a woman recording a group of pro-abortion rights demonstrators the 35th legislative day at the Georgia State Capitol building in downtown Atlanta. Bucking intense opposition from abortion rights groups, citizens, physicians groups and even Hollywood celebrities, Georgia lawmakers gave final approval Friday, March 29, 2019, to a "heartbeat" abortion ban that would outlaw almost all abortions in the state. The proposal now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who backs it. If enacted, it would be among the strictest abortion bans in the U.S. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
Grab Food wants to end the rivalry between Malaysian and Singaporean food with GrabFoodCopter. Grab Food will introduce the Grab Food Copter and they will fly the food from Singapore to Malaysia or from Malaysia to Singapore with helicopter. This will be via the new GrabFoodCopter from 1st April 2019 at Grab Food app. We are somehow still unconvinced with this and think this could be an Aprils Fool prank.

Anyhow, do check out their Facebook promo video below. So far the video looks legit with Shaz part of the Malaysian team.

Here is what we think about Singaporean food. We visited Singapore seven times last year for various reasons including food. We agree that Malaysian food is better than Singaporean food if you compare apple to apple but they do have their own speciality food.

Singaporean food has better presentation and marketing but in terms of its taste, they do have their charms. We love Jumbo Seafood and their chili crabs so we signed up for the Beta Tester at https://grb.to/GFCBetaTesters

You might agree or disagree on which country offers better food but dont need to fight for it, just order the food that you want. Maybe that is the reason why GrabFoodCopter is created for. Stop arguing and order the food you like on the other side.

We hope we got selected as the Beta Tester or this whole thing could be an Aprils Fools prank. Will see how it works on 1st April. You can sign up to be the Beta Tester like we do at https://grb.to/GFCBetaTesters

So no more dramas on flying cars but helicopters sending food in between Malaysia and Singapore.

Wilson Ng A Father and traveler who enjoys to eat, shop, travel and taking pictures with Samsung S21 Ultra. Im a full time blogger, youtuber and father for two. I used to travel around 17 International trips per year but now staying at home. Remember to follow us at www.instagram.com/placesandfoods and www.youtube.com/placesandfoods. For advertisements or features, contact me at [email protected] See author's posts
With spring break approaching, Dearborn Police are offering a few tips for residents to stay safe and protect their homes and valuables while on vacation.

They are also offering house checks via the Dearborn Police Reserve Vacation House Check program, encouraging residents to register for one by filling out an Online Vacation House Check Request or by calling (313) 934-2241 before leaving for vacation.

Tips include:

Keep your porch light on.

Keep your garage door closed and locked.

Dont let mail or newspapers build up in the mailbox or porch while gone.

Always keep doors and windows locked.

Keep a parked vehicles doors locked and windows closed.

Dont leave a vehicle running with the keys in it and unattended.

Dont keep any valuables in the vehicle, such as a GPS, laptop or iPod.

For more information or to get questions answered, contact Dearborn Police Departments Crime Prevention Unit at (313) 943-3092, or try extension 2244.
Dearborn Public Schools school board is set to interview nine applicants during a special public meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 4 in the Community Room at the Welcome Center at Henry Ford College, 5101 Evergreen, in Dearborn.

The interviews are taking place to fill a vacancy left by Trustee Fadwa Hammound, who resigned after being appointed to serve as the Michigan Solicitor General.

She apparently resigned because she was concerned the appointment could create a conflict of interest with her role on the Board of Education.

The Board has 30 days from Hammouds resignation date of March 17 to appoint a new School Board Trustee.

The six remaining Board of Education Trustees will interview the candidates, and each applicant will have 15 minutes for their interview.

Candidates must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age and a resident of the district to serve on the school board.

Each submitted resumes, references and other information as part of applying for the appointment.

Trustees govern both Dearborn Public Schools and Henry Ford College. The term in question runs until November 2020, when the results from the next school board election are certified.

The April 4 interview schedule includes several applicants, including Steve Durant and Marie Lessnau, who were not available on the interview date but still under consideration.

The interview schedule is as follows:

5:30 p.m.: Amer Zahr

5:45 p.m.: Diana Bazzi

6:00 p.m.: Mohamed Nehme

6:15 p.m.: Adel Mozip

6:30 p.m.: Cynthia Parrelly

6:45 p.m.: Colette Richards

7  7:10 p.m. : Break

7:10 p.m.: Samraa Luqman

7:25 p.m.: Adam Adamski

7:40 p.m.: Sarah Pazur

The Welcome Center is located on the north end of Henry Ford College in the former SME building.

The interviews will be videotaped and made available later on the Districts YouTube channel at: https:youtube.com/user/dpscommdept.

For more information, visit: www.DearbornSchools.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
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Five years ago, if you showed up to a 3-gun match with an AK-pattern shotgun, you were there to do two things: troll the other open shooters, and clear malfunctions. But Dissident Arms has changed all that by building the reigning Open-Division shotgun off of the Vepr platform, and theyre not stopping with just the competition world either.

I sat down with Dissident Arms founders and gunsmiths Michael Whitesides and Lan Nguyen a few days ago to find out what it takes to make a magazine-fed shotgun that actually works. Its not surprising to find out that they got their start working at a small local gun store and watching 3-Gun-Nation on TV. But unlike most shooters who just talk about going to classes or matches, this pair went all in. Within a year of their first shooting class and match, they were flying across the country, competing at a national level, and discovering that there was something lacking in the open class shotgun category.

Sure, getting an out of the box autoloader to run through even one stage can be a challenge, let alone getting through an entire match without malfunctions. Thats what they set out to do, though, after being let down by multi-thousand dollar off the shelf competition guns and custom-built disappointments. These repeated failures would lead to the development of what would later be known as the KL-12.

Building a world-class shotgun from a stock Vepr took a lot of work from tuning magazines, proper ammo selection, and internal part redesign. Literally, only a handful of untouched parts remain from the stock gun and everything else is modified extensively. Most guns out there dont see a thousand rounds through them in a lifetime let alone a month unless you're talking about one in use by a tier one military unit or a professional competition shooter. Some of Dissidents guns have seen three thousand rounds in the first month, and they expect them to perform the same for the first shot as they do on number three thousand and one. So it makes sense for them to expand into the tactical shotgun world with a tuned SBS and other offerings held to their high standard of performance.

Its not surprising that Dissident has sold shotguns on six continents, to world and national level competitive shooters, foreign nations shooting teams, Hollywood prop houses, and major metropolitan area SWAT teams. However, they are not a one trick pony and know the importance of expanding their offerings especially with the current Vepr import ban which really hasnt impacted the price points or availability of the guns at this point. You can get a Vepr 12 for less than they bought their original three guns before the ban, minus the Dissident Arms treatment of course. By expanding their offerings to IMI and Arsenal models, they have set their sights on the rifle market including 5.56 offerings. Lans personal customized Galil rifle has the full Dissident treatment along with an LPVO and offset dot that we typically see on 3-gun AR variants.

It is obvious when you talk to these guys or look at how they have designed and modified their guns that they are serious competitive shooters, almost from the time they began shooting 3-Gun they have hosted monthly local as well as regional matches. But with months of custom guns lined up and no end in sight, Michael and Lan have gone all in, foregoing there hosting duties at least temporarily to focus strictly on Dissident Arms. Despite all of this on their plates, they are still one of the title sponsors/collaborators for the upcoming Kalash Bash in a few short weeks. With over twenty sponsors from across the nation, this two-day AK centric event/eight stage match is promising to rival Red October.

Visit http://dissidentarms.com/

More on Tactical Shotguns
North Hollywood, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/29/2019 --No matter what state you call your home, going solar can be a viable and rewarding option for you. Many states offer solar rebates and incentives for the home and business owner, and more states are certain to offer rebates or incentives in time. Even if your state doesn't offer solar rebates, you may still be eligible for Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs). Many states allow you to earn and sell credits for the electricity your solar panel system produces.



Founder of Green Solar Technologies, Nicki Zvik, notes, "The green energy movement is strong and growing, and the solar industry is robust. But many people remain unaware of the benefits that their state may offer to those switching to solar energy. They think of solar to only be a smart option for people in states like California and Arizona, but Illinois, surprisingly, actually offers some of the best solar incentives in the nation."



Illinois isn't a state that readily comes to mind when considering a switch to solar energy, but the state's benefit offerings equal or surpass those of states more commonly known for advocating private solar energy investment.



One popular incentive Illinois offers to those who choose to go solar is the Adjustable Block Program. In short, the Adjustable Block (AB) Program allows owners of solar panel systems to sell the energy they produce as Renewable Energy Credits to utility companies. Illinois currently requires 1.5 percent of total energy generation to come from solar energy, and because of this utility companies rely on residential solar energy systems to produce a portion of the needed quota.



Similar to the AB Program, Illinois also offers a net metering incentive which means that the surplus energy a home or business owner creates with their photovoltaic (PV) system generates credits the may use when they need to connect to the local grid on a rainy day or at night.



On a larger scale, the Federal government is also currently offering a Federal Investment Tax Credit to PV system owners who qualify. This essentially takes away 30 percent of the cost of the PV system after rebates through 2019. After 2019 ends, the credit will drop to 26 percent, then to 22 percent in 2021, and continuing to taper off.



Beyond state and Federal incentives, certain solar companies, like Green Solar Technologies, also offer their own generous incentives to go solar.



"We try to offer what we can in terms of rebates and incentives so that installing a high-quality solar energy system is as affordable as possible to our customers," says Nicki Zvik, "One thing that makes Green Solar Technologies unique is that we offer $2,000 toward our customers' new roofs when they go solar with us. Plus our panels are American-made, so we can ensure that each system we install is top-notch."



About Nicki Zvik

Nicki Zvik is the founder of Green Solar Technologies, and real estate investment company, Spectrum Properties LLC.
San Antonio, TX -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/29/2019 --Toubin Insurance Agency is a highly reputed and trustworthy full-service insurance agency that is primarily based in the state of Texas. It essentially operates in the San Antonio region, as well as its neighboring areas. Toubin Insurance Agency has been providing their best in class services to the people of this area for more than three decades now. Over the years, they additionally have received a host of accolades and awards from some of the biggest names belonging to the insurance agency. Toubin Insurance Agency is renowned for affordable and high-quality risk management solutions that it provides, including health, home, business, car and commercial truck insurance in Balcones Heights and Devine Texas. Toubin Insurance Agency additionally enjoys an unparalleled proven track record when it comes to offering their clients with the best quality of coverage from various insurance carriers of the market, at the most competitive rates available in the market.



Toubin Insurance Agency is highly trusted among the businesses operating in the neighborhood when it comes to offering premium employee benefit plans. They strive to understand the needs, goals, and circumstances of their business clients, with the purpose of subsequently developing a beneficial policy that meets the various requirements of the employees of their patrons. These plans also loges a long way in keeping their business clients complaint and saving their money. Through Toubin Insurance Agency entrepreneurs can easily purchase the best group health insurance in Boerne and San Antonio Texas for their employees. This insurance agency typically assists the entrepreneurs and employers in designing a perfectly customized group health insurance plan that provides their employees with optimal benefits in the most cost-effective manner. They are also known for offering expert advice and premium exceptional customer service throughout the policy year.



Contact Toubin Insurance Agency at (210) 340-2293.



About Toubin Insurance Agency

Toubin Insurance Agency is majorly based in the state of Texas and offers their services to people belonging to its diverse regions.
Aggression coalition continues to violate Sweden agreement, attacks separate provinces : Report [29/March/2019] ROVINCES, March 29 (Saba) - The troops of saudi-led aggression coalition over the last 24 hours continued their violation to Sweden agreement attacking Hodeidah and other provinces, a security official on Friday told Saba.



The official added that 20 enemy's armored fighting vehicles arrived to Durihimy after left Moca in a clear violation to the cease fire.



The aggression troops fired more than 40 shells and their machine guns at Zaafran village and Makmaniah, Durihimy district, while the besieged city of Durihihmy was shelled using 30 shells, he affirmed.



The coalition's forces fired more than 45 shells at various areas in Tuhayta and fied their artillery and machine guns at Jalabliah area, he said.



They also fired their artillery and machine guns at 7 July area and bombarded Dhabiany residential area, he added.



The official said that 12 shells were fired at Dawar Jamal area and Hodeidah Faculty.



Two saudi-led airstrikes hit Mahather, Sehar district, Saada province, while an other air raid targeted Serwah district in Marib province, added the official.





AA

Saba
YOC's branch in Hodeidah warns saudi-led coalition against consequences of facilities' targeting [29/March/2019] ODEIDAH, March 29, (Saba) - The branch of Yemen Oil Company (YOC) in Hodeidah province on Friday warned against the consequences of the continued targeting by mercenaries of US-saudi aggression coalition to its facilities in Hodeidah (oil reservoirs).



In a statement obtained by Saba news agency, the company's branch called on the United Nations to play its role in protecting civilians, their properties and all installations linked to people's work and life.



The statement said that the mercenaries targeted the installations using their machine guns on Wednesday morning for the second time in five days, in complete disregard of the consequent environmental, humanitarian and economic disasters against the Yemeni people.



It pointed to the severe effects that may result from the targeting of oil facilities, including disable the possibility of receiving oil derivatives, especially as this facility is the only one that receives ships oil derivatives and helps to distribution of petroleum products.



He explained that the Hodeidah facility covers 70% of the provinces of the Republic of Yemen via providing the necessary needs of citizens and service sectors such as health, water, food and medicine, transport, sanitation and hygiene needs and other necessary services, stressing that the effects of such acts will represent a major setback at the level of service and life in general.



"We reaffirm that such actions by the coalition comes in the context of a series of actions starting with the embargo imposed on oil vessels and traders and hitting the oil stations and reached to the closure of the Ras Issa oil port," the statement added.



The statement also praised the position of the Head of the United Nations Coordination Committee for Redeployment of forces for his clear condemnation of the attack and for their warning of the catastrophic effects of the violations committed by the coalition through their targeting more than once the oil reservoirs.





AA

Saba
By SA Commercial Prop News

Stenprop CEO Paul Arenson says the company is transitioning from a diversified real estate investment trust into a multi-let industrial property owning company.



Dual-listed property company Stenprop (JSE: STP) has expanded into the UK industrial property sector with its R116.8m acquisition of Gainsborough Trading Estate.

The acquisition follows the groups announcement two years ago that it is repositioning to become a specialist UK-focused business that provides work spaces for small- to medium-sized firms.

The JSE-listed Stenprop said in its 2018 annual report that even though its property portfolio was of excellent quality and well-let, it opted to move into the multi-let industrial area (MLI) because the growth prospects of its portfolio were stagnating.

ALSO READ: The Global Lift & Escalator Expo comes to South Africa

By comparison, it said the prospects for growth in MLI industrial estates were stronger, but for it to take full advantage of the opportunities in this sector, it needs to increase the number of MLI assets it owns, and also needs a management platform that can deal with the granular nature of the tenant base, as well as the short bases of its leases.

To fund this change in strategy, Stenprop said it plans to sell off its non-MLI properties over the next few years. This has already seen it dispose of Euston House in London and put its Swiss properties up for sale.

ALSO READ: Click here if you need reasonable modern Office Space

This change in strategy led it to buy the property portfolio of C2 Capital for 130.5m in June 2007. It said at the time that no MLI units had been built in the region since 2007 and that by taking over C2 Capitals 25 industrial estates it could get it for 60% lower than their replacement costs.

Since taking over these assets, it has been steadily taking over other industrial estates. Earlier in 2019 it bought Hansteen Holdings, which owned 22 industrial estates, for 67.9m.

ALSO READ: Sandton grows apace with R3bn Skyscraper

Its goal for 2019 is to grow its MLI assets to about 65% of its total portfolio. The acquisition of Gainsborough Trading Estate increases this percentage to 41%.

Stenprop, which also has assets in Germany, also plans to reduce its ratio of debt to capital from the 49.2% it was at the end of March 2018, to about 40% by the end of March 2020.

Stenprop executive property director Julian Carey said the acquisition of the Gainsborough Trading Estate increases its MLI portfolio to more than 250m, and that the growth prospects in this part of the UK are strong. We have long been fans of investing in and around Birmingham, and the excellent demand-supply dynamics in the area are clear to see from the excellent letting history at Gainsborough Trading Estate.
By SA Commercial Prop News

Group CEO Norbert Sasse expects international investments to drive most of the company's growth in the 2019 financial year since they has been stagnation from its SA portfolio.



With the local property industry adrift in choppy waters amid stagnant economy, Growthpoint Properties is looking to not only stay afloat but maintain robust growth by acquiring offshore properties.

Growthpoint, SAs largest real estate company, which recently released financial results for its half-year to December 2018, said there are good opportunities to grow by acquisition in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as it looks to enhance investor value in the region.

Group CEO Norbert Sasse expects international investments to drive most of the company's growth in the 2019 financial year since they has been stagnation from its SA portfolio due to deteriorating conditions in the local real estate sector.

The company said property fundamentals in South Africa remain weak and are worsening.

ALSO READ: The Global Lift & Escalator Expo comes to South Africa

Although the V&A Waterfront benefits from local and international tourism, and is positioned to deliver growth, Growthpoint highlighted that it is not immune to the erosion in the domestic economy, with turnover rentals having declined in the interim period, despite the Cape Town water crisis now being under control.

However, property fundamentals remained strong in Australia, Growthpoint said. The group has a 66% interest in Growthpoint Properties Australia, which owns 59 properties valued at R38.3bn.

The company announced 5.9% growth in distributable income to R3.1bn with revenue from the group increasing 4.3% for its half-year to 31 December 2018, representing dividend growth of 4.5% per share for investors.

ALSO READ: Click here if you need reasonable modern Office Space

Assuming no further deterioration in the SA business environment, Growthpoint expected growth in dividends per share for the financial year to end-June 2019 of about 4.5%.



The value of the groups property assets rose 4.3% to R138.7bn.



Vacancy levels in SA rose from 5.2% to 6.5%. In the office sector specifically, vacancies rose to 10.2% from 8.4%.

Investments from Growthpoints third-party trading and development for the six months was R49-million and contributed 1.5% to the growth in distributable income.

ALSO READ: Sandton grows apace with R3bn Skyscraper

Growthpoints new funds management business, comprising Growthpoint Investec African Properties (GIAP) and Growthpoint Healthcare Property Holdings (GHPH) is on track to reach its target of R15bn in assets in the next three to five years. The USD212m raised on GIAPs first close is expected to be fully invested by 30 June 2019. GHPH, which has a R2.6bn portfolio of five assets, has raised R700m of third-party funds and has a strong pipeline of both acquisition and greenfield development opportunities.

Meanwhile, additional offshore growth will come from Growthpoints Central and Eastern Europe investments in Globalworth Real Estate Investments (GWI), in which it has a 28.96% stake, and in Globalworth Poland Real Estate (GPRE), in which it has a 21.6% stake.

The larger caps have been holding up the property sector distributions and this continues with Growthpoints results, said Evan Robins, portfolio manager at Old Mutual Investment Group. The headline numbers were not a disappointment, Robins said.

While the South African portfolio had not performed well, offshore helped, as did a boost from low-quality income.
Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2019 -- Batch control systems are used as an economical and safe way of controlling the amount of product that flows through a system. Quality control is of paramount importance in the food processing industry.



The increasing demand for batch control systems drives the market. The shift from obsolete to advanced automation systems to be one of the primary growth factors for the batch control systems market. Industries such as chemical and petrochemical, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical, and new generation technologies are facing rising need to deploy automation systems. The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Adoption of IoT and cloud platforms. The global batch control systems market is growing with the adoption of IoT, real-time monitoring, and cloud platforms. The deployment of IoT in plants in remote locations helps end-users to utilize batch control systems, thus aiding to improve productivity, operational efficiency, and reduce downtime costs. The America is expected to maintain its position owing to the high demand from the manufacturing industries located in the US, Mexico, and Brazil.



Access PDF version of the Batch Control Systems Market report at: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/988109/global-batch-control-systems-competition-forecast-amp-opportunities



The global Batch Control Systems market is valued at xx million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025.



This report focuses on Batch Control Systems volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Batch Control Systems market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan.



At company level, this report focuses on the production capacity, ex-factory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covered in this report.



The following manufacturers are covered:



ABB

Emerson

Honeywell International

Rockwell Automation

Siemens

APEC-Automated Process Equipment

HollySys Automation Technologies

OMRON

Yokogawa



Click to view Tables, Charts, Figures, TOC, and Companies Mentioned in the global Batch Control Systems market Report: https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/988109/global-batch-control-systems-competition-forecast-amp-opportunities



Batch Control Systems Market Segment by Regions



North America

Europe

China

Japan



Batch Control Systems Market Segment by Type



Electromagnetic

Electro-Pneumatic



Batch Control Systems Market Segment by Application



Chemical and Petrochemical Industry

Food and Beverage Industry

Water and Wastewater Industry

Pharmaceutical Industry

Others



Access Customized Version of this Report at: https://www.qyresearch.com/customize-request/form/988109/global-batch-control-systems-competition-forecast-amp-opportunities



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Analyst Support: Get you query resolved from our expert analysts before and after purchasing the report



Customer's Satisfaction: Our expert team will assist with all your research needs and customize the report



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Assured Quality: We focus on the quality and accuracy of the report



About QYResearch

QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from the huge number of customer support, the QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in the consulting industry
Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2019 -- Cashmere is grown in the goat epidermis, covered in the root of the goat coarse hair, grow out in winter, to resist the cold, fall off when the spring coming, adapt to the climate naturally, belong to rare special animal fiber.



Cashmere industry has growth in Europe market. Currently, Europe market mainly imports pure cashmere from China and Mongolia. The main market players are Gobi, GOYO, Cashmere Holding, Erdos Group, Kingdeer, Viction Cashmere and Dongrong Group, etc. The Europe sales of Pure Cashmere will increase to 2309.95 MT in 2017 from 2349.13 MT in 2012.



Access PDF version of this report at: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/902347/global-cashmere-market



As for consumption, Italy and UK are the mainly consumption regions due to the bigger demand of downstream applications. In 2016, these two regions occupied 97.25% of the Europe consumption volume in total.



The global Cashmere market was xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx% between 2018 and 2025.



This report studies the Cashmere market size (value and volume) by players, regions, product types and end industries, history data 2013-2017 and forecast data 2018-2025; This report also studies the global market competition landscape, market drivers and trends, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.



Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth Rate of Cashmere in these regions, from 2013 to 2025, covering



North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)



Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey etc.)



Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam)



South America (Brazil etc.)



Middle East and Africa (Egypt and GCC Countries)



The various contributors involved in the value chain of the product include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, and customers. The key manufacturers in this market include



Gobi



GOYO



Cashmere Holding



Sor Cashmere



Erdos Group



Kingdeer



Viction Cashmere



Dongrong Group



By the product type, the market is primarily split into



Tianshan Wool



Market Segment by Product Type



White Cashmere



Cyan Cashmere



Purple Cashmere



Others



By the end users/application, this report covers the following segments



Cashmere Clothing



Cashmere Accessory



Cashmere Home Textiles



Get this report Now at USD 3,350 : https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/0c6c5e4ca2e64013c42bed709dbe7da3,0,1,Global%20Cashmere%20Market%20Report,%20History%20and%20Forecast%202013-2025,%20Breakdown%20Data%20by%20Manufacturers,%20Key%20Regions,%20Types%20and%20Application



About QYResearch

QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2019 -- The latest market research report titled Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) market offers a detailed evaluation of the market situation within a specific geographic region. This Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) Market study contains vital data on market shifts owing to social, economic, cultural and technological changes worldwide. Explaining market opportunities remains the key focus of the study. Industry experts analysing the business environment also take a closer look at the organizational alignment as well as the capital structure.



Request for Sample Copy of Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/29518



Scope of the Report:

The research methodologies used for evaluating the Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) 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 Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) market are:

Ineos Phenol GmbH, AdvanSix(Honeywell), Altivia, Cepsa, Novapex, DOMO Chemicals, Versalis (Eni), Rosneft(SANORS), Taiwan Prosperity Chemical, Misubshi Chemical, Kumho P&B Chemicals, SI Group, Prasol Chemicals, Liwei Chemical



Most important types of Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) products covered in this report are:

- Assay above 99.5% (Purity)

- Other Purity



Most widely used downstream fields of Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) market covered in this report are:

- Plasticizers

- Resins (ABS/Polyester/Alkyd)

- Polymerization Production

- Other



Buy Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/29518



The market intelligence study for the Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) market further provides an inside-out overview of necessary aspects associated with the product classification, important definitions, major orders and other industry-centric parameters. An underlying part of the study also maps the important factors associated with the recent events such as mergers and acquisition, collaboration and new product launches.



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 Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) 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 Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) market



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.



There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) market.



Chapter 1 covers the Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) 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 2019 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 2019 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 Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS), for the period 2019- 2026;



Continue



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The research provides answers to the following key questions:

- What is the estimated growth rate of the Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) market for the forecast period 2019 - 2026? What will be the market share and size of the industry during the estimated period?

- What are prime factors expected to drive the Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) 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 Alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) market?

- What are the key challenges expected to restrict the progress of the industry for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026?

- What the opportunities product owners can bank on to generate high profits?



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San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market: Overview



Anti-corrosion coatings protect various metal components from oxidation, exposure to industrial and environmental chemicals, moisture, and salt sprays. Preventing contact between corrosive materials and chemical compounds, these coatings might also feature nonstick properties. As rust and corrosion prevention is a key concern of a number of industries that have high humidity, salt, water, and mist, the global market for anti-corrosion coatings market is expected to soar.



Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market: Key Trends



Widespread usage in oil and gas equipment such as drill pipes and oil storage tanks is fuelling the demand for anti-corrosion coatings. As these equipment are exposed to underground water and marshy land, they need to be protected from corrosion from moisture. Moreover, the increasing demand for energy generation via oil sands, tar sands, shale gas, and oil shale is likely to further provide an impetus to the market.



The polyurethane coatings segment has been exhibiting significant growth thanks to the availability of a wide range of colors and glossy finish that attracts consumers. These products can endure temperatures up to 110 degrees Celsius. By application, the solvent based coatings might emerge at the fore due to government regulations emphasizing the use of low volatile organic compounds in products.



Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market: Market Potential



In February 2017, NEI Corporation announced that the patent and trademark regulatory body of the U.S. has issued allowance for two patent applications of the firm. These two products possess hydrophobic coatings, displaying high corrosion resistance, apart from their excellent adhesive properties.



In the same month, Guntner launched a new coil protector designed for the food industry. The product possesses powder coating that is highly resistant to corrosion apart from being food safe.



U.S.-based manufacturer of grapheme, Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) has been aiding James Briggs Ltd, a paints manufacturer, in the development of anti-corrosion grapheme coatings.



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A group of engineers and scientists has developed a hexagonal boron nitride monolayer that exhibits exceptional resistance to corrosion. Although this product needs to be developed further for it to be introduced in the commercial market, the future potential for it is immense, experts believe. Both anodic and cathodic currents were found to be unsuccessful at penetrating the automatically thin layer coating.



Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market: Regional Outlook



North America dominates the anti-corrosion coatings market, which is supported by rising volume of military investment. The U.S., flaunting one of the world's largest fleet bases, is likely to represent maximum share of the anti-corrosion coatings market in North America.



Asia Pacific is likely to emerge as a leading regional market owing to the foreign investments that have been pouring in. The extensive growth of the end-use industries such as oil and gas, power and energy, marine, tanks and pipes, and construction are responsible for increasing demand for anti-corrosion coatings in the developing countries of this region such as India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, and China. China is slated to emerge at the fore, as a vast population, immense production base, and growing volume of foreign investments propel its expansion.



Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market: Competitive Analysis



Some of the leading companies operating in the global anti-corrosion coatings market are Hempel, The Sherwin-Williams Company, BASF, RPM International, PPG Industries, Chugoku Marine Paints, AICA Kogyo, Jotun, Axalta Coating, Kansai Paints, Ashland, Tnemec, Akzonobel, Sokema, Valspar, Nippon Paints, and AnCatt.



Japan-based Kansai Paint is planning to acquire Sadolin Tanzania, Sadolin Kenya, and Sadolin Uganda, with a view to tap the vast potential of the market in this region.



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Several companies are also making sure that they improve their production capabilities. For example, PPG Industries completed a new production line at Wuhu, China. The plant produces highly efficient high solids and waterborne coatings.
San Jose, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) has gained popularity as one of the most effective and sustainable construction materials worldwide. The unique product characteristics and flexibility of AAC has enabled realization of energy-efficient and high-speed construction methods. Various AAC technologies have been specifically designed for high-quality industrial and residential applications. Speedy construction with AAC panels are gaining paramount traction as cost-effective and resourceful modular construction technique globally.



In a bid to impart better governance, public infrastructure development has become top priority in several emerging countries including Mexico, Brazil, India, and China. Expansion of the construction sector across these countries is further bolstered by favorable housing schemes implemented by the governments, which in turn is auguring well for AAC suppliers and manufacturers. Additionally, sustainability, light-weight, and eco-friendly properties of autoclaved aerated concrete have meant that their adoption as construction materials will witness a tremendous rise in the years to come.



Scope of the Report



XploreMR has developed a comprehensive forecast analysis on the global market fir autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) market, which imparts key insights on the way demand for autoclaved aerated concrete will increase over the period 2017 to 2026. The report provides qualitative intelligence on the growth of autoclaved aerated concrete market across different regional segments included in the report for the assessed period. A chapter on executive summary, which initiates the report, delivers succinct insights on the global AAC market's segments. Overview chapter, which follows the executive summary, gives a brief introduction to the market coupled with a formal definition of "autoclaved aerated concrete".



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The report has been compiled with the help of a collaborative research approach, which involves constant discussions with industry leaders, opinion makers, and the market players. By employing a proven and tested statistical methods to forecast the market size, research findings from this report engulf the latest market trends, while delivering a self-explanatory roadmap on the way AAC market will grow in the upcoming years.



Market Analysis and Segmentation



Every essential material and element apropos to production, and application of autoclaved aerated concrete is identified and thoroughly examined in the report. Intelligence from industry knowledge databases and authentic trade surveys has been gleaned, collated, and repurposed in order to improve accuracy of forecast on the global autoclaved aerated concrete market. Moving further, the report widely captures fabrication concerns associated with autoclaved aerated concrete, ranging from the supply chain characteristics to the viability of various materials incorporated. Data offered in the report has been elaborated, and popular trends in the market have been elucidated, with an aim to make report readers better understand impacts of subjective undercurrents on expansion of the AAC market.



Key weighted chapters of the report impart segmentation analysis of the global autoclaved aerated concrete market, which offers forecasts & insights on the market growth based on segments such as vehicle type, filter type, and region. On the basis of region, the report further branches the global AAC market into Latin America, Japan, Europe, North America, Middle East & Africa, and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan. XploreMR's analyst network superintends to deliver forecasts on the regional as well as country-specific autoclaved aerated concrete market. The report further offers cross-segmental study & forecast on the global AAC market, wherein key chapters unveil presumptive scenarios related to future evolution of the market.



All-Inclusive Forecast on Autoclaved Aerated Market's Competition Landscape



Key companies manufacturing autoclaved aerated concrete that actively support the market growth have been exhaustively profiled in the report. Information on latest strategic developments and current market standings of these companies has been provided in detail, in a chapter that unveils volumes of data regarding the competitor analysis. Analysis on prominent manufacturing trends, challenges, and supply chain of AAC has been offered in this chapter. Assessing the information given on the global AAC market's competitive landscape, the market players are enabled to develop informed strategies, which can facilitate them in attaining high-value business expansion during the forecast period.



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Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Rapid increase in demand for high-performance technology in order to cater to the hygiene care standards is expected to drive the sales of bedpan washer disinfectors. Paramount need for health and occupational safety is anticipated to further drive the demand and sales of bedpan washer disinfectors. Key players and manufacturers in bedpan washer disinfectors market are taking immense efforts in developing wide-ranging containers, thereby catering to the needs of disinfection and cleaning cycles.



Hospitals are expected to significantly contribute towards the revenue growth of bedpan washer disinfectors market owing to rapidly increasing spreading infection cases. Rapidly increasing need for reducing bioburden will further drive the demand and supply of bedpan washer disinfectors. Stringent protocols for usage and packaging of instruments is anticipated to continue driving the demand and supply of bedpan washer disinfectors.



Chemical disinfection mechanism is expected to gain significant traction in bedpan washer disinfectors market in the forthcoming years owing to growing awareness regarding the compatible wide-ranging materials. Growing need for environmental protection concerns by minimizing the amounts of chemicals used holds the potential to gradually restrain the use of bedpan washer disinfectors with chemical disinfection mechanism. Manufacturers in bedpan washer disinfectors market are focusing on integrating cutting-edge and patented technology in their product portfolio.



Bedpan washer disinfectors are devices intended for emptying, flushing, cleaning and disinfecting reusable human waste containers by a variety of means such as chemical, thermal and others. Bedpan washer disinfectors are an integral part of hospitals, which result in greater hygiene and prevent from infection transmission.



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Bedpan Washer Disinfectors Market: Drivers and Restraints



The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and growing number of immunocompromised patients coupled with the concurrent growth of hospitals and health infrastructure are the prime drivers of the global bedpan washer disinfectors market. The need for better hygiene and ethical superiority of bedpan washer disinfectors over the manual process are the other drivers for the growth of the market. To prevent the risk of infection and transmission of deadly ailments such as blood borne diseases and viral hepatitis, among others, the demand for bedpan washer disinfectors is growing.



The Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), under the aegis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, financially penalizes hospitals for readmissions and takes them into account while calculating reimbursement. The provisions of this act is driving a significant market adoption owing to the financial penalty of readmissions. Thus hospitals are investing in sanitary facilities to avoid the steep penalties. The market potential can be gauged from the falling beneficiary readmission rates, which suggest that healthcare facilities have adopted measures to avoid the penalties proposed under the HRRP.



The technological drivers of the global bedpan washer disinfectors market are the growing efficiency and effectiveness of the bedpan washer disinfectors owing to advancements such as automation, fast cleaning and disinfection cycles, air and water parameter control systems such as temperature, humidity, filtering and others.



However, the factors restraining the growth of the global bedpan washer disinfectors market are lack of awareness, high cost of installation and maintenance. Lack of legislations concerning hygiene and working conditions, especially in poor regions of Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa, may hamper the growth of the global bedpan washer disinfectors market.



Bedpan washer disinfectors Market: Segmentation



To gain an accurate assessment of the global bedpan washer disinfectors market, the report is segmented based on disinfection mechanism, portability, end users, and region.



Based on disinfection mechanism, the global bedpan washer disinfectors market is segmented into



Heat disinfection

Dry Heat disinfection

Moist Heat and Pressure Steam disinfection

Radiation disinfection

Chemical disinfection

Others

Based on portability, the global bedpan washer disinfectors market is segmented into:



Wall Mounted

Trolley

Based on end users, the global bedpan washer disinfectors market is segmented into:



Hospitals and clinics

Ambulatory centers

Others

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Bedpan Washer Disinfectors Market: Overview



The global market for bedpan washer disinfectors is fragmented with a large number of players operating in the market. The global bedpan washer disinfector's market trends include a definite shift in favor of developing regions of Asia Pacific, such as India, and China. Regulations provide a avenue for the growth of the global bedpan washer disinfectors market.



Bedpan washer disinfectors Market: Regional Outlook



The global bedpan washer disinfectors market is segmented into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to account for a large share in the global bedpan washer disinfectors market owing to large presence of key market players, regulatory factors favoring the market, and growing healthcare expenditure.



The Asia Pacific excluding Japan bedpan washer disinfectors market is expected to grow at a high CAGR owing to growth in healthcare expenditure and volume of hospitals. China and India are expected to account significant share in the global market owing to growing healthcare sector and per capita income. Whereas, China has emerged as a large manufacturing base for medical equipment.



Europe led by Germany, France and the U.K. is expected to account second large share in the global bedpan washer disinfectors market. The Middle East and Africa bedpan washer disinfectors market is expected to be skewed in favor of the gulf economies of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar. A large part of the global bedpan washer disinfectors market is captive, which necessitates close collaboration between players and organizations including governments and hospitals, especially in the developing regions.



Bedpan washer disinfectors Market: Key Players



Examples of some of the established vendors operating in the global bedpan washer disinfectors are MEIKO Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, AT-OS, Stanbridge Ltd, DDC Dolphin, Steelco S.p.A., TBT Medical, Dentalcon Ltd (Orphanos Group of Companies), and Evocare Australia Pty Limited., among others.



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 global bedpan washer disinfectors report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.



The global bedpan washer disinfectors 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, U.K, Spain, France, Nordic countries, BENELUX)

Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, Rest Of Eastern Europe)

Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (China, India, Australia & New Zealand)

Japan

Middle East and Africa (GCC, S. Africa, Rest Of MEA)

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.



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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.



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Rohit Bhisey

Fact.MR

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Suite 400

Rockville, MD 20852

United States

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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2019 -- Chemical detection technology is used to detect chemical agents (CA), toxic industrial chemicals (TIC), and toxic industrial materials (TIM). Chemical detection technologies plays a vital important role in the monitoring of chemical plants and industries. Incidents from the past like Bhopal gas tragedy have triggered the alarm in the chemical industry to use top quality and reliable chemical detection technology. Furthermore, a rise in threat from terrorist organizations across the world is forcing countries to implant chemical detection technology at critical infrastructure facilities such as airports, nuclear power plants, and water distribution facilities, etc.



Many of the commercially available CA and TIC detectors utilize technologies that are adapted from classical analytical chemistry techniques. These technologies are ion mobility spectroscopy (IMS), raman spectroscopy, infra-red spectroscopy, colorimetric analysis, flame photometry, surface acoustic wave, photo ionization and flame ionization.



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Global Chemical Detection Technology Market Dynamics:



Global chemical detection technology market is driven by defense sector of various countries in the world. IMS technology is widely used in the military and civilian agencies for detection of illicit drugs, explosives and TICs. Increase in number of people travelling worldwide and security concerns at the airports are driving growth of the global chemical detection technology market. Worldwide forensic labs are using infra-red spectroscopy for forensic analysis such as in identifying polymer degradation. Infra-red spectroscopy can be used to detect the alcohol content in the blood.



A recent trend of chemical detection equipment becoming portable is expected to fuel the global chemical detection market growth. Additionally, there is an increasing reliability on chemical detection equipment by end-users owing to the reduced number of false alarm. Raman spectroscopy is very efficient and non-destructive technology to investigate the authenticity of arts (paintings), which is expected to drive the global chemical detection technology market. Growth in health care and medical sector is also poised to positively influence the global market for chemical detection technology.



Cost of the chemical detection equipment is very high along with high operating cost, hindering the growth of the global chemical detection technology market to some extent.



Global Chemical Detection Technology Market Segmentation:



Global chemical detection technology market can be segmented on the basis of end-use sector such as defense sector, civil sector, and commercial sector. Global chemical detection technology market for defense sector can be further sub-segmented on the basis of application such as anti-terrorism, first responder market, firefighting control, real time monitoring of toxic and hazardous industrial chemicals in the environment, chemical disaster management and detecting air-borne chemical threats. Global chemical detection technology market can also be segmented on the basis type into portable and non-portable equipment. Global chemical detection technology market can be segmented on the basis of geography in to North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region (APEJ), Japan, and Middle East & Africa (MEA).



Global Chemical Detection Technology Market: Regional outlook



Geographically, global chemical detection technology market can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is the biggest market for chemical detection technology. The U.S. is the leader in research and development of chemical detection technology. Countries affected by the terrorism such as India, France, the U.K. are next big market for the chemical detection technology.



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Global Chemical Detection Technology Market: Key players



Following are the major key player identified in the value chain of global chemical detection technology market: - S. E. International, Inc., S2 Threat Detection Technologies, Romtech, ChemImage Corp., Bruker Detection Corporation, and Implant Sciences Corporation, etc. Major players are turning focus toward strategic alliances and collaboration along with product innovation to increase their market share in the global chemical detection technology market.
Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- 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, 2012-2016, 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.



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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.



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Pune, Maharashtra -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- According to Fact.MR's recently developed report, expansion of the global dozer market is projected to remain moderate through the forecast period, 2017 to 2026, in terms of value as well as volume. Revenues from dozer sales across the globe are estimated to exceed US$ 2,500 Mn by 2026-end. Volume sales of dozers are forecast to reach nearly 35,000 Mn units by 2026-end.



Key Research Findings from Fact.MR's Report on Dozer Market



Dozers with operating weight of 20,000-60,000 lb will remain dominant in the market, in terms of revenues as well as volume sales



Dozers with flywheel power of more than 250 hp will remain sought-after in the market



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Competition Tracking



Key companies profiled by Fact.MR's report that are actively contributing to expansion of the global dozer market include Zoomilion, SHANDONG SHANTUI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY IMP&EXP CO, CNH Industries, Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd., Bell Equipment Co SA, Komatsu, Liebherr, Deere & Company, and Caterpillar.



Rapid Globalization attracting Foreign Direct Investment to Fuel the Market Expansion



Growing urban population worldwide has led to rapid demand for better infrastructure facilities, which is being catered by the advent of advanced earthmoving equipment such as dozers with lower maintenance requirements and equipped with eco-friendly features. Varied technological advancements have led toward the facilitation of monitoring and failure detection of dozers in real-time. Rapid globalization is expected to pave a favorable environment to attract foreign direct investment, with higher disposable income of consumers across the globe opening doors for enhanced infrastructure spending. This will further create demand for dozers for construction activities related to residential and commercial buildings. Requirement for better connectivity that entails development of transit network such as roads and railways will further result into adoption.



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Various government initiatives are being undertaken for infrastructure development, along with rising investments in the construction sector. For example, the government of Saudi Arabia has planned to develop 6 mega-economic cities and nearly 800 new factories for creating accommodation and employment. This will further drive demand for dozers. However, economic and political uncertainty, along with implementation of norms related to emission control by regulatory authorities might challenge the market expansion. In addition, regulations and interdictions on mining activities globally coupled with the host cost may impede demand for dozers.



5 Key Projections on Future of Dozer Market for Forecast Period 2017-2026



The dozer market in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) will continue to observe high gains owing to heavy investments in the urban as well as rural infrastructure development including residential areas, IT parks, roads and ports. APEJ will continue to lead the global dozer market, in terms of revenues as well as volume sales. The market in North America will trail APEJ, with sales estimated to surpass 6,000 Mn units by 2026-end. Europe will also remain a lucrative region for the market expansion. In addition, Latin America, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Japan will continue to be relatively less lucrative markets for dozer.



Dozers with an operating weight of 20,000-60,000 lb are anticipated to remain dominant in the market, in terms of revenues. More than 16,000 dozers with this operating weight are expected to sold across the globe by 2026-end, Dozers with an operating weight of 60,000-150,000 are expected to account for the second largest revenue share of the market by 2026-end. Dozers with operating weights under 20,000 lb and over 150,000 lb are projected to account for the lowest market revenue shares during the forecast period.



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Dozers with flywheel power of more than 250 hp are expected to remain the leading revenue contributor to the market, followed by those with flywheel power of 125-250 hp. Revenues from dozers with flywheel power of 75-125 hp are expected to remain significantly lower than those from more than 250 hp and 125-250 hp.

Construction will continue to be the largest end-use vertical of dozers, with a market revenue share relatively higher than those of mining and forestry & agriculture combined.



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/

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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2019 -- The latest industry intelligence report on the ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES & SCOOTERS market performs a cautious examination of the current business environment and competitive landscape of the ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES & SCOOTERS market for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026. For stakeholders, field marketing executives and product owners planning to maintain a competitive edge the market assessment report brings to light essential impression about the growth rate, share and size of the industry during the estimated period. Deep dive into an array of elements including but not limited to the value proposition, product positioning, and targeting and industry segmentation have been described through resources such as charts, tables, and info graphics.



Scope of the market

Based on the types, the ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES & SCOOTERS market has been further classified based on geography, application and consumption capability. On the basis of the product application, the industry is bifurcated taking into consideration those in demand and are an outcome of technology advancement. Region-wise, the performance of the industry along with the prominent vendors operating in the geography also illuminates stakeholders, business owners, and field marketing, executives. The different facets of the business based on parameters including new launches, acquisition and mergers and new entrants are discussed extensively during the study.



Competitive Landscape:

Based on the in-depth analysis the research also brings to light major facts pertaining to the vital aspects such as market share, size, and growth rate. Deep dive into other aspects including the investment feasibility, demand and supply, import and export status, supply chain management and growth prospects narrates a lot about what the business environment will be like for the forecast period,2018 - 2026. All the vital statistics in the report are explained with the help of resources such as tables, charts, and info graphics.



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Leading players of Electric Motorcycles & Scooters including:

Yadea, AIMA, Lvyuan, Sunra, TAILG, Lima, BYVIN, Zongshen Electric Motorcycle, Wuyang Honda, HONG ER DA, Lvjia, Slane, Opai Electric, Supaq, Xiaodao Ebike, Sykee, Aucma EV, Terra Motor, Govecs, ZEV, Zero Motorcycles



Market split by Type, can be divided into:

- Electric Motorcycle

- Electric Scooter



Market split by Application, can be divided into:

- Applications 1

- Applications 2

- Applications 3

- Applications 4



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.)



Regional Analysis:

To offer more clarity on the current business environment researchers probe into the import and export status, supply chain management, demand and supply, consumption capability and manufacturing capacity. When assessing the size of the industry special consideration is given to the value and volume of the products and services offered on a year on year basis.



Market Share:

The study segments the complete ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES & SCOOTERS market on the basis of different application, end-use, end-user, and production capability. From a business standpoint, the industry has been thoroughly examined across various countries located in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and others. The size of the industry for the forecast period 2018 - 2026 is evaluated on the basis of current sales figures and past financial report can be used to forecast the future sales.



In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Electric Motorcycles & Scooters are as follows:

History Year: 2013-2017

Base Year: 2017

Estimated Year: 2018

Forecast Year 2018 to 2026



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The research provides answers to the following key questions:

- What will be the size and the growth rate of the Electric Motorcycles & Scooters market for the forecast period 2018 - 2026?

- What are key drivers believed to shape the future of the market during the estimated period?

- What are the prominent industries players dominating the Electric Motorcycles & Scooters market during the forecast period?

- What are the major trends influencing the development of the industry?

- What are the key challenges likely to hinder the progress of the market?

- What are major opportunities and threats encountered by the business owners operating in the business vertical?



Key elements from TOC

Chapter 1 Electric Motorcycles & Scooters Market Overview

Chapter 2 Electric Motorcycles & Scooters Market Segment Analysis by Player

Chapter 3 Electric Motorcycles & Scooters Market Segment Analysis by Type

Chapter 4 Electric Motorcycles & Scooters Market Segment Analysis by Application

Chapter 5 Electric Motorcycles & Scooters Market Segment Analysis by Sales Channel

Chapter 6 Electric Motorcycles & Scooters Market Segment Analysis by Region

Chapter 7 Profile of Leading Electric Motorcycles & Scooters Players

Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Analysis of Electric Motorcycles & Scooters

Chapter 9 Development Trend of Electric Motorcycles & Scooters (2018-2026)

Continue...



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Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- The high barrier packaging industry is rising throughout the globe owing to growing demand for packed foods. FFS rigid films ensure that the product is safe from external and internal effects which increase degradation. FFS rigid films avoid the infusion of gases including oxygen and water vapor. FFS rigid film is used for high barrier flexible packaging because of its excellent protection and freshness maintaining ability for long-term of the product, organoleptic, and outstanding gas barrier property. The reflexive property of these FFS rigid films and their ability to the preservation of products for a longer period make them a preferable choice in the food industry. FFS rigid films are perfect solution for efficient, functional and attractive packaging based on low costs and inventive approaches. During the packaging of food different gasses such as O2, CO2 andN2 are used alongside the pack to extend the shelf-life and appearance of the product. FFS rigid films used for packaging the meat and meat products, poultry, seafood, dairy products, and fruits and vegetables, where the chance of degradation in the quality of food is too much more. For providing the better protection of food FFS rigid films gain the popularity in the market and its market expected to grow during the forecast period.



FFS Rigid Films- Market Dynamics:



There are several reasons which contribute to the growth of the FFS rigid films market. One of the significant factors which contribute towards the growth of FFS rigid films market is growing demand for packed food in the developing country in the upcoming years.In the emerging country per capita income is rising and change in food habits with busy lifestyle has led to augment demand for packed food. The increasing demand for confectionery and packaged foods in developing countries absolutely influence the FFS rigid films market. Moreover, the FFS rigid film is often best material for packaging of foods rather than an alternative solution such as aluminum and other plastic films. The restraint in the growth of the FFS rigid film market has delimited the use of film by the supervision which is made from plastic and having the problem in degradation.



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FFS Rigid FilmsMarket - Regional outlook:



Geographically the FFS rigid films market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). The FFS rigid films market is expected to witness a sluggish growth over the forecast period in Europe. Moreover, North America is expected to be the largest FFS rigid films market due to the rising demand from the food industry. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are expected to observer sustainable growth over the forecast period.India and China have expected the significant growth in market volume share as the rise in the retail sector in these regions. Asia Pacific has the largest regional market for FFS rigid films, owing to high demand from food industry.However, China and India based FFS rigid films manufacturers are looking to seize most of the opportunity offered in terms of revenue from the global film market.



FFS Rigid FilmsMarket - Key players:



Few of the players identify across the global in the FFS rigid films market are Coveris, Val Group Packaging Solution, Avi Global Plast, Fucine Film Solutions, Living Fresh Packaging, WIPAK, Mondi group etc.



The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.



The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.



Report Highlights : Detailed overview of parent market,Changing market dynamics in the industry,In-depth market segmentation,Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value,Recent industry trends and developments,Competitive landscape,Strategies of key players and products offered,Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth,A neutral perspective on market performance,Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint.



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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2019 -- Food service equipment is a series of equipment used in Restaurants, Hotels, Pubs, Homes and other places for food service, such as food and drink preparation, cooking, heating and holding, and dishwashers, storage & handing equipment are also covered in this report.



The major players covered in this Food Service Equipment report are:

Haier, Electrolux, Hoshizaki, Illinois Tool Works, Ali, Welbilt, Dover, Middleby, Rational, Standex International, Fujimak, The Vollrath Company, Duke Manufacturing, Alto-Shaam, Boelter



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A new market assessment report on the Food Service Equipment market provides a comprehensive overview of the Food Service Equipment industry for the forecast period 2019 - 2026. The analytical study is proposed to provide immense clarity on the market size, share and growth rate across different regions. The profound knowledge and extensive examination of the trends from the yesteryear and future aims at offering the stakeholders, product owners, and marketing personnel a competitive edge over others operating in the Food Service Equipment market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026.



The Food Service Equipment study sheds light on industry profiles across several countries and regions. The extensive document is a rich source of information on market size, share and growth rate. The industry profiles discussed in the Food Service Equipment report further identifies market segmentation, profit, and competitive landscape and offers forecast information on industry performance and trends for the period, 2019 to 2026. The detailed report offers comprehensive analyses about a particular market situation within a geographic region.



Extensive data on Food Service Equipment market segmentation

The Food Service Equipment report divides the market of potential buyers into different groups, or segments/sub segments, based on various characteristics. The segments and sub segments identified contain buyer who are expected to respond or react similarly to certain products and services. The report further finds out consumers who share traits including similar expectations, interests, geography and needs. The segmentation sheds light on how some customers are likely to purchase a product or service than others to enable marketers allocate their focus as well as resource.



Food Service Equipment 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 Food Service Equipment 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 Food Service Equipment market



Food Service Equipment Market split by Type, can be divided into:

- Food Preparation Equipment

- Drink Preparation Equipment

- Cooking Equipment

- Heating and holding equipment



Food Service Equipment Market split by Application, can be divided into:

- Restaurants

- Hotels

- Pubs

- Household

- Catering

- Institutional



Food Service Equipment Market split by Sales Channel, can be divided into:

- Direct Channel

- Distribution Channel



Attracting the Food Service Equipment 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.



Geographically, this report studies the key regions, focuses on product sales, value, market share and growth opportunity in these regions, covering:

- United States

- 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



In this Food Service Equipment study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Food Service Equipment are as follows:

History Year: 2013-2017

Base Year: 2017

Estimated Year: 2018

Forecast Year 2019 to 2026



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The research provides answers to the following key questions:

- What will be the growth rate and the market size of the Food Service Equipment industry for the forecast period 2019-2026?

- What are the major driving forces expected to impact the development of the Food Service Equipment market across different regions?

- Who are the major driving forces expected to decide the fate of the industry worldwide?

- Who are the prominent market players making a mark in the Food Service Equipment market with their winning strategies?

- Which industry trends are likely to shape the future of the industry during the forecast period 2019-2026?

- What are the key barriers and threats believed to hinder the development of the industry?

- What are the future opportunities in the Food Service Equipment market?



The report is distributed over 15 Chapters to display the analysis of the Food Service Equipment market.

Chapter 1 covers the Food Service Equipment 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 2019-2025;

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 2019-2025;

Chapter 4, shows the global market by regions and the proportionate size of each market region based on sales, revenue and market share of Food Service Equipment, for the period 2019-2025;

Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, are dedicated to the analysis of the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;

Continued



Key Points from TOC:

Chapter 1 Food Service Equipment Market Overview

1.1 Food Service Equipment Definition

1.2 Global Food Service Equipment Market Size Status and Outlook (2013-2026)

1.3 Global Food Service Equipment Market Size Comparison by Region (2013-2026)

1.4 Global Food Service Equipment Market Size Comparison by Type (2013-2026)

1.5 Global Food Service Equipment Market Size Comparison by Application (2013-2026)

1.6 Global Food Service Equipment Market Size Comparison by Sales Channel (2013-2026)

1.7 Food Service Equipment Market Dynamics

1.7.1 Market Drivers/Opportunities

1.7.2 Market Challenges/Risks

1.7.3 Market News (Mergers/Acquisitions/ Expansion)



Chapter 2 Food Service Equipment Market Segment Analysis by Player

2.1 Global Food Service Equipment Sales and Market Share by Player (2019-2026)

2.2 Global Food Service Equipment Revenue and Market Share by Player (2019-2026)

2.3 Global Food Service Equipment Average Price by Player (2019-2026)

2.4 Players Competition Situation & Trends

2.5 Conclusion of Segment by Player

Continue



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Illinois professor contributes to improved care for NICU babies

The bond between a parent and their child is forged within the first few weeks of life. The nurse places the baby in their parents' arms where it will be comforted and rocked for countless hours of their newborn life. For parents whose babies are born premature or with complications, these bonds are harder to establish as the baby needs to be hooked up to a variety of wires to be constantly monitored. Illinois professor Naresh Shanbhag is part of a team, led by former Illinois professor John Rogers, working to replace the wires with a patch that would allow parents to hold their little one while it's being monitored.

When a baby is placed into a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), its vitals are continuously recorded through electrodes placed on the skin with wires attached to monitoring platforms. Explained in-depth in this article, published in the journal Science.

"Wired electrodes with their rigid interfaces can hurt the baby's tender skin," said Shanbhag, the Jack S. Kilby Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "They make it hard for parents to hold their child or to adjust their position. Today's health monitoring systems present a barrier in establishing parental and neonate connection, which can delay or inhibit the baby's growth."

This project emerged as a collaboration between Shanbhag and Rogers within the SONIC (Systems on Nanoscale Information fabriCs) Center. The group was formed to develop Shannon and brain-inspired models of computation for designing intelligent systems in emerging nanoscale technologies. One of the key research outcomes of the SONIC center was the concept of bringing computation to the sensor (in-sensor computing) in order to eliminate the energy cost of data transfer. Shanbhag and Rogers' project was one of the many successful SONIC projects in the area of in-sensor computing.

"Our goal was to replace the current monitoring technology with an alternative that could yield the same accuracy, precision and measurement while taking away the disadvantages of the tapes and the wires," said Rogers, currently the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University. "We worked in close collaboration with medical doctors and CSL to figure out a better way."

The group developed a wireless, battery-free sheath that can be laid on the skin and then gently peeled off when needed. The paper-thin patch is the combination of four technologies: wireless power and data transfer, efficient onsite data analytics, time-synchronized data streaming from multiple sites, and enabling visual inspection of the skin interface while also allowing magnetic resonance imaging and x-ray imaging of the neonate.

The ability to wirelessly transfer power was crucial. Wires were part of the problem with conventional monitoring and batteries would cause the same issues. In addition to powering itself the patch would need to gather the medical data (temperature, heart rate, electrical heart patterns, blood oxygenation, etc.) and then process the data locally to reduce the amount information that needed to be sent wirelessly to the monitors. This is where Shanbhag and his student Pourya Assem's algorithms were put to use.

"We developed efficient algorithms to process data in real-time on an on-site microcontroller," Shanbhag said. "The device has limited computational resources so we had to choose the most information-preserving computations to implement."

Data is collected through two separate patches on each neonate (NICU patient), generally on the child's back and then either their chest or foot. Since there is multiple data streams the information must be synchronized before it can be processed and streamed to the monitors. Even with these three other technologies, if the patch gets in the way of the medical staff it won't be of much use. The patch must also allow staff to observe the skin in addition to allowing for x-rays and magnetic resonance images to be taken.

In order to be sure the patch the researchers created worked it had to be tested. The devices were deployed at the Lori Children Hospital in Chicago on NICU patients whose parents agreed to the research. To make sure they were getting accurate measurements the patches were placed on neonates who were also hooked up to the conventional wired system to compare the data readings. The patients involved in the research were also surrounded by nurses, neonatologists, and dermatologists to ensure everything ran smoothly. So far 90 babies have used the patches and helped validate the patches as a feasible alternative to the current technology.

"The NICU in particular is an area that urgently needs new technology," said Rogers. "Everyone - nurses, parents, neonatologists - agrees on this point. The transition to a wireless approach represents an attractive solution, but also a daunting engineering challenge, given the fragility of the patient population and the extreme requirements in data precision and operational reliability."

Use of the devices has expanded to a NICU at Prentice Women's Hospital, also in Chicago, and NICUs across the globe are reaching out to Rogers and other contributors to deploy the patches at their locations. Later this year 10,000 units will be distributed in Zambia supported by the Gates Foundation and the Save the Children Foundation.

While this is the most visual project coming from former SONIC researchers, it is just one of many that are still being worked on.

"This project demonstrates that combining innovations in materials, sensors, circuits, architectures and algorithms in unique ways can lead to impactful research outcomes," said Shanbhag. "The future of such technologies has immense possibilities as we seek to harness their potential to enhance wellness and to positively impact lives."

###

SONIC was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), brought together a diverse set of 27 faculty and 100+ graduate students from 10 top-tier U.S.-based universities. The SONIC project officially concluded in 2017, the 27 faculty and 100+ graduate students involved have carried on some of the developed projects.

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Analog to digital converters (ADC) is an electric component that translates analog signals, physical world signals such as pressure, temperature, current, voltage, distance or light intensity into a digital representation of that signal which can be stored, manipulated, computed, and processed. Analog to digital converters are used to convert signals from analog to digital signals so that the signals can be read by the digital devices.



As the global analog to digital converter market is among typical semiconductor market, it is expected to have a steady growth for the forecast period. Next generation communication systems and various other advanced consumer electronics are expected to influence the growth in deployment of analog to digital converter devices influencing a steady rise in the revenue of the global analog to digital converter market.



Global Analog to Digital Converter Market: Drivers and Challenges



With increasing government initiative to digitize working processes and encouraging smart living, and increasing disposable income of the population in growing economic countries is rising the adoption of consumer electronics among the people. Innovation in technology is also making use of analog to digital converters in various devices including consumer electronics and automotive equipment. Hence, these factors have a positive impact on adoption and penetration of analog to digital converters driving the revenue growth of global analog to digital converter market.



However, few challenges faced by the analog to digital converter devices manufacturers while designing an analog to digital converter device are pressure for product differentiation, continuously improving efficiency of the product or having better performance goals, fast time-to-market and others.



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Global Analog to Digital Converter Market: Segmentation



Global analog to digital converter market can be segmented into product type, resolution, application and regions.



On the basis of product type, global analog to digital converter market can be segmented into pipelined ADC, display ADC, dual slope ADC, delta-sigma ADC, and others.



On the basis of resolution, global analog to digital converter market can be segmented into 8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit, 14-bit, 16-bit and others.



On the basis of application, global analog to digital converter market can be segmented into consumer electronics, IT and telecommunication, automotive and industrial.



Global Analog to Digital Converter Market: Regional Outlook



On the basis of regions, global Analog to Digital Converter Market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East and Africa.



North America accounts for largest market share in the global analog to digital converter market owing to the advanced technology and easy adoption in the countries such as the U.S. The expansion in the industrial and automotive sectors are offering lucrative growth opportunities for Western Europe analog to digital converter market. Asia Pacific excluding Japan is expected to have maximum potential for the revenue growth of global analog to digital converter market during the forecast period. Latin America, Middle East and Africa, Eastern Europe are among the regions which are expected to witness positive growth during the forecast period.



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Global Analog to Digital Converter Market: Competition Landscape



Some of the key players for analog to digital converter market are Texas Instruments Incorporated, Analog Devices, Inc., Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation, Microchip Technology Inc., Intersil Americas LLC, Sony Corporation, National Instruments, Maxim Integrated, Diligent Inc., and Adafruit Industries.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- "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



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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.



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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.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- The global GuillainBarre syndrome market was valued at US$ 454.0 Mn in 2016 and is expected to expand at a high CAGR of 5% from 2017 to 2025, to reach value of US$ 708.6 Mn by 2025, according to a new report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR) titled "GuillainBarre Syndrome Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20172025." The report suggests that the growing prevalence of GuillainBarre syndrome and rising rate of its diagnosis in developing countries is likely to drive the GuillainBarre syndrome market from 2017 to 2025.



North America is projected to dominate the global GuillainBarre syndrome market during the forecast period, followed by Asia Pacific. The market in the region is primarily driven by factors such as highly structured health care industry and availability of well-defined reimbursement policies for rare diseases from private and public health insurance firms. The market in North America is projected to witness moderate growth at a rate of more than 5% during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is estimated to be the rapidly expanding market for GuillainBarre syndrome during the forecast period. The market in Asia Pacific is projected to witness significant growth at a rate of more than 6% during the forecast period. The market for GuillainBarre syndrome in Latin America is likely to expand at a sluggish growth rate during the forecast period.



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Increasing Usage of IVIG in Off-label Indications and New Product Approvals to fuel Market



Intravenous immunoglobulins are used for the treatment of GuillainBarre syndrome. IVIG products such as Gamunex, Gammagard/Kiovig, and Privigen are given in the dose of 0.4g/kg of body weight per day for five days. Treatment of Guillain-Barre syndrome by off-label use of intravenous immunoglobulins is increasing. This factor is expected to drive the market during the forecast period. Common off-label indications treated with intravenous immunoglobulins are Guillain-Barre syndrome, multifocal motor neuropathy, dermatomyositis, polymyositis, stiff person syndrome, and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Government initiatives to increase plasma yield as well as approvals by regulatory bodies for intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) products and indications augment the market. In October 2015, ProMetic Life Sciences, Inc. announced the U.S. FDA's (Food & Drug Administration) clearance for the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ProMetic's IVIG for the treatment of primary immunodeficiency diseases, thereby initiating the pivotal phase-III trial study.



Intravenous Immunoglobulins projected to be a highly lucrative Therapeutics Segment



Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is a treatment wherein the antibodies from donated blood are injected into the patient's vein. IVIG is extensively used due to its ease of administration and favorable side-effect profile. IVIG is administered in the dose of 0.4g/kg of body weight per day for five days. The use of intravenous immunoglobulins is advantageous over plasma exchange in the treatment of GuillainBarre syndrome, due to superior safety profile of IVIG. The IVIG segment is expected to expand at a significant rate during the forecast period.



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Parenteral Route of Administration Segment leads the GuillainBarre Syndrome Treatment Market



Immunoglobulins are administered through intravenous and subcutaneous routes of administration. Albumin used for plasma exchange in patients with GuillainBarre syndrome is administered through the intravenous route of administration. Growth of the intravenous immunoglobulin segment can be attributed to rise in the consumption of IVIG for the treatment of GuillainBarre syndrome. Increasing demand, better safety profile, and high cost of IVIG products are expected to boost the segment during the forecast period.



Hospital Pharmacies Segment estimated to register highest CAGR during the forecast period



Hospital pharmacies offers all drugs for patients along with products for surgery, specialty care products, pathological products, and 24-hour facility. Hospital pharmacies is the key distribution channel segment of the GuillainBarre syndrome market. Growth of the hospital pharmacies segment can be attributed to increasing incidence of GuillainBarre syndrome and rising number of admissions of patients with the disease. Clinical examination and supporting laboratory investigations for the diagnosis of GuillainBarre syndrome are best possible in hospitals. Hence, the number of patients treated in hospitals is also increasing.



North America projected to be a highly lucrative Market for GuillainBarre Syndrome during the forecast period



The market in North America is primarily driven by factors such as highly structured health care industry and availability of well-defined reimbursement policies for rare diseases from private and public health insurance firms in the region. The U.S. holds a major share of the market in North America, owing to increasing adoption of high-cost IVIG products and growing awareness among end-users. In addition, a large number of players in the U.S. market are focusing on R&D activities to introduce new therapeutic products for the treatment of GuillainBarre syndrome. The U.S. is an early adopter of innovative therapeutic products, as most new drugs are first launched in the U.S. market. This is likely to result in high growth of the market in the country in the next few years. Thus, established rules and regulations and major innovations in therapeutic products are expected to have a positive impact on the North America GuillainBarre syndrome market in the near future.



Key Trend of High Investments in Research & Development of New Therapeutic Products for Rare Diseases



The global GuillainBarre syndrome market is largely consolidated, with the dominance of top four players. Key players operating in the global GuillainBarre syndrome market are Grifols S.A., CSL Behring LLC, Shire plc, Octapharma AG, Nihon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Akari Therapeutics, PLC, China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc., Biotest AG, and Kedrion s.p.A. Major players are strongly focusing on research activities by increasing the investment.



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Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Humeral implants designs have changed significantly as a result of improved understanding of prosthetic biomechanics and proximal humeral anatomy. The primary goal of humeral implant design includes the replication of the articular anatomy to restore physiologic soft-tissue tension and to avoid complications such as periprosthetic fracture, aseptic loosening, and proximal humeral bone loss and to provide early implant stability and long-term bony fixation. Trauma is the main reason for humerus fractures. The humerus is mostly fractured due to fall or motor vehicle crash. Physical rehabilitation is also an important part of recovery to regain the use of the upper arm and shoulder.



Humerus fractures are of different types depending on the name of the area of bone that is broken. These are proximal humerus fractures, mid-shaft fractures, and distal humerus fractures. If the bone is moved out of the position, surgery is recommended. Surgery is used to readjust the bone and secure them in a position with surgical hardware, such as pins, plates, wires, and screws. For severe proximal humerus fractures, shoulder replacement surgery is done to remove the injured bone and insert an artificial implant. Both non-cemented and cemented fixation are used, as both techniques have different advantages and disadvantages. Humeral implants have grown from monoblock to modular implants, from diaphyseal to metaphyseal fixation, from press-fit to ingrowth non-cemented designs and from fixed to variable implants.



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Humeral Implants Market: Drivers and Restraints



The global humeral implants market is anticipated to register a significant CAGR over a forecast period. The rise in geriatric population and increased number of accidents is anticipated to boost the demand for the humeral implants and drives the global humeral implants market. Changes in lifestyle such as lack of exercise and increased prevalence of obesity in global population are attributing to the weakening of bones, fuelling humeral implants market growth. Increase in the adoption of advanced technologies and ongoing technological advancements also anticipated to drives the global humeral implants market.



However, high complication rates such as aseptic loosening and need of humeral revision associated with the procedures may hamper the demand for the humeral implants and restrain the growth of the global humeral implants market. Additionally, stringent FDA policies for the approval of implants will restrain the growth of humeral implants market.



Humeral Implants Market: Segmentation



The global humeral implants market is segmented on the basis of product type and end user:



On the basis of product type, the global humeral implants market is segmented into:

Proximal humerous implants

Humeral shaft implants

Distal humerous implants



On the basis of end user, the global humeral implants market is segmented into:

Hospitals

Ambulatory surgical centers

Clinics



Humeral Implants Market: Regional Outlook



On the basis of regional presence, the global humeral implants market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Currently, North America is contributing the leading shares to the global systems humeral implants market in terms of value and anticipated to register a significant CAGR over a forecast period. APEJ is also contributing moderate shares to the market due to the newly developed products and growing incidence of injuries is expected to show a robust growth to the global humeral implants market. Europe is the most lucrative market for the humeral implants market. MEA is at a nascent stage to the global humeral implants market and anticipated to register a decent growth to the market over a forecast period. Overall, the global humeral implants market is expected to show significant growth over a forecast period.



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Humeral Implants Market: Key Players



Some of the major market players in humeral implants market globally include B. Braun Ireland, Arthrex, Inc., Exactech, Inc., medartis, Zimmer Biomet, Smith & Nephew plc., Stryker, Wright Medical Group, DePuy Synthes and others. These companies are highly focused on the development of advanced humeral implants further contributing to the growth of humeral implants market globally.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- HTF MI released a new market study on Global Indoor LBS Market with 100+ market data Tables, Pie Chat, Graphs & Figures spread through Pages and easy to understand detailed analysis. At present, the market is developing its presence. The Research report presents a complete assessment of the Market and contains a future trend, current growth factors, attentive opinions, facts, and industry validated market data. The research study provides estimates for Global Indoor LBS Forecast till 2025*. Some are the key players taken under coverage for this study are Google(US), Apple(US), HERE Maps(FI), Aisle411(US), Broadcom(US), IndoorAtals(FI), Senion(SE), Acuity Brands(ByteLight)(US), Wifarer(CA), Microsoft(US), Cisco Systems(US), Skyhook(TruePosition)(US), Insiteo(US), Shopkick(US), Ekahau(US), Ericsson(SE), Point Inside(US), Qualcomm(US), Zonith(DK), Navizon/Accuware(US), Locata Corporation(AU), Ubisense(UK), Meridian(US), Sensewhere(UK), TRX Systems(US), Rtmap(CN), URadio Systems(CN) & Huace Optical-communications(CN).



Click to get Global Indoor LBS Market Research Sample PDF Copy Here @: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1723459-global-indoor-lbs-market-13



Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report :



1) What all companies are currently profiled in the report?

Following are list of players that are currently profiled in the the report "Google(US), Apple(US), HERE Maps(FI), Aisle411(US), Broadcom(US), IndoorAtals(FI), Senion(SE), Acuity Brands(ByteLight)(US), Wifarer(CA), Microsoft(US), Cisco Systems(US), Skyhook(TruePosition)(US), Insiteo(US), Shopkick(US), Ekahau(US), Ericsson(SE), Point Inside(US), Qualcomm(US), Zonith(DK), Navizon/Accuware(US), Locata Corporation(AU), Ubisense(UK), Meridian(US), Sensewhere(UK), TRX Systems(US), Rtmap(CN), URadio Systems(CN) & Huace Optical-communications(CN)"



** List of companies mentioned may vary in the final report subject to Name Change / Merger etc.



2) Can we add or profiled new company as per our need?

Yes, we can add or profile new company as per client need in the report. Final confirmation to be provided by research team depending upon the difficulty of survey.

** Data availability will be confirmed by research in case of privately held company. Upto 3 players can be added at no added cost.



3) What all regional segmentation covered? Can specific country of interest be added?

Currently, research report gives special attention and focus on following regions:

North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Russia, Spain etc.), Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia etc.), South America (Brazil, Argentina etc.) & Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, South Africa etc.)

** One country of specific interest can be included at no added cost. For inclusion of more regional segment quote may vary.



4) Can inclusion of additional Segmentation / Market breakdown is possible?

Yes, inclusion of additional segmentation / Market breakdown is possible subject to data availability and difficulty of survey. However a detailed requirement needs to be shared with our research before giving final confirmation to client.



** Depending upon the requirement the deliverable time and quote will vary.



Enquire for customization in Report @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1723459-global-indoor-lbs-market-13



To comprehend Global Indoor LBS market dynamics in the world mainly, the worldwide Indoor LBS market is analyzed across major global regions. HTF MI also provides customized specific regional and country-level reports for the following areas.



- North America: United States, Canada, and Mexico.

- South & Central America: Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.

- Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa.

- Europe: UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Russia.

- Asia-Pacific: India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia.



2-Page profiles for 10+ leading manufacturers and 10+ leading retailers is included, along with 3 years financial history to illustrate the recent performance of the market. Revised and updated discussion for 2018 of key macro and micro market influences impacting the sector are provided with a thought-provoking qualitative comment on future opportunities and threats. This report combines the best of both statistically relevant quantitative data from the industry, coupled with relevant and insightful qualitative comment and analysis.



Global Indoor LBS Product Types In-Depth: , Network-Based Positioning System, Independent Positioning System & Hybrid Positioning System



Global Indoor LBS Major Applications/End users: Offices and Commercial Buildings, Government, Public Safety and Urban Security, Healthcare, Travel and Hospitality, Aviation, Academia and Education, Oil, Gas and Mining & Manufacturing, Distribution and Logistics



Geographical Analysis: North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Russia, Spain etc.), Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia etc.), South America (Brazil, Argentina etc.) & Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, South Africa etc.)



In order to get a deeper view of Market Size, competitive landscape is provided i.e. Revenue (Million USD) by Players (2013-2018), Revenue Market Share (%) by Players (2013-2018) and further a qualitative analysis is made towards market concentration rate, product/service differences, new entrants and the technological trends in future.



Competitive Analysis:

The key players are highly focusing innovation in production technologies to improve efficiency and shelf life. The best long-term growth opportunities for this sector can be captured by ensuring ongoing process improvements and financial flexibility to invest in the optimal strategies. Company profile section of players such as Google(US), Apple(US), HERE Maps(FI), Aisle411(US), Broadcom(US), IndoorAtals(FI), Senion(SE), Acuity Brands(ByteLight)(US), Wifarer(CA), Microsoft(US), Cisco Systems(US), Skyhook(TruePosition)(US), Insiteo(US), Shopkick(US), Ekahau(US), Ericsson(SE), Point Inside(US), Qualcomm(US), Zonith(DK), Navizon/Accuware(US), Locata Corporation(AU), Ubisense(UK), Meridian(US), Sensewhere(UK), TRX Systems(US), Rtmap(CN), URadio Systems(CN) & Huace Optical-communications(CN) includes its basic information like legal name, website, headquarters, its market position, historical background and top 5 closest competitors by Market capitalization / revenue along with contact information. Each player/ manufacturer revenue figures, growth rate and gross profit margin is provided in easy to understand tabular format for past 5 years and a separate section on recent development like mergers, acquisition or any new product/service launch etc.



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In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Global Indoor LBS are as follows:

History Year: 2013-2017

Base Year: 2017

Estimated Year: 2018

Forecast Year 2018 to 2025



Key Stakeholders/Global Reports:

Indoor LBS Manufacturers

Indoor LBS Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers

Indoor LBS Subcomponent Manufacturers

Industry Association

Downstream Vendors



Browse for Full Report at @: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1723459-global-indoor-lbs-market-13



Actual Numbers & In-Depth Analysis, Business opportunities, Market Size Estimation Available in Full Report.



Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.



About HTF Market Report

HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the "Accurate Forecast" in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their "Goals & Objectives".
Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Industrial Hydraulic Filters Market: Introduction



Industrial Hydraulic Filters protects the hydraulic system components from the damage caused due to contamination of oils or other hydraulic fluid in use caused by the particles. The industrial hydraulic filters helps to eliminate dirt & particles and filter the oil on a continuous basis. The performance for every industrial hydraulic filter is measured by the rate at which it removes contamination efficiently, i.e. high dirt-holding capacities.



Industrial Hydraulic Filters Market: Dynamics



The key driving factor for the global industrial hydraulic filters market is the constantly evolving petrochemical, mining and construction machinery sector, which has resulted in increased demand for industrial hydraulic filters across all major developing economies. The macroeconomic factors such as growing urbanization & industrial activities coupled with up gradation of downstream consumption and an increase in demand for oil in many countries is further augmenting the sales for industrial hydraulic filters. The significant increase in sales of industrial hydraulic filters due to the growing concerns regarding efficient & effective operations in industrial operations is highly anticipated to drive the global industrial hydraulic filters market. Moreover, considerable growth in the APEJ & Middle East industrial sector and technological advancement in manufacturing of industrial hydraulic filters is anticipated to create a significant opportunity for the global industrial hydraulic filters market.



Additionally, the superior performance characteristics of industrial hydraulic filters such as high-pressure stability, high contamination retention capacity and long service life is highly anticipated to boost the demand for industrial hydraulic filters. As Industrial Hydraulic Filters are installed to minimize the wear & tear of the hydraulic system and provide ideal fluid flow, industrial hydraulic filters is gaining huge recognition across all regions. All the above mentioned major influencing features are highly anticipated to drive the global industrial hydraulic filters market over the forecast period. The key restraining factor such as slow replacement and complex installation process of industrial hydraulic filters may hinder the global industrial hydraulic filters market growth over the forecast period.



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Industrial Hydraulic Filters Market: Segmentation



The global industrial hydraulic filters market is segmented on the basis of product type, end-use industry, sales channel and region.



Based on the product type, the global industrial hydraulic filters market is segmented as:



Pressure Side filter

Suction Side filter

Return Side filter

Off-Line filter

In-Tank Breather Filter

Based on the end use industry, the global Industrial Hydraulic Filters market is segmented as:



Construction Machinery

Mining Industry

Petrochemical Industry

Aerospace

Transportation

Marine

Based on the sales channel, the global Industrial Hydraulic Filters market is segmented as:



OEM

Aftermarket

Suction side filter is anticipated to showcase extraordinary growth rate during the forecast period due to its low cost and its compatibility with all types of industrial equipment. On the other hand, among end-use sector segment, the construction machinery and mining industry segments are anticipated to see rapid market growth over the forecast period, attributed to increasing construction and mining activities.



Industrial Hydraulic Filters Market: Regional Outlook



Based on geographies, the global industrial hydraulic filters market is segmented into seven regions including North America, Latin America, Europe, CIS & Russia, Japan, APEJ (the Asia Pacific excluding Japan) and MEA. Among the above-mentioned countries, APEJ is estimated to account for a significant market share due to a rise in the industrial activities in countries such as China, India, Indonesia and Australia. North America is anticipated to witness high growth in the global industrial hydraulic filters market owing to the rise in aerospace activities in the region. Moreover, Middle East & Africa is projected to showcase most optimistic growth in the global industrial hydraulic filters market due to the rise in the construction activities along with a boost in the standard of living across the region. Europe is one of the key maturing regions that will generate generous opportunity in the global industrial hydraulic filters market over the forecast period due to the presence of significant petrochemicals industries.



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Industrial Hydraulic Filters Market: Prominent players



Prominent players for the global industrial hydraulic filters market are Parker Hannifin, Pall Corporation, Hydac, Eaton PLC, Donaldson, Caterpillar, Bosch Rexroth, Mahle, UFI Filter, Baldwin and other key market players. The industrial hydraulic filters market consists of well-diversified global and regional players with the global vendors ruling the market.



The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the industrial hydraulic filters 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 industrial hydraulic filters market report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application and industry.



The Industrial Hydraulic Filters Market Report Covers Exhaustive Analysis On:



Market Segments

Market Dynamics

Market Size

Supply & Demand

Current Trends/Issues/Challenges

Competition & Companies involved

Technology

Value Chain

The Industrial Hydraulic Filters Market Regional Analysis Includes:



North America (U.S., Canada)

Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru)

Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain, BENELUX, Nordic, Eastern Europe)

CIS and Russia

Asia-Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, South Korea)

Japan

Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, South Africa, Turkey, Iran, Israel)

The industrial hydraulic filters 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 industrial hydraulic filters report provides an in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macroeconomic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The industrial hydraulic filters report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.



The Industrial Hydraulic Filters Market Report Highlights:



A Detailed overview of the 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



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Lewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Opposition party in Iran have criticized Rouhani government after U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action which also unofficially known as the "Iran Deal" or the "Iran Nuclear Deal" and reimposed the sanctions.



The sanction hurled Iran into economic crisis which lead to the fall of the local currency and growing unemployment rates. Now, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is visiting Iraq to solidify ties between the neighbours, trying to convince them to offset the U.S. influence.



Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, with Kazakhstan and Russia across the Caspian Sea; on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; on the west by Iraq; and on the northwest by Turkey.



Iran had estimated population of 80.46 million in the year 2016 and expected to reach 85.808 million by 2022. Iran's unemployment rate was 12.45% of total labor force in the same year, which is further expected to reach to 12.053 by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 1.31%.



Iran's real gross domestic product (GDP) was around IRR 2169734.961 billions in 2016 whereas the nominal GDP was IRR 13047038.642 billions. This resulted in GDP deflator 601.319. Per capita GDP was estimated at USD 4682.51 whereas purchasing power parity (PPP) based per capita GDP was estimated to be at USD 18077.47.



In 2016, Iran government's revenue was IRR 1972621.059 billions whereas the expenditure was IRR 2335293.773 billions. This resulted Iran government's net lending / borrowing negative at IRR 362672.714 billion in 2016 indicating that enough financial resources were not made available by the government to boost economic growth.



The current account balance for Iran was estimated to be at USD 23.566 billions for the year 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.48% and reach USD 14 by 2022. This positive current account balance indicates the Iran is net lender to the whole world.



Scope of Iran PESTLE Analysis & Macroeconomic Trends Report

This report provides information about key macroeconomic indicators for Iran.

This report provides PESTELE (political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal) analysis for Iran.



For more information and to purchase Iran PESTLE Analysis & Macroeconomic Trends Market Research Report please visit: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/market-research-reports-inc/iran-pestle-analysis-macroeconomic-trends-market-research-report



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Lewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- According to the World Bank Iraq's gross domestic product is set to grow 6.2% in 2019, propelled by increased oil production. Though government talks about diversifying its economy, but it relies heavily on oil production which contributues 99% of their revenues, keep other industries neglected.



Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia encompassing the Mesopotamian alluvial plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. Iraq borders Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west.



Iraq had estimated population of 36.067 million in the year 2016 and expected to reach 42.014 million by 2022, which is expected to increase at a CAGR of 2.58%.



Iraq's real gross domestic product (GDP) was around IQD 203474.6 billions in 2016 whereas the nominal GDP was IQD 197118.525 billions. This resulted in GDP deflator 96.876. Per capita GDP was estimated at USD 4630.96whereas purchasing power parity (PPP) based per capita GDP was estimated to be at USD 17943.71.



In 2016, Iraq government's revenue was IQD 66480.18 billions whereas the expenditure was IQD 82763.40 billions. This resulted Iraq government's net lending / borrowing negative at IQD 16283.219 billion in 2016 indicating that enough financial resources were not made available by the government to boost economic growth.



The current account balance for Iraq was estimated to be at USD 12.198 billions for the year 2016 and is expected to decline at a CAGR of 20.26% and reach USD 2.385 by 2022. This negative current account balance indicates the Iraq is net a borrower to the whole world.



Scope of Iraq PESTLE Analysis & Macroeconomic Trends



This report provides information about key macroeconomic indicators for Iraq.

This report provides PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal) analysis for Iraq.



For more information and to purchase Iraq PESTLE Analysis & Macroeconomic Trends Market Research Report please visit: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/market-research-reports-inc/iraq-pestle-analysis-macroeconomic-trends-market-research-report



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Lewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Jordan's decision to increase food prices in February 2019 had not gone well with and they are demanding the government's resignation and the dissolution of parliament. The government implemented a tax rise of between 50-100 percent on key food staples such as bread, in order to decrease its USD 700 million budget deficit.



Jordan is strategically positioned at the crossroads of the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region, centrally located between Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is only one of two Arab countries to have signed a peace agreement with Israel, and in 2001, it became the first Arab country to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. The official language of Jordan is Arabic, and the currency is the Jordanian dinar (JOD).



Jordan had estimated population of 6.976 million in the year 2016 and expected to reach 7.96 million by 2022. Jordan's unemployment rate in 2015 was 13.075% of total labor force.



Jordan's real gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to be around JOD 11.653 billions in 2016 whereas the nominal GDP was expected to be JOD 27.469 billions. This resulted in GDP deflator 235.724. Per capita GDP was estimated at USD 5553.97 whereas purchasing power parity (PPP) based per capita GDP was estimated to be at USD 12278.21.



In 2016, Jordan government's revenue was estimated to be JOD 7.013 billions whereas the expenditure was estimated to be JOD 7.949 billions. This resulted Jordan government's net lending / borrowing negative at JOD 0.936 billion in 2016 indicating that enough financial resources were not made available by the government to boost economic growth.



The current account balance for Jordan was negative and estimated to be at USD 3.65 billions for the year 2016 and is expected to decline at a CAGR of 0.94% and reach USD 3.199 by 2022. This negative current account balance indicates the Jordan is a net borrower from the whole world.



Scope of Jordan PESTLE Analysis & Macroeconomic Trends

This report provides information about key macroeconomic indicators for Jordan.

This report provides PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental) analysis for Jordan.



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MarketResearchReports.com is world's largest store offering quality market research, SWOT analysis, competitive intelligence and industry reports. We help Fortune 500 to Start-Ups with the latest market research reports on global markets which comprise key industries, leading market players, new products and latest industry analysis & trends.



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Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- The global market for epoxy resins banks on the multifarious applications of epoxy resins across several industrial, commercial, and residential uses. The epoxy resins having low molecular composition are pre-polymers and the ones with high molecular weight are polymers.



These resins can be categorized into two grades namely, liquid grades and solid grades. The liquid crystal epoxy resins are synthesized from amines, hydrates or low molecular weight epoxy monomers. The polymers exhibit several vital characteristics including thermal and mechanical properties. They also possess the properties of thermostat materials and liquid crystals. The aforementioned factors make crystal epoxy resins immensely useful for a number of applications in several industries.



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https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/liquid-crystal-epoxy-resin-market.html



The global market for crystal epoxy resins can be segmented based on application, region, and the type of monometer. The sub-segments within these categories play an important role in deciding the overall performance of the market. This is because the wide range of applications of these resins makes the scope of the market extremely expansive.



Transparency Market Research (TMR) has elucidated several factors that contribute to the progress of the market. The researchers of the report analyzed primary, secondary, and tertiary data in order to get an insight into the microscopic aspects of the market. Further, an employable methodology was used to understand the trends and opportunities that are expected to surface in the market. To quantify the growth of the market, the report gives figures with regards to the market value in terms of revenue, market share, growth rate, and regional market share.



Global Crystal Epoxy Resin Market: Key Trends and Opportunities



The market for epoxy resins is driven by a variety of factors most of which revolve around the vital qualities of these reins. The traditional epoxy resins lack chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties and hence, the epoxy resins spur in popularity due to the presence of these properties. Moreover, the mechanical strength of these resins also makes them popular across several industrial longitudes. Other important properties that propel demand within the market include fracture toughness, easy processing, and low shrinkage.



The aforementioned qualities are not useful for high impact strength applications, which could hamper the growth of the market to a certain extent. However, the applications of these resins are expected to keep soaring the demand within the market. Furthermore, the automobile sector is gradually witnessing a greater application of these resins which provides tremendous opportunities to market players.



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Global Crystal Epoxy Resin Market: Regional Outlook



The global market for epoxy resins can be segmented into Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to hold lucrative business opportunities on account of the solid base for manufacturing of epoxy resins in China. Even India, Taiwan, and Japan are expected to make substantial contributions to the growth of the market in the coming years. The market in Europe and North America is usually more affluent during summers when there is high demand, and stays on the low side during winters. The Middle East and Africa and Latin America are expected to witness feeble growth.



Global Crystal Epoxy Resin Market: Competitive Landscape



The established players in the market are Henkel AG & Co., Huntsman International LLC, Toray Industries Inc., and DIC Corporation. These players are expected to form strategic alliances with regional or local players in order to gain a larger market share, Moreover, core research and development is expected to be the watchword of firms wanting to sustain in the market.
San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- MRI compatible cochlear implant is an electronic medical device, which is implanted in the ear to repair the function of the damaged ear. MRI compatible cochlear implant is sends the sound signal to the brain by passing it through damaged hair cell to the inner ear (cochlea). Some people have implanted MRI compatible cochlear implant in only one ear while many prefer the MRI compatible cochlear implant in both the ears. MRI compatible cochlear implant is a better option than hearing aids and sound masking devices to improve hearing abilities. Patients wearing the MRI compatible cochlear implant can focus better in a noisy environment. Patient prefer MRI compatible cochlear implant because they can talk and hear on the phone and also enjoy the music while wearing MRI compatible cochlear implant. People using MRI compatible cochlear implant can lead a normal lifestyle. In rare case radiologist suggests patients to use MRI compatible cochlear implant rather than the normal cochlear implant. The radiologist generally prefer removing magnets before MRI, therefore, MRI compatible cochlear implant are designed in that manner only.



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MRI Compatible Cochlear Implant Market: Drivers and Restraints



Rising incidences of hearing loss among the geriatric population is the major factor driving the growth of MRI compatible cochlear implant market over the forecast period. Moreover, rising number of abnormal delivery is leading to birth of infants with hearing issues, which is likely to aid in the robust growth of MRI compatible cochlear implant market in the near future. Additionally, rising healthcare expenditure in developed countries and technological advancement will also propel the growth of MRI compatible cochlear implant market over the forecast period. Increased reimbursement scenario by the government leads to rise in the number of cochlear implant, which is again responsible for the exponential growth of MRI compatible cochlear implant. Cost of MRI compatible cochlear implant is quite high, therefore it cannot be preferred by patients in under developing economies, which will deter the growth of MRI compatible cochlear implant market. There is low awareness among patients about MRI compatible cochlear implants as only a few have been launched, which will hamper the growth of MRI compatible cochlear implant market over the forecast period.



MRI Compatible Cochlear Implant Market: Segmentation



Tentatively, the global MRI compatible cochlear implant market can be segmented on the basis of implant type, age group, and geography.



Based on implant type, the global MRI compatible cochlear implant market is segmented as:



Unilateral Implants

Bilateral Implants



Based on age group, the global MRI compatible cochlear implant market is segmented as:



Pediatric

Adult

Geriatric



MRI Compatible Cochlear Implant Market: Overview



MRI compatible cochlear implant is expected to show exponential growth over the forecast period owing to rising number of cochlear implant and increased geriatric population. In last two decades, manufactures have evolved MRI as an alternative option for cochlear implant. Additionally, technologically improved MRI compatible cochlear implant can be used in noisy environments, such as restaurants. It also provides a feature to connect the device with mobile phones, televisions and music players. By implant type, global MRI compatible cochlear implant is dominated by bilateral implant segment in terms of revenue as it is more preferred by patients and radiologists. Among all end user, global MRI compatible cochlear implant is dominated by the geriatric segment owing to the rise in their population throughout the globe.



MRI Compatible Cochlear Implant Market: Regional Outlook



Geographically, the global MRI compatible cochlear implant market is segmented into viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is expected to gain maximum market share in terms of revenue owing to increased healthcare expenditure and technological advancement. After North America MRI compatible cochlear implant market is followed by Western Europe and Japan due to increased adoption of global MRI compatible cochlear implant in these regions. Asia Pacific excluding Japan region is expected to grow at a faster rate than other regions due to rising geriatric population. Latin America and Middle East and Africa is expected show delayed growth due to low awareness among the patients in these region.



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MRI Compatible Cochlear Implant Market: Key Players



Some of the key players operating in the global MRI compatible cochlear implant market are Cochlear Ltd., MED-EL, Advanced Bionics AG, Sonova Holding AG, Gaes Group, William Demant Holding A/S, Nurotron Biotechnology Company Ltd.



The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.



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Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Energy harvesting, one of the most promising technologies to address the energy crises without altering the existing energy sources, is foreseen to witness staggering demand and innovation in the near future. The process of energy harvesting harnesses the power of ambient energy to use later in varied applications. With growing use of ambient energy and advent of the energy harvesting technology, the energy harvesting market is currently heading at a considerable pace globally.



FMI' extensive research indicates that the global energy harvesting market is anticipated to gain momentum and grow at a double-digit CAGR by 2020 end. A number of newly innovated efficient energy applications and widespread acceptance of renewable energy sources are expected to play a vital role in the growth of the global energy harvesting market during the forecast period 2014-2020.



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Key Drivers: Energy Harvesting Market



During the past decade, there has been growing demand for safe, power efficient, and enduring systems, which require minimum or no maintenance. This is a major driver of market growth, expected to continue pushing the demand for devices based on the energy harvesting technology. Growing applications of the energy harvesting technology in building and home automation is another key driver to the market growth.



Moreover, industrial WSN demand energy harvesting on a large scale, which is expected to continue during the forecast period as well. The green energy trend is effectively governing the market, while favourable initiatives by various governments are also boosting the market on a global level.



Abundance of renewable energy sources, including tidal, wind, and ocean energy provide a dependable platform for the innovation of energy harvesting applications. This is also an influential factor contributing to the growth of market.



Key Restraints to Market Growth



The technology based on energy harvesting is typically used off-grid or on-demand. However, both of these usage patterns possess some technological complexities, which may restrict the widespread demand for energy harvesting devices in the market. Another deterring factor includes inadequate awareness among consumers about the availability and usage of the devices based on harvested energy.



Moreover, relatively higher initial costs associated with these devices are expected to curtail the growth of the market globally. The energy harvesting technology generates lower current, which makes it incompatible for the application in all types of energy domains.



Global Energy Harvesting Market: Segmentation



FMI's research on the global energy harvesting market provides a six-year forecast, segmenting the market on the basis of different energy sources/fields, applications, and geography.



On the basis of different energy sources/fields, the energy harvesting market is segmented into radiation (solar, electromagnetic, and light), mechanical (fluid, elastic, kinetic, and potential), chemical (battery, fuel cells, and phase change), nuclear, magnetic, electric, thermal, and gravitational. Among these, electric and magnetic fields form the most common source for harvesting energy.



Based on the application, the energy harvesting market is segmented as wireless sensor network (WSN), consumer electronics, industrial, building, bicycle dynamo, military and aerospace, automotive, healthcare, and others (research, animals, and farming). Among these, consumer electronics, including mobile phones, wrist watches, calculators, and piezoelectric gas lighters cover the maximum share of the global energy harvesting market, followed by military and aerospace-based applications. However, building and home automation is the fastest growing application segment in the energy harvesting sector. Energy harvesting is also an integral part in a wireless sensor network (WSN) these days.



According to the geography, the energy harvesting market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. Among these, Americas are projected to remain the dominating markets in 2016, with a significant market share. However, Europe will be the fastest growing market, owing to burgeoning promotion and investments by The European Commission in R&D of energy harvesting and storage devices. North America and Asia Pacific will also account for remarkable market shares by 2020 end. In North America, the U.S. will dominate, whereas in APAC, Japan will reportedly contribute the largest share to the total energy harvesting market revenues.



Notable Market Trends



Building and infrastructure, automation of lighting, security, and electronics at homes, and WSNs for bridges include some of the most sought after applications of energy harvesting since the past few years.



The use of mmWave (millimetre wave) for 5G cellular networks has been a popular trend of wireless energy harvesting.



The market is expected to gain traction from growing application of energy harvesting in wearable devices and mobile phones.



Energy harvesting is estimated to find increasing applications in automobile industry in the near future.



The advent of nanotechnology has offered ample of growth opportunities to the energy harvesting market. Since nanotechnology helps manufacturing of compact-sized devices, the emergence of portable devices based on energy harvesting technology is the most likely occurrence in the market.



Key Players: Global Energy Harvesting Market



Some of the prominent players competing in the industry include ABB Limited, Arveni, Enocean, Fujitsu, Cypress Semiconductor Corp., Green Peak Technologies, Honeywell International, Inc., Levant Power Corporation, Marlow Industries, Inc., Microchip Technology, Inc., MicroGen Systems, Maxim Integrated, G24 Innovations Limited, Texas Instruments Inc., and STMicroelectronics.



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Other notable players include Silicon Laboratories, Inc., Siemens AG, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Mide Technology Corporation, Laird Plc., Lord Microstrain, EnOcean GmbH, Cymbet Corporation, POWERleap, Inc., Schneider Electric, Linear Technology, Microstrain, and Micropelt.
Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- According to a new market research report "Road Safety Market by Solution (Red Light, Speed, Bus Lane & Section Enforcement, ALPR/ANPR, Incident Detection & Response), Service (Consulting & Training, Support & Maintenance, and Managed), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global road safety market size is estimated to be USD 2.76 Billion in 2018 and is expected to reach USD 4.41 Billion by 2023, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.8% during the forecast period. Major factors driving the road safety market include rapid urbanization, rising number of vehicles and increasing mobility, increase in road accident/fatality rate, and increasing number of initiatives for enhancing road safety.



The research methodology used to estimate and forecast the road safety market began with capturing data from the key vendor revenues and the market size of the individual segments through secondary sources, industry associations, and trade journals, such as the Road Safety Association and the Traffic Associations.



Browse and in-depth TOC on "Road Safety Market"

56  Tables

46 - Figures

134 - Pages



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The enforcement solution is estimated to account for the largest market share in 2018



The enforcement solution segment is estimated to account for the largest market share in 2018. Enforcement solutions include red light enforcement, speed enforcement, bus lane enforcement, and section enforcement. Enforcement solutions, comprising hardware (sensors, camera, displays, and radars) and software, are vital for maintaining and enforcing road safety. Road safety enforcement solutions help governments and regulating authorities enforce traffic law and perform traffic surveillance to improve the road safety and enhance the public safety. Red light enforcement is one of the most important safety control systems in the traffic management. This system is easy and cost-efficient compared to other safety devices. Also, with the advent of smart cities and safety initiatives, governments across the world are installing red light enforcement systems. Hence, this segment is expected to dominate the road safety solutions market.



Professional services segment is expected to be a larger segment in terms of market size in the road safety services market during the forecast period



Professional services include planning services, system designing, deployment, consulting with the enterprise to suggest the right solution/service, and upgrading the enterprises' current infrastructure to become compatible for deploying the latest road safety solutions. Companies that offer professional services consist of consultants, management experts, and dedicated project management teams who specialize in designing and delivering critical decision support software, tools, services, and expertise. Support and maintenance services help organizations in ensuring the completion of day-to-day operations without any interference. The support and maintenance services also maintain the hardware and software of an enterprise to avoid breakdown and minimize losses that result from the growing complexities. All these factors are fueling the adoption of professional services and hence this segment is expected to be the largest one in the road safety market.



North America is expected to hold the largest market size during the forecast period



North America is expected to account for the largest market size during the forecast period. The region is one of the early users of the road safety technology. The technological adoption in this region is high. Moreover, this region comprises a dense startup ecosystem, and all the leading road safety solution providers are from this region. Technologies, such as red-light enforcement, Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR)/ Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), and incident detection and response are in high demand in this region. It creates a favorable environment for the growth of road safety market. The US is expected to be a major contributor to the road safety market in North America. The increasing number of vehicles in the country is causing heavy traffic congestions, resulting in many road traffic rule violations, and a rise in the number of road accidents.



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Major vendors covered in the road safety market include Jenoptik (Germany), Kapsch Trafficcom (Austria), Sensys Gatso Group (Sweden), Redflex Holdings (Australia), American Traffic Solutions (US), Idemia (France), Flir Systems (US), Motorola (US), Swarco (Austria), Information Engineers Group (Canada), Cubic Corporation (US), Siemens (Germany), Thales (France), Conduent (US), Vitronic (Germany), Trifoil (Germany), Kria (Italy), Laser Technology (US), Optotraffic (US), Syntell (South Africa), Traffic Management Technologies (South Africa), Aabmatica Technologies (India), Clearview Intelligence (UK), Dahua Technology (China), and Truvelo (UK).



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Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- Smart meters market project to multiply in low double digit growth



The growing inclination of people towards energy efficiency has triggered the growth of smart meters market in the recent past. Furthermore, government policies supporting the installation of smart meters have led to their faster adoption, especially in the developed countries. The governments in several countries, as a part of clean energy initiative, have issued regulations mandating the use of smart meters. For instance, the U.K. government has targeted the deployment of around 50 million smart electric and gas meters in business centers and residences by 2020.



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Smart gas meters prevails the smart meters market growth



Smart meters comprises smart electric meters, smart water meters and smart gas meters. Smart electric meters hold the largest share in the smart meters market. The traditional electric meters are being replaced by smart electric meters, especially in the developed countries. Electric power system is undergoing a transformation with the integration of newer technologies such as smart meters. Although it is more than a decade since electric meters were first deployed, now electric companies have started to focus on creating value form the data and capabilities that smart meters enable. Smart electric meters convey the real-time information about the usage of electricity and removes the hassle of personnel visiting the premises to note the reading. The demand for smart gas meters is expected to grow at the highest pace during the forecast period. Based on end-users, residential end-users dominate the demand for smart meters. However, the adoption of smart meters is faster in commercial and industrial applications.



Loaded with features, smart meters to add utility and awareness



The improvement in display technology has not only impacted the televisions and smartphone users but also the users of electricity and gas with smart meters. The in-home display for smart meter lets the user know the energy usage pattern at different times of day, week, month or year. A smart meter, thus makes the user aware about their usage so that they can manage their use of appliances to fall under the desired bill bracket.



Targeting distribution and transmission loss with smart meters



The governments in several countries have been targeting to increase the energy efficiency and reduce the distribution and transmission loss through the use of smart meters. With this effect, the governments of several countries have been rolling out regulations and mandates, as well as commercializing smart grids. It is observed that with the deployment of high-speed communication networks and advanced sensors on transmission systems the controlling and monitoring operations across the transmission grid at high-voltage substations have improved. This has further strengthened the cause to install smart meters.



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Government funding boosting the demand for smart meters



The deployment of smart meters have been observed to gain momentum with the government funding. The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) in 2009 launched the smart grid investment grant (SGIG) program, which was funded with US$ 3.4 billion. This investment was also targeted to increase the number of smart meters in the U.S. The U.K. government has planned to equip every household in the country with a smart meter. Though it seems a difficult target as the energy companies would require to install 30 smart meters per minute to achieve its deadline.



Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) has recently invested heavily in energy grid modernization. Since smart meters enable two-way power and information flows to improve visibility into the energy grid, FPL has installed 4.9 million smart meters. On the other hand, Pacific Gas & Electric has installed 5.3 million smart meters in 2016.



Smart meters - a highly competitive market



The smart meters market is highly competitive due to the presence of large number of manufacturers. The key players in the smart meters market include Itron Inc, Iskraemeco d.d, Landis+Gyr Ag, Osaka Electric Co. Ltd, Elster Group GmbH, Siemens AG, General Electric Company, ICSA(India) Limited, Schneider Electric Sa, and Holley Metering Ltd.



The research report on smart meters presents a comprehensive assessment of the smart meters 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 in smart meters provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, type, application, and technology.



The smart meters market 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 for smart meters includes:



North America (U.S., Canada)

Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru)

Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain, BENELUX, Nordic, Eastern Europe)

CIS and Russia

Asia-Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, South Korea)

Japan

Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, South Africa, Turkey, Iran, Israel)

The smart meters market 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 smart meters report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The smart meters market report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.



Smart Meters Report Highlights:



Detailed overview of parent market

Changing market dynamics in the smart meters industry

In-depth market segmentation

Historical, current and projected market size of smart meters in terms of volume and value

Recent industry trends and developments

Competitive landscape

Strategies of key smart meters players and products offered

Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth

A neutral perspective on market performance

Must-have information for smart meters market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint



For more information on this report, please visit:https://www.factmr.com/report/2626/smart-meters-market
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2019 -- ResearchMoz has announced the addition of a report titled, "Hydrogen Electrolyzer Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2018 - 2026" to its expanding repository of research reports. The report presents thorough insight into the market by analyzing the key growth drivers and restraints. The report also classifies the market based on important parameters and studies the potential of each segment in-depth to deliver an original insight. It aims to bring prospective investors closer to the true nature of competitive dynamics, potential opportunities and pitfalls awaiting them during the forecast period.



Prepared by a team of expert analysts, the research report is an advantageous instrument for potential investors interested in the global hydrogen electrolyzer market. The report is a product of an extensive research followed by a close data analysis. The primary research phase involved first-hand interviews, e-mail interactions, scrutiny of business profiles, and tele-calling among others. Secondary sources include a through collection of data from financial reports, company websites, investor presentations, SEC filings, and annual reports. All-encompassing interviews with industry experts and opinion leaders played a significant role in making this research report.



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The competitive study of the hydrogen electrolyzer market is an important feature of the report. The report would offer in-depth information about key companies operating in the hydrogen electrolyzer market. The Nel Hydrogen, Siemens AG, ITM Power Plc, McPhy Energy S.A, Hydrogenics, Areva H2Gen, Tianjin Mainland Hydrogen Equipment Co. Ltd, GreenHydrogen.dk ApS, ELB Elektrolysetechnik GmbH, iGas Energy GmbH, Giner Inc, Next Hydrogen, Accagen SA, and Beijing CEI Technology Co., Ltd. are some main companies in the global hydrogen electrolyzer market mentioned in this report. Every company is presented with an unbiased view of their unique positioning, strengths, and weaknesses.



According to the report, hydrogen electrolyzer is increasing in use as number of secondary end-users are growing globally. This is expected to result in major growth for the global hydrogen electrlyzer market. Additionally, low sulfur diesel fuels used in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are expected to drive growth in these countries as well. Moreover, growing demand for environment-friendly fuel in developing countries is expected to propel the hydrogen electrolyzer market.



Conversely, the hydrogen electrolyzer market players are burdened with high capital investment, which is expected to pose a challenge to the growth. Reducing capital costs, improving energy efficiency, and maintaining a balance of the system are expected to remain major challenge for key players during the forecast period.



However, research and developments in the hydrogen electrolyzer market can pave way for better opportunities and solutions. For example, current research focusses on integrating compression into the electrolyzer. This is done in order to avoid the cost of a distinguished hydrogen compressor. This is conventionally needed to upturn pressure for maintaining hydrogen storage.



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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2019 -- Telecom Tower Market: Introduction



Mobile telecom industry has witnessed significant growth rate in last decade and it is expected to grow consistently over different generations of network communications. Starting from '0G' mobile telecom service (MTS) to current long term evolution (LTE) 4G, the mobile telecommunication has turned as necessity to everyone. The second generation (2G) mobile telecommunication gave a major boost to the mobile telecom industry as it surprised consumers with internet browsing offering on mobile phones along with clear voice calling facilities. Now, most of the countries possess 4G connectivity which is a highly dense networking system providing real time voice calling and enhanced data transfer rate. Also, few countries like Japan and U.S. are implementing 4.5G and in development of 5G network communications.



The telecom tower are the arteries of any mobile telecommunication system. The telecom tower is a structure hosting a transceiver unit to maintain connection with thousands of mobile phones and The Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO). The telecom tower offers wide range of multi-channel frequencies to thousands of cell phones in the network zone. The main advantage of multichannel frequency is that it can offer tens of mobile phones in single network like conference calling, where many devices are connected to single network and can transmit and receive at same time. Also, it offers better data transfer rates and connectivity. The telecom tower are tall steel structures with transceiver unit at the top to cover maximum possible area.



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Telecom Tower Market: Dynamics



The telecom tower market is primarily dependent on mobile subscriber density and number of telecom service providers in any region. The increasing reach of mobile phones to almost every remote area, increasing competition among service provider for better network coverage are some of the current drivers of telecom tower market. Also, permissible height limits in any area restricts service provider to install multiple towers in small zones. Moreover, increasing the number of telecom service providers, internet providers, Wi-Fi and broadband providers are expected to drive the telecom tower market in the forecast period.



Whereas, the harmful effects of high frequency radio waves or microwaves on human and environment is expected to limit telecom tower market. Also, regulations from government and telecom authorities is expected to put restraints on telecom tower market. Moreover, high installation cost, high operational costs and squeezing space are some other factors which can suppress telecom tower market growth.



Recent trends have shown high prospective of strengthening of telecom tower network, where multiple new technologies are liable to grow. Ongoing researches on 'Internet of Things (IoT)', real time security devices monitoring and accessibility, remote health care services, etc. are some emerging technologies projecting to increase the burden on telecom tower in coming years.



Telecom Tower Market: Segmentation



The telecom tower market can be segmented in two categories based on type of tower and mounting area. On the basis of type of tower the telecom tower market can be segmented as  Lattice tower, Guyed tower, Monopole tower, Camouflage towers and Mobile (vehicle mounted) tower.



On the basis of mounting area the telecom tower market can be segmented as  Green Field Tower (mounted on ground or suitable foundation) and Roof Top Tower (mounted on roof of any building).



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Telecom Tower Market: Key Players



The telecom towers are generally installed either by telecom service provider or third party infrastructure providers. Some examples of telecom service providers are China Mobile Ltd., Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc., Vodafone Group Plc, Bharti Telecom Ltd., China Unicom Ltd., Telenor Group, MTN Group and Telstra Corp. Ltd.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2019 -- Temperature Monitoring System Market: Introduction



Maintenance of air temperature in a controlled environment ranging from factory floors and storage areas to industrial scale freezers, ovens and walk-in refrigerators is a crucial element as far as longevity of the products and productivity of the manufacturing equipment is concerned. The temperatures to be maintained in these areas has to be precise and within the range as fluctuations in temperature can affect the shelf life of the product. These fluctuations in temperature is recorded and stored in the server in real time by the temperature monitoring system. Temperature monitoring system thus is a complex system assembled with different electronic devices comprising of a computer acting as a server, temperature sensors, data connectivity devices or interfaces between the computer and the sensors and an alarm system to notify the personnel when temperature reaches critical levels. The sensors are placed in temperature critical zones where fluctuations of temperature is the highest. Productivity, being one of the most important aspect of a manufacturing company, can be hindered by the slightest variations in the operating conditions of the factory floor by various factors including the fluctuations in ambient air temperature. Therefore, temperature monitoring systems has been increasingly adopted by manufacturing companies and warehouses in order to achieve improved levels of productivity.



Temperature Monitoring System Market Dynamics



The growth of temperature monitoring system is directly related to the market fluctuations in the application area. One such application is its usage in manufacturing corporations. The manufacturing activities on a global level scale is on a steady rise in the current scenario and is estimated to grow at an accelerated pace in the future thereby positively influencing the growth of the temperature monitoring system. E-commerce is one of the fastest growing and widely accepted marketplaces requiring large number of warehouses and storage facilities, these storage facilities are controlled enclosures where temperatures has to be properly maintained by the temperature monitoring system. Therefore, the increase in number of warehouses and storage system is one of the important factor driving the growth of temperature monitoring system. Another application driving the growth of temperature monitoring system market is its adoption in food & beverage industry and pharmaceutical industry, which commonly deals with perishable goods and products, requiring stringent temperature monitoring and recording system.



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Temperature monitoring system is a capital intensive system that requires precise pre-planning and installation, skilled personnel with an extensive knowledge of sensing electronics are required so as to enable the temperature monitoring system to function normally. Low availability of such personnel coupled with high cost can hamper the growth of the temperature monitoring system.



An important trend identified in the temperature monitoring system are miniaturization of the entire system by implementing wireless technologies for data transmission. Manufacturers of the temperature monitoring system have also tweaked the system by eliminating dedicated wireless data transmission devices for enclosures which already has a central wireless connectivity system in place.



Temperature Monitoring System Market: Segmentation



On the basis of product type, Temperature Monitoring System Market can be segmented as:



Wireless System

Wired System



On the basis of application, Temperature Monitoring System Market can be segmented as:



Agriculture

Automotive Industry

Food & Beverages Industry

Pharmaceutical Industry

Logistics

Electronics Industry

Oil and Gas Industry



Temperature Monitoring System Market: Regional Outlook



Based on the geography the Temperature Monitoring System Market is divided into seven key segments as North America, Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Middle-East & Africa (MEA), and Japan. High adoption rates of temperature monitoring system is anticipated in the North America, Western Europe, and Japan region owing to maturity in manufacturing sector while the growth in Asia Pacific Excl. Japan (APEJ) and Latin America region is expected to be slow due to restricted usage of advanced technologies in the manufacturing companies and warehouses.



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Temperature Monitoring System Market: Key Players



Some of the players identified in the Global Temperature Monitoring System Market are:



Banner Engineering Corporation

Cooper-Atkins Corporation

Vaisala Oyj

Fluke Process Instruments

Isensix, Inc.

DeltaTrak, Inc.

Imec Messtechnik GmbH

KTR Kupplungstechnik GmbH

Emerson Electric Company

Physitemp Instruments, Inc.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2019 -- Advance Market Analytics recently introduced Global Vitamins Market study with in-depth overview, describing about the Product / Industry Scope and elaborates market outlook and status to 2025. Vitamins Market explores effective study on varied sections of Industry like opportunities, size, growth, technology, demand and trend of high leading players. It also provides market key statistics on the status of manufacturers, a valuable source of guidance, direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.



Major Key Players in This Report Include,



Koninklijke DSM N.V. (Netherlands), Glanbia PLC (Ireland), ADM (United States), BASF (Germany), Lonza Group (Switzerland), Vitablend Nederland B.V. (Netherlands), Sternvitamin GmbH & Co. Kg (Germany), Farbest-Tallman Foods Corporation (United States), Watson Inc. (United States) and Zagro (Singapore)



Get Free PDF Sample Pages of Vitamins Market Report: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/63232-global-vitamins-market



Market Drivers

Growing demand for functional and nutritionally enriched processed food products



Market Trend

Demand for Vitamin-D projected to increase at the highest rate



Restraints

Constrained supply of raw materials for vitamins along with high costs



Opportunities

Obtaining of natural allergen-free Vitamin E



Challenges

Lack of awareness



This market research report looks into and analyzes the Global Vitamins Market and illustrates a comprehensive evaluation of its evolution and its specifications. Another aspect that was considered is the cost analysis of the main products dominant in the Global Market considering the profit margin of the manufacturers.



This research is categorized differently considering the various aspects of this market. It also evaluates the current situation and the future of the market by using the forecast horizon. The forecast is analyzed based on the volume and revenue of this market. The tools used for analyzing the Global Vitamins Market research report include SWOT analysis.



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The titled segments and Market Data Break Down are illuminated below:

The Study Explore the Product Types of Vitamins Market: Fat-soluble, Water-soluble



Key Applications/end-users of Global Vitamins Market: Food & beverages, Personal care, Animal feed, Pharmaceuticals



Distribution Channel: Hypermarket, Supermarket, Mass merchandisers, Specialty stores



Form: Capsules, Tablets, Others



Top Players in the Market are: Koninklijke DSM N.V. (Netherlands), Glanbia PLC (Ireland), ADM (United States), BASF (Germany), Lonza Group (Switzerland), Vitablend Nederland B.V. (Netherlands), Sternvitamin GmbH & Co. Kg (Germany), Farbest-Tallman Foods Corporation (United States), Watson Inc. (United States) and Zagro (Singapore)



List of players also available in Coverage: The Wright Group (United States) , Adisseo (China) , Showa Denko K.K. (Japan)



The regional analysis of Global Vitamins Market is considered for the key regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and Rest of the World. North America is the leading region across the world. Whereas, owing to rising no. of research activities in countries such as China, India, and Japan, Asia Pacific region is also expected to exhibit higher growth rate the forecast period 2019-2025.



The Global Vitamins Market in terms of investment potential in various segments of the market and illustrate the feasibility of explaining the feasibility of a new project to be successful in the near future. The core segmentation of the global market is based on product types, SMEs and large corporations. The report also collects data for each major player in the market based on current company profiles, gross margins, sales prices, sales revenue, sales volume, photos, product specifications and up-to-date contact information.



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Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Vitamins Market:

Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product Objective of Study and Research Scope the Vitamins market

Chapter 2: Exclusive Summary  the basic information of the Vitamins Market.

Chapter 3: Displaying the Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges of the Vitamins

Chapter 4: Presenting the Vitamins 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 Vitamins 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, Vitamins Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies.



Data Sources & Methodology



The primary sources involves the industry experts from the Global Vitamins Market including the management organizations, processing organizations, analytics service providers of the industry's value chain. All primary sources were interviewed to gather and authenticate qualitative & quantitative information and determine the future prospects.



In the extensive primary research process undertaken for this study, the primary sources  Postal Surveys, telephone, Online & Face-to-Face Survey were considered to obtain and verify both qualitative and quantitative aspects of this research study. When it comes to secondary sources Company's Annual reports, press Releases, Websites, Investor Presentation, Conference Call transcripts, Webinar, Journals, Regulators, National Customs and Industry Associations were given primary weight-age.



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Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.
Press Release

March 29, 2019 ANGARA TELLS PINOYS: PITCH IN FOR NATURE, JOIN EARTH HOUR ANGARA TELLS PINOYS: PITCH IN FOR NATURE, JOIN EARTH HOUR Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara urged Filipinos not to miss out on the chance to pitch in for the global effort to protect the planet and fight climate change by joining this year's Earth Hour. "Turning our lights off for one hour may be a simple act, but when done collectively it could make a huge difference in energy consumption and help reduce the devastating effects of global warming," Angara said. Earth Hour 2019, with the theme #Connect2Earth, is happening from 8:30-9:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 30. Organized by World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Earth Hour is a global environmental movement aimed at inspiring and empowering individuals, businesses, organizations and governments to take tangible action for the planet. It has grown from a symbolic event in Sydney, Australia in 2007 to the world's largest grassroots environmental movement spanning over 7,000 cities and 180 countries and territories. The Philippines has been an active participant of Earth Hour since 2009, and is consistently one of the environmental movement's biggest advocates. Angara said the country's participation in the annual event signifies its steadfast commitment to protecting nature and unwavering support to calls for global action against climate change. "Our participation in the yearly environmental event is one way of showing that the Filipinos firmly stand with the rest of the world regarding issues facing the planet and climate change," Angara said. "We all have to act against the rising global temperature and have to focus on how to save energy for our future generations," he added. In 2015, Angara filed a resolution reaffirming the support of the Senate for the objectives of Earth Hour after the Philippines was named as one of the countries in the world highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. According to Angara, the objectives of Earth Hour are particularly relevant to the Philippines given its vulnerability to natural disasters.
Press Release

March 29, 2019 De Lima hails ICC complaint vs Chinese President Xi Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has lauded the filing of a formal complaint before the International Court (ICC) against Chinese President Xi Jinping and his other officials for crimes committed in the disputed South China Sea (SCS) On the sideline of one of the trumped-up cases in Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 205, De Lima, a human rights and social justice champion, called the move "bold and unprecedented" and "very laudable." In her recent Dispatch from Crame No. 491, De Lima also called the move "remarkable," especially during these times when the President himself is incapable of defending the country and the Filipinos against Chinese incursions and abuses. "Because of the inaction and disinterest by this administration to do anything in spite of mounting evidence of Chinese abuses in our territory, our fisherfolks, backed by two illustrious and highly respected public figures, have no choice but to take matters in their own hands," she said. De Lima was referring to former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales who, along with a group of Filipino fishermen, filed a communication before the ICC against Xi and other Chinese officials. "It was a good thing that we still had the opportunity to go to the ICC and show the world that our citizens would not stand China's destruction of our natural resources and intimidation of our fishermen," she added. Del Rosario and Morales filed a formal communication last March 15 - or two days before the Philippines' unilateral withdrawal from the international tribunal. In their communication, the two former government officials argued that the "atrocious actions of Chinese officials in the South China Sea and within Philippine territory'' constitute crimes against humanity that the ICC can prosecute. Last year, concerns about the living conditions of Filipino fisherfolk in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, located in the South China Sea, locally referred to as the West Philippine Sea, were raised after reports surfaced that the fishermen were always defenseless and cannot do anything every time the Chinese would check their containers and pick their best catch. "Ilang beses na ba natin narinig ang ating mga mangingisda na humihingi ng tulong sa ating Pangulong Duterte na ipagtanggol sila laban sa panggigipit at pang-aapi ng mga Tsino sa West Philippines Sea? Mayroon bang naging aksyon ng Pangulo dito maliban sa pagtatanggol sa Tsina?" the former justice secretary said. The dire situation even led De Lima to file last year Senate Resolution (SR) No. 766 calling for an immediate Senate investigation into the reported harassment of Filipino fisherfolk by members of the Chinese Coast . With Mr. Duterte and his officials' consistent kowtowing to China, De Lima said it is already clear that their loyalty belongs to China and their Chinese masters and not to their own country and their Fellow Filipinos. "DFA Secretary Teddy Locsin just recently assured China that the Duterte government would look out for the welfare of Chinese in the Philippines and heaped praise for China's ruling communist party. It was also just reported that Pres. Duterte is going back to China again this year; already his fourth visit in three years in office," she said.
Press Release

March 29, 2019 De Lima calls for Senate probe on Yang's alleged drug links Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has filed a Senate resolution calling for a comprehensive investigation into the alleged involvement of former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang in the illegal drug trade in the country. In filing Senate Resolution No. 1033, De Lima said the Senate should look into whether Yang's special position as economic adviser to Mr. Duterte may have been abused for personal benefit and may have impact to national security and welfare. "A comprehensive probe into Mr. Yang's alleged link to the illegal drug trade is imperative, as accountability must be sought given his official, high-level capacity as a former Presidential Economic Adviser," she said. De Lima's Resolution hinted at possible deportation of Yang as an undesirable alien, if his involvement in the illegal drug trade or other illicit activities is proven. This is without prejudice of course to the filing of appropriate criminal charges against him. Based on news reports, Yang, whose Chinese name is Yang Hong Ming, has served as Mr. Duterte's economic adviser from January to December 2018 as he has been giving out business cards bearing the official seal of the Office of the President. Although a Davao-based Chinese businessman who owns Full Win Company, Yang has purportedly been instrumental in the onerous, one-sided loan agreement for the construction of the PhP4.3-billion Chico River Pump Irrigation Project with China. Recently, Yang was named by dismissed police officer Eduardo Acierto to the illegal drug trade, along with his business partners Allan Lim (aka Huen Li Gen or Ayong) and Johnson Chua (aka Chung Nga Way or Greg Sia) who is based in Macau. However, Mr. Duterte was quick to defend Yang from any drug involvement, saying that the latter was a legitimate businessman who helped create local jobs. Duterte said he knows Yang as early as 1999 when the latter was starting up his business in Davao. De Lima, a former justice secretary, noted in her resolution how presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo and Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Col. Bernard Banac took turns in swiftly clearing Yang from any involvement in illegal drug trade. "The government's bloody drug war has further exacerbated the Philippines' drug problem as admitted by no less than President Duterte himself, given the possible penetration and access to high-ranking officials by elements who may have businesses and links to the drug trade in the country," she pointed out. The Senator explained that it is important for the Senate to find out the exact nature and scope of work and influence of foreign consultants, including Chinese national such as Yang, in shaping and implementing foreign and economic policies of the government. "There is a need to inquire into and demand concrete explanation into the citizenship of presidential appointees, such as Mr. Michael Yang, with the nature and scope of his work and influence over foreign and economic policy, as public office held by a foreign national is inimical to national security, public interest and welfare," she said. Last October, De Lima has also filed Senate Resolution No. 922 calling for a Senate inquiry into Yang's appointment to determine the extent of his "official engagement" under the present Duterte administration. It may be recalled that Yang has also been reported to have hosted Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade in his office as presidential economic adviser. Last Oct. 4, Duterte revealed Yang's close relations with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua during his speech before the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association. He also disclosed that Yang was part of the Philippine delegation to China.
1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list supports Sen. Ejercito's reelection bid

THE 1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list group has thrown its full support to the reelection bid of Senator JV Ejercito.

This was learned after House Assistant Minority Leader Salvador B. Belaro, Jr. of 1-Ang Edukasyon said that the consensus of the general membership, including volunteers, of the party-list group, was to support Ejercito's candidacy for a second term in the forthcoming May elections.

In a letter to Ejercito, Belaro said "our party-list has decided to support your candidacy for Senator in the forthcoming elections, after weeks of consultation with more than 100,000 members and volunteers nationwide."

Ejercito, one of the principal authors of the "Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act," which grants free tuition and other fees in state universities and colleges, thanked 1-Ang Edukasyon for its support to his candidacy.

"I am very grateful and thankful to Congressman Belaro and the entire 1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list for believing in me. We have the same belief that through education, the opportunity for a better life in this country is very great," he said in a statement.

1-Ang Edukasyon believes that that education should be a means to improve and change the life of every Filipino.

"Makakaasa po si House Assistant Minority Leader Belaro at ang buong 1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list na kapag tayo ay pinalad na mahalal muli sa senado, ipagpapatuloy ko ang pagsusulong ng mga batas na higit na magpapaunlad sa sektor ng edukasyon dito sa ating bansa," Ejercito said.

The senator added: "Tulad ng lagi kong sinasabi, kahit isang graduate lang sa pamilya, abot-kamay na ang ginhawa."
Press Release

March 29, 2019 Villanueva: 80% employed by Filipino employers must be Pinoys With the influx of foreign nationals in the labor market, Senator Joel Villanueva on Friday said Filipino employers should give Filipino workers preferential treatment over foreign workers. Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, said Presidential Decree No. 442, or the Labor Code of the Philippines, should be amended to ensure that 80 percent of Filipino employers' collective workforce are Filipinos. "Since 2016, incidents of illegal foreign workers entering our special economic zones caused an uproar due to the grave disproportionality of foreign workers to Filipino workers," Villanueva said in a statement. The senator has filed Senate Bill 1508, or an "Act Mandating the Requisite Proportion of Filipino Laborers to Foreign Workers." "This mandatory protection will guarantee that Filipinos will always have a fighting chance despite the rapidly shrinking global economy. The State must always uphold and uplift the rights of the Filipino laborer," Villanueva said. The Philippines, as a member-country of the International Labor Organization, is mandated to maintain open borders in allowing foreign workers to partake in the country's labor force. "However, in a world where unprecedented opportunities exist for global citizens to work in foreign countries, the need for substantive protection for Filipino citizens to meaningful opportunities remains," Villanueva said. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the unemployment rate of the Philippine working population stands at 5.2 percent as of January 2019. For foreign employees to work in the country, they must secure an alien employment permit (AEP) from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which regulates the entry of foreign workers. DOLE vets foreign workers seeking employment here in the country to ensure there are no capable, able, and willing Filipinos to do the job. Villanueva has been conducting committee hearings on the influx of illegal foreign workers in the country. In 2018, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) reported to the committee that it arrested or charged 167 foreign nationals employed locally without working permits. Of those arrested, 95 percent, or 159 cases, involved Chinese nationals. Most of them have been arrested for illegal online gambling. "The information we received from the NBI offers another perspective that we need to consider in this pressing problem of illegal foreign workers using loopholes in our system to take away jobs that Filipinos can do," Villanueva said.
Improving access to China for exports of New Zealand wood and paper products are among key areas of focus for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in her talks in Beijing next Monday.

Briefing media ahead of her lightning dash to the capital of the country's largest trading partner, Ardern said progressing the upgrade of the 11-year-old free trade agreement with China was among priorities in her meetings with China's two most powerful leaders, President Xi Xinping and Premier Le Keqiang.

She indicated the most productive focus was likely to be on areas where there was not already a phased reduction in barriers to access.

"There are areas on a phased approach that continue to improve over time," she said. Dairy products, accounting for one-third of all New Zealand exports to China, are among those covered by tariff and quota reductions through the early part of the next decade.

"So it's focusing on those areas that may be in addition to that.

"Wood and paper are the kinds of things being debated."

Forestry exports are the second largest source of exports to China, accounting for 23 percent of the $13.9 billion of total exports to China in 2018.

Ardern said she had had "quite specific discussions with Li in the past and that may happen again". She will lunch with the Premier on the one-day trip, which was cut from a three-city state visit after the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15.

Trade Minister David Parker will pick up the slack, leading a trade delegation to China later in April. He will also attend an international forum on China's strategic economic and political initiative known as the Belt and Road.

While the previous government had a Memorandum of Arrangement supporting the initiative, "the challenge for us has been determining between China and New Zealand the areas we might expect to see areas of cooperation".

Also on the agenda is likely to be New Zealand's decision to join other nations late last year in accusing Chinese government agencies of coordinated cyber attacks and the decision by the Government Communications Security Bureau's decision not to allow equipment from Chinese telecommunications provider Huawei to be included in the country's 5G, next generation internet infrastructure.

Asked whether she would raise the cyber attacks, Ardern said she hadn't "finalised everything I intend to raise.

"Keeping in mind that we've been very clear that foreign interference is an issue that we haven't just individually raised."

With the government's coalition partner, New Zealand First, expressing alarm at the sale of the Westland Milk cooperative to Chinese dairy company Yili, Ardern said the government was looking for "foreign direct investment that contributes to a productive economy ... and that includes from China".

With the eyes of the Muslim world on Ardern's response to the Christchurch mosque attacks, she said she would reassert New Zealand's consistently expressed concern about the treatment of China's Uighur Muslim minority, which is the subject of a massive security surveillance and 're-education' programme as Beijing seeks to shut down the potential for domestic Islamic terrorism.

(BusinessDesk)

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Chinese telecommunications network equipment provider Huawei has suffered another setback in its ambition to supply kit for New Zealand's fifth generation, or 5G, internet services, following new criticisms from the oversight board of the UK-based Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre.

The report identified "further significant technical issues ... in Huawei's engineering processes, leading to new risks in the UK telecommunications networks," the review board says in its annual report. The board is chaired by the chief executive of the UK government's National Cyber Security Centre, Ciaran Martin.

However, Huawei's local arm was quick to stress the report had "not raised any concerns of backdoors, or state-sponsored espionage and specifically said that there is no evidence of Chinese state interference".

Huawei NZ deputy managing director Andrew Bowater said "these software issues are not related to 5G mobile networks or technology and are not connected to any of the concerns raised in New Zealand as they relate to historic network builds in the UK".

Huawei was subject to "more scrutiny than any other player in the industry" and all networks have "potential vulnerabilities," Bowater said. "While the report does highlight issues that Huawei will improve on, it shows the collaborative evaluation approach works and reinforces the importance of working together to build better and more secure networks."

Huawei sought "a balanced framework" that would allow such a collaborative review to occur in New Zealand.

The HCSEC findings come ahead of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's first state visit to China on Monday, where she will meet president Xi Jinping and premier Li Keqiang.

The issue of the New Zealand government's refusal late last year to allow Huawei equipment into the New Zealand 5G network is likely to arise as Huawei has become a bellwether issue in US-China trade and intellectual property tensions.

It is also a crucial issue for local providers Spark New Zealand and TwoDegrees Mobile, both of which use Huawei equipment in the current, 4G mobile network.

In a press briefing yesterday ahead of her lightning trip to Beijing, shortened to a single day because of the domestic demands of the Christchurch mosque attacks, Ardern said she had had no "recent updates" on the Spark application. It was declined by New Zealand's NCSC equivalent, the Government Communications Security Bureau, citing national security concerns.

Spark had yet to respond to the GCSB's findings and "it's a process that's independent of me and ministers at this stage," said Ardern, who acknowledged discussion of New Zealand's telecommunications regulation regime would come up in talks in Beijing.

"I do know this is an important issue for China, but our legislation is deliberately neutral and does not discriminate against country or company."

Spark and 2Degrees are assessing their options for an appeal to the decision. But they are flying blind on the detailed reasons for the Spark application being declined and therefore are unable to offer proposals to mitigate the claimed security threats.

The issue is diplomatically sensitive because New Zealand joined other countries late last year in calling out the Chinese government for mounting co-ordinated cyber-attacks in 2017. There are also trade and geo-political tensions between the US, New Zealand's long-standing defence ally and partner in the Anglo-world global signals intelligence network known as the Five Eyes, and China, which is New Zealand's largest trading partner.

A Spark spokesman said the company was studying the HCSEC report before considering comment. There had been early hopes that the UK's watchdog approach could offer a route to New Zealand accepting Huawei equipment for the 5G roll-out over the next few years, despite the likelihood of ongoing pressure from the US not to deploy it.

Spark has been an enthusiastic user of keenly priced, actively supported Huawei gear in the 4G network. It is concerned, in part, that a ban on Huawei in the 5G network will make options from alternative suppliers less competitively priced. 2Degrees also extensively uses Huawei equipment in its 4G network.

Both companies have been arguing that as long as Huawei technology is kept out of the 'core' of the 5G network, any security issues can be dealt with. But government agencies are concerned that the decentralised nature of 5G networks raises security concerns that differ from those dealt with in the 4G network.

The HCSEC annual report says "further significant technical issues" it found had led to "new risks in the UK telecommunications networks."

"No material progress has been made by Huawei in the remediation of the issues reported last year, making it inappropriate to change the level of assurance from last year or to make any comment on potential future levels of assurance".

The 2018 review had "continued to identify concerning issues in Huawei's approach to software development" and said it would be difficult to "appropriately risk-manage future products ... until the underlying defects in Huawei's software engineering and cyber-security processes are remediated.

"The Oversight Board can only provide limited assurance that all risks to UK national security from Huawei's involvement in the UK's critical networks can be sufficiently mitigated long term."

(BusinessDesk)

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Lower fresh slippages and better recoveries helped reduce absolute non-performing loans across several banks, the global financial research agency said.

New Delhi: The Indian banking sector's non-performing loan (NPL) ratio for the nine months to December 2018 fell to 10.8 per cent from 11.5 per cent at fiscal year end 2018, according to Fitch Ratings' estimate.

Fitch Ratings, however, added that the provisioning pressures persisted with 14 out of 21 state-run banks reporting losses. Mid-sized or small state-run banks were the most affected as credit costs, despite some moderation, exceeded their weak income buffers.

"Complex legal proceedings have led to delays in the resolution of certain large NPLs among the system's $150 billion in NPLs (FY18), stretching recoveries well beyond the stipulated timeframe of 270 days," the agency said.

There has also been increasing pressure from farm loans due to a weak monsoon and loan waivers, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it noted.

In January 2019, banks were allowed a one-time restructuring of SME loans under Rs 250 million.

The government's February 2019 announcement to inject another $7 billion into its banks by FY19 will help banks meet minimum capital norms.

But, Fitch said, it is unlikely to materially boost credit growth as banks still have to meet a 0.625 per cent capital conservation buffer in FY20 while negotiating more provisions.

"Fitch estimates that Indian banks will require an additional $23 billion by FY20 to sufficiently meet minimum Basel III capital standards, achieve 65 per cent NPL cover and pursue low double-digit loan growth," it added.

However, the agency is hopeful of large NPL resolution in 2019.

"Higher recoveries are probable in 2019 as pending cases that are well beyond the 180-day timeframe (50 per cent of total) are more likely to see some resolution during the year," the credit rating agency said.

The focus is on the Reserve Bank of India's first list of 12 large NPL accounts, which constitutes one-third of the current NPL base. Four accounts were resolved in 2018 with an average 50 per cent recovery rate.

Among the potential risks, Fitch said real-estate loans may be a casualty if the current risk aversion towards non-bank financial institutions persists.

"The liquidity squeeze -- following the default of a large non-bank in September 2018 -- has eased, but rollover risk for real-estate borrowers persists as they have been heavily funded by non-banks in recent years," Fitch said.

Non-banks depend on banks and the debt market for their funding and account for 7 per cent of total banking-sector loans.
Sonia Dhawan had spent nearly five months in jail along with her husband Rupak Jain. She rejoined the company earlier this week, sources said.

New Delhi: A former top Paytm executive accused of data theft and extortion bid against SoftBank-backed company's founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has rejoined the company in a surprising turn of events, said a senior Paytm employee on Thursday.

The former VP Communications and Public Relations at the company had been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court earlier this month.

Dhawan attended office for over five hours on Tuesday and was last seen stepping out of the office with Paytm Vice President Sudhanshu Gupta at 6.45 p.m. at Noida Sector-5.

"It was Sudhanshu Gupta who reintroduced Dhawan to the senior executives of the company. Dhawan also spent some time in her previous office cabin located besides Gupta's personal cabin on the second floor. She also met the company's founder Vivek Shekhar Sharma whose office is also located on the same floor," a senior company officer told IANS.

"Dhawan, who has been a long time secretary of Vivek Shekhar Sharma, was promoted last year as Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Relations. The Paytm has not updated the employees' list, so she does not figure in the office rolls. It is unclear whether Dhawan has been given the same responsibility as before her arrest," he said.

"Dhawan wanted to continue working for the company with the same responsibilities. The top management is considering her request," he added.

Sources said Vijay Shekhar Sharma has met Dhawan and may consider withdrawing his complaint against her and the other accused in the next hearing of the case in the High Court.

Dhawan has worked with Paytm for eight years.

Dhawan was arrested on October 22, 2018 after Ajay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm senior Vice President and brother of Vivek Shekhar Sharma, had lodged an FIR against her, her husband Rupak Jain and other Paytm employees, including Rohit Chomwal, for stealing private data and trying to extort Rs 10 crore from Sharma.

Soon after her arrest, Dhawan's lawyer had alleged that the promoters of Paytm were pressuring her to sell her stake in the company and that she had been framed.

Incidentally, the then Station House Officer (SHO), Manoj Pant of Sector-20 Police Station in Noida, probing the case was arrested along with two other journalists for allegedly extorting money from a city-based businessman. Some other policemen were later also suspended. Pant was also the investigating officer in the Paytm case.

Dhawan, in her plea before the high court, claimed innocence and stressed that nothing concrete was emerging against her.

Paytm is reportedly in the middle of raising around $1.5 billion from its existing investors SoftBank Vision Fund and Alibaba's Ant Financial.

A report said following this funding round, the company could be valued between $16 bn and $18 bn.
Rejecting the plea by the staff and officers of two merging banks and their associations, the bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Vineet Saran in its order said: "No case for grant of stay."

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed petitions seeking stay on the merger of three public sector banks -- Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank and Bank of Baroda. The merger is set to take effect on April 1.

Appearing for the petitioner staff and officers' associations, senior counsel Shyam Divan questioned the merger decision saying that it happened on the instruction of the government as all the decisions including swap ratio, fairness scrutiny, cabinet decision, impugned notification and the decision by the respective board of directors of the three PSU banks happened on January 2.

Referring to the statutory provisions mandating consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Divan asserted that consultation with the apex bank effectively meant its concurrence.

Divan contended that the manner in which merger was pushed was "complete circumvention of the statutory scheme and safeguard". The merger, slated to take place on April 1, would adversely impact the staff and officers of two merging banks and would result in redundancy, he said.

Both senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the absence of workmen and officers' representation in the board of directors in no way impeded the process of merger.

If one post in the board of the merging banks remained vacant that would not invalidate the merger process, Rohatgi told the court.

Mehta said that the service conditions of the staff of the Dena Bank and the Vijaya Bank would continue to be the same and would not be altered.
Following the runaway success of KGF , which emerged as the first Kannada film to breach the Rs 200 crore club worldwide, the hype for KGF: Chapter 2 has reached unprecedented heights. And Yash feels there are "huge expectations to live up to".

Actor Yash is looking forward to the second chapter of upcoming Kannada action-drama KGF , and says the scale of presentation of the sequel will be higher with "a couple of very complex action scenes".

Excerpts from the interview:

Q. Months after its release, KGF continues to run in many centres?

A. We've been tracking its course through the weeks and frankly, though we expected the film to succeed, the level of success has left us quite dazed.

Q. So KGF part two?

A. We will go on the floors at the end of April or the beginning of May. We've locked in the script and it's now in pre-production. The scale of presentation this time would be much higher. Now that KGF is a recognisable brand, we have huge expectations to live up to. Not that, we were any less careful in the first part. Only technically this time we need to be a little more sophisticated. There are a couple of very complex action scenes in the sequel. For this, we may get help from foreign technicians.

Q. Do you feel Indian technicians lag behind in action scenes?

A. Not at all! In fact, I believe Indian technicians are the best in the world. In the first chapter, we achieved everything with Indian technicians and most of them were from Karnataka. This time again, we will be using the same team. Only if foreign technicians are required would we consider them. Only because they've the resources that we perhaps don't. Otherwise, we don't lag behind in talent.

Q. Are you looking at penetrating the international market with part two?

A. The first part too penetrated the international market, though not as much as we would have liked. This time, we hope to be better equipped to make inroads abroad. Lots of foreigners have watched KGF. This time we hope to make a world-class film.

Q. You did consider doing something else before doing KGF again. I remember you told me that the last time we spoke?

A. I did. But then audiences expectations are so high we don't want to disappoint them by breaking their concentration from the first part to the second. If the second part comes later, it would be of no use. People really want to watch it now. The most important factor for doing KGF 2 right after the first chapter is my look.

Q. How is your recently-born daughter doing? What have you named her?

A. We can only name her after five or nine months. We will have a big ceremony after five months where her name will be officially announced. She will be named after a Hindu goddess.

Q. Success hasn't changed you at all?

A. I am no stranger to success. What this film did was to broaden my fan base many times over. If I was a newcomer in KGF, you may have found me walking with my head in the clouds.

Q. Your message to fans?

A. Please give the second chapter of KGF even more love than you gave the first chapter.




Rajagopal was out on bail and now he will have to surrender by July.

: Supreme Court gives life term to South Indian restaurant Saravana Bhavan proprietor P Rajagopal, for getting an employee murdered in 2001 so as to marry the victim's wife on an astrologer's advise.

The Madras High Court had in 2009 awarded life term to popular restaurant chain Saravana Bhavan owner Rajagopal and eight others in the murder case.

According to a News Minute report, 18 years ago, Rajagopal had hired eight henchmen to abduct and murder the victim identified as Prince Santhakumar.

Prince Santhakumar had married a woman who Rajagopal wanted to marry and her make her his third wife. This was all thanks to the advice of an astrologer.
: Narendra Modi versus Priyanka Gandhi in Varanasi? While it would be a tantalising contest, for now the match-up exists only in a joke cracked by the Congress leader in Rae Bareli.

Gandhi triggered wild speculation across political and media circles on Thursday during her interaction with Congress workers in Rae Bareli where a section of the cadre urged her to fight upcoming elections from the constituency, which is currently held by her mother Sonia Gandhi.


A US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft

Affected by the disputes over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), the evolution of the European military situation and the changes in the US domestic situation, the military competition between the US and Russia in Europe has been intensified since March. Through close-in surveillance, frontier deployment and weapon research and development, the two countries have continued to pressurize each other. The risk of military confrontation has increased, posing serious challenge for European security and stability.

Escalation of military confrontation

Recently, the US strategic weapon platforms have frequently shown strong presence on the Russian border. Russia showed no weakness and resolutely took strong countermeasures.

On March 16, Russia Today reported that according to the Russian military radar platform, a US Air Force B-52H strategic bomber flew over the Baltic Sea close to the Russian border at 4:25 p.m., local time on March 15, and conducted a simulated bombing run against Russian Navys Baltic Fleet base. One week later, a US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft took off from Greece and reconnoitered the southern part of Crimea at at 2:25 p.m. on March 22, after flying over the Black Sea and Bulgarian airspace.

On March 11, the US Department of Defense announced that the US would no longer be restricted by the INF Treaty and would begin to manufacture land-based cruise missile components. On March 17, the Pentagon said that the US military planned to test one land-based cruise missile with a range of 1,000 kilometers in August and one medium-range ballistic missile with a range of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers in November. Under the INF Treaty, both of the missiles would be prohibited to test.

On March 18, the Pentagon announced that it would spend around $1.4 billion to purchase 10,193 rockets for the US Army in the 2020 fiscal year. The number of purchased rockets increases by 26 percent compared with 8,101 in the 2019 fiscal year and by 47 percent compared with 6,936 in the 2018 fiscal year.

Two aspects of countermeasures taken by Russia

On the one hand, the Russian military has strengthened the deployment of frontier military forces. RIA Novosti reported on March 18 that Russia has deployed a modernized Tu-22M3 bomber in Crimea. The bomber can easily break through the European air defense system and cover all areas of Europe. Before the deployment of Tu-22M3 bomber, Russia has already stationed Su-27 and MiG-29 fighters, S-400 air defense system and K-300P shore-based anti-ship missiles and other advanced weapons in Crimea.

On the other hand, Russia has speeded up the deployment of killer mace weapons. Quoting US intelligence officials, US media reported that 20 test projectiles of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile were deployed at a training ground of the Russian military on March 22. The Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the MiG-31 fighter crew equipped with the Kinzhal missile had conducted more than 380 air patrols in the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. They have successfully completed tests under complex weather conditions and hit a car-sized target from 1,000 kilometers away. US media pointed out that the strategic deterrence of the Russian military in Europe will be greatly enhanced after the commission of Kinzhal missile in 2020.

Complex reasons for US-Russia confrontation

Since the end of the Cold War, the US and Russia (Soviet Union) have consistently scared each other in Europe, and even almost sparked conflict. Looking at the recent European security situation, US-Russian relations and relevant domestic conditions in the US, the reasons for this round of US-Russia military confrontation can be summarized as following.

First, dispute over the INF Treaty is an important cause. The US announcement on Feb. 1st regarding the decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty and start a six-month waiting period is an important trigger for this round of military game between US and Russia. As an important stabilizer of European security, the termination of the INF Treaty will be a nightmare for European countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, if the US withdraws from the INF Treaty, it might trigger a new round of global arms race and even a nuclear war. That is to say, a key reason why Russia has accelerated the research and development of killer mace weapons such as Kinzhal missile is to prevent the US from testing or deploying cruise missiles or ballistic missiles prohibited by the INF Treaty in the Europe.

Second, the new development of the military situation in Europe is an important external cause. In recent years, the US has accelerated its strategic containment against Russia in Europe, deployed anti-missile forces in countries such as Romania, and increased the frequency of replacement of military personnel and weapons and equipment in the Europe. The US has frequently carried out large-scale joint drills with its allies and partners near the borders of Russia. Recently, Macedonia is on its way to become the 30th member of NATO, regardless of the Russian warning. NATO has achieved another success in its expansion. As the important satellite countryof the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Poland however took a step forward towards a closer relationship with the US by requesting a permanent US military base in Poland. The US responded positively and announced that more than 1,500 troops are streaming into Poland this week, as the first-time rapid deployment of the US Army to Europe since the end of the Cold War. It looks like that the changes of the military situation in Europe were irretrievably compromised to the disadvantage of Russia. Therefore, Russia had to curb the US strategic containment attempt by strengthening the frontier military presence in areas such as Crimea.

Third, US President Donald Trumps political calculations are important internal factors. In recent years, the US-Russia military confrontation has been normalized. The reason why this time has caused great concern from the outside world is because the US military surveillance is approaching too close. This has to do with Trumps shrewd political calculations. On the one hand, the Russia gate investigation has brought tremendous pressure on Trump. Demonstrating military strength to Russia helps to show Trumps anti-Russia image. On the other hand, the Pentagon recently submitted a defense budget of $750 billion for the 2020 fiscal year, in which the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) budget (which aims to strengthen the US military presence in Europe) was cut. The move is not to reduce the US strategic deterrence capability in Europe. Instead, the US aims to create Russia, the enemy, at the gates while US stand-by atmosphere, as to force its European allies to bow for the US help, paying up to five or six times higher protection fee.

Confrontation without war becomes a commonplace

Looking into the future, due to the deep-rooted structural contradictions, increasing potential conflicts, and current strong hostile sentiments, the military confrontation between the US and Russia in Europe is hard to halt in the short term, and the strategic competition is likely to be persistent. The two sides will continue to accelerate the development of strategic weapons, enhance the deployment of elite combat forces, increase the frequency of close-in surveillance and strengthen military cooperation and joint training with allies in order to create a more advantageous strategic environment and military situation in Europe. The future military presence in Europe might be more confrontational, the risk of military confrontation would continue to rise, and the security environment might deteriorate further.

Although the prospect of the security situation in Europe are not optimistic, the US and Russia should still try their best to avoid turning the cold war into the hot war. Confrontation without war will be the new commonplace for the future military confrontation between the US and Russia in Europe.

On the one hand, the large-scale strategic nuclear arsenal is the mainstay of the US-Russia strategic stability. The military confrontation and even the conflict between the two sides must be maintained within a controllable low intensity range. On the other hand, peace and stability in Europe are the fundamental strategic interests of the US and Russia. The aggressive military situation is to earn more chips for future arms control negotiations. The changes in the comprehensive strength contrast between the two sides and the new development of the European security landscape will lead to the downsizing of military confrontation between the two countries. The European countries will find new balance and stability in the great power competition in the future.
UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said Wednesday that the Golan Heights is recognized by the international community as an occupied territory.

The UN Security Council has adopted several resolutions that demand Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria in 1967, Wu Haitao, the deputy permanent representative of the Chinese mission to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on the Golan Heights.

China is opposed to the alteration of the fact through unilateral action, he said. "China does not wish to see the further escalation of tension in the region."

Wu said the cease-fire between Israel and Syria has by and large been held. However, there continue to be violations of the agreement on disengagement of forces in a buffer zone monitored by a UN observer force.

The parties concerned should implement in real earnest relevant Security Council resolutions and the agreement of disengagement, exercise restraint and desist from any action that may exacerbate tensions along the cease-fire line, said Wu.

The Security Council held a meeting on Wednesday afternoon at the request of Syria after U.S. President Donald Trump's proclamation on Monday to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
China's Ministry of National Defense announced on Thursday that celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the founding of Chinese Navy will be held in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, in late April.

The announcement was made at a monthly routine press conference.

So far, delegations from 60 countries and naval vessels from multiple countries have confirmed their attendance for the grand ceremony. High-level seminars, international fleet reviews and joint military-music events will be held as well.
US accuses Facebook of discrimination over housing ads



Washington, March 28 (AFP) Mar 28, 2019



US officials accused Facebook of discrimination Thursday for using its targeted advertising to limit who sees postings for certain kinds of housing.

Administrative charges filed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development said Facebook "unlawfully discriminates based on race, color, national origin, religion, familial status, sex and disability" by restricting who can view housing-related ads.

"Facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live," said HUD Secretary Ben Carson.

"Using a computer to limit a person's housing choices can be just as discriminatory as slamming a door in someone's face."

The HUD charges follow a complaint filed last August, stating that Facebook enabled advertisers to exclude people whom it classified as parents, non-US-born, non-Christian, interested in Hispanic culture or otherwise segmented in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

HUD also alleged Facebook enabled advertisers to exclude people based upon their neighborhood by drawing a red line around certain areas on a map, and gave advertisers the option of showing ads only to men or only to women.

HUD asked an administrative law judge to order corrective actions by Facebook as well as unspecified damages.

Facebook said in a statement it was surprised by the actions because it had already been taking steps to address discrimination concerns.

The online giant said it had been in negotiations with HUD but that the federal agency "insisted on access to sensitive information -- like user data -- without adequate safeguards."

"We're disappointed by today's developments, but we'll continue working with civil rights experts on these issues."

A week ago, Facebook announced it was revamping how it uses targeted advertising in a settlement with activist groups alleging it discriminated in messages on jobs, housing, credit and other services.

Under those changes, housing, employment or credit ads would no longer be allowed to target by age, gender or zip code -- a practice critics argued had led to discrimination.

The modifications were announced as part of a settlement with the National Fair American Civil Liberties Union, National Fair Housing Alliance, Communication Workers of America and others.

An administrative law judge will hear the charges brought by HUD unless Facebook or another affected party asks for the case to go to federal district court, according to the department.

The law judge may award fines and damages or an injunction against Facebook.
Thousands of German teens join Greta Thunberg's climate fight



Berlin, March 29 (AFP) Mar 29, 2019



More than 20,000 German youths went on strike from school on Friday, joining Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg as she took her protest against climate change to Berlin.

Armed with homemade posters bearing slogans like "It's getting hot in here" or "Our house is on fire" or "You're never too small to make a difference", the teenagers packed into central Berlin to sound the alarm about global warming.

From a park in front of the economy ministry, they marched to the Brandenburg Gate, where Thunberg addressed the crowd.

"We should worry, we should panic," Thunberg said, adding that people should step out of their "comfort zone" and change their behaviour.

"We want a future, is that too much to ask?"

She promised that the fight will go on.

"We haven't seen anything yet. This is only the beginning of the beginning," said Thunberg, to cheers from the crowd.

Organisers had expected to draw around 15,000 marchers, but a police officer in charge of the operation said that more than 20,000 had turned up.

Vowing to keep the protests going until there is tangible change, Franziska Wessel, one of the Berlin organisers, vowed: "We're going to continue skipping classes every Friday because we can't keep going like that with the climate. We have to pull the emergency brakes."

Since December, teenagers across Germany inspired by the 16-year-old Thunberg's climate fight have been marching weekly instead of sitting in classes.

With the protests coming at a time when a government commission recommended that coal be phased out by 2038, the youths have seized on the theme to demand a halt to the polluting fuel by 2030.

The youth engagement has left politicians divided on how to react.

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has urged students not to skip school saying that demonstrations are not less effective outside class hours.

But Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed their fight.
'Cow toilets' in Netherlands aim to cut e-moo-ssions



The Hague, March 29 (AFP) Mar 29, 2019



Teaching cows to use the toilet is not the easiest task, but a Dutch inventor is banking on a new bovine urinal to help cut emissions that cause environmental damage.

Tests have started on a farm in the Netherlands on the device which collects some of the 15 to 20 litres of urine that the average cow produces a day.

That produces huge amounts of ammonia in a country like the Netherlands, which is the world's second biggest agricultural exporter after the United States.

"We are tackling the problem at the source," Henk Hanskamp, the Dutch inventor and businessman behind the "Cow Toilet", told AFP Friday.

"A cow is never going to be completely clean but you can teach them to go to the toilet."

The way the toilet works is "udderly" ingenious.

The urinal is in a box placed behind the cow, while in front is a feeding trough. Once the animal finishes eating a robot arm stimulates a nerve near the udders, which then makes it want to urinate.

The cow toilets are currently being tested on a farm near the eastern Dutch town of Doetinchem and seven of its 58 cows have already learned how to use them without the need for stimulation.

"The cows have got used to it," Hanskamp said. "They recognise the box, lift their tail, and pee."

"The stables have become cleaner and the ground is drier. Less damp ground is better for the health of the cows' hooves," Jan Velema, a vet who took part in the tests, was quoted as saying by De Volkskrant newspaper.

The Netherlands is already introducing stricter rules on emissions of ammonia, which can cause atmospheric pollution and irritate the eyes in humans.

The chemical can also be implicated in the creation of environmentally damaging algae blooms when it mixes with water.

Hanskamp, whose company develops agricultural machinery, says it could "reduce by at least half the amount of ammonia produced" were the cow to urinate on open ground.

The company aims to have them on the market by 2020, he said.
Mount Sinai and Hasso Plattner Institute launch new institute for digital health

The Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) and the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) today announced an affiliation that brings together industry leaders with combined expertise in health care delivery, health sciences, biomedical and digital engineering, machine learning and artificial intelligence to rapidly develop digital health products with real-time predictive and preventive capabilities that empower patients and health care providers, and improve health and health outcomes.

The newly formed Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai will be co-led by Joel Dudley, PhD, Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of Mount Sinai's Institute for Next Generation Healthcare, and Erwin P. Bottinger, MD, Professor of Digital Health-Personalized Medicine at the Hasso Plattner Institute and Universitat Potsdam, Germany, and Head of HPI's Digital Health Center. A $15 million gift from the Hasso Plattner Foundation will establish the new Institute.

"This endeavor will usher in a new era of digital health at Mount Sinai that advances the field of precision medicine," said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System. "By leveraging our shared knowledge and academic excellence, Mount Sinai and HPI are positioned to find solutions that will revolutionize healthcare and science, and improve health nationally and globally."

"This collaboration brings together two internationally renowned institutions, whose education and research programs complement each other," said Christoph Meinel, CEO of the Hasso Plattner Institute gGmbH, and Dean of the joint Digital Engineering Faculty of Hasso Plattner Institute and Universitat Potsdam . "It also lays the groundwork for new joint research projects in the area of digital health and medicine."

With world-class expertise and complementary resources in health care, data sciences and biomedical and digital engineeting, the new Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai will conduct patient-engaged and data driven research. The longer-term goals of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai include:

establishing an organizational framework in which researchers at HPI and Mount Sinai collaborate and co-innovate seamlessly across health care and digital engineering

extending funding opportunities for researchers in the United States and abroad

researching and testing prototype digital health solutions for consumers, patients, providers, and health systems in the United States, Europe, and beyond.

Both institutions have undertaken significant investments to create infrastructure and resources needed for the new Institute. Mount Sinai's interdisciplinary expertise in genomics, big data, supercomputing, and bioinformatics; large and diverse patient population; and an ability to translate from the lab directly to the clinic, provides a foundation for the Institute. The Institute for Next Generation Healthcare (INGH), under the leadership of Dr. Dudley, has developed an integrated translational biomedical research model using advances in omics, clinical medicine, digital health, and artificial intelligence; INGH's Lab 100 is leveraging data and technology to redesign the way health is measured and healthcare is delivered and empowering patients to track their health overtime; and the BioMe BioBank Program housed at the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is enabling researchers to rapidly and efficiently conduct genetic, epidemiologic, molecular, and genomic studies on large collections of research specimens linked with electronic health records. The Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai joins over 20 institutes launched at Icahn School of Medicine.

"Investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Hasso Plattner Institute have been publishing ground-breaking work in the areas of genome diagnostics, precision medicine, digital health, biomedical data science, artificial intelligence and information technology," said Dr. Dudley, Co-Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute at Mount Sinai. "The new Digital Health Institute will serve as an opportunity to leverage our combined expertise in these areas at scale in one of the largest and most socially and economically diverse health systems in the country. We believe the HPIMS will serve to turn the promise of digital health into reality at the front lines of next-generation healthcare."

"We know we can save lives, prevent disease, and improve the health of patients with artificial intelligence in real-time analysis of comprehensive health data from electronic health records, genetic information, and mobile sensor technologies," said Dr. Bottinger, Co-Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai. "With this groundbreaking new Institute, Mount Sinai and the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, will join forces to build these cutting-edge digital health services."

At the Hasso Plattner Institute, recently established programs like the HPI Digital Health Center (DHC) are bringing together individuals from health sciences, human sciences, data sciences, digital engineering, and society with a shared goal to improve health and wellbeing. The Center's three divisions - Connected Health, Machine Learning in Human Health and Personalized Medicine which is directed by Bottinger - are pursuing novel methods in artificial intelligence, sensor technologies and mobile computing platforms to collect and analyze patient-generated health data. Other areas of focus include human-centered design for digital health and security and knowledge engineering.

Additional collaborations with HPS Gesundheitscloud (HPS GC) gGmbH, a not-for-profit corporation funded by the Hasso Plattner Foundation, and Smart4Health, a European Union-funded research consortium, will further strengthen the Institution's goals to develop digital solutions that transform healthcare and improve health of patients around the globe.

###

About the Hasso Plattner Institute

The Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Potsdam is Germany's university center of excellence for digital engineering, advancing research and education in IT systems engineering, data engineering, cyber security, entrepreneurship, and digital health. With its bachelor's and master's degree programs, the Faculty of Digital Engineering, established jointly by HPI and the University of Potsdam, offers innovative engineering- and application-oriented study programs. HPI consistently earns a top-notch place in the CHE University Ranking, and conducts research noted for its high standard of excellence in digital engineering, and concentrates on the research and development of user-oriented innovations for all areas of life. PhD candidates carry out research at the HPI Research School in Potsdam and its branches in Cape Town, Haifa, Nanjing and at the recently opened office in New York. The HPI School of Design Thinking is Europe's first innovation school for university students. With the groundbreaking, interdisciplinary HPI-Mount Sinai Digital Health Project, the Mount Sinai Health System and the HPI bring together leaders from healthcare, biomedical research, data sciences, artificial intelligence, and society, working together towards a shared goal to improve health and wellbeing.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,480 primary and specialty care physicians; 11 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 410 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools", aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 12 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in six other specialties in the 2018-2019 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 11th nationally for Ophthalmology and 44th for Ear, Nose, and Throat. Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, Mount Sinai West, and South Nassau Communities Hospital are ranked regionally.

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Most United Nations (UN) Security Council members expressed regret on Wednesday over the decision by the United States to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The 15-member council held a meeting and heard briefings on the situation in the occupied territory in the afternoon at the request of Syria.

UN Under Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo recalled that during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the Syrian Arab Army crossed the 1967 ceasefire line on Golan, known as the Purple Line, initially gaining territory.

In a swift counter-attack, however, the Israeli Defense Forces re-captured the lost ground and advanced further, crossing the ceasefire line and occupying a salient portion of Syrian territory, she added.

After U.S. President Donald Trump's proclamation on Monday to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the UN Secretary-General has taken note of member states' reactions to the decision, she said.

The UN position on Golan is clear in the relevant Council and General Assembly resolutions, notably in Council resolutions 242 and 497, she said.

"We hope that the recent developments will not be used as an excuse by anyone to pursue actions that could undermine the relative stability of the situation on the Golan and beyond," she added.

Except the United States, all the other 14 members in the meeting expressed regret on the decision.

France's deputy permanent representative to the UN Anne Gueguen said any attempt to move away from international law and Council resolutions through unilateral decisions "is doomed to failure," expressing regret that the move by the United States undermines collective Council action.

The European Union's position on Golan is that Israel's forcible annexation of the territory is illegal under international law, including the UN Charter and Council resolution 497, said Joanna Wronecka, Polish ambassador to the UN.

British Ambassador to the UN Karen Pierce affirmed her country's belief in the rules-based international order.

Wu Haitao, the deputy permanent representative of the Chinese mission to the UN, said China is opposed to the alteration of the fact through unilateral action, and that China does not wish to see the further escalation of tensions in the region.

The parties concerned should implement relevant Security Council resolutions and agreements on disengagement, exercise restraint and desist from any action that may exacerbate tensions along the ceasefire line, said Wu.

However, Political Coordinator of the U.S. Mission to the UN Rodney Hunter insisted that the decision by his country's government neither affects the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria, nor undermines the UN Disengagement Observer Force's mandate.

Rather, it is of critical security and strategic importance to Israel, he added. Expressing alarm at the presence of Hizbullah there, he said there can be no chance for peace between Syria and Israel with the Lebanese group present.

Among the participants in the meeting were representatives of Syria and Israel. Syria's delegate Bashar Ja'afari rejected "the illegal statement" by the United States, emphasizing that the unilateral behavior has neither legal nor moral value.

World public opinion is isolating the United States and Israel, he added.
Pentagon gets a new chief for Middle East



Washington, March 28 (AFP) Mar 28, 2019



General Frank McKenzie on Thursday took over the leadership of the US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in countries including Syria and Afghanistan.

At a ceremony led by Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, McKenzie pledged to continue the work done by his predecessor, General Joseph Votel, who is retiring.

Votel for his part said that while the Islamic State group had lost its "caliphate" and peace talks with the Taliban appeared to be progressing, the US military presence in Syria and Afghanistan was still necessary.

"It is time to bring these conflicts to a conclusion. This won't be as quick as anyone would like, but it can be done if we continue to keep our objectives and interests in mind, trust our partners, and enable our forces," Votel stressed.

McKenzie, 62, is familiar with Afghanistan after being twice deployed there, and has also served in Iraq.

During his confirmation hearing in early December, he voiced concern about a premature military withdrawal from Afghanistan, where local forces took over at the start of 2015, succeeding NATO troops helping in the fight against the Taliban.
Germany adds six months to Saudi arms export ban: government



Berlin, March 28 (AFP) Mar 28, 2019



German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government Thursday extended by six months an embargo on weapons exports to Saudi Arabia, instituted last October in response to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The ban has faced opposition from within the German government and the EU, but has the support of rights groups.

"The order to halt authorised weapons exports to Saudi Arabia is extended by six months from March 31 to September 30, 2019," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

Berlin reacted to Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October by declaring a freeze on weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and other countries involved in the Yemen war.

It has since faced protests by EU partners because the ban has impacted joint defence projects such as the Eurofighter and Tornado jets.

While France and Britain have urged Germany to end the export halt, human rights groups argue it should stay in place -- a view that has many backers among the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners to Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU bloc in the coalition government.

"We oppose defence exports to dictatorships and into active conflict zones," SPD deputy leader Ralf Stegner said on public TV.

Merkel's bloc favoured resumed sales, at least for joint European defence projects.

"Another unilateral German stop to defence exports, imposed without coordination with European and NATO partners, would be wrong and dangerous," its economic policy expert Joachim Pfeiffer told the Passauer Neue Presse daily.



- Rights violations -



This week, French ambassador Anne-Marie Descotes criticised Germany's "unpredictable" arms export policy and pointed out that some companies in the sector were marketing products as "German free" in terms of components.

A German security council meeting Wednesday failed to resolve the issue, media reports said, leading to further discussions Thursday.

One reported compromise proposal was to give the green light to multinational defence products with a German share of no more than 20 percent.

Stegner urged "a sensible solution", stressing that the SPD too wants Germany to cooperate with other European powers on joint defence projects.

Media reported another idea on the table would be for Germany to hold onto six naval patrol vessels and a training ship ordered by Saudi Arabia.

Media group RND said that if the Saudi export stop was extended by six months, the German state could buy the ships for its navy, customs service and federal police.

At least 10,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Yemen war since March 2015.

This week more than 20 non-government groups operating in Yemen wrote to Merkel to urge her to maintain the freeze, citing the "great risk" that the arms would be used to "facilitate violations of international humanitarian law and human rights".

Germany is among the world's top arms exporters, a group led by the United States that also includes Russia, China, France and Britain.
Turkey rejects US pressure over Russian missile deal



Istanbul, March 29 (AFP) Mar 29, 2019



Turkey's government on Friday rejected US pressure over its disputed deal to purchase Russian missiles, saying Ankara was already in talks over delivery of the S-400 defence system.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has riled Turkey's NATO allies, especially the US, by purchasing the Russian arms system and by drawing closer to Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

US officials have warned Turkey could face possible sanctions and a block on its participation in the US-made F-35 fighter jet programme because of the Russian deal.

"We have signed a deal with Russia, and this deal is valid. Now we are discussing the delivery process," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a press conference with his Russian counterpart in the Turkish city of Antalya.

"We have an agreement with Russia and we are bound by it," he said, adding pressure from other countries was against international law.

Cavusoglu said Turkey had also met its obligations as a partner in the F-35 jet made by US company Lockheed Martin.

"Turkey is also a partner in the F-35 project. Some parts are being made in here in Turkey. Turkey has fulfilled its responsibilities in this regard," the minister said.

The first Russian S-400 delivery is expected in July.

The dispute is one part of a growing rift between Washington and Ankara who are at odds over Syria and also a US refusal to extradite a US-based preacher Turkey blames for a 2016 failed coup.

In the latest sign of US pressure, four US senators on Thursday introduced a bill that would block delivery of F-35 jets to Turkey until Ankara gives up the Russian missiles.

"Turkey is an important NATO ally and willing partner in addressing a number of US national security priorities," said Republican Senator James Lankford in a statement on the bill.

"It's concerning that Turkey would seek close defence cooperation with Russia, whose authoritarian ruler seeks to undermine NATO and US interests at every turn."

Turkey plans to buy 100 F-35s and some Turkish pilots already started training with counterparts in the US.

US officials say they are worried about technology from the S-400s allowing Moscow to collect data on NATO aircraft and about how compatible the Russia systems will be inside NATO operations.

US officials have increasingly warned about fallout over the missile deal for the F-35 jet programme and have pressured Turkey to buy US-made Patriot missile defences as an alternative.

pma/raz/nla
US says Russians in Venezuela to fix missile system



Washington, March 29 (AFP) Mar 29, 2019



A Russian military deployment to Venezuela that has prompted warnings by the United States was meant largely to fix a broken missile system, a US official said Friday.

Elliott Abrams, the US envoy heading the US effort to oust President Nicolas Maduro, said that Washington believes that Moscow sent around 100 people to provide "technical assistance."

"One of the things they are doing seems to be, and we have thought this from the very beginning, helping the regime with the S-300 ground-to-air missile system which apparently got all screwed up... by the blackout," Abrams told reporters.

The S-300 is a major missile defense program designed to shoot down aircraft and other missiles that was designed by the Soviet Union. Russian official media in 2012 reported an S-300 shipment to Venezuela.

The economically crumbling country this week suffered its second nationwide blackout this month, knocking out transport, water supplies and communications and paralyzing the crucial oil sector.

John Bolton, the US national security adviser, on Friday urged Venezuela's military to "uphold its constitutional duty to protect the citizens of Venezuela."

"Maduro will only use this military support to further repress the people of Venezuela; perpetuate the economic crisis that has destroyed Venezuela's economy; and endanger regional stability," Bolton said in a statement.

The statement did not specify what exact actions the US wanted the Venezuelan military to take, but Trump has said its army chiefs could play a "vital role" in the country's future if they abandoned their support for Maduro

The statement Friday warned that any effort by "actors external to the Western Hemisphere" to deploy military assets to Venezuela with an eye to military operations would be considered "a direct threat to international peace and security in the region."

US President Donald Trump earlier called on Russia to "get out" of Venezuela.

Russia has said that its forces, which it described as military experts providing technical help, will stay "for as long as needed," calling the US effort in Venezuela an attempted coup.

Two Russian military planes landed at the main airport outside Caracas on Saturday and offloaded the equipment and troops. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo soon afterward raised objections in a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The United States and 50 other countries say that the leftist firebrand Maduro is no longer the legitimate leader of Venezuela and have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Air Force on Wednesday announced that Ellsworth Air Force Base in the state of South Dakota has been selected as the preferred location for its first operational B-21 Raider bomber and formal training unit.

Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas will follow, and receive B-21s as they become available, the Air Force added.

"These three bomber bases are well suited for the B-21," said Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. "We expect the first B-21 Raider to be delivered beginning in the mid-2020s, with subsequent deliveries phased across all three bases."

The Air Force said Ellsworth was selected as the first location because "it provides sufficient space and existing facilities necessary to accommodate simultaneous missions at the lowest cost and with minimal operational impact across all three bases."

The Air Force will incrementally retire existing B-1 Lancers and B-2 Spirits when a sufficient number of B-21s are delivered, according to the press release.

It added that the Air Force will keep operating B-52 Stratofortresses at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.

The B-52 is expected to continue conducting operations through 2050 -- nearly a century after it first became operational in 1955.
Red Cross to distribute aid in Venezuela next month



Caracas, March 29 (AFP) Mar 29, 2019



The Red Cross said Friday it will begin impartially distributing aid in crisis-torn Venezuela in two weeks, brushing aside the threat of political interference amid a power struggle between President Nicolas Maduro and his opposition rival Juan Guaido.

Malnutrition and disease are on the rise as living conditions plummet in the oil-producing Latin American nation, which is spiraling ever deeper into economic chaos.

"We estimate that in a period of approximately 15 days we will be ready to offer help," said Francesco Rocca, head of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

The United States -- which considers Guaido interim president along with some 50 other countries -- welcomed the announcement as a "real opportunity."

Rocca told reporters in Caracas the organization would begin distributing aid mid-April, including tons of mostly US food and medical supplies that Maduro has to date refused to allow into the country -- leaving it stockpiled for weeks on the borders with Colombia and Brazil.

The Red Cross -- aiming to reach 650,000 people initially -- would act according to its principles of "impartiality, neutrality and independence," he said, "without accepting interference from anyone."



- 'Victory over sanctions' -



Meanwhile, in a boost to Maduro, a Chinese plane loaded with 65 tons of medical aid landed in Caracas on Friday. His government celebrated it as a victory over US sanctions, which the socialist leader blames for the economic crisis.

Though unpopular, Maduro has the upper hand at home, thanks to loyalty from his military chiefs and, since last weekend, the presence of 100 Russian troops.

The Russian deployment to Venezuela has drawn fire from Washington, but Caracas' defense minister said Friday that "no one should be alarmed" by their presence.

"We are overcoming the purported siege, the blockade, which has been undertaken by President Trump and the diabolical puppet from here in Venezuela," said vice-president Tareck El Aissami, referring to Guaido.

El Aissami, on the tarmac to meet the Chinese plane, said the medical supplies were the "first cargo of several that start from this moment."

It includes analgesics, surgical equipment and medicine for diseases such as diabetes.

China's ambassador Li Baorong said the delivery was part of previous "cooperation agreements" with Venezuela.

Speaking at a news conference in Caracas, Rocca said agreements had been put in place to guarantee aid distribution, but declined to give details.

In Washington, Elliott Abrams, the envoy heading the US effort to oust Maduro, praised the Red Cross initiative and credited appeals by Guaido.

"This looks like a real opportunity, and we think that it is a response to the efforts that interim President Guaido has been making," Abrams told reporters in Washington.

"So it's very welcome, we hope it works, and -- assuming that it does, which we do -- the United States would be happy to put some of our aid into this method of reaching the Venezuelan people," he said.

Maduro ordered the border closed to keep out the aid, thwarting a high-profile February 23 operation orchestrated by Guaido to bring badly needed food and medical supplies into the country where the UN says seven million people are in dire need.

At least seven people were killed and dozens injured in subsequent rioting at the border.



- Seven million in dire need -



The socialist leader said aid would be a precursor to a US military incursion.

"That was an issue that was very politicized," said Rocca. "If that help complies with our rules and our protocols, of course we are willing to distribute it."

About 24 percent of Venezuela's population -- seven million people -- are in dire need of humanitarian aid, according to an internal UN report that showed malnutrition and disease were on the rise as living conditions plummet.

The report obtained by AFP on Thursday was presented this week to Maduro's government -- which has blamed US sanctions for Venezuela's economic crisis -- and to his rival Guaido.

More than 94 percent of the population lived in poverty in 2018 including 60 percent who lived in extreme poverty, according to a survey by three universities in Caracas quoted in the report.

Abrams nonetheless said the Red Cross assistance was no substitute for toppling Maduro.

"The kind of aid that is needed for a broad recovery of the Venezuelan economy really cannot be put in place until the regime is replaced by democratic government," Abrams said.
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By Yang Chun

After 675 days, the Russiagate investigation involving more than 2,800 court summons, over 500 search warrants, and more than 500 witnesses finally came to an end. The investigation report by the US special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Donald Trump and his campaign team did not collude with Russia to influence the 2016 US presidential election, and there was insufficient evidence to show that Trump obstructed justice. But it is clear that the impact of the investigation in the real world and related chain reaction did not end.

Mixed feelings

The responses in the US come in sharp contrast. The joy of the Trump team is beyond words. Trump tweeted at first, No collusion, no obstruction, complete and total exoneration. Keep America great!Then he told reporters, There was no collusion with Russia. There was no obstruction and none whatsoever. And it was a complete and total exoneration. Its a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, its a shame that your president has had to go through this.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Twitter that the special counsel did not find any collusion and did not find any obstruction of justice. Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Donald Trump, said that the Russiagate investigation was a waste of resources and was one of the biggest pranks in American history. The initiator of the incident must be responsible for this.

Because the investigation helped Trump a lot before the 2020 election, the New York Times reported that Mullers report disappointed some Democrats who could no longer attack Trump by saying his presidency is illegal.At present, most Democratic presidential candidates ask US Attorney General William Barr to publish the full report, but some senior Democrats urge them to focus on Trumps unfulfilled campaign promises rather than on this report, and to emphasize the Democratic Partys different policies in immigration, taxation and health care.

Russia also expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation report. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that in addition to acknowledging there was no such thing as collusion, there was nothing new in Mullers report. The accusation of Russian intervention in the US election was not established from beginning to end. Peskov also said, It is hard to search for a black cat in a dark room, particularly if it is not there.

The website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also published a comment that the US spent a lot of time, manpower and financial resources on the Russiagate investigation and accused Russian citizens of participating in this fictional scandal. This is a shame of the US judicial system. Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that American journalist Fareed Zakaria (who claimed that Trump colluded with Russian in 2017) should apologize to Russian, American and Trump himself.

New round of wrestling unveils

As for the results of the Russiagate investigation, Reuters commented that it marks a major political victory for Trump and also a milestone in his presidency. Some foreign media also hold the same view, saying that Trump can get out unhurt this time. However, some American media are not optimistic about this. They believe that Trump is not resting on his feet even though the investigation ended.

On the one hand, the Democratic Party will not stop here. The investigation findings published by Barr have triggered strong dissatisfaction and another interpretation by the Democratic Party. The Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement saying that the report did not rule out serious allegations of obstruction of justice against Trump, which means that complete report and supporting documents should be made public immediately. The joint statement also said that given Mr. Barrs public record of bias against the special counsels inquiry, he is not a neutral observer and is not in a position to make objective determinations about the report. The Washington Post said that the report contains too many ammunition, which will deepen the pain and hostility and a new round of wrestling between the two parties will kick off.

Others believe that the Democratic Party will not continue to stick to the Russiagate incident. After all, the investigation has confirmed that Trump did not collude with Russia. If the Democratic Party persists, it will destroy its image. Therefore, the Democrats should seize other investigations to pose obstacles to Trump, including whether there is justice obstruction, power abuse or tax issues.

On the other hand, the US media may continue to dig deep into Trumps criminal evidences. Some media have played a role in fueling the Russiagate investigation, and repeatedly released evidences of Trumps collusion with Russia. Donald Trump Jr. also named the CNN and other media, demanding that the Pulitzer Prizes for those media will be replaced by fake news awards after the investigation results were released. It can be predicted that the gap between Trump and his team and some media will not disappear, and instead, it may be further intensified.

(The original article was published on Chinas Defense Newspaper, an official newspaper belongs to the Chinese PLA News Media Center, on March 29, 2019. It was edited and translated into English by China Military Online)
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Corrupt Egyptair Deal Suspicions of Bribery Cast Shadow Over Airbus

Leaked internal documents from Airbus suggest corruption may have been involved in the sale of several aircraft to Egyptair in 2003. The issues raised by the documents threaten to overshadow the planned departure of CEO Thomas Enders.
France's Golden Boy Learns How to Fight Macron Debates His Way Out of The Yellow-Vest Crisis

When faced with the anger of the yellow-vests movement, French President Emmanuel Macron was almost taken down by his own hubris. Now he has emerged from the crisis with a new fighting spirit, marking a turning point for him -- and for the country.
Following letter sent by the writer to Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance





by V. Anandasangaree





I had been patiently waiting without making any comments on a number of matters relating to you and to our people. I hasten to write this letter to you to advise you to save your prestige which directly affect our people also. I hope you will agree with me that we have many things in common. We belong to the same ethnic group, speak the same language, profess the Hindu religion and had been in the same political party. I was a founder member of the TULF but you joined in 1977. This is my 49th year in the TULF. But you deserted the TULF at the most crucial time in 2004 and contested the 2004 General Election on the symbol of the Federal party The House.





As far as I am aware the Federal party was virtually defunct after it merged with the All Ceylon Tamil Congress to form the TULF. But according to Mrs. Amirthalingham, the secretary general of the TULF Mr. Amirthalingham had the registration of the Federal Party in force, to prevent anyone misusing the name and symbol of the party, which was fully committed to Non-Violence. The renowned pro LTTE Journalist Mr. Dharmaratnam Sivaram, popularly known as Taraki had very clearly said, revival of the Federal Party was only on paper. You were trying your best to take the TULF as the political wing of the LTTE to which I disagreed and offered to nominate all our candidates from the LTTE with the view to bring them to the Democratic fold. Being dissatisfied with my suggestion, you quit the TULF without informing anyone and contested on the symbol The House of the Federal Party, registration of which was maneuvered by Mavai Senathirajah. Due to your desertion, we had no option other than to contest as independent candidates.





After handing over your nomination to the Returning Officer you made a public announcement to say that you have handed over the nomination on behalf of the LTTE. Subsequently your team visited Vanni and with the full participation of S.P. Thamizhchelvan, the head of LTTEs political section, you drafted the election manifesto acknowledging LTTE as the National Leaders and also Sole Representatives of the Tamil people. Those who were accusing me from various countries that I ran away with the symbol Rising Sun should note that it was not I but it was Sampanthan who buried the Rising Sun symbol.





You know very well as to how you won the 22 seats in 2004. Is it not true that Mr. Mavai Senathirajah lost his seat in the morning and got declared elected in the evening? One candidate polled more than 115,000 votes unheard of in the history of Sri Lankan elections. Candidates from rival political parties were not allowed to get involved in any kind of canvassing including paid advertisements. With all these weak points all the 22 of you comfortably sat and voted during the full term of six years. I need to tell you that your election was a fraudulent one, so with many others also. You have no moral right even to step into Parliament. You have already declared that you were contesting on behalf of the LTTE. As such all those elected from your list at that election are candidates from the LTTE. I like to point out that you have deliberately deprived the LTTE of returning to the democratic fold when all of them were ready to contest under one banner and one symbol Rising Sun. It was a herculean task for those members of various organizations who toiled hard and brought all parties under one banner. Your foolish decision not allowing the team to go ahead with their program, resulted in the war extending for a period of 5 years from 2004 to 2009. The total result is several thousands of valuable lives lost and several thousand disabled for which you are answerable.





Please tell me whether you have any moral right to be in Parliament today. In my opinion whatever assistance Financial or otherwise you get as reward, will one day be surcharged on the Ministers if a radical group comes to power. If you have any prestige to save, please dont accept any gift from the cabinet which in the opinion of the public is unjustifiable, unwanted and foolish.




Chartered Surveyors, Land Agents and Property Consultants, YoungsRPS, have announced it is to open offices within Hexham Mart in Northumberland. This is an exciting partnership, intended to benefit the farmers and rural businesses who regularly attend the mart.

Both YoungsRPS and Hexham and Northern Marts have a long and established heritage within the areas of business in which they operate. This agreement is seen as a good fit for both, and an effective way to offer an improved, close-at-hand service to farmers, by people who have a deep-rooted understanding of agriculture and farm business issues.

Hexham Mart is Northumberlands leading livestock market and YoungsRPS is a highly respected rural business operating across Northern England and Scotland. This joint venture provides a platform to support farmers in an active mart environment, effectively bringing the professional services of a land agency closer to the farmers they serve.

Giving further background, Robbie Hutchinson, Managing Director of YoungsRPS, stated:

We have been in discussions with Hexham Mart for some considerable time and are delighted that they have concluded that we are the best partner for them to offer a full professional service to their customers. We, for our part, are of course keen to tap into the passing trade in the mart.

In recent years, our two companies have worked together jointly in terms of live and deadstock sales. The marts team of auctioneers are out on-farm and can identify their clients need for advisory services, and we have the full range of experts willing to help.

Farming is an industry which must address significant changes during the next few years, so this is, without a doubt, a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Open Monday to Friday, the Hexham Mart office will be staffed full time by Charles Raine, Director of YoungsRPS, and Harry Morshead, Chartered Surveyor. They will be supported, by Chartered Surveyor, Matthew Wallace. The main Hexham office will continue to offer an extensive range of advice, including property sales and lettings, valuations, landlord and tenant issues, legal assistance, property and farming projects, planning and development and estate management guidance.
RIYADH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud pledged to strengthen economic and military cooperation with China, to promote peace and stability in the region.

He made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe on Tuesday in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia and China have a long-lasting friendship and their strategic relationship is under continuous development, he said, adding that the two countries are important cooperative partners of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"Saudi Arabia expects to increase bilateral economic cooperation and personnel exchanges, and deepen military collaboration, to jointly promote regional peace and stability," he said.

The initiative, proposed by China in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which aim at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud said that bilateral cooperation in all fields has yielded fruitful results, and Saudi Arabia is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in politics, economy and security, during a meeting with Wei.

The crown prince expressed expectation for the two militaries to carry out more pragmatic cooperation and expand new areas, as military cooperation is an important cornerstone of the Saudi Arabia-China relationship.

Wei said that China attaches great importance to its relationship with Saudi Arabia and their relationship has become a model for state-to-state relations.

Under the leadership of the two states, the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries has undergone in-depth development.

The Belt and Road Initiative and the Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan have a broad prospect and bilateral military ties have maintained a sound momentum of growth, Wei said.

"China is willing to work with the Saudi military to implement the consensus of the leaders of the two countries, expand pragmatic cooperation, and promote bilateral military relations," Wei added.

Wei also held talks on Wednesday with Saudi Arabia's Assistant Minister of Defense Mohammad bin Abdullah Al-Ayesh.
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Britons desperately wanting some clarity in the country's interminable Brexit saga were disappointed Wednesday when lawmakers plunged the country's proposed exit from the European Union, after half-a-century of membership, into further disarray, failing to find a majority for any way forward after a series of so-called indicative votes.

The hope had been a majority might emerge from the eight different options they voted on, which included staying in the EU, leaving with no withdrawal agreement, remaining in the bloc's customs union and/or single market or holding a second Brexit referendum.

"Parliament Finally Has Its Say: No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No." Britain's Guardian newspaper announced on its front-page Thursday.

"In summary: the Commons has now overwhelmingly rejected every single type of Brexit, and no Brexit," tweeted Michel Deacon, the Daily Telegraph's parliamentary sketch-writer. The option of leaving without a deal was defeated by a huge margin. So, too, was a motion that would see Brexit canceled altogether.

It wasn't what the organizers of the indicative votes in the House of Commons had hoped would be the upshot. Backed by the opposition parties and pro-EU Conservative rebels they seized control of the parliamentary agenda from the government, the first time in 140 years that Downing Street hasn't called the shots on what can be debated and when on the floor of the House of Commons.

"This is going well. Putting the Commons in charge was clearly a brilliant idea," tweeted Andrew Neil, the arch-Brexiter presenter of a BBC politics show. The EU's chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said Britain's intentions had become more mysterious than those of the mythological sphinxes guarding ancient tombs.

 More Confusion

To add to the confusion in London, just before the indicative voting, an exhausted Prime Minister Theresa May told her Conservative lawmakers she would relinquish the party leadership and resign as prime minister, but only if her contentious Brexit withdrawal agreement, which parliament has twice rejected, is passed.

May's announcement was a last-ditch bid to persuade Conservative Brexiters to back her withdrawal agreement, a deal they disapprove of because it would keep Britain closely aligned with the European Union and obedient to its rules while a longer-term trade relationship is negotiated.

A hardcore of Conservative Eurosceptics and ten lawmakers from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, who May has to rely on because her government is a minority one, have adamantly refused to back her deal. They say the plan poses a risk to the integrity of the union of the United Kingdom. The DUP believes if it took effect, it would cause trade differences between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and create in effect a "border down the Irish Sea."

There were no signs Thursday that May will be able to persuade enough holdouts to vote for her deal, if it is put before the Commons for a third time, leaving Britain on course to crash out of the EU without a deal on April 12, unless the British government requests, for the second time, a Brexit postponement.

EU negotiators have indicated they might be open to another delay, but only if it is a lengthy one of a year or more. It remains unclear how the political deadlock in London can be broken. The idea of leaving without a transition deal has strong opposition in the Commons and would likely be blocked by a majority of lawmakers.


WARWICKSHIRE Police has released a CCTV image of a woman officers would like to speak to in connection with a suspected stolen bank card.

The card was used at shops in Stratford and Wellesbourne on 15th February. It's believed it may have been stolen on the same day.

It's thought the woman pictured may have information which could assist with the investigation.

If you recognise her, please call Warwickshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 194 of 15th February 2019.

Alternatively, information can be given to the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their website.
Overall, analysts said, the visit has improved the general atmosphere of relations between the EU and China, but the European backlash and increased scrutiny of Chinese companies and their investments is not likely to change.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the leaders of France and Germany this week and signed lucrative deals in an attempt to cozy up to the European Union. Analysts say the efforts were aimed at softening restrictions on Chinese trade and investments in Europe, but it is unlikely that his trip will weaken the EU's resolve.

 Billions in Deals

The "EU will not be softening its posture on its core demands -- fair and reciprocal economic ties, including elimination of coerced technology transfers and respect from the EU's community-based standards -- in spite of the breakout of amity and huge deals during President Xi's swing through the continent," said Sourabh Gupta, senior fellow at the Institute of China-America Studies in Washington.

During the visit, Xi signed 29 deals worth $2.8 billion with Italy and placed orders for 300 jets with Airbus worth $34 billion in France, the same number of Boeing planes that he bought from the U.S. during President Donald Trump's 2017 visit to Beijing. In turn, Italy became the first Group of Seven country to sign up for the Belt and Road Initiative despite Washington's criticism of the BRI and China's "vanity project."

"The buying binge may grab the headlines but that's mostly just water under the bridge," Gupta said adding, "and Italy's formal BRI entry is a nice, shiny medal that will keep Beijing attentive and incentivized to adhere to European practices."

 Xi's Motivation

What motivated Xi's visit is the lurking danger of dual pressures from the U.S. and EU to change some of the internal systems like state subsidy and financing of Chinese companies. Many of the issues raised by Brussels and Washington are similar, but some additional demands from Europe are adding to Beijing's headaches.

Ana Andrade, research analyst in the Europe team of The Economist Intelligence Unit, said there is a distinct difference in the way the European Union and United States approach China. "EU and U.S. demands on China are not fully identical. The EU is very aware of the importance of China as a trading partner," she said adding, "the EU is not interested in decoupling from China or creating a bilateral conflict as the U.S. has done."

China is the biggest market for European luxury goods and the biggest single-country market for Airbus.

 Competitive Edge

EU's demands for reforms in China intensified since the U.S. launched a series of aggressive trade actions raising duties on Chinese goods leading to a trade war nearly nine months ago. "The EU's strategy is to piggy-back on the momentum for action generated by the Trump administration's pressure on Beijing and engage and press China to make these market-leveling (allow fair competition) and market-opening reforms," Gupta said.

Chinese analysts argue, however, that the EU's demands are not necessarily additional pressure on Beijing and instead that the demands dovetail with reforms the U.S. is demanding. "If China would make a deal with the U.S. on some of the issues, I think that would not only apply to the U.S. but China would adjust its overall position to apply to all countries," said Shen Dingli, a Shanghai based analyst of international relations.

The new foreign investment law, which was approved by the Chinese legislature this month, will apply to all countries and not just the U.S., he pointed out.

Both the U.S. and EU were driven into action because of concerns that China's government has long been giving Chinese companies a competitive leg up through subsidies, inadequate transparency, lax standards on protection of labor, environment and intellectual property.

 Helping China

Ding Yuan, dean at the China Europe International Business School, does not agree with the claim that a lack of transparency in business dealings gives Chinese companies a competitive edge over their counterparts in the rest of the world. "Lack of transparency is never an advantage. If lack of transparency was an advantage, China shouldn't have done the economic reforms and opening, and Soviet Union should have been there still, stronger than the U.S.," he said.

Ding believes the critics and business rivals may be working at cross-purposes. They are actually helping China to take forward its reforms agenda and consolidate its position in the industrial world, he said. "By blaming China on the role of the state, by promoting [the idea] Chinese state intervention as the core competence or the core competitive advantage of the Chinese success story, actually we are consolidating, helping Chinese authorities to consolidate their approach," he said.


North Korea has kept conspicuously silent about a humiliating raid on its embassy in Madrid by a shadowy dissident group on Feb. 22.

The silence could be a measure of how threatened the regime feels by the apparently well-connected group, which calls itself Free Jeoson and is using modern guerrilla tactics instead of the staid strategies of more conventional defector groups.

According to sources, a prominent member is Kim Han-sol, the son of Kim Jong-un's half-brother Kim Jong-nam who was assassinated by North Korean agents in Kuala Lumpur two years ago.

The group said it is protecting the North Korean leader's nephew and also managed to spray graffiti on the North Korean Embassy in the Malaysian capital on the day that one of Kim Jong-nam's assassins was released.

It is hard to see how the regime could spin these events without triggering widespread rumors within North Korea and drawing attention to the group, which has declared itself the interim government-in-exile of the North.

Free Jeoson, named for North Korea's conventional name for itself, this week claimed responsibility for the raid and said it shared information it stole from the Madrid embassy with the FBI.

Nam Joo-hong at Kyonggi University said, "Pyongyang is still keeping mum about the attack because it's still recovering from the shock." That the burglars made off with computers, phones and other files "is very serious," Nam added. "It must be also difficult for the regime to even mention a dissident group as the culprit."

The regime may also fear a threat to Kim Jong-un's legitimacy if North Koreans realize that there are other direct descendants of revered founder Kim Il-sung who could offer them an alternative future.

One theory why Kim Jong-nam was assassinated is that China was quietly setting him up as an alternative leader for North Korea if the regime refused to reform.

The group said it is protecting the North Korean leader's nephew and also managed to spray graffiti on the North Korean Embassy in the Malaysian capital on the day that one of Kim Jong-nam's assassins was released.


On 29 March 1985 over 20 years of negotiations with what was then the European Economic Community (EEC) reached a positive outcome when Spain's accession to the bloc was agreed.

The announcement was made following a visit to Madrid by a delegation of EEC negotiators from Brussels, who were met at the city's Barajas airport by Spain's foreign affairs minister of the time, Fernando Moran, and secretary of state for relations with the EEC, Manuel Marin.

Hope

That evening then prime minister Felipe Gonzalez addressed the nation in a televised speech during which he delivered a message of "hope" and "modernity" for the country's future. He spoke of an "irreversible step" to join the EEC and of a "solution to the age-old isolation" of Spain.

The news was welcomed in Malaga and SUR published an interview with five lecturers from the University of Malaga, who felt that in particular the province's tourism and agriculture sectors would receive a "boost" from membership.

Juan Antonio Gallego, an Economics teacher who was working in Brussels at the time, said that it signalled "a new era for Spanish businesses". Despite concerns over the introduction of VAT in the tourism sector, Enrique Torres, a lecturer of economic policy, was confident that tourism in Malaga would "continue to be the cheapest in Europe". His comments came amid fears that Greece, which had joined the EEC in 1981, might veto Spain's membership over concerns about the impact on its tourism industry.

The first application made by Spain to join came in February 1962 by the then foreign affairs minister, Fernando Maria Castiella. However, Spain was still in the grip of Franco's dictatorship, which went against the EU's principles of democracy. In 1977 Adolfo Suarez's government tried again and he was accepted onto the Council of Europe. This was taken as a positive sign that the country was well on its way to EEC membership.

On 12 June 1985 the accession treaty was formally signed by the EEC and Spain and the country officially joined, along with neighbouring Portugal, on 1 January 1986.
Malaga. Nearly 90 exhibitors and 40 companies from the wine and gourmet products sectors were at the first edition of SUR Wines & Gourmet on Monday and Tuesday. The event, organised by SUR, its gastronomy publication Malaga en la Mesa and Grupo La Reserva, was held in the Portico de Velasquez Restaurante in Malaga.

There was a huge selection of wines on display and with so many to investigate, Cristina Socorro of the Molino Lario hotel commented at about 5.30pm: "I arrived about half one and I've barely got through half of them!"

There were classic wines as well as new, from Ronda to Penedes and Italy, whites and reds, sherries and sparkling wines and even ecological and biodynamic wines.

To assist with working out which wine goes best with what type of food, there were trays of bread with olive oil, cured ham and icecream.

The arranged tastings helped the attendees to keep tabs on what wines they were trying and there were quite a few familiar faces from the gastronomic scene in Malaga: Paco Garcia, director of the Michelin-starred El Lago; Jose Sanchez, manager of Los Marinos; Jose and Cristina Canovas; and Diego Aguilar from Palodu.

Duck foie

One of the exclusive foods presented at the event was foie (pate), from ducks which had been fed with 90 per cent maize grown from recovered heritage grain. This light-yellow pate is unique and comes from the Ferm d'Adour, a French association of breeders and manufacturers of duck products.

Local companies were also highlighted including Mondat, a company located in a 10,000-square-metre factory in Monda. From these premises, 4,000 kilos of white, rustic or gourmet breads, all with the Sabor a Malaga seal, are produced every hour, according to area manager Jorge Flores.

What makes them so special is the technique which involves pre-cooking them on an incandescent stone slab in a special furnace unique to Andalucia.

Olive oils were interspersed with the wine bottles with brands well known in Malaga such as Cortijo El Solano and Molisur . Ones from further afield included Spiritu Santo (Ubeda), which is produced from recovered, indigenous varieties of olives.

Bread and olive oil go well with wine, just as manzanilla (fino sherry) goes with cured ham and the range of jerez (dry sherries) goes with other cured meats.

Expert cured ham slicer Pedro Belmonte, was on hand to advise on the best way to cut jamon at home (the leg fixed well to a support so that it doesn't move, a really sharp knife, the positioning of the hands etc).

There was plenty of cured hams to try including one, Extrem Puro Extremadura, 100 per cent Iberian, which was used to make McDonald's 'Extrem' speciality burger.

There were cheeses from Malaga and manchegos from Marantona where they are cured in a cave, cooked meats and El Barquero cod, and even dessert from Frutas Eladio and Alonso icecream from Alicante.

Over the two days it is estimated that over 4,000 people visited SUR Wines & Gourmet and attended the tastings and workshops to discover more about the national and international wines and gourmet products that went with them.
Inland dog charity, SOS Animals, is to close in June and is urgently appealing for people who can offer a loving home to any of its dogs.

More information : www.sos-animals.org

The land where the Coin-based refuge is situated was sold after the owners returned to the UK and volunteers at the charity have been unable to find suitable, alternative accommodation for both the dogs and for the volunteers who help care for them. The refuge centre, which has rehomed thousands of dogs over the last 22 years, has announced that it can no longer accept dogs and is focusing all its energies on rehoming the animals in its care.

SOS (Spay Our Strays) was founded on the Costa del Sol in 1997 and has been run by a small team of dedicated volunteers and supported by its sister charity, SOS Sweden, and Costa Canine Rescue UK.

"We are working really hard with our Swedish charity to rehome dogs and we have put urgent appeals on the websites of colleagues in the UK, but we anticipate that despite this we could end up with up to 20 dogs still looking for homes. In some cases they are dogs that have been with us a while. We are definitely going to find some way of keeping the dogs safe and have been exploring all options," Andrea, the organisation's spokesperson, told SUR in English.

SOS co-founder Tony Byford said: "We are very sad to say that SOS has to come to an end. It has been a huge privilege for all of us involved over the years to have made a difference to the lives of literally thousands of dogs. We would love to hear from any people who live locally who may feel that they could offer a place in their heart to one of our residents."
UK nationals resident in Spain have further opportunities to put their Brexit questions to consular staff at meetings in San Roque and Fuengirola. Consul Charmaine Arbouin and her team will be joined by representatives from the local town halls to provide information on a range of issues, including residency, registration, healthcare and pensions.

Charmaine Arbouin said: "We recognise the current uncertainty for British people living in Spain and we will continue to do all we can to update citizens as and when we have more information.

"In the meantime, I continue to urge all UK nationals living in Spain to ensure you are correctly registered and to stay up to date with the latest news, by signing up for email alerts and visiting the Living in Spain guide on gov.uk and following our Brits in Spain social media channels, including on Facebook."

The meetings will take place on Wednesday 3 April (5pm) at the Juan Luis Galiardo Theatre in San Roque and on Tuesday 23 April (12pm) in the Casa de la Cultura, Av. Juan Gomez Juanito, Fuengirola. There is no need to register beforehand.
The founder and head of SFJAZZ, currently one of America's trend-setting musical venues, was in Malaga this week to give his backing to a project to transform the site of the old Astoria cinema on the city's Plaza de la Merced.

Randall Kline launched his San Francisco venue in 2013 and developers from Cordoba invited him to see for himself how they want to build a theatre space below street level, with bars and restaurants above and room for an extension to the Fundacion Picasso birthplace foundation.

The project to replace the disused building still needs to clear several hurdles. After demolition, an archeological dig will be needed to see if the theatre can be built.

Kline said, "The museums are fantastic here, tourism is obviously great, but having a cultural centre in the heart of the city could be something really transformational."
The president of Andalucia, Juanma Moreno, announced on Monday that "in four weeks" the operating theatres of the Valle del Guadalhorce hospital will be working "at 100%". Moreno said that for several years, the centre had been "a phantom hospital", but now it will be fully functional and able to carry out more procedures on site.

On his visit to the hospital, accompanied by the delegate of the Andalusian government in Malaga, Patricia Navarro, and the mayor of Cartama, Jorge Gallardo, the president explained that health was one of his main focus areas, especially given that "half a million Andalusians" were on waiting lists. He explained, therefore, that now was the time to make a special effort to upgrade the hospitals in the region.

The announcement regarding the opening comes after years of delays and complications. The hospital initially opened without the theatres operational as the power supply was not sufficient enough to ensure there was no risk of regular power cuts.
Local and national authorities are assessing the damage after waves of a height of up to six metres battered the Costa del Sol last week. The rough sea left the beaches worse for wear, just two weeks before the peak Easter holiday season.

Emergency work had already started on Saturday in Marbella after the town hall earmarked a sum of 200,000 euros to get the beaches back to normal as soon as possible.

Meanwhile the tourism industry has called for more permanent action to prevent the erosion damage caused in these weather conditions, when the Levant wind from the east brings with it fierce waves.

/ Salvador Salas

The state meteorology office issued an amber weather warning on Tuesday and Wednesday last week and at six o'clock on Wednesday morning the weather buoy in Malaga Port recorded a height of 5.96 metres. The mean or "significant" wave height, the value used to measure the waves' destructive potential, was set by the weather office at four metres, meaning that the damage caused to beaches was not as great as originally predicted.

Nevertheless a preliminary report issued by the central government's Coasts department, known as Costas, said that beaches in Fuengirola town centre and parts of San Pedro and Estepona had suffered the worst battering from the waves.

No serious structural damage had been caused, said the report, although the beaches had suffered significant erosion, losing breadth in many areas.

The authority's final assessment of the damage will not be released until next week, however, as the yellow weather warning was still in place for Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile the owners of businesses on the affected beaches have called for immediate action, especially with the Easter holiday period just around the corner.

"We're asking Costas to replace the lost sand as soon as possible [...] and to take action on the most damaged beaches in time for Easter," said Manuel Villafaina, president of the Association of Beach Business Owners. Villafaina said on Wednesday that the impact was not as bad as it could have been as business owners had been forewarned in an email from the association. Sunbeds had been piled up near the promenades and business owners had put up sandbag barriers.

The province's fishing fleet, made up of around 250 boats, stayed in port on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ferry company Trasmediterranea cancelled services across the Strait on Tuesday, but the 3pm ferry from Malaga to Melilla sailed as planned on Wednesday.

Teh sinking Willow in Benalmadena. / NITO SALAS

related news Benalmadena's Mississippi steamboat sinks The rough sea claimed another victim, this week, the old steamboat moored in Benalmadena marina, which had partially sunk by Thursday. With the help of divers, the Willow was stabilised to prevent it tipping over until further measures could be taken. The Willow, which has been moored in Benalmadena for decades, was built at the beginning of the last century to sail on the Mississippi. After being brought to Benalmadena it was used for some time as a floating nightclub, as well as a restaurant and even a secret brothel. The authorities have said that the boat no longer has any fuel or machinery onboard but in any case the port has been asked to put up an anti-pollution barrier as a precaution. The Willow has been in disuse for some time and the town hall had reached an agreement with the owner to pay the debt run up for its berth in the port in installments. The local authorities and the owner had previously been advised of the boat's poor state of repair in recent months due to a lack of maintenance. The Willow, which was refurbished in Liverpool before coming to the Costa, is one of the few Mississippi steam boats to be found in European ports.

Marbella

Waves expose infrastructure

The rough seas took their toll on beaches in Marbella, San Pedro and Estepona. In Lindavista, San Pedro, the sand was washed away to expose sewage pipes. The town hall has been announcing plans to move these pipes for years, but there are archaeological remains in the area and authorisation is needed from the Junta de Andalucia. In Ventura del Mar the waves invaded the brand new pedestrian walkway and in Las Chapas rows of wooden posts set up to control the movement of the dunes have disappeared, with some of the dunes being washed away.

On Saturday, even before the damaging wind had died down completely, the council's Beach and Public Works Department had moved in to repair El Rodeito beach. Councillors and experts from the local, regional and national authorities were due to visit the beaches on Monday.

Benalmadena and Torremolinos

Chiringuito flooded

Numerous beaches between Torrequebrada and La Carihuela suffered damage. Water flooded beach bars such as Maracas Beach, near the Castillo Bil Bil, on Tuesday night.

In La Carihuela the area near the Playa Miguel beach bar bore the brunt of the rough seas as the water crossed the promenade, reaching even some of the businesses further away from the shore. The forewarning from the met office and the business association prevented further damage. "When we left [on Tuesday night] we piled up 75 sandbags," said one employee.

Fuengirola

Already damaged in autumn

At the beginning of March, the town hall sent a request to the Coasts authority warning that the central Fuengirola beach had been damaged by the weather in autumn and winter and was not wide enough to install the summer facilities. Now the sand has receded even further, said municipal sources, adding that now the town hall is going to reiterate its request for new sand before Easter.

Malaga city

Banos del Carmen flooded

Early on Wednesday morning the waves invaded the Banos del Carmen restaurant in Malaga city, always the first spot to suffer from rough seas. Water entered the main dining room, despite the attempts by employees to keep the place dry by putting up wooden barriers and sand bags the day before.

Other city beaches affected were Huelin, Guadalmar and El Dedo (El Palo) where council workers were brought in on Wednesday to remove sand that had been deposited by the waves on the promenades.

Malaga councillor Teresa Porras said, however, that the beaches would be in optimum condition by the start of the Easter holiday period, when thousands flock to the city to watch processions and enjoy the sunshine.

Axarquia

The sea meets the N-340

In the Axarquia the areas of Valle Niza and Chilches were worst hit. The sea came up as far as the main N-340 coast road, stripping the beaches of their sand. The Levant wind caused general damage on beaches from Nerja to La Cala del Moral. Sand has been washed away from La Torrecilla and El Chucho beaches in Nerja; from several stretches of the El Penoncillo, Ferrara and El Morche beaches in Torrox; in Lagos and Mezquitilla in Velez-Malaga; and Los Rubios and La Cala del Moral, in Rincon de la Victoria.

Experts from the different affected town councils started to assess the damage on Wednesday in order to repair the beaches in time for Easter.

Costa Tropical

Almunecar

Almunecar is among towns along the Granada coastline that suffered the effects of the rough sea this week. Especially hit was Velilla beach, where sand has receded significantly. Along a 200-metre strip of beach all that could be seen on Thursday were large rocks uncovered by the waves.

What is most worrying however is the damage caused to the Velilla breakwater near the Aquatropic waterpark.

Cotobro, Marina del Este and Pena Parda beaches have also suffered from the waves as well as Velilla, said councillor Luis Aragon on Thursday.
The president of Mexico, Manuel Lopez Obrador, said this week that he had written to King Felipe, as well as the Pope, asking them to say sorry for "the wrongdoing" carried out against indigenous peoples during the Spanish imperial conquest of the Americas.

"I sent a letter to the King of Spain and another to the Pope that lays out the offences and asking for them to say sorry to the native peoples for violations of what we now call Human Rights," the left-wing politician said in a message on Facebook.

The president launched his message on the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Centla, considered the first confrontation between the Spanish 'conquistadors' and the original inhabitants of Mexico. "There was slaughter, use of force. The so-called conquest was carried out by the sword and the Cross," he added. He said he hoped for a reconciliation before the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence in 2012.

The Spanish government has replied saying, "The arrival of the Spanish 500 years ago... can't be judged from a modern-day perspective".
BMW chief marketing officer Pieter Nota on Thursday apologized for last year's series of spontaneous engine fires in Korea that cost the German automaker a substantial chunk of market share here.

Nota was speaking in a damage limitation press conference at the Seoul Motor Show in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. "We are truly sorry for the concern and inconvenience that some of our vehicles have recently caused," he said.

Some 52 BMWs caught fire due to faulty exhaust gas recirculation valves last year.


The tax agreement reached to protect the financial interests of the respective parties is aimed at creating an effective cooperation between Spain and Gibraltar with respect to taxation. This is the first international treaty signed between Spain and the UK in relation to Gibraltar since the treaty of Utrecht in 1713 by which Britain gained sovereignty over Gibraltar.

The agreement has the ingredients of a win-win negotiation and the parties involved or affected seem content with the outcome.

Spain gains its long-demanded transparency with respect to Gibraltar; the UK obtains the support of Spain in the EU for its Brexit plans and Gibraltar obtains security for its people and residents who spend time in Spain, and the removal of Gibraltar from Spains black list of tax havens.

The agreement which was signed on March 4, is due to come into force imminently once each country has fulfilled its own approval processes which include cabinet and parliament approval.

The key elements of the agreement include clear tie breaker rules on residence of individuals where there is a potential conflict of residence, the treatment of Gibraltar companies as resident of Spain where their main assets are in Spain or Spain constitutes its main source of income, or the owners or management are based in Spain.

The agreement also includes a provision for the respective tax authorities to eliminate double taxation where considered relevant in line with the respective internal legislation.

Another key element of the agreement is the provision for a thorough cooperation between the respective tax authorities. This cooperation will not be restricted to an exchange of information, but will include full disclosure, cooperation and mutual support in all administrative aspects of taxation including tax collection and not only of national tax authorities but also of local entities.

This cooperation will remain in force even after Brexit, if and when it actually occurs; all provisions in place within the EU for mutual administrative assistance will be replaced with equivalent measures to ensure that this cooperation takes place in the broadest terms as applied in the OECD and the EU. Any new standards introduced in the future by the OECD and G20 will also become applicable.

Gibraltar will provide Spain with ample information regarding cross-border workers residents of Spain, vessels, aircraft and motor vehicles registered in Gibraltar belonging to Spanish residents. Direct and free access will be provided to the Spanish authorities to the Registrar of Companies, beneficial ownership information as is public or on request to the Commissioner of Income Tax in Gibraltar, including information regarding settlors, trustees, beneficiaries of trusts as well as other legal structures when the settlors, trustees, protectors or beneficiaries are resident of Spain.

Finally, the agreement establishes liaison bodies to undertake the cooperation and a Joint Coordination Committee formed by the respective authorities which shall have the duty of supervising and coordinating the cooperation activities.

This treaty should contribute to improve the relationship between Spain and Gibraltar and should also remove all suspicions on either side and build mutual trust, which will inevitably benefit the south coast of Spain and Gibraltar, which have reasons to look forward to a bright future of mutual respect and cooperation.

Bernard Fay is one of the managing partners of UHY Fay & Co in Spain, member of UHY International
With just over three months to go until this year's Weekend Beach festival in Torre del Mar, organisers unveiled the official lineup on Tuesday with confirmation that Welsh heavy metal band, Skindred, will be performing at the event.

KEY PERFORMANCES Full programme and tickets: www.weekendbeach.es

Skindred, who originate from Newport, are coming to Torre del Mar as part of a European tour to promote their latest album, 'Big Tings', which features singles including 'Kill the Power', 'Volume' and Union Black.'

Earlier this year the organisers also announced that American pop group, The Black Eyed Peas, who are best known for I Gotta Feeling, Where is the Love and Meet Me Halfway, had confirmed as well as The Original Wailers, who first performed with reggae legend, Bob Marley.

The festival will take place on the same site as in previous years, on Playa del Poniente, to the west of the town and will take place from Wednesday 3 to Saturday 6 July.

Headline acts

The Original Wailers will be headlining on Friday, 5 July and The Black Eyed Peas will be the big name on Saturday, 6 July. Skindred will also be performing on that night and Becky G, who has appeared on the American Billboard charts with songs such as 'Shower' and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart, will be singing on Friday evening.

As always the festival involves an eclectic mix of musical styles, from heavy metal through to reggae, pop and dance. There'll be three stages inside the festival ground itself and as in previous years, the Sunrise Stage will be located outside the perimeter fence, near to the campsite and will be free for everyone, with or without a ticket.

In just five years the Weekend Beach festival has propelled itself into Spain's top ten most popular outdoor music events and organisers have not changed the magic formula for this, its sixth year.

As before there will be a camping area, bars and food stalls as well as a chill-out zone and a market area selling clothing, accessories and merchandise.

Organisers believe that the combination of big national and international acts as well as the proximity of the festival ground to the beach is what has made Torre del Mar's music festival such a success.

In previous years the town has managed to attract the likes of The Offspring, Skrillex, David Guetta, The Prodigy, Hardwell, Sepultura, Jimmy Cliff and Damian Marley to its festival and this year's signing of The Black Eyed Peas shows that the Weekend Beach has well and truly put the town on the international musical map.

Last year the event attracted 140,000 people over the four-day period and generated 3.5 million euros of revenue for the town. Organisers are aiming to beat those records this year.

Other big names

French electronic music producer and DJ, Laurent Garnier (also known as Choice) is another big name for the festival. Garnier, who began DJ-ing in Manchester during the late 1980s, will be performing on the Sunrise Stage on Saturday night, following Chris Liebing and Dubfire on Thursday.

Another name to look out for on Saturday is the reggae group Morgan Heritage, formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 1994 by five siblings whose father is reggae artist Denroy Morgan.

A number of well-known Spanish musicians will also be performing including Weekend Beach regulars like Miss Caffeina and La Pegatina.

Tickets for the full weekend are currently available for 62 euros, while tickets and camping are 77 euros. Children under the age of seven may go free as long as they are accompanied by a paying adult. Anyone between the ages of seven and 17 must have the correct authorisation form which is available on the website.
Clarksons acquires US tanker broker

Last week, Clarksons Platou Shipping Services USA and Safe Harbour Tanker Chartering of Connecticut, signed a Heads of Agreement for the acquisition of all business interests and personnel in the broking house by Clarksons.

Safe Harbour Tanker Chartering has been operating since 1989, and is based in Monroe, Connecticut. The shipbroker is a primarly focused on the edible oils sector specialising in veg oil exports from the US and South America to the wider Americas and European markets. The company also has a presence within the biodiesel sector, as well as iso-tank and flexi bag chartering, amongst other activities. It is led by Jim Weinberg and his team, all of whom, upon completion of the deal, will become part of the Clarksons Platou Specialised Products business, adding an 11th office to the network. The acquisition of Safe Harbour is a key step in the development and growth for Clarksons Platou Specialised Products, and represents an important milestone on the groups future path, it said.




IEA and product tankers

Last week, Poten & Partners focused on refined products and how changes on the downstream side of the business will impact on the the prospects for product tankers in its weekly opinion note.

The refined product side of the equation tends to be more complicated than the crude oil side and the outlook for product carriers over the next five years reflects this. While there are several positive trends, other factors create uncertainty. One of the key drivers of crude oil demand in the past has been the relentless growth in refining capacity in Asia. The IEA expects this to continue for the next five years (see other news report). It forecast that two thirds of new refining capacity in the world, as well as two thirds of global refined products demand growth, will be in Asia. This, in itself, seems to indicate limited upside for global product trades, as the demand growth takes place in the same region where refining capacity is expanding. However, the situation is slightly more complicated. The dominant country in the region is China. And it continues to grow rapidly. By 2024, China is expected to become the world leader in terms of installed refinery capacity, overtaking the US (although the latter will remain the largest refiner because its facilities have higher utilisation rates). China will add some 3.6 mill barrels per day of capacity over the forecast period (40% of global expansion). Compared to the past, however, there are major changes. Some 42% of the growth comes from three large independent players that are building large petrochemical-oriented coastal refineries. The move towards more coastal facilities has been underway for many years. Many of Chinas older refineries are located in the Northeast of the country, close to the major domestic oil fields. Newer facilities that are more dependent on crude oil imports are increasingly built on the coast. In its report, the IEA said that all of Chinas new capacity will be located in the coastal provinces. As a result, Chinas Bohai Bay starts to resemble the US Gulf Coast. A stretch of 1,300 km houses 43% of Chinas refining capacity, but only 17% of its population. Similar to the US Gulf, the infrastructure is therefore in place to facilitate both crude oil imports as well as product exports. Chinas refining additions are expected to far outpace its domestic demand growth and, as a result, product exports are forecast to grow rapidly. Most of these exports are destined for other Asian countries and will likely benefit the Handysize/MR trades. Asia is not the only region that has a major impact on product flows. Because it lacks refining capacity, Africa is the worlds largest net importer of refined products. It imports more gasoline than the US and it has also become the worlds second-largest diesel/gasoil importer. Much of the gasoline imports into West Africa are sourced from the US and Europe and typically arrive in larger LR1s or LR2s before being distributed along the coast in smaller product tankers. Since the Middle East/India is long on diesel, they are the most likely provider of middle distillates to Africa. Refinery output in Latin America is under pressure, primarily due to the challenges in Venezuela. This has also affected the PDVSA refinery in Curacao. However, the US Gulf Coast has ample refining capacity and can easily compensate for shortfalls in the region. Most of the regional trades in Caribbean are using MRs. US refiners are expected to benefit from the global efforts to increase middle distillate yields to meet the new IMO bunker specs. In Europe, for example, refiners will see increased competition from exporters in the US, and the IEA expects refining utilisation to fall from the current 87% to 80% in 2024. The Middle East will continue to grow, adding 2.3 mill barrels per day of capacity. Although the region will close some existing capacity and demand will also grow, a significant portion of the additional product will hit the export markets. Depending on the destination, these exports could benefit all product tanker segments, from small Handies to large LR2s, Poten concluded.




IMO launches GloFouling

A major five-year project to help protect marine bio-diversity kicked off at a global workshop at IMO Headquarters in London held between 18th and 20th March.

The IMO-executed GloFouling Partnerships project will address bio-invasions by organisms, which can build up on ships hulls and other marine structures. This project is a collaboration between the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and IMO. Representatives from 12 lead partnering countries, four regional organisations, IOC-UNESCO, the World Ocean Council and numerous strategic partners attended its first Global Project Task Force meeting for the GloFouling Partnerships project. This milestone event marks the real start of this exciting project, the first-ever globally co-ordinated effort to address bio-fouling - not just from shipping, but from all marine sectors, said Jose Matheickal, representing IMOs Marine Environment Division. National administrations and regional IGOs will work with the project to analyse their needs and develop baseline and economic assessments that will help the drafting of new policies or action plans to implement the Bio-fouling Guidelines issued by the IMO in 2011. To support this process, the project will manage demonstration sites, provide institutional capacity building and develop awareness-raising campaigns geared to all relevant maritime industries. The London meeting heard status reports from the lead partnering countries, regional co-ordinating organisations and strategic partners. Discussions centred on shipping and also on other marine sectors, such as ocean-based renewable energies, aquaculture, offshore structures and recreational activities. Discussions were held on some of the latest initiatives at the regional and global level related to bio-fouling and invasive aquatic species, including BIMCOs plan for an in-water cleaning standard. The 12 countries spearheading the project represent a mix of developing nations and Small Island Developing States, such as Brazil, Ecuador, Fiji, Indonesia, Jordan, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Tonga. In addition, Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and Sweden will contribute to the project as strategic partners. The GEF, through UNDP, is providing a $6.9 mill grant to deliver a range of governance reforms at the national level, through numerous capacity-building activities, training workshops and opportunities for technology adoption to help address the issue of invasive species. Strong participation from private sector stakeholders is also expected.




Elisabeth von Capeller is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to Nepal. She began her tenure in office in Kathmandu on February 8, 2018. Born in 1961 in Basel, she obtained a masters degree in agricultural engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich.

In 2007, von Capeller came to Kathmandu to work with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Nepal. In 2009, she was appointed Head of Cooperation and Deputy Head of Mission. In December 2014, she was named SDCs Head of the department for Cooperation with Eastern Europe.

Onlinekhabars Arun Baral and Diwakar Pyakurel talked to the ambassador recently on a wide range of issues related to bilateral ties between Nepal and Switzerland. Excerpts:

Lets begin the conversation with an overview. What are some of the key aspects of Nepal-Switzerland relations?

Nepal-Switzerland relations started 60 years ago. During the early years, we focused more on the mountains, where Switzerland knew how to bring changes. We were also engaged in developing carpet factories for (Tibetan) refugees. Over the years, our engagement with Nepal has evolved through various processes. When Nepal did not have a democratic system, we were supporting it in areas such as the construction of trail bridges, roads and developing agriculture programmes. We were more project-based. But since the introduction of the multiparty system, our approach has changed. We have requested the government to take over (the projects). For example, all trail bridges are planned and built by the government of Nepal with the technical assistance of Switzerland. Now, with the introduction of the new federal system, we have continued our cooperation.

Overall, we have adapted our cooperation to the system in Nepal. Now under the new system, we are also focused on the implementation of the new constitution.

You said that Swiss cooperation has evolved over time to adapt to the changes in Nepal. But Nepals expectations from the international community has also changed in the past few years. Until recently, the government wanted more development aid, but now it says it needs investment. In this context, what is the focus of the Swiss government: aid or investment?

We have a mixed approach. In our new strategy, we focus on economic development because we agree that development can only take place with the engagement of the private sector. We are supporting the government to develop an apprenticeship systemif you dont have well-skilled staff, you cannot have economic development. We have understood that industries are very much interested in this model. We also believe it is the young people of Nepal who have the knowledge and interest to invest in Nepal.

In order to attract large scale foreign investment, Nepal is hosting an investment summit this weekend. Does Switzerland have anything interesting and exciting to offer to Nepal during the event?

We consider this forum as an important step towards creating a conducive environment for the private sector. Nepal has to provide a conducive policy environment where the international private sector can come in. I have understood some efforts have been made in this regard. But, we have to understand that such forums are not only about big investments; they are also about the startups, which are carriers of innovation and economic development. Apple and Alibaba started as startups. That is something we have to promote.

Probably Nepal cannot be a country of choice for heavy industries; we understand that its real economic development is possible through startups. These startups cover an area not covered by China or India. They also allow young people (who are currently abroad) to come back to Nepal. There are a lot of Nepalis who want to come back and do something. The financing of startups should be seen as an equally important issue.

There are a lot of Nepalis who want to come back and do something. The financing of startups should be seen as an equally important issue.

You know the Swiss people dont have big investments in Nepal; but we have two or three small ones that are really working hard. They have not found a suitable environment to grow.

Do you mean that the Swiss delegates will raise their voices for startups during the summit?

We have a mixed group there. There are one or two big companies and some startups.

The Swiss Embassys new strategy for Nepal has identified districts of Province 1 as the priority region. What is the rationale behind choosing only one of seven provinces of the country for development cooperation?

We have some programmes that include activities such as the construction of trail bridges across the country. We also have programmes that support local governments and communities to implement the new federal system in Province 1. There are other donors focused on other provinces. And, we work in cooperation, trying not to duplicate. For example, if someone from Taplejung requests DFID for support, they forward it to us.

We are in Province 1 for many years ago. We know the places there, and we have the confidence to work there.

Under the new federal system in Nepal, server issues related to foreign aid have come up. Local governments are not allowed to negotiate with donors and everything has to come through the federal government.

I think this requirement is about justice for local units. Rolwaling, for example, does not have the same bargaining power as Kathmandu. While working in Province 1, we have the federal governments approval for various projects. When you have a transparent federal government, ready to provide a fair share of development aid to everyone, I think we should support it.

We have to wait a while to see how the government will manage it. But, I am not much worried at the moment.

Even in Switzerland, if another country comes and says it wants to support a particular province, there is some problem. We have to ask: Why that province? What is the reason behind the selection? The reaction in Nepal is almost similar.

But, in Switzerland, we have a different taxation system. Most of the taxes are collected at the local level. The local governments have the right to decide where to spend on the budget; they dont have to wait for the federal governments decision. At the same time, a richer local unit has to support the poorer ones. I have understood that this system is coming to Nepal as well soon.

Many local governments in Nepal are dealing with post-earthquake reconstruction issues these days. Perhaps it has affected their efficiency. The international community is apparently critical of about the pace of reconstruction in Nepal. What is your opinion on this?

When you look at Christchurch of New Zealand, it took around six years for the reconstruction there. Nepal is not in the sixth year yet. When you compare the pace of Nepals reconstruction effort with other countries, its not so bad. It is better than many other countries which are well developed. Of course, it could have been faster; but this year we have seen it is gathering momentum. This issue is like the question of whether the glass is half empty or half full; I see the glass half full.

But I have two suggestions for the government. First: the local governments should be engaged. I think if the assignment had been given to the local government, say the National Reconstruction Authority had been working at the local level, it could have been faster. The second: the government should take into account how the poorest people, those living in the farthest areas can benefit.

Now lets move on to the issue of transitional justice. Nepals government has been criticised for its handling of the issue. Do you share the general opinion that the process is taking longer than expected?

I was here in Nepal in 2007. Taking the situation at that time as a baseline, what happened after that is tremendous. There was the peace agreement, the army integration, the constitution, then the elections after the earthquake. I would say that dealing with the past is a challenge for every country; it involves a very delicate process.

We think that this should be a Nepali-led process and the victims should be at the centre. We have repeatedly heard from the Minister for Justice that victims will be included in the process.

The government is talking to the victims. Probably, behind the scene, something is going on to improve the effectiveness (of the transitional justice mechanisms).

The government is talking to the victims. Probably, behind the scene, something is going on to improve the effectiveness (of the transitional justice mechanisms).

Yes, this should be a Nepali-led process. But, Nepal needs friends; and we are the friends of Nepal. It is better if Nepal tells its friends what it wants from them than the friends tell Nepal what they have to do. Nepal should be open up and ask for support.

There was impunity in the past and impunity needs to end. There is a need for the rule of law. Economic development can only happen when there is rule of law. How the issue of transitional justice is dealt with also has a bearing on economic development.

When Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was in Davos recently, the international diplomatic corps in Kathmandu issued a joint statement on transitional justice. The incident showed that there is lack of cooperation between the international community and the government. What is your opinion about that?

For us, it was a signal to the government that we are with the government and we would really like to support Nepal. But also, another important message was we need to see something happening. It should be seen in a positive light.

By the time you wrap up your assignment after three years, the incumbent governments at all levels will be preparing for the next elections. What do you want to see in Nepal during your term here?

I would like to see that people are not disappointed. Nepalis really deserve to have a stable life and political situation. I would like to see the local governments play the role that they are entitled to. They need to have sufficient staff and financial resources. There should be an understanding that the local, provincial and central governments should not work against each other.

When the new government got elected last year, there was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. But, now, the honeymoon is over and its time to show the results. I think there are already some good results, but they are not shown to the people. Many rural municipality chairs and deputies have done significant jobs. These kinds of stories have to be shown to the people.

What you would like to tell to Nepali people?

You have a unique opportunity to build the country, which is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Each citizen has to contribute to making the new federal system functioning. Then, your society has to give sufficient space to young people so that they dont have to migrate. It is not only about economic options, but also about the social fabrics. Give them space to fulfill their dreams, be creative and innovative because thats what Nepal needs.
World first 3D printed feet

It's gory, sticky and undoubtedly on the nose, but a blend of icing sugar, chicken stock and flexible resin is proving to be the just the right recipe for creating realistic foot ulcers as part of a world-first podiatric training initiative at the University of South Australia.

Concocted by UniSA's Dr Helen Banwell and Dr Ryan Causby the gooey mixture is being added to newly printed 3-dimensional feet and is designed to mimic infected and non-infected diabetic foot wounds.

The 3D printed feet are created with wound-like cavities in place. Made from thermoplastic polyurethane (a plastic with many properties, including elasticity, transparency, and resistance to oil, grease and abrasion), each takes a week to print, and costs less than $4 to produce. The addition of life-like ulcers and effects is added by the creative hands of UniSA's podiatry team and can encompass anything from dry gangrene to oozing pus.

Dr Banwell says the 3D foot models will play an important part in teaching fourth-year podiatry students about how treat and manage high-risk foot conditions.

"Managing and adeptly treating severe foot conditions is an essential podiatric skill, particularly given the consistent rise in type 2 diabetes within our population," Dr Banwell says.

"Foot care is incredibly important for people with diabetes, as even one small cut can potentially lead to catastrophic consequences, including foot ulcers, lower limb wounds or amputations."

Diabetic foot disease is one of the leading causes of disability across the world with a mortality rate worse than many cancers. Diabetic Foot Australia estimates that on any given day 300,000 people are at risk of developing diabetic foot disease.

In Australia, diabetes causes more than 4400 amputations, and 10,000 hospital admissions for diabetes-related foot ulcers, many of which end with a limb or part of a limb amputated.

"Over the past two decades we've seen a 30 per cent increase in lower limbs amputation rates," Dr Banwell says.

"About 85 per cent of these are preceded by a foot ulcer and could be prevented with appropriate care.

"The most effective way to manage these conditions is to medically remove dead or damaged skin to expose the healthy skin underneath and encourage healing. But learning the necessary scalpel skills to do this is challenging due to the risks of 'practicing' on a such a high-risk population.

"The 3D foot models - and the mock injuries with which we enhance them- enable us to provide a realistic but safe learning tool for students to practice their scalpel skills, before they begin clinical placements, and all without the stress or anxiety of treating a real patient."

To support the training, ulcer debridement and management videos are being developed in partnership with the via the NADC accredited high-risk foot clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

"New technologies are opening doors every day," Dr Banwell says. "Our 3D injury-enhanced foot models are a meeting of creative minds and new technologies, and we're very pleased with the result.

"When the students encounter the models, we know they'll be pleasantly (or perhaps unpleasantly) surprised. Either way, we're sure they'll be gaining the confidence, techniques and critical skills that will place them steps ahead of the competition."

The new training with 3D foot models officially kicks off on Monday 1 April (no joke).

Notes to editors:

* UniSA is also trialling 3D printed 'baby legs' in podiatry paediatric teaching sessions to allow students hands-on practice for clubfoot casting.

###

Media: Annabel Mansfield: office +61 8 8302 0351 | mobile: +61 417 717 504

email: Annabel.Mansfield@unisa.edu.au

Researchers: Dr Helen Banwell office: | +61 8 830 21256 | email: Helen.Banwell@unisa.edu.au Dr Ryan Causby office: | +61 8 830 21274 | email: Ryan.Causby@unisa.edu.au

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
So you may have read that Trump's Justice Department just officially agreed with a conservative federal court judge in Texas who, last December, ruled that the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as "Obamacare"), which now covers millions of Americans, should be totally killed.

Does that mean it will be? No. The case now goes before the right-leaning Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana, but regardless of how that court rules, the case will almost certainly be appealed to the Supreme Court -- although it's not clear if that would happen before or after the 2020 elections. So for the time being, the ACA is fine -- but it may not always be.

Here, we try to answer some other key questions for you.

What Does This Mean for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)?

PLWHA are big beneficiaries of the ACA in many ways. Many of us (including this writer) get our health care on the private ACA marketplace and either pay for it ourselves, get federal subsidies, or get the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) to pay our premiums and copays. The ACA's Medicaid expansion in several states has come to cover health care for an estimated 40% of all Americans living with HIV, so that's huge. Many PLWHA are covered by Medicare, whose patient costs the ACA regulates in many ways. And the ACA protects coverage for people with pre-existing conditions; requires that plans cover certain "essential benefits" such as prescription drugs, labs, and mental health; and prohibits the selling of so-called "junk plans" that give patients precious little protection or coverage for their buck. So obviously all these things are huge not just for PLWHA, but for anyone with pre-existing conditions and/or serious health needs.

"If you're a young adult living with HIV between the ages of 18 and 26, you can stay on your parents' plan under ACA, so you'd lose that," adds Mark Hannay, director with Metro New York Health Care for All. And with the end of Medicaid expansion, which under ACA is mostly federally funded, "most states would probably be compelled to shut down their Medicaid expansion, and a lot of people would be thrown back on ADAP, the payer of last resort for PLWHA, which would be very burdensome on the program." You may remember its funding shortfalls and nerve-racking drug waitlists in the 2000s and even into the 2010s.

Are There Other Ways PLWHA and Others Would Suffer?

Yes. Expanded Medicaid has become a huge payer of treatment for opioid addiction. "That affects a lot of Trump's base," says Hannay.

Speaking of That -- Is This a Politically Smart Move for Trump Going Into 2020?

Discounting Trump's die-hard base of about 30%, who would probably go on supporting him if he pushed them off a cliff, probably not. After Congress, goaded by an explosion of activism, saved Obamacare in 2017, polls throughout 2018 found that it was more popular than ever. It has buoyed the health care industry. And exit polls after the 2018 midterms, which turned the House of Representatives over to the Democrats, showed that voters called health care their top issue.

The Justice Department's recent move is "absolutely outrageous," says Jennifer Flynn, a co-organizer of Birddog Nation, a national grassroots network of activists who hound candidates on health care, funded by Housing Works and the Center for Popular Democracy. "It ignores the hundreds of thousands of people who took action in 2017 to save the ACA -- 10,000 distinct actions nationwide, as reported by [House Speaker, Democrat] Nancy Pelosi. It goes against Trump's own advisers. Both houses of Congress voted down the effort to kill ACA. It's just a stupid move to distract people from the illegal actions of the Trump administration and to terrorize people with pre-existing conditions, which is most of us, and people with disabilities or sick kids."

How Should Democrats Respond?

In fact, they already are. Almost simultaneously with the Justice Department move, House Dems unveiled their new plan to beef up the ACA, including lowering premiums, strengthening protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and banning the sale of so-called "junk insurance." And of course, some Democrats -- including many of the 2020 presidential candidates -- are calling for the passage of Medicare for All, a near-universal, government-funded and -run coverage plan that would scrap not only the ACA and other health programs but would kill most of the private health insurance industry.

Flynn calls that idea "amazing. It would recreate the entire health system so we're never in this [precarious] place again." She adds: "It's useful for people to know that if we keep this issue on the public radar through 2020, [Democrats] will sweep those elections. The blue wave of 2018 was also a health care wave. So we have to keep lifting up the fact that we're doing all we can to get more people health care, while their side is doing all they can to strip it away from desperate people."

So What Can You Do?

A lot. "Tell your representatives and senators to tell the Fifth Circuit not to kill the ACA," says Hannay. "And share your health care stories with local media. You can also on-ramp with local pods of big national groups like Families USA."

But if you want to get really active, consider joining -- or even starting -- your local network of Birddog Nation, which will be confronting both Democrat and Republican candidates at events and forums throughout election season, pinning them down on their positions on both saving the ACA and on broader initiatives like (some version of) Medicare for All. Flynn says to email her directly at jflynn@populardemocracy.org.

"When we birddog candidates on this issue, make it the dominant issue in the elections, it weighs on Trump," she says. "And we know that it matters when people show up at the courts when there's a hearing, when they ask their reps to write to the judge."

In other words, she says, "It's just like after Trump's election. Fine -- freak out, but don't do it alone. Hold meetings and get organized!"
The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) has announced that a wide array of military aircraft ranging from historic World War II warbirds to currently active fighters will be on display for the Year of the Fighter at AirVenture 2019 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Special programs and activities highlighting military aircraft will take place throughout the week. Events include the Oshkosh debut of the XP-82 Twin Mustang, a salute to World War II ace Bud Anderson, observance of the 75th anniversary of D-Day, U.S. Air Force Heritage Flights and U.S. Navy Legacy Flights.

According to EAA, the events have been planned in partnership with the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command, EAA Warbirds of America and individual aircraft owners. Oshkosh is known for being a collection of aircraft and people that is unmatched anywhere in the world, and that will again be the case in 2019, said EAA vice president of communities and member programs Rick Larsen. We are grateful to the U.S. Air Force and the Air Combat Command for their assistance and to the EAA Warbirds of America to make possible these kinds of activities, for which AirVenture is known and eagerly anticipated each year.

Aircraft scheduled to attend include examples of the F-15, F-16, F-22, F-35, A-10, P-51, C-47, F4U and others. AirVenture 2019 will take place Monday, July 22 to Sunday July 28, centered around Wisconsins Wittman Airport (OSH).
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Mar 29 2019 8:51 am

[COMMUNICATED] Lakewood and its surrounding communities are a great place to live and work, thats for sure. But have you given much thought to whats in your drinking water?

We open the tap and water comes out. We dont give it much thought. We drink it. We cook with it. We use it in everything we do. But whats in it?

The annual Lakewood Township Drinking water Report (Which can be viewed here: https://www.lakewoodmua.com/consumer_confidence.php ) can be confusing to some people. Not only because it has a lot of small words and hard to decipher tables and information, but because it describes the levels of acceptable contaminants that go into our bodies each time we consume local tap water. (gulp!). Yes, the tap water may meet all government standards to be deemed safe, but many consumers are not comfortable with it so they rely on their favorite brands of bottled water.

It is no wonder that many households, especially those with children and elderly dwellers opt for a something they are more comfortable with: Poland Spring Bottled water in a big 5 gallon BPA-Free bottle with a water cooler delivered by Watchung Beverage Delivery.. Poland Spring is produced using state-of-the-art quality programs to ensure food safety and security and goes through a rigorous 10 step quality assurance process. (Details of this process can be found here:

test.eservice.readyrefresh.com/Documents/ps_BrandWaterQualityReport.pdf )

If you are drinking another brand of bottled water, be sure to look at their water quality report so that you know what you are drinking, as not everything labeled spring water is comparable to real Poland Spring water.

Some people think tap water that goes through a filter in their refrigerator or filter under the sink is pure and free of all contaminants but that too is simply not the case, as not everything labeled Filtered actually removes all the contaminants that are in the water supply.

Poland Spring is 100% natural spring water and is one of Americas favorite bottled water brands and is sourced from carefully selected springs in Maine. Poland Spring is also Lakewoods favorite brand, as thousands of Lakewood homes and offices choose Poland Spring 5 Gallon coolers for their families and employees. Watchung Beverage Delivery, a local, family-owned business, is the regions exclusive distributor of Poland Spring 5 Gallon bottles and coolers has been servicing the community for over 40 years and has an impeccable record of safety, quality and service that cannot be beat.

Watchung water coolers come with child-safety locks, to accommodate households with small children, and having a steady stream of delicious spring water at hand at all times is a perfect solution for large families. Furthermore, Watchung stores their BPA-Free bottles in a temperature controlled environment.

Watchung and Poland Spring are dedicated to providing the safest best tasting 100% natural spring water to ensure the health and well-being of families in the Lakewood area, and with Free delivery and special community pricing options, Watchung is also the affordable and wise option for your water needs.

Call Watchung now to take advantage of the Flash Sale currently in effect for a few more days and get your new cooler before Pesach.. Flash Sale Expires 4/3/19.

Call now. 732-363-0567
Mar 29 2019 3:21 pm

Mueller Report: No Collusion, No Obstruction: Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned in his final report to Attorney General Bill Barr, in which no evidence was shown to corroborate allegations of collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice by President Trump. While Barr made clear that the report did not directly exonerate Trump, there was no reason to believe, based on what was unearthed during Muellers investigation, that the president had done any of the things the Democrats have accused him of for the past two years. A clearly exultant Trump tweeted No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!

Avenatti Arrested  Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Trump and Kavanaugh accusers, was arrested and charged for attempting to extort $20 million from Nike. Avenatti told a Nike official that if his demands were not met, he would use his fame to tank Nikes stock value. In an ironic twist, Avenatti, who for months claimed that President Trumps son Donald Trump Jr. was going to be indicted, was charged for breaking the law just a day after Muellers report showed no wrongdoing by Trump or Trump Jr.

Trump Recognizes Golan As Part Of Israel  During a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump signed a proclamation recognizing the disputed Golan Heights as being part of Israel. The proclamation reverses over 50 years of US policy in which the Golan Heights was not considered to be Israel, but rather disputed land. Before rushing back to Israel to deal with bombardments from Gaza, Netanyahu told Trump Israel has never had a better friend than you.

Smollett Charges Dropped  Jussy Smollett caught a massive break after prosecutors dropped charges against the actor for filing a false police report and hate crime. Smollett had caused a national controversy after allegedly telling police he had been beaten by two white men in Chicago, a story which was proven to be fake. Chicagos Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the decision to drop charges a whitewash of justice. No reason was immediately given as to why the charges were dropped.

Trump Sides With Abolishing Obamacare  After failing to get Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare two years ago, the Trump administration put the issue to the side, but not anymore. In a court filing, Justice Department wrote that they support the complete abolishment of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, in line with a ruling from a judge on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit who declared the law unconstitutional. In a Thursday tweet, President Trump wrote The Republican Party will become the Party of Great HealthCare! ObamaCare is a disaster, far too expensive and deductibility ridiculously high  virtually unusable! Moving forward in Courts and Legislatively!

Trump Threatens To Shut Mexico Border  Due to the ongoing crisis of illegal immigrants pouring through the border with Mexico, on Friday morning President Trump threatened that he would completely shut down all border crossings with Mexico if the Mexican government didnt take action. In a series of three tweets, Trump wrote The DEMOCRATS have given us the weakest immigration laws anywhere in the World. Mexico has the strongest, & they make more than $100 Billion a year on the U.S. Therefore, CONGRESS MUST CHANGE OUR WEAK IMMIGRATION LAWS NOW, & Mexico must stop illegals from entering the U.S. .through their country and our Southern Border. Mexico has for many years made a fortune off of the U.S., far greater than Border Costs. If Mexico doesnt immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING .the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week. This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and talk. Besides, we lose so much money with them, especially when you add in drug trafficking etc.), that the Border closing would be a good thing!
Mar 29 2019 11:40 am

Yeshiva Pirchei Shoshanim has announced the opening of the first Shomer Shabbos United States Air Force, Civil Air Patrol Squadron since its founding in 1941. With 1500 Squadrons and 60,000 volunteers and having the largest private air fleet in the country (nearly a 1,000 aircraft), it is a priceless resource never before accessible in a practical sense due to the main training and activities taking place on Shabbos.

Pirchei Shoshanim began as a youth group in the mid 1700s in Lithuania, Poland. Decimated by the pogroms and WW II its activities ceased until sometime after the War. Under the guidance of Rabbi Avigdor Miller Ztl and Rabbi Aryeh Berenbaum Ztl it renewed itself in Kiev with the help of Rabbi Yankel Bleich the Rav of the Ukraine. Today it has grown into the largest organization in the world granting Semicha and teaching most areas of the Shulchan Aruch from its offices in Yerushalayim, Bnei Brak and Lakewood. Pirchei Shoshanim became an endorser of United States of Military Chaplains under the auspices of the Undersecretary of Defense.

Squadrons are planned for Communities from all over the 5 Boros, Monsey, Lakewood, Passiac and many more have contacted YPS from around the United States. Orange County, Calif a suburb of Los Angeles is starting a squadron as well. Caps focus is on cadets 12  19. Senior members are welcomed especially those who are veterans and pilots that are current.

Civil Air Patrol is Americas premier public service organization for carrying out emergency services and disaster relief missions nationwide. As the auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, CAPs vigilant citizen volunteers are there to search for and find the lost, provide comfort in times of disaster and work to keep the homeland safe. Its 60,000 members selflessly devote their time, energy and expertise toward the well-being of their communities, while also promoting aviation and related fields through aerospace education and helping shape future leaders through CAPs cadet program.

Supporting Americas communities with emergency response, diverse aviation and ground services, youth development, and promotion of air, space and cyber power.

Emergency Services

Always prepared, both in the air and on the ground, members of the Civil Air Patrol perform emergency services for state and local agencies as well as the federal government as the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and for states/local communities as a nonprofit organization. Ever vigilant, these true patriots make a difference in their communities, not only to assist in times of disaster but also to search for the lost and protect the homeland.

Aerospace Education

Civil Air Patrols awarding-winning aerospace education program promotes aerospace, aviation and STEM-related careers with engaging, standards-based, hands-on curriculum and activities. It shapes the experiences and aspirations of youth both in and outside of CAPs cadet program.

Cadet Programs

Civil Air Patrols cadet program transforms youth into dynamic Americans and aerospace leaders through a curriculum that focuses on leadership, aerospace, fitness and character. As cadets participate in these four elements, they advance through a series of achievements, earning honors and increased responsibilities along the way. Many of the nations astronauts, pilots, engineers and scientists first explored their careers through CAP.

Since Civil Air Patrols formation during the earliest days of World War II, this vigilant organization of citizen Airmen has been committed to service to America. Founded on Dec. 1, 1941, to mobilize the nations civilian aviation resources for national defense service, CAP has evolved into a premier public service organization that still carries out emergency service missions when needed  in the air and on the ground.

As a Total Force partner and Auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, Civil Air Patrol is there to search for and find the lost, provide comfort in times of disaster and work to keep the homeland safe. Its 60,000 members selflessly devote their time, energy and expertise toward the well-being of their communities, while also promoting aviation and related fields through aerospace/STEM education and helping shape future leaders through CAPs cadet program.

Civil Air Patrols missions for America are many, and todays adults and cadets perform their duties with the same vigilance as its founding members  preserving CAPs 75-year legacy of service while maintaining its commitment to nearly 1,500 communities nationwide.

The origins of Civil Air Patrol date to 1936, when Gill Robb Wilson, World War I aviator and New Jersey director of aeronautics, returned from Germany convinced of impending war. Wilson envisioned mobilizing Americas civilian aviators for national defense, an idea shared by others.

In Ohio, Milton Knight, a pilot and businessman, organized and incorporated the Civilian Air Reserve (CAR) in 1938. Other military-styled civilian aviation units emerged nationwide, training for homeland defense.

In 1941, Wilson launched his perfected program: the Civil Air Defense Services (CADS). That summer, tasked by Fiorello H. LaGuardia (New York mayor and director of the federal Office of Civilian Defense and also a World War I aviator), Wilson, publisher Thomas H. Beck and newspaperman Guy P. Gannett proposed Wilsons CADS program as a model for organizing the nations civilian aviation resources.

Their proposal for a Civil Air Patrol was approved by the Commerce, Navy, and War departments in November, and CAP national headquarters opened its doors on Dec. 1, under the direction of national commander Maj. Gen. John F. Curry. Existing CADS, CAR and other flying units soon merged under the CAP banner. Public announcement of CAP and national recruiting commenced on Dec. 8.

World War II and Postwar/1941-1948

In January 1942, German submarines began attacking merchant vessels along the East Coast. With the military unable to respond in force, CAP established coastal patrol flights to deter, report and prevent enemy operations.

From March 1942 through August 1943, armed CAP aircraft at 21 coastal patrol bases extending from Maine to the Mexican border patrolled the waters off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Their success in thwarting submarine attacks and safeguarding shipping lanes led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9339 on April 29, 1943, transferring CAP from the Office of Civilian Defense to the Department of War.

At its establishment, CAP made no provision for the participation of youth. On Oct. 1, 1942, CAP leaders issued a memorandum creating the CAP Cadet Program for boys and girls ages 15 to 18. The cadet program proved to be a powerful force for imparting practical skills and preparing teenagers for the military and other wartime service agencies.

CAPs male and female volunteers engaged in an array of wartime missions. These included aircraft warning, southern liaison patrol duty along the Mexican border, courier service, missing aircraft searches, disaster relief, tow target and tracking operations, forest patrols and many others. For more information, you can call 732-370-3344, or email Mordechai Eyal at meyal@hc.cap.gov.
One artist on display in this exciting exhibition is German artist and Royal Academy graduate Marianne Thoermer. These semi-figurative monotype glass prints are created from a variety of materials such as plaster, latex, and wax, all of which are placed onto Perspex glass, then moulded and scraped until complete. The end result of a laborious process is a three-dimensional painting that is supposed to attract and repel the audience at once. These vibrant works arouse feelings of tactility, creating an immersive sensory experience.

After graduating from Chelsea College of Arts with an MA in Fine art, Xuesen Liu has focused on the creation of works that resonate beyond the visual sphere, tapping into themes of inner peace and meditation. Lius sculpture and video piece Genesis plays into ideas of anticipation, what the artist himself calls the suspension of emotions. The work sees a male figure swinging a ceremonial sword towards a meditative singing bowl, before abruptly stopping before the bowl is struck. The audience is left anticipating the hit, yet never experiences it. The strength of quietude replaces the impending blow, a reflection of Lius personal views on peace and contemplation. I am a yoga teacher certified by the Yoga Institute, Lu explained, emphasising the importance of his experiences with the art of meditation and how this has influenced his work. There is an element of frozen time in Genesis, ephemerality that roots the body in a particular moment. Liu claims that this feeling is echoed in his method of creating art: my past is my work, my work is my passing. The artists decision to withhold from hitting the bowl heightens the senses, yet leaves the audience in suspense, successfully alerting the audience to the powers of silence and the importance of inner harmony.

Xuesen Liu, Genesis, 2018. Photo courtesy Fiumano Clase.

Multi-disciplined American artist Marijke Keyser has recently graduated from Slade School of Art and is showing one of her innovative sound installations in this exhibition. This particular work on display, Time Piece, consists of a number of bells in close proximity, experimenting with ideas of sound and the human body.Keyser is particularly inspired by the relationship between landscape, sound and people, and the intricate interactions between the three. Sound carries so much information with it when it arrives, Keyser exclaims, As the listener, I become localised by what I hear. My body is caught in the crossed paths of sounds from the landscape around me. Its a very strange sensation - a part of me is five miles away with the engine of a jet, and yet part of me is anchored here, zero miles from myself, listening to it.

An example of one of Marijke Keyser's sound works, Time Thicket, 2018. Photo courtesy Fiumano Clase.

here

This relationship with nature is built from personal experiences. I grew up on the West Coast of the United States, where the trees are much older than the cities, and the mountains constantly bracket the view, Keyser explained, but her thoughts of landscape as ever-evolving came from the constant changes occurring in urban areas. This obsession, the artist says, arose from my first experiences with the dizzying layers of European cities. Roman tunnels, Victorian houses, bridges bombed and rebuilt. The artist's process of creating is loaded with importance, Keyser claims. Every sound in the world is already the result of a long process. My job is just to try and get across that physicality, that sense of history. Keysers bells unite sound and body, alerting the audience to their positions in their surroundings, playing with ideas of perception and orientation of the body. This unique and personal experience is explained by Keyser: I just make the work for my own ears, my own discernment. I suppose intimacy happens naturally in my work because I am being intimate with my material.Where Lius work is rooted in the present, and Thoermer's work lacks the presence of time, Keysers pieces thrive off of narration and dialogue. I see stories everywhere, and I find them fascinating, and I want to share that feeling. So, I make work.
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The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

March 29, 2019

A month or two ago, I was awakened to reports of a massive resignation of staff from The Inquirer newspaper. According to FrontPage Africa, at least five staff of The Inquirer threw in the towel in a bid to form The Independent Inquirer which is reportedly government-backed.



The paper went on to quote an impeccable source who informed it that it is part of a plan for the setting up of alternative media with similar names to existing media houses deemed critical of the government.



This was further bandied and expanded on by Atty. Phillip Wesseh, Publisher of The Inquirer, when he appeared as a guest on the popular talk show 50-50 alongside Phillibert Browne, Publisher of The Hot Pepper and was hosted by T. Max Jlateh. Atty. Wesseh hinted that Finance Minister Tweah is behind the moves to sabotage his paper. So much more than it even claimed the attention of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) based in New York. The group issued a stinging press release against the Weah led government.



From an outsiders perspective and considering the ongoing spat between the government and the media, it would seem or appear that to some extent, there is a level of truism in Atty Wessehs claims. But, is that so?



The Liberian media has been faced with repeated and chronic underdevelopment since the ushering of a free but sometimes intimidated press reign since the ascendancy of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2006 as President of Liberia. Though Sirleaf has passed the baton to President Weah, her legacy of an un-intimidated and free press is swirling.



During this time and recognizing the capacity needs of the media, there was an upsurge of support to the Liberian media by many INGOs in order to boost morale and build capacity. It was a fact that most journalists could not construct a fitting sentence; much less comprehend what there were writing about.



In this regard, Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) based in Canada partnered with the Daily Observer, FrontPage Africa, New Democrat, Inquirer, and Truth FM to train reporters in Human Rights reporting. New Narratives partnered with FrontPage Africa and other media outlets to train reporters on how to report on various fields, ranging from justice, extractive industry, human rights, etc. It is from these trainings which saw Mae Azango, Wade Williams (who currently lives in America), Clara Mallah, Bettie Johnson-Mbayo and others scooping many an award from across the world.



While some of these partnerships have helped lifted the media to some extent, others amounted to naught but failure. The IREX pet project is a case in point. Headed by Bill Burke, it soon folded up following the miscarriage of funds to support media institutions which was only done through many countless but useless workshops (which yielded no impact) and not hands-on training.



This caused the publisher of FrontPage Africa, Rodney D. Sieh, not to commit his paper as he believed that Liberian media has surpassed workshop stage and needed, tools, hands-on training and the pairing of local journalists to their foreign counterparts. However, for reasons which are still being dug into, the Liberia Women Democracy Radio in Congo Town is said to be the only media institution which benefited from the IREX program monetarily. Learning from the failures of IREX, its successor, Internews, is treading carefully not to befall the fate of its predecessor.



As the capacity of Liberian journalists improved, so too did the income of media houses; many publishers and owners could now afford to build big homes and buy big SUVs and have weddings one could only imagine while watching EL News. However, the growth in the revenues of media houses became akin to what Liberia experienced in the 1960s when its growth rate was on par with Japan, but nothing could be shown for such high growth rates.



Many journalists received paltry incomes from their employers. Compromise became the order of the day as many stories were. Kato became the surname of many journalists. At the Inquirer newspaper where over most of its staff resigned, it ranked amongst the lowest on the salary scale for staff of newspapers, though its been in the business for nearly three decades.



Some reporters were making as low as $40 USD. Consider it a pittance, as you would, but it wasnt forthcoming for months on end. One can certainly deduce by whatever reasoning that no one would wish to be working under such slavish conditions and yet no compensation and when it does come, its at the discretion of the boss. Meanwhile, Atty. Wissehs bread is buttered uninterruptedly.



Has anyone wondered WHY Philibert Browne of the Hot Pepper newspaper has only one reporter and editor, Jah Johnson? Mr. Browne drives around the city in a fleet of expensive Chevrolet Suburban SUVs. He regularly travels to London for medical treatment.



The New Democrat newspaper finds itself in similar situation. Its current proprietress, Mrs. Rachel Nurse-Kamara, has also been tightfisted to pay her employees. This is a situation which started brewing since the passing of husband, Tom Kamara. The paper has taken a nosedive. The first reporter to take an exit was Boima J.V. Boima, currently at LBS as deputy director general. A. Abbas Dulleh, Leroy Nyan, Abdullah Dukuly and others have followed. No matter how hard Festus Poquie thinks he can be the flame burning, he too would soon become weary and take a bow.



At the Daily Observer newspaper, the situation is depressing. Its staff has not taken a salary for eight months. While this has been undergoing, the Managing Director of the corporation which owned the newspaper, Bai Best, married in a lavish celebrity styled wedding ceremony at the ranch of John T. Richardson in Virginia. Some estimates have put the cost of the wedding at over US$10,000money which could have been used to pay its staff. One of its editors, Omari Jackson, has resigned and returned to the States. Layout editor and graphic designer, Tete Bropleh has also left. How long can John H.T. Stewart, C.Y. Kwanue, William Harmon, Gloria Tamba, Joaquin Sendolo and others continue to hold on? That is still a thought looming in infancy stage.



Sky FM of T. Max Jlateh is no different. Many of its reporters from the news department, including Julius Konton whos now with KMTV left due to low and unstable wages. However, the owners drive luxurious Mitsubishi SUVs and remain impervious to the welfare of their employees.



The News newspaper, owned by the current Minister of Commerce and former Vice President of the University of Liberia, Prof. Wilson Tarpeh, Necus Andrews, Fahngohn and others are always at the mercy of the boss for their wages. Others like George Bardue Victor the layout editor who cannot hold on any longer have jumped ship.



Mohammed Kannehs Heritage newspaper is also in the rank of the Inquirer on salary scale. The paper cannot boast of having five reporters in its newsroom. Emmanuel Wade Conway, Edward Bortue and haggard looking Calvin are the only newsroom staff in addition to the business department. Meanwhile, Kamara flourishes, much to the detriment of his staff.



At the Capitol Times Radio and newspaper, Chris Wolloh is struggling to pay his employees. Edward Blamo, Molly Dukuly, and others have left. The paper is practically closed. The radio is no longer the way it once was. The audience base has dwindled and many of its on-air announcers have left, including Grace Weah, also known as the Master Queen. Nekerwon Gweh is struggling to fill the shoes of Boakai Fofanah on the Capitol Breakfast Club.



President Weahs Kings FM employees recently staged a protest over unpaid salaries. The protest was a big display on social media. The situation is also not unique to the private media. Over the years, the Liberia Broadcasting System has seen its budget slashed as well. Prior to her appointment as deputy director general, Tetee Gebro sought and gained employment with UNMIL radio.



Many journalists, realizing this, have moved unto lucrative PR positions in the government and private sector. D. Kahienneh Singbe is currently the manager of PR at Liberia Revenue Authority, Samwar Fallah is PR manager for Sime Darby; David Kolleh and Boimah J.V. Boimah, Boakai Fofanah, work in the governments PR machinery; Danesius Marteh is communications officer for the LFA; Martina Brooks has been off to Sudan working with the UN Volunteers; Patrick Honnah left to join Sirleafs government and is now at Firestone following failed attempts to get a license from the government to open his radio station; Smith Toby was recruited from his stimulating talk-show on OK FM to be deputy presidential press secretary; Augustine Hammelburg has been sent to Berlin as press attache at the Liberian Embassy; Nat Nyuan Bayjay is in Abuja as press attache at the Embassy of Liberia.



However, Prof. Prue Clarke, Executive Director of New Narratives and director of international reporting at the City University of New York (CUNY) blames the exodus of seasoned Liberian journalists to lucrative PR jobs to the aid from western donors. In an article titled, How Foreign Aid Fuels African Media Payola Problem, she argued development agencies fork out vast sums to sway African journalists.



Only one media institution is unblemished from this gross violation of human, labor and people rights. FrontPage Africa, since its presence on the scene in November 2009, the paper has remained consistent in the payment and upping of salaries of its employees. It is said that no employee of FPA misses payday. Possibly, it could be the underlying reason for the departure of Alaskai Moore Johnson from Daily Observer to FPA. Why is that not so of other media institutions?



In this entire situation, the Press Union of Liberia continues to be silent on the welfare of its members. One would think that they would raise loud their voices as they do when they want to ingratiate themselves with the government or whenever there is an alleged attack on a media institution.



This is indeed an attack on the media, and it is NOT from the government but the media itself. In these trying and precarious economic times, journalists have families whose mouths have to be fed. Media owners must realize this instead of scapegoating and trying to blame loose lip sinks ship loud mouth and fast-talking Minister of Finance, Samuel Tweah for the weaponization of the media.



No matter these stacked odds, journalists have been doing their utmost best in news coverage and the analysis of events as they unfold. Will their bosses commend these efforts with the payment of due wages?



About the author: K. Forh Yancy is a U.S. based researcher currently in the employ of the Liberia Institute for Public Administration.


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MBABANE  Asian Muslims in Eswatini have stepped up to help Mozambique Cyclone Idai victims.



A large number of Muslim businesspeople who operate various enterprises have donated a total of E42 000 for the cause in Mozambique.

Mohsim Buhuro, the owner of Select Mobile, said when he saw on the news that Mozambique was flooded after the cyclone, he decided to speak to many Muslims in the kingdom and requested them to contribute any amount of money to assist the cyclone victims.



When I calculated all the money, it came up to E42 000.

Jabbir Bhagabhai also commented and said: I thought it imperative to help because Almighty Allah says in the Quran that we should have mercy on others so that He has mercy on us.

A time like this avails a real opportunity for someone to help the next person. Even the Bible says the same. That is why we asked how we could help people who have been affected by such a disaster. If I am eating in my house and my neighbour is hungry, desperate with no house and food, the Quran asks how you can be happy when others are not happy.



The money was donated through the Times of Swaziland and will be used to purchase many essentials for the cyclone victims.



Blankets



These items include blankets, pots and buckets, among many others.



The local Muslim community joins reputable other companies which have also stood up to be counted among those who have given a helping hand to the cyclone victims.

The newspapers News Editor, Cassandra Shaw, appreciated the kind gesture from the Muslim community.



We have opened our hands for any person or organisation to provide help for this good cause. The people of Eswatini are lucky that they did not experience the effects of the cyclone and as a neighbouring country, it is important that we show solidarity with our Mozambican brothers and sisters, she said.



NB: If you want to make a donation, contact Nokuphila Mabuza on 7824 6619.
MBABANE  While corporal punishment was banned in public schools, a 12-year-old pupil of Mkhuzweni Primary School received 25 strokes as chastisement from her teacher.



So serious were the injuries sustained by *Nonhle such that her fingers were fractured and she had to be taken to hospital, where her wrist had to be put in plaster of paris.

Narratinag the incident, his father, *Mandla, stated that the pupil had an asthma attack on the morning and she had to go to hospital and as a result she missed classes.



He stated that he received a call from the school informing him that his daughter had an asthma attack. He then asked for her to be given a refundable E30 to get to where he was so he could take her to hospital.

The father said little did she know that missing classes was going to lend her (daughter) in trouble.



Dlamini stated that information he got from his child was that, the following morning, when she went to class, her teacher had a quiz prepared based on what was learnt the previous day, only to find that she did not know a thing.

The quiz had 25 questions and a wrong answer came with one stroke.



Nohle got all 25 strokes as she obtained zero in the quiz.

This resulted in her sustaining serious injuries such that she fractured some of her fingers. She was not the only one who was punished as her other classmates received 18- 20 strokes depending on how many questions they did not get right.

A teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said other parents came to complain to the schools head teacher about the beating of their children.



Angry



Dlamini stated that he was angry and disappointed by the act of the teacher as he said the child could not do anything due to the injuries she sustained from the beating.

He further stated that if he could, he would fire the teacher as her act did not prove to be the one of a teacher.

He said the duty of a teacher was to teach, not to break childrens fingers. He further mentioned that she (teacher) was out there enjoying her money while he was paying for medical expenses.

What worried Mandla was how his daughter would be able to write.



He further explained that the seriousness of the issue led to the hospital demanding a letter from the police that would allow them to treat the child. He stated that he went to the Mafutseni Police Station to report the matter.

When the implicated teacher was called for comment, she hung up on this reporter and ignored further calls.



The Regional Education Officer of Manzini, Mlimi Mamba, confirmed to have attended to the case. He further stated that he had nothing much to say as the matter was now in court.



Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the matter being reported at the Mafutseni Police Station and further stated that investigations were ongoing.

This incident follows that of another teacher who was alleged to have given six pupils 20 strokes on the buttocks.
MBABANE  The expatriate lecturer accused of raping a student at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) has been arrested.

The lecturer is said to have been arrested yesterday at about 2pm by members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). His arrest comes after students at the institution had picketed and boycotted classes, seeking that he be brought to book for his alleged act.



The lecturer, who is under the Faculty of Science and Engineering, had received a letter of suspension from the administration of the institution pending the completion of the investigations by law enforcers following accusations that he had sexually violated a 21-year-old female student.



The arrest of the lecturer was confirmed by the Deputy Police Information and Communication Officer, Inspector Nosipho Mnguni.

Yes, he was arrested and hell appear in court tomorrow, she said.



Ecstatic



The SRC Chairperson of UNESWAs Kwaluseni Campus, Sakhile Ndzimandze, was ecstatic about the developments and said this would bring relief to the students of his faculty. He said the relief would be in the form of not seeing him roam the campus.

Even though he was suspended, the suspension was for him not to teach at the university and not to walk about. So, his arrest will keep him caged, away from the students, Ndzimandze said.

Meanwhile, the arrested lecturer was suspended with another member of the academic staff, who is also in the same faculty.



This lecturer was accused of physically assaulting a pregnant student.



Their alleged conduct had prompted students to express their frustration with graffiti. The students, on Wednesday morning, abandoned classes and galvanised their companions in a class boycott against the duo.

During their picketing and class boycott, some of the students expressed their frustrations over the lecturers by inscribing what they thought of them. In red, on the door of the office lecturer accused of sexually violating their 21-year-old colleague, the students inscribed some graffiti and also pinned placards that were addressing the lecturer on the alleged sexual violation of the student. Some of what was written by the students cannot be repeated because of its sensitive nature.

On the lecturers door accused of beating a pregnant student, the students inscribed sesidziniwe nguwe  meaning we are tired of you.



The defacing of the offices, according to Ndzimandze, was something the student leaders were against. He said even though they did not condone it, they understood that the students were frustrated by the gruesome acts allegedly committed by the accused.

It was not a good move but I think it is because they were angry.



Before painting the doors to the offices of the lecturers, the students had expressed that they did not want to see them in the campuss premises, by locking the office of the lecturer accused of rape.

They had used their own padlock to do so. The enraged students had resolved to lock the office of the expatriate lecturer as they did not want to see him in the institution.

To this, Professor Justice Thwala, the Vice Chancellor of UNESWA, acknowledged that the students had vented their frustration through graffiti.



Wiped



They had written on the doors of the lecturers but fortunately it was something that could be wiped away, the professor said. Professor Thwala further applauded the students for being well-behaved during their protests.

He said the institution had suspended the two male lecturers following the intensity of the allegations levelled against them.



He said subsequent to the suspension of the lecturers, the university had to use one of its statutes due to the status of the allegations that were levelled against the lecturers.

Through the use of the statute, we had to separate the alleged perpetrators and the survivors  thus their suspension. He said while the duo has been suspended, mitigation factors have been put in place so that the students do not suffer while investigations into the alleged instances of assault are ongoing.



The claims were reported to the police and the accused will have an opportunity to present their side of the story. That said, we express heartfelt empathy to the students and parents as they are traumatised.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Ndzimandze  the President of the Student Representative Council (SRC), said the students could not sit and ignore the gross violation of human rights by those in power.



Wayward



He said they (students) felt the institution was no longer safe for them. The students leader said they had engaged the vice chancellor about wayward conduct allegedly exhibited by the staff of the institution towards female students.

He said the students demanded that the survivors of the assault be afforded proper counselling. Ndzimandze said this stance was taken following that one of the students came across her alleged abuser along the corridors on Tuesday. To this, Professor Thwala said the institution had already instructed the office of the DSA to afford the survivors counselling.



This, the vice chancellor said, was a service that was part of the services offered by the office of the DSA.

Ndzimandze said students had informed the administration that they did not need to see the alleged perpetrators of the violence within the campus as that would continuously traumatise the survivors. We dont care about the ongoing processes; we just dont need to see them at the campus.



The irate students said they were very much disappointed by the male lecturers behaviour, which had disintegrated to a low that made them regard female students as items they could use and dispose of at their convenience.
Sudanese police fired tear gas at protesters defying a nationwide state of emergency on Thursday, with demonstrations in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere, witnesses said.

Protests and deadly clashes have rocked Sudan for more than three months, fuelled by accusations that the government has mismanaged the economy, causing food prices to soar and creating shortages of fuel and foreign currency.

On Thursday protesters demonstrated in Khartoum\s Burri and Bahari districts as well as in Omdurman, the capital\s twin city, witnesses said.

They were swiftly tear gassed by riot police.

Protesters also rallied in the town of Madani, southeast of the capital, and in a town in the state of North Kordofan, witnesses told AFP by telephone.

"Protesters chanted anti-government slogans as they gathered in Madani\s main market, but they were confronted with tear gas," a resident of Madani said on condition of anonymity.

Protesters also came out on the streets in the eastern border town of Kasala, witnesses said.

Protests first erupted on December 19 in the central town of Atbara in response to a government decision to triple the price of bread.

They swiftly escalated into nationwide demonstrations calling for an end to the rule of President Omar al-Bashir, who swept to power in a 1989 coup.

Bashir has remained defiant, and following an initial crackdown on protests he imposed a year-long state of emergency, which parliament later cut to six months.

Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence, but Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at 51, including children and medics.

Several demonstrators have been jailed by special emergency courts set up to investigate violations of the state of emergency.

Since the new measures came into effect, the scale and intensity of protests have shrunk, with once daily demonstrations turning into weekly rallies, usually on Thursdays.

The movement, seen by analysts as the biggest challenge yet to Bashir\s rule, was initially led by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA).

Several political parties have since then joined the SPA to form an umbrella group called the Alliance for Freedom and Change to call for protests against the veteran leader\s rule.

SOURCE: AFP
Israel confirmed Thursday it carried out an airstrike the night before in northern Syria while a war monitoring group said the attack killed an Iranian and six Iraqi fighters allied with President Bashar Assad\s government forces.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the strike on Wednesday night targeted an Iranian weapons depot and also wounded several other fighters.

Syrian state media said the country\s air defenses responded to an "Israeli air aggression" targeting positions in an industrial area northeast of the city of Aleppo, causing material damage only.

The Israeli military does not usually comment on reports concerning its airstrikes in neighboring Syria though it has recently acknowledged striking Iranian targets in Syria.

Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz referred to the latest strike in an interview with Israel Radio on Thursday.

"According to sources, it\s Israel," Katz said. "As the Syrians say and responded, it\s Israel. According to what Iran knows, it\s Israel."

Iran is an ally of Damascus and has offered military advisers, sent militiamen and material support to help Assad\s government forces in the eight-year civil war.

Israel considers Iran a national security threat and says it won\t tolerate Irans presence on its borders.

SOURCE: AP
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Social Media Gaining Influence in Institutional Asset Management

Institutional investors are increasingly looking to their most trusted asset managers for market research, and are now more than ever finding that content via social media.

According to new data from Greenwich Associates, 22% of institutional investors from North America, Europe and Asia named trust in the brand as the most important factor in selecting an asset manager, compared to 21% citing the ability to achieve high returns.

Our data shows that, increasingly, the best way create a trusted brand is by delivering insightful and relevant content through digital media, says Dan Connell, Greenwich Associates Managing Director and co-author of the new report Investing in the Digital Age: Medias Role in the Institutional Investor Engagement Journey.

In the report, Greenwich Associates data highlights how institutional investors are consuming and using content via digital and social media:

68% of investors used social media to research asset management firms in 2018, up from 36% in 2015.

63% of institutional investors now consume social media while less than half regularly consume finance-specific trade publications.

86% of investors say they take action on content they receive, with 41% doing so at least weekly.

While the ability of asset managers to achieve specific investment goals is paramount, they need to fully embrace and take advantage of the evolving media landscape, says Brad Tingley Market Structure and Technology Analyst at Greenwich Associates and the reports co-author.

Investing in the Digital Age: Medias Role in the Institutional Investor Engagement Journey examines the investors journey throughout the manager selection process and analyzes the importance of digital media channels, the use of content types and formats, social vs. traditional news media, the trust factor, and keys to continuous engagement.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:
(March 29, 2019) -- There is evidence that federal charging practices vary across district courts. Experts state that several court characteristics impact what charges might be pursued for similarly situated defendants.

UTSA professors of public policy Richard Hartley and Rob Tillyer studied what factors affect the determination by prosecutors to decline to charge someone arrested for a federal crime.

Recent research regarding decision-making in federal criminal courts has revealed disparities related to charging decisions, charge reductions, guilty pleas, pleas rewards, trial penalties, selection processes in screening, and between prosecutor variation in plea bargaining.

The purpose of their current research is to understand prosecutorial discretion and its influence as gate keeper of the federal criminal justice system and whether this might benefit or disadvantage certain types of defendants.

In the current research, Hartley and Tillyer examined charge changes and prosecutors decisions to decline to pursue a case.

We know that the decisions made by prosecutors (prosecutorial decisions) are highly discretionary and that these decisions affect later stage decisions such as those of sentencing judges, however, one of the main obstacles in exploring these cumulative effects has been the lack of, or availability of, data said Hartley.

Prosecutors discretion extends over investigations, initial or indictment information charges, declination and dismissal outcomes and the guilty plea process that includes pleas to charges, charge reduction fact bargaining and sentencing recommendations.

To overcome the limitation of a lack of knowledge of prosecutorial decisions, the researchers linked data on federal arrests to data on prosecutorial charging decisions producing a data set that covers 10 years and has nearly one million cases. The source of the data sets they merged is the Federal Justice Statistics database house within the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). Their project was sponsored by a grant from the National Institute of Justice.

Hartley and Tillyer sought to explore the factors influencing a prosecutors decision to proceed with charges or not against an individual arrested for a federal offense. Given the decision to proceed, they also wanted to examine if the charge sought was similar or different from the original arresting charge? Did the type of case, or defendant characteristics have an impact on the prosecutors decision to proceed with charges and the any differences between the arresting charge and the final charge? Further, did those decisions vary by district?

The research showed that federal prosecutors declined to prosecute in about one quarter of all cases across the 10 years of data but this percentage varied by type of offense. Violent and drug cases were most likely to be declined for prosecution while immigration offenses had the highest likelihood to be prosecuted.

Hartley says there are several reasons related to these outcomes. To prosecute a drug related charge, for example, significant evidence must be gathered and presented. In immigration cases, a lack of proper documentation to be present in the country can be sufficient in prosecuting the offense.

Regarding legally relevant factors, the researcher found offenders with more charges were more likely to have their case declined for prosecution in a federal court. Part of the explanation for this might be that in the federal system 90 percent of defendants plead guilty through some sort of plea agreement.

Having more charges against you, therefore, may increase the possibility that defendants do not enter into a plea agreement and the prosecutor has to examine how the case might be viewed at trial which could result in a higher likelihood of declining to prosecute the case. It may also be that a state- or county-level prosecutor agrees to prosecute the case due to overlapping jurisdiction and therefore the federal prosecutor declines to prosecute the case in federal court.

The UTSA researchers also found some differences in these decisions across gender and race. Their analyses revealed that men and non-white defendants were more likely to have their cases declined for prosecution, however men also comprised 90 percent of offenders in the data.

Regarding race, there is some evidence that non-white defendants are less likely to cooperate with officials. Another possible explanation is that African American and Native American defendants are more likely to be arrested on lesser evidence. A prosecutor therefore may decline to prosecute the case because of a lack of evidence.

Hartley and Tillyer also looked at the types of offenses prosecuted, such as trafficking of controlled substances, violent offenses and weapon violations. At the district level, they found that districts with higher caseloads were less likely decline cases for prosecution but that this might be due to the types of cases that certain districts prosecute more often.

Hartley and Tillyers research is one of seven publications that is featured in the latest edition of Justice Quarterly, an academic journal covering criminology and criminal justice.
UW Board of Trustees Approves New Degree Programs

Responding to Wyoming workforce needs, the University of Wyoming will offer three new bachelors degree programs starting this fall.

The UW Board of Trustees Thursday approved new bachelors degrees in general studies; elementary and special education; and art education.

The universitys strategic plan, Breaking Through: 2017-2022, calls for development of academic programs that address workforce needs of the state and region, Provost Kate Miller says. The new Bachelor of General Studies provides a high-quality and flexible degree option for nontraditional and transfer students, making a college degree more accessible to the many adult Wyomingites with some college credits but no degree. And the elementary/special education and art education degrees will help fill critical needs for teachers in our states public schools.

Bachelor of General Studies

The Bachelor of General Studies is a multidisciplinary program intended to facilitate degree completion for students at UWs Laramie and Casper campuses, as well as throughout the state via distance education. It provides a strong pathway to a bachelors degree for the estimated 80,000 adults in Wyoming who have some college credits but no degrees, as well as for students to transfer to UW with excess hours to complete a bachelors degree before exhausting their federal financial aid availability.

Additionally, the new degree provides a viable option for students with associate degrees in general studies from Wyoming community colleges who might not otherwise continue their education.

With a focus on providing a bachelors degree, particularly for students who may have accrued significant numbers of credit in multiple areas but have not met specific degree course requirements, this program is designed to ensure that more students complete bachelors degrees, which will allow these graduates to obtain employment that requires at least a bachelors degree more readily, Miller says. The Bachelor of General Studies also will help Wyoming achieve its educational attainment goal of 67 percent of Wyomings working-age population holding postsecondary certificates or degrees by 2025.

Students enrolling in the program -- who must have previously completed 60 credit hours of coursework -- will select two focus areas of study from 16 wide-ranging focus areas across the university. Each student will be assigned a professional adviser from the college that houses the students primary focus area, with 39 additional credits required for graduation.

The Bachelor of General Studies also is intended to replace three distributed degree programs -- the humanities and fine arts distributed major, the social science distributed major, and the mathematics and science distributed major -- that have been identified for elimination by UW.

Bachelor of Arts in Elementary and Special Education

This new UW College of Education degree program provides dual majors in both elementary and special education, so graduates will be equipped to teach students in K-6 classrooms as well as students with disabilities at all grade levels. The objective is to address the shortage of teachers in Wyoming, particularly special education teachers.

This range of expertise positions graduates to better serve all students within multiple educational settings and provides flexibility within districts to shift teaching roles when demand necessitates, Miller says. Not only does this dual licensure program support local school district demand, but it also better prepares pre-service teachers to meet the unique needs of a diverse population of students.

The degree will be offered through in-person instruction as well as distance technologies. The latter option has been developed in response to input from school administrators across Wyoming.

Administrators pushed the need to grow their own special education teachers and allow for an option that would allow community members and in-house employees, often paraprofessionals, to earn their degrees while maintaining their connections to the community, their families and their jobs, Miller says. Some districts have shared a willingness to provide financial support or incentives to these individuals.

Of the 1,032 special education teachers currently working in Wyoming, 46 are doing so under an exception authorization license, meaning theyre not fully qualified.

Rather than individuals working on a provisional license as a result of Wyoming districts lacking an adequate candidate pool, districts need highly qualified and fully licensed special education teachers, Miller says. This new degree program is intended to fill that need.

Bachelor of Arts in Art Education

This new degree program is a reorganization and rehousing of a program that had been offered by the College of Education. Now housed in the Department of Art and Art History/Visual and Literary Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences, it is intended to fill a need for art teachers in Wyomings K-12 schools.

We are excited to implement this program as a way to create effective, progressive 21st century arts learning opportunities for students in K-12 schools throughout Wyoming and the region, Miller says. Through our art education graduates, we aim to inspire future generations to embrace the visual arts as a means of responding to and understanding the world around them, as well as expressing their personal and cultural identities through the arts.

Geography

In another academic matter, the Board of Trustees approved a proposal to reorganize UWs geography instruction, research and service. That includes elimination of the Department of Geography but retention and review of the Bachelor of Science in geography, which had been proposed for elimination. Oversight of that degree will move to the Department of Geology and Geophysics, at least temporarily.

At the same time, UW is moving forward with a proposed new interdisciplinary program in geospatial information science and technology (GIST).

The discipline of geography is clearly tied to the universitys vision in the way that it seeks to understand the social and environmental challenges of today in order to create a sustainable, diverse and equitable world for tomorrow, Miller says. While it is not in the universitys interest to serve the need for geography research and knowledge with a stand-alone academic department at present, this proposal retains faculty expertise, foundational courses and the major and minor in geography, while simultaneously moving UW in a direction that supports new programs in spatial sciences to meet changing student demands and workforce needs.

All tenure-track, tenured and extended-term academic personnel in the Department of Geography will be moved into academic units suitable to their expertise. No staff positions will be eliminated.

The Department of Geography was the only remaining small department in the College of Arts and Sciences, as the college consolidated from 30 to 21 departments by the end of 2017.

UW also is home to the Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (WyGISC), established in 1996 as an interdisciplinary research center focused on development of geospatial information and technologies and their applications in science, education, government and business. In December 2017, the Provosts Spatial Sciences Initiative Task Force recommended that WyGISC lead the development of a cross-college GIST program to deliver undergraduate, graduate and professional GIST curricula. Notice of intent for the new programs has been approved by the Board of Trustees, and a full feasibility study is underway, with anticipated board consideration later this spring.

UW will continue to provide geography courses for future teachers in the College of Education, through the minor and related coursework.

And the university will remain home to the Wyoming Geographic Alliance (WGA), which promotes geography education across the state -- including hosting the annual National Geographic Society Wyoming Geography Bee. The WGA also provides professional development to K-12 educators.
Members of the West India Gendarmery Corps gather in Christiansted, St. Croix, on Transfer Day, March 31, 1917, when the islands were placed under U.S. Navy administration. There was no government serving the people, as such, and Virgin Islands historians, writers and poets never fail to relate that the naval administration created much discontent.
The demolition of two vacant buildings in downtown New Baltimore is clearing the way for potential new development.

Demolition work on the citys old police station at Washington and Front streets and an adjacent house was nearing completion Friday afternoon as heavy machinery clawed at the remaining pieces of wood, brick and other materials.

Crews began to raze the house, which was located on city-owned property at 36445 Front St., on March 26.

On March 29, they began to tear down the former police station building, which housed the New Baltimore Police Department until 2011, when it moved to its Green Street facility.

New Baltimore City Council members voted 4-1 in February to move forward with the demolition of the two structures as officials look to sell the property.

Its time for us to move forward and do this, council member Carl Weinreich said at the time.

Some city officials expressed concerns about blight and safety issues at the old police station prior to demolition.

The February decision followed a pair of proposals made to the city to purchase six parcels along Washington Street between Main and Front streets. Officials have since decided to retain the property where the citys former recreation building currently sits and plan to build a new recreation facility on the site in the future.

The city requested and received revised proposals from the two developers looking to construct multi-story, mixed-use buildings on the downtown waterfront property. Initial proposals included plans for developments featuring commercial, restaurant and residential space.

Officials are now working with the developers and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to determine if the MEDC can assist with the project.

The demolition and asbestos removal at both sites was completed by Roseville-based Universal Consolidated Engineering at a cost of about $21,650.

Katelyn Larese is a Local News Editor at The Voice. She can be contacted at 586-273-6196 or klarese@medianewsgroup.com.
Chief Minister asks PM May to Revoke Article 50

Reacting to the vote in the House of Commons today on the UK's proposed Withdrawal Agreement, the Chief Minister of Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC MP, said:

"As a result of today's further rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I felt it was incumbent upon me to write to the Prime Minister to reflect the position of Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar, given the changed circumstances that arise from the extension of the Article 50 notification period to 12th April as agreed between the UK Government and the Council of the European Union.

I reminded her that the people of Gibraltar voted in the EU Referendum by a huge margin to remain in the EU, although we accepted that the result of the Referendum was a decision of the British people to leave the EU and that we had worked with her team to carve out protections for Gibraltar in the Withdrawal Agreement.

I recorded the Gibraltar Government's serious concern about a no-deal departure of the UK from the EU, despite the mitigation work we have done for that eventuality.

I told the Prime Minister that, in the circumstances, and whilst we will continue to consider the Withdrawal Agreement as a secure exit route for Gibraltar, given that this has not been endorsed by the House of Commons, the position of Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar will have to be to support a revocation of the Article 50 notification in preference to a long extension of membership of the EU or a no-deal departure from the EU. I have confirmed to her that I have signed the petition for the revocation of the Article 50 notification.

I told Mrs May that, in the Gibraltar Government's opinion, a revocation would enable her and the United Kingdom Parliament to determine how to proceed without needing the agreement of the EU Council. Such a move would enable the United Kingdom to be relieved of any pressure of time being applied by the operation of the time limits imposed by the EU. Indeed, the revocation of Article 50 need not be an artifice to move from a route to departure from the EU to remaining - although remaining in the EU remains, in my view, the best option for Gibraltar. In fact, however, revocation can be an opportunity to simply re-group and re-organise leaving the EU, but without the EU enjoying the pressure lever that a timed long extension allows them.

I said to Mrs May that we do, nonetheless, accept that the revocation of the Article 50 notification, cannot be the democratic end of matters. I have therefore shared with her my view that there would be a need for a further vote on whether to continue down the route of departure from the EU, on the basis of the Withdrawal Agreement or otherwise. In this respect, in my respectful submission, I would consider the most democratic route to a determination of the way forward to be to put the question - now in the stark light of reality - of whether to leave the EU (and how) or otherwise to remain, once again, to the British people in a new referendum. In such a referendum, in support of which over 1 million people (including many Gibraltarians) marched in London last week, I make the point to Mrs May that I am sure she will agree that the franchise should, rightly, once again include the British people of Gibraltar (given we vote in European elections and participated in the 2016 referendum), and that I would campaign to remain.

I also make the point that in the time we have been able to work together on the UKs departure from the EU, Mrs May and her team have consistently been thoughtful, caring and steadfast when it has come to the wishes and interests of the people of Gibraltar, for which I have thanked her.

Additionally, given the result of the vote this afternoon, the Deputy Chief Minister has given instructions to start work on the mechanics to hold elections to the European Parliament on Thursday 22nd May, should this become necessary.

On the day we were due to leave the EU, there is now everything to play for. Stopping Brexit completely or a very soft Brexit are now possibilities. The routes to that may be a long extension, a revocation, a referendum or a general election. We remain ready for all eventualities - including the Withdrawal Agreement potentially passing next week - and working to ensure all outcomes are safe for Gibraltar. Our work in the past three years stands us in very good stead as we navigate these uncharted waters. Indeed, as a result, my Brexit team and I watched the result of the vote in the Commons today safe in the knowledge that we knew what plan to pursue whatever the outcome."
USD 265 Goddard Public Schools(GODDARD, Kan.) -- One plus one equals two and seven teachers pregnant at one elementary school equals a baby boom.

Seven of the 15 classroom teachers at Oak Street Elementary School in Goddard, Kansas, told the schools principal during this school year that they are pregnant.

I was very excited, obviously, because this is great news, said Ashley Miller, the schools principal. After the third one I was a little in shock, the fourth one I was really in shock, the fifth one I didnt know what to say and by the seventh one I had to remember to congratulate her because my first words were, Are you kidding me?'"

Miller, a 20-year veteran of the elementary school added, I have never in my life had this many pregnant people in the building. Never happened.

Two of the seven teachers gave birth to their babies, two healthy girls, this week, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, according to Miller.

Luckily for Miller, the teachers pregnancies are spread out so not all seven teachers will be on maternity leave at once. The school is using substitute teachers to fill their spots while they are on leave.

The final three babies are due in October.

The school is already a tight-knit community and the experience of going through pregnancies together has bonded them even more, both Miller and the teachers say.

Its so much fun to see the other mommies in the hall and were asking each other, How do you feel, said Kelli Jo Sheahon, a fourth-grade teacher expecting twins in October. I dont know that a lot of other people get that experience at work.

The cafeteria staff have taken to keeping a stash of crackers in the kitchen for the teachers, according to Sheahon, who was the sixth teacher to tell Miller her pregnancy news.

Kaylee Busick, a first-grade teacher who is due in July with a boy, was the fourth teacher to reveal her pregnancy news.

I remember the [third teacher] was like, Oh, Miller is going to kill you when she finds out,'" Busick said with a laugh. "And then other people told after me so I felt better."

At least three of the teachers are planning to give birth at the same hospital. Their kids will all likely enter kindergarten at Oak Street Elementary School together in a few years.

Some of us have had kids who have all been through Oak Street, Miller said. We do a lot of evening activities [together] so this place is crazy when we do that because we all bring our kids.

The school was recently approved for a renovation that will start in May, at the end of the school year. Miller said she wishes they had included a nursery in the renovation, but may still ask for one.

"I dont think Im going to get that but Ill always ask," said Miller, who also joked (but not really) that the school needs to be sponsored by a diaper company.

The teachers meanwhile said they have already received their fill of "it must be in the water" jokes.

"I had someone tell me before I announced, 'Don't drink the water,' and in my mind I was like, Too late,'" recalled Sheahon.

The teachers' baby boom comes the same week as nine nurses -- all of whom work in labor and delivery -- made headlines by being pregnant and all due between April and July this year. In a North Carolina town, seven women married to firefighters at one fire station are all pregnant and due between now and September.

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Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) remains one of the most pervasive crimes against both the environment and society, greatly harming our precious fauna and their ecosystems and depleting countries of critical resources. Through its Environment Programme, the World Customs Organization (WCO) has been extensively involved in building Members capacity to combat IWT since 2011.

As part of the initiative to drive integrated border management forward and to ensure closer enforcement cooperation between Member administrations, the WCO INAMA Project has provided a sound basis for launching joint enforcement activities and initiatives to tackle IWT.

The Project has so far conducted several train-the-trainer and accreditation workshops, as well as regional workshops on intelligence and risk management, operations planning, and institutional and organizational frameworks on the enforcement of CITES related matters. Bringing together Members that have benefitted from these workshops to conduct a global joint Customs/Police operation was the next logical step in applying the acquired knowledge.

Under the auspices of the INAMA Project, sponsored by the US Department of State (INL), an enforcement operation code-named PRAESIDIO was launched to combat the smuggling of wildlife. The operation combined the efforts of Members from Francophone and Anglophone Africa and Southeast Asia. In addition, the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of China Customs as well as Hong Kong Customs, who are both non-beneficiaries under INAMA, joined the Operation and self-funded their activities.

The Operation was also supported by INTERPOL, as a member of the International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), as well as various national police services. In addition, the WCO/UNODC Container Control Programme (CCP) and the AIRCOP Project worked with Member administrations, rendering close operational support during Operation PRAESIDIO.

In preparation for the Operation, participating Members developed a Global IWT Risk Matrix, compiling risk indicators and highlighting commonalities, which guided Members operations. The Global IWT Risk Matrix is a living document that Members are required to maintain even after the Operation, updating it on a quarterly basis with the assistance of their respective Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs).

The Operation consisted of three phases. The pre-operational phase which included a preparatory meeting held in Brussels at the WCO Headquarters on 10 and 11 January 2019. The operational phase ran from 4 February to 3 March 2019. And finally, the post-operational phase was synthesized in an operation close-out meeting held at the WCO Regional Training Centre in Melaka, Malaysia, on 21 and 22 March 2019, with the support of the Royal Malaysian Customs Department.

Operation PRAESIDIOs activities impacted 41 countries across the globe, resulting in 267 seizures and 125 arrests. These figures are significant in terms of its overall impact as only 27 countries participated in the Operation, namely Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cote dIvoire, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lao (PDR), Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia, as well as China and Hong Kong, China.

The WCO remains committed to the deployment of enforcement activities that aim to secure international supply chains and prevent illegal wildlife trade, said WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya. Operation PRAESIDIO clearly demonstrated that fostering operational cooperation with our police counterparts yields results that go beyond the seizure of goods, leading up to important arrests and investigations which truly impact international organised crime, he added.

The Operation netted impressive seizures; close to 4 tonnes of ivory and 783 pangolins were intercepted, with an added 866 kg of pangolin scales and parts. A large amount of reptiles were also seized, including 4,819 turtles and tortoises, 1,521 rat snakes, 296 pythons, 91 cobras, and 64 chameleons. Ever popular commodities were also seized, including 43 kg of rhino horn, 145 kg of shark fins, and 113 live parrots. In addition, Members foiled attempts to smuggle a total of 29 tonnes of red sandalwood, and 5,318.4 cubic meters plus 311 logs of various timbers.

Although Operation PRAESIDIO has ended, Member administrations will continue to engage with their police colleagues, where appropriate, and ensure that the arrests and ongoing investigations are followed through with prosecutions. This will contribute towards one of the most critical objectives of the Operation, which is dismantling of the criminal networks operating behind this scourge.
In December 2018, Switzerlands State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the WCO signed a 5.5 million Swiss Franc contract to jointly support selected Members of the WCO and their stakeholders, including the private sector, in the implementation of their priority trade facilitation initiatives. The cooperation program called Global Trade Facilitation Program (GTFP) will be implemented by the WCO and managed over the next four years by a Programme Team at the WCO Secretariat in Brussels.

SECO belongs to the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs and is Switzerlands competence center for economic policy. The GTFP is part of the economic cooperation and development implemented by Switzerland worldwide to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Switzerlands economic cooperation and development is particularly focusing on advanced developing and transition countries in the southern and in the eastern part of the world, where 70% of the people suffering from poverty live. Switzerlands objective for the collaboration with the WCO is to enhance trade and competitiveness, i.e. better integrating partner countries into the world economy through more competitiveness, export-oriented value chains and sustainable trade.

The Swiss funded GTFP, is an initiative that supports beneficiary countries in the area of organizational development (leadership and management development, strategic management, HR-management, partnership development and project management), but provides also more technical assistance to implement trade facilitation measures. Furthermore, the program supports the WCO in the development of its comprehensive performance measurement approach and related tools, and in the further improvement of its Leadership and Management Development Program (LMDP). Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Uzbekistan will be the first countries to benefit from the GFTP. The program will also identify opportunities to provide comprehensive or ad-hoc support to other countries, depending on country needs.

On 4 March 2019, SECO and the Swiss Mission to the EU in Brussels participated in the 11th Trade Facilitation Working Group Meeting held at the WCO Secretariat and presented the new GFTP program. The WCO expressed its enthusiasm about the new partnership with Switzerland and looks forward to a fruitful and sustainable cooperation.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 28, 2019 | 09:53 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY

According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, deputies were called Thursday to a home on Lane Road as the result of a complaint alleging drug activity.





Deputies observed 47-year-old Charles Huff in the back yard. Huff told deputies that he had identification inside the home, and entered to supposedly get it. He then fled out another door, into a nearby wooded area.





Deputies found three glass pipes inside the home, and Huff was located and taken into custody. In addition, Huff had a warrant for methamphetamine possession.





He was arrested and taken to the McCracken County Regional Jail.





Huff's two daughters, ages two and four, were present during the incident, and Social Services was contacted to open an investigation. Deputies report that a neighbor assisted with the children.





A McCracken County man has been arrested on numerous drug charges.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Mar. 29, 2019 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 29, 2019 | 12:00 PM | PADUCAH

McCracken County residents who experienced damage from recent flooding will not be getting any federal assistance to help cover the cost of repairs.



Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency toured some of the harder hit areas in the county with local officials Tuesday. McCracken County Emergency Management Director Jerome Mansfield said the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management determined the county did not meet the minimum number of damaged homes to qualify for federal assistance to homeowners.



"You have to have 80 to 100 dwellings with water 18 inches high in the living space of the house that causes what the state categorizes as a severe impact on the community. My damage assessment showed we had 50 dwellings affected, 35 with minor damage and 15 with major. We're not close to having a number they would consider." Mansfield said.



The FEMA threshold for public disaster costs in McCracken County is $247,800. Mansfield said combined city and county expenditures will exceed that amount. Those costs, which include mainly the cost of installing the city's floodwall, will be reimbursable up to 75 percent under FEMAs public assistance program should President Trump declare the county as a federal flood disaster area. The Commonwealth of Kentucky will provide another 13 percent towards reimbursable costs. None of that money would go to local residents.



Mansfield said the March 14 tornado event, which destroyed five homes and damaged 20 others, also did not qualify for FEMA individual assistance. He said his office will coordinate with local churches and volunteer groups who are supplying help to local flood and tornado victims.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Mar. 28, 2019 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 28, 2019 | 05:58 PM | PADUCAH

A steel company has announced it will build a $1.35 billion mill in rural Meade County, choosing that location over one in McCracken County.



Nucor Corp. said Wednesday it will build the new steel plate facility at Brandenburg, about 45 miles southwest of Louisville, and the project is expected to create 400 jobs. The company says the average salary will be about $72,000 per year.



The announcement came shortly after Kentucky economic development officials approved about $40 million in state incentives for Nucor.



Glen Anderson with Greater Paducah Area Economic Development said in a press release that Paducah and Brandenburg were the two finalists for the mill. He said they worked hard to sell Paducah to Nucor, but they are still grateful that the mill will bring jobs to Kentucky.



Anderson said, "The company chose to locate in Brandenburg, KY over our location due to the dimensions of their site and the needs of the plant."



He added, "Our relationship with the State is stronger than ever and the Cabinet has been a key partner in aligning this and other active prospects with our organization. We are excited to share that other active opportunities remain in play for our region, and this site in particular."
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White-collar crime and corruption reporting win investigative journalism award

Journalists from News24 and amaBhungane are joint winners of the 14th Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism.

Susan Comrie of amaBhungane (the Centre for Investigative Journalism at the Mail & Guardian), and Kyle Cowan of News24 were named joint winners at a ceremony held at the Wits Club in Johannesburg on Friday, 30 March 2019. Pauli Van Wyk of the Daily Mavericks Scorpio was runner-up and Zanela Miji of amaBhungane received a special mention.

Wits Journalism and The Valley Trust host the annual award, which recognises the best exemplar of investigative reporting in South Africa. The 19th Taco Kuiper Award elicited 18 entries, shortlisted to eight finalists, and ultimately a joint winner and one runner-up. The prize money is R235 000 for each winner and R65 000 for the runner-up.

Comries work exposed Regiments Capital Trojan horse role in wheeling R600m out of state-owned enterprises. Cowan broke the story of the Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson's R500 000 covert "donation" to President Cyril Ramaphosas ANC presidential campaign. Van Wyks series exposed the devastating effect of Tom Moyanes reign at the head of SARS. Miji was recognised for her two papers on land, 'Those graves were our title deeds and Cradle of Conflict.

Anton Harber, convener of judges and adjunct professor in Wits Journalism said Comries was a story with major impact and showed the value of sticking to a story when others move on. Cowans was brave work, tackling some of the most powerful political figures, executed with thoroughness while Van Wyks work was authoritative, compelling, comprehensive.

I think you will see from the material we look at today that we continue to enjoy some fine work  but there is little doubt that the need to encourage and build the pool of investigative reporting is more important than ever, said Harber.

I want to pay special tribute to the whistle-blowers, those who risk their lives and their livelihoods to speak out against wrongdoing, often with little reward. Without them, many of these stories would not be done, and we  and the whole country  owes you a gigantic thank you.

One such whistle-blower was Daphne Caruana Galizia. She was a Maltese journalist, writer, and anti-corruption activist. On 16 October 2017, Galizia was assassinated in a car bombing. Her son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and a software engineer, delivered the keynote address at the Taco Kuiper Award.

Galizia grew-up in the world of journalism his mother inhabited. Journalism in Malta 30 years ago was limited to reporting facts and no public discourse. An exasperated Daphne wrote to the newspaper, which astonishingly published what was effectively an op-ed, with a by-line, and paid her. Thus began Daphnes career as an investigative journalist who was not only young and female but also dangerously opinionated.

Galizia says his mother was as popular as she was isolated because of her rigorous reporting. She was frequently labelled a witch and the corpse of the family dog appeared on their doorstep with its throat slit. Two other pets were subsequently poisoned and shot. The front door of the familys home was set on fire  a traditional warning in Malta. Another arson attempt almost burned their home to the ground, but was thwarted when Galizias brother returned in time to quench the fire and save his sleeping brothers life.

My mother used to say youre either a fighter or youre not, says Galizia, whose mother did not live to fight but had to fight to live amidst the mind-bending power of corruption. She was a relentless reporter who said she would stop only if a contract was taken out on her life. She was dead several months later, murdered while investigating a cocaine operation.

Galizia said his mother inspired generations of Maltese women and men. On the 16th of every month, activists hold a vigil for Daphne. Galizia paid tribute to South Africas investigative journalists assembled at the Taco Kuiper Award who absorb the blows for society.
Success in science depends on women development

South Africas success in science depends on the intellectual development of women says Dr Brigalia Bam.

Bam, a former chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission and well known advocate for womens rights, was speaking at Wits after the University conferred on her the honorary Doctor of Literature (DLitt) degree. The degree is in recognition of her contribution to justice, freedom, gender equality and democracy.

In her acceptance speech on Wednesday, 27 March 2019, Bam spoke about the role of women in science and pleaded for their freedom in academia. She also shared her views on events around #FeesMustFall and the role of intellectuals in society.

The intellectual development of young women is the score by which this country will be judged in terms of its advancement as a scientific society amongst the communities of nations, she said.

Tackling on patriarchy in academic institutions, Bam made a plea for women to be set free from becoming victims of rape culture, free from being destined only to play subordinate roles as students as well as academic staff.

CITATION: BRIGALIA NTOMBEMHLOPHE BAM

Brigalia Ntombemhlophe Bam was born on January 2nd, 1933 at Tsolo in the former Transkei, Eastern Cape South Africa. She studied at Shaw Bury Methodist Institute and Lovedale Teachers College in South Africa. She thereafter pursued studies in Social Work at the University of Chigago with a Masters in 1973.

Although Brigalia Bam was trained in social work and education, her career and work trajectory have straddled varied responsibilities. She has worked as a teacher, a social worker, a feminist and gender justice advocate, an Ecumenist and a Democrat who has played a central role in the re-imagination and transition of South Africa from apartheid reign to post-apartheid democratic era.

As a feminist and an advocate for justice, Brigalia worked in the 1980s for the Womens Workers Programme (Africa Region) which was part of the International Food and Allied Workers Association in Geneva. She later took executive and leadership positions in a variety of International Ecumenical Organisations such as the World Council of Churches (WCC) and The World Young Womens Association (YWCA). In 1988, she was elected as the Secretary General of the South African Council of Churches, a position she held until 1997, when she became the commissioner with the Independent Electoral Commission.

During her time at the World Council of Churches (WCC), she steered womens and anti-racism work as part of the program to combat racism in South Africa and the world over. It was at this moment that she also joined the Ghanaian Feminist Theologian and New Testament Scholar to promote the establishment of an intellectual and epistemic community referred to as the Circle of Concerned Women Theologians. This movement was central to the training and mentorship of emerging and established Theologians, especially to help them write and publish scholarly work, from the perspectives of African women feminist experiences in Africa and in the Diaspora. In particular, Mercy Oduyoye and Brigalia Bam promoted the idea or methodological approach referred to as Doing Theology" which in essence called for an engaged, contextually grounded theology with a strong theoretical articulation. Her books, Angry for Peace, What is Ordination Coming to? / Report of a Consultation on the Ordination of Women Held in Cartingny Geneva, Switzerland / 21st-26th September 1970, and Democracy: More Than Just Elections demonstrate this lens and approach to theological work. Equally important in her work are the recurring themes of justice, freedom, gender equality and democracy.

Bam has demonstrated a commitment to the broad development of South Africa and the continent through her varied interests in womens empowerment, demonstrated by her participation as one of the founding members of the Womens Development Foundation. In 1998, she became the foundations president. She was actively involved in the democratisation of South Africa, and used her role in the leadership of the South African Council of Churches to establish it as one of the foremost organisations, which agitated for social justice, reconciliation, social cohesion and improved relations between the churches, state and civil society.

Upon her return to South Africa, she became the first woman appointed to the position of General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. During her tenure, she promoted critical dialogues on church and state, resulting in the South African Council of Churches members deciding on the notion of critical Solidarity with the state." This resulted in the South African Council of Churches acknowledging that the democratic state is a government of the people, by the people, unlike the authoritarian apartheid regime.

Given this, they agreed to work with the state critically calling for justice and speaking truth to power in instances where they felt the state was unjust. This was Bams key contribution to South African Ecumenical thought and views on engagement in a democratic Era.

Bam went on to become the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa. Dr Bams leadership entrenched the principle of regular Free and Fair elections with electoral outcomes accepted by all political parties and local and international observer missions. Her continued leadership of the commission entrenched the principles of democracy in South Africa, laying a solid foundation for future elections.
Wu Zhongfeng is making Mongolia marquetry works.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Wu Zhongfeng was impressed by mengxiang, or Mongolian-style craft of inlay, which "can turn metal into doughlike soft things" at the age of 16, when she started to learn the craft of making such work in metal and other materials from craftsman Kang Wensheng in Beijing in the 1970s.

Wu's devotion to the craft for the past 40 years has turned her into an official inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage called "Beijing Mengxiang". Wu participated in an activity held by a Beijing-based association to promote the development of cultural heritage in the city on March 20.

The Mongolian-style craft of inlay comes from the nomadic tribes of some ethnic groups, who inlay precious stones for decorative objects by chiseling, carving, welding, gilding and polishing. The craft uses metal. Wu calls it a fire art, and stresses the importance of temperature in this craft.

In 1862, some artisans who were good at chiseling copper, established the Ronghe Copper Shop with the help of Zaobanchu (Bureau of Imperial Production) located in the Forbidden City to make figures of the Buddha, ritual instruments, gold and silver wares used in the then royal court. The handicraft used was called mengxiang.

Since this craft had royal patronage, the works are often exquisite.

"That is the taste of mengxiang. We try to create works that have shine  gold or silver in them  but also a sense of history," says Wu.

She usually uses the craft to replicate cultural relics while also trying to discover their deeper meaning when traveling.

She once found a cultural relic at the Sakya Monastery in the Tibet Autonomous Region, and she tried to replicate it and created a Mongolian-style inlay work.

(Source: China Daily)
An aerial view of the Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Co in Xiangshui county, Yancheng, Jiangsu province, after the explosion on March 21. [Wang Jing/China Daily]

Ding Yongshu still vividly remembers the night villagers fled their homes eight years ago after a rumor spread that there would be an explosion because chlorine had leaked at a chemical factory in a nearby industrial park in Xiangshui County, Jiangsu Province.

Like many others living near the park, the 58-year-old and five other family members from Shadang village fled in the early hours of Feb 10, 2011. "We took nothing. We just ran for our lives," Ding said.

Unlike 2011, a deadly explosion last week at the Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Co at the same industrial park left villagers with no time to flee or even realize what had happened.

Since the disaster on March 21, which left 78 people dead and scores seriously injured, many villagers have started to reassess their relationship with the park, while government officials nationwide vowed to prevent a similar incident from happening.

Although the cause of the explosion has yet to be disclosed by the investigation team, it was partly due to the poor implementation of the "responsibility system" for production safety, as well as bureaucracy and "formalism in supervision," according to a statement released after a meeting of senior officials from Jiangsu on Saturday.

The explosion shattered all the windows in Ding's house in Shadang, about 2 kilometers from the Xiangshui Ecological Chemical Industrial Park.

"I've never heard such a loud explosion," Ding said on Saturday while removing window frames before replacements arrived.

He has worked at several chemical factories since 2005, three years after the industrial park was built in the county.

Pillar Industries

Residents said nearly every household in the village has family members working at the park, where slogans stating "Safety comes from staying alert and a lack of vigilance leads to accidents" can be seen throughout the complex.

Ding, whose farmland was acquired by factories at the park, said, "At first, we were pretty happy about the arrival of the new factories because we could find jobs there."

Chemical engineering, metallurgy and energy are the three pillar industries of Xiangshui, and the park is the "engine for rapid economic development", according to the local government.

Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Co, which has 250 employees, is one of more than 55 companies, many specializing in the manufacture of basic and fine chemicals (complex, single pure substances) at the park.

The company was founded in April 2007 and mainly produces phenylenediamine products, which require nitrate chemical reactions involving dangerous compounds such as benzene.

After the explosion, authorities responsible for production safety nationwide were told to conduct careful inspections of processing plants involved in such reactions.

In February last year, the former General Administration of State Security Supervision found 13 safety hazards at the factory. They included no emergency shutoff valves and leakage prevention measures being in place for benzene and methanol tanks; staff members not being clear about the procedure for inflammable gas-related incidents; and flammable gas being marked as inflammable. It is unclear if the company had removed all the hazards listed.

The factory has also been fined at least seven times by local environmental protection authorities for illegally disposing waste water and gas as well as solid waste between July 2016 and July last year, according to qixin.com, a corporate information inquiry website.

In 2017, its former president was sentenced to 18 months in prison with a reprieve for environmental pollution.

In April last year, pollution at the industrial park placed it in the spotlight. All factories were ordered to suspend their operations until they could fix environmental protection flaws.

Like many other companies, Tianjiayi posted its latest environmental impact assessment report on the website of the Xiangshui government for public opinion in early August. It resumed operations in October.

Ding said, "It's commonplace for the factories to suspend production suddenly to rectify different problems. It may happen several times a year." He added that operations at the factory where he works had been suspended since April 10 last year.

"Of course, safety is the most important thing. On the other hand, we won't have enough income if the factories stop operating," he added. Ding only received 800 yuan ($119) a month as a living allowance when production at the factory was halted. He usually earns from 3,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan a month.

Ding Haibo, another villager in Shadang, said the chemical factories have become an inseparable part of the local community.

Gu Wei, who lives in Sigang village, about 4 km from the industrial park, said many people chose to work for the chemical factories because their farmland was acquired for development. The 35-year-old joined those who fled in 2011 when the rumor of an imminent explosion spread. The crowds running from the village caused a severe traffic jam.

Li Chunhua, director-general of the Green Stone Environmental Protection Center, an NGO in Jiangsu, said, "While the local residents constantly complain about air and water pollution as well as voicing their concerns about safety, they depend on the industrial park. They don't seem to have a choice."

According to a survey conducted by the center in 2016, more than 85 percent of local residents said the industrial park had a severe impact on their lives. "The fact is that the villagers can coexist with the park if all the environmental protection and safety measures are in place," Li said.

But Gu said the factories had often made the air in the village unbearable, adding, "Sometimes you feel as if your eyes are burning."

Xiangshui county is in the north of Jiangsu, which is less developed than southern parts of the province. In the 1990s, the chemical engineering industry also supported economic development in the south until local governments started to attach greater importance to environmental protection and decided to close heavily polluting factories.

At the start of this century, many factories in the south began to move to northern areas of Jiangsu. They were offered preferential policies and cheaper labor.

According to the website of the Xiangshui government, the industrial park has expanded from 4 square kilometers to 10 sq km.

Gu said, "When construction of the park started, local officials asked the villagers to understand that the factories would help them to get out of poverty, so they would have to make some compromises, such as enduring the pollution."

In June 2017, the Xiangshui county government held a meeting to discuss how to relocate those villagers still living too close to the industrial park, which had failed to meet health and safety standards. The relocation was ordered by an environmental protection supervision group dispatched by the central government.

On Monday, the pungent smell of chemicals lingered in the air in Caogang village, about 500 meters from the industrial park.

'Ticking Bombs'

A 63-year-old villager, who gave his name only as Zhang, said he is jealous of his neighbors who have been relocated because their houses lie within a radius of 500 meters from the factories, which is considered the minimum safe distance between the park and residents.

Zhang said: "We feel scared. We also hope to be relocated." He added that the explosion had left cracks in many of the villagers' homes.

Most of the villagers interviewed by China Daily said they were willing to be relocated.

Gu, from Sigang village, worked for Lianhe Tech, another chemical factory at the park, for two months.

He decided to quit after an explosion at the factory killed eight people on Nov 27, 2007. Two of the factory's employees were among the casualties of last week's explosion, while two other explosions occurred at factories owned by Lianhe Tech  a listed company  in other parts of the country in 2011 and 2016.

Gu said: "The chemical factories are ticking bombs. Although so many people lost their lives in last week's explosion, we fear it won't be long until the factories resume operations."

Schools that were closed because of the explosion reopened on Monday.

Wu Yuegui, who lives in Liugang village, about 3 km from the Tianjiayi factory, said he sent his 13-year-old grandson back to school. "If we don't, my grandson will lag behind in his studies," the 63-year-old said, adding that he would like to move to the Xiangshui county seat but he cannot afford an apartment there.

Lou Qinjian, the Jiangsu Party chief, said the province should learn from this "bloody lesson" and "retrospection from the soul."

Jiangsu launched safety inspections on chemical production, transportation and storage facilities after the explosion.

Operations will be suspended once a safety hazard is found. If a company fails to act to end such hazards within a specified time, it will be shut down. Those responsible for rectification work will be held accountable for lives, according to the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Jiangsu Provincial Committee, the province's top leadership.

Ding Yongshu, the Shadang villager, said that without the factories local people would have to find work elsewhere, which would cost more.

"The industrial park is clearly a major driving force of the county's economic development. Both its destiny and my own are uncertain after what happened," he added.

Firefighters search for survivors at the factory. [Ji Chunpeng/Xinhua]

Workers from the Henglida Chemical Co leave for home after the factory, which is close to the blast scene, was closed. [Wang Jing/China Daily]

Doctors treat blast victims at the No 1 People's Hospital in Yancheng. [Ji Chunpeng/Xinhua]

(Source: China Daily)
[Photo/sznews.com]

Sunday saw the start of a feast of international music in Shenzhen, as the southern metropolis looks to boost cultural exchanges among the countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The 2019 Shenzhen Belt & Road International Music Festival opened at the Shenzhen Concert Hall with a concert featuring musicians and artists from Georgia, Qatar, Vietnam and Indonesia, among others.

It is the third time that Shenzhen has hosted the international music festival since its official launch in 2017.

More than 800 well-known musicians and artists from over 40 countries and regions will perform during this year's event, which will run through April 14, presenting local audiences with 21 concerts.

British musician, Alma Deutscher, is the youngest of the artists taking part in the festival. The 14-year-old impressed the audience at the opening concert by giving an improvised performance based on her understanding of the famous Chinese children's song, Little Swallow.

The festival is part of Shenzhen's efforts to increase participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and build itself into an international pioneer city in the cultural and creative sectors.

Shenzhen is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, with culture and creativity as important factors in the city's urban development, Francesco Bandarin, special adviser to the UNESCO director-general, says in his congratulatory letter to the music festival.

While Shenzhen is creating miracles in its economy, it has achieved marvelous results in its cultural and creative programs, which have added new charm to this vibrant young metropolis, he says.

"With the theme of connecting China to the world, the festival has created a wonderful chapter for cultural exchanges among nations and showed Shenzhen's devotion and commitment to cultural undertakings," Bandarin says.

"It will further strengthen the city's soft power, and make Shenzhen a city that's well-known for its creativity and culture globally, so as to play an ever-bigger role in promoting cultural exchanges among countries and regions along the Belt and Road, and around the world as a whole."

Egyptian artist Hassan Moataz el-Molla adds: "Music is a bridge linking different societies and peoples. It is also a very important tool in promoting mutual understanding, trust and cooperation among countries. It has an unlimited meaning to the world.

"Shenzhen is an open city and also an important participant in the Belt and Road Initiative. Holding the music festival in such a special city is of great significance."

Norah Amsellem from France agrees, noting, "It was a very good idea to launch the Belt and Road music festival. It will help promote the culture and art of different countries."

(Source: China Daily)
Yao Xiaojing is making a clay figurine.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Yao Xiaojing, a master craftswoman, introduced Clay Figurine Zhang during an activity held by a Beijing-based association to promote the development of cultural heritage in the city on March 20. Clay Figurine Zhang was created by Zhang Mingshan who lived in Tianjin during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The quick-witted and nimble-fingered man observed people from all walks of life in the streets, and made vivid and lifelike clay figurines.

In 1905, a third-generation member of Zhang's family was invited by late premier Zhou Enlai to promote the craft in Beijing, and a branch of the craft was established in the city.

Yao is a student of a fourth-generation inheritor in making the Zhang style of clay figurines and an expert in the Beijing school of this craft.

"Some people say the only difference between works of Zhang and real people is that the clay figurines cannot breathe, showing how vivid the works are," says Yao.

At the Beijing event, Yao discussed the development of cultural heritage and encouraged integrating modern elements into traditional art. "We must keep pace with the times, so that the crafts survive in the modern world. Ordinary people also have more access to such handicraft today. The experts have opened studios that enable people to learn these crafts. Although many people just learn the crafts for fun, they are really excited during the process," says Yao.

(Source: China Daily)
Students from China pose for photos after graduating from a business studies course at the University of Sydney in October 2017. [Photo by William West/For China Daily]

The number of Chinese students studying abroad reached 662,100 in 2018, up 8.83 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Education said on Wednesday.

Most of the students funded their studies by themselves, accounting for 90 percent of the total and only 65,800 were sponsored by public funding, the ministry said.

The number of overseas students returning home after graduation totaled 519,400 in 2018, up 8 percent from the previous year, the ministry said.

A total of 5.86 million Chinese studied abroad from 1978 to the end of 2018, according to the ministry. More than 4.32 million completed their studies, and more than 3.65 million chose to return to China after completing their studies, it said.

(Source: China Daily)
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Reliance on agency staff partly to blame for North Wales health boards anticipated 42m deficit

This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 29th, 2019

Health bosses in North Wales have partly blamed their reliance on temporary staff as the cause behind an estimated overspend of 42 million.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is facing a hefty deficit as the current financial year draws to a close. In February alone it spent 2.7m on agency workers as it battles with recruitment problems, particularly in attracting more nurses to the region.

The use of agency nurses has been particularly high at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, where 800,000 was spent on such cover in the same month. The regions health boards poor budgetary performance has been highlighted as one of the reasons why it has been in special measures for almost four years.

At a meeting of board members yesterday, officials said the demand on the health system had led to an increase in temporary staff. In a report presented at Glyndwr University in Wrexham, Russell Favager, executive director of finance said: Agency nurses continue to support the sustained pressures arising from unscheduled care and provide cover for the large number of vacancies in secondary care.

The use of agency nurses is particularly an issue for Wrexham and Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, which together account for 85.8 per cent of these costs in February.

In contrast to medical agency, nurse agency costs are at the highest level for the year to date due to increased costs seen in Wrexham.

According to a separate report, there are significant gaps between the budgeted number of permanent staff and those actually in post across the organisation. Overall the difference accounts for around 1,400 full time workers. It has resulted in approximately 35m being spent on temporary staff.

Sue Green, executive director of workforce and organisational development, said trying to attract agency nurses to stay permanently was one of the options being considered to tackle the issue.

She said: It is a fundamental tenet of our workforce strategy that we ensure weve got the right skills in the right place at the right time. We are focussing on recruitment and retention and were making sure that the environment and models of care we deliver also contribute to the ability to recruit staff.

We absolutely share your concerns and were working together very closely across all of the executive portfolios to make sure that happens.

The chief executive of NHS Wales has recently written to the board criticising the lack of progress it has made in addressing problems raised since it was placed under monitoring by the Welsh Government in June 2015.

In his letter, Andrew Goodall said it would not be removed from special measures following the deterioration in its finances.



By Liam Randall  BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme).



(Click for large)
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-28 04:09:17|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called on the international community to actively support the reconstruction in Syria, and to create conditions for the return of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs).

A fundamental improvement of the humanitarian situation in Syria requires the international community to support the Syrian government and people in their economic and social reconstruction, so as to create conditions for the return of refugees and IDPs and help Syrian people rebuild their confidence and resume a normal life, Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said at a Security Council meeting.

"The return of Syrian refugees will also help ease the pressure faced by the host countries of Syrian refugees," said the Chinese envoy.

Wu also called on international community to enhance its assistance to Syria in line with the humanitarian needs on the ground. "Relevant operations should be carried out in strict conformity with relevant council resolutions and on the basis of respect for Syrian sovereignty," he added.

According to Wu, China pays high attention to the humanitarian issue in Syria, and has provided 770 million Chinese yuan (114.5 million U.S. dollars) of emergency humanitarian supplies and cash assistance to Syrian people, including the Syrian refugees outside the borders.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-28 22:34:20|Editor: yan

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TOKYO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China's policies of opening up over the years have charmed the international community and injected dynamism into world economic growth, said Japanese economist Noriyoshi Ehara.

Ehara, chief researcher of the Tokyo-based Institute of International Trade and Investment, shared his thoughts on China's opening-up and economic development in an interview with Xinhua recently, as the annual conference of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which focuses on openness, innovation and globalization, is held in China's southern province of Hainan on March 26-29.

The focus of the 2019 BFA conference demonstrates China's attitude towards an open economy as well as the needs of the times, Ehara said.

"Openness, innovation and globalization are the necessary and sufficient conditions for the just and objective reform of global governance, which are expected by China as well as the international community," the expert said.

China fully recognizes and advocates economic openness with efforts such as promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

"It can be said that openness, innovation and globalization are the three integrated conditions for the development of the world economy and the formation of global governance in a new era," Ehara added.

At the opening plenary of the BFA, a Chinese leader said that China will continue to expand opening-up of its financial sector, adding to the efforts for further openness since last year's BFA.

"The opening-up polices China has adopted over the past years serve as deepening efforts of reform and opening-up which has contributed tremendously to the development of world economy," Ehara said.

In addition, the endorsement of Foreign Investment Law in China is expected to boost the confidence of overseas investors and Japanese corporations in investing in China and provide new opportunities for deepening economic exchanges, he said.

The expert also spoke highly of China's efforts in transforming economic driving force and deepening middle class consumption structure.

"What China desires is high-quality development, which means that the Chinese economy is pursuing a reasonable growth rate," he said.

China emphasizes and is also implementing deepening reforms, Ehara said, listing efforts such as reforming supply front, streamlining government administration and rationalizing services.

"The efforts will lay a foundation for future development including the improvement of business environment, social security and people's life conditions, and the promotion of new-type urbanization," he said.

What's more, Ehara said the deepening of China's middle-class consumption structure contributes to world economic stability by allowing China to expand imports.

"Overseas tourists from China are also making great contributions to the vitality of local economies," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-28 22:39:22|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Africa's first Luban Workshop was launched in Djibouti on Thursday with an aim to provide quality vocational training to local people, the country's youth in particular.

Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Chinese ambassador to Djibouti Zhuo Ruisheng, and President of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Yuan Li were among those who took part in the opening ceremony of the workshop on Thursday.

The workshop, which is the first of 10 Luban workshops to be established across the African continent, is expected to boost Djibouti's overall development through the training of the country's youth.

Guelleh said during the opening ceremony that the commencement of the workshop has the potential to improve the quality of students, better serve development projects across the country, as well as provide well-trained talents to the country.

Noting the various important infrastructure projects that were built in Djibouti over the past years, Guelleh stressed that the Luban workshop will "further enhance the competitiveness of Djibouti through the development of successful young talents."

Djibouti needs new technology and upgraded economic development, Guelleh stressed.

He described the various positive outcomes the Horn of African country achieved due to its "successful" cooperation with China, mainly in the areas of infrastructure and human resource development endeavors.

The Djiboutian president urged the country's Ministry of Education and other education sector stakeholders to exert strong attention to vocational education so as to meet the needs of the society through talent cultivation.

The CCECC established the workshop with academic support from Tianjin First College of Commerce and Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College.

Yuan Li said that the workshop will "cultivate professional talents for Djibouti in line with national development needs."

Yuan stressed that the workshop, by providing effective vocational training for the youths, will boost for the country's economic development.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-28 22:39:23|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A forum was held in Beijing Thursday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the emancipation of more than one million serfs in Tibet.

You Quan, a member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the event.

He hailed the democratic reform in Tibet as a major move that followed the tide of the times, a great achievement of the CPC in resolving the Tibet issue and a tremendous force propelling the economic and social development in Tibet.

He called for greater efforts to comprehensively implement the CPC's policies for governing Tibet, strengthen the CPC's leadership over Tibet work, strive for the people's wellbeing, and realize enduring peace and stability and greater development in the region.

A celebration was held Thursday in Lhasa to mark the 60th anniversary of democratic reform in Tibet, through which feudal serfdom under theocracy in Tibet was abolished, with more than one million serfs liberated.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-28 23:29:49|Editor: yan

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HANGZHOU, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The sea-rail freight train from Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, arrived in the Ningbo Zhoushan Port in eastern China's Zhejiang Province on Thursday morning.

The train, carrying 116 standard containers of imported timber from Russia, set off on Monday afternoon from Xi'an International Trade and Logistics Park, according to sources with the Ningbo Zhoushan Port.

After arriving at Ningbo, the timber will be shipped by Ningbo Ocean Shipping Co., Ltd. via the branch of Yangtze River to the city of Taicang in neighboring Jiangsu Province.

The imported timber in Xi'an, a transportation hub linking eastern and western provinces of the country, was previously transported to eastern China's coastal provinces by trucks due to the higher cost of railway transportation.

Ningbo Zhoushan Port has started to develop a wider market in the inland provinces of China in recent years.

This new sea-rail route from Xi'an to Ningbo will effectively connect with the China-Europe freight trains starting from Xi'an, said the sources.

Ningbo Zhoushan Port, which lies at the meeting point of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is the busiest port in China.

In 2018, the port opened nine new sea-rail transport routes and China's first double-deck container sea-rail cargo service.

The sea-rail transport services at the port handled more than 600,000 standard containers in 2018, a year-on-year increase of over 50 percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-28 23:34:51|Editor: yan

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RABAT, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A five-year-old Moroccan boy kissed on the cheek of Chinese orthopedist Li Cheng to express his gratitude for Li's medical treatment.

Li said the kiss was the most memorable memory of his two-year work mission in Morocco.

The boy, who came from a mountain village of northern Morocco, came for medical consultation on March 2018 as his left arm was broken.

"After the consultation, the little boy approached me as if he wanted to hug me. So I bent down and then felt the boy's small mouth sticking to my left cheek. I realized that kiss is the boy's way of saying thank you," said Li.

In March 2017, Li Cheng and 11 colleagues set off from Shanghai to the city of Taza in northern Morocco to offer medical services to local residents.

According to statistics, the doctors of Taza team received more than 10,000 patients and completed more than 3,000 operations each year.

Khalid Filali, head of the Taza Provincial Hospital, told Xinhua that the Chinese doctors' high medical skills, dedication and friendliness left a deep impression on the people of Taza.

Abdel Barkouki, French teacher of the Taza team, said that Chinese doctors are modest and professional, and the local people trust Chinese doctors and always look for their consultation.

Xu Yanling, leader of the Chinese medical team in Morocco, said since 1975, a total of 1,784 Chinese medical personnel have provided service to Moroccan people across the country. Now, a medical team of 78 members are helping Moroccans in different regions, namely Mohammodia, Rachidia, Taza, Chefchaouen, Agadir, Meknes, Ben Guerir, Settat.

According to the Chefchaouen Health director, half of the city's population were born in deliveries that were aided by Chinese doctors.

Two doctors of the Ben Guerir team developed a cheap but effective way of surgery, which is welcomed by local low-income patients.

The Chinese Medicine Center, created by Mohammodia team, received every year more than 10,000 patients. The burn department of the Mohammed V Hospital, founded by the Meknes team, has developed into a renowned burn center in Morocco.

In addition to work in public hospitals, Chinese doctors are actively involved in campaigns of free treatment for patients in remote mountainous and rural areas of Morocco.

Hicham Nejmi, secretary-general of the Moroccan Ministry of Health, said that the Chinese medical team's contribution to Morrocan health industry has forged the relations between the two peoples closer.

Li Li, Chinese ambassador to Morocco, said that the medical services provided by the Chinese medical team for more than 30 years have played an important role in the development of Morocco.

Such services have forged closer people-to-people ties and consolidated the foundation for further cooperation between the two countries, the ambassador said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 02:50:54|Editor: yan

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ROME, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Starting in April, Italy will begin the process of repatriating nearly 800 cultural and historical artifacts that had been illegally smuggled from China.

This represents the biggest repatriation of Chinese artifacts in more than two decades and it is part of a wide array of agreements strengthening cultural, economic, and political ties between Italy and China.

The agreement over the cultural and historical objects also helps solidify Italy's status as one of the world's leaders in the battles against stolen and illegally imported artifacts.

"Most of the time, Italy is the country that artifacts are stolen from," Barbara Cortese, head of the Juridical Observatory on the Protection of Cultural Heritage at Roma Tre University, told Xinhua. "This time it's the other way around, but it's consistent with Italy's role in this area. Things have to be returned to where they came from."

Italian Minister of Culture Alberto Bonisoli and his Chinese counterpart, Luo Shugang, signed the agreement that would see 796 Chinese artifacts back to China.

According to the Italian ministry, the objects range from very large to small, and date from as far back as 5,000 years ago to modern times. Among the specific items are a Neolithic clay pot, porcelain made during the Song Dynasty, and pottery from the Han, Tang, and Ming Dynasties.

China is expected to display the ideals in Beijing next year as part of a wider plan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Italy and China.

When the repatriation is complete, it will be the biggest transfer of cultural and historical artifacts since Great Britain returned around 3,000 items in 1998.

Media reports say most of the items were discovered at an Italian art market in the northern Italian town of Roncadelle in 2007, sparking a long investigation into the provenance of the items.

"We are proud to return these pieces that represent the heritage and identity of the Chinese people to their rightful place," Bonisoli said in a statement.

"This is a tremendous gesture of good will," Giuseppe Calabi, a senior partner with the Studio CBM & Partners law firm and a specialist in issues related to art and art history, said in an interview.

Both Cortese and Calabi had praise for the specially trained Italian Carabinieri Art Squad, which uncovered the trove of artifacts in 2007 and which continues to work as the vanguard of art police squads.

"The Carabinieri are well trained and have access to an extensive database of items that have been stolen or smuggled from their rightful home," Cortese said.

While the number of cases involving stolen or smuggled cultural or historical artifacts has been on the rise, the number of robberies has declined in recent decades.

"The rise we're seeing is because officials are more attentive and methods of identifying displaced artifacts are improving," said Cortese, adding that the high point for smugglers was in the period before World War II, when few controls were in place.

After the agreement between Bonisoli and Luo, the enforcement may become even stronger. The two countries have agreed to work together to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural and historical artifacts.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 03:16:05|Editor: yan

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ZAGREB, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The Croatian government rejected on Thursday a proposed restructuring plan for the country's biggest shipbuilding group Uljanik, which pushed the company on the brink of bankruptcy.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic explained at the government session that the cost of restructuring would be too big for the country and its taxpayers.

In the worst-case scenario, he said, it would be up to 10.8 billion kuna (1.63 billion U.S. dollars) and in the best-case 7.5 billion kuna.

"We remain open to additional solutions for the shipyards in Pula and Rijeka," the prime minister said.

Plenkovic explained that in the period from 1992 to 2017 the state had spent a total of 31.7 billion kuna for various restructuring plans and subsidies, including 4.4 billion for the Uljanik shipyard in Pula and another 9 billion kuna for the "3. Maj" shipyard in Rijeka. These two shipyards are now part of the crisis-hit Uljanik Group.

In February, the company selected another Croatian shipyard, Brodosplit, as a new strategic partner.

Details of the restructuring plan were never released to the public, but the owner of Brodosplit, Tomislav Debeljak, told local media on Thursday that they have offered a positive future while the expenses from the past should be solved by the one who created them.

Economy Minister Darko Horvat told reporters on Thursday that this government has finally said "enough" to the unconditional financing of that economic branch.

"That doesn't mean that this government has turned its back to the shipyards in Pula and Rijeka. There is still a prospect for Rijeka and Pula through the bankruptcy proceeding," the minister said.

A court in Rijeka was supposed to decide on Thursday whether to formally launch bankruptcy of the shipyard "3. Maj", but it postponed the decision for April 17. A court in Pazin should decide on Friday whether the Uljanik shipyard would be sent to bankruptcy.

The Croatian government's decision to reject a restructuring plan came only two days after the police arrested 12 executives of the shipbuilding group, under suspicion of committing fraud worth around 1.2 billion kuna.

At the same time workers in the shipyard are still striking. Union leader Boris Cerovac hopes that the court in Pazin will postpone on Friday its decision on the bankruptcy of Uljanik.

"After tomorrow's decision we will know what to do. Either we are going to call people to leave Croatia or we will continue to fight for our shipyard," Cerovac said.

When it comes to shipbuilding, Croatia was once among global leaders. In the last ten years, this prosperous industry has been slowing down, although it still shares up to ten percent of Croatian employment and two percent of the country's GDP.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 03:36:08|Editor: yan

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HELSINKI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- With slightly over two weeks to go before the Finnish general election, the campaign debates are reflecting the old divergence between social democratic approaches and non-socialist attitude in a way not seen in Finland for decades.

While the combat against climate change was earlier a major election theme, the media findings in January this year have turned the focus of debates to the future of Finnish welfare system.

Matti Apunen, a senior analyst hired by the national broadcaster Yle for its election programs, has kept repeating that there will be a "quality of care election".

News broke out in January that public authorities had closed a commercially operated senior home due to poor conditions. Bedridden patients had not been washed and medication had not been given as prescribed.

Within a week or so, other similar cases showed up all over the country. In an attempt to cut costs, commercial operators had reduced staffing and even included non-present nurses on the shift lists knowing they were not there.

CUTS TO BE REVOKED?

The center-right care-taker government under Prime Minister Juha Sipila had planned, before its resignation early March, to improve the position of the private sector as the provider of publicly funded welfare and health services.

The plan finally faltered as the legislation drafting met constitutional problems and the parliament did not have the time to process it before the general polls due in mid-April.

The opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) has said it would reverse many of the cutbacks in public spending done by the ruling coalition, and would reform the health care and social service system on the basis of keeping it firmly in public control and giving public providers the leading role. Private providers would have a role as well, but only as additional input.

The social democrats would also cancel the cutbacks on education and revoke the activation program supposed to inject dynamics by reducing the unemployment benefits. The activation program once triggered major strikes and demonstrations by trade unions in 2017.

SDP chairman Antti Rinne could not specify this week the cost of all the pledged changes, but gave it between "one and three" billion euros.

CONCEPT OF WELFARE

Markku Jokisipila, the director of the parliamentary studies center at Turku University, noted that the welfare system is a key competence field of the social democrats who would benefit from the current situation by offering clear alternatives to replace the former governmental plans.

Analysts believe the SDP's leading position in pre-election surveys by five percentage points more than other parties would guarantee a safe result in the poll. The social democrats enjoy a support level of 21 percent, while the other major parties are in the region of 14 to 16 percent.

Observers have noted that in Finland now no one could successfully challenge the concept of a welfare state, for example, by introducing more individual or family responsibility. Analyst Apunen went as far as to describe the ideas of promoting market-driven health care service as "nuclear waste" in the current opinion climate.

As a result, also the market oriented political segment want to profile themselves as defenders of the welfare state. Both the centrists and the conservatives say their policies of supporting entrepreneurs and businesses aim at defending the welfare state through creating the taxation base that would bolster the structure.

CONCERNS OVER TAXATION

While the conservatives argue the welfare state needs a sound business and industrial base in Finland, the opposition social democrats are putting more directly that taxation is needed to maintain the welfare state and to offer the services such as medical and senior care and free education.

As the emergence of SDP as the new leading party looks fairly certain, there have been expressions of concern from the business sector.

Business daily Kauppalehti on Wednesday quoted Mikael Pentikainen, CEO of the Association of Entrepreneurs of Finland, as saying the past four years have been "good" from the point of view of the entrepreneurs. "Increasing the taxation of entrepreneurs would be disastrous," Pentikainen said.

Local observers have noted the opposition social democrats mainly view taxation as a tool to maintain social services, whereas the coalition government so far has viewed it in terms of creating possibilities for growth.

SDP Antti Rinne has said that his party would not favor the increase of income tax of individuals, but new taxation base would be found and indirect taxation could be developed. Analyst Apunen noted the social democrats have had "difficulty in formulating policies on the taxation of capital gains income".
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 03:46:10|Editor: Liangyu

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Ma Zhaoxu (C, Front), China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks at an open debate of the UN Security Council with the theme "Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts: Preventing and Combating the Financing of Terrorism" at the UN headquarters in New York, on March 28, 2019. Ma Zhaoxu on Thursday urged the international community to advance practical cooperation and strengthen capacity building among member states when combating the financing of terrorism. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese UN envoy on Thursday urged the international community to advance practical cooperation and strengthen capacity building among member states when combating the financing of terrorism.

The fight against terrorism financing involves complicated issues of technical nature. "The broad developing countries are faced with the daunting challenges of lack of capacity in financial regulation and lack of resources," Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said at an open debate of the Security Council.

The open debate was convened by France, the president of the Security Council in March, with the theme "Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts: Preventing and Combating the Financing of Terrorism."

In order to avoid the short plank of any country resulting in an influx of external risks, and to deny any "safe haven" for terrorism financing, the international community should vigorously strengthen the technical assistance to member states and augment capacity building, in joint efforts to respond to the threat of the financing of terrorism, Ma said.

"Terrorism is the common enemy of mankind. The future of all countries is a shared one, and no country can stay immune from the scourge of terrorism," said the Chinese envoy.

Preventing and combating the financing of terrorism is an important part of responding to the threat of terrorism and conducting an international counter-terrorism cooperation, Ma said.

In order to completely eliminate terrorism financing in the international financial system, Ma said that the awareness of a community with a shared future for mankind has to be enhanced, while relevant UN resolutions must be effectively implemented.

In addition, multiple measures and integrated policies are needed to address the symptoms and the root causes of terrorism financing, said the Chinese ambassador, adding that eliminating financing for terrorism requests coordination and cooperation in many areas ranging from political and financial sectors to intelligence, science and technology.

Furthermore, efforts should be made to assist member states in poverty reduction and alleviation, realization of sustainable development, and encouraging dialogue on an equal footing and harmony among different civilizations and religions, Ma added.

The Chinese envoy also highlighted the importance of unifying standards to resolutely combat all forms of terrorism and its financing.

He said that the international community should build consensus and effectively respond to all sources, ways and channels of the financing of terrorism, while special attention should be given to regulating the internet so as to cut off platforms used by terrorist organizations for their proliferation and cyber financing.

Ma also said that China will further explore and establish a regulatory mechanism in countering the financing of terrorism based on financial intelligence, funding monitoring and shared data.

"China attaches great importance to preventing and combating the financing of terrorism, with enhanced regulatory mechanisms in combating money laundering, financing for terrorism, and tax evasion," he said.

Ma said that China will actively participate in international cooperation, provide capacity building assistance for developing countries within its capabilities, and work together with all other countries in jointly eliminating the financing of terrorism, combating terrorism, and maintaining world peace and tranquility.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 05:01:25|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Johannes Hahn (2nd L), commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, meets with members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik, Sefik Dzaferovic and Zeljko Komsic in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on March 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Nedim Grabovica)

SARAJEVO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Visiting EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn on Thursday urged Bosnia and Herzegovina's authorities to form a government quickly in order to resume reforms.

During a meeting with Chairman of BiH Presidency Milorad Dodik and Presidency members Sefik Dzaferovic and Zeljko Komsic, Hahn said the European Commission is working on the preparation of an opinion on the country's responses on 3,242 questions.

"Our ambition is to deliver the opinion until the end of May this year, under the condition for authorities to form the government at all levels, not only at the country's level, but also at the level of Federation of BiH," Hahn told reporters.

It is important in order to have authorities which will continue implementation of the reforms, he said.

Five months have passed after BiH held its general elections on Oct. 7 of 2018, electing, among others, the Federation of BiH (FBiH) Parliament and assemblies of ten cantons in FBiH, one of the entities.

Different political views of parties that represent three major ethnic groups in the country -- Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs -- had resulted in the deadlock in government formation.

For their part, BiH's Presidency members have highlighted the commitment to continue socio-economic reforms, intensifying the fight against corruption and creating favorable conditions for investment and job creation, according to a statement by the BiH's presidency press office.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 07:01:45|Editor: Lu Hui

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WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Maria Butina, the Russian woman who pleaded guilty last year to working as a clandestine agent in the United States, will be sentenced in late April, a U.S. federal judge said Thursday.

Judge Tanya Chutkan, of the U.S. district court in Washington, D.C., set sentencing on April 26 for Butina, who was charged last year with acting as an agent of Moscow to infiltrate and influence U.S. politics.

Butina, 30, accepted a deal with prosecutors in December, pleading guilty to conspiring with an alleged Russian government official and an American to infiltrate GOP political groups like the National Rifle Association and take advantage of those connections to interfere with the nation's political system.

Butina, who faces up to five years in prison, agreed to cooperate with federal investigations, as part of the deal.

The charges against Butina were brought by the U.S. attorney's office in D.C., not the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, who wrapped up last week his nearly two-year investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

According to a brief summary of Mueller's findings made public by Attorney General William Barr, there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Russia has denied any meddling.

Mueller's team briefly questioned Butina in January, but she did not appear to be central to the investigation, according to CNN.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 07:26:49|Editor: Lu Hui

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WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday renewed the threat to close the nation's southern border, claiming that Mexico and several Central American countries have failed to halt illegal immigrants heading to the United States.

"Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country. They are all talk and no action," Trump said in a tweet. "Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing."

"May close the Southern Border!" he wrote.

The remarks stood in sharp contrast with those of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who thanked Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador on Thursday for their efforts to help the United States secure the border.

"America shares common cause with the countries of Central America in confronting these challenges," Nielsen said in a statement.

"We all want to enforce our laws, ensure a safe and orderly migrant flow, protect our communities, facilitate legal trade and travel, support vulnerable populations, interdict dangerous and illicit drug flow, and secure our borders," she added.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejected Trump's criticism on Thursday.

"We respect President Trump's position, and we are going to help," Lopez Obrador told reporters. "This is a problem of the United States, or it's a problem of the Central American countries. It's not up to us Mexicans, no."

Trump is expected to address the issue of illegal immigration when he hosts a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, state of Michigan later Thursday.

The last time Trump threatened to seal the southern border was late last year, when the White House and Congressional Democrats couldn't reach an agreement over his demand for billions of U.S. dollars in funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a plank of his 2016 presidential campaign.

Democrats refused to give what Trump had required, arguing that president was exaggerating the situation on the border for political gains while calling the proposed border wall costly and unnecessary. Trump retaliated by declining to sign spending bills, resulting in a record-breaking 35-day partial government shutdown, which ended in January.

To acquire access to money for building the wall, Trump declared a national emergency in mid-February, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats and raised concerns among Republicans.

The U.S. House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, failed earlier this week to override Trump's veto of a congressional resolution blocking his national emergency declaration.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 07:31:51|Editor: Lu Hui

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SAN FRANCISCO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Thursday charged Facebook with housing discrimination on its advertising platform.

The HUD said in a statement that Facebook has violated the Fair Housing Act by unlawfully blocking housing-related ads on its platform and across the internet from reaching a specified group of people on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion and sex.

"Facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live," said HUD Secretary Ben Carson.

"Using a computer to limit a person's housing choices can be just as discriminatory as slamming a door in someone's face," Carson added.

According to the HUD complaint, Facebook allowed advertisers to exclude people who were classified as "non-American-born," "non-Christian" or "interested in Hispanic culture" among other things.

The HUD accused Facebook of giving advertisers the option of showing ads only to men or only to women.

The federal charges resulted from an investigation in August of last year, which addressed a formal complaint that home sellers and landlords can target ads across a broad range of different categories via Facebook's ads tool.

The HUD's charges will be heard by a U.S. Administrative Law Judge unless the HUD or Facebook choose to move the case to a federal district court.

U.S. civil rights group American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Thursday welcomed the HUD to demand Facebook change its ads policy.

"It's welcome news that HUD is continuing to pressure Facebook to change its ad targeting platform," ACLU tweeted.

"While many practices named in this complaint will be addressed by our settlement with Facebook, we hope HUD's suit will help eliminate biased targeting on the platform completely," said the non-profit rights advocacy group in the tweeted post.

The HUD complaint came only nine days after Facebook reached settlement with the ACLU over discriminatory advertising practices.

In the settlement, Facebook agreed to make changes to its paid advertising platform to prevent discrimination in housing, employment and credit ads.

Facebook said it will no longer allow housing, employment or credit advertisers to discriminate users based on their race, sex, age or zip code.

In response to the HUD's accusation on Thursday, a Facebook spokesperson told media that the company was "surprised" by the HUD decision and that it has adopted measures to address concerns in the HUD filing.

"We've been working with them to address their concerns and have taken significant steps to prevent ads discrimination," Facebook said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 08:09:45|Editor: Yang Yi

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People work on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max aircraft at the Southern California Logistics Airport, also known as Victorville Airport, in Victorville, California, the United States, on March 27, 2019. A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max, on its way to Victorville, where Southwest Airlines is storing the airplanes, to be grounded, made an emergency landing at the Orlando International Airport (OIA) Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. (Xinhua/Zhao Hanrong)
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 08:16:57|Editor: Lu Hui

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GWADAR, Pakistan, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan is converting itself into a busy business zone speedily by cashing the opportunities being offered by the Gwadar Port under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistani Minister of Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi said here on Thursday.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Gwadar Expo 2019, the minister said Pakistan is open for investors and that the Gwadar port has a great potential for being the business and trade hub as it is a gateway to the world and it will benefit Pakistan, its neighbors and the region.

The minister said the progress of Gwadar port will initiate a business activity from the top level to the bottom level of Pakistan's local economy by helping local economy and promoting industrialization.

The Gwadar Expo 2019, with its first edition held last year, was kicked off in the country's southwestern port city of Gwadar, offering a platform of interaction between local and foreign business entrepreneurs, increasing the prospects for exports through fruitful business to business and business to consumer interactions.

According to the China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC), the operator of the Gwadar port, over 100 companies are participating in the two-day event and a great output is expected from the interaction between the participants.

On the occasion, Chairman of the COPHC Zhang Baozhong said that majority of the exhibitors and participants of the expo are well-known companies specialized in different sectors, including textile, real estate development, agriculture, logistics, pharmaceutical and machinery manufacturing.

"Several Chinese investors and Pakistani businesses reached their cooperation agreements even before the launching of the expo," said Zhang, adding that he was told by the Chinese investors that they can import as much as goods, such as marble, sea foods and others from Gwadar.

Zhang told the ceremony that the COPHC and other Chinese investors have special focus on the well-being of the local people in Gwadar by building schools, hospitals, potable water supplies, initiating poverty relief projects and green plantations.

Chairman of Gwadar Port Authority Naseer Khan Kashani said the development efforts made in different sectors during the last few years would be started paying back soon with the participation of the foreign and local investors.

Promising the best facilities to the investors and traders, Kashani said the process to give the tax exemptions to the investors has already been started and it would be finalized, approved and announced soon.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 08:32:00|Editor: Xiaoxia

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People attend a national remembrance service to pay tribute to the victims of the Christchurch terror attacks, at the Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A national remembrance service was held here Friday morning at Hagley Park to pays tribute to the victims of the Christchurch terror attacks.

The service was attended by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Governor-General Patsy Reddy, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and more than 100 International dignitaries.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel addressed the public by saying "Hate has no place here" after the mihi whakatau, the formal Maori speech of welcome.

Al Noor Mosque terror attack survivor Farid Ahmed received warm applause when he came onto the stage to speak. Ahmed said those killed two weeks ago are now dead but their soul is alive.

The names of the 50 victims who died at the terrorist attacks were read by members of the New Zealand Muslim community.

Governor-General Patsy Reddy said she was here to "convey love and messages of condolences and support from our Queen, from leaders of the nations around the world and from fellow New Zealanders."

"We are at such a point in our history," said Reddy, adding "The best weapons against the senseless and vile politics of hate are to be found within each and every one of us."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern received a loud round of applause when she delivered her speech.

"Violence and extremism in all its forms is not welcome here. Over the last two weeks, we have shown that. You have shown that," said Ardern. "The world has been stuck in a vicious cycle of extremism breeding extremism and it must end."

The service is jointly led by the government, the city of Christchurch, Maori tribe Ngai Tahu and the Muslim community. It is live-broadcast across the country.

The service came along with some of the strictest security measures seen in New Zealand for a public event. Event organisers estimated the crowd size at around 20,000 to 25,000.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 08:47:03|Editor: Xiaoxia

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CANBERRA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A deadly skin disease is responsible for the extinctions of 90 amphibian species over the last 50 years, researchers from Australian National University (ANU) have found.

According to a study published by ANU scientists on Friday, chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease that eats away the skin of amphibians, has caused dramatic population declines in more than 500 species, including frogs, toads and salamanders.

"Highly virulent wildlife diseases, including chytridiomycosis, are contributing to the Earth's sixth mass extinction," Lead researcher Ben Scheele said in a media release on Friday.

"The disease we studied has caused mass amphibian extinctions worldwide. We've lost some really amazing species."

More than 40 researchers from around the world have worked on the study, revealing that the populations of at least 500 species have declined as a result of the disease, with 90 known or presumed extinct, or seven of which, were in Australia.

"The disease is caused by chytrid fungus, which likely originated in Asia where local amphibians appear to have resistance to the disease," Scheele said.

"Globalization and wildlife trade are the main causes of this global pandemic and are enabling the spread of disease to continue."

"Humans are moving plants and animals around the world at an increasingly rapid rate, introducing pathogens into new areas."

The hardest-hit regions were Central and South America and Australia's east coast where chytridiomycosis thrives in moist and cool conditions.

The species that have been affected but have not gone extinct still have a high chance of doing so, Scheele said, because of the extreme difficulty associated with eradicating the disease.

"It's really hard to remove chytrid fungus from an ecosystem, if it is in an ecosystem, it's pretty much there to stay unfortunately. This is partly because some species aren't killed by the disease," he said.

"On one hand, it's lucky that some species are resistant to chytrid fungus. But on the other hand, it means that these species carry the fungus and act as a reservoir for it so there's a constant source of the fungus in the environment."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 09:12:06|Editor: Xiaoxia

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MINSK, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Belarus has no plan to join the European Union (EU), the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Kravchenko said on Thursday.

The EU should consider Belarus as a neighbor, not as an accession country, because Belarus has no such desire yet, the deputy minister told local media.

The diplomat said that Belarus sees relations with the EU as relations of neighbors who help each other.

Belarus is counting on the successful development of relations with the EU since the two sides have common interests, Kravchenko added.

With regard to Belarus' membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Kravchenko said that this union is similar to the EU, but it has no political aspect. He is convinced that the EAEU will develop in the interests of its members.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 09:17:06|Editor: Xiaoxia

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WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A group of moderate Democratic lawmakers has sent a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to remove any threat of unilateral tariffs on automobiles and auto parts under Section 232 of U.S. trade law.

The letter was signed by members of Trade Task Force of the New Democrat Coalition (NDC), a caucus of 101 centrists, and was sent to the president on Wednesday.

The nine members said they "remain deeply concerned" about the findings of the Commerce Department's Section 232 investigation into imported automobiles and auto parts, arguing that these products should not impair national security.

"Imposing tariffs under Section 232 on autos and auto parts for reasons not related to national security concerns clearly oversteps the authority granted by Congress," the letter read.

The group urged the president to "abandon any further action" that threatens the U.S. automotive sector, auto workers and the economy.

In February, the Commerce Department submitted a report to the White House on whether to impose tariffs on imported cars and auto parts on national security grounds, drawing backlash from auto makers, suppliers and industry groups.

The Commerce Department launched the investigation in May 2018 at the president's request.

The Trump administration has repeatedly invoked the previously seldom-used Section 232, drawing strong opposition from the domestic and international business community.

The president has 90 days to decide whether to adopt the commerce department's recommendations and introduce tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 09:32:08|Editor: Xiaoxia

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WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) - U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for the third highest position at the Department of Justice withdrew herself from consideration on Thursday.

Attorney General William Barr said in a statement that he's appointing Jessie Liu to be the head of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee.

Liu, 46, was tapped earlier this month to be the associate attorney general, a position vacated by Rachel Brand, who resigned last year for a top legal position at U.S. retail giant Walmart.

It is not immediately clear who will fill that role instead.

Liu is currently a U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 09:32:08|Editor: Xiaoxia

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WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request Thursday to halt the Trump administration's measure banning bump stocks, firearm add-ons used to dramatically increase rate of fire.

The court issued a one-sentence order on the ban, which went into effect Tuesday.

Bump stocks are gun stocks that can be used to assist in bump firing, an act of using the recoil of a semi-automatic firearm or revolver to fire shots in rapid succession.

The Department of Justice issued a rule late last year, interpreting an existing prohibition against fully automatic weapons to also cover bump stocks.

Owners were given 90 days to turn in or destroy them, and that period ended Tuesday.

Pro-gun rights groups and individuals asked the Supreme Court to put the rule on hold while legal challenges play out in lower courts.

Bump stocks have come under greater scrutiny after a gunman equipped his weapons with those devices and killed 58 people in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October, 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 09:47:14|Editor: Xiaoxia

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CHICAGO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) would review actor Jussie Smollett's case, calling it "an embarrassment to our nation."

"FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!" Trump tweeted in response to the controversy over the case.

Smollett, 36, an African American and gay who is a cast member of the hip-hop drama "Empire", allegedly paid two men 3,500 U.S. dollars to stage an attack on him in downtown Chicago on the early morning of Jan. 29.

Chicago police first treated the high profile case as a possible hate crime. However, as investigation deepened, they found evidence indicating the actor orchestrated the attack because he was dissatisfied with his salary on "Empire".

On Feb. 21, Smollett surrendered to Chicago police after local prosecutors approved felony charges of disorderly conduct for allegedly making false police report.

However, prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois on Tuesday dropped all charges against the actor following a surprise court hearing.

"After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett's volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case," the county prosecutors said the statement.

The astonishing twist triggered controversy. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, along with Chicago police chief Eddie Johnson, blasted the prosecutors' decision and emphasized that a grand jury had chosen to bring 16 counts of disorderly conduct against Smollett.

"This is, without a doubt, a whitewash of justice and sends a clear message that if you're in a position of influence and power, you get treated one way, other people will be treated another way," said the mayor, immediately after the prosecutors' move.

The city of Chicago reportedly sent a letter to Smollett through his attorneys on Thursday, demanding he pay 130,106 U.S. dollars "expended on overtime hours in the investigation of this matter," according to the Chicago Tribune.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 09:57:17|Editor: Lu Hui

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SYDNEY, March 29 (Xinhua) -- All aircraft in and out of Sydney Airport were grounded on Friday, according to the Airservices Australia.

"The Sydney Air Traffic Control Tower has been evacuated after smoke was detected," the company posted to social media platform Twitter shortly after noon.

"There is a full ground stop in place with no aircraft departing or arriving at this time."

While the airport is still processing arrivals, "albeit a slower rate," the Airservices Australia said, adding There is "nil departures at this time."

At this stage, there is no available information about what started the fire but emergency services are in the place.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 10:17:21|Editor: Xiaoxia

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GABORONE, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The visiting chief of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) met with Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi here on Thursday, talking about cooperation on economic reforms in the country.

A UNCTAD delegation led by its Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi arrived in Gaborone on Wednesday and would stay until Saturday. They will talk with Botswana government about strategies to transform the country from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based one, according to Unity Dow, Botswana's international affairs and cooperation minister.

When meeting with Masisi, Kituyi said the UNCTAD will engage with the government and share their insights on global developments and their linkages to Botswana's development agenda.

For his part, Masisi said he was happy to receive the UN team and expects the team to be open-minded about the next steps to be taken in the transformation agenda.

Botswana has the fourth highest gross national income at purchasing power parity in Africa, giving it a standard of living around that of Mexico and Turkey. However, its heavy dependence on mining and high rate of HIV/AIDS infection and unemployment are viewed as threats to its future success.

The UNCTAD was established by the United Nations in 1964 to deal with trade, investment and other development issues.

The overarching aim of the organization is to strengthen trade, investment and development opportunities in developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate in the world economy.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 10:27:24|Editor: Xiaoxia

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CARACAS, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez announced Thursday the start of a new phase in reconstructing the country's national electricity system following attacks this month.

"We are going to enter a new phase of reconstruction and total resizing of the national electricity system and the petroleum installations," Rodriguez told the press.

He also called on citizens to use electricity rationally following the attack on the Guri hydroelectric power station, the country's main plant, on Monday.

"Let's save electricity and stay on the streets with our disposition to be free, sovereign and independent," he added.

Caracas restored power supply on Thursday following Monday's massive outage.

On March 7, Venezuela suffered its first massive blackout that left the country without power for five days. Rodriguez said that the "attack" was a cyber warfare against the nucleus of the Guri power station.

The minister warned that since then they have detected "at least four severe sabotages in the national electricity system."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 10:57:28|Editor: Liangyu

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CHANGCHUN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Telecom operator China Mobile launched a 5G-converted WiFi network Thursday covering a metro station in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.

The 5G-covered subway station in Changchun is located in a downtown public square on metro line 2. Passengers can access a free WiFi hotspot and experience the speedy 5G network.

The move adds to a recent trend of Chinese cities adopting the 5G network to meet public demands.

In late January, an airport in south China's Guangdong Province launched a 5G base station. An indoor 5G network will be installed in the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station by the end of this year.

Test data showed that 5G network is able to provide a peak single-user download speed of 1.6 Gbps, nearly 16 times faster than that of 4G service.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 11:02:29|Editor: Xiaoxia

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UNITED NATIONS, March 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on world leaders to come to New York in September with concrete plans of action against global warming for a UN Climate Summit.

Guterres himself called for the summit scheduled for Sept. 23, a day before the start of the annual high-level week of the UN General Assembly, to crank up political will on climate change.

"It is important that we tackle climate change with much greater ambition. I am telling leaders: Don't come with a speech, come with a plan," Guterres told a news conference for the launch of an annual report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

"I am calling on them to come to the summit with concrete, realistic plans to put us on a sustainable path, once and for all."

That means enhancing national contributions under the Paris Agreement by 2020 and showing how the world can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent over the next 10 years and get to net zero emissions globally by 2050, said Guterres.

Without doing so, global warming will be irreversible, he said. "We are very close to the moment in which it will no longer be possible to come to the end of the century with only 1.5 degrees (of temperature increase above pre-industrial levels)."

The report, "WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate 2018," states that 2018 was the fourth warmest year on record and that 2015-2018 were the four warmest years on record. Average global temperature reached about 1 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. 2018 also saw new records for ocean heat content and the highest global mean sea level on record, says the report.

"This report is indeed another strong wake-up call. It proves what we have been saying that climate change is moving faster than our efforts to address it," said Guterres.

He wanted the UN Climate Summit to demonstrate the benefits of climate action.

A growing number of governments, cities and businesses understand that climate solutions can strengthen economies, improve air quality and public health and protect the environment, he said. "We expect initiatives in a diversity of sectors, such as energy, sustainable agriculture, forests, oceans and resilience to climate impacts."

The summit will emphasize the importance of a just transition, where no one is left disadvantaged by necessary climate action, he said. "It is clear that a transformation is under way, but it clear that it is not as quick as needed."

New technologies are already delivering energy at a lower cost than the fossil fuel-driven economy. Solar and onshore wind are now the cheapest sources of new power in virtually all major economies, noted Guterres.

He asked for an end to subsidies for fossil fuels and high-emitting, unsustainable agriculture and for a shift toward renewable energy, electric vehicles and climate-smart practices.

He also asked for carbon pricing that reflects the true cost of emissions, from climate risk to the health hazards of air pollution.

By making this transition, the world can avert the threat of irreversible climate disruption and march far down the road to realizing the 2030 Agenda, said the UN chief.

He saw a clear link between climate change and security.

"It is clear that natural disasters ... are causing massive displacement, and this displacement will inevitably increase migration flows. And, at the same time, impacting on productivity and agriculture, it will make hunger much riskier and it will create factors of social instability."

There are interesting analyzes about the links between weather evolutions and political issues in history, he said.

"I recommend some interesting analyzes about the weather evolution before the French Revolution and some analyzes -- very interesting analyzes -- about the impacts of droughts in relation to the Arab Spring," he said. "I'm not saying that this means that there was climate change in all these circumstances. ... But it is clear that there is a link, a very clear link, between climate and security, between climate and stability, between climate and well-being of populations."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 13:07:48|Editor: Xiaoxia

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NEW DELHI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 30 others injured Friday morning when a bus rammed into a truck in the outskirts of Indian capital city Delhi, police said.

The accident took place on Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida.

"This morning at around 5:00 local time a double-decker bus carrying passengers rammed into a truck on the expressway killing eight on the spot and injuring 30 others," a police officer said.

"The injured have been rushed to the nearest hospital, where the condition of some of them was reported to be critical."

Police officers said the death toll is likely to increase.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 13:22:55|Editor: Liangyu

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LOS ANGELES, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A Macao tourist died Thursday after a fall while visiting the Grand Canyon in the United States, said a spokesman of the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.

The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles contacted American police and confirmed the death of the Macao tourist, said the spokesman.

"The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles expressed deep regret over the death of the tourist and will provide necessary assistance in the aftermath," he told Xinhua.

The tourist slipped and fell to his death from a lookout while taking pictures near the rim at Eagle Point, a popular tourist destination, reported local media, some of which initially reported the tourist as a Hongkonger.

The Grand Canyon in the western U.S. state of Arizona is famous for its steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 13:28:00|Editor: Lu Hui

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WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump will discuss the Korean Peninsula issue with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next month in Washington, the White House said in a statement late Thursday.

Trump will welcome Moon at the White House on April 11, and the two leaders will discuss the latest developments regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as well as bilateral relations, the statement said.

Also on Thursday, U.S. State Department said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would meet with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha here on Friday.

Moon's upcoming visit would come at a critical moment after the second summit between top leader of the DPRK Kim Jong Un and Trump ended in Hanoi late February without reaching an agreement.

Nevertheless, Trump administration has repeatedly said that Washington would continue the conversation with Pyongyang.

In a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Pompeo said that he was hopeful that Washington could engage and negotiate with Pyongyang on the denuclearization issue.

South Korea's foreign ministry said earlier this month that Seoul would focus on helping resume dialogue between the DPRK and the United States for the rest of the year.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 13:33:01|Editor: Xiaoxia

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by Peter Mertz

DENVER, the United States, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The heavily-armed National Rifle Association (NRA) is feeling the heat with a new website warning to its members: "Our rights are under attack like never before."

As elected officials, the class of 2018, are flooding statehouses with bills that may change American gun laws forever, it's not another fundraising gimmick for the 148-year-old powerful political group and the enemy is real this time.

"Thirteen states have already passed a bill similar to ours and more are following," said newly-elected Colorado House member Tom Sullivan of a "red-flag" law he has sponsored to allow police to take firearms from people showing signs of violence.

After his son's murder at a nearby movie theater in 2012, Sullivan got into Colorado politics to fight for tighter gun regulations, winning a house seat in November from conservative, Republican NRA-supported Cole Wist.

Last year, Sullivan and his team knocked on thousands of doors in south Denver, asking residents of Colorado's conservative 37th District if they wanted responsible gun laws. And last November, they voted him in.

Political pundits agree that gun-control candidates were responsible for the U.S. House of Representatives shifting to Democratic control in 2018, which is a repudiation of NRA-backed, conservative politicians.

Mass shootings in the United States have tripled since 2011, previously occurring every 200 days, but since then, occurring every 64 days, according to a 2014 Harvard University study.

Statistics show that almost 40,000 Americans die from guns each year, and about 2 million have been killed since 1968, with a murder rate 25 times higher than any other country in the world, according to BBC and CBS reports.

Some 95 candidates endorsed by the Giffords Law Center, a pro-gun control research group, won seats in the powerful House in last year's pivotal mid-term election.

"The gun safety movement experienced a tectonic shift in 2018," Giffords reported, as record 27 state legislatures passed 67 new laws aimed at restricting access to guns.

"Everybody is just two-or-three people away from knowing someone murdered in a mass shooting," Sullivan told Xinhua, as each year thousands of grieving families and friends join the victims list.

"There's been a flood of new legislation," Robert Spitzer, a professor of political science at the State University of New York College told the Huffington Post last month of 2019's gun control barrage.

"Too many people have been affected by this," Sullivan told Xinhua on Wednesday. "It's getting closer and closer to home with parents, brothers, sisters, and others taking steps, and we know there's going to be a change."

Earlier this month, New York lawmakers put a "gun safety" bill on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's desk requiring the safe storage of all firearms in homes with a minor. Cuomo is expected to sign the bill any day.

In New Mexico, the NRA told members to call Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to reject a bill that would stop "the possession, purchase and ownership of a firearm" for people convicted of certain misdemeanor offenses.

In Connecticut, the state's supreme court "created a dangerous new exception to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a strong safeguard for our right to keep and bear arms," the NRA posted. The PLCCA, a 2005 Republican and NRA initiative, is a law that protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes are committed with their guns.

In Washington state, NRA leadership told its members to reject a bill that would allow police to confiscate guns and ammo from a domestic violence for a few days.

"Knowing someone who has been touched by gun violence, and that's where you get people's attention," Sullivan added, referring to the many grassroot organizations that have arisen from the ashes of mass murders.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 13:33:01|Editor: Liangyu

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SEOUL, March 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit Washington next month for the summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, South Korea's presidential Blue House said Friday.

Senior Blue House press secretary Yoon Do-han told a press briefing that President Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook will visit the United States from April 10 to April 11 at the invitation of President Trump and his wife Melania Trump.

During the summit on April 11 (Washington time), Moon and Trump will make an in-depth discussion on ways to strengthen the bilateral alliance further and to build a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula through the complete denuclearization of the peninsula.

The Moon-Trump summit would come after the second summit between Trump and top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un ended with no agreement in late February in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

Following the second Kim-Trump summit, the U.S. president told Moon via phone that the South Korean president would play a role compromising denuclearization negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington.

Moon has said he would broker a compromise between the DPRK and the United States for permanent peace on and complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 13:38:02|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Most of China's listed firms are paying dividends now after regulators encouraged more rewards for stock market investors, the Securities Times reported Friday.

Over 740, or over 80 percent, of more than 900 listed firms that have released their 2018 financial results so far have proposed dividend payouts to stock investors, the newspaper reported, citing data from financial information provider Wind Info.

More than 20 companies plan to pay at least 1 yuan (about 0.15 U.S. dollars) in cash dividends for each share owned by investors, according to the report.

Many firms' dividend payments will account for a significant share of their profits, with Wuliangye Yibin Co., Ltd., a leading liquor brand, planning to pay nearly half of its net profits in 2018 as dividends.

Regulators have encouraged listed firms to offer more yields to investors in the stock market, where dividend payouts were previously infrequent, and vowed to punish the stingy "iron roosters," a phrase taken from a Chinese term to describe a miserly person.

Listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses proposed total cash dividends of 1.07 trillion yuan in 2017, up 21.88 percent from that in 2016, according to data from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 14:03:06|Editor: Xiaoxia

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TRIPOLI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army on Thursday said it arrested more than 100 illegal immigrants in the northeastern city of Tobruk.

A total of 43 immigrants were arrested in southern Tubrok during a patrol, the army said, adding that another patrol discovered 60 more of them.

Tubruk is located near the Egyptian border, a smuggling hotspot. Libya is a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants trying to cross into Europe.

Improved weather conditions have increased flows of illegal immigrants recently.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 14:03:07|Editor: Xiaoxia

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CARACAS, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido will be barred from holding public office for 15 years following an investigation which showed irregularities in his financial records, Venezuela's Comptroller General Elvis Amoroso said on Thursday.

"Disqualify from holding any public office the citizen Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaido Marquez," Amoroso said, following the investigation into his declaration of assets.

The decision will be "for the maximum period established in the decree with the scope, courage and strength of the law against corruption," Amoroso said.

The law "implements the disqualification sanctions of the execution of public sanctions for a maximum of 15 years" to public servants enveloped in irregularities, according to Amoroso.

The investigation began in February, when Venezuelan authorities started an asset audit on the accounts of the opposition leader.

The inquiries began "because it was believed he hid information from his personal assets declaration while also receiving money from national and international entities that were not justified," Amoroso said.

He added that they would continue the "procedure to verify assets and the administrative fine sanctioning process" established in the anti-corruption law.

At the same time, the documents will be sent to the public prosecutor to begin corresponding actions, Amoroso said.

According to Venezuela's constitution, members of the National Assembly are required to fulfill their duties exclusively.

Guaido "has systematically violated our Magna Carta," Venezuelan laws and the rules of procedure and debate in Parliament, Amoroso said.

According to Amoroso, Guaido "has usurped public functions and committed actions with foreign governments that have harmed the Venezuelan people, public assets, creating harm to social peace, democratic stability and the constitutional order."

Amoroso said that since 2015 Guaido has made 91 foreign trips without authorization from the National Assembly at a cost of more than "310 million bolivares (about 94,000 U.S. dollars)."

The opposition leader has been out of Venezuela for a total of 248 days since winning a seat as federal lawmaker, according to the comptroller.

Self-proclaimed "interim president" Juan Guaido called Amoroso's claims "a farce."

In his opinion, the national comptroller "doesn't exist," and as such "no disqualification exists; the Venezuelan Congress is the only one who can designate a comptroller."

Guaido pointed out that the comptroller was appointed by the National Constituent Assembly and not by the National Assembly in contempt, which is the governing body.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 14:03:08|Editor: Xiaoxia

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KABUL, March 29 (Xinhua) -- About 24 people, including 14 police officers, were killed and several others wounded after Taliban militants attacked police checkpoints in two Afghan provinces overnight, local officials said on Friday.

In one incident, nine police officers, including a district police chief, were killed and six police wounded after Taliban militants stormed police checkpoints on outskirts of Ghazni city, capital of eastern Ghazni province, local police told Xinhua.

Several militants were also killed and wounded and sporadic clashes were still ongoing, the police said.

In northern Badakhshan province, five security forces, two civilians and eight Taliban militants were killed after clashes erupted in Arghanjkhaw district, eastern of provincial capital Faizabad, Hadi Jamal, a press officer of army's Division 20 Pamir, told Xinhua.

"Militant's armed with guns and rocket propelled grenade attacked police checkpoints in surrounding areas of district. The security forces fought back the attackers, who tried to capture the district administrative complex," Jamal said.

Further details about the incidents are still forthcoming amid the absence of any official statement.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 14:13:09|Editor: Liangyu

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SHENZHEN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tech firm Huawei reported robust revenue and profit growth in 2018 "despite a challenging environment," the company announced Friday.

The company raked in 721.2 billion yuan (about 105.2 billion U.S. dollars) in global sales revenue, up 19.5 percent year on year, while its net profit increased 25.1 percent to reach 59.3 billion yuan, according to Huawei's 2018 annual report.

Huawei continued to invest heavily in research and development (R&D) in 2018, spending 101.5 billion yuan, or 14.1 percent of its sales revenue, in this field.

Over the last 10 years, Huawei's total R&D expenditure has exceeded 480 billion yuan, the report showed.

Led by its smartphones, the consumer business stood as Huawei's biggest revenue contributor, with sales reaching 348.9 billion yuan, up 45.1 percent year on year.

Sales revenue of the company's carrier business remained generally flat at 294 billion yuan, while that of its enterprise business reported a 23.8 percent year-on-year growth to reach 74.4 billion yuan as the company expanded technological support to build smart industries and cities.

Guo Ping, Huawei's rotating chairman, said cybersecurity and user privacy protection are at the absolute top of the company' agenda.

"We are confident that companies that choose to work with Huawei will be the most competitive in the 5G era. And countries that choose to work with Huawei will gain an advantage for the next wave of growth in the digital economy," Guo said.

Huawei will continue to strengthen operational compliance, ensure business continuity and sustainability, and cultivate an open ecosystem where all players collaborate and prosper together, Guo added.

Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees and focuses on providing information and communications technology infrastructure and smart devices. The company operates in more than 170 countries and regions with more than 180,000 employees.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 14:33:11|Editor: Xiaoxia

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KIEV, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian voters are to cast their ballots on Sunday to elect the new president, who will lead the country for the next five years.

A total of 39 candidates will take part in the election. According to various opinion polls, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, opposition politician Yulia Tymoshenko and actor Volodymyr Zelensky are viewed as frontrunners in the presidential race.

Following are major facts about the three top candidates presented in alphabetic order by the last name.

Petro Poroshenko:

Poroshenko was elected Ukrainian president during a snap presidential election in May 2014, when he won a commanding victory with 54.7 percent of the vote on the first ballot.

Poroshenko was sworn in as the fifth Ukrainian president on June 7, 2014.

Born in 1965 in a small town of Bolgrad in the southern Odessa region in the family of an agricultural engineer, Poroshenko studied international relations at Kiev Taras Shevchenko National University in 1982-1989.

After his graduation, Poroshenko started a small business selling cocoa beans, and later expanded it by purchasing chocolate factories in northwest Ukraine and in Russia.

In 1996, Poroshenko created the large-scale confectionery company Roshen. In 2018, his fortune was estimated at 1.1 billion U.S. dollars.

Poroshenko first appeared at the Ukrainian political arena in the late 1990s, joining the Social-Democratic party, loyal to then-President Leonid Kuchma.

During his political career, Poroshenko served as the parliament member, foreign minister, trade minister, the head of the council that runs the national bank and the secretary of Ukraine's national security and defense council.

Poroshenko and his wife Marina, who is a cardiologist, raise two sons and two daughters.

The incumbent president is seeking re-election, promising the continuation of reforms, improved living standards and restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity through political and diplomatic means.

Poroshenko also pledged to continue Ukraine's course towards closer integration with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union.

Yulia Tymoshenko:

Tymoshenko is a leader of the Fatherland party, which holds 20 seats in the 450-seat Ukrainian parliament.

She was born in an industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk, now Dnipro, in central Ukraine in 1960 and graduated from Dnipropetrovsk State University in 1984 with the first-degree honor as an engineer-economist.

Prior to her political career, Tymoshenko worked as a practicing economist and ruled several family-owned businesses, including a video rental firm and an energy company.

In 1996, Tymoshenko was elected a parliament member as a representative of a single constituency district in central Kirovograd region.

Tymoshenko had served as Ukrainian prime minister two times -- from February 2005 to September 2005 and from December 2007 to March 2010.

In October 2011, Tymoshenko was sentenced to 7 years in prison on charges of the alleged abuse of office during the signing of a 2009 gas deal with Russia. The politician has denied all the charges, calling them politically motivated.

Tymoshenko was released on Feb. 22, 2014, under a fast-track procedure approved by the parliament after pro-European street protests known as Euromaidan toppled the previous authorities.

Tymoshenko previously participated in the presidential elections in 2010 and in 2014 and both times she came the second after Viktor Yanukovych and Petro Poroshenko respectively.

In January this year, Tymoshenko officially announced her bid for the 2019 presidential race.

Her electoral program named "New Course" envisages adopting a new Ukrainian Constitution, granting more powers to local authorities, rooting out corruption, and returning territories that fell beyond the government control under Kiev sovereignty.

Tymoshenko promised thatshe would resign if she fails to "break the old system and show the results" on the presidential post within 100 days.

Tymoshenko is married to a businessman Oleksandr Tymoshenko and the couple has a 39-year-old daughter Eugenia.

Volodymyr Zelensky

The 41-year-old Zelensky is a Ukrainian comedian actor, screenwriter and director. He has no previous political experience, is known locally for his role of playing the president in a Ukrainian TV-series the Servant of the People.

Zelensky was born in a city of Kryvyi Rig in central Ukraine in a family of a cybernetics professor and an engineer.

He graduated from the Kryvyi Rig department of Kiev National Economic University, where he majored in law. Yet, Zelensky never worked as a lawyer.

In 1997, Zelensky created a comedy troupe 95 Kvartal, which later transformed into a film studio Kvartal 95. The studio produces movies and TV-shows, which have been aired in Ukraine and abroad, mostly in the ex-Soviet countries.

In 2015, Kvartal 95 launched the popular political comedy TV-series the Servant of the People, featuring Zelensky as an idealistic president Vasyl Holoborodko.

In 2017, Kvartal 95 officially registered a political party named the Servant of the People, which later nominated Zelensky as president.

In his electoral program, the presidential candidate pledged to root out corruption, to ensure the equality of Ukrainian citizens before the law, to decide all important state issues through referendums and to improve healthcare and education services.

Zelensky also did not rule out direct negotiations between Kiev and Moscow on the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

In September 2003, Zelensky married his schoolmate Olena Zelenska. The couple has a 14-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 15:13:16|Editor: zh

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China will encourage standardized, regular culture and tourism-related volunteer services in 2019, according to a plan by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism that includes three initiatives.

Of the three, the "Spring Rain Project" encourages volunteering at "civilization practice centers" across the country, in border regions and areas mainly inhabited by certain ethnic groups, as well as seeks volunteers from primary level cultural institutions and those willing to help promote responsible tourism.

The "Sunshine Project" aims to recruit 1,200 volunteers for 1,200 villages in central and western China for a one-year program of cultural promotion.

The "Dreams Come True Project" intends to recruit 610 volunteers, who are leading lights of culture and art or work in intangible cultural heritage, to give training classes and tutoring to students in poor rural areas.

The plan requires that the legitimate rights and interests of volunteers be safeguarded.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 15:23:17|Editor: xuxin

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HAVANA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Cuba and China plan to expand cooperation in the biotechnological and pharmaceutical sector after collaborating in different projects for more than a decade, said authorities from both nations on Thursday at a bilateral conference.

The 10th meeting of the Joint Working Group on Biotechnology, co-chaired by Ren Zhiwu, deputy secretary general of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and Roberto Morales, vice president of Cuba's Council of State, began its deliberations in Havana to increase the scope of this strategic cooperation.

During the meeting, high-level delegations of the two nations and representatives of scientific research centers and companies related to the sector learned about the main breakthroughs of bilateral collaboration since the last meeting in China in 2017.

Ren highlighted growing ties in the field which has promoted "pragmatic and efficient" cooperation and communication between the two sides.

"It has gradually expanded from the initial cooperation of drug production to pharmaceutical research, public health, drug regulation management, bio-agriculture, bioenergy and other areas reflecting the vitality of cooperation between China and Cuba," he said.

He also stressed that progress is evident as currently there are over 20 joint projects, while the same number of companies and institutions have managed to achieve win-win cooperation.

The cooperation has been improved from the transfer of technology to joint development, from the development of trade to cooperation between companies and the creation of joint ventures and from bilateral cooperation to joint exploration of third-party markets, showing strong innovation and vitality, said Ren.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Martinez, president of BioCubaFarma, the island's organization that manages and coordinates national efforts in the biomedical sector to produce medicines and medical equipment, revealed the significance of several milestones in bilateral links in the sector.

"Cuban biotechnology research centers have incorporated very innovative products into the three joint ventures to date, as well as 10 advanced technologies and the sanitary registration of three products have been transferred to China," he said.

Likewise, China has registered and sold to the Caribbean nation more than 100 kinds of medicine and about 500 devices and equipment in the medical-pharmaceutical sector, with prospects to further increase cooperation.

At the opening of the event, Martinez introduced the progress of cooperation with local governments of Chengdu, Guangzhou, Yongzhou and Changchun in China.

He also mentioned the signing of agreements for the creation of high technology centers in China, the progress in joint projects for the development of products and the approval of a preferential credit to BioCubaFarma destined to the construction of plants.

"The new stage imposes new challenges, including maintaining and increasing sales of biotechnology products in China and achieving sanitary registration of BioCubaFarma products that are produced in China today," said Martinez in his opening remarks, calling for "a favorable impact on the health of both peoples, and make an important contribution to the sustainable development of the quality of life and the national economy of both nations."

He also referred to the need to accelerate clinical studies of other innovative products and increase business arrangements that allow extending cooperation in the sector between the two countries.

In this regard, Ren urged to accelerate the expansion of cooperation areas, focusing on exploration in genetic testing, gene editing, cell therapy, high-end medical equipment and agricultural technology.

The bilateral meeting kicked off this Thursday in Havana with working sessions in areas like industry and biotechnology, science and technology, regulatory affairs, agriculture and health. Experts will define new goals in bilateral collaboration for the 2019-2021 period.

Prior to the opening of the meeting, Ren and part of the Chinese delegation held a private meeting with Morales, where they evaluated the cooperation in the sector and its future potential.

Some new bilateral collaboration agreements will be signed at the closing ceremony on Friday while a memorandum of understanding between BioCubaFarma and China's NDRC will be renewed for the next five years.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 15:43:21|Editor: zh

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BOAO, China, March 29 (Xinhua) -- With the world facing mounting downward economic pressure coupled with increasing protectionism and isolationism, officials and experts from around the world are looking for answers, hoping to get some clues of where the world economy is heading from this year's Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) held in China's southern island province of Hainan.

On Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a series of new measures to further open up the Chinese economy, which is believed to increase the confidence of global investors and contribute to building an Asian community with a shared future.

"China's reform and opening-up has been a boost for economies of the world, especially for the developing economies," Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines and former Philippine president, told Xinhua.

China has shown the world that "you can have your own mode of development using your own historical experience; especially in the last 40 years, China has unleashed great potential to the world economy," she said.

Arroyo said China is now the champion of openness and globalization, which works well for Asia and for the global trade system.

As this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Ban Ki-moon, chairman of the BFA and former United Nations (UN) secretary-general, applauded China's economic achievements achieved in the past decades.

"During the past 70 years, China has gone through transformative changes, particular during the last 40 years of reform and opening-up. This has really made tremendous changes for China toward a globalized economy," Ban said on the sidelines of the BFA.

To provide a more favorable environment and encourage more foreign capital, China adopted its first unified foreign investment at this year's "Two Sessions," a key annual event in China's political calendar.

China has started to formulate matching regulations and rules to support the newly-adopted foreign investment law, Li said when addressing the opening plenary of the BFA. The supporting rules will go into effect together with the foreign investment law on Jan. 1, 2020, he added.

Commenting on that, Arroyo said "through the further reform and opening-up, China has become a partner for the rest of the developing countries."

"The Philippines have been investing in China for a long period of time. With the help of the foreign investment law, we expect further investment in China," Arroyo said.

Lakshman Dissanayake, president of the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka, has been to the coastal town of Boao twice.

"I was inspired by President Xi's speech last year and also that of Premier Li's this year," Dissanayake told Xinhua.

"It's important to forge partnerships and you can't do things in isolation. We have to do things together and work together to develop Asia," he said.

Noting that there is an inward-looking trend, or sometimes a nationalist trend in some parts of the world, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said "it's important to remind everybody that if we don't work across boundaries, across borders together, we will not be able to overcome this very serious challenges."

Hiria Ottino, president of the Pacific China Friendship Association, said the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has totally changed the perspective on how the international community could work together.

"Today we are looking at each other not as competitors but as partners, and I think this is the most important thing out of the BRI," he said.

Everyone is in the same boat with a shared future, Ban said Thursday, adding that "we must work together under the multilateral framework through close coordination and cooperation."

"The best response to globalization and protectionism is an open, inclusive and balanced approach which brings all countries and people on the planet towards common development," he said.

The BFA that runs from March 26 to March 29 is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization. This year's BFA themed "Shared Future, Concerted Action, Common Development" has drawn over 2,000 delegates from 60 countries and regions.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 15:43:21|Editor: zh

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China has released 11.25 million spectra of celestial objects acquired by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) to astronomers worldwide, according to the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Friday.

As the world's largest spectral survey telescope, LAMOST marks the world's first spectral survey project to obtain more than 10 million spectra.

Spectra are key for astronomers to read celestial bodies' chemical compositions, densities, atmospheres and magnetism.

Among the released spectra, there are 9.37 million high-quality spectra, which is twice the total number of other astronomic surveys internationally. There are also 6.36 million stellar spectra, creating the largest stellar parameter catalog in the world.

Finished in 2008, LAMOST began regular surveys in 2012. The telescope is located in NAOC's Xinglong Observatory, in north China's Hebei Province.

The telescope can observe about 4,000 celestial bodies at one time. It can also help calculate the age of more than a million stars, providing basic data to study the evolution of our galaxy.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 15:48:23|Editor: zh

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LOS ANGELES, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A Macao tourist died Thursday after a fall while visiting the Grand Canyon in the United States, said a spokesman of the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.

The Chinese consulate general in Los Angeles contacted American police and confirmed the death of the Macao tourist, said the spokesman.

"The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles expressed deep regret over the death of the tourist and will provide necessary assistance in the aftermath," he told Xinhua.

The tourist slipped and fell to his death from a lookout while taking pictures near the rim at Eagle Point, a popular tourist destination, reported local media, some of which initially reported the tourist as a Hongkonger.

A helicopter search located the man's body at the bottom of the canyon. His body will be transported by helicopter to the nearest hospital, a spokesperson for Grand Canyon West was quoted by local media as saying.

The Eagle Point is a remote site best known for the Skywalk, a horse-shoe shaped glass bridge that juts out from the canyon wall. Signs at Eagle Point warn tourists not to get too close to the edge.

The Grand Canyon in the western U.S. state of Arizona is famous for its steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River.

The Chinese consulate general in Los Angeles has warned Chinese citizens to be aware of security risks while travelling in Arizona, including traffic accidents, heat, draught and bush fire.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 15:58:26|Editor: xuxin

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SEOUL, March 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean relations said Friday that it will push for the visit to Seoul by top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un this year.

The ministry said in its 2019 work plan, submitted to the National Assembly, that through Kim's visit to Seoul, South Korea will try to create a virtuous cycle of improved relations between the two Koreas and between the DPRK and the United States, and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The Seoul ministry said the South Korean government will try to regularize the inter-Korean summit as well as high-level talks this year to lay a firm groundwork for relations between the two Koreas.

It noted that through inter-Korean dialogues, South Korea will seek to encourage the DPRK to take denuclearization steps and help facilitate the denuclearization negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington.

According to South Korea's presidential Blue House, South Korean President Moon Jae-in planned to visit Washington in early April for a summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

It would come after the second summit between Kim and Trump ended with no agreement in late February in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

The Seoul ministry said South Korea will seek to create conditions for the resumption of the currently stalled inter-Korean cooperation projects, the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the tours to Mount Kumgang.

The jointly-run factory park in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong and the South Koreans' tour to the DPRK's scenic resort of Mount Kumgang have been suspended since 2016 and 2008, respectively.

To tackle the humanitarian issue, the ministry will seek to regularize the video reunions and the exchange of video letters between the Korean families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 16:28:34|Editor: xuxin

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PHNOM PENH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Friday that the negotiations on hiring a Turkey's power ship to tackle the ongoing electricity shortage have reached an agreement.

"Due to electricity shortage this year, we need to bring a power ship, which is installed with about 200-megawatt power plant, to Phnom Penh," he said in a speech during a government-private sector forum here.

With the support from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the talks between the Electricite du Cambodge and a Turkish firm on the lease of a power ship reached an agreement on Thursday, he said.

The prime minister said the country will hire the power ship for at least three years.

A power ship is a special purpose-designed ship, on which a power plant is installed to serve as a power generation resource.

Hun Sen said last week that Turkey planned to sell the electricity to Cambodia at the price of 14 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour, about 3 cents higher than that purchased from local hydropower plants.

Cambodia is facing the electricity shortage of 400 megawatts during the ongoing dry season because, hydropower plants, which are a main electricity source, could not generate electricity in full swing due to the shortage of water, he said.

Hun Sen said power cuts will last until June.

The kingdom is also seeking to buy more electricity from Vietnam, Laos and Thailand to fill the current electricity shortage, he said.

According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, electricity supply in Cambodia was 2,650 megawatts in 2018, in which 1,329 megawatts, or 50 percent of the total power supply, were produced by hydroelectric dams.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 16:33:36|Editor: zh

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China has released 11.25 million spectra of celestial objects acquired by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) to astronomers worldwide, according to the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Friday.

As the world's largest spectral survey telescope, LAMOST marks the world's first spectral survey project to obtain more than 10 million spectra.

Spectra are key for astronomers to read celestial bodies' chemical compositions, densities, atmospheres and magnetism.

Among the released spectra, there are 9.37 million high-quality spectra, which is twice the total number of other astronomic surveys internationally. There are also 6.36 million stellar spectra, creating the largest stellar parameter catalog in the world.

Finished in 2008, LAMOST began regular surveys in 2012. The telescope is located in NAOC's Xinglong Observatory, in north China's Hebei Province.

The telescope can observe about 4,000 celestial bodies at one time. It can also help calculate the age of more than a million stars, providing basic data to study the evolution of our galaxy.

According to Zhao Yongheng, a researcher from the NAOC, LAMOST's latest spectra data is the world's most complete astronomical data set with the largest survey volume, the highest sampling density and the largest number of samples. It provides a reference for the formation and evolution of the Milky Way as well as other galaxies.

More than 100 institutes and universities from the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Denmark and other countries and regions around the world are using this data to carry out research on the evolution of the Milky Way, stellar physics and special celestial body search.

NAOC has set up an online platform for the spectra data release, allowing users to download it for free.

With LAMOST, Chinese astronomers have reported a series of new findings. They have discovered the most lithium-rich giant star ever known. They also discovered more than 10,000 metal-poor star candidates, which may help shed light on the early universe and the emergence of the first stars and galaxies.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 16:58:43|Editor: Yamei

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SANTIAGO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Another 100 Chinese electric buses will be incorporated into the public transit system on April 1 in Chile's capital, doubling the current fleet, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced on Thursday.

The goal for 2022 is that 80 percent of the public transportation buses will be electric, "giving more comfort ... to everyone," Pinera said in a speech.

Among the current 6,600 buses, 5,300 will be replaced by new ones with air conditioners, WiFi and more comfortable seats, he said.

In December 2018, Pinera unveiled the first 100 electric buses for Santiago's transit fleet, which were made by Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD. One week later, Chilean Transport and Telecommunications Minister Gloria Hutt unveiled a second fleet of 100 electric buses made by Chinese manufacturer Yutong joining the fleet.

The Chilean government presented a more modernized public transit system called Metropolitan Mobility Network (RED) to replace the old Transantiago system on March 12.

The RED will cover the city's public transport means from subways to buses, bicycles and suburban trains.

The government plans to install 40 digital stops and rehabilitate another 1,200 bus stops with the same features in different areas of Santiago this year.

In addition, the payment system for Chile's transit system will be modernized, allowing users to pay via cell phone, credit cards or QR codes.

The government has also proposed to use electric buses in public transport in other regions of the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 16:58:45|Editor: Yamei

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LOS ANGELES, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A Macao tourist died Thursday after a fall while visiting the Grand Canyon in the United States, said a spokesman of the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.

The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles contacted American police and confirmed the death of the Macao tourist, said the spokesman.

"The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles expressed deep regret over the death of the tourist and will provide necessary assistance in the aftermath," he told Xinhua.

The tourist, in his 50s, slipped and fell hundreds of feet into the Grand Canyon from a lookout while taking pictures near the rim at Eagle Point, a popular tourist destination, reported local media, some of which initially identified the tourist as a Hongkonger.

A helicopter located the man's body at the bottom of the canyon. His body was transported by helicopter to the nearest hospital, a spokesperson for Grand Canyon West was quoted by local media as saying.

The area was closed for the day, according to the spokesperson. The identity of the dead tourist has not been made public yet.

The Eagle Point is a remote site best known for the Skywalk, a horse-shoe shaped glass bridge that juts out from the canyon wall. Signs at Eagle Point warn tourists not to get too close to the edge.

The Grand Canyon in the western U.S. state of Arizona is famous for its steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States, drawing nearly 6.4 million visitors last year.

According to the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, over 80,000 Chinese tourists visited Arizona in 2017. The Consulate General has warned Chinese citizens to be aware of security risks while traveling in the state, including traffic accidents, heat, draught and bush fire.

According to a report of the Arizona Office of Tourism, Arizona had 5.56 million international overnight visitors in 2018, and China is currently the sixth largest source country of tourists.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 17:03:45|Editor: Yamei

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HAVANA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Cuba's state telecommunications company ETECSA and U.S. Internet giant Google on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the goal of improving the quality of access to the Internet in the island.

The deal signed by ETECSA's vice president of investments, Luis Iglesias, and Google's Cuba chief, Brett Perlmutter, will allow for a better user experience once technical conditions permit it.

"We have expressed the mutual intention of directly interconnecting our networks, without other transits. Together with this intention and the Google cache service, it will permit an efficient use of our international Internet capabilities," said Iglesias.

Perlmutter confirmed to the press "we have formed a working group composed of engineers from ETECSA and Google to investigate and analyze alternatives to put into operation the direct interconnection."

This new step will help in Cuba's drive to improve and spread Internet access all over the country, said a joint statement.

The MoU between both companies was preceded by the signing and implementation of the Google Global Cache service, signed in December 2016 and in operation since April 2017.

"The signing of this memorandum indicates the interest of U.S. companies in reaching business agreements with ETECSA. Currently there are more than a dozen U.S. companies with deals in place, for the benefit of both sides," added the statement.

Google's participation in Cuba dates back to 2014, when Google Chrome, Google Play and Google Analytics products were first launched in the Caribbean nation.

Since 2015, Cuba has advanced in the process of expanding Internet access. In February last year, it approved a comprehensive policy for the expansion of new technologies, which represents the guide for development in this sector.

According to official data, there are 5.4 million cellphone users in Cuba. More than 1.87 million of them have enabled mobile Internet service in the last three months after the service began last December.

Likewise, more than 60,000 families have Internet service in their homes known as Nauta Hogar and Internet access is available over 1,200 public WiFi hotspots.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 17:03:46|Editor: Yamei

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SEOUL, March 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's central bank and finance ministry on Friday unveiled the detailed volume of their intervention in the foreign exchange market for the first time in a bid to make their foreign exchange policy more transparent.

The FX authorities sold a net 187 million U.S. dollars of foreign currencies in the FX market during the second half of last year to limit a sudden fluctuation in the won/dollar exchange rate, according to the information posted on the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s website.

The net dollar selling put a downward pressure on the won/dollar exchange rate, which stayed at a range of 1,100-1,150 won per dollar in the July-December period.

The U.S. Treasury Department kept South Korea on its "monitoring list" suspecting the country may have intervened in the FX market to devaluate the local currency and help boost exports.

South Korea has denied it, saying that it conducted "smoothing operations" to restrict one-sided market moves.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 17:08:46|Editor: Yamei

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KABUL, March 29 (Xinhua) -- More than 20 people were killed after Taliban militants attacked police checkpoints in two Afghan provinces overnight as spring and summer known as fighting season are drawing near in the country, local officials said on Friday.

In one incident, nine police officers, including a district police chief, were killed and six police wounded when Taliban militants stormed police checkpoints in Ghazni city, capital of eastern Ghazni province, the provincial police spokesman told Xinhua.

"Several militants were also killed and wounded during exchange of fire in Police District 3, outer side of Ghazni city and sporadic clashes continued till Friday morning. District police chief Mujib Rahman Mahmoodi also lost his life in the clashes," spokesman Ahmad Khan Serat said.

In northern Badakhshan province, five security forces, two civilians and eight Taliban militants were killed after clashes erupted in Arghanjkhaw district, eastern of provincial capital Faizabad, Hadi Jamal, a press officer of army's Division 20 Pamir, told Xinhua.

"Militants armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades attacked police checkpoints in the district center. The security forces fought back the attackers, who tried to capture the district administrative complex," Jamal said.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, claimed the insurgent fighters seized control of Arghanjkhaw after driving out the security forces.

Further details about the incidents are still forthcoming amid the absence of any official statement.

In a separate incident, four Taliban militants were killed and two security forces wounded in clashes in Kaykhonak, an area on the outskirts of Aybak city, capital of northern Samangan province on Thursday, according to an army source.

The killed included a Taliban local leader named Obaidullah, who served as Taliban shadow district governor for Hazrati Sultan, district of the province, according to the source.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 17:08:46|Editor: Yamei

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HANOI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam spent over 1.8 billion U.S. dollars importing completely-built automobiles and components for assembly in the first quarter of this year, seeing a year-on-year surge of 103.7 percent.

Specifically, the country imported nearly 36,800 completely-built automobiles worth 797 million U.S. dollars, according to its Ministry of Industry and Trade on Friday.

Early last year, few automobiles, especially cars, were imported to Vietnam because traders were not well-prepared to comply with a new governmental decree which requires traders to provide more relevant certificates and to undergo more tests than before, local experts explained for the import surge early this year.

In 2018, Vietnam spent nearly 5.4 billion U.S. dollars importing completely-built automobiles and components for assembly, seeing a year-on-year drop of 2.6 percent. Specifically, the country imported roughly 81,800 completely-built automobiles worth nearly 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, posting respective declines of 16 percent and 19.9 percent.

According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association, more than 288,600 automobiles were sold in the Vietnamese market in 2018, up nearly 6 percent from 2017. Specifically, the sale of locally-assembled automobiles rose 11 percent, and that of imported vehicles dropped over 6 percent.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has recently proposed exempting locally-made automobile parts from special consumption tax to foster the domestic industry. The localization rate currently stands at only 10 percent, although years ago, the localization target for cars with nine seats or fewer was set at 60 percent by 2010.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 17:13:48|Editor: Yamei

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MALE, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Maldivian high court has ordered the release of former President Abdulla Yameen from detention as there was not enough evidence to hold him on allegations of witness tampering, local media reported Friday.

Yameen was detained last month after a criminal court ordered authorities to take him into custody until a money-laundering case against him is concluded in court.

The prosecution asked the court to take Yameen into custody to prevent him from influencing the evidence against him.

However, the Maldivian High Court, on Thursday said Yameen could not be held in detention for over a month and the prosecution had not provided any reason to extend his remand in custody.

Yameen was being held under house arrest and not in jail due to ill health.

The former president is facing allegations of money laundering and the criminal court has already frozen his local bank account holding nearly 6.5 million U.S. dollars.

Yameen has denied any wrong-doing and appealed against the allegations.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 17:18:52|Editor: Yamei

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China will start to build a national online platform for archives, to make more documents available via the Internet, an archives official said Friday.

Li Minghua, head of the National Archives Administration, said at a national conference attended by directors of local archives authorities that the project would be started this year with the building of the service platform.

A long-term goal is to make the network cover the general archives agencies at all levels nationwide, he said.

Li also called for more efforts in using information technology in archives work so that more archives could be produced and managed digitally.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 18:19:06|Editor: Yamei

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LUSAKA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday called for more serious measures to further reduce the country's maternal mortality rate despite a decline in the number of women dying when giving birth.

Lungu made the remarks after he received a report on implementing the country's national development plan to give its people a better life. He instructed the Treasury to fund the recruitment of 3,000 unemployed nurses to deal with the issue.

It is unacceptable that maternal mortality rates in the country are still high, the president said, adding that no woman deserved to die while giving birth.

He also called for a multi-sectoral approach to handle the problem.

According to Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya, the country used to record 35 to 40 maternal deaths every week and now the number has been reduced to between eight to 10.

It is likely that employing more nurses will go a long way in further cutting the number, Chilufya said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 18:24:08|Editor: Yamei

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Alkaline substances were poured onto the site of a deadly blast in east China's Jiangsu Province to neutralize the polluted water, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said Friday.

After neutralization, the wastewater was transported through pipelines to a local sewage treatment plant for temporary storage.

The priority for emergency response following an explosion at an industrial park on March 21 is wastewater disposal, said an official with the ministry.

Authorities have adopted different measures to treat the polluted water in accordance with the severity of pollution.

The ministry has sent over 50 experts in environmental monitoring and treatment of water, solid waste and soil to help solve the pollution.

Jiangsu Province has set up six air monitoring points and 14 water quality monitoring sections around the site, which have released over 9,000 statistics.

The deadly explosion happened at about 2:48 p.m. last Thursday, following a fire that broke out in a plant owned by Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Co. in a chemical park in Xiangshui County, in the city of Yancheng.

The explosion killed 78 people and wounded hundreds as of Monday afternoon.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 18:29:09|Editor: Yamei

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TOKYO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A whaling vessel left a port in western Japan on Friday to take part in the last of the government's so-called research whaling program before the country begins commercial whaling after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

The ship departed from the port town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, known for its controversial whaling and annual dolphin drive hunt, to head for Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture, in northern Japan, where it will join other vessels.

Between April and June, the fleet will catch around 80 whales off Miyagi and Aomori prefectures in Japan's northeast and 47 whales off Abashiri in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, purportedly to collect scientific data pertaining to the mammals'size, age and weight among other details.

From July, the ship departing from Taiji will go on take part in commercial whaling operations.

This will mark the first time that Japan has officially resumed its commercial whaling program in 31 years.

The resumption of Japan's commercial whaling program will begin the day after Japan officially leaves the IWC by the end of June this year. Japan announced officially to withdraw from the IWC in December last year.

The IWC instituted a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982. Japan initially opposed the freeze but began complying in 1988.

However, it has continued to hunt a quota of whales for what it has described as scientific research purposes since 1987 amid widespread criticism that the whales are actually being sold for commercial reasons, mainly for their meat.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 18:34:10|Editor: zh

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MACAO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The total merchandise export of Macao in February 2019 amounted to 923 million patacas (about 114 million U.S. dollars), up by 29.1 percent year-on-year, the special administrative region (SAR)'s statistics department said on Friday.

The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of re-exports increased by 37.9 percent to 848 million patacas (about 105 million dollars), with that of beauty, cosmetic and skin-care products, diamond and jewellery surging by 968.3 percent and 251.2 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, value of domestic exports dropped by 24.9 percent to 75 million patacas (about 9 million dollars), with that of pharmaceutical products and organic chemicals falling by 34.5 percent.

In the first two months in 2019, the total value of merchandise export increased by 26.2 percent year-on-year to 2.45 billion patacas (about 303 million dollars), of which value of re-exports grew by 31.8 percent to 2.24 billion patacas (about 277 million dollars), but that of domestic exports declined by 12.2 percent to 215 million patacas (about 27 million dollars).

Exports of non-textiles went up by 26.0 percent year-on-year to 2.32 billion patacas (about 287 million dollars). Exports of textiles and garments totaled 129 million patacas (about 16 million dollars), up by 29.9 percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 18:34:10|Editor: xuxin

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ADDIS ABABA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has hailed his country's strong economic ties with China.

At a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in the capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday evening, Ahmed said strong institutionalized economic ties with China has helped Ethiopia achieve double digit growth for more than a decade.

"The Ethiopia-China ties will continue to grow stronger," he said.

Ahmed said China has been and continues to be a strong supporter of Ethiopia.

"The Chinese government is our biggest supporter in the Addis Ababa city beautification scheme, with China providing generous grant for the project," he said.

"The Chinese government was our strongest development partner yesterday and continues to be our strongest development partner today," Ahmed said.

He called on China to maintain its strong economic development partnership with his country, as Ethiopia works to follow China's success in poverty alleviation and economic development.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 18:34:10|Editor: xuxin

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Rescuers work at a fire site in Ankara, Turkey, March 29, 2019. Five people were killed and eleven others were injured in a building fire in the Turkish capital Ankara, Ankara Governor Vasip Sahin said on Friday morning. The fire has erected in an abandoned three-story building in the Iskitler Ata Industrial Housing Estate, where paper collectors, most of which were Afghan nationals, used as a warehouse. Firefighters and ambulances were dispatched to the scene immediately and the fire was now under control. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Sahin said, adding the paper material might have caught on fire. (Xinhua)

ANKARA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and eleven others were injured in a building fire in the Turkish capital Ankara, Ankara Governor Vasip Sahin said on Friday morning.

The fire has erected in an abandoned three-story building in the Iskitler Ata Industrial Housing Estate, where paper collectors, most of which were Afghan nationals, used as a warehouse.

Firefighters and ambulances were dispatched to the scene immediately and the fire was now under control.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Sahin said, adding the paper material might have caught on fire.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 18:44:12|Editor: xuxin

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LUSAKA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Thursday challenged the country's public universities to venture into income-generating activities instead of only relying on the government.

Minister of Higher Education Nkandu Luo said in a ministerial statement in parliament that government grants will not always be guaranteed due to the need for public universities to "think outside the box."

It was unacceptable for public universities to always rely on the government when they are capable of generating their own revenue to ensure their sustainable development, she said.

Her remarks came after teachers and non-teaching staff at the two biggest public universities, the University of Zambia and Copperbelt University, staged a strike to protest against the delays in paying salaries.

They criticized the government for under-funding the universities for years and failing to resolve the matter.

After the transformation of some colleges into universities, the African country currently has seven public universities.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 18:44:13|Editor: zh

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Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan meets with Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing, capital of China, March 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan met with Kazakhstani Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov Friday in Beijing.

Hailing the profound friendship between Chinese and Kazakhstani peoples and solid political mutual trust, as well as strong strategic leadership of the two countries' leaders, Wang said the two countries are at the forefront in the joint construction of the Belt and Road and serve as a model of good neighborliness and mutual benefit.

"China respects the political system and development paths chosen by the Kazakhstani people, and believes that Kazakhstan will continuously maintain a good momentum of rapid development," Wang said, adding that China is confident in the future development of the China-Kazakhstan comprehensive strategic partnership, and is willing to facilitate cooperation with the Kazakhstani side in various fields.

Atamkulov said he appreciates the long-term friendship with China and China's development achievements and expressed willingness to continually enhance cooperation in various areas with the Chinese side including construction of the Belt and Road and strengthen coordination in multilateral mechanisms to promote bilateral relations to a new high.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 19:29:20|Editor: xuxin

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GAZA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on Friday that 266 Palestinian demonstrators were killed during the past one year of the "Great Marches of Return" protests in the Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel.

A total of 50 Palestinian children, six women and an old man, including three paramedics and two journalists, were also killed, the ministry said in a statement received by Xinhua.

The number of injuries was 30,398, of which 16,027 were transferred to hospitals and 536 of them were seriously injured.

During the same period, two Israeli soldiers were killed. A total of 1,963 incendiary balloons were released from the Gaza Strip into Israeli settlements, causing the burning of more than 8 thousand acres as well as 1,233 rockets and 600 explosive devices were launched, said Israel.

The Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege calls for lifting the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip since mid-2007.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 19:34:22|Editor: zh

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BOAO, Hainan, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Global companies are seeing opportunities in China's fast-growing and dynamic consumer market, with more planned investments into high value-added products and services.

Robert Aspell, president of Asia Pacific for Cargill, a U.S.-based agriculture and food company, said the company was looking at more investment opportunities in the value-added oil field, as more Chinese were living healthier lifestyles and craved different kinds of oil.

"Once you get to a certain economic level, you don't continue to eat more food. You start diversifying and upgrading," Aspell told Xinhua, on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference, which concluded Friday.

As China continues its structural reform, consumption has been playing an increasingly important role in the economy, contributing 76.2 percent of GDP growth last year.

With a population of nearly 1.4 billion and an expanding middle-income group, consumption will remain a major driver of growth, while policies to increase resident income and improve quality of goods and services will further unleash its potential, authorities have said.

The country will use multiple avenues to increase the supply of quality products and services, according to the government work report delivered to the annual national legislative session earlier this month.

At the forum, business leaders around the world said they have seen tremendous opportunities brought by China's changing consumer market.

Keynes Li, senior vice president of Nu Skin Greater China, a U.S.-based developer of skin care products, said he has seen explosive growth in China's consumption ranging from daily consumer goods to luxuries, bringing big opportunities for the firm.

Sales in China for the company increased 23 percent year on year in 2018, thanks to fast growth in personalized skincare products, Li said.

"The growth exactly reflected the rising demand from Chinese consumers for high-quality products and services," Li said, adding that the company had increased its investment in China last year.

To monetize this gigantic market, firms not only need to keep abreast of what the Chinese consume, but also how they consume, according to participants at the forum.

According to Wang Zhonglei, co-founder and CEO of Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, China's booming consumer power has fostered growth in the film industry, as the average number of times that Chinese go to the cinema per year reached two in 2018, as compared with only 0.1 just 10 years ago.

He said the "upgrade" in the film industry was not only in content, but the whole process of consuming the content.

"For example, in just a few years, the Internet has totally changed how we buy a movie ticket," he said.

Digitalization has also changed how Chinese consume their food, Aspell noticed. Living in Shanghai, he is used to buying the groceries from an app on his smartphone.

Cargill is closely looking at opportunities rising from digitalization in the food service sector, he said.

"There is much activity going on in China like the upgrading of consumption. This is keeping us on our toes," Aspell said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 19:34:23|Editor: xuxin

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SUVA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Laws of Fiji can now be accessed for the first time online to allow anyone especially lawyers to prepare their cases well.

Fiji's Chief Justice Anthony Gates and Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum launched a website for the laws in Suva, the capital of Fiji on Friday.

Khaiyum said that the laws of Fiji can now be accessed free by anyone from anywhere around the world.

Gates said that since the launch of the 2016 Laws of Fiji, the Fijian Parliament has enacted 83 Acts and 247 Legal Notices have been published.

He said that the website will make research easier and more accurate for lawyers preparing for legal cases about Fiji and also provide access to the laws of the country for ordinary Fijians all over the world.

Gates said that the Revised Edition of the Laws of Fiji in 2016 which has been published online comprised 20 volumes of laws which included 370 Acts and 884 subsidiary laws.

It also includes consolidation of laws published in or before February 2019.

Gates said that the website will be updated regularly.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 19:39:26|Editor: xuxin

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MADRID, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Key players in the Spanish transport sector have highlighted the role of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in the digitalization of southern Spain's transport network.

Huawei presented its new proposals for equipping data centers in the Spanish capital of Madrid on Thursday and highlighted the help it has received from the local government in the city of Alicante, eastern Spain, in building a network of data centers to provide "essential and safe public services."

"Huawei is playing a very important role in the modernization of transport in Spain. The company's contribution could help to revolutionize this sector," Juan Carlos de la Heras, the head of Security and Telecommunications Networks at French company Alstom, told Xinhua.

This idea was shared by Javier Rivilla, director of technology at consultancy firm Indra.

"It's impossible to think of a future without companies such as Huawei, which provide the technology for the safety and efficiency of the transport sector," said Rivilla.

Felix de la Fuente, a sales chief at Huawei Enterprise Business Group, said that innovation is the basis of the company's contributions to Spain's transport sector.

"Our idea, as well as the exchange of data and new technology, is to improve transport for passengers ...," he told Xinhua.

Huawei's task was "to accompany them in the process which goes from buying tickets to their arrival at their destinations," he said.

To that end, "we are investing heavily in AI, it is an element which differentiates us from other manufacturers in the sector," he added.

De la Fuente said that the Chinese company began working alongside ADIF, a company which manages the infrastructure of the Spanish railway network, in 2011 in a project to improve rail transportation.

The company also has agreements with AENA, which operates Spain's airports with similar ambitions to improve air transit, he said.

"Nobody travels today as they did, 5, 20 or 15 years ago," said De la Fuente.

"Now we are looking for fluidity in transport and the way we travel will never be the same. It depends on the elements which make up the whole of the journey, such as traffic and the destination," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 19:39:28|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov attend a joint press conference in Antalya, Turkey, March 29, 2019. Turkey's foreign minister said Friday that the purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense systems is a "done deal" and refuted claims over possible delivery of these systems to a third country in order to avoid U.S. sanctions. (Xinhua)

ANTALYA, Turkey, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's foreign minister said Friday that the purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense systems is a "done deal" and refuted claims over possible delivery of these systems to a third country in order to avoid U.S. sanctions.

"We have sealed an agreement with Russia and we are committed to this deal," Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at southern Antalya province following meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Cavusoglu stressed that a third country objects a bilateral agreement between two other countries and is contrary to the international law.

"The world has to see that one imposing its will to another is not valid anymore," he said, referring to the U.S. warning against Turkey in the case of receiving Russian air defense systems.

Washington argues that the purchase of the Russian system would jeopardize Turkey's purchase of F-35 fighter jets and possibly result in sanctions imposed by the United States.

The minister also said Turkey has no intention of selling the Russian S-400 systems to another country in order to avoid mounting the U.S. pressure.

During the 7th Turkish-Russian Joint Strategic Planning Group Meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Cavusoglu discussed the agenda of a presidential meeting scheduled for April 8.

Lavrov said they have accelerated works for forming a committee for the constitution of Syria.

The two ministers signed the 2019-2020 Plan for Consultations which envisages cooperation road map for the upcoming two years.

Turkey has long been urging visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Russia. Lavrov said they have discussed upcoming steps on the issue.

Cavusoglu last week said the two countries were in talks to allow Russian nationals to travel to Turkey without a passport.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 19:49:31|Editor: xuxin

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MOSCOW, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Two Russian warships are escorting three frigates of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Black Sea, Russian media reported Friday.

The Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship and the Vasily Bykov corvette of the Russia Black Sea Fleet are monitoring the movement of the NATO vessels, TASS news agency said, quoting the National Defense Management Center.

Turkish DNA agency reported earlier in the day that three frigates, Canadian Toronto, Spanish Santa Maria and Dutch Evertsen, have passed the Bosporus Strait on their way to the Black Sea.

The mission of the NATO naval group was not immediately clear.

The NATO has been conducting exercises with Georgia, located on the Black Sea, From March 18 to March 29, involving 343 military and civilian personnel from 21 NATO members, Azerbaijan, Sweden and Georgia.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed "concerns about Russia's military build-up in the Black Sea region" at a press conference on Monday in Georgia's capital of Tbilisi.

Stoltenberg said NATO has increased its presence in the Black Sea to address the "security challenges."

Russia has just completed drills in Crimea, involving more than 1,500 paratroopers, over 300 pieces of equipment, warplanes, helicopters and large landing ships, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

NATO and Russian military maneuvers were conducted ahead of the Ukrainian presidential election on March 31, when incumbent President Petro Poroshenko will seek a re-election.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 19:59:33|Editor: xuxin

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ADEN, Yemen, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 23 people died in March following a cholera outbreak that hit Yemen's southwestern province of Taiz, a health official told Xinhua on Friday.

Abdul Rahim Samai, director of the Public Health and Population Department in Taiz province, said that nearly 5,488 suspected cholera cases have been registered since early January.

The health authorities recorded 335 cases of confirmed cholera, 23 of which have resulted in the death of the patients, he said.

All the deaths have been recorded since the beginning of March and that 80 percent of the suspected cholera cases were recorded only during this month in various areas of Taiz province, the health official confirmed.

Two years after Yemen suffered its worst cholera outbreak, the number of reported suspected cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhea spiked in recent weeks.

Data collected by the Yemeni Ministry of Public Health and Population with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that 109,000 suspected cases and 190 associated deaths were recorded between Jan. 1, 2019 and March 17.

About one-third of the cases are children under age five, according to the statements revealed by the organizations.

The cholera outbreak has been spreading in Yemen since October 2016, but the number of cholera cases resurged after April 2017 as the country's sewer system stopped working due to war.

The internal conflict raging between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels has entered into its fifth year this week.

The epidemic in Yemen has set the world's highest record with the infection of 1 million people and over 2,000 have been confirmed dead since 2017, according to the WHO.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 19:59:36|Editor: zh

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HOUSTON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- In the past seven decades since the founding of the People's Republic of China, in particular since 1979 when China and the United States established diplomatic relations, local Chinese talents who came to the United States to study have helped promote understanding between the two countries.

The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States was a historic event that has changed the political and economic landscape of the world over the past four decades. Meanwhile, the emergence of overseas Chinese talents in the United States also reflects China's development.

For decades, many young Chinese talents went to the United States to study or work, and have made great efforts to help improve bilateral relations. These professionals have made important contributions to the scientific, economic and social development both in China and the United States.

Meng Ruling is one of the first scholars who came to the United States after China's reform and opening-up.

In the 1960s, she started her research on superconducting material at the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. She came to the United States in 1979 as a visiting scholar and then was hired as a senior research scientist to continue research on superconducting material at the physics department, Texas Center for Superconductivity of the University of Houston.

She stayed at the university to work as a scientist until her retirement. "My work made me feel content and satisfied, and it was a challenge for me to leave my lab," she said.

In recognition of her outstanding achievements and contributions to the international research community, she has been ranked 25th out of the 1,000 most cited physicists from 1981 to 1997 by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), and has been identified as one of the world's most cited authors (less than 0.2 percent of all published researchers) by ISI Current Contents-2000, the updated list based on important scientific developments in the last two decades.

Having benefited from the people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States, Meng has always remained grateful for the education she received in China. She told Xinhua that as a college student in the 1950s, she would not have achieved what she had if she hadn't received solid training in China.

When recalling her early days in the United States, Meng was full of emotions.

"There were eight visiting scholars from China in the Houston area back then," she said. "I bought my first car for 500 U.S. dollars. Its wheel fell off even before I hit the highway. The eight of us helped each other fix our cars on weekends."

Besides the help from her peers, Meng received generous support from the local Chinese community, both financially and mentally. She cherished all the support she received and wanted to give back to the community, as well as to young Chinese scholars.

Encouraged by a group of Chinese students, she founded the Chinese Association of Professionals in Science and Technology (CAPST) in 1992 and became its first president, aiming to assist young scholars from China.

Today, China has become the world's second-largest economy, and Meng has retired as CAPST's president. But she still continues to offer support.

She said that CAPST members were all professional experts, scholars or members of the elites in their own fields and they should make efforts to promote China-U.S. communication and relations.

What's more, in 2012 she decided to pursue a new dream: watercolor painting. She said that "hope only starts to emerge when you adhere to your dream."

Charlie Yao, the fifth president of CAPST, also weighed in with his observations of overseas Chinese students.

After graduating from a Chinese university, Yao came to the United States in the early 1980s to study chemistry first and then business administration. Yao started his career in the international energy company Shell as a technician, then transferred to marketing and management positions.

Yao's dream came true in 2014, when he began serving as the president and CEO of YCI Methanol One, LLC, a U.S. subsidiary of Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Inc. (YCI), China. His educational background, a Ph.D. in chemistry and an MBA, served him well in his job.

Representing a younger generation of overseas Chinese, Yao believed that the status of overseas Chinese associates is closely connected with China's development.

"I think China's vigorous economic development is a huge motivation for overseas Chinese," he told Xinhua.

Yao also mentioned that the Millennials are more proactive. "When I was studying abroad, all I wanted was to find a steady job in big companies," Yao added. "Now these youngsters have way higher standards and more dynamic ideas."

Linhua Guan, vice chairman and chief business development officer of SURGE Energy America, held a similar point of view. Guan left China in 2000 and studied in the United States. "Those Chinese students are having higher starting points and greater ambitions," Guan said.

For decades, the demographics of Chinese students studying abroad have included not only technical personnel, but also management elites like CEOs and entrepreneurs.

Guan said that studying and working abroad have enriched his life, and it was a blessing to contribute to relations between China and the United States by working in a multinational company.

"This private enterprise I just joined has invested billions of dollars in the United States. We hope to carry this project forward and provide more options for Chinese investors and more job opportunities for Americans," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 20:29:44|Editor: zh

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ISTANBUL, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) recorded a total book asset of 15.8 billion Turkish liras in 2018, with a book net profit of 83.55 million liras, up 73 percent year-on-year, show annual results released on Friday.

ICBC Turkey posted a 19-percent growth of total book asset over the past year, while the book pre-provision profit rose by 55 percent to 251 million liras, according to the figures.

ICBC is China's largest commercial bank as well as the world's largest bank by assets, and ICBC Turkey has been licensed for commercial banking, investment banking and asset management after it was established on the purchase of a majority of shares of Turkey's Tekstilbank in May 2015.

ICBC Turkey prioritizes "good financial services" for local real economy, the Belt and Road Initiative and Chinese enterprises going global.

In 2018, the bank won such local awards as the "International Bank of the Year" and "Best Project Financing for the Year," as well as honors from ICBC Group such as "Excellent Overseas Institution (for Transformation Development)."

By the end of 2018, ICBC Turkey had established business relations with 70 of the top 100 local companies and had 35 loan customers, opened accounts for over 100 Chinese-funded enterprises and served 208,000 individual customers. Its credit loans to customers with a high-credit rating had accounted for 33 percent and those to major customers reached 75 percent, while the contribution of assets and businesses from major customers had reached 78%.

Meanwhile, ICBC Turkey completed the first PPP bond financing on the Turkish market and launched RMB-TRY futures business as a market maker, which gained a monthly trading volume of 116 million RMB yuan.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 20:34:45|Editor: zh

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Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, presides over the third CPPCC online conference in Beijing, capital of China, March 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese political advisors held a consultation session Friday on better construction of roads for the country's rural areas.

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, held a teleconference where political advisors at the CPPCC National Committee office as well as those outside Beijing used an online platform to express their opinions.

Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, presided over the session.

While hailing achievements in rural road construction, the political advisors also pointed out problems such as insufficient planning, legal protection and maintenance in this field.

They called for high-quality development in rural road construction and better planning to ensure that such construction meshes with the causes of fighting poverty, industry fostering, urbanization and the rural vitalization strategy.

They also suggested better supervision to ensure the quality of the construction, deepened reforms in the maintenance system, expanded financing channels and greater efforts in environmental protection for relevant development.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 20:34:45|Editor: zh

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MACAO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The total merchandise import of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) in February fell by 12.3 percent year-on-year to 5.67 billion patacas (about 702.60 million U.S. dollars), the SAR's statistic department said here on Friday.

The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) showed that imports of construction materials, gold jewellery, and handbags and wallets declined by 33.1 percent, 32.6 percent and 26.3 percent respectively, but imports of beauty, cosmetic and skin-care products rose by 25.1 percent.

Merchandise trade deficit in February amounted to 4.75 billion patacas (about 588.59 million U.S. dollars), the DSEC said.

In the first two months of 2019, the value of merchandise import fell by 1.5 percent year-on-year to 14.62 billion patacas (about 1.81 billion U.S. dollars). Merchandise trade deficit widened to 12.16 billion patacas (about 1.51 billion U.S. dollars).

By place of origin, import from the Chinese mainland decreased by 2.5 percent year-on-year to 4.92 billion patacas (about 609.67 million U.S. dollars) in January and February, whereas imports from the European Union increased by 9.5 percent to 4.15 billion patacas (about 514.25 million U.S. dollars).

Imports of consumer goods went up by 8.6 percent to 10.40 billion patacas (about 1.29 billion U.S. dollars), with imports of garments and footwear (1.65 billion patacas or 204.46 million U.S. dollars) and beauty, cosmetic and skin-care products (984 million patacas or 121.93 million U.S. dollars) rising by 34.6 percent and 32.8 percent respectively.
File Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) welcomes South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 30, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump will discuss the Korean Peninsula issue with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next month in Washington, the White House said in a statement late Thursday.

Trump will welcome Moon at the White House on April 11, and the two leaders will discuss the latest developments regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as well as bilateral relations, the statement said.

Also on Thursday, U.S. State Department said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would meet with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha here on Friday.

Moon's upcoming visit would come at a critical moment after the second summit between top leader of the DPRK Kim Jong Un and Trump ended in Hanoi late February without reaching an agreement.

Nevertheless, Trump administration has repeatedly said that Washington would continue the conversation with Pyongyang.

In a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Pompeo said that he was hopeful that Washington could engage and negotiate with Pyongyang on the denuclearization issue.

South Korea's foreign ministry said earlier this month that Seoul would focus on helping resume dialogue between the DPRK and the United States for the rest of the year.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 21:35:04|Editor: xuxin

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The NATO flag is raised during a ceremony in Riga, Latvia, March 29, 2019, to mark the 15th anniversary of the Baltic country's accession to NATO. (Xinhua/Edijs Palens)

RIGA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A number of events were held in Riga and elsewhere in Latvia on Friday to mark the 15th anniversary of the Baltic country's accession to NATO, governmental spokespeople informed.

The Foreign Ministry noted that Latvia is celebrating its 15 years in the alliance as NATO marks its 70th anniversary in 2019.

Latvia, along with several other countries, including Baltic neighbors Estonia and Lithuania, joined NATO, by submitting accession documents in Washington on March 29, 2004.

In honor of that historic date, a ceremonial change of guard took place in the morning by Riga Castle, the official residence of the Latvian president, and the NATO flag was raised on one of the medieval castle's towers.

An exhibition, "15 Years of Latvia's NATO Membership", was unveiled at the Foreign Ministry on Friday, offering a display of the most important documents from the ministry's archives which chronicled Latvia's path to NATO, provided the timeline of key events leading up to Latvia's admission to NATO and followed Latvia's activities as a full member of the alliance.

"Since the restoration of independence, Latvia has sought to gain a foothold in the space of Euro-Atlantic values and security. And we have achieved that goal! This year marks the 15th anniversary of our membership in NATO. Latvia is an active and reliable NATO ally and fulfils the responsibilities incumbent upon it," said Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics.

Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis called the joining of NATO 15 years ago Latvia's most important event since the restoration of independence.

"Today, we are stronger than we have ever been. Our allies -- NATO member states -- are standing together with our National Armed Forces for our country's security," the Latvian president said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 21:50:08|Editor: xuxin

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ULAN BATOR, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's largest tourism fair opened here Friday to promote tourism by introducing related products and services designed for visitors and helping local companies find new partners.

More than 300 exhibitors from all 21 provinces of Mongolia and such foreign countries as China, Russia, Japan and Thailand are showcasing products and services in the three-day 2019 International Travel Mart.

"Today, tourism has become an important sector that has an impact on socio-economic development of any country. I am happy that the number of foreign tourists visiting Mongolia has been steadily increasing in recent years," Mongolian Minister of Environment and Tourism Namsrai Tserenbat said at the opening ceremony.

"The Mongolian government will pay special attention to the development of the tourism sector. Particularly, we are planning to organize specialist trainings in the tourism sector free of charge in all 21 provinces of the country," said Tserenbat.

According to the National Statistical Office of Mongolia, minerals and textiles accounted for over 95 percent of the total exports in the first two months of this year. To diversify its mining-dependent economy, Mongolia has been striving to develop tourism.

The Asian country received 529,370 foreign tourists in 2018, up 11 percent year on year, and earned over 596 million U.S. dollars, up 29.6 percent from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

The country has set a goal of hosting 1 million foreign tourists and earning 1 billion dollars in 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 21:55:10|Editor: xuxin

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LONDON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Lawmakers in Britain's House of Commons prepared to vote Friday on Prime Minster Theresa May's controversial Brexit deal.

The debate is being held on what should have been the day Britain finally left the European Union (EU).

MPs will be voting on whether to back or reject the deal May brokered last year with Brussels.

It has already been rejected twice by MPs, once by a record 230 margin and by 149 votes on its second outing earlier this month.

If MPs approve today's move by May, Britain will have until May 22 to get the necessary legislation through parliament.

If they reject the deal Britain will have until April 12 to announce to the EU a different approach to Brexit or leave the EU with no deal.

Most of Britain's national newspapers Friday devoted their front pages to the latest twist in the long-running Brexit saga, which started in a June 2016 referendum when the British people voted by a 52-48 margin to leave the EU.

"The day of reckoning" was how the Daily Telegraph headlined its report, while the Daily Express described March 29 as the "Darkest Hour for Democracy."

The Telegraph described the debate as May's "last chance" push to get her Brexit divorce deal approved.

Under the headline "One Last Chance," the Daily Mail said Britain was meant Friday night to be the moment Britain became a proud nation. Instead, the British Parliament is in paralysis.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, opening the debate, said the purpose of Friday's debate was to secure an extension of Britain's membership of the EU until May 22.

If the deal is rejected, any further extension of EU membership beyond April 12 could be vetoed by any of the 27 EU member states.

He said if MPs approved the withdrawal agreement, it would lead to MPs voting later on the withdrawal legislation needed to approve it in law.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 22:05:11|Editor: xuxin

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NICOSIA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus's top administrative court issued a decision on Friday which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had warned would raise the prospect of a serious disruption of the economy of the eastern Mediterranean island as it is recovering from its 2013 crisis.

The decision said that cuts in the salaries and pensions of civil servants and additional levies imposed as part of fiscal measures taken to face the crisis were unconstitutional.

The IMF warned in a report on Cyprus's economy on Thursday that the outcome of court cases brought by civil servants against bailout austerity measures could result in additional spending for the government.

The measures helped reduce the public payroll from 2.9 billion euros (3.26 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011 to 2.2 billion euros in 2015.

These included a freeze on incremental pay raises; a 3 percent contribution by public servants towards their pensions; a 12.5 percent permanent reduction in civil servants' pay; and a 10 percent drop in hiring salaries.

The court said in its 2-to-1 majority decision that salaries and other benefits enjoyed by public servants were to be considered part of their property, and consequently their impairment constituted a violation of the article of the Constitution protecting the right to property.

The austerity measures, which became known as "fiscal consolidation measures," were approved by the Cypriot Parliament in 2012 as part of a bailout package, which was under discussion with the Eurogroup and the IMF.

The Cypriot government held up the discussions as presidential elections were coming up, and the new government signed the terms of the 10 billion euro bailout in March 2013.

Depending on the outcome of an appeal being considered by the Legal Service of Cyprus against the court's decision, the government may be forced to disburse hundreds of millions of euros in compensation to public servants for the cuts in their salaries and additional contributions.

It will also have to redraw its plans on the economy, taking into consideration the increased expenditure on public services.

The IMF pointed out in its report that massive surpluses generated over the last few years may be in danger of being wiped out, impairing the government's capacity to repay the sovereign debt, which currently stands at over 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollar)
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 22:20:16|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Photo taken on March 29, 2019 shows the Arab foreign ministers' preparatory meeting for the 30th Arab summit in Tunis, capital of Tunisia. The preparatory meetings of the 30th Arab summit continued Friday in Tunis to consolidate joint Arab action. (Xinhua/Adele Ezzine)

TUNIS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The preparatory meetings of the 30th Arab summit continued Friday in Tunis to consolidate joint Arab action.

At the headquarters of General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, Arab foreign ministers' preparatory meeting for the summit started Friday to discuss political, economic and security challenges facing the Arab region at this critical stage.

On Thursday evening, Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui met with the Secretary General of the Arab League (AL) Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

During their meeting, the two officials discussed a number of issues related to the agenda of the Arab summit and the draft statement to be issued by the Arab foreign ministers meeting.

Jhinaoui said that the existence of the AL is important and imperative as a space that brings together all Arabs and allows their leaders to meet and discuss Arab issues, according to a statement released by the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.

Tunisia, as an integral part of the group, will spare no effort to ensure the success of the 30th Arab summit, he added.

The Arab summit spokesperson Mahmoud Khemiri told media on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's unilateral decisions on the occupied territories (in Syria and Palestine), including the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, will be addressed at the preparatory meeting of foreign ministers.

The spokesperson affirmed the Arab consensus on the refusal of the U.S. president's decision to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Golan Height because it violates the UN charter as well as international rights and resolutions, including the UN Security Council Resolution 242 and 497.

He said the latest developments in Syria were on the agenda, but the issue of reinstating its membership in the AL is not for now, noting that its natural place is within the AL.

The agenda of the Arab foreign ministers' preparatory meeting will include developments in the Palestinian cause in the light of the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza, efforts to support the struggles of the Palestinian people and their right to establish an independent state.

Khemiri said the meeting will shed light on the situation in Yemen, Iraq and Somalia, adding that the Libyan file would be strongly present at this summit.

Tunisia would host a quadripartite meeting as part of the Arab summit in the presence of the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and the Arab League to discuss ways of implementing the roadmap and organizing free elections in Libya before the end of this year.
kali9/iStock(JERSEY CITY, N.J.) -- A New Jersey nanny was out for a jog when she was allegedly attacked and left for dead in lake, officials said.



The body of Caroline Cano was found Sunday morning in a lake in Jersey City's Lincoln Park, the Hudson County prosecutors said.



The city's medical examiner's office ruled her death a homicide, prosecutors said, though they declined to release more information on the manner of death.



Cano, 45 of Jersey City, lived a few blocks from the park, and her roommate said she went for a jog every morning before going to her job as a nanny, reported ABC New York station WABC-TV.



"They realize something was wrong when she didn't show up to the church," neighbor Frankie Ramos told WABC-TV. "She never missed a day."



No arrests have been made, prosecutors said Thursday.



Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office at 201-915-1345.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 22:30:20|Editor: mingmei

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Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 26, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xiaowei)

RIYADH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud pledged to strengthen economic and military cooperation with China, to promote peace and stability in the region.

He made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe on Tuesday in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia and China have a long-lasting friendship and their strategic relationship is under continuous development, he said, adding that the two countries are important cooperative partners of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"Saudi Arabia expects to increase bilateral economic cooperation and personnel exchanges, and deepen military collaboration, to jointly promote regional peace and stability," he said.

The initiative, proposed by China in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which aim at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud said that bilateral cooperation in all fields has yielded fruitful results, and Saudi Arabia is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in politics, economy and security, during a meeting with Wei.

The crown prince expressed expectation for the two militaries to carry out more pragmatic cooperation and expand new areas, as military cooperation is an important cornerstone of the Saudi Arabia-China relationship.

Wei said that China attaches great importance to its relationship with Saudi Arabia and their relationship has become a model for state-to-state relations.

Under the leadership of the two states, the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries has undergone in-depth development.

The Belt and Road Initiative and the Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan have a broad prospect and bilateral military ties have maintained a sound momentum of growth, Wei said.

"China is willing to work with the Saudi military to implement the consensus of the leaders of the two countries, expand pragmatic cooperation, and promote bilateral military relations," Wei added.

Wei also held talks on Wednesday with Saudi Arabia's Assistant Minister of Defense Mohammad bin Abdullah Al-Ayesh.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 22:45:24|Editor: yan

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BUJUMBURA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Burundi National Media Council on Friday said it has withdrawn the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio station's authorization to operate in Burundi, due to BBC's "slanderous" documentary.

It is strictly forbidden for any Burundian or foreign national journalist to directly or indirectly provide BBC information that can be broadcast on its radio, said Nestor Bankumukunzi, chairman of the media council at a press conference here.

The media council had suspended the BBC radio station for six months since May 7, 2018 as BBC was accused of violating principles of "balance of information" and "rigorous verification" of sources.

BBC officials "affirmed and recognized the mistake," but later broadcast a documentary movie that is "false, slanderous and full of fabrications", said Bankumukunzi.

The movie showed "serious professional violations," violating the law governing the press in Burundi, he said.

He also said the Voice of America (VOA) radio station is still on suspension until further notice.

VOA has been suspended since May 7, 2018 for continuing to disseminate programs on a local radio station that was suspended in 2015 and hiring a Burundian journalist who is facing an international arrest warrant.

VOA officials in Burundi "are not compliant with the law" by approving specifications required by the media council like other Burundian media houses operating in Burundi, said the chairman.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 22:50:27|Editor: yan

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LONDON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- British lawmakers on Friday voted to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, which has been rejected twice in the parliament since January.

MPs voted 286 to 344 to turn down the Withdrawal Agreement and delay Brexit to May 22.

May said after the voting that the implications of the outcome are "grave."

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, told the House of Commons that "it is the third time that the prime minister's agreement was rejected."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 22:55:35|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee reviewed two work regulations, one on the work of leading Party members groups and the other on the education and management of Party members, at a meeting Friday.

The meeting was presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

Leading Party members groups have a special position in the Party's organizational system, said a statement released after the meeting.

The revised regulation on the work of leading Party members groups has implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and adhered to the Party Constitution as the fundamental basis, it noted.

In the new era, leading Party members groups should fully fulfill their political responsibility for governance over the Party and improve their ability to lead, to ensure that the Party remains always a powerful leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, said the statement.

Noting that strengthening Party member education and management is a basic, fundamental and regular task of Party building, the statement called for efforts to develop a contingent of Party members that are politically reliable, strictly self-disciplined and highly qualified, who also hold firm convictions and play outstanding roles.

The statement demanded quality improvement of the education and management of Party members, stressing that enhancing the Party's political building should be taken as the overarching principle, and arming the whole Party with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era should be a primary political mission.

It also required targeted and effective education and management measures for different types of Party members as well as further reform and innovation to modernize their education and management.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 23:05:43|Editor: yan

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BEIRUT, March 29 (Xinhua) -- World Bank Group Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj said on Friday that more work should be done in Lebanon's reform to have access to funds from the international community.

"Lebanon has started with reforms but they are still not up to the expected level. This is what we have just told Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil who is very understanding and supportive to these reforms," Belhaj was quoted as saying by the National News Agency.

His remarks came during his meeting with Khalil to discuss the latest economic developments in the country.

Belhaj said that the World Bank will help Lebanon in undertaking necessary reforms.

"We have to have confidence that the government will implement the necessary reforms. But we should move quickly because time has become very sensitive now," he said.

Lebanon secured the loans and grants from international donors at CEDRE, an international conference in support of Lebanon development and reforms, to revamp its ailing infrastructure and bolster its economy.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 23:15:45|Editor: yan

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BELGRADE, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Serbia can continue to make progress in EU integration despite the current standstill in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, said Johannes Hahn, European commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and enlargement negotiations, here on Friday.

Hahn made the remarks after his meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic. He also stressed the importance of Serbia's participation in regional integration initiatives.

Hahn started his official visit to Serbia on Thursday evening by meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. On Friday morning, he exchanged views with Brnabic about Serbia's progress in conforming with EU rule of law, the overall European integration process, and Belgrade's participation in future regional integration initiatives in light of the recent tensions between Serbia and its province of Kosovo and Metohija that unilaterally seceded in 2008.

At a press conference later on Friday, Hahn said that although the key precondition for Serbia's accession to the EU -- dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on the normalization of relations, as defined in Chapter 35 of the EU acquis -- could not yet be met because of Pristina's decision to impose tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia can still make progress in the remaining 34 chapters in the meantime.

"Dialogue is important, but dialogue is not everything in terms of getting Serbia closer to the EU," Hahn said, announcing the opening of new chapters before his mandate ends at the end of October.

"It would be wrong and there is no reason to stop everything just because currently, for well-known reasons, there is a standstill in the dialogue," Hahn said.

Previously, Brnabic complained that Serbia's efforts to build "a more stable, more integrated and economically prosperous region" have been hampered by 100 percent tariffs that were imposed several months earlier by provincial authorities.

"We are currently looking for a way to sign the regional roaming agreement, although it presents a major challenge for us, and I personally do not think that it is fair to insist on some further regional agreements when Pristina disrespects some of the most basic ones, such as the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA). However, we will see what we can do, and we will continue to discuss all the other regional initiatives," Brnabic pointed out.

She singled out several other integration initiatives in the areas of transport, infrastructure and energy, including the establishment of the Secretariat of the South East Europe Transport Community in Belgrade, which would be endangered if Serbia gave up the project in reaction to Pristina's tariffs.

Hahn said that Serbia is "by far the most interconnected country in the region" and that its economy benefits most from advanced regional cooperation.

"I fully understand your annoyance over the imposition of tariffs by Pristina. It is something we tried to address and to remove, because it clearly opposes the idea of a single market and is definitely hampering further development in the areas of trade and cross-border cooperation," he said.

During his meeting with Vucic on Thursday, Hahn said that Serbia should make further progress in the areas of democracy and rule of law, a government press release said.

Vucic told Hahn that Serbia respects the "highest democratic principles and will follow the example of France, Germany and other EU countries when it comes to key issues, such as the rule of law and the work of police and courts."

On Friday, Hahn also met with representatives of Serbia's opposition parties. He was scheduled to conclude his visit in the Serbian town of Golubac, where a medieval fortress was reconstructed with EU funds.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 23:20:48|Editor: yan

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COLOMBO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Over 11,000 cruise tourists arrived in Sri Lanka so far this year with the arrival of six cruise ships at the Colombo Port, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) said in a statement Friday.

According to the SLTPB, over the last two weeks alone, over 3,000 tourists from Europe, Australia and Thailand arrived in Sri Lanka on board two luxury liners.

The ships arrived from Singapore and Phuket.

Sri Lanka's Tourism Ministry has been aiming to attract cruise ships in order to boost the number of tourist arrivals.

Sri Lanka recorded a 29-percent growth in luxury cruise ships calling at the Port of Colombo last year, helping boost the tourism sector.

Cruise tourism has seen a substantial growth in Sri Lanka in recent years, with industry experts seeking government approval to build a cruise terminal building at the Colombo Port to attract more cruise liners.

Tourism has been one of the country's leading sectors with a growing number of tourist arrivals in recent years.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 23:20:50|Editor: yan

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by Tao Jun, Dong Hua

HO CHI MINH CITY, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Before sunrise in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, a middle-aged man flicked on his flashlight and bathed a large truck full of pigs. With hose in hand he went on to douse the creatures and then the trunk in disinfectant.

Minutes after the truck registered in southern Dong Nai province left the Thu Duc Animal Quarantine Station in Ho Chi Minh City's Thu Duc District, another truck full of pigs from northern Hai Phong city arrived at the station.

The man, wearing a white vest, dark blue cap, and a blue facial mask, repeated his actions.

"Because African swine fever (ASF) is affecting more and more northern and central localities, we have to work around the clock to prevent it from hitting our city," the man, a veteran member of the quarantine station, told Xinhua recently.

"We check around 200 trucks carrying cattle and poultry every day. Specifically, we verify relevant documents, check the health status of the animals and disinfectant them," he said.

The station's deputy head, Le Cong Hieu, explained that the trucks were transporting pigs from other localities to slaughterhouses in the city and the officers in charge of animal health are present at slaughterhouses and wholesales markets around the clock to ensure that no sick cattle or poultry are slaughtered or sold.

Along with animal quarantine stations at entrances to Ho Chi Minh City, the city has three inter-sectoral checking teams, whose members include traffic police officers, food safety experts and volunteers. They frequently carry out road patrols to quickly detect animal-carrying vehicles which have dodged the quarantine stations.

Municipal authorities have instructed relevant sectors and all districts to map out urgent plans on preventing and combating ASF amid the rapid spread of the highly contagious disease in Vietnam's northern and central regions.

Accordingly, if ASF hits pig farms in the city, infected pigs and healthy pigs which have contact with infected ones must be culled, outbreaks isolated, and communes, wards or towns which have outbreaks disinfected daily for one week and three times a week for the two or three following weeks.

Ho Chi Minh City currently raises around 300,000 pigs, and consumes about 10,000 pigs daily, of which 80 percent are raised in other cities and provinces, including southern Dong Nai province, southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province and central Binh Thuan province, according to statistics from the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Among southern localities, the city consumes the largest amount of pork.

If a major ASF outbreak hits Ho Chi Minh City, leading to the shortage of pork, the city will turn to imported products and if local people turn their back on pork, the city will supply its markets with more chicken, the municipal Department of Industry and Trade said.

Similarly, the neighboring province of Dong Nai, which currently raises some 2.5 million pigs, the most among Vietnamese localities, is taking urgent measures to prevent ASF from entering its territory.

Dong Nai is establishing more animal checkpoints along routes leading to the province.

"Pig prices in the southern region are higher than those in the north, so large numbers of pigs are being transported from the north to the south, meaning ASF could spread to Dong Nai at anytime," a provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development official told Xinhua recently.

Fearing that ASF will strike Dong Nai soon, some farmers in the province have sold all of their pigs.

At present, pigsties on farms in Nguyen Hieu in Trang Bom district are empty. "I have just sold all 1,300 pigs. I will raise pigs again if ASF doesn't spread to Dong Nai or outbreaks in other provinces are eradicated," he said.

Other farmers are suffering from slumping prices of live pigs and falling sales of pork because some consumers have turned to chicken and fish.

"Now, traders buy our pigs for around 36,000 Vietnamese dong (1.6 U.S. dollars) per kilogram, down from 52,000 Vietnamese dong (2.3 U.S. dollars) three weeks ago," said Nguyen Van Quang, owner of a big farm in Thong Nhat district.

Vietnam's Department of Livestock Production has estimated that more than 2.5 million households in Vietnam are currently actively engaged in pig farming.

As such, the loss of pigs due to ASF infection and control measures has placed a heavy economic burden on many rural families, Albert Lieberg, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representative in Vietnam, told reporters on March 19.

According to the FAO, although local authorities in Vietnam have been implementing measures to strictly control the movement of pigs and pig products from infected communes, and have been mobilizing their resources for pig culling and disposal, small pig farming models with low biosecurity that use swill feeding methods are continuing to facilitate the spread of ASF.

On Feb. 19, Vietnam announced the first ASF outbreaks in the two northern provinces of Thai Binh and Hung Yen.

As of March 27, the Department of Animal Health, under the auspices of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, confirmed a total of 476 ASF outbreaks in 23 cities and provinces. Some 73,000 pigs have been culled in an effort to curb further infections.

Farmers in Asia have a limited knowledge of ASF and the specific epidemiology of the hemorrhagic viral disease, as it has only recently been introduced to the region, according to the FAO.

But Chinese researchers have isolated an African swine fever virus, according to Chinese media earlier this week.

The research progress could contribute to more knowledge of the organism, and may also lead to new methods for prevention and control, the report said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 23:20:52|Editor: yan

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CAPE TOWN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The South African cabinet on Friday lauded the Chinese electronics manufacturer Hisense for its continued investment in the African country.

The cabinet "welcomes Chinese electronics manufacturer Hisense's 72-million-rand (about 5 million U.S. dollars) investment into its refrigeration and television production lines at its Atlantis factory in the Western Cape," cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams said as the current cabinet concluded its program of this 5th administration before the May 8 elections.

This investment brings Hisense's total investment in this Atlantis plant near Cape Town to 440 million rand (about 31 million dollars), Williams said.

With the production lines expanded, 150 manufacturing job opportunities have been created, she said.

The investment has enabled the plant to locally produce high-end energy-saving ice-cooling and air-cooling refrigerators, with an annual production capacity of 400,000 units, according to Hisense.

In addition to refrigerators, the plant also produces TV sets with an annual TV capacity of 580,000 units.

In 2013, Hisense and China-Africa Development Fund (CADF) jointly invested 350 million rand (about 24 million dollars) to establish the Hisense South Africa Industrial Park, which covers an area of 100,000 square meters. The project was the largest investment by a Chinese household appliance enterprise in South Africa in the past 40 years.

Hisense has become a very important part of unprecedented direct foreign investment source in South Africa over the past several years, South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said earlier March when he visited the Hisense plant.

The investment from Hisense represented an "important achievement" and "another example of the fruits of South Africa's successful partnership with the People's Republic of China," he said.

Davies added that he learned with pride and joy that the Atlantis plant has been rated the best-performing Hisense plant in the world outside China.

"This means that the plant is performing better than others based in North America and the European Union member countries. This is something we need to be proud of as a country and I congratulate Hisense South Africa for that accolade," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 23:25:54|Editor: mingmei

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Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi holds talks with visiting Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng in Beijing, capital of China, March 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China and Cambodia here on Friday launched the Year of Law Enforcement Cooperation between the two sides, pledging to strengthen cooperation in combating cross-border criminal activities.

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi and visiting Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng attended the launch ceremony.

Zhao said that the decision of the two countries' leaders to designate this year as China-Cambodia law enforcement cooperation year opens a new chapter for bilateral law enforcement cooperation.

This year the two sides will regularly carry out joint law enforcement operations against crimes such as illegal online gambling, telecom fraud, drug crimes, crimes committed by mafia-like gangs and violent crimes, he said. Moreover, they will also adopt customs facilitation measures and make efforts to better protect the security and interests of the enterprises and citizens located in each other's country.

Zhao also called for closer personnel exchanges and experience sharing, saying the Chinese side expects the two law enforcement departments to do their best to promote law enforcement and security cooperation.

Sar Kheng said the Cambodian side will work with the Chinese side to implement the important consensus of the two countries' leaders and strengthen cooperation in combating cross-border criminal activities.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 23:30:56|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) and Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila attend a news conference in Bucharest, Romania, March 29, 2019. The governments of Romania and Greece agreed Friday on an action plan reflecting the priorities of the bilateral agenda that establishes a clear long-term cooperation strategy between the two countries in all areas, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said. (Xinhua/Cristian Cristel)

BUCHAREST, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The governments of Romania and Greece on Friday agreed on an action plan reflecting the priorities of the bilateral agenda that establishes a clear long-term co-operation strategy between the two countries in all areas of activity, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said.

"I had a consistent and extremely useful meeting today with my Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, followed by a first Romanian-Greek intergovernmental meeting," Dancila told a join news conference with Tsipras, adding that the two met to analyse developments in strategic areas such as transport and energy security and to identify new opportunities in areas with a direct impact on economic development such as trade, agriculture, tourism, culture and education.

"As far as transport sector is concerned, we discussed our cooperation in major road and rail interconnection projects and we highlighted the importance of these projects for the integrated economic development of our countries," she said.

Talking about the energy security, Dancila emphasized the importance of the BRUA interconnection project, the first diversification project in southern Europe linking Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria that has the potential to provide a new route and natural gas sources of to a number of European countries in a major dependence on a single external supplier.

"We are continuing to advance with the BRUA corridor," said Dancila.

"What we need to understand in an era where everything happens very fast and the energy map modifies depending on the new challenges in front of us is that both Greece and Romania remain stability poles in the region, in terms of both economic cooperation and security," said the Greek prime minister in his turn.

"Greece and Romania have the strongest economies in the Balkans... our collaboration, always based on a very tight cultural tradition, plays a special role in the stability and development of the entire region," Tsipras stressed, adding that Greece overcame the crisis and it is looking forward to the future today with more strength and optimism, while playing the important role it has always played in the region.

A new quadrilateral meeting involving Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia is scheduled later in the day, with prime ministers of Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, as well as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expected to attend.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 23:30:56|Editor: yan

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang holds a dialogue with representatives from fields of business, finance, media and think tanks attending the 2019 Boao Forum for Asia annual conference in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, March 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BOAO, Hainan, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday held a dialogue with representatives from fields of business, finance, media and think tanks attending the 2019 Boao Forum for Asia annual conference.

"Adhering to reform and opening up is the independent choice of the Chinese people," Li said at the meeting attended by more than 200 guests from all around the world.

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, Chinese people have enjoyed tangible benefits, and China will only open its door wider and wider, Li said.

"The Chinese government treats all domestic and foreign enterprises equally and protects intellectual property rights in accordance with the law," he said.

The premier said China will take measures to drastically reduce the time for medicines to be approved and put on the market to benefit patients as soon as possible.

On China-U.S. relations, he said the historic development of the bilateral relations over the past 40 years has brought tremendous benefits to the peoples of the two countries and made an important contribution to world peace, stability and development.

"Although there are some differences between the two sides, dialogue and cooperation have always been the mainstream," Li said.

In accordance with the consensus reached by the two heads of state, economic and trade teams of the two sides are making positive progress through multiple rounds of consultations, Li said.

"As long as the two sides adhere to the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, positive results will be achieved. This is not only in line with the interests of the people of the two countries but also the common expectation of all countries in the world," Li added.

China is actively implementing the innovation-driven development strategy, promoting mass entrepreneurship and innovation and stepping up the development of emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, automatic driving and hydrogen energy, Li added.

This provides an important opportunity for enterprises of all countries, and all companies are welcome to come to China for common development, Li said.

Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has seen a steady performance, and market expectations have improved recently. However, in the face of a complex environment, difficulties and challenges should not be underestimated, Li said.

With a population of nearly 1.4 billion and more than 100 million market entities, China will be able to maintain long-term sound development as long as it stimulates market and corporate vitality, the premier added.

The country must let enterprises enjoy tangible benefit from tax cuts, as the government has decided to cut corporate burden by nearly 2 trillion yuan (about 297 billion U.S. dollars) this year, Li said.
File Photo: Members of the graduating class of 2016 attend the commencement ceremony of the 262nd Academic Year of Columbia University in New York, the United States on May 18, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

NEW YORK, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Education plays an irreplaceable role in strengthening U.S.-China ties and both countries should keep an open mind towards education exchange, said a U.S. expert and former diplomat.

"Education has been the cornerstone of the U.S.-China relationship, deepening and informing communication and interaction between the two countries," Julia Chang Bloch, founder of U.S.-China Education Trust (USCET), a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

As China and the United States are facing some difficulties in bilateral ties, it is "more important than ever to draw on the power of education exchange to build mutual trust, avoid conflict, and ensure peace and prosperity in the 21st century," said 77-year-old Bloch, U.S. ambassador to Nepal from 1989-1993 and also the first Asian American to hold such a high diplomatic position in U.S. history.

People-to-people exchanges transmit empathy, which helps iron out mistrust and misunderstanding caused by differences stemming from two different social systems and cultures, she noted.

She also called on students and educators who have had the opportunity of studying, living and working in both countries to step up efforts to safeguard U.S.-China relations against misunderstanding, misperception and miscalculation.

Bloch learned the importance of education exchange through her father F.Y. Chang, who was among the first group of Chinese students coming to the United States. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Mr. Chang went back to China and taught international law at Peking University for a period of time.

It was also on the campus of the university Bloch got the idea of establishing the USCET some two decades ago, while strolling along the paths her father once stepped on. Today, the organization works with over 15 academic partners in the United States and more than 70 top Chinese universities.

What deeply concerns Bloch now is the fact that an increasing number of Chinese students, especially those who want to study technology-related majors in U.S. universities and colleges, got their student visa applications denied in the past year.

"The academic community is mounting a major campaign against what they see as an unjustified attack against Chinese students," said Bloch. "Such broad attacks are not only unfair to the Chinese students, but handicapped one of America's strongest competitive advantages, our open education system."

The former ambassador also hoped that the United States could send more students to study in China, as "there has to be more balance in the numbers of students from one country to another."

According to latest statistics, over 360,000 students from China are studying in the United States while the number of U.S. students in China stands at just around 12,000.

When the percentage of Americans who can speak Chinese is the same as that of Chinese speaking English, "that would be the day" for the two countries to get closer and achieve better mutual understanding, Bloch added.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-29 23:56:07|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Photo taken on March 29, 2019 shows the sculptural group of Boadicea and Her Daughters and the U.K. flags outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain. British lawmakers on Friday voted to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, which has already been rejected twice in Parliament since January. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

LONDON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- British lawmakers on Friday voted to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, which has already been rejected twice in Parliament since January.

MPs voted 286 to 344 to turn down the Withdrawal Agreement and delay Brexit to May 22.

May said after the vote that the implications of the outcome are "grave."

"I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House," the prime minister said after she was defeated by a majority of 58.

At the request of the British government, MPs were asked to vote Friday only on the 585-page Withdrawal Agreement, which was concluded in November 2018 between London and the EU after long and painful negotiations. The Brexit deal sets out the terms of Britain's departure from the European Union.

May's Brexit deal was rejected in the House of Commons by a record 230 votes in January and by 149 earlier this month.

The prime minister separated her Brexit deal from the 26-page political declaration on future relations when seeking the parliamentary vote partly to meet the recent ruling of Commons Speaker John Bercow that the same motion can not be tabled twice in the same parliamentary session.

After the vote, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, told the House of Commons that "it is the third time that the prime minister's agreement was rejected."

Corbyn went further to call for a general election in the country. His statement was echoed by MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party, which is from Northern Ireland and propping up May's minority government.

Earlier this month, MPs voted to delay Brexit from March 29 to April 12 or May 22.

The "legal default" is that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union on April 12, said May, who has been waging an uphill fight to get her Brexit deal through Parliament in order to pave the way for Britain to leave the European Union on May 22.

Britain will leave the European Union with no deal unless May can find a new agreement with Brussels.

The prime minister said that she had not enough time to negotiate a new agreement with the European Union with only 14 days to go until the new Brexit date.

However, she said that her government will push for an orderly Brexit after Parliament had rejected a no-deal Brexit and a fresh Brexit referendum.

May said earlier this week that she had agreed to step down as prime minister before the next phase of negotiations with the European Union if her deal is passed in Parliament.

The European Council said last week that if MPs approved the Brexit deal by March 29, the European Union would extend the Article 50 exit process until May 22.

In response to the latest vote in the British Parliament, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, tweeted that European Union's leaders will meet on April 10 for a summit to discuss Britain's departure from the bloc.

"In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April," Tusk said in the message.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:06:08|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Palamagamba Kabudi said on Friday the country is not thinking of confiscating nor nationalizing foreign investments.

Kabudi made the assurance during talks with Lynda Chalker, founder and president of Africa Matters Limited, according to a statement issued by the ministry's information and communication unit.

Africa Matters Limited works with multinational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, governments, local partners and non-governmental organizations to ensure that private sector investment plays a critical role in driving African development, the statement said.

During the talks, Kabudi said the country's recent overhaul of its mining laws and policies is not intended to confiscate or nationalize foreign investments.

"Recent amendments of laws in the mining, natural resources and investment were aimed at improving the investment environment which will create a win-win situation between the nation and the investors," he told Chalker, who once served as Britain's minister of state for overseas development and Africa.

"The nationalization and confiscation of foreign investments agenda is being engineered by people who do not want to see a thriving Tanzania," Kabudi said at the meeting in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.

He said the reforms being undertaken under the leadership of President John Magufuli are intended to do away with corruption and bureaucracy.

The minister urged Chalker to mobilize British investors to visit Tanzania and explore vast investment opportunities available in the country.

For her part, Chalker praised president Magufuli for improving the business environment in the country, the foreign ministry statement said.

She promised to meet relevant British authorities and the Commonwealth to arrange an international conference that will focus on investment opportunities in Tanzania.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:06:08|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of students gathered in Berlin for a "Fridays for Future" protest demanding more ambitious action from the German government in the fight against climate change.

Organizers registered 15,000 participants in the protest in Germany's capital. School strikes were also planned in 20-odd German cities on Friday.

"We are the generation that can change this climate chaos," said Luisa Neubauer, one of the main organizers of "Fridays for Future" in Germany.

A youth climate conference was also being held in the Bavarian city of Erlangen, attended by Bavarian Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber. Some 180 students from all over northern Bavaria were invited to discuss climate protection and Bavaria's climate policy with Glauber.

The founder of the "Fridays for Future" movement, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, joined the march in Berlin. Addressing the crowd, Thunberg said that "the older generations have failed in tackling the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced."

"We want a future, is that too much to ask for?" Thunberg said. The 16-year-old has galvanized young people across Europe and beyond since she began organizing a school strike and rally outside the Swedish Parliament in August.

Inspired by Thunberg's activism, young people around the world have been taking to the streets on Fridays instead of going to school or university. The students are demanding more action against climate change from their respective governments.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:06:08|Editor: yan

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MINSK, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Belarus is ready to cooperate with the European Union (EU) while taking into account its own national interests, President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday.

When meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Minsk, Lukashenko thanked Austria for its contribution to the rapprochement between Belarus and the EU.

In 2018, the trade between Belarus and Austria amounted to more than 170 million U.S. dollars. The Belarusian leader said that figure should be higher.

The president also said he is against any weakening or breakup of the EU. The EU must be modernized but in no way in the direction of a breakup, he added.

Kurz said he expects Lukashenko to visit Austria within the next six months. "We will be able to deepen our relationship step by step in this way," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:11:10|Editor: yan

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GAZA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) on Friday expressed deep concern over the "excessive use of force" by Israeli forces during the past year of the Great March of Return rally on the border between the eastern Gaza Strip and Israel.

The Israeli act is "contrary to applicable standards under international law," the UNRWA said in an emailed press statement.

Many of the injured are "in need of long term medical and psycho-social assistance," the statement added.

In addition, 13 of the UNRWA schoolchildren were killed and 227 others wounded in the past year, mostly aged 13 to 15.

"The 227 UNRWA schoolchildren might not be able to resume their education due to their injuries," the statement noted.

Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said 266 Palestinian demonstrators were killed during the past year of the Great March of Return rally along the Gaza borders close to Israel.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:21:11|Editor: mingmei

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- "The New Zealand-China relationship has grown in breadth and depth in recent years. And we're looking for fresh momentum to two-way links as a result of Prime Minister Ardern's visit across a range of areas of cooperation," New Zealand Ambassador to China Clare Fearnley said here on Friday.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will pay an official visit to China from March 31 to April 1 at the invitation of her Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

"We're very much looking forward to the visit. High-level contact of this sort is of great benefit to bilateral relations," Fearnley said in an interview with Xinhua.

Once a student at Peking University in the 1980s and Consul-General in Shanghai from 1998 to 2002, Fearnley herself is a witness of the development of bilateral ties.

When asked about her China experiences, Fearnley said: "Chinese people bring China to life for me. From deep conversations with old friends to simple exchanges with taxi drivers or in a restaurant over a bowl of noodles, I find curiosity, warmth and a sense of humor amongst Chinese people." She stressed that people-to-people connections will carry the bilateral relationship into the future.

With its breathtaking scenery, the island country in the South Pacific Ocean has long been a dream destination for Chinese tourists. The ambassador told Xinhua that the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism would be launched on March 30, one day before the prime minister's upcoming visit.

She also noticed that an exhibition of Terracotta Warriors, sculptures representing ancient Chinese art and civilization, at the National Museum of New Zealand, has gained national attention and popularity. "It's been so popular that within the first two months, the number of visitors had already exceeded the expectation for the entire four-month season."

Apart from tourism and culture, cooperation in education and academic research is also going deeper between the two sides, she added.

As a strong pillar of bilateral ties, economic and trade cooperation will be a major topic for Ardern's meetings with the Chinese side during the visit.

"The economic link is very strong since the two countries concluded a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) 11 years ago," Fearnley said, adding that the trade relationship has developed in a fastpaced and balanced way.

"Trade links now go well beyond the traditional sectors of dairy, forestry, fisheries and horticulture to a range of high-tech sectors and also services."

China has recently adopted a Foreign Investment Law. "We're pleased that Chinese authorities invited foreign governments to comment on the draft of the law," she said, adding the new law represents a step toward high-level opening up.

The two sides are also working toward an early conclusion of the FTA upgrade, Fearnley said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:21:12|Editor: yan

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BEIRUT, March 29 (Xinhua) -- British Ambassador to Lebanon Chris Rampling said on Friday that Britain will provide 800,000 British pounds (1.04 million U.S. dollars) to March Lebanon, a non-governmental organization working on conflict resolution in Lebanon's Tripoli.

"The move aims at encouraging March Lebanon to implement more social projects in Beirut and Tripoli which works on peace building and conflict resolution in these areas," Rampling was quoted as saying by the National News Agency.

March Lebanon is popular for its unique initiatives to help mediate between the youths of Beb El Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in northern Lebanon, two feuding neighborhoods ravaged by sectarian conflicts.

The NGO enabled youths in Tripoli to rebuild hundreds of stores that were destroyed by sectarian conflicts.

"I saw hundreds of stores that were destroyed by sectarian conflicts but they have been renovated due to the NGO's initiative while employing over 250 youths," Rampling said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:26:12|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to close the nation's southern border with Mexico next week, amid feud over illegal immigration.

"If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our southern border, I will be closing the border, or large sections of the border, next week," Trump said on Twitter.

The threat comes a day after Trump criticized Mexico and several Central American nations for not halting illegal immigrants heading north to cross the U.S. border.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:26:12|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is scheduled to visit Washington in the second week of April, Sisi's spokesman said Friday.

Bassam Radi, spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency, said in a statement that Sisi received an invitation from his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to visit Washington in April.

The visit is part of meetings between the two presidents to shore up the Egyptian-U.S. relations and serve strategic interests of the two countries, Radi said.

The visit also "falls within bilateral consultations on the latest regional developments," the spokesman added.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:36:14|Editor: yan

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BRUSSELS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- In wake of Friday's defeat of the Brexit deal in the British House of Commons, the European Commission said the European Union is now fully prepared for a "no-deal" Brexit.

British lawmakers earlier in the day voted to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, which has already been rejected twice in Parliament since January. May said after the vote that the implications of the outcome are "grave".

In Brussels, the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, said it regrets the negative vote in the House of Commons and now the default Brexit date is April 12.

"It will be for the UK to indicate the way forward before that date, for consideration by the European Council," it said in a statement.

"A 'no-deal' scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario. The EU has been preparing for this since December 2017 and is now fully prepared for a "no-deal" scenario at midnight on 12 April," it said.

"The EU will remain united. The benefits of the Withdrawal Agreement, including a transition period, will in no circumstances be replicated in a 'no-deal' scenario. Sectoral mini-deals are not an option."

"In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April," Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, wrote on Twitter.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:36:15|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- German citizens consumed an average of 124 scoops, or 8.7 liters, of ice cream in 2018 thanks to record temperatures in the summer, the Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI) announced on Friday.

The BDSI recorded the strongest growth in the sale of multipacks of various types of ice cream of 244.5 million liters last year, up 12 percent from 216.7 million liters in 2017.

Industrial ice cream manufacturers sold 584.2 million liters of ice cream in Germany in 2018 and sales increased by 13 percent to 2.6 billion euros (2.9 billion U.S. dollars).

The BDSI noted that German ice cream manufacturers were responding in particular to "current nutrition and lifestyle trends" in developing new ice cream creations.

Last year, the German confectionery association noted that the increase in sales in the brand ice cream industry was primarily attributable to the expansion of the range of premium ice cream products with high-quality and versatile ingredients as well as in the organic ice cream, vegan and lactose-free segments.

The German meteorological service (DWD) recorded a new record of 74 summer days with a temperature of 25 degrees centigrade and above in 2018.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:41:16|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The White House announced on Friday that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi will visit Washington in early April on ties and regional issues.

U.S. President Donald Trump will hold talks with his Egyptian counterpart on April 9 at the White House, discussing bilateral military and economic relations as well as counterterrorism cooperation, according to a statement released by the White House.

The two leaders will also talk about developments and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the statement added.

Sisi's visit came after Washington's highly isolated move to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a decision over which most United Nations Security Council members on Wednesday expressed regret.

Egypt stressed last Friday its fixed stance of considering the Golan Heights "an occupied Arab territory."

Israel occupied much of the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed the territory in 1981, although this was never recognized by the international community.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, which was signed in Washington in 1979 following the 1978 Camp David Accords brokered by then U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:46:16|Editor: yan

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TAIYUAN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A forest fire broke out in Qinyuan County, northern China's Shanxi Province at around 1:10 p.m. Friday, local authorities said.

Firefighters were dispatched to quench the blaze immediately after the fire started, but strong winds helped the quick spread of the blaze, according to sources with the provincial headquarters for prevention of forest fire.

Satellite monitoring data showed the fire had spread over an area of 28.6 square kilometers by 6 p.m. Friday.

The provincial government is attaching great importance to the situation and firefighters from other places are rushing to the site, the sources said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:51:17|Editor: yan

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NAIROBI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The International Coffee Organization (ICO) on Friday announced measures aimed at improving the global coffee prices.

Jose Sette, executive director of ICO, said the organization is mobilizing financial resources from the private sector and donors to support the sector, promoting coffee consumption and advocating the importance of coffee sector.

"We intend to ensure that the international coffee community not only receives a fair living income but also long term sustainability of the global coffee sector," Sette told journalists at the end of a five-day conference in Nairobi.

Sette said the organization has lined up series of consultative meetings this year in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) during the relevant international forums.

"The meetings will be held in May, June and September in Italy, Belgium and Britain respectively," Sette said.

The ICO, he said, is building a strong sector wide dialogue by engaging coffee stakeholders, development partners and civil society with the objective of identifying solutions, building consensus and setting measurable commitments towards a sustainable future for coffee growers and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 124th conference that was opened by President Uhuru Kenyatta was attended by 4,500 delegates from all parts of the world.

According to the official, the global coffee consumption continues to grow at a healthy rate of 2 percent annually but millions of coffee growers have to sell their coffee at prices that have fallen by over 30 percent in the past two years.

He said that Asia that was originally a tea consumption region is the new emerging coffee consumption market.

Sette observed that whereas the consumption in Asia has reached 4 percent, the global consumption rate is still 2 percent, signs that production is in crisis while consumption is increasing.

Sette noted that many farmers are unable to cover even their production costs due to reduced use of inputs and maintenance of coffee trees.

"This is the cause of decreased output and lower quality, food insecurity and access to basic services amongst farmers, rural impoverishment and increased migration to urban areas and developed countries," he added.

Sette revealed that the current downward trend in prices is not expected to reverse in the near future and may even force some countries to abandon growing the cash crops due to climate change, pests and disease.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:56:18|Editor: yan

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LONDON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plans were thrown into chaos Friday when MPs rejected her EU withdrawal deal for a third time.

MPs voted 344 to 286 against May's deal. According to the prime minister, the implications of their decision were grave.

Facing calls for a snap general election, May now has until April 12 to inform the EU about alternative arrangements for Brexit, or leave the Union on that date with no deal.

But she also faced a call from one of her own MPs to quit Downing Street to make way for a new prime minister.

Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group (ERG) of Conservative backbench MPs, said in a statement: "This must be the final defeat for Theresa May's deal. It's finished. And we must move on."

Baker added: "I regret to say it is time for Theresa May to follow through on her words and make way so that a new leader can deliver a withdrawal agreement which will be passed by Parliament. This has been a tragic waste of time and energy for the country. We can waste no more."

In a grim warning to MPs ahead of the vote, May said there was a risk of Brexit being wrecked.

May went into a specially called Friday sitting of the House of Commons knowing that her controversial deal had been rejected twice already by margins of 230 and 149.

Her hopes that she might prove true the old adage -- third time lucky -- was given a boost on Wednesday when MPs rejected eight alternative Brexit options.

But the political mountain proved too high for May, and in the third vote she lost by 344 to 286. The margin had been narrowed to 58, still too far out of reach.

Around 34 of May's own Conservatives voted against her deal, while five Labour MPs voted in favor of her deal. The 10 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MPs, who give May's Conservative government its majority, all voted against her deal.

Had the DUP changed its mind, May could just about have scrambled over the line.

But the long-standing fears over Northern Ireland being trapped in an EU 'backstop' over the border issue with the Irish Republic proved a massive stumbling block.

Despite written guarantees the fear remained that Northern Ireland could be locked into EU rules indefinitely if the 'backstop' arrangement came into play.

The fear of that arrangement breaking up the United Kingdom remained big among politicians on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Speaking after the vote, May said: "The implications of the decision are grave. The legal default now is that the UK is due to leave the EU on April 12, in just 14 days' time.

"This is not enough time to agree, legislate for and ratify a deal, and yet the House has been clear it will not permit leaving without a deal. And so we will have to agree an alternative way forward."

The prime minister said it was almost certain that Britain would have to take part in the European Parliament elections in May.

She said that next Monday, the House of Commons will continue the process to see if there is a stable majority for a particular alternative scenario for Britain's future relationship with the EU.

"This government will continue to press the case for the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demands," said May.

Some political commentators interpreted May's comments as a signal that she may opt for a general election.

After Speaker John Bercow announced the result of the vote, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, and Ian Blackford, leader at Westminster of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), both said that May should now call a general election. Blackford also called for Article 50 -- the process that triggered the countdown to Britain's withdrawal from the EU -- to be revoked. That would mean scrapping Britain's departure altogether.

Vince Cable, leader of the minority Liberal Democrats, called for a second public referendum on EU membership.

In Brussels, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, announced he had called for an emergency European Council summit on April 10.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 01:26:23|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov (L) shakes hands with Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila after a news conference in Bucharest, Romania, on March 29, 2019. Romania and Bulgaria are cooperating on the Balkans gas hub, with works on the gas interconnector between the two countries expected to be started in June, visiting Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said Friday. (Xinhua/Cristian Cristel)

BUCHAREST, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Romania and Bulgaria are cooperating on the Balkans gas hub, with works on the gas interconnector between the two countries expected to be started in June, visiting Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said Friday.

"I hope we'll make the first dig for the Romania-Bulgaria gas interconnector in June ... We have a certain interconnection with Romania, (and) we must have reversible compression stations," Borissov told a joint press conference after meeting with his Romanian counterpart Viorica Dancila.

Dancila also voiced her belief that the Giurgiu-Ruse gas pipeline, inaugurated in November 2016, will become operational at maximum capacity by completing the works at the natural gas compressor in Podisor in the assumed deadline of 2019.

The two prime ministers stressed their strong support for the BRUA project, an interconnection project in southern Europe linking Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria and for the vertical corridor connecting the gas grids of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, able to ensure access to a wide range of resources to the two countries and the Central European region.

"Bulgaria, Romania, Greece have to prepare with their highways to transport gas in different directions," said the Bulgarian prime minister.

"We agreed to provide additional dynamism to joint projects and actions in priority areas of cooperation such as connectivity," said Dancila.

A new quadrilateral meeting involving Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia is scheduled later in the day, with prime ministers of Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, as well as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expected to attend.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 01:31:24|Editor: xuxin

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Ma Zhaoxu (3rd L), Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses the Triangular Formula Meeting on Training, Capacity Building, Safety and Security, and Performance of UN Peacekeeping, at the UN headquarters in New York, March 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- High priority should be placed on the safety and security of the United Nations peacekeepers, a Chinese UN envoy said on Thursday.

Speaking at the Triangular Formula Meeting on Training, Capacity Building, Safety and Security, and Performance of UN Peacekeeping, Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said that their safety and security concerns the result and reputation of peacekeeping operations.

The Chinese envoy also called on the UN Secretariat and missions to provide quality support to peacekeepers, ensure provision of security and medical materials, strengthen early warning and response to emergencies, and improve the ability of tackling complex conditions.

"Training should be strengthened throughout the process," he added.

Noting that sufficient and targeted pre-deployment training and necessary equipment should be made available to peacekeeping personnel, Ma said that UN missions should also carry out training according to the situations on the ground during deployment.

Ma said that a holistic approach is needed to improve performance of peacekeeping.

The performance assessment system needs to be optimized and the troop contributing countries should be fully involved, he added.

Ma highlighted that China, as a major contributor of troops and funds, firmly supports and actively participates in UN peacekeeping operations.

"As we speak, more than 2,500 Chinese peacekeepers are serving in eight missions around the world, undertaking tasks including demining, medical treatment, engineering, transportation and security guard," he said.

According to Ma, China has established an 8,000-member peacekeeping standby force and two standby formed police units, which have completed the registration with the UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System (PCRS). Some are capable of rapid deployment within 60 days.

China will continue to work with UN Secretariat and the member states to further improve UN peacekeeping to honor its commitment to multilateralism and world peace, he added.

The Triangular Formula Meeting was a panel discussion forum organized by the UN troop and police contributing countries to discuss the mandates of operations and strategic and thematic issues such as training, capacity building, safety and security, and performance.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 02:41:37|Editor: yan

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British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during the debate in the House of Commons in London, Britain, on March 29, 2019. British lawmakers on Friday voted to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, which has already been rejected twice in Parliament since January. (Xinhua/UK Parliament/Mark Duffy)

by Xinhua writers Gu Zhenqiu, Gui Tao

LONDON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- British lawmakers on Friday voted to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, dealing a third blow since January to the Withdrawal Agreement, which sets out the terms of Britain's departure from the European Union (EU).

THIRD DEFEAT

MPs voted 286 to 344 to turn down the Brexit deal. Britain now is facing a real possibility of no-deal Brexit on April 12 unless the prime minister can win a new agreement from Brussels, where EU leaders are set to meet in a summit on April 10.

One more vote, one more defeat. Chaos and uncertainty remain in the country.

The prime minister's third defeat came despite her offer to step down if her deal passed.

May's resignation offer did not win enough support for her deal, although the margins were getting smaller in each of the three votes over the past three months.

The Withdrawal Agreement, reached between London and Brussels in November 2018 after long painful negotiations, was rejected in the House of Commons by a record 230 votes in January and by 149 earlier this month. Friday's majority was 58.

A string of Brexit-backing Conservative backbenchers who had voted against May's deal in the previous two meaningful votes switched sides during parliamentary debates to support the agreement after the prime minister agreed to resign.

However, the opposition Labour Party is still unwilling to shift its political stance over the deal, and the 10 MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party are determined vote it down, just like what it did in the first two votes. From Northern Ireland, the DUP props up May's minority government.

Therefore, it was not enough to secure a majority for the prime minister, who has been waging an uphill fight to save her Brexit deal.

NO-DEAL PROSPECT REAL

After the Friday vote, the prime minister said in the House of Commons that "The implications of the House's decision are grave. I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House."

Meanwhile, she vowed to press ahead for "the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demands."

In response, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, directly called on the prime minister to step down and trigger a general election. The opposition leader's remarks in the parliament were echoed by MPs from other parties.

Given the latest vote outcome, observers here said that the prospects for a no-deal Brexit is real although the parliament already voted to reject a hard Brexit.

The prime minister warned that time is not enough to win a new agreement from Brussels with only 14 days to go until the new Brexit day, and the parliament has to decide whether Britain will take part in the European Parliament elections in May, scheduled for May 23-26.

The original Brexit day of March 29 was intended to avoid the British participation in the coming elections.

Any new Brexit date requires unanimous approval from 27 EU countries.

The European Commission, which said the latest parliamentary rejection is regretful, also said that a no-deal Brexit on April 12 was "now a likely scenario."

UNCERTAINTY LINGERS

The prime minister's third defeat came on the day when the United Kingdom was meant to be leaving the EU, the largest trading bloc in the world.

Instead, the original Brexit day turned to be a day of protest, anger and blame as thousands of pro-Brexit British people gathered hours before the vote in a square near the parliament in order to have their voices heard. MPs on Wednesday voted to change original Brexit departure day of March 29 in law to April 12 or May 22.

Nigel Farage, a broadcaster and leader of the Brexit Party, said at the rally that "history will mark (today) as the day of great betrayal."

The Friday vote does not mark the end of efforts and tests. MPs are due to hold another series of "indicative votes" on Monday in order to find a majority in the parliament to break the current Brexit deadlock.

At the same time, the Friday vote dramatically increases the chances of a long delay to Britain's EU divorce. The prime minister has earlier openly opposed any longer Brexit postponement, saying she would like only seek "short and technical" extension of the Brexit process.
File Photo: Palestinian protesters run to take cover from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli troops during clashes on the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, on Aug. 10, 2018. (Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A UN humanitarian official on Friday asked for restraint in Gaza to avoid further deterioration of the situation on the eve of the first anniversary of the start of mass demonstrations by Palestinians, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In the past year, there has been a staggering loss of life and injury in the "Great March of Return" demonstrations. Between March 30, 2018, and March 22, 2019, 195 Palestinians, including some 40 children, have been killed by Israeli security forces in demonstrations, mainly during the weekly protests near the border fence, OCHA quoted Jamie McGoldrick, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, as saying.

Nearly 29,000 Palestinians have been injured in this context, with more than 7,000 of them wounded by live ammunition. One member of the Israeli security forces was killed and six others were injured, said OCHA.

McGoldrick said that the priority now is to save lives and everyone needs to take action accordingly. He said that Israeli security forces must ensure that their responses are in line with their international legal obligations, using non-violent means to the greatest extent possible.

Hamas authorities, he said, must prevent acts of violence that compromise the peaceful nature of the demonstrations and everyone must ensure that children are not put in harm's way.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also very worried about the situation in Gaza, said Farhan Haq, Guterres' deputy spokesman. The UN chief hopes that violence will be avoided and that no more victims will be added to this tragic story, the spokesman told a daily press briefing on Friday.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 04:01:53|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China's permanent representative to the United Nations Ma Zhaoxu on Friday called for joint response to climate change by the international community.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly's high-level meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development for All, Ma said that climate change is a major challenge bearing on the future and destiny of mankind, and thus it requires the international community to join hands in addressing it.

"We must honor our commitments made under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Paris agreement," he said, calling on countries to follow the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, and equity and respective capabilities.

The Chinese envoy called on the developed countries to deliver on their promises to mobilize 100 billion U.S. dollars every year by 2020, and to transfer advanced technologies to developing countries, so as to enhance their capacity to cope with climate change.

Global partnership should be consolidated to enable exchanges and sharing of best practices, with a view to deepen practical cooperation on climate change, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 04:06:54|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Attorney General William Barr told Congress on Friday to expect a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's confidential report on the Russia investigation by mid-April, "if not sooner."

"Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own," Barr said in a letter to top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House Judiciary committees.

The attorney general also said he's willing to appear before both panels to testify about the Mueller report on May 1 and May 2.

Mueller wrapped up his nearly two-year investigation into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by submitting a report to Barr last week.

Barr sent Congress and made public a four-page summary on Sunday, stating that there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

The special counsel, meanwhile, did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump had obstructed justice, according to Barr's synopsis. The attorney general concluded Mueller's findings are "not sufficient" to support a charge.

Democrats are pushing for the complete release of Mueller's report as well as Barr's appearance before Congress to get a clearer picture of the special counsel's investigation.

Barr said in his letter on Friday that certain information must be redacted before the report is released.

He also said there are no plans to submit the report to the White House.
Russian S-400 air defence mobile missile launching systems move during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia, on May 7, 2015. (Reuters File photo)



ANTALYA, Turkey, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's foreign minister said Friday that the purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense systems is a "done deal" and refuted claims over possible delivery of these systems to a third country in order to avoid U.S. sanctions.

"We have sealed an agreement with Russia and we are committed to this deal," Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at southern Antalya province following meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Cavusoglu stressed that a third country objects a bilateral agreement between two other countries and is contrary to the international law.

"The world has to see that one imposing its will to another is not valid anymore," he said, referring to the U.S. warning against Turkey in the case of receiving Russian air defense systems.

Washington argues that the purchase of the Russian system would jeopardize Turkey's purchase of F-35 fighter jets and possibly result in sanctions imposed by the United States.

The minister also said Turkey has no intention of selling the Russian S-400 systems to another country in order to avoid mounting the U.S. pressure.

During the 7th Turkish-Russian Joint Strategic Planning Group Meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Cavusoglu discussed the agenda of a presidential meeting scheduled for April 8.

Lavrov said they have accelerated works for forming a committee for the constitution of Syria.

The two ministers signed the 2019-2020 Plan for Consultations which envisages cooperation road map for the upcoming two years.

Turkey has long been urging visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Russia. Lavrov said they have discussed upcoming steps on the issue.

Cavusoglu last week said the two countries were in talks to allow Russian nationals to travel to Turkey without a passport.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 05:07:07|Editor: Xiaoxia

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A Palestinian protester kicks back a tear gas canister at Israeli soldiers during clashes following a protest marking Land Day, in the village of Bizzariya, northwest of the West Bank city of Nablus, March 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Nidal Eshtayeh)

JERUSALEM, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army is prepared for the expected Palestinian "Land Day" mass protests on the Gaza Strip border on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday.

Aviv Kohavi, chief of the general staff of the IDF, approved the preparation plan for the expected events in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said in a statement.

Ahead of the expected extensive protests on Gaza border, the Israeli army has reinforced the deployment of forces in southern Israel.

Kohavi reviewed Israeli readiness along the security fence on the border and where the main riots are expected to take place, according to the statement.

This year's "Land Day," which marks the Israeli expropriation of Arab land in 1976, coincides with the first anniversary of the Palestinian Great March of Return rally along the Israel-Gaza border.

"The IDF continues to prepare for possible escalations with a wide variety of operational plans and is ready for a wide variety of events," said the statement.

Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had ordered the units to be reinforced in preparation for an extensive campaign, after he visited the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip.

Tensions along the Gaza-Israel security fence have been mounting amid weekly Palestinian rallies in the Gaza Strip.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 05:17:08|Editor: yan

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TUNIS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The new date for the first round of the presidential elections in Tunisia is set for Nov. 17, an election official said Friday.

"Several political parties and civil society activists called for changing the date for the presidential election as it will coincide with the Mouled feast," said Nabil Baffoun, president of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE).

The Mouled feast is held to celebrate birth of the prophet Muhammad.

The ISIE announced on March 6 that the first round of presidential polls inside Tunisia will take place on Nov. 10 and Nov. 8-10 for Tunisians living abroad.

If no presidential candidate obtains an absolute majority of votes in the first round, a second round will take place two weeks after the announcement of the final results of the first round.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 05:47:13|Editor: xuxin

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Angelina Jolie, a special envoy for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), addresses the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference on Uniformed Capabilities, Performance and Protection at the UN headquarters in New York March 29, 2019. There is still much more to do to increase the number of women in the ranks of the UN peacekeeping missions, said Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie on Friday at the UN Headquarters in New York. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- There is still much more to do to increase the number of women in the ranks of the UN peacekeeping missions, said Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie on Friday at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Jolie, a special envoy for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), addressed a UN peacekeeping conference that brought together dozens of defense ministers and hundreds of delegates.

Noting that she met some "formidable female peacekeepers," Jolie said that increasing the number of women "cannot come soon enough for the effectiveness and impact of peacekeeping missions."

The 43-year-old Oscar winner applauded that the number of women peacekeepers is on the rise, with African nations in particular leading the way. "There are more gender advisers on UN missions, although still not enough."

Women themselves are protectors as mothers and peacekeepers and human rights defenders, and they are already contributing to peace of the world without recognition or glory, because it comes naturally to them, she added.

There are countless examples of women rising, taking leadership, taking their destiny into their own hands around the world, said Jolie, lamenting women and girls are, however, still the majority of the victims of war.

"They are over half of all refugees and the vast majority of the victims of rape and other sexual and gender-based violence. Women are at the absolute epicenter of modern conflict, in the worst possible sense," she said.

As long as society continues to put almost every other issue ahead of women's rights and participation, the world will remain stuck in a cycle of violence and conflict, she said.

Also attending Friday's conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that a strategy will be presented to the Security Council next month to increase the number of female peacekeepers.

The UN chief said that it is "unacceptable" only 4 percent of the military peacekeepers are women in 2019.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 05:52:16|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- High-ranking government officials or representatives from countries attending a UN high-level meeting pledged on Friday that their governments will continue to take more practical actions to cope with the fast-paced climate change.

New Zealand "has identified climate change as one of the defining issues of this generation," Stephanie Lee, climate change ambassador at foreign affairs ministry of New Zealand, said at the United Nations High-level Meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development for All.

To combat climate change, New Zealand has already banned new offshore oil and gas exploration. It has pledged transition to "100 percent renewable energy by 2035," she added.

"We will plant 1 billion trees over the next decade," she said, adding the island country in the South Pacific Ocean is cooperating with others to create conditions that enable all countries to prosper.

Noting that at the current emission pace the world will surpass the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius around the year 2040, Eva Svedling, state secretary to minister for environment and climate of Sweden, said that "we must act based on what science tells us and make more efficient use of energy, increase the use of renewable sources and phase out the use of fossil fuels."

As for African countries, climate change is also a matter of great concern.

Patricia Appiagyei, deputy minister for environment, science, technology and innovation of Ghana, said that her country "is highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. The challenge of climate change in Ghana is real. Rainfall patterns have changed and become less predictable. The warming of the sea is also affecting fishing."

To cope with the dire situation, 11 programs covering seven priority economic sectors are being proposed for implementation in the next 10 years, she said.

"We are already implementing climate change programs on the ground, aimed at promoting renewable energy, supporting adoption of clean cooking, and sharing sustainable consumption and production, and pursuing a low carbon electricity supply," she said.

Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN, said that around 90 percent of all natural disasters that have hit Pakistan have been triggered by climate change, "putting enormous burden on our development capabilities and our ability to achieve sustainable development."

"In this backdrop, we have developed a comprehensive strategy to address climate change," she said.

Noting that finance remains a burden for the country, the ambassador said that "our adaptation needs are around 14 billion U.S. dollars per annum. We therefore urge our partners to fulfill their pledges of mobilizing 100 billion dollars a year by 2020."

Dang Dinh Quy, Vietnam's permanent representative to the UN, while recognizing the real threat of climate change like all other speakers, urged efforts be made to reinforce its national capacity "by enhancing effective cooperation with all relevant stakeholders."

"International cooperation in terms of capacity building, transfer of technologies for climate adaptation, etc. will play a critical role in this endeavor," he said.

The objectives of the two-day high-level meeting, which kicked off Thursday at the UN headquarters in New York, include highlighting the interlinkage between climate and economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development for present and future generations.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 06:02:18|Editor: yan

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CHICAGO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures settled lower on Friday, with corn falling more than 4 percent due to huge domestic stockpile and rising acreage.

CBOT corn contract for May delivery was down 17.5 cents, or 4.68 percent to close at 3.565 dollars per bushel. May wheat was down 6.75 cents, or 1.45 percent, to settle at 4.5775 dollars per bushel. May soybeans were down 5.25 cents, or 0.59 percent, to close at 8.8425 dollars per bushel.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday released its latest quarterly grain stocks report, pegging the corn stocks at 8.60 billion bushels as of March 1, compared with the average trade estimate of 8.335 billion bushels.

Meanwhile, the USDA estimates that U.S. corn acreage this spring will be 92.792 million acres, versus the average trade projection of 91.332 million.

The combination of higher-than-expected stocks and planting acreage dragged down corn prices by a rarely seen percentage of 4.68, said market analysts.

The USDA pegged the U.S. soybean stocks at 2.72 billion bushels, compared with the average trade estimate of 2.683 billion bushels. However, recent export sales and progress in the U.S.-China trade talks curbed the fall of soybeans.

The USDA has just confirmed sales of 816,000 metric tons of soybeans by private exporters for delivery to China during the 2018/19 marketing year.

Meanwhile, reports from Beijing said high-ranking officials from China and the United States discussed on Thursday and Friday the related text of an agreement and achieved new progress.

CBOT wheat fell more than 1 percent for the second straight day under spillover effect.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 06:02:18|Editor: yan

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ZAGREB, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Croatia marked the tenth anniversary of NATO accession on Friday, evaluating the country as a reliable ally of a military alliance that can fulfill all its obligations.

"It is a priority to build our own defense forces and they must be the guarantor of our security," Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said in her speech at the ceremony.

The president said that the integrity, freedom and peace that Croatia has adopted with all its heart were the ideals.

"Croatia remains committed to NATO, which is confirmed by the accelerated investment in our defense capability, which guarantees the security of our country and our ability to fulfill the commitment of common defense," said Grabar-Kitarovic.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that Croatia has been a reliable ally and said he would continue with this policy because it is good for the security and contribution of stability in this area and globally.

Croatia became a full member of NATO on April 1, 2009.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 06:02:18|Editor: yan

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DUBLIN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Friday that the European Union (EU) must be open to a long extension of Brexit if Britain decides to "fundamentally reconsider its approach to Brexit and put back on the table options previously ruled out".

"I believe that will result in a generous and understanding response from the 27," said the prime minister.

The 27 he mentioned here refers to the remaining 27 member states of the EU if Britain eventually leaves the bloc.

Varadkar's remarks came after the House of Commons, the lower house of the British parliament, once again rejected the Withdrawal Agreement reached between the British government led by Prime Minister Theresa May and the EU in a Friday vote.

In a statement, Varadkar said "It is now up to the UK to indicate how it plans to proceed in order to avoid a NO Deal scenario."

He reiterated the unanimous position of the EU that the Withdrawal Agreement will not be re-opened.

"Ireland has been preparing intensively for a No Deal scenario. But no one should under-estimate the difficulties that a No Deal will present, for all of us, including the UK. It is not clear that the UK has fully understood that NO Deal is not off the agenda. Rather, it's a growing possibility," he said.

He urged Britain to "chart a realistic way forward for consideration" at a meeting of the European Council called by its President Donald Tusk on April 10.

In the statement, Varadkar said that prior to the European Council meeting he will meet one-to-one with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and he will also speak to other heads of government of the EU members by phone.

Earlier in the day, a government press office statement said that Varadkar will meet Macron in Paris next Tuesday and Merkel in Dublin next Thursday.

"Discussions in both meetings will focus on current EU issues in particular latest developments on Brexit," said the statement.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 06:27:20|Editor: yan

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TIRANA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Albania marked the 10th anniversary of its joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Friday.

Representatives from 29 NATO member countries gathered to attend the activities organized by the Albanian Defense Ministry.

In his speech as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Albanian President Ilir Meta highlighted the new challenges that the alliance currently faces, guaranteeing that Albania will continue to contribute to all missions.

In his remarks, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the challenges that NATO is facing in the Balkan region today are many, violent extremism being one of them.

Growing nationalism, the crisis of Syrian refugees, the crisis of refugees in the Mediterranean or cyber war, which is becoming a bigger threat by the day, are some of the challenges that need to be jointly addressed, Rama said.

Albania became a full NATO member on April 1, 2009.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 06:32:22|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN stabilization mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for about nine months, till Dec. 20, 2019.

Resolution 2463 maintains the troops levels of the mission at 16,215 military personnel, 660 military observers and staff officers, 391 police personnel, and 1,050 personnel of formed police units.

It decides that the strategic priorities of the mission, known by its French acronym as MONUSCO, are to protect civilians and to support stabilization and the strengthening of state institutions in the DRC and key governance and security reforms.

The Security Council had to modify the mandate of MONUSCO following DRC elections in December 2018. The resolution that renewed the mandate till March 31, 2019, tasked the mission to provide political support and technical assistance to the electoral process. The conclusion of the elections has made part of the mandate irrelevant.
Cum ne pregatim pentru lumea votului permanent

Cand votezi pe social media prin fiecare like, nu mai ai rabdare ca diverse partide sa te caute o data la patru ani, pentru a le retrimite exponentii in parlament. Traim deja intr-o democratie plebiscitara, in care exercitiul electoral e continuu. Prabusirea comunismului a generat un val universal de entuziasm [citeste mai departe]
Here are the 4 things you need to know about the two nations falling out

Russian President Putin and his colleague from Belarus Alexander Lukashenko Associated Press

Earlier this year, several public figures sounded that alarm, including former NATO general secretary Anders Rasmussen and Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum. That concern clashes with the idea that Belarus is Russias closest ally.

So where did they get that idea? Over the past four months, the Kremlin has been proposing closer ties within the Union State of Russia and Belarus, an agreement that aims toward deeper integration between the two. That treaty was signed in 1997  but has had few tangible results. Some Russian elites are rumoring that creating a fully functioning union might enable Vladimir Putin to stay in power after he reaches his term limit as president in 2024. He could simply assume the role of chairman of the Union State.

But is this realistic? A closer look at the evidence suggests that the chances of Putin governing Belarus are slim. While Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka may publicly say that the two countries may integrate more, long-term trends show that Belarus is gradually distancing itself from Russia, as Ill explain below.

1. Over the years, Belarus has grown more independent.

Belarusian authorities depend on their alliance with Russia. The economy relies on Russian energy subsidies and discounted oil and gas prices that have saved Belarus more than $100 billion over the last two decades. Belarus also exports half of its goods to Russia.

However, over the years Lukashenka, Belaruss authoritarian ruler, has built a loyal and effective bureaucracy that pursues its own foreign policy interests rather than toeing the Kremlins line. For instance, in 2008, Belarus did not support Russian aggression in Georgia; more recently, it has remained studiously neutral in Russias conflict with Ukraine.

Even Belaruss participation in Russias regional integration projects  such as the Union State of Belarus and Russia, the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization  has been more rhetorical than practical. These projects accomplish little; their member states seek to minimize commitments , taking advantage of these organizations mainly for public appearances and to stay in Russias good graces.

2. Throughout Putins term, Belarus and Russia have consistently had disputes.

As a result, Russia has become dissatisfied with Lukashenka, feeling that he is not loyal and that hes reluctant to support Russias foreign policy. Thats showing up in economic disputes between Moscow and Minsk. As Russia changes its oil industry regulations, Belarus may be forced to buy Russian crude oil at the competitive global price. That would be a disaster for Belaruss budget  costing around $10 billion over the next five years.

Further, in the past few years, Belarus and Russia have had trade wars over sugar, oil, milk, potash, airlines, the border, and many other issues. Usually sides argue about the price of energy commodities or access of Belarusian goods to the Russian market. Russia even cut off gas deliveries to Belarus twice in the 2000s, as the Belarusian authorities refused to pay higher prices. Lukashenka described that Russian decision as an act of terrorism, because it left the country without natural gas in minus 20 degrees C.

That said, the two countries have so far always managed to work out a solution. Public conflict is one way that Belarus and Russia negotiate; in two decades Belarus has never signaled it might leave the Kremlins sphere of influence.

3. Belarus still matters for Russia, but the Kremlin has fewer resources to finance Lukashenkas rule.

When Lukashenka assumed power in 1994, a constant stream of Russian energy subsidies allowed the Belarusian economy to grow rapidly. In certain years, energy subsidies accounted for almost 20 percent of Belaruss GDP. That share has been dropping. It was only 8 percent in 2018.

Thats in part because Russia has been losing interest in Belarus. For instance, Belarus hosts two Russian military facilities that have lost their critical importance for Russia, as military technology has improved and Russia launched a new radar station, that duplicates functions of the radar based in Belarus, in Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave in Europe. And Russia has less need of Belarus as a transit state: for example, Nord Stream, a gas pipeline launched in 2011, connects Russia directly to Germany, circumventing Belarus.

The Kremlin is also less willing to bankroll Belarus as Russia faces stagnation, with energy prices dropping worldwide. While enacting painful internal reforms, such as raising the retirement age, Russia has been reluctant to finance its ally, burnishing Lukashenkas image as a successful president.

4. Discussion of Russia occupying Belarus is primarily a political trick.

So far, there is no evidence that Russia might attack Belarus. So why does it get discussed in the news media and among political elites?

Because this threat is convenient for many players, who use it as a pretext to pursue their goals. Belarusian officials use the menace of a Russian occupation as a negotiating tactic to delay acting on the human rights demands made by the European Union and United States. Westerners use this possibility to push Belarus to develop closer relationships with Western countries to avoid occupation. Belarusian civil groups use it to motivate the government to decrease Russias influence in the media sphere. Finally, Russian authorities use it to pressure Belarusian authorities during negotiations on such issues as oil deliveries.

If Russia does ever choose to attack Belarus, it wont necessarily triumph. Most of the Belarusian population and elites support the countrys independence, and the costs of such attack would undoubtedly be high. And its hard to imagine that Putin could become Union State president with any real power; the past 25 years of Lukashenkas presidency have shown that he is not the type of politician who agrees to share power.

And yet each year, Belarus acts more independently. Russian officials may feel that they need to reimpose control on Belarus now or lose yet another ally.

Read the original text here.
Open source

On March 29, the Russian-backed militants fired at Ukraine's positions 10 times. The enemy used the Minsk-banned weaponry in the Donbas conflict zone seven times. The Joint Forces Operation (JFO) HQ reported this on Facebook.

In Donetsk region, the enemy attacked Shyrokyne, Vodiane and Lebedynske settlements.

In Luhansk region, the enemy attacked Troitske, Novoolexandrivka, Zolote-4 and Zaytseve villages.

According to the report, the militants fired with 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, anti-tank grenade launchers, a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle, automatic easel and manual anti-tank grenade launchers.

One Ukrainian soldier of the Joint Forces operation died and two more were wounded as a result of the attack. The Ukrainian soldiers stopped the attack by opening fire as well. The casualties of the Russian military are being checked yet, the report said.

On March 28, Russian occupants attacked the outposts of Ukrainian forces in Donbas four times. No casualties among government troops were observed over the mentioned period.
The crew detected a malfunction in the navigation control system and managed to land the vehicle

Mil Mi-2 MSB, the transport helicopter of Ukraine's Air Force performed an emergency landing in Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine. The accident occurred at about 2.30 p.m. March 28. The Command of Ukraine's Air Force reported this on Facebook.

The pilots were conducting a training flight when they detected a malfunction in the navigation control system. They decided to land and did it successfully.

'Thanks to the skillful actions, the crew landed on the non-rigged ground, which resulted in the damage. Both crew members are safe and sound, they suffered no injuries', the statement says.

The special commission will look into the reasons for the malfunction.

In February 2019, pilots of Ukrainian gunships, the members of UN peacekeeping mission conducted a successful operation, codename Operation Scorpion, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Defence Ministry said that over the past three months, the crews of Mi-24 Hind gunships completed almost 1,500 combat missions. They fought the local mercenaries who attacked the local military, UN peacekeepers and members of humanitarian organizations that combat the ongoing spell of Ebola virus.

The illegal armed units also attacked local residents.

None of the Ukrainian peacekeepers were hurt in these attacks.
Bekirov breathes air through little air gate and he sleeps while he is sitting

Edem Bekirov, the political prisoner Eleonora Bekirova Facebook

State of the political prisoner Edem Bekirov is critical, despite the fact that he was transferred to the medical unit as his daughter Eleonora Bekirova reported on Facebook.

Despite the fact, that the father was transferred from the special block to the medical unit, the state of his health is critical. He does not get better, conversely, he has the rash over the body and the ground of it is unknown, the message said.

She specified that he daily gets a large amount of insulin but the sugar rate does not decrease.

He is still without bathhouse; he breathes air through little air gate and he sleeps while he is sitting. We fight so much for his transfer to the medical unit and we thought he would get better; the medical staff is near and the conditions are better but it turned out that there is almost no difference between the special block and the medical unit cell. The only one is that there is a possibility to visit the almost normal toilet and breathe air, even through the air gate, Bekirova added.

As we reported earlier, the health situation of Crimean Tatar political prisoner Bekirov is critical.

On February 7, the court extended the arrest of Edem Bekirov until April 12.

Russian law enforcers detained Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov at the entrance to occupied Crimea on December 12, 2018. Edem was heading from mainland Ukraine to Crimea to visit his 78-year-old mother and relatives.

According to Chubarov, Bekirov was arrested during passport control on the territory controlled by the Russian law enforcers. Later, Chubarov noted that the detainee was taken to Russias Security Service office in the annexed Simferopol.
The President commented on the draft bill, which offers the Russian Parliament to consider the upcoming election 'illegitimate'

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko Open source

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko reacted to the intention of Russian lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party to consider the upcoming presidential election 'illegitimate'.

'The outcome of the elections is up to the Ukrainian nation, not the State Duma of Russia', Poroshenko said as quoted by his press service.

He said he was confident that the said draft bill aims for the discreditation of the presidential election in Ukraine.

Poroshenko added that the very fact that Russia offered to consider elections in Ukraine illegitimate means that the Kremlin 'perceives Ukraine a part of Russia'.

The Ukrainian leader insisted that this country remains a sovereign, independent state, and the independence is guaranteed by the future membership in the EU and the NATO.

On March 27, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) submitted the draft law to the Russian State Duma, which offers not to recognize the results of the elections of the president of Ukraine on March 31.
The delegation from the International Republican Institution will observe the democratic process during the voting, not only in Kyiv but in other cities as well

Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, and Cindy McCain, the wife of U.S. Senator John McCain Vitaliy Klitschko press service

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko met with Cindy McCain, the wife of U.S. Senator John McCain, and the delegation of the International Republican Institution (IRI) and the John McCain Institute of the Arizona University. The delegation, a member of which is Cindy McCain will monitor the democratic procedure during the presidential elections in Ukraine on March 31. The press service of Kyiv mayor reported that.

I am very grateful that the U.S. Senator always supported Ukraine, he visited Maidan during the Revolution of Dignity in order to express his support to Ukraine. I am happy that I knew him and that I got the chance to communicate with him. The person is alive as long as the people remember them. We will always remember John McCain who was a dear friend to Ukraine, Klitschko said during the meeting.

Cindy McCain thanked the Kyiv mayor for good words and for being a good friend to her late husband. He always loved Ukraine and its people, he cared about its destiny as well. I believe we should continue to support Ukraine. That is why I am here today. I am here in order to support Ukraine, John McCain's widow stated.

The IRI delegation will observe the democratic process during the voting - not only in Kyiv, but in other cities as well.

Vitaliy Klitschko informed the representatives of the organization about positive changes that happened in Kyiv over the last five years. The mayor emphasized the challenges Ukraine faced during the elections campaign, as the populism level of separate politicians grew as well as the desire of Ukraines enemies to destabilize the situation in the country.

The key moment is not who will become the next president. The key moment is to secure the democratic and pro-European way for Ukraine. We will continue to follow the European way of development in order to make our country strong, successful and democratic state, an equal member of the European Union, - Klitschko outlined.

According to the report, Cindy McCain invited Vitaliy Klitschko to Washington to communicate with U.S. politicians and senators about the challenges Ukraine faced and its future. She also pointed out that Klitschko was the best promoter of Ukraine because foreigners still listened to him.
The White House supports Ukraine's ascension to NATO, but it is impeded by territorial disputes, which includes the Crimean issue

Over the last five years, the U.S. government has spent over 1.3 billion dollars to enhance Ukraine's defense capabilities and interaction with NATO. Eric Pahon, the Pentagon's press secretary said this as quoted by Izvestiya outlet.

According to the official, the White House supports Ukraine's ascension to NATO, but it is 'impeded by territorial disputes, which includes the Crimean issue'.

On March 27, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported that in the near future, Washington and NATO would take joint measures against Russia due to its aggression against Ukraine.

Military intelligence agencies of Ukraine and the United States agreed to join efforts in terms of deterring the Russian hybrid aggression in Ukraine. This was the main agreement that the sides reached during the visit of Vasyl Burba, the chief of Ukraine's military intelligence.

The Ukrainian official met and negotiated with Robert Ashley, the Chief of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, leaders of the CIA and the officials of the U.S. intelligence community. Burba stated that Russia has been acting aggressively, in a provocative manner, aiming to destabilize the situation in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
Volodymyr Yelchenko commented on the recent mass detentions of Crimean Tatars in the Russian-occupied peninsula

Ukraines Permanent Representative to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko Ukrinform

Russia's accusations of Crimean Tatars and repressions committed in the annexed Crimea are nothing but a discredit of the international efforts to fight terrorism. Volodymyr Yelchenko, the permanent representative of Ukraine in the UN said this during the open debates in the UN Security Council.

'As the aggressor state, Russia has been diminishing the international efforts for fighting terrorism by making up fake accusations of terrorist activity and approving the illegal court decisions against innocent people', the diplomat said as quoted by Ukrinform.

The Ukrainian official added that the Islamist extremism never was part of the history of Crimean peninsula - before the Russian occupation.

On March 28, Russian law enforcers searched dozens of houses and detained 23 Crimean Tatars; the FSB, Russia's federal security service suspects them in the membership in Hizb-Ut Tahrir movement.
The invitation was sent to the Ukrainian side in the beginning of March

Russia sent the official invitation to Ukraine for the participation in the session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The meeting will take place on April 5, in Moscow as TASS reported citing Russias Representative Andrey Grozov.

The Russian Federation officially sent the invitation of Sergey Lavrov to Foreign Minister Klimkin for the participation in the session of the Council of Foreign Ministers. There is no respond for this invitation, the Russian side noted.

Grozov said that the invitation was sent to the Ukrainian side in advance, in the beginning of March.

As it was reported earlier, on April 12, 2018, Petro Poroshenko stated that he indented to present a bill on termination of certain articles of the agreement on friendship with Russia.

The President also called the Cabinet of Ministers for suspending the participation in the Commonwealth's statutory bodies and supported the withdrawal of Ukraines representation in the relevant institutions in Minsk. Later, Iryna Lutsenko, the MP from Petro Poroshenko Bloc, the Presidents representative in the Parliament, stated that Ukraine would not denounce a series of agreements within CIS, including those on diplomas recognition, recruitment, and transit.

Later Poroshenko also claimed that Ukraine will reconsider all international agreements with the CIS.

In June 2018, Ukraine withdrew two diplomats from the composition of the statutory bodies of the CIS according to the order of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

Besides, Ukraine's service for foreign intelligence began the official procedure of withdrawal from the CIS Agreement on Cooperation of Intelligence and Security Services in December 2018.
Ukraines State Bureau of Investigation Open source

The State Investigation Bureau launched 5,794 criminal proceedings over three months of the last year. The report for the previous year by the State Investigation Bureau says this.

The first criminal proceedings were opened under the accusation of possible obtaining of illegal benefits and illegal benefits of particularly large amounts by law enforcement officers (part 3 of article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), the report said.

According to the report, 610 suspicions were announced and 499 indictments were passed over three months in 2018.

Earlier, over 30 MPs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine were involved in the criminal proceedings investigated by State Investigation Bureau (SIB).

The State Investigation Bureau launched the criminal proceeding against the General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko on possible disclosing of the information about the investigation of the murder of activist Kateryna Hanzdiuk.

Besides, the SIB launched pre-trial investigation after journalists published information about the bribing of law enforcement officials. The investigators of the SBI started a pre-trial investigation of receiving a large bribe by an official, or by previous agreement by a group of people, committed twice, or by extortion of illicit enrichment.
The Allies express support of the Secretary General's work on the adaptation and modernization of the Alliance

Open source

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary General has his official status extended until September 2022. This is mentioned on the Alliance's official website.

The Allies agreed that the NATO chief will remain in the office for another two years. They expressed support of the Secretary General's work on the adaptation and modernization of the Alliance.

'Honoured by the decision by the NATO Allies to extend my term as Secretary-General until 30 September 2022. Together we will continue to adapt & modernise our Alliance to keep it fit for the future', Stoltenberg posted on Twitter.

The Norwegian official assumed the office of the 13th NATO Secretary General on October 1, 2014. A member of the Labour Party, he also served as Prime Minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2013.

Stoltenberg's current mandate is supposed to expire next year.
Open source

Russian special services were preparing hacker attacks at popular Ukrainian media, as the press office of Ukraines Security Service (SBU) reported on Facebook.

The officers of the situation center of SBU cyber security prevented an attempt of the hacker group controlled by the Russian special forces to carry out a preparatory phase of a cyber attack aimed at popular media and telecommunication facilities of Ukraine, the message reads.

It was noted that over a couple of months the executors were creating an extensive Internet-infrastructure which has several dozens of domains which by their named coincide with or are similar to the official domains of popular Ukrainian electronic media, telecommunication providers and major telecommunications companies.

Probably, the idea of the cyber attack was to create public outreach and negative informational influence on the eve of Ukraines presidential elections, the officers of SBU noted.

Earlier, the representatives of Ukraines Foreign Intelligence Service supposed that Russian special services were preparing a series of provocations at the polling stations to the elections: influence on the labor migrants, large-scale cyber attacks at the servers of the Central Election Commission and District Election Commissions of Ukraine to infect with tab virus.
Social media

Russian vessels escort three NATO frigates which entered the Black Sea by Ukraines invitation to the drills, as Russian news agency RBK reported referring to the Russian National Defence Management Centre.

Efforts and means of the Black Sea fleet escort a group of NATO vessels consisting of three frigates with guided missile systems of Royal Netherlands Navy, Canadas and Spain naval forces which entered the waters of the Black Sea, the message says.

It was noted that Russian vessels Ivan Khurs and Vasyliy Bykov are observing the process.

As it was reported, three NATO vessels entered the Black Sea.

Earlier, French Navy warship, Eridan-class Minehunter Capricorne (M653) entered the sea port of Odesa.

Earlier, American guided missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107) has passed the Great Belt and entered the Baltic Sea moving along the German coast as gazeta.ru reported. This vessel entered the Baltic Sea for the second time in 2019.

USS Gravely is the leader of the First permanent naval group of NATO, 57th out of 62 destroyers of the fourth generation with guided missile weaponry of Arleigh Burke type. Its construction was approved by thr U.S. Congress. The vessel is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles are its main weapon. The missile's range is up to 2,500 km and it can carry the nuclear warheads.
Deputy Speaker of the establishment Robert Palladino urged Russia to release "these men and the 70+ other unjustly imprisoned Ukrainians"

Open source

The U.S. Department of State condemned intimidation and repressions against the Crimean Tatars by the Russian occupational authorities in annexed Crimea, as Deputy Speaker of the establishment Robert Palladino reported on Twitter.

We condemn the actions of #RussianOccupation authorities in #Crimea. Armed and masked FSB raided #CrimeanTatar homes, terrorizing families and arresting 20+ individuals. #Russia, release these men and the 70+ other unjustly imprisoned Ukrainians. #CrimeaIsUkraine https://t.co/vM8XuLLnkh  Robert Palladino (@StateDeputySPOX) March 28, 2019

On its Twitter page the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine urged Russia to stop detentions, searches and persecutions.

We are extremely concerned by Russias raids and massive intimidation today targeting Crimean Tatars. We call on the Russian government to cease its unjust arrests, detentions, searches, and persecution of Crimean Tatars, activists, and journalists. #CrimeaIsUkraine  U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) March 27, 2019

As it was reported earlier, the Russian Security Service raided ten houses of the Crimean Tatars in an occupied village of Strohonivka, Simferopol region.

In particular, the investigation was conducted in the houses of Remzi Bekirov, Osman Arifmemetov, Rustem Sheyhaliyev, Efran Osmanov, Aziz Bekirov, Akim Bekirov, Abdulaziz Umerov, Mejit Abdurakhmanov, Tofik Abdulgaziyev, Yashar Muedinov, Seitveli Seytabdiev, Edem Yachikov. In total, 17 houses were being searched.

The Crimean police launched two criminal proceedings on illegal detaining of the Crimean Tatars and violating the inviolability of the home.

At the same time, TASS informed that searched are related to the case of Hizb ut-Tahrir. According to FSB, they are conducting searches within the probes opened against alleged members of this organization.
CEO and Chief Engineer of Elan-V enterprise are suspected of violating the security protocols, which resulted in tough consequences

The local prosecutor's office in Kropyvnytsky, central Ukraine announced that two people are served with charge papers in the case of recent explosions in this city.

CEO and Chief Engineer of Elan-V enterprise are suspected of violating the security protocols, which resulted in tough consequences.

Currently, the prosecutor's office prepares a plea for the court's consideration; the authority asks to choose the measure of restriction. The investigation team insists on detention.

The chief engineer tried to flee the country, but the law enforcers detained him. The CEO is currently at a medical facility; his ward is guarded.

The explosions thundered at a petrol station in Kropyvnytsky on the evening of March 27. Employees of the State Emergency Service rushed to the site, as well as the local garrison of the Patrol Police department. The elimination of the fire lasted for about three hours. At 21:00, the fire was localized and at 22:45, the emergency crews eventually put it out.
HBO channel released the first official trailer of Chernobyl miniseries; the show based on the real events that occurred in Ukraine in April 1986.

The main cast includes Stellan Skarsgaard, Emily Watson, Jared Harris and Jessie Buckley. Skarsgard plays Borys Shcherbyna, the leader of the governmental commission that investigated the reason of Chornobyl disaster. Watson got to play nuclear physicist Ulyana Khomyuk. Harris will be portraying Valeriy Legasov, the Soviet scientist who also joined the company, trying to sort the things out.

Chernobyl is the upcoming historical drama television miniseries created by Craig Mazin. The series, a co-production between American cable network HBO and British television network Sky, is set to premiere in both the United States and the United Kingdom on May 6, 2019.

In November 2018, Ukrainian police arrested three Finnish citizens near Bychky settlement in the Chornobyl exclusion zone. Men aged 22, 23 and 24 have illegally entered the territory on Toyota car, reports the police of Kyiv region.

Related: Law on extending removal Chornobyl nuclear power plant from service comes into effect

The stalkers were charged with breaching the violation requirements of the regime of the radiation safety in locations affected by the radioactive contamination.
After the presidential elections, the representative of Ukraine will be defined

Ukraine's President Poroshenko and the President of the European Council Donald Tusk Presidential Administration press office

Next Ukraine-EU Summit is scheduled for July 8 in Kyiv, as Rikard Jozwiak, Radio Liberty correspondent, reported on Twitter.

He noted that the President of the European Council Donald Tusk will participate in the event. At the same time, after the elections the representative of Ukraine will be defined.

the next EU-#Ukraine summit will take place on 8 July. Tusk will participate on the EU-side. big question is who will represent Kyiv?  Rikard Jozwiak (@RikardJozwiak) March 29, 2019

As it was reported earlier, in December 2019 the President promised to raise the question of Action plan concerning Ukraines membership in NATO.
Transfer to summer time is not an easy task and here is why

daylight saving time pixabay.com

In Ukraine, the clock is still being set back and forth to summer and winter time, although in the European Union, for example, abandoned this practice. Traditionally, Ukrainians change to daylight saving time on the last weekend of March, which this year also coincides with the presidential elections. On Sunday, March 31, at 3:00, the clock will have to be set an hour forward.

And if modern gadgets can manage themselves, making life easier, the same cannot be said about the body and mechanical watches.

Why change the time?

For the first time, Germany and its allies resorted to the change of time in World War I in order to save coal. A year later, the rest of the European countries adopted this practice.

Even until now, just as in 1916, the change of clock is used to save resources and use daylight hours to the maximum.

But the times when it was necessary to use oil lamps or candles have passed, and artificial lighting takes a fairly small place in general energy consumption. In addition, it affects health quite negatively. Therefore, more and more countries are refusing to change the time  a little more than 60 countries in the world still do this.

Change to daylight saving time pixabay.com

How time transfer affects the body

Doctors from around the world researched and concluded that change of clock affects the body negatively. Often, the way it influences body depends on the physical health of each person, but in one way or another it affects everyone.

Change to daylight saving time pixabay.com

Seasonal and daily regimes are connected to the flow of internal body processes. In course of evolution a strict order of biological processes was developed. For example, sleep has several phases and each requires completion. When the regime is changed, the fast morning phase, which is responsible for the memorization and assimilation of the last days material, ends abruptly. As a result, a persons memory is deteriorating, and out-of-the-box thinking gets dull.

In addition, the change of time could cause aggravation of some diseases, such as spinal osteochondrosis, arthritis, etc. Common symptoms that doctors record are drowsiness, fatigue, sleep disturbance, irritability. In the first days after switching to summer time, the number of industrial accidents increases by 5%.

How to survive transition to summer time

Change to daylight saving time pixabay.com

It is recommended to walk more. Walking should be an integral part of daily life and take at least half an hour.

Try to reduce the strain - physical and especially emotional. If possible by all means avoid stresses and overloading nervous system.

What you eat makes up an important part of well-being. Try to temporarily give up fat and spicy foods, eat less sweet food and more to vegetables and fruits. It is also better to refuse from coffee and alcohol for a couple of days.

Disturbance of the regime and lack of sleep do not work well with driving. Therefore, try not to drive the first couple of days after the time change.

To make the morning as easy as possible, prepare in advance everything you can: clothes, think about breakfast, which you can prepare in the evening and warm up in the morning. Taking shower will cheer you up.

Cancelation of daylight saving time in Ukraine

Change to daylight saving time pixabay.com

After the European Union decided to cancel changing of time twice a year, this issue was also raised in Ukraine. Not for the first time, but earlier it was not possible to reach an agreement.

In particular, Ukraines Ministry of Economic Development said that since we are headed to the European integration, this idea can be supported.

"If the EU decides to cancel the transition to daylight saving time, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade will contact the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine about the possibility of making such changes," the ministry commented.

However, the matter did not move any further. Therefore, do not forget to set the clock forward on March 31!
Read about Donbas, Azov Crisis, human rights in Crimea rights, presidential elections in Ukraine and other news of the week on one page

About Donbas

Pro-Kremlin occupants claim that they would not resume the work of Zolote entry-exit checkpoint because the adjacent areas that they hold under control are currently wired. Yevhen Marchuk, the representative of Ukraine in Minsk trilateral talks group said that on Monday morning.

Ukraine has offered Russia to conduct prisoners exchange  25 Ukrainians for 25 Russians convicted in Ukraine on March 30, said Iryna Gerashchenko, First Vice-Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, representative of Ukraine to the humanitarian subgroup in the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk. Gerashchenko added that Ukraine was ready to take 19 Ukrainians from the occupied territories and pardon 72 separatists

Armed Russian mercenaries attacks civilian infrastructure objects in the occupied areas, so as to frame the Ukrainian forces. Two schools came under attack; then, houses in several towns took damage due to the shelling. No casualties were reported in all these attacks. The enemy also opened fire on the settlements controlled by Ukrainian troops  specifically, Mariinka.

; 35-year-old Eric Estu denies all chargesd, even though the Czech prosecutors provided the court with solid proof of his involvement in combat action alongside Russian mercenaries in eastern Ukraine.

OSCE SMM in Ukraine is about to get a new chairman. Turkish diplomat Halit Cevik will step in, replacing his compatriot Ertugrul Apakan. Turkish foreign ministry reported that on March 27.

Creating safety zones and taking certain localities in the 'grey area' of Donbas under control are the most important achievements of the Joint Forces Operation over the previous year. Serhiy Nayev, the Joint Forces Operation Commander said this in his interview with Golos Ukrainy newspaper.

Pro-Kremlin mercenaries have shelled the area of Novoluhanske; a mortar attack resulted in the damage to a local gas pipeline. The gas supplies are to resume in several days, as Ukrainian emergency service crews conduct the maintenance works.

***

About NATO naval activity in the Black Sea

A group of three NATO warships entered the Black Sea. Vessels from the NATO Standing Navy Maritime Group 2 entered the Black Sea waters; Toronto, the frigate of the Royal Navy of Canada, and Santa Maria, the Spanish Navy frigate. Dutch destroyer Evertsen joined the company, too. Turkish coastal guard vessels escorted the warships across the Bosporus; Russian navy vessels escorted them in the Black Sea. By April 1, the Dutch, Spanish and Canadian ships are to join the NATO naval exercise near the port of Odesa. The Sea Shield drills will also involve Ukrainian and Georgian forces.

***

About violations of rights of Crimean Tatars

This week is marked by Russias mass raids and detentions of Crimean Tatars

Thus, on March 26 Russia detained two Crimean Tatars Remzi Bekirov and Ruslan Suleymanov. Later they were released.

On March 27, Russian Security Service began a series of raids in homes of the Crimean Tatars on the annexed peninsula. As a result, over 20 people were arrested allegedly for participation in Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The Crimean police launched two criminal proceedings on illegal detaining of the Crimean Tatars.

International community reacted to such behaviors. For instance, U.S. Embassy in Ukraine expressed their concern about raids and massive stalking held by Russia in Crimea and the U.S. Department of State condemned such intimidation and repressions.

The Foreign Ministry of Poland urged to stop carrying out searched in occupied Crimea and stop detention of the Crimean Tatars.

***

About corruption in Ukraine

The week has begun with the accusations of National Anti-Corruption Bureaus official of participation in the Ukroboronprom scandal. Later it was reported that the ex-leadership of UkrSpetzExport was accused of embezzlement for the sum of $23,8 million in 2010-2012.

Besides, the British Serious Fraud Investigation Office stated it did not launch investigation against Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko due to corruption schemes at Ukroboronprom.

On March 27, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau closed all cases on the illicit enrichment of officials, including the case of First Deputy Head of Foreign Intelligence Service. On its part, the EU offered the expert assistance to Ukraine in sphere of the illicit enrichment legislation.

On March 29, Swedbank President of Bank Birgitte Bonnesen was dismissed after reports about schemes of money laundering tied with ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and Paul Manafort.

***

About upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine

First round o Ukraine's presidential elections kicks off on Saturday, March 31, at 8:00 a.m.

The polling stations will be closed at 8 p.m. Kyiv time, (GMT+2).

The Central Election Committee approved a final list of 39 presidential candidates in Ukraine. The voters list contains 35.6 million Ukrainian citizens. More than 315,000 Ukrainians changed voting places shortly before the presidential election.

This year ballot is the longest ballot in the history of presidential elections in Ukraine. It is 80 cm in length and printed on the paper with watermarks and special protection ink.

112 Ukraine TV Channel will hold its own exit poll.

We will have a live stream from Central Election Committee.

We will have our own online broadcast.

Stay tuned!

***

About explosions at Kropyvnytsky petrol station

On March 27, patrol station in Kropyvnytsky exploded. As a result, three people got injured. On the next day, Ukraines Emergency Service reported that at 10:45 pm fire on a gas station was extinguished.

The National Police opened a criminal proceeding due to the emergency tied with the explosions at the petrol station in Kropyvnytsky. Later, two officials were served with charge papers.
The Security Service of Ukraine stated that the armed formation will resort to armed provocations at the demarcation line

Presidential Elections 2019 Open source

The compulsory events will take place in the occupied territory of Donbas. During them, the thesis that Donbas people do not recognize elections occurring at the territory controlled by Ukraine is going to be spread as Pryamy reported citing Security Service (SBU) Chairman Ihor Huskov.

On March 31 the forced events are prepared in occupied territory of Donbas under the guidance of the so-called State Security Minister and Interior Ministry of the so-called DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) and LPR (Luhansk People's Republic) ; during them the main thesis that Donbas people do not recognize the elections taking place at the territory controlled by Ukraine will be actively covered, he stated.

Particularly, Huskov noted that the attempts of the local citizens to come to the territories controlled by Ukraine and vote will be blocked.

Today State Security Ministries of DPR and LPR create special units consisting of pro-Russian activists, who should block any attempts of the local citizens from occupied territories Donbas to come to the territory controlled by Ukraine and vote. Almost 90,000 citizens of Donbas made a decision and changed the place of the registration to participate in the elections, the SBU said.

According to Huskov, the fact that the Russian side and controlled Russian armed formations are ready to resort to armed provocations at the demarcation line raises the concern.

As for today, it is a big threat. We have the operative data that such plans are written by the head of the Russian special services for the controlled structures of DPR and LPR, he emphasized.

As we reported the biggest polling station will be in the Ukrainian embassy in Moldova, as over 52,000 voters are registered there. Over 5,000 voters are registered in Belarus, Israel, Spain, German, Poland, the USA, the Czech Republic, and Finland.

The election campaign has officially started on December 31, 2018. 39 candidates take part in the race. The election will most likely come in two rounds this time. The first one is slated for this Sunday, March 31. The second round is expected to take place in late April.
The panel of judges of Kyiv Court of Appeal has partially satisfied the submission of the acting Chairman of Kyiv Solomensky Court on defining the territorial jurisdiction of the criminal proceeding against Savchenko and Ruban

Ukraines member of parliament Nadiya Savchenko and the former leader of Officer Corps Centre Volodymyr Ruban Radio Liberty

The indictment in the criminal proceeding against Ukrainian MP Nadiya Savchenko and the former leader of Officer Corps Centre Volodymyr Ruban was passed to the Supreme Court, as the press office of Kyiv Court of Appeal reported.

March 29, 2019, the panel of judges of Kyiv Court of Appeal has partially satisfied the submission of the acting Chairman of Kyiv Solomensky Court on defining the territorial jurisdiction of the criminal proceeding against Savchenko and Ruban. The indictment in the criminal proceeding against Savchenko and Ruban was sent to the Supreme Court to define the jurisdiction.

By this decision, the panel of judges considered that Kyiv Court of Appeal has no right to decide whether the criminal proceeding against Savchenko and Ruban should be sent to another court, as, according to the indictment, criminal violations were committed within the territorial jurisdiction of different courts of appeal, the message reads.

March 22, Savchenko was deprived of parliamentary immunity. The Ukrainian MPs also allowed her detention and arrest.

Yuriy Lutsenko, Prosecutor General, claimed that he had proof that Savchenko planned an armed coup d'etat, which would have led to mass civilian casualties. In particular, according to the information of the Prosecutor General's Office, she planned to shell Kyiv with a grenade launcher. Furthermore, together with earlier detained Volodymyr Ruban she is suspected of an organization of assassination of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

As we reported earlier, Savchenko took a polygraph testing. The Security Service of Ukraine claimed that the psychological forensic examination with the use of the polygraph of MP Nadiya Savchenko confirmed her intentions of committing the coup d'etat, particularly the commitment of the terrorist act in the governmental quarter and the Ukrainian Parliament.

December 13, Kyiv Court postponed the consideration of Savchenkos case due to her bad state of health. Savchenko stated that she had partial loss of hearing and vision.
Viktor Yanukovych, ex-President of Ukraine (February 25, 2010  February 22, 2014) Ukrainian President

Swedbank Board of Directors made a decision to dismiss President of Bank Birgitte Bonnesen after reports about schemes of money laundering tied with the units of the financial institution in the Baltic States as Radio Liberty reported.

Sweden TV (SVT) and its partners in the Baltic States spoke of the company, which used the account in Swedbank to supposedly conceal the briberies of former president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. In a few days, the TV Company showed that this company, Vega holding, also made payments of Inlord Sales LLP, the British company, which was mentioned in Paul Manafort case, the message said.

As we reported Paul Manafort, President Donald Trumps former campaign chairman, is sentenced to 7,5 years imprisonment, as a result of court hearings on his case. Manafort has got approximately 47 months imprisonment from U.S. federal judge of Virginia State for fraudulence and tax evasion in the bank field last week.

Paul Manafort is charged with laundering money and evading taxes over ten years of cooperation with former Ukrainian leaders. Previously, an investigation team released over 300 documents, which reveal the details of Manafort's cooperation with the currently disbanded Party of Regions - the-then pro-presidential and ruling political force in Ukraine.
You know by now that clean beauty is one of my favorite subjects. Throughout the past few years, not only have I found the best of the best through trial and error, but there are also incredible new items coming out all the time. It was a struggle even three of four years ago to find products that were clean, but also well branded and affordable. That has changed! The options now are better than ever, so Im back again to share a few new favorites that have creeped onto my radar lately.

CBD Honey Manuka Mask with Peppermint  I met the owners of this small company because a mutual friend invited them to our holiday party. They left me with a bag of treats to try. Months later, I found the bag (I do that all the timeugh) and tried the mask and WOW. Its all the things I love in a mask. I love honey masks because they are ultra moisturizing (I stay away from masks that dry the skin), the peppermint has a nice tingle and the CBD magic ingredient is a fun added bonus.

Boscia Cactus Water  I use this as a leave on mask, so I often wear it to bed on my whole face and neck. Its a gel made with aloe, cactus flower extract and a long list of other great ingredients. I love how different it isits definitely something I will rebuy.

Clary Face Serum  I am a big advocate for simple, clean serums. I dont use any retinol in my routine and it honestly makes me angry that the mall beauty counters sell serums and creams for hundreds that are full of harmful ingredients. Nobody wants to age badly, but these so called anti-aging products are such a scam in my opinion.

Reading the ingredients in Clarys face serum was a breath of fresh air because its all ingredients I am familiar with and I know are great for the skin like Frankincense oil, carrot seed oil, evening primrose oil and more. I trust it. Its what Ive been using as my night serum for the past month and I will 100% rebuy it.

Jane Iredale Golden Shimmer  My inner 90s girl had to try this. I will warn you that its VERY shimmery, but its such a fun potion to add when going to the beach or somewhere tropical. I just wore it all week in Mexico and felt so glowy.

Vapour Beauty Mini Halo Illuminator and Aura Multi Use (in the color Eros)  I love Vapour and this blush and highlighter combo is exactly what I was looking for. I love a natural blush shade and Ive recently found that cream blush is my absolute fave, especially when it comes in a stick. Theyre so easy to apply. I dab a bit on my cheeks and highlight right above that (around my outer eye area) and then just press it in with my finger or a brush if I have one handy. Easy peasy.

Boscia Indigo Eye Cream  This is a color correcting cream, which is great because my dark circles have always been one thing that bothers me (although Ive been working to accept them more and more). Ive been wearing this cream to bed along with my Clary serum and sometimes the cactus water on top of that. Its a pretty great skincare cocktail. I like how affordable this eye cream is compared to a lot out there! I love the new packaging too. So fresh!

OK! Thats all I have for today. Are there any categories of clean skincare where youve had trouble finding options? Id love to hear! xx. Elsie

Credits//Author: Elsie Larson. Photography: Amber Ulmer. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.
Bushel , Shaka Tea , and Toast Ale won awards at yesterdays FoodBytes! pitch competition in San Francisco for their sustainable products and technologies that increase agricultural efficiency, feature Hawaiian antioxidant beverages, and fight food waste.

The three winners beat out 12 other agrifood tech startups that also pitched their solutions to feed the world in a more sustainable way at the event.

FoodBytes! SF 2019 marked the 15th edition of Rabobanks global pitch competition. FoodBytes! alumni have raised $500 million in funding since the platform launched in San Francisco in 2015, including $150 million in 2018 alone. All participating FoodBytes! startups receive a mentorship immersion, direct feedback on products and technologies, networking opportunities with investors and corporate leaders, access to a community of 265+ FoodBytes! alumni , and ongoing support from Rabobank.

This year, FoodBytes! made some changes to the awards, awarding startups in three categories: food and agriculture technology, sustainable consumer packaged goods (CPG) and Peoples Choice (voted by the audience). Winners receive business consultation services, mentorship experiences, access to Rabobank research reports , as well as the opportunity to pitch and network with C-level food and agriculture executives at Rabobanks Annual Food & Agriculture Summit in December 2019.

Here are the lucky 2019 FoodBytes! San Francisco winners from yesterdays event:

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Award: Shaka Tea (Hilo, Hawaii)

Shaka Tea earned top honors in the CPG category for creating what it describes as the first-ever line of Hawaiian-grown herbal teas brewed with mamaki, an antioxidant only found and grown in the Hawaiian Islands. FoodBytes! SF judges not only recognized Shakas unique concept and strong sales traction, but also its support for local regenerative agriculture and economic development.

Shaka Tea is expanding rapidly this year, so this incredible recognition from FoodBytes! couldnt have come at a more opportune time, said Shaka Tea Co-Founder and President Bella Hughes. Working out of Hilo, Hawaii, its not every day that I get to meet with top leaders in food and beverage for perspective on how to scale my business. Receiving such generous mentorship and winning the CPG Award is a boon to us as we launch in 3,000 new doors this year.

Food and Agriculture Technology Award: Bushel (Fargo, N.D.)

Bushel won the Technology award for its innovative software platform and app that allows grain elevators and cooperatives to connect digitally with their growers and deliver near real-time information that informs better business decisions.

FoodBytes! is a rare opportunity for entrepreneurs to enhance their exposure and network, said Bushel Co-Founder and CEO Jake Joraanstad. The quality of the connections we made far exceeded our expectations. We met a new customer on day one of FoodBytes! and can already see the direct impact this experience will have on our business as we continue to expand in the US and introduce our technology internationally.

Peoples Choice Award: Toast Ale (New York, N.Y.)

Toast Ale won the Peoples Choice Award, based on votes from the audience and Facebook Live viewers. Toast Ales innovative approach to fighting food waste  brewing craft beer from unsold bread from local bakeries  captured the audiences attention. In addition to saving one slice of bread that would have been wasted in each beer, Toast Ale donates its profits to charities reducing food waste.

Were incredibly humbled and grateful to be selected for the FoodBytes! Peoples Choice Award, said Rob Wilson, chief toaster, Toast Ale. Our aim is to brew as much beer from surplus bread as possible in our effort to combat food waste, so this validation of our mission and product is huge for us. Beyond the honors, were also excited to be part of the FoodBytes! alumni network and stay connected with other entrepreneurs who inspire us to think bigger.

The food and ag startups at FoodBytes! SF demonstrated enormous potential to address major challenges in our food system and meet consumer demand for products that provide both health and environmental benefits, said Arif Fazal, FoodBytes! SF judge and founder, managing director of Blueberry Ventures. FoodBytes! is an incredible resource not only for startups, but for industry leaders and investors like myself who want to preview whats possible for innovation in food and agriculture.

Top trends on display at FoodBytes! SF included:

Alternative protein:

Bond Pets (Nederland, Colo.)  demonstrated the potential for its clean meat dog and cat foods sourced from real animal protein, without the animal.

 demonstrated the potential for its clean meat dog and cat foods sourced from real animal protein, without the animal. Hargol FoodTech (Misgav, Israel)  showcased the technology behind the worlds first, large-scale commercial grasshopper farm.

Waste reduction :

Toast Ale (New York, N.Y.)  showcased its craft beer brewed from unsold bread to fight food waste.

 showcased its craft beer brewed from unsold bread to fight food waste. PLANETARIANS (San Mateo, Calif.)  presented its technology to upcycle byproducts and solid food waste into high-protein, high-fiber ingredients.

 presented its technology to upcycle byproducts and solid food waste into high-protein, high-fiber ingredients. Corumat (Pomona, Calif.)  demonstrated the potential for its compostable, plant-based packaging produced at 30 percent lower cost than traditional technologies.

Plant-based and natural foods:

GEM (Los Angeles, Calif.)  showcased the first FDA-regulated real food multi-vitamin for women made from 13 algae and plant-based ingredients.

 showcased the first FDA-regulated real food multi-vitamin for women made from 13 algae and plant-based ingredients. Shaka Tea (Hilo, Hawaii)  presented the first line of Hawaiian-grown, no-sugar-added, herbal iced teas brewed with mamaki.

 presented the first line of Hawaiian-grown, no-sugar-added, herbal iced teas brewed with mamaki. The Worthy Company (Chicago, Ill.)  showcased the Worthy Blendie Bowl, a plant-based superfood snack made with fruits, vegetables, legumes, and chia.

 showcased the Worthy Blendie Bowl, a plant-based superfood snack made with fruits, vegetables, legumes, and chia. Taali (Wilmington, Del.)  presented its snacks made from popped water lily seeds and non-GMO, whole and natural ingredients.

Precision agriculture:

Osmo Systems (Oakland, Calif.)  demonstrated its aquaculture water quality sensor that allows shrimp and fish farmers to continuously monitor their ponds online.

 demonstrated its aquaculture water quality sensor that allows shrimp and fish farmers to continuously monitor their ponds online. Bushel ( Fargo, N.D.)  presented the grain industrys first software platform and app that allows grain elevators and cooperatives to digitally connect with their growers.

(  presented the grain industrys first software platform and app that allows grain elevators and cooperatives to digitally connect with their growers. CropIn Technology Solutions (Bengaluru, India)  showcased its SaaS solutions for agribusinesses globally to adopt a digital strategy and decision-making tools.

Food safety:

SnapDNA (Mountain View, Calif.)  showcased the potential for its food safety pathogen test for E. coli, salmonella and listeria with results in just over an hour.

Ingredient tech :

Zymtronix (Ithaca, N.Y.)  presented the possibilities for its enzyme technology to enable cost-effective and sustainable ways of manufacturing the ingredients of tomorrow.

Dairy cow microbiome support:

Healthy Cow (Toronto, Canada)  demonstrated the potential for its first product, ProPreg, a bovine intravaginal probiotic that supports a healthy vaginal microbiome in dairy cows.

FoodBytes! SF is supported by presenting sponsor ADM , a world-leading nutrition company with the widest range of specialty ingredients, blends, systems, and experience that supports food and beverage companies looking to get to market quickly with products consumers love. Additional support comes from official sponsors Printpack , Polsinelli , and foodspace+co ; as well as supporting sponsors Agropur , Compass Group , Creative Alignments , The Interwine Group and Boulder Food Group .
The Mikado

This duplicates entries in my journal, Funny the World , which I have been writing since March 2000. The reason for starting a mirror blog is for people who prefer to subscribe thru an rss feed.The title is a quote from, "Is this a time for airy persiflage?" (light banter).
phot705/iStock(ANNAPOLIS, Md.) -- The Maryland General Assembly has voted to name June 28 "Freedom of the Press Day" in honor of the Capital Gazette victims who died in a shooting in the newspaper's Annapolis newsroom last year.



Both sides of the legislature voted unanimously to name the day in honor of the slain journalists, the The Baltimore Sun reported.



The five employees, journalists Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara and Wendi Winters, and sales associate Rebecca Smith, were killed on June 28 when alleged gunman Jarrod Ramos entered the newsroom and opened fire.



During the vote, Maryland Delegate Mark Fisher aired his grievances against the press, according to The Sun.



Freedom of the press is important, including even if as a journalist you want to put out fake news, Fisher said. Im going to vote for this bill because I think you have the right to print fake news.



Those comments were deemed "inappropriate" by Delegate Kathleen Dumais, who serves as the house majority leader.



President Donald Trump has publicly touted members of the media as "the enemy of the American People," accusing them of putting out fake news.



Last year, Time magazine named the victims of the Capital Gazette shooting as its Person of the Year, as well as slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and three other reporters persecuted for their reporting, two of whom worked for Reuters.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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Michael Hedges March 29, 2019 -

The disinformation stove-pot is piping hot. Every election is a new opportunity. There is both popular and political pressure to turn down the heat. Activist writers posing as journalists have always added fuel to flames. The result is to be expected. Reporting On Elections Widely ObservedMichael Hedges March 29, 2019 - Follow on Twitter The disinformation stove-pot is piping hot. Every election is a new opportunity. There is both popular and political pressure to turn down the heat. Activist writers posing as journalists have always added fuel to flames. The result is to be expected. ...is available for restricted access. You may access this specific article or material for 4 If you are an ftm Member, please go to the home page HERE and log in ftm Members can access all site material at no additional charge. You can JOIN ftm here The ftm newsletter available at no charge to all with registration To register click here.
South Africa: Cabinet sends condolences to families of victims of Cyclone Idai

Cabinet has extended its condolences to the families of victims of Cyclone Idai, which has devastated parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The cyclone left a trail of destruction, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, destroyed vast areas, cut off communication networks and made roads impassable.

In the spirit of Ubuntu, President Cyril Ramaphosa responded to the call for assistance from our neighbours by approving various interventions, including search-and-rescue operations.

Cabinet expresses its appreciation on the work done by our South African National Defence Force (SANDF), South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Department of Health, Cabinet said in a statement.

SANDF helicopters helped to rescue people trapped by the floods and the SAPS also deployed specially trained dogs with their handlers to the search-and-rescue mission.

Cabinet also thanked non-governmental organisations and the Gift of the Givers for providing ongoing humanitarian and disaster-relief assistance.

Earlier this week, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said it is continuing its relief efforts in flood-ravaged Malawi and Mozambique.

Having been deployed on 16 March to support flood relief efforts with the United Nations, joint inter-departmental, inter-agency and other multinational organisations in Mozambique and Malawi, the SANDF conducted search and rescue missions in support of other humanitarian agencies.

Using its air platforms, the SANDF is also engaged in multilateral efforts to provide lifesaving and sustenance supplies to areas cut off by the devastating cyclone.

The SANDF was critical to all agencies operating in the area in that it provided air-lifts to assist in most low-lying areas, including Beira in Mozambique, which saw entire villages submerged under water, with death toll rising and many people unaccounted for, the SANDF said in a statement last week.

To date, the SANDF has done the following:

 Friday, 15 March: When the SANDF was called upon to assist in support of the humanitarian efforts in both Malawi and Mozambique, which were facing serious floods, a light aircraft of the South African Air Force - with a team of specialists on board - was dispatched to these areas to conduct assessments to assist on the ground for humanitarian purposes.

 Saturday, 16 March: Following a successful assessment in both countries, the assessment team deemed it safe to first deploy a team of 10 military health practitioners with search and rescue air assets to Malawi as weather conditions were not as dire as other areas. Consequently, two military aircraft -- Oryx medium utility helicopter and CASA-212 Light Aircraft -- were pledged and despatched to Malawi.

 Sunday, 17 March: With persistent storm, rains and wind in Mozambique, the SANDF managed to land the first team in Beira to commence with groundwork in preparation for other humanitarian relief organs to make their way to the area.

- Two Oryrx medium utility helicopters were deployed and are still operating in the area;

- One Agusta-109 light aircraft for search and rescue;

- CASA-212 personnel and equipment carrier light aircraft; and

- PC-12 reconnaissance light aircraft.

 Monday, 18 March to Saturday, 23 March: A total of 82 personnel were deployed to Mozambique on different dates, ranging from health practitioners, cargo carriers, air crews and health specialists such as doctors, psychologists and environmentalists.

To date, two heavy cargo aircrafts were dispatched to both Malawi and Mozambique to deliver medical supplies, meals and other equipment to support these humanitarian efforts.

Consolidated successes for the period 18 to 24 March 2019:

- Rescued: 417

- Assisted on Critical Medical Conditions: 11

- Air-lifted to other medical facilities: 30

- Cargo transported: 7 500kg

Scores of people were taken to places of safety by the SANDF personnel supported by elements from other agencies.

The SANDF relief teams have been deployed to those acutely inaccessible areas of Malawi such as Chapinga, Chinkwangwa, Zomba District in Makina, and Phalombwe in Phaloni.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Sarah Stegall/U.S. Marine Corps(PARRIS ISLAND, S.C.) -- The first integrated company of male and female recruits will graduate from Marine Corps boot camp on Friday.

The service will now assess the company's training results to determine whether the Marines should pursue this training model in the future, the Marines told ABC News.



Unlike the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Marine Corps has not fully integrated women and men during recruit training. Instead, at Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina, males and females carry out the same training but live separately -- the first three battalions are all-male, while the fourth battalion is all-female. Marines with India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, are the service's first group to graduate from Parris Island as a combined company.



The Marine Corps, which has the lowest percentage of women among the services at just under 9 percent, decided to incorporate the approximately 50 female recruits into the historically all-male battalion in January because the recruiting classes are typically much smaller in the winter months. The integration allowed Parris Island to not activate 4th Recruit Training Battalion staff for a single female platoon.



"Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island will assess the results of India Companys training and future opportunities that may permit this company training model," Parris Island said in a statement.



But there will not be opportunities to repeat the model in 2019, spokesperson Warrant Officer Bobby Yarbrough told ABC News.



The commanding general of Parris Island stood by the Marine Corps' boot camp model, calling India Company's graduation "a testimony to two indisputable truths about recruit training."



"...Our platoon model is, and remains, the proven and ideal method for making Marines and a single company, comprised of male and female platoons, is a practical training option when the conditions permit," Brig. Gen. James Glynn said in a statement.



The female recruits were led by female drill instructors, but lived in separate quarters of the same barracks as their male counterparts. Otherwise, the training of the integrated company of about 300 recruits was identical to previous training cycles.



Series commander Capt. Tiffany Aguiar said the only major difference with the integrated company was the convenience of being located with the men in order to carry out major training events together. Sixty percent of the 13 weeks of recruit training has male and female recruits either training together or side by side, according to the Marine Corps.



Company commander Capt. Trenton Snody added that the integrated group was "competitive" and "no better or worse" than other companies, but the final assessment has yet to be conducted by the Marine Corps.



Aguiar and Snody told ABC News there were no disciplinary issues with the integrated company.



Two Marines who were part of the history-making company appeared unfazed by the integration.



Private First Class Kyle Watson of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and Private First Class Harley Annmesiemore of Greensboro, North Carolina, agreed that they could look to both their "brothers" and "sisters" during training for help.



"[The female recruits] may help me in a way that I had no clue I could get a task accomplished," Watson said, adding, "It was good to have a different perspective."



In an interview on the eve of their graduation from Parris Island, the two Marines spoke passionately about how they kept themselves motivated during the oftentimes grueling 13 weeks of boot camp.



"You just have to keep your head up, and the only thing you can do is just keep your eyes open and keep pushing no matter how tired you are, no matter how much pain you're feeling," Annmesiemore said. "You know that it's worth it in the end."



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
#EnLasBambas | AHORA | Comision del Ejecutivo acuerda con autoridades locales y dirigentes de las comunidades reunirse en Lima el 9 de abril con todos los actores involucrados en el conflicto para dar una solucion definitiva. pic.twitter.com/TJzgfkWjsA
11:28 | Lima, Mar. 29.

Peru's GDP grew from 2.5% in 2017 to 4% in 2018 , while Latin America's rose 1.1%, thus showing reasonably good performance, given national and international circumstances.

Laying foundations

Likewise, the new administration injected some confidence into the market, thus activating major private investment projects , at a rate of one per month.

"These are very important achievements that lay the foundations and draw the line of what should be done in the following years," he told Andina news agency.

He explained that, unlike 2016, when the country saw an expansion of 4%, 2018's growth was led by domestic demand

"Terms of trade were not favorable last year. All efforts to improve the Peruvian economy were underpinned by domestic demand, which implies consumption and private investment , in particular, as well as public investment ," he stated.
??#EnVivo | Conferencia de prensa de la Fiscal de la Nacion, Zoraida Avalos Rivera. ??https://t.co/6155dBnYMb pic.twitter.com/JgQ0NUPMCa
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. New Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Armenia Mohamed AlZaabi says he feels very good by seeing the warm hospitality and smiles of Armenians.

The UAE Ambassador gave an interview to ARMENPRESS, talking about the current level of the relations between Armenia and UAE, the vision on their future, as well as new cooperation directions.

-Mr. Ambassador, how would you assess the current level of the Armenia-UAE relations?

-The United Arab Emirates has very good relations with different countries of the world. The bilateral relations of the UAE and Armenia are unique and we witness their development in recent years. A lot of works have been carried out after the opening of the UAE Embassy in Armenia in 2015, a number of agreements have been signed, and I think that the first session of the inter-governmental commission will take place in May in Armenia which proves the constant cooperation between the businessmen of the two states. This session will provide an opportunity of contacts between the Armenian and UAE businessmen, as well as special meetings are possible with different representatives of the government. Armenias foreign ministry attaches special attention to strengthening the cooperation between the two countries in different areas. Armenian President Armen Sarkissians visit to the UAE and his participation to the Sustainability Week in Abu Dhabi this year in January were successful and gave a great impetus to intensifying the ties in different fields. The visit of Armenian defense minister Davit Tonoyan to the UAE and participation to the IDEX 2019 international defense exhibition, as well as the wonderful performance of the Armenian Guards of Honor, which was a message to the whole world, are worth mentioning.

I am here for already one and half a month and everywhere noticed hospitality, smiles by the people, which come from your grandfathers, and I feel very good here.

-What are the recent economic developments trends? What can you say about the trade turnover figures between the two states?

-After the opening of the UAE Embassy in Armenia, activeness is noticed in different areas, in particular in the economy. The trade turnover figures prove this: if before the opening of the Embassy in 2014 the trade turnover between the two states was just 80 million USD, in 2017 it reached 250 million and in 2018  nearly 180 million. I think the trade turnover figures will grow in 2019 as well.

In the past four years the cooperation of the two countries focused on opening new prospects in different areas. For example, the fields of investments, economy, artificial intelligence, new energy are worth noting. I know that Armenia is famous in the field of information technologies, medicine where cooperation is also possible. I think after the first session of the inter-governmental commission our relations will further develop in various sectors.

-In previous years growth in the tourist visits from the UAE to Armenia has been recorded. In your opinion, what factors contributed to this, and what cooperation prospects do you see in this field in the future?

-The direct air communication between the two countries enables to develop the tourism sector. During my meetings with the tour agencies I understood that there is a great interest, and Armenians visit the UAE very frequently. According to the official data of 2018 nearly 11.500 UAE citizens visited Armenia.

-There were some talks on the UAEs active participation in several areas in Armenia, mainly the hotel construction works. What preconditions do you see on this direction. Are investment programs from the UAE to Armenia possible in the future?

-There is a cooperation opportunity in different areas, including in this sector. Armenia has quite good hotels, and I think that the tour companies play a great role here for attracting foreign tourists.

-Mr. Ambassador, Dubai Expo will be held in the UAE in 2020. At what stage are the preparation works? What will be the main focus of this event? How is going to be Armenias participation format to the event?

-Dubai Expo 2020 is a large-scale international event which will strengthen Dubais position as a global center by involving the economic opportunities.

We welcome Armenias participation to this key event. Armenia is among the first countries that confirmed participation to this international exhibition which will provide a great space for the display of clean energy by using the latest technology, as well as importing the artificial intelligence to this field. More than 200 participants, including 190 countries, have confirmed their participation to the event where the international community will meet in Dubai for the sake of innovation and human progress. We expect to have 25 million visitors which is a very big number. Major preparation works are being carried out in these six months. New metro stations to the Expos square are being constructed, and the 70-80% of the Road 2020 projects overall works is already over. It was planned that the station of the Expo 2020 was going to look like a wings of plane, symbolizing innovation and progress. People sometimes think that this is just for trade, but this is for generations aimed at transferring the modern technology. The UAE is ready to host the Expo visitors, and I think that ARMENPRESS will be included in this event as the first news agency.

-The United Arab Emirates has declared 2019 as a year for tolerance. What are the expectations from this initiative and what is its main message?

-This initiative aims at strengthening the UAEs status as a world center through several major initiatives and projects for tolerance, including the research investments, social and cultural research on tolerance, and dialogue of cultures and civilizations. It aims at presenting a legislation and policy directed to the institutionalization of cultural, religious and social tolerance values and eventually contributing to spreading tolerance through media outlets. The main message of the initiative is to spread tolerance values across the world.

-The Special Olympic Games 2019 were held in Abu Dhabi, athletes with intellectual disabilities from different countries of the world are taking part. To what extent this event will contribute to increasing attention and support level to these people in the region?

-Abu Dhabi hosted the Special Olympic Games from March 14 to 21 this year. It was the biggest event of the disabled athletes throughout the world. The number of participants was reaching 7500. The holding and organization of the Special Olympic Games coincides with the UAEs 2021 vision which aims at developing the community by focusing on the persons with intellectual disabilities enabling them to be integrated into the society and play an active role by using their opportunities and potential.

The participation of Pope Francis to this important event was a message to the world that there should be tolerance and that Christianity and Islam are religions for tolerance. There are 202 different nations in the Emirates. UAE has visa-free regime with 169 countries. The UAE is considered one of the first countries in the list of states providing foreign humanitarian aid and charity.

-Lets talk a little about the Masdar City which is also called as the futures eco city. Masdar is an example of city development, and what do you think to what extent this model can be spread in other countries? What will it give to the states?

-Masdar is the first city in the world where there are no carbon and waste, and its the first city which is completely operating with solar energy. There is cooperation with many countries in the field of solar energy, and we are ready to cooperate also with the Armenian government.

Masdar city is in the United Arab Emirates, near the Abu Dhabi airport. This is the first city as such in the world.

-The technological and educational complex of Masdar creates new prospects for the students of different states, including Armenia. Currently some Armenians are included in these programs. What cooperation prospects do you see here?

-The UAE and in particular Masdar encourage the students of Armenia to study at Masdars institute of science and technology, which is a highest educational facility aimed at research of solar energy, sustainability and environment. A Zayed Award for sustainability is being held in the UAE. My message to the Armenian students is to present good projects, innovative programs in order to receive this award.

-Mr. Ambassador, it seems the artificial intelligence becomes the brain of the industrial revolution. Many countries are taking serious steps to develop this direction. What steps does the UAE take? If I am not mistaken, the first minister in the history to deal with the development of artificial intelligence has been appointed.

-Yes, in October 2018 Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama has been appointed as minister for artificial intelligence and thus the UAE became the first state in the world which has a minister specifically for artificial intelligence. The UAE hopes to play a leading role in the artificial intelligence research and develop innovation.

The minister for artificial intelligence has a great vision for the future. After 47 years of the foundation of the UAE we are attaching great attention to the right education and it is thanks to this that we have a minister for artificial intelligence who is going to build the future. Artificial intelligence is one of the most important elements in the persons life in his creativity. Soon we will see that a robot flies a plane, as well as will work instead of a villager. We have educated cadres in the IT field, and my mission is to try to transform our experience to this country. Armenia is famous in the field of medicine, and I will soon visit medical facilities not only in Yerevan, but also in provinces.

-Recently you have handed over a letter of gratitude to the Director of ARMENPRESS state news agency. What cooperation prospects do you see in media field?

-ARMENPRESS is a famous news agency in the world, and you are addressing a message of love and solidarity to the world through your agency. I see that you cover the most important events taking place in different countries of the world and would like to thank the agency staff.

That letter of gratitude has been handed over to Mr. Aram Ananyan to appreciate his efforts for the cooperation with the Embassy in recent years. The agency deserves more. The former ambassador established strong ties for the cooperation, and I am here to continue the work of my colleague.

Media outlets are key source for public awareness and thinking formation which in its turn affects the public thinking. In line with forming political and public opinion, media play an important role in the development of states and human societies.

Interview by Ani Danielyan

Photos by Mkhitar Khachatryan

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has held a meeting today with a group of renowned scientists from the US, Japan, China, Denmark and Spain who arrived in Armenia to participate in an international conference on efficient development of economy and politics.

Sarkissian welcomed the visit of the scientists and expressed hope that their ties with Armenia after the conference will be strengthened, Sarkissians Office said in the readout of the meeting.

I am sure Armenias future is closely tied with high technologies, science and knowledge-based education, and the shortest way leading to this goal is to be partners with the best, to bring their academic and industrial practice to Armenia, President Sarkissian said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. A lawsuit against Boeing Co was filed in U.S. federal court on Thursday in what appeared to be the first suit over a March 10 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash that killed 157 people, Reuters reported.

The lawsuit was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda, and alleges that Boeing, which manufactures the 737 MAX, had defectively designed the automated flight control system, according to Reuters.

The lawsuit says Boeing failed to warn the public, airlines and pilots of the airplanes allegedly erroneous sensors, causing the aircraft to dive automatically and uncontrollably.

Ethiopian officials and some analysts have said the Ethiopian Airlines jet behaved in a similar pattern as the 737 MAX involved in Octobers Lion Air disaster.

Many countries have grounded 737 MAX aircraft until further notice.

On March 13th, Armenian aviation authorities also banned all Boeing B-737-MAX 8 and Boeing B-737-MAX 9 aircraft from entering its airspace. The decision is effective until April 13th.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. The World Bank Group (WBG) Board of Executive Directors endorsed today the 2019-23 Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Armenia with around US$ 500 million to support sustainable and inclusive growth and improve living standards in the country, The World Bank Group told Armenpress.

The new CPF is fully aligned with the governments five-year program for a just, inclusive, and citizen-centric Armenia. It builds on the vision outlined by the new government in the wake of the velvet revolution in the spring of 2018 and embodies fresh political will to overcome Armenias development constraints and deepen reforms through a commitment to fight corruption, strengthen the rule of law, and invest in human capital.

The program implementation will leverage the complementary strengths of the World Bank Group institutions -- the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

The proposed World Bank Group strategy will capitalize on the momentum and political will for deeper reforms and renewed commitment to good governance sparked by recent changes in Armenia to support a rebalancing of the economy toward a new growth model, said Sylvie Bossoutrot, World Bank Country Manager for Armenia.

To help the Government of Armenia to advance the goals of eliminating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity in the country context, the CPF envisages support to Armenia across three main areas:

Boosting export enablers and firm competitiveness;

Enhancing human capital and equity;

Sustainably managing environmental and natural resources.

In supporting Armenias efforts to build a new, more inclusive growth model, the CPF will seek opportunities to incorporate key elements of good governance and inclusion, including public accountability and transparency, citizen engagement, gender, spatial equality, and digital connectivity.

I am particularly happy that the strategic program has been developed through extensive stakeholder consultations with the government, the private sector, civil society, and development partners, said Mercy Tembon, World Bank Regional Director for South Caucasus. Moreover, the development challenges and opportunities that informed the CPF process also reflect the government program priorities and the WBG Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Armenia.

IFC, with its focus on private sector development, will continue mobilizing private financing and collaborating across the WBG to support modernization of Armenias energy sector to reduce the reliance on imported fuel. IFC will also support the governments efforts to increase competition and open the economy to foreign investment by providing direct financing to companies and supporting the development of export-oriented industries. It will continue working with financial intermediaries to boost their capacity to finance medium and small enterprises and facilitate trade.

IFC welcomes the opening of Armenias economy and the creation of new opportunities for investment. We see our role as promoting greater private sector participation in key sectors, such as energy, as we continue supporting the country in its journey to improve the living standards of the population, said Jan van Bilsen, IFC Regional Manager for South Caucasus.

The CPF program will be implemented adaptively given the current constrained fiscal environment in Armenia and will be selective based on three engagement principles designed to maximize its development impact: 1) catalyze development and private sector partners around high-priority projects; 2) explore areas in which Armenia can benefit from the frontier experience of other countries and customize these approaches to the specific needs of the country; and 3) optimize the existing portfolio to maximize its relevance and contribution to Armenias new development goals.
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Britain publicly chastised Chinas Huawei Technologies for failing to fix long-standing security flaws in its mobile network equipment and revealed new significant technical issues, increasing pressure on the company as it battles Western allegations that Beijing could use its gear for spying, Reuters reports.

In a report published on Thursday, the government-led board that oversees vetting of Huawei gear in Britain said continued problems with the companys software development had brought significantly increased risk to UK operators.

Officials in the United States and elsewhere have been increasingly public in voicing concerns that Huaweis equipment could be used by Beijing for spying or sabotage, particularly as operators move to next generation mobile networks, known as 5G.

Shenzhen-based Huawei said in a statement it took the oversight boards concerns very seriously and that the issues identified in the report provide vital input for the ongoing transformation of our software engineering capabilities.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Worlds leading scientists, experts touched upon the global development trends and agenda of evolution and artificial intelligence during an international scientific conference in Yerevan, reports Armenpress.

International scientific conference Evolution and Artificial Intelligence has launched today and will last until April 3.

The best specialists attending this small scientific conference are engaged in mathematical modeling, in other words, are dealing with the brain of artificial intelligence and evolution. They can talk about how they see the world in 50, 100 years. If we just want to deal with the simple reproduction of key scientific achievements recorded in the world, we will always be left behind that train. In order to compete and be the best, the leader, we need to learn and accept that best, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian told reporters.

He stated that he will always assist such scientific conferences and informed that another important conference will take place in Dilijan in early June which will be attended by the best specialists of different fields from different parts of the world.

The President once again noted that if they want to become one of the worlds developed countries in 10-20 or 30 years, they must seriously deal with the education and upbringing of children so that they will have a special place in the global business, political field and technological platform.

Talking about artificial intelligence, the President said there is no need to be scared of that, it will not limit the persons work, will not take it, but will contribute to the human development. The same worry existed when the computers were created, but we see that computers have created a huge industry in the world. When children are asked what kind of specialist they want to become, some of them state diplomat and the rest  programmer. Artificial intelligence is going to help the people, will make them powerful so that they will be engaged in their main activities for which they have been created, in other words with the creative activity. I am confident that when the artificial intelligence develops, the number of jobs will increase. In fact its a way of using mathematically regulated huge information source, nothing more. We will only move forward by artificial intelligence, biology, Armen Sarkissian said.

Shanghai Biomedical Centers representative Ao Ping assured that the achievements of science and technology should used with responsibility. Artificial intelligence is going to contribute to human development and progress, but any scientific achievement can become a disaster in case of irresponsibility. I hope people will use it right and will only benefit from that, Ao Ping said.

Leading experts and scientists from US, China, Japan, France, Italy, Spain and other countries arrived in Armenia to participate in the scientific conference.

The conference is being carried out by the Artem Alikhanyan National Scientific Laboratory with the support of the Armenian government, UATE and Support to SME Development in Armenia program.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. The parliament failed to start its session today because the minimum required lawmakers werent in attendance.

Vice Speaker Alen Simonyan said several lawmakers have traveled to Artsakh, thats why the session didnt commence.

There was nothing intentional. It was merely a technical issue. Some of them had departed a bit early to Artsakh. I dont think this is anyhow disrupting our work, I dont think we will miss anything with this. Anyway its not good that the lawmakers didnt make accurate calculations, they couldve departed after the voting, Simonyan said.

He did not specify the purpose of the MPs visit.

He said the visit will have only positive impact in the context of the Armenia-Azerbaijan summit due in Vienna, but nevertheless Simonyan stressed that there was no arrangement for this visit to happen during the summit.

The agenda of todays session included the voting for two bills  amendments to the Rules of Procedure of Parliament law and amendments to the Constitutional Court Law.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan on March 29 attended the opening of the exhibition dedicated to the 140th birthday anniversary of Aram Manukyan in the Stepanakert Culture and Youth Palace, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The President stressed the importance of holding such events rating high the contribution of Aram Manukyan to the national liberation struggle, the establishment and defense of the First Armenian Republic.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Acting Minister of Culture Nazeni Gharibyan has sacked Constantine Orbelian, the General Director and Artistic Director of the Alexander Spendiaryan Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, aka the Yerevan Opera Theater.

The ministry told ARMENPRESS Orbelian was informed on his dismissal on March 28.

Orbelian, a three-time Grammy Award nominated conductor, was appointed artistic director of the Yerevan Opera Theater in 2016. Then, a year later, he also became general director of the theater.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Constantine Orbelian says getting fired as General and Artistic Director of the Yerevan Opera Theater was a surprise.

Acting Minister of Culture Nazeni Gharibyan believes I was appointed unlawfully, Orbelian told reporters.

He said he is yet to decide what actions to take, but he stressed that what [Gharibyan] is doing is illegitimate.

It seems like the staff plans to file a lawsuit against this decision, perhaps so will Iwe will see, Orbelian said.

He said he talked over the phone with former Minister of Culture Lilit Makunts, now a lawmaker, and his dismissal was a surprise for her too.

By the way, the order says Im being dismissed effective April 1, perhaps this is a joke, he jokingly said, referring to April Fools Day.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Eurimages, the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe, has approved funding for Auroras Sunrise, a joint Armenian-German film production about Armenian Genocide survivor Aurora Mardiganian.

Eurimages Armenia representative Susanna Harutyunyan told a news conference that Auroras Sunrise is the first Armenian documentary-animation film project to be funded by Eurimages.

She said the Eurimages board has approved 140,000 euro funding for the movie, which is 24% of the total budget.

The Armenian National Film Center has also provided support  45 million drams, and 2,4 million drams was provided by the Armenian-Turkish platform of Golden Apricot. The Canadian Zoryan Institutes support is also of high importance, in form of archive materials, she said.

Production is underway for already 4 years with Bars Media and the German Gebruder Beetz film studios.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan received UK Ambassador to Armenia Judith Farnworth, the deputy PMs Office told Armenpress.

Welcoming the guest the deputy PM said the Armenian-British relations are dynamically developing both at political and economic sectors.

He stated that a great potential exists and expressed confidence that it would be possible to raise the bilateral ties to a higher level thanks to joint works.

In her turn the UK Ambassador thanked for the reception and stated that the United Kingdom supports the ongoing reforms in Armenia.

The meeting participants also discussed the ongoing programs in good governance, improvement of business climate and investment policy.

Avinyan introduced the UK Ambassador on the Work Armenia program, as well as the governments plans to modernize the public administration system. Taking into account the UKs leading experience in employment policy and public administration, the sides agreed to more thoroughly study the cooperation opportunities at these directions.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. After the visit of chairman of World Information Technology and Service Alliance Yvonne Chiu to Armenia, President of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE) Alexandr Yesayan accompanied the head of the Alliance during her visit to Minsk to attend the annual meeting of the organization, UATE told Armenpress.

During the first day of the corporate visit, with the support of the Armenian trade representative in Belarus Karen Yesayan, meetings with the Belarusian IT industry representatives were held. At the meeting with president of Digital Business Confederation Vladimir Basko, WCIT 2019 Project Director Syuzanna Azoyan presented the ongoing organizational procedures, the list of the participating countries, the topics discussed with the speakers and other details.

Vladimir Basko and Alexandr Yesayan have discussed the perspectives of bilateral cooperation, which was later presented in the meeting to the president of Business Angels network Valery Astrynski. Alexandr Yesayan invited his Belarusian colleagues to take part in the world's largest IT event held in Yerevan on October 6-9, 2019.

On the second day of the visit, President of UATE Alexandr Yesayan, who is also a WITSA board member, presented a report at WITSA BOD meeting on the organizational process of the WCIT 2019 and the support of the Armenian Government to host the event at a very high level.

A meeting with Armenian Ambassador to Belarus Armen Ghevondyan is also planned.



***

World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT 2019), has been established by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA). WCIT 2019 will be held in Yerevan on October 6-9, 2019. The congress is hosted by Armenia and is organized with the support and under the high patronage of the Government of the Republic of Armenia. The organizational works are carried out by the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises-UATE.
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Defense minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan, who is in the United States on a working visit, met with the leadership of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York, the Armenian defense ministry told Armenpress.

During the meeting the future actions of Armenian specialists who carry out humanitarian mission in Syria and combination of actions with the OCHA regional and sub-regional offices were discussed.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Most read of the week
Marion County Sheriff's Office(OCALA, Fla.) -- A Florida couple's death was ruled a homicide on Thursday, nearly eight months after firefighters discovered their remains at the scene of their "burned to the ground" mobile home, authorities said.



Robert Cooper, 37, and his 29-year-old wife, Ariel Prim, were found dead in their burned mobile home in Ocala, Florida, located about 80 miles north of Orlando, last summer, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.



Firefighters responded to the scene on July 28, 2018, after a neighbor reported that the house was burnt to the ground and the couple's vehicle was still in the driveway, fire officials said.



First responders arrived on the scene at 7:35 a.m. that morning and had to force entry into two locked gates to the property, the Marion County Fire Rescue said in a statement.



"Firefighters found the structure burned to the ground and found the deceaseds remains," the statement said. "There are three horses and one goat on scene. Marion County Animal control is caring for the animals."



It took detectives three months to positively identify their bodies and their deaths were ruled "suspicious" in December, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.



"In the months following the incident, MCSO Major Crimes detectives conducted a thorough investigation into the deaths and finally received the DNA results confirming the remains to be Coopers and Prims on Wednesday, December 5, 2018," the sheriff's office said in a December statement. "The State Fire Marshal has conducted an independent investigation into the cause of the fire, and the cause has not yet been determined."

The medical examiners office had initially ruled their deaths to be of "undetermined causes," but the office issued an update on Thursday, calling the case a homicide.



Police have not released any details about the possible causes of death. Officials are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest.



"Detectives are now asking for the publics help in revealing any information that may bring some clarity to the suspicious circumstances surrounding their deaths," the sheriff's office said.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. The trial of ex-President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan will be public, however its not ruled out for individual parts to be confidential, Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan told reporters today.

2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, who ruled the country from 1998 to 2008, spent two weeks in jail in summer of 2018, but was eventually freed. But on December 7, a higher court overruled the release and ordered him to be remanded into custody pending trial again.

At the time the court announced the verdict, Kocharyan turned himself in to authorities.

Kocharyan is charged with overthrowing constitutional order during the 2008 post-election unrest, when clashes between security forces and protesters left 10 people dead, including two police officers, during his final days as president.

He vehemently denies wrongdoing.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, 29 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 29 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.13 drams to 486.44 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.04 drams to 545.30 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 7.52 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 4.74 drams to 634.03 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 222.08 drams to 20255.38 drams. Silver price down by 3.14 drams to 237.64 drams. Platinum price down by 309.19 drams to 13152.74 drams.
YEREVAN, MARECH 29, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan assesses meeting with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev as normal, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan told TASS.

The meeting went on normally, he said, entering into the car.

The meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the Bristol Hotel in Vienna is over: it lasted 3 hours 15 minutes. This was the 1st official meeting of the two leaders.

The Armenian community representatives were outside the hotel waiting for Pashinyan. They welcomed the PM and took a photo with him.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

The meeting began at 14:00 Yerevan time. The extended format meeting was followed by the private meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, after which the mediators again joined them.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARECH 29, ARMENPRESS. The regular session of the Eurasian Economic Council took place in Moscow, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan who is on a working visit in Russia.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Deputy PM of Armenia, 46 issues were on the agenda of the session, which particularly referred to future integration processes in EAEU, project implementation tools, digitalization, as well as elimination of technical obstacles for mutual trade with 3rd countries. During the session the negotiation process on free trade with a number of countries was touched upon.

During the session it was decided that the next session of the Eurasian Economic council will take place in Yerevan on April 29.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARECH 29, ARMENPRESS. OSCE Minsk Group French Co-chair Stephane Visconti assessed the meeting between Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev as meaningful and productive, ARMENPRESS reports News program of Public TV of Armenia informs.

I assess the meeting long, meaningful and productive which gave the leaders the opportunity to present their views. The Prime Minister and the President will inform about the next meeting, the Co-chair said.

The meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the Bristol Hotel in Vienna is over: it lasted 3 hours 15 minutes. This was the 1st official meeting of the two leaders.

The Armenian community representatives were outside the hotel waiting for Pashinyan. They welcomed the PM and took a photo with him.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

The meeting began at 14:00 Yerevan time. The extended format meeting was followed by the private meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, after which the mediators again joined them.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARECH 29, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan who is in Vienna on a working visit today met with Austrias Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia.

Welcoming the Prime Minister of Armenia, the Austrian President said his country keen to continuously develop and expand multifaceted relationship with Armenia. Alexander Van der Bellen complimented Nikol Pashinyan on the ongoing reform process in Armenia and expressed confidence that our country will abide by the path of democratic development and consolidation over the coming years. With reference to bilateral economic cooperation, the President of Austria assured that his country is prepared to discuss possibilities of implementing investment programs in Armenia.

Thankful for the warm welcome, Prime Minister Pashinyan said that the Armenian government is interested in deepening interaction with Austria. Nikol Pashinyan touched upon the democratic developments in Armenia, the fight against corruption and monopolies, the protection of human rights and the judiciary reform. The Premier expressed confidence that in close cooperation with its international partners, the Government of Armenia will successfully implement the ongoing and planned reforms.

The interlocutors discussed a broad range of issues concerning the Armenian-Austrian relations. They took the opportunity to exchange views over other topics of mutual interest.

Prime Minister Pashinyan briefed the Austrian President on the outcome of his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Vienna.
YEREVAN, MARECH 29, ARMENPRESS. The negotiations between Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev took place today in Vienna initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the meeting started with the participation of the foreign ministers of both countries and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs. The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office was also present at the meeting.

Afterwards, Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev continued the talks on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement during a private conversation. At the end of the meeting the foreign ministers and Co-chairs again joined them.

During the meeting that went on in a constructive atmosphere Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev referred to the agreement reached in Dushanbe, highlighted implementation of measures aimed at strengthening the ceasefire regime and improvement of the mechanisms of direct contact. The interlocutors emphasized the importance of establishing favorable atmosphere for the negotiation process. The sides agreed to carry out a number of humanitarian actions.

The leaders of the countries tasked their foreign ministers to meet with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, agreeing to continue with the negotiations.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan positively assesses his meeting with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan announced during themeeting with the Armenian community in Austria.

"I would not say that a breakthrough or revolution takes place in the negotiation process, but it's very important that a process that gives an opportunity to talk about agenda, approaches or problems has kicked off and talk about the the process about which I announced in Stepanakert and later during my press conference. I hope that president Aliyev will also assess the meeting as positive", Pashinyan said.

The PM emphasized that when he says that he assesses the meeting as positive it does not mean the victory or defeat of someone during the meeting or conversation. "Up till now this approach was widely accepted to think who won during the meeting and who was defeated. The important uniqueness of this meeting is that there is no task to go out and announce that I won and the opposite side was defeated. A conversation has kicked off and here naturally each side has his approaches. This conflict has very deep roots and first of all the most important point should be that we understand that we do not deal with a simple situation. This is a very serious problem, very deep problem", he said.

Pashinyan added he still does not know what kind of assessment the Azerbaijani president has. "i hope our assessments will not seriously differ from each other".

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers have issued a joint statement based on the results of Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting in Vienna. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the OSCE, the statement runs as follows,

"The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met today in Vienna for the first time under the auspices of 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). The meeting was also attended by Foreign Ministers Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov. Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, also participated in the meeting.

The meeting took place in a positive and constructive atmosphere and provided an opportunity for the two leaders to clarify their respective positions. They exchanged views about several key issues of the settlement process and ideas of substance.

The two leaders underlined the importance of building up an environment conducive to peace and taking further concrete and tangible steps in the negotiation process to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Recalling their conversation in Dushanbe, the leaders recommitted to strengthening the ceasefire and improving the mechanism for direct communication. They also agreed to develop a number of measures in the humanitarian field.

The Prime Minister and President instructed their Ministers to meet with the CoChairs again in the near future. They also agreed to continue their direct dialogue"
On Wednesday March 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used a national address to announce India had established itself as a space power by sending an indigenously designed ballistic-missile interceptor up 300 kilometres (190 miles) to destroy a satellite orbiting the Earth, India Defence News reports.



March 27, 2019, a date which will live in India's history, as the Project XSV-1 was successfully implemented with the destruction of a satellite by an ASAT weapon indigenously developed (Picture source: via The Indian Express)

The move -- with political overtones just weeks ahead of a national election -- sends a stark message to Indias nuclear-armed rivals, China and Pakistan, and changes Asias strategic calculus by proving India has the ability to knock out enemy satellites.

Indias anti-satellite (A-SAT) mission was a top secret one, kept under wraps for nearly 31 months, Indian Defence News reports. Only a handful of scientists knew about it, which was codenamed Project XSV-1. For the rest of the team, it was another BMD (Ballistic Missile Defence) campaign, with some upgrades. None knew that a space strike or a kinetic kill was in the offing.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials were told to maintain top secrecy about the project soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the go-ahead sometime in 2016. Propelled by PMs go-ahead for the kill, the DRDO carefully scripted the flight path for one of the top-priority and secret military missions of the millennium. DRDO was told in no uncertain terms that at no point any details about A-SAT missions will be shared on public domain or spoken about. Missile scientists making presentations at various seminars were told to be sure about the content that was going out on the public domain, Indian Defense News reports. None knew that A-SAT was in the making, barring a few. There were only six core members who knew what Project XSV-1 was all about. (The SV apparently meant Shakti Vehicle and 1 stood for the first mission.)

After the NDA government came to power in 2014, the DRDO top brass was warned officially many times not to divulge too many details pertaining to sensitive strategic missions. Frequent directions went from the PMO (Prime Ministers Office) and NSAs office to stay low-key on national missions. The government wanted all ministries, including MoD (Ministry of Defence), to follow strict guidelines when it came to information decimation. Internally, the DRDO is said to have completely camouflaged the mission and almost everyone believed that it was an exo-atmospheric interceptor missile, part of the larger BMD program.

The last six months (end of September, 2018, to March, 2019) were crucial for the A-SAT mission. The DRDO teams were growing in confidence and all proven technologies were carefully scrutinised and fault lines drawn. The missile weighed around 18 tonnes with a height of around 13 metres. It pulverised the Microsat-R, weighing one tonne, within almost three minutes (168 seconds) after the launch.

Thousands of messages poured in on ISROs Twitter handle, complimenting the scientists for the successful A-SAT mission. We are happy that DRDO has achieved a mammoth mission. Even the tracking and hitting a satellite with a missile is not an easy job as it involves many complex scenarios, an ISRO official said.

Team ISRO is already on a mission mode with PSLV-C45 scheduled to launch 29 satellites on April 1 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The DRDOs EMISAT is the lone Indian satellite on board this mission. So what next for Project XSV-1? Nothing has been planned yet. The capabilities are proven and demonstrated, said an official. Now, it is clear that this fist successful ballistic-missile test changes strategic calculus in Asia. Delhi has established itself as a space power, Modi says. And a warning has been sent to China and Pakistan as well.

DRDO labs played a key role in successful test-fire of an anti-satellite weapon system

The Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), known as R&DE and based at Dighi in Pune, developed the ground system for the ASAT, The Indian Express reports. Two facilities of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Pune, along with the agencys unit in Nashik, have played an important role in the development of the anti-satellite weapon system, or ASAT, which was successfully test-fired on Wednesday. The ASAT comprised a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Interceptor developed by the DRDO.

The Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), known as R&DE and based at Dighi in Pune, developed the ground system for the ASAT. The High Energy Material Research Laboratory (HEMRL), located at Pashan, and the Advanced Centre for Energetic Material (ACEM) in Nashik have, together, contributed to the motor systems and some other components. All these facilities belong to the Armament and Combat Engineering (ACE) Cluster of the DRDO, which is also headquartered in Pune.

HEMRL, which works in the field of technology related to high explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics, has developed propellants and motor systems for almost all missiles including Prithvi, Agni, Akash and Nag, developed by the DRDO till now. For the ASAT, the HEMRL, along with ACEM, have contributed to the design and development of rocket motors, propellant and state separator systems, said a DRDO scientist. The ACEM, which is the newest DRDO facility and was commissioned in 2009, mainly works in the area of composite propellant processing.

The R&DE, an engineering systems laboratory of the DRDO, has developed the launch vehicle that is part of the ground system of the ASAT. The electro-mechanical engineering wing of the facility has developed the system. The work on these systems for the ASAT was done over the past one-and-a-half years. But the preparation for the test on Wednesday was on for six to seven weeks. These laboratories in Pune, along with the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), which is also part of the ACE, have contributed to several key DRDO projects together in the past. said a senior DRDO scientist.

Among other things, the R&DE has contributed to several in-use defence systems like mobility and counter-mobility systems, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear defence systems, launch systems for weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles, robotics and unmanned systems. Two of the systems developed by the facility and widely used by security agencies across India is Daksh, a remotely operated bomb detection and disposal system, and Netra, a surveillance UAV.

The HEMRL, on the other hand, has worked in development and testing of solid propellants for rockets and missiles, solid propellants and cartridges for gun ammunition, along with design, development, and fabrication of a range of instrumentation and electronic equipment for study and evaluation of high-energy material.
Juggling motherhood and work, in 1974 Anne joined the University of Papua New Guinea as a professional assistant in social science at the Teaching Methods Centre. Concurrently, she studied part time for a Bachelor of Arts, graduating with first class honours.

From 1971 to 1973 she taught at Kilakila High School, during this time marrying John Kaniku, also a teacher, and had two sons.

From humble beginnings as a six-year-old school girl at Kwato Mission, Anne continued at Port Moresby High School and later attained a Diploma in Secondary Teaching at Goroka Teachers College.

Hailing from Wagawaga in the Milne Bay Province, Anne was born on 15 May 1950, the fourth child of five children to Osineru and Doreen Dickson.

PORT MORESBY  As a teacher, advocate, mentor and silent achiever, the late Dr Anne Nealibo Dickson-Waiko (1950-2018) will be remembered for her contributions to the advancement of women in Papua New Guinea.

From 1978 to 1981, Anne undertook further study in the USA but, with the joy of having a third son came sadness, tragedy struck and she lost her first-born son. These years in the USA were difficult for Anne and her family but she completed her Masters in Political Science at the University of Mississippi in 1981.

In 1986, she had a daughter with John Kaniku but their marriage dissolved soon after. By 1987, Anne was undertaking PhD studies at the Australian National University in Canberra and was awarded her doctorate in 1993.

During this time, she remarried Professor John Waiko and had another son in Canberra. As Professor Waiko was based in Port Moresby, she left her young son with him while she completed field work in the Philippines.

Anne was a dedicated academic and worked extremely hard until she fell ill in September 2018. UPNGs Professor Peter Yearwood described her as a valuable and dedicated lecturer. As a student at UPNG, I enjoyed her classes on PNG gender issues, colonialism and nation building, and South East Asian history.

As an academic, researcher and advocate for gender equality in PNG, she focused much on history and gender studies. UPNG recognised her as an internationally significant scholar who between 2005-2015 wrote seven articles or chapters in refereed journals and books.

Anne was also a consultant, advisor and facilitator for a number of gender related projects which she engaged in with government, non-government and international organisations and donors. Her most significant contribution to womens improvement in PNG was her involvement in the Review of the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level government led by Ben Micah in 1995 with other women academics and leaders.

Her involvement looked at incorporating womens representation in both the provincial and local level government particularly in having nominated seats for women. This was approved by the national parliament and made effective in 1997.

It was a turning point for women in politics as it allowed women to participate and be heard at the provincial and local levels of government. I hope that this revelation will be made known to many PNG girls and women so that we are grateful for women who paved the way for our voices to be heard.

Remarkably, Anne spent 45 years at UPNG, most of her career, and over the years she imparted her knowledge to contributing to the development of PNG, particularly to the female population. In 2016, Anne, pioneered PNGs first gender studies program and was commissioned by the National Research Institute to carry out a scoping study which informed the research themes of the gender program.

A colleague described Anne as a passionate woman who supported gender equality through her work, teaching and research.

You dedicated your life to improve the lives of the masses.

Sacrifices made, and hurdles jumped.

Yet strived to put a smile on anothers face.

With a humble heart and a sweet smile, you still persevered.

Gratitude is all that can be offered at this time

But your legacy will remain.

Smile and know that it will get better.

The Gender in PNG Research of the PNG National Research Institute program acknowledges Ms Marjorie Andrew for allowing us to use the late Dr Anne Dickson-Waikos eulogy in writing this tribute and Associate Professor Peter Yearwood, Head of the History, Gender Studies and Philosophy Strand, for the short tribute you sent to be included in this obituary
But the failure of Australias Liberal-National coalition and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to understand the Pacific and develop and implement effective policies is nowhere more evident than in Australias relationship with PNG in recent years.

On the evidence of those elections, and independent observations, that aid has failed - as has Australian diplomacy over many years.

All were conducted with considerable aid support from Australia, some of it directly to the PNG Electoral Commission but most to the general strengthening of the countrys institutions.

CAIRNS - There is much for the Australian government to consider about the corrupt Papua New Guinea elections in 2002, 2007, 2012 and now 2017.

Journalist Mark Davis summarises the main issues from the Australian National Universitys hard-hitting report on the 2017 Papua New Guinea national election. This is the second of Marks four part summary of a report that documents an election replete with threats, malfeasance and corruption. You can link here to the full report

A happy Peter O'Neill receives the Commonwealth Observer Group report from secretary-general Patricia Scotland. The report was a whitewash, no wonder Peter was smiling. But not so after reading the forensic ANU observers report

Prior to the 2017 election, Australia let it be known that it would support the re-election of the ONeill regime in the interest of the political stability of the nation.

It proceeded to interfere in domestic politics immediately ahead of the election through a series of high-profile ministerial visits and other engagements, the announcement of a raft of aid projects and a flood of public relations fluff from the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby.

The comfort thus provided to prime minister ONeill, the invidious position in which the Manus deal had put Australia, the years of official neglect and ineptness, and obnoxious and ham-fisted megaphone diplomacy, means that now ONeill can continue to do as he pleases, playing Australia and its allies off against China with impunity.

This is ANUs third election report and it is clear from its content that the university has been steadfast in its rejection of any interference and in doing so has rendered a valuable contribution to Australias understanding of PNG.

It stands head and shoulders above other observer reports, especially the Commonwealth Observer Groups ridiculous contribution.

It does reinforce Transparency International PNGs observer report, which condemned the election after finding numerous instances of corruption; many of the TI and ANU findings are consistent.

The report also provides a good context for specialist PNG analyst and economist Paul Flanagans two excellent election reports (see articles here and here), which statistically demonstrated the extent of the ONeill regimes election rigging.

Flanagan is one of the few people able and willing to expose the ONeill regime, and his reports on economic and financial affairs have been a beacon in the dark recesses of corruption, waste and mismanagement.

The question now is, given the antipathy to the report in PNG and Canberra, will there be a fourth observer mission and report? And will this current reports many recommendations be implemented or given the usual lip service by ONeill?

The report states that in fact, the 2017 elections saw democratic processes hijacked in many places, resulting in elections that were seriously flawed and that elections were neither free, safe, fair nor inclusive.

An entire section, Concluding Assessments from Local Observers, contains repeated lamentations about the loss of democracy. A key finding is that:

.the 2017 elections did not improve on the 2012 elections. Sobering as it is, this report concludes that elections in PNG continue to trend in the wrong direction. It finds that the 2017 elections witnessed a marked deterioration in the overarching election environment. Serious irregularities, including voter intimidation, personation, underage voting, multiple voting and proxy voting, were identified to a greater or lesser extent by each of the 35 observer teams deployed by the ANU. Electoral misbehaviour and malfeasance, as noted in relation to both the 2007 and 2012 elections, continued to flourish in 2017, facilitated in large part by the poor state of the electoral roll. It proved more widespread and more brazen than ever before. Electoral violence was also more widespread than previously noted, punctuating the election period in all but three of the 69 electorates in which the ANU observation team made detailed observations. Coupled with this, poor standards and bad behaviour have become normalised, serving to undermine local confidence in the PNGEC and the electoral process more broadly.

The report also identifies the prevalence of wantokism (PNGs version of nepotism) throughout the electoral process, with partners, relatives of candidates and clan members of candidates being appointed to critical positions.

Restoring confidence in the electoral process must be a priority moving forward, the report states.

In this respect the report breaks new ground, providing public evidence for the first time that the PNG Electoral Commission is in fact a major player in rigging elections, in 2002, 2007, 2012 and now 2017.

There were some polling stations that were well run and administered with almost all rules followed. But observers found widespread and large-scale fraud and maladministration, with varying degrees of disorder.

The report says that nowhere in the country did the elections run smoothly or without incident.

Electoral fraud  comprising unlawful interference in the process of the election including fraudulent voter registration, manipulation of the electoral roll, personation, multiple voting, underage voting and misrepresentation or alteration of the true results of the election (e.g., false declarations and double declarations) was more brazen and more widespread than in either 2007 or 2012. Money politics was also more widespread and of a different order than in earlier elections, being focused on key officials and local strongmen who could deliver outcomes rather than individual voters.

Devolution of significant elements of electoral administration to the provinces contributed to the chaos and corruption.

Moreso than in previous elections, observers reported candidate capture of key electoral processes, including the roll update, and dissatisfaction with delayed funding and funding shortfalls, the appointment of partisan electoral officials, and with counting and declarations.

Mark Davis worked as a media adviser to Sir Mekere Morauta, former prime minister and Member for Moresby North-West in the national parliament
Footage has emerged of a terrifying road rage brawl which spilled onto the street as stunned bystanders watched on.

A group of men held up traffic as they fought in Dublin, Ireland, on Tuesday before returning to their cars and banging into each other.

Ethan Foley was on a bus stuck behind the two cars involved in the incident, and filmed disturbing footage showing five people stepping out of two cars and gesturing aggressively towards each other.

One man strikes another repeatedly with an object. Source: Storyful/ Ethan Foley

A member of one group then begins to repeatedly hit another young man with an object.

The white car in which the assaulted man was travelling then swerves towards the attacker as it pulls away.

The passengers from both cars return to the vehicles before the white car then collides with the other. Both cars then turn left, driving through the red light.

The two cars then collide at the junction before both driving through a red light. Source: Storyful/ Ethan Foley

During the fight, Mr Foley can be heard in the video laughing and saying World Star, a reference to American website WorldStarHipHop which regularly features videos of fights.

Police arrived at the scene after receiving reports of an altercation however the men had fled the scene on arrival, Dublin Live reported.

Police are not investigating having not received any complaints regarding the incident.

with Storyful

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The death toll from a terrifying blaze that ripped through a Bangladesh tower rose on Friday to 25, as authorities vowed tough action to improve lax safety standards. The latest deadly blaze to hit Bangladesh's congested capital Dhaka tore through the 22-storey FR Tower on Thursday, leaving some of the hundreds trapped inside screaming for help as horrified onlookers massed outside. Some of those stuck inside made it to safety by sliding down cables on the side of the building, but others took their chances and jumped in a bid to escape the smoke and heat. Six people leaped to their deaths. Firefighters backed by military specialists -- some in helicopters -- tackled the flames, lowering ropes to help people escape, while rescuers on long ladders smashed through windows. But fire fighters were hampered by not having ladder cranes big enough to reach the top floors, officials said. The fire was later extinguished and on Friday fire fighters completed the process of combing through the gutted and blackened floors of the building. The fire department initially put the death toll at 19 but police said Friday that six more had perished. Another was in a critical state in hospital. There was no immediate indication if others are missing, but more than 70 people were treated in hospital in the wake of the blaze. - 'No fire exit' - Fire disasters regularly hit Bangladesh's major cities where safety standards are notoriously lax. Last month at least 70 people were killed in Dhaka apartment buildings where chemicals that were being illegally stored exploded -- unleashing a blaze that took more than 12 hours to control. Following Thursday's fire, in the upmarket Banani commercial district, authorities have ordered a probe into safety measures at the building. "There was no fire exit in the building. There was an alternative stairs. But access to the stairs was closed or padlocked in some of the floors," fire brigade official Saleh Uddin told AFP. He said the fire department had sent several notices to the building to "implement fire safety measures in the building," but the owner did not comply. "There were no sprinklers. Fire exits existed only in name," fire department director Shakil Newaj told AFP. Housing Minister Rezaul Karim saying a murder case would be filed against those to blame for the tragedy. "Definitely this is murder. It is not an accident... Nobody will escape the law," he said. The mayor of Dhaka north, Atiqul Islam, promised a "zero tolerance" policy in building safety, especially in high-rise buildings. - 'Death traps' - According to a 2012 study by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, most high-rise buildings in 15-million-strong Dhaka have inadequate fire safety measures. "We found only two buildings fully compliant," BUET professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansari said of the survey on 112 buildings, adding that some they looked at were little more than "death traps". A June 2010 fire in the nearby neighbourhood of Nimtoli, one of the most densely populated districts of the capital, killed 123 people. In November 2012, a fire swept through a nine-storey garment factory near Dhaka killing 111 workers. An investigation found it was caused by sabotage and that managers at the plant had prevented victims from escaping. Experts said inspections of buildings in the city frequently found fire stairs blocked with stored goods and exit doors locked. Helicopters were called in to tackle the blaze in the 22-storey building in Dhaka's business district More than 70 people were hurt in the blaze, which killed at least 19 people Fire fighters were hampered by not having ladder cranesbig enough to reach the top floors, officials said Fire department director Shakil Newaj said they had previously warned the FR Tower management to improve fire safety standards


Taiwans government is considering introducing the death penalty for serious cases of drink driving leading to fatalities.

The cabinet on Thursday approved a draft amendment to the Criminal Code that would make death by drunk driving an indictable murder offence, potentially punishable by death if the deed is deemed intentional, officials said.

The proposal needs parliamentary approval but comes after a spate of high-profile deaths that have generated widespread outrage.

Currently the maximum sentence in Taiwan for causing a death while drunk behind the wheel is 10 years.

The National Theatre in Taipei, Taiwan. The nation is considering introducing the death penalty for drink driving incidents which lead to deaths. Source: AAP

The new proposal would increase jail sentences for repeat offenders who commit a new offence within five years of their first conviction.

They face up to a life sentence for causing a death and 12 years for grave injuries.

In a statement, the Justice Ministry said cases of drink driving leading to death are rampant.

Drink drivers recklessly caused accidents that took lives and destroyed families to result in irreparable regret, the ministry said.

Drunk van driver kills three

In one notorious case in January, a 40-year-old man crashed his van into a taxi while driving intoxicated, killing three people and injuring three others including himself.

A barman makes cocktails for international hotel guests at the W Hotel Taipeis Woo Bar in Taipei. Source: AAP

Very few countries employ the death penalty for drunk driving cases.

China has previously vowed to execute those who have killed behind the wheel and some states in the United States retain capital punishment for such cases.

In 2014 a Texas man was indicted on capital murder after he ploughed his car into a crowd killing four people.

But in the end prosecutors did not seek the death penalty and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Opposition to proposed death penalty

Several rights groups on Thursday, including the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, issued a joint statement criticising the proposed amendment and calling for rational legislation for irrational drunk driving.

Vehicles drive on the Formosa highway in Taipei. Source: Getty Images

There is a lack of evidence and research that seeking grave penalties and legislation would truly prevent drunk driving, the statement said.

Story continues

Taiwan resumed capital punishment in 2010 after a five-year hiatus, despite ongoing calls from local and international rights groups for its abolition.

Various surveys over the years have shown support from the public for keeping the death penalty.

Taiwan executed a man who murdered his ex-wife and their daughter last September, the first execution carried out under President Tsai Ing-wens government that took office in 2016.

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What began as a routine traffic stop turned into a full-blooded street fight with a police officer coming off second best.

The man accused of the vicious attack in Sydneys Sutherland Shire on Thursday was on parole and has already spent time in jail for another assault on an officer.

Mark Fatur allegedly threw a series of punches at the officer, who had caught up with him after Fatur closed his door on him following an earlier stop.

Fatur allegedly drove off following the initial interaction with the officer. Source: 7News

The incident was caught on camera.

Fatur continued to refuse being booked for allegedly overtaking a truck at 80 km/h in a 50km zone.

Police say he was also driving on a suspended licence.

Last year, Fatur spent three months in prison for resisting and assaulting a different police officer.

Hes currently on parole for another incident  threatening serious harm.

Footage allegedly shows the officer and Fatur involved in a physical dispute. Source: 7News

In court, Magistrate Jayeanne Carney said he lunged towards police with arms outstretched yelling you f****** dog come on, have a go.

She went on saying he then lunges towards him and with his right fist enclosed  impacted the police officers mouth.

Faturs legal aid said he was on heavy medication for anxiety.

Mr Faturs not well, legal aid Monique Tran said.

The magistrate informed Fatur in court that he would be sent back to the holding cells if he spoke up in court after interrupting regarding his licence.

On Friday, the officer sought medical treatment for a cut to his lip and serious bruising to his jaw.

Fatur is facing up to six years behind bars.

He is due to return to court in April.

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An out-of-control blaze has swept through a high-rise office building in Bangladeshs capital on Thursday, killing at least 19 people and injuring about 70 others, officials said.

The blaze trapped many people inside the building, with some shouting for help from windows on the buildings upper floors and from the roof.

Firefighters shattered the buildings glass walls to free toxic gas, while at least one person fell to the ground while trying to climb down the building.

The fire at the FR Tower, on a busy avenue in Dhakas Banani commercial district, was the latest in a city where flouted building regulations and safety norms have made deadly blazes common.

Firefighters work to douse a fire in a multi-storied office building in Dhaka. Source: AP

A chopper hovers over the smoking building as they try to winch people to safety. Source: AP

A Facebook Live video taken by Roy Pinaki showed five people climbing down from windows while burned building materials fell around them.

One person slipped from what appeared to be a rope that people were using to escape, bounced off utility wires and fell to the ground.

Military helicopters joined the rescue operation, and one person dangled from a helicopter hovering over the roof as thick plumes of smoke rose.

More than a dozen people who fled to the roof were rescued by firefighters using hydraulic cranes, Bardhan said.

Witness Sajib Hasan said some people shouted for help from the upper floors of the building. Onlookers shouted back encouragement, some raising their hands to pray for the safety of those trapped.

A trapped worker signals for help as firefighters work to get to him. Source: Reuters

A Bangladeshi man stuck in the multi-storied office building speaks on his phone as he waits to be rescued. Source: AP

A firefighter works to free residents trapped inside the flaming building. Source: AP

Heavy smoke deterred efforts by responders, but Hasan said he watched at least a dozen people rescued.

Fire officials said after battling the blaze for several hours that most people inside had been rescued.

The situation is under control, said Debashish Bardhan, a Fire Service and Civil Defense deputy director.

Bystanders join in rescue efforts

Incredible images captured at the scene show local residents desperately trying to assist fire fighters, feeding hoses through the obstructed streets.

Men can be seen climbing onto trucks, holding the hose above their heads as firefighters work to put out the blaze, while choppers hover over the smoke-filled streets.

Story continues

Locals help firefighters feed a hose towards the blaze. Source: AP

Banani, the area where the fire broke out, is a busy commercial district with multi-story buildings housing offices, universities and restaurants.

Dilip Kumar Ghosh, deputy director of the fire service, said heavy traffic delayed the arrival of firetrucks at the building.

Tushar-or-Rashid, an employee of the Vivid Holidays tour company on the buildings first floor, said the fire began above the firms location.

All of our staff have come out safely but we dont know what happened to the people who work in the upper floors, he said.

A man is stretchered away from the building. Source: Reuters

Fires are common in Bangladesh. Last month, a blaze in the oldest part of Dhaka, a 400-year-old area cramped with apartments, shops and warehouses, left at least 67 people dead.

In 2012, a fire raced through a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, killing at least 112 people trapped behind its locked gates. Less than six months later, another building containing garment factories collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people.

Another fire in a house illegally storing chemicals in Old Dhaka killed at least 123 people in 2010.

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Pope Francis has set the record straight about why he pulled his hand away when throngs of people lined up this week to kiss his ring.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said on Thursday that Francis was concerned about hygiene when, after greeting dozens of well-wishers in a lengthy receiving line Monday in Loreto, he began pulling his hand away to discourage people from kissing his ring.

Video of the incident went viral, with conservative critics blasting what they said was Francis graceless disrespect for the tradition and the faithful who wanted to honour it.

The Pope recoils as dozens of worshippers line-up to kiss his hand. Source: AP

Mr Gisotti said Thursday he had just spoken to the pope about it, and Francis replied that it was nothing of the sort and it was an attempt to try and stop the spread of germs.

The Holy Father told me that the motivation was very simple: hygiene, Mr Gisotti told reporters. He wants to avoid the risk of contagion for the people, not for him.

The tradition of kissing the ring of a bishop or pope goes back centuries, as a sign of respect and obedience.

Mr Gisotti noted that Francis is more than happy to receive the ring-kiss in small groups, where the spread of germs is more contained, as he did Wednesday when a handful of people were lined up at the end of his general audience to greet him.

Maria Concetta Esu kissing the hand of Pope Francis on Wednesday. Source: Getty

Several bent down to kiss his ring, and Francis patiently allowed it.

One of them was Sister Maria Concetta Esu, an 85-year-old nun and obstetrician who has delivered around 3,000 babies during more than 60 years of missionary work in the Central African Republic.

You all know that he has a great joy in meeting and embracing people, and being embraced by them, Mr Gisotti said.

Francis is known for gleefully embracing babies given to him to kiss and  germs be damned  sipping from mate gourds offered to him by strangers when hes out and about on his popemobile.

The viral video clip has also became material for comedians.

Trevor Noah, host of American TV program The Daily Show, on Tuesday imitated Francis pulling his hand back and quipped, I am impressed at how quick he is, like every single time.

Story continues

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Home stars Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu overcame tough competition to reach the semi-finals of the badminton India Open but women's defending champion Zhang Beiwen of the United States crashed out Friday. Srikanth, a former world number one, served past compatriot B Sai Praneeth 21-23, 21-11, 21-19 in the third round of the BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament in New Delhi. Third-seeded Srikanth said he was delighted with the come-from-behind win to reach the last-eight stage for just the second time in 10 attempts. "The turning point of the match was in the second game when I was 1-7 down and I fought back. From there, things changed," Srikanth, who is currently ranked seventh in the world, said. "At 19-19 in the decider it could have gone either way. But I played well in the crucial points. So happy with my performance," Srikanth, who will face China's Huang Yuxiang in the semis, added. Sindhu joined the Indian charge, edging out Denmark's eighth seed Mia Blichfeldt 21-19, 22-20 to set up a weekend clash with China's He Bingjiao, who beat last year's winner Zhang 21-18, 26-24 in the women's singles draw. But Danish ace Viktor Axelsen had it easy against India's HS Prannoy after a 21-10, 21-16 win to book a final-four clash with veteran Parupalli Kashyap. Kashyap, who recently wed Indian women's badminton ace Saina Nehwal, got past Taiwan's Wang Tzu Wei 21-16, 21-11 in the $350,000 event. India's badminton player Srikanth Kidambi said he was delighted with the come-from-behind win to reach the last-eight stage for just the second time in 10 attempts
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko insisted he could beat comedian and poll-leader Volodymyr Zelensky despite what he said were Russian attempts at interference, as his re-election campaign wrapped up on Friday. Poroshenko has sought to position himself as the only candidate who can stand up to Moscow as he seeks to beat back support for Zelensky, whose political experience consists of playing the president in a TV series. "I am absolutely confident that despite all of Russia's attempts... the Kremlin will not block the European or Euro-Atlantic integration of my country," Poroshenko told AFP and other Western media after his final campaign rally late Thursday in the western city of Lviv. Friday is the last day of campaigning before a first-round vote on Sunday, in which opinion polls show Poroshenko and ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko scrambling for second place to face Zelensky in a run-off. Poroshenko, however, said he "definitely" felt sure of victory. "We understand how important this election is for democracy in Ukraine, for the future of Ukraine and for the stability of Europe," he said. The 53-year-old leader came to power in 2014 -- after a popular uprising ousted his pro-Russian predecessor -- on promises to tackle graft, improve living standards and align Ukraine with the West. But after five years, corruption is still widespread and Ukraine remains among the poorest nations in Europe. Frustrations with the political class has led to the surprise rise of Zelensky, who has a roughly 10-point lead over his nearest rivals in final polls published this week. Nonetheless Poroshenko told thousands of supporters in Lviv that "the worst, friends, is definitely over". "We have just started to make up the losses after the crisis caused by Russian aggression and war," he said. Ties between Kiev and its former Soviet-era master Moscow have been in tatters since the 2014 revolution forced out the Kremlin-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych and Russia retaliated by annexing Crimea. Moscow also supported a pro-Russia separatist uprising in the east of Ukraine -- a simmering conflict which has so far claimed around 13,000 lives. - 'Lost years' - Zelensky has shunned traditional rallies even in the final stretch of the campaign, but has continued to perform stand-up and sketch comedy shows to packed houses. The 41-year-old star of the political comedy "Servant of the People" has drawn criticism for the vagueness of his manifesto, the main points of which were chosen following a public vote on social media. But supporters say only a brand-new face can clean up Ukraine's murky politics. If elected, Zelensky has said he will move forward with the implementation of the Minsk peace process that is supposed to put an end to the war with the pro-Russian separatists. Tymoshenko, who came to international prominence as a face of the 2004 Orange Revolution and has stood for the presidency twice before, said the current peace talks were a waste of time. "Five years have been lost," the 58-year-old told a crowd of cheering supporters in central Kiev on Friday. "We need a new strategy," she said, adding that she wanted Washington to get involved in the talks. Since the 2004 uprising, Tymoshenko has spent three years as prime minister and three years in prison, on charges the West says were politically motivated, and she remains a divisive figure. Kiev and the European Union have held joint cyber security drills ahead of the vote to protect Ukraine from what officials say is a hacking threat from Russia. Ukrainian security services say they have registered a growing number of attacks and phishing attempts to gain access to computers of the country's ministries and other state structures in recent months. Russia denies any attempt to interfere in the vote. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, seen here in an artwork by Daria Marchenko, has sought to position himself as the only candidate who can stand up to Moscow Ukrainian comic actor, showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky performs with his "95th block" comedy group, instead traditional campaigning Former Ukrainian prime minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko waves in front of army officers during her campaign rally in Kiev on Friday
US and Chinese negotiators wrapped up "constructive" trade talks in Beijing on Friday ahead of another round next week, a top American official said as the economic superpowers aim to settle a bruising tariffs battle. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held negotiations with China's Vice Premier Liu He at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse after a working dinner Thursday. Mnuchin wrote on Twitter that he and Lighthizer "concluded constructive trade talks in Beijing" but he did not provide more details. "I look forward to welcoming China's Vice Premier Liu He to continue these important discussions in Washington next week," he said. The two negotiating teams, including China's central bank chief Yi Gang, posed for pictures in front of Chinese and American flags, but they did not make statements to the media. Officials are seeking to iron out major differences over US accusations that China has been using unfair trade practices for years by heavily subsidising its companies while snatching the technological know-how of American firms. US President Donald Trump has said the two sides were close to a deal, but officials have played down expectations of an imminent agreement. In Washington, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Thursday the talks were not "time-dependent" and could last weeks or even months if necessary. The talks are "policy and enforcement dependent", Kudlow said. The Chinese commerce ministry said a "large amount of work" remains to be done and both sides confirmed before this round of talks that another face-to-face negotiation was scheduled for Washington next week. - Tariffs as 'leverage' - The two sides have imposed tariffs on $360 billion in two-way trade since last year but Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in December. Trump suggested last week that some of those tariffs should stay in place after a deal is reached to ensure China keeps its end of any bargain. "We have to see what the track record is and we're not going to give up our leverage," said Kudlow. "It doesn't necessarily mean that all the tariffs will be kept in place, some of the tariffs will be kept there," he told Bloomberg TV. US insistence on keeping the first tranche of 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports could be a sticking point for a deal, analysts say. It is hard to predict if China will accept a deal leaving some tariffs in place, said economist Cui Fan of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. The truce agreed by Xi and Trump called for "reaching a deal as soon as possible in the direction of mutually cancelling the punitive tariffs slapped on by both sides", Cui said. Beijing has taken steps to address some US complaints, rushing through a law this month that promises to protect foreign firms from the forced transfer of technology. It also includes language on protecting foreign companies' commercial secrets, and fleshes out criminal penalties for officials who leak confidential information they obtain from overseas businesses. Chinese state-owned companies have also stepped up purchases of American agricultural goods such as soybeans. Massive purchases of American goods are expected to be part of any deal, in order to lower the politically sensitive US trade deficit with China, which reached a record high of $419.2 billion last year. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, China's Vice Premier Liu He and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held two days of talks in Beijing and will continue negotiations in Washington next week Chart showing the 2018 US trade balance with selected countries, showing that the largest deficit was with China.
Declaring that peace efforts in Mali had faltered, the United States on Friday called on the UN Security Council to consider a possible major drawdown of the peacekeeping mission in the West African country. The council is scheduled to decide in June whether to renew the mandate of the 14,000-strong force known as MINUSMA that was established in 2013 after the jihadist takeover of northern Mali was beaten back. "Despite some progress in the last several months and after only modest progress in prior years, it's time to evaluate whether a peacekeeping mission in such an environment is the appropriate or effective solution to the problem set in northern Mali," said David Hale, the US under secretary of state for political affairs. The United States asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to provide options for a "significant adaptation" of MINUSMA before negotiations begin on extending the mission in June. The US move set up a showdown with France which has strongly backed MINUSMA after it sent its own forces to Mali to drive out the jihadists from the north. A peace deal was signed between Bamako and some armed groups in 2015, but large areas of Mali remain out of government control, despite the push to isolate the Islamists. - A dam against terrorism - Mali's Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga warned that any partial withdrawal of MINUSMA could put at risk fragile gains made to contain the conflict in Mali. "Our country is acting as a dam against the terrorist danger and we must not underestimate the dimension or the capacity of this movement to move beyond our borders, or even beyond the continent," he said. Guterres urged world powers to continue their "full support to MINUSMA", arguing that security in Mali was key to the entire Sahel region, "which in turns affects global stability." The United States, the number one financial contributor to UN peacekeeping, has called for major cuts to blue helmet operations and pushed for missions to shut down if they are unable to advance peace. Washington has also bilaterally contributed $111 million to the five-nation G5 regional force set up to battle jihadists and which France also strongly supports. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the council that MINUSMA was "the only international presence in that region" that can support the Malian government in its efforts. The mission has lost dozens of peacekeepers in deadly attacks. Hale argued that the blue helmets were operating in "an environment far outside the bounds of traditional peacekeeping", facing extremists who are "mobile, smart, well organized, and not about to give up." The UN Security Council faces a June deadline to decide on the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in Mali
Young Germans are making themselves heard with demonstrations over climate change on Friday, marking a passionate engagement with politics not seen since reunification in the fast-ageing nation. Inspired by Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, 16, who began going on strike from school on Fridays, thousands of under 21s across Germany have been joining weekly marches rather than sitting in class. Their sudden engagement has left politicians at a loss as to how to react, observers said, noting that it could yet spark a change in policymaking that has long been dominated by pensioner concerns. More than 20,000 people joined Thunberg in Berlin on Friday, many bearing home-made posters with slogans like "Our house is on fire" or "You're never too small to make a difference". "We want a future, is that too much to ask?" Thunberg said, speaking at the Brandenburg Gate. Franziska Wessel, one of the organisers of the protests in Berlin, voted: "We're going to continue skipping classes every Friday because we can't keep going like that with the climate. We have to pull the emergency brakes." For law student Franziska Heinisch, 19, the Fridays demonstrations are "not a cute, puberty rebellion". "It is a serious fight for our future," she wrote in a column in Zeit weekly. Klaus Hurrelmann of the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin noted that such teen activism has not been seen in Europe's biggest economy since reunification in 1990. "It's very unusual," he told AFP. - 'Helpless and confused' - Youth involvement reached a trough during the 2008 financial crisis, but then slowly began to recover as online social networks provided a platform that allows for quick mobilisation. Their engagement also comes during a sustained period of economic prosperity and low unemployment in Germany. Analysts believe that Thunberg with her remarkable drive helped spark the change. "Her stubbornness, her strikes, her preparedness on the climate topic is being copied. In short, Greta is a model," Hurrelmann said. The determination shown by the younger generation has left politicians "at once helpless and confused," said the professor. This is particularly the case for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has urged students not to skip school. "The demonstrations would not be less effective outside class hours," he said. But the chancellor herself has welcomed their fight -- something that Blasel finds "ridiculous" as "the protests are directed against Angela Merkel and her government which has done nothing to stop the climate crisis." - Generation battle - Beyond the climate issue, the return of youths to the streets is forcing political powers to reckon with them. With seniors making up the biggest group of voters, critics have long accused political parties of pushing above all policies that favour pensioners. One in five adults is now over 65, but the trend could be exacerbated as more baby boomers leave the labour market in droves. "The youth lack a clear policy on what our society will look like in 20 or 30 years", and are now taking matters into their own hands, said Horst Opaschowski, who leads a research institute on future trends in Hamburg. Observers believe that the youth revolt is the result of a yawning generation gap. "A vote of defiance as clear as has been expressed in the last weeks (with the Friday demonstrations) is unique and should shake up the parties," noted Spiegel news magazine. At the same time, if the youths and their concerns are taken seriously, that could be an opportunity, said Hurrelmann. Lowering the voting age to 16 as suggested by the Social Democrats, junior partners in Merkel's coalition, or imposing a quota for candidates under 30 at the next elections, could encourage young people to join political parties which are seeking rejuvenation, he said. Young German protesters plan another "Fridays for Future" demonstration this week for a better policy on tackling climate change Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, sparked the youth movement demanding new policies to combat global warming
The state budget agreement being finalized by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislators includes a provision that aims to prevent the release of arrest information and mugshots.

The Public Protection and General Government budget bill would amend the state's Freedom of Information Act to classify the disclosure of booking information and photos as an "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." Police agencies could release the records if it "will serve a specific law enforcement purpose," according to the text of the legislation.

Booking information includes the person's name and what charges they are facing.

Cuomo proposed the so-called "mugshot ban" in January. His office argued that the measure was necessary to combat websites that publish mugshots, then attempt to extort individuals if they wish to have the images removed.

But critics of the proposal say it wouldn't achieve that goal. The New York Civil Liberties Union released a memo this week in opposition to the mugshot measure.

While the New York Civil Liberties Union acknowledges that extortionist websites are a problem, the group also believes that the language is "ambiguous and overbroad."

"(Cuomo's) proposal appears to be a well-intended effort to secure the privacy of those who have been arrested," NYCLU wrote. "However, the worst practices related to publication of booking information and arrest photos are already being resolved by courts, and the measure does not take a properly balanced approach to who may access or utilize mugshots and other arrest information."

Despite the group's last-minute call, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins agreed to include the proposal in the state budget deal.

One of the other reasons the New York Civil Liberties Union opposes the bill is that it would hinder journalistic oversight of the police. Members of the press, including The Citizen, regularly seek information on arrests, especially when a major crime is committed.

Law enforcement agencies also issue press releases about arrests, mainly for felony offenses.

Diane Kennedy, president of the New York News Publishers Association which lobbies on behalf of The Citizen and other newspapers, explained that the provision will encourage law enforcement agencies to keep booking information secret.

"There's a lot of public interest and a lot of reasons to alert the public when someone has been arrested just from a general public safety point of view," Kennedy said. "In this country, we don't believe in a secret court system. We don't believe in secret arrests and secret detentions. That's what this does."

She agreed with the New York Civil Liberties Union's assessment that the proposal won't address the problems posed by extortionist mugshot websites.

California has a law that prohibits websites from demanding payment to have a mug shot removed. There isn't a similar provision in the New York measure.

The California law, Kennedy explained, has been effective because it's led to prosecutions of people running mugshot websites. Other states have adopted similar laws to crack down on the practice.

But there is another explanation for why Cuomo and New York lawmakers are advancing their plan. Supporters of the bill believe it will help people who can't get a job after their arrest has been publicized.

"It's more than mugshots," Kennedy said. "It really is the idea that arrests should be secret and should not be disclosed because they can cause difficulties for the arrested person down the road."

Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck agrees. He opposes the change that would prevent the release of booking information and mugshots, in part, because he believes in several cases there would be a "legitimate public safety interest" in the records.

"The public has a right to know who violates the law," he said.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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Beginning in early 2020, New Yorkers won't need to answer the question, "Paper or plastic?"

When the state Legislature approves the 2019-20 budget, New York will become the second state to ban single-use plastic bags at grocery stores, convenience stores and other retail shops. The prohibition will commence March 1, 2020, according to the Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation budget bill released Thursday night.

The bag ban was one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's legislative priorities this year. He called for a ban on single-use plastic bags in his executive budget proposal.

New Yorkers use 23 million plastic bags annually. Plastic bag waste has been a problem. The bags can become litter along roads and in waterways.

"For far too long plastic bags have blighted our environment and clogged our waterways and that's why I proposed a ban in this year's budget," Cuomo said. "With this smart, multi-pronged action New York will be leading the way to protect our natural resources now and for future generations of New Yorkers."

Certain plastic bags will be exempt from the ban, including bags used to wrap uncooked meat and bags provided by pharmacies to carry prescription drugs. Bags provided by restaurants for carryout food or deliveries won't be subject to the ban.

For paper bags, cities and counties will have the option to impose a 5-cent fee. The budget clarifies that if a county and a city within the county decide to impose the fee, the county's fee won't apply in the city.

Customers who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children will be exempt from the paper bag fee.

Cities and counties that impose the 5-cent charge will receive 40 percent of the paper bag fee revenue. The remaining 60 percent of paper bag fee revenue collected by the state will be deposited into the Environmental Protection Fund.

Jessica Ottney Mahar, New York policy director for The Nature Conservancy, endorsed the plastic bag ban and urged local governments to enact the paper bag fee.

"Plastic bags pollute our oceans and bays, damage our stormwater infrastructure, litter our neighborhoods and become entangled in our trees," she said. "The Nature Conservancy applauds Governor Cuomo and the state Senate and Assembly for coming to a budget agreement to ban plastic bags, which will reduce this source of wasteful pollution all across our state."

Some business groups oppose the ban. The Food Industry Alliance of New York State is one of the business groups that oppose prohibiting plastic bags.

Mike Durant, president and CEO of the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, said Wednesday that the bag ban would lead to "severe consequences."

"A plastic bag ban with a fee on single-use paper bags is not a sustainable public policy solution," he added.

First-time violators of the plastic bag ban will receive a warning. For a second offense, violators will pay a $250 fine. A $500 fine must be paid for repeat offenses.

The state's decision to ban plastic bags stems from local laws some municipalities adopted to address waste. When New York City passed legislation to impose a fee on plastic bags, state lawmakers intervened to block the implementation of the law. Cuomo explained at the time that he preferred a statewide solution.

A task force established by Cuomo developed recommendations, including a ban, for reducing plastic bag waste. The governor introduced a bill last year that would ban single-use plastic bags, but it wasn't considered by the state Legislature before the end of the 2018 session.

With the passage of the budget, New York will join California as the only states to ban plastic bags. Hawaii has a de facto statewide ban, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, because the most populous counties have a prohibition on plastic bags.

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On primary election days in New York, voters in several upstate counties will no longer have to wait until noon to cast their ballots.

The state budget agreement between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature will set a uniform schedule for each of New York's 62 counties. For primary elections, polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

For years, polling sites in New York City and the counties of Dutchess, Erie, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester opened at 6 a.m. on primary election days. For the rest of the state, polls didn't open until noon.

"It is absurd that voters in much of upstate New York are not allowed to vote until noon, whereas polls open everywhere else in the state at 6 a.m.  that ends now," Cuomo said in January.

The primary election schedule change was one of the proposals Cuomo released after the state Legislature approved an election reform package.

Electronic poll books

The budget will authorize the use of electronic poll books, which provides the voter registration rolls in a digital format. County boards of elections have requested electronic poll books to help with the implementation of early voting, which was approved by Cuomo and state lawmakers earlier this year.

As of Friday morning, it's unknown if there will be funding to assist counties with the purchase of electronic poll books. Cuomo's budget proposal didn't include funding to institute early voting. The state Assembly allocated $34 million in its one-budget resolution for the purchase of electronic poll books and to adopt other election reforms.

The state Senate's budget proposal had $10 million for early voting and other reforms.

Online voter registration

The budget will require the state Board of Elections to offer an online voter registration form. This was another change Cuomo called for after the election reform package cleared the state Legislature in January.

There is an option for New Yorkers to register through the state Department of Motor Vehicles' website. But there isn't an option for online registration on the state Board of Elections' website.

Time off to vote

Under state law, employees can get up to two hours off to vote on Election Day. The state budget would increase that to a three-hour window.

Workers wouldn't lose pay for taking the time off from their jobs to vote. The state budget provision states that employees should be allowed time off for voting at the beginning or end of their shifts. The employer may determine when the employee can leave to vote, or it can be a mutual agreement between the employer and the worker.

There is a notification requirement. Employees must give at least two working days notice before Election Day that they require time off to vote. For employers, they must post at least 10 days before an election that workers may take time off to vote on Election Day.

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AUBURN  2018 was a year of reorganization and transformation for Cayuga County, and 2019 promises to continue that trend, County Administrator J. Justin Woods and Legislature Chairman Tucker Whitman said Thursday at the annual State of the County and City luncheon.

With his first full year as administrator under his belt, Woods told the audience at Auburn's Holiday Inn about what initiatives the county had completed since his last address  like the creation of a new Department of Public Works or the completion of a countywide Shared Services Plan  and future or ongoing work such as a proposed county sewer system.

Whitman, R-Sterling, following remarks from Auburn Mayor Michael Quill and City Manager Jeff Dygert, said it was an exciting time to be a part of county government as it undergoes some big shifts.

In addition to working alongside Woods as he came into the administrator's office, Whitman praised the work of the Legislature and county staff to create a combined DPW and overhaul the Emergency Management Office, among other efforts.

"We're never quite sure everything we try will work, but I definitely feel like if we don't try we'll never know," Whitman said. "Sometimes a new perspective on things is a blessing. "

Woods highlighted recent addition to leadership positions in the county's various departments, including Jessica Strassle  the energetic new Veteran's Service Agency that was "bounding across the county" connecting with veterans  or the new county attorney's that have turned the office into what Woods described as a modern municipal law office.

Additionally, Woods pointed to the expertise of David Gardner and Carl Martel, the first director and deputy director of the new DPW, as the fuel behind a push to unveil a long-awaited capital improvement plan for the county.

Many of the topics Woods addressed last year, especially those regarding water quality, had since come to fruition or were wrapping up, he said.

The first update of watershed rules and regulations for Owasco Lake in decades it set to begin its public rollout soon, a years-long project at Owasco Flats is completing its first phase, and the county Water and Sewer Authority recently unveiled the outline of a county sewer district.

That last element was particularly important, Woods said. The plan provides a valuable long-term strategy for rebuilding and enhancing the county's water infrastructure over many years, but Woods said the recommendation to seek a second source of drinking water in light of harmful algal blooms should be urgent in order to avoid a public health crisis.

Echoing Dygert, Woods spoke highly of cooperating with the city and other municipalities, especially as part of the Shared Services Plan completed last year, which makes participating municipalities eligible for reimbursement from the state for savings made through new cooperative efforts.

On the other hand, however, Woods pointed out how much of the county's operations are dedicated to programs required by the state. Almost 80 percent of county property taxes, a $40.6 million levy for the 2019 budget, is used to pay for unfunded mandates.

In the year ahead, Woods said he hopes to continue the kind of bipartisan cooperation, both inside the Legislature and with the city, that Whitman has made his focus as chairman.

Also as a part of the presentation, Cayuga County Director of Planning and Economic Development Steve Lynch and Budget Director Lynn Marinelli were presented with distinguished service awards for their exemplary work with the county.

Staff writer Ryan Franklin can be reached at (315) 282-2252 or ryan.franklin@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @RyanNYFranklin

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Dear readers,

As many of you have seen, I recently decided to leave my position as regional publisher for Lee Enterprises in New York for a new opportunity in another state. The decision didnt come lightly, as I have built a home in the area over the last six years. Ill credit my stay to the people in the area, as they have made all the difference.

It started with my neighbor, Al who showed up and blew the snow out of my driveway, and everyone elses on the block. I hadnt seen kindness like that in any city I had lived in for a long time. It continued throughout my life in the Finger Lakes. People are willing to help around here. They send $10 to buy a kid a coat who would freeze without it. The willingness to help shows up in the eyes of a man who would like to see his hometown be the kind of place where no kid should start the first day of school without a new backpack filled with the same supplies as everyone else. Ive seen politicians fight for what is right, even if they arent in the majority, and mayors who know everyones name. Ive seen educators who raise the children in the neighborhood, because the parents need help, and grandparents who find themselves raising kids in the midst of a technology revolution they want nothing to do with.

But there are two groups I really need to thank.

Through it all, my staff was there, by my side. The reporters, salespeople, editors, accountants, circulation folks, press and packaging crew, and department heads are the ones I will miss the most. On my part, I enjoyed every day that I got to work with these folks. Weve shared great stories, and helped each other through good times and bad. They are amazing people and I hope that the community realizes the treasure that they have in a dedicated group of people who dont just do a job, but feel responsible to you, the readers, to be there when something important happens. The journalism has been excellent and the stories we have fought for have shown what a small group of people can do to help a community look at the issues we are faced with on the local level.

Someone asked me one time: Why do you let him write stuff like that? Well, the answer my friend, is so that the community can THINK about the issues and make their own conclusions based upon their own beliefs. Any reporter that is worth their weight will understand that we dont write what everyone should think. Many of them would be appalled at the idea. Even our opinion-page pieces written independently of the news reporters are simply opinions just like yours and everyone else, but, if they get you to think, they have worked.

Lastly, I need to thank my family. My wife and kids have been the wife and kids of the publisher of the local paper. If you think that they dont get judged on who I am, you are wrong.

And, thats OK with us. My family stands behind what I have been and done in this community. And many of our most important and sometimes controversial articles and editorials have been discussed with my wife before I wanted to sign off on it.

My family doesnt stop there, though. I have many adopted members in our town and they have stood by my side. I owe you a great deal of gratitude. All of you taught me much about my adopted hometown and I thank you for that.

Take care of each other, folks; its the best thing we can do.

I'll be around, if you need me, but I start my new job next week as a regional publisher for another newspaper company in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Rob Forcey was publisher of The Citizen from 2013 until earlier this month, when he accepted a position as publisher of The Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and its sister paper, The Cumberland Times-News, in Cumberland, Maryland.

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Written by Paul Wilson 6:00 am Audiophile Music  2 Comments

Ric Harris- Open For Business  Self Released

To say that Ric Harris has moved around is almost an understatement. He moved from North Carolina, to Chicago, to Los Angeles  where he attended the Guitar Institute of Technology  and finally back to Chicago where he became entrenched in the jazz and blues scene. Such is Harris debut work, a combination of jazz and blues with the guitar as the principal instrument.During my initial listen of the work, I thought I heard, at least stylistically, a hint of Southern Rock. I dismissed that notion as pure imagination and upon reading the press release, discovered I was actually correct.

With Open For Business, Harris works to combine improvisation with actual melodic arrangements. What remains is a blues / jazz / guitar centric work with a smattering of Southern Rock. I cannot end without mentioning Harris voice  rough and gravely, and I found his voice interesting and certainly listenable. Definitely something different. Whether or not anyone likes his voice is one thing, what is undeniable is his skill on the guitar. And for that, he is magnificent, as is Open For Business.

Overall: 8; Sonics: 8

June Bisantz & Alex Nakhimovsky  Loves Tango  EH2U

In my mind, musically, the Tango is somehow a type of Latin based, or Samba based musical style. And okay, maybe some measure of jazz thrown in as well. Titles can be deceiving, however. In the latest release from June Bisantz and Alex Nakhimovsky, they deliver a work that combines soft, melodic, jazz themes with, at times anyway, a Rachmaninoff inspired string section and overall, a magnificent work. Make no mistake, this is a sweet, soft, Sunday morning, lazy breakfast type of music. Or a romantic evening at home. Yet somehow, this duo, who has been writing and performing together since 2005, manages to combine Latin rhythms, jazz, classical, and soft, easy listening music into a group of seven songs that are sure to please. Bisantz has a terrific voice and one that seems perfectly suited for this style of music. Nakhimovsky is a force on the piano and his skills are no less apparent than the vocal abilities of his partner. Put this on and get lost in romance.

Overall: 8; Sonics: 8

Raul E. Blanco & Jazz Wires  Land Of Giants  Self Released

Like so many of his predecessors from Cuba, think Arturo Sandoval and Paquito DRivera, Raul E. Blanco studied music in his native Cuba. Studied is not really accurate. He attended the prestigious Music Conservatory Alejandro Garcia Caturla when he was ten years old. During his time there he entered and won several piano music competitions. At eighteen, he moved to the US and settled in Houston, TX, where he taught 3rd Grade music. While teaching music, he was also studying music at Texas Southern University and developed an affinity for jazz. And like his predecessors who came before, developed a piano centric Cuban / Jazz style. In all honesty, Giants, while certainly Cuban Jazz, also has hints of reggae, pop and rock based themes. Track 1, the title track, was my favorite due primarily to its strong Smooth Jazz arrangement. The remaining ten tracks may best be summed up as traditional type of jazz with a Cuban influence. Blanco and trombonist Gabriella Aragon also share vocal duties on several tracks. This is primarily a jazz work with a variety of styles  from Cuban, to smooth jazz, to traditional jazz, to world music. Oh, and for all you math fans out there, Track 6, Tangent (with the e replaced with a numerical representation) was written by trumpetist Noah Austin. He majored in both music and mathematical physics.

Overall: 8; Sonics: 8

Linette Tobins Pangaea  The New Shape Of The World  Tobin Recordings

I have to believe Linette Tobin must be an interesting person. By day, she is a lawyer specializing in immigration law. By night, she discards the briefcase and picks up, ready for this  the congas. Tobin has studied Conga in Cuba and in different parts of Africa in an attempt to heighten her skills and develop new and different rhythms. I would say her style is primarily jazz although, and this should not be a big surprise, there is an unmistakable Latin and African flavor to her music. Call it jazz. Call it World Music. Call it Latin based music. Call it what you would like as all of those descriptors are accurate. Basically, I call it very good.

Overall: 8; Sonics: 8

Gary Dean Smith Project  Awakening  MFRecords

If, like myself, you are a fan of that Southern California, Smooth Jazz style of music you will like the newest release from Gary Dean Smith. I mean, shoot, Jimmy Haslip, a founding member of the Yellowjackets was the producer. Jeff Lorber, a HUGE smooth jazz icon, and one of my absolute favorites, played piano on the track Lucky. Smith was born in LA and moved to the South as a child. Raised on good ole Southern Rock, and whereupon moving back to LA, honed his musical style resplendent in the smooth jazz sound that literally was born in Southern California. I fell in love with this work but I do have one regret. I sure wish it had more than five tracks. I could have listened to more of this music with no problem at all.

Overall: 9; Sonics: 8

Katherine Rondeau  Unfortunate Point Of View  Self Released

I reviewed Rondeaus first work released under her own name, New Hope Chateau and found it to be a magnificent debut work. My opinion of Unfortunate, her second release, is no less effusive. Were I to say that folk based music can also have a catchy tune, would that make any sense at all? Yet that is exactly what I found in Rondeaus second release. Her voice is no less spectacular than before. Hailing from Philadelphia, not especially the bastion for folk based music, Rondeau delivers eleven tracks that while technically folk styled, have interesting enough arrangements that one not especially given to folk music would certainly find pleasing and very listenable. Rondeau, through her first two, self released works, has established herself as a national force in folk music. However, after listening to Unfortunate, Id say she is really much more. Shes just good.

Overall: 9.5; Sonics: 8

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The following statement has been received from Sixto Pacheco, President/CEO of Talent Testing Service (TTS), regarding some recent controversy over its Medical History Questionnaire:

In early February, Talent Testing Service (TTS) listened to the concerns of the industry and added the 4th generation HIV Ag/Ab assay to the Gold Standard Panel as a standard test. The inclusion of this test into the GS Panel prompted a host of internal changes at TTS. These changes included, but were not limited to, re-addressing testing algorithms, new clearance/non-clearance limitations and a revamping of the Medical Health Questionnaire (MHQ).

As a facility that caters to the specific needs of the adult industry, our MHQ helps us determine what specific health problems our program participants may be exposed and are at increased risk to, said Sixto Pacheco, President & CEO of TTS. For close to 15 years, TTS has always complied with, federal, state and local laws and regulations, including but not limited to HIPAA regulations. We have never sold, rented, leased or given away any information regarding any of our patients, talents and/or donor/participants (D/Ps)and never will.

Pacheco added that, We will again revise the MHQ, and starting on Monday, April 1st, talents can re-do their MHQ and select 'Decline to Answer' for those questions they feel uncomfortable answering or deem inappropriate.

Talent Testing Service, Inc. (TTS) offers talents safe, courteous, affordable and convenient testing through wholly owned subsidiaries or collaborating sites. Since 2005, TTS has provided the most advanced infectious molecular testing for the adult industry. TTS is a privately held company with headquarters in Miami, Florida and subsidiary offices in Los Angeles, CA, Oakland, CA and Las Vegas, NV. It can be reached at [email protected].
The United Kingdoms long-anticipated age verification law, blocking all porn sites to any user who has not uploaded official documents proving that he or she is over 18, had been set to take effect on April 1after nearly two years of delays, after Parliament passed the anti-porn law in 2017.

But on Wednesday, the British government said that the law would no longer go into effect on the announced start date, according to a report by The Mirror newspaper. In fact, the government would not even say when the law will finally begin blocking unverified users. So for the time being, porn remains freely available online in the U.K.

The government earlier claimed that the new age verification system would take effect before the end of of 2018. When that failed to happen, the government reportedly set the April, 2019, rollout date. Now the U.K.s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport says it will make an announcement about the actual date for the law to take effect shortly.

We are taking the time to get the implementation of this policy right and to ensure it is effective, and we will announce a commencement date shortly, a DCMS spokesperson told Britains Metro news site.

But there remain serious concerns about the age verification policy, one of which being that the blocks on porn sites will be laughably easy to get around, using VPN network connections, according to Alistair Kelman, CEO of SafeCast, a service that already purports to protect children and vulnerable people from pornography, horror and inappropriate video content.

Another problem, according to digital rights activist Jim Killock, as AVN.com has reported, is that the law will have the unintended consequence of driving teenagers into risky online behavior, as they find new ways to seek and view online porn with conventional sites blocked. Those risky actions could include downloading porn from illegal file-sharing sites, or the use of free proxy sites that are often havens for viruses and malware that can automatically download onto an unsuspecting users mobile device or computer.

A recent poll by the research firm YouGov showed that three out of four U.K. residents76 percentremain unaware that the new law exists, and will be surprised when they find their favorite porn sites blocked by internet service providers under the new law.

Photo by ChiralJon/Wikimedia Commons
CYBERSPACEEveryone, even straight people, knows what Grindr is, right? You sign up, as 27 million other guys already have, put in some personal information and a photo or video, and get ready to be sent pics of other guys in your area who are looking to hook upand by swiping the screen left or right, you either make contact and perhaps chat with them, or ignore them.

But in the modern age, where companies make fairly big bucks selling people's personal information, the stuff Grindr collects on its 27 million customers could be worth a pretty pennyand according to the U.S. government, possibly damaging to the country's security.

Grindr's been around for almost exactly 10 yearsit first went online on March 25, 2009and describes itself as "the world's largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people." By all measures, it's been pretty successfulwhich may be why, in 2016, a Chinese gaming company called Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd. bought a majority stake in the app for $93 millionnot exactly small changeand paid even more to fully acquire it in 2018.

But Kunlun may have made a mistake last August by announcing that it planned to take Grindr public through an IPOand that may have brought it to the attention of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is chaired by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Recentlythe exact date hasn't been revealedCFIUS informed Kunlun that it would have to sell the app because Kunlun's ownership "constitutes a national security risk," according to two sources contacted by Reuters News Service.

"Data is the new frontier in espionage and exploitation of weaknesses, whether they be those of individuals or institutions," said Brett Bruen, the former director of global engagement in the Obama administration. "Any tech company, whether it's an LGBTQ dating app or a shopping site, is a target-rich environment."

Just what the alleged "security risk" is hasn't been revealed, but considering how much data Grindr collects on its userscurrent location, sexually explicit photos, videos and chats, and even the user's HIV statusit's not inconceivable that some unscrupulous individual or company with access to that material could use it to blackmail the user into paying or doing something the U.S. government might not like. In fact, U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Grindr last year inquiring of Kunlun how it would be protecting its users' privacy. Kunlun's answer, if there was one, apparently was less than satisfactory.

CFIUS made the right decision in unwinding Grindrs acquisition. It should continue to draw a line in the sand for future foreign acquisition of sensitive personal data, Reuters reported Markey and Blumenthal as stating yesterday.

So Kunlun is now in the process of selling Grindr and has hired investment bank Cowen Inc. to handle the sale process.

No Chinese (or Russian or Iranian or Korean or Venezuelan or Turkish) companies need apply.
MONTREALIvy Wolfe and Danni Rivers have a soft spot in their hearts for pussies. Live today, the duo take full advantage of their WebYoung scene, Caught at the Kissing Booth, at Ivy Wolfe and Danni Rivers have a soft spot in their hearts for pussies. Live today, the duo take full advantage of their WebYoung scene, Caught at the Kissing Booth, at Girlsway.com , to show their love and save a kitty's life.

Rivers makes her model debut as a woman on a mission, standing impatiently in the booths long line for her turn to kiss Wolfe.

This is for Pussy Patrol, which is raising money for homeless cats, says Wolfe to her customers, while clearly distracted by Rivers overt attempts to grab her attention.

Id better get my moneys worth, purrs Rivers as she leans in to kiss Wolfe. As they continue to make out, the others in line start to grumble.

Gamma Films Head of Production Bree Mills said, we get so many interesting fan requests on our community member forums, and three of them are fulfilled here in this movie: its an outdoor scene, we are welcoming Danni Revers to the Girlsway team, and, of course, Ivy Wolfe!

The full scene and trailer can be seen at Girlsway.com . Learn more about stars Ivy Wolfe and Danni Rivers at their official Girlsway model pages.
As much of the adult industry heads to The Phoenix Forum this week, Pineapple Support has announced that popular online adult destination Kink.com will become a sponsor of the non-profit at the Silver Level, helping provide mental health resources for adult performers. Kink.com joins PornHub, ModelHub, xHamster, Clips4Sale, Gamma Films and other major adult companies in committing funds and resources to the organization.

In a changing industry, its imperative that we support performers, stated Alison Boden, CEO of Kink.com. In connecting performers to zero-cost, stigma-free mental health care, Pineapple Support helps create a more equitable, responsible and ethical workplaceand makes our industry stronger. Were proud to do what we can to assist performers, the lifeblood of our industry.

In addition to donating directly to Pineapple Support, Kink.com will provide design and marketing services to the organization.

Pineapple Support was launched in 2018 by British performer Leya Tanit, and has connected over one hundred adult performers to mental health services including free and low-cost, therapy, counseling and emotional support.

Kink.com has been an industry leader in its commitment to performer rights for over two decades, said Tanit. We thank them for their commitment and generous support. Thanks to them, we can support more performers and raise awareness about one of the most pressing issues in our community.
LONDONBritish channel ITV welcomed Alicia Amira who promoted the bimbo lifestyle and her Be A Bimbo brand.

Her ITV appearance with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield was immediately praised on social media as an eloquent representation of her image and self-worth.

Im grateful for all the media attention and I think people are coming around to realize that the Bimbo lifestyle deserves respect, Alicia said. There is no reason we should be anything but proud to look hyper feminine or trying to do everything we can to achieve our dream physicality. Were bimbos and proud!

Alicias message is one of positivity for women who are ready to embrace their femininity and reclaim the word Bimbo. Her advocacy has recently included clothing and jewelry and a program to supply crop tops to likeminded adult industry professionals with significant social media followers.

Be A Bimbo has offered porn starlets or cammers crop told need is to have more than 20,000 followers on Instagram or Twitter. This is part of an inclusive campaign is designed to reclaim the word bimbo and erase the negative connotations that are sometimes associated our beloved adult industry but also with improvements made via plastic surgery and similar cosmetic alterations.

We just want everyone to have pride when they choose to take ownership of their sexuality and embrace their femininity, in whatever form it might take, Alicia said. There's no reason to be ashamed of being hyper feminine. It's about inclusion and not being put down for our choices. We are taking back the terminology and demanding respect.

On Twitter, fans can follow/contact Alicia @aliciaamiraxxx and Be A Bimbo at @beabimbo. Her Instagram is @alicia_amira and the companys is @beabimbo.
BEND, Ore.Sex tech company Lora DiCarlo has been awarded a $99,637 Business Oregon Enhanced Phase 0 Grant for the commercialization of Ose, a product designed for hands-free blended orgasms.

The announcement was made by the company at SXSW 2019.

The program we used fills a critical capital gap for Oregon startups, working with companies to develop and launch new technologies without diluting equity. Lora DiCarlo exhibited some really innovative engineering, solid research, and market potential, said Nathan Buehler, communications and marketing manager at Business Oregon. The companys strong program application and its R&D history with Oregon State University signal Lora DiCarlo has a great runway in front of them. Were happy to work with this Oregon startup, which is already driving towards commercialization and creating jobs in Oregon.

Using advanced micro-robotics Ose mimics the sensations of a human mouth, tongue, and fingers, for an experience that feels remarkably like a real partner. This is the first time that any state government has recognized sex tech in such a way, illustrating that the State of Oregon sees the mainstream acceptance of devices for womens sexual health and the potential for quality job creation in the commercialization of R&D in sexual health technology.

The State of Oregons recognition is significant because it acknowledges the mainstream acceptance of sexual pleasure devices and the economic potential of female entrepreneurs, like myself, said Lora Haddock, Founder and CEO at Lora DiCarlo. Pair that with the opportunity to help amplify us in our mission to bring the topic of female sexual health and wellness to the masses. The Oregon Innovation fund grant will help us as we commercialize Ose, while also generating more jobs in Oregon. We are beyond excited to receive this years grant.

Lora DiCarlo recently received international attention for its innovative technology when the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas awarded the company an Innovation Award in robotics, but then withdrew the award simply because the product was sexual in nature, notwithstanding that it had been developed in conjunction with a leading university robotics lab at Oregon State University. Lora DiCarlos remarkable product development and disruptive presence at CES firmly landed the company in the spotlight on the topic of womens sexual health and wellness. The company joins the battle with many female-lead companies driving a cultural change and conversation. This state grant helps bring the topic of female sexual health out of the shadows by recognizing sex tech as a legitimate engine for economic growth.

Culturally, the continued dismantling of the stigma around sexual health and wellness allows the opening of markets for female/vagina centered sexual health companies that have previously been closed, such as marketing on social media platforms. Lora DiCarlo hopes to end the double standard whereby advertising mens sexual health products, such as erectile dysfunction drugs, have been allowed, but womens sexual health products are stigmatized. Further, this news implies the potential for a multi-billion dollar market in sex tech.

For more, visit LoraDiCarlo.com.
This week at ESPN is for the birds. After a turkey vulture flew into Stephen A. Smiths office window Tuesday (and prompted quite the response from Smith), Keith Olbermann wound up going after a turkey hunter in a tweet later that day, calling the hunter (Hunter Waltman) a pea-brained scumbag and saying we should do our best to make sure the rest of his life is a living hell. That tweet also called Brian Broom, the writer of the story that featured Waltmans hunt for a rare white turkey, a nitwit clown, and said he should be fired. On Wednesday, Olbermann tweeted again, saying his intent wasnt to threaten, and I unreservedly apologize to Mr. Waltman for this tweet:

I am an opponent of trophy hunting and remain so, but nobody should feel threatened. This was anything but my intent, so I unreservedly apologize to Mr. Waltman for this tweet.  Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) March 27, 2019

Olbermanns initial tweet was eventually removed by Twitter for violating its rules, but was preserved by Steven Ward of The Clarion-Ledger (in Jackson, Mississippi), the paper that initially ran the story Olbermann was reacting to. Here it is: It be rare and beautiful so me should kill it. This pea-brained scumbag identifies himself as Hunter Waltman and we should do our best to make sure the rest of his life is a living hell. And the nitwit clown who wrote this fawning piece should be fired. That led to the 22-year-old Waltman telling Broom in a follow-up piece Wednesday that he was receiving further verbal attacks after Olbermanns tweet, and to him calling for Olbermanns job:

Waltman said he is receiving verbal attacks due to Olbermanns actions. While no one directly threatened to harm him, some said they hope harm comes his way. I didnt like the idea of that too much, Waltman said. I dont think a lot of people would like to be called out on social media like that, especially (by someone) with so many followers. They text me all kinds of stuff. If he (Olbermann) hadnt done that, none of this would have happened. Waltman said he had never heard of the ESPN commentator and former MSNBC political host prior to Olbermanns attack on Twitter. Waltman said now he considers Olbermann a threatening individual. To tell you the truth, it seemed like a threat to me, Waltman said. Make (my) life a living hell? That seems like a threat to me. Id be glad to see him fired. He went overboard.

Meanwhile, Clarion Ledger executive editor Sam R. Hall also shot back at Olbermann and defended Broom:

Keith Olbermann says Brian Broom should be fired for writing this story, he wrote. What was I thinking? I guess I should have fired our outdoors writer for writing about a hunter killing an unusual turkey during turkey hunting season. Hall followed up on Wednesday with a written statement. Keith Olbermanns tweet was recklessly irresponsible, Hall wrote. Someone with his following needs to understand the possible impact of his words. Telling over 1 million people to make someones life a living hell could have seriously dangerous consequences. In our newsroom, that would be a fireable offense, not writing a story about a hunter bagging a turkey.

Olbermann is a long-standing animal lover who regularly tweets about dogs who need homes and other animal welfare subjects, and its understandable that seeing a story on a hunter killing a turkey would upset him. But his response felt way over the top here, especially when it came to we should do our best to make sure the rest of his life is a living hell; you know its not a great tweet when even notoriously-lax Twitter feels compelled to take it down. And its not great that that led to further threats towards Waltman. Also, while Olbermann himself disagrees with trophy hunting, its legal and it has some popularity, so calling an outdoors writer a nitwit clown who should be fired for doing his job feels unnecessary and excessive. (And Olbermann did not apologize for that.)

The difference in public profiles also feels notable here. This wasnt Olbermann attacking a famous trophy hunter who also had millions of followers, like Donald Trump Jr. or Eric Trump . It wasnt even a prominent former athlete known for trophy hunting (amongst other things) like David Booth, who has over 57,000 followers. He went after a 22-year-old hunter who wasnt really a public figure before this story, and encouraged his followers to do the same. As Hall said, Someone with his following needs to understand the possible impact of his words.

It doesnt sound like theres going to be any ESPN discipline for Olbermann here, as the company responded to his actions with a statement of We have spoken to him about not making personal attacks. And his but nobody should feel threatened in his apology does sound like he may change his approach a bit. It will be interesting to see if Olbermann comments on hunting again in the near future, and if so, if he does so in a different manner.

[The Washington Post]
Guerin Austin started her broadcasting career in Nebraska before finding her way to Washington D.C. where she hosted the Capitals Red Line program from 2010 to 2013. In 2014, she was hired by NESN as a reporter and quickly became a mainstay as part of their Red Sox broadcasts. That may not be the case much longer according to a new report from the Boston Globe.

Per Chad Finn, Austin is scheduled to work the 11-game road trip that opens the Red Soxs season as expected, followed by a few home games. However, according to his source, she is not scheduled to work any broadcasts for a couple of months after that and her role is unclear after that.

Austin is under contract through January and, according to NESN spokesman Gary Roy, the station expects her to do approximately as many games as she did last year.

Austin is perhaps best known to non-Boston audiences for her unfortunate appearances in various Red Sox celebrations.

In May 2017, she was a recipient of a Gatorade bath while interviewing pitcher Brian Johnson after his first win with the club.

Cause: Throw complete game shutout

Effect: Ice bath x2 pic.twitter.com/C8IBMZKXNd  Red Sox (@RedSox) May 27, 2017

Last year, while interviewing Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez following the Red Soxs ALDS-clinching win over the New York Yankees, Betts accidentally launched a champagne cork right into Austins neck.

Mookie hit Guerin Austin with his cork. Omg I'm dying. ??? (she's fine) pic.twitter.com/pyL2Sg1n0c  Rob Wright (@robwright11) October 10, 2018

And then she got doused as part of the World Series celebration as well.

There arent many more details beyond that but well likely know if something is up soon enough if Austin isnt involved in Red Sox broadcasts at the end of April.

[Boston Globe]
A barrage of Egyptians and non-Egyptians has appeared on Capitol Hill and at the White House to speak on behalf of Egyptians. Who gives them the right and the opportunity to do just that, and should we care?

Many a time, since 2012, Muslim Brotherhood members visited the White House and Capitol Hill. It is generally acknowledged that President Obama and Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, were totally behind the Muslim Brotherhood, often hosting Muslim Brotherhood members, but why are the MB members seen, until today, flaunting the Rabaa sign as they stand before the American flag or praying in various American offices? Are these visits solicited or unsolicited visits?

Many a group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood have wanted their views to reach American lawmakers. The United States Council of Muslim Organization (USCMO) is one of many organizations that aim to advance the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood. They organize the Muslim Advocacy Day, when Islamists from across the United States lobby for their agendas.

During this lobbying event, the Egyptian Americans for Freedom and Justice, EAFAJ, whose Facebook site denounces Egypts regime and calls for justice for Egyptians lobbies US lawmakers not to support the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

Many attendees are identified as members of the MB. One such attendee was Ayat Oraby, an avid Muslim Brotherhood supporter. She happens to be the one who condemned the military for killing Muslims on behalf of the Zionist enemy.

And recently, Egyptian actors Khaled Abol Naga and Amr Waked were amongst a panel of other renegades lobbying the US Congress lawmakers to take action against Egypt.

The Egypt Advocacy Day was promoted as a Two-Day Advocacy on Capital (sic) Hill. They aimed to advocate against the proposed constitutional amendments that severely undermine judiciary independence and invite military intervention to unseat elected presidents. The site confirms, Registration and room and board will be covered. Scholarships available on a per-need basis for travel, leaving me wondering who pays for such expenses.

In one session, Waked vowed to continue his activism for a free and democratic Egypt. "This is not going to go down, not on our watch. We have to deliver this message to them very clearly: we do not fear you; you are going down." Obviously, such discourse is why Egyptians, angered and furiated, reacted the way they did against the actor. I am also sure that Waked's opinion will never be the cause of Egypts downfall. If anything, it merely creates antagonism against him.

Abol Naga urged activists to never forget the power of the popular uprisings that rocked the Arab World in 2011, toppling several leaders across the Middle East and North Africa, and, my two cents, destroyed many countries except Egypt.

Generally speaking, these renegades dont get access to US lawmaker listeners; at most they meet their staffers, and many of the photos circulated by the MB members are sheer propaganda in the hopes of leaving the impression that they are indeed accessing congressmen.

Besides, according to Soapbox Consulting, a firm that gets lobbyists in the door of a lawmaker, it isnt an easy matter to access congressmen. The firm may get you a meeting with a staffer but rarely with a congressman. Still, it would be interesting to know who subsidizes such events or hires a consulting firm to get them access to a congressman.

It is not only renegade Egyptians who flagrantly speak to US officials about Egypt, but others are also allowed if not invited to do the same. In 2017, Michele Dunne of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace testified in front of Congress where she encouraged members of Congress to reconsider their approach and stop sending US Aid to Egypt.

Michele Dunne is an avid speaker against Egypt, its leader, its military, and its judicial system. Egypt does face a serious threat from terrorism she said, "But the unprecedented human rights abuse and political repression practiced by the government since 2013 is fanning the flames rather than putting them out."

Michelle Dunnes testimony is official and is taken quite seriously by US lawmakers. It would be enlightening for congressmen to listen to the other side of the coin, someone who appreciates what is happening in Egypt. Here is a response to one of Michele Dunne's outcries, "An open letter to Michele Dunne."

For a change, and definitely a change for the better, why arent those who represent the majority of Egyptians getting similar invitations to speak to US lawmakers? Why isnt Congress listening to the other side, those who see the gains that have taken place and Egypts stance against terrorism?

If its Egyptians that live abroad, I see thousands, maybe even millions, who would do a better job of explaining where Egypt is going and how far it has gone. Id call on Professor Farouk El Baz. Professor El Baz serves on the Board of Trustee of the Alexandria Library (Bibliotheca Alexandrina), the Arab Science and Technology Foundation, the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, the Egyptian-American Affairs Council. I see him as a fair and just speaker on Egyptian affairs.

Maybe Mohamed El-Erian, the chief economist who remains in close ties with Egypt, would be a perfect representative of Egypt. At the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC), El-Erian said that he saw huge opportunities for Egypt.

If its the words of non-Egyptians, then lets call on Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF. According to Lagarde:

Egypt's ... growth rate is now among the highest in the region, the budget deficit is on a declining trajectory, and inflation is on track to reach the Central Bank of Egypts target by the end of 2019. Unemployment has declined to around 10 percent, which is the lowest since 2011, and social protection measures have been expanded.

I would be the first to say that these Egyptians and non-Egyptians would focus on economic improvements, stability, and security, but who would deny that the chaos renegade Egyptians call for would have destroyed the hard work fulfilled?

As far as the adversaries are concerned, I wouldnt give these adventurous but futile endeavours much thought. Still, I would have better representation by worthwhile visitors whose testimony would override the negativity exuded from their efforts.
Contact: Attila Nemecz

Attila Nemecz Attila.Nemecz@beaufortccc.edu

The Beaufort County Community College Foundation is proud to announce the following scholarship recipients for the spring 2019 semester. The BCCC Foundation has awarded over $150,000 in scholarships during the 2018-2019 academic year. Registration is currently open for summer and fall classes., 18, received the Bunyan Ruritan Club Scholarship. Bennett is working toward an Associate in Science. He is the son of James and Stephanie Bennett, and he attended Southside High School. The Chocowinity resident currently works as a cashier at Dollar Tree and plans to become a social worker.Established in 1991, scholarships are awarded to students residing in BCCC service area who demonstrate financial need and strong academic promise. Scholarships are awarded annually for fall and spring semesters., 29, received the Tayloe Memorial Scholarship. The Winterville resident is a student in the Licensed Practical Nurse program. The daughter of Jesse Chadwick of Winterville, she attended South Central High School and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Fayetteville State University. Chadwick currently works at Vidant Medical Center as a certified nurse aide/care partner and plans to work as a public health nurse.Mrs. Sam Tim (Tay) Carter, with encouragement from her children Libba, Lou, Clay, and Mary, started the Tayloe Family Endowment in 2003, in memory of her grandfather, Dr. David Thomas Tayloe. The endowment also honors his numerous descendants who have made significant contributions to the medical community of Beaufort County. Scholarships generated by this endowment are awarded to BCCC students enrolled in any medically related program., 19, received the Tayloe's Hospital Pharmacy Medical Scholarship. Crets is part of the Associate Degree Nursing program. She is the daughter of Tom and Angie Crets, and she attended Northside High School. The Pinetown resident currently works as a certified nurse aide and plans to attend obtain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing to be a labor and delivery nurse.Tayloe's Hospital Pharmacy Medical Scholarships are awarded annually to students pursuing a career in the medical field. Qualifying students will have a 2.5 GPA or greater and must be a resident of Beaufort, Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell or Washington County. Student must demonstrate financial need. Preference is given to current or former employees of Tayloe's Hospital Pharmacy., 40, received the Barbera LaBarbera Memorial Scholarship. Jordan is the son of Beatrice Jordan of Chowan County. He is part of the Associate Degree in Nursing program, and she attended John Holmes High School. The Chowan resident plans to transfer to East Carolina University, and he currently works at Bertie Martin Regional Jail.Established by Civitan on the Pamlico in 2015 to memorialize charter member Barbara LaBarbera, the annual scholarship will be awarded to students accepted to the school of nursing who demonstrate academic achievement and financial need. Mrs. LaBarbera was a longtime resident of Beaufort County and passionately and continually showed her concern and care for others in need. Recipients must reside in Beaufort County, have a current GPA of 3.0 or higher, and demonstrate participation in voluntary services meeting individual or community needs., 24, received the Doris Eakes Scholarship. The daughter of Donald and Sheila King of Winterville, she is part of the Associate Degree in Nursing program. King attended Ayden-Grifton High School, plans become a travel registered nurse, and she earned a bachelor's degree in 2016. She currently works as a cashier at Lowe's Home Improvement.Doris Wallace Eakes, originally from Beaufort County, started this endowment to memorialize her father, Carmer Wallace, and her husband Joseph Eakes. Doris and her husband owned numerous nursing homes and shared a passion for good nursing care. Thus, the proceeds from this endowment support nursing scholarships., 49, received the Myrtle Cutler Jones Scholarship. Roberson is working toward an Associate in Arts. She is the daughter of Mac Roberson and Ethel Overbee of Williamston, a mother of three, and she attended Williamston High School. She currently works at Lake Phelps Grain as a grain merchandiser and plans to attend obtain bachelor's and master's degrees to be a counselor for victims of abuse.Established in 2002 by the family of Myrtle Cutler Jones, this fund provides an annual scholarship to a second year BCCC student in a medical technology program. Jones, a Beaufort County native, recognized the importance of a medical facility in a rural community. She wanted her estate to benefit students in the medical field. Recipients must have at least a 3.0 GPA., 21, received the Washington Rotary Club Scholarship. The New Bern resident is part of the nursing program and plans to get a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. The daughter of David and Lisa Hawkins of New Bern, and wife of Caleb Thomas, she attended West Craven High School.Established in 1994, Washington Noon Rotary Scholarships are awarded annually to BCCC students who have academic promise and demonstrate financial need. Preference is given to students who have a tie to the Rotary organization and exhibit service to the community., 20, received the State Employees Credit Union Scholarship. Waters is part of the business administration program. The daughter of Ronnie and Christie Waters, the Plymouth resident hopes to transfer to East Carolina University. Waters attended Roch Academy and currently works at McDonalds.Scholarships are awarded to students who best exemplify the membership philosophy of credit unions, "People Helping People," and have demonstrated leadership, excellence of character, integrity, and community involvement. Preference is given to students whose parents or guardians and family members are public sector employees who live and work in North Carolina. Students must have a GPA of 2.5 of higher and be enrolled in an associate degree, diploma or certificate program.For more information, contact Jen Seay at jennifer.seay@beaufortccc.edu or 252-940-6218.
Whiskey on ice in a cut glass: Above. photo by Stan Deatherage Click image to expand.

The stack of bills from N.C. lawmakers looking to reform and modernize the state's 80-year-old liquor laws is growing.In the Senate, lawmakers filed Senate Bill 290 on Monday, March 18. A companion bill, House Bill 378, came Tuesday morning.The measures would allow N.C. distilleries to sell malt beverages and unfortified and fortified wine, as well to sell mixed beverages. The moves would allow distilleries to sell spirits directly to consumers and would allow liquor tastings at state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission stores.Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, and Sen. Rick Gunn, R-Alamance, have long been proponents of reforming the antiquated system and are among the sponsors of the most recent bills.The latest measures would, maybe most important, allow distillers to, much like ABC stores, sell to consumers without the current five-bottle restriction, according to state and local laws. Under the new rules, distilleries could issue purchase-transportation permits for spirits. Those permits now must be approved by ABC officials.Sens. Joyce Waddell, D-Mecklenburg, and Andy Wells, R-Catawba, filed legislation last month that would take a big step toward reforming the alcohol control system in North Carolina.Those bills are based on recommendations by the N.C. Program Evaluation Division, which presented a report -- to the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee on Feb. 11. Senate Bill 87 - and its companion, House Bill 91 - would require the merger of N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission systems in a county with two or more ABC systems. House Bill 99, and Senate Bill 78, would establish Alcohol Law Enforcement as a separate division under the Department of Public Safety, as well as to clarify the jurisdiction and primary responsibilities of ALE agents.Another bill has already passed in the Senate.That measure, Senate Bill 11 , introduced by Sen. Andy Wells, R-Catawba, was introduced, in large part, because of a spate of shootings and killings outside three Catawba County bars between April 2017 and April 2018.The House standing committee for Alcohol Beverage Control meets 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, to address the aforementioned bills.
Allies of UNC System Board of Governors Chairman Harry Smith are trying to silence a critic on the board,has learned. Board member Tom Fetzer is lining up votes to introduce an official resolution of censure against Steve Long, a board member at odds with Smith.The censure vote would take place during the Board of Governors' meeting later this week at Appalachian State University in Boone.phoned and emailed Fetzer for comment. He refused to address the topic, instead askingto reveal our sources.also reached out to the UNC System, but officials declined to comment.These moves come on the heels of several unflattering media reports about the board's governance and its handling of several high-profile disputes, including the Silent Sam protests at UNC Chapel Hill which led to the resignation of Chancellor Carol Folt; the abrupt departure of former UNC System President Margaret Spellings; and this week's announcement by ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton that he would resign after what he called several months of discussions he didn't initiate.Staton's pending resignation, first reported bySunday afternoon, led to stories about the controversy by local media outlets and national publications The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Education. Meantime, reported Tuesday Reform UNC System Governance , a group of more than 200 of the state's prominent business leaders, are redoubling their public campaign against what the group calls "micromanaging" and "bullying" of campus leaders by BOG leaders.Chapel Hill developer Roger Perry said Tuesday toreported.A recent op-ed in the, by former UNC System President Erskine Bowles, a Democrat, and former Charlotte mayor and GOP gubernatorial nominee Richard Vinroot, noted there "must be balance" on the BOG.the op-ed says.Staton's departure from ECU hasn't ended the turmoil in Greenville. Tuesday, Kieran Shanahan, the outgoing chairman of the campus Board of Trustees, wrote BOG member David Powers, expressing disappointment in the BOG's decision to reject nominees ECU trustees recommended to fill vacancies on the ECU board.The BOG has the authority to choose members of the campus boards. But according to Shanahan's letter , the BOG asked ECU leaders to send a slate of nominees to the system leaders, then didn't consider a single nominee listed.Shanahan wrote.The nominees ECU board members recommended include incumbent BOT member Leigh Fanning, an executive with an beer and wine distributor, and Linda McMahon, an ECU graduate and the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration.The BOG's list, all men, includes current member Mark Copeland, who reportedly is friendly with Smith; Troy Dreyfus , managing partner and host of Pirate Radio in Greenville; Thomas Furr, founder and CEO of PatientPay; and Phil Lewis, cofounder of Carolina Benefit Specialists, a service provider for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.Smith dismissed Shanahan, who's not seeking a new term. In a story published last week by theof Greenville, Smith said,
North Carolina high schoolers may be required to pass a financial literacy course in order to graduate, but a certified financial planner says children should start learning about finances even earlier and parents can take the initiative to teach these lessons.A bipartisan proposal to require high schoolers to complete a financial literacy course to graduate is making its way through the General Assembly. Senate Bill 134 would direct the State Board of Education to require all public high schools to teach a semester course on Economics and Personal Finance.The course would include learning about the true cost of credit, choosing and managing a credit card, borrowing money for a major purchase, home mortgages, credit scoring and reports, and planning and paying for postsecondary education. S.B. 134 would grant the North Carolina Council on Economic Education, a nonprofit organization, a little over $1 million to provide professional development courses for educators to learn the material. Teachers would receive a $500 stipend for completing the course.Sens. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph; Deanna Ballard, R-Watauga; and Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake are the primary sponsors of S.B.134.Gregg Murset, the co-founder and CEO of BusyKid , a financial app geared towards teaching children to be financial responsible, said it's important for children to learn these types of lessons.Murset said.Murset said the North Carolina bill is well intentioned, but he thinks students need to be learning about financial literacy earlier than high school. A foundation for understanding personal finances should start as early as elementary school and go into middle school.Murset said.Parents don't have to wait for the General Assembly to pass a bill to teach their children about good financial practices. Murset said they can use technology like the app BusyKid to do it.BusyKid aims to teach children a balanced approach to finances. The app allows parents to set up a digital chore chart and pay their children when they complete certain chores through direct deposit. When children receive the money it can get sorted into three pots: saving, sharing, and spending.With the app, children have the opportunity to save their money, donate some to charity, or spend it on fun things like going to the movies.Murset said.
The email sent by Michelle Obamas former Chief of Staff Tina Tchen which was the precursor to text and phone call exchanges between SA Kim Foxx and an unknown #JussieSmolett family member. pic.twitter.com/aRUiK3XYWQ  Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) March 26, 2019

Tuesday morning, the Cook County State's Attorney's office announced that they'd dropped all 17 charges against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett in an odd "plea deal," allowing Smollett to escape trial on accusations that he orchestrated a false hate crime against himself and lied to Chicago police investigators, for 16 hours of community service and the $10,000 he put up as bond.Trump Says His 'Treasonous' Critics Who Did 'Evil Things' Should Be 'Looked At' After Mueller Report NewsThe State's Attorney's office insisted late Tuesday that the deal did not "exonerate" Smollett, but not until after the exchange drew criticism from commentators, Chicagoans, the city's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. The latter two excoriated the State's Attorney's decision, calling the matter a "whitewash of justice."Although Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx claims to have recused herself from the case, the issue put her and her administration squarely in the spotlight. Tuesday evening, the Fraternal Order of Police delivered a letter to the United States Attorney's office in Chicago, asking federal prosecutors to examine Foxx's office and the deal her underlings struck with Smollett's attorneys for legality.So who is Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx? A career litigator who rose to power in a bizarre city election, funded by progressive dark money groups, and deeply entrenched in the Chicago political machine. And now, she may be in trouble.Foxx won office in 2016, unseating former Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, who lost popularity over her handling of the now-infamous Laquan McDonald murder.McDonald was shot 16 times by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke. The case, which involved a video of the incident, was largely kept under wraps and handled internally by Alvarez's office. Alvarez eventually charged Van Dyke, but not until over a year after the shooting . The delay led Chicago activists to claim Alvarez and her colleagues in City Hall had conspired to cover up McDonald's murder.WBEZ reported just before the election. Foxx eventually defeated Alvarez with a whopping 58% percent of the vote. Van Dyke was eventually convicted of murdering McDonald, though he was sentenced to only a minimal stay in prison. Foxx's agenda is nothing short of a progressive dream. She campaigned onand has pursued stricter regulations on police officers, placed limitations on issuing certain charges and implementing strict bonds, and has refused to jail even some violent offenders in an effort to lessen Chicago's incarcerated population.She pledged to turn Chicago into afor the country, and touts herself on her own website as "the lead architect of the county's criminal justice reform agenda to address racial disparities in the criminal and juvenile justice systems."Foxx is nothing if not well-connected. She grew up in the city and went to law school at Southern Illinois University. After graduation, she served as an Assistant State's Attorney for more than a decade before entering politics. In the early 2010s, she served as the chief of staff for Cook County Board president and current mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle, herself heavily entrenched in Chicago politics.Preckwinkle is affiliated with some of Chicago's most notorious political characters, including Alderman Ed Burke, who after several decades in office is facing federal charges of extortion. As part of his scheme to earn money from business owners in his district, Burke encouraged those business owners seeking permits from the city of Chicago - and from his alderman's office, specifically - to donate to Preckwinkle's fledgling campaign for mayor.Foxx counts Preckwinkle as an ally, giving her access to the same political machine.Foxx's campaign for State's Attorney fell under scrutiny, even from left-leaning publications within the city, while it was in progress. In addition to the typical Chicago political donors, many of whom are local and regularly contribute to Democratic campaigns, Foxx took cash from two "dark money" super PACs, one of which has ties to leftist mega-donor George Soros.Illinois Sunshine, which watches political donations to key races, shows more than $300,000 donations from Soros to Kim Foxx's "Illinois Safety & Justice PAC" which Foxx used to finance her defeat of Alvarez in 2016. Soros also contributed $75,000 to Foxx's PAC after the campaign had concluded, seeding her with money for her re-election.The only other donor to her super PAC was the Civic Participation Action Fund, a local criminal justice reform organization.Soros' donations to Foxx came at a time when the global billionaire was focusing on "low-level" races, like district attorney races, in the hopes of getting more progressive candidates elected to influential positions where they could enact progressive criminal justice reform.Foxx is now notorious for lax prosecution and for aapproach to both non-violent and violent offenders, but a recent prosecutorial decision to show leniency to a probation violator had dire consequences.Last weekend, one off-duty Chicago police officer was killed and another was wounded when they were shot while sitting in a car in the city's tony River North neighborhood, just north of downtown.The alleged shooter, Menelik Jackson, was supposed to be on probation for a domestic violence incident, according to CWB Chicago , but two weeks ago, he was released from supervision after he violated the terms of his probation, allowing his home ankle monitor to run low on battery. The details are complicated, but thanks to the Cook County State's Attorney's office policy of cutting deals with offenders, Jackson was given the green light to exit the criminal justice system.Days later, Jackson and a companion got into an altercation at a McDonalds, and, seeking retribution for a perceived personal slight leveled during the fight, opened fire on the first people they came across who resembled the group of partiers who they'd just tangled with. Those people turned out to be two off-duty Chicago cops and their female companions. The officer who died in the attack was using his body to shield his girlfriend from gunfire.Foxx's office was sharply criticized over the weekend for essentially allowing Jackson go free on his probation charge. Tuesday morning, the same office made the decision to drop charges against Smollett, citing their commitment to seeking out onlyoffenders - a goal that they claim prosecuting Smollett took time away from.Kim Foxx might also be in trouble for her handling of the Smollett case specifically. Last week, Chicago's primary police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, delivered a letter to the United States Attorney's office in Chicago, alleging that Foxx had tried to compromise their investigation of Jussie Smollett at the behest of a Smollett relative and a woman by the name of Tina Tchen who once served as the Chief of Staff for former First Lady Michelle Obama.In a series of text messages and emails, Tchen contacted Foxx on behalf of Smollett's family, whom she said had "concerns" about the police investigation. Foxx appears to have told Tchen and subsequently the Smollett relative that she would speak to Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and convince him to turn over investigation of the allegedto the FBI.Those texts and emails became public last week, thanks to a FOIA request from Chicago's local NBC affiliate.They clearly show that Foxx was communicating with Johnson, and that she believed she was, in fact, convincing him to turn over the Smollett case to the FBI. The FOP believes that these communications demonstrate that Foxx was trying to - unethically and, potentially, illegally - exert her influence over the CPD, and they immediately requested an investigation.There are signs that Tuesday's decision to drop charges may have come as a result of the FOP's complaint. Smollett was due back in court on April 14, and could have been informed of a deal then, but Foxx's office called anTuesday morning - just as CPD's top brass were going into a CPD graduation ceremony (where they would be out of pocket for at least two hours). Foxx's office did not inform either CPD or the mayor's office ahead of time of their decision to come to a deal with Smollett's attorneys.The deal seems to demonstrate a desire for open war between Foxx's office and CPD.The Cook County State's Attorney's office insists that Foxx was not involved in the decision not to go forward with prosecution against Smollett and reiterated Tuesday that Foxx had recused herself from the case before her own office made a decision to charge Smollett because of her communication with Smollett's relatives.
A woman in the Bronx has called bullshit on a farce that's been allowed to go on too long: The bagged potato products TGI Fridays has been peddling as "skins," despite their patently being skinless chips.

In June 2018, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, Solange Troncoso purchased a bag of TGI Fridays-brand Sour Cream & Onion "Potato Skins" at a local bodega for $1.99, believing them to be a healthier option than your average bodega fare. Instead, she opened the package and discovered chips composed exclusively of compressed "potato flakes" and "potato starch" and not even any skin. Troncoso felt bamboozled and blames false advertising. According to the lawsuit, she wouldn't have purchased these imposters had she known the truth.

Now, in TGI Fridays speak, "potato skin" means one of two things. If you order this item in a franchise, you will get a scooped-out baked potato filled with two cheeses (mozzarella and cheddar) and sprinkled with bacon bits, basically little carb cauldrons bubbling with dairy and swine and served with a side of sour cream. Fridays estimates that an app-sized portion (five skins?) contains over 1,500 calories, which some might argue negates the benefits of protein and fiber and vitamins baked into every tot.

But if you buy this item in a bag at a bodega, you'll get a handful of glorified Pringles, which I don't think anyone would argue are healthful, and which come in three flavors: bacon ranch, cheddar and bacon, and sour cream and onion.

Troncoso, however, seems to have anticipated a bag full of literal skins. The complaint frames that as a reasonable expectation to have, thanks to Big Potato'sin particular, the Idaho Potato Commissionconcerted efforts to position potatoes' skins as convenient vitamin wrappers on America's favorite starchy side. The lawsuit cites various articles extolling the health benefits of potato skins, as in the skin of potatoes, and not the Loaded Potato Skins or Loaded Potato Skin-flavored wafers Fridays is slinging.

Given Big Potato's indoctrination campaign, a chip bag that promises nutritious potato skin "imparts a further value in the eyes of reasonable consumers"value Fridays' products utterly lack, the lawsuit argues. And per federal law, a product is considered misbranded if "it is an imitation of another food, unless its label bears, in type of uniform size and prominence, the word 'imitation' and, immediately thereafter, the name of the food imitated," even if the intent was never to mislead consumers.

TGI Fridays did not immediately respond to our request for comment, although we will update if they do.

Troncoso has not specified the sum she is seeking in recompense for the alleged deception, opting instead to leave that determination up to expert testimony. And while her indignation stems (allegedly) from being sold an inadequately nutritious product, mine stems from the audacity inherent in Fridays peddling compacted potato flakes under the banner of a tasty oven-baked potato treat. How will I ever renew my faith in a restaurant chain that fraudulently celebrates the arrival of Friday six times a week?
BLACK REPUBLICAN BLOG - The Republican Party is the party of civil rights and the four Fs: faith, family, freedom and fairness. The Democratic Party is the party of the four Ss: slavery, secession, segregation and socialism (Quote By Author Michael Scheuer).
Misunderstanding the alt-right seems to be the favorite activity of the established media. In the latest case, the favorite magazine of globalists  the English magazine The Economist  has characterized Ben Shapiro as the sage of the alt-right. Under any conceivable point of view, such an idea would be surreal given that Shapiro is one of the favorite targets of that Internet trolling movement.

A simple Google search would have told Economists reporters that Shapiro  who is Jew  is not only hated by the very anti-Semitic alt-right but also one of its most outspoken critics. In the week following the victory of President Donald J. Trump, Shapiro wrote an article in the National Review titled Do not Mainstream the Alt-Right. More clarity is impossible. However, asking for a minimum of accuracy from a magazine that has a research arm called the Economist Intelligence Unit might be too much to ask. Maybe they have not yet discovered Google over there.

There are many takeaways of this quarrel involving Shapiro and the Economist. First, how reliable is the established media that are only concerned with facts insofar as they serve to promote a political agenda. And secondly, Underneath the Economist bashing against Shapiro is the ridiculous idea that everyone that disagrees with the gospel of the left is an alt-rightist. Since the established media created a reduction ad alt-right, it seems that nobody knows what the alt-right is.

On the first takeaway, I can only conclude that  given a large number of Economist misconceptions about virtually every issue in the last decade  the magazine is edited by the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Although this is a playful conclusion, it is not so far from reality. As the WikiLeaks showed in 2016, there were so many collusions between the established media and Hilary Clintons failed campaign that they seemed to be one and a single thing, instead of two separate entities.

If Tom Perez  DNCs chairman -is the real editor-in-chief of the Economist, I do not think well ever find out. But the nature of alt-right is certainly something about which much can be said without falling into ridicule.

To begin with, the alt-right is a decentralized movement that exists only on the internet. It has emerged in debate forums in which the identity of the participants may remain anonymous to troll or ridicule other participants or media figures. Anonymity allowed people to expose controversial opinions without fear of punishment. Therefore, the kind of person attracted to these forums was precisely those who felt little inclination to agree with the official discourse of the media and established politics: The politically correct ideology.

As shown by George Hawleys Making Sense of the Alt-Right, there are few similarities between the alt-right and any politically organized movement that exists outside of the Internet. The trolls had so much sympathy for Donald Trump not because of objective points in the candidates platform, but because of his politically incorrect style. I think a lot of them are really sad because Trump has nominated so many conservative constitutionalists for the bench.

Issues such as gay marriage and the role of religion in our society go beyond the political horizon of the alt-right. They see themselves as anti-establishment and as the promotion of uncontrolled immigration has been one of the main policies of this very establishment, they oppose it. There is no reason for this or that political position. As with the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs left, the alt-right is about emotion.

What is undeniable about the alt-right is that it is a blatant reaction to the process of intellectual implosion of the official American right which has increasingly emulated the cultural left. Thus, National Review  once a bulwark of American conservatism  advocates that gay marriage is a family value  according to Jonah Goldberg  and that statues of former Confederate leadership must be torn down by patriotism  according to Kevin Williamson.

The term alternative right was created by political theorist and Jewish historian Paul Gottfried, on the one hand, and by political activist Richard Spencer, on the other. Gottfried used the term to describe a myriad of political positions that were on the right and also were hostile towards the dominant neoconservatism. So alt-right was a negative concept in the sense that it represented the negation of a particular political movement. Spencer, by his turn, saw on the alt-right a movement with its own intellectual unity  the neo-pagan European nationalism of Jules Evola and Alain de Benoist.

Looking back, I can say without fear of error that the alt-right is neither one thing nor another, but an expression of post-modernity. Basically, it is a movement of people who consider themselves to be outcasts in a society that has been destabilized by the breakdown of traditional social arrangements and found on the internet a way of expressing their revolt mostly through humor.

Ironically, the Economist and the alt-right represent two faces of the same phenomenon. Just as Economist is the mouthpiece of the authoritarianism of globalist elites who want to put down traditional institutions, the alt-right represents the nihilistic fury that wants to push the world into neo-pagan anarchy only to see everything burning. This week the two shook hands attacking Shapiro.

Photo credit: WikiCommons.
Two new record stores are landing in Brooklyn this spring, both of them owned by the new venture Brooklyn Record Exchange.

Helmed by Andres Santo Domingo and Keith Abrahamsson (of the Brooklyn label Mexican Summer) and Mike Hunchback and Ben Steidel (proprietors of the record store Co-Op 87), Brooklyn Record Exchange is a used record haven intent on catering to both record-heads and newbies curious to start their vinyl collections.

"There are stores that prioritize the super rare expensive stuff and dont really pay much attention to the cheaper stuff that gets neglected," as Steidel, an alum of Greenpoint's Academy Records and Amoeba Records in San Francisco, tells Gothamist. "Whereas we certainly love having cool and pricey records in the shop, but we want to make it inviting to somebody whos not ready to drop 200 on a rare record."

Ten years ago, Mexican Summer opened a record store named Co-Op 87, housed in the same building as their office and studio at 87 Guernsey Street. Initially, the labelowners set up the shop to give their artists, as well as other local labels such as Sacred Bones, some more shine. That eventually evolved into a bigger operation, with Steidel and Hunchback in tow, and garnered a dedicated following for its well-curated used selections.

Over time, though, they wanted "an idea from scratch that we can design and not just be an afterthought in the corner of our building," as Santo Domingo says. Steidel adds that a point came when the diminutive space simply couldn't accommodate the incredible collections they were being offered. That's how they came to find Brooklyn Record Exchange's Bushwick location, which also houses the venue Elsewhere and the restaurant Mission Chinese Food.



A nook with books at the Bushwick location. (Brooklyn Record Exchange).

This Bushwick location opens on Saturday (the forthcoming Greenpoint location, which will be located where Co-Op 87 currently is, will likely open around May, as Abrahamsson tells Gothamist). The space, located on the second floor of the building, is a sunny alternative New York's often-cramped record stores (though we love those, too). There are sizable jazz and dance record selections, crates of experimental gems and soundtracks housed next to a wall displaying cult VHS tapes up for sale.

Given the formidable rotation of artists who come through Elsewhere, it's also entirely possible there will be some "synergy" happening between the store and the venue, as Santo Domingo puts it. What exactly that means remains to be seen, but it wouldn't be a surprise if we saw some in-store performances from visiting artists happening. (Steidel has a show on The Lot Radio as well, so there'll likely be a crossover from DJs from the station coming through the store.)



So many records to sift through at the Bushwick location. (Brooklyn Record Exchange)

Since the Guernsey Street location is a tighter space, the selections there won't be as in-depth as its Bushwick counterpart. But that space will highlight more of the label's own work, as Santo Domingo says. "Greenpoint will have a slightly different edge to it in the sense that were gonna have a section that highlights more Mexican Summer stuff and Anthology books," he says, the latter referring to their reissue and publishing arm. People can expect to find a trove of hard-to-find and beloved selections at either locale, though.

As far as what might be available during the Bushwick opening, Steidel highlights "a really killer chunk of reggae and Caribbean records," as well as an "insane amount of disco and house music" and a venerable collection of jazz records. Those with a particular eye on collecting might want to head over posthaste, though. "Weve been stockpiling for four years now, so its been like Christmas getting over here and opening up these boxes that I havent looked at since 2015, 2014 even," he says. "If anything the most impressive thing is that weve let these collection build over the years. And its a shocking amount of hot stuff hitting the floor all at once."

Brooklyn Record Exchange is located at 599 Johnson Ave. It's open from 12 to 8 Sunday through Thursday, and 12 to 9 Friday and Saturday.


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This blog is looking for wisdom, to have and to share. It is also looking for other rare character traits like good humor, courage, and honor. It is not an easy road, because all of us fall short. But God is love, forgiveness and grace. Those who believe in Him and repent of their sins have the promise of His Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the Way.


NRA training instructor and program coordinator Mark Richardson is a veteran of the organization, having worked there since at least 2006; in the immediate aftermath of the Parkland shooting, Richardson used his NRA email account to correspond with Infowars correspondent Wolfgang Halbig, a Sandy Hook denier who has pursued a career of harassing the grieving parents of the children murdered there and accusing them of being "crisis actors" in a "false flag operation" whose children were either imaginary or unharmed.



Halbig and Richardson pursued a lively correspondence, discussing their belief that the Parkland shooting was a hoax designed to provide cover for the confiscation of guns from musketfuckers and ammosexuals across America.

The emails were revealed through the discovery process in a lawsuit against Alex Jones brought by grieving Sandy Hook parents who have been harassed and threatened by Jones supporters who were weaponized by Jones's repeated insistence that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax and that the parents were anti-gun conspirators who had faked their losses and their grief.

Wolfgang, You have included me with a lot of Information since the Sandy Hook Incident and I do appreciate it very much. Concerning what happened in Florida yesterday, I have been asking the question and no one else seems to be asking it. How is it that Cruz was able gain access to a secured facility while in possession of a rifle, multiple magazines, smoke grenades and a gas mask? To pull the fire alarm, he had to already be inside. Correct? When my Children were in school the only way into the school was through the front door and past the main office. We have been told that he was. Prohibited from entering the building With a backpack. No longer a student, why was he allowed in the building at all? Where was all the equipment, in his back pocket? Just like SH, there is so much more to this story. He was not alone. Just a few questions that have surfaced in the past 24 hours. Thank you for all the information And for what you do. STAY SAFE

Exclusive: NRA Official Sought Sandy Hook Hoaxer To Question Parkland Shooting, Emails Show [Sebastian Murdock/Huffington Post]

(Image: Mosaic 36, CC-BY)
Update: We have received a legal letter from Thomas A. Clare, of Clare Locke LLP, writing on behalf of the Sacklers expressing the family's concern that the image of a guillotine and the "guillotine watch" tag originally accompanying this post would be interpreted as a call to violence against the Sackler family, who have, per Mr Clare, received such threats. For avoidance of doubt, the use of the guillotine image and "guillotine watch" tag is intended as hyperbole and should not be interpreted as a call for violence against anyone, including any member of the Sackler family. I apologize unreservedly for any distress Sacklers experienced due to my hyperbole, or any concern this raised on their part that violence would be forthcoming. I also apologize for my imprecise use of the word "criminal" to refer to the Sacklers' activities; I have amended the relevant passage to read "alleged criminal," as there have been no criminal convictions stemming from Purdue or its owners' activities in relation to the opioid epidemic or the marketing of Oxycontin. -Cory

The Sacklers (previously) are mostly known around the world as "philanthropists," with their names adorning the wings of galleries, museums and institutes of higher learning; but the Sackler family fortune came from their pharmaceutical company, Purdue, whose deceptive marketing and underhanded regulatory evasion for their highly addictive drug Oxycontin has contributed to the prescription opioid overdose deaths of 200,000 Americans so far, with another 200,000 overdoses from heroin and other opioids likely related to the addiction epidemic created by Purdue and the Sacklers.



The Sacklers are anxious to keep details of their allegedly criminal activities out of the press and the public eye  they recently gave Oklahoma $270m to settle a claim rather than have it go to trial, and you only have to look at the recently unsealed deposition of family boss Richard Sackler to see why: it reveals that Purdue execs, led by Sacklers, took steps that led to the addiction of as many people as possible and went to elaborate lengths to avoid regulatory detection of their misdeeds.





Now the family has been sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose (heavily redacted) legal complaint claims that as the Oxy epidemic drew more legal attention, the Sacklers began to extract millions from Purdue via offshore money laundries that would hide their fortunes from US courts, going so far as to abolish Purdue Pharma's written quarterly reports and replacing them with verbal reports direct to board members, leaving no records to subpoena as fortunes were sent abroad.





The suit claims that the Sacklers incorporated a new pharma company, "Rhodes," to use as a "landing pad" if they had to shut down Purdue due to the legal claims and scandal around it. Rhodes has operated in the background since 2009, selling generic opioids, and now has a larger share of the market than Purdue did at its peak. Rhodes is owned by a trust whose beneficiary is the Sackler family. The New York AG says that Rhodes's aggressive pursuit of new addicts reveals that the Sacklers are not penitent for their complicity in the opioid epidemic, and have no intention of abandoning their deadly business model.

The suit also names the Sacklers' major distributors, claiming that they worked closely with pill-mill doctors and pharmacists to help avoid regulatory detection and interdiction.

A Sackler spokesperson said "We strongly deny these allegations, which are inconsistent with the factual record, and will vigorously defend against them."



By 2014, fearing that Purdue could face catastrophic financial judgments, the Sacklers directed Purdue to pay family members hundreds of millions of dollars a year in distributions, sending money to offshore companies, the lawsuit claims, an act of clear "bad faith." As a result of these distributions, the lawsuit says, "assets are no longer available to satisfy Purdue's future creditor, the state of New York." The complaint takes a skeptical view of recent reports that the company is considering filing for bankruptcy. It charges that the company is actually conducting "a well-thought out and deliberate media campaign to intimidate the litigating states, including New York, by threatening to commence bankruptcy proceedings." The lawsuit also goes well beyond other cases in spelling out in granular detail how pharmaceutical distributors played a role in the opioid epidemic by ignoring blatant "red flags" that indicated mountains of opioids were being diverted for illegal use.



New York Sues Sackler Family Members and Drug Distributors [Roni Caryn Rabin/New York Times]





(via Naked Capitalism)

(Image: Edwardx, CC-BY-SA)
The small KwaZulu-Natal coastal town of Uvongo turned into a hive of activity when the DA leader, Mmusi Maimane visited while on his campaign trail.

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On Thursday, 28 March, scores of DA members and supporters made their way to the Uvongo Town Hall, eagerly waiting to hear what Maimane had to say.

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Young, old and people from all sorts of cultures and races gathered at the town hall.

Philisiwe Sefatsa, the DA spokesperson, said Maimane engaged with residents in the build-up to the launch of the partys National Day of Action, which is set for Friday, 29 March.

READ ALSO: 15 Memorable Photos From The Amazing Baby Shower Of Meghan Markle

The National Day of Action was organised to share the DAs plans to fix the countrys energy crisis with Eskom.

Earlier the same day, Maimane also visited Umzinto, where he said:

"A town like Umzinto is built around small businesses, many of them family-owned. If these power cuts continue, unemployment here will shoot through the roof. I urge all South Africans to join the Day of Action tomorrow & make their voices heard as we fight to #KeepTheLightsOn."

During his talk in Uvongo, Maimane stressed the importance of South Africans, from all walks of life, to unite for a common cause.

He also again spoke about unemployment and how four out of 10 South Africans are currently unemployed.

One supported, @ntuli, commented:

"Well done my leader, the blue army is ready for the 8th of May 2019 and our voices of unemployment, load shedding, crime, no service delivery & the open of broaders will be heard on that day. We want to talk on ballots box."

According to the DA's election manifesto:

"To realistically turn our economy around and reduce unemployment we must place the economy on a trajectory toward realizing 3% GDP growth, at least, annually.

"However, once we have unleashed the full latent potential of South Africas productive capacity and human capital, we will put ourselves on a growth trajectory in line with many of our regional counterparts  such as Kenya, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Botswana and Ethiopia  of economic growth between 5 and 8%.

"South Africa cannot continue any longer with the majority left looking in from the outside, while the insiders enjoy all the opportunities and spoils. It is our intention to not only be pro-poor, but pro-all South Africans. For an inclusive, stable economy to exist, the government cannot take sides but must be able to function as a neutral agent responsible for opening the playing field and maximising opportunities.

"This manifesto details the policy choices a DA national government will take to turn the tide on stagnant growth, grinding poverty and worsening inequality. We can achieve change now that ensures a job in every household."

DA leader, Mmusi Maimane, has a chat with DA member, Barry Smit, during his visit to Uvongo. PHOTO: Barry Smit

Source: Original

Local councillor, George Henderson, said:

"The Democratic Alliance Federal Leader, Mmusi Maimane, visited Uvongo to shae his vision of one South Africa for all. The Uvongo Town Hall was packed to the rafters, with only standing room left in the end.

"More than 600 residents attended the event. Thank you to the residents who attended and well done to the DA public representatives, officials and activists involved in making this a great event. We are ready for #8May2019."

On the far left is local councillor, Georde Henderson, with Mmusi Maimane and a group of supporters. PHOTO: George Henderson.

Source: Original

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Source: Briefly.co.za
South Africa has ranked dead last in the World Economic Forum's World Competitiveness Report. The report says that SA has the worst labour-employer relations on a global scale. This indicates that there is a need to simplify labour legislation to make it easier for employers to navigate.

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The World Economic Forum has released their latest World Competitiveness Report and it has indicated a grim situation for South Africa.

The report ranked SA 137 out of 137 countries, claiming that the nation has the worst labour-employer relations in the world.

A contributing factor to this, according to eNCA, was how complex labour legislation is for businesses, especially small businesses, to navigate.

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Only 41% of SMEs have confidence that the latest labour laws are conducive to growth in business, according to the recent Business/Partners SME Index.

Kgomotso Ramoenyane, Executive General Manger of HR for Business Partners Limited, says that the labour law in South Africa is not equally in favor of the employer.

READ ALSO: 15 True Facts About Meghan Markle Before Meeting Prince Harry

Ramoenyane says that legislature should be simplified to ease the strain on employers and to encourage economic growth.

With unemployment rates at an all-time high in SA, this could be a symptom of the true challenges preventing smaller businesses from engaging with potential employees.

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Source: Briefly.co.za
News / National

by newzimbabwe.com

PARLIAMENT has summoned Finance and Agriculture ministers to come and clear the air on why government has gone back on promises to pay tobacco farmers 50% of their earnings in United States dollars.The tobacco marketing season opened last week with grumbles over the low price of the golden leaf at the auction floors.Prices were pegged at $4,50 per kg on the first day, compared to $4,99 last year.As if that was not enough to worry about, the central bank reneged on promises this year to pay growers 50% in foreign currency returns and the remaining 50% in real time gross settlement dollars (RTGS).Goalposts were suddenly shifted when the market opened with farmers being told that all their payments would be made into their RTGS accounts.The farmers were urged to write letters requesting that 50% be converted into foreign currency.Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Wedza North MP David Musabayana requested that ministers  Mthuli Ncube (Finance) and Perrance Shiri (Agriculture)  come to Parliament to explain themselves."In that respect," Musabayana said: "I am requesting the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Honourable Ncube to come and give a ministerial statement with regards to why he went back on his word on the promises that he had made to the farmers."In the same vein, I am also requesting the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Development to come with a ministerial statement in terms of how the prices of tobacco have gone down, whether he has carried out an investigation or if he is going to put any measures in place to ensure that farmers will not lose the money to be earned from their tobacco."Leader of the House and Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi was tasked by the Speaker to ensure his colleagues came to Parliament to explain.Zimbabweans are resentful of the unstable local currency whose value keeps on fluctuating with savings continuously being eroded.Government has adamantly refused to scrap the currency in place of the more stable United States dollar as the anchor currency.
News / National

by Staff reporter

MDC Alliance's ward 28 candidate for Cowdray Park in Bulawayo, Collet Ndlovu, has triggered a storm with women rights activists after urging residents to rally behind a male candidate, saying women politicians were weak.Addressing residents at a meet the candidate event jointly organised by Bulawayo Progressive Residents' Association (BPRA), Women Institute for Leadership Development (WILD), Victory Siyanqoba (VS) and Bulawayo Vendors Traders' Association (BVTA), among others, Ndlovu angered female candidates after describing them as weak."Women need men in positions of power because they are afraid, hence if crushed, they keep quiet," Ndlovu said.The sentiments provoked anger among residents who said Ndlovu had failed the community during his 10 years as councillor.Julia Chilufia said: "We need a councillor who will not abuse office like Ndlovu who was never in his office or at his place of residence because he was busy at beerhalls. He does not want to work with women."Another resident, Antony Nketa, charged: "Women and youths issues go hand-in-hand and we want a woman who will ensure that the youths are not idle through the establishment of youth centres. Women will address issues of road construction, water challenges and sewerage problems."At the meeting, residents said challenges which they wanted addressed included the development of youth centres, maternity wards at clinics, de-politicisation of service delivery, construction of roads, among others.BPRA chairperson Ambrose Sibindi urged residents to vote for a councillor who would represent them well.Ten out of the 18 aspiring candidates attended the meeting. The seat fell vacant following the death of MDC Alliance councillor Happyson Ncube in December last year.The voter education programme in ward 28 comes ahead of the by-election set for Saturday."We educate them [voters] on the importance of voting and tell them that if one does not vote, it means he or she is endorsing whatever the outcome would be. We also educate on what is needed for them when they are going to vote because some may leave behind their identity particulars or go to wrong polling stations and wear political regalia, which is not allowed. We are also educating residents on the need to desist from fighting, but to allow each other to sell their ideas to the voters during campaigns," Sibindi said.
News / National

by newzimbabwe.com

INDEPENDENT legislator for Norton Temba Mliswa has questioned why government failed to deploy the army to drive away villagers who allegedly ignored calls by authorities to vacate their areas ahead of the deadly Cyclone Idai over a week ago.Mliswa was speaking in parliament this past week following claims by Local Government Minister July Moyo that villagers did not heed government's advice.The cyclone killed over 200 people the majority from Manicaland's Chimanimani area and further caused massive damage to land and property.Moyo went to parliament to deliver a ministerial statement on the state of affairs in cyclone hit areas.He told MPs that villagers who later got caught up in the disaster had ignored government advice to vacate their homes to safety.Mliswa, in his comments to parliament, demanded answers on why central government was still reluctant to engage MPs during attempts to transmit messages within their communities."The Minister spoke about the various Government organisations that were involved. Mr. Speaker Sir, this is indicative of the fact that Members of Parliament are a nonentity in this country."There is no effective communication that can be done without a Member of Parliament being told at all."So, it just shows the poor communication in that Members of Parliament were never told, neither did we receive anything in the pigeon holes to go and alert the people and have meetings with the councillors in the constituencies. Members of Parliament are at all not considered in this regard," Mliswa said.He also asked why government could not use the army to drive villagers out of areas that were later hit by the harsh weather phenomenon."The second one, the communication that he (Minister) is talking about which they used; they told people to move but they did not move. Was it not time for the army to intervene because prevention is better than cure?"So, we have a situation where the communication that they are talking about failed to work because people are stubborn. Was it not important for the law enforcement agents to then come in and say you must move to these areas?"The Zanu-PF led government is under fire for unleashing the army on civilians during anti-government protests in August last year and January this year in what has seen the army use live rounds on protestors.
News / National

by Staff reporter

OPINION is sharply divided over President Emmerson Mnangagwa's costly foreign trips at a time the country is mourning the death of more than 300 Cyclone Idai victims, the Daily News reported.Following the tragedy about a fortnight ago, Mnangagwa declared the calamity a national disaster.He also dedicated two days of national mourning.It is, however, his decision to leave the country on Saturday for a day's visit to Angola in the midst of the crisis that has divided the nation. Barely a day after returning from Angola, Mnangagwa is expected to leave for South Africa today for yet another official visit.Former Finance minister Tendai Biti took to twitter on Saturday to accuse the president of taking advantage of the two days of morning to evade responsibility."So the usurper declares two days of mourning. Our people did not require mourning they required effective disaster management. They required schools to be closed and communities evacuated. This did not happen. Then the usurper has the indecency of running away during mourning. #Shame ," Biti wrote on Twitter.Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme weighed in, opining that the 76 year-old Zanu-PF leader had his priorities mixed up and that this could be misconstrued for lack of empathy and compassion for the victims of the tragedy. "In times of tragedy good leaders stay with their people at home and lead mourning and rescue and recovery efforts from the front," Saungweme said."Look at how the Mozambique president (Filipe Nyusi) is doing. He is home and with the affected. Look at how New Zealand Prime Minister (Jacinda Arden) did after the shooting. Even today she is still with the victims and their families.Political analyst Vivid Gwede said any leader faced with such an unprecedented disaster situation would cut on travel spending and channel resources to save lives and comfort those in dire straits.Said Gwede: "With Cyclone Idai we have not only witnessed the weakness of government institutions, but serious moral questions are being asked of those in positions of power."Government yesterday said any suggestion that Mnangagwa should have stayed at home to mourn with the nation was misplaced."When the president proclaimed the two days of mourning he did not suggest that the country should be on its toes, he simply meant that the national focus should be with the victims and their families, it is not about switching off Zimbabwe,'' said the permanent secretary in the ministry of Information Nick Mangwana."All hospitals were functional, airports open and all people doing their business yet you expect the president to be not working. That is a simplistic way of looking at things, the country has to continue functioning and even the dead would want to see that so that relief and aid continue to go to those that are in need," he said.Macdonald Lewanika, a social commentator, said faced with competing national assignments; Mnangagwa had a difficult balancing act to perform. He said while the president could have gain more political capital by spending the two days commiserating with the bereaved, it was also critical for government business to continue even when the nation is mourning."We cannot and should not expect a president to be hands on each and every matter, and we cannot and should not expect everything to stop because we are bereaved. Life goes on, and it is a strategic leader who sees the need for his people to mourn and allows it through the period, but also accepts the reality that the world is not stopping and continues with the practical work of the presidency - after all what in real terms can he do besides console his people if he stays at home, at the risk of losing practical and tangible opportunities for those who remain alive from his regional peers?" Lewanika asked rhetorically.Lawyer and opposition MDC-T politician Obert Gutu said the foreign trips were necessary for the country to avoid total isolation."He (Mnangagwa) is determined to maintain good and strong relations with fellow African countries within the region and beyond. I would say this is one of the more subtle effects of sanctions that have been imposed on Zimbabwe by the West. These sanctions make the Zanu-PF government very vulnerable and also desperate to cling to regional solidarity in order to avoid total and complete international isolation," Gutu said.Mnangagwa's situation has not been made any easier by the fact that he has had to cut short about three of his foreign trips after tragedy befell the nation in his wake.In January for example, he abandoned his annual holiday after his deputy Constantino Chiwenga failed to contain a strike by junior doctors which had paralysed the health sector.The job action started well before he Mnangagwa left for his annual vacation.In the same month, he was forced to cut short his trip to Davos via Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan after the army was deployed to crush protesters resulting in in the death of 16 unarmed civilians throughout the country.Only recently Mnangagwa was again forced to cut short his trip to the United Arab Emirates to attend to the Cyclone Idai crisis.
BlakeDavidTaylor/iStock(TAMPA, Fla.) -- A man wanted for murder in Florida was arrested in Mexico this week after more than 20 years on the run, authorities said.



Israel Carrillo, 68, was located in Mexico and arrested by Mexican police on Wednesday, after the FBI followed up on several leads. He was extradited back to the United States the following day and remains in U.S. custody, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.



Carrillo is believed to have been responsible for the murder of 60-year-old Pedro Tapia-Lopez, who was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds under a bridge next to a creek in the Tampa suburb of Lithia on May 26, 1998.



A palm print found on the guardrail along the roadway above his body was identified as Carrillo's, while blood discovered in the back of a car Carillo had rented at the time of the incident was identified as Tapia-Lopez's.



An arrest warrant was issued for Carillo for first-degree murder on Jan. 14, 1999. He was also wanted for an outstanding warrant for aggravated battery issued on June 4, 1998, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.



The murder investigation is ongoing.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The NYPD is seeking a number of people involved in what Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea called a "brutal & brazen gang murder" earlier this month. Footage from numerous security cameras released by the NYPD shows a number of suspects chasing Taquan Eversley through East New York streets around 7:15 a.m. on March 19th.

At one point, the 21-year-old victim can be seen running into a backyard. Commanding Officer of Brooklyn North Detectives Mike Kemper said, "Hes literally running from them trying to escape further assault... and he is literally hiding behind a parked car for his life as the group is searching for him." Video shows Eversley jumping over a fence, but there was barbed wire on the other side, which apparently trapped him.

Police say that one of the suspects threw a brickdescribed as a "boulder" by the Daily Newsat Eversley, while another peers over a fence for a while. When he comes down, video shows he is holding a gun.

Eversley's body was found with multiple gunshot wounds behind 666 Elton Street. EMS took him to Brookdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

One man, Michael Reid, 25, was arrested for murder and criminal possession of a weapon; it's believed Reid threw the rock. Other suspects police are looking for are Alfred Crooks, 22; Shacore Huff, 24; and Donaven McDay, 29.

A closer look at the individuals shown in the video. If you know who they are, contact @NYPDTips anonymously at 800-577-TIPS. Every call, every tip matters! pic.twitter.com/OVsitnXiOl  Chief Dermot F. Shea (@NYPDDetectives) March 28, 2019

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.


News / National

by Staff reporter

THE trial of Mt Pleasant legislator Samuel Banda (MDC Alliance) for violating the Electoral Act continued last Friday with another state witness Mr Isaac Chidavaenzi saying Banda apologised to him for fraudulently using his address.Banda was arrested last year for providing a false address during the national Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise.Prosecuting, Mr Peter Kachirika told the court that Banda allegedly misrepresented to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that he lived in Mt Pleasant, Harare during the Ewa exercise.He contested for the Mt Pleasant House of Assembly which he won.The address in question is No, 34 Waller Avenue, Mt Pleasant, Harare.Mr Worship Dumba a candidate in the Mt Pleasant parliamentary elections reported the matter.Banda appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Learnmore Mapiye and the trial will continue on April 5.In his evidence in chief, Mr Chidavaenzi who also contested for the Mt Pleasant seat told the court that Banda approached him twice after he had reported to the MDC Alliance vice president Mr Morgen Komichi."The first time I heard Banda had used my address No 34 Waller Avenue, Mt Pleasant was three weeks before elections when he had taken part in a radio show."Thereafter, Banda visited my house and asked me if we would make a pact that if either one of us lost, the loser would work with the winner."The second time, Banda came around, he said 'Sorry old man for using your address, it was not my doing but that of my campaign manager," said Mr Chidavaenzi.Banda's lawyer Mr Job Sikala accused Mr Chidavaenzi of being a bitter loser.Chidavaenzi denied the allegations saying there was no bad blood between him and Banda."I do not believe I nailed anyone because when the CIO agents came to my house and I just stated facts. I wanted to withdraw the case, but the police told me that I was not the complainant and the State can only withdraw the case," said Chidavaenzi.
News / National

by Staff reporter

CELEBRATED chimurenga musician Thomas Mapfumo finally left for the United States last Friday after more than two months in the country.Mapfumo arrived in the country in December last year for the Peace Concert that took him to various places including Gweru, Bulawayo, Mutare and Beitbridge. However, the Peace Tour failed to yield desired results in terms of revenue.As a result, Mukanya accused the tour promoter Maxwell Mugaba and his team of having connived to swindle him and sabotage his tour. Mukanya told the media he delayed his return to the US so as to stage extra gigs to pay his band members as they got nothing from the Peace Tour."After music promoter ... Mugaba duped me during the Peace Tour of December, I delayed my return... because I wanted to work and pay the band that I had contracted. "I could have returned before settling the arrears but ethically it is not right."What I strive for is just peace of mind," he said then. During his stay in Zimbabwe, Mukanya worked with a number of musicians as well as stirring some controversies. The tough-talking musician literally attacked musicians such as Alick Macheso for failing to take his brand internationally and Zimdancehall icon Winky D for not being original.Even though his sentiments did not go down well with some sections of the society, Mukanya remained defiant. That is Mukanya for you!Even when his life was on the line, with central intelligence operatives on his tail, Mapfumo never shied away from speaking his mind which ultimately led him to 14 long years in exile.While in the country, Mukanya went on to attack heavyweights in the ruling party Zanu-PF, accusing them of fuelling music piracy."I have carried out a research on the causes of music piracy in our industry and the results are shocking. "Political heavyweights are the ones owning factories of music piracy in Zimbabwe and for this reason, piracy is not ending."Imagine the factories of music piracy are guarded by Zanu-PF youths."That's not how it should be done; political heavyweights are killing youngsters' industry," Mukanya said then.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Companies in the Masawara Group on Friday (22 March) handed over relief packs to Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Sekai Nzenza and Deputy Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Jennifer Mhlanga to help those affected by Cyclone Idai.The Masawara Group is made up of the Zimnat Insurance Group, Cresta Group of Hotels,Minerva Risk Advisors, Botswana Insurance Company, Grand Re-Insurance, Sable Chemicals, Dademutande and Joina City.The donated relief packs, consisting of two blankets, two buckets, 10 litres of water, 4kgs sugar, 4kgs rice, four litres of cooking oil, 10kg mealie meal, one pack of matemba, four plastic plates, four spoons, four cups, two bars of soap, two packets of diapers and three packs of sanitary wear, will benefit 500 families.These items were packed in a plastic bin that can be re-used to store food or water.Receiving the donation from Zimnat Group chief executive officer Mustafa Sachak and Minerva managing director Lydia Tanyanyiwa, Minister Nzenza expressed her gratitude for the gesture by the Masawara Group."I am so pleased and touched by the level of support we have received so far but having come here today I am finding it difficult to fully appreciate it," she said."What the Masawara Group has done is to think way ahead of us. I am the Minister of Social Welfare and I have worked in relief before but what the Masawara Group has done today is incredible."You really thought deeply about the basic needs of the people affected. The list of items clearly shows that you put a lot of thought into the basic needs of those people," Ms Nzenza said.In a speech read on his behalf by Ms Tanyanyiwa, Masawara Group chairman Shingai Mutasa said the Group hoped to do something else for the victims in the long term."In addition to this immediate relief, we hope to do something in the long term to help minimise the impact of future natural disasters," he said."We will be looking at doing something permanent in the long run, something that will lessen the impact of such disasters in future, such as perhaps work on building a disaster preparedness shelter, where people can take refuge when such cyclones occur," Mr Mutasa said.Deputy Minister Mhlanga further commended the Masawara Group for the assistance it was giving. She assured the group that the supplies would be delivered to the intended recipients."This donation is coming at a time when support is indeed required. I would like to assure the nation and the Masawara Group that a proper accountability with regards to the receipt of donations is in place," Ms Mhlanga said.In addition to the relief packs, members of staff within Masawara companies contributed food items, clothing, bedding and money to help assist the cyclone victims.
News / National

by Staff reporter

MDC activist Paddington Japajapa, who insulted Zambian ambassador to Zimbabwe Zelipa Chitambo after he failed to secure a maize import licence, was last week convicted of disorderly conduct.Harare magistrate Nyasha Vhitorini deferred the matter to April 5 for sentencing.The court heard that on October 13, 2017, Japajapa, who was in the company of five women, visited the Zambian Embassy at number 48 Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, Harare intending to see the trade attache over the importation of grain from Zambia.Japajapa was informed that the attache was not available, he then demanded to see the ambassador, but was told that he could only see her after making an appointment.He started shouting and then tried to get into an elevator intending to proceed to the ambassador's office. The State said Japajapa was blocked by security personnel. Ambassador Chitambo then came out of the elevator and introduced herself to Japajapa and tried to cool his temper.Japajapa then asked the ambassador: "Why do you employ such kind of people? They don't know what they will be doing. You should get rid of them."Ambassador Chitambo advised Japajapa that Zambia had stopped exporting grain to Zimbabwe and Japajapa said: "This is not the only embassy that can help us. We will seek help from other embassies."
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Milton Park Bowling Club owner Joseph Chinguwo allegedly bashed DJ Torne (real name Tawanda Nduna) over unpaid performance fees Saturday evening.DJ Torne had charged RTGS $80 for his services and upon requesting his payment as agreed, he was allegedly thoroughly beaten.In an interview, Dj Torne said he was ordered off the premises by a gun wielding Chinguwo."I started playing at 12 noon till midnight. Upon asking for my payment the club owner Ginger (Joseph Chinguwo) told me he could not pay me because I had not fulfilled our agreement as in 'I was supposed to keep playing', despite the fact that we had agreed I will finish at 10pm.I kept demanding my money until he hit me very hard in the company of his son. I sustained injuries on the lip and ribs. He told me I could not ask for my money because he was a war veteran. He pointed a gun towards me and ordered me to leave his premises," he said.The disc jockey said he reported the matter at Milton Park police station CR number 3980030."I had to seek help from a friend. His son too said the same thing that I could not report his dad because he was a and could do anything to me even, making me disappear. Up to now I haven't been paid. I reported the matter to the police and went to the hospital the following day for treatment and medical report," he said.He said Chinguwo later called him apologizing.The Herald Arts contacted Chinguwo who then professed ignorance as he cut off the telephone. Earlier last week award winning rapper Tinashe "Ti Gonzi" Gonzara was attacked by robbers on his way home.The musician was reportedly lured into a taxi by his assailants who later attacked him and left him for dead in Highfield, Harare. He was discovered by passers-by on Wednesday morning.
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DEPUTY Minister for Defence and War Veterans Affairs Victor Matemadanda has appealed to war veterans in Mashonaland Central Province to explain to the people how sanctions are hurting everyone before they join a protest march to the United States Embassy.The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) is organising a nationwide march to the US Embassy in Harare against illegal sanctions that were extended by US President Donald Trump by another year.Addressing war veterans, war collaborators, ex-detainees, widows and youths in Bindura last week, Matemadanda said the sanctions were meant to make the people revolt against Government."We want Trump and (British Prime Minister) Theresa May and those who support them to know that Zimbabweans will not continue suffering," he said."The purpose of these sanctions are to push people to blame and criticise the President, Government and Zanu-PF and vote for their stooge, Movement for Democratic Change."War veterans, you have a mission to go and explain to the masses that this is an act of the enemy. You were taught about this during the liberation struggle that after Independence, we will enter a stage where colonialism will be reintroduced."They want this country to be a neo-colonialism State and its characteristics are that you will be led by a fellow black man used by your former colonisers."Mr Nelson Chamisa brags about calling President Trump anytime."We came a long way with the white people, tell me any country invaded by America that has peace? "America will never be a peace maker. America has an agenda against Zimbabwe, nothing we do will impress them if we don't bring neo-colonialism. "We are now fighting emerging neo-colonialist tendencies."America does not care about ordinary citizens, they only care about their interests, said Matemadema."They heard that Zimbabwe has diamonds and gold, that is what they want," he said."If America and Britain want rule of law and democracy, they should teach people who engage in political violence, destruction of property and killing of police officers."When the police defend themselves, they cry human rights abuse."If America is for rule of law, they should have scrutinise how Mr Chamisa became president of his party. "They pretend to support women's rights, yet Thokozani Khupe was elbowed by Mr Chamisa."
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ZIMBABWE's largest telecommunications firm, Econet Wireless, says it has deployed the full might of its organisational capacity in search of survivors of the recent Cyclone Idai.In a statement, the firm's chief executive officer, Mr Douglas Mboweni, said Econet has brought in six helicopters, several drones and rescue boats as it steps up its disaster relief efforts in the worst-hit districts of Chimanimani and Chipinge in the Eastern part of the country."We believe no stone should be left unturned in the search and rescue of survivors," he said.Mr Mboweni is leading a team of more than 50 volunteers from within the Econet group, its foundation (Higherlife) as well as private citizens drawn from across the country.The use of drones is part of Econet's relentless search for innovative solutions to problems.He said: "We use drones for inspecting structural defects on our towers among other network deployment related things, but we realised that we can use them in the search for survivors."They are better than helicopters in certain situations because they fly much lower."We give all information to the authorities that we are working closely with."For the Econet boss, the most exciting thing is not just the technology but the partnership with other companies as well as with the firm's customers. Mr Mboweni said companies in Victoria Falls and Kariba had sent specialist boat crews to navigate the rivers while others had supplied specialist equipment."We also have doctors who have joined us as volunteers," he said.Mr Mboweni added that the national airline, Air Zimbabwe, had also partnered with Econet to get cyclone donations from people in Victoria Falls and Bulawayo through Econet Shops, and airlift them to Harare where Econet logistics teams were transporting them to Mutare, enroute to the holding camps in Chimanimani and Chipinge for distribution to the victims.Mr Mboweni commended the international and local medical crews working with field hospitals and local hospitals."You need to see what is happening out there. We have amazing people and also friends who have quietly come to help us."He said his company was working closely with the Civil Protection Unit as well as the Airforce of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Zimbabwe Defence Forces in the disaster relief effort."We are all part of Team Zimbabwe really on this. We are working very closely together. If we find a survivor or a body, we call the army, police or the Airforce."We are even sharing resources on the ground."Econet has released $5 million cash for the search and rescue efforts and has also been raising money from donors internationally."Mr Masiyiwa and his wife are raising money for all our foreign currency requirements. They have paid for things like the helicopter hire from South Africa and for fuel," Mr Mboweni said.Econet is already thinking of the next phase of the challenges ahead."After the search and rescue, comes recovery and burial of our dead."We have already activated our EcoSure funeral policy team and we have delivered at least 50 coffins in our efforts to support the families bury their dead."The real work, according to Mr Mboweni, was to help communities recover and get back on their feet again."Being able to help schools to re-open, communities to recover as well as our farmers and small businesses, is the huge challenge that lies ahead, but we're willing to take it on."It's sad and devastating what happened. But we consider ourselves more than just a business; we are part of the fabric of the economy and of the communities we serve."The Econet group entities involved in the relief effort are Econet Wireless, Cassava Smartech (incorporating Steward Bank and EcoCash), Liquid Telecom and Higherlife Foundation.
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THE late music icon and national hero Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi continues to be honoured, with the United States and Canadian volunteer surgical team under the banner Operation of Hope dedicating its upcoming mission to him.The Operation of Hope, which has since 2006 performed more than 5 000 free cleft surgeries for children and adults in Zimbabwe, is planning its 26th surgical mission to Zimbabwe."As the all-volunteer US and Canadian surgical team, Operation of Hope, we dedicate our upcoming cleft surgical mission in Zimbabwe in honour of Oliver Mtukudzi, as we target 80 free facial reconstructive surgeries in May 2019," the Operation of Hope president, Jennifer Mora Trubenbach, said."Our surgical team has had many fond memories over the years of Oliver Mtukudzi and his band, and throughout the years, Oliver's daughter Selmor and her husband, Tendai Manatsa have supported the team on screening day, serenading patients with their beautiful music."Trubenbach said 80 children and adults were targeted for a free facial reconstructive surgery at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo on May 4 and at Harare Central Hospital on May 19.Meanwhile, Mtukudzi was on Friday also honoured at the Diplomat of the Year Awards held at a local hotel, alongside Africa Albida Tourism chief executive Ross Kennedy for their outstanding contribution to fostering relations with foreign nations.The annual awards, established in 2012, celebrate the contribution of diplomats in Zimbabwe to the development of the country and its people.The award posthumously conferred to Tuku (collected by daughter Selmor) and Kennedy is given to an organisation or individual who has contributed immensely to the relationship between Zimbabwe and other nations, and whose initiatives would have impacted positively on the lives of ordinary people.Kennedy said he was humbled to have been honoured alongside Tuku at this year's awards."I am very humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as Tuku. This award represents what we, at Africa Albida Tourism, do. It has always been about country first, and the destination of Victoria Falls second, and we are very honoured to have been recognised," he said.Africa Albida Tourism operates a portfolio of properties in Victoria Falls, the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, Victoria Falls Safari Club, Victoria Falls Safari Suites, Lokuthula Lodges and The Boma  Dinner & Drum Show, as well as Ngoma Safari Lodge in Chobe, Botswana.
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A 35-year-old Chiredzi man, Austine Chitema, was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly killed Castina Moyo (71) and skinned her with a machete.Masvingo police spokesperson Chief Inspector Charity Mazula has confirmed the incident.According to a police report, Moyo of village 4 Chiumburu, under Chief Chitanga in Mwenezi and her four-year-old grandchild, were tending their millet field when Chitema of Dumela village under Chief Sengwe, Chiredzi, approached them.Without provocation, he picked a machete which was lying on the ground and allegedly struck the deceased twice on the neck and several times on the head.He went on to skin Moyo's head with the machete, knocked out her front teeth and gouged out her left eye. Chitema then walked away from the crime scene, still armed with the machete.When Moyo's two other grandchildren, both aged 10, returned home from the pastures that evening, their four-year-old sibling narrated the incident.The three siblings informed their neighbour, who immediately notified Moyo's daughter Kudzai Moyo who resides in the same village. The villagers then teamed up and effected a citizen's arrest on Chitema after finding him asleep a few metres from the scene of the crime. They handed him over to the police in Triangle, where he is currently in detention awaiting trial.The deceased's body was taken to Chiredzi General Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.
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PARENTS have been urged to support their children who are talented in the arts morally and financially so that they can realise their dreams.This was said during the launch of Amakhosi's Theatre Unit in Bulawayo on Wednesday by Skyz Metro FM's station manager Godwin Phiri who was standing in for his CEO, Qhubani Moyo.The re-launch of the theatre unit, which shut down 12 years ago, coincided with World Theatre Day celebrations.The event was attended by parents and guardians of the performing artistes who showed off their prowess on stage in an act titled Ses'khona Thina: Unveiling of New Talent. Arts group, Sekunjalo MaAfrica also gave a sterling performance.Phiri said along with parents, performing artistes' friends and the community should support the arts."Parents should be supportive to the children who are talented in the arts. Money is in short supply, but I implore you to dig deeper into your pockets no matter how shallow and give them the support. It can be money for transport so that he or she is able to attend rehearsals," said Phiri."You may never know perhaps he or she is the next Hollywood super star." Cont Mhlanga who is the chairman of Amakhosi Cultural Centre said the theatre unit was targeting to capacitate writers for now."We want to capacitate writers first for the industry to grow. So we are working with young writers to teach them how to come up with a script. My input in this is that the last two weeks of the month I'll dedicate my time to help them by correcting their work," said Mhlanga.The Amakhosi Theatre unit has partnered The British Council and ORAP, whose CEO Mvuselelo Huni said she was excited that the unit was being revived.
Sully Estevez says her son had his first asthma attack in January, at a time when her Queens building was in the midst of 10 days without heat or hot water.

I didnt know what an asthma attack looked like, recalls Estevez, a hospital social worker. His chest was sinking in and his stomach would come out very fast. I took him to the hospital. He had a very bad cold, from it being so cold in here.

Estevez has lived with her family in a rent-stabilized apartment at 1708 Summerfield Street in Ridgewood for four years. Doctors told her that her 18-month-old son, Julian, developed asthma in conjunction with the mold that she says has been a constant issue in her apartment since she moved in. Estevez says the mold in her home is so severe that she is afraid to bathe her toddler in the bathroom, thankful that he still fits in the kitchen sink.

Other tenants of 1708 Summerfield share Estevez's frustrations with their landlord, Silvershore Properties, who they say is letting their apartments languish in disrepair in order to push them out and bring in higher-paying residents. Tenants complain that their rent statements show charges higher than their legal rent, and that they havent had a super since November. In addition to going without heat and hot water on the coldest days of the year, tenants complain of mold, roaches, mice, and garbage accumulation.

In another building nearby, the DOB caught Silvershore tampering with gas lines on multiple occasions without a permit. And in that same building, Silvershore is suing a commercial tenant for having a below market-rate lease.

These are increasingly common renter complaints in gentrifying areas of New York, where tenants and their advocates say so-called predatory landlords are maintaining poor conditions to force out rent-regulated tenants, allowing the owners to hike rents and ultimately deregulate apartments. Silvershore, which is headed by Jason Silverstein and David Shorenstein is notable for being one of the largest landlords of small buildings in New York City, and for ranking number one on the public advocate's list of worst landlords for 2017.

Silvershore's five Ridgewood buildings have a staggering 157 open HPD violations for their 62 units, which is more than double the citys average number of violations per unit, according to data from the nonprofit JustFix.nyc. In the last ten years, according to JustFix, Silvershore has destabilized 159 rent stabilized apartments out of its 1,152 units scattered over Brooklyn, Queens, and Bronx.



(Georgia Kromrei / Gothamist)

A representative from Silvershore commented that they do not have a record of the mold complaint, nor of any rent ledger issues, and will be happy to discuss them with the respective tenants if contacted.

Every day I talk to people that are at the brink of homelessness or have already been evicted and are staying in a shelter trying to get back into their apartments, said Raquel Namuche, leader of the Ridgewood Tenants Union, which was founded in 2014 and is helping organize 1708 Summerfield's mostly low-income tenants. And many of these tenants are coming from Ridgewood.



(Georgia Kromrei / Gothamist)

A once-sleepy Queens neighborhood just north of fast-gentrifying Bushwick, Ridgewood is home to three separate historic landmark districts and five recently opened Americana-themed bars. The streets are lined with low exposed-brick buildings whose front doors often have lace curtains.

In contrast to Ridgewood's more typical apartment buildings of six apartments or less, 1708 Summerfield is a large building, with 39 rent-stabilized apartments just a few blocks away from the Halsey stop on the L train.

According to data from the Department of Finance, 15 percent of Ridgewoods rent stabilized housing has been destabilized in the last 10 years: some 1,464 apartments, concentrated on the border with Bushwick. And in 2018, Ridgewood had twice the rate of evictions as the rest of Queens, according to data from New York City Marshals.



(Georgia Kromrei / Gothamist)

Some of Silvershore's recent actions, say tenants, raise suspicions that it's trying to push tenants out by keeping buildings in disrepair. Anne Croudace, who moved to a recently renovated apartment in 1708 Summerfield with her family at the end of December, says that during her first month in the building, there was no heat and hot water in the building five times in three weeks. She says Silvershores solution for the problem was strange.

It was weird that they were ordering this really small fraction of the amount that the tank can hold," says Croudace. "It was continually running outwed have two or three days of oil. And obviously its more expensive to buy oil for just two or three days. It didnt make sense.

According to the heating bill for 1708 Summerfield, which was provided to Gothamist by a tenant, the supplier delivered small quantities of oil three times in four days in late Januarybut at each of the deliveries, the tank was marked not full. Though the heating bill reflects that the tank has a capacity of 4000 gallons, each order was for 1000 gallons or less. Rather than fill the tank all the way up, Silvershore was ensuring that their tenants would likely go without heat again.

Silvershore and the building's management company, J Wasser, did not respond to Gothamist questions about heat and hot water.

Many tenants in Silvershore buildings receive rent vouchers via Section 8, a federally funded program that funds reduced-rent housing for approximately 90,000 low- income families in New York City by paying landlords the difference between the rent and what the family is able to pay.

Section 8 tenants are especially vulnerable to harassment, Namuche explains, since the apartments must pass regular inspections by the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, or else NYCHA may ask the tenant to move. The landlord is then able to get rid of a tenant who will never pay market rate rent, but tenants are frequently unable to find an apartment in the same neighborhood and end up having to move far away from their communities.

This is what Elba Ortiz, 78, a tenant in another Silvershore building, 6120 Madison, fears is about to happen to her. All eight of the buildings apartments have been destabilized in the last 10 years. Last year, Ortiz says, representatives from Silvershore repeatedly asked her to leave. Meanwhile, her apartment is clearly in a state of neglect: water and gas pipes are exposed, there is peeling paint in the kitchen, and the cupboards are disintegrating. Theres only a suggestion of square edges on the crumbling floor in the kitchen and living room.

The front door to Ortiz's home does not properly close: Even when it's fully shut, the outside corridor is still visible through a gaping crack between the frame and the door.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Ortiz has lived in her Ridgewood home for 28 years. She suffers from diabetes and arthritis, and now lives with only her son and vociferous chihuahua. I dont know what to do, she says.

Ortiz worries that her landlord is singling her out because of her Section 8 status, and laments the possibility of having to move: Here, she says, she has everything she needs close by, including her two granddaughters, who live in the neighborhood.



Gloria Nieves talks to her neighbor, Adela Matos, about the conditions in her apartment and the plans for the march on April 13 (Georgia Kromrei / Gothamist)

Oscar Peacock lives on the first floor of another Silvershore building, 279 St. Nicholas Avenue. Peacock, a camera technician and member of Democratic Socialists of America who is working on a novel, moved to a market-rate apartment in Ridgewood from Bushwick in 2017 with his girlfriend. He said he noticed something was wrong with the apartment soon after he moved in: Although it was recently renovated, there were no radiators.

Peacock got in touch with the management company, and says they sent a repair person to install a radiator, but the repair was literally just for show. The apartment had no heat for the first year, until January 2018, when Silvershore finally installed a functioning radiator. But then other problems started: That summer, says Peacock, the hot water would turn off for several days at a time at the end of each month, and the basement flooded regularly.

Peacock says that during this period, National Grid came several times to shut off the gas because the buildings pipes werent up to code. Each time, a repairman who Peacock believed to be from Silvershore turned it back on. Once, Peacock says he spotted the repairman installing a part to bypass the gas meters in one apartment and channel the gas through another.

After discovering the bypass in the basement, Peacock called 311, and the Department of Buildings came to investigate the same day. According to the DOB, inspectors found that gas work had been performed without a permit and gas had been supplied to the building without authorization. DOB immediately shut off the gas for the entire building.

The gas shutoff spurred the tenants to organize a building group chat and form a plan of action. They drafted a letter, and though Peacock tried to convince his neighbors to go on rent strike, he says other tenants were concerned that the landlord would retaliate by putting them on a tenant blacklist, or that their guarantors would be exposed to credit liability.

All of the tenants in the building are young," says Peacock. "People said, I dont want to ruin my moms credit.

Instead, the tenants negotiated with Silvershore to pay half-price rent while using space heaters and electric coil burners in lieu of gas. But willingness to make concessions on living conditions can also delineate class boundaries. Id gladly rather pay half rent then have an oven," says Peacock. "But thats a very specific privilege.

Peacock says he doubts Silvershore will offer him a renewal when his lease is up on September 1st, which they don't have to do as his apartment is unregulated. The building still had no cooking gas at the end of March.

Olga Naranjo, who operates a small real estate brokerage, notary, accounting and tax firm on the first floor of the same building, is named in a lawsuit from Silvershore demanding she pay $525,000 in damages for having a below market-rate commercial lease until 2021. Naranjo says that after the landlord bought the building in 2016 there was a bleak period when it was abandoned while renovations on the rest of the apartments continued. The garbage piled up until stray dogs became a serious problem.

No one was taking care of the building. I dealt with the garbage and shoveled the snow, because the management was not sending anyone.



Dominica Goris and Gloria Nieves speak with two of their neighbors about the problems in the building (Georgia Kromrei / Gothamist)

The Ridgewood tenants see their response to Silvershores abusive practices as a step toward wresting control of affordable housing from an industry that has outsize influence over the political system.

In 2016, ProPublica found that rent stabilized properties are often pitched as being more attractive to prospective buyers because deregulating those apartments is so easy and profitable under the current laws. Landlords are able to raise rents by 20 percent whenever there is a vacancy and deregulate apartments when the rent is over $2700 using vacancy decontrol. Advocates say vacancy decontrol, signed into law in 1994 by the New York City Council, is the main engine for the destabilization of a third of the citys stabilized housing in the last 25 years.

In 2018, the real estate industry donated $13.4 million to New York political candidates at the state and local levels, and spent another $10.7 million on lobbying politicians, according to data from nonprofit Follow the Money.org. But the tenant movement is also flexing its muscles in Queens and elsewhere, with the recent defeat of the Amazon deal after opposition from grassroots organizations including the Ridgewood Tenants Union.

The Ridgewood Tenants Union is part of Housing Justice For All, a broader coalition calling for a radical overhaul of New Yorks rent laws when they expire in June. The coalitions demands focus on universal rent control, which would include expanding rent regulation to the rest of the state, along with seven other pieces of legislation such as State Senator Julia Salazars "just cause" eviction billwhich would prevent landlords from evicting nearly any tenant for non-payment of an unreasonable rent increase, effectively extending rent regulation protections to all city tenantsplus legislation to end MCIs and vacancy decontrol.

At a tenant meeting on March 12th, Namuche cautioned the Silvershore tenants that lobbying lawmakers in Albany may not yield immediate improvements in their living conditions. Still, the tenants discussed what would happen if rent regulation were renewed and expanded.

The tenants of 1708 Summerfield are planning to take their complaints to the streets on April 13th, when they will march from the other Silvershore buildings in Ridgewood to their own in a show of support for their neighbors.

Gloria Nieves, a Section 8 tenant, said at the meeting that without unity, the landlords will continue to leverage the power they already have to pursue profits. And Nieves worried that another winter without heat will prove disastrous for tenants like Estevez and her son Julian.

If we dont all stand together like a chain, the landlord will do whatever he wants," said Nieves. "But if [politicians] are making deals with Amazon, they also have to listen to us."
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Zanu-PF President and First Secretary, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has commended efforts by the ruling party in assisting communities affected by Cyclone Idai.The cyclone left a trail of destruction in Chimanimani and Chipinge. The President commended the ruling party during yesterday's 327th ordinary session of the Politburo.Addressing a press conference on the Politburo proceedings, Zanu-PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Simon Khaya Moyo said President Mnangagwa warned against indiscipline and corruption."In his opening remarks His Excellency the President expressed the importance of the party to be ever vibrant and be visible in every part of the country," he said."Introspection is the key, hard and honesty must remain the compass. "His Excellency also highlighted the effects of the Cyclone Idai and commended the party for its role in assisting in all disaster of affected areas. He warned on indiscipline and corruption. He further called for unity of purpose and emphasised that party programmes must have a national outlook."Sithembiso Nyoni, who was standing in for Secretary of Transport and Social Welfare July Moyo, gave a report to the Politburo on Cyclone Idai."On behalf of July, who is Secretary for Transport and Social Welfare and also the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, the Secretary for Business Liaison Sithembiso Nyoni gave a comprehensive report on the Cyclone Idai disaster which has been covered extensively by all media houses so far," said Khaya Moyo."Government and the international community have given tremendous assistance to all the affected areas and His Excellency on behalf of the nation has extended his deepest gratitude to all concerned. The aid continues to pour in."Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Obert Mpofu gave a comprehensive departmental report which was discussed at length, and recommendations to strengthen party programmes were made and welcomed."His Excellency clearly made his observations and advised on the way forward which were applauded by the Politburo," said Khaya Moyo. The Politburo also received a report from the Secretary for Finance Patrick Chinamasa on the ongoing inter-party dialogue."The Political Commissar Engelbert Rugeje presented his commissariat report," said Khaya Moyo."He informed the Politburo that the restructuring exercise for the dissolved Harare and Bulawayo provincial executives was on-going well."The report also covered the ongoing Presidential meet the people rallies and Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology encompassing the training the trainer programme."Khaya Moyo said the Politburo discussed a presentation on the party's media strategy which he presented and was welcomed after comprehensive discussion.Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, who is the Secretary for External Relations, presented a report on the recently held Sadc Solidarity Summit for the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic which has been colonised by Morocco since 1975.
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A 38-YEAR-OLD man who is based in Canada has appeared in court for allegedly habitually raping his sister-in-law between 2014 and 2018 in Bulawayo.The accused person allegedly started abusing the victim when she was 14-years-old. He used to allegedly rape her every holiday when he would have visited the country from Canada.The accused person appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mr Franklin Mkhwananzi who remanded him in custody to April 1 for provision of a trial date. He applied for bail but is still waiting for a response.Prosecuting, Mr Mufaro Mageza said the man would leave his wife, who is the girl's sister, sleeping and sneak into the minor's room to abuse her."During one of the nights in August 2014, the complainant was sleeping in her bedroom as usual, while her sister and the husband were in their own bedroom."At about midnight, the accused person entered complainant's bedroom and ordered her to undress."She refused but he went on to forcibly remove her undergarments," said Mr Mageza.It was not clear if the accused person used protection when he allegedly raped the complainant.The accused person used to stay in Canada where he was employed and every time he came to visit his family in Zimbabwe he would forcibly have sexual intercourse with the complainant several times on different occasions, the court heard.The complainant did not tell anyone about the matter until October 2018 when she informed her pastor who informed the complainant's mother of the abuse. When the mother interviewed her child on the matter, she refused to have the matter reported to the police because she did not want to destroy her sister's marriage and that she was afraid that the accused person would stop supporting her family."On March 20, the complainant's sister heard that she had been abused by the accused person. She decided to report the matter to the police leading to the accused's arrest," said the prosecutor.The complainant was taken to hospital where she was examined and her medical report was produced in court as an exhibit.
News / National

by Staff reporter

SANCTIONS imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States of America and its allies are undermining the new dispensation's efforts of international community re-engagement, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.Officially opening the 32nd Session of the Zimbabwe-Zambia Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security in Victoria Falls, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Cain Mathema said world security, Zimbabwe included, is under threat from US dominance."We're meeting at a time when global security is under threat from dominant tendencies by the United States which is seeking to impose its will on the global order by imposing economic sanctions on other countries."Zimbabwe has been a victim of such sanctions imposed by America under the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) and these sanctions continue to undermine the New Dispensation's foreign policy thrust of engagement and re-engagement as well as international dialogue," said Minister Mathema.He said common threats to Africa besides USA supremacy, include transnational crimes such as poaching, illegal migration, smuggling of minerals and climate change."I encourage officials to come up with strategies that will strengthen our co-operation in the fight against retrogressive forces in our country as well as transnational organised crime such as smuggling of precious minerals, poaching and human trafficking that threaten peace and security in the two republics," said Minister Mathema.Minister Mathema, who co-chaired the meeting with Zambia Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo called for unity among African states to uphold democratic principles.He commended African states for holding peaceful, free and fair elections in their respective countries."As we meet this year we're proud to note that Sadc countries continue to promote democracy through the holding of free and fair elections as recently witnessed in Madagascar and DRC."We remain hopeful that the upcoming elections in South Africa, Malawi, Botswana and Namibia will be peaceful, free, fair and credible in line with Sadc principles and guidelines governing the conduct of democratic elections," added Minister Mathema.He said meetings such as the Joint Permanent Commission are important platforms for bi-lateral relations.Minister Mathema said Zimbabwe and Zambia enjoy cordial relations dating back to the liberation struggle. He paid tribute to the sacrifice, love, warmth, support and solidarity of the Zambian people which has continued even in the new political dispensation led by President Mnangagwa.Minister Mathema said Zimbabwe will always be indebted to support rendered to it by other countries. Minister Kampyongo echoed the same sentiments and commended Sadc countries for their commitment to democracy. He said despite efforts by Zimbabwe and Zambia to fight off security threats, the two countries continue to face common cross border threats such as illegal migration, poaching and smuggling which threaten their peace and stability."I'm encouraged by the level of co-operation that our defence and security institutions have continued to enjoy as we endeavour to achieve aspirations of our people. It's for this reason that I wish to encourage delegates to take advantage of our platform to strengthen bilateral relations. Members of this commission will rise to the challenges so that perpetrators are brought to book to combat these threats," he said.Minister Kampyongo said the region can achieve security goals by continuously revising its approach and remaining vigilant to the ever growing threats. He said Zimbabwe has a brighter future in the hands of President Mnangagwa who he said showed patriotism during and after the July 2018 harmonised elections.Minister Kampyongo said Zambia, which is the outgoing chair of the Sadc Organ on Politics Defence and Security Troika is making frantic efforts to join other disaster response stakeholders in helping victims of the disaster in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique. The official opening ceremony started with a moment of silence in honour of victims of Cyclone Idai.Present at the meeting were Defence and War Veterans Deputy Minister Victor Matemadanda, Permanent Secretary in the same Ministry Mr Martin Rushwaya, Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs in Zambia Dr Chileshe Mulenga and Zambia's Ambassador to Zimbabwe Emmanuel Chenda. There were also service chiefs and senior security officials from the two countries.
News / National

by Staff reportwr

Jerifanos Muganyi (48) and his wife Mercy Muganyi (41) of House Number 216 Rutenga, were on Wednesday, March 20 arraigned before Mwenezi Magistrates' Court facing a charge of hiring a Beitbridge-based gang to kidnap a police officer and another man whom they accused of stealing their cattle.The kidnapped officer, Charles Masawi is based at Mwenezi police station but is currently a prosecutor attache at the court.The couple and the gang of four men; Munashe Chisvino (23), Tichaona Chimoto (22), Treason Chimoto (28) and Prosper Chitavati (28) were not formally charged when they made their initial appearance.Magistrate Honest Musiiwa remanded all of them in custody and their case was referred to Masvingo Magistrates' Court where it will be heard on April 4.It is the State case that on March 18, 2019 the couple hired the four and went to the South African town of Louis Trichardt where they abducted Talent Moyo who had fled there last year after allegedly stealing the cattle.The accused smuggled Moyo through the Beitbridge border after severely assaulting him.Upon reaching Rutenga the following day at around 05:00hrs, the six left Moyo at Muganyi's homestead and went to Masawi's place of residence where they requested him to come out.They accused Masawi of facilitating Moyo's escape from lawful custody sometime in 2018 before bundling him into their vehicle after tying his hands and legs with a rope and taking him to Muganyi's homestead.Masawi's landlord, Nhamo Nyamana alerted the police about the incident after he became suspicious with the way the complainant was taken.A team of detectives found the tied-up Masawi still inside the vehicle at Muganyi's vehicle, leading to the arrest of the suspects.Nancy Makuvise is representing the State.
News / National

by Staff reporter

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has chosen High Court judge, Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo (pictured), who is also Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo's wife, to be the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) chairperson in a development that has sparked outrage in parliament.Mnangagwa last week wrote to the Standing Rules and Orders Committee (SROC) of parliament informing it of his decision to appoint Matanda-Moyo as Zacc chairperson.Some MPs, however, raised tconcerns of partiality since her husband is a cabinet minister and retired lieutenant-general, who played a prominent role in Mnangagwa's rise to power when he announced and became the face of the military coup that toppled former president Robert Mugabe in November 2017.They argued that her appointment would compromise the credibility of Zacc.Officials from the Justice ministry confirmed the development this week saying Mnangagwa's letter went through clerk of parliament Kennedy Chokuda and was relayed to Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda, in his capacity as chairperson of the SROC.Zanu-PF and MDC chief whips Pupurai Togarepi and Prosper Mutseyami are part of the 26-member SROC."The president wrote a letter to parliament informing them of his decision to appoint Justice Matanda-Moyo as Zacc chair. The letter was sent via Chokuda's office," a government source said.The development comes as the committee is in the middle of selecting eight other members of the commission from a large pool of 130 applicants vying for the posts.These include former newspaper editors Geoffrey Nyarota and Tommy Sithole; former clerk of parliament Austin Zvoma and ex-MDC MPs Jessie Majome, Gabriel Chaibva and Blessing Chebundo.Mnangagwa dissolved the previous anti-graft body chaired by Job Whabira in January this year following claims of ineffectiveness and corruption by the very commissioners.Mnangagwa has pledged to deal with rampant corruption in the country, although critics dismiss it as lip service.Of the 130 names, the SROC will shortlist 12 for interviews.According to Section 254 of the constitution, the chairperson of the commission is not subjected to such scrutiny as he or she is "appointed by the president after consultation with the committee on Standing Rules and Orders."Mnangagwa's decision has, however, left the committee sharply divided after some of the members argued that she was not the most suitable candidate because she is married to the Foreign Affairs minister.The MPs expressed their reservations at a meeting at parliament on Tuesday last week.According to sources who attended the meeting, MDC members of the SROC argued that Matanda-Moyo's appointment would raise serious questions about her impartiality since her husband was a cabinet minister.An MP who sits in the SROC said: "Mudenda read the letter to us and afterwards there was a heated debate over the issue and when Mudenda realised that he was losing the debate amid fierce resistance from MDC MPs who felt that the appointment would be inappropriate, he decided to put the matter to vote."MDC legislators then requested for more time to research on Matanda-Moyo, but Mudenda stuck to his guns and ordered the vote to proceed. The reason for his stance was that he had been given the instruction to ensure that she is approved immediately. MDC MPs abstained from the vote, but Zanu-PF MPs went ahead and unanimously approved of her."Chokuda and Mudenda declined to comment on the matter this week."Communication between the president and parliament is strictly confidential, therefore I cannot comment on that letter. We are not allowed to discuss correspondence between the president and parliament," Chokuda said.Mudenda charged: "Why don't you talk to your sources on that matter? I am not going to talk about it, so talk to your sources."Matanda-Moyo has been a High Court judge since 2013Before her appointment as a High Court judge, Matanda-Moyo was the president of the Labour Court and at one stage, she was director of public prosecutions in the Attorney-General's Office.
News / National

by Staff reporter

At least 16 suspected bodies were identified in Ngangu area in Chimanimani on the first search day since the arrival of sniffer dogs in the area on Thursday.Optimism of recovering more bodies trapped under the rubbles is getting high with each passing day in Ngangu as on Thursday at least 16 spots suspected to be holding human bodies were identified.Search and Recovery Team Leader Justin Colbert who is leading a team of six experts and two sniffer dogs said the progress made so far is encouraging despite the fact that huge stones and massive debris is slowing their pace."16 suspected bodies were identified today and with the right support we are receiving, we hope to find more," said Colbert.Mr Colbert thanked government agencies and community members for uniting towards one cause saying the support they have received so far is overwhelming.Chimanimani East legislator Joshua Sacco commended the good work being done on the ground and has appealed to government and private partners to assist with earth-moving machines to recover the bodies from the identified spots."We are now appealing to government to make available recovery machines to rescue the identified bodies," said Honourable Sacco.The 12-member search and recovery delegation is working across all the affected regions in the country while the rest of the team totalling 60 members are carrying similar task in Mozambique.
Legendary Filmmaker Agnes Varda Has Died At 90

Agnes Varda, the trailblazing French filmmaker who was instrumental in the French New Wave movement, passed away March 29 at her home in Paris. She was 90 years old. A spokeswoman from her production company, Cine-Tamaris, confirmed her death from a short battle with breast cancer, The New York Times reports.

Born Arlette Varda on May 30th, 1928 in Ixelles, Belgium to a Greek father and a French mother, Varda's family relocated to Sete, France in 1940. She changed her name to Agnes at 18. After studying art history at the Ecole du Louvre and photography at the Ecole des Beux-Arts, she worked as a photographer at the Theatre National Populaire in Paris.

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Vardas early films cemented her reputation as a feminist and cutting-edge filmmaker. La Pointe Courte, her first film, was released in 1956. Both a stylized depiction of the complicated relationship between a married couple and a documentary-like look at the daily struggles of the locals, the film is considered to the unofficial first film of the French New Wave and informed the narrative and visual styles of directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut and Alain Resnais, who edited La Pointe Courte.

Varda preferred a documentary style for her films, often using regular people as actors, still images and narratives that build in complexity and intensity. Her second film Cleo From 5 to 7 from 1962 taps into viewers existential dread, as it depicts a slice in time where a woman awaits determining results from her doctor.

Cleo From 5 to 7 was part of the Left Bank movement, a politically driven by-product of the New Wave that was less referential and more focused on the experimental limits of cinema, The Atlantic reports. Varda referred to her style as cinecriture or writing on film, in which she combined literature, photography and cinema.

T. Jefferson Kline, a French professor at Boston University and editor of Agnes Varda: Interviews, told The New York Times, She was very clear about her feeling that the New Wave was a mans club and that as a woman it was hard for producers to back her. She obviously was not pleased that as a woman filmmaker she had so much trouble getting produced. She went to Los Angeles with her husband, and she said when she came back to France it was like she didnt exist.

She took a break from her career after the birth of her son, but told actress Mireille Amiel in a 1975 interview that despite my joy, I couldnt help resenting the brakes put on my work and my travels. To cope with feelings of stagnancy, she has a 300 foot electric line for her camera and microphone running from her home which she used to interview people on Rue Daguerre. The end product was her 1976 film Daguerreotypes.

The appreciation for Vardas work as only grown throughout decades. She received a Palme dhonneur from the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and in 2017 she was awarded an Oscar for lifetime achievement. She interwove important social themes with her art, particularly focusing on the role of women. All life is borders. Language borders, ethnic borders, etc. and in cinema, I tried to erase borders, or make them smooth: between documentary and fiction; black and white and color; cinema and art, she said in a 2015 Criterion Collection interview. At the 2018 BFI in London she told the audience, I wanted to invent cinema, and be happy to be a woman. I wanted to be a radical.

Header photo courtesy of Harald Krichel via Wikimedia Commons

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Hi there! Im a comedian, writer and actress living in New York City. Im the only person to have a subscription to Nickelodeon Magazine without access to the Nickelodeon channel. My favorite movie is George Of The Jungle. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @stonecoldvolpe and check out my website francescavolpe.com for more of my writing and silly videos!
Several options are already in place to ease the way for first-time buyers. Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Across the UK, there are a number of different schemes on offer designed to help first-time buyers step onto the property ladder in what is an expensive housing market for many people.

These schemes vary in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. But several are similar and no matter where you are in the UK there is support available to first-time buyers.

Heres whats out there and how they work.

Shared ownership

Under shared ownership, you buy a portion of a property and pay rent on the part you dont own. Shares start as low as 25%, which reduces the deposit you need to buy a home.

Once you are in, you can staircase the portion you own bit by bit as your income grows and you are able to afford a larger mortgage.

Help to buy: equity loan

This government-run scheme offers first-time buyers in England a loan of up to 20% of a propertys value, which is interest-free for the first five years.

Not only does this reduce borrowing costs for first-time buyers, but it also means they only need a 5% deposit to secure the rest of what they need as mortgage.

A similar scheme is available in Wales and Scotland, though the Scottish version only offers a loan of up to 15%.

Help to buy: ISA

Another branch of the help to buy scheme is an ISA available at a variety of banks. With a help to buy ISA, for every 200 you save the government will add 50.

The maximum the government will add is 3,000. But that is a significant boost to your savings if youre working towards a deposit.

Starter homes

In England, the much-anticipated starter homes scheme is due to to begin soon and you can register your interest online.

It will offer first-time buyers a 20% discount on new-build homes in participating developments up to a maximum of 250,000 outside of London and 450,000 within the city.

Rent to buy

The scheme enables aspiring buyers to live in a rented property for five years paying below the market rent, which is subsidised by the government.

This gives the renter the financial space to save for a deposit.

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At the end of the five years, the renter must buy all or part of the property (under shared ownership). If they choose not to buy the property, they must move out.

Right to buy

Though Scotland and Wales have scrapped the Thatcher-era scheme, and Northern Irelands version is alive but under review, the right to buy for council tenants is still in operation in England.

If you live in a council home you may be eligible to buy it subject to certain criteria and conditions.

You might even be eligible if your home is no longer owned by the council but is still social housing.

And if youre a housing association tenant, you might be able to buy your property under the right to acquire, which works in a similar way to right to buy.
Road sign warning of a risk ahead

I last wrote on junior renewable energy utility Polaris Infrastructure (TSX:PIF) in early October 2018. Since then, it has lost 2%, trailing behind its larger industry peers such as Brookfield Renewable Partners, which gained 7% over that period. While there is a range of risks associated with Polariss operations, its long-term outlook remains positive and this decline in value has created an opportunity for risk-tolerant investors.

Recent acquisition diversifies its portfolio

Polaris owns and operates the San Jacinto geothermal power plant located in Nicaragua, which has net installed capacity of 72 megawatts (MW). In late 2018, the utility completed the acquisition of Union Energy Group, which added that companys hydro-assets to Polariss portfolio.

These assets were the five MW Canchayllo hydro plant, which has been in operation since 2015, as well as the Generacion Andina and Karpa projects; upon completion, they will boost Polariss installed capacity by 48 MW. The Generacion Andina development is forecast to be completed by the end of 2019, whereas in the case of Karpa construction has yet to commence.

That deal reduced Polariss dependence on its Nicaraguan business, thereby mitigating some of the risk associated with its operations.

High degree of geopolitical risk

The significant geopolitical risk connected to operating in Nicaragua has been weighing on the companys stock; the stock has been roughly handled by the market and is down by 37% over the last year. Nicaragua has been deeply embroiled in a political crisis which was sparked in April 2018 by government attempts at pension reform and led to protests that saw over 325 people lose their lives. This has tipped the Latin American nation into recession.

Economists believe that Nicaraguas gross domestic product (GDP) will contract by around 2% during 2019 and then the economy will return to growth in 2020 with it expected to expand by around 1%. That recession coupled with heightened political risk is the key reason for Polaris losing 37% over the last year.

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Aside from the obvious political risks, the contraction of the economy will lead to lower demand for electricity because there is a direct correlation between GDP growth and consumption of energy.

Growing earnings

For 2018, Polaris reported solid financial results, including a 15% year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA to US$57.8 million and net income grew sevenfold to US$12 million. That notable increase in earnings was driven by an 11% year-over-year increase in average electricity generation.

The completion of the acquisition of Union Energy will give Polariss earnings a further lift during 2018 because of the addition of the operational five MW Canchayllo hydro plant. That growth will continue into 2020, as the Generacion Andina plants are completed and brought online by the end of this year. This  along with rising demand for electricity in Peru, where the economy is forecast by the International Monetary Fund to expand by over 4% in 2019 and 2020  bodes well for further earnings growth.

Robust balance sheet

Polaris possesses a solid balance sheet. The company finished 2018 with almost US$38 million in cash and net debt of US$173 million, which is a very manageable three times its annual adjusted EBITDA. This means Polaris is well positioned to continue funding the construction of the Generacion Andina assets and to evaluate whether it will progress development of the Karpa operation.

Is it time to buy Polaris?

Despite possessing many positive attributes, Polaris is a risky investment. The risk has been magnified by recent events in its core market of Nicaragua. It is likely that its stock will remain under pressure until there are signs that the political and economic crisis in the Latin American nation is easing.

There are, however, as discussed, a range of positive catalysts that will lift earnings and ultimately Polariss market value. While investors wait for that to occur they will be rewarded by the utilitys regular quarterly dividend yielding a very tasty 7%. That dividend, which, for 2018, had a payout ratio of 78%, appears sustainable, especially when it is considered that Polariss earnings will continue to grow at a healthy clip.

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Fool contributor Matt Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Polaris Infrastructure Inc. Brookfield Renewable Partners is a recommendation of Dividend Investor Canada.

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
While New York City Council members Ritchie Torres and Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr. may be light years apart on matters of policy, there's now one thing these Bronx politicians have in common: both are considering bids for the 15th congressional district seat held by Rep. Jose Serrano.

In the few short days since Serrano announced his plans to retire at the end of this term, citing a diagnosis of Parkinsons disease, the chattering class has bandied about names of possible candidates to succeed the 16-term representative. Many of these conversations are still in very preliminary stages with more names likely to emerge. But with a primary set for June 2020 that will likely decide the next representative in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans 20 to 1, this week ushered in a conversation thats set to bring generational change to a very underserved part of the city.

The district spans 14.5 square miles in the South Bronx and includes the neighborhoods of Soundview, Hunts Point, Mott Haven, Morisannia, West Bronx and Fordham Heightshome to both Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Zoo. The population is 67 percent Hispanic with a median household income of just over $29,000. Its often referred to as one of the poorest districts in the nation.

Even before Serranos statement on Monday, City Council member Ritchie Torres filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission creating an exploratory committee for the seat. Torres, 31, is the youngest and first openly gay elected official from the Bronx. Hes championed public housing and mental health particularly for the LGBT community. His candidacy would mark a generational shift for the district with a likely emphasis on progressive policies.

Since filing with the FEC, Torres has hit pause on additional comments about his political career.

.@RepJoseSerrano is an icon who honorably served the #Bronx for years & I thank him for his long service to our community. pic.twitter.com/CdX6IU2FiQ  Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) March 25, 2019

Council member Diaz, 75, also made noise about a possible run for the seat on Wednesday. Speaking to WNYC, he said hes seriously considering a run to represent, conservative Democrats...a kind of population that's not too much to the left.

Last month, in an emotional vote, the Council stripped Diaz of his committee chairmanship after he refused to apologize for saying the body was, controlled by the homosexual community. Diaz has a long history of inflammatory remarks, but has weathered controversy throughout a lengthy career in both the State Senate and Council marked by consistent positions against abortion and LGBT rights.

Assemblyman Michael Blake, who ran unsuccessfully in last months special election for Public Advocate, and State Senator Gustavo Rivera both confirmed theyre also considering a run for the seat.

For state elected officials, the decision to toss ones hat in the ring comes with greater risk. Unlike years past where a state official could run in a federal primary without risking his or her seat, the state and federal primaries are now consolidated to one day in June. This means a state official will need to choose to run for either state or federal office.

Noticeably absent from this initial list were the names of womena fact that did not go unnoticed by Brette McSweeney, president of Eleanors Legacy, a nonprofit organization that trains Democratic women to run for elected office.

Currently, there are only eight women in New York States 27-member congressional delegation. McSweeney said this opening in the Bronx creates an opportunity to reimagine who should be a leader in New York, likening it to how Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shook up the old guard in the neighboring Bronx and Queens district.

McSweeney tweeted one alternativeand in a follow up conversation namechecked half a dozen other women including City Council member Vanessa Gibson, the only woman in the Bronxs City Council delegation.

Wishing the best to Congressman and his family.



This is a time of big change for the South Bronx.



A woman who knows district is the former district director and community liaison @AmandaSeptimo. #electwomen https://t.co/lSnMraO9qK  Eleanor's Legacy (@eleanorslegacy) March 26, 2019

Amanda Septimo ran for a State Assembly seat last fall in a long-shot bid against incumbent Carmen Arroyo. While she lost in both the primary and general election, she made a strong impression in the district.

She acquitted herself well in that race, said Michael Benjamin, a former Bronx Assemblyman and member of the NYPost editorial board, People like her.

Septimo, a 28-year-old community activist who used to be Serranos district director, confirmed she is getting calls urging her to run, though she hasn't made any decision yet. She did say she looked forward to a spirited conversation that would bring attention to issues like how to preserve affordability in neighborhoods like Hunts Point and how the federal government can finally address the persistent problems at places like the Patterson Houses, a NYCHA development with a litany of complaints.

She is not the only one getting calls. Community activist Samelys Lopez, who grew up in the district and recently spoke at the district inauguration for Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, is also picking up buzz among grassroots activists.

In a Facebook post for the Northwest Bronx Democrats, Amelia Maldonado praised Lopez for her work with seniors in the community. I am not into politics at all...but...when a person is there...for the community...it should be recognized and applauded.

Brigid Bergin is the City Hall and politics reporter for WNYC. You can follow her on Twitter at @brigidbergin.
By Rania El Gamal, Dmitry Zhdannikov and Olesya Astakhova

DUBAI/LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is having a hard time convincing Russia to stay much longer in an OPEC-led pact cutting oil supply, and Moscow may agree only to a three-month extension, three sources familiar with the matter said.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told his Saudi counterpart Khalid al-Falih when the two met in Baku this month that he cannot guarantee an extension to the end of 2019, the sources said.

"Novak told Falih that he will extend in June but can only do it until the end of September as he is under too much pressure internally to end the cuts," a source familiar with Russian oil policy said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other non-OPEC producers - an alliance known as OPEC+ - agreed in December to reduce oil supply by 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1 for six months.

"We can extend for three months when we meet in June and then see if we need to extend later," an OPEC source said.

"We really don't know now, and we may not know until the last minute before we meet in June, whether the Russians will stay."

The OPEC+ alliance was formed in 2017. Since its inception, oil prices have doubled to more than $60 per barrel - mainly as a result of a series of production cuts by its members.

Should Russia pull out of the latest agreement on cutting output, oil prices would drop.

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members could be forced to consider continuing the cuts alone if Russia opted not to stay, the OPEC source said.

It was unclear whether Russia's tough stance was a negotiation tactic or a real threat to quit the agreement as Novak faces mounting pressure from Russian oil companies that no longer want curbs on their production, the sources said.

Igor Sechin, head of Russian oil giant Rosneft and an ally of Vladimir Putin, told the Russian president that the deal with OPEC is a strategic threat and plays into the hands of the United States, Reuters reported in February.

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On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump called for an OPEC production boost to lower oil prices.

There is no guarantee Putin will back Sechin's view. The president sees the pact with OPEC as part of a bigger puzzle involving dialogue with OPEC's de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, over Syria and other geopolitical issues.

But Russia knows Saudi Arabia wants oil at a minimum $70 a barrel for its budget requirements, while Moscow needs just $55 a barrel to balance its books, the sources said.

Moscow has always kept its cards close to its chest when it comes to extending supply agreements with OPEC, only to agree later to what Riyadh has advocated.

"Russia and Saudi Arabia are both bluffing now and are trying to play the same card that we saw in December," a Russian industry source said.

"Novak is threatening to end the deal, but later he will ask Putin for permission to extend the cut."

This month, OPEC and its allies scrapped a planned meeting in April. They will decide instead whether to extend output cuts in June, once the market has assessed the impact of new U.S. sanctions on Iran due in May.

Russia was among the countries that recommended cancelling the April meeting, OPEC sources said.

(Editing by Dale Hudson)
Canada has asked the United Nations for an extension of two weeks to decide whether to keep its peacekeepers and helicopters on the ground in Mali beyond its July 31 departure date.

In a letter dated Feb. 26, the UN urges the Liberal government to continue providing critical evacuation and logistical support to the UN mission in Mali until Romanian replacements are on the ground on Oct. 15. The letter also asked for a formal response by March 22  last Friday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government replied with a request of its own. It asked for a two-week extension, according to two UN officials familiar with the dossier.

Ottawa is contributing two CH-147 Chinook transport helicopters for logistical support and medical evacuations, as well as four armed CH-146 Griffon helicopters to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission Mali (MINUSMA).

It also has up to 250 flight crew, medics and support personnel working out of MINUSMA's base in Gao, in northeast Mali.

In the letter, obtained by CBC News, the UN asks Canada to maintain full capacity until mid-September which would include transporting troops and supplies, then scale back to provide strictly medical evacuations for the final month until the new aviation unit arrives from Romania.

Bucharest will deploy four IAR 330L Puma medium-utility helicopters to Gao, which can be armed for self-defence purposes.

Canadian planes are 'quite valuable for us'

Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the head MINUSMA, said it would be "a shame" if the Canadians left before the Romanians are in theatre.

Helicopters are critical to the success of any peacekeeping operation but especially the UN stabilization mission in Mali, said Annadif.

Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press

MINUSMA troops are dealing with a vast and diverse terrain as well as terrorist threats which show no sign of abating, creating new offshoots of violence among non-jihadist groups. The UN said the fight against violent extremism is being used as a pretext by ethnic militia groups to go after unrelated threats  real and perceived.

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On Saturday, gunmen attacked a predominantly Muslim village in Central Mali killing more than 150 people, one-third of them children.

Launched in 2013, MINUSMA is the deadliest current UN mission, with more than 190 peacekeepers killed.

Annadif said the Canadian air assets come with a military capability and an operational flexibility that private contractors don't have in conflict zones.

''The Canadian helicopters have the advantage of night flight capability and they come already configured with medical equipment and personnel,'' said Annadif.

They are also called upon to help civilians and aid workers in Mali, which means they are in the air every two or three days on average, according to Annadif. ''So really these are planes which are quite valuable for us.''

Murray Brewster/CBC

While Ottawa is supplying transport and evacuation capabilities, the small Central American nation of El Salvador has three U.S.-built MD500 attack helicopters flying out of Gao, providing ground troops with aerial cover.

The deputy military adviser at El Salvador's mission to the UN said his country, which has been in Mali since 2015, will be staying on to work with the Romanians. El Salvadorian officials hope Canada will stay on a little longer.

"We have a very good teamwork," said El Salvador's Lt.-Col. Franklin Rodas about operating alongside Canadian peacekeepers.

After Saturday's attack in Mali's Mopti region, the UN said MINUSMA provided air support to deter further attacks and assisted with the evacuation of the injured.

Peacekeeping summit

Canada is co-chairing an international peacekeeping summit which gets underway at UN headquarters in New York City Friday. Some 45 defence and foreign affairs ministers are scheduled to speak, including Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

According to a document shared with member states ahead of the gathering, MINUSMA is currently facing several critical operational gaps. Among the shortfalls, it needs helicopter units at its bases in Kidal and Mopti, 200 mine-resistant vehicles, and a francophone police unit in the capital, Bamako.

Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press

There is speculation at the UN on whether Canada will use the peacekeeping pledging conference to make a formal announcement regarding its future in Mali.

Despite the UN plea, and political pressure at home with the NDP insisting the helicopters remain until replacements arrive, the Liberal government has remained steadfast in its assertion the mission will end in July.

Following a request from CBC News, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said Ottawa welcomed Romania's pledge.

"Canada is making a difference in the region through the Air Task Force with the UN peace operation in Mali currently," Global Affairs said. "We look forward to continuing to work with the UN, Romania and many other allies to ensure a smooth transition in 2019.''
BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom is still confident of winning the approval of U.S. regulators for U.S. unit T-Mobile's $26 billion deal to take over Sprint, CEO Tim Hoettges said on Thursday. "I think this deal is good for America and that we, at the end of the day, will win approval for the transaction," Hoettges told the German company's annual general meeting. Updating shareholders, Hoettges said the clock on a 180-day review of the deal was currently stopped with 58 days to go. The clock would be started again on April 4. In other comments, Hoettges said he was confident that a turnaround at Deutsche Telekom's troubled IT services arm T-Systems was on track. Deutsche Telekom had no plans, meanwhile, to remove a minority stake in Britain's BT from its pension fund, CFO Christian Illek told shareholders. Deutsche Telekom has said in the past that the 12 percent stake in BT is a passive holding. (Reporting by Nadine Schimroszik; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Thomas Seythal)
(Adds comments on Maduro, BRICS ties with Russia and China)

By Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA, March 28 (Reuters) - The Russian troops sent to Venezuela should leave if their purpose is to maintain the country's leftist government in power, Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said on Thursday.

In an interview with Reuters, Araujo said he hoped Russia would recognize that propping up President Nicolas Maduro would only deepen the collapse of Venezuela's economy and society, and that the only way out of the crisis was to hold elections under an interim government led by opposition leader Juan Guaido.

"If their idea is to keep Maduro in power for longer that means more people starving and fleeing the country, more human tragedy in Venezuela," the minister said.

"Anything that contributes to the continuation of the suffering of the Venezuelan people should be removed," he said in a telephone interview.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Russia to pull its troops from Venezuela and said that "all options" were open to make that happen.

Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government has joined a U.S.-led operation to get humanitarian aid into Venezuela, said the Brazilian armed forces have no intention of intervening militarily in the neighboring country.

The arrival of two Russian air force planes outside Caracas on Saturday believed to be carrying nearly 100 Russian special forces and cybersecurity personnel has escalated the political crisis in Venezuela. Russia said on Thursday they were "specialists" sent to Venezuela under a military cooperation agreement and were staying put.

Araujo said the presence of Russian soldiers in Venezuela was a sign of the weakness of Maduro. "If he needs to bring troops from abroad, it is clear that his own armed forces are not totally with him and not able to keep repressing the Venezuelan people," he said.

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Brazil would like to discuss the Venezuelan crisis bilaterally with Russia and China, its partners in the BRICS group of largest emerging markets economies, to convince them that a diplomatic transition in the oil-producing nation might be in their best interest too, he said.

With the Lima Group of countries recognizing Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, Brazil is now focusing on getting his representatives recognized in international organizations instead of Maduro's, Araujo said, as happened recently at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Despite having differing views of the world, Araujo said the Brazilian government is looking to cooperate on trade and many other issues with Russia and China, whose presidents will attend a BRICS summit in Brazil in November.

A top priority for the Bolsonaro government is to expand agricultural exports worldwide, and particularly to China, Brazil's biggest customer, he said. Araujo plans to visit China with Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias in May.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Lisa Shumaker)
Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson said provincial support for the La Ronge Detox Centre is welcome, but that while detox is "vital" to the community, it is only one component of healing.

The Saskatchewan government put more money toward mental health and addictions in its latest provincial budget.

A $300,000 chunk of that is going toward nursing support at a northern Saskatchewan detox centre.

"The La Ronge Detox Centre is a vital service for people that are dealing with addictions within our communities," Cook-Searson said.

"It'll be good to have skilled registered nurse to be on call 24/7. I'm not sure if it's 365 days a year, but it's a welcome addition."

Cook-Searson said there are a multitude of social issues in the community and they're always trying to provide better help.

Drug and alcohol addictions are widespread. Cook-Searson said the community is also struggling with complications caused by a housing shortage.

"When you have overcrowded housing it also gets into [tuberculosis]," she said, adding high rates of HIV, AIDS and other STIs persist.

"We have family violence. We have sexual abuse. There's the effects from the residential schools, Sixties Scoop."

She said the community is trying to rebuild families and get people back to the land.

"The land is healing, and then when you're out there doing stuff in nature there's a lot of healing that goes on  even just looking at the waves in the water," she said.

Facebook

She said they're working against the stigma that exists around mental health while encouraging hope among community members.

"We continue to have high rates of suicide and, you know, that continues to concern us."

Building a mental health hub

Cook-Searson said the detox centre is only one component of tackling addictions.

She's looking forward to the construction of a Lac La Ronge Wellness, Healing and Recovery Centre. The federal government is contributing $11.6 million to the mental health hub, while the province has put in $2.5 million and the band $2 million.

Story continues

She said it will offer western medicine while also embracing traditional and spiritual beliefs. There will be an emphasis on the Woodland Cree Culture.

The goal is to create a safe space where people can heal in their community. Cook-Searson said the centre can also serve the north, especially people who live in remote communities that lack services.

Suicide Prevention

Saskatchewan's government is also directing $250,000 in 2019-20 to expand the a suicide prevention program to Buffalo Narrows.

The Roots of Hope Suicide Prevention Initiative is a program through the Mental Health Commission of Canada. The province has not yet hired a co-ordinator for Buffalo Narrows, but said the program already exists in Meadow Lake and La Ronge.

Cathy Wheaton became the project co-ordinator for La Ronge in March 2018. She said the program embraces five pillars : specialized supports, training, public awareness, means restriction and research. Wheaton said suicide is complicated and there's never one reason for it, so it requires a multi-faceted approach.

She said the co-ordinators direct their programming to each community's needs. In the La Ronge area it's children and youth who are most at risk.

Wheaton runs Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) courses  also known as suicide first aid.

"That is a system where if somebody is identified as being potentially suicidal you actually know how to intervene in order to connect them to safety," she said.

"What happens is we have more people in the community who are knowledgeable about what's going on, how to respond, what to do."

The Roots of Hope Program also tries to tackle stigma.

"Saying okay, how can we break the stigma down and get people open and feeling like they can actually talk about this topic, because it's such a sensitive and important issue."

Mental health resources are available through the region's Healthline at 811.

The Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention says that if you're worried someone you know may be at risk of suicide, you should talk to them.

Here are some of the warning signs:
An Ottawa couple currently in Iceland says it's going to cost them an extra $2,000 to get back home after the airline they booked flights with abruptly ceased operations Thursday.

In a statement on WOW Air's website, the Icelandic budget airline said all its flights have been cancelled, stranding thousands of passengers.

The airline encouraged customers who had paid for their ticket with a credit card to check whether the credit card company would refund the price of their ticket, and directed passengers to other airlines to try to find alternative routes to their destinations.

Fay O'Brien, 64, booked the trip with WOW Air in December as a Christmas/birthday present for Patrick O'Brien, 70.

They had no complaints with their overnight, no-frills flight to Iceland on March 22, and were set to return on March 29.

Courtesy of Fay and Patrick O'Brien

Learned news from host

Fay O'Brien had been waiting for an email from WOW Air offering to check in online ahead of their departure when her Airbnb host knocked on the door Thursday morning to tell them the airline had shut down.

The couple received no notification directly from the airline.

"You sort of have to go with the roll. We're fortunate that we are both retired, so we don't have to be back on any special date, and obviously we're financially stable enough to not worry about the costs of getting home and booking another flight," Fay O'Brien said by phone from Iceland later Thursday.

"I really feel for those that are not in that situation," she said. "It must be a nightmare."

The couple called a travel agent who managed to book them another flight to Ottawa the same day as their original flight, but with more connections requiring an overnight stay at a hotel in the U.S.

"In an ideal world ... I wish there was some kind of government control over airlines where they could say, 'You have to take these people home. You don't have to accept any more new reservations, but you've got to get these people home," Fay O'Brien said.
Federal Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says that while he can't tell the province what to do with its money, everything was in place for the government to increase funding for affordable housing rather than cut it.

In last week's provincial budget for 2019-20, close to $9 million was cut from spending on housing service. The cut comes just as the first instalment of $299 million funding from the 10-year national housing strategy is set to begin April 1.

"We had everything we need for New Brunswick not to decrease but to increase funding in housing," Duclos said Thursday.

Duclos told CBC's Information Morning Moncton that his government didn't believe it should build services on the backs of those who need the help the most.

'We need to care'

"Those most vulnerable people in New Brunswick in many cases need investments in housing for them not to find themselves on the streets or in shelters or in hospitals or in police stations or homeless.

"We need to care and to look after those vulnerable people across Canada."

Duclos said the federal government will be holding the province to the obligations that are in the housing agreement signed by in July 2018.

Colin Perkel/Canadian Press

Dorothy Shephard, New Brunswick's social development minister, has said the money coming from the federal government was a continuation of an old program.

"It's not new," she said.

But Duclos disagreed, saying if the old plan, put in place by the previous government, had continued there would have been little federal money to help with housing in New Brunswick.

The new plan not only maintains the funding, but it increases it, he said.

"Fortunately, we're not working under the old plan but under a new plan, which will send more money to people in New Brunswick to make sure more families have access to an affordable home."

Under the old plan, the federal government provided $3.9 million a year for affordable housing to the province. Under the new plan, it is expected about $30 million will be spent each year over the next 10 years.

Story continues

Shephard would not tell reporters how much of the $299 million would be spent in 2019-20.

She said the money will be "backloaded" into later years rather than spread evenly over 10. How much is spent next year will depend in part on what the province wants to do.

No reason to delay

The province has not made public how it plans to use the money, and Shephard has said it's waiting for federal approval of its action plan.

Duclos said the action plan is an evolving document, but this doesn't stop the province from "making the important investments in housing that people in the province expect."

He confirmed the money can begin to be spent on April 1.

"The money is there, the objectives are there, the action plan is to make sure as we proceed, that all of the things that are expected on the part of New Brunswickers are indeed implemented under that agreement."

"There will be all sorts of measures to reassure people in New Brunswick that all those dollars are really invested and the action plan will be one such measure."
Footage of Pope Francis shunning attempts of people greeting him to kiss his papal ring has gone viral on Twitter, with many debating the tradition, and the potential meaning of the pontiffs apparent reluctance to follow it.

The viral clip was from a Mass in Loreto, Italy, on March 25. Full coverage broadcast by Vatican News on March 26 gives a different context, however. It shows the pope standing in a receiving line for about 13 minutes. During the first 10 minutes, the pope is seen letting several dozen people kiss his ring. He then changes his behavior, favoring a more simple greeting.

It is unclear why the pope stopped accepting the gesture. Reuters quoted an aide as saying, sometimes he likes it, sometimes he does not. Credit: Vatican News via Storyful
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia will coordinate with fellow Arab countries to contain any fallout from the U.S. decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said on Friday. He was speaking to a meeting of Arab ministers ahead of the annual Arab League summit, hosted this year by Tunisia and likely to focus on Washington's decision and its earlier move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. "We will work with fellow Arab countries and the international community to contain the expected repercussions of this decision in the various regional and international forums," Jhinaoui told the meeting in Tunis. He did not elaborate, but Arab countries want Washington to retract its decision, and to stop other countries following suit. Arab states consider the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as occupied Syrian land. U.S. President Donald Trump also angered Arabs by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv last year. But a person familiar with the matter said Washington's decisions did not appear to have blocked behind-the-scenes security contacts developed in recent years between Israel and the United States Gulf Arab allies over their common enemy, Iran. Tunisia currently holds the rotating presidency of the Arab League and is vying for one of the rotating non-permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria and Arab East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed both in moves not recognized internationally. A spokesman for the summit said Arab heads of state were expected to renew their commitment to an Arab initiative that calls for peace with Israel in exchange for full withdrawal from all lands occupied in 1967, but would reject any proposal that is not in line with U.N. resolutions. Mahmoud Al-Khmeiry appeared to be referring to a still-unannounced U.S. peace plan by White House adviser Jared Kushner and Trump son-in-law which Palestinians have refused to discuss. SAUDI SEES IRANIAN THREAT Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf told the gathering that Saudi Arabia considered the Palestinians' quest for statehood in Israeli-occupied territory - peace talks have been stalled for five years - to be the central cause for all Arabs. But Assaf singled out what he described as the Iranian threat as the main challenge facing Arabs, calling for action to confront Tehran. "One of the most dangerous forms of terrorism and extremism is what Iran practises through its blatant interference in Arab affairs, and its militias ... the Revolutionary Guards in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, which requires cooperation from us to confront it," he said. Iran has denied posing any such threats. Assaf said Arabs needed to work to stop Iran's ballistic missile program, saying the Islamic Republic was supplying Yemen's Houthi movement with rockets to attack Saudi cities. Saudi Arabia is leading a Sunni Muslim coalition that intervened in 2015 in Yemen's war against the Houthis to restore the internationally recognized government ousted from power. Assaf also voiced Saudi support for Syria's territorial integrity and a political solution to its war based on dialogue between the opposition and government, but said a unified Syrian opposition should emerge before the start of any dialogue. Syria's membership of the Arab League has been suspended it descended into violence in 2011 after Arab Spring protests. President Bashar al-Assad's government, backed by Russia and Iran, has regained control over most of the country after years of fighting that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Five sources told Reuters last month that the United States had been lobbying Gulf states to hold off restoring ties with Syria, including the UAE, which has moved closer to Damascus to counter the influence of its rival Iran. (Reporting by Maher Chamytelli in Dubai and Omar Fahmy and Hesham Hajali in Cairo; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
A recent event at the University of Regina was a little more rad than the average panel discussion.

Concepts around decolonization can seem abstract compared to skateboarding, but Micheal Langan brought them together in the Riding is Resistance discussion panel on March 27.

Riding is Resistance brought together people from Canada and Australia for a discussion around skateboarding, representation and education.

Langan, the University of Regina's 2019 Michelle Sereda Artist-in-Residence, was connected with Indigenous people from Australia and found common ground on the topic of colonization.

"They're so similar," Langan told CBC Radio's Morning Edition.

"I'll just take one example. The Australian prime minister apologized for the same system, like residential schools in Canada, in the year 2008, the same year Stephen Harper apologized for the residential schools in Canada."

Bryan Eneas/CBC News

The two countries also share a skateboarding culture, according to Langan, although people in Australia typically enjoy better weather.

Langan said that, as someone who's been skateboarding for 24 or 25 years, it's all he knows. As an Indigenous person he started to learn about his own history over the years.

"Those two elements together, just combined together organically, and it grew from there," Langan said.

Bryan Eneas/CBC News

He said it means quite a bit to him to be able to host this kind of discussion.

"To have these two countries talking about our colonial history, and a lot of people probably don't even know what's going on in Australia with the Indigenous cultures there, I think that's super important for Canadians and, I guess everyone, to recognize," Langan said.

Bryan Eneas/CBC News

Langan, whose uses his company Colonialism Skateboards to create awareness about Indigenous issues in Canada, said he would like to work with artists from Australia to showcase the challenges Indigenous people there face as well.

Local high school contributes artwork

Story continues

Langan said students from Scott Collegiate in Regina contributed to some of the artwork on the skateboards that were on display during the discussion.

Bryan Eneas/CBC News

He said he first gave them a presentation about who he is, what the project was about and provided them with photos from the archives to create their art.

"They came up with some old photos and they're so artistic, these youth have so much knowledge at such a young age," Langan said of the students work. "They know what's going on."
[LAUGH] Yeah. But the friends I made there are some of my closest friends. Are they? Yeah. Still to this day? Because you're all lumped together and away from home. And you try and think of crazy things to do. [MUSIC] Boarding school's kind of like a mixture of Harry Potter and The Great Escape. Okay. [LAUGH] Without the magic or the- But with the broomsticks. [LAUGH] Right. [MUSIC] Right, in dormitories of ten boys. Wow. All kids and so it's like what are we gonna do tonight. Okay, we're gonna dorm raid, which means you're gonna. Get your pillows after lights out. Get the end of the pillow at the end of the pillow case, make it a kind of club. Right. [LAUGH] And go, and start a huge pillow fight with the next door dormitory. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]

A Chinese ad for Centrum womens vitamins featuring Golden Globe-winning actor and British heartthrob Tom Hiddleston recently went viral, and the Western world is fully stumped by just about every part of it.

Mike Marsland/Getty Images

The video opens from the perspective of an unknown woman (presumably you), as she runs downstairs to find Hiddleston preparing a Pinterest-worthy plate of multicolored vegetables with a heart-shaped egg in the center. I finished early so I thought Id pop back and make you breakfast, he tells her  er, you. What did he finish early? Where is he popping back from? We may never know. He then reminds her (sorry, you!) in Chinese, to take your vitamins. You look great, he says as he makes aggressive eye contact with you. Once he has you where he wants you (nutrient-filled and flattered) he leaves (!!!). Ill probably be a bit busy for the next few weeks, he tells you, in true fboi fashion, before swapping his apron for a sleek blazer and hitting the road.

We have a lot of questions.

Evidently, so did the rest of the internet:

This ad is peculiar. After spending most of it working the angle of Tom-Hiddleston-as-Ultimate-Boyfriend, it suddenly bizarrely ends with him saying he's gonna be working late a lot. And now that delicious Centrum tastes like ashes. https://t.co/0gWz9UVXNP  Mac Rogers (@macwrites) March 27, 2019

Who else feels deeply uncomfortable watching that Tom Hiddleston breakfast video/ad/whatever?  salakavala7 (@salakavala7) March 27, 2019

tom hiddleston is cool and all (dont get me wrong i like him a lot he's great) but that new mystic messenger-esque ad he made.... pic.twitter.com/l9Ra4j6WZs  cait  /== \  (@vvhinys) March 27, 2019

Seeing that ad with Tom Hiddleston eye fucking the camera made me want to throw my phone in the ocean I'm so cfb pic.twitter.com/oILJPyxNpR  Montana (@MontanaLives) March 27, 2019

But the actual target audience, the Chinese market, is apparently obsessed with the actors vitamin-hawking side hustle.

Story continues

I always try to be friendly and respect people's opinions, but many seem to have forgotten that Tom Hiddleston's ad for Centrum IS MADE FOR ASIAN MARKETS. If you're not in China and think the ad is weird, don't worry, IT'S NOT FOR YOU. Leave it alone, go eat McDonald's or summ.  Ellie  (@MidgardianSoul) March 28, 2019

Professor Zhang Kuangjie of the Nanyang Technological University told the BBC that the ad appeals to Chinese women for a number of reasons, including the fantasy-fulfillment aspect of waking up to a movie star. "Many female fans often consider their idol their imaginary boyfriend or husband," he explained, This ad appeals exactly to those fans' fantasies. The fact that he speaks very good Chinese [in the ad] further adds to [his] likeability."

RELATED: Tom Hiddleston Has No Regrets About His Taylor Swift Romance

The mobile-friendly format of the ad, too, contributes to the experience, making the fans feel like they are having a virtual chat with the celebrity.

"In a mobile-savvy country like China where there are close to 900 million mobile internet subscribers, having the ad executed in a mobile-first channel makes perfect sense," Rezwana Manjur, Editor of Marketing Magazine, confirmed to the outlet.

But perhaps the most appealing factor is the ads concept. For a Chinese woman to be served by a man is not common in Asia, let alone a Caucasian man, so that's something that adds to that [fantasy] element," TGH Collective founder Tay Guan Hin told the BBC.

I suppose I wouldnt object to having Hiddleston surprise me with breakfast either  but if you dont come bearing bacon, Tom, honestly dont bother.
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For those who were waiting for Steve Saka to release his first Connecticut Shade cigar, the wait is over. However, for those who were expecting a new-age Connecticut cigar in the mold of the bold cigars Saka is known for, that will not be the case. This week on a Facebook video, Saka announced Sobremesa Brulee, a Connecticut Shade cigar, will make its debut at the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show.

According to Saka, he was looking for a blend that reminded me of those blends I was smoking in the 80s and very early 90s. Sobremesa Brulee is described by Saka as a cigar that captured that sentiment that he had when he first started smoking cigars.

In a day when we hear about many Connecticut Shade cigars not being your father or grandfathers Connecticut, Saka says this is exactly what your father and grandfathers Connecticut was like.. Its a mild plus cigar that he says is creamier and more flavorful than the new age Connecticut Shade cigars.

The Sobremesa Brulee will be available in three traditional sizes  Robusto (5 1/4 x 52), Toro (6 x 52), and Gordo (6 1/4 x 60) Each will be packaged in 13 count boxes.
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Berlin, March 29, 2019  The Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini, should immediately drop criminal defamation charges against freelance investigative journalist and author Roberto Saviano, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Salvini filed a criminal defamation suit against the journalist in July 2018; on March 20, Saviano announced that the case will be going to trial, according to an op-ed and video he published in the Italian daily La Repubblica.

Criminal defamation of a politician can be punished by a fine or a prison sentence of up to six years, according to the Italian penal code.

As a senior public official, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini should expect and endure criticism, rather than demonize a journalist for doing his job, said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said in New York. Italy should have scrapped criminal defamation from its books long ago  it has no place in a democracy. We call on Salvini to immediately drop these charges against Roberto Saviano.

The date for the trial has not been set, according to Savianos posts on La Repubblica.

Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister and leader of the right-wing League party, announced on July 19, 2018, that he had filed a lawsuit against the journalist over tweets in which Saviano described him as minister of the underworld and implied that he was connected with the mafia, according to The Guardian.

CPJ emailed Salvini and the Italian Interior Ministry for comment on the case and on Savianos allegations, and did not immediately receive a response.



The journalists criticism came after Salvini threatened to remove Savianos police protection, the English-language Italian news site The Local.it reported. Saviano has lived under police protection since publishing his mafia expose Gomorrah in 2006, according to The Local.it.
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Miami, March 29, 2019Honduran police yesterday raided the Tegucigalpa office of Radio Globo and Globo TV and took the stations director, David Romero Ellner, into custody to serve a 10-year prison sentence for defamation, according to news reports and local press freedom organization C-Libre. Romero took refuge in the station a few days ago, after the Supreme Court in January unanimously upheld a 2016 conviction and a warrant was issued for the journalists arrest, according to local press reports.

The decision that David Romero should serve a 10-year sentence for defamation shows how far Honduras remains from the growing international consensus that such cases have no place in criminal courts, said CPJ South and Central America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick from Cartagena, Colombia. Instead of enforcing outdated laws criminalizing defamation, authorities in Honduras should focus on improving conditions for the press and ensuring all journalists are able to work freely.

On March 21, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures on behalf of Romero, requesting that Honduras not act on the Supreme Court ruling until the commission had decided on the petition filed on the case. In a March 26 statement, the Honduran government said the case was not a freedom of expression issue. Today, the commission condemned Romeros detention and urged the government to reconsider.
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In a Q&A with CPJ, Algerian journalist Lynda Abbou explains why protests that have swept the country in recent weeks were a pivotal moment for journalists frustrated at censorship.

When protests swept Algeria last month over President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas now-abandoned plans to seek a fifth term in office, many of the countrys mainstream television and radio stations were silent. Frustrated by censorship and confronted by protesters demanding to know why the press appeared to be ignoring them, Algerian journalists began staging their own demonstrations.

In a letter to the director of public radio, a group of journalists wrote, The decision of the hierarchy to ignore the big national protests of [February] is merely the notable hell of the daily exercise of our profession. Separately, Radio Chaine 3 editor-in-chief Meriem Abdou resigned, saying in a Facebook post that she refus[ed] to condone behavior that tramples on the most basic rules of our noble profession.

Journalists in Algeria already work under restrictive conditions, with authorities issuing directives to news outlets, preventing critical articles from being published, and withholding state advertising, according to Freedom House. The digital rights group NetBlocks has reported evidence of internet blockages amid the recent unrest.

Lynda Abbou, an Algiers-based journalist, told CPJ that the unrest marked a pivotal moment for the Algerian press. Abbou, who hosts the Arabic language news programs 5/5 and Offshore for the independent online radio outlet Radio M, and writes for the independent news website Maghreb Emergent, said that because Algerias main outlets did not cover the demonstrations, citizens started to turn against all members of the press.

The interview was occasionally interrupted by connectivity problems, which Abbou chalked up to authorities blocking the internet ahead of demonstrations the following day.

Algerias Ministry of Communications and the state-owned Public Establishment of Television and Algerian Radio did not immediately respond to CPJs messages requesting comment.

[This blog has been edited for length and clarity, and Abbous responses have been translated from French]

What does press freedom look like in Algeria?

There is, of course, censorship for state media, theyre the voices of the government. They dont give the floor to opponents, they dont broadcast social movements, for example the latest events in Algeria. The Algerian readership is also an Arabic readership. So you will find more freedom of expression in the French-speaking privately owned written press. The state censors more Arabic-speaking outlets, because the public speaks Arabic. Plus, two of the biggest privately owned newspapers in Algeria, Liberte and El Watan, have their own printing press. So its an asset for them. The others print at the state presses, so if an article or the front page does not please authorities, it will not be printed.

We also have TV channels, which arent really privately owned, because they belong to people close to the Algerian government, who gave approval to its friends.

Electronic outlets find a lot more freedom, because often the authorities do not find a censorship method for those websites. There is no printing press, no paper to censor them. [But] electronic websites and web radios dont have the right to state advertising.

What triggered the journalists protests?

The first general demonstration was on February 22. It was huge. And television stations did not transmit the images. Neither the privately owned television channels nor the state television showed signs of life. So when the protesters returned home, they looked for the images, the information. Nothing. They started a campaign against the press on social networks. There was a rupture between the press and the Algerian people. We found ourselves having to explain that the written press spoke about the protests, the electronic press too. When we show up, [protesters] ask us, Where were you on the 22nd?

Its uncomfortable. Last time, a policeman said it to me. I was filming, he was going to take my phone. I told him I am a journalist, and he said Where were you last time? It really annoyed me, because I covered all the protests.

The television channels stayed quiet until the day Meriem Abdou decided to resign. Many journalists expressed their exasperation because they felt it was their responsibility to cover the events, but their superiors were not letting them, and the people often insulted and criticized them. Around 150 journalists organized a sit-in. The police repressed the gathering, it was really violent. They arrested people using force, there were journalists who fell to the ground, one journalist lost consciousness. I came to report, but found myself to be in solidarity with my colleagues.

I spoke with lots of journalists there, and they want to report. They said that its their bosses that prohibit them from dealing with this subject, so they demanded press freedom and freedom of expression. They were yelling Down with censorship.

I know some journalists who refused to byline their articles. Its a way to resist.

How do the frequent internet shutdowns affect online media coverage?

Since we are a digital outlet, we rely a lot on live broadcasts. And when were in the field, we struggle a bit for the broadcasts. Even to load videos and photos, even to put our articles online is a struggle, but we deal with it. These days, its always long, it always gets blocked, and often on the day of the demonstration there are internet cuts that last an hour or an hour and a half.

What are your hopes for the future of press freedom in your country?

The issue with the Algerian press is that we have difficulty covering government events. Wherever there are ministers, we often dont have access. They choose what media and journalists can cover them. Its the same with the president. We see the opposition every day. We cover them, its easy. So if I wish something, I really wish to cover all the activities of the opposition and the state.

People are scared of journalists. Its impossible to do investigative reporting in Algeria, because people dont give you information out of fear of legal action.

The electronic press doesnt even possess press cards. The authorities do not consider us to be journalists. I have a degree in journalism, I have been a journalist for three years. But according to Algerian law, I am not a journalist.

Before being a journalist, I am an Algerian. We really want institutions that are free, independent, democratica new constitution, a new democratic political system.
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When Venezuelan military officials detained American freelancer Cody Weddle on March 11, the experience was both frightening and bizarre. Weddle said that agents put a hood over his head and pressed him to reveal sources he had never spoken with. They suggested the reporter was a member of the CIA and would be charged with treason. They took gas masks and protective vests from his Caracas apartment. And, because they lacked office supplies, the agents fashioned an ink pad by breaking one of his pens so they could take Weddles fingerprints.

Weddle, who has been based in Venezuela for four years, was released after about 12 hours then deported. The reporter, who files stories for the south Florida TV station WPLG and the British daily, The Telegraph, was never told why he was arrested. There was a lot of confusion, Weddle said in a telephone interview with CPJ from his home state of Virginia. It all seemed very improvised.

Press freedom advocates see his arrest as part of a troubling trend. Amid Venezuelas deepening political and economic crisis, they say that the authoritarian government of President Nicolas Maduro is arresting more journalists. Weddle is one of 39 journalists detained so far this year, according to the Caracas-based Institute for Press and Society (IPYS). Thats up from the 22 detentions IPYS recorded during all of 2018.

The government is trying to intimidate and demobilize journalists, IPYS analyst Mariengracia Chirinos told CPJ. Reporting in Venezuela has become a much riskier activity.

In some cases, the journalists had been reporting on sensitive subjects.

U.S. newspapers report on American freelancer Cody Weddle, who was briefly detained and then expelled from Venezuela. (Marcus Caudill)

Weddle, for example, filed stories about growing anti-government sentiment within the powerful armed forces at a time when the U.S. and dozens of other countries were recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as the countrys legitimate president.

But other journalists and camera operators have been arrested for seemingly more innocuous actions, such as filming anti-government graffiti or reporting near the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas.

Carlos Correa, director of the Caracas-based free speech group Espacio Publico, said the detentions usually last less than a day. That way, he said, the government can browbeat journalists without suffering the backlash that might result from keeping them behind bars for longer periods.

Whats more, amid Venezuelas worst economic meltdown in history, Correa said, reporters and camera operators are reporting that the security agents who detain them are increasingly absconding with expensive equipment.

Arresting journalists carries relatively few costs for the government while those carrying out the detentions benefit by robbing their equipment, Correa told CPJ.

Because of the extensive blackouts across Venezuela, CPJ was unable to contact the Communications Ministry for comment.

Among those detained since the start of the year were 22 international correspondents. No one seems to be immune.

On February 25, for example, Univisions star news anchor Jorge Ramos was briefly held along with his crew at Miraflores palace. Their detention came after Maduro stormed out of a contentious interview during which Ramos asked whether he should call Maduro president or a dictator.

Ramos, whom CPJ honored with its Burton Benjamin Memorial Award in 2014, was briefly held in a dark room and searched. The crews four cameras and memory cards were confiscated and not returned. Soon afterwards, the entire Univision team was expelled from Venezuela.

We experienced only a taste of the harassment and abuse that Venezuelan journalists have been suffering for years, Ramos wrote in the New York Times.

Luis Carlos Diaz, a Venezuelan radio journalist and digital activist, received much rougher treatment. He was grabbed by intelligence officers on March 11 while riding his bicycle home from work at Union Radio station in Caracas. His arrest came three days after Diosdado Cabello, a pro-Maduro politician, showed a heavily edited video clip of Diaz on his TV program. Cabello accused the journalist of conspiring to sabotage the countrys electrical system during a period of nationwide blackouts.

Chirinos, of IPYS, said that Diaz was mistreated in custody and that agents hit him on the head with his bike helmet. They threatened to arrest his wife and to implicate the couple in a homicide, claiming that there was a body in their apartment. When the agents searched the apartment, they stole multiple electronic devices and cash.

Amid an international outcry, including comments from U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Diaz was released after about 24 hours. He was charged with instigating crime in connection to the electricity blackouts. He must report his whereabouts to authorities every eight days, remain in Venezuela, and refrain from speaking to the media about how he was treated during in detention.

Both Chirinos and Correa predicted that as conditions worsen amid U.S. economic sanctions, the Maduro regime could intensify its campaign against the press.

To avoid problems, Chirinos said, journalists should work in the presence of colleagues who could help get the word out in case they are detained. She said that reporters must be especially careful when working on stories about sensitive subjects and that international correspondents could reduce their risks by publishing their work after leaving the country.

No story is worth getting arrested or killed, she said.

[Reporting from Bogota]

CPJs Emergency Response Team has safety advisories for journalists working in Venezuela, as well as other security advice and resources.
They were bitter rivals for so many glorious years on the pitch in Spainand Lionel Messi has now admitted he wishes Cristiano Ronaldo was still in La Liga.Ronaldo left Real Madridfor Juventuslast summer in a staggering 100million deal and, in doing so, ended his nine-year tussle for supremacy in Spain with Barcelona's No 10.Messi and Ronaldo are considered two of the greatest players of all-time and the Argentine has now said he misses having Ronaldo to compete against in La Liga, insisting the former Manchester Unitedstar brought some 'prestige' to the division.'I miss Cristiano,' Messi told FM Club 947 in Argentina. 'Although it was a bit difficult to see him win trophies, he gave La Liga prestige.'Juventus are a great candidate to win the Champions League since the arrival of Cristiano, and the match against Atleti must have given them a lot of confidence.'Real find themselves trailing Barcelona by 12 points at the summit of La Liga while they were knocked out of the Champions League in the last-16 stage as their failure to adequately replace Ronaldo in the summer continues to haunt them.The Barcelona captain also went on to name a list of players who he feels are at the top of their game at the moment.'I don't want to forget anyone, but I think that Neymar, [Kylian] Mbappe, [Eden] Hazard, Luis Suarez and [Sergio] Aguero are the best,' he added.'I didn't mention Cristiano because I put him aside from the list with me.'Messi also suggested he is not 100 per cent fit, just two weeks before facing Manchester Unitedin the quarter-finals of the Champions LeagueHe was livid at the most recent criticism of him after he pulled out of Argentina's win over Morocco this week and travelled back to Barcelona.'Somebody says whatever they want to say about me and then people believe it and I'm painted as the son of a b****,' he said.'It has become the custom to say things about me. They invent things about me when I am not there. Nothing surprises me.'The truth is I came back to the Argentina team with a pubis injury that I have been carrying since December and I have been training less and not playing all games.'Pubis injuries are complicated; you cannot shake them off from one day to the next. I feel better but I have to take care of myself.'I wanted to play both games with Argentina but after the first game I had some pain and I decided to rest so as not to aggravate the injury. It is improving all the time but it is not completely cleared up.'
Bangladesh: Fish stocks under threat as use of current nets on

by Sohrab Hossain

March 29,2019 | Source: The Daily Star

Indiscriminate use of current nets is threatening extinction of fish stock in the Bay and its adjacent rivers in the coastal areas of Barguna. The rivers include Boleshwar, Payra, Bishkhali, Ramnabad, Buragourango, Tentulia and Lohalia. Despite regular drives by the authorities concerned to prevent the use of current nets, a section of fishermen continued catching fish with the nets, said Md Nazrul Islam, field officer of Pathorghata upazila fish office.



During a recent visit, this correspondent saw some fishermen catching hilsa and other fishe with current nets in the Boleshwar river under Pathorghata upazila. Abdul Halim, a fisherman of Nishanbaria in the upazila, said he has to run his six-member family by fishing. He catches fish in Boleshwar with current nets to get more fish easily. I know about the negative impact of current nets but I have no alternative as other type nets hardly catch fish, he said.



Another fisherman Abul Bashar of the same area said mobile courts often destroy current nets but they have no alternative to catch fish. Sarder Mohiuddin, Barguna district fisheries officer (DFO), said they are taking legal steps against current nets but a section of fishermen often catch fish with current nets to get more fish, threatening fish stocks in the Bay and rivers. About 23.26 lakh metres of current nets were seized in 475 drives in different rivers of the district from January 1 till March 20, said the DFO, adding that they also realised Tk 2.79 as fine and seven fishermen were sent to jail.



Mollah Emdadullah, Patuakhali district fisheries officer, said they are showing zero tolerance to the use of current nets and conducting drives regularly to protect fish. Lieutenant Shakil, commander of the south zone of coastguard, said around 1.95 lakh metres of current nets were seized in 170 drives on the Bay under Barguna from January 1 this year and it is their routine works.
Maldives: Over MVR 3 million allocated for RSW system loans

March 29,2019 | Source: Raajje

The Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has announced a loan program, called Kandufalhuge Nafaa, to facilitate installing Refrigerated Sea Water (RSW) systems.



The Fisheries Ministry will be giving out loans to fishing operators so they may install RSW systems, which will allow them to preserve larger catches. The ministry has allocated over MVR 3 million for the program; application is open until 26th May. Ice plants for fish storage have been installed in several islands across the Maldives.



Nearly all fish catch in the Maldives is bought by the state, which has limited capacity to weigh them. In such circumstances, fishing crews that do not have a refrigeration system onboard have been forced to dump catch.
Tamil Nadu: Pulicat lake bar mouth to be dredged

by Deepa H. Ramakrishnan

March 29,2019 | Source: The Hindu

The Fisheries Department has called for tenders to undertake dredging and desilting of the Pulicat lake estuary. This is a temporary solution to remove tonnes of silt that is blocking the movement of seawater into and out of the brackish water lake in Tiruvallur district. Fishermen from villages including Annamalaicheri, Korakuppam, Pasiyavaram, Thoniravu, Madhakuppam, Andikuppam and Kottakuppam depend on the lake for their livelihood.



This is for temporarily opening the bar mouth using a dredger. For a permanent solution to the frequent closure of the mouth, we have approached the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority for necessary clearance. This follows a direction from the Environment Ministry. Meanwhile, the Public Works Department is also mandated to take up continuous maintenance dredging as a flood mitigation strategy, explained a senior official of the department.



Fishermen, who have been removing silt with the help of an earthmover with their own funds, are demanding that a permanent solution be implemented as fast as possible before the lake dies a natural death due to silt accumulation. Durai Mahendran of Tiruvallur Maavatta Paarambariya Aikiya Meenavar Sangam said that over the past decades, the depth of the lake has come down due to silt. If the barmouth remains closed for a long period, it would only add to that. The mud from the ports is getting washed down to this side leading to a drastic reduction in fish catch, he said.



Jalandran Chettiar of Arangamkuppam said that after having waited for the government to step in, the fishermen had rented an earthmover to get it dredged. We had no other option, as thousands of our people depend on the lake. It has been running for nearly a month now. But we have stopped it for the past few days since the spot where it was working is getting silted up. Now an earthmover would not be of any use and we need a dredger, he said.



The Department had commissioned a study by the Department of Ocean Engineering of IIT Madras, which had suggested the construction of training walls on either side of the estuary to prevent it from closing up. The direction and height of the wave and the orientation of the shoreline were studied to fix the alignment of the training walls.
India: US rolling back sops wont hurt Indian shrimp exports: MPEDA

March 29,2019 | Source: Chander Caller

Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has allayed fears about the impact of the United States lifting concessions to India under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) on feels the withdrawal of concessions by the US, a leading market for Indian seafood exporters, will not roil them as most of the marine food products, including high-in-demand shrimps, enjoy zero tariff under the current



There is a widespread apprehension that the US decision will affect the seafood exports from India to America, which is a major importer of our marine products. But such apprehension is unfounded, K S Srinivas, chairman, said in a statement.



made a detailed analysis and found that there would not be any immediate setbacks anticipated due to the withdrawal of GSP benefit in seafood exports, he added. The exports of prepared and preserved shrimps and crab to America will not be adversely affected as these enjoy zero tariff at present under the GSP regime, Srinivas pointed out.
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
Another colorful lesser of 2 evils race shaping up in NY: Rose v Grimm?



There's a subway stop on the corner of Kings Highway and East 17th Street in Brooklyn, a few feet from the famous Dubrow's Cafeteria where JFK came for a rally in 1960. Back then that area around Dubrow's was the heart of Brooklyn's liberal Jewish bastion. The nearest high school was James Madison which graduated Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer-- and me. I didn't see any of them at Dubrow's the evening JFK was there, but my mother brought me to see the next president. A policeman on horseback accidentally stepped on my foot and I was carried into the cafeteria-- which was reserved for the local politicos and donors-- and Kennedy came over to me and offered my mother and I some solace for my wound. A few months later he defeated Vice President Richard Nixon-- massively so in that part of south Brooklyn.





That area is the furthest corner of NY-11, the "Staten Island district," currently represented by Blue Dog freshman Max Rose. The actual furthest corner of the district is Avenue P and East 17th street, 3 doors down from what was then my family's house. The congressional district itself is the most heavily-Italian district in America. But the eastern part of the Brooklyn section is still predominantly Jewish, although no longer liberal Jewish. They've all moved and the neighborhoods are filled with right-wing Russian immigrants; huge Trump supporters. The precincts that had traditionally given liberal Democrats immense margins turned out to give Trump his biggest wins in New York City. It broke my heart.





NY-11 itself, was the only New York City congressional district that Trump won-- beating Hillary 53.6% to 43.8%, a shanda. 4 years earlier, Obama had beaten Romney there, 51.6% to 47.3%. The PVI is R+3 and it's a pretty classic swing district. In the last few years there have been two Republican congressmen-- Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm and Dan Donovan-- and two Democratic congressmen-- Mike McMahon and now Max Rose. Rose flipped the district after a bruising GOP primary in which Grimm, straight out of prison-- and all Trumpified and with Bannon's blessing-- tried unsuccessfully to displace Donovan. In the general, Donovan was a dead man walking and Rose eviscerated him in the Brooklyn third of the district and even beat him, albeit narrowly, in the Staten Island bulk of the district. It was a 101,823 (53.0%) to 89,441 (46.6%) Democratic win.





But it's still a Republican-leaning district where Trump has a big following and Rose is definitely at the top of the GOP list of Democrat-held seats they hope to flip. The NRCC and the Republican establishment in general has rallied around popular state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, who ran for mayor of NYC in 2017. Although she only took a minuscule 27.6% of the vote citywide, her win against Bill de Blasio in Staten Island was massive: 70,125 (70.6%) to 25,466 (25.6%).





Politico readers: She seems like the perfect candidate for the GOP to take on Rose. But that clashes with Mikey Suits' career plans. There's been a buzz on Staten Island for months that Grimm was thinking about running again but yesterday Laura Barron-Lopez broke the news forreaders: The former GOP congressman and tax felon says he's "90% of the way there to run" against freshman Max Rose on Staten Island . The Mafia congressman "is trying," she wrote, "to come back from the dead-- again." She interviewed him and he told her "hes very close to launching the second bid for his old seat in as many years... Grimm says the shadow cast by his felony guilty plea is no longer a factor. Hes spoken to multiple people at the National Republican Congressional Committee, Grimm said, and he's in the process of setting up a meeting for an upcoming trip to Washington. 'The cloud is gone. Its over; its in the past,' he said. 'Ive had a lot of colleagues call me and tell me theyd love to have me back.'" (Another GOP criminal congressman, wanted to have his backside ; I remember that.)

The move by the scandal-tainted tough guy, who once threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony, could jeopardize Republicans chances in a district key to the partys hopes of recapturing the House in 2020.



...The one-time FBI agent said he was railroaded by his political enemies-- They dont want rising Republican stars in New York City, he said-- when he was sentenced to less than a year in prison. And Grimms opponents all happen to have one thing in common: Theyre President Donald Trumps enemies, too.



Who signed off on my indictment? James Comey, Grimm, stirring his tea at the Z-One Diner here, said of the former FBI director whom Trump fired. Its the same exact players and the same exact playbook.



He compared his felony charges for tax evasion to the witch hunt Russia investigation carried out by special counsel Robert Mueller, Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. But there are obvious differences: Grimm pleaded guilty to concealing more than $900,000 in gross income and admitted failing to report hiring busboys off the books when he owned a Manhattan restaurant, Healthalicious









...In what could be a sign of the battle to come, Grimm and Rose are already attacking each other gleefully more than a year before the start of the general election.



Grimm took issue with Rose boasting about passage of legislation that allows construction and maintenance of a seawall along the east shore of Staten Island. He said hes the one who got the plan and the funding for the wall approved. What Rose passed was equivalent to pulling a permit, said Grimm.



If [Rose] was a gentleman, and he wasnt insecure because I know he is about me-- hes terrified Im going to run-- hed be honest and say, My congressman, Grimm, funded this wall, and Im now making sure its getting done, said Grimm.



Rose-- a blunt-spoken Army veteran-- gladly fired back at his would-be opponent.



Theres absolutely no doubt that Mike played a part, and then he had to pass the baton to Dan Donovan when he took a vacation in federal prison, said Rose. And then Dan Donovan passed the baton to me after I beat him.



"God bless him," Rose added of news that Grimm is close to launching a campaign. "He's just the gift that keeps on giving."



Nearly three months on the job, Rose hasnt shied away from defying party leaders. He voted against Nancy Pelosi for speaker. He isn't embracing proposals championed by leading progressives in the party and sided with Republicans on a symbolic procedural measure saying authorities should notify ICE when an undocumented immigrant buys a gun.



At the same time, Rose is being squeezed by an emboldened left flank of the party that dominates the news cycle and increasingly threatens primary challenges. And Rose, in particular, may end up feeling more of the heat because his district is just miles away from the one represented by fellow freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Speaking to fewer than 100 constituents at his second-ever town hall last weekend in the auditorium of a high school in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, Rose got five questions about freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), two about the Green New Deal, and went round for round with a constituent about why he opposes "Medicare for All." (Rose supports lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 50, instituting a nationalized system of all-payer rate-setting and a public option.)



Rose was pressed the most on policies boosted by Ocasio-Cortez and his response to comments made by Omar that were widely considered anti-Semitic. Someone in this country does have a right to criticize Israel. Someone in this country does have a right to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Rose said. All I ask is that they do it without causing Jewish people pain by bringing up anti-Semitic comments."



Rose panned the "economic unorthodoxies" of the Green New Deal and said instead, he wants an Apollo project for battery technology to advance solar and wind energy and a cap-and-trade system to get the U.S. to a carbon-free economy by 2050.



While Rose works to position himself as more centrist than some of his Democratic colleagues, Republicans are eager to hit him from the right. As with other Trump-district members, Republicans plan to tag Rose as the tip of a socialist spear-- hoping that by tethering Rose to Ocasio-Cortez and Pelosi they can make him a one-term member. That playbook failed in 2018, after Republicans spent millions labeling Democrats running in red districts Pelosi soldiers.



As the daughter of a Cuban refugee, the threat of socialism is something I dont take lightly," said Malliotakis, who calls Rose "a Park Slope liberal," labeling the Democrat an off-island Brooklynite. "When I see individuals like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who's from New York City, trying to move our country more to the left, it really bothers me."



Rose has an answer to that charge at the ready, one he test-drove at a Staten Island town hall earlier last week. Im not a socialist. Everyone here knows Im not a socialist, he said in an interview. Its very obvious Im not a socialist.



But Rose could also benefit from a fractious Republican primary. Malliotakis touted establishment Republican support shes quickly lining up, noting that New York Reps. Lee Zeldin and Elise Stefanik are backing her bid. Stefaniks new Elevate PAC, formed to boost female Republicans in primaries, is supporting her. Malliotakis has also met with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy personally, she said, and hes very supportive. (McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment.)



Looming large over any Republican primary is Trump, who endorsed Donovan over Grimm in the 2018 primary. Grimm said he doesn't harbor a grudge, but he'd be less enthusiastic about a run this time if the president is going to back another candidate in the race.



"The president got involved to save an incumbent, which I respect," Grimm said. "I wouldnt want to be in a position now where the president would jump in again."



Malliotakis wouldn't necessarily be a natural fit for a Trump endorsement, but neither was Donovan, who voted against Trump's tax overhaul. In her failed campaign for mayor in bright-blue New York in 2017, Malliotakis said she voted for Trump but later regretted it.



I agree with the president on most policies," Malliotakis said in an interview at a The Coffee Club Diner in South Brooklyn. "When I disagree with him, Ill disagree with him. Im not anybodys rubber stamp. Im my own individual person.



Grimm thinks he's the best shot at taking the seat back, calling Malliotakis too "liberal" to win. And he claims his recent history as a criminal defendant makes him the right person to send back to Washington during Trump's reelection campaign.



"Bad things happen to good people every day, and my experience would make me a better legislator because I look at how it's happened again to Donald Trump," said Grimm, returning to his felony. "My love for this country just exudes from me. It just comes out of me."

See it exuding?
Authorities are trialing stations and other facilities to prepare for the commercial launch of Hanois first ever metro line next month.

The Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated trains are being tested every day for system tuning. They run at an average speed of 35 kilometers an hour.

The trains operate automatically. The conductor is in charge of opening and closing the doors and handling unexpected incidents.

There are 12 automatic entry gates installed at each station. Customers swipe their tickets to enter or exit.

Each station has two ticket vending machines. Metro officials say they operate with high precision and speed. Customers can also buy their tickets from a staff at the booth.

The electricity room uses dry-type transformers, which do not require oil, silicone or any other liquid to cool the electrical core. Metro officials said this is the first time that this type of transformers is being used in Vietnam.

At some stations, roofs are being installed to cover the escalators and stairs.

The cement holding the pillars supporting the escalators roofs have cracked in some places and will be reinforced before the metro line begins operations.

Contractors have been asked to replace some glass panels that have broken or cracked during construction.

The command center for the metro line is located in the Ha Dong Depot, 16 kilometers southwest of downtown Hanoi. Each shift will have at least three employees on duty, metro officials have said.

13 trains are ready to serve customers. The project is now 99 percent complete.

Hanois first metro line will run from Cat Linh Station in downtown Dong Da District to the Yen Nghia Station in the south-west Ha Dong District.

Individual commuters can buy monthly season tickets for VND200,000 ($8.61) or daily tickets for VND30,000 ($1.29), both allowing unlimited trips. Single trips will cost VND7,000-15,000 ($0.3-0.65) per person depending on the distance travelled.

Work on the Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated railway began in 2011 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2013. But several hurdles, including loan disbursement issues with China that were only resolved in December 2017, stalled it for years.

The original estimated cost of $552.86 million also ballooned to more than $868 million, including $670 million in loans from China.
Passengers queue at check-in counters in Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/Phuong D. Nguyen

Vietnamese aviation authorities plan to punish airlines with high rates of canceled and delayed flights.

Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said Thursday the average rate of delayed and canceled flights for Vietnamese carriers is 15 percent.

Though not high compared to neighboring countries, the unprofessional way in which airlines deal with delays and cancelations greatly annoys passengers, he said.

Since the problem is caused by airlines management of their aircraft rather than any fault of airports, the CAAV would take away flight slots from carriers with high delay and cancelation rates, he said.

It means tardy airlines will not be allowed to fly at certain times of the day.

Management teams comprising employees of both airlines and airports would be set up next month at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Thang said.

They would be tasked with managing landing and takeoff times as required by the International Civil Aviation Organization for airports with over 20 million passengers a year.

Last month Jetstar Pacific had the highest delay and cancelation rate of 25.5 percent, followed by budget airline Vietjet (21.5 percent), state-owned Vietnam Airlines (11.1 percent) and new private airline Bamboo Airways (9.2 percent), according to the CAAV.

Increasing aviation demand in recent years has resulted in the overloading of Vietnams two largest airports. HCMC-based Tan Son Nhat, the biggest, served 36 million passengers last year, way above its designed capacity of 25 million. Hanoi-based Noi Bai handled 24 million against a capacity of 21 million.
Suboi has made headlines by becoming the first Vietnamese artist to feature in Vogue Japan and appearing in a documentary about Asian hip hop.

The hip-hop star is featured in the latest issue of the fashion and lifestyle magazine in clothes created by Vietnamese designer Cong Tri.

Suboi in Cong Tri's design on the latest issue of Vogue Japan. Photo courtesy of Vogue Japan.

This issue honors Asian artists with a big influence, and Suboi was chosen to represent the Vietnamese music scene. Other famous artists featured in it are composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, actresses Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson and hip hop artist Chance The Rapper.

Suboi will also star in a documentary about East and Southeast Asian hip-hop titled Asia Rising  The Next Generation of Hip Hop. The documentary will bring a unique and multi-dimensional perspective on the art in the region through the views of six leading hip-hop artists, the others being Rich Brian (Indonesia), Higher Brothers (China), Keith Ape (South Korea), Awich, and Jin Dogg (Japan).

It is produced by Red Bull Media House and 88rising, an American media company that has gained popularity as a musical platform for Asian artists. Suboi became the first Vietnamese to release a music video on 88risings YouTube channel last year.

Asia Rising - The Next Generation Of Hip Hop, will be aired today, March 29, on both Red Bull TV and the Red Bull YouTube Channel.

The poster of Asia Rising - The Next Generation of Hip Hop, featuring Suboi.

Often referred to as the "Vietnamese rap queen", Suboi has been featured on The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and CNN.

The Guardian quoted her manager as describing her music as combining genres like "dubstep, trance and electro with hip-hop to create a style of music never before heard in Vietnam."

The Ho Chi Minh City artist became in 2015 the first Vietnamese ever to perform at the world-famous SXSW Music Festival in the U.S.

She attracted international attention when she rapped for former U.S. President Barack Obama when he visited Vietnam in 2016.

In 2017 she made it to the 30 Under 30 Asia, an annual list put out by Forbes to recognize the most influential young people in the continent.

Listen to her latest single, CONG:
Boeing official says Vietnam military drone deal almost done

Boeing is close to sealing a deal to sell unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Vietnam, an official from the U.S. company revealed.

The Boeing Insitu ScanEagle is a small, long-range, low-altitude reconnaissance drone built by Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary.

The sale will be supported through U.S. Foreign Military Financing and the recipient will be the Vietnamese Coast Guard, Yeong Tae Pak, Boeings marketing director for defense sales in Southeast Asia, said Wednesday at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition in Malaysia.

"The sale is in progress," British security magazine Janes quoted him as saying.

The number of UAVs to be bought is not known.

Yeong said the deal is as an indicator of Boeings defense sales strategy in newer regional markets like Vietnam, where opportunities to grow its defense presence is "being pursued through lower-tier platforms."

The drone can operate above 15,000 feet and hover over a battlefield for extended missions of up to 20 hours, depending on system configuration.

The five-foot-long ScanEagle UAV has a 10-foot wingspan and can operate in land and maritime environments.

In February the U.S.s Indo-Pacific Command chief, Admiral Phil Davidson, said in a statement that Vietnam is acquiring equipment from the U.S., including Boeing Insitu ScanEagle UAVs, Beechcraft T-6 Texan II trainer aircraft and a second decommissioned US Coast Guard cutter.

In August last year a local newspaper quoted an unnamed U.S. State Department official as saying that Vietnam had signed contracts to buy U.S. military equipment worth $94.7 million.

Vietnams Foreign Ministry has neither confirmed nor denied the information.

Last March the USS Carl Vinson arrived in Da Nang on a historic visit, the first to Vietnam by an American aircraft carrier since 1975. During its visit, the U.S. delivered six Metal Shark patrol boats to Vietnam.
Customs officials at Da Nangs Tien Sa Port in central Vietnam on Tuesday seized 9.12 tons of elephant tusks hidden in timber containers.

This is the biggest ivory seizure in recent years, police say. Police, border guards and customs officials have joined hands to investigate the case.

Preliminary investigations show that the containers were imported to Tien Sa from Congo, Africa. They are registered for a business in the neighboring Quang Nam Province.

Last October, police and customs officials in Da Nang seized 10 tons of elephant tusks and pangolin scales trafficked from Nigeria to Tien Sa.

Vietnam outlawed ivory trade in 1992, but the country remains a top market for ivory products prized locally for decorative and medicinal purposes, according to conservation groups.

The country is also a busy thoroughfare for tusks trafficked from Africa destined for other parts of Asia, conservationists say. A report from the Environmental Investigation Agency, a London-based NGO, last year ranked Vietnam among the top 10 countries for ivory smuggling.

Since 2009, Vietnamese authorities have been able to seize more than 56 tons of ivory. About 20 tons of ivory linked to Vietnam were seized in other countries in the same period. This is equivalent to nearly 11,500 elephants, the report said.
An Israeli flag flutters over the wreckage of an Israeli tank overlooking the armistice line on the Golan Heights. Photo by AFP/Jalaa Marey

Vietnam has joined the international community in criticizing the U.S.'s recognition of Israels sovereignty over Syrias Golan Heights.

"Vietnam shares the grave concern of the international community on recent developments regarding the status of the Golan Heights," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement Thursday.

"Vietnam calls on relevant countries to take prompt actions in line with U.N. resolutions, with respect to international law and settle disputes through dialogues in the interest of sustainable peace in the Middle East and the world."

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.

It has attracted severe criticism from European and Middle Eastern countries and organizations, including the U.K., France, Germany, Russia, Turkey, the European Union, and the Arab League, which voiced support for U.N. Security Council resolutions recognizing the territory as belonging to Syria and illegally occupied by Israel.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move the U.N. Security Council declared "null and void and without international legal effect."
A customer checks a can of Monsanto's weed killer Roundup in the U.S. Photo by AFP

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry has called attention to the link between a recent U.S. judicial verdict against Monsanto and dioxin victims in Vietnam.

The ministry's spokeswoman, Le Thi Thu Hang, stressed in a statement on Thursday that the March 19 verdict by a San Francisco jury is yet more evidence that weedicides could cause direct damage to the human body.

In the judgment, the court concluded that exposure to the agrochemical giant Monsanto's weed killer Roundup was a "substantial factor" in giving Edwin Hardeman, 70, of California non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and ordered the firm to pay him nearly $81 million in damages, compensation and medical expenses.

"As a nation that had suffered the heavy consequences of war, including Agent Orange, Vietnam demands that the companies that had provided the U.S. military with defoliants during the war must have the responsibility to help and assist in overcoming the damage caused by Agent Orange to Vietnam's people and environment," Hang said.

She also welcomed the U.S. Congress and government for assisting in resolving the consequences of war in Vietnam, saying this is widely supported by the people of both countries.

Hang said Vietnam wishes for these efforts to be continued with the participation of the companies responsible, including Monsanto.

Founded in 1901 in Missouri, Monsanto began producing agrochemicals in the 1940s. It was acquired by Bayer for more than $62 billion last June.

Monsanto was one of the producers of Agent Orange, the defoliant used by U.S. troops to strip Vietnamese forces of ground cover and food. Between 1961 and 1971 the U.S. Army sprayed some 80 million liters of Agent Orange over 30,000 square miles of southern Vietnam.

Dioxin, a highly toxic chemical in the defoliant, has been linked to many major health problems such as cancer, mental disabilities and birth defects.

Millions of Vietnamese over several generations have suffered from health problems due to exposure to Agent Orange, according to government data.

In 2004 Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange filed a class action lawsuit in a New York court against Monsanto, Dow Chemical and more than 30 manufacturers of the toxic defoliant. But the case was dismissed by the U.S. court citing "lack of evidence."

Yet, on many occasions Monsanto has been ordered by U.S. courts to pay compensation to American plaintiffs who suffered health issues from exposure to its chemicals.

The verdict on March 19 was the second time in less than a year that a U.S. court found Monsanto's weed killers responsible for causing cancer.

On August 10 a San Francisco jury had ordered it to pay nearly $290 million in punitive and compensatory damages to Dewayne Johnson, a cancer patient whose terminal illness was allegedly caused by glyphosate in the company's weedicide.

At the time too Vietnams Foreign Ministry had demanded that Monsanto and other companies responsible for the dioxin sprayed in Vietnam should compensate the victims.
Vietnam to go all out to help free suspect in Kim Jong-nam murder case

Doan Thi Huong (L) appears for trial in Malaysia on March 14, 2019. Photo by Reuters

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says no effort will be spared to ensure a fair trial for Vietnamese woman accused of murder in Malaysia.

"Vietnam will continue taking the necessary measures at the highest level to ensure a fair trial and freedom for Doan Thi Huong," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said Thursday.

Hang was speaking at a press conference about the Vietnamese suspect in the murder of Kim Jong-nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother, in Malaysia in 2017.

Huong, 30, has been on trial for a year and a half on charges of killing Kim by smearing his face with VX poison, a banned chemical weapon, at the Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017.

She and her co-accused Indonesian woman Siti Aisyah, 26, both said that they thought they were playing a prank, and had no idea their actions would have deadly consequences.

On March 11, the murder charge was withdrawn against Aisyah and she was set free, prompting the Vietnamese government to call for Malaysia to do the same with Huong, on the basis of the law and the good friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries.

Authorities did not give any reason for withdrawing the charge against Aisyah, which followed an intense lobbying effort by Jakarta, AFP reported.

However, Malaysia rejected Vietnams appeal to drop murder charges against Huong during a court hearing on March 14 and announced that her trial would be adjourned until April 1.

Hang said the Vietnamese government has so far taken several measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the Vietnamese suspect.

Vietnamese authorities are maintaining regular contact with representative offices in Malaysia and Vietnamese Embassy officials have visited Huong three times this month to help her have stable metal health, Hang added.

She said the embassy officials will visit Huong again before she is brought to court on April 1.

Huong is now the sole defendant on trial for Kim's murder and could face death by hanging if convicted.
Thousands of visitors to an ongoing tourism fair are having a fun time, playing games and eating to their hearts content.

Food stalls at the Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM) in Hanoi are serving a myriad of dishes from traditional Vietnamese ones like spring rolls and steamed rice rolls with pork to Japanese and Korean delicacies. Freshly fried potato wafers and grilled meat on skewers are big draws.

The fair is being held at the Vietnam-Soviet Friendship Cultural Palace at 91 Tran Hung Dao Street from March 27-30, with the participation of more than 700 businesses from 25 countries and territories.

A grilled intestine covered with a spicy sauce, a tasty treat that is both spicy and a bit sweet. A serving costs VND30,000 ($1.3).

Other popular skewer items include sausage fried in butter covered with cheese and fried diced potatoes.

Calf meat from central Nghe An Province is served with a special sauce which is a mixture of chili sauce, fresh chili and garlic. According to the seller, a calfs leg costs VND120,000 ($5.2) and can be stored for one month if refrigerated.

Packages of this gummy-looking dish which are dry resin of scaphium affine trees are being sold at Phan Rang booth.

Phan Rang Town is a popular tourist destination in the central province of Ninh Thuan. The resin is to be soaked in water for 12 hours and then mixed with sugar and honey. The end result tastes like the edible swiftlet nest. A bag of 200 grams costs VND100,000 ($4.3).

This grapefruit wine has attracted a lot of attention from visitors because of its interesting packaging - a real grapefruit. This product can be found at the Dong Nai Province booth.

Dang Van Thai of Bac Giang Province said it was the first time he was learning about this wine. "The wine tastes mild, it is sweet and a bit bitter, just like the taste of grapefruit."

A grapefruit jar costs VND170,000 ($7.3).

In addition to gorging themselves on food, a large number of fair goers are also spending time queuing up at game booths.

The Japan game section shown in the picture has a dart game with Japanese products as prizes. The higher the score, the greater the value of the gift received.

Hanoi resident Nguyen Van Tuan is trying out a virtual reality game. Players get to wear virtual reality glasses and rescue a cat from a high-rise building. What they see is also shown on the large screen in the background.

"It was a bit strange at first, but then I calmed myself and completed the challenge," said Tuan. This game, lasting between 2 to 3 minutes each go, is free.

At the Taiwan booth, visitors can paint their own masks with watercolors. In addition to selling discounted tours and introducing new ones, the Taiwan section has attracted a lot of young people with milk tea and some cultural performances.

The Korea Tourism Board mans one of the busiest booths at the fair. It offers several activities, including learn how to make the Korean traditional attire, hanbok, with paper. Visitors can also try out a real costume for free.

The VITM goes on until Saturday, March 30.
North Korea has been banned by the U.N. Security Council from carrying out space launches, and Kim had promised to dismantle the Sohae rocket site. Photo by AFP

North Korea has almost completed rebuilding a long-range rocket site it had promised to close, Seoul lawmakers told reporters Friday.

The claim comes after a closed-door meeting with South Korean intelligence officials, a month after a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in February ended without an agreement, deepening a gap between the two on how to achieve "complete denuclearization."

Shortly after the end of the Hanoi summit, a series of satellite images emerged suggesting increased activity at the North's Sohae rocket site, triggering international alarm that the nuclear-armed state might be preparing a long-range or space launch.

"The North began rebuilding the center, which was partly dismantled last July, before the North-U.S. summit in February," lawmaker Kim Min-ki told reporters after the closed-door briefing by the National Intelligence Service.

"The work is almost complete with some maintenance activity being underway," he said.

North Korea has been banned by the U.N. Security Council from carrying out space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

But earlier this month the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said there was "deliberate and purposeful" activity going on at the Sohae rocket site.

Friday's latest assessment by Seoul could suggest a reversal in policy by Kim, who agreed to shut the Sohae site at a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang last year.

Experts have warned a launch of any kind would send the stuttering talks on denuclearisation into disarray.

Moon Chung-in, the presidential special advisor on national security, said the outcome would be "catastrophic."

The nuclear-armed state is also "operating uranium enrichment facilities" at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, the lawmaker added.

In the aftermath of the Hanoi summit, Pyongyang and Washington have both sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock.

Pyongyang said it had proposed dismantling the Yongbyon complex -- a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities -- in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions that have strangled and isolated the North.

But US officials have said it was not clear exactly which facilities at the Yongbyon complex the North was willing to give up, while Trump has said that "the weapons themselves need to be on the table".
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Rosatom, the global technological leader in high-performance clean energy solutions, has been named best employer of 2018 in Russia in a national ranking by HeadHunter, a top HR management platform and resource center. In a vote, the company achieved the highest score by employees, candidates and experts out of over 1,000 biggest Russian companies.

Commenting on the accolade, Tatyana Terentyeva, HR Director of Rosatom, said:

"We're immensely proud of this achievement which is testament to our strong company culture of always putting our people first.

"The growth of regional and international projects has given employees and applicants the chance to work in multicultural, cross-divisional and cross-functional project teams. Digitalisation, alone, will open vacancies for 1,000 new specialists this year, from software developers to product and data scientists.

"Whilst we are delighted with this recognition, there is no room for complacency though for corporations around the world. Evidence is mounting of a widening mismatch between what employers need and what human resources are trained to do. We operate in over 40 countries across the world and we can see that it is a global problem which needs to be addressed and addressed urgently.

"We believe that the responsibility lies with human capital stakeholders, such as large multinationals, universities and governments to begin discussing the policy response in earnest. We hope that the gathering of these parties at the global Skills Summit, taking place alongside the WorldSkills 2019 Conference in Kazan this August, to address the global skills gap which affects everyone, will be an important starting point from which companies and governments can work together to help solve this issue."

The HeadHunter rating took into account three indicators, using a unique methodology developed in conjunction with PwC and ECOPSY Consulting. The first was applicants choosing companies which they would like to work for (this counted for 40% of the total). The second was based on a professional questionnaire that employees completed, evaluating the company's HR function (this counted for 20% of the total). The last was an assessment of existing employees and their engagement in the company's affairs (this counted for 40% of the total).

The company has been among the top-rated employers in the ranking for several years, taking 3rd and 2nd place in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

About Rosatom

https://www.rosatom.ru/en/about-us/
On March 8, Idaho Power made a filing with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) requesting approvals of actions related to the company ceasing operations at the coal-fired North Valmy power plant (Valmy). In cooperation with NV Energy, Idaho Power has finalized an agreement to end its participation in operations of Valmy Unit 1 by Dec. 31, 2019 and Valmy Unit 2 by Dec. 31, 2025.

In its filing, Idaho Power has asked the IPUC to:

Approve the North Valmy Project Framework Agreement between NV Energy and Idaho Power (Agreement) dated Feb. 22, 2019. This Agreement outlines the terms and conditions under which either party may elect exit of participation in Valmy.

Find that the company's actual and forecasted investments at Valmy through the plant's remaining life are allowable for inclusion in customer rates.

Adjust customer rates to recover the associated incremental annual levelized revenue requirement of $1.2 million with an effective date of June 1, 2019.

The terms and conditions contained in the Agreement are consistent with the commitments detailed in the 2017 settlement agreement approved by IPUC Order No. 33771 and will allow Idaho Power to achieve cost savings benefits for customers of approximately $12.2 million. In this case, Idaho Power seeks the IPUC approval required by the Agreement and to adjust customer rates to align with the remaining life-cycle costs provided for by that agreement.

If Idaho Power's request in this matter is approved as filed, the average Idaho residential customer using 950 kilowatt hours per month will see an increase of $0.10, effective June 1, 2019.

Read the full press release.
Idaho Power has reached a landmark agreement to buy clean, local solar energy at a price that's among the lowest on record. The energy will come from a future solar project south of Twin Falls that's expected to generate 120 megawatts (MW).

"Today's (3/26) announcement reflects Idaho Power's commitment to resources that balance environmental stewardship with affordability and reliability," Idaho Power President and CEO Darrel Anderson said. "This deal will provide energy that is not only clean, but is also at a cost that benefits our customers."

Idaho Power signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Jackpot Holdings, LLC, an Idaho company that plans to complete the solar array by 2022. Idaho Power will initially pay $21.75 per megawatt-hour (MWh) less than 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). The agreement includes the potential for Idaho Power to buy the facility, as well as obtain energy from a proposed expansion at a slightly higher price.

This is among the lowest-cost solar contracts of its size that's been publicly reported. That low cost makes adding solar power from this facility to Idaho Power's energy mix cost-effective for customers.

The Jackpot Holdings agreement will help replace energy produced by the North Valmy coal-fired plant in Nevada, where Idaho Power recently agreed to end operations. Idaho Power's other energy resources will help even out fluctuations that could result from new solar energy coming onto the system. This helps ensure reliability for our customers.

The unique location of this solar array also made this deal attractive to Idaho Power. Once it is built, the array will connect to an existing transmission line that today delivers energy from the North Valmy plant.

In addition to being clean and affordable, solar energy production increases in the summer when hot weather and irrigation increase Idaho Power customers' energy needs. The company's agreement with Jackpot Holdings supports Idaho Power's goal of providing 100 percent clean energy by 2045, which the company announced today in a separate news release.

Idaho Power will submit the agreement to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission for approval.

About Idaho Power

Idaho Power, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, and locally operated since 1916, is an energy company that employs approximately 2,000 people who serve nearly 560,000 customers throughout a 24,000-square-mile area in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. With 17 low-cost hydroelectric projects as the core of its diverse generation portfolio, Idaho Power's residential, business and agricultural customers pay among the nation's lowest prices for electricity. IDACORP Inc. (NYSE: IDA), Idaho Power's independent publicly traded parent company, is also headquartered in Boise, Idaho. To learn more, visit idahopower.com or idacorpinc.com.

Contact:

Sven Berg

Communications Specialist

208-388-2905

sberg@idahopower.com
Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) filed proposals with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) today (3/28) for regulatory reviews that will set customer rates for electricity and natural gas for the years 2020 and 2021.

The proposal includes investments in two solar facilities, Badger Hollow and Two Creeks that will create 200 megawatts of clean energy. It also includes the ongoing modernizing of its electric distribution system by burying or upgrading 2,000 miles of electric distribution lines. Those upgrades reduce outages and bolster reliability when storms strike.

The plan WPS submitted for consideration would increase the typical monthly residential electric bill by approximately 4.9% in 2020 and an additional 4.9% in 2021.

WPS natural gas customers will also see a small increase in their monthly bills in 2020 and an additional small increase in 2021.

Even with the increases, WPS average bills would remain well below the state and national average.

"Nothing is more important to us than providing safe and reliable energy to our customers," said Tom Metcalfe, president - WPS. "These investments in reliability and clean energy mean a brighter future for today's customers and generations to come."

Rate Summary

WPS is proposing to the PSCW to use $40 million in savings from federal tax reform to partially offset the revenue request. With the tax law savings applied, the request would raise retail electric revenues by 4.9 percent in 2020 and an additional 4.9 percent in 2021.

Next steps

On or before May 1, WPS will update the filing to include more specific information on the rate impact for each customer group. The company also will provide this information to customers through a bill insert and on wisconpublicservice.com

The PSCW will conduct proceedings on the WPS proposals and is expected to make a final decision later this year. New rates are expected to take effect in January 2020.

Forward-looking statements

Certain information contained in this press release is forward-looking information based upon management's current expectations and projections that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning future regulatory action and rate implementation. Also, forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimates," expects," "forecasts," "goals," "guidance," "intends," "may," "objectives," "plans," "possible," "potential," "projects," "seeks," "should," "targets," "will" or similar terms or variations of these terms. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

In addition to the assumptions and other factors referred to in connection with the forward-looking information, factors that could cause WEC Energy Group's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking information or otherwise affect the company's future results include, among others, the following: timing, resolution and impact of rate cases and negotiations, including recovery of deferred and current costs and the ability to earn a reasonable return on investment, and other regulatory decisions; political developments; energy conservation efforts; continued adoption of distributed generation by customers; the remaining uncertainty surrounding the tax legislation enacted in December 2017; federal and state legislative and regulatory changes relating to the environment, including climate change and other environmental regulations impacting generation facilities and renewable energy standards, the enforcement of these laws and regulations, changes in the interpretation of regulations or permit conditions by regulatory agencies, and the recovery of associated remediation and compliance costs; current and future litigation and regulatory investigations; and other factors described under the heading "Factors Affecting Results, Liquidity, and Capital Resources" in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and under the headings "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" contained in WEC Energy Group's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and in subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. WEC Energy Group expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
We Energies filed proposals with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) today (3/28) for regulatory reviews that will set customer rates for electricity, natural gas and steam for the years 2020 and 2021.

The request comes after a four-year freeze of base rates - a freeze that has resulted in lower customer bills while maintaining world-class reliability and shaping a cleaner energy future.

The monthly electric bill for a typical residential customer has remained relatively flat since 2013, while the combined electric and natural gas bill for a typical residential customer is $10 less per month today than it was in 2008.

The plan We Energies submitted for consideration would increase the typical monthly residential electric bill by approximately 2.9% in 2020 and an additional 2.9% in 2021. Average bills would remain well below the national average.

"We have been recognized as the most reliable utility in the Midwest for eight consecutive years. This rate plan will help us maintain that world-class reliability while continuing to invest in state-of-the-art infrastructure and clean energy," said Tom Metcalfe, president - We Energies.

Electricity

In the rate filing, We Energies points to three cost drivers:

Higher transmission charges that have been capped at 2010 levels.

Revenue the PSCW assumed We Energies would receive from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) that was not received.

Increased costs associated with the purchased power agreement for energy from the Point Beach Nuclear Plant. This agreement was approved by the PSCW in 2007.

"Absent these three drivers, we would have been able to keep costs frozen for our electric customers through 2021," Metcalfe said. "These drivers account for virtually the entire revenue deficiency we expect to incur to provide electric service to our customers."

Natural gas and steam

We Energies natural gas customers also would see a small increase in their monthly bills in 2020 as part of the filed plan but no increase in 2021.

We Energies steam customers in downtown Milwaukee also would see an increase in rates in 2020 and no increase in 2021.

Rate summary

We Energies is proposing to the PSCW to use $111 million of savings from federal tax reform to partially offset the revenue request. With the tax law savings applied, the request would raise retail electric revenues by 2.9 percent in 2020 and an additional 2.9 percent in 2021.

Next steps

On or before May 1, We Energies will update the filing to include more specific information on the rate impact for each customer group. The company also will provide this information to customers through a bill insert and on we-energies.com.

The PSCW will conduct proceedings on the We Energies proposals and is expected to make a final decision later this year. New rates are expected to take effect in January 2020.

Forward-looking statements

Certain information contained in this press release is forward-looking information based upon management's current expectations and projections that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning future regulatory action and rate implementation. Also, forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimates," expects," "forecasts," "goals," "guidance," "intends," "may," "objectives," "plans," "possible," "potential," "projects," "seeks," "should," "targets," "will" or similar terms or variations of these terms. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

In addition to the assumptions and other factors referred to in connection with the forward-looking information, factors that could cause WEC Energy Group's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking information or otherwise affect the company's future results include, among others, the following: timing, resolution and impact of rate cases and negotiations, including recovery of deferred and current costs and the ability to earn a reasonable return on investment, and other regulatory decisions; political developments; energy conservation efforts; continued adoption of distributed generation by customers; the remaining uncertainty surrounding the tax legislation enacted in December 2017; federal and state legislative and regulatory changes relating to the environment, including climate change and other environmental regulations impacting generation facilities and renewable energy standards, the enforcement of these laws and regulations, changes in the interpretation of regulations or permit conditions by regulatory agencies, and the recovery of associated remediation and compliance costs; current and future litigation and regulatory investigations; and other factors described under the heading "Factors Affecting Results, Liquidity, and Capital Resources" in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and under the headings "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" contained in WEC Energy Group's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and in subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. WEC Energy Group expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) today (3/28) announced the approval of a two contracts worth over $15 million for 1000 miles of optical ground wire to improve the efficiency and reliability of the statewide electric power system.

The five-year contracts will support NYPA's multiphase Communications Backbone program, first announced in 2017, which involves installation of optical ground wire and fiber optic communications systems throughout NYPA's more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission infrastructure and 16 clean hydroelectric and natural gas facilities.

"A robust, secure, reliable communications is essential to the functioning of every organization, but is particularly critical for the power industry so I am happy to see this work moving forward," said Gil C. Quiniones, NYPA president and CEO. "This is work that supports our goal to become the nation's first fully-digital utility that will be more reliable and responsive to dynamic conditions on our power lines."

The NYPA Board of Trustees authorized the contract awards valued at $15,232,682 to AFL Telecommunications LLC of South Carolina and MVA Power Inc. of Montreal Canada at its meeting on March 26.

At the same meeting, NYPA trustees also authorized the long term lease for space on top of One World Trade Center in Manhattan to support four microwave dishes. Part of the statewide Communications Backbone program, the microwave dishes will provide redundant paths for communication of operational data.

Work on the Communications Backbone program is currently underway on NYPA transmission lines and substations across the state. It is tied to a Sensor Deployment program, which is taking place concurrently and aims for attaining 117,000 data points, or units of information, for monitoring NYPA equipment. Together, the programs are helping to realize Governor Cuomo's Reforming the Energy Vision strategy for building a cleaner, resilient and reliable energy system throughout the state.

When the Communications Backbone Program is complete in 2021, the Power Authority will have a dedicated, robust, secure and scalable communication network connecting all its facilities. The network will replace previous technology, increase the quantity and quality of available information on NYPA's physical assets, and communicate potential equipment problems remotely.

The program, which is estimated to cost approximately $158 million, will also lead to better analytics and improved operations and business decisions. In addition to anticipated savings from improved operational efficiency, the Power Authority expects additional net savings of approximately $17 million over 20 years by moving away from commercial telecommunications providers.

The program will also employ digital microwave systems as well as tie-ins to existing, dedicated fiber communication infrastructure.

The Communications Backbone initiative is a foundational element in the Power Authority's smart generation and transmission and asset management strategic initiatives and a critical component in NYPA's ambition to become the first end-to-end digital utility in the United States.

About NYPA

NYPA is the largest state public power organization in the nation, operating 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. More than 70 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. For more information visit www.nypa.gov and follow us on Twitter @NYPAenergy, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn.

About REV

Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) is Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's strategy to lead on climate change and grow New York's economy. REV is building a cleaner, more resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers by stimulating investment in clean technologies like solar, wind, and energy efficiency and generating 50 percent of the state's electricity needs from renewable energy by 2030. Already, REV has driven a nearly 800 percent growth in the statewide solar market, enabled over 105,000 low-income households to permanently cut their energy bills with energy efficiency, and created thousands of jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and other clean tech sectors. REV is ensuring New York State reduces statewide greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 and achieves the internationally-recognized target of reducing emissions 80 percent by 2050. To learn more about REV, including the Governor's $5 billion investment in clean energy technology and innovation, please visit www.ny.gov/REV4NY and follow us at @Rev4NY.

Contact:

Maura Balaban

maura.balaban@nypa.gov

(914) 390-8171
Idaho Power unveiled a goal Tuesday (3/26) to provide 100-percent clean energy by 2045. The Clean Today, Cleaner Tomorrow. effort will build on the company's 100-year history as a clean-energy leader while providing reliable service at affordable prices.

Idaho Power is among the first publicly owned energy companies to set a goal for reaching 100-percent clean energy. To achieve the goal, the company plans to continue its path away from coal and invest in storage and additional clean generation sources like wind and solar.

In a separate news release issued today, Idaho Power demonstrated its commitment to energy that's both clean and affordable with a landmark agreement to buy up to 120 megawatts (MW) of solar power. The price for this energy is among the lowest on record. The energy will come from a generation facility to be built south of Twin Falls by Idaho company Jackpot Holdings, LLC. In the coming days, Idaho Power will send this agreement to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission for approval.

"Providing 100-percent clean energy is an important goal for Idaho Power. More and more customers are telling us it is important to them, too," Idaho Power President and CEO Darrel Anderson said. "We believe this goal is attainable. We have a great head start, thanks to our clean hydropower plants that produce almost half the energy our customers use. Our recently signed agreement with Jackpot Holdings moves us even closer."

Clean energy resources are becoming more affordable, which could help Idaho Power accomplish its goal while keeping prices fair. Grid upgrades and battery-storage technology should help maintain Idaho Power's impressive reliability while moving the company closer to its goal. Continued energy efficiency efforts will help.

"This plan demonstrates Idaho Power's commitment to doing what's right for customers' pocketbooks and the environment," Idaho Gov. Brad Little said. "It also shows innovation can improve our lives with solutions that are reasonably priced, responsible and delivered without government intrusion."

Clean energy initiatives are not new to Idaho Power. In 2009, the company adopted a resolution to reduce carbon emissions. Since then, it has made sustainable, measurable advances toward a clean-energy future, all while providing reliable power at affordable prices.

Idaho Power has reduced its carbon emissions intensity measured in pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) per megawatt-hour by almost 50 percent since 2005. The company has entered agreements to end participation in two coal plants and is exploring exiting a third and final coal plant.

Idaho Power already buys a significant amount of energy generated by wind and solar resources. The company sells the renewable energy credits attached to this energy to benefit the customer.

Boise Mayor David Bieter praised Idaho Power's new goal and its alignment with a similar goal the City of Boise is developing for community-wide energy use.

"This is an ambitious goal that illustrates Idaho Power's commitment to the future of the communities they serve," Bieter said. "It's exciting to think about what we might achieve together by working toward a common goal of 100 percent clean electricity."

Clean Today, Cleaner Tomorrow will require strong partnerships with utilities, customers, local governments and regulators. With its strong hydropower backbone and big steps like agreeing to buy 120 MW of new solar power, Idaho Power is taking the lead on creating a cleaner future.
Pablo Iglesias, the leader of Podemos, leaving court on Wednesday. Alvaro Garcia

In April 2016, with the Popular Party (PP) in power, high-ranking officials at the Spanish Interior Ministry granted an extraordinary residency permit to a Venezuelan national who had been cooperating as a police informer in a political dirty war against the left-wing Podemos party.

This warfare is attributed to the so-called Patriotic Brigade, a group of officers who allegedly engaged in irregular activities during Mariano Rajoys first term in office in an attempt to damage the reputation of the PPs political rivals.

The Patriotic Brigade was allegedly created within the National Police under then-Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz

The Patriotic Brigade was allegedly created within the National Police under then-Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz. The best-known member of this group is Jose Manuel Villarejo, a retired police chief who ran a private espionage service for 20 years, and who was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention in November 2017 as the alleged ringleader of a corrupt police network.

Judge Manuel Garcia-Castellon of Spains High Court (Audiencia Nacional) is now investigating whether this group is behind an apparent dirty war against Podemos.

In April 2017, his colleague, Judge Jose de la Mata, took the first step toward uncovering the groups activities in connection with an unlawful attempt to incorporate damning documents into a judicial investigation into the finances of former Catalan leader Jordi Pujol and his family.

Now, the Patriotic Brigade is also under scrutiny for allegedly spying on Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias. Villarejo, the former police chief, told the judge that his spying activities against the Podemos leader were part of a police investigation.

According to Villarejo, the police took from his possession a pen drive containing data retrieved from a cellphone that belonged to an aide of Iglesias. This aide reported the theft of the phone in 2016. Part of the personal information contained on it, including messages exchanged in an internal party chat group, were later published by the online daily OKDiario.

Residency permit

A document that has been attested to by a notary, verified by police sources, and accepted as valid by two Madrid courts, shows how the Interior Ministry granted an individual named Carlos Alberto Arias a one-year residency permit due to exceptional circumstances involving cooperation with police authorities.

The document was signed by the state secretary for security at the time, Francisco Martinez, who has told EL PAIS that he does not remember Arias name. I imagine that, just like so many other times, I was given the papers, and if it is proposed by the police, I sign off on it, he said.

Ex-state secretary for security Francisco Martinez. Interior Ministry

Although the permit did not specify the nature of this cooperation, Arias himself has declared before a notary that he had been working as an informer for the Spanish police since February 2016, contributing all kinds of documents about the funds that the government of Venezuela had allegedly given to Podemos and its leader, Iglesias.

This money was allegedly channeled through an account at Euro Pacific Bank in the Grenadines, a tax haven. This information has not been verified.

This entire collaboration was authorized and requested by the Interior Ministry of the government of Spain, added Arias, who introduced himself as the source who gave the police several unverified reports about irregular payments to Podemos, allegedly drafted by the Cuban secret services and by the government of Venezuela. The contents of these reports were published by Ok Diario in May 2016.

At that time, Podemos was doing well in the polls, and stood to play a decisive role in the formation of a government following the December 2015 elections, when two protest parties  Podemos and Ciudadanos  shattered Spains two-party system. Politicians struggled for months to reach governing deals, and failure to do so resulted in a new general election in June 2016, which was won by the PP, albeit without a majority.

Iglesias account

In January 2016, OkDiario also published news about the so-called Pisa report, a fake police document with ties to the Patriotic Brigade that asserted that the government of Iran had backed Iglesias financially in order to launch his political career. This report is currently under investigation at the High Court as part of the wider probe into the affairs of the ex-police chief Villarejo.

Iglesias himself has always denied the accusations of international funding, and initiated legal proceedings against OKDiario. A Madrid appeals court and the regional High Court have not attempted to determine whether the published information is accurate or not.

This is a criminal network involving corrupt police officers, media organizations and leading business people, said Iglesias on Wednesday, after testifying in court.

English version by Susana Urra.
Spains conservative Popular Party (PP) is once again in hot water after its new congressional candidate made a series of incendiary claims about abortion. Adolfo Suarez Illana  who is the eldest son of Spains first democratically elected prime minister after the 1975 transition to democracy, Adolfo Suarez Gonzalez  stated on Thursday that abortion has been around for 100,000 years. The Neanderthals also used it. But they waited for the baby to be born and cut off its head.

Hes done a great favor to the left. I think its unacceptable; barbaric

Former PP deputy Celia Villalobos

Suarez Illana was meant to be a star signing for the PP ahead of the April 28 general election, and will run second on the candidate list after party leader Pablo Casado. But his statements this week about abortion have left the conservative party embarrassed.

In an interview with the Madrid-based radio station Onda Cero, Suarez Illana combined the topics of abortion, traffic accidents and suicides. We spend 740 million on road safety each year, which kills between 1,500 and 1,800 people a year. But interestingly we are not doing anything in two areas: one that claims 8,000 lives a year, suicide; and abortion, which claims 100,000 lives a year, he said. It is outrageous that we dont do anything. Women have to decide between being the mothers of a dead child or a living child.

Suarez Illana added that an embryo is not a tumor. Thats obvious. If you dont touch that embryo it will end up being a man with a beard or a lovely lady. He also falsely claimed that New York had just approved a law which allows abortion after birth.

The PP was forced to call on Suarez Illana to issue an apology for his comments. At an event in Logrono, a city in the northern province of La Rioja, Suarez Illana said: After making a comparison between the Neanderthals and the New York law, I spent all afternoon looking to see if my affirmation was correct or not, and an office in New York confirmed that it is not correct. When one makes a mistake and blunders, it is best to ask for forgiveness. Im very sorry. Thats the end of the controversy.

Adolfo Suarez Illana at an act in Logrono. RAQUEL MANZANARES (EFE)

Growing divisions with the PP

The issue of abortion has divided the PP. Previous comments made by party leader Pablo Casado linking the issue of abortion with the sustainability of Spains pensions system had upset many within the group, who argued the position was not going to help them win votes ahead of the election. Casado paid heed to this and decided not to promise a return to Spains restrictive 1985 abortion law  which only allowed pregnancy terminations in very limited cases  during his election campaign.

But while the PP leader has tried to bury the debate on abortion, it has flared up again thanks to Suarez Illana. More moderate members of the PP who have not been chosen to run for Congress have harshly criticized Suarez Illanas comments. Its an embarrassment; complete nonsense, said one leader from the moderate sector of the party.

Former PP deputy Celia Villalobos told EL PAIS, Hes done a great favor to the left. I think its unacceptable; barbaric. My stomach turned on hearing it.

I dont support these statements, added Marta Gonzalez, PP vice secretary of communication, in reference to Suarez Illanas comments. There are many opinions in the PP: from those who are absolutely against [abortion] to those who believe that every woman has a different personal and family situation that only she can assess. We do all agree that a woman should not think she is forced to make this decision for lack of social support or because of an unfavorable work or economic situation.

Suarez Illana falsely claimed that New York had approved a law which allows abortion after birth

After Suarez Illana apologized, PP deputy secretary Javier Maroto wrote on Twitter that the partys official position is to wait for the Constitutional Court to announce its decision on the appeal brought against the current abortion law, which was introduced in 2010 under Socialist Party (PSOE) Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and allows abortion on demand during the first trimester.

Despite this position, top PP leaders  including secretary general Teodoro Garcia Egea  attended a march against abortion and the culture of death in Madrid on Sunday.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
A memorial to the victims of Srebrenica. ELVIS BARUKCIC (AFP)

The definitive verdict against the political leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, provides an anatomy of the atrocities that were committed during the conflict that ravaged the former Yugoslav republic between 1992 and 1995. But Jose Ricardo de Prada, the Spanish judge who sat on the panel at the appeals court, feels that the verdict fell short in one fundamental aspect: genocide. And it is for this reason that he entered a dissenting opinion.

The first verdict contributed to building the truth about what happened during the war, and the appeal verdict could have built up the facts even more, he said in a telephone interview from the Netherlands. De Prada, who will be returning to Spains High Court (Audiencia Nacional) in April, has extensive experience in international law, and was a member of the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2005 and 2008.

The first verdict contributed to building the truth about what happened during the war, and the appeal verdict could have built up the facts even more

Judge Jose Ricardo de Prada

The first judgment against Karadzic was handed down by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2016, and it made two very important points. Both of these points have been confirmed by the second verdict, which was made public on March 20. The first one found Karadzic guilty of the crimes committed against the Muslim and Croat populations in the same degree as the military leader who executed them, Ratko Mladic. In fact, the appeal verdict increases Karadzics jail term for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and now sentences him to life in prison, the same sentence given to Mladic in 2017.

The legal figure that was used is Joint Criminal Enterprise. This notion was introduced with the first verdict: it is the relationship between the intellectual perpetrator and the direct perpetrator, like criminal association in Spanish law, explains Judge De Prada. It is not just the individuals who physically carry out the act who are held accountable, but also the intellectual perpetrators. This legal figure is used to judge cases of drug trafficking and terrorist organizations, because without it, it would be impossible to charge the bosses.

The first verdict against Karadzic was historic because it confirmed that in late 20th-century Europe, in the presence of international troops, the crime that many jurists consider to be the worst of all, genocide, was indeed committed. The term was coined by a Polish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin after World War II, when he found himself in need of a new word to describe the Shoah.

The concept of genocide has been so well shielded that it is nearly impossible to prove

Judge Jose Ricardo de Prada

Since 1948, the concept has existed in international law as intentional action to wholly or partially exterminate a national, ethnic or racial group, and it was not even applied to Nazi bosses at Nuremberg because it was not yet in force. There are very few genocides acknowledged by international law, and what the Serbian radicals did to Bosnian Muslims is one of them.

It is a crime that is extremely difficult to prove because evidence and testimony must be provided that there was an intent to exterminate; that is, not just that large-scale crimes were committed, but that the goal of those crimes was to try to exterminate the members of a group for the sole fact of having been born into it. In the first verdict against Karadzic, the court found that this had happened but only in Srebrenica, in July 1995, toward the end of the war, when 8,000 men and boys were exterminated in this Bosnian city in a massacre that was designed and executed by Karadzic and Mladic.

The ICTY found that elsewhere in the country there were war crimes and crimes against humanity, that thousands of Muslims were expelled through a policy of terror, that there were mass rapes and confinements in concentration camps; but the genocidal intent behind these actions was not proven. In his dissenting opinion, Judge Jose Ricardo de Prada considered that an opportunity has been lost for international justice to expand the perimeter within which to apply the crime of genocide.

The term genocide was coined by a Polish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin after World War II

In Srebrenica it is very clear, because it was proven that Karadzic had very specific information and knowledge, explains the Spanish judge. In his dissenting opinion, he defended that a definition of genocide based merely on intent makes no sense, and that it should be based on something much more objective, in this case the crimes against people who were persecuted for being Muslims or Croats.

The concept of genocide has not been extended to other places where there was ethnic cleansing as part of a plan to terrorize civil society. This is only achieved through genocidal acts, but the court considers that there is reasonable doubt when it comes to proving an intention of complete extermination. The concept of genocide has been so well shielded that it is nearly impossible to prove. This is a very important verdict, a historic one, that sets out the truth about events in Bosnia. But I think that it falls short.

English version by Susana Urra.
JKX Oil & Gas with assets in Ukraine and Russia in 2018 saw $15.26 million in net profit compared with net loss of $17.66 million in 2017. This is the first profit of the company since 2013.

According to unaudited preliminary results of the company posted on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Friday, its revenue grew by 24.4%, to $92.87 million benefitting from high sales prices in Ukraine.

Average price of gas in 2018 was 29.6% higher than in 2017, being $307.80 per 1,000 cubic meters, that for oil  15.1% more ($74 per barrel), and LPG  16.5% more ($544 per tonne).

According to the document, the company moved into to net cash position of $8.2 million ($9.7 million net debt position in 2017).

Last year the company's capital expenditure totaled $11.8 million, including $11.1 million related to Ukraine.

In 2018, group average production was 8,937 boepd (2017: 8,657 boepd), an overall increase in production of 3.2%. In Ukraine the figure grew by 4.8%, to 3,677 boepd, in Russia by 2.9%, to 5,169 boepd and in Hungary it fell by 30.5%, to 91 boepd.

JKX Oil & Gas is engaged in exploration and production of hydrocarbons in Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, and Slovakia.

The largest shareholders of JKX are Eclairs Group of Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov with 27.47% of the shares, Keyhall Holding with 11.42%, Neptune Invest & Finance Corp with 12.95%, and Interneft Ltd with 6.6%.
Andriy Kobolev, the chairman of the board of Naftogaz Ukrainy, is confident that after Denmark's refusal to agree on the passage of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, its operation will not start in the period announced by the Russian side, on January 1, 2020.

"Now, after what recently happened in Denmark, it cannot be denied that this is another big delay [of putting the pipeline into operation]. It is obvious that the last route that the consortium [for the construction of the gas pipeline] hoped for will not be launched in the near future. This means that this pipe will not be able to supply gas to Europe from January 1, 2020," Kobolev said during a conference on the security of gas supplies to Europe in Brussels.

Speaking about the prospects of gas transit through Ukraine, the head of the company referred to the estimates that were given by international analytical centers.

"They all tried to answer one simple question: whether Gazprom [Russia] will be able to cope without Nord Stream 2 and without Ukrainian transit. There is no simple answer to this question for one simple reason. If there is no Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream 2, Gazprom will lack a small portion of opportunities [due to no transit through the gas transportation system of Ukraine], which will not allow it to fully fulfill its obligations. If there is TurkStream 2, but there is no Nord Stream 2, Gazprom can manage without Ukraine, but remaining at the minimum level [of gas supply volumes]. If there are both, then Gazprom can cope without Ukraine," Kobolev said.
The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) has applied certain sanctions against FC Shakhtar Donetsk for fans' behavior at UEFA Europa League Round of 32 first leg match between FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Eintracht Frankfurt, played in Kharkiv on February.

The CEDB has ordered the partial closure of the FC Shakhtar Donetsk stadium during the next UEFA competition match in which the Ukrainian club would play as the host. In particular, FC Shakhtar Donetsk shall close sector 13 of the North Stand for the racist behavior of its supporters, the official website of the UEFA said.

FC Shakhtar Donetsk is to implement the following directive in the next UEFA competition match which the club shall play as the host club: to display a banner with the wording "#EqualGame," with the UEFA logo on it. The banner shall be covering the entire sector 13.

In addition, FC Shakhtar Donetsk has been fined at EUR 10,000 for setting off fireworks.
Bulgaria confirms the consistent support of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria Yuri Sterk during the Ukrainian-Bulgarian political consultations held in Kyiv on March 28, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

"During the consultations, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar discussed with his Bulgarian counterpart the whole range of issues on the agenda of Ukrainian-Bulgarian relations. The parties outlined ways to further develop political dialogue, interaction on the platforms of international organizations, as well as cooperation in economic, legal and cultural humanitarian spheres," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

The sides positively noted the development of transport infrastructure between the two countries, in particular, the opening of direct flights between Kyiv and Sofia by the Ryanair airline.

Special attention was paid to practical issues of cooperation in the field of education and the protection of the rights of national minorities in Ukraine and Bulgaria.

"The Bulgarian side confirmed the consistency of its support for the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, the continuation of the EU sanctions policy against the Russian Federation, the efforts of our state and the international community to stabilize the situation in eastern Ukraine and the de-occupation of Crimea, as well as the release of Ukrainian political hostages and POW sailors," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said.
Minsk is ready to broaden cooperation with the European Union but will keep national interests in mind, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

"We are ready to cooperate, but we must remember about national interests at all times," Lukashenko said at a meeting with Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Lukashenko strongly opposed a breakup or weakening of the European Union. "It's a pillar of global stability. If this pillar is removed from the system, it will be very difficult for the system to rest on the remaining supports," he said.
The draft resolution on non-recognition of the results of the presidential elections in Ukraine, registered in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, indicates that the Kremlin is unable to carry out its scenario, said President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

"Yesterday, the State Duma of Russia registered a decree on non-recognition of the election results in Ukraine ... Probably, they feel in the Russian Federation that their scenario is failing and that is why they are screeching in such a way. Calm down, nothing will come of it! The Ukrainians figured out what was up Russia sleeves. Ukrainians should vote the way the Kremlin would least like," said Poroshenko at a meeting with voters in Lviv on Thursday.
If the Ukraines prime minister Groysman will stand in the next parliamentary election , a few ministers from the Cabinet of Ministers can join his political party

If the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman takes part in the next parliamentary election with new-established political party, few of current Government Ministers will join him, the sources of the "Focus" say.

According to the press, Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Kistion, who is currently in charge of energy and infrastructure sectors, as well as Minister of Education and Science Lilia Grynevych and First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Maksym Nefyodov may join the new political party led by the current Prime Minister of Ukraine.

One of the key figures in the new PMs political force can be the youngest Minister of the Government - the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleksandr Saienko. He leads the implementation of priority reforms and coordinates work of the Secretariat of the Government. Also, he is responsible for e-governance, reform of administrative services, reform of civil service and corporate governance. He also supervises a number of social initiatives, including the largest reimbursements program called Available Medication.

Currently Oleksandr Saienko is a co-founder of the non-governmental organization Ukrainian Success Strategy, which is associated with the Prime Minister. In recent years Saienko has been playing an important role as a main communicator between the Prime Minister and Cabinet members and the Parliament.
The United States will never lift its sanctions against Russia, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

"I can answer directly: they [the States] will never lift the sanctions against Russia because their whole policy of the past hundred years has been built on the endless application of sanctions against our country, whatever it was called; the Soviet Union or the Russian Federation," Medvedev told users of social-networking site VKontakte on Friday.
The National Interest Online reported March 28 that Iran is trying to outmanoeuvre the United States in Iraq.

An article by Seth Franzman says that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's recent visit to Iraq was "meant to cement an Iran-Iraq alliance that is meant to project Irans power in the region after the defeat of the Islamic State."

The article said that ran is using its influence on Shiite parliamentary groups in Iraq to undermine US policy in the country.

In the meantime, Iraqi President Barham Salih has expressed concern that U.S. tensions with Iran are affecting Iraq, the article added.

Salih used the occasion of Rouhani's visit to remind once again that U.S. troops were in Iraq to help Iraqi army in the fight against ISIS. He made the comments after President Donald Trump said in December that the United States would watch Iran from Iraq.

The article said that Salih's comments "form part of a larger emerging pressure on the U.S. role in Iraq." Irans state-owned Press TV has stressed that "parliamentarians in Iraq are seeking to pressure U.S. troops to leave," reminding that Hadi al-Amiri, head of the second largest Iraqi political party, is a consistent critic of the U.S. role." Amiri "fought alongside the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the 1980s against Saddam Husseins regime and then came to oppose the U.S. presence after 2003," said the article.

According to the National Interests Online, there are more hardline critics of U.S. policy at the Iraqi Parliament and some of them have been sanctioned by U.S. Treasury in early March for acting on behalf of the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran's IRGC.
Scott Olson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump issued a new permit for the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday in an attempt to undermine recent moves by a Montana court to block the project.

The controversial TransCanada Corporations Keystone XL pipeline was first proposed under President George W. Bush but then later stopped by President Barack Obama, whose administration cited potential pollution concerns. In one of the first big moves of his presidency, Trump overturned Obamas decision and said it would benefit the economy. The president approved the development with an executive order.

More than 10 years after it was first proposed, the pipeline continues to face backlash from environmental groups and lawmakers over its potential to contribute to global warming.

The pipeline would move 800,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Canada down through the Central Plains to the Gulf Coast. Because the pipeline moves across borders, it requires a presidential permit.

TransCanada Corporation celebrated the decision in a statement.

President Trump has been clear that he wants to create jobs and advance U.S. energy security and the Keystone XL pipeline does both of those things, said Russ Girling, TransCanadas president and chief executive officer. We thank President Trump for his leadership and steadfast support to enable the advancement of this critical energy infrastructure project for North America.

The magnitude of the work on this project has been extensive. The Keystone XL pipeline has been studied more than any other pipeline in history and the environmental reviews are clear  the project can be built and operated in an environmentally sustainable and responsible way, Girling said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said they were pleased with Trumps action.

Were pleased to see action that will help clear the way for development of the Keystone XL pipeline," Christopher Guith, Acting President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute said in a statement. "The Keystone XL pipeline is one of the most studied pieces of infrastructure in American history.

But Anthony Swift, director of the Canada project at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) underscored concerns that the pipeline would drive dangerous climate change.

The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline was a bad idea from Day One and it remains a terrible idea. If built, it would threaten our land, our drinking water, and our communities from Montana and Nebraska to the Gulf Coast, Swift said.

President Trump is once again showing his disdain for the rule of law. Last time the president tried to ram this permit through he lost in court. We are going to continue to fight this dangerous tar sands pipeline proposal.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has met on Friday March 29 with family members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps IRGC's Afghan recruits who have been killed in Syria.

During seven years of military intervention in Syria, IRGC has used the Fatemyoun Corps (made up of Afghan recruits) and Zaynabyoun Brigade (comprising Pakistani Shiite recruits) to fight alongside its own forces in support of Bashar Assad.

Khamenei said at the meeting that Afghan "martyrs" in Syria are specially privileged because they have been killed in what he called "double-exile."

He told the families of Afghan recruits killed in action in Syria, "Your children are those who defeated America in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq."

Khamenei further praised IRGC's Afghan recruits as being more resilient in jihad and defense.

According to the commander of Fatemyoun, over two thousand Afghan refugees recruited in Iran by IRGC and deployed to Syria have been killed in war Syria.
Iranian officials have warned that two dams in southwestern Iran are reaching their limits and face a crisis, as several cities in the region can be inundated by floods on Friday.

Water and electricity authority in the oil-rich Khuzestan province warned March 28 that 18 villages on the path of water near Dez dam, 33 villages and three cities in Karkheh dam region and 18 villages on the banks of the Karun river must be ready for emergency evacuation.

President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Khuzestan Friday morning to observe emergency operations. The city of Ahvaz, capital of Khuzestan is also threatened by floods.

A source at the office of the president has said that Rouhanis trip takes place at the request of the energy minister and Khuzestans governor.

Rouhani conducted an aerial inspection of parts of the province and officials stressed that a careful management of dams and water levels is essential to prevent a disaster and manage damage.

A dangerous weather pattern is threatening Iran with a new wave of precipitation until April 2, which will hit the western and southwestern part of the country hard.

Karkheh dam is facing the most serious crisis as water has reached its maximum level. Officials say that the dams reservoir has reached 5.1 billion cubic meters of water and can only support another 120 million cubic meters. On Thursday, the operators of the dam increased water outflow to 600 cubic meters per second and Friday they plan to increase it to 1,000 cubic meters.

The outflow from the two affected dams can inundated nearby towns and villages and eventually reach major cities.

Rouhani has said during a speech in Khuzestan that the government will compensate the damages to farmland, which are being inundated by waters released from the dams, signalling that the government is aware that even controlled outflows can cause damages to villagers and farmers in particular.

Iran's state TV says some farmlands and fish farms have already sustained major damages in the province.

Officials also warned that the outflow from Dez might be gradually increased to 2,000 cubic meters per second in the next 48 hours to prevent a disaster for the dam. The height of the dam, built with American expertise in the 1960s, is 352 meters or 1164 feet while the water level now stands at 349 meters; just 3 meters or ten feet less than an overflow limit.

A cold and wet weather front is entering the country from the northwest while a dry and warm front is approaching from south. This increase the likelihood of heavy rainy storms, while major dams are near full capacity.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 21 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said March 29, Trend reports.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:

The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met today in Vienna for the first time under the auspices of 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), Trend reports citing a statement released by OSCE.

The meeting was also attended by Foreign Ministers Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov. Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, also participated in the meeting, reads the statement.

The meeting took place in a positive and constructive atmosphere and provided an opportunity for the two leaders to clarify their respective positions, according to the statement.

They exchanged views about several key issues of the settlement process and ideas of substance.

The two leaders underlined the importance of building up an environment conducive to peace and taking further concrete and tangible steps in the negotiation process to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Recalling their conversation in Dushanbe, the leaders recommitted to strengthening the ceasefire and improving the mechanism for direct communication. They also agreed to develop a number of measures in the humanitarian field.

The Prime Minister and President instructed their Ministers to meet with the CoChairs again in the near future. They also agreed to continue their direct dialogue, reads 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 the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

Azerbaijani parliament will consider 25 issues at a regular plenary session March 29, Trend reports.

The parliament will discuss the issue of electing a new member to the Human Rights Committee, as well as additions and amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, civil procedure, tax and criminal codes, to the laws On Insurance, On State Real Estate Registry and On Constitutional Court.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade, Archbishop of Baku and Azerbaijan Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church Alexander Ischein and Chairman of the Religious Community of Mountain Jews in Baku Milikh Yevdayev sent an appeal to world religious leaders, parliaments, international organizations in connection with March 31 - the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis, Trend reports with reference to the Caucasian Muslims Office.

The appeal notes that the facts of genocide committed in world history, on the basis of national, racial, religious affiliation, remain in the memory of humanity as black pages, and are considered one of the biggest sins against humanity.

Azerbaijanis are one of the nations that faced such a terrible crime as genocide, and the regular nature of such terrible and tragic catastrophes constantly worries the entire Azerbaijani society, including the religious community, reads the appeal.

The main goal of the occupation policy and ethnic cleansing committed by Armenian nationalists against our people is the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from their home lands, creation in these territories of the state of Greater Armenia invented by Armenian historians and ideologists.

The appeal also notes that in 1905 and 1918, Armenian extremists committed in Baku, Nakhchivan, Karabakh, Shamakhi, Guba and other regions of Azerbaijan massacres against Azerbaijanis, killed tens of thousands of civilians, destroyed settlements, historical and cultural monuments, mosques, churches and synagogues.

It is noted that the policy of genocide and deportation of Azerbaijanis continued during the Soviet period with the support of Armenian chauvinists and lobbies.

"Armenian nationalists began to carry out aggressive policy and ethnic cleansing policy against the Azerbaijani people in the second half of the 1980s through the pressure of the Armenian lobby on the leading circles of the USSR, the appeal said.

Armenian chauvinists, taking advantage of the withdrawal of prominent statesman of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev from the leadership of the Political Bureau, have achieved the merciless exile of over 250,000 Azerbaijanis from Armenia, the appeal said.

Twenty percent of our territories - Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts were occupied as a result of large-scale military operations, more than a million Azerbaijanis were expelled from their lands, the appeal said. Having committed acts of vandalism in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh territories, the Armenians destroyed our historical, religious and cultural monuments.

According to the appeal, only after Azerbaijani national leader Heydar Aliyev returned to power, the essence of the genocide and deportation policy carried out by Armenian nationalists over the years was brought to the world communitys attention.

"Unfortunately, the Armenian terrorists have not yet been punished for the crime they committed, the appeal said. Armenia has not yet fulfilled the requirements of four resolutions of the UN Security Council on the unconditional and immediate withdrawal of its troops from the territories of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts.

Despite Azerbaijan has appealed to the international organizations for many years, the Khojaly genocide has not been assessed politically and legally at the proper level although the Khojaly tragedy is among such mass murders against the humanity, like the Holocaust, the genocides in Guernica, Khatyn, the appeal said.

"We, religious leaders, leaders of religious communities, appeal to the world community, international organizations and urge them to give the political and legal assessment of the genocide committed by Armenian occupiers against the Azerbaijani people," the appeal said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 29

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on March 29 on providing material assistance to entrepreneurs who suffered as a result of a fire in a shopping center in the Nizami district of Baku.

As per the decree, in order to provide material assistance to entrepreneurs who suffered as a result of a fire that occurred on March 26, 2019 in a shopping center located at Gara Garayev Street, 81 Q in the Nizami district of Baku, 3 million manats are to be initially allocated from the state budget of Azerbaijan for 2019 by the Presidential Reserve Fund of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy.

The Ministry of Economy has been instructed to approve in coordination with the President of Azerbaijan, the procedure for providing material assistance to affected entrepreneurs within three days using the funds allocated in accordance with this decree, and to resolve other issues arising from this decree.

The Ministry of Finance is charged with providing financing in the amount specified in the decree.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

Trend:

Azerbaijani Prime Minister Novruz Mammadov signed an order on the creation of the commission in connection with the fire in Diglas shopping center in the Nizami district of Baku, Trend reports on March 29.

According to the order, the commission consists of:

Chairman of the Commission: Yagub Eyyubov - First Deputy Prime Minister

Members of the Commission:

Kamaleddin Heydarov - Minister of Emergency Situations

Samir Sharifov - Minister of Finance

Shahin Mustafayev - Minister of Economy

Mikayil Jabbarov - Minister of Taxes

Ramil Usubov  Interior Minister

Parviz Shahbazov - Minister of Energy

Zakir Garalov - Attorney General

Safar Mehdiyev - Chairman of the State Customs Committee

Eldar Azizov - Head of Baku City Executive Power

Arif Gasimov - Head of the Executive Power of the Nizami district

The commission has been charged with conducting full investigation of the cause of the fire, assessing the damage caused during the fire and submitting the opinion letter to the Cabinet of Ministers.

The order comes into force from the date of signing.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 29

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

The Azerbaijani Parliament has approved the joint declaration signed by the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Belarus on November 19, 2018 in Minsk, Trend reports.

The draft law on the approval of the joint declaration was presented for discussion at the plenary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament on March 29, 2019.

It was noted that there are Azerbaijani-Belarusian relations are at a high level, and the approval of this declaration will make an important contribution to the development of relations between the two countries.

The declaration was adopted after a vote.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU) will discuss the new partnership agreement, as well as the aviation agreement next week in Brussels, Head of Political, Economics and Press and Information Section of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Denis Daniilidis told Trend.

He talked about the progress in talks on the new partnership agreement.

The negotiations are still ongoing. We keep the same ambition of concluding a very comprehensive agreement as soon as possible. The ambition is shared by both sides. The same goes for the aviation agreement. There will be an EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council in Brussels next week (April 4) and progress on both items will be discussed at a very high level, Daniilidis added.

The European Council adopted a mandate for the European Commission and the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy to negotiate, on behalf of the EU and its member states, a comprehensive agreement with Azerbaijan in November 2016.

The new agreement should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today.

The agreement will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighborhood Policy and offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.

Currently, bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan are regulated on the basis of an agreement on partnership and cooperation that was signed in 1996 and entered into force in 1999.

The new agreement envisages the compliance of Azerbaijans legislation and procedures with the EUs most important international trade norms and standards, which should lead to the improvement of Azerbaijani goods access to the EU markets.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

Trend:

It is necessary to conduct serious inspections in all shopping centers and increase safety measures, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

He was speaking March 28 at the meeting over a fire that occurred in a shopping center "Diglas" in Nizami district, Baku.

I want to say again that, first of all, it is necessary to fully investigate the causes of the fire, he noted. There are preliminary theories. Surveillance cameras also show where the fire started. Based on this, of course, the final conclusion will be provided. At the same time, it is necessary to conduct serious inspections in all shopping centers and increase safety measures. The Ministry of Emergency Situations and other relevant bodies, the Executive Authority of the city of Baku, the executive authorities of other cities and districts should seriously tackle this work. All safety-related matters must be addressed at the highest standard.

As for entrepreneurs, I want to say again that the state will stand by them, Ilham Aliyev added. They have already been informed about this. We should promptly organize the provision of financial support. A relevant instruction has been issued. In addition, as already noted here, they should be provided with soft loans. It is necessary to precisely calculate the amount of damage caused. We should take measures to place them in other shopping centers operating today, so that they do not stay without work.

Thus, I believe that as a result of the measures already taken and to be taken in the future, entrepreneurs will once again be convinced that the state always supports them, he said. The development of entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan has gained momentum, and the further long-term and sustainable development of our country is largely connected with the activities of entrepreneurs. A class of entrepreneurs has now emerged in Azerbaijan. They are very active in various fields  in manufacturing, service and trade sectors. Of course, the state provides them with both political and financial support. As you know, more than 2 billion manats were provided to them on concessional terms. In difficult days, if an accident has occurred, the state will always be supportive.

As I have already noted, the commission should soon begin to operate, investigate all these issues and provide a final conclusion, he added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

Trend:

Entrepreneurs who insured their property can be completely sure that in case of an accident their property will not be lost, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

He was speaking March 28 at the meeting over a fire that occurred in a shopping center "Diglas" in Nizami district, Baku.

Usually, when such incidents occur in developed countries, insurance companies take over the entire financial burden, and all goods are insured, Ilham Aliyev said.

Unfortunately, there are gaps in the sphere of insurance in Azerbaijan, and we see this in many cases, he noted. For example, thousands of homes were damaged in the recent earthquake in Shamakhi, Ismayilli and Aghsu districts, but none of them was insured. Of course, the state provides and should provide support. The construction of houses has already begun, and a ceremony to provide people with first houses was held at the beginning of this month. In general, entrepreneurs are encouraged to have their property insured. In this case, they can be completely sure that in case of an accident their property will not be lost.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

Trend:

In difficult days, if an accident has occurred, the state will always stand by entrepreneurs, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

He was speaking March 28 at the meeting over a fire that occurred in a shopping center "Diglas" in Nizami district, Baku.

As for entrepreneurs, I want to say again that the state will stand by them, Ilham Aliyev added. They have already been informed about this. We should promptly organize the provision of financial support. A relevant instruction has been issued. In addition, as already noted here, they should be provided with soft loans. It is necessary to precisely calculate the amount of damage caused. We should take measures to place them in other shopping centers operating today, so that they do not stay without work.

Thus, I believe that as a result of the measures already taken and to be taken in the future, entrepreneurs will once again be convinced that the state always supports them, he said. The development of entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan has gained momentum, and the further long-term and sustainable development of our country is largely connected with the activities of entrepreneurs. A class of entrepreneurs has now emerged in Azerbaijan. They are very active in various fields  in manufacturing, service and trade sectors. Of course, the state provides them with both political and financial support. As you know, more than 2 billion manats were provided to them on concessional terms. In difficult days, if an accident has occurred, the state will always be near them.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 29

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Nursultan Nazarbayev is a great friend of Azerbaijan and a big personality in the Turkic world, and it was thanks to him that an authoritative and strong Turkic state like Kazakhstan was formed, Azerbaijani MP Aydin Mirzazade said at the plenary meeting of the Azerbaijani Parliament on March 29, 2019, Trend reports.

He noted that Kazakhstan has become an influential state not only in the post-Soviet space, but also in the region and the world.

Stressing that Nursultan Nazarbayev attaches particular importance to friendship with Azerbaijan, Mirzazade added that the Kazakh leader fully defended Azerbaijans position on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: "Therefore, the Azerbaijani people consider Nursultan Nazarbayev a great friend of Azerbaijan, appreciate his great work in strengthening the Kazakh-Azerbaijani relations and the Turkic world. "

The MP stressed that the new president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is also a friend of Azerbaijan: "We believe that one of his first visits will be to Azerbaijan, that he will speak in the Azerbaijani Parliament regarding Kazakh-Azerbaijani relations, and are convinced that the policy followed by Nursultan Nazarbayev regarding Azerbaijan and the Turkic world, as well as the work on strengthening peace and well-being in the world as a whole, will be successfully continued by Tokayev during his presidency."
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30

Trend:

On March 29, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, who is on a working visit to the United States, took part in the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference held at the level of Defense Ministers in New York, Trend reports citing Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry.

The conference that is a continuation of meetings dedicated to ensuring peacekeeping in the whole world and accelerating global work in this area, discussed issues related to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations between states, achieving international cooperation and other aspects.

The conference also included an exchange of views on improving the planning of peacekeeping operations, the speedy fulfillment of adopted decisions, the further provision and training of UN peacekeepers, and the protection of civilians, in particular women and children in conflict zones.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

Trend:

As part of the visit to the USA, on March 29, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov has met with Alexandre Zouev, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions, Trend reports March 29 citing Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry.

During the meeting, the activities of Azerbaijan within the UN, as well as the participation of our peacekeepers in various missions, including their contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security were highly appreciated. The sides also discussed the prospects for the participation of our servicemen in peacekeeping operations.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

Trend:

Orkhan Guliyev, vice president for safety and operational risk for the Azerbaijan Georgia Turkey region at BP Azerbaijan, has been appointed as general manager for the Rumaila sector effective June 1, 2019, BP Azerbaijan told Trend.

In his new role, Orkhan will be responsible for managing BP upstream business in Iraq. He will be a member of the Middle East leadership team and a member of the global operations organization extended leadership team.

Over the past 23 years with BP, Orkhan has developed considerable operations and major projects experience, in the AGT region and in London, through operational leadership roles offshore, project engineering and project management in the BTC, SCP and ACG projects. Currently Orkhan is vice president safety and operational risk for AGT.

Orkhan holds a masters degree in civil engineering from the Azerbaijan Civil Engineering University and a PhD in gas flow dynamics from the Azerbaijan Oil Academy.

BP also announced that Rahman Rahmanov has been appointed to the role of vice president for project management, global projects organization, Upstream, effective April 1, 2019.

In his new role, Rahman will be responsible for the discipline and functional agenda for project management, project services, quality, risk, construction and commissioning, in support of projects delivery.

He will be a member of the global projects organization technical functions leadership team and will chair the project management discipline capability forum, as well as the project management network.

Rahman brings over 19 years of experience to the role. Rahman started working for BP in 2003 and has held several project leadership roles during his career, including hook up manager for Deepwater Gunashli, drilling delivery manager Chirag Oil project, and topsides delivery project manager, Shah Deniz 2.

Most recently, Rahman worked as AGT midstream project general manager, accountable for all onshore projects in the region.

Rahman holds a Doctorate in Engineering from the Azerbaijan Scientific Research Institute of Energy.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Sara Israfilbayova  Trend:

Azerbaijan has successfully implemented a Trusted-Trader program based on Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Kunio Mikuriya, WCO secretary-general, said in an interview with Azernews, Trend reports.

Trusted-Trader related programs are an enlarged form of simplified customs procedures that have been applied successfully in many countries around the world under various names, he said.

"The new Customs Code that came into force on 2012 and its implementing normative acts, developed on the basis of the EUs Modernized Community Customs Code and the WCOs Revised Kyoto Convention, incorporate provisions based on such programs," he noted.

The Azerbaijani AEO concept aims to enhance supply chain security and facilitate trade by simplifying customs procedures, he added.

"Over the last decade, the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan has worked closely with the WCO in order to fully operationalize its national AEO Program," he said. "In addition, Azerbaijans legislation incorporates a Customs compliance program, namely the "Green Corridor" Gating System."

The Green Corridor, launched on February 1, 2019, allows transporting goods through the border upon a brief declaration, which helps to speed up customs procedures and implement a more flexible and transparent customs control.

The World Customs Organization (WCO), established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council, is an independent intergovernmental body that acts as a global centre of Customs expertise and the voice of the international Customs community.

The WCO develops and maintains a range of instruments, standards and tools covering core Customs subjects including, among others, commodity classification, valuation, rules of origin, compliance and enforcement, trade facilitation and capacity building among others.

From 17 founding Members in 1952, the WCO today represents more than 180 Member Customs Administrations across the globe, divided into six geographical regions.

The State Customs Committee (SCC) of Azerbaijan became a Member in June 1992, and belongs to the WCO Europe region. The SCC is a very active WCO Member and contributes to WCO meetings and ongoing initiatives, ambitioning to have a leadership role in the region.

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Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 28

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

An Emirati company, Dragon Oil, which has been operating in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea for more than 18 years, has invested over $6.6 billion in the development of offshore fields, Dragon Oil Assistant CEO Faisal Rabee Al Awadhi said in an interview with the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper, Trend reports.

He said that during this period, the average daily hydrocarbon production increased more than tenfold - from 7,000 barrels per day in 2000 to 80100,000 barrels.

In 2018, the company produced over 4 million tons of oil, he noted.

Dragon Oil expressed interest in extending the contract, which expires in 2025, and presented a number of proposals in this regard, he added.

During the period of work in Turkmenistan, the company reconstructed the existing and constructed five new operational offshore fixed platforms and three nodal platforms.

Dozens of new wells were commissioned. Jackup rigs "Elima", "Neptune" and "Caspian Driller", as well as rigs "Sakson" and "Nis" mounted at offshore fixed platforms, are involved in the drilling operations.

In addition, an oil complex preparation and pumping workshop, 14 storage tanks for raw materials with a total capacity of about 1.8 million barrels and other facilities were built.

Construction of additional oil storage facilities and pipelines at the Aladzha oil-loading terminal made it possible to simultaneously load two tankers, and this increased the companys export capacities.

The company has containers with special equipment for the removal of oil and other pollutants from the water surface and in the coastal zone.

For the round-the-clock duty at the fields, high-speed rescue ships CM Rescue by Caspian Mainport Int. and Topaz Responder by BUE Marine, which have modern equipment, are leased for elimination of oil spills.

A tender is being held to buy additional equipment to respond to such situations, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.

The company operates under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the development of the oil-bearing sections of the Jeitun (Lam) and Jigalybek (Zhdanov) fields, signed in 1999.

The company's shares are listed on the London and Dublin exchanges (stock exchange ticker: DGO), the companys main shareholder is Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC).

The company conducts its activity mainly in the Eastern sector of the Southern Caspian Basin in the contract area of Cheleken. This area is nearly 950 square kilometers. It includes the Jeitun, Jigalybek and Chelekenyangummez deposits.

The estimated and proven reserves of oil and condensate in the contractual area amount to 663 million barrels. The contingent reserves of oil and condensate total 63 million barrels. The gas reserves amount to 1.3 trillion cubic feet. The prospective gas resources are 1.3 trillion cubic feet.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Sara Israfilbayova  Trend:

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy is holding a meeting with the entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire in the Diglas shopping center in Baku on March 26, Trend reports on March 29.

Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Niyazi Safarov, head of the ministrys office Orkhan Novruzov, chairman of Azerbaijans Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Orkhan Mammadov and representatives of other structures controlled by the ministry are taking part in the meeting.

A working group was created upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs instructions to assist and support the entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire. The working group will receive the entrepreneurs until March 31.

The representatives of the ministry are receiving citizens one by one and listening to the problems of each entrepreneur separately. Following the meeting, they are provided with the necessary contacts for further communication.

The Azerbaijani government will make every effort to provide the entrepreneurs who have suffered losses as a result of the fire with jobs, Safarov added.

He also stressed that the entrepreneurs will be able to get financial support from the state.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend:

Entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire that occurred March 26 in the Diglas shopping center in Nizami district in Baku will get temporary workplaces in other shopping centers, Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov said at a meeting with entrepreneurs, Trend reports March 29.

A working group was created upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs instructions to assist and support the entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire. The working group will receive the entrepreneurs until March 31.

Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Niyazi Safarov, head of the ministrys office Orkhan Novruzov, chairman of Azerbaijans Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Orkhan Mammadov and representatives of other structures controlled by the ministry are taking part in the meeting.

The representatives of the ministry are receiving citizens one by one and listening to the problems of each entrepreneur separately. Following the meeting, they are provided with the necessary contacts for further communication.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Fakhri Vakilov  Trend:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans to open a technical assistance center in Central Asia, Trend reports with reference to the Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan.

Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan spoke on the subject in a meeting with a delegation of the Federal Department of Finance and Financial Markets and the State Secretariat for International Finance Matters (SIF) of Switzerland.

"The IMF plans to open a technical assistance center in Central Asia. The Swiss side will provide full or partial funding for the center. The IMF is exploring cities in the region to host the center, and Tashkent is one of the best candidates. The center is designed to provide technical assistance in two areas: training and retraining of specialists, as well as the provision of technical assistance in various areas," Ministry of Finance noted.

At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to consider the draft memorandum on strengthening financial cooperation between the two countries and sign it in the future.

Earlier it was reported that the mission of the International Monetary Fund, headed by senior financier Albert Eger, which recently visited Uzbekistan, shared his conclusions regarding the current state of Uzbekistans economy and prospects for its future development.

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Details added (first version posted on 12:57)

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

Trend:

Entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire that occurred March 26 in the Diglas shopping center in Nizami district in Baku, wont be required to pay rent price for their places during the first 4-5 months, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev told reporters in Baku, Trend reports March 29.

In the future, these facilities will be leased to entrepreneurs on preferential terms, and there are already certain proposals, the minister said.

He noted that there are plans to start paying compensations from the beginning of the next week.

The Reserve Fund of the President of Azerbaijan has already allocated funds for these purposes to the Economy Ministry, Mustafayev said.

The minister noted that all information received from businessmen on these days will be checked and other state agencies such as the Ministry of Taxes, the State Customs Committee and others will be also involved in this work.

He added that the exact number of the entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire is unknown, since the shopping center consists of two buildings.

In accordance with the initial information, there were 60 stores in the building Diglas 1 and 111 stores in the building Diglas 2, Mustafayev said. The main mission of the working group is to check and process all the information.

A working group was created upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs instructions to assist and support the entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire. The working group will receive the entrepreneurs until March 31.

Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Niyazi Safarov, head of the ministrys office Ayaz Aliyev, chairman of Azerbaijans Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Orkhan Mammadov and representatives of other structures controlled by the ministry are taking part in the meeting.

The representatives of the ministry are receiving citizens one by one and listening to the problems of each entrepreneur separately. Following the meeting, they are provided with the necessary contacts for further communication.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey and Russia intend to increase trade turnover to $100 billion, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Antalya, Trend reports via Turkish media.

Cavusoglu noted that Turkey and Russia have a large trade potential.

Presently, relations between Turkey and Russia are developing in all areas, he added.

The Turkey-Russia Joint Strategic Planning Group meeting is being held in Antalya. Plans for bilateral cooperation in 2019-2020 will be discussed during the meeting.

According to the Ministry of Trade of Turkey, the country's trade in February 2019 amounted to $30.4 billion.

Turkish imports from Russia in February decreased by 12.18 percent compared to February 2018, and amounted to $1.630 billion.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

The Azerbaijani company FMO Group, which provides services for the installation work in the construction sector, noted a significant decline in this market segment, a source in the company told Trend.

The main reason for this is the decline in activity in the construction market of the country, according to the source.

In accordance with our observations, the construction market of Azerbaijan shows a noticeable decline in activity, especially compared to the previous three years, the source noted. Accordingly, this affected the market segment associated with installation and dismantling work. The greater the idleness of the construction market, the bigger the likelihood of a decrease in the number of orders that our company has.

The FMO Group performs installation and dismantling work in Azerbaijan and abroad.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 29

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

The import and sale of wheat, as well as the production and sale of wheat flour and bread, are exempt from value added tax (VAT) for another 2 years in Azerbaijan, as provided for by the amendments to the Azerbaijani Tax Code discussed during the plenary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament on March 29, 2019, Trend reports.

The amendments provide for the prolongation of exemptions starting from March 1, 2019.

The amendments were passed after discussion.

The import and sale of wheat, the production and sale of wheat flour and bread in Azerbaijan have been exempted from VAT since 2016. In 2017, the exemption was extended for a period of 3 years.

According to the State Statistical Committee, the volume of production of bread and bakery products in January-February 2019 amounted to 209,400 tons, which is 1.7 percent more than the same period last year.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The Fluxys Belgium group generated turnover of 503.2 million euros in 2018, slightly down compared to the 510.5 million earned during the same period in 2017, Trend reports citing the company.

Reportedly, in accordance with regulatory principles, this fall in regulated turnover is mainly due to the decline in operating costs, financing costs and taxes, partially offset by an increase in the allowed regulated return.

The persistently low interest rates are affecting the Group's net result. The majority of the activities of the Fluxys Belgium group are regulated, reads a message from Fluxys Belgium.

In 2018, net profits totalled 54.5 million euros, down 15.8 million euros compared to 2017 (70.3 million euros), according to the company.

However, the net profits in 2017 were exceptionally high due to a one-off impact on deferred taxes booked in the past totalling 16.2 million euros as a result of the Belgian corporate tax reform.

Fluxys holds 19 percent share in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 29

By Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

Following the elimination of fire at an oil well at Kazakhstan's Kalamkas field, environmentalists and representatives of the country's Energy Ministry are establishing the damage from the fire, Trend reports via Kazakh media.

Vice-Minister of Energy Magzum Mirzagaliyev has noted that the investigation is still underway, so it is too early to draw conclusions about the environmental situation at the field. The final results will be announced later.

"We are now engaged in the calculation of environmental damage, but it should be noted that according to the data we have today, no serious damage has been caused," he said.

In the morning of March 25, gas-water mixture caught fire at one of the wells at the Kalamkas oil field being developed by Mangistaumunaigas JSC.

The fire covering an area of 900 square meters and reaching the height of 10 meters was extinguished on the fourth day. There are no victims and injured.

Pre-trial investigation under Part 1 of Article 333 (Violation of rules of protection and use of subsoil) of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan has been initiated on the fact of the accident at the field.

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: @ShirinovRashid
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 29

By Kheyraddin Nasirzade  Trend:

The delegation of Azerbaijani state-owned SOCAR company, headed by the president of the state company Rovnag Abdullayev, met with representatives of the Board of the TANAP Consortium on March 27, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey, Trend reports referring to the company.

The progress made on the project was discussed during the meeting. The Board was informed of the completion of work on the construction of a section of the pipeline to Eskisehir in Turkey, as well as on the schedule for the construction of a section of the pipeline to the Greek border being moved up. The construction of a section of the pipeline, which was conducted on land, was completed, due to which the last adjustment work is being carried out in this section.

As a result, both stages were progressed by 99.5 percent. Along with the advancement of the project schedule, construction work was carried out in accordance with international quality standards and met the highest level of safety requirements. It is planned to start filling the pipeline with gas from Eskisehir to the Greek border from April 15, 2019.

TANAP pipeline runs from the Georgian-Turkish border to the western border of Turkey. TANAP, along with the Transadriatic (TAP) gas pipeline, is part of the Southern Gas Corridor project, which envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijans Shah Deniz field to Europe.

The initial capacity of TANAP is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas is meant to be delivered to Turkey, with the remaining volume to be supplied to Europe. Upon completion of the construction of TAP, gas will be provided to Europe approximately by early 2020.

The share distribution of TANAP shareholders is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor CJSC - 51 percent, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 percent, Botas - 30 percent, BP - 12 percent.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 29

By Kheyraddin Nasirzade  Trend:

As part of a business visit to Turkey, a delegation of Azerbaijani state-owned SOCAR company led by the company president Rovnag Abdullayev met with the board of the Star oil refinery operating in Izmir, Turkey, Trend reports referring to the oil company.

During the meeting, the delegation got acquainted with the current situation at the refinery. Production figures were presented, which have increased significantly since the refinerys commissioning. The adjustment work was successfully completed within 5 months, due to which all installations are operating at full capacity.

Within the framework of integration with the SOCAR Turkey Energy petrochemical plant, the Star oil refinery had already begun supplying naphtha to the Petkim complex in January of this year. As to diesel and aviation fuel, the plant also brought these products to the market since February 2019.

Equipped with state-of-the-art technology and meeting Industry 4.0 standards, the refinery is currently working on improving the plants digital infrastructure.

During the meeting, new targets were set for increasing the effectiveness of further work.

The total oil refining capacity of the refinery will make up 10 million tons, and SOCAR will be the main supplier of raw materials for the enterprise.

The refinery will allow for significantly reducing the dependence of Turkey on imports of petrochemical products.

Some 1.6 million tons of naphtha, 1.6 million tons of aviation fuel, 4.8 million tons of low-sulfur diesel fuel, 700,000 tons of petroleum coke, 420,000 tons of mixed xylene and 160,000 tons of sulfur will be produced in the Petkim petrochemical complex of the refinery. The refinery is worth $6.3 billion and was built by SOCAR in the Aliaga District of Turkeys Izmir Province.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Hungary is interested in joining the Southern Gas Corridor, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto said at a meeting with the Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov in Hungary, Trend reports referring to the Energy Ministry of Azerbaijan.

The minister informed the Azerbaijani side about Hungarys gas needs, the current energy supply situation and plans to diversify gas sources.

The meeting participants discussed the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project, the prospects for its expansion, the increase in throughput at the next stage and the gas fields under development.

Creating a working group as part of the intergovernmental commission for the development of cooperation in the energy field was proposed during the meeting

The sides also discussed cooperation in other areas, as well as energy security issues.

The project Southern Gas Corridor envisages the creation of a pipeline infrastructure for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe via Turkey, which is produced as part of the development of the Shah Deniz-2 field.

The main components of the project are: Shah Deniz-2, expansion of the South Caucasus pipeline Baku-Georgia-border with Turkey, construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) from the eastern to the western border of Turkey and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline connecting Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy.

Supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Europe are expected in early 2020 in the amount of 10 billion cubic meters. In addition, six billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas will be supplied to the western regions of Turkey. Deliveries to Turkey began in the summer of 2018.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Hasanli_Azad
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Fakhri Vakilov  Trend:

Uzpromstroybank of Uzbekistan and South Korean Shinhan Bank signed a basic agreement on trade financing in the amount of $60 million, Trend via Uzbek media.

On March 28, Uzpromstroybank and Shinhan Bank signed a basic agreement on trade finance in the amount of $60 million in Seoul during the second meeting of the deputy prime ministers of Uzbekistan and Korea.

This line of trade finance will allow Uzpromstroybank to expand the resource base for financing projects involving the import of technological equipment and services from South Korea and other countries, as well as improve the Banks reputation in the foreign market.

Documentary operations carried out by the bank contribute to reducing the risks of their clients when conducting foreign trade operations, increasing cash flows, developing and strengthening solid trust relationships with foreign banks.

Trade finance is the financing of clients' foreign trade operations by attracting guarantees or credit resources from international markets and, currently, considered as one of the fastest growing types of banking business.

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Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

As many as 50,500 tourists from Azerbaijan visited Turkey in February 2019, which is 4.65 percent more compared to February 2018, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism told Trend on March 29.

The share of Azerbaijani citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in February 2019 was 3.03 percent, the ministry said.

Turkey is interested in an increase in the number of tourists from Azerbaijan, the ministry said.

"Tourists from Azerbaijan mainly visit such provinces as Antalya, Mugla and in particular, Istanbul and Ankara cities," the ministry said.

In February 2019, 1.670 million tourists visited Turkey, which is 9.38 percent more compared to the same period of 2018.

During the reporting period, over 984,000 tourists visited Istanbul, while 135,000 tourists - Antalya.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Russian gas giant Gazprom is in talks with the government of Kyrgyzstan to renovate its natural gas infrastructure, reports Trend citing to Kallanish Energy

Representatives of both sides met Wednesday in Bishkek, the capital of the Asian country, to discuss further development of gas transmission and distribution. Under existing agreements, Gazprom will perform upgrades and renovations until 2030.

This extensive work helped make gas supplies to Kyrgyz consumers much more reliable and ensure they are provided on an uninterrupted basis, the company said, in a statement.

Gas sales to consumers grew by 30% in the past five years, with gas transit increasing by 50%. Between 2016 and 2018, 415 miles of pipelines were laid to distribute to 40,500 households.

Subsidiary Gazprom Kyrgyzstan is the owner of the countrys gas transmission and distribution network, and conducts geological exploration in two prospects.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

Emil

The unresolved Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains one of the serious threats to stability in the region.

At the same time, Armenian authorities continue to hinder the settlement of a conflict, delaying the negotiation process in every way, resorting to provocations on the frontline, and also voicing absurd statements contrary to the norms of international law.

In anticipation of the next meeting initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in Vienna March 29, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan again spoke about the importance of involving representatives of the separatist regime in the occupied Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh region to the negotiation process.

Pashinyans statements about the participation of the third party in negotiations, devoid of any basis and logic, followed this time almost immediately after the recent statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs regarding the unchanged format of the negotiation process.

It is namely the OSCE Minsk Group that remains the main platform for negotiations between the parties to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but, despite the efforts of international mediators, this conflict has remained unresolved for over 20 years due to the unconstructive position of the Armenian authorities.

Russian expert on international affairs, journalist Dmitry Verkhoturov shared his views with Trend on what the current Armenian prime minister is trying to achieve with such methods and what the consequences of this policy may be for Armenia.

According to the Russian analyst, this position of Pashinyan, regarding the participation of the representatives of the separatist regime in the negotiations, consists of several aspects.

This is not as simple as it may seem at a first glance. Firstly, it is a way of dragging out the negotiations endlessly by putting forward conditions that are unacceptable in the first place. Secondly, it is, of course, intra-Armenian populism and work for an internal audience, for which one must dish out news of a certain kind. During his time in power, Pashinyan showed himself to be quite a versatile populist, so this topic is not one he will gloss over," he said.

"Thirdly, what are the Armenian diplomats, sitting at Vazgen Sargsyan Street in Yerevan, even counting on? I suppose that, unlike the general public, they need not be fed with specially prepared news. They already know all the circumstances of the negotiations. We can hardly say that it hit them only yesterday that Azerbaijan will not go to negotiations with the Karabakh militants," said Verkhoturov.

Taking into account this circumstances, their stubbornness in pushing another side to sit at the negotiating table in this case reflects a certain plan, he added.

First, it is planned to turn bilateral negotiations into trilateral ones, then push back Azerbaijan to the end of negotiations, showing "success in negotiations", talking, in essence, with themselves. The ultimate goal of this plan is to oust Azerbaijan from negotiations in general and solve the case in their favor.

Armenia makes every effort to "legitimize" the forceful seizure of the territory, and in general, it has never abandoned this goal, he added. The trick with the "Karabakh people" and the invitation of these people to the negotiating table serves this purpose and in the current format of negotiations is, in fact, the only way to achieve "legalization" through diplomacy.

An agreement was reached on the basis of the proposal received from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to hold a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on March 29 in Vienna to discuss the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova
Senior South Korean officials, including President Moon Jae-in, are launching a series of meetings with U.S. counterparts, in a bid to jumpstart stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea and mend fraying ties in their alliance, reports Trend citing to Reuters

Moon will hold a summit meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington on April 11 to discuss North Korea and other alliance issues, the White House said on Friday.

The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in the region, it said in a statement.

The second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fell apart in Hanoi in February over differences about the limits Pyongyang was ready to put on its nuclear programs and how willing the U.S. was to ease sanctions.

Trumps failure to seal a deal was a blow to Moon, who has been vocal in his conviction that Kim is willing to abandon his nuclear arsenal.

Washington and Seoul have also tussled over the cost of U.S. troops in South Korea, with Trump demanding that Seoul pay more toward maintaining some 28,500 of them.

The North has nearly completed work to rebuild its Sohae missile launch site in the northwestern town of Tongchang-ri that Kim, at his first summit with Trump last June, had vowed to dismantle, South Korean lawmakers said on Friday.

The lawmakers, briefed by Seouls intelligence agency, added that a uranium enrichment facility at the Norths Yongbyon main nuclear complex was operating normally, though a 5-megawatt reactor there has not been operational since late last year.

Ahead of the Trump-Moon summit, South Korea said it was sending its foreign and defense ministers, and other senior officials, to meetings in Washington.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is set to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday to discuss ways to move forward after the failed Trump-Kim summit.

Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo will meet the U.S. acting secretary of defense, Patrick Shanahan, on Monday, the ministry said.

The lack of progress with North Korea has become a domestic problem for Moon, who has staked much of his political capital on improving relations with Pyongyang.

A Gallup poll on Friday showed Moons approval ratings at a record low of 43 percent as respondents complained about the stalemate with the North while the economy suffers.

The Hanoi summits breakdown hit rapidly improving ties between the neighbors.

South Koreas defense ministry said it proposed military talks with the North last week but there was no response from Pyongyang.

Last week the North also pulled out of a liaison office with South Korea agreed during Moons summit with Kim, only to reverse the move and send back some officials three days later.

On Friday, the Unification Ministry said the Norths staffing at the office had returned to normal levels, though a weekly meeting was not held as the Norths chief representative was absent.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held constructive talks in Beijing, he said on Friday, concluding the latest round of dialogue aimed at resolving the bitter trade dispute between the worlds two largest economies, reports Trend citing Reuters

Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer were in the Chinese capital for the first face-to-face meetings between the two sides in weeks after missing an initial end-of-March deadline.

@USTradeRep and I concluded constructive trade talks in Beijing, Mnuchin said on social network Twitter.

I look forward to welcoming Chinas Vice Premier Liu He to continue these important discussions in Washington next week, he added, but gave no details.

Earlier, he told reporters he had a very productive working dinner on Thursday night. He did not elaborate and it was not immediately clear with whom he had dined.

Trump imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports last year in a move to force China to change the way it does business with the rest of the world and to pry open more of its economy to U.S. companies.

On Thursday, Premier Li Keqiang said Beijing would sharply expand market access for foreign banks and securities and insurance companies, fuelling speculation that China may soon announce new rules allowing foreign financial firms to increase their presence.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the United States may drop some tariffs if a trade deal is reached, while keeping others in place to ensure Beijings compliance.

Were not going to give up our leverage, he told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

Mnuchin and Lighthizer greeted a waiting Liu at the Diaoyutai State Guest House just before 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Friday for what Chinas Commerce Ministry has said would be a full day of talks.

U.S. President Donald Trumps demands include an end to Beijings practices that Washington says result in the systematic theft of U.S. intellectual property and the forced transfer of American technology to Chinese companies.

U.S. companies say they are often pressured into handing over technological know-how to Chinese joint venture partners, local officials or regulators as a condition for doing business in China.

The U.S. government says that technology is often subsequently transferred to and used by Chinese competitors.

The issue has proved tough for negotiators as U.S. officials say China has previously refused to acknowledge the problem exists to the extent alleged by the United States, making it hard to discuss resolution.

China says its laws enshrine no requirements on technology transfers, which are a result of legitimate transactions.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Five people were killed and eleven people were injured as a result of a fire in a three-story building in Ankara, Trend reports with reference to Turkish media March 29.

The building in which the fire broke out was abandoned and uninhabitable.

Firefighters managed to localize the fire.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey urges the US to respect Syrias territorial integrity, said Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Trend reports with reference to Turkish media March 29.

Akar was commenting on the decision by US President Donald Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Akar noted that the decision to recognize Syrian territory as part of another country is a very dangerous precedent and may lead to negative consequences.

On March 25, Trump signed a declaration recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights during a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

After the signing of the document recognizing the Golan Heights as a part of Israel by the US President Donald Trump, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said that the position of the UN on this issue remains unchanged.

Dujarric stated during a briefing that it is clear to the UN secretary-general that the status of Golan hasnt changed, adding that the UNs policy on the Golan Heights is reflected in the relevant resolutions of the Security Council.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The US lacks a clear position regarding the withdrawal of troops from Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Antalya, Trend reports via Turkish media.

Cavusoglu noted that the creation of an appropriate security zone in Syria's north is necessary to ensure the national security of Turkey.

He also noted that the creation of a security zone does not violate the territorial integrity of Syria.

The Turkey-Russia Joint Strategic Planning Group meeting is being held in Antalya. Plans for bilateral cooperation in 2019-2020 will be discussed during the meeting.

In late January 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a statement that Turkey will not hold a dialogue at high level with Syria. According to him, Bashar Assad is responsible for the death of about a million innocent Syrian citizens.

On Dec. 12, 2018, Erdogan said the Turkish Armed Forces will launch a new military operation in Syria against PYD/YPG. Erdogan claimed there were US soldiers in the detachments of the terrorists in Syria.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 29

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

The Star oil refinery operating in the Turkish city of Izmir will ensure the export of products worth $500 million annually, said Fatih Donmez, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Trend reports referring to the Turkish media.

According to Donmez, the Star refinery is among the countrys important energy projects.

The minister also noted that the activities of the Star refinery contribute to the growth of the Turkish economy.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the opening of the Star oil refinery in Izmir on October 19, 2018.

The total oil refining capacity of the refinery will make up 10 million tons, and SOCAR will be the main supplier of raw materials for the enterprise.

The refinery will allow for significantly reducing the dependence of Turkey on imports of petrochemical products.

Around 1.6 million tons of naphtha, 1.6 million tons of aviation fuel, 4.8 million tons of low-sulfur diesel fuel, 700,000 tons of petroleum coke, 420,000 tons of mixed xylene and 160,000 tons of sulfur will be produced in the Petkim petrochemical complex of the refinery. The refinery is worth $6.3 billion and was built by SOCAR in the Aliaga District of Turkeys Izmir Province.

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
The US Air Force in a press release said its B-1B Lancer strategic stealth bomber fleet has been grounded amid concerns over the aircraft parachute systems, Trend reported citing Sputnik.

"The Air Force Global Strike Command commander ordered a safety stand-down of the B-1B Lancer fleet on March 28", the release said on Thursday.

During a routine inspection problems were uncovered with the aircrafts drogue parachute, the Air Force said.

"As a precautionary measure, the commander directed a holistic inspection of the entire egress system. The safety stand-down will afford maintenance and Aircrew Flight Equipment technicians the necessary time to thoroughly inspect each aircraft", the release added.

As the inspections are completed and any issues are resolved, the B-1B fleet will gradually be returned to full operational deployment, the release said.

In June 2018, the Air Force Global Strike Command ordered a stand-down of the entire B-1B fleet after a safety investigation showed an issue with egress system components.

The B-1B is a strategic bomber intended for striking adversarys targets including with conventional as well as nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet in Washington on 10 April, Trend reported citing Sputnik.

According to Yonhap, citing sources familiar with the matter, Donald Trump and Moon Jae-in will discuss the stalled denuclearization process of Korean peninsula after the summit in Hanoi between the US president and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un abruptly ended in late February.

The situation on the Korean Peninsula has, however, improved significantly over the past year after Seoul and Pyongyang concluded important agreements calling for peace and stability in the region, and Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump held a historic summit in Singapore in June 2018.

In late February, Trump and Kim held their second summit in the Vietnamese capital in an attempt to give the denuclearization process on the Korean Peninsula more momentum. The highly anticipated meeting failed to produce an accord, and the leaders left the summit earlier than planned. Negotiations fell apart after Pyongyang said it wanted Washington to lift all sanctions on the country before it started denuclearizing, to which the United States could not agree.

Immediately after the summit, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said that Pyongyang would have dismantled all nuclear material if the United States had only removed restrictions partially.

The Korean Peninsula has been split into two nations with drastically different political and economic systems since 1948. Last year, North and South Korea made significant strides toward improving their antagonistic relations, with several rounds of talks held between the two leaders. At their summit last April, Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un agreed to establish the liaison office in order to enable regular communication between the two countries' officials, and last September it was opened.
President Donald Trump will host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House on April 9 for talks on strengthening their strategic partnership and working on shared priorities in the Middle East, the White House said on Friday, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The White House said in a statement the two leaders would discuss building on our robust military, economic and counterterrorism cooperation as well as regional economic integration and Egypts longstanding role as a lynchpin of regional stability.

The visit by al Sisi comes at a time of renewed tensions between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza after a rocket fired from the coastal enclave wounded seven Israelis near Tel Aviv.

Israel responded with air strikes and warnings from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel was prepared to wage a broad military campaign in Gaza if needed.
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Disclaimer

Endrtimes does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article/video posted on this site. The information provided here is done so for personal edification; It's up to the reader to separate truth from error, and to examine everything (like the Bereans) from a Biblical perspective. Let the Holy Scriptures be you guide! - - - FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/videos may contain copyrighted () material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, economic, DEMOCRACY, scientific, MORAL, ETHICAL, and SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 29, 2019 - 08:52 | Feature, All, World

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders gathered to attend a national memorial service held Friday in Christchurch for the victims of terror attacks on two mosques that killed 50 people and injured dozens more.

The service, entitled "Ko Tatou, Tatou - We Are One," was broadcast simultaneously at similar memorial events across the country, and conducted jointly by the New Zealand government and the local Maori and Muslim communities.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, whose speech was met with a standing ovation, urged New Zealanders and the global community to unite against violence and racism.

[Photo courtesy of Christchurch City Council]

"The world has been stuck in a vicious cycle of extremism breeding extremism, and it must end," she said, to a rapturous applause.

"Even the ugliest of viruses can exist in places they are not welcome. Racism exists, but it is not welcome here. An assault on the freedom of anyone who practices their faith or religion is not welcome here."

Ardern has been internationally lauded for her empathic but firm response to the attack, which she called "New Zealand's darkest day," including her promise to never to say the gunman's name.

In total, 50 people were killed and a further 50 were treated for gunshot wounds when alleged gunman and white supremacist Brenton Tarrant stormed two mosques in central Christchurch on March 15.

Related coverage:

Christchurch mosques reopen after terror attack

Christchurch grieves as New Zealand marks week since attacks

N.Z. prime minister announces strict new gun laws

The shooting - the worst terrorist attack on New Zealand soil - prompted the government to strengthen its gun laws and launch a royal commission into the country's security agencies.

Many of the speakers at the event noted that although the gunman's intentions may have been to divide the Christchurch community, the overwhelming response has instead been one of love and unity.

"I'm humbled by the outpouring of grief you have all shared with us, that you did not leave us alone with our sadness. But instead opened your hearts and stood beside us," said Shaggaf Khan, president of the Muslim Association of Canterbury, a regional organization which includes the city of Christchurch.

Farid Ahmed, who survived the attack on Al Noor Mosque, encouraged forgiveness and self-reflection during his speech to the crowd, saying: "I have chosen peace. I have chosen love and I have forgiven."

[Photo courtesy of Christchurch City Council]

"How can I hate my human brother? I don't agree with what he has done. I don't support what he has done," said Ahmed, whose wife Husna, died in the shooting while trying to help her wheelchair-bound husband.

"But at the same time I cannot deny the fact that he is my human brother."

Christchurch City Council estimated up to 25,000 people attended the service, held in North Hagley Park, roughly two kilometers from the Al Noor Mosque, where the majority of the victims died.

Diplomatic representatives from 59 countries, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, attended the service.

The almost-two-hour-long service involved several musical performances, including one by Grammy-award-winning artist Yusuf Islam.

The artist, more commonly known by his stage name, Cat Stevens, sang several songs including his 1971 hit "Peace Train".
KYODO NEWS - Mar 29, 2019 - 11:11 | Feature, All

A whaling vessel left a western Japan port on Friday on the last mission of what the government calls a scientific research program before the country withdraws from the International Whaling Commission and starts commercial whaling from July.

The No. 7 Katsu Maru of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, departed from the town known for its whaling and dolphin-hunting culture to join several other vessels on the mission to catch minke whales between April and June.

The vessels are scheduled to catch 80 whales off Miyagi and Aomori prefectures in northeastern Japan and another 47 whales off Abashiri in the country's northernmost island of Hokkaido to collect data on their age and size among other information.

Related coverage:

Japan's commercial whaling to start in July, 1st time in 31 yrs

Australia, NZ rap Japan's IWC pullout, commercial whaling restart

Japanese whaling towns welcome IWC pullout but protest concerns remain

The Taiji vessel is expected to take part in commercial whaling, which Japan will resume on July 1 for the first time in 31 years, the day after it officially leaves the IWC.

(Fishing boats return to Taiji on Sept. 1, 2017, when dolphin and small whale hunts started)

The ship will hunt minke whales for about a week from its base to be located in Kushiro in Hokkaido, or Hachinohe in Aomori, which have facilities for processing whales.

Japan halted commercial whaling in line with a moratorium adopted in 1982 by the IWC, and has hunted whales for what it claims to be scientific research since 1987, a practice criticized internationally as a cover for commercial whaling.

Tokyo notified the IWC of its pullout in December after its proposal to resume commercial whaling and change decision-making rules at the body was rejected at its annual meeting in September amid a long-standing rift between pro- and anti-whaling nations.
By Petchanet Pratruangkrai, KYODO NEWS - Mar 2, 2019 - 17:50 | World, All

Thailand will apply this month to join a trans-Pacific free trade agreement, aiming to ensure it is not left behind by its competitors in the vibrant region, according to a senior Thai government official.

"Thailand is working with the documents for applying to the CPTPP," Commerce Ministry official Auramon Supthaweethum said in an interview, referring to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that entered into force last Dec. 30 and currently involves 11 countries.

"We have planned to submit our application for joining the CPTPP before March 24," the director general of the Department of Trade Negotiations said, citing the date in which military-ruled Thailand will hold its first general election since a 2014 coup.

She said a study conducted by her department on the benefits and impacts of CPTPP participation was positive, as were the results of public hearings conducted across the country.

The CPTPP currently comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, most of which have ratified the agreement.

Several countries besides Thailand have also shown interest in joining the pact and a meeting held Jan. 19 in Tokyo to discuss procedures to accept new members concluded that it will be "open to all economies" that can meet its high-standard rules.

Thailand's application will need to be endorsed by at least half of the current members, Auramon explained. Its entry will then need to be ratified by the newly elected Thai parliament.

According to the department's study, she said, Thailand's membership would lead to increased trade and investment for the country, while upgrading regulations and standards.

It is also likely to secure Thailand's position as a major manufacturing base for foreign-affiliated manufacturers.

Thailand is already participating in the ASEAN Free Trade Area of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes CPTPP members Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. It also has bilateral FTAs with CPTPP participants Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The CPTPP covers around 13 percent of the world's gross domestic product and provides access to an economic bloc of 500 million people. It is designed to cut tariffs on agricultural and industrial products, ease investment restrictions and enhance intellectual property protection.

Its recent entry into force marked a critical milestone for the 11 countries that sought to save its older version, simply called the TPP, from collapse after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the world's largest economy out of it.

TPP negotiations began in 2010 and the current members plus the United States signed an agreement in 2016. But the United States withdrew from the deal in January 2017.

The remaining countries signed the CPTPP, a revised version, after suspending some provisions in the original agreement.

With China and the United States engaged in a trade war, participants hope it will serve as a counter to growing protectionism.
New Delhi: On Friday, a foreign ministry statement said India sought clarification from Pakistan on key proposals put forward by New Delhi during the last meeting in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. The statement said it had been conveyed that the next meeting on the modalities could be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistans response. The next round of talks are scheduled to be held on April 2 at Wagah border.

Here it is to be noted that india summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner and conveyed concerns over the presence of several Khalistani separatists in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor, sources said. India also asked Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah his country's stand on key proposals put forward by New Delhi at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, they said.

also read Gujarat Congress leader wont be able to contest the election

To be noted that in order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, the statement said. The Indian government remains committed to realising the long pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner, it said. Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district. Two days later, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, 125km from Lahore.

India has asked Pakistan to allow pilgrims to travel on foot, if they wish. It also urged that another 10,000 pilgrims be allowed access on festivals like Baisakhi and Gurupurab. Pakistan said it expressed regret at India's decision since the meeting was to discuss and find consensus on outstanding issues. Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.

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Foreign-made items mistakenly labeled Vietnam-made deceive consumers

VietNamNet Bridge - Many products imported or made in foreign countries under outsourcing contracts have been found labeled made in Vietnam.

















The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has warned about trade fraud in recent months. Foreign-made products are mislabeled as Vietnamese products to enjoy preferential tariffs granted to Vietnam as a member of FTAs (free trade agreements).



Nguyen Quoc Anh, chair of the HCM City Rubber & Plastics Association, complained that China-made products were being sold under the mask of Vietnams products.

Chinese sourced goods are no longer favored by Vietnamese consumers despite the low prices, because they have no clear origin and contain toxic chemicals. Therefore, distributors are giving Vietnamese brands to Chinese-made products to deceive consumers.

Chinese sourced goods are no longer favored by Vietnamese consumers despite the low prices, because they have no clear origin and contain toxic chemicals. Therefore, distributors are giving Vietnamese brands to Chinese-made products to deceive consumers, he explained.



The trade fraud has hadan impact on the sale of genuine Vietnamese products, he said.



The businessman said that Chinese goods can only be labeled made in Vietnam with the help of Vietnamese traders. In many cases, goods are packed and labeled made in Vietnam in China before they are shipped to Vietnam.



The Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) has also warned of the possibility of Chinese producers borrowing Vietnams origin for their exports to the US. If the trade fraud is discovered, Vietnam could face problems.



Nguyen Tri Hieu, a respected finance expert, said Chinese businesses attempt to commit trade fraud since Vietnams the geographical position makes it easy to transport goods.



Vietnams exports of textiles & garments, footwear and household-use products have also been increasing rapidly, so Vietnam origin forging can fool importers customs agencies.



However, Vietnam has not set criteria for Vietnam-made products, i.e what they must satisfy to be recognized as made in Vietnam. As a result, it is difficult to tell the difference between foreign-made and Vietnam-made products.



The other problem lies in the legal framework. The light sanctions stipulated in legal documents do not deter violators.



Hieu suggested that forging Vietnam origin must be subject to criminal prosecution.



Anh from the HCM City Rubber and Plastics Association also proposed imposing heavier punishments on violators, citing Italian laws that fine individuals (up to 100,000 euros) who forge made in Italy on leather products that do not meet requirements.



Meanwhile, Ly Truong Chien, a branding expert, said that the best solution is preventing mislabeled products from entering Vietnam. Once the products enter Vietnam, it is difficult to discover them.





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Vietnam to build product origin portal

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Kim Chi
Researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have developed a strategy to treat two of the most common inherited blood diseases -- sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia -- applying CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to patients' own blood stem cells. Described this week in Nature Medicine and in a January report in the journal Blood, their approach overcomes prior technical challenges, editing blood stem cells more efficiently than in the past.

The two studies show that the gene-edited cells generate genetically corrected red blood cells producing functional hemoglobin.

"We think our work defines a strategy that could lead to the cure of common hemoglobin disorders," says Daniel Bauer, MD, PhD, an attending physician with Dana-Farber/Boston Children's and a senior author on both papers. "Combining gene editing with an autologous stem-cell transplant could be a therapy for sickle-cell disease, beta-thalassemia and other blood disorders."

Together, sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia affect 332,000 conceptions or births worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. Both diseases involve mutations in the gene for beta globin protein. In beta-thalassemia, the mutations prevent red blood cells from producing enough of the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin molecule, leading to anemia. In sickle cell disease, the mutation causes hemoglobin to change shape, distorting red blood cells into stiff "sickle" shapes that block up blood vessels.

More efficient editing

The Nature Medicine study used CRISPR-Cas9 technology, in particular a Cas9 protein modified by a team led by Scot Wolfe, PhD at UMass Medical School, to optimize gene editing. In previous attempts to edit the genomes of human blood stem and progenitor cells, the efficiency, specificity and long-term stability of the edits once the cells engraft in the bone marrow have varied. The new technique improves the targeting and durability of the edits.

"Efficient editing of the blood stem cell population -- ideally at rates approaching 100 percent -- is critical to achieve a durable therapeutic effect for patients," says Wolfe, a professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology at UMass Medical School. "Progress toward this goal has been advancing through the contributions of multiple laboratories in the scientific community. My research team, in collaboration with the Bauer laboratory, focused on improving the efficiency of delivery and nuclear entry of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology to achieve nearly complete therapeutic editing of the entire blood stem cell population."

Bauer's team used the strategy to make a highly targeted edit. Previous work at Boston Children's had showed that inactivating a gene called BCL11A allows red blood cells to keep producing a fetal form of hemoglobin even after birth. Fetal hemoglobin doesn't sickle and can stand in for defective "adult" hemoglobin. More recently, Bauer found a safer target: a genetic enhancer of BCL11A that is active only in red blood cells.

"With our new very efficient protocol, we can edit the BCL11A enhancer in nearly all blood stem cells we collect, overcoming some of the technical challenges of editing these cells," says Bauer. "In our experiments, more than 95 percent of copies of the enhancer sequence were changed in a way we expect would be therapeutic."

The strategy enabled mice carrying blood stem cells from patients with sickle cell disease to produce red blood cells with enough fetal hemoglobin to prevent cell sickling. The team showed that the gene-edited cells, infused back into the bloodstream, engrafted in the bone marrow and produced genetically corrected red blood cells. Later, when blood stem cells were isolated from these mice and transplanted into other mice, the cells engrafted again, still carrying the therapeutic gene changes.

Applied to blood stem cells from patients with beta-thalassemia, the same strategy restored the normal balance of the globin chains that make up hemoglobin.

The other study, published in Blood, used a similar gene editing protocol to target forms of beta-thalassemia that involve splicing mutations -- errors in bits of DNA near the beta-globin gene that change how the gene is read out to assemble beta-globin protein. In this study, nine patients with beta thalassemia donated their cells, which were manipulated in a dish. For some patients, the UMass team produced a different enzyme, Cas12a, to more effectively target their mutations. The CRISPR system efficiently made edits and restored normal splicing of the beta-globin protein in blood cells from each of the patients.

Setting the stage for a clinical trial

The investigators are taking steps to take their BCL11A enhancer editing strategy to the clinic. They are developing a clinical-grade, scaled up protocol for cell product manufacturing, and performing safety studies necessary for regulatory approval from the FDA. They plan to seek funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Cure Sickle Cell initiative to launch a clinical trial in patients.

Dana-Farber/Boston Children's has already begun a clinical trial of gene therapy for sickle cell disease. That approach increases fetal hemoglobin production by exposing patients' blood stem cells to a lentivirus carrying instructions to knock down the BCL11A gene in red-blood-cell precursors.

Bauer believes it's important to keep pursuing both approaches. "These conditions are very common inherited diseases and occur especially often in parts of the world where resources are quite limited," he says. "So we need a broad set of therapeutic options to make treatment available to as many patients as possible."

Yuxuan Wu and Jing Zeng of Dana-Farber/Boston Children's are co-first authors on the Nature Medicine paper; Bauer is corresponding author. Shuqian Xu of Dana Farber/Boston Children's is first author on the Blood paper; Bauer and Wolfe are co-corresponding authors.

The work was supported by the Translational Research Program at Boston Children's Hospital, the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI, NHGRI, NIAID, NIGMS, NIDDK), bluebird bio, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Collaborative Research Consortium, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the American Society of Hematology and the Doris Duke Charitable, Charles H. Hood and Cooley's Anemia Foundations.

Boston Children's Hospital> is an equity holder in bluebird bio, and several authors have applied for patents related to therapeutic gene editing.

Boston Children's Hospital may gain financial benefits if the technology being studied proves to be of benefit. As in all research studies, the Hospital has taken, and will continue to take, all necessary steps to ensure research subject safety, and the validity and integrity of the information obtained by this research.

###

About Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center - one of the nation's top pediatric cancer centers, according to U.S. News & World Report - brings together two internationally known research and teaching institutions that have provided comprehensive care for pediatric oncology and hematology patients since 1947. The Harvard Medical School affiliates share a clinical staff that delivers inpatient care at Boston Children's Hospital and most outpatient care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Follow the Center on Twitter at @childcancercare.

About the University of Massachusetts Medical School

The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The medical school attracts more than $252 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources. The mission of the UMass Medical School is to advance the health and well-being of the people of the commonwealth and the world through pioneering education, research, public service and health care delivery with its clinical partner, UMass Memorial Health Care. For more information, visit http://www.umassmed.edu.
WASHINGTON -- As many as a billion people could be newly exposed to disease-carrying mosquitoes by the end of the century because of global warming, says a new study that examines temperature changes on a monthly basis across the world.

Scientists say the news is bad even in areas with only a slight risk of having a climate suited for mosquitoes, because the viruses they carry are notorious for explosive outbreaks when they show up at the right place under the right conditions.

"Climate change is the largest and most comprehensive threat to global health security," says global change biologist Colin J. Carlson, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Georgetown University's biology department, and co-lead author of the new study. "Mosquitoes are only a part of the challenge, but after the Zika outbreak in Brazil in 2015, we're especially worried about what comes next."

Published in the open access journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases ("Global expansion and redistribution of Aedes-borne virus transmission risk with climate change"), the research team led by Sadie J. Ryan of the University of Florida and Carlson, studied what would happen if the two most common disease-carrying mosquitoes - Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus-- track and move as the temperature changes over decades.

According to the World Health Organization, mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals in the world, carrying diseases that cause millions of deaths every year. Both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus can carry the dengue, chikunguyna and Zika viruses, as well as at least a dozen other emerging diseases that researchers say could be a threat in the next 50 years.

With global warming, the scientists say, almost all of the world's population could be exposed at some point in the next 50 years. As the temperature increases, they expect year-round transmissions in the tropics and seasonal risks almost everywhere else. A greater intensity of infections is also predicted.

"These diseases, which we think of as strictly tropical, have been showing up already in areas with suitable climates, such as Florida, because humans are very good at moving both bugs and their pathogens around the globe," explains Ryan, associate professor of medical geography at Florida.

"The risk of disease transmission is a serious problem, even over the next few decades," Carlson says. "Places like Europe, North America, and high elevations in the tropics that used to be too cold for the viruses will face new diseases like dengue."

More severe climate change would produce proportionally worse population exposures for the Aedes aegypti mosquito. But in areas with the worst climate increase, including west African and southeast Asia, serious reductions are expected for the Aedes albopictus mosquito, most noticeably in southeast Asia and west Africa. This mosquito carries dengue, chikunguyna and Zika.

"Understanding the geographic shifts of risks really puts this in perspective," Ryan says. "While we may see changing numbers and think we have the answer, imagine a world too hot for these mosquitoes."

"This might sound like a good news, bad news scenario but it's all bad news if we end up in the worst timeline for climate change," Carlson says. "Any scenario where a region gets too warm to transmit dengue is one where we also have different but equally severe threats in other health sectors."

The team of researchers looked at temperatures month by month to project risk through 2050 and 2080. The modeling did not predict which type of mosquito would migrate, but rather accounted for a climate where their spread would not be prevented.

"Based on what we know about mosquito movement from region to region, 50 years is a considerable long time and we expect significant spread of both types of insects, particularly Aedes aegypti, which thrive in urban environments," Carlson explains.

"This is only one study to begin understanding the fast-approaching challenges we face with global warming," Carlson says. "We have a Herculean task ahead. We need to figure out pathogen by pathogen, region by region, when problems will emerge so that we can plan a global health response."

###

In addition to Ryan and Carlson, study authors include Erin A. Mordecai of Stanford University, and Leah R. Johnson of Virginia Polytechnic and State University.

This work was supported by: the National Science Foundation (DEB-1518681, DEB-1641145, and DEB-1640780), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1U01CK000510-01), Southeastern Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases: the Gateway Program, the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health.

The authors report no potential financial conflict of interest related to the work described.

About Georgetown University

Georgetown University is one of the world's leading academic and research institutions, offering a unique educational experience that prepares the next generation of global citizens to lead and make a difference in the world. Established in 1789, Georgetown is the nation's oldest Catholic and Jesuit university. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in Washington, D.C., Doha, Qatar, and around the world. For more information about Georgetown University, visit http://georgetown.edu.
A team of scientists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) now shows that grid cells go beyond providing simple spatial coordinates: They also carry information related to goals, deforming their activity fields to provide rats with a "treasure map" of where to reach goals, like hidden rewards. This is the result of a new study by the research group of Jozsef Csicsvari, Professor at IST Austria, including co-first authors Charlotte Boccara, now at the University of Oslo, and PhD student Michele Nardin, published today in the journal Science.

The hippocampus is a brain area essential for finding one's way. It contains neurons called place cells. Place cells make a mental map of the environment we navigate in, as each neuron is only active at specific locations. Knowing which place cell is active tells our brain where we are, as if they were the little arrows indicating a "you are here" signal for our brain. Grid cells are another type of neurons essential for orientation. They are located in a different brain region, the entorhinal cortex. Since their discovery, grid cells have fascinated mathematicians and neuroscientists alike. Contrary to place cells, which are active only in one location, grid cells are active in many locations. Yet these locations are far from random; on the contrary, their activity follows a strikingly regular hexagonal firing pattern, drawing a mosaic pattern of the whole environment. "Imagine a map of Vienna. Most tourists need to look at the coordinates to navigate and find this amazing Vietnamese restaurant near Karlsplatz in B5. Well, grid cells provide your brain with these coordinates: Every time you cross one of the grid's nodes, the grid cell activates. At least that's what we thought...," explains first author Charlotte Boccara. However, the question of whether this is all that grid cells do has been debated for the past five years, says Boccara: "Researchers have observed that the firing pattern of grid cells is sometimes deformed. They have thus wondered whether grid cells may play a broader organisational role for any type of information, not just space."

Grid cell firing fields shift as rats learn where rewards are hidden

In the current study, the researchers investigated whether the grid cell firing pattern changes when rats learn the location of hidden rewards. In this test of goal-driven behaviour, rats first learned the location of three hidden food pellets and then tried to find them again. By recording the activity of grid cells, the researchers could observe whether and how firing patterns change through goal learning. "We saw that the majority of grid cells respond to goal learning. Their firing pattern is deformed by the introduction of a goal," explains Boccara. Interestingly, the grid cell fields closest to the reward location move towards it the most, while fields further away shift less. "Our results mean that grid cells carry information related to goals, not only to space. They have more organizational power than previously thought."

As the researchers tested different, random goal locations on several consecutive days, they also got insights into how goal-directed learning and goal representation occurs. Boccara: "As the rats learn about new locations, we see that the grid pattern shifts between the old pattern from the previous day and the new pattern. After learning, the new pattern is more present."

Persistent grid cell deformation gives hints about circuit dynamics

At the same time, the researchers recorded activity from the hippocampus, where place cells are located. The scientists observed that place cell firing also shifts towards the goal location. However, while the grid cells maintained the deformed pattern overnight, the place cells are "reset". This is surprising, says Jozsef Csicsvari: "It is a paradox: The grid cells remember where the rewards were, but the place cells don't. This suggests that grid cells are important for behaviour." Boccara adds: "Our results have implications on our understanding of how circuits work and which brain region sets the tone. Is it the entorhinal cortex that dictates to the hippocampus how to shift the firing pattern? Our result would suggest that maybe grid cells tell place cells where relevant regions are, and then the place cells map these areas more finely."

###

Charlotte Boccara, previously a postdoc in the lab of Jozsef Csicsvari, is now at the University of Oslo's Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, where she is setting up her own group. Co-first author Michele Nardin is a second-year PhD student in the Csicsvari lab.
Ohio Reps. Bob Cupp, Republican from Lima, and John Patterson, Democrat from Jefferson, announce their new school funding plan. (Andrew Tobias, cleveland.com)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio legislative leaders on Friday released district-by-district details on what their new school funding plan would mean for each of Ohio's more than 600 districts.

Scroll below to find details for school districts in your area.

This is state money provided to the individual districts..

The dollars shown do not include money that will be calculated separately for career technical education. And the totals do not include money for students attending charter schools.

Lawmakers say no district would receive less money per pupil under the proposed changes.

The plan was first released on Monday, but district details were not shared until Friday. Plain Dealer education reporter Patrick O'Donnell reports on more details about this new proposed funding formula.

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x-State records listed the total for Kelleys Island as an outlier, because of the district's small size.
Why would they want to protect the flow of corporate money? It's a major source for Republicans -- $23M over a decade. Corporate $ is more important for the GOP than Dems. But Corporate America is generous to Dems, too: $18M over the same time. /8 pic.twitter.com/p9mrfDJali
NEW YORK, March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ABM (ABM) , a leading provider of facility solutions, has been awarded a contract to provide a custodial services staffing solution to Sheboygan Area School District (SASD) in eastern Wisconsin.

The ABM Education team will provide management oversight of an existing daytime custodial staff and add additional ABM employees for a nighttime shift at SASDs secondary schools. This includes four middle schools and four high schools that total approximately 1.5 million square feet and serve 5,000 students.

The ABM Education team is very excited to welcome Sheboygan Area School District to our family of over 50 K-12 districts in the Midwest market, says ABM Education Senior Vice President of Operations Tom Martin. Our local and regional management teams will work diligently to implement the service transition, as well as focus on a long-term partnership with SASD and all community stakeholders.

ABM brings local experience to SASD. In addition to providing custodial services for a nearby technical college, the ABM team works with four additional school districts across Wisconsin.

Based on our experience from the development of the proposal to the signing of the contract, we are optimistic that ABM will do an outstanding job working in partnership with the district, says SASD Superintendent Seth Harvatine.

ABM, which works with more than 500 K-12 school systems, colleges and universities throughout the U.S., has educational facility services expertise in custodial services, energy management, maintenance services, parking, landscaping and more. For more information, visit https://www.abm.com/education/ .

CONNECT WITH ABM

ABOUT ABM

ABM (ABM) is a leading provider of facility solutions with revenues of approximately $6.4 billion and approximately 140,000 employees in 350+ offices throughout the United States and various international locations. ABM's comprehensive capabilities include janitorial, electrical & lighting, energy solutions, facilities engineering, HVAC & mechanical, landscape & turf, mission critical solutions and parking, provided through stand-alone or integrated solutions. ABM provides custom facility solutions in urban, suburban and rural areas to properties of all sizes - from schools and commercial buildings to hospitals, data centers, manufacturing plants and airports. ABM Industries Incorporated, which operates through its subsidiaries, was founded in 1909. For more information, visit www.abm.com .

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CONTACT

Media:

Jennifer Miller

(404) 926-4212

jennifer.miller@abm.com
EMMEN, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / The ALSO Group (ALSN.SW) announces that the Annual General Meeting has approved all proposals of the Board of Directors. A total of 110 shareholders representing 84.1% of the voting share capital attended the Annual General Meeting in Lucerne.

At the Annual General Meeting, the shareholders approved the Annual Report 2018 and granted discharge to the Board of Directors and the Group Management. The shareholders approved the 7th consecutive dividend increase to CHF 3.00 (+9%) per share for 2018. This corresponds to an increase of CHF 2.30 (+329%) since 2011. The dividend will be distributed from capital contributions reserves and will be free of withholding tax. The dividend payment date is April 4, 2019 (ex-date: April 2, 2019). The retained profit of CHF 328.0 million is being carried forward to the new account.

The shareholders also approved for the financial year 2019 the maximum total amount of compensation for the Board of Directors and the maximum amount of fixed and variable compensation for the members of the Group Management for the same period.

The members of the Board of Directors, Peter Athanas, Walter P. J. Droege, Rudolf Marty, Frank Tanski, Ernest-W. Droege and Gustavo Moller-Hergt were re-elected for a further year in office. In addition, the shareholders approved the re-election of Gustavo Moller-Hergt as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Direct link to the media release: https://also.com/goto/20190329en

For investors and financial media:

Alexandre Muller, Dynamics Group

+41 43 268 32 32

investor-relations@also.com

ALSO Holding AG (ALSN.SW) (Emmen/Switzerland) brings providers and buyers of the ICT industry together. ALSO offer more than 550 vendors of hardware, software and IT-services access to over 100 000 buyers, who can call a broad spectrum of other customized services in the logistics, finance, and IT services sectors, as well as traditional distribution services. From the development of complex IT landscapes, the provision and maintenance of hardware and software, right through to the return, reconditioning and remarketing of IT hardware, ALSO offers all services as a one-stop shop. ALSO is represented in 18 European countries and generates total net sales of approximately 9.2 billion euros with around 4 000 employees in the fiscal year 2018. The majority shareholder of ALSO Holding AG is the Droege Group, Dusseldorf, Germany. Further information is available at https://also.com

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Droege Group

Droege Group (founded in 1988) is an independent advisory and investment company under full family ownership. The company acts as a specialist for tailor-made transformation programs aiming to enhance corporate value. Droege Group combines its corporate family-run structure and capital strength into a family-equity business model. The group carries out direct investments with its own equity in corporate spin-offs and medium-sized companies in "special situations". With the guiding principle "execution - following the rules of art", the group is a pioneer in execution-oriented corporate development. Droege Group follows a focused investment strategy based on current megatrends (knowledge, connectivity, prevention, demography, specialization, future work, shopping 4.0). Enthusiasm for quality, innovation and speed determines the company's actions. In recent years Droege Group has successfully positioned itself in domestic and international markets and operates in 30 countries. More information: https://www.droege-group.com

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current assumptions and forecasts of the ALSO management. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the forward-looking statements made here and the actual development, in particular the results, financial situation, and performance of our Group. The Group accepts no responsibility for updating these forward-looking statements or adapting them to future events or developments.

SOURCE: ALSO Holding AG





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/540572/ALSO-Annual-General-Meeting-Approves-9-Dividend-Increase-to-CHF-300




Armed forces stand onboard the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblu 1, which was hijacked by migrants, in Valletta, Malta (AP).

A special forces team boarded a tanker hijacked by migrants rescued at sea, and returned it to a Maltese port.

Armed troops stood guard on the ships deck, and a dozen or so migrants were also visible, as the vessel docked in the city of Senglea.

Several police vans were lined up on shore to take custody of the migrants for investigation, and four were led off the ship in handcuffs.

Authorities in Italy and Malta on Wednesday said that the group had hijacked the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblu 1 after it rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea, and forced the crew to put the Libya-bound vessel on a course north towards Europe.

A migrant is arrested after the hijacking (AP)

Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini said the ship had rescued about 120 people and described what happened as the first act of piracy on the high seas with migrants as the alleged hijackers.

The ship had been heading towards Italys southernmost island of Lampedusa and the island of Malta when Maltese forces intercepted it.

Read more from Yahoo News UK:

Harry Potter book with title misspelling sells for nearly 70k

Facebook to ban white nationalist hate speech

Man who claimed child sex doll was for an art project jailed

Troops established communications with the captain while the ship was still 30 nautical miles off shore. The captain told them he was not in control of the vessel and that he and his crew were being forced and threatened by a number of migrants to proceed to Malta.

The special forces team that restored control to the captain was backed by a patrol vessel, two fast interceptor craft and a helicopter.

Italys controversial interior minister, Matteo Salvini said it was the first act of piracy on the high seas with migrants (AP)

Humanitarian organisations say migrants are mistreated and even tortured in Libya, and have protested over protocols to return migrants rescued offshore to the lawless northern African nation.

Italy and Malta have refused to open their ports to humanitarian ships that rescue migrants at sea, which has created numerous standoffs as European governments haggle over which will take them in.

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Mass migration to Europe has dropped sharply since 2015, when the continent received a million refugees and migrants from countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

The surge created a humanitarian crisis in which desperate travellers frequently drowned and leading arrival spots such as Italy and Greece struggled to house large numbers of asylum-seekers.

Along with the dangerous sea journey itself, those who attempt to cross the Mediterranean risk being stopped by Libyas coastguard and held in Libyan detention centres that human rights groups have described as bleak places where migrants allegedly suffer routine abuse.

EU members alert the Libyan coastguard when refugees and migrants are spotted at sea so they can be taken back to Libya, despite knowing that people there are arbitrarily detained and exposed to widespread torture, rape, killings and exploitation, said Matteo de Bellis, an international migration researcher for Amnesty International.




The Panama Papersreferring to the 2016 leak of 11.5 million files from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonsecadetailed the ways in which offshore shell companies are used to store and transfer assets outside of legal regulations. One of those assets at issue? Art. The Panama Papers demonstrated the extensive secrecy around the true ownership of art, and the possible use of fine and cultural art as an asset to evade taxes and launder money. The legal definition of money laundering is a financial transaction that aims to conceal the identity, source, and destination of illicitly-obtained money. 18 U.S.C. 1956. Despite efforts at reform, the art market is renowned for its secrecy in both its transactions and ownership of art. Indeed, the Panama Papers revealed, in one such example, that a collection of modernist works assembled by Victor and Sally Ganz and sold at Christies for a landmark price in 1997 was not actually sold by their family, but rather by British financier Joe Lewis, who had secretly bought the collection months prior. Scott Reyburn, What the Panama Papers Reveal About the Art Market, The New York Times (April 11, 2016). Art advisers believe that members of the public bid such a high price because they were swayed by the provenance of the reported collectors, which provided its own indicia of authenticity. There are many more examples of how art transactions are helping to shield sources of funds, which of course are accompanied by questions of the more nefarious use and sources of those funds.



The European Union undertook the first effort aimed at combatting the art markets potential for money laundering and terrorist financing last April when the European Parliament voted to adopt the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD). 5AMLD builds on the previous Directive (4th AMLD), enacted in June 2015, which aimed to counter the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing and amending Directive 2009/101/EC, European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (Dec. 19, 2017). The new Directive makes the reporting requirements previously required of banks and other financial institutions applicable to persons trading or acting as intermediaries in the trade of works of art, including when this is carried out by art galleries and auction houses, where the value of the transaction or a series of linked transactions amounts to 10,000 or more. Anti-Money Laundering Europe, Agreement on 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (December 2017), 26.



The United States has proposed similar legislation. The Illicit Art and Antiquities Trafficking Prevention Act (HR 5886) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and referred to the House Committee on Financial Services in May 2018. The bill seeks to apply the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), officially titled The Financial Recordkeeping and Reporting of Currency and Foreign Transactions, which make up its two parts, to dealers in art or antiquities. (31 U.S.C. 5311 et seq.). The BSA, adopted in 1970, establishes program, record keeping, and reporting requirements for national banks, federal savings associations, federal branches, and agencies of foreign banks. It is aimed, among other things (inter alia), at money laundering and terrorist financing investigations. According to the BSA, banks must: establish effective BSA compliance programs; establish effective customer due diligence systems and monitoring programs; screen against Office of Foreign Assets Control and other government lists and; establish an effective suspicious activity monitoring.



The BSA has been updated many times, most recently in 2001 with the enactment of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (known as the USA Patriot Act) in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11. Just like the EU legislation, the Bank Secrecy Act requires that banks report cash transactions greater than $10,000 to the Treasury Department, in addition to Currency Transaction Reports and Suspicious Activity Reports, all in service of a documented paper and audit trail. The inclusion of art dealers among those responsible under the Act would also require dealers to ensure that any potential clients are not being sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).



While it would seem to be good public policy to enact legislation that will prevent money laundering, terrorism, and fraud, art market leaders are concerned that money laundering in art transactions is not a big enough issue to justify the regulatory burden. Andrew Schoelkopf, the President of the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA), argues that money laundering is simply not something thats pervasive in the art market. Margaret Carrigan, US anti-money-laundering bill could reappear early next year, The Art Newspaper, Dec. 11, 2018. Although the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that laundered money makes up 2-5 percent of the global GDP annually, there is no clear data that demonstrates how much the art market contributes to that total, and at the present time, there have been no convictions for money laundering solely stemming from the art trade. Rather, when art is involved, it usually plays a role as part of a larger criminal enterprise. That number may not be the strongest factor, however, as the sponsor of the bill, Congressman Luke Messer (R-IN), stated that the aim of the bill was to counteract terrorist financing and crack down on terrorist organizations like ISIS. Id. The media and academics have long expressed their horror at ISISs fundraising through looting and trading in antiquities, estimating its payout in the billions of U.S. dollars. Nancy C. Wilkie, in her capacity as President of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield (USCBS), referenced the UN Security Councils 2017 Resolution 2347, which confirmed that the looting of archaeological sites in Iraq and Syria by ISIS and Al-Qaida has helped to fund terrorist activities in the Middle East, in her letter of support for the bill on behalf of the USCBS. Letter from Nancy C. Wilkie, President, U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, in support of H.R. 5886 (May 29, 2018) (published on USCBS website). The Security Council had expressed its concern about the links between the activities of terrorists and organized criminal groups that, in some cases, facilitate criminal activities, including trafficking in cultural property, illegal revenues and financial flows as well as money-laundering, bribery and corruption. S/Res/2347 (2017) Preamble. Notably, the IAATP is the first regulation in the U.S. that proposes to affect the entire art market, from fine art to antiquities, and it does not discriminate between sellers of different types of art depending on their potential for money laundering. Eileen Kinsella, US Art Dealers May Soon Be Subject to Government Financial Regulation, artnet news (May 2, 2018).



The biggest concerns for art dealers, in addition to the additional scrutiny of their practices this bill will bring, include the high administrative burden, the responsibility to know your customer, and a potential chilling effect on the art market. In addition to the previously noted reporting requirements, dealers would also need to establish suspicious activity monitoring programs and processes for reporting. This high administrative burden is especially problematic for small and even mid-sized art dealers, who do not have resources comparable to the financial institutions already being regulated. While the BSA does enumerate certain persons who routinely use currency and may be exempt from the filing requirements, which would ultimately lessen the administrative burden, none of those listed would apply to art dealers or the purchasers or sellers of art. The major auction houses, primarily Sothebys and Christies, already have anti-money laundering protocols in place, boosted by their robust legal and compliance departments. Christies program includes client, transaction and artwork due diligence, monitoring, record keeping and independent audits, and it enforces strict cash payment limits and a no third-party payment policy. Buying at Christies, Christies. Both Christies and Sothebys have a history of lending money and using art as collateral, putting them in a different risk category than other dealers. The major auction houses have been forced to follow the call for more transparency in the art market, after multiple lawsuits concerning Holocaust looted art and looted antiquities and a greater emphasis on provenance, so in some way the IAATP but is one more step in a continuing trend to demystify the market for the public.



In addition to the burden on the art dealer, the IAATP may be a burden on art purchasers as well, leading to a chilling effect on the whole market. Conversely, the legislation may help sales because awareness of the stringent reporting requirements with which art dealers must operate could add credibility to those sales, in the same way that a work of art with a well-established provenance helps increase the works value.



The IAATP is currently dead following the November mid-term elections, although many experts speculate that the bill will be reintroduced to the new Congress to keep pace with the global trend in anti-money laundering activities. The bill must still pass through the Houses legislative process and the committee process in the Senate, a long road for a Congress currently embroiled in other security concerns.



Lauren Bursey is an associate in the dispute resolution group at Withers. Dean Nicyper is a partner in the firm's litigation and arbitration team.
Atalaya Mining Plc. ("Atalaya" or the "Company") Legal Update

NICOSIA / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / Atalaya Mining Plc. (AIM:ATYM, TSX:AYM), the European mining and development company, provides an update to its announcement on 26 September 2018 regarding the receipt of a ruling from the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Junta de Andalucia (the "Ruling").

The Company confirms that it has received notification from the Supreme Court in Spain that it does not have jurisdiction over the appeal made by the Junta de Andalucia and the Company, which voluntarily joined the appeal as co-defendant. Therefore, the previously announced Ruling made by the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucia remains valid.

Atalaya is working with its legal advisors to ensure the Junta de Andalucia addresses the procedural points raised in the Ruling and provides an updated Autorizacion Ambiental Unificada ("AAU"). The Company will continue operating the mine normally and has been advised the Ruling will not impact its operations at Proyecto Riotinto.

An update will be provided to the market in due course.

Contacts:

Newgate Communications Elisabeth Cowell / Adam Lloyd / Tom Carnegie + 44 20 3757 6880 4C Communications Carina Corbett +44 20 3170 7973 Canaccord Genuity (NOMAD and Joint Broker) Martin Davison / Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio +44 20 7523 8000 BMO Capital Markets (Joint Broker) Jeffrey Couch / Tom Rider / Michael Rechsteiner +44 20 7236 1010

About Atalaya Mining Plc

Atalaya is an AIM and TSX-listed mining and development group which produces copper concentrates and silver by-product at its wholly owned Proyecto Riotinto site in southwest Spain. In addition, the Group has a phased, earn-in agreement for up to 80% ownership of Proyecto Touro, a brownfield copper project in the northwest of Spain which is currently in the permitting stage. For further information, visit www.atalayamining.com

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

Story continues

SOURCE: Atalaya Mining Plc.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/540503/Atalaya-Mining-PLC-Announces-Legal-Update




RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian miner Vale SA's sales of iron ore could be reduced by as much as 75 million tonnes this year as a result of the deadly dam collapse in the town of Brumadinho two months ago, its chief financial officer said on Thursday.

Luciano Siani said in a call to analysts and investors that under the most optimistic scenario, the loss of sales would be around 50 million tonnes.

While representing a substantial decrease from the company's 382 million tonne sales forecast for this year, also disclosed on Thursday, the worst-case sales outlook would still leave 2019 sales at 307 million tonnes.

That is just slightly below the company's 2018 sales volume of 309 million tonnes.

Siani opened the call by expressing condolences to the families of the victims of the dam burst, which killed an estimated 300 people, many of them Vale employees.

He also said the company is focussing on safety and cleanup measures, not on boosting production, after the massive spill of muddy mining detritus, which also contaminated a nearby river.

Siani expressed confidence that a deal will be reached with authorities in the coming weeks on restarting Brucutu, one of its largest mines in the state of Minas Gerais, where both the January dam burst and another similar one in 2015 happened.

In a reminder of the continued tense atmosphere in the state, Vale on Wednesday night activated alarms in areas below three tailings dams due to an elevated risk of rupture.

In addition to setting many communities on edge, the disaster has also taken a toll on Brazil's economy, Brazil's Central Bank said on Thursday, citing the collapse as one of the factors behind a reduction in its 2019 gross domestic product growth estimate.

(Reporting By Marta Nogueira; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Steve Orlofsky)
(Adds CFO comments on deals)

By Carolina Mandl

SAO PAULO, March 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's Caixa Economica Federal is mulling strategic partnerships for its credit card, asset management and insurance units before taking them public, Chief Financial Officer Andre Laloni said on Friday.

This strategy is part of Caixa's plan to raise up to 100 billion reais from the sale of assets the unlisted state-owned lender owns or manages.

Caixa has already unveiled plans to raise 15 billion reais via initial public offerings of the three units and another one that manages Brazil's state lottery system.

Laloni said the bank is considering partnering with a payment card transaction processor in a new business for Caixa. Brazil's largest card acquirers include Cielo SA, Redecard SA, GetNet, PagSeguro Digital Ltd and StoneCo Ltd.

Some partners may have to pay to distribute products via Caixa's branch network.

In August, Caixa and France's CNP Assurances SA said they would form a joint venture to sell life insurance products in the bank's more than 4,000 branches. CNP agreed to pay 4.65 billion reais for a 40 percent stake in the venture.

"Such partnerships are likely to increase the units' valuation before an IPO," Laloni said in an interview, adding that as many as two units could be listed as soon as December.

Other deals that may help Caixa raise funds include the sale of its stakes in listed companies such as Petroleo Brasileiro SA , securitization and real estate sales.

In February, a government fund managed by Caixa sold its 8.9 percent stake in reinsurer IRB Brasil Resseguros in a secondary share offering. It was the first divestiture led by Caixa since Chief Executive Pedro Guimaraes took the helm at the state bank in January.

RESULTS

Caixa posted a fourth-quarter net loss of 1.113 billion reais ($287 million) after major writedowns demanded by the Brazilian central bank, Guimaraes said at a press conference earlier on Friday.

A real estate writedown of 2.2 billion reais followed efforts by the state-owned bank to sell homes it ended up owning when borrowers could not repay mortgages. It also posted a loss of 1.1 billion reais from corporate loans to three clients.

Guimaraes said the central bank demanded writedowns to reduce the value of real estate repossessed by the bank. (Reporting by Caroline Mandl; Writing by Carolina Mandl and Gram Slattery; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Jeffrey Benkoe, David Gregorio and Richard Chang)
12 people, including two Brits, were arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine after a haul was found in crisp packets on a cruise liner (SWNS)

Two Brits are among 12 people arrested on suspicion of smuggling after 2million of cocaine was found by police swooping on a cruise liner in Madeira.

Six men and six women aged between 20 and 52, were either waiting at Madeira or on board the MSC Opera when it arrived into Funchal from the Caribbean.

Two of those arrested were UK citizens, while another was a Dutch national living in London.

The joint operation between the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Judicial Police of Portugal found 18 kilos of the drug hidden inside bowls and crisp packets.

The joint operation between National Crime Agency and Portuguese police found 18 kilos of the drug (SWNS)

An NCA spokesman said: Twelve people, including two UK citizens and a Dutch national living in London, have been arrested in Madeira as part of an investigation into drug smuggling on a cruise ship.

The arrests, which took place on 24 March, follow a joint operation involving the National Crime Agency and Judicial Police of Portugal.

The twelve, six men and six women all aged between 20 and 52, were detained after the cruise ship MSC Opera arrived into Funchal from the Caribbean.

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Approximately 18 kilos of cocaine were recovered by Portuguese officers, contained in bowls and crisp packets.

The haul, if adulterated and sold in the UK, could have had a potential street value in excess of 2 million. Cash and phones were also seized.

Six of those arrested, including the two UK citizens and the Dutch national living in London, had recently arrived on the island from the UK and were due to travel on from Madeira to various locations in Europe, including the UK.

Four had been passengers on the cruise. All twelve have been detained pending prosecution in the Portuguese courts.

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Allan Round, NCA operations manager at the Joint Border Intelligence Unit, added: We believe this operation will have seriously disrupted an organised crime group looking to traffick cocaine into the UK and Europe.

Working with our Portuguese colleagues we have been able to act on intelligence at speed and prevent this quantity of drugs from reaching its final destination.

Once in the UK we know cocaine generates huge profits for criminal networks who are also involved in street violence and exploitation, so stopping it will help reduce the harm caused by them.

The Joint Border Intelligence Unit combines staff from the NCA, Border Force and other law enforcement to share intelligence and pursue and disrupt those who attempt to evade UK border controls for criminal purposes.
Shares of Micron Technology MU have soared over 30% this year and jumped over 5% through late morning trading Friday. The memory chip makers 2019 comeback has easily outpaced the broader semiconductor markets 18% climb and giants such as Intel INTC.

So, the question is: should investors think about buying Micron stock based on its positive momentum, in spite of headwinds and a rough near-term outlook?

Quick Overview

Micron posted worse-than-expected results last quarter on the back of declining DRAM and NAND pricing, among other industry headwinds, including reduced demand from the likes of Apple AAPL. The Boise, Idaho-based firms chips are still vital components for personal computers, servers, smartphones, and more.

But semiconductors are historically cyclical and falling memory chip prices look poised to continue to hurt Micron. Nonetheless, Micron executives are optimistic about pricing going forward. Although fiscal Q2 pricing came in below our expectations, we are optimistic that demand elasticity and seasonal trends will support improving demand growth in the second half of the calendar year, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on the companys earnings call.

Recent News

Since the company reported its disappointing fiscal second-quarter earnings on March 20, some analysts have turned more optimistic. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mitch Steves slapped an outperform rating on MU stock, citing the possibility of rising chip prices. We believe prices are continuing to come down and we will likely see a bottoming around the [second quarter/third quarter] time frame, Steves wrote in a note to clients recently.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank analyst Sidney Ho remains confident in Micron despite the current market challenges. The analyst maintained his buy rating for Micron stock and provided a $48 a share price target. The MU price target marked over 22% upside compared to Microns closing price on Thursday of $39.34 per share.

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As we mentioned at the top, shares of MU have already soared to start the year. This climb came along with the larger market and semiconductor comeback. In fact, shares of both Nvidia NVDA and Advanced Micro Devices AMD have climbed above Microns impressive 2019 run, while Western Digital WDC has roughly matched MUs positivity. With that said, investors should note that Micron stock is still down 20% over the last 12 months, which could give the stock plenty of room to run.

Outlook & Earnings Trends

Looking ahead, it isnt hard to see Micron returning to growth as memory chips seem set to remain in high demand over the long-run. Chips are key components in the larger technological revolution that includes data centers, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and much more. With that said, Micron is beholden to cyclical demand that can dramatically impact quarterly results. Plus, oversupply hurts pricing power, which is currently part of Microns problem.

Industry headwinds appear ready to hurt MUs top and bottom lines in the coming periods. Microns third quarter fiscal 2019 revenue is projected to fall 38.4% to $4.80 billion, based on current Zacks Consensus Estimate. Last quarter, Microns revenues dropped only 20.5%.

Meanwhile, the firms Q4 revenue is projected to tumble 41.5% to help drag its full-year sales down 22.7% to $23.51 billion. Peeking even further ahead, fiscal 2020s revenue is projected to come in 8.2% lower than our current year estimate.

At the bottom end of the income statement, Microns outlook appears even worse. MUs adjusted Q3 earnings are projected to drop 73% to $0.85 per share. Microns full-year EPS figure is expected to fall over 46%, with fiscal 2020s earnings projected to sink 25% below our fiscal 2019 estimate. On top of all of this, at least some analysts have turned far more negative about Microns earnings picture.

Bottom Line

Micron is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) based in large part on its recent earnings estimate revision activity. And despite some new high-profile analyst positivity, Microns second-half and fiscal 2020 outlook appear brutal. Plus, Microns valuation picture has become a bit stretched as its stock price soars, while its earnings estimates plummet.

MU is still trading at just 7.6X forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimates, which falls well below its industrys 13X average and the S&Ps 16.7X. However, Micron has traded as low as 3.6X over the last year with a 12-month median of 4.8X

Therefore, some investors might want to hold off on Micron as a fair amount of the fundamentals suggest that it is still in a rough patch. But the stock has continued to surge as part of the larger market comeback. So, it is up to each investor to decide if they want to play MUs current momentum or continue to stay on the sidelines until we see real signs of growth return.

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A change or just a clarification?

reported by The IPKat, earlier this week the European Parliament adopted Asby The IPKat, earlier this week the European Parliament adopted the latest version of the new Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive).





The IPKat will now run a series of posts discussing some of the key aspects of this new instrument which, following publication in the Official Journal of the EU, will need to be transposed by EU Member States within 2 years.





Today I begin with a provision or, rather, a recital that, at least in certain respects, makes national transpositions somewhat redundant. It relates to the 'value gap' provision in what is now Article 17 of the Directive (formerly Article 13).





Article 17(1) states:

Member States shall provide that an online content-sharing service provider performs an act of communication to the public or an act of making available to the public for the purposes of this Directive when it gives the public access to copyright-protected works or other protected subject matter uploaded by its users. [...]

In addition, Article 17(3) provides:

[that is the E-commerce Directive shall not apply to the situations covered by this Article. When an online content-sharing service provider performs an act of communication to the public or an act of making available to the public under the conditions laid down in this Directive, the limitation of liability established in Article 14(1) of Directive 2000/31/ECshall not apply to the situations covered by this Article.

and is ineligible for safe harbour protection a change in the law, which will require EU Member States to change their approach to platform liability and the construction of the right of communication to the public under Article 3 of the InfoSoc Directive? Is the idea that an online content-sharing service provider (OCSSP) communicates to the publicis ineligible for safe harbour protection a change in the law, which will require EU Member States to change their approach to platform liability and the construction of the right of communication to the public under Article 3 of the





This question of of no little importance, at least on two levels.





The YouTube referral





reported by The IPKat, last September the German Federal Court of Justice made a referral to the CJEU (YouTube, C-682/18) asking, among other things, whether "the operator of an internet video platform on which videos containing content protected by copyright are made publicly accessible by users without the consent of the rightholders carry out an act of communication within the meaning of Article 3(1)" of the InfoSoc Directive, insofar as certain conditions are satisfied. First of all, asby The IPKat, last September the German Federal Court of Justice made a referral to the CJEU () asking, among other things, whether "" of the InfoSoc Directive, insofar as certain conditions are satisfied.





YouTube referral was made amidst the uncertainties arisen in the aftermath of the CJEU decision in Ziggo (The Pirate Bay case; Katposts here and see also here), which held that the operators of a platform could be directly responsible for users' infringing activities. Thereferral was made amidst the uncertainties arisen in the aftermath of the CJEU decision incase; Katpostsand see also), which held that the operators of a platform could be directly responsible for users' infringing activities.





Could the conclusion achieved in relation to The Pirate Bay be applied also to YouTube considering, as the German court did, that:

the operator earns advertising revenue by means of the platform,

the upload process takes place automatically and without material being seen in advance or controlled by the operator,

in accordance with the conditions of use, the operator receives a worldwide, non-exclusive and royalty-free licence for the videos for the duration for which the videos are posted,

in the conditions of use and during the upload process, the operator points out that copyright-infringing content may not be posted,

the operator provides tools with which rightholders can take steps to block infringing videos,

on the platform, the operator prepares search results in the form of rankings and content categories, and displays to registered users an overview that is oriented towards previously seen videos and that contains recommended videos which can be displayed to registered users,

if the operator is not specifically aware of the availability of copyright-infringing content or, after having become aware, expeditiously deletes that content or expeditiously disables access thereto?





The German court also asked the CJEU to say (Question 2) whether, in the event that Question 1 is answered in the affirmative (ie YouTube communicates to the public), the doing of an act of communication to the public rules out the availability of the safe harbour within Article 14 of the E-commerce Directive.
Shoppers make their way through the centre of Cambridge. Photo: Chris Radburn/PA Wire

A leading business group is urging the government to give the UKs small firms vouchers to pay for advice, training and other support to prepare for Brexit.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) says the idea, which has been adopted in Ireland and the Netherlands, would ensure more companies were prepared for the significant upheaval that could follow Britains departure from the EU.

Speaking on the day Britain was due to depart  until the UK requested a last-minute delay earlier this month  the chair of the FSB said small companies had been given little support in more than 1,000 days of uncertainty since the referendum.

The FSB also sounded the alarm over new figures from a survey of more than 1,000 members, suggesting firms were pausing recruitment plans, stopping investment and scaling back export expansion because of the ongoing uncertainty.

READ MORE: BCC chief tells MPs to stop chasing rainbows over Brexit

The figures from the first quarter of 2019 show a record-high number of firms reporting falling revenue, and nine in ten not planning to increase staff numbers.

The survey also found export firms hopes of expansion in the next three months had plummeted to their lowest point in the nine years since the FSB started collecting the figures.

The FSBs headline index analysing business confidence has plummeted from a positive balance of +6 a year ago to -6 today, falling for a third quarter in a row. It is the first time the FSB has ever recorded three successive quarters of growing pessimism.

Mike Cherry, national chair of the FSB, said: Small firms were told that we would be leaving the EU today with a good understanding beforehand of what the future would hold.

While many politicians have prioritised machinations, the smaller businesses that make-up 99% of our economy have been left in the dark.

READ MORE: Optimism in the City drying up at fastest rate since the crash

He said: Thousands have had to shell-out for scenario planning. The least the government can do now is follow the example set by Ireland and the Netherlands by providing small firms with vouchers to access the advice, equipment and upskilling they need to future-proof their businesses as trade arrangements change.

Story continues

He also suggested making low-interest loans available to small firms to cover costs.

Cherry said businesses were already fearful about April for reasons other than Brexit, with a triple whammy of new obligations on digital tax records, higher business rates and higher pension contributions.

The FSB chair is latest in a line of business leaders queuing up to berate politicians over their handling of Brexit.

Dr Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) pleaded with MPs to stop chasing rainbows yesterday after a series of rival Brexit plans were voted down in parliament last night.

He accused politicians of spending three years going round in circles in a speech at the organisations annual conference in London.




(Bloomberg) -- China is stepping up controls over the countrys popular short-video apps as it seeks to cap the amount of time children spend on their screens.

From June, all such apps will have to install a youth mode feature for parents that can limit what children watch and for how long, according to a note published on the website of the Cyberspace Administration of China. While the regulator didnt specify a time limit, Douyin, which is known as TikTok internationally, and Kuaishou both said screen time could be as little as 40 minutes a day.

Short video apps have been a phenomenon in China as about 650 million people in the country watch them for everything from lip-syncing teenagers and silly stunts to crop reports. Tightening user activity could crimp advertising that has helped make Bytedance Ltd., the owner of TikTok, the worlds most valuable startup.

The special mode will include limits on the type of content and services that kids can access, the regulator said, without giving details.

Once in youth mode, kids wont be able to access the app between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., Douyin said in its WeChat post. Other restrictions include not being able to live-stream to their followers, deposit money on the platform, or tip other users.

A Bytedance spokeswoman referred to its WeChat post. Kuaishou, which was named by the regulators as participating in the program, did not immediately respond to a request for comment but posted a similar explanation on its WeChat account.

In its post, Kuaishou said youth mode would be switched on automatically for users that its system determines are below a certain age. Bytedance said Douyin will also make the change automatically.

The success of the apps has invited increased government scrutiny. Last year, Bytedance founder Zhang Yiming issued a public apology after being reprimanded by the Chinese government for hosting vulgar content. He shut down a popular jokes app and vowed to add thousands of employees to an army of content moderators.

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In January, the government cracked down on content posted on the apps with new regulations holding the companies responsible for all harmful content posted by users. It banned content in 100 categories that ridicules, satirizes, opposes or defames the socialist mode, theory or system and Chinese culture, according to the rules.

With the rapid growth of online short videos, conducting the anti-addiction work for teenagers has become a social responsibility that short video platforms must fulfill, the regulator said.

Douyin, Kuaishou and another app called Huoshan participated in a trial started on Thursday.

In the U.S., Bytedance agreed in February to pay a record $5.7 million fine to settle claims that one of its apps illegally collected personal information from children. As a result, it said TikTok would direct children under 13 to a similar youth mode that restricts content and user interaction.

Bytedance has shot up the rankings of the worlds startups thanks to the success of TikTok and its news aggregation app Toutiao. Last year, Bloomberg News reported the company was in the process of raising new funding from investors including SoftBank Group Corp. at a valuation of $75 billion, eclipsing Uber Technologies Inc. as the worlds largest startup.

(Updates with Bytedance valuation in final paragraph.)

--With assistance from David Ramli and Lulu Yilun Chen.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.net;Shelly Banjo in Hong Kong at sbanjo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Robert Fenner, Peter Elstrom

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
The conventional wisdom is that Chinas recent deal for 300 Airbus planes is a swipe at President Trump, who touted the sale of 300 Boeing planes during a Beijing visit in 2017. The Airbus deal follows on the heels of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max and continued bad press about Chinese tech giant Huawei, the worlds largest maker of communications network equipment.

But this view is wrong.

That China buys any aircraft from the West -- whether from U.S.-based Boeing or European-manufacturer Airbus -- is incidental to its long-term goal to be independent of Western technology by 2025. Not only does it have the worlds largest maker of network equipment, China leads in personal computers, servers, smartphones and trains. Aircraft is moving up the list.

Huawei has been restricted from U.S. networks for some time and has little market share in the country, outside of smartphones. The risk of using this equipment has been highlighted not just by the U.S., but many countries, for years. This week, the UK cyber security watchdog issued the strongest warning yet against Huawei, noting risks in its software and hardware. The report details that Huawei offered one software system for review but planned to deliver another system for implementation.

Reports from multiple intelligence agencies and security analysts reveal that products and services made by firms affiliated with the Chinese government and military can enable sabotage, espionage and surveillance. This is why certain products made by these entities are restricted for use by the U.S.federal government and armed forces.

Huaweis not the only concern. While it has attracted scrutiny from the media and policymakers, we would be foolish to focus myopically on just one company when many others  like ZTE and Lenovo  present a similar threat. They are also owned in part by the Chinese government, demonstrate a pattern of abuses, and are compelled by Chinese law to facilitate espionage.

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This weeks Senate hearing called by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on airline safety underscored that security requires tough decisions. When human lives are stake, the bottom line should be safety above all else. Cyber attacks can put human lives at risk.

Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel testified that the U.S. needs to adapt to a total systems approach to airline security. In other words, as we move to a world in which everything will be connected to the internet, we must bring scrutiny not just to network equipment, but the devices attached to networks and the applications and services running across them.

These decisions become more complicated when cost is at stake. Because of illegal trade practices and state support of industry, Chinese firms can offer their goods at prices well below those of Western competitors. But the sticker price does not reflect the risk of using many of these Chinese products.

For too long the U.S. accepted Chinas shenanigans and had a lackadaisical attitude about threats it poses to Americas technological leadership, national security and individuals personal safety. President Trump recognized this and put the issue front and center in a way that his predecessors were either unwilling or unable to do. It is not an easy task, and half of the country is rooting against him, but he deserves our support.

At the end of the day, security is not a partisan issue. Security is worth paying for, and it demands that the U.S. redouble its efforts in innovation and competitiveness. Restricting Huawei equipment from U.S. networks has not harmed Americas speed in the race for 5G mobile networks, but what we attach to the network is another story.

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While we may restrict certain equipment from the network infrastructure, that does not mean we are safe from cyber attacks that can arise from other Chinese products and services which may be infiltrated by Chinese government or military. If we are to be vigilant about safety, we need a total systems approach.

Roslyn Layton was a member of the Trump Transition Team for FCC, is an international internet policy analyst and visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

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In 2018, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that it would be updating New York City's flood maps as a result of rising sea levels and shifting climate change forecasts. After all, in New York City, it's been estimated that approximately 80 percent of the property owners who have experienced flood damage since the maps were last updated in 1983 didn't have flood insurance.

If you live in an area that has been plagued by floods, fires or beach erosion, or if you are concerned because 2014 to 2018 were the warmest years on record, you may be asking yourself: "How will climate change impact my home's value?"

Climate change could impact your home's value in several ways, including:

-- Less demand for waterfront homes.

-- Higher insurance premiums.

-- Higher property taxes.

-- Increased property values for some homeowners.

While it's impossible to predict the future, the consequences of rising temperatures and sea levels and increasing flood-prone areas could result in adjusted home values. Below are climate change projections and factors that will likely significantly alter property values, according to experts.

[Read: Why You Should Sell Your Home in 2019.]

Less Demand for Waterfront Homes

So far, there hasn't been a reason for homeowners in beach areas to panic, but in 2015 a study from the University of North Carolina Wilmington found that oceanfront property values could drop across beachfront property in the United States if federal subsidies were eliminated. For instance, in New Jersey, it would fall up to 34 percent. And a January 2019 study from Columbia University and the nonprofit First Street Foundation gave waterfront home owners a reason to worry. The study looked at 2.5 million coastal properties in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island between 2005 and 2017, and found that increased tidal flooding caused by sea levels rising have caused homes to depreciate in value by $403.1 million.

And in February, Columbia and First Street released another study suggesting that the Eastern Seaboard has lost $15.8 billion in home values.

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Bruce Ailion, a realtor and attorney with Re/Max Town & Country, in Alpharetta, Georgia, says he's looked for several years for Gulf-front property. Two years ago, he was close to settling on an oceanfront duplex in Puerto Rico for only $210,000. He reluctantly decided not to buy it.

A month later, Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico. "If we had gone ahead (and closed on the property), we might only have an empty lot and a mortgage," Ailion says. Ailion suspects that he isn't the only one who has backed out of buying beachfront property because of worries about climate change. "It's very serious. Serious enough to keep me, and perhaps hundreds of thousands, out of the market," he says. If he does decide to ever live on the ocean, Ailion says that he is "more inclined to rent and allow someone else to take the risk of maintenance and loss."

That said, home prices fluctuate, depending on the region, among other factors. The entire East Coast has been impacted by hurricanes over the last few years, with Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017, as well as other disasters like Hurricane Matthew and Hermine in 2016, Hurricane Arthur in 2014 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012. However, Paul Grover, a real estate agent and co-founder of the real estate company Robert Paul Properties, says that in Massachusetts coastal communities "there's an increased awareness of the effects that climate change can have on a property, but overall it has not impacted home values."

Grover adds that homeowners do often discuss the possibilities of climate-related damage with their real estate agents, however. "While buyers have certainly become more mindful of characteristics such as elevation and vegetation that can prevent erosion, waterfront markets remain strong throughout the state," he says.

[Read: What to Expect From the Housing Market in 2019.]

Higher Insurance Premiums

Assuming extreme weather patterns continue, it seems inevitable that premiums will continue to climb.

"I sell insurance in Marin County, California, a county that has both super expensive homes and has recently seen the FEMA maps change," says Scott Johnson, a manager and principle broker agent of Marindependent Insurance Services LLC in Mill Valley, California. He says many of his clients were in zones that FEMA considered safe from flooding that are now in zones that FEMA considers risky, which caused a sharp spike in insurance rates.

Homeowners are angry, Johnson says. While he doesn't know for sure why insurance has gone up in the area, Johnson says he has his suspicions. "Part of the problem is that river and water systems in this county have changed, part of the problem is that the county and state have failed to keep up with the issue and part of the issue is higher and lower king tides (the highest naturally occurring tides), and potentially more extreme weather systems," he says. "We had an atmospheric river system that came through this county several years ago that dropped over 20 inches of rain in 24 hours. It was not a hurricane, just a storm," he adds.

Higher Property Taxes

2014 study by the Union of Concerned Scientists suggests that by 2045, some cities, like Atlantic City and Cape May, New Jersey, can expect to see tidal flooding 240 times or more per year.

Many government officials say that if some communities are routinely swamped, residents will naturally move away. So theoretically, if you live in an area of the country that routinely sees flooding and has fewer residents and thus a smaller tax base, you could see your property taxes climb significantly. After all, somebody has to pay for your community's infrastructure.

And you don't have to be near the coast to see your property values lowered due to climate change. A 2017 study from Ohio State University estimated that due to excessive algae, a result of warmer weather, Ohio homeowners who live near Buckeye Lake and Grand Lake saw their combined property values decrease by $152 million from 2009 to 2015.

[See: 9 Details That Signal a Home Is a Good Buy.]

Increased Property Values for Some Homeowners

There are always going to be winners and losers in a fickle real estate market as climate change continues to take a toll on property values. That's why Jeff Fagan, president of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, predicts that his city, as far as home values go, will likely soar, even as the effects of climate change continue to batter beachfront properties in Florida.

"Miami and Orlando respectively are the top two markets for vacation homes in Florida. Buyers are becoming aware of the risks of beachfront properties, the potential challenges, and costs of flood insurance. Orlando will almost certainly see an increase in demand as more vacation home buyers turn toward inland destinations and away from coastal locations," Fagan says.

Ailion, meanwhile, says that inland, Georgia has done well with waterfront living -- for homeowners who want to live near lakes. "Brokers at my company are killing it," he says. But even there, he says, there have been risks. "Within the last 10 years, we have had a drought where water levels were down," Ailion says. "One or two seasons, docks sat above dry land instead of water, and local business reliant on tourism closed. I think we will continue to see dislocation associated with climate issues."





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The maker of Oreo cookies could soon have some new brands in its lineup. Mondelez (MDLZ) is reportedly in talks to buy some international cookie names from Campbell's Soup, including Tim Tams and Royal Dansk. The price tag is said to be upwards of $2.5 billion dollars.

AstraZeneca (AZN) is striking a big deal for cancer drugs. The pharma giant is paying upwards of $6.9 billion dollars, for the rights to some treatments being developed by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo. The money is contingent on the medications hitting milestones, including clearing regulatory hurdles.

Tim Cook may soon have his day in court. He's just one of the Apple (AAPL) leaders expected to testify next month when a jury hears the evidence in the long-running patent dispute with Qualcomm (QCOM). Apple is challenging Qualcomm's patent licensing deals while the chipmaker is demanding royalty payments it says it's owed.

Wells Fargo's (WFC) Tim Sloan is stepping down as CEO effective immediately. Sloan is resigning after spending 31 years at the bank and having received a raise recently. His tenure began with Wells Fargo's fake accounts scandal and was marked by scrutiny from politicians. General Counsel Allen Parker will take over as interim CEO as the bank looks for a permanent successor.

Our parent company, Verizon (VZ), just launched a free service to help you battle those pesky robocalls. The free version of Call Filter, which was previously $2.99 a month, will give you spam detection, a spam filter and the ability to report numbers. The service is available for both Android and iOS customers. But the company says that "certain features will vary based on the type of phone."
Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump traveled to Lake Okeechobee in Florida on Friday to tout infrastructure projects aimed at repairing the Herbert Hoover Dike.

The president said the project is "important in terms of safety," and touted the joint efforts of federal and state authorities as "a great project for Florida."

"This project was dying until we got involved," Trump said. "We are making it stronger that it would have ever been."

The deterioration of the Herbert Hoover Dike, a 143-mile earthen dam that surrounds Lake Okeechobee, has been blamed for serious environmental and public health issues in the southern part of the state. Despite the Trump administration offering $63 million in funding, Florida Democrats and Republicans alike say thats not enough and have requested $200 million to speed up improvements.

Repairs to the dike could help manage the release of the lakes polluted waters into the ocean through the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers and prevent the states record toxic algae blooms -- neon green and as thick as guacamole -- that have clogged waterways, killed marine life and threatened Floridas tourism industry.

The Trump administration has pledged to expedite completion of dike repairs, spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, by 2022.

"President Trump is visiting Florida on Friday because he understands that these investments are vital to minimizing potential impacts, including harmful algae blooms, and improving water quality during rainy seasons in the years ahead," the White House said in a statement.

The president was joined on his tour by Florida Republicans Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio and Congressman Brian Mast, among other state lawmakers and officials.

In a series of tweets on Friday, Sen. Rubio said he hoped lawmakers could sell Trump on becoming the "Everglades President." Speaking to reporters on the side of the lake, Sen. Scott, the former governor of Florida, said that as soon as he entered office he started "bugging" the president to get the dike fixed, and the president came through.

"It would not have happened but for what President Trump did. He took charge of this," Scott said.

x

Preserving the Everglades and making improvements to the dike have been a bipartisan effort in Florida. Florida Republicans and Democrats have expressed disappointment in the proposed funding, but are hopeful the presidents visit could give their efforts a boost.

On Thursday, Democrats praised the efforts of DeSantis, but said they were concerned the visit would be nothing more than a photo-op to score political points.

I do want to compliment the governor for stepping up the state budget, Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., said on a call with reporters Thursday. DeSantis has pledged to make Everglades restoration a financial priority for the state. But she added, Frankly, it is life or death.  If we do not protect the Everglades, South Florida, in particular, does not have much of a future.

Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, D-Fla., called the presidents Everglades budget disturbing.

I truly hope his visit isn't a campaign political stop and that he will support our needs in Florida, Mucarsel-Powell said.

After a Make America Great Again rally the night before in Michigan, Trump will be spending the weekend at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (FSM) (FVI.TO) is pleased to report that the Mexican National Water Commission (CONAGUA) has completed its investigation and issued a resolution into the overflow of the contingency pond at the dry stack tailings facility at the San Jose Mine on October 8, 2018, which was caused by heavy seasonal rains (refer to Fortuna news release dated October 11, 2018 ). CONAGUAs resolution confirms that no remediation of the nearby Coyote Creek is required. However, the Company received a fine of approximately US$42,000 related to the incident.



The Company has since installed additional pumping equipment, increased its monitoring system and reinforced the pipes and drainage channels from the dry stack facility to the contingency pond in order to mitigate the risk of an overflow in the event of abnormally high rainfall in the future.

The Company reiterates its commitment to safeguarding the wellbeing of the environment, local communities and our workforce.

About Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

Fortuna is a growth oriented, precious metals producer focused on mining opportunities in Latin America. Our primary assets are the Caylloma silver Mine in southern Peru, the San Jose silver-gold Mine in Mexico and the Lindero gold Project, currently under construction, in Argentina. The company is selectively pursuing acquisition opportunities throughout the Americas and in select other areas. For more information, please visit our website at www.fortunasilver.com .

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Jorge A. Ganoza

President, CEO and Director

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

Trading symbols: NYSE: FSM | TSX: FVI

Investor Relations:

Carlos Baca

T (Peru): +51.1.616.6060, ext. 0

Forward looking Statements

This news release contains forward looking statements which constitute forward looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and forward looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, Forward looking Statements). All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are Forward looking Statements and are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the Forward looking Statements. The Forward looking Statements in this news release may include, without limitation, statements about the Companys plans for its mines and mineral properties; the Companys business strategy, plans and outlook; the merit of the Companys mines and mineral properties; mineral resource and reserve estimates; timelines; the future financial or operating performance of the Company; expenditures; approvals and other matters. Often, but not always, these Forward looking Statements can be identified by the use of words such as estimated, potential, open, future, assumed, projected, used, detailed, has been, gain, planned, reflecting, will, containing, remaining, to be, or statements that events, could or should occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.

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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 results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward looking Statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; changes in prices for silver and other metals; technological and operational hazards in Fortunas mining and mine development activities; risks inherent in mineral exploration; uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral reserves, mineral resources, and metal recoveries; governmental and other approvals; political unrest or instability in countries where Fortuna is active; labor relations issues; as well as those factors discussed under Risk Factors in the Company's Annual Information Form. Although the Company 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 to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.

Forward looking Statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to expectations regarding mine production costs; expected trends in mineral prices and currency exchange rates; the accuracy of the Companys current mineral resource and reserve estimates; that the Companys activities will be in accordance with the Companys public statements and stated goals; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; that all required approvals will be obtained; that there will be no significant disruptions affecting operations and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward looking Statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company 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 law. 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, investors should not place undue reliance on Forward looking Statements.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Valeo is pictured during the Viva Tech start-up and technology summit in Paris, France, May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

By Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government has increased its stake in Valeo, an auto parts maker previously targeted by activist investors, as the company is buffeted by a downturn in the auto market and a cooling of expectations for self-driving cars.

The state-owned CDC bank more than doubled its holding to 5.12 percent by purchasing Valeo shares in the market via its Bpifrance investment arm, according to a regulatory filing.

The stake increase "reflects Bpifrance's intention to invest in French companies with strong growth potential", a spokeswoman for the government investment fund said on Thursday.

Valeo declined to comment on the government move.

The stake hike comes amid expectations that more activists will set their sights on French companies. Demands by U.S. fund Elliott for governance and strategy changes at Pernod Ricard have fuelled those concerns.

Bpifrance Chief Executive Nicolas Dufourcq said on Tuesday the fund had 2 billion euros (1.7 billion) available to fend off potential activist attacks on French firms.

Paris-based Valeo, whose products include fuel-efficient transmissions and autonomous driving sensors, is reining in investment after a series of profit warnings and weaker orders.

Valeo shares, which have fallen 51.4 percent over the past 12 months, ended 2 percent lower at 25.49 euros in Paris on Thursday.

Besides recent disruption to European auto production and slowing global demand, Valeo and its CEO Jacques Aschenbroich face increased scepticism over the short- to medium-term outlook for heavily automated cars.

Valeo was targeted in 2007 by hedge fund Pardus Capital Management, which pushed unsuccessfully for a tie-up with Visteon, a parts maker previously spun off by Ford.

Harris Associates, the New York activist that once ousted the Saatchi brothers from the ad agency bearing their name, increased its Valeo stake to 6.37 percent about a year ago. But the fund said on Thursday it backed the company's leadership.

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"As long-term value investors we are fully supportive of the company and its management," Deputy Chairman and Chief Investment Officer David Herro told Reuters.

"Harris Associates has been a shareholder for several years and has always been very supportive of our group," a Valeo spokeswoman said.

(Reporting by Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume; editing by Richard Lough and Alexandra Hudson)
(Adds company CEO comment, more details on the case)

By Sarah N. Lynch and Nate Raymond

March 29 (Reuters) - Germany-based dialysis clinic operator Fresenius Medical Care AG will pay about $231 million to resolve criminal and civil allegations that the company paid bribes to public health and government officials in several countries to win or retain business, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

As part of the settlement, the company admitted that it doled out bribes to officials in Angola and Saudi Arabia from 2007 through 2016, and also failed to maintain proper internal accounting controls, the department said.

The Justice Department agreed not to prosecute the company criminally in exchange for Fresenius paying a penalty of $84,715,273.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, ordered the company to pay $147 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest to settle the civil charges.

We are pleased to have concluded these investigations and to have resolved the issues that we identified and voluntarily disclosed to the U.S. authorities," Fresenius Medical Care Chief Executive Officer Rice Powell said in a statement.

For the past few years, the Justice Department has been trying to encourage companies with potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations to come forward and self-report them in exchange for prosecutorial declinations and lower penalties.

The Justice Department said on Friday that while Fresenius did self-report the issues in this case, it got a higher penalty because it did not provide "timely" responses to requests for information and some of its responses were not "fulsome."

In addition, the misconduct allegedly occurred in 13 countries and allowed the company to profit illegally by more than $140 million, the Justice Department said.

In Morocco, for instance, the department said the company paid bribes through a "sham" commission to a Moroccan state official in order to win contracts to develop dialysis centers at state-owned military hospitals.

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The scheme worked by having the commission pay 10 percent of the value of the contract to the official, and the payment would be disguised as a bonus payment to a Fresenius company employee.

In addition to Morocco, Angola and Saudi Arabia, the company also paid bribes in Spain, the Justice Department said.

"Fresenius doled out millions of dollars in bribes across the globe to gain an advantage in the medical services industry," said Brian Benczkowski, the head of the Justice Department's criminal division.

As part of the settlement, the company has also agreed to retain an independent monitor for at least two years, he said. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and Nate Raymond in Boston Editing by Bill Berkrot)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, center, and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, left, arrive for the cabinet meeting of the German government at the chancellery in Berlin, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

BERLIN (AP)  The German government has extended a ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia by six months until the end of September, but is making a conditional exception for systems developed jointly with other countries.

Germany imposed the ban following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul last year. Britain and France have criticized Germany's stance, saying the ban prevented them selling jointly developed equipment with German components to the Gulf nation.

The ban's future had been hotly disputed in the governing coalition, with the center-left Social Democrats pushing to hold a very restrictive line while Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc was keen at least to mollify Germany's European partners. A complicated compromise emerged late Thursday night.

The government extended a ban on purely German exports by six months and said no new permits would be issued either. That affects an order for patrol boats, and the government said it would try to find a solution that involves either the boats being built and not delivered or the vessels being used in Germany.

Export permits for programs that aren't entirely German will now be extended until the end of the year  with strings attached. The government said it would push for jointly produced weapons not to be used in the war in Yemen and for no "fully assembled" products to be delivered to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates over the next nine months. Exporters will also have to insist on the latter point.

Juergen Hardt, a prominent lawmaker with Merkel's Christian Democrats, told ZDF television he would have liked to see Germany support Riyadh's readiness to play a "constructive" role in the Yemen conflict by delivering the patrol boats. But he said the most important thing is to honor agreements with Germany's European partners.
(Photo: 360b/Shutterstock.com)

(Photo: 360b/Shutterstock.com)



Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co., the world's largest provider of dialysis equipment and related services, has agreed to pay U.S. authorities nearly $232 million to resolve allegations that it bribed doctors and health officials in some 17 countries in order to obtain business.



The German company also agreed to hire an independent compliance monitor for two years, remove 10 employees involved in the schemes, enhance its compliance program, adopt heightened controls on selecting third-party agents and withdraw from pending public contracts potentially related to the misconduct, according to the nonprosecution agreement the company signed with the U.S. Department of Justice.



Rice Powell, CEO of Fresenius, said in a statement, We are pleased to have concluded these investigations and to have resolved the issues that we identified and voluntarily disclosed to the U.S. authorities. Since the investigation began we have taken extensive steps to further a culture of ethical business behavior throughout the entire company and to strengthen our compliance programs and internal controls. And we will continue to do so in close cooperation with the authorities."



Maxwell Carr-Howard, the Dentons partner who represented the company and signed the 55-page nonprosecution deal, declined comment and said the company would decline to comment further. Fresenius, which has its North American division in Waltham, Massachusetts, admitted violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.



It also reached a settlement on the same violations with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission through an administrative cease and desist order.



In many instances, the SEC said in a statement, senior management actively thwarted compliance efforts, personally engaging in corruption schemes and directing employees to destroy records of the misconduct.



The SEC said the company failed to promptly address numerous red flags of corruption in its operations that were known since the early 2000s. This includes employees making improper payments through a variety of schemes, including using sham consulting contracts, falsifying documents, and funneling bribes through a system of third party intermediaries. FMC failed to properly assess and manage its worldwide risks, and devoted insufficient resources to compliance.



According to the documents, Fresenius admitted that, between 2007 and 2016, it paid bribes to publicly employed health and/or government officials to obtain or retain business in Angola and Saudi Arabia. It also admitted that, in Angola and Saudi Arabia, as well as in Morocco, Spain, Turkey and countries in West Africa, Fresenius knowingly and willfully failed to implement reasonable internal accounting controls over financial transactions and failed to maintain books and records that accurately and fairly reflected the transactions.



The SEC settlement said the improper conduct continued for years in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, eight countries in the West African region, Angola, Turkey, Spain, China, Serbia, Bosnia and Mexico. The company agreed to pay the SEC $147 million in disgorgement and interest.



The three-year nonprosecution agreement with DOJ calls for the company to pay a criminal penalty of $84.7 million. It said the bribery investigation began in 2012 after Fresenius self-reported violations, but the misconduct continued into 2016.



DOJ said imposing the criminal penalty was appropriate, citing the nature and seriousness of the misconduct, including: the amount of illegal payments to foreign officials; conduct in multiple, high-risk jurisdictions; the pervasiveness throughout a business unit of the company responsible for the conduct  the continuation of unlawful conduct until 2016; and the involvement of certain high level executives.



Because the company mostly cooperated with the investigation, DOJ said it gave Fresenius a 40 percent discount off the criminal penalty recommended by U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.



Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling of the District of Massachusetts, Assistant Director Robert Johnson of the FBIs criminal investigative division and special agent in charge Joseph Bonavolonta of the FBI Boston field division made the announcement.



Fresenius doled out millions of dollars in bribes across the globe to gain a competitive advantage in the medical services industry, profiting to the tune of over $140 million, Benczkowski said in a statement. Todays resolution . . . reflects the departments firm commitment to both rooting out bribery and promoting the kind of effective corporate compliance programs that will prevent misconduct going forward.
MENLO PARK, Calif., March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Geron Corporation (GERN) today announced the appointments of Dawn C. Bir and Elizabeth G. OFarrell as independent members of its Board of Directors. In addition, Ms. Bir will serve as a member of the Boards Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and Ms. OFarrell will serve as a member of the Boards Audit Committee.



We enthusiastically welcome two accomplished biopharmaceutical executives to Gerons Board, both of whom have deep experience with guiding the growth of companies from clinical to commercial stage, said John A. Scarlett, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. We believe their contributions will be invaluable as we advance our lead indication for imetelstat in lower risk MDS to Phase 3 clinical development and, in the future, begin preparations for the potential commercialization of imetelstat.

Dawn C. Bir currently serves as the Chief Commercial Officer of Reata Pharmaceuticals, where she leads marketing, market access, sales and commercial operations. Prior to Reata, Ms. Bir served as Vice President of Sales with Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie Company, where she built and led their first hematology national sales organization responsible for the launch of IMBRUVICA, a hematology-oncology product, in the United States and Puerto Rico. Ms. Bir has also held sales and marketing roles at SKY Pharmaceuticals Packaging, Inc. & Rx Pak, a unit within McKesson Corporation; Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Ms. Bir holds a B.S. in Biology from Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York.

Elizabeth G. OFarrell most recently served as Chief Procurement Officer and Head of Global Shared Services at Eli Lilly and Company. Throughout her 24-year career with Eli Lilly, she held several senior management positions in finance and corporate governance, including: Senior Vice President, Policy and Finance; Senior Vice President, Finance; Chief Financial Officer, Lilly USA; Chief Financial Officer, Lilly Canada; and General Auditor. Before joining Eli Lilly, Ms. OFarrell was an accountant with Boise Cascade Office Products, and served as an auditor at Whipple & Company and Price Waterhouse. Ms. OFarrell currently serves as a member of the board of directors of PDL BioPharma, Inc. and on the finance committee of the United Way of Brevard in Brevard County, Florida. Ms. OFarrell holds a B.S. in accounting and an M.B.A. in management information systems, both from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

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About Imetelstat

Imetelstat is a novel, first-in-class telomerase inhibitor exclusively owned by Geron and being developed in hematologic myeloid malignancies. Early clinical data suggest imetelstat may have disease-modifying activity through the suppression of malignant progenitor cell clone proliferation, which allows potential recovery of normal hematopoiesis. Ongoing clinical studies of imetelstat include a Phase 2/3 trial called IMerge in lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and a Phase 2 trial called IMbark in Intermediate-2 or High-risk myelofibrosis. Imetelstat has been granted Fast Track designation by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with transfusion-dependent anemia due to lower risk MDS who are non-del(5q) and refractory or resistant to an erythroid stimulating agent.

About Geron

Geron is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and potential commercialization of a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat, in hematologic myeloid malignancies. For more information about Geron, visit www.geron.com .

Use of Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such statements, include, without limitation, those regarding potential disease-modifying activity of imetelstat, the potential commercialization of imetelstat and other statements that are not historical facts, constitute forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties, include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties related to: (i) whether imetelstat is safe and efficacious, and whether any past or future efficacy or safety results may cause the benefit-risk profile of imetelstat to become unacceptable; (ii) whether imetelstats activity is demonstrated to be disease-modifying; and (iii) whether imetelstat is approved for commercialization by regulatory authorities. Additional information on the above risks and uncertainties and additional risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are contained in Gerons periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the heading Risk Factors, including Gerons annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and the facts and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements may change. Except as required by law, Geron disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future information, events or circumstances.

CONTACT:

Suzanne Messere

Investor and Media Relations

investor@geron.com

media@geron.com

CG Capital

877-889-1972




The winter is an especially lean, difficult time for European airlines. Photo: Tim Boyle/Getty Images

Icelands Wow Air just joined a growing list of European airlines that have gone bust in the last two years, which begs the question: What the heck is happening?

Britains Flybmi and Germanys Germania both folded last month, following in the failed footsteps of Monarch Airlines, Primera, Air Berlin and Cobalt.

Aviation experts say issues including over-capacity, tough competition, higher fuel costs and the introduction of new long-haul planes have contributed to the failure of various small carriers.

Plus, the winter months are known to be lean in the industry as passengers simply dont take as many holidays.

Airlines effectively burn cash over the winter season. Profit peaks in the summer, said Mark Simpson, an airline analyst at Goodbody Stockbrokers.You tend to see, over the winter months, that this is when airlines go bust.

Europe is known as a cut-throat market with large, efficient competitors including Ryanair (RY4C.IR, RYA.L) and EasyJet (EZJ.L), along with legacy airlines such as Air France-KLM (AF.PA), Lufthansa (LHA.DE) and British Airways owner IAG (IAG.L).

Ultimately the main problem really is too much capacity in the industry, said Alex Irving, a transport researcher at the financial services firm, Bernstein.

A recent spike in jet fuel costs in late 2018 also created pain in the industry.

Small airlines like Wow Air are particularly vulnerable to spikes in jet fuel costs as they lack the required scale to negotiate discounts.

If youre a small airline, you dont have the ability to hedge, said Simpson

Competitive pressures

The recent introduction of efficient, long-haul planes such as the A320neo from Airbus (AIR.PA) and the 737 Max from Boeing (BA) also contributed to Wow Airs demise, said Sandy Morris, an aviation analyst at Jefferies.

Within a short time span, competitor Norwegian (NAS.OL) began offering non-stop transatlantic flights for a very competitive price, making it less desirable to have a cheap Wow Air flight with a stop-over in Iceland.

Story continues

Sometimes you get a new aircraft that comes along that allows others to introduce competition when previously there was none, he said.

Flying from Europe to the US through Iceland was a jolly interesting, cheap way of doing it. Now you have these 737 Max and A320neo [planes] that can fly directly from Europe to the east coast of the USA. You dont need to stop in Iceland. Wow was trying to respond to this, but ultimately, the market isnt big enough to share.

Morris also said Wow Airs business model was simply not up to scratch.

You have to start with a sound business model, he said, noting that this is another big factor behind the demise of many small players.




Millions of Americans either have or are eligible for health savings accounts, but many fail to understand their benefits. Only a quarter of workers say funding their account is a financial priority, according to the 2018 Health Accounts Employee Attitudes Survey from Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory and solutions firm. By not contributing to their accounts, employees are missing out on immediate tax benefits as well as the opportunity to build additional savings for retirement.

"The HSA was created when high-deductible (insurance) plans came about," explains Joseph Conroy, author of "Decades & Decisions: Financial Planning at Any Age," and a financial advisor with advisory firm Synergy Financial Group in Towson, Maryland.

For 2019, individuals who have single health plans with a minimum deductible of $1,350 and a maximum out-of-pocket cost of $6,750 are eligible for an HSA. For those with family health plans, the minimum deductible for eligible policies is $2,700 and the maximum out-of-pocket costs are $13,500.

"The idea is it's a way to pay for health care and not be taxed on it," says Davey Quinn, senior vice president of investment management for United Income, an online financial planning firm.

Money deposited into an HSA is tax deductible. It then grows tax-free and can be withdrawn tax-free to pay for qualified medical expenses. "It's basically what I consider the holy grail of savings accounts," says Dan Mathews, a certified financial planner, CFP Board Ambassador and wealth manager with advisory firm Creative Planning Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri.

[Read: 2019 Tax Filing Tips for Retirees.]

To use your health savings investment account as a valuable retirement planning tool, follow these four steps:

-- Open an HSA investment account.

-- Contribute the maximum allowed.

-- Save your receipts and let your balance grow.

-- Use your HSA like an IRA in retirement.

Keep reading to see how to put each of these strategies into action.

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Open a health savings investment account. Health savings accounts can be opened at many banks and credit unions, but these institutions may offer little to no interest. For instance, Bank of America currently pays between 0.10 to 0.45 percent interest on HSA accounts, depending on their balance. At Lake Michigan Credit Union in Michigan, HSAs earn 0.5 percent for balances lower than $5,000 and 1 percent for those at or above that amount.

Bank and credit union HSAs can be convenient for those who plan to spend their money right away on health care expenses. However, if you want to use your HSA for retirement planning, look for a provider who will allow you to invest your money for a greater return. Fidelity and Optum Bank are two such providers. But Quinn cautions that fees for some investment accounts can be high, so it's best to read all the fine print and shop around.

If you have a health savings account through your employer, payroll contributions may need to be made to the provider they select. However, there is nothing stopping you from later transferring balances to a different HSA.

[See: 10 Tax Breaks for People Over 50.]

Contribute the maximum allowed. In 2019, people will be able to contribute up to $3,500 to an HSA if they have a single health insurance policy or $7,000 if they have a family policy. Those who are age 55 or older are entitled to make an additional $1,000 in catch-up contributions.

"You don't have any of the limits you have with an IRA," Quinn says. While those with a workplace retirement plan such as a 401(k) can contribute to a traditional IRA, tax deductions may be limited for single taxpayers earning more than $64,000 per year or married couples filing jointly who earn more than $103,000. However, there are no such restrictions on HSA deductions. The entire contribution is deductible regardless of your income.

Save your receipts and let your balance grow. While HSAs are intended to provide a tax-free way to pay for health care costs, "you don't have to use it when you have medical expenses," Conroy says. Instead, you could pay bills out-of-pocket and let the balance in your HSA grow.

"You could reimburse yourself years later," Mathews says, though he cautions "you have to keep good records." He recommends keeping a file of paid medical bills that can be used for reimbursement in the future. For instance, this strategy could be used by those who want to retire early and need to supplement their income before Social Security payments begins. They can boost their bank account by reimbursing themselves for several years' worth of previous medical expenses so long as they have documentation to back up the claim should they be audited.

If you later change insurance and no longer have a qualified high-deductible plan, you can still pay for medical expenses out of your HSA. You just can't make any new contributions until you have a qualified plan again.

[Read: How to Save Your Tax Refund for Retirement.]

Use your HSA like an IRA in retirement. Workers who use money from an HSA for anything other than qualified health expenses will incur a 20 percent tax penalty. That's in addition to regular income tax that must be paid on the withdrawn amount.

There is no penalty for non-health care withdraws in retirement though. "It works just like an IRA once you hit (age) 65," Conroy says. At that point, money can be taken from an HSA for any purpose with only income tax due on that amount. That's the same as how withdrawals from traditional IRAs are handled after age 59 1/2.

In this way, contributing to an HSA essentially allows workers with IRAs to double their annual retirement savings. However, HSAs have one advantage. While traditional IRA holders are required to begin taking minimum distributions at age 70 1/2, there is no such requirement with an HSA.





More From US News & World Report


(Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co. posted a 25 percent jump in annual profit even as the Chinese telecommunications giant faces a U.S.-led push to keep it out of next generation networks.

Chinas largest tech company by sales posted net income of 59.3 billion yuan ($8.8 billion) in 2018 as it won customers for its smartphones and networking gear, according to a statement on Friday. Revenue for the year jumped almost 20 percent to 721 billion yuan.

Despite being at the center of global scrutiny, Huawei is winning customers for its equipment as it contends with Apple Inc. for the mantle of worlds No. 2 smartphone label. The company has already disclosed accelerated growth in the first two months of 2019 as it develops cutting-edge chips and expands into cloud services. But its global prospects have been clouded by the Trump administration, which is waging a campaign to block the Shenzhen-based company from supplying equipment for the fifth-generation mobile networks.

"In 2019, we are cautiously optimistic about the growth in 5G business, Guo Ping, one of the companys three rotating chairmen, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The future of telecom industry lies in the opportunities that 5G and future generations of technologies can provide to other industries."

Revenue from its consumer business, which includes smartphones, jumped 45 percent to 348.9 billion yuan while sales in the carrier unit were little changed at 294 billion yuan. Huawei said it invested more than 101 billion yuan, or about 14 percent of sales, in research and development.

After years of tension and accusations that the company makes it possible for Beijing to spy on the West, pressure on the Huawei has ratcheted up. Canada detained Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou last December at the behest of the U.S. Meng, also Huawei-founder Ren Zhengfeis eldest daughter, faces potential extradition on alleged bank fraud linked to U.S. sanctions against Iran. And the Chinese company is grappling with criminal charges for intellectual property theft. Both Meng and Huawei have denied wrongdoing.

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Huawei finds itself in the cross-hairs of the U.S. government just as its pushing for leadership in 5G and countries prepare to spend billions on the potentially revolutionary standard. Still, nations accounting for more than 40 percent of the worlds gross domestic product are either embracing Huawei or appear unlikely to restrict the Chinese vendor.

The company has launched a multi-pronged charm offensive to try and squelch the U.S. accusations. In recent months, Ren has emerged from media seclusion to defend his company in a round of interviews, while top lieutenants showed off the companys technological capabilities and fought back against American criticisms.

Its also embarked on a full-blown legal offensive. In Canada, Meng sued the government for allegedly violating her constitutional rights as she was arrested. And the Chinese technology giant filed a lawsuit claiming the U.S. government is overstepping by barring Huawei from competing to supply equipment to certain federal agencies.

"Huawei will resolutely defend our interests in court, said Guo. We have proof to make our points.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Tom Mackenzie in Beijing at tmackenzie5@bloomberg.net;Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Robert Fenner

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody (Credit: Fox)

The Chinese release of Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody is coming under fire, after censors removed all references to homosexuality, AIDs and cross-dressing.

As a result, the film now has huge plot holes and is confounding Chinese audiences due to missing or abruptly edited scenes, according to the Associated Press.

Peng Yanzi, a Chinese LGBT activist who has seen both the western cut of the movie and the Chinese version told AP: The cut scenes really affect the movie.

Read more: Bohemian Rhapsody editor responds to backlash

The film talks about how (Mercury) became himself, and his sexuality is an important part of becoming who he was.

Among the scenes missing is the one in which Rami Maleks Freddie Mercury comes out to his long-time partner Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton).

(Credit: Fox)

Also missing is where Mercury reveals to his band-members that he has AIDS, and theres also reputedly confusion over his lovers Paul Prenter and Jim Hutton, with Hutton  played by Aaron McCusker  losing his entire introductory scene.

Hua Zile, the editor of VCLGBT, an LGBT account on Chinas Weibo social network, told AP: Its a pity. This kind of deletion weakens his gay identity. Its a bit disrespectful to his real experience and makes the character superficial. There is no growth and innermost being of him.

Another film-goer, after having seen the film online and then going to see the theatrical version added that in the cinema, dialogue became incoherent, though it was still relatively clear that the principle character is gay.

Read more: Bohemian Rhapsody sequel plans being discussed

The move by the Chinese authorities is not entirely surprising.

In the coverage of this years Oscars, censors changed the subtitling during Rami Maleks acceptance speech on winning the Best Actor gong.

Instead of gay man, the words special group appeared on screen instead.

Though being gay in China is not illegal, there are no laws protecting LGBT people from discrimination.

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Same sex couples are also not allowed to marry or adopt children under Chinese law.




In our series My 6-Figure Paycheck , women making more than $100,000 open up about how they got there and what exactly they do. We take a closer look at what it feels like to be a woman making six-figures  when only 5% of American women make that much, according to the U.S. Census  w ith the hope it will give women insight into how to better navigate their own career and salary trajectories.

Today, we chat with a physician from Ann Arbor, MI. Previously, we spoke to a recruiter from San Francisco, CA, and a nurse practitioner from Los Angeles, CA.

Job: Physician (Geriatric Hospitalist)

Age: 34

Location: Ann Arbor, MI

Degree: Bachelor's in political science and biology, Doctor of Medicine (MD), Master of Public Policy (MPP)

First Salary: $36,000

Current Salary: $200,000

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

"When I was young, I wanted to do something in the sciences. I initially wanted to be an astronaut. When I was in middle school, I wanted to be an astrophysicist. By the time I started high school, I figured out I didn't love physics, but I did love debate, so I decided I wanted a career in government. Now I'm a doctor  go figure."

What did you study in college?

"I studied political science in college, but I also did my pre-med requirements. Being Indian, you are expected to either become a doctor or an engineer, and since calculus was not my forte, I needed to prepare for medical school starting out.

"Since it was only a few extra classes to tack on a double major, I also majored in general biology, but political science was my main squeeze. I ended up pursuing a master's degree in public policy right out of undergrad, as well."

Did you have to take out student loans?

"Yes, a ton. I did not have any loans from undergrad, since I was in-state at a public school and had some help from my family. But I did take about $30,000 for my master's.

"The huge mountain of debt came from medical school, which went well over $300,000. I have paid off about 35% of my total student-loan debt in less than two years. I took out a significant amount of high-interest (around 8%) grad PLUS loans for medical school, which I am very close to paying off. Then I had my Stafford accounts (both subsidized and unsubsidized) from both my master's and medical school. Those will still take a few years to pay off, but I intend to be completely student-loan-free in my 30s."

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Have you been working at this job since you graduated from college?

"I did all kinds of work during and after college. I had an internship at the Defense Intelligence Agency doing counterterrorism work in college, and I interned at an international think tank in Vienna, Austria, during my master's program.

"I had a hard time when I graduated from my master's program in 2008 into the financial crisis, so I ended up coming back to my university and working in research, which was my first salaried job. That position gave me the opportunity to network. Because of the great mentorship I received during this time, I was able to settle on a career in medicine that's at the intersection of medicine and policy."

How would you explain your day-to-day role at your job?

"I'm a hospitalist. I take care of elderly patients who are admitted to the hospital, treat or stabilize them, and get them to the most appropriate place from the hospital, which could be home, a nursing home for rehabilitation, or long-term care.

"I see a wide variety of patients, from some who are very healthy, come in with a simple problem, and walk out of the hospital right back home to those who are dying from serious illnesses, and whom I guide through end-of-life care to a peaceful death."

Did you negotiate your salary?

"I work in academic medicine, so our salaries are pretty standardized without much room to maneuver, although there is a lot more salary flexibility in private-practice physician careers. I was able to negotiate some other parts of my salary, including a sign-on bonus and flexibility in my work schedule. The good news is that our salaries are very transparent, so I know I am making exactly as much as my white male colleagues doing the same job."

Is your current job your passion? If not, what is?

"I really love what I do. Being a doctor is rewarding, and I especially enjoy caring for the elderly. As a social science and humanities person, I found myself gravitating to working with the elderly because they have such great stories. One of my recent patients is in her mid-90s and was one of the original 'Rosie the Riveters' during World War II!"

If you could, would you change anything in your career trajectory?

"I'm pretty happy with my career trajectory. I am also interested in healthcare administration, and I am in a place where I see myself (a younger woman of color) being able to 'break the glass ceiling,' as administration work still tends to be dominated by older white men.

"Medicine is a very long road, so you need to be prepared for delayed gratification. But as an attending physician, you get 'real doctor money,' autonomy, and the responsibility over your patients that you worked hard for. I am glad I took a few years before I decided to come to medical school; I came in with more maturity to handle adversity and was able to pick myself up and bounce back into a successful career."

What professional advice would you give your younger self?

"I would tell myself not to plan for everything. I had always been a planner, looking five or even ten years ahead at what my future could be. The financial crisis of 2008 changed that for me (and for a lot of older millennials like myself), and I had to learn how to go with the flow. As I said above, learning to be more spontaneous with my career has helped me to overcome adversity and put me in a good place in my career."

Are you a woman under 35 with a six-figure salary ($100,000+) and want to tell your story? Submit it here.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

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U.S. Labor Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. Credit: Mike Scarcella / NLJ



A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has struck down a proposed rule by the Trump administration intended to dismantle part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, by allowing small businesses and self-employed individuals to collectively participate in a health care plan.



The rule was promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor last year as a way to save those groups money on health care by participating in so-called association health plans, which allow employers to provide health coverage with fewer benefits than mandated under Obamacare.



New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 12 states in the litigation against the federal agency. They challenged it on grounds of the Administrative Procedure Act and argued at the time that the rule would actually drive up the cost of health care by draining the traditional market of consumers.



U.S. District Judge John Bates of the District of Columbia said in a decision handed down late Thursday that the proposed rule violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA.



The final rule is clearly an end-run around the ACA. Indeed, as the president directed, and the secretary of labor confirmed, the final rule was designed to expand access to AHPs in order to avoid the most stringent requirements of the ACA, Bates wrote. In short, the final rule exceeds the statutory authority delegated by Congress in ERISA.



Association health plans allow self-employed individuals and small businesses to essentially team up to provide health coverage to themselves and their employees. Those plans allow them to define themselves together as a large group, rather than purchasing several individual and small group health plans.



That could, in theory, save those individuals money, but it could also allow smaller employers to offer less comprehensive health coverage for their employees. Large group plans dont have to cover as many benefits as a small group or individual plan, as mandated under Obamacare.



That goes against the intent of Obamacare, the states claimed in their lawsuit last year. That part of Obamacare was written specifically to ensure that health insurance plans included certain health benefits.



The rule would have also allowed a self-employed individual with no other employees to define themselves as both the employer and the employee. That would have contradicted the definition of group health plans under ERISA, the states argued. Bates said Congress didnt intend for that kind of change when approving ERISA.



As a practical matter, one does not have an employment relationship with oneself, Bates wrote. There is no indication that Congress crafted the statute with the intent of sweeping working owners without employeeswho employ no onewithin ERISAs scope through the statutory definition of employer.



The lawsuit had also claimed the proposed rule would have contradicted ERISA by allowing businesses to form an association health plan if theyre in the same industry, state or metropolitan area. ERISA currently only allows those plans to be formed based on common interest.



Bates wrote that expanding how association health plans can be formed would go against what was authorized under ERISA.



There is nothing intrinsic in common geography that would generate the types of economic or reputational ties that courts have deemed essential for a plan to be covered by ERISA, Bates wrote. DOL does not provide a rationale that would connect geography and common employer interest.



James and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey led the lawsuit along with attorneys general from Washington, D.C., California, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. Representatives for James did not immediately comment on the decision.



James, in a statement issued Thursday evening, said the ruling will ensure better health care for millions of people nationwide.



Todays ruling is a win for the New Yorkers and Americans who seek access to quality, affordable health care in this country, she said. We are pleased that the district court saw past the Trump administrations transparent effort to sabotage our health care system, and gut these critical consumer protections in the service of its own partisan agenda.



A spokesman for the DOL deferred comment to the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday evening. The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Read the ruling below:




A woman claims she was wrongly convicted of making false sex attack claims that led to one man being imprisoned (PA)

A woman jailed for a string of fake sexual assault and rape accusations in 2017 has lost an appeal to overturn her conviction.

Jemma Beale, 27, from Bedfont, west London, was handed a 10-year prison sentence after making false claims of sexual assault and rape against 15 men.

Her claims led to one man being wrongly jailed and convicted of rape, while another fled the country.

On Thursday, Ms Beale, 27, asked senior judges at the Court of Appeal to overturn her conviction and maintained that she is innocent.

Beale was branded a serial liar by a judge and jailed in 2017 (PA)

Her lawyers told the court that the judge hadnt warned the jury about the myths and stereotypes which surround false rape claim cases.

Gillian Jones QC told the Court of Appeal: The learned judge erred because he failed to give a direction about the dangers of myths and stereotypes.

She was the subject of extensive media scrutiny in which she was vilified.

The effect of which might have been to further prejudice the jury in the absence of such a direction.

Read more on Yahoo News UK

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This reporting compounded or could have compounded these myths and stereotypes which were never corrected by way of judicial guidance to the jury.

But on Thursday afternoon, Ms Beale lost her appeal against her conviction and sentence., with judges saying she showed no indication of remorse.

After a five-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in July 2017, a jury found Ms Beale guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice.

Ms Beale, who made false accusations against 15 men, is appealing her conviction (PA)

Detectives first became suspicious when one of Beales previous partners claimed a man had been wrongly jailed for raping her in November 2010.

Mahad Cassim was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2012, but subsequently had his conviction quashed in 2015.

Ms Beale then told police she was the victim of two sexual assaults in July 2012 and fabricated similar allegations against six other men in 2013, her trial heard.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: AP, Getty Images

Nothing about the Mueller report  or at least what we know of it to this point  surprised me very much. As Ive written before, I never thought it very likely that President Trump had entered into some kind of explicit agreement with the Russian government in 2016, only because the Russians, who are pretty sophisticated about this, wouldnt have needed any quid pro quo to understand that having Trump in the White House would be like celebrating Defender of the Fatherland Day every day of the year.

(Im not making that up  its an actual Russian holiday.)

As for the obstruction-of-justice angle Robert Mueller was pursuing, I guess the lesson here is that Richard Nixon would have been fine had he been able to orchestrate payoffs to the Watergate burglars by tweeting at them, instead of being caught on tape in the Oval Office.

Apparently it cant be obstructing justice if youre blabbering to the whole world about how youre doing it. Good to know.

So now the president would like an apology from all of us in the media who prejudged him. Thats not going to happen, but it does seem to me that this might be a good moment to step back and ask some hard questions about who weve become, as journalists, in the Trump era.

We might even learn something critical from Mueller that has nothing to do with the details of his report.

This question of Trumps treatment during the Russia investigation, what he sees as a witch hunt perpetrated by the elite media, is a complicated one for me. My first instinct, and I dont think its a purely defensive one, is that if Trump hasnt been afforded the same presumption of innocence that other presidents have enjoyed, its because he lies routinely in a way other presidents have not.

Not only does Trump mislead, habitually, about knowable facts, but he does so with a very specific intent  to make it his word against ours, to persuade some sizable plurality of the electorate that reality is a squishy thing.

Story continues

So I dont agree with my former New York Times colleague David Brooks, who says we all made fools of ourselves with this Russia business. Im sure there were plenty of vain people who made fools of themselves on cable TV because thats just what they do all day long (I dont watch, so I couldnt tell you), but as an industry, I dont think we had much reason to take Trump at his word.

That said, I think we have to admit an inescapable and uncomfortable truth about the Trump presidency more generally, which is that the media that covers him is almost unrecognizable from the media that covered every previous president. Hes just right about that.

Im not talking about the weirdness on cable channels. Im talking about the best newspapers and websites in the country, which present almost every mundane act by this administration in dramatic tones beyond all proportion, as if the mere act of Trump trying to govern constituted an existential threat.

There are days now  a lot of them  when I open the up the homepages of the New York Times and the Washington Post in the morning, scroll down a bit, and have the odd sensation that Im reading the organ of an opposition party, with one headline after another trumpeting the moral depravity of the administration.

Even last weekend, as news broke that Mueller wouldnt be recommending any further charges against the president or his aides, the front pages pivoted instantly to other, ongoing investigations and breathlessly assured us the scandal would not go away. After two years of innuendo, Trump couldnt be allowed his due for a day.

And thats all before you get to the opinion section. From the very first days of the Trump administration, there were columnists who talked about how they wouldnt normalize the president and who cast themselves among the resistance  terms I never liked, because we dont get to decide whats normal in a president (voters do), and because this isnt Poland in 1939.

Then, of course, you have the closed loop of social media silliness, where our collective disdain for Trump ricochets from one check-marked account to the next, and the White House press room itself, where grandstanding soliloquies are more likely to go viral than the insistent questioning we saw in previous iterations.

All of it adds up to an unflattering portrait of how we approach our jobs.

And so, critical as Ive been of Trumps behavior and policies  and believe me, sometimes I bore myself with the predictability of it  I cant help nodding along with one of my idols in this business, 79-year-old Ted Koppel, when he decries the drift of our best media toward a kind of reflexive advocacy.

Its not that I think Trump has a lot of redeeming qualities as a president. Its that I think weve been played.

You see, Trump doesnt hate the media  not really. Hes spent a lifetime manipulating and cultivating reporters. He talks to them, even now, more than any of his recent predecessors, by a lot.

But Trump very skillfully drew us into a fight. He cast the fake news as his enemy, and we responded exactly as he knew we would  in kind. He goaded us into becoming outright advocates, into jeopardizing what little remained of our public trust.

And now were playing to our own audience, just like him.

This is Trumps superpower. He has an innate talent for bringing out the worst versions of everyone else, so that everyone ends up as compromised as he is, or at least somewhere on the continuum.

Everyone, that is, with one notable exception: Bob Mueller. Virtually alone among the establishment types Trump has needled, attacked, insulted and smeared since he stepped off that gilded escalator in 2015, Mueller simply ignored all the spectacle and did his job.

He did it stonily, dispassionately, without drama or distraction, following the facts wherever they led. And in doing so, he set a pretty good template for what we should have been doing all along, and still can.

Because were about to embark on a treacherous new phase of this journey  the reelection campaign. If we act as Mueller did, impervious to provocation, monastically focused on truth and perspective, we might restore the credibility we badly need.

But if we allow ourselves to become resisters on the campaign trail, effectively campaigning for Trumps opponent in the name of democracy, we may never be able to get back the role we had as trusted arbiters of the debate.

Well have given Trump his final victory, whether he wins the election or not.

No, we dont owe Trump an apology for taking the investigation into foreign meddling seriously these past two years. We can certainly learn something from the man who led it, though.

We owe that to the country, and not least to ourselves.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
The European Union and India have been negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) since 2007. Despite growing trade between the EU and India, talks stalled in 2013 after 16 rounds, only resuming in 2018. There has been talk in Brussels that Brexit might help remove some of the hurdles to an agreement. But this is unlikely to be the case.

If anything, the UK is better positioned to secure a trade deal with India than the EU, although this will not be straightforward. The UKs desire to curb immigration is likely to lead to tough negotiations. But future UK-India FTA talks may well be an opportunity to negotiate a manageable set of strategic priorities.

The EU is Indias largest trading partner, accounting for around 13% of Indias total trade in goods in 2017. India contributes around 2.3% of total EU trade and is the EUs ninth biggest trade partner. Trade in goods between the EU and India grew by three times over 2002-18, from 28 billion to 91 billion.

THE CONVERSATION/ EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Services are also an important component of EU-India trade. Eurostat data shows that Indian services exports to the EU were 16.6 billion in 2018, while imports were 17.1 billion. The sector has also attracted foreign direct investment from the EU, including Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Belgium, as well as the UK.

THE CONVERSATION/ EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Sticking points

Talks between the EU and India broke down in 2013, after it became clear that reaching an agreement on the demands for tariff reductions and market access, as well as the inclusion of social, environmental and human rights clauses would be impossible. Discussions resumed in 2018, which led to the declaration of an EU-India strategic partnership. While this agreement helped to resume the talks, it mainly reaffirmed current ties rather than tackling any of the issues that caused the trade agreement discussions to stall initially.

Story continues

From the EUs perspective, the main sticking points were drug patents, tariffs for second-hand cars, agriculture, services, rules of origin and an unacceptable list of sensitive items. The EU is adamant about negotiating a stronger intellectual property regime and a sustainable development chapter with social and environmental clauses, which India is unwilling to include in the trade agreement.

Plus, the EU wants detailed provisions for investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) after India cancelled 20 bilateral investment protection treaties with individual EU countries in 2016. The ISDS demand is not acceptable to India and current regulations require foreign investors to resolve their problems in Indian courts for a period of five years before pursuing a claim under international law.

India views the proposed trade deal as an opportunity to address issues it has with the way the two sides trade in services. In particular, India wants more visas to be granted to its skilled workers in the services industry. This has been a longstanding demand.

After Brexit, this demand is unlikely to fade. But, at a time when all EU member states are grappling with a migration crisis any loosening of visa rules is highly unlikely. India has also been demanding status as a data-secure nation, which will reduce compliance costs for Indian software providers. But, given EU concerns over regulatory norms and data-privacy standards it is unlikely that the EU will agree to this demand.

Opportunity for a UK trade deal?

The UK is among Indias main trading partners from the EU bloc. Trade totalled 13.6 billion in 2018, accounting for 17% of Indias overall trade with the EU. Moreover, trade between India and the UK increased at an average rate of 8.8% a year between 2002 and 2018.

Machinery and transport equipment constitute 40% of Indias exports, and accounts for nearly 20% of total UKs trade with India. The UKs exports of alcoholic beverages also registered a significant increase, from 14m to 162m from 2002-18.

EUROSTAT

The lack of progress in EU-India trade talks might just be an opportunity for the UK to launch its own negotiations for a trade deal with India. From an economic perspective, India is an attractive trade partner. It is projected to be the worlds fastest growing economy, with an annual GDP growth rate of around 6.5%. In the UK, GDP is predicted to grow by a mere 1.5% in 2019. India is also home to almost one-fifth of the worlds population. It could be a strategic partner for the UK in Asia, presenting an opportunity to increase Britains soft power in the region.

From Indias perspective, a trade deal with the UK could be an opportunity to increase pressure on other Asian countries, especially China, to liberalise their trade. This will also help Indias geopolitical considerations in the region given the history of tense diplomatic relations with Pakistan. And it could help strengthen Indias Commonwealth ties.

But other issues remain. The UK and India would still have to agree on reducing tariffs on their respective imports. Visa numbers and intellectual property would also be issues for the UK, as they were with the EU, and could yet prove contentious. So free trade talks between the UK and India could still be long and drawn out.

Recent political developments, howeverincluding Brexit, eurozone uncertainty, sluggish global growth rates and trade tensions from the Trump administrations pursuit of a protectionist agendaall have serious implications for future trade talks. These could well nudge the partners to review their red lines and return to the negotiating table.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. We welcome your comments at ideas.india@qz.com.

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FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind an oil pump outside Saint-Fiacre, near Paris, France March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose about 1 percent on Friday, posting their biggest quarterly rise in a decade, as U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela as well as OPEC-led supply cuts overshadowed concerns over a slowing global economy.

The May Brent crude oil futures contract, which expired Friday, gained 57 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $68.39 a barrel, marking a first-quarter gain of 27 percent. The more-active June contract settled up 48 cents at $67.58 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 84 cents, or 1.42 percent, to $60.14 a barrel, and posted a rise of 32 percent in the January-March period.

For the two benchmarks, the quarterly rise was the biggest since the second quarter of 2009, when both gained about 40 percent.

(Graphic: Crude futures quarterly performance - https://tmsnrt.rs/2HSqli7)

U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela have boosted prices this year. Washington is keen to see that Malaysia, Singapore and others are fully aware of illicit Iranian oil shipments and the tactics Iran uses to evade sanctions, a U.S. sanctions official said on Friday.

Sigal Mandelker, under-secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, told reporters in Singapore that the United States had placed additional "intense pressure" on Iran this week.

Meanwhile, the United States has instructed oil trading houses and refiners to further cut dealings with Venezuela or face sanctions themselves, even if the trades are not prohibited by published U.S. sanctions, three sources familiar with the matter said.

"With U.S. sanctions taking Iranian and Venezuelan oil off the market, at the same time OPEC and non-OPEC producers want to see higher prices and are currently reluctant to make up for any lost volume," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.

Also lifting prices this year has been a deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia to cut output by around 1.2 million barrels per day, which officially started in January.

Story continues

The producer countries are to meet in June, but some cracks are emerging. OPEC leader Saudi Arabia is struggling to convince Russia to stay much longer in the pact, and Moscow may agree only to a three-month extension, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The market has also been supported by slower output growth in the United States, where production has steadied since mid-February. The U.S. government reported on Friday that domestic output in the world's top crude producer edged lower in January to 11.9 million bpd.

U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating to their lowest in nearly a year, cutting the most rigs in a quarter in three years, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said. [RIG/U]

Futures have been pressured by concerns that a slowing global economy could hit energy demand.

U.S. consumer spending rebounded less than expected in January and incomes rose modestly in February.

Elsewhere, three of China's top state-controlled bank posted their weakest quarterly profit growth in more than two years.

Still, Barclays bank forecast oil prices "are likely to move still higher in Q2 and average $73 per barrel ($65 WTI), and $70 for the year."

A monthly Reuters survey of economists and analysts forecast Brent would average $67.12 a barrel in 2019, about 1 percent higher than the previous poll's $66.44.

Hedge funds and other money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions to 243,209 in the week to March 26, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said.

(Graphic: Russia, Saudi & rest of OPEC crude oil production - https://tmsnrt.rs/2CHr9lJ)

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)
By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose about 1 percent on Friday, posting their biggest quarterly rise in a decade, as U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela as well as OPEC-led supply cuts overshadowed concerns over a slowing global economy. The May Brent crude oil futures contract, which expired Friday, gained 57 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $68.39 a barrel, marking a first-quarter gain of 27 percent. The more-active June contract settled up 48 cents at $67.58 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 84 cents, or 1.42 percent, to $60.14 a barrel, and posted a rise of 32 percent in the January-March period. For the two benchmarks, the quarterly rise was the biggest since the second quarter of 2009, when both gained about 40 percent. GRAPHIC: Crude futures quarterly performance - https://tmsnrt.rs/2HSqli7 U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela have boosted prices this year. Washington is keen to see that Malaysia, Singapore and others are fully aware of illicit Iranian oil shipments and the tactics Iran uses to evade sanctions, a U.S. sanctions official said on Friday. Sigal Mandelker, under-secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, told reporters in Singapore that the United States had placed additional "intense pressure" on Iran this week. Meanwhile, the United States has instructed oil trading houses and refiners to further cut dealings with Venezuela or face sanctions themselves, even if the trades are not prohibited by published U.S. sanctions, three sources familiar with the matter said. "With U.S. sanctions taking Iranian and Venezuelan oil off the market, at the same time OPEC and non-OPEC producers want to see higher prices and are currently reluctant to make up for any lost volume," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston. Also lifting prices this year has been a deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia to cut output by around 1.2 million barrels per day, which officially started in January. The producer countries are to meet in June, but some cracks are emerging. OPEC leader Saudi Arabia is struggling to convince Russia to stay much longer in the pact, and Moscow may agree only to a three-month extension, three sources familiar with the matter said. The market has also been supported by slower output growth in the United States, where production has steadied since mid-February. The U.S. government reported on Friday that domestic output in the world's top crude producer edged lower in January to 11.9 million bpd. U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating to their lowest in nearly a year, cutting the most rigs in a quarter in three years, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said. [RIG/U] Futures have been pressured by concerns that a slowing global economy could hit energy demand. U.S. consumer spending rebounded less than expected in January and incomes rose modestly in February. Elsewhere, three of China's top state-controlled bank posted their weakest quarterly profit growth in more than two years. Still, Barclays bank forecast oil prices "are likely to move still higher in Q2 and average $73 per barrel ($65 WTI), and $70 for the year." A monthly Reuters survey of economists and analysts forecast Brent would average $67.12 a barrel in 2019, about 1 percent higher than the previous poll's $66.44. Hedge funds and other money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions to 243,209 in the week to March 26, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said. GRAPHIC: Russia, Saudi & rest of OPEC crude oil production - https://tmsnrt.rs/2CHr9lJ (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)
The sun sets behind an oil pump outside Saint-Fiacre, near Paris, France March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

By Harshith Aranya and Arijit Bose

(Reuters) - Analysts have turned cautiously optimistic on crude oil prices this year, predicting that production cuts by OPEC and its allies along with U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela will defy headwinds from robust U.S. output and a dampening global economy, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.

A monthly survey of 32 economists and analysts forecast Brent crude would average $67.12 a barrel in 2019, about 1 percent higher than the previous poll's $66.44.

While this is the first time in five months that analysts have lifted their outlook, the 2019 price view is still below the $67.32 projected in January. Brent has averaged about $63.70 so far this year.

"With slower global economic growth, oil demand will not be very dynamic this year," said Frank Schallenberger, head of commodity research at LBBW.

"But if OPEC sticks to its production cuts and the U.S. doesn't loosen sanctions against key producers Iran and Venezuela, higher prices are here to stay as we will head to a supply deficit in the second half of 2019."

Major producers, led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia, will meet on June 25-26 in Vienna to review their supply cuts. Top exporter Saudi Arabia has advocated an extension of the curbs until the year-end.

OPEC compliance with the agreed cuts stood at 94 percent, while non-OPEC was at 51 percent in February, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. The reductions have pushed prices up more than 25 percent this year.

Analysts expect growth in global oil demand to be steady, at 1.21.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2019.

The IEA, in its March outlook, kept its demand growth forecast unchanged at 1.4 million bpd this year.

Brent is expected to rise to $68.85 in the third quarter from $67.55 the previous quarter, the poll showed, before higher U.S. output and economic woes bring prices down to $68.40 in the final quarter.

"The end of 2019 is likely to see oil prices come under pressure as the U.S. exports greater volumes of its light shale oil supply to international markets and the global economy, in our view, experiences a synchronized slowdown," said Harry Tchilinguirian, strategist at BNP Paribas.

Story continues

The 2019 average forecast for U.S. light crude was raised to $58.92 per barrel from February's $58.18 outlook.

Part of the U.S. growth will be due to new pipelines in the Permian Basin that come online in the second half of 2019, said Adria Morron Salmeron, economist at CaixaBank Research.

The spread between Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude is seen at $8.65 in the second quarter of 2019, narrowing to $8.04 and $6.85 over the next two quarters respectively.

"By the end of 2019, we expect the price differential between WTI and Brent to narrow substantially as growing U.S. exports of light oil come to compete in Atlantic Basin and Asian markets," Tchilinguirian said.

(Reporting by Harshith Aranya and Arijit Bose in Bengaluru; editing by Arpan Varghese, Noah Browning and Dale Hudson)
LEI: 213800WTQKOQI8ELD692

OneSavings Bank plc

(the Company)

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The following regulated information, disseminated pursuant to DTR 6.3.5, comprises the Notice of Annual General Meeting for 2019 which was sent to shareholders of the Company on 29 March 2019. A copy of the Notice of Annual General Meeting is available at www.osb.co.uk.

Enquiries:

OneSavings Bank plc

Nickesha Graham-Burrell

Head of Company Secretariat t: 01634 835 796

Brunswick t: 020 7404 5959

Robin Wrench / Simone Selzer

Notes to Editors

About OneSavings Bank plc

OneSavings Bank plc began trading as a bank on 1 February 2011 and was admitted to the main market of the London Stock Exchange in June 2014 (OSB.L). OSB joined the FTSE 250 index in June 2015. OSB is a specialist lending and retail savings group authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, part of the Bank of England, and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority.

OSB primarily targets market sub-sectors that offer high growth potential and attractive risk-adjusted returns in which it can take a leading position and where it has established expertise, platforms and capabilities. These include private rented sector Buy-to-Let, commercial and semi-commercial mortgages, residential development finance, bespoke and specialist residential lending, secured funding lines and asset finance. OSB originates organically through specialist brokers and independent financial advisers. It is differentiated through its use of high skilled, bespoke underwriting and efficient operating model.

OSB is predominantly funded by retail savings originated through the long-established Kent Reliance name, which includes online and postal channels, as well as a network of branches in the South East of England. Diversification of funding is currently provided by access to a securitisation programme and the Term Funding Scheme.

THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt as to what action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own personal financial advice immediately from your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial adviser who, if you are taking advice in the United Kingdom, is duly authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, or an appropriately authorised independent financial adviser if you are in a territory outside the United Kingdom.

If you have sold or transferred all of your ordinary shares in OneSavings Bank plc, please send this document and any other documents that accompany it as soon as possible to the purchaser or transferee or to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for transmission to the purchaser or transferee. If you have sold or otherwise transferred only part of your holding, you should retain this document and its enclosures.

Story continues

Notice of Annual General Meeting

OneSavings Bank

(incorporated and registered in England and Wales under number 07312896. Registered office: Reliance House, Sun Pier, Chatham, Kent ME4 4ET)

Notice of Annual General Meeting

on Thursday, 9 May 2019 at 11 am

at the offices of Addleshaw Goddard LLP, Milton Gate, 60 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4AG

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN

29 March 2019

Dear Shareholder

2018 ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS AND 2019 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

I am pleased to inform you that the 2018 Annual Report and Accounts and the Notice of the 2019 Annual General Meeting of OneSavings Bank plc (the `Company`) have now been published. A copy of the 2018 Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2018 is enclosed with this document, together with a Form of Proxy to enable you to exercise your voting rights.

The Annual General Meeting (`AGM`) will be held at the offices of Addleshaw Goddard LLP, Milton Gate, 60 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4AG on Thursday, 9 May 2019 at 11 am. Information on how to get to Addleshaw Goddard is included on the attendance card attached to the Form of Proxy.

The formal notice of AGM is set out on pages 2 to 5 of this document and contains the proposed Resolutions. Explanatory notes to the business to be considered are set out from page 6 of this document.

VOTING AT THE AGM

This year, I will once again be inviting you to vote on all Resolutions at the AGM by way of a poll rather than on a show of hands. Poll voting is in line with practice increasingly adopted by UK public companies and provides a more transparent method of voting. It will result in a more accurate reflection of the views of shareholders by ensuring that every vote is recognised, including the votes of those shareholders who are unable to attend but who have appointed a proxy for the meeting. On a poll, each shareholder has one vote for every share held. I would encourage shareholders to exercise their right to vote.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN

If you would like to vote on the Resolutions to be proposed at the AGM but you are unable to attend in person, you can appoint another person as your proxy to exercise all or any of your rights to attend, vote and speak at the AGM by using one of the methods set out in the Notes section on page 10.

Whether or not you propose to attend the AGM, please complete and return the enclosed Form of Proxy so that it is received by the Company`s Registrar, Equiniti, by no later than 11 am on Tuesday, 7 May 2019. If you are a member of CREST, you may submit a proxy appointment electronically through the CREST voting service. Further details are set out in the Notes section on page 10. The appointment of a proxy will not stop you from attending the AGM and voting in person should you so wish.

The results of voting on the Resolutions will be announced to the London Stock Exchange and posted on the Company`s website following the conclusion of the meeting.

RECOMMENDATION

The Directors recommend shareholders to vote in favour of each of the Resolutions at the AGM. The Board considers that the Resolutions are in the best interests of the Company`s shareholders as a whole and will promote the success of the Company for their benefit. The Directors intend to vote in favour of the Resolutions in respect of their own beneficial shareholdings in the Company (save in respect of those Resolutions in which they are interested).

I look forward to seeing you at the AGM.

Yours faithfully

David Weymouth

Chairman

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of OneSavings Bank plc (the `Company`) will be held at the offices of Addleshaw Goddard LLP, Milton Gate, 60 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4AG on Thursday, 9 May 2019 at 11 am to consider and, if thought fit, pass the following Resolutions.

All Resolutions will be proposed as ordinary resolutions, save for Resolutions 10 to 14 inclusive which will be proposed as special resolutions.

1. To receive the audited financial statements and the Auditor`s and Directors` reports for the year ended 31 December 2018.

2. To approve the Directors` Remuneration Report (excluding the Remuneration Policy) for the year ended 31 December 2018.

3. To declare a final dividend of 10.3 pence per ordinary share in respect of the year ended 31 December 2018.

4. Election and re-election of Directors.

To elect by separate resolution as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company:

(a) Sarah Hedger

To re-elect by separate resolutions each of the following as a Director of the Company:

Independent Non-Executive Directors

(b) John Graham Allatt

(c) Eric Anstee

(d) Rodney Duke

(e) Margaret Hassall

(f) Mary McNamara

(g) David Weymouth

Executive Directors

(h) Andrew Golding

(i) April Talintyre

5. To appoint Deloitte LLP as the Auditor of the Company.

6. To authorise the Audit Committee to agree the remuneration of the Auditor.

7. That the Directors are generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to and in accordance with section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (the `Act`) to exercise all the powers of the Company to allot shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for, or to convert any security into, shares in the Company (`Rights`):

a. up to a maximum aggregate nominal amount of 817,184; and

b. comprising equity securities (within the meaning of section 560 of the Act) up to a further maximum aggregate nominal amount of 817,184 in connection with an offer by way of a rights issue:

(i) to ordinary shareholders in proportion (as nearly as may be practicable) to their existing holdings; and

(ii) to the holders of other equity securities, as required by the rights of those securities or as the Directors otherwise consider necessary,

and subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the Directors may deem necessary or expedient to deal with treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates or legal, regulatory or practical problems arising under the laws or the requirements of any regulatory body or stock exchange in any territory or by virtue of shares being represented by depositary receipts or any other matter.

This authority shall expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company, or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020, save that the Company shall be entitled to make offers or agreements before the expiry of such authority which would or might require shares to be allotted or Rights to be granted after such expiry and the Directors shall be entitled to allot shares and grant Rights pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if this authority had not expired; and all authorities vested in the Directors on the date of the notice of this meeting to allot shares and grant Rights that remain unexercised at the commencement of this meeting are hereby revoked.

8. That, in addition to the authority contained in Resolution 7 in the notice of this meeting, the Directors are generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to and in accordance with section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (the `Act`) to exercise all the powers of the Company to allot shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for, or to convert any security into, shares in the Company:

a. up to a maximum aggregate nominal amount of 294,186 in relation to the issue of Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments; and

b. subject to applicable law and regulation, at such conversion prices (or such maximum or minimum conversion prices or conversion price methodologies) as may be determined by the Directors of the Company from time to time.

This authority shall expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020, save that the Company shall be entitled to make offers or agreements before the expiry of such authority which would or might require shares to be allotted or rights to be granted after such expiry and the Directors may allot shares and grant rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into shares, in pursuance of any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.

9. That, in accordance with sections 366 and 367 of the Companies Act 2006 (the `Act`), the Company and all companies that are its subsidiaries, at any time up to the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting or, if earlier, up to the close of business on 30 June 2020, are authorised to:

a. make political donations to political parties and/or independent election candidates;

b. make political donations to political organisations other than political parties; and

c. incur political expenditure;

up to an aggregate total amount of 50,000, with the amount authorised for each of heads (a) to (c) above being limited to the same total.

For the purposes of this authority the terms `political donation`, `political parties`, `independent election candidates`, `political organisation` and `political expenditure` have the meanings given by sections 363 to 365 of the Act.

10. That, subject to the passing of Resolution 7 in the notice of this meeting, the Directors are empowered pursuant to sections 570 and 573 of the Companies Act 2006 (the `Act`) to allot equity securities (within the meaning of section 560 of the Act) for cash either pursuant to the authority conferred by Resolution 7 in the notice of this meeting or by way of a sale of treasury shares as if section 561(1) of the Act did not apply to any such allotment or sale provided that this power shall be limited to:

a. the allotment of equity securities and the sale of treasury shares in connection with an offer of or invitation to acquire equity securities (but in the case of the authority granted under sub-paragraph (b) of Resolution 7 in the notice of this meeting by way of a rights issue only):

(i) to the holders of ordinary shares in proportion (as nearly as may be practicable) to their existing holdings; and

(ii) to the holders of other equity securities, as required by the rights of those securities or as the Directors otherwise consider necessary, and subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the Directors may deem necessary or expedient to deal with treasury shares, fractional entitlements, record dates or legal, regulatory or practical problems arising under the laws of or the requirements of any regulatory body or stock exchange in any territory or by virtue of shares being represented by depositary receipts or any other matter; and

b. the allotment (otherwise than pursuant to sub-paragraph (a) of this Resolution 10) to any person or persons of equity securities or sale of treasury shares up to a maximum aggregate nominal amount of 122,578.

Such power shall expire on the revocation or expiry (unless renewed) of the general authority conferred on the Directors by Resolution 7 in the notice of this meeting, save that the Company shall be entitled to make offers or agreements before the expiry of such power which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors shall be entitled to allot equity securities pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had not expired.

11. That, subject to the passing of Resolution 7 in the notice of this meeting and in addition to the power contained in Resolution 10 in the notice of this meeting, the Directors are empowered pursuant to sections 570 and 573 of the Companies Act 2006 (the `Act`) to allot equity securities (within the meaning of section 560 of the Act) for cash pursuant to the authority conferred by Resolution 7 in the notice of this meeting or by way of a sale of treasury shares as if section 561(1) of the Act did not apply, provided that this power is:

a. limited to the allotment of equity securities or sale of treasury shares up to an aggregate nominal value of 122,578; and

b. used only for the purposes of financing (or refinancing, if the power is to be exercised within six months after the date of the original transaction) a transaction which the Directors determine to be an acquisition or other capital investment of a kind contemplated by the Statement of Principles on Disapplying Pre-Emption Rights most recently published by the Pre-Emption Group prior to the date of the notice of this meeting.

Such power shall expire on the revocation or expiry (unless renewed) of the authority conferred on the Directors by Resolution 7 in the notice of this meeting, save that the Company shall be entitled to make offers or agreements before the expiry of such power which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors shall be entitled to allot equity securities pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had not expired.

12. That, subject to the passing of Resolution 8 in the notice of this meeting and in addition to the powers contained in Resolutions 10 and 11 in the notice of this meeting, the Directors are empowered pursuant to sections 570 and 573 of the Companies Act 2006 (the `Act`) to allot equity securities (within the meaning of section 560 of the Act) for cash either pursuant to the authority conferred by Resolution 8 in the notice of this meeting or by way of a sale of treasury shares as if section 561 of the Act did not apply to any such allotment or sale.

Such power shall expire on the revocation or expiry (unless renewed) of the authority conferred on the Directors by Resolution 8 in the notice of this meeting, save that the Company shall be entitled to make offers or agreements before the expiry of such power which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors shall be entitled to allot equity securities pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had not expired.

13. That the Company is generally and unconditionally authorised for the purpose of section 701 of the Companies Act 2006 (the `Act`) to make market purchases (within the meaning of section 693(4) of the Act) of ordinary shares in the capital of the Company on such terms and in such manner as the Directors may from time to time determine, provided that:

a. the maximum aggregate number of ordinary shares hereby authorised to be acquired is 24,515,503;

b. the minimum price (excluding expenses) which may be paid for any such share is its nominal value;

c. the maximum price (excluding expenses) which may be paid for any such share is the higher of (i) an amount equal to 5% above the average of the middle market quotations for an ordinary share in the Company as derived from The London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the five business days immediately preceding the day on which such share is contracted to be purchased; and (ii) the higher of the price of the last independent trade of an ordinary share and the highest current independent bid for an ordinary share in the Company on the trading venues where the market purchases by the Company is carried out;

d. the authority hereby conferred shall expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020 unless previously renewed, varied or revoked by the Company in general meeting; and

e. the Company may, before this authority expires, make a contract to purchase its ordinary shares which would or might be executed wholly or partly after the expiry of this authority, and may purchase its ordinary shares pursuant to it as if this authority had not expired.

14. That a general meeting of the Company, other than an Annual General Meeting, may be called on not less than 14 clear days` notice.

By Order of the Board

Jason Elphick

Group General Counsel and Company Secretary

29 March 2019

Registered Office:

Reliance House

Sun Pier

Chatham

Kent ME4 4ET

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Information about the business to be considered at the AGM is set out below.

These explanatory notes should be read in conjunction with the 2018 Annual Report and Accounts. This Notice of AGM and the Annual Report and Accounts are available at www.osb.co.uk. For the purpose of this Notice, the issued share capital of the Company with voting rights on 22 March 2019, being the latest practicable date prior to the printing of this document, was 245,155,033 ordinary shares of 0.01 each.

RESOLUTION 1: 2018 Annual Report and Accounts (ordinary resolution)

The Directors of the Company present the Directors` reports, the Auditor`s report and the audited financial statements of the Company for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 (the `2018 Annual Report and Accounts`) to the AGM as required by the Companies Act 2006.

The Company proposes, as an ordinary resolution, a resolution on the 2018 Annual Report and Accounts and shareholders may raise any questions on the 2018 Annual Report and Accounts under this Resolution.

RESOLUTION 2: Directors` Remuneration Report (excluding the Remuneration Policy) for the year ended 31 December 2018 (ordinary resolution)

In accordance with the Companies Act 2006, shareholders are invited to approve the Directors` Remuneration Report for the year ended 31 December 2018. This consists of the Annual Statement from the Chair of the Remuneration Committee and the Annual Report on Remuneration, which may be found on pages 90 to 105 of the 2018 Annual Report and Accounts. It details the Directors` remuneration for the year ended 31 December 2018 and sets out the way in which the Company intends to implement the Directors` Remuneration Policy in 2018. The Auditor has audited those parts of the Directors` Remuneration Report required to be audited and its report can be found on pages 110 to 117 of the 2018 Annual Report and Accounts. The vote on Resolution 2 is advisory only and the Directors` entitlement to remuneration is not conditional on it being passed.

The Companies Act 2006 requires the Directors` Remuneration Policy to be put to shareholders for approval annually unless the approved policy remains unchanged, in which case it need only be put to shareholders for approval at least every three years. The Company is not proposing any changes to the Directors` Remuneration Policy approved at the Annual General Meeting in 2018.

RESOLUTION 3: Final dividend (ordinary resolution)

A final dividend of 10.3 pence per ordinary share has been recommended by the Board for the year ended 31 December 2018 and, if approved by shareholders, will be paid on 15 May 2019 to all shareholders on the register at the close of business on 22 March 2019.

RESOLUTIONS 4 (a) to (i): Election and re-election of Directors (ordinary resolutions)

Resolutions 4 (a) to (i) relate to the retirement and election or re-election of the Company`s Directors. The Company`s articles of association require a Director who has been appointed by the Board during the year to retire at the Annual General Meeting next following his or her appointment. Sarah Hedger has been appointed since the date of the Company`s last Annual General Meeting. Consequently, she will retire from office at the AGM and is seeking election by shareholders as an independent Non-Executive Director.

The Company`s articles of association also require any Director who has not been elected or re-elected by the Company`s shareholders at either of the two preceding Annual General Meetings to retire at the next Annual General Meeting. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Company`s articles of association, the Board has determined that, in line with best practice recommendations of the UK Corporate Governance Code, each of the remaining Directors shall retire from office at the AGM and each shall stand for re-election by the shareholders.

The Board has confirmed, following a performance review, that each of the Directors standing for re-election continues to be an effective member of the Board, to make a positive contribution and to demonstrate commitment to his or her role. The Board believes that the considerable and wide-ranging experience of the Directors will continue to be invaluable to the Company. The biographies of Directors can be found in Appendix 1 to this document and also on the Company`s website www.osb.co.uk.

RESOLUTIONS 5 AND 6: Appointment and remuneration of the Auditor (ordinary resolutions)

The Company is required to appoint an Auditor at each general meeting at which accounts are laid before the Company. A formal competitive tender of external audit services was undertaken in 2018, overseen by the Audit Committee. On the recommendation of the Audit Committee, the Board is proposing to shareholders the appointment of Deloitte LLP (Deloitte) as the Company`s new Auditor for the financial year commencing on 1 January 2019. Resolution 5, therefore, proposes Deloitte`s appointment as Auditor to hold office until the next Annual General Meeting at which the Company`s accounts are laid before shareholders. Resolution 6 authorises the Audit Committee to agree Deloitte`s remuneration. Details of the tender process and the Audit Committee`s recommendation are provided in the report of the Audit Committee on page 85 of the 2018 Annual Report and Accounts.

KPMG LLP will therefore cease to hold office as the Company`s Auditor following completion of the consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 December 2018. In accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, KPMG LLP have provided the Company with a statement of reasons for ceasing to hold office as the Company`s Auditor. A copy of that statement is set out in Appendix 2 to this document.

RESOLUTION 7: Directors` authority to allot shares (ordinary resolution)

The Directors currently have a general authority to allot new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for, or convert any securities into, shares. This authority is, however, due to expire at the AGM and the Board would like to renew it to provide the Directors with flexibility to allot new shares and grant rights up until the Company`s next Annual General Meeting within the limits prescribed by The Investment Association.

The Investment Association`s guidelines on Directors` authority to allot shares state that the Association`s members will regard as routine any proposal at a general meeting to seek a general authority to allot an amount up to two-thirds of the existing share capital, provided that any amount in excess of one-third of the existing share capital is applied to fully pre- emptive rights issues only. Accordingly, if passed, this resolution will authorise the Directors to allot (or grant rights over) new shares in the Company: (i) under an open offer or in other situations (including a rights issue) up to an aggregate nominal amount of 817,184 (representing approximately 33 per cent. of the Company`s issued ordinary share capital); and (ii) under a rights issue only, up to a further aggregate nominal amount of 817,184 (representing approximately 33 per cent. of the Company`s issued ordinary share capital). In each case, the reference to the Company`s issued ordinary share capital is to the issued ordinary share capital as at 22 March 2019 (being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this document).

If passed, this authority will expire at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in 2020 or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020. The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority, however, the Board considers it prudent to maintain the flexibility that it provides to enable the Directors to respond to any appropriate opportunities that may arise. The Company did not hold any shares in treasury as at 22 March 2019.

RESOLUTION 8: Directors` authority to allot shares in relation to the issue of Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments (ordinary resolution)

This Resolution renews the Directors` authority to allot shares or grant rights to subscribe for or convert any security into ordinary shares up to an aggregate nominal amount of 294,186 in connection with the issue of `Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments`. Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments are any securities to be issued by the Company or any member of the Group, or by a Company outside of the Group with the consent of the Company or a member of the Group and which are intended on issue to form all or part of a type or class of securities, the terms of which are eligible to meet any Regulatory Capital Requirements and which are:

a. convertible into or exchangeable for ordinary shares of the Company; or

b. issued together with share warrants relating to ordinary shares of the Company;

and in each case, which grant to, or require, the holder of such security and/or its nominee a right or obligation (as applicable) to subscribe for such ordinary shares following a specified event relating to an actual or prospective adverse change in the capital position or viability of the Company, any member of the Group or the Group as a whole or any other event specified in the Regulatory Capital Requirements and otherwise on such terms as may be determined by the Directors of the Company or a Committee thereof upon issue.

The Board believes it is in the best interests of the Company to have the flexibility to issue Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments at any time and from time to time. The authority sought in this Resolution will be used as considered desirable to comply with or maintain compliance with such Regulatory Capital Requirements or targets applicable to the Company. Regulatory Capital Requirements are specified by the Prudential Regulation Authority or such other authority having primary supervisory authority with respect to the Company from time to time in relation to the margin of solvency, capital resources, capital, contingent capital or buffer capital of the Company, a member of the Group or the Group taken as a whole.

The Company intends to seek to renew authority for the issuance of such Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments on an annual basis. The amount of this authority is, in aggregate, equivalent to approximately 12% of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company as at 22 March 2019 (being the latest practicable date before the publication of this document). No ordinary shares were held in treasury as at that date.

Resolutions 8 and 12 are intended to provide the Directors with the flexibility to authorise the issue of Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments which contain contractual debt to equity conversion features. The Resolutions are not intended to provide authority for any future UK statutory conversion requirements as may become part of UK national law in the future, for which such authority would not be required.

The authority sought in Resolution 8 is separate and distinct from the authority sought in Resolution 7 which is the usual authority sought on an annual basis in line with guidance issued by The Investment Association. The authority will expire at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in 2020 or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020.

RESOLUTION 9: Authority to make political donations (ordinary resolution)

In line with the Group`s policy, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries made any political donations nor incurred any political expenditure during 2018. It is not proposed or intended to alter this policy. However, some of the Group`s activities may potentially fall within the wide definitions of "political donation" or "political expenditure" in the Companies Act 2006 and, without the necessary statutory authorisation, the Group`s ability to communicate its views effectively to political audiences and to relevant interest groups could be inhibited. Such activities may include briefings at receptions or conferences - when the Group seeks to communicate its views on issues vital to its business interests - including, for example, conferences of a party political nature or of special interest groups in specific areas.

Accordingly, the Company believes that the authority contained in this Resolution is necessary to allow it and its subsidiaries to fund activities which it is in the interests of shareholders that the Company should support. Such authority will enable the Company and its subsidiaries to be sure that they do not, because of any uncertainty as to the bodies or the activities covered by the Companies Act 2006, unintentionally commit a technical breach of the statutes. Any political donation made or expenditure incurred under authority of this Resolution will be disclosed in next year`s Annual Report and Accounts.

RESOLUTIONS 10 and 11: Disapplication of statutory pre-emption rights (special resolutions)

Resolutions 10 and 11 are special resolutions which, if passed by shareholders, will enable the Directors to allot ordinary shares in the Company, or to sell any shares out of treasury, for cash, without first offering those shares to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings.

(a) The proposed resolutions essentially replicate the powers which were granted at last year`s Annual General Meeting (and which will expire at the AGM). Such powers reflect the Statement of Principles published by The Pre-Emption Group in March 2015, which provides that a company may seek power to issue, on a non-pre-emptive basis for cash, shares in any one year representing no more than five per cent of the company`s issued ordinary share capital; and

(b) no more than an additional five per cent of the Company`s issued ordinary share capital provided that such additional power is only used in connection with an acquisition or specified capital investment.

The 2015 Statement of Principles defines a "specified capital investment" as "one or more specific capital investment related uses for the proceeds of an issuance of equity securities, in respect of which sufficient information regarding the effect of the transaction on the listed company, the assets the subject of the transaction and (where appropriate) the profits attributable to them is made available to shareholders to enable them to reach an assessment of the potential return". Items that are regarded as operating expenditure rather than capital expenditure will not typically be regarded as falling within the term "specified capital investment".

In line with best practice, the Company has structured its pre-emption disapplication request as two separate resolutions. Resolution 10 is proposed as a special resolution. If this resolution is passed by shareholders, it will permit the Directors to allot ordinary shares for cash on a non pre-emptive basis both in connection with a rights issue or similar pre-emptive offer and, otherwise than in connection with any such issue, up to a maximum nominal amount of 122,578. This amount represents approximately five per cent of the Company`s issued ordinary share capital as at 22 March 2019 (being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this document). This resolution will permit the Directors to allot any such shares for cash in any circumstances (whether or not in connection with an acquisition or specified capital investment).

Resolution 11 is also proposed as a separate special resolution. If this resolution is passed by shareholders, it will afford the Directors an additional power to allot ordinary shares for cash on a non pre-emptive basis up to a further maximum nominal amount of 122,578. This amount also represents approximately five per cent of the Company`s issued ordinary share capital as at 22 March 2019. The Directors shall use any power conferred by Resolution 11 only in connection with an acquisition or a specified capital investment which is announced contemporaneously with the issue, or which has taken place in the preceding six month period and is disclosed in the announcement of the issue.

The Directors confirm their intention to follow the provisions of the 2015 Statement of Principles regarding cumulative usage of authorities within a rolling three year period. Those provisions state that a company should not issue shares for cash representing more than 7.5% of the company`s issued share capital in any rolling three year period, other than to existing shareholders, without prior consultation with shareholders. This limit excludes any ordinary shares issued pursuant to a general disapplication of pre-emption rights in connection with an acquisition or specified capital investment.

RESOLUTION 12: Disapplication of statutory pre-emption rights in relation to the issue of Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments (special resolution)

Resolution 8 renews the Directors` authority to allot shares or grant rights to subscribe for or convert any security into ordinary shares up to an aggregate nominal amount of 294,186 specifically in connection with the issue of Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments. Resolution 12 proposes that the Directors be empowered to allot equity securities pursuant to that authority for cash, without first offering those equity securities to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings. 294,186 is equivalent to approximately 12% of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company as at 22 March 2019 (being the latest practicable date before the publication of this document).

Renewing this Resolution will permit the Company the flexibility necessary to allot equity securities pursuant to any proposal to issue Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments and, by virtue of such disapplication, without the need to comply with the pre-emption requirements of the UK statutory regime. Together with Resolution 8, Resolution 12 is intended to provide the Directors with the flexibility to issue Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments which may convert into ordinary shares.

Conditional upon the passing of Resolutions 8 and 12, the Directors would not expect to make use of Resolutions 7 and 10 to issue Regulatory Capital Convertible Instruments, however they may do so, to the extent permissible, if deemed appropriate in light of capital requirements, market conditions and/or high demand. Any exercise of the authorities in Resolutions 7 and 10 (if passed) would be separate from, and in addition to, the exercise of powers under Resolutions 8 and 12 and would have the effect of diluting the interests of ordinary shareholders.

RESOLUTION 13: Authority to purchase own shares (special resolution)

Resolution 13 gives the Company authority to buy back its own ordinary shares in the market as permitted by the Companies Act 2006.

The authority limits the maximum number of shares that could be purchased to 24,515,503 (representing approximately 10% of the Company`s issued ordinary share capital as at 22 March 2019) and sets minimum and maximum prices at which shares may be purchased.

This authority will expire at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company in 2020 or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020. A listed company purchasing its own shares may hold those shares in treasury and make them available for re-sale as an alternative to cancelling them. Accordingly, if this Resolution is passed, the Company will have the option of holding, as treasury shares, any of its own shares that it purchases pursuant to the authority conferred. This would give the Company the ability to sell treasury shares quickly and cost-effectively and provide the Company with additional flexibility in the management of its capital base. No dividends are paid and no voting rights are attached to shares held in treasury. The Company did not hold any shares in treasury as at 22 March 2019 (being the latest practicable date before the publication of this document). As at 22 March 2019, there were 821,096 options to subscribe for ordinary shares in the capital of the Company, representing 0.34% of the Company`s issued ordinary share capital. If the full authority conferred by this Resolution were to be exercised in full, these options would represent 0.37% of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company. The Directors have no present intention of exercising the authority to purchase the Company`s ordinary shares for cancellation, but may purchase shares to be held in treasury.

The Directors have no present intention of exercising this authority, but wish to have the flexibility to do so in the future. Shares would only be purchased if the Directors believed that to do so would result in an improvement in earnings per share and would be in the interests of shareholders generally. Any purchases of ordinary shares would be by means of market purchases on a recognised investment exchange.

RESOLUTION 14: Notice of general meetings (special resolution)

The statutory notice period required for general meetings of the Company is at least 21 clear days unless shareholders approve a shorter notice period, which cannot however be less than 14 clear days (Annual General Meetings will continue to be held on at least 21 clear days` notice). At last year`s Annual General Meeting, shareholders passed a resolution enabling the Company to call general meetings, other than an Annual General Meeting, on at least 14 clear days` notice. This approval must be renewed at each Annual General Meeting, so, in order to preserve this ability, Resolution 14 seeks such approval. It is intended that the shorter notice period would not be used as a matter of routine for such meetings but only where the flexibility is merited by the business of the meeting and is thought to be in the interests of shareholders as a whole. If given, the approval will be effective until the Company`s next Annual General Meeting, when it is intended that a similar resolution will be proposed.

NOTES

1. Only persons entered on the Register of Members of the Company at 6.30 pm on Tuesday, 7 May 2019 (or, if the AGM is adjourned, at 6.30 pm on the date which is two business days prior to the adjourned meeting) shall be entitled to attend and vote at the AGM or adjourned meeting. Changes to entries on the Register of Members after this time shall be disregarded in determining the rights of persons to attend or vote (and the number of votes they may cast) at the AGM or adjourned meeting.

2. A shareholder entitled to attend and vote at the AGM may appoint another person as her/his proxy to exercise all or any of her/his rights to attend, speak and vote at the AGM. A shareholder can appoint more than one proxy in relation to the AGM, provided that each proxy is appointed to exercise the rights attached to a different share or shares held by that shareholder.

3. A proxy does not need to be a shareholder of the Company but must attend the AGM to represent you. Your proxy could be the Chairman or another person who has agreed to attend to represent you. If you wish for a proxy to make any comments on your behalf at the AGM, you will need to appoint someone other than the Chairman of the meeting and give them the relevant instructions directly. The valid appointment of a proxy does not prevent you from attending the AGM and voting in person.

4. A shareholder who wishes to appoint a proxy should complete the Form of Proxy which accompanies this notice and includes full details of how to appoint a proxy. If you do not have a Form of Proxy and believe that you should have one, or if you require additional Forms of Proxy, please contact Equiniti`s helpline on 0371 384 2701 (+44 121 415 7047 if calling from overseas). Lines are open between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays in England and Wales). Shareholders who hold their shares in uncertificated form may use "the CREST voting service" to appoint a proxy electronically, as explained below.

5. In order to be valid, a proxy appointment must be returned (together with any power of attorney or other authority under which it is executed or a copy of the authority certified in ink by a bank, a stockbroker or a solicitor) by one of the following methods:

 in hard copy form by post, by courier or by hand to the Company`s registrar at the address shown on the Form of Proxy; or

 in the case of CREST members, by utilising the CREST electronic proxy appointment service in accordance with the procedures set out in note 8 below.

The appointment of a proxy in each case must formally be received by the Company`s registrar no later than 11 am on Tuesday, 7 May 2019.

6. To change your proxy instructions you may return a new proxy appointment using the methods set out above. Where you have appointed a proxy using the hard copy Form of Proxy and would like to change the instructions using another hard copy Form of Proxy, please contact Equiniti at Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex BN99 6DA. The deadline for receipt of proxy appointments (see above) also applies in relation to amended instructions. Any attempt to terminate or amend a proxy appointment received after the relevant deadline will be disregarded. Where two or more valid but differing appointments of proxy are delivered or received in respect of the same share in respect of the same meeting, the one which is last delivered or received (regardless of its date, its date of sending or the date of its execution) shall be treated as replacing and revoking the other or others as regards that share. If the Company is unable to determine which is last sent, the one which is last received shall be so treated. If the Company is unable to determine either which is last sent or which is last delivered or received, none of them shall be treated as valid in respect of the relevant share(s).

7. A copy of this notice has been sent for information only to Nominated Persons (that is, a person who has been nominated by a shareholder to enjoy information rights under section 146 of the Companies Act 2006). The rights to appoint a proxy cannot be exercised by a Nominated Person; they can only be exercised by a shareholder. However, a Nominated Person may have a right under an agreement with the shareholder by whom s/he was nominated to be appointed as a proxy for the AGM or to have someone else so appointed. If a Nominated Person does not have such a right or does not wish to exercise it, s/he may have a right under such an agreement to give instructions to the shareholder as to the exercise of voting rights.

8. CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies by utilising the CREST electronic proxy appointment service may do so by utilising the procedures described in the CREST Manual, which can be viewed at www.euroclear.com. CREST personal members or other CREST sponsored members, and those CREST members who have appointed a voting service provider(s), should refer to their CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s), who will be able to take the appropriate action on their behalf. In order for a proxy appointment made by means of CREST to be valid, the appropriate CREST message (a `CREST Proxy Instruction`) must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear`s specifications and must contain the information required for such instructions, as described in the CREST Manual. The message regardless of whether it constitutes the appointment of a proxy or an amendment to the instruction given to a previously appointed proxy must, in order to be valid, be transmitted so as to be received by the issuer`s agent (ID number RA19) by 11 am on Tuesday, 7 May 2019 (the latest time(s) for receipt of proxy appointments specified in this notice). For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the timestamp applied to the message by the CREST Applications Host) from which the issuer`s agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST. The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in the circumstances set out in the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001.

9. CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should note that Euroclear does not make available special procedures in CREST for any particular messages. Normal system timings and limitations will therefore apply in relation to the input of CREST Proxy Instructions. It is the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take (or, if the CREST member is a CREST personal member or sponsored member or has appointed a voting service provider(s), to procure that his CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s)) such action as shall be necessary to ensure that a message is transmitted by means of the CREST system by any particular time. In this connection, CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers are referred, in particular, to those sections of the CREST Manual concerning practical limitations of the CREST system and timings.

10. Voting on all Resolutions will be conducted by way of a poll rather than a show of hands. This is a more transparent method of voting as shareholders` votes are to be counted according to the number of shares held. As soon as practicable following the AGM, the results of the voting will be announced via a Regulatory Information Service and also placed on the Company`s website: www.osb.co.uk/investors/ shareholder-services/agm-information/.

11. Please note that the Company takes all reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in any electronic communication it sends out but the Company cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage arising from the opening or use of any email or attachments from the Company and recommends that the shareholders subject all messages to virus checking procedures prior to use. Any electronic communication received by the Company, including the lodgment of an electronic proxy form, that is found to contain any virus will not be accepted.

12. A shareholder of the Company, that is a corporation, may authorise a person or persons to act as its representative(s) at the AGM. In accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006, each such representative may exercise (on behalf of the corporation) the same powers as the corporation could exercise if it were an individual shareholder of the Company, provided that they do not do so in relation to the same shares.

13. Shareholders satisfying the thresholds in section 527 of the Companies Act 2006 can require the Company to publish a statement on its website setting out any matter relating to: (i) the audit of the Company`s accounts (including the auditor`s report and the conduct of the audit) that are to be laid before the AGM, or (ii) any circumstances connected with the Company`s former auditor ceasing to hold office since the Company`s previous Annual General Meeting, that the shareholders propose to raise at the AGM. The Company may not require the shareholders requesting the publication to pay its expenses. Any statement placed on the website must also be sent to the Company`s Auditor no later than the time it makes its statement available on the website. The business which may be dealt with at the AGM includes any statement that the Company has been required to publish on its website.

14. Under section 319A of the Companies Act 2006, the Company must, subject to limited exceptions, answer any question relating to the business being dealt with at the AGM which is put by a shareholder attending the AGM. Information relating to the AGM which the Company is required by the Companies Act 2006 to publish on a website in advance of the meeting may be viewed at www.osb.co.uk/ investors/shareholder-services/agm-information/. You may not use any electronic address provided in this notice to communicate with the Company for any purposes other than those expressly stated.

15. As at 22 March 2019 (being the latest practicable date before the publication of this document), the Company`s issued share capital consisted of 245,155,033 ordinary shares, carrying one vote each. The Company did not hold any shares in treasury at that date. Therefore as at 22 March 2019 the total voting rights in the Company were 245,155,033.

16. The doors will open at 10.30 am and you may wish to arrive by 10.45 am to enable you to take your seat in good time.

17. If you have any special needs or require wheelchair access to the AGM venue, please contact Melanie Mann, melanie.mann@osb.co.uk or 01634 821 298 in advance of the AGM.

APPENDIX 1

Director Biographies

Name and appointment Committee membership Key skills Experience & qualifications Sarah Hedger*

Non-Executive Director







Sarah was appointed to the Board on 1 February 2019 None Sarah has significant capital management and mergers and acquisitions experience in financial services. She is a qualified chartered accountant. Sarah previously held leadership positions at General Electric for twelve years to March 2017 in its Corporate, Aviation and Capital business development teams, leaving General Electric as Leader of Business Development and M&A for its global GE Capital division. Before General Electric, she worked at Lazard & Co., Limited for 11 years, leaving as Director, Corporate Finance and spent five years as an auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Sarah is an independent Non-Executive Director of Balta Group NV, a Belgian company listed on Euronext.







Since joining the Board, Sarah has already provided good challenge at Board meetings. John Graham Allatt*

Non-Executive Director







Graham was appointed to the Board in May 2014 Chair of the Risk Committee and member of the Audit Committee. Graham has significant banking, credit risk and financial services experience. Graham was previously Acting Group Credit Director at Lloyds TSB and Chief Credit Officer at Abbey National. Prior to this he spent 18 years in the NatWest Group culminating in the role of Managing Director, Credit Risk at NatWest Markets. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Graham was involved with housing associations for nearly 30 years as Treasurer and Board member in the North of England and in London.







As Chair of the Risk Committee, Graham uses his vast experience and knowledge to challenge areas of risk. He participates regularly during discussions as a member of the Audit Committee and main Board. Eric Anstee*

Non-Executive Director







Eric was appointed to the Board in December 2015 Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Risk Committee. Eric has extensive corporate finance and Mergers & Acquisitions experience over a broad range of business sectors.







He is a member of the Takeover Panel Appeals Board and Visiting Professor, London Metropolitan University Business School. Eric was Chairman of CPP Group plc from 2014 to 2015. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of the City of London Group plc, the first Chief Executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and Group Finance Director of Old Mutual plc. Eric was also Group Finance Director at The Energy Group plc and advisor to Lord Hanson on the demerger of Hanson plc. Prior to this Eric spent 17 years at Ernst & Young. Eric is also a Non-Executive Director of Sun Life Financial of Canada Limited and Insight Asset Management Limited.







Eric has a wealth of recent and relevant financial and accounting experience within financial services and chairs the Audit Committee effectively. Rodney Duke*

Senior Independent Non-Executive Director







Rod was appointed to the Board in July 2012 and was appointed Senior Independent Director in 2014 Chair of the Nomination and Governance Committee and member of the Remuneration Committee. Rod has extensive experience in operations, investments, risk management and corporate finance across retail and commercial banking. Rod was previously Group General Manager, HSBC with responsibility for UK distribution - branches, call centres and internet banking - for both personal and commercial customers. Rod was with HSBC for 33 years. Previous directorships include VISA (UK), HFC Bank plc and HSBC Life. He also served on the Board of Alliance & Leicester plc until its takeover by Santander. Rod is a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Services.







As the Senior Independent Director, Rod ensures that the views of all other Directors are communicated to the Chairman and given due consideration. He chairs the Nomination and Governance Committee and leads the annual appraisal of the Chairman`s performance in order to ensure that all points are considered fairly. He is available to meet with shareholders should they wish to discuss concerns about the Company.







Rod is an active member of the Remuneration Committee. Margaret Hassall*

Non-Executive Director







Margaret was appointed to the Board in July 2016 Member of the Audit and Risk Committees. Margaret brings a broad range of experience developed across various industry sectors including manufacturing, utilities, and financial services. Margaret spent seven years working for Deloitte and Touche as a consultant and led the financial services consulting business for Charteris Plc. More latterly Margaret has been engaged as Chief Operations Officer or Chief Information Officer for divisions within some of the world`s largest banks, namely Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays and RBS. Margaret is a Non-Executive Director for Ascension Trust (Scotland) and since July 2018, of Nucleus Financial Group plc.







Margaret uses her knowledge of the financial services industry in order to effectively challenge decisions made by the Board. She is an active participant in all Audit and Risk Committee meetings. Mary McNamara*

Non-Executive Director







Mary was appointed to the Board in May 2014 Chair of Remuneration Committee and member of Risk and Nomination and Governance Committees Mary has broad senior management experience in the banking and finance sectors. Mary is a Non-Executive Director of Dignity plc and Motorpoint plc. She was previously CEO of the Commercial Division and Board Director of the Banking Division at Close Brothers Group plc. Prior to that, Mary was Chief Operating Officer of Skandia, the European arm of Old Mutual Group and prior to that, Mary spent 17 years at GE Capital, running a number of businesses including GE Fleet Services Europe and GE Equipment Finance.







Mary uses her broad experience as a member of a number of Committees. She chairs the Remuneration Committee and is an active participant in all meetings, ensuring that all points are considered. David Weymouth*

Chairman







David was appointed to the Board in September 2017 Member of the Nomination and Governance and Remuneration Committees David has over 40 years` experience in the financial services industry and has an MBA from the University of Exeter. David was previously Chief Information Officer at Barclays Bank plc and Chief Risk Officer at RSA Insurance Group plc. He sat on the Executive Committee of both companies. He served as a Non- Executive Director of Bank of Ireland (UK) plc. His experience as an executive includes a wide range of senior roles in operations, technology, risk and leadership. David is also Chairman of Mizuho International Plc and his other current Non-Executive directorships include Fidelity International Holdings (UK) Limited and The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society.







David uses his intricate knowledge of the financial services industry to guide and chair the Board effectively. Andrew Golding

Chief Executive Officer







Andy was appointed to the Board in December 2011 None Andy has over 30 years` experience in financial services. Andy was previously CEO of Saffron Building Society, where he had been since 2004. Prior to that he held senior positions at NatWest, John Charcol and Bradford & Bingley. Andy currently holds a number of posts with industry institutions including membership of the UK Finance Executive Committee, the Building Societies Association`s Council and the Financial Conduct Authority`s Small Business Practitioners Panel. He is also a Director of the Building Societies Trust. Andy served as a Non-Executive Director of Kreditech.







Andy has an in-depth knowledge of the business and provides strong leadership and direction. April Talintyre

Chief Financial Officer







April joined the Bank in May 2012 and was appointed to the Board in June 2012 Member of the Risk Committee April has broad financial services experience. She has been a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales since 1992. April was previously an Executive Director in the Rothesay Life pensions insurance business of Goldman Sachs and worked for Goldman Sachs International for over 16 years, including as an Executive Director in the Controllers Division in London and New York. April began her career at KPMG in a general audit department.







April has a thorough knowledge of the business, particularly, of finance and risk areas.

Independent Non-Executive Director

APPENDIX 2

Auditor`s statement of circumstances

KPMG LLP

Audit

15 Canada Square

London E14 5GL

United Kingdom Tel +44 (0) 20 7311 1000

Fax +44 (0) 20 7311 3311 Private & confidential

The Company Secretary

OneSavings Bank plc

Reliance House

Sun Pier

Chatham

Kent

ME4 4ET Your ref







Our ref







Contact







pm/sk/







Pamela McIntyre

020 7311 1000

20 March 2019

Dear Sirs

Statement to OneSavings Bank plc (no. 07312896) on ceasing to hold office as auditors pursuant to section 519 of the Companies Act 2006

The reason connected with our ceasing to hold office is the holding of a competitive tender for the audit, in which we were unsuccessful in retaining the audit.

Yours faithfully,

KPMG LLP

Audit registration number: 9188307

Audit registration address:

15 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5GL

OneSavings Bank plc

Reliance House

Sun Pier

Chatham

Kent ME4 4ET

+44 (0)1634 835796

www.osb.co.uk







This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients.



The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: OneSavings Bank plc via GlobeNewswire

HUG#2240141


CannaRoyalty Corp. d/b/a Origin House (CSE: OH) (OTCQX: ORHOF) said that its California distribution division Continuum has signed a distribution agreement with Humboldt Sun Growers Guild, a consortium representing regulated cannabis farms from around the Humboldt County community in California.

Under the agreement, Continuum will be the exclusive distributor of Humboldts Papas Herb-branded products in California.

Papas Herb Focusing on Consumers in Illegal Cannabis Market

Californias illegal cannabis market was estimated to be worth US$3.7 billion in 2018  more than four times the size of the legal market. By focusing on consumers looking for affordable cannabis offerings that are tested and compliant, Papas Herb aims to help migrate consumers from the unregulated market into the legal market, which represents a huge untapped opportunity in California.

Papas Herb supports generational family farms by sourcing from regulated farms throughout the Emerald Triangle, while helping these heritage farms to navigate through the dynamic and regulated market.

What Continuum Will Get from This Deal

Papas Herb offers branded flower and pre-rolls at a price point. The brand will help Continuum to meet strong and growing demand for value-based flower and pre-rolls.

Consumers are at the heart of our business. Continuum is committed to sourcing high quality cannabis products within each sub-category of the market to provide its retail partners and their ultimate customers with a curated selection of brands they can trust. To fulfill that embedded promise, we rely on the quality and consistency of Humboldt cannabis brands such as Papas Herb through our partnership with the Humboldt Sun Growers Guild, Sadie Reyes, the president of Continuum, said in a statement.

Origin House is a cannabis products and brands company operating across key markets in the U.S. and Canada. The companys foundation is in the worlds largest regulated cannabis market California, where it delivers more than 130 branded cannabis products to the majority of licensed dispensaries.

The post Origin House Becomes Papas Herb Cannabis Distributor in California appeared first on Market Exclusive.
Announcement no. 22/2019

29 March 2019

Ossur`s total share capital

According to Article 84 of the Icelandic Act on Securities Transactions no. 108/2007, an issuer shall publish information on its total share capital on the last trading day of the month when the share capital has been decreased.

Ossur`s total share capital is ISK 425,377,804 nominal value divided into the same number of shares with a nominal value of ISK 1 each following the share capital decrease. For further information, see the Company`s announcement no. 21/2019 published earlier today.

Further information

David Hreidarsson, Investor Relations, dhreidarsson@ossur.com , Tel: +354 515 1380

Ossur press releases by e-mail

If you wish to receive Ossur press releases by e-mail please register at http://www.ossur.com/investors

About Ossur

Ossur (OSSR.CO) is a global leader in non-invasive orthopaedics that helps people live a life without limitations. Its business is focused on improving people`s mobility through the delivery of innovative technologies within the fields of braces, supports, prosthetic limbs and compression therapy. A recognized "Technology Pioneer", Ossur invests significantly in research and product development; its award-winning designs ensuring a consistently strong position in the market. Successful patient and clinical outcomes are further empowered via Ossur`s educational programs and business solutions. Headquartered in Iceland, Ossur has major operations in the Americas, EMEA and APAC, with additional distributors worldwide. www.ossur.com.







This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients.



The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Ossur Hf via GlobeNewswire

HUG#2240177


FILE PHOTO: A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

By Imani Moise

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co's plan to bring in an outsider as its next chief executive could give the scandal-plagued bank a much needed fresh start, but a turnaround will not be easy for whoever takes the helm, analysts said.

The fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets said on Thursday that CEO Tim Sloan, a 31-year Wells Fargo veteran, would resign immediately and a committee would meet on Friday to start looking for a replacement from outside the bank.

More than two years after its wide-ranging sales practices scandal first came to light, Wells Fargo is still struggling to repair its reputation and relationship with U.S. regulators.

"Reforming decades of past mistakes at an institution as large as Wells is a difficult and time-consuming endeavor," said Morningstar analyst Eric Compton in a note on Friday.

Wells Fargo shares were down 2.2 percent to $48.02 on Friday, after jumping more than 2.7 percent after the bank announced Sloan's resignation on Thursday.

Investors are pondering what the change in leadership will actually mean for the bank over the next year or two, Marty Mosby, an analyst at Vining Sparks IBG, said in a note on Friday.

"The intermediate transition period will not likely be as productive as we had been assuming, and the longer-term ramifications won't be played out for years," Mosby said.

Admissions by the bank that it opened potentially millions of unauthorized accounts and improperly charged customers for services have resulted in billions of dollars in fines and settlements since 2016.

The Federal Reserve has also placed an unprecedented restriction on Wells Fargo to keep it from growing its balance sheet until it proves risk management controls are improved.

"It does seem that Wells Fargo management has lost the confidence of regulators," Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari told Reuters on Friday. "It will be important to put in a CEO that can regain that confidence."

It remained unclear what exactly triggered Sloan's abrupt departure. Sloan, who had been CEO since after the scandal erupted in 2016, said he made the decision because the focus on him was hampering the bank's recovery.

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Sloan twice disappointed investors by pushing back the date he expected to get the asset cap removed.

When the consent order was announced in February 2018, he said reviews of its plan to meet the Fed's request would be completed in October of that year. In May he said the cap would be lifted in early 2019, but in January he told analysts he expected the bank to operate under the cap through 2019.

Analysts still say that timeline is too ambitious.

"We do not expect the asset cap to get lifted until mid-2020," said Citigroup Inc' analyst Keith Horowitz in a note on Thursday.

KBW'S Brian Kleinhanzl also wrote in a note that the bank seems to be far from convincing the Fed that it has made sufficient changes.

Banks typically operate under consent orders from the Fed for many years. The Fed has yet to end a 2013 enforcement order against JPMorgan Chase & Co related to its London Whale scandal, according to an analysis of the U.S. central bank's public notices. A 2011 consent order against 10 banks related to crisis-era mortgage practices ended last year.

Wells Fargo executives did not provide new information about when they expected the Fed to lift the asset cap on Thursday.

TRIMMING COSTS

Outside of regulatory pressures, the new CEO will also be faced with investors who want management to shore up the bank's core business. Wells Fargo was the only bank among the top four U.S. lenders to not grow loans or deposits over the past two years, according to Refinitiv data.

While current executives have suspended the bank's 2020 expense target to give a new CEO room for a novel strategy, analysts expect incoming management to maintain Wells Fargo's approach of growing profits by getting leaner.

"I think the new CEO is going to take the path of trimming costs and buying back stocks and you still won't see a lot of balance sheet expansion in terms of loan growth because they are under that cap," said Edward Jones analyst Kyle Sanders.

Wells Fargo Board Chair Betsy Duke did not give clear guidelines on what kinds of candidates the board is looking for.

The next CEO will likely be a finance executive with experience with consumer banking and digital strategy, as well as the ability to smooth relationships with Washington, analysts said.

Citi's Horowitz said JPMorgan Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake, who has experience running the consumer bank at the largest U.S. bank by assets, would be his first call.

A seasoned executive from a financial technology company already based in San Francisco could also be a good fit, said Edward Jones' Sanders.

(Reporting by Imani Moise. Additional reporting by Elizabeth Dilts, David Henry and Michelle Price; Editing Anna Irrera and Meredith Mazzilli)
By Devjyot Ghoshal and Mayank Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI, March 28 (Reuters) - The main opposition Congress party's promise to give sizable cash handouts to India's poorest families if voted to power could re-energise its campaign to oust Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the general election starting in two weeks.

Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held the advantage in the run-up to the election, boosted by a wave of nationalism after military clashes with old rival Pakistan last month. Pollsters say Congress may have pegged back some of that advantage with its announcement, but it was not clear to what extent.

Bhawesh Jha, founder of CNX, one of India's largest polling companies, estimated that many voters in relatively poor and populous states including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh - where Congress won power in local elections late last year - could be swayed by the handouts.

"Even if 4-5 percent of voters go in favour of the Congress, it will be a big disaster for the BJP," Jha told Reuters, adding that it would particularly help Congress where it is in a direct contest with the ruling party. "I think this could be a game changer."

Early this month, an opinion poll by CNX and India TV estimated that the BJP alone could win 238 of 543 seats in India's lower house, the Lok Sabha. Together with its allies, the party would have enough seats to form the next government, the poll said.

CNX has not published any poll since the Congress party announcement earlier this week that it would give 72,000 rupees ($1,045) each to 20 percent of India's poorest families, potentially benefiting 250 million of a population of 1.3 billion.

"This will definitely increase Congress' vote share but at this stage it's difficult to know how many parliamentary seats it would get," Jha said.

Weak job growth and falling farm incomes have hurt the BJP, which romped to power at the last election in 2014 with 282 seats in parliament. This year, it has tried to keep the focus on its national security achievements and its promise of a muscular approach to Pakistan and home-grown militancy.

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On Wednesday, Modi announced India had successfully tested an anti-satellite missile, hailing it as a major breakthrough in its space programme.

DISRUPTOR OR BLUFF?

Yashwant Deshmukh, the founder of polling agency CVoter, described the Congress announcement as a "perfect disruptor."

"These are the things that can reboot a campaign," he told Reuters. But he warned that Congress needed to convince voters that the plan would be implemented if it came to power.

A CVoter opinion poll released this week, also before the announcement, estimated that the BJP and its current allies could get 261 seats, while the Congress alliance could win 143 seats.

The BJP has dismissed the plan as a "bluff."

"No political party has betrayed India for more than seven decades other than the Congress Party," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a Facebook post. "It gave to the people of India many slogans and very little resources to implement them."

Several farmers welcomed the Congress proposal, announced by its president Rahul Gandhi, which entails a monthly payment of 6,000 rupees every month to families earning less than 12,000 rupees.

"Farmers in poorer parts of the country tend to grow crops for their own consumption as they cant afford to buy food stuff from the open market," said Ram Kishan Yadav from Ramgarh in the eastern state of Jharkhand.

"For them a stipend of 6,000 rupees a month is like a big boon and it will eventually boost the flow of cash in the rural economy."

About 70 percent of India's people live in towns and villages in the countryside.

Some farmers, however, expressed reservations.

"Rahul Gandhi's promise looks good but it will work only if they convince people that they will keep their promise," said Bharat Pujari, from Subarnapur in the eastern state of Odisha.

Pujari, who owns six acres of land, said Congress' organisation in his region was weak, which may hinder the announcement from reaching some voters.

"Many people do not know about this announcement. Even if they know, they don't trust him (Gandhi)," he said. ($1 = 68.8500 Indian rupees) (Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash in BHUBANESHWAR; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)




The time has come to create some level of accountability for prosecutors.



The Hon. Fredric Block, Lets Put an End to Prosecutorial Immunity, March 13, 2018



The most recent demands for prosecutorial accountability stem from disclosures concerning the conduct of New York hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein, and the agreement not to prosecute him entered into by then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alex Acosta. Godoy, Jody, Epstein Case: A Turning Point for Prosecutorial Accountability? Law 360 (Feb. 11, 2019). This discussion comes on the heels of the barrage of criticism that has been leveled against prosecutors in social media and on the airwaves for more than a year, and a decade of development of objective data relating to wrongful convictions and the improper prosecutorial actions that contributed to them. Each of these discussions, taken individually, is driven by dramatically different interests; however diverse may be the impetus of the debates, they all share a common complaint: Prosecutors have enormous power and can wield it with veritable impunity, unfettered by professional, ethical or civil penalties.



As we navigate another discussion of whether and how prosecutors could be held accountable, we now have the benefit of and should consider the evidence of the patent flaws in the rationale underlying prosecutorial immunity, analysis of the costs and benefits of the protections currently afforded to prosecutors, and the need to substantially revise the current responses to the fact of prosecutorial misconduct.





Evidence of Prosecutorial Misconduct





An ever-growing body of evidence concerning wrongful convictions has resolved any question concerning the existence, though not the extent, of prosecutorial misconduct. The National Registry of Exonerations reported that in 2017, of the 139 exoneration cases, 84 (60 percent) of those cases involved official misconduct of both prosecutors and police leading to the wrongful convictions. National Registry of Exonerations, Exonerations in 2017 at 6 (March 14, 2018). Other academic and governmental studies have analyzed and catalogued the characteristics of wrongful convictions, detailing the percentage of cases in which prosecutorial misconduct occurred and was a component of the wrongful convictions. Id. See also The Innocence Project, Prosecutorial Oversight: A National Dialogue in the Wake of Connick v. Thompson (March 29, 2016) (Prosecutorial Oversight).



Judges have likewise weighed in, citing their own experience with cases involving prosecutorial misconduct and the need for meaningful reform. District Court Judge Frederic Block penned a detailed commentary on the case of Jabbar Collins, who languished in jail for over 16 years for a murder he did not commit. Judge Block handled Collins civil rights action against the prosecutors and concluded that he was bound by Circuit precedent to dismiss the case, but criticized the rationale underlying that precedent, recognizing that solicitation and subornation of perjured testimony, the withholding of evidence, or the introduction of illegally seized evidence at trial are  truly deplorable intentional acts. Concluding that the time has come to create some level of accountability, Judge Block suggested that the veil of immunity be judicially or legislatively lifted, that state bars and courts enforce ethical canons against prosecutors, and that prosecutors who intentionally withhold Brady material be prosecuted for obstruction of justice.





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Accountability vs. Immunity





The discussions of rights and remedies that could address the issue of prosecutorial misconduct focus on three areas: the imposition of sanctions or costs within the criminal proceeding where misconduct is demonstrated, allowance of civil remedies in favor of an accused, and disciplinary processes to sanction and deter prosecutors improper conduct. Relevant data illustrate that each of these options is presently either unavailable or unavailing.



Within the criminal proceeding in which misconduct occurs, there are motions that can and should be made, but case law strongly favors an effort to cure the misconduct as opposed to discontinuing the case. Attorneys fees are supposedly available for a prevailing party under the Hyde Amendment, but decisional authority has rendered an award of fees all but impossible. In United States v. Chapman, 524 F.3d 1073 (9th Cir. 2008), for example, the defense obtained the dismissal of an indictment for prosecutorial misconduct, but the defendants were denied an award of fees, with the trial court concluding that the defendant had not prevailed because a dismissal of the indictment was not a judgment on the merits and the litigation as a whole was not vexatious (though the prosecutors violations were determined to be in bad faith); the Ninth Circuit affirmed. Chapman is not unusual, and the overwhelming authority interpreting the Hyde Amendment has required the substantial showing that the entire case was initiated without reasonable or probable cause, effectively excusing any misconduct that occurs after indictment. See, e.g., United States v. Terzakis, 854 F.3d 951 (2d Cir. 2017).



Separate civil actions under 1983 remain largely precluded by the decisions creating and upholding prosecutorial immunity, but those decisions rest on an unsound foundation and need to be revisited. Described as a constitutional ditch in need of filling, prosecutorial immunity stems from a 1976 Supreme Court decision, Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409 (1976), which concluded that prosecutors, when engaged in their roles as advocates in the courtroom, possess complete immunity, and where they stray outside that pure courtroom advocate role, possess qualified immunity. Grometstein & Balboni, Backing Out of a Constitutional Ditch: Constitutional Remedies for Gross Prosecutorial Misconduct Post Thompson, 75 Albany Law Review No. 3, Spring 2012. The Imbler court relied first on an analysis of Congress intent when it enacted 42 U.S.C. 1983, concluding that since prosecutors possessed immunity at the time 1983 was enacted, Congress must have incorporated that immunity into its prohibitions against due process and equal protection violations. The Imbler court also relied on the assumption that prosecutors, like other attorneys, would be subject to discipline for their misdeeds. See also Van de Kamp v. Goldstein, 555 U.S. 335 (2009) (where defendant alleged failures to train and establish information management systems, held that conduct because is directly connected to the conduct of a trial and therefore immune); Connick v. Thompson, 131 S. Ct. 1350 (2011) (a single instance of a Brady violation was not sufficient to impose liability on the district attorneys office for failure to train).



Both of the assumptions underlying Imbler are erroneous. As confirmed by Justice Scalia, there was, of course, no such thing as absolute prosecutorial immunity when 1983 was enacted. Kalina v. Fletcher, 522 U.S. 118, 132 (1997) (concurrence). Various scholars have likewise demonstrated the utter lack of historical evidence supporting the courts premise in Imbler.



Its subsidiary premise has also been debunked. Numerous empirical studies since 1976 show that discipline of prosecutors is near non-existent. See, e.g., Margaret Z. Johns, Unsupportable and Unjustified: A Critique of Absolute Prosecutorial Immunity, 80 Fordham L. Rev. 509, 521-27 (2011). For example, in 2016 the Innocence Project published a report revealing that between 2004 and 2008, out of 660 acknowledged instances of prosecutorial error or misconduct, a prosecutor was disciplined in only one case. See Prosecutorial Oversight, supra. Other studies suggest that disciplinary processes have resulted in action against prosecutors in only 1 percent of cases, even where the misconduct has been litigated and documented.



A cost-benefit analysis of the issue of prosecutorial immunity strongly supports the view that the most targeted and effective means of addressing the problem lies in the imposition of individual monetary penalties. A comprehensive survey of the incentives and effective deterrents to prosecutorial misconduct analyzed potential sanctions and ultimately concluded that individualized and targeted monetary sanctions would most effectively influence those who actually engage in the conduct. Dunahoe, Alexandra, Revisiting the Cost-Benefit Calculus of the Misbehaving Prosecutor: Deterrence Economics and Transitory Prosecutors, 61 N.Y.U. Ann. Sur. Am. L. 45, 59-66, 96-107 (May 2005). Analytically, immunity only serves to embolden the individual actors and dissuades agencies from devoting attention and resources to training and oversight on issues that, if liability existed, would become a matter of far greater importance.





Recent Initiatives





The last year has seen some stutter steps toward revising the means by which allegations of prosecutorial misconduct are addressed. The New York State Legislature passed a law to create the nations first Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct, scheduled to take effect in January 2019. That effort may have been short lived: The District Attorneys Association of the State of New York filed suit in October 2018 to block the Commission and, in January, the parties entered into a stipulation that prevents the law from taking effect until changes are made to address the concerns raised by DAASNY.



The federal landscape may also be changing. The Jeffrey Epstein case and the actions of former USA Alex Acosta were cited by members of Congress as evidence of the urgent need for passage of the Inspector General Access Act, which would enable the Office of the Inspector General to review complaints regarding Department of Justice attorneys, shifting those matters away from DOJs internal Office of Professional Responsibility. A bill effecting this transition was recently proposed by Representative Cedric Richmond and co-sponsored by Senators Mike Lee and Lisa Murkowski. In January, the House unanimously passed the bill and it is now pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Chuck Grassley has already confirmed his support.





Conclusion





As white-collar lawyers, we confront this issue every time we are able to achieve for our clients what we consider a positive resultan acquittal at trial, dismissal of an indictment, or even the closure of an investigation without charges being filed. The client inevitably asks what recompense exists for the enormously destructive forces that were unleashed against the client and his business along the way. Where we achieve that positive outcome due, in whole or in part, to evidence of improper conduct of the prosecution, the issue is exacerbated: the client insists that the prosecutor or the government should somehow be called to account. Given that all attorneys (except prosecutors) litigate effectively every day with the certainty that if they violate ethical principles or engage in improper conduct they will be subject to monetary and disciplinary penalties, we should continue to question why prosecutors possess enormous power but face little accountability.



Maranda Fritz is a partner and Brian Lanciaultis an associate in the white-collar group at Thompson Hine.
The Queen travelled to Somerset on the Royal Train [Photos: PA]

The Queen arrived at Castle Cary Station, for her visit to Somerset on Thursday morning, on board the Royal Train.

The nine-carriage vessel dates back to 1842, but the Royal Family have been scrutinised on multiple occasions because of the high costs of running the train.

In recent years, theyve increased the use of normal scheduled services  the Queen often travels by commuter train when going to Sandringham at Christmas.

Royal finance expert David McClure tells Yahoo UK: The Royal Train is very expensive, it costs almost a 1 million a year to run and last year was probably only used about a dozen times, so more than likely, it is nearing the end of its life and when the Queen goes, the Royal Train will probably go too.

READ MORE: Prince William will visit New Zealand to honour Christchurch terror attack victims

To control costs, the Royal Train is only used by the Queen with the Duke of Edinburgh, or the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Last June, the newly-wed Duchess of Sussex accompanied Her Majesty on a trip to Cheshire.

The Duchess of Sussex travelled on the Royal Train with the Queen to Cheshire last June [Photo: PA]

The train was first commissioned for use by Queen Victoria back in 1842.

Today, most of the carriages date back to 1977, when they were used for the Silver Jubilee tours, though it is rare that they are all used at one time. They can be moved around to accommodate its intended use and amount of people on board.

The Queen has her own carriage, which includes a formal entrance hall, bedroom, bathroom, seating area and her office. The Prince of Wales has his own lounge.

The Queen pictured in her office on the Royal Train in 2002 [Photo: Getty]

The train features a kitchen and a large 12-seater dining area for the royal family to enjoy breakfast.

The carriages also provide accommodation for the royal household staff, police personal protection officers and railway staff members.

Back in 2002, director of royal travel, Tim Hewlett, told the BBC: There is a perception the train is a bit like the Orient Express. But there are not many bathroom furnishings you could not get in Homebase or B&Q.

The Queen is undertaking a number of engagements in Somerset, including a visit to Manor Farm Stables, boarding school Kings Bruton and the Hauser & Wirth Somerset art gallery.
Just a two-hour drive from Kathmandu, Bhotechaur offers better views than those from Nagarkot or Dhulikhel

But things got better once I reached Jarsing Pauwa, which is 7 kms from Sankhu. From Jarsing Pauwa, the road narrowed and the vistas got more scenic. There were deep valleys, hills with vertigo-inducing terraced fields, and beautiful hillside cottages of all colours. From Chowki Bhanjyang to Bhotechaur, there were more hills and more terraced fields, which from afar looked like they had been stacked on top of each other.
By Aditi Shah and Aftab Ahmed

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Jet Airways' investors are cheering this week's government-led rescue deal, but the cash-strapped Indian airline's future looks mired in uncertainty as convincing a new investor to come on board may not be easy.

The airline, which was on the brink of bankruptcy, was bailed out on Monday by state-run banks, which have temporarily taken a majority stake in the company, given it a new loan of $218 million and forced its chairman, Naresh Goyal, to step down from the board of the airline he founded 25 years ago.

Jet shares have rallied 20 percent since news of the rescue on hopes that the airline would now be able to clear salaries, redeploy grounded planes and claw back market share.

Its future is far from certain though, as a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India now rushes to find a new investor and sell its stake in the airline.

This may not be easy especially with Goyal still holding a 25.5 percent share in Jet, which gives him the legal right to block key decisions including raising capital, issuing new shares and diluting equity.

If a deep-pocketed investor is not found soon, Jet may struggle for funds again as the interim loan given by the banks will not last for very long, say lessors and analysts.

"Right now Jet is in survival mode, there is no strategy," said an executive at one of Jet's lessors. Jet has been in talks with the lessor since securing the deal but it has given few details on settling pending lease payments and on its turnaround plans, he said.

"The important thing for us to know is if the airline has somebody who is patient, capable and has the financial muscle to revive it," he said, adding his company is yet to decide whether to keep the aircraft they grounded tied to Jet.

Once India's leading full service carrier, Jet has struggled to compete with low-cost carriers in recent years. The airline's market share has nearly halved to 11.4 percent from 21.2 percent in 2016 and it has been forced to ground about two-thirds of its fleet leading to hundreds of flight cancellations.

For an interactive link on Jet's market share, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2WvDQYi

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For an interactive link on Jet's average daily flights, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FeFDel

Indian conglomerate Tata Sons had been in talks to invest in Jet on the condition that Goyal would step down, or take a less prominent role, sources told Reuters in November. While the rescue deal could put Tata back in the race, Goyal's trimmed stake may still be a problem.

"Are you not creating a huge hurdle for the potential investors?" said a senior government official, reacting to the bank-led bailout in which Goyal still has a stake.

India also wants a domestic investor to replace the banks, which rules out potential deep-pocketed suitors like Qatar Airways but the government-backed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, whose shareholders also include Abu Dhabi Investment Fund, is still in the fray, sources have said.

State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar has said Goyal would not pose a problem for any incoming investor but also said that the former chairman would be allowed to bid for the banks' shares when they are auctioned, leaving a window open for the founder to come back.

The bank was not immediately available for comment.

LOST CONFIDENCE

In a fresh sign of its weak financial situation, just days after the bailout, Jet told the Indian stock exchange on Thursday that it had defaulted on an overseas loan due to "temporary liquidity constraints". Local media reported that it was a loan of $140 million.

Saving the airline is crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he looks to avoid thousands of job losses ahead of a general election.

"This is just a band-aid until the elections," said a source close to Jet. "We don't know if this bailout will work," he said, adding that Jet is like a hot piece of coal for the banks which they want to drop as soon as possible.

Several Jet pilots, who have not been paid for months, have switched airlines, and rival carriers like SpiceJet have been in talks with Jet's lessors to take some of its grounded planes on lease, a source has told Reuters.

Jet has assured Indian authorities that no more planes will be grounded and that it is in talks with lessors to have a total of 75 planes back in the air by end-April from about 35 today.

"The current funding measures are short term and will not bring much confidence till a new investor is on board," said Kapil Kaul, India CEO at aviation consulting firm CAPA.

"Process of returning (Jet's) fleet back to the system might not be easy especially since the aircraft can be deployed easily to other airlines or markets," said Kaul.

(Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga in Singapore, Suvashree Choudhury and Tanvi Mehta in Mumbai; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Devices enable designers to begin development with a commercial device before moving to different levels of radiation-qualified versions, reducing development time and costs

CHANDLER, Ariz., March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From NewSpace to critical space missions, designers of space applications need to reduce design cycles and costs while scaling development across missions with different radiation requirements. To support this trend, Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) today introduced the space industrys first Arm-based microcontrollers (MCUs) that combine the low-cost and large ecosystem benefits of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) technology with space-qualified versions that have scalable levels of radiation performance. Based on the automotive-qualified SAMV71, the SAMV71Q21RT radiation-tolerant and SAMRH71 radiation-hardened MCUs implement the widely deployed Arm Cortex-M7 System on Chip (SoC), enabling more integration, cost reduction and higher performance in space systems.

The SAMV71Q21RT and SAMRH71 allow software developers to begin implementation with the SAMV71 COTS device before moving to a space-grade component, significantly reducing development time and cost. Both devices can use the SAMV71s full software development toolchain, as they share the same ecosystem including software libraries, Board Support Package (BSP) and Operating System (OS) first level of porting. Once preliminary developments are complete on the COTS device, all software development can be easily swapped out to a radiation-tolerant or radiation hardened version in a high-reliability plastic package or space-grade ceramic package. The SAMV71Q21RT radiation-tolerant MCU reuses the full COTS mask set and offers pinout compatibility, making the transition from COTS to qualified space parts immediate.

While the SAMV71Q21RTs radiation performance is ideal for NewSpace applications such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations and robotics, the SAMRH71 offers the radiation performance suited for more critical sub-systems like gyroscopes and star tracker equipment. The SAMV71Q21RT rad-tolerant device ensures an accumulated TID of 30Krad (Si) with latch up immunity and is nondestructive against heavy ions. Both devices are fully immune to Single-Event Latchup (SEL) up to 62 MeV.cm/mg.

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The SAMRH71 radiation-hardened MCU is designed specifically for deep space applications with the following targeted radiation performances:

Accumulated TID of more than 100 Krad (Si)

No Single Event Upset (SEU) Linear Energy Transfer (LET) up to 20 MeV.cm/mg, without system mitigation

Designed for No Single-Event Functional Interrupts (SEFI), which secures all memories integrity

Based on the Arm Cortex-M7 core, the SAMV71Q21RT and SAMRH71 feature high-performance and low-power operation to provide long operating life for aerospace applications. To protect against the effects of radiation and manage system mitigation, the architecture of the devices includes fault management and data integrity features such as Error-correcting Code (ECC) memory, Integrity Check Monitor (ICM) and Memory Protection Unit (MPU). The SAMV71Q21RT and SAMRH71 also feature CAN FD and Ethernet AVB/TSN capabilities to follow the evolution of space systems connectivity requirements. To further support deep space applications, the SAMRH71 has dedicated SpaceWire and MIL-STD-1553 interfaces for control and high-speed data management up to 200Mbit/s.

As the industrys first radiation-tolerant and radiation-hardened Arm Cortex-M7 MCUs, the SAMV71Q21RT and SAMRH71 bring a proven SoC architecture from the automotive market to aerospace applications, said Bob Vampola, vice president of Microchips aerospace and defense business unit. Leveraging Microchips COTS-to-radiation-tolerant and radiation-hardened approach, the devices allow designers to begin prototyping immediately at a relatively limited cost before moving forward with qualified parts.

Development Tools

To ease the design process and accelerate time to market, developers can use the ATSAMV71-XULT evaluation board. The devices are supported by Atmel Studio Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for developing, debugging and software libraries. Both devices will also be supported in MPLAB Harmony version 3.0 by mid-2019.

Pricing and Availability

The SAMRH71 in CQFP256 ceramic package is sampling today, and the SAMV71Q21RT is available today in volume production quantities in four derivatives:

SAMV71Q21RT-DHB-E in ceramic prototype QFP144 package

SAMV71Q21RT-DHB-MQ in ceramic space-grade QFP144 package, QMLQ equivalent

SAMV71Q21RT-DHB-SV in ceramic space-grade QFP144 package, QMLV equivalent

SAMV71Q21RT-DHB-MQ in plastic QFP144 package, AQEC high reliability qualified

For additional information and to purchase products mentioned here, contact a Microchip sales representative or authorized worldwide distributor.

Resources

High-res images available through Flickr or editorial contact (feel free to publish):

Application image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/microchiptechnology/46749696124

SAMV71Q21RT chip shot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/microchiptechnology/46749696434/in/photostream/

SAMRH71 chip shot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/microchiptechnology/46749696894

Diagram: https://www.flickr.com/photos/microchiptechnology/46565369375

About Microchip Technology

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Pennsylvania State Capitol.

Pennsylvania State Capitol. Photo credit: Zack Frank/Shutterstock.com



Senate Democrats on March 25 proposed legislation to reform the process and procedures of addressing sexual harassment claims, and foster a safe work environment in the General Assembly.



The #MeToo PA General Assembly Act would establish procedures for keeping investigatory, prosecutorial and adjudicatory functions separate, as required under state law; establish procedures for communicating temporary regulations that are necessary to promptly implement the new procedures; and combine current settlement provisions with new provisions relating to the source of payment, personal liability of elected officials and payment of awards.



Pennsylvania Sens. Maria Collett, D-Montgomery, Tim Kearney, D-Delaware, Katie Muth, D-Montgomery, Steve Santarsiero, D-Bucks, and Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny, are sponsoring the legislation.



We need to implement and improve the procedures in which sexual assault and sexual harassment claims are addressed in our government, Collett said in a statement. This legislation allows us to do that.



Muth said, As a survivor and supporter of those who have come forward through the #MeToo movement, I believe it is imperative that legislation be put into action to correct serious issues within the process of addressing harassment claims in the General Assembly.



Senate Democrats announcement comes after two members of the General Assembly faced sexual misconduct allegations. State Rep. Brian Ellis, R-Butler, who according to media reports is under investigation in Dauphin County, resigned earlier this month. Meanwhile, Wolf Montgomery County Democratic leaders have called for Pennsylvania Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, to step down because of his allegedly inappropriate response to sexual misconduct allegations against him. Leach has denied the allegations against him, sued his accuser and refused to resign.
Coin Rivet recently brought you the story of an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) project, Sponsy, which had been listed for sale on eBay for $60,000. Coin Rivet has since got in touch with the head of Sponsy, Ivan Komar, to discuss the reasons behind the companys eBay listing. In a candid interview, Mr Komar also provided us with his insight into the crypto and blockchain space  revealing the world is not ready for decentralisation. The birth of Sponsy The idea behind Sponsy is simple: to create a decentralised platform which connects sponsors with sponsees. When quizzed on the conception of Sponsy, Komar reveals it stemmed from his personal experience in trying to raise capital. Komar was trying to raise

Coin Rivet recently brought you the story of an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) project, Sponsy, which had been listed for sale on eBay for $60,000.

Coin Rivet has since got in touch with the head of Sponsy, Ivan Komar, to discuss the reasons behind the companys eBay listing.

In a candid interview, Mr Komar also provided us with his insight into the crypto and blockchain space  revealing the world is not ready for decentralisation.

The birth of Sponsy

The idea behind Sponsy is simple: to create a decentralised platform which connects sponsors with sponsees.

When quizzed on the conception of Sponsy, Komar reveals it stemmed from his personal experience in trying to raise capital.

Komar was trying to raise funds for a hackathon he was organising in Minsk, Belarus. However, he found it difficult to find transparent sponsors in an industry that is full of fraud and scam.

He notes the sponsorship industry may contain even more scams than the blockchain industry because every partner is trying to tell you a price that is higher than the actual price.

He states: The industry is definitely in need of improvement because transparency is something it lacks.

Cue the birth of Sponsy. Interestingly, Sponsy can function in either a decentralised system or a centralised one.

Sponsy received requests to make the product work for both those who wanted to be transparent and for those who wanted to be opaque as usual.

Thats when we realised the world is not ready to jump into decentralised-type businesses, he adds.

Why build the product before raising capital?

Perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of Sponsys story is that the product was developed before any funds had been raised.

Speaking on this, Komar states: We tried to market with our token sale and our lawyer famously told us not to do this because it might be considered a potentially illegal action.

Story continues

So we decided to develop the product first and only after that we tried to raise money.

It was a pretty noble idea because at that time, in the very middle of this crypto bubble, most of the ICOs did not have an idea for products.

Coin Rivet asked Mr Komar whether the ICO craze fizzling out contributed to the situation the company now finds itself in. He responded by informing us: The crypto bubble has popped.

He believes this is a product of retail investors losing a lot of money through ICOs, and while institutional investors still invest in ICOs, they only look for great technology.

Just having a basic website with promises is not enough, he adds.

The world is not ready for decentralisation

When asked if he would do anything differently, Mr Komar informed us that he would try to raise money first. Not to scam or defraud investors, but to be fair to them.

We would raise money and then allow them to use our product with discounts or maybe for free, he says.

However, he does not have any further plans in the cryptosphere at this time.

He states: I realised the world is not ready for decentralisation, yet.

The technology has some potential for sure, but for now I think we need to educate people first and then we might want to develop some products.

Interestingly, the eBay listing came about as an entirely arbitrary decision.

He explains: Absolutely no reason at all (to list on eBay). I thought it could be something that would attract the attention of the media  which it did!

While the listing is for $60,000, Mr Komar believes this figure is too low  a more accurate one would be $200,000, which he believes is how much the team would have earned if they were paid a full-time salary.

The bidding ends today, and at the time of writing, it has one bid locked in.

Missed the original story about Sponsys listing on eBay? Discover more about the ICO project that ended up on eBay for a starting price of $60,000.

The post Sponsy chief Ivan Komar: The world is not ready for decentralisation appeared first on Coin Rivet.
Stacey Dooley and Sam Tucknott (Credit: Instagram)

Stacey Dooley has split from her boyfriend of three years Sam Tucknott, following her series-winning turn on Strictly Come Dancing.

According to reports, Dooleys touring schedule with the Strictly live show, coupled with the increase in her workload, has spelled the end of their relationship.

Dooley and Tucknott are the 14th couple to split after appearing on the show, once again ushering in talk of the infamous Strictly curse.

Read more: Backlash to make-up show is predictable, says Dooley

A source told The Sun: Stacey confided in her friends that she was struggling to hold down her romance with Sam because her life has been a whirlwind after Strictly.

She barely saw him during the month-long tour and has gone straight back into filming documentaries and has been travelling all over the world.

Their lives have just gone in different directions.

Strictly Come Dancing 2018 winners Kevin Clifton and Stacey Dooley (Credit: Guy Levy/BBC)

They have a close circle of friends who hope things might yet work out but its not looking likely. It was very emotional and has been tough on them both.

The source added that Dooleys on-screen partnership with Strictly pro-dancer Kevin Clifton also caused issues.

Stacey and Kevin were never anything more than pals but Sam found it quite hard to watch at times.

Read more: Dooley not ok with people telling what decisions to make

There was this attractive, single man spending so much time with his girlfriend. Watching them doing those sensual, sexy routines was tough for him.

When Stacey left the show he thought things would improve but hes struggled to keep up with her as shes so focused on her career at the moment.

As well as the Strictly tour, Dooley is also busy with new BBC make-up artist show Glow Up, and has recently made a documentary film about arms dealers.

But she recently came under fire for perpetuating white saviour tropes with her work for Comic Relief.

MP David Lammy criticised her over footage of a trip to Uganda.




At the Investment Summit, government showcases the countrys mega projectsand its gender disparity

The eleven main sessions and two side events, about women in business and youth entrepreneurship on Friday and Saturday, will see a total of 92 speakers, of which only 11 are women.
FILE PHOTO: Telecom Italia new logo is seen at the headquarter in Rozzano neighbourhood of Milan, Italy, May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini//File Photo

By Agnieszka Flak , Elvira Pollina and Stephen Jewkes

ROZZANO, Italy (Reuters) - Facing defeat in its attempt to change Telecom Italia's board, top shareholder Vivendi took a first step on Friday towards ending a bitter dispute with a U.S. fund that has hobbled Italy's biggest phone group over the past year.

Vivendi and activist fund Elliott have been trading blows over how to revive Telecom Italia (TIM), a telecoms heavyweight saddled with more than 25 billion euros ($28 billion) of debt.

Vivendi had been seeking to replace TIM Chairman Fulvio Conti and four other Elliott-appointed directors at a shareholder meeting on Friday, citing "substantial lack of independence".

However, in a move signalling a willingness to work on a possible truce, the top investor offered to withdraw its motion on board member replacements.

"We have decided not to pursue today our proposal to revoke and replace five board members," Caroline Le Masne De Chermont, Vivendi's head of legal affairs, told the TIM shareholder meeting. The request to withdraw its proposal won 95 percent support of those present.

Vivendi was in any case widely expected to lose the board reshuffle vote, but as it owns nearly a quarter of TIM, its cooperation is seen as vital to getting things done, sources have said.

TIM shares closed up 2.5 percent.

TIM Chief Executive Luigi Gubitosi called Vivendi's move "courageous" and a first step towards peace.

Elliott wrested control of TIM's board last May after accusing Vivendi of looking after its own interests and calling for a more radical shake-up of the telecoms group.

An escalating war of words has wiped a third of the value of TIM shares in the last year. It also led to the replacement of a Vivendi-backed CEO with Gubitosi, formerly a board director from the Elliott camp.

"Vivendi wishes that TIM's board be more reflective of the company shareholder base and be led in an independent, transparent and fully inclusive manner," Le Masne De Chermont added.

Story continues

(Graphic: TIM's share performance since January 2018 - https://tmsnrt.rs/2WsvGzN)

Sources familiar with the matter said the different sides were open to finding some sort of accord after the AGM.

State lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), which recently raised its stake to become TIM's second biggest investor, could act as a power broker between the two rivals, whose battle has unnerved investors and government alike.

A possible compromise could include a more balanced board make-up and a chairman appointed by the CDP, the people added.

However, Gubitosi said on Friday the current board was picked last year for a three-year mandate and would remain as is. "With time I don't know what will happen," he added.

Vivendi said in a later statement it would monitor from now on that all board members act in the interest of all shareholders.

Gubitosi has been keen to find a way to bring the different sides closer to ensure "TIM can again become a normal company" where investors can collaborate effectively.

Vivendi must have been convinced by these efforts and the prospect of a truce for it to withdraw its request, one source said.

"If the change occurs as (Gubitosi) announced, he can count on our loyalty," Vivendi's Le Masne De Chermont said.

Elliott said it looked forward to constructive dialogue with all shareholders. The U.S. fund remains fully supportive of Gubitosi, TIM's management team and the existing board, it added.

Other shareholders have been looking for signs that the two rivals are finally ready to bury the hatchet and allow management to push through measures to slash debt, tackle competition and pursue strategic options to boost value.

"TIM can ill afford any further delays in fixing its operational issues," said Emanuele Vizzini, general manager at Milan-based investment fund Investitori Sgr.

(Graphic: TIM's 2-year total return compared to peers - https://tmsnrt.rs/2V2D0lo)

TIM has underperformed its European peers for years, it is facing new rivals in both broadband and mobile, and its Brazil business is only gradually recovering from economic malaise.

In his first three-year strategy plan unveiled last month, Gubitosi pledged to accelerate cost cutting, cut debt and grow core profits from next year.

A truce between Vivendi and Elliott could speed up the creation of a single broadband operator through the merger of TIM's network with smaller rival Open Fiber.

Gubitosi, who has said all options to collaborate with Open Fiber would be explored, said on Friday that negotiations were ongoing and that he was "optimistic".

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak and Elvira Pollina; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Mark Potter)
Good day,

China has ramped up its pork trade with the U.S. after a year of trade tariff tensions between the two countries. This is in response to a deadly virus that spread across Chinese hog herds, forcing the country to cull more than 10 million pigs to stop the disease from spreading. China is the world's largest consumer of pork, and a sudden cutback in supply has led the country to depend heavily on imports. Though China had drastically reduced pork imports from the U.S. by 47 percent last year, it now has purchased 23,800 metric tons of pork - the largest weekly purchase since April 2017.

Did you know?

Floodgate Ventures, one of the earliest backers of Lyft back in 2010, are potentially looking at a return on investment of 9,500%, with the value of stake expected to open publicly at $72 per share.

Quotable:

"Cities occupy 2 to 3 percent of our planet's surface, yet they consume 70 percent of all energy."

- Soren Kvorning, president for Asia Pacific at Danfoss, a Danish engineering firm

In other news: Turkey's Yildirim sets financing in bid for long beach shipping terminal

Chairman says port operator, which is bidding against three investment funds, has met with U.S. security officials reviewing the deal. (WSJ)

The world's largest oil company and petrochemical company merge

The long awaited Saudi Aramco acquisition of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is finally here. (Oilprice)

Daimler and Geely team up to build Smart cars in China

Under the agreement announced Thursday, the next generation of swmart cars will be assembled at a plant in China with sales starting in 2022. (CNN)

Electricity comes from coal, so EVs aren't cleaner than gas cars, right?

It depends on where you live, but in many locations, renewable energy sources are growing. (InsideEVs)

Its time for Uber and Lyft's white collar workers to step up

Following mass worker action in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego this week, an anonymous Uber employee published an open letter in unequivocal support of the disgruntled contractors. (Gizmodo)

Story continues

Final thoughts:

Reports have surfaced that Saudi Arabia intends to push oil prices to at least $70 per barrel this year to increase cash flow into its economy. Officially, the country does not have a specific price target, but has noted that it wants to balance global supply and demand by propping up oil prices. In this context, Saudi Arabia is cutting its oil export to countries and is also reducing its output for the month of March and April to under 10 million barrels per day (bpd), slightly below its OPEC output target of 10.3 million bpd. This is in contrast to President Trump's demands on keeping the prices low and output high, and also shows the indifference of the Saudi officials to the shale oil production in the U.S., which has been consistently high over the year.

Hammer down everyone!

Image sourced from Pixabay

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President Trump on Thursday joined the chorus of Republicans calling for Rep. Adam Schiffs resignation as the House Intelligence Committee chairman refuses to drop his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaigns possible collusion with Moscow.

Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress! Trump tweeted.

The president's missive came just hours before Schiff's committee convened for a hearing on the topic of Putins Playbook: The Kremlins Use of Oligarchs, Money and Intelligence in 2016 and Beyond.

Schiff insists there is more for his committee to investigate despite the completion of special counsel Robert Muellers probe. The California Democrat is calling for the public release of Muellers full report rather than the four-page summary issued by Attorney General William Barr over the weekend.

He said Wednesday that Barr had attempted to exonerate the President from obstruction of justice allegations.

Barr auditioned for the job with a memo saying a president cannot obstruct justice, Schiff tweeted.

In June 2018, Barr, then a private citizen and former attorney general to President George H.W. Bush, sent a memo to senior Justice Department officials saying he thought Muellers obstruction investigation was fatally misconceived.

Barr was nominated by Trump for attorney general in December and confirmed by the Senate in February.

Last weekend, Barr did the job he was hired to do, and attempted to exonerate the President on obstruction, Schiff added. The American people must see the full Mueller Report, not a biased summary.

Mueller spent two years investigating obstruction of justice and found evidence that does not exonerate Trump. Barr took two days to set aside that evidence.



The entire report must be published and evidence provided to Congress so the American people can judge for themselves.  Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 24, 2019

Barrs four-page letter on Sunday said that while it is clear that Russia did attempt to influence the election, the Special Counsels investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in those efforts.

Schiff disagrees.

Story continues

Undoubtedly there is collusion, Schiff told reporters in Washington this week. We will continue to investigate the counterintelligence issues. That is, is the president or people around him compromised in any way by a hostile foreign power?

It doesnt appear that was any part of Muellers report, he said.

In his letter, Barr also concluded there was not enough evidence to charge Trump with obstruction of justice.

Schiff criticized the attorney general for rushing to judgment.

Mueller spent two years investigating obstruction of justice and found evidence that does not exonerate Trump, Schiff tweeted. Barr took two days to set aside that evidence.

Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to establish conspiracy, notwithstanding Russian offers to help Trumps campaign, their acceptance, and a litany of concealed interactions with Russia, he added. I trust Muellers prosecutorial judgement, but the country must see the evidence.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and President Trump. (Photos: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP, Susan Walsh/AP)

Throughout the Russia investigation, Schiff has drawn the ire of Trump, who in November referred to the congressman as little Adam Schitt. Schiff was previously the ranking member on the House Intel Committee, but took it over this year after Democrats won the House.

Wow, Mr. President, thats a good one, Schiff fired back. Was that like your answers to Mr. Muellers questions, or did you write this one yourself?

At her weekly press briefing Thursday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed support for Schiff.

"I'm so proud of the work of Chairman Adam Schiff," she said.

Pelosi said Trump and GOP lawmakers calling for Schiff's resignation are "just plain afraid."

"They're afraid of the truth," Pelosi said. "They're afraid of competence. They're afraid of a leader who is recognized in our country for being calm. Professional. Patriotic.'"

She also called on Barr to release the full Mueller report.

"How can I say this more clearly: show us the report, Pelosi said. "No thank you, Mr. Attorney General. We do not need your interpretation. Show us the report."

Demonstrators demand the full release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Schiff responded to Republicans calling for his resignation during his committee's hearing Thursday.

"My colleagues may think it's OK that the Russians offered dirt on a Democratic candidate for president as part of what was described as the Russian government's effort to help the Trump campaign," Schiff said. "That when that was offered to the son of the president, who had a pivotal role in the campaign, that the president's son did not call the FBI. He did not adamantly refuse that foreign help. No, instead that son said he would 'love' the help of the Russians.

"You might think it's OK that he took that meeting," Schiff continued. "You might think it's OK that they concealed it from the public. You might think it's OK that their only disappointment after that meeting was that the dirt they received on Hillary Clinton wasn't better."

He added: "You might think it's OK that when it was discovered a year later, that they lied about that meeting, and said it was about adoptions. You might think it's OK that the president is reported to have helped dictate that lie. You might think that's OK. I don't."

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
(Adds number of senators in first paragraph, company that makes F-35 in 2nd paragraph)

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Reuters) - Four U.S. senators on Thursday introduced a bipartisan bill to prohibit the transfer of F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey until the U.S. government certifies that Ankara will not take delivery of a Russian S-400 air defense system, a statement on the move said.

Turkey is a production partner in the trillion-dollar F-35 fighter jet program but Ankara also wants to purchase a Russian missile defense system, which the United States says would compromise the security of F-35 aircraft, which are made by Lockheed Martin Corp..

The senators - Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Van Hollen and Republicans James Lankford and Thom Tillis - have all expressed alarm over Turkey's planned purchase of Russian S-400 missiles and said the NATO ally cannot have both.

"The prospect of Russia having access to U.S. aircraft and technology in a NATO country, Turkey, is a serious national and global security risk," Shaheen said.

Reuters last week reported that the United States could soon freeze preparations for delivering F-35s to Turkey. While no decision has been made, any such move would be a massive blow to already strained ties between Washington and Ankara.

"Turkey is an important NATO ally and willing partner in addressing a number of U.S. national security priorities, said Lankford. "Its concerning that Turkey would seek close defense cooperation with Russia, whose authoritarian ruler seeks to undermine NATO and U.S. interests at every turn."

So far Ankara has not shown any willingness to reverse the S-400 purchase, forcing the United States to explore a future for the F-35 program without Turkey, which makes parts of the fuselage, landing gear and cockpit displays. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk Editing by James Dalgleish)
Crime and forgiveness

We need to rethink reconciliation for peaceful coexistence in post-insurgency Nepal

Shutterstock
L-R Matthew Ohlheiser and Stephen Miller, Cozen O'Connor.



The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering whether a juryas opposed to a judgemust make certain findings of fact necessary to revoke a defendants supervised release. A section of the relevant statute, 18 U.S.C. Section 3583(k), requires that convicted defendants return to prison for a minimum of five years, and up to a term of life, if they are found to have violated the terms of their supervised release. The statute requires only that a judge find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that such violation has occurred. The Supreme Court will decide whether this process violates a defendants Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury.



Andrew Haymond, an Oklahoma man, was convicted of possessing child pornography and sentenced to 38 months in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. He completed his prison term, andwhile serving his term of supervised releasehe was again caught possessing child pornography. That conduct, which could have supported an independent criminal charge, constituted a violation of the terms of his supervised release. The government moved to revoke Haymonds supervised release and return him to prison. The district court found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Haymond knowingly possessed this material, triggering the mandatory minimum of five years re-imprisonment under Section 3583(k).



The district judge, however, expressed frustration with that statutory mandate: Were there not this statutory minimum, the court  probably would have sentenced in the range of two years or less. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit went a step further. The appellate court vacated Haymonds sentence and remanded for resentencing, holding that Section 3583(k) is unconstitutional because it can operate to increase a mandatory minimum sentence without any additional findings by a jury, and it can impose extra punishment on defendants for new, post-sentencing conduct on which they have not been convicted by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.



The Supreme Court agreed to review the case. In its briefs, the government argued that the revocation of supervised release is not a criminal prosecution, but more akin to a sentence administration functionlike parole or probationand therefore does not trigger the Sixth Amendment. By contrast, Haymond argued that Section 3583(k) required an unconstitutional enhancement of his original sentence (zero to two years) to a minimum of five years without the right to a jury, in violation of his constitutional rights as recognized by the Supreme Court in Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) and Alleyne v. United States (2013). He asked the court to strike down that section of the supervised release statute, leaving the remainder of the statute intact.



At oral argument, the majority of the justices appeared to side with Haymond, suggesting serious constitutional concerns with Section 3583(k) and the current procedure under that statute.



Justice Sonia Sotomayor set the tone early by asking: Is there any other area of law in which we permit imprisonment by a preponderance of the evidence? The government responded by analogizing Haymonds re-imprisonment to the revocation of parole, but Sotomayor remained skeptical, calling the comparison apples and oranges. She emphasized that, while parole revocation does not enhance the original sentence received by a defendant, Section 3583(k) operates to add an additional term of incarceration, beyond the sentence received to stretch the maximum of a defendants earlier term.



Justice Neil Gorsuch also seemed skeptical of the governments position. Addressing the analogy to parole, he noted that Congress intentionally eliminated those punishments under federal criminal law. He added, furthermore, that the government should not be opposed to allowing juries to decide these questions: Why is the government so anxious to avoid having the involvement of citizens in this process?  it would be a rather simple thing to convene a jury, wouldnt it?



Other justices questioned the comparison, as well, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh stating that revocation in Haymonds case seems more like a penalty rather than a denied benefit. Justice Elena Kagan asked, point blank, it just seems if this isnt a clear-cut violation of Apprendi and Alleyne, like, what is? Only Justice Samuel Alito asked questions that suggested sympathy to the governments cause, cautioning that his colleagues suggestions would bring down the entire system of supervised release as we know it.



The court will likely issue a decision before the end of June.



Stephen A. Millerpractices in the commercial litigation group at Cozen OConnors Philadelphia office. Prior to joining the firm, he clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court and served as a federal prosecutor for nine years in the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.



Matthew Ohlheiseralso practices in the firms commercial litigation group. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Bates College.
(Bloomberg) -- The owner of a London office building negotiated a lease with a company that wanted all eight floors. To his surprise, his bankers at ING Groep NV shot it down.

ING balked because a single tenant, WeWork Cos., would be responsible for paying all the rent. And the Dutch bank isnt alone. Increasingly, lenders in Europe are cooling toward the co-working giant, which started with six floors in a tenement-style building in New Yorks SoHo district nine years ago, and now has 45 million square feet (4.2 million square meters) of office space around the world. For context, thats nearly equal to all the office space in downtown Philadelphia.

A number of banks and investors that have financed WeWork-leased buildings are cautious about doing more. The following account of how lenders are backing away from WeWork in Europe is based on interviews with executives from 17 banks, credit funds, landlords and real-estate debt brokers, who asked not to be identified discussing a specific company.

A representative of ING declined to comment on the London loan decision.

The rapid rise of WeWork coincides with major changes in the way we do business. The company has cashed in on the gig economy, with its demand for flexible, short-term work space. Its focus on casual, funky design chimes with the spread of urban hipster culture, which even blue-chip companies now want a piece of. Many startups, flush with venture capital, have found that WeWorks offices are a good fit.

As it helped transform the commercial real-estate market from Boston to Bangkok, WeWork caught the eye of SoftBank Group Corp. The Japanese conglomerate first put money into the company in 2017, and has committed more than $10 billion to date. After its latest investment, WeWork announced a valuation of $47 billion.

A lot of lenders have an allocation. For some of them, that allocation to WeWork is now full

WeWork is now partly a victim of its own success. Its already the biggest private occupier of commercial real estate in London and New York, and some banks in Europe say they are reluctant to build up more exposure to a single company. Its business model locking in space on long-term leases, then filling it with short-term tenantshas been hard for others to embrace.

Story continues

Even SoftBanks backing has a downside. In January, it put an additional $6 billion into WeWork, but backed away from a plan to spend $16 billion for a controlling stake. That decision spooked some lenders.

When you have an investor saying its going to commit massive amounts, and then the reversal is so great, you would naturally be concerned about what has gone on to cause that, said Simon Brooks, co-head of structured property finance at Investec Plc, a real estate lender that has financed two WeWork buildings in London.

WeWork executives acknowledge that they have to build up their relationships with banks. After all, the company loses a lot of money -- $1.9 billion last year. Its $702 million bond has a junk rating. Granit Gjonbalaj, WeWorks chief development officer, said the company is continually strengthening those ties. The more we engage with them, the more they realize the positive impact that WeWork is having on real estate, he said by email.

But Vice Chairman Michael Gross disputed the premise that lenders are shying away from the company.

Theres been a tremendous amount of deal flow where assets have gotten resold or refinanced with WeWork as a major tenant, Gross said in an interview. As this track record grows, it gets easier and easier for us. The company hasnt made big changes to the guarantees or tenant incentives it offers in an effort to appease lenders, he said.

The risk is that if more banks follow INGs lead, WeWork could struggle to keep up its rapid expansion in Europe. Worldwide, the company lists 630 locations in 30-plus countries. This rate of growth is an important basis of the companys high valuation and sets it apart from its competitors. For example, IWG Plc, owner of the Regus serviced office brand, has a market capitalization of just 2.2 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) despite having more locations than WeWork and making a profit last year.

London is the worlds biggest city for co-working, making it a prime market for WeWork. Many of the banks, credit funds, insurance companies and other lenders that make up the commercial real-estate debt market have already financed at least one WeWork building, and are now weighing up how many more they want to do.

A lot of lenders have an allocation, said David Barry, a director for debt advisory at broker Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. For some of them, that allocation to WeWork is now full.

The concept of co-working itself complicates lenders valuation of buildings, especially when one tenant takes most of the property. The mismatch between WeWorks long-term leases and its short-term tenants could become a problem if office rents fall and customers decamp to cheaper digs.

Even lenders that are willing to talk publicly about financing WeWork buildings acknowledge there are challenges.

We dont do 100 percent co-working, even if the borrower is willing to pay a higher rate of interest, said Thomas Koentgen, deputy chief executive officer at Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG, one of the biggest lenders for U.K. commercial real estate. The bank has financed buildings where co-working providers accounted for a smaller share of the rent; Koentgen didnt say if WeWork was among them.

WeWork also runs into resistance because the parent company itself typically doesnt sign leases. It creates separate companies, known as special purpose vehicles, to handle individual buildings. For lenders in countries, including the U.K. and Germany, whose lending regulations place a heavy emphasis on the credit-worthiness of the company paying the rent, this extra corporate layer is a concern.

As a private company, WeWork also doesnt have to disclose as much financial information as its public rivals, and banks dont always get all the details theyd like to have when deciding whether to make a loan, according to the executives who spoke about the matter. Much of the available information about the companys books comes from documents provided to its bond investors.

If we have a top-notch company renting the building and we can be sure that the cash flow is safe for 10 or 15 years, thats a different thing to placing your underwriting on a tenant whose credit-worthiness isnt clear, said Michael Windoffer, head of real estate cross-border business at Hamburg Commercial Bank AG.

To be sure, some lenders will consider lending against buildings in a prime location, or where WeWork accounts for a smaller share of the rent, the executives said. Bank of Ireland Group Plc recently made a loan secured against the No. 1 Poultry building, a stones throw from the Bank of England in the heart of Londons financial district, even though all the office space is leased to WeWork.The presence of a long-term corporate tenant can also help win over lenders, according to Shawn Kaufman, senior director of debt strategies at Nuveen Real Estate, which has financed two WeWork properties in Europe. Such companies often have a stronger credit rating than the co-working firm itself, making it easier for banks to get comfortable, he said. These tenants account for about 32 percent of WeWorks customers.

After arriving in London in 2014, WeWork spent years persuading landlords that its brand of fashionably relaxed office design, emphasis on community and pay-by-the-month flexibility would be a winner. It worked, as shown by the nearly 50 properties the company operates in the city.

The company is now directing that sales pitch at banks. Part of the pitch is to encourage lenders to look beyond the eye-watering losses caused by rapid expansion to evidence that the business model is working. Existing locations make money, and have an average occupancy rate of 80 percent. Revenue more than doubled last year to $1.8 billion.

And ride-hailing companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., which have also ridden the gig economy wave, show that losses arent necessarily an impediment to a high valuation -- and a potential initial public offering. WeWork hasnt yet given any indication of when it might sell shares.

A lot of it is an education process, WeWorks Gross said. Were creating a category, a new form of utilization of commercial space.

--With assistance from Donal Griffin, Ellen Huet and Hayley Warren.

To contact the author of this story: Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shelley Smith at ssmith118@bloomberg.net, Patrick Henry

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Rushad Iskandarov, an experienced online poker player of four years, has taken down the High Roller tournament and Iskandarov has succeeded in achieving several firsts in doing so. This is his first title and he managed to do it the first time he has sat down to play a live tournament. Not only that but he is the first Azerbaijani to win an EPT event.

Interestingly Iskandarov found himself heads up with Elvin Sarkarov, who is also from Azerbaijan, meaning that when they were the last two players left, history had already been made.

Of the 84 hopefuls who took part, nine finalists were still in contention at the start of the third and final day. There was a slew of eliminations early doors, with Daniil Kiselev busting on the very first hand of the final. He got it in good with ace-nine suited against Pete Chens king-queen but two queens on the board sent Kiselev on his way with 812,000 ($12,481) for his ninth-place finish.

2019 EPT Sochi High Roller Official Results

Place Player Country Payout (RUB) Payout (USD) 1 Ruslan Iskandarov Azerbaijan 7,840,000  $119,351 2 Elvin Sarkarov Azerbaijan 5,579,000  $84,935 3 Maksim Bukreev Russia 3,650,500  $55,575 4 Pete Chen Taiwan 2,807,000  $42,734 5 Valery Yantsevich Belarus 2,222,500  $33,835 6 Sergey Kolyasnikov Russia 1,739,500  $26,482 7 Ramon Collilas Spain 1,368,500  $20,834 8 Irshat Shaykhov Russia 1,071,000  $16,305

Daniil Kiselev

Less than 15 minutes later, Irshat Shaykhov joined Kiselev on the sidelines. He had a bad run, losing ace-queen to Sergey Kolyasnikovs queen-jack suited after Kolyasnikov raise-called his all in preflop. This left Shaykov short and just a few hands later, he was eliminated after getting it in with pocket-queens and losing to Maksim Bukreev who held ace-queen. He goes home 1,071,000 ($16,462) better off.

Irshat Shaykhov

Ramon Colillas was out next, finishing in seventh after losing a flip with ace-ten to Elvin Sarkarov, who was holding pocket-fours. Colillas couldnt recover after a four landed on the flop and the Team PokerStars Pro and PSPC winner receives 1,368,500 ($21,036) for another deep run this year.

Ramon Colillas

With six left, things slowed down in terms of eliminations and it wasnt until after the first break that we had to say goodbye to Day 1 chip leader Kolyasnikov. Kolyasnikov had certainly made his presence known as one of the most active at the table. He had gotten fairly short by the time he moved all in from under the gun with king-ten. Sarkarov isolated all in over the top with ace-jack suited in late position before Iskandarovs looked down to see pocket kings in the hole. The huge all in was certainly one of the defining moments in our Champions tournament and put him joint top of the chip counts for the first time. Kolyasnikov goes home 1,739,500 ($26,738) richer for finishing in sixth place.

Sergey Kolyasnikov

Next to fall was Valery Yantsevich who made it as far as fifth. He takes home 2,222,500 ($34,163) after being busted by Iskandarov. He was down to 13 big blinds and put it all in with ace-king and was looking good for most of the way, until a ten river made a pair for Iskandarovs ten-nine suited. The result pushes Yantsevich over $100,000 in lifetime earnings, a great landmark moment for the Belarussian.

Valery Yantsevich

It was Pete Chens turn to bust next. The most experienced player in the running at this point had battled hard throughout the final and the majority of hands he had won were taken down without showdown. It all came down to a flip in the end, with Chens losing to Sarkarov with pocket fours to ace-queen. He adds another 2,807,000 ($43,148) to his already impressive live tournament results.

Pete Chen

That left three and again we didnt have to wait long before another all in meant the end of Maksim Bukreevs hopes. Iskandarov went all in on the button and Bukreev woke up with ace-queen in the small blind. The shortest stack at this point, he quickly got it in and had the best of it with Iskandarov turning over queen-ten. Iskandarov hit broadway by the river and Bukreev takes home 3,650,500 ($56,112), which is his biggest score to date.

Maksim Bukreev

After a brief recess, Iskandarov and Sarkarov sat down for what turned out to be an epic heads up battle. Over three hours and fifteen minutes, the chip lead swung back and forth with both challengers vying hard for the win. In the end though, Sarkarov was eliminated after bluffing all in on the river on a paired board and running into Iskandarovs trip fives. It was a great effort from the chip leader coming into the final and he will take 5,579,000 ($85,755) home for finishing as runner up.

Elvin Sarkarov

Speaking to Iskandarov after the dust had settled, the father of two explained that he plays poker online regularly but doesnt usually have time to play live. He made this trip with some of his oldest friends and they wanted to combine a holiday with playing poker. When asked how he felt following his win, Iskandarov explained to be honest it was very, very stressful! It was challenging to be playing against such good players. Hopefully Iskandarov can now take some time to relax and celebrate with his friends, after all the excitement of the last few days.
Anil Giri is a reporter covering diplomacy, international relations and national politics for The Kathmandu Post. Giri has been working as a journalist for a decade-and-a-half, contributing to numerous national and international media outlets.
Female activists in Pakistans western Pashtun belt are playing a vital role in a movement demanding security and rights for a conservative region where women have been traditionally absent from public and political life.

The female leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) have broken taboos and stereotypes by participating  and at times leading  peaceful protests.

The movement, now a year old, originated in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). It is campaigning for an end to illegal killings, enforced disappearances, harassment, and other atrocities that its leaders say Pakistans estimated 37 million Pashtuns have suffered during more than a decade of violence that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

PTM activism has ended the climate of fear imposed on the Pashtuns by the militants and state institutions [in the name of fighting terrorism], Wranga Luni, a medical student turned PTM activist, told Radio Free Afghanistan. The Pakistani military denies targeting civilians in its operations against the Taliban.

Luni, in her 20s, recently endured a personal tragedy. She and other PTM activists say her brother, Arman Luni, a college lecturer, was killed by police in the southwestern province of Balochistan in February. Pakistani authorities, however, claim he died of natural causes and have so far refused to officially probe his death.

Nothing can deter us from demanding our rights, she said. The enthusiasm of our young activists, both men and women, tells me that the future of PTM is very bright.

Last year, Luni emerged from obscurity to become one of the leading female voices of the PTM after she joined its protest in Balochistans capital, Quetta, following the emergence of the movement from a sit-in protest in the Pakistani capital in February 2018. The protest was sparked by the alleged police killing of an aspiring model in the southern seaport city of Karachi the month before.

We rallied for equality for all minorities, women, and children, Luni said. Within a few months, she was addressing tens of thousands of predominantly male protesters without covering her face in the conservative region where women are mostly relegated to housework.

She was encouraged by Arman to participate in the PTM protests. He brought me books, she recalled. He said womens awareness was important for our future survival in peace and with human dignity.

Nowadays Luni is mainly pushing the government to investigate her brothers death. Armans death in early February prompted a strike in Balochistan and protests across the country. On February 5, scores of PTM protesters were arrested across Pakistan.

Celebrated rights activists Gulalai Ismail was one of them. She was held incommunicado for more than a day and is banned from traveling abroad.

It seems that the state actors are most afraid of women, Ismail said. They are afraid of women with voices.

Her organization Aware Girls was shut down because of her activism. For years, her organization was promoting girls right to education in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is home to most of Pakistans Pashtuns. Since 2009, Ismail has won numerous international awards for her work.

Since the emergence of the PTM, the Pakistani authorities have attempted to deflate its campaign by accepting or negotiating some of its demands while at the same time accusing it of working for foreign powers and fomenting instability in Pakistan. PTM activists have faced Islamabads wrath in the form of arrests, job losses, investigations, and travel bans.

In one of its latest pronouncements, however, top military spokesman Asif Ghafoor offered to join hands with the movement in January.

The PTM is a non-violent movement, which is campaigning for its demands. We wish that the PTM leaders and other people [supporting them] will join the state in the [rehabilitation] phase, which is aimed at bringing relief and services to them, he told Pakistans private ARY television in an apparent bid to join forces with the movement to bring development to former FATA.

But PTM activists have faced relentless pressure from the authorities. Sanna Ejaz, another female PTM activist, lost her jobs and faces cyberbullying for her work.

She was first fired from presenting shows on the state-run Pakistan Television Corporation. She later lost her job with a nongovernmental organization and was also pushed out of a leadership position within the youth wing of the secular Awami National Party.

"I was not doing anything wrong by supporting a peaceful demand for justice, for constitutional rights, and for peace," she told Radio Free Afghanistan. "I will not back down."

Ejaz says the activism gives hope to thousands of women across linguistic, ethnic, and class divides. There is a light at the end of the tunnel for women in Pakistan, she said.

In over a year of campaigning across Pakistan, the PTMs female activists have called out the authorities on their abuses. We are making history, said Bushra Gohar, a former member of the Pakistani Parliament.

With short, graying hair, Gohar is used to standing out from a crowd in the South Asian country.

Gohar, in her 60s, seems impressed by the resilience and fearlessness women have shown since the birth of the PTM. However, she does not seem optimistic. Those who chose to fight for their core principles do not think about gaining and losing, she said.

Ismail, however, is adamant to continue her campaigning. I will not opt for silence, she said.

For Luni, there seems to be no relief as she looks after Armans two little girls.

It is a long way to go. It wont get easier, she said. But we are stronger as long as we remain peaceful.

Freshta Jalalzai (@jalalzaif ) is a correspondent for Radio Free Afghanistan.
A top U.S. sanctions official is in Asia to push efforts to increase pressure on Iran, saying Washington was intent on making Tehran "radioactive to the international community."



Sigal Mandelker, the U.S. Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in Singapore on March 29 that she would stress in further meetings this week with officials in Malaysia, Singapore, and India the risks involved in dealing with Tehran.



"It's very important that these countries have important visibility into the different ways the Iranian regime uses to deceive the international community in connection with shipment of oil," she said.



The U.S. administration has a stated goal of reducing Iranian oil exports to zero by demanding importers reduce purchases or face U.S. sanctions. Washington has granted short-term waivers to several countries to continue buying energy products from Tehran to avoid disrupting their own economies.



"This trip follows on the heels of additional intense pressure we have placed on Iran. In just the last week, we took action against nuclear scientists and agencies and other key personnel involved with the Iranian regime's past nuclear weapons entities," Mandelker said.



"We are making them radioactive to the international community."



Washington on March 26 announced it had disrupted what it called a "large-scale front-company network" that has transferred more than $1 billion to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Defense Ministry in violation of U.S. sanctions.



It also announced fresh sanctions against 25 individuals and entities it said were part of the network -- including "front companies" based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey.



Mandelker, who met with Singapore central bank officials on March 29, said she will meet with Singapore's Home, Finance, and Trade ministries on March 30.



Mandelker made similar remarks before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services on March 12, warning European allies about the risks of doing business with Iran, including the use of a special-purpose vehicle that allows trade with Tehran but avoids violating U.S. sanctions.



The administration of President Donald Trump has pressed hard against what it calls the "malign" activities of Tehran in the Middle East, including alleged support for extremist violence, testing of ballistic and nuclear weapons, and support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.



Iran denies it funds terrorists and says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.



Trump last year pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear accord that provided Tehran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program and began reimposing sanctions.

With reporting by Reuters and RFE/RL's Radio Farda
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The Colorado House on Friday voted along party lines, 36-20, in favor of a bill allowing local control on oil and gas operations.

Environmentalists, however, will have to wait a bit longer to celebrate Senate Bill 181 becoming law. Because it was amended in the House after passing the Senate, 19-15, on March 13, negotiators from both chambers will have to consolidate the two bills into one that can be agreed upon before the session ends May 3.

Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign the measure when it makes it to his desk.

Lawmakers debated a raft of amendments for five hours Thursday night, including a Republican effort to build in the possibility of a statewide vote on repealing the law.

The bill is sponsored by House Speaker KC Becker and Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, both Democrats from Boulder, along with Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton, and Sen. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette.

The bill had no Republican support in either chamber.

I really want to commend the speaker, the industry and the community groups for their hard work on this bill, Caraveo said Friday.

It was long-fought. Its something weve been trying to make changes on for years, and I hope we were able to with the changes last night protect the health, safety and welfare of some of the communities that are most affected by oil and gas operations.

Besides allowing local governments to set rules on where oil-and-gas operations are, the bill instructs state regulators to put public health and the environment ahead of bolstering the industry.

Senate Bill 181 also calls for more monitoring on emissions that wells might create.

Oil and gas proponents says the regulations will harm a major industry for the state. Voters last year statewide overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 112, which would have mandated a 2,500-foot buffer for wells from schools, neighborhoods and businesses.

Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, R-Watkins, said the arrogant proposal creates uncertainty that will prompt the industry to leave or steer clear of Colorado. Each local election would create the potential to upend their investment here, he said.

What weve done here is create an oil and gas policy in the state of Colorado that has absolutely no consistency, Bockenfeld said.

He said CEOs, who evaluate risks, would see a location where one seat on a county commission could flip in an election and the whole philosophy of that county could change one seat and they could go in and revise their oil-and-gas policy.

Rep. Lori Saine, R-Dacono, said just before Fridays vote, SB 181 has the potential to economically destroy Colorado.
DENVER  Firefighters are battling a large fire at the same site of an explosion last August that injured seven people. Crews responded to the area Santa Fe Drive and West 4th Avenue just before 5 a.m. Friday, according to Denver Fire.

The building is abandoned and so far no injuries have been reported, Denver Fire said.

"We will do a more thorough search once it's safe to go in there, but it's an abandoned building," said Bob Kmak. "It's been deemed abandoned. It's unsafe to go in. So we're going to make it safe before we can go inside and look."

The fire is at the site where there was an explosion in August 2018. In that incident, a multiplex at 368 N. Santa Fe Dr., exploded injuring seven people, two of them critically.

Read more at 9News
Governments intent to keep security policy secret raises concerns

Even almost two weeks after the Cabinet endorsed the National Security Policy, the document is yet be made public, raising concerns about the government intent to keep it under wraps.
A 63-year-old man who was gunned down in the street Wednesday night near the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs recorded his killing on his cellphone.

An AMR medical tech found the phone next to Gary Dolces body, still recording, after he had been shot several times, an arrest affidavit says. The medical tech stopped the recording and played the video back, showing what had just happened to Dolce in the 1800 block of Rimwood Drive in north Colorado Springs.

The video shows a blue SUV driven by a man police later identified as Dolces next-door neighbor, James William Hanlon II, 53, pulling up to the curb on Rimwood Drive next to Dolce, the affidavit says.

Youre stupid, Hanlon is heard saying. Say again? Dolce replies.

Hanlon repeats himself, calling Dolce stupid, before a black handgun is pointed at Dolce, held by a hand wearing a blue, disposable glove, the affidavit states.

Several shots are fired, and Dolce falls to the ground and is heard yelling, Oh my god! over and over, the affidavit says. The handgun again comes into view. More shots are fired. The second volley of shots are not on the video. By then, police believe, Dolce was fatally wounded and dropped the phone, the affidavit says.

A car door can be heard closing, followed by the sound of a car speeding away.

A woman who was driving on Rimwood Drive at the time of the killing told police she heard gunshots, then saw a vehicle on the side of the road with a door open, the affidavit says. She saw a man get out of the vehicle and walk toward a person lying on the ground.

She thought the man from the vehicle was going to help the man lying on the ground, but, instead, he raised a gun, pointed it at the persons head and shot him, the affidavit says.

Police identified Hanlon on Thursday as the suspected shooter. Hanlon turned himself into police in the Denver Metro area on Friday night.

Police spokesman Lt. Howard Black called the killing horrific and said investigators would appreciate assistance from the public.

The shooting was reported at 6:24 p.m. Less than an hour earlier, at 5:38 p.m., Hanlon was cited by the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region for having an aggressive animal, the affidavit says.

In an audio recording of Hanlon being cited by Animal Law Enforcement, Hanlon and the animal control officer are heard going back and forth about Hanlons duty to restrain animals and having a dangerous dog.

They also are heard talking about the fence separating Hanlons and Dolces properties, and Hanlon says, Well, maybe he just needs his ass kicked. Maybe that will help. Ive done that before, that will sometimes get your neighbors to back off.

Later, Hanlon is heard saying, Were just gonna kick his ass, thats all were gonna do. Next time I see him, Ill just kick his ass. ... I guarantee you once he gets his ass kicked, that will be the end of it.

Shortly after Hanlon was cited, he told his family he had an emergency work callout and left his house on Rimwood Drive, the affidavit says.

More than a month earlier, on Feb. 19, police were called to Rimwood Drive for an altercation between Dolce and Hanlon, the affidavit says. Dolce told police his neighbor was trying to get him to fight and that there were ongoing issues with the neighbor.

The Gazettes Leslie James contributed to this report.
Grand Old Partisan honors Frances Payne Bolton, born in Cleveland this day of 1885. This social activist focused on improving public health and education. She funded a nursing school at Western Reserve University.

While a member of the Ohio GOP state committee, Bolton was elected in 1940 to succeed her deceased husband in the U.S. House of Representatives. She went on to serve fifteen terms. She rose to become the ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Through her efforts, the State Department established a Bureau for African Affairs.

In 1955, Bolton became the first woman to head a U.S. delegation overseas. Among her many accomplishments was protecting the scenic beauty of Mount Vernon, by sponsoring legislation to purchase the land across the Potomac River. She was delegate to six Republican National Conventions.

Here is a Video Version of this article on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jOSbqZRWwtA

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.

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"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."

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Zach Gibson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Republicans and Democrats clashed over criticism of President Donald Trump's nominee to take over the agency that manages the country's public lands in his confirmation hearing on Thursday.



David Bernhardt, acting secretary of the Interior Department and nominee to take over permanently, is expected to be confirmed by the Republican majority in the Senate but has faced scrutiny and investigations from Democrats. Critics say Bernhardt has too many connections to companies and other entities that are regulated by Interior and have called him a "walking conflict of interest" or "swamp creature," a reference to Trump's claims to "drain the swamp."



The former lawyer and lobbyist for energy companies, has been heavily criticized by Democrats and advocacy groups for his ties to private industry and energy companies regulated by the department. His ethics recusal includes 22 entities.



Protesters seized on reporting that he carries a card listing those recusals and several people wearing frog-man masks sat behind him for at least the first hour of the hearing Thursday.



Sen. Ron Wyden, the first Democrat to question Bernhardt, asked him about documents released by The New York Times this week, that reported that he intervened to prevent the release of a study that would have raised the alarm on the impact of pesticides on endangered species.



Bernhardt said the "news article you're referring to is not even close to the actual story" and that his decisions were based on legitimate legal concerns.



But the senator from Oregon accused Bernhardt of lying and said the documents released by the newspaper show that he inserted himself in the science.



"I think you are so conflicted that if you get confirmed you're going to have one of two choices," Wyden said. "One, you're going to have to disqualify yourself from so many matters, I don't know how you're going to spend your day. Or two, you're going to be making decisions that either directly or indirectly benefit former clients, regularly violating the ethics pledge."



Ethics officials from the Interior Department said Bernhardt did not violate ethics guidelines in another matter reported by The New York Times, involving California water issues, even though he worked for a client involved in the matter, because the issue as a whole was more broad.



One ethics watchdog group, the Campaign Legal Center, is expected to ask the Interior inspector general to look into that ethics approval, saying that the memo was only completed after the Times story was published and questioned the legal argument used to justify it.



Republicans like Sen. Cory Gardner, who has known Bernhardt for years in their home state of Colorado and introduced him at Thursday's hearing, defended the nominee, saying the criticism is purely partisan and he is one of the most experienced nominees they've ever seen.



"To attack the witnesses, this is why good people dont want to serve this country, he said, adding "private and public experience on one side of the aisle seem to be a benefit. Private and public experience on the other, seem to be a detriment."



The Interior Department also faces issues that have been a concern for both sides of the aisle, such as sexual harassment allegations in the National Park Service, billions of dollars of deferred maintenance in national parks and the threats from wildfires on federally managed land in western states.



Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., questioned Bernhardt on what the department is doing to address sexual harassment in the National Park Service, citing her own experience in an "old-boy network" in the military.



"When I see whats gone on in Grand Canyon National Park over the year it is atrocious, it sounds like a bunch of frat boys that can get away with an environment of toxicity and harassment and bullying," she said. "Unfortunately I know a little bit about going into an old-boy network."



She asked Bernhardt about the first female superintendent at Grand Canyon National Park, who recently resigned from her position despite being cleared of allegations of a hostile work environment.



Im really concerned about the message that sends to the harassers and the bulliers, that somehow you can try to derail female progress, you can derail a female leader and maybe get back to business as usual, McSally said.



Bernhardt has also previously worked at Interior and said that he has deep respect for the career staff and their mission. He was previously confirmed as deputy secretary in 2017 and took over in an acting role when former Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned last year.



"To say it was humbling to meet with the president to discuss the departments mission, and to then be entrusted with leading it, is a gigantic understatement," he told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.



"I have an authentic attachment to many of the places managed by the Department of the Interior for the benefit of our own and future generations. I know and love the various bureaus rich histories and their varied cultures. I believe that the people who work at Interior choose to do so because they are committed to serving the public first. I am passionate about the work we do, and I try to make our employees operating environment better by listening to their suggestions for improvement and acting on those suggestions," he said.



The Interior Department manages thousands of acres of federal land around the country, the National Park Service and thousands of federal law officers. Under the Trump administration, the department has worked to implement the president's agenda, which includes expanding energy production on public lands, pursuing more offshore drilling along the coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico, and shrinking national monuments in Utah.



Many of the decisions have been criticized by conservation groups who allege the department is favoring oil and gas companies and other industries that have connections with political appointees like Bernhardt.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
IME group to set up Rs10b cement factory in Nawalparasi East

IME Group, a business conglomerate of Nepal, has announced setting up Rs10 billion cement factory in Chormara of Nawalparasi (East).
It's nearly unfathomable that Joaquin de Luz will be leaving New York. He's been such a fixture in the community for twenty years, showing up everywhere on and off the stage, celebrating both Spain and America like they were one in his heart.

We wish him well in his new role as Artistic Director of Compania Nacional de Danza in the notoriously difficult cultural landscape of Spain.

Jose Martinez has assembled a company of beautiful dancers who excel in POB type programming. Let's hope that soon they will be adding to their Balanchine works of Allegro Brilliante and Who Cares? although it seems that the 40th Anniversary Season has already been planned.

Best of luck to Joaquin. We'll all be watching.




Frustrated students take to streets, burn tyres after SEE exams put off over question leak

Students appearing for the Secondary Education Examinations (SEE) in various districts of Province 2 staged protests on Friday, following the cancellation of the examination of Social Studies subject after a question paper leak.

The agitated students organised protest rallies across the province and burnt tyres at various intersections on Friday in protest of the postponement of the examination. Post Photo
" " Western Australia's war to save wheat pitted veterans-turned-farmers against ... emus. PaulHart/Batareykin/iStock

When World War I soldiers returned home to Australia, the government was eager to show its support for veterans. Take land, the government said. Grow wheat and we'll pay handsomely for it. It was a mission for the bright-eyed and hopeful, for men eager to cultivate their futures as they cultivated the soil in Western Australia.

You could say the plan was flawed from the start. The government had 90,000 hectares (222,395 acres) to go around, but that wasn't enough for the nearly 5,000 veterans who wanted it. Land was doled out as it became available, and the choicest lots were given away first. The remaining veterans got land in Perth, which wasn't ideal for farming. What's more, in the years that followed the initial land handout in the early 1920s, Western Australia combated drought, frost and a significant rabbit infestation. While veterans labored against the elements and the wildlife, mounting financial challenges from the Great Depression threatened to undercut all they'd been promised.

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The Australian government had initially pledged to pay the veterans 4 shillings per bushel of wheat, but the bill tied to that sum was killed in the senate. Another bill proposing 3 shillings per bushel actually passed, but the veterans were never paid. At last, in 1931, the Wheat Bounty Act made good on the government's promise to pay for wheat  at the staggeringly low price of 4  pence per bushel.

Let's put this in perspective. Pence is equivalent to pennies. A shilling is 12 pence. And there are 20 shillings in a pound. In today's market, 1 British pound is worth about $1.50. So, these veterans were being offered tiny sums of money  originally promised a quarter of a pound per bushel and settling for an even smaller fraction. However, by this point, the veterans were desperate to make money off their wheat crops, and the stage was set for a modestly fruitful harvest.

No one could have anticipated what happened next. In the annals of history, perhaps there's no goofier foe than the Australian emu, a flightless bird that stands nearly 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall and weighs close to 100 pounds (45 kilograms). In warfare, it's essential to know the enemy, so let's pause and examine the bird that dogged the veterans.

Emus are solitary, for the most part, says Eric Slovak, bird keeper at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. They do get together in breeding season, but emus would prefer to be by themselves.

The exception is when they're foraging. Slovak likens that behavior to humans going out solo to a fast-food lunch. You're at McDonald's around lots of other people, but you're not socializing. You're just there for the food.

OK, so they're big, solitary, hungry birds. Not much of a threat, right? Multiply that emu you're envisioning by 20,000  that's how many descended upon Western Australia in 1932. Until 1922, emus were a protected species; after that time, they were reclassified as vermin. They'll eat anything they can get their mouths on without hunting, Slovak says. They're grazers. They like nuts and berries, baby grasses. Wheat? Yeah, they'll eat that. Faced with a seemingly endless buffet of it, the opportunistic birds homed in on the veterans' plots.

Beaten down by weather and a volatile financial market, the veterans leaned hard on the government. Help us, they implored. Maj. G.P.W. Meredith led a military offensive against the emus, but there were a few conditions. The veterans had to foot the bill for the ammunition (Lewis machine guns were used in emu combat), and they had to provide food and lodging for the men assigned to this curious mission. As a sidenote, a cinematographer from Fox Movietone accompanied the military to film the emu effort. Historians assume the footage would've been used in propaganda films to illustrate how the government was aiding its veterans  but (spoiler alert) the mission didn't go exactly as planned.

Armed with the knowledge that a slingshot can take down an ordinary bird, you'd probably hazard a guess that a machine gun could wipe out the emus easily. But you'd be wrong. If they're shot at, they're not going to run with any concrete direction. They just kind of spaz out, Slovak says. Emus are made to run. Their legs, head and neck move with elegant fluidity while their bodies stay parallel to the ground. The body looks like a wave. The legs go to the left, the head goes to the right. And they all run in different directions, like dropped marbles, Slovak explains.

Meredith and his men couldn't get a straight shot at the emus, who stayed out of range of the machine guns, even when enterprising veterans suggested putting them on vehicles and pursuing the birds as they ran. The military wasted a ton of ammunition (to be exact, of the 10,000 rounds brought for the mission, 2,500 were used to kill just 200 birds), and not only did the emus evade the troops, they destroyed even more farmland in the process. The ground [beneath them] gets torn up because of how powerful their legs are when they hit the [soil], Slovak says.

The veterans were dispirited, and their land was devastated. Meredith had a lot to answer for. Why had so much ammunition been wasted? And was the effort even humane? Then there was the matter of money. The veterans promised to pay for the ammo, but the mission ultimately failed. Could the sum be forgiven?

This example of ridiculous history can't be tied up conclusively with a tidy bow, and some details, such as who was ultimately held responsible for the cost of ammunition, are unclear. We do know that the veterans learned painfully from past performance that rifles, not machine guns, were the best way to handle nuisance emus. They continued their war in 1:1 battle  veteran against bird  and the Australian government later placed a bounty on emus to control the population. And, finally, we also suspect that the Fox cinematographer got some epic b-roll while on location.

Now Thats Cool Emus were pulled off Australias protected species list in 1922, and that was perfect timing for veterans-turned-farmers who staged war against these giant birds when they raided their wheat fields. In a really strange battle of man with machine gun vs. giant bird, the giant bird won.
" " Guair Falls, pictured here in December 1978, was submerged after the construction of Itaipu Dam. Mario Cesar Mendona Gomes/Flickr

Some pretty good things happened in the '80s. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" became an anthem, "Back to the Future" hit the big screen and every kid toted a Trapper Keeper to the first day of school.

" " A circa-1871 map of Guair Falls, taken from the book "A New Gateway to the Heart of South America," by William Alfred Reid. Archive.org

But for every awesome 1980s hit like Madonna, Donkey Kong or the Cabbage Patch Kids, there was a cringe-worthy balance. Mile-high bangs, mullets and bad perms come to mind. Oh, and that one time we humans erased one of the biggest waterfalls on the planet. Just got rid of it! There was that, too.

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At the dawn of the '80s as it had been for millennia before, South America was home to Guaira Falls. The massive cascade on the border of Paraguay and Brazil was actually a series of powerful waterfalls that produced the greatest volume of falling water in the world.

(Admittedly, The Democratic Republic of Congo's Boyoma Falls, a series of extremely wide but very low and not-nearly-as-dramatic falls, the tallest of which drops only 16 feet (5 meters, might quibble with that fact.)

To understand how the falls were laid out, check out this map of the site taken from the 1871 book "A New Gateway to the Heart of South America." The amount of mist generated by Guaira Falls created a perpetual rainbow when viewed from certain angles. Although there were a total of 18 waterfalls, the site's alternative moniker  Seven Falls  was a nod to seven of its most voluminous waterfalls. The YouTube user-made video below compiles a number of vintage photos of the waterfalls:

The falls were formed by the Parana River, which journeyed through the Maracaju/Mbaracuyu Mountains before entering increasingly narrow canyon walls, eventually encountering a funnel just 200 to 1,250 feet (61 to 381 meters) wide before churning over a precipice.

As the water dropped 375 feet (114 meters), the deafening noise could be heard at least 20 miles (32 kilometers) away. That's not surprising, considering Guaira Falls was estimated to have twice the flow rate of Niagara Falls on the U.S./Canada border.

Guaira Falls, which was once a major tourist attraction along the border of Brazil and Paraguay, is now a placid lake behind a hydroelectric dam. The falls were submerged when the 4.8-mile Itaipu Dam was built downriver. The river, the seventh-largest in the world, was diverted starting in 1978. Approximately 10,000 families living near the shore of the river had to relocate.

On Oct. 13, 1982, the multi-phase project reached the point at which the dam was closed, allowing the Parana River to flood Guaira Falls. The first electricity was generated beginning in 1984, with the full dam completed in 1991. The Itaipu Dam now provides 75 percent of the electricity used by Paraguay and about 25 percent of the electricity in Brazil  in total, enough to power the state of California.

" " A view of the Itaipu Dam soon after its 1982 construction, with the spillway in the foreground. Bettmann/CORBIS

The Itaipu dam site, located only 12.5 mile (20 kilometers) from the popular Igauzu Falls, remains a tourist attraction, though more as an icon of industry. Think one day we could just shut off the dam and restore the drowned falls? That's not possible, as the falls' rock face was dynamited during the damming process, and the original geological structures that shaped the falls no longer exist.

In 2014, more than 856,000 people visited the dam, some paying homage not to the massive power plant, but to the site's former natural wonder.

Now That's Tragic On Jan. 18, 1982, at least 40 people died when a footbridge 50 feet (15.2 meters) above Guaira Falls failed, plunging them into swiftly moving waters. The tragedy occurred nine months before the falls were flooded at a location once called one of "Brazil's best-known tourist attractions."
" " Author and philosopher Ayn Rand stands in front of the Grand Central building, midtown Manhattan, in 1957. New York Times Co./Getty Images

We all should be a lot more selfish. That was one of author Ayn (rhymes with "mine") Rand's credos. She was also famous for saying we are not, after all, our brother's keeper. And money isn't the root of all evil  but altruism might be. These brief insights into Rand's thoughts and personality make it easy to see why she is either reviled or worshipped by so many. In a recent episode of Part-Time Genius, co-hosts Will Pearson and Mangesh (Mango) Hattikudur look at why Ayn Rand is a political rock star.

Will and Mango point out that Rand's fans include Alan Greenspan, the band Rush and Billie Jean King, not to mention Paul Ryan and members of the Tea Party movement. Her books often appear on readers' lists of the ones that have most influenced them.

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Rand, who died in 1982, is famous for writing the best-selling novels "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged." Both are intellectual and political tomes. She also created a philosophy she dubbed "objectivism," which as Will notes, says, "Man is a heroic being whose own happiness is the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity and reason as his only absolute. Selfish behavior is moral behavior."

Rand was born Alisa Rosenbaum in 1905 in St. Petersburg, Russia to a wealthy family that lost everything in the Russian Revolution. As a young woman she came to the United States, where she eventually made a name as a novelist, philosopher, playwright and screenwriter. Her in-your-face words and actions pleased some, but made others squirm.

Rand preached that the only goal of government was to protect individual rights. But she did not like to be classified as a conservative or a libertarian. She championed atheism and abortion rights, and even had an open marriage. Ridiculously sure of her writing, she refused to be edited. Ridiculously sure of her ideas, she also made a lot of divisive statements.

"In her address to the graduating class at West Point in the '70s, she said, of Native Americans, 'They had no right to a country merely because they were born here and then acted as savages. The white man did not conquer this country,'" Mango says.

Later, Rand defended this statement, saying whenever a superior technology meets an inferior one, that society has the right to prevail. She insisted this was not a racist argument.

For a while, with the birth of the Tea Party movement, conservatives often cited Rand, and even characters in her novels, because of their pro-capitalist, limited-government views. But it was difficult to ignore her stances on religion, abortion and marriage, nor to reject her lack of compassion. So many instead began simply saying Rand had had a positive influence on them because she got them thinking about the world.

And that may be why Rand and her novels continue to resonate with people over the decades. While scholars and critics in general never took her that seriously, " ... ignoring her clearly is a mistake," says Mango. "Millions of people intensely identify with her stories ... She got a whole world of people to rethink their values, and also maybe believe in themselves."

Learn more about Ayn Rand in "A Companion to Ayn Rand (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy)" by Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri. HowStuffWorks picks related titles based on books we think you'll like. Should you choose to buy one, we'll receive a portion of the sale.

Now that's Strange Ayn Rand was paranoid about losing manuscripts. When she was penning "Atlas Shrugged," Rand would often put the text in a briefcase, then handcuff it to her husband when they went out to eat. She was also a big fan of Morris the Cat, finicky star of those '70s commercials for 9-Lives cat food.
The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoards Dairyman.

Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Inc. celebrated its 99th year of operation and reported that the organization is focused on the future and maximizing value for its current members and the next generation of members.

President Matt Hoff, recognized that 2018 was a long, hard year for the membership. Between the low milk prices, nonexistent margins, and the unusually wet weather, the challenges dairy farmers have faced in 2018 really took a toll on our region.

The cooperative saw a drop in total revenue, declining 8 percent from 2017. Much of that decrease can be attributed to lower milk prices.

Hoff remarked that, the tide is turning for our member and the cooperative. Markets are starting to firm up, and the milk price outlook is more optimistic than it was a year ago. Maryland & Virginia has continued the positive momentum of being our own largest customer for the second year in a row, and were running more of our member milk through our own plants.

He reported that the Board and Management are focused on the future sustainability of the cooperative, and how to maximize value to the cooperatives farmer owners. He shared that the co-op must focus resources on innovation, and look at other products, other possibilities that can be accomplished within the organizations existing plant structure.

On the farm side, Hoff reminded the membership that they must supply the full package for the co-ops customers. Today its more than just delivering high quality milk. Its delivering milk from farms that care for their animals, the environment and their employees. And we have to be able to back it up, said Hoff.

CEO Jay Bryant echoed Hoffs sentiments about the challenging year members and the industry faced in 2018. He reported that the co-op made key investments into its facilities to keep them operating at a high level. In addition, he shared that at a time when fluid sales are down nationally, Maryland & Virginias fluid processing facilities are running more volumes thanks to the co-ops acquisition of new customers and with existing key customers who are growing their business with Maryland & Virginia.

Bryant introduced new key leadership among the co-ops executive team, including Jon Cowell as the co-ops new Chief Financial Officer, and Lindsay Reames as Director of Sustainability & External Relations.

The membership in attendance voted in six directors to each fulfill a three-year term on the Board of Directors. The newly elected directors include:

Jim Biddle, Williamsburg, Pennsylvania

David Hunsberger, Mifflintown, Pennsylvania

Gary Truckenmiller, Watsontown, Pennsylvania

Ben Flahart, Colora, Maryland

Ricky Talley, Olin, North Carolina

Connie Finton, New Philadelphia, Ohio

Hoff recognized retiring directors Monk Sanford of Orange, Virginia and Phyllis Kilby of Colora, Maryland for their collective 23 years of service on the Board. With 20 years of service, Monk was active on a number of committees including the Executive Committee and a past-chair of the Finance Committee. Phyllis most recently served as the chair of the Bylaws and Territory committee, and she was on Auditing & Compliance committee as well as the Human Resources & Retirement Benefits committee.

The Board of Directors held its annual reorganization meeting immediately after the Annual Meeting, and the following directors and staff have been elected to officer positions for the coming year:

President - Matt Hoff, New Windsor, Maryland

First Vice President - Kevin Satterwhite, Newberry, South Carolina

Second Vice President - David Pool, Robesonia, Pennsylvania

Secretary & Treasurer - Jay Bryant, Reston, Virginia

Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative is a community of dairy farm families passionate about cultivating dairy goodness and bottling fresh Maola brand milk and dairy products. Founded in 1920, the cooperatives farmers produce three billion pounds of milk a year for consumers and manufacturers worldwide. Our dairy farm families take pride in creating dairy products people crave, operating with passion and integrity, responsibly caring for our resources and providing a rewarding livelihood for our farmers and employees.
Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years.
The Hope College Wind Ensemble and Faculty and Student Collaborative Ensemble will perform in combination on Monday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m., in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

Preceding the concert, at 7 p.m., Gabe Southard, who directs both ensembles, will give a talk featuring background on the program.

The combined ensembles will perform a trilogy of works by Joseph Schwantner including From a Dark Millennium, In Evenings Stillness and The Mountain Rising Nowhere. The group will also perform Festive Overture, by Dmitri Schostakovich, and When Jesus Wept, by William Shuman.

Southard is an associate professor at Hope, where he also conducts the Concert Band, and the Faculty and Student Collaborative Ensemble. He completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts in conducting at Michigan State University and has performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Lucca, Italy, Opera Orchestra, as well as a number of community orchestras.

The Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts is located at 221 Columbia Ave., between Ninth and 10th streets.
Houston's favorite gymnast is the chief impact officer on a California-based tech company that's raised $462M. Photo via getcerebral.com
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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
National Accreditation Board for Hospitals certifies Mediciti Hospital

Nepal Mediciti Hospital has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers.
Nepal International Trade Fair opens in Kathmandu

The 8th Nepal International Trade Fair 2019 kicked off on Thursday at Exhibition Hall, Bhrikutimandap.
As a child, every one of us has invented the perfect version of munching on the moreish delicacy  biscuits. Maybe its just me! Today, we have the luxury of choosing a biscuit from a wide variety that tingles our taste buds. But when they came into existence eons ago in the form of Rusk (or stone bread as they were called) to satiate the carbohydrate needs of sailors & soldiers, biscuits had nothing but flour and water. They gradually evolved into a sponge cake that was aerated with eggs and dried-out in the oven again, thereby earned the name  biscuit which means baked twice in French. Unsurprisingly, these crumbly delights relished by all age groups unanimously, eventually emerged into one of the iconic snacks.Having a tight grip on the throne of highest selling snack, biscuits have been conquering more and more space in our diets in the form of finger food for toddlers, snack to welcome guests or to curb the appetite till the next meal. Now, imagine tasting this unanimously adored food hybridized with the perfect blend of Indian spices, which have enthralled a special place in the hearts of people from all around the world with their unique flavor and the nutritional attributes. Mastering this art is what has enabled Frontier Biscuit Factory Pvt. Ltd. to make someof the worlds most delicious biscuits and lead the chart in the niche eggless premium biscuits industry in India since 1921 with its path breaking innovations. Manifesting its innovative spirit to roll-out self-developed flavours in tandem with the evolving taste of its customers, is its strong portfolio boasting of more than 45 varieties of lip-smacking eggless premium biscuits that come in different types of packaging  a humungous range that no other company has been able to offer under one roof.Now, imagine noshing such a guilt-free food hybridized with the perfect blend of Indian spices, which carries nutritional & medicinal attributes besides adding unique flavour. Mastering this art is what has enabled Frontier Biscuit Factory Pvt. Ltd. to make some of the worlds most delicious biscuits and lead the chart in this niche eggless premium biscuits industry in India since 1921 with its path-breaking innovations. Manifesting its innovative spirit to roll-out self-developed flavours in tandem with the evolving taste of its customers is its strong portfolio boasting of more than 45 varieties of lip-smacking eggless premium biscuits that come in different types of packaging  a humungous range that no other company has been able to offer under one roof.With a strong record spanning nearly a century, Frontier has been handcrafting rich & tender products that are available at its exclusive Frontier Outlets country wide. These products are not limited to mouth-watering assortments of biscuits such as Kaju-Pista Biscuit, Coconut Biscuit, Atta Biscuit, Fruit-Kaju Biscuit and Butter-Kaju Biscuit to, name a few, but also include a variety of Khatai (Mango Khatai, Badam Khatai, Coco Pista Khatai, Besan Khatai, and so on) and Rusk (Saunf, Fruit Cake Rusk, Suji Rusk, Milk Rusk, and more).Not one to cut back on the innovation front, Frontier never lets its finger slip-off from the market pulse and launches new flavours periodically that appeals to the shifting taste of the market. As evidence look no further than its new range of scrumptious yet nutritious biscuits including Soya

Biscuit, Cornflakes Biscuit, Multi Grain Biscuit, Oats Biscuit, Almond Biscotti, and more. The company has been satiating the needs of the ever-growing demography of health-conscious people.



Frontier's Shubh Shagun package is designed to make a marvelous occasion even more splendid with a special gift. Available in the variants of Kaju-Pista Biscuits and Dry Fruit Biscuits, the package is filled with the choicest of ingredients and is crafted with love that adds a touch of magic to every occasion. Frontiers Shubh Shagun package can be gifted to express your care for your loved ones, be it a marriage, birthday, mundan or grehpravesh.



"With a strong record spanning nearly a century, Frontier has been handcrafting rich and tender products that are available at its exclusive Frontier Outlets countrywide"



Ascertaining Quality & Hygiene

Hard-bent on amplifying its wattage to glow increasingly brighter, Frontier provides and produces the best quality products by using the best possible raw materials available in the market. Frontier has always been keen on obtaining certificates from departments like FSSAI, Labour, ESIC, Provident Fund and others on a regular basis. The company also attained ISO 22000 in 2010, which demanded the modificationof its factories (installation of more air-ducts in its units) and introduction of new inventory measuring systems. For Frontier, compliance to regulatory norms is not just about ascertaining superior quality, but also plays a vital role in making the process more professional and standardized, proclaims Rajan Sethi, Chief  Business Development.



Just a decade ago, the entire process of producing biscuits was manual at Frontier, be it mixing, baking or cutting. Albeit it currently utilizes mixers, grinders, and ovens at its units, cutting & shaping are still done manually. Since these are handmade products, Frontier vests utmost importance on periodically training its staff to maintain hygiene, besides frequently conducting training programs to its sales staff at the counter.



Emerging Above with Determination

The company that today employs over 400 people across two manufacturing units at Delhi & Haryana, corporate office and warehouse in Delhi and 62 exclusive outlets in seven states and is recognized as a leading manufacturer of Eggless Premium Biscuits in the North Indian region was just a hole in a wall biscuit bakery shop that didnt even had a name, when Mangal Sain laid its cornerstone in 1921. When he shifted the business to Delhi from Hoti Mardan (now in West Pakistan) in 1947 post partition with his 17-year-old son Munshi Ram Sethi, they merely had a couple of workers in a small production unit and barely knew six biscuit recipes. This was before 1970s, when its biscuits were not consumed widely. Back then, the batches were made from the raw materials provided by customers and Frontier was paid roughly 50 paise per kg for the labour of baking the biscuits.



The company was winning more and more hearts with a steadily increasing demand, until the mid-1970s. During that period, Frontier suffered turbulence, since the governments pollution control measures banned all the bakeries from baking in their premises in the colonies. Moving its manufacturing unit to Lawrence Road Industrial Area took a marked toll on Frontiers production and profits, which couldnt rise above 10 percent for quite some time. These were dark days, when raw materials had to be procured from far away almost every day. Despite the hardships and trickling earnings, Munshi Ram Sethi was determined to push ahead with a strengthened resolve. He eventually managed to emerge above these challenges with his uncompromising eye for quality and innovation. He decided to
With that in mind, we wanted to talk a little bit about the massacre of MEK members and how the perpetrators have never been held accountable.

The massacre

In the summer of 1988, then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa calling for the execution of the MEK because he was worried that they would inspire the people to rise up against him and overthrow the Regime.

The MEK members were already serving or had already completed prison sentences for their peaceful political activism, but were retried in five-minute court sessions with no option to prevent a defence. The only way to evade the noose was to repent their political beliefs and volunteer to remove landmines from the area between Iran and Iraq.

The MEK members were hanged en-masse and buried in secret mass graves, which leaves the exact number of MEK members killed unknown. In subsequent years, the Regime has tried to destroy these mass graves to cover up the massacre, which has caused Amnesty International to urge the UN to launch an investigation.

Raisis involvement

At the time Raisi was the Tehran prosecutor, having risen quickly through the ranks because of his suppression of MEK members.

He was appointed to the Tehran Death Commission, alongside Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, the Regimes Minister of Justice until 2017, and sentenced thousands of people to their deaths after meaningless show trials.

We know this because in 2016, an audio recording of former second-in-command of the Iranian Regime, Hossein Ali Montarezi, admonishing the Tehran Death Commission for the massacre of the MEK was released. In it, he addresses both men specifically, while confirming and condemning the massacre.

Defending the massacre of MEK members

Prior to this recording, the Regime had denied the massacre, but since they have focused on justifying it.

Pour Mohammadi openly stated that he was proud to carry out Gods command of death and while he was replaced as Justice Minister in 2017, President Rouhani appointed another former death commission member, Alireza Avaie, in his place.

Tahar Boumedra, the former chief of the human rights office of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), said: These and other high-profile appointments have sent the clear message that the regime stands by its past acts of violent oppression and has no interest in rehabilitating its image.

Therefore, the Regime cannot be trusted to carry out a full and impartial investigation into the MEK massacre and this should be passed to the UN.

What does Raisis appointment mean for the MEK today?

It is very worrying because it implies that the Regime is planning a more severe crackdown against the MEK, who are currently leading the largest ever anti-regime protest movement.

Even so, it is unlikely that the MEK will be deterred. The MEK will fight on until Iran is free.
Maryam Rajavi criticised the mullahs for preventing aid workers and relief agencies from getting to the scene, but especially for their use of the suppressive the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Bassij paramilitary force to quell protests from legitimately angry people.

She said: Your anger at the mullahs theocracy has terrified the entire regime as you recognize them as culprits of so much destruction, death and sorrow. You are right when you say that the flash floods have driven the mullahs to the end of the line. And you are right when you say the floods are the consequence of the mullahs overwhelming corruption and crimes.

Maryam Rajavi explained that this natural disaster, as with all others before it, show how the mullahs regime is literally killing people. If the mullahs did not ignore safety regulations and syphon off money for construction projects, then fewer people would live in properties that cannot withstand floods, earthquakes, etc. If they did not divert natural resources, the landscape would not give way so easily.

After all, Shiraz was only besieged by rain for ten minutes. That should not have killed anybody.

Maryam Rajavi said: The corrupt mullahs have inflicted this catastrophe on Shiraz and its valiant people. They destroyed the channel which used to lead flood waters out. In the dry seasonal river bed beside Darvazeh Quran, they built urban facilities to gain huge profits for themselves and their accomplice.

And that is far from the only place that this happened. In Golestan Province, the Regime failed to dredge the Gorgan River or drain the farms and destroyed vast parts of the forests and pastures. Elsewhere, the Regime has constructed buildings on the edge of rivers or blocked the natural paths of rivers, which damaged river banks, seashores, foothills of mountains, and jungles.

Maryam Rajavi said: The clerical regime is truly an occupier regime.

Amid the disastrous flood and such vast devastation, there is not much presence of aid workers and relief agencies. Instead, the mullahs have dispatched the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Bassij paramilitary force to quell the outbreak of protests.

She highlighted that Shiraz needs aid for the injured and help to clear the rubble, but rather than send emergency responders, the Regime is sending the Minister of Intelligence and his security apparatus to manage the people rather than the problem.

Maryam Rajavi said: This is the end of the road for a regime that has poured the wealth of Iranian people down the throat of Bashar Assad, or has spent it for the Revolutionary Guards and Bassij. From our peoples wealth, it has been funding terrorism and nuclear and missile projects. And otherwise, the regimes corrupt leaders and officials have robbed and plundered our nation.

In our next piece, we will discuss Maryam Rajavis advice for the people of Iran.
The AFP report explains that Chabahar is partially exempt from the sanctions that were re-imposed after the US withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The presence of exemptions is primarily due to the vital role that Chabahar plays in facilitating imports to and exports from Afghanistan, which is landlocked and remains a sphere of questionable American influence in the long-lasting aftermath of the 2001 US invasion. As such, Iran has reportedly invested one billion dollars in the development of the port, but it remains to be seen how quickly the returns on that investment will grow.

So far, the result has arguably been disappointing for the Iranian government. Officials have attempted to put a positive spin on the existing figures, but loadings at Chabahar still remain limited to roughly a quarter of the ports capacity. This is no doubt attributable in large part to the vigorous enforcement of re-imposed US sanctions and the even more pro-active efforts by international businesses to withdraw from the Iranian market in anticipation of sanctions that may still be on their way.

The existing sanctions are by no means limited to the oil industry, but this has certainly been the focus because of Irans large-scale dependence on that resource. And the extent of the US restrictions on that industry are in some sense a predictor of its willingness to isolate other aspects of the Iranian economy, with global exemptions being defined only for humanitarian goods and medicines.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has certainly not been very restrained in urging the international community to sever ties with Iran. Hellenic Shipping News reports that the White House issued new warnings on Monday in the wake of reports that a handful of vessels had made illicit deliveries to Iran ally Syria and had participated in the transfer of oil off of Iranian tankers in an apparent effort to conceal the source of purchased goods. The relevant vessels were listed by name and the Treasury Department declared that repetition of sanctions-busting behavior could trigger severe consequences.

Such statements showcase the US governments willingness to use pressure and intimidation, potentially even targeting its allies, as a means to prevent Iran from receiving significant economic benefits from partners in sanctions-evasion techniques, whether those techniques are legal or illegal. But other reports point to simultaneous efforts by the US and its allies to build consensus on the need to confront Iran, and more generally to expand regional influence in order to encourage compliance and bolster confidence in the reach of American enforcement.

Along those lines, Reuters reported on Monday that the US had reached an agreement with the Arabian nation of Oman, providing reliable American access to the ports of Duqm and Salalah. As well as underscoring American friendship with what has generally been considered an especially neutral country in the region, the deal can be expected to the US less reliant on the Strait of Hormuz, which passes between Iran and the United Arab Emirates and which Iran has repeatedly threatened to blockade in the event that the US attempts to obstruct Iranian oil exports.

Insofar as the new agreement reaffirms the commitment of both countries to promoting mutual security goals, according to the US embassy in Oman, it will presumably make Irans threats regarding the Strait of Hormuz even less credible than they already are. And this in turn may make Irans regional and international trading partners less willing to defy American pressure and gamble on the failure of the US to call Irans bluff.

Even so, the agreement with Oman is only one aspect of an ongoing competition for regional influence between Iran and the US. And that conflict has far more prominent and more strategically important battlegrounds. Among these, as reference above, is Afghanistan, where Iran has held high-level talks with the Taliban over the past two years. Though a Shiite theocracy itself, the Islamic Republic has a long history of partnering with Sunni militant groups like the Taliban, in the interest of exploiting mutual opposition to Western influence.

But a shared Shiite majority in Iran and Iraq has given the Iranian regime more straightforward mechanisms for expanding its influence there, just beyond its Western border. This was made apparent by the proliferation of Shiite paramilitary proxies during the war against ISIL. And this Iraqi phenomenon was mirrored even farther to the west in Syria, during the eight-year civil war in which ISIL was one of multiple combatants.

Irans commitment to expanding upon this influence has been highlighted in both Iranian and international media. And in both venues, it has often been highlighted with specific reference to countering American influence and undermining Western interests in the region. On Wednesday, Irans government-linked Fars News Agency reiterated Tehrans commitment to playing a leading role in the reconstruction of Iraq, in the wake of the visit to the country by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier in March.

The Fars report quoted Iraj Masjedi, the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, as saying, Today, we are witnessing the closest relations between the two countries. This historic opportunity can be a turning point in the relations between the two countries.

As to what that turning point would signify, many experts on regional affairs have described the Islamic Republic as striving to unite much of the world beneath its own banner. Indeed, Iranian officials have credited Tehran with already securing control over the capitals of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. But political elements within the affected countries are pushing back against this effort to expand Iranian control over the region, and some of those elements might still be exploited by the United States as it leads an international effort to contain Irans influence.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported upon Irans growing effort to cement its influence in Syria, but the report pointed to some Syrian politicians aversion to that effort, with one of them observing of Irans overall foreign policy goals, The goal is to re-create the Persian empire.
While the NCRI released a statement saying that the actual death toll was much higher, but the Regime was hiding the true number because they feared inciting the anger of the people. In essence, the Regimes deception makes a mockery of those who have died.

The situation has become even more deadly because the mullahs have delayed aid workers or organisations from getting to the area to help those trapped or living in the flood path. Theyve even prevented people in many cities, especially Shiraz, from approaching hospitals by using the repressive forces to block the doors.

This allows the Regime to claim that there are fewer injured or ill victims and have fewer recorded deaths as a result of the flood. This should not be confused with fewer victims or deaths.

Even when local officials report figures, the Regime is quick to deny them. On March 22, the chief coroner of Mazandaran announced five deaths and a missing person in the province, while the official news agency reported the deaths of two children in Golestan province. This followed on from an announcement by the Northern Khorasan Chief of Police on March 19 that two people had died. All reports were dismissed by the mullahs.

Even worse is that a significant number of people in different cities have disappeared and their fate is unknown. Eyewitnesses say that some victims bodies are being left in the mud because the Regime is taking no effective action to find them, so the local people are forced to try and recover the victims themselves without the proper safety equipment.

Rajavi gave her condolences to the victims and their families while calling on ordinary Iranians, especially young people, to cooperate nationally to save people in flood-stricken areas, locate the missing, and help the injured. She advised that the only way to overcome the effects of a devastating flood is to create popular councils in each city, neighbourhood and village to confront the flood and its catastrophic consequences.

Rajavi emphasized that the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij, the army and the government apparatus that stole from the Iranian people should be made available to repair the destructions themselves and to prevent the spread of destruction.
Nepali climbers sets sights at maiden ascent of Gyalzen Peak

While throngs of adventure seekers will be crowding the Everest region to try to scale the highest mountains in the world during this spring season, two groups of Nepali mountaineers will be taking the route less travelled to Jugal Himal in the northeast of Kathmandu.
Sanjeeb Phuyal is the online editor for The Kathmandu Post. He oversees breaking news reports on the web and produces content for The Post's digital platforms.
Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.
Thank you for responding to this Weblog (blog). We wish to maintain a high level of integrity and responsibility among our participants. In the spirit of camaraderie of the blogsphere, interested parties are welcomed to reproduce or quote materials published in this weblog WITH THE CONDITION that they are credited to akadirjasin.blogspot.com/akadirjasin.com to avoid misunderstanding.Thank you.
- The Department of Foreign Affairs cited that at least 48 Filipinos are on death row in Malaysia

- However, Rep. Lito Atienza appealed and asked the Malaysian government to downgrade the punishment

- Atienza believes that the death penalty is cruel and inhuman

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Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza urged the Malaysian government to spare the lives of 48 overseas Filipino workers on death row. KAMI learned that the Filipinos are facing the death penalty for allegedly committing 11 offenses under Malaysian laws.

In a report by the Philippine Star (author Delon Porcalla), Malaysia usually does the death penalty by hanging. However, Atienza asks the Malaysian government to lower the punishment to imprisonment instead.

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In light of Malaysias decision to scrap the mandatory death sentence for several offenses, we are appealing for the lives of Filipinos on death row to be spared, Atienza said.

The commutation of death sentence does not mean that the convicts are not getting punished. They are still getting penalized with harsh prison terms. The death penalty is cruel and inhuman punishment that flouts the right to life, he added.

According to a report by the Manila Bulletin (author Ben Rosario), Atienza said that the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that there are at least 48 Filipinos on death row.

In Malaysia, crimes such as terrorist acts, murder, rape resulting in murder, gang-robbery with murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping to murder, and hostage-taking resulting in death are all punished by the death penalty.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

Tricky Questions: What Is The Tagalog Of Lighthouse? We're back on the streets of Metro Manila to ask tough and tricky questions to ordinary citizens! And as expected, their answers are out of this world! Check out all of our exciting videos  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: Kami.com.ph
- Pinoy Big Brother: Otso adult big 4 was already announced on March 27

- The result created buzz on social media and netizens also have mixed reactions

- Some celebrities have congratulated the housemates who are part of the big 4

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Pinoy Big Brother: Otso adult big 4 were already revealed last Wednesday, March 27.

KAMI learned that the result elicited mixed reactions from netizens, and some celebrities have congratulated the housemates including Lou Yanong, Fumiya Sankai, Andre Brouillette, and Yamyam Gucong.

The hosts of PBB such as Alex Gonzaga and Bianca Gonzales congratulated the Team LAYF on Twitter.

The PBB housemates from season 1 like Nene Tamayo and Say Alonzo, who are also known for being Lou's supporters, expressed their joy for the big 4.

Jelay Pilones, part of the PBB: Otso teen big 4 has also expressed her happiness for Team LAYF.

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KAMI previously reported about the announcement of Pinoy Big Brother: Otso adult big 4.

PBB: Otso is the eighth season of the famous reality program on ABS-CBN.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

Bea Alonzo reveals how ghosts intervened in the process of the "Eerie" movie shooting. Spooky and exciting moments first-hand, from one of the greatest movie stars in Philippines! Check out all of our exciting videos  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: Kami.com.ph
- Vic Sotto, his wife Pauleen Luna-Sotto, and their daughter Tali went to Japan together

- Photos and a video of their playtime in Japan were uploaded online

- The cute baby showed off her developing motor skills and her independence in the viral posts

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Vic Sotto and his wife Pauleen Luna-Sotto took their super cute baby Tali Sotto to Japan for a nice vacation.

KAMI learned that photos and a video of their sweet bonding moments in Japan have surfaced on social media.

The photos show the celebrity baby being independent  walking on her own around a public playground and trying out the slide.

Both Vic and Pauleen seemed to be very proud of their daughters developing motor skills and independence.

Her fans and followers will surely enjoy every step of progress for Tali as she grows older! Hopefully, her parents will continue to share photos and videos of the adorable child!

Netizens found the viral posts to be extremely cute and heartwarming:

Para na syang bola sa suot nyang jacket

Wooow! It seems that Tali is enjoying to play in a big playground. ...have a nice time kiddo!!

Gusto agad maging independent yan kc confident na sya nakapaglakad mag isa.

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KAMI reported earlier that baby Tali already knows how to fill in the blanks when her mommy is country from one to 10.

Vic and Pauleen are both hosts of Eat Bulaga, the longest noontime variety program in the Philippines. Tali Sotto is now one of the most popular celebrity babies in the country today, thanks to her viral social media photos and videos.

POPULAR: Read more news about Tali Sotto!

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

Tricky Questions: What Is The Tagalog Of Lighthouse? We're back on the streets of Metro Manila to ask tough and tricky questions to ordinary citizens! And as expected, their answers are out of this world! Check out all of our exciting videos  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: Kami.com.ph
Nepali currency is beautiful, but some say its time for a redesign

Despite the fact that Nepali notes often show up on lists of the worlds most beautiful currencies, the aesthetic choices that led to the current look of the notes are ambiguous.
SEE science test in State 2 rescheduled for April 5 after question paper leak

Science exam scheduled on Thursday under the ongoing Secondary Education Examination (SEE) has been cancelled in all eight districts of Province 2 after a question paper leak.
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When Jordan Peele asked Michael Abels to compose the score for his film Get Out, Abels had never scored a feature film before. But he didn't hesitate.

"I've regarded myself as someone who has this capability, who has not had the opportunity to do it," Abels told KPCC's The Frame. "So I didn't feel unqualified. I felt like I was really raw, but I honestly felt I was up to the challenge."

Abels had been composing music since he was a kid and wanted to be a film composer right out of college (he graduated from USC in 1984). He scored some commercials, and although the opportunities for film work never came, he kept composing -- for orchestras, smaller ensembles and choirs -- and became the director of music at New Roads, a private K-12 school in Santa Monica.

That's where Abels was working when Peele came across a YouTube video of "Urban Legends," a piece that Abels had composed for string quartet and orchestra.

"It's in no way music for a horror or suspense film," Abels says. "But it really spoke to Jordan, so that made me feel confident that I could really stretch myself creatively and find an open ear in him. That he would be interested in me trying to explore my own art as well as help him tell his story."

When it came to telling the story of Us, about a family that's terrorized by their doppelgangers, Peele had some ideas for Abels to use as a jumping-off point. For "Anthem," the main title track, Peele asked him to start with children's voices.

While the words you hear in "Anthem" may sound vaguely like Latin, Abels says they're really just gibberish. That's partially because Peele didn't want the music in Us to sound like it was from any one culture-- and also because the children's voices helped to create a sense of unease.

"What's scary is the unknown," Abels says. "In music, if there's a sound you can't place, but it just sounds unsettling, then that's what's going to strike fear and terror into you."

Another track that Abels says he had a lot of fun creating was "Femme Fatale."

Without giving too much away about the scene, Abels says, "there is a character who's making herself beautiful, in a way only Jordan Peele could dream up."

The music starts off sounding like it's from an old Hollywood melodrama or an Audrey Hepburn film, but quickly turns into what Abels describes as a "twisted, rotting, hopeless take on the same idea."

In a later scene, involving Lupita Nyong'o's dual characters -- Adelaide and Red -- Abels gets to put his own spin on a song we hear early in the film, Luniz's "I Got 5 On It." You can see how the track first appears in the trailer:

In Abels' version, called "Pas De Deux," the silent pauses between the baseline and the melody are drawn out to create a sort of chilling effect.

"The fact that you know it's coming but you don't know when," Abels says, "that's what makes it scary."

Abels' next film, See You Yesterday (directed by Stefon Bristol), has given him a bit of a break from scoring horror. Abels describes it as Do the Right Thing meets Back to the Future.

And although he's stepped away from teaching, the success of "Get Out" has helped Abels to see himself as a mentor for the first time. After getting contacted by several young composers of color who were looking to him for advice, Abels co-founded the Composers Diversity Collective, a networking group for minority composers.

As for whether or not he'll work with Jordan Peele again, Abels says, "I'll do anything he asks."

Listen to the "Us" score here:

Editor's note: A version of this story was also on the radio. Listen to it on KPCC's The Frame.
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Eden Bryant, left, has found mentorship from Amber Angel, right, a staffer at the Family Resource Center at L.A. Valley College. (Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist)

For nearly 20 years the Family Resource Center has helped support Valley College students who are also parents -- and not just with classwork. The center provides assistance with things like child care, diapers, baby clothes, as well as academic advice and mental health counseling.

The center is the only one of its kind in the 114-campus California community college system. It helps about 1,000 students per year and its roughly $500,000 annual budget is primarily grant-funded.

Its ten full and part-time staff provide a wide range of support services for students and lawmakers are looking at it as a model for expanding help to more schools.

"Thirty percent of community college students have young children in the home and their needs go well beyond child care," said Marni Roosevelt, the center's founder. "Our goal is to help them keep their families strong so that they can accomplish their goals both academically and career-wise."

Amber Angel knows how tough it can be.

She was pregnant and already a mom to a young daughter when she was taking classes at Los Angeles Valley College.

"I needed a computer, I needed printing, I needed to know other parents. I needed to get an education plan," she said. "I wasn't able to do that with my daughter."

When she first became pregnant with her second child, she told herself she could balance that too.

"My water broke in my 8 a.m. math class," she said.

In hindsight, said Angel, she was lucky. Because instead of dropping her college classes to take care of her kids, she found the resource center. She was able to use the center's computer, get academic counseling and find the help she was looking for.

She eventually transferred to Cal State Northridge and is currently on-track to earn her bachelor's degree in family studies this spring. And, Angel now works part-time on her old campus as a program coordinator working with other parents trying to stay in school.

Marni Roosevelt founded the Family Resource Center at L.A. Valley College in 2000. (Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist)

THE ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND

As Sacramento pushes California's public colleges to improve graduation rates, policymakers have identified vulnerable populations that struggle to stay in school and earn their degrees. One of those populations is the hundreds of thousands of California college students who are also parents.

Lawmakers are looking at how the LAVC's Family Resource Center works, in order to replicate their services at other campuses.

"This is a population that's fallen off our radar," said San Fernando Valley Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian. "We haven't given it the support it needs."

Last year, Nazarian secured $800,000 in one-time state funding to extend the center's reach and study how it helps college students who have children. He'd also like to know how helping those parents, in turn helps their children, "because they're finding themselves on a college campus," he said.

The center has also attracted the attention of national experts on college student hunger and homelessness.

"Research has shown for decades that one of the best ways to keep students in college is to help them feel like they matter to the institution," said Temple University researcher Sara Goldrick-Rab.

The center, she said, is connecting students who have children, to campus life and academics in big and small ways.

The Family Resource Center at L.A. Valley College. (Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist)

SHE CAME FOR THE COMPUTERS AND FOUND A MENTOR

A small connection became a large one for 28-year-old Eden Bryant.

She first enrolled at L.A. Valley College after leaving an abusive relationship. She had a two-year old son and said she felt like she needed to improve both herself and her job skills.

"I worked with kids for quite some time, but I needed the credentials to get a better job for myself," she said. "That required me to go back to school and get a degree."

But Bryant says she had a hard time feeling connected to the L.A.V.C. campus. She felt like she was the only student balancing motherhood with academics.

When she stepped into the Family Resource Center, she found out she wasn't alone. She met Angel and the two women bonded over stories of growing up in working-class families and being single moms.

"When Eden gets her associate [degree] and transfers to get her bachelor's, and then continues onto her Ph.D., we will support her through that journey," Angel said.

Bryant says Angel has helped her to see a clearer picture of herself, as both a mom and a college graduate.

"I would love to follow in her footsteps," Bryant said.

UPDATES:

11:30 a.m.: The top of this article was recast.

This article was originally published at 7 a.m.
Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in have scheduled a meeting in Washington next month as Trump's relationship with North Korea wavers.



President Moon, and first lady Kim Jung-sook, will travel to the White House for talks on April 11.



The White House released the news in a statement late Thursday, but were unspecific in mentioning what the two leaders would be discussing besides "the latest developments regarding the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as well as bilateral matters."



The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea, continues to be a thorn in Trump's side -- even more so after a failed summit in Vietnam last month.



South Korea's presidential office, The Blue House, put out a similar statement, courtesy of Chief Presidential Secretary Yoon Do-han. Moon will travel to the U.S. from April 10 to 11.



"The two leaders are planning to make in-depth discussions on how to cooperate with each other to further strengthen the ROK-US alliance and build a peace regime in the Korean Peninsula through complete denuclearization," according to a statement translated by ABC News.



Moon last visited the White House in May 2018.



Trump caused confusion earlier this week when the Treasury Department announced new sanctions against North Korea, only to have the president tweet he was cancelling the sanctions. The tweet was sent without consulting any of his staff, sources told ABC News, who were then left to scramble to explain the unexpected contradiction.



Staff walked back the talk of removing the sanctions, convincing Trump they were necessary.



Trump abruptly cut short his second summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in February over Kim's insistence that the U.S. relax some sanctions before full dismantlement of the country's nuclear program.



Trump nonetheless downplayed any thought of a falling out with the North Korean leader, who Trump has repeatedly praised since the two met last year in Singapore.



"You always have to be prepared to walk," Trump said at a press conference last month. "I could have 100 percent signed something today. We actually had papers ready to be signed, but it was not appropriate. I would rather do it right. I would rather do it right than fast."



Trump and National Security Adviser John Bolton have been noncommittal about recent activity at North Korean nuclear facilities.



Satellite images taken on March 2 acquired by the Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) Beyond Parallel, showed new activity at the Sohae (Tongchang-ri) launch facility located in the northwestern part of North Korea. The images showed what appears to be rapid rebuilding at a site that has been inactive since last August.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
1. Yes. Patrol cars in the lot and armed officers inside would deter would-be criminals.

2. Yes. Police should announce their plans and be highly visible during store hours.

3. No. The citys police officers have other obligations. More private security is the answer.

4. No. Perhaps, but installing more surveillance cameras would be a better deterrent.

5. Unsure. More police might help, but it could also stretch KPDs resources too thin.

Vote

View Results
Adapted from the Twitter feed and mined from the notebooks, Monday, March 25, 2019. Posted Friday morning, March 29.

Dear God, what have I gotten myself into?: President-elect Donald Trump meets with President Barack Obama in the White House, November 2016. Uncredited photo via New York magazine.

[Note from the editor: Looks like I've got a series going here. This would be Part 3. Follow the links for Parts 1 and 2, "A few less than deep thoughts on the Mueller report" and "What if he's just a tool?"]

More from the Department of Like I Would Know:

I've always been fascinated by this photo. Does Trump look like someone who's looking forward to starting his new job?

There are lots of photographs of that meeting. In some of them Trump is smiling. In others he looks serious and attentive. In one it looks like his mind is wandering. In another he actually looks presidential. In some its Obama who looks glum and Trump who looks like hes having the time of their life. In a few the two look like old friends. In not a few they both look like theyd rather be anywhere else and cant wait to get there. But its this one thats fixed my imagination. His thousand yard stare seems directed a thousand yards inward. His mouth seems set against his lips starting to tremble. Its the expression of someone saying plaintively to himself, Dear God, will someone get me out of this? But you see what you expect to see, right? His shorts might have been riding up.

Still...

Started re-reading Greg Miller's The Apprentice last night [Sunday, March 24, 2019]. No special reason. Just seemed like a good time

Stopped short in the prologue by this sentence:

Trump made no secret of his growing belief that the CIA and FBI were engaged in a coordinated effort to damage his presidency before it had even begun.

Millers writing about how Trump felt in January 2017 and his already contentious relationship with the U.S. intelligence community and the FBI. It's startling to be reminded how long hes been whining his Witch Hunt whine. But he came into office whining it at full volume and was still whining four and a half months later in May. It's important to remember that this was what was on everybody's mind when he fired Comey.

Of course the natural assumption is that he was scared right from the first his ties to the Russians would be discovered.

You have to wonder how he expected they wouldn't be.

Heres what I thought as soon as he started whining. Its what I still think. Along with a lot of other people I think he didn't expect to win so he thought everybody would forget about it after the election. But heres what I also think. The ties he was scared would be found out were financial.

He wasnt scared he was going to have been caught making a deal with Russian spies to help him win the election. He was scared he was going to be revealed as in hock up to the eyeballs to Russian bankers.

And others.

Like the Saudis.

Hes just as fawning toward MBS as he is toward Putin, right?

From The Apprentice:

...In late July [2016], the [CIA] had gained access to an extraordinary stream of information showing that Russian President Vladimir Putin was himself directing the active measures operation aimed at disrupting the U.S. Presidential race. U.S. intelligence partners were also warning [the agencys Russia desk] about worrisome contacts between Russian figures and campaign associates of the Republican nominee. Donald Trumps vigorous displays of admiration for the Russian leader only made things more bewildering. He routinely praised Putin and even seemed to enlist Moscow in an effort to hack his opponents email account. The question was, why?...

Miller implies the answer in his very next paragraph:

Unlike any presidential candidate in memory, Trump had shielded his finances from public scrutiny. He refused to release his personal tax returns. His business empire was a labyrinth of separate companies registered under different names. Many of those he had done business with hid their identities behind corporate shells. Some of his most prominent developments were deep in debt, though and deep and to whom was nearly impossible to discern.

This is why I've always believed he didnt collude with the Russians in the way generally thought. It wasn't about winning the election. It was about keeping the money flowing. And this is why I've always thought it will be the accountants who get him not the spy catchers.

(Both the spy catchers and the accountants are still at work even though Mueller's finished. Officially. I suspect he has more to say and I expect the House Judiciary and, possibly, the House Intelligence Committee will ask him to say it.)

And its why Im not as disappointed by the Mueller report---which keep in mind we dont have. We have the Barr letter. Which might as well be the Trump letter.---as a lot left-leaning folks in my Twitter feed. In fact, Im more disappointed in those folks cries of despair and dismay. Keep it to yourself! I more or less said in my own Trump-esque Twitter tantrum Friday night. Find a way to cope and stop infecting the rest of us with your angst!

Now, this may be a case of my not having fully grasped whats going on. I thought we were all on the same page. I thought Trumps constant twitter screams of NO COLLUSION showed he didnt understand what collusion was. I thought he thought it meant something like him and Putin getting together some night and breaking into polling places to tamper with voting machines. More fool him, I thought. Turns out, more fool me.

I dont think many people besides Trump and his legal henchmen saw things quite that way, and I dont think their hopes were pinned on Muellers turning up a tape of Putin and Trump planning the caper and synchronizing their watches. It was on obstructing they thought Mueller was going to get him---already had him---and for good reason; he was at work at it in plain sight. I expected it too. I still expect it. Its on the obstruction question Barr has done the most obfuscating, itll just fall to Congress to get him on it. But collusion in a sense close to what Trump keeps saying in caps didnt happen is what Mueller was charged with investigating to see if it had occurred. He may have found that it did. Barrs letter tries to make it sound like he didnt. But what it still says is that Mueller didnt find enough evidence that it did to support the ironclad case he felt he had to make to the public. We wont know until we can read the report, which,it cant be said enough, nobody outside the Special Counsels office and the Attorney Generals office has yet. Its even still a good bet that nobody in the AGs office has read it. Not in its entire. Not as thoroughly as it needs to be read. But the fact is we---my Twitter club and me---werent on the same page even when it came to the obstruction question because I was only on the page. Keep this in mind about me the blogging genius. I dont watch TV news.

Any of it.

I make a special effort to avoid the bobblehead shows.

All I know is what I read in the newspapers.

I also have a bad habit of reading books.

The Apprentice, for example.

This helps keep me sane. But it means I only know whats going on in our idiocracy at a remove.

Ive been following this rolling disaster mainly by following the newspaper stories that have followed the money, while keeping in the front of my mind what Ive known about Donald Trump since he first stepped out on the dance floor at Studio 54. Hes only interested in himself and his money. So I figured thats what was behind what was going on at Trump Tower. Trumps team of underlings was trying to finagle more money that was going to go to shoring up his private finances with what was left over funneled the campaign treasury to be used to pay for lawn signs.

Thats illegal. But as I understood it not within Muellers purview. But

Whatever he came across that showed thats what was going on he gave to what Barrs letter casually glosses over as other offices.

That includes the Second District of New York federal prosecutors office and the office of the New York State Attorney General, the office thats the likeliest to indict Trump and see that he along with Don Jr, Ivanka, and Jared are perp walked. Trump cant pardon himself and them or anyone for New York State crimes.

At any rate, as is my style, Ive taken a very long way around to a simple point.

I never expected Muellers report to finish him. I never expected Mueller would be allowed to finish, but thats another post. Ive always seen his investigation as a step in the process. Im willing to wait for the next step.

Now, to get back to the point I was starting to make up top. I dont think Trump expected to win. Whats more, Im not sure he wanted to win. And I think he went into a panic when he did win and hes never come out of it. Not just because his financial dealings with the Russians and others might be found out. He was afraid he would be found out. And I think he may have already been looking for someone to BLAME!

Presidenting is hard work. We know how he feels about that. And it takes special talents and skills we all know he doesn't possess. But I think he knew it too. And once he won and he met with Obama who told him how much harder the job was than he even thought the fear of failure that's driven him all his life kicked into overdrive.

He's an idiot. But he's not a complete idiot. He knew---or at any rate sensed---he was going to be lousy at the job. Never mind all his twitter boasting and rally-stage bragging. A lot of that is just salesmanship. What he calls truthful hyperbole. But underneath its easy to detect symptoms of his self-doubt and self-loathing. As the title of Rick Wilsons book reminds us and which on some level Trump himself must know, everything he touches dies, and that would certainly include his own presidency. Sure enough, writes Miller

In the reality that commenced with his inauguration, Trump seemed incapable of basic aspects of the job. His White House was consumed by dysfunction, with warring factions waiting for direction---or at least a coherent decision-making process---from the president. His outbursts sent waves of panic through the West Wing, with aides scrambling to contain the presidents anger or divine some broader mandate from the latests 140-character blast. He made rash hiring decisions, installed cabinet officials who seemed unfamiliar with the functions of their agencies, let alone their ethical and administrative required. Decorated public servants were subjected to tirades in the Oval Office and humiliating dress-downs in public...Senior aides showed up at meetings without the requisite security clearances---and sometimes stayed anyway. Trump refused to read intelligence reports, and he grew so visibly bored during briefings that analysts took to reducing the worlds complexities to a collection of bullet points.

But Trump never admits failure or defeat or even a minor setback. He refuses to accept responsibility for his mistakes. What he does is try to put the blame on someone else.

The FBI and the CIA working against him? No wonder he can't get anything done! He was doomed from the start.

Of course Im writing fiction. It's probable he was worried about his being in debt to the Russians being discovered. Its possible he was worried he was headed for another failure only this one played out on the national stage and not just in the inside pages of the tabloids. It could be both. Or neither. It could be something else. Dementia. Insanity. Whatever weirdness makes him afraid of dogs and open spaces that arent familiarly landmarked with sand bunkers and little flags. Like I would know. Like anyone knows what goes on underneath that weave.

Anyway, back to the book.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

The Apprentice: Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy by Greg Miller is available in hardcover and for kindle at Amazon and as an audiobook from Audible.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear editors at publishing houses and literary agents: I actually like writing fiction about Trump. I honestly think that writing fiction is the best way to get at what and who Trump is. Give me a hefty enough advance that I could live in Washington for a year and Ill come back with a novel that will blow your socks off or at least make you and me a few bucks.

Filed under The President Checks In.
Crossroads School Equity and Justice Institute to Host Helen Gym

Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences will host Helen Gym, a leading progressive voice on Philadelphia City Council, on April 22 for a special event hosted by the Crossroads School Equity & Justice Institute and the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Equity & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series.

In a lecture entitled When They Go Low, We Go Local: How Municipal Politics Power Grassroots Justice Movements,the activist and community organizer will discuss the power of local politics to transform communities and effect change on social justice issues.

This free event-which will be held at 7 p.m. in the Joanie Martin Community Room on Crossroads Norton Campus (1634 18th St., Santa Monica)- is open to members of the public. All attendees are asked to register for this event at xrds.org/helengym.

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Gym, the first Asian-American woman to serve on Philadelphia City Council, is also the national vice chair of Local Progress, a national network of progressive elected officials from local governments across the country. Local Progress is committed to a vision of shared economic prosperity, equal justice under law, livable and sustainable communities and good government that serves the public interest.

Gym is the recipient of the White Houses Cesar E. Chavez Champions of Change Award and the 2017 National Rising Star Award from EMILYs List. She is a contributor to the recently published book Why I Run: 35 Progressive Candidates Who Are Changing Politics.

Civic engagement is defined as individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern, says Derric J. Johnson, founding director of the Equity & Justice Institute.

Helen Gym understands that everyone should be concerned with their own level of civic engagement and their communitys as well.

Helen knows that we are not isolated creatures impervious to outside influences, and that the concept of freedom is not passive. I look forward to her presentation addressing the necessity for progressive movement-building and developing a collective conscious for the greater good.

The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Equity & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series was established to help stimulate dialogue among students, educators and community leaders committed to tackling the problems of racism, poverty, war, environmental degradation, educational inequities, religious persecution, genocide and other forms of injustice.

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The lecture series is an initiative of Younes & Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation, which supports educational causes in a broad spectrum of institutions and through a wide variety of avenues: academic, public policy, community-based, social and artistic programs in the United States and Israel.

About Crossroads

Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences is a K-12, coed college preparatory school in Santa Monica, California. Crossroads was founded upon five basic commitments: to academic excellence; to the arts; to the greater community; to the development of a student population of social, economic and racial diversity; and to the development of each students physical well-being and full human potential. One in four students receives financial assistance. The School is highly acclaimed for its programs and is a leader in public/private educational partnerships.
Donna Brazile Trying A New Lane by Joining Fox News

Donna Brazile says theres no way shes selling out and her core values will always remain intact despite her controversial decision to sign with Fox News.

Im not changing my values. Nobody would ever make me change my values, Brazile told NNPA Newswire in an exclusive interview. The only thing that will change about me is my age, she said.

The former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, signed on as a contributor with the Fox News Channel on Monday, March 18.

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Previously, Brazile had been a contributor for CNN and ABC News.

In an op-ed article on FoxNews.com, Brazile wrote that she hoped to improve the tenor of political debate. Will I agree with my fellow commentators at Fox News? Probably not. But I will listen, Brazile wrote.

Brazile said she would question assertions about low-income people and issues such as climate change, but would do so with civility and respect. Brazile added: I will also freely admit the weaknesses in liberal arguments and the strength in conservative positions.

Her signing with Fox comes as the network has faced growing criticism and mounting allegations of racism as hosts like Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson have spewed hateful messages on air.

Fox has openly been aligned with President Donald Trump and many observers have criticized the network and the president for their alleged pro-white supremacy views.

Brazile, a longtime friend of the Black Press, was honored last year during Black Press Week by the NNPA when she delivered a stirring address about the State of the Black Press in 2018 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

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The NNPA is a trade group that represents more than 200 Black-owned media companies operating in the United States. NNPA member publications reach more than 20 million readers in print and online every week.

Ive known Donna Brazile for about 40 years and, in 2016, the Democrats couldnt have selected a better person to lead them, said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA.

Brazile said that the Black Press is the pulse of the community.

You are carving out stories that the mainstream [media] wont, she said. Youve been at the forefront of change, even before change was in vogue. Thats why Ive always supported the Black Press.

Brazile said she expected criticism when she decided to sign this week with Fox News.

If I made a decision tomorrow to work for a presidential candidate, people would ask why, Brazile said. It reminds me of 2008 when people asked how come Im not working for Barack Obama, that hes a black man. Or, how come Im not working for Hillary Clinton because shes a woman, she said.

I said, Im getting old and gray, so if I choose, can I work for John McCain?

Brazile said the importance of the 2020 presidential election was a primary reason she decided to join Fox News.

She said its of great concern that the national debate has become hostile and disrespectful.

Fox has one of the largest audiences during the evening hours and they are not just Republican voters and theyre not just Trump voters, Brazile said.

In order to win, we have to expand the electorate and we cant just talk to people who agree with us. We have to talk to people who may not agree with us because they dont hear us, she said.

Brazile continued:

I hope that Im able to come across as someone reasonable and someone people can respect and I will do my very best.

Finally, she said unlike those who wish to stay in their lanes all of their lives, she needed a change. I want to try this lane [Fox News]. If I dont like it, Ill get out of this lane and hopefully Ill get a job when I get out of this lane, she said.
Family of Mentally Ill Cambodian Woman Fatally Shot by Long Beach Police Receives Largest Jury Verdict in Citys History

Concluding a four day trial, on Friday, March 23, 2019, a United States District Court for the Central District of California jury awarded $9,800,000 to the family of a mentally ill Long Beach woman who suffered fatal injuries on January 15, 2017, as a result of being shot seven times by two Long Beach police officers. The jury of six women and two men unanimously found that the shooting officers acted with malice and oppression, supporting a finding of punitive damages against the officers, and additionally found that the shooting incident shocked the conscience, which allowed the parents of the deceased woman to recover damages for the loss of their familial relationship with their daughter. This global award represents the largest jury verdict that has ever been awarded by a jury against the City of Long Beach arising out of a police shooting, and the second largest verdict ever handed down by a jury in the Central District of California in a police shooting case. Plaintiffs were represented at trial and in the case by attorney Rodney Diggs of Ivie, McNeill, & Wyatt and The Cochran Firm attorneys Brian Dunn, Constance Rice and Megan Gyongyos.

We hope that this verdict will save lives and change the way that the officers in the Long Beach Police Department and other police departments respond to people that are suffering from mental illnesses, said The Cochran Firm managing attorney Brian Dunn. It has been a great privilege and a great honor to join forces with such a venerable and respected law firm, Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt, to achieve to this wonderful result for this well-deserving family. We have been on opposite sides for a long time and it is a true blessing that we are on the same side this time.

On the morning of January 15, 2017, Long Beach police officers Bradley Muhlenkamp and Elieser Domingo were dispatched to the intersection of 7th Street and Bellflower Boulevard near the Veterans Administration Hospital in the city of Long Beach. They were responding to reports that 37-year-old Sinuon Pream had been assaulting and threatening civilians with a knife. Upon arriving at the location, the officers observed Ms. Pream pushing a shopping cart and waving a knife. The officers, believing Ms. Pream to be possibly transient and possibly suffering from a mental illness, ordered her to drop the knifea fruit carving knife less than 4  inches long. She refused to do so and began moving away from the officers. The officers ordered Ms. Pream to drop the knife again and according to the officers, she refused to drop the knife and responded to the officers with profanity while proceeding to move away and continuing to wave the knife at them. Less than a minute later, the officers proceeded to fire a total of 8 total rounds at Ms. Pream, hitting her seven times.

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Ms. Pream stood 5 feet 2 inches on the date of the incident. Officer Muhlenkamp fired 7 times, striking Ms. Pream 6 times and Officer Domingo fired once, striking Ms. Pream. The coroner determined that Ms. Pream suffered numerous wounds which entered the back of her body, including a fatal wound which entered her left buttock and severed her femoral artery.

The officers claimed that they fired at Ms. Pream because they feared that she was attempting to attack Officer Muhlenkamp with the knife at the time of the shooting. The jury disagreed. Some of the jurors who returned this historic verdict felt that the responding officers should have employed less aggressive tactics which would have taken into consideration Ms. Preams mental illness. These jurors also felt that the manner in which the bullets entered Ms. Preams body demonstrated that she was not facing the officers during the shooting, and consequently did not pose a substantial threat to the shooting officers throughout the shooting incident.

The verdict that the jury came back with on behalf of the Pream family speaks volumes, added Rodney Diggs, partner and director at Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt. The jury got it right in this case. They evaluated the evidence before them and was able to come back with a substantial verdict for the awful shooting that was done by the Long Beach Police Department. My hope is that this verdict sends a message to the Long Beach Police Department and other police departments that there are other options available before resorting to deadly force. In reverence for human life, deadly force must be the last option that is ever used by law enforcement officers. That was not the case in this shooting. Working together with the Cochran Firm to achieve justice for the Pream family has been a wonderful experience.

Upon receiving the verdict, the family of Ms. Pream issued the following statement: As we mourned Sinuons death these last two years, we remained confused and devastated, not knowing how or why it happened. We are so thankful to Rodney, Brian, Megan, Constance, Darryl, and the team at Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt for all their hard work and dedication to this case. We are also grateful to the jury for believing our story and understanding our familys perspective. While this was an extremely tough week at trial, hearing the full details of what actually happened and receiving this verdict makes us feel like we have finally received justice. We hope Sinuons soul can finally rest in peace.

I think the verdict that came down in the Pream case is a true testament to what our system of justice can achieve when you have a family thats willing to fight when something terrible has happened to their loved one at the hands of the police and when you have a team of fine attorneys behind that family every step of the way from the beginning until the end of the this tragic, tragic case, said Megan Gyongyos, associate attorney at The Cochran Firm. To see this jury come back, after taking their job so seriously, and to validate everything that the family has felt since this occurred is just a fine example of what can be done by good people to achieve the right result.

I am both humbled and honored to have been a part of such an important case, said Darryl Meigs, a law clerk with Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt. It feels amazing to get justice for the family of Ms. Sinuon Pream, but I also hope this verdict sends a clear message to law enforcement that there needs to be a major change in the way that officers deal with the people in our communities who are impacted by mental illness.
Sprouts Farmers Market Hiring for New Los Angeles Store

Sprouts Farmers Market, one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country, announced it will soon finish construction on its new store in Los Angeles, Calif. to meet the growing local demand for fresh, natural and organic foods at great prices.

The 26,000-square-foot store at 1302 South La Brea Avenue will open on Wednesday, June 26 at 7 a.m. Details about the grand opening celebration will be announced at a later date.

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The new Los Angeles Sprouts is bringing approximately 150 full- and part-time career opportunities to the area. Sprouts Healthy Living for Less approach to grocery shopping means potential team members should share a passion for healthy eating and the fresh, natural and organic products offered throughout the store.

Employment opportunities include:

Department Managers, Assistant Department Managers and Clerks (Produce, Meat and Seafood, Deli, Grocery, Bakery, Vitamins and Body Care and more)

Cashiers

Courtesy Clerks

Backup Receiver, Administrative Coordinator and Scan Coordinator

Sprouts offers competitive pay, team member discounts, a fun and rewarding culture, and numerous career advancement opportunities. Sprouts continues to accelerate investments in team members, including enhanced pay, benefits, leadership development and recognition. To learn more about available career opportunities and team member benefits, or to apply, visit sprouts.com/careers or call 1-866-925-2396 for non-managerial roles.

For nearly two decades, Sprouts has built a reputation for offering fresh, natural and organic products at affordable prices. Sprouts knowledgeable team members are trained to help customers select the right products for their healthy living journey. Guests can also enjoy more than 2,400 Sprouts Brand products, which meet strict ingredient standards while delivering exceptional taste and value. The healthy grocer has been a driving force for innovation in natural and organic foods since its inception, and has paved the way for numerous niche brands, many of which were first carried by Sprouts.

Los Angeles shoppers will discover an abundant selection of fresh fruits and vegetables and barrels of wholesome grains, nuts and sweets in a bright, open store layout. Each store features an in-house butcher who prepares hand-crafted sausages daily and assists customers with special cuts of meat and seafood seasoning. Shoppers will also enjoy a variety of fresh and prepared deli items ideal for a grab-and-go lunch or dinner, a wide selection of freshly baked goods and craft beer and wine. The Vitamins and Body Care Department features more than 7,700 cutting-edge vitamin and body care products made with sustainable and ethically sourced ingredients.

For a list of stores by region or to see other locations coming soon, visit sprouts.com/stores.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. specializes in fresh, natural and organic products at prices that appeal to everyday grocery shoppers. Based on the belief that healthy food should be affordable, Sprouts welcoming environment and knowledgeable team members continue to drive its growth. Sprouts offers a complete shopping experience that includes an array of fresh produce in the heart of the store, a deli with prepared entrees and side dishes, The Butcher Shop and The Fish Market at Sprouts, an expansive vitamins and supplements department and more. Headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., Sprouts employs more than 30,000 team members and operates more than 300 stores in 19 states from coast to coast. Visit about.sprouts.com for more information.
Womens History Month: Juanita Jackson Mitchell

When Juanita Jackson Mitchell died in 1992 at the age of 79, she was praised as one of Marylands heroines and as the matriarch of a family whose name became synonymous with civil rights causes.

It was fitting that she received recognition because she was always one of those unsung champions of the cause and one who needs to be celebrated during both Black History and Womens History month, said Shane Carter, a self-described black history buff.

Mitchell, the daughter of legendary NAACP leader Lillie Carroll Jackson, spent most of her life fighting against racism and segregation.

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I am an old freedom fighter. I came up in that tradition, Mitchell once said in describing her upbringing.

Mitchells parents, who were living in Baltimore at the time, were traveling in Hot Springs, Arkansas when Mitchell was born.

Shed later become one of the first black women to graduate from the University of Maryland Law School and the first black woman to practice law in the state of Maryland.

Her late husband, Clarence M. Mitchell Jr., was a nationally recognized Capitol Hill lobbyist for the NAACP and her children, Michael B. Mitchell and Clarence M. Mitchell III, went on to become state senators.

Mitchell and her family frequently moved across the South as her father showed feature films in church basements, often the only facilities available to Black people while she was growing up. While her father changed movie reels, Mitchell would recite poetry to the moviegoers, according to BlackThen.com.

In 1937, Mitchell became the NAACPs first national youth director and visited the Scottsboro Boys in prison. Under her leadership, the NAACP youth groups launched a letter-writing campaign to protest the conviction of the Scottsboro Boys.

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They also set up a fundraising drive to help support the young men.

She also led the key NAACP Baltimore branch during the same crucial period.

Mitchell founded the Baltimore City-Wide Young Peoples Forum in 1931 and the NAACP Youth Movement in 1935.

In 1942, she directed a march on Marylands Capitol with 2,000 citizens, as well as the first city-wide Register and Vote campaign. The campaign resulted in 11,000 new voter registrations on the books.

In 1958, Mitchell directed the NAACPs Register to Vote campaign, which resulted in over 20,000 new registrations.

She was appointed to Presidential Commissions by Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Mitchell was also a member of various organizations that supported the well-being of African Americans, such as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the National Association of Negro Business, and the Black American Professional Womens Club.

In 1986, she was inducted into the Maryland Womens Hall of Fame.

Folks like Juanita Jackson Mitchell are the folks we often miss during Black History Month and during Womens History Month because everyone wants to concentrate on celebrities and superstars, Carter said. But people should take a minute to look at the history of our real heroes, he said.
Thursday, March 28, 2019

Judge James E. Boasberg (D.D.C.) ruled in two separate cases that the Department of Health and Human Services's approval of work requirements for Medicaid by Arkansas and Kentucky violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The rulings send the cases back to HHS for further consideration of the requirements.

The rulings are a victory for opponents of Medicaid work requirements--at least for now. It is possible that the states and HHS on remand could come up with better reasons for imposing the requirements (reasons more consistent with the purposes of the Medicaid program, that is), or that Congress could change the Medicaid program to authorize work requirements. But barring some more Medicaid-consistent reason for the requirements (or a congressional change, which seems unlikely, at best), it doesn't look like this court will approve any HHS authorization for these states' work requirements.

Just to be clear: the ruling does not halt all work requirements, though. It just says that HHS has to reconsider its approval of work requirements for these two states. The Trump Administration has approved eight states for work requirements, and seven other states are in the pipeline.

One ruling says that HHS's approval of Arkansas's work-requirement "demonstration project" violated the APA, because HHS failed to consider that the requirement would lead a substantial number of Arkansas residents to be disenrolled from Medicaid. That's a problem, because the core purpose of Medicaid is to "furnish medical assistance" to those who cannot afford it. If the work requirement cuts recipients off, then, said the court, it fails to advance the core purpose of the Medicaid program. And because HHS didn't consider that in approving the project, HHS's approval was arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA.

The court's reasoning in the Arkansas case follows its same reasoning in the Kentucky case from last summer. The court sent the Kentucky case back to HHS for further consideration, and the second recent ruling deals with HHS's approval of Kentucky's work requirement after reconsideration.

In that second case, round 2 of the Kentucky challenge, HHS advanced a new argument on remand: If Kentucky's work requirement isn't approved, then Kentucky would have to un-expand its Medicaid expansion (under the Affordable Care Act) in order to ensure that its Medicaid program remained viable. The un-expansion would result in even more recipients being thrown off Medicaid than the work requirement. In other words, Kentucky threatened to un-expand Medicaid (and cut even more people off) if HHS didn't approve the work requirement.

The court had none of it: "The Court cannot concur that the Medicaid Act leaves the Secretary so unconstrained, nor that the states are so armed to refashion the program Congress designed in any way they choose." The court sent Kentucky's request back to HHS for reconsideration, again.

Next step in both cases: HHS reconsideration, yet again. In the meantime, the states can't impose their proposed work requirements.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/2019/03/court-strikes-feds-approval-of-states-medicaid-work-requirements-again-and-again.html
Friday, March 29, 2019

The Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed a district court decision awarding attorneys fees against the State in litigation related to the files of the In Cold Blood murders

On September 27, 2012, the State filed an ex parte verified petition asking the district court, among other things, to temporarily restrain and then preliminary and permanently enjoin Defendants from the sale, publication, replication, and distribution of any and all Kansas Bureau of Investigation file materials relating to the 1959 murder of members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. That same day, the district court entered the ex parte temporary restraining order as requested. An amended ex parte temporary restraining order was filed on October 9, 2012.

On December 17, 2012, the district court held an evidentiary hearing on the State's request to convert the ex parte temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction. At the end of the hearing, the court granted the parties' joint request to submit legal arguments in support of their respective positions. On April 23, 2013, the district court granted the State's request and entered a preliminary injunction but left open the possibility for Defendants to request the court vacate it at a later date. Citing K.S.A. 60- 905(b) as authority, the district court noted the State would not be required to post a bond in conjunction with the preliminary injunction.

On August 22, 2013, Defendants filed a motion to vacate the preliminary injunction. After significant delay due to discovery disputes, the State filed a motion for summary judgment on January 29, 2014. Defendants supplemented their motion to vacate on March 14, 2014, March 21, 2014, and June 6, 2014. The district court heard oral argument from the parties with regard to all pending motions on June 26, 2014, and took the matters under advisement. On November 7, 2014, Defendants filed an urgent request

for a ruling on their motion to vacate. On November 26, 2014, the district court granted Defendants' motion to vacate the preliminary injunction, concluding that it should not have been granted in the first place.

On May 27, 2015, Defendants filed a motion to compel discovery that the State previously had failed to produce. Following a hearing, the district court granted that motion and ordered the State to produce the requested documents no later than July 7, 2015. Rather than produce the documents as ordered, the State filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the case. Defendants indicated they did not object to voluntary dismissal but noted that allowing the State to do so before Defendants had an opportunity to present the court with various motions related to the litigation (including but not limited to their forthcoming motion for costs and attorney fees pursuant to K.S.A. 60- 905[b]) would be highly prejudicial. Defendants subsequently filed a motion for costs and attorney fees. After further briefing and a hearing, the district court granted Defendants' motion for fees, awarding them $152,585 in attorney fees, but denied awarding costs. The district court held that the amount of fees it awarded all stemmed from the wrongfully issued preliminary injunction that was requested by the State. The district court also granted the State's motion to dismiss.

The court rejected the State's claim that sovereign immunity barred an adverse fee award

No Kansas court has ever held that the State may waive its immunity from suit in state court through its litigation conduct. But sovereign immunity finds its source in the common law, and the common law adapts to changing circumstances to advance notions of fair play and equity.

...we hold the defense of sovereign immunity is not available to the State to shield it from liability for damages, including attorney fees, incurred by Defendants in seeking dissolution of the temporary injunction affirmatively sought and granted in its favor but later vacated based on a finding that it was wrongfully issued. The fact that the State was statutorily exempted from posting a bond to secure the availability of monetary funds in the event an award of damages and attorney fees was granted is immaterial to our holding.

On the fee award merits below

In this case the district court awarded Defendants $152,585 in attorney fees, $137,937.50 of which went to the Hendricks & Lewis, PLLC law firm and $14,647.50 of which went to the Cornwell & Vokins law firm. The district court based that award on a careful review of Defendants' attorney billing logs and the KRPC 1.5(a) factors. Specifically, the district court found that (1) the case was novel and difficult and therefore required significant time and skill to perform the necessary services appropriately; (2) the work in this case precluded the attorneys involved from working on other cases due to the time sensitivity of the action; (3) the hourly rates charged by both firms were within the range of those customarily charged for similar services in Topeka, Kansas; (4) the work required to obtain the result was exceptional particularly in light of the constitutional issues involved; (5) Hendricks & Lewis had a prior relationship with one of the defendants and because it was an out-of-state firm, it was necessary to involve Cornwell & Vokins as local counsel; (6) all of the attorneys involved in the case were highly qualified and experienced; and (7) the fees assessed were based on hourly rates that were reasonable given the nature and uniqueness of the case. Based on a review of the record, we conclude that the district court's findings are supported by substantial competent evidence and that a reasonable person would agree with its award of attorney fees totaling $152,585.

But on appeal attorneys fees

Based on the eight factors set forth in KRPC 1.5(a), we find the $58,490 in attorney fees requested for work on this appeal to be excessive. In support of our finding, we note the issue in this appeal already had been extensively litigated through written motions and oral argument at the district court level. We also note the lack of sufficient information to evaluate the reasonableness of Mr. Lewis' reduced fee request. In addition, we find the fees requested for time spent to travel to oral argument is excessive. Finally, we find unreasonable the fees request for time spent to prepare the three motions for an extension of time to file Defendants' appellate brief. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, such motions are for the convenience of counsel and their schedule. Because some of the entries in the affidavit submitted by Mr. Vokins include time spent on motions for extension of time as well as an additional task, we have calculated the total of those entries and credited half that amount to time spent on motions for extension of time and the other half to time spent on other tasks. For all of these reasons, we award to Defendants the sum of $15,450 in appellate attorney fees and the sum of $264.02 in expenses associated with this appeal. The award totals $15,714.02.

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/03/the-kansas-court-of-appeals-on-september-27-2012-the-state-filed-an-ex-parte-verified-petition-asking-the-district-court.html
British lawmakers rejected Prime Minister Theresa Mays plan for leaving the European Union for a third time on Friday.

The rejection leaves big questions about Britains next move on the day the country was supposed to cancel its EU membership.

The decision to reject a simpler version of Mays deal has left it unclear how, when or even whether Britain will leave the political and economic union.

After a special meeting of parliament, lawmakers voted 344 to 286 against Mays EU withdrawal agreement.

Within minutes of the vote, European Council President Donald Tusk said EU leaders would meet on April 10 to discuss Britains withdrawal.

The European Commission said that it is likely the two sides will be unable to negotiate a deal over the next two weeks.

May had told parliament the vote was the last chance to ensure Britains exit, or Brexit, would take place. She warned that if the deal failed, then any additional delay to Brexit would probably be a long one.

I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House, May told parliament after the defeat. The implications of the Houses decision are grave.

The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on 12th April, she said.

Third Failure

It was a third failure for May, who offered on Wednesday to resign as prime minister if the deal passed. She made the offer to win over members of her Conservative Party who support a more decisive break with the EU than her deal offers.

With no majority in parliament for any Brexit plan so far, it is unclear what May will now do. Possible choices include asking the EU for a long delay, calling new elections, or what is being called a no-deal exit.

Mays spokesman said she would press on with talks with opponents of the deal.

Britain now has under two weeks to persuade the EUs 27 other members that it has a way to end the dispute. If that fails, Britain will leave the union on April 12 with no deal on future ties with its largest trading ally.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking as parliament voted, said the EU needed to speed up planning on a no-deal exit.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that unless Britain came up with a plan, there would be a hard Brexit.

One of the two paths to an orderly Brexit seems now to be closed, said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte This leaves only the other route, which is for the British to make clear what they want before April 12.

The risk of a no-deal Brexit is very real, he added.

Im Bryan Lynn.

George Grow wrote this story from reports by Reuters and VOA. Mario Ritter Jr. edited it.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

implication  n. a suggestion; close connection

grave  adj. serious

route  n. an established path; a line of travel

default  n. failure to do something required

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Faces of immigrants in paintings by artist Betsy Ashton look the viewer directly in the eye. The subjects of these life-sized paintings seem ready to tell their stories of leaving home to face the problems of living in a strange land.

Ashton says she created the oil paintings to answer what she calls a false political narrative about immigrants in the United States.

Her artworks can be seen at an exhibit, called Portraits of Immigrants, at The Riverside Church in New York City. The show ends April 21.

About 16 kilometers south from the church is Ellis Island, where 12 million newcomers landed from 1892 to 1954. On a nearby island stands the Statue of Liberty. A sign on the statue reads, Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

The subjects of the portraits are from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. They include teachers, business people, a health care worker, housekeeper, actor, politician and coffee shop employee. Some are U.S. citizens. Others have proper documents, although one does not.

Fitting into a new culture

Ashton is a former news reporter. She wrote a short description of each immigrant and then put up the information next to each portrait. The stories tell of struggling to get used to a new culture and learning a new language for the promise of a better life.

One picture shows Ron Kim in his New York State Assembly office. He represents part of Queens, one of New York's five districts. Kim came to New York from South Korea when he was 6. He says it is showing the group of immigrants as a whole that makes the portraits more powerful.

Another immigrant honored in oil paint is Abdul Saboor, who taught U.S. troops the culture of his native Afghanistan before coming to the United States nearly five years ago.

Saboor is now a U.S. citizen and works for the upstate New York nonprofit group that helped resettle him. He sees Ashtons art show as one way for Americans to imagine themselves in my skin.

Both Kim and Saboor said they are very mindful of the political debate over immigration since Donald Trump became president.

As a candidate in 2016, Trump talked about bad people coming from Mexico and said he wanted to build a wall on the U.S. southern border.

As president, Trump has continued to talk about illegal immigrants and has limited their pathways for legal immigration and travel. The Reuters news service says the Trump administration did not answer its request for comment on this story.

Inspiration

Ashton told Reuters that a story she heard at a religious service made her decide to start making her paintings. She started with Eddie Rigo, who operates a coffee shop she visits each morning. He fled crime-ridden Sao Paulo, Brazil, where his Italian family had been in the pizza business.

Then came Beata Szakowicz Kombel, a health care worker Ashton knows from doctor visits. She left Polands struggling economy in the early 1990s.

The art collection grew to 16 people. Ashton wants to find two more immigrants from troubled countries to complete the set.

The subjects include a woman called Angel, who came to the United States on a tourist visa 20 years ago. She does not have legal documents to stay in the country. Another painting shows Maria Solome, a Guatemalan housekeeper who came across the Rio Grande River, but recently got legal documents to stay. Another painting shows John Lam, who was poor when he arrived from Hong Kong. He now heads the Lam Group real estate investment company.

Ashton said the immigrants have many different ancestries, races and religions, but they all are fighting to solve the problems that made them leave their homes.

Im Jill Robbins.

Demetrius Freeman and Peter Szekely reported on this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

viewer  n. someone who watches or observes something

narrative  n. a story told in detail

yearning  adj. an urgent longing or desire to do something

proper  adj. correct; respectable; very good or excellent

district  n. part of a territory or area

tourist  n. someone who makes a trip for pleasure

Are you an immigrant? How do you feel about the collection of paintings that show immigrants? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
Donald Trump became the first serving American president to meet with a North Korean leader in June 2018.

Trumps talks with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore led to an agreement in which the two nations promised to keep working on several issues aimed at improving relations.

Trump and Kim held another face-to-face meeting last month in Vietnam. That meeting produced no major agreements. At both meetings, the leaders reportedly considered a proposal to open a liaison office in North Koreas capital Pyongyang.

Such offices are one step below an embassy. They are often set up between nations that do not have official diplomatic relations. They offer a way for two nations that have tense relations to continue some kind of working contact. The U.S. has operated interest sections in places like Cuba and Iran.

South Korea set up a liaison office in the North Korean city of Kaesong last year after several months of increased discussions and contacts with the North.

If the U.S. and North Korea decide to open a liaison office, Sweden says it will make a room available for that purpose. The room sits next to the Swedish ambassadors office in Pyongyangs diplomatic area.

The room has remained mostly unused for more than 20 years. But it was once used as an office to handle U.S.-North Korean matters. The office was set up after an agreement signed in 1995 that gave Sweden permission to serve as Americas protective power in North Korea.

At the time, there were a lot of talks going on between U.S. and North Korean officials. The office was meant to serve as a base for necessary contacts because the U.S. had no diplomatic relations with the North.

Entering the room today, reports say there is evidence of the changing relationship of the two sides over the years. Two versions of the Pyongyang Times newspaper are on display. One reports on warming relations under North Koreas late leader Kim Jong Il and U.S. President Bill Clinton during the 1990s. A more recent issue of the newspaper shows a photo of Trump and Kim Jong Un on its front page.

Trump and Kim were asked by reporters about the possibility of opening a liaison office during their meeting last month in Hanoi, Vietnam. Its actually not a bad idea, Trump said. Kim answered through an interpreter, saying I think that is something that could be welcomed.

Sweden permitted a reporter from the Associated Press to see the room set aside for possible U.S. use. The reporter, however, was not permitted to take pictures for security reasons. One diplomat told the AP the office could be used as an interest section for the U.S. This would be one step below a liaison office.

The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, along with the British Embassy, sits on the property of the German Embassy. Diplomats said, if the U.S. does decide to set up a liaison office, Sweden would no longer be responsible for U.S. interests in North Korea under the current agreement.

Im Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

liaison  n. relationship that allows different organizations or groups to work together and provide information to each other

section  n. a part something is divided into

display  n. something shown for people to look at

interpreter  n. someone whose job is to change what someone else in saying into another language

property  n. a building or piece of land
scholarship, news and new ideas in legal history
Copyright

These pages are copyrighted as they appear by John Z. Guzlowski. All content on these pages is his sole property and cannot be used without his permission.


Asias largest low-cost air carrier is considering establishing an operations base in Macau, aiming to expand their services into mainland China. The move was signaled by company founder and CEO Tony Fernandes, speaking to the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of Credit Suisses Asia Investment Conference in Hong Kong.

According to Fernandes, this possibility is being seriously evaluated now that it has been announced that the exclusive rights to airport slots, enforced in favor of local flag carrier Air Macau since 1995, will not be renewed from November 2020, putting an end to the 25-year concession.

Entering China could be via Macau, Fernandes said, adding, We do not have to be in mainland China, but being in Macau is like being in China.

Fernandes noted that if such an opportunity arises, AirAsia is ready to grab it, using its Macau base to serve mainly Chinese costumers.

AirAsia already flies to four destinations in the Greater Bay Area  Macau, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou  and would see its local base as a engine to expand operations not only within the Greater Bay but across all of China. This is a long- held ambition of the company after its attempt in 1993 to establish a partnership with the provincial government of Henan. That attempt failed, being viewed more as a marketing stunt than a real operation.

It did not feel right at that time and we are not an airline that just goes in there for the sake of just saying We are in China, said Fernandes. What we were working towards would not make a jot of difference to the Chinese aviation space and we decided to withdraw for the moment until a better opportunity comes.

And Macau might well be that opportunity as, according to a forecast by the online rental platform Cozystay, Chinese travelers are expected to make some 400 million trips by 2030, more than double the number made in 2017.

Although the Malaysia-based airline seems to be in a good position to tap into the market, as the carrier is already the second- largest user of Macaus International Airport with a 15 percent share of the airport slots, AirAsia is not the only company interested in using the local airport as a base.

In late January this year, Asian Business Aviation Association chairperson Jenny Lau suggested there were several competitors interested in the Macau opportunity. Several players like Air Asia or Cebu Pacific may consider expanding their services from Macau, or new players like HK Express, she said, adding that among the new players names such as Shun Tak Holdings as well as companies related to business aviation could come into play.

Still, Fernandes expressed that he is willing to fight for AirAsias shot, saying, Macau is very close to my heart. They believed in us when we were nothing.

The carrier, which came out on top in last years Worlds Best Low-Cost Airline, an award attributed by World Airline Awards, already flies to a total of 21 destinations in mainland China (including charter and seasonal routes), such as Beijing, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Guilin, Haikou, Hangzhou, Kunming, Meixian, Nanchang, Nanjing, Nanning, Ningbo, Sanya, Shangha, Shantou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Xian and Yichang. From May this year, it will begin flying to another two locations, Lanzhou and Tianjin, in what Fernandes said is proof that Chinese aviation is an open market.

The low-cost airline, which also operates budget hotels, is also said to be preparing to include other transportation options in their travel packages, such as buses on the Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, ferries and high-speed trains, under a plan that aims to give their passengers more flexibility and added connectivity among the several airports in the Pearl River Delta.
British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a final push yesterday to save her European Union withdrawal deal after her promise to step down gained the agreement some support but failed to win over lawmakers from Northern Ireland.

May pledged that she would quit if the deal were approved, in hopes of blunting opposition from lawmakers in her Conservative Party who have criticized her leadership. May has been under mounting pressure to quit from pro-Brexit Conservatives, who accuse her of negotiating a bad divorce deal that leaves Britain too closely tied to the bloc after it leaves.

Some prominent opponents, including former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, quickly said they would back the agreement, but Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party said it remained opposed because of concern that the deal treats the region differently from other parts of the U.K.

The prime ministers announcement came as lawmakers rejected eight alternatives to her deal after an unprecedented move to wrest control of the parliamentary agenda from the government in an attempt to find a plan that could break the Brexit deadlock.

A second round of votes is planned on Monday to try to find a plan with majority backing. But the architect of the votes said the inconclusive outcome meant a damaging no-deal Brexit was becoming more likely.

At the moment we are heading for a situation where, under the law, we leave without a deal on the 12th, which many of us think is not a good solution, Conservative Party lawmaker Oliver Letwin told the BBC. And the question is, is Parliament on Monday willing to come to any view in the majority about that way forward that doesnt involve that result?

The EU last week extended the Brexit deadline for two weeks, saying Britain would leave the bloc with no deal on April 12 if it doesnt come up with a plan to break the deadlock by that date. If Parliament approves Mays deal by Friday, the deadline will be extended until May 22 so there is time to pass implementing legislation.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the outcome of the indicative votes showed there are no easy options here, as he urged lawmakers to support Mays deal.

The results of the indicative votes underscored the divisions in Parliament, and the country, over Brexit  but also pointed toward a potential compromise.

The idea of remaining in a customs union with the EU came closest to winning a majority, with 264 lawmakers voting for it and 272 voting against. The most popular option was the idea of holding a second referendum on any deal approved by Parliament, which was backed by 268 lawmakers, but opposed by 295.

Both ideas got more support than the 242 votes secured by Mays deal earlier this month.

The plan is for the most popular ideas to move to a second vote Monday to find an option that can command a majority. Parliament would then instruct the government to negotiate it with the EU.

May has said she will consider the outcome of the votes, although she has refused to be bound by the result.

Business groups expressed alarm at the continuing gridlock, which has left companies uncertain whether they will face tariffs, customs checks and other barriers to trade with the EU in just a couple of weeks.

No one would run a business like this  and it is no way to run a country, said Adam Marshall, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce.

He told politicians to stop chasing rainbows and start making tough decisions, however personally or politically difficult they might be.

Labour Party legislator Margaret Beckett, who sponsored the second referendum proposal, said lawmakers who had been wedded to particular proposals now needed to compromise in the national interest.

They are going to have to look over the abyss, she said. Danica Kirka & Jill Lawless, London, AP
Chinese telecommunication equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co. is putting U.K. national security at risk by failing to improve its devices and software, according to a report by its oversight body.

The annual report by the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre Oversight Board, which examines how the company conducts its U.K. operations, concluded it has not seen anything to give it confidence in Huaweis ability to improve defects in cyber security and software engineering.

The report identified:

Further significant technical issues in Huaweis engineering processes, leading to new risks in U.K. telecommunications networks

Significant, concerning issues in its approach to software development, bringing significantly increased risk to U.K. operators

No material progress has been made by Huawei regarding issues reported last year

U.K. networks are less vulnerable than last year because the technical insight provided to British operators allows them to plan more effective defenses

A Huawei spokesman said: The oversight provided for in our mitigation strategy for Huaweis presence in the U.K. is arguably the toughest and most rigorous in the world. This report does not, therefore, suggest that the U.K. networks are more vulnerable than last year.

The U.K. is preparing to roll out fifth-generation mobile networks and Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright is currently considering the results of a review into the resilience of the telecom supply chain.

While yesterdays report from Huaweis oversight board makes clear it has seen nothing to give confidence that the company can fix its long-term security risk management, this is only one element Wright will examine before making recommendations to the National Security Council.

The Chinese company has a significant presence in the U.K. Huawei has signed contracts with all four U.K. mobile networks to test its 5G wireless equipment, deepening the Chinese vendors involvement in Britains telecom industry as officials weigh whether to ban the company over security concerns.

Although critical of Huawei, the U.K. is still no closer to putting in place any restrictions on the company. Taking a softer approach to Huawei could put the country at odds with some of its closest security counterparts, including in the so-called Five Eyes network, the pan-national intelligence sharing network which comprises the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.

Officials from the U.S. have been warning allies over letting carriers work with Huawei. The head of the U.K.s foreign intelligence agency MI6 Alex Younger has denied lobbying from the U.S.

The Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre is funded by Huawei, but is staffed by both Huawei employees and representatives from the U.K.s National Cyber Security Centre. Based at Banbury in Oxfordshire, northwest of London, the centers board is made up of around 35 U.K. security approved cyber experts. It was established in 2010 to provide insight for the British government into the companys strategies and products. Kitty Donaldson, Bloomberg
Chinese companies linked to cannabis growing tumbled yesterday, as regulators put the squeeze on one of the years hottest trades.

Shanghai Shunho New Materials Technology Co. and Jilin Zixin Pharmaceutical Industrial Co. both slid more than 6 percent after the Shenzhen Stock Exchange told them to warn investors about uncertainties facing their industrial cannabis projects. In written notices, the exchange also asked the companies to submit progress reports on those businesses before April 2. Neither company immediately responded to Bloombergs requests for comment.

Shanghai Shunho  whose products include cardboard and filament  had soared 378 percent this year prior to Thursday, while Jilin Zixin rose 142 percent, joining the euphoria thats driven a rally in marijuana-focused stocks elsewhere in the world. Cultivation of industrial cannabis is legal in China but only for use in fiber and seeds, the China National Narcotic Control Committee says. Other uses including for medical purposes are forbidden.

Chinese investors have piled into stocks with the slightest hint of a link to industrial cannabis, ignoring companies warnings and a government notice said to urge authorities to tighten approval of hemp-related licenses. Shunhos issued at least six warnings in the past two months alone reminding investors of risks in hemp.

Its still just a concept. Weve seen huge gains in the near term, so its going to be all risks going forward, said Yu Yingdong, a vice general manager with Shenzhen Yun- Neng Fund Management Co.

Among other stocks to slide, Yunnan Yuntianhua Co. dropped by the 10 percent limit and cigarette package printer Shantou Dongfeng Printing Co. also fell that amount after climbing nearly 60 percent since February, when it said an affiliate was exploring industrial cannabis opportunities. Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co. escaped with a 6.9 percent gain after saying it has 2 percent interest in a project linked to industrial cannabis. Dali Pharmaceutical Co. is up 20 percent since denying it was involved in the business earlier this month. Bloomberg
Macaus Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong has said that as of late last year he had already required the Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Center (CPTTM) to submit a report following a Commission Against Corruption investigation. The Secretary told media yesterday that he expects an improvement to the CPTTM recruitment processes.

Earlier this week, the CCAC, in its 2018 Annual Report, detected that 16 of 101 workers of CPTTM were relatives, including father and son, father and daughter, husband and wife, and brothers and sisters. Three of the 16 workers have already left their jobs.

During the investigation, the center was unable to provide the employment documents of some of its staff members.

The CCAC believes that although the center is not a government department in the traditional sense, it relies mainly on government funding. In turn, the centers recruitment method was too casual and the proportion of staff of kinship is too high, which inevitably raises questions about cronyism.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of yesterdays Macao International Environment Co-operation Forum and Exhibition launching ceremony, the Secretary remarked that despite the center not being a government department, it consumes sizable public resources to maintain its operation.

Although the center has internal rules, its internal recruitment and promotion systems do have the need, as pointed out in the CCAC report, to be carried out on principles of fairness and openness.

Leong said it is necessary for any public department or self- governing body to conduct fair and open recruitment and promotions. The Secretary expects that, through the CCAC report, there can be an improvement in the recruitment process of CPTTM.

In November 2018, the CCAC sent a warning to the center addressing the aforementioned maladministration.

Leong said that he instructed the center to improve its recruitment and promotion system back then. In particular, he asked the center to take on board the opinions of the CCAC.
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Two new imported cases of measles were detected yesterday, raising the total number of cases to 25, the Health Bureau (SSM) announced in a statement.

The first case was diagnosed in a Filipino national who is a 27-year-old non-resident worker and a restaurant employee in the SAR, while the second case involves a 23-year- old local resident who works as a nurse in Kiang Wu Hospital.

The first patient was in the Philippines between January 6 to March 15, while the latter visited Taiwan between March 3 to 9.

The SSM claimed that the local nurse working in the private hospital  where many cases of measles were detected  was not contaminated in his workplace.

According to the health authority, the bureau has increased its order of Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccines to 15,000 doses. The first batch of 5,400 doses is set to arrive next week.

The bureau also announced that more than 800 residents have asked for the vaccine in just the past few days, compared to the typical demand of around 30 per day.

Thus, the bureau stated that residents who wish to apply for vaccination should make an appointment at the regions health centers, either in person or over the phone.

This demand has had a strong impact on the regular functioning of the [health centers], since the procedures to apply this vaccine are [taking] longer than usual, SSM noted.

However, children under two years old, childcare staff and health professionals are exempted from requiring an appointment.

SSM director Lei Chin Ion told the press yesterday on the sidelines of a committee of the Legislative Assembly that there are enough vaccines available for children and medical staff.

Lei pledged that the bureau would follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization regarding vaccination. LV
Hong Kongs traditional banks are set to face one of their biggest challenges yet: a new breed of financial technology firms estimated to snare as much as 30 percent of their revenue.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has granted three virtual bank licenses and is processing five more, Deputy Chief Executive Arthur Yuen said in a briefing on Wednesday. Firms that got the permits have partnered with Standard Chartered Plc, BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd. and ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co. and they intend to begin operating within nine months, Yuen said.

The city is playing catch up with regional economies, notably China and India, by allowing fintech to shake up retail banking. A reliance on cash and strong household savings had yielded high profitability for a clutch of lenders and kept the industry concentrated. That could see the sector vulnerable to disruption as competition gets fiercer.

This will help foster fintech development in Hong Kong and promote financial inclusion, the Hong Kong Association of Banks said in a statement. The industry can leverage this opportunity to develop new business models.

Virtual banks are similar to traditional retail banking services in that they will be able to accept deposits and give out loans. They arent expected to set up physical branches. Analysts at Citigroup Inc. estimate around 10 percent of existing banks revenue is at risk over the next decade.

Most at risk are HSBC Holdings Plc, Standard Chartered, Hang Seng Bank Ltd. and BOC Hong Kong Holdings, which account for 66 percent of the retail loan market and 77 percent of mortgages, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. About USD15 billion, which is 30 percent of the citys total banking revenue, is up for grabs, Goldmans analysts, led by Gurpreet Singh Sahi, estimated in September.

There will be some competition, but we think that the market can comfortably absorb this kind of competition, the HKMAs Yuen said. Virtual banks have a different business model, so one could say that, to some extent, they are creating new business opportunities in the market.

The payment space would be the first battle ground between banks and technology firms in the city, the Goldman report said. Hong Kongs value of cash transactions accounted for about 17 percent of GDP in 2016, leaving the city behind only Japan among major economies, according to a report published by the Bank for International Settlements last year.

Virtual banking was one of the fintech initiatives announced by the HKMA in 2017, which also included a digital payment system that uses mobile numbers and email addresses for payments. The faster payment system had more than 2 million registrations by the end of 2018 and handled transactions worth HKD104 billion ($13 billion) since it started in September, according to the de facto central bank.

Digital wallets, intermediaries between a consumers phone or tap card and traditional bank account, have also seen a steady increase in use. The transaction value of such accounts increased about 9 percent to HKD45 billion in the third quarter from three months earlier, HKMA data showed.

It will be a great, great thing for Hong Kong to have these virtual banks operating, said Sumit Indwar, a partner at Linklaters in Hong Kong. Its a real statement of intent by the regulators to show that Hong Kong is an innovation-friendly city.

Keith Ng, a relationship manager who works in corporate banking and has been using HSBC for more than 10 years for its deposits, foreign exchange and pension services, said hed love to try and open a virtual bank account as long as they are secure.

I just need a bank that provides good support over the phone or online, Ng said. Thats something the traditional banks are now not doing well enough. Alfred Liu, Bloomberg
The Mayors Visiting Program for Chinas Neighboring Countries carries growing significance in the context of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), according to Zhuhais mayor Yao Yisheng.

As the Greater Bay Area keeps developing [on] all fronts, the leading role of Macau and Zhuhai as a pole in the Greater Bay Area will become very prominent, said Yao. Therefore, the Mayors Visiting Program is facing greater opportunities in terms of exchange and cooperation. With well- developed economies and sound environments, cities involved in the Program have their own development features, which are complementary to each other.

Zhuhai and Macau are geographically close, and our people have close ties, said Yao.

Citing Chinese president Xi Jinping, Yao noted that it is necessary to strengthen policy support, increase the scope of cooperation, develop emerging industries and promote Macaus economic development in order for the city to become more dynamic.

Then, citing Li Xi, secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, Yao said that Guangdong and Zhuhai will do everything we can to meet the needs of Macaus development.

Zhuhai has been conscientiously implementing the requirements of the central and provincial governments. It has also been doing its best to promote an appropriate level of diversified economic development within Macau, said Yao. We are creating an environment Macau people and companies will be willing to go to and which is suitable for their development.

We made sure to meet the demands of projects involving Macau, we carried out a new round of urban planning revision, and we have reserved sufficient space for the cooperation between Zhuhai and Macau, in Hengqin island and the integrated area, and for the western ecological new era.

This year, according to Yao, Zhuhai will promote the establishment of the Intelligent Supercomputing Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Science and Technology Research Institute of the University of Macau in Hengqin and will also endorse Macaus four national key laboratories to set up branches in Hengqin.

Zhuhai also plans to develop 100,000 square meters of office buildings and 10,000 units of rental housing to encourage Macau enterprises to set up offices in Hengqin.

The Zhuhai mayor noted that Zhuhai will play a greater role in promoting Macaus integration into the overall development of the country and in facilitating the participation of all parties in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. JZ
On February 18, Chinese policymakers finally released the blueprint for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong- Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The 11-chapter document described a grand plan to drive economic integration and innovation in the region, and citied Macau is one of the core cities alongside Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau.

The vision is truly ambitious. By leveraging the resources and individual strengths of the various cities in the region, the plan is to create an economic powerhouse that can be described as Silicon Valley and Wall Street within the same city cluster, according to Hong Kongs leader Carrie Lam.

But like any ambitious plan, it wont happen without obstacles. There are obvious infrastructural and logistical challenges to completely integrate such a large geographical area spanning land and sea. There are also extensive legal challenges, as the two S.A.Rs and the mainland do not share the same legal framework.

But all in all, the plan does seem to hold potential in the long run.

Many developers and investors seem to share this sentiment. As soon as the plan was released, there were headlines of bullish developers planning to expand their portfolios in cities such as Shenzhen and even Zhongshan.

The plans outline for Macau is to focus on being the world centre for tourism and leisure and act as a bridge to Portuguese-speaking countries.

Nothing unexpected there.

My personal opinion is that the plan to turn Macau into a bridge between the region and the Portuguese speaking countries potentially underestimates the entrepreneurialism and resourcefulness of both China and the Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil and various African nations.

While I was living and studying in Guangzhou, I was definitively surprised by the number of African and Brazilian entrepreneurs engaging business across sectors such as trade, F&B, manufacturing and textiles.

Many of them were fluent in Mandarin, and they seemed to have a strong network of compatriots who supported each other in their business. Many have been doing business in China for years.

After speaking with them, I discovered that there was an even heavier presence of Portuguese-speaking business people operating in other places of China, such as Dongguan.

My personal observation was that these entrepreneurs already have a platform and a gateway into doing business in China. Why would they need to come through Macau?

Macau could offer services such as translation and structured legal support and consultation  But many of them speak Chinese anyway, and theyve already been doing business just fine in China for years!

But of course, I could be mistaken, and Macau could add a ton of value to these entrepreneurs. I certainly hope so!

Sam Lee is a marketing manager and property consultant at JML Property. JML was established in 1994 and offers Investment Property & Homes. It specializes in managing properties for owners and investors, and providing attractive and comfortable homes for tenants.

www.JMLProperty.com

info@JMLProperty.com
Johnny Ng Kit-chong, member of the Hong Kong Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), has expressed his confidence in the proliferation of freedom of internet access in the Greater Bay Area, even in the mainland cities of Guangdong, according to a report by TVB.

The same report said that there was another Hong Kong CPPCC member who proposed in Beijing during the recent CPPCC meeting that Greater Bay cities should allow people to freely access websites from anywhere in the world without the need for a virtual private network (VPN). The report did not mention the name of the specific Hong Kong CPPCC member.

Many of the worlds websites are blocked in mainland China. However, netizens sometimes use a VPN to access censored content.

The Outline Development Plan of the Greater Bay Area proposed that one of the strategic objectives of the region is to become a technology innovation center with a global reach.

Some commentators are worried that information restrictions may hinder the development of the region as a technology center.

A science and technology center must be in line with foreign countries in the production of scientific research, said Ng.

Ng believes that the Greater Bay will establish a special internet zone in order to achieve the aforementioned purpose.

Ng not only believes that there should be free internet access in the Greater Bay, he also believes that there is a high chance for the proposal to become a reality.

The problem should be small [for the proposal to be approved], because this is the trend of the times. The country will go international, the free movement of information is the most important [aspect] among the free movement of people, the free movement of logistics, the free movement of capital, he said.

A Hong Kong businessman, surnamed Hung, who has invested in mainland Chinas technological industry, voiced that technology often has to be connected to foreign products, designs and concepts. But information has not been flowing to the mainland and this has become a bottleneck in the development of technology companies.

Hong Kong is also a part of China. The social platforms that Hong Kong can access should also come to the Greater Bay Area, said Hung, according to the report.
Thailands Election Commission held a sudden news conference yesterday to release full preliminary results of the countrys recent general election, though some of the data was inconsistent, adding to concerns over the management of the nations first poll since a military coup.

The commission, appointed by the legislature hand-picked by the junta that took power in 2014, has faced mounting pressure to speed up the count of Sundays vote and to address concerns about potential irregularities. The U.S., European Union, Australia and others have called for the commission to address such concerns.

Thai social media users have been less diplomatic, making hashtags such as CheatingElection19 and ECBusted trend.

The latest preliminary results, which the commission said were based on a count of all votes, showed that Palang Pracharath, a party allied with the ruling junta, won the most votes. The commission announced earlier that the main anti-junta party, Pheu Thai, had won the most constituency seats. Final official results arent required until May.

Both parties have said the early results mean they have a mandate to form the next government, setting up a showdown that could last weeks and lead to instability in a country that has seen repeated political unrest over the past 15 years.

After delaying the release of a full preliminary vote count on election night and then again on Monday, the commission has done little to address concerns beyond blaming any issues in the early counting on the media failing to keep up with the raw data.

After Mondays delay, the commission said it would release a full preliminary vote count on Friday. Then on Wednesday, it said the results announced Friday would only be 95 percent of the count. Then yesterday, without giving advance notice to the media, it went on TV to announce what it said was the full preliminary vote total, though it did not give seat totals.

As election officials began announcing various numbers, observers noted that they failed to match those in handouts the commission issued at the same time. A huge leap in the voter turnout percentage also did not appear to be supported by the absolute numbers that were issued. Other issues were more minor, such as the total vote count on one page not matching that on another.

A 208-page file showing the vote by each constituency, posted by the commission on the internet, was taken down and unavailable less than two hours after it was released.

The election was for 500 seats in the lower house. Of those, 350 seats are set aside for the winner of each constituency, while another 150 so-called party list seats are divided among parties based on a proportion of the overall vote. The commission has yet to release a preliminary result for the party list seats, which is determined using a complicated formula that is meant to handicap larger parties.

While official results are due in May, the commission has said the seat allocation could change as it investigates complaints and lawsuits in some constituencies.

In the midst of public doubt toward the Election Commission, we are confident that they still have time and opportunities to prove themselves  release all information in detail, by constituency, online, so the people can scrutinize it, said Pannika Wanich, spokeswoman for the anti-junta Future Forward Party, which was in third place in the vote count. Chris Blake & Kaweewit Kaewjinda, Bangkok, AP
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The U.S. Surgeon General's office estimates that more than 20 million people have a substance use disorder. Meanwhile, the nation's drug overdose crisis shows no sign of slowing. Yet, by all accounts, there aren't nearly enough physicians who specialize in treating addictiondoctors with extensive clinical training who are board-certified in addiction medicine.

The opioid epidemic has made this doctor deficit painfully apparent. And it's spurring medical institutions around the country to create fellowships for aspiring doctors who want to treat substance use disorder with the same precision and science as other diseases.

Now numbering more than 60, these fellowship programs offer physicians a year or two of postgraduate training in clinics and hospitals where they learn evidence-based approaches for treating addiction.

Such programs are drawing a new, talented generation of idealistic doctorsidealists like Dr. Hillary Tamar.

Tamar, now in the second year of a family medicine residency in Phoenix, wasn't thinking about addiction medicine when she first started medical school in Chicago.

"As a medical student, honestly, you do your ER rotation, people label a patient as 'pain-seeking,' and it's bad," Tamar said. "And that's all you do about it."

But in her fourth year of med school, she happened to be assigned to a rotation at a rehab facility in southern Arizona.

"I was able to connect with people in a way that I haven't been able to connect with them in another specialty," the 28-year-old recalled.

Working with patients there transformed Tamar's understanding of addiction, she said, and showed her the potential for doctors to change lives.

"They can go from spending all their time pursuing the acquisition of a substance to being brothers, sisters, daughters (and) fathers making breakfast for their kids again," she said. "It's really powerful."

When Tamar finishes her residency, she plans to pursue a fellowship in addiction medicine. She sees addiction medicine, like primary care, as a way to build lasting relationships with patientsand a way to focus on more than a single diagnosis.

"I love when I see addiction patients on my schedule, even if they're pregnant and on meth," she said. "More room to do goodit's exciting."

Doctors with Tamar's enthusiasm are sorely needed, said Dr. Anna Lembke, medical director of Addiction Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and a longtime researcher in the field.

"Even 10 years ago," Lembke said, "I couldn't find a medical student or resident interested in learning about addiction medicine if I looked under a rock. They were just not out there."

But Lembke sees a change in the upcoming generation of doctors drawn to the field because they care about social justice.

"I now have medical students and residents knocking on my door, emailing me; they all want to learn more about addiction," Lembke said.

Historically, the path to addiction medicine was through psychiatry. That model started to change in 2015, when the American Board of Medical Specialtiesconsidered the gold standard in physician certification in the U.S. - recognized addiction medicine as a bona fide subspecialty and opened up the training to physicians from other medical fields.

Until then, Lembke said, there had been no way to get addiction fellowships approved through the nationally recognized Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. And that made recruiting young talentand securing funding for their fellowshipsdifficult.

Last year, ACGME began accrediting its first batch of addiction medicine fellowship programs.

"We have got an enormous gap between the need and the doctors available to provide that treatment," Lembke said.

"At least the medical community has begun to wake up to consider not only their role in triggering this opioid epidemic, but also the ways they need to step up to solve the problem," she said.

When Dr. Luke Peterson finished his residency in family medicine in Phoenix in 2016, there were no addiction medicine fellowships in Arizona.

So he moved to Seattle to complete a year-long fellowship at Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency. There he learned, among other things, how to treat pregnant women who are in recovery from drug use.

"I really needed to do a fellowship if I was going to make an impact and be able to teach others to make the same impact," said Peterson, who went on to help found an addiction medicine fellowship program in Arizona. His program is based in Phoenix at the University of Arizona's medical school and its teaching hospital, run by Banner Health and the Phoenix VA.

Arizona's two addiction medicine fellowships received ACGME accreditation last yeara stamp of approval that made the programs desirable choices for up-and-coming physicians, Peterson said.

Not every doctor who plans to treat substance use disorder needs to do a fellowship, he said. In fact, his goal is to integrate addiction medicine into primary care settings.

But a specialist can serve as a referral center and resource hub for community doctors.

For example, physicians can learn from a specialist such as Peterson how to provide medication-assisted treatment like buprenorphine.

Public health leaders have been pushing to get more physicians trained in evidence-based treatment like buprenorphine, which has been shown to reduce the risk of death among people who have recovered from an opioid overdose.

"As we provide more education and more support to primary care physicians, they will feel more comfortable screening and treating for addiction," Peterson said.

Peterson's own journey into addiction medicine began during a rotation with a family doctor in rural Illinois.

"In moments that most doctors find uncomfortablemaybe a patient comes in to request pain medication and you're seeing the negative side effectshe did not shy away from that situation," Peterson said. "He addressed it head-on."

It was a formative experience for Petersonone he wants other young doctors to have. And he recognizes the urgency.

"In 20 or 30 years from now," Peterson said, "those medical students are going to look back at my current generation of doctors, and we will be judged by how we responded to this epidemic," in the same way he and his peers now look back at how doctors handled the HIV epidemic.

One of the first steps in stopping the epidemic, he said, is making sure there are enough doctors on the ground who know how to respond.

Many of today's medical students, people like Michelle Peterson (no relation to Luke), say they feel the calling, too.

She's in her first year at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and became interested in addiction after working at an outpatient treatment center.

She said she's already learning about addiction in her classes, hearing from doctors in the field and seeing others classmates equally engaged.

"It's definitely not just me," she said. "There are quite a few people here really interested in addiction."

It's a trend she and her mentors hope will continue.

Explore further US experts: Medicines for opioid addiction vastly underused

2019 Kaiser Health News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The ELCs ocean-themed sensory room is an integral component of its Preschool Autism Language and Social Skills program. Credit: Michael Mercier | UAH

The relaxing sound of the ocean greets you as you take in the soft glow of twinkling lights around you and the smooth billows of white satin overhead. Sinking into the cozy hug of an oversized bean-bag chair, your mind begins to calm, absorbing the soothing ambiance and letting go of the day's distractions. You've found peace at lastthat is, until the school bell rings and reminds you that you're not at the spa. You're in the calming sensory room at the Early Learning Center (ELC) on the campus of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

Unveiled last fall, the room was made possible by the generous financial support of two community partnersthe Daniel Foundation of Alabama and the Boeing Employees Community Fundeach of whom provided a $25,000 grant to the ELC.

"I had always dreamed of having a space that allows our kids to regulate their senses and be a little more ready to learn, so we're beyond thankful for the funding from the Daniel Foundation of Alabama and Boeing that enabled us to turn that dream into a reality," says Deana Aumalis, director of the ELC. "Together they've helped us create an amazing, one-of-a-kind sensory oasis that encourages our children to relax and refocus their minds, and allows them to better concentrate on what they're learning outside of the sensory room and inside the classroom."

The sensory room is an integral component of the ELC's Preschool Autism Language and Social Skills (PALS) program, which seeks to meet the needs of children with autism spectrum disorder. It also allows education majors with a focus on autism spectrum disorders to gain hands-on experience in differentiated instruction, given the ELC's role as a service and outreach unit for UAH's College of Education.

The rooms SMART Table was purchased with funds from a literacy and technology grant from the Daniel Foundation of Alabama. Credit: Michael Mercier | UAH

"We started PALS two years ago to meet the demand in this community for quality early-childhood programs that serve children on the autism spectrum," says Aumalis. "So the PALS class uses the sensory room at a scheduled time, and then it's open to anyone else who needs it at any point during the day."

Pursuant to its under-the-sea theme, the room features a giant ocean mural painted by UAH alumna Theresa Cordier, a projector that displays underwater imagery, a lighted bubble tube with fish, stackable cube lights, and a SMART Table that assists children with acquisition of pre-academic social skills like turn-taking and sharing. "We were able to purchase the SMART Table with funds from a $50,000 literacy and technology grant we had received previously from the Daniel Foundation of Alabama," says Aumalis.

The room's piece de resistance, however, is its sensory swing. A staple of sensory rooms, these swings help improve users' core strength, balance, and motor skills by engaging their vestibular receptors with a rotating motion. What makes this one special is that it was designed and built by UAH students in Dr. Christina Carmen's two-semester product-realization course.

The rooms sensory swing was designed and built by engineering students in Dr. Carmens two-semester product-realization course. Credit: Michael Mercier | UAH

"While there have been various industry customers for my student teams over the years, no customer has been more exciting to work with than Deana Aumalis, the ELC teachers, and their precious students," says Dr. Carmen. "And the student team that worked on this project was simply exceptional. Each gave an all-out effort to ensure the product was, first and foremost, safe, as well as ergonomically appropriate, durable, reliable, aesthetically enticing to use, and functionally sound. The best part is knowing that ELC students will be able to use and benefit from the product."

And she is not alone. Both the Daniel Foundation of Alabama and the Boeing Employees Community Fund share Dr. Carmen's pride and pleasure in supporting the ELC and its mission to give all children a firm foundation for their future. "We are pleased to support the ELC through the addition of a sensory room that meets many of the special needs that students have and that allows staff to provide helpful therapies and lessons," says Jennifer Gray, who serves a program associate at the Foundation.

Fortunately, there are plenty more opportunities for the ELC's community partners to provide support going forward. Among other plans in the works, Aumalis is hoping to create an active sensory room for those children who seek sensory stimulation rather than relaxation. "Our calming sensory room has been such a great successmore than we could have imagined," she says. "Now I would like to be able to replicate that, and in doing so, help even more children experience the social, cognitive, physical, and emotional growth essential to a high-quality education."

The rooms furnishings were made possible by donations from the Daniel Foundation of Alabama and the Boeing Employees Community Fund. Credit: Michael Mercier | UAH

Explore further Brain activity shows development of visual sensitivity in autism
Illustration depicting Caesarean section. Credit: BruceBlaus/Wikipedia/CC BY 3.0

Caesarean sections are disproportionately threatening the lives of women and babies in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London.

The analysis of data from 12 million pregnancies, published in The Lancet, finds that maternal deaths in LMICs are 100 times higher than in some high-income countries, and a third of all babies in some regions do not survive caesarean section.

First author Dr. Soha Sobhy from Queen Mary University of London said: "To our knowledge, this is the largest and most comprehensive study to-date on the risks of death following caesarean section. The outcomes for women in low and middle-income countries are far worse than we expected.

"In sub-Saharan Africa, one in 100 women who has a caesarean section will die100 times more than women in the UK. The outcomes for their babies are even worse, with eight per cent not surviving longer than a week."

Lead author Professor Shakila Thangaratinam from Queen Mary University of London added: "Caesarean sections are the most commonly performed operation worldwide. They are meant to be life saving for both mother and baby, but because of many factors, such as poor access, late referrals, inappropriate procedures, poor resources and training, this is not always the case.

"Now that we know the risk factors and countries associated with poor outcomes, we can make a more targeted effort to improve conditions for mothers globally, so that timely and safe caesarean sections can be done wherever they are needed."

Every year 300,000 women die during childbirth, 99 per cent of which are from LMICs. Timely access to caesarean section when needed is required for safe childbirth, but procedures are being performed 'too little, too late', or 'too many, too soon'.

The analysis looked at data from 196 studies from 67 LMICs, covering 12 million pregnancies, and found that:

The risk of maternal death in women in LMICs undergoing caesarean section was 7.6 per 1,000 proceduresaround 100-fold higher than the UK (8/100,000)

The highest burden was in sub-Saharan Africa (10.9/1,000)

The overall rate of stillbirth in babies born by caesarean section was 56.6 per 1,000, with the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa (82.5/1,000)

The perinatal death rate (stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life) was 84.7 per 1,000 caesarean sections, with the highest rates in Middle East and North Africa (354.6/1,000)

A quarter of all women in LMICs who died while giving birth had undergone caesarean section (23.8 per cent)

Women undergoing emergency caesarean section in LMICs were twice more likely to die than those delivering by elective caesarean section. The odds were increased 12-fold when caesarean section was performed in advanced labour at full dilatation of the cervix (second stage) than in the first stage

Perinatal deaths were increased 5-fold with emergency vs. elective caesarean sections, and 10-fold when undertaken in the second vs. first stage of labour

Maternal death rates were particularly high in countries with very low caesarean section rates, highlighting the problems with too little access, too late

A third of all deaths following caesarean section were attributed to postpartum haemorrhage (32 per cent), pre-eclampsia (19 per cent) and sepsis (22 per cent), and 14 per cent to anaesthesia related causes.

Based on these findings, the researchers are calling on policy makers and healthcare professionals to improve access to surgery, promote appropriate use of the procedure, provide safe surgical environments, and increase neonatal resuscitation to help improve outcomes to babies.

The team also highlight that training in labour management needs to cover why caesarean sections are carried out, in order to reduce inappropriate caesarean sections, and promote a reduction in caesarean sections performed in the second stage of labour, which are the most risky.

The finding that postpartum haemorrhage was the commonest cause of maternal death following caesarean section, highlights gaps in resource and skills to manage massive obstetric haemorrhage, and a need for specific training in this area.

The work was carried out at Barts Research Centre for Women's Health, based at Queen Mary University of London, funded by Barts Charity, and in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

Francesca Gliubich, Director of Grants at Barts Charity said: "The Barts Research Centre for Women's Health is undertaking many important studies and Barts Charity are proud to fund their work. This latest research will help to inform global health policies around Caesarean sections and help to avoid the preventable deaths of both mothers and babies."

The study was also funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Ammalife Charity and the ELLY Appeal. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

The findings are limited by the differences in the characteristics of population and the team could not adjust for underlying obstetric and socio economic factors. It was also not possible to determine if the adverse outcomes following caesarean section were due to the procedure or from a pre-existing risk factor. Very few studies were published in some regions such as Europe and central Asia and Middle East and North Africa, and may affect the generalisability of the findings.

More information: Maternal and perinatal mortality and complications associated with caesarean section in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 12 million pregnancies, The Lancet (2019). www.thelancet.com/journals/lan  (18)32386-9/fulltext Journal information: The Lancet Maternal and perinatal mortality and complications associated with caesarean section in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 12 million pregnancies,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32386-9
Tumor cells with or without clofazimine. Without clofazimine (left), the Wnt signalling pathways (in fluorescent red) appear very active - With (right), they are almost completely extinguished. Credit: UNIGE - UNIL - Vladimir Katanaev

Of the three major subtypes of breast cancer, triple negative is the most lethal. Half of all breast cancer deaths are attributed to it, whereas it accounts for only about 15 percent of incidences of breast cancer. And unlike other breast cancers, it is resistant to most existing therapies. By studying the properties of clofazimine, a 70-year-old antibiotic, scientists from the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Lausanne (UNIL), in Switzerland, demonstrate its effectiveness in stopping the progression of the disease in in vivo tests. Indeed, it blocks the Wnt cell signaling pathwaya disruption of the cell mechanism that causes many cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer. These results, published in Cancer Letters, highlight the need to re-examine the drugs already on the market with a fresh eye, especially older ones.

Triple-negative breast cancer is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, especially affecting young women. Its very rapid progression and the lack of effective treatment thus contribute to making it an extremely serious disease, causing the deaths of more than 200,000 women worldwide each year.

Better targeting for better care

Increasingly, cancer specialists are pursuing therapies that specifically target cancer cells, but that spare healthy cells. Project leader Professor Vladimir Katanaev at the Faculty of Medicine Translational Research Centre in Oncohaematology (CRTOH) of the UNIGE explains the principle behind it: "The idea is to identify molecular elements specific to tumour cells, but absent from healthy cells, and precisely target them. These elementscalled oncogenesare necessary to transform healthy cells into malignant cells, so it is important to bring them down without damaging neighbouring cells."

In the case of triple-negative breast cancer, as well as in other cancers such as liver or colon cancer, one of the main suspects is the Wnt signalling pathway. When cells communicate with each other, they do so through chemical signals, i.e. the signalling pathways. The cell that receives the signal responds to it by migrating, for example, or by dividing. The Wnt signalling pathway is essential during embryogenesis by allowing the unborn baby to develop properly. In adults, however, it usually shuts down, and its reactivation following a mutation or epigenetic modification gives an erroneous growth signal and allows tumour development. However, if Wnt is blocked, tumour growth stops.

A very old antibiotic with unsuspected capacities

In 2014, Professor Katanaev's team (at UNIL back then) had shown in vitro the inhibitory effect of clofazimine on the Wnt signalling pathway in triple-negative breast cancer. They now confirm this effect in vivo in animal models of the disease: "With clofazimine, tumour growth is significantly reduced," says Vladimir Katanaev. "In addition, we did not detect any adverse side effects, an essential aspect of drug development process."

In vivo testing also demonstrated that clofazimine targets the Wnt signaling pathway well, as expected. In addition, clofazimine is even more effective when administered in combination with doxorubicin, a conventional chemotherapeutic drug. Alexey Koval, a researcher at the CRTOH of the UNIGE at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the UNIL and co-first author of this study, analyses these results: "Clofazimine acts as an inhibitor of the Wnt signaling pathway: The sick cell can no longer divide, but does not die. Doxorubicin, on the other hand, kills cells that have stopped growing, a combination of great efficacy."

Is drug repositioning the future of pharmacology?

Many researchers around the world have undertaken to review existing drugs in the light of new technologies and methodologies now available in order to discover unknown effects. The repositioning of drugs, for which testing and marketing procedures are simpler than for entirely new molecules, saves time and costs less. Clofazimine, an antibacterial agent used to fight leprosy, has been on the market for a long time, and is, in fact, in the public domain. "This very inexpensive drug is even on the WHO's list of essential medicines and is produced all over the world, including in Switzerland," adds Vladimir Katanaev. "This is an advantage, of course, but it also complicates the fundraising required to continue our work: indeed, no patent can be filed."

The next step is now to conduct clinical trials involving volunteer patients, first in Geneva, then likely elsewhere in Switzerland.

Explore further New insight into aggressive breast cancers

More information: Kamal Ahmed et al, Towards the first targeted therapy for triple-negative breast cancer: Repositioning of clofazimine as a chemotherapy-compatible selective Wnt pathway inhibitor, Cancer Letters (2019). Journal information: Cancer Letters Kamal Ahmed et al, Towards the first targeted therapy for triple-negative breast cancer: Repositioning of clofazimine as a chemotherapy-compatible selective Wnt pathway inhibitor,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2019.02.018
Heart disease survivor Kristen Criss wearing a Holter monitor. Photo courtesy: Kristen Criss

Kristen Criss' father died of complications from a stroke, her mother died from a heart condition at age 40 and her sister passed away at 33.

Still, it would be many yearsand health struggles of her ownbefore she realized the full meaning of having a family history of heart disease.

Criss discovered in 2017 that her mother died of the same heart disease that killed her sister: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM. The disease occurs when heart muscle cells enlarge, causing the walls of the ventricles to thicken and possibly block blood flow. Although rare, it also is associated with sudden cardiac death.

A recent genetic test revealed that the 38-year-old from Riverside, California, also has HCM.

Starting in her 20s, however, Criss had developed a series of arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats caused by electrical malfunctions in the heart that can lead to serious health problems. Later, she found out that arrhythmias can be a symptom of HCM.

After her heart was shocked back into a normal rhythm eight times while pregnant with her third child in 2016, Criss wanted to know the exact cause of her own mother's death.

"After I had my daughter, my mind frame totally changed," she said. "I thought I should know to benefit or share with others."

So, in November 2017, Criss requested her mother's death certificate from 1995, learning that her mother died of HCM. The condition is usually inherited and caused by a genetic mutation, but it also can mimic heart muscle changes associated with other conditions, such as high blood pressure.

"I was shocked and hysterical," Criss said. "I fell to the floor. Now, I had to do something."

The next month, genetic testing showed Criss also has HCM.

In February 2018, Criss received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator because of a high risk of cardiac arrest due to HCM. The small, battery-operated device placed under the skin to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm if it starts to beat chaotically. By her side were her husband, Dominque, and best friend, Melanie Taylor.

"She's a fighter," Taylor said.

Knowledge has helped Criss make sense of the past, but it also sparked fear for her three young children. Did they have HCM? Would they pass it on to their children?

Criss recently arranged genetic tests for son Braxon, 10; son Avery, 6; and daughter Sariah, 2. They were brave, but scared.

The results showed all three children tested negative for the genetic mutation behind HCM.

"It was very emotional," said Criss, who treated the kids to ice cream to celebrate.

If Criss' children don't have the same genetic mutation, they're unlikely to have HCM or pass it on to their children, said Dr. Maged Nageh, Criss' cardiac electrophysiologist at Kaiser Permanente's Regional Arrhythmia Center in Los Angeles. He stresses the importance of genetic testing for HCM patients with unclear family history or symptoms related to HCM.

Guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology recommend genetic testing to identify patients with HCM, including those with atypical presentation or if another genetic condition is suspected as the cause, as well as parents, children and siblings of those patients.

Criss has shared much of her experience on Instagram and Facebook to make others aware of heart disease and genetic testing.

"The disease literally stops with me," Criss said.

Explore further Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy may not cause symptoms until later in life

American Heart Association News covers heart and brain health. Not all views expressed in this story reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Copyright is owned or held by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved. If you have questions or comments about this story, please email editor@heart.org.
T cells (left) become active in the body only when they recognise a peptide (blue, centre) located on one of the immune system's sentinel cells (right). The ETH scientists repurposed sentinel cells in such a way that they indicate which peptides the T cells recognise. Credit: Science Photo Library / Keith Chambers

Medicine has great hopes for personalised cancer immunotherapy. The idea is to have a vaccine prompt the immune system to fight a tumour. Scientists at ETH Zurich have developed a method that allows them to determine which molecules are suited to patient-specific immunisation.

Cells belonging to the body's own immune system can help fight tumours. For several years now, this has allowed oncologists to use medications known as checkpoint inhibitors to encourage T cells to eliminate tumour cells. Last year the two scientists who discovered this therapeutic approach were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

While doctors are enjoying some initial successes with this method, especially with regard to melanomas and several other types of cancer, immunologists and cancer researchers are working to develop the approach further. What they have in mind is a vaccine that would cause cancer-repelling T cells to multiply in the body, thereby strengthening the body's immune defences. The big question is which molecules are suitable for a vaccine? Researchers working in the team of Manfred Kopf, Professor of Molecular Biomedicine, have now developed a method for identifying such molecules.

Rapport between immune cells and tumour cells

Since on the one hand tumours differ greatly from patient to patient, and on the other no two people (except identical twins) have the same immune system, future immunisation against cancer is a complex example of personalised medicine. The goal is to develop an individual vaccine for each patient.

Potential vaccines include pieces of proteins, known as peptides, that are found only in tumours due to a mutation. Because T cells are specific and always recognise only one particular peptide, just as a key fits only one lock, a further prerequisite for a vaccine of this kind is that the patient has T cells capable of recognising these cancer peptides in the first place. So before doctors can immunise a cancer patient, laboratory tests must be conducted to search for corresponding pairs of T cells and peptides. A peptide that is recognised by a T cell can be used for personalised immunisation. The vaccine should then activate the T cells in the body that recognise only that peptide (and thus tumour cells). These T cells should ultimately wipe out the tumour.

The ETH researchers' method makes it possible for a laboratory to determine which T cells recognise which peptide. Up to now this has been incredibly difficult. The scientists used tumours in mice to show that their approach works. Next, they want to demonstrate the effectiveness of their approach in dealing with tumours in humans.

Every patient gets their own set of reporter cells

At the heart of this new method lies a collection of several million reporter cells, each one of which presents on its cell surface one of many peptides found in a tumour. The reporter cells are designed to turn green as soon as a T cell interacts with it due to recognition of the presented peptide. This enables the scientists to identify those tumour peptides that the T cells of a cancer patient recognises. This involves mixing the collection of reporter cells with T cells taken from the patient's tumour, isolating the reporter cells that turn green and identifying the peptide they carry.

Credit: ETH Zurich

Since each person (and each vertebrate generally) has a unique immune system, and since each tumour carries a unique pattern of mutations, the scientists must produce a different set of reporter cells for each patient. "One option is to determine the tumour's genetic sequence and compare it with the gene sequence of the patient's healthy cells," Kopf says. This lets the researchers determine the extent to which the tumour differs from healthy tissue and then transfer the genetic information with precisely these tumour-specific differences into the reporter cells.

Experimental test

As Kopf explains, "Other scientists are using computer predictions to try and find out which cancer peptides are suited to this type of immunisation. But this approach is only as good as the algorithms used  and at the moment, they aren't very reliable. By contrast, we have developed an experimental test that assures us that the T cells recognise patient tumour peptides."

Initial tests involving a breast cancer model in mice showed Kopf and his colleagues that their method works. In immunised mice, the immune system did indeed attack the tumour; in the non-immunised mice that the scientists used as a control, this did not happen.

The scientists already patented this method five years ago. In 2015, their promising discovery won them ETH Zurich's Spark Award. Their work was recently published in the specialist journal Nature Immunology [dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41590-019-0335-z].

To develop commercial applications for the technique, the scientists founded an ETH spin-off called Tepthera. This start-up plans to demonstrate the effectiveness of their approach also using tumours in humans.

Just as interesting for autoimmune diseases

"Essentially, our technique and personalised immunisation hold out promise for the treatment of all cancers  especially in combination with checkpoint inhibitors," Kopf says, adding that the technology could also be used in the research and treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis or type 1 diabetes.

Unlike healthy people's immune system, the immune system in people who suffer from autoimmune diseases attacks not only foreign or mutated cells, but also the autoimmune patient's own body cells. In the case of many of these conditions, it is not yet known against which native molecules the autoimmune response is directed. This is something that can now be researched using the new method. In contrast to cancer, where the idea is to use immunisation to activate the killer cells, for autoimmune diseases the aim is to develop a vaccine that tempers the immune system.

Explore further Discovery paves way for precision medicine in future

More information: Jan Kisielow et al. Deciphering CD4+ T cell specificity using novel MHCTCR chimeric receptors, Nature Immunology (2019). Journal information: Nature Immunology Jan Kisielow et al. Deciphering CD4+ T cell specificity using novel MHCTCR chimeric receptors,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41590-019-0335-z
By Benjamin Jumbe.

The chairperson of Bunyororo parliamentary group Barnabas Tinkasimire has described the creation of Parallel Caucuses during the NRM retreat as malicious

The NRM Caucus which met in kyankwanzi resolved to elect new chairpersons for all regional caucuses led by mps not loyal to the party position and those who opposed the constitutional amendment.

Apart from creating a parallel Buganda parliamentary caucus , the NRM caucus also created a parallel caucus within the Bunyoro parliamentary caucus , voting Bulisa county mp Mukitale Birahwa as chairperson replacing Barnabas Tinkasimire.

Tinkasimire says that the move is intended to divide the people of Bunyoro so that they cannot push for their demands from Government.

The publicist of the newly created NRM Buganda caucus Simeo Nsubuga earlier defended the party decision clarifying that the main caucus will still incorporate even members from the opposition.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Describing 12-hour shifts with no break for a meal or even a trip to the bathroom, hospital nurses who say they're overloaded with patients are pushing for a new state law that would limit the number of people they care for at the same time.

Nurses groups say the proposed mandate to set a maximum number of patients per nursebetween one and four, depending on the type of unitwould improve both working conditions for nurses and also patient safety.

But opponents who represent hospitals say a one-size-fits-all mandate for every hospital in the state does not work, and could cost billions of dollars to increase staffing. That expense could lead to higher patient bills, increased insurance costs, and layoffs at cash-strapped hospitals.

Several proposals to set nurse-to-patient ratios are pending in the Illinois legislature, where lawmakers are expected to hear from both sides in an upcoming hearing.

Illinois Nurses Association Executive Director Alice Johnson said the law could ultimately "save lives."

With fewer patients, nurses can be more attentive to them, which can result in better outcomes, like fewer hospital-acquired infections and cardiac arrests, she said. "All of those become less likely with better nurse staffing."

And manageable patient loads are "safer for the nurses," Johnson said, pointing out that nurses are among the most likely groups to experience workplace violence. She also said having fewer patients means less-stressed nurses, who are less likely to experience burnout.

Melissa Bertoletti, 46, who has been a registered nurse for 25 years, has worked for the last five years in the emergency department at Amita Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet. She said the staffing ratios would help her do her job better, and feel safer while working the overnight shift.

Bertoletti said that when she's assigned to the psych area of the emergency department, she can have up to eight patients at once, including some who may require restraints after acting violently. While juggling regular care, "you can have someone have an allergic reaction, have someone collapse," she said.

About six years ago, Bertoletti was working in a different hospital's emergency department, where she was assigned to triage and the waiting room. She noticed a woman who had been waiting for two hours start to experience increased pain and lie on the floor. Bertoletti was about to see if she could find her a bed when a man arrived in the midst of a heart attack, she recalled.

After tending to the man, Bertoletti heard commotion in the waiting room. The woman had stopped breathing and died from an aortic dissection, she said.

"She waited for two hours there because there was not enough staff in the ER," Bertoletti said. "There weren't enough nurses."

Current state law requires hospitals to establish committees made up, in part, by the nursing staff in the hospital. Those committees work with nursing supervisors to determine each day's staffing in each unit, said Danny Chun, spokesman for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association.

That's a better approach than a blanket mandate, Chun said.

"Not all patients are alike, and not all hospitals are alike," he said. "Illinois is a very diverse state. (Staffing) is not something that can be boiled down to simplistic ratios."

Chun said rigid ratios could limit hospitals' flexibility to move staff around depending on the hospital's needs on any given day.

And implementing the ratios would require hiring more nurses, which could cost hospitals around the state a collective $2 billion, according to "conservative estimates," Chun said. Hospitals would have to lay off other staff to accommodate that, he warned, as well as increase patient costs.

He added that Illinois has a nursing shortage, and a significant portion of current nurses are aging into retirement. Mandating ratios, combined with that shortage, creates a "double whammy."

And while advocates for the new law point to studies that show patient-nurse ratios work, Chun cites other research that says they don't actually improve patient outcomes.

"The bottom line is, they don't improve patient outcomes, they are very costly and Illinois doesn't have enough nurses to implement it," he said.

But Paul Pater, 35, a registered nurse at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, said something needs to change. Pater said he routinely has four patients in the emergency department, which is often too many.

To keep up with the demand on busy days, Pater said, he'll go 12 hours without a bathroom break or a meal.

"People don't understand the hardships that nurses go through. (Some days) can be horrendous because everybody is exceptionally sick and needs a lot of attention," he said. "And sometimes there's not enough attention to go around."

Explore further California nurse staffing

2019 Chicago Tribune

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(HealthDay)Millions of Americans work in shifts, and new research suggests it's doing no favors for their cardiovascular health.

The Chinese study of more than 320,000 people found that shift workers are at heightened risk for heart disease, and the more years they work shifts, the greater their risk.

Shift work "can earn more profit, but it can also cause harm to the health of employees, so employers should reduce shift work as much as possible," advised study lead author Dr. Weihong Chen. She's a researcher in occupational and environmental health at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan.

In the study, Chen's team analyzed data from 21 prior studies involving hundreds of thousands of people and nearly 20,000 cases of coronary heart disease, which is caused by blocked blood flow in the heart.

The study wasn't designed to prove cause and effect, but the data showed that shift workers were 13 percent more likely to develop coronary heart disease than daytime workers.

And for every year spent working on shift work, there was a nearly 1 percent increase in the risk of coronary heart disease, Chen and colleagues reported March 29 in the journal Occupational Medicine.

The reason why shift workers are at increased risk for coronary heart disease isn't known, but disruption of the normal sleep-wake cycle, increased stress, and unhealthy lifestyles often associated with shift work could be factors, the Chinese team reasoned.

Heart disease is a major killer, however, so there are big implications for millions of workers.

"The number of deaths due to ischemic heart disease has continued to rise with 7.6 million deaths in 2005 and 8.9 million people dying due to the condition in 2015," Chen said in a journal news release. "Patients can require surgical interventions and medications, meaning ischemic heart disease is one of the biggest burdens on health care systems."

Dr. Satjit Bhusri, a cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, agreed.

Reviewing the new findings, Bhusri said that "physicians and patients should both take this occupational situation as an additional risk factor for heart disease, and initiate prevention and treatment early."

How might that work, exactly? According to Chen, "employers should pay attention to staff members who are experiencing symptoms of heart problems, as well as those with a family history of heart disease. Employers could provide health promotion, such as information on how to prevent and deal with ischemic heart disease."

Finally, she said, "companies could also consider providing health checks to detect early signs of heart problems."

Explore further More children could mean higher risk of heart disease

More information: The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more on The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more on ischemic heart disease

Copyright  2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Two mannequins in the test room used by the research group. Credit: University of Cordoba

Being admitted to the hospital for a specific illness or infection and coming down with another during one's hospital stay is not common, due to the effectiveness of prevention systems, but it is also not an isolated incident. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 6 percent of hospital patients get an infection while staying at the hospital, which generates a financial impact of 7 trillion euros in Europe as a whole.

Nosocomial infections, the name for infections that are caught at the hospital and hence were not the reason the patient was admitted, are a real health challenge. Recently, a research group in the area of Machines and Thermal Engines at the University of Cordoba tested the effectiveness of a displacement ventilation system that reduces those infections that are airborne, such as, for instance, measles, tuberculosis and klebsiella, pathogens that can cause serious complications for immunosuppressed patients or patients with low immunity.

More than 90 percent of hospital facilities and other buildings use what are called mixing ventilation systems, as Professor Manuel Ruiz de Adana, one of the main authors of the study, explains. These systems push new air into the upper part of the room, which is not where the patient is located. Later, this new air is mixed with the air in the room and pollutants decrease.

To look into this problem, the research group studied the risk of infection in a different kind of ventilation system, -known as displacement ventilation- in which air is pushed at low speeds into the area where the patient is located. The air in the room, exposed to pollutants, is literally "displaced" and rises to the upper part of the room once it warms up in the room. Instead of lessening the amount of pollutants, this system pushes them from one side of the room to the other until they go out through the room's vents. In this way, there is clean airflow, working like a piston, in the area where patients and health care workers are located.

"We cannot control people's prevention habits, but we can control the air they breathe," says Professor Ruiz de Adana. In order to do so, the group analyzed this ventilation method's potential to control airborne infections by using thermal mannequins outfitted with breathing systems. They carried out several experimental trials injecting a pollutant that simulated a pathogen in the mannequin's lungs as well as at a number of locations around the room.

After evaluating and measuring different parameters, the study, carried out in the framework of the TRACER research and development project, concluded that displacement ventilation systems can reduce the risk of exposure to airborne pathogens compared to other traditional systems. This is a ventilation mechanism, says researcher Ruiz de Adana, that comes from the Nordic countries, countries where because of climate conditions, people spend a great amount of time indoors. However, "It is not normally used in hospitals and a study on this scale and for this specific use had not been performed before."

According to regulations established by the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, ventilation systems should refresh all the air in a hospital room 12 times an hour in order to reduce airborne infections. With this new proposed ventilation system, going by the data shown by the study, it will only be necessary to refresh the air nine times an hour, without the risk of infection changing, meaning in addition to health benefits, the system will also cut energy use.

Explore further A layer of cool, healthy air

More information: Jose Manuel Villafruela et al, Assessment of displacement ventilation systems in airborne infection risk in hospital rooms, PLOS ONE (2019). Journal information: PLoS ONE Jose Manuel Villafruela et al, Assessment of displacement ventilation systems in airborne infection risk in hospital rooms,(2019). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211390

Provided by University of Cordoba
New study reveals that FGFR4 phosphorylates the essential proteins (MST1/2) of Hippo tumor suppressor pathway preventing their activation and induction of programmed cell death in breast cancer cells. Cell death program can be reactivated by blocking FGFR4 function with a speficic inhibitor. These findings suggest new options for eradicating cancer cells with excessive FGFR4 expression.

Researchers at the University of Helsinki and Karolinska Institutet have discovered new molecular mechanisms of breast cancer cell signaling that contribute to aggressive behavior of cancer cells.

Uncontrolled growth of cancer arises from the imbalanced regulation of cell division and programmed cell death. To stimulate the growth, cancer cells can induce multiple signaling receptors; including FGFR4 receptor tyrosine kinase, for which the cancer promoting signaling routes have remained incompletely understood.

In breast cancer, FGFR4 is especially overexpressed in the subset, where cell proliferation is driven by another related signaling receptor, HER2. Targeted therapies against HER2 are in use to effectively treat the patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Because in these tumors excessive FGFR4 expression associates with poor patient survival, combinatorial drug targeting of FGFR4 could prevent the spread of improve treatment efficacy for those patients whose tumors spread aggressively despite HER2 targeting.

Based on this idea, the new study led by Associate Professor Kaisa Lehti first comprehensively elucidated the functions of FGFR4 by screening thousands of candidate proteins that can be modified by FGFR4 mediated phosphorylation.

"Unexpectedly, we discovered that FGFR4 efficiently phosphorylates several essential proteins of the Hippo tumor suppressor pathway," Lehti says. As the name suggests, Hippo pathway suppresses uncontrolled growth, and disturbances of the Hippo pathway signaling contribute to outgrowth of the tumors.

Biochemical studies on breast cancer cells revealed that, by phosphorylating MST1/2 Hippo kinases, FGFR4 not only regulated growth, but also prevented the induction of programmed cell death. In these cancers driven by both HER2 and FGFR4 signaling, the cells were forced to actively suppress programmed cell death pathways via the herein identified mechanism to survive and grow.

Although such complex cancer cell signaling mechanisms may seem peculiar and almost invincible, they provide also great chances for drug targeting. FGFR4 receptor has distinct structural features allowing for specific targeting with drugs, and several compounds of this type are already in use for basic research and clinical trials. In this study, the researchers utilized a comprehensive oncology drug testing, which revealed that a treatment combining an FGFR4 targeting drug either with HER2 targeted therapy or modulators of the cell intrinsic death program efficiently reduced breast cancer cell viability.

"This clearly reveals a co-targetable vulnerability of cancer cell signaling, and these promising results warrant future studies to investigate the potential of FGFR4 targeting to combat HER2 positive breast cancer or other cancer types where FGFR4 is overexpressed," Lehti says.

The results were published in Cell Death and Differentiation.

Explore further New path to overcoming drug resistance in HER2-positive breast cancer

More information: S. Pauliina Turunen et al. FGFR4 phosphorylates MST1 to confer breast cancer cells resistance to MST1/2-dependent apoptosis, Cell Death & Differentiation (2019). S. Pauliina Turunen et al. FGFR4 phosphorylates MST1 to confer breast cancer cells resistance to MST1/2-dependent apoptosis,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41418-019-0321-x
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to reporters flanked by two prosecutors he appointed to be judges in Tampa-area courts on Friday. Thomas Palermo, left of DeSantis, will serve on the 13th Judicial Circuit Court and Jessica Costello, right of DeSantis, was appointed to the Hillsborough County Court. Emily L. Mahoney | Times/Herald TAMPA  Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed two new judges to Tampa-area courts on Friday, one of whom is replacing Laurel Lee, who was a judge in the 13th Judicial Circuit Court before DeSantis named her to be secretary of state.

Thomas Palermo, an assistant U.S. Attorney working as a prosecutor for the Department of Justice, will replace Lee in the circuit court, which is located in Tampa. Floridas circuit courts handle felony cases, civil disputes of more than $15,000 and appeals from county courts.

Palermo, 43, said he was humbled to replace Lee, whom he called a dear friend. Lee was present at Fridays announcement on the University of South Florida campus.

The second appointment was Jessica Costello, an assistant statewide prosecutor working in the Florida Attorney Generals office who will now serve as a judge in Hillsborough County Court.

As a member of the Tampa community, I cant explain how honored I am to serve, she said. As a local and statewide prosecutor Ive prosecuted cases ranging from human trafficking to homicides, drug trafficking and counter terrorism matters  all with a focus on making our community safer and stronger.

DeSantis commented that Costello, at 34, will be one of the youngest judges in the state, adding that she has accomplished a lot in a relatively short time.

Both appointees will serve with distinction, he said.
Scores of young entrepreneurs and business moguls have chosen their business base in the United Arab Emirates. Be it the strategic location, tax-free economic benefits or simply the governments commitment to nurture and support businesses, which makes it accessible to major emerging economies, linking shipping routes and facilitating goods transportation between the various regions in Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa.Entrepreneurs are constantly eyeing upon UAE's Free Zones for establishing their businesses. One such Region, Fujairah offers unique investment opportunities in the country. The Emirate of Fujairah is the only Arab principality situated on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Fujairah has been actively developing since the last decade, and now attracts foreign investments into the national economy. The Fujairah free trade zone was created in order to ensure the comfortable operation of foreign companies on the territory of the Emirate. Today, the entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world express a desire to open a company in Fujairah.For private business, to open a company in Fujairah, UAE, means to obtain access to the modern port infrastructure. Because Fujairah provides a direct access to all the international & regional navigable waters. Moreover, an international air harbor of the Fujairah Airport operates in the immediate vicinity of the free trade zone. Fujairah Creative City Free Zone offers key benefits comprising of 100 percent foreign ownership of your business, 100 percent repatriation of capital & profits, no corporate & income Tax, mandatory office lease not required, physical presence in UAE is not required to register the company, and scaling business up to 15 visas.The free zone offers varied setup options for Media & PR houses, Advertising agencies, Consultancy firms, Trading conglomerates and Education sector service providers. The free zone has an official representative sales office right in the heart of Dubai called Business Incorporation Zone (BIZ). BIZ provides entrepreneurs and SMEs with trade license and legal registration facilities combined with customer support services that are uncompromised.Under the ace leadership of Anisha Sagar (General Manager), 2011-founded BIZ simplifies company registration procedure in consultancy, media, education, technology, IT & trade sectors, and realizes every entrepreneurs dreams into reality. Etching transparency and impartial consultancy as its operational order, BIZ offers end-to-end assistance at every step of business incorporation process. In accordance with this, client-centric outlook, the in-house team of professionals addresses every clientele requirement with a customized approach and provides sustainable, business-friendly solutions for continuous growth. Our relationship with our clients doesnt just start with licensing and ends with visa processing. For us, these two are just the beginning of a long-standing relationship with our partners, adds Anisha, who believes in extending the support to a scale where clients can operate and focus on what really matters for their businesses to grow locally and globally.BIZs suite of services spans from company registration process to customer support services. Under this umbrella, the free zone sales office offers end-to-end assistance and hassle-free solutions for trade licensing and visa application procedure. This allows clients to register their license and apply for residency visas right in Dubai, without visiting the Free Zone in Fujairah. With packages starting from AED 13,500 only, the entrepreneurs own 100 percent of their business with neither

withholding tax nor repatriation tax applicable. Investors are allowed to repatriate capital and profits in full without any restrictions. Clients can choose multiple activities from a wide list of activities ranging from trading, professional to commercial services within the same trade license. In addition, clients also have the flexibility to avail 15 visas on a shared desk facility. Some of the other advantages offered by BIZ are issuance of company documents within three days and zero corporate and income tax.



Proactive Support for Long-Standing Relationships

Unlike erstwhile establishment processes are rigid and require physical presence of the entrepreneurs in UAE to complete the setup, with time consuming processes, Fujairah's Creative City Free Zone license holders physical presence is not required in the UAE to incorporate their company. All activities are completed online with BIZ offering professional assistance, continuous PRO support not just limited to company formation, but with visa application, medical, and ID registration for both Entrepreneurs and family visas.



"Tapping lucrative opportunities, BIZ envisions creating award-winning, robust infrastructure and serviceable environment for enabling operations in media, consulting, communication, design, technology and trading fields"



Believing in the credo  we evolve with you, BIZs workforce keeps on making the company better to live upto clients trust and continue a loyal journey, even after completing license and visa formalities. Anisha avers, We consider these two main processes as only a beginning of our journey with our clients. As their company grows, we provide our clients with the business support they require to grow and become market leaders.



BIZ provides an additional value to its clients by connecting them with relationship managers at banks to facilitate opening of corporate bank accounts. Also, clients are invited to participate in periodic workshops and seminars that are organized by BIZ to tackle latest developments and trends in various industries. BIZ also facilitates their clients by providing key account management services that may be required to obtain any third-party approvals. For example, BIZ provided account management services to The Boxtones (a Scottish-Canadian rock band) in order to obtain permit from the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in Dubai. Today, The Boxtones is a flourishing company and continues to perform enthusiastically as a licensed musical company with its wings spread throughout UAE.



Pathways to Personalized Assistance

When it comes to establishing official roots on a foreign land, it is evident for businesses to encounter a gap between self-knowledge and the countrys inland laws & regulations. Determined to bridge this gap with professional care and standardized support, BIZ follows a transparent work approach pertaining to costs, timelines, and documentary requirements, to simplify the UAE's licensing process for its clients. Consultations with setup advisors and customer service executives are offered free of charge, to give unbiased advice on how to setup and run your company. Additionally, implementation of open-door policy not only helps BIZ cater to clients personal business needs, but also succours in building healthy relationships in the long run.



At BIZ, personalization and efficient delivery of customer services remarks the companys dedication and commitment to work. Each client is assigned a dedicated customer service manager and account manager as the single point of contact for all services. In conformity to their assigned duties, these managers regularly update clients on the application status and are always available to answer every clientele query. Together with our efficient team of PROs constantly striving to complete your applications in a timely fashion, we remove the stress and hassle usually associated with setting-up a new company and obtaining your UAE's residency visa, elucidates Anisha.



The Tech-Quality Buzz

Integrating technology and quality servicing at par excellence, BIZ extends assistance benefit through its 24/7 chat system that enables clients to contact the experts at any point of time. On the flip side, introduction of phone answering system has given users access to a pool of contact center agents. These agents act as clients representative to properly
IKvyatkovskaya/iStock(LONDON) -- A painting assumed to be an imitation of one of Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli's most famous works has been revealed to be an original from Botticelli's own studio, according to the conservation charity English Heritage.



The work is a copy of Botticelli's Madonna of the Pomegranate, which was painted around 1487 and is housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. The copy was previously believed to be a fake from a later era because a thick layer of yellow varnish over the canvas had obscured the work's true quality for more than a century.



Conservators discovered the true origins while the painting was being cleaned. After X-ray testing, pigment analysis and infrared studies of the artwork, they concluded that the painting was, in fact, created in Botticelli's own workshop.



In the 15th century, Botticelli hired a number of assistants at his workshop in Florence, Italy, to help him meet the popular demand for his paintings. Art collectors and painters would often request copies of his popular works, hence why this "copy" can be considered an original Botticelli.



The copy, described by English Heritage as "the closest version of the masterpiece" to the real thing, was bought in 1897 by art collector and diamond magnate Julius Wernher before later falling into the conservation charity's catalog.



The painting shows the Madonna and the figure of Jesus Christ flanked by four angels.



Rachel Turnbull, English Heritage's Senior Collections Conservator, said she believed the painting was too similar to Botticelli's original works when she first laid her eyes on the copy.



"Being able to closely examine and conserve this painting for the first time in over 100 years has really given us the chance to get up-close and personal with the paintwork," she said in a statement. "I noticed instantly that the painting bore a striking resemblance to the workshop of Botticelli himself; stylistically it was too similar to be an imitation After consultations with our colleagues at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Gallery London, we are finally able to confirm that Madonna of the Pomegranate is from the Florentine workshop of master painter Sandro Botticelli."



The authentic copy to the original can now be seen in Ranger's House, London, where it will be on display starting April 1, along with over 700 other works of fine and decorative art collected by Wernher.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier

Mayor Alan Casavant notes the city's successes but says there are problems and all must work together to solve them.
ESET South Africa, multi-award-winning company and leader in cybersecurity solutions, recently hosted its 6th annual partner awards in honour of its top-performing partners.

The awards recognise top-performing partners in the channel for their innovation, leadership, contribution, and commitment to growing their business and the ESET brand in Southern Africa.

The awards are divided into categories that identify partners that excelled in sales, revenue, and service.

Our partners play a key role in the successes weve had along the way with joint sales activity and collaboration, making us particularly proud of an awards evening that recognises [them], said Carey van Vlaanderen, ESET CEO.

ESET also highlighted that theyve seen a consistent 13% growth year on year, and has commended their partners in Gauteng for contibuting 42% of all national sales.

This year, the awards were divided into three categories: regional awards, national awards, and recognition awards.

The winners of the 2019 ESET Partner Awards are listed below.

Category Winner Regional Newcomer Sales Champion NSK IT Solutions Regional Sales Growth Revenue Champion (Revenue<100k) CW Compers Regional Sales Growth Revenue Champion (Revenue>100k) Jaco Rall IT Projects Regional Consumer Sales Champion Dial a Nerd Regional Top New Sales Champion VPN Technologies Regional SMB Sales Champion AVeS Cyber Security (PTY) Ltd Regional Small Enterprise Sales Champion BVI Network Security Services Regional MSP Sales Champion LAN Logix Regional Highest Revenue BVI Network Security Services National Small Enterprise Sales Champion BVI Network Security Services National Newcomer Sales Champion Auric Consulting National Sales Growth Champion (Revenue<100k) CW Compers National Sales Growth Champion (Revenue>100k) Olrich Home of Technology National Top New Sales Network & Computing Consultants (NCC) National Consumer Sales Champion Dial a Nerd National SMB Sales Champion First Technology KZN National MSP Sales Champion Cyberlogic (PTY) Ltd National Highest Revenue First Technology KZN Future Star Award Reflex Solutions Gauteng Education Award Gentron Gauteng CEO Award Anton Smith  Hambisana Technologies Gauteng Product Champion Award AVeS Cyber Security (PTY) Ltd

Regional awards

Newcomer Sales Champion  NSK IT Solutions

Sales Growth Revenue Champion (Revenue<100k)  CW Compers

Consumer Sales Champion  Dial a Nerd

Top New Sales Champion  VPN Technologies

SMB Sales Champion  AVeS Cyber Security (PTY) Ltd

Small Enterprise Sales Champion  BVI Network Security Services

MSP Sales Champion  LAN Logix

Highest Revenue  BVI Network Security Services

National awards

Small Enterprise Sales Champion  BVI Network Security Services

Sales Growth Champion (Revenue<100k)  CW Compers

Consumer Sales Champion  Dial a Nerd

MSP Sales Champion  Cyberlogic (PTY) Ltd

Recognition awards

Gauteng Education Award  Gentron

Gauteng CEO Award  Anton Smith, Hambisana Technologies

Gauteng Product Champion Award  AVeS Cyber Security (PTY) Ltd
You can sue the media for ...
Hundreds of St. Helena residents took advantage of a recent open house to share their opinions about streetside parklets, crosswalks, and other aspects of St. Helenas upcoming downtown streetscape project.

About 180 people signed in during the four-hour drop-in event at the vacant Masonic building, and consultant David Gates estimated the total crowd at between 200 and 250.

Four students from St. Helena Elementary Schools fourth- and fifth-grade leadership class also attended to share input provided by 240 classmates.

Photos of streetscape concepts and architectural designs from other cities were displayed, and guests were given blue colored dots to stick next to the most appealing photos.

Pots and planters, thats nice. Make the street look pretty, said Ester Akersloot, placing one of her dots, then gesturing toward another photo of a planted median strip.

This would be pretty arty, wouldnt it? But I dont think its necessary myself. We need better sidewalks, for sure.

Last year Akersloot successfully lobbied the city to design a continuous sidewalk on the south side of Hunt Avenue so that residents like her can safely walk to the downtown.

During the open house, she spoke in favor of building a new public restroom off Main Street and installing directional signs to help people find the existing restrooms at Lyman Park and Lewis Station Park.

Maybe put signs up and arrows  restrooms this way, Akersloot suggested.

Bill Ryan, one of the organizers of the St. Helena Street Piano at Lyman Park, said hed like to install a second piano at a new mini-parklet  a pocket of public space created by bulbing out the sidewalk, often at the site of a crosswalk.

Theyre all over San Francisco, Ryan said. A street piano at a mini-parklet would have a nice local, organic appeal, and it suits both locals and visitors, he said.

Tom Allen, whose Downtown Renaissance project explored similar ideas, was excited about the renewed push to spruce up the downtown space.

Streetscape improvements, gathering places for pedestrians, fixing up the alleyways, more attention and resources for the trees  this is great, Allen said.

In addition to comments about the streetscape, people used the open house to weigh in on the Adams Street property, City Hall, a potential new hotel, and the need for a community center in St. Helena.

We asked them to design the stove but theyre looking at the whole kitchen, said David Gates, one of the consultants guiding the project.

He saw that as a sign that theres strong public will to design a comprehensive project that builds on St. Helenas unique sense of place.

People are starting to realize they have an opportunity here, Gates said. Its very exciting.

The input from the open house will help shape the design of the downtown streetscape project. Construction of the new sidewalks is scheduled for spring 2021.

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Two weeks ago, the Gallo family opened the newly restored, historic Louis M. Martini Winery in St. Helena. The restoration work took 10 years, although the planning took even longer than that.

During a preview reception held March 13, Howard Backen of Backen, Gillam & Kroeger Architects thanked both the Martini and Gallo families for allowing us to work with them for a 10-year period. He called it a labor of love, adding he enjoyed every minute of it.

Putting the two families together, Backen said, was amazing.

Backens partner, John Taft, said the firm was able to preserve the history of a Napa Valley icon. Louis M. Martini built the winery in 1933 after paying $3,000 for 10 acres just south of St. Helena. Martini had arrived in the Napa Valley a year earlier and passed on the opportunity to buy Greystone Cellars (now the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone) for $55,000, preferring not to pay a penalty for impressive architecture, said Joseph Gallo, chief executive officer of E&J Gallo Winery.

Instead, Martini designed and built his cinder block cellar winery and bought three carloads of reinforcing steel at a good price, Gallo said. He got the roof from a dog racing track in Southern California. Work began in June 1933 and by harvest, the winery was ready to crush grapes, Gallo added.

Taft praised the historic, 86-year-old building, calling it an amazing structure that is an incredibly efficient open warehouse and cellar that is still in use today for production. The large open space was passively air-conditioned with a highly insulated structure with walls of stone on both sides, Taft said.

The architects job was to transform the winery, opening it up and welcoming guests, while preserving its historic nature. Howard Backens vision celebrates the historic 1933 winery building and seeks to preserve its unique structural elements, said Matt Gallo, vice president of Coastal Operations. During the renovation, Backen removed the non-historic additions made throughout the buildings lifetime and meticulously restored it to its original form.

The architects moved the main entry out front, facing the highway; brought in numerous 85-year-old olive trees for the outside entry atrium; used 30-foot high glass walls to separate the spaces inside and showcase the barrel room; and kept the historic materials and elements, including terra cotta wall tiles, steel and concrete, while adding warm oak. Taft said, Our intent in opening the exterior walls was to draw you into the building, but also to draw you back out into the landscape from within. The transplanted olive trees add light and softness to the site as well as bringing the landscape back into the building, he added.

The building includes a demonstration dining room and an underground cellar with private wine libraries. Outside is the restored Martini Park, featuring a sycamore grove with tables, private cabanas and a culinary pavilion.

Winery bought in 2002

The Gallo wine family bought the Martini property in 2002 and Joseph Gallo said since the purchase we always had in mind to invest in the facilities and market the brand as we thought Mr. Martini would have approved. We began by focusing on the production side of the business and spared no expense to upgrade the production facilities as well as to buy the best grapes and hire the best winemakers we could find to make a world-class product.

He said they went through various iterations as to how to improve the visitors center, but we were never quite satisfied with the various proposals. Eventually, though, Backen, Gillam & Kroeger Architects were hired and after many meetings and iterations, Gallo said, We came to the final decision  the results of which you will see today.

He added, I want to thank the Martini family, in particular Carolyn and Mike Martini, for their ongoing support and approval of this project.

Matt Gallo told the crowd that they are the first to experience the new, restored winery, adding, We cant wait to open the doors, later this month (March 29) to the public. We look forward to having this property available for the barrel auction at this years Auction Napa Valley. So without further words, we want everyone to enjoy their visit today, enjoy a glass of wine, enjoy a walk around, enjoy the effort that our family and Howard and John have put into this. It is really a pleasure to have you all here and being part of the opening.

A surprise for Matt Gallo

At the end of his talk as the crowd was drifting away, David Stoneberg, editor of the St. Helena Star, presented Gallo with an historic Louis M. Martini bottle, California Selection, Golden Anniversary Dry Sherry. It was undated. Gallo and Stoneberg posed for photos and then took the bottle downstairs to the wine vault and placed it next to a Martini wine from 1947.

The Martini Dry Sherry was one of four bottles  and the only one with its label still attached  that was placed in a time capsule in 1988, the 125th anniversary of the Napa Valley Register, which owns the St. Helena Star. The time capsule, a steel safe with a combination lock, was dug up on Aug. 2, 2017 at the Registers former Second Street site in Napa.

The site is now home to Register Square, a residential, retail and commercial development. The newspaper moved to Soscol Avenue nearly three years ago, after selling its property.

The safe was opened in October 2017 before a crowd of curious employees. Inside were only four wine bottles and a wine glass commemorating the Registers 125th birthday. Moisture had destroyed the rest of the materials buried in the steel safe and turned them into a layer of black char and decomposed wood.

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Have you ever wanted to be in a newspaper because of something you wrote or did? I want to, too! I think there should be a section in the St. 
In one swoop, a mid-sized Larkspur wine company is carving out a sizeable corner of Napa wine, acquiring a pair of weighty wineries and a swath of vineyards.

Distinguished Vineyards & Wine Partners announced on Wednesday its purchase of Markham Vineyards and TEXTBOOK, adding the two Napa names to a portfolio of Sonoma, Oregon and New Zealand wines in separate purchases. Neither winerys sale price was disclosed.

The purchases included an internal acquisition from Distinguished Vineyards parent company, Kirin Brewery Company of Japan, for the brick-and-mortar winery and vineyards of Markham, and the purchase of the TEXTBOOK brand from Scenic Root Winegrowers, the company of TEXTBOOK founders Jonathan and Susan Pey.

Formed in 2008 and based in Marin County, Distinguished Vineyards & Wine Partners is the U.S. arm of Australia beverage company Lion, another subsidiary of Kirin.

Known for its pioneering of high-end Merlot since 1980, Markham Vineyards Napa roots trace to more than a century earlier when Bordeaux immigrant Jean Laurent built the original winery building, which was included in the sale to Distinguished Vineyards.

Operating as Markham Vineyards since 1978, the winery sold to Kirin subsidiary the Mercian Corporation in 1988. Though trading hands between subsidiaries, the transaction was structured as an acquisition, said Steve Myers, managing director of Distinguished Vineyards.

Myers said Wednesday that the purchase was an opportunity for us to better collaborate with our two North American wine businesses.

The sale also includes Markhams 350 acres of vineyards across the Oak Knoll, Yountville and Calistoga sub-appellations, and the winerys inventory. David Flanary and Kimberlee Nicholls will stay on as Markhams president and winemaker, respectively. Senior adviser and former president Bryan Del Bondio will also continue at Markham, carrying on a 41-year career that began as the winerys first employee.

The purchase not only adds the pair of sound Napa assets to the companys portfolio, but also rounds out its mix of sparkling wines, Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays with Markhams Merlot and the acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon from TEXTBOOK.

Founded in 2004, Jonathan and Susan Peys TEXTBOOK brand has caught the eyes of critics and consumers alike, evinced by a 40 percent jump in sales last year and distribution among 46 states and six countries, records show. Under Distinguished Vineyards, and by extension the distribution network of Kirin, TEXTBOOK can now make its way to all 50 states, all provinces in Canada and eight countries, Myers said.

Jonathan Pey will continue making TEXTBOOKs wines post-acquisition, alongside consulting winemaker Scott Peterson.

In a press release Wednesday, Pey said, I am very excited to partner with the Distinguished Vineyards team, many of whom Ive worked with before  TEXTBOOK has found a great home with Distinguished Vineyards.

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County health officials reported Friday afternoon that water contaminated with chemicals and metals had escaped from the Clover Flat Landfill into a Napa River tributary.

The Napa County and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board are in contact with the owner on a plan to stop the ongoing release into Dutch Henry Creek, the county said in a news release.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is assessing the potential impact of the release on the creek, the county said. The water became contaminated after mixing with garbage at the landfill, according to the release.

Napa County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Relucio advises the public not to consume, use, or contact the water.

Should you or your pets come in contact with creek or river water, wash any affected area thoroughly with soap and water, the county said.

The landfill was closed over the weekend, and further notifications, including lifting of the advisory, will be issued as necessary.

For additional information or updates regarding the status of the release, please contact: San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board at (510) 622-2369, California Department of Fish and Wildlife at 707) 944-5500 or Napa County Planning, Building & Environmental Services at (707) 253-4417.

Any questions concerning personal health should be directed to your physician or health care provider, the county said.

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Last year, Napa Special Investigations Bureau launched a new human trafficking investigation every 18 days in the Napa Valley.

Thats a total of 20 investigations opened in 2018, said Lt. Rick Greenberg, head of the bureau, which targets major crimes such as drug and human trafficking.

Unlike in larger cities with a strip area, prostitutes dont walk the streets of Napa. But sex traffickers have operated within the confines of brothels, apartment complexes and hotels, he said.

In a tourist town, its not very attractive to admit that theres a human trafficking problem, Greenberg said.

People always seem to be shocked that human trafficking exists in the county, he said. The public often asks bureau representatives the same question, he said: How could this happen in Napa?

The bureau and officials with the Napa Police Department will further discuss local human trafficking on Wednesday, from 6 to 7 p.m., in Napas City Hall on School Street. Greenberg said he hopes to educate the community on human trafficking and its impact on the county.

Local human traffickers often target victims on the internet, Greenberg said.

In recent months, officers have encountered local residents under the age of 18 who have been exploited by sex traffickers, he said. One in seven of the 23,500 runaways reported to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children were considered likely victims of child sex trafficking, according to the center. Theres no typical victim or customer. Some victims had positive upbringings, but others come from difficult home environments, Greenberg said. Customers are both high- and low-income. Community members with tips on drug or human trafficking are urged to call the bureau with tips at 707-253-4458. Callers can remain confidential or anonymous.

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Peter Hartnack hadnt even begun his second semester as the new principal at River School in Napa when he got the call.

One of his students had been arrested during the schools winter break. Even worse, police said that the 14-year-old middle school student had been in the early planning stages of a Columbine High School-style attack, possibly at River School or Vintage High School.

I was definitely surprised, said Hartnack. Were a small school, he said. It wasnt a random stranger that made the threat. It was one of their own.

Facing such a threat was certainly not what Hartnack was expecting when he took the principal job in July.

Hartnack came to River School after working as assistant principal for student services at Napa High School since 2015.

He replaces former River School Principal Celeste Akiu, who accepted a principal job in Honolulu.

Hartnack began his NVUSD career in 2008 as a history teacher at Napa High, before transitioning to a role as district coordinator and then spending three years as a teacher on special assignment at Vintage High School.

He loved working at Vintage and Napa high schools, but I was ready for a new challenge, said Hartnack, who is 36.

The new principal said he was drawn to River School for many reasons.

Other teachers that he respected had positive things to say about the school and its culture.

In addition, the schools focus on character and the 4 Rs (responsibility, respect, resourcefulness and responsiveness) align well with my own beliefs, he said.

Plus, in his high school jobs, he saw the kind of students that were coming out of River School  students that have a really strong sense of self, are willing to ask questions and push back.

Hartnack describes his leadership style as open, transparent, fair, honest and supportive. In addition, modeling or walking the walk, is critically important, he said.

He also knew the school would be moving to the former Salvador Elementary School campus in north Napa.

Ive never been one to shy away from a challenge, said Hartnack. I felt like it would be a good fit.

Why middle schoolers?

Hartnack said one common question he gets about his new job is why he likes working with middle school kids.

His answer?

Because Im just as weird and quirky as they are, he said with a laugh.

Middle school students have good energy, he said. The kids are so honest. Its refreshing.

If you are patient and if you (dont) take things personally then its great.

And while middle school students may act like they dont listen, they will, he said. Not always in the moment. But long term they will.

Hartnack said he likes knowing that he can make a difference.

Its important to me to know that what Im putting out there is having an impact in some way.

A different kind of middle school

Hartnack takes the helm of a unique school. Napa Valley Unified School Districts only charter middle school was established in 1995.

It has 391 students, less than the other NVUSD middle schools. Because of its popularity, River School admits students by lottery.

According to the school website, River School envisions its students as self-actualized, independent learners.

We want our students to have a strong sense of self  self-motivated, self-disciplined, self-reliant  who take responsibility for their lives, instead of blaming others, making excuses, or justifying self; and who contribute to their families, communities, and planet.

The school aims to educate its sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students to be responsible, respectful self-motivated learners who make positive contributions to their communities.

Hartnack said his most important tasks include the move to the new site on Salvador Avenue, along with a subsequent increase in the number of students enrolled, and an upcoming charter renewal.

The school will take over the former Salvador Elementary school campus on Salvador Avenue. Salvador School recently merged with El Centro to create Willow Elementary at the El Centro location.

The NVUSD will add six new buildings, a track, remodel the original historic Salvador school building and refurbish two existing buildings.

River School has shared a campus with Harvest Middle School for many years, so having our own space is something people are looking forward to, the principal said.

The school was supposed to relocate by this August, but the campus wont be ready in time. The current plan is to move over winter break and open on Salvador Avenue in January 2020.

Its not ideal, said Hartnack, but Im a realist. He doesnt control the construction. The only thing I can do is communicate why and answer questions.

The school currently has about 128 students per grade. Starting with the sixth grade class of 2019-2020, enrollment will increase to 180 per grade.

Rivers new campus will eventually include a total of 540 students.

The threat

After the January school threat, and Hartnack was assured that there was no remaining danger to the school, the principal said he focused on reassuring and communicating with the school community.

Being open and transparent is the best way to deal with challenging circumstances, he said.

Months later, Hartnack said he does not know the whole story of the threat, and does not expect to.

Im not privy to evidence thats been found or not found.

While the student did not follow through on the threat, It was hard for teachers and students to talk about it and process it.

Several things have changed at River School since then.

First, a third day was added to a school counselors schedule on campus.

The school also reviewed emergency plans.

We revised some of our run, fight, hide training, Hartnack said. Teachers had explicit conversations with their classes about that safety plan.

The school camera system was also updated, he said.

Its notable that River students who knew of the threat were able to tell their families and the police, said Hartnack.

Despite the fact that the threat caused a tremendous amount of disruption and emotion, Im really proud of the way our kids responded and parents responded.

I do know that the students here feel safe here, he said. They also have a tremendous amount of empathy for that student. And that gives me a lot of hope in this generation.

Hartnack said he couldnt comment on where that student is now.

Regardless, I hope the young man gets support and help and whatever he needs.

As his first year inches closer to an end, Hartnack said he feels good about his work as a first-time principal.

Its not been a year without challenges, he said. But, I signed up to lead River School and all that comes with the running of a middle school.

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Turning the tables on California, the Trump administration sued Thursday to block the states ambitious plan to reallocate billions of gallons of river water to salmon and other struggling fish species.

The lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Interior injects the Trump administration into one of the biggest California water controversies in years  an issue where Gov. Gavin Newsom is attempting to forge a compromise between agriculture and the environment.

The State Water Resources Control Board voted in December to reallocate the flows of the San Joaquin River and its tributaries. The move is designed to help steelhead and salmon by taking water from San Joaquin Valley farmers and a handful of cities that rely heavily on the tributaries  including San Francisco.

Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown endorsed compromise plans that would shift more water to fish, but not as much as the state water board had sought. In a further attempt to find common ground with agriculture, Newsom ousted water board Chairwoman Felicia Marcus, who had become unpopular among farmers, and appointed wealthy Modesto-area grower Bill Lyons to the newly created post of agricultural liaison.

Now the Trump administration, which has spent the past two years trying to deliver more water to Valley farmers, is going on the attack. After being sued at least 45 times by California officials  on issues like climate change and immigration  the Trump administration is filing a suit of its own over the water boards decision.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, says the state water boards plan would violate Californias own environmental laws, as well as foul up the federal governments ability to deliver water from New Melones reservoir on the Stanislaus River to member agencies of the Central Valley Project.

The CVP is the federal project, built during Franklin Roosevelts presidency, that brings water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to farm-irrigation districts in the Valley.

Federal officials had threatened to sue for months. New Melones was put there for a reason, and it was put there because it was the will of Congress ... to manage water, to prevent floods, to deliver water to families and farms, Brenda Burman, commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, told The Sacramento Bee last August.

Mike Wade, an advocate for Valley farmers, said he doesnt oppose the lawsuit but would prefer to see the compromise plan championed by Newsom come to fruition. A voluntary agreement is probably the most durable solution and position solution and could bring about change a lot more quickly than a lawsuit, said Wade, who runs an organization called the California Farm Water Coalition.

State water board officials defended the December decision to reallocate river water but said theyll continue to work on compromises.

The Boards December 2018 Bay-Delta Plan update was the culmination of extensive environmental analysis and years of public process. The Board looks forward to defending its decision in court, board spokesman George Kostyrko said in an email.

Environmentalist Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, of the group Restore the Delta, said the move comes as no surprise. She noted that Trumps acting interior secretary, David Bernhardt, is a former lobbyist for an influential group of San Joaquin Valley farmers who helped organize Fresno campaign rallies when Trump was running for office.

On the other hand, she said she opposes the compromise proposals for the rivers, saying they fall well short of protecting the environment.

Were going to be left with degraded drinking water supplies  just exactly what was done to Flint, Mich. she said.
Progress 2019 takes a look at some of the people, places and things that make Angelina County such a great place to live.
Trying to expand energy diplomacy in its neighbourhood, India is planning to set up LPG storage and LNG import facilities in Myanmar. Unfortunately, India has no such plans for Bhutan.

Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) in Assam is exploring supply of diesel to Myanmar and plans to build fuel storage and distribution sector in that country.

The Indian Oil Corporation is setting up LPG storage facilities and Petronet LNG is trying to setup an LNG terminal. Similarly, India is also working with Bangladesh in interconnecting gas grids and supplying diesel through pipelines.

At present, India supplies diesel through rail rake from Siliguri to Parbatipur in Bangladesh and planning a 130-km long product pipeline for uninterrupted supply.

Surprisingly, India seems to have no plans of energy diplomacy with Bhutan. People in Bhutan have been suffering because of irregular supply of LPG from India.

Sources in Gelephu told Northeast Now that people waiting in long queues in front of the Bhutan Oil Distributors LPG outlet has become a common sight for the last few weeks.

The central LPG outlet in Gelephu stopped receiving LPG cylinders since February, the sources said. As a result, people in Sarpang, Tsirang, Dagana, Zhemgang, Bumthang and Trongsa are now suffering.

Indias petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan told recently that Assam would soon become a major centre of world trading in the export of petroleum products to the neighbours. But, Pradhan did not have any announcements for Bhutan.

According to reports, Bhutan imported only 242.99MT non-subsidised LPG in 2018, worth Nu 6.05 million against the quota to import 1000MT a month from the Indian Oil Corporation.

But, Bhutanese nationals have not taken non-subsidised LPG despite a shortage of subsidised cooking gas across the country. People are reluctant to buy non-subsidised gas because of the price difference.

Why is India not helping Bhutan to set up LPG storage facilities and bail out the common people from the crisis? Since Bhutan has strict rules against cutting of firewood, India should have extended its helping hands to help people of the Himalayan Kingdom.

In neighbouring Nepal, India supplies all of its petroleum product requirements through trucks. A pipeline for supply of petroleum products is under construction, which will ensure uninterrupted supply.

If India can extend so much help to Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar in hydro-carbon sector, why is it so reluctant to expand energy diplomacy with Bhutan?
Iran ready to exchange electricity with neighboring countries

Armenia takes part in tank exercises in southern Russia

Azerbaijani FM says the only way to avoid tensions is to start the process of demarcation

Peskov says US aggressive rhetoric does not contribute to detente in relations Russia

US tornado leaves 79 people killed

133 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Armenia

ICRC representatives visit Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan

UK urges allies to seek alternatives to Russia natural gas

168.am: Armenia ex-police chief hospitalized

NBC: US holds back additional military aid to Ukraine to avoid tension

Person, 26, found dead in Armenia water pit

Criminal case launched into killing of Armenia soldier

Man found dead in Yerevan

At least 2 killed from tornado in Arkansas

Investigative Committee: Staff left combat positions and fled as a result of which adversary invaded Armenia territory

Jill Biden comments on talks about US President's mental fitness

Poland PM issues ultimatum to Russia

30 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Media: Islamic State takes responsibility for 2 blasts in Kabul

France presidential candidate Eric Zemmour to visit Armenia

US to sell 18mn barrels of oil from its strategic reserve

Famous Armenia singer declared wanted

Bright Armenia Party leader: ECtHR obliges Azerbaijan to pay 30,000 to Badalyan as moral damage compensation

Psaki: US seeks diplomacy in context of situation between Russia and Ukraine

290 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Biden believes leaders of all other countries would like to be in his place

Armenia PM: Internal patriots do not calm down because their foreign partners do not consider the mission over

Peskov: Russia concerned about NATO military equipment transfer via Greece port

Esplanade of Armenia opens in Paris

Armenia soldier dies, 2 others wounded

Newspaper: Bill that pampers Armenia banks to have very serious consequences

Newspaper: What to expect from Armenia parliament special session next week?

Boris Johnson threatened with resignation due to parties during pandemic

Kopirkin: Russia is ready to make all efforts to contribute to normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations

Armenia MFA: '3+3' platform needs to refrain from duplicating formats with mandate to settle conflicts

RT: US may build facilities in Georgia and Armenia to support its 'defense activities'

Armenia 2nd President: We will continue the struggle, all the phony cases will be crushed

MFA: Armenia calls on Azerbaijan to refrain from provocative rhetoric

Hero of 44-day Karabakh war Garik Hovakimyan's sister Mariam is born

Republican Party of Armenia Executive Body holds session chaired by Serzh Sargsyan

Iranian Embassy: Iran supports '3+3' platform during meeting held in Moscow

Armenia ex-defense minister on Prosecutor General's Office imposing attachment on his assets

Alen Simonyan: Armenia is in one of the most crucial stages in its history, and opposition is demanding my resignation

PM: Armenia is committed to contributing to global mission of strengthening democracy, and we hope we're not alone

Armenia MOD: Soldier who was injured from gunshot fired by fellow serviceman has regained consciousness

Armenia Deputy PM: Omicron variant is not sufficiently explored

First meeting within scope of '3+3' regional platform held in Moscow

NEWS.am daily digest: 10.12.21

Armenia soldier killed while resisting Azerbaijanis' attack, 8 are injured, 6 of whom are in severe condition

Armenia PM introduces new Head of State Supervision Service Romanos Petrosyan

Armenia human rights activists: There were cases when POWs were brought to territory under Azerbaijan's control

The book Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman was translated and published on the initiative of Ardshinbank

Armenia regional governor, IFRC Secretary General discuss return of Armenian POWs originally from Shirak Province

Armenia human rights activist: Number of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan is 80 more than the confirmed one

Pashinyan: Environmental sphere is of strategic importance for Armenia

Armenia President: We must understand that we are entering completely different era for humanity

Dollar goes up somewhat in Armenia

Armenia State Revenue Committee chief meets with French Development Agency Regional Director

Opposition 'Armenia' faction MPs Artur Sargsyan and Mkhitar Zakaryan released from penitentiary institution

Head of Armenia's Norabak village: Azerbaijan has military post that is 2 km from us

Armenia finance minister receives France Ambassador and French Development Agency Regional Director

Armenia opposition MP Ishkhan Zakaryan leaving 'With Honor' faction

Russian and Armenian Deputy FMs meet in Moscow

Armenia PM highlights importance of speedy conclusion of full-format agreement between Iran and EEU

Armenia opposition MPs Mkhitar Zakaryan and Artur Sargsyan to be released without court decision today

Armenian opposition MP Armen Charchyan is released

Armenia MOD: Armenian side has one casualty, few soldiers are injured, exchange of fire is over

Armenias Pashinyan: High-tech component development also important in Eurasian integration context

Armenia Deputy PM dismisses his two assistants

Nazarbayev says Azerbaijan can become observer country in Eurasian Economic Union

Head of Armenia village: The Azerbaijanis tried to advance in direction of Sotk, but our soldiers didn't let them

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan attacked in eastern direction of border

Special court hearing underway on case of Armenia opposition lawmaker behind bars

Artsakh officials visit Stepanakert memorial

2 more die of coronavirus in Karabakh

Vardenis protesters dismiss Armenia MOD statement on obstructing car taking wounded soldier to Yerevan

Armenia FM briefs Francophonie chief on regional security issues (PHOTOS)

Armenia Police: 13 people apprehended near MFA building

Armenia protesting residents reopen Martuni-Vardenis motorway due to border tension

Armenia parliament passes changes to some laws

Armenia MOD: Deputy commander was told in Vardenis that car taking wounded soldier to Yerevan would be obstructed

347 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia opposition movement staging protest inside MFA building

Armenia has new environment minister

Artsakh MFA: Referendum on independence is solid legal basis for statehood

Special court session to be held on case of imprisoned Armenia opposition MP

Biden promises Zelenskyy to punish Russia in case of invasion of Ukraine

Newspaper: Armenia parliament recent fight case to have former ones fate

Newspaper: What is reason for recent long visit to Armenia by ex-commander of Russia peacekeepers in Artsakh?

Petition to arrest one of accused Armenia soldiers returned from Azerbaijan captivity is granted

Russian Aerospace Forces consider practice of reconnaissance and strike UAVs during Karabakh conflict

Investigative Committee: Motion filed for arrest of 5 of 10 POWs returned to Armenia on Dec. 4

Armenia State Revenue Committee chief hosts Iran Customs Administration head

Armenia Shirak Province ex-deputy governor Boris Aleksanov dies

Constitutional Court announces decision on release of arrested MPs of opposition 'Armenia' parliamentary faction

Iran, Azerbaijan discuss cooperation in petrol and natural gas sectors

Lavrov: We understand the complexity of the situation in Armenia, but it's not right to speculate Russia's role

Cem Ozdemir who initiated adoption of Armenian Genocide resolution is Germany's first minister with migration history

Armenia FM, France Secretary of State sign 'Roadmap for Armenian-French Economic Cooperation'

Armenia PM scheduled to deliver speech at Summit for Democracy on Dec. 10
The US Air Force suspended B-1B Lancer flights as airmen found a rigged "drogue chute" incorrectly installed in the ejection seat egress system, Military reported.

Each strategic bomber will undergo a technical check before it is lifted into the air again. Now all the existing bombers are deployed by the US. In this regard, the suspension of flights will not affect the military operations conducted abroad. Previously, B-1B Lancer was used to strike at government facilities in Syria, which, according to Washington, were related to the chemical weapons production program.

The US armed forces now have 61 strategic bombers now as they are basis of US strategic aviation along with the B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit.

The B-1B supersonic bombers have been in active US military use since 1986. They were developed as carriers of nuclear weapons, capable to overcome enemy air defenses at high speed. At high altitude, these bombers are able to accelerate to speeds of over 1,300 km/h. However, after the end of the Cold War, the B-1B began retooling under a non-nuclear shock load. After that, they were widely used in local conflicts. For the first time on a combat mission, they flew in 1998, during the bombing of Iraq. Later they were used in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria.

B-1B bombers were actively used during drills on the Korean Peninsula, during a period of worsening relations between Washington and Pyongyang in 2017.

The US Air Force were forced to temporarily suspend flights of this type of aircraft in June 2018. After an emergency landing of a B-1B Lancer bomber in Texas, an investigation began that revealed problems with the ejection seat of the aircraft. All aircrafts have undergone the investigation.
The United States placed additional intense pressure on Iran, Sigal Mandelker, under-secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, told reporters in Singapore.

According to her, the US wants Malaysia, Singapore and other countries to be fully aware of the illegal supply of Iranian oil and the tactics that Iran uses to evade sanctions.

"It's very important that these countries have important visibility into the different ways the Iranian regime uses to deceive the international community in connection with shipment of oil," Reuters reported quoting her.

According to her, would stress the inherent risks in dealing with Iran in meetings over coming days with government officials in Malaysia, Singapore and India.

"This trip follows on the heels of additional intense pressure we have placed on Iran. In just the last week, we took action against nuclear scientists and agencies and other key personnel involved with the Iranian regime's past nuclear weapons entities," Mandelker said.

She also noted that this week, measures were taken against the network involved in the Iranian sanctions evasion scheme - a network that includes sham companies from Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey.
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Japan will name the new imperial era on April 1, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet will decide the name of the new era on Monday after which it will be made public, CNN reported.

The government will also provide a short list of candidates for the business and academia group on Monday, as well as the media to hear opinions on the new name.

According to well-informed sources, scientists among the candidates for members of the group, who won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. Before approving the decision on the introduction of a new name, the opinions of the leaders of both chambers of the Japanese parliament will be collected.

The change of the name of the era is an important event in Japan, as the name is used when minting coins, producing calendars, as well as in official documents. The current era is called Heisei - the era of peace. In August 2016, the 125th Japanese Emperor Akihito expressed a desire to transfer his throne to his son in a special address to the people.

Thus, the day of retirement of Emperor Akihito will be April 30, and the day of accession to the throne and the enthronement of the heir - May 1, 2019.
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WHs Marc Short Schools CNNs Blitzer on Trumps Toughness With Russia BLAME TRUMP

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User ID: 453356

03-29-2019 08:36 AM











Post: #1 WHs Marc Short Schools CNNs Blitzer on Trumps Toughness With Russia

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Repeatedly, Blitzer pushed Short on why Trump refused to blame Russia for meddling in our elections (even though Trump had done so). I think there's a lot of evidence that Russia has been a malign character in a lot of this, and they have been looking to sow seeds of discord in lots of ways, Short began. From there, Short unloaded against the press.



But can I just say why I think that a lot of the coverage here has been so deranged for the last couple years? Because you continue to see new news stories today, well, what about -- is he going to accept Russia interference or Russia collusion, Short continued.



Short proceeded to unravel a laundry list of actions President Trump had taken against Russia, some of which included killing Russians (e.g. in Syria and Ukraine):







And yet never does the media take a step back and say, which president is the one that actually armed the Ukrainians? Was it Trump or was it Obama? It was Trump. Which president actually decided to bomb Syria, and in that action actually killed several Russian mercenaries? It was Trump, when Obama just said he was going to draw a red line in the sand.



Which president pulled out of INF, against Russian objections? It was Trump. It was not Obama. Which president has kicked out more diplomats? It was Trump, not Obama. Which president has put more sanctions on? It was Trump. It was not Obama.



And just today, you saw the president again make statements about Russian interference in Venezuela. This president has stood up to Russia time and again.



And yet the media continues to push this notion about Russia collusion, Short decried, or perhaps, even on your network, I saw this weekend, when the story broke, CNN was saying, well, then why is he always talking so nicely about Putin?



He also added: You're not actually looking at the facts of what this administration has done and how hard it's been. Look at the facts.



CNN busted out the tin foil hats on Monday when OutFront host Erin Burnett was seriously concerned, asking questions about whether the President himself and/or members of his inner circle were compromised by the Russians. That's a crucial question to imagine that we don't know the answer to, Burnett exclaimed.



During Mondays Prime Time, host Chris Cuomo argued that Mueller can't show that Trump did nothing wrong, and suggested the evidence for collusion, [a]ll could be folded into the counterintelligence investigation that the AG didn't even mention in miss summary.



This is CNN.



https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nic...ess-russia As NewsBusters had previously documented throughout CNN's programming since Attorney General William Barr sent his summary letter to Congress, the network had made it painfully clear that they would not let go of their false Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff Marc Short was on Wednesdays The Situation Room on Wednesday and schooled CNN host Wolf Blitzer after he repeatedly insinuated there was something between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.Repeatedly, Blitzer pushed Short on why Trump refused to blame Russia for meddling in our elections (even though Trump had done so). I think there's a lot of evidence that Russia has been a malign character in a lot of this, and they have been looking to sow seeds of discord in lots of ways, Short began. From there, Short unloaded against the press.But can I just say why I think that a lot of the coverage here has been so deranged for the last couple years? Because you continue to see new news stories today, well, what about -- is he going to accept Russia interference or Russia collusion, Short continued.Short proceeded to unravel a laundry list of actions President Trump had taken against Russia, some of which included killing Russians (e.g. in Syria and Ukraine):And yet never does the media take a step back and say, which president is the one that actually armed the Ukrainians? Was it Trump or was it Obama? It was Trump. Which president actually decided to bomb Syria, and in that action actually killed several Russian mercenaries? It was Trump, when Obama just said he was going to draw a red line in the sand.Which president pulled out of INF, against Russian objections? It was Trump. It was not Obama. Which president has kicked out more diplomats? It was Trump, not Obama. Which president has put more sanctions on? It was Trump. It was not Obama.And just today, you saw the president again make statements about Russian interference in Venezuela. This president has stood up to Russia time and again.And yet the media continues to push this notion about Russia collusion, Short decried, or perhaps, even on your network, I saw this weekend, when the story broke, CNN was saying, well, then why is he always talking so nicely about Putin?He also added: You're not actually looking at the facts of what this administration has done and how hard it's been. Look at the facts.CNN busted out the tin foil hats on Monday when OutFront host Erin Burnett was seriously concerned, asking questions about whether the President himself and/or members of his inner circle were compromised by the Russians. That's a crucial question to imagine that we don't know the answer to, Burnett exclaimed.During Mondays Prime Time, host Chris Cuomo argued that Mueller can't show that Trump did nothing wrong, and suggested the evidence for collusion, [a]ll could be folded into the counterintelligence investigation that the AG didn't even mention in miss summary.This is CNN. LoP Guest

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Post: #2 RE: WHs Marc Short Schools CNNs Blitzer on Trumps Toughness With Russia

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On 29 March, after heated debates and with 93 in favor, the Parliament of Armenia adopted the bill on making amendments to the Law Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly. The bill concerns the procedure for nominating a candidate for judge of the Constitutional Court.

The parliament discussed the provision according to which the election of a judge of the Constitutional Court, including the nomination of a candidate and assumption of office must be enshrined in the Law On the Constitutional Court. This is what conditions the need for introducing amendments; otherwise, there would be a legal vacuum in the constitution.

The essence of the bill is the following: the Government of Armenia proposed to remove from the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly the provision according to which, if a judge of the Constitutional Court is not elected, the authorized body (President of the Republic-ed) must nominate a new candidate within 10 days. The essence of the supplement is that the authorized body shall nominate the same candidate again, if no candidate is elected by the National Assembly. However, after discussions held by the Standing Committee on State-Legal Affairs, the parliamentarians came to terms and decided to refuse the statement again, leaving the word new. The only thing that was amended was the period. According to the new amendment, the authorized body must present a candidate for judge of the Constitutional Court within one month.
YEREVAN.  The extradition process for Narek Sargsyanthe nephew of third President Serzh Sargsyanis in progress, and the Armenian side has sent the necessary documents and is waiting for a response.

The Prosecutor General of Armenia, Artur Davtyan, on Friday told the aforementioned in a briefing with reporters at parliament.

When asked the reason for the delay in the extradition of Narek Sargsyan, Davtyan responded as follows: The practice of similar processes shows that the given period is not worrisome yet.

As per the Armenian attorney general, the matter of extradition has various nuances.

The competent authority of the given country shall make a decision, he explained. Subsequently, the person [whose extradition is required] shall have the opportunity to appeal that decision at the same instances.

In the prosecutor generals words, there are cases when it takes up to one year until persons who are wanted by other countries are found in and extradited from Armenia.

As a rule, nobody is handed over that easily, Artur Davtyan stressed.

Narek Sargsyan, for whom Armenia has issued an international arrest warrant, was detained in Prague on December 6, 2018. At the moment of his detection, however, he submitted a fake Guatemalan citizens passport under the name Franklin Gonzales.

On June 26, 2018 Armenia had launched a criminal case against Narek Sargsyan on charges of illegal possession of weapons and narcotic drugs.

In addition, the National Security Service (NSS) had informed that, back in 2013, Narek Sargsyan had borrowed from renowned Armenian painter Martiros Saryans heir fourteen drawings by the artist, but then had refused to return them.

Last summer, the NSS officers found these drawings as well as $115,000, 27,000, expensive watches, and many gold coins and jewelry at the place where Narek Sargsyan was registered.

On July 6, 2018 an arrest warrant was issued for Narek Sargsyan, and on July 24an international arrest warrant.
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03-29-2019 09:43 AM



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Post: #1 Most Remote Places: Colorado: Weminuche Wilderness San Juan Mountains

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There are people alive who saw them in the 1940's - 1960's

The last one was killed in 1979 near Durango n the San Juan mountains.



--------------------------------------------



Ba in the San Juan mountians.ckpacking Colorado San Juan Mountains/Weminuche Wilderness: 30 Mile to









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ACe6NhfxXc



This is a 6 day backpacking trip in Colorado's San Juan Mountains. The Weminuche Wilderness. I start at 30 Mile Trailhead, and hike over to Chicago Basin. I break my charging cable for my camera there, and so the video ends there. I spend 2 days hiking back to the trailhead. The following week I do a much more incredible loop out of the Vallecito Creek Trailhead, where I head back to Chicago Basin and then Traverse the Needle Mountains north to Elk Creek. That 2nd San Juan trip video will be out in 2 to 3 months.



--------------------------------------------



The Weminuche Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado managed by the United States Forest Service as part of the San Juan National Forest on the west side of the Continental Divide and the Rio Grande National Forest on the east side of the divide.[2][3] It is about 5 miles (8.0 km) south east of the town of Silverton and about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Durango. At 488,210 acres (1,975.7 km2), it is the largest wilderness area in the state of Colorado. The wilderness was named after the Weminuche Indians.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ACe6NhfxXc



--------------------------------------------



Ghost Grizzlies: Does the Great Bear Still Haunt Colorado? Paperback  May 1, 1998

by David Petersen (Author), Doug Peacock (Introduction)



Deep in the wilds of Colorados San Juan Mountains there may still lurk a remnant population of the continents most fearsome mammal: Ursus arctos horribilis. By 1952 it was widely assumed that the grizzly had been extirpated from Colorado. That is, until one September evening in 1979 when a hunting outfitter named Ed Wiseman was attacked by a four-hundred-pound golden-haired sow. The mauled but alive man (and the dead bear) confirmed what knowledgeable San Juan residents already knew: the Colorado grizzly was no ghost.



What has happened since that encounter almost twenty years ago is the subject of this story about the bear and our own species in the wildand what the future may hold for both.



https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Grizzlies-G...1555662188 Mele Kalikimaka

There are rumors of grizzly bears still existing in the San Juan mountains.There are people alive who saw them in the 1940's - 1960'sThe last one was killed in 1979 near Durango n the San Juan mountains.--------------------------------------------Ba in the San Juan mountians.ckpacking Colorado San Juan Mountains/Weminuche Wilderness: 30 Mile toThis is a 6 day backpacking trip in Colorado's San Juan Mountains. The Weminuche Wilderness. I start at 30 Mile Trailhead, and hike over to Chicago Basin. I break my charging cable for my camera there, and so the video ends there. I spend 2 days hiking back to the trailhead. The following week I do a much more incredible loop out of the Vallecito Creek Trailhead, where I head back to Chicago Basin and then Traverse the Needle Mountains north to Elk Creek. That 2nd San Juan trip video will be out in 2 to 3 months.--------------------------------------------The Weminuche Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado managed by the United States Forest Service as part of the San Juan National Forest on the west side of the Continental Divide and the Rio Grande National Forest on the east side of the divide.[2][3] It is about 5 miles (8.0 km) south east of the town of Silverton and about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Durango. At 488,210 acres (1,975.7 km2), it is the largest wilderness area in the state of Colorado. The wilderness was named after the Weminuche Indians.--------------------------------------------Ghost Grizzlies: Does the Great Bear Still Haunt Colorado? Paperback  May 1, 1998by David Petersen (Author), Doug Peacock (Introduction)Deep in the wilds of Colorados San Juan Mountains there may still lurk a remnant population of the continents most fearsome mammal: Ursus arctos horribilis. By 1952 it was widely assumed that the grizzly had been extirpated from Colorado. That is, until one September evening in 1979 when a hunting outfitter named Ed Wiseman was attacked by a four-hundred-pound golden-haired sow. The mauled but alive man (and the dead bear) confirmed what knowledgeable San Juan residents already knew: the Colorado grizzly was no ghost.What has happened since that encounter almost twenty years ago is the subject of this story about the bear and our own species in the wildand what the future may hold for both.
The World Bank Group (WBG) Board of Executive Directors endorsed today the 2019-23 Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Armenia with around $500 million to support sustainable and inclusive growth and improve living standards in the country, World Bank said in a statement on Friday.

The new CPF is fully aligned with the governments five-year program for a just, inclusive, and citizen-centric Armenia. It builds on the vision outlined by the new government in the wake of the velvet revolution in the spring of 2018 and embodies fresh political will to overcome Armenias development constraints and deepen reforms through a commitment to fight corruption, strengthen the rule of law, and invest in human capital.

The program implementation will leverage the complementary strengths of the World Bank Group institutions - the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

The proposed World Bank Group strategy will capitalize on the momentum and political will for deeper reforms and renewed commitment to good governance sparked by recent changes in Armenia to support a rebalancing of the economy toward a new growth model, said Sylvie Bossoutrot, World Bank Country Manager for Armenia.

To help the Government of Armenia to advance the goals of eliminating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity in the country context, the CPF envisages support to Armenia across three main areas:

 Boosting export enablers and firm competitiveness;

 Enhancing human capital and equity; and

 Sustainably managing environmental and natural resources.

In supporting Armenias efforts to build a new, more inclusive growth model, the CPF will seek opportunities to incorporate key elements of good governance and inclusion, including public accountability and transparency, citizen engagement, gender, spatial equality, and digital connectivity.

I am particularly happy that the strategic program has been developed through extensive stakeholder consultations with the government, the private sector, civil society, and development partners, said Mercy Tembon, World Bank Regional Director for South Caucasus. Moreover, the development challenges and opportunities that informed the CPF process also reflect the government program priorities and the WBG Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Armenia.

IFC, with its focus on private sector development, will continue mobilizing private financing and collaborating across the WBG to support modernization of Armenias energy sector to reduce the reliance on imported fuel. IFC will also support the governments efforts to increase competition and open the economy to foreign investment by providing direct financing to companies and supporting the development of export-oriented industries. It will continue working with financial intermediaries to boost their capacity to finance medium and small enterprises and facilitate trade.

IFC welcomes the opening of Armenias economy and the creation of new opportunities for investment. We see our role as promoting greater private sector participation in key sectors, such as energy, as we continue supporting the country in its journey to improve the living standards of the population, said Jan van Bilsen, IFC Regional Manager for South Caucasus.

The CPF program will be implemented adaptively given the current constrained fiscal environment in Armenia and will be selective based on three engagement principles designed to maximize its development impact: catalyze development and private sector partners around high-priority projects; explore areas in which Armenia can benefit from the frontier experience of other countries and customize these approaches to the specific needs of the country; and optimize the existing portfolio to maximize its relevance and contribution to Armenias new development goals.
Citizens day can be the day when the citizen has a State. This is what leader of the Union for National Self-Determination political party Paruyr Hayrikyan said during a March 29 press conference, touching upon the governments decision to declare the last Saturday of April as Citizens Day.

First of all, do you know what it means to be a citizen? What is the difference between a citizen and a person and the difference between a citizen and an individual? A citizen is a person who has a state, he stated.

Hayrikyan stressed the fact that citizens of Armenia already have a citizens day, and that day is the 21st of September. The 21st of September 1991 is citizens day. On this day, the people of Armenia became citizens of Armenia as a result of national self-determination. This is citizens day. They can call it the day of change of power, but there were citizens already, he concluded.

During its March 28 session, the government decided to celebrate the last Saturday of April as Citizens Day, after which Nikol Pashinyan suggested holding a public discussion on the options for the celebration on his Facebook page.
Azerbaijan is the third largest importer of Israeli weapons after India and Vietnam. According to various sources, Jerusalem delivered arms to Baku worth at least $ 140 million in 2017, Novaya Gazeta reported.

From rockets to tanks

The Azerbaijani Army is armed with the Barak-8 surface-to-air missile systems which are designed to crush planes of the opponent as well as destroy the missiles launched from from the sea and land. Barak 8 which has a length of about 4.5 meters, was designed to counter a wide variety of air-borne threats, such as; anti-ship missiles, aircraft, UAVs drones and supersonic missiles.

Israel's largest privately-owned Elbit Systems has upgraded several dozens of Azerbaijani T-72 tanks, installing new firefighting systems and modern armor.

The same Israeli company supplies Baku with computerized 120 mm recoil mortars CARDOM (Computerized Autonomous Recoil Rapid Deployed Outrange Mortar). The mortar has a modern firing control system, navigation block and other functions.

The Azerbaijani army also received an Israeli EL/M-2080 'Green Pine' ground-based missile-defense radar, produced by Elta Systems, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries. Green Pine reportedly operates in search, detection, tracking, and missile guidance modes simultaneously, capable of detecting targets.A certain number of such radar stations have been installed on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border. Israel delivered to Azerbaijan portable remote mine neutralization systems POMINS-2.

In the arsenal of the Azerbaijani military officers there are Israeli small-sized Micro-uzi submachine guns, IWI Tavor bullpup assault rifle and the manual Negev machine gun which is issued by Israel Military Industries.

The Azerbaijani arsenal is also equipped with B-300 reusable man-portable anti-tank weapon system, which can be carried and operated by a single operator and is effective to approximately 400 meters as well as with Israeli Spike missile systems. In 2016, the British Military Balance reported that five Atmos 2000 155mm self-propelled artillery system produced by Israel, were installed in Azerbaijan.

In the mid-2000s, Azerbaijan purchased a certain number of Israeli off-road vehicles such as the Storm in the reconnaissance patrol version, which provides additional space for fuel, water and other equipment.

In 2013, Israel and Azerbaijan began negotiations over the supply of the Iron Dome missile defense system, which is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 kilometres to 70 kilometres away.

The tests which were carried out by experts showed that Iron Dome can effectively fight any operative-tactical missile system, including Russian Iskander short-range ballistic missiles.



Is cooperation between Baku and Jerusalem directed against third countries?

Military-technical cooperation between Baku and Jerusalem causes certain concerns in Yerevan. For example, according to the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz", in March 2019, Armenian Ambassador to Egypt Armen Melkonyan visited Jerusalem and conveyed a note of protest from Yerevan to Israeli Foreign Ministry representative, Dan Orian in connection with the supply of Israeli weapons to Baku.

In particular, it was about the facts of use of Israeli-made drones by the Azerbaijani military in Karabakh against Armenian volunteers. At that very moment, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigor Hovhannisyan said in an interview with another Israeli newspaper "The Jerusalem Post" that Armenia would welcome a situation where Israel would do as the US and most European countries have done and not sell arms to either Armenia or Azerbaijan.

It should be noted that Alexander Tsinker, former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, the Head of the Israel-Armenia forum, mentioned the possibilities of supplying Israeli weapons to Armenians. In an interview with Sputnik Armenia, he stated that first of all, the bilateral cooperation between Jerusalem and Yerevan can be developed in any sphere, including military, and secondly, Israel has already offered weapons to Yerevan. However, this information is not confirmed by other sources.

The official Jerusalem stresses that, by supplying the arms to Baku, it never acts directly against Yerevan. Particularly, it should be noted that tens of thousands of immigrants from Azerbaijan live in Israel, there are also a lot of Armenians. Moreover, on April 14, 2012, Israeli Armenians staged a protest against the sale of Israeli weapons to Azerbaijan in front of the building of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The protesters also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Israel has not so far officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.

At the same time, it is impossible to ignore the fact that Israel is afraid of the Iranian influence in Armenia. Examples of such influence are quite enough. Serzh Sargsyan, who served as the Minister of Armenian Defense in the Andranik Margaryan's government, noted in his Directions of National Security Strategy of the Republic of Armenia program report described the Armenian-Iranian relations as strategic. Despite the fact that serious cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan is still not observed in this area, Jerusalem is closely following the situation.

Azerbaijan is friendly but cautious



Today, relations between Azerbaijan and Israel in the military and military-technical fields are characterized as partnership relations, both in tactical and strategic sense.

In this regard, the fact, that despite the rather active Israeli-Azerbaijani relations in all spheres, including the military, Azerbaijan does not opened its embassy in Israel, is indicative. Although Israel and Azerbaijan established diplomatic relations, and in 1993, Israel opened an embassy in Baku.
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Page: 1 2 3 The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought PopEye

I Yam What I Yam

User ID: 436592

03-29-2019 01:16 PM



Posts: 12,703









Post: #1 The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

Advertisement The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought



As a threat to wildlife, an amphibian fungus has become the most deadly pathogen known to science.





The mossy red-eyed frog is one of hundreds of species threatened by a virulent fungus

that may be responsible for 90 extinctions in the past 50 years.



On Thursday, 41 scientists published the first worldwide analysis of a fungal outbreak thats been wiping out frogs for decades. The devastation turns out to be far worse than anyone had previously realized.



Writing in the journal Science, the researchers conclude that populations of more than 500 species of amphibians have declined significantly because of the outbreak  including at least 90 species presumed to have gone extinct. The figure is more than twice as large as earlier estimates.



Thats fairly seismic, said Wendy Palen, a biologist at Simon Fraser University who is a co-author of a commentary accompanying the study. It now earns the moniker of the most deadly pathogen known to science.



Scientists first noticed in the 1970s that some frog populations were declining quickly; by the 1980s, some species appeared to be extinct. The losses were puzzling, because the frogs were living in pristine habitats, unharmed by pollution or deforestation.



In the late 1990s, researchers discovered that frogs in both Australia and Panama were infected with a deadly fungus, which they named Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis  Bd, for short.



The fungus turned up in other countries, but studies of its DNA suggest that Bd originated on the Korean Peninsula. In Asia, amphibians seem impervious to Bd, but when it got to other parts of the world  probably via the international trade in pet amphibians  the pathogen reached hundreds of vulnerable species.



Amphibians are infected with Bd by contact with...



Full Story: The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it.

George Bernard Shaw On Thursday, 41 scientists published the first worldwide analysis of a fungal outbreak thats been wiping out frogs for decades. The devastation turns out to be far worse than anyone had previously realized.Writing in the journal Science, the researchers conclude that populations of more than 500 species of amphibians have declined significantly because of the outbreak  including at least 90 species presumed to have gone extinct. The figure is more than twice as large as earlier estimates.Thats fairly seismic, said Wendy Palen, a biologist at Simon Fraser University who is a co-author of a commentary accompanying the study. It now earns the moniker of the most deadly pathogen known to science.Scientists first noticed in the 1970s that some frog populations were declining quickly; by the 1980s, some species appeared to be extinct. The losses were puzzling, because the frogs were living in pristine habitats, unharmed by pollution or deforestation.In the late 1990s, researchers discovered that frogs in both Australia and Panama were infected with a deadly fungus, which they named Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis  Bd, for short.The fungus turned up in other countries, but studies of its DNA suggest that Bd originated on the Korean Peninsula. In Asia, amphibians seem impervious to Bd, but when it got to other parts of the world  probably via the international trade in pet amphibians  the pathogen reached hundreds of vulnerable species.Amphibians are infected with Bd by contact with...Full Story: New York Times LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 495259

03-29-2019 01:19 PM











Post: #2 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

hah...always with the threats, to humanity Estrella

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03-29-2019 01:35 PM



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Post: #3 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought





#FeelsBadMan Estrella

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03-29-2019 01:35 PM



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Post: #4 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-29-2019 01:19 PM) hah...always with the threats, to humanity

ALADIN

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03-29-2019 01:39 PM



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Post: #5 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought





The disease caused by the chytrid fungus has also led to massive population declines in more than 500 amphibian species. Researchers say one piece of evidence sheds light on where it originated from.







A skin-eating fungal disease that is believed to have originated in Asia has led to the extinction of 90 amphibian species around the world in the past 50 years, a study has found.



Chytridiomycosis also caused significant declines in more than 500 amphibian species, with most of the declines in Australia and Central and South America, according to the study led by the Australian National University.



The disease kills amphibian species such as frogs, toads and salamanders by eating their skin, which is vitally important for their ability to breathe.



It has spread to more than 60 countries, with Australia losing seven frog species alone in the past 30 years.



The authors said the chytrid fungus species that cause the disease most likely originated in Asia, where many amphibian species have not declined despite the fungus' presence.



The study blamed globalization and the wildlife trade for the spread of the fungi.



https://www.dw.com/en/skin-eating-fungal...a-48107538





Flesh-eating fungus threatens to wipe out Germany's fire

salamanders



A deadly fungus wiping out fire salamander populations across Europe has expanded in Germany. Researchers warn the amphibian could be decimated.







https://www.dw.com/en/flesh-eating-fungu...a-40428043 Skin-eating fungal disease annihilates 90 amphibian speciesThe disease caused by the chytrid fungus has also led to massive population declines in more than 500 amphibian species. Researchers say one piece of evidence sheds light on where it originated from.A skin-eating fungal disease that is believed to have originated in Asia has led to the extinction of 90 amphibian species around the world in the past 50 years, a study has found.Chytridiomycosis also caused significant declines in more than 500 amphibian species, with most of the declines in Australia and Central and South America, according to the study led by the Australian National University.The disease kills amphibian species such as frogs, toads and salamanders by eating their skin, which is vitally important for their ability to breathe.It has spread to more than 60 countries, with Australia losing seven frog species alone in the past 30 years.The authors said the chytrid fungus species that cause the disease most likely originated in Asia, where many amphibian species have not declined despite the fungus' presence.The study blamed globalization and the wildlife trade for the spread of the fungi.Flesh-eating fungus threatens to wipe out Germany's firesalamandersA deadly fungus wiping out fire salamander populations across Europe has expanded in Germany. Researchers warn the amphibian could be decimated.



It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a ma s k on their nose and mouth ... LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 426141

03-29-2019 01:45 PM











Post: #6 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

Funguses spread by aerosol dispersals via chemtrail jetliners. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 426141

03-29-2019 01:45 PM











Post: #7 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-29-2019 01:45 PM) Fungi spread by aerosol dispersals via chemtrail jetliners.

oh yeah. oh yeah. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 483092

03-29-2019 01:46 PM











Post: #8 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-29-2019 01:19 PM) hah...always with the threats, to humanity

This is actually as serious as the world wide decline in European honey bees as far as what it potentially could spell ecologically. Some actual, factual doom porn. Good thread, o.p. This is actually as serious as the world wide decline in European honey bees as far as what it potentially could spell ecologically. Some actual, factual doom porn. Good thread, o.p. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 495259

03-29-2019 02:04 PM











Post: #9 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-29-2019 01:46 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-29-2019 01:19 PM) hah...always with the threats, to humanity

This is actually as serious as the world wide decline in European honey bees as far as what it potentially could spell ecologically. Some actual, factual doom porn. Good thread, o.p.

not really...neither have affected anything in any truly significant way...the bee thing has been as much of a nothing burger as the climate change fraud not really...neither have affected anything in any truly significant way...the bee thing has been as much of a nothing burger as the climate change fraud LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 495259

03-29-2019 02:06 PM











Post: #10 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-29-2019 02:04 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-29-2019 01:46 PM) This is actually as serious as the world wide decline in European honey bees as far as what it potentially could spell ecologically. Some actual, factual doom porn. Good thread, o.p.

not really...neither have affected anything in any truly significant way...the bee thing has been as much of a nothing burger as the climate change fraud

countless failed predictions by almost all the experts for decades on the bees...time to claw back that stolen money too countless failed predictions by almost all the experts for decades on the bees...time to claw back that stolen money too grav

Registered User

User ID: 335898

03-29-2019 02:08 PM



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Post: #11 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

very bad.

First, the insect apocalypse. And citrus greening and other plant diseases. Now, this.

Climate change is a psyop. But the media spreads it far and wide while ignoring the manmade entropy of life on earth.,  37 Experiments Proving FE: https://youtu.be/OoxhDtnRmBk

 200 Proofs Earth Is Not a Spinning Ball, http://www.atlanteanconspiracy.com/2015/...-ball.html

 Flat Earth Research: pp. 999-1001,

http://lunaticoutpost.com/thread-90006-p...t=Research LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 495259

03-29-2019 02:11 PM











Post: #12 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

grav Wrote: (03-29-2019 02:08 PM) very bad.

First, the insect apocalypse. And citrus greening and other plant diseases. Now, this.

Climate change is a psyop. But the media spreads it far and wide while ignoring the manmade entropy of life on earth.,

it's natural entropy, a rolling stone gathers no moss...."the green movement" spawned most of it it's natural entropy, a rolling stone gathers no moss...."the green movement" spawned most of it chuck

Registered User

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03-29-2019 02:15 PM



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Post: #13 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

44575 Wrote: (03-29-2019 01:39 PM) Skin-eating fungal disease annihilates 90 amphibian species



The disease caused by the chytrid fungus has also led to massive population declines in more than 500 amphibian species. Researchers say one piece of evidence sheds light on where it originated from.







A skin-eating fungal disease that is believed to have originated in Asia has led to the extinction of 90 amphibian species around the world in the past 50 years, a study has found.



Chytridiomycosis also caused significant declines in more than 500 amphibian species, with most of the declines in Australia and Central and South America, according to the study led by the Australian National University.



The disease kills amphibian species such as frogs, toads and salamanders by eating their skin, which is vitally important for their ability to breathe.



It has spread to more than 60 countries, with Australia losing seven frog species alone in the past 30 years.



The authors said the chytrid fungus species that cause the disease most likely originated in Asia, where many amphibian species have not declined despite the fungus' presence.



The study blamed globalization and the wildlife trade for the spread of the fungi.



https://www.dw.com/en/skin-eating-fungal...a-48107538





Flesh-eating fungus threatens to wipe out Germany's fire

salamanders



A deadly fungus wiping out fire salamander populations across Europe has expanded in Germany. Researchers warn the amphibian could be decimated.







https://www.dw.com/en/flesh-eating-fungu...a-40428043

I guess like the asian frogs. Whichever frogs that survive this will be immune to it and so will it's offspring. Just like humans during the plague. I guess like the asian frogs. Whichever frogs that survive this will be immune to it and so will it's offspring. Just like humans during the plague. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 495259

03-29-2019 02:39 PM











Post: #14 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

chuck Wrote: (03-29-2019 02:15 PM) 44575 Wrote: (03-29-2019 01:39 PM) Skin-eating fungal disease annihilates 90 amphibian species



The disease caused by the chytrid fungus has also led to massive population declines in more than 500 amphibian species. Researchers say one piece of evidence sheds light on where it originated from.



link to image: https://www.dw.com/image/48107466_303.jpg



A skin-eating fungal disease that is believed to have originated in Asia has led to the extinction of 90 amphibian species around the world in the past 50 years, a study has found.



Chytridiomycosis also caused significant declines in more than 500 amphibian species, with most of the declines in Australia and Central and South America, according to the study led by the Australian National University.



The disease kills amphibian species such as frogs, toads and salamanders by eating their skin, which is vitally important for their ability to breathe.



It has spread to more than 60 countries, with Australia losing seven frog species alone in the past 30 years.



The authors said the chytrid fungus species that cause the disease most likely originated in Asia, where many amphibian species have not declined despite the fungus' presence.



The study blamed globalization and the wildlife trade for the spread of the fungi.



https://www.dw.com/en/skin-eating-fungal...a-48107538





Flesh-eating fungus threatens to wipe out Germany's fire

salamanders



A deadly fungus wiping out fire salamander populations across Europe has expanded in Germany. Researchers warn the amphibian could be decimated.



link to image: https://www.dw.com/image/18038727_303.jpg



https://www.dw.com/en/flesh-eating-fungu...a-40428043

I guess like the asian frogs. Whichever frogs that survive this will be immune to it and so will it's offspring. Just like humans during the plague.

humans are not immune to the plague humans are not immune to the plague #1 Doomologist

lop guest

User ID: 436526

03-29-2019 02:43 PM











Post: #15 RE: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought



if the frogs go, we all go... Advertisement



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Inaugural Alums in April to highlight mass communication and media arts graduates

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill.  A new program featuring Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni from the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts kicks off next week.

Important for students to connect with alumni

The graduates are alumni from the Department of Radio, Television, and Digital Media and the Department of Cinema and Photography. H.D. Motyl, chair of both departments within the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, said the program leads up to the SIU Distinguished Alumni ceremony, April 26, in the Student Center Auditorium.

I think its important that our students connect to the Salukis who came before them, Motyl said. These are folks who are successful, following their media dreams as filmmakers and media professionals, and who have hewn a path for themselves, staying true to their craft or their creative endeavors.

The events are open to the public.

Alumni have followed varied career paths

The alumni speakers are Tom Desch, owner of House Painter Media; Brittany Hardaway, a multimedia journalist with WICS News Channel 20 in Springfield; Brian Wilson, a news producer at WSIL Channel 3 in Carterville, and Ben Kalina, chief operating officer with Titmouse, Inc., a full-service animation production company.

The schedule is:

April 2  6 p.m., Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center. Desch, a cinema and photography alumnus, will discuss his business and living his dream of making films and making change. Desch is an independent producer of documentaries. While on campus, he will visit Associate Professor Angela Aguayos Producing Independent Cinema class.

April 11  Noon, Communications Building, Room 1032. Brittany Hardaway, a radio, television, and digital media alumna, will speak with students about preparing for their careers and how to persevere in making their media dreams come true. During her visit, Hardaway will visit an electronic journalism class taught by Joey Helleny, senior lecturer.

April 24  Time, location TBD. Brian Wilson will screen his film work and talk about the process of making experimental films, visit a class and critique student work. Wilson is a cinema and photography alumnus who received a Master of Fine Arts from the college.

Arrangements are still underway for Kalina to visit with students in the college while he is on campus. Kalina, a 2003 cinema and photography graduate, is being honored by the SIU Alumni Association.

At Titmouse, Kalina oversees production and development across the companys three studios in Los Angeles, New York City and Vancouver. Prior to working at Titmouse, Kalina worked in production at Warner Bros. Animation and VFX, helping to develop a digital pipeline and transitioning the studio from traditional paper animation to digital. In 2016, while serving as producer, Kalina shared a Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Childrens Animated Program category for Amazons series Niko and the Sword of Light.
Lecture explores the use of big data in environmental health

by Hannah Erickson

CARBONDALE, Ill.  Understanding applications of biological data for environmental health is the focus for the fourth Big Data lecture at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

As part of an ongoing series sponsored by SIUs Chapter of Sigma Xi, the lecture and visit will assist local researchers in utilizing big data. The upcoming talk is set for April 4 and will feature environmental and computational biologist Cavin Ward-Caviness.

Using big data to understand environmental health

With a focus on understanding environmental risks on a variety of health conditions, Ward-Caviness uses big data analytics to utilize high-dimensional molecular data, environmental exposure estimates and electronic health records. His research interests give him a unique perspective on big data applications in public health.

As an investigator for the Clinical Research Branch of the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Ward-Caviness regularly works on research projects with the goal of protecting public health and well-being.

Lecture and workshop

Set for 4 p.m. on April 4 at SIUs Life Science III Auditorium (Room 1059), the lecture includes a presentation, along with time for questions and discussion.

As part of his visit, Ward-Caviness will also hold a hands-on workshop for interested faculty and students. The workshop is set for 1-3 p.m. on April 4 in Morris Library 754/754. Participants should bring their own laptop.

Additionally, limited spots are available for meetings with Ward-Caviness on April 4 and 5, and for lunch with the speaker from 12-1 p.m. on April 4. Prior reservation is necessary for both the lunch and the meeting. Contact Jane Geisler-Lee for meeting reservations and Majid Memari for lunch reservations.

Sigma Xi is a scientific research honors society that has had an active chapter on the SIU campus for more than five decades. The Big Data seminar series is made possible by a grant from the Sigma Xi Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education (SMEE) program and support from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at SIU. A final lecture for the series is set for next month.

For more information, contact Justin Schoof, SIU professor and chair of geography and environmental resources, or Jane Geisler-Lee, research professor of plant biology.
(Updates with tanker departures, paragraphs 10-12)

By Collin Eaton

HOUSTON, March 28 (Reuters) - Four tankers on Thursday were preparing to offload or pick up cargoes in the busiest U.S. oil port, the first signs of an easing of the bottleneck that cut 1 million barrels per day of shipments, according to vessel tracking data.

The Houston Ship Channel reopened this week with operating restrictions following a fire at Mitsui & Co Inc's Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) in Deer Park, Texas. That blaze sent fuel and chemicals into the waterway, which connects Houston to the Gulf of Mexico and is home to nine refineries.

Oil and fuel moving in and out of the port fell to 1.4 million barrels per day this week, from a 10-day moving average of 2.4 million bpd, according to figures from data provider Kpler. That decline is similar to a drop in February when fog closed the channel for three days, Kpler said.

The U.S. Coast Guard is adding inspectors to check ships for contamination to speed transit. On Wednesday, 15 vessels moved through the upper channel, four more than on Tuesday, said U.S. Coast Guard Captain Kevin Oditt at a morning briefing.

On Thursday, 55 inbound and 19 outbound vessels were waiting to move through areas tainted by the fuels. In all, 141 ships were at anchor, but not all of those were waiting to move past ITC, Oditt said.

After a shutdown last week, traffic on the upper channel has been limited to daylight hours and other restrictions. Ships that travel through the area must be inspected for oil and cleaned if any is found. It remains unclear when the channel could return to normal, Oditt said.

The restrictions this week caused LyondellBasell Industries and Royal Dutch Shell to slow production at two refineries.

FSL Piraeus, carrying about 750,000 barrels of crude oil, arrived Wednesday at Shell's Deer Park joint-venture refinery and was preparing to discharge its cargo. Elke Bene, a refined products tanker, loaded at Shell this week but has not departed, the data showed.

Story continues

Three tankers, Eagle Texas, Elandra Angel and STI Seneca, were parked at Enterprise Products Partners' terminal, after moving through the ship channel on Wednesday, data from Refinitiv Eikon and Kpler showed.

Two other tankers, Astro Saturn and Searuby, loaded with crude oil and refined products, respectively, were moving out of the channel after sitting at Enterprise's terminal since March 21, the data showed.

The tankers each can hold up to 750,000 barrels of fuels. Enterprise declined to comment.

Tankers Eagle San Juan, NS Corona and Dali last week discharged cargoes of crude oil at SemGroup Corp's Houston Fuel Oil Terminal and have not left, data showed. SemGroup did not respond to a request for comment.

Luctor, a refined products tanker, had waited for almost a week moored with a full cargo at a Kinder Morgan Inc's Houston terminal. The tanker began moving out of the ship channel on Thursday. Kinder Morgan declined to comment. (Reporting by Collin Eaton in Houston and Erwin Seba in Pasadena, Texas; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Richard Chang and David Gregorio)
(Adds no comment from White House and State Department, background)

WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The White House has received a package of new sanctions to be imposed on Russia in retaliation for the 2018 nerve-agent attack on Russian double agent in Britain, Bloomberg reported https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-29/u-s-said-to-have-prepared-new-russia-sanctions-for-u-k-attack on Friday.

Officials at the U.S. Treasury and State Departments have vetted the sanctions and are awaiting approval from the White House to issue them, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The White House, the Treasury Department and the State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March 2018 after a liquid form of the Novichok type of nerve agent was applied to his home's front door.

Skripal and his daughter survived. Russia has denied any involvement in the attack.

European countries and the United States expelled 100 Russian diplomats after the attack, and the United States imposed sanctions on Russia in August after it determined Moscow was responsible for the attack.

Those sanctions covered sensitive national-security controlled goods, a senior State Department official told reporters, citing the 1991 Chemical and Biological Weapons and Warfare Elimination Act.

The State Department said in November it would impose additional sanctions on Russia after Moscow failed to give reasonable assurances it would not use chemical weapons.

Russia's rouble was down 1 percent on Friday at 65.53 per dollar. (Reporting by Ishita Chigilli Palli in Bengaluru, and Steve Holland and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Getty Images

College is often considered the surest path to a lucrative career. After all, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a worker with a bachelor's degree typically earns two-thirds more than someone with just a high school diploma.

But not all college degrees are created equal. "Increasingly, students want to understand the career and income opportunities associated with their college education," says Lydia Frank, PayScale vice president, in a statement.

To determine which majors typically come with the best hiring prospects and pay, we analyzed data for 126 popular college majors. We looked for courses of study that tend to lead to fat paychecks--both right out of school and farther along your career path. We also sought out majors that are in high demand based on recent online job postings as well as long-term growth expectations for related occupations. Plus, we factored in the percentage of workers with given degrees who feel their jobs are having a positive impact on the world because having a sense of purpose can be just as important as having a good payday.

Our top 10 majors present interested scholars with the best shots at success and satisfaction in the workplace, complete with generous incomes and an abundance of job opportunities. Check out the best college majors for a lucrative career. (Spoiler alert: STEM majors--that is, fields in science, technology, engineering and math--dominate our rankings.)

10. Finance

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Starting salary: $53,300 (median for all majors: $43,250)

Mid-career salary: $93,200 (median for all majors: $74,700)

Annual online job postings: 1.4 million

Related job: Financial Analyst

Projected 10-year job growth: 13.1% (all occupations: 8.6%)

At Kiplinger, we totally get that money matters can be complex, and many of us--especially the growing number of people rapidly approaching retirement age--need help understanding and managing them. No wonder workers with financial knowledge are in such high demand. New regulations, more products and increasingly complex investment portfolios don't hurt either. And that need translates into plenty of opportunities and generous pay for workers in this field. Financial analysts, who evaluate investment opportunities for businesses, earn a median salary of more than $80,100 a year. Personal financial advisers, who are expected to add 23.8% more positions by 2026, typically earn about $86,800 a year.

Story continues

Finance isn't strictly considered a STEM field, but you can still expect to work with numbers a great deal. High school students interested in finance can prepare for this major by studying statistics and calculus. In college, you'll add to your schedule accounting, financial markets and investing, as well as microeconomics, macroeconomics and economic theory. If you pursue a bachelor of arts degree in this field, you likely have to take liberal arts and foreign language classes, too.

SEE ALSO: 10 Best Jobs for the Future

9. Actuarial Mathematics

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Starting salary: $56,400

Mid-career salary: $131,700

Annual online job postings: 25,613

Related job: Actuary

Projected 10-year job growth: 17.5%

You'll find little risk in pursuing an actuarial career. These professionals--who work in the insurance and finance industries, analyzing the costs of risk and uncertainty--are in high demand. New and ever-changing health care laws and financial regulations help drive companies' needs for their services, and their usefulness is well compensated: Actuaries enjoy a median salary of more than $97,000 a year. For even better pay, an actuarial degree can also lead you to becoming a financial manager, who typically earns nearly $116,500 a year. In general, actuarial mathematics leads to the second-highest mid-career salary of all our 126 majors.

Expect your graphing-calculator usage to be exponentially higher in college. You likely already warmed it up in high school with advanced placement calculus or statistics. In college, you can expect to take micro- and macroeconomics, probability and risk theory courses, too.

8. Physics

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Starting salary: $58,000

Mid-career salary: $108,000

Annual online job postings: 115,056

Best related job: Physicist

Projected 10-year job growth: 11.0%

It won't take much force to accelerate a physics major toward a lucrative career (regardless of mass). While the clearest career path to take with this degree leads to work as a physicist, you typically need to get an advanced degree along the way. (It might be worth the extended and more expensive journey, if you're so inclined: Physicists do have a promising projected job growth rate and a generous median annual salary of nearly $111,600.) Other jobs to consider with a bachelor's in physics include aerospace engineer, computer engineer or civil engineer--all of which offer above-average growth projections and pay.

Various physics classes including computational, modern and nuclear physics obviously will fill your schedule. You should also be prepared to do a lot of math, work on experiments both independently and with classmates, and apply your problem-solving skills.

7. Business Administration

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Starting salary: $46,300

Mid-career salary: $76,800

Annual online job postings: 3.7 million

Best related job: Operations Manager

Projected 10-year job growth: 11.2%

If you want to spend your college years studying how to be boss, this would be a great major for you. It certainly worked out well for billionaire Warren Buffett, who holds a bachelor's degree in this field from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While a business administration major might not strictly fall into the STEM classification, you should probably get comfortable with numbers if you want to study it. Possible courses include accounting, statistics and economics, along with slightly less numerically focused classes such as business ethics and law, marketing and business policy and strategy.

And though you're preparing for a career aimed at the top of the job ladder, with this major, you maintain a wide reach for where your career can go, in terms of industry. Workers with this degree wind up in a diverse array of jobs, including accountants, sales supervisors, financial managers and many other management positions. With such workplace agility, no wonder 76.3% of former business administration majors are employed full time, according to the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project, which promotes U.S. economic growth and competitiveness.

SEE ALSO: 11 Ways to Cut the Cost of College Tuition

6. Management Information Systems

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Starting salary: $57,900

Mid-career salary: $101,300

Annual online job postings: 2.6 million

Related job: Computer and Information Systems Manager

Projected 10-year job growth: 17.9%

Combining tech savvy with leadership abilities can be a winning career formula. Information systems focuses on the study of implementing technology within a company or organization. The management portion of your studies homes in on the business side of the field. In addition to your computer courses, you will study sociology and psychology, Internet ethics and project management. In fact, many universities offer this degree through their business schools.

Your MIS degree can lead you to many different computer-related career paths. Among the most common and highest paid positions is as an information systems manager. On top of the above-average growth in demand, this job earns a median $130,400 a year. But it will take at least a few years of work experience to climb to this management role. And many employers prefer candidates with MBAs. With a bachelor's, you can break into the field as a computer systems analyst, who can expect to earn median pay of more than $85,000 a year and enjoy a projected long-term growth rate of 22.0%.

5. Computer Science

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Starting salary: $65,900

Mid-career salary: $110,100

Annual online job postings: 2.0 million

Related job: Software Developer

Projected 10-year job growth: 21.6%

It should be no surprise that computer-related fields frequent this list of best college majors. Computers are everywhere, and people who know how to make, modify and master the machines are in high demand--and compensated in kind. Developers of both applications and systems software (among our Best Jobs for the Future) typically earn about $96,461 and $103,083 a year, respectively.

Along with computer science majors, students focusing on computer engineering and software engineering have promising career prospects, too. Software engineering majors go on to earn an annual median salary of $104,300 after ten years on the job. Those entering the field now can find 760,530 online job postings seeking their degrees. Computer engineering majors do even better with median mid-career pay of $116,000 and over 1.5 million online job postings.

All these majors take a lot of technology-focused classes, of course, such as computer science and programming. Business and communications classes can help, too, since many employers prefer high-tech workers with business skills and communication capabilities on top of standard tech savvy.

SEE ALSO: 20 Amazing Ways Your Life Will Be Different in 2030

4. Mechanical Engineering

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Starting salary: $64,000

Mid-career salary: $106,800

Annual online job postings: 241,345

Related job: Mechanical Engineer

Projected 10-year job growth: 9.4%

In the broadest of engineering fields, these majors study machines, including what they're made of and how they work, with courses such as circuit analysis, fluid mechanics, materials science and thermodynamics. Sound like a lot to cover? You're not wrong. Indeed, mechanical engineering students often take five years (or four years including a couple of summers) to complete their degrees because they take on internships for hands-on work experience that complements their theoretical studies. The good news is these cooperative programs do include paid gigs, so you can offset some of those educational costs.

And it likely all pays off in the end. These degree holders tend to have little problem finding work with 85.1% being employed full-time, according to the Hamilton Project. Most majors go on to become mechanical engineers (obviously), who have a median salary of more than $83,400 a year. But some also find other well-paying jobs as other types of engineers, including civil and aerospace, and even as software developers and similar positions.

SEE ALSO: 9 Surprising Places Robots Are Turning Up

3. Civil Engineering

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Starting salary: $57,700

Mid-career salary: $98,500

Annual online job postings: 201,886

Related job: Civil Engineer

Projected 10-year job growth: 10.5%

A number of engineering fields are well known for paying well. Petroleum engineering, for example, turns out the top earners of all 126 majors we analyzed with an impressive median pay of $175,500 a year for mid-career workers. However, the size of the job market, with just about 33,200 petroleum engineers in the country, means scant opportunities for those looking to join the field. (Its inextricable tie to the volatility of oil prices also makes it difficult to recommend, especially right now.)

For civil engineering students, the potential median pay might not be quite as high (although Mexican business mogul Carlos Slim studied civil engineering, and he's one of the richest men in the world), but the employment prospects are much better. Civil engineers, who design and supervise the construction of airports, sewer systems and other large projects, are expected to add more than 30,600 positions to their already robust ranks of nearly 292,000 by 2026.

An inclination toward math and science would make you a good civil engineering candidate. Your course load would include fluid mechanics, statics, structural analysis and design, and thermodynamics. Also be prepared to think through many word problems and work on group projects.

SEE ALSO: 10 Best Values in Public Colleges 2017

2. Biomedical Engineering

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Starting salary: $62,900

Mid-career salary: $103,500

Annual online job postings: 51,070

Related job: Biomedical Engineer

Projected 10-year job growth: 23.2%

The increasing overlap between biology and technology is expanding the field of biomedical engineering. For example, three-dimensional printers and smartphone apps being applied to health care helps drive demand for biomedical engineers, who design, create and maintain such equipment and software. And the aging population boosts the need for biomedical devices and procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, as we continue to live and remain active longer.

It helps to have a creative mind and an ability to problem-solve, as well as an interest in medicine, to succeed in this field. Expect a schedule packed with science and technology courses, such as anatomy, organic chemistry, robotics and computer programming.

See Also: 10 Worst Jobs for the Future

1. Nursing

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Starting salary: $58,200

Mid-career salary: $76,300

Annual online job postings: 1.9 million

Related job: Registered Nurse

Projected 10-year job growth: 17.2%

The need for nurses is as persistent as the common cold. In terms of demand, most health care professionals, in general, benefit from the aging population, as well as an increasing number of insured people, which was brought on by the Affordable Care Act. Regardless of what may happen with health care coverage in our country, prospects for registered nurses (RNs) are promising--and even more so for nurse practitioners (NPs), whose ranks are expected to grow a whopping 32.3% by 2026. Both professions are among our best jobs for the future. NPs typically make nearly $98,288 a year; RNs earn a median $67,418 a year. And the field is as rewarding as it is lucrative: 82% of employees with this degree report feeling a high sense of meaning in their careers, according to PayScale.

To reach RN ranks, nursing students must take many science courses, including anatomy, chemistry, microbiology and nutrition. You also get supervised clinical experience in various specialties, such as pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery. And you'll have to pass the National Council Licensure Examination to get your license (additional requirements vary by state). NPs must head back to school longer to obtain a master's or doctoral degree.

2016-2017 Best College Majors Rankings

Thinkstock

1. Civil Engineering

2. Biomedical Engineering

3. Nursing

4. Computer Science

5. Information Security

6. Management Information Systems

7. Finance & Economics

8. Software Engineering

9. Aerospace Engineering

10. Actuarial Mathematics

Kiplinger updates many of its rankings annually. Above is our 2016-17 list of the best college majors for a lucrative career. Keep in mind that ranking methodologies can change from year to year based on the data available at the time, changes to how the data was gathered, switches to new data providers and tweaks to the formulas used to narrow the pool of candidates.

SEE ALSO: 10 Small Towns With Big Millionaire Populations

EDITOR'S PICKS



Copyright 2017-2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors
BlackRock Inc. offers an array of risk management, strategic advisor, and enterprise investment system services. Its offerings range from individual and institutional separate accounts to mutual funds and other pooled investment options. In order to strike a balance between risk and opportunities, BlackRock aims to provide a wide range of investment solutions to its clients.

BlackRock had a total of $6.444 trillion in assets under management (as of Sep 30, 2018) across equity, fixed income, cash management, alternative investment, real estate and advisory strategies. It caters to institutional, intermediary and individual investors through a wide range of products and services.

Below we share with you four top-ranked BlackRock funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of BlackRock funds, their Zacks Rank and past performance.

BlackRock LifePath Index Retirement Fund Investor A Shares LIRAX aims to provide for retirement outcomes that are based on quantitatively measured risk. The fund invests the majority of its assets in securities and other financial instruments whose economic characteristics are similar to the securities in its custom benchmark index. LIRAX has three and five-year annualized returns of 6.1% and 4% respectively.

LIRAX has an expense ratio of 0.41% compared with the category average of 0.48%.

BlackRock Advantage Large Cap Growth Fund Investor A Shares BMCAX aims for long-term capital growth. The fund invests the majority of its assets and any borrowings for investment purposes in securities of large-cap U.S. companies and derivatives that possess equivalent economic characteristics to such securities. BMCAX has three and five-year annualized returns of 17.5% and 8.9% respectively.

As of February 2019, BMCAX held 203 issues with 6.02% of its assets invested in

Amazon.com Inc.

Story continues

BlackRock Tactical Opportunities Fund Investor A Shares PCBAX aims for total return. The fund may choose to invest in common stocks, preferred stocks, depository receipts, securities convertible into common stocks and non-convertible preferred stocks. PCBAX has three and five-year annualized returns of 5.2% and 2.8% respectively.

Philip J. Green is one of the fund managers of PCBAX since 2006.

BlackRock Advantage Small Cap Growth Fund Investor A Shares CSGEX seeks to provide long-term capital growth. The fund invests the majority of its net assets in securities of small-cap companies along with investing in securities or instruments of issuers in the United States. CSGEX has three and five-year annualized returns of 18.1% and 7.2% respectively.

CSGEX has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared with the category average of 1.20%.

To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all BlackRock mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of BlackRock funds.

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Zacks Investment Research
By Rod Nickel

KABUL, March 28 (Reuters) - The prospect of peace in Afghanistan raises its own risks to rebuilding efforts, a U.S. watchdog said on Thursday, citing reintegrating Taliban fighters, spurring the economy and protecting women's rights as major issues to be dealt with.

"A peace agreement would be welcomed by the long-suffering Afghan people," the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko said in Washington.

"But it could bring its own challenges to sustaining what the United States, coalition partners and the Afghan government have achieved."

The United States has spent $132 billion since 2002 on training Afghan forces, strengthening institutions and other initiatives.

U.S.-led forces deposed the Taliban in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States but the militants regrouped and have steadily extended their influence during 17 years of war.

Peace talks between U.S. and Taliban officials began late last year, raising hopes for an end to the conflict. The latest round ended this month with both sides citing progress.

Even if the war with the Taliban ends, Afghanistan may remain insecure because of the presence of other militant groups, Sopko's office said in a report to U.S. Congress and the secretaries of state and defense.

Congress created the office to oversee U.S-led reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

Reintegrating the Taliban, whose Islamic views are more conservative than those of much of the population, would be a particular challenge, SIGAR said.

About 60,000 fighters are likely to find few job opportunities in a weak economy, it said.

Lasting peace could improve economic growth but in the short term, some 2 million Afghans living in Pakistan may return, adding job-seekers into a weak labor market.

While the Taliban has said in official statements they might consider more liberal policies towards women, their chief negotiator has said the constitution, which protects women's rights, is an obstacle to peace, SIGAR wrote.

Story continues

Such a stance could jeopardize the economic and political freedoms Afghan women have achieved.

More of the U.S. reconstruction effort has gone into the Afghan National Army than to its national police, and a strategy for a "competent" police force, sustained by foreign assistance, would also be required, SIGAR wrote.

Endemic corruption has hampered reconstruction, and remains the "top strategic threat" to the government's legitimacy, it said.

A burgeoning illicit opium trade also jeopardizes security, governance and development. (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Kabul Editing by Robert Birsel)
Airplane Crashes, Boeing and the Age of Permanxiety

The outcry surrounding the twin Boeing 737 Max tragedies in the last few months represents something totally new and different for global aviation. Following crashes in Asia and Africa, the global scope of the reaction to the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines incidents shows business as usual wont cut it anymore for airlines and aircraft manufacturers.

Airlines  and the countries over which these airlines were flying  moved with unprecedented speed to remove all variations of 737 Max from service, ignoring traditional industry standards that call for a thorough investigation of flight data before making a decision to ground a particular model of aircraft.

Back in the fall of 2017, we at Skift coined a term, permanxiety, which we defined as a near-constant state of anxiety that exists around the world. These worries include just about, well, everything: terrorism, security, neo-isolationism, racial tension, Trumpism, technologys adverse effects, the widening economic gap, culture wars, climate change, and other geopolitical and local issues.

We further explored how travel has become the global crucible for these permanxieties, exacerbated by hyper-connected citizens using social platforms.

In an era of dominance by Facebook, Twitter, and others, an airplane crash represents a perfect storm for travelers by stoking the imagination and feeding users a constant stream of updates on the bad news. Clickbait-meets-anxieties is perfect fodder for media to feed into for days and months. Two crashes of the same aircraft model, then, is a story that airlines and aviation manufacturers simply cant ignore until it goes away.

The Boeing Company, now flush with $1.01 billion in annual revenue, has not done enough to reassure global travelers that stepping foot on one of its aircraft is completely safe. All told, 371 planes have been grounded pending an investigation by French aviation authorities and a promised software fix from Boeing.

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If you want to know why such an egregious lapse in judgment happened, just follow the money.

Big Business and Greed

Airlines, ultimately, serve the traveling public while Boeing serves its aviation industry partners. This is an important distinction point: the traveling public has little sense of the planes and the differences between them. A Skift survey showed that about 70 percent of flyers dont care  or even know  the aircraft type when booking a flight, or even when flying.

Since Boeing has little incentive to reach the traveling public beyond the occasional anniversary effort, it is not a surprise that it has worked to develop a software fix and better educate pilots rather than make a meaningful overture to the traveling public. The company needs airlines to stay committed to their orders, and to reassure customers that their products are safe.

Its in the interest of both the wider aviation industry and regulators alike to create a quick fix, but is it really in the best interest of global passengers for aviation at large to continue with the status quo?

Furthermore, why would international air carriers trust the Federal Aviation Administration as an unbiased arbiter when its oversight has come into question?

While investigators are still examining the exact cause of the most recent crash, one thing is certain: both Boeing and the FAA have to answer to the public for how we got here. And the public, in this case, doesnt just mean the American public, but the world, which is the reality in this globalized era.

Although statistics bear out that driving is more dangerous than flying by a factor of thousands, people feel safer at the wheel of their car than in their seat on a plane piloted by pilots with tens of thousands of hours of flight time. Hurtling through the sky in a metal tube with wings, after having spent hours in a soulless cauldron of a militarized modern airport, is very different than driving by any measure.

Reports contend that reduced funding for the FAA led to Boeing self-certifying parts of its own aircraft, cutting corners on the systems related to preventing the Boeing 737 Max series from entering a potentially deadly stall.

The international aviation duopoly of Boeing and Airbus opted to fit their bestselling narrowbody aircraft with new engines, rather than creating altogether new aerodynamic designs that could handle the powerful modern engines. At the same time, only limited training was mandated for pilots of the new aircraft.

Meanwhile, few in media or elsewhere are focused on the severe shortage of pilots happening around the world, the barely-above subsistence wage of many pilots, and the constant cost-cutting from the airlines themselves that has eaten into any training budgets for these already demotivated pilots. Airlines should get a big part of that blame, for sure.

As for Boeing, since the company lifer Dennis Muilenburg took charge in 2015, the company has focused more on profitability and providing solid returns to shareholders than innovating in technology or design. Selling safety as an extra to airlines already trying to pinch pennies is perfectly emblematic of the companys strategy during his tenure. The sad irony of Boeing learning from its airline clients the need to charge extra fees for any upgrades shouldnt be lost on anyone.

Muilenburg should step down immediately. Boeings influence, of course, extends to Capitol Hill as well; the company spent $15.1 million on lobbying in 2018, more than Comcast, Amazon, and Northop Grumman. You could see Boeings defiance on display during a Congressional hearing on the incidents this week. The companys board of directors should be shaken up as well, to ensure new leaders are guiding the course of the company.

These are no-brainers on winning back trust.

Boeing can pull from the harsh lessons learned by U.S. airlines after their various incidents became social media firestorms over the last few years. It must own up to its mistakes in a clear and transparent way.

The status quo doesnt fly anymore when every company is a consumer company, and 737 Max aircraft should remain grounded until an honest assessment of its defects is released to the public whose lives have been endangered by corporate greed and regulatory failure.

Subscribe to Skift newsletters covering the business of travel, restaurants, and wellness.
Los Angeles (AFP) - Alaska residents accustomed to subzero temperatures are experiencing a heat wave of sorts that is shattering records, with the thermometer jumping to more than 30 degrees Fahrenheit (16.7 Celsius) above normal in some regions.

"Both February and March have been exceptionally warm," Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, told AFP. "Many places are on their way to their warmest March on record."

He said that cities and towns in the northern half of the state, including Wainwright, Nuiqsut, Kaktovik and Barrow (also known as Utqiagvik), could see temperatures soar 25 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (14 to 22 Celsius) above normal this weekend as the warm trend continues.

"At Barrow, through yesterday, they've had daily record high temperatures five separate days this month ... and that's quite an achievement," Thoman said.

"This is following on the heels of the very warm, and in some places record warm February," he added. "We now have April or May weather in March."

In Barrow, for example, the temperature jumped to 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 Celsius) on Thursday when the normal high is minus three Fahrenheit.

"Deadhorse, AK, is set to finish March about 23F (12.7 Celsius) above normal for the month," Brian Brettschneider, a climatologist based in Alaska tweeted on Thursday.

Thoman predicts the warm streak to continue through April, with the highest temperature spikes expected in the western part of the state.

- Frozen rivers melting early -

He said the dramatic warming Alaska has experienced in recent years -- which is partly linked to a decline in sea ice and Arctic ocean warming -- had wreaked havoc on local communities, wildlife and the economy.

Many recreational sled dog races have had to be canceled this year and the routing of the famed Iditarod race had to be changed as what is normally solid sea ice was open water on part of the race route.

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Crab fishing has also been affected as the sea ice used as a platform for fishermen was non-existent or too thin in some areas.

Thoman said the seal population is also likely to be affected in the coming months as some of the species give birth on solid ice.

Amy Holman, regional coordinator for Alaska at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the warmth has in addition had a deep impact on transportation as two thirds of communities in Alaska are not accessible via roads.

"In the winter, frozen rivers become major transportation corridors connecting villages," she told AFP. "The Kuskokwim River is a primary example of this.

"The warmer temperatures have melted the rive ice to the extent it is no longer safe for truck or car travel."

Thoman said global warming had led to the lowest ice levels in the Bering Sea -- which connects with the Arctic Ocean -- since 1850, when sea ice records began.

"My worst fear is the speed of change and being able to cope," he said. "Alaskans are resilient, our indigenous culture has been here for 10,000 years but change has never occurred at this pace."
London (AFP) - Flying English flags and crying Brexit betrayal, thousands massed outside the British parliament on Friday on what should have been "Independence Day" -- until political paralysis prompted a last-ditch delay.

Nearly three years after the divisive referendum that saw 52 percent of voters back leaving the EU, Britain's MPs are at a loss on how, and even whether, the UK can properly leave the bloc.

As lawmakers voted inside to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's agreement struck between London and Brussels -- for a third time -- crowds gathered in the sunshine outside on Parliament Square to demand MPs respect the vote of the majority.

"Brexit hard. Brexit now. Theresa May is a treacherous cow," the crowd chanted.

"This is about democracy. It's that simple. They're playing Russian roulette with our country. I'm so angry about it. I'm 54 and I've never been on a protest in my life," said Debbie, from Billericay, east of London, who was draped in the British flag.

"These Remain MPs have an arrogance. There's going to be a massive kickback against them."

Leave voters milled around holding up placards reading "Trust in politicians is dead" and "What is our liberty for if not to govern ourselves?", while others waved British, English, Welsh, Cornish and other UK flags.

The atmosphere was a mixture of party, wake and protest -- as the vote result triggered shrugs from people whose preference is for Britain to leave the EU with no deal at all.

"Stop the Brexit Betrayal", "Give Our Kingdom Back" and "Free Britain Now" read some of the placards.

- Question of liberty -

"This is so much bigger than party politics. It's the fundamental question of what it means to be free. It's 2019 in the UK and we're having to think about our liberty. That worries me," said John Abbott, 37, who travelled down from Nottingham in central England.

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"There has been political chicanery and obfuscation by a bunch of rich idiots failing to do their jobs.

Some Leave voters completed a two-week, 270-mile (435-kilometre) protest march from northeast England.

Others were led to the parliament building on the banks of River Thames by Scottish pipe bands and a fishing boat on the back of a truck.

"I'm not going to have my country taken over by a dictatorship," megaphone-wielding Terry Calladine told AFP.

"All the Labour and Conservative MPs are a bunch of frauds that need dragging out by their hair," he said.

"They are opposing what they obtained their seat on. That's about as low as a snake's belly can get."

- 'Parliament v the people' -

Suzanne Evans, a eurosceptic former member of the European Parliament, said the implications of failing to leave the EU on time at 2300 GMT on Friday were severe.

"This was supposed to be a celebration of our Independence Day. They promised us. And now we just can't trust them at all. It's absolutely disgraceful," she said of Britain's MPs.

"It is parliament versus the people. This has gone beyond being about Brexit.

"It's about democracy. It's about does the ballot box still work? From the shenanigans across the road, the answer has to be no. We are in dire straits as a country."

Jan Bowman, a 63-year-old artist Jan, said she would have been carrying "fireworks", rather than a large banner, if Britain had really been leaving the EU on Friday.

Small numbers of fiercely pro- and anti-Brexit demonstrators have kept up a constant presence in Westminster in recent months.

Ardent Brexiteers want Britain to leave the bloc now without any divorce deal in place, falling back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

At the other end of the political spectrum, europhile London Mayor Sadiq Khan launched a campaign bus on Friday emblazoned with the slogan "We are all Londoners".

"I think we can all agree that Brexit has been a complete and utter mess," the mayor told AFP.

Elsewhere, the Church of England has invited parishioners to "cafe-style meetings" over the weekend in a bid to forge some unity over that most British of things: a cup of tea.

Suitable Bible passages and newly-composed prayers will be chosen under the slogan "Together" to prompt the faithful -- whatever their views about leaving the EU -- to start conversations.
By David Shepardson and Tim Hepher

WASHINGTON/PARIS (Reuters) - An anti-stall system at the centre of a probe into the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX jetliner in Indonesia five months ago was also at play when an identical aircraft crashed in Ethiopia earlier this month, three people briefed on the matter said.

Data pulled from the Ethiopian Airlines flight recorder suggests the so-called MCAS system, which pushes the nose of the jet downwards, had been activated before the jet ploughed into a field outside Addis Ababa on March 10, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an interim official report.

Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment on the data, first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

It is the second related piece of evidence to emerge from the black boxes of Ethiopian flight 302 after an initial sample of data recovered by investigators in Paris 11 days ago suggested similar "angle of attack" readings to the first crash.

These initial airflow readings from the Ethiopian jet, first reported by Reuters, refer to stall-related information needed to trigger the automated nose-down MCAS system.

The system is designed to be activated only when the angle of attack - measuring the way the wing cuts through the air - has become too high to avoid the plane stalling or losing lift.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the system on the Ethiopian jet was responding to faulty sensor data, as in the case of the earlier crash, or genuine stall indications.

Ethiopian, French and U.S. officials have said there are similarities between the two accidents, which led to the worldwide grounding of the recently introduced 737 MAX.

An Ethiopian-led investigation is trying to establish whether the system overpowered the pilots, a leading scenario in the Lion Air crash, and what action was taken by the crew.

Boeing has suggested using two existing cut-out switches could have prevented the Lion Air disaster, but it has also announced proposals to beef up the system and improve training.

Two of the people briefed on the matter said they presumed that the Ethiopian Airlines pilots did not hit the cut-out switches based on the airplane's speed and fatal descent, but could not confirm that the data established that.

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Tim Hepher, Editing by Sarah White)
Ahead of his father's rally in Michigan on Thursday, Donald Trump Jr. took the stage to rile up the crowd, boast about his father's accomplishments and attack his Democratic foes, which led to chants of "AOC sucks!" against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

"Think about the fact that every mainstream leading Democratic contender is taking the advice of a freshmen congresswoman who three weeks ago didn't know the three branches of government," Trump Jr. told the crowd as he discussed Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal, a climate change bill that failed in the Senate this week.

"I don't know about you guys but that's pretty scary," the president's eldest son said as the crowd started to chant, "AOC sucks! AOC sucks!"

Trump chuckled then told the crowd: "You guys, you're not very nice and neither is what that policy would do to this country."

Donald Trump Jr. blasts Ocasio-Cortez: "Think about the fact that every mainstream, leading Democratic contender is taking the advice of a freshman congresswoman who three weeks ago didnt know the three branches of government...thats pretty scary"



Crowd chants: "AOC sucks!" pic.twitter.com/Qh4TmyVSFi  Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) March 29, 2019

On the campaign trail: Triumphant Trump heads to Michigan for Rust Belt rally

'This is not a time for division': Green New Deal dies in Senate and Democrats helped kill it

Ocasio-Cortez, a freshmen Democrat from New York, has been a favorite of conservatives, who have targeted her progressive policies and pinned them as a radical trend within the Democratic Party. She has become a progressive superstar and captured an enthusiastic following due to her fierce social media posts and congressional speeches.

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Trump Jr. specifically brought up the congresswoman while discussing her Green New Deal bill, an aspirational proposal to confront climate change and address social justice. Conservatives have ridiculed the plan as a socialist fantasy  one that they say would bankrupt the nation.

Spurred by government reports warning of drastic consequences of climate change, Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., unveiled the proposal in February.

It called not only for combating climate change by eliminating carbon emissions caused by fossil fuels and shifting the economy to one powered by renewable fuels but also prescribed a broad platform supporting free housing, medical coverage and higher education for all Americans.

'Nonsense': Defending Green New Deal, Ocasio-Cortez says GOP Sen. Mike Lee doesn't take 'job seriously'

More: Ocasio-Cortez says she isn't putting moderate Democrats in a tough spot. They disagree

Trump Jr. ridiculed the plan in front of the thousands gathered for Trump's rally and blasted Democrats in Congress who are running for president in 2020 who have voiced support for the measure.

"What about brilliant policies like the Green New Deal?" Trump Jr. asked the crowd. "What's scarier about the Green New Deal is that every mainstream Democrat leading presidential contender is like 'this is a great idea!'"

President Trump's Michigan event marked his first campaign rally since a summary of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the 2016 election found his campaign did not conspire with Russia to influence the outcome. The president has repeatedly touted that summary in Washington, even as Democrats press for more detail.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'AOC sucks!' chant breaks out at Trump's Michigan rally against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Organizers of a Wednesday meeting about an upcoming mayoral election asked that only black journalists cover the event at a church in Savannah, Georgia.

"No media (T.V. Radio, etc.) Black Press Only!" read a sign posted on the door of Bolton Street Baptist Church. The Savanah Morning news reports that white reporters were barred from entering the event while multiple black reporters were permitted to enter.

A social media post made by the Trigon Group to promote the meeting says the community gathering was intended to unify support in the African American community behind a single candidate for mayor among multiple candidates. That post also says "Black Media ONLY!"

In this Wednesday, March 27, 2019 photo, signs posted on the doors of the Bolton Street Baptist Church are seen during a meeting coordinated to garner support for one black candidate in Savannah's mayoral race, in Savannah, Ga.

USA TODAY's attempts to contact to The Trigon Group via phone and email were not immediately returned.

Video published by local TV station WJCL shows a journalist confronting a candidate for mayor who attended the meeting.

Van Johnson, one of multiple black mayoral candidates to have announced a campaign for the November election, is told by a reporter that he was denied entrance to the meeting.

"I think that's unfortunate," Johnson responded.

Johnson also told the station that he believed event organizers had the right to determine who to admit to an event. He suggested he would speak at an event where only white reporters were allowed to attend.

WJCL reported that journalists who were allowed inside the meeting were treated "with suspicion." The station says that about 50 people attended the event.

The meeting was held as the city's first white mayor in 20 years, Eddie DeLoach, is seeking re-election this fall.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Black Press Only!': Political meeting in Georgia turns away journalists based on race, reports say
Donald Trump has launched an emotional attack on his critics, accusing them of hurting the country by pursuing the Mueller investigation, in a raucous speech in front of supporters in Michigan.

In his first rally since Robert Mueller completed his probe and the president learned it had apparently cleared him of colluding with Russia, Mr Trump basked in constant applause as he lashed out at the media, Democratic politicians and the deep state.

This has been an incredible couple of weeks for America, he said, adding that Isis had been defeated and that the economy was growing.

Referring to the completion of Mr Muellers report, he said: The collusion delusion is over. The Russia hoax is finally dead. ... This was nothing more than a sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people.

Describing Democrat Adam Schiffs claims that there may indeed have been collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, the president said: Sick! Sick! These are sick people.

In a fired-up appearance in the city of Grand Rapids, the location of his final appearance during the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr Trump indicated how he intended to campaign for 2020  by attacking his critics, making grandiose and often false claims, and energising supporters by seizing on issues such as immigration.

During the course of the 90-minute speech, he claimed his election win over Hillary Clinton had been possibly the greatest in history, and that a wall on the Mexican border would be built.

The wall is being built. We had to go down a somewhat different path, he said to shrieks of delight. It does not matter  national emergency.

Robert Mueller was a god to Democrats, he was a god to them. Now they dont like him much.

The Democrats now have to decide if they want to keep defrauding the public with ridiculous bull**** and partisan investigations, or whether they will apologise to the American people and join us.

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Reports said that many of those packed into the Van Andel Arena had started lining up the night before, with some camping out.

Saundra Kiczenski, who was among the first in line, told the Associated Press she had never felt the same kind of enthusiasm from the crowd as she awaited her 25th Trump rally. She said he expected the president would take a chance to revel in the fact the Mueller investigation was over.

Hes just going to be on fire, she said.

Last weekend, attorney general William Barr sent to Congress a four-page summary of Mr Muellers investigation into Moscows alleged interference and accusations it had been assisted by members of the Trump campaign.

The summary claimed that in his report, Mr Mueller said he had not found a direct link between Moscows efforts and the Trump campaign. On the issue of whether the president had obstructed efforts to investigate possible collusion, he set out the case for and against in regard to several incidents.

In turn, Mr Barr and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, decided the presidents actions did not constitute a crime.

Before Mr Trump launched his attack against those he claimed had pushed for an investigation because they could not accept his 2016 victory, the crowd was warmed up by the presidents eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

This weeks vindication of my father, of me, of our family: its not just our vindication, its your vindication, said Mr Trump Jr, who is likely to play a leading role in his fathers re-election campaign next year.

You own that with us. Because you stuck by us. You knew it was nonsense. You knew my father was fighting for all of you.

Among those whom the president attacked on Thursday evening was Democratic congressman Mr Schiff. On Thursday, Republicans on the House of Representatives intelligence committee called for his resignation, saying he had pushed a demonstrably false narrative by continuing to investigate the presidents ties to Russia.

Mr Schiff said: My colleagues may think its okay that the Russians offered dirt on a Democratic candidate for president as part of what was described as part of the Russian governments effort to help the Trump campaign. ... You might say thats just what you need to do to win. But I dont think its okay.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.  President Donald Trump used a raucous rally in the battleground state of Michigan on Thursday to take a victory lap following the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, telling supporters "the collusion delusion is over."

Trump wasted no time turning to the summary of the Mueller report released on Sunday, starting the rally off by framing the 22-month probe as "lies and smears and slander."

"Robert Mueller was a god to the Democrats until he said there was no collusion," Trump told his supporters. "This fraud is exposed. "

Trump's Michigan event marked his first campaign rally since a summary of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the 2016 election found his campaign did not conspire with Russia to influence the outcome. The president has repeatedly touted that summary in Washington, even as Democrats press for more detail.

Trump repeated his insults of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and who has continued to question Trumps actions in the 2016 race. Little pencil neck Adam Schiff, Trump told supporters. Hes got the smallest, thinnest neck Ive ever seen. He is not a long-ball hitter."

Schiff has shrugged off the insults from Trump and other Republicans.

Attorney General Bill Barr's summary of Mueller's report said the special counsel found no evidence of collusion with Russia but it left open the question of whether the president's actions constituted obstruction of justice. Mueller's report, according to Barr, specifically noted it did not exonerate Trump over questions of obstruction.

Trump wrapped up his 2016 campaign in Grand Rapids, leading an early morning Election Day rally that some analysts say may have pushed him over the edge to victory in the state. Trump won the state by less than one percentage point, and Republican strategists say he faces a daunting path to reclaiming it in 2020.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Russia hoax is finally dead': Trump touts end of Mueller investigation to supporters in Michigan
DES MOINES, Iowa  The Iowa state Senate approved a bill that would define an "unborn person" in state law as part of a measure that increases penalties for ending a woman's pregnancy without her consent.

The bill passed the Senate Tuesday on a 31-18 vote, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. The bill is now eligible for consideration in the Iowa House, where its future is unclear.

"Finally, we have a bill that recognizes the dignity and the rights of that human child in the womb, the same as the human life thats carrying that child," said Republican Sen. Jake Chapman, who managed the bill's passage.

Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen called the bill "extreme and unconstitutional" and said, if it becomes law, it would endanger common birth control procedures, including IUDs, and could prevent Iowans from using in vitro fertilization.

It could also open the door for criminal investigations of women who suffer a miscarriage, Petersen said.

Iowa Senator Jake Chapman (R-Adel) talks about the battle at the state legislature to make abortions illegal during the 2019 Iowa Rally for Life on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at the Iowa Capitol Building in Des Moines.

The debate over the definition of "unborn person" came during a Senate discussion of a measure that would increase penalties for ending a woman's pregnancy without her consent, for example, by killing or injuring the woman in a car crash or while committing a felony and ending her pregnancy in the process.

Chapman amended the bill to remove the phrase "terminates a human pregnancy" and replaces it with "causes the death of an unborn person" in several sections of the bill.

The measure defines "unborn person" to mean "an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization to live birth."

Chapman said the measure would only strengthen penalties that exist in current law and is unrelated to abortion since it deals with pregnancies ended without the pregnant woman's consent.

If someone "causes the death of an unborn person" without the consent of the pregnant woman while committing a felony, that person could receive a sentence of life in prison without parole under the bill. The bill carries lesser penalties if an "unborn person" is killed under other circumstances.

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Although the bill was one of a trio of measures that had subcommittee hearings on a day when anti-abortion activists rallied at the Capitol, it drew less attention than abortion opponents' other priorities. Lobbyists for Planned Parenthood had not taken a position on the bill prior to the Senate debate.

Petersen said the original bill passed out of a committee hearing with Democratic support. She criticized what she called the "bait and switch" of amending the bill to add language defining an unborn person.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 'Unborn person' would be defined in state law under a bill passed by Iowa Senate
FORT MYERS, Florida  Saying that Americans deserve good health care "at a price they can afford," U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, announced Friday that he's filing legislation to limit the price of prescription drugs.

In a news conference at Southwest Florida International Airport, Scott said his bill would limit the price of prescription drugs to the prices the drug companies charge in other industrialized countries.

"Drug companies charge Americans higher prices for the same drugs that they charge consumers in other countries," Scott said. "That's wrong, why should we pay more?"

Scott walked a middle ground between the conservative Republican, anti-regulation stances that marked his tenure as Florida's governor and a call for a federal law that would restrict prices private companies can charge.

"I am a strong believer in the free market," Scott said. "Americans, young people and many of our seniors are facing a crisis of not being able to afford their drugs."

End of Obamacare:Trump resumes an old battle. Here's why.

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He joined his call for government price controls on prescription drugs with criticism of the Affordable Care Act signed by former President Barack Obama nearly nine years ago.

"I think it's pretty obvious now that Obamacare did not drive down health care costs, it drove up health care costs," Scott said.

However, Scott said he would retain one of the hallmarks of Obamacare and "absolutely" supports including mandatory coverage of pre-existing conditions in any replacement legislation.

The measure filed by Scott also includes provisions he said were intended to improve transparency over the price ultimately paid for prescription drugs.

He would require pharmaceutical companies to publicly list prescription prices 60 days before open enrollment for health insurance and freeze the prices and co-payments for 12 months.

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The bill also requires pharmacies to give customers a quote for out-of-pocket payment for drugs, which Scott says is "often cheaper" than prices billed to insurance companies.

Trump and Obamacare: President claims GOP will be the 'party of health care,' after urging judge to toss out Obamacare

Opinion: The Trump administration's latest attack on health care hurts all Americans: Today's talker

A patient would be allowed to apply the full price of out-of-pocket purchases toward a health insurance deductible.

"You can have all these drugs, but it doesn't do any good if you can't afford it," Scott said.

In his third month as a member of the Senate, Scott recalled the difficulties that his mother had in traveling four hours to a charity hospital to treat a "significant disease" afflicting his brother.

Scott currently takes a prescription drug for allergies, but said the cost of his medication has not increased in recent years. He introduced three young people from Southwest Florida who face steep price increases for medications such as insulin to control diabetes.

Emmabella Rudd, 17 of Sarasota spoke to the crowd at the press conference. Sabine Rivera, 12 of Naples, and Senator Rick Scott look on. Senator Rick Scott stopped in Fort Myers to make an announcement regarding efforts to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for Florida families. The press conference was held at the Southwest Florida International Airport Wright Brothers Conference Room, Fort Myers, FL. A few Florida children with Type 1 diabetes, Sabine Rivera, 12 of Naples, Emmabella Rudd, 17 of Sarasota, and Lucas Lye, 14 of Naples, were on hand to tell their stories about how their families deal with the cost of insulin.

"Right now the cost of insulin is very expensive and each year it starts to go up more and more," said Sabina Rivera, 12, of Naples. "When I become an adult, I will have to pay for my own, it's going to cost more that it does now and I'll have to pay for that in my first job."

Scott said he has not yet gotten any formal pushback from the drug industry on his bill, saying it is only now being filed, but said he had conversations with stakeholders.

Scott said he has spoken with members of the Senate and representatives of drug makers and pharmacies that distribute prescription drugs, as well as insurers and hospitals.

"All of them say 'how are you going to to this,' we've got to all come together to figure this out," Scott said. "The best way to do it is to figure out a better delivery system."

The future of the Affordable Care Act is tied to a pending appeal of a Texas ruling that found the law unconstitutional. Several states have appealed the ruling.

The justice department traditionally defends federal laws that are struck down, but Solicitor General Noel Francisco filed papers with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal saying the federal government would not support the pending appeal.

Senator Rick Scott stopped in Fort Myers to make an announcement regarding efforts to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for Florida families. The press conference was held at the Southwest Florida International Airport Wright Brothers Conference Room, Fort Myers, FL. A few Florida children with Type 1 diabetes, Sabine Rivera, 12 of Naples, Emmabella Rudd, 17 of Sarasota, and Lucas Lye, 14 of Naples, were on hand to tell their stories about how their families deal with the cost of insulin.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: 'Why should we pay more?' Sen. Rick Scott's bill would limit prescription drug prices
AstraZeneca plc. AZN announced that it has acquired joint development and commercialization rights to a promising cancer candidate from Daiichi Sankyo. The deal requires the British drug giant to pay as much as $6.9 billion to the Japan based drug maker.

Per the deal, the companies will develop and commercialize Daiichi Sankyos proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) trastuzumab deruxtecan, which they claim has the potential to redefine the standard of care in cancer treatment. This is because targeted cancer medicines like ADCs deliver chemotherapy selectively to cancer cells and reduce systemic exposure unlike conventional chemotherapy medicines.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan is being developed in HER2-expressing cancers including five pivotal late-stage studies for HER2-expressing breast and gastric cancers and mid-stage studies for HER2-expressing advanced colorectal cancer and metastatic non-squamous HER2-overexpressing or HER2-mutated NSCLC. The first regulatory application for trastuzumab deruxtecan is expected to be filed in the second half of 2019 for advanced or refractory breast cancer.

The candidate enjoys FDAs Breakthrough Therapy status for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer in patients who have been previously treated with Roches RHHBY breast cancer medicines Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Perjeta (pertuzumab) and witnessed disease progression after trastuzumab emtansine.

For the deal, AstraZeneca will make an upfront payment of $1.35 billion while being entitled to make contingent payments, comprising regulatory and sales related milestone fees of up to $5.55 billion

Daiichi, however, retained exclusive rights to the drug in Japan. The companies will equally share development and commercialization costs. AstraZeneca informed that it will fund the transaction partly through a share issue of up to $3.5 billion.

The deal further strengthens AstraZenecas oncology pipeline. AstraZeneca is aggressively working on strengthening its oncology product portfolio and has several candidates in its pipeline. Oncology sales now comprise around 29% of total product sales for AstraZeneca and rose 50% in 2018. Key new and successful cancer drugs in its pipeline are Imfinzi, Lynparza and Tagrisso.

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AstraZenecas shares were down 5% in pre-market trading on Friday probably as investors found the deal costly. Nonetheless, AstraZenecas stock has rallied 13.1% this year so far, outperforming the industrys rise of 4.4%.

AstraZeneca currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked large cap drug stocks are Johnson & Johnson JNJ and Bayer BAYRY. Both the companies carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

J&Js shares have risen 7.6% this year so far, a decent recovery from the decline last year. Its earnings estimates for 2019 have gone up 0.1% in the past 30 days. Though Bayers shares have declined 9.8% this year, its earnings estimates have increased 2.1% for 2019 over the past 60 days.

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Australia announced a diplomatic boost to "turbo-charge" its China relations on Friday as it seeks to mend ties damaged by foreign interference concerns and a 5G bar on Huawei.

Canberra unveiled plans for a new foundation to supercede the Australia-China Council, its long-time primary platform for relations with its largest trading partner.

The government also announced that career diplomat Graham Fletcher, a China expert and Mandarin speaker, would replace Jan Adams as Australia's ambassador in Beijing. Adams had served in the role since 2016.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the new National Foundation for Australia-China Relations would receive Aus$44 (US$31) million over five years, significantly broadening the remit of its predecessor.

She said the more than 40-year-old Council had remained "static even as China has transformed and our bilateral ties have dramatically expanded in breadth and complexity."

She said the "substantially increased" funding would allow the new body to "move beyond the Council's current focus on education, culture and the arts, to also promote Australian excellence in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure, health and ageing and the environment and energy."

"It will harness efforts of the private sector, peak bodies, NGOs, cultural organisations, state and federal agencies and the Chinese-Australian community to turbo-charge our national effort in engaging China."

While noting that the two countries "share common objectives" in many areas, Payne said there were "different perspectives on some important issues" that would be a focus of the new foundation.

Bilateral ties have soured, notably since Canberra passed sweeping national security reforms last year to strengthen foreign interference laws, calling out China as its primary concern, and setting off a string of diplomatic flare-ups.

A high-profile Australian senator was forced to quit politics in 2017 over his links to Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo, a permanent Australian resident who last month was banned from returning to the country following scrutiny of his Communist Party ties.

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Beijing has dismissed the claims of political interference as paranoia and hysteria.

Australia last year also announced guidelines for contractors to build fifth-generation -- or 5G -- mobile networks that effectively blocked Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

Canberra cited intelligence agency warnings against using vendors subject to "extrajudicial directions from a foreign government".

Mike Burgess from the national cybersecurity agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, said that 5G is still maturing, but will be "critically important" to Australia, with the future technology enabling key infrastructure, like power grids.

"There will be machines talking to machines, devices talking to devices -- enabled by 5G," he told Sydney-based think tank the Lowy Institute Wednesday, adding the "availability" of the network is the agency's primary concern.

"So high-risk vendors for us are categorised as vendors that actually have headquarters in countries, where those countries have capability, form and intent and coercive laws that compel their companies to cooperate on matters of national intelligence," he said.
By Georgina Prodhan and Paul Sandle

LONDON (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard botched its $11.1 billion acquisition of Autonomy and then tried to cover up its own mismanagement by accusing the British software company's founder Mike Lynch of fraud, a London court was told on Wednesday.

HP is suing Lynch, once hailed as Britain's answer to Bill Gates, along with his former finance chief Sushovan Hussain for more than $5 billion after the 2011 Autonomy deal went disastrously wrong for the Silicon Valley group.

Lynch denies any wrongdoing and says HP's mismanagement was responsible for the failure of the acquisition. Hussain also denies any wrongdoing.

HP wrote down the value of Autonomy by $8.8 billion, saying it had uncovered serious accounting improprieties. HP is suing Lynch and Hussain for $5 billion of that amount making the case Britain's biggest-ever fraud trial.

HP's lawyers told the court when the case opened this week that Autonomy had inflated its true value through a series of fraudulent transactions, such as selling hardware at a loss and so-called round-trip deals - a type of barter with no real commercial rationale - masterminded by Lynch.

In his opening argument for Lynch's defense, Robert Miles QC said HP had only discovered a small number of historical deals which were said to have some or other wrongful feature, despite spending several years and huge sums of money on its search.

"All the deals now attacked were real commercial deals with real counterparties. The suggestion that Dr Lynch was in the business of conning HP is unreal," he told London's High Court.

"HP, on the other hand, was a vast but floundering company."

Lynch also faces criminal fraud charges in the United States, which carry a maximum term of 20 years. Hussain has been convicted of fraud in a U.S. case related to the deal.

STRATEGY REVERSAL

A year after acquiring Autonomy, HP threw out Chief Executive Leo Apotheker, the architect of the deal which was supposed to transform the computer and printer maker, one of Silicon Valley's original companies, into a more profitable group centered on business software and services.

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Apotheker was replaced by Meg Whitman, who planned to refocus the company on its core hardware strengths after an outcry from shareholders over the new strategy and a steep decline in HP's share price.

"Autonomy was left as HP's unwanted stepchild," said Miles.

Both Apotheker and Whitman are expected to appear as witnesses in the London trial.

As the case opened on Monday, HP's lawyer Laurence Rabinowitz QC said the U.S. company had been led to believe it was buying a fast-growing, pure software company.

He told the court that Lynch and Hussain had knowingly been involved in "widespread and systematic false accounting" to create a materially false picture of Autonomy's finances.

Autonomy had engaged in "revenue-pumping" by encouraging customers to buy its products in exchange for buying goods from them that it did not need, restructuring deals to produce upfront license fees, and covertly selling pure hardware not even programmed with its software at a loss, Rabinowitz said.

Lynch's lawyer told the court that it was absurd to think the 53-year-old was making detailed, day-to-day accounting decisions. Rather he relied on a finance department overseen by an audit committee and the company's auditors, Miles said.

Miles also said it was impossible to understand why Lynch would have taken an executive position at HP after the deal if he really had committed a huge fraud with the U.S. company as its victim.

"The case that we're now hearing being advanced entails that Dr Lynch must have been monumentally dim and, as you'll see, there's no chance that he is," Miles said.

Lynch attended the court session but is not expected to be questioned until around July.

Miles also told the court that the $5 billion figure for which Lynch and Hussain are being sued was not based on HP's own commissioned audits, which had not found a basis for writing down Autonomy in the months after the acquisition.

Hewlett Packard Company in 2015 split into two separate publicly traded companies - HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

The case is expected to last until the end of the year.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)
Warning: This post contains spoilers for all of the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The shocking end of Infinity War left fans with more questions than answers. Though Thanos (Josh Brolin) destroyed half of all life in the universe, the original Avengers team  Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)  survived. Now they have to undo Thanos damage in Avengers: Endgame.

Endgame carries a heavy burden: Not only does it have to wrangle with one of the biggest twists of cinematic history, but it also has to supply a satisfying ending to the Avengers saga. Endgame, out April 26, will be the fourth movie in the Avengers series and the 22nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Several of the cast members have said that they plan to leave the franchise after this film.

So how, exactly, will the current Avengers team undo Thanos actions and recover superheroes like Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland)? Remember, these are the very same heroes who could replace the likes of Cap and Iron Man as Earths Mightiest Heroes. The plan will probably involve some time travel, resurrection and an essential assist from Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Marvels latest and greatest superhero.

Here are all the questions that Avengers: Endgame needs to answer:

Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in Avengers: Infinity War | Marvel Studios

Who really died in Avengers: Infinity War?

At the end of Infinity War, Thanos attained all the Infinity Stones, snapped his fingers, and destroyed half of all life in the universe  including half of the superheroes in the movie. But dont worry: Their deaths probably arent permanent. Spider-Man disappeared in the culling at the end of Infinity War, but he will star in his own solo film, set after the events of Endgame, this summer. Black Panther also disintegrated, but the character is set to appear in Black Panther 2.

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The remaining Avengers will likely find a way to bring back their dusted compatriots. Depending on how they go about it, that could mean undoing just the snap (bringing back the half of people who disappeared) or going even further back in time to bring back other fallen soldiers.

Zoe Saldana as Gamora in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy | Marvel Studios

Will Gamora, Loki and Heimdall return?

Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Heimdall (Idris Elba) all died in the movie before Thanos culling. In the opening minutes of the film, Thanos kills Heimdall after he sends Hulk to earth to warn the Avengers of an impending battle. Thanos then chokes Loki to death and quips, No more resurrections this time. (Loki has a tendency to die and then pop up again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.) Later, Thanos sacrifices his adopted daughter Gamora in order to attain the Soul Stone.

If the Avengers do indeed travel back in time during Endgame, they could save several of their compatriots along the way. The most likely to be resurrected is Gamora: If the Avengers get their hands on the Soul Stone before Thanos, he will never have to kill Gamora in order to hold it himself. (But who will the Avengers sacrifice in order to gain the stone?)

Loki is perhaps the second most likely character to return: Thanos is practically begging for the tricky god to return to life by uttering that line. Plus, Loki is set to star in his own show on Disneys new streaming service.

Paul Rudd in Ant-Man and the Wasp. | Marvel Studios

How did Ant-Man escape the Quantum Realm?

The last we saw Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) in the movies, he had entered the Quantum Realm for an experiment just before Thanos culling. The scientists who were supposed to pull him out  Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly)  disintegrated in the culling. Ant-Man looked to be stuck in subatomic size.

And yet Ant-Man has shown up in all the trailers for Avengers: Endgame, seemingly life-sized. Some fans are theorizing that Ant-Mans escape from the Quantum Realm somehow allowed him to time travel: In the first trailer for Endgame, security video footage of Ant-Man that places him outside Avengers headquarters reads archive, and Captain America asks Black Widow is theyre watching an old video. Its hard to make out, but it looks the footage may even date back to the 1980s. So, in theory, Ant-Man could have found a way to turn back time by traveling through the Quantum Realm and will offer that information to the other Avengers.

However, how Ant-Man escaped in the first place when Janet Van Dyne  a capable scientist  was trapped in the Quantum Realm for years, has yet to be explained.

What happened to Hawkeye?

Bad news for fans of Clint Bartons adorable family: theyre probably all dead. In Avengers: Infinity War, the superheroes discuss how Clint has left the super-team to spend more time with his family. Both trailers for Endgame show Black Widow tracking down a lone Hawkeye in Tokyo, standing over a group of people hes probably just killed. Fans have speculated that he will take on the Ronin persona from the comic books and spend at least part of the film trying to avenge his family.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Will the Avengers travel through time?

In order to undo Thanos actions, the superheroes will probably have to turn back the clock.

One of the Endgame trailers includes a line from Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) from Captain America: Winter Soldier: The world has changed. None of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best we can do is to start over. This line seems to carry a lot of weight in the trailer and could offer clues to the plot of the new film.

Since Peggy uttered these words, the Avengers have learned that people can go back with the Time Stone. Thanos did just that in Infinity War. The best we can do is start over also suggests that maybe the Avengers will indeed try to start a new timeline, one in which they can prevent Thanos from ever acquiring the Infinity Stones.

In order to travel through time, the Avengers will need to somehow get the Time Stone back from Thanos. (Thanos took the Stone from Doctor Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, in Infinity War.) Alternatively, they will need to find another way to jump in time  perhaps through the Quantum Realm.

Scarlett Johansson in The Avengers | Walt Disney Co.

Will the Avengers return to the Battle of New York?

Assuming the Avengers will indeed defeat Thanos through time travel, many fans have speculated that the group will wind back the clock to the Battle of New York from the first Avengers film.

Conveniently, the original Avengers all survived the culling (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye). The plot of Endgame will probably focus on that core team and bring their story to a close. The original Avengers cemented their partnership in the Battle of New York when they saved the Earth from Loki.

Fans have also pointed out that three Infinity Stones were located in New York during that fight: Loki had the Mind Stone, the Space Stone was stored in the Tesseract and the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) held the Time Stone in the Sanctum Sanctorum. If the Avengers travel through time and revisit this battle, they could gather three of the six stones at once.

Brie Larson in 'Captain Marvel,' 2019. | Chuck ZlotnickMarvel Studios

What is Captain Marvels role?

In Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers gives Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) a tricked-out pager to alert her to any emergencies on earth. He resists calling the superhero when a Norse God tries to take over the planet or when a maniacal robot threatens to destroy humanity. But he does page her during the post-credits scene for Infinity War.

Captain Marvel answers the call and appears at Avengers headquarters during the after-credits scene for her namesake film. She appears in the trailer for Endgame, too, staring down Thor.

And yet its unclear what role Carol will have in the fight against Thanos. The trailer seems to suggest that if Thor heads off on a mission to space, Carol would make a great ally. And given that Carol stopped dozens of warheads headed for earth in her movie, if theres any superhero who can take on Thanos, its her.

THOR: RAGNAROK. Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) | Marvel

What characters who werent in Infinity War might show up?

Marvel loves a cameo: Remember when Red Skull (Ross Marquand) randomly showed up in Avengers: Infinity War? And a few actors have already hinted that they will make surprise appearances in Endgame.

Valkyrie

Tessa Thompson hinted that her character Valkyrie from Thor: Ragnarok will show up in Endgame with a recent tweet about her two films coming out this summer. (The other is Men in Black: International with Thor co-star Chris Hemsworth.) Valkyrie escaped with Thor and Loki from Asgard on a ship at the end of Ragnarok but was conspicuously missing from that same vessel when Thanos came on board and killed Loki. Perhaps she headed to Earth and will reunite with Thor there. Marvel also recently revealed via a set of posters that Valkyrie is still alive.

Crossbones

Frank Grillo confirmed that his character Crossbones will also appear in Endgame. Grillo played the HYDRA agent who infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and tried to kill Captain America in both Captain America: Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. He died in the explosion intended for Cap, and Grillo has suggested that Crossbones appearance in Endgame will happen in a flashback.

The Ancient One

Tilda Swinton, who played the Ancient One in Doctor Strange, is listed as a cast member on IMDb. The Ancient One taught Doctor Strange how to wield magic, but died at the end of that film. A meeting between her and the Avengers will most likely be facilitated through time travel.

Stan Lee

The directors have confirmed that Stan Lee, the prolific comic book writer who died last year, did film a final Marvel cameo for Endgame. But theyve remained mum on who exactly he will play.

Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper, and Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. | Marvel

Does Rocket get that arm?

As fans of Guardians of the Galaxy know, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is obsessed with prosthetics and is constantly taking them from people. In Infinity War, he covets the hyper-powerful prosthetic arm of Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). If the Avengers are able to bring the fallen heroes, including Bucky, back, stealing that arm will be high on Rockets to-do list  after hugging his long-lost compatriots, of course.

This photo provided by Disney/Marvel shows, Chris Evans, left, as Captain America/Steve Rogers, and Chris Hemsworth as Thor, in the new film,

Who will survive?

Marvel has been teasing the fact that one or more of the original Avengers will have to sacrifice themselves to restore the world to its normal order. From a plot perspective, the death of one of the heroes makes sense. Theyre facing their fiercest enemy yet, one who already defeated them in the last film. And then theres the issue of attaining the Infinity Stones: Thanos had to sacrifice someone he loved (Gamora) in Infinity War in order to attain the Soul Stone. Its possible that the Avengers would have to make a similar choice in order to attain that same stone.

Several of the original cast members have also expressed their desire to be done with the superheroes theyve portrayed for the last decade. Chris Evans notoriously tweeted what looked to be a goodbye message on the last day of filming for Endgame: Playing this role over the last 8 years has been an honor. Captain America may survive Infinity War, but Evans contract is up after this movie, as is that of Chris Hemsworth, who said that hes done with Thor after Endgame.

Another candidate for either death or retirement at the end of the movie Robert Downey Jr., who kicked off the entire franchise with Iron Man way back in 2008. Downey Jr. is conspicuously missing from the trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home  which is set after the events of Endgame  even though he played mentor to Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War.
By Ludwig Burger

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bayer AG shares sank to their lowest in almost seven years on Thursday after a U.S. jury awarded $80 million to a man who claimed use of the group's weed killer Roundup caused his cancer, with thousands of similar lawsuits looming.

The jury in San Francisco federal court on Wednesday found Bayer liable because its Monsanto unit did not warn plaintiff Edwin Hardeman of the herbicide's alleged cancer risks.

German chemicals giant Bayer, which bought Roundup maker Monsanto last year for $63 billion, said it would appeal the verdict.

Its shares were down 1.3 percent at 55.59 euros at 1023 GMT. That added to last week's 9.6 percent plunge after the jury concluded part-way into the trial that there was a causal link between the weedkiller and Hardeman's disease.

The steep, steady slide since the first adverse verdict in a Roundup lawsuit in August 2018 has pushed Bayer's value down to about 52 billion euros ($58 billion), which is several billion dollars less than what the drugs and crop chemicals group paid to acquire Monsanto in 2016.

On Wednesday, the jury awarded Hardeman $5 million in compensatory and $75 million in punitive damages. Under a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, punitive damages are generally limited to less than 10 times the compensatory damages award, meaning the current verdict will likely be reduced, said Adam Zimmerman, a law professor at Los Angeles-based Loyola Law School.

The trial is only the second of more than 11,200 Roundup lawsuits set to go to trial in the United States.

In the first trial, a California man was awarded damages by a jury in state court in August, which were later reduced to $78 million from an original $289 million that Monsanto sought to throw out. The case is on appeal.

A third Roundup trial, handled by the same plaintiff lawyers who won the August verdict, is scheduled to start in California's Superior Court in Oakland on Thursday.

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It was brought by California couple Alva and Alberta Pilliod who were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011 and 2015 respectively. They allege their decades-long use of Roundup caused their cancers.

Analysts at JP Morgan and Liberum said Bayer's stock price shows the market expects an eventual settlement of up to 20 billion euros or 40 billion euros. They said that was overly pessimistic and they expected the final amount to be "substantially lower" than that.

"Even if Monsanto/Bayer may win some cases, there is great uncertainty about the number of victories and defeats. That is why we expect Bayer to try to settle the remaining cases," said Bryan Garnier analyst Jean-Jacques Le Fur.

Peter Verdult, an analyst at Citigroup, said more focus should be paid to trials later in the year outside of California to better determine settlement estimates. At least two trials are scheduled to take place in St. Louis, Missouri state court this fall.

Hardeman's case was considered a bellwether trial to help determine the range of damages and define settlement options for the more than 760 other federal cases pending in the same court before U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria. Other cases will be heard in state courts.

"This verdict does not change the weight of over four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides and that they are not carcinogenic," Bayer said.

Monsanto's Roundup was the first to contain glyphosate, the world's most widely used weed killer. But it is no longer patent-protected and many other versions are available.

Bayer does not provide sales figures for the product and analysts no longer deem it a major profit driver.

Genetically modified crops that resist glyphosate's plant-killing effect, however, contribute heavily to earnings at Bayer's agricultural division.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the European Chemicals Agency and other regulators have found that glyphosate is not likely carcinogenic to humans. The World Health Organization's cancer arm in 2015 reached a different conclusion, classifying glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans."

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Additional reporting by Tina Bellon in New York; Editing by Keith Weir and David Gregorio)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  A former Iowa Democratic Party official is facing criticism for jumping to Beto O'Rourke's campaign  and bringing with him inside information that O'Rourke's rivals for the White House say could give the former Texas congressman an advantage on caucus night.

Before joining O'Rourke's campaign this month as a senior Iowa strategist, Norm Sterzenbach worked for the state Democratic Party to develop and implement some of the biggest changes to the nation's leadoff caucus in 50 years. Those changes include a mandate from the Democratic National Committee to hold a "virtual caucus" that, for the first time, would allow people to participate by telephone.

Party officials were blindsided by his decision to join the O'Rourke campaign, and some Iowa Democrats are arguing that Sterzenbach is conflicted. Former Rep. David Nagle, who led a team of more than two dozen Democratic activists and operatives in reviewing the caucuses after the 2016 election, said Sterzenbach had been involved in that process from start to finish. He said he and other party operatives were "very uncomfortable" that Sterzenbach joined a campaign.

"We almost feel like it's an act of betrayal," he said. "To design a system, and then the week you're giving your final advice to the party you go and join a presidential campaign and don't tell anybody?"

Party officials plan to hire a new caucus director and emphasize that the party's current leadership  Chairman Troy Price and Executive Director Kevin Geiken  have plenty of caucus experience. The campaigns still have a full year to get their questions answered.

Sterzenbach says he was not thinking about joining O'Rourke's team or any other campaign while crafting the caucus rules. He says he signed a nondisclosure agreement with the state party that bars him from discussing certain caucus details with the campaign  an agreement he plans to maintain.

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"I have actually not had a single conversation with anyone on the Beto O'Rourke campaign about the caucus changes," he said. "Some of that is just a matter of, we haven't gotten to that point yet, as we're still setting up the structure of the campaign, but they haven't asked  nor have I ever shared anything. And from this point forward, the conversations will only revolve around things that have been publicly disclosed."

The O'Rourke campaign stood by Sterzenbach in an email to the Associated Press.

"We are building the largest grassroots campaign in history and are excited to have Norm's on-the-ground expertise leading the way in Iowa as we work to meet with, listen to, learn from and serve everyone in the state," spokesman Chris Evans said.

Sterzenbach is not the only Iowa Democratic Party official who has moved to a campaign, nor is he the only campaign staffer in the state with an intimate knowledge of the caucuses.

Still, operatives on at least three rival campaigns have privately expressed concerns over Sterzenbach's move. They note that, as a party official, he was available to campaigns to answer questions as the caucus changes were rolled out. Some campaigns had frank conversations with Sterzenbach  or with other party officials that they believe Sterzenbach was privy to  that they worry could tip their hand on their caucus strategy.

The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal campaign conversations.

The issue is especially fraught in Iowa where supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have argued an unfair nominating process in 2016 inappropriately favored Hillary Clinton. Iowa Democratic Party officials are feeling added pressure to ensure that all candidates are treated the same this time.

Sue Dvorsky, a former party chairwoman who was also involved in rewriting the caucus rules, said because of those complaints, Iowa Democratic Party officials are on high alert to make things fair.

"I think people are being very, very careful, all the way along, to document what information is going out and that it's going to everybody, and that there literally is just no favoritism being shown," she said.

Dvorsky said she "understands the concerns" from the rival campaigns over Sterzenbach's hiring, but expressed confidence in Price, the state party chairman.

For now, Sanders' camp isn't raising concerns about fairness. Pete D'Alessandro, a top adviser on Sanders' Iowa campaign, acknowledged Sterzenbach's departure was a significant loss for the party.

"It is not in Norm Sterzenbach's DNA to cheat. It is not how this person who I've known for 20 years conducts himself," he said.

The state party now lacks a key staffer as they implement major changes to the caucus process. In addition to the virtual caucus, the party is changing key aspects gatherings that will affect candidates' strategies on caucus night and the party's reporting practices.

__

Associated Press writer Sara Burnett in Waterloo, Iowa, contributed to this report.
Mark Karpeles, the former high-flying boss of the MtGox bitcoin exchange, is appealing against a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence for data manipulation handed down earlier this month, his lawyer said Friday.

On March 15, the Tokyo District Court found the computer whizz from France guilty of tampering with electronic data but acquitted him on charges of embezzling millions from client accounts.

The sentence was suspended for four years.

"He was found guilty of manipulating electronic data but he thinks he is innocent, that is why he is contesting the decision" of the court, Kiichi Iino, one of his defence lawyers, told AFP.

Prosecutors had additionally claimed that Karpeles had embezzled some 341 million yen ($3 million) of clients' money and splashed it on a lavish lifestyle. They called for him to serve 10 years behind bars.

However, in throwing out these embezzlement charges, the judge said there was no financial damage done to MtGox and ruled that Karpeles did not intend to cause any damage.

MtGox was shut down in 2014 after 850,000 bitcoins (worth half a billion dollars at that time) disappeared from its virtual vaults.

Karpeles always claimed the bitcoins were lost due to an external "hacking attack" and later claimed to have found some 200,000 coins in a "cold wallet" -- a storage device not connected to other computers.

The scandal left a trail of angry investors, rocked the virtual currency community, and dented confidence in the security of bitcoin.

At one point, MtGox claimed to be handling around 80 percent of all global bitcoin transactions.

At its height in December 2017, the value of a single bitcoin was around $20,000. It has since slumped and is now worth just around $4,100.
Boeing 737 Max Grounding: Your Rights If Your Flight Gets Canceled

Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

The worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 Max is causing hundreds of U.S. flights to be canceled every day, scrambling the travel plans of thousands of passengers.

The cancellations are likely to drag on until late April at the earliest. Thats because the Federal Aviation Administration is continuing to evaluate a fix proposed by Boeing to the software flaw that may have played a role in two recent fatal crashes of this model aircraft.

Unlike flight disruptions that result from bad weather or mechanical problems, however, these are planned cancellations, which means that airlines have more leeway when rebooking customers on other flights. Typically what happens next is that airline reservations computers automatically reschedule you on a different flight, and you should get notified by email, text, or phone.

But it may be a very different trip from the one you originally booked. If you paid more for an aisle seat with more legroom, that nonstop trip you arranged may turn into a connecting flight with a middle seat in the back. The new flight could be scheduled to leave on a different day.

While the airlines will refund the upgrade chargesor even your fare if you reject the new flightthe airline isnt under any obligation to get you to your destination at any particular time.

In disruptions caused by events out of the control of the airlinefrom hurricanes to a government-ordered grounding like this oneyou arent owed compensation for any delay or inconvenience as long as you eventually get to your destination, says William J. McGee, aviation adviser for Consumer Reports.

Unfortunately, the domestic airline contracts of carriage give all rights to the carriers and very few rights to passengers, he says. Thats why weve been advocating for years that we need a robust passenger bill of rights in the United States, similar to what already exists in Europe.

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That said, passengers can improve the outcome by keeping in mind some basic advice on how to cope with flight disruptions of any kind. Heres what passengers need to know:

Check to see whether your airline is affected. American, with 24 Max 8 jets now parked on the ground, says its proactively canceling 90 flights a day through April 24. Southwest, the largest 737 Max operator, with 34 of those jets, was scrubbing around 130 flights daily after the March 13 grounding order, but on Wednesday it announced that it had reduced its published flight schedule until April 20, which should result in drastically reduced cancellations.

United Airlines, which has 14 of the larger Max 9 that is also grounded, says on its website that it does not expect a significant impact on its operations.

Foreign operators of the grounded jet with service to the U.S. include Air Canada and Norwegian, both of which have canceled flights. The other major U.S. airlinesAlaska, Delta, and JetBluedont have any Max models in their fleets.

If youre booked to fly on any of the affected airlines, in many cases you can find information about the kind of plane your flight was scheduled to use by looking at your reservation. But dont assume that your flight is okay if isnt on a Max. The airlines operating the most Max jets say that they are trying to minimize the impact on consumers by moving aircraft to the routes where theyre needed the most.

They are doing a bit of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, says Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group.

American, in a message to customers, says that it has re-routed aircraft throughout our network and that a flight that was not scheduled on a Max might be canceled to enable our team to cover a Max route with a different plane.

On the other hand, a flight that was originally via a Max could still operate as scheduled, just with a substitute aircraft. In short: Dont assume that what your reservation says about the plane assigned to your flight will still hold.

American explains that these decisions are being made in order to impact the smallest number of customers. But Consumer Reports McGee says that the lack of information on how these choices are made is troubling.

Because there is no way to know in advance which flights will eventually be rescheduled or canceled, the only practical advice to offer consumers is to remain in close touch with the carrier and check for alerts right up until the day of departure, he says.

Be alert to messages from your airline or travel agent. If you booked your ticket through an airlines website or app, you should get notifications from the airline about any flight changes.

But if you bought your ticket through a travel agency, youll need to work with it if your itinerary changes.

The travel agency will contact the customer directly, says an American spokesperson. If the flight is unacceptable, they can make changes via the travel agency or request a full refund.

That applies to online travel agencies such as Expedia and Priceline as well as to traditional travel agents.

Consider what your options are if you arent satisfied. Dont assume you have to accept the first alternative that the airline computer automatically coughs up if youre rebooked. If youre being told the next available flight is three days later than what you bookedcausing you to miss that family reunion or meetingget on the phone and plead your case; a sympathetic airline or travel agent may be able to pry a seat loose from a flight that looks full.

You can ask for a refund, but its worth weighing any inconvenience caused by the new plan youre being offered against what you might find if you cancel and start over.

You could take the refund and apply it to a trip on another airline, but the closer to your departure date you are, the more limited your available flight options may be, and fares booked close to departure during busy travel periods can be much higher. So before you get on the phone and start negotiating, its a good idea to research other flight options via an online search engine, such as Kayak, or the airlines websites.

There arent very many empty seats right now, Harteveldt adds. The grounding is effectively removing more than 70 planes from the system, most with around 170 seats on them. Multiply that by several hundred flights a day, and theres no other way to describe it: Its going to be a real mess.





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7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2019, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Boise State defensive back Robert Lewis, a redshirt junior, was arrested by Boise police early Friday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Lewis was booked into Ada County Jail at 3:25 a.m. The school released a statement on Friday saying it is aware of the situation involving the 22-year-old and "will handle it according to department policy."

A first-time misdemeanor DUI conviction could be punishable by up to six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine.

According to an incident report from the Boise Police Department, Lewis was pulled over after failing to stop for a red light at 2:10 a.m. He was given a blood alcohol test, which measured Lewis' blood-alcohol content at 0.104. The legal limit in Idaho is 0.08.

Jail records indicate Lewis was released on bail later Friday morning and was due to appear in court Friday afternoon. T

Lewis, a Los Angeles native, played in 10 games last season as a redshirt sophomore, making two tackles.

Boise State is in the middle of spring practices and has one scheduled for Friday afternoon.

--Field Level Media
A total of 67 pages, 68 accounts, 40 groups and 25 Instagram accounts associated with public relations man Nic Gabunada was taken down by Facebook for inauthentic coordinated behavior and for using fake accounts to mislead people about the origin of contents posted on the pages. The pages taken down reportedly used a mix of real and fake accounts to drive messaging in behalf of political candidates, Facebooks head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher said during a press briefing in Taguig. Gleicher said that a total of 3.6 million Filipinos follow at least one of the pages and at least 1.8 million accounts were involved in one of the identified groups. They key here is theyre using fake accounts, purports to represent a real person, added Gleicher, who flew to Manila for the briefing. Gabunada had confirmed that he handled the social media campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, but added that he was surprised that his name was tagged with the pages which the social media has taken down. BeforeFacebook automatically makes you part of a group without asking you. Now they have to give consent. My name is all over the place. This may be the reason why some pages, after they examined,, he said. I was so surprisedI just thought this is all unfortunate, he added. He added that it was unfortunate that Facebook associated his name with the 200 profiles and pages that were taken down due to misleading behavior and fake accounts. He added that some of the pages mentioned were not even associated with him. Gabunadas personal Facebook account was also taken down on Friday morning. But Gleicher explained that posting political contents was not the basis of the takedown, adding that it was not even the person behind the behavior, but the pattern that violates Facebook policies. Its not about whose behind it, its about the set of behavior, what they did and thats why were taking this action, he said. Some of the pages removed include Bong Go Supporters, Duterte Warriors, Pinulungang Binisaya, Trending Now, and Kuya Sonny Angara.Gleicher said the contents of the pages, however, were undeniably related to the upcoming midterm polls. The primary role we see this network doing is working on behalf of political candidates of course it is related to the upcoming elections, Gleicher said. In fact, majority of the contents do not violate our policies, he said. He said some $59,000 in ad spending was involved and was spent in a combination of Philippine pesos, Saudi riyal, and US dollars are involved in the operations of the cluster. But when asked whether they have observed a money-making pattern in the cluster, Gleicher said it was something that they cannot validate. Facebook earlier took down accounts and groups and pages managed by Twinmark Media also for their coordinated inauthentic behavior. Gabunada said he was planning to appeal Facebooks decision to takedown his personal account which he has been using for years. Despite the massive purge, Gabunada said his communications and consulting business were unaffected. If they will have to take down my account its their prerogative, on the other hand they have to consider Im not doing it for the sake if whatever it is that theyre accusing me of, he said. Im just one of those that shares and invited to join certain groups, he added. Facebook said it has engaged an AI-based solution as well as teams of human experts to track and remove bad actors on the platform worldwide.
YUMA, Arizona  U.S. Border Patrol officials say they have started releasing migrant families from their custody into the streets because processing centers can't cope with the large numbers of arriving families and minors.

Community groups in the Yuma area have set up temporary facilities to house the families and to provide food and shelter while they assist migrants with travel plans to leave the border city.

The Border Patrol issued a statement Thursday announcing its decision, which followed the lead of officials in the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas, who last week began releasing families from their custody.

"U.S. Border Patrol processing centers are not designed to house the current numbers of families and small children that we are encountering," the Border Patrol's Yuma sector said in a written statement. "Due to capacity issues at our stations and the ongoing humanitarian crisis nationwide, Border Patrol has begun identifying detainees for potential release in Yuma with a notice to appear for their immigration hearings."

Hard to hire: Border Patrol struggling to recruit, keep agents, but may never get 5,000 Trump ordered

In a news conference on Thursday afternoon, Carl Landrum, the Yuma sector's deputy chief, explained Border Patrol made the decision as a dramatic surge in migrant families and minors overwhelmed their resources and holding spaces.

According to the latest government statistics, in the first five months of the fiscal year, agents in Yuma have apprehended 17,578 migrants traveling as a family. By contrast, in that same time period last year, they encountered 5,319 migrants. That three-fold increase does not include the rising numbers of unaccompanied minors and other single-adult migrants.

The sector is on track to apprehend a total of 60,000 migrants, Landrum said. Those are the highest levels since 2007, when the installation of additional border fencing began to reduce the number of migrants crossing through Yuma.

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Landrum added the sector has the capacity to hold 400 migrants at its processing center and three patrol stations in the sector, but that the facilities were designed to hold single adults for short periods.

With a vast majority of apprehensions consisting of Central American families and minors claiming asylum, they cannot be deported right away, so they remain in custody longer.

That's why they decided to begin releasing families, he said. Those eligible for release are migrant families who are released into the custody of relatives living in the United States and who have undergone medical screenings.

Normally, once the Border Patrol apprehends migrants, the agency is legally obligated to detain them for no more than 72 hours and then transfer them into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Immigration officials either would keep them in detention for longer periods of time, or, in the case of migrant families, release them into the custody of relatives living in the United States and give them a notice to appear in court later.

Yuma and other border cities simply dont have the resources to handle an influx of migrants released into the community, State Rep. Tim Dunn (R-Yuma) who represents the area in the Arizona Legislature, said in a statement. Its unbelievable that Border Patrol is putting both the migrants and the communities in this situation.

"Even worse, this policy is likely to motivate even more migrants to cross the border. The emergency on the border has escalated to a crisis situation that will continue to cause a run on our southern border, he said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Border Patrol releasing migrant families on the streets of some U.S. border cities
By Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) - BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley's pay package slipped to $14.7 million last year from $15.1 million in 2017, even though the oil and gas company's profits doubled to a five-year high.

The 63-year old, who took the helm shortly after the 2010 deadly Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has overseen a large expansion in the company's production in recent years.

Dudley's wages and those of other executives in the sector have nevertheless come under growing scrutiny from investors, particularly following the 2014 collapse in oil prices.

His 2017 remuneration was revised up to $15.1 million from the previously reported $13.4 million due to changes in the value of BP's shares over the period.

The drop in the 2018 package was the result of a reduced annual bonus and pension, which was partly offset by a rise in BP's share price, the company said in its 2018 annual report.

Dudley's 2016 pay package was cut by 40 percent after a majority of shareholders opposed the company's pay policy.

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden saw his pay package more than double to 20.1 million euros ($22.8 million) in 2018, mainly thanks to a bonus and an incentive plan for delivering on targets. It was the second highest pay on record for van Beurden since he became CEO in 2014.

Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne, on the other hand, saw his proposed salary reduced to 3.1 million euros ($3.6 million) from 3.8 million in 2017.

After settling the vast majority of payments for the 2010 spill, totaling nearly $70 billion, BP has more recently focused on growing production into the next decade, including the $10.5 billion purchase of BHP Billiton's U.S. shale assets, BP's largest deal in 30 years.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso, Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)
Brasilia (AFP) - Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro arrives in Israel Sunday, where he will walk a diplomatic tightrope as he seeks to shore up ties with his right-wing counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu while keeping key Arab trade partners onside.

Bolsonaro's controversial pledge to move Brazil's embassy to Jerusalem is expected to be high on the agenda during the three-day visit as Netanyahu uses the occasion to boost his standing ahead of April 9 elections.

The Brazilian ex-army captain's trip comes after his recent visits to the United States and Chile, as part of efforts to build ties with conservative governments around the world.

Neither Brazil nor Israel has released details of the visit, but Bolsonaro is expected to focus on correcting their lopsided trade relationship by boosting Brazilian exports, mainly soybeans and meat.

He is also expected to seek greater access to Israeli defense technology.

In 2018, Brazil's exports to Israel were worth $321 million dollars, while imports, including fertilizers and chemical products, stood at $1.17 billion, official data shows.

But the issue of relocating Brazil's embassy will likely dominate the visit, testing the tough-talking Bolsonaro's diplomatic skills.

Months after promising the shift, which sparked an angry response from Palestinian leaders, Bolsonaro has yet to announce a timetable.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Bolsonaro suggested he was in no hurry to make a decision.

"Trump took nine months to decide, to give his final word, so that the embassy was transferred," Bolsonaro said.

"Perhaps now we will open a commercial office in Jerusalem."

- Risky move -

While moving the embassy would please Bolsonaro's evangelical Christian support base, it would run the risk of provoking commercial retaliation from Arab states, some of which are major importers of Brazilian meat.

The issue has "a very important symbolic weight," said Paulo Kramer, a professor at the University of Brasilia.

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"If he doesn't announce it on the trip, it will frustrate his voters' expectations and upset evangelical groups," federal lawmaker Marcos Pereira, who is also president of a parliamentary Brazil-Israel friendship group, told AFP.

The decision to move the embassy is highly sensitive because Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while Palestinians view east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Virtually all countries agree that Jerusalem's status can only be defined through wider Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

So far, only the United States and Guatemala have broken with that consensus by opening embassies in Jerusalem. Paraguay backtracked on a decision last year to move its embassy. Israel and the US have spoken with Honduras about its embassy going to Jerusalem.

"Moving the embassy of any country... is a violation of international law and an attack on the Palestinian people," the Palestinian envoy to Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben, told AFP this week.

For Netanyahu, who faces a strong challenge from former military chief Benny Gantz in next month's election, Bolsonaro's visit will help him demonstrate that "he has friends around the world," Raphael Eldad, Israeli ambassador to Brazil from 2011 to 2014, told AFP.

"In the international context, Israel cannot ignore friends."
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Britain complained on Friday after China failed to provide figures on the number of North Korean laborers it had sent home, in line with a UN sanctions resolution.

A resolution adopted in December 2017 barred countries from hiring North Korean workers and gave governments two years to repatriate all North Korean nationals already working on their territories.

The guest workers are considered an important source of hard currency for Pyongyang.

China this month told a UN sanctions committee that it had repatriated more than half of the total North Korean nationals earning income within its borders, but it did not give figures, diplomats said.

Russia said the number of work permits for North Korean workers had dropped from 30,023 to 11,490 between December 2017 and December 2018.

"These are overseas workers that bring in some 800 million dollars a year to the North Korean economy so naturally they are a challenge to the sanctions regime," British Ambassador Karen Pierce told reporters.

"We want the maximum amount of information so that we can take this forward and get a proper rhythm of reporting and implementation by the end of the year," she added.

Britain will raise the issue with council members in the coming days, she added.

Under the UN resolution, all countries were obliged to report to the sanctions committee on the number of North Korean laborers they were hosting, but fewer than 20 countries have provided that information.

The ban on North Korean guest workers was part of a package of sweeping sanctions adopted by the council in response to North Korea's sixth nuclear test and ballistic missile tests.

Marzuki Darusman, a UN expert on North Korea, estimated in 2015 that more than 50,000 North Koreans had been sent to work abroad, mainly to Russia and China, working in slave-like conditions.
RENO, Nev.  Authorities released the autopsy report Thursday for Nevada brothel owner and politician Dennis Hof, who died in his sleep last October after his 72nd birthday party.

The report, released by the Nye County Sheriff's Office in full, says Hof died of a heart attack caused by heart disease.

A toxicology report revealed Hof also had THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and sildenafil, a generic erectile dysfunction drug, in his system.

The cause of death was ruled natural.

The Clark County coroner handled Hof's autopsy and post-death medical examinations as Nye County does not have a coroner.

Hof, who described himself as the "P.T. Barnum of the sex industry" to the Reno Gazette Journal in 2015, owned several brothels in Nevada and made the national spotlight while starring in the HBO series "Cathouse."

He also was a budding politician who dubbed himself the "Trump of Pahrump."

Hof was a Republican running for the Nevada Assembly at the time of his death and was posthumously elected to the seat during the Nov. 6 general election.

Gregory Hafen, general manager of Pahrump Utility Co., was appointed to fill Hof's seat at the Legislature.

On Oct. 15, the night before his death, Hof celebrated his 72nd birthday with a guest list that included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and tax opponent Grover Norquist. There was also a special call-in from Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson.

Hof was discovered at around 11 a.m. the next day by adult film star Ron Jeremy in a bedroom at his Love Ranch brothel in Crystal, Nevada.

In September 2018, the Nevada Department of Public Safety said it was investigating Hof at the request of the Carson City Sheriffs office.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that three former prostitutes accused Hof of sexual assault in 2005, 2009 and 2011 at his Bunny Ranch brothel near Carson City and Love Ranch brothel outside Las Vegas. Hof denied the allegations. Prosecutors declined to file, citing the expired statute of limitations.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Brothel owner, 'Cathouse' star Dennis Hof died of heart attack, autopsy report finds
Returning Senator Jinggoy Estrada is batting for a package of measures to provide womb-to-tomb benefits for the nations poorest of the poor which constitute 20 percent of the populationone of every five Filipinos is dirt-poor. He said that farmers and children of the poor remain caught in a stranglehold of abject poverty, existing on a scant P50 for their daily needs. We are a Christian nation and whatever we do to the least of our brethren, we do that to God, Estrada said. Estrada noted that the children of poor families are the most vulnerable sector, since daily hunger robs them of their quota of intellect that touches off learning disabilities and reduced capacity to gain competencies for work. Rather than craft piecemeal approaches for poverty reduction, Estrada said a comprehensive, long-term strategy must be established as legislative agenda to bring down poverty to the irreducible minimum.He said that this is what he will seek to attain in the provision of womb-to-tomb benefits for the poorest of the poor. It is not enough that we provide money dole-outs, we must also have a survey of whatever skills that those in the poverty threshold possessand we must use such skills for needful services to the community where the poor are. Indeed, we should create the opportunities in which we can employ the poor, he added. Estrada said that in any government office, a daily average of 35 needy people would seek help, mostly money support for their sick, their dead, or their newborn or job recommendationsand an informal survey of such people would provide insights what lawmakers need to craft to help them out in the long term. In the event that he would be given a chance to return to the Senate, he would file womb-to-tomb measures, but this early, he has already plunged into focus group discussions with experts and resource persons with a view to crafting his pet measure.
China has thanked Kazakhstan for supporting its crackdown on the restive far west region of Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of rights abuses against minority groups, including ethnic Kazakhs.

China is holding one million ethnic Uighurs and other mostly Muslim groups in internment camps in the heavily policed region, according to estimates cited by a UN panel.

Beijing has rejected the accusations and says it runs education training centres as part of its fight against Islamist extremism and separatism in Xinjiang.

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Kazakhstan counterpart Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing.

According to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry, Atamkulov said his country "understands and supports the measures taken by China's Xinjiang region" to rein in terrorism, separatism and extremism.

"We appreciate the Kazakhstan government's understanding and support for China's position," said Wang, according to the statement.

"We will never allow anyone, any force, to undermine China-Kazakhstan friendship and mutual trust," he added.

The Kazakhstan foreign ministry did not mention Xinjiang in its own statement on Atamkulov's visit to China.

But it said the two top diplomats discussed the "issue of the situation with ethnic Kazakhs living in" China.

The two sides "stressed a mutual interest in resolving emerging issues through working contacts" between the foreign ministries and an agreement was reached "on the revitalisation of consular services", the statement added.

Oil-rich Kazakhstan, which shares a border with the Xinjiang region, has been treading a diplomatic tightrope since major trading partner China began to forcibly send ethnic Kazakhs to internment camps under its anti-extremism policy.

One former detainee, a Kazakh national who was born in Xinjiang, told AFP that the camps only had one objective -- to strip detainees of their religious belief.

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Omir Bekali, who was arrested in 2017 after he returned to Xinjiang on a business trip for his Kazakh travel agency, said camp inmates were forbidden to pray or grow a beard, and forced to eat pork on Fridays, which is a holy day for Muslims.

Earlier this month, Xinjiang rights activist Serikjan Bilash, who has led an awareness drive centred on ethnic Kazakh victims of China's crackdown in the region, was arrested in Kazakhstan.

He was charged with inciting inter-ethnic hatred, but later released from detention and handed two months of house arrest.

In October, an escaped Chinese national whose court testimony described a secretive network of re-education camps was denied political asylum in Kazakhstan, where her family lives.
Even after Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to the New World and back, some naysayers surely clung to their shattered superstitions like life preservers after a shipwreck. Who cares what Columbus says? they likely whined. The Earth IS flat. Columbus must have turned around and come home before he fell over the edge.

Todays Democrats resemble those 15th-century bitter-enders. No matter what, many insist that Donald Trump and Russia colluded to win the White House. Even after special counsel Robert Muellers investigation finally repudiated their destructive myth, they still scream: Collusion!

House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) is the spiritual leader of the Congressional Collusion Caucus. He told CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday: I did say that there is ample evidence, and indeed there is, of collusion of people in the Trump campaign with the Russians. Schiff told the Washington Post, Undoubtedly there is collusion. He added: We will continue to investigate the counterintelligence issues. That is, is the president, or people around him, compromised in any way by a hostile foreign power?

Rather than extract proof of these grave charges this week, my three phone calls and three e-mails to Schiffs office and communications director Patrick Boland yielded silence.

Representative Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) likewise parrots this Big Lie. As he told Fox News Channels Martha MacCallum on Tuesday about Trump, Just because hes not been criminally indicted for collusion doesnt mean he has not conducted colluding behavior with the Russians.

Representative Maxine Waters, yet another California Democrat, told MSNBC this about Trump: Hes been saying, No collusion, no collusion, no collusion, over and over again for a long time now, and hes going to try to conclude that this report is proving that theres no collusion. . . . He does this all the time. This is not the end of anything.

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Senator Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) also inhabits a fact-free zone. On Monday, she told MSNBC: So just because there was not enough evidence for a criminal charge of conspiracy does not mean that this very cozy relationship that Donald Trump has with Vladimir Putin, who, by the way, must be really happy that this came about, that this kind of cozy relationship that is not good for our country, in that its not transparent, will continue.

Democratic presidential candidate Robert Francis ORourke, a former congressman from Texas, said Sunday, You have a president who, in my opinion, beyond a shadow of a doubt, sought to, however ham-handedly, collude with the Russian government, a foreign power, to undermine and influence our elections.

Two finished inquests and a preview of a third all debunked TrumpRussia collusion. Heres what Democrat collusioholics ignore:

Robert Mueller did not surround himself with conservative lawyers from the Federalist Society or the National Rifle Association. Quite the opposite. His 19 prosecutors included at least 14 Democrats, 12 of whom were campaign donors. Two maxed out to Hillary. Prosecutor Jeannie Rhee represented the Clinton Foundation. Aaron Zebley lawyered for Justin Cooper, Hillarys aide who smashed her mobile devices with a hammer.

Despite Team Muellers sparkling Leftist credentials, The Special Counsels investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as Attorney General William Barrs March 24 letter to Congress summarized. Indeed, Barr wrote, Mueller learned that GOP operatives resisted multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign. Thus, Mueller will issue no further indictments.

Team Muellers judgments were sober. Across roughly 22 months, Mueller and his 19 prosecutors deployed 40 FBI agents. They asked 13 nations for evidence. They executed almost 500 search warrants, grilled some 500 witnesses, and issued more than 2,800 subpoenas. Muellers probe was no moist finger in the wind.

Muellers verdict mirrors the Houses intelligence panels March 22, 2018 decision: The Committee found no evidence that meetings between Trump associates  including Jeff Sessions  and official representatives of the Russian government  including [Moscows] Ambassador Kislyak  reflected collusion, coordination, or conspiracy with the Russian government.

The then-GOP House Intelligence Committees no-collusion conclusion emerged after it interviewed 70 witnesses and reviewed 300,000 documents  hardly a superficial exercise.

In a letter Thursday, nine GOP Intelligence Committee members reminded Schiff that the Minority views, which you submitted, were attached to the Committee findings. Your views did not provide any evidence to support the claim of collusion. Citing Schiffs relentless, evidence-free cries of Collusion! these Republicans urged Schiffs immediate resignation as chairman of the committee. The insufferable Schiffs departure  as chairman or, better yet, as congressman  would be a welcome act of basic political hygiene.

The Senate Intelligence Committees final study is expected in August or September, according to NBC News. Meanwhile, Chairman Richard Burr (R., N.C.) told CBS News last week that we dont have anything that would suggest there was collusion by the Trump campaign and Russia. Burr was even clearer Tuesday: There is no factual evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

As of February, Senate Intelligence had spent two years conducting 200 interviews and scrutinizing 300,000 records. Thus, its preliminary no-collusion results stand on solid ground.

All told, some 770 interviews and 600,000 documents (perhaps with some overlap) have prompted three independent investigations to declare  two definitively and one initially  that TrumpRussia collusion is a hoax.

How much more proof do Democratic flat-Earthers need before they can handle the truth?

Michael Malarkey contributed research to this opinion piece.

More from National Review
PHOENIX  Retired Christian missionaries Frank and Betty Lusk had no intention of buying another timeshare while on a Caribbean cruise last year.

But by the time the trip was over, a charming Diamond Resorts salesman had persuaded them to buy a $150,000 timeshare with $19,000 in annual fees. They borrowed against their Phoenix-area retirement home to pay for it, the Lusks said.

"They called it a dream holiday. Actually, it was a nightmare," said Frank, 89, who was a music professor. "It was the dumbest thing we ever did."

Desperate for a way out, they agreed to an exit company's hefty fees to try to negotiate an end to the contract.

Betty, an 88-year-old former librarian, has had insomnia and fainting spells from the stress. She's gone to the hospital several times, she said.

A hard sell from Diamond Resorts

The Lusks have used timeshares for years to visit Scotland, Florida, Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribbean and have given trips to their children. Many of the contracts were affordable and straightforward, they said.

By last year, all were paid off except one with Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts worth more than $50,000, they said.

"We've enjoyed the timeshares," Betty said.

Dec. 26: Trapped in a timeshare? Here's how to escape

But the Lusks said Diamond Resorts lied to them in a September 2018 sales presentation and used hardball tactics that echo prior complaints from consumers, such as not adequately explaining all the costs of the timeshare and failing to honor their request to cancel the agreement within the legal time frame.

In 2017, Diamond Resorts agreed to reform sales practices, pay a large fine and cancel dozens of contracts in a deceptive-practices case with the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

Diamond Resorts believes in "transparency and accountability," spokesman Bruce Miller said in a written statement, while declining to comment on the Lusks' case. "We strive to provide excellent customer service and a transparent sales process at all times."

Story continues

Forget the prayer candles, try the brew: Ruth Bader Ginsburg beer? Guilty, says Sam Adams, giving new meaning to 'bar exam'

Can you retire early?: 401(k) Investors: Stocks had their best quarter in a decade. Can they continue to climb?

When the Lusks took the most recent cruise in September, Diamond Resorts promised a special reception on a private island, they said.

Instead of a relaxing dinner, they were ushered into a meeting with a salesman.

Frank and Betty Lusk are in their late 80s and say they were pressured into buying a $150,000 timeshare with $19,000 yearly maintenance fees by Diamond Resorts. They talk about their ordeal at their West Valley home March 19, 2019.

He told the Lusks buying another $150,000 timeshare with 10 percent down was "life insurance" that would resolve any debts they had with the resort when they died, a promise they repeatedly questioned, Betty said. The timeshare contract they received is not life insurance and does not pay off debts upon death.

The salesman showed them documents he wouldn't let them keep and didn't mention the high maintenance fees that appeared in the final contract, she said.

"He really talked us hard into getting this," Betty said.

A change of heart

When the cruise landed on their 68th wedding anniversary, Betty and Frank were wracked with regret.

They sent a certified letter to Diamond Resorts, within the legal window to cancel the contract, the Lusks said.

"We do not want to encumber ourselves with further debt at our ages," they wrote.

Frank and Betty Lusk, a West Valley couple in their late 80s, tried to cancel a Diamond Resorts timeshare they regretted buying.

The salesman called.

"If you can believe it, he talked us into it again," Frank said. "We're too trusting."

"We're Christian people," Betty said. "I guess were not as worldly wise."

Shortly after, the couple wrote a second letter demanding cancellation. They accused the company of elder abuse.

"Keeping this contract would lead to our bankruptcy," the Lusks wrote.

Bills kept coming

In December, Diamond Resorts confirmed the timeshare had been rescinded.

"This letter is to confirm the cancellation of your vacation ownership interest with Diamond Resorts," the company said. "We sincerely hope you will choose Diamond Resorts in the future to provide you with priceless memories."

But the bills kept coming. On the phone, company representatives told the Lusks the contract was still in place, the couple said.

Desperate, the Lusks hired Timeshare Exit Team, a Seattle-based firm that says it can help consumers get out of timeshares.

The company charged the Lusks $10,000, promising to refund the fee if the exit is unsuccessful. The Lusk case is ongoing.

Fees for a contract as large as theirs can top $50,000, although most cases average $5,000, Timeshare Exit Team CEO Brandon Reed said. The firm has worked with more than 30,000 customers, he said.

Reed started the company after a divorce and single fatherhood meant he couldn't pay his timeshare dues.

"I felt very stuck and alone," he said.

Hearing what Diamond Resorts did to the Lusks angered Reed.

"It's a rip-off. It's a complete scam," he said.

Diamond Resorts confirmed in writing Betty and Frank Lusk's $150,000 timeshare had been canceled. But the company later said it had been a mistake and kept sending bills.

Reed recently founded a group called Coalition to Reform Timeshare that advocates for tighter regulations. His main goal is preventing resorts from locking people into lifetime contracts.

"The timeshare industry are big bullies," Reed said.

Timeshare companies and consumer advocates warn that some exit companies charge excessively high fees or are scams themselves.

Diamond Resorts "strongly encourages our members to reach out to Diamond directly should they be contacted by a third-party company making claims to 'transfer' or 'exit' their timeshare," Miller said. "Diamond Resorts does not work with or affiliate with these fraudulent companies."

Efforts to protect buyers

Stories like the Lusks' have motivated some Arizona lawmakers, with support from Attorney General Mark Brnovich, to push a bill to increase timeshare transparency and allow consumers more time to back out.

There is a "need for more disclosure in timeshare contracts," sponsor Arizona state Rep. Shawna Bolick, R-Phoenix, said. The attorney general "receives several hundred complaints to their office every single year regarding timeshares."

Is your coworker high?: As nation struggles with opioid crisis, workers bring addiction to the job

House Bill 2639 passed unanimously in the House but ran into opposition in the Senate.

The new version, which passed the committee 7-0, would require timeshare companies to state in clear writing:

An estimate of the total costs in the first year.

An estimate of the total maintenance fees in the first year as well as the total maintenance fees charged over the past three years, if available.

Consumers may face maintenance fees, taxes and other assessments every year.

Timeshares are not investments.

Promises made in the sales presentation aren't binding. Only the contract is.

Consumers have 10 days to cancel a contract.

Consumers can complain to the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

"It's important we're constantly addressing consumer protection needs," Sen. Tony Navarrete, D-Phoenix, said. But "the underlying bill was a little too restrictive for the industry."

Timeshare representatives had warned the original version of the bill could inhibit the growth of a tourism sector that provides more than 4,000 jobs in Arizona.

The revised bill still would need final approval of both the full Arizona House and Senate.

The Lusks said they hope Arizona will do more to protect people like them. They advise anyone considering a timeshare to think twice.

"Don't get involved," Frank said. "They'll twist your arm into buying more. It's always another presentation."

How to protect yourself

Realize that a timeshare company may use tough sales tactics with you for hours before giving you any free gifts.

Before going in, if you are in Arizona, turn on a voice recording app on your cellphone, like iPhone Voice Memos, and keep it in your breast pocket, purse or hand. If a salesperson makes a promise that isn't in the contract, you will have the recording as evidence. States like Arizona do not require you to ask for permission to record. Find rules in other states here.

Talk ahead of time with your spouse or family member about when and under what conditions you will leave together, and stick with that decision. Don't hesitate to leave anytime the presentation becomes too high pressure. If one of you is done, get up and go.

Ask the company to provide a written estimate of the total cost , including yearly maintenance, utilities and other fees, for five, 10, 20 and 30 years out.

Make sure you know the length of the contract. A lifetime contract means you can't get rid of it until you die.

Look in the contract or search online for laws in your state about the right to cancel. You may have three, seven, 10 or no days after signing to change your mind.

Before signing anything, tell the sales staff you need to take the contract home to look it over. Then have it reviewed by an attorney.

Be skeptical if a salesperson tells you a timeshare is a good investment and will rise in value. Look at any timeshare resale site and youll see people trying to get rid of theirs for a dollar.

Source: Arizona Attorney General's Office.

Do this before allowing someone to sell or cancel your timeshare

Never trust anyone calling you out of the blue to buy your timeshare. Falling for an unsolicited offer is how one man got conned out of $24,000.

If your timeshare company offers to help you resell your timeshare, be firm when you call; otherwise, a salesperson may upsell you.

Some "exit" companies promise to get you out of a contract. Be careful. They often charge hefty fees and sometimes are unsuccessful or even a scam.

Check exit companies out. See if the state attorney general, local consumer-protection agencies or the Better Business Bureau has complaints. Then search online by entering the company name and the word complaints or scam.

Deal only with licensed real-estate brokers or agents. Check with the real-estate commission in the state where your timeshare is located to make sure the company has a current license.

Beware of fake documents or licenses that look real. For instance, when checking a company out, don't call a phone number given to you or trust that a licensed agent is involved without talking to that person. Instead, call the number listed on the official website for the company or call the real-estate agency and ask for the broker by name.

Get all terms in writing before agreeing to anything , including services the company will perform, timing of the sale, fees and commissions, and cancellation and refund policies.

If a resale company says you have to act immediately , it's not a company you want to do business with.

Look for a company that gets paid after the timeshare is sold. If a company offers to get your money back from a timeshare resale scam but wants you to pay them before they do anything for you, walk away. This is a classic setup for another scam.

Never wire money , especially to a foreign country, or pay in cash.

If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

Source: Arizona Attorney General's Office, Federal Trade Commission.

Follow Rebekah L. Sanders on Twitter: @RebekahLSanders

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Company persuades Arizona couple, nearly 90, to buy $150,000 timeshare
With the federal budget deficit expected to rise to nearly $900 billion this year before crossing the $1 trillion mark in 2022, lawmakers and policy wonks have been looking for ways to generate more revenues, cut spending or both. On the left, for example, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has proposed a wealth tax and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has called for a significantly higher top income tax rate. On the right, the Trump administration has submitted a budget request that slashes domestic spending for years to come, while Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) has offered a more realistic budget plan that reduces deficits over a five-year period.

But what if the solution to our budget woes is already in place, and just needs a kickstart to begin bringing down the deficit in a hurry? Thats the gist of a New York Times editorial published Thursday, which asks a simple question: Why doesnt the government do a better job of collecting the taxes that Americans already owe?

The size of the problem is clearly quite large, but no one can be sure because the IRS hasnt produced an analysis of the tax gap  the difference between what the country owes in taxes and what it actually pays  in years. In 2010, the tax agency estimated that Americans were skipping out on roughly $400 billion in taxes per year  which is more than half of the $779 billion deficit recorded in 2018. Theres good reason to believe that the tax gap has grown since 2010, since the economy is now larger and IRS enforcement has been declining, even as the number of high-net-worth households has increased.

Critics charge that the weakening of the IRS is very much by design, with Republicans cutting the agencys budget repeatedly over the last decade. In 2015, the IRS received $10.9 billion in funding  or $1.2 billion less than it received five years earlier. Between 2010 and 2017, the IRS conducted 42 percent fewer audits, according to a ProPublica report cited by the Times. And the number of enforcement agents has fallen to a low not seen since the 1950s.

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As CNBCs James Thorne put it, The IRS is leaner, but not meaner. And the result is that hundreds of billions of dollars go uncollected every year.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin seems to have recognized the problem, and the Trump administrations 2020 budget includes a 5 percent boost in IRS funding. According to the IRS, the payoff from additional spending on tax collection is significant: for every $1 spent on enforcement, the agency brings in $4. However, theres no sign that lawmakers in a divided Congress are interested in cracking down on tax cheats by providing the IRS with a big increase in funding.

Lawmakers face many difficult issues and thorny choices. But this is not one of them, the Times editorial says. People should pay what they owe in taxes, and the government should spend what is necessary to make sure that they do. That is simply good government.

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By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German carmaker Daimler has complained to EU antitrust regulators about Nokia patents essential to car communications, a move underlining the tensions between tech companies and the car industry on the use of key technologies. Tech companies and mobile telecoms providers are playing an increasingly important role in the auto industry, with their technologies used in navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and self-driving cars. Daimler did not respond to a request for comment sent during out-of-office hours. The European Commission confirmed receipt of Daimler's complaint. "The Commission has received a complaint by Daimler against Nokia and we are assessing it," spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said in an email. Nokia said Daimler was seeking to side-step taking out license. "Though we offer a wide range of options for automakers, including through their tier 1 suppliers, Daimler has resisted taking a license to the Nokia inventions it is already using," Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant said. "Daimler's allegations in its complaint to the EU are simply the latest in a long series of actions to avoid taking a license," he said. Nokia has a highly profitable patent business, a legacy of its history as the market-leading mobile phone maker. Patent disputes between Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm and others have triggered mutual lawsuits worldwide in the last decade, with analysts saying the patent war could next move to the auto industry. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Unlike racking up credit card debt or borrowing to buy a home or car, medical debt usually accumulates thanks to an illness or injury thats out of your control. And yet, the debt can be as burdensome and damaging to your finances.

What you might not realize is that often, you dont have to pay back the entire balance. In fact, you could get a big chunk of your medical debt forgiven if you meet certain requirements.

Want to know more? Here are the steps you should take if youre hit with unmanageable medical bills.

Double-check your billing and insurance coverage.

Before you even think about paying back a dime, make sure you really owe the full amount youve been billed.

There is a disproportionately large number of people who have medical billing errors, said Janet Alvarez, a personal finance expert at Wise Bread who once struggled with medical debt of her own. According to Alvarez, its common to be over-billed, billed for things that didnt happen or double-billed.

In fact, one expert previously told HuffPost he estimates that 30 to 40 percent of medical bills, excluding pharmacy bills, contain errors. So the first thing that you should do is go through your medical bills with a fine-toothed comb and make sure theyre accurate; if theres any doubt whatsoever, call your doctor, Alvarez said.

The second step is to check that the bill was correctly run through your insurance if youre insured. I cant tell you how many times Ive had a medical bill in which one of the medical assistants missed a number on my insurance card, or failed to bill my insurance properly for whatever reason, she said.

Take a look at your insurance policy and make sure you understand your coverage. Then, compare your coverage to the explanation of benefits you receive from your insurance company. If you see any discrepancies, You should immediately contact the providers billing department and ask for clarification, said Carolyn McClanahan, a medical doctor, certified financial planner and director of financial planning at Life Planning Partners, a financial planning firm.

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If you think it is something that should have been covered by your insurance, and if it isnt clarified by your provider, call your insurance company representative, McClanahan said.

Alternatively, if you find that your bills or policy are too complex to really understand, you can work with a medical bill advocate. These advocates are experts in medical billing and can review documentation to find errors for you, as well as negotiate on your behalf. Just keep in mind that their services typically cost $100 per hour or more.

Look into medical debt forgiveness programs.

If the medical debt is legitimate and its been billed through your insurer, or if you dont have insurance, your next step is to call the health care provider and discuss what sort of remedies are available to you. In some cases, especially if you owe money to a hospital or large medical institution, they can offer you debt forgiveness if your income meets certain threshold requirements, Alvarez said.

And dont assume you earn too much; medical debt forgiveness is often awarded on a sliding scale, so that even middle-class folks can qualify to have some of their debt discharged. In my case, they forgave something like 75 or 80 percent, Alvarez said.

Though the process for obtaining medical debt forgiveness varies by medical institution, the application process is fairly standard. Hospitals will ask for documents such as tax returns, pay stubs, etc., and award forgiveness based on factors such as income, household size and more.

Generally speaking, anybody in patient financial services at the billing office is equipped to help you. And if the first person you speak to doesnt seem to understand your question or doesnt seem to be empowered, simply ask to speak with their supervisor, Alvarez said.

McClanahan noted that when it comes to in-network care, it can be tough to negotiate after the fact because they are charging the insurance rates, which are less than the self-pay rates, and you are on the hook for your deductibles and co-pays.

However, if the bills are for out-of-network care, you can and should negotiate these bills with the provider and ask your insurer for help with the negotiation, McClanahan said. Out-of-network charges have been under scrutiny lately, and many states are passing laws that regulate them. There is also federal legislation pending. Learn the rules for your state on out-of-network billing. If you are having trouble with out-of-network billing and the organizations wont work with you, complain to your elected officials. They are getting sick and tired of hearing about this, and hopefully, well get meaningful legislation passed soon.

Finally, if you are uninsured, McClanahan recommended you negotiate hard. They are charging you crazy high fees as their posted charges when regular insurance and Medicare pay much less for the same services, she said, noting that offering to pay in cash definitely helps. Some hospitals have charity care, so ask about their programs and see if you qualify.

Negotiate a settlement or payment plan.

If you dont qualify for debt forgiveness, there are still other options to reduce what you owe. For instance, offering to pay a smaller amount in one lump sum could get your bill reduced by as much as 20-40 percent, according to Alvarez. Settling your medical bills for less than you owe typically works best when the amount isnt much  say, a few hundred dollars.

If you owe a significant amount of money, another option is to work out a payment plan. Theyre almost always interest-free, so theres no penalty for paying over a period of time. That payment plan can also be as little as $20 to $30 a month, Alvarez said. And if you find that youre able to accelerate payments and pay it off more quickly, you can do so with no prepayment penalty.

Alvarez shared that years ago, she was billed $1,400 for an upper endoscopy procedure that she had to pay for out-of-pocket. At the time, she couldnt afford to pay it all at once, so she ended up negotiating a payment plan of $25 a month over a period of several years. It took a long time to repay, but with no interest, it was an easy way to get rid of the debt without it affecting her credit score.

Know your rights surrounding medical bills and your credit.

Speaking of credit scores, leaving medical debt unpaid is one way to harm yours. And a low credit score leads to problems borrowing money, securing a place to live, opening utility accounts and more.

According to a recent survey by Consumer Reports, nearly 3 in 10 insured Americans had an unpaid medical debt sent to a collection agency. Close to one-fifth said their credit score was negatively affected by unpaid health care bills.

Having any kind of debt sent to collections can wreak havoc on your credit. But in the case of medical debt, it helps to know your rights. Recent changes to the law have made it more difficult for medical debt to negatively affect credit scores.

For instance, the three major credit reporting agencies now have to wait 180 days before they can list an unpaid medical bill on your credit report. Also, if you had an unpaid bill that was later paid by your insurer, it must be removed from your credit report immediately so it doesnt continue to harm your score. If you do find medical debt on your credit report that shouldnt be there, you should dispute the error.

Mounting medical bills can seriously mess up your financial situation. However, if youre willing to put the time into navigating the complex medical billing industry and advocate for yourself (or pay someone else to), theres usually no reason to let medical debt hold you back. Even if you cant get your debt forgiven, you should be able to work out some kind of plan. Its always worth trying.

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Apps do a lot of things, including help us spend money. Weve rounded up some apps that help us save  or at least help us spend less. Here are a few that could tune up your budget this year, with hardly any effort on your part at all.

Earny

What it does: Earny automatically monitors when retailers reduce the prices on items you purchased. When that happens, Earny contacts the company to get the difference back, without your so much as lifting a finger.

What it costs: Free

Raise

What it does: Before you shop online or in stores, search the Raise marketplace to find discounted gift cards by brand, category or value. Shoppers save an average of 12 percent on purchases, according to a Raise spokesman. You can also sell gift cards you don't want on Raise for cash.

What it costs: Free (including shipping on physical cards)

Cardpool

What it does: Similar to Raise, Cardpool works as a platform for users to buy and sell gift cards. Buyers can get up to 92 percent of a gift cards value. Sellers may have to wait a bit longer for their money because, unlike Raise, Cardpool doesnt post the funds directly to the sellers bank account. Instead, the payment comes in the form of an Amazon eGift Card or a bank check sent via snail mail.

What it costs: Free



Digit

What it does: Digit analyzes your account balances, spending history and upcoming bills to calculate how much you can afford to save every few days. If it thinks you can afford to sock away some extra cash, itll automatically transfer the funds into your Digit account, where you can withdraw the money at any time.

What it costs: Free to try, then $2.99 per month

Qapital

What it does: Qapital allows you to set up certain conditions that trigger the app to transfer cash to your savings. For example, you can direct it to set aside 10 percent every time you get paid. Or get motivational and tell it to set aside $10 every time your fitness app reports that you took 10,000 steps in a day or hit the gym. It can even round up every purchase you make to the nearest dollar and deposit the difference into your savings.

What it costs: Free

Acorns

What it does: Acorns rounds up the cost of your purchases to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference from your checking account into an Acorns account. Then, it invests that money in low-cost exchange traded funds, or ETFs.

What it costs: Free to try, then $1 a month (or 0.25 percent a year for larger accounts); also free for college students and anyone under age 24

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Joe Kelsays family has been dairy farming for more than a century. He said President Martin Van Buren originally granted the family their land just south of Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1837, as part of a program to settle what was then considered the West.

But the milk business, like the broader agriculture industry, is struggling. Its become more difficult for dairy farmers to turn a profit thanks to low prices for their product.

Last year, Kelsay Farms lost its biggest customer, dairy processor Dean Foods, which had bought and distributed their milk for 25 years. Dean would pasteurize the milk and then sell the finished, packaged product to retailers like Walmart. But Walmart decided to cut the middleman and build its own milk processing plant to serve its stores in the Midwest.

In November, Kelsay and his brother Russ sold their 370 cows to another farm. Watching the semi-trucks pull up to take their cows away was gut-wrenching.

My family and I gathered in the barn and were watching our herd leave, he said. Ive got three kids, and there wasnt a dry eye in the house.

(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Walmarts new milk processing plant, a 250,000 square-foot facility in Fort Wayne, is the most recent and dramatic example of a decadeslong trend of consolidation and vertical integration in the agriculture industry. While other grocers, such as Kroeger, operate their own milk plants, and poultry companies have long controlled most aspects of production, experts said a retailer as large as Walmart has never built a plant as large as the one in Indiana.

Austin Frerick, an Iowa native and fellow at the Open Markets Institute, a think tank that advocates against concentrated corporate power, called it a harbinger of the future for small family farms  unless the U.S. takes steps to limit the growth of huge agribusinesses. Big, efficient companies can keep prices low for consumers, but there may be negative tradeoffs for farmers, workers and rural communities overall.

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Do you want this much power in one family [the Waltons] or do you want family farms? Frerick said. That is kind of where the American economy is going unless we stand up and say, Enoughs enough.

On Saturday, HuffPost is teaming up with Open Markets, as well as the Iowa Farmers Union and the Storm Lake Times, for the Heartland Forum, a discussion with 2020 candidates on rural issues.

Tune in to our livestream on HuffPost at 1 p.m. CDT Saturday to hear from four 2020 candidates  former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, former Rep. John Delaney (Md.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.)  as well as Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio), who has been considering a bid, about their vision for rural America.

Farm incomes have dropped nearly 50 percent since 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, even as the broader economy has thrived. And for decades, production has been shifting to much larger farms, which doubled their share of American cropland between 1987 and 2012.

The companies that sell farmers things like seeds and fertilizer, and those that buy the food they grow, have been getting bigger and more consolidated, meaning smaller farmers are less and less able to get favorable prices. The four largest firms controlled 85 percent of the market for corn seeds in 2015, for example, and the four biggest companies controlled 70 percent of the hog slaughtering market.

Theres increasing support among progressive activists and Democratic members of Congress for curtailing the power of bigger agribusinesses. The Open Markets Institute says the federal government ought to impose a moratorium on new corporate mergers in the agribusiness sector and break up vertically-integrated firms, among other things. Its an agenda that would require federal agencies to use antitrust power that has lain dormant for years, and Congress would have to step in with new legislation.

And Democratic presidential hopefuls are proposing plans to do just that. This week Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced legislation that largely resembles the Open Markets plan.

I will appoint trustbusters to review  and reverse  anti-competitive mergers, including the recent Bayer-Monsanto merger that should never have been approved, Warren wrote in a Medium post.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has also called for an agricultural merger moratorium, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) wants to give federal antitrust regulators more power to stop mergers.

Meanwhile, thousands of dairy farmers every year are giving up, despite strong sentimental attachment to a way of life many inherited from their parents. There were more than 80,000 dairy farms in 2003. In 2018, there were just 40,000.

Jim Goodman, a former dairyman in Wisconsin, wrote in a December op-ed that he couldnt watch the trucks take away his cows last year after he milked them for the last time. He said being able to remember them as I last saw them, in my barn, chewing their cuds and waiting for pasture, is all I have left.

Wisconsin Farmers Union spokeswoman Danielle Endvick described saying goodbye to her familys herd in a 2017 op-ed. When the cattle trailer backed up beside the milkhouse, our big Brown Swiss, Brownie, was among the first to load, Endvick wrote. I paused to scratch her head one last time before nudging her across the gutter and out the door. One by one the cows filed out, closing a chapter on the farm.

Part of the problem is that Americans are drinking less milk, but a bigger part is that theres just too much supply, which pushes prices down and is a particular challenge for smaller farms. Thats why Wisconsin Farmers Union supports creating a system to limit the supply of milk on the market, which would boost its price. Congress considered such a policy in 2014 but backed off in the face of strong opposition from then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who called it communism.

Walmarts new milk processing facility in Indiana is one of the largest in the U.S., producing white and chocolate milk for 600 Walmart and Sams Club stores across the country. It sources raw milk from 31 farms that are all within 210 miles of the plant, meaning the company is saving on freight.

By operating our own plant and working directly with the dairy supply chain in the Midwest, well further reduce operating costs and pass those savings on to our customers so that they can save money, Walmarts Tony Airoso said in a 2016 press release when the company announced it would build the plant.

As opening day approached, Dean Foods reportedly sent notices to more than 100 farmers in eight states that it would cease buying their milk. In a disclosure to investors Dean Foods said Walmart alone accounted for more than 17 percent of its business, and that now that Walmart has its own plant it will buy 125 million fewer gallons of milk annually from Dean Foods. The company declined to provide specific details about how many contracts it canceled.

Forty-two farmers in Pennsylvania received termination notices last year, according to Jayne Sebright of the Pennsylvania-based Center for Dairy Excellence, and seven or eight of those have since exited the industry while the rest found new markets for their milk.

Joe Kelsay may have inherited dairy farming from his forebears, but he threw himself into the work. He studied agricultural economics at Purdue University and used his farm to help make videos and teach tour groups about farming.

He said he called Walmart to ask if they would buy his milk, but they said they already had enough. So did everybody else.

We made every call that we could, more than a dozen to milk brokers, to co-ops, to other processors, and got one maybe out of a dozen or 15 calls, Kelsay said.

He and his brother still raise crops on their farm and are trying to figure out how to reorganize their business. Kelsay says hes a fan of free markets and isnt sure how much he wants government involved.

From a conceptual standpoint I think that its dangerous to artificially hold a business up, he said. When it happens to you, it gets to be a little more difficult pill to swallow.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Donald Trump Jr has hinted at a possible future bid for political office, telling a radio programme this week, I never want to rule it out.

The eldest son of Donald Trump and an executive to his fathers Trump Organisation, Mr Trump Jr said Wednesday on Bloomberg Radio about launching a political campaign, We have a lot of time ... My father decided to get into politics at 68.

Im 41, Ive got plenty of time, he added.

The eldest first son has become an influential voice among the Republican Partys conservative faction and often posts right-wing content to his ever-growing following of Trump loyalists and supporters of his fathers presidency.

I definitely enjoy the fight, he said Wednesday. I definitely like being out there and I love being able to see the impact and the difference that it makes on these peoples lives that I get to see all over the country.

Talk of Mr Trump Jr running for office has grown ever since hes hit the campaign trail for his fathers re-election, bringing along his girlfriend, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, and touting the White House administrations America First agenda.

Hes received praise from the likes of Brian Kilmeade, a co-host of the Fox News morning show Fox & Friends, who said after interviewing the first son in February that he would have a great political future if he were ever to run for office.

I wonder if @CNN will finally do the right thing and burn @RepAdamSchiff as their source for all the false bombshells that they so breathlessly, shamelessly & embarrassingly ran with because they were  at best  foolish enough to believe his lies? #FullOfSchiff  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 28, 2019

Clearly hed have a great political future should he ever run, he said.

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Hes also reportedly told members of an elite gun club that he was considering launching a gubernatorial campaign in New York.

It's not something I'm doing now, he told the Associated Press about a campaign in November last year.

But you never know, it's fascinating stuff, he added.

Mr Trump Jr also said Wednesday there was some relief among the Trump familys inner circle after Attorney General William Barr reported there were no further indictments from the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The city government of Makati urged women residents to participate in the job fair and other activities on Sunday at the City Hall Quadrangle to mark the culmination of Womens Month celebration. Mayor Abigail Binay said the event would be a whole day of fun-filled activities designed to give joy and empowerment to all women of Makati in recognition of their indispensable role in the progress of the city and of society as a whole. I am encouraging all women Makatizens to come and participate in the activities the city has prepared for them. Come on Sunday and avail yourselves of opportunities to be healthier, financially independent, or simply relax and enjoy some pampering, free of charge, she said. The city chief executive said free medical services, such as anemia screening, free vaccination for pneumonia, Japanese encephalitis and cervical cancer, would also be made available during the event through the Makati Health Department. Binay also called on women among some 2,376 registered solo parents in the city who are in need of a job to participate and take advantage of the job fair. She said having a job would not only help them in raising their children but will also empower them to become better versions of themselves. Spearheaded by the Womens Welfare Section of the Makati Social Welfare Department, the series of activities on Sunday will be held from 6 a.m up to 3 p.m. at the City Hall Quadrangle. MSWD chief Maribel Lumang said the celebration, themed We Make Change Work for Women, will start with a Zumba Dance Fitness activity at 6am and will be followed by a job fair, free medical services, free massage and beauty care provision, games and learning sessions, and processing of new applications for Makati Health Program (Yellow Card) and Philhealth ng Masa Program. Lumang said the job fair, in coordination with the Makati-Public Employment and Services Office will start at 8 a.m. until 12 noon. Participating companies include Burlington Industries, New Weather Forces Group Inc., Lay Bare Waxing, Mirof Resources Inc., Fineco Management Corp., McDonalds, Q2 HR Solutions, Elixer Multipurpose Cooperative, Goldilocks Bakeshop, and SM Supplies Station. Jobseekers are advised to bring relevant documents such as resume with ID pictures, birth certificate, and barangay clearance.Aside from cooking demonstration and leadership training, learning sessions covering the following topics will also be conducted: Basic self defense; Dr. Mom (first aid lessons); SAKUNAlisto (disaster preparedness); Bigay Tamang Gabay (parenting session that will focus on the Curfew Ordinance); Financial Literacy; and Entrepreneurship. Women Makatizens who will apply for Yellow Card must bring the following documents: birth certificate, barangay clearance, family picture, latest Comelec certificate and PhilHealth ID or Member Data Record. Those who will apply for PhilHealth ng Masa should bring their Barangay Certificate of Indigency, latest Comelec certificate, MDR or Request Form with a No Record note, birth certificate or marriage certificate and birth certificate of dependents. Under the administration of Mayor Binay, the city government has actively promoted women empowerment through making social services highly accessible, especially to women and yong girls in difficult circumstances. The citys Social Development Center has acquired 1st Level Accreditation as a Residential Care Facility from the Department of Social Welfare and Development on Aug. 16, 2018, for meeting the first level standards in the implementation of Residential-Based Programs and Services for Children and Youth. In a letter to Lumang, the DSWD stated that the SDC has complied with the previous findings/recommendations in Case Management, Helping Strategies, and Physical Structure. The SDC in Barasoain Street, Barangay Tejeros, was established in 2003. It serves as temporary shelter most especially for girls considered as children in need of special protection such as those who are victims of abuse. At present, the residential facility has 65 clients under its care, 46 girls and 19 boys.
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Delish

UPDATE JULY 2, 2019 4:49 PM EST:

Headline updated from "Drinking One Bottle Of Wine A Week Increases Your Risk Of Cancer, Study Says" to "Study Compares Gender-Linked Risk Between Drinking Alcohol And Smoking Cigarettes" to provide clarification.

ORIGINAL STORY 3/29/2019:



By now, you know smoking leads to a higher risk of cancer. The scary commercials, giant warning signs on packs, and subway ads have no doubt crossed your path, whether you are a smoker or not. But the dangers of moderate drinking, researchers from the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust argue, are not as well understood.

With that in mind, they set out to compare the effects of drinking alcohol to that of smoking cigarettes in relation to developing cancer. The goal was to quantify a "cigarette-equivalent of population cancer harm."

What they found won't exactly make you happy if you're a regular wine drinker:

"One bottle of wine per week is associated with an increased absolute lifetime cancer risk for non-smokers of 1.0% (men) and 1.4% (women). The overall absolute increase in cancer risk for one bottle of wine per week equals that of five (men) or ten cigarettes per week (women)."

In smoking terms, the risks associated with drinking one bottle of wine equals out to smoking half a pack of cigarettes a week for women. The reason women's risk is higher is because of the increased risk of breast cancer, researchers note. To look at it another way, for every 1000 men and 1000 women that drink that amount of wine a week, 10 men and 14 women would develop cancer as a result.

Researchers point out that this is not meant to detract from the known dangers of smoking.

"Our findings are not meant to detract from the substantive cancer risks associated with smoking which remains the single largest preventable cause of cancer worldwide, and for which even very low levels of exposure are associated with an increased risk of cancer."

Story continues

You can read the study in full here.

('You Might Also Like',)
The U.S. Energy Department's weekly inventory release showed a bigger-than-expected decrease in natural gas supplies. However, the drawdown fell short of the five-year average.

Analysis of the EIA Inventory Data

Stockpiles held in underground storage in the lower 48 states fell by 36 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ended Mar 22, above the guidance (of 33 Bcf decline) as per the analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts. However, the decrease was lower than both the five-year (2014-2018) average net shrinkage of 41 Bcf and last years drop of 66 Bcf for the reported week.

Following past weeks supply decline, at 1.107 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), natural gas inventories are 551 Bcf (33.2%) under the five-year average and 285 Bcf (20.5%) below the year-ago figure.

Fundamentally speaking, total supply of natural gas averaged around 94.2 Bcf per day, up 0.9% on a weekly basis as dry production edged up. Meanwhile, daily consumption fell 3.8% to 87.7 Bcf primarily due to weaker demand across the board  in the residential/commercial, power and industrial sectors.

Natural Gas Futures Struggle to Break Above $3

While natural gas futures have edged up a bit from the recent low of $2.543 per MMBtu in early February and currently trade around $2.7 per MMBtu, its still 44% below the four-year high of $4.929 per MMBtu reached in mid-November. The early onset of winter, together with the lowest level of stocks in 15 years, demand from power plants and growing LNG shipments lifted the commodity to almost $5 per MMBtu. But the euphoria didnt last long as mild weather in December and early January led to smaller withdrawals that markedly reduced the storage deficit and sent prices lower.

What is the Future of Natural Gas Prices?

The fundamentals of natural gas consumption continue to be favorable. The demand for cleaner fuels and the commoditys relatively lower price has catapulted natural gas' share of domestic electricity generation to 35%, from 25% in 2011. Moreover, new pipelines to Mexico, together with large-scale liquefied gas export facilities have meant that exports out of the U.S. are set for a quantum leap. Finally, higher consumption from industrial projects will likely ensure strong natural gas demand.

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However, record high production in the United States and expectations for explosive growth through 2020 means that supply will keep pace with demand. Therefore, prices are likely to trade sideways but for weather-driven movements. Also, with the traditional withdrawal season (when supplies fall on heating demand due to cold weather) ending in March, consumption is likely to decline in the near term.

Want to Own a Natural Gas Stock Now?

The uncertain natural gas fundamentals (considering its seasonal nature) is responsible for the understandable reluctance on investors part to dip their feet into these stocks.

Moreover, most natural gas-heavy upstream companies like Gulfport Energy Corporation GPOR, Range Resources Corporation RRC, SilverBow Resources, Inc. SBOW, Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK, Southwestern Energy Company SWN etc. carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which means that investors should preferably wait for a better entry point before buying shares in them.

If you are looking for a near-term natural gas play, Antero Resources AR might be an excellent selection. The company has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

This Denver, CO-headquartered companys expected EPS growth rate for three to five years currently stands at 20%, comparing favorably with the industry's growth rate of 18.8%.

You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Representatives of governments from around the world are expected to attend a national remembrance service in New Zealand on Friday for the 50 victims of a mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch. "This is an event that affected New Zealand deeply. But it was our Muslim New Zealanders who were targeted. So rightly so, that would be reflected in the remembrance service," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will be represented at the service, but the full list of the attendees from 59 countries was withheld for security reasons, as the country has been on high alert since the March 15 attack. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the governor general Peter Cosgrove and opposition leader Bill Shorten will be among foreign leaders attending the service, Ardern said. Heads of state from Pacific countries, including Fiji's President Jioji Konkrote will also be in attendance, she added. The service will be held in Christchurch in Hagley Park, where tens of thousands of New Zealanders have gathered since the attack to mourn the deaths. It will be televised live on state television networks. Britain's Prince William will visit New Zealand next month to honour the victims, his office said. The massacre in New Zealand was carried out by a lone gunman at two mosques. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, has been charged with one murder following the attack and is likely to face more charges when he is presented in court on April 5. (Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission criticized Romania on Friday for backsliding on the rule of law and called on Bucharest to treat fairly Laura Kovesi, a candidate to become the bloc's first-ever chief prosecutor. Romania on Thursday indicted Kovesi on corruption charges, prohibiting from traveling abroad, according to Romanian media reports. Romania now holds the rotating EU presidency. "It is crucial that all candidates put forward by an independent selection panel are treated fairly in the course of this process," Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a regular news briefing. "We call on the Romanian government and on the Romanian authorities to fully respect the principle of sincere cooperation as enshrined in the treaty regarding the selection procedure of the European chief prosecutor," he said. "All candidates need to be able to participate in all steps of the selection procedure, unhindered," he said. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski)
(Adds comments, background)

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - White House national security adviser John Bolton said on Friday that President Donald Trump is eager for a U.S. trade deal with Britain once it breaks away from the European Union.

"President Trump remains very eager to cut a bilateral trade deal with an independent Britain. It's what the people voted for in 2016, and when they get out, whether it's now, April 12 or later, well be standing right there waiting for them," Bolton said in an interview with Reuters Television.

Trump had told reporters on Thursday that he wished British Prime Minister Theresa May well as she tries to find a path to a Brexit deal that can pass Parliament. A third attempt at passing a deal failed on Friday, sowing more confusion.

"Its very complicated inside Britain," said Bolton. "I know theyre going through a lot of turmoil. But really I think the president would like to reassure the people of the United Kingdom how strongly we feel, that we want to be there when they do come out of the European Union."

He said Trump emphathizes with May but would not comment on whether May should step down.

"I think the president sympathizes with anybody going through some of the pressure that Prime minister May is. Hes certainly seen his share of it and I think being a man who empathizes with people in that position thats what hes expressing. But Im sure it's not appropriate for us to speculate really on what the prime minister should do, or her party."

As for whether Britain should hold a second Brexit referendum, Bolton said the vote from the first one in 2016 was clear.

"In the European Union they like to say, 'we make the people vote until they get it right,' meaning pro-EU votes. So I guess I'd say if youre going to hold a second referendum and 'remain' wins, they ought to hold a third referendum and call it best two out of three," said Bolton. (Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington Editing by Leslie Adler and James Dalgleish)
Safety is at the core of the Federal Aviation Administrations mission. It is our paramount priority. We work tirelessly, taking a proactive, data-driven approach to oversight. We instill safety  above all else  throughout the FAA, the aviation community we regulate and the world.

In the aftermath of the tragic accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia, some are questioning the FAAs certification of the 737 Max and the proper role of delegation in that process.

I want to make clear that FAA does not allow companies to police themselves. The FAA is fully involved in the certification process. Organizational delegation is a process by which a manufacturer  under specific, FAA-quality-controlled oversight  can provide specialized information and understanding needed by the FAA to approve a product.

It is an approach that Congress has repeatedly directed FAA to embrace and expand.

OUR VIEW: Grounded Boeing 737 Max also grounds FAA reputation

Acting FAA Administrator Daniel K. Elwell testifies in the Senate on March 27, 2019.

During the 737 Maxs five-year certification, FAA safety engineers and test pilots put in 110,000 hours of work, and they flew or supported 297 test flights.

The recent accidents remain under investigation. It would be a mistake to rush to judgment about what caused them or what to do next. We must learn more about what happened to make sure we fix what went wrong.

In a recent column in USA TODAY, former Transportation Secretary Jim Burnley and former National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher Hart argued that safety regulators should continue making careful decisions backed by data. This proven approach has made the U.S. aviation system the safest in the world. In the past decade, more than 7 billion people have flown on 90 million commercial flights with a single fatality.

The FAA will go wherever the data take us to help understand and address what caused the recent accidents. We will return the 737 Max to service in the United States only when our analysis of the aircraft, pilot actions, maintenance and other factors confirms its safe to do so.

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Daniel K. Elwell is acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

If you can't see this reader poll, please refresh your page.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FAA: We dont allow companies to police themselves
Montreal (AFP) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has announced it will cut some 1,500 jobs at its factory in Windsor, Canada, around a quarter of its local workforce.

The Italian-American automaker took the decision, effective from the end of September, to "better align production with global demand," it said in comments reported in local media Thursday.

Retirement packages will be offered to eligible employees while the company will also attempt to place laid off hourly employees in open full-time positions as they become available based on seniority.

The announcement represents a fresh blow for the province of Ontario following the axing of more than 2,500 jobs announced for the end of 2019 at the General Motors plant in Oshawa, near Toronto.

The president of the Unifor union, Jerry Dias, tweeted: "I am deeply concerned about the 1,500 plus families, the community of Windsor & the Cdn auto industry - all affected by FCA Canada's decision to end the 3rd shift at Windsor Assembly Plant."

He added the union was demanding an urgent meeting with FCA.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, likewise promised to "fight tooth and nail to protect the jobs of the auto-workers in Windsor."

The Chrysler plant in Windsor employs some 6,100 workers and builds the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.

Fiat Chrysler announced in late February the construction of a new auto plant in Detroit, the first for 27 years in "Motor City," as part of a $4.5 billion investment plan to create 6,500 jobs in the United States.
Brussels (AFP) - France is blocking the launch of trade talks with the US exasperating its EU partners who fear a restart to a trade war with President Donald Trump, diplomats said Friday.

"The French are blocking, but they are isolated," a European source told AFP after a Friday meeting of envoys from member states ended without an agreement.

The envoys are struggling to decide a mandate to launch the transatlantic negotiations given the opposition of Paris that fears domestic blowback just months ahead of European elections, set for May 22 to 26.

Berlin however strongly wants the deal in order to placate Trump and avoid US auto tariffs that would punish Germany's cherished exports, a prospect Chancellor Angela Merkel has labelled "frightening".

Pursuing a limited trade deal was the central part of a truce agreed in July when Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pledged no new tariffs following those on steel and aluminium.

"France is really testing the patience of the other member states to the limit," an EU diplomat said, on condition of anonymity.

"It's quite daring to block something that everyone else wants," the diplomat added. Talks were set to resume on Wednesday.

At Friday's meeting, French diplomats called for more time to discuss differences while the Germans argued that "waiting weakens the negotiating ability of Europeans", the source said.

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.

As a condition French President Emmanuel Macron last week demanded a clear signal that TTIP is obsolete, though some member states would like the option to revive those talks to survive.

France is also insisting on environmental guarantees if the trade negotiations take place, diplomats said.

But diplomats added that Macron had stepped back from calling for Washington's adherence to the Paris climate accord, which Trump pulled out of in 2017.
REDS VS. ANTI-REDS. Anti-communist demonstrators from the Liga Independencia Pilipinas use masks and bear a cross to denounce the 50th year of the New Peoples Army rebellion in a protest at Mendiola in Manila, even as NPA guerrillas stand in formation in their Sierra Madre mountain hideout in this file photo. Lino Santos

iREDS VS. ANTI-REDS. Anti-communist demonstrators from the Liga Independencia Pilipinas use masks and bear a cross to denounce the 50th year of the New Peoples Army rebellion in a protest at Mendiola in Manila, even as NPA guerrillas stand in formation in their Sierra Madre mountain hideout in this file photo. AFP

READ: Cops outgun NPA in Samar firefight

READ: NPA turns 50: No end to killings?

The European Union should cease its funding to the groups alleged to be acting as legal fronts of thethe Palace said Friday.Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo agreed with the move of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. formally asking the EU to stop financing alleged communists-linked groups. The EU should [cease its funding]. The funding would [only] be used in destabilizing the government, Panelo told reporters. If these are legal [communist] fronts and their main purpose is to break down the government, then the EU should reconsider [funding them]. In other developments:  The European Union and the Belgian Embassy in Manila on Thursday received initial documents and pieces of evidence against a number of groups allegedly fronting for the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army. During a meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs, EU Program Manager on Governance Louis Dey and Belgian Ambassador Michel Goffin committed to review the documents submitted by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. Goffin, Belgian Ambassador to the Philippines, said the EU and Belgium considered it illegal to fund terrorism whether directly or indirectly.  The Armed Forces of the Philippines will continue gathering information on the alleged front groups of the CPP-NPA. The AFP will continue gathering information to unearth hidden or embedded organizations in the identified fronts as mentioned in the documents submitted to EU. The AFP will continue supporting this endeavor to cut off the foreign funds that is being squandered by the recipient front organizations by funneling it to fund the armed groups and other effort(s) to subvert the Philippine government, AFP public affairs office chief Noel Detoyato told PNA on Friday.  The communist rebels defeat in Victoria, Northern Samar, on Thursday, where three insurgents were killed and another was captured, indicated that the revolutionary movement was running out of cadres capable of fighting a war, a military official said. Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito G. Galvez Jr. said Thursday National Democratic Front consultant Francisco Fernandez and his wife, Cleofe Lagtapon, were being given full medical attention following their arrest on March 24 in Liliw, Laguna. In a letter to EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove, Esperon warned the EU that funds were being used to propagate terrorism through international alliances and networks. He claimed that communist-linked groups were using the funds to finance the recruitment, trafficking, and exploitation of children to become child warriors. He said EU funds were being used to recruit and exploit vulnerable sectors such as indigenous people, the systematic destruction of the latters culture and value system and the murder of their leaders. Esperon said three Belgian non-government organizations such as SOLIDAGRO, Viva Salud and KIYO had indirectly and unwittingly partnered with NGOs here that he claimed to be acting as legal fronts of the CPP-NPA. Esperon then tagged 10 groups that supposedly received the funds: the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development, IBON Foundation, Karapatan, Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc., the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, the Salugpungan Tatanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center Inc., the Alliance of Health Workers the Kilusang Mayo Uno, Gabriela and ACT.Some of these groups, however, had previously rejected Esperons clam.
Paris (AFP) - French artist JR on Friday put the final touches to a huge collage in the courtyard of the Louvre, his latest eye-popping-project unveiled to mark the 30th birthday of the Louvre's glass pyramid.

Some 400 volunteers working in teams of 50 spent four days pasting strips of printed paper on the cobbles of the courtyard, creating a giant patchwork around the pyramid commissioned by late Socialist president Francois Mitterrand.

JR, who has been dubbed the "French Banksy" after the British street artist, is famous for blowing up photographs -- often of people -- into huge collages that have graced the wall between Jerusalem and the West Bank and the Rio favelas, among other sites.

The artist promised that his latest work -- created using a technique that distorts the image of the subject unless viewed from a specific angle -- would reveal "the Secret of the Great Pyramid."

A camera on the roof of the Louvre fed images to two giant screens which appeared to show the pyramid emerging from its foundations, as if from a giant quarry of white rock.

"There are more than 2,000 strips to paste on the ground, each ten metres long, so it's a huge puzzle. And when you're on the puzzle you don't see what you're doing," the artist told AFP.

"It's great. We're like children watching this pyramid grow before our eyes."

Hated by many Parisians when it was unveiled 30 years ago on Friday, Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei's creation has wormed its way into their hearts and is now revered like one of the Louvre's greatest treasures, such as the "Mona Lisa" and the "Venus de Milo".

Three years ago JR, whose real name is Jean Rene, gave the pyramid a very different treatment, covering it in a giant trompe-l'oeil that made it look as if it had disappeared.
Samsungs Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10+ were finally released earlier this month after nearly half a year of leaks and rumors built up all sorts of hype. Somehow, despite all that anticipation, Samsungs new flagship smartphones managed to deliver. Last years Galaxy S9 phones were boring and disappointing in so many ways. They sported the same hardware design as their predecessors and they didnt introduce a single compelling new feature. Thankfully though, the Galaxy S10 series is as exciting and new as the Galaxy S9 was boring and old.

The S10 phones have a great new all-screen design, theyre the first phones in many markets to sport hole-punch cameras, they have the most secure in-display fingerprint sensor on the market, and theres plenty more where that came from. Theres one important part of the smartphone experience that some people believe Samsung didnt focus on quite enough, however. But now it looks like the company is considering updating the Galaxy S10 line with a software feature from Googles Pixel 3 that people have been buzzing about ever since the it was released almost six months ago.

Related stories

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Samsung is working on a new foldable smartphone that's nothing like the Galaxy Fold

Some Galaxy S10 owners are are seeing lower signal strength than expected

Whether you own a Pixel 3 phone or youve read about them online, theres one feature that people just cant stop talking about and youve undoubtedly seen it mentioned. Thats right, were talking about Night Sight. Smartphone makers have been focusing for years on improving the quality of photos captured in low light. Theyve all made some pretty good headway, but there was really nothing to write home about until Google unveiled the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL last October.

You know how smartphone makers talk up a new cameras low light photography performance and show off incredible sample photos, but then you try the phone yourself and real-life performance is nothing like that? Well the Night Sight feature on Googles Pixel smartphones is the first low-light photography feature that actually performs every bit as well in real life as it does in Googles marketing. Its incredible.

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Night Sight uses automatic exposure adjustments, AI, and machine learning to illuminate dark photos that would come out terrible on other smartphones. The results dont end up oversaturated at all  they end up looking like they were captured by a pro using a DSLR and a tripod. Googles machine learning even adapts to different low-light situations and uses things like tone and color correction to fix photos even further.

Theres simply nothing else on the market like Night Sight. In fact, nothing else even comes close  but that may soon change. Well-known industry insider Ice Universe recently attended a small event that included a presentation made by Samsungs president of the China region. During that presentation, the executive made a comment that Galaxy S10 owners are going to be very excited about.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

According to Ice Universe, Samsung is considering pushing out updates to the Galaxy S10 series that would add two fantastic features. First, the charging speed may be increased to 25W. Samsungs upcoming Galaxy S10 5G phone already supports 25W fast charging, and apparently the companys other S10 models already have the hardware needed to support the faster speed. A simple software tweak is all it would take to increase charging speeds.

Even better than that is the fact that the company is toying with the idea of adding a super night mode to the Galaxy S10. Samsung already included a feature called Bright Night in the Galaxy S10s camera software, but its nothing like Googles Night Sight feature. Samsung uses multiple exposures and attempts to combine them in order to brighten low-light photos. It does help a bit, but as we noted in our Galaxy S10 review, its nowhere near as impressive as Night Sight.

That said, Night Sight is a software-based feature that relies on AI and machine learning. Google added the feature to older Pixel phone models via software updates, so theres no reason that Samsung should have trouble following suit. Well, theres no technical reason, at least  Google is miles ahead of rivals when it comes to AI and machine learning. But even if it cant quite match Night Sights jaw-dropping performance, it would still be terrific to see Samsung add a similar feature to the Galaxy S10 lineup.

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Plouarzel (France) (AFP) - For more than 30 years bright orange "Garfield" phones have been washing up on the French coast to the bemusement of local beach cleaners, who have finally cracked the mystery behind them.

Locals had long suspected a lost shipping container was to blame for the novelty landline phones, modelled on the prickly feline cartoon character, which have plagued the northern Finistere beaches for decades.

"Our association has existed for 18 years and in that time we have found pieces of Garfield telephones almost each time we clean," said Claire Simonin, head of the beach cleaning group Ar Viltansou in Brittany.

But it wasn't until a local resident revealed that he had discovered the container after a storm in the 1980s that they were finally able to locate it -- wedged in a partially submerged cave only accessible at low tide.

"He told us where it was... it was very, very dangerous," Simonin told AFP after an expedition to track it down.

"We found this incredible fissure that is 30 metres (100 feet) deep and at the very bottom, there were the remains of a container."

"Under the boulders in front of the entrance, we found 23 complete handsets with electronics and wires. They were everywhere," she added.

But the mystery, first reported by the France Info public broadcaster, is not fully solved.

"We have no idea what happened at the time: we do not know where it came from, what boat," said Fabien Boileau, director of the Iroise Marine Nature Park in Finistere.

"And we don't know if several containers fell into the water, or only one."

The dry-witted Garfield, first dreamed up by illustrator Jim Davis in the late 1970s, has since spawned a television show, a film series starring Bill Murray as the voice of the titular cat, and a merchandising empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

- Pollution problems -

The "Garfield" phone discoveries in France however highlight the problem of plastic in the oceans, campaigners say.

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"Seeing these plastic phones on the beaches, especially so long after the incident, is a stark reminder of the persistence of plastic waste in the ocean," Jo Ruxton, co-founder of Plastic Oceans Foundation, told AFP.

"Plastic was designed not to break down and large items like these being hardly weathered after 30-40 years is a clear indication of this," she added.

The world currently produces more than 300 million tonnes of plastics annually, and there are at least five trillion plastic pieces floating in our oceans, scientists have estimated.

Some forecasts predict that there will be more plastic in the seas than fish by 2050.

But lost shipping containers -- of which there were 1,390 in 2017, according to the World Shipping Council -- account for a small proportion of the pollution compared with the packaging industry.

"Phones typically dont end up in the sea," said Jocelyn Bleriot of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a British charity that focuses on reducing waste.

"Whereas plastic packaging is pervasive. You find it pretty much everywhere. On every beach, youll find a bottle of shampoo, youll find a packet of crisps, or youll find a bottle of soda or whatever. Thats what you see on beaches. Thats what washes up."

Even animals living in the deepest ocean trenches have been found with fragments of plastic in their gut, according to new research published in February showing how the scourge reached into the bowels of the planet.

Eventually plastics like the phones "become so weathered that they start to become brittle and break up into ever smaller fragments, attracting harmful chemicals during the process," Ruxton explained.

"Eventually they become so small that they are mistaken for plankton and are eaten by marine animals and become part of the food chain that leads to us."

The longterm impact of plastic on humans is still undetermined, but governments are beginning to take action to stem the levels of plastic that reach the ocean.

The European Parliament this week approved a proposal that would ban the top 10 most common single-use plastic products in Europe by 2021.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinians in Gaza are expected to gather in huge numbers along the fence separating them from Israel on Saturday, testing a fragile ceasefire only days after a major flareup.

The demonstrations mark the first anniversary of deadly protests on the border with Israel.

Days of negotiations have raised hopes that the kind of bloodshed seen in previous mass protests, particularly last May against the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem, can be avoided.

Protesters are calling to be allowed to return to homes their families fled in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and that are now inside the Jewish state.

The Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers Hamas, with which Israel has fought three wars since 2008, has called for one million people to join the demonstrations Saturday at different points along the border.

Two million Palestinians live in impoverished Gaza, crammed between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.

Israel has maintained a crippling blockade of the strip for more than a decade, while the border with Egypt is also often closed.

Israel says the blockade is necessary to contain Hamas, which does not recognise its existence and argues that the return of the Palestinians would mean an end to it as a Jewish state.

Ahead of the anniversary, Israel has reinforced the border fence in many places.

- Negotiations -

On Monday, a rocket fired from Gaza struck a house north of the Israeli commercial capital Tel Aviv, injuring seven Palestinians.

In response, the Israeli military struck dozens of Hamas sites in Gaza until a ceasefire was reached.

A security delegation from Egypt, traditionally the mediator between Hamas and Israel, has since shuttled between the two sides to head off a new escalation.

On Friday, Hamas officials told AFP they backed an Egyptian proposal to maintain calm during Saturdays protests.

The agreement could see Israel ease its blockade of the strip in exchange for calm, with protesters being kept at a distance from the border fence.

Story continues

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said the talks covered a ceasefire, increasing humanitarian aid and improving the economic situation in Gaza.

There was no word from the Israeli side.

Jamie McGoldrick, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, spoke of positive signals from all parties and was "quietly hopeful".

"People are saying ok we want demonstrations... but we dont want people to put themselves in situations of violence and find themselves close to the fence," he told AFP.

"All signals and signs look like it is not going to be a heavily violent situation. Obviously that can change with an incident, an accident or a technical issue."

At the border fence, Tareq al-Ghuz, 18, said he has attended every week since the protests began and showed a picture on his phone of a friend who he said had been shot in the eye and died.

Looking out at a newly fortified Israeli fence, he said he and his friends were unemployed and had little to lose.

"There is no work for young people, we are besieged from the sea, from the south to the east, wherever we go we are blockaded."

Asked whether he would stay away from the fence Saturday as requested by organisers, he laughed. "Every week they say that. They dont control us," the teenager said.

- Embassy peak -

Some demonstrators each week burn tires, throw projectiles and rocks and even try to approach and break the Israeli border fence.

Since March 30, 2018, at least 258 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire, the vast majority along the border. Two Israeli soldiers were killed.

The protests culminated on May 14, 2018, with huge demonstrations against the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

It led to split-screen coverage of the embassy opening ceremony in Jerusalem, attended by President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, alongside bloodshed in Gaza.

At least 62 Palestinians were killed that day by Israeli gunfire and hundreds wounded.

Israel says it is only defending its border and accuses Hamas of orchestrating the demonstrations to deflect pressure from internal dissent.

Palestinians and human rights organisations accuse Israel of excessive use of force.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinians in Gaza are expected to gather in huge numbers along the barrier separating them from Israel on Saturday, testing a fragile ceasefire only days after a major flareup.

The demonstrations mark the first anniversary of deadly protests on the border with Israel.

Days of negotiations have raised hopes that the bloodshed seen in previous mass protests, particularly those against the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem last May, can be avoided.

Demonstrators are calling to be allowed to return to homes their families fled in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, now inside the Jewish state.

The return of Palestinian refugees was enshrined in a 1948 UN Security Council resolution, but Israel argues that it would mean the end of the Jewish state.

Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas, who have fought three wars with Israel since 2008, have called for a million people to join the demonstrations Saturday at different points along the border.

Two million Palestinians live in impoverished Gaza, crammed between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.

Israel has maintained a crippling blockade of the Strip for more than a decade, and Egypt often closes its Gaza frontier, the enclave's only other land border.

Israel says the blockade is necessary to contain Hamas, which does not recognise it.

Ahead of the anniversary, Israel has reinforced the border fence in many places.

It has also boosted its forces, with several thousand troops stationed along the border. Dozens of snipers are positioned in various locations.

An AFP journalist saw tanks pre-positioned near Nahal Oz close to northern Gaza.

- Negotiations -

On Monday, a rocket fired from Gaza struck a house north of the Israeli commercial capital Tel Aviv, injuring seven people.

In response, the Israeli military struck dozens of Hamas sites in Gaza until a ceasefire was reached.

A security delegation from Egypt, the go-to mediator between Hamas and Israel, has since shuttled between the two sides to head off a new escalation.

Story continues

On Friday, Hamas officials told AFP they backed an Egyptian proposal to maintain calm during Saturday's protests.

The agreement could see Israel ease its blockade of the Strip in exchange for calm, with protesters kept at a distance from the border fence.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said the talks covered a ceasefire, increasing humanitarian aid and improving the economic situation in Gaza.

There was no word from the Israeli side.

Jamie McGoldrick, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, spoke of positive signals from all parties and said he was "quietly hopeful".

"People are saying ok we want demonstrations... but we don't want people to put themselves in situations of violence and find themselves close to the fence," he told AFP.

"All signals and signs look like it is not going to be a heavily violent situation. Obviously that can change with an incident, an accident or a technical issue."

At the border fence, Tareq al-Ghuz, 18, said he has attended every week since the protests began and showed a picture on his phone of a friend who he said had been shot in the eye and died.

Looking out at a newly fortified Israeli fence, he said he and his friends were unemployed and had little to lose.

"There is no work for young people, we are besieged from the sea, from the south to the east, wherever we go we are blockaded," he said.

Asked whether he would stay away from the fence Saturday as requested by organisers, he laughed.

"Every week they say that. They don' control us," he said.

- Embassy peak -

At the weekly protests, demonstrators have burned tires, thrown projectiles and rocks and even approached and tried to damage the Israeli border fence.

Since March 30, 2018, at least 258 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire, the vast majority along the border. Two Israeli soldiers were killed.

The protests culminated on May 14, 2018, with huge demonstrations against the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

It led to split-screen coverage of the embassy opening ceremony in Jerusalem, attended by President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, alongside bloodshed in Gaza.

At least 62 Palestinians were killed that day by Israeli gunfire, with hundreds wounded.

Israel says it is only defending its border, and accuses Hamas of orchestrating the demonstrations to deflect pressure from internal dissent.

Palestinians and human rights organisations accuse Israel of excessive use of force.
Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government Thursday extended by six months an embargo on weapons exports to Saudi Arabia, instituted last October in response to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The ban has faced opposition from within the German government and the EU, but has the support of rights groups.

"The order to halt authorised weapons exports to Saudi Arabia is extended by six months from March 31 to September 30, 2019," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

Berlin reacted to Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October by declaring a freeze on weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and other countries involved in the Yemen war.

It has since faced protests by EU partners because the ban has impacted joint defence projects such as the Eurofighter and Tornado jets.

While France and Britain have urged Germany to end the export halt, human rights groups argue it should stay in place -- a view that has many backers among the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners to Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU bloc in the coalition government.

"We oppose defence exports to dictatorships and into active conflict zones," SPD deputy leader Ralf Stegner said on public TV.

Merkel's bloc favoured resumed sales, at least for joint European defence projects.

"Another unilateral German stop to defence exports, imposed without coordination with European and NATO partners, would be wrong and dangerous," its economic policy expert Joachim Pfeiffer told the Passauer Neue Presse daily.

- Rights violations -

This week, French ambassador Anne-Marie Descotes criticised Germany's "unpredictable" arms export policy and pointed out that some companies in the sector were marketing products as "German free" in terms of components.

A German security council meeting Wednesday failed to resolve the issue, media reports said, leading to further discussions Thursday.

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One reported compromise proposal was to give the green light to multinational defence products with a German share of no more than 20 percent.

Stegner urged "a sensible solution", stressing that the SPD too wants Germany to cooperate with other European powers on joint defence projects.

Media reported another idea on the table would be for Germany to hold onto six naval patrol vessels and a training ship ordered by Saudi Arabia.

Media group RND said that if the Saudi export stop was extended by six months, the German state could buy the ships for its navy, customs service and federal police.

At least 10,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Yemen war since March 2015.

This week more than 20 non-government groups operating in Yemen wrote to Merkel to urge her to maintain the freeze, citing the "great risk" that the arms would be used to "facilitate violations of international humanitarian law and human rights".

Germany is among the world's top arms exporters, a group led by the United States that also includes Russia, China, France and Britain.
By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The mystery of why Pope Francis repeatedly withdrew his right hand as a long line of people bowed and tried to kiss it this week has been resolved - he did not want to spread germs.

"It was a simple question of hygiene," Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti told reporters on Thursday after he asked the pope directly.

Gisotti explained that there were many people in line and the pope did want to spread germs as one person after another repeatedly kissed his hand at short intervals.

Monday's footage went viral on social media and was featured on late-night comedy shows in the United States.

The pope's refusal quickly entered what are known as the Catholic cultural wars between conservatives and progressives.

One conservative Catholic website that often criticizes the pope called the episode "disturbing" and another said the pope should resign if he did not like rituals.

"He likes to embrace people and be embraced by people," Gisotti said.

The spokesman noted that the pope does allow individuals to kiss his hand and ring in limited numbers, such as he did with an elderly Italian nun at Wednesday's general audience when Francis award her for decades of service to the poor in Africa.

Some Vatican watchers noted that even former Pope Benedict, a hero to nostalgic conservatives, and his predecessor John Paul, did not like having their hands kissed - at least not by long lines of people, for the sake of expediency.

A close papal aide told Reuters on Tuesday he was "amused" by all the fuss.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella, Editing by William Maclean)
US tech giant Google on Thursday signed a deal with Cuban operator ETECSA to explore ways of boosting internet service on the communist-run island, despite diplomatic tensions between Washington and Havana.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding in Havana aimed at speeding up connectivity to help bring communications on the island into the 21st century, a key policy of President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Cuba's internet provider is currently dependent on a submarine fiber-optic cable link to Venezuela, but service is often overloaded and slow.

Engineers from the two companies will now work together toward achieving a faster, direct internet connection. The island would benefit from connecting to submarine cables between the US and Latin America.

"We are creating a working group which is comprised of engineers from Google and ETECSA who would work together to analyze ways to implement the direct internet connection," said Google's chief in Cuba, Brett Perlmutter.

ETECSA vice president of investments Luis Adolfo Iglesias told reporters the companies would work toward better connectivity "when technical conditions allow."

Mobile internet has been available on the island since December and nearly two million of ETECSA's five million-plus customers have already subscribed to the 3G service.

For most Cubans however, internet access is still only available in internet cafes or outdoor wifi hotspots.

Former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt met with Diaz-Canel last year to discuss improving Cuba's connectivity.

Relations between Havana and Washington have cooled under US President Donald Trump after a diplomatic thaw under his predecessor Barack Obama briefly raised hopes of a lifting of a trade embargo in place since 1962.

Trump has instead blasted Cuba as part of a "Troika of Tyranny" along with the leftist governments in Venezuela and Bolivia, over its support for Venezuelan socialist president Nicolas Maduro.

He has worked to tighten the six-decade embargo, threatening to extend it to apply to foreign companies trading with Cuba.
READ: El Nino destroys Mindoro farms

READ: State of calamity in 18 El Nino areas

READ: El Nino: Too big a problem

READ: Heat is on, its

season

READ: Angat water level fast going down, PAGASA warns

About P605 million worth ofthat has beset the region since early February, an agricultural official said Friday. This developed as the state weather bureau said theby May. Mohammad Yacob, head of the BARMM Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform, said the damage could go even higher as reports from three other provinces of the regionBasilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawihave yet to come. Citing the March 26 report of BARMM Task Force El Nino, Yacob said the data was only from the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, where 10,818 hectares of rice and 11,039 hectares of corn have been affected. Of the total 21,857 hectares affected, 11,050 hectares were considered totally damaged [with] no chance of recovery, he said., with 11,087 in Lanao del Sur and 7,336 in Maguindanao. Yacob said ahead of the weak El Nino, the ministry started implementing mitigating measures to cushion the impact of the dry season that included planting of heat-resistant variety of agricultural crops, use of open source pump irrigation system and shallow tube wells. Also included in the mitigating measures was the massive vaccination of livestock across the two provinces, he added. Meanwhile, Richard Orendain, hydrologist at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said as of Friday at 6 a.m.and was at 193.96 meters against its normal rule curve of 190.86 meters. However, he noted the dam may reach 182 meters by the end of April and 177.29 by May, below its low water level of 180 meters. We have a normal distribution from Angat Dam for power, domestic use, and irrigation, he told the Manila Standard. It is not that threatening, he said, adding the dam is still far from its critical level. Orendain said that even if Angats water elevation would dip to its critical low at 180 meters or below, that does not mean there will be no water for us. Water for irrigation purposes has been cut, he said, noting he was confident because the National Water Resources Board has done so. He said rain would still fall on Angat, albeit at 20 percent to 60 percent lower because of the El Nino. Water level at Angat Dam was much lower during the dry season in 2018 considering there was no El Nino then, he said. Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, meanwhile, said the government needs to dispatch immediate help to farmers who are now bearing the brunt of drought caused by El Nino.The government must ensure that intervention programs reach small-scale farmers and farmworkers to help them cope with and mitigate the extreme impacts of El Nino, Angara said. The lawmaker said many farmers, especially those in food-growing areas, are in urgent need of assistance whether in the form of cash, food aid or alternative livelihoods. Our farmers badly need food and alternative sources of income to compensate for the huge losses they incurred due to this ongoing drought, Angara said. Angara said the administration should learn an important lesson from the 2016 El Nino episode where a massive three-day protest rally in Kidapawan City ended in a bloody dispersal of drought-affected farmers seeking for urgent food aid and subsidies from the government. The Kidapawan crisis left three farmers dead and over a hundred others injured. How can we forget the Kidapawan crisis where the government came too late, too little? It reminds us how important it is for the much-needed government aid to reach its intended recipients in a timely manner, Angara said. Angara said the government can help by flooding areas hit by drought with assistance. Several provinces in the country have been placed under a state of calamity due to the impact of El Nino, the latest of which is Cebu, which sustained massive agricultural damage. Latest data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council showed that agricultural damage caused by El Nino has already reached P2.6 billion. According to the countrys state weather bureau, El Nino conditions are expected to last until the end of May or June this year and could affect 42 provinces.
JERUSALEM (AP)  An Israeli watchdog agency says it has found "significant failings" in the Israel Police's dealings with a company reported to be a failed startup once headed by prime minister hopeful Benny Gantz.

The State Comptroller said Wednesday that the police's acquisition of nearly $14 million of technology from a company in 2016 violated standard procedures.

According to the report, police waived a public tender and granted the unnamed company the contract.

The report doesn't specify the company or Gantz, but various Israeli news outlets identified it as Fifth Dimension, whose former CEO is Gantz.

Gantz's Blue and White Party says the former army chief of staff's conduct was "impeccable."

The agency said it criticized only the police's management, not private companies.
CHICAGO  Empire actor Jussie Smolletts legal team on Wednesday lashed out at prosecutors, arguing the Cook County States Attorney has flip-flopped in its comments about their client after agreeing to drop charges against the actor.

Prosecutors announced Tuesday they were dropping disorderly conduct charges against Smollett for filing a false police report, less than three weeks after the actor was indicted on charges that he paid two men to stage a hoax attack to make him look like the victim of a hate crime.

As part of the arrangement, Smollett agreed to forfeit to the city of Chicago $10,000 in bond money he put up to secure his release after he was arrested.

Smolletts legal team is taking offense with comments to the media by Cook County States Attorneys Office officials, saying prosecutors and police are "continuing their campaign" against the actor. Prosecutors said theyve dropped the charges, but insist that doesn't mean Smollett was exonerated of wrongdoing.

We respectfully request all government agencies involved live up to the ethical tenants of their office, state and local law, Supreme Court Rules on Trial Publicity as well as the Rules of Professional Responsibility for lawyers and prosecutors, Smollett attorney Patricia Brown Holmes said in a statement. We will not try this case in a court of public opinion. There is no case to try. The case was dismissed. We should all allow Mr. Smollett to move on with his life as a free citizen.

Smolletts legal team pointed to comments that Joseph Magats, the first assistant states attorney, made to the Chicago Tribune and CBS News in which he asserts that Smollett was not exonerated and that the case was akin to alternative prosecution for an offender with a short criminal history.

"The bottom line is we stand behind the investigation, we stand behind the decision to charge him, Magats said. The fact that (Smollett) feels that we have exonerated him, we have not. I cant make it any clearer than that.

Story continues

In the CBS News interview, Magats said his office sometimes chooses to defer or do alternative prosecutions.

Holmes noted that Magats' media comments were far different than what Assistant States Attorney Risa Lanier told Judge Steven Watkins in a short hearing Tuesday where prosecutors formally dropped the charges.

After reviewing the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smolletts volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the city of Chicago, the States motion in regards to the indictment is nolle pros, said Lanier, using the legal term for dropping charges. We believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.

Smolletts legal team also slammed police for releasing police reports regarding the case to multiple media outlets Wednesday after prosecutors agreed to seal the court file.

The reports include Smolletts address and other information that was widely disseminated prior to Wednesdays court hearing.

Anthony Guglielmi, the chief police department spokesman, said the department released the Smollett police reports in response to Freedom of Information Act requests Wednesday morning. Police department officials were advised of the court order by the States Attorneys office later in the day, and received a formal directive Wednesday afternoon to cease releasing the records.

The decision to suddenly drop the charges was met with sharp criticism by police officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson that he and his aides were given no forewarning by the prosecutors office that they were dropping charges against Smollett.

Police and prosecutors say Smollett paid two brothers, Abel and Ola Osundairo, $3,500 to stage an attack on Smollett near his apartment building in Chicagos swanky Streeterville neighborhood, in which he was made to look like the victim of a vicious hate crime.

Tchen speaks: Ex-Michelle Obama aide says she had small role in assisting Jussie Smollett's family

What happened: Jussie Smollett: How did prosecutors go from indictment to wrist slap?

Police identified Smollett as a victim of an attack for weeks after the incident. The case shifted gears after the Osundairo brothers, who were on the cusp of being charged by police, told investigators that they worked with Smollett to carry out the attack.

The brothers told detectives Smollett hoped to use the incident to raise his profile and salary, Johnson said.

Emanuel continued his criticism of the prosecutors office on Wednesday for their handling of the case.

There is something rotten in Denmark, Emanuel told USA TODAY, paraphrasing the famous line from Shakespeares "Hamlet." It doesnt add up.  I dont get it.

People better get their stories straight, Emanuel said of the States Attorneys office. Were all owed a sense of accountability by the system.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jussie Smollett legal team: Prosecutors flip-flopping on why they dropped charges




Donald Trump has weighed into the debate over Chicago prosecutors surprise decision to drop charges against the Empire actor Jussie Smollett, saying the FBI and Department of Justice will review the case.

The president tweeted on Thursday that the FBI and Department of Justice will review the outrageous case, calling it an embarrassment to the country.

Prosecutors offered little explanation and infuriated Chicagos police chief and mayor this week when they dropped 16 felony counts against Smollett related to making a false police report, yet they still insist the actor faked a racist, anti-gay attack on himself in January.

Trump tweeted: FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!

FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019

Smolletts attorney said the two brothers who claim they worked with the actor to stage the January attack are lying. They acknowledge that Smollett, who is black and gay, had hired one brother as a personal trainer, but insist Smollett had no idea who attacked him along a Chicago street in late January until the brothers were later identified by police.

Related: Jussie Smollett: why were the charges dropped and what happens next?

Police said investigators believe Smollett hired the brothers to stage the attack with the hopes of gaining attention and advancing his career. Smollett has repeatedly insisted the attack was real.

Police also allege that before the attack, Smollett sent a letter threatening himself to the Chicago studio where Empire is shot. The FBI, which is investigating that letter, has declined to comment.

Prosecutors charged Smollett with one felony count in February, and earlier this month a grand jury indicted him on 15 more. But in Tuesdays stunning reversal, the Cook county states attorneys office abruptly dropped all charges against Smollett, abandoning the criminal case only five weeks after the allegations were filed.

In return, prosecutors said, the actor agreed to let the city keep his $10,000 in bail. The dismissal drew a backlash and raised the question of why Smollett was not forced to admit any wrongdoing.

Among those sure to keep pressing for answers is Chicagos mayor, Rahm Emanuel. He appeared blindsided by the decision and visibly angry during a Tuesday press conference, calling it a whitewash of justice.
HAZARD, Ky. (AP)  A Kentucky motel clerk says his manager told him he had demons that were causing his marital problems, and would have to undergo a process akin to an exorcism at her church.

News outlets report Jason Fields is suing Hampton Inn & Suites and Sharon Lindon, saying he had to quit after being subjected to religious discrimination and harassment.

Fields says Lindon provided a packet of invasive questions about his religious beliefs and sex life. One question asked if he belonged to a cult, listing "Mormons," ''Native religions," Buddhism and Islam as examples.

Fields say Lindon punished him and brought church members to pray for him in the lobby when he didn't turn the form in.

Hampton Inn's statement says they oppose discrimination and will investigate.
London (AFP) - London Mayor Sadiq Khan called on Britain's parliament Friday to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's divorce deal with the European Union and negotiate a new one with better terms.

Khan told AFP ahead of parliament's third vote on May's twice-rejected Withdrawal Agreement with the other 27 EU nations that uncertainty associated with a Brexit extension was better than May's way forward.

"My message to MPs from all parties is to vote against this deal," Khan said after meeting a group of EU nationals at a university in east London.

"I appreciate that may lead to a bit more uncertainty, but I'd rather have a short period of uncertainty with a good future."

Khan has focused his energy in the past year on preparing London's massive financial district for the consequences of a potentially abrupt and chaotic no-deal ending to Britain's 46-year involvement in the European project.

He admitted that no-one entirely knew -- or was fully ready -- for the eventuality of the sides splitting apart without any safety mechanisms in place to cushion the blow.

The Bank of England warned in November that the UK economy could shrink by eight percent within months of a messy divorce.

Britain must present the EU with an alternative proposal by April 12 if May's deeply unpopular deal is rejected for a third time.

The Withdrawal Agreement's approval on Friday would give the UK parliament until May 22 to get all the accompanying legislation passed.

Failure to do so could still theoretically result in the sides breaking up without a deal.

Khan is a member of the opposition Labour party who backs calls for May to put up any pact approved by parliament up for confirmation in a national vote that would also include the option of staying in the bloc.

"Rather than a group of MPs deciding our future, who by the way have changed their mind, the British public should be allowed a say," Khan said.

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"MPs get not just one say, but a second say and now a third say, yet the British public are not allowed a final say on whether we accept the deal negotiated by the government with the option of staying in the European Union."

He called May "incompetent" and the government's handling of the entire process "shambolic".

"I think we can all agree that Brexit has been a complete and utter mess."

He added that the European leaders he has been in talks with since Britons voted to leave in 2016 would still like to see voters change their minds and reverse Brexit in the months to come.

"When I speak to leaders from across Europe, whether it's in France, whether it's in Germany, whether it's in Brussels, what is clear to me is that nobody want to punish us," said the London mayor.

"Everybody is heartbroken we are leaving."
New dawn sets on Moro landDuterte

posted March 30, 2019 at 01:45 am by Nathaniel Mariano March 30, 2019 at 01:45 am

RING IN THE NEW. President Rodrigo Duterte bangs a gong in front of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Al Hajj Murad Ebrahim (right) to signal the inauguration of the new political entity in Cotabato City on Friday. Omar Mangorsi President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday bared he was extremely happy with the symbolic inauguration of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao , calling on the people to work towards building lasting peace and inclusive progress in the war-torn region of Mindanao.In a speech Friday, the President acknowledged the support that the Moro people gave to the government from the creation and passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the success of the BOL plebiscite, down to the establishment of the BARMM. May I just express in front of you my extreme happinessthat we were able to realize at least a part, maybe not all, but a part of what the entire country could have wished for the Moro people of Mindanao, the President said. I cannot express my sense of gratitude to you for understanding, giving us the time to craft the law, and making it legal. We promise a new dawn for the Bangsamoro area or territory, he added. The President said the inauguration of the BARMM opens a new chapter in the countrys history, hoping that it will address the injustices of the past and plot the new course towards a more promising future for Mindanao and the rest of the country. This momentous event brings us a step closer to the realization of our decades-old dream of a peaceful region that is governed by the autonomous government that serves all Muslims, Christians, lumad, and other indigenous peoples, and every Filipino who also call Mindanao their home, Duterte said. We entrust this responsibility to the distinguished members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority [BTA] under the able leadership and through the vision of Chief Minister Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, he added. The President also hoped that aside from living up to its aspirations and principles embodied in the past peace agreements with different Moro fronts such as the Moro National Liberation Front and Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the new Bangsamoro government would also promote good governance, transparency, accountability, and inclusive political empowerment. To my dear Bangsamoro sisters and brothers in the BTA, the power to chart the course of your regions future is now in your hands. I trust that you will wield this power with utmost care, the future of succeeding generations of the Filipinos, especially the Moro of Mindanao, depends on it, Duterte continued, appealing to the public to work for the benefit of all Mindanaoans and the country. As we mark a new chapter in our history, I call upon Bangsamoro to take advantage of this opportunity and finally correct the historical injustices and forget the bitterness of the past so that we may embrace each other as Filipinos, he added. Meanwhile, the President noted that lasting peace and inclusive progress would only be assured with the smooth and effective implementation of the annex on normalization. The annex, according to the President, includes the decommissioning of former MILF combatants. READ: Duterte okays proposed order on Bangsamoro In his speech during the event, Bangsamoro Interim Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim announced that the list of MILF combatants to be decommissioned was already submitted to the government last Monday. Mr. President, last Monday, the MILF already submitted the complete list of its combatants and weapons to the international decommissioning body for decommissioning, representing the first phase of the process, Murad said. The normalization annex, which deals with the decommissioning of the MILFs armed wing and disarming private armies in the new Bangsamoro region, is the last of the four annexes to the CAB forged between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2014. These annexes were initially crafted to serve as guides for the Bangsamoro Basic Law, seeking to end the decades-old armed conflict in the war-torn region. On the other hand, the President expressed optimism that he could fix the governments deal with the MNLF, led by its founding chairman Nur Misuari. Maybe in due time with the prayers to our Allah that wed able to fix also the western part and I hope to talk to our brother Nur Misuari on the western side, Duterte said in his speech. I pray for success and the guidance of Allah in our endeavors. Three days ago, the Chief Executive bared he was in a hurry to sign a pact with Misuari. The President has previously ordered Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano, Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process Carlito Galvez to craft a new deal with the MNLF. The details of the agreement, however, have not been released yet. Officials of the BTA on Friday elected a former member of the House of Representatives as speaker of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao interim parliament.Lawyer Pangalian Balindong, former deputy House speaker for Mindanao, will lead the parliament until the regional elections slated in 2022. Earlier, Balindong was appointed by the parliament as deputy speaker of Ghazali Jaafar of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, who was initially designated as assembly speaker. Jaafar, however, died two weeks ago due to a heart ailment in a hospital in Davao City. During a special caucus of the BTA on Thursday, Balindong was unanimously nominated by BTA members to take the place of Jaafar in the parliament. The MILF has 41 representatives to the 80-member BTA, who will work as part of the legislative body of the expanded political entity that came into being, as a result of the government and MILF peace process. The election of Balindong came as the BARMM and BTAs formal launch, with President Duterte in attendance, was set to take place at the Shariff Kabunsuan Complex here Friday afternoon. Also elected as interim parliament deputy speaker was Hatimil Hassan from Basilan while lawyer Laisa Alamia was chosen as minority floor leader. Maguindanao lawyer Lanang Ali Jr. was also elected as majority floor leader while Raby Angkal and Dan Dimakenal Caludtiag, would sit as secretary-general and sergeant-at-arms, respectively, of the BARMM parliament. Earlier, Task Force Bangon Marawi chairperson and housing czar Eduardo del Rosario assured the public that there is no delay in the target completion of the rehabilitation of Marawi City. In a press briefing, Del Rosario said the government is still on target with respect to its timetable for completion of the rebuilding of the war-torn city by December 2021, noting that it will be completed within the term of President Duterte. We have been hearing some critics that we are somewhat delayed in the rehabilitation of Marawi City. With regards to our timetable of completion, there is no delay, he said. We are still confident that by December of 2021, the rehabilitation of Marawi City will be almost complete, he added. Del Rosario said early recovery activities will take about six months to one year, while actual recovery will commence a year after. Early recovery interventions on relief assistance, livelihood, health and sanitation, education, peace-building, shelter, and so forth were all undertaken from six months to one year, he said. The task force, he said, is expected to complete the clearing of unexploded explosive ordnance by August and debris management by September. Meanwhile, road construction will begin in July. He further noted that in cleared areas, residents will be allowed to repair their houses as early as July. Those whose houses were slightly damaged, we will allow them to rebuild, provided they will secure building or repair permit from the city government, he said. Del Rosario said that rehabilitation of Marawi City will be known as the R.I.S.E. plan of the Marawi Rehabilitation R.I.S.E. stands for resiliency, identity, sustainability, and evolution. There is no empty promise. We are moving forward and we are on track. We are not delayed in as far as the final rehabilitation will be completed, he said. With PNA READ: UN body ready to help BARMM chart devt course There is no empty promise. We are moving forward and we are on track. We are not delayed in as far as the final rehabilitation will be completed, he said.

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Algiers (AFP) - Anti-government protesters thronged the streets of Algeria's capital and other cities on Friday, saying moves by top loyalists to abandon ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika were not enough.

While there were no official figures, security sources said hundreds of thousands turned out in Algiers and that marches were held in at least 44 of the North African country's 48 provinces.

For a sixth successive Friday, the huge numbers turned out despite a string of loyalists deserting the president and calling for him to step down and make way for a government-led change of leadership.

Activists angrily rejected those moves as desperate bids by key figures in Bouteflika's entourage to salvage their own grip on power and demanded that they too quit.

"Bouteflika you go, take Gaid Salah with you," and "FLN out" protesters in the capital shouted, referring to the armed forces chief of staff and the president's party.

Crowds of demonstrators, many of them young but also including army veterans of Algeria's 1990s civil war, packed the square outside the main post office, which has become the epicentre of protests.

"We're fed up with those in power," the demonstrators chanted. "We want a new government".

Some waved the green, white and red Algerian flag or draped it over their shoulders, while others held banners with slogans and cartoons.

Some made lengthy journeys to take part in the protest.

"We're here to issue a final appeal to those in power: 'Take your bags and go'," said Amin, a 45-year-old who travelled to the capital from the port of Bejaia, nearly 200 kilometres (125 miles) away.

After hours on the streets of Algiers, protesters dispersed late afternoon.

Earlier this month, 82-year-old Bouteflika, who uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, said he would not stand for re-election -- but also postponed the April vote.

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His move angered Algerians who saw it as a ploy by those around him to extend his two decades in power. Tens of thousands again took to the streets demanding his immediate ouster.

- Allies distance themselves -

Faced with persistent public anger, a succession of veteran Bouteflika loyalists deserted the president this week.

On Tuesday, chief of staff General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who was appointed by Bouteflika in 2004, called for him to step down or be declared medically unfit.

The chief of staff cited Article 102 of the constitution, under which a president can be removed if found unfit to rule.

Long a faithful Bouteflika supporter, Gaid Salah said on television it was "imperative" to find a way out of the crisis "which responds to the legitimate demands" of the people in line with the constitution.

Article 102 puts the onus on the president either to resign or be declared unfit to govern by a vote of parliament due to a "serious and durable illness".

Since then, other voices have emerged from Bouteflika's own camp seeking his ouster.

On Wednesday, Bouteflika's longtime coalition partner, the National Rally for Democracy (RND) of former prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia, also called for him to step down.

The RND said it "recommends the resignation of the president... with the aim of smoothing the period of transition," in a statement signed by its leader Ouyahia.

A longtime supporter of the veteran president, the unpopular Ouyahia served as Bouteflika's prime minister three times since 2003 before being sacrificed on March 11 in a vain bid to calm the intensifying protests.

- 'All of you go' -

The head of the powerful General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA), Abdelmadjid Sidi Said, also welcomed the army chief's call on Wednesday.

Applying Article 102 would constitute "the legal framework capable of overcoming the political crisis facing our country," he said.

Thursday saw the resignation of the president of Algeria's Business Leaders Forum, Ali Hadad, widely seen as a political tool of Bouteflika who had come under harsh criticism from protesters.

But the idea of Bouteflika's inner circle retaining their grip on power through a substitute leader drew short shrift from Friday's protesters.

Some chose humour to convey their rejection of the call for a government-led transition under Article 102.

"102 -- that number is out of service," said one placard held up by the crowd outside the main post office and telephone exchange. "Please call the people."

Others raised a banner saying: "We demand the implementation of Article 2019: All of you go."
By Peter Szekely

March 29 (Reuters) - A California man was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in federal prison for making hoax calls, including a so-called "swatting" incident where Kansas police responded to a false report and fatally shot an unarmed man, prosecutors said.

Tyler Barriss, 26, of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty last November in U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kansas, to charges stemming from the December 2017 incident as well as dozens of similar hoax calls in which no one was hurt.

"I hope that this prosecution and lengthy sentence sends a strong message that will put an end to the juvenile and reckless practice of swatting within the gaming community, as well as in any other context," U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in a statement.

Swatting refers to a prank in which a caller falsely reports an emergency that requires a police response, usually by Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT, teams.

The Kansas case arose from a spat between two online video gamers, Shane Gaskill, 20, of Wichita and Casey Viner, 19, from a suburb of Cincinnati, prosecutors said. Both pleaded not guilty last June to federal charges against them.

Viner is scheduled for a hearing next Wednesday at which he is expected to plead guilty to charges in the case, court documents showed. Gaskill is set to go on trial in Wichita on April 23.

While playing an online video game on Dec. 28, 2017, Viner got upset at Gaskill and contacted Barriss, a known swatter, to punish him, federal prosecutors said.

Viner gave Barriss an address he believed was Gaskill's, not knowing that Gaskill had given him a phony address in Wichita, authorities said.

Barriss admitted making the hoax calls to Wichita police. Authorities said he used a false name to report that he shot and killed his father, was holding his mother and brother at gunpoint, and was threatening to set fire to the address he received from Viner and commit suicide.

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When Wichita police arrived at the address, an officer shot and killed Andrew Finch, 28, as he stood at the front door of his home.

Barriss, who pleaded guilty to making a false report resulting in a death, cyberstalking and conspiracy, also admitted to making numerous hoax bomb threats in several other states, the District of Columbia and Canada.

Barriss had also faced state charges in Kansas, but a spokesman for the Sedgwick County Office of the District Attorney said in an email on Friday they were being dismissed following his federal sentencing. (Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Diane Craft)
By Elizabeth Piper, Kylie MacLellan and Andrew MacAskill LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May failed to sway hardline opponents of her European Union divorce deal on Wednesday with an offer to quit, but parliament's bid to agree an alternative fell short, leaving the Brexit process as deadlocked as ever. May told her Conservative lawmakers she would step down if her Brexit deal was finally passed by parliament at the third attempt, in a last-ditch bid to win over many of her party's eurosceptic rebels. But some were unmoved and the Northern Irish party crucial to getting the agreement through said it would reject the deal again. Britain was supposed to leave the bloc on Friday but Brussels agreed last week to put back the divorce date until April 12 to give it a chance to resolve a three-year crisis that has split the country down the middle. However, it still remains uncertain how, when or even whether the United Kingdom, the world's fifth-biggest economy, will leave the EU. The possibilities that it will leave with no deal to soften the shock to its economy, or delay the departure date to hold a general election, have increased as other options fade. While May's deal continued to stumble, an attempt by parliament to take control of the process by holding a series of indicative votes on other options produced no immediate way through the impasse. None of the proposals, many of which involved closer alignment with the EU than May envisages, won the support of a majority of lawmakers. "In a spectacular display of indecision, the House of Commons has voted against remaining in the EU and every version of leaving the EU," tweeted James Cleverly, the Conservative Party's deputy chairman. Nevertheless, some proposals fared better than May's deal had done two weeks ago, and parliament was due to hold more indicative votes on Monday after refining the options most likely to secure a majority. DESIRE FOR NEW APPROACH Many Conservative eurosceptics had made clear they would only consider supporting May's deal if she gave a firm commitment to resign, hoping a new leader would be more sympathetic to their views when negotiating the terms of Britain's future relationship with the EU. "I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party," May told a meeting of Conservative lawmakers (MPs). "I know there is a desire for a new approach  and new leadership  in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations  and I won't stand in the way of that." But within hours of May's offer, the Democratic Unionist Party, which props up her minority government, said it would vote against the deal if May brought it back a third time. "We're in a situation where we cannot sign up to the Withdrawal Agreement," DUP leader Arlene Foster said. The government gave itself the option of bringing May's deal back to parliament on Friday, although speaker John Bercow repeated his warning that he would not allow a third vote unless the motion had changed substantially since its last defeat. May, who voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, had already promised to step down before the next election, due in 2022. Her deal, defeated in parliament by 149 votes on March 12 and by 230 votes on Jan. 15, means Britain would leave the EU single market and customs union as well as EU political bodies. But it requires some EU rules to apply unless ways can be found in the future to ensure no border posts need to be rebuilt between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. Many Conservative rebels and the DUP object to this "Irish backstop", saying it risks binding Britain to the EU for years. To succeed, May needs at least 75 lawmakers to come over to her side. After the ERG met, a spokesman said: "There is no way enough votes are coming out of that room to put the (Withdrawal Agreement) through." 'IT WAS INEVITABLE' While May was addressing her lawmakers, MPs in the main chamber debated eight other Brexit options, ranging from leaving abruptly with no deal to revoking the divorce altogether. While there was no majority support for any, the option calling for a referendum on any departure deal, and another suggesting a UK-wide customs union with the EU, won more votes than May's deal did two weeks ago. Oliver Letwin, a Conservative former cabinet minister who led parliament's unusual power grab, said it had been expected that none would immediately win a majority, and lawmakers would have another chance on Monday. The uncertainty around Britain's most significant political and economic change since World War Two has left allies and investors aghast. Sterling dipped after Wednesday's events. If May's deal were to pass, her office said there would be a contest to replace her after May 22, when Britain would leave the EU. She would also become the fourth Conservative prime minister in a row to have fallen foul of divisions over Europe within her centuries-old party, following David Cameron, John Major and Margaret Thatcher. Most voters think the Brexit negotiation has been handled badly and there may now be a slight majority for staying in the EU, recent polls suggest. Many Conservative MPs say May herself has caused the chaos by not negotiating harder with the EU. "It was inevitable and I just feel she's made the right decision. She has actually read the mood of the party, which was a surprise," said Conservative lawmaker Pauline Latham. (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden; additional reporting by Paul Sandle, Kate Holton, William Schomberg, Elisabeth O'Leary, Costas Pitas, Alistair Smout, Andy Bruce, David Milliken and James Davey; Editing by David Clarke and Kevin Liffey)
NEW CITY, N.Y.  Rockland County Executive Ed Day cited a jump in the number of measles vaccines given in the New York county in the three days since his state of emergency was called as proof of its success in tackling the county's measles outbreak.

"We have heard anecdotally that the declaration is having an effect," Day said during a news conference with Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert. "We've heard this from doctors' offices, pediatricians and parents."

Day added: "Public health experts agree that this was the next logical step to deal with this outbreak."

He called Rockland "ahead of the curve" in comparison with Brooklyn, where he said there were 31 new measles cases reported this week.

"This is not going to happen here in Rockland County," he insisted. "The reason we took action was because the trajectory of success was starting to alter."

County Executive Ed Day, right, with Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert and County Attorney Thomas Humbach give an update regarding the effects of the State of Emergency Declaration in New City on Friday, March 29, 2019.

On Tuesday, the county executive announced the emergency declaration would start at midnight. It bans anyone who is under 18 and not vaccinated against the highly contagious virus from public places including schools, places of worship, shopping centers and restaurants. Outdoor gathering places are not included.

March 28: 'Extraordinary': 5 states fight measles outbreak as N.Y. county bans unvaxxed minors in public

March 28: Anti-vaxxers open door for measles, mumps, other old-time diseases back from near extinction

Of the total number of measles cases, 83.7 percent, or 128 people, were 18 or younger.

More than 17,400 vaccines had been given out since the outbreak began in October. Of that number, Day said almost 500 had been administered since he announced the state of emergency Tuesday.

The number of measles cases since October is up to 157, Ruppert said Friday, though there are fewer than 10 active cases. She said there are likely more cases that have not been reported and that's a problem.

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#Rockland health commish says there are likely more #measles cases that have not been reported and says thats a problem @lohud pic.twitter.com/pe9WBGXNyV  nancy cutler (@nancyrockland) March 29, 2019

"Weve had excellent cooperation from the community, Ruppert said, referring to the Orthodox Jewish community around Monsey and Spring Valley where most of the measles cases have occurred. If you have any ideas, Im open to suggestions," she said in response to a question about outreach.

Day said there are no religious exemptions to vaccines in the Jewish and Catholic faiths, and said medical exemptions were the only legitimate reasons for parents to not have their children vaccinated.

"We are not here to be in the way of families and their doctor, but we are here to understand that we are not going to allow measles or communicable diseases to infect the population." he said.

The emergency order forbids schools from allowing unvaccinated students to attend based on religious exemptions. This has resulted in a range of 11 to 50 children per district missing classes in Rockland's public schools, said Scott Salotto, communications director for Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).

March 27: What to know about the measles outbreak, affecting over 150 in New York county

March 26: New York county declares state of emergency for measles, bans unvaccinated minors from public places

Day said he was putting the onus on schools to close any gaps in vaccination rates that may have opened over time.

"I'm asking the schools to revisit their efforts in that area to ensure that they are complying with the law," he said. "There are sections in the law that require them to revisit the initial objections that were raised, the initial exemptions."

Day said he expects some continued resistance from anti-vaccination quarters.

People believe a certain way. To crack that nut is very difficult, the county executive said.

There have been no arrests or enforcement patrols since the order went into effect.

"That's not the purpose of what we're doing," Day said of potential arrests. "We're putting the force of law behind what we're doing."

Serious complications

Ruppert touted the MMR vaccine's safety and efficiency, and listed the serious and potentially deadly complications from measles, including dehydration, diarrhea pneumonia and encephalitis.

She said earlier this week that 10 percent of the measles cases since the outbreak began had serious medical complications, including intensive care unit visits and a pregnant woman's premature delivery in which the baby was born with measles.

"The vaccine is safe, and we keep bringing that message forward and I think little by little we're getting to those who certainly have been on the fence," she said. "Those who have delayed vaccination or weren't sure, that's the group we're getting to, that's a larger group."

The state of emergency has drawn international attention and has landed the county in the middle of social media battles over the vaccination issue.

When asked by a media outlet in Italy whether others should do a measles emergency, Day said this was tailored to Rockland's particular circumstances.

Clinic draws few

A county-run vaccination clinic on Wednesday drew only about 30 people. But some local pediatricians saw a spike in reluctant parents who were vaccinating because of the emergency order.

On Thursday, an anti-vaccination rally publicized on social media drew a crowd of about 10 protesters to the Palisades Center in West Nyack. The protesters, most of whom were from outside Rockland, called Day's order a government overreach.

Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert gives an update regarding the effects of the State of Emergency Declaration in New City on Friday, March 29, 2019.

Others said the order targets and stigmatizes the Jewish population.

Day said the protesters were "misled by junk science and misinformation."

The ban will last until the declaration expires in 30 days or until people are vaccinated. Children with medical exemptions are not included in the ban.

Day pointed out that Rockland's measles outbreak first began after the Jewish holidays in the fall, and wanted to get as many people immunized as possible before Passover and Easter.

Measles in New Jersey

Despite several spikes of the virus in New Jersey, health department officials there say they have no plans to follow Rockland Countys emergency order.

As of last week, New Jersey had eight confirmed measles cases so far this year, and six of those were related to an ongoing outbreak in Ocean County, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. Two other cases in Bergen and Essex counties were isolated outbreaks related to international travel, health department officials said.

The stubborn outbreak peaked last year when 33 people, mostly in Ocean County and a family in Passaic County, were sickened with measles.

Follow Robert Brum on Twitter: @Bee_bob

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Measles emergency: New York county officials claim success as vaccines rise
Warren Buffett has told Yahoo Finance he would bet a lot of money that no company offers a better employee March Madness contest than Berkshire Hathaway. I cant prove it, because you could have some private company, he says. But I dont think theres anything like this. Its like we have our Christmas party at a different time of year. Buffett began offering the contest in 2016.

Indeed, it is unlikely there is any other company that gives employees the chance to win $1 million every year for lifebut thats if someone perfectly predicts the Sweet Sixteen. Short of that happening, Berkshires contest ends when the last remaining perfect bracket goes bust.

This year, that moment came after the first 23 games of the tournament, on Friday afternoon of the first round, when 12-seed Oregon beat 5-seed Wisconsin. (The 2017 contest winner was perfect through 29 games.) Two Berkshire employees lasted until the same game, so they will split the $100,000 prize. The irony: One of the winners, 36-year-old Adam Allie of BNSF Railroad, says he is an Oregon Ducks fan. Betting against the team busted his bracket.

Contest winner Adam Allie and his sons Max, Lincoln, Dash and Samuel, with his grandfather Ezra. (Courtesy: Adam Allie)

In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Allie says he probably spent two minutes filling out his $50,000 bracket. He only entered the contest because a friend urged him to do it during their morning van ride to work. I looked over it fast, picked off the top of my head, Allie says. (The other winner, from the Berkshire-owned R.V. company Forest River, declined to be interviewed.)

Berkshires contest administrator sends out detailed comedic (think pun-filled) updates to the entire contest after every single game, announcing exactly how many perfect brackets remain. Many of the people in the contest follow the updates religiously.

Allie says he didnt read a single update and never checked his bracket, until a coworker called him to say congratulations on winning.

I had no idea what he was talking about and thought he was just messing with me, Allie says. And then I started getting calls from other people I work with. My wife didn't believe it either, she thought I was messing with her. But she's super happy about it. Very grateful.

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Allie lives in Sioux Falls, S.D., with his wife and four sons. He has worked for BNSF since 2014 on track maintenance, replacing railroad ties. And he says the prize money is going straight to paying off bills and fixing up his basement, which flooded over the summer. Whatever is left, he says, Ill put away for winter. This gives us a little nest egg for the wintertime.



Daniel Roberts is the sports business writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.

Read more:

Americans will bet $8.5 billion on March Madnessmost of it still illegal

Nike stock slips as Duke basketball star rips sneaker open

Meet the West Virginia steelworker who won $100,000 in Warren Buffetts March Madness contest

Warren Buffett: Id bet a lot of money no company offers a better March Madness pool than mine
The father of a missing California boy who hasnt been seen since early March is now accused of murdering him, police announced at a Thursday press conference  and chilling new court filings provide insight into the alleged abuse the child endured.

The disappearance of Noah McIntosh, 8, is now considered a no-body homicide, Riverside County District Attorney Mark Hestrin said at the press conference.

Bryce Daniel McIntosh, 32, is charged with first-degree murder with a special circumstance of torture, which makes him eligible for the death penalty, Hestrin said.

According to a court filing obtained by multiple outlets  including the Washington Post and ABC News  police allege that McIntosh bought gloves, acid, drain opener and a trash can on March 4.

On the same day, he allegedly searched online for normal heart rate for 8 year old. Police allege he also searched for information about sodium hydroxide, a corrosive chemical that can dissolve flesh.

Noahs older sister allegedly told police how her father abused the boy by handcuffing him the bathtub as punishment.

McIntosh had been in custody since March 13 along with the boys mother, 36-year-old Jillian Godfrey, on felony child abuse charges, according to jail records.

Corona police Chief George Johnstone said police collect[ed] trace evidence that leave[s] no doubt that Noah is indeed the victim of a homicide, though authorities declined to provide further details.

Bryce McIntosh | AP/REX/Shutterstock

On March 12, Godfrey contacted police saying she hadnt seen Noah for almost two weeks, Johnstone said.

Noahs parents lived apart, and a search of McIntoshs apartment the next day allegedly gave police probable cause to arrest both parents, Johnstone said.

 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.

Police did not discuss a motive.

Johnstone said Noahs parents have not been helpful with the investigation, describing it as a point of frustration with the investigation, that the father has not been cooperative and the mother has very limited information. It does not make sense that the parents of an 8-year-old child do not know his whereabouts or be able to give us specific details as to where he was last seen, or where he last was.

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Jillian Godfrey | AP/REX/Shutterstock

Last Sunday night, hundreds of local residents gathered for a vigil honoring Noah, where they wore blue, his favorite color, ABC7 reports.

We felt helpless, Corona resident Rhonda Leafstone told the station. No child deserves to go through any abuse.

Neighbor Brooklynn Swope told NBC Los Angeles, To me, Noah brought joy every time I saw him.

McIntosh is being held without bail and Godfreys bail is $500,000.

It was not immediately clear if they have retained attorneys. The Press-Enterprise reports both have not yet been arraigned and have not yet entered pleas.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Senior Detective Mario Hernandez at 951-279-3659 or at mario.hernandez@coronaca.gov. The cars California license-plate number is 5MKE807.
A 36-year-old mom who inspired thousands to raise funds for her potentially lifesaving cancer treatments has died two years after she was diagnosed with the deadly disease following the birth of her daughter, the Jersey Evening Post reported.

In March 2017, Laura Cafferty of the U.K. was diagnosed with terminal leiomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that affects smooth muscle tissue and can form almost anywhere in the body. While a tumor was initially discovered in her leg just months after giving birth to her daughter, Maya, the cancer continued to spread after she underwent chemotherapy treatment. Doctors informed Cafferty and her husband, Karl, that the mother of one would have only two years to live.

In an effort to save her life, more than 1,600 donors contributed nearly $100,000 to the familys GoFundMe page.

I have tried to remain so positive and battle through each week but with each knock back its shaken me a bit, Cafferty, 36, wrote in an update in September 2017. I am scared to get my hopes up. 

She added: The tests alone, without treatment, in UK and Germany are costing over [$26,000] so this would not be possible without your very generous donations.

According to the Evening Post, Cafferty and her family would eventually visit Mexico twice for treatment and explored therapies in Germany.

The reason I am fighting so hard is for my little girl, Cafferty told the ITV Channel for World Cancer Day earlier this year. She is two. She needs her mum around. We are a happy little family and we need to stay that way.

In a heartbreaking update to the donation page this week, it was announced that Cafferty passed away at home while surrounded by family on March 25.

We want to thank you all for your amazing and generous donations, the post reads. Thank you for all the kind messages and support. Laura was so lucky to be loved by so many and she will be greatly missed. For now, all we can do is offer our support and love to Karl and Maya.

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Laura, Karl and Maya Cafferty | GoFundMe

RELATED: Father with Cancer Miraculously Lives to See Birth of Twin Sons Before Dying: He Was So Happy

After the announcement, many left tributes to the mother of one on the familys Facebook page.

One of the most beautiful kindest, happiest, passionate, determined people I have ever met, wrote Carla Inglis. With a smile that lights up a room and a laugh thats so infectious, our time working together will always be in my memories.

Added Louisa Roberts Ferguson: Im heartbroken! What an unbelievable fight you fought Laura and when Maya is old enough to understand shell be so proud of what a strong mummy she had and how much she loved you and your daddy.

Funeral services would be held on April 9 near Caffertys home in Jersey, and the family has requested donations be made to Jersey Cancer Relief in her memory.
SILLY SEASON STARTS. A woman walks past campaign posters of local politicians and party-list groups on a fence along Harrison Street in Pasay City on Friday, as the official campaign period for the midterm local elections begins. Lino Santos

The Commission on Elections said Friday it fears the 2019 election period may hamper the release of cash aid to drought-affected farmers due to a law stopping the government from disbursing public funds during an election.The Comelec has repeatedly reminded all political candidates from giving cash assistance to constituents, which could be used to accuse them of an election offense. Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police said Friday it had deployed personnel across the country to ensure peace and order as the local campaign period began. As of today, the peace and order [situation] in the country is generally peaceful, and we see that hopefully this will be maintained until election day on May 13, said PNP Spokesman Police Col. Bernard Banac. He told ANCs Headstart that the PNP hd deployed personnel who were ready to respond to any eventuality. He also said there were 941 areas nationwide declared as election hotspots.Comelec spokesman James Jimenez spoke of an election rule against releasing government funds during the election period. But he said exemptions could be made depending on the situation. He said the unauthorized release of public funds may be directly or indirectly considered a violation of the election code. Office of Civil Defense Administrator Ricardo Jalad said extending cash assistance to farmers affected by the drought had become difficult during the campaign season. We need the approval from the Comelec in the release of cash assistance to affected farmers, Jalad said in a radio interview. He said the national government could put additional funds should local government funds for calamities fade out.
A migrant caravan passes through Guatemala in October 2018. Another is en route through Mexico, and yet another large one believed to be forming in Honduras - REUTERS

Mexicos interior minister has warned that the mother of all migrant caravans is gathering in Honduras, as President Donald Trump again threatened to seal the US-Mexican border.

Olga Sanchez-Cordero said the caravan, forming in the Central American nation, was 20,000-strong. Another caravan of roughly 2,500 migrants is currently heading north.

Mexican officials announced that the government is was seeking to set up a "containment" belt of federal forces across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which is the narrowest part of the country's south and the easiest to control.

The governments of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the United States on Thursday announced they had agreed to a series of measures, including joint police work, improved border security, and efforts to deter international crime and curb "irregular migration."

Mr Trump, however, insisted on Thursday that more should be done.

"May close the Southern Border!" the president tweeted.

Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country. They are all talk and no action. Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing. The Dems dont care, such BAD laws. May close the Southern Border!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019

"Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country. They are all talk and no action.

"Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing. The Dems don't care, such BAD laws."

The new threat to shut one of the world's busiest borders, separating two countries with massive economic and cultural links, shows Mr Trump is doubling down on his bid to make immigration a keystone of the gathering 2020 re-election campaign.

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Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mr Trumps Mexican counterpart, rejected the criticism, saying on Thursday: "We are doing something on this issue."

He added: "We are going to help in every way we can. We don't in any way want a confrontation with the United States."

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, president of Mexico

But Mr Lopez Obrador, who during his electoral campaign last year trod a fine line between standing up for Mexico and avoiding antagonising Mr Trump, said a solution would depend on "fundamentally addressing the causes of migration."

Kevin McAleenan, border protection agency commissioner, said on Wednesday that the southwestern frontier faces "an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis."

The border agency took in more than 12,000 migrants this week, it said, while just half that number would be considered already reaching "crisis level."

The agency is on track to detain more than 100,000 people in March - the highest monthly total in a decade.

Attempts to get across the border into the United States illegally are down substantially from a decade or more ago, but the last year has seen a surge.

Furthermore, the trend of arrivals has changed from single men to families and often small children - greatly complicating the task of authorities in providing basic services to detained migrants, while their cases are decided.
It was March 2018, nearly 10 months into his Russia investigation, when special counsel Robert Mueller III, a man of few words, raised the stakes dramatically in a meeting with Donald Trump's lawyers: If the president did not sit down voluntarily for an interview, he could face a subpoena.

In the months that followed, Mr Mueller never explicitly threatened to issue a subpoena as his office pursued a presidential interview, a sit-down for which the special counsel was pushing as late as December.

But with that prospect hanging over them, Mr Trump's legal team conducted a quiet, multi-pronged pressure campaign to avert such an action and keep the president from coming face-to-face with federal investigators - fearful he would perjure himself.

At one point last summer, when a lull in talks had the president's attorneys worried that Mr Mueller was seriously contemplating a subpoena, White House lawyer Emmet Flood wrote a memo laying out the legal arguments for protecting the president's executive privilege. He sent the document to Mr Mueller's office and to the deputy for top Justice Department official Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw the probe, according to two people familiar with Mr Flood's outreach.

Meanwhile, the Trump lawyers sent a steady stream of documents and witnesses to the special counsel, chipping away at Mr Mueller's justification for needing an interview with the president.

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In the end, the decision not to subpoena the president is one of the lingering mysteries of Mr Mueller's 22-month investigation, which concluded last week when he filed a report numbering more than 300 pages.

The special counsel did not find a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but - in an unusual move - failed to come to a decision about whether Mr Trump obstructed justice, according to a summary of the Mueller report released by attorney general William Barr. An interview with the president would have been pivotal to helping assess whether the president had corrupt intent, a key element of such a charge, legal experts said.

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It is an open question whether a subpoena would have survived the court challenge Mr Trump's lawyers say they would have waged. The Supreme Court has never issued definitive guidance on issuing a subpoena to a president, but had Mr Mueller pursued one, the courts could have established a precedent for future presidents.

In assessing whether to pursue such a high-stakes move, the special counsel was not operating with complete autonomy. That was a contrast with predecessors such as Kenneth Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton and had broad leeway under the now-expired independent counsel statute.

But Mr Mueller was supervised by Mr Rosenstein, a Trump appointee. The special counsel, Mr Rosenstein noted in one letter to a Republican senator, "remains accountable like every other subordinate."

Mr Rosenstein himself was under intense political pressure: Mr Trump mused about firing the one-time George W Bush appointee and former US attorney for Maryland, whom he derided at one point as "the Democrat from Baltimore." And House conservatives threatened to impeach Mr Rosenstein, accusing him of withholding information about the Russia probe.

Internal Justice Department discussions about whether to subpoena the president - including Mr Rosenstein's views on such an action - remain tightly held.

In the final months of the probe, there was upheaval in the department's leadership. Mr Trump ousted attorney general Jeff Sessions, who had recused himself from the investigation. He was replaced temporarily by his former chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who was publicly critical of the special counsel before joining the department.

A month before Mr Mueller submitted his report, Mr Barr was confirmed as attorney general. He had questioned Mr Mueller's obstruction-of-justice inquiry in a June 2018 memo to Mr Rosenstein months before his appointment, writing that "Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the President submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction."

If Mr Mueller wanted to push for a subpoena, he did not force the issue with Justice Department leaders. Mr Barr told lawmakers last week that no decision the special counsel wanted to take was vetoed during the investigation.

The Justice Department and the special counsel's office declined to comment.

More answers could be revealed in Mr Mueller's full report, which House Democrats are pushing Mr Barr to release.

What is known is that the president's lawyers now believe keeping their client from sitting down with investigators was their greatest victory.

"The president would not have helped his case had he gone in," said Mark Corallo, a former spokesperson for Mr Trump's legal team. "No lawyer worth his salt would let that happen."

The president was initially inclined to sit for an interview with Mr Mueller. He thought he could deliver a convincing performance and put a swift end to the probe.

Negotiations between the sides began around Thanksgiving 2017, and an interview was scheduled for January 2018, according to a person close to the legal team and a former senior administration official.

But John Dowd, then the president's lead attorney, cancelled the session. He had argued against it because he feared Mr Trump could misspeak or even lie. And a practice session with the president further convinced Mr Dowd that the president could be a problematic interviewee, these people said.

White House officials declined to comment.

Over the next 12 months, Mr Mueller tried repeatedly to reschedule the interview, to no avail.

Mr Trump continued to state publicly that he would be glad to sit for an interview - he believed being seen as willing to talk with prosecutors showed "strength," according to a former administration official with direct knowledge of his thinking. But the president came to agree with his lawyers that doing so would be too risky, especially after former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017, current and former White House aides said.

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said that some of what Mr Trump's legal advisers were hearing from Mr Mueller "raised our suspicion that this is a trap, rather than a search for more information."

As the standoff continued, Mr Mueller's team discussed at length the idea of issuing a subpoena, if necessary, to compel Mr Trump to sit for an interview, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.

The discussions - which included Mr Mueller, his top deputy James Quarles, and prosecutors Michael Dreeben and Aaron Zebley - centred both on whether a subpoena was legally feasible and what the costs of such a move might be to the overall investigation, the person said.

A fight over a presidential subpoena would have been likely to set legal precedent.

Under President Richard Nixon, the US Supreme Court ruled that investigators could subpoena evidence from a sitting president and ordered Nixon to turn over materials including secret recordings made in the Oval Office. That ruling did not, however, address testimony by the president.

When Mr Starr was independent counsel, he issued a subpoena to Mr Clinton ordering the president to testify before a grand jury about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Mr Clinton's team considered challenging the subpoena in court but instead decided that it would be politically damaging to be seen as fighting the investigation. Mr Clinton's lawyers agreed that he would voluntarily sit for an interview, and Mr Starr withdrew the subpoena - leaving open the question of whether a president can be compelled to give testimony.

Robert Ray, a former independent counsel now in private practice at Thompson & Knight, said Mr Mueller's team would have had to weigh whether a subpoena could survive the court challenge that was all but certain to come from the Trump White House.

The Supreme Court has never issued definitive guidance on the question, but in a previous independent counsel investigation, of Mike Espy, an agriculture secretary in the Clinton administration, an appellate court offered some clarity on the bounds of how the White House could fight a subpoena by citing presidential privilege.

On the basis of the precedent from that case - which was focused on documents, rather than an interview  Mr Mueller would have had to demonstrate both a need to subpoena Mr Trump to advance his investigation and show that he could not get the information he sought in any other way, Mr Ray said.

Another major factor was time: Mr Mueller had to consider the likelihood that such a move would bog the investigation down in a lengthy legal battle.

"That's a major fight, and you have to decide whether, in the country's best interests, it's worth it," Mr Ray said.

Mr Mueller broached the topic during a tense meeting on 5 March 2018, at the special counsel offices in Southwest Washington, as Mr Trump's attorneys maintained that the president had no obligation to talk to investigators.

The special counsel noted there was an option if Mr Trump declined: He could be subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, as The Washington Post previously reported.

Mr Dowd erupted angrily.

"You're screwing with the work of the president of the United States," he told Mr Mueller, according to two people briefed on the discussion.

After that meeting, the special counsel team changed its approach: trying to coax Mr Trump to sit for an interview voluntarily.

Prosecutors hoped the president would agree to meet, mindful that they could not explicitly threaten a subpoena unless they were prepared to issue one, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Still, Mr Trump's legal advisers felt after the March meeting that a subpoena threat hung over the president.

"The whole exercise was premised on the idea that that was a legal option they could pursue, and we were never absolutely sure until the end that they would not," said one Trump adviser familiar with the legal negotiations.

That threat governed the president's legal strategy in the months that would follow.

Mr Trump's lawyers left the distinct public impression that they were not an equal match for Mr Mueller, a venerated former FBI director. Mr Dowd and Ty Cobb, another legal adviser to Mr Trump, were overheard by a reporter discussing over lunch at a popular Washington steakhouse how much they would cooperate with Mr Mueller. Mr Giuliani developed a habit of misspeaking in meandering television interviews.

But behind the scenes, Mr Trump's legal advisers had a quiet weapon: a husband-and-wife pair of criminal lawyers, Jane and Martin Raskin, who brought rigor and regimen to the team when they came aboard in April 2018.

While Mr Giuliani and attorney Jay Sekulow managed the public relations strategy, the Raskins did most of the lawyering from a temporary office they set up in Washington. They declined to comment.

Mr Giuliani said that roughly 80 per cent of the Trump team's interactions with the special counsel's office were handled by Jane Raskin, who has known both Mr Mueller and Mr Quarles for years. She knew Mr Mueller from her time as a federal prosecutor in Boston, while her husband had worked with Mr Quarles.

She communicated mostly by email, developing a written record that Mr Trump's attorneys intended to use as evidence of their cooperation and responsiveness if they ended up in court fighting a subpoena.

Martin Raskin, meanwhile, did a great deal of the writing and editing of legal arguments, including a "counter report" defending the president that Mr Giuliani said has been prepared but may never be released.

Central to the Trump strategy - developed first by Mr Cobb and Mr Dowd and later carried out by Mr Giuliani, Mr Sekulow and the Raskins, as well as Mr Flood, who from his White House perch represented the office of the presidency - was to cooperate fully with every request for documents and witnesses from Mr Mueller, including Mr Trump's written answers to some questions.

Their goal: to satisfy Mr Mueller's hunt for information to the extent that the special counsel would not have legal standing to subpoena the president's oral testimony.

"We allowed them to question everybody, and they turned over every document they were asked for: 1.4 million documents," Mr Giuliani said. "We had what you would call unprecedented cooperation."

Mr Trump's lawyers, citing the independent counsel investigation of Mr Espy, argued that to justify a subpoena of Mr Trump, Mr Mueller needed to prove he could not get the information in any way other than by asking the president.

"No matter what question they would say they wanted to ask, I felt confident we could turn it over and say, 'You already have the answer to it,'" Mr Giuliani said. "If they said, 'Why did you fire Comey?' I'd give them five interviews, and particularly the Lester Holt tape, where he goes into great detail as to his reasons."

Mr Giuliani was referring to Mr Trump's May 2017 interview with the NBC Nightly News anchor in which the president said he was thinking about "this Russia thing" when he fired James Comey as FBI director, one of the actions Mr Mueller was investigating as possible obstruction of justice.

All the while, Mr Giuliani said, the legal team was not convinced that it would have prevailed in court. "Honestly, I don't know who would have won," he said. "I think our argument got better as time went on. But I don't know if we would have won."

As Mr Mueller's lawyers quietly laboured, a political storm was raging around them.

Mr Trump, his lawyers and his allies in Congress routinely attacked Mr Mueller and his investigators as compromised and corrupt. The president repeatedly urged an end to the probe, which he condemned as a "witch hunt," a "fraud" and a "hoax" that was wasting taxpayer money.

Mr Rosenstein urged lawmakers to respect the confidential work of the special counsel, saying in a June 2018 letter to senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, then the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the probe would comply with all laws and Justice Department policies.

But Mr Rosenstein also noted that Mr Mueller was not an entirely independent actor - and that his work was being closely supervised.

"Under the terms of his appointment, both by statute and by regulation, special counsel Mueller remains accountable like every other subordinate Department official," Mr Rosenstein wrote.

A few months later, Mr Flood sent his memo on the scope of executive privilege. While it made broad arguments, the document could have been construed to pertain to Mr Mueller's push to interview the president, according to someone with knowledge of the contents.

Notably, Mr Flood sent the memo not just to Mr Mueller's office, but also to Mr Rosenstein by way of his top deputy, Edward O'Callaghan.

Mr Flood declined to comment.

As each month passed without a subpoena, the president's attorneys increasingly doubted that Mr Mueller would seek to obtain one, according to people with knowledge of internal discussions.

Mr Mueller's team kept insisting it needed to interview the president - but never followed through with an actual demand.

Mr Mueller and Mr Quarles would stress that they needed to know Mr Trump's intentions when he fired Mr Comey and took other actions that could have thwarted the Russia investigation. Jane Raskin would respond by pressing them for a legal justification for seeking to interview the president, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The president's team asked, "What evidence have you obtained that justifies you interviewing the president?" according the person, who added that Mr Mueller's office was "never able to articulate a compelling case. They never gave up asking, but they had no good answer for that question."

In the absence of an interview, Mr Trump's attorneys offered Mr Mueller a substitute: The president would provide answers to a set of questions about Russia and the campaign, submitted in writing. But, citing executive privilege, they refused to provide answers to questions pertaining to the president's time in office - questions that went to the heart of the special counsel's inquiry into possible obstruction of justice.

However, the process of compiling answers dragged. Mr Trump's lawyers found it difficult to get the president to focus on drafting the submission, according to people familiar with the sessions. Mr Trump's meetings with his lawyers were frequently interrupted by phone calls and other White House business.

Finally, in late November 2018, the lawyers sent Mr Trump's answers to Mr Mueller.

In December, Mr Mueller's team made one more request for an interview with the president.

And in January, the special counsel's office contacted Mr Trump's lawyers to ask some follow-up questions, according to people familiar with the request.

But Mr Trump's lawyers again declined. They neither agreed to an interview nor answered the additional questions.

Two months later, Mr Mueller submitted his report without having spoken to the president. The investigation was over.

The Washington Post
By Eric M. Johnson, Alwyn Scott and Allison Lampert

SEATTLE/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co said it will submit by the end of this week a training package that 737 MAX pilots are required to take before a worldwide ban can be lifted, proposing as it did before two deadly crashes that those pilots do not need time on flight simulators to safely operate the aircraft.

In making that assessment, the world's largest planemaker is doubling down on a strategy it promoted to American Airlines Group Inc and other customers years ago. Boeing told airlines their pilots could switch from the older 737NG to the new MAX without costly flight simulator training and without compromising on safety, three former Boeing employees said.

At the time billions of dollars in plane orders hung on Boeing's ability to deliver a new plane that matched European rival Airbus SE in performance but kept changes and training for pilots converting from a previous model to a minimum. Airbus had already booked hundreds of orders for its A320neo jet, which came to market nine months ahead of Boeing.

At Boeing's factory in Renton, Washington, managers told engineers working on the MAX, including its anti-stall system known as MCAS, their designs could not trigger Level C or D training designations from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the three former Boeing employees and a senior industry executive with knowledge of MAX development told Reuters. Otherwise, pilots would have to spend time in simulators before flying the new planes. Instead pilots will need to complete a roughly 30-minute training program on a computer.

"Boeing said all along that we believe that we can design this new MAX with all the fuel efficiencies and design improvements over the NG and it will only require Level B training," said a former Boeing test pilot with direct knowledge of the matter, referring to an earlier iteration of the 737 jetliner.

Level B training does not involve simulators.

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On Wednesday, Boeing outlined a series of changes to the MCAS system. It continues to believe existing emergency protocols allow pilots to correct a runaway stabilizer, which can be caused by a MCAS failure among other things. Boeing says its new changes give pilots more authority. (Graphic: Understanding controls on the Boeing 737 MAX, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2OjLSAt)

SYSTEM UNDER SCRUTINY

The amount and quality of training that Boeing and airlines provided to 737 MAX pilots is one of the issues as investigators around the world try to determine the causes of two 737 MAX crashes within five months that claimed 346 lives. All 737 MAX airliners are grounded until regulators around the world approve the new software and training protocols.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Boeing's development process and what Boeing disclosed about MCAS.

A Boeing spokeswoman said the company followed industry standards and conducted thorough safety analyses in designing the MAX flight controls and other systems.

"The design and certification of the MCAS flight control law adhered to these processes and assumptions," she said.

The decisions to avoid simulator training had their roots in the company's decision under intense pressure from the aircraft market over a weekend in 2011 to change strategy and outfit an upgraded 737 with more efficient engines similar to those on the new Airbus, rather than build an all-new design.

The new 737 MAX engines had to be mounted further forward on the wing, raising the risk that the plane's nose would tilt up, threatening a stall in some situations.

MCAS was designed to automatically and powerfully push the nose down if data from an "angle of attack" sensor mounted near the front of the plane showed risk of a stall.

Former Boeing engineers who worked on MCAS said there was no pressure to compromise safety. After analyzing solutions for MCAS, Boeing's engineers chose a simpler design for solving the jet's pitch-up tendency, according to the three former Boeing employees and an industry executive with knowledge of the decision.

"It wasn't necessarily the simplest way to get around the regulations," said Mike Renzelmann, a former Boeing engineer who worked on flight controls on the 737 MAX. "It was the safest way to get around the regulations."

MCAS was just one of many so-called control laws on the 737 MAX, a few lines of code embedded into the flight control system.

"It's always a balance between complexity and availability of the function. The more complex you make something, the more likely it is to be unavailable when you need it," a Boeing official said.

LAST LINE OF DEFENSE Boeing rated MCAS a "hazardous" risk, an FAA term that means multiple deaths could result if the system failed, the Boeing official said. That is a step below "catastrophic," which could cause loss of the plane and death of all on board.

Boeing's rationale was that trained pilots would know how to respond if MCAS failed, the official said. Long-established procedures for runaway stabilizer trim would prompt pilots to shut down MCAS, whether they knew it existed or not.

Under FAA rules, hazardous risks are allowed to happen more frequently than catastrophic ones.

One industry source familiar with plane certification said he was "astonished" that Boeing was able to gain FAA approval for the MCAS system with one angle of attack sensor and pilots as backup.

"In reality, no single device is that robust and reliable which is why there needs to be mitigations," he said.

On Wednesday, Boeing said the MCAS system would now rely on two sensors.

During nine to 12 months of MAX flight testing, test pilots injected errors into the flight system that tested stall conditions and runaway stabilizer, among other scenarios, the people said. But no one was aware of a specific test of an MCAS failure mode triggered by erroneous sensor data.

"The problem with these two accidents is that there were failure modes that people didn't analyze properly or consider they could happen that way," according to an FAA official with direct knowledge of the 737 MAX certification.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle and Allison Lampert and Alwyn Scott in New York; Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris, Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, David Shepardson in Washington and Jamie Freed in Singapore; Editing by Joe White and Lisa Shumaker)
London (AFP) - A ferry firm that has signed a contract to ship critical products to Britain in the event of a no-deal Brexit on Friday launched the first of its extra services.

France's will run 20 additional weekly cross-Channel sailings to transport essential goods like medicines.

The first extra service set sail Friday from Portsmouth to Le Havre.

Brittany Ferries is boosting the number of crossings on three of its existing routes between Britain and France under a more than A100-million ($130-million, 115-million-euro) government contract originally shared with two other shipping firms.

With Brexit now delayed -- it was originally due to take place on March 29 -- the company said it was using "its best endeavours" to sell as much of the unused space purchased by the government so save "costs to the British taxpayer".

"While we cannot go into specific details we can confirm that space has already been re-sold on the open market for ferry services operating on 29 March."

The government in December struck deals worth nearly A108 million with Brittany Ferries, Denmark's DFDS and a new British entity called Seaborne Freight.

The contracts committed the companies to lay on additional freight crossings on certain routes to ease pressure on Dover, the busiest of England's Channel ports, in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The Seaborne contract hit the headlines when it was discovered that it was a startup that had never been involved in this line of work and had no ships.

The government subsequently cancelled the contract.

However, amid political paralysis in parliament over the terms of Britain's departure from the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May last week agreed a delay to Brexit beyond March 29.

A government spokeswoman defended the ferry contracts proceeding anyway, arguing "it is only right that we push on with contingency measures".

"The government's freight capacity contracts run for six months and are a vital part of wider contingency planning," she added.

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Meanwhile, a newly-built "Brexit buster" cargo ship will set sail from Dublin for the first time on Friday bound for the Belgian port Zeebrugge -- allowing Irish exporters to Europe to bypass Britain if necessary.

The MV Laureline, a 217-metre short-haul ferry owned by Luxembourg-based company CLdN, follows the launch last year of its even bigger boat to handle a change in Brexit-related cargo shipping.

"The arrival of Laureline at Dublin Port is further evidence of the shipping industry responding to market demand with Brexit upon us," said the facility's chief executive Eamonn O'Reilly.

"We anticipate that demand for direct services between Dublin Port and Continental Europe will increase further after Brexit."
By Clare Roth

ANTWERP, Belgium (Reuters) - Amid all the hand-wringing from businessmen and politicians about potential risks from a 'no-deal' Brexit, zookeepers are worried too - especially for a group of rare forest giraffes.

Seventy-three "okapis" - an endangered species from the Democratic Republic of Congo with a brown body and zebra-like striped legs - live in zoos in the European Union where free movement rules underpin an inter-country breeding project.

So if Britain, which has 15 of them, exits the bloc without a transition deal, it would probably be cut out of the project, according to Sander Hofman, general curator of Antwerp Zoo in Belgium, who coordinates okapi relocation for reproduction.

"Brexit is very bad news for conservation breeding," he told Reuters at the zoo, as elephants munched behind him.

"Fifteen out of my 73 (okapis) are in the UK. You can imagine that if I need to remove these 15, it would be a big blow for my population but it would be even worse for the UK colleagues," he said.

In the EU, around 350 zoos are part of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), which allows transport of animals throughout the bloc for breeding purposes.

Britain is a big player, with around 40 member zoos, including Chester, one of the largest in Europe.

But EAZA is advising zoos to move animals that need to be shipped to or from Britain as fast as possible in case of a no-deal Brexit that would require a laborious re-writing of rules to rejoin the breeding program.

Prime Minister Theresa May was putting a stripped-down version of her Brexit deal to parliament on Friday in an attempt to break the impasse with uncertainty still over how, when of even if Britain will ever leave.

The rare forest giraffes in Britain are not the only animal affected, said Hofman, citing elephants.

"It's very difficult to plan an elephant transport. You can imagine how difficult it will be if you don't even know what paperwork you have to deal with, or what port you have to go through," he said. "I actually have no clue."

(Reporting by Clare Roth; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil futures were near flat on Thursday after recovering from the day's worst losses that came when U.S. President Donald Trump called for OPEC to boost crude output in an effort to lower prices that were headed for their best quarterly gains in a decade. Futures hit a session low immediately following Trump's comments, but subsequently rallied above pre-tweet levels. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 11 cents to settle at $59.30 a barrel. Earlier the contract fell to $58.20 in the wake of Trump's tweet, where he said it was "very important that OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) increase the flow of Oil" due to fragile world markets. Brent crude futures lost 1 cent to settle at $67.82 a barrel, after earlier sinking to $66.54 a barrel. Oil prices have risen more than 25 percent this year, with WTI heading for the biggest first quarter gains since 2002 and for both benchmarks the best quarterly gain since 2009, mainly due to moves by OPEC and allies such as Russia to cut output. The group, known as OPEC+, agreed to cut 1.2 million barrels per day of output at the beginning of this year. "These Trump tweets where he ambushes the OPEC folks are not having the same kind of price significance that they did when it was a brand-new phenomenon," said Bob Yawger, director of futures at Mizuho in New York. "The market is finding this a bit old and it's not a novelty anymore." Sowing uncertainty for the OPEC-led pact, Saudi Arabia is having a hard time convincing Russia to stay much longer in the deal, and Moscow may agree only to a three-month extension, three sources familiar with the matter said. U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran have restricted those countries' oil exports and buoyed crude prices this year. The United States has instructed oil trading houses and refiners around the world to further cut dealings with Venezuela or face sanctions themselves, even if the trades are not prohibited by published U.S. sanctions, three sources familiar with the matter said. On top of U.S. sanctions, power blackouts this month have crippled Venezuela's oil industry. The country's main oil export port of Jose and four crude upgraders, needed to convert Venezuela's heavy oil into exportable grades, were halted this week, industry sources said. "If the unplanned supply cuts remain in place" oil prices could hit $75 a barrel as inventories fall, PVM's Tamas Varga said in a note. Demand concerns on the back of economic jitters linked to the U.S.-Chinese trade war have capped prices. China has pledged to further open its massive financial markets to foreign investors as senior U.S. officials arrived in Beijing for more trade talks. (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; additional reporting Shadia Nasralla in London, Colin Packham in Sydney and Koustav Samanta in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Lisa Shumaker)
Washington (AFP) - At just 37, Pete Buttigieg has deployed to Afghanistan, graduated from Harvard, learned seven languages and serves as mayor of a Midwestern American city.

Now the Millennial Renaissance man is seeking to become the first openly gay president of the United States -- and the youngest -- a longshot 2020 prospect whose odds appear to improve by the week.

When he began exploring a challenge to Donald Trump, few people outside his home city of South Bend, Indiana knew who the fresh-faced Democrat was, much less how to pronounce his name. (It's "BOOT-edge-edge," he says.)

Today he has catapulted into contention for his party's nomination, suddenly omnipresent despite not yet officially declaring his candidacy.

And he's blazing his own path, with a balance of calm and confidence, problem solving and intellectual ambition that has impressed at campaign stops in early voting states like Iowa and South Carolina.

The Buttigieg buzz has mushroomed quickly.

"This is something real, this is not flash," former Iowa Democratic Party chair Sue Dvorsky told AFP, as she highlighted his mayoral successes and his astute discussion of issues.

He draws sharp contrasts with Trump on multiple fronts including age, government experience, military service, campaign style, and "intellectual curiosity," she added.

"Every single thing about him is in diametric opposition" to the president, she said.

Buttigieg is relishing his breakout moment, fuelled by a star turn headlining a recent town hall that saw his national profile skyrocket.

Bookish and smart, he refutes the charge that he's too young and inexperienced to compete in the diverse Democratic field, or against Trump himself.

"I have more years of government experience under my belt than the president... and more military experience than anybody to walk into that office on day one since George H.W. Bush," he said at the event, broadcast by CNN.

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"So I get that I'm the young guy in the conversation, but I would say experience is what qualifies me to have a seat at this table."

In Iowa, Buttigieg surged from one percent support to 11 percent and third place in Emerson Polling's survey released Sunday, behind former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders and ahead of more prominent candidates like senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.

He has proved he can raise all-important campaign donations, pulling in $600,000 in the 24 hours after his town hall.

- 'Mayor Pete' -

The man many people call "Mayor Pete" grew up in South Bend, a once thriving city whose economy imploded when auto giants like Studebaker closed their factories in the 1950s and 60s.

The community has clawed its way back, and solution-oriented Buttigieg has been credited with revitalizing its downtown.

In 2016, as Hillary Clinton battled Trump, Buttigieg noticed a "fatal lack of enthusiasm" among working-class voters in the heartland when it came to the Democratic message.

This cycle, his party must re-engage with disaffected Midwesterners who supported Trump, he said.

"Our whole message was 'Don't vote for him, because he's terrible.' And even though he is, that's not a message," warned Buttigieg on "The Breakfast Club" radio show in New York.

"I hate to say it, but he could absolutely win again if we aren't smart about this."

As mayor, Buttigieg worked -- and sometimes clashed -- with Indiana's then-governor Mike Pence, a religious conservative who is now vice president.

He leveled withering criticism at his fellow Hoosier at the town hall.

"How could he allow himself to become the cheerleader of the porn-star presidency?" Buttigieg said. "Is it that he stopped believing in scripture when he started believing in Donald Trump?"

Buttigieg supports health care expansion to all Americans, initially through allowing people to buy into the federal Medicare program.

He believes in strong labor unions and opposes Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military.

He wants the Electoral College scrapped, arguing it is undemocratic, and has suggested expanding the US Supreme Court to 15 justices.

The former Rhodes Scholar came out as gay while running for re-election -- and won with 80 percent of the vote. He is married to husband Chasten Glezman, a teacher.

As a lieutenant in the US Navy Reserves, Mayor Pete paused his official duties while serving seven months in Afghanistan as a counterintelligence officer.

He has positioned himself as a post-Trump unifier, and made a light-hearted offer to strike a "peace deal" between the LGBT community and Chick-fil-A, the fast-food chain which courted controversy over its conservative leanings.

"I do not approve of their politics, but I kind of approve of their chicken," Buttigieg quipped on the radio.

"Maybe, if nothing else, I can build that bridge."
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines has urged the government to step up training of Filipino construction workers and increase their pay to stop foreign workers from taking the jobs. At the same time, TUCP president Raymond Mendoza, who made the call amid the rise in foreign workers working in both private and public construction projects within the country, bashed Special Envoy to China Ramon Tulfo for saying Filipino workers were lazy and slowpokes. .Mr. Tulfo should have known these better than any of us because he was newspaperman all his life and he witnessed how workers highly contributed to the welfare of our country. These statements are uncalled for, unpatriotic and acts of betrayal to his countrymen particularly to Filipino workers who built and continues to build our economy and the economies of other countries whether they work here or abroad, Mendoza added. Mendoza said the Filipino workers are known for their hard work and efficiency globally. The labor group also observed that Filipino construction workers are being treated poorly, with meager salaries, inadequate social protection benefits, unsafe and unhealthy working places and dirty resting and living areas. Due to this low dignity, they opt to work abroad, Mendoza said. He said the governments National Wages and Productivity Commission must exercise its mandate by conducting an immediate time-and-motion study on construction work to determine the need to raise salaries rate based on the labor-intensive construction job. The TUCP also called on the Technical Education Skills Development Authority to work double time in conducting training and providing certification to workers in work sites even on Saturdays and Sundays. There is also a need for the Department of Labor and Employment to re-examine the efficiency of government policy on labor-market test method in granting employment permits to foreign workers.Government must respond right away. It is high time to raise the salary and benefits of construction workers to keep them from working abroad. At the same time we have to modernize and certify more workers with multi-skills so that they can be qualified across the entire duration of the building project, Mendoza said. Citing government data, Mendoza said there are about four-million Filipino construction workers in the country but only about a million of them are certified and multi-skilled. And if they are already certified and gained enough work experience, workers prefer to work abroad because of higher salary, attractive benefits, and safer working conditions, Mendoza said. Filipinos are skilled and possessed innate craftsmanship but are not certified to do the work but due to poor access to training and certification, so government institutions must step in and step up to minimize [the] influx of foreign workers, Mendoza said. Filipino workers are not what Special Envoy Ramon Tulfo has said. World history, many governments, and countless private contractors and project owners are testifying that Filipino workers are world class working people, Mendoza said. They are the most sought after type of workers compared to other nationalities because of their high quality of doing their work and because of their ingenuity, diligence, creativity and hard work they put into every task they are into, Mendoza added. Earlier, Tulfo said Filipino workers are not effective compared with the well-disciplined Chinese workers. He said the influx of foreign workers in the country was due to employers preference. Under fire, Tulfo refused to apologize, saying he was only telling the truth about Filipino workers.
By Polina Ivanova KIEV (Reuters) - Andriy Verbetskiy is not a typical election observer. Just days before Sunday's presidential vote in Ukraine, he was leading several hundred members of an ultra-nationalist group called the National Militia in a protest that ended in clashes with police. He is one of 363 members of the National Militia movement, a camouflage-clad group known for its appeals to patriotism and promise "to use force to establish order", who have officially registered to monitor the vote. Their planned presence in polling stations across the country has caused concern about the prospect of violence during a close election that will decide who leads a country at the hard edge of a standoff between Russia and the West. The movement, which has repeatedly collided with police, says its members may take control of ballot boxes and close polling stations pending the arrival of police if they detect cheating, setting up possible confrontations. But it also stresses it aims to work hand-in-hand with police and election officials and the Central Election Commission, asked why it had registered them, said it had no reason to refuse them. The group is focused on criticizing corruption and the government, although it does not formally support any candidate in the contest, in which President Petro Poroshenko is trailing comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, with former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko a close third, setting the scene for a runoff vote next month. Photographs from Wednesday's protest, outside a Poroshenko campaign rally, showed hundreds of young men carrying anti-corruption banners, many wearing balaclavas, clashing with a cordon of riot police. Some protesters threw flaming flares. Verbetskiy was photographed handcuffed on the ground. "This happens regularly. Police squeeze us out," he told Reuters the following day. "They hit me with batons and put restraints on my arms, twisted me up, kicked me in the head," he said, denying what he said were police accusations of hooliganism and possession of pepper spray and pyrotechnics. Police in the western Ukrainian town, Vinnytsia, said they had plenty of video evidence proving the protesters were violent, and that the detainees did not lodge any formal complaints about receiving injuries during detention, and refused routine offers of legal and medical aid. Verbetskiy, asked whether the incident would interfere with his role as an election observer in Vinnytsia, his home town, said no. "The court case is just for a small administrative violation," he said. He and three other National Militia members on the election observer register said their main aim was to tackle corruption. "The challenge is very simple... Our job is to record and to bring any violation to the attention of the police," said Verbetskiy, who added he has been detained by police several times. LOCKDOWN Oleksandr Alfyorov, spokesman for the group's political party National Corps, which has two members of parliament but is not fielding a presidential candidate, said the National Militia observers had been trained by independent experts. Their first response to any violation will be to film and report it, he said. However, if they deem it necessary, they will also have the option of imposing a lockdown, closing the polling station and taking the ballot box into their custody until police arrive, Alfyorov added. Allegations of electoral fraud are already flying around, with Poroshenko and Tymoshenko trading accusations and Zelenskiy implying wrongdoing by his rivals via his jokes. A recent letter by ambassadors from the G7 group of nations, leaked to RFE/RL, called on Ukraine's interior minister, Arsen Avakov, to take action to curb the power of what it called "extreme political movements". "They intimidate Ukrainian citizens, attempt to usurp the role of the National Police in safeguarding elections, and damage the Ukrainian government's national and international reputation," French Ambassador Isabelle Dumont was cited as saying in the letter. Avakov said the police were in control and critics were perpetuating what he said were two myths. "The first myth is that radical groups will sabotage the elections This myth does not reflect reality, since we have enough power to prevent this situation wherever it may occur," he was cited by Interfax as saying at a meeting of international election monitors on Thursday. "The second myth is that 'radical groups are governed by the interior ministry and are Avakov's personal army'. This myth is more to do with emotions and politics." LEGITIMACY Verbetskiy, 25, has been a member of nationalist movements since he was 15 years old, and met his wife in the movement. He joined the relatively new National Militia a few months ago. The group is a successor to the ultra-nationalist Azov Battalion which fought pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in a still-simmering conflict which broke out after Moscow annexed Crimea and the West imposed sanctions on Russia. Another Western diplomat expressed concern over the impact hundreds of ultranationalist observers may have on the perceived legitimacy of the election's outcome, in particular that it may feed into Russian attempts to discredit the result. "Russia paints you as a fascist state. Think about how this looks," the diplomat said, while stressing that Ukraine did not have a more serious problem with such groups than many other European countries. In a speech on Thursday, Poroshenko made clear his government was aware of the perception and legitimacy issue. "I am absolutely confident that we have enough power not to allow any pro-(Russian President Vladimir) Putin, or nationalistic, or small Nazi groups to try to block or to cancel or to attack our election," he said. "We are responsible, we understand how important this election is for democracy in Ukraine." (Writing by Polina Ivanova; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo provided a defense of the Trump administrations recent decision to recognize the Golan Heights as Israels sovereign territory during his remarks at the National Review Ideas Summit on Thursday.

President Trump, standing side-by-side with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval office, signed a proclamation Monday officially recognizing Israels 1967 annexation of the long contested Golan Heights territory as a legitimate, defensive action.

After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israels Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2019

After announcing the historic decision via Twitter, Trump was immediately criticized for making an impulsive decision that might provide a pretext for other countries with territorial ambitions to act aggressively.

Asked about this criticism by National Reviews Rich Lowry, Pompeo cast the notion as merely another piece of conventional wisdom that has lingered through various administrations despite its lack of grounding reality.

This is a longtime shibboleth and weve now busted down a handful of those things, where people thought an American action would lead to a particular reaction, Pompeo said. You need to look on the ground at what happened here, many countries have said theyre not going to join us but almost no one said that what we did wasnt right or didnt recognize the set of facts on the ground that were important.

Pompeo went on to argue that, contra critics revisionist history, Israels control over the territory was central to its self defense since Palestine was employing the high ground to bombard Israeli territory.

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This was a defensive engagement. It in no way blesses any act of aggression by any country, he said.

Turning to the criticism that Trumps choice of medium for the announcement (Twitter) evidenced a lack of forethought, Pompeo explained that the decision was made after substantial inter-agency groundwork.

I remember reading it that this looked like a snap decision like it was random and not well thought through, he said. Weve been working on this for an awfully long time all across the United States governmentIs this the right thing, how do we do it, what are the underpinnings, what will be the reactions?

Its the case that the moment the tweet came out it was spontaneous but the groundwork that had been done to lay the foundations of this decision was interagency and long in the making, he added.

While State Department officials were expecting the move at some point in the coming weeks, the Monday announcement came as a surprise, according to the Associated Press.

More from National Review
London (AFP) - Political rivals are circling British Prime Minister Theresa May as her premiership staggers into its final lap after she agreed this week to outline a timetable to leave Downing Street.

May will reveal the departure plan in early June, triggering a leadership race to be Conservative Party leader and therefore prime minister.

Here is a list of potential candidates:

- Boris Johnson -

A former mayor of London, "Boris" or "BoJo", confirmed on Thursday he would "of course" contest any upcoming leadership contest, surprising very few in Westminster.

A key figure in the 2016 Brexit campaign, he failed in a bid for No. 10 in its aftermath as ally Michael Gove withdrew his support at the last minute.

May appointed Johnson as foreign minister but he quickly drew attention for all the wrong reasons, including a series of diplomatic gaffes.

He became increasingly uncomfortable with the government's Brexit strategy before resigning in July.

Charismatic and popular with grassroots Conservatives, he has maintained his public profile by writing a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph. But the 54-year-old has also earned plenty of enemies within the party for his behaviour.

He separated from his second wife in September and has a new girlfriend. He has recently lost weight and trimmed back his trademark mop of blond hair.

- Jeremy Hunt -

The foreign minister supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum but has been highly critical of what he calls the "arrogant" approach since taken by Brussels.

A former businessman who speaks fluent Japanese, he is a resilient politician, having headed up the National Health Service for six years during a funding crisis.

Hunt replaced Johnson as Britain's chief diplomat last year. Softly spoken and measured, he is calm under fire and has gradually seen his power and influence in cabinet rise.

The 52-year-old has signalled his intent to run for the leadership and, like several other contenders, recently invited a Sunday newspaper into his home for a profile.

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- Dominic Raab -

An ardent eurosceptic with a black belt in karate, the 45-year-old has quickly climbed the ministerial ladder after only joining the government in 2015 under former Prime Minister David Cameron.

He backed Brexit and was named justice minister in the new cabinet after the 2016 referendum.

Raab later served as Brexit secretary from July to November 2018 when he stepped down in protest at the Brexit deal struck with the EU.

Just before his departure, he was widely mocked for saying that he "hadn't quite understood" how reliant UK trade in goods is on the Dover-Calais crossing.

Remaining outside government since then, he has appeared in campaign mode in recent months, reportedly hiring staff and giving multiple newspaper interviews.

- Michael Gove -

Brexit campaigner Gove initially supported Johnson's leadership bid in 2016 but at the last minute announced his own intention to run, causing both men to lose out to May.

"Whatever charisma is, I don't have it," he admitted in the race in which he came third.

After a year in the political wilderness, he was appointed environment minister in June 2017 and has stayed in the headlines with a series of eco-friendly policy announcements.

Equally active in his previous justice and education briefs, he is a minister who likes to see through radical new policies.

Following a series of resignations, the cerebral 51-year-old is among the most ardent eurosceptics left in May's faltering government.

- Sajid Javid -

A former investment banker and the son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver, the 49-year-old Javid is the face of a modern, multicultural and meritocratic Britain.

On the economically liberal wing of the Conservative Party, Javid voted for Britain to stay in the EU in 2016.

Since being appointed interior minister in April 2018, he has earned respect for his handling of a scandal over the treatment of the children of Caribbean immigrants, known as the Windrush generation.

However, he was recently criticised in liberal circles for stripping a teenage mother who ran away to join the Islamic State group of her British nationality.

- Others -

A host of other cabinet members and MPs are also vying to succeed May, including Andrea Leadsom, a Brexiteer who came second to May in the 2016 contest to replace Cameron.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Amber Rudd, a Remainer currently in charge of the work and pensions department, are also thought to be preparing bids.

Meanwhile newly-promoted International Development Secretary Rory Stewart and Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt have indicated they will enter the fray.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump said Thursday he would have the FBI and the Justice Department review "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett's case, even as Chicago residents said the president should stay out of the racially charged incident.

"I think that case is an absolute embarrassment to our country, and somebody has to at least take a very good hard look at it," Trump told reporters at the White House, echoing a tweet he sent earlier in the day.

Trump did not explain what, if anything, federal authorities could do about Smollett after local prosecutors in Chicago decided to drop the case against him.

Later, while speaking to a crowd of thousands at a political rally in Michigan, Trump denounced the case and Smollett's claim he "was attacked by MAGA country." Trump called it an "embarrassment not only to Chicago, but to our entire country."

He said the case marked the first time he could remember agreeing with the city's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who has been blasting prosecutors for dropping the charges against Smollett.

Trump's critics said the president is playing racial politics with the Smollett case, seeking to undercut the victims of real racial violence that is on the rise.

"By claiming a false attack, Smollett tried to exploit the hate @realDonaldTrump has stirred," tweeted David Axelrod, former adviser to President Barack Obama. "Now, predictably, Trump is moving to exploit Smolletts exploitation. Talk about a vicious circle!"

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, citing Trump's history of race relations, said the president should sit this one out.

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The FBI has been investigating at least one matter in the Smollett case for weeks.

The agency began probing whether Smollett had any role in sending a threatening letter that was mailed to the actor at the Chicago studio where Empire is filmed a week before the alleged assault, a federal government official who has been briefed on the investigation told USA TODAY. FBI officials in Chicago declined to comment.

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The letter, which was received on Jan. 22, contained a white substance that was later determined to be acetaminophen, or Tylenol.

Prosecutors in Chicago announced Tuesday they were dropping disorderly conduct charges against Smollett for filing a false police report. The decision came less than three weeks after the actor was indicted on charges that he paid two men to stage a hoax attack to make him look like the victim of a racist hate crime.

Smolletts legal team objects to comments to the media made by Cook County States Attorneys Office officials, saying prosecutors and police are "continuing their campaign" against the actor. Prosecutors said theyve dropped the charges, but insist that doesn't mean Smollett was exonerated of wrongdoing.

News of the dropped charges outraged a variety of lawmakers, including Mayor Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.

"This is a whitewash of justice," Emanuel declared. "Its Mr. Smollett who committed this hoax. Hes still saying he's innocent, still running down the Chicago Police Department. How dare he? How dare he?"

FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019

A frequent critic of Trump, Emanuel said Thursday the president shouldn't get involved in the case.

Citing Trumps comment that there were good people on "both sides" during a 2017 demonstration by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, Emanuel said the president has created a racially divisive environment that Smollett thought he could use to his advantage

Jussie Smollett thinks that hate-filled environment that the president created, pinning one American against another because of their background ... he thought he could take advantage of and create a hoax (through) a hate crime Emanuel said. Its a vicious toxic environment and cycle. I want to break it.

The Emanuel administration also said Thursday that the city of Chicago would seek to recover $130,000 in overtime costs the police department spent on Smollett investigation. The mayor said that would bring a measure of justice for Chicagoans who feel offended that prosecutors treated the actor with leniency that wouldnt have been afforded to others charged with such a crime.

I want clarity, I want accountability I want responsibility for a hoax that was committed, Emanuel said.

The president and his allies have frequently attacked Smollett, accusing him of trying to implicate Trump supporters in the alleged attack on him.

Last month, Trump invoked his campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" in tweeting at Smollett: "What about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA."

Police and prosecutors say Smollett paid two brothers, Abel and Ola Osundairo, $3,500 to stage an attack on Smollett near his apartment building in Chicagos swanky Streeterville neighborhood, in which he was made to look like the victim of a vicious hate crime.

Police identified Smollett as a victim of an attack for weeks after the incident. The case shifted gears after the Osundairo brothers, who were on the cusp of being charged by police, told investigators that they worked with Smollett to carry out the attack.

The brothers told detectives Smollett hoped to use the incident to raise his profile and salary, Johnson said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Trump: Jussie Smollett case 'embarrassment' to the nation, FBI will investigate
By Jonathan Stempel

March 29 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday said Texas prison officials do not violate transgender inmates' constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment by refusing to provide them with gender reassignment surgery.

In a 2-1 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled against Scott Lynn Gibson, who was born male, but has lived as a female since age 15 and goes by Vanessa.

Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge James Ho said only California had ever provided gender reassignment surgery to a prisoner, and that was part of a settlement of a lawsuit.

He said this meant the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's refusal to consider the surgery as a possible means to treat Gibson's diagnosed gender dysphoria, sometimes known as gender identity disorder, did not violate the Eighth Amendment.

"Under established precedent, it can be cruel and unusual punishment to deny essential medical care to an inmate," wrote Ho, an appointee of President Donald Trump. "But that does not mean prisons must provide whatever care an inmate wants."

Stephen Braga, a University of Virginia law professor who argued Gibson's appeal, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, representing prison officials, did not immediately respond to similar requests.

Gibson was originally imprisoned after being convicted of aggravated robbery, and while in prison, committed murder and assault. His sentence runs through May 2031 and he becomes eligible for parole in April 2021.

According to Braga's brief, Gibson was asking the court to hold that gender dysphoria was a serious medical need justifying treatment that could lead to gender reassignment surgery, not that the Constitution required Texas to pay for the surgery.

Ho, however, said medical experts "fiercely question" whether the surgery, rather than counseling or hormone therapy, was the best treatment for gender dysphoria.

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He said the decision was consistent with the 2014 refusal by the federal appeals court in Boston to require Massachusetts to provide the surgery to inmate Michelle Kosilek.

Circuit Judge Rhesa Barksdale dissented, saying the record was too sparse to justify a lower court judge's dismissal of Gibson's case, which the appeals court upheld.

Barksdale was appointed by President George H.W. Bush. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith, who joined the majority, was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

The case is Gibson v Collier, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 16-51148. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, editing by G Crosse)
Caracas (AFP) - A new blackout hit Caracas and other major Venezuelan cities on Friday, the third major electricity outage in the crisis-plagued country this month.

The blackout began around 7:10 pm (2310 GMT), leaving the capital as well as cities including Maracaibo, Valencia, Maracay and San Cristobal without electricity, according to users on social media networks.

It is the third time since March 7 that a major power outage has hit Venezuela -- worsening the already-dire economic and living conditions in a country that is witnessing a major political showdown between President Nicolas Maduro and opposition chief Juan Guaido.

Maduro has blamed the previous outages on sabotage, but experts have said that infrastructure crumbling from years of neglect is a more likely culprit than outside interference.

Earlier on Friday, the Red Cross said it would begin impartially distributing aid in Venezuela in two weeks, brushing aside the threat of political interference amid the Maduro-Guaido power struggle.

Malnutrition and disease are on the rise as living conditions plummet in the oil-producing Latin American nation, which is spiraling ever deeper into economic chaos during a protracted political crisis.

"We estimate that in a period of approximately 15 days we will be ready to offer help," said Francesco Rocca, head of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

The United States -- which considers Guaido interim president along with some 50 other countries -- welcomed the announcement as a "real opportunity."

Rocca told reporters in Caracas the organization would begin distributing aid mid-April, including tons of mostly US food and medical supplies that Maduro has to date refused to allow into the country -- leaving it stockpiled for weeks on the borders with Colombia and Brazil.

The Red Cross -- aiming to reach 650,000 people initially -- would act according to its principles of "impartiality, neutrality and independence," he said, "without accepting interference from anyone."

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- 'Victory over sanctions' -

Meanwhile, in a boost to Maduro, a Chinese plane loaded with 65 tons of medical aid landed in Caracas on Friday. His government celebrated it as a victory over US sanctions, which the socialist leader blames for the economic crisis.

Though unpopular, Maduro has the upper hand at home, thanks to loyalty from his military chiefs and, since last weekend, the presence of 100 Russian troops.

The Russian deployment to Venezuela has drawn fire from Washington, but Caracas' defense minister said Friday that "no one should be alarmed" by their presence.

"We are overcoming the purported siege, the blockade, which has been undertaken by President Trump and the diabolical puppet from here in Venezuela," said vice-president Tareck El Aissami, referring to Guaido.

El Aissami, on the tarmac to meet the Chinese plane, said the medical supplies were the "first cargo of several that start from this moment."

It includes analgesics, surgical equipment and medicine for diseases such as diabetes.

China's ambassador Li Baorong said the delivery was part of previous "cooperation agreements" with Venezuela.

Speaking at a news conference in Caracas, Rocca said agreements had been put in place to guarantee aid distribution, but declined to give details.

In Washington, Elliott Abrams, the envoy heading the US effort to oust Maduro, praised the Red Cross initiative and credited appeals by Guaido.

"This looks like a real opportunity, and we think that it is a response to the efforts that interim President Guaido has been making," Abrams told reporters in Washington.

"So it's very welcome, we hope it works, and -- assuming that it does, which we do -- the United States would be happy to put some of our aid into this method of reaching the Venezuelan people," he said.

Maduro ordered the border closed to keep out the aid, thwarting a high-profile February 23 operation orchestrated by Guaido to bring badly needed food and medical supplies into the country where the UN says seven million people are in dire need.

At least seven people were killed and dozens injured in subsequent rioting at the border.

- Seven million in dire need -

The socialist leader said aid would be a precursor to a US military incursion.

"That was an issue that was very politicized," said Rocca. "If that help complies with our rules and our protocols, of course we are willing to distribute it."

About 24 percent of Venezuela's population -- seven million people -- are in dire need of humanitarian aid, according to an internal UN report that showed malnutrition and disease were on the rise as living conditions plummet.

Abrams nonetheless said the Red Cross assistance was no substitute for toppling Maduro.

"The kind of aid that is needed for a broad recovery of the Venezuelan economy really cannot be put in place until the regime is replaced by democratic government," Abrams said.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting their first child - but what will they name the royal baby? - PA

As we enter Spring, the nation prepares for two monumental occasions: Brexit and the royal baby. We arent quite sure what the outcome will be for either but our uncertainty about the royal baby, unlike our uncertainty about Brexit, has given us the opportunity to have a bit of fun.

Gather your colleagues because its time for a sweepstake on the name of the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs baby.

Simply click on the image below to create a printable pdf file, then all you need is a pair of scissors, a pen and up to 40 willing colleagues.

All eyes have been on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex throughout their royal romance - from the courtship, right through to their beautiful Windsor wedding. Now, with their first child on the way in late April or early May, we are eager for any news on the new royal arrival.

We dont yet know the gender of the baby, although most of us are putting our money on it being a girl, with bookmaker William Hill setting odds of 8-11 (1-1 for it being a boy). There were rumours that the baby would be raised as gender neutral, but those rumours have since been denied.

If the baby is a girl, she will likely be named Victoria - at least, thats what the punters have been betting. This name has, undeniably, a long connection with the monarchy.

Queen Victoria is the most iconic monarch that springs to mind, and its nice to think the royal couple could have been inspired by Jenna Colemans portrayal in the returning show.

However, Victoria was not, in fact, the queens real name, as she was born Alexandrina and her middle name was Victoria. She changed this after she ascended the throne in 1837.

Could the Duke and Duchess of Sussex name their first child after Queen Victoria? Credit: PA

If Meghan and Harry arent keen on Victoria, however, they may opt for Diana, a name that has betting odds of 10-1.

The most prominent Diana in royal history was, of course, the Princess of Wales. In May 2015, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge paid tribute to Prince William and Harrys mother by naming their daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

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Bookmaker William Hill have also included the following as probable girls names for the new royal baby: Isobella/Isabella (12-1), Alice (12-1), Elizabeth and Grace (both 16-1).

If the baby is a boy, however, the bets are on him being called Arthur, at 14-1. According to the Office for National Statistics, this was one of the top 20 most popular boys names in England and Wales for 2017.

The name has a long and regal history. The most recent member of the royal family with this name was Queen Victorias son, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. Before him, there was Prince Arthur, the brother of Henry VIII, who died at the age of 15. The most famous regal Arthur, however, is the British romantic hero, King Arthur, who, with his Knights of the Round Table, protected the land from Saxon invaders.

Other possible boys names include Edward, James and Phillip, all with odds of 16-1.
Steve Bannon is talking about Birkenau. Auschwitz, you see, was a bit jury-rigged but, ah, Birkenau. Real pros did that one. Oh my God, its precision engineering to the nth degree, he says, by Mercedes and Krupp and Hugo Boss. It is an institutionalized industrial compound for mass murder. Its the look in his eye thats striking as he says these words. He doesnt look sorrowful. Theres a glint of wonder there. He talks about all the boring bureaucracy, all the meetings and coffee cups, all the otherwise rational people involved in building Satans playground, how they all distanced themselves from the moral horror of it.

I dont know in what context Bannon started musing along these lines, and Im not sure I want to know. His Holocaust remarks come at the outset of The Brink, director Alison Klaymans cinema-verite look at Bannons rough ride since he was first ousted from President Trumps White House and then separated from the Breitbart site and his major financial backers, the Mercer family. Later in the movie Bannon is inviting reporters over to his townhouse to watch what he calls a propaganda movie about Trumpism, and he lightheartedly asks, What would Leni Riefenstahl do? Bannon seems to think he offers some kind of roguish, politically incorrect charm, but hes the only one who sees it. If you dont want to be called far-right or to be accused of playing footsie with fascists, a handy rule of thumb is: Dont compare yourself to the director of Triumph of the Will.

Bannon says his association with Trump, in whose 2016 campaign he served as CEO, taught him an important lesson: There is no bad media. Really? Thats the lesson of Trump? Trumps approval rating has been mired in the low 40s for most of the last two years, sometimes lower than that, despite an economy going gangbusters and no major overseas crises. Its because of Trump that the Republicans got wiped out in the House last November.

Such humiliating defeats never seem much to bother Bannon: Booted out of the White House after the Charlottesville debacle of August 2017, he says he was glad to leave. The atmosphere reminded him equally of a house of worship and a Jersey strip club at 1 oclock in the afternoon, an environment Bannon perhaps is more familiar with than most of us. Cut loose by Breitbart, Bannon became a wandering proselytizer of populist-nationalism, roaming across Europe to make common cause with unsavory-to-deplorable politicians such as Marine Le Pen and Viktor Orban. He is seen blaming subordinates for not being able to do much with his instructions, founding a MAGA outfit called Citizens of the American Republic, and reminding us, frequently, that he used to work at Goldman Sachs. Yes, and he used to not look like a preppy wino, too, but the past is gone. As he envisions uniting all of Europes nationalists under his prideful gaze, he seems to mistake himself for a member of the cast of 300: This is called take out the sword and throw away the scabbard, he says, or proclaims. If he ever beat his own chest, though, the sound produced would be much like a spoon hitting tapioca.

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Because Stephen K. Bannon will talk to anyone who points a microphone or a camera his way, anyone who invites him to a bingo parlor or a diner or a Red Roof Inn to offer his wisdom, The Brink is not the only documentary about him coming our way this year. (Soon well be seeing him, at least those few who still care, in American Dharma, from director Errol Morris.) His self-image is that of a master manipulator, but his amour propre blinds him to just how hated he is as he happily participates in every hit piece on him from here to Berlin. Director Klayman is less tendentious than most political documentarians, eschewing narration and not pushing viewers too hard (though the movie is fond of those heavy-handed Super Ominous Musical cues that seem to infect every lefty documentary these days). That relative restraint means the film will come across as insufficiently denunciatory to left-wingers.

As for right-wingers, does anyone still care? If Bannon is on The Brink of anything, its irrelevance, if he isnt there already. It seems obvious that what Trump accomplished is due to Trumps instincts, not the counsel of Bannon or Roger Stone or Paul Manafort or any other supposed expert or guru. Post-Trump, Bannons most notable achivement was the Hindenburg candidacy of Alabama Senate hopeful Roy Moore, whom Bannon backed to the ugly end. Bannon is seen urging a crowd that its no coincidence that Jeff Bezoss Washington Post did the hit on Moore. But I dont like the paper that published this story is not a rebuttal. Republicans who would prefer that the party not be represented by sex monsters ought to be cool to Bannon.

So what does Bannon do when he fails so spectacularly? He takes comfort in comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln. Klayman catches him picking up a book and reading a passage Lincoln wrote in 1862: They wish to get rid of me and I am sometimes half disposed to gratify them. Why stop there, Steve? Much as you suffered the loss of Breitbart.com, so was Jesus Christ crucified.

More from National Review
HanoiVietnam has seized more than nine tons of suspected ivory in a timber shipment from the Republic of Congo, customs officials said Friday, in one of the countrys largest illegal wildlife hauls in years. Though it is illegal to buy and sell ivory in communist Vietnam, lax law enforcement has allowed the illicit trade to flourish on the black market. The government has vowed to crack down on illegal wildlife trade in the face of mounting international pressure and authorities said the latest bust in central Danang city was the biggest in years. A huge 9.1-ton (20,000-pound) package of goods suspected to be ivory hidden inside timber logs was found and confiscated, according to Hai Quan news site, the official mouthpiece of Vietnam Customs. The ivory-stuffed timber logs were discovered Tuesday at Danangs main port on a ship from the Republic of Congo in central Africa, it added. A customs official told AFP authorities are still inspecting before making a final conclusion about the substance.Images on state media showed piles of alleged tusks being weighed by officers in a warehouse after the seizure. Ivory is used for jewelry, decorative housewares and traditional medicine in Vietnam, which is also a popular transit hub for illegal wildlife destined for elsewhere in Asia, mainly China. The government has struggled to crack down on the illicit trade as sales have moved online from traditional marketplaces. Britains Prince William was in Vietnam in 2016 to host a wildlife conference where he delivered an urgent plea to end trafficking to save critically endangered species.
By Josh Smith and Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - Senior South Korean officials, including President Moon Jae-in, are launching a series of meetings with U.S. counterparts in a bid to jumpstart stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea and mend fraying ties in their alliance. Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump scheduled a summit in Washington on April 11 to discuss North Korea and other alliance issues, the White House said. "The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in the region," it said in a statement. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Friday, where they were expected to discuss Moon's visit and ways to move forward after a failed second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi last month. The summit collapsed amid conflicting demands by North Korea for sanctions relief and U.S. insistence on its denuclearization. Trump's failure to seal a deal was a blow to Moon, who has been vocal in his conviction that Kim is willing to abandon his nuclear arsenal. Washington and Seoul have also tussled over the cost of U.S. troops in South Korea, with Trump demanding that Seoul pay more toward maintaining some 28,500 of them. The North has nearly completed work to rebuild its Sohae missile launch site in the northwestern town of Tongchang-ri that Kim, at his first summit with Trump last June, had vowed to dismantle, South Korean lawmakers said on Friday. The lawmakers, briefed by Seoul's intelligence agency, added that a uranium enrichment facility at the North's Yongbyon main nuclear complex was operating normally, though a 5-megawatt reactor there has not been operational since late last year. Ahead of the Trump-Moon summit, South Korea said it was sending its foreign and defence ministers, and other senior officials, to meetings in Washington. Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo will meet the U.S. acting secretary of defence, Patrick Shanahan, on Monday, the ministry said. The lack of progress with North Korea has become a domestic problem for Moon, who has staked much of his political capital on improving relations with Pyongyang. A Gallup poll on Friday showed Moon's approval ratings at a record low of 43 percent as respondents complained about the stalemate with the North while the economy suffers. The Hanoi summit's breakdown hit rapidly improving ties between the neighbors. South Korea's defence ministry said it proposed military talks with the North last week but there was no response from Pyongyang. Last week the North also pulled out of a liaison office with South Korea, only to reverse the move and send back some officials three days later. On Friday, the Unification Ministry said the North's staffing at the office had returned to "normal levels", though a weekly meeting was not held as the North's chief representative was absent. (Reporting by Josh Smith, Hyonhee Shin, and Joyce Lee in Seoul; additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Grant McCool)
Rota (Spain) (AFP) - Spain on Friday took over from Britain command of a European Union maritime mission that combats piracy off the coast of Somalia as Britain's planned departure from the bloc nears.

Spanish vice admiral Antonio Martorell relieved British major general Charlie Strickland as commander of the so-called "Operation Atalanta" during a solemn ceremony held at the Rota naval base in southern Spain, where US troop are also stationed.

The ceremony was held on the day Britain was originally set to leave the European Union. British lawmakers voted down an unpopular divorce deal for a third time on Friday.

"It is honestly a sad day for the UK ...but it is an exciting day for Spain," Strickland said during the ceremony.

"Atalanta is so much more than ships in the Indian Ocean and aircrafts in the skies. Atalanta is a sophisticated multilayered operation using hard and soft power to continue to suppress piracy and to take a powerful role in the broader security architecture of this key region of the world."

The European Council announced in July that it would transfer the headquarters of Atalanta which employs 101 people from Northwood outside of London to Rota.

The operation's headquarters is just one of the European institutions which Britain is losing as a result of its impending EU exit.

The European Medicines Agency moved to Amsterdam hile the European Banking Authority was relocated to Paris.

While Spain took over the Atalanta's command centre, France's historic naval base in Brest on the tip of Brittany won the Maritime Security Centre of Africa which was also based in Northwood.

The EU launched Atalanta in 2008 to fight brazen acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia, including the spectacular hijacking of a Spanish tuna boat in 2009.

The number of attacks off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean has fallen from a peak of 176 in 2011 to just two in 2018, according to Atalanta.

The European Union has extended Operation Atalanta to 2020 and gave it a budget of 12 million euros for 2019 and 2020.

Italy had also sought to win the headquarters of Atalanta. It had proposed that it be moved to a base in Rome which already holds the headquarters of Operation Sophia against smugglers of migrants in the central Mediterranean.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton thinks San Antonio City Councils decision to ban Chick-fil-A from its airport is discriminatory.

A week after the city council voted 6-4 to block the chain from getting a new concession contract at the airport, Paxton has announced he is investigating the city for potential First Amendment violations.

While the council members cited Chick-fil-As opposition to same-sex marriage and record on LGBTQ issues in its decision, Paxton believes it could be the council that is showing the opposite of tolerance, accusing them of making a discriminatory decision based on the owner of the chains religious beliefs.

In a letter to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and members of the city council, Paxton wrote, The Constitutions protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-As chicken. Unfortunately, I have serious concerns that both are under assault at the San Antonio airport.

Additionally, Paxton said hes asked Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to investigate whether the city violated federal law and regulations, enclosing the letter he sent to her to that effect.

The councils decision had already drawn criticism from other Republican Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz. Last week, Cruz took to Twitter, claiming the citizens of beautiful San Antonio deserve more delicious sandwiches, and fewer rabid attacks against companies because of their charitable giving to the community. Come on.

On Thursday, Abbott chimed in, tweeting: The ban has the stench of religious discrimination against Chick-fil-A.
Several anti-military candidates in Thailand lodged fresh complaints with the Election Commission Friday over bungled tallies and alleged vote-buying following a controversial ballot that has left politics in the junta-ruled kingdom in limbo.

A military-backed party and its main rival led by an exiled billionaire have both claimed the right to lead the government in the wake of Sunday's polls, with official final tallies delayed for weeks.

Candidates from at least two parties issued fresh complaints with the commission on Friday over alleged irregularities they claim could skew final vote counts.

A member of the anti-junta Future Forward party accused the pro-military Phalang Pracharat of currying favour among local officials by gifting them cash and gifts.

"It's against the law, it can be seen as vote-buying," said Future Forward spokeswoman Pannika Wanich.

Another Future Forward candidate reported voter intimidation inside a Bangkok polling station.

"There was a military officer standing inside the polling station to see whether military officials have voted for the party he wanted," candidate Chris Potranan said in a complaint filed on Friday.

A member of the anti-junta Pheu Thai party also lodged objections over allegedly dodgy counts in his Bangkok constituency.

"Our observers at polling stations reported inaccuracies in tallies as counting was conducted in a dark area," Pheu Thai candidate Trirat Sirichantharopas said.

The Election Commission has received more than 180 complaints, 40 of which were filed in the immediate aftermath of the poll.

- 'Failed to perform duty' -

On Thursday the commission unexpectedly released the latest popular vote tallies, before quickly taking them down and re-posting revised numbers.

The tally showed more than 2.1 million invalidated votes, but election officials did not respond to questions about the ballots.

The regional election monitor ANFREL said the haphazard release of the results "reflects poorly" on the commission.

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"Many voters may never see this election as a legitimate expression of the people's will," said ANFREL's programme officer Amael Vier.

A campaign calling for the commission to be dissolved gathered steam Friday, with 20,000 supporters needed to officially submit a petition requesting the body be impeached.

"The Election Commission has failed to perform its duty," said the student activist behind the campaign, Tanawat Wongchai.

Some 1,000 supporters had backed the petition as of Friday afternoon, he said.

The junta-backed Phalang Pracharat party, whose prime ministerial candidate is 2014 coup leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha, clinched the majority of popular votes in Sunday's polls.

In second place was its main rival Pheu Thai, the party linked to self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. His sister, former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, was ousted in the 2014 putsch and also lives in exile.

With parliamentary seats yet to be confirmed, both parties have claimed the right to govern.

Pheu Thai and Future Forward formed a coalition with five other parties this week claiming to hold more than half of all seats in the lower house of parliament and the right to form a government.

But observers say the seven-party bloc will not likely have enough overall seats in the upper and lower houses to stunt a junta-backed alliance with the balance of power stacked in the military's favour.

The 250 seats in the upper house are all military-appointed, which means anti-junta parties need an avalanche of votes to secure enough seats overall to elect a prime minister.
Asia's crypto market is heating up.

Thailands largest private company, Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), has acquired Asian payments company Omise for a reported $150 million, several sources close to the deal have told The Block. CP Group is owned by the Chearavanont family, ranked by Forbes Asia in 2017 as Asia's fourth-wealthiest family with a net worth of $36.6 billion.

Founded in 2013, Omise is one of Thailand's leading payment gateways, operating also across Singapore, Japan, and Indonesia. The fintech firm raised $20 million in traditional venture capital prior to becoming "one of the more established tech companies to take the ICO route" in 2017. It capped its surprise token sale at $25 million in a bid to build a peer-to-peer payment platform.

Today, the OmiseGO network's token (OMG) is a top-20 coin with a market cap above $257 million and counts Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin among its advisors.

CP Group, headed by Fortune-owner and billionaire Chatchaval Jiaravanon, is said to be driving a concerted effort to take over companies that could use crypto for payments; including a large agricultural division.

Some analysts, however, see the road to adoption as a difficult one.

"Execution is really tough and OmiseGo will need the target customer to have phones that can easily accept and send crypto, and for that currency to be used in commerce," said Lex Sokolin, a partner at Autonomous Research. Still, he praised OmiseGo for its dedicated blockchain network and its focus on the "long tail of cross border payments," hinting that Asia could be a good breeding ground for the tech to take-off.

Omise did not reply to The Block's request for comment.

The move is the latest in a long string of M&A deals amid an otherwise cynical market. Recently, for instance, Kraken acquired rival crypto exchange Crypto Facilities.
LONDON  British lawmakers on Friday rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's European Union divorce deal for a third time, a defeat that adds further uncertainty and confusion over the country's the efforts to leave the bloc.

Britain now has until April 12 to announce a new plan, or leave the bloc without a deal and risk a disorderly exit that could substantially damage Britain's economy.

It could also mean an extended delay to Britain's departure from the EU, known as Brexit, or no Brexit at all. May said the "implications are grave" and EU leaders immediately announced an emergency summit on Brussels for April 10.

The House of Commons voted 344-286 against May's withdrawal agreement, a narrower margin of loss than in previous parliamentary votes on Brexit.

Lawmakers had already rejected May's EU exit deal twice before and earlier this week she promised to quit as Britain's leader if the deal is approved.

Lawmakers plan to hold a series of votes Monday in an attempt to find a new plan.

Friday's vote was on the withdrawal agreement that sets out the terms of Britains departure from the bloc  but not a shorter declaration on future ties.

Almost three years after Britain voted to leave the EU, Brexit has brought the countrys political system to a standstill and May's agreement still faces substantial opposition because hard-line lawmakers from her ruling Conservative Party don't feel the deal she negotiated with the EU sufficiently disentangles Britain from the EU. Many opposition Labour Party lawmakers, meanwhile, are in favor of closer ties with the EU.

Asked Thursday about Mays offer to resign if her Brexit deal is passed, President Donald Trump said he wished "the Brexit movement" well.

Of May, Trump said: "Shes strong, shes tough and shes in there fighting."

The vote came on the day that Britain was originally scheduled to leave the EU and the result raises the possibility that the nation may need to hold a second national referendum on Brexit or call a general election to solve the impasse.

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Ahead of the vote, May had appealed Friday to lawmakers "to put aside self and party  accept the responsibility given to us by the British people."

After the vote, she said the outcome was a "matter of profound regret."

The European Commission, the bloc's executive branch, said that the result meant that a chaotic EU exit  a "no-deal" Brexit  for Britain was now "a likely scenario."

Food shortages, skyrocketing cheese prices, grounded airplanes, traffic jams, riots and even a repurposed Cold War-era emergency exit route for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II are just some of the warnings being sounded in Britain if the nation leaves the bloc it joined 46 years ago without securing a withdrawal deal with the EU that's also acceptable to lawmakers. That's because many of Britain's laws from security policy to public health for decades have been formed in cooperation with the EU.

Much of this legislation, under a "no-deal" Brexit, would effectively evaporate overnight.

The British pound fell sharply against the U.S. dollar after the vote. In recent trading, it was 0.5 percent lower at $1.2995. Britain's currency rose modestly ahead of the vote.

More: Britain's Theresa May offers to step down to get Brexit deal passed

More: 'Bewildering, dire, disastrous': Queen has a Brexit escape plan

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Theresa Mays EU Brexit deal rejected by Parliament a third time
"What were they thinking?"

Filipinos together with the rest of the civilized world were astounded not of the substance of the complaint filed by the two former officials of the Noynoy Aquino administration before the International Criminal Court against Chinas President Xi Jinping, foreign minister Wang Yi, and Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua on behalf of the Filipino fishermen for alleged crimes against humanity but on what they want to convey. Some say the decision of former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to file a nicely given diplomatic branding called communication was not really meant to achieve a legal victory but more of a political propaganda, hoping these two could persuade world opinion. As one hoi poloi suggested, they should have filed their complaint on April Fools Day. Probably they would have been able to communicate to God to save them from the eternal damnation of stupidity. The world is askance suspecting something is terribly wrong with them. Even those opposed do not argue whether the ICC has jurisdiction over the case but are asking what specific provision in the Statute of Rome was violated by China? The more discerning public do not focus why del Rosario and Morales filed their so-called communication with the ICC on March 15, or two days before the deadline set for our country to officially withdraw from an international organization that has the soul and the bones for being founded by the most ruthless and exploitative countries that practiced colonialism and imperialism, but on why the two failed to perform their duty while they were still in the service. Had they filed their communication during the Noynoy Aquino administration, the two would not have been treated as such. That would have given them the stature they represent the claim of the 350,000 fishermen who were allegedly deprived of their economic livelihood directly as a result of the building of structures and acts that prevented them from fishing in an area they consider as their ancestral fishing ground. More than that, the country of the head of state they sued is not even a member of the ICC, or that the organization has mechanism to enforce its judgment. Remember, it was the Aquino administration that assiduously worked to assure the return of the US military bases. Pro-US trumpeters have been sounding out the idea of amending the scope and dimension of our Mutual Defense Treaty to include not only territories in the archipelago proper. They want those uninhabited islands included, not realizing that the December 10, 1898 Treaty of Paris between the US and Spain excluded them as they are not part of the ceded territory. Specifically, the Reed Banks or the Panatag Shoal, an area known to have oil deposit which del Rosario is suspected to have keen interest, is a disputed territory. People who have been hooting for the presence of the US to allow it to regularly patrol in the South China Sea should understand that it is the US that creates the political situation that would necessitate their presence in this country. Even in the two regional but limited bloody wars it initiated in Asia, the Korean war and the War in Indochina, it was this country that contributed in its own way to the US war efforts there.Columnist Bobi Tiglao insists it was del Rosarios booboo decision why we lost Scarborough Shoal or Panatag Island to China. It was the US, through its reconnaissance and surveillance operations in the South China Sea that informed the Philippine government. Del Rosario alerted the Philippine navy of the presence of Chinese fisherman allegedly harvesting endangered marine species in the area. The Aquino government, in turn, responded by sending BRP Gregorio del Pilar to assist our coast guard in arresting those Chinese fisherman. That was in the month of April 2012. China protested claiming the Philippines was militarizing the shoal, and responded by sending its own coast guard vessels accompanied by an armada of fishermen to create a picture of seaborne people power against an aggressive Philippine navy. For weeks, vessels of the two countries face each other in the shoal. It was clear that the standoff was the direct result of the alert made by the US to the Philippines. Whether the decision to send navy ships to assist our coast guard was made by del Rosario or by Aquino is now inconsequential. What is clear is that during that crucial moment of the standoff, nowhere could one find the shadow of any US official exerting effort to help break the impasse peacefully. The Philippine was in a very tight situation on how to resolve the impasse like setting free the Chinese fishermen or of leaving the shoal, where our ships were entrapped, without losing control of the shoal. Neither did the US navy nor any American diplomatic trouble shooter showed up to help us out in that tight situation they created. As conveyed by Trillanes to Tiglao, del Rosario already reached (a sequential withdrawal) agreement in Washington. Nobody knows whether that agreement was reached between the Chinese and the Philippine government through the backchannel efforts of the US. But most likely, the US was fully aware of what was going on. In fact, the friction originated by the US to alert us of the Chinese invasion in the Panatag Shoal with the overreacting Aquino government sending in our warship caused China to interpret the decision as a challenge to their presence in the area which they too claim as their territory. Nobody really knows, but the facts are clear that when we withdrew our ship, the understanding is for a simultaneous withdrawal. Tiglao, quoting del Rosario, in an article he wrote in 2017, During the impasse at Scarborough Shoal with China, we were approached by the US, an honest broker for both China and the Philippines, to agree to a simultaneous withdrawal of ships from the shoal. We therefore agreed. At the appointed time, we withdrew, whereas China did notin violation of the agreement. However, neither the US nor China admitted there was an agreementonly talks for such an agreement. Indeed, if there was an agreement, would the honest broker US not create a ruckus that China reneged to an agreement it brokered.? This is the big question many of our pro-US supporters are asking. The US cannot even confirm or refuse to acknowledge that it took place, except to keep us hanging in limbo that the US is ready anytime to help us against China, but adding as our incentive that we include the uninhabited islands not included the treaty they handed us in1946. It became even clear that the US wants to incorporate matters where their interest takes precedence over our interest which is to freely navigate treating South China Sea as their lake in the Pacific rim.
In a series of tweets fired off Friday morning, President Donald Trump revived a long-standing threat to seal off the southern border if Mexico doesn't do more to stop U.S.-bound migrants crossing through that country.

"If Mexico doesnt immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug our Southern Border, I will be CLOSINGthe Border, or large sections of the Border, next week," he tweeted.

Trump's threat revived the same questions posed when Trump first made his threat in October: Can he do it? And should he do it?

The first question, whether Trump can close the border, is a simple one to answer: yes.

"You can certainly stop entries coming across the border, whether it's truck traffic or cars or pedestrians," said Gil Kerlikowske, former commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "Logistically, that's possible. The gates are closed, and you say, 'Right now we're not taking entry.'"

Hiring headaches: Border Patrol struggling to recruit, keep agents, but may never get 5,000 Trump ordered

Other presidents have done that in extreme situations.

President George W. Bush partially closed the southern border following the 9-11 terrorist attacks, requiring full inspections of every incoming pedestrian and vehicle that led to days-long waits. President Ronald Reagan temporarily closed ports of entry along the southern border in 1985 following the kidnapping and murder of a DEA agent in Mexico.

But those closures were not nearly as controversial, leaving a Trump border closure open to potential lawsuits. The Trump administration has already been shot down by federal judges over multiple attempts to limit migrants trying to cross the southern border, including an attempt to cut off asylum for migrants who enter the country illegally.

The broader question of whether Trump should close the border is even more difficult to answer.

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....In addition to stopping all payments to these countries, which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!..

 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2018

Peter Boogaard, a former Homeland Security official in the Obama administration now working for fwd.us, an immigration advocacy group, said closing down border crossings with America's third-largest trading partner would be a crippling blow to the economy. He said the damage would be felt throughout the country, not just the four border states.

"We're talking about more than a billion dollars a day, including a huge percentage of the food that is in grocery stores," Boogaard said. "Were literally talking about an inability to stock grocery stores because of the amount of produce that comes from Mexico."

The U.S. State Department estimates that $1.7 billion in goods and services, and hundreds of thousands of people, legally cross the border each day. The U.S. gets nearly half (44 percent) of its fresh fruits and vegetables from Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

More: Trump: Aid will end to Central American countries allowing migrant caravan to head to US

Even groups that generally approve of Trump's efforts to limit legal and illegal immigration have expressed reservations over his threats to seal the border.

"There's a reason ports of entry exist," Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said in October after Trump first started making the threats.

Thats why Krikorian said Trump cannot seriously be considering a full closure of the border. Krikorian believed Trump is either bluffing to get Mexico to stop the caravan for him, or simply using the threat to rile up the Republican base.

"This really does exemplify how Trump articulates what a lot of ordinary people feel when they see," a caravan of migrants headed toward the U.S., he said. "That's part of his strength  he gives voices to the reaction that normal people have to news events."

It's also unclear how closing ports of entry would stop migrants seeking to request asylum in the U.S. The Trump administration has limited the number of migrants who can request asylum each day at the ports of entry along the southern border. But U.S. law allows migrants to enter the country illegally and then request asylum.

That's what tens of thousands of Central Americans have been doing in recent months. They've been crossing the border between ports of entry, seeking out a Border Patrol agent, and requesting asylum that way.

"Sealing the border does absolutely nothing to impact this," Boogaard said.

Trump's threat was part of an administration-wide offensive to portray the situation along the southern border as a "crisis" that has reached the "breaking point," with the heads of the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection claiming the flood of asylum-seeking migrants from Central America has overwhelmed the U.S. capacity to process them.

More: Mexican government sends federal police to intercept caravan of U.S.-bound migrants

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump (again) threatens to seal U.S.-Mexico border. Can he do it?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House on April 9 for talks on strengthening their strategic partnership and working on shared priorities in the Middle East, the White House said on Friday. The White House said in a statement the two leaders would discuss "building on our robust military, economic and counterterrorism cooperation" as well as regional economic integration and "Egypts longstanding role as a lynchpin of regional stability." The visit by al Sisi comes at a time of renewed tensions between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza after a rocket fired from the coastal enclave wounded seven Israelis near Tel Aviv. Israel responded with air strikes and warnings from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel was prepared to wage a broad military campaign in Gaza if needed. Trump on Monday signed a decree recognizing Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 war. The decision, which was criticized by Arab states, came as Israel gears up for elections on April 9. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Golan decision would help resolve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians by removing uncertainty. White House advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt have been working to put together a peace proposal to address the conflict. (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Trott)
Seoul (AFP) - US President Donald Trump will host his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in next month, Seoul said Friday, after the latest summit between Washington and Pyongyang ended in deadlock.

Moon has long backed a policy of engagement with nuclear-armed, sanctions-hit Pyongyang and was instrumental in brokering talks between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

But the failure of Kim and Trump to reach an agreement in Hanoi on curtailing Pyongyang's nuclear programme in exchange for a relaxation of sanctions has raised questions over the future of the process.

Moon will visit Washington on April 11, the South's presidential Blue House said. Its spokesman had earlier told AFP it would be a two-day trip.

"The two leaders will have in-depth talks... to coordinate their stance on setting up a peace regime on the Korean peninsula through complete denuclearisation," Yoon Do-han, the senior presidential press secretary said Friday.

The White House confirmed the visit and the planned talks on North Korea.

"The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region," the White House press secretary said in a statement, using the official name of South Korea.

Preparing the trip, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Friday in Washington with Kang Kyung-wha.

In Seoul, Moon has been under heavy criticism from the country's right-wing politicians for his dovish approach following the no-deal outcome from Hanoi, with one lawmaker accusing him of acting as the "top spokesman" for Kim Jong Un.

Moon had been pushing for the resumption of 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.

But his plan to unveil details of such projects on March 1, right after the Hanoi summit, was scrapped as Kim and Trump failed to reach a deal.

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In Washington, the Hanoi outcome paradoxically brought Trump praise within his Republican Party -- some members had privately fretted he was too eager to seal a deal.

Pyongyang last week abruptly pulled its staff out of an inter-Korean liaison office, but the officials came back to the joint facility in the Northern city of Kaesong days later.

Their return came after Trump announced he had "ordered" the withdrawal of additional sanctions -- without identifying the measures -- against Pyongyang by the US Treasury.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Trump administration and Chinese officials are about to hold their eighth round of trade talks in Beijing with several tough issues unresolved, including a timetable for lifting tariffs and a way to enforce any agreement.

Many analysts say they expect some limited agreement to be reached in the coming weeks or months, likely including a pledge by China to buy more U.S. exports. Yet it's unclear how far any accord would go to address the long-standing Chinese trade practices at the heart of the conflict  from the forced handover of foreign technology secrets to outright cyber-theft  that the administration insists must end.

The backdrop to the talks is a trade war that has exacted a toll on both economies and intensified pressure to reach an accord. Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods have raised costs for many U.S. manufacturers , forcing some to delay hiring or equipment purchases.

Chinese exporters have also been hurt by Trump's tariffs, raising the risk of a politically volatile spike in job losses. And Beijing's counter-tariffs on American exports have made soybeans and other U.S. farm goods costlier in China and harmed U.S. farmers.

The Rhodium Group, a research provider, estimates that the tariffs imposed by both countries, if they remain in place until fall, will shave about $45 billion from US economic output this year. (Its study was done in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.)

Late last week, President Donald Trump expressed guarded optimism about the negotiations that will resume Thursday and Friday.

"I think we're getting very close," Trump said in an interview on Fox Business Network. "That doesn't mean we get there, but I think we're getting very close."

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin lead the U.S. delegation. In early April, China's Vice Premier Liu He is scheduled to visit Washington to resume the talks.

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One sticking point is how far Beijing will go to end the forced technology transfers as well as government subsidies that are meant to give its companies a competitive advantage. Those policies are designed to transform Chinese companies into world leaders in such cutting-edge fields as robotics and artificial intelligence. Yet the Trump administration asserts that they violate international trade rules.

Trump last week struck a hard-line tone toward the tariffs he's imposed. He said he wants to maintain at least the 25 percent import taxes he applied to $50 billion in Chinese goods  a tariff that Beijing wants removed.

"We want to keep that, because we need that," Trump said.

The White House may also want to preserve at least some of the 10 percent tariffs Trump imposed on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods. Those remaining taxes would be lifted as China implements its promises.

The administration is also demanding an enforcement mechanism that would allow it to impose new tariffs if it decides that China failed to fulfill its promises under an agreement. In such a case, Trump's negotiators also want Beijing to pledge not to retaliate  a key point of conflict in the talks.

Derek Scissors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, noted that Beijing's primary goal is to get "serious tariffs off the table." Trump has suspended two earlier threats he had made: One was to escalate his 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods to 25 percent. The other was to impose import taxes on the remaining roughly $250 billion in Chinese products that aren't now subject to tariffs.

Beijing wants those threats permanently shelved. But Scissors said China won't likely offer much in return if the U.S. insists on keeping some tariffs and demands a tough enforcement mechanism.

"It is inappropriate for China to see frequent guidance and monitoring from the United States," said Dong Yan, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the official Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Enforcement should be in accordance with international conventions."

A rough outline of a potential agreement has emerged. It would likely include a commitment by China to buy hundreds of billions of dollars more in U.S. exports, including soybeans and natural gas, to address Trump's complaints about America's huge trade gap with China. Trump argues that the gap  the disparity between what the United States exports to China and the higher value of what it buys  inflicts economic harm.

Yet few economists regard such a bilateral trade deficit as a problem. Americans, after all, receive many products they want  toys, clothes, and electronics manufactured in China, often at affordable prices  in exchange for their dollars.

Lighthizer has said the accord will also include some provision under which both sides would agree not to devalue its currency to gain a trade advantage. U.S. manufacturers have alleged that Beijing has artificially lowered the value of its currency, the yuan, thereby making its exports more affordable overseas.

The outline of a possible deal also includes a section on intellectual property, officials have said. This reflects the importance the administration has placed on ending Beijing's practice of forcing companies to share technology as a price of admission to China's vast market.

This month, China's ceremonial legislature approved a law barring Chinese regulators, who typically obtain trade secrets from U.S. companies seeking to operate in China, from leaking those secrets to Chinese companies. The law would also make it easier for U.S. companies to do business in China without a partner. U.S. companies are now typically required to share technology with Chinese corporate partners.

American and European chambers of commerce in China have asserted, though, that the law is too vague.

In the meantime, Chinese negotiators want to avoid giving up too much before they decide what Trump will accept, said Bryan Mercurio, a trade law specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

"You never really know what the Trump administration wants or will settle for," said Mercurio, a former Canadian trade negotiator.

___

AP Business Writer Joe McDonald and AP Researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report from Beijing.
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Friday again accused Mexico of failing to curb the flow of migrants illegally entering the US, and threatened to close the common border "next week" unless something changes.

Trump's latest tweets ramp up the tension between the neighbors, putting a specific timeframe to his threats to shut the border, one of the busiest in the world.

"If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week," he said.

"This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and 'talk'," he added.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard quickly fired back, saying his country "does not act based on threats."

"We are a great neighbor. Just ask the 1.5 million US citizens who have chosen to call our country home, the largest such community outside the United States," Ebrard wrote on Twitter.

Before Trump's latest tweets, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reiterated that he does not want a "controversy" with the United States, and that Mexico is in fact working to fight illegal immigration.

"All this talk of migrant caravans and such is related to politics and the (US) election campaign -- that's why I'm not going to get into it," he told a press conference.

Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment leftist who took office in December, has sought to cultivate a cordial relationship with Trump.

And it appeared to be working -- until this week, when the Republican billionaire returned to the Mexico-bashing of his 2016 campaign, as he launches the run-up to his 2020 re-election bid.

Lopez Obrador wants the US to fund $10 billion in economic development programs for Mexico and Central America to attack the poverty and violence he says are the root causes of migration.

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The White House appeared to be listening, sending top adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner to meet with Lopez Obrador in Mexico City last week for talks on the subject.

But Trump himself has returned to classic campaign form as the 2020 presidential race heats up in America.

On Thursday, he told a crowd at a rally in Michigan that the US would "close the damn border" if Mexico did not do more to stem the flow of migrants crossing illegally into the United States.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to close the southern border as soon as next week if Mexico doesn't "immediately" step up its efforts to block immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.

"Theres a very good likelihood that Ill be closing the border next week," Trump told reporters gathered at his Florida resort on Friday. "I will close the border if Mexico doesnt get with it."

Similar threats in the past have raised questions over the authority of the president to seal the border, the logistics of such an endeavor, and the widespread consequences it would have on Americans ability to trade, travel and even eat.

Closing the border is something that would be devastating economically, said Peter Boogaard, a former Homeland Security official in the Obama administration now working for FWD.us, a group that advocates on immigration and criminal justice.

Were talking about more than a billion dollars a day, including a huge percentage of the food that is in grocery stores, Boogaard said.

Trump administration officials have sought to characterize the situation at the border as a crisis, even though apprehensions along the southern border are at historic lows.

Closing border: Trump (again) threatens to seal U.S.-Mexico border. Can he do it?

Border staff: Border Patrol struggling to hire, keep agents

Border: Trump threatens to seal the border if Mexico doesn't 'immediately stop' immigrants

Border Patrol routinely apprehended more than 1 million people a year  peaking at 1.6 million in 2000  throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. In 2017, the agency apprehended just over 300,000. It 2018, it apprehended just under 400,000.

On the other hand, border officials have reported an increase in migrant families. The Trump administration this week began releasing families from custody because processing centers can't cope with the large increase.

In the first five months of the fiscal year, agents in Yuma, Arizona, have apprehended 17,578 migrants traveling as a family. By contrast, in that same time period last year, they encountered 5,319 migrants. That's a 330 percent increase.

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen hit that theme Friday.

"We face a cascading crisis at our southern border," Nielsen said in a statement. "The system is in freefall."

....through their country and our Southern Border. Mexico has for many years made a fortune off of the U.S., far greater than Border Costs. If Mexico doesnt immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2019

....the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week. This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and talk. Besides, we lose so much money with them, especially when you add in drug trafficking etc.), that the Border closing would be a good thing!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2019

Trump has brought up his calls for tighter border security several times this week. Energized by a summary of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that found "no collusion" with Russia in the 2016 election, Trump has been relitigating longstanding fights this week over health care, immigration and even disaster aid to Puerto Rico.

Previous examples of closing the border are rare.

President George W. Bush partially closed the southern border following the 9-11 attacks, requiring full inspections of every incoming pedestrian and vehicle that led to days-long waits. President Ronald Reagan temporarily closed ports of entry along the southern border in 1985 following the kidnapping and murder of a DEA agent in Mexico.

Contributing: The Arizona Republic

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump threatens to seal the border if Mexico doesn't 'immediately stop' immigrants
"Let's all continue to work."

Eleven live cases, seven times to post bail, and two arrests within the span of a little over a year. Wow. Ordinary mortals subjected to this kind of experience will most likely have wrecked nerves due to stress and tension by now. But Maria Ressa is different. She has nerves of steel, stainless steel even. Coming home from a brief trip to San Francisco early morning of March 29, Ressa was arrested inside the airport for alleged violation of the Anti-Dummy Law. According to reports, the case was raffled off to Regional Trial Court Branch 265 of Pasig City on March 27, and by the following day, an Arrest Warrant against Ressa was already issued by Acting Presiding Judge Acerey Pacheco. Ressa, the Chief Executive Officer and executive editor of Rappler.com peacefully went with the arresting officers to the Pasig Court. She was accompanied by her lawyer. She posted bail and is now free. Her co-defendants in this case are members of Rapplers 2016 Board of Directors and Glenda Gloria, another well-known journalist, and the companys managing editor. They all posted bail a few days earlier even before any warrant for their arrest was issued. I met Maria Ressa through common friends at a dinner in her house many years ago when she was still with CNN and making the big decision to leave her stable career there to come back and practice her vocation here. I remember asking her why she would do that when she already had what many journalists here could only aspire for. Her answer was clear: She was making the move because she felt she could do more in her own country. And as they say, the rest is history. We have seen each other on-and-off the past years but managed to stay in touch. We even had coffee to discuss her plans to set-up Rappler. At that time, she believed there was space, and need for more responsible practice of journalism that could help bring about real change in the country. Under Ressas helm, Rappler has come a long way and has become one of the, if not the most influential media outfits in the country. It is also a known critic of this administration. It is common knowledge that President Rodrigo Duterte and his people do not like being criticized. Thus, critics are being silenced through threats and harassment. Look at what they did to Senator Leila de Lima. She remains in jail for fabricated drug-related cases. Senator Antonio Trillanes is another critic who faces criminal charges. Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, she who refused to be stymied by Duterte, was removed from position by her peers via a questionable quo warranto petition filed by the Solicitor General himself.The media is also targeted, especially those perceived as anti-Duterte. A leading television network is still waiting for its franchise to be approved and Duterte is on record as having said that he will not allow this to happen. Also, a leading broadsheet has been the subject of tirades by the President. However, Rappler seems to be this administrations favorite whipping boy with the 11 court cases it faces, and Maria Ressas frequent trips to different courts to post bail. It appears that there is a pattern to intimidate, harass, and silence media practitioners critical of the President. In Ressas case, our courts seem surprisingly efficient in issuing warrants of arrest, and the police and other arresting officers are real quick in acting out the arrests. Compare this with how slow the process is when it comes to killers of the thousands of innocent Filipinos murdered in connection with the war on drugs. Compare this with how slow corrupt government people are brought to justice. I repeat, Maria Ressa faces 11 court cases, has been arrested twice, and posted bail seven times all within a period of a little over a year. The Filipino people should know that the repression of the Constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of the press does not only concern media outfits and journalists. It concerns everybody because a controlled press cannot be relied upon to report real news. Censorship will be the norm and our media will be the governments propaganda arm. Thus, the peoples access to information, particularly on governance and how those in power are performing, will be extremely limited. It will be like the dictator Marcos time all over again. Since our knowledge about what actually happens in the country will be limited, it will be hard for us to form contrary opinion and critical thinking will also be suppressed. The way journalists are harassed sends a chilling effect on ordinary citizens. As it is now, I know some friends who are being very careful with what they say especially on social media. One asked me, what if I also get targeted for being too critical? This is already happening. Our freedom to think freely and express ourselves is beginning to be compromised. People should take inspiration from Maria Ressa. I keenly watched all her interviews during and after this last arrest. I looked for signs of being rattled, embattled, but did not see any. She remains cool, collected, articulate, sharp, and in control in the middle of the very stressful situation she is in. Her words continue to be direct and pointed. Her smile, voice, and tone were the same as many years ago during the dinner when I first met her. Her last line in an interview after posting bail was, Now, I will work. Let us all continue to work. No, I do not see Maria Ressa defeated. I have a hunch she will even grow bigger in the eyes of Filipinos, and the world. Often, she says, We will hold the line. It is time for all of us to #HoldTheLine and #DefendPressFreedom. After all, this is not just Ressas fight but OURS.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump's pick to serve on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors had a lien of more than $75,000 filed against him in January 2018 for unpaid taxes.

The president said last week he intends to nominate Stephen Moore to fill a vacancy on the Fed's seven-member board, though he has not yet officially submitted the nomination.

Moore is a conservative economic analyst and frequent Federal Reserve critic. He is a well-known and often polarizing figure in Washington political circles. He served as a Trump campaign adviser in 2016 and helped Trump craft his tax cut plan.

Court records in Montgomery County, Maryland, show a $75,328 lien against Moore was entered in favor of the United States government for unpaid taxes, and for penalties and interest that may accrue from 2014.

The White House declined to comment. Moore did not immediately return a request for comment.

Moore's wife, Anne Carey, told Bloomberg that Moore accidentally claimed the sum of alimony and child-support payments to his former wife, when only alimony is deductible. Because Moore had moved, he never received notifications from the IRS after the agency audited the return, she said.

"It was not an attempt at defrauding the U.S. government," Carey told Bloomberg.

Carey said the couple has resolved to pay the lien as quickly as possible but will continue to dispute the IRS ruling.

____

Associated Press writer Mike Balsamo contributed to this report.
Tunis (AFP) - A UN official charged with investigating alleged violations of a UN arms embargo on Libya, has been detained in neighbouring Tunisia on suspicion of spying, Tunisian and UN officials said Friday.

Moncef Kartas, a member of the panel of experts of the Libya sanctions committee, was arrested on his arrival in Tunis on Tuesday, a UN spokesman told AFP.

"We are in contact with the Tunisian authorities to know why he has been held for questioning," a UN statement said, adding that as a UN expert Kartas was entitled to diplomatic immunity.

Tunisia website universnews said Kartas had dual Tunisian and German nationality.

Confirmation of his arrest comes just a day before UN chief Antonio Guterres is due to attend an Arab summit in Tunis with the conflict in Libya to be high on the agenda.

After initially making no comment on the case, the Tunisian authorities confirmed on Friday that they had detained two Tunisians, including Kartas, on suspicion of "spying for foreign parties".

"Confidential documents containing sensitive detailed data capable of harming national security were seized, along with technical equipment for jamming and intercepting communications that is banned in our country," the interior ministry said in a statement.

In a 2017 report co-signed by Kartas, the UN panel of experts found that arms and ammunition continued to be delivered to the warring parties in Libya in violation of the UN embargo with the involvement of member states.
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia will coordinate with fellow Arab countries to contain any fallout from the U.S. decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said on Friday.

He was speaking to a meeting of Arab ministers ahead of the annual Arab League summit, hosted this year by Tunisia and likely to focus on Washington's decision and its earlier move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

"We will work with fellow Arab countries and the international community to contain the expected repercussions of this decision in the various regional and international forums," Jhinaoui told the meeting in Tunis.

He did not elaborate, but Arab countries want Washington to retract its decision, and to stop other countries following suit.

Arab states consider the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as occupied Syrian land.

U.S. President Donald Trump also angered Arabs by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv last year.

But a person familiar with the matter said Washington's decisions did not appear to have blocked behind-the-scenes security contacts developed in recent years between Israel and the United States Gulf Arab allies over their common enemy, Iran.

Tunisia currently holds the rotating presidency of the Arab League and is vying for one of the rotating non-permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria and Arab East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed both in moves not recognised internationally.

A spokesman for the summit said Arab heads of state were expected to renew their commitment to an Arab initiative that calls for peace with Israel in exchange for full withdrawal from all lands occupied in 1967, but would reject any proposal that is not in line with U.N. resolutions.

Mahmoud Al-Khmeiry appeared to be referring to a still-unannounced U.S. peace plan by White House adviser Jared Kushner and Trump son-in-law which Palestinians have refused to discuss.

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SAUDI SEES IRANIAN THREAT

Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf told the gathering that Saudi Arabia considered the Palestinians' quest for statehood in Israeli-occupied territory - peace talks have been stalled for five years - to be the central cause for all Arabs.

But Assaf singled out what he described as the Iranian threat as the main challenge facing Arabs, calling for action to confront Tehran.

"One of the most dangerous forms of terrorism and extremism is what Iran practises through its blatant interference in Arab affairs, and its militias ... the Revolutionary Guards in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, which requires cooperation from us to confront it," he said.

Iran has denied posing any such threats.

Assaf said Arabs needed to work to stop Iran's ballistic missile programme, saying the Islamic Republic was supplying Yemen's Houthi movement with rockets to attack Saudi cities.

Saudi Arabia is leading a Sunni Muslim coalition that intervened in 2015 in Yemen's war against the Houthis to restore the internationally recognised government ousted from power.

Assaf also voiced Saudi support for Syria's territorial integrity and a political solution to its war based on dialogue between the opposition and government, but said a unified Syrian opposition should emerge before the start of any dialogue.

Syria's membership of the Arab League has been suspended it descended into violence in 2011 after Arab Spring protests.

President Bashar al-Assad's government, backed by Russia and Iran, has regained control over most of the country after years of fighting that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Five sources told Reuters last month that the United States had been lobbying Gulf states to hold off restoring ties with Syria, including the UAE, which has moved closer to Damascus to counter the influence of its rival Iran.

(Reporting by Maher Chamytelli in Dubai and Omar Fahmy and Hesham Hajali in Cairo; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
By Subrat Patnaik NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday his ruling coalition would increase its majority in India's upcoming election, despite some independent analysts suggesting it could disappear due to discontent over lack of jobs and depressed farm incomes. Involving around 900 million voters, India's general election will be the world's largest democratic exercise, with the vote taking place in seven phases between April 11 and May 19. Results will be announced on May 23, and in an interview with Republic Bharat television channel, Modi predicted an easy victory. "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its National Democratic Alliance partners will get more seats than the previous election," Modi said. In 2014, Modi led his Hindu nationalist BJP and its allies to the biggest majority scored by any political group in nearly 30 years, as a Congress Party led government paid the price for a faltering economy. During Modi's tenure the economy has gathered strength, but growth has been uneven, leaving large sections of the population unhappy. Though his approval ratings still trail Modi's, rival Rahul Gandhi has worked hard to revive Congress and forge partnerships with regional parties. Up until a few weeks ago most opinion polls were expecting a close run race, but over the past month, Modi's BJP has benefited from nationalist fervor unleashed by a flare up in tensions with neighboring Pakistan. Modi dismissed Gandhi's chances this time round, predicting the opposition would have to wait another five years to mount a serious challenge. "The 'Modi vs who' question could arise in 2024, but in 2019 the citizens have made up their mind and are not looking for anyone else." As yet, no major survey has emerged measuring the impact on voter intentions from the upsurge in tensions with Pakistan. The Indian opposition accuses Modi of using national security to score political points, especially after he addressed the nation on Wednesday to announce that India made a space breakthrough by shooting down one of its satellites in space using an anti-satellite missile. During the interview, Modi again swiped Pakistan over a militant attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary police last month in the disputed Kashmir region. The Indian prime minister said he would not enter talks with Islamabad until "the world sees that Pakistan has taken action against terrorism." Pakistan has denied any role in the attack and has said it is ready to hold talks with India to address the core issue of Kashmir. ($1 = 69.1490 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Subrat Patnaik; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Simon Cameron-Moore)
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General William Barr plans to make public a redacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's nearly 400-page investigative report into Russian interference in the 2016 election by mid-April, "if not sooner," he said in a letter to lawmakers on Friday. "Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own," Barr wrote in the letter to the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House Judiciary committees. He said he was willing to appear before both committees to testify about Mueller's report on May 1 and May 2. On March 22, Mueller completed his 22-month probe and Barr on Sunday sent a four-page letter to Congress that outlined the main findings. Barr told lawmakers that the investigation did not establish that members of the election campaign of President Donald Trump conspired with Russia. Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Friday Trump said he had "great confidence" in Barr. Asked whether he agreed with Barr's decision to release the Mueller report to the public, Trump said, "If that's what he'd like to do I have nothing to hide. This was a hoax. This was a witch hunt." Leading congressional Democrats are pressing for a quick release of the entire Mueller report. "We need to see the Mueller report ASAP, with only those redactions that are absolutely necessary to protect intelligence sources and methods. Congress and the American people need the full story about what happened in 2016," said Senator Mark Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. A Mueller spokesman would not comment on the letter to Congress that Barr issued on Friday. Mueller left unresolved the question of whether Trump obstructed justice during the investigation. Barr said that based on the evidence presented, he concluded it was not sufficient to charge the president with obstruction. Barr said his letter on Sunday "was not, and did not purport to be an exhaustive recounting" of Mueller's investigation and said he believed the public should be allowed to read the report and judge for themselves. Lawmakers have since been clamoring for more details. In a statement on Friday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said the April 2 deadline he imposed on Barr's Justice Department "still stands" and he urged the release of a "full and complete" report without redactions. The top Republican on the committee, Doug Collins, said on Twitter that Barr was "following his word" by pledging to release the report and chided Nadler for setting an arbitrary deadline. Barr said in his letter on Friday that certain information must be redacted before the report is released, including secret grand jury information, intelligence sources and methods and information that by law cannot be public or might infringe on privacy. Nadler rejected that notion, saying Barr must "work with us to request a court order to release any and all grand jury information to the House Judiciary Committee." The federal rules of criminal procedure make it a crime for government officials to publicly divulge sensitive grand jury materials such as transcripts, unless a federal judge signs off first. Barr said on Friday that although Trump also has the right to assert executive privilege on some materials in the report to keep them from being made public, Trump has said publicly he intends to defer to Barr. Because of that, Barr added, there were no plans for the Justice Department to submit the report to the White House for a privilege review. During his investigation, Mueller brought charges against 34 people, including Russian agents and former Trump aides. The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Russia used a campaign of hacking and propaganda to sow discord in the United States, harm Clinton and boost Trump's candidacy. Russia denied election interference. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Steve Holland, David Morgan, Karen Freifeld and Richard Cowan in Washington and Jeff Mason in Palm Beach; Editing by Bill Trott and Rosalba O'Brien)
By Alexandria Sage and Tina Bellon

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Wednesday awarded $80 million to a man who claimed his use of Bayer AG's glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup caused his cancer, in the latest legal setback for the company facing thousands of similar lawsuits.

The jury in San Francisco federal court said the company was liable for plaintiff Edwin Hardeman's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

It awarded $5 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages to Hardeman after finding that Roundup was defectively designed, that Monsanto failed to warn of the herbicide's cancer risk and that the company acted negligently.

Bayer bought Roundup maker Monsanto last year for $63 billion.

The company in a statement on Wednesday said it was disappointed with the jury's decision and that it would appeal the verdict.

"This verdict does not change the weight of over four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides and that they are not carcinogenic," Bayer said.

The trial is only the second of more than 11,200 Roundup lawsuits set to go to trial in the United States. Previous litigation setbacks and a prior jury verdict against the company have sent Bayer shares plunging.

The verdict comes after the same jury on March 19 found Roundup to have been a "substantial factor" in causing Hardeman's cancer, allowing the trial to proceed to a second phase to determine liability and damages. Bayer shares fell more than 12 percent after last week's jury finding.

In the trial's second phase, Hardeman's lawyers were able to present previously excluded internal documents allegedly showing the company's efforts to influence scientists and regulators about the widely-used product's safety.

Lawyers for Hardeman were seen by a Reuters reporter cheering in the elevator outside the courtroom after the verdict was announced.

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"As demonstrated throughout trial, since Roundup's inception over 40 years ago, Monsanto refuses to act responsibly," Hardeman's lawyers said in a statement, adding that the company instead focused on "manipulating public opinion and undermining anyone who raises genuine and legitimate concerns about Roundup."

'HASN'T SUNK IN'

After the verdict, Hardeman told reporters he was "overwhelmed."

"It hasn't sunk in yet," he said.

Hardeman's case was considered a bellwether trial to help determine the range of damages and define settlement options for the more than 760 other federal cases pending in the same court before U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.

In the first trial phase of Hardeman's case, the jury deliberated for more than four days before finding Roundup responsible for the man's cancer. Bayer on Wednesday said that was an indication that jurors were "very likely divided over the scientific evidence."

The company said its appeal would focus on legal rulings by Chhabria, who allowed some of Hardeman's scientific experts to testify despite calling plaintiffs' expert opinions "shaky" in a 2018 ruling.

But legal experts have noted that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees the San Francisco federal court, has generally been permissive in allowing expert testimony.

Monsanto's Roundup was the first to contain glyphosate, the world's most widely used weed killer. But it is no longer patent-protected and many other versions are available. Bayer does not provide sales figures for the product.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the European Chemicals Agency and other regulators have found that glyphosate is not likely carcinogenic to humans. The World Health Organization's cancer arm in 2015 reached a different conclusion, classifying glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans."

In the first U.S. Roundup trial, another California man was awarded $289 million in August after a state court jury found Roundup caused his cancer. That award was later reduced to $78 million and is on appeal.

Hardeman's case featured a significant difference from that trial after Chhabria decided to split cases before him into two phases: one to decide causation on purely scientific grounds, the other to determine Bayer's potential liability and damages only if the jury first ruled that the weed killer was a substantial factor in causing cancer.

That decision had been seen as beneficial to Bayer. Legal experts said the jury's verdict in the first phase of the Hardeman case was a significant setback, narrowing the company's legal options going forward.

Chhabria has scheduled another bellwether trial for May and a third trial is likely to also take place this year. All three will be split into causation and liability phases.

Bayer is also scheduled to face another Roundup trial in California state court beginning on March 28 and at least two trials in Missouri state court in the fall.

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; Writing by Tina Bellon in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
By Brendan O'Brien

(Reuters) - An inmate who was part of a murderous band of prison escapees dubbed the "Texas 7" won a reprieve from his death sentence on Thursday as the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state to allow a Buddhist spiritual adviser to accompany him to the execution chamber.

The 11th-hour stay was granted to Patrick Murphy, 57, convicted for his role in the killing a police officer at a sporting goods store on Christmas Eve in 2000 after escaping from a maximum-security prison days earlier.

The high court rendered its decision more than an hour after Murphy had been scheduled to die by lethal injection at the state's prison facility in Huntsville.

"As this court has repeatedly held, governmental discrimination against religion  in particular, discrimination against religious persons, religious organizations, and religious speech  violates the Constitution," Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion.

Two of the nine justices - Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch - dissented.

The Thursday decision differs from a ruling by the Supreme Court in February, when justices voted 5-4 to allow an execution in Alabama to proceed and denied a request by the condemned inmate, who was Muslim, for an imams presence in the execution chamber.

It was unclear why the court ruled differently on Thursday, but Kavanaugh noted that Murphy made his request to the state in a "sufficiently timely manner, one month before the scheduled execution."

Murphy's lawyers filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on Thursday, seeking a stay if Texas failed to provide him with a Buddhist minister in the death chamber.

"If a stay is not granted, Murphy will suffer irreparable injury because he will be executed under circumstances that violate his First Amendment and statutory rights to freedom of religion," David Dow, his lawyer, wrote in the petition.

Texas allows a Christian or Muslim religious adviser for a condemned inmate to be present in either in the execution room or in the adjacent viewing room. But inmates of other religious faiths, such as Murphy, a Buddhist, were only allowed to have their religious adviser in the viewing room, Kavanaugh noted.

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"In my view, the Constitution prohibits such denominational discrimination," he wrote.

Because the ruling came after the expiration of the death warrant, the case will be returned to the district court level, and the execution rescheduled.

Murphy was serving a 50-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault when he and six other inmates broke out of maximum- security prison in Kenedy, Texas, on Dec. 13, 2000, according to court documents.

Eleven days later, Murphy and the other escapees robbed a sporting goods store in Irving. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins, 31, was shot and killed by the group as the men fled, according to court filings. They were apprehended about a month later at a Colorado mobile home park, where one of the escapees committed suicide.

Murphy was sentenced to die in 2003 after he was convicted of capital murder of a police officer.

Murphy was in a vehicle, serving as a lookout and did not shoot Hawkins during the robbery, according to prosecutors. But he was still convicted of murder under the states law of parties, a statute that holds a person criminally responsible if they act as an accomplice.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by G Crosse and Peter Cooney)
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party will not support Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal if she asks parliament to vote on just the divorce element without the agreement on the future relationship, its Brexit spokesman will say on Thursday. May hopes to bring her twice-rejected deal back to parliament on Friday and media have reported she could seek to get it through by putting forward a vote on just the Withdrawal Agreement, separated from the Political Declaration. "We would be leaving the EU, but with absolutely no idea where we are heading. That cannot be acceptable and Labour will not vote for it," Keir Starmer will tell the British Chambers of Commerce conference, according to extracts provided by Labour. "To now to split the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration would leave us with the blindest of blindfold Brexits." (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, editing by William James)
Geneva (AFP) - United Nations-backed talks to prevent an arms race in outer space ended without agreement on Friday, delivering another blow to global disarmament diplomacy.

Twenty-five nations -- including major space-faring powers such as China, Russia and the US -- held two weeks of negotiations that aimed to lay foundations for a treaty ensuring peace in space.

Diplomats meeting within the so-called Group of Governmental Experts were not able to reach consensus on a set of recommendations, said Brazil's ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota, who led the talks.

"We could not reach convergence," Patriota told reporters, adding that the goal may have been "too ambitious."

"We are working on very difficult grounds because of the sensitivities around these issues," he further said.

Space disarmament diplomacy has been deadlocked for more than a decade.

Russia and China have backed treaty language that seeks to prevent the deployment of certain types of military hardware in space.

The US, even before the election of President Donald Trump, has typically rejected that approach on grounds that it is extremely difficult to verify the military capabilities of hardware deployed in space.

Instead, the US has preferred language that focuses on prohibiting certain aggressive conduct in space.

- India satellite -

Aside from disagreements on the content of a possible treaty, the talks were also hampered by a grim disarmament climate, highlighted by Washington's decision in recent weeks to scrap a crucial nuclear weapons accord with Russia.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has drafted plans for a new "Space Force" on orders from Trump who has declared space a "war-fighting domain".

And while the talks were ongoing this week, India destroyed a satellite with a missile, boasting that it had joined the exclusive list of space powers.

Patriota said that rather than being harmful to the talks, the India test reinforced the need for some kind of treaty as it reminded nations "that shooting down an object in space is not expressly prohibited" under current international law.

Story continues

India's actions challenged the narrative "that (the) existing regime is sufficient," he said.

But despite any impetus created by New Delhi, leaders in the world's space powers were "not particularly open to huge steps being taken" towards a treaty.

Friday marked the end of UN talks and there are no immediate plans for further negotiations, the Brazilian diplomat said.

He added, however, that "it was a great discussion" which may have "ripple effects" that could shape a future treaty.
What if We Threw a Cold War and Nobody Came?

Russia just cant seem to keep itself from stepping on Americas toes - the foot belonging to Latin American countries that are within the American sphere of influence known historically as the Monroe Doctrine.

On Sunday two Russian military planes reportedly landed in Caracas carrying a Russian defense official and nearly 100 troops - in another demonstration of the close ties between Russia and Venezuela.

Three months earlier, the two nations held joint military exercises, in an apparent nose-thumbing directed at opponents of embattled President Nicolas Maduro, particularly the United States.

Further north, the Russian air force is flying into territory its not supposed to be entering. At the end of January US Air Force and Canadian fighter jets were scrambled to escort two Russian bombers that were traveling over the North American coastline, in an area patrolled by the Royal Canadian Air Force.

In 2018 NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) reported two incidents of Russian bombers that were spotted and intercepted near the coast of Alaska.

Meanwhile the United States has said it would withdraw from the INF Treaty unless Russia ends what the US says are violations of the landmark 1987 arms control agreement (ie. that Russia has begun R&D on a conventional intermediate range missile), due to expire in August.

Not being party to the INF Treaty will allow the United States to counter Russian aggression in Eastern Europe - the latest example being a major training mission being carried out in Crimea. The Kyiv Post reports up to 1,500 Russian airborne paratroopers, plus combat helicopters, military transport planes and landing craft from the Black Sea Fleet, have been deployed to Russian-occupied Crimea to drill major offensive operations.

If the US is no longer tied to a treaty that prohibits intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles, the military will also have a freer hand in the South China Sea.

Tensions in that part of the world continue to be high. On Sunday the US Navy increased the frequency of vessel movement through the Taiwan Strait, after Beijing sent military aircraft and ships to circle the island for drills, Foreign Affairs reported. President Xi Jinping has warned that any attempt by Taiwan, or its US ally, to assert Taiwans independence will be met with armed force.

Finally, late last year in the South China Sea - a highly strategic and economic waterway that China claims as its own - a Chinese warship came dangerously close, within 45 yards, of the bow of a Navy destroyer.

These incidents are mentioned to show evidence of ever-increasing aggression and militarization among the three largest military powers in the world right now: the US, China and Russia. Weve written about this before, in the context of rare earths - see Rare earths in the context of new arms race and Pentagon missile-making plan is perplexing.

This article will present a scenario of what could happen if there is another buildup of conventional and nuclear weaponry, similar to the Cold War that gripped Russia and the US between 1957 (the launch of Sputnik) and 1989 (the fall of the Iron Curtain). How would China, Russia and the US fare, in terms of getting enough critical minerals to supply their own militaries?

The materials of war

To answer this question we need to start with the list of 23 minerals the US Geological Survey identified in 2017 as being critical to US national security and the economy.

The US is dependent on China for 20 of those 23 minerals. Along with rare earths, China is the dominant supplier of antimony, indium, tellurium and tungsten.

An expanded list of 35 minerals was published by the Department of the Interior alongside an Executive Order by President Trump, for the Commerce Department to come up with a strategy by this August, for America to reduce its reliance on critical minerals.

From the list we can identify a number of minerals that have military applications. Remember the US Military depends on imports for all of these materials:

Aluminum (bauxite) is used in the Humvee (HMMWV), HEMTT and Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and armored plates to resist explosives. The airframe of the F-16 is 80% aluminum. Aluminum is mixed with other elements, including silicon, magnesium, copper, to create high-strength alloys. The US is 100% reliant on imports of metallurgical grade bauxite.

is used in the Humvee (HMMWV), HEMTT and Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and armored plates to resist explosives. The airframe of the F-16 is 80% aluminum. Aluminum is mixed with other elements, including silicon, magnesium, copper, to create high-strength alloys. The US is 100% reliant on imports of metallurgical grade bauxite. Antimony is used in batteries and flame retardants.

is used in batteries and flame retardants. Beryllium is used as an alloying agent in aerospace and defense industries.

is used as an alloying agent in aerospace and defense industries. Chromium is used primarily in stainless steel and other alloys.

is used primarily in stainless steel and other alloys. used in rechargeable batteries and superalloys.

Gallium is used for integrated circuits and optical devices like LEDs.

is used for integrated circuits and optical devices like LEDs. Germ anium is used for fiber optics and night vision applications.

is used for fiber optics and night vision applications. Indium is mostly used in LCD screens.

is mostly used in LCD screens. Lithium is used primarily for batteries.

is used primarily for batteries. Manganese is necessary for steelmaking. Steel cannot be manufactured without adding 10 to 20 pounds of manganese per ton of iron.

is necessary for steelmaking. Steel cannot be manufactured without adding 10 to 20 pounds of manganese per ton of iron. Niobium is used mostly in steel alloys.

is used mostly in steel alloys. Rare earth elements are primarily used in batteries and electronics.

are primarily used in batteries and electronics. Rhenium is used for lead-free gasoline and superalloys.

is used for lead-free gasoline and superalloys. Rubidium is used for research and development in electronics.

is used for research and development in electronics. Scandium is used for alloys and fuel cells.

is used for alloys and fuel cells. Tantalum is used in electronic components, mostly capacitors.

is used in electronic components, mostly capacitors. Tellurium is used in steelmaking and solar cells.

is used in steelmaking and solar cells. Tin is used as protective coatings and alloys for steel.

is used as protective coatings and alloys for steel. Titanium . Due to its ability to withstand high temperatures, high tensile strength and corrosion resistance, titanium alloys are used in aircraft, armor plating, navy ships and missiles. About two-thirds of titanium is used in aircraft engines and frames.

. Due to its ability to withstand high temperatures, high tensile strength and corrosion resistance, titanium alloys are used in aircraft, armor plating, navy ships and missiles. About two-thirds of titanium is used in aircraft engines and frames. Tungsten is primarily used to make wear-resistant metals.

is primarily used to make wear-resistant metals. Vanadium is used for titanium alloys.

Rare earths are central to the whole spectrum of defense technologies that are vital to every military. Without them, countries would be unable to produce much of the military hardware and equipment required for national defense. Moreover, switching from current suppliers (ie. China) would cause major disruptions to supply chains. According to the US Government Accountability Office, it would take 15 years to overhaul the defence supply chain, meaning any changes to it need considerable lead time.

Among the military applications of rare earth elements are:

1. Radar and sonar used to prevent collisions, for surveillance and navigational aids. The Patriot Missile Air Defense System employs radio frequency circulators to magnetically control the flow of electronic signals in the radar and missiles. Rare earths required: gadolinium, samarium, yttrium.

2. Communications and displays required by soldiers, sailors and airmen to see analog and digital data. Examples are lasers that help line-of-sight communication links in satellite and ground-based systems; old and new computer monitors; and avionics terminals. Rare earths required: dysprosium, erbium, europium, neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and yttrium.

3. Lasers employed on vehicle-mounted systems like tanks and armored vehicles. They can identify enemy targets up to 22 miles.

According to DefenseMediaNetwork, The laser-equipped computer main gun sight on the Abrams M1A/2 tank combines a Raytheon rangefinder and integrated designator targeting system used to obtain a high-probability first hit. Rare earths required: europium, neodymium, terbium and yttrium.

4. Precision-guided munitions (PGMs) take in a number of missile classes including cruise, anti-ship (ASM) and surface-to-air (SAM), as well as bunker busters. The heat-seeking AIM-9 Sidewinder missile has four fins on its fuselage that use rare-earth magnets to control its flight trajectory.

Rare earths required: dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium and terbium.

5. Guidance and control systems that steer missiles and bombs towards their targets. Rare earths required: terbium, dysprosium, samarium, praseodymium and neodymium.

6. Electronic warfare refers to a range of equipment that includes high-capacity power sources, storage batteries and electronic jamming devices. Rare earths required: yttrium-iron-garnet.

7. Electric motors that require permanent magnets, of which the US Military is an important buyer. New equipment requiring powerful permanent magnets in the next generation of electric motors will include the US Navys Zumwalt DDG 1000 guided military destroyer, hub-mounted electric traction drives and integrated starter generators. Rare earths required: terbium, dysprosium, samarium, praseodymium and neodymium.

Jet engines. The rare earth element erbium is added to vanadium to make it more malleable for use in vanadium-infused steel that goes into jet engines. While not specifically a rare earth element, the rare element rhenium is alloyed with molybdenum and tungsten. The F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter reportedly use 6% rhenium in their engines. The electrical systems in aircraft employ samarium-cobalt permanent magnets to generate power.

According to The Hill, the US Department of Defense uses 750,000 tons of minerals a year.

Buying from our enemies



Yet as mentioned, the United States is completely dependent on China for 20 out of 23 critical minerals, many of which are needed for national defense. While the US has deposits of manganese and vanadium, for example, none are currently in production. The number of electric vehicles used by the military is going to grow rapidly, yet the United States has only one lithium mine that has been going since the 1960s and is being depleted. There is also only one American rare earth mine, Mountain Pass in California. It was sold to a US consortium including a Chinese company that is processing the rare earth concentrate into oxides, in China.



Without rare earths mined and processed in China, America would be unable to manufacture military hardware. Rare earths are great multipliers, they are used in making everything from computer monitors and permanent magnets to lasers, guidance control systems and jet engines. In most cases there are no substitutes and Australia is the only significant producer outside of China (non-Chinese sources only account for about 20% of rare earth mines).

Materials made from Chinese REEs are appearing in US fighter jets and rockets.

The $392-billion F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program was close to being canceled about seven years ago but for intervention by the Pentagon to prevent further delays. Reuters reported in 2014 that the chief US arms buyer allowed two F-35 suppliers, Northrop Grumman Corp and Honeywell, to use Chinese magnets for the planes radar system, landing gears and other hardware.

In doing so, the Pentagon was actually waiving laws banning Chinese-built components on US weapons. Permanent magnets employ the rare earths neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium.

As we reported earlier this year, through a program called the United Launch Alliance, US rockets are powered by Russian engines. Our Cold War enemy for 30-odd years, which ironically started the space race with the 1957 launch of Sputnik, all use RD-180 engines made by NPO Energomash, a Russian state-owned company.

If Cold War Presidents from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan knew that the nations national defense rested on technologies coming from its former and current adversaries, they would surely be turning in their graves.

How can a country be responsible for its own defense and projecting military force abroad, when it has to rely on its enemies to make its own weapons?

Its globalism

How did we get here? The blame is largely shouldered by globalism. It used to be that countries were responsible for their own defense materials. The idea of your adversary selling you supplies for weaponry was ludicrous. There was a time when the United States controlled global rare earths production, through the Mountain Pass mine in California. In the late 1990s the US ceded control of Magnequench, a unit of General Motors that was producing permanent magnets, to the Chinese. Within a decade China had a monopoly on the rare earths market.

After World War II the United States created the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) to acquire and store critical strategic materials for national defense purposes. The NDS was intended for all essential civilian and military uses in times of emergencies. In 1992, Congress directed that the bulk of these stored commodities be sold.

Since then, a variety of factors I've covered before, including restrictive environmental regulations and a sharp decline in US mining investment, has made the United States dependent on foreign mines for a number of strategic metals  a situation I have dubbed A Nation's Metallurgical Achilles Heel.

While many believe that world wars are consigned to the dust bin of history, a deeper reading shows that the Founding Fathers of the United States of America were focused squarely on the importance of maintaining a ready supply of materials necessary for the defense of the nation and war-making capabilities.

In the 1780s the US knew what it needed for war. When President George Washington signed the Tariff Act of 1789, he told Congress, A free people  should promote such manufactures as tend to make them independent on others for essential, particularly military supplies. Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufactures, written in 1791, said Every nation ought to endeavor to possess within itself all the essentials of national supply. These comprise the means of subsistence, habitat, clothing and defence.

Globalism rejects this nationalistic program of acquiring resources. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the goal has been cooperation over confrontation, inter-dependency over independence. We saw examples of this in the expansion of the European Union and NATO, the admittance of China into the World Trade Organization, the now-defunct Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Iran nuclear deal.

Now the pendulum has swung the other way, with a backlash against globalism and towards nationalism, manifested in Brexit, the election of populists like Trump and far-right European parties, the China-US trade war, the end of the TPP, and the Trump Administration gutting the deal with Iran and re-imposing sanctions.

Winners and losers

Suppose there is a war - either a Cold War or a shooting war - between the US and China, or the US and Russia. Who would win? The US by far has the most military might, so in the short-term, its hard to imagine America losing to either.

In 2017 the US spent $610 billion on its military  the most of any country by far. The next closest was China at about a third, or $228 billion. China's military spending is 1.9% of GDP compared to 3.3% in the US; Russia's is 5.3%, but it only spent $66.3 billion in 2016  a tenth of US expenditures. The United States maintains 800 military bases in over 70 countries, compared with 30 between Britain, France and Russia combined. China just opened its first one, in Djibouti, Africa.

The capacity of the United States Military to project power overseas, along with its tremendous arsenal of conventional and nuclear weapons, advanced technology and high numbers of Armed Forces personnel (the US has 1.4 million active frontline personnel, more than Russias 766,500 but smaller than Chinas 2.3 million), afford it the ability to contain China and Russia. In an all-out war, all the US Military needs to do is blockade the supply lines of its enemy(ies).

But if the war were to continue, it would be another story. The United States is far more dependent on China and Russia, particularly China, for its critical minerals. And without critical minerals, its difficult to re-stock weaponry and equipment lost on the battlefield, or to keep up with an arms race.

An arms race isnt only about nuclear weapons. Russia and the US have about the same number of nuclear warheads (see map below), but nukes are only used for deterrence; nobody wants to ever have to use them. Conventional military equipment, weapons and personnel (army, navy, air force) are far more likely to be deployed in a potential confrontation, like in Crimea or the South China Sea.

Of critical importance is supplying your military in a war, or a Cold War. What would the US do if conflict escalated to a level where China refused to sell its rare earths? The military would have to scramble together a source of materials for widely used permanent magnets, used in aircraft engines and in the noise cancellation technology blades of stealth helicopters, for example. Battery metals for electronics, including lithium, graphite, cobalt, and rare earths, would all be in huge demand. The demand for steel alloys needed for aircraft, ships and vehicles would suddenly explode. How would the US quickly get its hands on enough chromium, beryllium, manganese, vanadium, titanium?

Because of the already mentioned 15 years to fix the US broken supply gap regarding the critical metals related to its defense prolonged conflict would favor Russia or China in these circumstances. Thats because both Russia and China have more critical minerals than the US and would be able to out-build the US Military in an arms race scenario, and out-replenish broken or destroyed equipment in the event of a long, drawn-out war involving ships, airplanes, tanks, etc. Even more so if it was the United versus China and Russia.

Russia and China have since 1950 agreed to defend one another against an attack from US-backed Japan or its allies (China backed North Vietnam and North Korea) so continued cooperation is unsurprising. In 2001 Russia's Vladimir Putin and then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin signed a 20-year agreement to increase trust between their militaries. The two countries now regularly participate in joint maneuvers including joint naval exercises to counter US influence in the Asia Pacific region.

Of course, neither Russia nor China is free of imports of military materials. China for example imports much of its lithium. Beijing has been frantically seeking offtake agreements in South Americas lithium triangle in order to lock up a supply of lithium needed for electric vehicles, of which it is the world leader.

Among Russias top five importers are China and the United States, making Russia vulnerable to a trade embargo on materials needed for weapons or equipment. Russia surely buys a high percentage of its rare earths from China, which controls 95% of the market.

Conclusion: A US mining renaissance

How will the United States ever catch up to China and Russia with respect to its lack of materials for defending territory and projecting military force? The US has the strongest military, but the weakest metals supply infrastructure compared to China and Russia. With an economy that has moved away from raw materials and towards other things - tech, pharmaceuticals, banking, real estate, etc. - the United States no longer has the industrial base it needs to be its own military supplier. It must rely on foreign countries for critical metals like rare earths, manganese, vanadium, etc.

The US has some reserves of these materials, but it has all but stopped mining them. Why? Its a combination of NIMBYism- nobody wants a mine anywhere close to them, and environmental regulations have become so onerous that apart from Nevada, mineral exploration in most of the country is painfully slow. And the fact that it was just a whole lot cheaper to import them from China and Africa. Why look for cobalt when you can ship it over from the DRC at a fraction of what it would take to mine it here?

The fact is, though, America has dropped the ball on mining and it may be too late to pick it up. Even if the US were to suddenly allocate billions of dollars for critical mineral exploration, it takes years to find a deposit, prove it economic, and build the infrastructure needed for mining.

Import dependence was fine in an era of globalization, but not in the current international relations of nationalism and resource nationalism. An inability to supply your own military with the basic building blocks of modern technology is a weakness an enemy is bound to exploit.

Russia, and increasingly China are becoming more and more emboldened, their military aggression becoming almost every week more evident. Is it because they realize that the US military is in reality a paper tiger unable to conduct military operations past a first wave of hardware expenditures? After all, you cant fight much of a war if you cannot replace destroyed equipment, and even a short war of attrition would expose US supply chain weakness.

The United States, at the very least, if its going to continue to keep Russia out of its back (South America) and front (Arctic) yard, and China contained  as in not controlling the South China Sea and invading Taiwan - needs to have a US mining renaissance.

By Richard (Rick) Mills

www.aheadoftheherd.com

rick@aheadoftheherd.com

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Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations to end a bruising tariffs battle with Beijing are going "very well," but reiterated that he will only accept a "great deal."

US and Chinese negotiators are working to find a binding agreement to address Trump's complaints about years of unfair treatment of US companies by China, which would allow a rollback of the tariffs hitting businesses in both countries.

"The trade deal is going very well. We'll see what happens but it's going very well," Trump said from his private residence in Florida, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer headed home from the latest round of negotiations in Beijing.

But "it's going to have to be a great deal. If it's not a great deal, we can't do it," the president said.

White House economic advisory Larry Kudlow had earlier told CNBC that "we are still making great headway," with the talks set to resume in the US capital on April 3.

And Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the latest round yielded "new progress," without elaborating.

The two negotiating teams, including China's central bank chief Yi Gang, posed for pictures in front of Chinese and American flags at the conclusion of the latest round of talks, but they did not make statements to the media.

Officials are seeking to iron out major differences over US accusations that China has been using unfair trade practices for years by heavily subsidizing its companies while snatching the technological know-how of American firms.

Trump has said the two sides were close to a deal, repeatedly saying the talks are going "very well," but officials have played down expectations of an imminent agreement.

On Thursday, Kudlow said the talks were not "time-dependent" and could last weeks or even months if necessary.

The talks are "policy and enforcement dependent," Kudlow said.

Story continues

The Chinese commerce ministry said a "large amount of work" remains to be done.

- Tariffs as 'leverage' -

The two sides have imposed tariffs on $360 billion in two-way trade since last year but Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in December to refrain from further escalation.

Trump suggested last week that some of those tariffs should stay in place even after a deal is reached to ensure China keeps its end of any bargain.

"We have to see what the track record is and we're not going to give up our leverage," said Kudlow.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that all the tariffs will be kept in place, some of the tariffs will be kept there," he told Bloomberg TV.

US insistence on keeping the first tranche of 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports could be a sticking point for a deal, analysts say.

It is hard to predict if China will accept a deal leaving some tariffs in place, said economist Cui Fan of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

The truce agreed by Xi and Trump called for "reaching a deal as soon as possible in the direction of mutually canceling the punitive tariffs slapped on by both sides," Cui said.

Beijing has taken steps to address some US complaints, rushing through a law this month that promises to protect foreign firms from the forced transfer of technology.

It also includes language on protecting foreign companies' commercial secrets, and fleshes out criminal penalties for officials who leak confidential information they obtain from overseas businesses.

Chinese state-owned companies also have stepped up purchases of American agricultural goods such as soybeans.

Massive purchases of American goods are expected to be part of any deal, in order to lower the politically sensitive US goods trade deficit with China, which reached a record high of $419.2 billion last year.

burs-wd/ft
Beijing (AFP) - US and Chinese negotiators wrapped up "constructive" trade talks in Beijing on Friday ahead of another round next week, a top American official said as the economic superpowers aim to settle a bruising tariffs battle.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held negotiations with China's Vice Premier Liu He at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse after a working dinner Thursday.

Mnuchin wrote on Twitter that he and Lighthizer "concluded constructive trade talks in Beijing" but he did not provide more details.

"I look forward to welcoming China's Vice Premier Liu He to continue these important discussions in Washington next week," he said.

The two negotiating teams, including China's central bank chief Yi Gang, posed for pictures in front of Chinese and American flags, but they did not make statements to the media.

Officials are seeking to iron out major differences over US accusations that China has been using unfair trade practices for years by heavily subsidising its companies while snatching the technological know-how of American firms.

US President Donald Trump has said the two sides were close to a deal, but officials have played down expectations of an imminent agreement.

In Washington, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Thursday the talks were not "time-dependent" and could last weeks or even months if necessary.

The talks are "policy and enforcement dependent", Kudlow said.

The Chinese commerce ministry said a "large amount of work" remains to be done and both sides confirmed before this round of talks that another face-to-face negotiation was scheduled for Washington next week.

- Tariffs as 'leverage' -

The two sides have imposed tariffs on $360 billion in two-way trade since last year but Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in December.

Trump suggested last week that some of those tariffs should stay in place after a deal is reached to ensure China keeps its end of any bargain.

Story continues

"We have to see what the track record is and we're not going to give up our leverage," said Kudlow.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that all the tariffs will be kept in place, some of the tariffs will be kept there," he told Bloomberg TV.

US insistence on keeping the first tranche of 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports could be a sticking point for a deal, analysts say.

It is hard to predict if China will accept a deal leaving some tariffs in place, said economist Cui Fan of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

The truce agreed by Xi and Trump called for "reaching a deal as soon as possible in the direction of mutually cancelling the punitive tariffs slapped on by both sides", Cui said.

Beijing has taken steps to address some US complaints, rushing through a law this month that promises to protect foreign firms from the forced transfer of technology.

It also includes language on protecting foreign companies' commercial secrets, and fleshes out criminal penalties for officials who leak confidential information they obtain from overseas businesses.

Chinese state-owned companies have also stepped up purchases of American agricultural goods such as soybeans.

Massive purchases of American goods are expected to be part of any deal, in order to lower the politically sensitive US trade deficit with China, which reached a record high of $419.2 billion last year.
Washington (AFP) - The United States on Thursday urged Saudi-led forces to conduct a transparent probe after eight people including five children were killed in a strike near a hospital in Yemen.

Charity Save the Children reported the death toll at the hospital it supports in Saada province, saying a missile hit a gas station near the entrance on Tuesday morning.

US State Department spokesman Robert Palladino called the incident "tragic" and "awful."

"We are going to continue to call on all parties to take appropriate measures to mitigate the risk for civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure," Palladino told reporters.

He pointed to a probe that has been promised by the Saudi-led coalition -- the only player in the conflict that has warplanes, which come largely from the United States.

"The United States urges a transparent investigation by the Joint Incidents Assessment Team into these alleged incidents as well as swift implementation of the resulting recommendations," Palladino said.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates enjoy US logistical and diplomatic backing as they battle Yemen's Iranian-linked Huthi rebels.

A series of attacks on civilians has triggered alarm in Washington, with lawmakers moving to end US support to the Saudis.

President Donald Trump's administration has threatened to veto the move, saying that Iran is the larger concern.
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations estimates that about a quarter of Venezuelans are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to an internal U.N. report seen by Reuters on Thursday that paints a dire picture of millions of people lacking food and basic services. The report's findings contrast with comments from President Nicolas Maduro, who has said there is no crisis and no need for humanitarian aid, blaming U.S. sanctions for the country's economic problems. The United Nations has found itself stuck in the middle of the political struggle that pits Maduro against U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, who invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency in January, arguing that Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Last month, Venezuelan government troops blocked U.S.-backed aid convoys entering from Colombia and Brazil. However, Maduro's government has accepted aid from ally Russia. "The politicization of humanitarian assistance in the context of the crisis makes delivery of assistance in accordance with the principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence more difficult," reads the 45-page U.N. "Overview of Priority Humanitarian Needs" in Venezuela. Venezuela's information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The March 2019 U.N. review uses a "broad range" of sources - including U.N. agencies, the Red Cross, academia and civil society - and is part of a push by the world body to try and scale up its humanitarian response in Venezuela. "Much more action is required to meet the growing needs of the Venezuelan people," reads the report, which warned that a lack of reliable, official data made it difficult to accurately determine the scope of need. It estimates 94 percent of the 28.8 million people live in poverty, while some 3.4 million people have fled, with a further 1.9 million expected to follow in this year. "Due to an increasingly contracted economy and political unrest, the Venezuelan population is facing unprecedented challenges in accessing essential services, including protection, healthcare, medicines, vaccinations, water, electricity, education and access to food," the report said. There are an estimated 2.8 million people in need when it comes to healthcare, according to the U.N. review, including some 300,000 people whose lives are at risk because they have been unable to access medicines or treatment for diseases like cancer, diabetes and HIV for more than a year. "Preventable diseases such as tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles and malaria have resurfaced in the country and are on the rise, as is hepatitis A, due to the lack of access to safe drinking water," the report said. In the area of water, sanitation and hygiene, 4.3 million people are in need of help, according to the report. It said a shortage of food had left some 1.9 million people in nutrition need, while an increase in violence in the country meant some 2.7 million Venezuelans were vulnerable. Some 1.2 million children are not in school due to the crisis, the report said, because many families cannot afford the clothing, footwear or transportation required and children are instead working to help pay for their family's essential needs. Another 1 million were found to be highly vulnerable to dropping out of school. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols, additional reporting by Luc Cohen in Caracas, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
Are you happy with your cable provider? Some animal lovers are saying No! for an unusual reason.

According to CBS News, Verizon employee Maurice German was recently suspended from his job for three weeks without pay after he rescued a cat using Verizon equipment.

German was working in a Philadelphia neighborhood on March 16, when a desperate resident asked for his help rescuing a cat stuck on top of a telephone pole.

The feline, named Princess Momma, had been perched on the pole for over 12 hours when German was tapped to help, reports CBS Philadelphia. According to the local CBS affiliate, the cats owner called the fire department, an animal rescue and a telephone company for help getting the cat down, but no one returned their calls.

GoFundMe

German agreed to try and save the feline. He was able to successfully complete the task by using the hydraulic lift on his Verizon truck. In the video of the rescue, cheers can be heard as German safely grabs the cat. Princess Momma was returned to her owner without injury.

Verizon did not celebrate Germans quick-thinking heroics, instead the telecommunications company suspended German for three weeks without pay for violating Verizon safety rules.

We take no joy when our employees face consequences related to their job duties. We are, however, fully committed and responsible for keeping our employees and customers safe. All of our field technicians go through extensive training that is focused on workplace safety. Our goal is to keep our employees and our customers out of harms way, Verizon said in a statement to WPVI.

For safety reasons, our trucks and related equipment are not intended to be used in the area in which he was operating, specifically around electrical wires. While our actions may not be popular, he potentially put his life and those around him in jeopardy, the statement continued.

In an effort to counteract this unpopular choice, Verizon donated money to the Pennsylvania SPCA

Story continues

Concerned about Germans well-being, friends and supporters of the Verizon employee started GoFundMe pages to support the man while he goes without pay. One page started by Amanda Fairchild Boyce, who captured Germans rescue on camera, raised $3,395. Boyce donated the money directly to German.

According to CBS News, a different GoFundMe, started by a co-worker of Germans, raised over $7,000.

Verizon did not immediately reply to PEOPLEs request for comment.
Paris (AFP) - Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia on Friday swallowed their differences and presented a joint bid to secure coveted UN heritage status for couscous, UNESCO announced.

The four countries applied to have the hearty dish added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, which showcases the world's most treasured cultural practises, the Paris-based UN culture agency said.

Doing so required overcoming years of antagonism between neighbours and rivals Algeria and Morocco.

"It's the first time that four North African countries have come together to file a joint application," Morocco's ambassador to UNESCO Zohour Alaoui told her country's MAP news agency enthusiastically.

Tunisia's UNESCO envoy Ghazi Gherairi also hailed the cooperation.

"Couscous, the catalyst of North African unity," he tweeted.

The application will be examined at the next meeting of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in Colombia's capital Bogota in December.

As with the "hummus wars" that have long roiled the Middle East, and West Africa's furious debate over who makes the best jollof rice, couscous is the subject of intense rivalry with Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia all claiming to be the home of the dish.

In 2016, Algeria announced a solo bid to win protected status for the dish -- sparking outrage in Morocco.

Last year, it emerged that several countries were cooking up a new, joint bid.

burs-mw/cb/boc
In a surprising move Thursday, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) CEO Tim Sloan announced his immediate retirement. Sloan, who was originally brought into the CEO role to help the bank get beyond its numerous scandals, will be replaced by a yet-to-be-named external candidate.

Here's a rundown of the events that led up to Sloan's departure, and what investors should know going forward.

Exterior of Wells Fargo banking branch.

Image source: Wells Fargo.

Sloan's retirement: How it will work

Tim Sloan, 58, is stepping down as Wells Fargo's CEO right away. In fact, by the time you're reading this, he's no longer in the role. He will get some benefits for the next two years worth about $400,000, according to regulatory filings, as long as he stays available to the company for consulting services and helps the firm with customers and employees during that time. Hes still eligible for his pension and deferred compensation.

For the time being, Wells Fargo will be led by interim CEO Allen Parker, who serves as the bank's general counsel. As far as a permanent CEO is concerned, Wells Fargo announced that it is conducting a search for a new CEO, but that the bank will be considering only external candidates.

Sloan's departure comes just weeks after it was revealed that he'd received a 5% raise in 2018, despite the fact that a Federal Reserve penalty that prevents the bank from growing its asset size remains in place.

Wells Fargo has changed under Sloan's leadership

Sloan was appointed as CEO in October 2016 after then-CEO John Stumpf resigned in the wake of the exposure of the fake-accounts scandal, and his main objective was to clean up the mess.

To be fair, there's a solid case to be made that he's done a good job. The bank's sales culture, which was the underlying cause of its major scandals, has been completely overhauled. Product sales goals don't exist anymore for retail bankers in Wells Fargo's branches, and new incentives that encourage customer-focused behavior have been put in place. And the bank has done a good job of providing restitution to customers who were affected by its lapses.

Story continues

The bank couldn't really move on with Sloan at the helm

Sloan has indeed been focused on making changes with Wells Fargo's culture and working to restore its public image. However, in the eyes of many investors, regulators, and politicians, no matter what Sloan did with Wells Fargo, it wouldn't be enough. And there's one big reason for that.

When the fake-accounts scandal, auto insurance scandal, mortgage rate-lock scandal, and numerous other issues were going on, Sloan was a part of Wells Fargo's leadership. Sloan had been with the bank since 1987 and held the roles of COO and president starting in 2015. In other words, Sloan was put in charge of cleaning up a mess he'd had a hand in creating.

This could be great news for investors

The biggest complaint among regulators and politicians while Wells Fargo's drama has carried on has been that Sloan should have never been put in the CEO role in the first place, given his role in the bank while the unethical acts were still going on. In fact, outspoken Wells Fargo critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, even sent a letter to the Federal Reserve calling for last year's unprecedented penalty to remain on the bank until Sloan is replaced.

It's tough to overstate the importance to investors of the Fed lifting its penalty. Until that happens, Wells Fargo is essentially not allowed to grow during what's arguably the best growth environment for banks in decades. As long as the bank follows through with its plan to bring in a well-qualified, external CEO candidate, investors may finally get some good news in this area.

Wells Fargo stock was trading down about 2% midmorning on Friday.

More From The Motley Fool

Matthew Frankel, CFP has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
New York (AFP) - Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan, who became the target of criticism over the handling of a damaging scandal, is stepping down from his post "effective immediately," the bank announced Thursday.

Sloan, who was promoted to CEO in October 2016 after Wells Fargo's fake accounts scandal was uncovered, said he made the hard decision to exit to avoid serving as a "distraction" from the efforts to recover.

The 31-year veteran of the bank also will leave the board immediately, and then retire from the company June 30, Wells Fargo said in a statement.

"This was my decision based on what I thought was best for Wells Fargo because there's just been too much focus on me and it was affecting our ability to move forward," Sloan said on a conference call.

Sloan was tapped as CEO to replace John Stumpf just weeks after the fake accounts scandal broke.

Wells Fargo has settled a number of cases over the massive fraud, with penalties of over $750 million, in addition to a $2.1 billion fine stemming from the 2008 financial crisis. And the Federal Reserve imposed an unusual and strict growth limit on the bank.

- 'About damn time' -

Though he was not at the helm while the scam was underway, as the bank's president he has come under fire from Congress, especially from Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren for the bank's behavior.

"About damn time," Warren said on Twitter moments after the announcement Thursday.

"Tim Sloan should have been fired a long time ago. He enabled Wells Fargo's massive fake accounts scam, got rich off it, & then helped cover it up."

At a press conference earlier this month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell pointed to a "remarkably widespread series of breakdowns." The asset cap -- an "unprecedented sanction" -- would not be lifted "until Wells Fargo gets their arms around this."

A 110-page investigation of the debacle that the bank released in April 2017, said Sloan's predecessor Stumpf "was too slow to investigate or critically challenge sales practices," and failed to "appreciate the seriousness of the problem and the substantial reputational risk to Wells Fargo."

Story continues

The report largely exonerated Sloan, who was portrayed as trying to get a grasp on the situation.

- Work to do -

In the wake of the resignation, Wells Fargo's board elected General Counsel Allen Parker to serve as interim CEO and president while the bank undertakes an external search for a new chief.

Board Chair Betsy Duke praised Sloan for his "tireless and determined" service to the company, but said he "made his decision on the basis of what he thinks is best for the company."

"We have a lot more work to do," Duke said on the conference call. "This is about more than one person."

A CEO search committee will meet Friday, but she declined to give a timeframe for picking a new leader, or to say whether the search would be limited to people in finance.

Sloan touted reforms he spearheaded at the nation's third biggest bank by assets, replacing key executives, scrapping compensation incentives that encouraged selling, and enhancing compliance training.

But he also faced criticism over a pay boost he was awarded despite lingering regulatory problems.

Interim CEO Parker said the bank has "ongoing constructive engagement" with the Fed and other regulators and would rectify the situation.

"We're committed to completing that work, not only to satisfy the Fed but because we're convinced it's going to make us a better company."

Shares of Wells Fargo rose 1.9 percent to $50.00 in after-hours trading.
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. WSM is set to offer a new set of kitchen culinary products in partnership with Miraval, the global leader in wellness resorts and spas. The partnership will unveil two Life in Balance Culinary Kitchens at Miravals flagship resort based in Arizona and Miraval Austin.



Williams Sonoma will provide different culinary tools that will help Miraval's guests in conducting healthy cooking classes and workshops. Each of these products, that are best suited for the new kitchens, will be handpicked by Miraval's chefs. Post culinary class and workshop, each guest will have the opportunity to purchase new products from Williams Sonoma's website and Miraval's onsite retail stores.



This move underscores Williams-Sonomas focus on engaging customers to drive brand awareness. Via collaborations like this, the company aims to attract new customers, invent new trends in home furnishing and widen its social media reach. Backed by a strong brand presence, shares of Williams-Sonoma have gained 8.5% over the past year, outperforming the industrys 2.6% growth.







Initiatives to Drive Top Line



Williams-Sonoma is one of the largest e-commerce retailers in the United States. Its innovative efforts helped it drive e-commerce growth to an all-time high of 54.3% of total revenues in fiscal 2018.



The company keeps on collaborating with celebrated brands and designers to offer exclusive home furnishing products, in order to meet consumers changing preferences. It believes that collaborations with designers and brands attract new customers, invent new trends in home furnishing, and widen its social media reach.



In fiscal 2018, the companys total revenues increased 7.2% from a year ago to $5.67 billion. Also, comps grew 50 basis points (bps) to 3.7%. The upside was driven by improvement in e-commerce business and growth across all its brands.



In fiscal 2019, the company expects total revenues within $5.670-$5.840 billion, reflecting growth of flat to up 3% from the year-ago period. Also, comps are anticipated to grow 2-5%.



Our Take



We believe that the above move will help Williams-Sonoma to retain its competitive position in the retail landscape. The company has undertaken initiatives to achieve retail transformation and excellence by offloading the fleet of underperforming stores, and selectively investing in new stores, remodels and relocations, while elevating the store experience.



However, increased spending on digital advertising and higher employment-related costs have been pressurizing the companys margins of late. It has been facing higher costs owing to continuous investments in e-commerce. In fiscal 2018, non-GAAP operating margin contracted 40 bps to 8.5%.



Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider



Williams-Sonoma currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other top-ranked stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector include RH RH, Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. HVT and Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



RHs earnings for fiscal 2019 are expected to increase 175.1% year over year.



Haverty surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average positive surprise being 19.3%.



Darden Restaurants earnings for the current year are expected to increase 20.2% from a year ago.



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Colourful crypto evangelist John McAfee has claimed the world doesnt need income tax.

In fact, it would be abolished under his presidency should his campaign for control over the White House be successful next year.

In an exclusive interview with Coin Rivet, the 73-year-old states that, under his Libertarian Party, the US would ditch income tax, and he would urge other world leaders to do the same.

https://coinrivet.com/interviewing-john-mcafee-aboard-the-freedom-boat/

In America, prior to the Civil War, we had no income tax  we survived fine, he says.

There are a thousand ways to vastly improve our country and our government with no taxes.

Road use  we have millions of miles of roads in America. What if we pay based on the use of the roads? Why should someone who never uses them have to pay the same as someone who does a million miles a year?

That would generate enough revenue to pay for everything.

No intention

Asked about his presidential campaign and the idea that, although he intends to run for office, he has no intention of being the President of the United States of America.

It doesnt matter who is President, he responded.

Think about it. Even when someone becomes president you lose all of your power  you have thousands of little strings attached to you by members of your party, people whove donated and the power structure that already exists.

He added that he felt both the major political parties of the US were also to blame for destroying each others work.

If you look at the last 50 years in America Republican, Democrat  whatever the Republicans put together, the Democrats dismantled it, and vice versa, he said.

Look at the wasted effort under the Obama administration  trillions of dollars creating Obama Care, and what did the Republicans do? They dismantled it. Thats insanity!

If our system allows things of that nature to happen then its insane, so I dont want to work with it, but I do want to use my right to the national stage to say what Ive just said.

Story continues

Watch the exclusive McAfee interview here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=408&v=Ptk_o9rL96o

The post The world doesnt need income tax, claims John McAfee appeared first on Coin Rivet.
The exhibition will open on April 3 at the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts, in Germany. The 86-year-old artist intends to attend the opening.

The show features a variety of 60 artworks, ranging from installations, films and rarely exhibited drawings. Materials from the Fluxus movement -- which emerged in the 1960s -- will also be on view. This anti-art group of artists -- of which Ono was one of the pioneers -- radically questioned the nature of creation, urging to destroy the boundary between art and life.

Highlights of the exhibition include Ono's "Painting to Hammer a Nail," which invites viewers to hammer a nail into the canvas. Produced collectively, the piece questions the privileged role of the artist in the creation of art.

As much of her work is designed to be participative, Yoko Ono also invited German artists to contribute to the sculpture "Water Event," which will feature in the upcoming exhibition. She asked them to provide her with a container, which would form half of the installation, while she would supply the water.

"PEACE is POWER" is curated by Jon Hendricks in collaboration with Alfred Weidinger, the director of the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts. It is Yoko Ono's biggest exhibition to date in a German museum, following her 2013 retrospective "Half-a-wind show" in the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt.

On April 3, two of Ono's early performance works, "Cut Piece" and "Sky Piece to Jesus Christ," will be staged at the opening. The exhibit then runs April 4-July 7.
New York appears poised to ban single-use plastic shopping bags and mandate a small fee for paper bags, with a final deal expected to be part of a $175 billion state budget due Sunday.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, told reporters Wednesday he expects a ban on plastic bags to be part of the final budget.

But some details are still being negotiated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and top lawmakers, including whether local governments should be able to opt out of the paper-bag fee and what to do with the money it generates.

Heastie's comment came following a closed-door meeting with Cuomo and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, who are hoping to strike an agreement on other major budget issues and vote on a final package Sunday.

Lawmakers have a big incentive to approve the budget by Sunday, the deadline to have a spending plan in place for the state's next fiscal year, which begins Monday.

Wells Fargo CEO: Tim Sloan steps down; search underway for bank's next CEO and president

College endowments: These universities receive the most gifts, funds

Ban has been discussed for years

A ban on plastic bags and a fee on paper bags is almost a done deal.

Cuomo has pushed a ban on plastic bags since last year, arguing that plastic pollution is a scourge exacerbated by carryout bags at retailers.

Democratic lawmakers held a news conference Wednesday to promote the issue, though they were hesitant to discuss any specifics, including whether the paper-bag fee would be 5 or 10 cents and whether anyone, such as food-stamps recipients, would be exempted.

"This is a very common-sense thing we can do," said Sen. Jen Metzger, D-Rosendale, Ulster County. "They're a total scourge. I was taking a bus recently and taking a look at all of the bags trapped in all of the trees along the shoulders. They're everywhere."

Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Long Island Democrat who chairs the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, acknowledged that a local opt-out is under consideration, which would allow some local governments to decline to charge the paper-bag fee.

Story continues

Cuomo's original proposal, meanwhile, included certain exemptions, including newspaper bags and bags used for carryout food. It's not clear whether those will make the final deal.

The plastic-bag ban and paper-bag fee have strong support from environmental groups around the state, many of whom gathered behind the senators at their news conference Wednesday.

The idea, they say, is to encourage people to use reusable grocery bags to cut down on waste and plastic pollution.

Critics speak out

The food industry and business groups are pushing back, with the state Food Industry Alliance arguing that it will have "severe consequences."

"What is reportedly being agreed to today...will impose significant new and unplanned costs on retail food stores," Mike Durant, the group's president and CEO, said in a statement. "A plastic-bag ban with a fee on single-use paper bags is not a sustainable public policy solution."

In a statement Wednesday, Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Cuomo, said the governor was "encouraged by the emerging consensus on this issue."

Speaking to reporters Friday, Cuomo himself said his priority is "a ban on plastic" and said he was trying to negotiate an agreement on paper bags.

"Im trying to find a middle ground for everyone with the premise of a plastic-bag ban," he said.

Sen. Peter Harckham, D-South Salem, Westchester County, said lawmakers shouldn't bother returning to their districts if they can't get a ban done.

"This is has been bandied about for years," he said. "It's too important."

Stewart-Cousins said Cuomo and lawmakers are "close" on a deal on plastic bags.

"There has been a conversation that if you just ban plastic, then you're flooded with paper and how does that resolve it," she said. "So again, that is a conversation, and it is something that we are considering."

New York International Auto Show: Lincoln set to debut all-new Corsair in April

Chick-fil-A ban: Law firm calls for US investigation after Chick-fil-A gets banned from San Antonio airport

Follow Jon Campbell on Twitter: @JonCampbellGAN

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: New York nears ban on plastic bags and a fee for paper bags
New York (AFP) - After several failed attempts, New York state is poised to ban single-use plastic bags provided by stores, making it only the second US state, after California, to pass such a rule.

With Democrats controlling both chambers of the state legislature, lawmakers have reached agreement to include the plastic ban in a broader framework of budgetary measures to be voted on by Monday.

If the bill passes, the ban on single-use plastic bags -- which still allows for several exemptions -- would take effect in March 2020.

"I think we're going to look back and wonder why this isn't something that was commonplace before now," state senator Todd Kaminsky told NBC television Thursday. "But I'm glad we're doing it now and leading the way."

Governor Andrew Cuomo tried unsuccessfully last year to prohibit the bags.

"For far too long, these bags have blighted our environment and clogged our waterways," he said recently, adding that the ban would "protect our natural resources for future generations."

Despite plastic's notoriously harmful impact on the natural environment and on wildlife, few American states -- with the exception of environmentally-minded bastions on the West Coast -- have pursued legal restrictions.

The European Parliament approved a ban Wednesday on numerous plastic consumer products, including straws, cotton swabs and plastic wrapping. The measures are to take effect in 2021.

New Yorkers use some 23 billion plastic sacks a year, Cuomo said last year.

In New York, a temple of consumerism with 8.5 million inhabitants, supermarkets generally provide free plastic bags, sometimes doubled for greater solidity.

In 2016, the city passed a law to impose a five-cent tax on each plastic bag, but it was overturned at the state level.

Under the new legislation, New York counties would be able to levy a five-cent tax on paper bags, with part of the resulting revenue going to an environmental-protection fund.

California banned plastic bags in 2014.

They are banned in much of Hawaii, since that state's most populous counties now prohibit their use.
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  March 29, 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: Twilio Inc. TWLO, salesforce.com, inc. CRM, Adobe Inc. ADBE and Axon Enterprise, Inc. AAXN.

Here are highlights from Thursdays Analyst Blog:

4 SaaS Stocks to Count on for Stellar Gains

Several technology stocks got hammered by the current market gyrations. But, a number of software companies held their ground. Software stocks performed well mostly due to corporate outlays on information technology and digital projects gaining steam. Another reason behind software stocks success is spike in merger and acquisition activities.

Now, if you feel tempted to look for the best cloud stocks or top software makers, the search leads to software-as-a-service, or SaaS. This is because SaaS stocks time and again have notched the best revenue growth among software companies. SaaS stocks not only have a predictable subscription revenue stream, these stocks are high-growth companies due to their alignment with cloud computing. Theyre high margin companies as well because the costs linked with delivering a cloud-hosted software service is relatively less.

Widely speaking, SaaS stocks are winners in the near term with big margins and steady revenue streams. But, will the growth continue? Just 20% of organizations have shifted to the cloud, so there is plenty of room for cloud growth. And margins will surely improve further as the software industry grows stronger.

Thus, its not too late to get optimistic on SaaS stocks, even though it isnt a new concept. After all, it is a software distribution model, where a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet. We have, thus, zeroed down on four solid SaaS stocks that are worth a look for long-term gains.

Story continues

Twilio

Twilio Inc. provides a cloud communications platform that enables developers to build, scale, and operate communications within software applications in the United States and internationally. The companys communication solutions have value and growth potential.

On the value front, it offers personalized customer experience. And on the growth side, it has less than 65,000 customers. But, there are more than 200 million customers across the globe, and nearly all of them will eventually require Twilios communication solutions.

Twilio currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The companys expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 125%, higher than the Internet - Software industrys projected rise of 38.8%. The company has outperformed the broader industry so far this year (+41.6% vs +26.3%).

salesforce.com

salesforce.com, inc. is built on enterprise SaaS cloud solutions. The company is known for offering cloud-based solutions that leverage analytics, data and AI to optimize all kinds of enterprise operations.

salesforces initiative to expand globally to capitalize overseas demand for cloud-based applications should lift the top line. Notably, partnership agreements with bigwigs like Amazon and Alphabet will help the company expand its client base significantly and in turn boost revenues. Lest we forget, only a third of its revenues come from outside the United States, so there is plenty of scope for growth in the days to come.

salesforce currently has a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has moved 0.4% north in the past 60 days. The companys expected earnings growth rate for the next year is 24%, more than the Computer - Software industrys projected rise of 19.3%. The company has outperformed the broader industry over the past year (+33.4% vs +24.5%).

Adobe

Adobe Inc. operates as a diversified software company worldwide. Its Digital Media segment provides tools and solutions that enable individuals, small and medium businesses, and enterprises to create, publish, promote, and monetize their digital content. But, at its core, the company offers creative and visual-oriented cloud solutions to professionals and business houses.

Its Document Cloud segment is expected to improve on a rise in enterprise-level digital workload adoption, while focus on visual-first content is expected to bolster its Creative Cloud segment.

Adobe at present has a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved 0.5% up in the past 60 days. The companys expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 15.5%, more than the Computer - Software industrys projected growth of 7.6%. The company has outperformed the broader industry over the past two years (+102.5% vs +61.0%).

Axon Enterprise

Axon Enterprise, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells conducted energy weapons worldwide. But, most importantly, the company provides cloud-hosted and next-gen solutions to improve law enforcement processes. Thus, Axon Enterprise is an attractive business since it sells to law enforcement agencies, which means demand is largely recession proof.

Axon Enterprise right now has a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved 1.1% north in the past 30 days. The companys expected earnings growth rate for the next year is 47.3%, more than the Security and Safety Services industrys projected rise of 22.2%. The company has outperformed the broader industry on a year-to-date basis (+20.0% vs +16.7%).

Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019

In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year?

Who wouldn't? Our annual Top 10s have beaten the market with amazing regularity. In 2018, while the market dropped -5.2%, the portfolio scored well into double-digits overall with individual stocks rising as high as +61.5%. And from 2012-2017, while the market boomed +126.3, Zacks' Top 10s reached an even more sensational +181.9%.

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Change am for who??? DMW rapper, Dremo has in recent times proven why he entered the Nigerian music space in the first place.

While industry colleagues have been queuing up on Kizz Daniels #FvckYouChallenge, Dremo decided to join the bandwagon with his version.

His cover sees the rapper dropping some fire-bars while addressing issues surrounding some members of his team, especially Peruzzis sex scandal.

While arguments surround whos a bigger scum, Dremo goes hard saying They say we men are scum, true but these women are scum too.

Enjoy his version and youll understand why hes currently trending.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says a team of 63 fingerprint experts, including 50 from the UK police, worked to help the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) reclaim some states that were allegedly rigged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2007.

He listed the states as Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo. Only Ondo that was not under the control of ACN then but Bola Tinubu, then the leader of ACN, had used his influence in assisting Olusegun Mimiko, a former governor of Ondo, to take the state from the PDP.

Mimiko belonged to the Labour party at the time. He later defected to the PDP.

Speaking at the 11th colloquium of Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the vice-president said Tinubu told him that they needed to prove that there was case of over voting.

In 2007, when our party, then ACN, was rigged out of elections in Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and in Edo state. He invited me to his residence at bourdillion and he said the only way we can possibly reclaim the states that was taken away from us is going through the courts.

He said the only is by proving that there was multiple voting. Meaning that a few people singlehandedly thumb-printed ballot papers, dumped them into ballot boxes and they were counted in favour of the opposition, the PDP, he said.

He said the only we can do this  he said I dont know how you will do this  but some how proving that their is evidence that this is what happened.

I said Asiwaju, nobody has ever proven that in an electoral case and I said what is even more is that there are over a million ballot papers, how can we prove it? He said that was his view and I should look for a way of sorting this out.

So I went to to the UK and met with possibly the most experienced [expert] in the entire UK. When I told the enormity of the problem, he laughed and almost fell off his chair. He said in all his experience as a finger print expert he has not done up to 4000 prints and you are now saying I should come and do 1.3 million finger prints. That was a Thursday and he called me back on Monday and he said lets talk again about this. And we did, and somehow we found a way.

We used a bit of technology. Most importantly we were able to get finger print experts. In the end, we hired 63 finger print experts, 50 of them were from the UK police. Asiwaju had to persuade the authorities to release them all together 63 police men  they were working for almost six months.

We were able to put together a strong forensic case that showed that that the places that were defeated it was on account of multiple voting. To cut the long long story short, one by one, we were able to get the states taken from us.

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Home | News | General | Breaking: PDP wins Adamwa governorship election

The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) issued some pieces of advice to President Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo on how to make Nigerians work for them in the next four years.

Tinubu, who celebrated his 67th birthday at a colloquium in Abuja on Thursday, March 28, addressed the president, Osinbajo, politicians and other Nigerians.

Read the full speech below:

I want to thank President Buhari for sharing this special day with me. The pressure of affairs facing the leader of a nation is such that you could have easily found reasons why you could not participate. Instead you chose to be here and to even give me the compound honor of accepting to be the Chairman of this occasion. Mr. President, you have gone far these past few years in laying a good foundation for the economic recovery of the country. We shall go farther still so that Nigeria truly reaches the next level with you leading the way.

Here I must also thank our dear First Lady Aisha Buhari for her zeal, support and commitment to the betterment of this nation. You are a true role model for women in Africa.

I commend the vice president, my dear friend, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and his team for organizing another excellent Colloquium. VP Osinbajo and his team have done a fine job bringing us together again this day. You have enhanced our democratic and economic discourse at a moment when such public discussion is greatly needed.

I thank our party chairman and members of the national working committee and congratulate them once again for working as a dedicated team to re-elect our president and also ensure that we achieved a majority in the National Assembly. I thank all the governors and governors-elect present. I thank all National Assembly members and members-elect present. I thank the Ministers here present. I thank all the state assembly members, local government chairmen and other officials for being here.

I especially thank our traditional rulers and religious leaders. Your words of wisdom and calls for peaceful co-existence and tolerance have always been a source of inspiration and a soothing balm for our people.

I thank my darling wife, my family and all my friends who put aside their own personal business to join us today.

Looking unto this cordial and supportive gathering and feeling the enthusiasm that has animated this moment, I cannot help but feel that we are on the right track.

You see, Next Level is not just a trendy campaign phrase to be quickly discarded once victory has been achieved.

It has a much deeper and more profound meaning, perhaps even more than its authors contemplated. This is because we are a nation still in the process of defining itself politically and economically.

In this process, it is tempting and easy to borrow indiscriminately from those nations that seem to have mastered the art of democratic governance and to have achieved economic prosperity.

However, to achieve durable progress, we cant afford to work hard but in mindless devotion to the ways of other nations.

This truth is particularly acute when these very nations now face fundamental political and economic questions that cast doubt on the social utility and viability of the economic model under which they have travelled for the past 50 years.

The global economy faces stiff headwinds. Factors not of our making now cast the world economy towards low growth.

Consumer spending is slipping. Aggregate private debt has attained historic levels. America and China are in a trade tug-of-war. Brexit looms imminent. Whatever form Brexit takes, economic dislocation will emerge from the political confusion now underway.

Even without Brexit, the EU itself has entered a rough patch. The Eurozone may already be in recession. Stock markets experience wild swings that speak to an underlying weakness and pessimism about the immediate future.

Forecasters are predicting a global recession within the next 12-18 months.

I render these observations not to frighten anyone but because they ring true. Wisdom requires that we accept reality instead of obscuring it under the cloak of wishful thinking. We must build policies that interact with the world as it is, and not with the world as it should be.

We must recognize these harsh economic tidings as advance warnings to the wise. Hence we must think deeper and work harder for our people in Nigeria.

I would be a most wicked friend if I knew a storm was approaching yet convinced you to ready your family for an outdoor picnic under the tallest tree. The truth is always a more valuable guardian than fantasy.

Mr. President, you have warned several times that the storm that approaches is not inevitable. It is born of a human folly and reckless greed. This means that it can be rectified by human wisdom and prudential action.

At this point we must recognize a fundamental truth of our time. The economic model upon which the world is built is unraveling. The coming downturn is just a symptom of this great upheaval.

The global economy faces either genuine reform or gathering ruin.

Because of this, the economic cohesion of Western nations is weakening. Income inequality has reached levels unseen in a century. The middle class in most countries is shrinking.

Wages stagnate while prices are on a ceaseless march upward.

In America, progressives champion a Green New Deal -- a massive government program to modernize that nations aging energy infrastructure and to create job programs to keep the middle class from becoming an endangered economic species.

In France, the yellow vests protest the austere policies of the Macron government. The vests have the sympathy of the people.

Brexit, no matter how misguided, was in large part a primal scream by people who feared the EU was responsible for their diminished economic conditions. The frustrated British would have been more accurate had they pointed the finger at a culprit closer to home  the austerity policies of two consecutive Tory governments.

People the world over are questioning the centre-right conservative model that has, with few exceptions, governed the world for the last half century. In one form or another, people are protesting the way things are, and progressive politicians are trying to help the people change things for the better.

The Next Level must be seen as part of this global and historic dynamic.

Our pursuit of the Next Level cannot be achieved by blindly following the economic path of other nations. That would be tantamount to racing to live in a building just as its long-term occupants were frantically rushing out, screaming that the edifice was mean and crumbling. If we are smart, we dare not enter.

Instead, we must construct our Next Level on a progressive ideology and vision that will take our people out of penury, diversify our economy more aggressively, and empower and retrain our youth.

To be the great nation we purport to be, we must reform and retool our economy according to our definition of what is best for our own people. We cannot assign that duty to anyone else.

Here, I must ask for a little liberty to amend the fine title of this colloquium: Work for the people. We must do more than simply work for the people.

Government must work for the people in a way that enables them to better work for themselves.

We must amend our basic ideas about the economy. We must divorce ourselves from our fixation with GDP rates and similar statistics. These things were initially intended to be indicators, suggestive measurements. However, we have misinterpreted these road maps by treating them as if they were the destination itself.

This has caused us to distort the organic relationship between the people and the economy.

This dominant train of thought has made the people servants to the dictates of abstract economic theories. In a more effective system, the economy would be fashioned to serve the concrete needs and legitimate aspirations of the people.

Our economy must be redefined to be an efficient yet moral social construct with the primary goal of optimizing the long-term welfare of the people through the sustained, productive and full employment of labour, land, capital and natural resources.

In the current global context, the best translation of laissez faire economics is lets stay poor economics.

To believe that we are at our best when everyone focuses solely on maximizing their own position is to believe that one hundred hands can clutch at the same naira note but no one will get scratched.

To pull the nation from poverty, government must play a decisive role. It must at times direct and even develop markets and opportunities. This is nothing novel. I am only restating what the established economies did when they were young and assumed their trajectories toward growth.

Yet, how do we organize ourselves to meet this task?

Like no Nigerian government before, I believe the second administration of President Buhari shall dedicate itself to changing the very structure of our economy for the better.

The single most important sector for the governments focus is infrastructure. The most important of our infrastructural demands is power. This has been the greatest discovery of humanity in the last thousand years.

1. POWER:

Affordable and reliable power will drive the industrialization that shall provide jobs in our cities and produce needed goods for all our people. In a more poetic rendering, it will take our people out of the dark ages and bring the nation into the light of a better day.

I believe the second Buhari administration will work to increase electricity generation, transmission and distribution by more than 50 percent within the next 4 years.

We require serious and bold reforms to achieve this. What is happening to our gas pipelines? Whatever we have to invest now for our future is a task that must be done boldly. The PDP administration shared out generation, distribution and transmission to their friends and cronies without very deep and thoughtful research and evaluation. It has now become pork chops. This privatisation must be revisited. Put experts together for a more constructive reform to improve generation, transmission and distribution by any means necessary. We cannot afford to be too legalistic about this.

Also, we should push to end the practice of billing people for electricity they never received. This practice is a vestige of the past that should not accompany us into the future. A person should be charged accurately and only for the power that they use.

2. Infrastructure:

Government should continue to aggressively implement its national infrastructure plan. We must commit ourselves to a national highway system linking our major cities and towns, our centres of commerce, with each other. This will save lives, spur commerce, cut costs and bring Nigerians closer together.

Water catchment and retention systems in strategic locations should also be introduced to end the destructive cycles of flood and drought affecting many areas.

In working to transform the face of our economy, government must also enact policies that encourage industrialization and modern agricultural practices. We must applaud President Buhari for the historic innovations made in the agricultural sector. We must further encourage him to do even more. Government funded social security for the aged and government backed affordable housing and mortgage facilities are things we must continue to explore in an aggressive manner.

In the end, our future is uncertain until we enter it and make of it what we will. We can either let the future happen to us or summon the courage to make the future belong to us as other nations have done.

I dont think we really have a choice in the matter. We must take the people to the next level. It is a promise made and thus a promise that must be kept.

Our goal is nothing less than enabling people to enjoy lives free of penury and lack. We seek to constitute a nation where all have basic sustenance and sufficient food on their tables, a sturdy and sheltering roof over their heads and the fair chance and means to sustain and further enrich their lives as they see fit. Let it be that all may live in social contentment and tranquillity with his neighbour as well as with himself. This is what we mean by the Next Level.

Thank you for this wonderful birthday present you have given me. I have been enriched and energized by the intellectual exchange. I hope that you have too. Now, lets move on to the Next Level.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

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Home | News | General | Unwritten understanding shows Buhari will hand over to Osinbajo or Tinubu in 2023 - Yakasai

- Tanko Yakasai says there is an unwritten understanding for the APC to present Bola Tinubu or Yemi Osinbajo as presidential candidates in 2023

- Yakasai notes that the south west played a major role in the victory of President Buhari in 2019

- The elder statesman says he does not believe that Buhari won the recent presidential election fair and square

Nigerias elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai, has said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may be rooting for the partys national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, or Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to take over from Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

Yakasai said he was sure of an unwritten understanding that the presidential candidacy of the APC would shift to the south west and have Osinbajo or Tinubu flying its ticket.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

The former political adviser in the second republic, said this when he spoke with The Interview adding that the south west played a major role in the victory of Buhari at the 2019 election.

The current calculation is that the vice-president is from the south west. Clearly, there is an unwritten understanding that when Buhari finishes, the vice president will likely be the next presidential candidate of the APC.

The vice president is a Yoruba man. Even if it is not Osinbajo, somebody from there, probably Tinubu, will likely emerge as the candidate of the party.

And with the performance of the party in the southeast, I dont see any possibility that the party will think of giving its candidacy to the southeast as against the support it earned from the southwest.

Apart from voting, dont forget that there were some material support which APC enjoyed from the south west," he said.

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Asked if he believed that Buhari won the presidential election fairly, the elder statesman who supported Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said: No, I do not. Quite alright, I supported Atiku because I dont believe that Buhari has the capacity and the competence to handle the Nigerian problem.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Lagos state governor, Akinwumi Ambode, described Bola Tinubu as a leader worthy of emulating and celebrating.

Governor Ambode while delivering the keynote speech at the 11th Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Abuja on Thursday, March 28, said Tinubu spearheaded the APC's victory at the presidential, governorship, National Assembly, states House of Assembly elections across Nigeria.

The governor said the colloquium themed: Next Level: Work For People, is coming at a time when Nigeria and the Nigerian people are eagerly looking forward to the next level.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

2019 elections: Do you still trust INEC to conduct fair elections? - Nigerians speak| Legit TV

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A common bacterial pathogen called Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces a virus that substantially increases the pathogens ability to infect us, according to a study by investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

P. aeruginosa weaponizes its resident virus to exploit the immune systems distinct responses to bacterial versus viral infections.

This marks the first time a bacteria-infecting virus, otherwise known as a bacteriophage or just phage, has been observed inducing the immune system to mount an antiviral response and, in doing so, causing it to ignore the bacterial infection. When the scientists generated a vaccine directed at the virus, they showed that it dramatically lowered the bacterias ability to infect wounds in mice.

Detailed in a study published March 29 in Science, the findings could fuel new ways of preventing chronic, intractable infections by keeping antibiotic-resistant bacteria from getting a foothold in the first place. The discovery that phages foster bacterial infections also adds a previously unexpected layer of complexity to the relationship between us and the billions of bacteria inhabiting our gut and other organs.

Paul Bollyky, MD, PhD, assistant professor of infectious diseases and of microbiology and immunology, is the studys senior author. The lead author is former graduate student Johanna Sweere, PhD.

Quadrillions of phages in body

Weve long known that youve got up to 10 quadrillion phages in your body, but we just figured whatever they were doing was strictly between them and your commensal bacteria, Bollyky said. Now we know that phages can get inside your cells, too, and make you sick.

Theres currently no approved vaccine targeting P. aeruginosa, an increasingly drug-resistant pathogen that infects the lungs of most adults with cystic fibrosis and accounts for a sizeable percentage of all infections of diabetic ulcers, bedsores and burn wounds.

What starts off as a little cut cant heal as a result of a persistent, drug-resistant bacterial infection. The toll in terms of sickness, death and dollars is enormous.

In 2017, the World Health Association named P. aeruginosa one of the critical priority pathogens posing the greatest threat to human health.

I see this every day in my clinical practice, Bollyky said. What starts off as a little cut cant heal as a result of a persistent, drug-resistant bacterial infection. The toll in terms of sickness, death and dollars is enormous. Infected diabetic foot ulcers are the single biggest cause of amputation, he said.

P. aeruginosa is itself frequently infected with a phage called Pf. This phage lives inside the bacteria but can be shed from the bacterial surface into the surrounding environment (such as a wound), much like the virus herpes lives in our cells and is shed from cold sores. In the study, Bollykys team showed Pf was common in wounds infected with P. aeruginosa. The researchers examined 111 patients with microbially infected, non-healing wounds and found that 37 of them were infected with P. aeruginosa. Two-thirds of those wounds infected with P. aeruginosa were carrying Pf  a fraction that grew the longer a wound persisted.

To prove Pf actually promotes P. aeruginosa infections rather than merely co-exists with them, the scientists inoculated small wounds in the skin of mice with P. aeruginosa strains that either did or didnt contain Pf. They observed that the two strains differed greatly in their ability to establish wound infections. The inoculation dose necessary to result in a reliable P. aeruginosa infection was 50 times larger if it lacked Pf.

Next, the scientists looked to see what Pf might be doing to immune cells that could affect P. aeruginosas ability to sustain an infection. In a lab dish, they found that the presence of the phage in P. aeruginosa reduced by 10-fold the number of invading bacteria that were engulfed by either mouse or human phagocytes  immune cells that ingest, then digest, invading bacteria.

The phagocytes lost their appetite, Bollyky said.

Tripping molecular detectors

Bollykys team determined that stretches of the phages genomic material trigger molecular detectors in the phagocytes, steering the immune systems response from an antibacterial to an antiviral one.

When a phagocyte encounters bacteria, the appropriate response is to gobble them up, chew them up and call in more troops. But phagocytes response to a virus is different, Bollyky said. If youre an immune cell, ingesting a virus is absolutely the worst thing you can do, because now youve let it get inside of you  youre infected by it.

So its only sensible for a phagocyte that comes in contact with a virus to shut down phagocytosis. The appropriate antiviral immune response involves the generation of antibodies to tag virally infected cells and to signal other types of immune cells to home in on and destroy any virus-carrying cell they come across.

What Pf does inside phagocytes, Bollyky said, is like somebody pulling the fire alarm when they should have called the police. If 20 fire engines pull up to the scene of the crime, it makes it easier for the thief to get away, he said.

The investigators generated a vaccine containing a component of a Pf protein and noted that it cut the incidence of wounds infected with Pf-positive P. aeruginosa by half. They also generated antibodies that specifically target the same protein component and showed that they worked at least as well as the vaccine.

Bollyky and his colleagues have filed for a patent on intellectual property associated with the vaccine, and they plan to test it in large animals as a step toward eventual clinical trials.

Bollykys vision is to vaccinate people against Pf when theyre first diagnosed with cystic fibrosis or diabetes, as well as people in nursing homes and hospitals, in order to protect them from P. aeruginosa infections. Since a vaccine takes time to arouse the immune system, he suggested that Pf-targeting antibodies (which can be produced in bulk and stored for long periods) could be useful in burn cases, when theres no advance warning.

The Pf vaccine might turn out to be effective against other pathogenic bacteria, such as E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which can also carry Pf and tend to co-infect wounds colonized by P. aeruginosa, Bollyky said.

Other Stanford co-authors of the study are postdoctoral scholar Jonas Belleghem, PhD; former postdoctoral scholars Vivekananda Sunkari, PhD, Xiou Cao, PhD, and Christiaan de Vries, MD; research scientists Gernot Kaber, PhD, and Robert Manasherob, PhD; Stanford Health Care affiliate physician Gina Suh, MD; technicianDung Lam; lab manager Heather Ishak; graduate students Michelle Bach and Medeea Popescu; medical student Payton Marshall; the late MD-PhD student Maria Birukova; former undergraduate Ethan Katznelson; and former medical student Daniel Lazzareschi, MD.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the University of Washington and the University of Montana also contributed to the study.

Bollyky is a member of Stanfords Bio-X, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute and Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute.

The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grants R21AI133370, R21AI133240, R01AI12492093, K22AI125282, R01AI138981, P20GM103546, P30DK116074 and R01GM111808), Stanford SPARK, Stanford Bio-X, the Falk Medical Research Trust and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Stanfords departments of Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology also supported the work.
Home | News | General | I love God, proud to say that - Oge Okoye defends spiritual encounter with Pastor Lukau

Earlier on, Legit.ng reported the news of how Nollywood actress, Oge Okoye was spotted in the church of controversial pastor, Alph Lukau, seeking his spiritual assistance. In the now viral video, the actress is seen in tears as the pastor makes some 'revelations' to her.

As expected, the video immediately went viral across the Nigerian social media platforms. While many people were surprised to see the celebrity at the church of the man known for the resurrection miracle scandal, many people were amused by what they described as 'mere theatrics.'

Despite the trolling and social media embarrassment, the actress appears to be unbothered and from her latest post on Instagram, she is standing proud of what she described as her love for God. Sharing series of photos, she wrote: "Feeling abundant and aligned AF....like I want to live life on my own terms...Well, I am not lazy..I AM ON ENERGY SAVING MODE. #ILoveGOD#Proudtosaythat"

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Meanwhile, Pastor Lukau is still trending in South Africa and not for anything good. The family of a deceased man identified as Zakhele has come forward, claiming that he died because he believed Pastor Alph Lukau had healed him of HIV.

Nomthandazo Ndaba said her brother, Zakhele, stopped taking his HIV medicine after Pastor Alph Lukau laid his hands on him. The Daily Sun reported Zakhele lived a healthy life with the virus for four years before he stopped taking his ARVs. The 40-year-old Daveyton resident said her brother attended Lukau's church since 2016, describing him as a 'staunch follower of the church.'

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Who is The Most Influential Nigerian Pastor? | Legit TV

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Home | News | General | Clerics have been calling me killer herdsman since I defected to APC - Akpabio laments

- Sen Godswill Akpabio says since he defected to the APC, some clergymen in Akwa Ibom state have been casting aspersions on him

- Akpabio said he is now being called killer herdsman by popular church prelates and bishops that dined with him for eight years while he was governor

- The lawmaker also claimed that he had been photo-shopped by propaganda merchants who told lies about him, in the course of the 2019 election

Senator Godswill Akpabio says ever since his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), some clergymen in Akwa Ibom state have been casting aspersions on him.

In an article, the former Akwa Ibom governor said his defection had cast a spell of fear over the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which had resorted to paying clergymen to tell lies against him, The Cable reports.

READ ALSO: PDP wins Adamwa governorship election election

Legit.ng gathers that the lawmaker said his move to the ruling party had overshadowed every discussion in Akwa Ibom state.

He said: I am happy that God is not like some of His priests. Ever since I decamped to APC, they have been praying against me and they have joined in peddling the lies about me.

Very well known church prelates and bishops that dined with me for eight years while I was governor, despite my benevolence to them and their families joined the fray calling me killer herdsman for joining APC.

But some of these men of God were in this same country in 2012 when the farmers/herdsmen clashes claimed the lives of over 1000 people in the Benue/Plateau/Mambilla axis.

At that time, a Christian was the president but was not accused of being a killer of Christians. The farmers/herdsmen clashes predate Nigerias independence.

The clashes have occurred under various leadership. Yet the men of God have been unconscionable in accusing the current president of masterminding genocide against Christians because he is a Muslim.

I am happy that God does not condemn a man based on one mans testimony, but He sees the heart and judges our motives and intentions. Whether one is a Christian or Muslim, we all worship the same God who will at the appointed time, judge us from our deeds in words and actions.

Akpabio claimed he had been photo-shopped by propaganda merchants who told lies about him, in the course of the 2019 election. He alleged that the same individuals had forged his letterhead and signature to write falsehood as if he wrote them.

The lawmaker said the current governor of the state, Udom Emmanuel, had been performing the duties of a deacon in Qua Iboe Church, Surulere , Lagos, when he met him.

He said upon meeting Udom, he adjudged that the latter would preside over the states affairs with the fear of God and that history would judge if he was right or wrong.

He said: Whether I was right or wrong is for history to judge. Nevertheless I picked him to succeed me and by the grace of God and the votes of Akwa Ibom electorates, he won the election. So God made him governor.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Etekamba Umoren, a former secretary to the Akwa Ibom state government, expressed confidence that Senator Godswill Akpabio will reclaim his mandate at the election tribunal.

Umoren, who was SSG during the governorship tenure of Akpabio, said that evidence abounds to prove that Akpabio won the senatorial seat for Akwa Ibom north-west senatorial district in the National Assembly elections.

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No lawmaker is in the House of Assembly for the people - on Legit TV:

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Home | News | General | Live updates: PDP wins all 14 local government areas where supplementary elections held in Adamawa

Mar 28 22:42 PM 75090 views by Eromosele Ebhomele Nurudeen Lawal

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled today, Thursday, March 28, to conduct the supplementary governorship election in Adamawa state. Before the March 9 election was declared inconclusive, Ahmed Umar Fintiri, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had polled 367,471 votes, while the incumbent governor, Jibrilla Bindow of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had 334,995 votes. It meant Fintiri was leading with a margin 32,476; however, ballots cancelled for various infractions amounted to 40,988, leaving INEC with no option but to schedule a rerun in the affected 44 polling units in 28 registration areas. As the people of Adamawa state troop out to finally decide who will be their next governor for the next four years, Legit.ng is on ground to provide you with verified live updates of the voting process.

Mar 28 8:55 AM

Accreditation and voting start 8am Accreditation and voting will take place between 8am and 2pm in 29 Registration Areas, having 44 Polling Units, across 14 LGAs with a total number of 40,988 registered voters.

Mar 28 9:25 AM

Voting ongoing at PU008 Bako Ward Election is ongoing at PU008 Bako Ward Mustapha Primary School, Adamawa state, Yola South.

Mar 28 11:56 AM

High voter turn-out in Kofar-Waya I There is high voter turn-out in Kofar-Waya I Polling Unit, Girei LGA, Adamawa state. Daily Trust gathered that the voters are in high spirit to cast their ballots for candidates of their choice as they sit patiently. Officers and men of the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), and Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) are also on ground to control the surging crowd

Mar 28 12:18 PM

Low voter turn-out at Ardo Maguwa/Kofar Ardo PU 001, Girei LGA Accreditation and voting are going on smoothly at Ardo Maguwa/Kofar Ardo PU 001, Girei LGA. However, there is low voter turn-out amid tight security. The Presiding Officer of the PU, who spoke to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity said there are a total of 770 registered voters in the unit.

Mar 28 12:32 PM

Voting ongoing at Luman LGA Voting is ongoing in Numan LGA, PU 005.

Mar 28 14:03 PM

Voting ongoing at Rabarma unit, Numan 2 ward of Numan LGA Accreditation and voting is ongoing at Rabarma unit, Numan 2 ward of Numan LGA, Song LGA Song Waje PU: 02-16-10-005, and Ganye LGA Sangasumi PU: 02-03-07-005.

Mar 28 14:50 PM

Voting ends in some polling units The voting process has ended in some of the polling units in Yola south and Michika LGAs. Sorting and counting of votes ongoing.

Mar 28 15:10 PM

Results from Guyuk LGA Polling Unit 017, Guyuk LGA APC - 8 PDP - 176 Polling Unit 001, Guyuk LGA APC - 0 PDP - 154 Dangir Dutse Polling Unit 001, Chikala Ward APC - 0 PDP -144 Guyuk PU 001 APC - 0 PDP - 154 PU 005, Karalbadi Duhu Mayowandu: ADC - 5 APC  0 PDP  131 SDP - 1

Mar 28 15:14 PM

Results from Yola South Bako Ward, Yola South LGA APC - 60 PDP - 185

Mar 28 15:35 PM

Results from Girei LGA PU 003 Modire Ward, Girei LG APC 93 PDP 278 Ardo Maguwa/Kofan Ardo PU 001, Girei l Ward, Girei LGA APC 102 PDP 72 Kofarwaya PU 003 Girei Ward: APC - 46 PDP - 168

Mar 28 15:39 PM

Results from Lamurde LGA PU 001, Hadiyo Unit, Lamurde LGA APC 09 PDP 146

Mar 28 15:58 PM

Results from Numan Germin Ward: APC - 2 PDP - 202 Kadomti Ward: APC - 5 PDP - 214 Kikan Ward: APC - 1 PDP - 362 Zabarma Ward: APC - 26 PDP - 199 Kolbani Duhu/ Mayo Madagali: APC  0 PDM  5 PDP  135

Mar 28 16:34 PM

Results from Michika LGA PU 003, Moda Dlaka, Michika LG PDP 101 APC 166 PU 006, Jigalambu, Michika LG PDP 248 APC 7 FWA Unit PU 005 Michika LGA PDP 161 APC 3

Mar 28 16:36 PM

Results from Madagali LGA PU 005, Kolbadi, Madagali LGA APC 0 PDP 131

Mar 28 16:37 PM

Results from Song LGA Atiku Primary School, PU 001, Song LGA APC 203 PDP 209 Didango PU 003, Song LGA APC 116 PDP 268 PU 019, J.K.Umaru Song LGA APC 86 PDP 170

Mar 28 16:40 PM

Results from Mubi LGA Pwagui PU 024, Mubi LGA PDP 204 APC 1 Ribawa PU 016 Mubi LGA PDP 261 APC 7 Mitiri PU 023, Mubi LGA PDP 266 APC 2

Mar 28 18:37 PM

Results from Mubi North Mitiri Primary School PU 023 Kofar Jauro, Muchalla Ward M APC 2 PDP 266 Ribawo PU Muchalla Ward APC 7 PDP 261 Mbulaya-Jilvu PU Muchalla Ward APC 1 PDP 204 Movura-Jilvu Muchalla Ward APC 1 PDP 169

Mar 28 19:59 PM

Collation of Adamawa rerun results shifted The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has moved the collation of result of the Adamawa governorship supplementary election to 8pm. The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in the state, Kasim Gaidam, confirmed this in Yola. According to him, the collation would begin at the Adamawa state governorship election collation centre at INEC state headquarters in Yola at the scheduled time. Gaidam noted that the election had been concluded peacefully and successfully in the 44 polling units in 14 local government areas of the state. We thank Almighty God that the supplementary election was conducted successfully and the collation of the result will commenced by 8pm today, he said while thanking the residents for their peaceful conduct during the exercise.

Mar 28 23:39 PM

PDP's Fintiri wins Adamawa governorship election The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Fintiri, has defeated the incumbent governor, Mohammed Bindow, who flew the flag of the All Progressives Congress (APC). At the end of the announcement of results from the supplementary election, the PDP polled 10,480 votes while APC secured 1391 votes.

Source: Legit.ng

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Home | News | General | Kano gov election: PDP chairman faults BMO over comment on violence

- The PDP has faulted the Buhari Media Organization (BMO) over its comments on the Kano governorship election

- The BMO had accused the PDP and Senator Musa Kwankwaso as perpetrators of the violence during the poll

- The state chairman of the party, Alhaji Rabiu Bichi, accused the state governor of thuggery and vote rigging during the poll

The Kano state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the Buhari Media Organization (BMO) over the violence that marred the recently held supplementary governorship election in the state.

Kano PDP's chairman, Alhaji Rabiu Sulaiman Bichi distanced the PDP, Senator Musa Kwankwaso and its governorship candidate Abba Yusuf from any form of violence and act that compromised the electoral process in kano state.

Speaking to journalists in Kano, Bichi while reacting to the statement, said it was unfortunate that BMO took sides with Ganduje and his cohorts, accusing the governor of sponsoring thugs, buying votes and rigging the election.

Bichi maintained that the gory pictures of violence in Kano publicised in both the social and traditional media during the re-run election were a true reflection of what actually transpired in the state during the supplementary election.

READ ALSO: PDP wins Adamwa governorship election election

He described BMOs claim on the violence as a figment of the imagination of their sponsors who convey the impression that those those pictures were shot at a bar in Ghana and from the Plateau ethno-religious violence in recent years.

Bichi wondered why BMO chose to align with retrogressive forces to undermine the interest of Kano state which contributed immensely to the successes recorded by President Muhammadu Buhari since he joined partisan politics in 2003.

By that such posture, BMO and its sponsors have clearly shown that violence pays under the APC-led government since those who perpetrate were being rewarded handsomely by INEC as we have witnessed in Kano state, he said.

He continued: The APC benefitted from thuggery orchestrated by the deputy governor and some of the commissioners. We feel saddened The Nation newspapers which is the mouthpiece of the APC national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken sides and is biased in its reportage of the election in Kano. We expect nothing less from them.

We make bold to say that nothing could be further from the truth as there are verifiable evidence at the disposal of our agents, election monitors and well meaning citizens of Kano state to prove how the APC and their hired thugs under the watchful eyes of security agents assaulted and disenfranchised our supporters in the desperate bid to keep Ganduje in power at all cost.

It is on record that the state deputy governor, Nasiru Gawuna and the state commissioner for local government, Alhaji Sule Garo were taken into custody for taking the laws into their hands by disrupting the final Collation of results at the Nasarawa local government area Collation Centre when defeat stared Ganduje in the face.

That uncouth and shameful act provided the alibi to INEC to declare the governorship election clearly won by Abba Kabiru Yusuf inconclusive. The Gama ward incidence in Nasarawa local government replete with voters intimidation, votes buying and ballot box stuffing, as witnessed in all others local governments provides an ample evidence of Ganduje's hypocrisy on the issue.

It did not come to us as a surprise that rights groups and civil society groups from far and near including the European Union election observation group observed the conduct of the supplementary elections in the state have faulted the entire exercise as it was adjudged to be a total sham and a disgrace to democratic rule in the country.

Bichi expressed confidence that justice would surely prevail, adding th the daylight robbery of the mandate freely given to Abba Kabiru Yusuf by PDP's teeming supporters in Kano state.

READ ALSO: 2023: Buhari may hand over to Osinbajo or Tinubu - Yakassai

Meanwhile, a Civil Society Organisation, YIAGA AFRICA, has listed six major critical incidents that characterised the supplementary elections in in 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Saturday, March 23.

The group said there were several incidences of voter suppression, intimidation of observers, vote buying, bribery amongst others.

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Home | News | General | Breaking: 3-man appeal court panel delivers ruling on Fayemis election

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, Nigerias capital, in the evening of Thursday, March 28, affirmed the victory of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti as the duly elected in the governorship election that was held on July 14, 2018 in the state.

The Nigerian Tribune reports that a three-man panel of the appeal court led by Justice Stephen Adah, gave the unanimous judgment.

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The judges dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Olusola Eleka.

Eleka and his party had appealed the judgement of the election petition tribunal set up to handle the governorship exercise in the state.

The tribunal had ruled in favour of Kayode Fayemi, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Legit.ng earlier reported that an appeal court in Ekiti state capital recently confirmed the judgement of the Federal High Court which held that Kayode Fayemi was eligible to have contested the partys primary.

The court sitting in Ado-Ekiti area of the state held that Fayemi, though a public servant, was not an employee of the public service and thus not under compulsion to resign his position as minister 30 days to the party primary.

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The court also aligned with the lower court that Fayemis indictment by a judicial panel of Inquiry does not amount to conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction and will be actionable in the case as determined.

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The FCT Police Command has arrested 37 suspects for various crimes including kidnapping, armed robbery, hard drugs peddling among others.

The Commissioner of Police for the command, Bala Ciroma, who paraded the suspects, yesterday, also announced the rescue of two children, Rejoice Godwin and Seke Godwin 7 and 9 years old, who were abducted on March 8 from Yimi village in Zuba.

He said the victims were rescued at Lambata in Niger State where they were held hostage by their abductors.

The following suspects were arrested in the process of rescuing the victims: Nasiru Mohammed 20 years old; Sale Bello 19 years; old and Hassan Audu 20 years old. Two Dane guns were recovered from the suspects at the point of the arrest. The effort is being intensified to arrest the leader of the gang who is at large, he said.

The CP also revealed that the police, during an exchange of gunfire around the National Energy Commission on Wednesday around 10pm, gunned down one of the hoodlums that attempted to snatch a black Mercedes Benz 350 jeep in the Central Business District (CBD).

He said while the victim was rescued unhurt, the command has launched a manhunt for the two suspects who escaped the scene with bullet wounds.

The CP also announced the arrest of one Murtala Ibrahim, who was reportedly arrested on March 17 around 9:30pm by police operatives on stop and search along Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Expressway in a black Volkswagen Golf 3 car loaded with 32 superpower explosives.

He said the suspect, who was the driver of the vehicle, claimed he was given the explosives to deliver to a named person at Uke, Karu LGA, Nasarawa State.

He also announced the arrest of 25 armed robbery suspects within this month, March, at various points in the capital city, with several dangerous weapons.

He said while investigations were ongoing on all the arrests, the command had also reviewed its crime-fighting strategies with improved visibility, vehicular and foot patrols and intensive raids of criminals hideouts among others.

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Home | News | General | Osun governor allays fear of PDP's threats, set to partner Venezuela, others to boost state economy

- Governor Gboyega Oyetola has promised to seek strong partnership with foreign countries to facilitate development to Osun state

- Oyetola made the promise when he hosted the Venezuela ambassador to Nigeria, David Nieves Valasquez-Caraballo, and envoys from Israel, Cuba

- The governor said his administration will be giving priority to agriculture, mining, tourism, information and communication technology

The government of Osun state has stated its readiness to partner with countries including Venezuela, Israel, Cuba to facilitate a strong economic growth and development to the southwest state.

Speaking when he hosted the Venezuela ambassador to Nigeria, David Nieves Valasquez-Caraballo, and envoys from Israel, Cuba, Cote dIvoire and Republic of Benin, Osun governor, Gboyega Oyetola, said the state is ready to form a strong partnership to harness development.

Legit.ng gathers that the envoys were in Osun to explore business opportunities in agriculture and to expand the sectors.

READ ALSO: Senators-elect caution Buhari, say Tinubu men must not be allowed to take over NASS

Apart from the Venezuela ambassador, Cuban ambassador to Nigeria, Carlos Trejo Sosa, represented by the deputy head of mission, Leydis Bernal Suarez; Israeli ambassador to Nigeria, Pear Duchi, represented by Madu Chibueze, also witnessed the event.

Represented by the state chief of staff, Charles Diji Akinola, and secretary to the state government, Oluwole Oyebamiji, Governor Oyetola said his administration is open to businesses and partnership capable of bringing laudable development.

He said: We have just had a meeting with Ambassadors who have come to our state to discuss myriads of business opportunities and explore their potentials as regards the need to strengthen bilateral relationship.

This administration is giving priority to agriculture, mining, tourism, information and communication technology among others, to ensure proper diversification of the economy.

We had a very fruitful session with them; we have reached a compromise on the need to expand the window of business opportunity particularly in the areas of agriculture, mining, tourism, science and technology.

They have shown interest to partner the state in these areas to ensure that Osun achieves its goals. As a government, we shall continue to create the enabling environment that would help to facilitate bilateral cooperation in all sectors of the economy.

We are looking forward for investment partnership from these countries. It is our hope that this collaboration will bring about the desired results.

This is going to strengthen the economy and enhance commercial activities in the state as we are doing everything possible to record success in our economic diversification bid.

Speaking, the Venezuelan ambassador said his country will ensure a smooth bilateral cooperation with Osun state.

He said: We have come to Osun to deliberate on some of the areas in which we can collaborate and strengthen bilateral relationship.

''We are here to build a strong bilateral relation that will bring about the desired development in all aspects of the economy.''

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that All Progressive Congress (APC) and Osun governor, Gboyega Oyetola, had asked the Abuja Appeal Court to reverse the decision of tribunal panel recognising Senator Ademola Adeleke as the winner of the state governorship election held in 2018.

In a 39 count notice filed before the Abuja Appeal Court, Oyetola and APC, through their counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), argued that the evidences upon which the tribunal's judgement was built was replete and untenable.

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Home | News | General | Lai Mohammed reveals why world powers deny Nigeria loans

- Minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, has revealed why Nigeria was denied loans

- Mohammed said the misrepresentation of the clashes between cattle herders and farmers by foreign media organisations was the cause of the denial

- The APC chieftain said the government had to send delegations to the United Kingdom and the United States to execute media campaigns

The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, has said that the misrepresentation of the clashes between cattle herders and farmers by foreign media organisations costs the country foreign loans.

Sahara Reporters reports that Mohammed made the statement on Thursday, March 28, while appearing before the House of Representatives committee on information, national orientation, ethics and values.

Legit.ng gathered that while defending the 2019 budget proposed by the information ministry, the minister said the government has been denied loans because of the misinformation that have been spread about clashes between cattle herders and farmers.

READ ALSO: Accept defeat in good faith, dont subject Enugu guber result to litigation - Lawmaker advises politicians

He said the Nigerian government had to send delegations to the United Kingdom and the United States to execute media campaigns.

The minister was quizzed on consultancy contracts awarded by the government, which involved the engagement of foreign media organisations.

Speaking on contracts, he said: The world had become a global village and what happens in Nigeria today reverberates all over the world.

''And we in the administration face a lot of challenges, especially from the comments of the hostile positions of foreign governments, even foreign parliaments.

''So, it is the duty of the ministry of information to regularly lobby and address international media in the countries.

"I remember that in 2018 we made two trips to the UK and two trips to the US, and these trips helped tremendously in actually helping the people in the Diaspora and foreign governments to understand the real dynamics of the herdsmen/farmers clashes.

Until we got there, the impression held by many of them was that the thing was Christians/Muslims, north/south and that time we had to book for interviews with CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, Reuters and AFP.

''I think it is an important part of governance so that if you cannot mould their opinions, at least it can give them the opportunity of hearing our own side of the story.

Mohammed condemned some foreign media for what he called erroneous editorials on the security crisis.

He said: I am sure you have all noticed a lot of very erroneous editorials that have been carried by some highly respected pens like the New York Times, Boston Globe, which do not actually represent the true situation in Nigeria.

''So, we go there, not just for government but to give the correct impression about what goes on in the government.

Until we went there, the generalisation was that what was happening in Nigeria was religious. I always give them two examples to show that what happens in Nigeria has nothing to do with religion. I give them the example of Kebbi state.

''One-third of all the inmates in Kebbi prisons today are there as a result of farmers/herdsmen clashes, yet the farmers in Kebbi are Muslims and the herdsmen are Muslims.

What we are dealing with is largely environmental. A country of 50 million people and 50 years ago, today has a population of 200 million. In 1960, what was our population in Nigeria? 52 million. How many are we today? 180 million.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Johnmary Jideobi, an Abuja based lawyer, reported sued Nigerias information and culture minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, over what the plaintiff describes as a false claim against suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen.

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Home | News | General | 2019 election tension: Governor Wike bans public protests in Rivers state

- Nyesom Wike bans all protests relating to the 2019 elections in Rivers state

- The governor's order comes hours after a protest by a group against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

- Some CSOs earlier petitioned security agencies claiming that they have been impersonated by the protesters

The governor of Rivers, Nyesom Wike, in the night of Thursday, March 28, announced a ban on all public protests arising from the recent elections in the state.

Wikes decision came hours after an earlier protest by some groups which accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of bias during the presidential, governorship and House of Assembly elections.

All security agencies are directed to enforce the ban in the interest of public peace, safety and order in the state.

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The public is requested to comply with this interim measure as defaulters will have themselves to blame, a short statement by Emma Okah, the states commissioner for information and communications, said.

Legit.ng earlier reported that at least 70 registered Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Rivers state in the evening of Thursday, March 28, alerted the government and security agencies of some alleged impersonators of their various organizations.

According to the CSOs, the impersonators, who were politically motivated, engaged in protests against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the state government.

The CSOs alleged that the sponsored group is headed by one Omenazu Jackson, the chancellor of the International Society of Social Justice and Human Rights and Advocate for Justice.

Signed by 10 of the members, the petitioners said they want the public, the government and the security agencies to know that the protesting group are not part of them and should be prevented from disobeying law and order in the state.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently released a schedule of activities for the resumption of election in River state.

The electoral body had suspended electoral processes in the state on March 10 following reported violence.

In a statement signed by Edwin Enabor on behalf of INEC on Wednesday, March 27, INEC said the process will continue on April 2.

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The statement reads According to the timetable, a stakeholders meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 30, while the resumption of collation and announcement of results will hold between April 2 and 5.

"Supplementary elections will be conducted where necessary on April 13, results will be announced between April 13 and 15, while certificates of return will be issued on April 19."

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Home | News | General | Just in: Atiku reacts as PDP's Fintiri wins Adamawa governorship election

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the victory of the party at the governorship election in Adamawa, where he hails from.

Atiku, who commended the people of the state for voting for the PDP governorship candidate, Ahmadu Fintiri, said he looked forward to working with the latter.

"Congratulations to the man of our people, governor-elect, Ahmadu Fintiri.

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The hope that our people in Adamawa repose in you is well placed and I look forward to working with you to make our state great again, he said.

Legit.ng earlier reported how the Adamawa state governorship election was concluded late Thursday, March 28, with the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Fintiri, defeating the incumbent governor, Mohammed Bindow.

At the end of the announcement of results from the supplementary election, the PDP polled 10,480 votes while APC secured 1391 votes.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won in all the 14 local government areas where the exercise held.

The party won in polling units 007 and 008 at Bako ward in Yola as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) concluded the governorship supplementary election in Adamawa state today, Thursday, March 28.

The PDP scored 150 votes while arch opponent, the All Progressives Congress (APC), had 68 votes at the polling unit 008.

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Also, at the polling unit 007, the PDP polled a whopping 185 votes, to beat the APC which secured 60 votes.

The election was seen as a contest between two major candidate of APC and PDP Governor Jibrilla Bindow and Ahmadu Fintiri respectively.

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The Chinese government has disbursed $134 million to build new infrastructure in Uganda, mainly roads, that are part of a network of over 700 km planned to service the countrys petroleum sites.

According to Allen Kagina, director of the Ugandan Highway Authority, nearly 30% of the planned work would be carried out by local companies.

Uganda discovered crude reserves more than 10 years ago but production has been repeatedly delayed over disagreements with field operators over taxes and development strategy.

A lack of infrastructure such as a transportation pipeline and a refining facility have also held up output.

French Total, together with Chinas CNOOC and Britains Tullow Oil, are investing in Ugandan oilfields.

A crude export pipeline, which passes through Ugandas neighbor Tanzania, with a capacity to transport 260,000 bpd oil will be built by 2022, according to energy minister Irene Muloni.

While the flow of official Chinese finance into Uganda has grown from around $33 million a year in the early 2000s, to about $197 million in more recent years, according to 2017 data from AidData, 81% of the amounts was in loans.

Between July 2013 and June 2016, Chinese projects amounted to 32% of the countrys foreign direct investment.
Home | News | General | Buhari's not an orator but action man - VP Osinbajo

Vice president Yemi Osinbajo said President Muhammadu Buhari may not be an orator but he has a track record of getting things done.

Osinbajo said this while representing the President at the 11th Bola Tinubu colloquium at the International Conference Centre on Thursday, March 28, in Abuja.

Osinbajo described Tinubu as an astute politician whose political achievements only very few Nigerians can boast of.

The event, which was tagged Next Level: Working for the People", is a yearly programme to commemorate the birthday of the APC leader and former Governor of Lagos state.

READ ALSO: Full list of APC, PDP elected Assembly members in Sokoto

Tinubu, while addressing the gathering joked that the Vice President is Talented but evasive.

He commended the current administration efforts and called on Nigerians to cooperate with the government in moving the country to the next level.

Tinubu said that the phrase Next-Level is not just a political slogan but a call to action for change and development of Nigeria.

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The event was graced by dignitaries from all spheres of the life including members of the federal executive council and the National Assembly, Royal Fathers, Governors and members of the public.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Osinbajo had given an insight into how his former party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), was able to retrieve its stolen mandate at the 2007 elections across states in Nigeria.

The vice president said Tinubu has spent the last 30 years of his life curating and pioneering visions in all aspects of governance across the country.

Osinbajo said for the first time in the history of Nigeria and some countries at large, the ACN through the now national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) assembled a team of 63 forensic experts in fingerprinting to restore the mandate of the party.

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Home | World | Africa | EU envoy confronts minister over Zanu-PF cyclone food grab

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ambassador to Zimbabwe, Timo Olkkonen Wednesday confronted Minister of State for Manicaland Ellen Gwaradzimba over alleged partisan distribution of food aid to those affected by Cyclone Idai.

The tragedy which hit parts of Manicaland some two weeks ago triggered an overwhelming philanthropic world response with tonnes of food, clothing, medicine and other material aid being channelled towards relief efforts in affected areas.

But this has been marred by reports of partisan distribution by alleged Zanu-PF officials.

Addressing a joint media briefing with government in Mutare before touring the cyclone hit areas of Chimanimani and Chipinge Wednesday, ambassador Olkkonen said "humanitarian principles of impartiality and making sure that the aid goes to the final destination to the people in need regardless of the political affiliation is extremely important for us".

"Honourable Minister," he said, "I need to draw to your attention an issue of concern also. I haven't been in Zimbabwe really very long but I have lived here long enough not to believe everything said on social media.

"But we heard rumours and stories of politicisation of humanitarian aid. I don't know the truth about those rumours; we sincerely hope they are false.

"If there is factual basis behind this and of course we would appeal to the government to strongly, you know, intervene and make sure nothing of this sort is happening if indeed is happening.

"We want to be here as a constructive not obstructive partner."

In response, Gwaradzima allayed fears of aid politicisation saying "things are under control and donations which are coming are in safe hands".

She said they have come up with a transparent system of distributing aid.

"We have a transparent system of distributing aid which is credible and we want to give you comfort for you to say we are giving assistance to a nation which is worth assisting'," she said.

Gwaradzimba said when people are faced with a crisis, the approach is more of reactive than an organised effort.

"When Cyclone hit, there were loud calls for help. There was no system put in place. There were emergency intervention initiatives which were taken by everyone across the society in trying to chip in.

"The issue of politics came in when there were no sufficient vehicles to ferry food to where people were trapped and the situation was dire.

"The roads and bridges were destroyed and everybody thought they can help with anything they had even with vehicles regardless of where they were coming from.

"Even food and clothes were donated in an unorganised manner and we later realised that this could bring confusion and distortions. You know what politics is like; individuals and institutions trying to get credit for doing this and that.

"We then said no politics in this project of Cyclone Idai. We said it's now a government coordinated programme where all the players, churches, civic society and churches would pool resources together."

Meanwhile, ambassador Olkkonen said EU's cyclone intervention amounted to half a million Euros which is now with the World Food Programme (WFP) and being used to fund for the helicopter helping with accessing distressed and inaccessible communities.

"Our member state, UK is definitely coming with more significant financial contribution and items on deliveries and packages here on the ground already reaching the area.

". And also other EU member states are chipping in and we should not forget about those members because they are giving significant core funding to the United Nations.

"Even if they don't have direct contribution to Cyclone Idai, many operations of UN are sustained by those that are unselfishly not earmarking the contributions such as Sweden.

"We are here and we want to support as constructive partners," said Olkkonen.

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Home | World | Africa | Have you seen this person?

A MAN from Bulawayo is appealing for information that may lead to the location of his 17-year-old son who went missing on Monday.

Mr Cedric Miller from Northend suburb said his son, Ben Cedric Miller, went missing after knocking off at Pace College around 3PM.

"Ben was last seen with his friends at school around 3PM on 25 March and he never returned home soon after that. We have searched everywhere and even at his friends' place but they said they don't know where he went soon after school," he said.

Mr Miller said Ben was last seen wearing a grey t-shirt printed New York, blue tennis shoes and a black satchel.

He said his son is dark in complexion and slim bodied.

"I wish to be reunited with my son. I am appealing to anyone who has information on his whereabouts to assist. I can be contacted on 0773 623 305," said Mr Miller.

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Home | World | Africa | World security under US threat: Mathema

SANCTIONS imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States of America and its allies are undermining the new dispensation's efforts of international community re-engagement, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.

Officially opening the 32nd Session of the Zimbabwe-Zambia Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security in Victoria Falls, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Cain Mathema said world security, Zimbabwe included, is under threat from US dominance.

"We're meeting at a time when global security is under threat from dominant tendencies by the United States which is seeking to impose its will on the global order by imposing economic sanctions on other countries.

"Zimbabwe has been a victim of such sanctions imposed by America under the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) and these sanctions continue to undermine the New Dispensation's foreign policy thrust of engagement and re-engagement as well as international dialogue," said Minister Mathema.

He said common threats to Africa besides USA supremacy, include transnational crimes such as poaching, illegal migration, smuggling of minerals and climate change.

"I encourage officials to come up with strategies that will strengthen our co-operation in the fight against retrogressive forces in our country as well as transnational organised crime such as smuggling of precious minerals, poaching and human trafficking that threaten peace and security in the two republics," said Minister Mathema.

Minister Mathema, who co-chaired the meeting with Zambia Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo called for unity among African states to uphold democratic principles.

He commended African states for holding peaceful, free and fair elections in their respective countries.

"As we meet this year we're proud to note that Sadc countries continue to promote democracy through the holding of free and fair elections as recently witnessed in Madagascar and DRC.

"We remain hopeful that the upcoming elections in South Africa, Malawi, Botswana and Namibia will be peaceful, free, fair and credible in line with Sadc principles and guidelines governing the conduct of democratic elections," added Minister Mathema.

He said meetings such as the Joint Permanent Commission are important platforms for bi-lateral relations.

Minister Mathema said Zimbabwe and Zambia enjoy cordial relations dating back to the liberation struggle. He paid tribute to the sacrifice, love, warmth, support and solidarity of the Zambian people which has continued even in the new political dispensation led by President Mnangagwa.

Minister Mathema said Zimbabwe will always be indebted to support rendered to it by other countries. Minister Kampyongo echoed the same sentiments and commended Sadc countries for their commitment to democracy. He said despite efforts by Zimbabwe and Zambia to fight off security threats, the two countries continue to face common cross border threats such as illegal migration, poaching and smuggling which threaten their peace and stability.

"I'm encouraged by the level of co-operation that our defence and security institutions have continued to enjoy as we endeavour to achieve aspirations of our people. It's for this reason that I wish to encourage delegates to take advantage of our platform to strengthen bilateral relations. Members of this commission will rise to the challenges so that perpetrators are brought to book to combat these threats," he said.

Minister Kampyongo said the region can achieve security goals by continuously revising its approach and remaining vigilant to the ever growing threats. He said Zimbabwe has a brighter future in the hands of President Mnangagwa who he said showed patriotism during and after the July 2018 harmonised elections.

Minister Kampyongo said Zambia, which is the outgoing chair of the Sadc Organ on Politics Defence and Security Troika is making frantic efforts to join other disaster response stakeholders in helping victims of the disaster in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique. The official opening ceremony started with a moment of silence in honour of victims of Cyclone Idai.

Present at the meeting were Defence and War Veterans Deputy Minister Victor Matemadanda, Permanent Secretary in the same Ministry Mr Martin Rushwaya, Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs in Zambia Dr Chileshe Mulenga and Zambia's Ambassador to Zimbabwe Emmanuel Chenda. There were also service chiefs and senior security officials from the two countries.

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Home | World | Africa | Mnangagwa lauds Zanu-PF's cyclone rescue efforts

Zanu-PF President and First Secretary, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has commended efforts by the ruling party in assisting communities affected by Cyclone Idai.

The cyclone left a trail of destruction in Chimanimani and Chipinge. The President commended the ruling party during yesterday's 327th ordinary session of the Politburo.

Addressing a press conference on the Politburo proceedings, Zanu-PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Simon Khaya Moyo said President Mnangagwa warned against indiscipline and corruption.

"In his opening remarks His Excellency the President expressed the importance of the party to be ever vibrant and be visible in every part of the country," he said.

"Introspection is the key, hard and honesty must remain the compass. "His Excellency also highlighted the effects of the Cyclone Idai and commended the party for its role in assisting in all disaster of affected areas. He warned on indiscipline and corruption. He further called for unity of purpose and emphasised that party programmes must have a national outlook."

Sithembiso Nyoni, who was standing in for Secretary of Transport and Social Welfare July Moyo, gave a report to the Politburo on Cyclone Idai.

"On behalf of July, who is Secretary for Transport and Social Welfare and also the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, the Secretary for Business Liaison Sithembiso Nyoni gave a comprehensive report on the Cyclone Idai disaster which has been covered extensively by all media houses so far," said Khaya Moyo.

"Government and the international community have given tremendous assistance to all the affected areas and His Excellency on behalf of the nation has extended his deepest gratitude to all concerned. The aid continues to pour in."

Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Obert Mpofu gave a comprehensive departmental report which was discussed at length, and recommendations to strengthen party programmes were made and welcomed.

"His Excellency clearly made his observations and advised on the way forward which were applauded by the Politburo," said Khaya Moyo. The Politburo also received a report from the Secretary for Finance Patrick Chinamasa on the ongoing inter-party dialogue.

"The Political Commissar Engelbert Rugeje presented his commissariat report," said Khaya Moyo.

"He informed the Politburo that the restructuring exercise for the dissolved Harare and Bulawayo provincial executives was on-going well.

"The report also covered the ongoing Presidential meet the people rallies and Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology encompassing the training the trainer programme."

Khaya Moyo said the Politburo discussed a presentation on the party's media strategy which he presented and was welcomed after comprehensive discussion.

Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, who is the Secretary for External Relations, presented a report on the recently held Sadc Solidarity Summit for the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic which has been colonised by Morocco since 1975.

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Home | World | Africa | Zimbabwe fuel consumption declines

The consumption of diesel and petrol plunged by almost 1,5 million litres and 1,8 million litres per day respectively between January and February this year, compared to previous months on the back of price adjustments and the impact of the Monetary Policy Statement that ushered in a number of far-reaching measures.

The reduction has seen the country making huge savings in foreign currency at a time the economy is facing a crippling shortage of hard currency that has seen it failing to sufficiently import other essential commodities including fuel and medical drugs.

The Government increased the price of petrol and diesel on January 12 this year to RTGS$3,31 and RTGS$3,11, respectively, a move that curtailed non-productive movements by motorists.

Before the upward adjustment, the country consumed 4,7 million litres of diesel and 3,8 million litres for petrol per day respectively  most of which was for luxury and speculative purposes.

Energy and Power Development Minister, Dr Joram Gumbo, told Business Weekly last week that the intermittent fuel queues visible in some parts of the country are largely resulting from logistical challenges pertaining to distribution.

"Consumption has gone down but the statistics are not yet final. We have continued to see queues for fuel for logistical reasons but definitely, consumption for diesel has gone down to about 3,3 million litres per day and petrol to about 2 million litres per day," said Dr Gumbo.

"As you know, we had gone to between 4,5 million litres and 4,7 million litres of diesel and 3,8 million litres for petrol per day.

"But we cannot say that we are giving the correct figure (quantities of fuel) at the moment because we had not completely stabilised since the change of prices.

"When the prices changed, there was the issue of the Monetary Policy, it affected again consumption."

Dr Gumbo said speculative messages on the social media about shortages and price hikes of fuel has also resulted in re-emergence of fuel queues and hoarding.

Recently, there has been speculation that fuel shortages would re-emerge due to the effects of Cyclone Idai, which ripped apart the Mozambican port city of Beira, some eastern and southern parts of Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Some social media reports also suggested that the Feruka pipeline, which transports the bulk of Zimbabwe's fuel, had been severely damaged and unable to move fuel. However, Dr Gumbo said the Feruka pipeline "remains intact".

Last week, Energy Deputy Minister Magna Mudyiwa said the fuel pipeline, which transports fuel from Beira to Harare will resume operations next month after authorities closed it two weeks ago as a precautionary measure against the tropical Cyclone Idai. The pipeline was suspended on the 15th of this month, as a precautionary measure against the destructive Cyclone Idai.

Said Dr Gumbo: "From January 1 to February 28, the consumption of fuel has gone down; withdrawals (from Masasa) have remained stable and we have kept quite a lot of diesel and a lot of petrol in stock. "This is why I am saying that even with this unfortunate incident of the cyclone, we still have enough fuel to supply our country.

"We thank God because the pipeline is intact, and most of our fuel has been coming through the pipeline but there were also other measures to bring in fuel if the pipeline had been affected, we would have used the road and rail."

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Home | World | Africa | Mzansi-based artistes to be honoured

LOCAL artistes based across the Limpopo will be honoured at the inaugural Ezakithi Arts Awards at the Hillbrow Theatre in Johannesburg on May 4.

One of the organisers, Angela Mageza of CC Media House, revealed that they would unveil the nominees soon.

"We called for submissions and have so far received an amazing number, which has motivated us to come up with an event which will level up with the artistes and fans' expectations. We have a total of categories, of which some will be honorary awards while some will be voted for by fans on voting lines, which will be made public on the day we announce the nominees," she said.

"The awards ceremony is meant to celebrate our own talent which is in South Africa. We feel like there are many artistes who are doing great, but are not fairly celebrated in their spaces. We want to reward and motivate them to do more. Back in Zimbabwe, there are many awards that reward local artistes, but the ones across the borders have no-one celebrating them, hence we came up with Ezakithi."

Zimbabwean splash musician, Khanyi, who is based in Johannesburg, said the awards would help motivate Zimbabwean artistes in Mzansi.

"When I heard about the awards, I was happy and I wish I could get a nomination. We thank the organisers for coming up with such a noble idea. This will go a long way in empowering artistes. We have many Zimbabwean artistes who have since quit music due to lack of motivation, including the pressures that come with being a foreigner. But these awards will help motivate and give us a pat on the back," she said.

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North Korean hackers really don't care that the bitcoin price crashed. It's still plenty profitable for them. | Source: Shutterstock

By CCN.com: The cryptocurrency sector may still be in a bearish phase, but the state-sponsored North Korean hacking group Lazarus remains absurdly bullish on the bitcoin industry  at least if its continued focus on the sector is anything to go by.

For Lazarus, Crypto Exchanges are the Geese that lay Golden Eggs

Per cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, both Mac and Windows OS users remain vulnerable to the groups ongoing hacking effort. Lazarus is understood to have launched the operation in November last year.

For this effort, the hacking group has created custom PowerShell scripts which communicate with malicious command & control (C2) servers and run commands initiated by the operator. The names of the C2 server script names are made to look like WordPress files or other open source projects.

Once control of the server is gained, the malware can collect basic information on the host. The malware is also able to download and upload files as well as execute system shell commands among other things.

The Kaspersky Lab report further states that Lazarus is only hosting malware on rented servers. Compromised servers are used to host the command & control scripts. For some reason, Lazarus is disproportionately focused on North Koreas geopolitical rival, South Korea.

As cryptocurrency exchanges are top of the list among the North Korean hacking groups targets, Kaspersky Lab has urged vigilance:

Read the full story on CCN.com.
The Board of the African Development Bank has approved a 12.5 million equity investment in Adiwale Fund 1, a first-generation private equity fund targeting high growth potential Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Francophone West Africa.

With a target fund size of 75 million, the Fund will take minority stakes in SMEs that are well established in their markets, have competitive advantage and can rapidly scale up, the bank said in a press release.

The geographical focus of the Fund will be on a handful of countries where economic prospects, and the Funds networks, result in opportunities. Average deal size for the Fund will range from 3 to 8 million. Primary target countries will include Cote dIvoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali while secondary target countries will include Togo, Benin and Guinea. These countries are currently underserved by the global private equity (PE) market.

Across these economies, the Fund will target three key sectors: consumers (comprising consumer goods and services, education and health); business services (transport, logistics, IT, internet services, construction-related services) and manufacturing (pharmaceuticals, agri-processing, chemicals, etc.).

The Banks investment in Adiwale Fund 1 would enhance the availability of financing and capacity support for SMEs in Francophone West Africa, said Alhassane Haidara, Divisional Manager of Non-Sovereign Industries and Services at the African Development Bank.

Established in 2016, the Fund Manager, Adiwale Partners, houses a team of experienced West African nationals with several decades of combined private equity, operational, development finance and asset management experience in Africa, Europe and the United States, the bank said in the press release.

With support from the Bank, the team is expected to drive value creation in investee companies through improvements in internal functions and implementation of best-governance practices.

From a development perspective, the Bank investment will provide growth capital to African SMEs, resulting in spill-over effects on job creation (direct & indirect, skilled & unskilled, men & women) and tax revenues. It will support local entrepreneurs with access to business management expertise and promote regional integration via the Funds support for companies looking to expand regionally. It will also boost best-in class corporate governance and human capital development, which ultimately unlocks top line growth and supports economic transformation.

The Funds investment strategy is aligned with the Banks High 5 goals of Industrialize Africa, Integrating Africa and Improving the Quality of Life for the People of Africa. It is in line with the Banks Ten-Year Strategy (2013-2022) objectives of promoting inclusive economic growth and productivity gains.

It is further aligned with the Regional Integration Strategy Paper for West Africa that aims to foster regional integration by investing in companies that will grow to become regional economic players.
Amnesty International has become the latest human rights group to highlight the more sinister side to Bahrain ahead of the Formula One race in the Gulf state.

Bahrain has been a controversial Grand Prix host ever since it joined the F1 calendar in 2004 and the 2011 edition of the race was cancelled following a violent crackdown on anti-government protests.

There were calls from inside and outside the sport to quit Bahrain permanently but F1 returned in 2012 and have largely ignored criticism of the countrys human rights record ever since.

That, however, appears to be changing, as F1 have been forced to issue a statement this week that they are investigating the 2017 imprisonment of Bahraini activist Najah Yusuf.

The circuit tower at the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix. (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)

It is alleged that Yusuf was sentenced to three years in prison for simply criticising the government and objecting to the Bahrain Grand Prix in a series of social media posts.

That case, and several others, have been highlighted by the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and global body Human Rights Watch, and now Amnesty have added their voice to the chorus and raised the case of another jailed activist.

Beneath the glamour of F1, there is a far more sinister side to Bahrain, revealing the country as a deeply repressive state where anyone critical of the government can be jailed merely for posting a tweet, Amnesty Internationals Middle East director of campaigns Samah Hadid said in a statement.

Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)

Prominent human rights defenders are under relentless attack in the country.

Nabeel Rajab was shamefully convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for tweeting about the conflict in Yemen and torture allegations in Jaw Prison.

Instead of just sportswashing its image and glossing over its dismal human rights record through high-speed sport, the Bahraini government should immediately repeal laws that criminalise freedom of expression and fast-track the release of all prisoners of conscience.
Norway agreed Thursday to hand back thousands of artefacts removed from Easter Island by the explorer Thor Heyerdahl during his trans-Pacific raft expeditions in the 1950s. An agreement was signed by representatives of Oslo's Kon-Tiki Museum and officials of Chile's culture ministry at a ceremony in Santiago as part of a state visit by Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja. The museum pieces include carved artifacts and human bones from the Rapa-Nui, the first inhabitants of the remote Chilean island in the Pacific. "Our common interest is that the objects are returned and, above all, delivered to a well-equipped museum," said the museum's director Martin Biehl. He warned however that the repatriation process "will take time." Heyerdahl's family said he had long wanted to return the pieces he collected in expeditions in the mid-1950s and mid-1980s, currently exhibited in the Oslo museum. The signing ceremony was also attended by Thor Heyerdahl Jr. who accompanied his father on one of his expeditions to the island in 1955, when he was 17. "The repatriation is a fulfillment of my father's promise to the Rapa-Nui authorities, that the objects would be returned after they had been analyzed and published," he said. Anthropologist and adventurer Heyerdahl became famous in 1947 when he and a crew of five crossed much of the Pacific on a reed raft, the Kon-Tiki. He was seeking to prove his theory that the Polynesian islands could have been settled by prehistoric South American people, and not by settlers from Asia as most scholars believed. Heyerdahl died in 2002 aged 87. "The study of human remains -- using DNA -- could demonstrate a prehistoric contact between Rapa-Nui and South America, which was the main thesis of my father," Thor Heyerdahl Jr. said. "As a ministry we have the mission to respond to the just demand of the Rapa-Nui people to recover their cultural heritage," Chile's Culture Minister Consuelo Valdes said in a statement. "Today, one more step has been taken through this historic agreement with Norway, which will enable the return of valuable cultural and symbolic pieces." The Rapa Nui island community is also demanding the British government return the Hoa Hakananai, one of the most spiritually important of the island's stone monoliths, or maois, from the British Museum. The maoi was stolen from the island in 1868 by the captain of a British frigate and given to Queen Victoria. Thor Heyerdahl, pictured in 2001, had long wanted to return the pieces he collected, his family says
Sudanese security agents on Friday released a prominent editor who had been detained for weeks for criticising a state of emergency, as scores of protesters including football fans held anti-government rallies, witnesses said. Osman Mirghani, editor-in-chief of independent daily Al-Tayar, was taken away by security agents from his office on the night of February 22 after making televised comments on President Omar al-Bashir's decision to impose emergency rule nationwide. Bashir announced the measure after an initial crackdown failed to quell widespread protests against his administration that erupted in December. "My father has been released and he's in good health. We are now on our way home," his son Jihad Mirghani told AFP. Mirghani was arrested after an interview with Sky News Arabia in which he said Bashir's measures would "spark a new wave" of protests and send a message that the public "can exert more pressure to achieve its goal of removing this regime". The US-educated engineer turned journalist has often been targeted by security agents, who have detained him several times, confiscated copies of his newspaper or barred its publication without giving any reason. Mirghani's release follows a demonstration by journalists Monday in the capital Khartoum, where they expressed solidarity with the editor and called for greater freedom of expression. Sudan's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) regularly seizes entire print runs of newspapers over articles it deems inappropriate, especially those criticising the authorities or government policies. Sudan is ranked 174th out of 180 countries in media watchdog Reporters Without Borders 2018 World Press Freedom Index. - Football fans protest - Protests first erupted on December 19 after a government decision to triple the price of bread, and quickly escalated into a widespread campaign calling for Bashir to resign. Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed. Bashir, who swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, has remained defiant in the face of unrest. He has announced a slew of tough measures along with the state of emergency to quell the protests, including banning unauthorised rallies and setting up special courts to investigate violations of the new rules. Protesters continue to stage rallies, although their scale and intensity has shrunk since the state of emergency was imposed. On Friday scores of football fans launched an anti-government rally after an evening match between Sudanese and Tunisian teams held in Omdurman, the twin city of capital Khartoum, witnesses said. Waving Sudanese flags, the fans came out of the stadium and chanted "freedom, peace, justice," the catchcry of the protest movement, according to one onlooker. "They are still outside the stadium and protesting," another person at the ground told AFP, without revealing his name for security reasons. - Death in custody - Protesters also rallied in the eastern town of Khashm el-Girba, witnesses said, calling for those responsible for the death of a teacher in custody to face a civilian court. "No military trial for the accused," protesters chanted after Sudanese media reported that security agents who had interrogated Ahmed al-Kheir would be tried by a military court. The authorities have not formally announced details of the accused or the trial. Kheir was taken away from his home by security agents, alleging that he was a protest organiser, his relatives told AFP after his arrest. Days later he died in detention, and a Sudanese official confirmed that the death last month was from wounds sustained while in custody. Protesters also held a separate rally earlier on Friday in Omdurman, but security forces quickly dispersed them with tear gas, witnesses said. A demonstration was also held in the town of Atbara, where rallies first erupted in December, but it too was swiftly broken up according to onlookers. Osman Mirghani, who was released Friday, is greeted by his sister in the Sudanese city of Omdurman
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Majority MP: Salaries of Lawmakers Should Be Increased

By Tea Mariamidze

Ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party MP and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Sector Economy and Economic Policy, Roman Kakulia, believes that the salary of a member of parliament should be increased.Kakulia explains that because of the responsibilities that the Parliament has before the society, GEL 4 thousand-salary is not adequate.According to him, this is simply his opinion and he is not going to appeal to the parliament for the relevant changes.I think that the salaries of the MP should be increased...We have members of Parliament, for whom salaries are really important, but I do not hope they will support the increase in wages because the majority of MPs cannot find the strength to support this decision, he stated.The MP made the statement when commenting on the vacancies for the members of the investment board, announced by the Pension Agency.According to the announcement, the annual salary of a member of the investment board will be $60,000 and travel expenses will be fully covered as well.Kakulia says he does not see the logic why the salaries of Heads of some state departments are much higher than MPs.It is not relevant. We should think about the adequacy, responsibilities and general commitments to the public in general, the lawmaker stressed.
Oil producers in the United States are not hedging enough future production while oil prices trend higher, Goldman Sachs has warned.

According to the investment bank, drillers were now focusing more on shareholder returns and improving cash flows than locking in future prices in a bid to make sure they dont get burned as badly as in 2014 if prices were to crash again.

We saw a slight uptick in 2019 hedged oil production with 31% of 2019 oil production (vs. 28% with our previous update) hedged at an average price of $57.50/bbl, Goldman analysts said in a note to clients earlier this week, adding 2019 hedged oil/liquids production is below historical averages post-4Q earnings update. We also note that 2020 hedges remain modestonly 6% of expected production is hedged vs. 4% post 3Q18 results.

Indeed, U.S. drillers are becoming more cautious. Rig counts are falling and even the Energy Information Administration earlier this month revised down its forecast for average production this year to 12.3 million barrels.

Earlier this year, Goldman revised down its forecast for oil prices in 2019 saying it expected the market to remain oversupplied despite the OPEC cuts, citing U.S. production growth as a driver behind the oversupply. Now prices are higher than they were in January, when the bank issued the forecast, thanks to the OPEC cuts and U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and Iran but this may change. Related: Russia Balks At Continued Oil Production Cut Alliance with OPEC

The threat may come from OPEC itself. During a recent meeting with U.S. bankers, the UAEs energy minister warned that if U.S. Congress passed anti-OPEC legislation that seeks to make the group accountable for cartel practices, OPEC, which is for all intents and purposes indeed a cartel, would break up and every member would boost production to its maximum.

Indeed, if OPEC starts pumping again at maximum capacity, even without Iran and Venezuela and with continued outages in Libya, it would pressure prices significantly, especially if Russia joins in. This means U.S. drillers are wise in proceeding with caution even if it means they miss out on higher prices by not hedging enough while the rally lasts.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The U.S. administration is trying to pressure foreign commodity traders and refiners to suspend their trades with Venezuelan oil in the latest push against the Maduro government. The information comes from unnamed sources that spoke to Reuters.

Such deals are not covered by the latest U.S. sanctions, which is why, apparently, Washington is contacting the buyers directly. According to the sources, the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control had told the traders and refiners that any sort of a deal, be it direct, indirect, or even a barter deal, would be punished as a breach of sanctions despite these only concerning U.S. entities.

This is how the United States operates these days. They have written rules and then they call you to explain that there are also unwritten rules that they want you to follow, one of the sources said.

The Trump administration is prioritizing the suspension of sales of diluents to Venezuelas troubled state oil company, Reuters notes. PDVSA needs the diluents to make its extra heavy crude liquid enough to load on tankers for export.

The Reuters report comes days after Indias Reliance Industries said it had stopped supplying PDVSA with diluents from its U.S.-based subsidiary to avoid sanction violation. However, it said it would continue selling the refined products to the Venezuelan company from its Asian and European subsidiaries. Related: IMO2020: Can We Expect Extreme Price Shocks?

The push against oil traders and refiners comes amid a loss of momentum in opposition leader Juan Guaidos rise to power. Guaido established control over PDVSAs U.S. business Citgo earlier this month with the help of Washington and received access to the companys coffers. This should have financed the oppositions efforts to overthrow the Maduro government, but for now these efforts are not yielding any results despite the strong support of the United States.

Venezuelan oil exports fell to less than a million barrels daily in the first four weeks after the latest sanctions came into effect in January. Thats down from more than 1.5 million bpd in December. Exports to the United States have fallen to zero as a result of the sanctions, but Venezuela is still shipping oil to Russia and China, as well as India.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
A new bloc is emerging in the greater Middle East with the declared objectives of dominating the entire Arab world, confronting and containing the US and its allies; and controlling and benefiting from the entire hydro-carbon economy, from production to transportation.

The leading members of the new bloc are Turkey, Iran, and Qatar; with Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan submitting to the new bloc.

Russian experts call the new bloc the Middle Eastern Entente.

The key to the success of the bloc is the emerging correlation of influence of the great powers in the af-termath of the wars in Syria and Iraq. Russia and the Peoples Republic of China are ready to compromise with the regional powers in order to secure their vital and global interests, while the US, Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser extent, Israel, are the nemeses of the bloc.

The roots of the Middle Eastern Entente are in Doha. Qatar in Summer 2017 initiated a myriad of bilat-eral and trilateral discussions with Iran and Turkey after Saudi Arabia and the GCC allies imposed the siege on Qatar in June of that year. However, it was not until the second half of 2018, with the initial impact of the siege largely ameliorated, that the long-term post-war posture of the greater Middle East became a major priority.

It was then that Doha, Tehran, and Ankara started talking about forming a coherent strategic bloc.

According to Iman Zayat, the Managing Editor of The Arab Weekly, in late November 2018, the three coun-tries struck a deal in Tehran to create a joint working group to facilitate the transit of goods between the three countries. This was the beginning of a profound realignment of the three regional powers. Qatar has irrevocably joined with Ankara and Tehran against its former Arab allies. It has conclusively positioned itself in a regional alliance that pursues geopolitical dominance by driving instability, Zayat noted.

It did not take long for the three powers to realize that for such a bloc to succeed it must focus on security issues and not just economic issues.

Hectic negotiations followed. In mid-December 2018, the three foreign ministers  Muhammad bin Ab-dulrahman al-Thani, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and Mevlut Cavusoglu  signed the protocols and agree-ments for the new bloc on the sidelines of the 18th Doha Forum. In the Forum, Qatar formally called for a new alliance that would replace the four-decade-old Gulf Cooperation Council. Since then, specific and concrete negotiations on the consolidation of the bloc have been taking place. The final modalities for joint actions and common priorities, particularly the integration of the Arab states, were formulated in ear-ly March 2019.

Iran was the dominant force in this phase.

The last decisive push for the Arab integration took place during Bashar al-Assads visit to Tehran on Feb-ruary 25, 2019. There, he submitted to the demands of the Iranian mullahs and to tight supervision by Teh-ran. Significantly, during his stay in Tehran, Assad was constantly escorted by Qassem Soleimani, Mahmoud Alavi, and Ali Akbar Velayati, who attended all his meetings with Iranian leaders. In Tehran, Assad commit-ted to supporting the new bloc and to support the greater Middle East the bloc members were trying to create.

The geo-strategic and geo-economic objectives of the bloc are huge, and, as things stand in late March 2019, largely attainable.

The first objective of the Middle Eastern Entente was to quickly consolidate strong influence, if not he-gemony, over Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan before the Fertile Crescent of Minorities could re-emerge as a viable geo-strategic and political entity. The primary role of the revived Fertile Crescent of Minorities was to constitute a buffer containing the upsurge of the Sunni Arab milieu and blocking the access of both Iran and Turkey to the heartlands of al-Jazira. Related: Oil Prices Fall As Trump Targets OPEC On Twitter

The greatest fear of the bloc members, however, was the possible ascent of the Kurds as a regional power once they internalized the US betrayal and were ready to strike deals with Moscow and Damascus. The overall susceptibility of the four Arab countries to the new regional posture was evident from their blatant disregard of the US sanctions on Iran. Hence, this region would soon become the key to a new grand-strategic and grand-economic posture for the entire greater Middle East.

Tehran emerged as the dominant power in the security posture.

The surge has been conducted under the command of Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC: Pasdaran). Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 11, 2019, awarded Soleimani a unique and high State honor: the Order of Zolfaghar. [Significantly, this order, established in 1856 as The Decoration of the Commander of the Faithful by Em-peror Naser al-Din Shah, was awarded until 1925 where it was renamed as The Order of Zolfaghar by Em-peror Reza Shah I. It had not been awarded since the downfall of the Shah in 1979 until the award  pre-sumably in the highest of the three classes of the Order  to Maj.-Gen. Soleimani.]

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Mehr News Agency that Soleimani received the award on account of his leading the fight against terrorism and extremism in the region. Zarif stressed that So-leimanis achievements have prepared the grounds for creating a strong and stable region free from vio-lence and radicalization.

On March 18, 2019, the military commanders of Iran, Syria, and Iraq convened in Damascus in order to discuss long-term strategic and operational cooperation. The delegations were led by Mohammad Bagheri (Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces), Ali Abdullah Ayyoub (the Syrian Defense Minister), and Othman al-Ghanmi (Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Military). Officially, the summit addressed coordination in counter-terrorism operations, joint securing and opening of borders, and restoring Damascus control over the en-tire Syrian territory.

In reality, the tripartite summit discussed the emerging regional posture now that the wars in Syria and Iraq are nearing their end. Bashar al-Assad addressed the summit and stressed long-term security and policy issues.

Bagheri explained that the objective of the tripartite summit between Iran, Syria and Iraq with the partici-pation of their senior commanders [was] to coordinate efforts on the fight against terrorist groups in the region. ... Over the last few years, excellent coordination has been achieved between Iran, Syria, Russia and Iraq, and there has been solidarity with the Resistance Axis that led to significant victories in counter-ing terrorism, and today, on the basis of these victories, the consolidation of sovereignty and progress to-wards the liberation of the rest of Syria is taking place.

Concurrently, the initial indications of things to come were already unfolding.

In mid-March 2019, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Muhterem Ince and his Iranian counterpart, Hussein Zulfiqari, reached an agreement on launching a simultaneous operation against terror groups that threat-en the security of both countries during a meeting in Ankara. If successful, this would be the first of many operations. The first joint operation was conducted on March 18-23, 2019, mainly in northern Iraq. In addi-tion to widespread bombing and shelling, around 600 Turkish and Iranian special forces carried out joint raiding operations against Kurdish terrorist camps. In the last days of the operation, aerial bombings were directed at all Kurdish nemeses in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. On March 24, 2019, Ankara and Teh-ran announced that they are determined to continue carrying out such joint counter-terrorism opera-tions.

Meanwhile, Qatar has emerged as the dominant power regarding all issues pertaining to the regional economy.

The first priority was to build Qatars new oil and gas pipelines to the Mediterranean via Iran-Iraq-Syria and also connect to the pipelines in Turkey. These pipelines would substitute for the originally planned Sunni pipelines which were to transverse Qatar-Saudi Arabia-Iraq-Syria and which had originally led to the Qata-ri support for the Syrian jihad. The new pipelines would move to the shores of the Mediterranean  mainly the Syrian port of Latakia  gas and oil from both Qatar and Iran. The pipelines would be followed by elec-tricity lines and a fully integrated transportation infrastructure on a regional basis.

The long-term strategic infrastructure envisioned by the Middle Eastern Entente reflected the grand-strategic aspirations of Iran and Turkey.

The key arteries would be from Iran to the shores of the Mediterranean, and from western Turkey to the Red Sea and the Hijaz. Ultimately, these roads would be supplanted by railways. Iran and Iraq have already started constructing the railway line from the Shalamcheh border crossing to Basra in Iraq. This is the first segment of a line which would reach Latakia. Tehran is negotiating with Damascus Iranian management of the civilian port in Latakia (the Russians control the military facilities) in the next few months as a major outlet for Irans international trade.

Taken together, the new railroads would provide access for the New Silk Road to the eastern Mediterra-nean and the Red Sea; would connect the Russia-Iran north-south route with the Mediterranean; and would constitute an extension of the Europe-Turkey rail-line much like the old Baghdad and Persian Gulf railway. The existing Iranian railroad system connects the north-south rail-line to the Pakistani border and, thus, ultimately to western China.

Both Beijing and Moscow are most interested in the speedy completion of these rail-lines as part of the extended Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Taken together, the transportation cooperation agreement between the three bloc members (Qatar, Iran, and Turkey), and the transportation agreement between Iran, Iraq, and Syria, provide for a road and rail-way system linking all these states. This makes Iran the lynchpin of the regional transportation networks, and, thus, a crucial purveyor of access for the PRC. Indeed, PRC senior officials consider Iran to be a key pivot to Chinas BRI in the region.

On March 19, 2019, PRC Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan stressed the role of Iran as the strategic part-ner in the greater Middle East for the further development of economic and trade ties with the entire region. Iran is Chinas strategic partner in the Middle-East and China is the biggest trade partner and im-porter of oil from Iran, Zhong said. Ultimately, this would secure for Iran a central place in the overall PRC strategic and economic calculations.

The second objective of the Middle Eastern Entente was to use the Arab bloc, particularly its Sunni ele-ments, in conjunction with escalation in Yemen and growing hostility of (non-Sunni, but Ibadi) Oman, in order to smother and subdue Saudi Arabia. With Saudi Arabia already near implosion as a result of the er-ratic reign of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, the leaders in Doha, Tehran, and Ankara appear convinced that it would only take little pressure in order to bring about the break-up and self-dismemberment of Saudi Arabia. Related: The One Thing That Could Derail The U.S. Oil Boom

The key to the blocs anticipated success was in its capitalizing on heritage-based trends already growing throughout Saudi Arabia. The aggregate impact of the Turkish-Jordanian and Islamist-jihadist subversion in the Hejaz, the growing impact of the anti-al-Saud tribal and jihadist movements organizing in the Nejdi highlands, and the Iran-facilitated radicalization and militancy of the Shiite communities in the Saudi Ara-bian east would accelerate the self-dismemberment of Saudi Arabia along traditional lines. Even if the House of al-Saud did not lose power soon, the myriad of internal problems would prevent Saudi Arabia from playing a regional role against the new bloc and its allies.

A large number of intelligence officials and experts throughout the Middle East concur with this assess-ment.

Russia has been placed in a quandary by the emergence of the Middle Eastern Entente.

Russian experts explained in late December 2018 that Turkey, Iran, and Qatar are moving in a direct course towards creating a full-fledged alliance in the Middle East, threatening to make serious adjustments to the status quo in the region. And even though the tripartite summit in Damascus and other regional fora hailed their friendship with Russia, the Kremlin was apprehensive regarding the ascent of the bloc. Russias numerous tripartite summits and working groups have highlighted repeatedly the complete mis-trust of both Iran and Turkey. The huge Russian weapons sales to both countries need not confuse, as they are mainly instruments of keeping both countries beholden to Russia and on a collision course with the US.

As well, Russia has a longstanding dispute with Qatar on account of its support for jihadists from the North Caucasus (both in Qatar and in Syria-Iraq).

Most important, the Kremlins grand design for the future of the greater Middle East rests on the ascent of the Fertile Crescent of Minorities  where the Kurds are assigned a key role  as a buffer zone containing the upsurge of the Sunni Arab milieu and blocking the access of both Iran and Turkey into the heartlands of al-Jazira. Russia is cognizant that both Iran and Turkey are implacable enemies of the Kurds and would never permit the Kurds to establish a viable entity on their border despite Russian support. The Turkish-Iranian joint operations against the Kurds in northern Iraq are a harbinger of the anti-Kurdish escalation to come, an escalation which Russia cannot prevent.

At the same time, Russia is still the main great power in the region, and the facilitator of the PRCs access and development projects.

To retain their vital interests in the context of the ascent of the bloc, Russia might have to face the impera-tive for significant compromises. Russian experts and officials acknowledge the existence of a worst-case scenario focusing on the Russian presence along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean (beyond the Aleppo-Damascus highway) while blocking US/Western encroachment. To attain this, Russia would have to forge closer alliance with the Alawites, the Druze, and Syrias urban elites, as well as shield Israel (and its huge Russia-origin population) from both Iran and Turkey. That said, holding onto the belt along the shores of the Mediterranean would also mean blocking the vital arteries of transportation which both Iran and Turkey are determined to establish.

Hence, the Kremlin concedes, confrontation might be inevitable.

As a result, on March 19, 2019, as the tripartite military summit convened in Damascus, Russia Pres. Vladi-mir Putin dispatched Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Damascus. The primary objective of Shoigus visit was to guarantee Russian interests in the context of the new regional posture.

He met first with Pres. Bashar al-Assad and conveyed a special message from Putin. Minister Shoigu held talks with Pres. Assad, the entire Syrian defense leadership, and senior Russian generals. Assad and his generals conceded that there was no substitute to the Russian military aid, and that without Russia it would be impossible to complete the defeat of the jihadists and liberate Syrian territory.

Shoigu responded that Russia would continue to support efforts to regain the Syrian regimes control of all the country under the conditions of a genuine alliance. Syria, with the support of Russia, undoubtedly achieved significant success in the fight against international terrorism, Shoigu reminded his interlocutors. He explained that the Kremlin was most interested in the issues related to fighting international terrorism along with various aspects of Mideast security and post-conflict settlement.

Assad was effusive in his praise for Putin and the Russian help, but Shuigo was not convinced.

Meanwhile, the Qataris and their allies have made it clear that they do not fear a US reaction to the emer-gence of the Middle Eastern Entente.

Qatari senior officials attribute this to repeated threats from Doha that should the US interfere with the new bloc and its ascent to prominence, Doha would order the immediate closure of the huge US base in Al-Udeid, Qatar, and would also stop interceding with Tehran to prevent Iran-sponsored Shiite jihadists from attacking the US Navy base in Bahrain. As well, the growing dependence of the US Intelligence Community on Turkish Intelligence (Milli ?stihbarat Te?kilat?: MIT) for clandestine operations in Central Asia and in sup-port of the secessionist Muslim communities of both Russia and China accounts for the US muted reaction to the Turkish abandonment of NATO.

The same logic would negate US resistance to the ascent of the bloc. Similarly, the US eagerness for a Trump-Rouhani summit (tailored after the Trump-Kim summit), where Qatar and Oman were the chief me-diators, would also restrain a harsh reaction to Irans growing regional role.

The Trump Administration is cognizant of the US limitations in the greater Middle East.

At the same time, the US remains adamant on preventing the PRC and Russia from consolidating their in-fluence in the greater Middle East and bringing the New Silk Road into the region. Senior US officials, main-ly National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have warned repeatedly that there could be no compromise with the PRC, nor tolerance of the ascent of the PRC anywhere. This is a very big issue, how to deal with China in this century  probably the biggest international issue we face, Bolton said on March 21, 2019.

Since US influence in the Arab Middle East had, by 2019, become close to non-existent, despite the pres-ence of US forces in Syria-Iraq-Jordan and special relations with Saudi Arabia, the US focus has been on stifling the primary north-south and east-west arteries between Russia, the PRC, and the greater Middle East by hitting the weakest link: Azerbaijan.

Washington is convinced that if great pressure is applied, then Baku would cut the crucial transportation arteries passing through, and interlinking in, Azerbaijan to the detriment of the New Silk Road and the bloc supporting it. This, however, would only galvanize both Turkey and Iran into further anti-US actions in and around the greater Middle East, thus further empowering the Middle Eastern Entente.

Moreover, Washingtons logic dismisses the reality that if Azerbaijan complied, it would be substantially isolated and without the means to have its exports reach their markets.

By Yossef Bodansky via Defense and Foreign Affairs

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The Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, has ordered the suspension of all work on a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac thats part of a project for the replacement of a section of the Line 5 crude oil pipeline operated by Enbridge.

The order followed an opinion by the states new Attorney General, Dana Nessel, who said the bill that allowed the construction of the tunnel violated the state constitution because it went beyond what the bills title reflected, the Associated Press reports. The AGs opinion has the force of a law unless a court overrules it, the AP notes.

Enbridge issued a response, stating Enbridge worked in good faith with the Michigan government on the tunnel project, adding, We disagree with the Attorney Generals opinion and continue to believe in the benefits of the tunnel.

The pipeline producer also noted that the project could help bt 'reducing the chance of a release of product to virtually zero,' 'preventing an anchor strike from a ship in the Straits of Mackinac,' and 'ensuring Michigan will continue to receive the economic benefits from Line 5.'

Last December, The Michigan Legislature approved the Great Lakes pipeline project that envisages the replacement of a section of Enbridges Line 5 pipeline, which is 65 years old, and agreed to set up a state authority to oversee the construction of a tunnel for a section of the new pipeline.

The new pipeline will replace two old ones and be set in a tunnel, to be drilled at a depth of 100 feet under the four-mile Straits of Macinac linking Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. As part of the deal, Enbridge will pay between US$350 and US$500 million for the construction of the tunnel for the pipeline. The project could take between 7 and 10 years to complete.



Related: Russia Balks At Continued Oil Production Cut Alliance with OPEC

Former Governor Rick Snyder was quick to secure support for the bill approving the project before he left office, but it seems that was not fast enough. Both the new Attorney General and Governor of Michigan made their opposition to the Line 5 replacement project part of their election campaign last year. Governor Whitmer even called for the decommissioning of the existing pipeline on the campaign trail.

Environmental concern about the area seems to be legitimate: a report from a joint U.S.-Canadian advisory organization, the Science Advisory Board, suggested the Straits of Macinac is among more than a dozen locations in the region of the Great Lakes that are vulnerable to oil spills. However, proponents of the replacement project note that a new pipeline would be safer than the 65-old one. Line 5 carries crude oil and natural gas from Ontario to Wisconsin.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Unable to secure a waiver extension from Washington to continue buying Iranian oil, Japanese refineries are putting the brakes on further imports in order to give payments enough time to be processed under the existing waiver.

In total, Japanese refiners purchased over 15 million barrels of Iranian crude from January through March, but the waiver expires in early May and payments still have to be processed for those cargoes, Reuters reports, citing industry sources and data from Refinitiv Eikon.

In order to avoid sanctions violations, all necessary transactions with banks and insurance companies must be finalized before the waiver expires, with the last cargo set to arrive in Japan on April 9.

A handful of countries have received waivers from Washington since sanctions were imposed on Iran, including Japan, China, India, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Taiwan, and South Korea. Iraq also received a waiver to continue importing electricity and natural gas from Iran. Earlier this month, Washington renewed that 90-day waiver.

In the meantime, anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg indicate that the extension of sanctions waivers has become a hotly disputed topic in the corridors of Washington, with infighting between the National Security Council and the U.S. State Department growing as the expiration of the current sanction waivers draws near.

The NSC camp, led by John Bolton, is lobbying for an end to waivers entirely; while the DoS camp, led by Mike Pompeo, is calling for waiver extensions for allies in need.



Related: The One Thing That Could Derail The U.S. Oil Boom

Nonetheless, yesterday, Brian Hook, the State Departments special representative for Iran, told VOA that the policy of the United States is that we are not looking to grant any new oil waivers.

We did have to grant eight oil waivers in order to avoid shocking the global oil markets and causing a dramatic increase in the price of oil. We have taken off roughly 1 million barrels of Iranian crude, and we have avoided a price increase in oil. And thats not an accident. Weve done it very well and very carefully. 2019 is going to be a much better market for global oil supply, and the forecasters say that there will be more supply than demand. That gives us much better market conditions to accelerate our path to zero imports, Hook said.

By Damir Kaletovic for Oilprice.com

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Libyas oil revenues fell in February to $1.26 billion, according to its National Oil Company, as repeated oilfield closures continue to weigh on the troubled African nation.

The oil revenues were $330 million less than January levels, while overall oil production had actually increased by 23,000 bpd in February, according to OPECs March Monthly Oil Market Report. Oil production in Libya fell in January to 883,000 bpd from 949,000 bpd in December 2018, rising to 906,000 bpd in February. Libyas oil production averaged 811,000 bpd in 2017 and 952,000 bpd in 2018. March production is expected to be lifted further.

Libya continues to suffer from oilfield and port closures both due to inclimate weather and internal strife over who will control its great oil wealth that resulted in a force majeure over the last few months.

Chairman of Libyas NOC, Mustafa Sanalla, last month reiterated its plans to boost production to 2.1 million bpd by 2021 ifand thats a pretty big ifit is able to improve its security situation.

To this end, BP said last October that it and Eni would be returning to Libya for a bit of risky business with exploratory drilling sometime during Q1 2019. Sanalla confirmed that BP was still interested in exploring oil in western Libya near its border with Algeria, and stressed that there were no security concerns in this area. Other foreign oil companies that may disregard the substantial security risks include Total SA, Repsol SA, and OMV AG, Sanalla told Bloomberg a couple weeks ago.

Libyas NOC is currently developing a new security plan to safeguard production from its prolific Sharara oilfield that has been plagued with unrest for years. Its output should be more than 300,000 bpd.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Shells 400,000 bpd Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands will see a reduction in output beginning on April 8, organized by striking workers seeking higher wages.

Last week, the Dutch CNV labor union had given Shell seven days to meet their demands before announcing a strike. That deadline ended on Thursday night, and the union is now making good on its promise.

According to the union, output will be reduced at both Pernis and the Moerdijk chemical plant beginning on April 8, Reuters reported Friday.

The union has given no indications of the amount of output reduction, but Pernis is the largest oil refinery in Europe, and the point is to reduce output to a level that would force Shell to meet demands for higher wages.

Shell had launched major maintenance on 13 refinery units in late January, and that was scheduled to wrap up by the end of this month, according to Platts. It is unclear whether striking workers are intending to explicitly cut output or to refuse to close out maintenance work in order to resume full capacity production.

Platts also cited Shell as saying that it had made a fair wage offer to workers at both facilities, which included an average 4-percent increase; however, the union is holding out for a 5-percent increase every year.

Last month, the union said that Shell had offered a 2.5-percent salary increase for 2019 and another 2-percent increase for 2020.

Speaking of the ultimatum to Shell, CNV director Piet Verburg said that of course, there will still be technical consultation on this, because a chemical company must be shut down extremely carefully.  The intention is to hit them, for example by reversing production.

Shell has just launched a new unit at Pernis in October last year to enhance performance and ostensibly reduce environmental impact by enabling the processing of more oil into cleaner transportation fuels.

By Damir Kaletovic for Oilprice.com

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Venezuela has banned opposition leader Juan Guaido from holding public officer for a period of 15 years, according to Reuters, citing state comptroller Elvis Amoroso.

Amoroso said the move was made after irregular financial disclosures and alleged spending that did not match his income. The investigation began sometime in February, just days after he declared himself interim president of the Latin American nation. Guaido has already been subject to a travel ban and frozen bank accounts pending Venezuelas Supreme Court investigation that it undertook in January into serious crimes violating constitutional order.

Inside Venezuela Guaido has a tough road to hold, but outside of Venezuela, Guaido has found the favor of the United States and much of the rest of the world, a favor that calls into question just how long Maduro will be able to hold onto power.

Speaking of power, thats something that Venezuela is finding itself short on in recent weeks, as it suffered two major blackouts that halted oil production and oil exports from a country that holds the largest oil reserves in the world.

On Wednesday, Guaido announced that a mass mobilization plan was underway called Operation Freedom, a plan that was designed to force Maduro to step down. Guaido called on the masses to take to the streets to protest the recent power outages that the Maduro regime claims is an act of sabotage by the United States.

Oil production and exports have declined steadily over the last few years, and there seems to be no end in sight to this freefall. Venezuela shuttered its largest oil-exporting terminal on Sunday due to the blackouts, restricting its oil exports even further. The port is essential for Venezuela as it must continue to ship oil to China and Russia to repay sizable loans.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
Child Code discussed in the Parliament

By Levan Abramishvili

Yesterday, on March 26, The Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of The Parliament of Georgia discussed the Child Code.The Code comes as a big step forward in making sure that the children are protected and their rights are fully realized. Statistics show that almost 20% of children in Georgia are forced to work in order to provide for their families and 17 % of young women are forced into marriage before the age of 18. Not to mention thousands of children that live under the poverty line.Im very proud that with this Code, for the first time in the Georgian legislature, we are introducing the word homeland. And that the children should be raised with the love of our homeland, its language, culture, traditions, and values.  said Sofo Kiladze, the Chairperson of The Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, while introducing the Code.The draft Child Code was introduced to the public last month. Kiladze held meetings with the NGOs and various interest groups, including the Georgian Orthodox church. As well as UNICEF and EU.The discussion comes along with the strike of social workers across Georgia. They went on a strike on March 25 and are still positioned in front of the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia and refuse to work unless their demands are met.During the meeting, Kiladze also touched upon the issue of the strike, after Elene Khoshtaria, a representative of European Georgia, asked her to communicate with the government for them to effectively respond to the demands of the social workers.These people arent fighting for their welfare, they are fighting for the necessary conditions for protecting childrens rights  said Khoshtaria regarding the strike.Kiladze mentioned that the demands of the social workers are legitimate and the system truly needs revision. This profession [social work] is important since it serves to strengthen the most vulnerable amongst us. She also mentioned that since there werent enough resources, the planned reform of the social work system will begin from 2020 and 2019 was taken as a preparatory year.The Code that Kiladze presented recognizes the rights of the children as follows: dignity of the child, life, salvation and development, prohibition of discrimination, personal idea of the child, protection of privacy of the child, freedom of mass information and internet, freedom of religion and conscience, freedom of unification and peaceful rallies, playtime and leisure, property and heritage right, intellectual creation, participation in development of respective programs.Sex education lessons will only be allowed in an agreement with the parents. And if necessary, in case of a crisis, Orthodox priests and representatives of other confessions (whoever the family requests), will have the right to intervene and hold consultations regarding this particular topic if the family asks for it.  Said Kiladze during the discussion.Many people on social media responded to Kiladzes statements, saying that it is unacceptable for religious figures to get involved in childrens sex education.She was also criticized for entering the word homeland into the draft for the first time in the Georgian legislature history. To which she responded  since when has the word homeland become associated with something bad?This is not the first time Kiladze was criticized.Last year in May, the Human Rights Committee decided to not mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia on May 17. Reversing their initial decision that was penned out in the 2017-2020 action plan. This decision was met with a massive backlash from NGOs, while Kiladze made vague statements that didnt specifically point out the reason for the cancellation of the planned event.Also last year, Kiladze approved a draft on making insult of religious feelings punishable proposed by her fellow member of the Parliament. Not only that, but she proposed creating a working group within the Parliament consisting of religious leaders of various confessions to work on the religious feelings draft.Both of the instances were a clear violation of the fundamental human rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression and such views coming from a Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee chairperson is concerning, to say the least.It is important that the challenging situations that children have to live in today will soon become a thing of the past. But adopting the Child Code is just a small step forward in helping the future of Georgia thrive and reach its true potential.
The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
" " The #BlackLivesMatter movement is no longer a United States phenomenon; these protesters are at a rally in Melbourne, Australia. Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Black Lives Matter means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. It's a racial justice movement, a rallying cry, a social media hashtag and maybe even a political organization. For some, the movement is also a divisive force that has drawn a line between the police and the people and helped spawn some of the violence seen in the aftermath of high-profile, police-involved shootings. Even those detractors have to admit, however, that what started as a social media call for justice when George Zimmerman was acquitted of shooting and killing the unarmed Black young man named Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida has become a global force.

What's not so clear is whether that's because of or despite the fact that BLM operates under a highly decentralized structure. It seems just about anyone can start up a Black Lives Matter outpost wherever they see fit.

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"An organization has to have a mission," says Christopher Neck, a management professor at Arizona State University. "In terms of a social or political group, it's really difficult to control the mission and the message in a decentralized situation."

BLM's mission, according to its website, is to promote "the validity of Black life" and "(re)build the Black liberation movement." Much of that work to date has centered on calling attention to police shootings of unarmed Black men and to highlight racial inequities in the criminal justice system. But just how the movement should be carrying out that work sometimes depends on who you talk to. BLM's decentralized structure urges supporters to set up their own local chapters under the movement's flag. The group's grassroots founders Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi serve as figureheads and organizers but largely appear to let local chapters do their own thing.

That arrangement has caused confusion at times. Some Black Lives Matter members and their supporters were left scratching their heads, for example, when a Seattle chapter interrupted a Bernie Sanders rally to accuse the lefty presidential candidate and his campaign of racial bigotry. One member of a separate BLM faction in Seattle later issued a formal apology. Then BLM's founders piped up to say they'd made no such contrition.

Similar uncertainty unfolded in Atlanta, when a man claiming to be president of the local BLM chapter appeared at a press conference with the city's mayor to promote dialogue between the movement and the local government. Other activists claiming the Black Lives Matter flag said instead that the man was an aspiring actor with little attachment to the group, freelancing in front of cameras for his own personal gain.

Those types of mixed messages aren't exactly unexpected in a loose organizational structure, according to Ben Pauli, a social science professor at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. But the decentralized approach also has its benefits. That includes giving the movement an organic, authentic feel and allowing members the sense that they are shaping its direction.

"When a movement like this starts up on a large scale, in a short time period and in many different places, it is often seen as capturing some kind of zeitgeist," Pauli says. "The idea assumes that it wouldn't be possible for the movement to arise in this way if many people weren't having similar experiences and feelings and needs. That gives it a sort of legitimacy."

BLM's structure looks a lot like the Occupy Wall Street movement, which made a name for itself when protesters turned a park across the street from the financial center of the world into an open air campsite. But Pauli, who has been involved in social activism surrounding the Flint water crisis, says Black Lives Matter might be better served by looking to the Catholic Worker movement. That decentralized social justice initiative has launched a number of service-oriented communities around the globe. It has also lived on for decades following the death of leader Dorothy Day. The Worker's work continues, according to Pauli, because of the example that Day set for the movement at large.

"I'm convinced that a lot of it has to do with a certain kind of leadership and a certain kind of authority," Pauli says of Catholic Worker's staying power. "Dorothy Day was not somebody who was looking for followers. I like to call hers an exemplary authority: what she was trying to inspire was not followers, but for people to live out the kinds of principles that she embodied in her own personal behavior, knowing that they would do it in a variety of ways."

On the other hand, Arizona State's Neck says BLM activists could also look to the business community for what might be an unexpected model if they want to control their civil rights message. It starts with a red-headed, hamburger pushing clown.

"Instead of looking at a social activist organization, let's say you're a McDonald's franchisee," Neck says. "If you want to have the McDonald's name and you don't want to lose the money that you put in, you have to follow their rules."

" " A protester speaks out at a 2016 New York City rally against police brutality. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Now That's Interesting Although the phrase and movement started in the United States, Black Lives Matter has become a slogan around the world, used recently at rallies in Australia, Canada, Ghana and beyond.
" " Rohingya Muslim refugees holds bags of goods as they reach Balukhali refugee camp by the field in Bangladesh's Ukhiya district on October 4, 2017. Thousands now cross the border each day. FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

They're considered to be among the most persecuted citizens in the world, yet they're not well known in many parts of the globe. "They" are the Rohingya, a group of Muslims who hail from northern Myanmar (formerly Burma) near the Bangladeshi border. Harassed, abused and exploited on and off for decades, today this community of some 2 million is scattered among several Asian countries. Most live in Myanmar and Bangladesh, but there are also 250,000 in Pakistan, 300,000 in Saudi Arabia, and 100,00 in Thailand, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, collectively.

A fresh wave of violence against the Myanmar Rohingya began in August 2017, after Rohingya militant groups attacked some police posts in the Myanmar state of Rakhine. Infuriated, the Myanmar military lashed back at all Rohingya, expelling citizens from their homes, burning entire villages, raping and killing people. Some 370,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh in what U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein called "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing."

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The reason for the Rohingyas' perennial persecution is layered and complex. The group traces its roots to Myanmar's Arakan region bordering Bangladesh, where their Arab, Bengali and Mughal ancestors settled in the 7th century C.E. The Rohingya's neighbors today are the Rakhine, Buddhists who trace their ancestry to Hindus and Mongols. The Rakhine are the ethnic majority in the Arakan region, while the Rohingya are the minority.

Seeds of conflict were first planted during World War II, when the British defeated the Japanese and reclaimed Burma in the process. The Brits promised the Rohingya they would create a separate Muslim state for them as thanks for their loyalty and assistance during their battle with the Japanese. But they never followed through.

A few years later, the Rohingya asked that their slice of northern Arakan be folded into a corner of the newly created country of Pakistan to create a homeland for their people. That didn't happen, either. Instead, the area of Pakistan that they were hoping would become their home became part of the new Bangladesh. More ominously, the Burmese government began to distrust the Rohingya, with their repeated attempts to secure a land of their own. Tensions also began brewing with their Buddhist neighbors.

Despite all of this, the Rohingya were still considered one of Burma's official indigenous ethnic nationalities. Rohingya served in the Burmese parliament and in other governmental positions, and overall life was not too bad. Until 1962. That year, Burma's military junta seized control of the country and life for the Rohingya began a downward spiral.

The government declared them foreigners in 1982  the new citizenship law said there needed to be proof that a family had lived in Myanmar before 1948 and many Rohingya did not have any paperwork to prove it. In 1990 they were stripped of their right to vote. They also are restricted in where they can travel, move to, be educated, or even which health services they can access. Effectively, the Rohingya became strangers in their own country.

More recently, a nationalist movement among Myanmar's Buddhist community  90 percent of the population is Buddhist  spurred deadly clashes between the Rohingya and their Buddhist neighbors in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Myanmar now says the Rohingya belong in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government says they do not.

"It's pretty clear Myanmar is an anti-Muslim society," says Tim Seymour, a hedge fund manager and CNBC on-air commentator who does business in the southeast Asian country. "They're proud and nationalistic and don't make any bones about it."

One of the more puzzling pieces of the Rohingya story is Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi is head of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the political party leading Myanmar's government. She's also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Suu Kyi could do much to help the Rohingya, but she's been curiously silent as the humanitarian crisis unfolds. Experts say there could be various reasons behind her silence and inaction.

While Suu Kyi leads the country, she's not necessarily in control. She was under house arrest for 15 years while she fought the military junta for elections, and the armed forces are still around and still powerful. In addition, the party she represents has never made the Rohingya a priority. Although the group has lived in the country for centuries, the majority of NLD party members (and Myanmar's Buddhist citizens) consider them outsiders, and not true citizens of Myanmar.

" " Islamist political organizations in Bangladesh staged protests after the military crackdown against the Rohingya ethnic group in Myanmar. Protests took place in other parts of the world too. Monirul Alam/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Then there's the notion of who is really at fault. Seymour says the main assertion he hears about the crisis when he visits Myanmar is that it's being perpetrated by radical Islamic terrorists from Bangladesh and the Middle East  not by Myanmar citizens or members of its government. "The other part [of what I hear] is that there are plenty of members of the opposition party who are very interested in creating this chaos and putting pressure on Suu Kyi, which has made her politically cautious." Suu Kyi first came to power in November 2015.

While some investors refuse to work in Myanmar until the Rohingya crisis is resolved, Seymour says others are moving forward; Myanmar is seen as "the new Vietnam," ripe for investment and development. With the international business community not expressing outrage, and with the heads of major foreign countries, including the U.S., declining to pressure Suu Kyi, her inaction is given some credibility. Yet the situation has tarnished her image as a heroine.

That's likely not much consolation to the Rohingya.

Now That's Interesting There are more displaced people living in the world today that at any time in history, according to the United Nations' 2016 Global Trends Report. At the dawn of 2017, there were 65.5 million refugees, a 300,000-person increase from the prior year. This equates to 20 people being displaced every single minute of 2016.
" " Left to right, that's Hedy Epstein, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Joseph Medicine Crow, Daniel Aaron and Fred Thompson. All had FBI files on them that were released via Parker Higgins' project FOIA the Dead. Ilya S. Savenok/AFP/Boston Globe/Getty Images

If you really want to know a person, you know what they say: Read their FBI file.

So nobody really says that, but they should. Because a person's FBI file might tell you a lot about them  or at least a lot about what the U.S. government thinks of them. The information can run from chilling to downright funny. For instance, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI file on John Lennon contained a picture of a guy who was not John Lennon, because apparently the FBI didn't recognize one of the most famous people on the planet. That's according to historian Jon Wiener, who talked about his 14-year quest to access the FBI's Lennon files on NPR's "Fresh Air."

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Yep, it's not as if the FBI makes all its files easily available online. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), however, allows any citizen to request information from the government, but there are exemptions, as we mention in our deep-dive into How the Freedom of Information Act Works. One of those exemptions says that if someone's privacy is invaded by releasing the information, they won't do it. Until, that is, the person dies. Naturally, a FOIA request is time-consuming, however, and people seem to die constantly, at great rates. Not easy to keep up with.

So Parker Higgins, an activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, decided to automate the process by creating a bot that automatically sends a FOIA request based on every obituary in The New York Times (except for those paid death notices). Higgins launched his project on March 1, and has sent 1,300 requests and counting, writes Laura Hazard Owen at Nieman Lab.

Higgins has been hoping to uncover some folks who were under FBI surveillance. And he has: Holocaust survivor and activist Hedy Epstein has a file, as does journalist Morley Safer, along with cartoonist Jack Chick, whose death we covered. And that's just a few of the dozens of files he's received thus far.

Browse FOIAthedead.org for more, and remind yourself you're not nosy  you're just keeping the government transparent.
" " Police tape hangs across the street in front of the house once owned by Dennis Rader, aka the BTK killer. Rader pleaded guilty in 2005 to killing 10 women in the Wichita, Kansas, area. Larry W. Smith/Getty Images

It never fails: When you're home alone at night, you'll hear strange noises coming from the darkest corners of your basement. Then you immediately think of every true crime story and unsolved mystery you've ever heard. And unfortunately for your wandering mind, there are still many unsolved crimes on the books, including the worst of the worst  serial killers.

Now you know they're not hanging out in your basement, but you're clearly not going back to sleep anytime soon. So you might as well settle in with the guys at Stuff They Don't Want You To Know and let them give you some really quality nightmares as they dish the dirt on Serial Killers On the Loose in this episode of the podcast.

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FBI investigator Robert Ressler is widely credited with coining the term "serial killer" in 1974, using it to define a series of murders all committed by the same person, in various locations, with "cooling-off" periods between murders. His definition proved to be too vague, though, and the FBI updated it to be "the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events."

To really hunt something, you need to understand it. When investigators study serial killers, they often turn to two tools: the Macdonald Triad and the Holmes Typology. The Macdonald Triad was created by forensic psychiatrist J.M. Macdonald in 1963, after he studied a small group of people who threatened violent acts. He published findings that said as children, serial killers are more prone to bed-wetting, arson and cruelty to animals. His study was far from conclusive, however, and it's been argued that the symptoms he attributed to serial killers are found more in people who suffered from child abuse. Often, serial killers are victims of child abuse, perhaps explaining the false correlations he drew.

The Holmes Typology, developed by Stephen T. and Ronald M. Holmes, created categories of killer: organized or unorganized, missionary or visionary, social or asocial, and broke down their motivations into act, process, thrill, lust, gain or power. Not all serial killers fit investigative profiles, of course. But categories are useful to understanding these criminals, predicting their behaviors and ultimately, capturing them.

They do sometimes mess up and get caught all on their own, too. Lonnie David Franklin Jr., aka the Grim Sleeper, was convicted in 2016 of killing 10 women in the '80s before one of his victims survived and was able to describe him to police. Now he's behind bars on death row. Dennis Rader, aka BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill), killed 10 people between 1974 and 1991 in the Wichita, Kansas, area, and taunted the police with letters about his crimes. Then he just stopped. He might have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for his ego. The lead investigator went to the press, stating BTK must have died or fled the country. Rader couldn't resist responding to brag that he was very much alive and ready to kill again. He never got the chance though. Police were able to trace the floppy disk he sent to them to his address, and BTK was booked.

Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen. As hosts Ben Bowlin, Matt Frederick and Noel Brown discuss in this episode of the podcast, serial killers like the Oakland County Child Killer, the Freeway Phantom, and the Maniac of Novosibirsk are still unidentified and on the loose. Listen to the podcast to hear more about these frightening, yet fascinating, felons and their grisly crimes  maybe you can help solve a crime.
" " Lily Dale in upstate New York has been welcoming visitors (both alive and dead) since the late 1800s. WikimediaCommons

In 1848, two young women known as the Fox sisters heard mysterious rappings in their house in Rochester, New York, and claimed they were messages from the spirit world. Enough people at the time believed the sisters that an entire new field known as "spiritualism" was born. More than a folk belief in ghosts, spiritualism was (and is) a structured belief that humans consist of a body, a soul and a spirit. When someone dies, the soul and spirit live on in a spirit realm.

Upstate New York at that time was already a hotbed of intellectual communities  so hot it was known as the "Burned-over District" for the nearly constant religious revivals that took place there. Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, got his start there. The literary and intellectual community of Chautauqua, where feminist foremother Susan B. Anthony hung out, was nearby. So spiritualism fit right in. "The chief duty of these spirits," according to a study published in the Journal of Religion in 1930, "is to look after the welfare and progress of those on earth."

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History of Lily Dale

In 1880, Lily Dale Spiritualist Assembly was founded at the 18-acre Cassadaga Lakes Free Association camp for spiritualist gatherings. In 1906, the whole community was renamed Lily Dale. Now, more than a century later, it sounds kind of weird and witchy and campy, but Lily Dale was incredibly popular in its early days. It began holding summer camps in the 1890s that were well attended, to put it mildly. Susan B. Anthony was one of the many who visited to check out the mediums. A New York Times reporter also stayed in 1898 and claimed that a quarter million people went to the tiny town annually.

"Mediums, as a class, are strange beings," the Times reporter noted. At the time of his visit, mediums were charging $100 per session, which is more than $3,000 today. (Interestingly, the price for a reading is still between $80 and $100, although it can vary depending on location and length.) He witnessed a few of the techniques that came to be associated with Lily Dale, such as an ear trumpet that would rise from the floor and deliver a message directly into an attendee's ear. Mediums at Lily Dale also used a slate on which spirits could write messages.

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Mediums for Your Mental Health

Spiritualism declined in the 20th century, but Lily Dale remained a stronghold, with summer camps continuing every year. For the past several decades, attendance had also held steady at 20,000 to 30,000 visitors going there in search of clarity and direction. A study published in the Review of Religious Research in 1980 found that only a small percentage of visitors at that time were going to talk to a dead family member. In summer 2021, Lily Dale was open for business, charging $15 daily for anyone interested in walking the grounds where they could book an appointment with a registered medium or receive spiritual healing at the Healing Temple (no fee, but donations accepted).

The study's authors wrote that the kind of spiritualism practiced at Lily Dale was more like a religious sect than a cult. Moreover, they concluded that the mediums at Lily Dale might be doing people a service by granting them a level of peace and acceptance: "If spirit communication can be associated with madness, it is also possible to view the medium as a mental health resource."

Whether people still visit Lily Dale today for clarity and direction or they want to make contact with the "other side" remains to be seen. But, since the 1970s, the number of mediums and the population of Lily Dale has soared. Back then, the village was home to about 25 to 30 mediums in residence during the summer camps, and a dozen or so who stayed on to keep up the town year-round. Today visitors are welcome in the off-season, and Lily Dale has a year-round population of 250, as well as a post office, volunteer fire department, library and a playground. There's also a coffee shop, two restaurants, a few gift shops, some guest houses and even a museum. The National Spiritualist Association of Churches is located there. But only members of the Lily Dale Assembly can lease houses in the community.

But back to the mediums  now there are 37 registered mediums, although there have been as many as 54, and all aspirants have to pass a test consisting of three readings before being established in the community. And they are still the main draw. Whether people are going in hopes of receiving or conveying a message to dead loved ones is totally personal, and depends on their belief in the mediums' abilities. But those interested don't have to pony up for a private session. As we mentioned, there's a day-use fee for anyone who wants to go and simply roam the streets and attend the public meditations and services. And you can visit Inspiration Stump, where services have been held since 1898.

On thing hasn't changed throughout Lily Dale's history: The community has always emphasized sobriety, humility and a decided lack of showmanship. They may appreciate a good psychic pun, but they take their work seriously. They also emphasize that the future is not written in stone  everyone has free will.

Interested in learning more about Lily Dale? Our staff thought "Lily Dale: The True Story of the Town that Talks to the Dead" was a fascinating read. Please note that HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from that affiliate link.

" " Women and men are seen around the Pagoda at Lily Dale around the turn of the century. The Curt Teich Postcard Archives Collection

NOW THAT'S HOT You may be surprised to learn that candles and incense are forbidden at Lily Dale. Those are the very basics of being a medium, right? What will they ban next, crystal balls? Well, the buildings in the community are very old and very wooden, and it doesn't take a medium to know what will happen if there's an open flame. Actually, they know very well what will happen: The Fox sisters' house was moved from Rochester to Lily Dale, but it went up in flames in 1955.

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Originally Published: Nov 13, 2018
BENGUET PROVINCE, Philippines  Philippine National Police (PNP) Police General Oscar Albayalde presided a command conference on Friday (March 29) at Camp Bado Dangwa in La Trinidad to discuss security plans in the coming election.

The talks, in particular, tackled areas of concern including the province of Abra classified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as

an area of grave concern or under the red category.

Election violence has been a perennial problem in the area.

Hopefully sana itong election na ito magkaroon ng zero incident doon sa province na yan. Probably sa next election sa 2022 hindi na mailagay sa hotspot ang Abra, kung makita talaga ng Comelec at ng taong bayan na hindi na talaga kailangang bantayan (sila), Albayalde said.

(Hopefully this election the province will achieve the zero-incident target. Probably in the next election in 2022, Abra will no longer be named a hotspot. If the Comelec and the people will prove that there is no need for them to be guarded.)

Albayalde also ordered strict monitoring of the province of Kalinga specifically the town of Lubuagan where election-related cases were high in 2016.

The Police Chief directed his men to intensify the conduct of checkpoints and 24/7 patrol now that the local campaign period has started.

Based on the record of the Police Regional Office Cordillera, there are 10 areas of immediate concern; 28 are areas of grave concern while 38 are considered hotspots or under the yellow category.

Meanwhile, a total of 39 towns in the region are still not having any security threat.

Pwede pang magbago ulit iyan so every time we have to re align our deployment, Albayalde noted.

(That can change because every time we have to re-align our deployment.)  Marje Pelayo (with reports from Grace Doctolero)

The post PNP beefs up security in Abra as local campaigning kicks off appeared first on UNTV News.
RealTime Racing, an American motorsports team founded by racer Peter Cunningham in 1987, has been synonymous with Honda and Acura for nearly three decades. And all that time, a lot of cars from the Japanese brand has certainly passed through the teams hands. Cunningham started showcasing his collection when he opened RealTime Collection Hall Honda museum back in 2016, and with a quick glance at the cars, one could argue that its even better than those found in the Honda Collection Hall.

The RealTime collection began with a first-gen CRX Si, which naturally was the first car of the collection. A fourth-gen Prelude followed, and many more got added as the years went on.

Among the vehicles on display is a modified Acura TSX which, like Cunningham, is a veteran of many races past. A couple of models were never originally sold in the US, including a second-gen Integra Type R and Hondas Nurburgring test car. Theres also Cunninghams pride and joy, a 35-year old, three-door 1981 Accord, which has been preserved so well it may as well have been built yesterday.

facebook.com/RealTimeCollectionHall

facebook.com/RealTimeCollectionHall

But Cunningham certainly saved the best for last. The penultimate car in the collection is a stunning 1964 S600 that houses a 660cc engine with 57 hp and 9,500 rpm capabilities. To this day, these statistics deliver some of the highest engine ratios of any production car ever sold.

facebook.com/RealTimeCollectionHall

But the star of the show is not a car at all, but a faithful recreation of the first-ever Honda dealership in the US from the 1950s. Cunningham took the time to research images and information about Hondas first American venture, and the result is an exact replica of the building storefront, complete with the exact truck displayed in one of the original pictures.

facebook.com/RealTimeCollectionHall

Suffice to say, Cunningham certainly loves Honda. Check out some the images from the collection below.

And heres a video tour of the collection to feast your eyes on.

The post RealTime Racings Honda Collection Rivals Hondas Own appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.
By

by Wallace Wyss 

Long ago, fifty years ago, give or take, I was headin out from Michigan to the land of sun and surf, the West Coast, and a lady friend from Bad Axe, MI told me I ought to look up her friend Gerald Weigert, who was also from Michigan and had already gone to the coast dead set on designing and producing his own supercar.

Well, glory be, I came to the Coast and went to an auto show, (I think it was called Auto Expo) and there was Jerry in a jet pilots jumpsuit, with a clay model of his supercar, the Vector.

He was adamant his car would beat the fastest Ferraris and Lamborghinis. I didnt listen too closely, distracted by the many charms of Miss Vector, also in a jumpsuit (turns out there were many Miss Vectors)

Through the decades, Id run into him at this auto show and that one. He did get the first Vector design into production but I think under 20 were built. Then he sold it to a Malaysian consortium and whaddya know, they up and locked him out of his own company He made worldwide headlines on that.

Lamborghini bought the company at some point and made a few Lambo powered cars but when they cancelled it, litigation started and Jerry, indefatigable, got his moribund company back. The plan? To develop a third series. That never got into production, but again at each auto show, Id run into Jerry and speaking soto voicem he would tell me that he was courting an investor so he had to be mum.

Now come to the year 2019. Two Vectors sell, turns out to be the two prototypes still in his garage, both the WX-3

The two, ironically each called one of a kind (well, one was a coupe and the other a roadster so technically they were right) prototypes of the 1993 Vector WX-3 were brought to the RM Sothebys auction on 17th of January in Scottsdale, Arizona.

RM said the WX-3 was unveiled at the 1993 Geneva Auto Show by founder and chief designer Gerald Weigert. The prototype represented the finest achievements in car design and engineering of its time and received international critical acclaim, they said.

They pointed out that Weigert kept the vehicles in his personal collection for 25 years. They predicted that the teal WX-3 coupe and purple WX-3R roadster would go for $500,000 per car.

The 1993 Vector Avtech WX-3R Roadster Prototype Sold For $500,000 (including fees).

The 1993 Vector Avtech WX-3 Prototype Sold For $615,500 (including fees).

Aint it great when the auction companys estimate prove to be too low?

Congratulations, Jer. hope the next car you develop is just as interesting.

Let us know what you think in the Comments.







THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is the author of 18 car books. He is co-host of the Autotalk show broadcast weekly out of KUCR-FM Riverside.













Photos compliments of RM Sothebys.
The more violent and prepared a would-be child abductor is, the more vulnerable victims are to being taken, new research has found.

Manipulative abductors, who offer incentives and friendship, were found to be less likely to complete their attempted abduction. Aggressive abductors, who display violence and threatening behaviour, are most likely to complete an abduction.

But, the researchers warn, even manipulative abductors can turn aggressive.

Dr. Craig Collie and Dr. Karen Shalev-Greene from the Centre for the Study of Missing Persons, part of the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth, examined the many and varied methods of men who carry out stranger child abduction cases in the UK.

Stranger child abduction cases are relatively rare, with most recent figures indicating that 247 stranger abduction cases were reported to the police in 2013.

The small-scale study focused on 78 cases between 1988 and 2014. Most cases occurred after 2000.

Dr. Collie said: "Child abduction by a stranger is one of those crimes that captures the public imagination, but is actually quite rare, hence the large time period studied.

"It is certainly under-researched; we don't really know that much about it, with a lot of our existing knowledge being based on assumption rather than concrete research.

"This study goes some way to building a picture of how this specific type of offender behaves and examines how well these assumptions hold up."

The study found that offenders were capable of changing their modus operandi (MO). Around 70.5 per cent of cases featuring a "shift" in MO, where an offender most typically moves from a manipulative approach to an aggressive approach, resulted in a child being abducted.

Only one case saw the reverse, where the offender utilised an aggressive approach which failed, before shifting to an manipulative approach. In this case, the victim was able to find help to prevent themself from being abducted.

The researchers studied only male offenders who had abducted or attempted to abduct a child, because male offenders were likely to be driven by sexual or violent motives.

Female offenders were almost exclusively motivated by maternal desire, the researchers said.

The research, published in the Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, found that offenders who utilise all means at their disposal and who resort to overwhelming physical, aggressive control tactics were more likely to abduct victims.

Most young children are taught not to talk to strangers, but how can we educate children against aggressive, potentially weapon-wielding abductors?

Dr. Collie said: "We need to think about the next steps we take when educating children. We need to move away from the 'stranger danger' narrative and start focusing on educating children on what to do when they feel uncomfortable in a situation.

"The most important thing is to avoid alarming children. The vast majority of adults are actually safe, and teaching children to avoid all strangers removes a potential source of protection and safety.

"At the same time, any adult, whether they are a stranger, acquaintance or someone well known, can be a threat.

"It will be crucial to educate children to recognise when a situation is not quite right, regardless of relationship, and on how to remove themselves from these dangerous situations when they arise."

In total, the research examined 83 victims and 65 percent of cases were completed abductions. The majority of victims were aged either between 0 to 10 years old or 11 to 14 years old. Only eight victims were aged 15 to 17 years old.

Completed abduction cases involved proportionately far more instances of weapon and tool use than attempted cases, as well as the presence of multiple, aggressive approaches.

Manipulative offenders were most likely to use incentives when attempting to abduct a child and aggressive offenders were most likely to use physical means.

The research found that highly aggressive offenders who utilised multiple means of aggressive control are more likely to complete an abduction than those offenders utilising only manipulative means.

Explore further Online predators not distinctively dangerous sex offenders, study says
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

According to an independent study released today by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), more than 674 million Indian citizens are likely to breathe air with high concentrations of PM2.5 in 2030, even if India were to comply with its existing pollution control policies and regulations.

The study shows that only about 833 million citizens would be living in areas that meet India's National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in 2030 and that implementation failure could increase these numbers significantly. However, aligning sustainable development policies to the implementation of advanced emission control technologies could provide NAAQS-compliant air quality to about 85% of the Indian population. The study was released at a CEEW dialogue, On Air: Pathways to Achieving India's Ambient Air Quality Standards, held in New Delhi today (Friday, 29 March).

In 2015, more than half the Indian populationabout 670 million citizenswere exposed to PM2.5 concentrations that did not comply with India's NAAQS for PM2.5 (40 g/m). Further, less than 1% enjoyed air quality that met the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark limit of 10 g/m.

"A significant share of emissions still originates from sources associated with poverty and underdevelopment such as solid fuel use in households and waste management practices," explains Markus Amann, Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases Program director at IIASA.

In January 2019, the Indian government launched the National Clean Air Program (NCAP), a five-year action plan to curb air pollution, build a pan-India air quality monitoring network, and improve citizen awareness. The program focuses on 102 polluted Indian cities and aims to reduce PM2.5 levels by 20-30% over the next five years. The analysis conducted by researchers from IIASA and CEEW however suggests that NCAP needs to be backed by a legal mandate to ensure successful ground-level implementation of emission control measures. In the long-term, NCAP also needs to be scaled-up significantly to ensure that rapid economic growth and meeting NAAQs are aligned.

Pallav Purohit, an IIASA researcher and lead author of the study said, "While current ambient PM2.5 monitoring in India reveals high levels in urban areas, remote sensing, comprehensive air quality modeling, and emission inventories, suggest large-scale exceedances of the NAAQS, also in rural areas. Pollution from rural areas is transported into the cities (and vice versa), where it constitutes a significant share of pollution making the coordination of urban-rural and inter-state responses critical."

Hem Dholakia, a senior research associate at CEEW, and one of the authors of the study added, "The health burden of air pollution is significant in India. Limited control of air pollution will aggravate this burden in the future. The IIASA-CEEW study clearly shows that the policy choices of today will impact future air quality and its aftermaths. The central and state governments must do more to align air quality, climate change, and sustainable development goals in a resource efficient manner."

The study also found that the Indo-Gangetic plain, covering parts of states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, has the highest population exposure to significant PM2.5 concentrations. This is mainly due to the high density of polluting sources and reduced ventilation by the obstructing presence of the Himalayas. Citizens living in parts of Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha are also exposed to high levels of PM2.5. The governments in these regions must design state-specific policies to comply with NAAQS and embrace a low-carbon growth model to ensure better air quality for its citizens.

Further, the study highlighted a stark variance in factors contributing to air pollution across the states. Solid fuel, including biomass combustion for residential cooking, is the largest contributor in the major states of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. However, in Delhi and Goa, it contributes only a small amount due to enhanced access to clean fuels in these states. Instead, NOx emissions from transportation are major contributors to air pollution in these two states. Similarly, SO2 emissions from power plants are dominant contributors to air pollution in Haryana and Maharashtra. In coming years, every state government must commission detailed scientific studies to better understand the sources contributing to air pollution in their cities.

Another challenge for many states is that emission sources that are outside their immediate jurisdiction contribute significantly to ambient pollution levels of PM2.5. For example, transboundary transport or crop burning are sources of secondary pollution in some states. Such states could achieve significant improvements in air quality only with a region-wide coordinated approach to reduce air pollution and strict on-ground enforcement to ensure compliance with emissions control measures.

The IIASA-CEEW study also recommends focusing on energy efficiency, enhanced public transport, increased use of cleaner fuels, improved agricultural production practices, and replacement of coal with natural gas and renewables in the power and industrial sector to achieve better air quality and meet multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Explore further Improving air quality could prevent thousands of deaths in India
UC assistant professor Christopher Carr examines an ancient quarry in Yaxnohcah, Mexico. Credit: Nicholas Dunning/UC

Archaeologists with the University of Cincinnati used the latest technology to find evidence suggesting ancient Maya people grew surplus crops to support an active trade with neighbors up and down the Yucatan Peninsula.

They will present their findings at the annual American Association of Geographers conference in Washington, D.C.

The Mayan civilization stretched across portions of Mesoamerica, a region spanning Mexico and Central America. The oldest evidence of Maya civilization dates back to 1800 B.C., but most cities flourished between 250 and 900 A.D. By the time Spanish ships arrived in the 1500s, some of the biggest cities were deserted. Researchers at UC are trying to piece together the life history of the Maya before the Spanish conquest.

Nicholas Dunning, a professor of geography in UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, was part of a research team that found evidence of cultivation along irregular-shaped fields in Mexico that followed the paths of canals and natural water channels at a place called Laguna de Terminos on the Gulf of Mexico. The archaeologists expect to find evidence of habitation when they begin excavations.

The extensive croplands suggest the ancient Maya could grow surplus crops, especially the cotton responsible for the renowned textiles that were traded throughout Mesoamerica.

"It was a much more complex market economy than the Maya are often given credit for," Dunning said.

Local workers brought the Laguna de Terminos site to the attention of researchers about seven years ago.

"A forester working in the area said there seemed to be a network of ancient fields," Dunning said. "I looked on Google Earth and was like, 'Whoa!' It was an area in the Maya Lowlands that I'd never paid any attention to. And obviously not a lot of other people had, either, from the perspective of looking at ancient agriculture."

Satellite images revealed a patchwork quilt of blocks along drainage ditches that suggested they were built. Archaeologist also studied imagery NASA created of the region using a tool called Light Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR, that can depict the contours of the ground beneath the leafy canopy of trees and vegetation. Their review confirmed Dunning's suspicions: the area was covered in ancient farm fields.

University of Cincinnati student Jeff Brewer stands above UC geography professor Nicholas Dunning at an archaeological site in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Credit: Nicholas Dunning/UC

"It appears they developed fairly simply from modifications of existing drainage along the eastern edge of the wetlands," Dunning said. "They probably deepened and straightened some channels or connected them in places, but then further expanded the fields with more sophisticated hydro-engineering."

LIDAR gives scientists a never-before-seen picture of the Earth's surface even after centuries of unchecked jungle growth conceals the remains of ancient structures. Researchers look for telltale signs of human activity: squares and rectangles indicating old foundations and circular pits from man-made reservoirs and quarries where the chert used in stone tools was mined. On the LIDAR maps, any hidden structures pop out, including ancient roads and former villages.

"That's the magic of LIDAR," UC assistant research professor Christopher Carr said.??Carr spent a career practicing engineering before returning to UC to study and eventually teach in the geography department. He approaches questions about the ancient Maya from an engineer's perspective.

Carr pointed to a map of Yaxnohcah, Mexico, showing a small reservoir the ancient Maya apparently dug in a wetland far from cultivated fields or known settlements.

"What were my ancient counterparts thinking when they built that water reservoir? What did they want to accomplish?" he asked.

Carr also used the LIDAR imagery in the project to follow an ancient Maya road that perhaps hasn't been traveled in more than 1,000 years. The road is perfectly visible on the LIDAR map but is virtually impossible to discern when you are standing right on it, Carr said.

"There's vegetation everywhere. But when you've been doing this for a while, you notice little things," Carr said. "I'll have a LIDAR image on my smartphone that shows me where I am, but I don't see anything but rainforest. You just walk back and forth until you can feel something underfoot and follow it."

Identifying possible roads is important for another interest of the UC researchers: ancient Maya marketplaces. Dunning and Carr are working at Yaxnohcah with researchers such as Kathryn Reese-Taylor from the University of Calgary and Armando Anaya Hernandez from Universidad Autonoma de Campeche to unlock the mysteries of the ancient Maya economy. Additionally, they and graduate student Thomas Ruhl have been analyzing NASA's LIDAR imagery across the Yucatan Peninsula to identify more ancient marketplaces.

Unlike pyramids or even many homes, marketplaces had no foundations or permanent structures, researchers said. They were built on low platforms or cleared areas, perhaps like a seasonal fair or flea market. But they were an important part of life in Maya culture

University of Cincinnati geography professor Nicholas Dunning, left, and assistant professor Christopher Carr have been studying ancient Maya sites in Mexico. Credit: Joseph Fuqua II/UC Creative Services

Dunning said the presence of roads between Maya cities would lend credence to the value the ancient Maya placed on trade with their neighbors. He thinks some of the larger squares identified on the LIDAR maps represent these open markets.

"In some areas, they have this very distinct physical signature," Dunning said. "So far, we've identified several possible marketplaces. We don't know for sure that they're marketplaces, but they have an architectural layout that is suggestive of one."

Soil analysis at other locations identified evidence of ancient butcher shops and stone masons. Dunning solicited the help of UC's botanists who are conducting analyses that might shed light on his marketplace hypothesis. But the LIDAR maps themselves are instructive.

"I look at spatial patterns. If you look at these big structures and small pyramids, you can tell they're important structures," Carr said. "And then you have this 'lightweight' thing next to it. That's what a marketplace looks like to me."

Dunning said the ancient Maya likely sold perishable goods such as maize and a starchy tuber called manioc. And they traded "mantas," or bolts of the ornate and richly patterned textiles made from the cotton they grew. These were prized by the Spaniards who arrived in the 1600s.

"We don't have direct evidence of what the textiles look like in this area. But if you look at ancient paintings and sculptures, people were wearing very elaborate garments," Dunning said.

Dunning first explored the historic sites of the Yucatan Peninsula at age 14 when he and his older brother drove down to Mexico from Illinois.

"We took a train to the Yucatan and used public transportation to get around to the sites," Dunning said.

He applied to the University of Chicago partly because it offered a Mayan language class. Dunning returned to Mexico while in college to conduct his first field research. He's been back many times since.

UC student Thomas Ruhl works at an excavation of an ancient storage pit in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Credit: University of Cincinnati

"My interest in archaeology is in human-environment interactions, including agriculture," Dunning said.

Dunning is learning more about how ancient Maya people shaped their world to overcome challenges and take advantage of natural opportunities. Dunning's work also took him to a place called Acalan near the Gulf of Mexico.

"Roughly translated, Acalan means 'place of canoes' because it's very watery," Dunning said. "And getting around by water is far easier than any other means in that area."

Then as now the region is covered in thick tropical rainforest. Researchers have to be wary of cheeky monkeys that will throw fruit or worse from the treetops. Carr said one encounter left him sore for days.

"There was this aggressive spider monkey. He'd seen me a couple days earlier. And he's back shaking the trees," Carr said. "And all of a sudden, I'm lying flat on the ground. A branch hit me in the shoulder and knocked me to the ground."

Visiting archaeologists at Yaxnohcah stay at a former Army outpost that was converted into a staffed research station.

"Living conditions are actually luxurious by camping standards. You're in the field all day and you're dirty and tired. But you can take a shower. And when you're finished, someone has cooked you a meal," Carr said.

At Laguna de Terminos, UC researchers are working to collect clues about the ancient Maya before they are lost to development. Many of the wetlands are being drained or plowed up for grazing pasture.?

Dunning said ironically these low-yield pastures provide far less economic value to today's farmers than the seeming bounty of crops the ancient Maya derived from them more than 1,000 years ago. Their study warns the land-use practices are causing environmental damage to some of these valuable wetlands.

"It's a shame because the grazing isn't particularly good. The economic production from that land use is minuscule compared to what was produced by the Maya," Dunning said.
Tin comes from the ore cassiterite. Credit: Shutterstock/PYP

Mention tin and most people would think of the typical tin can, used to preserve foods you store in your cupboards. Tin is used here to help protect the can against corrosion (although not all cans today contain tin).

But while the use of tin in canning only dates back to the early 1800s, the mixing of tin with other elements dates back many centuries.

Tin  chemical symbol Sn with an atomic number 50 on the periodic table  is soft and silvery in colour, with a melting point of only 232. At first sight it doesn't seem to be a promising prospect for making anything.

Somehow, humans discovered that adding controlled amounts of tin to copper produced a splendid, golden-yellow alloy we call bronze.

I first became interested in bronze during my final year undergraduate research project in 1978. That interest continues today  I'm working with colleagues in Thailand to reverse-engineer the technologies used to make ancient Thai bronze bangles.

Early bronze

The first known tin bronzes seem to have appeared in the Caucasus region of Eurasia in about 5800 to 4600 BCE. That these very scarce early examples of tin bronze may have been accidentally made from rather rare ores that naturally contained both copper and tin simultaneously.

The tin in cans helps to protect them from corrosion. Credit: Flickr/Salvation Army USA West, CC BY

There is abundant evidence that by about 3000 BCE, tin bronzes were being made in the Aegean and Middle East (Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran) by deliberately alloying tin and copper, with the ores being obtained from separate sources.

Clearly, a series of somewhat unlikely events had to occur before this could be the norm.

An accidental melt would have to have been made from suitable minerals containing oxides of tin and copper. The resulting metal would have to be recognised to have desirable properties, such as hardness, colour and toughness, such that superior weapons or ornaments could be produced.

Craftspeople would then have had to be organised enough to be able to work out how to repeat this smelting process to create artefacts such as swords, axe heads, bowls and bangles.

Trading networks then had to be established to bring the comparatively rare tin from faraway places, such as Afghanistan or Cornwall in Britain's southwest, to any foundry. The metallurgical craft would have to be passed on to other practitioners, probably by oral means.

The spread of bronze

The trick of deliberately adding tin to copper then spread throughout the Old World, reaching Western Europe by about 2800 BCE, Egypt by 2200 BCE, the populous North China Plain by 2200 BCE, China's Yunnan province by about 1400 BCE, Thailand by about 1100 BCE, and southern India by 1000 BC (if not a century or two earlier).

This 4000-year-old bronze axe with a low tin content was found in Sweden. Credit: Flickr/The Swedish History Museum, CC BY

This has led to some robust discussion among archaeometallurgists on whether the special knowledge of tin's useful attributes spread from a single founding location in the Middle East, or whether it had been repeatedly independently developed by indigenous craftspeople.

In the case of Thailand and Cambodia, arguments have been raised for several scenarios: that the technology was independently developed, that it was brought south from China (or maybe the reverse, exported from northeast Thailand to China), or that it was imported from Bengal.

With China, some local scholars have favoured the view for independent local discovery of tin bronze, although it the balance of evidence suggests that the knowledge was transmitted by horseriding visitors from West Asia.

African bronze

Tin was also mined in precolonial times in Southern Africa, and some bronze artefacts  such as pieces of metal sheet or ingots  have been recovered at old metalworking sites there.

The available evidence for this region suggests the technology for producing and working iron, copper and bronze appeared contemporaneously at locations in sub-Saharan Africa, beginning about 500 BCE in the north and reaching South Africa in about 300 CE.

How did the metallurgical knowledge get to Southern Africa? Was it an indigenous discovery of the Bantu of East Africa that was then carried with them on their migrations, or was the skill transmitted southwards from the Middle East, and if so by who and how?

An ancient Thai bronze bangle from a site at Sa Kweo in east Thailand. Credit: Dr Supitcha Supansomboon and Assoc Prof Seriwat Saminpanya, Author provided

As in the case of Asia, interpretation of these issues can be coloured by modern political sensibilities. The question of the source of the metalworking skills that produced the beautiful copper and gold ornaments of the ancient city of Mapungubwe in South Africa, for example, has still not been settled.

Bronze in the Americas

The ancient cultures of the Americas also developed sophisticated skills for processing precious metals, copper and tin.

They were able to manufacture bronze artefacts such as rings, pendants, body ornaments, ornamental tweezers, sheet metal breastplates, large discs, ornamental shields and especially bells, by casting, albeit only from about 1000 CE in South America and then soon afterwards in western Mexico.

In the case of Mesoamerica, the knowledge of bronze was believed to have been carried north from Peru and Ecuador to Mexico by maritime traders.

Clearly, the ancient world, both Old and New, was well connected by lengthy trade routes along which ideas (and in many cases tin) flowed.

The presence of martensite needles in microsections taken through high-tin bronze artefacts is a sure sign that they have been quenched into water from red heat. Credit: Michael Cortie, Author provided

The mix of tin

The transmission of the technology can also be followed by paying attention to specific aspects of the physical metallurgy involved.

When more than about 15% tin by mass is added to the copper, the resulting alloy becomes rather brittle in its cast form, even if it still has a wonderfully warm golden yellow colour.

Somebody, somewhere, made the remarkable discovery that if such a casting is rapidly quenched from red heat into water (or better, brine), it becomes softer and relatively more ductile and workable.

The quenching heat treatment leaves a very characteristic needle-like microstructure (known as martensite) in the artefact that can be detected by a microscope. This tells an archaeologist that the part has been manufactured by a comparatively complex process, rather than merely cast.

When the tin content is less than about 15%, no martensite forms and nothing remarkable happens on quenching.

The result obtained when heat-treating a high-tin bronze is counterintuitive because, when iron is treated this way, it becomes hard and brittle. The trick to make the bronze tough is so specific that it is most likely this knowledge was transmitted from person to person.

Another ancient bronze from Thailand (measure is in centimetres). Credit: Dr Supitcha Supansomboon and Assoc Prof Seriwat Saminpanya, Author provided

Its transfer across the Old World would have required knowledgeable individuals travelling significant distance to foreign climes. The appearance of these artefacts at far-flung locations across Eurasia and Africa is another sign of ancient globalisation.

An extra element

There is one more trick that appears in the ancient bronzes, although this one might have been independently discovered at more than one location.

Some time in the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age (around 500 BCE), craftspeople began to add lead to their tin bronze castings. This gives the molten metal extra fluidity, allowing it to flow into fine detail in a mould so that castings with fine details and embossed figures can be made.

As an element, lead is not as shiny or attractive as tin; it is much denser and is found in quite different ores such as galena (lead sulfide). The earliest known cast bronzes with significant controlled additions of lead appear to be from China (500 BCE to 200 CE). Once again, it was clearly a deliberate innovation, and once again it spread rapidly all over Eurasia.

As more sites such as the ones in eastern Thailand are excavated, and as the database of alloy compositions and dates increases, it will become possible to cast more light on ancient routes of trade, migration and tech transfer.

The presence and usage of tin at these sites will act as a kind of metallurgical DNA, an indicator for ancient cultural and human exchanges.

Explore further Prehistoric bling? Aesthetics crucial factor in development of earliest copper alloys

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
LED with external quantum efficiency of record-high 21.6 percent. Credit: Thor Balkhed

Efficient near-infrared (NIR) light-emitting diodes of perovskite have been produced in a laboratory at Linkoping University. The external quantum efficiency is 21.6 percent, which is a record. The results have been published in Nature Photonics.

The work is led by LiU scientist Feng Gao, in close collaboration with colleagues in China, Italy, Singapore and Switzerland.

Perovskites are a group of materials defined by their crystal structure, and have been the focus of intense research interest during the past 10 years, initially for solar cells and recently also for light emitting diodes. They have good light-emitting properties and are easy to manufacture. The external quantum efficiency (the ratio of charge carriers emitted as light over all of those fed into the materials) of light-emitting diodes based on perovskites has until now been limited by defects that arise in the material during manufacture. The defects act as traps for the charge carriers and thus cause energy losses.

One way of dealing with defects is to add materials known as "passivation molecules," which bind to the atoms that cause defects. The researchers had previously discovered a molecule with amino groups at its ends that gave a certain improvement in properties. However, when they selected a molecule that also contained oxygen atoms, the effect increased dramatically.

Weidong Xu in the laboratory at Linkoping University. Credit: Thor Balkhed

"We now understand that it is the hydrogen bonds between passivation molecules and perovskite materials that cause problems. This allowed us to search for a molecule that was perfect for passivation," says Feng Gao, senior lecturer in the Division of Biomolecular and Organic Electronics at Linkoping University.

The molecule they found has two amino groups at its ends, with oxygen atoms at suitable distances between them. Oxygen atoms reduce the hydrogen bonding ability of amino groups, and hence increase the probability that they interact with defects. The number of traps for charge carriers in the perovskite is significantly reduced, allowing the charge carriers to recombine and emit light efficiently.

"This particular perovskite material gives highly efficient light-emitting diodes in the near-infrared region. Near-infrared light-emitting diodes are particularly useful for medical and telecommunication applications. We believe that our new findings can also be applied to perovskite light-emitting diodes with other colours," says Feng Gao.

The external quantum efficiency is a record-high 21.6 percent.

"We have developed the best light-emitting diodes in perovskite material yet. They can also compete with light-emitting diodes based on, for example, organic materials," says Wiedong Xu, postdoc in the Division of Biomolecular and Organic Electronics, LiU.

Explore further Perovskites  materials of the future in optical communication

More information: Weidong Xu et al, Rational molecular passivation for high-performance perovskite light-emitting diodes, Nature Photonics (2019). Journal information: Nature Photonics Weidong Xu et al, Rational molecular passivation for high-performance perovskite light-emitting diodes,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41566-019-0390-x
A web interface that displays their electrocatalyst predictions, built by a CMU undergraduate computing class. Credit: Zack Ulissi

Researchers are paving the way to total reliance on renewable energy as they study both large- and small-scale ways to replace fossil fuels. One promising avenue is converting simple chemicals into valuable ones using renewable electricity, including processes such as carbon dioxide reduction or water splitting. But to scale these processes up for widespread use, we need to discover new electrocatalystssubstances that increase the rate of an electrochemical reaction that occurs on an electrode surface. To do so, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are looking to new methods to accelerate the discovery process: machine learning.

Zack Ulissi, an assistant professor of chemical engineering (ChemE), and his group are using machine learning to guide electrocatalyst discovery. By hand, researchers spend hours doing routine calculations on materials that may not end up working. Ulissi's team has created a system that automates these routine calculations, explores a large search space, and suggests new alloys that have promising properties for electrocatalysis.

"This allows us to spend our time asking science questions, like, 'How do you predict the properties of something,' 'What is the thermodynamic model,' 'What is the model of the system,' or 'How do you represent the system?'" said Ulissi.

The researchers tested their method on the discovery of intermetallics that could make good electrocatalysts for carbon dioxide reduction and hydrogen evolutiontwo very complex reactions. A good electrocatalyst is inexpensive, selective, active, efficient, and stable. Many electrocatalysts are made from a class of metals called intermetallics, that when put together have a defined crystal structure. With a machine learning system, it can quickly screen combinations of intermetallics for one or more properties associated with a good electrocatalysts.

Assistant Professor Zachary Ulissi explains how his group in the Chemical Engineering Department makes use of machine learning to speed up the process of finding the best chemical structures to solve specific problems such as CO2 reduction. Credit: College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Ulissi and Kevin Tran, a ChemE Ph.D. student, have a system of scripts that every night searches a database of the millions of adsorption sites on thousands of intermetallics, or where another element could adhere. Based on that search, the system builds a machine learning model to predict what site it should run calculations on over the next day. It then runs the calculations, which reveal more about the properties of each intermetallic site, and the results are stored in a database and used to retrain the model. Then the loop repeats itself, each time finding better and more interesting materials. In this way, it discounts any materials that wouldn't make good catalysts, but gives the researcher confidence that the materials the system suggests will not lead to a dead end.

"What we've built is a smart machine, but our goal isn't really a smart machine," said Tran, a co-author on the study. "Our goal is to create a machine that gets us data. So we really use the machine as a farmer, to gather data intelligently."

While a human could study roughly 10 to 20 new energies a week, the machine can study hundreds per day. Prior to the automated system, researchers would have to narrow the space down to one class of materials and work in that space. Now, they can take a more holistic approach.

Through this study, published in Nature Catalysis, the researchers have a list of materials and intermetallic combinations that experimentalists should try, both for hydrogen evolution and carbon dioxide reduction. The experiments will then determine what will make good electrocatalysts for the large scale.

"I don't think people had done it this way before." said Ulissi. "At this point we are just narrowing down what experimentalists should focus on. We were able to show that the space is larger than people thought. We found interesting ideaslike if you take two things that are too weak they may actually make something stronger. We had no idea if we were going to find outcomes like that or not."

Explore further Accelerating electrocatalyst discovery with machine learning

More information: Kevin Tran et al. Active learning across intermetallics to guide discovery of electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction and H2 evolution, Nature Catalysis (2018). Journal information: Nature Catalysis Kevin Tran et al. Active learning across intermetallics to guide discovery of electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction and H2 evolution,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41929-018-0142-1
Forest camp in Vietnam. Credit: Jodi Rowley

Dr. Jodi Rowley explains why frogs are so vital for healthy ecosystems, how she is working to conserve them and the positive impact she has already made to the study of amphibians in Southeast Asia.

Dr. Jodi Rowley has dedicated much of her career to illuminating what she calls 'the black hole' in the world's knowledge of amphibian life in South-East Asia. Her original impetus started following the release of the 'Global Amphibian Assessment' in 2004 which was published by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

"The report was the first comprehensive examination of how amphibians are doing on a world level and highlighted the fact that they are in a lot of trouble. Today we estimate that an incredible 42 percent of all known species of amphibians are threatened with extinction," she says.

"The report also highlighted a real scarcity of information about the situation in South-East Asia, where there is major deforestation occurring, so I decided that would be one of my key focus areas," she says.

As the curator of amphibian and reptile conservation biology in a joint appointment between the Australian Museum and the UNSW Centre for Ecosystems Science, Dr. Rowley says her work falls into four main categories: surveying expeditions, conservation assessments, capacity building and, critically, communicating the results to both the scientific and lay communities.

"On-the-ground surveying is a vital component of the work I do and since 2009 I have undertaken a total of 29 expeditions to South-East Asia. Together with local partner institutions, we have co-discovered and undertaken conservation assessments for 27 new species of frog. We found that many of these new species are threatened with extinction and at least one is critically endangered," she says.

Although she started with a very small team, Rowley says capacity building, particularly among partner institutions in South-East Asia, is very important and she now has great connections throughout the region.

"Knowledge and skills transfer are vital, and I have worked hard to establish and grow long-term local and international partnerships, attract research students in Australia and in South-East Asia, develop training courses and workshops, take students into the field, and co-publish papers with them," Dr. Rowley continues.

"Then, once we have identified the new or known species, it is vital to transform that information outside the scientific literature into plain, open access language to raise broader awareness."

The importance of frogs and amphibians in the natural world cannot be underestimated and throughout their life cycle they play a significant role in the food chain as both predator and prey.

"Tadpoles feed on algae, helping keep our waterways clean, and they also compete with mosquito larvae; while frogs eat tonnes  literally, in many places  of invertebrates, including pest species. Adult frogs are also food for a huge number of mammals, birds and reptiles," she explains.

"In places where we've lost amphibians, we immediately notice the ecosystem-level effects: other animals starving to death and water courses clogging up etc. Nothing really steps up to fill the role of frogs."

Dr. Rowley says that frogs are also an indicator species which means they are a go-to for scientists wanting to find out more about the environmental health of a particular ecosystem. Because they have permeable skin, they are very sensitive to pollutants, and because they can live on both land and in the water, they are a good indicator of the health of these two different environments.

There is also a more selfish reason to want to conserve frog species, Dr. Rowley continues. "Frogs have great potential to be useful in developing new human medicines such as antivirals, antifungals, and other things ranging from contraceptives to drug delivery systems," she says.

Much of Dr. Rowley's research has been funded through philanthropy, in particular ADM Capital Foundation, in Hong Kong, but she has also received many other smaller grants from organisations such as the National Geographic.

With rapid habitat loss threatening many species in South-East Asia, the picture seems quite bleak. But Dr. Rowley says there are reasons to be hopeful and there is an increasing awareness, especially among the younger generation, and some fantastic conservation biologists enacting change.

"It's a delicate and difficult situation, because a lot of people's livelihoods are tied to the forest and its resources, but my hope is that I can continue to inspire more frog-related work. My aim is to keep the surveying work going on the ground and to continue to build relationships to maintain the knowledge exchange," she says.

"We can't save everything, unfortunately, but there's an urgent need for information so we can at least make informed conservation decisions about how to prioritise which areas and which species most need our help."

Explore further Mass amphibian extinctions globally caused by fungal disease
The Italian-American automaker took the decision, effective from the end of September, to "better align production with global demand," it said

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has announced it will cut some 1,500 jobs at its factory in Windsor, Canada, around a quarter of its local workforce.

The Italian-American automaker took the decision, effective from the end of September, to "better align production with global demand," it said in comments reported in local media Thursday.

Retirement packages will be offered to eligible employees while the company will also attempt to place laid off hourly employees in open full-time positions as they become available based on seniority.

The announcement represents a fresh blow for the province of Ontario following the axing of more than 2,500 jobs announced for the end of 2019 at the General Motors plant in Oshawa, near Toronto.

The president of the Unifor union, Jerry Dias, tweeted: "I am deeply concerned about the 1,500 plus families, the community of Windsor & the Cdn auto industry - all affected by FCA Canada's decision to end the 3rd shift at Windsor Assembly Plant."

He added the union was demanding an urgent meeting with FCA.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, likewise promised to "fight tooth and nail to protect the jobs of the auto-workers in Windsor."

The Chrysler plant in Windsor employs some 6,100 workers and builds the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.

Fiat Chrysler announced in late February the construction of a new auto plant in Detroit, the first for 27 years in "Motor City," as part of a $4.5 billion investment plan to create 6,500 jobs in the United States.

Explore further Fiat Chrysler to open new plant in Detroit: report

 2019 AFP
The Human Rights Campaign suspended Google from the 2019 Corporate Equality Index after the tech conglomerate did not remove a conversion therapy app.

When putting together this year's annual Corporate Equality Index, HRC noted in a footnote on the report that it became aware of an app, from Living Hope Ministries, distributed in Google's Play Store that "supports the practice of so-called 'conversion therapy'."

"Sometimes known as 'reparative therapy,' so-called 'conversion therapy' includes a range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity or expression," the report notes. "Pending remedial steps by the company to address this app that can cause harm to the LGBTQ community, the CEI rating is suspended."

A Change.org petition has called for the removal of this app, and it currently has over 140,000 signatures. Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have all removed it from their platforms.

Google has scored highly on the Corporate Equality Index in prior years, receiving a score of 100 percent in 2018. The company has taken certain LGBTQ-friendly measures in the past, such as adding pay to cover a tax for same-sex benefits in 2010 or giving a $1 million grant to the LGBT Community Center in New York City in 2017 in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising.

Google declined to comment on this specific matter. HRC did not respond to a request for comment.

2019 USA Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

You're cool chatting up Amazon Alexa, the Google Assistant and Siri and having each come alive when you utter the "Alexa," "Hey, Google" or "Hey, Siri" wake words.

But your kids are also engaging with the popular digital voices inside the smart speakers in your home and your big concern has mostly to do with privacy.

That's the chief takeaway from a new study, exclusive to USA TODAY and conducted in February, by Common Sense Media and SurveyMonkey Audience.

More than 4 in 10 of the 1,127 parents of children ages 2 to 8 who participated in the survey say their family uses a smart speaker such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home. Nearly 6 in 10 say their young children interact with a voice-activated assistant such as Siri or Alexa.

And 58 percent of parents whose kids use the smart speakers think it is at least moderately likely that someone could hack those speakers and listen in to their conversations. As a result, 40 percent have turned off their smart speaker's microphone to prevent it from listening.

The eavesdropping concerns are not entirely unfounded.

You need only rewind to last May when stories emerged about an Oregon family whose private conversations were recorded by their Amazon Echo smart speaker and emailed to a random phone contact.

Amazon confirmed the incident at the time, and no, it wasn't a malicious hack. Alexa triggered the action after hearing an unforeseen combination of random words in a conversation the family didn't realize was being overheard.

It's important to recognize that while Alexa may be listening for its wake word, it is not constantly recording. But when Amazon's assistant does wake up, that's when what it hears is sent to the company's cloud servers, where your words are recorded and translated into commands. Alexa also keeps a record of all the commands you've given it so that it can better learn how to answer you.

A whopping 93 percent of parents in the SurveyMonkey poll who use such voice-activated devices say it is important to know when their family's voices are being recorded. An equal number said it's important to control whatever information is collected about them. Nearly as many want to control whether the family's voice data is being used to deliver more targeted ads.

Run privacy checkups

"This report is a clarion call for tech companies and privacy regulators, that as these devices are brought into the home, there's nearly unanimous concern about privacy," said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media. "Until privacy regulations are worked out, parents should turn off their home assistant's microphone when they're not using it and do regular privacy checks to maintain their comfort level with these devices."

Adds Jon Cohen, chief research officer at SurveyMonkey, "Our study pinpoints privacy as a major concern among consumers who use smart speakers, particularly among parents of young children. As voice-activated assistants are incorporated more fully into family life, brands need to carefully balance these widespread privacy concerns with their relentless build-out of ever-more-advanced features that promise value, convenience, and plain-old fun."

You can visit settings on Amazon's website to review your Alexa voice history, and listen to and delete any stored recordings. Go to myactivity.google.com to similarly purge Google Home recordings.

Among the other SurveyMonkey findings: Parents report that most kids get that the voice-activated assistants are not human, with 39 percent identifying them as robots, and 26 percent as computer programs.

Even at that, 79 percent of parents say it's at least moderately important for their kid to be polite to a voice assistant, which 68 percent report is the case. The youngsters, they claim, have never said anything mean, rude or inappropriate to the assistants.

But 55 percent of parents also say that their child's interactions with a smart speaker haven't had much of an effect on their kid's communications skills. And 64 percent say it has had zero effect on their child's screen-time usage.

Half of parents say their children interact with a smart speaker once a day or more, most often to play music (47 percent) but also to get information (12 percent), just to talk or fool around with (12 percent), or to get jokes (10 percent).

And about 3 in 10 parents say voice-activated assistants are extremely or very helpful in accomplishing parenting tasks, such as making grocery lists, answering children's questions, or setting reminders.

More than 4 in 10 parents of 6- to 8-year olds say their children use the assistants for homework help.

2019 USA Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
South Africa: Govt moves to finalise spectrum allocation

Government says its moving towards finalising the policy directive on radio frequency spectrum allocation.

This finalisation gives effect to the 2019 State of the Nation Address (SONA) in which President Cyril Ramaphosa designated the Minister of Communications to issue a policy direction to Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) for the licensing of high demand radio frequency spectrum.

This was reiterated in the Budget Speech by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, who further mentioned that this includes resourcing ICASA for this mandate.

To this end, Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has extensively engaged ICASA with regards to the aforementioned policy directive, her Ministry said on Thursday.

Further, and to ensure that the regulator is adequately resourced to effectively conduct the spectrum licencing process once the policy directive is issued, the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services has reprioritised its finances and transferred R10 million to ICASA.

The Ministry said these funds will provide for the requisite additional human and financial resources that will be borne by the regulator.

To ensure an inclusive approach, Ndabeni-Abrahams has invited sector stakeholders to provide written submissions on their interpretation of the definition of the spectrum licencing process.

A meeting with the stakeholders is scheduled for 2 April to further deliberate on the submissions and finalise the consultations.

This move and plans by government will fast-track 4G spectrum assignment, which operators have been waiting for many years. It will also help transform the sector by attracting new investments while also hastening the growth of mobile communications in the country.

The Ministry of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Services  in collaboration with other government departments will conduct the Second Annual Youth Walk into Economic Opportunities Exposition.

The exposition is scheduled for 13 April in Ntabankulu Local Municipality in the Alfred Nzo District in the Eastern Cape.

The freedom youth walk, in commemoration of 25 years of freedom, aims to expose youth, unemployed and entrepreneurs into an array of academic, career and business opportunities available in the public and private sector.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
In addition to the fact that limousine travel is very glamorous, it is also the most comfortable trip you can...
A sex pest accused of sexually molesting minors at the Martyrs of Uganda Childrens home in Kimutwa, Machakos County, has pleaded guilty to only one count.

The accused, David Mutuku Katuku, appeared before Machakos Resident Magistrate E. Analo where he was charged with sodomising nine boys.

The apparent pedophile pleaded not guilty to eight of the nine counts.

He will remain in custody after the magistrate ordered a pre-bail report to be prepared and filed in court to inform whether the accused will be granted bond.

Prosecutors opposed the release of the suspect on bail arguing that he went into hiding when he learnt that the police were hunting him down.

The Court also heard that it would be difficult to trace the suspect since he has no known abode as he was being hosted a relative.

Mutuku had been on the run since February 15, 2019, after one of the boys reported that he had been sodomized.

The 23-year-old cook has reportedly been at the childrens facility for about 10 years.

Last week, a court ordered the immediate closure of the Martyrs of Uganda Childrens home following the sodomy allegations.

The childrens home, run by the Catholic Church, housed a total of 39 boys and included primary school wing.
Huawei rotating chairman Guo Ping speaks as he releases the Huawei's annual report in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong province, Friday, March 29, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei said its 2018 sales surged above $100 billion, though sales of network equipment were flat amid U.S. warnings to other governments that its telecom technology is a security risk. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Chinese tech giant Huawei's deputy chairman defended its commitment to security Friday after a stinging British government report added to Western pressure on the company by accusing it of failing to repair dangerous flaws in its telecom technology.

Guo Ping's comments came as Huawei Technologies Ltd., the biggest global maker of network equipment for phone and internet companies, announced last year's sales surpassed $100 billion despite U.S. pressure on American allies to shun it as a security threat.

Accusations that Huawei, China's first global tech brand, might facilitate Beijing's spying threaten to hamper its access to global carriers that are preparing to invest billions of dollars in next-generation technology.

Britain's National Cyber Security Center added criticism Thursday on a different front, accusing Huawei of "poor software engineering." The agency said in a report British researchers saw no sign that was due to Chinese government interference, but it said Huawei had not repaired flaws that might make its systems vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Guo didn't respond directly to the British report's criticisms but said Huawei will work with regulators to improve security. He noted the company has promised to invest $2 billion over five years to improve its software engineering and expressed confidence British regulators will "increase their confidence" in Huawei over time.

"We prioritize cybersecurity and privacy protection even above our commercial targets," Guo said at a news conference. He said the British report showed Huawei products had no "backdoors" to permit eavesdropping.

Huawei is, along with Sweden's LM Ericsson and Nokia Corp. of Finland, a global leader in developing fifth-generation, or 5G, telecoms. The technology is intended to vastly expand mobile networks to support self-driving cars, medical devices and factory equipment, but that makes it more politically sensitive.

Huawei is at the center of U.S.-Chinese tensions over technology and accusations of cyber-spying and violating trade sanctions on Iran.

Huawei rotating chairman Guo Ping speaks as he releases the Huawei's annual report in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong province, Friday, March 29, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei said its 2018 sales surged above $100 billion, though sales of network equipment were flat amid U.S. warnings to other governments that its telecom technology is a security risk. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

The company's chief financial officer was arrested in December in Canada on U.S. charges of lying to banks about dealings with Iran. Beijing has detained two Canadians and blocked imports of canola from Canada in what is widely seen as an attempt to compel her release.

Huawei's U.S. market evaporated after a 2012 congressional report labeled the company a security threat, but sales elsewhere grew rapidly. Huawei passed Apple last year as the No. 2 global smartphone brand behind Samsung and earlier passed Ericsson as the No. 1 network gear seller.

Australia, Japan and Taiwan have imposed curbs on use of Huawei technology, but Germany, France and other governments are balking at U.S. demands to exclude it from 5G networks. Carriers complain that would reduce competition, raise prices and delay the rollout of 5G service.

Huawei has opened testing centers in Britain, Germany and Belgium for regulators to examine its products.

"We welcome the European Union's attitude," said Guo. "They do not discriminate against vendors from any country."

Chinese officials and some industry analysts have suggested the Trump administration might be exaggerating security concerns to hinder a competitor to U.S. tech brands.

Earlier this month, Premier Li Keqiang promised at a nationally televised news conference that Beijing never would tell Chinese tech companies to spy on foreign countries.

Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, told reporters earlier this year the latest U.S. criticism had yet to hurt sales. But Guo said Friday the company has to spend more time talking to potential customers "to address their concerns."

In this Thursday, March 7, 2019 file photo, two men use their mobile phones outside a Huawei retail shop in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province. British cybersecurity inspectors have found significant technical issues in Chinese telecom supplier Huawei's software that they say pose new risks for the country's telecom companies. The annual report Thursday, March 28, 2019 said that because of Huawei's involvement in Britain's critical telecom networks it can only give "limited assurance" that long-term national security risks can be adequately managed. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Despite that, Huawei's sales last year rose 19.5 percent over 2017 to 721.2 billion ($105.2 billion), according to Guo. That was driven by double-digit gains for its consumer and enterprise units, while sales of network gear to phone and internet carriers were unchanged at 294 billion yuan ($62.3 billion).

Profit rose 25.1 percent to 59.3 billion yuan ($8.6 billion).

Guo blamed weak network gear sales on a temporary lull in investment by carriers. He expressed confidence 5G sales will take off this year.

Huawei denies U.S. accusations it is controlled by China's ruling Communist Party and says it is owned by about half the members of its 180,000-strong workforce. The company has no publicly traded shares but started issuing annual financial reports a decade ago in an attempt to appear more open and mollify Western security concerns.

Guo said global sales for the first two months of 2019 rose by more than 30 percent from a year earlier. Ren, the company founder, said earlier this year's revenue target is $125 billion.

Huawei has announced sales of 5G networks to a handful of carriers and contracts with major carriers in Germany and other countries for field testing. The company says it already has shipped more than 40,000 5G base stations to customers.

Huawei is asking a U.S. federal court in a lawsuit filed this month to throw out a law that bars the Trump administration and government contractors from using its equipment. The company says that improperly punishes the company without giving it away to defend itself.

The company's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said he had no updates on the lawsuit.

"We believe the U.S. court will give us a fair judgment," said Song at the news conference with Guo.

Explore further Danish telecom group shuns China's Huawei for 5G rollout

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
In this March 28, 2019, file photo a journalist passes by the logo of Hyundai Motor during a media preview of the Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, South Korea. Hyundai has found a new problem that can cause its car engines to fail or catch fire, issuing yet another recall to fix problems that have affected more than 6 million vehicles since 2015. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Hyundai has found a new problem that can cause its car engines to fail or catch fire, issuing yet another recall to fix problems that have affected more than 6 million vehicles during the past 3,5 years.

The Korean automaker, under pressure from safety regulators, is recalling about 20,000 Veloster cars in the U.S. and Canada because fuel can prematurely ignite in the cylinders around the pistons. That can cause excessive pressure and damage the engine, causing vehicles to stall and in some cases catch fire, according to Hyundai documents posted Friday by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

It's a different problem from what has caused the rest of the recalls since 2015 from Hyundai and its affiliated automaker Kia, which have been plagued by engine failures and fires across the U.S.

The recall, which covers only the 2013 Veloster with 1.6-liter engines, is due to a software problem that has been found only in that model year and not in other Hyundai engines, company spokesman Michael Stewart said. Kia spokesman James Bell did not return messages seeking comment on Friday.

Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer group that has petitioned the government seeking more Hyundai and Kia recalls, said the fire and engine problems keep spreading to more vehicles.

"This recall raises the question of whether we are even beyond the tip of the iceberg with these non-crash fires with both of these manufacturers," Levine said. "How many times are we going to hear from either Hyundai or Kia that these circumstances are unique to a particular model and then have another recall or fire situation announced weeks or months later?"

Hyundai said in documents that it has been analyzing fire claims from owners and reporting the findings to NHTSA, which in December raised questions about the Veloster. The company traced the problem to engine control software in vehicles made at the Ulsan plant in South Korea from April 26, 2012 to Oct. 16, 2013, according to documents.

While claims were high for the 2013 model, they decreased starting in 2014, the company wrote. Software was updated on vehicles at the factory in October of 2013, the company said. Hyundai wrote that it's not aware of any crashes or injuries.

Dealers will install updated software on the recalled cars. Owners will be notified starting May 13.

In February, Kia announced that it would recall the Soul small SUV with the same-size engine due to fire and engine failure problems, but Stewart said that was for a problem that was different from the Veloster.

The Soul recall covered nearly 379,000 vehicles from 2012 through 2016. Documents showed that high exhaust gas temperatures can damage the catalytic converters, which control pollution. That can cause abnormal combustion and damage pistons and connecting rods. A failed connecting rod can pierce the engine block and cause oil leaks that can cause fires.

So far Hyundai and Kia have recalled about 2.4 million vehicles to fix problems that can cause fires and engine failures since 2015. In addition, the automakers are doing a "product improvement campaign" covering another 3.7 million vehicles to install software that will alert drivers of possible engine failures and send the cars into a reduced-speed "limp" mode if problems are detected.

Both automakers are under investigation by NHTSA for potentially being slow to fix faulty vehicles.

The Center for Auto Safety says it has found more than 300 Hyundai-Kia fire complaints in a government database, which is high compared with similar vehicles. Levine has said fire complaints to NHTSA have come from across the country, including a death in Ohio in April of 2017.

Explore further Hyundai, Kia recall vehicles due to increased fire risk

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Technology giant IBM targeted "grey hairs" and "old heads" for negative performance reviews so it could oust them from the company, as it formed a "Millennial Corps" and focused on hiring "early professionals," a new age-discrimination lawsuit claims.

"In the past six years alone, IBM has discharged over 20,000 U.S. employees who were at least 40 years old in pursuit of a company-wide practice of using forced group terminations, referred to as 'Resource Actions,' to accomplish its goal of removing older employees from its labor force," said the lawsuit filed Wednesday by four former IBM employees. Three of them worked at the company for more than three decades, and one for more than 10 years, the suit said. All were over 55 when they were sacked in May 2016, according to the suit.

The suit alleged that IBM required employees to submit claims of age discrimination to binding arbitration, but also banned them from collective arbitration over such claims.

IBM said in an emailed statement that the plaintiffs' theories have been rejected by courts including the U.S. Supreme Court. "We are confident that our arbitration clauses are legal and appropriate," the firm said. The company added that a body of Supreme Court cases upholds arbitration agreements.

The purported purge started in 2014, with the firm carrying out a plan to fix its "seniority mix" by imposing an "aggressive performance management posture," the suit filed in federal court in New York alleged. One in-house presentation showed that this posture meant doubling the proportion of workers receiving negative performance evaluations, so 3,000 employees could be laid off and replaced with "early professionals," the suit claimed.

"In 2015 and 2016, IBM doubled down on its efforts to replace its long-tenured, older employees with the younger Millennials it sought to recruit," the suit alleged. "IBM made presentations to its senior executives calling for IBM to evaluate its long-term employees more harshly, to use those negative evaluations to justify selecting long-term employees for lay-off, and to replace these employees with 'EPs' - IBM management short-hand for 'early professionals.'"

A 2016 presentation concerning one section of the company "specifically called for managers to exempt all 'early professional hires' from layoff, regardless of performance," the suit claimed. "The long-serving, older employees were provided no such exemption."

The former employees suing IBMSteven Estle, Margaret Ahlders, Lance Salonia and Cheryl Witmeralleged the company in 2014 began downgrading their annual performance scores, so they started receiving worse evaluations than in previous years. When they were fired in 2016, IBM falsely characterized their departures as retirements, the suit claimed.

Also starting in 2014, IBM began demanding that laid-off workers waive their right to collective action, the suit alleged. Employees were offered severance worth a month's salary, continuing health and life insurance coverage for a period depending on time with the firm, free career counseling and up to $2,500 for skills training, the suit said.

But workers would not receive any of those benefits if they didn't sign an agreement not to bring age-discrimination claims collectively, even in arbitration, the suit claimed. By this arrangement, IBM sought to deprive workers of the economies and advantages of pursuing legal action together, and "instead to burden them with the limitations and costs of bringing individual actions challenging the same discriminatory practices in secret arbitrations separate from each other," the suit alleged.

"With misgivings, but facing the prospect of a difficult job search and economic hardship, each Plaintiff reluctantly signed the waiver," the suit said.

The suit took aim at a 2006 IBM internal report on employee demographics that purportedly called older workers "gray hairs" and "old heads," and concluded that younger workers were "generally much more innovative and receptive to technology than baby boomers."

In 2014, IBM launched a blog called "The Millennial Experience," the suit said. The firm also created "Millennial Corps," a network of young workers to be consulted by senior leadership about business decisions, according to the suit.

The suit cited a presentation given at a 2014 IBM event, in which slides shown allegedly indicated that Millennials exhibited desirable work qualities such as trusting data and making decisions through collaboration, while workers over 50 had undesirable attributes such as being "more dubious" of analytics, putting "less stock in data" and being less motivated to consult colleagues.

The suit draws heavily from results of a ProPublica investigation published in September that said IBM appeared to be winding down the Millennial Corps, as it was cited in several legal actions as evidence the firm was biased against younger workers.

The plaintiffs are seeking a court invalidating IBM's waiver against collective action, a ruling that the matter go to collective arbitration, and unspecified monetary relief.

Explore further Judge allows expansion of Uber class-action suit

2019 The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
In 1998 former tech consultant Hank Eskin launched a campaign to track dollar bills. Through the "Where's George?" initiative, dollars were stamped with messages about the currency tracking project, and people were instructed to enter their zip codes and the serial number found on the stamped bills into a database, before handing over the currency.

The tracking of these dollar bills was an early study of human travel patterns and "complex systems."

A complex system is an often-nebulous concept; entire seminars are devoted to defining the term. But, put simply, a complex system is anything composed of many parts that interact in such a fashion that the overall behavior of the system is entirely dependent on the interaction and is something different from a sum of the parts. Complex systems include financial markets, street networks, and even the human brain, made up of a system of neurons that work together to allow a person to think, make decisions, and perform day to day tasks.

"When you think of things like the human brain or the stock market, the market, for instance, exists only because of the interaction of buying and trading," says Gourab Ghoshal, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Rochester, who studies complex systems. "If you have one trader, there is no market. If you only have one neuron, there is no brain."

The two figures above show the betweenness centrality and inness profiles for the city of London. The betweenness centrality (top) illustrates high-congestion streets with potential traffic bottlenecks. The inness metric (bottom), on the other hand, highlights infrastructure surrounding the city, diverging the flow of traffic outward from the congested city core, rather than through it. Credit: University of Rochester images / Gourab Ghoshal

Today, the increasing availability of digital traces provides researchers like Ghoshal and the members of his lab an incredible amount of data for complex systems research. Using GPS location tracking, check-ins on apps like Foursquare, geocaching from Twitter posts, and, under some circumstances, call data records from cell phones, they are able to find patterns in human mobility, traffic, and disease progressions with greater accuracy and precision than ever before. But the amount of data available also means that the burgeoning field of complex systems can be overwhelmed without some constraints.

"You're going from orders of tens and hundreds of data points to orders of millions and billions," Ghoshal says. "When you have this change of scale, the simple ways of drawing diagrams don't work; you need laws to dictate how the data interact."

That's where physics enters the picture.

The physics of complex systems

In a series of papers in Physics Reports and Nature Communications, Ghoshal and members of his lab used science to untangle complex systems and networks. Their work extends to three main branches: human dynamics and behaviors; urban systems and city science; and social networks. Applying the universal rules of physics and mathematics, they are able to build foundational models onto which other researcherssuch as economists or city plannerscan introduce more complex variables.

"There are differences between the way a physicist looks at a problem compared to a computer scientist," says Hugo Barbosa, a post-doctoral researcher in Ghoshal's lab, whose PhD is in computer science. "Physicists are more interested in the fundamental rules, the things that are universal, regardless of the populations. They want to understand the basic components of those models and make those components as general and universal as possible."

Imagine, for instance, you want to figure out how people walk on a campus. One way of approaching this problem would be to gather all the data possible about every single person on the campus: what they ate that morning, what classes they have at what times, who their friends are, where the buildings are located on the campus, and so on.

"It would, first of all, be virtually impossible to collect all this data," Ghoshal says, "plus you wouldn't be able to apply the same conclusions to the ways people walk on other campuses. The buildings are different, the geography is different."

A second way of approaching the problem involves using the methods Ghoshal and his lab members employ: distilling a system to it basics and applying physics, mathematics, and statistics.

There are a few essential factors that apply to almost all cases in which people move about. People want to move in some direction (what physicists call drift velocity). They don't want to bump into other people, or into buildings or other objectsdemonstrating what's known as repulsive potential.

They may seem simple, but with just these basic elements, "I can more or less reproduce the pedestrian behavior of people anywhere on the planet," Ghoshal says. "There are many things that come into play such as cultural factors, but now you have a foundation to build upon, contained within these essential factors."

The number of people moving from location A to location B, for example, also turns out to be inversely proportional to the distance squared, which is similar to a gravitational force. The flow is dependent on distance (the longer you have to travel, the less likely you are to travel), but is also a function of the population, which is akin to mass, Ghoshal says. "Sometimes, the way physicists think about dust particles moving in a room can be similarly applied to humans."

Applying physics to ICT data

Ghoshal's current research applies rules of physics to urban systems and cities using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) data. The data allows his group to uncover patterns in the organizational structure of cities, as well as the dynamics of human movement and its effects on land use, transportation design, the spreading of epidemics, socioeconomic indicators, and sustainability. Researchers must sign nondisclosure agreements to use the data and there are layers of privacy and encryption, so it's impossible to trace data points to any one specific person. Data might include geotag stamps on a Tweet that indicate the geographic location of the tweeter, census data that indicates where people have migrated, and GPS data that show how fast a car reached its intended destination and which route the driver choseshortest distance, less traffic, more scenic, and so on.

One project, conducted by Surendra Hazarie, a PhD student in physics, uses the data to look at segregation patterns in cities, along lines of income, race, or other characteristics. "By looking at the ways populations flow around cities in the different regions, we can examine the way those populations are split up in important ways," he says. "Maybe wealthier communities tend to box themselves in and things like that."

Ghoshal and other members of his group use ICT data to develop specific metrics that define how urban residents navigate a city. Their "inness metric," for instance, shows how when people navigate a city, they tend to gravitate toward the socioeconomic center. The researchers found that the inness factor tightly correlates with the level of a city's socioeconomic development, infrastructure development, and death and mortality rates. High levels of inness often accompany low levels of development because cities in the process of developing only have one city center. Conversely, well-developed cities have multiple socioeconomic centers, and the inness tends to be low or statistically insignificant.

"The presence or absence of this 'attractive force' serves as a historical indicator of a city's development," Barbosa says. "Simply by looking at how the residents of a city sample a city tells you a lot about the city's organization and how developed it is, at least from an infrastructural sense."

Another metric is the "betweenness centrality." To be central is to be between a lot of things. For instance, if you are in an area that falls between many routessay the Twelve Corners area in Brighton, near Rochester, or a traffic circle in Washington, D.C.there will be a higher betweenness centrality. Counterintuitively, with increased connectivitywhether through more roads, bike paths, or neurons in the brainthe flow of people and information develops a spatial dependence and congestion develops toward the city center. The implication is that metropolitan areas are better served building multimodal transportation systems that allow for various forms of transportation, rather than merely building more roads.

Interdisciplinary partnerships

Factors like inness and betweenness can help inform city planners by giving them building blocks that can be applied anywhere in the world. The ultimate goal, however, is not to completely overhaul existing cities or structures, Barbosa says. "It's more about how can we leverage this knowledge to, for example, improve the synchronization of traffic lights and diverge the flow of people to a different area of the city if there is an accident? How can we foster and promote reducing segregation? How can we help prevent the spread of diseases in existing airports or hospitals?"

To this end, Ghoshal and his lab members partner with researchers in disciplines across the University. Kristen Bush Marshall is a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Martin Zand, a professor of medicine at the Medical Center, and has worked with Ghoshal on complex systems research. Marshall uses anonymous amalgamated data from electronic health records to construct hospital mobility networks. Using these networks, she hopes to develop a "risk metric" for the spread of C. difficile bacteria infections in hospital wards.

"Understanding how people and locations are connected and analyzing those relationships through network centrality helps inform my predictive models in ways that would not have been possible using traditional statistical methods," Marshall says. "Network science changes the way we view patient movements in the hospital and helps us develop tools to improve patient outcomes and reduce the spread of infection."

Ghoshal and his group are also working with Ehsan Hoque, the Asaro-Biggar ('92) Family Assistant Professor of Computer Science, and his Human Computing Interaction Group to analyze the efficacy and formation of teams performing specific tasks, leveraging Hoque's public speaking tool RocSpeak.

Other future projects include mapping the after-effects of disease, such as the movement of people in Africa after the Ebola crisis or the effects of conflict in Syria on cross-border movement. Applying physical principles and involving researches from different domains can provide important insights, Ghoshal says: "Recently, we reached an important milestone: over half the global population now resides in urban centers, and this trend is expected to continue exponentially. Understanding what makes urban systems tick and how to make them sustainable is perhaps one of the most important questions of the 21st century. The only way to tackle such a complex problem is to combine the tools, trades and insights from a variety of research backgrounds."

More information: Minjin Lee et al. Morphology of travel routes and the organization of cities, Nature Communications (2017). Minjin Lee et al. Morphology of travel routes and the organization of cities,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02374-7 Hugo Barbosa et al. Human mobility: Models and applications, Physics Reports (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.physrep.2018.01.001 Journal information: Nature Communications
A meteor impact 66 million years ago generated a tsunami-like wave in an inland sea that killed and buried fish, mammals, insects and a dinosaur (Triceratops), the first victims of a cataclysm that led to Earth's last mass extinction. The death scene from within an hour of the impact has been excavated at an unprecedented fossil site in North Dakota. Credit: Robert DePalma

The beginning of the end started with violent shaking that raised giant waves in the waters of an inland sea in what is now North Dakota.

Then, tiny glass beads began to fall like birdshot from the heavens. The rain of glass was so heavy it may have set fire to much of the vegetation on land. In the water, fish struggled to breathe as the beads clogged their gills.

The heaving sea turned into a 30-foot wall of water when it reached the mouth of a river, tossing hundreds, if not thousands, of fresh-water fishsturgeon and paddlefishonto a sand bar and temporarily reversing the flow of the river. Stranded by the receding water, the fish were pelted by glass beads up to 5 millimeters in diameter, some burying themselves inches deep in the mud. The torrent of rocks, like fine sand, and small glass beads continued for another 10 to 20 minutes before a second large wave inundated the shore and covered the fish with gravel, sand and fine sediment, sealing them from the world for 66 million years.

This unique, fossilized graveyardfish stacked one atop another and mixed in with burned tree trunks, conifer branches, dead mammals, mosasaur bones, insects, the partial carcass of a Triceratops, marine microorganisms called dinoflagellates and snail-like marine cephalopods called ammoniteswas unearthed by paleontologist Robert DePalma over the past six years in the Hell Creek Formation, not far from Bowman, North Dakota. The evidence confirms a suspicion that nagged at DePalma in his first digging season during the summer of 2013that this was a killing field laid down soon after the asteroid impact that eventually led to the extinction of all ground-dwelling dinosaurs. The impact at the end of the Cretaceous Period, the so-called K-T boundary, exterminated 75 percent of life on Earth.

"This is the first mass death assemblage of large organisms anyone has found associated with the K-T boundary," said DePalma, curator of paleontology at the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History in Florida and a doctoral student at the University of Kansas. "At no other K-T boundary section on Earth can you find such a collection consisting of a large number of species representing different ages of organisms and different stages of life, all of which died at the same time, on the same day."

In a paper to appear next week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he and his American and European colleagues, including two University of California, Berkeley, geologists, describe the site, dubbed Tanis, and the evidence connecting it with the asteroid or comet strike off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago. That impact created a huge crater, called Chicxulub, in the ocean floor and sent vaporized rock and cubic miles of asteroid dust into the atmosphere. The cloud eventually enveloped Earth, setting the stage for Earth's last mass extinction.

"It's like a museum of the end of the Cretaceous in a layer a meter-and-a-half thick," said Mark Richards, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of earth and planetary science who is now provost and professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington.

Richards and Walter Alvarez, a UC Berkeley Professor of the Graduate School who 40 years ago first hypothesized that a comet or asteroid impact caused the mass extinction, were called in by DePalma and Dutch scientist Jan Smit to consult on the rain of glass beads and the tsunami-like waves that buried and preserved the fish. The beads, called tektites, formed in the atmosphere from rock melted by the impact.

Tsunami vs. seiche

Richards and Alvarez determined that the fish could not have been stranded and then buried by a typical tsunami, a single wave that would have reached this previously unknown arm of the Western Interior Seaway no less than 10 to 12 hours after the impact 3,000 kilometers away, if it didn't peter out before then. Their reasoning: The tektites would have rained down within 45 minutes to an hour of the impact, unable to create mudholes if the seabed had not already been exposed.

Tektites, 1 millimeter spheres of glass, recovered from the Tanis fossil bed. They were produced by the Chicxulub impact and fell within an hour of the impact. Credit: Robert DePalma

Instead, they argue, seismic waves likely arrived within 10 minutes of the impact from what would have been the equivalent of a magnitude 10 or 11 earthquake, creating a seiche (pronounced saysh), a standing wave, in the inland sea that is similar to water sloshing in a bathtub during an earthquake. Though large earthquakes often generate seiches in enclosed bodies of water, they're seldom noticed, Richards said. The 2011 Tohoku quake in Japan, a magnitude 9.0, created six-foot-high seiches 30 minutes later in a Norwegian fjord 8,000 kilometers away.

"The seismic waves start arising within nine to 10 minutes of the impact, so they had a chance to get the water sloshing before all the spherules (small spheres) had fallen out of the sky," Richards said. "These spherules coming in cratered the surface, making funnelsyou can see the deformed layers in what used to be soft mudand then rubble covered the spherules. No one has seen these funnels before."

The tektites would have come in on a ballistic trajectory from space, reaching terminal velocities of between 100 and 200 miles per hour, according to Alvarez, who estimated their travel time decades ago.

"You can imagine standing there being pelted by these glass spherules. They could have killed you," Richards said. Many believe that the rain of debris was so intense that the energy ignited wildfires over the entire American continent, if not around the world.

"Tsunamis from the Chicxulub impact are certainly well-documented, but no one knew how far something like that would go into an inland sea," DePalma said. "When Mark came aboard, he discovered a remarkable artifactthat the incoming seismic waves from the impact site would have arrived at just about the same time as the atmospheric travel time of the ejecta. That was our big breakthrough."

At least two huge seiches inundated the land, perhaps 20 minutes apart, leaving six feet of deposits covering the fossils. Overlaying this is a layer of clay rich in iridium, a metal rare on Earth, but common in asteroids and comets. This layer is known as the K-T, or K-Pg boundary, marking the end of the Cretaceous Period and the beginning of the Tertiary Period, or Paleogene.

Iridium

In 1979, Alvarez and his father, Nobelist Luis Alvarez of UC Berkeley, were the first to recognize the significance of iridium that is found in 66 million-year-old rock layers around the world. They proposed that a comet or asteroid impact was responsible for both the iridium at the K-T boundary and the mass extinction.

The impact would have melted the bedrock under the seafloor and pulverized the asteroid, sending dust and melted rock into the stratosphere, where winds would have carried them around the planet and blotted out the sun for months, if not years. Debris would have rained down from the sky: not only tektites, but also rock debris from the continental crust, including shocked quartz, whose crystal structure was deformed by the impact.

The iridium-rich dust from the pulverized meteor would have been the last to fall out of the atmosphere after the impact, capping off the Cretaceous.

"When we proposed the impact hypothesis to explain the great extinction, it was based just on finding an anomalous concentration of iridiumthe fingerprint of an asteroid or comet," said Alvarez. "Since then, the evidence has gradually built up. But it never crossed my mind that we would find a deathbed like this."

Key confirmation of the meteor hypothesis was the discovery of a buried impact crater, Chicxulub, in the Caribbean and off the coast of the Yucatan in Mexico, that was dated to exactly the age of the extinction. Shocked quartz and glass spherules were also found in K-Pg layers worldwide. The new discovery at Tanis is the first time the debris produced in the impact was found along with animals killed in the immediate aftermath of the impact.

"And now we have this magnificent and completely unexpected site that Robert DePalma is excavating in North Dakota, which is so rich in detailed information about what happened as a result of the impact," Alvarez said. "For me, it is very exciting and gratifying!"

Tektites

Jan Smit, a retired professor of sedimentary geology from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam in The Netherlands who is considered the world expert on tektites from the impact, joined DePalma to analyze and date the tektites from the Tanis site. Many were found in near perfect condition embedded in amber, which at the time was pliable pine pitch.

"I went to the site in 2015 and, in front of my eyes, he (DePalma) uncovered a charred log or tree trunk about four meters long which was covered in amber, which acted as sort of an aerogel and caught the tektites when they were coming down," Smit said. "It was a major discovery, because the resin, the amber, covered the tektites completely, and they are the most unaltered tektites I have seen so far, not 1 percent of alteration. We dated them, and they came out to be exactly from the K-T boundary."

The tektites in the fishes' gills are also a first.

"Paddlefish swim through the water with their mouths open, gaping, and in this net, they catch tiny particles, food particles, in their gill rakers, and then they swallow, like a whale shark or a baleen whale," Smit said. "They also caught tektites. That by itself is an amazing fact. That means that the first direct victims of the impact are these accumulations of fishes."

Smit also noted that the buried body of a Triceratops and a duck-billed hadrosaur proves beyond a doubt that dinosaurs were still alive at the time of the impact.

"We have an amazing array of discoveries which will prove in the future to be even more valuable," Smit said. "We have fantastic deposits that need to be studied from all different viewpoints. And I think we can unravel the sequence of incoming ejecta from the Chicxulub impact in great detail, which we would never have been able to do with all the other deposits around the Gulf of Mexico."

"So far, we have gone 40 years before something like this turned up that may very well be unique," Smit said. "So, we have to be very careful with that place, how we dig it up and learn from it. This is a great gift at the end of my career. Walter sees it as the same."

Explore further What was the impact that killed the dinosaurs?

More information: "Prelude to Extinction: a seismically induced onshore surge deposit at the KPg boundary, North Dakota," by Robert DePalma et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences "Prelude to Extinction: a seismically induced onshore surge deposit at the KPg boundary, North Dakota," by Robert DePalma et al.(2019). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1817407116
Members of the NASA Mars Helicopter team inspect the flight model (the actual vehicle going to the Red Planet), inside the Space Simulator, a 25-foot-wide (7.62-meter-wide) vacuum chamber at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on Feb. 1, 2019. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Since the Wright brothers first took to the skies of Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina, Dec. 17, 1903, first flights have been important milestones in the life of any vehicle designed for air travel. After all, it's one thing to design an aircraft and make it fly on paperor computer. It is quite another to put all the pieces together and watch them get off the ground.

In late January 2019, all the pieces making up the flight model (actual vehicle going to the Red Planet) of NASA's Mars Helicopter were put to the test.

Weighing in at no more than 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms), the helicopter is a technology demonstration project currently going through the rigorous verification process certifying it for Mars.

The majority of the testing the flight model is going through had to do with demonstrating how it can operate on Mars, including how it performs at Mars-like temperatures. Can the helicopter surviveand functionin cold temperatures, including nights with temperatures as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius)?

All this testing is geared towards February 2021, when the helicopter will reach the surface of the Red Planet, firmly nestled under the belly of the Mars 2020 rover. A few months later, it will be deployed and test flights (up to 90 seconds long) will beginthe first from the surface of another world.

"Gearing up for that first flight on Mars, we have logged over 75 minutes of flying time with an engineering model, which was a close approximation of our helicopter," said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Mars Helicopter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "But this recent test of the flight model was the real deal. This is our helicopter bound for Mars. We needed to see that it worked as advertised."

Members of NASA's Mars Helicopter team prepare the flight model (vehicle going to Mars) for a test in the Space Simulator, a 25-foot-wide (7.62-meter-wide) vacuum chamber at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The image was taken on Jan. 18, 2019. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

While flying helicopters is commonplace here on Earth, flying hundreds of millions of miles (kilometers) away in the thin Martian atmosphere is something else entirely. And creating the right conditions for testing here on Earth presents its own set of challenges.

"The Martian atmosphere is only about one percent the density of Earth's," said Aung. "Our test flights could have similar atmospheric density here on Earthif you put your airfield 100,000 feet (30,480 meters) up. So you can't go somewhere and find that. You have to make it."

Aung and her Mars Helicopter team did just that in JPL's Space Simulator, a 25-foot-wide (7.62-meter-wide) vacuum chamber. First, the team created a vacuum that sucks out all the nitrogen, oxygen and other gases from the air inside the mammoth cylinder. In their place the team injected carbon dioxide, the chief ingredient of Mars' atmosphere.

"Getting our helicopter into an extremely thin atmosphere is only part of the challenge," said Teddy Tzanetos, test conductor for the Mars Helicopter at JPL. "To truly simulate flying on Mars we have to take away two-thirds of Earth's gravity, because Mars' gravity is that much weaker."

The team accomplished this with a gravity offload systema motorized lanyard attached to the top of the helicopter to provide an uninterrupted tug equivalent to two-thirds of Earth's gravity. While the team was understandably concerned with how the helicopter would fare on its first flight, they were equally concerned with how the gravity offload system would perform.

"The gravity offload system performed perfectly, just like our helicopter," said Tzanetos. "We only required a 2-inch (5-centimeter) hover to obtain all the data sets needed to confirm that our Mars helicopter flies autonomously as designed in a thin Mars-like atmosphere; there was no need to go higher. It was a heck of a first flight."

More than 1,500 individual pieces of carbon fiber, flight-grade aluminum, silicon, copper, foil and foam go into a Mars Helicopter. This image of the Flight Model (the actual vehicle going to the Red Planet), was taken on Feb. 1, 2019 when the helicopter was inside the Space Simulator, a 25-foot (7.62 meter) wide vacuum chamber at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Mars Helicopter's first flight was followed up by a second in the vacuum chamber the following day. Logging a grand total of one minute of flight time at an altitude of 2 inches (5 centimeters), more than 1,500 individual pieces of carbon fiber, flight-grade aluminum, silicon, copper, foil and foam have proven that they can work together as a cohesive unit.

"The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," said Aung. "Watching our helicopter go through its paces in the chamber, I couldn't help but think about the historic vehicles that have been in there in the past. The chamber hosted missions from the Ranger Moon probes to the Voyagers to Cassini, and every Mars rover ever flown. To see our helicopter in there reminded me we are on our way to making a little chunk of space history as well."

The Mars Helicopter project at JPL in Pasadena, California, manages the helicopter development for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The Mars Helicopter will launch as a technology demonstrator with the Mars 2020 rover on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in July 2020 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. It is expected to reach Mars in February 2021.

The 2020 rover will conduct geological assessments of its landing site on Mars, determine the habitability of the environment, search for signs of ancient Martian life, and assess natural resources and hazards for future human explorers. Scientists will use the instruments aboard the rover to identify and collect samples of rock and soil, encase them in sealed tubes, and leave them on the planet's surface for potential return to Earth on a future Mars mission.

Explore further NASA plans to send mini-helicopter to Mars
Rice University chemists discovered that stir bars covered in PTFE, also known as Teflon, react with chemicals in an unexpected way during the modification of nanotubes through Billups-Birch reduction. The bars that start out (and usually stay) white turn black in the solution and alter the results. Credit: Brandon Martin/Rice University

The stirrers that mix cream into your coffee probably don't make much difference to the drink. But in a chemistry lab, it turns out using the wrong stirrer can skew the science.

Rice University scientists have determined that stir bars made of PTFE, more commonly known as Teflon, can introduce errors into a standard lab reaction used to manipulate the properties of carbon or boron-nitride nanotubes.

Stir bars are pellet-like rods of ferromagnetic metal covered in PTFE that sit in the bottom of a beaker and are turned by a rotating magnetic field. They allow a solution to be mixed in a closed flask without manual stirring.

The Rice lab of Angel Marti published a paper in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Omega outlining what happens when PTFE stir bars are used to functionalize nanotubes through Billups-Birch reduction, a long-used reaction developed in part by Rice Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Edward Billups that frees electrons to bind with other atoms.

Reduction is often used to make nanotubes more amenable to functionalization, the process of customizing them for applications by adding molecules like proteins. That can be as simple as dispersing nanotubes in a chemical bath laden with the molecules you want to add. Billups-Birch is one such method, a one-step process used to functionalize nanotubes with a variety of molecules, according to the researchers.

A pristine stir bar made of ferromagnetic metal with a PTFE, or Teflon, coating. Rice University chemists discovered the inert bars, which are commonly used to mix chemicals, cause unwanted results during Billups-Birch reactions with carbon and other nanotubes. Credit: Brandon Martin/Rice University

When they used it to modify nanotubes of boron-nitride, the researchers were surprised to see their tubes turn gray, while the PTFE stir bars turned black. Standard thermogravimetric analysis, usually adequate to see evidence of functionalization, didn't see anything wrongbut the researchers did.

"Aside from that, we couldn't get consistent results," Marti said. "Sometimes we would get very high functionalizationor apparent functionalizationand sometimes we wouldn't. That was really strange."

They found the lithium in the ammonia-based solvent used in the Billups-Birch reaction was reacting with the white PTFE from the bars, turning them black.

"Because carbon nanotubes are black, it would be easy to believe that nanotubes were depositing on the bars throughout the reaction," Marti said. "But that's not what happens. We found that in Billups-Birch conditions, the PTFE reacts.

"Teflon doesn't generally react with anything," he said. "That's why it's used in stir bars, and in cookware. That's why it's also easy to overlook what we saw happening in the lab."

Rice University chemists who discovered that chemicals used in Billups-Birch reductions of carbon nanotubes react with the white PTFE stir bars, turning them black. They recommend using glass stir bars, like the one in the middle, for such reductions. Credit: Brandon Martin/Rice University

Marti said search of the literature turned up nothing about avoiding PTFE in Billups-Birch.

"That was odd, too," he said. "Maybe everybody else knowsbut just in case we decided to explore the problem. That's why we decided to write a paper."

The researchers suspect the unexpected reaction with Teflon is creating radicals that reduce the efficiency of the reaction and that can attack the boron-nitride or carbon nanotubes. In the meantime, their quick solution to the problem is perhaps the simplest.

"Now we use glass-coated stir bars," Marti said. "Glass is completely inert. That gives us reproducibility and good functionalization."

Explore further Researchers enhance boron nitride nanotubes for next-gen composites

More information: Carlos A. de los Reyes et al, Adverse Effect of PTFE Stir Bars on the Covalent Functionalization of Carbon and Boron Nitride Nanotubes Using BillupsBirch Reduction Conditions, ACS Omega (2019). Journal information: ACS Omega Carlos A. de los Reyes et al, Adverse Effect of PTFE Stir Bars on the Covalent Functionalization of Carbon and Boron Nitride Nanotubes Using BillupsBirch Reduction Conditions,(2019). DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b03677
Purdue University researchers have developed a new probe to monitor and label immunoproteasome-expressing cells. Credit: Purdue University

One frustration for doctors and patients dealing with certain cancers and autoimmune diseases is that they know the cause, but they don't know how to reduce its effects in the body.

A clue can be found with the immunoproteasome, a protein complex in the body that is present in specific types of cancers, such as colorectal, colon and breast. It also is present in autoimmune diseases where cells have encountered a pro-inflammatory signal where the body's immune cells start to attack and destroy themselves. Identifying and reducing this autoimmune response is an ongoing challenge for medical professionals.

"It is well understood which types of cells will express the immunoproteasome," said Darci Trader, an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology in Purdue's College of Pharmacy, who leads the research team. "How its activity can be perturbed to affect disease is not."

Trader and her Purdue University team have designed a new probe to monitor and label immunoproteasome-expressing cells.

Current probes are inefficient for monitoring the activity of the immunoproteasome in live cells because they are not very cell permeable and can easily be degraded by other cellular proteases. The work is published in the March 20 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

"Having an immunoproteasome-selective probe that can work in live cells allows for a quicker readout of how small molecules are affecting the activity of the immunoproteasome," Trader said. "We are going to use our new immunoproteasome probe to discover small molecules to help tweak the immune system response for people dealing with cancers, infections and autoimmune diseases."

In the case of cancer or infections, the aim is a quicker immune system response. In the case of autoimmune diseases, the goal is to lessen the immune systems response. As the probe fluoresces to indicate immunoproteasome is present, the identification of small molecules could lead to increasing or decreasing the immune system response to best serve the patient.

Trader said they also are working to test the ability of the probe to detect the immunoproteasome and then use it as a vehicle to release drugs to treat cancer and other diseases. They are specifically looking at the use of prodrugs, which are biologically inactive compounds that selectively produce medication effects based on how they are created.

Explore further Long-term prevention of organ rejection

More information: Breanna L. Zerfas et al. Monitoring the Immunoproteasome in Live Cells Using an Activity-Based PeptidePeptoid Hybrid Probe, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2019). Journal information: Journal of the American Chemical Society Breanna L. Zerfas et al. Monitoring the Immunoproteasome in Live Cells Using an Activity-Based PeptidePeptoid Hybrid Probe,(2019). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b12873
The Eurasian lynx. Credit: Magnus Johansson, CC BY-SA 2.0

Experts have used an innovative approach to model the proposed reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx to Scotland.

Researchers used state-of-the-art tools to help identify the most suitable location for lynx reintroduction in Scotland  and how this choice might affect the size of a population and its expansion over subsequent decades. Significantly, they believe their model will inform and enhance decision-making around large carnivore reintroductions worldwide.

The work was led by Tom Ovenden as his Masters in Environmental Forestry research project at Bangor University, with support from the University of Aberdeen.

Mr Ovenden said: "Reintroducing large carnivores is often complicated and expensive, meaning that getting things right first time is extremely important. Therefore, advances in modelling approaches, as utilised during our study, are extremely valuable.

"Our research considered several proposed reintroduction sites, showing how these models can be used as a safe and relatively inexpensive way of assessing the suitability of reintroduction proposals and providing the evidence required to inform decision-making at an early stage.

"Recent advances in both ecological theory and modelling approaches have made the incorporation of individual species' complex behaviours in novel environments more realistic. We applied this approach to the potential reintroduction of Eurasian lynx in Scotland  and demonstrated the power of this new, sophisticated model. Our research demonstrates the potential of this approach to be applied elsewhere to help improve reintroduction success in large carnivores, from the safety of a modelling environment."

The lynx is thought to have become extinct in the UK during the medieval period, around 1,300 years ago. In recent years, its potential reintroduction has been widely debated.

Using current land cover data, Mr Ovenden conducted an initial desk-based study to establish the current location and extent of suitable forest habitat for lynx in Scotland, updating historic work. Further research to identify the demographic and dispersal characteristics of the lynx elsewhere in Europe, provided the model with the necessary parameters.

The team used this information to investigate the suitability of three proposed release sites: the Scottish component of Kielder Forest, in the Borders; Aberdeenshire; and the Kintyre Peninsula. They used the model to assess how the lynx would establish a population, spread and colonise new habitat from each potential reintroduction site over a period of 100 years.

The results showed that Scotland possesses sufficient, connected habitat to offer a realistic chance of population establishment and that some sites are more suitable than others.

Of the three sites considered, the study indicated that the Kintyre Peninsula was the most suitable, with the population spreading across the Highlands in the 100 years following release. Significantly, the Central Belt would act as a barrier to colonisation between the Highlands and Southern Uplands providing evidence for two distinct habitat networks.

"This initial research is encouraging and suggests that Scotland is indeed ecologically suitable for the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx  but this suitability is highly dependent on where reintroduction takes place and more modelling work is required," Mr Ovenden said. "Our research informs one aspect of a complex decision-making process that must involve a wide range of stakeholders and, as a result, it does not recommend whether we should, or should not, reintroduce Eurasian lynx to Scotland.

Notably, Mr Ovenden wrote his entire dissertation using solar power, while running the Handa Island nature reserve, in the Inner Hebrides, for the Scottish Wildlife Trust. He worked under the supervision of Professor John Healey, at Bangor Universitys School of Natural Sciences and collaborated with Dr Steve Palmer and Professor Justin Travis, of the University of Aberdeen.

Professor Healey added "We have established a solid foundation for future modelling, however further research is required to assess other important issues, such as socio-economic factors and public attitudes, to enable informed, comprehensive decision-making. It is our hope that this tool will not only provide evidence to guide the current debate about reintroduction of lynx to Great Britain, but can be used more widely in discussions around large carnivore reintroductions globally."

Jo Pike, Director of Public Affairs at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, said: "Returning the lynx to our landscape as a top predator could help restore the health of Scotland's natural ecosystems. Any future reintroduction would have to be carefully planned, widely consulted on, and rigorously assessed against national and international guidelines. This research is a useful contribution to the evidence base that needs to be developed over the coming years."

Explore further Britain may reintroduce wolf and lynx

More information: Thomas S. Ovenden et al. Improving reintroduction success in large carnivores through individual-based modelling: How to reintroduce Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) to Scotland, Biological Conservation (2019). Journal information: Biological Conservation Thomas S. Ovenden et al. Improving reintroduction success in large carnivores through individual-based modelling: How to reintroduce Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) to Scotland,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2019.03.035
There are no signs that hybrids of dog and wolf have contributed to the Scandinavian wolf population  a matter that has been discussed, especially in Norway. These wolves appear to have originated from the Nordic region or adjacent parts of Northern Europe, new genetic research from Uppsala University shows.

In every mammal, the male-specific Y chromosome is passed on from father to son only. Patrilines (lines of descent) are thus formed. These can be followed very far back in time, enabling the origin of animals living today to be traced.

Linnea Smeds, bioinformatician and Ph.D. student at the Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, surveyed the composition of the wolf's Y chromosome. Subsequently, she compared Y chromosomes in wolves from Scandinavia, Finland and other parts of the world, and in dogs.

"The lines of descent found in the Scandinavian wolf population haven't been found in any dogs," says Hans Ellegren, Professor of Evolutionary Biology, who headed the present study.

Wolf-dog hybrids  crosses between wolf and dog  are known from many parts of the world. This has mainly been the result of male dogs mating with female wolves. One such hybrid was found south-west of Stockholm, in 2017; another turned up near Oslo 20 years ago. In the Storting, the Norwegian parliament, the question has been raised of whether the wolves returning to Scandinavia in the 1980s, after they had been virtually exterminated, even had some elements from dogs in their genetic ancestry.

However, the new genetic findings thus show that crosses of this kind do not appear to be involved in the wild wolf population in Scandinavia. The same patrilines that were found in Scandinavian wolves also existed in Finnish ones, but not in wolves elsewhere in the world.

"So it's plausible that the Scandinavian wolf population, at least in the male line of descent, is of regional origin. There may, for instance, have been migrating wolves or wolves quite simply remaining from the population that once ranged throughout Scandinavia," Ellegren says.

Today, immigration of wolves is regarded as genetically valuable, to counteract the inbreeding that occurs in the Scandinavian wolf population.

Explore further Genome sequencing reveals extensive inbreeding in Scandinavian wolves

More information: Linnea Smeds et al. The evolutionary history of grey wolf Y chromosomes, Molecular Ecology (2019). Journal information: Molecular Ecology Linnea Smeds et al. The evolutionary history of grey wolf Y chromosomes,(2019). DOI: 10.1111/mec.15054
Kiambu politician William Kabogo has cautioned president Uhuru Kenyatta against betraying DP Ruto in 2022.

According to the former Kiambu governor, if it were not for Ruto, Uhuru could not have won the elections in 2013 and 2017.

I know where DP and the President started their political union. Uhuru and I drove to Rutos Karen home. We sat under a tree for three days negotiating a working relationshipRuto helped Uhuru to win. Do you think we would have won without Ruto? posed Kabogo.

The former governor further cast doubt on the March,2018 handshake between the President and Raila Odinga, saying if it was genuinely meant to bring peace, it would have involved DP Ruto and other leaders from the Opposition.

Where Raila gets into, things turn bad if indeed this handshake was to bring peace, why did they not involved Ruto and Kalonzo Musyoka? We would now be enjoying peace, said Kabogo who was speaking in an interview with Media Max-owned Kalenjin radio station Emoo FM.

Other leaders from Mt Kenya who are cautioning President Kenyatta against reneging on his promise to support Dp Ruto are Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu.

According to Baba Yao, Jubilee should not entertain Raila because he has a history of destroying political outfits.

We know that Raila Odinga destroyed Kanu, Narc and now Nasa. We should not entertain him if our Jubilee agenda for Kenya is to be implemented, Waititu said.

Waititu maintained that Central Kenya will back DP Ruto in 2022.

We want to make it clear that as people from Mt Kenya, we are not political conmen. We promised in 2013 that we support President Kenyatta for 10 years and Ruto for another 10 years. Our agreement still stands, he said.
This Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 photo shows male mosquitos at the the Vosshall Laboratory at Rockefeller University in New York. In 2018, researchers at the lab published a much-improved description of the DNA code for a particularly dangerous species of mosquito: Aedes aegypti, notorious for spreading Zika, dengue and yellow fever. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Just about every week, it seems, scientists publish the unique DNA code of some creature or plant. Just in February, they published the genome for the strawberry, the paper mulberry tree, the great white shark and the Antarctic blackfin icefish.

They also announced that, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign, they'd produced the genome of Lil BUB, a female cat with a large internet following.

That followed a notable advance in January: an improved genome for the axolotl, a salamander renowned for regrowing severed limbs and other body parts.

Scientists have been uncovering genomes for quite a while. The first from an animala wormcame in 1998. Now, the technology has advanced far enough that scientists last year announced a project to produce the genomes for all life forms on Earth other than bacteria and single-celled organisms called archaea. They called it a "moonshot for biology."

But what's the point of uncovering new genomes?

For scientists, a detailed look under the hood of their favorite organism provides a foothold for learning the deepest secrets of their objects of attention, it leads to discoveries about how life works, and possibly how to prevent disease.

Take the mosquito. Late last year, researchers published a much-improved description of the DNA code for a particularly dangerous species of mosquito: Aedes aegypti, notorious for spreading Zika, dengue and yellow fever.

In this Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 photo, researcher Ben Matthews speaks in a room housing mosquitos in the Vosshall Laboratory at Rockefeller University in New York. Knowing the DNA sequence lets scientists manipulate it with gene editing techniques, said Matthews, who was part of the international team that published the refined description of the mosquito genome in November 2018. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

That achievement came from analyzing the DNA of 80 mosquito brothers. They were born in Leslie Vosshall's lab at Rockefeller University in New York, where thousands of mosquitoes swarmed in cages recently as Krithika Venkataraman was trying to make some more.

She stuck a tube that protruded from her mouth like a straw into a transparent cube filled with male mosquitoes. Then she repeatedly sucked about 30 males at a time into the tube. She counted them, and then blew them into another cube that housed females. Before long, the two sexes were mating.

You can think of a genome as an instruction book for building a living thing. Its language is a four-letter alphabet, which stand for the four compounds that make up the innards of the DNA molecule. The order of those compounds along the molecule is the code; it creates "words" that we call genes.

The mosquito genome, for example, is about 1.28 billion letters long, a bit less than half the length of the human version. Knowing the DNA sequence lets scientists manipulate it with gene editing techniques, said Ben Matthews of the Vosshall lab, who was part of the international team that published the refined description of the mosquito genome last November.

And once researchers started analyzing that version of the DNA code, discoveries began to pop out.

In this Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 photo, PhD student Krithika Venkataraman mates mosquitos by blowing males into a container housing females at the the Vosshall Laboratory of Rockefeller University in New York. Researchers nearly doubled the known size of a family of genes that help mosquitoes sense information from their environment, such as the odor of humans. That was "totally, mind-blowingly, unexpected," Leslie Vosshall says. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

 They nearly doubled the known size of a family of genes that help mosquitoes sense information from their environment, such as the odor of humans. That was "totally, mind-blowingly, unexpected," Vosshall said. (Vosshall's salary is paid by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which also supports The Associated Press Health & Science Department.)

Further study may reveal surprises about what mosquitoes pay attention to, Vosshall said. And that could lead to better lures for mosquito traps, as well as better repellents. Maybe scientists can find something "10,000 times more disgusting" to a mosquito than the old standby, DEET, she said.

 They found new details about genes that let some mosquitoes resist certain insecticides. That's a possible step toward predicting what insecticides would be useless for fighting certain populations, as well as a potential lead for coming up with new chemical weapons against the insect.

 They found previously unknown targets for a major class of insecticides. That could open the door to designing new versions that target mosquitoes while sparing beneficial insects and posing less risk to people.

 They narrowed the search for genetic variants that prevent some Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from infecting people with dengue, a severe flu-like illness that sickens millions every year. If those variants can be identified, scientists might use genetic engineering to reproduce them in some mosquitoes, which could then be released to spread the variants though wild populations, Vosshall said. Those variants, or others, might also work for reducing threats of spreading Zika and yellow fever, Vosshall and Matthews said.

In this Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 photo, research assistant Anjali Pandey sorts mosquito larvae with edited DNA in the the Vosshall Laboratory at Rockefeller University in New York. Their eyes glowed red or blue under her microscope to indicate they were carrying genetic modifications. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

 A similar strategy might be used to make mosquito populations overproduce males. That would reduce mosquito bites in the short termonly females biteand open the door to shrinking wild populations through genetic engineering. The new genome revealed details of the DNA stretch that makes mosquitoes develop as males, which Matthews called "step one" in pursuing the make-more-males strategy.

The salamander genome published in January built on a previous publication by European scientists last year. Although its genome is about 10 times the size of the human one, which makes the analysis harder, the axolotl's regenerating capabilities are an obvious lure.

Axolotls can replace "almost anything you can cut off of them, as long as you don't cut off their heads," says Jeramiah Smith of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, an author of the more recent genome paper.

But Smith points to another trick that might pay off sooner for human medicine: The salamander can also heal large wounds without scarring.

As for learning how to let people grow back a severed arm, he figures that's a long way off.

This undated microscope image provided by researcher Ben Matthews of Rockefeller University in February 2019 shows mosquito larvae studied at the Vosshall Laboratory in New York. In November 2018, researchers at the lab published a much-improved description of the DNA code for a particularly dangerous species of mosquito: Aedes aegypti, notorious for spreading Zika, dengue and yellow fever. (Ben Matthews/Rockefeller University via AP)

"That probably won't be useful for me," joked Smith, who's 42. "I'll be dead, so I won't need to grow my arm back."

And Lil BUB ? She's the size of a kitten even though she's 8 years old, and has a number of other odd traits. Scientists looked for genetic mutations, and found altered genes that appear to be responsible for her extra toes and for a rare bone disease.

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
A field imaged in different regions of the spectrum by drone. Credit: Imperial College London

Researchers are trialling the use of drones to monitor coffee plant health in Thailand in a bid to prevent the spread of disease.

Around 95 million cups of coffee are drunk a day in the UK alone, but the coffee plant is susceptible to a fungal disease known as coffee rust. This disease is devastating to the plant and can wipe out vast swathes of crops or even entire plantations.

If a coffee plantation is hit by disease it can destroy an entire family's livelihood. In the lower-income regions where coffee is grown, farmers also tend not to use expensive fungicides that could prevent the disease. This is also because they want to grow coffee without using chemicals to secure organic certification.

Now, a team led by Dr. Oliver Windram from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial are hoping to be able to prevent the spread of coffee rust using drones, and have been testing this out in the coffee growing areas of Thailand.

The idea is that if farmers can spot that disease has started to affect their crops, they can remove the affected plants to prevent it spreading further. This method would also allow them to control disease without chemical fungicides.

Credit: Imperial College London

Dr. Windram said: "Coffee rust can be utterly devastating to farmers who rely on the income for their livelihoods. The benefit of using drones is that they are non-invasive and do not damage the product, but also they are able to get a much more comprehensive view from the air than any farmer can from the ground. We hope the drones will be able to spot the disease early enough before it decimates the crop."

From astronomy to agriculture

Dr. Windram has been working with Professor Katherine Denby, a plant scientist from the University of York, and astrophysicist Dr. Anthony Brown, of Durham University, to adapt a technique commonly used in astronomy called multispectral imaging to spot the coffee rust.

Multispectral imaging is a technique utilised in many scientific fields, from biology to astronomy, and is used to collect image data at different frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum, including frequencies beyond visible light such as infrared.

Dr. Brown said: "With hill farmers unable to afford fungicides, early detection of coffee leaf rust and removal of infected trees is critical. We will use drones to gather multispectral image data to identify coffee plants in hillside fields and identify initial signatures for detection of coffee leaf rust prior to visible symptoms."

Credit: Imperial College London

For the first phase of the project, the team has recently returned from a trip to the Chiang Rai province of Thailand, where they began surveying coffee fields and collecting image data of various crops. They partnered with a drone company in Thailand called Skyviv and the coffee growers Akha Ama and Abonzo coffee.

They will use this data to start to train machine learning algorithms, with the aim of having an instrument able to recognise and map coffee plants when they are mixed in with other crops, and to spot signs of disease in real-world settings. They also want to use this mapping to better understand how the disease spreads.

Identifying varieties

Dr. Windram said: "Having located coffee in the field we would then like to track the spread of coffee leaf rust in coffee plants and as part of this investigate how different plant community structures influence the spread of this pathogen.

"We have shown that we can use multispectral sensing to differentiate between coffee plants infected with rust and those that are not. We can also distinguish between different types of coffee cultivars using this technology."

Credit: Imperial College London

Historically, growers have planted coffee plants without knowing which cultivars (varieties) they were using. Now, growers are more aware of which cultivars produce better yields and bean qualities, so helping them identify their crops will help them decide which to keep and which to replace.

Impact on the ground

The research project has been funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Food Network+, which brings together researchers from STFC and different disciplines in the agri-food sector with the aim of solving some of the world's greatest food sustainability challenges.

The project has now received additional funding from the STFC Food Network+ and will be looking to develop a custom built multispectrum camera that will be optimised for differentiating coffee cultivars and coffee leaf rust infections. This will allow Dr. Windram's team to gather more data and make the method more robust, before it can be deployed in other countries.

Dr. Windram added: "If this all goes to plan I can see real impact being made on the ground on coffee farms within the next five years.

Explore further How much coffee is OK?
A large, sea jelly-like antenna shadow from the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. Credit: NASA

Between 1969 and 1972, a new type of archaeological site was created. For the first time, human bodies and the technology needed to sustain them altered the landscape of another world. The astronauts from the six Apollo missions left a suite of space-age artefacts behind on the lunar surface. And not only that: the missions brought to the moon new kinds of shadows, cast by machines and bodies and flags and rovers, in an interplay of movement and stillness.

On Earth, the movement of living things, the changing of the environment, both natural and cultural; and the weather, which occludes sunlight to different degrees, make shadows very dynamic. Lunar shadows, however, are more passive at human time scales, their movement identical with the fortnightly passage of the sun over the surface.

The Apollo missions brought shadows that were not so passive. The speed of the shadows differed, depending on the activity being carried out, and was much faster than the slow passing of the day. Some shadows were solid black and some were lacy and textured, reflecting the mesh on the umbrella-shaped antennas.

They crossed and uncrossed with the angle of the sun and the movement of the astronauts around the tiny landscapes that constituted their lunar experience. The shadows were captured and frozen in many photographs of the Apollo missions; in these photos, they became another type of artefact.

And then some shadows left, never to return, and others stayed to be swallowed by the lunar night and emerge into day again. The shadows of the objects left behinddescent modules, rovers, cameras and other equipmentwill continue to be cast over the lunar surface until they decay in tens, hundreds or thousands of years. The objects don't move, but their shadows circle them in diurnal devotion, sundials without a mission.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched in 2009, used the shadows to detect the presence of these orphaned items of material culture. We've been able to get images of Tranquility Base, and the other landing sites, from the satellite flying over. The famous Apollo 11 flag, planted in July 1969, is alas no longer standing, probably knocked over when the ascent module lifted off and blew dust all over the Dust Detector Experiment - a tiny cube made out of solar panels designed by Australian space scientist Professor Brian O'Brien.

The Apollo 17 lunar rover and its shadows. Credit: NASA

In my quest for the meaning of lunar shadows, I first had to investigate what kind of thing a shadow actually was. It was not a silhouette, which is the dark outline of an object, generally against a light background. Nor is it a reflection, where an object throws back light to create a counter-image. It's not albedo, which is the amount of light a surface absorbs. (The more light is absorbed, the darker the surface appears.)

When we look at the moon from Earth, much of the difference in light and dark areas results from albedo rather than shadows. It was Sir Isaac Newton, in the 17th century, who established that darkness was not a positive force like light, and shadows were caused by the absence of light.

Then there is chiaroscuro, meaning the contrasts between light and shadows  used by artists to create three-dimensional effects on two-dimensional flat surfaces. Chiaroscuro doesn't just occur on the canvas either: we use shadows in depth perception in everyday life. Shadows themselves are 2-D representations of 3-D objects.

As I was scrolling through Apollo images in NASA's online archives, I noted the many shadow astronauts with elongated legs, present yet absent in the photographs they were taking for the audience back on Earth. They seemed so lonely and silent; and I was reminded of a well-known series of paintings by the artist Giorgio de Chirico.

Around 1910, he started working on a theme in which shadows figured prominently. The paintings were often of empty town squares with statues, towers and arched building facades. The shadows were sharp and elongated and seemed at odds with the strength of the light. He wasn't using the shadows to create depth, but to subvert the conventions of "perspective illusionism".

More than the physical perception, shadows are highly symbolic. They represent melancholy, concealment and secrecy. They symbolise death and the soul, the supernatural, dreams and ghosts, the underworld, coolness and rest on a hot day.

Shadow astronauts: Alan Bean and Peter Conrad, from the Apollo 12 mission in 1969. Credit: NASA

Shadows are visible but not tangible. Their disposition varies with the angle of the light sources. I wondered if shadows had been a factor in considering the aesthetic values of heritage sites on Earth.

My searches in the heritage registers of various countries did not produce much. Usually shadows were considered as part of the built environment, and their impacts were mostly characterised in negative terms, as shadows cast by more recent buildings could affect the perception of a heritage feature on an older building.

There were two exceptions I found in the World Heritage List. Both referred to shadows cast by fortified city walls. These shadows created a sense of belonging and protection for the communities living within them. So there was some precedent for considering shadows as part of the fabric and cultural significance of a heritage site.

A descent into darkness

It's 21 July 1969. Neil Armstrong is descending the ladder from the Apollo 11 landing module. As he sets foot on the moon, he utters words which have since become immortal.But he also says something else. "It's quite dark here in the shadow and a little hard for me to see that I have good footing."

He had descended into something the moon had never seen before: the shadow cast by a crewed vehicle, the landing module. Shadows were to play a large role in the unfolding lunar mission.

Piazza, by Giorgio de Chirico, 1913. Credit: Museo Nacional de Belles Artes, Argentina

Landing the Eagle safely meant learning how to interpret what the shadows said about the unevenness of the terrain. Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had to conduct their scientific work in these unusual shadows, which often made parts of equipment that fell into their deep black invisible. But the shadows were also the subject of investigation. They assessed temperature changes within them. They observed the effects of shadows on visibility.

One of the first things the astronauts did was make observations about the impact of their boots on the lunar regolith, the dry dust and broken rock which covers the moon's surface. The ridges in the soles, images of which have been reproduced countless times, were in fact an experiment: the contrast between the light and shade in the ridges was a way to measure the reflectance properties of the dust, and the angles allowed calculation of the depth to which the astronauts sank into it. Armstrong commented: "It does adhere in fine layers like powdered charcoal to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles."

Over the course of the surface mission, the astronauts took over 600 images and films. In these images we see the long shadows cast by the light of the sun and Earth around the astronauts, the landing module, flag and other objects.

The disposition of the shadows forms part of the corpus of conspiracy theories claiming the lunar landings were faked. It's argued that the angles of the shadows make no sense and are caused by the lighting in a film studio, where actors lumbered about pretending to be in low gravity. This very much reminds me of the counter-intuitive shadows of de Chirico's paintings.

People with far greater knowledge than I have debunked the theories, but I think there's another aspect to the shadow conspiracies. Shadows conceal and obfuscate; they create illusions by distorting height and proportions, but moon conspiracy theorists look to shadows to reveal the truth. In Plato's famous allegory of the cave, captives only know the world through the shadows cast on the cave wall by people and objects moving behind them. The shadows are an imperfect and distorted reflection of the real form of the objects. In their own minds, the conspiracy theorists are like the escaped captive who emerges from the cave to perceive the true cause of the shadows.

The shadows are signs that can be read, and the LRO used them to locate the six Apollo landing sites. Orbiting as close as 50 kilometres from the surface, it could see the shadows cast by the landing modules, instrument packages and even the flags. The astronaut traverses and rover tracks from Apollo 1517 were visible as dark wiggles, like the burrowings of an insect in tree bark.

Neil Armstrong working in the shadow of the Apollo 11 descent module. Credit: NASA

There's no doubt in my mind, despite their intangible, ephemeral nature, that the Apollo shadows are a significant part of the fabric of the sites and of their cultural significance. Although abandoned by humans, the shadows mean the sites are not still. They've altered the temperature and light environment that existed in the landscape prior to the landings.

It is their difference from Earthly shadows which makes them significant; they are the shadows of humans and human artefacts in the light of another world, and they bring novel geometries and textures to lunar shadow topography.

Space archaeologist Beth Laura O'Leary and her team from the Lunar Legacy Project have already catalogued the artefacts at Tranquility Base; I would like to make a catalogue of the shadows. It's not only the hardware and the relationships between objects at the Apollo sites which could be damaged by careless visitation. The chiaroscuro created by the actions of these first humans could also be destroyed.

The shadows I find most compelling, though, are the shadow selfies of absent astronauts stalking on their long legs over the regolith, camera raised to their visor. They feel like Sigmund Freud's uncanny double or doppelganger, human but not quite.

They're silent, lonely and melancholy, as if Tranquility Base were a town square in a de Chirico painting. But there is also a kind of peace.

The Apollo 11 landing module and its shadows. According to the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, It is possible that this was an unintentional shot. Credit: NASA

The shadow of mining

For a few decades, the lunar sites were safe from disturbance. But now everyone wants to return to the moon. Distance will no longer protect lunar heritage, if we think it is worth protecting. It's not all about science or prestige any more, either, in the era when wealth is the driving force behind space exploration. The moon has resources that entrepreneurs on Earth would like to access.

These include rare earth elements, like yttrium and ytterbium, which are used in lasers, computers, mobile phones and car batteries; helium-3, which might be used as a clean nuclear fuel, and many others, such as water, which could be used to sustain a settlement on the moon in what's called In Situ Resource Utilisation.

The water ice hidden in the permanently shadowed polar craters is a resource that could be used to make fuel, as well as for habitation. People are going to be analysing the shadow landscape to locate resources for future industry.

Private companies have been established to pursue lunar and asteroid mining. Countries like the US and Luxembourg have put in place legislation to support commercial ventures on the moon and in the asteroid belt. People seem to accept that industry on the moon is not a matter of if any more, but when. And when it happens, there is going to be an almighty lot of abrasive, adhesive and corrosive lunar dust stirred up as rockets and rovers come and go. The future of lunar heritage is at risk.

My years of working in the terrestrial mining industry have suddenly become relevant to the future of space exploration. I think off-Earth mining companies are overlooking some critical processes.

Shadow astronauts: Dave Scott and Jim Irwin on the Apollo 15 mission, 1971. Credit: NASA

Disturbing the surface of the moon at an industrial level could have a negative impact on its cultural significance for the entire population of Earth. This is even before you consider possible damage to the lunar landing sites of many nations. There is an urgent need to develop an environmental management framework for space, and cultural heritage must be part of this. Space archaeologists have an important role to play in the next phase of human engagement with the solar system.

There are innumerable technical problems that need to be solved to have a viable lunar industry, but there's one big one that affects everything we might do on the moon. The Apollo astronauts found that lunar dust stuck to them and wouldn't come off. It clogged up their equipment seals and caused mechanical equipment to stop working properly. It coated instrument faces so that they couldn't be read  and this was after just a few days. We think of the astronauts in blindingly white spacesuits, but they ended up covered in dirt, much like an archaeologist in the trenches.

The dust contains tiny, sharp spicules of obsidian, a natural glass, that are very abrasive. It's also electrostatically charged from constant bombardment with solar particles and cosmic rays  there's little atmosphere to protect the surface, as we have on Earth. This makes it highly adhesive.

With space vehicles ferrying equipment, personnel and commercial products between the moon and Earth, there's going to be a lot of dust blown around. If solutions aren't found to control it, it's even possible that it will be blown up into lunar orbit and create a dust cloud around the moon. This is a critical problem to solve before any industrial activity takes place. John Young, the Apollo 16 commander in 1972, said, "Dust is the number one concern in returning to the moon."

Naturally the dust problem has occupied the minds of scientists working on lunar mining systems a great deal. Proposals to mitigate dust damage include building blast walls to contain it, fusing the dust into landing pads so that rocket take-offs and landings don't blow it around, and creating materials that repel it.

Some of these proposals will also minimise dust abrasion damage on historic lunar spacecraft. This is a rare occasion where the research needed to develop lunar resources also helps us protect some of the most significant sites of the 20th century. So there is some hope that we can ensure that the early history of human adaptation to space environments is not erased.

Magnified lunar dust particles. They have a vesicular texture and sharp edges, compared to terrestrial dusts which are often rounded by wind and water. Credit: NASA

This still leaves the bigger question. What about the moon itself? How will people feel if they look at the moon in the night sky, and know that it is being mined before their eyes? The moon is a universal cultural symbol that unites us from the earliest human ancestors millions of years ago into the deep future of humanity.

So far, all lunar missions have been small-scale and scientific. The presence of human sites, which we can't see from Earth even with the most powerful telescopes, has not diminished the intangible heritage of people's beliefs and dreams. But it might be different when we know that private corporations are making a profit from digging up the moon.

The Bingham Canyon copper mine, owned by Rio Tinto and located in Utah, is the largest open-cut mine pit in the world. It's been in production since 1906. What started as a tiny pit is now four kilometres across, 1900 hectares in area, and 1.2 kilometres deep. Imagine something like this  but on the moon. How would we feel if we could see a similar human-made crater from Earthwhether through telescopes or satellite images?

We shouldn't allow ourselves to be taken by surprise. We should be prepared for changes to the moon we think we know  to have to make new meanings for it, as we have had to for Earth and other places in the solar system, like Pluto. The Anthropocene era involves redistributing minerals and elements in a way that's geologically visible. If lunar mining goes ahead, there is going to be even more redistribution and exchange of terrestrial and lunar materials.

The search for water ice on the moon will be a journey into deep cold shadows at the poles which have lain undisturbed for as much as 3.6 billion years. Compared to this, the Apollo shadows are mere blips in lunar history.

Shadows on the moon create a symbolic landscape which can be read in many different ways. For me, Japanese novelist Junichiro Tanizaki, in his work In Praise of Shadows, captures the essence of these otherworldly shadows perfectly: "And yet, when we gaze into the darkness that gathers behind the crossbeam, around the flower vase, beneath the shelves, though we know perfectly well it is mere shadow, we are overcome with the feeling that in this small corner of the atmosphere there reigns complete and utter silence; that here in the darkness, immutable tranquillity holds sway."

Explore further Flags still standing at several Apollo landing sites on the moon

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

An international team of researchers from United Kingdom, Denmark, and Germany has found robust evidence for signatures of the 11-year sunspot cycle in the tropical Pacific. They analyzed historical time series of pressure, surface winds and precipitation with specific focus on the Walker Circulationa vast system of atmospheric flow in the tropical Pacific region that affects patterns of tropical rainfall. They have revealed that during periods of increased solar irradiance, the trade winds weaken and the Walker circulation shifts eastward.

Stergios Misios, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, said, "We deal with a very short record of observations in the tropical Pacific, and we must be very careful with how we filter out other interannual fluctuations. After a careful treatment of the data covering the last 60 years, we detected a robust slowdown of the Walker cell during years associated with solar-cycle maxima." The analysis shows that in tandem with changes in the wind anomalies, the dominant patterns of tropical precipitation shift to the central Pacific during solar-cycle maxima. As a result, rainfall decreases over Indonesia and in the western Pacific, and increases over the central Pacific Ocean.

Simple mechanisms amplify the solar signal

The issue of solar influences on climate is long and controversial, as there have been numerous claims that did not survive proper statistical scrutiny in most cases. But besides statistical verification lies an even more challenging problem: How could miniscule changes in incoming solar radiation produce significant climate signatures?

"Soon enough, we realized that the magnitude of the wind anomalies that we detected in observations simply could not be explained by radiative considerations alone. We thought that if it comes from the sun, there must be another mechanism that amplifies the weakening of the Walker circulation," said Prof. Lesley Gray of University of Oxford. With the aid of a global climate model, this mechanism was found in the dynamical coupling between the atmosphere and ocean circulation in the tropical Pacific.

Averaged over the globe, the surface temperature imprint of the solar cycle barely reaches 0.1 K in a solar maximumalmost eight times weaker than the global warming trends observed in the 20th century. Yet, even such a weak surface warming influences the Walker circulation through changes in global hydrology. As the surface warms, water vapor in the atmosphere increases at a higher rate than is lost by precipitation, necessitating a weakening of the Walker cell. This is a well-tested mechanism in model simulations of increased CO 2 concentrations but it turns out that is operating under the 11-year solar cycle, too.

S. Misios said, "Our model showed westerly wind anomalies in the Pacific region even when we considered only changes in global hydrology, but the magnitude was far too weak. We hypothesized that atmosphere-ocean coupling, essentially the Bjerknes feedback, can amplify the solar signal."

Using a climate model forced by the 11-year solar cycle alone, researchers found the evidence to support their hypothesis. Their model showed much stronger wind anomalies in the Pacific. They proposed that changes in global hydrology and the Bjerknes feedback mediate solar cycle influences on the Tropical Pacific. The researchers now hope that if the interplay between those mechanisms is properly represented by other climate models, it could give potential to improve the accuracy of decadal predictions in that region.

Explore further Study of cloud cover in tropical Pacific reveals future climate changes
Anopheles gambiae mosquito, feeding on blood. Credit: James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The role of mosquitoes in spreading malaria is the biggest factor behind a recent study that found them to be the 'World's Deadliest Animal'. It is particularly concerning that current measures to control them (the most important of which is the use of insecticide treated bed-nets) are losing potency as mosquitoes are evolving resistance.

The persistence of malaria in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa has motivated the development of novel tools to complement existing control programmes. These include gene-drive technologies to modify mosquito populations, either to reduce them in number or to make the mosquitoes unable to transmit disease.

In new research published today in BMC Biology, from Oxford's Department of Zoology and Oxford Martin School, a team of scientists model the potential of modifying mosquitoes with a gene-drive technology called "driving-Y chromosome" to reduce mosquito populations in a one million square km area of West Africa, including all of Burkina Faso. A driving-Y chromosome has been genetically modified so that the male mosquitoes that carry it produce predominantly male offspring (which also carry the modification). Since only female mosquitoes bite, the spread of this modification will result in less females to transmit the disease, and less mosquitoes overall.

The researchers predict that introductions of driving-Y mosquitoes will cause significant reduction of the target mosquito species in some regions and complete elimination in others.

Lead researcher, Dr. Ace North, from the Department of Zoology, said: 'Gene drive holds a lot of promise for malaria control, yet the potential impact at the scale of a country has not been considered much before. We built models to help understand how a gene-drive technology could affect mosquito populations in Burkina Faso, a country with a huge malaria burden. Our results suggest it would have a major impact in reducing malaria.'

The researchers found seasonality to be the most important predictor of the local impact of the gene-drive. Population elimination is more likely in regions with mild dry seasons, while reduction is more likely in regions with strong seasonality. However, even in the most challenging environments, populations were reduced. The model suggests that this approach would have a major impact in reducing malaria.

To reach this conclusion, the scientists fed large and varied data into their models, including:

information of more than 40,000 settlements

locations of all rivers and lakesseasonal and permanent

historical rainfall data

field data estimating mosquito population sizes and mosquito movement rates

They ran a large number of simulations on Oxford University "super-computer" facilities to explore how different factors and assumptions influence the outcome of introductions of genetically modified mosquitoes with a driving-Y chromosome.

This technology, still under development, proposes creating a driving-Y chromosome modification into the most important species of malaria mosquitoes of sub-Saharan Africa.

Professor Charles Godfray, Director of the Oxford Martin School and co-author, said: 'This study suggests that repeated introductions of modified mosquitoes over a few years into a small fraction of human settlements may be sufficient to substantially reduce the overall number of mosquitoes across the entire geographic area.'

Dr. Abdoulaye Diabate, a medical entomologist at the Institut de Recherche en Science de la Sante (IRSS), Burkina Faso, said: 'There is evidence that this approach, with the right national and international approvals, could be rolled out within the next 10 years.'

The region to model was selected as it is one of the worst malaria affected areas in Africa and exhibits much of the wide variation in environmental conditions found in West Africa.

The researchers are part of Target Malaria, an international not-for-profit research consortium aiming at developing and sharing new, cost-effective and sustainable genetic technologies to modify mosquitoes and reduce malaria transmission.
Credit: Queens University Belfast

The sun's magnetic field is ten times stronger than previously believed, new research from Queen's University Belfast and Aberystwyth University has revealed.

The new finding was discovered by Dr. David Kuridze, Research Fellow at Aberystwyth University. Dr. Kuridze began the research when he was based at Queen's University Belfast and completed it when he moved to Aberystwyth University in 2017. He is a leading authority on the use of ground-based telescopes to study the sun's corona, the ring of bright light visible during a total eclipse.

Working from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma in the Canary Islands, Dr. Kuridze studied a particularly strong solar flare which erupted near the surface of the sun on 10 September 2017.

A combination of favourable conditions and an element of luck enabled the team to determine the strength of the flare's magnetic field with unprecedented accuracy. The researchers believe the findings have the potential to change our understanding of the processes that happen in the sun's immediate atmosphere.

Speaking about the find, Dr. Kuridze said: "Everything that happens in the sun's outer atmosphere is dominated by the magnetic field, but we have very few measurements of its strength and spatial characteristics.

"These are critical parameters, the most important for the physics of the solar corona. It is a little like trying to understand the Earth's climate without being able to measure its temperature at various geographical locations.

"This is the first time we have been able to measure accurately the magnetic field of the coronal loops, the building blocks of the sun's magnetic corona, which such a level of accuracy."

Measuring 1,400,000 kilometres across (109 times larger than Earth) and 150,000,000 kilometres from Earth, the sun's corona extends millions of kilometres above the surface.

Solar flares appear as bright flashes and occur when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released.

Until now, successful measurement of the magnetic field has been hindered by the weakness of the signal from the sun's atmosphere that reaches Earth and caries information about the magnetic field, and limitations in the instrumentation available.

The magnetic fields reported in this study are similar to those of a typical fridge magnet and around 100 times weaker than the magnetic field encountered in an MRI scanner.

However, they are still responsible for the confinement of the solar plasma, which make up solar flares, as far as 20,000 km above the sun's surface.

Over a 10-day period in September 2017, Dr. Kuridze studied an active area on the sun's surface which the team knew to be particularly volatile.

However, the telescope used can only focus on 1% of the sun's surface at any given time. As luck would have it, Dr. Kuridze was focused on exactly the right area and at the right time when the solar flare erupted.

These solar flares can lead to storms which, if they hit Earth, form the northern lights  the Aurora Borealis.

They can also disrupt communications satellites and GPS systems, as proved to be the case on this occasion in September 2017.

Professor Michail Mathioudakis from the School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, who also worked on the project, added: "This is a unique set of observations that, for the first time, provide a detailed map of the magnetic field in coronal loops.

"This highly rewarding result was achieved due to the dedication and perseverance of our early career scientists who planned and executed the observations. The methodology used in this work and the result itself, will open new avenues in the study of the solar corona."

Explore further Igniting a solar flare in the corona with lower-atmosphere kindling

More information: D. Kuridze et al. Mapping the magnetic field of flare coronal loops. arXiv:1902.07514 [astro-ph.SR]. D. Kuridze et al. Mapping the magnetic field of flare coronal loops. arXiv:1902.07514 [astro-ph.SR]. arxiv.org/abs/1902.07514
Using supercomputers, scientists are just starting to design proteins that self-assemble to combine and resemble life-giving molecules like hemoglobin. Credit: Taylor et al.

Red blood cells are amazing. They pick up oxygen from our lungs and carry it all over our body to keep us alive. The hemoglobin molecule in red blood cells transports oxygen by changing its shape in an all-or-nothing fashion. Four copies of the same protein in hemoglobin open and close like flower petals, structurally coupled to respond to each other. Using supercomputers, scientists are just starting to design proteins that self-assemble to combine and resemble life-giving molecules like hemoglobin. The scientists say their methods could be applied to useful technologies such as pharmaceutical targeting, artificial energy harvesting, 'smart' sensing and building materials, and more.

A science team did this work by supercharging proteins, which means that they changed the subunits of proteins, the amino acids, to give the proteins an artificially high positive or negative charge. Using proteins derived from jellyfish, the scientists were able to assemble a complex sixteen protein structure composed of two stacked octamers by supercharging alone, findings that were reported in January of 2019 in the journal Nature Chemistry.

The team then used supercomputer simulations to validate and inform these experimental results. Supercomputer allocations on Stampede2 at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and Comet at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) were awarded to the researchers through XSEDE, the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

"We found that by taking proteins that don't normally interact with each other, we can make copies that are either highly positively or highly negatively charged," said study co-author Anna Simon, a postdoctoral researcher in the Ellington Lab of UT Austin. "Combining the highly positively and negatively charged copies, we can make the proteins assemble into very specific structured assemblies," Simon said. The scientists call their strategy 'supercharged protein assembly,' where they drive defined protein interactions by combining engineered supercharged variants.

"We exploited a very well-known and basic principle from nature, that opposite charges attract," added study co-author Jens Glaser. Glaser is an assistant research scientist in the Glotzer Group, Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan. "Anna Simon's group found that when they mix these charged variants of green fluorescent protein, they get highly ordered structures. That was a real surprise," Glaser said.

The stacked octamer structure looks like a braided ring. It's composed of 16 proteinstwo intertwined rings of eight that interact in very specific, discreet patches. "The reason why it's so hard to engineer proteins that interact synthetically is that making these interacting patches and having them all line up right such that they'll allow the proteins to assemble into bigger, regular structures is really hard," explained Simon. They got around the problem by adding many positive and negative charges to engineer variants of green fluorescent protein (GFP), a well-studied 'lab mouse' protein derived from the Aequorea victoria jellyfish.

The positively charged protein, which they called cerulean fluorescent protein (Ceru) +32, had additional opportunities to interact with the negatively charged protein GFP -17. "By giving these proteins all these opportunities, these different places where they could potentially interact, they were able to choose the right ones," Simon said. "There were certain patterns and interactions that were there, available, and energetically favored, that we didn't necessarily predict beforehand that would allow them to assemble into these specific shapes."

To get the engineered charged fluorescent proteins, Simon and co-authors Arti Pothukuchy, Jimmy Gollihar, and Barrett Morrow encoded their genes, including a chemical tag used for purification on portable pieces of DNA called plasmids in E. coli, then harvested the tagged protein that E. coli grew. The scientists mixed the proteins together. They initially thought the proteins might just interact to form large, irregularly structured clumps. "But then, what we kept on seeing was this weird, funny peak around 12 nanometers, that was a lot smaller than a big clump of protein, but significantly bigger than the single protein," Simon said.

They measured the size of the particles that formed using a Zetasizer instrument at the Texas Materials Institute of UT Austin, and verified that the particles contained both cerulean and GFP proteins Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), which measures the energy transfer between different colored fluorescent proteins produce fluorescence in response to different energies of light to see if they are close together. Negative stain electron microscopy identifed the specific structure of the particles, conducted by the group of David Taylor, assistant professor of molecular biosciences at UT Austin. It showed that the 12 nm particle consisted of a stacked octamer composed of sixteen proteins. "We found that they were these beautifully shaped flower-like structures," Simon said. Co-author Yi Zhou from Taylor's group of UT Austin increased the resolution even further using cryo-electron microscopy to reveal atomic-level details of the stacked octamer.

XSEDE awarded scientists access to the Comet supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (left) and the Stampede2 supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (right). Credit: SDSC, TACC

Computational modeling refined the measurements of how the proteins were arranged into a clear picture of the beautiful, flower-like structure, according to Jens Glaser. "We had to come up with a model that was complex enough to describe the physics of the charged green fluorescent proteins and present all the relevant atomistic details, yet was efficient enough to allow us to simulate this on a realistic timescale. With a fully atomistic model, it would have taken us over a year to get a single simulation out of the computer, however fast the computer was," Glaser said.

They simplified the model by reducing the resolution without sacrificing important details of the interactions between proteins. "That's why we used a model where the shape of the protein is exactly represented by a molecular surface, just like the one that's measured from the crystallographic structure of the protein," Glaser added.

"What really helped us turn this around and improve what we were able to get out of our simulations was the cryo-EM data," said Vyas Ramasubramani, a graduate student in chemical engineering at the University of Michigan. "That's what really helped us find the optimal configuration to put into these simulations, which then helped us validate the stability arguments that we were making, and hopefully going forward make predictions about ways that we can destabilize or modify this structure," Ramasubramani said.

The scientists required lots of compute power to do the calculations on the scale that they wanted.

"We used XSEDE to basically take these huge systems, where you have lots of different pieces interacting with each other, and calculate all of this at once so that when you start moving your system forward through some semblance of time, you could get an idea for how it was going to evolve on somewhat real timescales," Ramasubramani said. "If you tried to do the same kind of simulation that we did on a laptop, it would have taken months if not years to really approach understanding whether or not some sort of structure would be stable. For us, not being able to use XSEDE, where you could use essentially 48 cores, 48 compute units all at once to make these calculations highly parallel, we would have been doing this much slower."

The Stampede2 supercomputer at the TACC contains 4,200 Intel Knights Landing and 1,736 Intel Skylake X compute nodes. Each Skylake node has 48 cores, the basic unit of a computer processor. "The Skylake nodes of the Stampede2 supercomputer were instrumental in achieving the performance that was necessary to compute these electrostatic interactions that act between the oppositely-charged proteins in an efficient manner," Glaser said. "The availability of the Stampede2 supercomputer was at just the right point in time for us to perform these simulations."

Initially, the science team tested their simulations on the Comet system at the SDSC. "When we were first figuring out what kind of model to use and whether this simplified model would give us reasonable results, Comet was a great place to try these simulations," Ramasubramani said. "Comet was a great testbed for what we were doing."

Looking at the bigger scientific picture, the scientists hope that this work advances understanding of why so many proteins in nature will oligomerize, or join together to form more complex and interesting structures.

"We showed that there doesn't need to be a very specific, pre-distinguished set of plans and interactions for these structures to form," Simon said. "This is important because it means that maybe, and quite likely we can take other sets of molecules that we want to make oligomerize and generate both positively charged and negatively charged variants, combine them, and have specifically ordered structures for them."

Natural biomaterials like bone, feathers, and shells can be tough yet lightweight. "We think supercharged protein assembly is an easier way to develop the kind of materials that have exciting synthetic properties without having to spend so much time or having to know exactly how they're going to come together beforehand," Simon said. "We think that will accelerate the ability to engineer synthetic materials and for discovery and exploration of these nanostructured protein materials."

The study, "Supercharging Enables Organized Assembly of Synthetic Biomolecules," was published in the journal Nature Chemistry in January of 2019.

Explore further Scientists coax proteins to form synthetic structures with method that mimics nature

More information: Anna J. Simon et al, Supercharging enables organized assembly of synthetic biomolecules, Nature Chemistry (2019). Journal information: Nature Chemistry Anna J. Simon et al, Supercharging enables organized assembly of synthetic biomolecules,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41557-018-0196-3
The gender pay gap has proved difficult to close. Credit: Ian johnston/shutterstock.com

No matter how you slice the data, women in the U.S. earn a lot less than men.

A typical woman working full-time makes 81 cents for every dollar a man earns, little more than the 77 cents she got a decade ago. Within careers, it can vary widely, with female physicians and marketing managers earning 71 cents, while female registered nurses are at 92 cents. A university degree doesn't help, as women with a bachelor's earn just 74 cents of every college-educated man's dollar.

One of the popular solutions proposed for narrowing this persistent gap is pay transparency. There are two rationales for this. First, employers will be less likely to pay women less than men for the same job if salaries are known. Second, if a woman knows how much her male colleagues are earning for doing the same work, she'll be in a better position to negotiate a higher salary.

The House passed a bill on March 27 designed to promote equal pay and transparency by, among other things, banning employers from asking applicants about their salary history and preventing them from retaliating against employees who compare wages.

Many states have already passed similar laws, while the federal government has issued a few regulations along these lines.

The question is, are they working? As an expert in employment discrimination law, including equal pay, I have my doubts about many of these laws.

No salary disclosure required

Part of the problem is that with one exception  government employees  the laws currently in place to promote pay transparency do not actually require disclosure of individual salary information.

For example, the government regulation that has been touted as a pay transparency law prohibits federal contractors only from retaliating against employees who disclose their own salary. And states with the toughest laws, such as California and New York, use similar language.

The idea behind these anti-retaliation laws is to allow employees to disclose their pay without repercussion, eliminating pay secrecy policies and customs.

For these laws to create actual pay transparency, however, employees must be willing to share salary information. And while there appears to be a trend toward employee willingness to do so, it is at odds with the longstanding social norm against discussing pay.

Finding a link to pay equity

In the absence of a legal requirement to disclose actual wages, an increasing number of companies are making salary information transparent on their own.

Different companies have taken varying approaches to this. For example, Whole Foods allows workers to check their colleagues' salaries, while social media scheduler Buffer publicly discloses the formula it uses to determine employees' salaries. At the extreme end of transparency, many governmental employees' salaries are publicly available, depending on the state.

Proponents argue that transparency decreases the gender pay gap because if employers disclose salaries, they will also be disclosing any gap that exists, which will lead to efforts to eliminate it. This is precisely what happened at Buffer, which, after disclosing employee salaries, found a wage gap and changed its compensation system and hiring priorities to eliminate it.

The federal workforce, where the pay gap is significantly lower than in the private sector, can also be seen as support for the argument that pay transparency helps reduce it. The federal wage gap ranges from about 4 percent to 9 percent, when controlling for relevant factors that affect pay, compared with 8 percent to 18 percent among all employers.

Credit: U.S. Census Bureau

Limited research

But there is little actual research that supports these arguments.

I don't know of any empirical study of how pay transparency affects the gender wage gap, such as what happens to the gap when companies shift from withholding to disclosing employee pay. While research does exist comparing the federal workforce's wage gap with the private sector's, it does not show whether pay transparency is a factor.

It is quite probable that the most important reason for the smaller federal wage gap is the government's highly structured pay and promotion system. Because pay is based on a job's classification, with step raises that are identical, there is less chance for men and women to be paid different amounts for doing the same job.

When one looks more closely at the anecdotal evidence, pay transparency appears more likely to be simply one part of narrowing the pay gap. For example, while Buffer eliminated its pay gap after disclosing employee salaries, Salesforce did so after merely conducting an internal review.

The common link in these approaches is not pay transparency but recognition of a gap and a commitment to closing it. Thus, transparency can assist in pushing companies toward recognition of a problem but isn't an essential component to eliminating it.

Pitfalls of transparency

One downside to pay transparency is the effect on employee morale.

A fascinating study on the effect of revealing salaries of University of California employees showed that employees below the median salary for their position had decreased job satisfaction and an increase in desire to change jobs.

This was not offset by improvements in employee morale among those who were paid higher than the median salary. Thus, there was a net overall decrease in employee morale.

On the other hand, a 2015 PayScale survey suggests that transparency has the opposite effect, encouraging retention, because employees tend to think they're more underpaid than they actually are.

To avoid negative consequences, the Society for Human Resource Management recommends that employers be prepared to explain any reasons for pay disparities that are revealed. This also suggests that how an employer handles a pay gap matters more than the disclosure of it.

Other factors influencing the gap

Another factor affecting the pay gap is simply an employee's initial salary, which is usually higher for men than women for the same job.

California recently passed a law to combat this by prohibiting employers from asking applicants for salary history, and the bill the House just passed would do the same thing. If employers don't know the prior salaries of applicants, presumably they will offer the same pay to everyone.

This is a good start, but it may not be enough to completely close the wage gap. Even if offered the same salary, men are usually rewarded for negotiating a better salary  while women are penalized for doing the same.

Other factors blamed for why women earn less than men include seniority and time off to care for a baby or sick family member, and companies need to take these components into account as well if they wish to eliminate gender disparities in pay.

Putting this all together, pay transparency in and of itself doesn't necessarily help close the gender pay gap. It creates opportunities for employers to reconsider their current compensation systems but doesn't mean they'll necessarily do anything about it.

So while pay transparency is a good idea, on its own it probably won't be able to eliminate the persistent pay disparities between men and women. More aggressive legislation, such as the recent California prohibition on asking for prior salary or the pending House bill that makes it far more difficult for employers to pay women less than men, is likely needed to combat the persistent gender pay gap.

Explore further Why women still earn a lot less than men

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
In this Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019 photo, artist Xavier Cortada poses with a yard sign stating that the area is five feet above sea level in Pinecrest, Fla. Cortada created an "Underwater Homeowner's Association," a kind of community installation to promote awareness about rising sea levels. Participating homeowners get signs in their yards noting how many feet about sea level they stand, and they are holding real meetings, like any other homeowner's association, to discuss how their suburban community can prepare for the effects of climate change. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

The "Underwater Homeowners Association" sounds like a sad joke about the future of real estate in flood-prone Miami.

It's actually an earnest effort to turn neighbors into climate-change advocates, block-by-block.

Starting in his affluent suburb of Pinecrest, artist Xavier Cortada hopes his concept will spread, helping people nationwide understand that melting polar ice is no abstract threat.

Cortada repurposes "for sale" signs, painting partially-submerged numbers that announce exactly how many feet above sea level each property is, for people to plant in their front yards. A growing number of members have signed on at underwaterhoa.org since Cortada launched the idea in December.

Cortada's signs show his home is on relatively high ground: 6 feet (2 meters) above sea level. His studio is at 8 feet (2.5 meters).

Rising seas will spare no one concerned about quality of life in Pinecrest, a village of 19,000 not far from Biscayne Bay. Like the rest of South Florida, it's trapped between the ocean and the swampy Everglades, which act as a western coastline. Water also rises through Florida's porous bedrock, making seawalls and levees less effective.

"If your neighbor sees a number 6 in front of your house, your neighbor knows that you, too, are a number 6," Cortada said. "So you are no longer a Democrat or a Republican, or an anti-science or pro-science person. You're both literally standing at the same elevation."

Cortada's signs feature his swirling paintings of melting Antarctic glaciers. Other neighbors have made their own. Students also painted the elevations of four intersections6, 7, 9, 11 feet (2, 2.1, 2.75, 3 meters)along the city's two-lane main road, which Cortada dubs "Elevation Drive." It runs along what constitutes high ground in South Floridaa narrow coral ridge that appears to stay dry when models of sea level rise show much of the region inundated.

In this, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019 photo, a large number six, stating that the area is six feet above sea level, is painted in an intersection in Pinecrest, Fla. Artist Xavier Cortada created an "Underwater Homeowner's Association," a kind of community installation to promote awareness about rising sea levels. Participating homeowners get signs in their yards noting how many feet about sea level they stand, and they are holding real meetings, like any other homeowner's association, to discuss how their suburban community can prepare for the effects of climate change. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Some residents aren't happy about these art installations, warning on a community newspaper's website that the painted signs and pavement could devastate property values.

"Does anyone seriously want this in front of the expensive homes in Pinecrest? Maybe they won't be so expensive once they convince the world they will be underwater in a few years," one wrote.

Whether people like their neighbors' politics, global warming is already affecting homebuyers here, where average seas could rise 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 centimeters) by 2030, and 14 to 26 inches (35 to 66 centimeters) by 2060, compared with 1992 levels, according to the most recent data from the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact.

Other projections show saltwater rising another foot (30 centimeters) by the time a new 30-year-mortgage is paid off, and 2 feet (60 centimeters) by the time today's schoolchildren retire. Long before then, intruding seawater could wash away infrastructure, submerge public spaces and make even a trip to the grocery store difficult to navigate.

Cortada worked with Florida International University to create Eyes on the Rise , a website that shows the elevation of any address. Then he partnered with the Florida Conservation Voters Education Fund to help people understand how they might get involved.

Renters as well as homeowners are welcome in the Underwater HOA. There are no dues or other requirements. The main idea is to encourage neighbors to discuss climate change among themselves. What happens next is up to each group. Actions could include creating plans for individual households, doing climate education outreach, attending government meetings or lobbying elected officials.

That kind of hyperlocal advocacy is already having an effect: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez applauded neighborhood groups last month while showing off the city's response to rising sea levels to former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Suarez said local activism was key to persuading voters to approve a $400 million bond initiative to strengthen Miami's infrastructure against climate-change effects. They've also persuaded the city to study what they call climate gentrification: As property values rise along higher elevations, low-income people who remain above water fear they'll be priced out of their homes by wealthier people fleeing once-desirable coastal neighborhoods.

Cortada's inaugural Pinecrest group has met twice so far, led by Brian Haus, an ocean-sciences expert at the University of Miami. Their February meeting stuck to local water issues: the number of city residents still using well water, the lack of fire hydrants in some areas, whether sewer lines could extend to residents using septic tanks.

In this Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019 photo, a yard sign stating that the area is eight feet above sea level is shown in front of artist Xavier Cortada's studio in Pinecrest, Fla. Cortada created an "Underwater Homeowner's Association," a kind of community installation to promote awareness about rising sea levels. Participating homeowners get signs in their yards noting how many feet about sea level they stand, and they are holding real meetings, like any other homeowner's association, to discuss how their suburban community can prepare for the effects of climate change. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Saltwater intrusion already threatens that infrastructure, but the dozen or so residents had broader worries, too.

They don't want to leave Miamihurricanes are easier to endure than wildfires or ice storms, they saidbut some caution against sinking too much time, energy and money into shoring up what could become a waterlogged burden. "Sell the house when I'm gone and get out," some said they told their children.

Holly Zickler is enthusiastic: She hosted a picnic in a park in neighboring South Miami, encouraging neighbors to paint their own signs and launch their own chapter.

"I like that the Underwater HOA is flipping the script on what a traditional HOA actually stands for, which is mostly people standing around with pitchforks at the ready," said Zickler, who lives at 9 feet (2.75 meters).

"I would love to see this go all the way up the East Coast, to go nationally," she said. "We all need to lurch forward with this, and lurch forward thinking consciously about this."

As Zickler's neighbors checked their addresses in the Eyes on the Rise app, reactions ranged from mock panic to envy.

"Look at that show-off at 12.8 (4 meters)! You're kind of like gloating there," joked Mari Chael, an architect who lives at 6.5 feet (2 meters). "I think I want to buy your house!"

Chael says this is one fight no property owner can escape.

"We're all South Floridians," Chael said. "We live in the same kind of spongy lime rock that sort of unites us all in our misery."

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Vietnamese customs officials inspect a huge haul of suspected ivory seized from a timber shipment from the Republic of Congo

Vietnam has seized more than nine tonnes of suspected ivory in a timber shipment from the Republic of Congo, customs officials said Friday, in one of the country's largest illegal wildlife hauls in years.

Though it is illegal to buy and sell ivory in communist Vietnam, lax law enforcement has allowed the illicit trade to flourish on the black market.

The government has vowed to crack down on illegal wildlife trade in the face of mounting international pressure and authorities said the latest bust in central Danang city was the biggest in years.

"A huge 9.1-tonne (20,000-pound) package of goods suspected to be ivory hidden inside timber logs was found and confiscated," according to Hai Quan news site, the official mouthpiece of Vietnam Customs.

The ivory-stuffed timber logs were discovered Tuesday at Danang's main port on a ship from the Republic of Congo in central Africa, it added.

A customs official told AFP "authorities are still inspecting before making a final conclusion" about the substance.

Images on state media showed piles of alleged tusks being weighed by officers in a warehouse after the seizure.

Ivory is used for jewellery, decorative housewares and traditional medicine in Vietnam, which is also a popular transit hub for illegal wildlife destined for elsewhere in Asia, mainly China.

The government has struggled to crack down on the illicit trade as sales have moved online from traditional marketplaces.

Britain's Prince William was in Vietnam in 2016 to host a wildlife conference where he delivered an urgent plea to end trafficking to save critically endangered species.

Explore further Vietnam seizes third illegal ivory shipment in a month

 2019 AFP
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday excited social media users when he took a trip down memory lane with pictures of his younger days.

Being a Thursday  when social media users share pictures from their past -, the ODM leader contributed to the popular TBT trend by sharing pictures of his time in Germany.

Hanging out and catching a train ride in Magdeburg, Germany #Tbt, Raila tweeted.

The vintage black and white photos were taken in the 1960s when Raila was studying on a scholarship at the technical Herder Institut, University of Leipzig in East Germany.

While studying in East Berlin during the Cold War, as a Kenyan, Raila was able to visit West Berlin through the Checkpoint Charlie. When visiting West Berlin, he reportedly used to smuggle goods not available in East Berlin and bring them to his friends in East Berlin.

Baba graduated in 1970 with an Msc (Masters of Science) and returned to Kenya the same year. In 1971 he established the Standard Processing Equipment Construction & Erection Ltd (later renamed East African Spectre), a company manufacturing liquid petroleum gas cylinders.

Railas photo drew hundreds of comments and thousands of likes as Kenyans on Twitter wowed at his little known pictorial history in Germany.

Here are some sampled reactions:

Hehehe woooow thats really TBT, such a good way to go down memory Lane Our beloved Right Honorable PM!! Hongera ?  emmeboy (@emmeboy) March 28, 2019

Ndio baba.we are proud of u and we always pray for u.Never give up .God bless u  Mr. Kinuthia Pius. (@Belive_Kinuthia) March 28, 2019

My favorite leader, pitty I have missed you when you visited my hometown Swakopmund, Namibia. your leadership is God Given Sir.. my wish is to have a week following you and learning from you.. #AfricanInspiration  Heinrich Hafeni (@HeinrichHafeni) March 28, 2019

Baba, i always thought you were born just Baba,kumbe you also hustled like this!?  jessica Wegesa (@jwegesa) March 28, 2019

weeeh this man was cute jamani.  CRAZY PAOMER (@paull_Anyango) March 28, 2019

Ukiona Nyani Mzee ujue amekwepa Mishale mingi  Mr James .W. Sillas (@james_sillas) March 28, 2019

When you say hanging out you literally mean HANGING?..nice one!  Dixtrix Rojaz (@DixtrixR) March 28, 2019

This man will not stop to amaze me, he always challenge everybody, now see, because museveni took a ride in a train, he has to show him that before he board Kenyan train, he had already boarded Germany train #museveni_challege  Erica (@_ericndemange) March 28, 2019

Baba, post the other #TBT the one you stopped that train with just one hand ??when the brakes failed, or the other one that you killed a lion with just 2 fingers and ate it, in fact post that one time you demolished the entire Berlin wall with one punch ?? #LongLiveBaba ???  Emmanuel Mogeni (@MogeniEmmanuel) March 28, 2019

Wacha usikie miguna.. Kiherehere.. Ati Hapa ni railways  Reuben.mbuthia (@reuwpipo) March 28, 2019
Inset: Dr. Pieter Koen from the State Veterinary Services in South Africa draws blood from a white shark in South Aftrica.Background: Great white shark, South Africa Credit: Inset: OCEARCHBackground: Neil Hammerschlag, Ph.D.

Researchers found high concentrations of mercury, arsenic, and lead, in blood samples obtained from Great white sharks in South Africa. The samples had levels that would be considered toxic to many animals. However, the study found no apparent negative consequences of these heavy metals on several health parameters measured in the sharks, including body condition, total leukocytes, and granulocyte to lymphocyte ratios, suggesting no adverse effects on their immune system.

"The results suggest that sharks may have an inherent physiological protective mechanism that mitigates the harmful effects of heavy metal exposure," said Liza Merly, study lead author and senior lecturer at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

"As top predators, sharks bio-accumulate toxins in their tissues via the food web from the prey they eat," said Neil Hammerschlag, study co-author and research associate professor at UM's Rosenstiel School and Abess Center for Ecosystem Science & Policy. "So by measuring concentrations of toxins, such as mercury and arsenic, in the blood of white sharks, they can act as 'ecosystem indicators' for the health of the ecosystem, with implications for humans," he said. "Basically, if the sharks have high levels of toxins in their tissues, it is likely that species they eat below them will also have toxins, including fishes that humans eat."

For the study, 43 great white sharks were captured and sampled in South Africa, as part of Ocearch's 2012 expedition to the area. "To collect the samples, white sharks were carefully raised on a specialized platform, while blood samples and body measurements were taken by biologists before the sharks were tagged and released," said Chris Fischer, expedition leader and founding chairman of Ocearch.

The shark's blood was screened for concentrations of 12 trace elements and 14 heavy metals. This study provides the first published account of blood concentrations of heavy metals in wild sharks. The data is instrumental in creating a baseline and reference for levels of heavy metals present in the blood of white sharks in South Africa. Considering many populations of large sharks are experiencing declines across the globe, it is important to understand the impact of toxic metals, if any, in this population.

The possibility that white sharks could have a physiological mechanism that protects them from the harmful effects of metal exposure offers new opportunities for future shark research.

The study is titled "Blood plasma levels of heavy metals and trace elements in white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and potential health consequences", was published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin on March 19 2019.

Explore further New study finds ecosystem changes following loss of great white sharks

More information: Liza Merly et al, Blood plasma levels of heavy metals and trace elements in white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and potential health consequences, Marine Pollution Bulletin (2019). Journal information: Marine Pollution Bulletin Liza Merly et al, Blood plasma levels of heavy metals and trace elements in white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and potential health consequences,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.03.018
The Police Inspector General nominee Hillary Mutyambai has outlined his plans for the Kenya Police Service should he be approved by the National Assembly and the Senate.

Appearing before the administration and national security committees of both houses, Mr Mutyambai vowed to uphold high standards of integrity to serve as an example to other officers.

He said he will be guided by the rule of law while executing his duties and he will treat all officers equally. The nominee for the position of the Inspector General of police also pledged to address the issue of corruption by implementing lifestyle audit of all police officers.

I will treat every officer as a clean officer. I will engage all of them to agree on our mode of our operation. From there, I will start monitoring them to identify the corrupt officers, he said.

Mutyambai also pledged to promote good working relations between the police and members of public saying it is the best way to deal with crime in the country.

He added that he will ensure full implementation of the National Police Management system and transform every police station into a service centre.

On the welfare of the officers, Mr Mutyambai said he will look into the issues of police house allowance by engaging the salaries and remuneration commission.

I will engage the NPSC and SRC to review the rates for house allowance for police, he said adding that some rates, especially for those serving in Nairobi, are low.

Say a police officer working in Kilimani he is only getting house allowance of Sh15,000 but rates around that area for a house is Sh50, 000.

On the issue of extra-judicial killings, the nominee told the committee he will work with the DPP and IPOA to identify rogue officers.

Each officer will be held liable for their actions. We will take actions according to the law. I will work closely with IPOA, DPP brings sanity in the service, he said.

Mutyambai also disclosed that his total net worth stands at Sh30 million.

President Uhuru nominated Mr Hillary Mutyambai following the retirement of Joseph Boinnet. Born in 1964 in Machakos, he was the first person in his village to join UoN and graduated in 1990 with a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture.

He served as a teacher before he joined the Kenya Police as a constable in 1991.
Women activists in Pakistans tribal regions demanding security and rights for the countrys Pashtun minority sent video messages to RFE/RLs Afghan Service for International Womens Day March 8, one month after a government crackdown saw several of them detained during protests in the capital, Islamabad.

Altogether than 40 members and supporters of the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM) were detained across Pakistan during protests against police violence February 5. The detention of ethnic Pashtun activists has aggravated long-standing tensions with neighboring Afghanistan, where Pashtuns are the majority, over Islamabads treatment of peaceful protestors.

This movement is unique in the region because it has included women at the forefront from the very beginning, said RFE/RLs Afghan Service journalist Freshta Jalalzai. Women from this very conservative area do not go out and protest, so it sets the PTM apart that they have women boldly organizing rallies and giving speeches, often without covering their faces. And the men in the group want them there by their side.

Formed last year by university students from the tribal regions, the PTM is demanding an end to the night raids, security checkpoints, arbitrary detentions, and extra-judicial killings they say average Pashtuns are subjected to by the Pakistani military in the name of fighting terrorism. Peaceful protest is core to the PTM movement.

Among the PTM women who sent video messages to Jalalzai was Gulalai Ismail, a human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and winner of the 2017 Anna Politkovskaya Award in honor of the slain Russian journalist. Gulalai was arrested at the February demonstration in the capital, and was held incommunicado for two days. She says she was told on her release that she is banned from leaving the country.

It seems that the state actors are afraid of women the most, said Ismail. They are afraid of women with voices.

A former television presenter with the Pakistan Television Corporation, Sanna Ejaz, said in her video message that as a result of her involvement with the PTM, she has been fired from her job, removed from her position as vice-president of the youth wing of the Awami National Party, and disavowed by other professional affiliations. She believes her employer and the other organizations were pressured by state security services to break ties with her.

Yes, my life is disturbed and Im stressed, but Im brave enough to face it, she said.

Though she now relies on family and friends for financial support, Sanna says the personal sacrifice has not deterred her.

"I was not doing anything wrong by supporting a peaceful demand for justice, for constitutional rights, and for peace," she told RFE/RLs Afghan Service. "I will not back down."

Probably the most painful story is that of Wranga Luni, a young student from Baluchistan, one of Pakistan's most impoverished provinces. Lunis brother Arman, a leader of the PTM, was reportedly beaten to death during clashes between PTM demonstrators and Balochistan police. His family accuse the police of intentionally killing the young man. The Pakistani government denies this allegation.

His death sparked PTM protests across the country, including the one in the capital where Ismail and others were arrested.

We rallied together for equality for all minorities, women, and children, Luni told RFE/RLs Afghan Service in her video message, explaining that she is now responsible for taking care of her two nieces after her brothers death. She still attends PTM protests, always holding a portrait of her brother.

Jalalzai says despite the recent violent crackdown on protestors and detentions, the peaceful nature of PTM protests and the fact that women have taken such a prominent role in the movement means the Pakistani authorities will have to exercise more restraint in the future or risk a broader backlash against their counterterrorism operations in the tribal regions.

For their part, the women of the PTM have no intention of backing down.

I made a promise to Anna when I was awarded, said Ismail. I will not opt for silence.

-Emily Thompson/Freshta Jalalzai




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
From 26th to 30th March 2019, Naval Group participates to LIMA  Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition. The group will showcase the stateof-art innovations created for modern navies, demonstrating its capabilities in modern military ship and submarine building along with high tech solutions for systems and competence as leading naval integrator at booth NB473.

From 26th to 30th March 2019, Naval Group participates to LIMA  Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition. The group will showcase the stateof-art innovations created for modern navies, demonstrating its capabilities in modern military ship and submarine building along with high tech solutions for systems and competence as leading naval integrator at booth NB473.

Gowind 2500 multi-mission corvette (Picture source: Naval Group)



LIMA is an opportunity to reinforce Naval Groups long-lasting presence in Malaysia and to reiterate Naval Groups commitment as the major industrial partner to Malaysia. Naval Group is grateful for the trust of the Royal Malaysian Navy and is proud to provide technological superiority through our range of products. Naval Group booth at LIMA will reflect this comprehensive offer with a focus on surface ships and innovative solutions.

Gowind is Naval Groups response to 21st century defence and security challenges. The platform combines high survivability characteristics with outstanding anti-air (AAW), antisurface (ASuW) and anti-submarine (ASW) warfare performances thanks to the MU90 and to the CANTO-V.

Naval Group combines unique platform and combat system skills to provide operational superiority and safety benefiting from the French Navy legacy. Naval Group contributes to strengthen the sovereignty of its customers through long-term partnerships, industrial cooperation and through-life support services, as proven by its strong credentials. Nine of the ten Gowind vessels contracted are being built with foreign partners in Malaysia and Egypt. In December 2012, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) contracted Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) for the construction of 6 Second Littoral Combat Ships, in Lumut, Malaysia, with Naval Group as main subcontractor.

Mistral is a multipurpose Force Projection vessel providing extended capabilities and designed to command and achieve, with the highest level of performance, joint operations, as well as Search and Rescue and humanitarian aids missions from the sea. Highly capable and maneuverable thanks to its power propulsion solution; Mistral integrates through an optimized platform architecture innovative solutions, extending the capabilities of a conventional LHD. Mistral is multipurpose by design. Mistral is combat proven with the French Navy, and ready for transfer of technology with the Malaysian industry. For the Multi-Role Support Ship (MRSS) future acquisition plan, Naval Group offers Mistral based design solution with 60% of local content.

Scorpene is ideally suited for action and operational effectiveness. Robust and enduring, its an ocean-going submarine also designed for shallow waters operations. Multipurpose, it fulfils the entire scope of missions such as Anti-Surface and Anti-Submarine Warfare, special operations, offensive minelaying and intelligence gathering. The RMN had acquired 2 Scorpene class submarines which are now maintained through BDNC JVC in which Naval Group is involved. In 10 years from now, BDNC has developed from scratch specific competences allowing Malaysia to increase its sovereignty in submarine capability, from routine maintenance to main overhaul (REFIT).

Belharra is Naval Groups answer to navies looking for a compact frigate to perform a large range of missions, stand-alone or within a task force, for high sea duration missions or for shallow water operation in congested and contested operational environment. Belharra benefits from Naval Group centuries of experience ensuring unmatched stealth and outstanding detection capabilities. It features a robust platform, resilient systems and recoverability features that will enable it to retain operational capability following damage. This new frigate features high level capabilities in anti-air, anti-surface, anti-submarine, and asymmetric warfare domains as well as the access to deep strike capability.

The CMS-NCI mk1 released during LIMA 2019 exhibition will illustrate such capabilities with a daily scheduled demonstration, performed twice, at 11am and 3pm on the Naval Groups booth along with Sapura. One SETIS multifunction operator console highlighting the operational capabilities of the system is displayed during the whole duration of the exhibition.

POLARIS is a compact, high performance and robust tactical command system covering the full spectrum of maritime security and low-intensity operations meeting the most stringent requirements for Navies and Coast Guards. POLARIS enables governmental agencies to detect and prevent illicit activities in littoral waters up to the EEZ. This multi-mission system delivers a robust 24/7 Reference Maritime Picture (RMP) for optimized interventions. POLARIS features specific functions such as the automatic analysis of abnormal behaviours, the access to various databases, intelligence gathering, the UAV payload data association with the own-ship tracking.

Two POLARIS multifunction operator consoles highlighting the multi-mission capabilities of the system are displayed on the Naval Group booth during the whole duration of the LIMA 2019 exhibition.
Founded in 2000, China Internet Information Center (China.org.cn/China.com.cn) is a key state news website under the auspices of the State Council Information Office, and is managed by China International Publishing Group. We provide round-the-clock news service in ten languages. With users from more than 200 countries and regions, we have become China's leading multi-lingual news outlet introducing the country to the outside world.

We are one of the country's authoritative outlets for government press releases and are authorized to cover various major events. "Live Webcast" is our online webcasting service to present State Council Information Office press conferences in both Chinese and English languages. We are reputed for timely and accurate delivery of news and information, and wide interactions with audiences. In addition, we are authorized to publish and live broadcast major events and press conferences of ministries, local government agencies and institutions as well as enterprises.

In the era of mobile internet, we endeavor to create an array of products for mobile devices headed by the multilingual WAP platform and the mobile APP. We also use Chinese and international social media to publish information for different user groups.

In the future, CIIC will continue to offer authoritative information about China, tell China'sstories, voice China's opinions, and introduce a vivid, panoramic and multicultural Chinato the world through multi-language, multi-media and multi-platforms.
For many people, starting a side business often marks the start of their entrepreneurial journey, with hopes that they can eventually grow their business into an established brand. It is also a way to supplement their existing employment income. And with the rapid growth of the gig economy, digital platforms, and various incentives from the Malaysian government, it is now easier than ever for individuals to give entrepreneurship a try.

That said, having a side business also means that youll need to declare and file taxes for the income that youve earned from it. If youre someone who is running a side business on top of earning from a formal employment, you may have some questions as to how to do it. Read on to find out!

What is defined as a side business?

For this article, side businesses are defined as secondary enterprises that you run when you already have a prior commitment, such as a day job or a primary business. They can be registered with the Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM)  whether as a sole proprietor or partnership business  as doing so will entitle you to some tax incentives that are inaccessible to taxpayers with non-business income. Examples of side businesses are plenty, including online stores on e-commerce platforms, blogging, content creation services, and so on.

Which form should I use?

Assuming that you are registered with the SSM as a sole proprietor business, you will need to use B form when filing your taxes. This is because you are now carrying on a business enterprise rather than the occasional freelancing.

Meanwhile, if you did not register your business, then use the usual BE form (for those with non-business income) to file your tax as a freelancer instead. In this form, you will be able to declare your side income under Statutory income from interest, discounts, royalties, pensions, annuities, other periodical payments, and other gains and profits.

To clarify, other gains and profits is defined as payments received for part-time or any broadcasting, lecturing, writing, and other jobs that you take up occasionally. So if your side income falls under any of these categories, you can declare it in your BE form as it does not technically count as carrying on a business.

What are some of the information that I need to prepare for the tax filing process?

If youve checked out the B form, youll notice that it bears some similarities to the BE form  which means the tax filing process for a side business may not be as different as you think itd be. That said, some additional key information that you must now also prepare include:

Statutory income from all businesses and partnerships

Statutory income from employment

Current year business loss

Business losses brought forward

Gross and allowable business expenses

Capital allowances of business

In preparing such information, take care to note some crucial specifics, such as the difference between gross income from business and adjusted income from business source  and how to calculate each one.

Gross income from business, for instance, includes revenue from the sale of your goods and services, money that your customers owe to you for the rendering of your services, as well as recovery of bad debts. Adjusted income, on the other hand, is derived after the deduction of business expenses from your gross income. Examples of these business expenses are allowable business expenses, allowable specific expenses, and export allowances.

Additionally, if you are involved in e-commerce and are uncertain about the tax treatment for different e-commerce business models (including domestic and overseas businesses), heres a guideline from the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) to help you out. It lists out the various characteristics that an e-commerce business should meet in order to be subject to Malaysian tax.

What kind of tax deductions and incentives am I entitled to?

As a registered business owner, you will be entitled to a number of tax deductions and incentives on top of the individual tax reliefs that you can also claim. Here are two main deductions that you can tap into as a side business owner:

Business expenses

The deduction of your business expense will help to lower the gross income earned by your side business, and by extension, reduce the amount of tax that you need to pay. Heres a table provided by LHDN that clarifies what falls under allowable business expenses, and what does not:

Further examples of allowable business expenses include commissions, bad debts, travelling and transport, repairs and maintenance, as well as promotion and advertisement. As a side business owner, you will be likely to claim the following as your business operating costs:

Purchase and maintenance of equipment (e.g. laptops, camera gears, printers, and home office setups)

Office supplies (e.g. printing papers and toners)

Computer software for work (e.g. editing and analytics software)

Transport, fuel, vehicle, and travel expenses (e.g. toll fees, meals, and accommodation expenses)

Training and education (e.g. workshops, coursework, and conferences)

Note, though, that your business-related deductions and personal reliefs must be clearly distinguished and claimed under the right category. For instance, a computer bought for your personal use cannot be claimed as a business expense; it has to be claimed under the tax relief allocated for lifestyle.

Capital allowance

LHDN states that capital allowance is provided as a deduction from business income in place of depreciation expenses incurred in purchase of business assets. In other words, it accounts for the depreciating value of certain assets that you need for your business. Examples of such assets include motor vehicles, machines, office equipment, furniture, and computers.

Additionally, the capital allowance is rated according to types of assets, and can be claimed according to the following arrangement:

What are the tax rates like for a side business owner?

The tax rates applied to a side business owner is the same as the one used for taxpayers with non-business income. It will be applied to your chargeable income, which is obtained after deducting all your business losses, allowable expenses, approved donations, and individual tax reliefs. Depending on the range of your chargeable income, the tax rate may fall between 0% to 30%, as per dictated by LHDN:

Chargeable income (RM) Calculations (RM) Tax rate (%) Tax (RM) 0  5,000 First 5,000 0 0 5,001  20,000 First 5,000 Next 15,000 1 0 150 20,001  35,000 First 20,000 Next 15,000 3 150 450 35,001  50,000 First 35,000 Next 15,000 8 600 1,200 50,001  70,000 First 50,000 Next 20,000 14 1,800 2,800 70,001  100,000 First 70,000 Next 30,000 21 4,600 6,300 100,001  250,000 First 100,000 Next 150,000 24 10,900 36,000 250,001  400,000 First 250,000 Next 150,000 24.5 46,900 36,750 400,001  600,000 First 400,000 Next 200,000 25 83,650 50,000 600,001  1,000,000 First 600,000 Next 400,000 26 133,650 104,000 1,000,001  2,000,000 First 1,000,000 Next 1,000,000 28 237,650 280,000 Exceeding 2,000,000 First 2,000,000 For every next ringgit 30 517,650 

Steps to help with an easier tax filing process

The tax filing process can sometimes get complicated, especially when you start earning a significant amount from your side business or if you have not been keeping proper track of your business documents. Here are a couple of measures that you can take to ensure an easier tax filing process.

Good bookkeeping practices

Keep a clear record of your business income and expenses throughout the year by filing your invoices, receipts, and bank statements properly and promptly. You can use a basic Excel document to help you with this, or even subscribe to an accounting service to do so. If you want, you may even draw up proper profit and loss (P&L) documents and balance sheets to assist you. Whichever method you prefer, be sure to log these details systematically and according to date so that you can easily refer to them when filing your taxes.

On top of that, remember to keep all your receipts and invoices for a period of seven years, as is required by the Income Tax Act 1967.

Open a business bank account

While not strictly necessary, it may be a good idea to open a business bank account so that you can keep track of the cash flow of your business. This way, you can keep your business income and expenses separate from your personal finances. Moreover, a separate bank account may also contribute to an easier and better bookkeeping process as you can use your account statements to crosscheck with your invoices and receipts.

Not only that, some business bank accounts may also offer certain promotions and benefits to you, such as business loans with lower interest rates. It would be wise to shop around a little to check for such perks.

***

We hope that this guide has helped to clarify some questions that you may have as a side business owner who is filing your taxes. If you have other tax-related concerns to clear up, do also check out our step-by-step income tax guide for 2021 (YA2020) here. Additionally, we have other income tax content available for your reference, such as information on the tax reliefs that you can tap into this year, filing your taxes for the first time, and the special tourism tax provided for your hotel stays last year.

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Experts are expecting the continuous rally in commodities prices to continue in coming months, regardless of investor anxiety of the outcome of U.S.-China trade war.

Trump imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports last year in move to force China to change its technique and to open up more of its economy to U.S. business.

While his harsh use of tariffs has provoked many, his push to alter what is widely regarded as China's market-distorting trade has drawn extensive assistance.

Lobbyists, executives, and U.S. lawmakers from both parties have encouraged Trump to not settle simply for Beijing's propositions to make big-ticket purchases from the United States to help in getting rid of a record trade deficit.

U.S., China move forward in trade talks

The United States delegation led by trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared in Beijing on Thursday for the newest round of conversations concentrated on developing sticking points at the center of the continuous US-China trade war.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin specified in a tweet on Friday that he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had concluded "constructive" trade talks in Beijing.

China's commerce ministry spokesperson Gao Feng affirmed, Although some progress have been made during the telephone negotiations between Vice-Premier Liu He and his US counterparts, there are still lots of work to do. Related: Rick Perry Signs Secret Nuclear Deal With Saudi Arabia

Among Trump's wants are for Beijing to end practices that Washington claims which lead to the stealing of U.S. copyright and the needed transfer of American innovation to Chinese business, in addition to unfair trade practices in the commodities sector.

U.S. business state they are obliged into turning over technological secrets to Chinese joint endeavor partners, regional officials or regulators as a stipulation for doing company in China.

The U.S. federal government says that innovation is frequently as a result relocated to and employed by Chinese rivals.

The problem has actually proved a difficult one for mediators as U.S. authorities declare China has declined that the problem exists to the level reported by the United States, making talking about a resolution difficult.

China states it has no development transfer requirements protected in its laws and any such exchanges are a result of real arrangements.

Positive sentiment continues for commodities

Commodity prices are set to benefit and investment is likely to extend in the coming months as the sector gets its conventional boost throughout the last phases of the global financial cycle in addition to other motorists.

While some investors stress over a possible economic slump, commodities will likely benefit because from an expected U.S.-China trade settlement, tightening up oil supply and potentially covering shorts in downtrodden U.S. grain futures.

The boost in commodities up until now has been partially sustained by a desire for an agreement to end a trade war in between Washington and Beijing, helping to stimulate $2.1 billion into the products index funds and exchange-traded funds.

By Michael Kern for Safehaven.com

More Top Reads From Safehaven.com:
" " Two Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill about women and the draft in order to spur conversation. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

If a bill introduced by two Congressional lawmakers gains traction, women could be required to register for the military draft.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) on Feb. 4, 2016, affects women between the ages of 18 and 26 and, if passed by both the House and Senate, would mean mandatory registration for military service. Although the U.S. military is currently an all-volunteer service, if this bill passes and the national draft is activated, registered women would be called to military service alongside their male counterparts.

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"If this administration wants to send 18- to 20-year-old women into combat, to serve and fight on the front lines, then the American people deserve to have this discussion through their elected representatives," said Hunter, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a statement, also revealing he would likely vote against his own bill.

In fact, Hunter and his fellow lawmaker, a former Navy SEAL, said that the goal of introducing the bill was to spur both Congressional discussion and national debate, and it has.

"The public's mixed reaction to the idea of a military draft for women is a perfect reflection of the uncertainty people still have about women taking on the kind of violent, aggressive roles that men have traditionally held in our society," says Mario Almonte, a writer who specializes in politics and social issues.

The bill comes on the heels of a December 2015 announcement by the Pentagon that it plans to open all combat positions to women, without exception. The announcement, made by Defense Secretary Ash Carter, means that female service members can for the first time join elite military forces like the Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces and other special-operations units. It also opens the ranks of the Marine Corps infantry to female service members.

" " Many U.S. military combat roles opened to women in 2013, and the Pentagon announced in December 2015 it would lift all restrictions. Scott Olson/Getty Images

This movement to allow female military access to combat roles began in earnest after then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in early 2013 lifted a ban on women serving in ground combat units. What followed was a three-year pilot project that integrated women in the armed services, including two early 2015 female soldiers who became the first ever to graduate from Army Ranger School. The project also spawned acrimonious debate about integration, with Army, Navy, Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command opening all jobs to women and the Marine Corps denying certain roles to women, such as machine gunner, before ultimately acquiescing.

The U. S. has joined at least 17 other industrialized countries  including Denmark, Germany, Poland and Sweden  that have women in combat roles. In the U.S., it has become largely a debate of policy rather than practice. Since Sept. 11, 2001, at least 88 women have died in combat while serving in non-frontline roles that include piloting fighter jets. Most were killed in Afghanistan or Iraq, where "front lines" are a blurred notion.

In addition, several countries, including Cuba, Israel and Norway, have compulsory military service for women.

"Wars today rely less on brute strength and more on intellectual capacity," says Almonte. "Drones are replacing 'boots on the ground' and much of today's military arsenal is controlled by computers. Therefore, the only true barrier to a female draft is a cultural mindset that finds it emotionally difficult to send women into combat."

Now That's Interesting More than 200,000 women serve as active-duty United States military members, making up nearly 15 percent of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
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DISCLOSURE OF COMPANY FACILITATING MASSIVE CYBER ATTACKS AGAINST MORE THAN 20 REGIME CRITICAL PHILIPPINE WEBSITES DISCLOSURE OF COMPANY FACILITATING MASSIVE CYBER ATTACKS AGAINST MORE THAN 20 REGIME CRITICAL PHILIPPINE WEBSITES

Were in, Dr. John Brule said on March 29, 1994, when the Philippine Internet had just been born. 25 years later, a coalition of Philippine media outlets and civil society organizations are taking legal actions against Suniway Group of Companies Inc, the company whos infrastructure made possible the cyber attacks that have been targeting them during a three months period. The Philippines has a bad track record of threats against press freedom with 85 documented cases of intimidation and 12 journalists killed during President Rodrigo Duterte regime (June 2016  present).

The National Computer Emergence Response Team of Philippines (CERT-PH), responsible for cyber crimes within the country, have not paid any attention to the case despite repeated requests and online campaigning. Since early February, Qurium has been providing Secure Hosting with Distributed Denial of Service protection and forensics analysis of the attacks to a handful of targeted organizations. As a founding member of CiviCERT, a CERT for civil society, Qurium has reached out to CERT-PH asking them in multiple attempts to initiate an investigation based on the forensics provided by Qurium.

On March 12, the victims of the cyber attacks held a demonstration in front of the CERT-PH to request a response. Three days later, CERT-PH responded but, according to Qurium, showed little interest in the case . As a result of CERT-PHs lack of commitment to assist the regime critical organizations, Qurium has launched their own forensics investigation to trace back the attacks.

Portrait of the attacker

The nickname of the Philippine attacker is P4p3r. His employer has given him a list of a dozen regime critical websites to attack: independent media, human rights organizations, political parties and journalists associations. P4p3r was so certain of his impunity that he did not go to the dark web to find a solution. Instead, he bought attacks from public services that test networks, and when those failed to take down the sites, he entered a public Telegram channel of a popular DDoS launcher and asked for help. That is where we found him.

Anyone can help me to down these f***ing websites? I really need to down them.

The first victims were the media outlets Bulatlat, Kodao Productions, and Pinoy Weekly who came under attack in December 2018. Attacks escalated and included more websites, a total of 20 organizations, in January 2019. All of them had something in common: they had reported on issues critical to the Rodrigo Duterte administration.

P4p3r had resources to rent Virtual Private Servers, Virtual Private Networks, private botnets and DDoS services to attack sites. By purchasing illegal services, P4p3r launched DDoS attacks during 50 days against the targets on the list. Daily attacks.One of the largest lasted 90 minutes and was using not less than 12 different attack vectors.

Qurium, who hosted many of the target sites, was also attacked. Qurium has assisted independent media against DDoS attacks for the past decade, and they have never seen such magnitude and scale of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks launched in one single country.

Forensic investigation

Quriums forensic investigation quickly discovered that there was a pattern: the same techniques and same botnets were being used against all websites. As the attacks continued and increased in time and size, the attacker become less careful. He made mistakes, which created opportunities for Qurium to dig deeper.

Qurium could conclude that P4p3r was hiding behind a sea of Virtual Private Networks intended to hide his real location. It was a network of tunnels that came and went from Philippines, Hong Kong and China. The owner of this sea of tunnels is a Philippine company called Suniway Group of Companies Inc., which will play a key role in the investigation.

The forensics investigation proofs that the attacker is hiding behind Suniway infrastructure, and can easily be identified by Suniway if they were interested in attributing the attacks that have been facilitated through their infrastructure. Qurium has reasons to believe that P4p3r is known by Suniway, as he has administrative rights to servers in their core infrastructure.

Stop media repression

In front of this wall of silence, the victims keep protesting in real life. On March 22, a second demonstration took place in front of the University of the Philippiness College of Mass Communication, with the slogans End impunity, Stop cyber attacks and Stop media repression. A #MirrorUs campaign was launched as well.

On March 29, 25 years after the born of the Internet in the Philippines, independent media and organizations (Bulatlat, Kodao, Pinoy Weekly and AlterMidya) are filing a civil lawsuit against Suniway, the company whos infrastructure made possible these cyber attacks. The attacks have slowed down for now, but they are likely to re-appear soon again, since the general elections of the Philippines will be held on May 13th. We can expect another wave of attacks attempting to silence regime critical voices in favor for the Duterte regime and his allies.

About the author Clara Zid

Outreach and Media  Investigative journalist

Qurium Media Foundation | Virtualroad.org

Pierluigi Paganini

( SecurityAffairs  National CERT of Philippines, hacking)

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 "Decarcerating America: The Opportunistic Overlap Between Theory and (Mainly State) Sentencing Practise as a Pathway to Meaningful Reform" | Main | "The Captive Lab Rat: Human Medical Experimentation in the Carceral State" 

March 28, 2019

SCOTUS stays Texas execution because condemned was denied Buddhist spiritual advisor in execution chamber

As reported in this local article, "hours after he was to be executed for his role in a notorious 19-year-old crime, Texas death row prisoner Patrick Murphy won a rare stay from the U.S. Supreme Court based on his request to have a Buddhist spiritual adviser next to him in the death chamber." Here is more:

The condemned man, one of the last surviving members of the so-called 'Texas 7' crew of prison escapees, lobbed a long-shot bid for reprieve earlier this week when his attorneys raised religious discrimination claims, arguing that the converted Buddhist couldn't make it to the Pure Land for rebirth without a spiritual adviser present as he prepared to die. But the regular prison chaplain is a Christian and, in light of that, the Texas prison system's refusal to accommodate Murphy's request could be a constitutional violation. "As this Court has repeatedly held, governmental discrimination against religion  in particular, discrimination against religious persons, religious organizations, and religious speech violates the Constitution," Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote. "The choice of remedy going forward is up to the State. What the State may not do, in my view, is allow Christian or Muslim inmates but not Buddhist inmates to have a religious adviser of their religion in the execution room." Two justices  Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch  dissented, while Murphy's legal team celebrated the rare win. "We are pleased the Supreme Court acknowledged both that Mr. Murphy, as a Buddhist, is entitled to be accompanied in the execution chamber during the execution by a minister of his own faith just as a Christian would be," Houston-based attorneys David Dow and Jeff Newberry said in a statement late Thursday. But the late-breaking decision doesn't mean that Murphy can't be executed  it just means that he gets more time to argue his appeal, unless the Texas prison system instead chooses to resolve the issue by changing their protocols to allow Buddhists the same execution chamber religious rights as Christians. Prison spokesman Jeremy Desel said the Texas Department of Criminal Justice legal team will "be reviewing the ruling" to figure out "what, if any, impact it will have."

The Supreme Court's ruling is available at this link, and here is the official statement from the Court:

The application for a stay of execution of sentence of death presented to JUSTICE ALITO and by him referred to the Court is granted. The State may not carry out Murphys execution pending the timely filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari unless the State permits Murphys Buddhist spiritual advisor or another Buddhist reverend of the States choosing to accompany Murphy in the execution chamber during the execution.

Justice Kavanaugh decided to write a few paragraphs to explain his vote, and here is are a few sentences therefrom:

In this case, the relevant Texas policy allows a Christian or Muslim inmate to have a state-employed Christian or Muslim religious adviser present either in the execution room or in the adjacent viewing room. But inmates of other religious denominations  for example, Buddhist inmates such as Murphy  who want their religious adviser to be present can have the religious adviser present only in the viewing room and not in the execution room itself for their executions. In my view, the Constitution prohibits such denominational discrimination.

UPDATE: A number of commentors below and elsewhere have been discussing the notable difference in outcome between this case, where a dividied SCOTUS imposed a stay after the Fifth Circuit refused a stay, and Dunn v. Ray last month, where a divided SCOTUS lifted a lower court stay to allow an execution to go forward. Ilya Somin at The Volokh Conspiracy speaks to the parallels in this post, which concludes with these observations:

In my view, ... the justices saw the extremely negative reaction against their decision in Ray, and belatedly realized they had made a mistake; and not just any mistake, but one that inflicted real damage on their and the Court's reputations. Presented with a chance to "correct" their error and signal that they will not tolerate religious discrimination in death penalty administration, they were willing to bend over backwards to seize the opportunity, and not let it slip away. And, whatever can be said about the procedural question, it's a good thing that the justices have taken a major step towards clearing up any confusion over their stance on the substantive one. Whether in death penalty cases or elsewhere, it is indeed impermissible for the government to discriminate on the basis of religion.

March 28, 2019 at 11:57 PM | Permalink

Comments

hard to see what, other than bias, let this guy win but the muslim with the identical claim lose.

Posted by: hgd | Mar 29, 2019 9:13:18 AM

Difference appears to be timing of raising the claim. Which I guess begs the question of when is it appropriate for a death row inmate to raise the claim.

I am not sure that the inmate needs to request his spiritual adviser be permitted in the execution room prior to the appropriate entity scheduling the execution. After all, the inmate might win an appeal and never have an execution date set or he might change his religious beliefs while his appeals are pending. But I think that a state could reasonably establish a deadline for making any request that certain persons be permitted as witnesses or finalizing what denomination (if any) spiritual counsel the inmate wished to receive just prior to his execution.

More significant is Justice Kavanaugh's explanation of the remedy in these cases. His position -- which would probably have majority support -- would allow a state to simply restrict all spiritual advisers in the same manner. Given the security concerns present in these cases, I could see most states deciding to adopt that remedy.

Posted by: tmm | Mar 29, 2019 11:08:42 AM

The official difference is the timing of the request. I think the timing of the request in the previous case was reasonable, but I also think the court was upset about last minute requests in general and decided to set an example in that specific case. Either way, the specific timing here is better, which explains the difference.

There's also a clearer First Amendment violation here. The exemption for specific religions but not others is apparent discrimination on its face. The previous case seemed to be more of a RLUIPA case.

Posted by: Erik M | Mar 29, 2019 12:58:26 PM

It is precisely issues like this that make the system "expensive and dysfunctional" as highlighted in the post immediately above.

Posted by: William Jockusch | Mar 29, 2019 6:58:22 PM

Ilya Somin clearly has it right when she says:

"In my view, ... the justices saw the extremely negative reaction against their decision in Ray, and belatedly realized they had made a mistake; and not just any mistake, but one that inflicted real damage on their and the Court's reputations."

Discrimination, whether racial or religious should never be tolerated in the justice system.

As important an issue, though not raised by this appeal success, is the fact that this inmate has NOT committed murder, but was an escapee. He is trapped by the infamous Law of Parties with no question of direct involvement or intention to kill. If you can justify the death penalty for murder at all, and I of course think not, there is no way it can be justified for less.

Posted by: peter | Mar 30, 2019 8:19:27 AM

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(Mar 29): Vietnam was able to achieve the same magnitude of export development in half the time it took China. And as the US-China trade spat continues, Vietnam has built on this momentum.

On March 28 and 29, the two world powers are resuming high-level talks in Beijing to resolve their trade differences. The talks take place amidst latest date that companies have been increasingly relocating their supply chain out of China to the former French colony.

According to Panjiva, a supply-chain research unit at S&P Global Market Intelligence, the shift of high value manufacturing to Vietnam had likely enabled the country to record y-o-y exports growth of 21.6% in 2017, compared to 7.9% for China. In 2018, Vietnams exports grew 10.6% y-o-y compared to Chinas 9.9%.

In terms of Vietnams seaborne shipments to the US, the country saw a y-o-y growth of 13.3% in 2018, compared to Chinas 8.3%. That figure grew 17.3% y-o-y in the first two months of 2019, versus Chinas y-o-y drop of 4.9%. Vietnamese furniture, capital goods and apparel shipments increased 25.3%, 16.1% and 14.6% respectively.

As business uncertainties mount regarding the long-term trade relations between China and the United States companies are increasingly considering alternative supply chain options, Chris Rogers, analyst at Panjiva, writes in a March 25 commentary.

Vietnam has been one of the longer-term destinations for manufacturers shifting out of China. In fact, most companies had been planning to shift production out of China anyway, with the unresolved trade tensions simply providing an impetus to act more quickly, he adds.

DBS Group Research shares a similar view. The ongoing China-US trade war will drive exporters to have a Vietnam diversification strategy and Vietnam should be one of the main beneficiaries from this production shift, it says in a Feb 27 report. The case for investing in Vietnam had already been strong  itself being a manufacturing and processing destination for electronics and textiles as a low-cost alternative to China.

Story continues

However, Vietnams exports year-to-date have been lacklustre. Calling it a marked reversal, Panjiva says Vietnams exports increased 0.1% y-o-y in the first two months of the year, compared to a y-o-y drop of 4.6% for China. A more widespread trade slowdown around Asia is a likely reason for the slower growth in absolute terms, it says.

Maybank Kim Eng says it is taking a more cautious stance after speaking to clients who were gauging the actual relocation demand from manufacturers looking to set up shop in Vietnam. Our view is that much of this latent demand remains in the potential stage and has only manifested itself in the rising industrial leasing inquiries received by local property agents, Maybank KE analyst Thai Quang Trung writes in a March 11 note.

On the contrary, Maybank KE says the most concrete evidence of genuine relocation demand can be seen in Hong Kong-listed GoerTek, an assembler of Apples wireless earphone AirPods. The brokerage notes that GoerTek is moving from China to set up shop in Que Vo Industrial Park. The company is reportedly investing US$260 million in the park.

Yet that has not dampened Panjivas optimism on Vietnam. The country has demonstrated a faster transition to high value exports from lower value ones compared to China, it notes. Vietnams exports of electricals and electronics increased to 32.4% in 2016 from 5.9% in 2008. In contrast, Chinas exports of electronics rose to 26.4% in 2017 from 13.4% in 1997.
A Communist Party of the Philippines Flag | Photo courtesy of PRWC_INFO

MANILA, Philippines  The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) shrugs off this years 50th founding anniversary of the communist group New Peoples Army (NPA).

According to AFP Spokesperson BGen. Edgard Arevalo, the leftist group has no reason to celebrate as more NPA members are returning to the governments fold and their forces are already dwindling.

Since January 2018 to date, the government has accepted a total of 12,500 rebel returnees; 160 were killed during encounters with the military; while 320 were arrested.

The terrorist groups supposed 50th anniversary, we say there is nothing for them to celebrate. The AFP with other relevant agencies of government is working diligently to ensure that this anniversary will be their last, Arevalo said.

If there is something to celebrate, the army officer said, it should be the former rebels decision to surrender.

Instead of merry-making, the NPA should instead observe a national day of mourning for the more than 80,000 killed on orders of CPP-NPA leadership under Jose Maria Sison and a number of his cohorts who planned, conspired and mercilessly executed their own people, Arevalo said.

The PNP agrees with the AFP that the NPA has no reason to rejoice as they have inflicted harm and violence to the people with all the atrocities they have caused.

The Department of National Defense (DND), for its part, has called on all patriotic Filipinos to support the governments efforts to rid this blight from our land. Let us show the world that the NPA and their ways of crime, violence and terror have no place in our homes, in our society, and in our country.  Marje Pelayo (with details from Lea Ylagan)

The post AFP vows NPAs 50th anniversary is the last appeared first on UNTV News.
Has Hainans free-trade zone lived up to expectations in its first 12 months?

When the island of Hainan was designated as Chinas 12th free-trade zone by President Xi Jinping in April last year, it came with an ambition to make the area operational by 2020, and reach a mature development stage in 2035. But one year on, how far has Chinas southernmost province lived up to expectations?

From November to March, the Hainan free-trade zone attracted 185.7 billion yuan (US$27.6 billion) of investment in three batches, allocated to 378 construction projects, including infrastructure, a tax-free town and sewage treatment works, according to calculations based on reports from state-owned news agency Xinhua.

Touted as Chinas key gateway to the Pacific and Indian Oceans covering 18 counties and cities in the province, the zone has also signed 195 contracts with parties including international schools and theme parks, with a total investment of 285.9 billion yuan (US$42.4 billion).

Hainan suffered a lot in the first 30 years as it was too eager for results, and as a result, it paid the price in the years to come. The State Council has urged Hainan to have a world-leading business environment in 2021, which will be a huge pressure for Hainan, said Zhang Yansheng, senior researcher fellow at the Academic Committee of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Winning preferential policies are not the essential issue for Hainan, but Hainan needs to improve its openness and legal environment.

Qin Sibo, a deputy director of the Education Department of Hainan Province said that Great Britains Harrow School would cooperate with local institutions to open a school in the capital city of Haikou, while negotiations with another British school, Dulwich College, to open a branch in Hainan were also underway.

Chen Danhong, deputy director at the Industry Investment Division of Hainan Province, said they planned to announce new batches of projects and new contracts once every two months this year.

State media reported that by mid-March, 30 of the worlds top 500 companies including Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and British global travel company Thomas Cook have set up operations in Hainan, while Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent have also set up regional headquarters. Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.

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The State Council has urged Hainan to have a world-leading business environment in 2021, which will be a huge pressure for Hainan.

Zhang Yansheng, NDRC

Chen Bo, a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and an adviser to several free-trade zones in China, said the Hainan free-trade zone was different from previous versions that have traditionally focused on the manufacturing industry where there are more individual large-sized investments.

The majority of the investment in the Hainan free-trade zone is on modern service, which distinguishes Hainan from other free-trade zones. Single investment on modern service is generally not large. Hainan has made it clear that it would not focus on traditional manufacturing, thats why there hasnt been a huge amount of foreign investment like Teslas investment into Shanghai.

But Chen Bo said that while Hainan was clearly accelerating construction of the zone, it was hard to pinpoint the pace at which overall development progress has been made. He also questioned how much Hainan could achieve in the field of scientific research.

There are no prestigious universities or institutions in Hainan, and there are no relevant industries to support scientific research, Chen said.

The free-trade zone aims to prioritise the development of three sectors  tourism, modern services and hi-tech industries, however, Hainans appeal among international tourists is still relatively low compared with Indonesias Bali and Thailands Phuket.

Boao Super Hospital, a flagship project in the free-trade zone, opened in March last year. It is allowed to import sophisticated medical equipment without lengthy approval procedures and also has access to drugs that are not available domestically. The hospital used the first batch of the human papillomavirus (HPV) 9-valent vaccines in mainland China, which led to a health tourism boom in Hainan.

In March, Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said that in 2018 Hainans foreign trade grew by 21 per cent while foreign direct investment increased by 113 per cent.

We can say that we achieved very good results, he said.

Hainan recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.8 per cent in 2018, which failed to meet its 7 per cent target. The province has targeted a GDP growth of 7 to 7.5 per cent in 2019 amid the slowing economy.

Official figures showed that Hainan ranked 28th among 31 provinces and cities in 2018 in terms of GDP, while disposable income per capita was 24,579 yuan (US$3,648), lagging behind the national average of 28,228 yuan.

Last year, Hainan announced an ambitious one million plan to attract top talent between 2018-2025 to help build the free-trade zone by offering various incentives including housing, cars, spousal employment and medical insurance.

Fu Xuanchao, director of the Hainan provincial development and reform commission, said in March that Hainan had recruited a total of 42,000 talents of all types.

The most important thing for Hainan to build up a free-trade port is to emancipate the mind, otherwise, it cannot find a way out. Without talent, Hainan cannot succeed. Attracting talent is not only about subsidies, talent must have passion about this place and believe they have a future here, said Renmin University vice-president Wu Xiaoqiu on the sidelines of Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan this week.

Hainan announced this week that it has embarked on researching legislation for the Hainan Free Trade Port Law.

More from South China Morning Post:

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A truck ploughed into a crowd of indigenous Guatemalans gathered on a highway, leaving 18 dead as it drove off without stopping and plunging the Central American country into an outpouring of grief on Thursday. The government announced three days of mourning after the incident late Wednesday in the western town of Nahuala, whose population of around 65,000 are mostly K'iche' Maya. A group of people had converged at the entrance of the town, at the scene of another hit-and-run in which a local community leader was killed, when they in turn were hit by a truck with its lights off on a road without street lighting. Chilling images from the scene showed the victims' bodies in their brightly colored clothing laid out in a line on the asphalt, as relatives cried out in anguish. "In total, there are 18 deaths that have been counted in this tragedy," fire department spokesman Cecilio Chacaj told AFP, revising down a previous toll of 30 that he attributed to early chaos on the scene. "The place was in chaos and there were corpses piled on top of other corpses." Three of the dead were children, Chacaj said. Another 20 people were injured in the accident, several seriously, and were being treated in hospitals. The truck driver initially got away but police spokesman Pablo Castillo told reporters a patrol caught up with him. "After a chase, police officers managed to capture a man allegedly responsible for running over several people with a truck that was travelling at excessive speed in the municipality of Nahula," Castillo said. The alleged driver of the yellow-striped black and white vehicle was identified as 28-year-old Pedro Rene Lorenzo Lopez. "For reasons unknown, he ran over several people, leaving 18 dead, including a child under eight years of age," Castillo said. A photo released by police of the recovered truck shows dents on the cab, likely to be from the impact of the collision with the crowd. - Nation in mourning - The government said the mourning period would start Thursday, while President Jimmy Morales tweeted his condolences. "We are currently coordinating actions to provide all the support to the victims' families," he said. The United States embassy in Guatemala expressed its "deepest condolences to the families of the victims." "We sympathize with the injured, their families, and the families of the deceased, hoping they will recover from this tragedy," a statement released on Twitter said. Authorities set up a morgue in the local community hall where family members arrived to pick up the bodies of loved ones and take them back to their homes before funerals later Thursday. Hundreds of people crowded around the morgue, located near a market, as heartbroken families took possession of coffins and bore them to a fleet of nearby pick-up trucks and cars. Castillo said investigators were initially prevented from getting to the scene by angry residents and relatives of the victims, and were given access only after several hours of talks with community leaders. Local reports said the man killed in the first accident was president of the state Council of Urban and Rural Development, though authorities have not confirmed this. The semi-trailer did not have its lights on when it struck the group of people, which may have been why the driver did not spot them, while the highway was also unlit, according to local media. Traffic rules are frequently ignored in Guatemala, a nation of some 16.5 million people.
Perched atop a gentle slope along Bukit Timah Road, Hwa Chong Institution (HCI)  as well as its previous incarnations, The Chinese High School and Hwa Chong Junior College  has been an active participant in 100 years of modern Singapores development.

It began as a modest school along Niven Road in 1919, with just 13 teachers and 93 students. Since then, HCIs alumni has included influential figures such as former President Ong Teng Cheong, pioneer labour minister Jek Yeun Thong, Singapore Symphony Orchestra founder Choo Hoey, and renowned playwright/arts activist Kuo Pao Kun, as well as successful entrepreneurs such as Qian Hus Kenny Yap.

At times, it was also a key, albeit controversial, player amid the Republics historical milestones. In the 1950s, its deep roots in Chinese ethos clashed with the British colonial government, who were suspicious of the students alleged pro-communist leanings. Such tensions boiled over into the Chinese middle-school riots of 1956, in which The Chinese High School was the hub of student protests and sit-ins before the subsequent unrest.

Modern readings of that period have since recast the riots as a vital signpost of Singapores battle for independence. The Chinese High School  and subsequently HCI  has also shed much of its confrontational image and is now widely regarded as one of Singapores premier educational institutions.

Never resting on its laurels

HCI is currently celebrating its centennial with a years worth of events  from launching a heritage trail within its huge school compound, to organising a massive 10,000-guest dinner graced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. It is also hosting round-the-year conferences analysing the future of education, and opening an art gallery in December to showcase its sizeable archive of artworks.

Its current principal Pang Choon How told Yahoo News Singapore in an extensive interview on 18 March that the school is deeply committed to the vision of its founder, philanthropist Tan Kah Kee  that the acquisition of knowledge is a powerful, transformative tool in the lives of individuals.

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Hwa Chong Institution celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2019. (PHOTO: Hwa Chong Institution)

As a school, our guiding principle follows that of our school motto, , which means a tenacity to improve, to strive to be best, to never rest on laurels, said Pang, 43.

We are fully committed to nurturing students to be global citizens, to be future-ready, and to lead a life with a strong sense of purpose and passion. And so we have to constantly be on the forefront of education innovation.

Deep Chinese ethos vs British colonial government

HCI has been inextricably linked with the Chinese community, both in Singapore and in China. The moral values it strives to inculcate among its students are thus rooted firmly in Chinese tradition, as evident by its school motto, its school philosophy (  to uplift communities and serve others) and its school values (  remembering ones roots and honouring ones benefactors).

At times, though, its deep Chinese ethos have seen it in conflict with authorities.

The Chinese High School, together with Chung Cheng High School, were the key locations during the 1956 Chinese middle-school riots, as students held sit-ins and protests over the dissolutions of what were deemed pro-communist organisations by the Legislative Assembly government, led by chief minister Lim Yew Hock.

The protests escalated into riots as police entered the schools compounds and used tear gas on the students, who took to the streets and resorted to violence that eventually led to 13 deaths, hundreds injured and more than 900 arrests.

Students at The Chinese High School during the 1950s Chinese middle-school riots. (PHOTO: Hwa Chong Institution)

In the decades since, the students have come to be seen less as pro-leftist dissidents, and more as pro-independence activists, noted Pang.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can view history in a different light. The riots were regrettably very disruptive, yet they played a very influential role in shaping the course of history, he added.

Many of Singapores current policies in shaping a multi-cultural, multi-racial society were derived from lessons learnt from the anti-colonial struggles. The student movements were also part of a broader global narrative of pro-independence movements to overthrow the colonial masters then, and the riots continue to provide lessons and insights for current and future generations in understanding the geo-political circumstances of the nation.

Bridging language divide to develop multiple perspectives

Post independence, The Chinese High School sought to bridge the language divide. It was one of the first Chinese-medium schools to adopt English as the language of instruction for maths and science. It also offered conversational Malay as a subject and opening its integrated boarding programme to schools beyond HCI.

Despite continual efforts to admit students of all races, HCI remains an institution made up largely of students with Chinese ethnicity. This has invited the inevitable stereotypes  that Hwa Chong students are bookish, inflexible, China-centric and unable to mingle with peers of other races.

Pang begs to differ, arguing that HCIs bilingual education, coupled with the Chinese philosophy of embracing and assimilating the cultures of others, has shaped its students disposition to embrace diversity, to respect and appreciate cultures, and to develop multiple perspectives.

Nevertheless, during the 100th anniversary dinner on 21 March, PM Lee urged HCI students to connect with fellow Singaporeans of all races and religions, and understand the context of Singapore society.

He said in his speech, Hwa Chong students must understand the context of our society, and their own responsibilities within it. You must know how the society works, identify with fellow Singaporeans of all races and religions, and feel a responsibility for your fellow citizens.

You need to feel a calling to participate in community and national affairs, to contribute to the society and system that has nurtured you, and to take on leadership roles to take Singapore forward. If you can continue to do this  uphold high academic achievements, promote Chinese cultural values, and prepare students for our multi-racial, multi-religious society  you will have fulfilled your mission.

Many firsts amid Singapores development in education

The list of firsts by HCI is a long one. It was the first government-aided junior college in 1974 and the first secondary school to go single-session in 1978; it was among the first institutions to offer the humanities, Chinese language and art elective programmes; and it was among the pioneer batches of schools which provided the Special Assistance Plan scheme for bilingual education (in 1979), turned independent (in 1988) and offered the Integrated Programme (in 2005).

Still, these constant efforts to be at the forefront of educational innovation would count for little had its students not learn lifelong values from school life.

Ho Teck Hua, senior deputy president and provost of National University of Singapore, contributed an article in HCIs centennial commemorative book on the lessons he gleaned from studying at The Chinese High School and Hwa Chong Junior College from 1974 to 1979. He wrote about the values that the school instilled in us as students  to be persistent in our efforts, respecting others, and showing compassion in our endeavours.

I have found these values powerful in guiding me through daily conduct and dealings, Ho added. The value of persistence has helped me persevere during times of personal and professional challenges Respecting others and recognising their worth is crucial because everyone has something to contribute Showing compassion for others is important in a highly diverse society like Singapore.

High-quality education being the social equaliser

Indeed, amid Singapores stratifying society, HCI has long viewed high-quality education as the great social equaliser in Singapore.

Pang encourages his students to be involved in meaningful community projects. For instance, some of its students go to Westwood Primary School every week to teach pupils from lower-income families, while others organise workshops to help train others in debating skills and language proficiency.

Hwa Chong Institution students and teachers lined up a formation depicting its 100th anniversary. (PHOTO: Hwa Chong Institution)

Its important for students to reach out the different segments of the society, in order to understand how to contribute to larger good, he said. As a school, through our Direct School Admission outreach programme, we continue to look out for deserving students  especially those from less-advantaged families  with strength of character to fit into our school culture.

As Singapore is a gateway between the East and the West, we hope our students can continue to be culturally savvy, be plugged into the region, and be confident to navigate the current global landscape. Wherever they are, we hope they can live with passion, lead with compassion.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has resumed its road and reblocking repairs on segments of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), Circumferential Road 5 (C-5), and Katipunan Avenue, starting 11 PM, Friday, March 29, 2019. It will continue until 5 AM, Monday, April 1, 2019.

 www.dpwh.gov.ph/

According to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) National Capital Region (NCR) Director Ador G. Canlas, these are the following road sections that will be repaired on EDSA:

Southbound direction from Ermin Garcia to New York in Quezon City, 1st lane from the sidewalk; and

Northbound direction from 50 meters after Magallanes MRT to KM 29 in Makati City, outer lane.

C-5 Roads covering the southbound direction in front of Tiendisitas to SM Center in Pasig City together with northbound direction fronting SM Aura to Market Market will be repaired.

Other roads scheduled for reblocking activities is Katipunan heading southbound from after C.P. Garcia and J.Escaler, truck lane.

Road Problem: A Longstanding Problem

According to the Oxford Business Group, the countrys transport system was its worst-ranked category. Infrastructure was at its worst mark, scoring 3.4 out of 7, way below the 4.4 gross composite index for the country. Quality of roads was also below average, with a mark of 3.3 out of 7, placing the Philippines 97th country with the worst road quality out of 140 countries.

The government plans to improve these marks through the help of international donor agencies like ADB and World Bank. Another program is the National Roads Improvement and Management Program funded by World Bank in collaboration with the DPWH. Now in its second phase, the USD501.68-million project is set to improve the efficiency and operational capacity of the national road system.

The post Major Road Repair and Reblocking on EDSA, C-5, Katipunan Resume Today appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.
Lim Kwong Fei was charged in the State Courts on 8 December, 2017, with drink driving along Tanjong Pagar Road. (PHOTO: Hannah Teoh/Yahoo News Singapore)

After drinking in a private yacht, he decided to drive from his home in Keppel Bay to his office in Tanjong Pagar.

Lim Kwong Feis Mercedes Benz car later ploughed into four pedestrians at a central divider, hit a lorry and a taxi before coming to a stop outside Amara Singapore hotel.

On Friday (29 March), Lim, 42, previously a top-earning insurance agent, pleaded guilty to one count of being under the influence of drink to the extent that he failed to control his vehicle.

One count each of negligently causing bodily injuries, negligently causing grievous bodily injuries and driving against flow of traffic were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that on 7 December 2017, Lim drank at least three cans of beer and one glass of red wine on board the yacht before he disembarked at Keppel Bay Marina at 5pm. A while later, he drove to his office at Guoco Tower.

As he proceeded along the rightmost lane of Tanjong Pagar Road at around 6.20pm, Lim was observed by a witness to be driving at a high speed.

The witness from Sweden, Rosen Gustaf Rikard, was crossing Tanjong Pagar Road when he observed Lim driving in a zig-zag and unsteady manner, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jarret Huang told the court.

Lims car narrowly missed hitting Rickards young daughter, who was with him.

Lim continued driving in the same manner for about 100 metres. He then abruptly swerved his car and mounted a centre divider.

He uprooted a traffic sign before colliding into four pedestrians standing at the divider, who were thrown in the air.

The pedestrians were Lim Yew Beng, 57 and his daughter Merlyn Lim Wei Xuan 24, both Singaporeans, permanent resident Nay Lin Tun, 30, and Australian Martin Guillian Noel Faron, 41.

But Lim did not stop his car. He continued driving on the other side of the road and uprooted another traffic sign.

He drove against the flow of traffic for 20 metres, before ramming into a lorry. After he continued to drive against the flow of traffic, he swerved and mounted the centre divider again. He then returned to the lane that he was originally on before slamming into a taxi and finally stopping his car.

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Lim did not move to assist the victims. After the police arrived, Lim failed a breathalyser test administered to him and was arrested for drink-driving.

Exceptionally dangerous and aberrant

The victims suffered multiple serious injuries and psychological issues due to the accident.

Merlyn suffered from abrasions on her limbs, shattered glass on her back and a hip injury. Her father sustained bleeding in the brain, and had spinal, skull and leg fractures. Lim was unable to do basic daily tasks like bathing, feeding himself, and going to the toilet.

Nay fractured his nasal bone, sustained abrasions to his limbs and brain injuries, and had frequent giddiness.

Faron suffered from multiple injuries ranging from spinal fracture, spine numbness, to abrasions. He developed kidney problems, was unable to walk and feed himself, and had no control of his bowels while warded.

The taxi driver experienced neck and back pains.

Asking for five months jail and a five-year driving ban, Huang said Lims driving was exceptionally dangerous and aberrant. The trauma for some of the victims was so severe that they had phobia, nightmares and involuntary shouting, Huang added.

On Friday, Lims lawyer Josephus Tan asked for a jail term of not more than 14 weeks and up to 5 years of driving ban.

Mr Lim had initially tried to assist the victims but he was surrounded by an angry mob which was shouting at him aggressively and yelling at him to stay away from the victims, Tan said.

Lim was supporting a 12-year-old son from a previous marriage and that his father has terminal lung cancer, Tan added.

The sentencing has been adjourned to Monday. Lim faces jail of up to six months or fine of between $1,000 and $5,000 on a first conviction.





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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko insisted he could beat comedian and poll-leader Volodymyr Zelensky despite what he said were Russian attempts at interference, as his re-election campaign wrapped up on Friday. Poroshenko has sought to position himself as the only candidate who can stand up to Moscow as he seeks to beat back support for Zelensky, whose political experience consists of playing the president in a TV series. "I am absolutely confident that despite all of Russia's attempts... the Kremlin will not block the European or Euro-Atlantic integration of my country," Poroshenko told AFP and other Western media after his final campaign rally late Thursday in the western city of Lviv. Friday is the last day of campaigning before a first-round vote on Sunday, in which opinion polls show Poroshenko and ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko scrambling for second place to face Zelensky in a run-off. Poroshenko, however, said he "definitely" felt sure of victory. "We understand how important this election is for democracy in Ukraine, for the future of Ukraine and for the stability of Europe," he said. The 53-year-old leader came to power in 2014 -- after a popular uprising ousted his pro-Russian predecessor -- on promises to tackle graft, improve living standards and align Ukraine with the West. But after five years, corruption is still widespread and Ukraine remains among the poorest nations in Europe. Frustrations with the political class has led to the surprise rise of Zelensky, who has a roughly 10-point lead over his nearest rivals in final polls published this week. Nonetheless Poroshenko told thousands of supporters in Lviv that "the worst, friends, is definitely over". "We have just started to make up the losses after the crisis caused by Russian aggression and war," he said. Ties between Kiev and its former Soviet-era master Moscow have been in tatters since the 2014 revolution forced out the Kremlin-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych and Russia retaliated by annexing Crimea. Moscow also supported a pro-Russia separatist uprising in the east of Ukraine -- a simmering conflict which has so far claimed around 13,000 lives. - 'Lost years' - Zelensky has shunned traditional rallies even in the final stretch of the campaign, but has continued to perform stand-up and sketch comedy shows to packed houses. The 41-year-old star of the political comedy "Servant of the People" has drawn criticism for the vagueness of his manifesto, the main points of which were chosen following a public vote on social media. But supporters say only a brand-new face can clean up Ukraine's murky politics. If elected, Zelensky has said he will move forward with the implementation of the Minsk peace process that is supposed to put an end to the war with the pro-Russian separatists. Tymoshenko, who came to international prominence as a face of the 2004 Orange Revolution and has stood for the presidency twice before, said the current peace talks were a waste of time. "Five years have been lost," the 58-year-old told a crowd of cheering supporters in central Kiev on Friday. "We need a new strategy," she said, adding that she wanted Washington to get involved in the talks. Since the 2004 uprising, Tymoshenko has spent three years as prime minister and three years in prison, on charges the West says were politically motivated, and she remains a divisive figure. Kiev and the European Union have held joint cyber security drills ahead of the vote to protect Ukraine from what officials say is a hacking threat from Russia. Ukrainian security services say they have registered a growing number of attacks and phishing attempts to gain access to computers of the country's ministries and other state structures in recent months. Russia denies any attempt to interfere in the vote.
That Asias footwear market is booming is no news. Revenues for the sector have been steadily climbing over the last few years and currently amount to $62.5 million, according to online statistics portal Statista.

Western brands make up a big chunk of that figure. Anyone whos anyone in the industry has invested in the region, whether through branding, physical retail or online strategies. (See: Reeboks appearance on the Shanghai runways this week.)

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But while both big conglomerates and established designers are looking East, a handful of labels from Asia are moving in the opposite direction, expanding their appeal to the international stage.

Hailing from South Korea, Japan and China (but stocked by top Western retailers  and even touted by quite a few celebrities), here are five Asian shoemakers making waves overseas.

Yuul Yie

Launched in 2010 by South Korean designer Sunyuul Yie, Yuul Yie has won a loyal following both in Asia and the West for its made-to-order sculptural shoes. The brands most recognizable style is its patented Y-shaped trapezoid chunky heel, but collections also include mules, slingbacks, Mary Janes and pumps. Ultraminimal and color-blocky, they often feature conceptually complex details such as pearl-embellished heels and sharp square toes, elaborate buckles and unorthodox fabrics. All of the hardware is created and manufactured at the brands factory in Seoul, while the leather comes from Italy.

Moda Operandi was the first to stock Yuul Yie in the States two years ago. Today, the label is carried by Farfetch, Nordstrom and Shopbop, among others, and has a presence in the U.K. at Dover Street Market and at BrownsFashion.com. Its available in Italy, too, on luxury retailer Luisaviaroma.

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Its largest market is America.

Yuul Yie designer Sunyuul Yie.

Reike Nen

Reike Nens shoes are simple, sleek and slightly quirky. The brand was established in 2010 by former womenswear designer Rei Yoon Hongmi in an old shoe factory quarter in Seoul. Since then, it has grown into somewhat of a cult indie name back home for creating a contemporary style thats changed the direction of Korean footwear from excessively dressy to quietly understated. It has received attention abroad, too. Today, Reike Nen is stocked on Shopbop and Moda Operandi, as well as multibrand stores across the States, from American Rag CIE in Los Angeles to Lynn Louisa in Washington, D.C. Its design codes rely on comfort and subtle eccentricity, with modern updates on classic shapes through exposed zippers and buckle embellishments; soft, muted colors (or black); and heels that are always low, whether its an ankle boot or a mule.

Reike Nen heels.

Hender Scheme

A Hypebeast favorite, Hender Scheme is a Japanese footwear and accessories label based in Tokyo. Designer Ryo Kashiwazaki started it in 2013, though not in the most orthodox way: Initially, the shoes he made were untreated, handcrafted tan leather versions of classic sneakers, like the New Balance 574, Air Force 1, Air Jordan IV, and Reebok Pump Fury. They were creative but essentially unauthorized reproductions of big-name kicks. Unsurprisingly, they got noticed. Some might even say they started the vegetable-tan leather trend of a few seasons back, when anyone from Celine to Nike came out with sneakers showing that same color palette. In 2017, Adidas announced a collaboration with Hender Scheme (more have followed), raising the brands profile and its collectable status. Meanwhile, artists like Diddy and Justin Bieber have been seen wearing Kashiwazakis shoes.

While sneakers still make up most of its selection, Hender Schemes range today also includes boots, slippers and derby shoes. The brand is sold through Mr Porter, Farfetch and Union Los Angeles in the West.

Hender Scheme x Adidas NMD R1

Suicoke

Japanese label Suicoke has been around since 2006 and built a dedicated following across Western and Asian markets. To date, its designers have never disclosed their identities, thus adding to the cult vibe around its shoes. The label focuses on functional outdoor footwear and sandals, which it produces in collaboration with Italian rubber manufacturer Vibram (all of Suicokes shoes use Vibram outsoles and have ergonomically molded footbeds). But theres a clear fashion element to the overall aesthetic: Shapes are clean-cut and often show knitted or neoprene paneled uppers, as in the case of its bestsellers, the Kisee-V, Moto-V and Depa-V2 models. Over the years, Suicoke has caught the attention of many in the street-style and athleisure sector, and it has collaborated with names like Stussy, Highsnobiety, John Elliot and Aime Leon Dore. Already available at Barneys New York, Commonwealth, Revolve and FWRD, to name a few, it just launched its North American website  clear proof of big expansion plans.

Suicoke x John Elliott unisex sandals for spring 19.

Stella Luna

Since its launch in 2006, Stella Luna has been elevating the concept of made in China. Founded by Shanghai-born Stephen Chi, whose family has been in the shoe business for decades, the brand is a well-established name in Asia. It counts close to 200 stores in China alone, where its a staple for high-end footwear ranging from platform sandals to cigarette mules and evening pumps.

For the past few years, though, the brand has also made quite an impression in Europe and the U.S. That has been due, in part, to a slew of celebrity endorsements  Anna Kendrick, Heidi Klum, Jessica Alba and Gabrielle Union have all worn Stella Luna styles on and off the red carpet  but also to its international (one might say European-inspired) approach to all aspects of the business. Although still very much rooted in Chinese craftsmanship, Stella Lunas ateliers are in France and Italy, and most of their materials are sourced in Europe. The companys global marketing, communication and digital teams work from a showroom and offices in the center of Paris. Currently, its carried by luxury retailers and online platforms like Barneys New York, Harrods, Selfridges, Farfetch and Yoox. It also recently revamped its website, making it easier for Western shoppers to navigate.

Stella Luna fall 19 boot at Paris Fashion Week.

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Celebrities Wearing Stella Luna Shoes

Ive Received More Compliments Wearing This Shoe Than Any Other  Ever

Tyler the Creator Is Obsessed With Suicoke Sandals  and Heres the Proof

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A journalist stands in the Malham cave inside Mount Sodom, located at the southern part of the Dead Sea in Israel

Israeli cave explorers said Thursday that a salt cave with striking stalactites near the Dead Sea is the world's longest, beating the previous record-holder in Iran.

The cave named Malham, stretching over 10 kilometres (6.25 miles), runs through Mount Sodom, Israel's largest mountain, and spills out to the southwest corner of the adjacent Dead Sea.

Pale salt stalactites hang from the ceilings, and some of the walls sparkle with salt crystals. Drops of salty water are visible at the tips of some of the stalactites.

Malham became known to researchers through the work of Amos Frumkin, founder and director of the Hebrew University's Cave Research Centre, who in the 1980s mapped around five kilometres of it.

But in 2006, researchers mapped over six kilometres of the N3 cave in southern Iran's Qeshm island, granting it the widely recognised status of the world's longest salt cave.

Two years ago, Israeli spelunker Yoav Negev decided to complete Frumkin's work, reaching out to Bulgarian cave explorers for reinforcements with the promise of a warm winter adventure.

Negev, founder of the Israel Cave Explorers Club, joined forces with Boaz Langford, a researcher at the university's research centre, to organise a delegation of eight European spelunkers and another 20 locals.

They spent some 10 days mapping the cave in 2018.

A second 10-day expedition this year with 80 local and international spelunkers completed the measuring and mapping of the cave with lasers, determining its length at more than 10 kilometres.

- 'The most beautiful' -

Mount Sodom is essentially a huge salt block covered by a thin but resilient layer of cap rock.

The rare desert rains find their way through cracks in the cap rock and dissolve the salt to form small caves that flow down toward the Dead Sea.

Even in the short period of time since Frumkin's mapping, the cave's structure has changed, and will continue to do so.

Much of the cave's interior is covered by a fine dust that blows in from the desert. Massive slabs of salt, some amber-coloured from dust and minerals, jut out in dramatic formations.

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A thin slab appearing to have been sliced out is nicknamed "The Guillotine," while twin slabs in a different hall earned the title of "The Ten Commandments."

Reporters touring the site clambered and crawled through the narrow passages before reaching the "wedding hall," where hundreds of white stalactites of various shapes and lengths created a festive backdrop.

To Negev, Malham was in "a category of its own."

"There's nothing like it in Israel," he said, claiming that no other cave came even close to the 10-kilometre mark.

Negev pointed to its vast network of "caverns, passageways, piers, plateaus, one over another".

He called it "the most impressive and complex in Israel... and one of the most beautiful and fascinating ones I've been in".

Negev downplayed the significance of retaking the title from Iran -- Israel's main enemy -- saying he had "excellent ties" with Iranian spelunkers through social media and professional conferences.

"The political rivalry creates a desire to connect and mutual curiosity," he said. "They're really excellent spelunkers."

"I wish I could visit there," he said of Iran and its caves.
Harry introduced Daphne Dunne to his wife Meghan in Sydney last October [Photo: Getty]

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex surprised their devoted fan across the globe, by sending her a personalised letter on her 99th birthday.

Australian war widow Daphne Dunne was delighted when she was presented with the card, which read: Dear Daphne. My wife and I send our warmest wishes to you on the occasion of your 99th birthday on Friday.

The letter continued: We hope you have a wonderful celebration surrounded by family and friends and that youve managed to escape hospital. Congratulations on reaching this important and impressive milestone before your centenary year next year. Happy birthday, Daphne.

It was signed off with Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

War widow Daphne Dunne has made headlines across the world for being Prince Harrys favourite Aussie! Today, shes turning 99, and youll never guess who sent her a birthday card  #9Today pic.twitter.com/JZNkOhRoyv  The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) March 28, 2019

Daphne first met Harry in 2015 and has built up a special relationship with him. The pair were reunited again in 2017 when he travelled to Sydney for the Invictus Games.

But their most recent meeting was during the royal tour of Australia last October, when Harry introduced Daphne to his wife Meghan.

The duke and duchess announced they were expecting their first child at the start of their overseas visit.

Harry and Daphne share a special bond [Photo: PA]

Daphne congratulated them and Meghan told her: Hopefully the next time we see you, well have our little one with us.

Daphne was unfortunately in hospital on her milestone birthday. Her daughter Michelle Haywood told Australias Today Show: I think Meghan and Harry have got mum through this terrible illness shes had.

Shes still very unwell and the card theyve sent means so much. I think it will be the thing that gets her through.

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Harry and Meghans baby is expected to arrive within the coming weeks.




From Harper's BAZAAR

Miley Cyrus is no stranger to dramatic haircuts-remember the career-defining pixie?-but her latest hair transformation was a huge surprise. The newly-married Cyrus visited Sally Hershberger salon to get her hair transformed into the familiar style of her Disney character Hannah Montana, bangs and all.

"You know guys it was so hard going back and forth I just decided to be Hannah forever," Cyrus said in a clip she posted to her Instagram Stories.

View this post on Instagram Literally iconic  #hannahmontana A post shared by Miley News Source (@mcnewssource) on Mar 29, 2019 at 12:21am PDT

Cyrus seemed to love the new cut, posting a series of goofy selfies and videos from the salon chair. With her new style blown-out straight, her hair seemed long enough to credit to extensions. But the artist made it clear that the style was all her natural hair.

View this post on Instagram Hannah is punk now A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileyczyrus) on Mar 28, 2019 at 10:38pm PDT

On the way home from the salon, Cyrus sang a few of her hits from her time as Hannah Montana, including "Best of Both Worlds":

View this post on Instagram Best Of Both Worlds  #HannahMontana #HannahIsBack A post shared by Miley News Source (@mcnewssource) on Mar 29, 2019 at 12:45am PDT

Cyrus has been celebrating the 13th anniversary of her iconic Disney character on social media for the last week. On the show, Cyrus switched back and forth between her natural long and curly brown hair and the honey-blonde wig she used on stage as her Hannah Montana persona.

Photo credit: Kevin Mazur - Getty Images

Cyrus went fully blonde for the first time back in 2012, a few months before she tapped hairstylist Chris McMillan to give her the pixie cut seen 'round the world.

Cyrus has stayed blonde since 2012, letting her pixie cut grow-out longer and longer until the length it's at today. Back in 2016, Cyrus went on a Facebook rant about the perils of bleaching her own hair and how hair can impact our self image. "Bleached my fucking natural healthy a$$ hair rebelling out of boredom while dealing with a consecutive amount of time off on the Woody project ( 2 months ago)! Sitting in a random apartment with nothing to do but smoke weed (which I should've just appreciated) and fuck with my hair obvi, something inside told me I'd regret it.... That hair color comes in a box (well maybe mine) therefore it's available to purchase and what grows from my scalp naturally is mine and and only mine!!!" she wrote at the time.

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View this post on Instagram JUST BANGED MILEY  Color by the master @justinandersoncolor #sallyhershberger24k A post shared by Sally Hershberger (@sallyhershberger) on Mar 28, 2019 at 8:22pm PDT

Cyrus continued: "PPS this isn't to discredit hair cuts/color as a tool and creative way to express yourself!!!! So if a change is something that feels right to you - fucking DO IT! Don't over think it because in the end it is fucking hair and nothing you do is detrimental and will just be a new chapter for you  my life is done chronologically in hair styles lol !!!! "

See all of Miley Cyrus's best fashion and beauty looks:

('You Might Also Like',)
For its seventh edition, Art Basel Hong Kong welcomes 242 galleries from more than 30 countries and territories.

This year, over half of the fair's exhibitors count gallery spaces in Asia and the Asia Pacific region. The Kabinett sector -- which offers specially-curated presentations by a selection of exhibitors within their booths -- will particularly highlight established and emerging artists from these areas.

Kuje Gallery is presenting a selection of oil paintings by Yoo Youngkuk (1916-2002), renowned as one of the founders of the Korean abstract movement. Pearl Lam Galleries will also display works by South Korean artist Chun Kwang Young (b.1944).

Other highlights of this section include a retrospective on Taiwan-born minimalist artist Richard Lin (1933-2011). Bonhams is holding a special exhibition of his works from the 1950s to 1970s. A rare piece by the artist, "1.3.1964-Painting Relief," will then go on sale at Bonhams Hong Kong on May 27.

The 2019 Art Basel Hong Kong will also display Tishan Hsu's most recent works at the fair's Grand Marine Center venue. Early pieces of the Chinese-American artist will be on show at Empty Gallery's stand, including his installation "Feed Forward."

In the Galleries section, New York's Acquavella Galleries will present a rare portrait of Metropolitan Museum of Art curator and critic Henry Geldzahler. Painted by David Hockney, "Henry Reading" shows the artist embracing a colorful Cubist style. The seven-and-a-half-foot-tall collaged work is estimated at $15 million.

For its sixth edition, the Film sector brings together 27 film and video works curated by multimedia artist and film producer Li Zhenhua. Among them are Lou Ye's "Spring Fever" -- which won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival -- and Yan Bo's latest documentary, "On the Other River Banks in Berlin" which explores Chinese neo-realist artist Liu Xiaodong's 2018 site-specific project in Berlin.

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Every year, the Encounters sector is dedicated to presenting large-scale sculpture and installation works by leading artists from around the world.

For the 2019 edition of the art fair, it will present 12 large-scale installations, described by curator Alexie Glass-Kantor as "both a call to action and a proposition to re-energize, re-incarnate, re-innovate, and rise-in the extreme, to find hope in hopelessness." One of the highlights of this section include Elmgreen & Dragset's "City in the Sky" -- a three-dimensional skyline of buildings hanging upside-down above visitors.

Outside of the confines of the Convention Center, the Victoria Harbour hosts street artist KAWS's latest work, a giant inflatable Companion figure floating in the water.

The 2019 Art Basel Hong Kong takes place March 29- 31. Additional information is available on the fair's official website: www.artbasel.com/hong-kong/
Singapore's Changi Airport was voted world's best airport for the seventh consecutive year according to the Skytrax ranking, which is determined by around 13.73 million travellers voting in a global customer satisfaction survey.

Singapore airport remains the world's leading platform for welcoming passengers worldwide. Never before in the history of the ranking has airport has remained leader for such a long time. This success comes just weeks before the airport opens its new attraction: Jewel Changi airport, which will transform the airport from a simple waiting room to an indisputable tourist attraction. The new complex, which will allow tourists to relax in-between flights, will boast a tropical forest, a waterfall and even a rooftop swimming pool.

Alongside Changi airport on the podium are the regulars: Tokyo Haneda (Japan) followed by Incheon (South Korea). Japan proves its expertise in air infrastructure as its Narita Airport, which is situated further away from Tokyo than Haneda, is ranked ninth, and Chubu Centrair Airport, which serves the city of Nagoya, is ranked sixth. In addition, Kansai Airport, built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, comes in 11th.

The top 10 airports in the world:

1. Singapore Changi Airport

2. Tokyo Haneda International Airport

3. Incheon International Airport

4. Hamad International Airport (Doha, Qatar)

5. Hong Kong International Airport

6. Chubu Centrair International Airport

7. Munich Airport

8. London Heathrow Airport

9. Narita International Airport

10. Zurich Airport
Natural wines have garnered quite the following in Singapore over the years (heres looking at you, Wine Rvlt), but really, its not the new phenomenon you may assume it to be. In fact, natural is one of the oldest winemaking methods, before the intervention of chemicals and additives. Simply put, its made with minimal manipulation, technological or otherwise, resulting in a wine thats essentially pure, fermented grape juice. Nothing more, nothing less.

Photo: Drunken Farmer

This means no two bottles will ever be completely alike, but these flaws and differing flavors are what make the experience of drinking natural wines fascinating. Not just good for the environment (without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers), theyre also one of the cleanest forms of wine, and youre apparently a lot less likely to get a post-vino hangover without consuming all those chemical additives in conventional wines.

Photo: Coconuts Media

All that said, if youre keen to head in a bold new direction, Drunken Farmer is a smooth and easy introduction to natural wines. Set up by the Spa Esprit Group, the traveling pop-up bar makes Tiong Bahru Bakery Safari at Dempsey its first stop for the next three months, turning the croissant haunt into a vino haven come nightfall.

Photo: Coconuts Media

About 90 natural wine labels feature on the menu, with white, red, orange, and bubbly varieties from across the globe, including countries like Italy, South Africa, Austria, Germany, and New Zealand. Glasses go for $12-$17, while bottles start from $60, alongside a small selection of cocktails and kombucha drinks.

Those new to the concept may take a while to find an appreciation for the character and aromas of these bottles, but give it a shot and youll realize its quite possible to, on more than one occasion, tell the difference between natural and commercial wines.

Photo: Coconuts Media

When you get peckish, charcuterie plates (from $16) loaded with forest mushroom pate, duck or pork rillette, and pistachio pork pate are available for you to munch on, plus oysters ($18/six), cheese platters (from $13) and desserts (from $6.50) like lemon, chocolate, or raspberry tarts.

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Photo: Coconuts Media

If you find yourself hooked on natural wines, keep tabs on where the wine bar goes next by following Drunken Farmers Instagram account for updates.

FIND IT:

Drunken Farmer is at Tiong Bahru Bakery Safari, 130E Minden Rd

Wed-Sun 6pm-11pm

MRT: Orchard

This article, Traveling pop-up natural wine bar Drunken Farmer makes its first stop at Tiong Bahru Bakery Safari after dark, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
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In the first episode of HBOs Barry, Bill Haders hit man blurts out his life story to his acting teacher (Henry Winkler). Barry used to feel a sense of purpose when killing, first as a Marine and now as the employee of a family friend (Stephen Root); its the only thing hes sure hes great at. But lately, hes been feeling as lost as ever: I know theres more to me than that. Winklers Gene Cousineau, a self-serious buffoon long used to being surrounded by weightless do-nothings, mistakes Barrys confession for an improvised monologue. The storys nonsense, Gene assesses, but theres something to work with.

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Genes skepticism of Barry is exactly how I felt about the shows first season, in which series creators Hader and Alec Berg (Silicon Valley) welded together showbiz satire with gangland drama. The result was a study of ironic contrasts that felt more like a cleverly executed thought experiment than an organic premise. Gene and his self-absorbed students strive to convey truth while being more full of bullshit than all the cattle ranches in Texas put together. Glum, anhedonic Barry wants to use his acting classes to access the parts of himself hed long repressed, but hes unwilling to channel the darkness within, or even confront how deep inside him it reaches. Actors in this universe may be a transparently artificial lot, but theyre no more preening and fanciful than the Chechen mobsters in Barrys orbit, who devise impractical flourishes with which to impress their peers and rivals. Its not just the thespians who see themselves as the stars of their own movies, hoping to reinvent themselves from nobody-from-nowhere to Los Angeles legend.

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Barrys offbeat juxtapositions take some getting used to, which may explain why its debut season focused so heavily on establishing its tonal puckishness and its own version of L.A. Season 2, which premieres on HBO Sunday night, begins shortly after last years events, when Genes detective girlfriend, Janice (Paula Newsome), discovers Barrys career and is murdered soon after by the contract killer. The psychologically stunted Barry, whod long told himself that he only killed bad guys, must contend with the reality that he still counts as evil even if he doesnt take a Dexter-ish pleasure in slaughtera storyline that feels not unlike watching the sky realize its blue. More engrossing are the traps Barry falls into when he becomes a gunslinger who no longer has what it takes to pull the trigger on strangers, even when hes got the Chechen mob on his back after taking out several of its members last season. Its all well and good if hes ready to start a new chapter in his life, but the Chechens demand their blood debt be paid, and Janices former partner (John Pirruccello) wont let her disappearance go unsolved.

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In the new season, Barrys morose self-introspection (and self-pity) becomes hard to stomach, but at least the rest of the shows characters gain histories in satisfying new ways. Genes grief pushes him to reconnect with a son hed abandoned as a child, but cant stop his narcissism from directing his gestures into disaster. Barrys girlfriend, Sally (Sarah Goldberg)it must be noted, the shows only substantial female characteris suddenly forced to address one of the most traumatic experiences of her life. Reluctant Chechen gang leader NoHo Hank (the scene-stealing Anthony Carrigan), the funniest and most convincing of the shows jolly sociopaths, is pushed into making the kind of difficult decisions he didnt have to when he was just a comic-relief lackey. And the father-son dynamic between Barry and his former handler, Fuches (Root), takes the kind of wild turn that Season 1s table-setting had assiduously prepared us for.

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As compelling as these blossomings are, its impossible not to wonder if Barry will join Veep and Silicon Valley as one of as HBOs three-joke comediessitcoms that seem to recycle the same quips with negligible variations and diminishing returns. The scenes irascibly mocking the acting students have long passed from sour to vinegary. And while the shows writers have certainly succeeded in their efforts to deglamorize mob life, theres something disappointing about its portrayal of Los Angeles as a melting pot of mostly white, artistically inclined transplants and amoral immigrant criminals (from Russia, Bolivia, and as of this season, Burma) whose humanity, or lack thereof, is defined by their proximity to or distance from American culture. (The irrepressible NoHo Hank, for example, and his cherished new Bolivian partner embrace Tony Robbins, Thomas Friedman, and Yoshinoya beef bowls. In contrast, Hanks previous boss and silent new Burmese foe are undeveloped, Old Worldstuck cannon fodder.) Barrys mission isnt to bust all the stereotypes it encounters, but the ones it bothers to dismantle have yielded such ingenuity and charm that its a shame the show doesnt think just a little bigger.
On Monday night, the first night that MSNBCs Rachel Maddow Show aired after Attorney General William Barr released his four-page memo on the Mueller report, Rachel Maddow was skeptical. Like, extremely, extremely skeptical. In fact, she had 15 questions worth of skepticism about the the Barr Report, which she displayed in remarkably tiny font behind her head. The questions started with the basicsHad Robert Mueller expected the attorney general to jump in and make a no prosecution, no collusion announcement? Was it appropriate for the attorney general to make that kind of determination at this point in the process?before taking sudden swerves into the conspiratorial. Robert Mueller had chosen not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment in his report. Well, Maddow wondered, why did Mueller make that determination and was it, in fact, a choice? Was it possible that the special prosecutor had not explicitly described the presidents behavior as a crime in his report because there were plans to indict him as soon as he left office?

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Since Donald Trumps election, Rachel Maddow has climbed to the top of the cable news ratings with a resistance bullhorn and a conspiratorial vision of the Trump presidency. She has traded the No. 1 slot with Foxs leading conspiratorialist Sean Hannity, the flip side of her cabal-spotting coin. (In the days since the Mueller investigation concluded, Maddows ratings have dipped significantly while Hannitys have risen.) Hannity, the presidents phone a friend, is widely understood to be a propagandist for the administrationperhaps even by his own audience, MAGA devotees who would never hold such a thing against him. Night after night he pushes deranged factual interpretationsAlexandra Ocasio-Cortez is an actress, not a congresswoman; the Mueller investigation is an attempted deep state coupthat turn the world into a wall of crazy targeting the Trump regime.

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But Maddow too, has turned the universe into an intricate web of intersecting plots that all lead to one conclusion: collusion. In the days since the Mueller report was sent to Barr, Maddow has held fast to her faith that Mueller is some kind of avenging hero, who will get Trump in the end. As we await the Mueller report, she said on Tuesday night, we are left with this incredibly provocative set of unexplained behaviors. Then she cued up the mystery sound, a not particularly eerie ding she used to introduce a long digression about a still-active mystery case, in which a mystery company owned by mystery country has resisted all attempts to testify about some mystery topic at the special prosecutors request, which she then tied to a number of other still active parts of the Mueller investigation, which she intimated could still result in something damning.

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Its true that a case involving the subpoena of a still-anonymous foreign corporation is ongoing, as are other prosecutions, like that of Roger Stone for perjury. But we can be fairly certain that Mueller has decided these cases are not relevant to the question of whether he will issue indictments for conspiracy and coordination with Russiasince, among other things, he seems to have decided to issue no indictments at all. Maddows winking insistence otherwise feels like willful misdirection. All this stuff is still live, she said, with the amused self-assured look of someone who thinks they have figured out a magicians trick, even as its shutting down. Theres no reason to peel the arrows and news clippings off the wall, so long as you can find a new string.

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The Howard Bealeization, or Glenn Beckifaction, of Rachel Maddow is a reminder that partisan paranoia has bipartisan appeal. Maddow is right to question the summarizing of a 300ish-page report into four measly pages, to insist on transparency, to challenge the motives of the Trump-friendly AGand shes not alone in doing so. But for Maddow, every piece of information remains a clue that might take down the Trump empire. There is no adjustment for how the report has been widely received, no skepticism about what the report might actually contain, just cockamamie connections, the feverish belief that every single thing we dont know is the all-important fact, that the smoking gun of collusion is out there, and that, yes, Robert Mueller is still going to swoop in and save us.

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Theres no reason to peel the arrows and news clippings off the wall, so long as you can find a new string.

That last part is the most remarkable piece of Maddows show since Mueller began to close up shop: the abiding dream of Robert Mueller. In Maddows 15 questions on Monday night, she never entertained the possibility that things might have gone exactly as Mueller expected them to. She began with a long monologue about Leon Jaworski, the second special prosecutor on Watergate, drawing a parallel between Jaworski and Mueller that pinned the differences between the outcome of their respective investigations solely on the AGs behavior. There is so much to be enraged and curious about when it comes to the handling of the Mueller report so far, but anyone seriously grappling with why it has been managed in the way that it haswhy one persons interpretation of a two-year investigation has come to stand in for whatever it containshas to contend with the possibility that Barrs interpretation might be accurate and that Mueller was prepared for this outcome. But Maddow has entertained zero criticism of Mueller, hes the protagonist shes sticking with, and zero engagement with the possibility that thisthe this that includes indictments of several top Trump pals but not the man himselfis it. Instead, shes just gathering thread for her next loop around the pushpins.

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Ill admit that I havent watched Maddow regularly for the past few years. Turning on her show this week was like discovering a Facebook friend is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She looks the same as she did, she even sounds the same, but 15 minutes into a conspiratorial rant with no sense of proportion or, honestly, responsibility, you realize that something has gone wildly wrong: She wants to believe the instantly impeachable truth is out there more than she wants the truth, as gnarly and corrupt as it is. Its easy to understand why this might appeal to the 4 million or so Trump-sick viewers who regularly watch Maddows program, but her audience is being served an alt-reality just as surely as Hannitys is. If her audience of susceptible ostriches and amateur detectives, people who bury themselves in conspiratorial details hoping to unearth the one clue that will beam us out of this reality, is not as malignant as Foxs audience of the hateful, aggrieved, and ignorant, in this one regard at least, whats happening between MSNBC and Fox is not a contest: More than one cable news host can disserve their audience at a time.
In Jordan Peeles Us, music is essential to mood from the very beginning. From the haunting opening hymn Anthem to the ominous, stop-and-go strings that drive the final showdown, Michael Abels score serves as both an emotional guide and an atmospheric tool. Abels, who also composed the score for Peeles Get Out, got experimental this time around, incorporating unusual instruments, nonsensical songwriting, and a rap song refrain we still cant get out of our heads.

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Slate spoke to Abels about the meaning behind the scores most memorable tracks and the movies biggest musical Easter eggs.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Natalia Winkelman: Anthem, which plays over the opening credits, features children singing creepy nonsense wordsat least, we think theyre nonsense. How did you come up with that concept?

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Michael Abels: I wanted Anthem to sound like an evil march. Like you knew that someone with bad intentions was coming. One thing that Jordan loves to do and is becoming known for is [to] take something you always assumed was safe or innocent and turn it into something else. The childrens voices is one exampleJordan wanted to start with them because he thought it would be super scary.

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The reason the lyrics are nonsense has everything to do with Us, which is we want to communicate the message that theres a group of people who are organizing, but we dont want the audience to understand their purpose. We want the audience to find that out later, along with the lead characters. The best lyrics of any song you love arent the obvious onestheyre the poetic ones open to interpretation. Youre forced to listen with your emotions and your instincts rather than your intellect.

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In Get Out, the Swahili song lyrics had a meaningful translation. Is it really true that the Anthem lyrics dont mean anything?

We had always agreed that the lyrics would just be nonsense, and we wouldnt try to choose a language. But when it came time to write the lyrics, I realized the obvious, which is that theres no such thing as nonsense. Everything that comes out of a voice means something, even if its a moan or a sigh. Suddenly I had new respect for Dr. Seuss and Lewis Carroll. I ended up just choosing vowels that are very easy to sing. By the time I ruled out all the difficult sounds, I had a little nonsense language of my own. When I was worried that something was actually a word, I would Google the syllable just to make sure it didnt have a secret meaning. They sound like Latin only because theyre sounds that were used to making.

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Suddenly I had new respect for Dr. Seuss and Lewis Carroll.  Michael Abels on writing Anthem

It was also important to me to show that this is not a march of any one culture. Theres an important line in Us where Red says, Were Americans. Anthem starts out sounding like the march of a Western cultural background, but then a beat drops inits syncopated and funky. Its not an Afro-Cuban beat exactly, but it really makes you want to move. Anthem is really the march of a multicultural group, like we Americans are.

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This is your second time working with Jordan Peele after Get Out. How was your approach to this score different?

The Us score is a lot scarier than the Get Out score, with more moments of real intensity. I actually dont think of Get Out as a horror movie, more as a social or psychological thriller. Its got a slow burn to it. In Us, things go south quickly. Jordan had me read the Us script before he was even shooting. He likes to hear music as part of his preproduction experience so that he can start designing the sound as well as the visuals.

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For Us, he asked me to experiment with duality. He suggested trying instruments that dont go together, duets between surprising pairslike a violin and cimbalom, which ended up working for the film. At one point you also hear a kalimba and berimbau and didgeridoo all at the same time. Its something I never would have come up with if Jordan hadnt said, Try things that dont belong together.

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Its unusual for composers to be so involved during shooting, but you and Jordan worked closely from the start. How did being part of that process impact your work?

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Normally composers are brought in only at the end, which actually makes sense because music is an art that takes place in time. You cant know how your idea is going to play out until you see the amount of time certain scenes take, so the majority of a composers work is done at the end. But for Us, I was around during shooting. It was my first time on a major movie set, and I was a complete fanboy the whole time.

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Being involved during that time, I felt very emotionally invested in the characters and the process. Jordans a writer-director, an auteur, which is a special type of creative animal who is in charge of his or her own story. But during production, hes still exploring the best way to tell that story, the pacing and which parts to reveal when. I felt very connected to him during that process of reworking.

Are there any Easter eggs in the score?

A big one is the funk song at the end, Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton. At the beginning of the movie, we see an ad for Hands Across America. The ad is actually fake, and Jordan had me do a little cheesy 80s version of Les Fleurs to use as the underscore for the commercial. Then the real song returns at the end of the moviebut you really have to know that song and be listening to catch that. Thats a Jordan Peele joke.

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Another melody that returns is the one from I Got 5 on It, which you use in Pas de Deux during the climactic battle-ballet scene. Is there any deeper meaning to that song?

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When its first played, the song is just a great way to understand the family, who they are as a unit, and how they relate to each other. Whats interesting about it laterwhich I didnt realize until we started messing with itis how it fits in with the duality theme. In the sample of that song, which is Club Nouveaus Why You Treat Me So Bad, the bass line is like a melody in itself, so its really got two melodies, a low one and a high one. When it was time to score the dance fight, I had a call and a response already set up.

Were you worried at all about how using pre-existing music would impact the scores awards eligibility?

Oh, no. I mean, youre just trying to finish the film and have it turn out well. You never get to say the word award if you dont have a good movie. Making a good film that people appreciatethats the thing that you talk about. Anything else is icing on the cake.
Among some fashion observers, leggings have been regarded for a while now as the new jeans. For years, American consumers have been buying less and less denim in favor of stretchy, sleek athleisure. In 2017, imports of stretchy knit pants exceeded blue jeans for the first time. Accommodating and comfy, the stretchy pants created for exercise are now the downtime uniform for the modern woman. Leggings won.

So why havent we stopped fighting about them? This week, a new skirmish in the leggings war erupted in South Bend, Indiana, where a churchgoer named Maryann White wrote a letter to the editor of the Notre Dame student newspaper after sitting behind a group of young women wearing very snug-fitting leggings at a Catholic Mass. White, the mother of four sons, was moved to contemplate the impact of this unforgiving garment on the moral development of her sons. Ive heard women say that they like leggings because theyre comfortable,  she wrote. So are pajamas. So is nakedness.

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White acknowledged that women have a right to wear anything they want, and she ended on a note of self-aware good cheer. Thanks for listening to the lecture, she concluded. Catholic moms are good at those! It wasnt enough. The paper published a series of indignant responses (My daughter is not responsible for this womans sons thoughts or behaviors) and within days the kerfuffle had gone national. Various student groups declared Tuesday Leggings Pride Day and Wednesday The Leggings Protest, with more than 2,000 people vowing to dress comfortably as a sign of public protest. The demonstrations actual impact was hard to ascertain, one group leader told the Washington Post, because it was a little difficult to tell what was protest and what was everyday legging-wear.

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Its fitting that Maryann Whites jeremiad against the troublesome trousers sprang from an encounter in a church.

Heres a fact about leggings in 2019: The only thing people like more than wearing leggings is getting mad about leggings. In the sphere of public debate, leggings have become the symbol of slipping standards, immodesty, and The Problem With Young People Today. On the other side, they are a symbol of freedom, feminism, and even the future. School districts have tried to ban them; airlines have maintained confusing policies on them. Backlash ensues, over and over. When a random citizen of Rhode Island wrote a letter to the Barrington Times a few years ago suggesting that some women over age 20 shouldnt wear yoga pants (gross!), women planned a yoga pant parade past his house (why?).

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Its fitting that Maryann Whites jeremiad against the troublesome trousers sprang from an encounter in a church. The leggings debate takes on a special urgency in Christian circles, where the stakes are not just which pants are flattering, but which pants are godly. Modesty is a virtue named in the New Testament, and lust is a sin. But the Bible unhelpfully does not include original illustrations. Does modesty require covered shoulders? Long skirts? Or just a spirit of not trying so very hard to look good in all the ways that are so relatively unimportant, while also, of course, looking traditionally feminine? Meanwhile, huge swaths of mainstream Christian culture are almost indistinguishable aesthetically with mainstream American culture, and even take pains to imitate it. The result is that many young Christian women feel perfectly comfortable wearing leggings, while others see them as not just unflattering but immoral.

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The result is seemingly endless cycles of debates within the Christian community about the communal ethics of spandex, a hothouse version of the broader cultural debate. Modesty, Yoga Pants and 5 Myths You Need to Know; To the Christian Men and Women Debating Yoga Pants; Yoga Pants and What the Bible Really Says About Modesty; Should Christian Women Wear Leggings?; Why I Chose to No Longer Wear Leggings; and my personal favorite, Leggings: A Catholic Mans Perspective. For what its worth, America is doing pretty well right now by traditional measures of Christian morality: Teen abstinence is up; teen pregnancy is down; divorce is down. The visible-butt revolution has not ruined us yet.

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Only a few decades ago, of course, traditionalists were huffing about whether women should be allowed to wear any kind of pants in formal spaces. Nixon Dislikes Gals in Slacks, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1973, after the president teasingly told reporter Helen Thomas in the Oval Office that she shouldnt wear them. A few years later, a syndicated newspaper column for teenagers printed a letter from a young woman annoyed that a deacon at her church had chastised her for wearing jeans to a Sunday service. The columnist agreed with the girl, and was inundated with letters objecting to his laxity. Teen-agers have too much freedom at not enough responsibility and maturity, an Ohio correspondent huffed. Our church bans pants of any kind on females, came the report from Boston.

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Women do wear pants everywhere these days, including to work and to church. The slippery-slopers were right, in a way. Personally, I rarely wear leggings out of the house, and I wear longer shirts and sweaters when I do. The reason is that leggings show your butt. We all know it! We do appear to be on some kind of slippery slope toward increasing butt visibility. But theres reason to think most of us will grow more comfortable with that over time. Take, for instance, one woman who may have grasped her pearls at the trendy youth pants of the 70s but now sees them as modest and appropriate. Leggings are so naked, so form fitting, so exposing, Maryann White wrote in her letter to the editor. Could you think of the mothers of sons the next time you go shopping and consider choosing jeans instead?
The week before Dan Reeds Leaving Neverland debuted, I received a substantial check for abuse I endured when I was a student at a boarding school in Canada years ago. The check came from a victims services fund, meted out via a quasi-governmental provincial agency that distributes compensation outside of convictions. The revelations about Michael Jackson and my own experience of abuse have always circled around each other. The decades-long conversation around Jackson accusers Wade Robson and James Safechuck, particularly around Robsons credibility, long made me worry that if I were to apply for compensation for what happened to me, I would not be believed. Then, within a 10-day span, I received the check and saw the documentary. Robson and Safechucks stories helped me process and accept my complicated feelings about my abuse and about receiving money as a salve for it.

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The school was one of those places that tied Edwardian ideas of religious betterment to 1970s ideas of back-to-the-land self-sufficiency; like much of that rhetoric, it was a place that pretended to be poor, but was very rich. The school had Anglican compline (evening prayer) on Sunday nights, chores three times a day, and two hours of study hall most evenings. It was also obsessed with the wilderness. The year was marked by outdoor, seasonal milestonesrunning in the fall to prepare for snowshoe hikes in the winter, which led to prepping for canoe trips in the spring. I was sent there because of my grandmothers politics and her anxiety. She was worried I was too weird, perhaps too queer, and maybe this was a place that could smooth the edges off. She wanted me to pass, she wanted me to fit in, and after her own move from being a farm kid to being the wife of a construction executive in the booming 70s, she worried that I would be forever working-class and wanted me to have a way out.

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Her desires were complemented by the schools approach. There was formal corporal punishment, informal violent encounters with the students, and the usual verbal harassment, delivered by my classmates, with what seemed to be tacit approval by the staff. It was in part because of all of this that a teacher could touch me in ways that he should not have. The teacher knew I was lonely, and he must have known that I was harassed. Through a kind of discipline and indulgence, he allowed his favorites to feel special. And he did make me feel special, but the question of access and the fear of losing him as a bulwark meant any pleasure that came from that feeling quickly disappeared. Things were always unstable.

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Why did I endure the abuse? It was not only access to favorto the bed of someone in powerbut access to lessons that made me feel like an adult. For smart kids or talented kids, loneliness is exacerbated by wanting to grow up too quickly. To have sex with a child is to teach them how to be an adult, in the most perverse and least acceptable way. Its both learning through practicebeing taught to do things for an adults bodybut also learning to be an adult: how not to be caught, how to please, and how to deliver. And there were the lessons of courtly manners, of how to access money, while pretending that money doesnt matter. I was a generation removed from the capital of that school, in that my grandmother had it and my parents did not. I needed to know how to pass; I needed to know how to pretend that I had the money that I actually didnt have.

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To have sex with a child is to teach them how to be an adult, in the most perverse and least acceptable way.

Watching Leaving Neverland, I saw that Jackson had much more to offer, and was much cruder in his threats than the teacher who did similar things to me. And yet the cycle of advance and retreat, of promises offered and promises taken away, was consistent with my own experience. To admit, as a child, that an adult is having sex with you is to be entrapped. Any social access or liquid capital that you have acquired will be lost. I wonder if Jackson, allegedly abused as a child and forced to work until collapse, understood this tension so well that he knew how to wield it as a tool to get what he wanted.

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When you are abused, there is a mirror to the idea that no one will ever believe you, which is the fear that everyone will think you were asking for it: the idea that, as the target, you will lose everything if you are believed. All of this combines to create a continual undercurrent that one cannot report: What if I am not believed? What if I am?

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Leaving Neverland helped me understand my abuse by delicately exposing the exact same cycles and habits and systemic failures that I had endured myself. But it also helped me understand what society likely thinks of what happened to me, in part via its omissions. As Christina Cauterucci eloquently explained, one thing Leaving Neverland ignores is Robson and Safechucks repeated attempts to receive financial compensation for what they endured. This isnt surprising: Victims desire for capital as compensation is often weaponized against them, so it makes sense that it was left out of this sympathetic portrait. But, as Cauterucci writes, there are more reasons than money to go public with sexual abuse allegations against a world-famous man, and more reasons than greed to seek monetary compensation, considering that Jacksons alleged serial abuse was only made possible through the trappings of fame and wealth.

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I have problems with the compensation I received. I dont know if money makes anything better.

A few years ago, the man who abused me was arrested for committing offenses similar to what happened to me. The charges did not stick, but when I heard he had been charged, I recorded a statement and sent the tape to the relevant law enforcement office in the small town near the school. The tape, I am told, was added to a file. Every six weeks, I call and ask if charges have been laid. Every two months, someone from the local office calls me back to say no charges have been laid. I doubt they ever will. In the meantime, I learned, via a trauma therapy group at the local mental health facility, about the victims services fund. The facilitators recommended that I applyI had had no idea funds like this existed. I put a package together and sent it in. The first victim impact statement I submitted, as part of that package, was considered too mild, and I was denied. Later, I appealed, after asking my family doctor to write a letter about the effects of my experience at the school. The letter was strong enough to get me an appeal, where four nonprofessionals asked invasive questions about my experience. A few months later, I got a letter in the mail saying the appeal was successful, and six weeks later, a check came.

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I have some problems with the check I received. I dont know if money makes anything better. But often money is the only kind of compensation our culture can offer, and the desire to get that cant be seen as a crack in a narrative or a stain. The arguments against taking settlement money, the arguments that people sue just for the money, are painfully naive about how our capitalist culture works, anyway. Money, and the status and power that come along with it, is often already part of the equation. It can be used to entice victims, as we see with Jackson, and it can serve as a bulwark against their claims. It is why R. Kelly was still invited to mentor music classes after his sex tape was released. It is the entire post-prison career of Jeffrey Epstein. And it is my grandmother, difficult and striving, sending me to a fancy boarding school because she thinks it will make my path in life easier.

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I have spent decades trying to get some kind of justice. To have my abuser admit that he had done what we both know he did. The check that I got for what happened to me represents decades of work, trying to figure out some idea of justice. It is a literal settlement. I would prefer for the person who touched me to say out loud, in public, I liked to fuck 12- to 14-year-old boys, and I fucked a lot of 12- to 14-year-old boys, and I shouldnt have tried to act on that desire. I worry that my check precludes true reconciliation, by perpetuating this kind of cold, mechanical idea that trauma can be alleviated via actuarial math. I am concerned that it prevents true reconciliationseparating justice from the social contract, from due process, and from the rule of law.

But what I got was a check. The check is a significant number, which will do some significant good. It will get me out of debt, will pay for my therapist for a year. It still refuses to demand any responsibility from the teacher. Money is justice, but in a limited way, one that precludes personal responsibility. In a world where everything has a price, though, sometimes we have to settle for what we can get.
For two years, the date March 29, 2019, has loomed over British politicsthe day on which the United Kingdom would finally leave the European Union, a hard deadline by which all arrangements had to be made detailing the countrys future relationship with Europe.

March 29, 2019, has arrivedand nothing has been resolved. Instead, the situation has become hopelessly complicated, bordering on incomprehensible.

If youve gotten confused and dont know an Irish backstop from a Malthouse compromise from a Norway model, dont feel bad: Even the people in charge of this project often seem to be making up the rules as they go along. So as we enter a new postMarch 29 phase of Brexit, its worth going back to the beginning of the saga to understand the key ideas and events that explain how we got here and what might happen next. Believe it or not, this is the simple version.

The U.K. and the EU

Britain joined the European Economic Community, which later evolved into the European Union, in 1973, but there was always a higher degree of euroskepticism in the island nation than in other member states. This sentiment increased after the 2008 financial crisis and the eurozone debt crisis, with particular resentment focused on what was seen as Germanys heavy-handed and autocratic role in the union.

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In 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron vowed that if his Conservative Party won the 2015 election, he would attempt to renegotiate the terms of the U.K.s EU membership, then hold an in/out referendum on whether the country should remain a member. Cameron personally opposed withdrawal but was under pressure from both euroskeptics within his own party and the growing popularity of the far-right U.K. Independence Party, which made withdrawing from the EU its signature issue.

Camerons gambit workedmaybe too well. The Conservatives shattered pre-election expectations in 2015 by winning an overall majority in Parliament, giving Cameron a mandate to hold the referendum. Cameron did attempt to renegotiate Britains membership, but he was able to win only partial concessions on political sovereignty and control of immigration. Reeling from its defeat, the Labour Party elected the veteran leftist Jeremy Corbyn as its new leader.

The referendum

The referendum was scheduled for June 23, 2016. Cameron campaigned for the Remain side but gave party members the freedom to campaign for either side. Some prominent party members, including thenLondon Mayor Boris Johnson, became leading Leave proponents.

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The pitch for Leave was partially based on economic concernsincluding an inaccurate promise that Britain would be able to save 350 million pounds sterling a week on membership dues and spend it on the National Health Service. But concerns about immigration and border security in the wake of the European migrant crisis that began in 2015 may have played a bigger role.

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When the referendum was held, voters stunned the world by voting 52 percent to 48 percent to Leave. Cameron resigned as prime minister after the defeat. Theresa May, who as home secretary had backed Remain, became the new prime minister. Johnson became foreign minister.

Hard or soft

A slim majority of Britons may have decided to leave the EU, but no one was quite sure what that breakup would look like. The referendum asked only whether the U.K. should remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union, which didnt provide much of a way forward.

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A split quickly emerged between those advocating a soft Brexit and those favoring a hard Brexit. In a soft Brexit, Britain would prioritize trade and access to the European common market in exchange for giving up some control over immigration and keeping a whole lot of EU regulations. Non-EU countries like Norway and Switzerland have a setup like this. Under a hard Brexit, Britain would withdraw entirely, regaining full control over its borders and domestic regulations, as well as the ability to negotiate separate trade agreements with other countries, but lose tariff-free access to the market that accounts for 44 percent of its exports.

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May kept her cards close to her vest for several months, repeatedly saying only, unhelpfully, that Brexit means Brexit. Then, in an October 2016 speech, she indicated she would prioritize immigration controls over trade access. A hard Brexit it would be.

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On March 29, 2017, May formally triggered Article 50 of the 2007 Lisbon Treaty, which gives countries two years to negotiate their withdrawal from the EU. The time limit put Britain at a negotiating disadvantage, particularly since European countrieslooking to avoid future Grexits, Frexits, and Nexitshad little incentive to make things easy on the Brits. But still, Brexit opponents predictions of immediate economic doom were starting to look a little overblown, and the Conservatives were enjoying a healthy lead in the polls. May had reason to feel confident, which led to possibly the worst mistake of her premiership.

The 2017 election

Mays Conservatives, who were themselves sharply divided on Brexit, held only a slim majority in the House of Commons and in a key concession before triggering Article 50, May had agreed to let Parliament vote on the final Brexit deal. So in April 2017, May called a snap election in hopes of increasing her majority and negotiating leverage with Europe.

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Thats not what happened. That June, in yet another surprise election result, the Conservatives lost 13 seats in the House of Commons along with their majority. In order to stay in power, the Tories had to forge a partnership with the Democratic Unionist Party, a conservative party primarily representing the Protestant community of Northern Ireland. This would have major implications later on.

The Irish question

It was clear from the start that withdrawing from the EU would be a complicated processwith unresolved questions over the status of European citizens currently living in the U.K., the host of EU regulations on the books in Britain, and the future trade relationship between the two. But the thorniest issue turned out to be one that almost no one was taking about in 2016: the Northern Ireland border.

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European countrieslooking to avoid future Grexits, Frexits, and Nexitshad little incentive to make things easy on the Brits.

The border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is the U.K.s only land border with the EU. Currently, goods, services and people can cross that border unfettered. But if Britain leaves the EUs customs union, goods crossing the border would somehow need to be checked for EU standards and tariffs. Neither side wants to impose a hard border with customs checkswhich, its feared, could jeopardize the hard-won peace currently enjoyed in Northern Ireland after decades of sectarian violence.

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But if the border remains open, it creates a backdoor for European goods to get into the U.K. unchecked. One solution would be to check goods between Northern Ireland and the island of Great Britain, but this would effectively create an economic border between the province and the rest of the U.K. This is unacceptable to Mays partners in the DUP. The trilemma of how to leave the EUs single market, avoid a hard border in Ireland, and keep the country economically united remains unresolved.

Revenge of the Remainers

Suffice to say, Brexit hasnt turned out quite as proponents hoped back in 2016, and theres been a steady drumbeat of support to hold a new referendum, either on whatever final deal emerges from negotiations or on whether to withdraw at all. The European Court of Justice has ruled that its possible to revoke Article 50, and polls have shown that a narrow majority would vote Remain if another referendum were held. (To be fair, thats what polls showed before the last referendum as well.) Revelations about the role of Russian disinformation in the run-up to the original referendum have bolstered calls for a redo. In October 2018, almost 700,000 people marched in London to demand a Peoples Vote on Brexit, the largest demonstration in the U.K. since the Iraq war. The Scottish National Party, the third largest party in Parliament, backs a new referendum, as do a substantial number of Labour Party politicians.

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Corbyn, who has been a euroskeptic since the 1970s, has ranged from ambivalent to hostile about a new referendumtheres concern it could imperil Labour MPs in pro-Brexit areasbut has lately indicated hes open to the idea under certain circumstances.

Things fall apart

The wheels really started to come off the Brexit train in July 2018, when May presented a draft Brexit plan to her Cabinet at Chequersthe prime ministers country estate, roughly equivalent to Camp David. The plan was much closer to the soft end of the spectrum than anticipated. It involved the U.K. continuing to operate as if it were in the European customs union in order to avoid border checks in Northern Ireland. The problem is, once the U.K. left the union, it would have no role in setting the rules under which it operated. Boris Johnson said this would relegate the U.K. to the status of colony. Johnson, Brexit Secretary David Davis, and Davis deputy Steve Baker all resigned from the Cabinet in protest. Adding to Mays humiliation, her Chequers plan was then rejected by the EU at a meeting in Salzburg, Austria, in September.

No deal

Looming over these proceedings was the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. If Britain and the EU failed to reach an agreement by March 29, trade relations between the two would supposedly revert to World Trade Organization rules. Hard-line Brexiteers think this is just fine, but economists have warned it could have devastating economic consequences for British companies that do business in Europe and consumers who rely on products from Europe. Reassurances from the government that preparations were underway to make sure there is adequate food supply in the event of a no-deal did not exactly inspire confidence.

Mays deal

The prime minister finally hammered out a deal with the Europeans and got her Cabinet to back it in November 2018. Under this deal, March 29 would mark the beginning of a transition period, which would last at least until the end of 2020 but could be extended, during which the final trade arrangements would be negotiated. The most contentious feature of Mays deal is the Irish backstop meant to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

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Under the backstop, Britain will remain in a customs union with Europe during the transition period and perhaps longerif no solution to the problem of how to check goods entering Northern Ireland can be found. This is objectionable to Brexiteers who fear that Britain could end up staying in an economic union with Europe, and unable to negotiate its own trade agreements, indefinitely. The backstop also states that some extra EU regulations will apply only to Northern Ireland in order to avoid border checks. This is objectionable to the DUP, which opposes any special status for the region. The whole provision is objectionable to basically everyone, as it means Britain will be subject to European rules that it will have no role in setting. But given the political constraints May was under, there werent a lot of better options.

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Two more Cabinet ministers quit in protest, and in December the prime minister was forced to delay a planned vote on the deal when it became clear she didnt have the votes.

The No phase

Parents of toddlers are familiar with whats known as the no phase, in which young children who are just starting to discover their autonomy reject almost every option presented to them. (Do you want to leave? No! Do want to stay? No!) This is more or less what the last few months of parliamentary debate over Brexit have looked like.

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On Dec. 12, hard-line Brexiteers triggered a vote of no-confidence in an attempt to replace May, but the coup attempt failed.

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On Jan. 15, May finally put her plan to a vote, and it was rejected 432202the first time a government motion has been defeated by more than 100 votes since the 1920s.

On Jan. 16, the full Parliament held a no-confidence vote in May and again failed to unseat her. (The key factor keeping her in power at this point may be that no one really wants her unenviable job.)

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On Jan. 29, Parliament rejected a no-deal Brexit, rejected a new referendum, and rejected a motion to ask the EU for more time. May went back to Brussels to seek more assurances from Europe on the Irish backstop.

On March 12, Parliament again rejected Mays deal, this time by a somewhat smaller margin. The following day, it again rejected a no-deal Brexit.

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On March 14, Parliament finally approved a motion to seek an extension of the March 29 deadline, but May wasnt through with brinkmanship. Under her motion, her unpopular deal would be put up for a third vote. If it were approved this time, she would ask for just a three-month delay to implement the agreement. If it were rejected again, the delay would be for longer. The government has wanted to avoid delaying Brexit past July, since thats when a new EU Parliament will be seated and Britain doesnt want to participate in elections for it. (At this point, that seems like the least of everyones problems.)

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At the moment, no Brexit scenario is popular enough to win the backing of a majority.

House Speaker John Bercow (if youve been watching the Commons debates, hes the guy in the loud ties whos always yelling Order! and delivering sick burns) threw a bit of a wrench in this plan by refusing to allow a third vote on the same motion. But rather than asking for the longer delay as she had promised, May asked for a short one and continued to press for a third vote. The EU said it would only approve this extension after Parliament voted for Mays deal.

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On March 27, Parliament attempted to wrest control of Brexit away from May with a series of eight indicative votes on alternative Brexit scenarios ranging from revoking Article 50, to the Labour Partys plan to keep Britain in a customs union with Europe, to a new referendum. None of these passed.

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In a last-ditch effort to persuade Brexiteer critics to back her deal, May offered to resign if it were approved. On March 29, the day Brexit was supposed to be finished, a third vote on Mays deal was held. It failed. So, bright side, she gets to keep her job.

Where are we now?

The Brexit deadline has now been extended until April 12. By then, the U.K. supposedly has to choose between exiting without a deal or agreeing to a longer extension that will require it to participate in EU elections.

After its third defeat, Mays deal is almost certainly dead. Theres a possibility that Parliament could still vote in the coming days for a permanent customs union with European option that failed by a somewhat smaller margin than other scenarios in this weeks votes. Or the government could call a second referendum, or a new general election.

Or, its possible that two weeks from now Parliament could still not have figured out what it wants to do. European Council President Donald Tusk has called an emergency summit for April 10 to discuss the situation. If theres no clear way forward, the EU will have to decide whether to simply cut Britain loosethis means no-dealor continue to try to work with it toward a solution.

At the moment, no Brexit scenario is popular enough to win the backing of a majority. Mays handling of the situation is deeply unpopular, but Parliament wont boot her out or even let her resign. Remarkably, Labourunder fire not only for Corbyns ambivalent Brexit stance but also accusations of anti-Semitism in the partys leadershipis even less popular. No one likes the status quo or any of the alternatives. The only thing certain now is that however the Brexit crisis ends, no one will be happy with the result.
The arrests earlier this month of 50 wealthy, well-connected individuals for allegedly taking part in an illegal cheating scheme to get their kids admitted to college has hit a raw nerve, raising uncomfortable questions about entitlement, accountability, greed, snowplow parenting, and the flimsy foundation bolstering the so-called meritocracy.

Can it also finally push the country toward a reckoning with its highly unequal systems of justice?

There are two overarching critiques of our current justice system: (1) Its footprint is too heavy and large, ensnaring people who do not need to be there, relying too heavily upon incarceration to address every offense, and regularly doling out gratuitously harsh sentences that have no deterrent effect; (2) it is actually two vastly unequal systems of justice: one for the mostly white, affluent, and connected, and another for people of color, immigrants, and those who lack resources or influence. These two critiques usually go hand in hand, but there is a danger that focusing on the second problem makes the first one worse. And that is the risk we face at the moment with the cheating scandal and other major cases of public corruption.

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Research conducted by FrameWorks Institute, in conjunction with the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute at Harvard Law School, has shown that advocates of criminal justice reform sometimes inadvertently push messages that actually harden public support for harsh criminal justice policies. (Disclosure: I worked at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for a decade.)

FrameWorks interviews and focus groups confirmed, not surprisingly, that much of the American public takes a highly punitive view of lawbreaking when committed by rational actors who willingly choose to break the law. When presented with evidence of unequal application of the law against rational actors from marginalized groups, most will advocate for making penalties harsher for rational actors from outside of those marginalized groups.

While, on some level, one could argue that this would make the system more fair, it does not make it smaller, more forgiving, or less reliant upon incarcerationall goals of the larger reform movement.

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You could see what FrameWorks has labeled the fairness trap ensnare Michael Eric Dyson, a fierce proponent of justice reform, during a recent MSNBC discussion about the appropriate punishment for the wealthy and famous defendants caught up in the college admissions scandal. At the beginning of the conversation, Dyson resisted the notion of prison for these defendants. But then, when pushed by Susan Page, he fell into the common logic that fairer means harsher:

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CHRIS MATTHEWS: Should these people go to jail? SUSAN PAGE: If they broke the law  MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, their demoralization is punishment enough. But, look, people go to jail for a lot less. PAGE: Their demoralization is punishment? I dont think so. DYSON: No, no, Im saying, people vote the wrong way and get four and five years. So, yes, somebodys going to have to suffer here.

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It is not just the college admissions case that has helped push this narrative in recent weeks, either. Just look at the lenient 47-month sentence Paul Manafort was handed earlier this month for his litany of financial crimes. (His total sentence was later increased to 90 months.) Liberals and conservatives alike were outraged by this sentence. A defense attorney sent out this typically outraged tweet: For context on Manaforts 47 months in prison, my client yesterday was offered 36-72 months in prison for stealing $100 worth of quarters from a residential laundry room. Democratic presidential primary candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, meanwhile, tweeted the story of a homeless man who received a life sentence for selling $20 worth of pot as a contrast to Manaforts light punishment.

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John Pfaff, professor of law at Fordham University, has a cogent explanation for what is happening here. Forty years of tough on crime rhetoric and practice have inured much of the public to the horrors of prison. As Pffaff tweeted, Weve anchored onto unnecessarily long and quite dehumanizing sentences and, without necessarily even realizing it, deeply internalized them as right.  As hated as it is by many, the severity of the current system has wormed its way into our hearts and minds as the presumptive baseline.

Most likely, the angry tweets about Manaforts sentence served to reinforce the publics embrace of harsher punishments across the board, not a lesser one for the homeless man or the individual who stole quarters from the laundry room.

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It is worth remembering that despite how ubiquitous incarceration has become in the lives of so many, American prisons neither rehabilitate nor teach anyone anything except, perhaps, despair. Individuals are robbed of their freedom, their dignity, their hope, and often their health. Prison ravages families and communities emotionally and financially. Many are released in far worse shape than when they entered, broken and embittered, often physically and mentally ill, with a permanent stigma that hobbles them for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile, women make up the fastest-growing prison population, and more than half of Americas female prisoners are mothers. The absence of imprisoned parents causes lifelong trauma and hardship for children.

Fairness alone can be a double-edged sword.

Further, the financial toll on families caught up in the carceral state can and does break them. Rep. Ayanna Pressley recently described on Twitter her own familys experience with the prison state: While my father was in the throes of his substance abuse disorder & in and out of the criminal justice system, our entire family was serving time with him. Incarceration is a shared sentence for families.

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Prison is also incredibly stressful for those who work there. A 2013 U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Diagnostic Center study found corrections officers have a much higher rate of suicide than those in other occupations, experience some level of post-traumatic stress disorder during their careers, and, on average, will die before they turn 60 years old.

Health organizations are starting to recognize our rates of incarceration for what they are: a public health menace. San Franciscos Health Commission recently voted to declare incarceration a public health issue. Each experience of being incarcerated is physically and psychologically traumatic with lasting impact on individuals, their families, communities, and especially to pregnant mothers, the resolution described.

So how do we harness the publics agitation with the uneven application of criminal sanctions into a system that is more focused on actual justice than more universally harsh punishments?

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One comparison that was made in the aftermath of the admissions scandal illustrates how we might press for non-criminal sanctions or solutions. Several commenters contrasted the lenient treatment they predict Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffmanthe two most prominent faces of the scandalwill receive with the spectacularly cruel prison sentence meted out to Tanya McDowell for sending her 6-year-old son to a Norwalk, Connecticut, school while she living without a home in Bridgeport. She was convicted of first-degree larceny for stealing an education and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Left alone, such a comparison may well increase public support for a 12-year sentence for Loughlin and Huffman, not necessarily a lighter one for McDowell. But what if we used this example to propose pragmatic, restorative approaches for both offenses that do not involve prison for either? Tanya McDowell could receive the training and drug treatment she needed to be able to afford a home for her and her child in a neighborhood where he could receive a decent public education. Loughlin and Huffman and their cohort of cheating parents could be required to start a scholarship fund for worthy students who cannot afford to attend college. Or, better yet, they could be required to meet with, apologize to, and hear from the families of those students who were squeezed out of colleges to make room for their children. Perhaps those families could figure out the appropriate reparations for Loughlin, Huffman, and their ilk. My guess is they would not let these celebrities off easy.

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Ultimately, fairness alone can be a double-edged sword. It was, after all, the rationale used by officials to impose zero tolerance policies in schools and mandatory minimum sentences in court. Both have deeply damaged generations of vulnerable children, adults, and families, and resulted in grossly disproportionate punishments. When pointing out the stark inequalities that are so pervasive in our current system, it is critical that we not equate justice or evening the playing field with the imposition of harsh prison sentences for the rich that match those routinely given to the poor and to individuals of color. That kind of thinking is what got us into this mess in the first place.
New York state lawmakers have reportedly come to an agreement, in principle, on a statewide ban on the use of single-use plastic bags in retail sales, such as grocery stores and bodegas. The plan would not only forbid retail stores from providing customers with a plastic bag, it would also could impose a 5 cent fee on providing paper bags. The plastic ban, which includes some caveats, is part of the New York state budget bill that is expected to be passed in the coming days. Environmental groups estimate New Yorkers burn through some 23 billion plastic bags every year.

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When the ban passes, New York will become the second state in the U.S. to outlaw single-use plastic bags, following California, which enacted its own ban in 2016. Hawaii also has a de facto statewide prohibition because every county in the state bars the use of plastic bags. There are expected to be a number of exemptions to the bag ban, the New York Times reports, including food takeout bags used by restaurants, bags used to wrap deli or meat counter products and bags for bulk items. Newspaper bags would also be exempted as would garment bags.

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The ban on single-use plastic is the result of a growing awareness of the destruction non-biodegradable plastic does to the environment, particularly the ocean. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been pushing a ban since last year and the issue has gained momentum of late, prompting local governments to take action on their own to reduce extraneous plastic usage in the form of bags and straws. Business groups were, out of sheer habit, not impressed by New Yorks efforts at effective collective action on the issue. What is reportedly being agreed to today will impose significant new and unplanned costs on retail food stores, Mike Durant, the head of the state Food Industry Alliance, said in a statement Thursday. A plastic-bag ban with a fee on single-use paper bags is not a sustainable public policy solution. Not a sustainable public policy solution? It seems like the literal definition of a sustainable public policy solution. Did this guy from Big Takeout even listen to the question?

For every New York (or California or Hawaii for that matter) there is, of course, a Florida. Earlier this month, good old Florida, reliably pushed back against a trend in local communities to ban the use of plastic straws. One states sustainable public policy solution is Floridas government overreach and state lawmakers are now considering a bill that would ban straw bans. Ban the bans!
Another one? The recent favorable press for Pete Buttigieg has some wondering if Democrats are trying to play it safe in 2020, snubbing the well-qualified female and black candidates in the race to field another white man. On the other hand, Mayor Pete has his own structural disadvantage: Hes gay. Christina Cauterucci asks, Is Buttigieg a run-of-the-mill white male candidate, or does his sexuality set him apart?

A quiet revolution: Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a moratorium on executions in California, granting temporary reprieves to 737 inmates on death row. It was just the latest in a string of state-level actions chipping away at the death penalty in America. Jeremy Stahl talks with Cassy Stubbs, director of the ACLUs Capital Punishment Project, about the state of abolition in the states.

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Cyber borders: Over the past few years, the Kremlin has taken steps to isolate Russias internet from the rest of the world, pushing strict data storage laws and banning VPNs. But recent actions taken by the government would create the infrastructure for a complete alternate internet, keeping access strictly local and mandating control over everything citizens do and see online. Robert Morgus and Justin Sherman dive into the latest strike against global digital freedom.

Grounded: Iceland-based discount airline Wow Air abruptly imploded today, canceling all of its flights and leaving passengers stranded on both sides of the Atlanticand one of Slates own, project manager Anna Hovland, was among them. She spoke with Heather Schwedel about how she found out shes stuck in Europe.

For fun: What to do when your cats wake you up by rubbing their butts on you.

No buts about it,

Vicky
This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy.

Americans are fiercely divided about one aspect of the Mueller investigation: the prospect that President Donald Trump committed a crimesuch as conspiracy with Russians or obstruction of justiceand special counsel Robert Muellers conclusions, or lack thereof, concerning such potential felonies. But investigating possible criminal activity was by far not the entirety of Muellers investigation. The former director of the FBI was hired to supervise an ongoing FBI counterintelligence investigation. The counterintelligence probe had initially involved scrutiny of individuals associated with the Trump campaign, and it expanded to include the president himself as a particular subject not only with respect to the 2016 campaign but also his continued relationship with Russia while in office. We now know that Mueller has wrapped up his involvement in the investigation. We also have Attorney General William Barrs letter concerning at least the backward-looking aspects of the investigation, including decisions Mueller made about prosecutions for criminal violations. But what about the counterintelligence aspects of the probe?

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Where does the counterintelligence investigation now stand? What is the range of findings it may produce? And how may Congress or the public learn of its results?

In a dramatic Senate hearing in March 2017, thenFBI Director James Comey stated, I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Comey added, As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed.

As our Just Security colleagues Marty Lederman, Asha Rangappa, and Rolf Mowatt-Larssen have long emphasized in discussing Muellers activities, counterintelligence investigations arent focused primarily on bringing criminal charges (though they can yield them). Instead, theyre about disrupting the threat to U.S. national security, for example, posed by individuals acting as agents of a foreign power. That includes ferreting out Americans who act as agents knowingly or unknowingly, and involves methods and standards of assessment different from the criminal process.

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Perhaps Mueller has written something separate from the report called for by the special counsel regulations.

Earlier this week, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff commented on the question on whether the president or people around him [are] compromised in any way by a hostile foreign power, and said it doesnt appear that was any part of Muellers report. At least based on Barrs four-page letter to Congress, Schiff appears correct. There is no clear mention in that letter of the counterintelligence aspect of Muellers work. And Schiff may have additional reasons, not yet public, to believe that the report presented by Mueller to Barr didnt cover it.

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That gap is understandable, even if Muellers report is more than 300 pages long. The regulations governing the work of a special counsel were constructed primarily with criminal investigations, rather than counterintelligence investigations, in mind. Thats why, at the conclusion of a special counsels work, those regulations call for a report explaining prosecution or declination decisionswhich arent necessarily the culmination of counterintelligence investigations. Plus, those investigations often involve classified information, and it may have been simpler and safer for Mueller to keep that in a separate stream of work and, in turn, concluding paperwork.

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If the report delivered by Mueller to Barr didnt include the counterintelligence piece of Muellers investigation (or included only pieces of intelligence directly relevant to the potential criminal conspiracy), where is that body of counterintelligence analysis? How else might it get shared with Congress or the public?

One possibility emerged within 24 hours of Barrs letter going to Congress. Senior officials told news outlets that the FBI anticipates briefing congressional leaders on Muellers counterintelligence findings. Oral briefings, rather than written findings, provided in closed sessions may have been deemed more appropriate by Mueller given genuine classification concernsespecially if aspects of the investigation remain ongoing and transferred to a different part of the Justice Department with Muellers office winding down. If so, then it may be up to congressional leaders to determine how much of Muellers findings in this area can appropriately be shared with the American people, working with the executive branch on classification questions. Alternatively, after providing full briefings in closed sessions, Mueller or FBI officials could potentially provide less detailed, unclassified versions of such briefings in open session.

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There are other possibilities too. Perhaps Mueller has written something separate from the report called for by the special counsel regulations, and that written product is now in the hands of Justice Department officials. If so, members of Congress will surely call for it to be released at least to Congress. Or perhaps Mueller closed the counterintelligence investigation long ago and simply does not have major findings to report. That, too, should be ferreted out by continuing questions from the Hill.

All that said, we must leave room for the possibility that Muellers report does contain his counterintelligence findings and that Barrs carefully drafted letter chose to focus only on the criminal side of things.

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Regardless of how we (or at least congressional leaders) learn more about this critical piece of Muellers work, what might the counterintelligence findings look like? Its important to understand the spectrum of possibilities, which are quite different from those relevant to a criminal investigation (namely, indict or not). Lets focus specifically on the question of President Donald Trump himself.

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Think of Mueller and the FBIs conceivable counterintelligence findings regarding Trump along two axes.

One axis involves the level of influence Russia might have over the president.

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That is an astonishing frame to invoke, we realize. Nonetheless, it is the very concern that prompted the opening of a Trump-specific file in the particular investigation in May 2017 by senior Justice Department and FBI officials, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and thenActing FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who then reportedly informed the Gang of Eight, a group that consists of the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and House and top Republicans and Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees.

Along this axis, at one end of the spectrum is simply none. Perhaps Trump simply makes a lot of Russia-friendly decisions but without any apparent influence by Moscow. Another point on the spectrum might be called unwitting agent. This would involve Trump not trying to serve Russian interests over American interests but, without his awareness, succumbing to Russian influence exercised over him through public posturing, hidden messages, implicit incentives, psychological manipulation, indirect coercion, and more. And at the far end of the spectrum would be witting agent. This would, of course, involve Trump consciously seeking to advance Russian interests, whether out of a sense of alignment with Putin or due to leverage or personal financial gain.

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The second axis involves a confidence level. Here it helps to emphasize the intelligence aspect of such an investigation. The intelligence community tends to avoid claiming that it knows virtually anything with certainty. Instead, intelligence analysts operate along a spectrum of confidence. Their judgments can provide low confidence, moderate confidence, high confidence, or various markers in between. The key point is that counterintelligence findings would be less about asking a typical prosecutorial questionCan a prosecutor prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant broke the law?and more about assigning an estimate about the existence of a state of affairs.

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While we have focused here on the question presented about Trump during his time in office, the intelligence toolkit has also been applied retrospectively to the 2016 campaign, as Comey described the core investigation in March 2017. Regardless of what lawyers and prosecutors might say about criminal wrongdoing, including the mental state of various actors, intelligence analysts will seek to know whether individuals associated with the Trump campaign served as witting or unwitting agents of Russia, and how the Kremlins playbook in recruiting Americans may have worked or failed.

Ultimately, we dont know what we dont know, and perhaps Mueller ended up concluding the counterintelligence aspect of his investigation with little to report. Whatever Mueller found, Barrs recent letter did nothing to share it with the American people. And that, itself, is unsatisfactory as a final word on such a vital matter.

More From Just Security:

After Elections in a Country at War, Another Battle for Ukraines Future Still Needs Support

As the Mueller Investigation Closes, New York Investigations Shift Into High Gear
In a stunning setback for the gun industry, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims could proceed toward trial with their lawsuit against Bushmaster, the manufacturer of the assault rifle used in the shooting. The gun lobby had long assumed that gun manufacturers and sellers had almost complete immunity from legal accountability. Their legal shield was the ill-named Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), signed into law in 2005 by President George W. Bush. At the time, the NRA called it a landmark victory.

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Whereas other courts had rendered PLCAA the death knell of lawsuits by gun violence victims, the Connecticut court found that the Sandy Hook suit could proceed under a broad interpretation of one of the exceptions to legal immunity in PLCAA, for suits alleging a knowing violation of a state or federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of firearms. The court held this exception broad enough to allow the families to proceed with one of their claims: that Bushmaster had violated Connecticuts law against unfair trade practices by knowingly marketing the assault rifle to civilians for use in offensive, military-style attacks. In interpreting PLCAA, the court conducted an exhaustive examination of its legislative history and, particularly, the claims of its congressional supporters about the narrow scope of the legal immunity it would give the industry.

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One conclusion is undeniable from the courts discussion: PLCAA was based on a lie.

The lie was that Congress needed to protect gun-makers from a series of predatory lawsuits, primarily brought by cities and urban counties, that sought to hold companies liable for the damages inflicted on their communities whenever guns are used in crime. Supporters of PLCAA asserted that these lawsuits were not supported by any recognized, valid legal principles, but rather asserted novel theories with no basis in existing law. Thus, as the Connecticut Supreme Court put it, during the congressional debates many legislators either expressly stated or clearly implied that the only actions that would be barred by PLCAA would be ones in which a defendant bore absolutely no responsibility or blame for a plaintiffs injuries and was, in essence, being held strictly liable for crimes committed with firearms that it had merely produced or distributed.

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One conclusion is undeniable from the courts discussion: PLCAA was based on a lie.

In fact, the series of lawsuits brought by urban jurisdictions, during the years before PLCAA, were based on well-accepted legal doctrines like negligence and public nuisance. They sought to hold gun-makers liable not simply because they sold guns, but because they knowingly chose to sell guns through a relatively small number of irresponsible retail dealers who sold a disproportionate number of guns traced to crime. After a lengthy trial in a case against the gun industry brought by the NAACP prior to PLCAA, a federal judge in New York found that the irresponsible distribution of guns constituted a public nuisance under well-accepted legal principles. Yet, due to PLCAA, courts have since dismissed such claims against gun manufacturers.

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But as the Connecticut Supreme Court opinion recounts, there were numerous statements by PLCAAs sponsors asserting that the statute would bar only suits against gun companies that engaged in entirely blameless conduct. In the words of the leading sponsor of the bill, then-Sen. Larry Craig, at the time an NRA board member, this legislation will not bar the courthouse doors to victims who have been harmed by the negligence or misdeeds of anyone in the gun industry. Many courts, though, have held that PLCAA severely limits lawsuits by gun violence victims alleging actual negligent conduct by gun sellers. Sen. Lindsay Graham, a co-sponsor of the bill, stated that the legislation was designed only to block lawsuits seeking to hold a gun company responsible, after you have done everything right, for what somebody else may do who bought your product. The bill was explicitly portrayed by its proponents as blocking only lawsuits against gun companies who did everything right. That portrayal was a blatant misrepresentation, both of the lawsuits that the bill purported to address and of the provisions of the legislation itself.

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Indeed, if the lawsuits then pending against the gun industry at the time had actually asserted that the use of a gun by a criminal is itself a sufficient basis to impose liability on the gun manufacturer, no generally accepted legal principle would have supported liability. But, in that event, there would be no reason for Congress to intervene with legislation because the lawsuits would be destined to fail long before they could reach trial. If, however, the legislation was designed to block suits, even though they were based on generally accepted legal principles, then PLCAA amounts to an effort by Congress to exempt the gun industry from the legal rules that apply to all other industries as well as to make it more difficult for gun violence victims to pursue their legal remedies than it would be for other victims of dangerous products. In that event, PLCAA would be nothing but a particularly egregious example of special interest legislation. This is what it was.

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Congress, doing the NRAs bidding, enacted PLCAA precisely because it feared that under generally accepted legal principles, the threat of industry liability was real. This is not to say that, absent PLCAA, the municipal lawsuits, or similar suits by gun violence victims, would all have succeeded. The application of general liability principles is generally a matter of state law, and courts often reach differing results in different cases. But prior to PLCAA, appeals courts in Ohio, New Jersey, and Indiana, applying general principles of state liability law, had found that gun companies may be held responsible for distributing their products through irresponsible dealers while showing willful blindness toward the dealers bad conduct.

It is no doubt gratifying to see the Sandy Hook lawsuit survive PLCAA, based in large part on the words of the legislations supporters. Those statements have now come back to haunt the gun lobby and its congressional patrons. But, although the Sandy Hook families can now proceed with one of their claims against Bushmaster, they asserted other claims that were held barred by PLCAA. The statute remains a substantial barrier to otherwise valid legal claims by gun violence victims in courts across the nation.

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Whats the solution? The Connecticut opinion discusses a prior California lawsuit brought by gun violence victims against an assault weapon manufacturer, charging it with negligence in the sale and marketing of a gun to the general public designed for close-quarter combat and promoted for its lethal firepower and excellent resistance to fingerprints. The California Supreme Court ultimately dismissed that case, Merrill v. Navegar, Inc., not because it was unsupported by generally applicable legal principles but because the California Legislature had enacted legal immunity legislation similar to the PLCAA that created a special set of rules protecting the gun industry. Following the state Supreme Court ruling in Merrill, the California Legislature promptly repealed the state immunity law because of its gross unfairness to gun violence victims. PLCAA should suffer the same fate.

Of course, with the Republican majority in the Senate, PLCAA repeal wont happen in this Congress. But just as the House went forward with background check legislation in the face of certain Senate resistance, it should do the same with PLCAA repeal.

In the name of the Sandy Hook families, whose lawsuit has so vividly exposed the lie responsible for PLCAA, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi should immediately add repeal of this noxious special interest law to the House gun violence prevention agenda.
The issue du jour continues to be whether Attorney General William Barrs summary of the Mueller report proves that the past two-plus years of coverage and conversation around Donald Trumps ties to Russia constituted McCarthyist sensationalism or, on the other hand, was in fact responsible and defensible. (The president has weighed in; you can probably guess which side hes on.)

Its one of those slippery questions; if you define coverage and conversation around Donald Trumps ties to Russia to mean the most conspiratorial speculation by people who think Trump was compromised by the Soviets in 1987, then, yes, that stuff doesnt look great in hindsight, not that it looked great at the time either. If you define coverage and conversation around Donald Trumps ties to Russia to mean discussion of whether Trump and his advisers were involved in a criminal conspiracy in 2016, Barrs conclusion is one that a well-informed news reader would have known was, at the least, a possibility, although maybe you could quibble about how much relative emphasis it got. But if you define coverage and conversation around Donald Trumps ties to Russia to mean reporting on Trump and his advisers history of doing business with figures who are connected to Russias oligarch-gangster power structureand of pushing for U.S. policies that would help enrich those figuresthen Barrs letter doesnt change much at all. Which means it was not just a worthwhile topic of coverage for the past two years but one thats worth covering going forward tooa point that was helpfully demonstrated on Wednesday in a report by Reuters about U.S. companies getting secret Trump administration approval to do nuclear-power work in Saudi Arabia.

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Heres Reuters summary of whats going on:

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has approved six secret authorizations by companies to sell nuclear power technology and assistance to Saudi Arabia, according to a copy of a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The Trump administration has quietly pursued a wider deal on sharing U.S. nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia, which aims to build at least two nuclear power plants.

What does that have to do with Russia? A 2017 Reuters report provides the answer: The Trump administration first became interested in brokering nuclear deals in Saudi Arabia because Michael Flynn and some of Flynns Russian business partners proposed it.

Backers of a U.S.-Russian plan to build nuclear reactors across the Middle East bragged after the U.S. election they had backing from Donald Trumps national security adviser Michael Flynn for a project that required lifting sanctions on Russia, documents reviewed by Reuters show.

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Michael Flynn, you may remember, was Trumps national security adviser for about a month. Flynn resigned after getting caught lying about a conversation hed had with the Russian ambassador about economic sanctions, after which it was revealed that Flynn had been paid $68,000 by Russian entities in 2015, the year before he joined the Trump campaign as an adviser. Flynn was one of several Trump advisersothers include Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, and Michael Cohenwho had (or were pursuing) business relationships with well-connected Russians in the years leading up to the 2016 election. (Im counting Kushner given that his wife, Ivanka Trump, held the option to run the spa in the Trump Tower Moscow development that the Trump Organization was pursuing during the 2016 primaries; Kushner also had a still-unexplained meeting with the head of a Russian state bank in December 2016.) All those individuals also, in 2016 and early 2017, participated in real, documented, not-made-up-by-a-conspiracy-theorist conversations with Russian figures to discuss proposals to eliminate U.S. sanctions on Russia. (The sanctions were instituted to prevent organized crime figures and officials involved in human rights and international law violations from using the U.S. financial system.) The Trump administration has since been consistent in pushing for more lax sanctions policy, to the point that even congressional Republicans have objected.

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One of Flynns goals as national security adviser, meanwhileand, again, this is all legitimately documentedwas to pursue a business-and-geopolitics partnership involving the U.S., Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The nuclear project was to be one facet of that partnership. And while it seems that Flynns Russian partners on the nuclear deal got dropped sometime before 2017, Flynn and others in Trumps orbit, including inaugural chairman Tom Barrack, continued to push the administration to help facilitate a Saudi nuclear deal for a U.S. company called IP3. As a congressional report has documented, National Security Council whistleblowers objected to Flynn and Barracks involvement in administration discussions about the IP3 deal on the basis that the pair could have benefited from it personally. (Barrack has extensive business interests in Saudi Arabia.) This weeks Reuters report, though, indicates that a Saudi purchase of U.S. nuclear technology may, nonetheless, be moving forward.

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Reuters, by the way, has also reported that one of the companies besides IP3 that could benefit from Saudi nuclear investment is Brookfield, the same financial firm that recently made a huge lifeline investment in 666 Fifth Ave., the Manhattan office tower that Jared Kushners family company borrowed heavily to buy in 2007. (Brookfield recently acquired a nuclear services company called Westinghouse.) Kushner has been closely involved in the administrations Saudi Arabia policy and has met personally with the countrys de facto leader on multiple occasions. (To be clear, Reuters was not able to determine which six companies had been authorized to work with the Saudis, so we dont yet know if they include the ones with ties to Flynn, Barrack, and Kushner.)

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There are other ways Saudi Arabia has cultivated individuals close to Trump with the prospect of lucrative business deals, too; you can read about them here and here. At the same time, the administration has been so disinterested in sanctioning Saudi Arabia for the murder of Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi that, again, even Republicans in Congress are outraged. Its the same pattern we saw in Trump Worlds relationship with Russia: Money pours out of the hands of not-so-great people in a foreign country and into the hands of people close to Trump, and then, at the same time, Donald Trump does (or tries to do) big favors for those people in his capacity as a presidential candidate/president. Is it McCarthyism to say that this seems like a less than ideal way to run a country?
President Trump, who for months has publicly opposed disaster relief and reconstruction funding for Puerto Rico, told reporters on Thursday that he had taken care of the territory better than any man ever.

Puerto Rico has been taken care of better by Donald Trump than by any living human being, and I think the people of Puerto Rico understand it, he said.

It appeared he was responding to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello, who said Thursday on CNN, If the bully gets close, Ill punch the bully in the mouth. Those comments came after a heated exchange between senior White House officials and representatives from the territory, who were told they were being too demanding in their requests to meet with the president to discuss relief efforts, according to CNN.

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It has been a year and a half since Hurricane Maria struck the island, and Puerto Rico is still in the process of recovering and rebuilding after the storm. Earlier this week, it was reported that Trump had privately questioned the amount spent on disaster relief in a closed door meeting with Senate Republicans. He also complained that Puerto Rico had received more than Texas and Florida after hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which struck that same year.

Trump has said Puerto Rico has received more than $90 billion in aidan amount that would match its damagesbut Congress has appropriated only $20 billion in disaster funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, only $1.5 billion of which is approved for actually spending. Other legislation to send more in funds has stalled in Congress.

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In the long run, its true that its estimated the U.S. will spend more on disaster relief for Puerto Rico than it will on Texas or Florida (In the short-term, the reality is very different: Politico reported in 2018 that the Trump administration had responded far more aggressively in Texas and approved far more in aid early on, and a study by researchers at the University of Michigan found the federal government was far more generous and faster in its response to Irma and Harvey). But Hurricane Maria was also the deadliest natural disaster to hit the U.S. in more than a centurythe storm and its aftermath were responsible for nearly 3,000 deaths, according to researchers from George Washington University (Trump has complained that this number was invented as a Democratic conspiracy to smear him).

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And contrary to Trumps claim Thursday that the people of Puerto Rico, I really have a great relationship with them, and I think, when it comes time, they really do appreciate it, a Washington Post poll from last year found that an overwhelming majority of Puerto Ricans thought Trump had done an inadequate job of handling the crisis. Many blamed him for a disorganized and ineffectual response to the hurricane that left the islands infrastructure, a year later, still struggling to meet the basic needs of its three million residents.

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Trump has bragged before about his response to the humanitarian crisis. He patted himself on the back for doing a fantastic job and called his administrations response an incredible, unsung success and one of the best jobs thats ever been done with respect to what this is all about. He alsobefore tossing paper towels to a crowd of residents at a relief center like he was operating a T-shirt guntold Puerto Rico to be proud for having fewer deaths than in a real catastrophe like Katrina. (The number of deaths from Hurricane Maria is actually considered much higher than the 1,883 deaths from Hurricane Katrina.)

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Trump has also complained that Puerto Rican officials mismanaged disaster funds as part of his justification for calling for a stop to the funding, and he asserted that they were using those funds to pay the islands debts. On Wednesday, a White House spokesman told NBC News that the Trump administration will not put taxpayers on the hook to correct a decades-old spending crisis that has left the island with deep-rooted economic problems.

But as NBC News pointed out, Puerto Rico would have to have any such plan approved by Congress. And FEMA itself, through a series of mistakes and scandals, was responsible for misspending much of the recovery funding. Trump, on Thursday, again deflected the blame away from his administration and toward officials on the island. You have the mayor of San Juan that, frankly, doesnt know what shes doing, and the governor, they have to spend the money wisely, Trump said. They dont know how to spend the money and theyre not spending it wisely.
Just as President Donald Trump was supposed to be hitting his stride in his no-collusion victory lap, his administrationat the behest of its disconcertingly influential acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaneyannounced Monday that it was siding with a district judges dubious ruling that the entire Affordable Care Act should be tossed. Given that Republicans lost the last election over health care and still have no plan to replace Obamacare if its zapped, the political constituency for the administrations new hard-line posture was not immediately apparent.

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The move was seen, further, as bailing out Democrats from a bad news cycleor, at minimum, as putting a premature end to a rare good news cycle for Trump. Robert Muellers investigation, at least according to Attorney General William Barrs four-page summary of the special counsels still-unreleased report, did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. By midweek, discussion about the two-year investigation into the president ending had been almost entirely superseded by the more typical sight of reporters asking Republicans if they were concerned about millions of people losing health care. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthywho had told donors in February that the GOPs 2017 Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill cost the party the Housewent to the president to complain.

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The few days since the release of Barrs summary demonstrate how a Mueller report that doesnt meet Democrats hopes can help them: It snaps them back to the realities of how they really could take down Trump. Democrats no longer need to complicate their strategy with the fantasy that an investigation might produce a silver bullet and an obligation to consider impeachment. Instead, they can now train all of their efforts into taking Trump down the conventional way: by calling out his unpopular policy preferences and defeating him in the 2020 election.

Trump really couldnt have made this transition easier for Democrats. When the Justice Department declared its new position on Monday night, House Democrats had already scheduled a Tuesday press conference announcing their plan to shore up the Affordable Care Act. The new billwhich expands Obamacares tax credits, creates a national reinsurance plan, and undoes Trump administration actions expanding the availability of junk insurance plansis House Democrats effort to meet their central campaign promise of protecting coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. Its also designed to keep the heat on Republicans by forcing votes on that promise.

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Focusing on health care is more politically fruitful than focusing on the Mueller investigation.

Those arent the only difficult health care votes Democrats are trying to line up to keep the focus on their top issue. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday announced that he was putting forward an amendment to a pending disaster relief bill that would prohibit the Department of Justice from using any funding to litigate the downfall of the ACA in the Circuit Court. And House Democrats are prepping a resolution condemning the Trump administrations legal campaign to take away Americans health care.

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Health care was the top issue for 41 percent of voters in the 2018 midterm elections, and those voters broke decisively toward Democrats. It was the top issue Democrats campaigned on, and it will be a top issue that Democrats campaign on during the 2020 presidential and congressional elections. Focusing on it is more politically fruitful than focusing on the Mueller investigation. Thats why Democratic candidates in 2018 did so.

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A ho-hum Mueller reportpresuming it aligns, roughly, with the Barr summaryalso lifts a great weight from House Speaker Nancy Pelosis shoulders: a major push from within her ranks to impeach the president.

Pelosi has always been wary of pursuing impeachment, knowing that it would distract from Democrats legislative agenda and, even if successful, fizzle out in the Senate absent significant Republican buy-in.

Even the more impeachment-curious members of the caucus, though, seemed to back off from the possibility following the release of Barrs summary. California Rep. Brad Sherman, whos filed impeachment articles against Trump in the past, admitted that the possibility had diminished. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that in spite of her support for impeachment in principle, Democrats also have to consider the reality of having the votes in the Senate to pursue that. On Wednesday afternoon, Michigan Rep. Rashida Impeach the Motherfucker Tlaib submitted an impeachment resolution with only one other members support: Texas Rep. Al Green, whose basis for impeachment has always been the presidents bigotry rather than the alleged misdeeds into which Mueller probed.

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While Democrats can make lemonade out of the Mueller report by using it as an opportunity to refocus on their messaging on whats popular, Republicans might make the opposite move: by going down a rabbit hole of their own in the wake of Muellers report. Kevin McCarthy, for example, has been spending his week vocally attacking California Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, calling on Schiff to step down from his chairmanship and comparing him to Joseph McCarthy. Trump has said Schiff should be forced to resign. Now, which issue seems like it will be of bigger importance to voters in 2020: whether they have health care, or whether Adam Schiff continues to represent Californias 28th District?

Most voters, if theyve even heard about him, dont care about Adam Schiff, just as most voters, if they even heard about it, didnt care that Donald Trump Jr. met with some Russians in Trump Tower in 2016. Politics does not rotate on this axis. Its obviously welcome news for Trump that hes escaped (these particular) legal worries. But Democrats should be pleased, not worried, that theyll have to get rid of the president on conventional grounds.
Special counsel Robert Mueller has ended his Russia investigation, and Republicans are gloating. Complete and Total EXONERATION, says President Donald Trump. There was nothing there, adds Trumps counselor, Kellyanne Conway. We know that now. We know it from Director Mueller.

Trump and his surrogates are lying. Mueller has indicted dozens of people. He has obtained multiple convictions and guilty pleas. He has proved or confirmed that Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Donald Trump Jr., and others in the Trump camp collaborated with Russian agents or intermediaries. According to the Justice Department, Muellers report also presents evidence that Trump may have obstructed justice.

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Beyond the report, theres plenty of evidence that Trump has collaborated with Russia against the U.S. government. He has shilled for Vladimir Putin, urged Russia to hack Hillary Clintons emails, defended a secret meeting to get Russian dirt on her, attacked U.S. intelligence agencies that documented Russias election interference, and fired the FBI director who was investigating that interference. All of these betrayals are recorded or acknowledged on video.

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And Russia is just the beginning of the story. Trumps treachery goes well beyond his service to Moscow. Transcripts, videos, and government records show that he has repeatedly collaborated with tyrants against our country. He has defended North Koreas Kim Jong-un against U.S. intelligence that shows Kim is lying about his nuclear programs. He has defended Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, against American intelligence that exposes the crown princes role in the murder of a U.S. resident. He has sided with Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, against American generals and U.S. law enforcement. He has declared that the Chinese government is more honorable than the American Democratic Party.

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Theres a good reason why Mueller didnt find proof that Trump is a Russian agent. Its because Trump isnt a Russian agent. Trump doesnt particularly care about any country, just as he doesnt particularly care about any of his employees or wives. And the list of countries Trump is willing to betray includes the one that elected him. He chooses his friends and enemies based on their utility to him, not based on their national allegiance. Thats how Putin turned Trump against the United States. And other governments have learned the same trick.

The lesson of the Mueller investigation isnt that Trump is less treacherous than his critics feared. Its that hes more treacherous. Hes been selling out his country to a series of dictators. Dont take it from me. Dont even take it from Mueller. Its all in the public record, one damning story after another. Here are four of them.

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Trumps relationship with Russia is the template for all the treacheries that followed. Heres how it works: A foreign authoritarian flatters and favors Trump. Unlike past presidents, Trump has no immune response to such courtships. He has never served in the military or in public office. He thinks hes a patriotearlier this month, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he literally hugged an American flagbut he doesnt really understand what patriotism means. He loves Americans only if they love him. And that makes him susceptible to the authoritarians advances.

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Trump has openly collaborated with the Russian government against Americans.

Trump is amoral, so he ignores the authoritarians abuses of human rights. He thinks of America as a corporation, with himself as the CEO. He regards the authoritarian as a fellow CEO and is happy to make a deal. Anyone who gets between Trump and his new friend becomes, in Trumps view, an enemy. So when American officials challenge the authoritarians lies, Trump attacks the Americans.

Thats what happened with Putin. In December 2015, as Trump gained ground in the Republican presidential race, Putin began to lavish praise on him. Trump reciprocated by suggesting that Russia was better than the United States. An interviewer reminded Trump that Putin kills journalists, political opponents, and invades countries. Trump retorted that our country does plenty of killing also and that Putin was a leader, you know, unlike we have in this country. In February 2017, a month after Trump became president, he excused Putins crimes again. When an interviewer described Putin as a killer, Trump replied: There are a lot of killers.  What, you think our countrys so innocent? Earlier this year, Trump went further, defending the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

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Trump has openly collaborated with the Russian government against Americans. In July 2016, he called on Russia to hack Hillary Clintons emails. Trump now claims he was joking. But at the time, when a reporter asked Trump whether he had any pause about asking a foreign governmentRussia, China, anybodyto interfere, to hack into the system of anybody in this country, the candidate replied, No, it gives me no pause. In 2017, Trump defended a secret meeting between Russian emissaries and his top campaign officials during the election. The meeting was based on an explicit, written Russian offer of sensitive information about Clinton as part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump. The president said there was no difference between getting such information from Russians and getting it from Americans. He claimed that any candidate would have accepted the offer.

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Trump has also conspired against the United States in private. In February 2017, he shooed a dozen U.S. officials out of the Oval Office so he could ask thenFBI Director James Comey, one on one, to drop the FBIs investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who had lied about his contacts with Russia. Three months later, Trump fired Comey and told two Russian officials, behind closed doors, I faced great pressure because of Russia. Thats taken off. In July 2017, after a meeting with Putin in Germany, Trump confiscated the U.S. interpreters notes from the meeting and instructed the interpreter not to tell U.S. officials what had been said. In July 2018, Trump excluded U.S. officials from a two-hour meeting with Putin in Helsinki.

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Trump has repeatedly sided with Putin against the 2017 U.S. intelligence report that documented Russias interference in the 2016 election. He has dismissed the U.S. officials behind the report as liars and political hacks. He has explicitly denounced the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the intelligence community. He has revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, citing Brennans role in the Russia investigation. In July, the Department of Justice released an indictment that documented the complicity of 12 Russian intelligence officers in the election hacks. Three days later, after his private meeting with Putin, Trump dismissed the evidence and indicated that he believed Putins denial.

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These arent conspiracy theories. Theyre facts. They show that Trump formed an alliance with Putin and attacked anyone in the U.S. government who sought to tell the truth about Putins crimes. But Putin isnt the only despot Trump has protected. He was just the first.

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On May 20, 2017, Trump took a seat of honor at the royal palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was his first presidential trip overseas. Three weeks earlier, he had complained that the United States was spending too much money defending the Saudi kingdom. The Saudis were about to rectify that. As Trump looked on, American executives paraded before him to receive lucrative defense and investment contracts from Saudi ministers. Officially, it was a Signing Ceremony Supporting Saudi Arabias Defense Needs. Unofficially, it was Riyadhs purchase of the president of the United States.

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From that point forward, Trump excused or ignored everything the Saudis did: their brutal war in Yemen, their abduction of Lebanons prime minister, and their incendiary blockade of Qatar. He explicitly defended them as a wealthy client deserving of special respect. When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited the White House in March 2018, Trump fawned over him in front of cameras, detailing the billions of dollars the Saudis were spending on American products.

Then came a more difficult test of Trumps loyalty. On Oct. 2, a Saudi hit squad murdered and dismembered Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and U.S. resident, inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. First the Saudi government denied that Khashoggi had been killed. Then the Saudis denied that MBS had played any role in the crime. But U.S. intelligence agencies obtained an audio recording and other evidence documenting the murder and the crown princes involvement.

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When Mohammed bin Salman visited the White House in March 2018, Trump fawned over him in front of cameras.

As with Russias interference in the 2016 election, Trump would have to choose between facts collected by the U.S. government and lies peddled by an authoritarian regime. Again, he chose the regime.

Initially, aides showed Trump the evidence against MBS in private. Trump resisted it, so officials leaked it to the press. One exhibit, confirmed by CIA Director Gina Haspel, was audio of a phone call in which the commander of the hit squad instructed an aide to MBS to tell your boss that the job was done. Another was a phone call in which the crown princes brother told Khashoggi to go to the consulate, where the hit squad was waiting. Passport records also linked MBS to the killers. The CIAs internal assessment, based on this and other information, was that MBS had ordered the assassination.

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To make certain that Trump understood the evidence, Haspel briefed him in person and in writing. Afterward, reporters asked Trump what the CIA had found. Trump couldnt attack Haspel, since he had appointed her. So instead, he lied. They havent assessed anything yet, Trump told reporters on Nov. 17. Three days later, he repeated, They didnt make a determination. Two days after that, Trump lied again: They did not come to a conclusion.  The CIA points it both ways. The White House made sure that Haspel, who could have contradicted the president, was kept out of a Nov. 28 briefing with senators.

Officials who knew the truth tried to alert Congress. On Dec. 1, they leaked more details from the CIAs assessment. Just before and after the murder, MBS had exchanged at least 11 electronic messages with his aide, who was simultaneously communicating with the hit squad. The crown prince had also proposed, a year earlier, to lure Khashoggi into a trap and make arrangements. The CIAs report concluded: We assess it is highly unlikely this team of operators  carried out the operation without Muhammed bin Salmans authorization. But Trump refused to budge. The crown prince vehemently denies it, he told the press.

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Three months later, Trump is still covering up for MBS. On Feb. 7, the New York Times, citing a U.S. intelligence report written in December, reported additional evidence against the crown prince: an intercepted 2017 conversation in which he told an aide he would go after Khashoggi with a bullet. On March 17, the Times disclosed that intelligence reports showed MBS had authorized at least a dozen violent or coercive operations against Saudi dissenters, some of them executed by the same team that killed Khashoggi. Congress has instructed Trump to issue a legally mandated report on Khashoggis death. But Trump has refused.

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Trumps relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, unlike his relationships with Putin and MBS, started out badly. Kim alarmed the world with missile tests; Trump called Kim Little Rocket Man and threatened him with fire and fury. Then, on Nov. 28, 2017, Kim conducted a missile test so impressive that everyone realized he could hit any city in the continental United States. Kim announced that his nation had finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force. And he turned to his next project: recruiting, as North Koreas new ally, the president of the United States.

Kim enlisted South Korea as his intermediary. On March 8, 2018, a South Korean emissary went to the White House to pitch Kims offer: a summit with Trump. American officials opposed the idea, since Kim hadnt promised, much less taken, any steps toward halting his nuclear program. But Trump ignored these officials. He immediately agreed to the summit and launched a campaign to promote it.

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Kims offer converted Trump from an enemy to an apologist. Unlike previous presidents, Trump saw the summit as a showcase not for Kim but for himself. By staking his prestige on the summits success, Trump became Kims partner. Trump was a willing liar, and if North Korea failed to denuclearize, Trump would look bad. So no matter what U.S. intelligence said, Trump would insist that North Korea was denuclearizing.

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The summit took place in Singapore on June 12. Trump declared it a triumph. He brushed aside questions about Kims human rights abuses and asserted, without evidence, that North Korea had ended its nuclear research. Everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office, Trump announced on Twitter. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.

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Again, Trump was telling his supporters that Americans who spoke the truth about the dictator were the real enemy.

Trumps assurances were false. A post-summit U.S. intelligence assessment, leaked to NBC News on June 29, found that North Korea had increased its nuclear fuel production at secret military sites. An official familiar with the assessment said it showed unequivocal evidence that they are trying to deceive the U.S. and no evidence that they are decreasing stockpiles or that they have stopped their production. The Washington Post reported additional details from the assessment, including concealment of sites and weapons. The New York Times added that according to satellite images, the test missile engine site that Mr. Trump told reporters was being dismantled still stands.

Trump shrugged off these reports. In an interview with Fox News on July 1, he defended Kims sincerity: I shook hands with him. I really believe he means it. Two days later, Trump tweeted: Many good conversations with North Koreait is going well!  Only the Opposition Party, which includes the Fake News, is complaining. On July 12, Trump piped up again: A very nice note from Chairman Kim of North Korea. Great progress being made!

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These statements followed the pattern of Trumps statements about Putin. Again, Trump was taking the word of a dictator over U.S. intelligence. Again, he was treating any criticism of the dictator as a threat to himself. And again, Trump was telling his supporters that Americans who spoke the truth about the dictator were the real enemy.

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On July 30, the Post disclosed fresh satellite images and other intelligence that showed North Korea was building at least one and possibly two liquid-fueled ICBMs that could hit the United States. In addition, North Korean officials had been caught discussing plans to conceal missiles, warheads, and nuclear sites so they could feign denuclearization. Trump replied that these negative stories were fake. On Aug. 10, the New York Times reported that North Korea had opened a new reactor and that the CIAs estimate of Kims nuclear weapons had doubled. Trump repeated that Kim was denuclearizing, and he said he and Kim had fallen in love.

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In an October interview on 60 Minutes, Trump contradicted his own negotiating team, insisting that North Korea was closing up sites. Lesley Stahl asked the president, But is it true that they havent gotten rid of a single weapon, and they may actually be building more missiles? Trump waved the question away. Nobody really knows, he said. In November, a study based on satellite images and information from defectors identified more than a dozen secret military bases involved in North Koreas missile program. Just more Fake News, Trump tweeted.

Trumps deception campaign continues to this day. A month ago, at a second summit with Kim, a reporter pointed out that in the eight months since the Singapore meeting, North Korea had cranked out more missiles and nuclear material. Some people are denying that, Trump retorted. He discounted satellite pictures of North Koreas secret weapons work, arguing that they had been taken from way above. And he insisted that Kim had nothing to do with North Koreas fatal mistreatment of an American citizen, Otto Warmbier. I dont believe he knew about it, said Trump.

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Theres one more story that sheds light on Trumps disloyalty. Its the story of his relationship with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey. Trump hasnt sucked up to Erdogan the way he has sucked up to Putin, Kim, and MBS. But Turkey has repeatedly encroached on American sovereignty in ways that a normal American president would have resisted. Instead, Trump has acquiesced.

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Their relationship began with an infiltration. On July 15, 2016, four days before Trump was nominated for president, renegade officers in the Turkish military attempted a coup against Erdogan. The coup failed, and Erdogan set out to capture the man he blamed for the plot: Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in the United States. To get at Gulen, Erdogans government recruited an American agent: Trumps foreign policy adviser, Michael Flynn.

Turkish intermediaries opened talks with Flynn in late July. They paid Flynns company more than $500,000 and introduced him to Turkish government ministers who backed the project. For the rest of the presidential campaign, Flynn secretly worked for Turkey, promoting Gulens extradition. And after Trump won, Flynn did something else that pleased his paymasters. As the incoming national security adviser, he spiked an Obama administration plan to arm Kurdish forcesregarded by the Turks as an enemyfor an attack on ISIS.

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Erdogans thugs brought their political violence onto American soil. And Trump did nothing.

Theres no proof that Trump knew about Flynns duplicity. Whats notable is that once Trump found out, he didnt care. On Feb. 13, 2017, Flynn resigned for lying about his pre-election talks with Russias ambassador. Three weeks later, under pressure from investigators, Flynn filed papers acknowledging that while working for Trump, he had been an unregistered foreign agent for Turkish interests. Trump defended Flynns talks with Russia and expressed no concern about the foreign-agent declaration. On March 31, Trump tweeted that Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt. When congressional leaders rebuked Flynn for concealing payments he had received from Russia and Turkey, Trump sent Flynn a private message to stay strong. Trump didnt care whether Flynn was loyal to the United States. He cared that Flynn was loyal to Trump.

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In April 2017, Erdogan won a referendum to abolish Turkeys parliamentary system and consolidate power under its presidency. Election observers warned that the referendum had been stacked and that Turkey was sliding into authoritarianism. Nevertheless, Trump called Erdogan to congratulate him. Weeks later, Trump welcomed Erdogan to the White House. And thats when their partnership crossed a line: Erdogans thugs brought their political violence onto American soil. And Trump did nothing.

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The meeting at the White House took place on May 17. Shortly after it ended, Erdogans bodyguards broke through a police cordon outside the Turkish ambassadors residence and assaulted protesters. This was in Washington, in broad daylight. Video showed Erdogan looking on and conferring with his head of security just before the attack began. Congress and the State Department condemned the incident, and a grand jury indicted 15 Turkish officers. But Trump said nothing. When Erdogan complained about the indictments, Trump, in a phone call, expressed regret and told Erdogan he would follow up. The charges were later dropped.

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In the following year, Turkey tangled with the United States over steel tariffs and the imprisonment of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson. Then, in the fall of 2018, Erdogan went after Gulen again. He released Brunson and offered to ease up on Trumps ally, Saudi Arabia, in the Khashoggi case. In exchange, Erdogan asked for help in getting at Gulen. Trump obliged him. The White House ordered the Justice Department to look for ways to expel the cleric. Even after being told there were no legal grounds, the administration pressed DOJ for options. Trump told reporters that he wasnt extraditing Gulen, but he added: That is something that were always looking at. He said of Erdogan: Hes a strong man. Hes a tough man.  Hes a friend of mine. And whatever we can do, well do.

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Trump was good to his word. It turned out there was something he could do. Erdogan wanted to send Turkish forces into Syria to attack the Kurds. But he couldnt do that with American troopswho were there to fight ISISin the way. So, in December, he arranged a phone call with Trump. Trumps national security team prepared talking points, instructing the president to tell Erdogan to back off.

The conversation didnt go as planned. On the call, Erdogan pointed out that ISIS had lost nearly all its land. He assured Trump that Turkey would finish the job if the United States got out. Trumps new national security adviser, John Bolton, was on the call, too, and he reminded Trump that even without control of territory, ISIS remained a potent guerrilla force and terrorist network. Trump listened to the debate between the American position and the Turkish one. And he made his decision. He told Erdogan, You know what? Its yours. Im leaving.

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Trumps advisers were horrified, particularly at his betrayal of Americas Kurdish allies. Defense Secretary James Mattis, in protest, submitted a letter of resignation. So did Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition. Trump responded by savaging both men and aligning himself with Erdogan. On Dec. 23, Trump announced that he was pushing Mattis out of his job. Minutes later, Trump tweeted that he had just spoken with Erdogan. Trump said Erdogan had pledged to eradicate ISIS, and he is a man who can do it.

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In effect, Trump had just fired Mattis, sidelined Bolton, and transferred their responsibilities in Syria to Erdogan. The move was indifferent to nationality, and therefore perfectly Trumpian. A Turkish agent in his campaign; Turkish security thugs beating up protesters in America; the Turkish president replacing the American defense secretary. Trump was fine with all of it.

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On Jan. 29, the heads of several U.S. intelligence agencies appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee to present their annual report on threats to the United States. None of the witnesses disputed Trump by name, but they contradicted him on every point. Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, testified that North Koreas ongoing work on nuclear weapons and deception was inconsistent with full denuclearization. Gina Haspel, the CIA director, agreed. When Haspel was asked whether North Korea had changed its behavior in the preceding two yearsthat is, during Trumps presidencyshe said it hadnt.

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Coats told the committee that Russia was meddling throughout Europe. He cited issues with Turkeyapparently a reference to his written report, which warned of Turkeys growing authoritarianism and its regional ambitions. And he cautioned that although ISIS had lost control of territory, it continued to command thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria, had returned to guerrilla warfare, and was moving to other ungoverned spaces and continuing to plot attacks against the United States and other targets. Haspel made the same points.

Xi isnt the opposition. Nor is Putin or Kim. The opposition is Americans: Schumer, Pelosi, and unruly intelligence officials.

The directors testimony infuriated Trump. On Twitter, he lashed out at the Intelligence people and insisted he was right about ISIS and North Korea. Caliphate will soon be destroyed, the president tweeted. North Korea relationship is best it has ever been  Decent chance of Denuclearization.  Progress being made. The next day, Trump said the intelligence chiefs had told him privately that reports about their testimonywhich was broadcast on live TVwere fake news. He fawned over Kim (We have a fantastic chemistry), second-guessed Coats assessment of North Korea, and boasted that he had fired Mattis.

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That clash in late January underscores our countrys predicament: Congress, our intelligence agencies, and our national security officials know the truth about Trumps authoritarian friends. But Trump stands by his friends. He repeats their lies and attacks any American, even a dead war hero, who tells the truth. Hes a traitor.

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Go back and watch Trumps remarks at the White House on Jan. 10, during the government shutdown. At the time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer were refusing to fund Trumps border wall. But Trump was getting love from Chinese President Xi Jinping. So Trump declared that the Chinese government was better than the Democratic Party of the United States. I find China, frankly, in many ways, to be far more honorable than Cryin Chuck and Nancy, said Trump. I think that China is actually much easier to deal with than the opposition party.

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Thats how Trump sees the world. Xi isnt the opposition. Nor is Putin or Kim. The opposition is Americans: Schumer, Pelosi, and unruly intelligence officials. These troublemakers contradict Trump and threaten the dictators with whom he enjoys warm chemistry. When Trump negotiates with men like Kim or Erdogan, he claims to do so on behalf of Americans. But in truth, he sees himself as part of a club of CEOs: heads of state. In that club, little people like Khashoggi and the Kurds dont count. And helping your fellow CEO by hacking the Democratic Party of the United Statesin Trumps view, the real oppositionisnt an assault on democracy or American sovereignty. Its a favor.

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Trump sides with his fellow authoritarians over his countrymen, even in disputes about other authoritarians. Consider a story from The Threat, the new book by Andrew McCabe, the former acting FBI director. In July 2017, a U.S. intelligence official reported to McCabe that he had just briefed Trump on Russian espionage inside the United States. Trump wasnt interested. Instead, Trump wanted to talk about reports of a recent North Korean missile test. The president did not believe it had happened, McCabe writes. The president thought it was a hoax. He thought that North Korea did not have the capability to launch such missiles. He said he knew this because Vladimir Putin had told him so. The briefers explained to Trump that his assertions were inconsistent with U.S. intelligence. But Trump refused to budge. I believe Putin, he said.

Late last week, Trump defied the U.S. government again. He intervened to protect China and North Korea from American sanctions. The Treasury Department had just announced penalties against Chinese shipping companies for helping North Korea evade the sanctions.

Trump, in a tweet, replied that he was personally withdrawing the penalties. Former Treasury officials were aghast that an American president, on behalf of foreign powers, would undercut his own administrations sanctions. But the White House, in a statement, declared: President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesnt think these sanctions will be necessary.

Yes, Trump likes Kim. He likes Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Mohammed bin Salman, and many other authoritarians. Trump doesnt want sanctions on any of these fine fellows. He just wants trade deals, arms deals, and some help in the Middle East. In exchange, hell defend their assaults on American citizens and residents, and hell attack any American who challenges their lies. You dont need Muellers report to tell you that. You just need your eyes.
U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton warned on Friday that the United States considers Russias military presence in Venezuela a direct threat to international peace and security in the region. Bolton was responding to the arrival of 100 Russian military personnel in Caracas this weekend. It was just the latest condemnation from the Trump administration of Russian actions in the Venezuela crisis, but the Russian government seems unperturbed by American warnings so far.

This isnt the first time Russians ventured into Venezuela this year. When Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself president in January, Russian contractors, associated with the Wagner group which has also carried out clandestine operations in Syria and Ukraine, appeared in Venezuela. Sources close to the Wagner group told Reuters that the contractors were sent to protect Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in the face of unrest.

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On March 23, two Russian planes arrived in Venezuela, carrying 100 Russian servicemen and 35 tons of cargo, according to Tass. This time, they were official members of the Russian military, not contractors. CBS News reports that Russia routinely deploys military advisers and technicians to Venezuela, but that the number sent this time suggests this operation is more than routine. On March 25, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the Russian foreign minister to tell him that the U.S. will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela and to condemn the insertion of Russian military personnel to support the illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro. In response, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stated that Russian presence in Venezuela was entirely lawful, citing an agreement between Russia and Venezuela on military-technical cooperation.

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Tensions escalated on Wednesday, when President Trump told journalists that Russia had to get out of Venezuela while meeting with Guaidos wife. Guaido has been recognized by the U.S. and most other countries in the region as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela since he challenged Maduros rule.

Disregarding Trumps demand for removing all military personnel from the country, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the U.S. to mind its own business. We dont think that third parties should worry about our bilateral relations with other countries. We dont interfere in Venezuelas domestic affairs and expect third countries to do the same, he told reporters. As for the United States, it is present in many parts of the world but no one tells Washington where it should be and where it shouldnt.

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Venezuela under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez became an important strategic partner to Russia. Over the years, Venezuela has spent billions of dollars on Russian military equipment as the largest buyer of Russian arms in the Western hemisphere. Since 2010, Russia has also invested over $9 billion in Venezuelan oil projects. As Vox points out, the strong economic links between two states are key to understanding Russias continued entanglement in Venezuelan politics.

This week, both the Russians and the Americans have repeatedly escalated their, with neither side showing any signs of backing down. Although the situation is unlikely to break out into an actual conflict, the increased Russian presence in Latin America is a testament to Putins foreign policy priorities and his disregard for American ultimatums.
Sometimes a marketing pivot serves a truth-telling function. A new television ad for the consumer DNA database FamilyTreeDNA asks the public to share their DNA with the company not to find out whether theyre at high risk for breast cancer, whether their ancestors were black, or what their Spotify playlist should include. Instead, the father of Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted in 2002, observes that when a loved one is a victim of a violent crime, families want answers.  If you are one of the millions of people who have taken a DNA test, your help can provide the missing link.

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FamilyTreeDNA makes explicit the use of consumer DNA testing that law enforcement agencies have increasingly relied on to solve cases. When police identified Joseph DeAngelo in 2018 as the suspected Golden State Killer responsible for a series of rapes and murders in California several decades ago, they did so with the aid of genetic genealogy: the combination of genetic matching and traditional genealogical methods. Police uploaded crime scene DNA to GEDmatch, a free service where people submit genetic information (typically from consumer testing services like 23andMe) to find relatives and ancestors. A genetic genealogist combined the identification of those genetically related to the then-unknown suspect with genealogical aids like birth records and newspaper clippings. DNA taken from his trash and car door confirmed the match between DeAngelo and the crime scene evidence.

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The two largest DNA testing companies take the position that they will provide customer data only with a lawful order like a subpoena or a warrant. Indeed, 23andMe is explicit in its position of using all practical and legal administrative resources to resist such requests. FamilyTreeDNA distinguishes itself by not just allowing law enforcement access to its consumer data but embracing the tactic. It asks consumers to contribute genetic information for the express purpose of helping the police solve crimes. (If youve taken a DNA test elsewhere with a competing company, you can upload your file for free to FamilyTreeDNA.) This marketing shift follows its earlier acknowledgment that the company had already been working with the FBI. As a result, the company is effectively crowdsourcing criminal investigations.

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But when you volunteer your DNA sample, youre volunteering your genetic family tree, without having asked your parents, siblings, cousins, and distant cousins if they agree. That upends the usual way we think about providing information to law enforcement. You cant give the police lawful consent to search your third cousins house, even if your third cousin (who you may never have met) is suspected of having been involved in a serious crime. Why are we allowing a distant relative to grant police permission to your DNA?

When you volunteer your DNA sample, youre volunteering your genetic family tree.

And genetic genealogy creates difficulties for the relative who objects to your volunteering the genetic family tree to law enforcement. A woman whose DNA on GEDmatch recently helped lead to the arrest of a second cousin twice removed told a local Iowa newspaper that before she got the test done, her brother raised concerns about getting a family member arrested. But her brothers objections didnt mean much. The consumer DNA companies dont appear to allow relatives to raise privacy objections to submitted genetic samples. And should a relative later be charged with a crime with the help of genetic genealogy, the Fourth Amendment would be unlikely to allow the relative turned suspect to object to the way he was identified. Even if a relative convinced you that the submission of a DNA sample to a consumer database was regrettable, it turns out that deleting your DNA is a very difficult thing to do.

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Becoming a genetic informant on your extended family isnt the only issue here. On its website, FamilyTreeDNA says law enforcement access to its database is limited to cases identifying the remains of a deceased individual or a perpetrator of a homicide or sexual assault. Today law enforcement agencies appear to be relying on these consumer DNA databases for long-unresolved homicide cases. And few would object to solving the Golden State Killer case, which involved dozens of violent crimes spanning more than a decade. For now, the genetic genealogy used in that case is time-consuming, and following all of the potential leads raised by a partial DNA match takes considerable police resources.

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But if history is any guide, these means will become easier and cheaper to use. Police already use direct DNA matches to solve crimes like auto theft and burglary. Imagine if a distant relatives decision to submit DNA led to your 13-year-old self being arrested for spitting on the bus.

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Perhaps you wouldnt object. Perhaps you think everyone committing a crime, no matter how minor, should be caught. Then, legislators should have a direct and open conversation about a population-wide database: a DNA sample compelled from every person in the United States for the purposes of law enforcement. If that is the goal, we should arrive there directly, not as a de facto matter.

And that leads to perhaps the biggest question raised by FamilyTreeDNAs ad spot. These are urgent questions about the proper balance between privacy and law enforcement and individual and familial rights. Yet it is a private company making these policy choices, changing the conversation, and shaping its terms. Few would respond well to the question: Join us as a genetic informant! But many will likely be moved to help bring closure to families and victims. Nor should we forget that while contributors may feel altruistic, the company has many motives. Although uploading your genetic file is free, you can unlock all of the companys features for only $19.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Earlier this year, Russia announced plans to briefly disconnect its internet from the rest of the world by or on April 1. The scheduled exercise was intended to test its ability to create an isolated, sovereign internet. However, its unclear if the test will proceed on the original timeline.

The internet disconnection experiment was agreed on in January during a session of the Information Security Working Group, which includes a co-founder of Kaspersky Lab and representatives of major telecommunications companies such as Beeline and MTS. The working group is advising the Russian Duma on implementing a sovereign internet bill currently under consideration. The bill aims to create a centralized traffic control system in Russia, build a national domain database, and require Russian network operators to install government-approved tools for counteracting potential cyber threats. As Robert Morgus and Justin Sherman described recently in Future Tense, with this bill, Russia is taking steps to alter the very architecture of its internet, which, once enacted, would be difficult to reverse.

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As lawmakers debated the draft of the bill, however, concerns arose about the feasibility and costs of the project, prompting the decision to hold a test prior to proceeding. The proposed test caught both Russian and Western medias attention in February when the outlet RBC reported that it would take place by April 1, in line with the Information Security Working Groups recommendation. Natalia Kaspersky, who chairs the working group, confirmed to RBC that a test or something similar would be needed to understand how the project can be carried out. However, Kaspersky didnt provide a timeline for the testing. On March 28, Russian media again reported that a test was scheduled to take place before the second reading of the bill but gave no specific dates for the test or the reading. (Typically, a bill is required to pass through three rounds of readings, according to Duma regulations. The version of the bill presented in the second reading is supposed to contain all necessary amendments, based on lawmaker and expert feedback to the first draft. If no more changes are proposed, the bill passes to the third reading, when deputies cast their final votes on the measure.)

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The goal of the test is to supply internet service providers with data about how their networks would react if the domestic internet were disconnected from global servers. Its also meant to be a showcase of ISP capabilities to direct data to government-controlled routing points, which filter traffic and only allow data exchanged between Russians to reach its destination. So, if and when the test is conducted, Russians wont find themselves entirely without the internetthey just wont be able to receive and send data beyond Russian borders. Its not clear how long the exercise is intended to last.

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In order to pull this off, Russia would have to ensure that all the content Russians want to access is located inside the country, Nicole Starosielski, a professor at New York University, told Wired in February. Issues are almost certain to arise: ISPs cannot know precisely how much their networks actually rely on infrastructure outside Russian borders until theyre disconnected.

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According to Noah Buyon, research associate at Freedom House, the planned test is a lose-lose scenario for users. If Russia succeeds at isolating its internet from the global network, users could lose access to web resources hosted beyond Russias territorial borders, including independent news media and pathways for circumventing existing website blocks, he told me via email. And if the test fails, the country may experience a self-inflicted internet shutdown. In that case, web services that users rely on every day could be disrupted. No matter the outcome of the experiment, Russians will suffer its consequences.

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When the idea of holding a test was proposed, the Information Security Working Group said that it plans to study the results and then recommend changes to the internet bill before it proceeds to its second Duma reading. The overall budget for the Runet project is estimated at 27 billion rubles (about $415 million), although only 2 million rubles (about $31,000) have been allocated for the test disconnection.

If the test ever actually takes place, whether Sunday or some other time, it will be an indication Russia could be well on its way to its goal: routing up to 95 percent of internet traffic through domestic servers by 2020.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now...
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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.
First deputy general prosecutor Peter Sufliarsky now plans to publish the communications.

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Igor Matovic showed some of the text messages at the March 28 press conference. (Source: TASR)

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It has been established that First Deputy General Prosecutor Peter Sufliarsky did exchange text messages with controversial businessman Marian Kocner who has been charged in the case of investigative reporter Jan Kuciaks murder.

Some of these communications were shown to journalists by Igor Matovic, chair of the opposition Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO) movement, on March 28. As he pointed out, they exchanged altogether 430 messages in the first half of 2017.

Do you remember our two-hour conversation in the car? Kocner wrote to Sufliarsky. He also assured him that he is not going to open the safe, said Matovic, who published seven of the text messages at a press conference, as reported by the Sme daily.

Read also:

Read also: First deputy general prosecutor requests Kocner be questioned for his planned murder Read more

However, Sufliarsky claimed during a January press conference that he could not remember any communication with Kocner. He later added that they maybe communicated for a short time, according to Matovic.

Responding to Matovics claims, Sufliarsky said that he is not on friendly terms with Kocner. He did admit that they communicated in 2017. However, Sufliarsky explained that he only politely replied to Kocners messages.

I dont have any friendly, unfriendly, familiar or other relationship with M. K., said Sufliarsky, as quoted by Sme.

However, on March 28, he admitted exchanging 418 messages with Kocner for the private news channel TA3.

Sufliarsky and Kocner

Sufliarsky claims he met Kocner at the birthday party of ex-general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka in 2008. He later met Kocner twice in Trnkas office, although these meetings were unplanned.

Read also:

Read also: Kocner faces further charges. This time for gun-related crimes Read more

Matovic claims that the mutual communications suggest that they were friends. Moreover, they indicate that Kocner provided information to Sufliarsky.

I assume that you are showering me with so much info to give me a headache, Sufliarsky wrote in one of the text messages, as reported by Sme.

Ordering the murder

Sufliarsky has not excluded the possibility that Kocner ordered his murder.

I am the reason that Marian K. has been imprisoned, he said, as quoted by Sme. I coordinated certain issues. Im not sure whether this was the last straw that was behind the decision to do away with me.

Zoltan Andrusko, one of the people charged with Kuciaks murder, has confirmed this. He reportedly told police officers that it was the idea of Alena Zsuzsova, the Dennik N daily reported.

The investigation showed that Kocner ordered Sufliarskys murder, but that was in 2018, Matovic claimed.

Read also:

Read also: Man charged with Kuciaks murder talks about the poisoning of another journalist Read more

Ciznar dealing with the case

General Prosecutor Jaromir Ciznar meanwhile said that he is dealing with the communications, said the spokesperson for the General Prosecutors Office, Andrea Predajnova.

"A meeting took place on Wednesday [March 27] and lasted for several hours, said Predajnova, as quoted by Sme, adding that it continued on March 28.

Several opposition politicians meanwhile called for Sufliarskys departure from the post of deputy prosecutor, including ex-justice minister Lucia Zitnanska, Lubomir Galko of Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), and Veronika Remisova of OLaNO.

Its a question of trustworthiness in the institution, Zitnanska said, as quoted by Dennik N.

The For a Decent Slovakia initiative has also called for his departure.
The retirement age for women will differ based on the number of children, according to constitutional law.

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The retirement age in Slovakia will be capped at the age of 64. Women will be able to retire earlier if they have raised a child. Women who raised one child, would be able to retire at the age of 63.5, while those with two children at the age of 63 and those with three or more children at the age of 62.5.

This stems from a constitutional amendment passed by parliament on March 28.

The amendment was supported by 91 MPs, with 37 against and 15 abstaining from the vote. Apart from Smer MPs, deputies of the Slovak National Party (SNS), Sme Rodina (We Are Family) and the far-right Peoples Party  Our Slovakia (LSNS) of Marian Kotleba also voted for it. The proposal was also supported by five non-affiliated MPs and three MPs of Most-Hid.

The constitutional amendment was submitted by Smer.

Huge social act, Fico said

Capping the retirement age is a huge social act, said Smer chair Robert Fico at the press conference held after the law had been approved. As he stressed, Smer representatives do not want people to retire at the age of 72.

We dont want people to die while working at the machines, he said at the press conference.

He also mentioned the possibility of anchoring the minimum wage in the Constitution. All three pension pillars should be added to the Constitution as well, he said.

Until 2034, there will be no increased costs in the pension system, Fico continued.

If some occur then, we cannot put pensioners aside. We will solve it at the expense of other priorities, he stressed at the press conference, as quoted by the Sme daily.

Populism in its clearest shape, opposition claims

Opposition parties Ordinary People and Ordinary Personalities (OLaNO) and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) opposed the amendment. As they claimed, capping the retirement age will harm pensioners.

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Read also: Retirement age may be capped in Slovakia Read more

It is populism in its clearest shape, when politicians who are afraid of a decrease in their support create problems for our children and their children, said SaS MP Jana Kissova at the press conference.

12 percent less

Employers also criticised the amendment. This step will threaten the stability of public finances and reduce pensions for future pensioners, said the National Union of Employers (RUZ), as reported by Sme.

Moreover, the measure is not supported by any analysis and does not take into consideration the impact on the economy, business environment, public finances and households.

Moreover, the change will cost about 120 billion over the next 50 years. This is a sum that would cover the functioning of state-run social insurer Socialna Poistovna for 16 years.

The proposal itself will lower the pensions of those currently in their thirties by about 12 percent, Jan Sebo, an expert in pensions from Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica, told Sme last year.
Coffee Design is proudly sponsored by Savor Brands , your boost in coffeedence through maximizing designs in packaging, sustainability and tech.

Who among us doesnt like cracking into a beautifully designed can of cold brew? Our friends at Abracadabra teamed up with Vermonts Luce Farm to create a crushable coffee chill brew infused with 20mg of hemp-derived CBD. Abracadabra asked designers Dang Olsen and Andrew Plotsky to help design the canusing magical elements and a psychedelic color story. Olsen designed Abracadabras cold brew cans all the way back in 2017. This time around, the cans are brighter and a little more colorful and even sport a custom typeface. We spoke with Clint Hunt to learn more.

Tell us more about the collaboration between Abracadabra and Luce Farm.

Our relationship developed over a nasty winter last year when mass amounts of CBD and coffee were pivotal to our happy survival. Our companies immediately vibed and we knew a collaboration was brewing. Our businesses are very similar in regards to sustainability, quality, and transparency. We are super passionate about sourcing, roasting, and brewing the tastiest, nuanced, out of this world coffees. Luce Farm is involved fully from growing their own dope ass hemp plants organically on their farm in Vermont, to extracting and producing their delicious full spectrum nectar with intense love and care.

How long was Chill Brew in development before its launch last summer?

We started experimenting in December 2017 with different single origin coffees, processing methods, brew ratios and CBD dosages. We canned a multitude of test batches which we tried throughout the winter months before deciding on the final recipe.

Theres 20 mg of hemp-derived CBD in each can. What does it taste like?

We chose this specific coffee to pair with CBD because of how well the taste and aromas complimented each other. This Ethiopia Gedeb coffee is super juicy and clean and when combined with the dank CBD creates an experience that keeps your eyes wide and your vibes chiiiillllllll. Notes of tangerine, caramel, chamomile, and spruce tips levitate from this can.

Its been out for nearly a year. How has it been received?

Its been fanfrickingtastic! We have been super stoked and overwhelmed by the positive feedback both in terms of taste and experience.

Tell us about the beautiful packagingwho did the art?

Our art and design boiz Dang Olsen and Andrew Plotsky cold crushed it. We took an image of a shirt, hand tie-dyed by Dang, to use for the soft colors of the background. Dang hand drew the squiggly alphabet for us which Andrew used to create the official ABRACADANG font. Dang drew all the dreamy psychedelic illustrations you see throughout the can and Andrew combined all the magick elements together.

Is CBD-infused coffee the future?

CBD coffee is nowTHC coffee is the future.

Where is it available?

We just recently made it available via our website. Get it offline yall. We distribute throughout Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island currently and are looking to expand into all of New England and the world, and beyond the world, were looking at you outer space.

How much is it?

You can cop a can for $8 or a 4 pack for $28. Cheap coffee aint good and good coffee aint cheap.

Thanks!

Company: Abracadabra Coffee

Location: Vermont

Country: USA

Designer: Dang Olsen & Andrew Plotsky

Release Date: 2018

Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge.
Saudi Arabia has made a billion dollar down payment on its $15 billion order for a THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) anti-missile system. The down payment is to enable the manufacturer to start production on items that take a long time to produce. The Saudi order is the largest ever for THAAD. The Saudis are buying 44 launchers, 360 missiles and radar and control stations for seven batteries. In addition, this deal will pay for an upgrade of Saudi radar warning and communications infrastructure as well as bases for the THAAD batteries and maintenance facilities. The cost will cover the training of over a thousand Saudi personnel to operate and maintain the THAAD batteries and associated early warning radar systems. The Saudis will probably use contractors early on to assist with operations and maintenance. The Saudis have developed a lot of effective operators and maintenance personnel because of recent combat experience while operating its Patriot systems that have intercepted over a hundred ballistic missiles (most provided by Iran) fired from Yemen. The THAAD contract will also cover upgrades still in development or planned.

THAAD is used to defend against longer-range ballistic missiles that come at their targets at higher speeds that Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile missiles can handle. This THAAD purchase is a long-term investment. It will take five years to get most of these batteries operational. The Saudis expect the presence of THAAD to be a major deterrent to any Iranian ballistic missile attack. THAAD wont make such an attack impossible, just more difficult. The Iranian use of ballistic missiles fired from Yemen and their inability to get past Saudi manned Patriot defenses makes the Saudi purchase of THAAD a meaningful deterrent to the Iranian missile threat to Saudi Arabia.

Each THAAD battery has 48 missiles and six launchers (an 8x8 truck carrying eight missiles in storage/launch containers) plus an AN/TPY-2 radar (on a tractor-trailer vehicle) and two truck mounted mobile tactical control stations. Two more tactical control stations are bought for spares and training as well as two spare launchers. Total cost for each battery is about a billion dollars. The 6.2 meter (18 foot long) THAAD missiles are 340mm in diameter and weigh 900 kg (1,980 pounds). This is about the same size as the Patriot anti-aircraft missile, but twice the weight of the smaller PAC-3 anti-missile version of the Patriot.

The range of THAAD is over 200 kilometers, max altitude is 150 kilometers, and top speed is 2,800 meters (9,000 feet) a second. THAAD is intended for short (like SCUD) or medium range (up to 2,000 kilometer) range ballistic missiles. THAAD has been in development since the late 1980s. Originally the U.S. Army planned to buy at least 18 launchers, 1,400 missiles, and 18 radars. That goal has been adjusted as the number of export customers increases. The Saudi order increases the number of THAAD batteries by over 50 percent.

THAAD is a step up from the Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile (which is an anti-aircraft missile adapted to take out incoming missiles). The PAC-3 works, but it has limited (35 kilometers) range. The navy has also modified its AEGIS software and Standard anti-aircraft missile system to operate like the PAC-3. This system, the RIM-161A, also known as the Standard Missile 3 (or SM-3), has a longer range than THAAD (over 500 kilometers) and max altitude of 160 kilometers. The Standard 3 is based on the Standard 2, and costs over three million dollars each. The Standard 3 has four stages. The first two stages boost the interceptor out of the atmosphere. The third stage fires twice to boost the interceptor farther beyond the earth's atmosphere. Prior to each motor firing, it takes a GPS reading to correct course for approaching the target. The fourth stage is the nine kg (20 pound) LEAP kill vehicle, which uses infrared sensors to close on the target and ram it. In addition to Patriot, Aegis and THAAD there is GBI (ground-based interceptor), a system specifically designed for intercepting ICBM warheads and only stationed in North America.

The last two tests for THAAD were in 2017 and both were successful as were the other six such tests since 2010. There have been 28 test firings of THAAD since 1995 and 22 were successful. Many of the tests before 2005 did not involve attempting to actually intercept an incoming missile warhead. Many of the tests since 2008 were to verify that new features (like the ability to hit targets closer to the surface and to share data with Patriot anti-missile systems) as well as verifying that the overall system worked. THAAD entered service in 2008 when the first THAAD anti-ballistic missile (ABM) battery was deployed. This followed a 2006 firing test that used regular army personnel and not developer technicians. In 2009 the second battery was formed. By 2012 there were five batteries and six years later that number had more than doubled.
Americans buy chocolate from the Swiss.

This will be debit in U.S. balance of payments because Americans imported chocolate from swiss.





The U.S. gives foreign aid to Bosnia.

This will be debit in U.S. balance of payment because there is transfer payment to other country





British investors purchase U.S. government bonds.

This will be credit in U.S. balance of payment because money received by the U.S. in exchange for this purchase.





American tourists travel to Australia.

This is will be debit in U.S. balance of payment because money is gone from the U.S. to another country





Volkswagen earns profits in the United States from its new cars.

This will be debit in U.S. balance of payment as there is the import of Volkswagen cars in the U.S.





Toyota builds a new plant in Ohio.

This will be debit in U.S. balance of payment as there is an increase in foreign direct investment.





Capital Records sells rock and roll music in Sweden.

This will be credit in balance of payment as this sell result in receipt from foreign.
Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University offers an MFA degree program in creative writing that students can complete over the span of three years. The curriculum of this program is comprised of 42 total credit hours which are split into different categories. Twelve of these credits must be completed through taking graduate workshop and seminar courses, which cover various types of creative writing like poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Students must also take six hours of literature courses, three hours of a craft and form course, and nine hours of elective courses. The remaining 12 hours are earned through the completion of the master's thesis. Students in this program also have the opportunity to work on the school's quarterly publication, the Cimarron Review, and also can work as graduate teaching assistants which are accompanied by full tuition waivers.

Oklahoma City University

Another option for students seeking MFA programs in Oklahoma is The Red Earth MFA program offered by Oklahoma City University. This program can be completed in four semesters and is designed to accommodate students who wish to continue working or pursuing other activities outside of school, as it is a low-residency program. Over the course of the program, students will be required to attend five 10-day immersive residencies, which involve attending workshops and meeting with advisors and mentors to discuss student work and projects. During the time in-between the workshops, students can pursue their degree from home by reading and writing on their own schedule and maintaining close contact with faculty advisors by sending them writing updates and responding to their feedback. Students will present their thesis during the fifth 10-day residency, which entails completing a manuscript-length piece of creative work.

University of Oklahoma

While the University of Oklahoma does not offer an MFA program in creative writing, they do offer an MA program in English that allows students to specialize in creative writing. Students who enroll in this program will be required to complete a total of 30 credit hours. Of these hours, six are completed through the required courses which cover topics in literary criticism, theory, and composition. Students will also complete 12 hours of elective courses, which they will choose in consultation with their advisor, as well as six hours of creative-writing-specific courses. The final six hours are earned through the completion of a master's thesis. Students are eligible to apply for teaching assistantships and also can apply to work as an assistant at the university's journal, World Literature Today.
University of Pennsylvania

At the University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton full-time MBA program takes about 20 months to complete, and students can choose from 19 specializations that include topics like finance, marketing and management. The program also offers a wide choice of electives. An executive MBA program contains these same elements but is offered in a part-time format and takes about 24 months to complete. That program is ranked in the top ten in the US for 2019 according to Forbes.

Temple University

Temple was founded in 1888, and the MBA program has been in existence since 1943. Today the Fox School of Business program offers students a choice of full-time, part-time, executive or distance learning options. These programs require between 16 months and two years of study, depending on the option chosen. Students might pick from various areas of specialization.

Drexel University

Drexel University was established in 1891. The LeBow College MBA program offers students a choice of full-time, part-time, executive or distance learning. The full-time program typically takes 18 months. Students can select one of six areas of specialization. The online program takes around two years to complete and features on-campus and international residencies.

LaSalle University

LaSalle was founded in 1863, and the School of Business offers an MBA program that students can take full time or online. There's also a part-time program offering a combination of online and classroom courses. An executive program is an option as well. Several of these programs may be completed in as little as 12 months, depending on students' undergraduate background. Students in the full-time and part-time programs may choose one of six areas of specialization to meet their educational goals.

Jefferson University

Thomas Jefferson University was established in 1969 and became Jefferson University when it merged with Philadelphia University in 2017. Its Kanbar College School of Business offers full-time and part-time MBA programs with nine concentration options. Full-time students can enroll in the 12-month program, while the flexible part-time program allows students to complete the MBA in 24 months or longer. The online MBA program requires 18 to 24 months of study and is a more general business option.

Philadelphia universities offer a good selection of MBA programs that may commonly be completed in 12-36 months. Different study options are available to meet students' needs, including full-time, part-time, online and executive programs.
Police have confirmed a 17-month-old child critically injured in Tauranga on Wednesday has died at Starship Hospital today.

A police spokesperson says they were called to a property in Maungatapu on Wednesday where a child had been injured.

Police are investigating the cause of the injuries and the circumstances leading up to the incident, and were conducting enquiries in the Maungatapu area yesterday.

A number of people are cooperating with Police enquiries.
Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said that the US has lost all international legitimacy and ended its role as a mediator in any peace process writes SANA.

On Wednesday, most members of the Security Council announced their rejection of US President Donald Trumps proclamation on the occupied Syrian Golan, asserting that the Golan is Syrian land occupied by Israel and this is what the UN resolutions affirmed.

During a session on the situation in the Middle East, members of the Security Council affirmed that any unilateral declaration contradicts the international order and the UN Charter and that international law bans the annexing of lands by force.

Syrias permanent representative to the UN, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said on Wednesday that while they discussed Trumps illegitimate proclamation regarding the occupied Syrian Golan, Israeli occupation warplanes launched an airstrikes against the industrial region to the east of Aleppo, adding that the Syrian air defenses intercepted and downed a number of the hostile missiles.

Jaafari added that Syria condemns Trumps proclamation about the Golan and consider it as unilateral behavior issued from a side that has no political, moral or legal capacity to decide the destiny of world or dispose with lands that are part and parcel of the Syrian territories.

He affirmed that the US practices reflect a dangerous and unprecedented inclination towards hindering international law and a contempt for the UN, dealing a blow to the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly regarding the inevitability of ending the Israeli occupation to the occupied Arab lands and its withdrawal to the 1967 borders.

Jaafari went on to say that the unilateral behavior is a clear signal that Washington no longer gives any importance to the UN, and has clearly lost its recognition of international legitimacy and ended its role as a mediator in any peace process.

Meanwhile, the Syrian people on Thursday continued protesting US President Donald Trumps declaration in several provinces including Damascus, Aleppo, Suweida and Hassakeh.

In Hassakeh, locals gathered in front of the Education Directorate and a similar gathering was held in Qamishli city in front of the National Hospital.

Similarly, locals of Nabe al-Sakher in the Quneitra countryside gathered in condemnation of Trumps declaration.

Aleppo judges and lawyers protested by standing in front of the Justice Palace.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The Syrian National Coalition has called on the international community not to stay quiet on the issue of the Golan and are concerned about the precedent that it could set.

US President Donald Trumps decision on the occupied Golan has sparked an Arab and international outcry as more statements are issued to condemn the move and warn of the serious repercussions for the region.

On Monday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is clear that the status of Golan has not changed.

The UNs policy on Golan is reflected in the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and that policy has not changed, Dujarric added.

President Trumps move contravenes UN Security Council Resolution 497 affirming the legal status of the Golan as an occupied Syrian territory and rejecting the Israeli occupations decision to annex it in 1981. The resolution also considers the decision as null and void.

Moreover, the EU said that its stance on the status of the Golan has not changed despite the US move to recognize the Israeli occupations sovereignty over the occupied territory, the foreign policy chief of the bloc said on Wednesday.

The position of the European Union as regards the status of the Golan Heights has not changed, Federica Mogherini said in a declaration on behalf of the EU.

Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, denounced the announcement by US President Donald Trump, saying that, if the occupation is a major crime, its legitimization is no less serious.

Gheit said that the use of force does not shape rights and does not entail advantages and that international law is not made by any one state, whatever its status.

The Syrian National Coalition said that the attempts by US President Donald Trump to grant legitimacy to the Israeli occupation of the Golan violates international law. It warned the international community against, remaining silent about any allusions to the territorial integrity of Syria.

The mere talk by anyone about recognizing the legitimacy of the occupation and the seizure of land by military force constitutes a violation of international law and consolidation of the law of the jungle. Such move also contravenes UN Security Council resolutions, the Coalition said in a press release issued by the political committee on Friday.

On Monday, a Financial Times editorial said that President Trump has, set a dangerous precedent that risks repercussions far beyond the region, adding that, Donald Trump has once again displayed a reckless disregard for international norms.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
While Israel did not comment on the strikes, they are believed to have hit a munitions storehouse and a center for logistical supply reports Alsouria Net.

The Assad regimes news agency, SANA, has said that on Wednesday evening, air defenses repelled an Israeli attack that targeted some positions near Aleppo in northern Syria, adding that a number of hostile missiles were stopped.

SANA quoted an unnamed regime military source as saying that, before midnight on Wednesday, our air defense systems repelled an Israeli attack that targeted positions in the Sheikh Najjar industrial zone, northeast of Aleppo. The damage was only material.

The Israeli side did not issue any direct comment on the regime agencys report. Israeli typically does not comment on statements regarding its bombardment of positions in Syria.

The blasts caused an electricity blackout in Aleppo, the second largest Syrian city and the main industrial center. Military experts say that Aleppo is one of the main areas where the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has a military presence, backing local groups which have been fighting for years alongside the regimes forces to deliver a defeat to the opposition.

Two opposition sources familiar with the Iranian military presence in the area said that a major munitions storehouse and a center for logistical supply, controlled by factions backed by Iran inside the industrial center, were directly hit.

They added that other strikes hit the area around the al-Nayrab airbase on Aleppos outskirts, in the second strike of its kind on the facility used by Iranian forces in less than a year.

Shia factions supported by Iran have widened the scope of their control over Sunni-majority areas around Damascus and in Syrias south and east in areas that have seen heavy bombardments, which has led to mass displacements and flights into neighboring countries.

Irans developing influence in Syria, where it has signed economic and commercial deals, have stirred the possibility of a military confrontation with Israel.

Israel, which considers Iran its main threat, has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets in Syria, as well as targets of allied factions, including Lebanons Hezbollah.

This year, the Israeli army said that it had attacked Iranian targets including munitions storehouses at the Damascus International Airport. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously said that Israel had carried out hundreds of attacks over the last few years to curb Iran and its ally Hezbollah.

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.
9 hours ago

Inflation is painfully high, but some relief may be coming

NEW YORK (AP)  Inflation is painfully high, but this hopefully is close to as bad as it gets. Consumer prices rose 6.8% for the 12 months ending in November, a 39-year high. Many economists expect inflation to remain near this level a few more months but to then moderate through 2022 for a variety of reasons.

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OCP Group, world leader in the phosphate and derivatives market, has sealed a partnership agreement with German Fraunhofer institute for the setting up in Morocco of a world-class research Laboratory dedicated to the development of sustainable solutions.

First of its kind in the North African Kingdom, the Lab will be based in the Mazagan Urban Pole (PUMA). It will enhance the ecosystem of research and innovation initiated by Mohammed VI Polytechnic University.

The German Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS pledges to support the Mazagans research laboratory in various research projects on industrial ecosystems and set up a dedicated team for the Fraunhofer Mazagan Lab.

The partnership with Fraunhofer IMWS will also enable the Mazagan laboratory to benefit from the expertise of all the Fraunhofer network laboratories.

The Fraunhofer Mazagan Lab will capitalize on Mohammed VI Polytechnic Universitys research works and evolve them into applied research programs. Mohammed VI Polytechnic University seeks to become a major player in applied research oriented towards the development of industrial solutions and world-class partnerships.

The ecosystem of Research and Innovation being developed by The Mohammed VI Polytechnic University is strengthened by this first joint Center of Excellence. The Fraunhofer Mazagan lab aims to develop industrial solutions and innovative circular economy projects for Africa with the support of our partners in Germany, said Mr. Mostafa Terrab, Chairman & CEO of OCP Group.

For his part, Prof. Ralf B Wehrspohn, Director of Fraunhofer IMWS said: we look forward to supporting our partners in Morocco. I expect the joint work to start quickly, sparking a long-term and successful cooperation, which will yield many new insights into the potential of Chemistry 4.0.
A court in France has granted bail to one of former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Alis brothers-in-law despite demand by Tunisia to extradite the man wanted on many charges.

The court in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, ordered Belhassen Trabelsis release after the latter deposited 100,000 ($112,000) and agreed not to leave France nor meet with others charged in his case, France24 reports.

I will abide by all the measures taken  Give me the chance to prove I am not a fugitive but a normal man who keeps his word, Trabelsi told the court.

French authorities detained the man this month on fraud charges. The millionaire businessman, a brother of the former Tunisian first lady Leila Trabelsi, left the country in 2011 as the Ben Ali regime collapsed. He fled to Canada with his family and sought asylum, but Canadian authorities turned down the request two times.

He disappeared from Canada in 2016 a day before his expulsion.

Tunisian authorities filed an extradition demand with French authorities. The Tunisian man is wanted for multiple charges including fraud.
Maltese armed forces have managed to usher a Turkish tanker hijacked by migrants who left Libyan coasts to the port of the city of Senglea.

The Turkish merchant ship, the Elhibru 1, docked Thursday at Boiler Wharf in Senglea.

Reports Wednesday said some migrants who left Libyan coasts seized the vessel. The hijackers picked up 108 people in the Mediterranean and changed course towards Europe after the migrants reportedly realized they were being taken back to Libya.

The ship docked as police forces lined up on the wharf. Four men suspected to have engineered the seizure were arrested and handcuffed.

Libya has become the main departure point of thousands of migrants coming mostly from Sub-Saharan countries.

The hijacking was reported just after the European Union announced this week that it would scale down its Mediterranean rescue mission, Operation Sophia, by ending navy patrols that prevent migrants from making the perilous sea crossing to Europe, euronews reports.
It may just be one of Luxembourgs most mystifying Easter traditions: Bretzelsonndeg takes place coming Sunday! Whether you have your eye on someone or you just want to blend in with the locals, this could be your time to shine!

Tiny country, big traditions! Pretzel Sunday takes place once a year on the third Sunday in Lent, which falls on 14 March this year. Whereas the Bretzel used to be a salty treat (and still is in our neighbouring countries), the modern Luxembourgish version is usually toothachingly sweet, complete with fondant icing and almonds. According to some romantic souls, the puff pastry symbolises two lovers arm in arm. According to some slightly less romantic historians, it used to be a symbol of human sacrifice to a Celtic deity. More on that later.

Feel the heat? Get her the sweet!

The traditional version of the custom dictates that a man should offer a pretzel to the woman he's interested in. If she finds him nearly as sweet as the pretzel, she will let him know by giving him an egg on Easter Day. Well let you interpret the symbolism.

If she is not interested in the poor chap, she will give him a basket instead of the egg. Fun fact for both locals and expats who are brave enough to learn Luxembourgish: this is where the classic expression de Kuerf kreien (literally: to receive the basket) comes from.

The tradition is reversed in leap years; girls offer the pretzel to their sweetheart while boys have to pick between returning an egg or a basket. However, as any cultural anthropologist worth his or her salt will assure you, traditions are constantly evolving. The respective gender of giver and receiver plays less of a role today. In other words: just get out there and secure a Bretzel for your significant other!

In Luxembourg, the tradition allegedly kicked off in the 18th century. During Buergbrennen, women threw wood into the flames while calling out their would-be lovers name. If the trick worked its magic, the women would later receive a pretzel and eventually return an egg on Easter Day. Another pretzel custom that has been lost over the years involves newly-wed couples. On Bretzelsondeg, they had to give a pretzel to the guests who had managed to get hold of a piece of the wedding garter.

Up until the 20th century, the custom was primarily observed in villages along the Moselle and Sure rivers but it has long conquered the rest of the Grand Duchy. If youre free on Sunday, you may want to head to Luxembourg City, where Bretzelsondeg is always celebrated in style. Expect live music, the iconic Jhangeli tourist train and, most importantly, free pretzels.

The pretzel  a mystery of history?



The historical origin of the pretzel remains unclear and various unreliable versions exist. One source for example claims that an Italian monk invented them to reward children who learned their prayers. In this legend, the shape of the pretzel represents arms crossed in prayer to the Trinity.

However, most historians agree that the pretzel actually predates Christianity. A common explanation is that the pretzel used to symbolize human sacrifice to the Celtic deity Sirona. The three holes in the pastry stand for the three-part noose that pagans used to kill three people by hanging during the sacrificial ceremony.

 Statue of Sirona in Hochscheid, Germany.

From young to old, let the Bretzel stories be told!

What do Luxembourgs residents think about Bretzelsondeg? Are people still aware of the story behind the pastry? We snooped around.

The general consensus among the younger generation seems to be that, while nearly everybody loves to eat the sweet delight, only very few know the original custom and even fewer would consider following it. According to 17-year-old Mara, it would be kind of weird to buy someone my age a pretzel. Its not like Valentines Day when its normal to buy someone a rose. At my school for example, final year students always sell roses on that occasion but Ive never seen them sell pretzels. 23-year-old Fabienne also doubts that the practice is common among Luxembourg's youth. In a not-so-subtle side attack against the author of this article, she explains that my boyfriend has never given me one.

RTL Today editor Nathalie has lived in Edinburgh for a while and avidly remembers how my old flatmate and I would bemoan the lack of sweet pretzels in the UK. At university, my break after the second semester was never at the right time, so I havent had a pretzel in years. Rick, a 22-year-old student living in Freiburg, similarly laments that the German salty pretzels are not a patch on their Luxembourgish counterparts. Id buy my girlfriend a pretzel but well be in Portugal on Pretzel Sunday, so I guess a pastel de nata will have to do, he tells us.

An elderly couple we ask just laughs- we used to buy pretzels for each other on Easter Sunday, now we just buy them whenever we feel like it.

The middle-aged adults we questioned had varying opinions. To call a spade a spade, some buy their partner a pretzel, others dont. From small over big to gigantic ones, it would be impossible not to buy a pretzel considering the vast offer, 49-year-old Chantal tells us. Its well-known that the best way to his or her heart is through the stomach. My husband, however, usually just buys one for himself, she adds with a smile.

RTL editor Stephen, on the other hand, has a different tactic: If I buy my wife something romantic out of the blue she will immediately become suspicious of potential wrong-doing. Better I stick to a cup of coffee and a light smack on the bottom in the kitchen.
UNICEF Luxembourg and the International School of Luxembourg (ISL) had the pleasure to welcome UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Muzoon Almellehan to the Global Issues Network Conference as one of the keynote speakers.

The conference, organised, led and compered by 16 ISL students on 28, 29, and 30 March and held at the Chambre de Commerce du Luxembourg is of growing importance with the youth of the world becoming more active in economic, environment and political aspects.

Its purpose is to empower young people to collaborate locally, regionally, and globally in order to create sustainable solutions for global issues.

Almellehan, 20, is one of UNICEF's youngest Goodwill ambassadors, she spoke about her personal experience as a Syrian refugee and education activist and her commitment as a youth advocate to make education a reality for all refugee children;

Even as a child, I knew that education was the key to my future, so when I fled Syria, the only belongings I took with me were my school books. It really was education above anything else, Almellehan explained.

The event brings 250 students together from 30 schools and 15 countries and this year focuses on our Worlds most vulnerable People, Places and Resources.

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to save childrens lives, to defend their rights, and to help them fulfil their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

More info here.
Poverty in Luxembourg remains a concern as has been examined by many different institutions. The Chamber of Commerce is the latest institution to weigh in on the subject.

The recent report by the Chamber of Commerce uses a number of different indicators put into place to examine poverty, the risk of poverty, and the development of poverty in Luxembourg.

The chamber's study has shown that five groups in specific are most affected by poverty in the Grand Duchy. The first of those five groups consists of children originating from households without access to certain education standards and having foreign origins (1). The second group is composed of adults in single-parent households or families with a larger number of children (2). Further groups with a higher risk of poverty include the demographic of young adults not in employment (3) and older workers made redundant (4). The final group concerns entrepreneurs who have recently founded new businesses (5).

Between 2014 and 2017, 28% of the country's residents were exposed to a risk of poverty. Of those, 10% were unable to get out from the risk within four years. According to the Chamber of Commerce's study, key factors contributing to the issue are housing, gaps within the education system, modest incomes, and employments.

The analysis by the Chamber of Commerce claims that simply increasing real income (by which the report does not mean salaries) will not resolve the issue. Instead, a more targeted approach is required: rather than globally raising incomes, the report argues that the poorest in society should selectively be given help.

Specifically regarding housing, a third of the poorest households pay more than 40% of their income towards housing, which are predominantly rental costs. This led to the Chamber's provocative question: "Renting because of poverty, but poorer because of renting?"

At the end of the report, the Chamber of Commerce recommended the creation of a quadripartite committee, which would not only be there to fix the objectives of fighting poverty, but would also stand as a platform to measure indicators including the development of poverty in Luxembourg. The Chamber of Commerce also called for politicians to see a paradigm shift in trying to affront the challenge of poverty. In the report's recommendations, the chamber wrote that politicians must set defined goals and work specifically towards those goals.
A new tram carriage was sighted at the storage centre in Kirchberg.

Made in France and now transported to Luxembourg, the new tram will join those already in service between Luxexpo and Place de l'Etoile.

By the end of 2019, it should be circulating all the way to the city centre right until the new Hamilius complex. In 2020, it is expected to pass through l'Avenue de la Liberte to the central station. The four new stations served will be:

Hamilius

Place de Metz

Place de Paris

Central station
The chairman of Algerian business leaders forum has resigned from his position few days after he was banned from leaving the country and put on a blacklist of people denied trips abroad by the army.

Ali Haddad in a letter said he was quitting in order to preserve the cohesion and durability of the organization.

I voluntarily and without any pressure leave the chairmanship of the forum of business leaders from today, Haddad said in the letter.

Haddad is a staunch supporter of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Bouteflikas regime has been in the mess since February after the 82-year old and ailing President announced his plans to run for a fifth term in office. Algerians have repeatedly taken to the streets in opposition to the plans.

Bouteflika this month scrapped his candidacy plan but postponed the elections sine die. The move fueled further demonstrations, which now demand his resignation.

Early this week, the army Chief of Staff, Ahmed Gaid Salah dropped his support for Bouteflika and suggested the Constitutional Council to declare the President physically unable to run the country, in line with article 102 of the constitution.

The Algerian leader suffered in 2013 a stroke that impaired his speaking ability and mobility. He has made rare public appearances since then.

Gaid Salah instructed security forces at the countrys airports and various exit points to prevent heads of top companies and business tycoons from leaving the country.

Sources told HuffPost Algerie that leaders of state-owned companies are barred from leaving the country except on written authorization. The media also notes that banks have received instructions to cap money withdrawal operations.

Haddad was forced to return home few days ago at Algiers airport as he was about to travel out the country.
Malnourished children struck down by chronic diarrhoea, mothers too weak to breastfeed -- in northeastern Syria's Al-Hol camp, a humanitarian emergency is unfolding.

Arabic, French, German and English voices fill the air in the muddy alleyways, as foreign women who married into the Islamic State group and civilians displaced by the fighting against jihadists seek out assistance.

But while much divides the two groups, one thing unites them; they despair over the camp's lack of food and medical care.

"It is a tragic life," said Najwa Ali Jolane, a young Syrian mother who has lived at Al-Hol for three and a half months.

"We lack everything," the 20-year-old said.

Flapping in the springtime breeze, white tents embossed with the UN refugee agency's acronym UNHCR stretch as far as the eye can see.

But the threadbare structures cannot cope with the flood of women and children who in recent months have fled a string flattened villages in eastern Syria, including Baghouz, where IS's so-called caliphate was declared defeated on Saturday

The most fortunate families in Al-Hol have their own tents, while the unlucky ones shelter with dozens of others in warehouses.

"There are 10,000 people living in large communal tents which lack privacy," said Paul Donohoe, from the International Rescue Committee.

An extra 5,000 tents are needed to house people, he said.

The flood of arrivals in Al-Hol has transformed the camp into a chaotic town.

It now brims with more than 70,000 people, but was only designed to accommodate a seventh of that number.

Al-Hol camp brims with more than 70,000 people but was only designed to accommodate a seventh of that number /  AFP

Kurdish authorities have raised the alarm and called on the international community to step up and help.

In front of a World Food Programme warehouse, huge lines of women -- all dressed in the full black niqab -- stand in the mud, awaiting rations that the UN agency says are enough for a month.

- Conditions extremely critical -

Some in the line refuse to speak to journalists, but others -- Jolane included -- take the opportunity to rail against their misfortune.

"On days when it rains, our tent is flooded with water, so we have to move to a neighbours' tents," said the former resident of Hajin, a village near Baghouz that was flattened by fighting in December.

Jolane's son, just a few months old, is dressed in dusty and muddy clothes, his feet exposed.

WFP's Syria spokesperson Marwa Awad acknowledges that "humanitarian conditions in Al-Hol camp are extremely critical".

"What is lacking is proper space for the continuous influx of people as well as proper health facilities to treat injuries and diseases," she said.

At least 140 people, mainly children, have died en their way to Al-Hol camp or shortly after arriving since December, according to the International Rescue Committee /  AFP

A Syrian woman, who did not want to give her name, said her three-year-old daughter "has been sick since she arrived here" around one month ago.

"She is vomiting and has persistent diarrhoea," she said angrily.

"We were brought here in uncovered vehicles. The children fell sick (and) many died on the way," she added.

At least 140 people, mainly children, have died en route to Al-Hol or shortly after arriving since December, according to the IRC.

Cordoned off from the main camp and deemed a security threat, the foreign women who joined IS complain that their money and cell phones have been confiscated.

Many fear chronic diarrhoea could weaken their children beyond the point of no return.

They told AFP they have been unable to get hold of Flagyl, a drug commonly used to treat persistent cases.

According to Save the Children, some 30 per cent of children under the age of five screened at the camp since the start of February suffer acute malnutrition and WFP says it has tracked several cases of "dehydration and diarrhoea".

- When can we go home? -

Foreign women who joined the jihadists and deemed a security threat walk inside Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria escorted by a fighter of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) /  AFP

The future of the 9,000 women and children held in the foreigners' section of Al-Hol is a constant headache for Kurdish authorities, who want to get rid of them, but Western capitals are reluctant or outright refuse to bring them home.

The foreign women are monitored closely and Kurdish guards escort them when they go to market in the main part of the camp.

"We cannot stay here, we have no food, no money," said Romina Scheer, a young German woman.

"We want to go home."

She said she travelled to Syria in December 2014 to join IS, where she married a fellow German IS member.

"I cannot breastfeed because I did not have enough to eat," said Scheer.

Her children include a three-month-old baby boy and an eight-year-old daughter whose blonde pigtails and earring mark a stark contrast with her mother's austere attire.

"My children -- every day they ask: 'Mummy when are we going to go home?'" said Scheer.

"And I say: 'it depends on our country, (and) if they take us back.'"
The Moroccan police have captured 14 individuals involved in smuggling of illegal migrants to Europe for cash. The busted smuggling ring was operating in several Moroccan regions and cities including Nador, Fez and Sefrou, said a press release issued Thursday by the Directorate General of National Security (DGSN).

Two women and one fugitive were among the people nabbed during this police operation. Eight would-be illegal migrants were also arrested.

The authorities have seized seven cars belonging to the smugglers, their mobile phones, large amount of money and high-speed inflatable boat.

In 2018, Morocco foiled 89,000 illegal migration attempts to Europe and dismantled 229 trafficking networks as the country became the main gate for migrants willing to risk their lives in the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

According to the National Observatory for Migration, 80 pc of the illegal migrants stopped last year by Moroccan authorities were foreigners.

During the same year, Morocco rescued 29,715 irregular migrants at sea while 5,608 chose to voluntary return to their home countries.
The East African Community (EAC) has secure $2.5 billion loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to provide an additional 7,480 megawatts (MW) of electricity by 2022.

The regional bloc comprises six member states in the African Great Lakes region in eastern Africa, namely: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

The funds  approved through the Regional Integration Strategy for Eastern Africa (RISP 2018-2022)  will help enhance regional transport connectivity, regional energy infrastructure, regional information and communications technology connectivity and management of trans-boundary water resources, officials said.

The funds will also support projects aimed at accelerating implementation of the regional single market, trade development, including tackling of non-tariff barriers, and putting in place policy frameworks for industrialization and promotion of EAC as a single investment destination.

According to AfDB Director General for Eastern Africa Region, Gabriel Negatu, the investment in agriculture and industrialization was crucial for the development of the region.

He said the opportunity for industrial growth exists in locally producing inputs for use in the agricultural sector.

EAC is still the fastest growing region partly due to solving bottlenecks of communication by investing heavily in infrastructure, Negatu said.

Note that the Regional Integration Strategy Paper 2018-2022 maps out the direction of the Banks regional integration work in Eastern Africa over the next five years. The key objectives are fast-tracking structural transformation, increasing trade and promoting financial sector integration and inclusion.
Bamboo Airways will buy 50 Airbus A321Neo planes, its chairman Trinh Van Quyet said on Thursday, as the Vietnamese carrier expands and begins international flights.

The first of the planes will be delivered in 2022, Quyet told Reuters on phone. He declined to disclose the value of the deal, which was signed on Thursday.

Quyet said the agreement includes the 24 planes covered by a memorandum of understanding signed with Airbus last March.

We have chosen Airbus as the supplier of narrow-bodied planes, while using wide-bodied aircraft from Boeing, Quyet said.

Bamboo Airways, owned by property and leisure company FLC Group, plans to launch its first international flights late next month, initially to Japan, Singapore and South Korea, he said.

The airline, which made its maiden flight in January, announced a deal to buy 10 Boeing 787 wide-bodied jets worth $2.9 billion on the sidelines of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi late last month.
Vietnams coffee exports in the first quarter this year are expected to fall 15.3 percent from a year earlier to 477,000 tonnes, while rice exports will likely decline 11.5 percent, government data showed on Friday.

Coffee exports from Vietnam will likely fall an estimated 15.3 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier to 477,000 tonnes, equal to 7.95 million 60-kg bags, the General Statistics Office said in a report on Friday.

Coffee export revenue for Vietnam, the worlds biggest producer of the robusta bean, will likely decline 23.8 percent to $830 million in the three-month period, the report said.

The countrys coffee shipments in March are estimated at 160,000 tonnes valued at $278 million, it said.

Rice exports in the first quarter from Vietnam were forecast to fall 11.5 percent from a year earlier to 1.31 million tonnes.

Revenue from rice exports in the period was expected to drop 23.6 percent to $567 million.

March rice exports from Vietnam, the worlds third-largest shipper of the grain, totalled 600,000 tonnes, worth $256 million.

Vietnams first-quarter crude oil exports were seen rising 7.7 percent from the same period last year to an estimated 1.07 million tonnes.

Crude oil export revenue in January to March is expected to fall 3.5 percent to $507 million.

Oil product imports in the first quarter were estimated at 2.0 million tonnes, falling 42.6 percent from the same period last year, while the value of product imports fell 47.6 percent to $1.17 billion.

Vietnams January to March liquefied petroleum gas imports were seen falling 7.9 percent from a year earlier to 349,000 tonnes.
North Korean tourism officials on Thursday urged Vietnamese travellers to seize a "golden" opportunity to visit the country following a summit between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi last month.

With an economy crippled by international sanctions, North Korea is keen to boost its nascent tourism sector by attracting more foreign visitors, the bulk of whom currently come from China.

A North Korean tourism official said it is prime time for Vietnamese visitors to travel to the country after Hanoi hosted Trump and Kim for a second round of nuclear talks in February.

"We had a very successful summit in Hanoi... this is the right chance, the golden chance for us to generate a tourist market of Vietnam to DPRK," Ham Jin of the official Korea International Travel Company (KITC) told AFP Thursday.

His company hosted a booth at a tourism fair in Hanoi this week -- with brochures advertising a dolphinarium, a science and technology complex and the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in "ever-changing" Pyongyang -- while others urged skiers to pay a visit to the Masikryong mountain resort.

Kim paid an official visit to Hanoi after his meeting with Trump, piquing curiosity among some Vietnamese eager to know more about the North Korean leader and his country.

"I want to discover this mysterious country because there are many things to see," said Do Thi Phuong Thuy, who signed up for a tour after Kim's trip.

I do: A bride and groom walk along Pyongyang's Taedong river on a foggy evening. Photo: AFP

North Korea receives an estimated 100,000 foreign tourists a year, according to industry insiders, though Pyongyang does not publish visitor data.

Ham put the number at double that and said visitor numbers grew by as much as 50 percent last year, though his figures could not be verified.

"We (use) tourism to contribute to economic development," he told AFP.

A Vietnamese tour operator at the fair said his client numbers have surged this year, but that some travellers remain wary.

"People are concerned North Korea isn't safe or is closed to the world... there are the difficulties for us when we promote tours to North Korea," Nguyen Cong Hoan, director of Hanoi Red Tours, told AFP.

Trump has heralded North Korea's economic potential, praising its "great beaches" that he said would make ideal locations for condos.

North Korea is currently building a sprawling seaside resort known as the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in a zone that has previously been used for artillery drills and ballistic missile launches.
The unfulfilled love story of Vietnams late talented songwriter Trinh Cong Son and a Japanese woman will be made into a movie, the films director and producer announced at a press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday.

The event, attended by filmmaker Phan Gia Nhat Linh and producer Nguyen Quang Dung  whose father was a close friend to Trinh Cong Son, and the late composers younger sister Trinh Vinh Trinh, was held days ahead of the 18th anniversary of his death.

Born in 1939, Trinh Cong Son was a prolific songwriter, composing over 600 songs which thematically range from love, human fate to war sorrow. Most of the songs are about love, conveying melancholy and elements of symbolism.

Phan Gia Nhat Linh will direct the first-ever feature film about Son, with the late songwriters family having rejected several requests to bring his life to the big screen, it was announced at yesterdays conference.

Filmmaker Nguyen Quang Dung (first right), director Phan Gia Nhat Linh (second right), Trinh Cong Sons younger sister Trinh Vinh Trinh and her husband are seen at the press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on March 28, 2019. Photo: Organizers

With a budget of VND20 billion (US$860,000), the movie project is still having its script written, while casting and filming are scheduled to begin next year.

The film is expected to tell the story about events in Trinh Cong Sons life and music creation from his 20s to 40s, with the highlight being his broken love story with Yoshii Michiko  a Japanese woman who traveled all the way from Paris to Vietnam due to her admiration for the Vietnamese composers unique music.

In the late 1980s, Yoshii chose Trinh Cong Sons anti-war music as the subject for her master's thesis, thus traveling to Vietnam many times to meet and talk with the Vietnamese composer.

The two fell in love and even agreed to wed. However, the wedding was canceled at the last minute due to cultural and custom differences between the Vietnamese and Japanese, according to news website VnExpress.

Filmmaker Nguyen Quang Dung speaks at the press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on March 28, 2019. Photo: Organizers

At Thursdays event, both Linh and Dung acknowledged that it is challenging to make a movie about a musician with such a great influence on Vietnams music history.

A movie about Trinh Cong Son is probably the dream project of any filmmaker and producer, Linh said.

The film crew and producer are looking for a suitable actor to play Trinh Cong Son.

I dont think there is a professional actor in Vietnam that fits the image of Trinh Cong Son in terms of both appearance and depth in acting, said Linh, complaining about the tough task of casting the male lead.

Linh said that in the next few days, his team and Trinh Cong Sons family will go to the central city of Hue, the hometown of the late musician and also a source of inspiration for his songs, in the hope of successfully finding the best pick to play him.

We hope to find a Hue actor, who can speak in Hue accent, and must have a poetic, romantic characteristic of the Hue people for this role, Linh said.

Trinh Cong Sons younger sister Trinh Vinh Trinh speaks at the press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on March 28, 2019. Photo: Organizers

As the movie recounts the love and life of a respected songwriter, music plays a vital role in the work.

The director, producer and Sons family are considering selecting new compositions, remaking the musicians famous songs and even choosing his unknown pieces that have never been introduced to the public for the movie.

Filming is expected to start in April 2020, and the movie will be premiered on April 1, 2021  the 20th anniversary of the death of Son.

Nearly two decades after his death in 2001, Trinh Cong Sons music remains popular with Vietnamese people, young and old.

He is considered by the global media as the Vietnamese equivalent of Bob Dylan  an influential American popular music songwriter.

Director Phan Gia Nhat Linh signs on a backdrop at the press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on March 28, 2019. Photo: Organizers

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Here are what you need to know to start your day!

Politics

-- Hanoi opposes Chinas recent live-fire drills in Vietnams Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago and Beijings plans to transform three islands there into cities and strategic military outposts, a Vietnamese foreign ministry spokeswoman said at a press conference on Thursday.

-- Vietnam is taking every citizen protection measure possible to ensure the fair trial and freedom of Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese woman who will be on trial for the 2017 killing of North Korean citizen Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia on April 1, the foreign ministry announced on Thursday.

Society

-- Locals in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang uprooted multiple decades-old jambolans, a common plant in the locality that offers environment and scenery benefits, to sell as ornamental trees for VND6-50 million (US$259-2,157), raising concerns from authorities.

-- Vietnam police on Thursday urgently ordered the arrest of Wu He Shan, a Chinese man supposed to be the kingpin of a cross-border drug trafficking ring, after 11 men allegedly working for him were taken into police custody in Ho Chi Minh City on March 20 for illegally transporting about 300 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.

-- Law enforcement officers in the northern province of Vinh Phuc decided on Thursday to launch legal proceedings for a case in which a passenger bus slammed into a group of funeral goers walking on a road, claiming six lives on Wednesday.

-- Police in the central city of Da Nang seized on Thursday around 9.1 metric tons of suspected tusks  the largest haul in Vietnam in years  hidden inside the wooden pieces of a ship container transported from Africa.

Business

-- E-commerce purchases by an average Vietnamese hovered around $208 last year and are expected to reach $350 by 2020, an official from the industry and trade ministry said, adding Vietnam earned only $8.06 billion from e-commerce in 2018.

-- North Korea wants to receive 3,000 Vietnamese tourists in 2019, a ten-fold increase from last years figure, the director of the North Korean International Travel Company said during a tourism event in Hanoi on Thursday.

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United Nations human rights experts have arrived in Mali to investigate last weekends horrific extermination of at least 157 villagers in the central region of the war-torn nation.

Armed men wearing traditional Dogon hunters clothing surrounded the village at dawn last weekend before attacking people in their homes in Ogossagou in the Mopti region.

The attackers targeted members of the Fulani ethnic community. The Fulani, who are mainly Muslim, have been accused of supporting a violent preacher, Amadou Koufa, who rose to prominence in central Mali four years ago.

The attack, in which women and children were burned in their homes, escalated a conflict between Dogon hunters and Fulani herders. Last year, hundreds of people died in clashes between Dogon hunters and members of the Fula ethnic group.

UN mission spokesman Olivier Salgado tweeted on Wednesday that a team of 10 human rights specialists, a child protection agent and two MINUSMA investigators have been deployed to the Mopti region to conduct a special investigation.

In a statement on Tuesday, MINUSMA said a Dogon village in the region was also attacked on the night of the Fulani massacre, leaving at least four people dead.

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said this week that the crimes could fall under ICC jurisdiction and that a delegation would be sent to Mali.

As a reminder France helped Malian forces stave off a jihadist insurgency that took control of large parts of the troubled north in 2012.

Last weeks attack took place as a delegation from the UN Security Council was visiting West Africas Sahel region to evaluate the jihadist threat.
TOKYO -- Rows of wooden mortuary tablets inscribed with names line an altar at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, silent testimony to Vietnamese people who died after coming to Japan to work or study.

Whenever I am contacted about a death, I can speak only two words: Why? and Again? said Thich Tam Tri, a Vietnamese Buddhist nun who has been counseling migrants from her home country after arriving almost two decades ago.

These young people  were living in great poverty in remote rural areas and their parents were suffering hardship, she told Reuters after offering incense and prayers at the altar.

They wanted to work hard in Japan, Tri said. They had dreams. And then they suddenly died.

Lured by higher wages but often burdened by debts to recruiters, Vietnamese are the fastest-growing group of foreigners in Japan, which on April 1 will implement a new system to allow more workers into the country to cope with a historic labor shortage.

Many of the 140 Vietnamese whose names are on the tablets came to Japan on a technical trainee program that acts as a back door to blue-collar jobs in a country where immigration is a touchy subject. Others came as students and worked part time.

Next to the adults memorials are rows of smaller tablets for unborn infants, many aborted.

Debate over the new visa program highlighted problems with the trainee system such as overwork, unpaid wages and harassment.

Tri said many of those for whom she prays died of stress-related illnesses, others in accidents. Some committed suicide.

Their families back home also had hopes for them, she said. They were so proud and bragged about their sons and daughters to their neighbors in the countryside.

They had many hopes. Instead, what they got were their (childrens) remains, mortuary tablets and some photographs.

Nguyen Thi Trang was a trainee working for an agricultural cooperative in northern Japan when she died in February of meningitis. She had a husband and two small children in Vietnam.

I agreed for her to go because the income is a little higher than in Vietnam. If I knew that my decision would lead to this, I never would have dared to let her go to work like that, her husband, Vu Ngoc Thuy, told Reuters at his home.

Thuy said his wife had not received medical care soon enough. Cooperative head Toshimi Matsubayashi told Reuters that Trang was taken to the hospital soon after she fell ill, and that the organization had paid her medical expenses.

All of the cooperatives trainees are treated properly, she added.

The new visa program will let about 345,000 blue-collar workers enter Japan over five years in 14 sectors facing labor shortages.

If conditions are good under the new system, there will probably be more waves of Vietnamese workers searching for a better life, Tri said.

There are trainees who worked hard for three years and went back to Vietnam and rebuilt their decrepit houses into fine concrete homes. There is that kind of good news, Buddhist nun Tri said.

Increasingly, it is becoming a borderless world, and what is important in human relations is to transcend religion, to transcend culture and put emphasis on love, she said.
Local authorities in Hoi An seem to be in no hurry to reprimand businesses for illegally setting up shop on An Bang Beach, one of the most popular destinations in the central Vietnamese city.

The violations seem to have begun in late 2018 on Tan Thanh Beach, an 800-meter section within An Bang Beach in Cam An Ward, Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province.

Local authorities seem to be unable to curb such blatant violations of local regulations and concerned residents feel they have been left with no other options but to contact Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in the hope that publicizing the issue will lead to change.

Fines and suspensions have already been imposed on the violators, but the problem persists. Soon there will be no more space for visitors, one local resident stressed.

The area along Tan Thanh Beach has been zoned as public space by authorities, meaning local residents and businesses are prohibited from building within the zone.

Those rules, however, seem to be doing little to deter shady entrepreneurs from capitalizing on the prime piece of real estate.

One family in particular chopped down multiple trees on the beach which were originally planted to mitigate erosion.

The logs were then used to build a cabin where they serve food and drinks to tourists.

The facility was still operating as of Tuesday, according to a reporterss observation, while empty beer bottles and other types of trash were thrown directly onto the sand.

Other illegally built venues were offering similar services, with some equipped pipelines to dump wastewater directly into the sea.

As Cua Dai, a once famous beach in Hoi An, continues to fall in popularity due to extreme erosion, An Bang Beach continues to welcome more and more visitors.

Tan Thanh Beach alone welcomes thousands of tourists each day, thus many locals worry that the current situation may negatively impact tourism at the destination.

Nguyen Van Son, vice-chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee, confirmed to Tuoi Tre that the problem had been present along the beach since the end of last year.

Son said he had personally inspected the area on several occasions, adding that the administration plans to take more assertive measures to claim back the public space.

According to the citys urban management office, at least 11 facilities have been constructed against the law on Tan Thanh Beach.

The owners have been fined and asked to remove the illicit constructions, a representative stated, adding that the process would be carried out by force if they fail to comply.

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As temperatures in Ho Chi Minh City soar above 37 degrees Celsius, experts warn of dangerously high ultraviolet (UV) levels, but local street vendors have no choice but to sweat it out as they scrape together a meager living in the heat.

Mercury throughout southern Vietnam is forecast to hit 36 and 37 degrees Celsius this week before topping out at 38 degrees Celsius in April.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the temperature has hovered above 30 degrees Celsius from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm over the last few days, taking its toll on local residents, especially those with no other choice but to make their living under the sun.

Two men work on underground cables under the scorching sun on Thi Sach Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tu Trung / Tuoi Tre

A toll for lottery ticket sellers

I just dont understand how it could possibly be this hot! Tran Thi Kim Trung, a lottery ticket seller exclaimed, after returning to her rented house in District 9 at 2:00 pm on Wednesday following a long morning spent in the baking heat.

Both Trung and her daughter typically spend the entire day, from sun up until to sun down, walking from place to place in search of buyers.

A short break at noon is the only rest they can afford to take.

These days, however, the pair find it harder and harder to work in the afternoon sun, considering the unbearable weather is now beginning to set in as early as 9:00 am.

I normally only return home when my last ticket was sold, but over the last two days Ive had to come home early with unsold tickets, Trung said.

The woman, 60, hails from Hue City in central Vietnam, a region known for its broiling hot summer.

Despite being used to high temperatures, the lottery ticket seller now complains about dizziness while she walks through the sweltering weather each day.

Another lottery ticket seller tortured by the heat is Dau, a 78-year-old double-leg amputee.

Rather than move around to sell tickets, Dau sits stationary near a table on the sidewalk.

Why is it so hot? the 78-year-old said as the small electric fan on his table blew beads of sweat across his face.

The heat also forced Dau to put up an umbrella next to the table to shelter him from the sun, but being covered also means passers-by often overlook the man.

I hope it gets cooler so I can put away the umbrella and people notice that I am here selling lottery tickets, he said.

A female scrap dealer covers herself in a coat and face mask when pedaling through Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Uyen Trinh / Tuoi Tre

Still on their bikes despite the heat

Local scrap dealers face the same hardships as lottery ticket sellers, as they pedal through neighborhoods offering to buy recyclable goods.

Now, the sizzling weather makes the job more arduous than ever.

Ive been suffering from headaches, dizziness, and low blood pressure for the past few days, a scrap dealer told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, explaining that her days are spent pedaling nearly 70km on her bicycle through various neighborhoods looking for recyclable goods she hopes to sell for enough money to finance her youngest childs college education.

Another scrap dealer, 47-year-old Le Van Tam, said fainting because of the unbearable heat has become a normal occurrence for him over the past few days.

There are even some days when the heat makes me so sick that I get a fever, he said.

Two construction workers are pictured at a house demolition site in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tu Trung / Tuoi Tre

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Customs officers in Da Nang seized approximately 9.1 metric tons of ivory tusks on Tuesday, marking the largest seizure of illegally transported ivory in Vietnam in many years.

The tusks were cleverly stashed amongst wooden planks in a shipping container that was en route to the central metropolis Tien Sa seaport from Congo.

Authorities failed to clarify whether Congo referred to the larger Democratic Republic of the Congo or the smaller Republic of the Congo.

Customs officials examine tusks taken from a ship container in Da Nang, central Vietnam, March 26, 2019. Photo: H.Q. / Tuoi Tre

A company headquartered in neighboring Quang Nam Province was identified as the recipient of the items, Vietnamese newspaper Thanh Nien (Young People) reported.

Customs officials were still attempting to obtain more information about the tusks as of Thursday.

Vietnam has officially banned the ivory trade since 1992 to discourage the hunting of the country's dwindling elephant population, an animal poachers value highly for its tusks.

Customs officials weigh tusks taken from a ship container in Da Nang, central Vietnam, March 26, 2019. Photo: H.Q. / Tuoi Tre

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A judge who presided over a high-profile divorce in Vietnam caused quite a stir after announcing court fees ten times the actual amount before realizing and admitting his mistake, following media reports.

At a court in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday, Judge Nguyen Van Xuan approved the divorce between Dang Le Nguyen Vu, chairman of Trung Nguyen Group, and his wife Le Hoang Diep Thao, co-founder of Trung Nguyen, effectively ending the couples years-long legal battle over their disputed assets, worth nearly US$354 million.

Trung Nguyen, founded in 1996 by Vu and Thao, is one of Vietnams largest and most well-known coffee producers and cafe chains.

After reading out a lengthy ruling on the division of their disputed properties, Judge Xuan announced that the couple would be subject to court fees totaling over VND80 billion ($3.45 million), after deducting the advance payments made by both parties.

Vu would cover VND47.4 billion ($2.05 million) of the fee, while Thao was told she would be responsible for the remaining VND32.6 million ($1.4 million), the judge read from a paper.

Combined, the requested payment would have set a record for the highest court fee ever issued on a divorce case in Vietnam.

However, questions were swiftly raised on the accuracy of the fee calculation made by the Ho Chi Minh City court after the ruling made headlines.

For civil cases where disputed assets exceed VND4 billion ($172,500) in value, Vietnamese laws dictate that court fees be calculated by adding VND112 million ($4,800) to 0.1 percent of the value that exceeds the threshold VND4 billion worth of the properties.

Using this formula, court fees in Vu and Thaos divorce should only have been around VND8 billion ($345,000).

After Tuoi Tre News remarked on this inconsistency in an article published on Thursday, Judge Xuan has made a statement admitting that the court fees he announced during Wednesdays ruling were inaccurate.

This is a complicated case with big numbers and a lengthy ruling, Xuan told Tuoi Tre on Thursday.

To be honest, my eyes had all been blurred [by the time I read the court fees], he said.

The printed ruling accurately stated that VND8 billion is the total court fees for the case, and it was his own error in reading that led to the misunderstanding, he added.

I will send a notice to the litigants to inform them of the mistake, Xuan said.

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Police in Vietnam have captured the Chinese man allegedly behind a large-scale illegal ring that was caught transporting and trading about 576 kilograms of drugs last week.

The anti-drug division under the Ministry of Public Security on Thursday apprehended Wu He Shan, 57, from Fujian, China, to verify his role as leader of the illicit drug ring.

On March 20, officers confiscated 300 kilograms of crystal meth in Binh Tan District in Ho Chi Minh City, arresting 11 ring members, including eight Chinese nationals and three Vietnamese.

The ring members claimed that the drugs, worth approximately VND600 billion (US$25.8 million), were bound for Taiwan.

On March 24, police extended their investigation and coordinated with their Filipino counterparts to seize another 276 kilograms of drugs in Manila, which the same ring had previously shipped from Cat Lai Port in the southern Vietnamese metropolis.

A total of 276 kilograms of drugs at a port in Manila in this photo supplied by officers

The Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday initiated legal proceedings against four of the 11 arrested suspects, including 52-year-old Chinese national Huang Zai Wen, and Vietnamese citizens Thao A Do, 37, Thao No Pao, 45, and Ly A Vua, 32.

All four of the suspects are considered key members of the ring.

In their statements, the suspects claimed that Wu was the leader of the ring and Huang was his right-hand man.

A police investigation also revealed that the narcotics were first smuggled from Laos via the Bo Y Border Gate in Kon Tum Province in Vietnams Central Highlands.

After the drugs passed through the border gate, the three Vietnamese members were charged with transporting the shipment to Hashan Company in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, where Huang and his subordinates would disguise the stimulants as plastic beads, before shipping them to a third country.

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50 years on from the Manson murders, Tara Brown speaks with the younger sister of Sharon Tate (pictured) while Sarah Abo unravels an outback murder on 60 Minutes.

Evil in the Outback

On 60 Minutes, Sarah Abo reveals the incredible account of a police investigation like no other  how detectives solved an horrific double murder they didnt even know about. It began with the discovery of a womans bones in bushland south of Sydney. But police had no idea who the victim was, and despite their substantial efforts, for five years she remained unidentified. Then came another chance discovery  seemingly unrelated  a thousand kilometres away in outback South Australia. In a suitcase lying by the side of a remote highway, a passing motorist found more bones, this time of an infant girl. But again, police were clueless about her identity. It took even more coincidence before the crimes were connected and a tragic breakthrough was uncovered. As it turns out, the two victims were a mother and daughter, murdered by one of the most evil monsters Australia has known.

Reporter: Sarah Abo

Producers: Alice Dalley, Stefanie Sgroi

Charlies Devils

Right now, Hollywood is abuzz with anticipation about four upcoming Charles Manson feature films. The obsession with the crazed cult leader marks a dark anniversary: fifty years since he and his band of deluded devotees, most of them young women, went on their murderous rampage. Manson, who lived as the embodiment of insanity, died in prison 18 months ago. But as Tara Brown reports, three of the other perpetrators are still alive and one, Leslie Van Houten, could walk free from jail in the next few weeks. Van Houten claims that after half a century behind bars she deserves her release because shes a reformed woman. However, that assurance holds little weight for the loved ones of the victims. Debra Tate, the younger sister of Sharon Tate, the beautiful Hollywood actress slain by the Manson family, tells Brown how she has devoted her life to ensuring her sisters killers are never released.

Reporter: Tara Brown

Producer: Stefanie Sgroi

8:30pm (ish) Sunday on Nine.
On Mondays Dancing with the Stars, Bindi Irwin will be a guest judge.

Irwin won the US Dancing With The Stars in 2015.

After winning in the USA, I can truly appreciate what a life changing journey this is. Im so looking forward to sharing my own perspective judging on this special night, she said.

This episode will also include the shows resident judges dancing.

It isnt clear if Grant Denyer will return as host or Denise Scott is back in the skybox.

This time its the judges turn to get on the floor as Sharna Burgess, Tristan MacManus and Craig Revel Horwood put their moves where their mouths are, each taking two celebrities and their partners under their wing for the first time and performing alongside them.

Sharna will work with Constance Hall and Samuel Johnson moving to a jam from The Cat Empire. Tristan will whip out a paso doble to quintessential Acca Dacca anthem Thunderstruck with Sir Curtly Ambrose and Jett Kenny, while Craig is taking Courtney Act and Jimmy Rees to his musical theatre wheelhouse with a number from musical, Annie that will certainly get the audience talking.

The two judges not performing, along with Bindi, will score each routine so nobody can afford to put a foot wrong.

In addition to the group routine, each celebrity will perform another dance as the race to the mirror ball trophy heats up with the finish line now firmly in sight.

As always, dont forget to vote to keep your favourite celebrity dancing. Log onto www.10play.com.au for all the voting details.

Dancing With The Stars is hosted by Amanda Keller and Grant Denyer, produced by Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia and BBC Studios, from a format created by the BBC and distributed by BBC Studios.

7:30pm Monday on 10.
Hannah Gadsby has won a GLAAD Media Award in the US for her Netflix special Nanette.

Gadsby was honoured with a Special Recognition by lobby group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which highlights LGBTI visibility in the US media. She is currently in Melbourne opening her follow-up show, Douglas.

Winners:

Vanguard Award: Beyonce and Jay-Z

Stephen F. Kolzak Award: Sean Hayes

Special Recognition: Nanette (Netflix)

Special Recognition: TransMilitary (Logo)

Outstanding Comedy Series: Vida (Starz)

Outstanding Reality Program: Queer Eye (Netflix)

Outstanding Documentary: Believer (HBO)

Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series w/o a regular LGBTQ character): Someplace Other Than Here The Guest Book (TBS)

Outstanding Kids & Family Programming: Steven Universe (Cartoon Network)

Outstanding Video Game: The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset (Bethesda Softworks)

Variety was also recognised as Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage and Love, Simon won

Outstanding Film  Wide Release.

Source: Deadline
Netflix has renewed Canadian-made supernatural drama The Order for a second season after less than 3 weeks.

The show, created by Dennis Heaton and Shelley Eriksen, revolves around a secret society called the Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose, on a university campus.

The cast includes Jake Manley, Sarah Grey, Matt Frewer, Sam Trammell and Max Martini.

The renewal announcement was made via a social media clip.
There will be a lot of donkeys on the stage in the first couple of two-day rounds of candidate debates this summer. Illustration: Konstantin Sergeyev/Intelligencer; Source Images: Getty

On June 26 and 27 in Miami (on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo) and on July 30 and 31 in Detroit (on CNN), the 2020 Democratic presidential contest will quickly get real with the first sanctioned candidate debates of the cycle. In February, the Democratic National Committee published reasonably clear rules and guidelines for these events, making it possible to figure out with some specificity which candidates have qualified for the big stage  or rather, stages, since the DNC anticipates events that span two consecutive evenings to accommodate the large field (with a maximum of ten at each), with placement in one night or the other being determined randomly (so no kiddie table debates like Republicans held in 2016 for less-esteemed candidates).

The DNC offered two ways to qualify:

Polling Method: Register 1% or more support in three polls (which may be national polls, or polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada) publicly released between January 1, 2019, and 14 days prior to the date of the Organization Debate. Qualifying polls will be limited to those sponsored by one or more of the following organizations/institutions: Associated Press, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Des Moines Register, Fox News, Las Vegas Review Journal, Monmouth University, NBC News, New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), Quinnipiac University, Reuters, University of New Hampshire, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Winthrop University. Any candidates three qualifying polls must be conducted by different organizations, or if by the same organization, must be in different geographical areas. Grassroots Fundraising Method. Candidates may qualify for the debate by demonstrating that the campaign has received donations from at least (1) 65,000 unique donors; and (2) a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 U.S. states. To demonstrate that the fundraising threshold has been reached, candidates must provide verifiable evidence, which they may do by authorizing ActBlue and/or NGP VAN to provide that evidence.

So whos already qualified? According to an analysis from FiveThirtyEight on May 22, 20 announced candidates have made the cut, all but one via the polling method. Well continue updating this post as more candidates qualify.

Joe Biden

Before and after he formally announced, Biden ranked at or very near the top in every national and early-state poll taken this year, despite a mini-crisis over his inappropriate touching of women and many efforts (from both anti-Biden progressives and from Trump) to remind people of his past ideological heresies. Hes gained ground in nearly every survey after his formal announcement in April, showing strength across most demographic categories (including African-Americans), and dominating among older voters.

Bernie Sanders

Sanders has ranked second in the bulk of national and early-state surveys, and is running first in some New Hampshire polls. He has a large and active small-donor fundraising base. He is in some respects the most predictable quantity in the 2020 contest, given his high name ID and broad national base of support. That base, however, continues to skew youngish and whitish.

Kamala Harris

Harris is one of a group of candidates who are trailing Biden and Sanders by a significant margin in most polls, but who rank consistently well above the DNCs one percent threshold for inclusion in the debates. Her main asset is strategic: If she can outflank Cory Booker among African-American voters and do very well in South Carolina, then she could clean up in the newly early (March 3) primary in her home state of California. Good debate performances could help her stay near the top.

Beto ORourke

Like Sanders, ORourke had boffo initial fundraising with a diverse (though not as diverse as Bernies) small donor base, but has waxed and waned in the polls. Hes currently in a bit of a slump, and is another candidate who could use a boost from debates.

Elizabeth Warren

The Massachusetts senator earned mixed reviews for her early 2019 campaign performance, but has gradually moved up into a consistent third place standing nationally, while wowing wonks and activists with a broad array of policy proposals. She also may have given herself a recent boost by becoming the first top-tier candidate to come out for impeachment proceedings against Trump. Debates could help her showcase her policy chops, but will also test concerns about her likability. Like Harris, she remains well-positioned ideologically in a diverse but left-leaning field. Warren has an especially strong organization in Iowa.

Cory Booker

If ORourke looks better in national than in early-state polls, Booker is the reverse. But he trails Kamala Harris almost everywhere, which is a big problem for a candidate who needs to show strength among African-Americans from the get-go. His Wall Street and Silicon Valley connections should keep him funded well for at least a good while.

Amy Klobuchar

The Minnesota senator is part of another group of candidates who have qualified for the debates by meeting the polling threshold, but otherwise trail the pack by significant margins. She is doing relatively well in next-door Iowa, but needs a higher profile.

Pete Buttigieg

If theres someone in the group of candidates far behind the pace who seemed to have a bullet next to his name earlier this year, its South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg. He met the minimal polling threshold some time ago, and has settled into a stable position in the middle of the pack alongside Warren and Harris. His support does seem limited to college-educated white voters. The debates will test whether he can convert the good personal impression hes been making with selected audiences into a viable candidacy, despite his youth (hes 37) and the limitations of his resume in public office.

Julian Castro

The former San Antonio mayor and HUD secretary hasnt made much of a national impression (hes at the debate minimum of one percent in national and Iowa polls) so far. But he has potential as the only Latino in the field, and could make a splash in Nevada, and an even bigger splash in the March 3 megastates of California and Texas. He mostly needs to survive in the early going. It might help him, too, if he obtained greater proficiency in speaking Spanish.

Kirsten Gillibrand

Its very good for the Democratic Party and for the country that four women serving in the U.S. Senate are running for president. Its not very good for New Yorks Kirsten Gillibrand, whos struggled to distinguish herself from the other, more easily identified women, and from the rest of the field generally. Shes a candidate who could really benefit from a strong debate performance.

Jay Inslee

The Washington governor does not have Gillibrands problem at all; hes identified himself clearly as the candidate who is making climate change his sole priority. The furor over the Green New Deal helped make his issue even more paramount in the national debate, but also gave other candidates a way to show themselves as credibly urgent about climate change. If voters or the media get notably tired of listening to senators, Inslees non-Washington resume could help him.

John Hickenlooper

The former Colorado governor (and Denver mayor) is clearly running as a self-identified moderate, presumably competing with Biden and Klobuchar (and perhaps ORourke) for voters alarmed at the partys leftward tilt. Like Klobuchar, his relatively close proximity to Iowa gives him a bit of an advantage if he can get traction there. But both his ideological and geographical base were undermined by the candidacy of his former aide and Colorado senator Michael Bennet.

Andrew Yang

At first the only candidate to qualify for the debates via the grassroots fundraising method, and now also qualifying in the polls, is entrepreneur and social-media sensation Andrew Yang, who has developed a significant and quite young following with his self-consciously quirky persona and a universal basic income proposal. If he can translate his online charisma to a debate stage, he could make some waves.

John Delaney

A former three-term congressman from Maryland, and prior to that a health-care entrepreneur and lender, Delaney was the first Democrat to declare for the 2020 race (way back in July of 2017), and has spent a great deal of time in Iowa and New Hampshire. He is an unabashed moderate who opposes the Green New Deal and still supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that most Democrats now oppose. Hes qualified for the debates via minimum poll showings, but is in danger of following the path trod by fellow Marylander Martin OMalley in 2016: doing everything right other than becoming popular.

Tulsi Gabbard

The Hawaii congresswoman initially qualified by meeting the grassroots fundraising threshold, and then reached one percent in the requisite polls. As a lifelong surfer, a military veteran, a Hindu, and an outspoken progressive, Gabbard might be attracting more attention in a less crowded field. But much of the buzz about her has been negative, based on her controversial habit of defending Syrias murderous president Bashar al-Assad, her links to anti-Islamic Hindu nationalists in India, and her history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric (for which she has apologized). She does share with Bernie Sanders and (so far not debate-qualified) Mike Gravel a strongly noninterventionist foreign policy posture, but may just be too tainted for viability.

Steve Bullock

The two-term Montana governor has been considered presidential timber by those who know him for a good while, but is being handicapped by a very late start (he didnt announce until his legislative session ended in early May) and a lack of national name ID. Electability is probably going to be the main rationale for his candidacy, and thats not easy to prove in a short period of time, much less in a debate.

Tim Ryan

The Ohio congressman is implicitly competing with Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar and possibly Sanders for the role of the candidate best equipped to capture those Rust Belt white working-class voters who played so important a role in Trumps 2016 win. But Ryan has a history of conservative positions on abortion and guns (now abandoned), along with an interesting if unusual interest in yoga and associated philosophies of mental self-control.

Eric Swalwell

The 38-year-old East Bay (California) congressman is mainly known for a relentless advocacy of gun safety measures, but secured some vital media attention as a member of the House Intelligence Committee willing to talk about Russian election interference. He also has the obscure but valuable asset of having been born in Iowa. Swalwell is probably looking enviously at the buzz surrounding fellow thirty-something Pete Buttigieg.

Bill de Blasio

The two-term New York mayors much-derided presidential candidacy was finally announced in May, and the best thing you can say for it is that his Gotham background assures at least some regular media coverage. He does have some policy accomplishments, especially in early childhood education. De Blasio will have to establish that hes serious about staying in the race, and isnt just running because hes bored with his day job.

Marianne Williamson

The only candidate so far to qualify strictly on the basis of grassroots fundraising, the best-selling author and New Agey self-help expert is best known for her celebrity connections (shes been something of a spiritual counselor for Oprah Winfrey, for example). But she has a seriously and rigorously progressive platform that she will probably use the debates to highlight. If nothing else, she could emerge as a lefty gadfly like her friend Dennis Kucinich in his presidential bids.

So thats the current debate field. Who else might qualify?

The three announced candidates who havent made the cut so far are the aforementioned Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado; Miramar, Florida mayor Wayne Messam; and Massachusetts congressman Seth Moulton (some lists include former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, though it appears his campaign is basically some kids managing his Twitter feed). Youd figure Bennet and Moulton, at least, have a decent chance of qualifying and forcing the DNC to go to its tie-breakers: those who meet both the polling and grassroots fundraising thresholds, and then those who rank higher in polling.

Except for those who have qualified by the skin of their teeth and could theoretically get bumped by late qualifiers, the candidates can start practicing soon, with the complication that they have no idea which rivals they will actually be facing. It could get unpredictably wild and predictably important in the winnowing of this huge field.

This post has been updated throughout.
Ronny Chieng has been cast in a US comedy pilot, Super Simple Love Story for CBS.

The series is a story told through interviews and vignettes spanning 10 years about how an unlikely couple becomes an unlikely family.

He will join Susan Wokoma, Elizabeth Alderfer and David Walton, playing play Harris, Kevins (Walton) friend and former college roommate, an atheist without a filter who loves to debate and mostly ruins every social interaction by getting in his own way  and everybody elses.

Written and executive produced by Mike Royce and directed by Pam Fryman, while Nick Stoller is also a producer.

Chieng has been a correspondent for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah since 2015 and appeared in Crazy Rich Asians.

His ABC comedy Ronny Chieng: International Student screened in the US through Comedy Central but is yet to be renewed for a second season. In 2016 Variety named him on their Comics to Watch list.

Source: Deadline
Fitch Ratings says Canada's debt could make it more vulnerable during a recession (Getty)

Fitch Ratings is showing concern over Canadas balance sheet.

Canada's gross general government debt, combining federal and provincial fiscal accounts, is higher than other 'AAA' rated sovereigns, excepting the U.S, and remains close to a level that is incompatible with 'AAA' status.

We continue to forecast the general government debt ratio to fall toward 85 per cent of GDP over the medium term.

The credit rating agency says it is encouraged by efforts in the latest federal budget to reduce the debt burden.

However, modest fiscal loosening and sustained deficits will increase the economy's exposure to a downturn, said Fitch Ratings in a research note.

Fitch Ratings says its not sure Ottawa's plan to tighten the purse strings will work.

Non-interest spending is now programmed at 14.6 per cent of GDP in 2018-2019 but is supposed to fall over the medium term to 13.8 per cent by 2023-2024, an assumption that may not bear out, said Fitch Ratings.

The additional spending under the budget plan forecasts the federal deficit to return to close to $20 billion over the next two years with no plan to balance it.

Fitch Ratings says its growth expectations are broadly in line with the federal governments. The Liberals revised GDP down to 1.8 per cent this year and 1.6 per cent the year after. Fitch Ratings forecasts 1.6 per cent this year, and 1.7 per cent in 2020.

The credit rating agency isnt sounding the alarm just yet, but there could be trouble ahead.

While the budget is broadly in line with earlier trends, the preference for continued deficits and increased program spending over fiscal consolidation could increase the vulnerability of public finances to a faster economic slowdown or sudden shock, said Fitch Ratings.

This is not our base case, but disappointing 4Q18 growth numbers and weakening macroeconomic outlooks in major global economies including Europe, China and other major emerging markets point to downside risks for the Canadian economy.

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Two workers walk under the wing of a 737 Max aircraft at the Boeing factory in Renton Two workers walk under the wing of a 737 Max aircraft at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson

By Christoph Steitz and Georgina Prodhan

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - TUI remains committed to its Boeing 737 MAX orders despite two fatal crashes that have led to the grounding of the plane worldwide and caused the Anglo-German tour operator to issue a profit warning on Friday.

TUI said its profit would fall by at least 200 million euros (172.16 million pounds) this year due to the cost of substituting planes, loss of business and lower fuel efficiency - further evidence of the financial impact of the two deadly accidents after warnings from North American airlines.

The holiday firm's shares fell to an all-time low.

Global airlines and travel groups have had to make contingency plans after 737 MAX planes were taken out of service following an Ethiopian Airlines disaster on March 10 that killed 157 people, five months after a Lion Air crash in Indonesia that killed 189.

Boeing is planning a software fix to address an issue that can arise when the MAX's anti-stall system, MCAS, repeatedly pushes the plane's nose down. The MCAS system is at the centre of safety investigations into the two crashes.

Based on feedback from Boeing and EU regulator EASA, the planes should be flying again in July, TUI's Chief Executive Friedrich Joussen told analysts on a call.

The grounding has led some airlines to question their commitment to the MAX, Boeing's fastest-selling plane and the latest version of its 1960s 737 workhorse, which offers significantly more efficient fuel use than predecessors.

But David Burling, TUI's board member responsible for airlines, said the travel company had "no intention" of changing its order for eight more MAXs on top of the 15 it already operates - one-tenth of its fleet.

CEO Joussen said: "We are saving $1 million per year per aircraft in fuel, but - and here comes the but - safety first."

TUI has little scope to cancel flights, as some airlines are doing, because the flights feed its hotel and cruise business.

Story continues

It is leasing planes complete with crews to replace those due to have been flown by 737 MAXs at the cost of $1 million each per month, executives said, adding they had seen some tightening of the so-called wet-leasing market.

Bookings were down by 10 percent in major markets since the Ethiopian crash, Joussen said, adding he was "very certain" of receiving some compensation from Boeing, probably next year.

WARNINGS

Southwest Airlines on Wednesday became the first major U.S. airline to cut its financial outlook for the year after being forced to pull its fleet of 737 MAX planes, the world's biggest, out of service.

United Airlines and Air Canada have also warned of a hit to their business, with the Canadian carrier suspending its 2019 forecasts.

TUI said it now expected underlying earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) to fall by 17 percent, having previously expected the figure to be on a par with the 1.18 billion euros generated in 2018.

It added that EBITA could even fall as much as 26 percent in 2019 if the planes remain grounded beyond the middle of July.

No report has yet been issued on the Ethiopian crash but preliminary findings may be published as early as next week.

Morningstar analyst Chris Higgins on Thursday reduced his estimate for how long the groundings would last to two months from three, based on details presented by Boeing of its proposed fix to the MCAS software.

"We've revised our base-case timeline for the groundings to around two months because this MCAS fix appears mature, the MCAS upgrade should only take one hour per plane, and the updates will not require significant training," he wrote in a note.

(Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter)
A new fly-on-the wall documentary about US President Donald Trump's disgraced advisor Steve Bannon reveals his grandiose aspirations and self-regard, as well as his limitations. To shoot 'The Brink', an illuminating new documentary about former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, director Alison Klayman embedded herself with his entourage for a year, beginning in October, 2017 and finishing just after the 2018 midterm elections.During her year in the Bannon camp, Klayman watched him pound Red Bulls as he strategised in his DC townhouse, pose for pictures with adoring fans around the country and travel repeatedly to Europe in the hope of forming a continent-wide coalition of far-right parties that could dominate the 2019 European Parliament elections.Klayman captured extraordinarily candid moments from Bannon, and the film colours in and rounds out the black-and-white one-dimensionality with which he has often been depicted in the media. Like anyone, Bannon is complex: He can be charming and still hold views that many find offensive, he can look both cultivated and uninformed, he can be opportunistic and at the same time seem to genuinely believe some of the conspiracy theories popular on the political right, Klayman told FRANCE 24.At times, Bannon appears not to buy what he is peddling. At a Munk Debate with conservative commentator David Frum in Toronto, for example, he begins detailing the percentage of the vote with which several populist leaders won their elections. When he gets to Trump, Bannon says he won with over 300 electoral votes". He pauses as the audience laughs, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.What he does genuinely seem to believe is that America is at an inflection point in its history, a Fourth Turning, in the parlance of sociologist Talcott Parsons, a foundational moment in which national identity is redefined. Bannon's tendency to quote Abraham Lincoln suggests he sees himself or, at the very least, wants to, as an historical figure at the vanguard of an historical moment. Watching the film, one gets the sense that Bannon has his eye on his legacy more than on any specific electoral win.The remarkable access to Bannon was procured by the films producer, Marie Therese Guirgis, who worked directly for him from 2003-2006, after his investment group bought the film distribution company she was employed by. When he emerged nearly a decade later as a Trump advisor, she sent him an angry email urging him to quit the campaign. As he became more visible and started being portrayed as an evil genius, she began thinking that she should do something positive with her relationship with him. One day it hit her: she could make a film that would not only strip away the mythic media narrative that was so empowering to him but also allow us to better understand the larger political force of which he is a part", she said in a statement.That larger political force is, of course, the nationalist movement that, in addition to having Trump as its mascot-in-chief, is growing in Europe. Bannon spends a lot of time on the Continent trying to push it, along with The Movement, a Brussels-based organisation he founded in 2017 to promote right-wing populism. While he devotes a lot of attention to granular details, expressing his utter dislike for a proposed logo, he seems less cognisant of political facts on the ground in Europe asking about immigrant birth rates at one point, for example and less concerned about actual policy. His focus was the 2019 European parliamentary elections and assuring that an axis of far-right parties would win enough seats to have a controlling bloc.While in Europe, Bannon met with Nigel Farage from the UK and with members of far-right parties from Italy, Spain, Belgium and Sweden. But by far his biggest fans, or certainly those with which he had the most contact, were the representatives from Marine Le Pens National Rally party, namely spokesman Jerome Riviere and Vice President Louis Aliot. Not only did Bannon meet with them in Europe, but they flew to Washington, DC to watch the mid-term election results come in with him.With his lack of understanding of the nuances of the various European polities, Klayman said that he likely cant give them useful strategic advice. His biggest asset for the National Rally was the financial expertise he developed during the years he spent as a banker. In mid-2018 the French government withheld $2.4 million dollars in subsidies from the National Rally, creating a financial crisis for the far-right party. In meetings that Klayman was not invited to attend, Bannon helped the group figure out how to shore up its finances and suggested places they could get loans. A lot of countries' names were being mentioned, and none of them were European, Klayman said.But perhaps Bannons biggest contribution to the European far-right in general and the National Rally in particular, is his validation of them. He enables them to feel linked not only to Trump and Brexit but to an arguably ascendant global movement. The polling may not indicate that the right wing can win enough seats to control the European Parliament, but polls didnt predict a Trump election win or Brexit either. Klayman said far-right parties are starting to feel: Its our time.""Whether they get there," she added, "I dont know.

A new fly-on-the wall documentary about US President Donald Trump's disgraced advisor Steve Bannon reveals his grandiose aspirations and self-regard, as well as his limitations.

To shoot 'The Brink', an illuminating new documentary about former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, director Alison Klayman embedded herself with his entourage for a year, beginning in October, 2017 and finishing just after the 2018 midterm elections.

During her year in the Bannon camp, Klayman watched him pound Red Bulls as he strategised in his DC townhouse, pose for pictures with adoring fans around the country and travel repeatedly to Europe in the hope of forming a continent-wide coalition of far-right parties that could dominate the 2019 European Parliament elections.

Klayman captured extraordinarily candid moments from Bannon, and the film colours in and rounds out the black-and-white one-dimensionality with which he has often been depicted in the media. Like anyone, Bannon is complex: He can be charming and still hold views that many find offensive, he can look both cultivated and uninformed, he can be opportunistic and at the same time seem to genuinely believe some of the conspiracy theories popular on the political right, Klayman told FRANCE 24.

At times, Bannon appears not to buy what he is peddling. At a Munk Debate with conservative commentator David Frum in Toronto, for example, he begins detailing the percentage of the vote with which several populist leaders won their elections. When he gets to Trump, Bannon says he won with over 300 electoral votes". He pauses as the audience laughs, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

What he does genuinely seem to believe is that America is at an inflection point in its history, a Fourth Turning, in the parlance of sociologist Talcott Parsons, a foundational moment in which national identity is redefined. Bannon's tendency to quote Abraham Lincoln suggests he sees himself or, at the very least, wants to, as an historical figure at the vanguard of an historical moment. Watching the film, one gets the sense that Bannon has his eye on his legacy more than on any specific electoral win.

Story continues

The remarkable access to Bannon was procured by the films producer, Marie Therese Guirgis, who worked directly for him from 2003-2006, after his investment group bought the film distribution company she was employed by. When he emerged nearly a decade later as a Trump advisor, she sent him an angry email urging him to quit the campaign. As he became more visible and started being portrayed as an evil genius, she began thinking that she should do something positive with her relationship with him. One day it hit her: she could make a film that would not only strip away the mythic media narrative that was so empowering to him but also allow us to better understand the larger political force of which he is a part", she said in a statement.

That larger political force is, of course, the nationalist movement that, in addition to having Trump as its mascot-in-chief, is growing in Europe. Bannon spends a lot of time on the Continent trying to push it, along with The Movement, a Brussels-based organisation he founded in 2017 to promote right-wing populism. While he devotes a lot of attention to granular details, expressing his utter dislike for a proposed logo, he seems less cognisant of political facts on the ground in Europe asking about immigrant birth rates at one point, for example and less concerned about actual policy. His focus was the 2019 European parliamentary elections and assuring that an axis of far-right parties would win enough seats to have a controlling bloc.

While in Europe, Bannon met with Nigel Farage from the UK and with members of far-right parties from Italy, Spain, Belgium and Sweden. But by far his biggest fans, or certainly those with which he had the most contact, were the representatives from Marine Le Pens National Rally party, namely spokesman Jerome Riviere and Vice President Louis Aliot. Not only did Bannon meet with them in Europe, but they flew to Washington, DC to watch the mid-term election results come in with him.

With his lack of understanding of the nuances of the various European polities, Klayman said that he likely cant give them useful strategic advice. His biggest asset for the National Rally was the financial expertise he developed during the years he spent as a banker. In mid-2018 the French government withheld $2.4 million dollars in subsidies from the National Rally, creating a financial crisis for the far-right party. In meetings that Klayman was not invited to attend, Bannon helped the group figure out how to shore up its finances and suggested places they could get loans. A lot of countries' names were being mentioned, and none of them were European, Klayman said.

But perhaps Bannons biggest contribution to the European far-right in general and the National Rally in particular, is his validation of them. He enables them to feel linked not only to Trump and Brexit but to an arguably ascendant global movement. The polling may not indicate that the right wing can win enough seats to control the European Parliament, but polls didnt predict a Trump election win or Brexit either. Klayman said far-right parties are starting to feel: Its our time."

"Whether they get there," she added, "I dont know.
France is bracing for Act 20 of nationwide anti-government Yellow Vest protests on Saturday. For a second week running, authorities have banned gilets jaunes demonstrations on Pariss Champs-Elysees Avenue, as well as around the presidential palace and the National Assembly.The mayor of Bordeaux has advised retailers to shutter their shops on Saturday, and is urging residents to remain indoors, while the southern town of Avignon is closing its railway station and has banned large gatherings. * French divided over ransacking of elitist Le Fouquet's restaurantSeveral French cities have seen repeated rioting and destruction of property during four months of protests that have drawn thousands.Two weeks ago protestors ransacked luxury boutiques and the famous Le Fouquets restaurant on the Champs-Elysee, leading to huge divisions in France. In contrast, last Saturdays demonstrations in Paris, which centred around Montmartres Sacre Coeur basilica, were largely peaceful. * Yellow Vests battle images of violenceThe Yellow Vest movement looked to be losing steam earlier this year  with the focus shifting to a series of town-hall style national debates called by President Emmanuel Macron  but violence on 16 March showed anger is still strong.The debates continued Friday, with Macron hosting mayors at the presidential palace, a day after discussing the unrest in the country with schoolchildren in the Loire Valley.

France is bracing for Act 20 of nationwide anti-government Yellow Vest protests on Saturday.

For a second week running, authorities have banned gilets jaunes demonstrations on Pariss Champs-Elysees Avenue, as well as around the presidential palace and the National Assembly.

The mayor of Bordeaux has advised retailers to shutter their shops on Saturday, and is urging residents to remain indoors, while the southern town of Avignon is closing its railway station and has banned large gatherings.

Several French cities have seen repeated rioting and destruction of property during four months of protests that have drawn thousands.

Two weeks ago protestors ransacked luxury boutiques and the famous Le Fouquets restaurant on the Champs-Elysee, leading to huge divisions in France. In contrast, last Saturdays demonstrations in Paris, which centred around Montmartres Sacre Coeur basilica, were largely peaceful.

The Yellow Vest movement looked to be losing steam earlier this year  with the focus shifting to a series of town-hall style national debates called by President Emmanuel Macron  but violence on 16 March showed anger is still strong.

The debates continued Friday, with Macron hosting mayors at the presidential palace, a day after discussing the unrest in the country with schoolchildren in the Loire Valley.
Another astonishing victory redefines what the presidency is. Photo-Illustration: Joe Darrow/Jae C. Hong/AP Photo

The period of time since Attorney General William Barr released his summary of Robert Muellers investigation has been the most ebullient one for Republicans since the 2016 election. The pattern is familiar: vindication and emotional displays of dominance on the right, shock and searching self-doubt mixed with intense recriminations on the left. What unites both sides, victors and vanquished alike, is a belief that Trump has rewritten the rules of American politics.

Just as he violated every law of running for president and still won, he broke every rule a president must supposedly follow when under investigation. For generations, Americans have been instructed that the cover-up is worse than the crime. Every defense lawyer warns subjects of investigation not to shoot their mouths off on television and especially not to tell a series of lies. Yet Trump did all these things and still prevailed.

Just as it did after the election, Blue America is confronting the delusions that led to its shocking letdown. In this case, justifiable belief both in Muellers capabilities and in the extensive evidence of wrongdoing by Trumps campaign produced erroneous confidence in the legal system. That Trumps involvement with Russia would yield a criminal violation was never anything close to a certainty.

And even if it had, the Trump presidency was never going to end in a GoodFellas-style perp-walk montage. The Senate is run by Mitch McConnell, a man who, upon being solemnly informed by intelligence officials in 2016 that Russia was interfering in the presidential election, refused to join a bipartisan statement warning Vladimir Putin to back off. No conceivable evidence would weaken Republicans attachment to a president their base adores. The worst-case scenario for Trump all along was an impeachment fight ending in Senate gridlock over removal, throwing the matter over to voters in 2020. Whatever fantasy some Democrats may have entertained about Muellers police work has given way to cold reality.

Just as it did after the 2016 election, the mainstream media has undergone ritual flagellation and self-flagellation. In the immediate aftermath of Barrs letter, news reports concluded that Mueller had found no collusion between Trump and Russia. It followed from this premise that two and a half years of endless disclosures revealing secret contacts between Trumps campaign and Russia had been debunked. Since there was no collusion, all the reports of collusion had to be wrong.

In one prominent Wall Street Journal column that Trump has promoted, Sean Davis charged, Americas blue-chip journalists botched the entire story, from its birth during the presidential campaign to its final breath Sunday  and they never stopped congratulating themselves for it. Last year the New York Times and Washington Post shared a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Russia scandal. Daviss column did not identify a single error in the stories either newspaper published about Trumps connections to Russia.

Indeed, nobody else has either. While a handful of prominent scoops came under question, very few of the underpinnings of the Trump-Russia narrative have been challenged in any serious way. That is because the premise of total exoneration insisted upon by Trumps giddy defenders is false.

Collusion has somehow become a talismanic word removed from its common pre-2017 meaning, so lets simply say  based on realities ranging from Muellers indictment of Roger Stone to Donald Trump Jr.s taking a meeting to pursue Russia and its governments support for Trump  that the Trump campaign actively cooperated with Russias efforts on its behalf. In itself, Trumps covert pursuit of a deal worth several hundred million dollars that would disappear if he angered Putin makes for a historic scandal.

None of these gross betrayals of the public interest may constitute a crime. (The U.S. criminal code is not exactly tailored for scenarios like foreign dictators stealing emails in order to help a mobbed-up reality-show buffoon win a presidential election.) Mueller has earned enough credibility that his decision not to bring charges of criminal conspiracy should be presumed fair.

Barr, however, has not. The attorney generals relevant work history consists of helping a Republican administration cover up a massive scandal (Iran-Contra) and then submitting a private memo trashing Muellers obstruction-of-justice inquiry. Remember the furor that ensued when Bill Clinton spoke with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who was overseeing an investigation of his wife, on a tarmac during the campaign? That Barr auditioned for his job overseeing an investigation of Trump by writing a pro-Trump memo makes that controversy look absurdly persnickety. Only by the degraded standards of this administration is Barr considered an adult in the room. In a normal presidency, hed be facing daily demands for his resignation.

Barrs letter plucks a single sentence from Muellers report and surrounds it with exonerating language: The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election-interference activities. Does members include or exclude unpaid outside advisers like Stone? Does not establish mean not prove beyond a reasonable doubt or find no evidence? Does Russian government include cutouts or agents, like Konstantin Kilimnik or WikiLeaks, or just official representatives of the government?

Barr does not specify, and reports have leapt to the most aggressive interpretation, deeming the issue settled and heaping scorn on those still clinging to suspicions about the president. A day after Attorney General William P. Barr said special prosecutor Robert S. Mueller III hadnt found collusion between President Trumps campaign and Russian agents, [MSNBC host Rachel] Maddow  prime-time TVs primary and most tenacious proponent of the conspiracy angle  still was not buying it, wrote Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi. By turning establish into found, and the Russian government into Russian agents, Farhi advances a far stronger claim of exoneration than the line from Mueller actually made.

Mueller withheld judgment on charging Trump with obstruction of justice despite a long series of obstructive acts dating to the beginning of his presidency. A source with direct knowledge of the investigation tells the Daily Beast that they thought Mueller was making a case to Congress to determine Trumps criminality. Instead, Barr imposed his own judgment and quashed the obstruction charge, in part because of an absence of underlying crimes. Trump, whose stated model for an AG is a Roy Cohn figure who would protect his personal interests, proceeded to gush that Barr is incredible and a special, special person.

One glaring flaw with this logic is that the shortage of evidence of underlying crimes may well have been caused by the obstruction of justice. Specifically, Trump dangled pardons to Stone and Paul Manafort, who coordinated most closely with Russians and who might have supplied testimony against their former boss. Preventing the exposure of a crime is a big reason why people obstruct justice in the first place. Barr appears to be excusing a cover-up on the grounds that the cover-up succeeded.

This is an apt expression of the Trumpist approach to the legal system in particular and public ethics in general. The legal system is a blunt instrument of power rightly used against ones enemies. (Conservatives are now lustily demanding investigations of everybody they hold responsible for investigating Trump.) Lying is a natural and expected response that raises no suspicions, which is why the figures in Trumps campaign who lied about their contacts with Russians are now innocent victims owed apologies by the media.

The Barr letter is not an exoneration of Trumps conduct. It is something much worse: a vindication of his ethos.

*This article appears in the April 1, 2019, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Friday that unless Britain came up with a Brexit plan in the next two weeks there would be a "hard" British departure from the European Union.

Kurz commented on Twitter after the British parliament rejected for a third time the withdrawal agreement struck between London and Brussels, a rejection Kurz said he regretted.

"We keep striving for an orderly Brexit even if this has now become more unlikely," Kurz's tweet read.

"If there is no plan presented by Great Britain in the next two weeks then there will unfortunately be a hard Brexit. But for this, Austria and the EU are well prepared."

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop)
Drinking a bottle of wine a week holds the same cancer risk as smoking ten cigarettes as week [Photo: Getty]

A bottle of wine increases a womans cancer risk by as much as smoking 10 cigarettes a week, according to new research. For men, one bottle has the equivalent risk of smoking five cigarettes each week.

Study authors explained that women are more vulnerable due to an increased risk of breast cancer from drinking alcohol.

The research, conducted by the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Bangor University and University of Southampton and published in the journal BMC Public Health, found that in non-smoking men the increase in the absolute lifetime risk of cancer from drinking one bottle of wine per week was 1.0%.

READ MORE: Hangover-free synthetic alcohol could soon change the way we drink

For non-smoking women this was approximately 50% higher with an increase in absolute cancer risk of 1.4%

The team estimated that if 1,000 non-smoking men and 1,000 non-smoking women each drank one bottle of wine per week across their lifetime, around 10 men and 14 women would develop cancer as a result.

And if 1,000 men and 1,000 women drank three bottles of wine per week throughout their lives, around 19 men and 36 women would develop cancer as a result.

Commenting on the findings Dr Theresa Hydes, one of the study authors said: It is well established that heavy drinking is linked to cancer of the mouth, throat, voice box, gullet, bowel, liver and breast.

Yet, in contrast to smoking, this is not widely understood by the public.

Dr Hydes believes that converting the risks of alcohol into cigarette equivalents could help people make more informed decisions about their drinking.

We hope that by using cigarettes as the comparator we could communicate this message more effectively to help individuals make more informed lifestyle choices.

Men and women are advised to drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, less than a bottle and a half of wine, after evidence concluded that regular drinking increased the risk of cancer.

Story continues

Researchers have compared the cancer risk of drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes [Photo: Getty]

But before we all head to the kitchen and empty our wine racks, researchers are keen to point out that the study is not saying that drinking alcohol in moderation is in any way equivalent to smoking.

Our finds relate to lifetime risk across the population, Dr Hydes adds.

Smoking kills up to two thirds of its users, and cancer is just one of the many serious health consequences. This study purely addresses cancer risk in isolation.

The authors also point out that the study does not take into account other smoking or alcohol-related outcomes such as respiratory, cardiovascular or liver disease in which case the conclusions would likely be quite different.

Jane Green, professor of epidemiology and co-director of the cancer epidemiology unit at the University of Oxford, told Sky: It is important to view these results in context.

For both men and women in the UK, the lifetime risk of cancer is around 50%.

The authors estimate that lifetime risk is around 1% higher for men and women who drink a bottle of wine a week, or who smoke five to 10 cigarettes a week, than for those who neither smoke nor drink.

READ MORE: Bad news: beer before wine wont make you fine

The research follows a further study released last year which found that people who enjoy the odd alcoholic drink are less likely to suffer a premature death than those who dont drink at all.

Quaffing up to three glasses of wine or beer a week could lower the risk of dying from any cause, and in particular cancer, according to a study by researchers at Queens University, Belfast.

But scientists also warned that the risk of a deadly illness rises slightly among more regular drinkers.

The findings also found that with each additional drink per week, the risk of cancer and death from any cause increased.

Very heavy drinkers (three or more drinks each day) had the highest risk of dying early or developing cancer at 21 per cent.

This group were followed by heavy drinkers (two to three drinks each day), who were 10 per cent more likely to die young or get cancer.
Huge crowds of demonstrators, numbering a million according to police, took to the streets of Algerias capital, Algiers, on Friday, March 29, in renewed protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The protest, the largest since demonstrations began six weeks ago, came after an army general called for the presidents removal earlier in the week.

Footage posted to Twitter shows a crowd making its way to the city center, chanting, holding signs, and waving flags.

When the protesters reached Place Maurice Audin, they clashed with police, who tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannon, according to reporters.

On March 19, the countrys Deputy Prime Minister, Ramtane Lamamra, said that Bouteflika was ready for an open and transparent transition of power when the next president was elected, state media reported. Earlier this week, Ahmed Gaed Salah, the chief-of-staff of Algerias army, called for the presidents removal.

Bouteflika announced on March 11 that Algerias elections, which were due to take place in April, would be postponed. Bouteflika has been in office since 1999 and recently turned 82. Credit: @Samy3s_ via Storyful
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House on April 9 for talks on strengthening their strategic partnership and working on shared priorities in the Middle East, the White House said on Friday.

The White House said in a statement the two leaders would discuss "building on our robust military, economic and counterterrorism cooperation" as well as regional economic integration and "Egypts longstanding role as a lynchpin of regional stability."

The visit by al Sisi comes at a time of renewed tensions between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza after a rocket fired from the coastal enclave wounded seven Israelis near Tel Aviv.

Israel responded with air strikes and warnings from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel was prepared to wage a broad military campaign in Gaza if needed.

Trump on Monday signed a decree recognising Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 war. The decision, which was criticized by Arab states, came as Israel gears up for elections on April 9.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Golan decision would help resolve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians by removing uncertainty. White House advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt have been working to put together a peace proposal to address the conflict.

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Trott)
Uri Gilboa has won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Sochi Main Event for 27,475,000 (~$420,000) after defeating start-of-day chip leader Zakhar Babaev in an all-Israeli heads-up contest.

Gilboa has now become the first-ever Israeli EPT champion and at 61 years of age, the consensus here at Casino Sochi is that he is the oldest EPT champion ever as well.

Wearing a t-shirt form the 'Rocky' film franchise throughout the later stages of the poker tournament, his friends told him not to change his t-shirt for luck.

It must have worked because Gilboa now adds over $400,000 to his career earnings.

Here are the final table results:

Position Name Country Payout (RUB) Payout (USD) 1 Uri Gilboa Israel 27,475,000  $412,125 2 Zakhar Babaev Israel 16,737,000  $251,055 3 Maksim Pisarenko Russia 11,865,000  $177,975 4 Ivan Ruban Russia 8,953,000  $134,295 5 Vyacheslav Mizun Russia 7,091,000  $106,365 6 Serafim Kovalevsky Russia 5,390,000  $80,850 7 Francisco Benitez Uruguay 3,850,000  $57,750 8 Dmitry Yurasov Russia 2,625,000  $39,375

Uri Gilboa

"I'm glad that I'm the first Israeli winner," Gilboa told Joe Stapleton shortly after his victory. "You have to know that the standard of Israeli poker is becoming tremendous. We've had a lot of achievements at the WSOP and at other European tournaments. I know I'm the first, but for sure I'm not the last.

An experienced bridge player, Gilboa first started playing poker eight years ago and says that playing bridge on the national scene helped him a lot.

"I'm self-taught. I love to learn and I'm improving all the time. I learn from my mistakes, from others and from other very good young Israeli players.

"Never give up. You can start, you can study and it's an amazing game. I love it."

Final Day Recap

Runner-up Zakhar Babaev

Runner-up Babaev had started the day with a commanding chip lead ahead of the other five players, and he soon moved over ten million.

Gilboa came into the day in the middle of the pack and benefited from two major missteps from opponents. The first came from Vyacheslav Mizun who shoved with ace-high into the pocket jacks of the Israeli player. Jacks held and Gilboa was up into second place in the chip counts.

Mizun soon doubled through Ivan Ruban who himself had been starting to move up the chip counts, but it was Serafim Kovalevsky who was the first elimination of the day. He ran pocket sixes into the pocket eights of Babaev to bust in sixth who now sat with more than half the chips in play.

Maksim Pisarenko doubles through Vyacheslav Mizun

The next big all-in confrontation was between Mizun and Maksim Pisarenko. Pisarenko flopped a full house to leave Mizun with just one big blind. However, three doubles in four hands got him back to relative safety and avoided the trapdoor...for now.

Babaev could have been forgiven for sitting back and letting the other players fight it out, but instead, he turned it up a notch, running an audacious bluff with seven-deuce against Ivan Ruban to move even further ahead.

However, what goes up must come down and the second of Gilboa's pivotal hands was to come against Babaev. Babev held ace-five and after check-calling on flop and turn, he check-jammed into Gilboa's queens allowing Gilboa to close the gap.

And on the very next hand, Babaev's formerly monster chip lead was gone with the two Israeli players level in chips.

Vyacheslav Mizun doubled five times today but would have to settle for fifth place

Pisarenko and Mizun both doubled either side of the break, with Babaev managing to eke out a chip lead once more, but Gilboa once again closed the gap with the elimination of the plucky Mizun who doubled five times today alone. Mizun had flopped a set but Gilboa turned a flush draw to send him to the rail.

Both Gilboa and Babaev continued to slug it out, trading pots as the chip lead swung between the two of them before Ruban was eliminated in fourth place. He lost a classic race with queens against Babaev's ace-king after the latter flopped an ace.

By this stage Pisarenko was slipping, keeping himself in contention with a series of shoves. But he never looked like breaking the Israeli duopoly at the top of the chip counts and was eliminated by Gilboa when shoving his last six big blinds.

Heads Up Play

From the day's play so far, this was the heads-up battle most neutrals would have been hoping for and it didn't disappoint. Babaev appeared to only have one gear and kept the foot firmly on the gas. Gilboa kept him firmly at bay before the first all-in confrontation.

Babaev had flopped top pair against Gilboa's flush draw, and Babaev couldn't look as the turn and river bricked and he doubled into the lead.

Zakhar Babaev can't bear to look as he doubles through Uri Gilboa

After coming into heads-up play as the chip leader, some players may have rolled over under the pressure of Babaev, but credit to Gilboa he stayed in it even as the chip lead continue to switch between the two of them.

But just over 30 hands into heads-up play, and as the contest looked to draw on, it all came to a crashing halt with Babaev three-betting all in for 92 big blinds with ace-nine only for Gilboa to have opened with ace-king.

Gilboa held and on the very next hand cleaned up the final six big blinds of his compatriot to eliminate him and seal the victory just before 8pm local time.

In his victory interview, Gilboa says that he was spurred on by a particular Rocky quote that stuck with him over the course of the tournament: 'It ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward.'
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have just finished their 12-day tour of the Caribbean, where they visited six countries and one Overseas Territory.

The trip kicked off on March 17 in St Lucia, where Charles marked the countrys 40th anniversary of Independence.

Charles and Camilla then rubbed shoulders with A-list stars such as Lionel Richie and Sir Tom Jones at the Princes Trust International Reception in Barbados. The prince couldnt resist making a cheeky quip, when he met Mr Richie.

The pair soaked up the Caribbean sun as they also undertook engagements in St Vincent, St Kitts and Nevis and Granada. But it was paparazzi-style pictures of the couple in their swimwear on a public Barbados beach, which caused a stir among royal fans.

The overseas tour also saw Charles and Camilla make history as they travelled to Cuba, making them the first members of the Royal Family to visit the Communist-run country.

They spent four days in Cuba where they met with locals and enjoyed sampling the local produce, making their own mojito cocktails and riding in a vintage car.

See the best photos of the prince and duchess on their tour in the gallery above.
Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images

From Prima

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have made history by becoming the first British royals to visit communist Cuba.

Their four-day trip began on Sunday, when the royal couple touched down in Havana following a flight from Barbados. They were welcomed by officials before they were invited to a wreath laying ceremony in honour of essayist and national hero, Jose Marti. They later toured the Jose Marti exhibition to learn more about his life.

Photo credit: ADALBERTO ROQUE - Getty Images

The itinerary for the visit, which is part of a wider Caribbean tour, has continued to be jam-packed. Later in the week, Charles and Camilla had dinner with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and met with locals during a walkabout in Old Havana.

Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images

On Tuesday, the royal visitors attended an event celebrating British classic cars and motorbikes before they watched a jazz performance from Cuban musicians, Buena Vista Social Club. The prince also toured an organic farm while the duchess joined a discussion with the Federation of Cuban Women to hear about how Cuba is combatting domestic violence.

Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images

Their day ended with a visit to the Gran Teatro Alicia Alonso to watch a performance from dance companies including The Cuban National Ballet.

Photo credit: Pool - Getty Images

On the final afternoon of their tour, the couple sampled Cuban cuisine from a selection of independent restaurants. There was even a chance to sample the nation's classic cocktail  a mojito.

Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images

Government minister, Lord Ahmad, a minister of state in the Foreign Office, was reported to be joining the royal couple on the tour - a move which is said to highlight the significance of the visit. Charles's time in Cuba is also expected to provide a step forward for relations between the UK and Cuban governments.

'The tour is enabling conversations to take place that wouldn't have happened otherwise,' a senior source told royal correspondent Rebecca English. 'This give us the opportunity to develop our relationship with Cuba. It is then up to the British government to connect and do business.'

Story continues

The Caribbean tour has also featured trips to Barbados, St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

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Let's just take a moment to honour Queen Letizia of Spain, who has ruled supreme on this week's royal catwalk. The beautiful monarch has shown how to nail one's royal tour wardrobe during her and King Felipe's official visit to Argentina, showcasing a fabulous array of outfits alongside her new BFF First Lady Juliana Awada.

Elsewhere in the regal style arena, we've seen chic ensembles on Crown Princess Mary, the Duchess of Cornwall and our own monarch the Queen who must be in her element with all these vibrant hues on trend. Duchess Kate has kept a low profile, while Duchess Meghan is preparing to give birth any week now!

Grab a cuppa and settle in for this week's Royal Style Watch
Victoria Beckham is on a stylish trip to Doha, Qatar this week, and is majorly impressing us with her outfit choices (as ever). The fashion designer is in the Middle East to judge the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize, so of course she dressed to please - wearing a sleek black midi dress and a pair of matching peep-toe shoe boots. VB has been seen rocking the statement footwear since the beginning of the year - in theory, it's the perfect between-season choice. And if we had an immaculate cherry red pedicure like Victoria, we'd be keen to show it off too.

victoria-shoe-boots

Victoria's favourite statement boots

As ever, the star has been posting snippets from her work trip on Instagram, sharing a snap with fellow designer Diane Von Furstenberg and model Natalia Vodianova as well as Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing. She even posted a close-up shot of her slouchy boots, which are most likely from her Autumn/Winter 2019 collection.

Victoria Beckham just majorly showed her generosity with latest fashion hack

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Over half the models at Victoria's A/W show walked the runway in a pair of the leg-hugging heels, which came in everything from black suede to leopard print. The rule for wearing them? Team with midi skirts or dresses - the only skin on shoe should be that of your toes, according to Ms Beckham's line-up.

victoria-qatar

She also wore her bold pink heels

The boots aren't the only pair of stand-out heels Victoria is favouring this season, either, since she's also partial to a pair of striking neon pink heels from her namesake fashion line. She wore the fuchsia footwear to the Portrait Gala alongside the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Beatrice earlier in March, and also chose them for her first appearance in Qatar on Wednesday. Gorgeous.

The remarkably cheap shampoo Victoria Beckham swears by
Bangladesh: A sudden fire in a 22-floor building located in the upmarket Banani commercial district of Dhaka in Bangladesh left at least 19 dead and six of them had tried to jump to safety. The death toll could increase because rescue teams have recovered many charred bodies. There is no information on the number of office workers and other people present in the complex when the incident happened. The authorities pressed helicopters into operation to rescue those trapped in the building.

The Guardian quotes emergency services as reporting that a large number of victims who suffered from burns and inhalation of smoke were shifted to hospitals.

The number of people trapped inside is anybodys guess. In desperation, people resorted to any available means to escape from the inferno including a television cable on the side of the building and ropes of rescue teams. Ambulances were on the spot to shift the injured to hospitals.

Several people were killed and 60 injured as a fire ripped through a 22-story building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A fire official says the blaze is "nearly under control" but it is not known how many people may still be trapped. https://t.co/bBwRu4uHnR pic.twitter.com/QmGJAX9Mut  CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) March 28, 2019

Dhaka has a history of such fires

This fire in the Banani commercial district of Dhaka is the second major deadly blaze this year in the city.

The previous one was in February in the old quarter of the city and the death toll was at least 70 with more than 50 injured. In the present case, firefighters broke the windows to create escape routes and even after an hour, people remained trapped on the13th and 14th floors. Army helicopters chipped in by throwing down ropes to help rescue the trapped people.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Helicopters tried to control the flames that threatened to go out of control and spread to nearby buildings, by using water. During interaction with the media, Lieutenant Colonel Julfikar Rahman of the Dhaka fire service said  The building did not have fire-fighting equipment.

A fire broke out on Thursday in a large office tower in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, killing at least 4 people and trapping an untold number inside, the local news media reported https://t.co/h8s01Llmqs  The New York Times (@nytimes) March 28, 2019

The Guardian says the source of fire is not yet established but a person has revealed that it started in a restaurant on the sixth floor.

Dhaka is one of the most densely populated cities in the world where building regulations are notoriously lax. A fire in 2010 took 123 lives while another one in 2012 killed 111 workers in a garment factory.

Strong fire safety measures needed

According to the BBC, the administration must introduce suitable fire safety measures in high-rise buildings because fire destroys lives and properties. This is all the more important in view of the number of recent incidents. An official of Dhaka's fire service department has indicated that as many as nineteen fire-fighting units are at the scene along with personnel of Bangladesh navy and air force.

Dhaka has a population of more than 18 million and nearly 3.5 million of them live in slums, according to the World Bank.
Anticipation of some landmark Supreme Court decision on abortion is intensifying. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

For 46 years, the right of women to choose abortion in the most common circumstances has been part of the constitutional law of the land. For nearly that long, Republican presidents  the men with the exclusive power to make appointments to the federal judiciary in 26 of those 46 years  have criticized the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationally. Indeed, from 1980 on, the quadrennial Republican Party platform has called not simply for the reversal of Roe, but for federal constitutional protections for unborn children, overriding any states wishes. The GOP is now so thoroughly a party of undivided opinion on this subject (as opposed to their rank and file, which includes a sizable pro-choice minority) that of 250 Republican members of Congress, only two (Senators Collins and Murkowski) support abortion rights.

Yes, as any anti-abortion activist can bitterly tell you, their movement has often been disappointed by the conduct of Supreme Court justices appointed by Republican presidents:

When the big opportunity to reverse Roe came along in the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, all five Justices voting to maintain a constitutional right to an abortion were Republican appointees.

But over time, and with the right-to-life movement obtaining an ever-tighter grip on the GOP and  through such intermediaries as the powerful conservative legal organization the Federalist Society  on judicial appointments, the tide has slowly turned. As the New York Times Linda Greenhouse explains in an article that should terrify anyone who cherishes reproductive rights, a veritable insurrection against abortion rights has developed in the federal judiciary, in conjunction with Republican-controlled state legislatures.

Within the next few weeks, a challenge to Louisianas abortion law  will arrive at the [Supreme] court as a formal appeal. Louisiana requires that doctors who perform abortions in that deeply anti-abortion state do the impossible by getting admitting privileges in local hospitals. The law is substantially similar to the Texas law the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit conceded, in an opinion that implausibly upheld the Louisiana law nonetheless.

The Fifth Circuit is the court that upheld the Texas law. Yes, its the very same court the Supreme Court reversed in 2016, concluding that the law imposed an unconstitutional undue burden on womens access to abortion by forcing most of the states clinics to close while providing none of the health benefits the state claimed for it.

What makes that remarkable is that lower courts are supposedly tightly bound by Supreme Court precedents  in a way that SCOTUS itself isnt quite so bound. The Fifth Circuit is essentially being defiant. And as Greenhouse notes with a number of examples, thats not unusual when it comes to the reproductive rights that many judges adamantly oppose. Just as importantly, they and would-be counterrevolutionaries on the Supreme Court are being given an abundance of opportunities to chip away or overturn abortion rights by state legislatures:

Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan have looked for judges and justices who could be counted on to oppose the right to abortion. To a startling degree, the fruits of that effort are apparent in the cases now making their way to the Supreme Court. Red states are competing with one another to enact abortion restrictions that, while flagrantly unconstitutional under current law, could provide opportunities for the newly composed Supreme Court to reopen the issue. The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports reproductive rights, reported last week that since the beginning of this year, 304 abortion-restricting bills have been introduced in state legislatures. Lower court judges are constrained by Supreme Court precedent to invalidate these new laws, but the opinions by which they are doing so are suffused with their personal views on abortion and their complaints about how the high court has tied their hands.

If and when the edifice of Supreme Court doctrine on abortion rights comes down, the floodgates to restrictive laws will be open, too, with conservative lower-court judges welcoming them with open arms.

No one at this point knows where the dam will break; it might happen soon, or might require another Trump appointment to the Supreme Court. But Greenhouse is alarmed:

Of all the recent rulings, the decision that took me most by surprise and gives me the most concern was handed down two weeks ago by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The court upheld an Ohio law that bars state public health money from going to any organization that performs abortions. For any organization read Planned Parenthood, which receives no public money for abortions, but that for years has administered government grants for six public health programs, including H.I.V. testing, cancer screening and sexual violence prevention. Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of H.I.V. testing in Cleveland, Akron and Canton. It performs abortions at three of its 27 clinics in the state 

A Federal District Court barred the law from taking effect, in a decision upheld by a three-judge panel of the appeals court. But fortified by the addition of four Trump-appointed judges, the full court reheard the case and voted 11 to 6 to reverse the panel and uphold the law, with all the new judges in the majority.

As Greenhouse notes, federal courts have long held that the right to have an abortion implies the right for providers to perform them. But thats precisely the argument that the Sixth Circuit rejected. If SCOTUS agrees, all sorts of TRAP laws (Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers) might pass muster, and abortion rights could become largely hypothetical, particularly for low-income women in Republican-controlled states.

Anyone who has grown complacent about the regime of legal abortion created by Roe v. Wade needs to wake up and smell the pungent odor of a brewing counterrevolution.
Among the materials gathered, which are housed in Special Collections, is the oral history of Sherry Wood 80, who was the editor-in-chief of The Collegiate Times at the time of Denim Day.

We put the thing [ad for Denim Day] in the paper; I forgot about it. Then, as soon as it appeared, we literally started getting  I would say we got at least 150 letters, said Wood during her interview.

Wood said about half the letters were in support of Denim Day, but the animosity of those opposed was what really stood out.

Some of them were really hysterical or really just over the top, against gay rights, she said.

Among other things, student-penned letters called the event a stunt and an outrage to any thinking student. Many of the letters expressed anger the group had chosen such a popular clothing choice in making a statement.

Personally, Ive worn blue jeans every day that Ive been at Tech, and now I have to wear corduroy pants (preferably not blue, just in case.), wrote one student.

One letter expressed fear of students being falsely labeled as a supporter of gay rights by wearing jeans and closed with, the majority of Virginia Tech students, we hope, are not homosexuals.

Denim Day came and, according to Kelly, it was a quiet day that was noticeably lacking jeans, which then often referred to as the unofficial uniform of Virginia Tech students.

It was a sea of corduroys, Kelly said. Every class I went into, I was the only one wearing jeans.

What the campus didnt lack that day, or in the days that followed, was students speaking out against the GSA and Denim Day.

We were taunted, ridiculed; we were verbally and physically assaulted, Kelly said. We knew that we were not embraced. We knew that people did not accept us, but the level of the reaction was so immediate and fierce  It was a pretty decisive blow.

Photos in the Jan. 19, 1979, edition of The Collegiate Times showed at least two people wearing shirts protesting the event and a handful of male students wearing denim skirts in a mocking fashion. Wood estimated about 20 to 30 percent of the campus wore denim that day, down from about 90 percent on any other day.

Kelly said the hardship continued during the weeks and months that followed and was especially intense for those living in residence halls on campus.

It was very hard to be an openly gay person in the dorms because you couldnt get away from it. It wasnt safe, Kelly said.

As a result of Denim Day, the university received an estimated 25,000 letters throughout the next year, according to a 1980 report in The Collegiate Times.

When the group announced its plan to hold another Denim Day the following year, Kelly said GSA leaders were promptly called to Burruss Hall to meet with a senior university official.

He just said, Youre never going to do that again. You not only have embarrassed your organization within the university, but you have embarrassed the university throughout the state,' Kelly said. So, [instead] we had a Gay Pray Day where we were just going to pray for all those people who were mean to us.

As a result of the fallout, the GSA stopped meeting on campus, and Kelly and many others moved off campus for the remainder of their time at Tech.

That distance grew once Kelly completed her degree.

I did not walk at graduation. I did not step foot back on campus. I think the development people called me once, and I told them I was dead, Kelly said.

Re-experiencing Tech

Currently, Kelly is director of engagement and events at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, where in 2017, she was awarded the Star Advisor Award for her dedication to students.

It was there she had a conversation about Virginia Tech with Duke students in the LGBTQ+ community, which caused Kelly to rethink the distance between herself and the university.

They said, You really did pave the way for us. Its still hard, but its not as hard, she said. I just thought about the current students at Tech and how they might not have any older gay people as alums.

Realizing the 40th anniversary of Denim Day was approaching, Kelly decided to attempt to change that by revisiting campus and beginning to make inroads toward what became this years celebration.

Ive really been welcomed with open arms, Kelly said.

Along with Walker and Wright de Hernandez, Kelly was also soon in touch with Luis H. Garay, director of the LGBTQ+ Resource Center and began merging the Denim Day commemoration with Pride Week.

Garay said prior to Kellys return to Tech, little was known about Denim Day beyond the University Libraries archives, so the addition of her voice added a new dimension and illuminated the watershed moment.

It really showed the grand impact this moment had in 1979 with the student organization and just how much of a tizzy that sent folks into, Garay said. The real piece for me in hearing Nancys story was the impact it had on the students  so much that she hadnt engaged with Virginia Tech until last summer.

Wright de Hernandez said Kellys account brought into the present a story that was previously mostly known through a series newspaper articles.

Those were really interesting to me as far as the history aspect of it, but what you dont get from the articles are the personal stories of what happened to the individuals who were involved, Wright de Hernandez said. She went through all that and still graduated, and its not surprising she then chose to cut off ties.

He said he believes the work Kelly helped spur, especially the oral histories collected, would bring the historical text to life for future generations as well.

It takes that history and just elevates it and takes it into a space where people really can understand and empathize with what it is because youre really getting the emotion, Wright de Hernandez said.

Honoring the history of LGBTQ+ Hokies is an important part of Pride Week, which also includes, but is not limited to, the 14th annual Queer in Appalachia event, the second-annual LGBTQHokie Visibility Day, and a film on the history of Roanoke LGBTQ+ community, The Unlikely Story of the Lesbians of First Friday.

Garay said historical aspect of Pride Week was very important because it helps todays students to realize the legacy they are continuing.

A lot of the work student leaders are doing today, theyre standing on the shoulders of those alumni, and so I want them to contextualize their work in a historical sense, Garay said.

And the 40th anniversary of Denim Day provides a perfect opportunity for both acknowledgment of that legacy, as well as some intergenerational healing and restoration.

"We can say, we see you now. We can honor you in the present, Garay said. We may not have been able to be there in 1979 to honor you and celebrate you, but let us do that now in 2019, 40 years later, because it's important to us and our history."

Since that summer, Kelly said she has been contacting fellow participants of the 1979 Denim Day, sharing her new experience with Virginia Tech, and encouraging to do the same by attending the Denim Day Do Over.

The things that I had thought about Tech are no longer true. I just needed to let go of it and re-experience it, Kelly said.

She said shes excited for them to reunite and together grasp and reflect on Denim Days long-term impact.

We were just kids, we didnt want to be hated. We were just trying to figure out who we were, Kelly said. What we really did was create awareness, and in order for you to have rights and presence, you have to first have awareness.

 Written by Travis Williams
There are those who admire Theresa Mays tenacious two-year struggle to work a Brexit deal that her country can live. Mays been reduced to arguably the weakest Prime Minister since Neville Chamberlain as the Nazis invaded Poland.







By James DiGeorgia

Theresa May has suffered the public humiliation of suffering the worst rebukes from Parliament, complete with round after round of jeers, sneers and oratory rants concerning her incompetence from the boys club that makes up the bulk of Westminster. Despite becoming one of the most unpopular politicians in the United Kingdom she keeps dusting herself off and keeps trying to get a Brexit deal. So, when she finally offered her political head on a platter, a resignation in exchange for passage of her latest Brexit plan the entire legislative body as the United Kingdom paused in shock.

With Parliament is chaos Theresa May played her last possible move by standing up with tears in her eyes and announced according to her former policy adviser, George Freeman in an interview with the BBC

I promised I would deliver the Brexit agreement. I have made many mistakes. I am only human. I beg you, colleagues, vote for the withdrawal agreement and I will go.

The New York Times said of Mays gambit

The reserves of goodwill toward her in Parliament are nearly exhausted, but the sight of this proud, rigid woman admitting that she could not finish the job, giving up her hopes of ever being remembered as anything but Brexit roadkill, was a somber one. It was the last card she had to play.

Freeman described the mood following her statement as

There was silence in the room, and it was incredibly sad.

Another British Journalist described Committee Room 14 as stifling, and so overcrowded that, a Member of Parliament inquired to May ...

Would you like to lead a delegation to sit on the window sill, home secretary?

Ironically it was the same place; nearly 30 years ago, Conservatives had brought an end to Margaret Thatchers years as Prime Minister.

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There were those on both sides of the Brexit issue that showed sympathy for the embattled Prime Minister

 Jacob Rees-Mogg, a leader of the hard-Brexit faction that tried to remove her from office, said that her concession showed her inner nobility.

 Malcolm Rifkind, a Tory elder statesman, said, if she goes, she goes with honor.

 Mr. Clarke observed, Weirdly, I think there was a sense of relief, From all of us. Thats often what you see at the end.Rory Stewart, the justice minister, said after the meeting that Mrs. May had offered her resignation as she had governed.

 Her offer of resignation allowed weeks of pent-up tension to drain away, said Simon Clarke, a Brexiteer lawmaker, speaking to journalists in the corridor.

 Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, who at one point had compared Mrs. Mays deal to a suicide vest, told The Daily Telegraph that, I feel very, very sorry and though it fills me with pain, Im going to have to support this thing.

Mays offer appeared to work at first. Tory Brexiteers began to flip in her favor with several rising to their feet in the committee room when she finished speaking. Journalists watching keeping count as the hard-line group of Tory rebels sheared in half, defecting one by one in favor of her Brexit deal.

Mr. Rees-Mogg, one of the standard bearers of the Brexiteer faction, stood down, announcing that half a loaf is better than no bread. And indeed, according to most watching events unfold for nearly an hour after her offer to end her political care Mrs. May might have found a way to win approval of her latest Brexit plan. The anti-Brexit politicians woke up and made it be known they were consumed with a ferocious rage over the capitulation of his Brexiteer comrades.

Member of Parliament Mr. Rees-Moggs group lieutenant, Steve Baker, professed himself

I could tear this place down and bulldoze it into the river.

Then it went from bad to worse for Prime Minister May. The Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, which holds just ten seats of the 650 in Parliament but whose support is considered critical for Mrs. May Brexit plan, made its steadfast resistance to her plan known.

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The British newspapers on Thursday made much of the events on Wednesday with headlines like May Falls on Her Sword, The Telegraph announced. The Sun exulted Finally; Its Therexit. Already, the race to succeed her was in full gear. The reality that May be forced to leave regardless of whether Parliament approves her Brexit deal or kills it is becoming clear. Her committing political Hari-Kari may end with her calling for a third and final vote on her Brexit plan possibly as early as Friday will likely fall short of the support needed for passage. If that happens, Mays attempt to deliver a Brexit deal will remain, and she will be faced with the prospect of either being forced from office or held in the position for continued torment as the British democracy continues to tear itself apart.




Round the decay of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away. Photo: Darren Staples/Getty Images

Before Friday, the British Parliament had already rejected Theresa Mays Brexit plan twice  by landslide margins  and then forbade her from bringing the same agreement up for a vote ever again.

But the prime minister was undeterred. In a last ditch effort to save her defining policy proposal, May revealed that she still had a couple of political and procedural tricks up her sleeve. To win over partys hard-line Brexiteers, she promised that if Parliament approved her proposal, she would resign clearing the way for one of their kind to take her place. Meanwhile, to herd the requisite Labour votes, she reportedly offered the moderate opposition a buffet of pork projects for their districts.

Most critically  and innovatively  she found a way around Parliaments prohibition on giving her deal a third vote. Her plan technically consisted of two parts: a withdrawal agreement that establishes the most basic terms of Britains divorce from the European Union, and the future relationship document (or political declaration) which briefly summarizes what U.K.E.U. relations will be like in the sweet hereafter. Previously, Parliament had voted on those two documents as one package. So, May tore out the (slightly more divisive) future relationship bit, and introduced the withdrawal agreement as a stand-alone document, which therefore qualified as a new proposal.

Beyond securing May a third chance, this maneuver also put May in position to turn her no-deal Brexit into the only viable alternative to her own, according to British political commentator Ian Dunt:

Brussels had offered two separate [Brexit] extension deadlines. The first, which applied if [May] got her deal through, was a technical extension. It would last until May 22nd and give time for the government to pass the legislation needed to enact her deal at a domestic level. The second, which applied if no deal had been agreed, lasted until April 12th.

Both dates were defined by the European elections, which are tabled for May 23rd. The EU cannot allow the UK to remain a member of the EU after that date unless it takes part, or else it risks its parliament being illegally constituted. So the first extension was based on the date of the election. The second extension was based on the last date the UK would need to pass laws so it could take part in them. In reality, the EU expects Britain to make a further request before this date if there is no deal, at which point a longer extension is likely to be offered.

But there was a wrinkle in the text which May took full advantage of: the definition of deal in the EU position was just the withdrawal agreement, not the future relationship document. All May had to do was get that part through. Then she could work down the clock until April 12th and, once that date was passed, it would no longer be possible for the UK to take part in the elections. That would put her exactly where she wanted to be. No further extensions to Article 50 would be possible. May 22nd would become an immovable exit day  Thered be no more escape routes. All the promises and assurances would be gone. She would be able to threaten MPs that they had to back her plan or accept the abyss.



Alas, Parliament wasnt much more amenable to half of Mays Brexit deal than it was to the whole of it. The agreement went down in a vote of 334 to 286. Now, by all appearances, Mays plan is truly dead. Parliament will regain control of Brexit on Monday. A range of possibilities lay before it. In the view of many observers, the chances of the U.K. remaining in the E.U. are higher now than theyve been since the referendum  but so are the chances of Britain crashing out of the union without an agreement in just 14 days.

Britain is expected to present its new plan for Brexit on April 10, at a summit with E.U. leaders. Heres a quick rundown of the three most plausible scenarios for how it will (or wont) arrive at a final answer by then:

Parliament approves a sketchy, ultrasoft Brexit.

On Wednesday, the House of Commons held indicative votes on a series of Brexit proposals. Lawmakers were given a list of eight options, and invited to check aye next to as many of them as they deemed acceptable, and no next to those they could not abide. The point of this exercise wasnt to pass any one Brexit plan, so much as to suss out which options had a prayer of commanding a majority. All possibilities were rejected.

Not one Brexit plan has received support from a majority of MPs in tonight's #indicativevotes



The closest to get a majority were Clarke's Customs Union plan (49.2%) and Beckett's confirmatory public vote plan (47.6%) pic.twitter.com/afXqKYaETU  Ashley Kirk (@Ashley_J_Kirk) March 27, 2019

But a proposal to keep the U.K. permanently in a customs union with the E.U. received just eight fewer ayes than nos, making it the most popular proposal on offer. Under this arrangement, Britain would ostensibly preserve tariff-free trade with the E.U., in exchange for abiding by the unions trade rules  which, by Brexiting, the U.K. would lose direct say over. In other words, the U.K. would accept less sovereignty over trade than it currently enjoys. On the other hand, this would allow Britain to regain control of its immigration policy without severely disrupting its economy.

Or, that might be what a customs union means. The whole thing would need to be negotiated with Europe. But if the Parliament drafted a sketchy future relationship document calling for a customs union  and approved it during the second round of indicative votes Monday  then European leaders could within days revise the political declaration, the non-binding outline of the future relationship, to set the two negotiating teams on that course, and  agree at the summit to a limited extension until 22 May, according to the Guardian.

Parliament asks the British people to settle their disputes through another general election, or second referendum.

The second-most-popular option Wednesday was a second referendum. Under this option, Parliament would settle on a hypothetical Brexit plan, and then have the British people vote on whether theyd rather remain in the E.U., or accept said plan. Such a gambit could not be executed on the existing Brexit timeline. But the E.U. is open to giving the U.K. a longer extension  on the condition that it is a much longer extension, granted on the understanding that Britain wishes to drastically rethink its position. So if Parliament does find a majority for a second referendum, E.U. leaders would likely postpone the deadline for Brexit by at least nine months  a move that would force Britain to participate in the upcoming European parliamentary elections, kicking off an uproar of populist outrage among impassioned Leavers.

Similarly, if Parliament decides that its hopelessly deadlocked, and that it needs a new general election to achieve consensus, then a lengthy Brexit delay would also be in the cards.

Parliament sticks to what it knows best, and continues throwing ineffectual tantrums from now until April 10.

If the U.K. cannot decide on any path forward between now and the upcoming E.U. summit, then European leaders will have two options: Let Britain crash out into economic chaos on April 12 (and hope that hubristic little island will quickly return to the bargaining table, having discovered that it really, truly isnt a great empire anymore), or offer the U.K. a lengthy extension with certain conditions, and let Parliament choose its fate. For the E.U., the latter approach would have the benefit of ensuring that, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the final decision to jump off that cliff  and thus, proximate responsibility for the consequences of doing so  would lie in London instead of Brussels.

This is far from a comprehensive rundown of Brexits possible futures. Truly, no one seems to know how the U.K.s long, national nervous breakdown will end. Declining powers have been known to do some unthinkable things whilst raging against the dying of the light.
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Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The day after a shooter killed 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a National Rifle Association officer sent a message from his official email to an Infowars writer known for harassing parents of children killed at Sandy Hook. According to emails obtained by HuffPost, NRA training instructor and program coordinator Mark Richardson contacted Wolfgang Halbig  who has made several trips to Newtown, Connecticut, to self-investigate the 2012 shooting where 20 children and six adults were fatally shot  to pitch the Infowars contributor a potential conspiracy theory about the attack in Florida.

Just like [Sandy Hook], there is so much more to this story, Richardson wrote in his email, dated February 15, 2018. [The Parkland shooter] was not alone. In his message to Halbig, Richardson suggested details of a possible second shooter at Stoneman Douglas, to see if the conspiracist would take the bait and pursue the line of questioning on his own:

Concerning what happened in Florida yesterday, I have been asking the question and no one else seems to be asking it. How is it that Cruz was able gain access to a secured facility while in possession of a rifle, multiple magazines, smoke grenades and a gas mask? To pull the fire alarm, he had to already be inside. Correct? When my Children were in school the only way into the school was through the front door and past the main office. We have been told that he was. Prohibited from entering the building With a backpack. No longer a student, why was he allowed in the building at all? Where was all the equipment, in his back pocket? Just like SH, there is so much more to this story. He was not alone. Just a few questions that have surfaced in the past 24 hours. Thank you for all the information And for what you do. STAY SAFE

The same day that Richardson wrote to Halbig about the erroneous second shooter, Infowars posted a story called Video: Second Shooter Reported in Florida Massacre, although its unclear if Halbig wrote the item. The email exchange itself was released as part of the discovery process for the lawsuit that Sandy Hook parent Scarlett Lewis has filed against Alex Jones, suing the Infowars founder for intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Nine other Sandy Hook parents are suing Jones in separate lawsuits.) I was shocked when that support came from an NRA official in 2018, Brooke Binkowski, a consultant for Lewiss attorneys, wrote to HuffPost, describing the process by which she came across the email.

In his career as a conspiracist, Halbig has deluged Newtown officials with open records requests, demanding, among other things, records from the cleanup of bodily fluids, brain matter, skull fragments and around 45-60 gallons of blood, according to the New York Times. He has also spread the conspiracy that 6-year-old Avielle Richmans parents faked their daughters death at Sandy Hook, with the intention to steal money from hard-working Americans. In his response to the email from the NRAs Mark Richardson, Halbig wrote the 6-year-olds name in all-caps in the title, before boasting about how he can no longer be called a FRAUD.

The NRA responded to HuffPost on Thursday, calling any conspiracies related to the Sandy Hook shooting insane. But the emails from Richardson present a new low in the NRAs post-shooting playbook  whether or not the instructor was in conflict with the organizations official messaging. The NRA literally drives conspiracies about school shootings to fear monger gun owners to buy more guns, David Hogg, the gun-reform advocate and Parkland shooting survivor, wrote on Twitter. I dont understand how any human being could support an organization aimed at selling guns at the cost of dead children. Aside from Richardsons actions, the NRA went on the offensive after Parkland: CEO Wayne LaPierre told the audience at CPAC that gun-reform advocates dont care about our schoolchildren  and want to make all of us less free before repeating the falsehood that more guns in schools would protect students. The NRA also released a video a week after Parkland that claimed that the mainstream media love mass shootings because they juice their ratings and push their agenda.

For both the NRA and the families of shooting survivors, the consequences of Parkland and Sandy Hook are ongoing. In 2017, the organization reported a loss of $55 million in income, and in its current messaging, the group states it could shutter very soon  although that claim may be closer to fundraising propaganda than reality. Among survivors, the ramifications are more deadly. Within the past two weeks, two Parkland survivors died by apparent suicide. And Jeremy Richman, the father of Avielle Richman  who allegedly survived the Sandy Hook shooting, according to Halbigs conspiracy  was found dead at a movie theater in Newton, also by apparent suicide.
Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Conservatives have spent three years explaining away the overt authoritarian tendencies of President Trump  who, just in the last week, called the media the enemy of the people, demanded retribution against satirists, urged his attorney general to reopen an investigation into his opponent who has already been cleared of wrongdoing, and goaded his supporters in the police and military to unleash extra-legal political violence on the opposing party. But now they have decided it is their turn to take sweet revenge and throw the same accusations back in Democrats faces.

The pretext is a series of calls for political reform by Democratic presidential candidates  to end the Electoral College, abolish the filibuster, and perhaps add non-partisan justices to the Supreme Court. Conservatives present these ideas as equally dangerous as anything Trump has proposed, if not more so.

Democrats once tried to present themselves as defenders of national norms If there are any Democrats left who still believe in that stuff, we suggest they come forward now and try to save their party from the power-hungry crazies who are taking it over, editorializes the Washington Examiner. Today it is Democrats who are declaring war on the Constitution  allowing them to marginalize Americans who do not support their increasingly radical agenda and impose it on an unwilling nation, argues Marc Thiessen. Fighting one norm-breaker by creating another is an excellent way for the Democrats to fail again, argues National Reviews David French.

This accusation rests on a series of complete misapprehensions about Constitutional history and what it is Democrats are proposing. Its true that some left-wing activists have loosely talked about packing the Supreme Court. A court pack is when you change the number of seats in order to give your party an advantage. (During the Obama administration, Senate Republicans tried to do this by reducing the number of seats in the powerful D.C. Circuit, spuriously claiming the judges were underworked.)

But Democratic presidential candidates arent proposing to do this. What theyre advocating instead, as Eric Levitz points out, is reforms outlined by legal scholars that would correct the highly partisan incentives that have distorted the system. Supreme Court nominations have increasingly turned into a politicized war to manipulate lifetime appointments by appointing loyal apparatchiks vetted by opposing partisan legal teams. The reforms being discussed would not give Democrats a permanent advantage, but would instead permanently create a balanced court in which neither party can confidently secure a majority.

Obviously, from the partisan Republican standpoint, a balanced court is less attractive than the currently Republican-controlled one. Just as obviously, Democrats have a partisan interest in undoing the conservative majority. But this is still not the same as scheming to engineer their own majority.

As for Democratic plans to make the president national vote winner, or to eliminate the legislative filibuster, these are both reforms in keeping with the long tradition of increasing small-d democratic mechanisms. The original Constitution was wildly undemocratic. The Electoral College was originally designed to create elite electors who would make their own decision on who should serve as president, as well as to give slaveholders extra representation via the three-fifths clause. Senators were originally appointed rather than elected, and of course voting was originally restricted primarily to white male landowners. The filibuster was created as an accidental glitch, then required complete unanimity, then 70 votes, the threshold of which was reduced to 60 in 1975, and several exemptions have been carved out.

The system has frequently evolved toward majoritarian principles. Its capacity to do so is, in fact, its greatest feature. The current Republican posture asserts that any change to its features  even change conducted within the Constitutional structure itself  amounts to a rejection of the document and its spirit. You cant defend the Constitution while trying to tear it up at the same time, cries Thiessen. A recent Fox News chyron charges, 2020 DEMS TEARING UP THE CONSTITUTION.

The notion that the Constitution is perfect  as it currently stands, not the original version with slavery and male-only voting and so on  is a completely novel one for the Republicans. This is a party that has in recent decades embraced the routine advocacy of Constitutional amendments to advance or cement right-wing policy. The 2016 Republican platform called for Constitutional amendments on abortion, same-sex marriage, term limits, balanced-budget, and education.

The deeper confusion afflicting the Republicans is that they think the problem with Trump is simply his assault on norms. A norm is just want it sounds like  whats normal, the way things are done. Not all norms are important or worth keeping. Some are trivial (i.e., before Trump, the president always had a pet) and others actively harmful (before Barack Obama, the president was always a white man.)

Not all norms matter. The particular threat posed by Trump is to democratic norms, because theyre one way in which democracies sustain themselves. Not every possible abuse can be prevented with a formal rule. You need some norms to prevent ruling parties from abusing their power in order to perpetuate their control of government and to discourage political violence.

Many left-wing critics who downplay the unique threat posed by Trump have made exactly the same error, treating defenses of democratic norms as though they were defenses of all norms.

Yes, Democratic proposals to change presidential elections so that the second-place vote-getter doesnt win (i.e., the same rules we use in every other election in this country) and Trumps proposal to unleash a bloody crackdown by right-wing members of the armed forces are both changes to political norms. One side is proposing to make the system (small-d) democratic, and the other is  not. The conservative intelligentsia is divided between those who actively cheer on the presidents authoritarianism, and those who pretend its no different than making the system more democratic. Either way, they are enabling him.
The Birth of Guam, a Poem

Guam was born on March 6, 1521, when Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the womb of Humatak Bay and delivered [us] into the calloused hands of modernity. Guam is Where Western Imperialism in the Pacifc Begins! St. Helena Augusta, tayuyute [ham] : pray for [us]. The annual reenactment of Discovery Day is a must see for all tourists: Chamorros-dressed-as-our- ancestors welcome Chamorros-dressed-as-the-galleon-crew. After the bloody performance, enjoy local food, walking tours, live reggae bands, and fireworks! Guam was adopted on December 10, 1898, when the Treaty of Paris was signed, and Spain ceded [us] to the United States. Guam is Where Americas Western Frontier Begins! Guam was declared an unincorporated territory on May 27, 1901, when the Supreme Court Insular Cases decided that the U.S. constitution does not follow its flag. Guam is Where Americas Logic of Territorial Incorporation Ends! Guam was kidnapped on December 8, 1941, when Japan bombed, invaded, and occupied [us]. Guam is Where the Greater East Asia Co- Prosperity Sphere Begins! On July 21, 1944, the U.S. armed forces returned and defeated the Japanese military. Guam was naturalized on August 1, 1950, when the Organic Act bestowed U.S. citizenship upon [us]. Guam is Where Americas Passports Begin! Guam was pimped out on May 1, 1967, when Pan American World Airways arrived with the first 109 Japanese tourists. The Guam Visitors Bureau birthed a new marketing slogan: Guam is Where Americas Day Begins! Since Guam is located 2,000 miles west of the international dateline, [we] instagram the sunrise before anyone in the fifty states. For the past 30 years, a straw poll on Guam has accurately predicted U.S. presidential elections, even though our votes dont actually count in the electoral college. Guam is Where Americas Voting Rights End! This ironic streak ended in 2016, when Hillary Clinton received 70% of the ballots cast on Guam, yet Donald Trump still won #notmycolonizerinchief. St. Thomas More, tayuyute [ham]. After the election, [we] begin the countdown to Super Bowl Monday, a sacred day when all Chamorros leave work and school in procession to the altar of the television. St. Sebastian, tayuyute [ham]. I attended George Washington High School on Guam, but I often skipped English class because the haole teacher made [us] memorize boring, canonical verse. Guam is Where Americas Poetry Begins! Sorry not sorry if I threw everyones rhyme and meter off.

by Graig Santos Perez
The Best Restaurants in Healdsburg

(Courtesy of SingleThread)

SingleThread

It didn't take long for SingleThread to make an impression. In 2018, the restaurant was awarded three Michelin Stars in just its second year of operation, making it the first Sonoma County restaurant to ever earn three stars. Come hungry: SingleThread serves up an exquisite and colorful, 11-course tasting menuthink, quail roulade and coal roasted beetssourcing ingredients from their very own farm. Restaurant bookings are released on the first of every month at 9AM. There' also an inn on-site where you can order up an in-room dining experience featuring a multicourse Donabe Hot Pot Dinner. // 131 North St. (Healdsburg), singlethreadfarms.com

Barndiva

If you're looking for a special occasion spot (many a wedding have made this their reception locale of choice), this is your place. The atmosphere is elegant, rustic, and screams Wine Country, with local farm animal-themed artwork, antique fixtures, and a tree-covered gravel patio draped with lights, that's positively hopping on weekend nights. As for the food, it's fresh, sophisticated, and beyond tasty (if salmon is on the menu, no matter what the preparation, get itthey source this from the gods). If you can't swing dinner, opt for an epic brunch. // 231 Center St., barndiva.com

Dry Creek Kitchen



If you're traveling with out-of-town parents, Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen, at Hotel Healdsburg, is guaranteed to please with an approachable, modern American menu and seasonal ingredients fresh from Sonoma County. Settle in for a five-course tasting with pairings, but don't miss the wine list: More than 500 Sonoma lables promise a comprehensive taste of the region. Chloe Hennen // 317 Healdsburg Ave., hotelhealdsburg.com/dry-creek-kitchen

Moustache Baked Goods

Let Moustache Baked Goods sway you back to the twee dessert with cheeky flavors (The Beekeeper: meyer lemon, honey, and lavender), outrageously thick frosting, and flavorful cake. We'll gladly proclaim it's the best cupcake in the Bay Area, plus owners Osvaldo "Ozzie" Jimenez and Christian Sullberg (two local boys who just get it) serve up Tartine's Coffee Manufactory to wash it all down. //381 Healdsburg Ave., moustachebakedgoods.com

Bravas Bar de Tapas

Boasting perhaps the best patio in town, this traditional Spanish tapas restaurant is brought to you by beloved Sonoma County restaurateurs Mark and Terri Stark (known also for Willi's Wine Bar, Bird & the Bottle, and more). Bravas is livelynote the list of gin and tonics (try the Chubasco) at the outdoor bar, where they broadcast the local gamesand solid for shareable plates such as duck meatball bocadillos and crispy pig ears. Finish with the goat cheese tostada (topped with golden onions and white truffle honey) for a savory-sweet dessert. // 420 Center St., starkrestaurants.com/bravas

Campo Fina

Head to Campo Fina for blisteringly delicious pizzas and homey dishes such as The Old School in a Skillet (meatballs with tomato sauce, parmesan, and ciabatta) or Nonna's tomato-braised chicken. Their back patio is ideal for an al fresco dinner, but even better for a giant salad or panini lunch (try the Cali B.L.A.S.T.) and a game of bocce. // 330 Healdsburg Ave., campofina.com

Chalkboard

Chalkboard's casual atmosphere and elegant service has flourished since opening in May 2013. Chef Shane McAnelly lets his creative juices flow throughout a menu of small plates impossible to choose from, like Dungeness crab tater tots, calamari a la plancha, or any of the housemade pastas (for $45, you can taste them all). Whatever you do, save room for The Candy Bar: perhaps the ultimate throwback dessert with dense layers of brownie and caramel, a tower of roasted milk chocolate cremeaux, and scoop of nougat ice cream with peanuts on top. // 29 North St., chalkboardhealdsburg.com

Noble Folk Ice Cream & Pie Bar



This sweet little shop on the square by the Moustache Baked Goods guys taps into the hipster in all of us peddling "heritage pies" (like their amazing chocolate maple walnut version), but the deliciousness doesn't stop therescoops of ice cream the size of your head in flavors such as Pistachio Cherry, Almond Matcha, and Vegan Passion Fruit make this the Bi-Rite Creamery of Wine Country. // 116 Matheson St., thenoblefolk.com

The Brass Rabbit



Brought to you by the fine folks at Chalkboard and chef Shane McAnelly, Healdsburg's unofficial Pasta House occupies a tiny nook on the square and serves up heaps of carbs that you'll never regret, like the Spaghettini Cacio e Pepe or Black Truffle Chevoo Filled Scarpinocc. They have a small but mighty cocktail list (try the Always Sunny in California with amaro, Cocchi Americano, prosecco, soda) and even do weekend brunch with $15 bottomless mimosas. // 109 Plaza St., thebrassrabbithealdsburg.com

Parish Cafe

This sunny little space on the way into town from the 101 (take the Central Healdsburg exit) is a slice of the south plopped in Wine Country, and perfect for a quick breakfast or lunch before wine tasting. Pick from your poison of po'boys, share an order of fried pickles, and don't miss the beignets. // 60 Mill St., theparishcafe.com
Photo: Ting Shen/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

President Trumps budget zeroes out federal funding for the Special Olympics. Its an extremely puzzling move. The White House budget is a symbolic statement of administration priorities that stands no chance of enactment in Congress. (It didnt even stand a chance of enactment when Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress.) Why attack something extremely popular for a minuscule contribution toward the unimportant goal of pretending to balance the budget in the long-distant future?

After a brief uproar in which Education Secretary Betsy DeVos lambasted the media for accurately reporting on the proposal, Trump today announced to reporters, I have overridden my people, were funding the Special Olympics. Its not really clear what it means to override a proposal that isnt going anywhere. It does seem clear that sending a member of your cabinet out to defend a cartoon-villain idea and then denouncing it is something less than a masterstroke.

DeVos dutifully announced that she was secretly against the plan to defund it all along:

DEVOS statement: "I am pleased and grateful the president and I see eye-to-eye on this issue, and that he has decided to fund our Special Olympics grant. This is funding I have fought for behind-the-scenes over the last several years." https://t.co/8sVEiaORb7  Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) March 28, 2019

I was secretly against this all along despite my public statements is a line were probably going to be hearing a lot from members of the Trump administration in the future.
Northern State wrestling off to undefeated dual season

The Northern State wrestling team is off to a hot start and has won three straight duals to open the season.
There are a growing number of New Mexicans working multiple jobs and still not able to make ends meet. With limited time off from work and the increased mobility demands of daily life, the time it takes to navigate our current election and voter registration system to update or get on the voter rolls can be discouraging.

New Mexico took a unique opportunity to modernize our election and voter registration system in Senate Bill 672, which Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Wednesday. It is investing in the future of our democracy while safeguarding our voter information.

Along with our legislators representing the many rural communities across our state, we share a firm belief that there is no greater fundamental value than the ability of each and every eligible American citizen to cast a vote. For Democrats and Republicans alike, the right to vote is a cornerstone of Americas democracy.

Elected officials have the responsibility to ensure New Mexicans have access to a secure and modern election and voter registration system that will efficiently update the voter rolls while saving voters time and our state money. But how exactly does modernizing our voter registration and election systems make them the most secure, cost-saving, effective and accessible possible?

For starters, a registration modernization system is already in place thanks to the efforts of Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver. Our current system allows voter information  name, date of birth and voting eligibility  to be collected and updated from different state agencies, like the Motor Vehicle Division. Senate Bill 672 simply switches our current system to give New Mexicans the choice to opt out of updating their information or registration. At the same time, the decision of those who do not wish to participate in the process, for whatever reason, is respected.

The legislation will provide a modern and efficient method that allows eligible New Mexicans to take full advantage of the opportunity to register, or keep their registration current, whenever they interact with a state agency, such as the Human Services Department (HSD). For New Mexicans who live in rural areas and have to travel great distances, passing and implementing Senate Bill 672 will prove especially helpful. It will save time, energy and that extra trip to town.

When fully implemented, SB 672 will not only be a time saver for constituents across the state, but also will reduce the costs for government. Registration modernization means a decrease in time spent on routine, but essential, administrative tasks like sorting paper voting applications  all while never losing sight of ensuring that the vote of every citizen will count. This is about making government work more efficiently. Furthermore, this will reduce taxpayer expense by effectively eliminating the costs of provisional ballots, which often result from residents having an old address on the registration file instead of their current address.

As a state, we can protect the integrity and security of voter registration while also encouraging citizens to participate in our election system. Creating an inclusive democracy means every voice and vote will count.

We applaud the hard work by Toulouse Oliver and members of the Legislature in the recent strides to make our elections and voter registration systems more secure, more efficient and less costly, as well as Gov. Lujan Grisham for recognizing this priority and signing SB 672 into law.
When President Donald Trump signed legislation to fund government agencies for the remainder of the fiscal year, our country avoided another partial government shutdown and unnecessary pain. But in the process, Congress also passed up a golden opportunity to extend a permanent solution to Dreamers.

And not for the first time. Congress inability to work together in a bipartisan fashion has unfortunately been answered by unilateral executive action, leaving us with an immigration policy that is temporary and ever-evolving.

We can see this in the 2012 executive branch memorandum to extend a temporary reprieve from deportation proceedings for a portion of the Dreamer population.

New Mexico is a better place with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and Dreamers, who want nothing more than to contribute to their communities and their country. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates that there are more than 6,000 active DACA recipients living in New Mexico. But since President Trumps decision to end the DACA program in 2017, and Congress failure to come together and pass a permanent solution, the fate of Dreamer  including those who call New Mexico home  has been in doubt. A series of subsequent court rulings has allowed DACA recipients to temporarily remain in place for those who are currently enrolled. But the fear of being deported and the looming uncertainty surrounding their futures is a real and ongoing concern.

Public polling shows that an overwhelming majority wants to extend protection for the Dreamer population.

Congress could provide certainty to this group through an immigration deal. New Mexicos congressional delegation can play an important role in jump-starting negotiations. As representatives of a border state, New Mexican lawmakers bring a unique perspective.

The New Mexico delegation includes veterans like Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, who has expressed support for comprehensive immigration reform and the need to create a path to protect Dreamers, as well as freshman Rep. Xochitl Torres Small. She was recently named chair of the Homeland Security Oversight, Management and Accountability Subcommittee  an important panel with jurisdiction over immigration policy.

As a candidate in 2018, Torres Small said she was supportive of a broad immigration reform proposal that provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, improves border security and prioritizes law enforcement.

Meanwhile, Steve Pearce, chairman of the states Republican Party and a former congressman, has recently expressed support for an immigration compromise, saying that pairing enhanced border security funding with DACA protections seems like a reasonable suggestion, with both sides getting something and both giving something.

President Trumps decision to declare a national emergency to secure the border only disrupts the ability of the executive and legislative branch to execute their proper roles. History shows that unilateral actions by the executive (branch) are likely to face legal scrutiny, create more havoc, and bring on even more delay and uncertainty.

Congress should be the one to determine the best way to enhance border security. As residents of a border state, the people of New Mexico know that in some places, an actual physical wall may be the least cost-effective way to enhance border security. In those places, the use of infrared technology or providing Customs and Border Protection with additional resources and personnel might be the best use of taxpayer dollars. Ultimately, however, we must also work to reduce the incentives for people to violate the law by modernizing and expanding the avenues available for people to come through the legal immigration system. If we do this, we can expect to see a reduction in the stress thats placed along our southern border.

Recently, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham visited the border to get a firsthand look and said she would love to see New Mexico lead by example, and make every effort to secure the border in a meaningful way that not only protects New Mexicans, but also the entire country.

Gov. Lujan Grisham is right. Now, its up to Congress to lead. The people of New Mexico need elected officials to act in the best interest of our state and our country, and not their political parties. An immigration solution that enhances border security and provides a permanent solution to Dreamers would be a great step forward.
SAN DIEGO  At a time when we unfriend those we disagree with, and when were only interested in opinions that reaffirm what we believe, is it still possible to acknowledge the value of someone we dont particularly like?

It is. Because it happened to me.

When I heard that special counsel Robert Mueller had finally submitted his report, the first person I thought of was Jeff Sessions.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson was also thinking about Sessions. After all, it was the then-attorney generals recusal from the Justice Department investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election that opened the door for Muellers appointment. No recusal, no Mueller. Many conservatives will never forgive Sessions for that decision.

On his television show on the day the report landed, Carlson argued that Sessions had been really hurt by all this and that his reputation had been completely destroyed because of the investigation.

Please. Sessions had to recuse himself because he had met with Russian officials as a surrogate for Donald Trumps presidential campaign. And while its true that Sessions has been really hurt by all this, the person who hurt him wasnt Mueller. It was Trump. You dont hire someone and then publicly humiliate him for months. Trump put Sessions on the spot and then put him in the crosshairs.

Thats what I was thinking of when I met Sessions recently at College of the Ozarks, a Christian institution in Southern Missouri where both of us were invited to speak.

After hearing him address the students, and then engaging in some private small talk, I came away with a new appreciation for the man. And no one was more surprised by this epiphany than me.

Over the years, I must have written about a dozen columns about the Alabamian. Almost all of them were negative. Some were downright mean. When Sessions railed against affirmative action, I bashed him. When he helped Trump get elected, I bashed him again. And when, as attorney general, he targeted so-called sanctuary cities, well, you get the idea.

In the 1980s, when he was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, he was accused of being racist toward African-Americans. That narrative only got stronger when, as a U.S. senator, he took positions that were at odds with the best interests of people of color.

There is no surprise here. You go around claiming that white people are discriminated against, or that local police departments that are under consent decrees for violating peoples civil rights should no longer be monitored, or that we should limit legal immigration  most of which comes from Africa, Asia and Latin America  and, well, people are going to call you names.

But now that Ive met Sessions, I understand why so many Americans appreciate and admire the man. For folks who live south of the Mason-Dixon Line, or in the Midwest, hes a hero for going as far as he did in life given his humble beginnings.

Born in 1946, Sessions was raised in the tiny town of Hybart, Ala., where his father owned a country store. Hes not a product of the Ivy League but of Huntingdon College in Montgomery and the University of Alabama School of Law. After becoming a lawyer, and then serving as U.S. attorney, he was nominated for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama  only to have his nomination scuttled amid accusations that he had made racially offensive remarks. Sessions then ran for Alabama attorney general and won. Then he ran for a U.S. Senate seat and won that, too. Finally, in 2017, Sessions got the position he always wanted when he became attorney general. Unfortunately, the person who gave him his dream job turned out to be a nightmare.

Ive always had my beefs with Sessions, and I still do. Meeting him didnt change that.

However, I hail from a small farm town in Central California, where they grow everything  except high expectations for the people who live there. So Sessions journey resonates with me.

When we met, Sessions put out his hand and joked: Is this the famous Ruben Navarrette?

I smiled, and I thanked him for his service.

Well, he said. Weve had an interesting ride, havent we?

Yes, sir. We have.

Now that the Mueller investigation is done, the country is owed an explanation for how this debacle was possible. And Trump owes Sessions an apology for putting him in a position that was impossible.
One of President Donald Trumps favorite topics is the crisis on our southern border. So its puzzling his administration has twiddled its thumbs when it comes to filling federal judicial vacancies in New Mexico  a district swamped with illegal immigration cases that handles the second-highest felony caseload of the five federal judicial districts that span the U.S.-Mexico border.

The district saw 4,568 illegal entry filings in 2018, part of what Chief Judge William Johnson of Albuquerque calls the staggering caseloads all the border courts are dealing with.

The New Mexico District has two vacant judgeships now  one in Albuquerque and one in Las Cruces  and is looking at another soon. New Mexico has 593 felony filings for each of the seven authorized judgeships in the district. For now, visiting judges from other parts of the country are providing some relief, and Albuquerque-based judges, like Johnson, go to Las Cruces periodically to help with the flood of immigration cases. On one trip, Johnsons docket had 99 re-entry cases  meaning the defendant had previously been deported and returned illegally.

On the border, you learn to go with the flow, and you have to learn to adapt to handle the numbers while at the same time affording defendants their due process rights, he says.

The bean counters in Washington, D.C., like to say immigration cases arent that hard. Well, they might not be that hard, but theres a hell of a lot of them.

Going with the flow would be good advice for the presidents administration on filling these vacancies.

Last May, New Mexicos Democratic Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and then-Rep. Steve Pearce  a Republican  sent the White House lists of nominees for the two positions. The bipartisan nature of that process should head off any Democratic resistance to Trump nominees in the Senate confirmation process, which has played a part in a judicial logjam. Nationwide, 129 district judgeships are vacant. About 40 percent of those have a nominee awaiting Senate confirmation.

But you cant blame New Mexicos openings on the Senate.

The list for one of the two positions includes attorney Mark Baker of Albuquerque, state District Judge Kea Riggs of Roswell, state District Judge James Lawrence Sanchez of Los Lunas and U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Yarbrough of Albuquerque. The list for the other includes Riggs and state District Judge Kevin Sweazea, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth and attorney Steven Sosa, all of Las Cruces.

These names have been sitting in the White House for almost 10 months  an unconscionable delay given the situation here. The White House needs to move on this, and the Senate should quickly do its work on confirmation.

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.
NEWCOMB  Navajo Housing Authority maintenance technician Winston Martinez stood inside a newly modernized home during an open house telling visitors about the new wood stove, and how it will distribute heat throughout the house.

The unit is part of 10 public rentals west of U.S. 491 in the agencys residential area that underwent renovation and modernization beginning last April.

The work is part of a push by the agency to modernize its residences and rental units on the Navajo Nation.

Sheep Springs resident Tasha Nez was among those who toured the four-bedroom, two-bath home.

Were just checking out the place  curious, Nez said with a grin.

Attendees walked to the residential area after remarks about the project were made at the Newcomb Chapter House.

Logan Piburn, project manager for Dyron Murphy Architects, talked about the dilapidated conditions the homes were in before the improvement project started.

Work included reducing each unit to its frame to check and bring up to code the electrical wiring, plumbing and ventilation systems.

Among the amenities each house received were energy-efficient lighting and new wood stoves, new appliances and insulation in the attic and walls.

Thats what modernization means: taking these homes and bringing them up to 21st century standards, Piburn said.

A notable addition is chain link fencing around each unit, which provides privacy for residents and will reduce foot traffic in the area.

In addition to Newcomb, the agency has modernized homes in Shiprock, Ojo Amarillo and lower Nageezi and in Klagetoh and Kayenta in Arizona.

The Navajo Housing Authority is working on houses in Gadiiahi and in Chilchinbeto, Fort Defiance and Window Rock in Arizona.

The project in Newcomb cost about $1.5 million and was funded by the Indian Housing Block Grant. The program is under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act and was offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to Navajo Housing Authority officials.

Officials said the homes are ready for occupancy and the application process is underway.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said the project will empower the communities because it provides modern living standards to residents.

During his remarks, he acknowledged the shortage of available housing on the Navajo Nation, the need to educate tribal members about owning a home and to encourage them to take that step.

What we want to do is make public rental a steppingstone to owning your own home. You shouldnt be renting your house forever, Nez said, adding that Navajo Housing Authority and tribal officials have discussed opportunities to promote homeownership.
Trump shaking hands with Robert Hugin, former chairman of the biotech firm Celgene, as Ken Frazier, chairman and CEO of Merck & Co., looks on. Photo: Ron Sachs/Bloomberg via Getty Images

If theres anything Donald Trump hates more than globalist trade deals that restrict U.S. sovereignty, its the exorbitant cost of pharmaceuticals in this country.

The next major priority for me, and for all of us, should be to lower the cost of health care and prescription drugs, the president said in his most recent State of the Union Address. It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place.

And yet, the presidents new version of NAFTA  the uncreatively named United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)  actually forbids the U.S. Congress from curtailing Big Pharmas patent monopolies on some of the worlds most expensive drugs. In other words: Trumps America First trade deal restricts U.S. sovereignty, for the sake of locking in high drug prices.

In the U.S. today, drug companies that produce new biologics  specialty drugs made with living cells  are provided 12 years of immunity from generic competition. This awards such firms monopolistic pricing power over their (often life-saving) medicines for more than a decade after their wares hit the market. The rationale for this policy is that companies will not invest in high-cost biologic research if they arent guaranteed windfall profits for their innovations. But even if one accepts this (tendentious) premise, a 12-year monopoly appears both arbitrary and excessive. In Mexico, biologic makers are only immunized against competition from so-called biosimilars for five years; in Canada, such protections last eight. Congressional Democrats have drafted legislation that would cut the duration of biologic monopolies down to seven years.

But if Trumps revised version of NAFTA takes effect, Democrats will not have the legal authority to advance that legislation  because the USMCA guarantees biologic makers at least a ten-year monopoly on their new drugs across all three of North Americas major economies.

House Democrats say thats unacceptable. As the administration pushes to get its trade deal through Congress, Nancy Pelosis caucus has made striking the provision on biologics one of it top demands.

If the rule isnt rolled back, I dont think candidly that it passes out of my trade subcommittee, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon told the Associated Press in February. The biologics are some of the most expensive drugs on the planet. Even staunchly pro-trade border-state Democrats are drawing a red line on the rule, with Texass Lloyd Doggett calling it totally contrary to Trumps professed interest in lower drug prices.

It isnt hard to see why Democrats are picking this fight. Few issues are more salient to a broader, more bipartisan swath of voters than the rising cost of prescription drugs. In January, a Politico-Harvard poll found 80 percent of Americans saying that congressional action to lower prescription medicine prices is extremely important, making it the top issue for voters in both parties. Meanwhile, in recent focus groups with soft Trump supporters, Democratic operatives say that the biologics issue has proven explosively potent. As USA Today reports:

In December, Stanley Greenberg, a leading Democratic pollster and strategist, conducted focus groups in Michigan and Wisconsin with Trump voters who werent affiliated with the Republican Party. Some had previously voted for Barack Obama. Others called themselves political independents. Theyre the kinds of voters Democrats hope to attract in 2020.

Greenberg said he was shocked by the intensity of their hostility to drug companies  and to the idea that a trade pact would shield those companies from competition.

It was like throwing a bomb into the focus group, said Greenberg  He said the voters consensus view was essentially: The president was supposed to go and renegotiate (NAFTA) so that it worked for American workers. But it must be that these lobbyists are working behind the scenes to sneak in special-interest provisions.

Trump hasnt been feigning concern about the cost of prescription drugs for his health. Outrage at Big Pharma is prevalent throughout the electorate, but it may be even more acute among the Republican Partys graying base, whose dependence on pharmaceuticals leaves them especially vulnerable to price shocks.

Whats more, unlike most of Congresss complaints about drafted trade agreements, Democrats opposition to exporting decade-long biologic monopolies is shared by Americas trade partners. When Congress demands further concessions from foreign countries before ratifying a trade deal, the White House can insist that they simply lack the power to force such changes. But in this case, Canada and Mexico have no interest in increasing drug costs for their citizens. The entity foisting the biologics rule on the U.S. isnt a foreign government, but a (widely reviled) domestic interest group. Democrats can therefore stand their ground while credibly claiming that they arent mere obstructionists.

Finally, Nancy Pelosis caucus simply has more leverage in the broader ratification fight than the White House does. True, domestic industries will place great pressure on Democratic representatives to ratify the deal. And the agreement isnt without its substantive virtues: Trumps updated NAFTA would curb the undemocratic investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) process, which allows foreign corporations to sue national governments when they enact regulations that reduce their firms profits. And it also raises wage standards for auto workers across North America, and encourages Mexico to expand collective bargaining rights (although these provisions lack adequate enforcement mechanisms, a detail that Nancy Pelosi has described as a dealbreaker).

Nevertheless, awarding Donald Trump a bipartisan victory on trade policy on the eve of the 2020 campaign simply isnt in the Democratic Partys best interests. The president has a lot to gain from returning to Wisconsin next year with a new, more worker-friendly NAFTA in tow. Team Blue has much to lose by helping him do that. Thus, if Democrats are going to put their substantive goals above their electoral interests  and approve the USMCA  then that agreement cant very well prohibit them from achieving their substantive goal on the most salient issue in American politics.

Or, at least, it cant do that unless Big Pharma has way more clout on the left side of the aisle than the Democratic leadership would like us to believe.
Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

St. Catherines Indian School in Santa Fe educated generations of Native American students since its founding in the late 1800s by a religious sister who was ultimately canonized as a Catholic saint.

A new lawsuit alleges that former operators of the now-closed boarding school decades ago placed, at its dormitory, dangerous clergy who preyed upon students, then covered up reports of the sexual abuse of boys by Franciscan friars who taught and lived there.

The lawsuit focuses on alleged misconduct involving Franciscan priest Christopher Kerr, but cites reports from the 1980s that up to 70 boys who attended the school were sexually assaulted by various clergy members.

Kerr is alleged to have physically abused boys. He has also been accused of walking naked through the boys dormitory at the school and taking pictures of the boys while they were naked and showering.

He was removed from St. Catherines after he was found naked and drunk in the boys shower and was taken for treatment at the center for troubled priests run by the Servants of the Paraclete in Jemez Springs, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit was filed against the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Pennsylvania-based operators of the school, and the Franciscan Friars, province of St. John the Baptist of the Order of Friars Minor, which staffed the school with clergy who performed teaching, chaplain and dormitory duties.

Neither religious entity could be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.

Kerr, who isnt named as a defendant, was previously named in a complaint filed with Santa Fe police in 1997 by a man who claimed he was sexually molested by Kerr and another priest when he was a student at St. Catherines in the early 1980s. The man contended he ran away from the school to escape the abuse.

The school closed in 1998, and Kerrs whereabouts are unknown.

The lawsuit filed this week by Albuquerque attorney Brad D. Hall alleges that the plaintiff, identified as John Doe 123, was abused by Kerr at the school between 1983 and 1985 after his family sent him there to live in a dormitory.

The former student realized, then disclosed, for the first time in December 2018 that there were connections between the childhood sexual abuse by Fr. Kerr and the issues and harm he has been dealing with, the lawsuit states. It also states that he has not had counseling or other psychological care. The defendants, the lawsuit alleges, knew or should have known of Fr. Kerrs sexual abuse of minors at St. Catherines.

Upon information and belief, Fr. Kerr abused numerous children in a manner similar to the manner in which Plaintiff was abused, the lawsuit alleges. Defendants caused the abuse of Plaintiff by empowering clerics to abuse vulnerable children who could not leave the boarding school and protecting themselves from scandal at the expense of victims.

At least two other friars, the lawsuit claims, were sexually abusing boys during the same time period at St. Catherines.

The Franciscan Friars order was put on notice about one of them who had previously been discovered behind closed doors with an altar boy at St. Josephs Church in Laguna. The two had been in the church sacristy for over an hour in a context that suggested sexual abuse, the lawsuit states.

As evidence of the Friars view of abuse allegations at the time, the priest was then transferred to St. Catherines Indian School and put in the charge of the boys dormitory, the lawsuit states.

The harm and suffering of many victims, including Plaintiff, could have been at least partially alleviated or ameliorated by earlier professional intervention, which the Defendants policies of secrecy and non-disclosure of documents and information to the public have prevented.

The school, north of downtown Santa Fe, was founded by St. Katharine Drexel, who as an heiress-turned-nun provided funds to build the first school building in 1887 and later began the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament order, which was devoted to helping American Indians and African Americans in the United States. She died in 1955 and was canonized in 2000.

A statement released by attorneys Hall and Levi A. Monagle stated that more than 90 mostly Native American boys were housed each year in dormitories at the school.

The same attorneys sued the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 2014 and 2016 alleging two other students were sexually assaulted at the school, one by a friar who left the religious order. The other alleged assailant was a night watchman who worked the graveyard shift at St. Catherines. Both cases were settled out of court in 2017.
AZTEC  Aztec police officers ended the Aztec City Commission meeting Tuesday night and ordered the room cleared as they ushered commissioners into a side room after some audience members became unruly, and began hurling insults and demanding a recall election.

Aztec Police Captain Troy Morris announced that the meeting was over and asked the crowd of more than 100 people to leave.

Many audience members became upset and angry when the City Commission voted 3-2 against a Second Amendment Preservation City resolution. The resolution would have forbidden the use of city resources to enforce certain gun-related laws that many residents say violate their constitutional rights.

Commissioner Mark Lewis cast the tie-breaking vote. When reached by phone, he said he was concerned about the city being exposed to liability, including lawsuits, if it passed a Second Amendment Preservation City resolution.

An amended resolution had been drafted prior to the meeting and was also presented. The amended resolution expressed support for the Second Amendment and reaffirmed the commissioners oath of office to uphold the constitutions of the United States and New Mexico. However, it did not prohibit the use of city resources to uphold state gun laws.

Many audience members vocally expressed opposition to the amended resolution and said the city should take the chance of being sued.

Commissioner Sherri Sipe said she was about to make a motion to adopt the amended resolution when police shut down the meeting. She had voted in favor of the Second Amendment Preservation City resolution, but had reservations about it.

When reached by phone, Sipe said she had met with City Attorney Nicci Unsicker the day before and Unsicker expressed concern about the resolution creating a liability for the city. Sipe said that led to the amended resolution being drafted.

Sipe said she was hoping the residents would be satisfied with a resolution expressing support for the right to bear arms, but she realized they wanted more.

Commissioner Austin Randall made the motion to adopt the Second Amendment Preservation City resolution. Randall and Sipe voted in favor of it, while Lewis, Commissioner Rosalyn Fry and Mayor Victor Snover voted against it.

Prior to the vote, the commission listened to public comments on both sides of the issue for about an hour.

Mary LaRue Hunter read from the New Mexico Constitution prior to making a statement. Our rights as American citizens are not given to us by the government, she said. Theyre given to us by God.

New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence co-president Miranda Viscoli attended the meeting and warned commissioners the initial resolution could get the city sued.

Bullying is not democracy and last night was a tragic example of what happens when armed bullies at a city commission meeting overturn the Democratic process that we hold so dear, Viscoli told The Daily Times.
They might be hard to notice amid all the brewpubs, but craft distilleries have arrived in Albuquerque. There are no fewer than four in the city, churning out product that shares space on local supermarket shelves with iconic names such as Jack Daniels and Johnnie Walker.

Although existing operations have partnered with restaurants to offer food, recent arrival Hollow Spirits has something new: a full-service restaurant in the same building where the spirits are made. Its a great venue to sample the vodka, gin and rum made on site.

Open since December, Hollow Spirits sits on a rather dispiriting stretch of First Street southwest of the Big I. Just when you might think your GPS has mistakenly led you into warehouse purgatory, the distillerys sign appears, depicting the name of the restaurant floating in the vapors escaping from a barrel of spirits.

Inside, the dining rooms industrial-style gloom is relieved by wooden pallets suspended from the ceiling and large canvases on the walls by Native American artist Cloud Face. Its a casual vibe, with staffers in Hollow Spirits T-shirts hollering greetings over the rock n roll soundtrack reverberating off the hard surfaces.

Chef Tristin Rogers menu offers an assortment of pub grubs greatest hits, including a charcuterie board, ceviche, a poke bowl and a burger.

Avocado toast ($8) is built on a couple of thick slabs of garlic bread smeared with cream cheese and dill. Sliced avocado is fanned out over heirloom tomatoes and topped with a quail egg and a lattice of balsamic glaze that adds welcome tartness. The flavors here are familiar but the presentation and ingredients elevate the dish.

Chile confit pork ($12), served in three bao buns folded over taco-style, is an inventive fusion of Southern-style barbecue and Asian cuisine. The fluffy, sweet steamed buns barely contain the shredded pork and the spicy vegetables piled on top. The dish presents some crunch and some heat, along with a basket of outstanding fries as a bonus.

Hollow Spirits makes vodka, rum, gin and a pomegranate-rose blend called PomRose at its distillery. You can get a flight of all four for $14 or sample them in cocktails for $6.50 to $12. The vodka, made from red wheat, is crisp, clean and slightly viscous, and the gin veers away from the piney, dry side toward a more citrusy flavor with floral notes.

My curiosity about the spirits drew the attention of Martin Ulloa, head distiller at Hollow Spirits, who gave me a tour of the adjoining distillery after I finished eating. Like a proud parent, he showed off the whiskey aging in a wooden barrel, its color deepening as it readies for its debut this summer. Ulloa has a mini-still atop a desk in which he can experiment with spirits such as sotol, a tequila-like drink made from a plant native to New Mexico called the desert spoon.

Pride of ownership, one of the great things about the craft beer and spirits movement, is amply evident at Hollow Spirits. The place offers a chance to rediscover the possibilities of spirits while enjoying some high-quality food.

HOLLOW SPIRITS DISTILLERY

3.5 stars

LOCATION: 1324 First NW, 433-2766, hollowspirits.com

HOURS: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday; closed Monday

FULL BAR
With terrorist attacks and mass shootings occurring regularly, it can be all too easy to forget or blur the details of some of the most dramatic, recent violent attacks. Theres a sense of history being preserved and archived through the mediated lens of fiction filmmaking in Anthony Maras Hotel Mumbai. Maras makes his directorial debut with the gripping, nearly minute-by-minute account of the carnage that unfolded in the grand Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai during the terror attacks of November 2008. Its a meticulous depiction of the events that is at once disturbing but also illuminating.

Maras plunges us right into the action as the terrorists, a group of 10 young Pakistani men wielding automatic weapons and grenades, land in the city via dinghy and then scatter, mowing down people at a train station and cafe. Although the attacks took place in 12 locations in Mumbai, Maras keeps the focus of the film on the events at the hotel, a historic luxury property where guest is god. The terrorists are about to slip in undetected with a group of their own victims seeking shelter from the gunfire and dig in for a siege that lasts days.

Maras carefully lays out not only the geography of the hotel, but its routines, rhythms, rituals and culture  and most important, the people. He establishes an emotional arc for almost every staff member, from the chefs who choose to stay, wielding mallets and butcher knives, to the receptionists who would rather sacrifice their own lives than put guests in danger.

The events unfold through several different perspectives of the staff and guests. Theres Arjun (Dev Patel), a young Sikh waiter who desperately needs the job, and his stern but empathetic boss, Chef Oberoi (Anupam Kher). A young family made up of an Indian heiress, Zahra (Nazanin Boniadi), her American husband, David (Armie Hammer), their baby and nanny Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) arrive for their stay and fatefully cross paths with a mysterious Russian playboy (Jason Isaacs).

But Maras and co-writer John Collee provide the perspective of the terrorists too, a bunch of incredibly young men hopped up on financial desperation and jihadi rhetoric. Clad in dingy T-shirts and jeans, they remorselessly murder innocent people, but we are privy to their private moments of vulnerability. They constantly have the voice of Brother Bull in their ear, promising them paradise, money for their families, justifying the murders in the name of Allah. That constant voice underscores how radicalism  of any kind  is a cult preying on vulnerable young men, exploiting their insecurities and extracting holy war from class struggle. To fully understand them would be impossible, but in their moments of weakness and panic, its all too clear how human they are, which makes their actions that much more devastating.

Visceral and suspenseful, Hotel Mumbai is also deeply humane and moving, anchored by searing performances from Patel, Kher, Boniadi and Hammer. The film refuses to settle on one hero, allowing the hotel itself to emerge as the ultimate hero. At times it feels a bit strange to feel this emotional for an institution, but Maras never loses sight of the most important element: the people. Spreading the honor around seems only fitting for the group that experienced the tragic events.

Hotel Mumbai

3 stars

RATED: R (for disturbing violence throughout, bloody images, and language)

WHEN: Opens today

WHERE: Century 14 Downtown, Century Rio 24, High Ridge
SEOUL, South Korea  South Korean President Moon Jae-in will travel to the United States in two weeks for a summit with President Donald Trump on stalemated North Korean nuclear diplomacy.

It would be their first meeting since Trumps second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi last month collapsed due to disputes on U.S.-led sanctions. The breakdown of that summit put Moon, a liberal who has shuttled between Washington and Pyongyang, in a difficult position on how to further engage North Korea and facilitate the nuclear diplomacy.

Moons office said Moon will visit the United States on April 10-11 to discuss how to strengthen their countries alliance and achieve North Koreas complete denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The White House said Trump and first lady Melania Trump will welcome Moon and his wife Kim Jung-sook to the White House on April 11. It said in a statement the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

Earlier this month, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui threatened to pull out of the nuclear negotiations with the United States citing a lack of its corresponding steps to match some disarmament measures North Korea took last year. She said Kim would soon decide whether to continue the talks and his moratorium on nuclear and missile tests.

South Koreas spy agency told lawmakers in a private briefing Friday that North Korea has nearly completed its work to restore a long-range rocket launch facility that it had partially dismantled last year at the beginning of the nuclear diplomacy, according to Kim Min-ki, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.

The lawmaker also cited the National Intelligence Service as saying the Norths uranium-enrichment facility at its main nuclear complex remains operational. The NIS said it doesnt comment on intelligence assessments provided to lawmakers.

Citing analyses of commercial satellite imagery, many civilian experts in the U.S. have previously given similar assessments on the Norths Tongchang-ri launch facility and the Yongbyon nuclear complex. But there have been no reports that North Korea is preparing for a long-range rocket launch or a nuclear test anytime soon.

Moons push to expand ties with North Korea and resume dormant inter-Korean economic projects is in doubt as U.S. officials maintain that sanctions on North Korea would stay in place unless the country takes significant denuclearization steps.

North Korea recently withdrew its entire staff at a frontline liaison office with South Korea before sending some of them back to the office. Seouls Defense Ministry said Friday that North Korea hasnt responded to its offer 11 days ago to hold military talks to discuss planned joint searches for Korean War dead at their border area.

Also Friday, South Korea received the first two of the 40 F-35A fighter jets that it has agreed to buy from Lockheed Martin by 2021. The F-35A jets that arrived at an airport in southern South Korea have become the countrys first stealth fighter jets. North Korea has previously called the introduction of F-35A aircraft a plot by Seoul to attack North Korea.

Some experts say North Korea still hopes to keep diplomacy with the United States alive because it is desperate to win sanctions relief to revive its trouble economy.

In a possible reflection of its resolve to press ahead with its engagement policy on North Korea, South Koreas Unification Ministry on Friday reiterated its position that it will push to hold a regular summit with North Korea and realize Kims promise to travel to Seoul.
WASHINGTON  There was just one problem when President Donald Trump walked down the stairs of Air Force One and unceremoniously declared that the Islamic State had lost the last of its territory in Syria.

He wasnt supposed to announce it yet.

Instead, the plan was to let U.S.-backed Syrian Defense Forces proclaim the victory, in recognition of its losses over five years of battle.

But Trump was on the tarmac on a sunny afternoon in South Florida holding a map of Iraq and Syria, which happened to be upside-down. Heres ISIS on Election Day, he said, pointing to a spot showing IS controlled territory in red. Heres ISIS right now, he said, gesturing to another point.

Back in Syria, commanders fumed.

Of course, the SDF was expecting to announce it to the world, but the White House did it a day earlier, said an SDF official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

It was one of a series of Trump announcements in a 72-hour span hours last week that upended planning on three of the administrations most important foreign policy initiatives. Even with a president known for impulsivity, this was unusual, leaving stunned aides scrambling to explain the moves, according to U.S. and foreign officials.

The announcements, which came as the White House awaited the conclusions of the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller, started with Trump declaring on Twitter that the U.S. would recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, reversing decades of American policy.

Trump made the Golan announcement on March 21 while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Jerusalem, planning for a routine day of meetings. It had become anything but routine by dusk.

The announcement was quickly criticized as a violation of international law from friends and foes who view the strategic highlands captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war as occupied territory.

Trump had cast aside plans to announce the step days later during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus visit to Washington. He also rejected advice from advisers who suggested he wait, at least until Pompeo left his last Mideast stop in Lebanon, where Syrias influence is strong.

The abrupt announcement caught Americans and Israelis off guard, delaying Pompeo and Netanyahus dinner as they made a hastily arranged call to Trump, during which the prime minister in the midst of a heated election campaign effusively praised the president.

Back in Washington, Trumps tweet set off alarm at the State Department and National Security Council, not least among lawyers who would have to find a justification for the recognition that flew in the face of U.N. Security Council resolutions previous administrations had supported, according to officials.

When Trump formally signed off on the recognition, with Netanyahu at his side at the White House on Monday, he did through a presidential proclamation rather than by an executive order, which carries more weight.

The next day, as the president flew to his Mar-a-Lago resort, he got word on the plane from acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan that the battle to clear the last remaining ISIS fighters from Syrian territory had been won.

The final liberation had been expected for months and the Pentagon and State Department had worked with the White House to carefully craft a plan for the announcement.

Casting aside a plan to let the SDF announce the victory to the world, press secretary Sarah Sanders walked back to the press quarters aboard Air Force One just as it was landing to deliver the news.

SDF commanders were caught unaware and expressed anger and disappointment, though they said nothing in public, according to the officials.

Americans involved in the campaign searched for a way to make amends, ultimately opting not to release a formal written statement from Trump welcoming the victory until almost 2 p.m. on Saturday, following the SDF announcement on the ground in Syria.

Later on Friday, Trump unleashed a tweet from his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, saying he was reversing his administrations decision to slap sanctions on North Korea.

It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea, he tweeted. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!

What sanctions was Trump talking about? None had been announced on Friday. Was he referring to Treasurys announcement the day before that targeted two Chinese shipping companies suspected of helping North Korea evade sanctions? Was he talking about pausing enforcement of existing sanctions, or saying he didnt want to see any new ones put on Pyongyang right now?

A person familiar with the action later told The Associated Press that Trumps tweet was not about the Chinese shipping sanctions at all. Instead, the person said, the president was saying he was opposed additional large-scale sanctions on North Korea at this time. The person was not authorized to discuss the presidents comments and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sanders would say only that Trump likes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and doesnt think these sanctions will be necessary.

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., the ranking member of the East Asia subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Trumps tweet confused the world and his own administration. This episode continues to make painfully clear that the Trump administration lacks a coherent, coordinated strategy for denuclearizing North Korea, addressing its other, troubling behaviors, and creating the lasting peace we all seek, Markey told the AP.

Either way, Trumps tweet left the impression that hes unwilling to increase pressure on North Korea, and weakens the effort to get the country to give up his nuclear weapons, said David Maxwell of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. I cant believe that this is the way we are executing strategy on a country like North Korea, Maxwell said. This will probably be studied in international relations circles in the future.
PALM BEACH, Fla.  Threatening drastic action against Mexico, President Donald Trump declared Friday he is likely to shut down Americas southern border next week unless Mexican authorities immediately halt all illegal immigration. Such a severe move could hit the economies of both countries, but the president emphasized, I am not kidding around.

It could mean all trade with Mexico, Trump said when questioned by reporters in Florida. We will close it for a long time.

Trump has been promising for more than two years to build a long, impenetrable wall along the border to stop illegal immigration, though Congress has been reluctant to provide the money he needs. In the meantime, he has repeatedly threatened to close the border, but this time, with a new surge of migrants heading north , he gave a definite timetable.

A substantial closure could have an especially heavy impact on cross-border communities from San Diego to South Texas, as well as supermarkets that sell Mexican produce, factories that rely on imported parts, and other businesses across the U.S.

The U.S. and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which said closing the border would be an unmitigated economic debacle that would threaten 5 million American jobs.

Trump tweeted Friday morning, If Mexico doesnt immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week.

In Florida, he didnt qualify his threat with or large sections, stating: There is a very good likelihood Ill be closing the border next week, and that is just fine with me.

He said several times that it would be so easy for Mexican authorities to stop immigrants passing through their country and trying to enter the U.S. illegally, but they just take our money and talk.'

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen suggested Trump was referring to the ongoing surge of mostly Central American families heading north through Mexico. Many people who cross the border illegally ultimately request asylum under U.S. law, which does not require asylum seekers to enter at an official crossing.

Short of a widespread shutdown, Nielsen said the U.S. might close designated ports of entry to re-deploy staff to help process parents and children. Ports of entry are official crossing points that are used by residents and commercial vehicles.

If we have to close ports to take care of all of the numbers who are coming, we will do that, Nielsen said. So its on the table, but what were doing is a very structured process based on operational needs.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether Trumps possible action would apply to air travel.

Trumps latest declaration came after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country was doing its part to fight migrant smuggling. Criminal networks charge thousands of dollars a person to move migrants through Mexico, increasingly in large groups toward remote sections of the border.

We want to have a good relationship with the government of the United States, Lopez Obrador said Friday. He added: We are going to continue helping so that the migratory flow, those who pass through our country, do so according to the law, in an orderly way.

Marcelo Ebrard, Mexicos foreign relations secretary, tweeted that his country doesnt act based on threats and is the best neighbor the U.S. could have.

Customs and Border Protection commissioner Kevin McAleenan said Wednesday that 750 border inspectors would be reassigned to deal with the growing number of migrant families, and the DHS official said Friday that the department was seeking volunteers from other agencies to help.

In Florida, Trump was also asked about the two migrant children who died in U.S. custody in December. Is the administration equipped to handle sick children who are detained?

I think that it has been very well stated that we have done a fantastic job, he said, defending Border Patrol efforts to help the children.

Trump said that in one of the cases the father gave the child no water for a long period of time, although an autopsy released Friday made no mention of dehydration.

It was a very tough situation and that trek up, thats a long hard trek, he said. Its a horrible situation. But Mexico could stop it.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have fought over Trumps contention that there is a crisis at the border, particularly amid his push for a border wall, which he claims will solve immigration problems, though a wall wouldnt keep out families who cross at official points so they can surrender and be detained.

The president called on Congress to immediately change what he said were weak U.S. immigration laws, which he blamed on Democrats. The Department of Homeland Security wants the authority to detain families for longer and more quickly deport children from Central America who arrive at the border on their own. The department argues those policy changes would stop families from trying to enter the U.S.

Alejandra Mier y Teran, executive director of the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce in San Diego, said the mere threat of border closures sends the wrong message to businesses in Mexico and may eventually scare companies into turning to Asia for their supply chains.

I think the impact would be absolutely devastating on so many fronts, said Mier y Teran, whose members rely on the Otay Mesa crossing to bring televisions, medical devices and a wide range of products to the U.S. In terms of a long-term effect, its basically shooting yourself in your foot. Its sending out a message to other countries that, Dont come because our borders may not work at any time. That is extremely scary and dangerous.

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Nomaan Merchant reported from Houston. Associated Press writers Peter Orsi in Mexico City, Elliot Spagat in San Diego, Jill Colvin in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.
LAS CRUCES  As part of its plan to divert up to $1 billion to construct 57 miles of physical barriers along the Mexican border, the Department of Defense is proposing 46 miles of new barrier structures in Luna and Dona Ana counties, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said this week.

Udall, who learned about the proposed New Mexico structures as a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, explained in a statement, the project includes 46 miles of vehicle barrier replacement beginning approximately 17.5 miles west of the Columbus Port of Entry continuing east in non-contiguous segments to approximately 35 miles east of the Columbus Port of Entry.

On Thursday, Udall spokesman Ned Adriance clarified an initial report by Udalls staff, telling the Sun-News that information provided by the Department of Defense indicated existing vehicle barriers would be replaced with segments of pedestrian fence, consisting of 18-foot high steel bollard structures.

The structures have been alternately referred to by President Donald Trump as a fence, steel slates, steel barriers, and a wall. In a Jan. 31 post on Twitter, Trump wrote, Lets just call them WALLS from now on and stop playing political games! A WALL is a WALL!

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told the U.S. House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday the Pentagon was executing an order from President Trump, who declared a national emergency on Feb. 15 after Congress appropriated less than the $5.7 billion he had requested for a border wall.

Udall argued that the plan compromises military preparedness and drug interdiction programs.

In New Mexico, the proposal includes potentially diverting up to $187.5 million in funds for projects at White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base, Kirtland Air Force Base and Cannon Air Force Base.

Udall, who announced on Monday that he would not seek re-election to the Senate in 2020, has introduced legislation to block the emergency reappropriations.

Shanahan told the House committee more barriers are needed to block drug-smuggling corridors across international boundaries of the United States in support of counter-narcotic activities of federal law enforcement agencies, despite data showing that narcotics smuggling is caught most frequently at ports of entry.

A vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday failed to override President Trumps veto of a congressional resolution rejecting his emergency declaration.

U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., who sits on the House Armed Services Committee that questioned Shanahan on Tuesday, said the declaration means billions of dollars appropriated for Department of Defense programs and military construction projects will be misdirected.
U.S. immigration authorities arrested a Canadian man in Albuquerque this week who has twice been convicted of trespassing at the California home of model and Kardashian family member Kendall Jenner.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Friday that John Ford, 38, was arrested earlier this week in the parking lot of an Albuquerque motel after agents received a tip that he was in New Mexico.

Authorities said Ford, who has an expired visitors visa, remains in federal custody in El Paso, awaiting a hearing on his immigration case.

Los Angeles police have arrested him twice in the past year, resulting in misdemeanor convictions and jail time. Most recently, he was found in Jenners swimming pool.

Immigration agents acted quickly on the tip to ensure Fords obsessive behavior didnt escalate into a tragedy, said Jack P. Staton, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso.

This timely arrest could very well have prevented a violent crime, he said.

Jenners family thanked Los Angeles police and immigration authorities for their work, that Fords actions have had a severe impact on Jenners life and the familys sense of security.

Immigration records show that Ford had entered the U.S. at Sweetwater, Mont., a year ago with a visa that allowed him to remain in the country no longer than six months.
Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  A panel of district attorneys from around the state has concluded that there is an insufficient factual basis to bring criminal charges against two Santa Fe police officers who shot mentally disturbed Anthony Benavidez to death after a SWAT stand-off at an apartment complex in July 2017.

The DAs  Raul Torrez of Albuquerque, Andrea Reeb of Clovis and Richard Flores of Las Vegas  said prosecutors would not have been able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting in this case was not predicated on a reasonable fear on the part of the officers.

An officer who fired the first 15 shots into Benavidezs apartment through a window space couldnt tell that a silver object that Benavidez was holding was a knife and not a gun, the panels report states. Benavidez was 12 feet away from the window when the shooting started.

An attorney for the family of Benavidez, who was 24, said his relatives are heartbroken and mortified by the panels findings.

The fact the officers acted recklessly and irrationally and no one will hold them accountable is chilling, said attorney Shannon Kennedy.

Santa Fe District Attorney Marco Serna said in a statement, I ran for district attorney on the commitment to change the procedure for how the First Judicial District deals with officer-involved shootings resulting in death, and I appreciate the panels review of this difficult case.

In the past, the Santa Fe District Attorneys office itself has determined if local police shootings were justified, or the cases were presented to a grand jury.

I am committed to transparency in the process and have released the (panels) letter to the media and public, said Serna. But he didnt specify whether he would follow the panels recommendation against prosecuting the officers.

Kennedy said Benavidezs family will send a letter to Serna asking him to reject the findings, which she called monstrous and ridiculous.

All an officer has to do now to get away with killing somebody is to say they were afraid, and thats pretty terrifying, said Kennedy. She said officers could have set up a perimeter and de-escalated the confrontation with Benavidez, who, as the panels letter states, was suffering from schizophrenia and mental illness.

Sixteen shots total were fired into Benavidezs apartment just seconds after police had ripped a window out of a wall. Benavidez was hit by four.

The panels report says Officer Jeremy Bisagna saw a silver object in Benavidezs hand and Bisagna interpreted Benavidezs stance to be a low ready shooting position. The object turned out to be a knife.

Rather than complying with the officers commands to show his hands, Mr. Benavidez instead raised his arms up while still holding onto the silver object and, believing Mr. Benavidez posed a threat of death or great bodily harm, Officer Bisagna discharged his .40 caliber Glock pistol, the report states.

As Bisagna squeezed off 15 shots, Benavidez, suffering from schizophrenia, still rushed toward the window opening. Officer Luke Wakefield could tell that the object in Benavidezs hand was a large butcher knife, but it was also apparent that Bisagna wasnt firing accurately because he was wielding a ballistic shield at the same time. Officer Wakefield fired a single .223 caliber rifle round and Mr. Benavidez fell just inside the area of the broken window, according to the report.

A footnote says that while it is somewhat unusual for officers to fire 16 times to end a perceived threat from an armed suspect, officers are trained to fire until a threat has been eliminated and under the rapidly evolving, dynamic circumstances of this encounter, the number of shots fired can be explained and has no legal relevance to the question of whether the officers perception of the threat presented was reasonable.

Late last year, Benavidezs family reached a $400,000 settlement with the city.

The day before the shooting, Benavidez had been taken to the hospital but was signed out by a psychiatric nurse and a case worker. A police report says he was facing transfer to the New Mexico behavioral health hospital in Las Vegas.

The next day, Benavidez broke into an apartment at the Tuscany at St. Francis that hed been evicted from. Benavidez stabbed a social worker who came there to help get him out of the apartment. The worker was treated and later released from the hospital.

Benavidez barricaded himself in the apartment and ignored police commands to come outside.

He threw two items described as homemade explosives at police. They didnt blow up.

The panel of DAs wrote, Mr. Benavidezs demonstrated history of mental illness, the stabbing of his own caseworker with a sharp-edged weapon, his continued erratic and potential dangerous behavior, and his decision to advance toward officers with a knife in his hands despite repeated commands to surrender, prevent the State from proving beyond a reasonable doubt  that the shooting in this case was not predicated on a reasonable fear on the part of the officers.

Kennedy said the shooting was completely negligent behavior contrary to any plan to extract Anthony from the scene.

Its a tragedy, she said.
Photo: Courtesy of the retailers

If you follow our biweekly feature Your Shopping Cart, you know that we have some eerily good intel on what you all are buying. Which led us to think that, as Strategist editors, we could turn the tables and highlight all the things weve been buying ourselves. As youll notice, its both a blessing and a curse to be a Strategist editor; were picky, but sometimes we just have to get on with it (its online-shopping expertise meets IRL needs). Below, what we all bought in March.

David Notis, writer

Anonymous Ism Uneven Dye Crew Socks $25 I love wearing my Darn Tough socks with boots, but if Im wearing a low-cut shoe or desert boot, I like having something a little more interesting. I bought a few pairs of Anonymous Ism socks earlier in the winter, and theyve become my favorite socks. I recently did a Marie Kondofueled sock-drawer purge  starting with the easiest things, this was hard enough  and my general guiding principle is to get more socks like those Anonymous Ism ones. That means doing a lot more laundry because these arent cheap, but Im okay with that. These are made from really thick cotton, so theyre warm enough for a mild winter day, and theyll probably work in the spring too because the weave is pretty loose. I like that theyre a little wild, but still subtle. (I also bought them in green which they call khaki but I think its more of a yellowy-green.) $25 at East Dane Buy

Jack Black Beard Oil $26 now 15% off $22 I am sort of growing a beard. I dont know. Its only been about two weeks, but Im a wimp and get really uncomfortable and itchy after like five days of not shaving, so Im already babying my little stubbly beard more than most people who have long, actual beards. Still, even if the beard oil isnt strictly necessary, I think its helped a lot with dryness, and it gives the hair a nice healthy sheen. Its super-lightweight, has a kind of citrusy, barely noticeable scent, and it absorbs quickly so it doesnt make a mess. Also, the pump-style bottle is a lot easier to use than those ones with the glass droppers. $22 at Amazon Buy $22 at Amazon Buy

Vibrant Health Green Vibrance Powder $52 now 13% off $45 Im not sure if this is actually healthy. I think it is. I hope so, because otherwise Im just drinking a really weird dark-green thing every morning for no reason. It was on sale and I bought it on a whim because its never on sale. I mix it in water every morning and its become a fun routine. The taste is intense  not the most pleasant  but its bracing in a nice way when youre still waking up. Im hesitant to say, I feel way healthier since drinking this, because Im obviously not a medical professional, but I really do think Ive had more energy lately, and it has all the ingredients everyone is always telling me are important, so there must be something to it? $45 at Amazon Buy $45 at Amazon Buy

Jason Chen, deputy editor

Carne Bollente Butt What White Oversize T-shirt $67 Photo: Mario Simon I wanted a slightly oversized T-shirt for the summer, and this on-sale Carne Bollente white tee fit the bill (I like that the sleeves almost hit my elbows). Some of the CB graphics are too much, but this ones just the right amount of perverted. $67 at Carne Bollente Buy

WOLFBUSH 15KG/33lb Airtight Food Container with Measuring Cup $72 Oh, MAN. This is probably my favorite thing Ive bought in a long time. I get the dogs food in these giant 33-pound bags, and could not find any storage container to keep it in until I discovered this guy. Its a bin that holds 80 cups  about ten two-liter bottles worth  of stuff, and I can easily get about a third of my giant bag of kibble in there. Whats nifty is that it has two wheels for easy carting, and a clever little window lid so you know just how much is left. Great for bath salts, too. $72 at Amazon Buy $72 at Amazon Buy

Alexis Swerdloff, Strategist editor

I certainly did not need another striped long-sleeved T-shirt, but I couldnt resist this little number from H&M. It was the blue and yellow cuffs that did it for me. And the fact that it was $10. So I got two of them.

Uniqlo had a site-wide free shipping promo earlier in the month, so I got a few things: a pair of extremely cute and soft train-adorned pajamas for my 6-month-old son (the snaps have the most pleasant snap to them), this sweet little romper set (stripes!), and this crisp gingham blouse for myself that works really well, I think, with high-waisted pants.

Mustela Foam Shampoo for Newborns $13 Not the most exciting purchase, but my sons cradle cap wasnt getting better (weve affectionately been calling him oatmeal-head), and I had heard good things about Mustelas cradle-cap-specific foam shampoo, so we ordered it. And it works! He has a few little bits of oatmeal here and there, but its mostly gone. $13 at Amazon Buy $13 at Amazon Buy

Oribel PortaPlay 4-in-1 Foldable Convertible Baby Activity Center $129 But my biggest purchase of the month was an exersaucer. An exersaucer is basically a little activity station that we can plop him in and he can occupy himself with a zillion doodads and gizmos. I put him in one at my friends house and he legitimately was almost hyperventilating from happiness  I felt I couldnt deny him one. Most are full-on hideous and take up a ton of space, but I found one that can fold up (almost none of the ones out there can fold) and is not so offensive if we keep it out. It may not be as fun as some of the others on the market that sing and bounce, but, truly, he has no idea and is happy as a clam noodling about in this. $129 at Amazon Buy $129 at Amazon Buy

Karen Iorio Adelson, writer

Im realizing now that softness was a trend in my purchases this month. I wandered into Gap Body and everything was on sale for 40 percent (it looks like the sale is still going on online). I already have this comfortable, no-underwire bra in gray so I got another one in beige, plus a pair of their supersoft Breathe underwear, and these pajama shorts that just felt very cozy and ended up costing $15 with the discount.

Will Tavlin, intern

My apartment has a critter problem. My roommate and I determined our 60-liter trash can  which is piled high with waste by the end of each week  was working like a honeypot. I wanted a smaller trash can that would force me to take out the trash more often, and this handsome 20-liter Dust Box from Muji was the perfect solution. Its compact enough to fit into the cabinet under my sink, and didnt break the bank. Now, I take out my trash twice a week. Whether the rodents will disappear remains to be seen. (Note: You must buy the bin and the lid separately)

The Earth Dies Streaming by A.S. Hamrah $20 Ive been really into going to the movies lately. Film Forum is right by our office so most evenings Ill catch a 7 p.m. revival screening after work. I was looking for some film writing to supplement my new habit, and was delighted to stumble upon The Earth Dies Streaming, the first compendium of published writing by A. S. Hamrah, film critic at the Brooklyn-based literary magazine n+1. Hamrahs book of funny, acerbic capsule reviews is the best guide to our cinematic landscape. The book contains everything from a treatise on the state of internet-era film criticism to an essential guide to Iraq War movies. One reviewer said, Reading Hamrah on movies is almost always better than seeing the actual movies themselves. I wont stop going to the movies, but I wholeheartedly agree. $20 at Amazon Buy $20 at Amazon Buy

Maxine Builder, managing editor

Uniqlo Waffle Crewneck Long-Sleeve T-Shirt $15 I bought this waffle crew neck from Uniqlo less than a week ago, and it already is the most comfortable long-sleeve shirt I own. The fabric is vintage soft, even straight off the rack, but unlike actually old waffle shirts, which often have little holes where theyve worn out, this one is thick and cushiony, so Im hoping itll last for a long time. Plus, I got mine on sale for just $10, and I have every intention of picking up one in every color. $15 at Uniqlo Buy

Dandelion Maya Mountain Belize 70% $9 I went to San Francisco this month, my first time out there since writing this story on the best chocolate bars for gifting, and since we were hanging out in the Mission, I dragged my boyfriend over to Dandelion Chocolate. The companys been making bean-to-bar chocolate there since 2010, and from the cafe, you can catch a peek at the production process, which I loved seeing, especially after writing about the brand and their bars. After I had my fill of free samples, I picked up a couple of bars to bring back to New York, including one of these Maya Mountain Belize bars, which somehow tastes super-strongly of honey. $9 at Bar and Cocoa Buy

Katy Schneider, associate editor

Tuza Handmade Candles From $25 I was in Mexico City this month, which is where most of my spending took place. I went to an incredible, 60-year-old candle shop where I bought nine flowery candles. (You can buy them in the city at a shop called Tuza.) From $25 at Tuza Buy

Liana Soto Pant Set Orange, Bottoms $130 And I found (and purchased) a pair of amazing bright-orange pants at new store in Roma called Hi Bye, which doesnt have a shoppable website. But they reminded me a lot of another pair of orange pants I have my eye on, from my friend Lilis clothing company, Liana. I think Ill also buy a pair of those, once my bank account recovers from my trip. $130 at Leset Buy

Dominique Pariso, writer

Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask $26 $26 This stuff is seriously sticky so youll want to heed the instructions and only use it as a nightly mask. That being said, I find that waking up with super-moisturized lips gets the day started on the right foot. $26 at Sephora Buy

Suzanne Rae Maryjane in Marigold Satin $495 Ive had my eye on these for ages and ages. As luck would have it, I hit the equivalent of the shopping lottery when I found them seriously discounted at a sample sale. I do think that if youre looking to get in on the mule craze, Suzanne Rae is the perfect place to go. They aim to outfit the modern gentlewoman (which Ive already decided is my new aesthetic goal). The pair I scored are actually a neutral navy, but I think this marigold color is just the thing to put a spring in your step come spring. $495 at Need Supply Buy

Lori Keong, writer

Carleen One-Tone Jeans, Dark Blue $282 $282 Ive gotten big into Poshmark lately, because Im discovering that you can find crazy deals on things from hip brands like Paloma Wool and LOQ. My first purchase on there  a discontinued, stupidly impractical Frankie Shop bucket bag with a faux-fur handle  happened so fast that it gave me some sort of gamblers rush where I ended up buying three more things in rapid succession (schedule me an intervention). One of them was this pair of Carleen jeans I bought on discount which perfectly adhere to your bottom, are super-high-waisted with a button fly, and have these amazing denim panels. $282 at Carleen Buy

Liza Corsillo, writer

Chamula Sueco Slip on Mule $138 Im an Aries born in mid-March and I usually end up buying myself a lot of birthday presents around this time of year. Im a twin so I have to shop for my brother as well (Im getting to it!). This year I spent my birthday weekend visiting friends in Austin, Texas, which is also home to one of my favorite stores of all time, Stag Provisions. There were plenty of things at Stag to tempt me (hello, perfect white Wrangler jeans and vintage jewelry), but these Mexican black-suede mules stood out. I like the low heel and the pointy toe. Ill wear them to work with bright socks until it gets warm enough to go barefoot. $138 at Stag Buy

BLANKNYC Cropped Suede Trucker Jacket $198 Speaking of suede birthday gifts to myself, I just impulse bought this sweet dusty green cropped suede jacket on sale at Anthropologie. I am constantly stumped by what to wear over dresses and jumpsuits  a cardigan? a blazer? This will take the place of a blazer (not really my style) and isnt as heavy as my leather moto jacket so Ill be able to layer a coat on top if necessary. $198 at Anthropologie Buy

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The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
ATLANTA  Bucking intense opposition from abortion rights groups, citizens, physicians groups and even Hollywood celebrities, Georgia lawmakers gave final approval Friday to a heartbeat abortion ban that would outlaw most abortions in the state.

The proposal now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who backs it. If enacted, it would be among the strictest abortion bans in the U.S.

The measure was approved by 92 votes, just one vote more than the majority needed to pass out of the 180-member House.

Just after the vote, a tense situation erupted when law enforcement confronted several Democratic lawmakers and protesters speaking against the bill in the halls of the Capitol. Officers threatened to arrest people if a crowd didnt disperse and stop chanting shame.

Georgia joins a string of GOP-controlled states moving to enact strict abortion bans, with the ultimate goal of getting a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. The push comes amid rising optimism among conservatives that the restrictions might prevail in the reconfigured high court that includes President Donald Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Women in Georgia can currently seek an abortion during the first 20 weeks of a pregnancy. A heartbeat can be detected in an embryo as early as six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant.

The bill would make exceptions in the case of rape and incest  but only when the woman files a police report first  and to save the life of the mother. It also would allow for abortions when a fetus is determined not to be viable because of serious medical issues.

Republican Rep. Ed Setzler, the bills author, said it was a commonsense measure that seeks to balance the difficult circumstances women find themselves in with the basic right to life of a child.

Democratic Rep. Darshun Kendrick called the legislation a death warrant for women in Georgia, noting that the state already has one of the nations worst maternal mortality rates.

The ACLU of Georgia said it will challenge the law in court if its signed by Kemp.

Under 50 years of Supreme Court precedent, this bill is blatantly unconstitutional, Sean Young, legal director for the ACLU of Georgia, said in an interview Friday. That is why every single federal court that has considered such bans has struck them down.

The legislation faced a groundswell of opposition, including Democratic lawmakers and protesters saying on social media and in person that lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill would be targeted in 2020 elections.

A group of women at the Georgia Capitol protested the bill dressed as characters from The Handmaids Tale, which depicts a dystopian future where women are controlled by the government and forced to reproduce. The activists in red cloaks and white bonnets have been an almost daily presence since the House first passed the measure earlier this month.

Two influential groups, the Medical Association of Georgia and the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians, sent letters to lawmakers opposing the legislation.

The legislation also was opposed by the Writers Guild of America, which represents TV and film writers, and several Hollywood celebrities, who signed an open letter to Kemp in opposition. The letter, spearheaded by actress Alyssa Milano, includes signatures from Alec Baldwin, Amy Schumer, Gabrielle Union, Ben Stiller, Don Cheadle, Mia Farrow and others.

Thats significant because Georgia is a burgeoning production hub for TV and film, with 455 productions shot in Georgia in fiscal year 2018, representing $2.7 billion in direct spending in the state.

GOP lawmakers in Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and Ohio are pursuing similar legislation, while Republican governors in Mississippi and Kentucky have recently signed heartbeat abortion bans.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a heartbeat abortion ban on March 21, despite a federal judges ruling last year that struck down a less-restrictive law limiting abortions there. Kentuckys law was temporarily blocked by a federal judge shortly after Republican Gov. Matt Bevin signed it March 14, in response to a challenge by the ACLU. A state judge found Iowas heartbeat abortion ban unconstitutional in January.

If signed and not blocked in court, the Georgia law would take effect Jan. 1, 2020.

Kemp applauded the legislature in a statement Friday.

Georgia values life, Kemp said. The legislatures bold action reaffirms our priorities and who we are as a state.
UPDATE 8:45 a.m. Friday, March 29, 2019 - Highway 99 is now open in both directions at Sankey Road after a multi-vehicle collision, according to Caltrans District 3.



Hwy 99 has reopened all lanes in both directions (NB/SB) at Sankey Rd due to earlier multiple vehicle crash.  Caltrans District 3 (@CaltransDist3) March 29, 2019

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SUTTER COUNTY, Calif.- Highway 99 is blocked northbound at Sankey Road in Sutter County, due to a big rig crash.

The California Highway Patrol is reporting that there is no estimated time of clearing and that drivers can expect heavy congestion and delays.

CalTrans tweeted that multiple vehicles were involved and that an ambulance and Airbus is on its way.

Hwy 99 at Sankey Rd is still closed northbound and southbound due to multiple vehicle crash. Two airbuses are in route. Caltrans has not been requested at this time. No ETO.  Caltrans District 3 (@CaltransDist3) March 29, 2019
TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. - A Tehama County court has found Erik Deno, a Corning man accused of murdering his mother, incompetent to stand trial.

Based on the results of a psychological examination, Deno was found by the court to be incompetent to stand trial and was placed in a locked State hospital to receive treatment.

The investigation into this case began on Oct. 8, 2018, when the Corning Police Department was called for a welfare check in the area of Marty Couty and Marguerite Avenue due to reports of a man saying he needed help hiding a body.

Officers arrived on scene and found Deno at his home, who told authorities he killed a person named Angelika and put her body in a trash can outside of the home.

She was later identified as Angelika Deno, Erik's mother. Forensic evidence also revealed that she died as a result of being strangled.

Officers placed Erik Deno under arrest at his home on Oct. 8.

During the investigation, he admitted to having killed someone named Angelika, who he said was squatting at his home. Authorities also noted that Deno made numerous nonsensical statements to investigators, which made them question whether he was competent to stand trial.

Deno will remain in the locked State hospital for the purposes of being restored to competency for the length of incarceration for the underlying offense, which is 25 years to life for first-degree murder.

In the event that he regains competency to stand trial, he will face prosecution for the murder of Angelika Deno.

To read more about this case, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 3:25 p.m. Friday, March 29, 2019 - The FEMA trailer was found at the Shasta Woods Mobile Home Park in Mt. Shasta, according to Omar Valdez of the California Highway Patrol.

The vehicle was empty when officers arrived on the scene, so no suspects have been arrested.

The investigation is ongoing.

Action News Now is working to learn more information. Stay tuned for updates.

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UPDATE 1:22 p.m. Friday, March 29, 2019 - The Red Bluff California Highway Patrol is currently investigating the stolen FEMA trailer.

California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Omar Valdez said that the trailer was taken around 7:30 a.m. on Friday.

The trailer is a white Salem 32-foot travel trailer with grey, blue and orange striping. The vehicle is similar to the image below.

The suspect vehicle is a late 90s to early 2000 white Ford F150.

Stay with Action News Now for the latest updates as they become available.

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RED BLUFF, Calif. - An employee of the Red Bluff RV Park told Action News Now that a FEMA trailer was stolen from the park on Friday morning.

The employee called California Highway Patrol and the Tehama County Sheriff's Office to report the crime.

She said that the trailer belonged to Camp Fire victims, but they moved out over one month ago.

Officers are on scene at the trailer park, located at 80 Chestnut Avenue in Red Bluff.

Stay with Action News Now for the latest updates as they become available.
SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. - The man accused of killing a Shasta County gas station clerk in 2016 has pleaded guilty and apologized to the victim's family.

Juan Venegas pled guilty to numerous charges in connection to the killing of David Wicks, an employee at the Rocky Ledge Shell gas station in Johnson Park, east of Burney.

Per the plea deal Venegas made with the Shasta County District Attorney, he was sentenced to 17 years and eight months in state prison.

During his plea, he acknowledged his responsibility for the death of Wicks.

According to the district attorney, Wicks was working at the gas station on Dec. 21, 2016 when Venegas entered the building wearing a hood and mask. Authorities said he then sprayed Wicks with gasoline and set him on fire.

Wicks suffered burns to over 90 percent of his body and later died of those injuries.

The Shasta County District Attorney said Venegas told investigators that he lost money at a casino earlier that day and was high on methamphetamine when he got to the gas station. He said he planned to rob it but when he couldn't Venegas threw gasoline on Wicks and set him on fire.

District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett released an official statement on the motive, which can be seen below.

Venegas was arrested and charged with the murder of Wicks in January of 2017. The case went to trial twice but ended in a mistrial both times.

Venegas officially pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, arson causing great bodily injury and mayhem.

As a part of his plea, he also waived his right to appeal as well as any custody conduct credits.

To read more of Action News Now's coverage of this case, CLICK HERE.
Elaborately planned pranks on April Fools' Day have typically been de rigueur for tech companies. For instance, last year we saw Google pranking customers with the Bad Joke Detector for its Files Go app and Uber Eats offering the world's first anti-ageing ice cream while at home telecom operator Reliance Jio shared a video of Jio Juice- a new SIM card that would allow users to charge their phones wirelessly without carrying chargers and heavy power banks.

But not everyone loves such corporate pranks and some have been known to backfire spectacularly, as in the case of Google's 2016 Minions-themed prank. So, Microsoft has taken the lead in banning Aprils Fools' Day hoaxes and pranks this year. The Silicon Valley giant's marketing chief Chris Capossela, in an internal memo, asked all employees not to do any public-facing April Fools' Day stunts come Monday, The Verge reported.

"Sometimes the outcomes are amusing and sometimes they're not. Either way, data tells us these stunts have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles", read the memo. "I appreciate that people may have devoted time and resources to these activities, but I believe we have more to lose than gain by attempting to be funny on this one day". Past pranks by the company include an MS-DOS mobile for Windows Phone and Google insults.

The report added that Microsoft's stand comes just as the company temporarily resurrected its Clippy Office assistant. Microsoft workers had transformed the paperclip into an animated pack of stickers for the company's Teams chat software, but a source told the tech news portal that the "brand police" inside the company shut it down a mere day later.

Capossela's memo also reminded employees that corporate pranks are not always funny. Google's prank three years ago is a case in point. On April 1, 2016, the company silently replaced Gmail's 'send and archive' option with a 'send and mic drop' option. The prank added a Despicable Me minion GIF to emails- minions dropping a microphone- and then muted the thread, but Google was soon forced to admit that they had ended up pranking themselves.

"Due to a bug, the Mic Drop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs. We're truly sorry. The feature has been turned off", it said in its official blog after plenty of users complained of the feature impacting important correspondence.

(Edited by: Sushmita Choudhury)

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TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released 185,000 endangered winter-run chinook salmon smolts into Battle Creek, west of Red Bluff.

The release was part of the program Jump Start, which helps with the return of the endangered salmon to the Sacramento River Basin.

Adult captive salmon were spawned at Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery up-river of Redding, on the Sacramento River.

Water conditions in Battle Creek and the Sacramento River were deemed excellent by hatchery manager, Brett Galyean, for the release. Recent rain produced high runoff and muddy waters.

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Stage is set for the first ever Digi Media Summit 2019 today. Being held at the Leela Ambience, Gurgaon, Digi Media Summit is a prime property for the Digital industry from Adgully. The day-long conference will see some of Indias top-notch minds in digital, advertising, media and marketing set the future course for digital in the country.

Starting off the days proceedings will be Rameet Arora, COO, HT Digital, who will deliver the opening keynote address.

Aroras address will be followed by a panel discussion on The Next Generation of Indian Brands, which will track the evolution, journey, ideation, funding, survival and growth of brands with the India pedigree.

The panel discussion on How e-commerce wave has fuelled performance marketing will follow, where our esteemed panellists will discuss the need for agencies to strengthen their performance-driven strategies.

The spotlight will also be on Public Relations in the day and age of digital and how this discipline needs to upgrade and arm itself to be relevant in a changed market ecosystem.

Defining Agency 20:20 will explore ways to grow super competent in digital marketing, what should take precedence  data or creativity, diversity & inclusion and more.

Media Houses of the Future will also be a topic for discussion. Our esteemed speakers will reveal how the new mantras  Reach, Engagement, Innovation, Effectiveness  will dictate the way brands and agencies interact with consumers.

Wrapping up the days proceedings will be a very exclusive CMO panel: The Future of Brand Experiences. Connecting with the consumer through relevant immersive experiences will be discussed at length, along with the struggle for transparency & measurement, challenges in measuring consumer engagement and much more.
Amway India, the countrys largest FMCG direct selling company, has launched its latest innovation in the personal care category - Persona Germ Protection and Moisturizing liquid hand wash. The new liquid hand wash has been developed in India for Indian consumers and offers effective germ protection, while providing gentle nourishment and moisturization by Aloe Vera. The new liquid hand wash is safe, efficacious and environment-friendly, being free from paraben, sulphate and triclosan, which are widely used preservatives in consumer products.

With the newly launched liquid hand wash, Amway aims at bringing the much-needed behavioural shift and awareness about hand hygiene among Indian consumers by reinforcing the handwashing habit as the most basic hygiene ritual. Amway India is also looking at increasing the market penetration of liquid hand wash products including in tier II & III cities through the strong Amway direct sellers base.

Announcing the launch of Persona Germ Protection and Moisturizing Liquid Hand Wash, Mr. Sundip Shah, Chief Marketing Officer, Amway India, said, The health and hygiene segment, especially the hand hygiene segment has seen tremendous growth in India, with the liquid hand wash category witnessing a double-digit growth in the last 5 years. There is an increasing awareness among people towards maintaining hygiene in general, and specifically hand hygiene. Liquid hand wash is more convenient, less messy and more hygienic than soaps. There is a huge potential for growth in the category which has just 10% penetration in the country. With our Amway direct sellers base, we are aiming for a deeper product penetration esp. in tier II &III cities and we are confident that Amway direct sellers will play a crucial role in spreading awareness about the importance of hand washing for a healthy life.

Ms. Anisha Sharma, Category Head  Beauty & Personal Care, Amway India, added, With several public and private campaigns on health and hygiene, more consumers are becoming aware about the benefits of maintaining a good personal hygiene, especially hand hygiene. They are looking for a product which gives them complete germ protection, without drying their hands. We are addressing this need by providing effective germ protection with the goodness of a nourishing herbal ingredient like Aloe vera which softens and moisturises the skin#.

Priced at INR 265 for 250 ml (inclusive of all taxes), Persona Germ Protection and Moisturizing Hand Wash is sold exclusively through Amway Direct Sellers across India.

Amways personal care category includes a wide range of products for head to toe including hair care, oral care, body care & male grooming catering to ones personal hygiene needs.
BIC Cello, the leading writing instrument company in India, launched in September of last year, Cello Write-to-Win, a school initiative aimed at promoting a healthy attitude towards learning and education.

Academic stress is fast becoming a social issue as children and teens suffer from exam anxiety. Students are put under pressure to achieve academic excellence and outperform the best in class. The stress and fear of school failure can often adversely affect childrens social, emotional and academic success. The Cello Write-to-Win program has been designed to train students to develop handwriting skills and help them manage the stress levels that come with exams. Since its launch last year, the program has educated 600,000 students across 1,500 schools in India.

The program includes two workshops that have been developed by a team comprised of certified handwriting analysts and experts from the field of education training. The first workshop, Secret to handwriting, engages students from the 4th to the 6th grade. The session teaches them the techniques they need to develop and enhance their handwriting skills, helping them manage the transition from pencil to pen.

The second workshop, 'Making Exams Stress Free', targets older students from the 7th to the 9th grade. The session teaches students four cognitive techniques that help them to enhance their learning and memorization skills and enable them to prepare better for their exams. The workshop also trains students on writing with speed while maintaining precision.

Commenting on the initiative, BIC Cello's, Director of Marketing for India, Tanveer Khan said, We at BIC Cello understand the kind of stress that students go through during the exam periods. The 'Cello Write-to-Win' initiative was developed to equip students with the techniques they need to overcome that stress and succeed academically. We are delighted with the positive response that we received from the students and teachers and we look forward to continuing the program and expanding it into new schools across India."

Kumar Abhishek from Rashtriya Military Schools, 9th Standard, said while sharing his experience, The sessions are extremely informative and helpful. It taught us appropriate techniques of holding a pen that help in developing handwriting skills. The activity focused on making exams stress-free by using mind maps which I will follow henceforth for better recall. Thank you, Cello, for making me feel more exam-ready.

The Cello Write-to-Win program also helps students to find the pen that is most suitable for them. Using the right pen can also help contribute to making exams less stressful by being reliable and offering comfort and glide in writing.

BIC Cello believes in empowering students by supporting them to reduce their stress, and help them prepare for their exams. The company launched an awareness campaign last year that addressed the academic pressure students feel from their parents. The Surprise Test video garnered great success, with more than 40 M views, as it called on adults to support their children and pressure them less during exam periods.
EGGFIRST  the Mumbai based full-service advertising agency has signed actor Parineeti Chopra as the brand ambassador for ROXX - Indias leading tableware and cookware brand. The agency (eggfirst.com) has been serving the brand  ROXX that offers a wide range of products under  glassware, dinnerware, steel ware, cookware and non-stick. The brand was relaunched with the new positioning as Always Special, with Parineeti Chopra as the brand ambassador on International Womens Day, 8th March 2019.

On the launch occasion, the actress announced her official brand association with ROXX on her social media handles that witnessed a huge traction within hours of going live by the consumers at large. Ravi Banka, the Founder & CMD of Eggfirst Advertising, commented Assigned with the onus of re-energising brand ROXX, we decided to add the apt star power. After deliberating on various celebrities, we zeroed in on Parineeti as her vibrancy and exuberance blended with elegance was a perfect brand-fit. ROXX as a brand is and will be #AlwaysSpecial to us and we intend to explore its full potential with Parineeti as the brand ambassador.

Actor Parineeti Chopra chipped in, I personally like ROXXs vast range and quality. Plus, its an upcoming Indian brand offering world-class tableware & cookware at affordable prices. It has an extremely youthful and sophisticated persona, which I can relate with. Its a pleasure to be associated with a brand like ROXX!.

The brand targeting the new age women across India with its modern, contemporary and stylish products strongly believes in a perfect connect with the brand ambassadors persona. Speaking on the occasion, Abhinav Agarwal, MD ROXX, said, ROXX is a fast-growing brand and with Parineeti signing up as brand ambassador, it is sure to add further value to the brand. The choice to have Parineeti representing ROXX was unanimous. Parineetis persona has what it takes to project the brand and resonate well with our consumers across India. We aim to have greater market penetration and reach newer milestone in the years to come. ROXX is available via their online store www.roxx.in and offline through a well spread distribution network of over 6000 multi brand retail stores plus 4 Exclusive Business Outlets (EBOs) as ROXX World. Currently, Roxx has four EBOs in - Delhi, Kolkata (has two outlets) and Kharagpur, and company plans to launch few more including one in Mumbai during the first quarter of 2019.

Roxx is managed by Eggfirst (www.eggfirst.com), an advertising agency having well spread portfolio and expertise. During the last 15 years, Eggfirst has been delivering successful brand communication partnering with brands across sectors that includes the top brands in: BFSI, Agro, Agri-tech, Retail, Fashion, Sanitary ware etc. Given an accomplished mark in Agro, Agri-tech & Rural communication, going forward the agency looks forward to have a confident foray focusing these business streams.
Navneet Publications, one of the leading providers of educational products, has appointed The Minimalist as its creative and digital agency. During exam season, the appointment comes at a time when Navneet is empowering students to feel confident with its wide range of reference and study material. The Minimalist will lead and execute all creative campaigns, including ATL, BTL and digital communication for Navneet Publications. Besides reaching out to the student community, The Minimalist will also craft campaigns that will build a relationship with parents, teachers and related influencers for Navneet Publications.

As a primary goal, The Minimalist will aid in increasing awareness about the publications products, including its 21 Most Likely Questions and Guide reference books. Spread across Print, OOH, Radio, TV, Digital and OTT platforms, the product focussed campaigns will help in increasing brand visibility, drive engagement and create an active follower base for Navneet offline as well as on digital platforms. Navneet Publications communication will be balanced across mediums ensuring maximum reach and impact.

On awarding the brands creative and digital duties to The Minimalist, Devish Gala, Marketing Head, Navneet Education, said, In order to further strengthen the Navneet brand, we have partnered with The Minimalist to handle the creative duties for mainline and digital. We are happy to have them on board and look forward to a fruitful relationship in the coming years. We have been the leaders in the publications business for decades now and this exercise will help us to take the brand to the next level.

Commenting on the new win for The Minimalist, the agencys Co-founder, Sahil Vaidya, added, As a company, Navneet enjoys a significant and pioneering position in India. Backed with a rich legacy of 60 years, their understanding of a students needs is immense and credible. Through our campaigns, we aim to make Navneet a student favourite and increase awareness for its comprehensive range of books amongst parents and teachers. We will also amplify the brands traditional and mainline communication across digital. We recently rolled out the first part of the campaign across Radio creating awareness on the range of reference books available for students appearing for their board exams in Maharashtra. As a brand, Navneet Publications has immense potential and we look forward to developing ideas and campaigns to uncover this potential and make it synonymous to the brands overall communication.

The Minimalist is a full service design and digital company widely recognised for its thought-provoking work. The Minimalist has also been working with IDFC Mutual Funds, ICICI Prudential, MTV Beats UK, Global Indian International School and Saint Gobain for their creative and digital requirements.
First you watch it. Then you die. A frightening clip of a young girl and a phone call cursing you to death  sound familiar? In yet another dreadful tale, the iconic horror franchise The Ring returns with a terrifying third instalment Ringswhich is set to air on &flix, the destination for the biggest Hollywood hits. Airing as a part of Scary Mornings, this supernatural thriller enables you to #LeapForth into the life of little Samara on Saturday, March 30 at 11AM.

After a twelve-year gap, the most sinister story of Samara reignites fear and sets all hell lose in the lives of Julia (Matilda Lutz) and her boyfriend (Alex Roe). The evil curse continues to take down many innocent lives until it reaches the hands of the young and naive college student, Holt. Accidentally chancing upon the video tape, Holt attempts to watch the disturbing visuals, thus bringing himself on the radar of the wicked spirit. It is now up to his girlfriend Julia, to uncover the deeper meaning behind the videos cryptic message and save both their lives!

What follows is a series of eerie incidents and near-to-death experiences in the lives of the two as they struggle to defeat the demonic terror haunting their lives! Will Julia decipher the hidden message and save her boyfriend?

Watch the spine-chilling tale unfold, this Saturday, March 30 at 11AM only on &flix.
Debt-ridden Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd's (MTNL) 20-year cellular licence is valid only till April 6, 2019, and renewing it would reportedly cost the debt-ridden corporation around Rs 11,000 crore. Hence, the state-owned telecom service provider has stepped up its long-standing demand for an extension to the validity period by two more years, at no extra cost, on technical grounds.

In a series of letters written to the department of telecommunications (DoT) in the last few months, MTNL has argued that the year of licence allocation to it should not be taken as April 1999 since the geographical coverage of its mobile licence was not at par with the private telecom operators initially.

In a recent letter to DoT secretary Aruna Sundararajan, MTNL chairman and managing director PK Purwar added that in 1999 its licence was "non-standard" and became "standard" only since January 11, 2001, The Financial Express reported.

MTNL, which started services in the lucrative circles of Delhi and Mumbai in 1999, says that it had initially done so on a basic service licence. The latter was for landline services and since it started mobile services under it - something possible at the time through what was known as limited mobility- its area of operation was restricted to Delhi Municipal Corporation and Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Back then telcos charged heavily even for incoming calls.

MTNL has been pointing out since 2017 that its cellular licence was only brought at par with other private operators when it was allowed to extend the coverage to Delhi NCR areas of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida and Gurgaon and in Navi Mumbai and Kalyan areas of Mumbai in 2001.

"It is the unique and only case in entire telecom licensing regime where CMTS [cellular] licence is granted with non-standard operating area as per restricted basic service licence geographical area in deviation of prescribed and defined standard licence area laid down under CMTS licence regime", MTNL reportedly told the DoT. It added that if the government does not accept its request, the telco may seek legal remedies.

The loss-making telco's logic is that since its private sector peer bagged a CMTS licence that included these areas earlier on, the playing field was not level - MTNL was competitively in a disadvantageous position and could not fully commercially exploit its licence. The daily added that MTNL has buttressed its case for extending the licence validity with Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee's legal opinion.

Once a household telephony brand, MTNL's revenue and profitability came under tremendous pressure with intensified competition in mobile and landline telephony services. In fact, it has been making losses continuously for the past nine fiscals and was previously declared "incipient sick" as per the Department of Public Enterprises guidelines.

If the government does not give in to MTNL's request in the coming week, the debt-ridden telco will have no option but to shut down its services- mainly 2G as it got 3G spectrum in 2010 so its validity continues.

"Non-correction of effective date of MTNL's CMTS licence to 11.01.2001 will ultimately result in closing down of services beyond 05.04.2019 to MTNL mobile subscribers and in-roamer customers of BSNL. In order to continue providing uninterrupted mobile services, the extension of MTNL's CMTS licence along with spectrum is an urgent necessary", Purwar added in his letter.

MTNL currently has 6.2 MHz spectrum in 900 MHz band and 2.2 MHz in 1800 Mhz band. The company is willing to surrender the latter entirely and retain 5 MHz in 900 MHz band. However, even in this case it will have to shell out Rs 8,000-9,000 crore.

MTNL reportedly added that in the event the DoT does not agree with this request, it should issue specific and unambiguous instructions to it to close down its services after April 5. In the absence of any such clear instructions, MTNL said it will continue to operate the services based on the ASG's legal opinion.

Significantly, while any closure of MTNL's services would affect its 1.5 million 2G users, the latter will have the choice to upgrade to either MTNL's 3G services or port out to 2G services of Bharti Airtel or Vodafone Idea so customers won't really be inconvenienced. The telco's total subscriber base in both circles stands at 3.7 million.

(Edited by: Sushmita Choudhury)

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Also read: CBDT directs I-T Dept to probe 3 lakh de-registered firms for money laundering
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As the war in Syria draws to a close, international investors have come knocking, looking to guarantee a tender in the reconstruction of the war-torn country. War is a lucrative business. First weapons are sold to destroy a country, then materials are sold to build it up again, said Ahmad Tamer, director of the Port of Tripoli, in an interview with Al-Monitor.

Last December, the Chinese state-owned COSCO shipping company docked in Tripoli, inaugurating a new maritime route connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea. Located less than 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Syrian border, Tripoli benefits from a key strategic position in the eyes of investors looking for fast access to Syrias war-damaged cities.

China is testing Tripoli as a potential location for investment, Tamer added. Having secured an $86 million loan from the Islamic Development Bank, the port is preparing for large-scale investment. The Chinese wont look at anything under half a billion, Tamer told Al-Monitor. If they invest in the port, its because of their interest in the whole region.

Keeping its embassy in Damascus open throughout the conflict, Beijing has provided steady diplomatic support to Bashar al-Assads regime, vetoing most resolutions against Damascus at the UN Security Council.

But diplomacy is not the only advantage China holds in the race to rebuild Syria. While they are fighting on the side of the regime, Russia and Iran have been burdened with years of economic sanctions and war. And with Europe, the United States and countries in the Gulf withholding any financial support for reconstruction until a political settlement is reached, China is the only country with the economic capability and political influence for such a massive foreign investment.

With Beijing having already committed $2 billion toward the reconstruction of Syrias industries in 2017, more than 200 Chinese companies attended the 60th Damascus International Trade Fair in September 2018, showing that China is getting ready to sign public-private partnerships supervised directly from Beijing.

Eliana Ibrahim, president of the China-Arab Association for Promoting Cultural and Commercial Exchange in Beirut, voiced her optimism about Chinas involvement in the region. China is currently considering large-scale investments both in Syria and in Lebanon, waiting for the situation to stabilize a little so as to be sure of a return in its investments, she told Al-Monitor. Estimations by the UN calculate the reconstruction of Syria will cost upward of $250 billion.

Aware of Chinas interest, authorities in Tripoli are getting ready for what they hope to be a wholistic financial engagement, one that in the words of Hassan Dennaoui, director of the Tripoli Special Economic Zone (TSEZ), might change the region as a whole.

Initiated in 2009 by Finance Minister Raya al-Hassan, who is now interior minister, the TSEZ aims to provide the infrastructural and logistical hub investors will need to facilitate commerce and transportation to Syria. The TSEZ was initially conceived to enhance the development of Lebanons poorer regions in the north, Dennaoui told Al-Monitor. But the war in Syria has brought with it a whole set of opportunities for Lebanon.

Burdened by a soaring public debt, Lebanons newly formed Cabinet feels a sense of urgency about the economic and social costs of the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon. Just a few weeks ago, on Feb. 18, Lebanons new Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh Gharib visited Damascus, signaling a possible shift in Lebanese policy toward Syria in order to address the topic of refugees.

Despite the sharp divisions over relations with the Syrian regime within the ranks of the Lebanese government, the refugee crisis and potential reconstruction opportunities are very much on the minds of Lebanese politicians across the political spectrum. As for China, its investment in Tripoli is not for the sake of the reconstruction of Syria alone, but comes as part of a bigger project for the whole region, Dennaoui concluded.

Importing more than half of its crude oil from the Middle East, China has a strategic interest in the region as a key access point into Africa and Europe. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative, a plan to invest in transportation infrastructure that would connect China to over 65 countries via both sea and land.

Tripoli, set on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, could become a logistical hub for land trade routes connecting the Mediterranean to Central Asia, a corridor Beijing needs to reduce transport times and avoid having to transit through the Suez Canal.

China aims to gain influence in the region with the power of economic investment rather than military intervention, said Christina Lin, a research fellow at the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California.

But despite the speculation, Dennaoui advises caution, noting, Learning from the past, we know it is not wise to be too optimistic. Money needs stability, and stability is hard to find in this part of the world.

Economics aside, China has its own reasons for wanting stability in Syria. The reported presence of Uighur fighters from the Xinjiang region joining radical Islamist militias in Syria sounded warnings in Beijing. China does not want Syria to become a failed state like Afghanistan, providing a safe haven for Chinese separatist militants to attack Chinese citizens and interests, Lin told Al-Monitor.

While the International Monetary Fund estimates Syria's reconstruction will take more than 20 years, Chinas wealth and soft-power strategy might make it one of the forerunners in the race to profit from the rebuilding from the ashes of war.

However, if China invests in reconstruction before a political settlement is found, long-term stability may be hard to find, as the unresolved grievances that started the war in the first place may soon return to haunt everyone.
A text message sent March 26 to hundreds of thousands of cellphones claimed that Israeli President Reuven Rivlin insinuated that he would give the task of forming a new government to the head of the largest party. The information spread quickly, leaving the president no choice but to clarify his position and claim that comments he made to high school students were being politicized. It turns out that while Rivlin was visiting a civics class in Beit Shemesh, he was asked what would happen if none of the candidates had a large enough majority to form a government. He answered that he would have to assess the situation and then might give the task of forming a government to the head of the largest party.

The immediate suspect behind the dissemination of these messages was the Blue and White party. It has the most obvious interest in getting the message out that if it has more seats than the Likud Party, Rivlin, who is known to dislike the prime minister, would be happy to ask head of the Blue and White party Benny Gantz to form a new government. It is also a key message in the Blue and White partys strategy.

Shelly Yachimovich, opposition chair and Knesset member for the Labor Party, claimed that the messages, which distorted the presidents remarks and were damaging to his official standing, were sent by the Blue and White party to millions of citizens in an attempt to cause Labor voters to switch allegiance to Gantz  in the belief that this would result in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being replaced.

Another theory claims that it was actually in the Likuds interest to delegitimize the president, since he is expected to prefer Gantz over Netanyahu in the event of a tie. Regardless of who actually sent them, the messages were anonymous. It is impossible to know who was really behind them.

This example underscores how easy it is in Israels 2019 election to disseminate false and manipulative information to the public. It is done through text messages, bots and fake accounts on social networks, yet with no real ability to supervise this chaos, it could actually tilt the election. In fact, Israel has no government body or up-to-date law that can supervise this wild and unmanageable space.

Israels Election Campaign Law of 1959 is outdated and ill-suited for the internet era. As a result, several Israeli organizations and groups came together before the election in an effort to reduce the impact of this disturbing phenomenon, since it is being ignored by the government. The initiators  the Israel Internet Association, the Israel Institute for Democracy and the Law, Technology, and Cyber Clinic at Haifa University  created a volunteer network intended to re-empower citizens so that they can shatter the funhouse mirror, said professor Karine Nahon, president of the Israel Internet Association and senior lecturer in the Politics of Information. The group appealed to the public to report bots and suspect Facebook accounts.

On March 21, their work showed results. They reported accounts that they suspected were fake to the management of Facebook, and the accounts were investigated and removed. These were accounts that intentionally heated up the already divisive discourse and caused a commotion on the various social networks.

While it is a success, it is obvious to us that there are still a lot of fake accounts that are active online, Nahon told Al-Monitor. She claims that over 90% of these accounts belong to Netanyahu supporters. The anonymous campaigns are an influential factor in these elections, and the ability to supervise them is limited due to a lack of legislation.

When Nahon informed her colleagues about their success in getting the fake Facebook accounts removed, she had some bad news, too. I cant help ask myself the hard questions about this gap. Why does the overwhelming majority of these accounts consist of the supporters of one candidate? Does this reflect the reality of the situation, or is it possible that there is some bias in the report itself? she asked.

This is the big question hovering over the 2019 election: How big is its invisible, manipulative impact on the public?

Several months ago, Tehila Shwartz Altshuler, a researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute initiated a Convention for Maintaining Fair Elections, based on the idea that each party would have to sign its campaigns by name. The only party that refused to do so was the Likud. That should come as no surprise. The Likud used anonymous campaigns in the 2015 election, too. The brief video of Netanyahus election day warning that Arabs were going to the polls in droves was seen in a message sent to hundreds of thousands of supporters of the right on that same day. It is now believed that Netanyahu will use the same method on April 9, when traditional media is forbidden from showing campaign material or polls. In this way, he can reach the different sectors of the population and adapt his messages to them.

A month ago, on Feb. 27, Shwartz Altshulers initiative was adopted by Chairman of the Central Elections Committee Justice Hanan Meltzer. He banned anonymous election campaigns on social media and search engines.

In a conversation with Al-Monitor, another expert on social networks, Itay Tsamir, said that the order issued by Meltzer is not enough. Campaigns and anonymous information that is false, deceptive and manipulative are almost impossible to deal with using existing tools. He said, A person receives an innocent poll question on his cellphone. He answers with who he is supporting and that information immediately becomes the basis of new data.

Tsamir offered an example from the past few days. Given the escalation in the Gaza Strip, a seemingly humorous question was sent to hundreds of thousands of cellphones: How do you think Netanyahu will react to Hamas firing rockets on central Israel this morning? There are two possible answers: 1. He will order an attack on abandoned Hamas positions, or 2. He will order a harsh and stubborn attack on a large number of empty Hamas positions."

Obviously, Tsamir said, the anonymous message is intended to ridicule Netanyahu and to present his policy in Gaza as weak. This might be expected from the New Right party headed by Minister Naftali Bennett or the Union of Right-Wing Parties. It is sophisticated and dangerous.

Nahon concluded, Israeli law is not prepared to deal with these phenomena, so civil society must take responsibility, clean up the toxic discourse and restore power to the voters.
Iraqi workers have completed the first of many exhumations of mass graves of Yazidis killed by the Islamic State in 2014.

The process began March 15 under the supervision of the Iraqi cabinet, the Ministry of Health and the government-affiliated Martyrs Foundation in cooperation with the United Nations and its investigative team. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad was also in attendance. Now a human rights activist, Murad was held capitve by IS as a slave for three months before she was able to escape.

This first grave, located in the village of Kocho in western Mosul's Sinjar district, held the remains of hundreds of Yazidis. The atrocities IS carried out against the Yazidis in northern Iraq were concentrated in Kocho, dubbed the Mother of Massacres by its residents. Around 400 people were killed in Kocho and more than 750 women and children were kidnapped after IS took control of Sinjar, the largest Yazidi area in the north.

The long-persecuted Yazidi religion first emerged in Mesopotamia more than 4,000 years ago. A third of its estimated 1.5 million followers live in Iraq. It is considered one of the oldest religions in the world.

A spokesman for Iraq's Independent High Commission for Human Rights, Ali al-Bayati, told Al-Monitor the exhumation is the first step in uncovering the fate of hundreds of people who vanished during IS' reign of terror. He said, Around 75 [mass] graves are in Sinjar alone, not to mention the 300 others in neighboring areas that IS had occupied. According to official estimates, these graves contain between 4,000 and 12,000 bodies."

IS targeted minorities such as Yazidis and Shabak, as well as other groups such as Turkmens and Shiites as well as members of Sunni tribes who were in contact with the government and the official security forces.

The UN Security Council established an investigative team in Iraq in 2017 to support local efforts to hold accountable those responsible for mass genocides by collecting, preserving and storing evidence in Iraq in accordance with international standards.

Bayati noted, The graves indicate that this was an international crime, as some of the involved criminals were foreigners. They need to be opened within a short period of time, especially in the presence of an international team under a Security Council resolution. He added, "This will strengthen the evidence of crimes committed with the help of international networks financing terrorism, which is why an international effort is required to reach the perpetrators in other countries.

On March 15, Murad restated her belief that the Iraqi government failed to protect the souls of the victims when they were still alive. She added, I hope they will not fail to bury their remains properly."

Al-Monitor contacted the Martyrs Foundation, which noted that the foundation sent a technical team in 2018 to survey the grave sites in Tal Afar, Sinjar and Al-Baaj.

The Martyrs Foundation office explained, The foundation is concerned with preserving these graves and making sure there is no damage to them due to either natural factors or deliberate attacks, since most graves are not very deep and can be easily dug up, and Specialized teams are working with the technical entities to prepare a database of victims' families to match them with the remains extracted from the graves.

Hajji Kandour al-Sheikh, a Yazidi member of the Iraqi Parliament, told Al-Monitor, The fact that there are dozens of graves north and south of Mount Sinjar and in the valleys  makes the task difficult and time consuming and requires exceptional effort, particularly since the presence of mines delays the process.

He said, The remains are being transferred to the forensic department in Baghdad to identify as much of them as possible."

Kandour al-Sheikh noted, There are around 6,000 missing persons and the department of mass graves is cooperating with the Martyrs Foundation to hand over the remains to their families and ensure their rights guaranteed by the Iraqi Constitution." If the families consent, he said, "exhumed remains will be collected and buried in a national cemetery in Sinjar, as a testament to the crime.

Former judge Ali al-Tamimi told Al-Monitor, The Iraqi Constitution ... recognizes the Yazidis right to practice their religion. ... The law defines martyrs as those who sacrificed themselves and their lives for the sake of their homeland, and thus this law applies to the Yazidis who were martyred [by IS]. Their children and their parents need to be compensated and their graves need to be documented and counted among the graves of victims of terrorism."

Bayati noted, The mass graves will improve the chances of establishing a court specialized in these crimes of genocide or could help Iraq's accession to the International Criminal Court.
Looks like a formal criminal probe into the economic ties, interests and conflict of interests between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cousin Nathan Milikowsky is inevitable, a senior Israeli law enforcement official told Al-Monitor, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Such a decision is not possible before the [April 9] elections, but in light of the information gathered recently, a complex and troubling picture emerges that requires thorough examination, the official added. Authorities in the United States might also have to investigate the case from their angle, he concluded.

Indeed, the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission might feel the need to launch a probe into Milikowsky and Netanyahus business dealings. Right now, it is unclear how Netanyahu bought SeaDrift stocks, with whose money and from whom, said the law enforcement source. What was the role of his cousin, who was a majority stockholder in the company, and why did Netanyahu pay a significantly lower sum than other buyers , an absurd value compared to its revenues that year?

In order to understand this latest affair, the fifth in which Netanyahu has become embroiled over the past two years, one has to dive into Netanyahus family history. His grandfather Rabbi Nathan Milikowsky emigrated from Poland to Palestine after World War I. Life was hard, and seven of his nine children left well before Israel was established in 1948. Most of them did well, largely in the steel industry, becoming wealthy. Two sons stayed on in the Holy Land. One of them, Professor Benzion Milikowsky, who went by the pen name Netanyahu, is the father of Israels prime minister.

According to family tradition, the wealthy brothers who moved abroad and prospered would see to the needs of the two brothers who remained in the Land of Israel and pursued academic careers. The principle was clear: Those who did well in material terms would take care of those who chose a more spiritual path in life. Indeed, the Netanyahu family received regular help from their rich relatives abroad. The senior Netanyahu would sometimes live in the United States for long periods, holding down academic posts in New York and Philadelphia and enjoying the largesse of his relatives. His son Benjamin spent large chunks of his childhood and adult life in the land of limitless possibilities, including studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The family tradition of sharing survives to this day, at least as far as Netanyahu and his multi-millionaire cousin Nathan Milikowsky are concerned. This give-and-take is now under public scrutiny, being peeled back like an onion, layer by layer.

Netanyahu had actually admitted to the police investigating suspicions of corruption in Case 1000 (involving favors from wealthy businessmen) that Milikowsky gave him regular cash handouts, paid for his suits and luxury items and helped him out financially. Later, it transpired that the two had been business partners, holding stock in a Texas steel company called SeaDrift Coke. Netanyahu had bought the shares in 2007, while head of the Knesset opposition, and sold them in 2010, almost two years after being elected prime minister. The affair is rapidly escalating, with Netanyahu caught being economical with the truth on an almost daily basis.

According to documents that recently came to light, Netanyahu bought the shares for $600,000. To date, it is unclear who sold them to him  at a 95% discount  and who paid for them. He sold his holdings to Milikowsky at a huge profit, $4.3 million to be exact, as the company experienced a sharp downturn. The deal was thus not commensurate with the state of the steel industry or with the firms financial health at that time.

If authorities undertake a probe, it will focus on suspicions of illegal money or gift laundering by the two men. In recent days, it has been learned that Milikowsky has stakes in a web of Israeli companies, including two in the biomedical industry  Art Medical and Permia Spine, where he sits on both boards of directors. Meanwhile, his cousin the prime minister serves also as Israels health minister. This relationship  with an investor in the medical industry secretly funding the minister in charge of the sector  could develop into a serious criminal investigation of both Milikowsky and Netanyahu. And that's not all.

Threads leading to the submarine scandal  involving suspected bribes in the sale of German submarines and patrol boats to Israel  refuse to disappear from the public eye and the current election campaign. Netanyahu apparently sold his SeaDrift stock to his cousin in 2010, just as it was about to merge with Graftech, a leading steel electrode maker in which Milikowsky became the majority shareholder and senior director. This is where it gets interesting: Graftech supplies steel parts, and one of its biggest strategic clients is Thyssenkrupp, the German conglomerate manufacturing the submarines and other naval craft for Israel.

Netanyahu, while prime minister, was aggressively promoting the acquisition of an additional submarine from Thyssenkrupp, against the navys wishes. He then promoted the purchase (subsequently dropped) of three additional subs, and the entire affair erupted into a criminal probe and a public storm. Netanyahu has not been identified by police as a suspect in the submarine investigation, but links between Netanyahu and his cousin, a major stakeholder in the firm involved with Thyssenkrupp, are likely to be of interest to investigators, as is the question of whether Netanyahu paid proper taxes on his SeaDrift profits along with other issues.

Netanyahu is trying to sideline these latest developments by slinging mud at his rivals, chief among them former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, who heads the rival Blue and White party. The supposed Iranian hacking of Gantzs cellphone, a state comptroller report about a company that Gantz chaired as a civilian and rumors about Gantzs supposedly unfit mental state are helping Netanyahu divert fire into his rivals court. Polls indicate that the race is tighter than ever at the top, with Netanyahus Likud and Gantzs Blue and White neck-and-neck. The right-wing bloc of parties led by Netanyahu is still well ahead of the center and center-left bloc in the polls.

Meanwhile, an IDF division is deploying along the Gaza border ahead of a large, Hamas-organized anti-Israel protest, dubbed the March of a Million, planned for March 30. The explosions from an overnight attack on an Iranian weapons depot in Syria are also still reverberating across the region. Israel has not officially admitted to the raid, but Intelligence Affairs Minister Israel Katz appeared to eliminate any ambiguity when he broadly hinted on the morning after on March 28 that Israel had been behind it.

The major task now facing both Netanyahu and Gantz is to arrive at the April 9 finish line in one piece. Which of them will emerge the winner, no one knows.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his political life. He is using all sorts of questionable strategies and even crossing more than a few red lines in his attacks on his rivals Benny Gantz and the Blue and White party. On the other hand, he is showing great restraint on the Gaza front, carefully considering Israels response to the rockets that have been fired from there at the center of the country. Netanyahu's critics on both the right and the left have not missed an opportunity to depict Netanyahu as surrendering to Hamas' terror, but he is actually acting responsibly, especially in the face of all those eager to go to war.

Yes, were talking about the same Netanyahu who is referred to disparagingly as easily pressured. It is the same Netanyahu who worked hard to unite the far-right Kahane activists Otzma Yehudit (Israel Power) and pro-settler HaBayit HaYehudi to avoid losing votes. It is the same Netanyahu who is almost always quick to dance to the tune of the right; the one who will not let New Right leader Naftali Bennett pass him from that direction. While Netanyahu's political rivals have been offering voters populist solutions on Gaza that would allegedly work miracles and ensure quiet for generations to come, Netanyahu has made a point of walking between the raindrops. Hell raise a fist to assuage his most belligerent supporters and then order the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to act with all possible caution to avoid getting dragged into another military adventure lacking any purpose.

Gaza has experienced three full-blown wars since the Hamas coup of June 2007. Two of them Operation Pillar of Defense (2012) and Operation Protective Edge (2014)  occurred while Netanyahu was in office. None of these wars solved Gazas problems or the problem of Gaza. They merely aggravated the already awful living conditions of the enclave's residents.

Naftali Bennett, whose New Right isnt doing very well in the polls, is promising voters that he will fight Hamas. How? According to Bennett, the reason Israel stopped winning in Gaza is because the IDF appointed officers who are not fighters with every fiber of their being. He has called the IDFs commanders for Gaza parve  the designation for kosher food that is neither meat nor dairy  to suggest the soldiers' lack of determination and has promised to bring back the winning horses.

In the spirit of the upcoming Passover holiday, Bennett presented a plan to uproot Hamas that he calls Operation Burning the Leaven. In other words, Bennett is suggesting war. There is no other way to interpret his operational proposals: not a single soldier will enter Gaza, or in other words, it will not be a land campaign; Hamas rockets will be strafed from the air; the Israeli residents of the localities surrounding Gaza will be evacuated temporarily, until the campaign is over and Israel is winning again; Hamas' leadership will be targeted for assassination; and Gaza will be demilitarized. What Bennett did not suggest is that the IDF would eliminate Hamas entirely. Maybe even he realizes that Israel would not be able to handle the vacuum this would create. That would be far riskier.

Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who until just four month's ago was Israels full-time defense minister, holds a similar perspective. He suggests returning to the policy of targeted assassinations. In 2016, when he was sitting on the opposition bench, he promised to kill Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh within 48 hours if appointed defense minister. A week later, at the end of May 2016, he was appointed defense minister, but he did not order the killing of any Hamas senior member or come up with a solution for Gaza.

Netanyahu's attackers are not only on the right. The Blue and White, with three former IDF chiefs of staff among its top leaders, is also mercilessly battering Netanyahu over Gaza. On March 27, the partys Twitter account featured a photo of Haniyeh making a V-for-victory sign at the ruins of his office in Gaza after the IDF had bombed it. The accompanying quote, from Gabi Ashkenazi, Blue and White candidate and former IDF chief, asserted, Ismail Haniyehs victory photo is an embarrassment. It is the direct result of the collapse of our ability to act as a deterrent. Netanyahu is too busy with himself rather than with the residents of the south and the settlements surrounding Gaza.

Throughout the campaign, the Blue and White has attacked the prime minister for paying protection money to Hamas, lending the impression that Israel is paying money so that Hamas does not attack it. The facts are very different, however.

The money concerned is from Qatar, and it was transferred to Hamas at the recommendation of the Israeli defense establishment based on the argument that controlled payments to civil servants in Gaza could postpone another Gaza war. Netanyahu put a temporary hold on the payments last January in response to criticism, but so far, he has been able to withstand calls to pulverize Gaza and to eliminate Hamas' leadership without thinking about the day after.

Unlike previous rounds of violence in Gaza, this time Netanyahu has ordered a concentration of troops along the Gaza border fence and called up reserves to give Israelis the impression that he will not hesitate to launch a full-scale campaign. The deployment of fresh forces and the call-up were not done because the IDF is about to launch a major operation into Gaza, but in preparation for the million-person demonstration that Hamas announced for March 30 to mark the first anniversary of the demonstrations along the border fence.

We are tightening the security ring around Gaza, Netanyahu said on March 28. Over the last few days, I have ordered an increase of forces and weapons in order to be ready for a far-reaching campaign, and added, after all other options have been taken.

In the last few days, an Egyptian intelligence delegation visited Gaza in an effort to prevent the situation from spinning out of control. They discussed an arrangement with the leaders of Hamas and with the Israeli defense establishment and asked both parties to show restraint until after the election.

There is no reason to be surprised by Netanyahus cautious approach. He has explicitly expressed his philosophy about Gaza on various occasions. In October 2018, he said, I am doing everything I can to avoid an unnecessary war, before going on to explain to journalists that he did not want the conflict to continue on a low flame, but would rather find a practical solution. Six years earlier, in 2012, Netanyahu had bragged that he is not eager to go to war or to get involved in unnecessary campaigns: There has been no war in my seven years in office, and there has been a drop in the level of terrorism. We did not have a light finger on the trigger. On the contrary, our hand was firm and steady. There was no war because we relayed strength. Israel launched Operation Protective Edge two years later, in 2014. It lasted 50 days.

Relying on past experience, Netanyahu now has his finger in the dam, against the flood of calls for war by his political rivals, while he bites his lip and avoids fighting an unnecessary war. It isnt because of the election either. This is and was his position, even before calling for early elections. It turns out that the most controversial prime minister in Israeli history knows how to be the responsible adult in the room when it is necessary.
Recognising the gradually changing consumer preference for healthier beverages over fizzy drinks, Coca Cola has been moving into the nutrition space for a while now. After launching several products such as Minute Maid Vitingo for micronutrient deficiency, Vio dairy drink and Zico coconut water, among others, the Atlanta-based giant is reportedly now turning to 'desi' drinks like jal jeera and aam panna.

"You have 29 states, which are virtually 29 countries. People speak different languages, have different food and beverage habits, have different motivations for consuming food and beverages," T. Krishnakumar, chief executive of Coke's business in India and Southwest Asia, told Bloomberg.

So Coca-Cola's strategy in India is start localising its product portfolio, tapping the growing demand for packaged ethnic drinks - beverages traditionally brewed at home using local spices and fruits. According to Technopak Advisors, a New Delhi-based consultancy, the demand for packaged ethnic drinks has grown 32% over the last three years, three times the pace of carbonated beverages like Coke.

Little wonder then that Coca Cola's push into this niche space - hitherto dominated by small start-ups - will match its usual scale. According to Krishnakumar, first up is its carbonated version of jal jeera, currently being launched around the country. Coca Cola's aam panna drink will be on shelves in time for summer while an expansion into dairy products like spiced buttermilk and lassi is expected in 2020.

With this development, Coca Cola will be going up against incumbents such as Bengaluru-based Hector Beverages, which owns the Paper Boat brand, Mumbai-based Xotik Frujus and Rajasthan-based Jayanti Group, whose slogan reads 'Be Indian Buy Indian'.

"Years back, the fight was what is Pepsi's share and what's Coke's share," Harsha Razdan, head of the consumer markets practice at KPMG's India unit, told the news agency. "Now you're competing with everyone else."

This explains why Coca Cola has planned a product blitzkrieg in the country over the next few years. "We have embarked on an incubator approach for future launches which will reduce the time taken from ideation, execution and eventual launch in the market. We will also launch products nationally and not regionally as we do now, so within 3 months every product will be available across the country," Krishnakumar had announced last year. "Against last year's five, I hope to launch at least 10 products from this year. Eventually I want to scale it up to 25-30 products every year," he had optimistically added.

The new ethnic drinks foray is a part of that plan and is paired with the company's $1.7 billion foray into locally-grown fruit juices. It's reportedly building vast plantations of fruits like mango and litchi to produce industrial levels of concentrate to make these juices available at low prices - perhaps even export them - keeping an eye on the lucrative pie. A recent Goldstein Research report predicted that the India packaged non-alcoholic beverages market will grow at a CAGR of 16.2% between 2016 and 2024, crossing the $20 billion milestone by the end of the forecast period.

Also read: Coca Cola to launch its first ever alcoholic drink in Japan; India unlikely to get it

Also read: At last, Coca Cola gives its due to desi Thums Up and Maaza
AL-BAB, Syria  Vehicles have regained access to the highway linking the city of Aleppo, Syrias economic capital, to opposition-controlled al-Bab in northern Aleppo province.

The regime has controlled all of Aleppo city since December 2016, while the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) controls al-Bab.

This highway linked Aleppo city to the province's northeast, but it had been blocked since July 2014 when the surrounding area became a frontline between the opposition and the regime  especially after the latter took control in July 2014 of the industrial city of Sheikh Najjar.

On March 18, both the regime and the SNA agreed to open the commercial and civilian crossing  dubbed Abu al-Zandeen  on the Aleppo-al-Bab highway. Details of the agreement have yet to be made public.

This is the first crossing that links regime-controlled areas with those held by the SNA, allowing access to land ports of entry with Turkey.

On March 23, Al-Monitor headed to the crossing, where eight trucks were waiting at the last opposition checkpoint before leaving the crossing. Time, effort and costs have been [saved] thanks to the opening of the crossing, a truck driver transporting vegetables told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. He said, Weve been long waiting for such a step.

He added, Delivering cargo from al-Bab to Aleppo used to take around nine hours just to get to al-Eis crossing in the southern countryside of Aleppo, with a distance of up to 200 kilometers [124 miles], packed with opposition and regime checkpoints. Today, with the opening of Abu al-Zandeen crossing, the 50-kilometer journey takes less than 1 hours.

At one time, four crossings directly linked the areas controlled by opposition factions other than the SNA in northern Syria to those held by the regime. All the crossings were in areas controlled by extremist opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), namely al-Mansoura, Murak, Qalaat al-Madiq and al-Eis crossings. All but al-Eis crossings have been closed by the regime.

Al-Eis in southern Aleppo province was the only outlet for the movement of civilians and goods between the opposition and regime areas. With the opening of Abu al-Zandeen under SNA and regime control, HTS no longer holds the only active crossing.

Maj. Mohammed Ayoub, the SNA leader in charge of overseeing the Abu al-Zandeen crossing from the opposition side, told Al-Monitor, Opening the crossing was essential to reduce the burden on citizens and traders who have to travel long distances. He explained that the crossing currently is used for commercial transit only, though civilians will be allowed to cross at a later stage.

The SNA  manages the crossing completely from the opposition side, he said. Fees are imposed on the goods depending on their type, and proceeds are collected by the SNA.

Not only does the crossing help support the SNA, but it will also draw traffic from al-Eis, thus reducing HTS revenues. Turkey, the United States and other countries consider HTS, an offshoot and rival of al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization.

For now, fees at Abu al-Zandeen crossing vary, but an opposition economic committee will determine set fees later, Ayoub noted. The regime currently doesn't charge transit fees, a truck driver told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, noting that he wasn't sure if it will impose any charge in the future.

As for the security situation, both the opposition and the regime check vehicles before they cross, each on their respective side. Ayoub said the economic committee has identified a list of substances that cannot leave the opposition-controlled areas such as fuel, livestock, flour and chemicals used to make explosives and ammunition.

The establishment of the Abu al-Zandeen crossing was announced Jan. 13, 2018, after a decision by the opposition-affiliated Syrian Interim Government. The crossing remained closed for unknown reasons, with overseers claiming it was due to internal disputes among opposition factions. Ayoub didn't offer a clarification in this regard but noted that the crossing now has opened in coordination with the Turkish government.

Traders and citizens say they are pleased with the new crossing, as its opening will revive commercial movement in northern and eastern Aleppo and in the areas controlled by the regime. It provides traders, industrialists and farmers alike with easily accessible markets for their goods.

The crossing will also provide a quick link between Aleppo and Turkey passing through al-Rai crossing, 30 kilometers north of al-Bab. This route will be an alternative to the Gaziantep-Aleppo highway, which has been closed since 2012, being a contact area between the opposition and the regime. Work is underway to reopen the highway.

The opening of the crossing will have a positive impact on traders and citizens alike, as the cost of shipping will be reduced, which will decrease the price of goods, Mohammed al-Sheikh, a food trader in al-Bab, told Al-Monitor. There will be greater freedom of movement of goods and greater competition between traders and industrialists."

Sheikh added, Food and fuel products in regime-held areas are cheaper than in opposition-controlled ones, and the regime will now benefit from Turkish products and will be able to export its goods abroad.
TELL ALO/MANBIJ, Syria  On a recent morning Sheikh Humaydi Daham al-Hadi reclined on a velvet floor sofa, puffing on a cigarette with a roguish glint in his eye as he held court in his outdoor diwan, or reception chamber, in the town of Tell Alo in northern Syria.

The veteran leader of the nomadic Arab Shammar tribe, which spans several countries, is among the most vocal advocates of Syrias long-repressed Kurdish minority. His Forces of the Brave or al-Sanadid forces have, like thousands of fellow Arab tribals, been fighting alongside the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) as part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS).

On March 23, the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared victory after the fall of the jihadis last sliver of territory in Baghouz. But even before IS was vanquished in battle, Hadi had embarked on another mission  to probe the contours of a possible settlement between the SDF, its allies and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Yes, I am ready to shake Assads hand, Hadi told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview at his marble palace, where he breeds his prized horses and camels. The sheikh had recently returned from a diplomatic tour that took him to Baghdad, Damascus and an overnight encounter with Russian officials at the Khmeimim air base in western Syria. The aim is to stop the war and sit around the table, Hadi said.

The Shammar leader is not the only one mulling such an agreement. Over the past several months, a growing number of Arab tribal leaders residing in SDF-controlled areas have been reaching out to the Assad regime and cutting individual deals, according to Syrian Kurdish officials and Arab notables interviewed by Al-Monitor. In the mainly Arab town of Manbij, which is run by local allies of the US-backed SDF, the shift among the sheikhs is palpable. Requests to meet with Mohamed Khaeir al-Mashi of the Bou Bana tribe, Ismail Rabia of the Hanada tribe and Abdallah al-Bakouri of the Bou Sultan tribe revealed that all had migrated to regime-held territory when Russia and the Syrian Arab Army moved within close proximity of the town in November to forestall a possible Turkish incursion targeting the YPG. And it's not just the Arabs: The Kurds have been sending out feelers to Damascus as well.

The trend has accelerated ever since President Donald Trump announced in December that he would be ordering all US forces to withdraw from Syria, Hadi said. Pushback from the Pentagon over the risks of a rushed departure prompted Trump to agree to keep a residual force of around 400 US troops but the damage was done. Doubts about the US commitment began to balloon, leading some Arabs in turn to question the merits of continued links with the Kurds. Predictably, the regime, Turkey, Iran and Russia are seizing on the wobbles to deepen the emerging fissures in the hope that the US-backed militia will eventually crumble and that this will hasten a US exit.

American sponsorship of the SDF  equipping, training and financing fighters  twinned with shared enmity for IS has served as the glue binding Arabs and Kurds. This has allowed coalition forces to move the battle against the jihadis out of the Kurdish-dominated areas into Arab-populated terrain, culminating in the wresting of Raqqa away from IS last year.

Nicholas A. Heras, a Middle East security fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said, One of the reasons that the Arab tribes and leaders continue to engage with the SDF is the continued promise of support from the US-led coalition that will allow their communities to benefit from great power cover.

However, US flip-flopping has forced everybody into a difficult pattern where nobody can really act until the US and coalition forces are gone and especially because the Trump administration is opposed to any negotiations between its SDF allies and the regime, Heras told Al-Monitor.

The Kurds, who arguably are the biggest beneficiaries of US protection after beating back the jihadis and expanding the territories under their control to include the strategic Tabqa dam and oil fields in Rmeilan and Hassakah, are in the stickiest position of all. The United States doesnt want us to talk to the regime, but at the same time they are not offering us an alternative plan for the future; they are not willing to engage with us politically, complained Fawza Yusuf, a senior figure in the Kurdish-led administration running the US-protected zone. They are telling us to swim but the swimming pool is empty, she said in an interview with Al-Monitor.

The trouble is that the regime is not feeling at all generous toward the Kurds, either. With his forces gradually reasserting control over rebel territory with the help of the Russians and Iran-backed militias, Assad feels that he has won the war. He is spurning a road map presented by the Kurds that calls, among other things, for Kurdish self-rule over the three cantons under their control and preserving the SDF security structure. Mazlum Kobane, the Kurdish commander in charge of the SDF, referred to these as red lines in a recent interview with Al-Monitor. But the regime is giving us nothing, Yusuf acknowledged.

In a bid to keep the Arabs on board, the YPGs political arm, the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), has been organizing town hall meetings with Arab leaders. I told them the blood of our sons and daughters, of our martyrs, is now fused, that no one can divide us, and some of them wept, said Salih Muslim, the PYD spokesman who is also in charge of Arab outreach, describing a February gathering of Arabs and Kurds.

After seven years of shared existence outside the regimes control, some Arabs have come to view the Kurds in a different light. In Qamishlo, Mohammad Darwish, a textile merchant at the local souk, said, People should not be discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity and religion. We believe the Kurds should be granted equal rights and permitted to be educated in their own language. This marks a big change from the days when many Arabs viewed the Kurds with disdain, and the regime refused to issue identity papers to some 150,000 Kurds, effectively rendering them stateless.

In Manbij, Sheikh Farouk Al-Mashi, another Bou Bana leader, who heads the SDF-allied Manbij Legislative Council, takes immense pride in what he called our joint project. He was referring to the governing model introduced by the PYD, which promotes gender equality and ethnic diversity. Typically, every administrative body has a male and female co-chair with one a Kurd and the other either an Arab or a Christian. We want the whole world to understand that we are living together peacefully, that we respect each other and that this is not just a Kurdish vision but our joint vision, Mashi told Al-Monitor in an interview in the town of Ain Issa.

Hassan Hassan, a senior nonresident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy and a native of Syrias Deir ez-Zor province, said enthusiasm for the SDF in Manbij stems in large measure from the fact that it's an American project, not a Kurdish one. The town was wrested from IS with coalition backing in August 2016. The Manbij model proved that Arabs can work with the Kurds without being dominated by them, Hassan told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview.

Meanwhile, the notion that the YPGs putative feminist revolution that has drawn thousands of women to the battlefield has caught on among Arab women is somewhat overblown. Some Arab women have signed up for combat. But on March 8, International Womens Day, many of the the Arab women who did show up for an outdoor rally in Qamishlo organized by the PYD were chaperoned by male relatives. We are new to this, said Al Ahmed al-Hussein, an Arab from Tell Brak who took part in the festivities with his two daughters. He refused to let them speak to a female reporter. Pressed for an explanation as to how this chimed with the spirit of the occasion, he said, Changing the mind, the mentality of this region is very difficult.

Indeed, Arab-Kurdish solidarity in mixed towns such as Tell Abyad and Manbij near the Turkish border is driven less by a newfound ideological affinity than shared antagonism for Turkey. The Turkish government insists that the YPG continues to call the shots in Manbij and is threatening to invade the place if the Kurds dont pull out. Turkey remains adamant that the YPG poses an existential threat to its national security because of its close links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the militant group that has been fighting for self-rule inside Turkey since 1984.

There is no PKK here," Mashi said, claiming that Turkey was actively fomenting discord inside Manbij most recently between the Bou Asaf and Hanada tribes in order to create an excuse to send in their soldiers.

Should the US forces pull out, the common fear in Manbij is that Turkish forces will pour in, triggering the sort of lawlessness and impunity that prevails in the areas under their control. Makeen Isa, who runs a currency exchange in the local bazaar, said, The dollar has been rising because of Turkish threats. If the regime returns, at least that security problem will be solved. Abu Muhammed Yamen al-Ali, who sells womens clothing, concurred, saying, If the regime returns, at least we will be able to get all our official paperwork done. Both men, like many other locals here, said they would like the Americans to broker any such deal but that is a non-starter.

Hassan cautions that the tribes are not as cohesive as they seem, with generational divisions pulling members in opposite directions. Older leaders are ready to jump back into bed with the regime and younger ones are fiercely resisting its return. Some continue to sympathize with IS and could well turn on the Kurds again. Others want to continue dealing with the Americans and the SDF. But none is confident that the Americans will stay. The best scenario is that the Russians find a way to become the patron of the SDF during any transition phase, Hassan said, if only to prevent jihadist sleeper cells from exploiting the vacuum to stage a comeback.

The hitch is that the Russians have had trouble delivering on their promises to curb the regimes brutally repressive instincts in areas where it has made a comeback, as witnessed in Daraa. Hundreds of locals took to the streets after the government erected a bronze statue of Assads father, Hafez, at the same spot it had been torn down at the start of the uprising in 2011.

Still, the majority of Syria that is now back under the regime's control remains largely unknown to the outside world. Few Western journalists venture outside the SDF-controlled zone. "The fact remains that a large majority of Sunnis in the Syrian Arab Army stuck with the regime," said a Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The regime has survived." Moreoever, Fabrice Balanche, a French academic at Lyon II University and a respected expert on Syria, debunked the idea that the Russians are increasingly at odds with an Assad whose obduracy is being encouraged by Iran. That is the wishful thinking in Washington D.C. think tanks; there is no friction between Russia and Iran over Syria, he said in an interview with Al-Monitor. And should the Kurds persist in their alliance with the Americans, he predicted, "The Russians will look the other way as Turkey attacks them yet again."

All of this means that the Kurds have no time to lose, the Shammar leader insisted. My Kurdish brothers need to stop being so stubborn, they need to make peace among themselves first and then make peace with the regime. The alternative, he warned, is a big and far more dangerous unknown. As for their demands for federalism, Hadi said, We are all Syrians and we all have rights, and I have been asking for a devolution of central authority since 1980. But if an administrative carve-up is based on ethnicity it will cause new wars. We dont need that. The big question, though, is what the PKK decides. The YPG, the PYD  they cannot even lift this without the PKKs consent, he said, pointing to a briefcase. Alas, the PKK and the regime cant change their mentality, they come from the same school.
Putin thought he had a deal in Helsinki

With the United States recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, writes Maxim Suchkov, the security buffer between Israeli and Syrian/Iranian forces that Moscow sought to establish may be put into question, raising risks for a direct collision of enemy forces.

During the Helsinki summit that brought together [US President Donald] Trump and [Russian President Vladmir] Putin in July 2018, adds Suchkov, the Golan Heights was arguably the main item Putin could offer Trump to discuss in terms of US-Russia cooperation on Syria.

According to Suchkov, Russia has deployed its military police along the Bravo line that later enabled UN observers to return to their own mission to monitor the cease-fire and separation of the forces.

As this column observed less than a week after the July 16, 2018, meeting in Helsinki, the attention given to Trumps remarks on Russian meddling in the 2016 election at the summit may be drowning out awareness of the impact of Helsinki, which is already being felt in the region.

Al-Monitor may have been the only, or one of a very few, media outlets to report at the time on Putins mediation efforts between Israel and Iran regarding the Golan Heights following Helsinki. The Russian president said he and Trump managed to agree on some aspects on Syria.  In particular on the southern de-escalation zone near the Golan Heights, with full consideration of Israeli interests  and we also earlier discussed this with our Iranian partners. So we are on the right track in regard to fixing the situation in a broader sense, not just Syria.

The south of Syria should be brought [in]to full compliance with the treaty of 1974, about the separation of forces  about separation of forces of Israel and Syria, Putin explained at the time. This will bring peace to [the] Golan Heights, and bring more peaceful [relations] between Syria and Israel, and also provide security for the State of Israel. Mr. President [Trump] paid special attention to the issue during todays negotiations.

Suchkov reported the week after the summit that Russia is moving steadily toward gradual implementation of its vision for the Golan Heights, while conveying to Iran that these policies are the least painful solutions to the interests of the Islamic Republic when measured against disincentives of a larger regional war. Moscow also seeks to persuade Tehran that its proposal on the Golan Heights doesnt mean Russia prioritizes Israel over Iran, nor does it undermine Russian-Iranian cooperation against what both deem terrorists in Syria. Between the lines, Moscow thus signals the Trump administration it is capable of ensuring Israeli security from what Trump and Netanyahu see as the biggest threat.  Iran understandably appears to be wary of Russia flirting with the Israelis and Americans. In this particular situation, however, it has a rather limited number of options: either agree to the vision that Moscow proposes  albeit with some amendments  or wave it off and face military escalation in addition to sanctions and pressure from within.

Back in July, we wrote, Putin is not someone who works for free. If he believes he is helping Trump to achieve a responsible exit from Syria, while assuring Israels security, this is big stuff, and the Russian president also needs a win from the art of the deal. For Putin, that means relief from at least some of the US sanctions on Russia. His offer of a referendum in Crimea can be considered part of this bigger package."

Suchkov concludes this week, Some in Moscow believe, however, Russia is unlikely to appeal to the precedent with the Golan Heights to defend its own position on Crimea over concerns of antagonizing Israel. Yet the situation around the Golan Heights weakens the reasoning of those who opposed Russias takeover of Crimea. It may also create some leverage for Moscow in its own private deliberations with Europeans over sustainability of sanctions over Crimea.

Turkey rethinks Syria ties over Kurds

Although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said March 22 that Trumps decision on the Golan Heights has brought the region to the brink of a new crisis, that doesnt mean Turkey will put aside the conditions it has set for rebuilding its ties with Damascus, writes Fehim Tastekin.

Turkey is livid over the continued partnership between the US-led coalition and the YPG [Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units] and has been threatening to attack the group in the swath of territory extending from the east bank of the Euphrates River all the way to the Iraqi border, saying the group is a danger to its national security, writes Amberin Zaman. Last year, Turkish forces proved they meant business when they drove the YPG out of the Kurdish-majority enclave of Afrin.

Ankaras announcement of joint military operations with Tehran against the Kurdistan Workers Party along the border, although not confirmed by Iran, signals greater cooperation between Ankara and Tehran against Kurdish aspirations in the near future, according to Semih Idiz. Iran is also cool to the idea of any Kurdish autonomy in Syria and opposes the SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces].

Turkey expects the Syrian regime to develop a new constitution that provides rights for the opposition, and wants elimination of the autonomous Kurdish entities in northern Syria, which Turkey considers a threat to its border, explains Tastekin. Syrian peace talks held in Astana, Kazakhstan, and organized by Iran, Russia and Turkey, were built on United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254. The resolution emphasizes the importance of Syrian territorial integrity, but doesnt make any reference to the Golan Heights problem, so it doesn't provide any possible solution on the matter.  The Iran-Russia-Turkey trio could very well add the Golan Heights matter to its agenda, to increase pressure on the United States, but even if that happens, nobody really expects the conflict to become a top priority for the three governments.

There is an emerging convergence of interests on the Kurdish question between Ankara, Tehran and Damascus, adds Idiz. The only thing preventing this from developing into a full-blown alliance between the three countries is the continuing antipathy felt for Assad by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who considers the Syrian leader to be one of his regional archenemies.

Many Turkish voices have, nevertheless, been arguing for some time that it is in Ankaras interest to enter into meaningful dialogue with Damascus, writes Idiz. Turkey is already maintaining low-level talks with the Syrian regime through its intelligence service MIT, but many believe this is not enough to meet the growing challenges facing Ankara.

If anything, the State Departments current policy to broker a deal between the SDF and Turkey appears geared not so much to deconflict them as to prevent the regime from coming back, writes Zaman. And while it disavows all interest in regime change, it wants Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to go and for the regimes behavior to fundamentally change in character. Neither seems likely in the near future.

The SDF official concurred that Russian backing for the Kurds if and when they sit down with the regime is contingent on their breaking off ties with the United States, concludes Zaman. He summed up their dilemma, But until we know what the United States actual plan is we dont want to end our alliance with them. In the meantime, the Russians appear happy to let Turkey continue its threats to attack the YPG. The message is that either you let the regime return or face the Turks, because the Americans will not defend you, just as they did not do in Afrin, the official said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogans recent remarks that Hagia Sophia, a famed Istanbul landmark, could be reverted to a mosque have fueled both controversy and curiosity. Islamist, conservative and nationalist quarters in Turkey have long called for the ancient edifice  currently a museum  to be opened for Muslim worship.

As Turkish journalist Rusen Cakir, who closely follows Islamist movements, recalls, conservative and Islamist groups in Turkey used to raise three main demands in their demonstrations prior to the Justice and Development Partys (AKP) ascent to power in 2002. They included the lifting of bans on the Islamic headscarf, an end to restrictions on the imam-hatip religious schools and Hagia Sophias conversion to a mosque.

Originally built as a church, Hagia Sophia was the place where Byzantine emperors were crowned. It was converted to a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul  then Constantinople  in 1453. At the behest of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, Hagia Sophia became a museum in 1935.

Under the AKPs 16-year rule, all demands concerning the headscarf and the imam-hatip schools have been met, but Hagia Sophia has remained a museum off-limits to Muslim worship. On various occasions and grounds over the years, Erdogan would reject the calls to transform Hagia Sophia to a mosque. At the reopening of a restored Istanbul mosque in 2014, for instance, he responded to chants for Hagia Sophias conversion by telling worshippers to use the existing mosques in the vicinity, including the famed Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque is right next to it. Lets fill this place first and we will see thereafter, he said.

The controversy flared up again after the mosque massacre in New Zealand in mid-March as it emerged that the assailant referred explicitly to Erdogan and Hagia Sophia in messages shortly before the mayhem. With Turkey heading to local elections on March 31, chants for Hagia Sophias conversion to a mosque began to rang out again at Erdogans rallies. Responding to such chants at a March 16 rally, Erdogan said, You should fill the Blue Mosque first and then well see.  This issue has a political dimension.  Lets not fall for those games.  We know how and when to act.

By political dimension, Erdogan meant the outcry that changing Hagia Sophias status would trigger both at home and abroad. In a March 18 TV interview, he elaborated further, pointing to the downsides of making Hagia Sophia a mosque, which, he said, would amount to a heavy price outweighing the gains. Lets not forget that we have thousands of mosques across the world, he said, adding that the proponents of making Hagia Sophia a mosque failed to consider what could then happen to those mosques and lacked understanding of world affairs. We carry the burden of the Muslim world  hence we need to be cautious and careful, he said.

In less than a week, however, Erdogan was singing a different tune. Hagia Sophia could be removed from its museum status. Entry to Hagia Sophia could become free after the elections. We could rename it from Hagia Sophia Museum to Hagia Sophia Mosque and open it to visitors free of charge, he said March 24 in a TV interview.

Erdogan did not explicitly say that Hagia Sophia would be opened for worship, but by speaking of a Hagia Sophia Mosque he made it clear that the edifices museum status would change. And once qualified as a mosque, other obstacles to worship in the structure would be, no doubt, removed.

So, what changed in several days that Erdogan decided to brave the downsides and prices that he himself had mentioned? Naturally, the March 31 municipal elections are the first thing that comes to mind. As previously explained in Al-Monitor, Erdogan and his allies have framed the elections as a "matter of survival" for the nation, presenting themselves as the real patriots, while vilifying the opposition. With Turkey in the grips of an economic crisis, various signs suggest that Erdogan is seriously worried about the election outcome.

Despite his well-known penchant for opinion polls, Erdogan this time says he does not trust them. As Al-Monitors Kadri Gursel recently wrote, Erdogan has gone as far as to threaten opposition leaders and candidates with jail. Polarization is at an unprecedented level, with the opposition being criminalized. Most recently, pro-government papers portrayed a number of opposition candidates as linked to terrorist groups, although no judicial rulings exist against them.

Given all those developments, the issue of Hagia Sophia, which Erdogan has not used in elections before, could be read as the last card he is trying to play days before voters go to the polls. Looking from this perspective, one could argue that Erdogan sees a big risk in the elections and has fielded his last trump to the battle. In sum, this appears to be the most logical explanation of the Hagia Sophia move.

Yet given certain developments beyond Turkeys borders, the Hagia Sophia move could have other meanings as well. Ankara is annoyed by cooperation between Israel, Greece and Cyprus on developing and marketing natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean. Some recent developments are perhaps linked to this annoyance. On March 19, for instance, Turkeys Ministry of Defense released a photo of Turkish naval command posing with a Turkish flag undersea off the Greek island of Crete during a NATO exercise.

The photo, which drew angry reactions from Greece, was followed by another development that encourages reading the issue of Hagia Sophias conversion to a mosque in a context other than the elections. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said March 25 that Turkish jets harassed his helicopter as he flew to the island of Agathonisi for independence day celebrations that day. The Turkish security forces rejected the accusation.

Given all those developments, Erdogans Hagia Sophia move could mean more than just a panicked step taken in desperation. On the one hand, the move could indeed be a populist gesture to consolidate the AKP base. Simultaneously, it could be seen also as another revanchist move against the Kemalist regime. On the other hand, however, it could be a message to the outside world, most notably Greece. What Erdogan has in mind and whether his words will translate into action is hard to tell.

Still, Hagia Sophia  a magnificent 1,482-year-old structure that, experts say, is endangered by even speaking loudly in it  might become the focus of heated controversy, both domestic and international, in the coming days, depending on political developments.

The statements and moves that Erdogan makes after Sundays elections should be carefully observed. Only then could we understand the real meaning of his remarks on converting Hagia Sophia to a mosque.
The president of Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems has informed Gov. Kay Ivey and other officials in a letter this month that the company cannot continue to invest in Alabama due to Trump Administration trade policies.

In a letter dated March 20, the head of the energy company told Ivey that additional plans of investments and expansion we have for Alabama, absent an immediate and major change of course at (the U.S. Department of Commerce), must be abandoned for the foreseeable future.

The letter goes on to say that the company will have to review on a quarterly basis whether our continued operation in the state is sustainable.

Hyundai Electric is a separate company from the auto manufacturer.

Hyundai Power Transformers, built in 2011, is the Korean companys first U.S. production plant within the electric power industry, and currently employs more than 300 people. In 2018, the company announced a $33 million expansion of its Montgomery facility, creating 86 jobs. That expansion was set to increase production of its power transformers by more than 60 percent. At the time, Ivey called the move a significant investment in the state.

That expansion, which is set to be complete by this December, is not affected by the companys decision.

I am working closely with company officials and officials from the U.S. Department of Commerce to work through these issues, Ivey said in a statement. Those discussions are ongoing and we are working toward a resolution. I am encouraged that this situation is not preventing the current expansion planned for Hyundai Power Transformers USA.

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said the company has been affected by the Trump Administrations decision last year to impose 25-percent global tariffs on steel imports, which affected Hyundai Electrics supplier base.

Thats why we really need to get a resolution to this tariff issue, Strange said.

Earlier this week, CEOs of American steel companies told the Congressional Steel Caucus the tariffs are helping their industry recover from damage due to steel dumping."

The Alabama Commerce Department had no comment on the one-page letter. In it, Hyundai Electric President and CEO Myung Rim Jung thanked Ivey and Canfield for their energetic efforts to urge the U.S. Commerce Department to reconsider what he called an erroneous and unfair duty on the companys Alabama operations. He wrote that their personal involvement has gone above and beyond in seeking some minimal allowance.

As you know, our hopes and plans to this date have been to invest further in Alabama and to employ more people there, he wrote. Indeed, we have believed that our investment in a new plant there represented exactly the kind of action that the Trump Administration policies were designed to elicit. For reasons we dont understand (the U.S. Department of Commerce) seems intent on pursuing what we see as an unfounded duty rate that undermines our investment and employment in your business-friendly state.

U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, urged patience on March 18 and encouraged car makers like Toyota and others to work with the Trump administration.

But on Friday, he said hes heard from a number of companies including Honda over concerns about Trumps proposed tariffs on imported auto parts and vehicles.

Im hearing a very common refrain now, said Byrne. The uncertainty in the international climate, the uncertainty regarding tariffs and regarding China, in a macro sense, is a threat to the American economy. In a micro sense, its threatening specific companies and employers in Alabama.

Byrne said he believes Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are progressing in their talks with the Chinese, and noted that he anticipates a resolution soon.

Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin were in Beijing Friday for the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides in weeks after missing an initial end-of-March goal for a summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The time is becoming shorter for us to get it done and we are communicating that to the White House and I know other people are as well, Byrne said.
By Robert Barnes

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court Thursday night stopped the execution of a Texas inmate because the state refused his request to have a Buddhist spiritual adviser with him in the death chamber.

The court's decision contrasted with its actions last month, when it allowed the execution of a Muslim prisoner in Alabama who was denied his request to have an imam with him at the time of his death.

The court's conservatives were criticized both by liberals and religious conservatives for that decision. They said that the request came too late.

Texas officials had made the same argument about Patrick Murphy, who was part of a gang of escaped inmates who killed a suburban Dallas police officer during a Christmas Eve robbery more than 18 years ago.

But the Supreme Court's order Thursday night said Texas could not execute Murphy "unless the state permits Murphy's Buddhist spiritual advisor or another Buddhist reverend of the state's choosing to accompany Murphy in the execution chamber during the execution."

The court did not give a reason for its decision. Only Justices Clarance Thomas and Neil Gorsuch said they would have let the execution proceed.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing only for himself, said Texas's policy was discriminatory.

"The relevant Texas policy allows a Christian or Muslim inmate to have a state-employed Christian or Muslim religious adviser present either in the execution room or in the adjacent viewing room," Kavanaugh wrote. "But inmates of other religious denominations - for example, Buddhist inmates such as Murphy - who want their religious adviser to be present can have the religious adviser present only in the viewing room and not in the execution room itself for their executions.

"In my view, the Constitution prohibits such denominational discrimination."

That is the same argument Justice Elena Kagan made last month when she and the court's liberals objected to the execution of Alabama inmate Domineque Ray .

Under Alabama's policy, "a Christian prisoner may have a minister of his own faith accompany him into the execution chamber to say his last rites," Kagan wrote.

"But if an inmate practices a different religion - whether Islam, Judaism, or any other - he may not die with a minister of his own faith by his side. That treatment goes against the Establishment Clause's core principle of denominational neutrality."

In Ray's case, the court's conservatives said he did make his request soon enough, although a lower court had put his execution on hold in order to hear his First Amendment arguments.

Kavanaugh added in a footnote that Murphy, who converted to Budhism a decade ago, "made his request to the State in a sufficiently timely manner, one month before the scheduled execution."

Texas officials and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit had denied Murphy's request, citing in part the court's decision last month in the Ray case.

That late-night, two-paragraph order has become the court's most controversial act of the term, drawing intense criticism from the political right and the left.

Murphy was one of the "Texas 7" gang that escaped from a South Texas prison in December 2000 and then committed numerous robberies, including the one in which they shot 29-year-old Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins 11 times, killing him.

Hawkins, who had been with the Irving police force about 14 months, had just finished Christmas Eve dinner with his family when he responded to the call about the robbery at a sporting goods store and was ambushed.

The escaped inmates were arrested a month later in Colorado. One of them killed himself, and the others were convicted of killing Hawkins and sentenced to death. Murphy would be the fifth to be executed.

The sixth inmate, Randy Halprin, has not been given an execution date.

The case is Murphy v. Collier.
After the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the execution of a Buddhist man who wanted his spiritual adviser present, the American Civil Liberties Union questioned the courts apparent inconsistency in ruling against a Muslim on Alabamas Death Row in February.

Alabama executed Domineque Haim Marcelle Ray on Feb. 7 after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his request for a stay based on the inmates request to have his Muslim spiritual adviser at his side when he died.

This week, it was a similar situation with a Buddhist on Death Row in Texas.

The Supreme Court agreed Thursday night to halt the execution of a Texas inmate, Patrick Henry Murphy, after he argued that the state was refusing to allow his Buddhist spiritual adviser to accompany him into the chamber.

The court said, The State may not carry out Murphy's execution unless the State permits Murphy's Buddhist spiritual adviser or another Buddhist reverend of the State's choosing to accompany Murphy in the execution chamber during the execution."

This is good news, but we cant forget this is the same court that denied a Muslim man the same right just last month, the ACLU said . People of all faiths are entitled to religious freedom.

Ray had requested that his volunteer chaplain, Yusef Maisonet, imam of Masjid As Salaam in Mobile, be allowed to pray with him in the execution chamber before he was put to death.

Ray filed a lawsuit claiming that the ADOCs denial of the request violates federal law and the U.S. Constitutions prohibition on government establishment of a religion.
This is an opinion column.

On my living room bookshelf sits a dog-eared collection of columns from one of my heroes, the late Chicago columnist Mike Royko.

I keep it there as a reminder that I have it easy. What I do three days a week, Royko did five, and he wrote twice as long and at least 10-times as well.

And I keep it close, too, as a reminder: Some things never change or, at least, they change slowly.

I was talking to an ERA lady recently, Royko wrote. She was fretting that the amendment might again fail in Illinois, after all of her hard work.

The ERA, in case you were born after 1980, is the Equal Rights Amendment  a proposed appendage to the United States Constitution that would guarantee women the same rights as men.

Maybe you thought that was in the Constitution already. Read it. Its not.

Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972 and it went to the state legislatures for ratification. Most did so immediately.

Illinois was not one of them. Neither was Alabama.

This ERA lady, as Royko called her, was a do-gooder who didnt understand how Illinois politics worked, although she had a $200,000 lobbying budget. Shed come to him for advice on getting ratification through their Legislature.

Make the drop, he told her.

The drop?

The drop. Give them some money.

The ERA lady laughed and left Roykos office. She ignored his advice, and she didnt get the votes.

That was 1978. Since then, the ERA has floundered  just three states shy of the two-thirds necessary for ratification. However, in 2017, Nevada closed the gap to two.

And finally, last May, the Illinois General Assembly approved ratification.

Perhaps somebody finally made the drop.

Illinois left ERA one state shy of ratification, and if you look at the map of states that havent ratified the ERA, youll see a familiar pattern.

The Confederacy is gonna Confederacy. Every. Damn. Time.

With the exception of Utah, all ERA holdouts are either former Confederate states or border states and territories the Confederacy claimed as its own.

Initially, the ERA had bipartisan support. Richard Nixon wholly endorsed it. However, that momentum nearly died after a backlash of wingnut delusions. The GOPs support waned after Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schaffley campaigned against it, and in 1980 opposition to the ERA was officially enshrined in the GOP platform.

But Alabama has had its ERA advocates.

In the 1970s a young-ish radical in the Alabama State Senate pushed for ratification, drawing heat from more conservative colleagues. However, the ERA lost support after that champion, Richard Shelby, won election to the United States House in 1978.

Opponents still warn of unintended consequences, but the ERA isnt a tangled mess of legalese. Its simple.

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

That something so simple something that should have been a core value in our country from the start is still controversial sends a message to every girl from the day she takes her first civics lesson.

Thats shameful.

And that Alabama hasnt ratified the ERA sends a message, too: We dare defend our rights (unless you are a woman).

Thats disgraceful.

But we can fix it. Alabama can be the one that fixes that  unless we let Louisiana beat us to it.

This year in Louisiana, state Senator J.P. Morrell is pushing to make sure his state to make history by getting the ERA over the Constitutional hump. Other efforts are underway in Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia.

Were about to get left in the nations dust, again.

To the Alabama Legislature, I plead with you: Dont let us be last. Not this time.

Do whats right. This time when it counts. Make Alabama matter.

And if thats not enough, could somebody  maybe that nice ERA lady if shes still around  please make the drop?

Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group.

Want access to the best analysis and in-depth reporting about Alabama each week? Sign up for the weekly Reckon Report newsletter and follow Reckon on Facebook and Twitter. Follow Whitmire on Twitter and Facebook, too. And Instagram.
Jeremiah Haralson was born a slave. A noted orator, he went on to serve as Alabamas first African-American state representative before becoming a State Senator then a U.S. Representative.

He also has the distinction of having one of the strangest deaths of any person whoever served in Congress.

Jeremiah was born April 1, 1846 on a plantation near Columbus, Georgia. At age 13, he was purchased by John Haralson, a lawyer from Selma, who gave his slave his surname and brought him to Alabama. Haralson remained a slave until he obtained his freedom in the closing days of the Civil War.

Teaching himself to read and write, Haralson worked as a farmer but also had an increasing interest in politics and a growing reputation as a civic leader.

Unlike most emancipated former slaves who backed the Republican party, Haralson cultivated relationships with Democrats, including former Confederate president Jefferson Davis, and considered himself more of an independent. It was as an independent that Haralson was elected as the first black member of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1870. Two years later, Haralson was elected to the State Senate, this time as a Republican.

At the time, a local newspaper said Haralson was perhaps feared more than any other colored man in the legislature of Alabama.

In 1874, Haralson was elected to represent Alabamas First Congressional District in Congress. The first-term Republican championed a controversial cause  general amnesty for former Confederates, who were prohibited from holding office.

Headstrong and vocal, Haralson was known as a powerful orator, with civil rights activist Frederick Douglass saying the lawmaker spoke with humor enough in him to supply a half dozen circus clowns.

Reelection loomed large in 1876 when gerrymandering led to redistricting leaving Alabama with only one district with a majority African-American population.

His opponent was former Congressman James Rapier, a black man who had purchased a large plantation in the district. The two candidates split the black vote, sending the Democratic candidate, former Confederate General and Dallas County Sheriff Charles Shelley, to Washington. Haralson made one more run for Congress in 1878 but lost to Shelley.

With his time in Congress complete and racial tensions in Alabama increasing, Haralson was appointed to federal jobs in Baltimore and later worked for the Department of Interior and the Pensions Bureau. After living in Louisiana and Arkansas  where he allegedly ran afoul of the law over a pension fraud case - he returned to Selma in 1912 with his wife, Ellen, and son, Henry.

Haralson later moved to Texas and then Oklahoma and Colorado, where he worked as a coal miner at the age of 70.

It was in Colorado that Haralson met a mysterious end. Historical sources said Haralson died in 1916 in Denver when he was killed by wild animals while hunting. No death certificate was ever filed, however, and theres no official record of his death or location of his grave, according to the U.S. House Archives. The Library of Congress page on Haralson sums up his life in this way: Hon. Jeremiah Haralson of Alabama. Killed by wild beasts near Denver, Colorado about 1916.

He is the only former member of Congress to have died in such a manner.
Federal authorities today recaptured Tobby Blackstock, an Alabama prisoner who escaped from a work-release job more than eight months ago, officials said.

Blackstock, a 40-year-old burglary convict, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Nashville, Tennessee, according to prison officials. He surrendered just after 9 a.m. today, the Alabama Department of Corrections said in a news release. Blackstock is from Lexington, Tennessee.

Blackstock had been on the run since he walked away from a work-release site in Tuscumbia, Alabama on July 13, 2018.

In March 2018, Blackstock began a 36-month prison sentence for a burglary conviction in Colbert County, records show.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has booked Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, erstwhile promoters of Religare Enterprises Ltd, on the charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust.

The EOW on Wednesday registered the First Information Report (FIR) on the complaint of Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) against the Singh brothers, REL's former Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Sunil Godhwani and NK Ghoshal, a stock broker and an associate of the Singh brothers.

Case FIR 50 /19 u/s 409, 420,120B IPC was regd on complaint of Religare Finvest (RFL) that Malvinder M Singh, Shivinder M Singh & ors having control on REL, put RFL in poor financial condn by disbursing loans to entities controlled by them causing loss of  2397 Crs to RFL. - Economic Offences Wing, Delhi (@EOWDelhi) March 27, 2019

RFL in its complaint alleged that REL and its subsidiary RFL have been duped and the company's properties worth "hundreds of crores have been misappropriated, siphoned off and diverted through a labyrinth of financial transactions," The Economic Times reported.

Also Read: RSSB chief Baba Gurinder Dhillon's associates threatened me with life, alleges filmmaker Sheetal Talwar

The complaint was lodged on the basis of several internal inquiries which includes an independent forensic review, the RFL management and board undertook, the report stated.

The inquires revealed siphoning and misappropriation of funds of RFL totaling to about Rs 740 crore in aggregate through loans to entities controlled by, connected to or known to the promoters or their associates.

The complaint, in the FIR accessed by the news daily alleged that Singh brothers colluded with co-accused and "orchestrated the financial scam in or around 2016." It indicts the brother duo of hatching "a well thought out and organised criminal conspiracy by which a financial scam of huge magnitude has been effected (sic)."

The complaint also sought tracing and restoration of RFL's properties. Singh brothers were promoters of REL till February 2018, but as promoters, they "exercised deep and pervasive control over the management of RFL since it was a subsidiary company." the report said.

Also Read: SC take note! Singh brothers can pay off $500 million to Daiichi, provided the money is recovered

The complaint which is a part of the FIR further read "REL is of the belief, also shared by RFL, that Singh brothers and Sunil Godhwani colluded and siphoned off funds from REL and its subsidiaries which include RFL and committed corporate fraud."

As per the report, the REL and RFL have filed a separate complaint with the corporate affairs ministry to look into and investigate the said fraud.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had asked the brother duo (former fortis promoters) to come up with plans to pay Rs 3,500 crore to Daiichi Sankyo as part of an arbitration award passed against them by a Singapore tribunal.

The Singh brothers appeared before a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in a case filed by the Japanese drugmaker to explain the sale of Fortis Healthcare to IHH and the arbitration award case. During the hearing, senior lawyer Fali S Nariman, who was representing Daiichi, said that while Malvinder claimed he was trying to pay off all debts, Shivinder had become a ''sadhu" (a sage).

"It is not about individual honour but it doesn't look good for the country's honour. You were the flag bearers of the pharmacare industry and it doesn't look good that you are appearing in court," the bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, said.

Also Read: SEBI directs RFL, REL to recall loans worth over Rs 2,300 cr from Singh brothers, others

The bench further asked the Singh brothers to appear before it on March 28 and submit the payment plan. The bench said that "hopefully it will be the last time you are appearing in the court".

Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh had lost an appeal filed before a Singapore court in Daiichi Sankyo arbitration case in December 2018 where they had argued against the $500 million (Rs 3,500 crore) arbitration award against them. The High Court of Singapore had dismissed the plea to stay a Singapore tribunal arbitration award in favour of Japanese pharmaceutical major and reserved its verdict.

Back in 2016, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre had ordered the Singh brothers to pay $500 million for concealing information about alleged suppression of facts at Ranbaxy Laboratories when its shares were sold to Daiichi Sankyo for $4.6 billion in 2008. The case involved some 20 Ranbaxy shareholders who had sold a controlling stake in the multi-national pharmaceutical company to Daiichi.

Also Read: Singh brothers case: Who are Sunil and Sanjay Godhwani?
Human remains and a burned out vehicle that was registered to a missing Washington County woman were discovered Thursday night in Mobile County.

The remains, which were yet to be positively identified, and the car were found around 7 p.m. in Grand Bay by Mobile County sheriffs deputies after they received a call about the discoveries by a resident who was driving an ATV in a wooded area.

There are partial remains inside the vehicle and there are remains outside the vehicle, Capt. Paul Burch of the Mobile County Sheriffs Office told reporters. The remains also appear to have been burned, but theyre scattered.

The vehicle, Burch said, was registered to Terri Sullivan, a Washington County woman who went missing Jan. 20. Burch said the car has clearly been here [at the scene] for some time.

Burch said Sullivans phone and blood were found on the street where she lived after a missing persons report was filed.

Nobody was in custody in connection to the case but search warrants were executed in Mobile County after the discovery, Burch said.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office and the state Bureau of Investigation is working with Mobile authorities on the case. Burch said the law enforcement agencies would be working throughout the night collecting evidence.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
During a conference focused on increasing the visibility of queer Southern history, a representative from the oldest active LGBTQ organization in the country asked the crowd when they were first exposed to LGBTQ history.

One woman said she learned about it through social media. Another attendant said they saw the word "Stonewall" written on the sidewalk and decided to look up the Stonewall Riots.

Another attendant, Samantha Rodman, mentioned how her history textbook barely mentioned the LGBTQ people who were also murdered during the Holocaust.

"It was as if they were being erased (from history)," Rodman said.

That's something the Invisible Histories Project wants to prevent. The nonprofit kicked off its inaugural Queer History South Conference at Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham on Thursday. More than 115 researchers, archivists, college students and professors from coast-to-coast learned about better ways to collect, preserve and archive LGBTQ history during the different breakout sessions and presentations.

Erik Adamian of the ONE Archives Foundation in California led the presentation, discussing how to bring LGBTQ history into the classroom. The foundation assists teachers in creating LGBTQ-inclusive lesson plans by giving them access to the world's largest collection of historical LGBTQ material located at the University of Southern California.

Adamian came to the QHS conference to see if there was any Alabama interest in teaching LGBTQ history. He cited research results from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) which reported that students with an inclusive curriculum were half as likely to be victimized due to their sexuality or gender identity. Not only were the LGBTQ students less likely to be on the receiving end of discriminating remarks, but they were also more likely to report that their non-LGBTQ classmates intervened when they heard homophobic remarks.

"LGBTQ history improved the overall school climate," Adamian said. "You are teaching students to be tolerant of one another regardless of their race, gender, sexuality or religious beliefs. This is about anti-bullying."

But 65 percent of U.S. students are not exposed to LGBTQ history, Adamian said. About 19 percent of them are taught positive things about the community, while the remaining percentage learned about historical LGBTQ figures in a negative way.

Mathew Pereda, secretary for LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Shoals in Florence said the first time he heard anything about LGBTQ history was during a queer culture class at the University of Alabama. He didn't learn about any LGBTQ leaders while attending high school in Ashville, Ala.

"If it was a queer person, they were either the punchline of a joke or just someone you can't relate to. So foreign. Almost unreal," Pereda said.

In February, New Jersey followed California's lead in creating laws requiring LGBTQ history in the K-12 curriculums.

Alabama, however, is one of seven states with "no promo homo" laws, which are regulations prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality." Alabama's sex education law requires teachers to state that homosexuality "is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state." A bill to remove the language from the law was introduced in the Alabama Senate in February 2018, but the bill died thus keeping the law on the books.

Adamian said the main criticisms he heard from teachers in California is that they didn't have time to include LGBTQ history in their lesson plans. But Adamian advised educators to avoid looking at LGBTQ history as a niche subject. Instead, they can look for ways to include it in their U.S. history course.

During his presentation, Adamian gave examples of how to do this by presenting multiple lesson plans focused on LGBTQ leaders, events and other facts. If a teacher is focusing on World War I, he said they can talk about the role female impersonators played during performances at solider camps. Teachers can highlight the work of Bayard Rustin if they are studying the Civil Rights Movement.

Rustin was an openly gay black man who not only taught Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. the power of nonviolent civil disobedience and mentored him through the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but was also chief organizer of the 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 of his sexuality.

Pereda scribbled a little more than a page of LGBTQ facts during Adamian's presentation. He said Equality Shoals is brainstorming different educational materials as well. He said LGBTQ youth should hear about people like Rustin because it shows how the Civil Rights Movement and the LGBTQ rights movement intersect each other.

The intersectionality of the Civil Rights Movement and the LGBTQ rights movement shows that its all intertwined, Pereda said. I think if people see that more, there will be less divisions. We are all in this together.
The Trump Administrations revved-up attacks on the Affordable Care Act could become a political hot potato ahead of the 2020 elections. Already, they are revealing distinct differences between two possible opponents in next years U.S. Senate race in Alabama.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of Birmingham and Republican U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne of Fairhope offered contrasting takes on the administrations request Monday to an appeals court to invalidate the entire 2010 federal health care law.

If the courts dismantle this law, Alabama is one of the states with the most to lose, Jones said in a news release Tuesday, which he followed up with a conference call in which he accused the administration of needlessly frightening the public.

Byrne, at Spring Hill College for a town hall Friday, downplayed the administrations involvement in the court case, which he predicted would not be resolved for 12 months or more.

I dont think its something we will have to deal with immediately, Byrne said. Interestingly, its possible that its something that could come up in the middle a presidential election next year.

The administrations new attacks on Obamacare are linked to a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general from 20 states, including Alabama.

That suit is pending before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans after 21 Democratic state attorneys general challenged a Texas judges ruling last year that Obamacare was unconstitutional.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey indicated that 50 percent of American adults support of the law, compared to 39 percent who view it unfavorably. Its a flip from January 2014, when 50 percent viewed the law unfavorably.

President Donald Trump has called on Republicans to replace the law with one of their own, declaring at a rally in Michigan Thursday night that the GOP wants an affordable plan that is just right for you.

Byrne said he supports replacing the entire law with one that protects pre-existing conditions but provides more market-based solutions.

The biggest disappointment is with me on Obamacare is that it took away people with real choices, said Byrne, who is the only Republican to officially announce his 2020 Senate candidacy thus far.

Byrne said that President Barack Obama told people while going through that process that if you like your health care plan today (you can keep it). That turned out not to be true.

Byrne also said he doesnt see the expansion of Medicaid as a solution. Jones, however, strongly backs the expansion, maintaining that it would open a new health care option for 300,000 people in Alabama.

U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama. (AP Photo, File, 2018)AP

Jones signed on as a co-lead sponsor last month for a bill to encourage states to expand Medicaid. The bill would ensure that states newly choosing to expand Medicaid would be eligible for the same level of matching funds as states that expanded it earlier.

Alabama and 13 other states have declined to expand Medicaid, which is the state and federal health system that covers medical costs to eligible low-income Americans.

Medicaid expansion was intended to be a national requirement in Obamacare, but a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling made expansion optional for states.

I dont agree with Senator Jones about that, Byrne said. I dont think the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare was done the right way. Medicaid is not a good way to get health care. Its not a satisfactory system.

Byrne argued that there are places in Alabama, such as Escambia County, where few physicians accept Medicaid. It does no good when you dont have providers, said Byrne. We need to take a step back and ask, What is the better way to do that?

Byrne said he is an advocate of expanding funding for community health centers, such as the non-profit Franklin Primary Health Center Inc. in Mobile.

Byrne was one of 105 Republicans in the U.S. House, and the only one from Alabama, to sign a letter last year expressing concerns about the expiration of federal funding for the centers. The centers often provide a multitude of services from primary care to dental work and mental health.

They are remarkably effective, Byrne said. I think that is a terrific model to look to rather than blog onto this Medicaid thing that isnt working for them.

Backing a push for Medicaid expansion, which requires state legislative support, is the Alabama Hospital Association. The association says that the expansion is critical to prevent future rural hospital closures.

The Hospital Association has said that about 80 percent of rural hospitals are operating in the red.

Jones accused Trump of playing politics with health care, and encouraged lawmakers to focus on making some much-needed improvements to our current system that include increasing access to rural health care.
There was almost a new state record for the largest bonefish ever caught in Alabama.

I say almost because state officials declined to certify the fish as a state record, despite the fact that it was the first and only bonefish ever presented at an official weigh station. The fish, a juvenile about 7 inches long and weighing 3.2 ounces, was deemed too small to qualify as a record.

At first blush, it would seem the first and only bonefish presented at an official weigh station would automatically qualify as a record. Not so fast, said state officials.

We denied it, and the reason I denied it is one of our rules is it has to be representative of the species, said Scott Bannon, director of the Alabama Division of Marine Resources. That fish, at seven inches long, would be a juvenile. To qualify as a record, it would have to be an adult fish. We dont want to start a category with an obviously juvenile fish.

Bonefish are not normally found in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, which explains the lack of a category in the Alabama state records. The species earned their name for being especially boney and difficult to clean. But among anglers, they are spoken of in reverential tones. They are considered one of the most challenging species to catch, and are famed for their lighting fast runs through the water when hooked. Think of the bonefish as the cheetah of the ocean.

Bannon said state biologists are aware that a number of small bonefish and other tropical species have been seen in Alabama waters recently.

Indeed, in the last year, I have records of permit, bonefish, schoolmaster snapper, green parrotfish, and snook seen in Alabama waters. All are tropical species. Bonefish are found in the Florida Keys, the Caribbean, and tropical seas around the globe, mostly in fairly close proximity to the equator. They are native to warm water areas. That a suite of tropical species are being seen in Alabama points toward a phenomenon known as tropicalization, as seen in this article I wrote last month.

It is exciting to see new species showing up, as long as they are not detrimental to the ecosystem.

Alabama doesnt even have a bonefish category in the state records, but I am willing to open one if we get an adult fish, say 12 inches long at least, Bannon said. Rule 7 in our rules, it has to be representative of the species. A juvenile is not representative. If we allowed a record for a juvenile at 3 ounces, people would be coming in with another tiny juvenile, Hey, this one is half an ounce bigger. Its a record! We dont want that. Bonefish get up to about 16 pounds, so lets wait for a bigger one. I think another one will come along and then well open that up as a category. I spoke to the angler. He understood.

The bonefish, by the way, was caught by a fellow named Bill Cox, who was fishing with local surf fishing guide, Matthew Isbell, better known as Bama Beach Bum. You can reach Isbell to book a surf fishing trip at matthewisbell6@gmail.com, or find him on Facebook at Bama Beach Bum Fishing.

Ben Raines specializes in investigations and natural wonders. You can follow him via Facebook, Twitter at BenHRaines, and on Instagram. You can reach him via email at braines@al.com.

You can watch Bens most recent documentary, The Underwater Forest, here on Youtube.
While being questioned by police on Wednesday, a man suspected of domestic violence pretended to be an Alabama state trooper and flashed a replica badge, authorities said.

Cheston Jared Campbell, a 31-year-old from Town Creek, is charged with a Class C felony for impersonating a peace officer, according to Decatur police. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Officers encountered Campbell on Wednesday morning when they were investigating a report of domestic violence in the area of Sixth Avenue and Gordon Drive Southeast. Police said Campbell had been assaulting a woman when a civilian intervened and stopped the suspect.

Campbell showed the civilian what appeared to be a state trooper badge and claimed to be a state lawman, Decatur police spokeswoman Emme Long said in a news release. When an off-duty Decatur police officer also saw the disturbance and intervened, Campbell also showed the replica badge to the policeman, Long said.

During the course of the investigation, it was determined that Campbell was not an Alabama State Trooper, and he did not have police credentials, Long said.

State trooper spokesman Curtis Summerville said the badge was not authentic.

It was a replica of an old badge that is currently no longer in use by (the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency)," Summerville said in a message to AL.com.

Police havent announced whether they are charging Campbell in connection with the domestic assault.

Updated to include a statement from trooper spokesman Curtis Summerville, who said the badge was a replica.
By Lindsey Bever

The Texas attorney general has launched an investigation to determine whether the San Antonio City Council violated religious-liberty laws by barring Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant in the citys airport.

The council voted late last week to exclude Chick-fil-A from a concession agreement with San Antonio International Airport, citing, in part, the religious views associated with the fast-food restaurant chain - specifically, the anti-same-sex marriage values, according to the Texas Tribune.

The state's Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, said the treatment of the chain was "discriminatory" and wrote in a letter to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the city council that his office would investigate whether such a ban violates any state laws. He said he also asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to look at the federal regulations.

"The Constitution's protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-A's chicken," Paxton wrote. "Unfortunately, I have serious concerns that both are under assault at the San Antonio airport."

The mayor said the city attorney is reviewing the letter, and "I am withholding comment until we have had adequate time to analyze it."

The Texas Tribune reported that city council member Roberto Trevino proposed a plan to approve the concession agreement, permitting eight new vendors to set up in the airport's Terminal A, but swap out Chick-fil-A for another vendor. Trevino told the council that he could not get behind a company with "a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior," according to the newspaper.

"The work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion should not be undone so easily," he said, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

The Express-News noted that although the mayor came to the same conclusion, he based his decision on business, arguing that the city would lose revenue on Sundays when the restaurant closes for religious reasons.

The Chick-fil-A Foundation has donated to organizations that are seen by some as anti-LGBTQ or oppose rights such as same-sex marriage.

However, the company has maintained that "To suggest that our efforts in supporting these organizations was focused on suppressing a group of people is misleading and inaccurate."

"Our intention is to have a positive influence on our communities by donating to programs that benefit youth and education and are welcoming to all," Rodney Bullard, executive director of the Chick-fil-A Foundation and vice president of corporate social responsibility, said in a statement last week. "We are proud of the impact we've been able to make so far and we have a lot yet to do."

Paxton, the state attorney general, said in a statement that the city's decision "to exclude a respected vendor based on the religious beliefs associated with that company and its owners is the opposite of tolerance."

"The city's discriminatory decision is not only out of step with Texas values, but inconsistent with the Constitution and Texas law," Paxton added.

San Antonio City Council's controversial decision, a 6-4 vote, has made national headlines and prompted criticism from conservative lawmakers.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on Twitter that the ban "has the stench of religious discrimination against Chick-fil-A."

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said that the "citizens of beautiful San Antonio deserve more delicious sandwiches, and fewer rabid attacks against companies because of their charitable giving to the community."

Republican Congressman Chip Roy, who represents the state's 21st Congressional District, which includes parts of San Antonio, wrote an open letter to the city council this week, scolding members for the vote.

"Targeting individuals, organizations or corporations for carrying out their deeply held religious beliefs in accord with our laws and consistent with many Americans' similarly held religious beliefs is hardly making San Antonio a 'champion of equality and inclusion,' " Roy wrote. "I hope this matter can be resolved, as it would be unfortunate if the council's decision negatively impacted our ability to effectively advocate for San Antonio in Congress due to such rampant discriminatory action against a well-regarded business with such a significant presence in our communities in Central Texas and across the nation."

However, one council member, Greg Brockhouse, has apologized to Chick-fil-A, emphasizing in a letter to the company that San Antonio City Council's recent decision does not "reflect the overwhelming belief in our city that you are a valued business and community partner."

"I regret the words used to describe your organization and I will not repeat them in this letter," Brockhouse, who is running for mayor, wrote to the company's chairman and CEO. "My only goal is to ensure the employees of Chick-fil-A know how much we care about their presence in San Antonio."

Chick-fil-A did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post.
Allen Stroud, a 30-year-old news reporter for television station WAFF in Huntsville, is vowing to fight after a shocking diagnosis: Stage 4 lung cancer.

Stroud had been ill for several months and was initially told he had pneumonia, the television station reported. He was later diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, the most common type of lung cancer. You can read more about non-small cell lung cancer here.

Stroud posted a message about his health on his Facebook page:

"Who would believe that a 30-year-old would be diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer? Certainly not me! I want to let you know that Ill be off the news while my doctors and I aggressively attack this health issue. Rest assured, Im very encouraged and prepared for this fight. I plan to beat this and continue to live my life. Ill be back as soon as possible because I will really miss being here with my 48 family and with all of you.

I want to leave you with one thought: if you dont feel right, if you have symptoms that persist for a long time, dig deep, find out whats wrong. Get answers. It may save your life.

I thank you for your support. And I hope youll keep me and my family in your prayers."

Words of encouragement may be left on Strouds Facebook page; cards can be sent to WAFF, 1414 N Memorial Parkway, Huntsville, AL 35801.
Police Chief Patrick Smith believes Birmingham is a city that should be driven by youth and to drive that point home, he used area teens to lead the departments police academy graduation on Friday.

From the ceremonys invocation to the benediction and everything in between, the students lauded the 18 recruits-turned-graduates for their bravery, honor and service. For the first time ever, not one adult spoke at the ceremony and, instead, it was the youth delivering words of praise and encouragement to the new police officers.

Your career is a service career, a career solely dedicated to the greater good of our city, said Caroline Lee, the rising SGA president at The Altamont School who served as the keynote speaker. You guys go out and risk your lives every day with little reward.

Our whole city looks up to you and respects you deeply for dedicating your life to serving our city, Lee said. That takes bravery, courage, self-discipline and, most importantly, a lot of heart.

In addition to students filling in for the chief, the mayor, the academy director, the chaplain and more, police department captains and deputy chiefs also brought youth with them to the ceremony, whether it was their own children or children they are currently mentoring.

Wenonah High School junior Justin Smith served as police chief Friday. The confident 17-year-old said he considered it a blessing to do so. He said he first met the chief last year.

He was a very honest, transparent and genuine man, the teen said. Hes been a great mentor to me and weve been close ever since.

The student said he thinks its vital for the chief and other city leaders to include the young. With everything thats going on, I think its extremely important that we continue to give our young people a seat at the table and a chance to make their voices heard, Justin Smith said. Im very appreciate that he has not only given one, but so many other young people from around the Birmingham region, a chance to have their voices heard.

Asked what he, as a young person, wants to see in a police officer, Justin Smith said he wants them to give young people a chance. I hope to see them step into the shoes, and not only step in the shoes but walk in the shoes of others because there is a difference, he said. When you walk in the shoes of others, you get to feel gratitude for their situation and you get to experience what they go through and see that all things people go through arent bad.

Also at Fridays ceremony, slain Birmingham police Sgt. Wytasha Carter was remembered for giving the ultimate sacrifice. He was shot and killed earlier this year while on duty. His wife, son, parents and other family members attended the graduation festivities.

Birmingham Police Academy Class 107-139 is the first graduating class of 2019 and will now spend 16 weeks with a Field Training Officer before going out on their own. A new group of 36 recruits will begin in July.

When Smith took over the departments helm, the department was roughly 100 officers short. He said he would focus on bringing the force up to full strength and beyond. My goal is to reach 1,000 officers by the end of next year as we prepare for the 2021 World Games, he said.

The new officers are: Darien Brown, DeAndre Brown, Tyler Carter, Jarvis Cook, Edan Edmonson, John Henson, Hunter Hutchins, Don Jenkins Jr., Vincent Larry Jr., Reginal Levins Jr., Marquis Lovett, Henry Pilgrim, Anthony Preston, Kyri Tabor, Essex Taylor Jr., Gregory Thompson Jr., Andrew Tipton and DJarnett Vinson.

Two other officers transferred from other law enforcement agencies to the Birmingham Police Department: Clayton Carden and Tyrone Dumas.

The new officers who received class awards are: Academic Award, Hunter Hutchins; Firearms Award, Tyler Carter; Physical Fitness Award, Reginald Levins Jr; Defensive Driving Award, Anthony Preston. Jarvis Cook received the In Their Spirit Award, which is given in the memory of fallen officers to a graduate who best exemplifies a police officer.

These officers are amazing people, Justin Smith said. They will do a great job. Theyre ready. Theyve been trained well.
One child has died following a morning crash on Birmingport Road that sent seven people to the hospital.

The two-vehicle accident happened just before 8:30 a.m. at Galveston Street in the Minor community. According to authorities, a truck possibly struck a passenger sedan from the rear and both vehicles ended up off the roadway.

There were reports that at least some of the victims were ejected from the car but that has not been confirmed. Police and rescue workers from multiple agencies responded to the scene, stretching tape across the closed roadway.

Four adults and three children were transported to area hospitals. Jefferson County sheriffs Capt. David Agee said Thursday night that one of the children died at the hospital. Additional details werent released.

Agee said investigators are trying to determine the cause of the wreck.
A father-son duo is sought after police say they stole tens of thousands of dollars in metals.

Tarrant police on Friday said they were searching for Mitchell Earle Gardner and his son, Justin Kyle Gardner. Detective Cpl. James Butterbrodt said the pair is suspected in the theft of more than $50,000 worth of the metal taken from a Tarrant business where both had been employed.

The theft, Butterbrodt said, happened over the past nine months. They then sold the metal to a scrapyard in Birmingham.

Both men have outstanding warrants for first-degree receiving stolen property and giving false information scrapping secondary metal.

Anyone with information on the crime or the suspects is asked to contact Tarrant Police at 205-849-2811 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
India's merchandise and services export would touch $540-billion mark this fiscal, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said Thursday.

He said exports are growing at a healthy pace and shipments of goods would reach over USD 330 billion.

Similarly, services exports would touch about $200 billion, according to Prabhu.

In total, both "merchandise and services exports put together will reach about USD 540 billion" by the end of this fiscal, the minister said here at a function.

During April-February 2018-19, the goods exports grew by 8.85 per cent to USD 298.47 billion.

Talking about the stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and European Union, the minister said India is keen to resume the talks.

"We are really keen to have this FTA with EU. India will work to find a workable deal," he said.

The negotiations for the pact, officially dubbed as the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), have been held up since May 2013 and have witnessed many hurdles.

The negotiations for the pact were launched in 2007.

Also read: Commerce ministry introduces online facility to obtain export licence for restricted items

Also read: Govt extends IGST, compensation cess exemption under various export promotion plans till March 2020
A 22-year-old Pinson man has been charged with attempted murder after a shooting Thursday night outside the Cracker Barrel in Trussville.

The shooting happened shortly before 9:30 p.m. at the restaurant on Norrell Drive. Trussville police dispatched to the scene found the black male victim lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head.

Witnesses told police the suspects were on the scene. Those two men were located in the parking lot and taken into custody.

Trussville police Chief Eric Rush said the shooting stemmed from a dispute in the parking lot. It began, he said, when the two suspects parked in a manner that blocked in the victims vehicle. An argument ensued, and it escalated to the point that the victim was shot by one of the suspects, Rush said.

The victim was at the restaurant with his father. His name and age have not been released, but he is in critical condition at UAB Hospital.

Rush said his officers and investigators worked through the night on the case. They met with the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office Friday and a warrant was issued for one of the suspects. Bryan Patrick Hancock is charged with attempted murder.

He was held overnight at the Trussville City Jail and will be transferred to the Jefferson County Jail. His bond is set at $150,000.

It is so senseless, Rush said of the shooting. Its just stupid.

Anyone who has further information about the case is asked to call the Trussville Police Department at 205-655-2101.
Marriott International says its Riverview Renaissance Plaza hotel in Mobile has won top internal honor among Marriotts North American properties.

According to a Marriott announcement on Friday, the Riverview has been picked as the 2018 Marriott Franchise Hotel of the Year among Marriott's Distinctive Premium Hotels in North America. That means it ranks highest among several Marriott brands, including Autograph, Renaissance, Gaylord, Westin, Le Meridien and Tribute Portfolio.

"This is a great recognition for our hotel, our associates, owners (Retirement Systems of Alabama) and the City of Mobile," said Kent Blackinton, general manager of the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel.

According to Marriott, its Hotel of the Year honors are based on a review of guest satisfaction surveys, employee opinions, financial records, market share, event satisfaction and overall property performance.
A former Wetumpka city councilman has died after unexpectedly suffering a stroke earlier this week.

Percy Gill, 46, died Thursday night at Baptist Medical Center South in Montgomery. He became ill on Wednesday, was hospitalized and never recovered.

Gill was active in the Alabama Democratic Conference and was well-known throughout the state. At one point, he led the Alabama Young Democrats for the state party.

He grew up in Wetumpka and, after graduation, enlisted in the U.S. Army, last stationed at Ft. Campbells 101st Airborne Division  air assault. After leaving the Army, Gill enrolled in the University of Alabama where he obtained a degree in management with a concentration in marking. He also was a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

Gill lived for a period of time in Atlanta but then returned home to Wetumpka where he was a businessman and real estate developer. His public service included: project manager for the 50th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott; steering committee for Leadership Elmore County and graduate of the inaugural class; helped with the creation of Elmore County Economic Development Authority; and former board member of Elmore County Community Foundation and City of Wetumpka Industrial Development Board.

He included in his biography that two of his proudest accomplishments were being a part of the community efforts that established the name of the Wetumpka Rec Center to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation and Multicultural Center and helping to establish the first Boys & Girls Club in Wetumpka.

Gill served one term on the Wetumpka City Council District 2. He was re-elected to the seat in 2016, but his opponent - Lewis Washington Sr.  filed a lawsuit and a judge in 2017 overturned the election results, deeming that eight absentee ballots had been illegally cast.

Gill leaves behind his mother, wife and children.

I knew him for many years and enjoyed our discussions about politics, said Fourth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Michael Jackson. He was the best friend a person could have and a very hardworking public servant.
Separate but similar bills in both the Alabama House and the Senate are proposing easing penalties on marijuana possession.

Rep. Laura Hall is sponsoring House Bill 96, and Sen. Bobby Singleton is sponsoring Senate Bill 98. Both bills propose reclassifying the penalties for marijuana possession, downgrading felonies to misdemeanors punishable only by fines.

SB 98 would revise the crime of unlawful possession of marijuana in the first degree to require possession of two or more ounces of marijuana. It would create the crime of possession in the third degree for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. A first or second offense of unlawful possession of marijuana in the third degree would be punishable by a fine of $250 or less. A third offense of third-degree marijuana possession would be punishable only by a fine not to exceed $500.

Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, which worked on an extensive report last year on excessive penalties and imprisonment for marijuana that disproportionately affect blacks, has been advocating reclassification of marijuana.

The bills, dealing with personal possession of marijuana only, are essentially the same as two bills that never got a vote on the floor of the Legislature last year.

What we know needs to happen in Alabama is decriminalization, said Carla Crowder, executive director of Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice. These bills would be a great step in that direction. The collateral consequences of even a minor marijuana arrest can be devastating for some communities.

Crowder said law enforcement agencies also see the growing need for more reasonable laws on marijuana.

This is important to local law enforcement officials, Crowder said. Theyre tired of their resources going to really minor offenses, in the face of much more serious crimes theyd like to focus on. Were encouraged by what were hearing locally and were hoping that our state lawmakers will be paying attention to the data that shows the waste of resources and the harm that it causes.

Ten states and the District of Columbia now have legalized recreational marijuana.

Were talking about a substance thats legal in states where half of the population of the country lives, Crowder said. Alabama is spending $22 million a year in enforcement on it. Other states are making money; Alabama is wasting money.

There is also a bill in the Legislature proposing legalizing medical marijuana through the use of cannabis medical cards.

That is not the step we need, Crowder said. The decriminalization would be more important. I think that should be a higher priority. We dont want to stop with medical.

The Legislature goes back in session next week.
On the streets of Romanias capital, fear and disbelief over Brexit as concern grows for migrants and UK-bound students.

Bucharest, Romania  Romanians represent the second-most-common non-British nationality in the United Kingdom after Polish, according to the figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) from 2017.

Currently, there are more Romanians living in the UK than there are Irish nationals or Indians.

Romania joined the European Union in 2007, but it was only in 2014 that restrictions on Romanians rights to work in the UK were lifted.

Al Jazeera spoke to several Romanians  and one Briton  in Bucharest about Brexit.

My generation grew up so used to the idea of Europe as a community

Adelina Budulan, 18, high school student

I currently have an offer to study law at UCL, provided I meet the grade requirements.

When I made the decision of applying to a UK university, Brexit was in somewhat of a tamer state, at least compared to the present situation. Nevertheless, whenever I brought up my academic plans, I would get concerned, almost frightened looks from people who feared the big bad Brexit because of what they had heard on the news.

Personally, I see Brexit as a chaotic mess and I am probably not the only one. Adelina Budulan, student

I was reasonably informed about the process and I still decided that I wanted to receive [an] education from a world-renowned institution, especially given the fact that it was never my intention to actually move to the UK after finishing my studies.

To be completely honest, my main concern was whether or not I would still be eligible for a government loan.

I think that what will affect people like me going to study in the UK most is the fact that there is still so much uncertainty about the future. My generation grew up so used to the idea of Europe as a community, as an entity in itself, [so] something like Brexit will invariably provoke some sort of a shock in our lives.

Personally, I see Brexit as a chaotic mess and I am probably not the only one. I could have chosen to express my views in a more eloquent manner so as to give the impression that I profoundly understand what is happening and anticipate the consequences, but the truth is that I dont. And I dont think anybody truly does. My guess is that I will be as taken aback by the outcome of Brexit as the people actually handling it.

 Brexit was a stupid idea

Augustin Emil Barbulescu, 47, entrepreneur

Getting a job in Britain could become harder after Brexit, says Augustin Emil Barbulescu [Lorelei Mihala/Al Jazeera]

I think that Brexit was a stupid idea.

It will affect the Romanians who are already there, it will affect the right to work, they will find [getting] jobs harder.

T hey have had enough of us

Florin Goaima, 28, Taxify driver

Florin Goaima says Romania would be left behind without the EU [Lorelei Mihala/Al Jazeera]

I think they voted to leave because they have had enough of us because not all of the Romanians going there are hard working. There are people who go just to do bad things.

There are advantages being in the EU  Without the EU, we would be totally left behind.

It will cost them a lot

Eugen Ghinescu, 49, head of logistics at a supermarket chain

Eugen Ghinescu believes Britain will have a high bill to pay for leaving the EU [Lorelei Mihala/Al Jazeera]

It will cost them a lot to leave the European Union  there will be customs duties.

I think the European Union brings benefits as well as disadvantages because they impose certain rules that you have to respect.

We dont benefit from all the advantages, because we dont spend European funds. Because politicians cant steal from this money, they are not interested to apply for these funds.

A bsolutely irrational what is happening now in the British parliament

Miruna Troncota, lecturer in international relations

Miruna Troncota says Brexit has strengthened a sense of unity among other European countries [Courtesy: Miruna Troncota]

The choice of a majority in a referendum must be respected, even if we dont like that choice. These are the principles of a democratic majority.

I see a lot of hate speech around British citizens who want more sovereignty.

I think Brexit has an emotional approach and [less often] a rational one. Paradoxically, I feel that this creates more ties between the member states, they are defending European unity, which you dont see too often.

We are now in a no-exit situation. A disorderly Brexit  without a deal  or giving up Brexit, remains an option, but this decision cant be taken without a referendum.

A no-deal Brexit could threaten the status of European citizens, and therefore of Romanian citizens, from the UK.

The no-deal scenario is a lose-lose situation. Usually, negotiation is based on the win-win principle. This is why it is absolutely irrational what is happening now in the British parliament.

C oncern that students will not be able to work in the UK after they graduate

Simon Parker, 52, a British citizen, has been living in Romania since 2003. He runs a university admissions consultancy business for Romanian students who want to study at UK universities.

Simon Parker, a British resident in Bucharest, is worried for Romanian students in Britain but does not think his life will change after Brexit [Courtesy: Simon Parker]

So far, the impact of Brexit has been mixed. In terms of the number of students and families approaching us for guidance, were actually about 10 percent up on last year.

However, a higher percentage are applying to other EU countries as well, especially Holland, as a back-up. There is also more interest in studying in the USA.

The major fears are that the student loan will no longer be available for Romanian students and that tuition fees will rise. There is also the concern that they will not be able to work in the UK after they graduate.

The student loan has allowed a significant number of highly able students from lower- and middle-income Romanian families to study at world-class universities.

From the other side, my former clients and their parents spend over 3m each year in the UK on food, accommodation and general living expenses.

As a long term resident in Romania, my future in this country is obviously dependent on the UKs negotiations with both the EU and individual EU states. The Romanian government, rightly, in my opinion, is delaying making any announcements about the long-term status of British citizens in Romania until the British government can guarantee the rights of the estimated 410,000 Romanians currently living in the UK.

In the event of a no-deal Brexit, I know that my permanent resident ID card will become invalid and I will need to re-apply for my residency. To be honest, I cant see this happening and I would expect that not that much will change for myself and the other Brits who have made Romania their home.
Widely admired by the far right, Israel has joined a global movement to promote far-right politics and anti-Muslim hate.

On March 17, the Israeli Supreme Court banned Michael Ben Ari, the leader of the extremist Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party from participating in the April 9 general elections, arguing that allowing him to run for the Knesset would legitimise racism.

The ruling came less than a month after Otzma Yehudit entered into an electoral alliance with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus right-wing Likud party, causing shock and anger in certain political circles within and outside Israel.

The place of people who believe in the superiority of race is behind bars, not in parliament, said Tamar Zandberg, the leader of the opposition Meretz Party in a statement after the coalition was announced. Even the hawkish American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the influential pro-Israel lobby group and close ally of Netanyahu, seemed upset by the move. The views of Otzma Yehudit are reprehensible. They do not reflect the core values that are the very foundation of the State of Israel, AIPAC tweeted.

But for Palestinians, who are on the receiving end of Israels institutionalised racism, military occupation and apartheid, there is no difference between Otzma Yehudit and Likud or any other mainstream Israeli party. They know Israels long history of racism is in constant flux.

In fact, just last May, Israel passed a nation-state law, which ended once and for all, any supposed confusion about Israels identity. The new law openly declared Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, completely disregarding the Palestinian people and marginalising their rights, culture, language and history.

The political platform of Otzma Yehudit and the many racist and violent pronouncements of Ben Ari are not fundamentally different from the text of the nation-state law, or the myriad offensive statements made routinely by top Israeli mainstream politicians like Ayelet Shaked, Naftali Bennett and Ariel Uri.

Yet Israelis and Israel supporters continue to insist on the distinction between the Israeli far right and mainstream because they want to preserve the illusion that Israel upholds the values of democracy, transparency and human rights.

This is meant to cover up Israels dark underbelly of racial supremacy, military occupation and apartheid and the role it is currently playing within the emerging global far-right menace.

It is not coincidental that far-right ideologues and extremist groups are celebrating its racism and violence against the perceived common enemy: the Muslims. They see its war on terror and victimisation of Muslims as a model.

This link between Israel and the far-right movements around the world, however, is not one based solely on their shared hatred for Islam and Muslims or common goals of Zionism and white supremacy.

There is increasing evidence that Israel and far-right groups around the world are converging in a global movement that aims to promote and grow far-right ideology and politics.

At the core of this emerging union is the conspiracy theory of the great replacement which was laid out by the infamous far-right ideologue Renaud Camus in his book Le Grand Remplacement. Camus offers an extreme interpretation of Samuel Huntingtons clash of civilisations, arguing that Europe faces a Muslim invasion which will lead to change of civilisation.

This idea has spread beyond Europe and reached as far as North and South America, India, Australia, etc. In it, Israel sees a reflection of its own demographic anxiety about the fact that the Palestinians have been and remain the majority on the ground in Palestine.

And while this theory in some places has also acquired anti-Semitic tinges  such as in the US, where in 2017 a far-right march chanted Jews will not replace us!  Israel has actively encouraged belief in it.

European far-right ideologues and groups who espouse the great replacement conspiracy theory are also all eager supporters of Israel.

Camus, himself, has expressed his admiration for Israel on a number of occasions. In December 2017, after Donald Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, he tweeted: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Israel is a model of resistance. We must make Europe a greater Israel.

During a 2015 speech, Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who is well known for his Islamophobia, said: There is nothing wrong with preserving our own Judeo-Christian civilization. That is our duty [] Look at Israel, learn from Israel; Israel is an island in a sea of Islamic barbarism. Israel is a beacon of freedom and prosperity in a region of Islamic darkness. Israel refuses to be overrun by jihadists. So should we.

Former leader of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson has claimed that Jewish people are persecuted [by Muslims] and no one speaks out for them.

Both Wilders and Robinson have received money from the pro-Israel think-tank, the Middle East Forum, to offset their legal costs after they were charged with incitement of hate against Muslims.

Austrian Vice-Chancellor and leader of the far-right Freedom Party Heinz-Christian Strache, who has called for zero immigration and putting an end to the policy of Islamisation in Austria, has visited Israel a number of times in recent years and supported moving the Austrian embassy to Jerusalem.

Italys interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who has been linked to the German Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident (PEGIDA), chose to launch his electoral campaign for the Italian elections during a 2016 visit to Israel, where he declared: Israel embodies the perfect balance of different realities, while ensuring law and order. It surely is a role model for security and anti-terrorism policies. Two years later, Salvini won enough votes to form a coalition government with the populist Five Star movement.

Salvinis electoral success, along with Straches in Austria and Viktor Orbans in Hungary, have brought far-right ideas into European governance. In countries across Europe, South and South-east Asia and the Americas, where the far right has failed to make it to the government, it has still managed to push national politics to the right.

This global far-right movement has also emboldened the grassroots and encouraged more violence, where rabid Islamophobia has also been combined with admiration for Israel.

Alexandre Bissonnette, who killed six worshipers in a Quebec mosque in 2017, was a fan of the Israeli army and pro-Israel groups such as United with Israel.

Brenton Tarrant, who killed 50 Muslims in Christchurch and who refers to Camus conspiracy theory in his manifesto, visited Israel, along with other countries, where he was searching for the proverbial clash of civilisations and struggle against the Muslim invaders. He was recently found to have donated money to the far-right anti-Muslim group Identitarian Movement Austria.

Considering the degree of violence now associated with these far-right groups and parties, it is essential that we move with our understanding from merely analysing possible links to strongly confronting all channels of political support and validation they receive, including from Israel.

Israels success in making its war on Palestinians a global cause, shared among far-right ideologues worldwide is not just a danger to world peace, but a precursor for more deadly violence, from Gaza to Quebec to Christchurch.
Days ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2019, two of India's biggest parties - Congress and BJP - have organised multiple rallies and road shows. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing rallies in three states, Odisha, Telangana and Andhra, while BJP chief Amit Shah went and addressed a rally in Mamata Banerjee's home turf, West Bengal. Not to be outdone, the Gandhi siblings have also set out to test their might. Rahul Gandhi is addressing rallies and road shows in Haryana, while Priyanka Gandhi has taken on Ayodhya.

Needless to say, scathing attacks have been launched from both sides in these high-octane rallies. The Prime Minister at his rally in Odisha said that it is now time to give a befitting reply to people who insult the capabilities of our scientists and armed forces. He criticised Congress and BJD for having ample time to develop the state but failing to do so. In Telangana, he accused the state government of not letting the people enjoy the services of the Ayushman scheme. He also added that before 2014 only 40% of the population there had toilets, while now every household has.

Rahul Gandhi criticised the Prime Minister at a rally in Haryana for helping people like Nirav Modi, while neglecting the youth of the country. Joining in, Priyanka Gandhi attacked the Prime Minister for his disconnect with the people of Varanasi at a rally in Ayodhya.

6:45pm: BJP has released another list of 11 candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

6:11pm: BJP president Amit Shah would be accompanied by Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray during his nomination filing for the Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat to show the strength of the NDA alliance. Reports suggest that Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and Prakash Singh Badal will join them.

6:05pm: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has released a list of 18 candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

5:30pm: A case has been lodged against Kanhaiya Kumar over violation of model code of conduct violation. The case was filed after Kanhaiya held a public meeting in Begusarai allegedly without prior permission.

5:15pm: Your vote will ensure the double engine for the development of Andhra Pradesh - BJP govt in the state and BJP govt at the centre, Narendra Modi said at his election campaign in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.

PM Narendra Modi in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh: Your vote will ensure the double engine for the development of Andhra Pradesh - BJP govt in the state and BJP govt at the centre. https://t.co/a6Cwcjzti1 ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

4:05pm: BJP's Sambit Patra files his nomination for Puri Lok Sabha Constituency.

Odisha: BJP's Sambit Patra files his nomination for Puri Lok Sabha Constituency, at District Collector and Magistrate's office in Puri. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/6hSlse1Ra7 ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

4:00pm: TDP suspends its 9 rebel members who filed nominations after not getting tickets from the party- KPRK Phaneeswari, K Srinivasa Rao, Kantamaneni Ravi Shankar, M Madhava Reddy, Bommanacheruvu Sriramulu, N Vijaya Jyothi, A Raja Gopal Reddy, Sarva Srinivasarao, N Viswanadha Reddy, reported ANI.

3:55pm: Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar begins her election campaign.

Mumbai: Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar begins her election campaign. She had joined Congress party recently and will contest from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/oDAnrKbDpv ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

3:50pm: "These days there is a new slogan going around - Chowkidar Chor Hai. In 2014, Modi ji said don't make me the Prime Minister, make me Chowkidar. Now he is saying you all become Chowkidar," said Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Haryana.

3:45pm: "Modi ji has given the keys of the banks away to people like Anil Ambani and Nirav Modi. We will get those keys and them over to the youth of the country. Youth who aspire to be entrepreneurs will be exempted from seeking permission for the first 3 years," said Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Haryana.

3:40pm: "In 2009, we had promised to waive off Rs 72,000 crore worth farm loans in the country and fulfilled that promise. Similarly, 20% of India's poorest families will receive Rs 72,000 as promised," said Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Haryana.

3:30pm: "Before 2014, around 40% of the population of the country didn't have access to toilets. Now, around every house has a toilet which has provided dignity to the mothers and sisters,"said PM Modi at a rally in Telangana.

3:26pm: "Ayushman yojana is providing free healthcare services to the poor of the country. However, the state govt isn't allowing it to reach to the people of this state," said PM Modi in Telangana

3:25pm: "On one hand, you've people who have neglected this region and on the other, you have Chowkidar who stands for the people," said PM Modi in Mahabubnagar.

3:20pm: "At the suggestions of an astrologer, no work was done in the state. If the state elections were held with general elections, it would've spared the state from extra burden that the state has to now bear. They were well aware that they can't win if both elections are held together. Who is going to decide the fate of the state? The people of Telangana or an astrologer?" said PM Modi in Telangana.

3:18pm: "Terrorism is now confined to J&K. You no longer hear of news of bomb explosions as it was five years ago. The noose has been tightened on the supporters of the terrorists. We go across the border and annihilate the hotbeds of terrorists. This new identity of India gives energy to New India," said PM Modi in Telangana's Mahabubnagar.

3:16pm: "In the elections, you aren't going to elect an MP, you are going to vote for a new India," said PM Modi in Mahabubnagar.

3:15pm: "For five years, I've worked honestly and religiously to ease life of common people," said PM Modi at a rally in Telangana's Mahabubnagar.

3:07pm: Modi said that the Telegana government held separate elections for state assembly and Lok Sabha to avoid defeat.

3:00pm: Barring a small region in India, bomb explosions have become a thing of the past, Narendra Modi said during his rally at Mahabubnagar, Telangana.

2:47pm: We will help the youth of the country to become entrepreneurs and open the doors of the banks to them, Rahul Gandhi said.

2:45pm: Congress party will give you a simple GST with a single tax slab, Rahul Gandhi said.

2:43pm: "We have promised to waive farm loans in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, we did it in two days. We promised to bring MNREGA, we brought it. Now we are promising Rs 72,000 every year and we will do it. It will be done in a phased manner. Deserving beneficiaries will be identified," Gandhi said.

2:39pm: Indian government can provide minimum basic income to the people for five years, Rahul Gandhi said.

2:38pm: NYAY has shaken the Prime Minister, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said at his rally in Yamunanagar, Haryana.

2:25pm: "I asked people if PM visits villages in Varanasi, I got reply, "He does not visit". I was surprised because his publicity is such that I thought he must have been doing something. He visited whole world and hugged everyone, but didn't hug his own people," said Priyanka Gandhi in Ayodhya.

2:20pm: "Mamata didi is spreading lies stating that refugees will be forced to leave India. Let me assure refugees belonging to Sikh, Budhha and Hindu religion that they will not be removed and are safe here," Amit Shah in Alipurduar.

2:15pm: "Gone are the days when TMC and Communists prevented people from voting. BJP karyakartas will ensure that people are able to exercise their right to vote," said Amit Shah in Alipurduar.

2:11pm: "In panchayat polls, Mamata didi envisaged people's discontent and 37% electorates were not allowed to vote. Around 80 BJP karyakartas were killed. I can assure that this time, TMC will lose," said Amit Shah in Alipurduar.

2:09pm: "Bengal govt provides monthly allowance to Imams, but not to the Priests. Mamata has imposed urdu language in schools. Mamata didi govt allocated Rs 4,000 crore to madarsas. However, the budget of higher education is less than that," said Amit Shah in Alipurduar.

2:04pm: "TMC is bound to lose in the upcoming elections. It has destroyed the culture and heritage of West Bengal. Mamata didi, your time is up. No one will stop people of Bengal from performing pooja during Durga pooja," said Amit Shah in Alipurduar.

2:01pm: Congress releases list of 5 candidates - 4 in Assam and 1 in Uttar Pradesh - for the Lok Sabha Elections 2019.

Congress releases list of 5 candidates (4 Assam & 1 Uttar Pradesh) for the upcoming #LokSabhaElections2019 Ashok Dohare who joined the party earlier today, to contest from Etawah parliamentary constituency. pic.twitter.com/p4pzHx2ecv ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

1:59pm: BJP chief addresses a rally in Alipurduar, West Bengal. "This is an election for the existence of Bengal. Democracy has been smothered in Bengal," said Shah.

1:56pm: Priyanka Gandhi interacts with locals in Kumarganj, UP. She is on her way to Ayodhya.

Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra interacts with locals during a 'chaupal' in Kumarganj. She is on her way to Ayodhya. pic.twitter.com/83Xy1fu0FF ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 29, 2019

1:45pm: Rahul Gandhi arrives in Haryana's Yamuna Nagar.

Congress President @RahulGandhi arrives in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana to a warm welcome from the state delegation. pic.twitter.com/QvaVhUHTAX Congress (@INCIndia) March 29, 2019

1:30pm: Election Commission gives clean chit to Prime Minister Modi on his Mission Shakti speech.

1:26pm: BJP releases 12th list of 11 candidates in Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan for Lok Sabha Elections 2019.

BJP releases 12th list of 11 candidates in Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Rajasthan for #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/6GNeE0K0Ab ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

1:08pm: Ministry of Railways on viral picture of tea being served in Shatabdi train in 'Main bhi Chowkidar' cups: It happened today but immediately glasses were withdrawn. Penal action is being taken against the contractor. Action is also being taken against the supervisor.

1:02pm: Congress MP from Tumkur says he has no plans of taking back nomination.

Congress MP from Tumkur, Muddahanumegowda on JDS to contest from Tumkur: I've no plans to take back my nomination. Rahul ji & other leaders spoke to me & asked me to reconsider this decision but if my workers insist that I should contest then I should act as per them. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/awciovKVsi ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

1:01pm: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley commented on the Samjhauta Blast case and said, "Congress coined 'Hindu terror' and filed cases based on fake evidence to create this theory but in the end court has to take decision. Perhaps because of this, those who considered Hindus as terrorists are now trying to prove their devotion towards religion."

12:54pm: Mumbai Congress president Milind Deora welcomes Urmila Matondkar.

I welcome Urmila Matondkar's nomination as the Congress candidate for Mumbai North!



Urmila will be a powerful voice for freedom of speech and expression in Parliament. We need artistes who will fight back against hate, against fear, against censorship. Milind Deora (@milinddeora) March 29, 2019

12:48pm: Talking about the NYAY scheme, Rahul Gandhi said, "We're not going to do it the way GST was done. We are first going to run a short pilot project to smoothen out any flaws in the implementation process and then roll it out nationwide. We're also going to set down a robust way of identifying the beneficiaries, so that no deserving family is left out."

Also read: Bottom 10% easiest to identify for NYAY implementation; the next 10% will be challenging, says MIT Economics professor Abhijit Banerjee

12:45pm: Taking a jibe at PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi said, "We're not rash. We don't take steps like demonetisation and GST without consultations, without conferring with the experts. We have vetted this, tested this, and fiscally NYAY as a scheme is completely doable ."

12:43pm: "There is another aspect to calling the scheme NYAY. Why have we chosen to call this scheme 'justice'? Because over the last five years, Mr Narendra Modi has simply snatched from poor and given nothing back. He has taken away from the farmers, he has snatched from the small and medium businesses, he's taken away from the unemployed youth, he has extinguished the savings of mothers and sisters of this country. We want to return to India's deprived sections what Modiji has snatched from them," Gandhi said in the interview.

12:40pm: In an interview to PTI, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said that he will remonetise what has been demonetised by the Prime Minister. "What the PM has done over the past five years is to remove all money from the economy with failed policies like demonetisation and a poorly executed Gabbar Singh Tax (GST). Informal sectors have been badly hit. The aim of the NYAY scheme is two-fold. First is to guarantee a minimum income to the bottom 20 per cent families. The second is to remonetise the economy that has been demonetised by Modiji," Gandhi said.

12:34pm: Voter awareness campaign express flagged off from New Delhi station:

Voter Awareness campaign express flagged off from New Delhi railway Station to create awareness among voters #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/GY8bpcwf3H Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) March 29, 2019

12:18pm: On the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2019, PM Modi said, "There are three points we are sure of- 1. We will come in full majority; 2. NDA and BJP will come in power in more seats; 3. As a responsible citizen, and as a prime minister for the past 5 years, I would say I want to work with whoever becomes victorious. In politics, everyone must work together. The people of this country suffered for 30 years but enjoyed in the past 5 years which makes me confident of the upcoming polls."

12:15pm: On the Main Bhi Chowkidar campaign, he said, "I've been the longest serving Chief Minister of Gujarat. Yes, I'm a chaiwala and my past was never spoken about during my tenure as chief minister. But when I was elected as the Prime Minister, they started raising these issues while I proudly said that I was a chaiwala. As far as Chowkidar is concerned, it is a word I used for myself during 2011-2012 poll campaign too. Mahatma Gandhi also during his time had qualities of being a Chowkidar, not literally but in the spirit to ensure safety and security of the country."

12:11pm: On Pakistan, he said, "Pakistan has constantly tried to assure that they will take action, but we hardly see anything happening from their end. So I've stopped responding to their assurances. Regarding the 26/11 attacks, we had given them a detailed dossier, but there was no response again. When PM Khan was elected, I congratulated him and I've taken steps for cordial talks but where is the action? It's good that PM Khan is doing good things for his citizens, but what is necessary right now is for Pakistan to come out of terrorism."

12:08pm: In an interview to Republic Bharat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that there is no contest in 2019. "Whatever we have been able to successfully execute in the past 5 years, it is because of the trust Indians place in us. We came into power with a sweeping majority, which shows the consent of the people and as of what I understand of politics, people have understood what Modi can do for them, what are the changes our government can bring in, how BJP can help the country progress. There are some spheres where India feels we lack, but we are sure that Indians won't let us down," he said.

12:05pm: Bihar mahagathbandhan releases seat-sharing agreement for 40 Lok Sabha seats.





Bihar mahagathbandhan releases seat-sharing agreement for 40 Lok Sabha seats. RJD to contest on 19 seats, Congress on 9 seats, RLSP on 5 seats, HAM(S) on 3 seats, VIP on 3 seats and CPI(ML) on 1 seat. pic.twitter.com/leJ9DhHUGS ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

12:04pm: Out of Rs. 6,500 crore accumulated under District Mineral Fund, Odisha govt has only spent Rs. 1,000 crore for the poor tribals: PM Modi at Koraput.

12:03pm: PM Kisan Yojana is providing financial assistance to the farmers. However, Odisha govt hasn't provided us with the list of eligible farmers: PM Modi.

12:01pm: In India, 1.5 lakh wellness centres are being built, mothers and infants are being vaccinated. However, people of Odisha aren't able to make the most of them. Odisha government refused to be part of Ayushman Yojana and thus deprived the poor of their right for quality healthcare: PM Modi at Koraput.

12:00pm: Odisha is rich in natural resources but people are poor. This situation proves that the Congress and BJD have failed to develop Odisha: PM Modi at Koraput.

11:59am: Can those who are involved in Chit fund scam make Odisha strong? Can those who are working with mining mafia and deprived tribals of their rights and resources make Odisha strong?: PM Modi.

11:58am: This is the right time to punish the Congress and BJD who were given ample time in Odisha to develop the region. However, they have failed miserably: PM Modi.

11:57am: It's about time to give an apt answer to people who are insulting the capabilities of our scientists and the armed forces: PM Modi at Koraput.

11:56am: Odisha became a witness of a historic moment that showed the world India's capability. India can now keep an eye in the space, too: PM Modi, Koraput.

11:52am: At a rally in Odisha's Koraput, the Prime Minister said that he has tried to fulfil every promise made in 2014. "It's because of unflinching support of people that I was able to carry out welfare work for the people of the country," says Modi.

11:50am: TTV Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) gets 'gift pack' as common symbol for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2019 and state assembly bye-elections.

11:45am: Senior Congress leader Manikrao Gavit's son, Bharat, on being denied a ticket: These elections are very important for our family. If we don't contest and win, our politics will be over. Congress didn't give us a ticket for Lok Sabha elections, it's disappointing," as mentioned in ANI.

11:43am: "It has been a month and Pakistan is still counting bodies. When India takes action against terrorists, enters their home and kills them, then are some people here who ask for proof," says PM Modi talking about the Balakot air strike.

11:40am: BJP MP Ashok Kumar Dohre joins Congress.

Sitting BJP MP from UP's Etawah,Ashok Kumar Dohre joins Congress in presence of Congress President Rahul Gandhi pic.twitter.com/CXgY9mscpH ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

11:37am: "RJD to contest on 19 seats including Bhagalpur, Banka, Madhyapura, and Darbhanga. RLSP to contest on 5 seats, Congress to contest on 9 seats including Patna Sahib," Tejaswi Yadav.

11:35am: Congress releases list of 4 candidates from Bihar, 7 from Odisha and 1 from Uttar Pradesh.

Congress releases a list of 4 candidates from Bihar, 7 from Odisha and 1 from Uttar Pradesh. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to contest from Sasaram(Bihar). Supriya Shrinate from UP's Maharajganj(replacing Tanushree Tripathi) pic.twitter.com/bVM1ADOVwp ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

11:32am: DMK chief MK Stalin tells India Today, "I don't think there could be such a scenario where the coalition will be lead by another leader. If such a situation arises, I would put forward my views."

11:31am: Urmila Matondkar joins Congress.

Urmila Matondkar to contest from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency on a Congress ticket. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/LrzBiAa5QF ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

11:30am: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi reaches Amethi.
Guatemala City  Central American and Mexican activists are questioning their governments focus on security to address migration following meetings this week with US Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

Nielsen met Mexican officials on Tuesday and attended a summit on Wednesday in Honduras with security ministers from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. The meetings dealt with border security and the ongoing exodus of Central American migrants and asylum seekers.

The summit in Honduras ended with the signing of a regional memorandum of cooperation between the three Central American countries and the United States. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the memorandum aims to better synchronise cooperation between the countries in order to bolster border security, prevent the formation of new migrant caravans, and address the root causes of the migration crisis.

In a series of tweets, Nielsen described the memorandum as a first-ever regional compact and a HISTORIC agreement to confront the root causes of the crisis on our border.

The sole focus of the memorandum, however, is security cooperation in four areas: human trafficking and smuggling; organised crime and gangs; intelligence sharing; and border security. It is a non-binding document that essentially entails a commitment to continue ongoing talks and cooperation efforts.

Addressing the factors behind migration from a security perspective is questionable, says Iduvina Hernandez, director of the Association for the Study and Promotion of Security in Democracy, a Guatemalan non-governmental organisation.

It is accepted up to a certain point that insecurity and violence are a factor in driving certain populations to migrate, Hernandez told Al Jazeera.

The problem is standardising the approach to the origins of migration and instituting policies only on that basis, she said.

Ignores historical and structural foundations

The approach also ignores the historical and structural foundations behind the insecurity and violence plaguing the region, according to Hernandez.

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They have their point of departure in structural problems linked to inequality and linked to the issue of corruption, she said. In the case of Guatemala, its a framework of corruption that has completely coopted the state.

The Guatemalan Ministry of the Interior, which includes the national police force, is a case in point. Headed by Enrique Degenhart, who sat next to Nielsen during the recent summit in Honduras, the ministry has been embroiled in scandals for years.

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Degenharts initial vice minister, Kamilo Rivera, is accused of participating in torture and extrajudicial execution ring run from within the ministry in the past and is now a fugitive from justice. Mauricio Lopez Bonilla, Degenharts predecessor, is on trial in Guatemala for corruption and has also been indicted in the US on drug trafficking and weapons charges.

Earlier this month, the US Department of Defense suspended aid to several Guatemalan inter-agency task forces. The US halted training and equipment transfers to the task forces due to the repeated misuse of donated vehicles, Department of Defense spokesperson Johnny Michael told Al Jazeera in an emailed statement.

Jeep J8 vehicles donated for border region counter-narcotics task forces were deployed in August 2018 to the streets around the offices of a UN-backed anti-corruption commission, generating alarm and condemnations of intimidation and misuse.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, his relatives, and his political party had all come under investigation for corruption, and his attacks on the anti-corruption commission sparked a constitutional crisis that continues to fester.

Along with its suspension of aid to the inter-agency task forces, the US Department of Defense is also evaluating other transfers to Guatemala on a case-by-case basis.

A convoy of J8 Jeeps, military vehicles donated by the US government, is seen arriving at the Guatemalan Air Force base in Guatemala City on March 15 [File: Luis Echeverria/Reuters]

The Guatemalan government is a partner and supporter of US security efforts in the region. However, the repeated misuse of US-provided military vehicles has necessitated a review of support to security cooperation programmes, Michael told Al Jazeera.

One day after the March 14 announcement, more than 130 donated Jeep J8s began arriving at the air force base grounds in the capital citys airport area, where they were lined up in front of a hangar used by the US.

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In response to the criticism earlier this year, Guatemalas secretary of state intelligence had offered to drop the Jeeps off in front of the US embassy and another defiant offer to return the donated vehicles seemed imminent. But after days of silence, the Guatemalan government claimed the Jeeps had been recalled for mechanical review and deployed them back days later.

It is very likely that that absurd action of positioning all the Jeeps in front of the US hangar will also have consequences down the line, said Hernandez.

Despite the military aid suspension and questionable Guatemalan government response, Nielsen cited improved cooperation with the Central American countries involved in the security cooperation memorandum.

Misguided

Concerns about US security aid to Central American security forces goes far beyond the misuse of donated vehicles, however. State violence, extrajudicial killings, and repression have long been issues in the region, and ongoing abuses in Honduras have been of particular concern in recent years.

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Democratic Congresswoman Norma Torres criticised the memorandum in a statement on Thursday, calling it a misguided agreement and highlighting the involvement of security forces with drug trafficking and organised crime.

Far too many Central Americans have already suffered at the hands of corrupt and abusive security forces; they are demanding justice, not a blank check for soldiers and police, wrote Torres.

Also on Thursday, Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson and his colleagues reintroduced the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act. Named after a prominent Honduran indigenous rights and social movement activist murdered in 2016, the bill would place further restrictions and conditions on US aid to Honduran security forces.

For years, members of the Honduras police and military have engaged in corrupt practices and gross human rights abuses without consequence. By limiting funding, we have the opportunity to force the Honduran government to investigate and prosecute these crimes, Johnson said on Thursday in a statement.

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Over the course of the past five months, Al Jazeera has spoken with many Hondurans who cited targeted repression and violence by state forces as their reason for fleeing north, though poverty, unemployment, and gang violence are more often cited. Individuals reasons vary, as does whether or not they travel in visible caravan groups, but either way, the exodus continues.

Mexican Secretary of the Interior Olga Sanchez said on Wednesday that Mexico is expecting a mother of all caravans from Honduras that could include as many as 20,000 people. Her comments came on the heels of a meeting on Tuesday with Nielsen.

Announcements for a Honduran caravan leaving Saturday from San Pedro Sula have been circulating on social media, but the source of Sanchezs dubious claims concerning its size is unclear. Honduran Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Nelly Jerez contested the claim.

Intelligence forces, not just those from Honduras but also the ones that were here meeting with secretary Nielsen in a Northern Triangle meeting we had in our country, none of us has any information about the formation of a mass departure or mobilisation of people, Jerez said on Thursday in an interview with Mexican newspaper El Sol de Mexico.

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Migrant rights activist group Pueblo Sin Fronteras accused Sanchez of serving Trumps immigration policy interests by inciting fear to justify harsh measures against Central American migrants.

The only certainty is that after the meeting with Nielsen, the Mexican government put forward the mother of all caravans idea in its discourse to justify the US mandated containment, the group said on Thursday in a public statement.

Sanchez also announced the Mexican government was sending federal police and other personnel to set up immigration checkpoints in southern Mexico, where a caravan of some 2,500 people, most of them Central Americans, has been gradually advancing northward this week.

Trump threatens to close the border

Meanwhile, Trump appeared to contradict Neilsens celebration of the regional security cooperation memorandum, accusing Central American countries and Mexico of doing nothing.

On Thursday, he threatened to close the southern border in a tweet, saying Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country.

He added, Likewise Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing.

Trump has made the threat several times before, but has never acted. On Friday, he repeated the threat, however, saying he would close the border next week if Mexico doesnt immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug (sic) our Southern Border.

Mexicos Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard responded, saying, Mexico doesnt act based on threats.
Fighting between Cameroon government forces and English-speaking separatists sends thousands of refugees over the border to camps in Nigeria and theres no end in sight.

More people have been forced into refugee camps in Nigeria due to fighting between separatists and government troops in southern Cameroon.

More than 30,000 have been officially registered but aid workers have said the actual number is much higher.

Al Jazeeras Ahmed Idris reports from one of the four permanent settlements built for refugees in Nigerias Cross River State.
The death toll from a horrific blaze that ripped through a Dhaka high-rise building has climbed to 25, Bangladeshi police said, as government officials vowed tough action to improve lax safety standards.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mostaq Ahmed, deputy commissioner of the Gulshan division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the victims had been identified and 24 have been handed over to their families.

The blaze on Thursday left hundreds of people trapped inside the 22-storey FR tower screaming for help as horrified onlookers massed outside.

Some of those stuck inside made it to safety by sliding down cables on the side of the building, but others took their chances and jumped in a bid to escape the smoke and heat. Six people leaped to their deaths.

More than 70 people were taken to hospital for treatment in the wake of the fire.

On Friday, firefighters completed the process of combing through the gutted and blackened floors of the building. Ahmed, of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said there was no immediate indication if others are missing.

Still we are checking, if someone comes to us we will verify, he said.

Ataur Rahman, a restaurant worker who rushed to the scene when the fire broke out, said the image of people jumping from the building would haunt him forever.

I could hear the screams of people trapped inside the building, he told Al Jazeera. Soon after the fire spread on the seventh, eighth and ninth floors, people started breaking window panes to get out.

Then I witnessed the most horrible scene  people falling from the top floors while trying to climb down the wires in the building. I saw two people falling down.

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This is murder

Abdulla Al Faruq Tomal, a 32-year-old who worked on the 11th floor of the FR Tower, was among the 25 victims.

His wife, Sanjidha Ovi, said Tomal called her soon after the fire broke out.

He telephoned me and said he had found a safe zone inside the building. The last time he called, he said he was on the 15th floor and that the smoke from the fire had reached that floor. I told him to go to the roof, but he said there was no scope to do so, Ovi told Al Jazeera.

We have two children. I dont know what will happen to them, she said, choking up.

Shammi Akhter said her 27-year-old brother Fazle Rabbi had died of smoke inhalation.

I received my brothers dead body on Friday at the morgue, Akhter told Al Jazeera. He was supposed to get married in this year.

Relatives mourn after a fire broke out at a multistorey building in Dhaka [Mohammad Ponir Hossain/ Reuters]

Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of Thursdays fire.

Rezaul Karim, minister of public works and housing, said a murder case will be filed against those responsible for the tragedy.

Definitely, this is murder. It is not an accident, he told reporters. Legal action will be taken against those responsible for violating the building code, no matter how powerful they are.

Fire exits

Enamur Rahman, minister for disaster management and relief, told Al Jazeera there was little fire-fighting equipment inside the building.

Had there been a proper fire extinguishing system, and fire drills to train inhabitants inside the buildings, then those deaths could have been averted, he said.

Shakil Newaj, fire department director, told the AFP news agency that there were no sprinklers while fire exits existed only in name.

At just 0.6 metres and 1.2 metres wide, the buildings two exits were too narrow for people inside to leave smoothly, and were blocked by obstructions that made the task harder, according to another fire department official.

If the building had proper fire exits, people would have been able to come out, Julfikar Rahman told Reuters.

The Dhaka development authority said it was investigating how the owner, who had permission only to build 18 stories, managed to extend them to 22.

Fire disasters have regularly hit Bangladeshs major cities, killing hundreds of people in recent years. At least 96 people have died in several large fires since last month.

Critics have blamed lax regulations and poor enforcement for the deadly blazes.

We have long been telling different civic authorities that most of the high-rises in Dhaka are constructed in violation of the existing rules. But before a tragic accident like this happens, no one pay heed to our concern, Mehedi Ahmed Ansari, director of the Bangladesh Network Office for Urban Safety at the Bangladesh University, told Al Jazeera.

The latest inferno erupted barely a month after at least 70 people were killed in Dhaka apartment buildings where chemicals that were being stored illegally exploded  unleashing a blaze that took more than 12 hours to control.

Faisal Mahmud in Dhaka contributed to this report
Embattled prime minister suffers a third major defeat on Brexit as the UK heads for a no-deal exit on April 12.

British MPs have rejected the governments Brexit divorce deal, handing Prime Minister Theresa May a fresh defeat in her battle to steer the UK out of the European Union.

MPs voted by 344 to 286 on Friday against the withdrawal agreement, a stripped-down version of the twice-defeated deal that May agreed with the EU.

The result means that the UK is now set to leave the bloc on April 12 without a deal, unless the government negotiates an extension to the countrys departure date with Brussels.

Addressing Parliament after the vote, May said it was a matter of profound regret that the deal failed and that the implications of this decision are grave, noting that the UK would now leave the bloc on April 12 by legal default.

I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House, May said.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour party, said the prime minister should resign and also called for a general election as a way to break the Brexit deadlock.

The House has been clear. This deal now has to change, there has to be an alternative found. If the prime minister cant accept that, then she must go.

The government brought Fridays vote in the hopes that it could find majority support if MPs only voted on the withdrawal agreement, rather than the overall Brexit package negotiated with the EU, which also includes a political declaration that outlines plans for the UKs future relationship with the the bloc.

But only a handful of opposition Labour legislators switched to back the deal, while dozens of Mays Conservative party MPs voted against the government, along with 10 MPs from the Norther Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which props up the government, leading to a sizeable loss for May.

Reporting from London, Al Jazeeras Paul Brennan said the result was not a surprise.

This defeat today was not unexpected, the numbers simply were not there, he said. The majority of 58 really speaks volumes as to the fact that she (May) wasnt able to persuade enough people.

Following the vote, European Council President Donald Tusk said EU leaders would meet on April 10 to discuss Brexit.

In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April. #Brexit  Charles Michel (@eucopresident) March 29, 2019

In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on April 10, Tusk said.

The European Commission said a no-deal Brexit on April 12 was now likely.

The Commission regrets the negative vote in the House of Commons today, a spokesman said, adding that the EU has given London until April 12 to inform it of the next steps. It will be for the UK to indicate the way forward before that date.

A no-deal scenario on April 12 is now a likely scenario. The EU  is now fully prepared for a no-deal scenario at midnight on April 12.

Next steps

While the UK is now scheduled to leave the bloc in two weeks, the government may seek a longer extension, although such a move would require Britain to contest the upcoming European Parliament elections. An extension would also need the unanimous support of all other 27 EU member states.

EU leaders have said the UK would have to provide a clear strategy in order to secure a longer extension.

Reporting from Brussels, Al Jazeeras Natacha Butler said frustration with the Brexit process was growing in EU circles.

EU leaders have been very clear for a while now that they dont want to negotiate a new deal, she said.

I think there is a real sense in the EU that some months ago, perhaps they would have been more open to a few changes, but as this process has gone on, theres just such a sense of weariness that the business of Brexit is taking over all other European Union business.

This week, the British parliament held a series of non-binding votes on a number of alternative Brexit plans, in an attempt to see if a majority could be found for a new approach. Of the eight plans put to the vote, none won majority support.

May said legislators would continue on Monday to try and see if there is a stable majority for a particular alternative version of our future relationship with the EU, adding that any plan would also require MPs to back the withdrawal agreement.

Tom Brake, a Liberal Democrat MP, told Al Jazeera that while Mays deal is as dead as a dodo, he was confident Parliament would take the initiative on breaking the Brexit impasse next week.

What happens on Monday is that process of Parliament taking control of this continues, he said.

We have a day booked, where what I expect to happen is that some of the options that were debated earlier in the week will be refined, perhaps joined together, and I think we will see a majority potentially emerge around one of those options.
Human rights groups ratchet up pressure on the Cambodian government after Sum Moeun vanished without a trace.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia  Two months ago, Sum Moeun was last seen being beaten up by Cambodian soldiers following his arrest over an ongoing land dispute with an agro-industrial company.

Moeun and his fellow villagers have been in conflict with the Metrei Pheap company, which was granted 8,520 hectares of land within the Kulen Wildlife Sanctuary in 2012. The villagers argue the concession includes their own farmland, and 15 community members were arrested during a crackdown in January.

Fourteen people, including Moeuns son Moeun Mean, remain in custody, facing up to 10 years in prison, while Moeun himself has disappeared without a trace.

Human rights groups have increased pressure on the Cambodian government with both Human Rights Watch and Licadho releasing statements demanding that Moeun be presented. The United Nations is also investigating the issue.

Cambodian authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of a land activist forcibly disappeared in Preah Vihear province, said the HRW press release.

Moeun and his son were arrested by Cambodian soldiers who had been hired by Metrei Pheap for security.

Witnesses reported that Moeun was beaten following his arrest, reads the Licadho statement.

Moeuns wife, Phu Phim Mao, said her son corroborated accounts that her husband was beaten while in custody.





Ive met my son four times in the prison, she said. He witnessed that the soldiers kicked and pushed my husband to the sand and his eye and face were covered with blood.

No credible evidence

According to their son, Moeun was beaten for asking the soldiers to present arrest warrants.

The soldiers got so mad at him so they started to beat him up and responded to my husband that they have authorisation from the court, Phim Mao said.

Phim Mao said the villagers were not informed of the arrests until the next day, and by then Moeun had reportedly escaped.

Officials claimed Moeun escaped from the wildlife sanctuary office where he was being detained, but no arrest warrant was issued as it is expected in a fugitive case. Licadho questioned other discrepancies in the official story, noting authorities have failed to provide any credible evidence about Moeuns location, claiming at different times that he was hiding at an undisclosed location in Phnom Penh or receiving medical treatment in the capital.

Different officials also gave Phim Mao different stories.

Some military police told me he was detained in the prison, but it was not the right time to let me visit him, she said.

I dont know the situation of my husband if hes still alive or detained or something, I dont know, she said.

Phim Mao also said officials impounded and later returned the family truck, but she has not recovered the cash or valuable necklace that was on Moeuns person when he was detained.

The Cambodian government needs to produce Sum Moeun in court and lawfully charge him or return him home to his family, said Brad Adams, Asia director of HRW in a statement. He went on to call for an immediate, independent investigation.

His family has good reason to fear for his safety, Adams added.

Fewer accountability mechanisms

Ear Sophal, a Cambodian-American associate professor of World Affairs and Diplomacy at Occidental College, said there appears to have been an uptick of violence in recent land dispute cases.

These things are hard to measure, especially given that independent reporting is increasingly tenuous, Sophal explained.





In the past two years, Cambodias free press was obliterated and the main political opposition party was forcibly dissolved. In this context, Sophal said there are fewer accountability mechanisms to hold the government in check.

At the same time, Prime Minister Hun Sens rhetoric has become increasingly violent, frequently saying he will kill the opposition and once openly threatening to attack them with grenade launchers.

In 2018, soldiers moonlighting as illegal loggers murdered three forestry defenders. Later that year, at least two land dispute protesters were shot in Kratie. In January of this year, police shot another land dispute protester in Sihanoukville, while other villagers were beaten up.

Even if theres no actual memo from the top, its clear inspiration is being taken from the new normal which has made the indefensible defensible, Sophal said, adding the situation has further emboldened anyone with authority to pull the trigger.

Land disputes have been a chronic issue plaguing Cambodia since the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge abolished private property in the 1970s. Following the regimes collapse, most Cambodians simply settled in rural areas without any proper documentation, leaving the notoriously corrupt government free to lease inhabited land to powerful politicians, businessmen and corporations.

Phim Mao said authorities came in 2017 to measure out the land that belongs to the Metrei Pheap company, but only measured a small amount because it was the rainy season. She said they never returned to complete the measurements and simply began arresting villagers for growing crops on land claimed by the company.

Obligation to investigate

Moeuns disappearance comes while Cambodia is under intense scrutiny from the international community, with the European Union beginning a process to revoke its preferential trade deal over recent human rights abuses.

The Cambodian Centre for Human Rights also joined the chorus of voices calling for government action, telling Al Jazeera that as a signatory to the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Cambodian government has an obligation to investigate.

The state must take appropriate measures to investigate cases of enforced disappearance and bring those responsible to justice, said CCHR director Chak Sopheap. It is the duty of the state to fully investigate the disappearance of Sum Moeun, or to reveal his whereabouts if they are known.

Chum Socheat, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, declined to comment on whether such an investigation is under way. Preah Vihear Provincial Governor Un Chanda did not reply to repeated requests for comment, but told the Phnom Penh Post that Moeun is not in custody.

His wife is helping to hide him, he reportedly said, saying Moeun wont come forward out of fear of arrest.

Meanwhile, Phim Mao has found herself in dire straits financially, claiming the company destroyed their crop yield forcing her to sell her house to begin to pay off her debt.

Im now not only missing my husband but I also lost my house and am not able to pay back my loan, as well my four kids need money for their studies and I cant afford this, she said.
US State Department spokesman urges transparent investigation into bombing that killed seven, including children.

A United States State Department spokesman has called the bombing earlier this week of a hospital supported by Save the Children in Yemen awful and urged the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen to conduct an investigation.

I saw those reports, theyre awful. The United States takes them seriously and were seeking more information, spokesman Robert Palladino told a media briefing on Thursday.

We understand that the Saudi-led coalition has referred the results of this targeting operation to the joint incidents assessment team for their review and their investigation, he said. The United States urges a transparent investigation.

Save the Children said a missile on Tuesday struck a gas station near the entrance to a rural hospital it supports in the northwestern part of the country, about 100 kilometres from the city of Saada.

The attack at around 9:30am (06:30 GMT) killed seven people, including four children, the organisation said in a statement. Among the dead were a health worker and the persons two children, as well as two other children and a security guard. Eight people were wounded, it said.

The missile hit just after the hospital had opened, and many patients and staff were arriving on a busy morning, it said.

Palladino said the US was pushing all sides in the conflict to take steps to avoid actions that endanger civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The United States urges a transparent investigation by the joint incidents assessment team into these alleged incidents as well as swift implementation of the resulting recommendations, he added.

Shocked and appalled

Save the Children, which reported earlier this week that on average 37 Yemeni children a month had been killed or injured by foreign bombs in the last year, demanded in the statement on Tuesday an urgent investigation into the attack.

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Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the organisations chief executive, said: We are shocked and appalled by this outrageous attack.

Innocent children and health workers have lost their lives in what appears to been an indiscriminate attack on a hospital in a densely populated civilian area, she said. Attacks like these are a breach of international law.

Thorning-Schmidt said the hospital is one of many Save the Children supports in Yemen, but time after time, we see a complete disregard by all warring parties in Yemen for the basic rules of war.

Ongoing conflict

The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by Houthi rebels, who toppled the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

A Saudi-led coalition allied with the internationally recognised government of President Hadi has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.

Air raids by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties, killing thousands of Yemeni civilians. The Houthis have fired long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia and targeted vessels in the Red Sea.

The fighting in the Arab worlds poorest country has killed thousands of civilians, left millions suffering from food and medical shortages, and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock has said about 80 percent of Yemens population  24 million people  needs humanitarian assistance, including nearly 10 million just a step away from famine and nearly 240,000 facing catastrophic levels of hunger.

Thorning-Schmidt called for an immediate suspension of arms sales to the warring parties and diplomatic pressure to end the conflict.

We must stop this war on children, she said.








As part of his parole, Alaa Abdel Fattah must sleep every night at a local police station for the next five years.

Alaa Abdel Fattah, a leading pro-democracy activist in Egypt, has been released from prison after serving a five-year sentence for inciting and taking part in protests, according to his family and lawyer.

The influential blogger and software engineer was a leading voice among the young Egyptians who initially led the 2011 uprising that ended the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

Alaa got out, his sister, Mona Seif, wrote on Facebook and Twitter on Friday. His other sister, Sanaa Seif, posted a video on Facebook of Abdel Fattah playing with a dog.

His lawyer, Khaled Ali, confirmed the release by posting on Facebook: Thanks God, Alaa Abdel-Fattah at home.

 

 

 pic.twitter.com/mjkugrqrR3  Mona Seif (@Monasosh) March 29, 2019

Translation: First meeting, Alaa and Toka

Facebook pages set up in support of Abdel Fattah posted videos of him grinning, hugging and shaking hands with friends as he walked out of a police station in Cairo. In the background, women were ululating.

His release from the notorious Tora prison will not bring him complete freedom. As part of his parole, Abdel Fattah must sleep every night at a local police station for the next five years and will be under police surveillance.

Government crackdown

Abdel Fattah was arrested in November 2013 and eventually sentenced to five years in prison in a trial that lasted more than a year.

He was charged with organising an illegal protest against military trials and assaulting a police officer. The court discounted evidence, including mobile phone records, which showed that Abdel Fattah was not at the protest.

The influential blogger hails from a family of political activists, lawyers, and writers  his late father was one of Egypts most tireless rights lawyers; his sisters and mother are also political activists, and; his aunt is award-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif.

An outspoken dissident, Abdel Fattah had also been convicted for taking part in a peaceful demonstration following the militarys removal in July 2013 of Egypts first elected President Mohamed Morsi.

After Morsi was overthrown, Egypts military-backed transitional authorities waged a heavy crackdown on his supporters who had rallied against Morsis removal. One sit-in by protesters in Cairo in August 2013 was broken up by security forces in an operation that left hundreds dead.

Within weeks, the government also went after secular and liberal activists who opposed a newly introduced law banning street protests without prior permission from authorities. The new law required participants to formally ask the interior ministry for permission to hold a rally three days in advance. It also set prison terms and high fines for violators.

The demonstration that led to Abdel Fattahs arrest and sentencing was in protest against trials of civilians before military tribunals, known for their swift and harsh rulings.

Security forces raided his house after the protest, beat up his wife and confiscated his laptops but he was not there. He later turned himself in.

I dont deny the charge, he wrote in a statement released at the time. Its an honour to hold responsibility for peoples rallies in defiance of legalising the return of the rule of Mubarak.

During his imprisonment in 2014, Abdel Fattahs father, Ahmed Seif, the well-known and celebrated civil rights activist, passed away.
San Salvador  When Saskia ter Laag visited the spot where Salvadoran soldiers shot her brother, Hans, while he reported on El Salvadors civil war 37 years ago, she felt peace, but not closure.

In 1982, the Salvadoran military ambushed and killed four Dutch journalists  Koos Koster, Jan Kuiper, Joop Willemsen, and Hans ter Laag  alongside the Salvadoran rebel fighters accompanying them as they headed behind rebel lines in northwestern department of Chalatenango to cover the conflict for Dutch broadcaster IKON.

Saskia ter Laag and Gert Kuiper, brother of Jan Kuiper, testified to the attorney generals office in El Salvador on Friday, seeking to spur on the investigation.

Justice should be done, ter Laag told Al Jazeera. We are here to speed up the case before all those who are responsible are dead.

The attorney general reopened the case about a year ago after the Supreme Court scrapped an amnesty law that had relegated investigations to the archives and shielded perpetrators of civil war-era crimes from prosecution for more than two decades.

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Kuiper said that while the families are happy to see a step forward, the process has gone very slowly. He hopes their visit will increase pressure towards a trial. Weve come to declare ourselves victims of impunity, he said.

Critical stage

With the knowledge of other officers, Mario Reyes Mena ordered the ambush against the journalists, just days after the head of the secret police, Francisco Antonio Moran, interrogated them in San Salvador, according to the United Nations Truth Commission report on the conflict. Reyes Mena, who now lives in the United States, and other military men concealed the truth and obstructed the judicial investigation, the commission found.

Pedro Cruz, a lawyer representing two of the families, told Al Jazeera the case is at a critical stage and expects to see a decision within months on whether it will go to trial.

Julio Larrama, one of the four prosecutors in the country investigating scores of civil war crimes, told Al Jazeera his team sees all cases as a priority, but puts particular emphasis on emblematic cases detailed in the Truth Commission, including the killing of the four Dutch journalists. He could not share details about the status of the investigation.

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Earlier this month, national and international human rights organisations penned an open letter calling on the attorney general to prioritise prosecution of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the armed conflict.

A documentary called In Cold Blood, aired last year on Dutch television, and a new Spanish-language book and multilingual multimedia project called The Ambush, launched on Thursday in San Salvador, have brought heightened attention to the case. Ter Laag also published a book in Dutch on the journalists story in 2013 titled Silent No More.

Television cameramen photograph blood-soaked, bullet-ridden clothes believed to belong to four Dutch journalists killed in a wooded area near this village in the province of Chalatenango [File: PW Hamilton/AP]

New amnesty proposal

Ter Laag and Kuipers visit to El Salvador to call for justice for their brothers killing comes as a Salvadoran congressional committee tasked with drafting a National Reconciliation Law discusses a proposal that seeks to reinstate a blanket amnesty for civil war-era crimes.

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Sidney Blanco, who served as Supreme Court justice when the court declared the 1993 Amnesty Law unconstitutional in 2016, told Al Jazeera the new proposal is even worse than the original amnesty, filled with ambiguous clauses.

The sponsor of the proposal, Rodolfo Parker, who is named in the Truth Commission for working to cover up the responsibility of the senior military officers in civil war massacres, resigned from the commission after national and international human rights groups firmly criticised his draft text for encouraging crimes against humanity to go unpunished. He denies the characterisation.

The committee took Parkers proposal for a broad, absolute, and unconditional amnesty as a starting point for discussion on legislation to address reparations for victims and national reconciliation. Human rights groups and organisations representing victims criticise the absence of the victims in Parkers proposal and in the drafting process itself.

If the commission truly had a focus on victims, they would have created spaces for dialogue with victims, Manuel Escalante, a lawyer with the Institute for Human Rights at the Central American University told Al Jazeera. The process of creating the laws that will offer reparations to victims is also reparative.

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Ter Laag called attempts to push for a new amnesty very dangerous.

Impunity needs to end in this country, she said.

Natalie Southwick, Central and South American coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, told Al Jazeera the killing of the four Dutch journalists remains one of the gravest examples of impunity in cases of murdered journalists in the region.

Even so long after the fact, prosecuting the masterminds of this crime would offer a chance for justice and send a powerful message to others who try to use violence to silence journalists that they cannot expect to get away with it, she said.
Critics say monuments of revolutionary hero are a symbol of policies that marginalise the countrys ethnic minorities.

Yangon, Myanmar  Dee De, an ethnic-minority activist living in Myanmars eastern Kayah state, remembers the moment police began firing on a crowd of some 5,000 people who gathered to protest against the installation of a golden statue erected in the states capital.

They fired at us with tear gas and water cannons, he told Al Jazeera. And then the policemen were ordered to fire. [They] started to fire into the air  but then other officers grabbed their guns and told them, Do not fire like that! Fire like this! and started to fire into the crowd.

The statue at the centre of the protest was of General Aung San, the father of current de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the man regarded as a hero of independence, his fading portrait found in homes and tea shops across the country.

But despite Aung Sans iconic status, the governments decision to erect golden statues of him across Myanmar has ignited outrage among ethnic communities. They say the statues are a symbol not of heroism but policies that diminish the rights of the countrys ethnic minorities.

In 2018, the Kayah state government announced a plan to build a statue of General Aung San in the state capital  Loikaw  a move later endorsed by Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD).

In these more open times, the appearance of many Bogyoke [Aung San] statues in many parts of the country makes up for the suppression of the past, NLD spokesman U Win Htein told Yangon-based News Watch Journal in December.

A statue of General Aung San, Myanmars independence hero [Victoria Milko/Al Jazeera]

Dream of federalism

Bogyoke is a Burmese honorific meaning General that is commonly used as a nickname for Aung San, who fought for the end of British rule in erstwhile Burma.

Party leaders thought the statues would appeal to the countrys ethnic minorities who make up at least one-third of the population.

It was, after all, Aung San who signed the 1946 Panglong Agreement, which granted a significant amount of autonomy to the ethnic states in Myanmars borderlands and the promise of a federal system to bring an end to the ethnic conflict.

But the dream was short-lived. In 1947, Aung San was assassinated.

The years that followed saw increasingly centralised rule under the military  dominated by the majority Bamar. All ethnic minorities cultural practices  including language, celebrations, and literature  were banned.

In 2015, when the NLD won the countrys first democratic elections after decades of military rule, many ethnic minorities felt the change Aung San had promised would finally happen.

But they soon realised that would not be the case.





Violence between the military and armed ethnic organisations has flared across the country, displacing hundreds of thousands across predominantly ethnic-minority states such as Shan, Kachin, Kayin and Rakhine.

In August 2017, Burmese security forces drove more than 720,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh during a brutal crackdown in response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). The United Nations investigators later concluded the armys actions showed genocidal intent.

Burmanisation

But the Myanmar government has refused to criticise the military.

We didnt expect the NLD government to become like this. We supported them to work more with ethnic rights and groups and federalism, said Dee De, who lives in Loikaw. But when you look carefully, you see that all laws and institutions of the central government are dominated by the Burmans, and every department controlled by centre, meaning the Burmese. This in itself is Burmanisation.

When the government began to erect Aung San statues without consulting local people, many non-Burmese suspected it was more Burmanisation, especially in Kayah state, which has a distinct history.

Karenni people highly respect General Aung San but they have been persecuted by the military juntas and Burman politicians, said Nickey Diamond, a Myanmar specialist with human rights organisation Fortify Rights.

Since independent Burma, Burman politicians and the military leaders failed to keep Aung Sans promises of federalism. As a result, minority ethnic people interpreted the erection of the statue as part of Burmanisation.

With each month, demonstrations grew.

Last July, police broke up the protests with violence, charging people for distributing leaflets and breaching the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Processions Law, which critics say is used to stifle freedom of expression across the country.

Then on Union Day last month  the day that marks the signing of the Panglong Agreement in 1947  protesters staged their largest-ever demonstration against the statues.

Youth activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi said it shouldnt have been necessary.

The government should have met the activists from the very beginning, she said. But they didnt. Thats why thousands had to show up for these protests.

Violence during the protest quickly escalated. Human Rights Watch said there was excessive use of force, including that of water cannon, tear gas, and rubber-coated bullets. More than 20 people were wounded, while 55 were arrested for violating the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Processions Law.

Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, condemned the police violence.

The Myanmar national flag flies in front of a statue of General Aung San during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of his 1947 assassination [Aung Shine Oo/AP]

Minorities sidelined

This is yet another example of the government sidelining the rights of ethnic minorities and failing to truly do what is necessary to unite the country and bring about peace and democracy, Lee said in a statement.

Kayah government officials could not be reached for comment.

Ethnic minorities in Kayah are not the only group to consider themselves victims of modern Burmanisation.

In 2017, a bridge in ethnic Mon state was named after Aung San, despite objections from locals who had requested it be named Yamanya  which means Mon state in their language  or Thanlwin after the river beneath it.

An Aung San statue erected in Myanmars northern Kachin, where civil war has raged between the Kachin Independence Army and the military for almost 70 years, was attacked with green paint.

The military has also blocked actions by the Karen National Union  a semi-autonomous legislative body operating within ethnic Kayin state  from erecting a statue honouring the groups founder, Saw Ba U Gyi, who died in 1950.

For Dee De, the disputes show the fight for the rights of ethnic minorities that started with Aung San is far from over.

Right now we want to have what was promised by Aung San, which are federalism and autonomy, he said. Permission [from the community] first, statues later.
Minister says probe shows ex president pilfered millions from state to satisfy pretentious and delusional lifestyle.

The Gambias former president Yahya Jammeh stole at least $362m from the state during his 22-year rule, the West African countrys justice minister has said following a nearly two-year investigation.

Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup, fled The Gambia in 2017 for exile in Equatorial Guinea as an African regional force closed in on the capital Banjul to enforce his election loss to President Adama Barrow.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou provided a summary of a report compiled by a commission of inquiry. The report, which has not yet been made public, was based on interviews with 253 witnesses.

This is a staggering amount of money that could have had significant impact on the lives of the ordinary people of this country, said Tambadou.

Instead, it was money used to satisfy the pretentious and delusional lifestyle of an egotistic megalomaniac, acts that were both unconscionable and criminal.

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Jammeh has not commented on the accusations from his base in Equatorial Guinea, but his supporters in The Gambia have dismissed investigations of him as a witch-hunt.

The probe established that Jammeh claimed titles on 281 landed properties in the country, as well as assets abroad, including a residence in the United States, according to Tambadou. It also found the former leaders assets in his home village of Kanilai alone were worth $28.2m.

The Gambias new authorities believe Jammeh took many of his cars and valuable items with him, after a period of rule characterised by extrajudicial killings, torture and forced disappearances, as well as the pilfering of state assets.

They previously said that money was stolen by creating fake accounts at the central bank and skimming money from the national telecommunications agency and other state institutions.

Tambadou said the government was working to recover the stolen money.

Barrow, the new president, has promised to stand firm in implementing the reports recommendations without fear or favour.

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So far, the government has sold off some of the possessions Jammeh left behind, including planes and Rolls-Royces with his name embroidered into the headrests.

A report earlier this week by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a non-profit investigative reporting outlet, said that Jammeh and his associates looted or misappropriated at least $975m.

The project said that bank statements, contracts, government correspondence and internal reports show a web of fraud that far exceeds the figure offered by Gambian authorities.

The money that was not funnelled to presidential controlled bank accounts went to businesses that received lucrative contracts from the former leader, the investigative group said.

He got away with it because The Gambia is small, with a population of some two million people, and remained relatively obscure, the group said.

The Gambia, meanwhile, faces a debt burden that reached 130 percent of gross domestic product last year, leading the IMF to warn the country against any new borrowing.
The Westminster Magistrates Court has rejected the bail plea by fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi. After a four-hour long hearing on Friday, Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot refused to release Modi on bail. This is the second time Modi's bail plea has been turned down since his arrest last week.

The hearing will resume on April 26. In the meantime, Modi will return to HMP Wandsworth Prison. He will appear in front of the court through video conferencing on the next date.

Toby Cadman of Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), representing the Indian authorities in the case, argued to keep Modi behind bars on the grounds that he was likely to flee if set free. He also told the court that Modi has not cooperated with the police in any way.

In his final submission to the Westminster Magistrates court, Cadman reportedly said that there is a risk that Modi will interfere with witnesses and destroy evidence. The prosecutor told the court that Modi made death threats to witness Ashish Lad and tried to bribe Rs 20 lakh to another in order to evade arrest, reports suggest.

ALSO READ:Nirav Modi hearing in London: Prosecution says he may flee UK, destroy evidence if granted bail

The CPS also submitted a list of witnesses and their statements to the court. The prosecution also told the court that Modi has travelled to several countries in the past despite his passport being cancelled by the Indian authorities. The CPS said that the fugitive businessman has shown interest in getting citizenship in Pacific which has no extradition treaty with India.

On the other hand, Nirav Modi was represented by Claire Montgomery, Vijay Mallya's lawyer during his extradition proceedings at the Westminster Magistrates Court. On the first hearing, Modi's legal team had offered to pay 500,000 pounds as security and accept any stringent conditions to secure his release. As expected, this offer was further elevated today.

ALSO READ:Nirav Modi arrested: What's the legal process ahead for extradition?

On the second hearing, Modi's counsel accepted electronic tag monitoring and house arrest as conditions to get her client out of prison on bail. The suggestions included round-the-clock electronic tag monitoring, regular reporting to the police station, and a special phone that could be accessed by the authorities. The defence reiterated that Modi has been living in London for long without trying to hide, and will not flee if released.

Earlier today, Indian agencies submitted fresh evidence against Modi to the CPS before the hearing. This was to build a stronger case against him and keep him from getting bail. A joint team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers was also present at Nirav Modi's hearing, who reportedly welcomed the court's decision today enthusiastically.
As Palestinians mark the anniversary of the Great March of Return, MSF warns that the injured dont have adequate care.

Gaza  At a medical clinic in Gaza, with a pair of crutches beside him, 22-year-old Imad Hassan Khalifa recalled the reasons he started taking part in the weekly Great March of Return protests along the Israeli fence last year.

I participated in all of the demonstrations, he said. Life, economic conditions and a state of frustration have driven me, along with many youths, to go regardless of the outcomes. I was shot in my legs with explosive bullets.

Khalifa said that after he was wounded at a protest in October, he travelled to Egypt for treatment but was told by a doctor there that it would be a lengthy process.

Now, he visits a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Gaza for physiotherapy and to have the dressings on his wounds changed.

The clinic has become a forum for us, wounded people. We always console each other as we share the suffering and wounds. We always sit laughing and exchanging jokes mocking our fates, while waiting for our turn to receive treatment.

As Palestinians mark a year of weekly demonstrations on Saturday, dubbed the Great March of Return, medical groups operating in the coastal enclave have expressed concern over the thousands of people who have been wounded.

The protests began as a grassroots campaign, calling for the rights of refugees and their descendants to return to the homes and lands from which they were violently expelled in 1948.

MSF said Gaza had been completely abandoned over the past 12 months of rallies and that the more than 6,500 people shot by Israeli forces during the protests have been largely left to their fate.

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According to the medical charity, the vast majority of those injured had suffered leg wounds.

These are not simple wounds that can be easily stitched up. Huge chunks of legs have been blown out and the bones within shattered, the group said.

At the moment, Gaza does not have the capacity to treat all of its patients.

We have a situation where the health system is overwhelmed, although MSF is doing all it can, we also wont be able to treat all those patients, MSF field coordinator Carla Melki said.

Before the anniversary of the Great March of Return protests, MSF said its teams were gearing up for a state of emergency.

Were increasing our bed capacity, Melki said. We are preparing for the worst scenario, as everybody thinks [like this] in Gaza.

According to health officials in Gaza, more than 250 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the protests.

Human rights groups have accused Israel of excessive and unlawful use of force against unarmed protesters.

About 80 percent of the Gaza population is dependent on humanitarian assistance, while the strip experiences regular power outages and high unemployment. It has been dubbed as the worlds largest open-air prison, with Palestinians needing Israeli army permits to enter and exit the enclave.
The Great March of Return protests began on March 30 last year after a call to action against the Israeli siege.

The UN has appealed for calm before the one-year anniversary of Palestinian protests along the border fence with Israel.

The anniversary comes after a week of Israeli air raids in response to a rocket fired from Gaza that injured seven near Tel Aviv.

Gazas Ministry of Health has said that Israeli snipers have shot over 6,500 protesters, killing more than 250  including children, journalists and medical workers.

Al Jazeeras Harry Fawcett reports from Gaza City.
The move puts Germany under mounting pressure from the UK and France to lift the ban imposed after Khashoggis murder.

Germany has extended a ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia for another six months, a government spokesman said.

The ban, imposed after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has been criticised by European allies since it put a question mark over billions of euros of military orders, including a 10 billion pound ($13.27bn) deal to sell 48 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Riyadh that would be led by Britains BAE Systems.

The ban will be extended for a further six months to September 30, read an e-mailed statement by government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Thursday. Over this period no new export applications will be approved.

In October, Germany imposed a unilateral halt on weapons export to Saudi Arabia after the Washington Post columnist critical of Riyadh was killed by a Saudi hit team in the kingdoms consulate in Istanbul.

Mounting pressure

The German coalition government in Berlin has been under mounting pressure from Britain and France to lift the ban. They say it prevents them from selling jointly developed equipment with German components to Saudi Arabia.

Frances Ambassador to Germany, Anne-Marie Descotes, said this week that Germanys arms export policy and cumbersome licensing rules threatened future bilateral defence projects.

In an attempt to assuage French and British partners concerns, the government agreed on Thursday to extend for nine months export licences that had already been granted, provided the companies undertook not to deliver any finished weapon systems until the end of the year.

This provision frees companies of the obligation to enter the costly and time-consuming process of applying for a new licence.

The government also said it would find ways of helping the privately-owned Peene shipyard in Germany, which has been prevented by the export ban from completing and delivering coastguard ships it has built for Saudi Arabia. Among the options was for Germany to buy the vessels.

Typhoon sale on hold

The issue of the embargo has divided Germanys ruling coalition, with Heiko Maass Social Democrats  junior partners to Chancellor Angela Merkels conservatives  reluctant to alienate voters who are generally sceptical about arms sales and military spending.

Polls show that around two-thirds of German citizens reject weapons exports.

Germany accounts for just under two percent of the total Saudi arms imports. But its role in making components for other countries exports means that Berlin can still derail lucrative European projects.

The move has held up shipments of Meteor air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia by MBDA, which is jointly owned by Airbus, BAE Systems and Italys Leonardo, since the missiles propulsion system and warheads are built in Germany.

War on Yemen

Germany also called on France and Britain to ensure that any weapons systems delivered to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates would not be deployed in Yemen, which has has been devastated by four years of bombings by Saudi-UAE coalition.

Germany had extended earlier this year the embargo, which was due to expire on March 9, to give the government time to evaluate Saudi Arabias military involvement in Yemens war.

There are no concrete casualty statistics for the war in Yemen. In 2017, a United Nations official said 10,000 civilians had been killed, though rights groups say the death toll could be five times that, due to fighting, starvation and disease. Millions are on the brink of starvation.

A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemens war in March 2015 to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadis internationally recognised government, overthrown by the rebel Houthi group the previous year.

Rights groups have criticised the coalition for air raids that have killed thousands of civilians at hospitals, schools and markets, and urged Western governments to halt arms exports to Saudi Arabia and its allies in the stalemated conflict.
The fair showcases 242 galleries from 35 countries under one roof.

Its a moment art lovers have been waiting for  the worlds largest contemporary art fair opens in Hong Kong.

Organisers said that the global art landscape is changing, with Chinnese paintings emerging as new favourites for investors.

A growning number of Chinese artists are driving a more mature market and attracting greater investment from the West.

Al Jazeeras Sarah Clarke has gone there to find out why a new wave of Chinese artists are shifting the buying power to Asia.
Protesters reject army bid to remove president on health reasons, call it attempt by old guard to maintain status quo.

Hundreds of thousands of Algerians have marched through the streets of the capital and other major cities for a sixth straight Friday to demand the immediate departure of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the ruling elite.

The latest rallies came days after Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah, the powerful army chief, called for the application of a provision in the Algerian constitution that could remove the president on account of his failing health.

Under Article 102, the Constitutional Council could decide that a sitting head of state is no longer capable of fully exercising their functions and ask Parliament that they be declared unfit to rule.





But opposition figures and protesters rejected Salahs move, saying it came too late and describing it as another attempt by the ruling class to maintain the status quo.

I march today against the enforcement of Article 102, Massinissa, a 36-year-old filmmaker protesting in Algiers on Friday, told Al Jazeera.

Yes, I want to see Bouteflika out but I also want the old guard that has ruled Algeria since 1962 to leave, Massinissa added, referring to the year the North African country declared independence.

Changing the system

Aged 82, Bouteflika has made just a handful of public appearances since suffering a debilitating stroke in 2013, which has confined him to a wheelchair and damaged his ability to speak.

Despite his ailing health, Bouteflika continued enjoying the support of Algerias powerbrokers, including the military, and went ahead to win presidential elections in 2014.

His supporters credit him for his role in Algerias independence struggle against colonial France, as well as ending a destructive civil war that claimed the lives of an estimated 200,000 Algerians throughout the 1990s.

His critics, however, argue he has overstayed his welcome.

We have been dealing with a presidential vacuum for nearly seven years, said Karim Mesbah, a 48-year-old shopkeeper. It is too late to enforce Article 102 of the Constitution.





Authorities have struggled to deal with the current wave of protests, the biggest in Algeria for decades.

Amid mounting public anger, Bouteflika first gave in to protesters demands while in Switzerland on medical leave on March 2, saying he would step down within a year if reelected in the April polls.

His move, however, failed to appease demonstrators who continued taking to the streets.

On March 11, Bouteflika said he would not seek reelection but also cancelled the much-awaited polls, vowing to hand over power to a successor chosen by the people after a new constitution is approved and a national conference is held.

In response, opposition parties and protesters accused Bouteflika of attempting to illegally extend his fourth term in office, set to expire on April 28.

A transition can take six months, a year or two. Regardless of how long it lasts, I will be here, in the streets, fighting for peoples rights, Lynda, a retiree in Algiers said, adding that protesters would continue taking to the streets until real change took place.

We want to put an end to this military regime and a civilian government that enshrines human rights in the constitution.

Djamila Ould Khettab contributed to this report from Algiers
Google employees rebelled last year, signing a petition saying Google should not be in the business of war.

A global ban on so-called killer robots  lethal autonomous weapons that can hunt and kill without a human involvement  has drawn the attention of tech giants and their role in developing military artificial intelligence that might cross an ethical line.

Al Jazeeras Science and Technology Editor Mereana Hond reports.
Some analysts say Donald Trumps divergent messages on Twitter are keeping diplomacy with North Korea alive.

Seoul, South Korea  Flip-flopping and showing indecisiveness by leadership in both the United States and North Korea have revealed a growing uncertainty over how each side should move forward in the wake of their second summit in Vietnam, which collapsed before any agreement could be made.

US President Donald Trump caused widespread confusion last week by tweeting that he had ordered the Treasury Department to cancel a new set of large-scale sanctions that were announced the day before.

Washington officials, in an attempt to explain the splintered messaging, offered up the story that Trump was referring to an undisclosed package of sanctions not yet revealed. But after the dust settled in Washington, it was reported Trumps tweet was actually about two Chinese shipping companies that were being targeted by the Treasury Department for helping North Korea evade sanctions.

Trumps message overruled his own officials, underlining the administrations fragmented approach to dealing with North Korea and its growing nuclear arsenal.

It also demonstrated that Trump knows the importance of sanctions in getting North Korea to the negotiating table.





The president clearly has something in mind about how he wants to move forward, but the administration as a whole doesnt look like its working in unison, said James Kim of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

In Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, the leaderships approach appears equally out of sorts.

In a sign of rising tensions last Friday, North Korea suddenly withdrew its officials from a joint liaison office operated in tandem with South Korea along their shared border  one of few tangible signs of progress from South Korean President Moon Jae-ins outreach to North Korea last year.

The sudden withdrawal stoked fears in Seoul and Washington that the regime would return to reclusiveness after it failed to win any sanctions relief from the summit in Hanoi.

But those fears were snuffed on Monday when North Korean officials returned to the liaison office for work, offering no explanation for the sudden about-face.

Twitter diplomacy

Some believe Trumps divergent messages on Twitter are what kept diplomacy alive.

The way theyre reading the tea leaves about what went on in Pyongyang, said Kim, was that the presidents tweet  pushed Pyongyang to respond in a positive way.

While frustrating to his aides, Trump has shown a knack for keeping Pyongyang engaged even while dealing them disappointment  a talent his predecessors lacked as they tied to threaten, cajole, and pry North Korea away from its nuclear programme.

The uncoordinated approach from both leaders could be part of a reset while both sides re-examined their approach, according to Lonnie Edge, assistant professor at Seouls Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

Pyongyang may be dealing with disappointment after the summit ended without a deal.

Trump spent months claiming all he cared about was North Koreas moratorium on missile testing, but the summit fell apart when hard-line demands were presented to North Korea. The two sides failed to reach a middle ground in trading sanctions for denuclearisation.

This likely was not what North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expected as he travelled 65 hours by train to meet Trump in the Vietnamese capital. North Korea has turned to blame not Trump, but the figures around him for the failure, singling out NSA John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as roadblocks to peace, accusing them of excessive demands and creating an atmosphere of hostility and mistrust.

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Hard to give up

The summits collapse laid bare a yawning gap in expectations between the sides, making it unlikely the two leaders will be meeting for another summit anytime soon.

But even as Trump admitted the need for lower-level negotiations to close the gap, he may be unable to stay out of the North Korea issue entirely.

This is the one foreign policy arena where he has been given any credit, or made any real progress, said Edge. I think it will be hard for him to give up.

Trumps tweeting away sanctions last week may have shown North Korea he remains the unconventional US president they have been betting on to help them ditch sanctions while keeping a large chunk of their nuclear programme intact.

The North Korean leader has stayed quiet since the summit, a sign he may be unsure how to proceed. Kim has billed himself as the leader that would bring wealth into his impoverished country, but his efforts remain choked by sanctions.

I dont think hes quite made up his mind yet on what hes going to do, said James Kim.

But he isnt without options. Satellite imagery examined earlier this month showed activities at Sohae Satellite Launching Station that looked very much like preparations for the delivery of a rocket, according to analysts at Beyond Parallel, a think-tank focusing on North Korea.

Earlier this month, Pyongyang threatened to cut off talks with the US completely when Choe Son-hui, North Koreas deputy foreign minister, said Pyongyang would reconsider its self-imposed moratorium on missile testing unless Washington made concessions.

Kim from Asan said another test at this point is unlikely, especially with Stephen Biegun, the US envoy to Pyongyang, in Beijing this week seeking support from China with regards to North Korea.

Trump may be tempted to meddle in diplomacy as he did last week, and Kim may encourage that instinct. But with slim chances of another summit taking place any time soon, their less erratic aides and counterparts in the region may play a greater role in determining what happens next.

[China] clearly doesnt want an arms build-up in the region either, he said. They would like to see a peaceful resolution with some kind of a drawdown from both sides.
The peacekeeping mission in Mali is already the deadliest in UN history and the violence is getting worse and spreading into Burkina Faso and Niger.

The UN Security Council is meeting to discuss the deteriorating situation in Mali.

What began as a localised conflict in Mali has expanded into cross-border ethnic cleansing and the violence has continued to intensify.

As fighting intensifies, some countries are pulling their soldiers out of the peacekeeping force. At the same time, the UN is asking for more troops and resources.

Al Jazeeras Nicolas Haque reports from Gao, northern Mali.
Seven-year-old Jakelin Caal died in December while in US Border Patrol custody in case that drew worldwide condemnation.

An autopsy has found that a seven-year-old indigenous girl from Guatemala died of bacterial infection while detained by the US Border Patrol in a case that drew worldwide attention to the plight of migrant families detained at the southern US border.

The El Paso County Medical Examiners office released a report on Friday of its findings in the death of Jakelin Caal Maquin. Jakelin died on December 8, just over a day after she was apprehended by Border Patrol agents with her father.

The report says traces of streptococcus bacteria were found in Jakelins lungs, adrenal gland, liver, and spleen.

The autopsy says she faced a rapidly progressive infection that led to the failure of multiple organs.

The medical examiner did not determine which form of streptococcus bacteria Jakelin contracted.

Jakelin was one of two children to die in Border Patrol custody in December, raising questions about the agencys medical practices as it faces a surge in migrant families crossing the southern border.

US Customs and Border Protection said shortly after Jakelins death that she was apprehended with her father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz, in a group of 163 migrants at about 9:15pm on December 6 in New Mexico. The father signed an English-language form stating Jakelin was in good health, but it remains unclear whether he understood what the form said.

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Jakelin and her father boarded a bus at about 4:30am on December 7 from the Antelope Wells port of entry for the Lordsburg station. According to a CBP statement, Jakelins father reported just before the bus left at 5:00am that she was vomiting.

The bus arrived in Lordsburg about 90 minutes later, CBP said. By then, Jakelins temperature had reached 105.7 degrees Fahrenheit (40.9 degrees Celsius). An emergency medical technician had to revive her.

She was flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died the next day.

Ill-suited facilities

CBP says large groups of migrants are increasingly heading to remote areas of the border such as rural New Mexico, where it has very limited facilities or staff to apprehend and care for them. The Border Patrol recently started releasing families immediately instead of referring them to processing, a step the agency said was necessary to relieve overcrowding in its facilities.

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CBP declined on Friday to comment on the autopsy report. Commissioner Kevin McAleenan previously said in a statement that the agents who were involved are deeply affected and empathise with the father over the loss of his daughter.

We cannot stress enough the dangers posed by travelling long distances, in crowded transportation, or in the natural elements through remote desert areas without food, water and other supplies, McAleenan said.

Advocates have criticised CBP for its treatment of migrant families and for portraying their growing numbers as a crisis. They have long warned that immigration facilities are ill-suited to detain families. After Jakelins death, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants urged the US not to detain migrants and called for a thorough investigation of her death.

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RAICES, a group that provides legal services to detained immigrants, tweeted on Friday: We will keep fighting for you and the innocent children and their families seeking refuge in this country.

Tekandi Paniagua, the Guatemalan consul based in Del Rio, Texas, said his office had spoken to Nery Caal on Friday and that he would continue providing the necessary accompaniment and support to the Caal family.
Authorities on Easter Island have long been calling for the return of artefacts from Norway and the UK.

Norway has agreed to hand back thousands of artefacts removed from Easter Island by the explorer Thor Heyerdahl during his trans-Pacific raft expeditions in the 1950s.

An agreement was signed by representatives of the Kon-Tiki Museum and officials of Chiles culture ministry at a ceremony in the Chilean capital, Santiago, on Thursday as part of a state visit by Norways King Harald V and Queen Sonja.

The objects include carved artefacts and human bones from the Rapa Nui, the first inhabitants of the remote Pacific island, which today is part of Chile.

Consuelo Valdes, Chilean culture minister said the deal was part of a comprehensive agenda that included ensuring the safeguarding of the artefacts upon their return.

We have the mission to respond to the just demand of the Rapa Nui people to recover their cultural heritage, Valdes said in a statement.

Today, one more step has been taken through this historic agreement with Norway, which will enable the return of the valuable cultural and symbolic pieces.

 Ministra @Consuelovaldesc y Thor Heyerdahl Jr., hijo del explorador que recorrio la Isla, firman Memorandum de Acuerdo para la restitucion de piezas arqueologicas al Museo Antropologico Rapa Nui (Mapse) #DeNoruegaARapaNui pic.twitter.com/cuMOkmc7DD  Ministerio de las Culturas (@culturas_cl) March 28, 2019

TRANSLATION: Minister @Consuelovaldesc and Thor Heyerdahl Jr., son of the explorer that traversed the island, signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the return of archaeological pieces to the Rapa Nui Anthropological Museum (Mapse) #FromNorwaytoRapaNui

The name Rapa Nui refers to the indigenous people of Easter Island, their language and the island itself.

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While warning that the repatriation process would take some time, Martin Biehl, director of the Kon-Tiki museum said it was in the common interest to return the items and ensure they are delivered to a well-equipped museum.

According to Chiles culture ministry, the items will be rehoused in the Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum on Easter Island.

Fulfilment of a promise

Heyerdahls family said he had long wanted to return the pieces he collected on expedition in the mid-1950s and mid-1980s, which are currently on display at the Kon-Tiki museum in Norways capital, Oslo.

The signing ceremony at Chiles National Library was attended by Thor Heyerdahl Jr, who accompanied his father on one of his expeditions to Easter Island in 1955, when he was 17 years old.

The repatriation is a fulfilment of my fathers promise to the Rapa Nui authorities, that the objects would be returned after they had been analysed and published, he said.

Hoa Hakananaia, whose name means lost or stolen friend was taken from Easter Island in 1868 [File: Peter Nicholls/Reuters]

Heyerdahl, an anthropologist, became famous in 1947 when he and a crew of five crossed much of the Pacific Ocean on a balsawood raft, the Kon-Tiki.

He was seeking to prove his theory that the Polynesian islands could have been settled by prehistoric South American people and not by settlers from Asia as most scholars believed. He died in 2002.

The study of remains  using DNA  could demonstrate a prehistoric contact between Rapa Nui and South America, which was the main thesis of my father, Thor Heyerdahl Jr said.

Authorities on Easter Island have long been calling for the return of artefacts from Norway and the UK.

They are also demanding that the British government return Hoa Hakananaia, a monolithic stone statue known as a moai, from the British Museum in London.

The moai was taken from the island in 1868 by the captain of a British frigate and presented to Queen Victoria.
India expects space debris from its anti-satellite weapons launch to burn out in less than 45 days, its top defense scientist said on Thursday, seeking to allay global concern about fragments hitting objects.

The comments came a day after India said it used an indigenously developed ballistic missile interceptor to destroy one of its own satellites at a height of 300 km (186 miles), in a test aimed at boosting its defenses in space.

Critics say such technology, known to be possessed only by the United States, Russia and China, raises the prospect of an arms race in outer space, besides posing a hazard by creating a cloud of fragments that could persist for years.

Also read: US cautions nations on ASAT tests; warns of space debris

G. Satheesh Reddy, the chief of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation, said a low-altitude military satellite was picked for the test, to reduce the risk of debris left in space.

"That's why we did it at lower altitude, it will vanish in no time," he told Reuters in an interview. "The debris is moving right now. How much debris, we are trying to work out, but our calculations are it should be dying down within 45 days."

Few satellites operate at the altitude of 300 km, from which experts say the collision debris will fall back to earth, burning up in the atmosphere in a matter of weeks, instead of posing a threat to other satellites.

In 2007, China destroyed a satellite in a polar orbit, creating the largest orbital debris cloud in history, with more than 3,000 objects, according to the Secure World Foundation.

Because the impact altitude exceeded 800 km (500 miles), many of the resulting scraps stayed in orbit. "Some of it could still be there," Reddy said, adding that India had been much more careful in conducting its test.

In Florida, on a visit to the U.S. military's Southern Command, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan warned any nations contemplating similar anti-satellite weapons tests that they risked making a "mess" in space from debris.

The U.S. military's Strategic Command was tracking more than 250 pieces of debris from India's missile test and would issue "close-approach notifications as required until the debris enters the Earth's atmosphere," Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said.

Reddy identified the military satellite shot down as Microsat R, weighing about 750 kg (1,653 lb) and launched on Jan. 24. by the Indian Space Research Organisation for the purpose of the test.

A week after launch, it was moved into a different orbit in preparation for the test.

"The technology has been completely proven, we hit it with centimeters of accuracy, probably less than 10 cm," Reddy said.

India's test of the anti-satellite weapon from an island off its eastern coast broke a lull since the United States used a ship-launched SM-3 missile to destroy a defunct spy satellite in Operation Burnt Frost in 2008.

The Union of Concerned Scientists said nearly 2,000 orbiting satellites provide key benefits to people around the world, and India's launch showed more countries were seeking the capabilities that put satellites at risk.

"Destroying satellites...can have ripple effects, producing dangerous clouds of debris that could stay in orbit for decades or centuries, disabling or destroying any satellites they collide with," one of its scientists, Laura Grego, said in a statement.

Also read: Mission Shakti: Why the ASAT missile test is important for India

Also read: Mission ASAT: Why India needs a satellite killer
Philippine journalist Maria Ressa has been arrested for the second time in what press freedom advocates say is retaliation for her news sites criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Ressa and her website Rappler have been hit with a string of criminal charges that have sent shockwaves through the Philippine media scene, prompting allegations they are being targeted for their work.

The veteran reporter, named a Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2018, was taken into custody by authorities in Manila on Friday, said Rappler cofounder Beth Frondoso.

They got her at the airport, Frondoso said. We will be filing bail.

Ressa, who holds Philippine and American passports, later received bail.

You cannot harass and intimidate journalists to silence. Well stand up and fight against it, the award-winning journalist told reporters after posting bail of $1,700.

Lawsuits against news platform Rappler have drawn global concern about a free and open media in the democratic Southeast Asian country.

Rappler and its officials are now facing 11 cases, said Ressa, who posted bail for the seventh time.

She was taken into custody on a charge that she allowed her name to be used to circumvent a Philippine law against foreign ownership of media properties, a charge that stems from a 2015 investment in Rappler.





Under the constitution, the media is an economic sector that is reserved for Filipinos or Filipino-controlled entities.

Unprecedented

Philippine authorities arrested Ressa in February on an internet libel charge, which sparked international condemnation and allegations that she was being targeted for Rapplers critical stance on Duterte.

This case against Ressa  is unprecedented and speaks volumes of the Duterte administrations determination to shut the website down for its credible and consistent reporting on the government, said Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch.

Rappler has reported extensively, and unflatteringly, on Dutertes deadly anti-drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives and which rights groups say may be a crime against humanity.

The narcotics crackdown is Dutertes signature initiative and he fiercely defends it against criticism.

High-profile critics have wound up in jail or been pushed out of their jobs in government, including the nations first female chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Acts of harassment



Ressa insists the site is not anti-Duterte, saying it is just doing its job to hold the government to account.

This latest case comes after she as well as current and former associates of Rappler have been bitten by government prosecutors with tax and securities fraud charges.





The countrys corporate regulator revoked Rapplers business licence last year over the bond sale, but the site continued operating as it appealed the case in the courts.

Last month, Ressa spent a night in detention but eventually posted bail for allegedly libelling a businessman in a news article written in 2012.

Ressas legal team said this latest case would not stop Rappler from doing its work.

Let it be clear that these acts of harassment will not deter our clients from doing their duty as journalists, legal counsel Francis Lim said in a statement. We believe in the rule of law.
New rules require immediate reporting of abuse allegations, part of Churchs efforts to address wave of scandals.

Pope Francis has enacted sweeping new laws to prevent child sexual abuse within the Vatican and other Holy See institutions in Rome, as well as by its diplomatic corps around the world.

The introduction of the legislation on Friday comes amid efforts by the Roman Catholic Church to tackle a series of recent scandals in Europe, North America, Latin America and Australia involving widespread claims of abuse  and cover-ups  by clergymen and lay members.

The new rules require officials and employees in the Vatican City State as well the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, to immediately report any abuse against minors and vulnerable people or face fines or a prison sentence.

Anyone convicted of abuse must be removed from office under the legislation, which sets a statute of limitations for such crimes at 20 years from the date victims turn 18.

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Francis said in a letter released with his motu proprio decree that it was the duty of everyone to generously welcome children and vulnerable persons, and to create a safe environment for them.

Previous church guidelines on handling sexual abuse cases did not cover officials and employees in Vatican City or the Curia.

The new legislation also mandates increased training for the affected staff on how to prevent abuse. A new service will also be set up to provide victims and their families with medical, psychological and social support.





While there are only several dozen minors who live inside the Vatican, the articles specifically mention a pre-seminary on the Vatican grounds where a boy alleged in 2017 that he had been abused by another minor and blamed inadequate supervision.

The law also applies to Vatican diplomatic missions, which have been involved in scandals in the past. In 2013, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the Vaticans ambassador to the Dominican Republic, was charged with paying boys for sex. He was recalled and jailed in the Vatican but died in 2015 before his trial.

Summit to end abuse

The string of scandals have reached the upper echelons of the Vatican itself with the conviction of Cardinal George Pell, jailed this month for six years for abusing boys in his native Australia.

He had served as the Vatican treasurer and a member of the popes innermost council of cardinals until his conviction last year.

Other senior Church officials have been accused of knowingly covering up abuse, including the archbishop of Lyon who was convicted this year in France for failing to report abuse.

Senior bishops from around the world held a crisis summit last month to chart a strategy for ending abuse.

Addressing the summit, Francis said the Church would stop covering up the crimes of paedophile priests as was usual in the past.

Victims said the conference was merely a restatement of old promises.
President Bouteflikas decision not to seek another term has failed to calm protesters who want overthrow of old system.

Thousands of protesters gathered in central Algiers on Friday, piling pressure on President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika to resign days after the countrys powerful military called for his removal.

The army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, had on Tuesday asked the constitutional council to rule whether the ailing 82-year-old president is fit for office.

Bouteflika, facing the biggest crisis of his 20-year-old rule, has failed to placate Algerians by reversing a decision to seek a fifth term.

Streets pressure will continue until the system goes, said student Mohamed Djemai, 25.

Protesters, who have been staging demonstrations since February 22, say they want to overthrow an entire political system and replace it with a new generation of leaders capable of modernising the oil-dependent state and giving hope to a population impatient for a better life.

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Under Article 102, the Constitutional Council could determine the president is too ill to fully exercise his functions, and ask parliament to declare him unfit. Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.

If a two-thirds majority of parliaments lower and upper houses ratifies the councils decision, the chairman of the upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days.

The army chief is among the top power brokers in Algeria and his announcement could pave the way for Bouteflikas removal.

The move came days after Hocine Khaldoun, spokesman for the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN), said he will ask the party to withdraw its support for Bouteflikas proposal to hold a national conference aimed at getting the country out of its current political deadlock.

Protesters maintain pressure

On Tuesday, thousands of people returned to the streets of Algiers calling on Bouteflika to resign, keeping up popular pressure.

Following Salahs announcement, some demonstrators expressed scepticism about the army chiefs plan.

Assyl Moulessehoul, a 24-year-old language student in Tlemcen, said on Tuesday it appeared to be a soft military coup.

The army should not interfere in politics and should stay away from the ongoing political crisis. What we want is the regime to move from a military to a civilian rule, he had told Al Jazeera.








Critics of the bill say it will relegate Muslim women wearing the hijab to second-class citizens.

The Canadian province of Quebec has introduced legislation that will ban public sector employees from wearing religious symbols during work hours, a controversial move that critics say targets Muslim women who wear hijabs or other head coverings.

It will also apply to crucifixes and yarmulkes.

The proposed law, introduced on Thursday, sets the provinces right-leaning Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government on a collision course with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who promotes religious freedom, in a federal election year with Quebec a vital battleground.

It is unthinkable to me that in a free society we would legitimise discrimination against citizens based on their religion, Trudeau told reporters in Halifax on Thursday.

The legislation, which is expected to pass, will cover public workers in positions of authority, including teachers, judges and police officers. It exempts current government employees and civil servants in the mainly French-speaking province.

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The bill asserts that secularity should be affirmed in a manner that ensures a balance between the collective rights of the Quebec nation and human rights and freedoms.

Governments in Quebec have been trying for years to restrict civil servants from wearing overt religious symbols like headscarves, turbans and Jewish skullcaps at work in an effort to cement a secular society.

A ban on full-face coverings on anyone giving or receiving public services in Quebec passed in 2017, but was suspended by a Canadian judge last June and remains in legal limbo.

Condemnation over bill

The CAQ was elected late last year in part on pledges to restrict immigration and impose a secular charter. Quebec Premier Francois Legault told reporters on Thursday the bill represents our values and its important.

But condemnation was quick, with Jewish advocacy group Bnai Brith calling the bill an assault on the fundamental rights and freedoms of Quebecers, while the National Council of Canadian Muslims said it will make Muslims and other minorities second-class citizens and overwhelmingly affect Muslim women.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante voiced serious concern about the message that this bill sends to minorities about their fundamental rights.

The important thing, she said, was that the process of making laws was secular, not that people divested themselves of religious attire and symbols.

Teachers unions said they would not enforce the law, while pundits and the governments own lawyers, according to reports, anticipate a court challenge for contravening Canadians Charter right to personal religious freedom.

This is the fourth attempt by successive Quebec governments to try to get the bill turned into law.

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Like France, which passed a ban on veils, crosses and other religious symbols in schools in 2004, Quebec has struggled to reconcile its secular identity with a growing Muslim population, many of them North African emigrants.

Eight other European countries enforce restrictions on religious attire.

While the Quebec legislation does not single out any religion by name, Muslim headgear has long been a source of public debate in Quebec.

Quebecs minister for the status of women drew condemnation from opposition politicians earlier this year after she said the hijab (a headscarf worn by many Muslim women who feel it is part of their religion) is a symbol of female oppression.

And a Montreal-area municipal politician faced backlash this weekend after she wrote a Facebook post expressing her anger over being treated by a doctor wearing a hijab, calling the headscarf a symbol of the Islamification of our country.

To shield the new legislation from legal challenges, the Quebec government is invoking a rarely used clause that enables it to override the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom for up to five years.
Official involved in monitoring arms embargo on Libya arrested in Tunisia despite having diplomatic immunity, UN says.

The United Nations says a member of its panel of experts monitoring sanctions against Libya has been arrested in Tunisia despite having diplomatic immunity.

Moncef Kartas, a Tunisian national, was arrested after arriving at Tunis airport on Tuesday, UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters on Friday.

Haq said the world body has asked Tunisian authorities about the reasons for his arrest and the conditions under which he is being held.

Asked if the UN had requested Tunis to release Kartas, Haq replied: We have informed the authorities that his actions are covered by the conventions on privileges and immunities, so yes, we have made that point clear.

He added: Experts on mission for the United Nations, as Mister Kartas is, are covered by the convention on the privileges and immunities of the United Nations.

Arab League summit

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is due to arrive in Tunis to attend an Arab League summit at the weekend, with the conflict in Libya high on the agenda.

The spokesman declined to say whether Guterres would raise Kartass case directly with Tunisian leaders.

Kartas was appointed to the panel of experts in 2016, tasked with investigating violations of the arms embargo on Libya.

The panel reports to the UN sanctions committee on Libya and details its findings in an annual report. An interim report is due in June.

Previous reports by the panel have found that arms and ammunition continued to be delivered to the warring parties in Libya in violation of the UN embargo, with the involvement of member states.
US president poured scorn on Democrats over the still-unreleased Mueller probe report.

US President Donald Trump has held his first campaign-style rally since an investigation found no evidence of collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russia.

Democrats are calling for the entire Mueller report to be released. Trump called them sick and used a common vulgarity to describe congressional investigations.

Al Jazeeras Rob Reynolds reports from the state of Michigan.
Some in Kharkiv see Ukrainian government as illegitimate and will not vote in Sundays presidential elections.

Kharkiv, Ukraine  There has long been a sense of separation in Ukraine, with the east closer to Russia and the west having more affinity with Europe.

In Kharkiv, that split deepened five years ago.

As Kiev celebrated the overthrow of the countrys pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich in 2014, a large portion of people in Kharkiv  just 30km from the Russian border  felt threatened.

Pro-European demonstrations born in 2013 on Kievs Independence Square  known as the Maidan protests  were copied in the countrys second-largest city, but the crowds were never more than about 300 people.

In contrast, a sprawling pro-Russian protest camp occupied the central square in 2014 with Russian flags on display.

Many Kharkiv residents took it [the removal of Yanukovich] as a coup because more than 60 percent of the population [of Kharkiv] traditionally supported his Party of Regions, said Andrii Borodovka, journalist and Kharkiv resident who took part in anti-Maidan protests in the city in 2014.

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When there was a change of government in Kiev, many people [in Kharkiv] saw it as a threat. There were fears that restrictions would be introduced, the Russian language would be banned and fascism would start, he told Al Jazeera.

Pro-Russian sentiments

In 2016, Borodovka, who wrote critical articles about the Maidan protests, was arrested for undermining the territorial unity of Ukraine. He was given a three-year prison sentence, with two years of it suspended.

Journalist Andrii Borodovka saw the change of government in Kiev in 2014 as a threat [Oksana Parafeniuk/Al Jazeera]

The pro-Russian sentiments that led people like Borodovka to take to the streets also helped prompt the annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula by Russia and the seizure of large parts of the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk by Moscow-backed separatists in March 2014.

Ivanna Skyba-Yakubova, a Maidan supporter and cofounder of the Help Army volunteer group that provided material assistance to the Ukrainian soldiers when the war broke out in the east, told Al Jazeera that Moscow had a plan to for Kharkivs secession, as well.



There was a plan to create four Peoples Republics in Donetsk, Luhansk, Odessa and Kharkiv. In two regions, it worked out, and in the other two failed, she said. In some places, the security services played a role to prevent that from happening, in others, civil activists [did] or the context was different.

Colossal level of mistrust

The worst-case scenario was avoided in Kharkiv, but the scar remained, according to Skyba-Yakubova.



She said as she watched Maidan supporters and their detractors clashing in Kharkiv, I had a feeling that my city was being taken away from me. There was a crack in the society. There was a colossal level of mistrust, she said.

Even well-dressed local women were kicking 17-year-old kids, spitting in their faces and verbally abusing them. Even three years later, I would see a woman in the underground train and think maybe you were the one kicking kids.

The differences that led to the split in the society in many parts of Ukraine do not seem to have been addressed.

Many Ukrainians, especially those living closer to the Russian border, feel that the government in Kiev does not understand how the conflict with Moscow hurts its population, for the sake of forging closer ties with the European Union and NATO.

Elena Olenchenko, a pensioner who took part in anti-Maidan protests in 2014, told Al Jazeera: I dont think our government has our interests at heart. If they did care about us, they would have listened to us and there would have been no war in the Donbass.

Donbass is the Ukranian area that includes Donetsk and Luhansk.

Olenchenko considers Ukraines current government illegal which has her considering staying away from the polls in the upcoming presidential election.





Casting my vote would seem like supporting the illegitimate government. I think that it is indeed an illegitimate government, because Yanukovich has not left his office in a proper way.

In contrast, Serhii Maliutin, 21, an internally displaced person who fled Yenakiieve, a city in rebel-held Luhansk region in late 2014, plans to cast his first-ever ballot for the candidate who will pay attention to the needs of the young people.

Work is scarce

The new generation needs support from the new president. Nowadays, a growing number of students go abroad to study and then they never come back, he told Al Jazeera.

Maliutin is a student of international relations at Kharkivs Karazin University, where he said a degree is no guarantee of a job.

Students dont have a motivation to stay in Ukraine. When you graduate from a university, you need to find work which is scarce here. Also, our education is built in a way that it is hard to realise your potential. There is a lack of practical education and an abundance of theory which sometimes lags behind by 10 years.



According to the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, approximately five million Ukrainians, about 25 percent of the countrys economically active population, work abroad.

But the biggest problem on voters minds is the countrys crippling corruption.

President Petro Poroshenko and his post-Maidan government did not do enough to crack down on the system that allowed corruption to flourish.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) was set up without the establishment of an anti-corruption court that would allow it to follow through with its investigations.



Subsequently, the money stolen from the state coffers during Yanukovichs government has not been recuperated. And corrupt officials from his era have not been tried.

No revolution brings healthy changes very fast. We did not expect that in the very first year or so we would live wonderfully, said Skyba-Yakubova.



But there was a huge disappointment with the fact that key things that we were fighting for did not change. All those shady deals between the government and business world, and the criminal business [remain a norm].

Ukraines presidential election is scheduled for March 31 with a record number of candidates vying to become the war-torn countrys sixth president.

According to opinion polls, Poroshenko is trailing in the third spot behind opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and the frontrunner, comedian Volodymyr Zelensky.

Follow Al Jazeeras Tamila Varshalomidze on Twitter @tamila87v
White House adviser John Bolton accuses Nicolas Maduro is using foreign military personnel to stay in power.

The White House on Friday warned Russia and other countries backing President Nicolas Maduro against sending troops and military equipment to Venezuela, saying the United States would view such actions as a direct threat to the regions security.

The warning comes after two Russian air force planes landed outside of Caracas on Saturday, believed to be carrying nearly 100 Russian special forces and cybersecurity personnel.

We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said in a statement.

We will consider such provocative actions as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region, Bolton added.

Boltons statement also condemned Maduros use of foreign military personnel in his attempt to remain in power, including the introduction of Russian military personnel and equipment into Venezuela.

He added, Maduro will only use this military support to further repress the people of Venezuela; perpetuate the economic crisis that has destroyed Venezuelas economy, and; endanger regional stability.

Pre-existing contracts

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Russia said on Thursday it had sent specialists to Venezuela under a military cooperation deal but insisted they posed no threat to regional stability, brushing aside a call by Trump for Moscow to remove all military personnel from the country.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian military specialists were in Venezuela to service pre-existing contracts for the supply of Russian arms.

Peskov said Russia is not interfering in Venezuelas internal affairs and that the Kremlin hopes other countries would let Venezuelans decide their own fate.

Trump has called on Russia to get out of Venezuela.

On Wednesday, Trump said that all options were open to force Russia to pull troops out of Venezuela after two Russian air force planes landed outside Caracas on Saturday carrying nearly 100 Russian troops, according to media reports.

Elliott Abrams, the US special representative for Venezuela, said that those options include sanctions.

We have a list of options we have given US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Abrams told reporters on Friday.

There are a lot of things we can do in economic terms, in terms of sanctions, he added. We have options and it would be a mistake for the Russians to think they have a free hand.

The US recognised Juan Guaido, the leader of the national assembly, as Venezuelas interim president earlier this year after the opposition leader declared himself the countrys leader, calling Maduros presidency illegitimate.

Meanwhile, Russia has emerged as a key backer of Maduros government.
The investigators of the Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia that killed 157 people have reached a preliminary conclusion that an anti-stall system was activated before the plane hit the ground, the Wall Street Journal has reported citing people briefed on the matter.

The WSJ report on Friday said the preliminary findings from the flight recorders were subject to revisions, adding an initial report from the Ethiopian investigators was expected within days.

The plane crashed on March 10 shortly after the take-off from Addis Ababa.

The investigators looking into another deadly 737 MAX crash in Indonesia in October have also focused on the new anti-stall system called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).

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According to a preliminary report from Indonesia crash investigators released in November, the MCAS on the Lion Air flight was repeatedly pushing the planes nose down due to erroneous sensor information.

The two crashes, barely five months apart, have claimed a total of 346 lives.

On Wednesday, Boeing said a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the centre of safety concerns.

Instead of depending on a single sensor signalling the angle of the planes nose, the MCAS will rely on data from both of the planes sensors.

Boeings fastest-selling 737 MAX jet, with orders worth more than $500bn at list prices, has been grounded globally by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), although airlines are still allowed to fly them without passengers to move planes to other airports.

On Wednesday, an American crew declared an emergency performance issue after taking off in a 737 MAX and returned to the Orlando airport in Florida safely. The FAA said it is investigating but the emergency was not related to MCAS.

US lawsuit

On Thursday, a lawsuit against Boeing was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda and United Nations employee who died in the Ethiopian Airlines flight crash.

The lawsuit alleges that Boeing had defectively designed the automated flight control system. Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit.

A preliminary report from the investigators on the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 is expected within days [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]

The amount and quality of training that Boeing and airlines provided to 737 MAX pilots is one of the issues under scrutiny as investigators around the world try to determine the causes of two 737 MAX crashes within five months.

The US Department of Justice is investigating Boeings development process and what Boeing disclosed about MCAS.

The US Transportation Department said on Monday that a new blue ribbon commission will review how the Federal Aviation Administration certifies new aircraft.
A lawsuit against Boeing Co was filed in U.S. federal court on Thursday in what appeared to be the first suit over a March 10 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash that killed 157 people.

The lawsuit was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda, and alleges that Boeing, which manufactures the 737 MAX, had defectively designed the automated flight control system.

Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit.

"Boeing ... is working with the authorities to evaluate new information as it becomes available," it said, adding all inquiries about the ongoing accident investigation must be directed to the investigating authorities.

The 737 MAX planes were grounded worldwide following the Ethiopian Airlines disaster, which came five months after a Lion Air crash in Indonesia that killed 189 people.

Boeing said on Wednesday it had reprogrammed software on its 737 MAX to prevent erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system that is facing mounting scrutiny in the wake of two deadly nose-down crashes in the past five months.

Also read: Boeing rolls out software fix to defend 737 MAX aircraft after deadly crashes

The planemaker said the anti-stall system, which is believed to have repeatedly forced the nose lower in at least one of the accidents, in Indonesia last October, would only do so once per event after sensing a problem, giving pilots more control.

The crash of Boeing's passenger jet in Ethiopia raised the chances that families of the victims, even non-U.S. residents, will be able to sue in U.S. courts, where payouts are much larger than in other countries, some legal experts have said.

Wednesday's complaint was filed by Musoni's three minor children, who are Dutch citizens residing in Belgium.

The lawsuit says Boeing failed to warn the public, airlines and pilots of the airplane's allegedly erroneous sensors, causing the aircraft to dive automatically and uncontrollably.

Also read: Boeing 737 MAX issue: US airlines' teams to meet jet manufacturer to review software upgrade this weekend

Ethiopian officials and some analysts have said the Ethiopian Airlines jet behaved in a similar pattern as the 737 MAX involved in October's Lion Air disaster. The investigation into the March crash, which is being led by the Ethiopian Transport Ministry, is still at an early stage.
Leftists in southern California have their knickers in a knot after a recent Los Angeles Times opinion piece resurfaced of John Waynes Playboy interview of 1971. Most people only read the Times article about the interview, but I read the original, comprehensive interview. While Wayne had a dirty mouth, he was not the dumb cowboy depicted by his critics. He had many very thoughtful comments on America, but three or four comments got him in trouble -- 50 years later.

Statue of John Wayne at the airport named after him (Photo credit: Dave and Margie Hill)

They were so bad, progressives want his name removed from the John Wayne Airport, the commercial airport serving Orange County, California. However, other progressives are tolerant of a black who said equally objectionable things who is to have an airport named for him.

Wayne stated, I don't want somebody like Angela Davis inculcating an enemy doctrine in my kids' minds. The interviewer then declared that Davis claimed the reason that people wanted to revoke her teaching credentials was because she is black. I dont suppose it could be her involvement with the Black Power Movement, her Communist Party membership, support for Fidel Castro, her support for the Palestinians and antagonism toward Israel, and her part in an aborted prison escape where four men were killed.

She was on the FBI Most Wanted List and spent 18 months in prison awaiting trial for her part in the attempted prison escape. She was tried and acquitted of all charges.

So was O. J. Simpson.

She is a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, filling the minds of youth with all kinds of leftwing poppycock. Wayne was responding to her teaching at a tax supported institution.

Wayne declared, With a lot of blacks, there's quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so. But we can't all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks. I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.

Keeping in mind that the interview took place in 1971, Wayne said he believe[s] in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility."

Davis can work wherever she wants if she can con someone in authority to hire her. I would never hire her because of her vile unrepented past and her reprehensible present. All institutions that are taxpayer-funded should use discretion in how they spend tax dollars. Wayne was right: Blacks or Whites should not be rewarded with a lucrative position, especially if the persons beliefs are dangerous to society.

Wayne was saying that if people want to be leaders, they must display leadership qualities.

Wayne also said that black people should take "tests" to prove that they are "sufficiently equipped" to attend college. I find no fault with that statement. Everyone should have to pass an entrance exam. But black racists and guilt-ridden Whites will find fault.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Waynes disparaging remarks in the Playboy interview about homosexuals, using a homophobic slur. Referring to Hollywood films, he suggested that Americans are completely fed up with these perverted films. When asked to elaborate on perverted films, he mentioned Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy. He added, Wouldnt you say the wonderful love of those two men in Midnight Cowboy, a story about two fags, qualifies? Well, since the homosexual crowd often use queer, fag, etc., then I find no fault in him. The author of the Times piece opined of Waynes indiscretions, It certainly undermines any justification for his name and image to adorn a civic facility. Ipso facto, the airport should not bear his name. So, the Orange County Board of Supervisors may dump Wayne for being insensitive, homophonic, and a bigot.

But progressives in are not as sensitive to rooting out people who expressed bigoted sentiments around the same time Wayne unburdened himself of his thoughts, if they are Muslim. A Black Muslim from Louisville, Mihammad Ali, is to get his home town airport named for him. Ali opined in a 1975 Playboy interview that couples who were in black/white relationships deserved to be killed! He said, A black man should be killed if he's messing with a white woman. And in relation to interracial marriage: "No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters."

It was the most venomous interview I have ever read, and it is shocking that anyone would consider naming anything after him. I never heard any other rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth segregationist advocate murder.

The International Business Times quoted him saying, "We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all." I dont think Louisvilles airport has segregated restrooms and water fountains.

On a British television show, I heard Ali say that blue birds fly together; red birds fly together, buzzards fly together. And Blacks are more comfortable with other Blacks. The British interviewer was almost speechless. Indeed, Ali's beliefs included the notion that the white man was "the devil."

At Howard University, he gave his popular "Black Is Best" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community leaders, on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group. The draft, he said, is about white people sending black people to fight yellow people to protect the country they stole from red people. No, it was about keeping millions of yellow people from being enslaved by Communist yellow people from the north.

Ali said, in the Islamic world, the man's the boss and the woman stays in the background. She don't want to call the shots.They obey us. Where were the feminists at that time? Why did no one demand he be drawn and quartered?

He also told Playboy, You hear about Catholic sisters -- but they do a lot of screwing behind doors. That didnt play well at the Vatican but I didnt hear anyone complain about religious discrimination. But when I tell the truth about the Koran then Im a bigot for quoting the facts about jihad, sharia, and sexual mutilation of little girls.

Almost everyone praised Alis courage for refusing to fight for his country (or serve as a non-combatant) during the Vietnam War, suggesting that he was a very principled man; however, few are willing to discuss his call for murder and his lack of self-discipline when it came to sexual affairs.

The London Daily Mail bravely opined, when it came to his private life his morals were those of an alley cat. The way he treated his first three wives and neglected some of his nine (known) children was frankly disgraceful.

Lets all learn from any real mistakes and move on. Stop whining and looking for ways to be offended. Moreover, lets stop requiring people from the past to meet the present, modern, exalted progressive values. But if Waynes name should be removed from the California airport then Alis name should be removed from the Kentucky airport. Everyone will agree with that except the hypocrites.

Leave both airports alone.

Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, who ran a large Christian school in Indianapolis and wrote columns for USA Today for eight years. Boys book, Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! is available here. Follow Dr. Boys on Facebook at Don Boys, Ph.D. and TheGodHaters, Twitter, and visit his blog.
When the governors of New York and Virginia recently endorsed abortion up to  and even beyond  the moment of birth, they added considerably more fuel to an already raging fire. Far from the Democratic Party's older pledge to make abortion "safe, legal, and rare," they now seek to make it permanently legal, exceedingly common, unsafe for mother, and deadly for the fully formed child  especially for Planned Parenthood's primary targets: black Americans.

If anyone thinks the use of words like "holocaust" and "genocide," or the comparison to slavery and lynching, is overblown hyperbole, listen to what prominent black leaders have said over the past half-century.

Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has worked tirelessly for decades to bring the pro-life message to black America. Recalling the time her family home was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama, she reflected: "Our home is a protective place, and when it is bombed, we feel violated. It must be like this for the child in the womb when undergoing abortion." She said, "Unborn children are treated like slaves in the womb."

Dr. Mildred Fay Jefferson was the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School and co-founder of the National Right to Life Committee. An article in Ebony Magazine in 1978 highlighted this memorable quote by Dr. Jefferson: "I would guess that the abortionists have done more to get rid of generations and cripple others than all of the slavery and lynchings." President Ronald Reagan credited Dr. Jefferson with leading him to his belief in the sanctity of life. In a letter to Dr. Jefferson, President Reagan wrote: "You have made it irrefutably clear that an abortion is the taking of a human life, I am grateful to you" (video at 4:26).

Harry Alford, president and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, published an article on the NBCC website titled "15 Million Dead  Truly a Holocaust." He condemned the abortion of black babies, describing it as an "abortion frenzy" leading to "the mass elimination of our precious children who lie within their mothers' womb."

Pastor Clenard Childress, Jr. founded BlackGenocide.org, a website devoted entirely to exposing the genocide of blacks. Pastor Childress says: "The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb."

Opposition to abortion from black leaders has not come exclusively from the political right or Evangelical Christians. Many prominent blacks on the Left have been stridently anti-abortion. Liberal talk show host and author Tavis Smiley said, "[W]e have lost and continue to lose millions of our children in this culture of death. ... [W]here is the lawyer for the baby who is like a helpless slave in the womb of his/her mother?"

After Roe v. Wade, comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory became a strong supporter of the National Right-to-Life Committee. In a 1983 article in Ebony Magazine, Gregory, the father of 11 children, argued that "my answer to genocide is my large black family."

In the turbulent 1960s, when abortion was a driving force among militant white feminists, even some blacks on the "hard left" advocated opposition to abortion. The Black Panthers considered abortion, and even birth control, a white racist plot to destroy blacks. Two months after the Roe v. Wade decision, Jet magazine, the popular weekly for blacks, questioned whether abortion is a form of black genocide in its cover story.

Sadly, not all influential black leaders have remained true to their pro-life principles. In the 1960s and 1970s Jesse Jackson actively opposed abortion. In 1977, he argued that the right to privacy, the legal foundation for Roe v. Wade, was the same premise used to justify slavery. But in the 1980s, as his political ambitions grew, he reversed his position to support the pro-abortion cause.

More hopefully, rising young black leaders are also stepping up to denounce Planned Parenthood's deceptions. Candace Owens, communications director for Turning Point USA, a conservative campus outreach organization, attacked Planned Parenthood for "its history of targeting the black community for extermination." In response to Planned Parenthood's mantra "Abortion is Health Care" in May 2018, Owens tweeted: "You spelled murder wrong" and "This just in: murdering 800 black babies every single day is now considered 'healthcare.'"

Elizabeth Parker, a black pro-life leader at a Mississippi university, calls abortion the new Civil Rights movement. She compares abortion to modern-day lynching: "[it] almost feels like they found a new way to lynch us ... they don't have to hold the noose anymore, they have fooled the minority community into literally taking the noose and almost using it on themselves by walking into that clinic and paying for ... abortions."

Selling Baby Organs for Lamborghinis

While the motivations of both Hitler and Planned Parenthood include racial hatred and white supremacy, the abortion-industry giant is also motivated by profit. Not satisfied with robbing the public treasury of billions of dollars, Planned Parenthood's executives actively engage in the harvesting and sale of organs from the bodies of aborted babies.

An undercover video 2017 by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) captured Planned Parenthood medical director Mary Gatter talking about harvesting organs from aborted babies and negotiating over the prices for fetal body parts. The undercover "buyer" asks "if we can get a liver, a lung, and, you know, a brain" (video at 3:54). Gatter tells him: "I did it in L.A. ... I'm committed to it, I think it's a great idea" (video at 2:58). This is the same evil Jezebel who bragged in 2015 that "[i]f [the price is] still low, we can bump it up. I want a Lamborghini" (video at 0:55). The CMP has released a dozen videos implicating many Planned Parenthood executives and their corporate customers in this grisly and horrifying business.

Time to Destroy the Cult of Baal and the Altar of Molech

This is truly an evil empire but not a new one. We have returned to the ancient practice of the worship of Molech, the false god of the Ammonites described in the Bible. When the Israelites fell into idolatry and adopted child sacrifice to Molech, God warned them that He would punish this detestable practice with death. Today, the "abortion at any time" advocates worship at the same altar. They offer their children as burnt sacrifices and call it "reproductive choice."

The woman who almost became president of the United States recently declared that "women's reproductive rights are human rights that are universal and indivisible." But in her world, these so-called "rights" are not universal for all humans  certainly not for women who are pressured or frightened into aborting their children and who are denied the right not to abort their children. And especially not for "unwanted" children before, during, and even after birth. These rights are only for those who bow down at Hillary's altar.

Will Planned Parenthood's bloodlust ever be overthrown? Only when the cult of Baal is overthrown and the altar of the demon Molech is destroyed  and only when these butchers finally stop calling our pro-life freedom-fighters Nazis.

Image: Lee District Democratic Committee via Flickr.
The Democratic Party's Leninist fundamental transformation is near complete.

It was November 6 and 7, 1917 when Lenin and his Russian Bolsheviks led a coup d'etat against the Duma's provisional government.

The parallels between the Bolshevik takeover, which begat the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the uber-leftward turn of the Democratic Party are impossible to ignore. Lenin and the Bolsheviks did not significantly differ ideologically from the Romanov monarchical dynasty they ended with their takeover, or from the Mensheviks, from whom the Bolsheviks spilt in 1903, just as the new Democrats don't differ much from the old Democrats.

In the lead-up to Lenin's hijacking, the various Russian factions all sold iterations of socialism, democratic socialism, and communism. These -isms, at their core, are mostly the same. Lenin sold a revolutionary narrative of a proletariat revolt, in which the political power rests with the peasants and workers, which would evolve into socialism  equal social ownership of all produced by the workers.

Like any collectivist promise, it was all a colossal lie. What Lenin intentionally established was the Communist Party dictatorship, which lasted seven decades. It is, in principle, the same lie propagated by America's Democratic Party and its "democratic socialists." Socialists don't actually believe in the socialism they peddle, just as the Rolls-Royce-owning Lenin didn't believe in the Leninism he peddled. They believe that only everyone else should live under their oppression.

Every postIndustrial Revolution "revolution" is only about unfettered power and is always heavily influenced by Karl Marx, whom Lenin was an acolyte of. There is no war more importantly waged by the "revolutionaries" than a class war  the basis of Marxism. The opiate sold to the masses is that resources and capital are finite, hence the zeal against "capital"-ism, designed to make the masses junkies of the most addictive drug in man's history: government dependency.

The "new" Democrats  U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)  attack at will the "old" Democrats.

Omar was perfectly comfortable comparing President Trump with President Obama, calling the former president a "pretty face" whose "hope and change" shtick was utter balderdash.

Tlaib admonished her Democratic Party for the same alleged Islamophobia rampant in the GOP. She also recently fantasized about her enemies floating dead in a river, as she proudly proclaimed that "the Muslims are coming," which is weird, because the Muslims have been here since our Founding.

Recall Ocasio-Cortez's "New party, who dis?" dis against former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, who has rendered himself obsolete due to his calls for some ideological balance. Note the wording: "new party."

2020 Repercussions

Old Democrat U.S. rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) seems to live in constant fear of these new Democrats, perhaps much the same way Tsar Nicholas II feared Lenin's Bolsheviks. Pelosi never apologized for Omar's recent, disgusting anti-Semitic remarks; looked as if she was walking on eggshells as she tempered expectations of the Leninist "Green New Deal"; and ran "Forrest Gump"-style with failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams's asinine idea of 16-year-olds voting. Pelosi claimed she's "always" been in favor of 16-year-olds voting; I searched the internet for hours attempting to find a previous statement about this from Pelosi but found nothing. It's astounding how easily these new Democrats got Pelosi to go along and keep quiet, sheeple-like.

The declared 2020 Democrat candidates, such as Senators Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), are equally frightening new Democrats. At the risk of hyperbole, never in American history has there been as dangerous a group of candidates as these.

Lenin sought neither moderation nor compromise, and neither do these new Democrats. Russia, Mueller, and McCabe  show me a man, and I'll show you his crime; the economy; the Wall and border security; transgender faux science; murdering babies the day they're born; Redcoat Hitler Youth anti-gun cult creepy kid activists; slavery reparations; three "genders"; interrogating judicial nominees and Cabinet nominees about sodomy and relationships; the rejection of the peaceful transfer of power  among many others. In light of the recent Mueller nothing-report, the Democrats suffered a defeat comparable to their historic losses in Plessy v. Ferguson and Bush v. Gore. The fact that the DMIC (Democrat Media Industrial Complex) will continue to have a consuming audience after this weekend further confirms just how dangerous the Democrat voting base is to our Republic.

The Democrats propagating these narratives know they're losers. Lenin destroyed what was in place to rebuild in his image; this is precisely what these Democrats seek to do. Bipartisanship is the gateway drug to defeat.

The 2020 presidential election will be a civil war between the old and new guards of the Democratic Party. Their imbroglio has much to do with the Millennial and Generation Z voting blocs. Millennials are the largest generation in America's electorate, and any day now, they will surpass the Baby-Boomer generation as the largest potential voting bloc. Add Generation Zers into the Millennial mix, and the soon to be largest voting bloc in U.S. history will be young adults and 30-somethings who have undergone decades of Ludovico-esque Democrat social engineering that has mass-produced tens of millions of Leninists who don't know who Lenin was  exactly as he would have wanted it. Though unverified, Lenin is believed to have coined the term "useful idiot." He'd blush at the useful idiocy of most Democrat voters, who have deified stupidity. "Give me just one generation of youth," Lenin said, three months before his revolt, "and I'll transform the whole world."

Every 20th- and 21st-century mass-murdering and mass-suffering collectivist regime, irrespective of the continent, is a derivative of Marxism-Leninism. The Americanized iteration is called the Democratic Party, the ideology of which is an amalgam of the last 100 years of international despotism. The Democrat Leninist revolution isn't coming; it's here. Those who seek to own and conquer us can be found in our communities, our schools, our courts, our culture, our mass media, our government institutions of law enforcement, and our government itself.

Political evil can come in various forms, but the endgame never varies: rulers rule as they live lavish, capitalist lifestyles over the masses, who live lives of rationed bread, water, and medicine for their children. The Democrats know they will lose to Trump and us Trump-supporters next year; at that point, their Russian Revolution will be complete, their party will irreparably fracture, and those not on the team will be cannibalized through the natural order of political attrition.

We will have won a major battle, but the war to preserve our republic will continue. The national question of this war is, do we want a government that fears We the People  liberty  or a government that is feared by We the People  tyranny? Lenin didn't believe in neutrality. Neither do Democrats, nor America First, nationalist Trump voters.

Everyone is on a side. Whose side are you on?

Rich Logis is host of The Rich Logis Show, at TheRichLogisShow.com, and author of the upcoming book 10 Warning Signs Your Child Is Becoming a Democrat. He can be found on Twitter at @RichLogis.
Well before President Donald Trump's election the Democratic Party's self-proclaimed "democratic socialists" characterized anyone who opposes them as Nazis. The irony is that members of that contingent have more in common with Nazis than they would care to admit.

By embracing Islam as they promote "multiculturalism" and "tolerance," the democratic socialists and their enablers tolerate Islam's anti-Semitism. The House Democrats' feeble response to Rep. Ilhan Omar's anti-Semitic remarks -- a resolution that condemned bigotry but refused to mention either Omar or Islamist terrorism -- illustrates that misguided tolerance.

The Nazis understood the relationship between Islam and anti-Semitism so well that they tried to exploit it for their agenda of extermination. Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, the grand mufti of Jerusalem who had been agitating against Jews for a quarter of a century, broadcast anti-Semitic messages from Berlin with Hitler's support from 1941 until the end of World War II. Al-Husseini -- a close ally of the Muslim Brotherhood's founder, Hassan al-Banna, who admired Hitler -- told Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine to "kill the Jews wherever you find them."

The Waffen-SS also had a special Muslim division, the Handschar, named after the German word for scimitar. Comprised of Bosnian Muslims, the Handschar division performed atrocities against Jewish civilians. Notably, it was the only division in the Waffen-SS allowed to have chaplains, with one imam presiding over each battalion.

Today, Hitler's Mein Kampf circulates throughout the Arab world without opposition from Muslim clerics.

The Nazis' euthanasia program, Aktion T4, was personally initiated by Hitler in 1939. Promoted as mercy killing, the program targeted the chronically ill, the elderly, the disabled, and the mentally incapacitated -- whether adults or children.

During Aktion T4's two years of operation, nearly 70,000 died from starvation, dehydration, lethal injection, and gassing. The Nazis built six gas chambers designed as showers to fool the victims. Though public pressure forced the Nazis to discontinue the program in 1941, it provided the basis for the murderous methods used in death camps.

The utilitarianism governing the use of tissue from aborted fetuses for such experiments as creating humanized mice -- usage favored by Democrats -- also governed the Nazis' use of prisoners for experiments in concentration camps. In one instance, doctors infected children with tuberculosis, removed their lymph nodes to determine the disease's progress, then executed their subjects.

Americas democratic socialists mimic the rationale of the Nazi program. Last March, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown -- a Democrat whom Planned Parenthood endorsed for re-election -- signed legislation allowing mentally ill patients to be denied food and water unless the patient had issued an advance directive to the contrary before becoming incapacitated. Previously, only caregivers with power of attorney could so decide. The bill received unanimous support from the Democrats in the lower house of Oregon's legislature.

In January, Oregon's Democrats introduced another bill expanding the state's law on medically assisted suicide to include any patient with an incurable disease or intolerable pain. On March 7, Maryland's lower house approved medically assisted suicide. That bill passed 74-66, with 73 of the chamber's 99 Democrats supporting it. Within days, members of the Democratic-Farmer Labor Party sponsored similar legislation in Minnesota's legislature.

Both ideologies embrace junk genetics and demand laws reflecting that embrace. Just as the democratic socialists promote a multiplicity of genders and encourage transsexuality in children, Nazis promoted pseudo-scientific racialist theories that circulated decades before Hitler emerged.

Between 1853 and 1855, a French aristocrat named Arthur de Gobineau wrote An Essay on the Inequality of Human Races which proposed that race provided the foundation for civilization. Gobineau argued that intermingling between what he called the "white" race -- which he viewed as superior -- with the "black" and "yellow" races would cause cultural disintegration. In 1899, the English philosopher Houston Stewart Chamberlain wrote in The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century that Nordic and Teutonic peoples occupied the highest places among the ostensibly superior "Aryan" race, which found itself constantly at odds with Semites. Chamberlain even promoted anti-Semitic stereotypes in his work.

German anti-Semitism culminated intellectually with amateur anthropologist Hans Guenther, who divided Europeans into nine different races, with the "Nordics" first and "Negroes" last. Guenther also described Jews as "a thing of ferment and disturbance, a wedge driven by Asia into the European structure."

The democratic socialists and the Nazis even share the propensity to promote their agendas by fabricating incidents. Eight decades before Jussie Smollett's staged hate crime and the phony Steele dossier, the Nazis orchestrated an incident that plunged the world into war.

On Aug. 31, 1939, as relations between Germany and Poland rapidly deteriorated, Polish troops attacked and briefly occupied a German radio station near the Polish border to broadcast this message: "Attention! This is Gliwice. The broadcasting station is in Polish hands."

Gliwice was the Polish name for the then-German town of Gleiwitz. Gunfire could be heard during the broadcast. German police "overpowered" the troops and recaptured the station.

However, the Polish "troops" were members of the SS, who not only carried out the attack but dressed concentration-camp inmates in Polish army uniforms and killed them as "proof." One of the "troops" was an unmarried German farmer who sympathized with the Poles. The SS arrested him a day earlier and murdered him.

German radio carried news of the faux attack within hours. The next day, Sept. 1, Hitler declared war against Poland, beginning World War II.

The Gleiwitz "attack" belonged to a campaign of false flags that the SS and German military intelligence, the Abwehr, organized in late August 1939. The Abwehr paid such meticulous attention to detail that it provided the "troops" with Polish military equipment and military identification.

Nearly 80 years later, a swastika and the words, "Heil Trump" and "Fag Church" were found on the walls of St. David's Episcopal Church in Brown County, Ind. immediately after Trump's election. The graffiti was "among numerous incidents that have occurred in the wake of Trumps Election Day win," wrote the Washington Post. But six months later, police arrested organist George Nathaniel Stang for vandalizing his own church.

"I suppose I wanted to give local people a reason to fight for good," wrote Stang, "even if it was a false flag."

Undergirding these parallels is the ultimate similarity: the identity politics that defines both democratic socialists and Nazis.

Just as the democratic socialists view women, African-Americans, Latinos, Muslims. and the LGBT community as needing special legal protection from powerful whites, Christians, and capitalists, the Nazis viewed "Aryans" as needing special legal protection from Jews, socialists, and capitalists. Just as the Nazis viewed "Aryans" as superior due to their race, so do democratic socialists view the marginalized as superior due to their victimization.

If racism means that ethnicity matters more than values, ideas, and ethics, then democratic socialists and Nazis are equally racist. Individual liberty and equality under the rule of law mean nothing. Retribution, however, means everything.

Former socialist Max Eastman tied the connecting knot between Marxism and National Socialism in his 1955 work, Reflections on the Failure of Socialism. When applied to todays democratic socialists, Eastmans comments retain their power:
I don't believe that Donald Trump Jr is trying to be a psychiatrist, but it appears that he has accurately diagnosed a serious real mental illness on the Left. The Daily Caller published a few of Junior's latest comments. The Democrats and the Media were pushing "sick and twisted conspiracy theories." Anyone with a "sane mind" knew those theories were garbage. And he supplied a new name for them: "Collusion Truthers," raising the comparison to the deluded people who insist that 911 was an inside job.

Donald Trump Jr (photo cedit: Gage Skidmore)

When Joy Reid of MSNBC claims that Attorney General Barr's letter "feels like the seed of a cover-up," or Adam Schiff declares that there is still "ample evidence" of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, we are not witnessing the first stage of grief, as suggested by Jonathan Turley. This is a serious psychopathology.

Phillipe Reines' performance on Fox news right after AG Barr's letter dropped is illustrative. Each time Molly Hemingway tried to point out the fact that the indictments and pleas of Trump campaign associates had nothing to do with the collusion narrative, Reines shouted her down with "37 indictments and pleas!" He could not allow the truth to destroy his narrative that the presence of malfeasance in any arena was necessarily malfeasance by Trump. In psychiatry, this is called an "obsession."

The Bible of Psychiatry, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, gives a scale for obsessive behaviors.

"Good or fair insight

Poor insight

Absent insight/delusional obsessive-compulsive disorder beliefs (i.e., complete conviction that obsessive-compulsive disorder beliefs are true)"

If we assume that the Left has good or fair insight, they are antisocial persons who "feel little or no empathy toward other people, and dont see the problem in bending or breaking the law for their own needs or wants." The pictures of Hillary Clinton, James Clapper, James Comey, and many others are attached to this definition.

This has been a considerable problem for those of us who actually believe in truth, justice, and the American way. The Left protects its own, and the falls of Al Franken and Kevin Spacey from grace are rare exceptions to that rule. The Left sacrificed non-essential characters to maintain the fiction that Democrats actually believe in justice. Power is their only currency. Evil-doers will be protected as long as power continues to flow to Democrats. But one has to ask if many Democrats actually have that much insight and are merely anti-social.

As I look across Facebook and the Twitterverse, extreme sentiments appear widely. Repulsive epithets are thrown about like confetti as if they were potpourri to cover the stench of illogic. It is inescapable that a vast number on the Left have become fully Obsessive/Compulsive. This comes from a delusional belief system that completely lacks insight. In short, it's a psychosis, a major psychiatric disorder.

It may be that Van Jones is the sanest of the lot. "Theres an honest level of sadness and disappointment and disorientation among progressives and Democrats and I think it goes deeper than just whats in the report." He noted, "The revelation that none of that was true had created a general sense of moral confusion among Democrats and also an inability to understand what the administration has done, without the filter of Russia collusion. Jones goes on to demonstrate his own insight deficit when he asks why Trump "kisses up to Putin." "Why does he want to meet with him by himself?"

Any sane observer would recognize those Russia-related claims to be complete nonsense. Trump has done more contrary to Putin's benefit than any president before by radically increasing US oil and gas production, which has the effect of severely impacting the sole major source of foreign currency for Russia, but Jones' psychopathology prevents that appreciation. It also allows a blindness to the time Obama told Putin's sidekick Medvedev that "after the election I'll have more flexibility." In other words, I can't kiss up right now, but I can after I'm re-elected. And, by the way, I won't put any effort into stopping your attempts to meddle in our elections.

Obsessive/Compulsive Personality Disorder (aka Trump Derangement Syndrome) is a major psychiatric defect. In this case it has its origin in the incontrovertible fact that only the Left is intelligent or wise. Thus, Donald Trump could not possibly win the Presidency. But when he won, it became imperative that his election be delegitimized.

Within hours, such luminaries as Maxine Waters declared that we needed to "Impeach 45!" Her massive intellect missed the point that you cannot impeach a president who has not yet taken office. Nor has she been able to explain how you can impeach a president for acts that predate the election. The Constitution's "high crimes and misdemeanors," only applies to the president's official tenure. But that level of insight is far beyond the capability of an obsessive.

To the delusional, when any Court rules against one of Trump's actions, that means Trump is an authoritarian, even while the President allows the Court to stay his actions pending appeal. Anything the Left doesn't like is "Unconstitutional!" but of course Obama's acts weren't, even though the Courts consistently ruled against his "pen and phone."

In short, the Loonie Left has a completely delusional view of the world, utterly divorced from reality. "The Left is smarter and wiser than the Right," and the Right must therefore be assimilated. "Resistance is futile." When the Right opposes the Left, and, heaven help us, actually wins a fight, the Left cannot bring itself to understand that they might be wrong. That would be so, so harmful to their self-esteem. Snowflakes cannot allow themselves to be triggered.

TDS is not limited to politicians and commentators. Legal analyst David R Lurie claims that Attorney General Barr has created a new and dangerous interpretation of the doctrine of Obstruction of Justice. To do so, he completely misrepresents the statements of the AG and President Trump to the point of denying that the first sentence of Article II vests all executive authority in a single person: The President. The FBI Director and the Attorney General are his subordinates. To "go easy" on Flynn would be "prosecutorial discretion." But that would contradict Lurie's delusions, and so he repeats them to all who will hear. Of course, Flynn got no discretion, and Trump did not intervene.

David Corn of Mother Jones is not so circuitous in his declamations. "Trump Aided and Abetted Russia's Attack. That Was Treachery. Full Stop." His screed contains so many distortions and lies that they become impossible to count, and even more difficult to comprehend. They stand in direct contradiction to Mueller's evidence and conclusions. We are again left with the disquieting fact that a large part of our public square has become completely bereft of any reasoning power.

The Left's echo chamber demonstrates all sorts of primitive defense mechanisms in play. Denial is obvious, but it's just the first step. Reality is too painful, so it simply cannot be true. Acting out has been ubiquitous with the Antifa movement, with physical assaults against peaceful political opponents. This is justified by projection, where the psychotic person cannot accept his own thoughts and beliefs, and so projects them on to the opponent, the "hater" or "fascist." Projection is often combined with Compartmentalization, where the evil parts of oneself are separated from "who I am" in order to avoid guilt for evil personal deeds.

Slightly more mature defense mechanisms include rationalizations. These are more common in legal commentators than the bulk of the Left. But again, even this depends on the very first, most primitive mechanism: Denial.

"Trump didn't win fair." "Trump is the enemy of America." These and similar demonstrably false tropes are so central to the identity of many on the Left that they cannot be allowed to be challenged without personal disintegration. All of the various denials of the Barr letter have to be seen in this light. They are "tales told by an idiot, signifying nothing." (Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5). Those who thought that the Left might give up the witch hunt have far too optimistic a view of the sanity of the Left. Psychotics cannot choose to gain insight.

Fortunately most Americans are not idiots. The task of providing house and home take too much time and effort to be subverted by the psychotic ravings of Democrats and their lapdogs in the MSM. In my humble opinion, more Americans will be persuaded by multiplying job opportunities and growing wages than the ravings of people who have disconnected from reality. Cries of "unfair!" to the Senate vote on the Green New Deal will be correctly answered by "Democrats were so interested in climate change that they refused to vote for their own bill." Truth will win the day. After all, Americans want safe streets, good schools, and good jobs first. Democrats offer nothing on these frontiers, while Donald Trump is working hard.

Americans are very sane. And they recognize insanity, even if they don't have the fancy language for it. "Collusion Truthers," indeed.

Ted Noel, MD is a retired anesthesiologist. He comments on political issues in the Vidzette podcast at vidzette.libsyn.com.
On March 27, U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo vowed to "broaden the debate" and shed old "parameters" governing negotiations for a final status peace agreement between Arabs and Israelis. In the spirit of Secretary Pompeo's words, Israel should annex at least most of Judea and Samaria, commonly referred to as the "West Bank." Twenty-eight out of the 30 Likud members of Knesset, with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Benny Begin being the only exceptions, have explicitly supported Israel applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria. Forty-two percent of the Israeli population now supports either partial or full annexation of Judea and Samaria.

Judea and Samaria's Deep Historical Roots

As the indigenous people, Jews had sovereignty and pseudo-sovereignty of Judea and Samaria from 1010 BCE to 617 C.E. (a mere twenty years before the Arab occupation of Jerusalem in 637 C.E.). After the Jews lost political power in Judea and Samaria, they continued to reside there until the modern period, with interludes when occupying powers forbade them from living in places like Hebron and Jerusalem. In fact, during Israel's War of Independence (19471949), approximately 10,000 Jews were kicked out of or killed in Jewish communities in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.

Judea and Samaria's Strategic Importance

Israel doesn't have much room to negotiate over Judea and Samaria because most of this land is of vital strategic importance to Israel. Shortly after the Six-Day War, the heads of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a now declassified report in which they recommended that Israel retain at least half of Judea and Samaria, and this would provide Israel with "a militarily defensible border."

Israel should retain Judea and Samaria's mountain ridge. The ridge looks down on Israel's coastal plain, which contains 70 percent of Israel's population and 80 percent of its industry, and surrounds Jerusalem on three sides. The ridge looks down on Tel Aviv (12 miles from the Green Line, or the 1949 armistice line between Israel and Jordan), and Ben Gurion International Airport (6 miles from the Green Line), among other vital areas. If Israel withdrew from these mountains, it would be extremely vulnerable to rocket attacks from its east. The "narrow waist" of Israel before the Six Day War was eight miles wide. Israel could be overrun quickly in a future war if it ever withdrew to the Green Line.

Israel should retain the settlements surrounding Jerusalem, as they are important to protect it against terrorism and invasion. The E-1 Corridor, an area of land between eastern Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim, is also critical to connect the two. This would prevent Ma'aleh Adumim from being isolated and indefensible in wartime, as Jerusalem was in Israel's War of Independence.

Retention of the Jordan Valley is vital, given the prevention of smuggling of weapons, infiltration of terrorists, and land invasions. With control of the Jordan Valley, Israel needs to patrol only a 62-mile-long border instead of the 223-mile-long Green Line.

Furthermore, Judea and Samaria are home to about 400,000 Israeli citizens, most of whom live in Area C of Judea and Samaria. This area constitutes approximately 60% of Judea and Samaria. It is ridiculous to assume that Israel will evacuate these civilians in a final peace agreement, given that its evacuation of approximately 9,000 of its citizens from Gaza in the 2005 disengagement brought Israel to the brink of civil war.

The Arabs Don't Want Judea and Samaria Anyway

Even if Israel wanted to give Judea and Samaria to the Arabs, the Arabs don't want it. The Arabs have shown through their own actions that they do not want sovereignty in the land. The Arabs rejected proposals to gain sovereignty of Judea and Samaria in 1937, 1947, 19671968, 2000, 2001, and 2008.

The Peace Process Hasn't Given Israel Peace...

Israel should abandon existing paradigms of "land for peace" with the Arab world. "Land for peace" in an Orwellian way has brought more war upon Israel. Israel's withdrawals from parts of Gaza and Judea and Samaria during the Oslo Accords in the 1990s were met with the Second Intifada (20002005). Israel's full withdrawals from southern Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005 were met with at least four wars, and the massive arming of Hezb'allah and Hamas. Lastly, while the benefits of Israel's peace with Egypt should not be understated, there are now jihadi groups in Sinai targeting Israel, despite Israel completely withdrawing its civilian population from there in the 1980s.

...So Israel Should Try Something Else

Instead of pursuing the same failed policies, Israel should try something new to enhance chances of a true peace. In any new paradigm, in order to maintain its strength and its Jewish and democratic character, Israel should 1) retain as much of Judea and Samaria as possible and practical and 2) absorb the smallest number of additional Arabs.

Some options that are not necessarily mutually exclusive include:

Israel annexes Area C of Judea and Samaria. Arabs in Area C are given Israeli citizenship, while Arabs in Areas A and B are given self-rule. The Arabs in Judea and Samaria receive self-rule in seven Arab "emirates" in Judea and Samaria based on the seven major Arab population centers there, with Gaza functioning as the eighth emirate. Israel then annexes the remaining land and gives citizenship to those Arabs not living in Gaza or the seven other emirates. Israel annexes all of Judea and Samaria and grants all Arabs in Judea and Samaria citizenship. This option is based on data indicating that Jews currently constitute a stable majority (60%) of the population from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, excluding Gaza, and that this majority will grow to 70% in 2059. Jordan gives land to the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria. In compensation, Saudi Arabia gives land to Jordan. In compensation, Egypt returns two islands to Saudi Arabia. Egypt gives land in the Sinai to expand Gaza, and this becomes the Palestinian state. Israel annexes all of Judea and Samaria. The Arabs in Judea and Samaria stay where they are and become citizens of Jordan and residents of Israel. Israel annexes all of Judea and Samaria. The Arabs in Judea and Samaria stay where they are and become citizens of Arab countries, such as the Gulf States, and residents of Israel. Israel annexes all of Judea and Samaria. The Arabs in Judea and Samaria stay where they are and vote in local, not federal elections, like Puerto Rico's relationship with the United States. Israel conducts a partial, after-the-fact population exchange with the Arab world. In exchange for Israel absorbing 850,000 Jews that fled or were kicked out of the Arab world during 1948, Israel financially compensates Arabs in Judea and Samaria to leave Judea and Samaria.

Conclusion

The Arabs have responded to Israel's "land for peace" initiatives with violence, and the Arabs have rejected Israel's (and the international community's) multiple offers of Arab sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Israel should logically respond to these developments by annexing at least most of Judea and Samaria and offer a path forward. Hopefully then will peace become a reality.
Another norm of presidential behavior was smashed  with great success  by President Trump last night at a jam-packed rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan last night (video of the entire speech is embedded below). He used what the formerly respectable press used to call a "barnyard epithet" as an intensifier in making his point to the crowd (who cheered and loved it) that the Democrats have been peddling a hoax for years, and he is calling them out. "They have to be accountable."



YouTube screen grab.

Trump talks the way ordinary people talk. He doesn't speak in complete sentences, much less paragraphs. The Gettysburg Address would never tumble out from his lips. He is not what elites recognize as a great orator, but he connects with his audiences the way few speakers do. Appearing right after the rally on Tucker Carlson's show, Mark Steyn had some wise words on Trump's style: "The president of the United States has developed a totally unique rhetorical style that connects with live audiences."

There is no distinction between his public and private persona, and it adds greatly to his believability  and lovability by his supporters. One friend  with a postgraduate degree  who reluctantly voted for Trump despite her distaste at his style emailed that she has finally been won over. He was, in her words that were echoed by other emailers, "on fire."

She seems to be far from alone in revising upward her perception of Trump. NeverTrump Bret Stephens just wrote this in the New York Times:

Maybe we've had this all wrong. Maybe Donald Trump isn't just some two-bit con artist who lucked his way into the White House thanks to an overconfident opponent. Or a second-rate demagogue with a rat-like instinct for arousing his base's baser emotions and his enemies' knee-jerk reactions. Or a dimwit mistaken for an oracle, like some malignant version of Chauncey Gardiner from "Being There." Thanks to Robert Mueller, we know he isn't Russia's man inside, awaiting coded instruction from his handler in the Kremlin. Maybe, in fact, Trump is the genius he claims to be, possessed  as he likes to boast  of a "very good brain." O.K., I don't quite believe that. But going forward, it would be wise for all of his inveterate critics in the news media, including me, to treat it as our operating assumption.

Here is the entire speech:
Leftist presidential candidates of all (correction: the same) stripes are preparing to do battle with President Trump in 2020, pushing their menu of spoiled and smelling Venezuelan-style socialist ideas for voters.

Trump will swat them away like flies, but he's not looking in their direction much. His real target, according to the Atlantic Monthly, is going to be the press. Instapundit has found a beauty from within the Atlantic Monthly report, noting that Republicans are raring to go after the mainstream media, using their atrocious strings of lies and "narratives" that fell apart after the Mueller report on the fake Russian collusion. They will do it when the press starts reporting biased dreck about Trump himself, citing their tattered credibility. Here's some of it:

"Any reporter who tries that will be hit with 30-second spots of all their ridiculous claims about collusion," said the source, who, like others interviewed for this story, requested anonymity to describe private conversations. "Their tweets have all been screencapped. It's all ready to go." ("It's the same thing we've been doing the last two years. We're going to hold the media accountable when we see fit," an RNC official clarified, adding that this would include digital clips shared on social media.)

This is kind of what a biased media cooperative deserves.

The fact is, the press did disgrace itself in its two or three years of news coverage, constantly beating the phony tin drum that Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the election from Hillary Clinton. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, armed with more than a dozen leftist, Hillary Clintondonating lawyers, could find nothing to support that, and he finally threw in the towel this past week, releasing the report over the weekend in a futile bid to hope no one would notice.

Democrats in Congress continue to insist that something is there in the wake of it, but the reality is, they look like fools  but not as big of fools as the mainstream media, which acted as a Greek choir, chanting for years that Trump's end was imminent and the "walls are closing in." Rick Moran noted that there was a hilarious video compilation of the spectacle here.

Do I think it will work? Anecdotally, yes. The Trump voters I know in San Diego say the mainstream media's continuously unfair treatment of Trump in the press  in itself  was the reason they chose to vote for him. There may be internal GOP polls suggesting that the sentiment is widespread.

There's also the fact that the mainstream media are getting away with it. Two years of lies, false leaks, fake sources, and artificially damping President Trump's popularity ratings, not to mention wrecking what could be an important Russia-U.S. relationship to check a rising and ravenous China that sees no accountability. Nobody got fired in the wake of this performance; nobody criticized anyone else; nobody paid any price for it. On the contrary, they seem to be praising themselves for it and awarding each other Pulitzers. They have yet to get the memo that they have disgraced themselves again.

They could have stuck to the truth, that very truth that is required in their stated profession. It might not have led to the facts they liked, but they wouldn't have suffered the reputational loss they are looking at now. But it was so much easier to go with the stories they liked, their bias out there, yet their claims to objectivity intact in all those Pulitzers and conference engagements. They had been getting away with it up until now.

Except that now, the price they will pay is that Trump has them, not the socialist cookie-cutter Democrats, in his electoral gun sights.

Nice planning, bozos. Stick to objectivity, and you won't make yourselves a target. Take some unfair advantages, and hear all about it told to the voters. They made their choice. And they chose poorly.
Oppo's sub-brand Reno is doing everything to get rid of the dreaded notch. The latest case leak has confirmed a new wedge-shaped pop-up selfie camera. Oppo's upcoming Reno branded smartphone will be powered by Snapdragon 855 chipset and will come with Oppo new 10x zoom technology with a periscope design that was shown off at MWC 2019. Furthermore, the Oppo's Reno phone will house a 4,065mAh battery.

Meanwhile, multiple leaks have suggested that there could be several variants of the Reno phone with different processors. Brian Shen, Oppo VP, took to Weibo to reveal the other variant of the smartphone referred to as the standard variant. This one could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC and will use a heat-conducting gel and graphite sheet to dissipate heat. The standard variant could be a gaming centric phone as the cooling methods would help to keep Oppo Reno phones from getting warm.

The case renders of Oppo's Reno smartphone also shows wedge-shaped camera that houses selfie flash. The standard variant seems to have a dual camera setup and the triple camera setup could come with the Reno smartphone powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC. However, both these variants are rumoured to sport the Sony IMX586 48-megapixel primary camera. The Oppo Reno is also said to be capable of 10X hybrid zoom. The zoom techmology was showcased by Oppo at the MWC 2019. There could also be a 5G variant with X50 modem.

The Oppo Reno smartphone will come in Black, Green, Purple, and Pink colour options. The Reno smartphone launch is expected on April 10 in China.

Chinese phone majors are creating new sub-brands to target different type of customers. Earlier this year, Vivo announced a new sub-brand 'IQOO' at hardware mobile gamers. Xiaomi already has two sub-brands in POCO, focused on selling premium phones at mid-range prices, and Redmi for price conscious customers. Huawei already has a successful sub-brand in Honor which was announced in 2013.

Also Read: Oppo has a new sub-brand 'Reno'; first Reno smartphone could launch on April 10

Also Read: Xiaomi shares video of its new three panel foldable smartphone
Mexico bowed to President Trump's border security demands by agreeing to set up a Central American illegal alien "containment" belt 2,200 miles south of San Diego.

Mexico's socialist president, Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador, known as "AMLO," trumpeted after his huge July victory that he sympathized with migrants suffering from "hunger and poverty." He promised to slash funds dedicated to border control and claimed that he would stand up to any of President Trump's bullying tactics.

A recent Rasmussen Reports national poll revealed that a survey high of 35 percent of "Likely U.S. Voters" believe immigration to be the most urgent issue for Congress to address. But AMLO must have been confident that President Trump's hands were tied by the "Russiagate" investigation. He probably assumed that Democrats would either squeeze Trump out of office or continue to emasculate his ability to take major retaliatory actions.

But after Trump was exonerated by the special counsel, AMLO quickly dispatched his interior secretary, Olga Sanchez-Cordero, to meet with U.S. secretary of homeland security Kirstjen Nielsen in Miami on March 27.

Secretary Sanchez offered a Mexican Federal Police and military "containment" belt across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest part of the country and very close to the southern border with Guatemala. When asked about the breakthrough with Mexico, Secretary Nielsen said: "It's going to be a big change."

The U.S. Border Patrol's "Southwest Border Apprehensions" report for the month of February 2019 showed that 672,000 aliens were apprehended between ports of entry on the southwest border, up about 85 percent from the prior year.

But the Trump administration's sensitivity to illegal immigration is especially high with a "caravan" of 2,500 Central American and Cuban migrants heading up southern Mexico now and the "Mother of all Caravans" forming in Honduras with 20,000 migrants.

Nielsen emphasized to Sanchez that the Border Patrol under President Trump deported at least 76,000 migrants to their countries of origin in February, and expects to deport about 90,000 this month and will remove 900,000 illegal aliens by year end.

Secretary Sanchez trumpeted the launch of a new era of Mexican security cooperation:

We are going to locate our migration installations, of Federal Police and civil protection, harmoniously and with collaboration among all the federal government agencies in such a way that we have containment in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

President Trump hit Twitter on March 28 with new threats of U.S.-Mexico border closure:

"Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country." He added, "They are all talk and no action. Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing."

The usually bombastic President Lopez-Obrador sought to calmly reassure the Trump administration that Mexico is now committed to a "very respectful relationship" with the United States to stop immigrant-smuggling. He added: "We are going to do everything we can to help. We don't in any way want a confrontation with the U.S. government."
Not wanting a confrontation with the U.S. over the border surge, Mexico's socialist president Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador decided to pick a fight with socialist-run Spain instead, calling on its king to "apologize" for the nation's 500-year-old conquest of Mexico. What could be easier? Leftists love to apologize for the supposed misdeeds of forbears, as President Obama demonstrated repeatedly. Spain would be an easy mark for one of these, AMLO calculated.

Much to AMLO's surprise, he got a wet mop in the face from Spain, from its socialist foreign minister, no less. Foreign minister Josep Borrell said Spain would refuse to apologize for the 500-year-old conquest and reminded Mexico that they'd settled these matters many years before. It was an unexpectedly strong sign that the era of Big Apology is now over.

El Pais reports Spain's hard-ass letter of official response:

In a release, the Spanish government said that it "firmly rejects" the arguments contained in the letter, which was sent to the monarch via the Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry. "We emphatically reject its contents," said the Spanish government in a statement after EL PAIS reported on the letter, which is dated March 1. "The arrival of Spaniards 500 years ago to present-day Mexican territory cannot be judged in light of contemporary considerations. Our brother nations have always known how to read our common past without anger and with a constructive perspective," said the Spanish government in its statement.

Notice that Spain pretty much clarified that this isn't the first time this has come up, and the letter suggested that the Spaniards are getting tired of this.

The socialist foreign minister, whose party is feeling heat from Spain's conservatives as election time approaches, came up with some pretty good context to justify that response:

According to El Pais:

Spain's Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that he "deeply" laments the request by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and that, "obviously," Spain is not going to offer such an "extemporaneous apology." "Just like we are not going to ask the French Republic to apologize for what Napoleon's soldiers did when they invaded Spain. Or like the French are not going to ask the Italians to beg forgiveness for Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul," he added.

The Spanish conservatives were even stronger and clearer in why this crap needs to go, pointing out that it was a disgusting bid to rewrite Spain's grand history, which was loaded with creativity, art, wealth creation, discovery, science, and other elements of greatness. It was not without negatives  it wasn't good for Jewish people, who got lumped in with Arabs with the great expulsion of 1492, in a bad reaction to events  but it was hardly a cartoon picture of evil, either. This Spanish official actually knows the history of Spain and points out that leftists are trying to erase those very facts and contexts  in the name of replacing it all with a dreary Ben Rhodesstyle "narrative."

On Tuesday, the leader of the conservative PP, Pablo Casado, nevertheless criticized the government and the "leftist friend of [PM] Pedro Sanchez." "What he [Lopez Obrador] said is a veritable affront to Spain. I will not tolerate it," said Casado, who will be competing with Sanchez for votes at the upcoming general election of April 28. "I don't believe in Spain's black legend. Not in the one that was drafted centuries ago, and not in the one that the complex-ridden left is now trying to draft. We are one of the most important nations in the history of humanity."

That understanding is correct, if you have ever read Paul Johnson's History of the American People and several of his other histories showing the industriousness and impressive faith and achievements of the Spanish empire. It also shows why it's so important that these Spanish conservatives eventually win. The Spanish conservative pol points out that the apology stuff is nothing more than a bid to rewrite an illustrious history in the crummy limited vein of the far left, which never liked the idea of any country (except the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Venezuela) being great. The reality is, the Left never recognizes any achievements that can't be laid at the feet of the Socialist International. Already Spain is an injured party in the field of history, having suffered from the public relations body of lies from historic rival Britain, which in a proto-example of "narrative-making" put out the "Black Legend' to smear Spain, a collection of lies and propaganda aimed at portraying everything dark and dirty in Europe as somehow connected to Spain. To this day, Spain's history continues to be distorted and underappreciated as a result of that.

What's more, Spain was hardly an unalloyed villain in the conquest of Mexico. As Instapundit points out, it literally freed Mexico from slavery and human sacrifice culture of the vicious Aztec empire. "They didn't 'conquer' Mexico. They freed it from the savage Aztec empire," Glenn Reynolds notes. Most important here was Queen Isabella of Castile's watershed declaration that Indians are people, with souls, and worthy of conversion to Christianity. That was something their English rivals were none too clear about, and it stood in stark contrast to the conventional view that most conquering nations though history shared as the common "narrative": that conquered peoples weren't worth any considerations of humanity. Isabella declared Indians human, and that was a huge step forward.

The result was this, which the Spanish conservative politician noted to El Pais:

Casado also said that "unlike what happened with other empires," the Spaniards who went to the Americas "ended up having families there" and mixing with the local populations. "Spaniards went there and ended the power of tribes that were murdering their own neighbors cruelly and viciously."

To sort out even more history, yes, the destruction of the beautiful Aztec capital was tragic, but the Spaniards were not directly responsible, and they themselves wept over it. More important, there was a reason the Mexican Indians chose to convert to the religion of the conquering Spaniards: the sick, morally revolting human sacrifice culture of the Aztecs. The Aztecs were conquered not by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes alone, but through the critical assistance of Mexico's other angry Indian tribes who detested the Aztecs and all their cruelty and wanted them gone, too. One can't forget that when the Aztecs sent a messenger to the rival Tarasco nation, to appeal for military help to fend off Cortes, the Tarasco chief slaughtered the Aztec messenger as his reply.

The 1517 vision of Guadalupe, where the Virgin Mary came down to one of the oppressed Indians with an Indian face and left a famous relic, was an even bigger reason for the Indians to reject the Aztecs and embrace Christianity as their own  the vision proved that it really was theirs, too. When the conquerors' own Mother of God comes down to the conquered Indians and effectively shows, "I'm one of you," and declares that she has done this for "no other people," it's a pretty attractive invitation.

But it doesn't support the current leftist "narrative" very well.

This is why the left wants to command apologies everywhere, make the West guilty of every crime, ignore the very real crimes of other players, whether of socialists or ancient warlords, and leave only socialism in the rubble and remains. Socialists get that well enough without destroying history, but it's important to recognize that the destruction of history is very elemental to the left, dating from Lenin. Mao's cultural revolution was all about destroying history, ripping out and smashing every vestige of China's grand culture, and Pol Pot's Cambodia was all about destroying every memory and even person with memory, in order to build a society from the ground up, making human beings just putty in his hands. Meanwhile, the Bolsheviks were voracious destroyers of history, targeting Russia's beautiful churches, destroying their interiors, stealing the gold and silver to melt down and sell, and then using the proceeds to propagandize Europe. The relics of saints were ground into the Russian spring mud. Now we have the resurgent left in the U.S. striking down historic statues in the dark of night, rewriting history books, and demanding "reparations." Socialist AMLO in Mexico is following this template, targeting Spain, insincerely demanding an apology for 500-year-old "wrongs."

Whether by pressure from Spain's conservatives or just being tired of the same old phony leftist narratives replacing the rich experience of history, Spain put a stop to it. AMLO also demanded an apology from Pope Francis, who's already doled out lots of them on the matter without anyone asking, so it remains to be seen if Pope Francis will put his foot down about the obvious agenda of erasing history as well. Unfortunately, we can't put it past him, but so far, so good.

Spain's response marks a watershed. Let's hope more nations follow suit, because a precedent has now been set.
Recently, while apologizing for his role in the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas more than a quarter-century ago, which involved sexual harassment claims made by Anita Hill, gaffe-prone Joe Biden let loose with quite a volley.

"It's an English jurisprudential culture, a white man's culture," Biden explained. "It's got to change."

In an attempt to outflank other Democrat contenders in the identity politics sweepstakes, Biden became the first presidential candidate to openly question the entire system of law upon which our country is based.

And while it is tempting to dismiss Biden's remarks's desperate opportunism, it is important to remind all Americans that the British legal system is America's greatest inheritance.

Writing on the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta in 2015, author and parliamentarian Daniel Hannan observed:

It was at Runnymede, on June 15, 1215, that the idea of the law standing above the government first took contractual form. King John accepted that he would no longer get to make the rules up as he went along. From that acceptance flowed, ultimately, all the rights and freedoms that we now take for granted: uncensored newspapers, security of property, equality before the law, habeas corpus, regular elections, sanctity of contract, jury trials.

Our Founders built on the rights enunciated in the Magna Carta and on other significant British documents, such as the Petition of Right (1628) and the Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641). The British Constitution is unwritten and is based on the English "common law"  law built through precedent, case by case, which has long served as a protection against excessive state power. And while the people who originated this system may have been "white," the common law is practiced all over the world, in some eighty countries, including India and Hong Kong.

The framers went one step farther and codified the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. "The rights we now take for granted  freedom of speech, religion, assembly and so on  are not the natural condition of an advanced society," Hannan concludes. "They were developed overwhelmingly in the language in which you are reading these words."

To cavalierly dismiss a system of law that has given us all the protections we cherish as our birthright amounts to an attack on America itself.

While Biden is not regarded as a great legal scholar, he did in fact attend law school. Will any member of the Fourth Estate have the courage to ask him: "Sir, if you jettison English jurisprudence, then what would you have us replace it with?"

You can follow Nicholas J. Kaster on Twitter.
Xiaomis latest gaming smartphone is now available in Europe as well, the Black Shark 2. Black Shark is a company backed by Xiaomi, and this is its third gaming smartphone, as the Black Shark and Black Shark Halo are its predecessors.

The Black Shark 2 was announced in mid-March, so it took Xiaomi about half a month to bring it to Europe. The device is now available for purchase directly from the companys website, and it comes in two variants.

If youd like to grab a variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage youll need to pay 549 / 479. If youre more interested in a 12GB RAM model with 256GB of storage, then get ready to pay 649 / 559.

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David Li, VP of Black Shark Global, said that this phone will provide an unmatched experience for European gamers. It is hard to deny that mobile gaming is on the rise, and were seeing more and more gaming smartphones out there, and the Black Shark 2 is one of the best ones, so it will be interesting to see how many people from Europe will decide to get it.

The Black Shark 2 surely has an interesting design which is different compared to the competition. Bezels on this phone are not too thick, but theyre not as thin as youd think either, which is probably a good thing considering this is a gaming phone. Notches and display holes are not present here, while the phone includes two cameras on the back.

The Black Shark 2 comes with a plethora of features for gamers, including the Ludicrous Mode. If you activate this, the phone will push all CPU power towards gaming, so that you get those stellar framerates. Shark Space is yet another interesting feature, a feature that clears up memory in the background via a single key press.

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This smartphone also comes with touch zones, which Black Shark refers to as Master Touch, and those are essentially touch zones to trigger multiple on-screen actions with just two thumbs. These are only some of the features that the Black Shark 2 is equipped with, theres plenty to love on this phone if youre a gamer.

This device is actually a true powerhouse, it comes with high-end specs, which is expected considering this is a gaming phone. The Black Shark 2 is fueled by the Snapdragon 855 64-bit octa-core processor, while it includes 8GB or 12GB of RAM in Europe, as already mentioned.

The phone is equipped with a 6.39-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) AMOLED display, and theres a good reason why Black Shark opted for a fullHD+ panel instead of a QHD+ one, performance, the phone has to push way less pixels this way. Android 9 Pie comes pre-installed on this phone, while the device offers two SIM card slots.

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A 4,000mAh battery is also a part of the Black Shark 2, while the phone supports fast battery charging (27W). The device includes stereo speakers, while you will find 48 and 12-megapixel cameras on the back, while a single 20-megapixel camera is included on the phones front side. If youre interested in purchasing the Black Shark 2, follow the link down below.

Buy the Black Shark 2 (Europe)
AT&T has seemingly given into pressure from both consumers and Viacom as it has now confirmed a number of Viacom-owned channels will be returning to the companys DIRECTV NOW service.

As you might imagine with a retreat like this, AT&T has not yet publicly announced the reversal in any grand fashion, instead opting to simply update the DIRECTV NOW website to advise of the change.

In total there are five channels returning. These are BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nick and Nick Jr.

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The website explains all of these channels will be available on both Plus and Max plans by April 5.

These five channels were all removed when AT&T launched its latest DIRECTV NOW plans. This also came at a time when AT&T was upping the price of access for both new and existing customers.

Both of these changes received a fair amount of criticism on their own and when taken together the distaste was amplified even more.

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This was then followed by what became a contentious and public carrier negotiation between AT&T and Viacom, and at one point the falling out between the two suggested an AT&T-wide Viacom channel blackout was on the cards.

The two companies did eventually agree a deal although at the time the finer details of the deal were not made public. Leading to the assumption the new agreement was focused on retaining access to Viacom channels for the standard DIRECTV and U-verse platforms. Not DIRECTV NOW.

Evidently that has now changed and users of the NOW version of the service can expect the return of these five channels.

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Its worth noting this is not a complete reversal by AT&T as the introduction of the new plans did away with far more than the channels mentioned here.

Overall the number of channels significantly decreased as AT&T seemed to look to re-imagine DIRECTV NOW as a platform designed to showcase networks and channels it owned, including those that were newly-acquired courtesy of the companys Time Warner acquisition.

The channel-culling was most notably felt by Viacom who saw eleven channels it was invested in removed from the main streaming plans. For reference, that equated to all of the Viacom channels that were previously offered on the platform.

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Now, even when taking into consideration the return of these channels, the overall product offered by DIRECTV NOW still is far less than it was before  in terms of the number of channels.

As a result of this, the reversal is not a total loss for AT&T as its goal has always been to cut down on the amount of third-party content it serves (and pays for) and the company will still be doing that  including still cutting back on Viacom content.

Whether this proves to be enough of a meaningful change to satisfy those who have been vocal about their unhappiness with the changes, remains to be seen.

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A number of people had already taken to social media stating their intention to cancel their DIRECTV NOW subscription and switch to another service due to AT&Ts approach of charging more for less.
Industry insider Ice Universe recently revealed that the Samsung Galaxy Note10 will likely feature a larger camera sensor size compared to previous smartphones released by the South Korean tech giant.

While the insider did not provide additional details about the camera sensors that the upcoming handset will sport, this information suggests that the Galaxy Note10 may offer improved image quality, which is to be expected either way.

Increasing the amount of light detected by the sensor should help enhance the low-light performance and dynamic range as well as reduce the noise in the images produced by the handset, presuming that the software side of things is handled properly, of course.

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Even though it may take several more months until Samsung unveils the latest addition to the Galaxy Note lineup, several leaks already supplied some details about the handset. One recent rumor suggests that the Galaxy Note10 will sport four rear cameras, similar to the setup found in the Galaxy S10 5G. However, this latest leak suggests that despite the similarity in the number of rear shooters, the sensors that comprise these cameras may differ between the two handsets.

Meanwhile, the model number of the Galaxy Note10 suggests that there will likely be 5G and LTE-only variants of the smartphone. Just like the Galaxy S10 5G, there could be other hardware features that differentiate the 5G variant of the Galaxy Note 10 from its LTE-only variant aside from the support for next-generation networks.

Based on the trends seen in previous Galaxy Note handsets, the Galaxy Note10 will likely share similar hardware internals with Galaxy S10. A variant of the smartphone that will ship to the United States may sport the Snapdragon 855 SoC, while the model of the handset that will become available in other parts of the world may feature the Exynos 9820 chipset.

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On the other hand, the display of the Galaxy Note10 will feature a 6.66-inch display according to an early rumor, which is interestingly smaller than the panel included with the Galaxy S10 5G. The handset may also sport an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor underneath the Dynamic AMOLED display.

Like earlier Galaxy Note handsets, the upcoming device will likely sport the S-Pen Stylus, and the Galaxy Note10 will come with applications that take advantage of the stylus, which include Samsung Notes, Smart select, and Screen write.

The S-Pen included in the Galaxy Note9 featured a supercapacitor and Bluetooth connectivity, allowing the stylus to work as a remote for several applications, including the Camera app, Google Chrome, and Hancom Office Editor. It is likely that the stylus included with the Galaxy Note 10 will ship with the same functionalities, along with other improvements that the tech giant will include into the writing instrument.

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Given Samsungs yearly launch schedule, the South Korean tech giant will likely announce the Galaxy Note10 in August prior to IFA in Berlin. However, more leaks and teasers surrounding the handset will become available as the launch date draws near. Nonetheless, the predictability of smartphones, which often carry on the technologies and design languages found in previous products released by their manufacturers, gives consumers an early idea on what to expect with the upcoming handsets like the Galaxy Note10.
Sony has announced that it is ceasing smartphone operations in Beijing, China by shutting down a major plant in the far eastern country. The facility would apparently stop all activities in the next few days. A spokesman from the Japanese company has said that the step has been taken to cut costs and improve the profitability of the beleaguered smartphone business that hasnt turned a profit since quite some time.

However, that is not to say that the company has bid its smartphone ambitions goodbye, as it plans to shift manufacturing activities to Thailand to cut costs by as much as 50 percent. The Japanese giant hasnt mentioned how many employees would be laid off as a result of the closure. Apart from making smartphones in Thailand, the company also plans to outsource some manufacturing activities. Sony believes that this move would help it cut down operational costs and make the smartphone business profitable by 2020.

Sonys mobile division has been struggling since some time now. Despite repeated efforts, the company was unable to turn the tide and perhaps thats why such a drastic step has been taken. While other units of Sony mostly continue to do well, the smartphone leg has become something of a sore spot and made a loss of $863 million in the financial year that will end this month. Some industry watchers even believe that Sony should sell off its smartphone business as so far it has been unable to undercut Chinese rivals. The companys global market share is less than one percent and it only managed to sell 6.5 million handsets in the current financial year.

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Other companies, including Apple, are also struggling in China, given its macroeconomic conditions and the strong presence of local players such as Huawei and Xiaomi. Last year, Samsung also decided to shut down its factory in Tianjin because of fierce competition from local brands which caused its sales to decline in the country.

Sonys representative has also said that its latest decision has nothing to do with the worsening relations between the U.S. and China. The two countries have been engaged in tariff and sanction war since a while now.

Although Sony is kind of backing off right now, it has no intentions of quitting and says that its handsets will be a part of the 5G revolution. The company is betting on the next generation of wireless networks to return to profitability by 2020.

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The company is also reportedly planning to merge its mobile unit with the TV, audio, and camera wing and the new leg would allegedly be called Electronics Products and Solutions. While this may help the company hide the specific stats for its mobile unit in the future, it will surely have to get a little more creative than this to make its smartphones profitable in the long run. For now, the company would most likely be focusing on image sensor research & development for Internet of Things (IoT) and self-driving cars. On the smartphone front, we can hope the company to go ahead with the release of the Xperia 1 and its successor but after that, it could take a while before the company launches a new phone.
Posted on: March 29, 2019 4:13 PM

Senior Anglican and Jewish leaders met this week for the latest meeting of the Anglican-Jewish Commission. The Commission is the vehicle for the official dialogue between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. The annual meetings usually alternate between Lambeth Palace and Jerusalem; but this weeks meeting took place in Manchester, England. There is a strong Jewish population here and there is a vibrant Anglican Diocese, the Anglican Co-Chair of the Commission, Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson said.

He added: Weve had the opportunity to meet with local Jewish people, local Anglicans, and also with young people from the Jewish tradition, the Christian tradition and the Islamic tradition who work together; so as well as our own discussion, we have also had the opportunity to hear about what is happening in this community.

The young people were members of the Forum for the Discussion of Israel and Palestine (FODIP). These students shared their experiences of partaking in innovative educational programmes that had equipped them with the language and tools to engage in fruitful conversations over contentious matters related to the Holy Land, as well as to address issues raised about the Holy Land in their own local communities, the Commission said in their communique. The Commission members said that they were impressed by the maturity and impact of these students.

Archbishop Michael said that the commission draws together people who are very conscious of conflict, and yet seek to transcend it through sharing ideas of mutual respect, sharing ideas of the shared identity under God while at the same time having different traditions and wanting to converse with an openness and curiosity.

Rabbi David Rosen, the Interfaith Adviser to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, said that the Commission was established to promote deeper understanding between the leaders of the two communities and to build up friendships, to be able to address challenges today that face our communities equally, and to see ways in which we can offer a message in society, in science and in the major challenges of our contemporary world for the benefit of humanity at large.

The Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani, offered reflections on the current situation in his city. He called for increased efforts for peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land, the communique said.

Rabbi Eliezer Weisz gave a presentation on the meetings theme, Remembering the Past, Committing to the Future, expounded on the concept of memory in the Jewish tradition. He said that its purpose is to internalise and express the ethical messages born out of the peoples collective experience.

He spoke of the six types of memory mentioned in the Pentateuch which are summarised in the daily prayer book after the morning service, the communique said. He added to these the memory of Jerusalem and the Temple after their destruction, central to having guaranteed the future renewal of Jewish life in the peoples ancestral homeland.

The Anglican-Jewish Commission is due to meet in Jerusalem next year. Members expressed their hope of holding sessions at St Georges Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem, at the invitation of Archbishop Suheil Dawani.
Afghanistan ambassador to return back to Islamabad

Afghanistan on Thursday said its ambassador will be returning to Islamabad after Pakistan has clarified remarks made by Prime Minister Imran Khan which the neighbouring country had deemed to be a political interference.



Afghan government had called back ambassador Atif Mashal for consultations. Pakistans deputy ambassador in Kabul was also summoned to lodge protest over Prime Minister Khans remarks about formation of an interim government in Afghanistan. Kabul had angrily dismissed the remarks as irresponsible and interference in Afghanistans internal affairs.



The Foreign Office, however, clarified the prime ministers comments on Afghanistan had been reported out of context. It said the prime minister had actually referred to Pakistans model where elections are held under an interim government and that the comments should not be misinterpreted to imply interference in Afghanistans internal affairs.



Pakistans clarification has convinced the Afghan government. After clarifications provided by the PAK Foreign Ministry and PM Imran Khans retreat from his previous remarks & discussion on the two countries relations; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the I.R. AFG decided that Amb Atif Mashal returns to Islamabad to continue his mission, Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi posted on his Twitter handle.
Chinese cities Urumqi,Puyang,Xian declared sister cities to Karachi,Gwadar,Multan

ISLAMABAD: Chinese cities Urumqi, Puyang and Xian were declared as sister cities to Karachi, Gwadar, and Multan, respectively, at a forum held in Beijing on Thursday to strengthen the bond of friendship between the two countries.



According to a press release issued here, federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr Fehmida Mirza headed a Pakistani delegation at the event during which Pakistani and Chinese officials signed separate agreements in this regard.



Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mirza said Pakistan highly valued its relationship and mutual cooperation with China. She expressed the hope that people-to-people contact and diplomatic visits between the two countries would further deepen bilateral relations at political, social, cultural and economical levels. She underscored the importance of the One Belt One Road project and termed it a milestone initiative for regional connectivity. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project was a basic pillar of Belt and Road Initiative under which most of the early harvest projects had been completed, especially in the fields of infrastructure and energy, she added.



The minister, on behalf of the people of Pakistan, acknowledged and appreciated Chinas support for Pakistan in the recent situation and playing a role in de-escalating tension in South Asia.
Marysville, CA (95901)

Today

Windy with rain likely. Low 46F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Windy with rain likely. Low 46F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.




Eric Hoegen, director completion sales and key account management, AMAC Aerospace Switzerland said: The KA Band Antenna is in high demand as it provides full connectivity on board all aircraft. As previously announced, AMAC Aerospace has been awarded as the Channel Partner Awards from Honeywell as its key partner for the Jet Wave flagship product. AMAC Aerospace Basel, Switzerland, will open its hangar doors in the coming months for a series of aircraft projects, to provide a superior onboard connectivity with the KA-Band solution.



AMAC Aerospace will welcome an ACJ Airbus A319 in Basel, Switzerland, for a cabin refurbishment and a partial cabin reconfiguration. Our team will install a novel VIP bedroom in the Head of States aircraft. A partial cabin reconfiguration will be carried out and AMAC Aerospace will replace all business class seats in the Airbus with new ones.



In addition to the cabin refurbishment and reconfiguration AMAC Aerospace is going perform a C4-Check.



We are very proud to have been awarded a project of this magnitude from a long-term customer. Our teams are really looking forward to this ACJ319 modification. Having been selected shows the Customers appreciation for our engineering and workmanship quality that lead us over the last years to become the leading completion center for large VIP aircraft. said Hoegen.
For more than five years now, Egis has been supporting development and expansion of Saudi Arabias second biggest airport.

The company will provide a design, and project and cost management services to remove the existing HBS machines serving 4 check-in islands in the terminal, and the installation, hook-up and commissioning of detection equipment.

Aviation Middle East Director of Egis Jacques Khoriaty said: Through this new contract Riyadh Airports Company is restating confidence in our extended capabilities on both airside and terminal projects and full-range expertise from consultancy, design, procurement support, and project and construction management. We are delighted to provide continued guidance and support to our client with a specific focus on safety and operational efficiency. Terminal 5 will remain operational during HBS machines replacement and our consultants and our engineers will closely coordinate with all contractors to make sure operations run smoothly until final commissioning.
Chinese foreign ministry urged US to act cautiously on Masood Azhar issue

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Thursday urged the United States to act cautiously on the issue of blacklisting Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and avoid bypassing the relevant committee of the UN Security Council, saying it would only complicate the issue.



The comment came a day after the US bypassed the 1267 Sanctions Committee  where an earlier move to blacklist Azhar had stalled recently  and directly filed a draft resolution with the UNSC to designate the JeM leader.



Speaking during a regular press briefing in Beijing today, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the US move was not in line with the resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations.



He remarked that this action had undermined the authority of the sanctions committee as the main anti-terrorism body of the UNSC. "Such an act will do nothing to facilitate a solution through consultation and will only lead to further complication of the issue," Geng added.



The spokesperson urged the US to "exercise prudence and refrain from forceful actions" to have the resolution passed.



Explaining Beijing's position on the issue, he said since the Chinese side needed more time to conduct a "comprehensive and thorough assessment", it had put a technical hold on the listing of Azhar on March 13.



This, according to the official, was in line with the rules of procedure of the UN committee and there are precedents of technical holds in such cases.



Geng said the listing of the JeM chief involved a series of complex factors and so China has been working to seek a proper solution through dialogue and consensus.



"The Security Council should act prudently and play a constructive role by allowing time and space for dialogue and consultation between parties concerned," the spokesperson concluded.



The US had on Wednesday circulated a draft resolution to the UNSC that would blacklist Azhar as a terrorist, setting up a potential clash with China over the move.



China earlier this month put on hold a request to put the JeM chief on the UN sanctions list, over his alleged ties to Al Qaeda.



That request stalled in the UN sanctions committee, prompting the US to turn directly to the Security Council with the proposed resolution blacklisting Azhar.



India claims that JeM has accepted responsibility for the February 14 attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir's Pulwama district that killed 40 Indian troops and stoked tensions between India and Pakistan. However, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi denied in a television interview that this was the case.



The draft resolution obtained by AFP condemns the suicide bombing and decides that Azhar will be added to the UN Al Qaeda and Islamic State sanctions blacklist.



That would subject Azhar to a global travel ban, an assets freeze and an arms embargo.



It remained unclear when a vote would be held on the draft resolution, which could face a veto from China, one of the five permanent council members along with Britain, France, Russia and the United States.



Azhar is linked to terrorism for participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities carried out by JeM, according to an annex to the draft.



The draft resolution is backed by France and Britain, which joined the US earlier this month in pushing for sanctions against the JeM leader in the Al Qaeda and Islamic State committee.
Luis Biava joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1968 as a violinist and ended up staying more than three decades, but he never had a title that fully captured everything he meant to the ensemble and the organization. He was a respected conductor and, sitting among the first-stand players near the podium, was ready to be called upon to lead a concert at the last minute. He was an unofficial diplomat, once defusing (in Spanish) a very tense labor dispute that broke during a tour rehearsal in Mexico City.  The Philadelphia Inquirer
In todaysdrama column, which appears in the papers online edition, I review an important off-Broadway revival of. Heres an excerpt.

* * *

With the opening of Juno and the Paycock, the Irish Repertory Theatre has put in place two of the three central panels in its OCasey Season. In case you havent heard, New Yorks best off-Broadway theater troupe is celebrating its 30thanniversary by presenting staged productions in rotating repertory of all three plays in Sean OCaseys Dublin Trilogy (along with concert-style readings of his 17 other plays). The Shadow of a Gunman, the first installment of the trilogy, opened last month to awe-inspiring effect. Now the Irish Rep has gotten around to Juno, a modern masterpiece that was last seen there six years ago in a breathtakingly fine revival starring J. Smith-Cameron and staged by Charlotte Moore, the companys artistic director. I doubt that Juno will receive a more eloquent or sympathetic production in my lifetime, I wrote in 2013. I was right, too. This new revival, directed by Neil Pepe, is no better than its predecessorbut its every bit as good.

First performed in 1924, Juno is, like Shadow, a domestic tragicomedy set in Dublin at a time when Ireland was cloven by political violence. The title characters are Jack (Ciaran OReilly), a lazy, jobless braggart whose family and friends call him the Paycock (i.e., peacock) because of his windy vanity, and Juno (Maryann Plunkett), his long-suffering wife, whose hope-starved life is upended when Jack receives an unexpected inheritance from an estranged cousin. This being a Sean OCasey play, you know at once that no possible good can come of the money, and even though the immediate results of the bequest are uproariously farcical, what happens at evenings end to Juno, her loud-mouthed husband and their two hapless children (Ed Malone and Sarah Street) is terrible almost beyond belief.

Jack has the flashiest part, and Mr. OReilly, who also played him in 2013, nails it, strutting from scene to scene and chasing his modest potbelly around the stage as if it were the drum major of a marching band. Nevertheless, it is the actor who plays Juno on whose stooped shoulders rests the ultimate success of any revival of Juno and the Paycock, and Ms. Plunkett, like Ms. Smith-Cameron before her, is more than equal to the challenge. Her performance is strikingly subduedshe never raises her voice, not even oncebut the effects of prolonged disappointment are etched so deeply on her features that she neednt say a word to win your sympathy.

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Read the whole thing

A featurette about the Irish Reps revival of Juno and the Paycock:
Alia already has films like Sadak 2, Inshallah, Takht and Brahmastra among others to film this year.

Alia, who is currently in New Delhi shooting for Rajamoulis film RRR has finally allocated dates from her busy calendar to Masaan director Neeraj Ghaywan. Neeraj, who was already signed up by Karan Johars Dharma Productions to direct a film for them, has made time by the end of the year to shoot for the film based on the life of mountaineer Arunima Sinha. Its really going to be tough for Alia to manage her dates with her busy kitty, but she has been managing well and allocated dates immediately for Rajamoulis RRR at a short notice and has also managed to give dates to Ghaywan for the biopic. As majority of her films are being bankrolled by Dharma Productions, it was easier for her to allot dates because the producers will know how to manage with her dates, as they are well aware of her calendar. Karan and team can also juggle the dates around for her films, says a trade source.

Neeraj in the meantime has been busy with the second season of Sacred Games and will start prep for the Arunima Sinha biopic once he wraps up the shoot. Alia already has films like Sadak 2, Inshallah, Takht and Brahmastra among others to film this year.

Sanskriti Media
What follows in the end is so horrific post his actions, sparking a tragic event that was felt around the world.

Rating:

Cast: Sharman Joshi, Stephen Baldwin, Shari Rigby

Director: Aneesh Daniel

The politics of India may claim to take place within the framework of the countrys Constitution, and the federal authority of the Election Commission in the Indian polity may be termed unbiased and independent, but the recent spate of film releases as propaganda films eulogising the present regime leaves us in utter disbelief. While revisiting the gruesome murders of the Australian missionary and two children in 1999, one would instantly expect the setting ablaze of three lives by members of the Hindu fundamentalist organisation, the Bajrang Dal, to be highlighted. Based on a true story and shot on location in India, The Least of These attempts to illustrate the power of love, hope and forgiveness to overcome hate.

Being based on an incident that is only 20 years old and has many pieces of evidence, one would have expected the film to be a chilling retelling of an account that shook the world. But instead, the film does not even refer to some accurate information for us to recall the incident that is still fresh in our memory. The film simply glosses over the fact that it was the Hindu fundamentalists who set fire to Staines and his sons, aged 10 and six, as they slept in their station wagon in a remote village in Odisha on January 23, 1999.

Strangely, maybe since elections are round the corner, director Aneesh Daniel plays it safe and doesnt even so much as mention in passing the identity of the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

The story of Graham Staines has been such that it doesnt need any other factual details to weave into the 112-minute social stigma so starkly present not just in rural India but also in the most urban landscape of the Asian subcontinent: leprosy. During the political and social turmoil that saw Indias social fabric disintegrating in the 90s, a journalist, Manav Banerjee (Sharman Joshi), moves with his pregnant wife to the state of Odisha to look for greener pastures and the hope of a better life with the promise of a lucrative career. After bagging a job in a newspaper whose editor speculates the local Australian missionary, Graham Staines (Stephen Baldwin)s illegal involvement and proselytisation of leprosy patients to Christianity, Manav agrees to investigate further. As he delves deeper into the abyss of a series of startling revelations, he finds it difficult to believe at first, and, later, even harder to come to terms with it. Oscillating between his sense of duty, he dithers over his commitment towards his pregnant wife Shanti (Aditi Chengappa), and his nose for investigative journalism. Manav is left with no choice between his own ambition and the truth. What follows in the end is so horrific post his actions, sparking a tragic event that was felt around the world.

The Least of These needed to have blended elements of fictional characters, and would have on its own, recounted the horrors that turn into tragedy by all those who many in our country believe is their legitimate right. That some members of the Christian faith have been involved in conversions may or may not be the hard reality; what is shockingly worrisome are the complete denial first, and subsequently, the culprits getting away scot-free.

The protagonist in Manav is a committed scribe who is unaware of leprosy and how it is not contagious. When he is confronts Staines and accuses him of breaking local laws regarding religious conversion, he begins to get into the depths of the menace that has lied buried for years: the local apathy and hatred. Manav also learns that while people are free to change their affiliation, missionaries are not allowed to offer money or other inducements to prompt a conversion. His initial distrust in Staines is soon converted to admiration, and Staines wins him over with his complete dedication and commitment to the place as also to the disease and treatment. Later it is Manavs inadvertent helplessness and juvenile handling of the local residents that result in Staines getting killed.

If you are looking for a recreation of history in this film, you are bound to be disappointed. The main accused for the ghastly murders, for which Bajrang Dal member Dara Singh continues to serve a life sentence, is missing in the film that is based on a real-life incident. As the film shows, it is the journalist and his naivete and frivolity that led to the murders. And, since the story sounds unconvincing, Sharman Joshi too suffers from being unconfident in carrying forward the film on his slim shoulders.
The blast in Samjhauta Express took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007.

Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the UPA government and the Congress will have to be held accountable for the case falling flat in court. (Image: ANI)

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday used the Samjhauta train blast case verdict to target the Congress-led UPA government, saying the "Hindu terror" theory was established to further its political gains but the real culprits got away.

Addressing a press conference here, Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the UPA government and the Congress will have to be held accountable for the case falling flat in court. "To establish their theory of Hindu terror, a wrong set of people were framed; innocent people lost their lives (in the blast) and the real culprits were not caught," he said.

Jaitley said in a bid to establish their theory, the Congress and the then UPA regime "defamed" the entire Hindu community for which people will "never forgive them". All the four accused, Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary were acquitted by the special NIA court in Panchkula earlier this month. The blast in Samjhauta Express took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari, the last railway station on the Indian side.
Complete de-escalation with India has not taken place so far: FO

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday said that the tense situation with India had not fully de-escalated yet. FO spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal, in response to a question at the weekly media briefing, said: Complete de-escalation has not taken place so far.



Pakistan and India had, after the events of Feb 26 and 27, moved to de-escalate the situation. Pakistan led the way by releasing apprehended Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, whose MiG-21 intruded into Pakistani airspace. Later, on March 5, Pakistan announced the return of its High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood to New Delhi and its intention to initiate negotiations on the Kartarpur Corridor Agreement. India reciprocated by returning its envoy to Islamabad and later hosting Kartarpur Corridor talks. However, the air forces and armies of both countries remain operationally deployed.



Islamabad has, meanwhile, responded to Delhis dossier on the Pulwama incident (killings that sparked the recent military standoff between the two countries), telling the latter that nothing could be found linking Pakistan to the attack. While investigating the information given by India, Pakistan authorities took into custody 54 of the 90 suspects identified in the dossier handed over by its neighbour.



The remaining Pakistanis mentioned in the Indian paper could not be identified as there are no details, like CNIC number, mobile number, residential address etc. It is hard to find a person only with a name. Fifty-four Pakistanis were identified, who are being investigated. No links connecting them to Pulwama have been found, the spokesperson said.



Meanwhile, at an Islamabad briefing for the diplomatic corps on Pakistans response to the Pulwama dossier, it was said that the involvement of any individual could, at this stage, neither be confirmed nor denied. Additionally, it was said that more details had been sought from India and the service providers  WhatsApp and Telegram.



Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhars name is not on the list of suspects provided by India although the group claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack and India had been pushing that Azhars name be put on the UN Security Council terrorist list.



Regarding the name of Maulana Masood Azhar being mentioned, the dossier does not claim any linkage of Maulana Masood Azhar with the Pulwama incident, said Dr Faisal on Thursday.



Responding to a question about a fresh resolution tabled in the Security Council regarding Azhar, the FO spokesperson said: Listing is purely a technical issue and the appropriate forum to address this is the UN Security Councils 1267 Sanctions Committee. We regret that the resolution has been tabled in the UN Security Council, at a time when the matter is already under consideration by the 1267 Sanctions Committee.
The next round of talks are scheduled to be held on April 2 at Wagah border.

The statement said, 'It has been conveyed that the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistans response.' (Representational Image)

New Delhi: India on Friday summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner here and conveyed concerns over the presence of several Khalistani separatists in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor, sources said.

India also asked Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah his country's stand on on key proposals put forward by New Delhi at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, they said.

A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement said it has been conveyed to the Paksitani side that the next meeting on the modalities of the corridor can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan's response.

The next round of talks were scheduled to be held on April 2 at Wagah border.

In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, the statement said.

The Indian government remains committed to realising the long pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner, it said. India has asked Pakistan to allow pilgrims to travel on foot, if they wish.

It also urged that another 10,000 pilgrims be allowed access on festivals like Baisakhi and Gurupurab. Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.

Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district. Two days later, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, 125 km from Lahore.

New Delhi: India on Friday has shared concerns and sought clarifications on reports that controversial elements have been appointed by Pakistan to a committee to be associated with the Kartarpur Corridor, a foreign ministry statement said.

The statement said, It has been conveyed that the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistans response.

The next round of talks are scheduled to be held on April 2 at Wagah border.
YouTube channel will solely telecast PM Modi's events.

New Delhi: NaMo TV, the YouTube channel solely dedicated to the broadcast of events and programmes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will soon be beaming live through various DTH platforms directly to millions of homes.

Sources in the BJP stated that the party has held wide ranging talks with several DTH operators for the broadcast of the channel. While test runs have begun on a couple of DTH platforms others too are likely to begin operations this week.

With the nation fully in the grip of the Lok Sabha poll campaign and Modi being the lead campaigner for the party, the BJP feels that the airing of NaMo TV will definitely help it in reaching out to the voters across the nation.

The move to broadcast NaMo TV through DTH platforms was taken by the party as it was felt that this would help enable the BJP to reach out to more people across the country. This is also expected to compensate the lack of availability of national broadcaster, Doordarshan, for the live broadcast of all of Modis rallies. Sources stated that due to the Election Commission of Indias model code of conduct for the general election in place the public service broadcaster can not telecast all events being attended or addressed by Modi.

NaMo TV is a channel which is dedicated to live telecast of political rallies and speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The channel also streams compilations of Modis speeches in the Parliament. Interestingly, broadcasts of Modis interaction with BJP party workers is also a regular feature. The YouTube channel also acts as an archive for all such material related to him. BJPs campaigns for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls like #Namumkinabmumkinhai and #Mainbhichowkidar are prominently featured on the channel.

While the channel has over two million subscribers on YouTube sources stated that once it begins broadcast across all DTH platforms the reach of this channel would grow multifold.
Andhra Pradesh people will retire N Chandrababu Naidu, says KT Rama Rao

Hyderabad: Fresh from the landslide win in the Assembly election, TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao is upbeat that the party win all the 16 seats in the state and its ally MIM one. This is possible due to the impeccable governance of TRS supremo and chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao whose welfare and development schemes have become role model for various states and the country, Mr Rama Rao said in an exclusive interview to The Asian Age.

Stating that the time had come for a change in national politics and that he was sure that a non-BJP non-Congress Federal Front would emerge, Mr Rama Rao said Mr Chandrasekhar Rao, who had achieved statehood for Telangana and was twice elected chief minister, had all the qualities and capabilities to become Prime Minister and set the tone for a new era.

My personal opinion is he should lead the state for another 10 to 15 years, Mr Rama Rao added.

Asserting that coalition governments would continue to stay, he said that between the Rafale and Bofors sagas of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, a non-BJP non-Congress coalition would emerge with 150 to 170 Lok Sabha seats.

Taking a swipe against Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Mr Rama Rao said, AP people will retire him. Forget spinning chakram (kingmaker) in New Delhi, Naidu cant even spin a bongaram (spinning top) in Vijayawada.

On the return gift to Mr Naidu, he said with a laugh that it had become a popular term and said, Wait till May 23.

He said political defections were quite common during the elections, and pointed out that a TRS MP and 4 MLCs had joined the Congress before the Assembly polls.

The Congress calls to save democracy. The party which imposed Emergency was the Congress. Now it talks about democracy. Congress not only talks of save democracy, but also accuses us of purchasing MLAs as if they are commoditiescattle. I might ask same question to Congress. I saw Congress President Rahul Gandhi putting a tricolour scarf on a BJP leader. For how much you (Mr Gandhi) have bought for?

Stop the bakwas. All MLAs who joined TRS have asserted they will resign from the Assembly as per the rule, he said.

Mr Rama Rao said they party had denied tickets to some sitting MPs for 100 reasons and would have been rewarded later if they had stayed put in the party.

Blaming the Centre for the farmers woes in Nizamabad since the MSP is decided by it, he alleged that part of the agitation was politically motivated. We will face it. Congress, BJP leaders are involved and want to confuse voters in Armoor and Balkonda. There is no threat to TRS as such, he said.

On Mr Naidu whipping up sentiments against Telangana and Mr Chandrasekhar Rao, he said it would have worked if the TS Chief Minister had worked against Andhra interests. KCR helped victims of Cyclone Hudhud, went to Amaravati to greet people on the occasion of foundation stone for the new capital. If Andhra voters were against KCR, we would not have won GHMC or Hyderabad elections. Its telling commentary on how Andhra people are happy in Telangana, he added.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Madras High Court order of conviction of life term to Saravana Bhavan owner.

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Madras High Court order of conviction of life term to Saravana Bhavan owner, P Rajagopal, for murdering one of his employees in 2001. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Madras High Court order of conviction of life term to Saravana Bhavan owner, P Rajagopal, for murdering one of his employees in 2001.

The owner of Saravana Bhavan, who was out on bail granted by the Supreme Court in 2009, has to surrender by July 7.

Rajagopal had challenged the Madras High Court verdict, sentencing him to life for murdering Santhakumar. The prosecution had argued that the motive behind the murder was that the Saravana Bhavan owner wanted to marry the employee's wife, Jeevajothi as his third wife and plotted the murder.

Santhakumar was murdered and buried at Perumalmalai in the Kodaikanal forests.

Saravana Bhavan, a well-known restaurant chain, has its outlets in 20 countries including the US, the UK, France and Australia. There are 25 restaurants in India including in Delhi.
The petitions filed seek the quashing of the Constitution (103 Amendment) Act, 2019.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday deferred its hearing till April 8 on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections of society in employment and educational institutions.

The apex court had already said that it would not stay the operation of the amendment to provide 10 per cent reservation for economically backward communities. The Centre had justified the quota and said the amendment was brought in to promote social equality by providing opportunities in higher education and employment to those who have been excluded by virtue of their economic status.

During the resumed hearing on Thursday, senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for one of the petitioners, told a bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and Abdul Nazeer that the hearing should not be delayed as this would lead to massive appointments. He also pleaded for referring the matter for hearing by a five-judge Constitution Bench.

Attorney-general K.K. Venugopal, however, opposed the matter being referred for hearing by a Constitution Bench. Justice Bobde then told the counsel that the matter would be listed on April 8.

The petitions filed seek the quashing of the Constitution (103 Amendment) Act, 2019.
Though intially the barbs against the BJP leadership were cotton wrapped, off late they had acquired the well known Shotgun wit.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi meets Shatrughan Sinha in New Delhi on Thursday. The actor is set to formally join the Congress on April 6. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Not the one to hold back punches  both verbal as well as physical, the Bihari babu of Hindi cinema, popularly known as Shotgun Sinha for his quick repartee and gift of the gab, well known actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha will formally join the Congress on April 6, the auspicious day of Navaratri.

Mr Sinha, who has been associated with the BJP since almost 30 years, had met Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday and was suppose to officially announce his association with the party, but later decided to do so on the April 6, which marks the beginning of the nine-days long Navaratri celebrations.

"Painfully....on the way out of BJP....But hopefully in the best direction under the dynamic leadership of my dear friend Lalu Yadav and the desirable, most talked about leader from the Nehru Gandhi family... the true family of nation builders.., he tweeted on Thursday evening with a photograph of his him shaking hands with Mr Gandhi.

A close associate of BJP patriarch L K Advani, Mr Sinha had been openly critical of the party's various decisions and actions for the last three years.

When the BJP left out Mr Advani and another party veteran Mr Murli Manohar Joshi from its list of contestants for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Mr Sinha did not mince his words.

"For a man of the standing & stature of Shri. L.K.Advani & for other veterans like Shri Murli Manohar Joshi & Shri Shanta Kumar also...totally humiliating! It has hurt the entire nation. People are aghast at this action," he had tweeted.

The veteran actor, who was a two-time Rajya Sabha MP from the BJP between 1996 and 2008, before he fought and won from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat twice in 2009 and in 2014 on the party's ticket, is keen to contest from there again.

There is a likelihood that if the script goes according to his liking, then Mr Sinha may contest on a Congress ticket against union minister Ravishankar Prasad, whom the BJP has given the ticket from Patna Sahib, in place of the rebel actor.

Though intially the barbs against the BJP leadership were cotton wrapped, off late they had acquired the well known Shotgun wit.

Sample some of these: "Party in MP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra...& in most of your alliances too. By the way Sir, what happened to your promise of #CongressMuktBharat? Also gone with the wind like 'Smart Cities' & other promises?! Don't worry Sir, it's now right time for #CongressYuktBharat Jai Hind!," Mr Sinha had tweeted earlier this month, directly addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Also he had earlier tweeted, "fulfill some or all your promises and reduce the gap between the promises & performances."
Attacking the Congress over the Samjhauta blast verdict, Mr Jaitley said people cannot tolerate an entire community being labelled as terrorists.

New Delhi: Citing the Samjhauta train blast case judgment to assert that the probe focussed on establishing the Congresss political theory of Hindu terror, the BJP on Friday accused the Opposition party of smearing Hindus on the basis of forged evidence for political benefits. The ruling party asserted that wrong set of people were framed by forging evidence and the entire Hindu community was smeared, something that happened for the first time in history.

Taking a swipe at the Congress, including its president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over their temple visits, senior BJP leader and Union minister Arun Jaitley said those who believed Hindus to be terrorists are now busy showing their dedication to the religion. In an apparent reference to Mrs Vadras visit to Ayodhya, Mr Jaitley said it is good that they visit temples and also acknowledge that it is the birthplace of Lord Ram.

Attacking the Congress over the Samjhauta blast verdict, Mr Jaitley said people cannot tolerate an entire community being labelled as terrorists.

Reading parts of the judgment slamming the National Investigation Agency for miserably failing to prove allegations against the accused - all of whom, including Swami Aseemanand, were acquitted - Mr Jaitley said the investigation was carried out between 2007-09 when the UPA was in power.

In its judgement, the court said it has to conclude this judgment with deep pain and anguish as a dastardly act of violence remained unpunished for want of credible and admissible evidence. There are gaping oles in the prosecution evidence and an act of terrorism has remained unsolved.

The blast in Samjhauta Express which travels between India and Pakistan took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007.

Who will take accountability for this? It rests with the leadership of the Congress. The society will never forgive them, the BJP leader, accompanied by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman told a press conference.

He said innocents were killed in the blast but investigators focussed not on real culprits but on establishing the political theory of Hindu terrorism, alleging that the Congress gave the slogan of

Hindu terrorism for its vote bank politics. He added that in other cases also evidence were forged to probe this theory, for political benefits.

The finance minister said the US state department kept telling India about terrorists involved in blasts and gave their names as well but that line of investigation was not pursued. There were reports that the US state department suspected terror outfit LeTs role in the blasts.
Patel will not be able to contest the LS election as the Representation of Peoples Act does not permit a convicted person to take part in the polls.

Ahmedabad: In a major setback for young Patidar leader Hardik Patel, now with the Congress, the Gujarat high court on Friday rejected his application for a stay on his conviction in a 2015 rioting case.

Mr Patel will not be able to contest the Lok Sabha election as the Representation of Peoples Act does not permit a convicted person to take part in the polls. The Congress had intended to field him from the Jamnagar Lok Sabha constituency.

In 2017, Mr Patel was convicted by a local court and sentenced to two years in prison in a case of rioting in Visanagar of North Gujarat during agitation for reservations for the Patidars. His sentence was suspended and he was granted bail.

On March 8, Mr Patel filed an application in the high court to stay his conviction so that he could fight the election. The Gujarat government had opposed the petition in court, arguing that he had broken the law many times in the past and a law-breaker shouldnt be allowed to be a law-maker.

Reacting to the court ruling, Mr Patel said, I accept the judgment, but my question to the BJP is why it is stopping a 25-year-old leader from contesting the election? Is it my fault that I didnt bow to them? I am not scared, I will continue to fight for the people. After joining the Congress in presence of party president Rahul Gandhi on March 12 at a public rally in Ahmedabad, Mr Patel had made it clear that he was willing to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jamnagar in Saurasthra. He had started meeting party workers there.

The Congress idea of fielding Mr Patel from Jamnagar was to attract Patel votes. In 2017, during the Gujarat Assembly election, Mr Patel and his supporters of the Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) had helped the Congress increase its tally.

Now that it is clear that Mr Patel cannot contest, the Congress intends to use his strengths in the campaign. His name has been included in the list of star campaigners of the party for Uttar Pradesh.

Sources close to Mr Patel said he may move the Supreme Court challenging the high court ruling. The last date to file nominations for all 26 seats in Gujarat is April 4, and polling to be held on April 23 in the third phase.
Ramesh also slammed the Prime Minister for saying that the opposition has no right to abuse.

New Delhi: Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a jobs destroyer PM, the Congress on Friday termed as a lie his remarks that the governments Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana gave a boost to employment and alleged that he had conducted a surgical strike on jobs last year.

Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh, at a press conference, cited data by the Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) to inform that in 2018, 1 crore jobs were destroyed in various sectors due to demonetisation and hasty implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.

It is the first time in history that under a Prime Minister jobs have not been created but destroyed, and history will remember him as a jobs destroyer PM, he said.

In an interview to a television channel, the Prime Minister had said, Imagine, 4 crore people, its a total of 15 to 17 crore - exact number will be here or there - who have taken money from banks via Mudra scheme. Four crore people have taken money for the first time. They must have started some employment, they must have employed somebody.

Mr Ramesh said, The Prime Minister says that there has been a revolution in creating jobs through Mudra. I havent heard a bigger lie than this. In 2017-18, close to 90 per cent of the loans had an average size of Rs 24,840. This is completely inadequate for even one job, let alone 2-5 as claimed by the Prime Minister.

Only two per cent of Mudra loans were greater than Rs 5 lakh under which employment conceivably could be generated from the returns of the loan, Ramesh said.

You do different kinds of surgical strikes, at the border, in space, anytime, that is different. But the reality of unemployment that is there on the ground, you did not do a surgical strike on that. However, you did a surgical strike on employment in 2018. Demonetisation was a surgical strike, hasty implementation of GST was also a surgical strike. 1 crore people were affected by this surgical strike, the senior Congress leader said.

Mr Ramesh also slammed the Prime Minister for saying that the opposition has no right to abuse.

The PM is a master in abusing and is giving sermon to opposition parties, he said.

If there is no data (on jobs), then do they have the right to abuse? If they dont have the data, do they have the right to abuse? Modi said in his interview.
Priyanka was interacting with Cong workers when they said that if she contests from Rae Bareilly or Amethi, BJP will be finished.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the sitting MP from Varanasi, Priyanka's mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi represents Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha. (Photo: File)

Rae Bareilly: When Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary and incharge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, was urged by her party supporters on Thursday to contest from Rae Bareilly or Amethi, she apparently responded in a lighter vein why not Varanasi!'.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the sitting MP from Varanasi, Priyanka's mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi represents Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha.

Priyanka was interacting with Congress workers when they requested her to contest from Varanasi. They said that if she contests from Rae Bareilly or Amethi, the BJP will be finished, sources said.

Immediately, Priyanka quipped jokingly, "why not Varanasi", sources added.

The Congress general secretary, who is currently on a three-day tour to Amethi, Rae Bareilly and Ayodhya, on Wednesday said that she would contest the ensuing Lok Sabha elections if the party wanted her to do so.

Meanwhile, posters slamming Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka were spotted outside the party office here today.

Posters with photos of Sonia and Priyanka have sprung up in the constituency, stating that the mother-daughter duo was never seen when people of Rae Bareilly were hassled.

Read: Posters slamming Sonia, Priyanka Gandhi surface in Raebareli

Referring to Priyanka as the granddaughter of Firoz (Gandhi) and mother of Rehan, another poster stated: She (Priyanka) is seen in temples during the course of election.

Votes were given so that they could serve (us) but Sonia-Priyanka disappointed us, stated another poster.

Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in seven phases, from April 11 to May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading.
Court summoned Pervez Musharraf on May 2

A special court hearing the high treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf Thursday summoned the former military dictator on May 2 to record his statement, warning the bench will issue an appropriate order if he fails to appear.



Defending lawyer Salman Safdar said the former president wished to appear in court on May 13. Upon hearing this, the three-member bench headed by Justice Tahira Safdar directed Musharraf to appear before the holy month of Ramazan. If he can come to court on May 13, he can also appear [before the court] on May 2. If he doesnt, the court will pass an appropriate order regarding recording his statement, Justice Tahira said.



Musharrafs counsel said his client is suffering from a rare disease and his chemotherapy is underway, adding that it is necessary for him to stay in the hospital for eight hours in a day for treatment. He said Musharraf is also suffering from backbone problem after he slipped and fell down in the bathroom.



The lawyer argued that Musharrafs case should be treated like any other case. You cannot record a statement under Section 342 in Musharrafs absence. If the suspect is to be punished, his presence in court is necessary, he argued. Justice Tahira said the court will hear the new request later. First, tell us whether your arguments regarding Musharrafs appearance in the court have completed, she said.



Returning to the original question of Musharrafs appearance in court, Justice Tahira asked the prosecution lawyer what options the court has if a suspect does not appear in court in such a case. The prosecutions lawyer replied that in the absence of the suspect, his lawyers appearance can be counted as his appearance in court. If the lawyer is also declining to appear before the court then what happens? Justice Tahira asked. In such a case, under Section 9 of the special court rules, the court itself can appoint a lawyer, the prosecutor responded.



The court also handed over a questionnaire under Section 342 to Musharrafs counsel, who requested the court to provide a complete record of the high treason case against his client. To this, the court asked the defence counsel to submit a proper application in this regard.



Suleman Safdar said his client is not an absconder, and in fact the federal government allowed him to travel abroad for medical treatment. When Safdar mentioned the Supreme Courts remarks likening Musharraf to British dictator Oliver Cromwell, the special court told him to focus on the case.



The counsel opposed the option to record the former dictators statement through Skype application. He also opposed the trial option in the absence of his client.



Meanwhile, Musharrafs counsel submitted a separate application to the court seeking orders for cabinet approval to continue the trial proceeding. The former government had initiated a case against his client without permission of the cabinet.



A high treason case can only be registered by the federal government, which includes the federal cabinet, not the interior ministry. The trial is illegal has no legal standing, the counsel maintained, adding that the trial cannot take place without the approval of the federal cabinet.
DJ Wika, an eighty-year-old DJ, parties every Monday night in the Polish capital.

Warsaw: Donning yellow trousers, shiny platform shoes, red lipstick and headphones, 80-year-old DJ Wika stands behind the decks, mixing party music in a huge Warsaw club. Instead of baby-sitting grandchildren, Polands oldest DJ Wirginia Szmyt packs her CDs, mixer and laptop and heads off to spin for a packed dance floor of mainly senior citizens.

I dont care if someone likes it or not that I am dancing or jumping behind the console, because I cannot play and stay still, said Wika, raising her hands to clap with her audience. When I play, I feel the melody, I feel the rhythm, she added.

Aware of the rejuvenating quality of music for the mind and body, the self-trained Wika has been DJ-ing for Polish retirees for two decades, earning widespread respect in the trade. Every Monday night, she entertains about 1,000 people at the Hulakula club, smashing stereotypes and empowering seniors as she plays everything from disco and rock to samba and ballads.

I do not fit the stereotype of an elderly person. I dont see a reason why my age should determine my life norms, Wika, a former special educational teacher, told Reuters. I used to work with young people and I kept this youthful outlook and youthful expectations, she said.

Talking about youth and inspiration, she said, My message to youths is that your life does not end when you are 70. They would say Miss Wika we are already 40, we are so old. And I am twice as old as you and... I am not old, by no means.
The bus was en route to Delhi from U.Ps Jalaun district when the incident occurred at 5 am under Rabupura police station limits, said the police.

GREATER NOIDA: In a tragic incident, eight people were killed on Friday morning when a privately operated bus rammed into a stationary truck on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida. Another 30 people on board the bus were injured and rushed to a private hospital for treatment.

The bus was en route to Delhi from U.Ps Jalaun district when the incident occurred at 5 am under Rabupura police station limits, said the police.

U.P chief minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the deaths, while top officials of Gautam Buddh Nagar, including district magistrate B.N. Singh and police chief Vaibhav Krishna, met the victims in the hospital. I am saddened by the demise of eight people in a bus accident in Greater Noida today. Praying for the peace of the departed souls and strength to their families. Also wishing a speedy recovery to the passengers injured in the accident, Mr Adityanth tweeted. Police circle officer of Jewar, Sharat Chandra Sharma said: Eight people were killed and 30 injured in the incident. The victims were rushed to the nearby Kailash Hospital in Jewar. The speeding bus rammed into a tanker which was moving relatively slowly.

The exact cause of the incident is yet to be confirmed, but prima facie it appears that the driver was drowsy. The tanker was moving at a slower pace and the speeding bus could have comfortably overtaken it, but instead rammed into it, Mr Sharma said. The deceased have been identified as bus driver Mahesh Kumar (48), helper Bandu (25), passengers Vineeta (32), Arun (42), Asad (12), Suman (35) and Vishwanath Tiwari (75). The passengers were from Jalaun, while the driver and helper hailed from Dhaulpur in Rajasthan, a police spokesperson said, adding that three women and three children were among the 30 injured who hail from Auraiya, Jalaun, Phaphund and Noida.

The identity of one deceased was yet to be established, the official added. Earlier, an official spokesperson said the chief minister had taken prompt cognisance of the incident and issued directions for immediate relief for the victims. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also condoled the death of the bus passengers and appealed for a compensation for injured and the kin of the deceased from the state government.
A co-founder of the Afghan Taliban movement, his role is seen as critical to the effort to end the 18-year war.

Surely, each one of those representing the Taliban in the negotiations has a story of struggle, of being in power and a life in detention. (Photo: AP/Representational)

He was captured on Feb. 8, 2010, in a joint CIA-ISI raid outside Karachi. The Obama administration described the arrest of the Afghan Taliban's second-in-command as a turning point in its war in Afghanistan. He remained in confinement as the Taliban insurgency swept across the country.

In what could be termed as an irony of history, nine years later, Mullah Baradar sat across the negotiation table with American officials to discuss the timeline for the withdrawal of the occupation forces from his homeland. He had been released by Pakistani security agencies last year on America's request.

A co-founder of the Afghan Taliban movement, his role is seen as critical to the effort to end the 18-year war. The long confinement seems to have increased Baradars respect among the Taliban commanders. After the death of Mullah Omar, he is the de facto leader of the movement. His presence in the negotiations has given greater authority to the Taliban delegation. Though it is not going to be easy, progress in talks had raised hopes of the two sides reaching some kind of an agreement on ending the war.

Among others, there are five former inmates of Guantanamo who are also part of the Taliban delegation now engaged in peace talks in Doha. They were released in 2014 in exchange for an American soldier held by the Taliban. Since then, they have been living in Doha. All of them had been close to Mullah Omar. They came out of the shadows to join the negotiating team when the Trump administration decided to directly talk to the Taliban. Their inclusion was also meant to send a message to Washington. Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief American negotiator, has described their presence in the talks as more authoritative, and tweeted that this could be a significant moment in the talks.

Thirteen years of imprisonment and torture do not seem to have diminished their resolve. And, there is no sign of bitterness about what they had gone through. It's been a long war, with lots of casualties and destruction and loss. What gives me hope is that both teams are taking the issue seriously, Mullah Khairkhwa, one of the Guantanamo returnees, told the New York Times.

The very fact that the Americans are now negotiating their withdrawal plan with the group their forces had ousted from power almost 18 years ago tells the story of a war gone wrong. Even if the worlds greatest military power believes that it has not lost the war, it has not won it either. The Americans are now sitting across the table with the same men who they incarcerated and declared terrorists.

Surely, each one of those representing the Taliban in the negotiations has a story of struggle, of being in power and a life in detention. But Baradar has played a much greater role in building the insurgency, notwithstanding his long period in detention. His elevation to the top rung of the Taliban leadership indicates the influence he wields, particularly among the fighters.

Known as a brilliant and charismatic military commander, Baradar has been credited for rebuilding the Taliban into an effective fighting force and running the groups day-to-day affairs after the fall of the so-called Islamic emirate. Besides heading the Talibans military operations, he ran the groups leadership council, also known as the Quetta Shura. As a young man, he participated in the Afghan jihad against the Soviet forces. It was during the war that he came to know of Mullah Omar. They fought side by side against the communist forces. After the withdrawal of the Soviet forces and the collapse of the communist regime in Kabul in 1992, Baradar settled down in the southern district of Maiwand where he and Mullah Omar ran their own madressah.

His arrest had dealt a serious blow to the Taliban insurgency. American officials were quick to declare a significant win. But his detention did not change the course of war. By the time he was released, the Taliban had expanded their influence to over 50 per cent of Afghanistan. Following his release, Baradar had circulated an audiotape promising Taliban fighters he would have a greater presence within the movement. Baradars release shows the Trump administrations desperation to find a political solution to the Afghan crisis. The US-Taliban talks have made significant progress. But there is a long way to go.

Certainly, the war has intensified while they have been engaged in serious negotiations. It is going to be a classic war-war, talk-talk situation. There are still sticking points that could cause the negotiations to go on for much longer. The differences over the definition of terrorism and the time frame of the withdrawal of the American forces have remained unresolved. Then there is also the issue of the intra-Afghan dialogue. All those needed to be resolved before one can hope for peace to return to Afghanistan.

By arrangement with Dawn
Heaven knows the Nobel Peace Prize has in recent years been in urgent need of some value addition.

Ab booye gul, na baad e saba/ maangte hain log,/ Woh habs hai, ki loo ki dua/ maangte hain lo (People no longer seek the fragrance of the gentle morning breeze, they pray for dry, hot winds to break the suffocating stillness.)

Well, the people of New Zealand, led by their Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, have brought a gust of freshness. They handled the racist, Islamophobic outrage in Christchurch with such nobility and compassion that the gates of hope may well have opened.

Heaven knows the Nobel Peace Prize has in recent years been in urgent need of some value addition. The Cold War and its aftermath clearly politicised the prize. The Nobel Committee has a chance to restore to the prize some of its lost elan. The Prime Minister of New Zealand deserves the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

Such tragedies generally fall prey to judgmentalism, preconceived and motivated. The causes are obscured, until another occasion rises for us to scream our lungs out, being judgmental.

I have made a study  the subject of a book  of events like Christchurch, a bit of which I share here.

When Phoolan Devi, the low caste mallah (boatwoman), shot dead 22 high-caste Rajputs in the village of Behmai, 80 km from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on February 4, 1981, she had taken the law into her own hands. This she had done because no law enforcement agency had come to her rescue when the very same men had locked her in a room and taken turns, repeatedly, to rape her over weeks. It was gross injustice she was fighting.

During the British Mandate over Palestine, the Jews formed Haganah, a secret, militant organisation  with guns, hand grenades, etc  to protect Jewish enclaves against Arab gangs. Why was Haganah formed? Perceived injustice. In 1939, the British produced a White Paper restricting Jewish immigration. That is when the French-built liner, Patria, carrying nearly 2,000 Jews to Mauritius, was sunk off Haifa, killing 267 people. Later, the groups offshoot, Irgun, bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing 28 British soldiers. Both were ghoulish acts. But would Menachem Begin, a member of Irgun and later Israels Prime Minister, have seen it this way? According to their lights, Begin and indeed the entire Haganah outfit were fighting British injustice.

April 13 will be the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar. Reginald Dyers character or a psycho analysis will not shed light on whether or not police action was required on a scale which killed over 1,000 people. The official British figure was 379 dead. Punjabs lieutenant-governor Michael ODwyer justified the military action on administrative grounds. This is not the way Udham Singh the nationalist saw the massacre. He turned up in Britain and shot dead ODwyer on March 13, 1940 at Caxton Hall. It was injustice that he was fighting.

At his trial Udham Singh said: He wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I crushed him. For a full 21 years I have been trying to wreak vengeance. I am happy that I have done the job. There are a series of such incidents which the State would have considered acts of terror. The perpetrators have been celebrated as martyrs and patriots, including the iconic Bhagat Singh. They were fighting an unequal battle against injustice.

The examples I have touched upon are of people who had experienced injustice, suffocated and, presumably, had waited for their time. But the perpetrator of the Christchurch outrage is in an entirely different category. He experienced no injustice. His phobia, like that of his fellow murderer from Norway, Anders Breivik, derives from the contemporary curse called the global media. They have been fed on versions of the post-Soviet Union, the post-9/11 wars in which millions were killed and displaced. But Tarrant and Breivik have seen these stories covered by a media which has mysteriously cast the victims as villains. Jean Raspails novel Camp of the Saints shows destruction of Western civilisation through Third World immigration. This becomes Tarrants nightmare. Australian Senator Fraser Anning is, alas, in the same league.

I was witness to the launch of the global media in Baghdad in January-February 1991. Operation Desert Storm was covered live by Peter Arnett of CNN. Not to comprehend the significance of this event is to miss out on the nature of international affairs in the post-Soviet period. Remember, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989; and the Soviet Union came down like melting ice cream in 1991. This was the first time in human history that coverage of a war was brought live into our drawing rooms.

The coverage divided the world into two hostile camps  the triumphant West and the defeated, demoralised Muslim nations. This critical division got amplified exponentially as the two intefadas erupted, followed by the four-year-long Bosnia war, which once again brought the brutalities being heaped upon the Bosnian Muslims, day after day, into the worlds living rooms. The climax came, of course, with the 9/11 wars and the unbelievable fireworks over Afghanistan.

With each war and the accompanying global coverage, the West-Muslim divide widened. It was this atmosphere so thoroughly saturated with Islamophobia which shaped the minds of Breivik and Brenton Tarrant. Leaders like George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Australias John Howard cynically used this othering of the worlds Muslims as a strategy for Western cohesion. The fear of terrorism, real or simulated, resulted in the loss of status of foreign offices. Intelligence agencies acquired fresh saliency. Be wary on that score, Madam Prime Minister.

In India, the sheer hypocrisy of the elite shrouded and thereby aggravated a corresponding division between non-Muslims and Muslims, stoked by our television anchors. The new liberal economic policies of the 1990s demanded a multiplication of television channels. This also coincided with accelerated communalisation after the fall of the Babri Masjid in December 1992. Capitalism and communalism joined hands and set the national agenda conducive to the consolidation of Hindu nationalism. In the ranks of these nationalists, one would find folks galore willing to give a sympathetic quarter to Brenton Tarrant.
How Coffee Stimulates Your Brain Without Drinking Any

You Don't Have to Drink Coffee for It to Work

Feel like another afternoon coffee but want to a) get some sleep tonight and b) not send your anxiety meter into the red zone? Well, we have good news. According to new research published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, just looking at something that reminds us of coffee is enough to make us more alert and attentive.

RELATED: These Coffee Makers Will Replace Your Barista

The study from the University of Toronto examines whats known as priming, where exposure to even subtle cues can influence our thoughts and behavior.

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages and a lot is known about its physical effects, co-author Sam Maglio, an associate professor in the department of management, said in a news release. Much less is known about its psychological meaning  in other words, how even seeing reminders of it can influence how we think.

Surprise! Coffee Culture Is Everywhere

As Maglio points out, coffee-related cues are everywhere in the Western world. Maybe its the presence of a Starbucks on every second corner or an ad for Nescafe or Ari Spyros and his ridiculous espresso machine in Billions, coffee and its energizing and social undertones are a constant.

For their study, Maglio and his co-researchers simply wanted to see if being exposed to things that remind us of coffee affects our arousal (where specific areas of the brain are activated into a state of alertness, wakefulness, and attentiveness).

We wanted to see if there was an association between coffee and arousal such that if we simply exposed people to coffee-related cues, their physiological arousal would increase, as it would if they had actually drank coffee, Maglio explained.

To do this, the researchers conducted four separate studies. The studies used a mix of participants from Western and Eastern cultures, and compared coffee- and tea-related cues. It turned out that people who were exposed to coffee-related cues  as opposed to simply necking a mug of coffee  perceived time as shorter and saw the world in more specific, detailed terms.

This has a number of implications for how people process information and make judgments and decisions, Maglio said in the news release.

RELATED: 6 Popular Types of Coffee

East Versus West

You may have already guessed the other finding of the research: The coffee-related cues were much stronger among participants who grew up in Western cultures, where we are surrounded by caffeine culture.

In North America, we have this image of a prototypical executive rushing off to an important meeting with a triple espresso in their hand, Maglio said. There's this connection between drinking caffeine and arousal that may not exist in other cultures.

So whats next? Well, if the coffee cue research sounds like a fun diversion, the phenomenon it investigates becomes a little troubling when applied to other aspects of Western life. The researchers have found, for example, that merely laying eyes on a fast-food restaurant logo damages our capacity to slow down and savor lifes experiences.

Looking into the associations people have with different food and beverages is the next step for Maglio and his fellow researchers.

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Devastation in Paradise, Calif., has forced a national reckoning with both the danger posed by fires in the warming West and housing issues that put more people in harms way.
Implementing NAP is the foremost priority of govt: Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday said Pakistan is firmly committed not to allow any militant group to operate in the country or use its territory for any militant activity within or outside the country.



While chairing the first-ever meeting of the National Internal Security Committee here at the Prime Minister Office, the prime minister said the implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) is the foremost priority of the present government as it is reflection of the will of nation and a consensus document agreed upon by all political parties of the country. He said the government is committed to remove all impediments towards implementation of the plan in letter and spirit.



The prime minister said Pakistan has suffered immensely, both in terms of human lives as well as material losses, due to the menace of terrorism. In return of huge sacrifices rendered by the armed forces, intelligence agencies, police, civil armed forces and other law-enforcement agencies, Pakistan has made significant progress towards combating terrorism and ensuring peace, he added.



Recounting various legislative and administrative measures taken by the present government in dealing with militancy, combating terror-financing, money laundering and hawala-hundi, the prime minister stressed upon the need for continued and sustained on-ground efforts towards taking this struggle to a conclusive end.



Finance Minister Asad Umar gave the meeting an update about matters related to the Financial Action Task Force and meetings held with the Asia Pacific Group. Interior Secretary Maj (r) Azam Suleman Khan apprised the meeting about progress on implementation of NAP and highlighted the efforts being made in dealing with the issues of cyber security, money laundering, madrassa reforms besides addressing various challenges in the way of successful implementation of the plan. The prime minister commended the efforts of the interior ministry towards ensuring coordination among the relevant agencies and departments vis-a-vis implementation of the NAP. The meeting decided to constitute expert working groups to ensure seamless coordination and implementation of every aspect of the NAP.



The meeting was also attended by Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood, Minister for Religious Affairs Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi, director general of Inter-Services Intelligence, federal secretaries, director general of Intelligence Bureau, chief secretaries of the provinces, inspector generals of police, provincial secretaries and senior officials.





Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan stressed the need for an enhanced coordination between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid to enforce the development agenda of the government. In a meeting with Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi at the PM Office, the two sides discussed the matters related to the legislation in Punjab Assembly and development projects in the province.





The prime minister lauded the performance of the Punjab Assembly in legislation. Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to consult the opposition once again on the National Action Plan (NAP). The prime minister directed the foreign minister to remove oppositions reservations regarding the meeting, reports said. The opposition members should be briefed wherever they wish, the prime minister reportedly told the foreign minister. Separately, Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said a letter to him from Prime Minister Imran Khan, which suggests three nominations each for the vacant posts for members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from Balochistan and Sindh, did not adhere to the intent and spirit of the constitution.







The response, written by director to opposition leader Munib Ali Phulputo, and addressed to the prime ministers secretary Azam Khan, added that an earlier letter written to Sharif on the matter from the Foreign Ministers Office on Mar 11 was also in violation of the relevant articles of the constitution. The response from the opposition leaders office comes after the Prime Ministers Office sent a letter to Sharif suggesting three nominations for the vacancies. The deadline set by the constitution for the purpose has already been missed earlier this month.
AstraZeneca has entered into a global development and commercialisation collaboration agreement with Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (Daiichi Sankyo) for trastuzumab deruxtecan (DS-8201), a proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and potential new targeted medicine for cancer treatment.

The collaboration is aligned with AstraZenecas science-led strategy in Oncology, which is based on four key scientific platforms: tumour drivers & resistance, DNA damage response, Immuno-Oncology and ADCs.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan is currently in development for the treatment of multiple HER2-expressing cancers, including breast and gastric cancer, and in patients with HER2-low expression. In 2017, trastuzumab deruxtecan was granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the US FDA for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive, locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have been treated with trastuzumab and pertuzumab and have disease progression after trastuzumab emtansine.

A first regulatory submission is scheduled for the second half of 2019 for patients in the advanced or refractory breast cancer setting. Additional development for the treatment of breast, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), gastric and colorectal cancers is ongoing.

The companies will jointly develop and commercialise trastuzumab deruxtecan worldwide, except in Japan where Daiichi Sankyo will maintain exclusive rights. Daiichi Sankyo will be solely responsible for manufacturing and supply.

Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, said: We believe that trastuzumab deruxtecan could become a transformative new medicine for the treatment of HER2-positive breast and gastric cancers. In addition, it has the potential to redefine breast cancer treatment as the first therapy for HER2-low expressing tumours. It also has the potential to treat other HER2-mutated or HER2-overexpressing cancers, including lung and colorectal cancers. We are proud to be working with Daiichi Sankyo, a long-term collaborator of AstraZeneca in other disease areas.

George Nakayama, Representative Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Daiichi Sankyo, said: Trastuzumab deruxtecan is the flagship asset in our oncology pipeline created by our relentless pursuit of science and technology, the most important strengths of our company. Through the strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca, a company with a wealth of global experience and expertise in oncology, we will combine our respective skill sets to maximise the value of trastuzumab deruxtecan and accelerate the establishment of our global oncology business. By aiming to provide new treatment options across a wide range of cancers as soon as possible, we will maximise our contribution to patients with cancer and their families around the world.

Using Daiichi Sankyos DXd proprietary ADC technology, trastuzumab deruxtecan has been designed to deliver chemotherapy selectively to cancer cells and reduce systemic exposure, in contrast to conventional chemotherapy delivery. Data from the ongoing first-time-in-human trial shows strong activity in a number of tumour types. In particular, the strength of the overall response rate and durability of response in patients previously treated with trastuzumab emtansine for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer formed the basis for the Breakthrough Therapy Designation.1

Financial considerations

Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay Daiichi Sankyo an upfront payment of $1.35bn, half of which is due upon execution, with the remainder payable 12 months later.

Contingent payments of up to $5.55bn include $3.8bn for potential successful achievement of future regulatory and other milestones, as well as $1.75bn for sales-related milestones.

Overall, the transaction will be accounted for as an intangible asset acquisition, recognised initially at the present value of non-contingent consideration, with future milestones capitalised into the intangible asset as they are recognised. AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo will share equally development and commercialisation costs as well as profits from trastuzumab deruxtecan worldwide, except for Japan.

Daiichi Sankyo will record sales in the US, certain countries in Europe and certain other markets where Daiichi Sankyo has affiliates. Further to the financial reporting announcement below, profits shared with AstraZeneca will be accounted for as Collaboration Revenue by AstraZeneca (see further below, Financial reporting presentation).

AstraZeneca is expected to record Product Sales in all other markets worldwide for which profits shared with Daiichi Sankyo will be accounted for as cost of goods sold.

The transaction is expected to be neutral to core earnings in 2019, with growing Core EPS accretion from 2020 and making a significant contribution in 2023. There are no closing conditions to the transaction. The collaboration agreement will become effective on 29 March 2019. The transaction and funding arrangements do not impact the Companys financial guidance for 2019 as published on 14 February 2019.

The upfront payment and near-term milestones under the transaction will be funded from the proceeds of a new equity placement of approximately $3.5bn, of which more than half will be used to fund this transaction and the ongoing collaboration. A separate announcement will be issued by the Company today on the equity placement.

For the purposes of the UK Listing Authority's Listing Rule LR 10.4.1 R (Notification of class 2 transactions), the value of gross assets acquired with the transaction is estimated to be $1.5bn and, in view of the development phase of the medicine, a pre-tax loss of $38m was attributable to trastuzumab deruxtecan during the year to 31 March 2018.

About Trastuzumab deruxtecan

Trastuzumab deruxtecan (DS-8201; [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan in US only) is the lead potential new medicine in the ADC franchise of the Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise. ADCs are targeted cancer medicines that deliver cytotoxic agents to cancer cells via a linker attached to a monoclonal antibody that binds to a specific target expressed on cancer cells.

A broad and comprehensive development programme with trastuzumab deruxtecan is underway in North America, Europe and Asia, including five pivotal trials in HER2-expressing breast and gastric cancers. Trastuzumab deruxtecan is also in Phase II development for HER2-expressing advanced colorectal cancer and metastatic non-squamous HER2-overexpressing or HER2-mutated NSCLC, and Phase I development in combination with nivolumab for HER2-expressing metastatic breast and bladder cancers.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan was granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation in 2017 by the US FDA for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive, locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have been treated with trastuzumab and pertuzumab and have disease progression after trastuzumab emtansine. Fast Track Designation was also granted in the US for the treatment of HER2-positive unresectable and/or metastatic breast cancer in patients who have progressed after prior treatment with HER2-targeted medicines, including trastuzumab emtansine. Trastuzumab deruxtecan has received Sakigake designation for the treatment of HER2-positive advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer by the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan is a potential new medicine that has not been approved for any indication in any country. Safety and efficacy have not been established.

Financial reporting presentation

As a result of this announcement, AstraZeneca also updates the presentation of Total Revenue within its Statement of Comprehensive Income. This is effective from 1 January 2019 and will be reflected in the Companys Q1 2019 financial results that are intended for publication on 26 April 2019.

In 2015, the Company announced a change to the presentation of Total Revenue within its Statement of Comprehensive Income to include Externalisation Revenue. Todays announcement recognises the growing importance of collaborations to AstraZeneca and will result in income arising from those collaborations being recognised within Total Revenues. The associated costs of collaborations will be recognised in the appropriate expense lines in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.

Historically, Externalisation Revenue only included income arising from transactions involving AstraZenecas medicines. Such income included upfronts, milestones receipts and royalties, as well as other income from collaborations. The updated category of Collaboration Revenue will also include income of a similar nature arising from transactions where AstraZeneca has acquired an interest in a medicine and entered into an active collaboration with the seller.

No prior year restatement of financial results will be required as a result of this change. The change in accounting presentation does not impact the Companys revenue guidance for 2019.

About AstraZeneca
Cornwalls is more than just a law firm, said Levent Shevki, Cornwalls CEO and partner. In building on our track record and heritage of success, we have fostered strong partnerships in Brisbane and Sydney, as well as leveraging our established capital arm to position the business to offer clients expanded capabilities and services to provide more than legal expertise to support our clients.

Beyond the integration of the businesses, the firm is also changing its culture into one that is centred on the firms talent. The firm is moving away from the traditional law firm model by empowering staff, it said.

That includes recognising value creators and giving personnel more autonomy as well as supporting initiatives they start. Cornwalls is also rolling out smart technology for use across the firm.

The centrepiece of our approach is our people, said John Hutchings, Cornwalls chairman. Innovation usually refers to technology and while we have that too, our focus is embedding innovation into our culture by trusting the leadership of our peers and redistributing the authority to initiate change from the board to across the entire firm.

Ian Heathwood, a Cornwalls partner in Brisbane, said that the changes are set to benefit clients.
The complaint said that an officer detained and questioned James after the hearing under the suspicion that James was the client and was impersonating a lawyer. He was reportedly asked for his drivers license, which he presented, as well as his bar card and his business card, which he did not have with him.

The law firm representing James said that the incident is a case of lawyering while black. Maryland Legal Aid said in a statement that its officials were incensed by the deeply disturbing incident.

Discrimination has no place in our society, especially not within the ranks of our judicial system, where the legal playing field is often already unlevelled for citizens who cannot afford legal representation, the organisation said.

The sheriffs office said that it is aware of the allegations. It said it takes all complaints seriously and vowed that there will be a thorough and complete investigation.
After making its global debut in China last year, the 12th generation Corolla sedan has now been launched in Taiwan. The new model features a major redesign both inside and out together with new engine options, including a more efficient hybrid powertrain.

Design-wise, the Taiwan market received the Prestige styling variation rather than the Sporty variant offered in the U.S. and Japan. With that in mind, it is likely the rest of the ASEAN region will also be getting the Corolla sedan with this design, including the Philippines.

Unlike the Sporty design, the Prestige style Corolla looks more akin to the all-new Camry rather than its hatchback or wagon counterparts. Looking at the front, the Corolla Altis appears to borrow a host of styling cues from other Toyota models. For starters, the large center intake and dynamic headlights liken to that of the all-new Camry. Meanwhile, the fog lights and their housing are styled similar to those found on the Alphard.

From the side, the Corolla sedans roofline is now more rounded, thanks to a more rakish windscreen. At the rear, there are new, larger taillights coupled with a new trunk which incorporates a small ducktail spoiler.

Inside, the cabin is carried over from the hatchback and wagon. Front and center of the dashboard is a large floating touchscreen infotainment system. Meanwhile, the instrument cluster has also been updated and now features a full LED screen on some variants.

In Taiwan, the all-new Corolla Altis comes with a host of features including seven airbags as standard, a heads up display, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Lane Departure Alert (LDA) with steering assist, Lane Trace Assist (LTA), Road Sign Assist (RSA) and Automatic High Beam (AHB). It even features Toyotas Drive+ Connect system in the infotainment.

With regard to the powertrain, the Corolla Altis in Taiwan is available only with two engine options. The first is a 1.8-liter 2ZR-FE engine which produces 140 PS and 173 Nm and is mated to a Super CVT. The other option is a 1.8-liter hybrid unit which produces 122 PS and is mated to an E-CVT. According to Toyota Taiwan, the hybrid model is capable of self-charging as well.

Now that the Corolla sedan has been launched in Taiwan, it wont be long before the new model will make its way around the ASEAN region, and to the Philippines.
NAB a black law introduced by Musharraf: Bilawal Bhutto

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is a black law introduced by former military dictator General (r) Pervez Musharraf.



If corruption is to be fought, a law will have to be introduced which is free of political vendetta, Bilawal said at the conclusion of a train march in Larkana in the wee hours of Thursday.



The PPPs train march titled Caravan-e-Bhutto had left Karachi Cantt Railway Station on Tuesday and reached Larkana after 40 hours of journey. Bilawal addressed the party workers at 25 railway stations during his journey from Karachi to Larkana.



On his arrival at the Larkana Railway Station, Bilawal said those who raised the slogan of change are now afraid of even the name of Bhutto. He said certain forces believed that they would ultimately eliminate the PPP and the ideology of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but they could not. He said those forces thought that after ZA Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, PPP will be finished. But they were mistaken, and PPP is still there, he said, adding that due to the closure of airports, he has reached Larkana via train to attend the 40th death anniversary of Shaheed Bhutto.



We will set up an accountability institution under which politicians, judges and generals will be made accountable and nobody will be spared, he said, adding that with transparent accountability, democracy will strengthen but accountability on the basis of political rivalry is not acceptable. He said money laundering and fake accounts case was prepared in Sindh but now it will be heard in Rawalpindi. They want to repeat the history, Bilawal said. We have an objection to it, he added, and asked what message do they want to give after arresting custodian and speaker of Sindh Assembly from Islamabad.



Lashing out at the present government, he said that those who promised to build five million houses for the poor people of the country have in fact deprived them of shelter. He said all eyes are now on PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. He said the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) is for terrorists, Musharraf and Aleema Khan. The rulers want to end 1993 law and introduce one-unit and they also intend to roll back the 18th Amendment to ruin the provincial autonomy, he said.
Top of the Morning

Lyft last night raised around $2.34 billion in its IPO, selling more shares than expected and pricing at the top of its upwardly-revised range, sparking all sorts of concerns that we're at a market peak.

It's entirely possible that we're at or near the top, and that it's all downhill from here.

But we don't actually know, and certainly shouldn't extrapolate from the rush of unicorn tech companies going public.

The best of the past six years for VC-backed IPOs was 2012, in terms of offering proceeds, and that clearly wasn't a top.

If venture capitalists and crossover investors know this is a top, why are they still investing tons of cash into high-priced, growth-stage private companies?

If unicorn companies know this is a top, then shouldn't they have gone public last year, given the lockup restrictions (yes, this goes for VCs too).

If banks know this is a top, then their wealth management arms are committing malpractice by pushing high-net-worth clients into these IPOs.

Some more thoughts on Lyft's IPO:
President Trump used Attorney General William Barrs 4-page summary of the Mueller report to take a victory lap and rile supporters at a boisterous Michigan rally Thursday night, declaring: "After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is dead."

Details: This is the president's first rally since the end of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 22-month Russia investigation, which did not establish any conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials to influence the 2016 election, according to Barr. Trump used his campaign-style speech to tear into Democrats, including the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, whom he called "little pencil-necked Adam Schiff."

"The collusion delusion is over. ... This is nothing more than a sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people."

 Trump said, prompting loud and sustained applause

Highlights:
National security adviser John Bolton released a statement on Friday condemning Russia's military deployment in Venezuela, cautioning that the U.S. will protect its interests in the Western Hemisphere and consider such actions a "threat to international peace and security in the region."

The state of play: Earlier in the week, two Russian military planes touched down in Caracas with supplies and military advice for embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's regime, per the New York Times.

The backdrop: Maduro's government announced on Thursday that it is barring opposition leader and National Assembly leader Juan Guaido, who is backed by the U.S. and other nations as Venezuela's rightful president, from holding public office for 15 years.

Bolton said in January that any violence against the National Assembly or Guaido "would signify a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response."

Bolton's full statement:

The Administration condemns Nicolas Maduro's continued use of foreign military personnel in his attempt to remain in power, including the introduction of Russian military personnel and equipment into Venezuela. Maduro will only use this military support to further repress the people of Venezuela; perpetuate the economic crisis that has destroyed Venezuelas economy; and endanger regional stability. We call on the Venezuelan military to uphold its constitutional duty to protect the citizens of Venezuela.



We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations. We will consider such provocative actions as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region. We will continue to defend and protect the interests of the United States, and those of our partners in the Western Hemisphere, which are rooted in a shared respect for liberty, security, and the rule of law.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev met in Vienna on Friday for fresh talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Neither leader made public statements immediately after the talks which lasted for more than three hours.According to the TASS news agency, Pashinian said only that the meeting was normal.

The meeting held in a hotel in the Austrian capital began in the presence of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers as well as the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Aliyev and Pashinian then spoke one on one for roughly two hours before being again joined by the ministers and the mediators.

Stephane Visconti, the Minsk Groups French co-chair, described the summit as positive, saying that the two sides got a better idea of each others position. We hope that a new meeting will be held soon, Visconti told reporters.

Pashinian was expected to comment on the summit later in the day at a meeting with members of the Armenian community of Austria.

Aliyev and Pashinian previously met on January 22 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. They also talked during the summits of former Soviet republics held in September and December.

Their foreign ministers similarly held a series of lengthy negotiations, fuelling more speculation about major progress towards a resolution of the Karabakh conflict. They also met in Vienna late on Thursday.

Pashinian sought to lower expectations from the Vienna talks when he spoke in the Armenian parliament earlier this week. He also made clear that he will continue to insist on Karabakhs direct involvement in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.

Aliyev and other Azerbaijani leaders have repeatedly rejected the Armenian leaders calls for the Karabakh Armenians to become a third negotiating party.
Armenias government said on Friday that it will send rescue teams and equipment to neighboring Iran to help authorities there deal with the consequences of deadly flash floods which hit the country last week.

The floods caused by heavy rain have reportedly left at least 37 people dead and tens of thousands of others displaced. Thousands of Iranians are being housed in emergency shelters provided by the government, according to state media.

The semiofficial Tasnim news agency quoted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as saying on Wednesday that the floods affected 25 of Iran's 31 provinces and that the scale of the disaster overwhelmed emergency services in some areas.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said he is deeply shocked by the loss of life. At this difficult moment Armenia is ready to support the friendly people of Iran and provide necessary assistance to overcome the consequences of the disaster, Pashinian tweeted in English and Farsi.

Armenias Minister for Emergency Situations Felix Tsolakian reaffirmed the offer on Thursday at a meeting with the Iranian ambassador in Yerevan, Seyyed Kazem Sajjad.

We want to send humanitarian assistance to Iran, Tsolakian told fellow members of the Armenian government the following day. That will be organized through the Russian-Armenian humanitarian center.

We will be sending technical equipment, machinery and rescuers, he said, according to the Armenpress news agency.

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian, who chaired the cabinet meeting, welcomed the initiative, describing Iran as a friendly country.

Senior officials at the Armenian Rescue Service, which is part of Tsolakians ministry, discussed details of the relief effort later on Friday.

Armenia has maintained a cordial relationship with Iran ever since its independence. Pashinian and Rouhani pledged to deepen bilateral ties during the Armenian leaders recent official visit to the Islamic Republic.
Armenia and Azerbaijan described the latest meeting of their leaders as positive on Friday, saying that they again agreed to strengthen the ceasefire regime in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and continue their dialogue.

The meeting took place in a positive and constructive atmosphere and provided an opportunity for the two leaders to clarify their respective positions, the foreign ministers of the two warring nations said in a joint statement issued hours after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Vienna. They exchanged views about several key issues of the settlement process and ideas of substance.

The two leaders underlined the importance of building up an environment conducive to peace and taking further concrete and tangible steps in the negotiation process to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, read the statement which was also signed by the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group.

It said Aliyev and Pashinian recommitted to strengthening the ceasefire. They also agreed to develop a number of measures in the humanitarian field, it said, adding that the two leaders will continue their direct dialogue.

Pashinian also called the summit positive. I cannot say that there has been a breakthrough, revolution or landmark event in the negotiating process, he told members of the Armenian community of Austria. But it is very important that a new process, which allows us to talk about our agendas, ideas and issues, has begun.

Obviously each of us strongly believes in his own position, but can we start talking not just about our own positions but also the other sides positions? said Pashinian. What is logical in the opposite sides position and what is not? I find the meeting positive in this sense.

Pashinian did not say whether he and Aliyev narrowed their differences over a compromise solution to the Karabakh conflict that has long been advanced by the mediators. He implied that they discussed his repeated calls for Karabakhs direct involvement in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks but did not report any understandings on this issue.

Aliyev and other Azerbaijani leaders have denounced those calls as an attempt to obstruct the negotiating process.

The Vienna summit was Pashinians and Aliyevs fourth face-to-face encounter in six months. The two men spoke for the first time in September on the sidelines of a summit of ex-Soviet states held in Tajikistan. There has been a significant decrease in ceasefire violations around Karabakh and along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border since then.

Pashinian stressed on Friday the importance of maintaining the stable situation on the frontlines and boosting the safety of residents of Armenian and Azerbaijani border villages.
By Ma Jun and Simon Zadek

BEIJING  Discussions about climate action nowadays often focus on the largest past and current emitters. But, if one looks to the future, the biggest climate risks and opportunities lie in the more than 60 countries that have signed up to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative.

The BRI, which China launched in 2013, is focused primarily on mobilizing capital for infrastructure investments and improving connectivity among participating economies, most of which are still relatively low-income developing countries. But while it is hoped that the BRI will spur a sharp acceleration in GDP growth and development across these economies, infrastructure and other investments associated with the initiative could also have profound environmental and climate consequences.

As it stands, Belt and Road countries, not including China, account for about 18% of global GDP and 26% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In the coming two decades, however, BRI countries GDP average growth rate is expected to be twice that of the OECD, and investments in BRI countries are likely to comprise more than half of total investment worldwide. In the worst-case scenario, the BRI countries could account for over half of global CO2 emissions by 2050.

That possibility  set out in a forthcoming study that we co-authored  assumes that BRI economies stick to their current carbon-intensity trajectory, while the rest of the world reduces its emissions in line with the Paris climate agreement. In other words, if not managed in a climate-conscious way, development in the BRI countries would undercut efforts to meet the worlds climate goals.

This is a risk that needs to be taken seriously. Though many global investors are becoming more sensitized to climate risks, and thus less attracted to carbon-intensive assets overall, BRI infrastructure projects are likely to be largely exempt from these pressures. After all, most BRI countries lack carbon-related obligations or incentives, including carbon-pricing systems that would show investors the shadow price of carbon-intensive assets. Moreover, these countries hold many of their carbon-intensive assets on public balance sheets, which are less likely to become stranded assets.

In order to ensure that development in the BRI countries does not undermine the global climate agenda, meaningful steps must be taken to reduce substantially the carbon footprint of new investments in these economies. The window for action is narrow: investment decisions made in the coming few years will determine the carbon intensity of critical infrastructure and major real-estate assets that will operate for decades.

By linking policy, finance, and the international communitys expertise and technological resources, it is possible to lay the groundwork for low-carbon development in the BRI economies. To that end, three focused and interconnected actions should be pursued.

First, global investors must be convinced to adopt green principles for investments in the BRI region. Such an effort could include promoting the Green Investment Principles for the Belt and Road, introduced by Chinas Green Finance Committee and the City of London last November, in cities like London, Hong Kong, New York, and Singapore  the worlds principle sources of capital. Requiring investors to disclose the carbon footprint of BRI infrastructure projects, rather than just the risk climate change poses to investments, would also make a difference.

Second, China could take more aggressive action to promote low-carbon investments in BRI countries, in line with the governments high-level commitments to advance sustainable development and its international climate leadership. For example, China could require all BRI investmentsby Chinese financial institutions and non-financial corporations to adhere visibly to specific green standards. This could be complemented by the creation of a low-carbon compact that includes leading Chinese and international companies carrying out BRI projects and providing green technologies to participating countries.

Finally, international organizations should increase their support to BRI countries for greening infrastructure development. Beyond environmental governance, such organizations should help to advance frameworks for green finance policy and increase their capacity for green public procurement. After all, while most BRI infrastructure investments still rely on international financing, over time, larger BRI countries financial systems will increasingly shape the carbon intensity of domestic investments.

The BRI has the potential to invigorate developing economies and raise incomes for many millions of people. But we need to make sure that the benefits are not offset by unmitigated climate change. Now is the moment for China and the international community to work together to take concrete action to ensure that BRI investments are climate friendly.

Copyright: Project Syndicate: A low-carbon belt and road

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The Ghana Chapter of Seed Transformation Network has stated its readiness to encourage national dialogue among stakeholders within the Ghanaian economy to maximize the economic gains of the country.



The President of the Network, Madam Constance Swaniker stated this at a media launch in Accra today. She said the Network believes that Small and Medium enterprises have an important role to play in changing Ghanas fortunes with regard to economic development and called on stakeholders to support them. I call on the media to prioritise challenges affecting Ghanaian businesses as part of their programming to draw the necessary attention and facilitate speedy resolution by the relevant stakeholders, she stated



The Seed Transformation Network is a network of founders & CEOs from across East, West and Southern Africa and India. Members of the Network are leaders of high impact companies and market driven social enterprises who have followed and successfully completed the yearlong hands on training of the Stanford Seed Transformation Program. Based in Silicon Valley (USA), Stanford Seed has now provided training for over 631 company owners and over 1200 business leaders through this philanthropic programme. In Ghana, over 100 entrepreneurs have benefited from this programme since 2013.



Members include founders and CEOs from a variety of fields, from engineering services, education, transportation, energy, manufacturing, retail and wholesale, construction, agriculture, healthcare, consumer products, ICT, and marketing services, among others.



The Ghana Chapter seeks to empower its members by providing opportunities to forge a common front and support each other grow from Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) into multinational companies with the ability to compete at the global level for business opportunities.



Madam Swaniker emphasized that the contribution of members of the Network to Ghanas growth could increase tremendously if they receive the required support from the relevant stakeholders including the media.



She underscored the impact made by the Network in the various countries in which they operate saying; recent studies, which are based on self-reported data, show that 89% of program participants have gone on to increase their customers, 50% have entered new geographies, 61% have increased their revenue and 61% have created jobs.



The President of the Network urged other Ghanaian entrepreneurs to join the Network in order to benefit from the numerous opportunities available. Recruitment for the 2020 cohort is now underway, so I encourage you to share the news of this incredible opportunity with other promising business leaders who would benefit from this program, Madam Swaniker stated

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By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

First Agricultural Forum "Illinois - Azerbaijan" will be held in Chicago from April 3th to April 5th, Trend informs.

The forum, organized under the program of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce to expand trade and business relations of Azerbaijan with U.S. states, will bring together representatives of the agribusiness of Azerbaijan and the state of Illinois which is one of the leading U.S. agricultural states.

The purpose of the forum is to establish cooperation between the parties in the agricultural sector, acquaintance with U.S. technologies that allows rising yields, as well as new methods used in different fields of agriculture.

Within framework of the forum, there is scheduled speech by the Minister of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Inam Karimov, Chairman of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) Reza Vaziri, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the U.S. Elin Suleymanov, Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Brock Birman, Senior Economist in Agriculture World Bank in the Europe and Central Asia region, Bekzod Shamsiyev, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AmCham) Natavan Mammadova, and other participants.

The forum participants will also discuss education and vocational training in the field of agriculture, successful cooperation mechanisms in the field of introducing innovations and increasing agricultural productivity, introducing modern technologies for the development of "smart farming".

The three-day forum includes visits by representatives of Azerbaijani companies to leading manufacturing enterprises of the state of Illinois, farms and research centers, as well as sites for the production of fertilizers and protein.

Note that the state of Illinois is one of the 10 leading agricultural states of the United States. 75 percent of the states land area is sown. The states annual profits from the sale of agricultural products alone amount to $ 19 billion.

It should be noted that development of agriculture is constantly in the spotlight of Azerbaijani government. The competitiveness of Azerbaijani agricultural products is growing, export opportunities are expanding. In most areas of the agricultural sector, production increases with the direct and indirect support of the state.

Moreover, state has enough potential and capabilities to use extensive and intensive ways of development to achieve goals which have been set, taking into account all economic indicators.

In addition, the recent implementation of the e-agriculture information system being created by the Ministry will serve to ensure transparency and flexibility in the agricultural sector, including the issuance of subsidies. Implementation of all services through e-government will create additional benefits for farmers.

They will increase their awareness, productivity and sales forecasting capabilities, as well as the opportunity to simplify public services and reduce documents, accessibility of services, and the introduction of new market mechanisms.

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By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijan has successfully implemented a Trusted-Trader program based on Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary-General, said in an interview with Azernews.

Trusted-Trader related programs are an enlarged form of simplified customs procedures that have been applied successfully in many countries around the world under various names, he said.

"The new Customs Code that came into force on 2012 and its implementing normative acts, developed on the basis of the EUs Modernized Community Customs Code and the WCOs Revised Kyoto Convention, incorporate provisions based on such programs," he noted.

The Azerbaijani AEO concept aims to enhance supply chain security and facilitate trade by simplifying customs procedures, he added.

"Over the last decade, the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan has worked closely with the WCO in order to fully operationalize its national AEO Program," he said. "In addition, Azerbaijans legislation incorporates a Customs compliance program, namely the "Green Corridor" Gating System."

The Green Corridor, launched on February 1, 2019, allows transporting goods through the border upon a brief declaration, which helps to speed up customs procedures and implement a more flexible and transparent customs control.

The World Customs Organization (WCO), established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council, is an independent intergovernmental body that acts as a global centre of Customs expertise and the voice of the international Customs community.

The WCO develops and maintains a range of instruments, standards and tools covering core Customs subjects including, among others, commodity classification, valuation, rules of origin, compliance and enforcement, trade facilitation and capacity building among others.

From 17 founding Members in 1952, the WCO today represents more than 180 Member Customs Administrations across the globe, divided into six geographical regions.

The State Customs Committee (SCC) of Azerbaijan became a Member in June 1992, and belongs to the WCO Europe region. The SCC is a very active WCO Member and contributes to WCO meetings and ongoing initiatives, ambitioning to have a leadership role in the region.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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By Trend

The board of the Chamber of Accounts of Azerbaijan revealed a number of shortcomings in the course of an audit in the Gadabay District branch of the State Social Protection Fund of Azerbaijan under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, Trend reports.

The audit covered the period from January 2017 to September 2018.

It was revealed that there was no significant approach to making forecasts for compulsory state social insurance payments in Gadabay District, and the approved forecasts were not fully implemented.

In a number of cases, pension payments continued to be carried out for some time after the death of the pensioners, the retirement pensions of both parents were charged for the same child, and the disability pension continued after the transition to the old-age pension.

The board of the Chamber of Accounts discussed the results of the audit and ruled to send a copy of the resolution to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population and the Gadabay District branch of the Social Protection Fund for further measures.

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By Trend

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy is holding a meeting with the entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire in the Diglas shopping center in Baku on March 26, Trend reports on March 29.

Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Niyazi Safarov, head of the ministrys office Orkhan Novruzov, chairman of Azerbaijans Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Orkhan Mammadov and representatives of other structures controlled by the ministry are taking part in the meeting.

A working group was created upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs instructions to assist and support the entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire. The working group will receive the entrepreneurs until March 31.

The representatives of the ministry are receiving citizens one by one and listening to the problems of each entrepreneur separately. Following the meeting, they are provided with the necessary contacts for further communication.

The Azerbaijani government will make every effort to provide the entrepreneurs who have suffered losses as a result of the fire with jobs, Safarov added.

He also stressed that the entrepreneurs will be able to get financial support from the state.

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By Trend

Entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire that occurred March 26 in the Diglas shopping center in Nizami district in Baku will get temporary workplaces in other shopping centers, Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov said at a meeting with entrepreneurs, Trend reports March 29.

A working group was created upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs instructions to assist and support the entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire. The working group will receive the entrepreneurs until March 31.

Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Niyazi Safarov, head of the ministrys office Orkhan Novruzov, chairman of Azerbaijans Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Orkhan Mammadov and representatives of other structures controlled by the ministry are taking part in the meeting.

The representatives of the ministry are receiving citizens one by one and listening to the problems of each entrepreneur separately. Following the meeting, they are provided with the necessary contacts for further communication.

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By Trend

Entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire that occurred March 26 in the Diglas shopping center in Nizami district in Baku, will be able to get financial support from the government through Kapital Bank, Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov said at a meeting with entrepreneurs, Trend reports March 29.

He said that especially for this purpose, accounts for entrepreneurs will be opened in the bank and they will be able to receive the banks plastic cards.

Financial assistance will be provided in two stages - initially, entrepreneurs will receive a certain part of the amount, and then, after all amount of damage is defined, they will get the remaining part of the funds, he noted.

In turn, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev noted that entrepreneurs will be able to get preferential loans through the Entrepreneurship Development Fund.

He stressed that the main goal for now is to collect all the necessary information within three days, check it and start the relevant work from next week.

A working group was created upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs instructions to assist and support the entrepreneurs who suffered losses as a result of the fire. The working group will receive the entrepreneurs until March 31.

Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Niyazi Safarov, head of the ministrys office Orkhan Novruzov, chairman of Azerbaijans Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Orkhan Mammadov and representatives of other structures controlled by the ministry are taking part in the meeting.

The representatives of the ministry are receiving citizens one by one and listening to the problems of each entrepreneur separately. Following the meeting, they are provided with the necessary contacts for further communication.

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By Trend

The import and sale of wheat, as well as the production and sale of wheat flour and bread, are exempt from value added tax (VAT) for another 2 years in Azerbaijan, as provided for by the amendments to the Azerbaijani Tax Code discussed during the plenary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament on March 29, 2019, Trend reports.

The amendments provide for the prolongation of exemptions starting from March 1, 2019.

The amendments were passed after discussion.

The import and sale of wheat, the production and sale of wheat flour and bread in Azerbaijan have been exempted from VAT since 2016. In 2017, the exemption was extended for a period of 3 years.

According to the State Statistical Committee, the volume of production of bread and bakery products in January-February 2019 amounted to 209,400 tons, which is 1.7 percent more than the same period last year.

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By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan and UNESCO have signed an agreement to organize the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Baku.

The conference will take place in Baku from June 30 to July 10, Azertag reported.

The agreement was signed by Azerbaijan's Minister of Culture Abulfaz Garayev and UNESCO Deputy Director General Ernesto Ottone Ramirez.

The document features the responsibilities of both Azerbaijan and UNESCO on the organization of the event.

In addition, the contract considers issues on the organization of the Young Professionals Forum to be held ahead of the session.

Azerbaijan became member of UNESCO on June 3 1992, after restoration of its independence.

In 2003, Azerbaijan and UNESCO signed the framework agreement on cooperation in the areas of culture, science, education and communication, which allowed Azerbaijan to become one of the donors of UNESCO.

In 2017, the organization marked the 600th anniversary of the death of the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Imadaddin Nasimi.

Moreover, last year UNESCO also celebrated the 200th anniversary of the first settlement of Germans in Azerbaijan. In 2013, with the support of UNESCO the 900th anniversary of Azerbaijani poetess Mahsati Ganjavi was celebrated in Paris.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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By Laman Ismayilova

The days of French language, will be held in Baku from March 30 to April 15.

The embassies of France, Belgium, Costa Rica, Greece, Hungary, Morocco, Mexico, Moldova, Romania, Switzerland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia in Azerbaijan, as well as the European Union will join the festival.

A press conference was held in Baku as part of Francophonie Weeks, Trend Life reported.

In her speech, Ambassador of France to Azerbaijan Aurelia Bouchez noted that the festival's program is more extensive this year than in previous years.

The ambassador stressed that the French Embassy in Azerbaijan will hold six events within Francophonie Weeks.

The first of these events will be the French spelling contest, which will be held on April 3. Age category of participants is 18-25 years old.

On April 6, the French DJ Shlomo will delights the festival's guests with wonderful music.

The educational exhibition will take place on April 7.

In addition, the thriller "Corporate" will be screened on April 11 at the YARAT Contemporary Art Space.

The exhibition of Azerbaijani photographer Maya Bagirova will open on April 14. By the way, the photographer collaborates with famous French publications.

The exhibition will include black and white photographs of Paris.

On April 15, the Uzeyir Hajibeyli Symphony Orchestra conducted by French conductor Natalie Marin will perform on the stage of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall.

The first adviser to the EU representation in Azerbaijan Denis Daniilidis expressed his gratitude to the Embassy of France for organizing this event, which brings together different countries and cultures.

It was emphasized that Francophone was not just a word that defined French-speaking countries. It is a cultural diversity and a variety of traditions.

At the press conference, the heads and representatives of diplomatic missions, with the participation of which the festival will be held, told about the program of events within the framework of Francophonie Weeks.

Numerous film screenings, concert programs, exhibitions, conferences, etc. will be held as part of the festival.

The International Organisation of La Francophonie was created in 1970. Its mission is to embody the active solidarity between its 88 member states and governments (61 members and 27 observers), which together represent over one-third of the United Nations member states and account for a population of over 900 million people, including 300 million French speakers.

IOF organises political activities and actions of multilateral cooperation that benefit French-speaking populations. Its actions respect cultural and linguistic diversity and serve to promote the French language, peace and sustainable development.

Overall, the days of French language and culture are annual spring event in Azerbaijan that brings French-speaking people together.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

The number of tuberculosis patients in Azerbaijan last year decreased by three percent compared to 2017.

As a result of involvement in the active treatment of identified patients, providing them with first-line and second-line medications, the death rate from tuberculosis decreased by 6.7 percent in 2018.

Over the past four years, 9,561 people have applied to the commission for the organization of diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis at the Ministry of Health. Of these, 6,622 were prescribed a long course of therapy.

Note that according to statistics of World Health Organization, more than 9 million people in the world are sick with tuberculosis during the year, and 1.8 million of them die from this disease.

The director of the Research Institute for Lung Diseases of the Ministry of Health Professor Hagigat Gadirova said that in recent years in Azerbaijan has been observed a stabilization of the incidence of tuberculosis, whereas in previous periods this figure was increasing.

She also added that in the last two years, a decrease in the rate of both primary and repeated incidence of tuberculosis has been recorded.

Stressing the importance of raising the number of laboratories for diagnosing tuberculosis in Azerbaijan, Gadirova noted that the strong support of their families is also very important in the successful treatment of patients with this disease.

Generally, according to the World Health Organization website, death rate caused by tuberculosis has decreased in the world by more than 40 percent since 2000 due to joint efforts aimed at combating this disease and within this period 54 million lives were saved.

Worldwide, World Tuberculosis Day (World Tuberculosis Day) is celebrated on March 24 to attract public attention to this dangerous lung disease.

Despite this statistics, tuberculosis is still one of the leading causes of death from infectious diseases in the world. Every day, almost 4,500 people die from it, and almost 30,000 people are infected by it.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. The classic symptoms of active TB are a chronic cough with blood-containing sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. It was historically called "consumption" due to the weight loss. Infection of other organs can cause a wide range of symptoms.

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A letter written by a mother concerned by the number of women wearing leggings on a university campus in Indiana has sparked backlash and protests.



"I'm just a Catholic mother of four sons with a problem that only girls can solve: leggings," Maryann White wrote in a letter published in the student newspaper.



Ms White explained that the sight of leggings "obtruded painfully" on herduring a visit with her four sons, and made it "difficult for young guys to ignore" women's bodies.



"Think of the mothers of sons the next time you go shopping and consider choosing jeans instead," she suggested to the female students of the University of Notre Dame.



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By Trend

Speaking against global values, Armenia is destroying national monuments and monuments of spiritual culture in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, first deputy chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations of Azerbaijan Sayyad Salahli told reporters in Baku, Trend reports March 28.

Salahli noted that by destroying these values, Armenians are trying to prove that Azerbaijanis didnt live there.

Armenians are destroying Azerbaijani monuments in order to make their dream of Greater Armenia real, he said.

He added that Armenians throughout the history were destroying these monuments.

They demolish them, misappropriate, change their inscriptions, he said. Thus they declare that the monuments belong to them, and the Azerbaijanis settled at these lands later.

Salahli stressed that among the monuments destroyed in ancient Azerbaijani lands, including in Nagorno-Karabakh, 367 monuments were historical, 67 were mosques, 140 were places of worship, and 140 more were temples.

Despite that the nations of the world dont support this policy of Armenians, unfortunately, neither major organizations nor states react to this fact, he said. In most cases, they turn a blind eye to these processes. However, Azerbaijan will never put up with this occupation policy.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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By Trend

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met on 28 March in Vienna with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, Trend reports referring to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

At the meeting the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia discussed various elements to further on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, also the issues that might be touched during the meeting of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on 29 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.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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By Trend

The unresolved Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains one of the serious threats to stability in the region.

At the same time, Armenian authorities continue to hinder the settlement of a conflict, delaying the negotiation process in every way, resorting to provocations on the frontline, and also voicing absurd statements contrary to the norms of international law.

In anticipation of the next meeting initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in Vienna March 29, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan again spoke about the importance of involving representatives of the separatist regime in the occupied Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh region to the negotiation process.

Pashinyans statements about the participation of the third party in negotiations, devoid of any basis and logic, followed this time almost immediately after the recent statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs regarding the unchanged format of the negotiation process.

It is namely the OSCE Minsk Group that remains the main platform for negotiations between the parties to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but, despite the efforts of international mediators, this conflict has remained unresolved for over 20 years due to the unconstructive position of the Armenian authorities.

Russian expert on international affairs, journalist Dmitry Verkhoturov shared his views with Trend on what the current Armenian prime minister is trying to achieve with such methods and what the consequences of this policy may be for Armenia.

According to the Russian analyst, this position of Pashinyan, regarding the participation of the representatives of the separatist regime in the negotiations, consists of several aspects.

This is not as simple as it may seem at a first glance. Firstly, it is a way of dragging out the negotiations endlessly by putting forward conditions that are unacceptable in the first place. Secondly, it is, of course, intra-Armenian populism and work for an internal audience, for which one must dish out news of a certain kind. During his time in power, Pashinyan showed himself to be quite a versatile populist, so this topic is not one he will gloss over," he said.

"Thirdly, what are the Armenian diplomats, sitting at Vazgen Sargsyan Street in Yerevan, even counting on? I suppose that, unlike the general public, they need not be fed with specially prepared news. They already know all the circumstances of the negotiations. We can hardly say that it hit them only yesterday that Azerbaijan will not go to negotiations with the Karabakh militants," said Verkhoturov.

Taking into account this circumstances, their stubbornness in pushing another side to sit at the negotiating table in this case reflects a certain plan, he added.

First, it is planned to turn bilateral negotiations into trilateral ones, then push back Azerbaijan to the end of negotiations, showing "success in negotiations", talking, in essence, with themselves. The ultimate goal of this plan is to oust Azerbaijan from negotiations in general and solve the case in their favor.

Armenia makes every effort to "legitimize" the forceful seizure of the territory, and in general, it has never abandoned this goal, he added. The trick with the "Karabakh people" and the invitation of these people to the negotiating table serves this purpose and in the current format of negotiations is, in fact, the only way to achieve "legalization" through diplomacy.

An agreement was reached on the basis of the proposal received from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to hold a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on March 29 in Vienna to discuss the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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A new print edition of the AZERNEWS online newspaper was released on March 29.

The new edition includes articles: Gazprombank plans to implement new industrial project, Potential areas for expanding cooperation with Belarus named, Saudi Arabias Flynas to launch flights to Baku, Days of French language due in capital etc.

AZERNEWS is an associate member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

The online newspaper is available at www.azernews.az.
By Trend

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has arrived in the Republic of Austria for a working visit, Trend reports referring to the presidential press-service.

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By Trend

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on March 29 on providing material assistance to entrepreneurs who suffered as a result of a fire in a shopping center in the Nizami district of Baku.

As per the decree, in order to provide material assistance to entrepreneurs who suffered as a result of a fire that occurred on March 26, 2019 in a shopping center located at Gara Garayev Street, 81 Q in the Nizami district of Baku, 3 million manats are to be initially allocated from the state budget of Azerbaijan for 2019 by the Presidential Reserve Fund of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy.

The Ministry of Economy has been instructed to approve in coordination with the President of Azerbaijan, the procedure for providing material assistance to affected entrepreneurs within three days using the funds allocated in accordance with this decree, and to resolve other issues arising from this decree.

The Ministry of Finance is charged with providing financing in the amount specified in the decree.

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By Trend

The Azerbaijani Parliament has approved the joint declaration signed by the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Belarus on November 19, 2018 in Minsk, Trend reports.

The draft law on the approval of the joint declaration was presented for discussion at the plenary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament on March 29, 2019.

It was noted that there are Azerbaijani-Belarusian relations are at a high level, and the approval of this declaration will make an important contribution to the development of relations between the two countries.

The declaration was adopted after a vote.

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By Trend

In difficult days, if an accident has occurred, the state will always stand by entrepreneurs, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

He was speaking March 28 at the meeting over a fire that occurred in a shopping center "Diglas" in Nizami district, Baku.

As for entrepreneurs, I want to say again that the state will stand by them, Ilham Aliyev added. They have already been informed about this. We should promptly organize the provision of financial support. A relevant instruction has been issued. In addition, as already noted here, they should be provided with soft loans. It is necessary to precisely calculate the amount of damage caused. We should take measures to place them in other shopping centers operating today, so that they do not stay without work.

Thus, I believe that as a result of the measures already taken and to be taken in the future, entrepreneurs will once again be convinced that the state always supports them, he said. The development of entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan has gained momentum, and the further long-term and sustainable development of our country is largely connected with the activities of entrepreneurs. A class of entrepreneurs has now emerged in Azerbaijan. They are very active in various fields  in manufacturing, service and trade sectors. Of course, the state provides them with both political and financial support. As you know, more than 2 billion manats were provided to them on concessional terms. In difficult days, if an accident has occurred, the state will always be near them.

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By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev and representatives of the company's management took part in the TANAP board meeting, which was held in Ankara on March 27, Report informs.

During the meeting, the current status of the TANAP project was discussed.

It was noted that work on the operation of the TANAP site to the city of Eskisehir, as well as on the construction of the section to the border with Greece, is being implemented ahead of schedule.

Construction work on the land has been completed and final commissioning works are underway.

Overall, progress in both phases of the project reached 99.5 percent. From April 15, it is planned to begin filling the gas area from Eskisehir to the Turkish-Greek border.

Along with this, it was emphasized that the work is carried out on the basis of international standards, in compliance with all safety requirements.

TANAP is a natural gas pipeline in Turkey. It is the central part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which will connect the giant Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe through the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. The pipeline has a strategic importance for both Azerbaijan and Turkey. It allows the first Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe, beyond Turkey. It also strengthens the role of Turkey as a regional energy hub.

The project was announced on 17 November 2011 at the Third Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum in Istanbul. On 26 December 2011, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a consortium to build and operate the pipeline.

On November 21, 2018, Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) have been joined along the shores of the Maritsa River at the Turkish-Greek border. As a result of the joining of these two pipelines, Azerbaijani natural gas from the Shah Deniz-2 field can be transported to Italy via Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea.

The TANAP is operated by SOCAR. SGC holds 51 percent stake in the project. Turkey's pipeline operator BOTAS own 30 percent, while BP acquired 12 percent in the project on March 13, 2015 and SOCAR Turkiye Enerji A.S which owns 7 percent of stake. The TANAP project company is headquartered in the Netherlands.

The total length of the pipeline, consisting of the Phase-0 and Phase-1 sections, is 1,850 kilometers. The diameter of the pipeline section from the Georgian-Turkish border to Eskisehir (Phase-0) is 56 inches, the length is 1340 kilometers. On June 12, 2018, the official opening ceremony of this site took place. On June 30, the first commercial gas deliveries to Turkey started via TANAP. The diameter of the Eskisehir-Edirne-Europe (Phase-1) section is 48 inches; its length is 476 kilometers.

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By Trend

Orkhan Guliyev, vice president for safety and operational risk for the Azerbaijan Georgia Turkey region at BP Azerbaijan, has been appointed as general manager for the Rumaila sector effective June 1, 2019, BP Azerbaijan told Trend.

In his new role, Orkhan will be responsible for managing BP upstream business in Iraq. He will be a member of the Middle East leadership team and a member of the global operations organization extended leadership team.

Over the past 23 years with BP, Orkhan has developed considerable operations and major projects experience, in the AGT region and in London, through operational leadership roles offshore, project engineering and project management in the BTC, SCP and ACG projects. Currently Orkhan is vice president safety and operational risk for AGT.

Orkhan holds a masters degree in civil engineering from the Azerbaijan Civil Engineering University and a PhD in gas flow dynamics from the Azerbaijan Oil Academy.

BP also announced that Rahman Rahmanov has been appointed to the role of vice president for project management, global projects organization, Upstream, effective April 1, 2019.

In his new role, Rahman will be responsible for the discipline and functional agenda for project management, project services, quality, risk, construction and commissioning, in support of projects delivery.

He will be a member of the global projects organization technical functions leadership team and will chair the project management discipline capability forum, as well as the project management network.

Rahman brings over 19 years of experience to the role. Rahman started working for BP in 2003 and has held several project leadership roles during his career, including hook up manager for Deepwater Gunashli, drilling delivery manager Chirag Oil project, and topsides delivery project manager, Shah Deniz 2.

Most recently, Rahman worked as AGT midstream project general manager, accountable for all onshore projects in the region.

Rahman holds a Doctorate in Engineering from the Azerbaijan Scientific Research Institute of Energy.

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Chief Justice, Sophia A.B. Akuffo, says the judiciary under her watch will not be subjected to what she termed improper influence by the executive, legislature, as well as private or partisan interests.



She, therefore, expressed her preparedness to take steps to ensure the independence of the judiciary at all times.



Speaking at a mentorship programme organized for first and second cycle students in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, the Chief Justice reiterated her commitment to improve quality and timeliness of justice delivery in the country.



The programme was organized under the auspices of the Asantehen Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on the theme: I pledge myself to the service of Ghana.



According to the Chief Justice, even though justice hurried is justice buried, the timeliness of justice delivery can be enhanced by the application of technology, hence the introduction of e-justice to expedite the adjudication of cases.



She disclosed that sometimes judges are asked to come up with a completion plan for cases in order to address delay in justice delivery.



Her Ladyship Akuffo admonished the female students not to be swayed into immoral acts by men who lure them with modern gadgets, particularly mobile phones, calling on them to be inquisitive.



The Chief Justice also asked the students not to relent in their quest for knowledge, asserting that every day is learning day.

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
By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto told Report that Azerbaijan is a key player in the diversification of energy sources in Europe and Hungary in particular.

Relations between Hungary and Azerbaijan are strategic. Azerbaijan is an important partner of Europe in the framework of the Eastern Partnership program. In addition, it is important to note the cooperation of Azerbaijan and Hungary in the field of food trade, Szijjarto stated.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade also stressed the importance of cooperation in the energy sector.

Hungary is considering options for diversifying its gas sources. And for us the best option is the supply of Azerbaijani gas through the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC). And at todays meetings we plan to discuss the issue of raising their volumes and I hope that we will reach agreement on this issue, Peter Szijjarto said.

Speaking about relations between the two states it is worth noting that in 2017, the trade turnover between the two countries increased by eight percent compared with 2016 and amounted to $ 47 million. In the first eight months of 2018, Hungarys exports to Azerbaijan increased by 34 percent and reached $ 42 million. The main export items from Hungary to Azerbaijan are well-known pharmaceuticals, energy drinks, agricultural technologies, machinery and equipment, food products.

So touching upon the world wide projects, the Southern Gas Corridor is a giant initiative of EU concerning a number of countries, which is expected to bring Azerbaijani gas to Europe, thus providing energy security. The SGC consists of large infrastructure projects, which in turn require huge investments.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.

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By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev and company management paid a working visit to Aliagha province viewed the current state at Petkim, STAR refinery, SOCAR Terminal and SOCARs other enterprises, and attended the meeting of STAR Oil Refinery Management Board, Report informs citing SOCAR on March 28.

It was noted at the meeting that significant progress was obtained in production indicators as compared to early 2019. During five months, main repairing works were completed and all plants of the refinery were put into operation. STAR NEZ supplied its first naphta to Petkim in January, and put diesel and aircraft fuel to sale in February. STAR NEZ was provided with the latest technologies.

The annual processing capacity of the Refinery is 10 million tons. Main products are diesel (4.8 million tons), aircraft fuel (1.6 million tons), naphtha (1.6 million tons), liquid petroleum gas, mixed xylene, petroleum coke. The Refinery is located in Aliagha peninsula. Along with STAR Refinery, SOCAR also operates the Petkim petrochemical complex, a wind power plant and the SOCAR Terminal in Aliagha province.

The total investment of the project is $ 6.3 billion, of which 90 percent has been already invested. By the end of 2021, Star's total capacity will be increased. In the end, the investment will total $7 billion. STAR has the first investment incentive granted by Turkey.

Opening ceremony of Star Oil Refinery that is the first Turkey-specific Industrial Zone was held in October 2018.

STAR is the biggest investment made by private sector in Turkey. The first crude oil load of 80,000 tons to the STAR Oil Refinery delivered from Azerbaijan. With its 4.8 million tons of diesel fuel and 1.6 million tons of naphtha, Turkey will also increase its competitive power in the global energy market with STAR NEZ, which will also produce oil products such as jet fuel and LPG.

Azerbaijani state company SOCAR invests in Turkey through its subsidiary SOCAR Turkey Energy, which is one of the largest investors in Turkish economy, has started operating under Petkim in 2008.

Eearlier, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev and representatives of the company's management took part in the TANAP board meeting, which was held in Ankara on March 27.

During the meeting, the current status of the TANAP project was discussed.

It was noted that work on the operation of the TANAP site to the city of Eskisehir, as well as on the construction of the section to the border with Greece, is being implemented ahead of schedule.

Construction work on the land has been completed and final commissioning works are underway.

Overall, progress in both phases of the project reached 99.5 percent. From April 15, it is planned to begin filling the gas area from Eskisehir to the Turkish-Greek border.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Leman Mammadova

Hungary is interested in participating in the Southern Gas Corridor project.

Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov met with Hungarian delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto.

Parviz Shahbazov recalled that bilateral cooperation issues in the energy sphere was discussed at the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary within the framework of the Russian Energy Week International Forum in Moscow last year, adding that current visit creates new opportunities.

Speaking about the current state of the Hungarian energy supply and gas demand, Peter Szijjarto spoke about plans for diversifying the gas market. He emphasized that Hungary is interested in joining the Southern Gas Corridor in the future.

The meeting highlighted the information on the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor, the prospects of expansion, the possibility of increasing the capacity at the next stage and the gas fields under development.

It was proposed to establish a relevant working group within the Intergovernmental Commission for the development of energy cooperation.

Other areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Hungary, as well as regional energy security issues were discussed at the meeting.

Both sides are interested in the development of cooperation in energy security.

Hungary regards Azerbaijan as a key partner in reference to ensuring Europes energy security.

Southern Gas Corridor project (SGC), which envisages transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe, is important for Hungary in terms of diversification of energy sources. There is an efficient cooperation between Azerbaijan's SOCAR and Hungarian MOL oil companies.

One of the tasks is linking Hungary to the Southern Gas Corridor through interconnectors between the countries in Eastern Europe.

Hungary also joined AGRI (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector) which would help diversify energy supply in the country.

AGRI project envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to the Black Sea coast of Georgia via gas pipelines. Azerbaijani gas delivered to Georgia's Black Sea coast will be liquefied at a special terminal and following this, it will be delivered in tankers to a terminal at the Romanian port of Constanta.

AGRI may be considered as additional supply route for the BRUA interconnector (which is expected to connect the natural gas transmission systems between Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria) currently under execution. Hungary and other countries, engaged in the BRUA project may take over some of the gas volumes that could be available through the Southern Corridor's infrastructure.

The participants of the AGRI project are SOCAR, Georgia's Oil and Gas Corporation, as well as MVM (Hungary) and Romgaz (Romania).

The Southern Gas Corridor, $ 40 billion worth project, envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey and Europe through the pipeline, which will be operated within the second stage of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field project in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

Gas produced within Shah Deniz Stage 2 will be transported from the Caspian Sea to Europe, through Italy, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and the seabed of the Adriatic Sea.

The Southern Gas Corridor consists of four projects: Shah Deniz 2, Expansion of South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum), the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

Perhaps this is one of the most ambitious projects in the world of oil and gas industry, as well as a complex target that involves a large number of different stakeholders - including seven governments and 11 companies.

On May 29, Baku hosted the launch of the first phase of the Southern Gas Corridor project, and on June 12, the opening ceremony of the TANAP took place in the Turkish province of Eskisehir.

Thus, the first gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Relations between Tajikistan and China are a streamlined and dynamic mechanism for comprehensive cooperation and strategic partnership.

Tajikistan is considering the possibility of exporting surplus electricity produced in the country to China.

Along with the sale of electricity to the Central Asian republics, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Tajikistan also intends to supply it to China.

To establish supplies to China, it is planned to build a 500 kV power line, 550 kilometers in length, to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the General Plan for the development of the energy sector.

It is noted that in addition to the existing lines of interconnection flows with Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, several projects of regional interconnection lines are considered: Connecting the energy system of Tajikistan to the energy systems of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and becoming part of a single energy ring of Central Asia; Project CASA-1000, under which the construction of 500 kV power transmission lines between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan is planned; The construction of 500 kV power lines Rogun-Peshawar is under discussion, Construction of 500 kV transmission lines, 550 km long, to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China; The United Energy Network of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan with the maximum annual export of electricity from Tajikistan. There are two additional lines to Afghanistan and Pakistan, at this stage, only one of them will be considered.

Currently, Tajik electricity is supplied to Afghanistan and Uzbekistan via two lines (110 and 220 kV) to both countries, as well as to Kyrgyzstan (220 kV transmission lines).

According to the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan, more than 2.4 billion kW / h of electricity was exported in 2018. Due to these supplies, the republic earned about $ 77 million.

Tajik electricity supplies last year increased by 1.1 billion kW / h compared to the previous year.

The increase in exports was achieved due to the supply of electricity to Uzbekistan, which was resumed from April 2018 after an almost ten-year break. In the first nine months of 2018, Tajikistan exported about 1.4 billion kW / h of electricity to this neighboring country.

Note that the cost of each kW of energy for Afghanistan last year was 4.11 cents, for Kyrgyzstan - 3 cents, Uzbekistan - 2 cents.

The export of Tajik electricity, certified by the energy departments, is carried out exclusively in the summer period when the republic has its surplus.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi has said that unblocking the assets of the Central Bank of Iran by Luxemburg court was the result of hard efforts in various organizations.

"The CBI complaints alongside with excessive efforts at national level and CBI cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Center for International Legal Affairs of the Presidency allowed to resolve the issue successfully and to restore the rights of the nation," Trend reports citing telegram channel of Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Ghasemi insisted on the important role of cooperation between domestic organizations.

"The cooperation between public organizations and support of people alongside with using skilled lawyers and diplomacy have worked in all legal stages to restore the people's right."

Luxembourg court has rejected the US request to compensate victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks by seizing Iranian assets, seven years after a New York court claimed there was evidence of Irans involvement in the incident.

That court awarded the plaintiffs damages of over $7 billion. Families of victims are seeking access to $1.6 billion of Iranian funds in Luxembourg, which were frozen as part of international sanctions over Irans nuclear program.

However, the Luxembourg court ruling said the plaintiffs could not continue their legal case to seize Iranian assets in the country.

Iran has denied any links to Al Qaeda or any involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.

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By Trend

An Emirati company, Dragon Oil, which has been operating in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea for more than 18 years, has invested over $6.6 billion in the development of offshore fields, Dragon Oil Assistant CEO Faisal Rabee Al Awadhi said in an interview with the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper, Trend reports.

He said that during this period, the average daily hydrocarbon production increased more than tenfold - from 7,000 barrels per day in 2000 to 80100,000 barrels.

In 2018, the company produced over 4 million tons of oil, he noted.

Dragon Oil expressed interest in extending the contract, which expires in 2025, and presented a number of proposals in this regard, he added.

During the period of work in Turkmenistan, the company reconstructed the existing and constructed five new operational offshore fixed platforms and three nodal platforms.

Dozens of new wells were commissioned. Jackup rigs "Elima", "Neptune" and "Caspian Driller", as well as rigs "Sakson" and "Nis" mounted at offshore fixed platforms, are involved in the drilling operations.

In addition, an oil complex preparation and pumping workshop, 14 storage tanks for raw materials with a total capacity of about 1.8 million barrels and other facilities were built.

Construction of additional oil storage facilities and pipelines at the Aladzha oil-loading terminal made it possible to simultaneously load two tankers, and this increased the companys export capacities.

The company has containers with special equipment for the removal of oil and other pollutants from the water surface and in the coastal zone.

For the round-the-clock duty at the fields, high-speed rescue ships CM Rescue by Caspian Mainport Int. and Topaz Responder by BUE Marine, which have modern equipment, are leased for elimination of oil spills.

A tender is being held to buy additional equipment to respond to such situations, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.

The company operates under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the development of the oil-bearing sections of the Jeitun (Lam) and Jigalybek (Zhdanov) fields, signed in 1999.

The company's shares are listed on the London and Dublin exchanges (stock exchange ticker: DGO), the companys main shareholder is Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC).

The company conducts its activity mainly in the Eastern sector of the Southern Caspian Basin in the contract area of Cheleken. This area is nearly 950 square kilometers. It includes the Jeitun, Jigalybek and Chelekenyangummez deposits.

The estimated and proven reserves of oil and condensate in the contractual area amount to 663 million barrels. The contingent reserves of oil and condensate total 63 million barrels. The gas reserves amount to 1.3 trillion cubic feet. The prospective gas resources are 1.3 trillion cubic feet.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Relations between China and Tajikistan are a prime example of partnership between large and small states.

Countries always provide each other with strong support on issues affecting their key interests and support close coordination and interaction within the UN, the SCO and other international organizations.

China is hoping to strengthen security cooperation with Tajikistan, said Zhao Kezhi, a member of the State Council of China, Minister of Public Security of China, at a meeting with Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda.

Kezhi called on both countries to implement the important consensus reached by the leadership of both countries and to deepen cooperation in such areas as the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism, ensuring the security of the Belt and Path formation, border control and strengthening enforcement capabilities, Xinhua reports.

Member of the Chinese State Council also expressed hope for the creation of a mechanism for cooperation between China and Tajikistan in ensuring the security of major events.

In turn, Rahimzoda indicated that Tajikistan is ready to work with China to deepen bilateral cooperation in law enforcement and security.

Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, said that the active participation of China in the economy of Tajikistan is in the interests of Dushanbe.

Muhriddin noted that the republic was pleased with the investments from China.

Chinese companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Tajik economy, and we are pleased with them. The Chinese capital is being raised to develop the mining industry, energy, transport and other areas, said Muhriddin.

He added that the National Development Strategy was adopted in Tajikistan until 2030. According to the document, the republic will focus on economic development, including through foreign investment.

Diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and China were established on January 4, 1992.

With a foreign trade turnover of $ 651 million, China is in third place among Tajikistans trading partners.

It was previously announced that it is planned to increase the foreign trade turnover of Tajikistan and China to $3 billion by 2020.

Dushanbe has established a good economic dialogue with Beijing thanks to a common border - it is convenient, first of all, to trade with China in terms of logistics.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is holding talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Antalya, Trend reports with reference to Turkish media March 29.

The settlement of the situation in Syria and the latest events in Venezuela are being discussed at the meeting.

A meeting of the Russian-Turkish Joint Strategic Planning Group is taking place in Antalya, and plans for bilateral cooperation for 2019-2020 will also be discussed as part of this meeting.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The launch of the Rogun HPP is a source of social and economic development of Tajikistan, as well as a reliable and sustainable instrument of regional cooperation in the interests of improving the welfare of the peoples of Central and South Asia.

Tajikistan must return the loan to China for 25 years to build a power line linking the Rogun HPP with Dushanbe.

Deputies of the lower house of the Parliament of Tajikistan discussed this project on March 28.

For the construction of 500 kV Rogun-Dushanbe power transmission lines, the Chinese Eximbank provided the Government of Tajikistan with $ 79 million. The parties signed the corresponding agreement in September 2017.

In accordance with the document, the Tajik side pledged to repay the loan with interest for 25 years. The money was received at 1.5 percent per annum, the report said. It is noted that the maturity of the debt is 300 months.

Chinese company TBEA carried the construction of the transmission lines. It had previously implemented a number of other projects in Tajikistan, including energy projects.

Two lines from Rogun to Dushanbe, a length of 100 kilometers with 402 pillars, were built and put into operation in November 2018.

The lines connect the capital with Rogun through the territory of Faizabad, Vahdat, Rudaki and Varzob. The substation "Dushanbe-500" was also built in the framework of project.

After the launch of the first hydraulic unit of the Rogun HPP on November 16, 2018, electricity was supplied through these lines to the electricity system of Tajikistan.

However, in early March, it was reported that the operation of the commissioned unit was temporarily suspended. The energy departments explain the decisions taken by the conduct of preventive maintenance to ascertain the health of parts of the hydraulic unit.

The Export-Import Bank of China is a state-funded and state-owned policy bank with the status of an independent legal entity. It is a bank directly under the leadership of the State Council and dedicated to supporting Chinas foreign trade, investment and international economic cooperation.

With the Chinese governments credit support, the Bank plays a crucial role in promoting steady economic growth and structural adjustment, supporting foreign trade, and implementing the going global strategy. It is committed to reinforcing financial support to key sectors and weak links in the Chinese economy to ensure sustainable and healthy economic and social development.

By the end of 2016, the Bank has 29 domestic branches and one domestic representative office in Hong Kong, four overseas institutions, namely, the Paris Branch, Representative Office for Southern and Eastern Africa, Representative Office for Northern and Western Africa, and St. Petersburg Representative Office.

Most of the electricity in Tajikistan is produced at HPPs.

The country has significant potential in the field of hydropower, which is still little realized. The total volume of hydropower resources is estimated at 527 billion kWh, including 202 billion kWh that are technically possible for use, and 172 billion kWh that are economically feasible for construction.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The volume of production of petroleum products in Tajikistan is insignificant against the background of imports of petroleum products from abroad.

The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources said that in January-February 2019, the country produced about 3,700 tons of oil, which is 1.8 percent less than in 2018, Avesta reports.

During this period, Tajikistan produced 43.4 tons of gasoline and 835.4 tons of diesel fuel.

Meanwhile, only in February 2019, Tajikistan imported more than 27,400 tons of petroleum products worth over $ 18 million.

By the end of 2018, Tajikistan imported about 446,000 tons of petroleum products for a total of $ 310.8 million. On average, the cost of one ton of petroleum products was $ 696.

Indicators of imports of petroleum products in 2018 exceeded those of 2017 by 20,700 tons, and in value by $ 44.9 million.

Russia remains the main supplier of petroleum products. Also, Tajikistan imported oil products from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and other countries.

At present, the republics demand for fuel and lubricants is almost completely satisfied by importing these products from abroad, which leads to regular price increases for fuel, especially during the planting season.

The increase in prices for petroleum products and liquefied gas is becoming one of the main reasons for the increase in food prices on the domestic market, which is reflected in the family budget of the majority of the population.

According to data from various sources, about 30 percent of more than 9.1 million people in Tajikistan live below the poverty line.

To stabilize the situation in the country's oil market, the Tajik government called on investors to invest in the construction of oil refineries in order to somehow reduce their greater dependence on foreign suppliers.

However, some tangible results in this direction have not yet been achieved. For example, the construction of an oil refinery in the territory of the free economic zone Dangara in the south of Tajikistan is delayed a year, and the project has become a long-term construction project.

The start-up dates of the plant are postponed from year to year, starting in 2016. Profile departments of the republic, do not even name the estimated dates for the launch of the specified object.

Experts consider, over 113 million tons of oil, 863 billion cubic meters of gas lie in the depths of Tajikistan. In the south-west of the republic, more than 80 percent of all oil and gas resources of the country are concentrated, the remaining 19 percent are in northern Tajikistan.

The most promising for development at the present time are: Supetau in the Sogd oblast, as well as Rengan, Kashkokum, Olimtoi, Yalgizkak and Sargazon in south-western Tajikistan.

Today, the country's oil and gas complex is represented by four oil and gas fields - Khoja Sartez, Kyzyl-Tumshuk and Bishtinchak (south of the country), as well as Niyazbek (Sogd oblast).

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The Supreme Court has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana  an accounting firm  to ascertain the veracity of the over GH1.2 billion claims being made by NDK Financial Services Limited against the government through the Ministry of Energy.



The state being represented by the Attorney-General and the private firm have subsequently been ordered by the court to prepare legal accounts for the auditing firm to work with.



It is expected to verify how much the state has been able to pay through the Bank of Ghana and whether NDK is still entitled to more payments amounting to some GH1,273,000,000 as judgment debt.



The Supreme Courts order follows an application by the AG insisting that the state had fulfilled all financial obligations to NDK with regard to certain payments and interests based on the courts order.



Proceedings



Appearing before the court yesterday, Deputy Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame told the court that as far as the government is concerned, it has already complied with the judgment of the Supreme Court, but NDK continues to make unsubstantiated claims for more money.



He said NDK through a process of categorizing the judgment debt into ascertained and unascertained parts, has been persistently making claims for humongous sums from the applicant herein, albeit totally unjustified.



The Deputy AG further argued that in the view of the state implies that the sum of GH867,441.5 plus interest at the agreed rate of 6.5% per month calculated at the close of each day and payable at the end of every month from 1st April, 2009, at the end of every month from 1st April, 2009 till the date of final payment.



According to him, payment of any sums made in contravention of the letters of undertaking cast a burden on the respondent to produce evidence of such payment in contravention of the letters of undertaking by the Ministry of Energy.



However, Alfred Bannerman Williams, counsel for NDK opposed the application which he said seeks to truncate the execution of the courts order.



He also challenged the inherent jurisdiction of the Supreme Court based on which the AG had filed the application.



Counsel was however, unable to tell the court how much money the AG owed them but said there were unascertained payments.



Justice A.A. Benin, a member of the panel, told the lawyer that the best thing for both parties to do is to appoint an accountant to audit the accounts and ascertain the interest accrued on the principal amount and the lawyer agreed with him.



The five-member panel of judges presided over by Justice Sophia Adinyira and assisted by Justices Jones Dotse, Anin Yeboah, Sule Gbadegbe and A.A. Benin therefore appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana to ascertain the accounts of the two parties.

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.

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By Leman Mammadova

As many as 50,500 tourists from Azerbaijan visited Turkey in February 2019, which is 4.65 percent more compared to the same period in 2018, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism told Trend.

The share of Azerbaijani citizens in the total number of foreigners visiting Turkey during this period amounted to 3.03 percent, said the ministry.

However, in January, 46,800 thousand Azerbaijani tourists visited Turkey.

The ministry also noted that Turkey is interested in the growth of tourists from Azerbaijan.

Tourists from Azerbaijan mainly visit the tourist provinces of Antalya, Mugla and in particular Istanbul and Ankara.

The ministry noted that 1,670 million tourists visited Turkey in February 2019, which is 9.38 percent more compared to the same period of 2018. During this period, over 984 thousand tourists visited Istanbul, while 135 thousand tourists preferred Antalya.

Azerbaijani tourists often travel to Turkey for vacation in July and August. Turkey which provides high-quality and inexpensive vacation for many international tourists has become one of the most favorite destinations for many Azerbaijanis.

In 2018, 14,100 Azerbaijani tourists visited Turkey's Bodrum, which is located in the country's Mugla Province.

In turn, share of Turkish tourists was 12 percent among those who visited Azerbaijan in January-February 2019. During the reporting period, 364,200 foreigners and stateless persons from 152 countries came to Azerbaijan, which is 3.3 percent more compared to the same period last year.

In 2018, 2,849,600 tourists visited Azerbaijan, showing a 5.7 percent increase compared to 2017. Turkish tourists made up 10.2 percent share.

In recent years, the creation of a diversified tourism infrastructure in Azerbaijan has increased the interest of foreign tourists to the country. There are many opportunities for tourism in our country, including rural, health, environmental, cultural, social, commercial, sport and etc.

The mesmerizing mix of East and West, the possibility to have a rest on the Caspian Sea shore and enjoy fresh air and delicious meals have always been attracting tourists to Azerbaijan. Many of them get so much fascinated with the country and its capital Baku that they come back to visit Azerbaijan again after a while.

Moreover, simplification of visa regime plays a major role in the development of tourism in Azerbaijan. Currently, citizens of a number of countries get visas right at the Azerbaijani airports, while other tourists can visit the country by getting online tourist visas.

The successful holding of international events has also turned Azerbaijan into a country recognizable by everyone in the world, and a country that many foreigners wish to visit as soon as possible.

So, Azerbaijan is among the developing countries in the field of tourism, occupying the 39th place among 148 countries in terms of global competitiveness in tourism.

---

Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Real estate developing company, Manasseh Resources Limited has indicated it preparedness to drag the Chief of Berekuso, Odeefuor Nana Oteng Korankye II for defying court orders and granting various parcels of land at Abokobi to members of the unsuspecting public.



It has also requested Odeefuor Nana Oteng Korankye II and the Daily Guide to retract a story with headline Soldiers fingered in illegal demolition and offer unqualified apology to the company or face court action for defamation.



The Chief of Berekuso had earlier used the news media including Daily Guide to accuse Manasseh Resources Limited of demolishing properties and creating tension, panic and fear of public safety in Abokobi and its environs with the aid of alleged security personnel.



But in an official statement copied to Peacefmonline.com, it noted that the company has not demolished any property at all, contrary to the false publication in the media.



Unfortunately, the publication has been cited as the source for countless radio and television programmes which sought to create the impression that our company is engaged in forcible and illegal demolition of properties and structures in Abokobi with the help of military personnel. First and foremost, the said publication is wholly inaccurate and a subterfuge by the proponents thereof to deceive the unsuspecting public and subject our company to public scorn and hatred, it said.





Below is a copy of the full statement





SOLDIERS FINGERED IN ILLEGAL DEMOLITION



The attention of management of Messrs Manasseh Resources Limited has been drawn to a news item with the above-mentioned caption published at the instance of Odeefoo Nana Oteng Korankye II, the Chief of Berekuso, at page 6 of Wednesday, March 27, 2019 edition of the Daily Guide Newspaper.



Unfortunately, the publication has been cited as the source for countless radio and television programmes which sought to create the impression that our company is engaged in forcible and illegal demolition of properties and structures in Abokobi with the help of military personnel. First and foremost, the said publication is wholly inaccurate and a subterfuge by the proponents thereof to deceive the unsuspecting public and subject our company to public scorn and hatred.



It is instructive to the note that our company acquired its Land at Abokobi from the Nuumo Nmashie Family, the Allodial title owners of the Land. Pursuant to the acquisition of the Land, our company has been issued with Land Title Certificate by the Lands Commission, the lawful authority established by law to register all interests in land in Ghana.



It is further instructive to note that the Land was registered in favour of our company without any objection from any third party, including the Berekusohene, inspite of notice to the entire public.



Regarding the title of Nuumo Nmashie Family to the Land, same has been affirmed by a long line of judicial decisions and statutory instruments/notices of title, including but not limited to the following:



i. A judgment dated the 15th day of December, 1982 in a suit involving Berekusohene (predecessor of Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II) and Nuumo Nmashie Family(Civil Appeal No. 49/80) wherein the Court of Appeal, adjudged the NuumoNmashie Family of Teshie, as owners of Adjancote Hills and the contiguous villages including Abokobi Village/Lands;



ii. A publication of the judgment in Civil Appeal No. 49/80 at the instance of the Lands Commission which appeared in the Daily Graphic News Papers on the 20th day of April 1973, the Ghanaian Times Newspaper on 11th September 1987 (page 5) and in the Weekly Spectator on the 14th day of November, 1992;



iii. A judgment of the Court of Appeal dated the 12thday November, 2004, in Civil Appeal No. H1/190/2004) on appeal from the judgment of Wood J (as she then was) affirming ownership of the Land in favour of Nuumo Nmashie Family;



iv. A judgment given by the Supreme Court, on the 21st day of June, 2006, wherein large tracts of Abokobi land was declared in favour of the Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie;



v. An order of mandamusby the High Court dated 19th July, 2001 by Justice V.D Ofoe compelling the Land Commission to plot all that large tract of land including Abokobis Land in favour of Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie and all their grantees, Lessees, Donees, and Assignors;



vi. A consent judgment of the Court of Appeal dated the 29th day of November, 2004, which ordered the Lands Commission to plot Abokobi, Adjankote, Brekuso, Kponkposesemi, Danfa, Akporman, Abladjei, Kojokrom, Dedeiman and Teiman Villages in favour of the Nuumo Nmashie Family;



vii. A Supreme Court Judgment dated the 21st of June, 2006 which emanated from Civil Appeal No. 49/80 the Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie were declared as owners through conquest, and Purchase and Settlement to John Nii Nmashie Adjetey on behalf of Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie;



viii. Pursuant to the aforementioned suits, the Lands Commission published at page 24 in the Daily Graphic Newspaper, dated Tuesday April 30th, 2002, the Judgment in favour of Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie.



ix. By a ruling dated the 7th day of July, 2017, His Lordship, Justice Kwabena Asuman-Adu granted an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the Berekusohene, Nana Oteng Korankye II, his agents, privies, assigns, servants, workmen or otherwise howsoever from dealing with the Abokobi, Adjankote, Brekuso, Kponkposesemi, Danfa, Akporman, Abladjei, Kojokrom, Dedeiman and Teiman lands.



It is instructive to note that these judgments and rulings are conclusive that Berekuso Stool/Family has no title to Abokobi Lands. In fact, the proponent of the publication, Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II, the present occupant or head of Berekuso Stool/Family has expressly been injuncted by the court from dealing with Abokobi Lands. (Please see a copy of the order annexed to this Rejoinder).



Unfortunately, Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II, continues to defy the dignity of the court by granting various parcels of land at Abokobi to members of the unsuspecting public. A case in point is a recent grant of 3.55 Acres to one KobinaWoode.



It is our firm belief that it is these illicit acts of Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II, which have created the unnecessary tension, panic and fear of public safety in Abokobi, compelling our company to seek the protection of Ghana Police Service to protect the life of our workmen and property. However, our company has not demolished any property at all contrary to the false publication in the media.



Having been injuncted by the High Court from dealing with Abokobi Lands, Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II is now desperately seeking refuge under a purported Supreme Court judgment to impugn the title of Nuumo Nmashie Family when he was not a party to the said Supreme Court proceedings. In fact the subject matter, issues and the reliefs sought in that Supreme Court proceedings had nothing to do with Abokobi Lands.



Our understanding of the issue which went before the Supreme Court was whether the procedure adopted by Nuumo Nmashie Family was proper in law, to entitle them to recover possession of the Land known as Airport Hills from Finali Ventures in contradistinction to issue of ownership or title to the said Land.



It is trite learning in law that title to land is not synonymous with right of possession of the land. It is in this perspective that the judgment by the Supreme Court ought to be looked at and not to construe same to mean defect in title of Nuumo Nmashie Family or declaration of title in favour of Berekusohene in respect of Abokobi Lands.



It is regrettable to note that the publication and pursuant radio and television programmes, so far, have been entirely one sided and no attempt whatsoever was made by the media houses to get our version of the story. Responsible journalism dictates that not only an objective story be presented to the public but at the very least, both sides must be given a fair opportunity to present their story.



We expect that the media will accord this publication the same prominence that was given to the publication for the discerning public to form their own independent judgment of the matter. Further, we demand Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II and the Daily Guide to retract the story under reference and issue unqualified apology to the management of our company and the general public for carrying out such untruth story failing which our lawyers are on a standby to commence an action in court for defamation.



With respect to Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II, his henchmen and acolytes, we are assured by our grantors that their solicitors are taking the necessary steps to bring the conduct of the chief to the attention of the court for him to be punished for contempt of court.



BY MANAGEMENT OF MESSRS MANASSEH RESOURCES LIMITED



Contact: Eddie Quaye  0244 261208

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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There appears to be a breakthrough by the security agencies in pursuit of people who are suspected to have shot and killed Ahmed Hussein Suale, a private investigator, who was working for Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his Tiger Eye PI.



Its emerging that a suspected killer of Ahmed Suale is currently in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) on behalf of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.



Although the security operatives are largely tight-lipped over the case and would not want to give details beyond a confirmation of the arrest, Daily Guide can confirm that two arrests were made last week.



The paper learnt that the lead came through an informant in the Zongo community at Nanakrom, near Madina in Accra where Ahmed Suale was killed.



Two suspects were first picked up but after intensive screening, one of them was released but the principal suspect remains in custody.



The remaining suspect is said to be providing important leads to the security agents.



During a NET2 television programme a couple of days ago, the First Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Bono Region Kwame Baffoe, alias Abronye DC, also spoke about the arrests and the subsequent release on bail of one of the suspects at Kotobabi Police Station in Accra where he was being detained.



He had accused the Kotobabi Police Station of collecting money and granting bail to the suspect whom he claimed works with Anas Armyaw Anas Tiger Eye PI.



However, the Nima Divisional Crime Officer Chief Superintendent, William Daah, denied the allegation when the paper reached out to him.



Having contacted the commander of the Kotobabi Police Station on the veracity of the allegation, Daily Guide was told that there is no such report at the police station as was alleged.



The Police Headquarters, upon hearing the allegation, sent a team to Kotobabi Police Station to authenticate the story, Daily Guide gathered.



The team reported that there was no such report in the diary of the police station.



Ahmed Suale was killed by persons riding a motorbike on January 16, which sparked outrage in the country.



When DAILY GUIDE reached out to one of the brothers of the deceased, he said, I have not been briefed about any arrest. However, we were invited to come and identify some suspects earlier, none of whom we could pinpoint as the culprits.

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.

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Construction on the 24th Street Improvement Project will reduce eastbound traffic on the road to two lanes for the next eight months.
The office of the former President, John Dramani Mahama has debunked an allegation by the Acting Chairman of the ruling New Patrioitc Party (NPP) in the Bono Region that he (Mr. Mahama) has rented an apartment for the former AIDS Ambassador, Joyce Dzidzor in Germany to escape arrest for alleged embezzlement.



A statement from the office of Mr. Mahama and signed by his Special Aide, Joyce Bawah-Mogtari, described Abronye DC as a 'knighted liar' without common sense who goes about peddling all manner of falsehood to ruin Mr. Mahama's reputation.



It is a sad testimony, that a serial fibster such as Kwame Baffoe occupies a position of trust such as a Regional Vice Chairman of the ruling party. Such persons debase our political system and are responsible for the continued erosion of public credibility in our democratic dispensation, Joyce Bawah Mogtari wrote on her facebook page.







The Office of Former President John Dramani Mahama has noted another false news in which President Akufo-Addos ventriloquist, Kwame Baffoe (Abronye DC), is caught lying that the former President has rented an apartment for one Joyce Mensah in Germany.For emphasis, this news is false and must be treated with utmost contempt.We note that Mr. Baffoe (Abronye DC), has become a conduit through which the NPP churns out the most outrageous lies and propaganda against the person of the Former President.It is a sad testimony, that a serial fibster such as Kwame Baffoe occupies a position of trust such as a Regional Vice Chairman of the ruling party. Such persons debase our political system and are responsible for the continued erosion of public credibility in our democratic dispensation.It is time President Akufo-Addo calls his propaganda side kick  Abronye DC to order as he continues to subject his party and government to further embarrassment.The Acting Chairman of Bono Region of the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP), Kwame Baffoe aka Abronye DC says the former Ambassador for the Ghana Aids Commission, Joyce Dzidzo Mensah is in bed with former President Mahama.He alleged that former President John Dramani Mahama has therefore rented an apartment for her in Germany.According to him, John Dramani Mahama in 2013 aided Joyce Dzidzor Mensah to be appointed as AIDS ambassador for the Ghana AIDS Commission but subsequently, it was found by the AIDs commission that, Joyce Dzidzor Mensah did not even fall within the necessary requirements hence defrauded the commission.Speaking on Net 2 TV, he reiterated that after several years, he decided to petition the Criminal Investigation Department to investigate the matter to bring Joyce Dzidzor to book if found guilty.Do you know that JDM has rented a house for the lady in Germany . . . immediately after my petition, John Mahama knowing that this lady (Joyce Dzidzor) will not go down alone, rented an apartment for her in Germany so as to avoid her arrest," he said.He asserted that "John Mahama did that because, if Joyce Dzidzor is arrested, her wife Lordina Mahama would be in trouble and exposed because she is a direct accomplice Joyce Dzidzor.Abronye DC however claimed to have all the necessary document to prove his case; adding that she [Joyce] is not coming to Ghana again unless an Interpol is sent to go and have her arrested.

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.

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We are saerching for new and used EUR-EPAL pallets suppliers to Belgium. Direct supplies, direct payments. Representative in Latvia.

Required prices with delivery on DDU.
A real-life edition of 'Jaws' might be swimming toward beaches near the Houston area.

On Tuesday, a man fishing off Navarre Beach Pier in Florida threw out a fishing line. Surprisingly he reeled-in a 10 foot long, 700 pound great white shark, per a report from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

It was the first time the alpha predator has been spotted near that location.

Great white sightings in the Gulf of Mexico are very unusual, according to studies and reports.

The Herald-Tribune also reported that the shark was tagged and released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

On land, Navarre Beach Pierre is 573 miles from Galveston.

However, PLOS ONE (described on its site as the 'world's first multidisciplinary Open Access journal'), published a study titled 'Seasonal Distribution and Historic Trends in Abundance of White Sharks in the Western North Atlantic.'

This is the key line for those who frequent those Gulf Coast beaches in Texas.

The "study which examined great white sightings from a wide variety of sources from 1800 to 2010 showed the range of white shark occurrence extended from the north coast of Newfoundland to as far south as the British Virgin Islands, as far east as the Grand Banks and Bermuda, to as far west as the coast of Texas."

RELATED: Why you don't need to worry about being a Texas shark attack victim

The study reports, "Interestingly, there is a very good chance more great white sightings will take place in the Gulf and possibly Texas waters. The removal of gill nets along the shallow areas of the Gulf Coast beginning in 1994 has given young great white an advantage."

The gill nets reportedly killed off the great whites in the Gulf over several decades. But with their removals, more sharks are reaching sexual maturity. "We are on our second generation of whites born without the nets."

The report concludes that a great white shark venturing toward the Texas coast "is not beyond the realm of possibility."

Peter Dawson is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | Peter.Dawson@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.
Capital BlueCross launched its My Rx Guide care initiative, which embeds a pharmacist into outpatient care teams.

What you should know:

1. Capital BlueCross launched the initiative in central Pennsylvania. The pharmacist will provide medication recommendations and support to physicians and patients.

2. Capital launched the initiative at Penn Medicine Lancaster (Pa.) General Health, Penn Health Milton S. Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center, Fountain Hill, Pa.-based St. Luke's University Health Network, Harrisburg, Pa.-based UPMC Pinnacle and York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health.

3. Pharmacists will have access to patient records and can schedule physician consultations during which they can suggest changing a prescription if they believe a different intervention would be beneficial.

4. Capital hopes the program will reduce physician workload and decrease medication costs.
As Women's History month comes to a close, Surgical Care Affiliates is celebrating the completion of a successful all-women medical mission trip to Honduras supporting One World Surgery.

One World Surgery funds and operates a surgery center, located on the ranch of Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, a home for 500 abandoned and disadvantaged children. In 2018, One World Surgery hosted 22 medical mission trips where surgeons performed 1,102 procedures, including 182 joint replacements. The medical professionals also held 7,217 consults during those trips and 13 education sessions. In total, 717 volunteers traveled to Honduras as part of the mission last year and the organization raised more than $2.9 million.

During the most recent trip in early March, more than 30 women across the SCA network participated in the trip, focused on women supporting women. In addition to providing medical care, the women on this trip facilitated leadership and empowerment workshops with local women and girls in Honduras and hosted a donation drive.

During the trip, the all-women brigade was able to provide surgery for 37 people, 75 percent of which were women. One World Surgery has 20 more planned missions this year where clinicians and volunteers will provide life-saving medical care and support for a community in need.

To become involved in One World Surgery, visit the organization's website here. One World Surgery seeks volunteers and donations to provide access to life-saving care in Honduras.
Here are 10 key facts and studies on outpatient spine surgery and spine procedures in ASCs:

Register today for Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + The Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference June 13-15, click here. To learn more about exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities, contact Maura Jodoin at mjodoin@beckershealthcare.com.

1. Over 145 ASCs in the U.S. offer minimally invasive spine surgery.

2. Around 90 percent of patients who underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion at an ASC consumed less than or equal to the 30th percentile of oral morphine equivalents, compared to 57 percent of hospital patients. Additionally, hospital patients consumed greater average doses of fentanyl and oxycodone.

3. A study published in Military Medicine examined the return-to-duty rates for military patients who underwent minimally invasive spine surgery in an ASC. All of the participants returned to duty three months postoperatively. Patients experienced a significant reduction in self-reported pain and disability 12 months postoperatively.

4. As more spine surgeries transition to the outpatient setting, surgeons and researchers continue to study the cost differences between inpatient and outpatient procedures. After examining the national administrative data, researchers found more modest cost savings for outpatient spine surgery over inpatient spine surgery.

5. A study published in Spine investigated the adverse event profile of cervical total disc replacements performed in the outpatient versus inpatient setting. Study authors found no difference in perioperative complications between the inpatient and outpatient CTDRs.

6. Research published in Neurosurgery found outpatient spine procedures are just as safe as  or safer than  procedures performed in an inpatient setting.

7. CMS released a new tool allowing patients to compare the average payment of select orthopedic and spine procedures in hospital outpatient departments and ASCs.

A few examples on reimbursement for spine procedures:

Total disc arthroplasty with discectomy (22856)

ASC:

 Average Medicare pays: $8,970

 Average total cost: $11,213

 Amount patient pays on average: $2,243

HOPD:

 Average Medicare pays: $14,031

 Average total cost: $15,371

 Amount patient pays on average: $1,340

Sacroiliac joint fusion (27279)

ASC:

 Average Medicare pays: $9,965

 Average total cost: $12,456

 Amount patient pays on average: $2,491

HOPD:

 Average Medicare pays: $14,031

 Average total cost: $15,371

 Amount patient pays on average: $1,340

Anterior cervical discectomy (22551)

ASC:

 Average Medicare pays: $5,870

 Average total cost: $7,337

 Amount patient pays on average: $1,467

HOPD:

 Average Medicare pays: $8,783

 Average total cost: $10,123

 Amount patient pays on average: $1,340

8. Baptist Medical Park Surgery Center, an ASC located in Pensacola, Fla., is the first surgery center in the Southeast to purchase Mazor Robotics' Renaissance System. Mark Giovanini, MD, a surgeon who is using the Mazor Robotics' Renaissance System for all SI fusions procedures, said the technology provides patients with the full advantages of spinal surgery with the convenience of an outpatient facility.

9. Bill Stewart, area vice president of value-based purchasing of DePuy Synthes, a Johnson & Johnson company, said spine is a specialty to watch in ASCs.

"What we've seen with spine is that surgical procedures that are migrating outpatient, typically one- to three-level ACDF and discectomy, are moving outpatient. But lumbar spine is much slower to move outpatient. What we've seen with lumbar spine is a small number of sites are doing it. A lot of that is because it's capital intensive to do lumbar spine," he said at Becker's ASC 25th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs in Chicago Oct. 18, 2018.

10. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusions are safe in the outpatient setting for properly selected patients, according to new research from the New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.

https://www.beckersasc.com/outpatient-spine/spinal-fusions-safe-in-the-outpatient-setting-study-finds-3-details.html

"The results suggest that multi-level ACDF can be performed safely in the outpatient setting without an increased risk of complications in appropriately selected patients," said Hospital for Special Surgery surgeon Sheeraz Qureshi, MD. "Specifically, the patient's age, additional health conditions and number of levels being fused should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to perform multi-level ACDF in an outpatient setting."
The following hospital and health system credit rating and outlook changes or affirmations occurred in the last week:

1. S&P assigns 'A' rating to Henry Ford Health System

S&P Global Ratings has assigned an "A" long-term rating to Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System.

2. Fitch affirms 'AA' rating for Stanford Health Care

Fitch Ratings assigned an "AA-" issuer default rating to Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care.

3. Moody's downgrades Milford Regional Medical Center rating to 'Ba2'

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded its rating for Milford (Mass.) Regional Medical Center from "Ba1" to "Ba2," affecting $102 million of rated debt.

4. Moody's assigns 'Baa1' rating to Catholic Health Systems

Moody's Investors Service assigned a "Baa1" rating to Rockville, N.Y.-based Catholic Health Systems, affecting $104 million of debt.

5. S&P revises outlook for Jennie Stuart Medical Center to stable

S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook for Hopkinsville, Ky.-based Jennie Stuart Medical Center from negative to stable.

6. Moody's affirms 'A3' rating for Health Care Authority for Baptist Health

Moody's Investors Service has affirmed its "A3" rating for the Mongtomery, Ala.-based Health Care Authority for Baptist Health, affecting $286 million of outstanding revenue bonds.

7. Fitch upgrades South Lake Hospital rating to 'AA-'

Fitch Ratings has upgraded its rating for Clermont, Fla.-based South Lake Hospital from "A-" to "AA-" and assigned an issuer default rating of "AA-."

8. Fitch affirms 'AA+' rating for Nemours Foundation

Fitch Ratings assigned an "AA+" issuer default rating to Jacksonville, Fla.-based Nemours Foundation and affirmed its "AA+" revenue bond rating.

9. Fitch affirms 'AA-' issuer default rating for Oregon Health and Sciences University

Fitch Ratings affirmed its "AA-" issuer default rating for Portland-based Oregon Health and Sciences University.

10. S&P revises outlook to stable for North Broward Hospital District

S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook for North Broward (Fla.) Hospital District, which does business as Broward Health, from negative to stable.

11. Moody's affirms 'Baa1' rating for Terrebonne General Medical Center

Moody's Investorn s Service affirmed its "Baa1" rating for Houma, La.-based Terrebonne General Medical Center, affecting $37 million of outstanding revenue bonds.
Lansing, Mich.-based Sparrow Health System and Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor have signed an affiliation agreement that will pave the way for collaboration between the organizations.

The first joint venture between the systems will integrate pediatric services offered through Lansing-based Sparrow Children's Center and Michigan Medicine's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor.

"It's a privilege to partner with Sparrow to provide care for children and families in the communities of Mid-Michigan," said Chris Dickinson, MD, interim executive director of C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital. "Our commitment is always to keep care close to home for families, and this relationship will help us do that."

For the second affiliation project, Michigan Medicine will make a minority investment in Sparrow's health plan. Both systems will appoint representatives to an oversight committee that will make decisions about all proposed cooperative agreements.
University of California service and patient care workers will strike April 10 in protest of what they call interference and intimidation by the school.

In an unfair labor practice charge filed March 26 with the California Public Employment Relations Board, workers claim the university has illegally intimidated workers who've gone on strike to protest outsourcing and income inequality.

"Through its actions, the University of California has created a hostile work environment that undermines workers' ability to exercise their rights and voice concerns in the workplace," said AFSCME Local 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger.

The strike announcement comes a week after university professional and technical employees walked off the job March 20. Members of AFSCME Local 3299 joined that strike in sympathy.

The April 10 strike will take place across the university's 10 campuses and five medical centers.

Claire Doan, director of media relations with the university's office of the president, called the news "unfortunate."

"AFSCME leaders' alleged reasons for demonstrating are stacking up as quickly as the number of strikes they're amassing," she said in a statement to Becker's. "This will be the fourth systemwide strike in less than a year  it's abundantly clear union leaders have little regard for the negative impact on the patients, students and communities that UC serves."

More articles on human capital and risk:

Allina, nurses set to begin contract talks 3 years after strike

UC Davis hospital residents, interns seek to unionize after San Francisco protest

Michigan nurses ratify first labor deal wth Munson Medical Center
Former IBM employees have filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging it didn't comply with the federal anti-age discrimination law, according to ProPublica. The lawsuit also claims IBM improperly prevents employees from teaming up to challenge their departures.

This is the second broad legal action taken against IBM since ProPublica published a report that alleged widespread age discrimination within the company.

In the new lawsuit, the ex-employees are requesting the court to throw out agreements they were required to sign with IBM to get severance pay. The agreement only allows for employees to file claims of discrimination in individual hearings before an arbitrator.

Past age discrimination lawsuits against IBM have been filed by single employees who refused to sign the agreement. These employees left without severance.

IBM has laid off or ousted around 20,000 U.S. employees ages 40 and up in the last five years, according to the ProPublica report. The analysis also found in some cases IBM used the money saved from the ousted employees to hire young replacements.

The most current lawsuit is on behalf of 60 former employees who didn't sign the severance agreement and claim they have been discriminated against due to their age. They are seeking to file their discrimination claims as a group rather than as individuals.

"IBM against one person is not a fair fight," David Webbert, a partner at Jeffrey Young, told ProPublica. "IBM against thousands of people who've been laid off because of their age, that's a legitimate legal proceeding."

In a statement to Becker's Hospital Review, Edward Barbini, vice president of corporate communications at IBM, said, "Multiple courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have rejected the plaintiffs theories. We are confident that our arbitration clauses are legal and appropriate."

Four ex-employees are named in the lawsuit. One of them, Cheryl Witmer, started with IBM in 1984 as a program manager within the company's cloud division. In 2016, she unexpectedly received a poor job performance review and was told she was retiring, the lawsuit claims. Ms. Witmer said she felt obligated to sign the company's severance agreement.

ProPublica has reports of dozens of other similar incidents with IBM employees. In documents obtained by the publication, IBM allegedly tells employees they will be laid off, but later changes the ousting to a retirement as a way to keep layoff counts low.

For employees who are 40 years of age and older, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act requires employers to disclose job positions of those being laid off and the ages of the people holding those jobs. This is to give those employees the chance to decide if they want to pursue legal action or waive their right to do so.

Editor's note: This article was updated March 28 at 9 a.m. CDT to include a statement from IBM.
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's move to loosen regulations around association health plans doesn't comply with the ACA, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Five things to know:



1. U.S. District Judge John Bates struck down the rule March 28. The judge said the administration's association health plan rule was made to "end run" parts of the ACA.



2. The rule allowed groups or associations to join and obtain health insurance. About 4 million people were expected to enroll in association health plans by 2023, according to Department of Labor data cited by WSJ.



3. While the plans have a lower price tag, they don't cover all of the essential benefits required by the ACA. The Trump administration argued the plans give Americans more options, but opponents of the rule worried they would weaken insurance markets.



4. Kelly Laco, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, said, "We disagree with the district court's ruling and are considering all available options." She continued: "The administration will continue to fight for sole proprietors and small businesses so that they can have the freedom to band together to obtain more affordable, quality healthcare coverage."



5. The Trump administration can request a stay and appeal the judge's decision. The administration can also revisit the rule, according to WSJ.



More articles on payers:

Trump administration sued over New Hampshire's Medicaid work requirements

5 must-reads on payer-provider relationships

Sutter Health, Anthem sign new contract


In a move to enhance its cancer drug pipeline, AstraZeneca agreed to pay up to $6.9 billion to a Japanese drugmaker for the shared rights to a new cancer drug, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Under the deal, AstraZeneca will pay $1.35 billion up front to Daiichi Sankyo Co., for access to the drug. Further payments hinge on the drug's development and sales performance. In return, AstraZeneca will receive half the profits from future sales.

The drug, DS-8201, treats cancers including breast, gastric and lung, that produce a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein. The drug combines breast cancer treatment Herceptin with another drug that has shown promising results.

In comparison to normal chemotherapy that can't differentiate between tumor and normal cells, the therapy is designed to only target cancer cells.

Analysts expect that the therapy at its peak could reach annual sales of more than $3 billion, according to the report.
State regulators could've fined St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital millions of dollars for failing to report numerous incidents of patient harm. Instead, they slapped the hospital with a $4,500 fine, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

"That's lunch for an executive meeting," Robert Field, PhD, a professor at Philadelphia-based Drexel University and expert in healthcare regulation, told the Times.

A spokesperson from the Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, which regulates health systems in the state, declined to answer the Times' questions about how fines are determined. However, the spokesperson noted the agency is still reviewing the findings of a recent inspection at the hospital, so more fines could be pending.

The Times also found Johns Hopkins All Children's $4,500 fine was not an anomaly for the state. Of the 377 fines given to Florida hospitals since 2014, only 10 percent exceeded $5,000.

Johns Hopkins All Children's heart unit first faced scrutiny last November, when the Times published an investigative report highlighting high mortality and complication rates among heart patients. After the article's publication, the hospital reported 13 adverse events to the state. Six events involved patient deaths, and some dated back to 2016.

A spokesperson for Johns Hopkins All Children's referred all of the Times' questions to state regulators.
Four spine surgeons discuss the devices and techniques that will have a significant effect on patient care.

Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses.

Next week's question: What can spine surgeons do to ensure their skill-set remains sharp?

Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, April 3, at 5 p.m. CST.

Question: What devices currently on the market do you think have the most potential to improve spine care?

Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Founder of the Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: I believe arthroplasty remains an important adjunct in care. They have their place, and when not over-used and [only] used in reasonable situations, are very valuable. It allows patients to theoretically delay or perhaps avoid further surgery. The newer expandable lateral lumbar cages, I think are very exciting and make it easier to get sagittal balance in certain cases and will likely result in fewer and fewer flat backs. Robots, I think, will find their place and can really improve accuracy  in theory  but we should not forget that humans are still, and fallibly so, running them. Intraoperative imaging and guidance have improved by leaps and bounds, and certain lightweight and super-exciting technologies have come to the fore to spare everyone in the room from the normally prodigious amounts of radiation.

Alden Milam, MD. Spine Surgeon at OrthoCarolina (Charlotte, N.C.): Hopefully, patient-specific 3D printing, which has already started, will grow in its application. The idea of implants tailored for the nuance of patient anatomy, bone density and/or goals of surgery (such as sagittal or coronal correction) is exciting as a new frontier for spinal implants.

Issada Thongtrangan, MD. Orthopedic Spine and Neurosurgeon at Minimally Invasive Spine (Phoenix): In my opinion, minimally invasive via endoscopic approaches will gain more popularity in the next five to 10 years, similar to the tubular-based retractor in the past 15 to 20 years [where] more and more evidence has shown excellent patient outcomes and superior-to-traditional technique. Endoscope brings the minimally invasive spine surgery to the next level and can be utilized in almost all aspects of cervical and lumbar spine pathologies. I also predict that robotic and navigation-based surgery will prove their value in spine arena, and it could replace 2D images such as fluoroscopic C-arm in the future. 3D printed devices and advancement in surface technologies will also enhance fusion outcomes.

Jason M. Cuellar, MD, PhD. Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles): Artificial disc replacement is currently gaining in popularity and has the greatest potential to improve spine care across the globe as its utilization becomes more popular and its indications expand. There are currently two devices available for use in the United States for the lumbar spine (ActivL and ProDisc-L) and seven devices for use in the cervical spine (Prestige-LP, Prestige ST, ProDisc-C, Secure-C, MobiC, Bryan and PCM). There are several currently in the pipeline for approval, and the much-awaited M6 cervical implant from Orthofix has just recently gained FDA approval for single-level use and will be available for use this summer starting in select sites. The Prestige-LP from Medtronic and MobiC from LDR currently have FDA approval for two-level use.

We now have a growing body of level 1 evidence demonstrating the long-term superiority of artificial disc replacement compared to fusion, particularly when performed at two levels. The seven-year Prestige-LP study1 demonstrated that there was more than a three-fold higher rate of re-operating following two-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion when compared to the two-level cervical artificial disc replacement group. This difference is even more dramatic for the 10-year data, which is in the process of being published. In my own practice, I rarely find the need to perform fusion in the cervical spine, as artificial disc replacement can usually be performed instead. Artificial disc replacement allows for rapid postoperative recovery with no need for cervical immobilization or monitoring for pseudarthrosis. As we continue to push the indications, we are finding that completely collapsed disc spaces and mild or moderate facet arthropathy does not necessarily need to be a contraindication.

Artificial disc replacement in the lumbar spine has also demonstrated excellent long-term success, although its history was somewhat tainted by the failure rate of the Charite implant. The ProDiscL has been studied extensively and we now have excellent data demonstrating reduced rates of adjacent-segment degeneration after lumbar disc replacement compared to fusion2, with similar rates as the natural history3. At this point it seems that the current single-level approval status and the slow acceptance of lumbar disc replacement by the commercial insurance payers have been the main impediments to the expanded utilization of these devices, not lack of successful outcomes.

Our patients are expecting to be more physically active at greater ages than in prior generations. Motion-preservation devices will allow spine surgeons to improve patients while taking into consideration the long-term health of the spine, reducing rates of future surgery caused by adjacent-segment failure. In addition to taking into consideration our patients' long-term spinal health, we have some responsibility for the cost-effectiveness and durability of the procedures that we utilize. There is significant evidence that artificial disc replacement is more cost-effective than fusion4.

References

1 Lanman TH, Burkus JK, Dryer RG, et al. Long-term clinical and radiographic outcomes of the Prestige LP artificial cervical disc replacement at 2 levels: results from a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial. Journal of neurosurgery 2017;27:7-19.

2 Zigler JE, Blumenthal SL, Guyer RD, et al. Progression of Adjacent-level Degeneration After Lumbar Total Disc Replacement: Results of a Post-hoc Analysis of Patients With Available Radiographs From a Prospective Study With 5-year Follow-up. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2018;43:1395-400.

3 Furunes H, Hellum C, Espeland A, et al. Adjacent Disc Degeneration After Lumbar Total Disc Replacement or Nonoperative Treatment: A Randomized Study with 8-year Follow-up. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2018;43:1695-703.

4 Ament JD, Yang Z, Nunley P, et al. Cost Utility Analysis of the Cervical Artificial Disc vs Fusion for the Treatment of 2-Level Symptomatic Degenerative Disc Disease: 5-Year Follow-up. Neurosurgery 2016;79:135-45.
Aerospace firm Causeway Aero has announced a multi-million pound deal to make seats for another business.

Lisburn-based Causeway will be completing the order for Pitch Aircraft Seating Systems.

The deal was announced as the firms travel to the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg.

Pitch, which is based in Redditch in England, is known for its fixed-back economy class seating, which has been used in single-aisle aircraft like the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.

Northern Ireland is already a hub for the manufacture of aircraft seating thanks to Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel and Thompson Aero in Portadown.

The deal with Pitch is Causeway's latest contract since it announced the takeover of Belfast Aircraft Stress Engineers (BASE) in October.

And it has also acquired a 20,000 sq ft manufacturing and production facility at Lissue Industrial Estate in Lisburn.

Michael Rice, chief executive of Causeway Aero, said: "We are delighted that Pitch has appointed Causeway Aero as their contract manufacturer and we will now be moving full steam ahead to engage with the Northern Ireland supply chain to ensure that we deliver for Pitch.

"I've no doubt in my mind that one of the key decisions for Pitch was not only Causeway Aero's ability to deliver quality and on time every time, but also the experience of Northern Ireland's supply chain. We have some of the best engineering and manufacturing companies in Northern Ireland."

Gary Doy, CEO of Pitch, said, "We have a great product in a buoyant market and our decision to appoint Causeway Aero as contract manufacturer, given their team, systems, certification and new manufacturing facility, puts us in a highly competitive position to support the increasing global demand for our products.

"With a proven infrastructure and the availability of a highly skilled workforce, Northern Ireland is an excellent location for the volume manufacture of aircraft seats.

"It is no coincidence that a high percentage of the world's aircraft seats are currently being manufactured here."

Causeway Aero will be exhibiting at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg from Tuesday to Thursday next week with Pitch.

Meanwhile, Carrickfergus firm IPC Mouldings has joined Collins Aerospace at a supplier delegation conference near the company's office in North Carolina. IPC Mouldings will also attend the Hamburg expo.
Irish vice-president of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness has said she believes a 'backstop 2' situation would emerge for Northern Ireland even if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

The Fine Gael MEP, who represents the Republic's border counties in Europe, said the EU's chief negotiatior Michel Barnier is committed to ensuring no border infrastructure in a no-deal scenario. But she said Mr Barnier is facing "a clash of objectives" over the issue, with strong concern around Europe that Northern Ireland could become a back door to the EU single market.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Ms McGuinness, who had a career as an agriculture journalist before turning to politics in 2004, said the UK's no-deal proposals for tariffs on goods reflected the "horror" it could inflict on agri-businesses on both sides of the border.

The scenario would permit goods travelling north to cross the border tariff-free, but it's anticipated that Northern Ireland firms would face tariffs in the other direction.

"The first thing I thought when I saw the proposals on the tariffs from the British Government, was that they are treating Northern Ireland differently and this is something that the DUP and others said they would never allow happen," said the MEP.

"In a sense it was rather strange. I'm not sure how workable it is, but it does point to the horror that a no-deal Brexit would unveil for the UK.

"For agriculture the consequences are really serious," she added.

On Tuesday, Mr Barnier told MEPs in Strasbourg that the Good Friday Agreement would continue to apply in all Brexit scenarios.

He added that as co-guarantor, the UK would be expected to uphold it "in spirit and in letter".

Senior EU officials have been reticent about openly discussing its potential approach to the border in a no-deal situation.

It's unclear whether its commitment to an open border and the Good Friday Agreement or the protection of the Single Market would take precedence.

"In my view, there would be backstop 2," said Ms McGuinness. "The same backstop but called something else would have to reappear following negotiations between Europe, the UK and Ireland.

"Michel Barnier will be very aware of the consequences of this going horribly wrong. But he does have to protect the Single Market, so we have almost a clash of objectives. They need to keep open borders with a crash out and need to protect the Single Market.

"People aren't spelling it out exactly, because we don't want to go there, we don't want to even point in that direction. And I think with the way the House of Commons voted, we're not going to go there," she said.

"However, what it would come down to is a need for very deep discussion between the UK and Europe, including Ireland, as to how we avoid infrastructure or checks that would change the sitution we have today.

"I think the responsibility would be with the United Kingdom, because it is their leaving that is causing the problem.

"But there is a strong concern about the single market, that Northern Ireland can't become a route to access the EU market by the back door. I think there would be concerns about that."
Lidl has created eight jobs by opening a new store at Antrim retail complex The Junction.

The building replaces the German retailer's previous supermarket, which was demolished as part of a 23m masterplan to redevelop The Junction.

Lidl described the new branch as one of the most environmentally friendly supermarkets in Northern Ireland.

The company said the store would be powered by green energy, including solar panels.

The supermarket chain also installed two charge points for electric vehicles.

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council Mayor Paul Michael welcomed the news.

"I'm delighted that Lidl Northern Ireland has chosen to further strengthen its commitment to Antrim," he said.

"I congratulate the team for what is an outstanding new store at The Junction. I wish everyone the very best success.

"The council has a strong track record of attracting investment and encouraging development, which strengthens local economies, creates jobs and adds value to every citizen."

Branch manager Amy Leathem said the new store was designed with a spacious layout and featured wider aisles and higher ceilings.

"I'm delighted to officially mark today's new start for our team in Antrim and I look forward to welcoming new and existing customers to our new The Junction store," she added.

Lidl has 38 stores in Northern Ireland and employs 800 people.

The company recently won planning permission for a replacement store on the site of a former school in Newcastle, Co Down.
Economicsupport agency Invest NI is preparing for another change in its leadership.

The Department for the Economy (DfE) has launched a public appointments competition for a new chairperson of the organisation's board.

It comes as Invest NI's high-profile chief executive, Alastair Hamilton, prepares to leave his role later this year.

The position of chairman has been held by Mark Ennis, the executive chairman of SSE (Ireland), since 2012.

The role, which attracts a remuneration package of 42,790 a year, involves four days' work a month, including board meetings and committee meetings.

Mr Ennis was appointed for his second three-year term by former Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster in 2015. But with no Executive since January 2017, he has remained in the role with his term extended twice. The first time it was extended by a year to December 31, 2018, and then again for another six months.

Mr Ennis, who cannot serve more than two terms as chairman, will officially step down on June 30.

A DfE spokesman said: "Planning for the launch of a competition to secure the appointment of a new chair for the Invest NI board has been under way for some time. It is anticipated that the new appointment will be effective from July."

The department said it was particularly interested in applications from women, due to their current under-representation on the board.

The search for a new chair comes just one month after the public face of Invest NI, Mr Hamilton, revealed his intention to stand down as chief executive after a decade in the role.

Mr Hamilton indicated he would wait until a successor was found before leaving.

The double change comes amid one of the most uncertain periods for Northern Ireland businesses in recent times.

Last month, Mr Hamilton indicated that there had been a sharp upturn in firms seeking advice on Brexit.

He said Invest NI would pull staff from other functions to help cope with the extra workload involved with leaving the EU.

The level of concern over Brexit within the board of Invest NI prompted Mr Ennis to write a letter to the leaders of Northern Ireland's main political parties at the beginning of February.

Mr Ennis said the board was "deeply concerned" over how unprepared businesses in Northern Ireland were for Brexit.

"It is clear that many of our businesses, particularly our small and medium-sized companies, have not yet even begun to address the key issues which they could potentially face, particularly if the UK faces a no-deal scenario," he added.
Queen's University cybersecurity expert and inventor Professor Maire O'Neill grew up in Donegal with none of the technology we take for granted in today's device-dominated world. But the family home in Glenties had one huge advantage over 99.9% of private residences to this day - it had its own electricity supply.

The award-winning academic's late father John McLoone, a vice-principal and maths teacher at the local comprehensive school, created his personal hydro-electric system on the Owenea River, the first domestic power source of its kind in Ireland.

"We had no electricity bills, apart from when the river ran low, which wasn't very often - we have a climate that suits hydro-electric power," she says. "Dad was very scientifically minded and very good at woodwork and construction. It was nice having our own electricity."

Inspired by her father Maire (40) grew up to make her own ground-breaking strides in electrical engineering, culminating last week with a grant of $30,000 in the second annual Blavatnik Awards in the UK.

The award for scientists under the age of 42 recognised her world class reputation for research and invention in the field of hardware security, in particular for her work developing attack-resilient computer hardware platforms and chip designs.

The youngest Irish Academy fellow and youngest ever engineering professor at Queen's, Maire is also a UK Female Inventor of the Year and widely regarded as one of Europe's leading cryptography experts, hailed for her invention of a high-speed silicon security chip that is used in more than 100 million TV set-top boxes.

Her triple academic posts make an impressive mouthful: Professor of Information Security in the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queen's; Principal Investigator at the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) at Queen's, and director of the UK Research Institute in Secure Hardware and Embedded Systems (RISE) at CSIT.

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The remarkable skills set behind these roles makes Mrs O'Neill's work a major bane in the lives of unethical hackers and international cyber criminals, the shady types who can wreak havoc with computer systems and cause critical breaches of security, from theft and blackmail to industrial and military espionage.

In the context of information security, the battle against social engineering attacks - the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information (phishing) - is a priority for the professor.

"I've met people who I've suspected of being hackers. They are certainly very, very clever," she remarks. "They have an interesting lifestyle. They can make a lot of money at a young age, do a little bit of hacking for a short while, then go on long holidays.

"All smart devices are vulnerable. In my talks I refer to a controlled test on a smart talking doll which was hacked into, to record and then issue the household command for opening the remotely controlled front door of the house. The dolls also could be hacked to make them say anything to children, which is obviously not a great idea."

Over the phone, it's hard to place her accent. Her Donegal brogue has been blunted following her move to Belfast at 18 to study at Queen's and by her extensive international travel for speaking engagements ever since.

"I've had to slow down and speak more clearly. I remember telling someone in China I was from Northern Ireland, and they said: 'Oh, right, so you're Scottish?'" she laughs.

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"I've lost the local Glenties accent but people can usually hear a bit of the west in there somewhere. Glenties is still home - my mum is still there - but I always wanted to study and work in Belfast.

"I'm the youngest of five and my siblings had all chosen to study at Queen's. I visited them a lot, so Belfast wasn't strange to me. It isn't a large city and a lot of the people I met had had childhood holidays in Donegal.

"I never encountered anything like sectarianism, but I remember finding it very strange to have to mark myself as an overseas student on a form for Queen's. I didn't cross any seas to get here!"

It was at the Department of Electronic Engineering that she met her future husband Shane O'Neill, from Omagh, who went into telecommunications after graduation. The couple married in 2004 and have three children - Aodhan (9), Niamh (6) and Eoin (2).

"The most challenging part of what I do is balancing work with a young family," she admits. "I have to travel a lot to international conferences. Last year was particularly difficult, as I was selected as the director of the UK Research Institute for hardware security.

"I love to travel but I try to limit it as much as possible now. During the week, my husband has to pick up the slack. It's easier when they're at school. My brothers and sisters all live nearby. I've a sister in Dromore - she helps, but she has kids too, so it's not easy.

"She took my three when we went to London for the Blavatnik Awards. In the middle of getting ready to go, I was sorting out costumes for the kids for International Book Day. I couldn't manage without childcare but I enjoy my children. I love getting out for walks with them, away from all the screens and devices."

Although Maire's parents both worked outside the home (her mother as a postmistress), they had also kept a small sheep farm. Growing up surrounded by animals, Maire had always wanted to become a vet.

"I always helped dad out on the farm - the others weren't interested," she recalls. "I suppose I was a bit of a tomboy. I was obsessed with The Incredible Hulk and I had a T-shirt with him on it, which I wouldn't take off.

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"I remember I had to wear a dress for my brother's first communion, but I insisted on having the T-shirt on underneath and in the photos you can see it clearly peeking out, especially in the sea of white dresses all around me on the day.

"So, I still wanted to be a vet when it came to applying for university, but when I got the UCCA forms, I realised I couldn't study veterinary medicine in Belfast.

"It had to be Dublin or London, and that didn't appeal to me.

"My two older brothers were doing electrical engineering at Queen's and my sisters are doctors. I loved maths and computers and information technology at school, so I ended up applying for physics, medicine and engineering."

Predictably, the majority of Maire's classmates on her electrical engineering course were male. She hopes to help attract more girls to the field through her talks at schools, in which she references the late Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr (right), the inventor during the Second World War of the early building blocks for Bluetooth technology.

"The anti-jamming technology she came up with was very impressive at the time. She's one of the historical female figures I talk to schools about, as someone to look up to," she says.

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"Often when I talk to schoolchildren, I find they haven't ever considered electrical engineering. They don't understand what it can lead to. Young girls tend to think of an engineer as a mechanic; they don't associate engineering with computers and technology.

"I always have to explain the different opportunities that come from studying electrical engineering and how exciting it is to work with the latest technology, and how they can work to make a difference in people's day-to-day lives. Device security affects all of society, all ages."

As a scientist at the forefront of hardware innovation, she is acutely aware of the concerns over artificial intelligence replacing jobs and eroding traditional family life. In a world where smart devices can be used to remotely switch lights on and off, turn on ovens, put on kettles and open front doors, it isn't much of a leap to see a future of smart homes in which everything will be network connected.

At home she faces the modern parents' dilemma of trying to restrict children's screen time.

"They have their Xboxes and so on, but they love Donegal and the freedom to roam outside, I'm glad to say," she says. "My son, for his ninth birthday, wanted to climb a hill. At Christmas we climbed Slieve Gullion - that was fantastic.

"I like to escape the world of technology by going on holidays, turning off all devices and just enjoying nature. We are becoming increasingly dependent on technology, yes, and I understand the concerns about robots - artificial intelligence - taking over, but we have to use technology to improve society, and that can't take place without human interaction. The human decision-making process cannot be replaced."

Belfast now has 38 cyber security companies employing 1,200 people, and it is estimated that the industry in Northern Ireland is on course to generate salaries of 60m per annum. One of Maire's aims is to create even more revenue and jobs in her field.

"I am one of the younger ones in my area. My career has advanced much quicker than I thought," she concludes.

"I was in the right place at the right time, I'm fortunate.

"I try to stay one step ahead. Technology is always changing. I have to keep up with what's happening. I'm always looking for vulnerabilities in devices and make them as safe as possible. My work has its challenges but it's exciting."
Ralph Fiennes swore he would never star in a film he was directing ever again. Through two previous projects, Coriolanus and The Invisible Woman, the Ipswich-born actor discovered just how difficult it is to do both at the same time.

But when it came to making The White Crow - a biopic which depicts the decision famous dancer Rudolf Nureyev made to defect from the Soviet Union in 1961 - his mind was eventually swayed.

"In all the madness and stress of trying to raise the money, it was only when I was confronted by quite an assertive Russian executive producer who said, 'Why are you not in the film, Ralph? People would be interested in investing if you were in it', that I caved," admits the 56-year-old.

"But I'm the anomaly a bit, because I wanted to have Russian actors in Russian roles speaking Russian."

However, the star, who first found fame working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, does speak Russian in the film as he plays Nureyev's inspirational ballet teacher, Alexander Pushkin, who took Nureyev under his wing and into he and his wife's home.

The story sees a 22-year-old Nureyev travel to Paris as a member of the world-renowned Kirov Ballet company. He's eager to consume all the culture, art and music the dazzling city has to offer, but KGB officers are watching his every move and become increasingly suspicious of his behaviour.

This leads to a nail-biting confrontation at Le Bourget airport, during which Nureyev is forced to make a heartbreaking decision about the future, knowing it may change the course of his life for ever and put his family and friends in terrible danger.

Also woven through the film are telling flashbacks to his poverty-stricken childhood in the Soviet city of Ufa - and it's all based on a biography of the dancer written by Julie Kavanagh.

Fiennes first read the book almost 20 years ago - Kavanagh was a friend and knew the young actor was fascinated by Russian culture - and it really got under his skin.

"It impacted me because this is a story of a young performer," says the actor, known for films such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Schindler's List, as well as the Harry Potter series, in which he memorably portrayed the evil Lord Voldemort.

"He goes in front of an audience and that's what I do too - there's a little seed there of something in common."

Furthermore, he was incredibly moved by how, as a young boy who had limited educational resources, Nureyev discovered "this ferocious desire to express himself as a dancer at the expense of almost everything else and, finally, the expense of living in his homeland".

Fiennes continues gently: "He famously defected from Soviet Russia in 1961 and that seemed, to me, the story."

Nureyev's success as a world-famous ballet star is interesting, he says, but the drama is in the "crucial decision" of whether to leave his country or not.

"That seemed to me to have riveting, strong cinematic potential," adds Fiennes.

The star who plays Nureyev - Ukrainian Oleg Ivenko, a professional ballet dancer from the Tartar State Ballet company - had actually never acted before.

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Fiennes worked intensively with him throughout the filming process and the result is a captivating screen debut.

"I pushed him to understand the best screen acting is rooted in being really present and in the moment," explains the director.

"You're reacting and listening, so the thing to get him to feel is, 'Don't show me you're angry or shy or irritated or whatever - just feel it, be it. Have it inside'. If you really have it or are close to having it, it will reveal itself.

"It sounds quite simple, but it's hard to be really present, and the beauty of his work is that he is very present. It's an uncluttered performance.

"He was very generous and allowed me to steer him a bit, but he has a real pure screen acting instinct. In the end, I felt we were comfortable with each other quite quickly and there was a good working relationship."

When it came to the challenges of making The White Crow, there was something both Fiennes and the film's writer, the celebrated David Hare, were keen to avoid.

That was falling into the trap of using cliches as they depicted this period in history.

"Clearly it's a time that's been well trodden by film. A Cold War drama really is what, in one sense, it is," notes a contemplative Fiennes.

"It was very important for me that we tried to show our audience that there was a world in Soviet Russia which nurtured this young boy, which gave him a fantastic ballet education and indeed would welcome him.

"In Leningrad, we saw him be not only taken into the home of his teacher and his wife, but also being accepted into a group of young Leningrad students, and this was a welcoming and hospitable place."

The KGB officer named Strizhevsky was, in particular, a character he wanted to make sure he got right.

In one scene in Paris, we see him say to The Kirov: "Make sure that Nureyev behaves according to these ideological standards."

But Fiennes was keen to show that this man was a human being who had a job to do.

"I wanted him to be a complex character - he's played by a wonderful Russian actor, Aleksey Morozov, who does a brilliantly, highly interesting, complicated man, who puts pressure on himself, likes Rudolf, sees he's very talented, tries to pressure him to behave without too much aggression and gets hardcore when the chips are down at the end.

"But that character was crucial, in that he would have been an educated, alert-minded man who's not a thug, not a bully, and I tried to clear away preconceptions about that sort of behaviour."
The DUP has claimed there is strong support across the UK for its decision to "put the Union first" and vote against the Prime Minister's Brexit deal today.

But it is facing strong criticism from its political rivals, with the Ulster Unionists accusing Arlene Foster's party of incompetence and the SDLP branding it reckless.

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Given DUP opposition, Theresa May will need the support of a significant number of European Research Group (ERG) MPs and Labour Leave backbenchers. Last night that looked highly unlikely.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Government had plunged the country into chaos and called for a general election.

Today's vote symbolically takes place on March 29, which was meant to be Brexit day.

It won't count as a third meaningful vote on the Prime Minister's Brexit deal, because MPs will be deciding only on the withdrawal agreement and not the political declaration, which covers the UK's future relationship with the EU.

The omission was needed for House of Commons Speaker John Bercow to clear the motion for debate, given his previous ruling that the Government could not ask MPs to vote repeatedly on the same proposal.

Writing in today's Belfast Telegraph, Mrs Foster said the withdrawal agreement was "a bad deal" which her party couldn't in conscience support.

"We have been inundated with support for our position from all across the UK, as ordinary people see that the DUP is putting the Union first," she said.

"Some of those contacting us admit that they have never been to Northern Ireland, but they will not tolerate the EU effectively trying to steal Northern Ireland from the Union."

Mrs Foster said the decisions facing her party's MPs were weighty. "I hear the concerns of business and others about the need for certainty," she said.

"I am listening, but we cannot in all conscience support a withdrawal agreement which does not safeguard the Union, but rather acts as a threat to the economic and constitutional integrity of the UK. We cannot vote for a deal, including a backstop arrangement, which could undermine the Union.

"This is about looking at the long-term consequences of our decisions. This is about the next generation. This is about looking at the impact of placing a trade barrier between Northern Ireland and our biggest market in Great Britain." UUP MLA Steve Aiken accused the DUP of waking up late to the dangers of the backstop and of lacking influence on the Government when it mattered.

The South Antrim MLA said the DUP was seeing the support of Boris Johnson and many of its ERG friends "melt away" as they prepared to support Mrs May's deal. "The DUP for the last few years has boasted about its influence and control of government," he said.

"Unfortunately, it has demonstrated that its ability to help govern at the national level matches that of its incompetence and ignorance at Stormont. Far from being strong on the Union, they have done more damage to it than virtually anyone."

SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan said: "The DUP position has been consistently out of sync with the people of Northern Ireland. It is reckless and dangerous and doesn't serve the interests of anyone here. The business community, the agri-sector and ordinary people who work across the border are very concerned about what potentially lies ahead."

Downing Street believes passing the withdrawal agreement alone will be enough to guarantee the UK is granted an automatic Brexit delay until May 22.

If MPs oppose the agreement today, the UK can leave with no deal or else Mrs May must return to Brussels before April 12 to set out her plans and potentially request a longer Brexit extension.

Moving the motion to enable the vote, the Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom urged MPs to back the deal "so that we can leave the EU in an orderly way that gives businesses and people the certainty that they need". Labour opposes the withdrawal agreement because it says it risks "the blindest of all blind Brexits".

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen predicted that the withdrawal agreement would be defeated today. "The fact that it's been separated from the political declaration is more dangerous," he said. "The withdrawal agreement, without the political declaration, is a trap. There's almost no chance of getting out of the backstop ever without the political declaration being attached.

"It seems like a legal nightmare for the Government to do this. If they've done it just to get round the Speaker and make it a different vote, I think it may be counterproductive."

Downing Street said Mrs May will not move to a third meaningful vote unless she believes she has a realistic chance of success, having seen her deal previously defeated by 230 votes in January and 149 earlier this month.

Mr Corbyn spoke to the Prime Minister by telephone for 20 minutes yesterday. He told her his party could not back the Government move. A Labour spokesman said: "Jeremy made clear Labour will not agree a blindfold Brexit to force through Theresa May's damaging deal, which would leave the next Tory party leader free to rip up essential rights and protections and undermine jobs and living standards."

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has praised Mrs May.

He told reporters outside the White House: "She's a very nice lady. She's a friend of mine. I hope she does well. I hope the Brexit movement and everything happening there goes very well."
Our MPs will vote against the withdrawal agreement today in the House of Commons.

I want a sensible deal which works for every part of the UK and also our neighbours in the Republic of Ireland. However, this is a bad deal. We cannot vote for a deal, including a backstop arrangement, which could undermine the Union.

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This is about looking at the long-term consequences of our decisions.

This is about the next generation.

This is about looking at the impact of placing a trade barrier between Northern Ireland and our biggest market in Great Britain. These decisions are weighty.

I hear the concerns of business and others about the need for certainty.

I am listening, but we cannot in all conscience support a withdrawal agreement which does not safeguard the Union but rather acts as a threat to the economic and constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom.

We have been inundated with support for our position from all across the United Kingdom as ordinary people see that the DUP is putting the Union first.

Some of those contacting us admit that they have never been to Northern Ireland, but they will not tolerate the EU effectively trying to steal Northern Ireland from the Union.

Whether it is Juncker, Barnier, Merkel or Varadkar, all have recognised that a hard border can be avoided in all circumstances.

That undermines the argument for the backstop.

I hope in the coming days that we can reach an outcome which respects the referendum result and which protects the Union.

We can, but it will require pragmatic minds in Dublin, Brussels and London.
Rainbow Rehoming Centre director Anna Hyndman said the cross collie pups, aged between three and four months, are now hoping to find their forever homes

Four adorable puppies have had a lucky escape after being abandoned on a back road on the border with Co Donegal on St Patrick's Day.

The young dogs - who have now been named Tae, Maddie, Paddy and Timmy - were rescued from the edge of a remote field near Muff by a passer-by and taken to a nearby shelter.

Rainbow Rehoming Centre director Anna Hyndman said the cross collie pups, aged between three and four months, are now hoping to find their forever homes.

She said Tae has already been booked by a foster family, leaving her sister and brothers still searching for suitable homes in an appropriate dog-friendly environment.

"What type of a person dumps four little puppies near a field on St Patrick's Day?" asked Ms Hyndman.

"Understandably, these little pups were fairly nervous to begin with, but they have since started to gain confidence around their daily carers.

"They are collie crossbreeds so will possibly grow to be medium or large in size, and I would ask people to research the breed properly before enquiring.

"Puppies are cute, but they need commitment and basic training and these particular dogs need an active family, because they have a lot of energy. Nor are they suitable for people who work long hours, or homes with very young children.

"If you're interested in offering any of these wee faces a new home, please visit the centre during opening hours, which are 12-4pm from Tuesday to Sunday."

Ms Hyndman said there is a "serious issue" when it comes to abandoned collie dogs here, because people take them in without realising what looking after them requires.

"This type of dog is very high-spirited; they're not bred to lie around the yard," she said.

"Last year we rehomed 29 collies, which is not much different from any other year, and so far this year we've already rehomed eight and taken two out of the council pound.

"People think they're pretty when they're young and they don't realise how active they actually are, so it comes as a shock when they're far from the perfect companion for a couch potato."

Being a relatively small set-up, with the capacity for only a small number of dogs (12 for rehoming and five in quarantine) and around 30 cats, Rainbow Rehoming Centre requires a new home itself.

"We need a bigger site and we're accepting donations to try and relocate so that we can continue doing our work. Normally we rehome 450 cats and 250 dogs very year, with just six part-time employees and a volunteer network of between 35 and 40 people," she explained.

The main problem, according to Anna, is that people take in pets for the wrong reasons.

"We live in a society in which people believe they can get everything they want, so they don't do any research. It's not like buying a pair of shoes that you can decide to take back to the shop when you've changed your mind after a couple of days," she pointed out.
Stacey Irvine and Peter Thomas Crymble and their prize-winning portraits of dogs

Ducks on leads, bear-like dogs and cats with attitude are all in a day's work for prize-winning photographer Peter Thomas Crymble.

The Belfast-based snapper has just clinched the Professional Photographers Association of Northern Ireland (PPANI) pet portrait photographer of the year award.

He recently learned that his stunning image of Hugo the dachshund had secured first place in the pets category, while his co-worker Stacey Irvine's portrait of pomeranian Kizzy came second.

Between them, the pair have topped the pet category for three years in a row, with Stacey winning in 2017, followed by Peter in 2018 and 2019.

Peter, whose firm also caters for human clients and is based at Duncrue Industrial Estate, told of his pride at the hat-trick.

"It is nice to be recognised - we love doing it," he said.

"Peter Thomas Photography has been going for about 12 years. It started off as a wedding business and developed into family portraiture and pet photography. It was (because of) our customers saying, 'Do you mind if we bring our dog along?'

"The dog was as much a part of the family as the kids.

"Then we realised that some people preferred photos of their dog on their own and nobody else was really doing it at that time. We've been doing pets for five or six years now."

Peter typically photographs up to 10 pets a week.

"We do everything - dogs are the most popular, but we have cats, parrots, ducks," he said.

"We once did one dog and two ducks. Apparently, they were all brothers and sisters and all three of them came in on a lead.

"They were great - they just sat there.

"The owner walked the ducks with the dog. They were brought up on a petting farm for kids, so they had got to know each other.

"We have had a few really vicious cats - one Russian cat in particular came in a cage and the owner warned us that it was a wee bit vicious.

"It took off under the sofa and the owner went after it.

"It was making crying noises... it wasn't my favourite moment.

"In the end we got there - it sat on its owner's knee."

However, even photogenic critters can let themselves down.

"They regularly do their business on the set," Peter admitted.

"Once one of them did pee on a photographer, which isn't the best start to the day.

"I don't have a massive phobia of spiders, but I know there's no way Stacey would do one.

"I'm happy enough doing most things as long as it's not a scary, vicious animal."

Peter employs an arsenal of tried and tested methods to tame his subjects - from bribery with treats to urging owners to take their charges on a long walk in advance to calm hyperactivity.

"Last Sunday I worked with a black Russian terrier, the biggest dog I've ever worked with," he said.

"It was like a bear and it was called Yogi.

"When it stood up on its back legs, it was taller than me."

Peter believes the trend for professional pet photographs is on the increase.

"It's a really nice thing for people to have. When you walk into someone's house and they have a piece of wall art of their dog, it is a talking point," he said.

"Fingers crossed it will continue to increase in popularity."
European officials have begun 'war gaming' how to react in the event the UK crashes out of the EU.

Ambassadors from the remaining 27 countries have discussed what it would take to begin a fresh round of EU-UK negotiations after a disorderly Brexit.

They expect a period of economic chaos in Britain which will lead the UK Government back to Brussels within weeks.

The UK should be leaving the EU today, but instead MPs will be voting to delay their exit until May 22.

EU diplomats and officials concluded yesterday that despite Prime Minister Theresa May's offer to resign, Britain is more likely than ever to crash out.

Sources in Dublin also pointed out that the contingency plans already released by the UK recently suggests they will need some form of new deal to cope with the consequences of crashing out. EU chiefs have compiled a provision list of demands that will have to be fulfilled in order for negotiations to restart.

Top of the list is a commitment to protect the Good Friday Agreement, which essentially means the EU will continue to insist on the UK maintaining regulatory alignment between Northern Ireland and the Republic. This will ensure the border remains open.

The EU will also seek a speedy repayment of UK's outstanding financial contributions to the union. The EU is gearing up for a potential emergency summit of EU leaders to deal with a disorderly Brexit, probably on April 10. "There is increasing awareness that a no-deal is more and more likely," said a senior EU diplomat.

"An extraordinary Brexit summit looks exceedingly likely. It will be either to discuss no-deal and how to take it forward, or to agree another extension," said another senior EU diplomat.

The EU's chief negotiatior Michel Barnier said: "We are working, we are prepared."

Meanwhile, former UK Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt warned that Brexit has caused international concern about stability in the UK.

Mr Burt, who quit his ministerial post this week so that he could vote against the Government on EU withdrawal, said overseas observers want to see the situation resolved.

He said Brexit had had an impact on the view of the UK from abroad, telling The House magazine: "The exposure of our processes has made some people think very carefully about where British politics is going. They're concerned about stability. They want to see this resolved."
In 2013 McCollum was caught with Scottish woman Melissa Reid attempting to smuggle 1.5m worth of cocaine out of Peru.

Former drugs mule Michaella McCollum is to receive further undisclosed damages over press publication of an intimate photograph.

The 25-year-old, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, sued the owners of The Daily Mail and Sunday Sport newspapers for alleged invasion of privacy.

Proceedings issued at the High Court in Belfast also claimed breach of the Data Protection Act over an image said to have been taken from her Facebook account.

McCollum's lawyers contended that the partially pixelated image was private and published in 2016 without her agreement.

Solicitor Kevin Winters, of KRW Law, confirmed she has accepted undisclosed sums to settle both lawsuits related to the alleged non-consensual use of her "semi-naked image".

The out-of-court resolutions include McCollum's legal costs.

Mr Winters said: "Our client is very satisfied with the settlement terms against the two newspapers."

No apology is being made under the terms agreed.

Last month a similar outcome was reached in a case taken against The Daily Star.

In 2013 McCollum was caught with Scottish woman Melissa Reid attempting to smuggle 1.5m worth of cocaine out of Peru.

They initially denied the charge, claiming that they had been forced to become mules.

Known as the 'Peru Two', the pair later admitted to drug smuggling and were jailed for six years and eight months. Both women were released in 2016.

McCollum, now a mother-of-two, is pursuing similar privacy actions against a number of other media organisations.

Mr Winters added: "Other cases are still pending and have yet to be resolved."
Peter McGraith and David Cabreza are married shortly after midnight at Islington Town Hall in the UKs first same-sex wedding on March 29, 2014

The first gay couple to get married in the UK is urging the Government to extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland on the fifth anniversary of their wedding today.

Peter McGraith and David Cabreza from north London had been partners for 17 years before they tied the knot at one minute past midnight on March 29, 2014, making them the first same-sex couple to marry legally in the UK.

But they said they cannot fully celebrate knowing that LGBT couples here are still denied the right to marry. Peter McGraith said: "Theresa May, like David Cameron, is proud of her role in marriage equality in England and Wales - so proud, she urged the Australian government to move forward with its own legislation on the issue.

"But it's to this Government's shame that they have chosen not to help deliver marriage equality in Northern Ireland, despite Stormont being suspended for so long and overwhelming support for equal marriage among the Northern Irish people".
The treasurer of a Co Antrim hall management committee abused his position to steal thousands of pounds which he used to fund his gambling addiction, a court heard yesterday.

Kenneth McKee was handed a 12-month prison sentence, which was suspended for three years, after he admitted stealing around 16,900 from Cloughfern Trustee and Hall Management Committee.

The 50-year-old, from Kings Walk in Whiteabbey, began stealing money in January 2013 and his offending went on for five years.

Passing sentence, Judge RoseAnn McCormick QC said McKee "betrayed the trust of his colleagues".

Belfast Crown Court heard the committee consisted of just four people and that part of his responsibility was looking after the finances of a hall rented out to local groups. McKee was also in charge of looking after the bills linked to the hall.

In his position, McKee was supposed to lodge all money, including rent, into the committee's Danske Bank account. Instead, he either kept cash or wrote cheques from the account to himself.

On some occasions McKee made out cheques to his wife, and he also forged signatures of other committee colleagues. His offending began to emerge when his colleagues noticed he was either failing to attend committee meetings, or attending without the cheque books.

When McKee stopped attending the meetings altogether, the other members called at his home, where he was asked to produce financial documents.

At this point suspicions were raised that he may have been stealing and police were called. McKee admitted what he had done during interview, and told officers that his life had spiralled out of control since losing his job, and that he had a gambling addiction.

Judge McCormick noted that McKee told Probation he felt "ashamed" the first time he stole from the committee, and felt he would be able to pay all the money back if he had a big win.

Judge McCormick said she accepted he was seeking to address both his gambling addiction and his tendency to self-medicate with alcohol.

After admitting both theft and a charge of fraud by abuse of position, McKee was handed a suspended sentence.
An Ulster Unionist councillor who is stepping back from politics after 18 years has vowed to continue her campaign to secure justice for the victims of the IRA's 1972 Claudy bombing.

Mary Hamilton is the longest serving member of Derry and Strabane Council, formerly known as Derry City Council.

She celebrated her 78th birthday this week but on her doctor and family's advice has decided not to contest the May election.

Mrs Hamilton said: "These past 12 months have been very difficult for me since I lost my husband, Ernie, who was my life companion and my best friend.

"My health isn't as good as it was and my doctor advised me to take things easier, but even so it took me a long time to reach my decision.

"I asked my three daughters individually what I should do and each of them asked me not to stand for another election. When I talked to our party leader, Robin Swann, he was extremely understanding.

"The party has selected Darren Guy to stand in my place, who is the son of Jim Guy, who was a very well respected member of the council in years gone by.

"While I won't be attending council meetings any more, I will still be a member of the Ulster Unionist Party and I will continue to fight for justice for the victims of the Claudy bomb."

On July 31, 1972, three car bombs exploded on the Main Street of Claudy in Co Londonderry, killing nine civilians.

"Until the day I die, I will never forget the sights I saw on that day and I have been so frustrated to see the lack of justice," Mrs Hamilton said.

"I wish the families of Claudy had been able to get a tiny piece of the justice they deserve.

"The year of the Claudy bombing was a terrible, terrible year for us as a family, because in December 20 of the same year my brother-in-law was shot dead.

"I remember going to the school that day to get his wee girl, who was only five. She was so excited to see me and asked, 'Are you taking me to see, Santa?', but I was collecting her because her father had been murdered.

"Even all these years later, I still get emotional thinking about it, but I am glad the younger generations have never had to experience the sights we endured and I pray they never do."

Mrs Hamilton entered frontline politics by following in the footsteps of her beloved husband, Ernie. They sat side-by-side in the chamber of Derry City Council for four years before he stepped down.

"Ernie was in the council for over 20 years and I was always the woman behind the man and I helped him with everything," Mrs Hamilton said.

"A vacancy came up in 1997, but I wasn't successful. I stood again for the Waterside in 2001 and won a seat, which I have held ever since.

"The dynamics of the council have changed so much since I was first elected.

"I think it is now too big and has lost the homely feel, but I will miss all the council staff I have worked with over the years.

"I was lucky and privileged to be deputy mayor three times, but I was always mindful that I was no better than anyone else who wasn't wearing a chain of office. That is something I still feel very strongly about.

"I went into politics to help people and I would like to continue to do voluntary work when I retire from the council.

"I worked before with the voluntary service, taking people to and from hospital appointments who couldn't manage it on their own and I think I would like to do something where I could spend time in nursing homes with people who don't have much family around them.

"Family was always so important to Ernie and I am so fortunate to have three wonderful daughters and son-in-laws and seven grandchildren to keep me occupied."
Some of the items Andrena keeps in memory of her son

The family of a Londonderry teenager who died after a street assault two years ago will this weekend honour his memory with a candlelight vigil.

Nineteen-year-old Jordan McConomy, from the Rossnagalliagh area of the city, suffered fatal injuries during the incident in the William Street area of the city in September 2017.

No one has been prosecuted over the young joiner's death.

His heartbroken mother, Andrena, said she hoped this weekend's vigil would prompt eyewitnesses to come forward so the family can get the truth and some closure.

"I am appealing for eyewitnesses who were there the night that my Jordan died to please come forward," she said. "We can't grieve in peace for Jordan until we get justice. I am begging people to please come forward.

"I know that it is probably out of fear that people won't come forward. I have seen the CCTV footage and I saw that there were people there who saw and heard everything.

"As a mother, I am begging them, think of your own mother sitting like this today without her son. Please do the right thing, go give a statement and tell the truth."

Andrena said she and daughter Zara and son Paul struggled to cope with what would have been Jordan's 21st birthday last month. Instead, they picked this Saturday to mark the day and to launch a campaign for justice.

"Jordan's actual birthday was a heartbreaking day for me and for my family," Andrea added.

"We wanted to celebrate it, but we couldn't. I didn't have the strength.

"We just went to the grave and to William Street, where he died, and then we came home. It was awful.

"Jordan was a beautiful boy. He was such a funny character. Everything was a joke to him. He was always happy and smiling and carrying on. He was a very hard worker. He loved his car, loved his job and loved his girlfriend.

"Any room Jordan went into he just lit it up. You couldn't be in bad form around him. He was an amazing son. All he did was make me laugh. He was so kind-hearted and so good.

"Life has been terrible without Jordan here. I just exist now - I don't live anymore."

Andrena insisted she would never give up fighting for justice for her son.

"We are having a candlelit vigil this Saturday in William Street in memory of Jordan," she said. "We will celebrate Jordan's birthday in a way but also let people know that we are still waiting for justice and we will keep going until we get justice. I am Jordan's voice now and I will fight for him until my dying breath.

"We want to bring people together to remember Jordan. I will never forget my son and I don't want anyone else to. As long as I live I'll keep his memory alive.

"My house is like a shrine to Jordan. I have pictures of him everywhere you look. His bedroom is exactly as he left it that night 18 months ago. Jordan's death has left a huge void in my life. My life is empty now. It will never be the same again."

The vigil for Jordan will take place on Saturday at 7.30pm at William Street in Londonderry.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar is to hold bilateral Brexit meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Brian Lawless/PA)

Irish premier Leo Varadkar is to hold bilateral Brexit talks with the French and German leaders next week, it has been confirmed.

The Taoiseach will travel to Paris on Tuesday for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be in Dublin for a one-day visit on Thursday.

A spokesman for the Irish Government said both meetings will focus on the latest developments on Brexit.

He added that the discussions will address current EU issues and other matters including the Future of Europe agenda ahead of the summit in Romania and the appointment of a new European Commission, Council President and High Representative in June.

These two meetings reflect the deep and warm relations Ireland enjoys with both France and Germany, including the support shown to Ireland during the Brexit negotiations, the spokesman said.

Our bilateral relations with both Germany and France are better than ever and will become even more important as we move to a European Union of 27 membersTaoiseach Leo Varadkar

Speaking ahead of next weeks meetings, Mr Varadkar said: Both leaders have been strong and consistent allies of Ireland in responding to the unique challenges we face from Brexit.

I will again express the Governments gratitude for their continuing solidarity. We will take stock of the latest developments on Brexit when we meet, efforts to secure ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement and no-deal planning.

We will also take the opportunity to consider the Future of Europe agenda.

Important discussions lie ahead, with an informal summit on the Unions strategic agenda due in early May in Sibiu, and negotiations on the EU budget for the period after 2020 due to be finalised by the end of this year.

While I meet regularly with both the President and Chancellor at the European Council in Brussels, these bilateral meetings are an important opportunity for an in-depth and one-to-one exchange on how to further strengthen our relations away from the bustle of the European Council.

Our bilateral relations with both Germany and France are better than ever and will become even more important as we move to a European Union of 27 members.
A Belfast councillor's public alignment with anti-Islamic speeches went beyond enhanced legal protection for political expression, a High Court judge ruled today.

Mr Justice Maguire dismissed Jolene Bunting's appeal against receiving a four-month interim suspension after finding that the action was merited.

He held that some of the allegations "raise grave issues about the extent to which confidence in local government institutions in Northern Ireland may, if appropriate steps are not taken, be compromised".

Ms Bunting, an independent representative, was suspended from Belfast City Council last September after 14 complaints against her were received.

The Local Government Commissioner for Standards took the step pending the outcome of an investigation into all of the allegations. These included:

:: Comments she made on a video published in December 2017 outside the Belfast Islamic Centre.

Accompanied by Jayda Fransen, then deputy leader of far right group Britain First, both allegedly spoke of their opposition to the growth of Islam in the city.

:: Ms Bunting's participation at a Britain First rally in Belfast in August 2017 - when Ms Fransen declared Islam "the biggest threat to civilisation" - and subsequent press and social media comments.

:: Her alleged use of the Council Chamber in January 2018 when Ms Fransen was filmed sitting in the Lord Mayor's chair and wearing ceremonial robes.

:: A social media post in May 2018 which depicted a cartoon character dressed in an Irish Tricolour and wearing a hat bearing the phrase "Please be patient I have Famine".

As part of the appeal it was contended that, as a political representative, Ms Bunting has enhanced freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Delivering judgment in the case, Mr Justice Maguire held that the interim suspension did amount to a prima facie breach of her Article 10 rights, with political consequences for her ability to serve constituents.

But turning to justification for the action taken, he ruled that the complaints about events outside the Islamic Centre and the Britain First rally crossed the line for protected public expression.

Referring to Ms Fransen's remarks at the rally, which the councillor publicly associated herself with, the judge found it went well beyond the appropriate bounds of protected speech and involved language offensive to those of the Islamic faith.

He said: "The suggestion that every single Muslim is obliged to kill the listeners and their families, and that there were no moderate Islamic people, and that Islamic Mosques are 'dens of iniquity' will be likely, as the court sees it, to vilify Muslims; to stir up hatred against them; and to invite discrimination directed at them, if not something worse."

The staged event outside the Islamic Centre also exceeded the bounds of protected speech, he confirmed.

"References to 'ghetto Muslims', 'Muslim colonisation', to mosques as 'dens of iniquity' and 'monstrosities', and to 'creeping Islamification' are designed to instil public revulsion against those of Islamic faith," Mr Justice Maguire added.

Based on those findings, he decided that an interim suspension of four months was merited.

Dismissing Ms Bunting's appeal, the judge also said: "In particular, this period should not be viewed as tokenism and should be seen as reflecting the seriousness of the matter at issue and the need to provide a level of deterrence pending the outcome of the full investigation."
Parliament's predictable eight-fold rejection of every Brexit option highlights how all exits from our political crisis are currently blocked.

Look closely though and party abstentions were almost as significant as the no votes in terms of possible ways forward.

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The DUP's abstention on the option of a customs union plus single market finally laid to rest a persistent metropolitan myth - long exposed in columns in this newspaper but repeated ad nauseum elsewhere - that the DUP demands a hard Brexit.

The DUP are hard anti-backstoppers, not hard Brexiteers.

The DUP abstained on the vote on a soft Brexit option because it was the only one which would alleviate the need for a backstop.

And they might yet support that such a soft departure. Full UK-wide participation in the customs union and single market is acceptable to the DUP because it does not leave Northern Ireland aligned to the EU in isolation.

It would maintain a soft border, debunking the persistent myth that the DUP wants a hard border.

On Wednesday, the DUP opposed harder Brexit options - such as customs union membership alone - because it would not remove the backstop on which the May-EU withdrawal agreement rests.

The DUP also rejected Labour's fantasy option of membership of 'a' customs union - as if there is an a la carte menu of such unions - in which the UK would miraculously continue to have the right to its own global trade deals and input to those of the EU.

Belatedly, the differences between the European Research Group - obsessed with Brexit - and the DUP - preoccupied only with Northern Ireland's equal Brexit alongside the rest of the UK - have begun to be laid bare. Boris 'bin, ditch and junk the backstop' Johnson won't be getting a repeat slot at the next DUP conference.

Having used the event to launch his Conservative Party ascendancy, any fidelity to the DUP dissolved the moment Theresa May said "support my backstop deal and there's a leadership vacancy".

'Shameless' is too inadequate a word.

Et tu, Jacob 'I'll only change if the DUP moves' Rees-Mogg, you changed as the DUP held steadfast. The DUP conference gig could have been yours, Jacob. I was looking forward to the first such gathering to be addressed in Latin.

Many continue to criticise the DUP. The extensive support for the backstop across Northern Ireland's business and farming communities shows a determination that economic logic ought to trump constitutional politics. Seamless access to EU and UK single markets matters, protecting livelihoods.

To those at risk, this matters more than unproven claims that Northern Ireland's unique alignment to the EU single market would be a constitutional betrayal, jeopardising the Union.

In trying to persuade the DUP onside, the UK Government has made clear that it will not allow regulatory divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

In other words, if EU single market regulations change, the Government will adopt them across the UK to protect Northern Ireland's EU and UK trading relationships.

The problem is that the DUP will not trust successor governments to honour that pledge.

A certain mythology has developed over the seamlessness of Northern Ireland's place in the UK single market.

A reader, Alan Brookes, contacted me wondering how many people recalled that some British people from elsewhere in the UK could not work in Northern Ireland from 1947 until 1981 without a work permit.

Such permits (Mr Brookes sent me a copy of his) were issued only to qualified essential workers, with notable exceptions such as members of the Armed Forces, religious ministers and teachers.

Under the old Stormont regime, the Safeguard of Employment Act was designed to create local jobs for local workers. Brookes recalls his final interview with a Northern Ireland engineering firm in 1968. "When they asked did I need a work permit as I was born in England and I stated I did they immediately cooled and I was informed it would be too difficult".

There have long been checks on certain commodities travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and identification is always required.

None of this has threatened the Union, but it has highlighted the distinctiveness of Northern Ireland.

If the backstop worked well, it might possibly stem the rising demands of nationalists for constitutional change via a border poll and shore up the Union. After all, Northern Ireland only looks vaguely secure when it is economically prosperous and politically functioning.

Rarely, in other words.

The DUP's intransigence has been matched by the EU steadfastly refusing to change a single word of the withdrawal agreement.

There might be something faintly ridiculous about the chancelleries of Europe standing paralysed before Sammy Wilson, Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster, but it's where we are.

The DUP will never back the backstop in its current form. Amid all the noise, the party has at least been consistent, wanting a deal, but clear that no backstop removal equals no deal.

What more can Theresa May do to sell her agreement given she has laid down her political life for the bargain? Rename it St Andrews perhaps?

The withdrawal agreement is as unsellable to the DUP as it is unchangeable for the EU. May's promise to stand down if her deal passes could be the longest resignation note in history. It is utterly irrelevant to the DUP. And the DUP do not fear a general election.

Charting a way forward, if the DUP does believe that UK-wide customs union and single market alignment to the EU solves the backstop conundrum, why not vote for it, rather than abstain, if another opportunity arises?

For the DUP, it's all about UKexit, not Brexit.
Barney McElholm described the EU exit process as an "abominable exercise in misgovernment" which could result in people living in the Republic no longer being subject to extradition to Northern Ireland (stock picture)

A District Judge in Londonderry has said he will no longer accept bail addresses in the Irish Republic for defendants because of the uncertainty over Brexit.

Barney McElholm described the EU exit process as an "abominable exercise in misgovernment" which could result in people living in the Republic no longer being subject to extradition to Northern Ireland.

"We are nearly three years down the line and still nobody has even a sketch of a plan," he said. "None of us knows what is going to happen in relation to the way we are going to be governed - and I use that term extremely loosely.

"It would suggest little optimism at the moment that some agreed way forward is going to be reached. We could even have the situation arise where anyone living in the Republic of Ireland will not be subject to the extradition laws of this jurisdiction."

Mr McElholm was speaking during a bail application for a 32-year-old man who was extradited yesterday morning and brought to court.

John Paul McGowan, with an address at Mill Glen in Moville, Co Donegal, skipped bail in May 2015.

He is charged with assaulting a man and with unlawfully fighting and affray, all in September 2014.

A detective constable told the court that a European Extradition Warrant had been issued for the defendant last November.

She said she opposed bail on the basis that she believed, if released, the defendant would return back across the border.

Following his arrest by gardai last year the defendant was initially refused bail. It was later granted by the High Court after his mother lodged a cash surety of 6,000.

McGowan's solicitor said the defendant's proposed bail address was in Moville and his mother was willing to lodge another cash surety of several thousand pounds.

However the District Judge said that amount would not be nearly enough, nor was the Co Donegal bail address acceptable.

Mr McElholm said: "If he had come back voluntarily, that is one thing. But he waited until the entire extradition process was completed and then he showed no willingness to come back and face the music. Bail is refused because of risk of flight."

The defendant was remanded in custody until April 4.
Prosecutors are seeking an increased sentence in a money-laundering trial of two former IRA bombers.

Leonard Hardy (57) and his wife Donna Maguire (52) face a jail term of two-and-a-half years if found guilty at the National High Court in Madrid of laundering almost 1m from "illicit activity".

Prosecutor Carlos Bautista upped his previous request that the couple serve a one-year jail sentence on the third day of proceedings yesterday.

Three judges heard that the long-running probe by the Spanish police's money-laundering division had ruled out any terrorism-related activities or funding.

The head of the investigation told the court the probe had uncovered "illicit activities related to tobacco smuggling".

"The amount of money involved was such that it had to be laundered," the official added.

Annual earnings of the two accused in Spain, UK and Ireland amounted to a total of 30,000, the court was told. The cost of three property purchases by Hardy and Maguire in the provinces of Alicante and Malaga between 2005 and 2008 totalled almost 1m.

"We did not see a reasonable explanation for these acquisitions," the witness said.

One of the purchases, a 540,000 warehouse in Manilva near the Costa del Sol resort of Estepona, was purchased by Spanish firm Vinea Import Export, which Hardy's wife controlled as a majority shareholder.

Defence lawyer Luis Casaubon Carles said his clients are wholly innocent and were being victimised for political reasons.

In addition to the increased jail term the prosecutor is seeking a fine of 943,000.

The trial is due to conclude next Thursday.

Hardy and Maguire were arrested by Spanish police at gunpoint at a hotel in Lanzarote in December 2014, where they were staying in two rooms with their four children, aged between nine and 17 at the time.

Maguire, who is being tried under her married surname of Hardy, was allowed to return to Ireland while her husband was transferred to a prison in Madrid and held in solitary confinement for five weeks. He was released after posting 250,000 bail.

Hardy, originally from Belfast, was sentenced to six years in jail for trying to blow up a British Army base at Osnabruck, Germany, in 1989.

His wife, once dubbed the Angel of Death, was handed a nine-year sentence in Germany in 1995 after being found guilty of attempted murder and explosive offences over the attack.
A serious fire at a commercial premises on the Kirk Road in Ballymoney, upwards of 30 firefighters are tackling the blazes which can be seen from miles around. Pic Steven McAuley/McAuley Multimedia

A large fire which broke out at a commercial workshop in Co Antrim was accidental, the Fire Service has said.

The fire broke out at premises on the Kirk Road in Ballymoney just before 4pm on Friday.

Over 30 firefighters along with four appliances and a command support unit were sent to the the scene for the operation.

The fire was brought under control at just after 5.20pm.

The fire is suspected to have started accidentally, a statement from the fire service said.
An 84-year-old cancer patient was allegedly subjected to a savage two-hour beating at the hands of her 96-year-old partner after she asked to hold his hand, a court heard yesterday.

Fedor Harvey Stewart appeared at Newtownards Magistrates' Court on two charges - inflicting actual bodily harm and attempting to choke, suffocate or strangle the victim.

During the hearing the court was told that Stewart, formerly from the Old Belfast Road in Bangor but bailed to live at Church Lane in Donaghadee, boasted to police that he had carried out the attack by pointing out his "damaged fists" to a police officer.

He then explained to the officer that he had attacked his partner because she had "annoyed" him, the court was told.

During a contested bail application, a prosecuting lawyer said Stewart went to his GP on Tuesday, telling the doctor how he had "continually punched the woman in an attack that lasted over two hours".

The police were alerted and when they went to the home they saw the woman had "significant injuries including severe bruising to her face".

"He disclosed on Tuesday that she had asked to hold his hand, which he responded to by repeatedly punching her in the face," said the prosecution lawyer.

"While in the police car he said to officers, 'I agree with you, I did it. Look at my fists - they are damaged - it was me, I did it'. If she had not annoyed me I wouldn't have had to discolour her face'."

Opposing Stewart being freed on bail, a police officer gave evidence that the investigating team were "very concerned about the injured party".

"She is vulnerable and there are social workers here in court today who are concerned that this is not the first time this may have happened," the officer explained.

She added that Stewart had "shown very little remorse" and that police have "very serious concerns that this behaviour has been going on for years, although this is the first report of it".

Freeing Stewart on 500 bail, District Judge Peter King barred him from contacting the alleged victim. He is to appear again in court on April 25.
Police have appealed for information after a man was left in hospital with head injuries following an assault in Belfast in the early hours of Friday morning.

The assault occurred in the Talbot Street area. A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. He was later released on police bail pending further investigation.

Police received the report of an altercation between two men outside commercial premises at around 4.15am.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service also attended the scene.

One man, aged in his 30s, was taken to hospital for treatment to head and facial injuries.

Enquiries are continuing and I would appeal to anyone who witnessed the assault to contact police on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 168 of 29/03/19," Inspector David McBride said.

"Alternatively, information can be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime."
The mystery that had everyone guessing this week has been solved, with the creators of Belfast's fake election posters finally coming forward.

The team behind the Imagine Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics have revealed that they were the ones behind the satirical posters.

They came clean on Twitter after the posters caused a stir on social media this week when they appeared all over Belfast, with everyone guessing who was behind the stunt.

The team behind the festival said that they produced the posters to spark debate around why we vote ahead of the local government elections in May.

"Well the mystery is finally over. These cheeky posters that you may have seen in Belfast city centre are our attempt to get people thinking about representative democracy and why we vote!," the group wrote on their Facebook page.

"There was quite a buzz on social media about this and we're pleased we were able to provoke a wide ranging debate on voting intentions and the state of democracy here.

"No public or sponsorship funds were used in this campaign and it only cost 300."

Expand Close A spoof poster in Belfast city centre. Credit: Alan Meban. / Facebook

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The posters feature a stock photo of a man wearing a generic 'vote' rosette.

They include a number of different spoof slogans advertising candidates from the 'Sameold Sameold Party' including "Don't think. Just vote", "A vote for me, is a vote for me", "Scared of them'uns? Vote for us'uns" and "Whatever happens, just keep voting for me".

Candidates names are replaced by "Chancer?", "Opportunist?", "Career politician" and "We made this mess".

The Imagine Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics is running until March 31.
Jack Rodgers with a group of children. Mr Rodgers was founder of the Northern Ireland Children to Lapland Trust

Jack Rodgers with Santa in the North Pole

A respected charity founder who helped more than 1,000 local children travel to Lapland has died after a short illness.

Businessman Jack Rodgers (69) passed away in hospital on Wednesday.

He had been looking forward to his son John's wedding next Saturday.

He founded the Northern Ireland Children to Lapland Trust in 2008, which gives terminally ill, life-limited and deserving youngsters the trip of a lifetime to meet Santa in the North Pole.

He is survived by his wife Lynne and John.

His funeral service will take place in Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church tomorrow at noon followed by a private cremation at Roselawn on Monday.

Charity trustee Colin Barkley said his colleagues were in mourning, but also determined to carry on Mr Rodgers' work.

"He was a man who was absolutely and utterly committed to the charity," he said.

"It became a huge part of his life and he put absolute body and soul into it."

Mr Rodgers was inspired to start the charity after witnessing a similar initiative in the Republic.

"I remember one story he told me from one of the very early trips to Lapland," Mr Barkley said.

"He had a fantastic photo of a nine-year-old girl with Santa whose eyes were just sparkling.

"He took it into the hospice in January to show it to her only to be told the young girl had died a couple of days before.

"That was the sort of thing that really stops you in your tracks."

The charity has expanded to include 'Days to Remember', which runs trips to Disneyland Paris to help children not suited to Lapland's frigid temperatures.

A driving force in fundraising efforts, his ideas included the now annual 'Walk to Scotland', where supporters would raise tens of thousands of pounds by walking laps on a ferry while crossing the North Channel.

Mr Rodgers had also planned a 'Ramble on Rathlin' for this summer.

He was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2012 for his services to numerous charities over 40 years.

Mr Barkley added: "He wasn't the most demonstrative of individuals; he was quiet, but he had a big circle of friends and business associates.

"He used his contacts unashamedly to the benefit of the charity."

Mr Rodgers worked in the hospitality industry and had owned the former Glenavna House Hotel and the Jordanstown Inn.

Mr Barkley said those involved in the charity were determined to continue.

"We're all still in shock. As trustees we've had personal conversations and I'm sure we would want to make sure Jack's work lives on beyond him," he added.

"We need to have a long talk about that, but at the moment it's a bit too soon.

"The cause is so good, though, and in his memory we need to make sure it keeps going from strength to strength."
A distraction burglary which targeted a man in his 90s in east Belfast has been branded "absolutely despicable and shameful" by the Commissioner for Older People.

Eddie Lynch was speaking following the incident on the Circular Road at around lunchtime on Wednesday.

Police say a man wearing a yellow hard hat and a high-vis waistcoat over a pale blue shirt called to a house in the area and asked the pensioner about work to his chimney.

The elderly man said he needed to make a phone call to check this and as he turned away, the suspect stepped into the hallway and told him he would need a deposit.

When the householder reached for his wallet, the suspect took it from him and took the money that was inside.

The suspect then said he would write a receipt, but when the pensioner went to get a pen the suspect fled with the cash.

The man is described as having a southern Irish accent, is believed to be aged between 45 and 50 and around 5ft 6ins to 5ft 7ins tall and of stocky build.

A second male was seen in the vicinity of the house on the main road, however he did not approach the property.

Mr Lynch has urged older people living alone to exercise caution when a stranger calls to their door.

He told the Belfast Telegraph: "This is an absolutely despicable and shameful act where an older person has been taken advantage of in their own home.

"It's so important that these perpetrators are brought to justice and I would urge anyone who may have information to contact the police.

"If you're an older person and live alone, be sure to exercise caution when someone you don't know calls to your door. Always ask the caller for ID and don't hesitate to turn them away if you feel something's not right.

"I would also urge people to watch out for older neighbours and members of their community and report anything suspicious to the police immediately."

East Belfast DUP MLA Joanne Bunting described the incident as "horrendous", tweeting: "This is a reminder to treat all unexpected persons who come to your door with caution.

"My thoughts are with this gentleman as no doubt it was a terrifying experience for him."

PSNI Detective Sergeant Dave Stewart stressed the importance of asking callers for ID as he appealed for information.

"This was a despicable and brazen act carried out in broad daylight at the home of a man in his nineties; a place where this man should rightly feel safe.

"Bogus callers use many guises. They may offer to do work around your property. Other callers may seek to gain entry to use facilities. When your attention is distracted an accomplice may enter your premises via an unlocked door to steal cash and items of value. Often you will not be aware this has occurred until they have left. Genuine callers will carry ID."
Farmers in the Republic will "absolutely" use Northern Ireland as a back door into Great Britain if no-deal Brexit plans are implemented, it has been warned.

Irish Farmers Association (IFA) president Joe Healy dismissed Britain's no-deal contingency plans as "crazy" and said farmers would take advantage of the border loophole.

Mr Healy said: "I was wondering if I was misreading it the first time I read it because I said, 'This is crazy stuff'.

"If it wasn't Brexit you would say it was a joke, but because it is Brexit you think, 'This could be serious.'"

Prime Minister Theresa May suggested she would not introduce tariffs on trade going from the Republic into Northern Ireland in the event of a disorderly Brexit.

However, she would charge tariffs on goods coming into ports and airports on mainland Britain.

"Something from Wexford, if it went out through Rosslare it would pay a tariff, (but) if it drove up through Northern Ireland it could find its way into mainland UK without paying a tariff," Mr Healy said.

He added it would not be long until the "penny dropped" for farmers, who would begin using Northern Ireland to access the Great Britain market.
Six people have been arrested in an operation targeting the criminal activities of a Loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland.

A 46-year-old woman, along with five men aged between 24 and 40 years, were arrested at locations across north Belfast, east Belfast, Newtownards and Newtownabbey on Friday.

They are being questioned by detectives in Belfast on suspicion of supplying class A drugs.

A quantity of drugs was also seized in the operation led by the Police Service of Northern Irelands Paramilitary Crime Task Force.

The supply of drugs in our community does nothing but cause harm, cause misery and put people in fearChief Superintendent Jonathan Roberts

Chief Superintendent Jonathan Roberts said the operation was aimed at targeting criminal activities, particularly drug dealing, connected to the East Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

It follows a major police swoop last week during which 11 arrests were made following raids of 14 properties in Belfast, Newtownards and Comber, which was also focused on the criminal activists of the east Belfast UVF.

The supply of drugs in our community does nothing but cause harm, cause misery and put people in fear, he said.

Those that engage in this type of activity can expect to be investigated, they can expect to be arrested, they can expect to be interviewed and every effort will be made to put them before the courts so they can face justice.

The community has spoken loud and clear that they dont tolerate this type of activity, they wont tolerate this type of activity and these actions come in part as a result of the support we have received from local communities.

He added that following last weeks arrests, 10 people have been charged with offences.

Outrage was expressed in east Belfast in January following the murder of community worker Ian Ogle.

Chief Supt Roberts said there had been ongoing good co-operation between the people of east Belfast and police.

But he added: I think the murder of Mr Ogle has shown east Belfast UVF to be exactly what they are, which is a bunch of thugs and they have absolutely nothing to offer  and their chief activity is drug dealing, inflicting harm and inflicting misery on the community.
Thieves have snatched handbags, cash, bank cards and a mobile phone from churchgoers during a service.

It happened at Christ Church on Church Lane in Lisburn.

Police said they believed the burglary occurred sometime between 11.30am and 12.40pm on Sunday, March 24, as parishioners were at a church service.

Police have asked anyone with information to contact 101, quoting reference 668 24/03/19 or anonymous information can be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Heather Wilson is standing for election in the Castle ward

A Belfast council election hopeful from a unionist background has described as "ironic" accusations she was "stirring tensions" in a Protestant area by putting her election posters up.

Heather Wilson grew up in the Ballysillan area of north Belfast and is standing for election for the city council's Castle ward for the SDLP.

On Thursday evening she took to Twitter to express her frustration her election posters had been taken down in the Ballysillan Road area near Kilcoole Park - not far from where she grew up.

"Disappointed I had posters removed only 24 hours after they were put up, with accusations I was deliberately 'stirring tensions in a Protestant area,' she tweeted.

"Ironic. But nonetheless, boys with scissors and ladders won't stop this train. Time to keep on keeping on."

Disappointed I had posters removed only 24 hours after they were put up, with accusations I was deliberately 'stirring tensions in a protestant area'.



Ironic. But nonetheless, boys with scissors and ladders won't stop this train. Time to keep on keeping on.  Heather Wilson (@hevwilson_e) March 28, 2019

It is understood two posters removed.

One anonymous Twitter account posted tweets in recent days claiming SDLP election posters in "a unionist area" of Ballysillan were an attempt "to run up tensions".

"They will be removed," the account added.

MLA Nichola Mallon told the Belfast Telegraph: "The SDLP doesnt engage in sectarian politics and we wont be intimidated by those who do.

"Heather Wilson is a confident young woman, proud of her identity. She is passionate and committed to improving the lives of everyone who lives in north Belfast whatever their background or politics; so much so that she is putting herself forward for democratic election.

"The difference between Heather and what she has to offer north Belfast and those who removed her posters in the dead of night couldnt be more stark."

Ms Wilson is the SDLP's first female candidate from a unionist background having grown up in the Ballysillan area. She has worked for the party since 2016 as a press officer and as a policy and research officer for deputy leader Nichola Mallon.

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A former pupil of the Girls' Model School, in an interview with the Belfast Telegraph in February she said an interest in left-wing politics attracted her more to the SDLP than unionist parties or Alliance.

"I've always recognised the SDLP to have the best interests of people at heart," she said.

"Out of all the parties, there's less politicking with the SDLP and I do believe very strongly in reunification.

"That's something I came to at a young age. I felt people would be better off in a new Ireland envisioned by John Hume."

Although the first female candidate from a unionist background, the SDLP has had other Protestant representatives in the past.

"In our party, there are a number of people my age that maybe wouldn't identify as coming from a unionist background but are definitely Protestant, but it's not an issue," she said.

Elsewhere the MLA Daniel McCrossan hit out at "amateurs" for taking to social media to brag of collecting Alliance, Sinn Fein and SDLP posters in the Tyrone area. He said he has made a complaint to police after one Twitter user posted a picture of the boards saying he would use them for the July bonfires.

Sinn Fein candidates have also complained of damaged posters. Newtownabbey councillor Michael Goodman warned of "serious fines" for anyone interfering with election material.

And Alliance leader Naomi Long said she as more determined after posters for her party's Mid and East Antrim Council candidate Noel Williams were damaged in Carrickfergus.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar has said Europe must be open to a long extension of Article 50 if the UK decides to fundamentally reconsider its approach to Brexit.

But the Taoiseach said it is up to the UK to indicate how it plans to proceed in order to avoid the UK crashing out of the EU.

Mr Varadkar made the comments after the Withdrawal Agreement was defeated for a third time in the House of Commons on Friday.

It is not clear that the UK has fully understood that no-deal is not off the agendaLeo Varadkar

In a statement, he said: The Government notes the decision of the House of Commons to reject the indicative Withdrawal Agreement.

It is now up to the UK to indicate how it plans to proceed in order to avoid a no-deal scenario.

The European Council has agreed unanimously that the Withdrawal Agreement will not be reopened.

Mr Varadkar said Ireland had been preparing intensively for a no-deal scenario but no-one should underestimate the difficulties it would present for all countries, including the UK.

He said: It is not clear that the UK has fully understood that no-deal is not off the agenda. Rather, its a growing possibility.

Expand Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (right) with European Council president Donald Tusk in Dublin earlier this month (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (right) with European Council president Donald Tusk in Dublin earlier this month (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Varadkar welcomed the decision of EU Council president Donald Tusk to call a European Council meeting on April 10.

It is now incumbent on the UK to chart a realistic way forward for consideration at that council meeting, he said.

I believe we must be open to a long extension should the United Kingdom decide to fundamentally reconsider its approach to Brexit and put back on the table options previously ruled out.

I believe that will result in a generous and understanding response from the 27.

The Taoiseach is due to hold bilateral Brexit talks with the French and German leaders next week and he will also be speaking by phone to other heads of government ahead of the EU Council meeting.

Expand Close The Taoiseach is due to meet Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel next week (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

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Mr Varadkar will travel to Paris on Tuesday for a meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron, while German chancellor Angela Merkel will be in Dublin for a one-day visit on Thursday.

A spokesman for the Irish Government said both meetings will focus on the latest developments on Brexit.

He added the discussions will address current EU issues and other matters including the Future of Europe agenda ahead of the summit in Romania and the appointment of a new European Commission, Council President and High Representative in June.

These two meetings reflect the deep and warm relations Ireland enjoys with both France and Germany, including the support shown to Ireland during the Brexit negotiations, the spokesman said.

Speaking ahead of next weeks meetings, Mr Varadkar said: Both leaders have been strong and consistent allies of Ireland in responding to the unique challenges we face from Brexit.

I will again express the Governments gratitude for their continuing solidarity.

We will take stock of the latest developments on Brexit when we meet, efforts to secure ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement and no-deal planning.

We will also take the opportunity to consider the Future of Europe agenda.

Important discussions lie ahead, with an informal summit on the Unions strategic agenda due in early May in Sibiu, and negotiations on the EU budget for the period after 2020 due to be finalised by the end of this year.

While I meet regularly with both the President and Chancellor at the European Council in Brussels, these bilateral meetings are an important opportunity for an in-depth and one-to-one exchange on how to further strengthen our relations away from the bustle of the European Council.

Our bilateral relations with both Germany and France are better than ever and will become even more important as we move to a European Union of 27 members.
Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson has confirmed he will vote for Theresa Mays EU Withdrawal Agreement in a special sitting of the House of Commons on the day the UK was scheduled to leave the European Union.

Mr Johnson said he had taken the painful decision to back a deal he once claimed would leave the UK as a vassal state because defeat for the Prime Minister would risk an even worse version of Brexit or losing Brexit altogether.

The move boosts Mrs Mays chances of securing a majority in the Commons for the Withdrawal Agreement which she struck with the remaining 27 EU states last November.

It is very painful to vote for this deal. But I hope we can now work together to remedy its defects, avoid the backstop trap and strive to deliver the Brexit people voted for  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 29, 2019

But she still faces an uphill struggle as key Government allies the DUP joined Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in saying they would vote against the move.

In a special sitting of the Commons, MPs are debating the legally binding treaty segment of the Prime Ministers Brexit deal, but not the accompanying Political Declaration setting out plans for the future EU/UK relationship.

The PMs decision to split the two parts of the package means it does not qualify as a third attempt to pass a meaningful vote on the Governments Brexit deal.

Under the terms of an agreement with Brussels, if passed by MPs on Friday the vote would qualify the UK to be granted an automatic delay to May 22 of the formal date of Brexit.

There were signs that Mrs Mays gambit has succeeded in winning over some of the Conservative rebels who voted against her deal in meaningful votes when it went down to defeat by a margin of 230 in January and 149 in March.

Expand Close Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives at the Houses of Parliament for the key vote (Victoria Jones/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives at the Houses of Parliament for the key vote (Victoria Jones/PA)

Ex-party leader Iain Duncan Smith, former chief whip Mark Harper and European Research Group members Lucy Allan and Daniel Kawczynski were among Eurosceptic backbenchers announcing they would vote with the Government.

ERG chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg said he would reluctantly back it, despite previously saying he would vote with the DUP.

Mr Johnson said he remained intensely critical of the deal.

But he added: I have come to the sad conclusion that neither this Government nor this Parliament is willing to leave with no deal. We therefore run the risk of being forced to accept an even worse version of Brexit or losing Brexit altogether.

A bad deal that we have a chance to improve in the next stage of negotiations must be better than those alternatives.

It is very painful to vote for this deal. But I hope we can now work together to remedy its defects, avoid the backstop trap and strive to deliver the Brexit people voted for.

Other Tory rebels indicated they were standing firm.

ERG vice-chairman Steve Baker said he could not choke down his opposition to the agreement so long as its backstop provisions for the Irish border represented an indefinite threat to the Union and our self-government.

I voted for the Brady amendment to replace the backstop with alternative arrangements



If the backstop was not an indefinite threat to the union and our self government, I would choke down the rest of the agreement with a new PM for the sake of moving forward https://t.co/waWKFLT873  Steve Baker MP FRSA (@SteveBakerHW) March 29, 2019

Veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash told the BBC: The Prime Ministers deal is not Brexit.

And former minister Owen Paterson wrote in the Daily Telegraph that to avoid catastrophic damage to their party, Tory MPs must stand up for the 17.4 million people who voted Leave, firmly resolved to deliver Brexit in full on April 12.

In a graphic illustration of apparent despair within the Government at Mrs Mays chances, BBC Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt said that, when he asked one Cabinet minister why the PM had called Fridays vote, he received the reply: F*** knows, Im past caring, its like the living dead in here.

The vote comes on the day that pro-Brexit protesters  including a group who have taken part in a two-week march from Sunderland  are set to gather outside Parliament to mark the date when the UK was due to leave the EU.

Expand Close Brexit supporters who have taken part in a march from Sunderland are due to arrive at Parliament Square (Owen Humphreys/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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The prospect of rebellion by a hardcore of Tory Brexiteers left Mrs May dependent on the votes of Leave-backing Labour MPs for any chance of securing her Agreement.

In an apparent bid to woo them, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told the Commons that the Government would have backed an amendment from Labours Gareth Snell, giving Parliament the right to set the negotiating mandate for talks on future relations with the EU.

The amendment was not selected for debate by Mr Bercow, who also rejected SNP amendments calling for Brexit to be halted or made dependent on the approval of the Scottish Parliament or Welsh Assembly.

Opening debate in the Commons, Mr Cox said: The House can take a single, decisive step today to afford certainty to the millions of people around this country awaiting it, to have a short extension  not prolonged  that will bring our exit from the EU to May 22.

There will be no further uncertainty. The Political Declaration can be resolved in that time and the ratification of the bill can proceed, with any amendments that might be forthcoming in connection with the subsequent negotiating stage.

Expand Close Attorney General Geoffrey Cox opened the Commons debate on the Withdrawal Agreement (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Attorney General Geoffrey Cox opened the Commons debate on the Withdrawal Agreement (PA)

What we have before us today is the legal right to extend. No other extension is guaranteed. Every other extension would require European parliamentary elections.

We therefore are at an important crossroads for the purposes of this nations future and its history and I urge all members of this House to embrace this opportunity now.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer insisted Labour will not back the agreement in the vote expected at around 2.30pm.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Not only is uncoupling the Political Declaration making Brexit more blind because you dont know where you are going, now the Prime Minister has said she is stepping down.

So the Political Declaration, the future relationship, is going now to be determined in a Tory leadership exercise. Even if this Prime Minister gave us assurances about what shes going to do in the future, they dont mean anything any more.

But Cabinet minister Liam Fox warned that voters will feel betrayed if MPs do not pass the agreement, opening a chasm of distrust between voters and the political system.

If the motion on the Withdrawal Agreement is rejected by MPs, the UK will have until April 12 to ask for a further extension to Brexit negotiations  which would require voters to choose new MEPs  or leave the EU without a deal.
Boris Johnson arrives at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Leading Brexit supporter Boris Johnson has declared he has taken the painful decision to vote for Prime Minister Theresa Mays EU Withdrawal Agreement.

He is one of a number of prominent rebels who have set aside their previous opposition to the deal, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Iain Duncan Smith and Dominic Raab.

Mr Raab confirmed on Friday that he will back the deal, despite having said the previous day that the UK should press for changes to the Irish backstop and be prepared to leave without a deal.

I have been and remain intensely critical of the deal. But we have a choice to make now, and that means choosing between options that actually exist. I have come to the sad conclusion that neither this government nor this parliament is willing to leave with no deal  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 29, 2019

Former foreign secretary Mr Johnson has been a vocal critic of Mrs Mays deal  here are some of his previous attacks on the plans:

2019

March 26  Mr Johnson compared the UKs efforts to leave the EU to the biblical struggle between Moses and Egypts pharaoh and urged the country to channel the spirit of Moses and Aaron in Exodus and say to the pharaohs of Brussels Let my people go'.

March 24  In his Daily Telegraph column, he branded the deal rotten and added: There is only one plausible argument why we should now vote it through  and that is that every other option is now worse.

March 17  Mr Johnson wrote that the deal was detrimental to the country.

March 10  He said the Withdrawal Agreement would make the EU our colonial masters.

February 3  Mr Johnson said the Withdrawal Agreement was an appalling deal that would leave the UK in servitude until 2020.

January 20  He said the deal had been kicked into orbit after it was rejected in the House of Commons. He added: It will never get through Parliament because it is fundamentally anti-democratic.

January 13  Mr Johnson branded the deal a complete stinker, the worst of both worlds and had appalling defects.

We are preparing to take colonial rule by foreign powers and courts.Boris Johnson, November 2018

2018

December 2  Mr Johnson described the backstop as a great steel trap that is about to clamp its jaws around our hind limbs and prevent our escape and an instrument of blackmail to keep the UK as effective captives of the EU.

November 25  He said the deal was a disaster for the country.

November 18  He said if MPs voted for the deal we are bowing our neck to the yoke, and added: We are preparing to take colonial rule by foreign powers and courts.

November 12  Mr Johnson said the terms of the deal were such that might be enforced on a colony and warned: On the present plans we will be a vassal state.

September 27  He described the Chequers proposals as disastrous and said: Such enforced vassalage should be unacceptable to any democratic country.

September 8  Mr Johnson said the Chequers plan had wrapped a suicide vest around the British constitution and handed the detonator to Brussels.

September 3  He said that by adopting the Chequers proposals the UK had gone into battle with the white flag fluttering over our leading tank.
Fish processors say the delay over Brexit is causing huge uncertainty (Michal Wachucik/PA)

Fish industry figures say they are suffering from huge uncertainty over Brexit as they urged MPs to deliver on the vote to the leave the EU without further delay.

Buyers at Peterhead fish market in Aberdeenshire on Friday, the day the UK was scheduled to depart, described the process as a shambles and said politicians had managed the situation appallingly.

The north east port sees the highest volume of fish landings per year in the UK.

Expand Close Fish merchant Andrew Charles says the Brexit process has been a shambles (Michal Wachucik/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Fish merchant Andrew Charles says the Brexit process has been a shambles (Michal Wachucik/PA)

Fish processors, along with fishermen, have been a strong pro-Brexit voice but they have differing views on the best way forward from the current stalemate.

Andrew Charles, of Aberdeen-based processors J Charles, said: I think its a shambles. We cant plan ahead and we face huge uncertainty.

We have to have a deal. It might not be a good deal, but weve got to have some kind of deal. And then weve got to take a long-term view and improve on that deal as the years go forward.

Mr Charles, 56, added: I think youve got to question if the House of Commons is fit for purpose. Because the way theyve gone about managing this situation is appalling.

We expected our Government to behave in a way that led us towards the Brexit that was democratically voted upon and deliver a deal. We should have had that by now.

He said he believed a no-deal would be catastrophic for some of the UKs smaller fish exporters.

If youre faced with 90 charges per consignment and freight charges going into Europe, many of these small exporters would shut their doors. So a no-deal from that perspective is just not an option, he said.

The latest Government figures show UK vessels landed 724,000 tonnes of fish at home and abroad in 2017, with a value of 980 million.

The main exports are salmon, mackerel and herring, with France, the Netherlands and Spain the largest markets.

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Robert Milne, of Peterhead-based processor J H Milne, said the industry feeling on what was to be Brexit Day was one of frustration.

He said: I think the biggest problem for most fish merchants is the uncertainty. Were not getting what we voted for. Theres nothing being delivered at the moment.

Every time they go into Parliament, nobodys coming up with any answers. Theyre all just arguing amongst themselves.

I havent got a clue whatll happen. Thats the biggest problem, and everybodys in the same boat. Its bewildering. Theyre not delivering what was voted for.

At the fish market, there were concerns that another referendum could be on the cards, with one buyer saying it was an absolute certainty.

For Mr Milne, 49, a no-deal scenario would be preferable to further months of political wrangling.

He said: From my businesss point of view, it would certainly be better just to go for a no-deal.

Im not saying all fish merchants would say the same. The guys that operate in the UK would certainly be of that mind, but the people that are exporting, they would have a different opinion.

He added: We voted for Brexit, lets get it done. Its taking too long and everybodys getting more and more confused.

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The Scottish Fishermens Federation (SFF) had hoped to see the UK fully leave the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) by 2020.

The arrangement sees 750,000 tonnes of fish taken out of UK waters every year by non-UK fishermen, according to the Federation.

Chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: The sea of opportunity, the great benefits for the UK fishing industry lies in being outside the CFP, and today was meant to be day one.

Were frustrated at the delay, and were nervous and indeed angry at anybody whos trying to frustrate the whole project.

Theres everything to gain, nothing to lose and were not keen on any form of delay, or God help us, any cancellation of Brexit.

To politicians not yet persuaded to honour 2016 referendum, our message is: blocking Withdrawal Agreement now risks no-deal or, worse, a placebo Brexit putting us back inside the CFP. Play games to scupper Brexit, you're no friend of fishermen or their communities. pic.twitter.com/ZBvjVbfuyW  SFF (@sff_uk) March 29, 2019

Mr Armstrong urged politicians to proceed with the Withdrawal Agreement, saying further months of wrangling hold danger for us.

Nothing has been given away, no red lines have been crossed yet with giving away fishing opportunities to the rest of Europe, and of course in further discussions thats always a possibility, he said.

He added that a no-deal Brexit was nobodys preferred choice but the industry would cope.

Mr Armstrong said: We would have complete control of our waters from day one.

That would bring the fishing nations of Europe straight to the negotiating table with no fishing opportunities at all, in a mood to negotiate.

He added: The trade aspects are overblown. You have vendors and purchasers at either end in seafood and theres a balance. For any punitive action to take place, it would hurt everybody.
MPs have rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement following a dramatic session in Westminster with the DUP suggesting the way forward may be to remain in the EU.

The DUP MP Nigel Dodds said the UK should stay in the EU if that was the only way to preserve Northern Ireland's place in UK.

"I would stay in the European Union and remain rather than risk Northern Irelands position. Thats how strongly I feel about the Union," he told the BBC Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt.

He said a solution was needed which worked for the entire UK but still said he wanted Brexit to be delivered.

"We want to see Brexit delivered, we believe the referendum result should be respected and delivered on but it cant be at the risk of separating Northern Ireland out from the rest of the United Kingdom."
Prime Minister Theresa May speaks in the House of Commons during the Brexit debate (Commons/PA)

Business leaders have expressed despair at the continued Brexit uncertainty, accusing politicians of creating a deepening crisis.

Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, the manufacturers organisation, said: Business is devastated that after two years of negotiations, months of increasing uncertainty and weeks of building frustration, after three attempts the withdrawal deal has not been agreed by the House of Commons.

This now makes the nightmare of a no-deal scenario more likely than ever. This would be a disaster for the UK economy as a whole and for the 2.7 million manufacturing jobs around the UK.

Every day, companies are losing contracts with investment falling and companies voting with their feet and walking away from Britain as a place to do business.

Our global reputation was already tarnished, we end the week with it in tatters.

Our small firms are sick and tired of politicians debating and dithering over BrexitMike Cherry

Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: On the day that we were supposed to be leaving the European Union, all we have is yet another political failure to chalk up.

Responsibility for this deepening political crisis lies squarely at the feet of politicians who have clearly stopped listening to the business community.

Our small businesses have been crying out about the significant damage that uncertainty is causing them. These cries have been drowned out by those seeking to play political games.

Planning has stalled, investment is handcuffed and growth has flatlined. The only question now is what happens next? Small businesses message is simple, stop playing politics, come together and get on with delivering a pro-business deal that secures a transition period, guarantees as much frictionless trade as possible and most importantly, avoids a disastrous no-deal Brexit.

Our small firms are sick and tired of politicians debating and dithering over Brexit.

Paul Everitt, chief executive of aerospace trade body ADS, said: The continued confusion in Government and Parliament has gone on for far too long and is costing industry millions of pounds in lost investment and preparations for the worst outcome of no deal.

If there is still not sufficient support for the deal agreed between the UK Government and the European Union, we must pause and reset this process.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: There are still options open to MPs and they must get behind one of them. The country needs certainty and a legal guarantee against the chaos that will inevitably result from no deal.

Businesses are paying the price of the political uncertainty. Time and money is being spent, irrecoverably, preparing for a no-deal scenario that most people, businesses and politicians do not want to see.

Expand Close Josh Hardie says livelihoods are at stake (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

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Josh Hardie, deputy director general of the CBI, said: All eyes are now on Monday to discover what Parliament is for. The UKs reputation, peoples jobs and livelihoods are at stake.

No deal is two weeks away. This winner takes all approach means everyone loses. Indicative votes must deliver. Only MPs can end this nightmare for businesses.

Edwin Morgan, interim director general of the Institute of Directors, said: The Brexit merry-go-round continues to spin, but the fun stopped a long time ago.

We are running out of words to express how sick business leaders are of being stuck in this spirit-sapping limbo. The inability to make any decision is doing lasting damage to enterprise.

Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, said: After todays vote, Parliament must lead us out of our current shambles.

It is time to press the reset button and seek a long extension to our EU exit.

Business  particularly food and drink  requires a stable operating environment and a clear path forward.
Climate change protesters as young as seven have been invited to have their say at the Scottish Parliament.

A group of 13 young campaigners from across Scotland, aged seven to 17, will meet leading global scientists on climate change as well as members of Holyroods Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee.

The informal meeting on Tuesday will take place hours before new climate change legislation for Scotland faces its first hurdle in the parliamentary chamber.

Most people arent listening to what me and my friends have to say, so it is good to be able to get a chance to say what me and my friends have been trying to get acrossClimate change protester Josie

Pupils across Scotland have walked out of school on Fridays to join an international youth protest movement calling for greater action on climate change.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, committee convener Gillian Martin said: We are looking forward to meeting these young people to find out more about what inspired them to take part in this global movement and what they are doing to ensure that their voices are heard loud and clear.

By having the opportunity to meet the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at the Parliament, the young people will meet with those whose job it is to advise governments across the world on ways to mitigate climate change.

There is no second chance with climate change, so it is vital we listen to all ideas for change and act on these in order to make a real difference.

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Whatsapp Students take part in a global school strike for climate change outside the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA)

One of the young people involved, Josie, aged 14, said: I am really looking forward to meeting the committee members as it is a way for me to say that I exist and that I have an opinion.

Most people arent listening to what me and my friends have to say, so it is good to be able to get a chance to say what me and my friends have been trying to get across.

A major IPCC report last year warned unprecedented action is needed to avoid severe climate impacts by limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial levels.

Actions required include cutting global carbon dioxide emissions by almost half within 12 years, and to zero by mid-century.

The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill would update current climate change laws to increase the target for greenhouse gas reductions to 90% by 2050.

The #ClimateChange Bill Stage 1 debate has been set for the afternoon of Tuesday 2 April. Read the Committee's report: https://t.co/zhhM3PqZt5 pic.twitter.com/TF4W7I37mq  Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee (@SP_NetZero) March 20, 2019

It would also bring in tougher interim targets of 56% for 2020 and 66% for 2030.

In a report on the planned legislation, the committee called for greater urgency on climate change, acceleration of short-term targets and setting out what temperature they seek to achieve  suggesting this should within the 1.5C limit.

Critics argue the legislation does not go far enough, with some calling for Scotland to become carbon neutral by 2025, and protests planned outside parliament for Tuesday.

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon met with Celeste, Iola, Hector, Charlotte and @HollyWildChild  who joined by Skype. They discussed the Scottish Governments climate change ambitions and what further action could be taken #YouthStrike4Climate #fridaysforfuture #ClimateStrike pic.twitter.com/pbOY9VRhLV  First Minister (@ScotGovFM) March 27, 2019

Nicola Sturgeon has praised the passion of young people involved in the climate change protests and met some of those involved earlier this week to hear their concerns.

In a Green debate on climate change on Wednesday, MSPs failed to back any of the motions or amendments put forward, including the Green motion calling for a climate emergency to be declared.
The DUP's Nigel Dodds said his party will be seeking a "bigger and stronger" role in the second phase of the EU talks on the future relationship in order to avoid replicating the "mistakes" of the divorce discussions.

He also admitted one of his party's MPs made a mistake in Wednesday night's indicative voting on finding a Brexit alternative.

Mr Dodds said no matter what type of Brexit occurred his party was focused on ensuring there were no trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK and the DUP would be seeking a "bigger and stronger" role in second phase of talks on the future relationship between the EU and UK.

"In order to avoid some of the problems we have faced in the first stage," he told the BBC.

It comes as MPs are to vote once again on the withdrawal agreement in a special Friday sitting of the Commons.

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The North Belfast MP said it was "universally accepted" the negotiation process led by the prime minister had been a "disaster" but the principle of leaving was still the correct thing to do.

He said Theresa May's offer to quit without being sure of having the votes was a strange thing to do. He said it was the "last card" any leader could play.

Meanwhile Strangford MP Jim Shannon voted against leaving the EU with on a no deal basis on April 12, while the rest of the party abstained in Wednesday night's Brexit alternative plan voting.

"Jim made a mistake on that one," laughed Nigel Dodds, "he wasn't the only one. The Speaker had to announce three changes to the vote so the clerks got it wrong as well.

"On that issue we don't want to see a no deal. We want to get a deal that works for everybody. The changes that have been put forward in domestic legislation don't go far enough although we have made progress in terms of the domestic legislation if the backstop came into place in terms of the Stormont lock and all of that."

All eight options tabled were rejected by MPs on an historic day which saw Parliament wrest control from the Government on the business of the day. In the rest of the votes the DUP voted, or abstained as one.

The party only voted in favour of one option - that being on seeking preferential trade agreements if the withdrawal agreement is not passed.

MPs are bidding once again to take control of the Commons and table more alternative options on Monday.
Members of the Parachute Regiment facing protesters on Bloody Sunday

A former Paratrooper is sending his medal for service in Northern Ireland to the Prime Minister in "disgust" over the prosecution of a soldier for his actions on Bloody Sunday.

Earlier this month the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) announced that 'Soldier F' will be prosecuted for his role in the deaths of James Wray and William McKinney on Bloody Sunday, and the attempted murder of four others.

Jim Kenyon told the Hereford Times that he would be sending his service medals to Prime Minister Theresa May and 22 white feathers to the cabinet in protest at the decision.

He will also be sending a letter criticising the treatment of military veterans.

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Thirteen people were killed and 15 wounded after members of the Army's Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in Derry's Bogside on January 30, 1972. A 14th person died in hospital.

Former Mayor of Hereford said that he had "given up on politicians" following the decision.

Expand Close James Wray (left) and William McKinney, who died on Bloody Sunday (PA/Bloody Sunday Trust) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp James Wray (left) and William McKinney, who died on Bloody Sunday (PA/Bloody Sunday Trust)

They send soldiers places to do jobs. And whatever jobs they do, politicians are the people that put them in these positions, he said.

Mr Kenyon said that he felt cabinet members "don't care" because they don't know what it's like to serve in the army.

I went to Northern Ireland when I was 18-years-old. I couldnt believe what I saw," he 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 Previous Next Close Scenes from 'Bloody Sunday' in Londonderry, Northern Ireland Paddy Doherty, who was killed on Bloody Sunday. 30th January 1972: An armed soldier and a protestor on Bloody Sunday when British Paratroopers shot dead 13 civilians on a civil rights march. Frederick Hoare A young Fr Edward Daly carries a blood-soaked hankie as he leads a group of men trying desperately to carry John 'Jackie' Duddy to safety. Duddy (17) was the first fatality of Bloody Sunday after being shot from behind by paratroopers A young Fr Edward Daly carries a blood-soaked hankie as he leads a group of men trying desperately to carry John 'Jackie' Duddy to safety. Duddy (17) was the first fatality of Bloody Sunday after being shot from behind by paratroopers Bloody Sunday A scene showing a British paratrooper near Glenfada Park in Derry where Bloody Sunday took place. Hugh Gilmore (third left) seen clutching his stomach as he is shot during Bloody Sunday. PA William McKinney, killed on Bloody Sunday. Lt Col Derek Wilford, the former commander of the members of the Parachute Regiment involved in the Bloody Sunday shootings PA A protest parade in was staged in Londonderry in January to mark the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday Hugh Gilmore who was killed on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday Trust Michael McDaid who was killed on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday Trust Bloody Sunday: Up to 20 soldiers still face being formally questioned by police for alleged murder, attempted murder or criminal injury during the notorious incident Fred Hoare Soldiers taking cover behind their sandbagged armoured cars during Bloody Sunday PA Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery in his room at the Old Bailey as he looks through his report on the "Bloody Sunday" shootings PA Jim Wray who was killed on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday Trust John Young who was killed on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday Trust William McKinney who was killed on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday Trust Kevin McElhinney who was killed on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday Trust Gerard McKinney who was killed on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday Trust Gerald Donaghey who was killed on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday Trust Alana Burke who was eighteen when she was run over by an armoured personnel carrier on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday. January 1972 Patrick Doherty who was killed on Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday Trust Bloody Sunday. Funeral. Mrs Ita McKinney, 9 months pregnant cries behind the hearse carrying her husband James from St Mary's, Creggan. 2/2/1972. Michael Kelly who was killed on Bloody Sunday. A man receiving attention during the shooting incident in Londonderry, which became known as Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday. 30/1/1972 Bloody Sunday. 30/1/1972 Bloody Sunday. 30/1/1972 JAMES WRAY IN HIS HOME IN THE BOGSIDE DERRY HOLDING THE COAT WITH BULLIET HOLES IN THAT HIS SON ALSO CALLED JAMES WRAY WAS KILLED ON BLOODY SUNDAY The start of a grim day in Derry. Civil Rights marchers make their way through Creggan. They defied a Government ban and headed for Guildhall Square, but were stopped by the Army in William Street. 31/1/1972 Bloody Sunday 1972 Linda Nash carries flowers with the number 14 inscribed during yesterdays annual Bloody Sunday Parade in Derry. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 29.1.12 Martin McKeown A memorial to those killed on Bloody Sunday in the Bogside area of Derry The memorial to the 14 people who died on Bloody Sunday in Derry rises from among the sea of umbrellas as all the families came together in an ecumenical service. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights mark.The service included contributions from Father Michael Canny and Reverend David Latimer, left. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 29.1.12 Martin McKeown / Facebook

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You had to be there at the time to understand what it was like.

Ive spent six months there and they were trying to kill me. I had rocket-propelled grenades fired at me.

Mr Kenyon said that he believed that the Good Friday Agreement should have been an amnesty for all involved in the Troubles

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The annual Bloody Sunday March makes its way through the Brandywell in Derry, 47 years after the original civil rights movement march. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 Members of the Bloody Sunday families who laid wreaths on Sunday morning marking the events of 47 years ago in 1972. PIcture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 The Reverend David Latimer from 1st Derry Presbyterian Church who took part in the Bloody Sunday service in Derry on Sunday. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 Wreaths which were laid at the Bloody Sunday Memorial in Derry on Sunday. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 Members of the Bloody Sunday families who came together on Sunday morning to lay wreaths in memory of their loved ones who died 47 years ago in Derry. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 The Mayor Councillor John Boyle lays a wreath at the Bloody Sunday Memorial on Sunday. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 Members of the Bloody Sunday families who laid wreaths on Sunday morning marking the events of 47 years ago in 1972. PIcture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 Members of the Bloody Sunday families who laid wreaths on Sunday morning marking the events of 47 years ago in 1972. PIcture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 The annual Bloody Sunday March makes its way through the Brandywell in Derry, 47 years after the original march. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 The annual Bloody Sunday March makes its way through the Brandywell in Derry, 47 years after the original march. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 The annual Bloody Sunday March makes its way through the Brandywell in Derry, 47 years after the original march. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 The annual Bloody Sunday March makes its way through the Brandywell in Derry, 47 years after the original march. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 27.01.19 / Facebook

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Whatsapp A Bloody Sunday commemoration march takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on January 27th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

"This line to keep chasing the military shouldnt have been pursued, he said.

There is a culture of this that goes into Iraq and Afghanistan as well and its awful.

I think to drag a former paratrooper back for a trial is disgusting. No one is above the law but there were a lot of seniors and officers above him that should have been there controlling that situation.

It almost smacks as scapegoating as if hes been sold out.
The lawyer who defended the teenager who later admitted raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha MacPhail has said it is not his job to decide whether a client is innocent or guilty.

Aaron Campbell, 16, has been sentenced to life imprisonment and locked up for at least 27 years after he was convicted of abducting, raping and murdering the child on the Isle of Bute.

The teenager snatched Alesha from her bed as she slept at her grandparents home on the Isle of Bute last summer and inflicted horrific injuries on the schoolgirl before dumping her body in nearby woodland on July 2 last year.

He was convicted last month at the High Court in Glasgow, where a jury found him guilty unanimously following a nine-day trial, and finally admitted the crime in a psychological report prepared ahead of his sentencing on March 21.

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In his first broadcast interview since the trial, Brian McConnachie QC, who represented Campbell, was asked how he feels about defending clients who have really committed the most terrible of crimes.

He told BBC Scotlands The Nine: Well if you want to do the job that I do, thats not something you can focus upon. Its not my job, its not any solicitors job or any advocates job to decide whether or not a person is guilty or innocent.

In High Court cases, there are 15 people, namely the jury, who will determine that fact. If you as the representative of that person started carrying out that process, then whichever way you went, you would not be doing your job properly. If, for example, you were someone who decided that your client was innocent and he or she was ultimately convicted, presumably that would be devastating.

If, on the other hand, you decided they were guilty  theres at least the risk that you wouldnt do your job properly. So in so far as Im concerned, every client I meet irrespective of what they are charged with is treated the same way and if they give me instructions which indicate they want to go to trial, then thats what will happen.

Mr McConnachie could not comment on the sentence but said it was a privilege to be part of the justice process.

He told the programme: I think thats what its all about in every case that what we are is part of the process to ensure that at the end of the day, the person whos accused has had a fair trial, which means that hopefully the witnesses involved in the case have been treated appropriately by a professional person, that there is less chance of an innocent person being convicted and that there is less chance of someone who is guilty of being acquitted in due course on the basis of some technicality which couldve been avoided had he or she been properly represented.

And so I consider it to be a privilege to be part of that process.

Sentencing Campbell, Lord Matthews said social work and psychologist reports had painted a clear picture of a cold, callous, calculating, remorseless and dangerous individual.

He said Campbell had shown a staggering lack of remorse, and told the teenager: Not once did I detect a flicker of emotion from you.
Theresa May is battling to get her Brexit Withdrawal Agreement backed by the Commons on the day that was scheduled to see Britain quit the EU.

The Prime Minister split the legally binding treaty segment of her Brexit deal from the declaration on future relations with the EU in order to ensure MPs could vote on it on Friday.

But Mrs May faced an uphill struggle as key Government allies the DUP joined Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in saying they would vote against the move.

The PMs decision to present just the Withdrawal Agreement to the Commons means it is not a third attempt to pass a meaningful vote on the Governments Brexit deal and complies with rules laid down by Commons Speaker John Bercow.

Expand Close Jeremy Corbyn told the PM he would not support the move (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Under the terms of an agreement with Brussels, if passed by MPs on Friday the vote would qualify the UK to be granted an automatic delay to May 22 of the formal date of Brexit.

Mrs Mays move allows the Government to present the situation as a choice between a short delay to Brexit and the potential for a much longer one which would mean taking part in European Parliament elections.

But it would not let Parliament go ahead and ratify the withdrawal deal, as Brexit legislation allows this only after the passage of a meaningful vote on both the Withdrawal Agreement and a Political Declaration on the future relationship.

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said his party could not back the Withdrawal Agreement because the Government had failed to win legally binding changes regarding the controversial backstop customs arrangements for the Irish border.

Mr Corbyn told the PM in a 20-minute telephone discussion on Thursday that he would not support the move as it represented a blindfold Brexit.

I actually think this is a positive move and I will be supporting the motion for the Withdrawal AgreementLabour MP Caroline Flint

However, Downing Street is hoping that the move to split off the agreement will win support from Labour backbenchers.

One potential way for the PM to woo Labour MPs might be to accept an amendment tabled by Stoke-on-Trent Centrals Gareth Snell and signed by Lisa Nandy, Frank Field, Ivan Lewis, Caroline Flint, Rosie Cooper, Ruth Smeeth and Melanie Onn, which would give Parliament the power to set the negotiating mandate for talks on the future relationship.

Other amendments, tabled by SNP MPs, call on Mrs May to halt Brexit altogether by revoking the UKs Article 50 letter or to make EU withdrawal dependent on the approval of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.

Ms Flint said she would back the Government, telling the BBC: I actually think this is a positive move and I will be supporting the motion for the Withdrawal Agreement.

Lots of people have problems with the Political Declaration, but they dont, actually, have much disagreement with the Withdrawal Agreement.

The Prime Minister's deal is not BrexitSir Bill Cash

Mr Dodds said: We will be voting against the Withdrawal Agreement because the concerns that we have about the trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, and what that would mean in terms of who makes our laws  not Stormont or Westminster  those concerns remain.

Despite Mrs May winning the backing of some members of the hardline European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs after she said she would stand down as PM if she gets her deal through Parliament, a number of Conservative Eurosceptics have refused to budge.

Sir Bill Cash told the BBC: The Prime Ministers deal is not Brexit.

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But former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said he would now support the divorce deal and hoped that a successor to Mrs May who believed in Brexit would take over the future negotiations.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think its time for us to take a decision, which is we want to leave, we want to be able to say to our constituents We have left, there is more that has to be done.

A new leader can therefore take that forward and a leader who really believes in Brexit, because the problem has been that the negotiations have been conducted under the idea that this is a damage limitation exercise.

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If the motion on the Withdrawal Agreement is rejected by MPs, the UK will have until April 12 to ask for a further extension to Brexit negotiations  which would require voters to choose new MEPs  or leave the EU without a deal.

The vote comes on the day that pro-Brexit protesters are set to gather outside Parliament to mark what had been scheduled to be the UKs exit date from the EU.

Meanwhile, Sir Oliver Letwin has tabled his business motion to continue the indicative votes process on Monday to consider Brexit deal alternatives.

The motion also raises the potential for a third round on Wednesday.
The UK's largest police force has been "overwhelmed" by a surge in online child sexual abuse and exploitation cases, a watchdog has warned.

Social media platforms are increasingly used to distribute, share and view indecent images on a "global scale", HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said.

While the issue was flagged up in a report on the Metropolitan Police, it was described as a "national problem".

HMICFRS said the Met's arrangements for investigating online cases involving indecent images of children and sexual exploitation are "not working".

In a review of 34 online cases, 29 were assessed as either inadequate or requiring improvement, with 15 sent back to the force because the inspectorate considered they contained evidence of a serious problem.

The inspection found processes for examining devices suspected of containing indecent images of children were ineffective.

"For example, because of the limited capacity of the digital examination team, only two devices can be sent for full examination," the report said.

Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said that limited capacity in specialist teams, backlogs and resourcing pressures "have all led to the force being overwhelmed by cases and not able to provide the service victims need and deserve".

Increasing use of social media platforms and channels to distribute, share and view child sexual abuse images poses a complex challenge for policing, according to the report.

Last year Home Secretary Sajid Javid demanded tech companies step up their response as he disclosed that the National Crime Agency estimates that around 80,000 people in the UK present some kind of sexual threat to children online.

HMICFRS's findings on the Met are based on a post-inspection review carried out last year.

The watchdog first highlighted shortcomings in the force's response to child abuse and sexual exploitation in a highly critical report in 2016.

In the latest assessment, an audit of 303 cases found child protection practice was good in 93, required improvement in 127 and inadequate in 83.

While fewer cases were judged inadequate than in previous inspections, HMICFRS said the results indicate that consistency of effective practice "remains weak".

Opportunities to act quickly and decisively to protect children and prevent offending are still being missed, according to the report.

The inspectorate said it was told by the Met that it anticipates work to ensure children receive consistently improved responses will take a further two years.

"Senior leaders must assure themselves that this timescale is justifiable, given the extreme vulnerability of many of the children who come into contact with the force," the report said.

It also revealed that, in some areas of the capital, officers are managing more than 100 registered sex offenders each.

HMICFRS noted that the Met has made improvements since the 2016 inspection.

The Met said the scale of child abuse and sexual exploitation offending online has grown in recent years, adding: "This increased demand on police, coupled with the need to keep up with advancement of technology and adapt our methods to detect and identify offenders, means it is a challenging area for the Met and police forces nationally.

"However, we are committed to addressing these challenges to improve our response."

Commander Richard Smith, the Met's head of safeguarding, said: "We are pleased to see measurable improvement in our investigations since the last HMICFRS report was published.

"However, we know that we still have a lot more work to do before our child protection arrangements are consistently as effective as they should be."
There is still hope that Brexit can be cancelled to ensure the UK remains a part of the EU, Patrick Harvie has said.

On a visit to the Language Hub in Glasgow on Friday, he joined with fellow Scottish Green Party co-convener Maggie Chapman in meeting with EU nationals on the day the UK had been due to leave.

The party has been calling for a Peoples Vote on Brexit, with Article 50 revoked if it is not possible to do so.

Mr Harvie blamed the Tories for the hostile environment created by Brexit.

Peoples lives have been thrown into turmoil and chaos, he said.

And that is absolutely part of the Conservative Partys nasty, xenophobic, hostile environment.

We need to be saying that Scotland wants to be an open and welcoming society where people feel valued.

He added: It is not Brexit day, they are not being pushed out of the door today. There is far more hope that we can cancel Brexit, stop this chaos and continue as part of the European family of nations.

Mr Harvie added that he intends to keep his identity as a European citizen, regardless of what path the UK takes.

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Green Party co-convener Maggie Chapman suggested that Prime Minister Theresa May was to blame.

She said: When she was Home Secretary, she created the hostile environment.

The seeds were sown long ago but it nurtured those seeds of hatred, of racism and of xenophobia.

Its because of her that we have the hostile environment in the UK and that allowed the right to capture the Brexit debate, to capture the leave debate and say, you know, we can tackle immigration.

Thats completely the wrong way to look at it. Its not about how Scotland works and I think its certainly not how most of us actually want to function.

Samira Campoy runs teaching sessions at the language hub, having arrived in Scotland 19 years ago from Almeria in Spain.

Ms Campoy said that she was unable to read or write English when she first arrived in the country and took on work as a cleaner, having earned an honours degree whilst in Granada.

She said: When I arrived here, it was a country which gave me opportunities.

Its not like the country just provided for me, I provided for the country. It doesnt feel like that now. It feels really unstable.

Me and my husband woke up this morning and thought, so what are we doing?.

Were going next week with my inlaws to Mallorca and were coming back on the 12th.

I was thinking what if they stop me and I cannot go through, what will you do? What will happen to the kids?.

My husband said, Itll be fine, itll be fine, but what about if not? Even that thought is really worrying.
New York is suing the billionaire family behind the company that created OxyContin, joining a growing list of state and local governments seeking to hold not only the firm but its owners accountable for the nations opioid crisis.

The state, which averages nine opioid-related deaths per day, on Thursday expanded an existing lawsuit against pill maker Purdue Pharma to add members of its controlling Sackler family as defendants.

Five other companies that produce opioid painkillers and four drug distributors, which buy medications in bulk and sell them to pharmacies, were also added as defendants.

This is an extensive lawsuit that leaves no stone unturned, New York attorney general Letitia James said at a news conference.

While other states and localities have filed similar suits, New York is taking some novel approaches, such as seeking to bar the companies from marketing and distributing painkillers in New York unless they abide by strict safeguards.

The suit claims drug manufacturers collaborated to falsely deny the serious risks of opioid addiction, and it accuses drug distributors of saturating the state with opioids while overlooking red flags.

But at the heart of the case are Purdue and the Sacklers, whom Ms James called the masterminds behind this crisis.

The suit, like others filed elsewhere, alleges aggressive marketing of OxyContin beginning in the mid-1990s led to massive overprescribing and a scourge of dependency, addiction and death.

Once the pills ran out, the lawsuit alleges, many patients craving the same effects turned to cheaper, more potent alternatives: heroin and fentanyl.

Representatives for Purdue and Sackler family members said the suit misleadingly blames them for a problem that is far bigger than OxyContin.

The state is seeking to publicly vilify Purdue and the Sacklers with ill-supported claims about a drug that currently accounts for less than 2% of all opioid prescriptions, the company said in a statement.

The Sackler relatives named in the suit  all former Purdue board members who remain shareholders  said in a statement issued through a spokeswoman that they have always acted properly.

They and the company said they would fight the new allegations, which come two days after Purdue and the Sacklers agreed to pay 270 million dollars (204 million) to the state of Oklahoma to settle an opioid lawsuit there.

In settling the case, Purdue denied any wrongdoing.

It was the first settlement in a recent wave of nearly 2,000 lawsuits that the company says could push it into bankruptcy.

The suit accuses Purdue in particular of downplaying addiction risks and pushing doctors to increase dosages even as the dangers became known.

The Sacklers have given tens of millions of dollars to New York City cultural institutions.

In the past few weeks, as the accusations against the family have mounted, the Tate museums in London and the Guggenheim Museum in New York have cut ties with the family, and other institutions have come under pressure to turn down donations or remove the Sackler name.

The other defendants in New Yorks lawsuit are: Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals; UK-based Mallinckrodt plc, which has an opioid manufacturing plant in Hobart, New York; Dublin-based Endo and Allergan; Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva and the drug distributors McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and Rochester Drug Cooperative Inc.

Endo said in a statement that it denies the allegations in the lawsuit and intends to vigorously defend itself.
Its founder once said he wanted airfares so cheap that "everyone can afford to see the world", but Skuli Mogensen's dream of low cost, long-haul travel came crashing down yesterday as Iceland's Wow Air ceased operations.

The collapse left thousands of Irish flyers booked on its route from Dublin to Reykjavik, and onwards to the United States, in limbo. They've also been left stranded at airports from Detroit to Washington DC en route to Dublin.

Wow failed to secure fresh financial backing as it racked up losses. It has become another gravestone in a growing cemetery of bust airlines.

Passengers waiting to fly on Wednesday evening and yesterday morning with Wow were uncertain what will happen now.

Just a short while before it collapsed, it issued a statement saying it was in the "final stages" of raising funds from investors. Flights had merely been postponed, it told passengers, until "documentation with all parties involved has been finalised".

A short while later, it confirmed that the airline had actually ceased flying, with no new investment having materialised.

"We have run out of time and have unfortunately not been able to secure funding for the company," Mr Mogensen, Wow's chairman, told staff in a letter. "I will never be able to forgive myself for not taking action sooner."

Even hours before the collapse, Wow was sending emails to potential customers offering them flight deals.

The failed carrier has urged stranded passengers to check for flights with other airlines. "Some airlines may offer flights at a reduced rate - so-called rescue fares - in light of the circumstances," it told customers. "Information on those airlines will be published when it becomes available."

Icelandair - which had been in on-off talks with Wow about a possible rescue package for the smaller airline - said yesterday that it's now offering discounted economy fares to help affected Wow passengers get home.

The special fares are available to passengers who have already started their journey with Wow and who have a return flight booked between March 28 and April 11. It also applies to flights between Reykjavik and Dublin.

EasyJet is also offering rescue fares on routes from Reykjavik to London Luton and London Gatwick.
Sumatran tiger cubs play in their habitat at a zoo in Australia (Rick Stevens/Taronga Zoo Sydney via AP)

Three boisterous 10-week-old Sumatran tiger cubs have been exploring their jungle habitat in their first public appearance at a Sydney zoo.

Taronga Zoo manager Mandy Everett said the rare cubs were born on January 17 to first-time mother Kartika.

Expand Close The three Sumatran tiger cubs have made their first public appearance (Rick Stevens/Taronga Zoo Sydney via AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp The three Sumatran tiger cubs have made their first public appearance (Rick Stevens/Taronga Zoo Sydney via AP)

The female cubs were named Mawar, which means Rose in Indonesian, and Tengah Malam, which means Midnight. The males name is Pemanah, or Archer.

Ms Everett said Sumatran tigers are the most critically endangered tiger subspecies and are under increasing pressure as their jungle habitat shrinks.

She said the zoos cubs are likely to grow up to become part of breeding programmes in other zoos around the world.
Thousands of students have skipped school to take to the streets of the German capital as part of a growing worldwide youth movement urging governments to take faster action against climate change.

Carrying signs with slogans like I want snow for Christmas and The climate is changing, why arent we?, the demonstrators gathered in a park near Berlins main train station to march through the government district.

Police estimated the size of the crowd at more than 20,000.

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The young people who are standing here and demonstrating everywhere in Germany now can definitely make a difference, and also will be seen by the politicians, said 19-year-old Felix Osebold, a student from the city of Essen. It cant be that nothing is happening.

Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who inspired the protests in Germany and elsewhere by staging weekly school strikes, headlined the demonstration, joining others at the rally shouting: What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now!

Taking the stage later in front of the landmark Brandenburg Gate, the 16-year-old told the animated crowd: The older generations have failed tackling the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced.

When we say to them we are worried about the future of our civilisation, they just pat us on our heads and say everything will be fine, dont worry.

But we should worry  we should panic  and by panic I dont mean running around screaming; by panic I mean stepping out of our comfort zones because when youre in a crisis you change your behaviour.

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The crowd applauded wildly and chanted Greta, Greta as she wrapped up her short speech and left the stage. She later met scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, just outside the German capital.

The Berlin climate change rally was one of more than 20 being held around the country.

The weekly Fridays for Future protests have been largely welcomed by German politicians, although some have criticised students for protesting during school time.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has called the protests a very good initiative and said she welcomed them.

Greta started last year holding solitary demonstrations outside the Swedish parliament to urge quicker, stronger actions to fight climate change.

Inspired by her effort, the weekly protests snowballed from a handful of cities to hundreds, fuelled by dramatic headlines about the impact of climate change during the students lifetimes.
Donald Trump has threatened to close the nations Mexican border or large sections of it next week if Mexico does not halt illegal immigration at once.

The potentially drastic step would affect both nations economies. Questioned by reporters in Florida, the president said: We will close it for a long time. I am not kidding around.

He has previously threatened to close the border  including at a rally in Michigan on Thursday night  but this time was different as he gave a timetable.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether his possible action would apply to commercial and air travel, but a substantial closure could have an especially heavy impact on cross-border communities and both nations.

If Mexico doesnt immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week, Trump said in a tweet. This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and talk.'

A senior Homeland Security official suggested Mr Trump was referring to the ongoing surge of mostly Central American families crossing the border from Mexico, although many of those families request asylum under US law.

Those seeking asylum are not deemed illegal simply by their arrival.

The official said the US might close designated ports of entry to redeploy staff to help process parents and children.

Ports of entry are official crossing points that are used by residents and commercial vehicles.

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Democratic and Republican legislators have clashed over whether there is a crisis at the border, particularly amid Mr Trumps push for a border wall, which he claims will solve immigration problems.

The president called on Congress to immediately change what he said were weak US immigration laws, which he blamed on Democrats.

Arrests along the southern border have rocketed in recent months. Border agents are on track to make 100,000 arrests and denials of entry there this month, more than half of them families with children.

To manage the crush, US Customs and Border Protection is reassigning 750 border inspectors from their usual duties at the ports of entry to help Border Patrol keep pace with arrivals in between ports of entry.

The head of the agency held a press conference in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday to say the breaking point had arrived.
As Queen's University Belfast's first-ever information director and an honours history graduate of the university, I am saddened by the way in which my old alma mater seems to have boxed itself into a corner over the Liam Neeson affair.

Apparently, the university has withdrawn references to Neeson from its prospectus after his controversial remarks about seeking revenge on some unspecified black man after a close friend was raped.

At the time of writing, Queen's has studiously refused to make any comment; this is not the way to make friends and influence people. In fact, it will have the opposite effect.

Queen's is no stranger to controversy and, during my time at the helm of public relations there, we faced several huge PR challenges, including the dropping of the national anthem at graduation ceremonies and the long and bitter fair employment furore over the religious balance of the university's staff.

The situation was so absurd that, one day, an aspiring DUP politician smuggled a tape-recorder into a graduation ceremony and played a snatch of the national anthem, which Queen's had officially banned.

It was one of the most difficult times for any university information director in the UK, and my colleagues from many leading institutions in England, Scotland and Wales often told me so.

Public relations at a university is difficult at the best of times, partly because there are as many views on every subject as there are academics - many of whom are not known for their modesty in talking about topics outside their specialism.

There are some highly intelligent and street-wise professors who are formidable operators, but there are also some staff whose academic arrogance is matched only by their insecurity.

I was sometimes told strongly how to write Press releases by academics whom I would not have dared to challenge in their own specialisms.

Academics, in general, were keen to work with the media when they wanted publicity for their research grants and their pet subjects, but they were also quick to deflect, or ignore, awkward questions from journalists who were trying legitimately to find out what was going on behind the dreaming towers of academe. Sadly, too many academics still refuse to accept that they cannot have it both ways.

Another problem during my watch was the sometimes cumbersome management reporting structure, which made it difficult to form a swift consensus, under pressure, on a controversial subject.

Many of the academics - and some of the management - failed to understand the urgency of responding to an inquiring media and, in some cases, some of the staff felt that the best way to deal with an issue was simply not to make any public comment.

Their theory was that, if they refused to talk to the media, it would starve the story of the oxygen of publicity and that the problem would simply go away. How wrong they were.

During one controversy, my then-boss, the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Gordon Beveridge, a man of great charm and integrity, was advised by outside sources (and perhaps some insiders as well) not to make a long statement, in the hope that this would close down debate. In fact, the opposite happened.

It was only after a very tense meeting between Sir Gordon Beveridge and other senior staff, myself included, that the 'no comment' policy was reversed, and this allowed me to issue a Press statement, which lanced the boil. Within a few days, the controversy began to slowly fade away.

I have a certain sympathy for the present Press office at Queen's, partly because, sadly, their experienced communications director, Kevin Mulhern, recently died suddenly.

However, it has been a grave mistake to allow the university itself to become the main story, because of the way it has handled the Neeson affair.

Instead of stalling about whether or not to make a public comment, the university should have owned up to what it did, or did not do, and explained why. This would have allowed everyone to move on.

However, I have some sympathy for the relatively new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Greer, who is finding out the hard way that the people of Northern Ireland are strongly opinionated on most things and that the tenacious local media will not give up in the pursuit of the truth.

Liam Neeson is a local hero who has done much for his native province.

He is entitled to his views about taking revenge, though I believe that a professional of his experience could - and should - have made his point more carefully.

However, I also think that Queen's should have kept him in the prospectus and certainly there should be no move to strip him of his honorary degree.

Such a move would be a PR disaster for the university, which has been only too willing to use Neeson's fame as part of its marketing strategy.

One of the worries about Queen's attitude to Neeson is that it could be taken as further evidence of the current disturbing trend where many institutes of third-level education are trying to eliminate dissent from the campus and, de facto, eliminate free speech.

That is the last thing that should happen in a university, where all points of view should be tolerated and debated.

That said, Queen's has a perfect right not to include Neeson in its prospectus if it decides on such a policy.

However, it does not have a right to refuse to explain the thinking of an institution which is dependent on taxpayers' money, including yours and mine.

Hopefully, common sense will prevail in due course, but Queen's has shown in recent times a lack of a sure touch in its public relations outreach which Vice-Chancellor Greer should regard as one of his highest priorities in getting right.

No one as yet knows who made the decision not to include a reference to Neeson in the Queen's prospectus, but the buck ultimately stops with its President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Greer.

Queen's may yet make a statement explaining why it removed Neeson from its prospectus.

However, recent examples of several Queen's gaffes may indicate that the underlying problems with its approach to the media will linger on until someone learns to treat responsible newspaper and broadcast journalists with the professional respect they deserve.

Alf McCreary was information director at Queen's University Belfast from 1985 to 1998
Heres the latest dispatch from the crossroads of faith and media:

Best of Enemies hits theaters on April 5. Synopsis: Based on a true story, the movie centers on the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader who reluctantly co-chaired a community summit, battling over the desegregation of schools in Durham, North Carolina during the racially charged summer of 1971. During their weeks together, Ann and C.P form a bond that will last a lifetime as they realize that despite their many differences, they serve the same God and share the same dream for their families. The film stars Academy Award-nominee, Taraji P. Henson who portrays Ann Atwater, and Academy Award-winner, Sam Rockwell who plays C.P Ellis.

A contemporary retelling of Colin Thieles classic Australian tale Storm Boy opens in US theaters on April 5. Synopsis: Retired businessman Michael Kingley recounts to his granddaughter the story of how he grew up on an isolated Australian coastline with his father. Together, they rescued and raised an extraordinary orphaned pelican named Mr. Percival, an adventure that has a profound effect on their lives.



Tony Award-winner John Glover talks about playing Bishop Clemens von Galen in All Our Children, Stephen Unwins new play set against a forgotten chapter of the Holocaust: the persecution, sterilization and murder of hundreds of thousands of disabled people. Between 1939 and 1945, it is estimated that well over 200,000 people with a wide range of disabilities were dismissed as Lebensunwertes Leben (lives unworthy of life) and systematically killed in six converted psychiatric hospitals across Austria and Germany. Public opposition to the program was limited. The most striking intervention came from the Bishop of Munster, Clemens von Galen, who will be played by John Glover. The play, directed by Ethan McSweeney, will run from April 6 to May 12 at New York Citys Sheen Center.

Bulletin Board: April 11  An evening conversation with Mastermedia CEO Dan Rupple from 7-8:30 pm (NYC). Mastermedia has served as a voice of faith to top media leaders for over 30 years. Checkout the groups website here.

The Kingdom Studios/Lionsgate partnership deal is bearing fruit. Kingdom, founded late last year by producer Kevin Downes and the directing brothers Jon and Andrew Erwin (I Can Only Imagine, Woodlawn) has unveiled a slate of faith-based film projects it is developing for production. The projects will be distributed via Lionsgate.

Joining the previously announced first film (I Still Believe, scheduled for release on March 20, 2020) are Jesus Revolution (telling the true story of a national spiritual awakening in the early 1970s and its origins within a community of teenaged hippies in Southern California), Apostles: The Resurrection of Christ (reportedly intended to introduce a series of that will create a sort of cinematic universe based on The Bible) and The Drummer (a period musical being developed in association with the faith-based music group for King & Country).

God can restore what is broken and change it into something amazing. All you need is faith.  Joel 2:25
openDemocracy, 27 March 2019

by Claire Provost Mary Fitzgerald

US Christian right afundamentalistsa linked to the Trump administration and Steve Bannon are among a dozen American groups that have poured at least $50 million of adark moneya into Europe over the last decade, openDemocracy can reveal today.

Between them, these groups have backed aarmiesa of ultra-conservative lawyers and political activists, as well as afamily valuesa campaigns against LGBT rights, sex education and abortion a and a number appear to have increasing links with Europeas far right.

They are spending money on a scale anot previously imagineda , according to lawmakers and human rights advocates, who have called our findings ashockinga .

Among the biggest spenders is a group whose chief counsel is also Donald Trumpas personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow. Another organisation has collaborated with a controversial Rome-based ainstitutea backed by Steve Bannon.

None of these American groups discloses who its donors are a though at least two have links to famous conservative billionaires, such as the Koch brothers (who helped bankroll the Tea Party Movement) and the family of Trumpas education secretary.

Nobody should be in any doubt as to the insidious nature of these fundamentalist groups

Alyn Smith MEP

The increasing ties between some of these US Christian conservative groups and the European far right will be on display this weekend at a summit of the World Congress of Families (WCF): a network of American, Russian and other ultra-conservative activists.

Right-wing politicians and their supporters from across the continent are expected to attend the event in Verona, Italy a including the Italian deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, who has described the WCF as a showcase for athe Europe that we likea .

A cross-party group of more than 40 MEPs has called on the EUas transparency tsar Frans Timmermans to look into the influence of aUS Christian fundamentalistsa with the greatest urgencya ahead of Mayas European Parliament elections.

In a letter reacting to openDemocracyas findings, and copied to the presidents of the European Council, European Commission and European Parliament, the MEPs have demanded action to protect European democracy aagainst nefarious outside influencesa .

Scottish National Party MEP Alyn Smith, who sits on the European Parliamentas foreign affairs committee and signed the letter, today said: "This investigation by openDemocracy is extremely timely and shines a light on a major challenge facing democracy in Europe.a

Our findings aare highly alarming and nobody should be in any doubt as to the insidious nature of these fundamentalist groupsa , he continued. aNo group of any kind should be able to use dark money to distort debate and to subvert democracy in Europe, least of all group such as these whose causes are deeply regressivea .

aThe Europe we likea

In the first analysis of its kind, openDemocracy has examined a decade of US Christian organisationsa financial accounts and found that several of them appear to have significantly increased their spending in Europe over the past five years.

Our findings come as far-right parties aim for big wins in the upcoming European Parliament elections in May, and show how large amounts of foreign money have supported the spread of their atraditional valuesa messages.

openDemocracy has reviewed hundreds of pages of financial filings for a dozen religious conservative groups that are registered in the US as tax-exempt non-profit organisations, and thus are required to disclose some information about their foreign spending.

Some of these groups have been previously accused of supporting campaigns to criminalise homosexuality in Africa, adraconiana anti-abortion laws in Latin America and controversial projects to encourage gay people in the US to aleave homosexualitya .

But the extent of their European activity has a until now a received little scrutiny. Our investigation reveals that some of these groups have:

Sent teams of lobbyists to Brussels to influence EU officials

Challenged laws against discrimination and hate speech in European courts

Supported campaigns against LGBT rights in the Czech Republic and Romania

Funded a network of agrassrootsa anti-abortion campaigns in Italy and Spain

Deployed aambulance-chasinga evangelists after tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire, and in the wake of terrorist attacks

Five of the conservative groups have previously been listed as partners of the World Congress of Families (WCF) network, which is meeting in Verona this week.

Itas not just European politicians who are concerned about them: these groups are controversial in America too. The WCF itself has been described as an aanti-LGBT hate groupa by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors extremist movements and tracks this networkas increasing connections with the far right.

The SPLC explains that aviewing homosexuality as unbiblical or simply opposing same-sex marriagea is not enough to be categorised as a ahate groupa . Groups on this list go further a claiming that homosexuality is dangerous, linked to paedophilia and should be criminalised, disseminating adisparaging afactsa about LGBT people that are simply untruea .

This is, says SPLC, ano different to how white supremacists and nativist extremists propagate lies about black people and immigrants to make these communities seem like a danger to societya .

Joseph Grabowski, a WCF spokesperson, told openDemocracy: aWe dispute entirely the premise [of the ahate groupa designation]... Itas an unfortunate slight for the countless Americans and the people around the world who hold the same views as we do on marriage, the nature of family and the right to life, that are part of the fabric of Christianity and also other traditional points of view,a he said.

The WCF is a project of the International Organization for the Family and the Illinois-based Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, whose directors include an ultra-conservative Spanish activist linked to the leader of the far-right Vox party.

Other directors include a close associate of a Russian oligarch who sponsored a 2014 asecret meetinga in Vienna with key French and Austrian far-right leaders a and an Italian politician facing corruption charges in his country.

Over the last decade, the WCF has hosted at least seven major meetings in Europe, attended by hundreds of religious right activists and a growing list of far-right politicians. Its 2017 meeting in Budapest was opened by Hungarian prime minister Victor OrbAn.

Among the conveners of this weekas event in Verona is an Italian anti-abortion group linked to the neo-fascist Forza Nuova party, whose leader is also expected to attend the WCF.

A Forza Nuova demonstration, 2017

A Forza Nuova demonstration, 2017 | NurPhoto/SIPA USA/PA Images. All rights reserved.

Trump, the far right and the Christian alegal armya

Two of the Trump-linked American groups examined by openDemocracy are Christian right legal powerhouses: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the American Center for Law and Justice. Together, they have spent more than $20 million in Europe since 2008.

ADF supported a 2016 law in Belize making gay sex punishable with 10 years in jail

They donat disclose their funders, but US journalists have previously traced at least $1 million in grants to ADF from a foundation controlled by the billionaire family of Betsy DeVos, Trumpas education secretary, and Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater mercenary firm.

ADF was co-founded by Alan Sears, a US Christian right leader who co-authored a book against athe homosexual agendaa . It is increasingly active internationally, including in Latin America. It supported a 2016 law in Belize making gay sex punishable with 10 years in jail.

This group tripled its annual spending in Europe between 2012 and 2016, to more than $2.6 million a year. It now has offices in Belgium, France, Austria, Switzerland and the UK, and spends hundreds of thousands of euros lobbying EU officials, according to separate transparency data.

Among its European projects, the group has supported the defence of a notorious German activist who compared abortion to the Holocaust and accused specific doctors of murder.

This year, ADF International also co-hosted an event with the French group La Manif Pour Tous, which has been previously been linked to the far-right party Front National.

Ahead of the last European Parliament elections in 2014, La Manif Pour Tous launched a aEurope for Familya campaign which got 230 French candidates to sign a pledge opposing marriage equality, trans rights and sex education.

Speaking to openDemocracy, a spokesperson for ADF International said they are aexclusively privately funded by people from all over the world, who care about human rightsa and that its activities include aadvocating for freedom of speech in Europea .

Asked for more detail about who the group gives its money to, they said: aSince our advocacy involves court cases in countries where people are harassed, stigmatised, and even killed because of their religious convictions, it is our general policy not to disclose any recipients of funding in order to protect their personal safety and livelihoodsa .

French far-right leaders Marion MarAchal-Le Pen and Gilbert Collard at a demonstration of La Manif Pour Tous in 2016

French far-right leaders Marion MarAchal-Le Pen and Gilbert Collard at a demonstration of La Manif Pour Tous in 2016 | Blondet Eliot/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images. All rights reserved.

The second of the two Trump-linked groups, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), also operates through the courts. It was founded in 1990 by American televangelist Pat Robertson to oppose the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLJ has praised Putinas laws banning agay propagandaa

The groupas current chief counsel is Jay Sekulow, a conservative talk-show host who has been described as athe top lawyera on Donald Trumpas legal team in the Mueller inquiry.

For more than 20 years, this group has had an office in Strasbourg, France a home of the European Court of Human Rights a from where it has intervened in numerous cases on issues including same-sex marriage, abortion rights and artificial insemination.

The director of its Strasbourg outfit has also represented the Holy See at the Council of Europe, while its Moscow centre has praised Putinas laws banning agay propagandaa .

Trump, Franklin Graham and US-sanction Kremlin officials

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is another major spender. It is led by the famous US evangelical preacheras son, Franklin Graham, who said Satan is the architect of same-sex marriage and described Islam as an aevil and very wicked religiona .

Melania Trump, Donald Trump, and Franklin Graham at his father Billy Grahamas funeral

Melania Trump, Donald Trump, and Franklin Graham at his father Billy Grahamas funeral | Chip Somodevilla/DPA/PA Images. All rights reserved.

Franklin Graham, who has supported Trump as someone who adefends the faitha , was in Russia earlier this month meeting Kremlin officials who are under US sanctions, on a trip that he said was personally signed off by Vice President Michael Pence.

In 2018, his group organised festivals in England and Scotland amid protests from Muslim and LGBT rights groups. It also supports arapid response chaplainsa that target crises and have been accused in the US of achasing ambulancesa and aexploiting tragedya .

Its filings disclose more than $23 million spent in Europe through two different US entities between 2008 and 2014 a making it the largest spender in this region, of the American groups analysed by openDemocracy.

However, 2014 is the latest year for which we were able to find public documents for this group, which has offices in the UK, Germany, France and Spain, so the true extent of its influence in the region is not yet known.

Training Europeans, on the afront lines of the Culture Wara

A number of groups spending smaller amounts of money appear to have increased their activities in Europe in recent years.

The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, which combines a conservative Christian worldview with free-market economics, has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Koch family foundations

This group spent more than $1.7 million in Europe since 2008, with its spending in the region rising in recent years (from around $166,000 in 2008 to almost $240,000 in 2017).

In Italy, it has collaborated with the Dignitatis Humanae Institute a of which Steve Bannon is a trustee a that has locally controversial plans to use a monastery outside Rome as a agladiator school for culture warriorsa .

Also on the list is the US branch of the Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), an ultra-conservative transnational Catholic movement that says itas aon the front lines of the Culture War, peacefully defending the values of tradition, family and private ownershipa .

This group said it spent about $100,000 in Europe since 2010. Its filings donat detail where this money went but the TFP has been linked to a controversial athink tanka in Poland that has helped develop policy for far-right Law and Justice (PiS) politicians.

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property | baldeaglebluff/Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0. Some rights reserved.

A awake-up calla to prevent aforeign interferencea

Under US law, the groups analysed by openDemocracy are required to publicly disclose some information about their foreign spending, but not the names of their overseas recipients, details of what activities they fund a or the identities of their own funders.

The $50 million figure drawn from openDemocracyas analysis is also a likely underestimate of the resources that US conservatives have channelled into Europe in recent years.

Data for 2018 is not yet available; meanwhile there are some important loopholes. Religious organisations registered as churches, for example, donat need to file the same disclosures.

A number of other US Christian conservative groups appear to be spending money in Europe, but do not disclose this on their US filings a including the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, which has coordinated the WCF network.

The scale of this meddling by US extremists is shocking

Caroline Hickson, International Planned Parenthood Federation

Reacting to our findings, German Green MEP Terry Rintke, who sits on equality-related committees at the European Parliament, has said: aThis extreme extent of financial support flooding the EU is shocking a especially with the European elections ahead of us."

The SNP MEP Alyn Smith has said he and his fellow parliamentarians who signed todayas letter have called for the mobilisation of aEU institutions and member states in preventing malign actors such as those identified in the investigation from interfering in the European Parliament elections in May a and beyonda .

Caroline Hickson, regional director of the International Planned Parenthood Federationas European Network, said: aThe scale of this meddling by US extremists is shocking, but sadly no surprise to us. Every day European societies face concerted attacks by outside forces seeking to impose reproductive coerciona This is utterly at odds with the European values of democracy and human rights.a

aThis is dark money coming into Europe to threaten human rights, and were not doing anything about ita , warned Neil Datta, secretary of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, describing the amounts of money involved as astaggeringa .

aIt took the Christian right 30 years to get to where they are now in the White House,a he said. aWe knew a similar effort was happening in Europe, but this should be a wake-up call that this is happening even faster and on a grander scale than many experts could have ever imagined.a

Additional reporting by Peter Geoghegan
Veiled women, who live in the al-Hol camp that houses relatives of Islamic State militants, queue up to receive goods in northeastern Syria, March 28, 2019.

Indonesia says it is working to verify the nationalities of dozens of people believed to be members of Indonesian families that joined Islamic State but are sheltering at a camp in Syria after the extremist groups last bastion fell.

The process could take months because Indonesian officials first have to establish how many of these people, including women and children, are citizens before they can figure out what to do with them next, an official with the foreign ministry said.

We have to verify whether they really are Indonesian citizens or not, Arrmanatha Nasir, a ministry spokesman, told a news conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

He and other officials were responding to questions in the wake of news reports and online videos that surfaced this week, in which members of a group of about 50 people said to be Indonesians pleaded for the governments help in being repatriated.

According to the reports, the group was huddling at the Al-Hol camp for displaced people in northeastern Syria following the capture of the last Islamic State (IS) stronghold in the country by U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on March 23.

Arrmanatha said many Indonesians who travelled to Syria to join IS no longer had official documents such as passports and identification cards.

The verification could take more than three months and would involve the National Police and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), which would have to confirm and cross-check information with various parties including relatives of the displaced people, he said.

They will investigate whether they were involved with (IS) or not, whether they are Indonesian citizens or not. After that, we will decide what to do, Arrmanatha said.

Since January about 66,000 people had left Baghouz, the last IS bastion in Syria, including 5,000 combatants and 24,000 IS family members, according to a report by the Indonesian-language news website Tirto.id, which covered the story from the Al-Hol camp.

A video posted by Tirto.id showed a woman named Maryam Abdullah, who claimed to be from Bandung, West Java. She said she had come to Syria from Indonesia with her husband, Saifuddin, and their four children.

My husband is missing, there is no news, she said. Please help so we can go back to our home country, Indonesia.

Last month, Syrian Kurdish journalist Hisham Arafat posted a video on Twitter showing eight children believed to be Indonesians after they were evacuated from Baghouz.

The childrens father was still fighting with IS, while their mother was killed in an airstrike by American-led coalition forces, Arafat wrote in his Feb. 26 report.

No reliable information

Arrmanatha said the government had difficulty getting information about Indonesians in Syria but said most of them had left the Middle Eastern country in 2016.

The problem is that when they left Indonesia, they did not say they were going to Syria to join ISIS or stay there. So what we can do if there are Indonesian citizens abroad, we advise them to report themselves, he said, using another acronym for IS.

According to 2017 data from BNPT, at least 1,321 Indonesians had joined IS or tried to enlist with the terror group.

This figure included nearly 600 Indonesian citizens who went to Syria and Iraq. Of that number, 84 were killed, 482 were deported while trying to enter Syria, and 62 had returned from Syria. Another 63 were stopped at Indonesian airports while trying to travel to the Middle East.

In November 2018, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu told BenarNews that around 700 Indonesian citizens had joined IS in Syria and Iraq.

Dilemma

In recent weeks, as Islamic States so-called caliphate in the Middle East dwindled down to a tiny patch of Syrian territory, countries have debated what to do with their citizens who went to Syria and Iraq to fight for IS or live under areas controlled by it, but who now wanted to go home.

The United States and Britain are among those that have largely refused to reclaim their nationals who strayed into Islamic States orbit in Syria and Iraq.

Adhe Bhakti, a terrorism expert at the Center for the Study of Radicalization and De-radicalization (PAKAR), an Indonesian NGO, said his countrys government was facing a dilemma.

It wont look good for the government if these people are left stateless or in limbo, he told BenarNews.

Some Indonesians who joined IS had destroyed their travel documents and sold all their assets in their home country, but when things got tough in Syria and Iraq, they changed their minds and wanted to come back to Indonesia, he said.

From a security standpoint, these people went to Syria not to be tourists. They had an intention to fight and the level of violence was high, he said, emphasizing that Indonesian authorities should guard against the possibility that returnees could commit terrorist acts back on home soil.

Sidney Jones, who directs the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta, agreed, saying that anyone who had gone to the Middle East to join IS should be viewed as a potential security risk.

For humanitarian reasons, they are better off being sent home because their position is very difficult. They want to go home and the government should help its citizens, she told BenarNews.

But the government should set conditions before agreeing to repatriate these people, such as compelling them to express remorse for what they did and to pledge not to return to radicalism, she said.

There must be a special program for ex-combatants. A one-month program at the Ministry of Social Affairs is not enough because they have to be identified by agencies that can assist, or become their mentors, Jones said.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak shakes hands with his supporters as he arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, March 28, 2019.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will stand trial next week, Kuala Lumpurs High Court ruled Thursday, giving him a chance to formally defend himself against charges of massive corruption in the 1MDB financial scandal after a nearly two-month delay.

Najibs long-awaited trial was originally scheduled to begin last month. But appeals filed by his attorneys during pre-trail hearings over procedural issues led to two postponements, as they tried to shield him from a raft of allegations that he was involved in a multibillion-dollar theft of money from the state fund.

The High Court issued its decision a day after a seven-judge Federal Court panel ruled that the trial may proceed.

We will take it from there, High Court judge Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali said, as he set the trial to start at 2 p.m. April 3.

Najib, 65, was once considered Malaysias most politically powerful man, but allegations of corruption linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) contributed to the defeat of his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party in the general elections last year, analysts say. Najib, in his dual role as prime minister and finance minister, purportedly founded 1MDB in 2009 as a vehicle to spur economic growth.

The hearing scheduled for next Wednesday is related to 42 million ringgit (about U.S. $10.3 million) that was allegedly deposited into Najibs personal bank account by SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.



The amount is minuscule compared to the U.S. $4.5 billion that American prosecutors contend was diverted from the sovereign wealth fund into the bank accounts of Najib, his friends and his family, in what U.S. prosecutors had described as kleptocracy at its worst.

Najib faces charges of money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in the SRC case. He has pleaded not guilty to the accusations.

U.S. prosecutors alleged in a civil lawsuit that a breathtaking level of fraud occurred when 1MDB officials and their associates ultimately routed more than $730 million to the personal bank account of Malaysian Official 1, which BenarNews sources said was a veiled reference to Najib.

Jho Low

In November last year, in connection with the 1MDB affair, U.S. authorities unveiled criminal charges against Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho (also known as Jho Low) and former Goldman Sachs bankers Tim Leissner and Roger Ng.

Leissner has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to violating anti-corruption laws and conspiracy to launder money, and has also agreed to forfeit U.S. $43.7 million, officials said.

Ng was arrested in Malaysia, but Low remains at large.

The U.S. Department of Justice had alleged in its lawsuit that Low used some of the stolen money to buy a $1.29 million heart-shaped diamond and a $3.8 million diamond pendant he gave in 2014 to actress Miranda Kerr.

DOJ also claimed in a lawsuit that Low gave a $3.2 million Picasso painting to actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who played the lead role in "The Wolf of Wall Street, a movie that was allegedly financed using 1MDB funds.

On Thursday, Malaysian authorities announced that the government had spent a total of 14.2 million ringgit (about U.S. $3.5 million) on a superyacht that Low also allegedly acquired using stolen 1MDB funds.

The vessel Equanimity, which was originally valued at U.S. $250 million, failed to sell at auction last year after it was seized by the government. The yacht, which features a helicopter pad, a spa and room for 22 guests, is now docked at the northern island of Langkawi, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told the parliament.

The total cost spent is for the maintenance, repairs, fuel, legal fees, insurance costs and costs towards the sale process of the yacht, Lim said in his letter.

Low, whose whereabouts are unknown, has repeatedly maintained his innocence through statements released to the media by his lawyers. Prosecutors portray him as a central figure in the 1MDB theft, which has been widely seen as among the worlds biggest financial scandals.
New marketing guidelines issued in Sweden

by Victoria Hughes, 29 March 2019

The Swedish Gambling Association (SPER) and the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has released new moderate marketing and advertising codes in Sweden.

Swedish operators will have to adhere to the new nine-point code of conduct issued this week.

The code comes after a period of sustained pressure on operators regarding their advertising and marketing practices. Minister for Civil Affairs, Ardalan Shekarabi, has led that charge, repeatedly calling for stricter regulation of the way the gambling industry can advertise in Sweden.

Speaking at a meeting in February, Shekarabi had warned operators about reducing their marketing and issued a deadline of the end of March, before government would intervene.

Advertising guidelines in Sweden were previously open to interpretation, with operators bound only to advertise in moderation.

Both the SPER and the BOS had criticised the Swedish government over the lack of clarity towards the rules around gambling advertising. With the new code, the groups said their aim is that marketing shall not encourage excessive gambling among consumers.

However, the BOS have warned against an advertising ban being floated by the Swedish government. Speaking about that, Gustaf Hoffstedt, CEO of the BOS, said:

Why should licensed operators that pay Swedish gambling tax and comply with Swedish regulation continue to do so if their strongest advantage compared to the unlicensed operators  the possibility to advertise in national media  is taken away from them. Gustaf Hoffstedt, BOS CEO

The guidelines can be amended by both associations on an ongoing basis and will act as adjudicators in the face of any violations by their members. Violations can also be forwarded to the Swedish Advertising Ombudsman, the Swedish Consumer Agency and the Swedish Gambling Authority.

Public opinion is well behind at least a reduction in the amount of gambling adverts. A study by Kantar Sifo found that nine in ten Swedes believed there to be too many gambling adverts. Over three-quarters of those surveyed supported stricter regulation of gambling advertising.
For Immediate Release, March 29, 2019 Contact: Kieran Suckling, (520) 275-5960, ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org Environmental, Indigenous Activist Joins Center for Biological Diversity Board TUCSON, Ariz. Sarain Fox, an environmental and indigenous activist, filmmaker and member of the Anishinaabe Nation, has joined the board of directors of the Center for Biological Diversity. She is the host of Vicelands Rise series and co-host of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Networks Future History. She has joined indigenous environmental campaigns in Canada and the United States, including the battles against the Keystone XL and Bayou Bridge pipelines. Sarain is a fierce and fearless voice for protecting the lives and dignity of indigenous people, and were proud to have her on our board, said Kieran Suckling, the Centers executive director. Sarains leadership will be an important guiding force as we work to save wildlife and protect our land and water. If were going to truly have justice for all, we have to link arms and fight alongside those on the front lines of todays most pressing environmental crises. Fox grew up in an Anishinaabe community, studied in the United States, and currently lives on a farm outside Toronto, Ont. In Rise, she travels to indigenous communities across the Americas to tell the story of people protecting their homelands and rising up against colonization. Episodes have featured Oak Flat, Standing Rock, Hawaiian sovereignty, urban reservations, native hip hop and tribal water issues. As a dancer and choreographer, Fox performs around the world. Her recent work in Canada focuses on empowering indigenous youth through dance and performance. It is with great gratitude and humility that I join the Centers board. I fully support the work they have been in engaged in for well over two decades, Fox said. I believe that joining forces with organizations like Center, who are willing to use all the available tools, like science, indigenous knowledge and frontline activism as well as all the heart needed to fight the good fight, is the only way we can protect and ensure a future for all. I look forward to supporting the powerful work the Center will do in the future and hope to continue to build bridges between grassroots environmental movements and indigenous peoples worldwide. Che-Megwiitch. Thank you.
Partners With Top 10 Hospitals to Enable Virtual Medical Consultations

mfine, an AI powered, on-demand healthcare service which enables virtual medical consultations, is now live in Pune. mfine has partnered with ten of the citys leading hospitals which include Motherhood, Cloudnine, Oyster and Pearl, Shree Hospitals and Sancheti Hospital amongst others. mfine is an always-on health companion for consumers, enabling them to consult doctors, anytime and from anywhere. To increase accessibility for consumers in Pune, mfine plans to sign up 100 hospitals and more than 500 doctors in year 2019.

mfines mhealth solution enables users to consult with doctors, virtually and when they need. The consultation covers complete diagnoses and a valid digital prescription. Users can also securely store their health records and track various health parameters for themselves and for the entire family. Doctors are able to get structured inputs on the patient's history via chat, video, images, documents etc. On mfine, not only are users consulting for episodic illnesses like viral infections but also for chronic diseases such as diabetes and arthritis. Patients are also consulting for super specialities such as cardiology, orthopedics and fertility. The startup will soon launch additional services such as monitoring of vitals, collection of sample for lab tests and medicine delivery at home. Several digital tools are also in the pipeline to help users track chronic conditions, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and aid recovery - depending on user requirements.

At the core of mfine is its powerful AI-powered diagnosis engine which assists doctors and improves their efficiency & effectiveness dramatically. The AI system helps doctors to collect detailed information from the patients and suggest accurate diagnosis and treatment plans for doctors, enabling them to treat more patients efficiently and effectively. The machine learning algorithms embedded with deep medical protocols help doctors deliver high quality care consistently at large scale.

mfine follows a unique model of partnering with leading and trusted hospitals instead of aggregating individual doctors on its platform. Hospital partnerships enable mfine to make high quality care of trusted doctors available on a digital channel  for the first time in the country. For the hospitals, mfine is their new center on the cloud bringing in more patients and offering premium services, long-term care programs, super specialties without any upfront investments.

India has one doctor for every 1700 people, and if one considers only post-graduates, this ratio is pretty dismal at one doctor for every 5000 people. Spread of chronic and lifestyle diseases is growing at an alarming pace and much of it will end up in tertiary care if not managed and intervened at appropriate time. mfines vision is to enable easy access to quality primary and secondary care in India so that tertiary can be avoided. The company wants to encourage a prevention mindset among consumers and help them manage their health better.

mfine has clocked more than 100,000 consultations till date. More than 500 doctors and specialists from over 100 top hospitals in the country practice across 20 specialties on mfine. Collectively they have been able to expand their reach beyond the physical boundaries of the cities and have served over 800 towns and villages in India.
Upgraded detectors to resume Nobel Prize winning hunt for gravitational waves

UK astrophysicists, including a team from the University of Birmingham, are gearing up to resume the search for gravitational waves, the ripples in space time caused by some of the universes most spectacular events.

The National Science Foundation's LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) will resume operation on April 1, after receiving a series of upgrades to its lasers, mirrors, and other components at the twin detectors located in Washington and Louisiana.

Joining the search will be Virgo, the European-based gravitational-wave detector, located at the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) in Italy, which has almost doubled its sensitivity since its last run and is also starting up April 1.

LIGO first made history in 2015 by making the first direct detection of gravitational waves via its Advanced LIGO project. The ripples travelled to Earth from a pair of colliding black holes located 1.3 billion light-years away.

Since then, the LIGO-Virgo detector network has uncovered nine additional black hole mergers and one explosive smashup of two neutron stars. That event, dubbed GW170817, generated not just gravitational waves but light, which was observed by dozens of telescopes in space and on the ground.

The University of Birmingham has been involved in the Advanced LIGO project since its inception. Members of the Institute for Gravitational Wave Astronomy have developed and built components for the LIGO instruments, such as the high-performance sensors and control electronics for the suspension systems. Birmingham physicists have contributed to the commissioning of the instruments leading to the performance that has enabled these remarkable observations to date.

Birmingham's scientists have also developed the techniques essential to tease out the signatures of gravitational waves from the data and extensively contributed to the analysis of the data collected during the science runs that have led to the observation of these 11 binary systems. Birminghams researchers have pioneered the framework and analysis algorithms that are at the heart of the study of the physics of compact binary systems, their astrophysical evolution and tests of Einstein's theory with gravitational-wave observatories.

Professor Alberto Vecchio, Director of the Institute of Gravitational Wave Astronomy, University of Birmingham said: "The LIGO and Virgo instruments at this improved sensitivity will survey a volume of the universe about three times as large as the one that has been covered so far. We are going to observe many new cosmic collisions of black holes which will surely give us new information about the properties of these mysterious objects. But what I am really looking forward to is to be surprised: maybe well detect some completely unexpected sources."

Professor Andreas Freise, Deputy Director, Institute of Gravitational Wave Astronomy said: "The LIGO detectors are being improved step by step, following a carefully laid out plan. Most recently the addition of squeezed light and an increase in laser power have given a big push to the sensitivity of the detectors.

"It is now time again to switch LIGO and Virgo into observing mode. We pause improving the detectors for about one year and listen to gravitational wave signals from the universe instead. We expect to find many more black hole signals and have good chances of observing new and yet undiscovered types of cosmic events."

In this next run, LIGO will be able to see those events out to an average of 550 million light-years away, or more than 190 million light-years farther out than before.

ENDS

For further information please contact Beck Lockwood, Press Office, University of Birmingham, tel 0121 414 2772.

Notes to editor:
The application process for the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) is now officially open to African entrepreneurs from all sectors, age groups, and countries in Africa. The ANPI is a prize competition founded by the Jack Ma Foundation that will award US$10 million and recognise 100 African entrepreneurs over the next 10 years.

Jack Ma, Alibaba founder.

The prize aims to support and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs who are building a more sustainable and inclusive economy for the future. Every year, 10 finalists will be selected to compete in a finale pitch competition that will be broadcast across the continent. All 10 finalists will gain access to the Netpreneur community of African business leaders to leverage the communitys shared expertise, best practice and resources.Alibaba Group executive chairman Jack Ma created the prize after he made his first trip to Africa in July 2017 and was inspired by the energy and entrepreneurial potential of the young people he met.The prize is open to entrepreneurs from all industries, and he especially encouraged those running small businesses, those making a difference in their local communities and female entrepreneurs to apply.The Jack Ma Foundation has teamed up regional partners: Nailab (continental and Eastern Africa), 22 on Sloane (South Africa), Nine (West Africa), and Rise Up (North Africa) to promote the Prize in their respective regions. The partners will mobilize entrepreneurs across the continent through grassroots outreach.Graca Machel praised the Prizes inclusive approach and focus on female entrepreneurs: I especially encourage powerful women entrepreneurs to apply. It is up to you to be the heroes that will usher the continent into the next stage of development, growth and prosperity. Good luck to all applicants and I look forward to your contributions in taking Africa to higher heights.
#StartupStory sponsored by

#StartupStory: Meet new creative production co. Osu

Executive producer Simone Bosman recently founded creative production company, Osu, lending her son's name of Japanese origin which means to push, persevere or strive.

Simone Bosman She felt pushed to find the talent that was needed to produce integrated commercial content. We have film directors that direct both traditional TV ads and also digital content and we also have photographers. We work together when the project allows us to offer an integrated campaign, she explains.



Other services include setting up productions and facilitating post-production for TV commercials, digital content, films and photography.



Further to this, the company seeks to drive transformation and youth development, employing black directors and photographers in line with the percentage of the countrys demographics. Transformation for me in the production industry doesn't end with me being a black female nor my film directors and photographers being black. It needs to filter to the crew we also employ, she clarifies. My mandate is to always ensure that our call sheet is 60% to 80% black, mirroring the demographic make-up of our country and where there are none, I will always encourage my white crew to bring on board a young black, preferably female crew member that they are training.



She recently told



Here, Bosman explains the model in more detail and, having started the business just a few weeks after giving birth, goes on to say that shes particularly proud to be showing the industry, as a new mother, that women can build such institutions whilst breastfeeding



What sparked the idea to start a creative/commercials production company? What sparked the idea to start a creative/commercials production company? She felt pushed to find the talent that was needed to produce integrated commercial content. We have film directors that direct both traditional TV ads and also digital content and we also have photographers. We work together when the project allows us to offer an integrated campaign, she explains.Other services include setting up productions and facilitating post-production for TV commercials, digital content, films and photography.Further to this, the company seeks to drive transformation and youth development, employing black directors and photographers in line with the percentage of the countrys demographics. Transformation for me in the production industry doesn't end with me being a black female nor my film directors and photographers being black. It needs to filter to the crew we also employ, she clarifies. My mandate is to always ensure that our call sheet is 60% to 80% black, mirroring the demographic make-up of our country and where there are none, I will always encourage my white crew to bring on board a young black, preferably female crew member that they are training.She recently told iDidTht.com that this company is for the future creatives of South Africa. I want to create a home for them, an institution to grow their talents, a space to push themselves in the industry. Osu is a company that can and will provide people with more than just the opportunity to further their career, but with hope as well. I want to shape the company so that it can start shaping the industry positively.Here, Bosman explains the model in more detail and, having started the business just a few weeks after giving birth, goes on to say that shes particularly proud to be showing the industry, as a new mother, that women can build such institutions whilst breastfeeding

How did you come up with the name? How did you come up with the name?

I started my new company a few weeks after giving birth to my son. I didn't have much time to think of tricksy names that sounded like a fruit or an object and I also found myself thinking along the lines of building a legacy for my child but also for the future of this industry.

Describe the model. Describe the model.

Explain how youre driving transformation/youth development. Explain how youre driving transformation/youth development.

What barriers have you had to overcome to get the business to where it is today? What barriers have you had to overcome to get the business to where it is today?

What are you most proud of and why? What are you most proud of and why?

In light of International Womens Day earlier this month, why are you particularly proud of your company being 100% black female-owned? In light of International Womens Day earlier this month, why are you particularly proud of your company being 100% black female-owned?

Whats next? Your vision for the business? Whats next? Your vision for the business?

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

When I was a TV producer at ad agencies, my job was to find suitable suppliers to produce and execute certain creative concepts. With digital being on the rise back then, I saw the need for a different way of thinking and working and so I decided to leave my salary-driven life to starting a production company. This pushed me to find the talent that was needed to produce commercial content that is integrated.I remember my son smiled at me when I was registering the company online. His name in Japanese means to push/persevere/strive and so I decided to 'lend' his name  Osu.We have film directors that direct both traditional TV ads and also digital content and we also have photographers. We work together when the project allows us to offer an integrated campaign.Transformation for me in the production industry doesn't end with me being a black female nor my film directors and photographers being black. It needs to filter to the crew we also employ. My mandate is to always ensure that our call sheet is 60% to 80% black, mirroring the demographic make-up of our country and where there are none, I will always encourage my white crew to bring on board a young black, preferably female crew member that they are training.You need to build relationships and trust with your clients. This is key. In the short space of time that weve been running, we had to fast-track this relationship by taking on jobs that either had very little time or little money. In both instances, when you are a small shop, you need to prove to clients that you can deliver.Risk-taking is also another challenge, especially where cash flow is concerned. I had to learn very quickly to make friends with my bank account and manage my cash flow. Even with an accountant, you as the business owner need to develop a respectful relationship with your cash flow. If you don't, then you will burn yourself and this will affect your company in a big way.I am proud of our company and what we have achieved in such a short space of time. I am proud to see how much our talents have grown, the work theyve produced and the lives weve changed. We have opened doors to black talent who have been knocking to get into the industry. I am also glad to see more production companies doing the same. This shows that the production industry is furthering transformation in their own companies, training their new directors, etc.IEC Xse:Lion Lager:Lethabo:I am proud of being a businesswoman who is fulfilling my personal mandate to provide opportunities for other people. But I am most proud that I am showing the industry, as a new mother, that we can manage to build institutions whilst breastfeeding.Ooooh... a lady or rather a mother doesn't reveal her secrets so you will have to follow us to see what were up to next. Its super exciting.
It was non-stop inspiration at this year's Decorex Durban.

22,997 visitors streamed through the doors of the Durban Exhibition from 21 to 24 March, taking in 2019 trends showcased by Africa's leading decor, design and lifestyle exhibition."The 'Designing for Africa - feels like home' theme was so beautifully incorporated into every aspect of this year's Decorex Durban and visitors - which increased from last year - really responded to this unique take on modern trends," said Sian Cullingworth, Portfolio Director at Reed Exhibitions. "Continental leaders in decor products and design visionaries worked together to curate some of the most inspired features, with this year's show differentiator most certainly being the flavours of Africa reflected throughout."This year's African-style designs formed part of the extensive Decorex Durban features' programme.Welcoming visitors through the doors of this year's exhibition was the Entrance Feature by Kipekee Studio, showcasing handcrafted furnishings by a Durban-based family. Organic elements alongside other 2019 decor trends - Surface Tactility, Abstract Art and Gen-Z Yellow - were then revealed in the Decorex Urban Living Trend House with SHF under the curative eye of Decorex Creative Director, Anita Bloom.Turkish linens were a central feature at this year's Bedroom Project, styled by the Durban-based Cottonbox Bedroom and Accessories, while 'The Queen of Bedroom Success' - Jennifer Jones Interiors- impressed audiences with her unique style in the popular Decorex Designer Spotlight.A popular item on the features' line-up was The Playroom Children's Decor Project where Perfect Imperfect, New Harvest Furniture and Lou Harvey unveiled the latest in children's decor trends. And for those seeking some bathroom-style inspiration, Shower Haus, Cas Tiles and Real Natural Stone reflected how luxurious this space can be in the Bathroom Project.Highlighting the difference between everything from LED lighting to lanterns, the Lighting Project by Springlights gave audiences a dramatic visual of the impact lighting solutions will have in the home or office setting.Channelling global trends from London, Paris, New York and Durban were Rene Forbay Designs, Home Styling by Christi and Rainey Skyes in the Decorex International installation. Parisian fabrics, jewel tones, and geometric patterns showcased urban sophistication with African flair.Designers were then given free rein to create a contemporary room setting of their preference, with a touch of Africa, in the impactful feature - The Designer Project. Three Generations Designs, Larkhouse Interior Design, Zingela S Interiors, Kirsty Badenhorst Interiors, and Trestle South Africa formulated iconic scenes using upcycled and handmade furniture, natural tones and textures, as well as clever design techniques.Natural African veneers, high-gloss surfaces and classic-contemporary design were some of the trends evident at this year's Kitchen Design Project by the Studio Collection. Overseen by The Studio Collection, this year welcomed designs by local kitchen stylists, Expert Kitchens & Interiors, Southern Kitchens, RAM Cupboards, and Nkayishana Decor Trading.Audiences also got to witness high-end culinary action in a curated kitchen space by KitchenCo at the Gourmet Cooking Theatre which included flavours from the continent in the Cooking for African element. Bianca Harper of Valeo Whole Foods; Zainab and Faatimah Paruk, the Chilli Chocolate Chefs; Wayland Green and Theo Mannie of Granny Mouse Country House & Spa; Guy Gorrie, Executive Chef at uMhlanga's Royal Palm Hotel; Deena Naidoo, South Africa's first MasterChef SA; Gina Neilson of 9th Avenue Bistro; and South African dietitian, Danielle Roberts, all shared modern cooking tips and tricks.A bold addition to this year's features' programme was Inscape Education Group presents 2nd Skin. Showcasing the common thread between fashion and interior design, students from Inscape Education Group re-purposed construction materials into exquisite fashion pieces.Visitors were given a welcome insight into the tastes behind the Decorex SA team at the #WithlovefromDecorex feature. Each member selected their favourite locally-designed decor item from Ashley Furniture Homestore, all of which was artfully displayed at the show.Creatives were captivated by the latest addition to Decorex Durban - InStudio Trend Theatre by ABSA. Industry experts in business, design and finance shared ways to commercialise and expand business during this free-flow, CPD-accredited forum. Led by ABSA professionals who outlined financial trends, the forum welcomed trend forecaster and creative business consultant, Dave Nemeth; Interior design entrepreneur and owner of NT Design Box, Ntokozo Ntuli; design and creative industry professionals from Inscape Education Group; interior design visionary, Paige Waplington; Anita Bloom - Creative Director at Decorex SA; and former Springbok rugby player turned real estate entrepreneur, Butch James.Literary influences in decor, music, fashion, design, cooking, lifestyle and television featured at the first-ever Library by EFAM - an innovative installation featuring magazines, autobiographies and designer coffee table books for visitors to peruse at leisure.Decorex Durban was a veritable foodie haven, boasting a full menu of food and drink options served within some of the most stylish restaurants, bars and cafes. Decadence within the trending Mint tones was the Mint Treat Cafe while a range of new beverages - ice coffees, smoothies and nitro coffees - got visitors in the mood for decor at The Illy Experience.The Wine & Bubbly Bar furnished by Homewood was the perfect space to unwind amidst customised furnishings, while the Gin Garden featuring ISHK offered a range of handcrafted gin cocktails in an African-styled setting. The next 'big thing' - Rummery - proved a hit with audiences keen to taste some exotic concoctions.For the freshest and tastiest locally made meats, cheeses and ready-made meals, The Deli was the place to visit. Those seeking gourmet cuisine in an African-inspired restaurant found their cravings met at this year's Dine + Design Restaurant + Bar. Fudart strEATERY - a taste of Africa, continued the continent's influence as innovative chefs from Fudart featured exciting flavours from Morocco to Durban.The popularity of the 1-Day Pop-up Market in collaboration with TINGG saw it extend to the whole weekend as crowds enjoyed incredible food options, bespoke retail products and even live entertainment in this contemporary and funky feature.The Decorex inspiration continues at the upcoming Decorex Cape Town and Decorex Joburg exhibitions. Don't miss out on any of these - and more - exciting features!
The 11th annual Bookmark Awards, hosted at The Forum in Bryanston last night, 28 March 2019, culminated in 142 winners, all truly representative of the South African digital landscape, marking a true celebration of young, emerging talent in the digital industry.

Photographer: Mark Khoury

The work awarded at the Bookmarks this year, not only celebrates the winning work and leading talent in South Africa, it also becomes a showcase of the go-to case studies and inspiration for up-and-coming talent across the country, as the benchmark for digital excellence.  Jury President Jerry Mpufane

CAMPAIGN CATEGORY Category Entry Agency Brand Title Product Prize Content Strategy King James Group & 42 Digital Sanlam Conversations with Yourself Sanlam Financial Products Gold Content Strategy VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd American Swiss Jewellers Drop the Hint Engagement Rings Gold Content Strategy Ogilvy KFC Make a Meal of it. Streetwise 2 Gold Content Strategy Ogilvy Philips & The Nelson Mandela Foundation #ShaveToRemember Philips Gold Content Strategy King James Group Sanlam 2 Minute Shower Songs 2 Minute Shower Songs Silver Content Strategy King James Group Sanlam The 200 Year Old Sanlam Financial Services Silver Content Strategy Hellocomputer, FCB Africa Western Cape Government Raise your voice. Not your phone. Department of Education Silver Content Strategy ENGAGE et al, a member of the et al GROUP AVBOB The AVBOB Poetry Competition Silver Content Strategy King James Group Sanlam Lives of Grace Sanlam My Choice Funeral Plan Silver Digital Strategy VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd American Swiss Jewellers Drop the Hint Engagement Rings Silver Digital Strategy King James Group Sanlam The 200 Year Old Sanlam Financial Services Silver Digital Strategy TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg Joburg Ballet Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Bronze Digital Strategy King James Group & 42 Digital Sanlam Conversations with Yourself Sanlam Financial Products Bronze Digital Integrated Campaign King James Group Sanlam 2 Minute Shower Songs 2 Minute Shower Songs Silver Digital Integrated Campaign VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd American Swiss Jewellers Drop the Hint Engagement Rings Silver Digital Integrated Campaign TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg MTN Mic Drop MTN Brand Bronze Mobile Campaign Ogilvy Vodacom Shake Every Day Brand Silver Mobile Campaign Ogilvy Vodacom Super Proposal Facebook Canvas Network: Super 4G Coverage Bronze Integrated Mixed Media Campaign Ogilvy ABInBev #NoExcuse Carling Black Label Silver Integrated Mixed Media Campaign King James Group Sanlam Conversations with Yourself Sanlam Financial Products Silver Integrated Mixed Media Campaign VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Absolut Vodka, Pernod Ricard South Africa Absolut One Source Live Absolut Vodka Silver Integrated Mixed Media Campaign King James Group Sanlam 2 Minute Shower Songs 2 Minute Shower Songs Bronze Integrated Mixed Media Campaign Retroviral M-NET Outwit. Outplay. Outdoor M-NET Survivor Bronze Integrated Mixed Media Campaign King James Group Sanlam Sanlam 100 Years | Integrated Campaign Financial Services Bronze CHANNEL CATEGORY Online Video Series TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg Joburg Ballet Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Gold Online Video Showmax & Sketchbook Studios Showmax Tali's Wedding Diary Tali's Wedding Diary Silver Online Video Publicis Mercedes-Benz Hey Mercedes A-Class Silver Online Video Net#work BBDO Mercedes-Benz Return to Chapman's Peak S-Class Silver Online Video Ogilvy KFC Make a Meal of it. Streetwise 2 Silver Online Video Eclipse PR & King James Group NETFLIX MAN IN A VAN NETFLIX Silver Online Video King James Group Sanlam On Life and Planning Sanlam Financial Savings products Bronze Online Video King James Group Sanlam On Life and Surprises Sanlam Disability products Bronze Online Video Hellocomputer/FCB Africa South African Tourism Bheki The Mbhaco Maker South African Tourism Bronze Online Video TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg (Pty) Ltd Nissan Nissan Intelligent Mobility 6 second ads Nissan Intelligent Mobility Bronze Online Video Ogilvy ABInBev Raising Champions - Mother's Day Carling Black Label Bronze Online Video Ogilvy ABInBev Raising Champions - Father's Day Carling Black Label Bronze Online Video VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Absolut vodka Africa on Fire Vodka Bronze Online Video King James Group Sanlam Sanlam 100 Year | Online Video Campaign Bronze Social Paid Advertising King James Group AB InBev Not that Newlands Newlands Spring Brewery Gold Social Paid Advertising Hellocomputer, FCB Africa Netflorist #LoveEveryone Netflorist Online Delivery Silver Use of CRM, Loyalty Programs & Gamification Ogilvy Vodacom Shake Every Day Brand Gold Use of CRM, Loyalty Programs & Gamification Ogilvy Volkswagen #Marco #Polo Polo Gold Use of CRM, Loyalty Programs & Gamification Mobitainment, ARC South Africa, Asakhane MARS Africa Royco Rewards Royco Silver Organic Search Marketing Rogerwilco WesBank Dialling Down the Call Centre Silver Branded Content TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg Joburg Ballet Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Silver Branded Content Net#work BBDO Mercedes-Benz Return to Chapman's Peak S-Class Silver Branded Content King James Group Sanlam Lives of Grace Sanlam My Choice Funeral Plan Silver Branded Content King James Group Sanlam On Life and Bucket lists Sanlam Investments Bronze Branded Content King James Group Sanlam On Life and Longevity Sanlam Investments Bronze Branded Content King James Group Sanlam On Life and Planning Sanlam Investments Bronze Branded Content King James Group Sanlam On Life and Surprises Sanlam Investments Bronze Branded Content King James Group Sanlam Kwesta - Boomshakalaka 2 Minute Shower Songs Bronze Branded Content King James Group Sanlam The 200 Year Old Sanlam Financial Services Bronze Innovative use of Media VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd American Swiss Jewellers Drop the Hint Engagement Rings Silver Innovative use of Media TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg Tiger Brands The Most Annoying Banner Doom Silver Innovative use of Media BrandTruth & Sprout & Ad Dynamo (SnapChat) First National Bank, South Africa FNB App 6.0 Snap Lens FNB Silver Innovative use of Media Joe Public Connect South African Breweries Your Business In Lights Billboard SAB Entrepreneurship Bronze Paid Search Marketing The MediaShop Fishaways Food for thought... Fishaways Bronze Paid Search Marketing VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Nandos Nandos Ecommerce Shopping Ads Full Chicken, Burgers, Chicken Platters Bronze Native Advertising King James Group Sanlam The 200 Year Old Sanlam Financial Services Bronze Email, Direct & Inbound Marketing Gorilla SA Natural Products Survivor Tree- Email Bio-Strath Bronze Use of Programmatic Media VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd American Swiss Jewellers Drop the Hint Engagement Rings Bronze Channel Innovation VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd American Swiss Jewellers Drop the Hint Engagement Rings Bronze COMMUNITY CATEGORY Use of User-Generated Content VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Nandos #GetItTogether Full chicken and 4 sides Silver Social Media Campaigns TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg Joburg Ballet Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Silver Social Media Campaigns VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Nandos #GetItTogether Full chicken and 4 sides Silver Social Media Campaigns Ogilvy KFC KFC Black Fried-Day KFC Silver Social Media Campaigns Showmax & Sketchbook Studios Showmax Tali's Wedding Diary Tali's Wedding Diary Bronze Social Media Campaigns Showmax Showmax The Comedy Central Roast Of Somizi The Comedy Central Roast Of Somizi Bronze Social Media Campaigns Publicis Mercedes-Benz Hey, Mercedes A-Class Bronze Social Media Campaigns Ogilvy Volkswagen #Marco #Polo Polo Bronze Social Media Campaigns Ogilvy Castle Lite #HoldMyBeer Castle Lite Bronze Influencer Marketing Ogilvy MultiChoice Watch It Your Way DStv Premium Silver Influencer Marketing VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Absolut Vodka, Pernod Ricard South Africa Absolut One Source Live Absolut Vodka Silver Influencer Marketing Ogilvy Nimue #NoMakeUpBride Nimue Bronze Influencer Marketing Publicis Machine Martell Cognac Martell VSSD Influencer Packs Influencer Packs Bronze Social Communities Publicis Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz Social Platforms Bronze Social Communities Retroviral RocoMamas Smashing Social Bronze Use of User-Generated Content Publicis Mercedes-Benz Hey Mercedes A-Class Bronze CRAFT CATEGORY Craft - Software, Coding & Tech. Innovation VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Nandos Nandos App iOS and Android App Craft Gold Craft - Software, Coding & Tech. Innovation Publicis Machine Stones Stones BOT Bottle Operated Table Craft Silver Craft - Online Video Production King James Group Sanlam Conversations with Yourself Sanlam Craft Gold Craft - Online Video Production VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Absolut vodka Africa on Fire Vodka Craft Gold Craft - Online Video Production TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg Joburg Ballet Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Craft Silver Craft - Online Video Production King James Group Siemens Fabric Craft Bronze Craft - Online Video Production Net#work BBDO Mercedes-Benz Return to Chapman's Peak S-Class Craft Bronze Craft - News or Feature Writing 24.com a Division of Media24 News24 News24 Land of Thirst Land of Thirst: a 360 degree video experience by News24 Craft Silver Craft - News or Feature Writing 24.com a Division of Media24 Netwerk24 The Steinhoff scandal Netwerk24 Craft Silver Craft - Interface Design Hellocomputer, FCB Africa Absa - L'Atelier L'Atelier 2018 L'Atelier art competition Craft Silver Craft - Strategy TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg Joburg Ballet Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Craft Silver Craft - Strategy King James Group Sanlam Conversations with Yourself Sanlam Financial Products Craft Silver Craft - Strategy VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Cipla South Africa Bronki Boosters Asthma Inhaler Casings, Comic Book, Animated Series, Instructional Videos. Craft Silver Craft - Strategy Hellocomputer/FCB Africa Unilever Sunlight Since Since Sunlight Laundry Bar Craft Bronze Craft - UX Hellocomputer, FCB Africa Absa - L'Atelier L'Atelier 2018 L'Atelier art competition Craft Silver Craft - Social Media Community Management VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd Nandos Bazothi Azishe Craft Silver Craft - Social Media Community Management Retroviral RocoMamas Smashing Social Craft Bronze craft - Interactive Design Publicis Machine Stones Stones BOT Bottle Operated Table Craft Silver Craft - Marketing Copywriting Showmax Showmax Tali's Wedding Diary Tali's Wedding Diary Craft Bronze Craft - Marketing Copywriting Hellocomputer/FCB Africa South African Tourism Bheki The Mbhaco Maker South African Tourism Craft Bronze Craft - Digital Media VML South Africa (Pty) Ltd American Swiss Jewellers Drop the Hint Engagement Rings Craft Bronze EMERGING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES CATEGORY Customer Experience Design Accenture Nedbank Nedbank Smart Geyser Gold Customer Experience Design Hellocomputer, FCB Africa Absa - L'Atelier L'Atelier 2018 L'Atelier art competition Bronze Internet of Things Accenture Nedbank Nedbank Smart Geyser Gold Bots, Messaging & Dark Social King James Group Sanlam Lives of Grace Sanlam My Choice Funeral Plan Bronze Interactive Mixed Media King James Group Sanlam 2 Minute Shower Songs Press Springbok Nude Girls 2 Minute Shower Songs Bronze Interactive Mixed Media King James Group Sanlam 2 Minute Shower Songs Press Mi Casa 2 Minute Shower Songs Bronze Interactive Mixed Media King James Group Sanlam 2 Minute Shower Songs Press Kwesta 2 Minute Shower Songs Bronze Interactive Mixed Media Retroviral M-NET Outwit. Outplay. Outdoor M-NET Survivor Bronze Interactive Mixed Media Associated Media Publishing Ready To Shop Ready To Shop Ready To Shop Bronze PLATFORMS CATEGORY Brand, Commercial & Retail Websites King James Group Sanlam Conversations with Yourself Sanlam Financial Products Gold Brand, Commercial & Retail Websites Arc Interactive Cell C Girl Cell C Girl Website Silver Brand, Commercial & Retail Websites Hellocomputer, FCB Africa Absa - L'Atelier L'Atelier 2018 L'Atelier art competition Silver Microsites Hellocomputer, FCB Africa Absa - L'Atelier L'Atelier 2018 L'Atelier art competition Silver Microsites King James Group Sanlam Shop for Good Blue Ladder Schools Bronze Microsites King James Group Sanlam Sanlam 100 Year | Microsite Financial services Bronze Public Service & NPO platforms Arc Interactive HIVSA Choma Website Silver Mobile Apps Arc Interactive Dis-Chem Dis-Chem Mobile App Silver Mobile Sites Mobi Media Vodacom Soccer SA's Best Football Platform Silver Brand, Commercial & Retail Websites TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg Tiger Brands Make Them Stop Doom Bronze Public Service & NPO platforms Hellocomputer, FCB Africa Western Cape Government Raise your voice. Not your phone. Department of Education Bronze Platform Innovation Mobi Media Vodacom Soccer SA's Best Football Platform Bronze Platform Innovation Mobitainment, ARC South Africa, Asakhane MARS Africa Royco Rewards Royco Bronze PUBLISHING CATEGORY Online News Video Tiso Blackstar Group (Pty) Ltd TimesLIVE Mapping the murder of Hannah Cornelius MultimediaLIVE Gold Podcasts & Audio Streaming Primedia Broadcasting Eyewitness News Poisonous Bullets News Gold Online News Video 24.com a Division of Media24 News24 News24 video: Breaking news. First  and in video News24 video Silver Online News Video Primedia Broadcasting Eyewitness News The Zimbabwe Elections News Silver Online News Video SABC SABC News SABC News YouTube channel Online news videos Silver Live Event Coverage 24.com a Division of Media24 News24 #ANCVotes Live Event Coverage Silver News Innovation 24.com a Division of Media24 News24 News24 Land of Thirst Land of Thirst: a 360 degree video experience by News24 Silver Publisher Sites 24.com a Division of Media24 Business Insider South Africa Business Insider South Africa Business Insider South Africa Bronze Electronic Newsletters 24.com a Division of Media24 Business Insider South Africa Business Insider South Africa Business Insider South Africa Bronze SPECIAL HONOURS CATEGORY Best Digital Student Raphael Janan Kuppasamy and Jenny Groenewald VEGA Black Pixel Best Digital Youngster Leon Mwandiringa Clockwork Black Pixel Best Marketer Holly Meadows Editor in Chief, Cosmopolitan Black Pixel Best CTO Clinton Bosch Afrozaar Black Pixel Best Contribution to Transformation in the Digital Industry Digify Africa Digify Africa Black Pixel Pixel for Purpose Road Accident Fund #Always Remember Mortimer Harvey Black Pixel Best Online Journalist Pauli van Wyk The Daily Maverick Black Pixel Best Individual Contribution to Digital Carmen Murray Boo-Yah! Black Pixel Best Agency King James Group Black Pixel Best Publisher 24 a Division of Media24 Black Pixel Best Brand Sanlam Black Pixel

This year, the Awards encompassed a record-breaking 76 categories, with over 750 entries. The Bookmarks 68 judges assessed the entries based on stringent, results-based criteria.The King James Group dominated, winning a total of 32 awards, most notably Best Agency and Best Brand for client Sanlam.Leon Mwandiringa of Clockwork Media walked away with the award for Best Digital Youngster, while Raphael Janan Kuppasamy and Jenny Groenewald from the Vega School were honoured as the best digital students.Transformation was high on the agenda at the Awards, with Digify Africa being celebrated for the Best Contribution to Transformation in the Digital Industry. Digital education was also emphasised in the award for Best Individual Contribution to Digital being awarded to Carmen Murray, founder of Boo-Yah.Creativity with a social conscience was a strong theme with Mortimer Harvey and the Road Accident Fund awarded the Pixel for Purpose Award for its #AlwaysRemember campaign and Pauli van Wyk from the Daily Maverick winning the award for Best Online Journalist."South Africas fresh talent and most memorable campaigns were recognised, illustrating how far the digital industry has come and continues to set the benchmark and light the path for future innovation. This is why we celebrate digital excellence, explains Paula Hulley, IAB SA CEO.
Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster, is expanding its activities in Ethiopia. This week, DW director general Peter Limbourg signed several agreements with partners Ahadu TV and Radio, Ethio FM and Afro FM, during his visit to Ethiopia.

Addis Abba, Ethiopia. Image source: Gallo/Getty.

For decades, DW's Amharic radio programs were broadcast only via shortwave and the signal was systematically obstructed by the government through jamming. These days, popular DW offerings can be listened to via VHF on Ahadu Radio and Ethio FM.DW and its Ethiopian partners also agreed on Facebook partnerships and TV transmissions. "It makes us proud to experience the high status that Deutsche Welle enjoys here," Limbourg said. "We want to contribute to the transformation process with serious and balanced reporting."Since the new government issued the necessary accreditations, DW has been able to expand its network of local correspondents putting it in a position to report continuously on the regions affected by ethnic conflicts.The agreements also include qualification measures organised by DW Academie. The aim is to build journalistic capacities and to impart professional standards. New partner broadcasters, as well as government agencies, showed interest in the Academie's portfolio.The DW delegation met with representatives of political parties, civil society and the private sector. At a meeting hosted by German Ambassador Brita Wagener, the representatives expressed their concern about the "state of limbo of the reform process," misinformation and impunity. Yetnebersh Nigussie, a lawyer and human rights activist who won the Alternative Nobel Prize, said it was time for the government of Abiy Ahmed to implement the rule of law.
This job expired on 28 May 2019.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus holds a press conference on Friday, March 29, 2019 about the incident in which a suspect was shot and killed following a high speed pursuit from San Antonio to Seguin that began about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 28, 2019.
You may be trying to Coming up with an awesome domain name but it can be one of the most frustrating and time-consuming tasks when first setting up your blog.





Looking back, I have spent so much time and wasted finding good website names that I couldve spent on content writing.





This Guideline for selecting attractive Domain Name will help you to save your valuable time. You will get valuable tips on Choosing a Good Domain Name.





We use Domain names for addressing blogs and websites. A domain name is a very important aspect to make a blog or website popular. Your blog name is incredibly essential at the beginning stage to start blogging with a suitable name.









People identify a blog by the domain name. So if you can choose an attractive and appropriate domain name then your blog will able to make a positive impression among visitors. As well as your blog visitors can remember your site name easily.





If we see the most popular 3 blogging platform:

Both are providing the free domain name, but those are hosted domain names. They tag their name after your domain name like below:

bloggerspice.blogspot.com

bloggerspice.wordpress.com

bloggerspice.weebly.com





Many bloggers, after creating their blog, do not like those tag word Blogspot or WordPress after the end of their domain name. Instead of a hosted domain name, everyone wants to personalize and brand their blog with the domain name only. Example:

bloggerspice.com or .net etc.

Here .com and .net called domain suffix.





You will see there are billions of blogs in the online world but visitors are unable to remember the blog name. Even you cant remember more than ten domain name and their spelling correctly.





This is happening when your blog name is not easy to remember, or not similar to your niche , or used unfamiliar words in the blog name.





So before selecting a blog name you have to consider those things.





10 Tips for choosing the Perfect Domain Name

There are some domain name selection tips that can help you to choose the right domain name for your next blog.

The domain name should be short Use familiar words in Domain name Select domain name according to your niche Choose a domain name which is memorable A domain name should easy to pronounce Avoid numbers and hyphens and easy to spell Not too similar to competing for domain names Not a violation of someone elses trademark Use an appropriate domain name extension. A domain name for targeting your area

1. Domain Name Should be Short

Why you should select a short domain name?





The positive side of choosing a short name is easy to remember and it can make a good impression in visitors' minds.





Among billions of blogs, there are many options for visitors. Blog readers would love to visit those blogs whose domain name is short and simple.





Lets have a look at a travel blogs domain name:

Travel.com

This domain name is very short and simple. And travel blog visitors easily understand what the site is about.





Even they have used .com suffix instead of .travel but still easy to understand and remember.





Conversely using a long domain name hard to remember for visitors and they may forget your domain name if they dont bookmark your site.





2. Use Familiar Words in Domain Name

This is very important to select a familiar word in the domain name.





Some people use unfamiliar words in the domain which is not pronounceable by visitors. As a result, there are fewer possibilities to get returning visitors.





In the case of familiar words, still, you can use a long domain name, because you are using familiar words so, visitors can easily remember.





For example:

SmartPassiveIncome.com

This is a long domain name but easy to remember. But you wont find a good domain name vacant.

3. Select Domain Name According to Your Niche

There are many domain names, which are not related to their blog niche.





I can give you an example of my friends blog site. His blog name is

Tripsoft.com

Where in the first impression visitors may think this is a software-related site. But this site is providing blogging tips and tech-related articles, which is not matching to his niche.





So if your blog is tech-related then choose a tech basis name and if blog related then you should select a blog base name.





For example:

omniviewtech.ca

Omni view tech this is a tech product related website which has perfectly match their niche.





4. Choose Domain Name Which is Easy to Memorize

There are millions of domain names from the same niches. So to compete with your competitor you must you should select a catchy and memorable domain name.





Once you come up with an easily memorable domain name then there are many possibilities to get returning visitors directly.





If you select a blog name which tough to memorize then a few people will able to make a search query by your domain name. Even your blog containing much good content but first-time visitors may unable to remember your blog name to revisit your site.





5. Domain Name Should Easy to Pronounce

In the case of selecting a domain name, you must conscious of pronunciation.





Some bloggers select domain names by their local language which is not easy to understand by foreign people and they can't pronounce the name. As a result, visitors from other counties may forget your domain name.





So you should not select a domain name that cant be pronounceable by others.





6. Avoid Numbers and Hyphens and Easy to Spell

Spelling is another biggest factor in choosing the right domain name. For spelling mistakes instead of visiting your website, visitors may land on another website.





This is happening to those domains that contain numbers and hyphens in the domain names. So you should avoid using numbers and hyphens that makes domain name complicated.





Suppose my domain name is

This-blog4u.com

Then nobody can remember the spelling, even though used simple words but hard to remember for numbers and hyphens on the domain name.





So keep this in your mind never ever use the complex things in your domain name.





7. Not too similar to competing for domain names

Many bloggers register similar blog names because they found that the blog is very popular. But ultimately they will lose visitors.





In 2018, I have found a blog name similar to my domain name. And sharing tech, blogging tips, PC tips, android, and so on.

bloggerspices.com

But after running a few months this blog has been shutdown. Probably that clone domain name wasnt able to attract visitors. And for following broad niche this site unable to pull visitors.





So we should avoid registering a similar domain name.





Lets have a look similar blog name example:

bloggerspice.com

bloggerspices.com

bloggerspice4u.com

Though the spelling is different pronunciation is almost similar. For this reason, visitors easily become confused and skip that blog.





8. Not a Violation of Someone elses Trademark

Trademark is a very sensitive factor in the case of domain selection. If your domain is similar to a popular domain then you may get a penalty. So don't violate someone's copyright













Generally, people violate this kind of name by adding an extra character within the existing one. Such as-

Original domain name - starmovie.com

Violating domain name - starmovies.com

This is happening in the case of a national or international biggest domain sites. Using this type of trademarked and copyrighted domain name could result in huge legal action, even your domain may get banned or take away by the domain registrar.





9. Use an appropriate domain name extension.

A domain suffix refers to the last part of your domain name.





For example,





The .com domain suffix was preferred and this suffix most commonly used and it gives a more influential impression than less widely used domain suffixes.





The .net domain suffix is likely second in popularity and derived from Internet infrastructure sites.





The .org,, .gov, and .edu suffixes are also popular domains, where .org is commonly used for non-profit organizations;





.gov domain suffix only suitable for government office; and .edu domain suffix widely used for educational facilities, universities, or programs.





You must use an appropriate suffix, thus users can easily understand your domain. Here are some facts about commonly used domain suffix:





.com: Most popular for a commercial company, and community.

Most popular for a commercial company, and community. .org: commonly used for non-profit and non-commercial organizations

commonly used for non-profit and non-commercial organizations .co : a short form for the company, commerce, and community.

a short form for the company, commerce, and community. .info : This is suitable for informational sites.

This is suitable for informational sites. .net : technical, Internet infrastructure sites.

technical, Internet infrastructure sites. .biz : business or commercial use, like e-commerce sites.

business or commercial use, like e-commerce sites. .photography: for a photography site, mostly used by photographer

for a photography site, mostly used by photographer .me : blogs, resumes, or personal sites.





There are also other suffixes:

.aero

.asia

.coop

.eu

.travel

.pro

.mob

.tv

.cat

.jobs

.tel

.nyc

.guru

And more recently .xxx etc.





10. Domain name for targeting your area

If you are planning to target an audience from a specific geographical location or any local area then you should choose a domain name that targets a specific area.





For targeting a geographic location or specific country domain suffix can be used like below:

.au : This suffix used for Australia.

This suffix used for Australia. .us : This suffix used for the United State of America.

This suffix used for the United State of America. .bd : This suffix used for Bangladesh.

This suffix used for Bangladesh. .in : This suffix used for India.

This suffix used for India. .br : This suffix used for Brazil.

Local business owner , consider including city or state in their domain name to make it easy for local customers to find and remember. Example:

NewYorkHomeAppliance.com

But not you can use a more isolated way to address your local business. You can use domain suffix like

.boston

.vegas

These domain suffixes are likely to find a local business.

Pro Tricks to Search and Find A New Domain Name

There are some different ways you can use to search and find your desire domain name. These pro tricks can solve your problem easily.





But first of all, you have to go through the domain name provider site where you can purchase a domain for checking which domain name is available.





Your desired domain name may not available or already purchased by other people.





I am giving you a few tips that how you can pick the perfect domain name even it has already sold.





Suppose you want to start a blog with blogging tips and tutorial related topics, and then follow the simple method from below:

Blogger + Familiar word

Familiar word + Blog

Familiar word + Tech

Example: www.bloggerspice.com





If your desire name has already booked then add an extra word at the beginning or end of your domain name.





Word + Blogger + Familiar word

Familiar word + Blog + Word

Familiar word + Tech + Word





Example: www.BloggerMoney.com





You can also buy a domain similar to a popular domain name but by using a different domain suffixes.





Suppose www.DomainName.com here .com has booked so keep the same name and go for-

www.DomainName.net

www.DomainName.org

www.DomainName.info

Besides this, you can obtain a popular domain by adding a national suffix.





For example in the case of Bangladesh domain suffix would be .bd and it will look like the below address:

www.DomainName.com.bd

So if you want to buy a domain with a geographical suffix then your domain name will come with a geo suffix. Similarly, for the American suffix, it would be like below:

www.bloggerspice.com.us

Here .us indicates that this is an American domain.





Same as Pakistani domain suffix .pk





Indian domain suffix .in etc.





Besides this, you can obtain the same blog name by adding hyphens ( - ) between blog names, but this is not recommended.





A Pakistan based popular blogs domain name is mybloggertricks.com and an Indian blogger already clone that domain by using hyphens-

myblogger-tricks.com.

So I hope you will now able to choose your preferred domain name. And remember that the minimum 4 characters you can use in the domain name.





If you have some unique domain name ideas then try to keep it short that can be easily recalled.





From my point of view,





Choosing a unique domain name is better than copying or cloning others' domain names because a unique domain grows quickly. And the original domain name always gets priority in search engines and visitors.

Wrap it up

This elaborate guideline definitely helps you to choose your desire domain name.





Generally, Domain names sell quickly, so as soon as you get the domain name idea, register it with a domain name provider.





If you dont get your desire domain name then most of the domain name provider will suggest alternate names during your domain search.









In addition, suggest a similar domain name with different domain suffix to help you find the perfect domain name.
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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on March 29, 2019

2019/03/29

Q: According to media reports, on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019, China and Luxembourg signed an MOU on the Belt and Road Initiative cooperation. Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg said in a statement that the signing of this accord is a new step in developing China-Luxembourg relations and in bilateral cooperation at the economic, commercial, academic and cultural level. I wonder what is your comment on that? We also noticed that during President Xi's visit to Italy, the two sides signed a document on BRI cooperation, too. Can we say BRI cooperation is flourishing? Does it mean China-Europe cooperation is deepening with more substance?

A: China and Luxembourg share sound and stable bilateral relations. The signing of the MOU by the two countries on BRI cooperation marks a new phase for our friendly cooperation. China will work with Luxembourg for deeper practical cooperation in various fields, greater connectivity and fresh progress under the BRI framework to deliver more benefits to the two peoples.

During the recent successful European visit, President Xi and the European leaders reached important consensus and achieved fruitful outcomes during their constructive discussions on BRI cooperation. A MOU was signed by China and Italy. Monaco expressed readiness to participate in BRI cooperation. China and France signed agreements on the third round of BRI-related demonstration projects in third markets and launched a third market fund. German and EU leaders also expressed readiness to find more complementarities and foster innovative cooperation between the EU's Euro-Asian connectivity strategy and the BRI.

The BRI has seen warm reception and active participation since it was first proposed. It is now joined by more than 150 countries and international organizations including over 20 European countries. Europe's recent remarks and measures show that an increasing number of European countries have realized the significance of the BRI and the major opportunities it brings.

The second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held next month in Beijing with orderly preparations underway. During the second BRF, we look forward to taking stock of cooperation experience and drawing up a blueprint for the future, to embrace more substantive, results-oriented BRI cooperation, inject greater impetus into global growth and open broader vistas for world economic ties.

Q: Can you tell us how many leaders are coming to the Belt and Road summit? Is that more than the last summit? Which leaders are coming? I'm aware that some countries have already announced it, such as Russia, Pakistan and the Philippines. Also there continues to be a lot of concern in Western countries about the Belt and Road projects, specifically in the United States, the Acting US Ambassador to the UN just two weeks ago, during a debate about Afghanistan basically, called the Belt and Road corrupt. How do you respond to those criticisms from the United States?

A: Like I just said, the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing in late April. It is the most important diplomatic event China will host this year and is bound to be another gathering catching international attention. At present, preparation is moving forward in an orderly fashion. We hope and believe that the 2nd BRF will be a full success, setting another milestone in the BRI cooperation.

As to how many leaders will attend, we will release relevant information in due course.

You mentioned the accusations and criticism made by the US representative at the UN Security Council during the voting on a certain resolution, I want to say that Deputy Permanent Representative Ambassador Wu Haitao already rebutted these false and groundless accusations in his explanatory remarks after the voting. You can find his remarks on the website of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN.

As a response to the US slandering and blame regarding the BRI, I just want to cite one sentence from what I said yesterday. The US should not overestimate the effectiveness of their rumor-mongering or underestimate other people's ability to make informed judgments.

Q: Two follow-ups on the Belt and Road. I know Ambassador Cui Tiankai, in his new year's address said that the US was welcome to attend the nest Belt and Road summit. Have you issued a formal invite to the US to attend? Have the Americans told you who will attend? Second question is about Kuwait. The Kuwaiti government is spending a lot of money on a new project, they called the Silk City project. As a lot of Chinese investment going into that, does China consider this Silk City project part of the Belt and Road? More broadly, how does China consider the role of the Middle East, specifically the Gulf region in China's Belt and Road? Why is China investing so much money into Kuwait and some other projects in the Gulf region?

A: That's quite a few questions. Let me try to take them one by one.

First, on the US. In fact, China and the US have been in communication with each other on the BRI despite the US side's misunderstanding, criticism and slandering against the initiative. As for the US participation in the 2nd BRF, the answer will reveal itself in due course.

As for Kuwait's Silk City project, I want to say that Kuwait is an important cooperation partner for China in the Gulf region on the BRI cooperation. China would like to strengthen communication and practical cooperation with Kuwait on projects including the development of the Silk City and the five Kuwaiti islands to deliver more benefits to the two countries and two peoples.

You wondered why China made such a big investment. I believe that it is business cooperation. It is consensual and mutually beneficial.

Q: I've got a short one. This has been repeatedly brought up in recent days. China is accused of shielding terrorists for putting on hold the request to blacklist Masood in the UN Security Council 1267 Committee. I wonder what is your response?

A: Putting a technical hold is consistent with the 1267 Committee rules. It is not China that has put more technical holds than any other country in recent years in the committee. If China is accused of shielding terrorists, all countries having put technical holds must receive the same sentence. Following that logic, won't the country that has put more technical holds than any other country be called the top protector of terrorism?

China has put a technical hold on the relevant request in the 1267 Committee not long ago to get more time for a comprehensive and thorough review and to allow time and space for dialogue and consultation between relevant parties.

China has been in close contact with the parties concerned for a proper solution through dialogue. We hope all Security Council members can work together to this end.

Q: A follow-up on the 1267 Committee. When China put a technical hold in February, it had actually sought time to explain the rationale behind this move. Have you prepared your response regarding the rationale for your putting a technical hold on the proposal?

A: China has been in close contact with the relevant parties. Like we said, we will continue to play a responsible and constructive role in the 1267 Committee discussions. We also hope all relevant parties can work together for a proper solution.

Q: One very important aspect in all the four technical holds China put up on this particular issue is about providing evidence and the discussions between the two parties. Now whatever evidence India has provided like in the previous cases, Pakistan always came back to say that it is not enough. Don't you think it is also incumbent on the particular country which is facing the allegations to also probe and and provide evidence and those countries which are supporting the particular country to also take interest in that?

A: The 1267 Committee has clear criteria for the listing procedures. What China did conforms with Security Council resolutions and the 1267 Committee's rules of procedure.

As we have continuously emphasized, we will continue to play a responsible, constructive role and maintain communication with the relevant parties for a proper solution.

Q: As we know, the Japanese government's plan for 5G spectrum allocation will be released in the near future, and operators in the country will have to decide whether to cooperate with Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE. Could you comment on this?

A: After the Japanese government revised its procurement rules, Beijing has repeatedly expressed concerns. Yesterday the spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce reiterated our position.

China upholds free trade, follows international rules and opposes political intervention in normal business behaviors. We will closely follow the result of Japan's 5G spectrum allocation. We hope the Japanese government can honor its commitment to free trade and foster a fair, transparent and predictable business environment for Chinese companies to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation.

Q: If Japan does exclude Huawei and ZTE from its 5G networks, will that threaten the ministerial visit that is currently scheduled for mid-April in Beijing?

A: We don't answer hypothetical questions. I believe the Japanese side knows China's position very well.

Q: Yesterday, at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019, Premier Li Keqiang announced some measures China will take to expand its opening-up. How will these measures affect the region and the world?

A: Premier Li Keqiang delivered a keynote speech at yesterday's opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019, announcing a series of important measures to expand China's openness, including formulating supporting regulations for the Foreign Investment Law, further easing market access, strengthening protection for the legitimate rights and interests of foreign companies, and continuously expanding the opening-up of the financial sector, and maintaining the continuity and stability of investment policies towards Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. These measures have been closely followed and widely praised by the international community.

Premier Li Keqiang's speech once again proves that China is taking concrete actions to meet its commitments to further opening up, to promote mutually beneficial cooperation with the rest of the world, and to uphold free trade and the multilateral trading regime.

You may remember that in 2017, President Xi Jinping championed free trade and multilateralism in his keynote speech at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. At the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018, President Xi Jinping announced in his keynote speech a series of important measures to promote opening-up, including easing foreign equity restrictions, strengthening IPR protection, and taking the initiative to expand imports. The recent 13th National People's Congress adopted the Foreign Investment Law which establishes the system of pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list to foreign investment and further improves the business environment for foreign companies in China. Looking back over the past few years, China has continuously introduced new policies and new measures to expand opening-up. The efforts and progress speak for themselves.

We have been stressing that China's door will not be closed and will only open wider. We will continue to drive the comprehensive deepening of reform with high-level opening-up, creating more space and opportunities and offering more "Chinese dividends" for the development of other countries and the global economic growth.

Q: At yesterday's US State Department press briefing, Sam Brownback, ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, when talking about Xinjiang, said that "it's not just the camps anymore and people are limited on their movement in and out of the villages in that region". Do you have any comment?

A: China strongly rejects the remarks by the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. Xinjiang currently enjoys social stability, good momentum for economic and social growth and harmony among all ethnic groups. Residents there now have a much stronger sense of security and fulfillment. China is firmly opposed to US interference in China's domestic affairs using Xinjiang as a pretext.

Q: My media organizations have interviewed Uygurs in Turkey claiming they have been tortured in " re-education camps" in Xinjiang. What is your response to these allegations? Second, when will international journalists and observers be allowed to visit these camps in Xinjiang that you say are training facilities?

A: You haven't been around lately, have you? I have answered many similar questions.

I do wonder why some journalists choose to believe the made-up stories of a handful of individuals overseas. Are you so sure they are telling the truth? Why on earth would you believe certain individuals' fake stories over the official statements of a responsible government? Truly, your judgment is beyond me.

As to visits to vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang, any follower of latest news or our press conferences will have noted that China has organized many such trips for foreign diplomats in China, foreign media and other foreign delegations. After seeing for themselves Xinjiang's social stability and people's sense of fulfillment, many of them commended China's Xinjiang policies. You may look for the wide news coverage of that online.

Q: The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said that yesterday its foreign minster and Wang Yi discussed the issue of the situation of ethnic Kazakhs living in China. I wonder if you could share more details about what they discussed?

A:Yesterday State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Foreign Minister Beibut Bakirovich Atamkulov of Kazakhstan. There is a press release on that. After the talks, they jointly met the press. State Councilor stated clearly at the press conference that the lawful de-radicalization measures taken by China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region effectively safeguarded local security and stability, contributing significantly to peace and stability in our region and providing good practice to the international community's efforts to fight terrorism and eliminate extremism. We appreciate the Kazakh government's understanding and support for China's position. We will never allow anyone or any force to undermine the friendship and mutual trust between China and Kazakhstan. State Councilor Wang's statement, I believe, has answered your question.

Q: There are all these reports of the trade talks dragging out and comments that it will take weeks, months for an agreement to come together. I hope you can give more details on this.

A: Yesterday the Commerce Ministry spokesperson has already responded to relevant questions. I have nothing further to add.
The concept of the medico-legal borderland commonly refers to the discursive intersection of medical and legal knowledges in the constitution of a new knowledge regime (McClelland, 2013). The following essay adds to the discussion of borderlands an empirical illustration showing how the flow of knowledge in borderland spaces is highly policed and disciplined. Further, it demonstrates that even disciplining itself does not necessarily neatly adhere to disciplinary boundaries of medicine vs. law, but is in fact more complex and nuanced. I use a short ethnographic entry from my research fieldnotes to show how the policing of knowledge occurs in two moments of involuntary psychiatric admission, when a lawyer attempted to access his clients medical records. Through these ethnographic fieldnotes, I also demonstrate the potential implications of knowledge policing for patients involved in involuntary admission cases.

I collected this data during my doctoral fieldwork in Poland between August 2012 and February 2014. My doctoral research project, designed as an institutional ethnography, explored the socio-legal organization of legal aid lawyering and involuntary psychiatric admission in Poland. I was fortunate to observe the work of psychiatric and legal professionals at various stages of the admission process. On February 23, 2013, I wrote a fieldnote from one of the encounters that I observed:

It was somewhat unexpected to be welcomed with such heated emotions on a cold February afternoon as I arrived at the district courthouse to accompany a court judge to a psychiatric hospital for a preliminary hearing of involuntary admission cases. This lawyer is so arrogant, exclaimed the judge to the senior court clerk and me as we were arriving at the hospital. I learned that the lawyer being discussed had come directly to the psychiatric hospital with a request to access the medical records of an involuntarily admitted client he was to represent. When the lawyer was denied access to the client/patients records he went to the hospital director. The director, the judge, and the senior clerk were outraged. The lawyers request also caused consternation among psychiatrists and hospital personnel who claimed to be unprepared to deal with the legalities of the situation and sought the judges instruction on the matter. The judge advised the hospital personnel to deny access to patient medical files to any lawyers who, in judges opinion, tried to act outside their legal authority by attempting to access spaces where their prerogative to provide representation does not extend. The judge also stated that lawyers could only access medical files while in the courthouse and after submitting a formal request, thus limiting the role of lawyers to formal legal proceedings and traditionally understood legal spaces.

The above note shows how medical and legal professionals (psychiatrists and judges) are bound together to exclude another legal professional (a lawyer) from a meaningful engagement with knowledge production about his involuntarily admitted client. Importantly, it is in these very medical spaces, where the judge meets with the psychiatrists and admitted person, that medical facts are transformed into legal facts. Yet, even as that medico-legal site of knowledge came into being, it remained out of reach for the lawyer, who was perceived as an intruder and invader of a space reserved for psychiatrists and judges. The judges emotional responseand a subsequent directive to hospital personnel not to permit the lawyers access by requiring the clients consent for their file to be viewedconfirm the precariousness of the space being governed and also the standing of the knowledge itself. Barrera (2018) notes that institutional practices of exclusion and gatekeeping help to reinforce institutional authority and social prestige by excluding certain kinds of relationships, people, and knowledge (91). In constructing the lawyer as usurping customary structures of power by attempting to engage in knowledge production in sites outside his professional prerogative, the judges and psychiatrists also delegitimized his knowledge and expertise. The materiality of a physical space  the psychiatric hospital  was used to delineate discursive boundaries between the professionals who are legitimized from those who are not permitted to take part in producing knowledge therein.

The story of the exclusion and gatekeeping does not end there, however. If the lawyer were to follow the alternative route for accessing files suggested by the judge, the materiality of the application process would pose a genuine barrier to gaining knowledge of the facts inscribed in clients medical documents needed to best prepare for a hearing. A person who wants to initiate that legal bureaucratic process of accessing such files must first submit an application to subpoena the medical records in question. This action requires a district court judges authorization. Correspondence from the court is then mailed or couriered to the hospital. Upon its reception and recording in the hospitals incoming correspondence files, the hospital supervisor must authorize it. Hospital personnel then proceed to copy the requested patient records, sending them on to the district court. Court personnel inform the judge that the copies have arrived, and the judge prepares an administrative order to incorporate those record into the case file. Finally, the case file is delivered to the courthouse reading room, where the lawyer can read the dossier. The Polish Mental Health Protection Act of 1994, which is the statute governing the legal processing of involuntary admission cases in the country, stipulates that a 14-day timeline within the admission hearing be scheduled and upheld.

While lawyers can, in theory, access medical records in cases of involuntary psychiatric admission cases in Poland, in practice, the material organization of said access makes it next to impossible to obtain requisite knowledge within the legal time limits. Because the lawyer could, potentially, destabilize the medico-legal narrative of his clients mental illness and dangerousness (grounds for emergency involuntary admission in Poland) by contesting facts established in medical files and presenting new evidence, his access to these files was denied at one point and significantly postponed at another. Through these practices of denying the lawyer in question access to material artifacts (i.e., patient records) and to the medical space of knowledge production, psychiatric professionals, judges, and hospital governing authorities gave a clear signal whose professional knowledge counts in the physical space of a psychiatric hospital and in the legal procedure pertaining to involuntary psychiatric admission. Physical barrierssuch as access to physical buildings and legal or medical fileswere tactically employed into the practices of gatekeeping to reinforce inclusionary and exclusionary practices in the production of knowledge.

In conclusion, while these findings give us reason to pause, they also should encourage us to consider everyday practices and auxiliary processes in spaces outside of courtroom. First, by taking the materialities of organizational settings and legal processes as our objects of analysis, we carry the promise of gaining better understandings of how practices of exclusion are achieved in our daily activities and in those of people and professionals all around us. Thus, we should pay closer attention to the poorly understood intersections between the main legal processes and the taken-for-granted legal institutional logic governing that of their auxiliary counterparts. And second, these findings reveal how the effects of the latter for knowledge production can be equally troubling. Lastly, they show how practices of monitoring, gatekeeping and disciplining access actually are better understood as a collaborative achievement. Boundaries governing who is authorized to partake in knowledge production, and who is not, are not a matter of simple or straightforward separation between medical and legal authorities. In practice, as we see in this example, such contours are more complex and nuanced then we would assume at first blush.

Works Cited

Barrera, L. (2018), Gatekeeping: Documents, legal knowledge, and judicial authority in contemporary Argentina. PoLAR, 41(1), 90-107.

Doll, A. and Walby, K. (2019 forthcoming). Institutional ethnography as a method of inquiry for criminal justice and socio-legal studies. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 8(1).

Doll, A. (2017). Lawyering for the Mad: An institutional ethnography of involuntary admission to psychiatric facilities in Poland (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Victoria, Victoria.

McClelland, A. (2013). Research at the medico-legal borderland: Perspectives on HIV and criminal law. Retrieved from http://somatosphere.net/2013/10/research-at-the-medico-legal-borderland.html (Accessed August 21, 2018).

(Poland) Mental Health Protection Act of 19 August 1994 [Ustawa o ochronie zdrowia psychicznego z dnia 19 sierpnia 1994 roku], in 1994 Journal of Laws, no. 231, item 1375.

Smith, D. (2005). Institutional ethnography: Sociology for people. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Agnieszka Doll, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Research Group on Health and Law at McGill University(Montreal, Quebec). Her research focuses on legal and social regimes pertaining to involuntary psychiatric hospitalization; processes of knowledge production; professional practices and institutions; socio-legal studies; and gender and law. She uses qualitative and feminist methodologies. A lawyer by training, she practiced law in Poland and Canada. Currently, she teaches courses in health care law and health care administration for Athabasca University (Edmonton, Alberta).

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Medico-legal borderlands?

What is this nebulous sounding compound concept, medico-legal borderlands? How has it been used by social scientists whose ethnographic studies scratch at itches in the intersecting areas of human health and illness and the organization and production of health care systems?

Through a collection of four essays curated for this Somatosphere series, we invite readers to join us in answering these questions by experimenting with this conceptual framework. In doing so, we hope to highlight the valuable and original ways that using medico-legal borderlands can assist in studying the social.

Our understanding and application of medico-legal borderlands have as their point of departure the scholarly contributions of the sociologist duo, Stefan Timmermans and Jonathan Gabe (2002). According to Timmermans and Gabe, the concept refers to spaces of professional practice where the institutions of law and policy, medicine and health care, and social services exist side-by-side and overlap. In using medico-legal borderlands as an analytic, we aim to harness close, ethnographic attention to what happens in these various sites. Accordingly, we ask: what might such close attention to these spaces reveal, and what are the implications of these revelations for people and health systems? We suggest that inquiries within medico-legal borderlands spaces and places illuminate the presence and functioning of underexplored and frequently taken-for-granted forms of social control and governance, policy and practice, communication and discourse, and subjectivity and lived experience.

In our work as sociologists, the medico-legal borderlands concept has been, and continues to be, a beneficial way to organize and carry out social studies. Using this conceptual framework has been not only intellectually engaging, but empirically fruitful: we have applied this lens separately, within our respective research agendas, and jointly, for our collaborations together (see Sanders and Bisaillon, 2018). Our desire to further explore the possibilities that the borderlands concept makes possible led us to cooperatively convene a panel titled Bodies and Practices in the Medico-Legal Borderlands at the 2018 Law and Society Association meeting in Toronto.

The response to our call for papers was, in a word, effervescent. Each contributor took up the medico-legal borderlands lens to bring forth analyses with equal measures of criticality and creativity. What we generated together were ideas strong and interesting precisely because they were held up together. And so, we offer this series.

The four essays assembled in this Searching, Studying and Doing Sociology in the Medico-Legal Borderlands section benefited immensely from interactions with audience members. Our work also was enhanced as we later re-engaged with one anothers ideas in the ensuing months. As readers will see, we have also engaged with Timmermans and Gabes concept of medico-legal borderlands in ways that made sense and were meaningful within the social contexts of our ethnographic field studies.

It is our hope that readers will find what follows illuminating as well as probingly provocative.

Bodies and Practices in the Medico-Legal Borderlands panel at the 2018 Law and Society Association meeting in Toronto.

Essays

In the leading piece, Exclusion and gatekeeping in psychiatric-legal borderland: Keeping the material in view, Dr. Agnieszka Doll (McGill University, Montreal) draws on ethnographic fieldwork in Polish psychiatric hospitals and courts to look at porosity and gatekeeping where medical and legal forms of knowledge intersect. Through the example of a lawyer accessing his clients medical files in a psychiatric hospital, Doll shows how certain forms of knowledge are used when people are involuntarily admitted to the emergency ward, while other knowledges are not. Monitoring, gatekeeping, and restricting access happen because psychiatric and legal professionals, using various material artifacts and spaces, are involved. As we see, actors interact to re-interpret how medical knowledge is produced in the courtroom.

Dr. Eli Manning (Dalhousie University, Halifax) begins Why we must go beyond focusing on the overrepresentation of racialized people in HIV criminalization with findings from a report that documents how racialized immigrant men are overrepresented in mainstream newspaper reports of HIV non-disclosure in Canada (Mykhalovskiy et al., 2016). Manning argues that this problem of overrepresentation by journalists and media outlets stands as a symptom around which to build social inquiry. And further, that such inquiry is vital if we are to capture and also act on harmful side effects of how racism, health status, and criminalization processes co-constitute. Manning makes the case that social analysts need to focus on the institutionally organized conditions that drive racist practices which, she posits, sit at the heart of the criminalization of non-disclosure of HIV positive status in Canada.

In Queer Zones: Refugees from Africa and Interactions with Canadas Borderlands, Notisha Massaquoi (University of Toronto) exercises her insider position within community-level queer African refugee milieus in Toronto to problematize how the Canadian immigration system reads and interprets these bodies within certain institutional spaces. Specifically, she examines the national border as an international frontier, and the refugee adjudication hearing as spaces in which particular ways of knowing emerge. Massaquoi discusses the consequences of these ways of knowing for queer African bodies and the state, while also identifying them as ideological practices. Her ethnographic explorations illuminate how notions of personal and political borders are being challenged and reworked by the different social actors, be they individual refugees or institutional representatives. Further, she demonstrates how these activities, in turn, have implications for the health and wellbeing of refugee claimants.

In the final essay,  Scholarly Stretching and Meta-Ethnography in the Medico-Legal Borderlands, medical sociologist, Chris Sanders (Lakehead University, Thunder Bay), and sociologist of health and illness, Laura Bisaillon (University of Toronto), put into play a methodological strategy called meta-ethnography to bring their separate studies into dialogue (Sanders & Bisaillon, 2018). Through this strategy, Sanders and Bisaillon offer novel insights about how medical doctors and public health nurses carry out their work. In particular, they demonstrate how in such work there arise problems of an ethical and professional order with implications for people who present for care. By synthesizing their respective ethnographic findings, Sanders and Bisaillon are able to show how and with what implications professional practices come to be shaped to serve state, rather than patient, interests.

Ultimately, we see this series as an invitation to contemplate problematics in everyday life, big and small, manifest and latent, that occur as a result of law and policy, medical and health care practice, and social services enactments and practices. In one way or another, these arrangements have bearing on all of our lives. We hope that Somatosphere readers find the analyses in medico-legal borderlands showcased through these essays as thought-provoking as they are diverse.

Panel participants (from L to R): Laura Bisaillon, Notisha Massaquoi, Eli Manning, Agnieska Doll, Austin Jenkins, Chris Sanders

Works Cited

Mykhalovskiy, E., Hastings, C., Sanders, C., Hayman, M., & Bisaillon, L. (2016). Callous, Cold and Deliberately Duplicitous: Racialization, Immigration and the Representation of HIV Criminalization in Canadian Mainstream Media. Report funded by the CIHR Social Research Centre for HIV Prevention.

Sanders, C., & Bisaillon, L. (2018). When Health Care is Displaced by State Interests: Building Dialogue through Shared Findings. Qualitative Health Research, 29(1), 32-41.

Timmermans, S., & Gabe, J. (2002). Introduction: Connecting Criminology and Sociology of

Health and Illness. Sociology of Health & Illness, 24(5), 501-516.

Chris Sanders, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Lakehead University in Ontario. Im a medical sociologist specializing in the areas of public health and mental health& illness. My work focuses on disease prevention policy and health care provider practices in Canada and the United States. I am particularly interested in rural sociology and the use of qualitative methods.

Laura Bisaillon, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. I am a sociologist of health and illness specializing in qualitative methods and the social studies of HIV-related policy and Canadian immigration law. I use the social organization of knowledge approach and institutional ethnography as forms of inquiry. The bulk of my work has explored immigration medical inadmissibility decision-making and its consequences. Screening and Screaming in Exile: Medical Examination and the Immigration Health Work of People with HIV is my monograph under review with UBC Press. Since 2013, I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran and Romania.

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Heavy-horse owners had a chance to air their concerns Thursday during a meeting with Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba officials in an effort to attract teams back to the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair.

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This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Heavy-horse owners had a chance to air their concerns Thursday during a meeting with Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba officials in an effort to attract teams back to the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair.

Only two teams  one from Saskatchewan and one from the United States  participated in the competitions this year, down from eight last year. Both have the backing of sponsors.

Heavy horse Danny waits to be driven by Brian Coleman at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair on Thursday. (Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun)

"I think it was a pretty positive meeting," said Mark Bourns, president of the Manitoba Percheron Belgian Club. "It would seem that theyre going to listen to us and try and make things better to get local hitches (six-horse teams)."

More than 50 people attended the meeting at the Keystone Centre.

Bourns said the Keystone Centres facility for horse shows is probably the best in Canada, "but we have to have local hitches to make it run. If the local hitches cant afford to come, theyre not going to be here, and thats whats happened."

At one time, as many as 15 to 18 six-horse hitches showed at the Winter Fair, Bourns said.

"Theyve been getting and less every year, and its all about money," he said.

"Our prize money is not any better today than it was 15, 20 years ago, but our costs to come get higher every year."

For many of the exhibitors, its just a hobby, Bourns said. "We dont make money at this."

Bourns said officials at the meeting seemed to be willing to listen to their concerns and come up with solutions.

"It depends what they do from here," he said. "Theyre saying theyre most definitely going to work with us and try to come up with something that will make a great show here again."

Jim Lane, from Lone Oak Percherons in Birtle, said he was pleased with the tone of the meeting.

"I think it was good," said Lane, who has been showing heavy horses at the Winter Fair since the late 1980s.

Besides keeping costs in line, Lane said exhibitors want to be treated better and have more say in the shows.

"They (Provincial Exhibition officials) needed to hear some of them comments," Lane said. "It was a start, anyway."

Lane noted the Keystone Centre will host the World Percheron Congress in 2022. Held every four years, it was held last year in Des Moines, Iowa.

"It was a very positive meeting," said Ron Kristjansson, general manager of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba.

Issues surrounding costs, prize money payouts, the potential for sponsorships and others were brought up during the meeting, he said.

"We came away with a group commitment to develop a committee to work on some strategies to meet and come up with some ideas by early summer," Kristjansson said. "It needs to be a committee that ... can function and make recommendations going forward."

 brobertson@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @BudRobertson4
OTTAWA - The federal government says it is considering subsidizing farmers hit by China's $2-billion ban on Canadian canola imports, and is pushing the People's Republic to prove recent shipments were in fact contaminated.

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This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canola grower David Reid checks on his storage bins full of last year's crop of canola seed on his farm near Cremona, Alta., Friday, March 22, 2019. Canola seed exporters report Chinese companies -- one of their major markets -- have stopped buying their product, according to an industry group. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

OTTAWA - The federal government says it is considering subsidizing farmers hit by China's $2-billion ban on Canadian canola imports, and is pushing the People's Republic to prove recent shipments were in fact contaminated.

Two federal cabinet ministers and a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday the government is looking at financial options to help farmers.

"I am doing a review of the different tools we have in terms of financing support for our farmers," Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told The Canadian Press in Saskatchewan, where she joined International Trade Minister Jim Carr in meetings with canola industry representatives.

Bibeau also said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is having "ongoing conversations" with Chinese customs officials that are "based on science" in order to validate China's claim it found hazardous organisms in the recent shipments of two major canola exporters, Richardson International Ltd. and Viterra, Inc.

"We are asking them to show us evidence of the pests that they said they have found in our shipments," Bibeau said, adding that a second Canadian analysis of the returned samples came up empty.

"We still haven't found any irregularities in these shipments, so we are asking for evidence."

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the federal cabinet is seized with helping canola farmers, and she's had conversations with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale of Saskatchewan, where half of Canada's canola is produced.

Bibeau and Carr are leading the effort, she said, and "they have the very strong support of all of the cabinet in this, and are working on a broader plan to support our canola farmers."

Earlier Friday, Conservative MPs on the House of Commons agriculture committee failed in their attempt to persuade the Liberal majority to compel Carr, Bibeau and Freeland to testify. The Conservatives wanted the ministers to address what they say is a broader political crisis with China that's affecting the livelihoods of Canadian farmers.

The Liberal majority rejected the motion, angering the Conservatives, who also directed plenty towards China.

NDP agriculture critic Alistair MacGregor said the Liberals should have allowed the ministers to speak at the committee so Canadians could learn about the government's contingency plan.

"Our canola producers should not pay the price for Liberals mishandling the dispute with China," he said.

China's decision to ban $2 billion worth of Canadian exports is widely seen as retaliation for Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the founder of telecom giant Huawei, at the behest of the United States.

"To claim the canola sent to China didn't meet quality standards is completely absurd," said Tory MP Luc Berthold.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said China's decision has no basis in scientific fact.

Mark Agnew, senior director of international policy for the chamber, said he trusts the assessments by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that Canada's crop is safe.

Agnew stopped short of linking the arrest with the canola issue.

"When you look at the numbers the canola industry has put out, there's a massive market here that looks like it's being shut off for Canadian canola exporters," Agnew said Friday in an interview.

"We trust what Health Canada and CFIA say about the safety of Canadian exports. It's quite easy to see there's not a science-based justification for what China is doing to Canadian canola exports."

China was infuriated by Meng's Dec. 1 arrest on a U.S. extradition warrant alleging fraud.

Nine days after Meng's arrest, China imprisoned two Canadians  ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and the entrepreneur Michael Spavor  and accused them of violating China's national security.

China is the recipient of about 40 per cent of Canada's exports of canola seed and the only country to raise a technical issue with the product.

The Canadian canola industry is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to press China for solutions.

Canadian farmers say China's ban has created uncertainty ahead of the spring planting season. Along with the Canola Council of Canada, they are calling on the government to send a delegation to China to address the issue.

Earlier this week, Trudeau mentioned the possibility of sending a delegation to China, as he defended the quality control of the product as "top-notch and world-class."

Asked Friday, if subsidizing farmers was a possibility, Trudeau's spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon said: "We are working with farmers, companies, and various levels of government to support the industry through a difficult time, and we are looking at all options."

Saskatchewan Conservative MP Randy Hoback said the cabinet ministers need to provide "comfort" to farmers that they will have a market to sell to this fall.

Hoback warned that unless the government can repair the damaged relationship with China, other sectors could be vulnerable to retaliation, including maple syrup or seafood.

Earlier this week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China's actions on canola were "scientific and reasonable."

Without mentioning Huawei directly, Geng said China hopes Canada can "get along with us to ensure the sound and steady development of China-Canada relations."

Geng said Canada should "take practical measures to correct the mistakes it made earlier" in the bilateral relationship.

 with files from Stephanie Taylor is Saskatchewan
VANCOUVER - George Chow says he was just shy of 19 and had no idea what he was getting into when he enlisted to serve in the Second World War.

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This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Members of the Canadian Forces carry a pair of combat boots to a VIA Rail train to begin their journey to Halifax, at Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, on Friday March 29, 2019. The boots will travel across the country on the train to symbolize those who travelled to Halifax during the Second World War before they embarked for Europe. The journey is part of the federal government's plan to commemorate the 7th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER - George Chow says he was just shy of 19 and had no idea what he was getting into when he enlisted to serve in the Second World War.

He arrived at the Vancouver train station from his home in Victoria in 1941 and boarded the eastbound train for Halifax, with a stop for training in Windsor, Ont., before embarking for Europe.

"We weren't being patriotic, we just joined for adventure," he said.

"Out of the 250 people in my battery, I think there's only one or two of us left now."

Chow was among several veterans of the Second World War who gathered at the same Via Rail Canada train station Friday for a commemorative event honouring the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.

A pair of combat boots was loaded on a train bound for Halifax and Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay said they will serve as a visual representation of the journey so many Canadians made to serve.

"They traded their civilian shoes for military boots, they left their family and friends behind, and they headed halfway around the world to defend our freedom, our democracy and our peace," MacAulay said.

The battles are among Canada's most significant military engagements of the 20th century.

About 14,000 Canadians stormed Juno Beach in northern France on D-Day, June 6, 1944. It marked the beginning of the Battle of Normandy, in which 5,000 Canadians died and more than 13,000 were wounded.

Chow was among six veterans who served at D-Day and Normandy who were present for the commemoration. He was part of an artillery group that landed at Normandy before moving inland to Caen.

"I lost a lot of friends in Dieppe, I lost a lot of friends in Germany," he said.

He also survived two "friendly fire" bombings, first by American troops then a British-Canadian combined force.

"Those were the bad times," he said.

Norm Kirby said there must have been some confusion when he enlisted from the Vancouver's North Shore but was assigned to New Brunswick's North Shore Regiment. Although almost the entire regiment was francophone, he said they found ways to communicate.

"I've never met and never had such fine friends as those from New Brunswick. I'm sad to say there's only two of us left," Kirby said.

Kirby said on his way to the beach on D-Day, his landing craft hit a mine that almost tore off the bottom of the vessel.

"Luckily, I was one of the ones who was able to get to shore," he said.

MacAulay said commemorative ceremonies will be held in nine communities across the country as the train makes its journey.

The federal government says it is also hosting several other remembrance events for the anniversary, including events at the Sailors' Memorial and Citadel National Historic Site in Halifax and a candlelight ceremony in Victoria in the coming months.
OTTAWA - Five things we learned from a written and audio submission made by former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to the House of Commons justice committee Friday.

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This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jody Wilson-Raybould appears at the House of Commons Justice Committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019. Wilson-Raybould plans to reveal more - in writing - about her accusation that she faced improper pressure to prevent the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Five things we learned from a written and audio submission made by former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to the House of Commons justice committee Friday.

On the cabinet shuffle

Trudeau's former principal secretary Gerald Butts told the justice committee Wilson-Raybould was shuffled because they needed someone to fill in Indigenous Affairs and she refused. He said a minister has to serve at the pleasure of the prime minister and a refusal to be moved couldn't stand.

Wilson-Raybould says she told Trudeau and his former principal secretary, Gerald Butts, she couldn't understand the rationale for being part of the January cabinet shuffle, and that she had told them many times in the past that she would never take on a job of "delivering services to Indians" under the Indian Act and was shocked that she was then offered the Indigenous Services ministry.

Butts told the justice committee in March he didn't know her position on that when the offer was made but acknowledged he should have known.

Wilson-Raybould also denies she ever referred to being attorney general as her "dream job" and instead said she thinks it was Butts who said it. Butts told the committee she called it her dream job when she was told she was being shuffled.

She said she took Trudeau at his word that the shuffle was not related to the SNC-Lavalin matter and agreed to take the job of veterans affairs minister, but said she made a decision to "immediately resign if the new Attorney General" issued a directive about the SNC-Lavalin case because it would confirm her suspicions she was moved for not intervening.

On her resignation from cabinet

Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet on Feb. 12, but told the justice committee in her live testimony that she couldn't discuss the conversations she had with Trudeau on the reasons.

In her written submission, she is more clear about why she resigned, pointing to a comment Trudeau made to the media on Feb. 11.

"The Prime Minister stated publicly when issues about the propriety of the government's conduct in relation to the SNC matter arose that my ongoing presence in Cabinet spoke for itself," Wilson-Raybould wrote.

"I resigned the next day and I trust my resignation also speaks for itself."

Some Liberals felt Wilson-Raybould didn't like remediation agreements in general

Finance Minister Bill Morneau's deputy chief of staff, Justin To, in a phone call with Wilson-Raybould's chief of staff, Jessica Prince complained that Wilson-Raybould was not intervening in the SNC-Lavalin case because she "has a philosophical problem" with remediation agreements and "wouldn't even use it if we could." He calls it ironic that Wilson-Raybould is in favour of restorative justice in some sense but not for SNC-Lavalin.

Prince tells him "that is absolutely not true."

To apologized in a follow-up email and then Prince laid out for him all the things Wilson-Raybould had done in favour of remediation agreements.

Disagreement with her deputy minister

Nathalie Drouin, the deputy minister of justice, told the justice committee that Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick, had asked her office for a briefing on the consequences, including job losses, if SNC-Lavalin did not get a remediation agreement, but that once that document was prepared, Wilson-Raybould ordered her not to give it to Wernick or anyone else in the Privy Council Office.

Wilson-Raybould denies that she ever knew about the memo or that she ordered Drouin not to hand it over to Wernick. She also says given that she had told Wernick she had made her decision she was not sure why he would have asked for such an opinion anyway.

Former prime minister Kim Campbell

Prince alleges that in a conversation with Butts, he pointed to a case involving former prime minister Brian Mulroney and the case of David Milgaard, who was wrongfully convicted for murder in 1970, and exonerated more than two decades later. Butts allegedly told Prince that Kim Campbell, who was then the attorney general, was asked by Mulroney to review the case after Mulroney met with Milgaard's mother. Campbell, who would replace Mulroney as prime minister in 1993, is reported to have told Mulroney she couldn't because it would interfere in an independent process.

Wilson-Raybould says she fact-checked the story with Campbell in Vancouver the next day over coffee, adding the former Tory prime minister had a "vivid memory of the case."

"She categorically denied what Mr. Butts had said and was quite offended and outraged by the comments. She adamantly denied the characterization not only of her as the Attorney General, but also of her former boss, Prime Minister Mulroney," Wilson-Raybould wrote.

Mulroney was "too good a lawyer to intervene improperly in the matter," Wilson-Raybould recounted Campbell telling her.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four stories in the news for Friday, March 29



View looking east along 'Nan White' Beach, showing personnel of the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade landing from LCI(L) 299 of the 2nd Canadian (262nd RN) Flotilla on D-Day Bernieres-sur-Mer, France; June 6,1944. A departure ceremony is being held today in Vancouver for trains carrying combat boots symbolizing those who travelled to Halifax during the Second World War before they embarked for Europe. THE CANADIAN PRESS PHOTO/HO-National Archives of Canada-Gilbert Alexandre Milne ) PA-137013 *MANDATORY CREDIT*

OTTAWA UNVEILS PLANS FOR 75TH D-DAY ANNIVERSARY

A departure ceremony is being held today in Vancouver for trains carrying combat boots symbolizing those who travelled to Halifax during the Second World War before they embarked for Europe. The journey is part of the federal government's plan to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay will be among those in Vancouver today to outline the commemorative events that are planned. He is also scheduled to unveil the official poster for the anniversary at the city's train station. Several community-based events will be held across the country and internationally to commemorate D-Day.



BAIL HEARING FOR TERROR SUSPECT RESUMES

A courtroom in Kingston, Ont., will play host today to the second part of a two-day bail hearing for a youth facing terrorism charges. The youth, who cannot be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was charged in late January after a Canadian police investigation sparked by a tip from the FBI. It's not yet known if the court will release a decision today on whether the youth will be granted bail. There is a strict publication ban on all evidence, submissions and reasons presented during the hearing. The youth is accused of knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, and counselling another person to "deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal device" in a public place.



PORT MOODY, B.C. MAYOR TAKES LEAVE TO FIGHT CHARGE

The mayor of Port Moody, B.C., says he is taking a leave of absence to clear his name after being charged with sexual assault. Robert Vagramov said Thursday that preparing a defence will require his full attention as he fights the charge in court, so he has decided to take a leave of absence starting today. Vagramov said he has co-operated with the authorities during their investigation, adding that he has passed a polygraph test and provided the results to them. The B.C. Prosecution Service said in a statement Thursday it appointed lawyer Michael Klein as a special prosecutor in relation to an investigation of a sexual assault alleged to have occurred in Coquitlam in 2015.



REGINA POLICE RELEASE RCMP REVIEW OF DEATH PROBE

An RCMP report says the investigation by the Regina Police Service into the death of an Indigenous woman who fell 10 storeys down a laundry chute did not meet professional standards. Nadine Machiskinic, 29, was found in medical distress in the laundry room of Regina's Delta Hotel in 2015 and later died of her injuries. In November, Regina chief Evan Bray said the report would not be released to the public, which upset her family. On Thursday, Bray released the RCMP report, which makes 14 recommendations on how to improve how police deal with similar cases. The review says the investigation did not meet the standards of a professional sudden death investigation due to the lack of an effective case management system.



ALSO IN THE NEWS:

 Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan attend a peacekeeping summit at the United Nations.

 Nova Scotia Environment Minister Margaret Miller will release her decision on the environmental assessment of Northern Pulp's proposed effluent treatment plant.

 Statistics Canada releases its gross domestic product figures by industry for January and industrial product and raw materials price indexes for February.
OTTAWA - Global Affairs Canada has issued a travel advisory for Canadians in Britain, warning them of possible violence in the wake of today's latest twist in the country's Brexit drama.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police officers on horseback watch demonstrators in Westminster, London, Friday, March 29, 2019. Pro-Brexit demonstrators were gathering in central London on the day that Britain was originally scheduled to leave the European Union. British lawmakers will vote Friday on what Prime Minister Theresa May's government described as the "last chance to vote for Brexit." (AP Photo/ Frank Augstein)

OTTAWA - Global Affairs Canada has issued a travel advisory for Canadians in Britain, warning them of possible violence in the wake of today's latest twist in the country's Brexit drama.

The department issued the updated advisory as British politicians rejected the latest attempt to coalesce around a path out of the European Union.

In the advisory, officials warn of "acts of violence" and confrontations between demonstrators and security forces around the parliamentary buildings and near Westminster Abbey in London.

Canadians are urged to avoid areas where demonstrations take place and nearby subway stations.

The department continues to recommend Canadians visiting the United Kingdom exercise a "high degree of caution" due to the threat of terrorism.

U.K. parliamentarians today rejected for the third time British Prime Minister Teresa May's plan for Brexit setting the stage for the country to crash out of the European Union next month without a replacement deal in place.
OTTAWA - Michael Wernick will officially step down as the country's top bureaucrat in April, one month after he announced plans to step down in the wake of being drawn into the explosive SNC-Lavalin affair.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick leaves Rideau Hall following a cabinet shuffle in Ottawa on March 18, 2019. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office says Ian Shugart will replace Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick as the federal government's top bureaucrat on April 19. Wernick announced under a cloud of controversy earlier this month that he was leaving his position because he had lost the trust of opposition parties. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Michael Wernick will officially step down as the country's top bureaucrat in April, one month after he announced plans to step down in the wake of being drawn into the explosive SNC-Lavalin affair.

The federal government announced Friday that Ian Shugart will take over as clerk of the Privy Council on April 19, which also marks the last day of Wernick's nearly 38-year career in the public service.

Opposition parties called for Wernick's resignation after he vehemently rejected allegations that he and other senior government officials improperly pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to halt a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

Wernick's combative testimony to the House of Commons justice committee was denounced as partisan and unbecoming of a senior bureaucrat who is supposed to be impartial.

In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 18, Wernick said he would retire before this fall's federal election campaign kicks off, but didn't provide a departure date.

He noted at the time that the clerk of the Privy Council is supposed to be "an impartial arbiter of whether serious foreign interference" occurs during the campaign as part of a new federal watchdog panel.

The clerk is also supposed to be ready to help whichever party is elected to form government, he said, adding that he did not believe he could fulfil either role.

Shugart is a long-serving member of the federal public service. Over the last decade, he has been deputy minister at Environment Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, and since 2016, Global Affairs Canada.

Wernick has been clerk of the Privy Council since 2016, shortly after the Trudeau Liberals assumed office. Government insiders have previously said he wanted to retire as clerk a year ago, but was persuaded to stay on.

Wilson-Raybould accused Wernick of making "veiled threats" that she'd lose her job as justice minister and attorney general if she didn't halt the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin on charges of bribery and corruption related to contracts in Libya.

She said Trudeau and others inappropriately pressured her to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with the Montreal engineering giant, which would force the company to pay stiff penalties while avoiding the risk of criminal conviction that could threaten its financial viability.

Wernick has denied the accusation and maintained that all concerned acted with the highest standards of integrity.

He has also maintained everything he did was within the boundaries of acceptable behaviour for his job of aiding the prime minister and cabinet as a non-partisan public servant.

News of Wernick's departure date came the same day Wilson-Raybould released a recorded telephone call in which Wernick warned that Trudeau wanted a deal for SNC-Lavalin "one way or another."
You know how they do it. Its a snap, really. A little bit of computer imagery, film cells inserted here, a half-screen there, and youve got a movie thatll scare the bejeebers out of anybody.

You know how its done, though; its all special effects. Or, as in could

Growing up in Oklahoma, Julie Rieger figured shed someday marry her childhood sweetheart, have kids, and work at some local hangout, living a normal and peaceful life. Instead, she came out at age twenty-three and officially gave up on organized religion, moved to California, married Suzanne, became a powerful Hollywood movie-maker, and life was good  until her mother died of Alzheimers.

The loss of her mother almost destroyed Riegers world but there was one comforting moment: a friend who had a gift called Rieger as her mother lay dying, offering support in shared grief. When that friend died not long afterward, she visited Rieger in a dream and later, in a psychic reading. It opened a window to something Rieger had only scoffed at before.

That first reading, says Rieger,  changed my life forever.

She began not only paying attention but was on a mission to learn everything I possibly could, becoming an acolyte of the psychic-turned-mentor, and immersing herself into a community that further supported her foray into what was on the Other Side. She started collecting crystals and stones meant to protect, energize, and promote healing. She learned about the clairs and how dangerous it is to open a portal to the other side without remembering to close it, too. She had a terrifying altercation with a deep dark Debbie Downer. In short, she became an evangelical spirit junkie.

Spirits are all over the place, she says adamantly. Our guides are by our side, ready to give us information if we only pay attention.

The Ghost Photographer is a very interesting book, but only partially for what it says. What it doesnt say is interesting in its omission.

Author Julie Rieger is an award-winning head of media at 20thCentury Fox, but readers wont find much about Hollywood in this book. Refreshingly, theres no gossip and very little name-dropping. Instead, what youll find is the story of a journey from soft skeptic to firm believer, told in tales that are sometimes super-creepy and will sometimes make you roll your eyes. Rieger joshingly recalls such disbelief in herself.

For that reason, its hard to ignore or dismiss as coincidence the stories she tells in this memoir. Rieger shares those tales with humor reminiscent of a high-school Class Clown, which tones them down some but the sentiment remains: the spirit world is interesting, complicated, and realbut if youre inexperienced, dont mess with it.

This book is an entertaining read in itself, and informative if youre just dipping your toe into the paranormal. Its also possible that The Ghost Photographer could make a scoffer into a believer. Yeah, its a book to snap up.

The Ghost Photographer by Julie Rieger

c.2018, Enliven / Atria Books $25.00 / $34.00 Canada 243 pages

or check this book out on Amazon
Quebec's taxi industry suspended all pressure tactics over the province's proposed overhaul of taxi regulations after a member harmed himself on live television Friday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lynda Poirier of the suicide prevention centre responds to reporters questions as taxi industry spokes person Abdallah Homsy reacts, Friday, March 29, 2019 in Quebec City. A taxi driver attempted to kill himself earlier during a live television newscast. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Quebec's taxi industry suspended all pressure tactics over the province's proposed overhaul of taxi regulations after a member harmed himself on live television Friday.

An industry group said the decision was made after the dramatic incident at the end of an interview with a taxi owner on the LCN all-news network.

Appearing alongside a suicide prevention organization director at a news conference in Quebec City, taxi group spokesman Abdallah Homsy said the focus needs to be on the mental health of taxi owners and drivers.

"This morning, one of our distressed colleagues called out for help on television by trying to end his life," Homsy said. "I invite all my colleagues who are in mental distress, or friends and family who witness that distress, to seek out help."

Taxi drivers had been protesting all week in Montreal and Quebec City, claiming the government's proposed reforms will drive many of them into bankruptcy.

Transport Minister Francois Bonnardel last week tabled Bill 17 to modernize the province's taxi industry in response to ride-hailing applications like Uber.

The bill would get rid of a quota system that limits the number of taxis in each city, and drivers say it would render their permits worthless. The province is offering a total of $500 million to compensate permit-holders.

Bonnardel said in a statement Friday that he was very upset by the televised incident. He said he has been touched by testimonials from cab drivers and owners about the impact of the government bill.

He reiterated the importance of discussions between representatives of the traditional taxi industry and the province to ensure a "harmonious transition" and encouraged anyone in distress to seek help.

A Quebec City police spokesman said first responders quickly arrived at the television studio and transported the injured man to hospital. Homsy later tweeted that his colleague was doing better.

"But we must give him the time necessary for his convalescence," he wrote.
Chinese and US negotiators have adjourned trade talks in Beijing with US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin saying they were "constructive".

Neither side gave any details on whether the talks made progress on issues preventing them from reaching an agreement to end a wide-ranging dispute over technology and industrial policy between the world's two biggest economies.

Mr Mnuchin said he and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer had "concluded constructive trade talks".

"I look forward to welcoming China's vice premier Liu He to continue these important discussions in Washington next week," he added.

.@USTradeRep and I concluded constructive trade talks in Beijing. I look forward to welcoming Chinas Vice Premier Liu He to continue these important discussions in Washington next week. #USEmbassyChina pic.twitter.com/ikfcDZ10IL  Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) March 29, 2019

Mr Mnuchin and Mr Lighthizer attended a working dinner with Mr Liu on Thursday night, shortly after their arrival in the Chinese capital. It was not clear when the US envoys planned to leave Beijing.

President Donald Trump expressed optimism about the talks last week, saying: "We're getting very close."

Mr Lighthizer said earlier this week that questions about details and enforcement remained to be answered.

The meetings are the latest in a rapid-fire series of exchanges seeking to end the conflict that is disrupting trade in goods from soybeans to medical equipment.

"Both teams are currently sparing no effort" on the negotiations, Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said during a regularly scheduled briefing.

A stumbling block appears to be Washington's insistence on an enforcement mechanism with penalties if Beijing fails to follow through on commitments, but trade analysts expect at least a preliminary accord in coming weeks or months.

The negotiations are unlikely to resolve conflicts that have troubled US-Chinese relations for two decades, including China's massive trade surplus with the US and accusations it has stolen or coerced the transfer of foreign technology for its own use.

Mr Trump raised duties last year on Chinese imports in response to companies' complaints. Last week, he said he wanted to keep in place the 25% taxes on $50 billion dollars (44 billion) of Chinese goods that he imposed in July.

Washington followed those with 10% duties on an additional $200 billion (178 billion). All told, the American tariffs covered roughly half of what the US buys from China.

However, Mr Trump postponed another tariff hike that had been set for March 1. That may have reduced US leverage in seeking Chinese concessions.

PA

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The number of waterbirds spending the winter in Ireland has collapsed by 40% in just 20 years.

That's according to a new study by BirdWatch Ireland which found that over the past five years, the number of wintering waterbirds like ducks, geese, swans and wading birds had fallen by 15%.

However, since the mid-1990s, this number has fallen by almost 500,000 individual birds - a fall of 40%.

Ireland is an important wintering area for these birds which breed at Arctic latitudes and migrate southwards to spend the winter on estuaries, coastal bays, rivers and lakes.

The study found that wading bird species, including Knot, Dunlin, Golden Plover and Redshank, have been the worst hit, suffering a combined loss of more than 100,000 individuals (19%) over the past five years.

Wildfowl, including 14 species of duck, three species of swan and four species of geese, declined by 28,000 individuals (9%). In total, 27 species declined by over 10% over the course of the last five years, with only seven species managing to increase by more than 10%.

Lead author of the study and a member of BirdWatch Ireland's conservation team Brian Burke described the rate of decline as "alarming" and said that climate change was directly impacting the collapse in numbers.

"The declines were seeing in Ireland are consistent with the global pattern of declines.

According to figures published by BirdLife International in 2017, 17% of all waterbird species are considered globally threatened, which is extremely concerning.

"Numerous pressures can impact migratory birds on their breeding grounds, along their migration route, and at their wintering sites, and we know that climate change is playing a significant role," he said.

Mr Burke said that recent studies have shown that climate change is causing shifts in the migratory behaviour of many of familiar wintering waterbirds coming to Ireland with milder winters meaning that many species no longer have to migrate as far as Ireland in order to find ice-free wetlands.

In addition, climate change has made conditions on breeding grounds more difficult leading to poorer breeding success and a fall in population.

Problems at wetland sites here in Ireland are also likely to be affecting these species, including disturbance from increased recreational use of wetlands by people and unleashed dogs and loss of habitat due to changes in land use.

However, Mr Burke did point to a number of positives including increases in the number of Whooper Swans and Black-tailed Godwits. There are also 1,400 Little Egrets across the country  a species that wasnt present in Ireland in 1994.

The waterbird population in Ireland is monitored through the Irish Wetland Bird Survey (I-WeBS) and coordinated by BirdWatch Ireland.
A cancer patient has being jailed after he admitted a violent street robbery in which he broke the victim's leg.

Martin Hanley (55) knocked Frank O'Neill to the ground with a punch as the victim left a bookmakers shop with some winnings. Hanley demanded money off the victim while he lay on the ground and stamped on his leg.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Hanley is receiving treatment for cancer and has had a lung surgically removed.

Judge Karen O'Connor said the attack was a vicious and frightening one which shocked the victim and has left him worried for his personal safety.

She suspended the last two and a half years of a five-year prison term and told Hanley he would be going to jail for longer but for the fact he has a life changing illness. She placed him on a bond to be of good behaviour for two years and to engage with Probation Services after his release.

The victim's tibia bone was broken during the attack and he is no longer able to run. For some time after the robbery he was unable to walk and could not walk his beloved dog, Judge O'Connor said.

She said the injuries meant the victim, who is aged in his 60s, was likely to suffer from arthritis in the future.

Hanley of Mountjoy Square, Dublin city pleaded guilty to robbery at Gardiner Lane, Dublin on November 23, 2017.

The court heard Hanley targeted and followed the victim before attacking him. He told him he had a knife though no knife was ever produced. He has not come to garda attention since the offence and his lawyer told the court the attack was out of character for him.

Garrett McCormack BL, defending, said his client was at a very low ebb in his life at the time and was sorry for his actions. Hanley and his family had raised 2,000 to offer the victim as a token of remorse but Mr O'Neill refused the offer.

Judge O'Connor made no order regarding the monies. A Probation Service report put Hanley at a moderate risk of re-offending.
Housing charity Threshold has urged the government to clarify the long-term status of the rent pressure zone legislation.

The rules, which cap rent increases at 4% per annum, are currently due to expire before the end of the year.

A spokesperson for Threshold said it is essential that clarity is given to renters in RPZs.

"As it currently stands, the RPZ status for Dublin and Cork expires on December 24," it said.

"Tenants renting in both of these cities need to know now what rental controls will be afforded to them once the designated status expires."

On December 13, 2016, then-Housing Minister Simon Coveney approved the creation of RPZs in the four Dublin councils and in Cork city.

Speaking at the time, he said, "These are areas where annual rent increases have been at 7% or more in four of the last six quarters and where the rent levels are already above the national average. Rent pressure zones will be designated for a maximum 3 years, by which time new supply will have come on stream and pressures will have eased somewhat in these areas.

With the allocation of RPZ status to Navan and Limerick City East this week, there are now five local authority areas and 16 local electoral areas subject to the restrictions.

However, critics say that the extension of the scheme is too little too late for some areas and others have indicated that the rules have not had the required impact.

Members of Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein and the Green Party have called for further interventions in the market, while charities like Threshold and the Simon Communities say that more needs to be done.

Even some of those areas that are currently subject to RPZ legislation have continued to experience significant rent increases in recent years.

Since Quarter 4, 2016, when the legislation was introduced, rent in the south-east of Cork city has increased by 13%, according to the RTB's Rent Index. Renters are now paying 1,323.66 and the average rent paid has increased by more than 7% in each of the last six quarters.

In the Ballincollig-Carrigaline municipal district, the average rent has increased by 14.6% since quarter 4, 2016 to quarter 4, 2018. It now stands at 1305.21 per month.

Limerick city east, which was designated a rent pressure zone this week, has seen its average rents increase by 30.68% in that time while the national average has grown by 14.98% from 986.50 per month to 1,134.29 per month.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said that the Housing Agency 'continues to monitor the rental market and may recommend further areas for designation'.

However, they were unable to say whether designation would be extended.

"Future policy decisions in relation to the rental sector will be informed by ongoing careful analysis of the rental market. Decisions flowing from this process, including in relation to the future RPZ designations, will be outlined in due course."
Plans for Traveller housing at Mount Anville Road in Mount Merrion in Dublin have been dropped.

The decision by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council comes more than 30 years after the site was first selected.
A local authority was "bewilderingly incompetent" in its conduct when it directed a construction firm to trespass on private land to carry out road and drainage works, a High Court judge said.

Ms Justice Una Ni Raifeartaigh made the comment when she awarded 77,000 to members of the Eustace family from Drogheda, Co Louth, for "gross negligence" in the trespass over a nine-year period on family land at the intersection of Donore Road and St John's Road, opposite the Haymarket development in the centre of Drogheda.

Brothers Gerard, Ronald and Noel Eustace, along with their mother Kathleen who has since died, sued Drogheda Borough Council and Jons Civil Engineering, the company directed by the council to carry out the works on the land in 2001.

They claimed damages for trespass and nuisance as well as for misfeasance in public office.

The judge was satisfied that, while there was trespass, the evidence did not prove misfeasance.

"The conduct of the council as a collective entity was in my view deeply disrespectful to the Eustaces' property rights and bewilderingly incompetent", she said.

However, she could not say there was a least one public officer who had both the requisite level of authority to authorise Jons to enter the land as well as the knowledge of the Eustace ownership claim.

The then Louth Co Manager John Quinlivan, now retired, presumably had the requisite authority to give Jons permission to enter upon the lands, she said.

But there was nothing in oral evidence or documents which proved he had knowledge of correspondence sent by the Eustaces about their ownership.

This included material relating to putting the land on the Register of Derelict Sites in the early 1990s signalling their ownership. The judge noted the land seemed to have been left, if not derelict, certainly vacant and the grass on it was cut and it was maintained for several years by the council without objection from the Eustaces.

Senior council engineer, Martina Sheeran, was clearly very involved in the correspondence with the Eustaces and had the requisite knowledge regarding their claim to the land, she said.

But, the judge said, she was an engineer being asked about the title to the land and there was no evidence before the court that she had any role in the ultimate decision to allow Jons go on to the land. Ms Sheeran said she had assumed the council's lawyers had been consulted about it.

One would imagine the first port of call in relation to the ownership would be the council's law agents, she said. But it was a number of months into the 2001 trespass before the law agent became involved and "even then there seems to have been a delay in accepting the Eustace's title".

The precise role of the then Drogheda Town Clerk, BP Hoey, in the whole affair was not clear and he was not called as a witness, the judge said.

In assessing damages for trespass, among the matters she took into account were that the Eustaces repeatedly corresponded with the council in 2001/2 and provided it with a copy of the title deeds in January 2002.

The council could have "easily ascertained" title by making appropriate enquiries.

The trespass, which ultimately resulted in the construction of the Donore slip road on the land, continued until 2010 when talks about buying the land from the family started. A purchase price was not arrived at until 2018 following arbitration.

The judge also found the trespass caused considerable distress and inconvenience to the family. The council also "never adopted a position of clear apology" or showed any haste to remedy the situation.

The attitude of the council in the early years of the trespass was one of gross negligence and it only acknowledged its mistake in a grudging and gradual way, she said.

She awarded 65,000 in compensatory damages and another 12,000 in aggravated damages for the manner in which the council dealt with it over a nine-year period.
Dublin City Council has delivered an emphatic no to property owners seeking planning permission to change the use of their properties to Airbnb style lettings in the city centre.

This follows the Council refusing planning permission to Friends First Life Assurance DAC for the temporary use of six apartments at 43-44 Clarendon Street off Grafton Street for short term letting.

Friends First stated that it had discerned a demand for short-term letting of the apartments as the apartments are located in the heart of the city surrounded by hotels, cafes, restaurants and shopping streets.

However, the city council planner's report stated that planning permission would result in an unwanted precedent for similar development in the area which may then result in the further unacceptable loss of long term residential rental properties in the locality.

The Councils planners report stated that there were serious reservations over the planning application.

The report stated that the need to balance the competing demands of the city centre is acknowledged, including the need to provide additional tourism accommodation, however the proposal would result in existing residential stock being lost to the residential housing system, meaning less long-term and secure accommodation will be available to the growing number of families and people who need it.

The planners report pointed out that the area is a rent pressure zone, where is there is high demand for long term residential rental properties.

The report stated that the loss of six apartments to short term letting is a concern due to the existing housing shortage currently experienced within Dublin City.

Consultants for Friends First stated that the Council had refused a previous change of use application for the apartments last November and the impetus for the fresh application is the lack of progression of regulation and policy around short-term letting.

The consultants stated that since 2016, there has not been a single planning permission for the change of use of apartments to short term letting in the city council area despite the rate of web and central hosted short term holiday lets exponentially increasing.

The consultants also argued that the proposed development is consistent with the delivery of overseeable, enforceable short term letting for visitors.

The consultants state that the proposal simply seeks to regularise a use that has only relatively recently been identified by Government as a change of use in planning terms despite short term letting being already advertised and used.

The consultants submission stated that short term letting is a real tourism accommodation category that must be fulfilled for Dublin and Ireland to compete internationally.

They argued in order to compete internationally "visitor accommodation should include apartment rentals at appropriate locations.

Friends First now has the option of appealing the Council decision to An Bord Pleanala.
A large family syndicate from Dublin have collected a lotto jackpot cheque for 10.2 million.

The happy group, who are keeping the win private, bought the ticket in Spar on O'Connell Street on February 23rd.

This is a fantastic day for our family. We are thrilled at this win and at the fact that it can be shared amongst us all. It will be life-changing, a spokesperson for the group said.

I watched the Lotto draw live on the Saturday night and wrote down the winning numbers. On Sunday morning I got the ticket and checked the numbers.

"I couldnt believe it, so I double checked on teletext. I still wasnt convinced so I rang one of the family and got them to check the numbers. We were all numb!

National Lottery CEO, Dermot Griffin, congratulated the family on the biggest Lotto Jackpot win in two years. We are thrilled for this family and it is great to see the excitement in the National Lottery winners room. The jackpot had not rolled to over 10 million since early in 2017.
Two women who got refugee status here and later became Irish citizens have lost significant test actions over whether they are entitled to enhanced family reunification rights under the Refugee Act.

The Court of Appeal's decision is significant because a person with family reunification rights under the Refugee Act 1996 (the 1996 Act) does not have to meet certain requirements for family reunification under the Immigration Act 2004 or the Non-EEA National Family Reunification Policy.

The three judge Court of Appeal unanimously ruled on Friday the two applicants they are not entitled to the enhanced rights under the 1996 Act because, as a result of citizenship, they are no longer refugees.

Their declarations of refugee status were revoked by operation of law once they acquired Irish citizenship, the court said. One of the women is aged in her thirties and from Somalia. She got refugee status in 2008 and became an Irish citizen in 2013. Before acquiring citizenship, she got permission for her children, her mother and her wards to join her here.

After re-establishing contact with her husband in late 2016, she sought family reunification in respect of him under the 1996 Act but was refused by the Minister for Justice on grounds of her Irish citizenship.

The second woman, aged in her forties and from Uzbekistan, got refugee status here in 2009. After getting citizenship in 2012, she sought family reunification rights under the Refugee Act for her eldest daughter and two young grandchildren but was also refused due to her citizenship.

Both women took separate proceedings against the Minister but their cases were rejected by the High Court's Mr Justice Richard Humphreys.

They appealed and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission was involved in the appeal as an assistant to the court on legal issues.

Giving the COA judgment, Ms Justice Marie Baker noted the Minister had initially taken the view an Irish citizen could not apply for family reunification under Section 18 of the 1996 Act but changed that approach in 2010 and processed such applications between 2010 and 2017 on foot of legal advice which the Minister now contended was incorrect.

The core issue was whether a refugee ceases to be a refugee once they have acquired citizenship of the State, she said. Other issues included the relevance of the Constitution, EU law and the Geneva Convention on refugees.

Central to the definition of refugee in the 1996 Act is that the person be outside the country of their nationality and be unable or unwilling, on account of a well-founded fear, to avail themselves of that country's protection or return to it.

Section 2 of the Act expressly excluded from that definition any person who gets citizenship of the country where they have taken up residence.

She ruled the High Court had correctly held a person ceases to be a refugee within the meaning of the 1996 Act on their acquisition of citizenship of the State.

That decision is consistent with international instruments, including the Geneva Convention, case law and commentary, she said.

She rejected arguments a formal revocation of refugee status is required and noted the power under the 1996 Act to revoke a declaration of refugee status is discretionary, not obligatory.

Family reunification is not an "absolute right" and she disagreed the enhanced rights to family reunification for refugees in Section 18 of the 1996 Act were relevant to interpreting that provision. The applicants in these cases are not refugees as defined in the Act, she said.

Addressing arguments by the IRHEC these family reunification applications must be seen in the context of family life and anti-discrimination principles and rights under the Constitution and ECHR, she said the Minister is obliged to consider those rights, not just in family reunification applications under the 1996 Act but also under the 2004 Act.

While she accepted the Minister's practice between 2010 and 2017 is "problematic", the practical problems resulting from that could not lead to an unwarranted interpretation of section 18 which contained no ambiguity, she held

Costs issues and final orders will be made on a later date.
Last week, the Rusty Gordon LGBTA Democratic Caucus of the Palm Beaches gathered for its monthly meeting where it discussed its current legislative efforts and future social events.

One of the caucus main goals was to lobby for two new Florida constitutional amendments. One would provide Medicaid coverage to eligible low-income adults, and another would prohibit owning assault weapons.

On top of those, some caucus members also laid out priorities for the March 25 and 26 lobby days, which are days dedicated to advocating for even more pieces of legislation in Tallahassee.

The caucus is made up of 27 people, all with one goal: to elect more Democratic leaders in Florida. They strive for this by acting as an open resource to Palm Beach County residents by educating, advocating, and supporting LGBT-friendly policies and politicians.

Stephen Gaskill, president of the statewide LGBTA Democratic Caucus, spoke at the meeting and informed the chapter that their lobbyists would push for the , which would protect LGBT citizens from discrimination in public lodging and food establishments.

The business community needs to step up and support this, Gaskill said.

They also plan to support another bill that would in Florida.

President Kevin Muth expressed his anticipation for this weekends Palm Beach Pride, sponsored by Compass, the LGBT center of the Palm Beaches. The organization will have a booth present for both days of the event for attendees to learn more about them.

We have a fountain of great things in our county, he said.

Theyll be handing out rainbow flags and baby Trump balloons at Pride, according to caucus Vice President Nicholas Coppola.

Muth said he would also be rolling out new social initiatives to boost membership and bring members together. Though theyre still in the planning stage, they include picnics, happy hours, and movie events.

We are a business-oriented caucus, Muth said. When youre not having fun doing what youre doing, you lose business.

Director of South Florida Water Coalition Ryan Rossi made a guest appearance at the meeting and urged caucus members to contact elected officials and dissuade them from lowering Lake Okeechobees water levels.

Rossi said theres tons of Democratic support for keeping the lakes levels as is, but argues that its a nonpartisan issue.

Gaskill later proposed changing the caucus acronym to include a  A in LGBTA stands for ally.)

Their next meeting will be held at Compass on April 16 at 6:45 p.m. You can also visit them at their booth at Palm Beach Pride on March 30 and 31.
Gardai have started a manhunt for a gang of robbers who stole a substantial amount of cash from a shop in Co. Limerick overnight.

The gang smashed a hole through the roof of OFlynns Centra store in Bruff and used a ladder to get in and out of the premises, a garda source said.

The gang stole a large amount of cash from an ATM machine in the store and may have also targeted a safe in the store.

Three weeks ago the same shop was robbed when the raiders smashed a window and stole cash from a safe.

Appealing for witnesses to this mornings raid, a garda spokesman said: They came in through the ceiling by cutting a hole in the roof. Gardai found a ladder at the scene which we believe they used to get in and out of the shop.

The contents of an ATM appear to have been stolen.

The source said CCTV is being examined to try to ascertain how many raiders were involved, and, how they made their getaway.

Separately, Inspector Luke Conlon, Henry Street Garda Station appealed for anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious overnight in the vicinity of the shop.

The premises which has an adjoining filling station is situated in a built-up part of the town with rows of houses nearby.

There was a lot of damage caused to the roof and youd imagine they might have made a lot of noise trying to get through the roof. If anyone heard anything they can contact Bruff gardai, Insp. Conlon added.

Gardai have carried out a forensic examination at the shop.
Three men arrested for conspiracy to murder in Dublin have been released without charge.

Gardai investigating serious feud-related organised crime in the capital made the arrests in the north inner-city and Finglas on Wednesday.
New figures show the number of knives seized by Gardai has risen by two thirds since 2016.

The Irish Times reports 1,200 knives were found by officers three years ago, but that rose to 2,000 last year.
The Cope Foundation has unveiled an ambitious plan to help more than 60 young people in Cork move towards full employment.

The foundation, the country's largest provider of support services to people with intellectual disabilities or autism, has launched its Ability@Work programme which will make dedicated supported employment services available to young people aged 18 to 29 to help them as they move from education to training and, hopefully, into full-time jobs.

The team driving the plan has already placed jobseekers with Lidl, Mater Private Hospital Cork, Dukes Coffee Company, Sodexo and Cafe Velo.

They hope that by working with more local businesses, they will promote inclusivity and diversity in the workplace and make Cork the inclusive capital of Ireland.

Amy Begley, who works part-time as a customer assistant in Lidl in Kanturk, said she loves her job and the opportunities it provides. I love the fact that Im able to get up and go to work," she said.

It is so nice to be able to say yes, I have a job, I am proud of that.

"I love meeting the customers, greeting them with a smile and Hi, how are you? It can really make a difference to someones day. Having a job is brilliant for me financially and for my independence, its nice that I can socialise and pay my way for trips.

"Im just back from a trip to Switzerland - if it wasnt for the money I make from my job I wouldnt have been able to go.

Ken Kiely, Amy Begley and Gerard Whealey who are supported by Cope Foundations Ability@Work with Jonathan Healy at the launch of the programme

Lidl's Conor ODonovan said they were delighted to collaborate with Ability@Work to give Amy a job.

"At Lidl our core values are trust, respect, recognition and responsibility," he said. "Our involvement in Ability@Work allows us to really live these values by providing employment opportunities to people who, ordinarily, face barriers to gaining access to employment.

Cope said the scheme also provides prospective employers with disability awareness training for their staff, while organisations can gain a greater insight and understanding around disability issues. The foundation's chief executive, Sean Abbott, said they work with amazing people every day who would be an asset to any workforce:

"They do not see their disability as a reason why they cannot work, and this programme works to reinforce that. The reports we receive from participating companies about how their new employees have made such a positive impact on the entire workforce is heartening and reinforces our view that inclusivity is the way forward.
A Meath mortician is planning to open the first Irish facility to offer eco-friendly cremations, using water not flames.

Elizabeth Oakes (aged 32) is currently in talks with planning departments to open the revolutionary Aquamation Centre which will offer a water-based cremation.

Elizabeth, who says she is the only person to hold a degree in Mortuary Science in Ireland says she has been inundated with queries since she first mooted the idea.

I was at a trade fair in the US when I saw the concept of Aquamation and realised that this was the future for funerals in Ireland, she said.

Aquamation is eco-friendly and uses 95% water mixed with 5% alkaline solution.

The alkaline, when mixed with water naturally heats up and dissolves the body skin, tissue and muscle, leaving only the bones behind.

The bones are then processed in a cremulator and people get 30% more of their loved ones back as the smaller bones tend to totally disintegrate in traditional flame cremation.

In addition, Elizabeth says that artificial limbs are totally unharmed and can be recycled after the Aquamation process.

Any prosthetic hips or knees arent affected by the process so can be recycled and reused.

"Aquamation is also good news for the environment and she says, there are less CO2 emissions and vapourising of mercury from mouth fillings.

"It has seventeen times less impact on the environment than flame cremation but the costs don't differ.

Elizabeth says that Aquamation also provides reassurance to many religious people.

The Aquamation Centre

Ive noticed that as a predominantly Catholic country, many people think of flames and automatically think of the devil and hell, whereas water is more calming and gentler to the person.

Elizabeth, who obtained her degree in America is in discussions about a possible location for the Aquamation Crematorium along the Meath/Dublin border and hopes to be able to offer the service next year.

The concept has led to a nomination in Irelands Young Entrepreneur awards in the coming weeks.
Latest: Following this afternoon's rejection of Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement, Fianna Fail's Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers believes that a no-deal Brexit is "a distinct possibility".

Deputy Chambers called the outcome of the vote deeply regretful and warned that the clock is ticking as there is just two weeks until a potential crash out by the UK.

"If this were to unfold it would have grave consequences for our country and likely decimate a number of industries, in particular, the agri-food and fishing sectors," said Ms Chambers.

Intensive efforts must, therefore, continue to avoid such a catastrophic outcome.

The Fianna Fail TD said that the government must provide clarity for the general public on what a no-deal outcome would mean for the country.

"Specific details regarding the financial aid package that will be made available, firm commitment that a hard border will be avoided in such a crisis scenario and clarification on the prospect of a land-bridge."

Ms Chambers warned that the government "cannot afford to row back on the commitments contained in the Withdrawal Agreement".

Where to next?! MPs reject the #Brexit Withdrawal Agreement for a third time. Tough decisions need to be made and we must do all we can to avoid a no-deal Brexit, this has to be the one thing we all agree on. pic.twitter.com/fy058tjHDm  Lisa Chambers (@lichamber) March 29, 2019

- additional reporting by Digital Desk

Taoiseach says Ireland must support long extension of Brexit deadline

Update 4.15pm: Ireland must support a long extension of the Brexit deadline if the UK significantly shifts its approach to leaving the EU, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says.

His statement comes following another humiliating defeat today for British prime minister Theresa May and her Brexit Withdrawal Deal in Westminster.

Her third attempt to squeeze through a deal was defeated by 58 votes. This was despite separating out the future UK-EU relationship and that it was not a meaningful vote.

After another dramatic day in London, there is now much speculation of a snap UK general election or a fresh referendum on Brexit. Mrs May is also facing multiple calls to resign immediately.

In the wake of the 344 to 286 MP vote against the deal, the EU have announced an emergency leaders summit to be held on April 10 to decide the next step on the UK's position.

In a statement this afternoon, Mr Varadkar signalled that the UK still needed to recognise that a no-deal was now a possibility. He stated:

The Government notes the decision of the House of Commons to reject the indicative Withdrawal Agreement. It is now up to the UK to indicate how it plans to proceed in order to avoid a No Deal scenario.

The European Council has agreed unanimously that the Withdrawal Agreement will not be re-opened.

Ireland has been preparing intensively for a No Deal scenario. But no one should under-estimate the difficulties that a No Deal will present, for all of us, including the UK. It is not clear that the UK has fully understood that No Deal is not off the agenda. Rather, its a growing possibility.

With growing calls for an election in the UK and further Westminster votes scheduled next week, including on a second vote and a soft Brexit, attention will also turn to EU member states and whether an extension could actually be granted to London. This will likely be decided on April 10 at the EU summit-just two days before thew Brexit deadline.

Mr Varadkar added: We welcome the decision of President Donald Tusk to call a European Council meeting. I will have the opportunity to meet one-to-one with President Macron and Chancellor Merkel before that. I will also speak to other Heads of Government by phone. It is now incumbent on the UK to chart a realistic way forward for consideration at that Council meeting.

I believe we must be open to a long extension should the United Kingdom decide to fundamentally reconsider its approach to Brexit and put back on the table options previously ruled out. I believe that will result in a generous and understanding response from the 27.
Post-natal care for mothers in the country's maternity hospitals is not up to standard because of staff shortages, a maternity care expert has claimed.

Staffing concerns have been raised in the wake of the death of mother-of-three Marie Downey and her four-day-son, Darragh at Cork University Maternity Hospital this week.

It was reported today that three nurses were caring for 31 patients on Ms Downey's ward when she was found lying over her son on the floor of her single room on Monday. Her baby died the following day.

Ms Downey was originally from Ballyagran, Co Limerick, but lived in Knockanevin, Kildorrery, Co Cork.

Health Minister, Simon Harris, said an independent review into what happened would take place in addition to the hospital's investigation.

Krysia Lynch, maternity care expert and chair of AIMS Ireland, said staffing issues in maternity care had been an issue for a long time.

AIMS Ireland is an organisation formed in 2007 by women following their experience in the Irish maternity system.

Ms Lynch said post-natal care always emerged as the most problematic in surveys conducted by AIMS.

Women would report that most of the focus of care is on their baby and making sure that their baby is ok. There is very little focus on them  how they are feeling and how things are working out for them, she said.

And second and third-time mothers would say that whatever about the care if you had a normal delivery you are less likely to receive the same level of attention as a first-time mum.

Post-natal care was at the bottom of the ladder because most of the available resources went into ante-natal care and the delivery suite.

The need for more midwives was identified in the National Maternity Strategy 2016-2026.

"More midwives have been employed but the gap continues to be greater than what it should be," said Ms Lynch.

She also said the breastfeeding reference in Ms Downey's case was unusual because it did not contribute to her situation.

Mothers have to get and out of bed all the time to look after their babies, she said.

A spokesperson for the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said it could not comment on individual patient cases.

Meanwhile, health services are expected to be hit by further work stoppages next month as over 7,000 SIPTU members employed as support staff in major hospitals are to ballot for strike action.

The move follows a decision by the union's support sector committee to take action in response to an ongoing dispute about pay awards granted under agreed job evaluation processes.

Around 500 ambulance personnel who are members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association will hold two further strike days on Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 10 in their continuing campaign for their right to join and be represented by the PNA.

An INMO spokesperson said the Labour Court was expected to issue its recommendation on a draft contract for nurses and midwives next week.
The long-delayed report into illegal birth registrations will be submitted to children's minister Katherine Zappone before Easter.

The report will be based on a scoping exercise announced by Ms Zappone at the end of May following the discovery by Tusla of 126 cases in which births were illegally registered between 1946 and 1969 in the records of St Patricks Guild. The records transferred to the agency in 2016.

The scoping exercise is being led by independent reviewer, Marion Reynolds, and involves the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) and Tusla.

The final report has been delayed twice since last May. It was initially due in October of last year. However, in September Ms Zappone said the report had been delayed until mid-December due to it being a very complex" task and issues that had arisen "in relation to data protection and GDPR. It was then delayed again until Easter of this year.

To date, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) has declined to reveal the sample size of the 150,000 records to be examined as part of the review or the methodology involved.

The scoping exercise has also been criticised for being focused only on illegal registrations and not all forms of illegal adoption.

Ms Zappone and her Department have also repeatedly defended its failure to launch an investigation into illegal adoptions or to carry out an audit of adoption records held by the State before now.

The Irish Examiner has reported on such cases going back to 2010 and has also revealed the level of knowledge of the issue within the DCYA going back to at least 2011.

The State's own regulatory body for adoption - the AAI - warned the DCYA about the scale of the problem on three separate occasions in 2011, 2013, and in 2015.

It specifically cited "several hundred" cases at St Patrick's Guild but also warned that there may be thousands more cases across other agencies.

In 2015, it sent the DCYA a detailed spreadsheet containing 90 cases that it felt represented illegal registrations. This information was not acted upon at that time.

Despite being aware of the AAI cases as far back as 2011, the DCYA has now said that it is carrying out "a validation exercise" in relation to them.
Noeline Blackwell, CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, has welcomed a review of treatment for sexual assault victims by the Department of Health.

Details of the review of the States six sexual assault treatment units in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Mullingar, Letterkenny and Waterford were announced by the Minister for Health Simon Harris on Thursday.

It calls for increased resourcing for the units to ensure a sustainable service into the future, and the introduction of more holistic care for patients over the long term. Staff supports should be increased to resolve systemic under-management and greater uniformity of services needs to be introduced.

Ms Blackwell told RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show that at present all units are significantly under-resourced and she welcomed the review which she says will make a huge difference.

She pointed out that people who are victims of rape or assault are in a state of shock and if the recommendations in the report are implemented they will improve the situation enormously.

According to the report, about 50 patients had to travel to a unit outside their local area, leading to delays in their treatment. The extra travel involved added to their trauma.

According to one patient quoted in the report: It was nerve-wracking, it was very emotional waiting so long. I would rather get it over and done with quickly.

Ms Blackwell said such circumstances added to the trauma for victims who had done nothing wrong yet had to travel in a garda car for a long distance to receive treatment.

It can take time, it can be very difficult and its never easy.

She pointed out that the numbers attending the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre are growing every year with more people needing help. This could be that more are disclosing or that more assaults are happening. The Garda figures cant tell us that. But undoubtedly the numbers are increasing.

Ms Blackwell said that one in five callers to the Centres crisis 24-hour helpline is male while 10% seeking therapeutic help are men.

She said: It can be harder for some men to seek help.
Equality Florida hosted its sixth annual Palm Beach gala last week at West Palm Beachs Culture Lab, which pulled in almost 200 attendees.

Several Palm Beach County figures, like Riana Petrone, PNCs Vice President of Business Banking Paul Abad, recent elected officials, and others, attended for a good cause. As for money raised, Chris Rhoades, a member of the organizations Steering Committee, said, $18,450 was raised in the room tonight, for a total of $52,695 raised for the gala. If we count the $22,500 in kind donations thats $75,195 in total.

Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida's LGBT community. It was formed in 1997 and has helped defeat many pieces of anti-LGBT legislation filed in Tallahassee since its founding.

It has fought efforts to overturn local anti-discrimination policies, repeal all safe schools policies, expand Floridas anti-gay adoption ban, and prohibit domestic partnership benefits and protections.

Last years gala honored Vita Nova, a nonprofit offering resources for homeless youth, and Sandra Saladrigas, co-chair of Equality Floridas Palm Beach gala. This year, the main honoree was Rep. Lois Frankel, who received the 2019 Voice for Equality reward.

Frankel was the chairwoman on the AIDS Task Force at the time when funding for research and treatment was needed. She is a former mayor of West Palm Beach and has served as a member of the LGBT Equality Caucus.

As she accepted her award, she spoke about her vision for her grandchild.

I want him to have a life of joy and a life of opportunity, she said. I want him to be loved and to love whomever he wants.

This event was sponsored by Compass, Guardians Credit Union, Art Hive Magazine, Big Mamas House of Sweets, and New York Sound and Visual. This is the fifth year PNC has been the statewide sponsor. Over the years, PNC has donated over a quarter million to Equality Florida.

Over cocktails and light hors doeuvres, popular Palm Beach DJ Karin Ward provided the soundtrack to the dance floor that kept guests grooving. Ballet Florida also sung at the gala.

To complement the art being sold, the gala was arts-themed, decked with Andy Warhol decor. In true Warhol fashion, guests saw huge sunglasses hanging from the ceiling along with images of Liza Minnelli and Warhols famous Campbells soup cans.

Vhttps://eqfl.org
The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will meet the French President and German Chancellor next week to discuss Brexit.

Mr Varadkar will visit Paris on Tuesday for discussions with Emmanuel Macron.

He will also welcome Angela Merkel to Dublin for a meeting on Thursday.

The Taoiseach said both leaders have been "strong and consistent" allies of Ireland in responding to the challenges posed by Brexit.

He said: "Both leaders have been strong and consistent allies of Ireland in responding to the unique challenges we face from Brexit. I will again express the Governments gratitude for their continuing solidarity. We will take stock of the latest developments on Brexit when we meet, efforts to secure ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement and No Deal planning

"We will also take the opportunity to consider the Future of Europe agenda. Important discussions lie ahead, with an informal Summit on the Unions strategic agenda due in early May in Sibiu, Romania, and negotiations on the EU budget for the period after 2020 due to be finalised by the end of this year.

"While I meet regularly with both the President and Chancellor at the European Council in Brussels, these bilateral meetings are an important opportunity for an in-depth and one-to-one exchange on how to further strengthen our relations away from the bustle of the European Council.

"Our bilateral relations with both Germany and France are better than ever - and will become even more important as we move to a European Union of 27 members.
A man who convinced a child to play sexualised games of truth or dare and later coerced her into sexual intercourse has been jailed for 18 months.

Graham Doyle (aged 31) was a teenager when he orally raped the 13-year-old. During a relationship which he told her to keep secret he repeatedly sexually assaulted her.

He pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to four sample counts of sexual assault and one count of oral rape in Dublin on dates between August 1, 2004, and March 31, 2005.

Doyle of North Circular Road, Dublin, has four previous convictions for offences of defilement of a child under the age of 15 which date back to 2011. He met the teenage victim in that case on a social networking site while claiming to still be a teenager himself.

The rape victim went to gardai in 2013 after reading about Doyle's convictions for defilement of a child.

Mr Justice Michael White sentenced Doyle to five years imprisonment but suspended the final three-and-a-half years of that sentence on condition that he be of good behaviour and engage with probation services for the entirety of that suspended period.

Mr Justice White said that the previous convictions, which post-date these offences, re-enforce that Doyle had improper or deviant sexual tendencies. He acknowledged that Doyle had used severe psychological coercion on the victim in this case.

He said the aggravating factors in the case were the seriousness of the offences, the impact they had on the victim and her age at the time of the offences.

Mr Justice White said the mitigating factors were the early plea of guilty, Doyle's very genuine remorse, his age at the time of the offences and his lack of previous convictions at the time.

He said Doyle was a minor at the time of the offending and there is an important public policy issue in sentencing an adult for their actions as a child.

At an earlier sentence hearing, Detective Garda Lorraine Killilea told Orla Crowe SC, prosecuting, that Doyle was aged 16 when he encountered the then 13-year-old victim.

The two entered into a relationship which he convinced her to keep secret. He began to invite her to his home while his parents were absent and involved her in sexualised games of truth or dare.

On one occasion, in late 2004, Doyle signalled the victim to come into his bedroom wardrobe while her friend was in the room and made her perform oral sex on him. He talked the injured party into sexual intercourse on two occasions, the court heard.

The court heard that the four counts of sexual assault were sample counts and that the offending behaviour took place two or three times a week, coming to an end in April of 2005.

In interviews with gardai, he made admissions to the offending but claimed he was unaware of the legal age limits at the time.

Det. Gda Killilea agreed with James Dwyer SC, defending, that the victim was psychologically coerced into the sexual activity rather than being physically forced.

In her victim impact statement, which she read out in court, the woman said she was taken advantage of by a wolf in sheep's clothing who destroyed her childhood.

The woman said that at first she was excited to have a boyfriend and was looking forward to holding hands and going on dates to the cinema, but Doyle had more sinister motives.

She said she wished she could open up her chest and show the court the scars on her heart. She said she had spent half her life trying to bury the events but has never been able to do so.

The woman said the events left her with little to no self-worth and that she felt as though what had happened was her fault. When she read about Doyle's convictions the feelings came back worse than ever because she knew that there was another me out there.

I was the practice run, she said. The woman said that family members have been unable to dissuade her from the belief that she is responsible for the other victim and that had she told someone of the offences when she was a teenager then the other girl would not have been hurt.

She said she came to court to give her 13-year-old self a voice and her current self some closure, and that she had at least achieved the first of her goals.

Mr Justice White said that she should not feel any responsibility for what occurred as she was an innocent child who was taken advantage of by an older boy. He paid tribute to her courage and wished her the best in the future.
With chaos reigning in London, embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May despite two heavy defeats is clinging to the Withdrawal Agreement she negotiated with the EU last November.

Because of those two defeats in the House of Commons, alternative options were sought but ultimately rejected by MPs on Wednesday night, who voted down eight possible solutions.

Given that, Mrs May's deal, battered and bruised as it is, is back on the table ahead of today's round of voting.

Just what is in the Withdrawal Agreement, and why is it so controversial?

Northern Ireland backstop:

Without question, the most contentious aspect of the deal is the protocol relating to Ireland in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

Known as the backstop, it provides that if no long-term trade deal has been agreed by the end of 2020 that avoids a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and if there is no extension to the transition period, then a backstop consisting of "a single customs territory between the (European) Union and the United Kingdom" will be triggered.

The single customs territory, if it were needed, would ensure that completely frictionless trade could continue across the Irish border. Hated by the DUP and the hardline Brexiteers, it is seen a weakening the Union. It remains the main impediment to progress.

Transition:

The deal provides for a 21-month transition period in which the UK will need to abide by all EU rules, but will lose membership of its institutions.

The draft withdrawal agreement says the transition can be extended, but only for a period of one or two years. Originally, it was stated that both the UK and EU must agree to an extension, the EU has since relaxed it stance on this.

Legal provisions:

Under the deal, the UK would remain under the European Court of Justice (ECJ) jurisdiction during the transition, which is also a major bone of contention for hardline Brexiteers.

Also, a joint UK-EU committee would be established to try to resolve any disputes on the interpretation of the withdrawal agreement.

If the backstop is triggered and the UK forms a single customs territory with the EU, the ECJ will not be able to resolve disputes between the UK and EU directly. The whole dispute resolution procedure will be backed up by an arbitration panel.

Fishing rights:

The Withdrawal Agreement provides for a separate deal to be signed to define access to EU fishing in UK waters. "The Union and the United Kingdom shall use their best endeavours to conclude and ratify 'an agreement' on access to waters and fishing opportunities, the Agreement states.

Money:

The draft agreement sets out the calculations for the financial settlement (or "divorce bill") that the UK will need to pay to the EU to settle all of its obligations.

It is believed the amount involved is 39bn and it will be paid over a number of years.

Movement of people:

UK citizens in the EU, and EU citizens in the UK, will retain their residency and social security rights after Brexit.

Citizens who take up residency in another EU country during the transition period (including the UK of course) will be allowed to stay in that country after the transition.

Anyone that stays in the same EU country for five years will be allowed to apply for permanent residence.
Connacht crashed out of the Challenge Cup, losing to Sale Sharks tonight at the AJ Bell Stadium against Aviva Premiership side Sale Sharks.

The hosts controlled the opening period and, although Jack Carty gave the Irish province the lead, tries from Byron McGuigan and Denny Solomona, as well as the accurate kicking of AJ MacGinty, helped the hosts take a 20-3 advantage into the interval.

That was enough for the Sharks to claim the win as the second period remained scoreless until Kyle Godwin touched down, but by then it was too late.

As a result, the Sharks progress and will face either La Rochelle or Bristol in the next round.

Despite fielding a talented backline, the visitors were weakened up front and they were regularly sent into reverse by Sale's big carriers, often conceding ground to a dominant home side.

The start gave an indicator as to what was to come when Rob Webber, Jono Ross and James Phillips powered into the opposition rearguard. It looked as though it was about to be breached but Carty superbly read the play, intercepted Faf De Klerk's pass and sprinted clear.

Godwin was on his shoulder and the Ireland international attempted to offload, but his pass was a poor one and the Australian duly knocked on.

Although the stand-off did give Andy Friend's men the advantage minutes later, that profligacy was to prove costly as the English club put further pressure on their defence and this time they ceded.

In all honesty, it was far too easy as a simple move resulted in Solomona feeding McGuigan to score in the left-hand corner.

It was unselfish from the England wing but the arch-poacher would get his try soon after as MacGinty's pass gave him a simple finish.

The Sharks' fly-half excellently added conversions to both before kicking successive penalties as the Greater Manchester outfit held a 17-point buffer at the interval.

Connacht were better at the start of the second period, with their scrum far more solid, and they managed to create a couple of half-chances, but any momentum garnered was halted by unforced errors.

Godwin, who had gone into the fly-half position after an injury to Carty, rather summed up their evening when his attempted kick to touch went dead.

They were boosted by a yellow card for Phillips following a lazy tackle on Godwin and the Australian punished his indiscretion by going over, but that was all they muster in the final quarter as Sale went away with the win and progressed to the next round.

- Press Association
Update: Theresa May's withdrawal agreement has been defeated for the third time in the House of Commons today.

British MPs rejected her deal by 286 votes to 344, a majority 58.

Mrs May said: "I fear we are reaching the limits of the process in this House.

The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on April 12  in just 14 days time. This is not enough time to agree, legislate for and ratify a deal, and yet the House has been clear it will not permit leaving without a deal.

And so we will have to agree an alternative way forward.

So what are the possible options?

Following the vote, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk announced that he had called a Council meeting for April 10.

That is just two days before the Brexit day of April 12 when a crash out from the EU is possible unless further negotiations or extensions are agreed upon.

The UK has until then to indicate a way forward for consideration by the European Council and must declare whether it will be putting candidates forward to the European elections in May.

The European Commission said this afternoon that a no-deal Brexit was looking like a "likely scenario" on April 12.

"No-deal scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario. The EU has been preparing for this since 12/2017. Now fully prepared. We will remain united. Benefits of WA, including transition period, will not be replicated in no-deal scenario. Sectoral mini-deals are not an option. pic.twitter.com/JJndIjMtTy  European Commission  (@EU_Commission) March 29, 2019

MPs voted to oppose a no-deal Brexit, while the British PM has ruled out contesting the elections.

Therefore, the option of a possible extension is likely to be discussed on April 10. However, any further extension beyond April 12 would have to be agreed upon unanimously by the EU.

Further indicative votes are due to take place in Parliament on Monday, with the softer option of a permanent customs union likely to be a prominent issue of debate.

Tory MP Nick Boles put forward a Common Market 2.0 motion for Monday following Mrs May's defeat today.

Another option is to extend Article 50 and hold put Brexit to a people's vote in a second referendum.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that Mrs May should change her deal or call a general election.

An election has been suggested as a way of breaking the Brexit impasse in Parliament.

Earlier - Brexit: What happens next?

British Prime Minister Theresa May is bringing part of her withdrawal agreement to the Commons today as she attempts to convince MPs to vote for her deal.

She will ask politicians to vote on half of the deal which covers the divorce settlement from the European Union.

Given that the future relationship between the UK and the EU, the political declaration, will not be on the table today, it therefore does not constitute a "meaningful vote".

However, it will attempt to meet the condition set down by Speaker John Bercow that Mrs May's deal be sufficiently changed in order to be put to a vote for the third time.

If her deal passes, Brexit will be delayed until May 22.

However, it looks unlikely that the British PM will score a win in Parliament today on what was supposed to be the official leave date.

If the withdrawal agreement is rejected, the UK looks set to crash out of the EU on April 12.

Here are the possible next stages:

Brexit with Theresa May's deal

Mrs May's withdrawal agreement will be voted on in part in the Commons today and will leave out the political declaration on Britain's future relationship with the EU.

Around 30 Eurosceptics are against the deal, as are the DUP. Party leader Arlene Foster wrote in a Belfast Telegraph opinion piece today that the DUP could not support a "bad deal" which could "undermine the Union".

Theresa May will need support from Labour and independent MPs, however, Jeremy Corbyn said the party could not vote for a blindfold Brexit.

In the unlikely event that her deal is passed today, Brexit would be delayed until May 22.

The withdrawal agreement is the draft treaty. After May 22, the UK will enter a transition period for 21 months or more during which talks on a future relationship will take place.

If May's deal passes, she will also be obliged to step down as Prime Minister.

British PM's deal rejected

If Mrs May's deal is rejected for a third time, April 12 will be Brexit day.

However, the EU said it "expects the United Kingdom to indicate a way forward before this date for consideration by the European council".

Any further extension beyond April 12 would have to be agreed upon unanimously by the EU.

More indicative votes are set to take place in Parliament on Monday.

In the absence of further extensions or agreement by MPs, a no-deal exit from the EU has the potential to take place on April 12.

Softer Brexit

During next week's indicative voting session, MPs are likely to vote again on the option of Britain being in a customs union.

The option lost by only eight votes this week, and was one of the most popular proposals put to MPs alongside the vote for a second referendum.

If a permanent customs union is agreed on, the future relationship between the UK and EU could be revised shortly after, with negotiations between the two to take place on the issue.

Under this option, it is still within the realms of possibility that all could be agreed upon by the May 22 deadline.

General election

The British PM has pledged to step down if her deal passes.

Additionally, if MPs vote for a permanent customs union on Monday, Mrs May will be unlikely to support such an option, and if she did, she would split the Cabinet and her party.

A customs union would mean the UK could not create trade deals with non-EU nations, which would be a major sticking point for many in the Conservative party and those in favour of Brexit.

In the event of her resignation, there are up to 10 Cabinet ministers vying for her job, including Boris Johnson who said today that he would support Mrs May's withdrawal agreement.

Other frontrunners include Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid and Amber Rudd.

A general election this year would be the third in four years. It could be a way to break the impasse, but under law, two-thirds of all MPs would need to vote in favour of holding another poll.

Brexit referendum 2.0

The indicative vote on Wednesday championing a second Brexit referendum, the 'confirmatory public vote', lost by a majority of 27.

However, such a process would not be able to take place immediately.

Under UK law, a new piece of legislation would need to be drafted to facilitate the referendum and determine voting rules.

The Electoral Commission would then have to decide what question would be put to the people, which would be then defined in the legislation.

The legislation would have to pass, and a statutory "referendum period" would have to take place.

All of this process could take around 22 weeks, according to the BBC.
SHENZHEN, China  These are not carefree days for Huawei, the Chinese tech behemoth. The United States is trying to persuade the world not to use the company's equipment in cellular networks. The Justice Department has charged the firm and its chief financial officer with bank fraud and theft of trade secrets.

Yet Huawei's business is soaring. And the company's leaders also sound confident that Washington can do little to stop it from flying higher.

Huawei earned more than $US105 billion ($148 billion) in revenue in 2018, up nearly a fifth from 2017. Credit:Bloomberg

Huawei earned more than $US105 billion ($148 billion) in revenue in 2018, up nearly a fifth from 2017, Guo Ping, the company's deputy chairman, said on Friday. Profit grew by a quarter, to more than $US8 billion. Though Huawei has not sold shares to the public, it publishes audited yearly financial results as a gesture toward openness.

Speaking at the company's headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Mr Guo said "we will do everything we can to shake off outside distractions, improve management and make progress toward our strategic goals".
It is no secret that local shopping strips have been doing it tough, but with a remix of tenants the neighbourhood centres are enjoying a revitalisation.

The development of more apartments also means people have fewer cars due to space issues, therefore they are preferring to stay closer to home.

The local strip retail market has gone through an evolution over the past 10 years.

Oxford Street in Paddington enjoys high foot traffic, with a heavy presence of clothing and soft goods outlets. Credit:

According to Ray White's head of research, Vanessa Rader, destination strips such as Oxford Street, Paddington have had to reposition off the back of local development, e-commerce, demographics, spending habits, which have all changed the way that individual interacts with local shopping.
A $US436 million ($616 million) superyacht belonging to a Russian billionaire at the centre of one of the world's costliest divorce battles has been released by a Dubai court after being impounded last year.

Oil and gas tycoon Farkhad Akhmedov was ordered to pay about 40 per cent of his fortune to his former wife Tatiana Akhmedova by London's High Court in 2016 in one of the largest divorce settlements in legal history.

The MV Luna is back in the hands of oil and gas tycoon Farkhad Akhmedov.

But Akhmedov failed to pay the 453 million pound ($835 million) divorce bill and the London court granted a worldwide freezing order, under which Akhmedov's superyacht M.V. Luna was impounded in Dubai.

Luna, an expedition yacht built for Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich before Akhmedov bought it in 2014, has at least nine decks, space for 50 crew, two helipads, a vast swimming pool and a mini submarine.
The heft and density of a brick is unmistakable, so when visitors see Tom Nicholson's installation arcing across the floor of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), they might almost feel the weight of its 3520 bricks.

The arrangement of the bricks, like something that's tumbled down, forms a work called Towards a monument to Batman's Treaty. Nicholson estimates that 3520 bricks would be needed to build a chimney the same height as western Melbourne's now-destroyed Batman's Hill.

Tom Nicholson, Nardoo flag-wave, 2009-10.

Until his death in 1839, John Batman lived at the bottom of that hill in a house that boasted the settlement's first European chimney. The entrepreneur and explorer had travelled from Hobart in 1835 to set up the town, forming a treaty with the Wurundjeri  an almost unheard-of practice in colonial times.

Nicholson has a deep interest in local history, Indigenous and colonial, and also in the idea of the "monument". In his brick project, the two concerns intertwine around the story of the treaty and the 18-metre high hill on traditional Wurundjeri land, which the new arrivals had named after the city founder. Batman's Hill was razed in the mid-1860s to accommodate the spreading town.
But in 1924, when Tasmanian Senator Herbert Payne introduced into the Federal Parliament a bill for compulsory voting, something crucial had changed. The conservatives, led by Billy Hughes, had just campaigned in two conscription plebiscites for the right to compel people to fight for their country. They could hardly now say that compulsory military service was good, while compulsory voting was evil. The parliamentary debate lasted barely an hour. At the next election, the voter turnout rate jumped from 58 per cent to 91 per cent.

It wasn't as though they weren't warned. In 1915, a conservative government in Queensland mistakenly thought that compulsory voting would bring affluent but apathetic property owners to the polling booths. They introduced compulsory voting, and were smashed in the subsequent election by the Labor Party, who went on to govern the state for the next 14 years.

Judith Brett says compulsory voting is such a significant innovation that it should rank with Gallipoli in the national pantheon.

There's a puzzle about Australian politics I'd never been able to figure out. Given that compulsory voting advantages progressives, why did conservatives let it pass parliament in 1924?

From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting by Judith Brett.

The tale of compulsory voting is only one of the fascinating stories contained in Judith Brett's new book, From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage. Compulsory voting, she claims, is such a significant innovation that it should rank with Gallipoli in the national pantheon. But it is only one among many instances in which our electoral system has led the world.

In 1894, South Australian suffragettes brought the state's parliament to the brink of passing a bill to allow women the vote. At the last minute, opponents came up with a cunning strategy  they amended the bill to include what they thought was a ridiculous notion  that women would be able to not only vote, but run for office. Their ploy backfired, and South Australia became the first jurisdiction to allow women full electoral equality.

But while Australia was progressive on gender, the nation was sadly retrograde on race. Indigenous Australians faced a series of barriers to voting  from property qualifications to bans on welfare recipients casting a ballot. Brett explains this as a mix of political calculation and racism. She points out the shocking fact that it was not until 1983 that enrolment and voting were made compulsory for Indigenous Australians. Even today, the Australian Electoral Commission estimates that voter turnout among Indigenous Australians is just 52 per cent.

Australia takes our electoral innovations for granted. We invented the polling booth, arguably an even greater contribution to the wellbeing of the world than the Hills Hoist. We created the secret ballot, which other nations sometimes call "the Australian Ballot". We were among the first in the world to ensure that elections are run by a non-partisan electoral commission.
The main character in Yassmin Abdel-Magied's latest book are a young reader-friendly expression of what she herself has gone through in the public eye. Credit:SBS

You Must Be Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied.

The recent launch of a dedicated young-adult list at Adelaide's Wakefield Press suggests that the slight dip reported in YA sales hasn't shaken the publishing industry's confidence in home-grown teen fiction. The plan for the indie publisher is to release three to four new titles each year, and the first cab off the rank is Making Friends with Alice Dyson, an endearing debut by Poppy Nwosu.

Title character Alice is the kind of girl parents want their kids to be friends with  studious and, more important, unfailingly kind. Yet, Alice herself has only one friend and plans to get through her final year of high school in blissful anonymity, until she features in a (PG-rated) viral video alongside rowdy, bad-rep classmate Teddy Taualai (she always refers to him by his full name  as though positioning herself more as a disapproving adult than potential friend or love interest).

The extended cast of characters includes the usual high-school suspects and associated social pressures: the pursuit of popularity and readiness to gossip and deride. Alice seems refreshingly immune to all this, though it's not clear whether her disinterest is a product of maturity, determination, or social ineptitude. In any case, it takes the stereotypical self-destructive teen angst out of Alice's search for identity and turns it into a story that's quietly thoughtful, joyful and sweetly romantic  in the same wheelhouse as Jaclyn Moriarty's Ashbury/Brookfield books, minus the epistolary style.

Nwosu says the idea that things can end terribly but still be embraced as a positive experience was something she wanted to get across. It may seem like sugar-coating but it's a constructive way of looking at things, and the book itself is an enjoyable ride.
It's Not About the Burqa

Edited by Miriam Khan, Picador $29.99

It's Not About The Burqua by Mariam Khan.

These testimonies and tales from behind the burqa will challenge many prevailing notions of Muslim women. The contributors, largely from the UK and the US, range in age and the subjects and the tone of these pieces vary greatly. One young Pakistani woman, in what is basically a dialogue with her mother, playfully examines the whole notion of modesty and immodesty, taking in exploration of an online dating service. Another experienced activist, who was raped and imprisoned by Egyptian police, urges Muslim women to be loud, swear too much and go too far in pursuing equality. Editor Miriam Khan, in a punchy essay titled Feminism Needs to Die, attacks what she sees as culturally privileged White feminism, saying she's fed up with feminists challenging her for wearing a burqa when it's her choice. Feminism, she insists, has to change, not her. Sexuality, misogyny, mental health, clothing, and the burqa are some of the topics covered in this eye-opening collection.
This Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the gradual self-destruction of an asteroid, whose ejected dusty material has formed two long, thin, comet-like tails. The longer tail stretches more than 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometers) and is roughly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide. The shorter tail is about a quarter as long. The streamers will eventually disperse into space.

A small asteroid has been caught in the process of spinning so fast it's throwing off material, according to new data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories.



Images from Hubble show two narrow, comet-like tails of dusty debris streaming from the asteroid (6478) Gault. Each tail represents an episode in which the asteroid gently shed its material -- key evidence that Gault is beginning to come apart.

Discovered in 1988, the 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer-wide) asteroid has been observed repeatedly, but the debris tails are the first evidence of disintegration. Gault is located 214 million miles (344 million kilometers) from the Sun. Of the roughly 800,000 known asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, astronomers estimate that this type of event in the asteroid belt is rare, occurring roughly once a year.

Watching an asteroid become unglued gives astronomers the opportunity to study the makeup of these space rocks without sending a spacecraft to sample them.

"We didn't have to go to Gault," explained Olivier Hainaut of the European Southern Observatory in Germany, a member of the Gault observing team. "We just had to look at the image of the streamers, and we can see all of the dust grains well-sorted by size. All the large grains (about the size of sand particles) are close to the object and the smallest grains (about the size of flour grains) are the farthest away because they are being pushed fastest by pressure from sunlight."

Gault is only the second asteroid whose disintegration has been strongly linked to a process known as a YORP effect. (YORP stands for "Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack," the names of four scientists who contributed to the concept.) When sunlight heats an asteroid, infrared radiation escaping from its warmed surface carries off angular momentum as well as heat. This process creates a tiny torque that can cause the asteroid to continually spin faster. When the resulting centrifugal force starts to overcome gravity, the asteroid's surface becomes unstable, and landslides may send dust and rubble drifting into space at a couple miles per hour, or the speed of a strolling human. The researchers estimate that Gault could have been slowly spinning up for more than 100 million years.

Piecing together Gault's recent activity is an astronomical forensics investigation involving telescopes and astronomers around the world. All-sky surveys, ground-based telescopes, and space-based facilities like the Hubble Space Telescope pooled their efforts to make this discovery possible.

The initial clue was the fortuitous detection of the first debris tail, observed on Jan. 5, 2019, by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Hawaii. The tail also turned up in archival data from December 2018 from ATLAS and the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) telescopes in Hawaii. In mid-January, a second shorter tail was spied by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii and the Isaac Newton Telescope in Spain, as well as by other observers. An analysis of both tails suggests the two dust events occurred around Oct. 28 and Dec. 30, 2018.

Follow-up observations with the William Herschel Telescope and ESA's (European Space Agency) Optical Ground Station in La Palma and Tenerife, Spain, and the Himalayan Chandra Telescope in India measured a two-hour rotation period for the object, close to the critical speed at which a loose "rubble-pile" asteroid begins to break up.

"Gault is the best 'smoking gun' example of a fast rotator right at the two-hour limit," said team member Jan Kleyna of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.

An analysis of the asteroid's surrounding environment by Hubble revealed no signs of more widely distributed debris, which rules out the possibility of a collision with another asteroid causing the outbursts.

The asteroid's narrow streamers suggest that the dust was released in short bursts, lasting anywhere from a few hours to a few days. These sudden events puffed away enough debris to make a "dirt ball" approximately 500 feet (150 meters) across if compacted together. The tails will begin fading away in a few months as the dust disperses into interplanetary space.

Based on observations by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, the astronomers estimate that the longer tail stretches over half a million miles (800,000 kilometers) and is roughly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide. The shorter tail is about a quarter as long.

Only a couple of dozen active asteroids have been found so far. Astronomers may now have the capability to detect many more of them because of the enhanced survey capabilities of observatories such as Pan-STARRS and ATLAS, which scan the entire sky. "Asteroids such as Gault cannot escape detection anymore," Hainaut said. "That means that all these asteroids that start misbehaving get caught."

The researchers hope to monitor Gault for more dust events.

The team's results have been accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.

For more information about 6478 Gault and Hubble, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2019-22

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble



Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Alan Jones has once again escaped punishment from the Australian Communications and Media Authority despite using the N-word multiple times on air.

This week's ruling  which found Jones had breached "accepted standards of decency" during a tirade about the last year's Liberal leadership crisis  carried no apparent consequences. The move has prompted a discussion about whether the communications watchdog needs greater powers to stamp out inappropriate language.

August's broadcast, in which Jones described Liberal MP Mathias Cormann as the "n----- in the woodpile", is not the first time the Sydney-based shock jock has used the outdated phrase. In 2012, he used the same expression to describe former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's leadership ambitions.

Jones has also previously dropped the N-word while talking about the cricket and when advocating for farmers.
Occupational therapist Kate Bourne, 37, was devastated when her first baby, Isaac, died at only 24 days old. Bereavement midwife Michele Simpson, 56, gave her hope and supported her through her next three pregnancies.

Kate: "Michele is like your own mum. I could tell her anything and she would listen without judgment." Credit:Jessica Hromas

KATE: I gave birth to Isaac in 2012 at 23 weeks and six days. He came out and we heard a tiny, tiny cry, but he was still too young and they had to incubate. He was in the neonatal intensive care unit and doing so well until day 21. His bowel was perforated, then he had an infection. He was 24 days old when he died.

I walked out of the hospital thinking, "I have no control over anything in my life at all"; I couldn't breathe. I was angry and lost and so, so sad. I used to walk around with Isaac's little suit over my shoulder and sort of pretend [he was alive], just to try and feel something. I never thought I'd be happy again.

Michele called out of the blue to say we'd been referred to Sydney's Royal Hospital for Women's perinatal loss clinic. They do investigations and help you through the next pregnancy. The first meeting was like talking to a friend. She actually listened. I rambled on about Isaac, showed photos and cried so much I thought I was going to scare her off. She's like your own mum, just so caring. I could tell her anything and she would listen without judgment. She'd say, "When you get pregnant again, and you will " She gave us the first glimmer of hope. I left thinking, "I've found my lifeline."
The ACT now has a real-time prescription monitoring system in a bid to curb the misuse of controlled drugs such as opioids.

It follows recommendations from Coroner Margaret Hunter to set up the scheme in 2017, after an inquest into the death of Canberra man Paul Fennessy, who died of a prescription drug overdose in 2010.

The ACT now has a real-time prescription monitoring program. Credit:MICHEL O SULLIVAN

The government hopes the system will prevent doctor shopping and limit the misuse of controlled drugs.

The online prescription monitoring website, known as DORA, is now available for eligible health professionals.
Queers. Curated by Mark Gatiss. Directed by Steph Roberts & Jarrad West. The Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre, April 5 to 20. Open one hour before performances. 6275 2700 or canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

The Courtyard Studio will be transformed into an English tavern with beer, cocktails and a pinball machine for its next production. Everyman Theatre's first show for 2019 is Queers, curated by Sherlock and Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss.

The cast of Everyman Theatre's production of Queers. Credit:Eva Schroeder

Everyman co-founder Jarrad West has teamed up with Steph Roberts to direct this series of monologues. They were commissioned to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men over the age of 21 in England and Wales. Queers was shown on the BBC as well as staged.

It's intended as an immersive piece of storytelling and singing with the audience encouraged to interact with the setting - having a drink, playing pinball - before some tavern regulars share their "queer" experiences of British life over the last century.
When Jade Breen's mum handed her a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird and said "You should read it" the Canberra teenager had no idea just a few months later she would be playing Scout, one of literature's most-loved characters.

"I feel like it's an honour to be playing such a famous role," she said.

Jamie Boyd (Jem), Jade Breen (Scout) and Jake Keen (Dill) star in To Kill a Mockingbird at Theatre 3. Credit:Megan Doherty

The 13-year-old joins Jamie Boyd as Jem and Jake Keen as Dill as the children in the enduring tale of racial inequality and innocence lost in the 1930s America south. The play, adapted from Harper Lee's novel, is now being performed by the Canberra Rep at Theatre 3 until April 13.
I first saw Toni Childs in Canberra about 30 years ago. Her songs Ive Got To Go Now, Stop Your Fussin, Dont Walk Away were anthems for a generation of women long before the #metoo movement, women discovering their place in the world, women unsure of their direction. Her distinctive voice filled our mix tapes alongside Tracy Chapman, Suzanne Vega and Melissa Etheridge, all singing about a womans strength and power.

Theyre two things that still drive Childs, now 61, but we need to go back to get to the present.

Toni Childs: Things are a little bit different now, its more about real connection, and I have the courage to say the things now that seem the hardest to say."

So much has happened in those 30 years, she says, Oh, my god, thats so long go, so much life has happened, where do we start?

Now living in Byron Bay - she met her Australian husband, sound designer, composer and filmmaker Mik Lavage, on a plane flight in 2010 - Childs journey has taken a few twists and turns along the way.
ACT Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris said she knew nothing about the federal government's pledge to spend $52 million on ACT health projects until a media announcement and "would have loved a call" beforehand.

She welcomed the funding pledge and said she had approached the federal health department to get more information.

Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris welcomed the federal health funding announcement. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Health Minister Greg Hunt and ACT Senator Zed Seselja on Friday announced $52 million health package for the ACT ahead of Tuesday's budget.

The government pledged $13.5 million for a residential eating disorder centre and $13.5 million expansion of the intensive care unit at Canberra Hospital.
Detainees at a high-security detention centre in Melbourne's north say they are concerned for the welfare of a severely mentally unwell Canadian woman who has been locked up in the facility.

The 64-year-old woman is understood to be suffering from serious mental health problems. Detainees have been told the woman has dementia, but it's unclear whether she has been formally diagnosed by a psychiatrist.

The woman is being kept in a room with a blacked-out window at MITA North, a high-security compound at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation centre in Broadmeadows.

An image from video footage showing the Canadian woman in her room, before the window was blacked out by guards.

As well as asylum seekers, MITA North is home to people awaiting deportation after having their visas cancelled on character grounds, including for criminal convictions, and links to outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised crime.
One senior NSW Liberal MP agrees, saying Berejiklian now has incredible strength to run the government on her terms. In her stride: Gladys Berejiklian has a mandate to run the NSW government in her own right. Credit:AAP Gladys will be much more confident to throw her weight around. She will do it her way, which is always supportive, but she will be quite clear about what she expects, the senior figure says. She has had an incredible trial run carrying on Mike [Baird]s legacy and now it is her time. I think until now, she felt she didnt have the legitimacy because everything with Gladys is earned. Now she has earned it  She is the great hope of the progressive Liberals. Indeed, climate policy is likely to feature more prominently as the Premier stamps her moderate Liberal brand of politics on the government. Environmental policy challenges flared during the election campaign after mass fish kills in the Menindee region in January and opinion polls revealed growing voter anxiety about the environmental protection and climate change.

A survey published by the Herald during the campaign found voters rated the environment as a more pressing concern than hospitals, schools and public transport. Nearly six in 10 respondents said environmental protection and climate change would sway the way they vote. Matt Kean, who heads the Liberal moderates in NSW, is expected to become the new energy and environment minister, and Rob Stokes  another leading advocate for climate action  is tipped to regain greater influence in this area getting his old job back as Planning Minister. However, resistance from pro-coal figures in both the Liberal and National parties may pose a political challenge. Berejiklian is also expected to make some sweeping reforms to social policy, with a senior Liberal source saying the Premier wants a strong focus on "prevention more than punishment" in the areas of justice and community services. It is understood one of her most senior ministers will, for the first time, also be responsible for both juvenile justice and family and community services to "break the cycle of disadvantage".

It is expected the minister who is appointed Attorney-General will be tasked with "pushing progressive reform" across the social services. Loading Berejiklian made it clear from her first press conference on Sunday morning that the three independents - Greg Piper (Lake Macquarie), Alex Greenwich (Sydney) and Joe McGirr (Wagga Wagga) - would be important figures for her government. She met with them on Monday, one of her early tasks on the first day back at work. We had a very constructive meeting, they spoke to me about the issues they raised with me and the leader of the Opposition before the election and I was open to their suggestions, Berejiklian said the day after their meeting.

I advised them that I was keen to be advised by them, or get their views on reforming the Parliament and how we could make the Parliament more constructive and I was open to hearing about their policy priorities as well. The independents have put climate change and the environment at the top of their agenda. They wrote to Berejiklian and former Labor leader Michael Daley before the election, urging them to create a "transition authority" to oversee government assistance for the state's coal-mining regions as coal power is replaced by renewable energy. A senior Liberal this week said he expects Berejikilian to take the independents views on renewable energy and the environment pretty seriously. "I think one area Gladys will be interested in is definitely the environment and sustainability," the source says. "The independent crossbenchers are progressive and so I think you might see her support their position." Unfinished business

Greiner, who is federal president of the Liberal Party, says he has been telling everyone who will listen that he believes this is the start of another two terms for the Coalition. He says the next eight years will be about finishing major projects, but then turning to what needs to come next to ensure NSW is prepared for the future. Unfinished business: Minister Andrew Constance and Premier Gladys Berejiklian inspecting the tunnel at Barangaroo. Credit:James Brickwood I think that effectively the Coalition has been playing catch-up with infrastructure for what has been half a century of neglect in NSW, he says. They spent the first eight years getting the budget balanced and have created the capacity to fund the catch-up. Next, they can deliver the benefits of what has been started.

The governments ambitious infrastructure to-do list grew even longer in the weeks before the election. In December, Berejiklian announced NSW will begin work during the next term on a fast rail network linking regional centres to each other and Sydney. And this month the Premier revealed $2 billion will be spent over the next four years on a metro rail line connecting St Marys station to Sydney's second airport, being developed at Badgerys Creek. But Greiner says infrastructure is not the only focus because obviously the services will be important too.'' You can build X amount of hospitals but it also matters what goes on inside those hospitals, he says. Regional dissatisfaction

Other big challenges await the newly elected Premier. Former premier Nick Greiner believes the Coalition can rule NSW for another two terms. Credit:Danielle Smith Huge swings against the Coalition in western NSW underscored acute voter dissatisfaction in what were once ultra-safe National Party seats. Greiner says regional NSW will be critical to the Berejiklian government. This is a new stage for the state and clearly one of the questions is the regions and they got to it a bit late but it will need to be a defining part of the government, not just for Gladys but for eastern Australia, he says. The Coalition lost a total of four seats in Saturdays election  two to Labor and two to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers  trimming their majority in the lower house of the NSW Parliament to two.

That could become a source of political instability during the next term of government. Meanwhile, the final make-up of the NSW upper house is unclear but it seems likely the government will have to deal with a larger and more diverse crossbench than during the past term of Parliament. That could make it much more difficult to pass legislation. Economic headwinds In the past few years Berejiklian and her predecessor Mike Baird have benefited from favourable economic conditions in NSW. But a pre-election budget update published during the campaign downgraded this year's growth forecast for NSW and warned the state's economic momentum had slowed more than previously expected. Sydneys prolonged house price slump is stoking the uncertainty.
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers leader Robert Borsak says his party has never had dealings with the National Rifle Association, as he slammed One Nation as "almost traitorous" for seeking millions of dollars in donations from the US gun lobby.

Mr Borsak used the Shooters' first press conference since the NSW election to position his party as "in the dead centre" when it came to gun laws, while claiming One Nation and the Liberal Democrats were more extreme.

"We have not been to the NRA ever looking for money," Mr Borsak said.

Mr Borsak's comment related to revelations that senior One Nation figures had sought millions of dollars in donations from the US pro-gun lobby to help them water down Australia's gun control laws.
A son of Captaintreacherous that is eligible to the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup took part in qualifying action on Thursday (March 28) and erased a 12 and three-quarter-length deficit in a single quarter before opening up daylight at the next call.

The Cup-eligible in question, the Nicky Comegna-trained Capitano Italiano, performed the move during the second quarter of his qualifier at Woodbine Mohawk Park, which was raced over a good track that was assessed a one-second variant.

Pilot Trevor Henry lined up in Post 4 for the qualifier (Race 2) and bided his time as the gate pulled away. The duo was fourth and almost 13 lengths off the engine when the opening quarter was cut in :28.2. It was game over, though, once Henry called on his charge.

When asked, Capitano Italiano tipped first over, shot to the lead, and settled onto the front before clicking-off the half-mile pole in :59. The pair maintained their lead on the turn and went on to pass the three-quarters station in 1:27.1.

Capitano Italiano still had pace in the lane, as he came home with a :27.4 final quarter. His margin of victory was four lengths and the win time was 1:55.



Capitano Italiano, pictured victorious at Woodbine Mohawk Park in the fall of 2018

Capitano Italiano, who was a $77,000 Lexington yearling sale purchase, is owned by Bruno Comegna of Burlington, Ont.

Capitano Italiano made seven starts last year as a two-year-old and missed the board just twice. The gelding won two of his starts to go along with a pair of second-place efforts and a lone third. He raced in the low conditioned ranks at Woodbine Mohawk Park and took his mark of 1:53.2 via a gate-to-wire score from Post 8.

The Pepsi North America Cup is Canadas richest harness race. This years edition is scheduled for Saturday, June 15 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The eliminations for the $1 million final will take place a week prior on Saturday, June 8.

To view the list of 82 pacers that were nominated to the 2019 Pepsi North America Cup, which features a purse of $1 million, click here.

To view the harness racing results for the Thursday qualifying session at Mohawk, click the following link: Thursday Results  Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).
Principal Monica St Baker was determined that the pupils at her Griffith school would have the same education as their peers in the city. And a big part of that is staff development, so she began bringing teachers from around the state to Hanwood Public School.

It costs me a bomb to fly educators in from Sydney or Tamworth, but Mrs St Baker said its my little stamp on the school.

If I dont have teacher quality, I can't provide the best education, she said. Location shouldnt be a determining factor in the quality of education my kids get.

Her efforts will be rewarded on Friday, when Mrs St Baker becomes one of 12 educators across the country to receive a Commonwealth Bank Teaching Award, a teaching fellowship worth $45,000.
Fronting the media with his wife Anne at his side on Friday morning, Cr Quirk was at ease as he made his announcement, saying he was looking forward to having more family time. Now 62-years-old, and after months of rumours and speculation, Cr Quirk said he told his fellow LNP colleagues on Thursday night the time had come. Theres been rumours around, and so forth, but officially I only told them last night, he said. Its important we try and keep these things in-house as much as we can, because youve got to keep doing your job and keep everybody focused on the city. Thats what were here for.

Loading When young Cr Quirk was first elected for Rochedale Ward in 1985 the city had just elected its first female lord mayor, Sallyanne Atkinson. Under Cr Atkinson, Cr Quirk sat on council for three years before shouldering the responsibility of becoming finance committee chairman, and later works chairman. Through the years he weathered multiple elections, leadership and power changes, rising to become Opposition Leader before finally being elected as deputy liberal leader under Campbell Newman in 2004. In 2008, Cr Quirk became deputy mayor, still serving under then-lord mayor Newman, and chairing the infrastructure committee at the same time.

On Friday, when the news broke of Cr Quirks imminent retirement, the former premier had nothing but praise for his then-deputy. Mr Newman said while many of the major Brisbane infrastructure projects announced in the 2000s were touted under the Newman name, it was Cr Quirk who did the heavy lifting. "I think his time as lord mayor has been categorised as quiet, determined, positive leadership for Brisbane, Mr Newman said. In 2001, as then-lord mayor Newman looked to loftier heights than local government, Cr Quirk took on the responsibility of shaping a city. At the time Cr Quirks focus was transport and infrastructure, with major projects such as Legacy Way and Clem 7 Tunnel, the Airport Link and Go Between Bridge opening over the next few years.

Some of the lord mayors greatest achievements, he noted on Friday, were more personalised  the installation of accessible suburban playgrounds, for instance, and free CityHopper ferries across the river. Loading As the lord mayor of the biggest local government in Australia, Cr Quirk oversaw a budget of more than $3 billion, tackling the challenge of preventing Brisbane from falling into the congestion nightmare that Sydney and Melbourne are mired in. But there were challenges, from the infamous TechnologyOne saga with the council terminating a $122 million contract for new IT systems. In January 2017 Cr Quirk revealed the contract was predicted to have a cost blowout of $60 million, before announcing in September the same year the contract was finally terminated.

Cr Quirk admitted on Friday the saga was one project in his time as lord mayor that he regretted. He also leaves behind an unfinished 2016 election promise, to construct a zipline on Mt Coot-tha. The project has suffered fierce backlash from politicians and community groups, with a legal appeal against the projects approval now under way in the courts. Leaving behind the good and the bad of public life, Cr Quirk said as he prepared for retirement, he was aware that many public servants and former politicians struggled as they made the shift. That will be a strange feeling, because  theres constant go, go, go, for so many years, he said.

Loading It will be a readjustment in life, theres no doubt about that. Im blessed in the situation that I have a lot of interests and I will not be bored. Cr Quirk has interests in horse racing and suggested he might well dabble in a little auctioneering in the hours of free time ahead. Telling his colleagues on Thursday night, Cr Quirk said his team didnt want him to go, but accepted it was the right time.

Nothing lasts forever, and I I just hope Ive instilled a few qualities in them along the way in that succession planning and I think they will do a great job, he said. Looking ahead, he said he hoped to see Brisbane continue in exciting, continued advancement under the leadership of the next lord mayor. On Sunday the LNP party room will hold a meeting to select the next lord mayor from sitting councillors, to take the party through the next election. Meanwhile, Labor will be watching closely as its candidate Rod Harding prepares for another tilt at the mayorship after suffering a solid defeat by Cr Quirk in 2016. As Brisbanes council prepares for a full election in 12 months time, Cr Quirk had a simple message for new councillors stepping into the chamber for the first time:
A spray of fake gunfire crackled out from armoured vehicles in Fortitude Valley on Friday night  aimed at giant fake monsters.

Production on Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Entertainment's Godzilla vs. Kong, which sees the fearsome mutated dinosaur and the mighty gorilla pitted against each other, made its way to Brisbane this week.

Wickham Terrace Car Park has been booked out for several days for filming atop the heritage-listed car park's open roof.

Godzilla vs. Kong, due to be released in 2020, will star Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things, True Blood actor Alexander Skarsgard and Baby Driver's Eiza Gonzalez.
Long viewed as the natural successor to Brisbane's lord mayor Graham Quirk, deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner may not have an easy ride into the role after at least one other LNP councillor has indicated their interest.

Cr Quirk told his team on Thursday night of his intention to step down, ahead of a press conference on Friday morning with his wife Anne at his side.

Adrian Schrinner and Peter Matic have emerged as contenders to replace outgoing Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk. Credit:Nine

Lifestyle and community services committee chair Peter Matic (Paddington) confirmed on Friday afternoon that he would nominate for the role in Sunday's party meeting to select Cr Quirk's successor.

"I can confirm I will be nominating for lord mayor," Cr Matic said.
After 34 years in public service, and eight in Brisbane's top job, lord mayor Graham Quirk has announced he will retire in the coming days.

Cr Quirk, who stepped into the role of lord mayor after Campbell Newman, said he had spent several months in thought before he decided the time was right to step away.

Outgoing Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk and his wife Anne look back at City Hall on the morning he announced he was stepping down from council. Credit:Lucy Stone/Brisbane Times

"We've had a long journey, [wife] Anne and I, it's been 34 years since I was first elected to council," Cr Quirk said on Friday morning.

'The last eight years we have had a terrific privilege to be able serve the people of Brisbane, both myself as lord mayor and Anne as lady mayoress and as chairman of the lord mayor's charitable trust."
Gobbo went to Melbourne University to study law and soon immersed herself in student politics, became an editor of the magazine Farrago and showed a weakness for bad men. In 1993 she was arrested over a relatively serious drug charge. Perhaps her Sliding Doors moment was late in her final year, when she applied to be a judges associate. Perhaps if she had been selected, that may have been the finishing school she desperately needed to understand the ethical demands of her profession. Instead she decided to avoid the established old school pecking order of the law - choosing to sneak down the emergency lane to get ahead. I dont know if she felt she was on the poor side of the Gobbo clan or felt a sense of entitlement because her uncle was a judge, but she was determined to make the big time in the shortest time possible, a colleague says. She joined the Bar in 1998, the youngest female appointed. The following year (for the second time) she was registered as a police informer. While other young barristers worked low-level Legal Aid cases to pay the bills and learn their trade, Gobbo was after trophy clients. Two barristers spotted her late at night socialising with a leading suspect in a Mexican drug cartel. At that age she still should have been doing road traffic cases, not international drug trafficking ones, one recalls.

She was loud, brash and on the make. Within a year most in the Criminal Bar knew her personally or by reputation. Mick Gatto and Nicola Gobbo at the funeral of Labor stalwart Stephen Drazetic in 2008. Credit:Angela Wylie She was a master networker, having daily coffees with solicitors around the legal precinct to drum up work and finally setting up an outdoor table at a cafe near the Supreme Court as her second office (where she could smoke). She sought out the most notorious clients to build a reputation and was a prodigious worker. Even as a student and later an article clerk she worked part-time in catering on level four of the MCG's Southern Stand. She worked hard and wouldnt back down to management, a fellow worker says. It was where she would occasionally meet police and first flirted with the world of informing. She was the source with the sauce.

According to one veteran criminal lawyer, some senior barristers used her as a junior because she would do all the work. She could master a thousand-page brief virtually overnight, says one. When she wasnt working she was partying - hard. One lawyer who invited her to lunch in Carlton was surprised when she arrived in a Ferrari driven by drug boss Tony Mokbel. Another who met her for dinner was taken aback to see the third guest was Melbourne identity Mick Gatto. Nicola Gobbo with Tony Mokbel (centre) and Con Heliotis, QC (right) in November 2004. Credit:Nine News To truly understand how we arrived at this royal commission, we have to go back to the Melbourne Gangland War that began in earnest in October 1999, when drug dealer Carl Williams was shot in the stomach by rivals Jason and Mark Moran. Williams felt they would eventually decide to finish the job and so after a series of murders in May 2003, police finally set up a taskforce codenamed Purana. The taskforce's strategy, right from the beginning, was to cultivate informers to gather intelligence that could be transformed into hard evidence. (One hitman admitted he had committed a number of unsolved murders but declared he didnt work weekends or on his birthday.)

Over the next few years the taskforce turned nine key human sources, including two hitmen, a getaway driver and a major drug producer. As the then director of public prosecutions Paul Coghlan, QC (later a Supreme Court judge) would say: "If we didnt do some deals we would not have got anywhere." Already the commission has established that from 1993, when Gobbo was charged with serious drug offences as a university student (she pleaded guilty to lesser charges and no conviction was recorded) and through her legal career she was playing on both sides of the fence. Loading In July 1998, while still a young solicitor, she was offering information to the drug squad about an investigation codenamed Carron. She was knocked back. Much later she was seen fist-pumping when one of the drug squad investigators from Carron was arrested on corruption charges. By the early 2000s as a young barrister she was regularly representing and socialising with people from the Mokbel and Williams camps, who often formed alliances but were not always on the one team.

Even though there is ample evidence that Williams planned to kill Gatto, Gobbo eventually ingratiated herself into the Carlton identitys social circle. She represented clients with conflicting interests and was unwilling to accept she should withdraw on ethical grounds. Certainly Gobbo was an enthusiastic informer and a difficult one to control - often going rogue, conducting unauthorised missions on dangerous criminals. In her early days of informing, police discontinued an operation because she was a loose cannon. This was not passed on to the Purana Taskforce when she was re-registered as an informer in 2005. What information she handed over and how valuable it was has yet to be established. The investigators who used her remain unrepentant - saying if she breached client-lawyer privilege that was a matter for her and that their job was to solve crimes, which they did. Chris Winneke, QC. In the first few days of the royal commission the counsel assisting, Chris Winneke, QC, has methodically examined police procedure around human sources and Gobbos early role in informing. In the process he has deliberately and subtly laid a series of land mines timed to explode later in the inquiry.

Eventually Winneke will cross-examine the star of the show. Winnekes grandfather, Sir Henry, was a Supreme Court judge and the 21st governor of Victoria. Gobbos uncle, Sir James, was a Supreme Court judge and the 25th governor of Victoria. Only in Melbourne. That may be the key. Nicola Gobbo always needed to be the star - dressing to be noticed, taking the high-profile cases, leaking to gossip columns, socialising with headline gangsters and seeing herself as the underworld version of the exotic double agent Mata Hari. Gobbo played a master game of deception, acting as a professional lawyer, a friend of gangsters and a police informer, until her world imploded. At one point she was ringing police on an hourly basis. I firmly believe she had a nervous breakdown, says a colleague, one of the few who still has sympathy for her. Eventually she was forced from the shadows and named as a prosecution witness in the case against former drug squad detective Paul Dale, who was charged with the 2004 murder of police informer Terence Hodson.
A vulnerable Melbourne woman struggling with her mental health sought help from a psychiatrist but instead became his sexual prey.

Prabakar Rajan Thomas, 69, was jailed on Friday after admitting sexually assaulting his patient of four years.

Jodie Fischer peaks to the media on Friday after psychiatrist Prabakar Rajan Thomas was jailed. Credit:AAP

"I was in a really, bad, bad stage and he just took advantage of it," Jodie Fischer said outside court, adding she was pleased with the sentence.

"I can't even explain the excitement I feel, I'm rapt."
Greens members volunteering in last year's disastrous Victorian election campaign couldn't explain to voters what the party stood for and what it could achieve, a scathing internal analysis has found.

The brutal assessment of the party's campaign for the November state election  in which the Greens aimed to win 11 seats but managed to scrape home with just four  was written by Rohan Leppert, a Greens councillor for the City of Melbourne.

The Greens' Rohan Leppert led the scathing review of the party's 2018 state election campaign. Credit:Justin McManus

With less than two months to go before the federal election, Mr Leppert recommended Greens members delay big decisions about the party's future, and "where we want to be", until after the poll.

But Mr Leppert was frank in his appraisal of the party's procedural failures during the campaign.
A British man who tried to outrun Australian law on a jet ski has been ordered to face outstanding drugs charges.

David Jackson, 57, will face court in Perth on Monday after an extradition hearing in Cairns Magistrates Court on Friday.

The jet ski the man used to try and flee the country, laden with extra fuel and supplies. Credit:Australian Border Force

Jackson made headlines this week with his audacious bid to flee from the tip of Queensland, across the Torres Strait to Papua New Guinea.

Armed with a crossbow, he took off from Cape York on a jet ski packed with supplies for the 140-kilometre journey to PNG.
Teeming millions of us have been disappointed (the dashed expectations! the shattered dreams!) by this week's discovery that Robert Mueller has found nothing impeachable about vile Donald Trump's election campaign.

How we had dreamed of an early, disgrace-enriched end to the nightmare of the Trump presidency, the USA's 45th. At the Mueller news your columnist moped for a while in melancholy's gutters, in the Slough of Despond. But then I turned to that most sure cure for despair.

Access to the music of Beethoven (and of Bach, Brahms, Mozart and especially of Sibelius) should be a fundamental human right. Credit:Nic Walker

Yes, I turned to the music (especially the symphonies) of Beethoven.

Special counsels may let us down (surely Mueller could have found something if he'd tried hard enough?) but the great composers never disappoint. Classical-music-besotted I routinely listen to fine music and after listening to Beethoven's 7th Symphony (unless you are clinically dead it is music that makes you break into a dance) my spirits were restored. The temporary, small, wriggly things of Life (such as the Trump presidency) were put into perspective.
Media are Unnerved Over 'Unplanned'

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Catholic League

March 29, 2019



NEW YORK, March 29, 2019 /Standard Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on media reaction to the movie "Unplanned":

"Unplanned" is a movie that chronicles the workplace experience of Abby Johnson; she was employed by a Planned Parenthood clinic. One day, after spending eight years on the job, she was asked, as the clinic director, to assist a doctor to perform an abortion by holding the ultrasound probe. That changed her life. She quit.

We could find only one newspaper in the entire United States, the Washington Post, that reviewed the movie; the review was mixed.

One person who saw the film and liked it is Kansas City, Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann. As the chairman of the bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, he has emerged as the nation's leading Catholic voice on life issues. He offered some insights in today's Wall Street Journal.

"'Unplanned' got its R rating for 'violence.' It is noteworthy for Hollywood to acknowledge that abortion is violent, but the on-screen violence in 'Unplanned' isn't gratuitous; it's medically accurate." In a recent interview, Naumann wryly observed, "the great irony is that a 15-year-old girl can't go to this movie, but she could have an abortion and her parents will never know it."

Variety was one of the few media outlets to review "Unplanned." It said it "isn't a good movie, but it's effective propaganda." The film does a "skillful job of using religious piety to conceal its underlying political agenda." The agenda, of course, is to combat the pro-abortion agenda by telling the truth.

The Guardian, a British outlet, took note of Abby's ultrasound experience. "A fetus presents what could be misinterpreted as fear or pain during the procedure." The verb is revealing. How could anyone interpret what happened to the baby any differently?

Here is an excerpt from the movie. "It [the baby] just moved away from the catheter [that was placed in the girl's cervix in preparation for a suction D&C abortion]," said Abby. The abortionist had a ready answer: "They always move. That's why I do it this way!"

"They always move." They sure do. That's what happens when human beings are piercedthey flinch.

Abortion unnerves everyone, on all sides of this issue. Those who are honest and admit that abortion kills an innocent human being are unnerved for obvious reasons. But what about those who are pro-abortion? Why are they unnerved? Why are they so unnerved that they refuse to review this movie and don't want anyone to know about it?

Hillary Clinton once said she wanted abortion to be "safe, legal, and rare." She never explained why it should be rare.



SOURCE The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights



CONTACT: Media Office, 212-371-3191, pr@catholicleague.org



Related Links



www.catholicleague.org


Eric Barton meeting Prince Charles in 2015. He was only supposed to fly 30 missions but elected to continue for another 50 per cent. He was also involved in dropping food called Operation Manna. Flying at low altitude, airmen dropped food to starving civilians in Western Holland. Barton recalled taking great pleasure in seeing the joy and appreciation on the faces of the people below. He met his future wife, Elizabeth, in 1944 and married on April 7, 1945 in Whitley Bay, England. Always always a character, in the short time of courting her he managed to upset the mayor of the little town of Whitley Bay where she lived and grew up. Eric Barton wearing Distinguished Flying Cross. Credit:Suppplied Returning from a mission in Europe, he flew at very low altitude over his new girlfriends house. This resulted in an official complaint being lodged to the RAF base by the mayor on behalf of the entire town.

When the war ended Eric was serving as an instructor at the No 27 Operational Training Unit in Litchfield. In his retirement years he made a significant contribution to the associations that ensure that the deeds and sacrifice of World War Two servicemen were not forgotten. He was a founding member of the Bomber Command Association and a strong force in the Pathfinder Force Association, holding executive roles in both. He forged links with our current RAAF Service personnel and was instrumental in involving them in the Bomber Command community. Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston (Ret'd) in a message said: "Eric was a lovely man who I first met many years ago when I was Officer Commanding No 86 Wing. You should be very proud of his wartime service. To emerge and survive as a Pathfinder was an extraordinary achievement requiring great courage, selflessness and teamwork. The Pathfinders were the best of the best and instrumental to the success of the bombing campaign which culminated in the defeat of Hitlers Germany." When the war finished, he returned home to complete service duties and eagerly awaited the arrival of his new bride who was sailing to Sydney on a New Zealand troop ship. Barton pursued a successful sales and marketing career and was integral in the development and introduction to the market of a product for foot rot disease in sheep. Another product he was involved in was the introduction into Australia of epoxy resins. Every time the family went through the Sydney Harbour tunnel he would proudly point out that his product was painted on the walls.

In a speech at the Cronulla RSL Anzac Dawn Service in 2013 he delivered a powerful message. He told the crowd: "You dont need to wear a uniform to be an Anzac; you need to treasure and fight for our laws, our individual right of free speech. Dont waste your freedom. Dont be a shell-be-right-mate Australian; be an Anzac Australian like your oldies. They didnt say shell be right, mate'. They made sure it would be right by doing, and in many cases by giving their lives to make sure it would be right mate. People came to him after the presentation with tears in their eyes and thanked him for such a remarkable speech. In 2015, he was chosen together with six other veterans by the government to represent Australia at the 70th anniversary of VE Day celebrations in France and England. The veterans and the touring delegation were invited to Australia House in London for afternoon tea on the day of the anniversary day, May 8. Eric Barton, 90, before the Anzac dawn service at Cronulla. Credit:SMH The emotion of the moment was apparent. Seventy years earlier he stood in this very same room - the Boomerang Room - with his air crew celebrating the end of the War. Here he was again with his son and his wife. Asked to speak at a Cathedral ceremony at Normandy, France, Barton's response was, OK, sure, no problem. But he said he wanted to deliver his speech in French to thank the families of the French Underground, both deceased and living, for help in directing the strategic targets.
Loading Opinion about what to do with the report is mixed. Theres a good argument for ignoring it altogether. Most doubt the reviews final report will be used by the next government, Labor or Liberal, to make fundamental changes to the service. It was not Scott Morrisons baby, and he has never manifested any enthusiasm for the review. Or indeed for a public administration that did not have much time for his work, style, or attitude to accountability when he was a not terribly successful public servant before going into politics. If the next government is Labor, as most expect, it might be expected to have some reforming zeal, particularly as it starts off. But it is doubtful this report would be the platform from which to launch. Labor spokesmen express polite, but only non-committal interest in the discussion paper. Most are expecting that it will go the way of many similar inquiries, such as the Henry review of taxation in 2010. On the other hand, others think that some of its points must be addressed, positively or negatively according to their merits, lest a failure to put something on the record means that it passes by default.

Terry Morans speech in Melbourne was not an alternative Thodey review, even if it had some of the same problems in mind. Its text can to be found on Pearls and Irritations, on www.johnmenadue.com  Australias best website focused on policy issues. (To complete the symmetry Menadue is himself a former head of Prime Minister and Cabinet, among other services to public life.) Most doubt the reviews final report will be used by the next government, Labor or Liberal, to make fundamental changes to the service. Moran commented on declining trust in our institutions. Seventy per cent of Australians do not think their elected members are serving their interests. Three quarters of the population think (rightly) that our politics is fixated on short-term gains rather than long-term challenges. General public support for the economic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s has dissipated. Yet we are in aggregate prosperous and something of a national economic success story. Why then are so many Australians grumpy? Moran asked. Well, seen from a community perspective:

the proceeds of economic activity have shifted from families to business, with wages stagnant;

the outsourcing of Commonwealth service delivery to the private sector (for example, employment services, aged care and VET) has failed and it is clear Canberra knows this;

reduction in the value of key benefits, such as those received by the unemployed, has left large numbers without dignity and hope;

social housing for those displaced and impoverished by Commonwealth reforms was neglected while we led the world in rising house prices;

the Commonwealth has been very late to recognise the consequences for our larger cities of rapid population growth flowing from the time of Peter Costellos Intergenerational Reports;

too many corporations have become rent seekers with little serious commitment to investing in R&D, product and service innovation and staff training (all of which are in aggregate decline across the private sector); and

until recently, many of these corporations have been at the heart of deflecting attention at the political level from what most Australians believe is a must do reform in the third wave  urgent attention to decarbonising our economy. Many, but not all, of these points may be more about the environment in which current and future public servants must operate, rather than problems of public administration in itself. In this sense, it might seem unfair to reflect that the Thodey report mentioned none of them as obstacles to having the best public service possible a decade from now. Yet all, and others such as chronic failures in Aboriginal affairs, reflect significant deficiencies of governments, Labor and Liberal, in creating the economic settings, or in becoming slaves to economic ideologies, or in failure to address major policy challenges of our time. And they very much reflect the modern challenges to public service policy formulation. They deserve more discussion. Loading But so does another: the idea of government as regular, principled, ethical and fair to all comers. On paper, modern public administration  and bulwarks of it such as the Financial Management Act  are based on notions of open and transparent dealings with all comers, probity, honesty and integrity. It is not always the fault of bureaucrats, but increasingly, actual administration seems to involve a plethora of one-off deals with single businesses, and a significant decline in accountability. There is rhetoric about open government and about the transparency of decision-making. Against this comes evidence of paranoia about government secrecy and the use of commercial-in-confidence and other mechanisms to hide details of an ever-larger interface between government and business.

Dealing with this is not merely a matter of having crime and integrity commissions, or codes of conduct, necessary as these are. To get better, more efficient and more credible government we need a serious attack on political cronyism and on the power of insiders and special interests in government. We also need fresh controls on deals and arrangements that for one reason or another are outside the general conventions. Vast sums of public money are being doled out, without effective tender, transparency, contest, or debate, to mates, party donors, chancers and big business and developers. It is doubtful whether the public is getting the better of most of these transactions. And not only at the Commonwealth level. The Canberra citizen has a foretaste of this future, watching ACT land and development politics in action. And consider infrastructure development in Sydney  or for that matter anywhere the National Party is doling out the cash. Someone making a fuss about Sydney transport planning is Robert Gibbons, a former executive director of planning in the NSW transport department and former general manager of Newcastle city council. We need a serious attack on political cronyism and on the power of insiders and special interests in government. The cronyism he says is rampant in infrastructure development is accentuated by mixed Commonwealth-state responsibilities, the provision of enormous sums  in the case of Metro plans $100 million  for private sector consultancies to prepare business cases in arrears for projects already decided upon without any real studies.

Australia, NSW and Sydney have a new style of governance that dumps the Conservatives pride in sound financial management and creates a veneer of populist politics to conceal lobbyists demands and favours  a cancer that is metastasising through all organs of state, he says. It uses secrecy, not releasing 'Cabinet' documents of technical character and redacting 100 per cent of key data in so-called 'business cases'. They threaten opponents and even insiders who dare to ask why? They appoint their acolytes to all advisory posts and filter-out extraneous criticisms and opinions  They similarly devalue outsiders intellectual property and steal it without visible moral qualms. Gibbons has a grievance. He says that successive NSW governments have cherrypicked and plagiarised from advice he has given them. His case for compensation as well as criticisms of waste and poor planning in specific Sydney infrastructure projects can be seen on the rollicking website www.Sydneyscumbagpolitics.com. Royal Commissions are much maligned but there is a lot to be said for the daily reporting of expert views, the open discussion of options and alternatives, and the persuasive influence of leaders, compared with what we have seen since the 1960s. .... Sydney is well overdue for an open, professional and totally consultative approach to urban design, architectural quality, environmental protection, and infrastructure systems improvements. That might be a good thing in itself, but students of sound public administration might also be fascinated by such an inquiry for the light it could shed on some of the new informal networks of politicians, bureaucrats and insider business folk, some with mixed responsibilities.
Social media executives face up to three years in prison and their companies could be hit with billions of dollars in fines under legislation to be introduced to Parliament next week, marking a dramatic and "world-leading" move by the Morrison government against the dissemination of extremist content online.

Unsatisfied with the response of digital giants to the Christchurch terrorist attack  which was livestreamed on Facebook and spread across the internet  Prime Minister Scott Morrison will on Saturday commit to the harsh penalties in a bid to force the companies to tackle the "weaponisation" of their platforms.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. Credit:The New York Times

The legislation will create a criminal offence for platforms that fail to rapidly remove "abhorrent violent material". Executives found personally liable could be jailed for three years while the companies could be fined up to 10 per cent of their annual global turnover.

"Big social media companies have a responsibility to take every possible action to ensure their technology products are not exploited by murderous terrorists," Mr Morrison said in a statement.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has promised to give thousands of premature babies access to donated breast milk if he is elected prime minister, as part of a $15.2 million breastfeeding package.

The pre-election pledge includes $7 million to roll out the Red Cross Milk Bank nationally, ensuring a reliable supply of donor milk to every neonatal intensive care unit in Australia - a measure the charity estimates could prevent up to 20 newborn deaths each year.

Labor has unveiled an election pledge to support breastfeeding and milk banks.

It comes as Mr Shorten seeks to position Labor as the "party of Medicare" before the federal poll in May, with health care and hospital funding a key concern among voters.

"Parents of extremely premature babies are already under enormous pressure," Labor's health spokeswoman Catherine King told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Can Pauline Hanson pull off a Trump? Her pitch: Dont believe your eyes and ears. Believe me instead because the media is the enemy of the people and theres a conspiracy against poor me. Trump says, I am your voice! Hanson says, I am the last political voice that is here for this country."

So, will Hanson keep her base at the May federal election, or even, as some believe, grow it after she denies truth and plays victim?

That was her mistake ... One Nation leader Pauline Hanson chose to stand alongside James Ashby, left, and Steve Dickson on Thursday. Credit:AAP

For mine, Hanson made a killer mistake having James Ashby and Steve Dickson flank her on Thursday when she read a statement they clearly wrote direct from the Trump playbook, and the NRA playbook. Deny, deny deny. Offence, offence offence.

For much of the base, One Nation is a Pauline Hanson cult. Shes a romantic figure wholl blow up the corrupt establishment. Ill never forget meeting cabinet maker Anton Myck on the Pauline Hanson campaign trail in 1998. I call her the redhead match, you know, and I voted for her to set the country on fire.
Hundreds of Queensland teachers were attacked by students and parents last year, amid a 64 per cent surge in workers' compensation claims for assaults.

In 2017-18, there were 257 WorkCover claims made following assaults against teachers and 140 against other staff.

There were almost 400 WorkCover claims for assaults against teachers and other school staff in 2017-18. Credit:Shutterstock

That is up from 157 for teachers and 94 on other staff in 2014-15.

Queensland Teachers' Union president Kevin Bates said teachers were facing violence from parents and students.
She urges Ms Henderson to disregard national opinion polls that suggest the Liberals have little hope of winning government. I genuinely believe I demonstrated that the pendulum is not your destiny. You have to believe that. Otherwise you crawl up in a corner. Labor's candidate for Corangamite Libby Coker. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui The Labor party hopes that successive poor opinion polls for the Coalition, internal government feuding and the knifing of Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister will make it impossible for the Liberal Party to retain Corangamite. But Ms Henderson is working from her own playbook, and isn't afraid of bucking party lines when she needs to.

She sparked headlines last year after she claimed she knocked back an offer of a ministry to switch allegiances from Malcolm Turnbull to Peter Dutton. I do think that my constituents are looking for integrity. I hope that Ive displayed integrity in the way I have operated as a member of parliament, she told The Age over coffee on the main drag of Barwon Heads. She is determined to hold on by waging a localised turf war, street by street, and reels off achievements over her six years as an MP. The duplication of the Princes Highway, funding to improve the Great Ocean Road and surf club upgrades are just a few of the goodies Ms Henderson says she has secured for Corangamite. Words are cheap. Whats important is that in their federal representative people have someone who gets things done and Ive got a lot done in this electorate.

The Corangamite electorate takes in the famed Bells Beach. Credit:Justin McManus Ms Hendersons face beams out from placards along roadsides in coastal townships promising to help deliver new aquatic centres with 50-metre pools in Torquay and Barwon Heads. By contrast, Labor candidate Libby Cokers campaign is more focused on global themes. The Surf Coast Shire councillor nominates the rising cost of living, wage parity for women and climate change among the most common issues voters raise when she is out door-knocking. Local issues always play a role in elections but it is the big pictures policies that will drive our nation to a better future and deliver fairness and shared prosperity that are most important, she says.

Labors campaign for Corangamite will home in on the Coalitions preoccupation with niche right-wing ideas, according to insiders, and won't be shy about reminding voters of the fallout from last year's leadership spill. The Greens are also running in the seat alongside a string of independent candidates. Corangamite covers the length of the Great Ocean Road from Torquay stretching past Johanna Beach. It takes in all of the Bellarine Peninsula, the Great Otway National Park and the southern tip of Geelong in addition to agricultural communities. The seat has changed hands numerous times since it was formed in 1901. Ms Henderson won it from Labors Darren Cheeseman in 2013 and retained it in 2016.

Picking a winner is complicated by all the sea changers moving into the almost-commuter-belt towns of Torquay and Ocean Grove and Armstrong Creek. Housing estates are crowding out previously open fields. Changes to electoral boundaries last year meant Corangamite relinquished conservative inland towns such as Colac while gaining some of Geelong's suburban fringe and the entirety of the Bellarine Peninsula. That redistribution alone eroded the margin from 3.1 per cent in favour of Ms Henderson to a notional Labor gain, according to the Australian Electoral Commission. But political observers differ as to whether it is a notionally Labor or Liberal seat.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited Geelong earlier this month to announce his government would commit $2 billion to build a fast train from Melbourne. But Ms Coker, described by Labor insiders as a "competent campaigner", says constituents remain skeptical of such promises. Many people are sick and tired of instability and misinformation, she says. They want to see politicians honouring their promises and acting in the best interest of their communities. As a councillor across three terms and a mayor twice, I understand this. One Labor source says recent demographic change will overwhelm any advantage Ms Henderson holds as a well-known incumbent. Ms Henderson brings strong local connections to the area  her mother was the state member for Geelong for seven years and her father a councillor and mayor  but the source believes those long-standing community roots matter little to the newcomers in the electorate.
Boao, China: China has warned it may take more countermeasures against United States patrols in the South China Sea, as tensions worsen in a potential military flashpoint between the two major powers.

Two senior Chinese officials intervened in an academic discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia on Friday to air Chinas grievances against the United States' freedom of navigation patrols near islands claimed by China in the contested waterways.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks after he reviewed the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy fleet in the South China Sea in April last year. Credit:AP

An international tribunal has ruled the South China Sea is not Chinese territory, and Australia has joined the US in condemning militarisation of the islands.

Director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, Zheng Yongnian, warned that although it was unlikely a hot war would break out between the US and China, he was concerned about proxy wars in the region.
London: UK Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit plan has been voted down again, in another heavy blow to both her premiership and her strategy for taking the UK out of the European Union.

The UK is now set for an April 12 Brexit deadline, when it will either crash out of the EU without a deal or have to come up with an alternative way forward and plead with the EU for another delay in order to secure it.

On Monday, MPs will meet to try to find a majority for a new Brexit plan, which could include a soft Brexit trade deal or even another referendum.

But if they cannot reach a majority strong enough to force Prime Minister Theresa Mays hand, she will reportedly make a fourth try at beating the odds. Her tactic, insiders said, would be to pit the divorce deal she agreed with the EU in November against an expected "soft Brexit" alternative that emerges next week, in the hope this binary choice would shift the parliamentary arithmetic in her favour.
Loading In assessing whether to pursue such a high-stakes move, the special counsel was not operating with complete autonomy. That was a contrast with predecessors such as Kenneth Starr, who investigated then president Bill Clinton and had broad leeway under the now-expired independent counsel statute. But Mueller was supervised by Rosenstein, a Trump appointee. The special counsel, Rosenstein noted in one letter to a Republican senator, "remains accountable like every other subordinate". Rosenstein himself was under intense political pressure: Trump mused about firing the onetime George W. Bush appointee and former US attorney for Maryland, whom he derided at one point as "the Democrat from Baltimore". And House conservatives threatened to impeach Rosenstein, accusing him of withholding information about the Russia probe. Internal Justice Department discussions about whether to subpoena the President  including Rosenstein's views on such an action  remain tightly held.

In the final months of the probe, there was upheaval in the department's leadership. Trump ousted Attorney-General Jeff Sessions, who had recused himself from the investigation. He was replaced temporarily by his former chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who was publicly critical of the special counsel before joining the department. Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein was under intense pressure. Credit:AP A month before Mueller submitted his report, Barr was confirmed as Attorney-General. He had questioned Mueller's obstruction-of-justice inquiry in a June 2018 memo to Rosenstein months before his appointment, writing that "Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the President submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction". If Mueller wanted to push for a subpoena, he did not force the issue with Justice Department leaders. Barr told legislators last week that no decision the special counsel wanted to take was vetoed during the investigation. The Justice Department and the special counsel's office declined to comment.

More answers could be revealed in Mueller's full report, which House Democrats are pushing Barr to release. Loading What is known is that the President's lawyers now believe keeping their client from sitting down with investigators was their greatest victory. "The President would not have helped his case had he gone in," said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for Trump's legal team. "No lawyer worth his salt would let that happen." Weighing a legal showdown

The President was initially inclined to sit for an interview with Mueller. He thought he could deliver a convincing performance and put a swift end to the probe. Negotiations between the sides began around November 2017, and an interview was scheduled for January 2018, according to a person close to the legal team and a former senior administration official. But John Dowd, then the President's lead attorney, cancelled the session. He had argued against it because he feared Trump could misspeak or even lie. And a practice session with the President further convinced Dowd that he could be a problematic interviewee, these people said. White House officials declined to comment. Over the next 12 months, Mueller tried repeatedly to reschedule the interview, to no avail.

Loading Trump continued to state publicly that he would be glad to sit for an interview - he believed being seen as willing to talk with prosecutors showed "strength," according to a former administration official with direct knowledge of his thinking. But the President came to agree with his lawyers that doing so would be too risky, especially after former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017, current and former White House aides said. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said that some of what Trump's legal advisers were hearing from Mueller "raised our suspicion that this is a trap, rather than a search for more information". As the standoff continued, Mueller's team discussed at length the idea of issuing a subpoena, if necessary, to compel Trump to sit for an interview, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations. The discussions  which included Mueller, his top deputy James Quarles, and prosecutors Michael Dreeben and Aaron Zebley  centred both on whether a subpoena was legally feasible and what the costs of such a move might be to the overall investigation, the person said.

A fight over a presidential subpoena would have been likely to set legal precedent. Under President Richard Nixon, the US Supreme Court ruled that investigators could subpoena evidence from a sitting president and ordered Nixon to turn over materials including secret recordings made in the Oval Office. That ruling did not, however, address testimony by the president. Loading When Starr was independent counsel, he issued a subpoena to Clinton ordering the president to testify before a grand jury about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton's team considered challenging the subpoena in court but instead decided that it would be politically damaging to be seen as fighting the investigation. Clinton's lawyers agreed that he would voluntarily sit for an interview, and Starr withdrew the subpoena - leaving open the question of whether a president can be compelled to give testimony. Robert Ray, a former independent counsel now in private practice at Thompson & Knight, said Mueller's team would have had to weigh whether a subpoena could survive the court challenge that was all but certain to come from the Trump White House.

The Supreme Court has never issued definitive guidance on the question, but in a previous independent counsel investigation, of Mike Espy, an agriculture secretary in the Clinton administration, an appellate court offered some clarity on the bounds of how the White House could fight a subpoena by citing presidential privilege. On the basis of the precedent from that case - which was focused on documents, rather than an interview - Mueller would have had to demonstrate both a need to subpoena Trump to advance his investigation and show that he could not get the information he sought in any other way, Ray said. Another major factor was time: Mueller had to consider the likelihood that such a move would bog the investigation down in a lengthy legal battle. "That's a major fight, and you have to decide whether, in the country's best interests, it's worth it," Ray said. Mueller broached the topic during a tense meeting on March 5, 2018, at the special counsel offices in Southwest Washington, as Trump's attorneys maintained that the President had no obligation to talk to investigators.

The special counsel noted there was an option if Trump declined: He could be subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, as has previously been reported. Dowd erupted angrily. "You're screwing with the work of the President of the United States," he told Mueller, according to two people briefed on the discussion. Attorney John Dowd was among the team of lawyers protecting the President from Mueller. Credit:AP After that meeting, the special counsel team changed its approach: trying to coax Trump to sit for an interview voluntarily.

Prosecutors hoped the President would agree to meet, mindful that they could not explicitly threaten a subpoena unless they were prepared to issue one, according to a person familiar with the matter. Still, the Trump's legal advisers felt after the March meeting that a subpoena threat hung over the President. "The whole exercise was premised on the idea that that was a legal option they could pursue, and we were never absolutely sure until the end that they would not," said one Trump adviser familiar with the legal negotiations. That threat governed the President's legal strategy in the months that would follow. Not an equal match for Mueller

Trump's lawyers left the distinct public impression that they were not an equal match for Mueller, a venerated former FBI director. Dowd and Ty Cobb, another legal adviser to Trump, were overheard by a reporter discussing over lunch at a popular Washington steakhouse how much they would cooperate with Mueller. Giuliani developed a habit of misspeaking in meandering television interviews. Loading But behind the scenes, Trump's legal advisers had a quiet weapon: a husband-and-wife pair of criminal lawyers, Jane and Martin Raskin, who brought rigor and regimen to the team when they came aboard in April 2018. While Giuliani and attorney Jay Sekulow managed the public relations strategy, the Raskins did most of the lawyering from a temporary office they set up in Washington. They declined to comment. Giuliani said that roughly 80 per cent of the Trump team's interactions with the special counsel's office were handled by Jane Raskin, who has known both Mueller and Quarles for years. She knew Mueller from her time as a federal prosecutor in Boston, while her husband had worked with Quarles.

She communicated mostly by email, developing a written record that Trump's attorneys intended to use as evidence of their cooperation and responsiveness if they ended up in court fighting a subpoena. Martin Raskin, meanwhile, did a great deal of the writing and editing of legal arguments, including a "counter report" defending the President that Giuliani said has been prepared but may never be released. Central to the Trump strategy - developed first by Cobb and Dowd and later carried out by Giuliani, Sekulow and the Raskins, as well as Flood, who from his White House perch represented the office of the presidency - was to cooperate fully with every request for documents and witnesses from Mueller, including Trump's written answers to some questions. Their goal: to satisfy Mueller's hunt for information to the extent that the special counsel would not have legal standing to subpoena the President's oral testimony. "We allowed them to question everybody, and they turned over every document they were asked for: 1.4 million documents," Giuliani said. "We had what you would call unprecedented cooperation."

Trump's lawyers, citing the independent counsel investigation of Espy, argued that to justify a subpoena of Trump, Mueller needed to prove that he could not get the information in any way other than by asking the President. "No matter what question they would say they wanted to ask, I felt confident we could turn it over and say, 'You already have the answer to it'," Giuliani said. "If they said, 'Why did you fire Comey?' I'd give them five interviews, and particularly the Lester Holt tape, where he goes into great detail as to his reasons." Giuliani was referring to Trump's May 2017 interview with the NBC Nightly News anchor in which the President said he was thinking about "this Russia thing" when he fired James Comey as FBI director, one of the actions Mueller was investigating as possible obstruction of justice. All the while, Giuliani said, the legal team was not convinced that it would have prevailed in court. "Honestly, I don't know who would have won," he said. "I think our argument got better as time went on. But I don't know if we would have won." 'They gave up asking'

As Mueller's lawyers quietly laboured, a political storm was raging around them. Trump, his lawyers and his allies in Congress routinely attacked Mueller and his investigators as compromised and corrupt. The President repeatedly urged an end to the probe, which he condemned as a "witch hunt", a "fraud" and a "hoax" that was wasting taxpayer money. Rosenstein urged lawmakers to respect the confidential work of the special counsel, saying in a June 2018 letter to Senator Charles Grassley, then the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the probe would comply with all laws and Justice Department policies. But Rosenstein also noted that Mueller was not an entirely independent actor - and that his work was being closely supervised. "Under the terms of his appointment, both by statute and by regulation, Special Counsel Mueller remains accountable like every other subordinate Department official," Rosenstein wrote.

A few months later, Flood sent his memo on the scope of executive privilege. While it made broad arguments, the document could have been construed to pertain to Mueller's push to interview the President, according to someone with knowledge of the contents. Notably, Flood sent the memo not just to Mueller's office, but also to Rosenstein by way of his top deputy, Edward O'Callaghan. Flood declined to comment. As each month passed without a subpoena, the President's attorneys increasingly doubted that Mueller would seek to obtain one, according to people with knowledge of internal discussions. Mueller's team kept insisting it needed to interview the President - but never followed through with an actual demand.

Mueller and Quarles would stress that they needed to know Trump's intentions when he fired Comey and took other actions that could have thwarted the Russia investigation. Jane Raskin would respond by pressing them for a legal justification for seeking to interview the President, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The President's team asked, "What evidence have you obtained that justifies you interviewing the President?" according the person, who added that Mueller's office was "never able to articulate a compelling case. They never gave up asking, but they had no good answer for that question." In the absence of an interview, Trump's attorneys offered Mueller a substitute: The President would provide answers to a set of questions about Russia and the campaign, submitted in writing. But, citing executive privilege, they refused to provide answers to questions pertaining to the President's time in office - questions that went to the heart of the special counsel's inquiry into possible obstruction of justice. However, the process of compiling answers dragged. Trump's lawyers found it difficult to get the President to focus on drafting the submission, according to people familiar with the sessions. Trump's meetings with his lawyers were frequently interrupted by phone calls and other White House business.

Finally, in late November 2018, the lawyers sent Trump's answers to Mueller. In December, Mueller's team made one more request for an interview with the President. And in January, the special counsel's office contacted Trump's lawyers to ask some follow-up questions, according to people familiar with the request. But Trump's lawyers again declined. They neither agreed to an interview nor answered the additional questions. Two months later, Mueller submitted his report without having spoken to the President. The investigation was over.
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While the chips have yet to fall on congestion pricing, April 1 is the deadline for the Legislature to approve a budget including the proposal, which has been heralded as the best option for providing the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority with the estimated $40 billion it needs to dramatically modernize the subway system.

Not only does the antiquated transit system need extensive, system-wide overhauls, but the agency is facing a steep decline in ridership as a $1-billion deficit looms in 2022. As legislators decide whether or not to vote to include congestion pricing in Gov. Cuomos 2020 executive budget before it is due next month, here are some things you should know about the scheme:

 The cost to drivers has not been decided upon by lawmakers or the Transportation Authority. An early proposal by Cuomos so-called Fix NYC panel released in January 2018 suggested charging passenger cars entering Manhattan up to $11 during business hours. Trucks would have to pay about $25 to conduct business between boroughs, according to that proposal

 The governors office has outlined a central business district in Manhattan below 60th Street as the boundary for where drivers to expect to pay to access. Traditionally free East River bridges would not be directly tolled, according to early projections, unless drivers follow routes continuing into the central business district. But a clear definition of where gantries for cashless tolling would be placed has not been established.

 Congestion pricing has been projected to provide about $15 billion for the Transportation Authoritys next capital plan, which encompasses 2020 through 2024. Those funds could go a long way toward making the subways more compliant with federal accessibility laws in the coming years, for one. And much of the cash would likely go toward funding the $40-billion so-called Fast Forward plan to modernize the system that Andy Byford, the head of the state-run agencys local arm, New York City Transit, introduced last year.

 Assembly Majority Leader Carl Heastie (DBronx) announced on March 25 that congestion pricing had enough votes to pass and get inclusion in the 2020 executive budget, but some lawmakers are still holding onto their opposition to the toll, which they claim will only isolate the outer boroughs from Manhattan, while placing an undue financial burden on some Brooklyn constituents. Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte (DFlatbush), for instance, opposes the plan, which she reportedly claimed would tax some of the boroughs already vulnerable residents.

 The plan would only affect between one and two percent of Kings Countians who drive into the distant isle of Manhattan, according to analysts. Leaders of the independent Regional Plan Association, which advocates in favor of the tolls, claim they will only impact some 1.3 percent of Brooklynites, while data culled by another group supporting the plan, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, estimates that number could be as high as 2.4 percent.

 Congestion pricing is part of a $175-billion budget that Cuomo proposed in January, and the plan received support from Mayor DeBlasio in February after his administration opposed it for more than a year, when it instead advocated for a so-called millionaires tax to fund the transit system  which Cuomo and then Transit Authority Chairman Joe Lhota shot down, claiming it lacked immediacy.

 Establishing a dedicated revenue source for the Transit Authority, which moves more than 8-million people per day across all the services it provides, is not the only reform Cuomo has ordered to be made to the agency. It will also undergo a restructuring to improve accountability in financing, cut down on bureaucracy, and have a board made up of members appointed by an elected official, whose tenure would expire with that of the politicians themselves. The restructuring will include a variable pricing structure for the tolls into Manhattan and establish a so-called lockbox for those funds to go into.

 Budget amendments would determine the pricing structure, which would take into account the type of vehicle, the time and day of the week, credit for any tolls paid at other bridges and tunnels, as well as other key factors.

 The lockbox for congestion-pricing funds would ensure that 100 percent of the revenue collected would only be used for Transportation Authority capital projects.

 Congestion pricing was first proposed by former Mayor Bloomberg, but it proved unpopular at the state level and was killed before it could even make it to a vote in the Assembly in 2008.

 The environmental impacts of congestion pricing can dramatically improve the overall health of communities in central zones where it is implemented, according to a Johns Hopkins study performed in Sweden, which showed asthma attacks in children decreased by up to 50 percent after Stockholm enacted its own congestion-pricing scheme. The Los Angelesbased organization Transform, however, warns that congestion pricing can also pass on the burden of traffic pollution to other communities, and that legislators should take caution.
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Williamsburg

Hip, hip, hooray for Dime Community Bank, which donated big bucks to a local non-for-profit to help fund its kids summer camp.

Staff at Dimes Kent Avenue branch presented Williamsburg non-for-profit St. Nicholas Alliance with a jumbo check for $21,000 on March 19 as part of its annual sponorship deal, which gives the bank naming rights for St. Nicks Dime McCarren 5k run on May 4.

Bank honchos said theyre more than happy to support St. Nicholas summer programs, which include Stem classes, physical activities, and literacy and emotional learning for local youth.

St. Nicks is a great cause, they help all the kids in the community, said Pat Strong, VP Community Reinvestment Officer at Dime.

 Colin Mixson

Borough wide

Serving his country

Standing O salutes Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert Harley, a Brooklyn native and 2008 graduate of Nazareth High School who is assigned to USS Florida, taking on the task to execute one of the Defense Departments most important mission of strategic deterrence.

Harley is a culinary specialist stationed at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, homeport to the Ohio-class ballistic-missile and guided-missile submarines.

Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is home to all East Coast Ohio-class submarines, said Rear Adm. Jeff Jablon, commander, Submarine Group 10. Team Kings Bay ensures our crews are combat ready when called upon, putting our submarine forces on scene, unseen.

Harley credits continued success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Brooklyn.

I learned that you have to stay hungry if you want something bad enough, Harley said. I cant quit until I accomplish my goal.

Guided-missile submarines provide the Navy with unprecedented strike and special operation mission capabilities from a stealthy, clandestine platform, according to Jablon. Armed with tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, they are capable of directly supporting combatant commanders strike and Special Operations Forces requirements.

Harley is part of the boats blue crew, one of the two rotating crews, which allow the boat to be deployed on missions more often without taxing one crew too much. A typical crew on this submarine is approximately 150 officers and enlisted sailors.

Because of the demanding environment aboard submarines, personnel are accepted only after rigorous testing, according to Navy officials. Submariners are some of the most highly-trained and skilled people in the Navy. Regardless of their specialty, everyone has to learn how everything on the ship works and how to respond in emergencies to become qualified in submarines and earn the right to wear the coveted gold or silver dolphins on their uniform.

As a member of one of the U.S. Navys most relied upon assets, he and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.

Serving in the Navy means that I am doing everything I can to keep my family, friends and everyone safe, Harley said. I miss them when I go out to sea.

Reach reporter Colin Mixson at cmixs on@cn gloca l.com or by calling (718) 260-4505.
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Four Kings County crime bosses each face up to 20 years in prison after they pled guilty to racketeering in Brooklyn Federal Court this month, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The four men, who are all inducted members or associates of the Colombo organized crime family, conducted their schemes in the Borough of Churches, Staten Island, and other distant lands between March 2017 and June 2018, according to information provided by the attorneys office. The quartet was indicted on the charges in federal court last July.

Gravesend resident Jerry Ciauri  also known as Fat Jerry  pled guilty to racketeering on Wednesday, according to information from the attorneys office, which also indicated that the Colombo member made extortionate loans to six victims and used extortionate means to collect payments on those loans, in part by threatening to shoot his loansharking partner who had fallen behind on payments and ordering an associate to slash a victims tires in the middle of the night.

An associate of the family, Ridgite Salvatore Disano  who pled guilty to racketeering last week  helped Ciauri in collecting debts enforced with extortionate means, according to a rep for the attorneys office.

Another inducted member of the family, Dyker Heights resident Vito Difalco  also known as both Victor and The Mask  and family associate Joseph Maratea, who lives in Park Slope, pled guilty in federal court last week as well.

The pair worked together to operate a loansharking business, according to information from the attorneys office, which indicated that Difalco used extortionate means to collect debt from eight victims and that Maratea collected funds from five of those victims.

Difalco also threatened his victims in order to get them to pay their debts on time, and told one beleaguered borrower that in the past he had set on fire the cars of borrowers who failed to make their payments on time, according to the attorneys office.

Good things happen to me when I stay calm, see like I was by your house the other dayFour years ago, I would have put the Benz on fire, Difalco told one victim, according to prosecutors.

A fifth member of the family, Joseph Rizzo  who lives in Staten Island  faces up to five years in prison after he pled guilty to stalking conspiracy on March 15, according to information from the attorneys office.

Rizzo worked with Ciauri to stalk his former loansharking business partner after he pulled out of the business and started to cooperate with cops, according to prosecutors.
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Hes in hot water!

A Midwood legislator received widespread political condemnation after he denied the existence of Palestine and called a Minnesota congresswoman an anti-Semite on social media Wednesday.

Palestine does not exist. There, I said it again. Also, Congresswoman [Ilhan] Omar is an anti-Semite. Said that too. Thanks for following me, Councilman Kalman Yeger (D-Midwood) said in a March 27 tweet, doubling down in response to a one-year-old story on Bklyn er.com by Muslim journalist Zainab Iqbal, which quoted him as saying the Middle Eastern country didnt exist, calling its inhabitants so-called Palestinians.

The southern Brooklyn pol must apologize for his statements, which hurt the many Palestinian Americans in the five boroughs, according to the citys newly-elected public advocate and a former Flatbush councilman.

Councilman Yegers comments are very hurtful to individuals and the cause of a two state solution and peace. I urge him to immediately apologize, said Jumaane Williams. To discount and dismiss an entire group of people is completely destructive and not something an elected official in the worlds most diverse city should spout.

One fellow councilman, who represents a large Muslim-American population in the borough, asked that Yeger not tell his constituents that their country doesnt exist.

I love you, brother, but this isnt helpful, Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge) said on Twitter in response to Yegers tweet. As u know, I proudly represent one of the largest Palestinian communities in the country. And I support their aspiration for self-determination, in an independent state. Please dont tell my constituents their homeland doesnt exist.

Brannans Council colleague Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island) echoed his sentiments, saying that Yegers comments were inappropriate of a public representative.

NYC is home to tens of thousands of Palestinians. No elected official should be denying their identity and existence, said Treyger. This is hateful and divisive.

The other two city-wide office holders joined Williams in condemnation of Yegers words.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer took to Twitter and demanded Yeger apologize for his statements.

I condemn this irresponsible and divisive rhetoric unequivocally. We will only achieve peace if we acknowledge each others inherent dignity. Stringer tweeted. Council Member @KalmanYeger should apologize now,

Mayor Bill de Blasio shied away from demanding an apology, but said that Palestinians and Israelis needed to work toward a two-state solution to build a more peaceful region.

A two-state solution is the best hope for peace. I challenge anyone who thinks the State of Israel shouldnt exist. But the same goes for anyone who would deny Palestinians a home, Hizzoner said on Twitter.

Borough President Eric Adams said that Yegers tweets were damaging in a time of increasing Islamophobic and anti-Semitic attacks.

It is more important than ever to recognize and see one other as equal; tweets that do the opposite pose a danger in this highly charged climate where both Islamophobic and anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise, Adams said. There is just one race: the human race.

Yeger appeared to walk his comments back later in the day, when he tweeted that he referred to the existence of Palestine, not the Palestinian people and that people where misinterpreting his statement.

I never said anything about the people. Im simply referring to the geographic reality that there is not presently a place with that name. Folks read what they want to, he said.

He has a track record of drawing attention to himself by tweeting controversial comments on Israel-Palestine relations, such as a 2018 post accusing so-called Palestinians of trying to destroy Israel, which he published in response to a Newsweek article about a Palestinian lawmaker who hoped to unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and work toward a multi-ethnic one-state solution for the embattled region.

More evidence that the ultimate goal of the so-called Palestinians is the destruction of the Jewish state and its people, Yeger tweeted. And THATS why there will never be peace.

Yeger did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The annual King Harbor Holiday Boat Parade returned on Saturday evening, Dec. 11, with an armada of sailing vessels glowing with Christmas lights. This year, the popular tradition had as its theme "Into the Lights," honoring first responders and health...
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Digital Editor
Swedish fashion retailer H&M plans to have 1,000 employees in India by the end of the year, a senior executive has said. H&M, which has six stores across the Delhi-National Capital Region, Bengaluru and Mohali and around 800 employees in the country.

According to Dhatri Bhatt, head of communications at H&M India, the chain is in India for the long term and believes in investing to grow local talent. After first opening a store in the country in Delhi last October, it is looking to open three outlets in Mumbai, two in Pune and one in Chennai. The count would go to 12 by the end of ...
Following IKEA announcing the purchase of 13 acres in Hyderabad for its first store in India on Friday, its the turn of another Swedish chain, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), to go for a big rollout in the country. H&M, rival to another European fast fashion brand, Zara, is likely to open as many as 30 stores in India by early next year, sources say.

The Swedish fashion chain, in the middle of major global expansion, is learnt to have already closed about 15 real estate lease deals in India, and is in the process of raising this count. The group, with $22 billion in global sales and 3,600 outlets across 59 markets, recently announced it would launch its first India store in the national capital. The store, of about 25,000 sq ft, would be located at a popular mall.

At the time of making its application for investing about Rs 750 crore into the country, H&M had said it planned to open 50 outlets across India through the next few years. Zara, in a joint venture with Tata groups Trent, has 16 stores across the country; it posted $114 million in sales for the year ended March this year.

H&MS GLOBAL UNIVERSE Six brands under H&M : H&M, COS, Monki, Weekday, Cheap Monday, Other Stories



3,600 stores across 59 markets, including franchisees



stores across markets, including franchisees $22 billion Sales revenue



Sales revenue 93,000 Employee base



Employee base It's biggest rival is Spain-based Zara from Inditex group



USP: Fast fashion Source: Company website, industry reports

H&M did not reply to a Business Standard questionnaire on store openings and lease deals.

According to H&Ms latest quarterly report, the company plans to open as many as 400 stores across the world this year. Besides India, the groups expansion thrust is on the US and China. In fact, in North America, both H&M and Inditexs Zara are giving stiff competition to the US-based Gap. Recently, Gap announced its plan to shut 175 stores in the US.

Besides international expansion, H&M is also focused on going online. Of late, the group has gone online in Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Belgium, among others.

Though the company secured the governments approval to invest in India early last year, it has delayed its launch partly due to a slow retail environment in its home market, pressure on margins and focus on some other key markets. Analysts said general elections in India, as well as political uncertainties, might also have added to the delay.

ALSO READ: IKEA gets land in Hyderabad for first India store

H&Ms big India play at this point is significant because there has been no action in the international brick-and-mortar retail scene for about a year, except Gap launching its store recently.

The National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre is opposed to foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. The UKs Tesco, in partnership with the Tata group, is the only entity in multi-brand retail to have invested in India (Maharashtra and Karnataka). In 2013, American major Walmart parted ways with its partner, Bharti group.

While limiting its business to wholesale, Walmart has not shown any interest in entering Indias multi-brand sector. French chain Carrefour, which also had wholesale stores in the country, made an exit last year, in the absence of a favourable multi-brand policy.

In multi-brand retail, FDI is capped at 51 per cent, while 100 per cent foreign investment is allowed in single-brand retail. However, despite the fact that theres no cap on FDI in single brand retail, such as IKEA and H&M are believed to have been worried over a clause pertaining to mandatory 30 per cent sourcing from India.
Swedish fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) on Wednesday announced its first India flagship store will open at a popular mall in New Delhi on October 2. This will be the 60th market for the group. By the end of the year, it will open another store in the capital.

H&M, one of the largest foreign investors in single-brand retail, filed its proposal to enter India in 2013 and had to push back its plan due to many factors, including a slowing market back home.

The first store of H&M, a rival to another European fashion brand Zara, will be spread across about 25,000 sq ft in two floors. While the first outlet will open at Select Citywalk mall in Saket, another is being planned at Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj by the end of 2015.

The group is expected to open as many as 30 stores in India next year. With $22 billion in global sales, the firm had at the time of application proposed to invest Rs 750 crore in India. It had said it planned to open 50 outlets across India through the next few years. Zara, in a joint venture with Tata Groups Trent, has 16 stores across the country; it posted $114 million in sales for the year ended March.

This is the best time to be in India, it is H&Ms 60th and highly anticipated market with so much potential in retail. We hope to exceed customer expectations with our varied range of inspiring fashion that lets them explore their personal style, said Janne Einola, country manager, Hennes & Mauritz Retail India.

According to H&Ms latest quarterly report, the company plans to open as many as 400 stores across the world this year. Besides India, the groups expansion thrust is on the US and China. In fact, in North America, both H&M and Inditexs Zara are giving stiff competition to the US-based Gap, Inc, which recently announced it would shut 175 stores in the US.
Ola may be facing hurdles in Karnataka, the state where it was born, but the home-grown ride-hailing major is expanding fast in the UK where it had entered seven months ago. The SoftBank-backed company has unveiled its services in three cities in the UK  Liverpool, Birmingham, and Reading  after obtaining the taxi and private hire licences from the local councils.

Ola is now present in seven cities in the UK. The Bengaluru-headquartered company is planning to launch in more cities across North England and the Midlands in the coming months, it said in a ...
The governments first half gross borrowing would be Rs 4.42 trillion, about 62.25 per cent of the total planned for the full 2019-20. Generally, the government front-loads the borrowing to leave the second half to corporate borrowers to raise money. However, in 2018-19, the government decided to borrow 47.5 per cent in the first half, as bond yields moved up rapidly since September 2017.

The share of the total borrowing is largely in line with market expectations. The expectations was that there will be 60-62 per cent borrowing in the first half (H1). The calendar released by the ...
A strong economy can enable a redistribution of its larger resources in order to reduce poverty, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said at the Business Standard Awards on Friday. Honouring the best and the brightest of India Inc and social sectors, Jaitley said in this day and age civil societys ability to understand what was in its interests was greater than what politicians and the media prescribed.

With less than two weeks to go for the Lok Sabha elections, the finance minister said the mind space now is elsewhere and not really on the economy. With ...
Lawmakers rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for a third time on Friday, sounding its probable death knell and leaving Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in turmoil on the very day it was supposed to quit the bloc. The decision to reject a stripped-down version of May's divorce deal has left it totally unclear how, when or even whether Britain will leave the EU, and plunges the three-year Brexit crisis to a deeper level of uncertainty. "I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House," May told parliament after the ...
When I began to plan a trip to Ethiopia, I realised that I could also visit the legendary Lucy, the earliest known hominid ancestor of man. Lucy had been discovered in Hadar and I wanted to see if there was a possibility of being able to visit the archaeological site.

Whilst doing research on the trip, I began to discover references to the Omo valley and the tribes that inhabited this region. The scattered photographs available on the internet at that time fascinated me and I asked Sangeeta Sahay Prasad to help me visit and photograph these people that have preserved their ...
The rupee opened 6 paise higher at 69.24 against the US dollar on Friday. The domestic unit slumped 42 paise to end at 69.30 on Thursday, its second straight session of decline, in line with other Asian currencies amid strengthening of the greenback.

On Thursday, the rupee consolidated for the whole session but in the last hour of the day started to come under pressure following month-end dollar demand. Weakness was also on the back of strength in the US dollar against its major crosses ahead of the important GDP number that was released yesterday, says Gaurang Somaiya, Research ...
A team of Customs Department on Friday seized a container with 18 tonnes of red sanders, a category of wood classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as "endangered" under Red list, worth Rs 9 crore from a truck here.

One person has been arrested in this regard.

On specific intelligence inputs, a team of customs officers conducted a special check on the movement of in-coming trucks into Kattupalli port area.

"The team noticed a container truck parked before the entry gate. On nearing, the team found that the truck driver had fled the spot. Efforts are being made to trace him," Rajan Chaudhary, Commissioner of Customs stated in a press release.

On interrogation, the shipping bill and gate pass found in the bus appeared to be forged.

The wooden blocks have been seized under the Customs Act, 1962 read with FT(D & R) Act.

The forest officials were called to further examine and certify the red sander wood. Further investigation is underway.

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In a case of medical negligence, 38 people who underwent eye surgeries at a government hospital here were admitted to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak after they complained of severe eye pain and infection post operation.

The incident came to fore on Wednesday. According to doctors, mishandled procedures and incorrect medicine caused the side-effects.

The doctors of a special retina unit team at PGIMS' eye department who are treating the patients claimed that the condition of the eyes has become so critical that the affected patients might lose their sight.

An elderly man affected by the mishandled surgery claimed that he consulted a doctor after the operation with complaints of intolerable eyes pain but the doctor told him that it is just an after-effect of the surgery.

However, when the pain continued, the elderly man went to another doctor who detected pus in his eyes and referred him to PGIMS where he is currently undergoing treatment.

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The crucial black box, flight data recorder, of the Mi-17 helicopter that crashed near Budgam on February 27 killing six personnel on board, is missing and the Indian Air Force is searching for it.

"The black box has gone missing after the crash and we are trying to locate it. It is possible that it has been taken away by the hostile locals, who have taken away many other parts as well," sources in the Air Force said.

The Mi-17 had taken off from Srinagar on February 27 around the time when the Pakistan Air Force aircraft launched an aerial attack on India but failed to strike any targets due to a swift response by India.

The black box of an aircraft is crucial to know the sequence of events before an accident or a crash as it provides complete details of the happenings.

Recently, the reason for the crash of a Mirage-2000 was found out after the data in the black box was extracted in France.

"On 27 February 2019, one Mi-17 V5 helicopter of Indian Air Force got airborne from Srinagar airfield at 1000 hrs for a routine mission. The helicopter crashed around 1010 hrs near Budgam, J-K. All six air warriors on board the helicopter suffered fatal injuries. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the accident," the Air Force had stated in its statement.

Media reports have suggested that an air defence missile had been fired from Srinagar soon before the crash of the Mi-17 took place.

The reports suggest that the investigation in the matter is trying to connect the dots in the entire episode.

IAF officials said the court of inquiry into the accident is still going on and has not yet concluded about the real cause of the accident.

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Bombay High Court on Friday adjourned the hearing to April 1 on a plea seeking a stay on the release of a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The petitioner, Satish Gaikwad, a resident of Pune, has argued in his plea filed before the High Court on Tuesday that the release of the film titled 'PM Narendra Modi Ssingh' before the General Elections will be a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

The stay on the release of the film is a necessity for a "transparent election", the petitioner said in his plea.

The petitioner has also demanded that the trailer of the film should either be removed or deleted from all social media sites.

"We have conveyed the urgency in front of the Chief Justice that the film would be released on April 5. He (EC's standing counsel) is of the view that we have not got the notice up till now," the petitioner said.

He also claimed that the film would indirectly promote Narendra Modi.

"The title of the film is itself clearing on whom the picture is being made. Indirectly this film would promote Narendra Modi. Our basic demand is to stay the release of the film till the elections are over. There should be free and fair elections in India," he said.

The Students' Union of India, the Congress party's student wing unit of Goa, on March 15 had urged the Election Commission to ban the release of Narendra Modi biopic, alleging that the movie was "propaganda by the BJP to influence" voters during the Lok Sabha elections.

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Chhattisgarh Congress legislature Kunwar Singh Nishad on Friday praised the Centre's ambitious Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, saying the scheme is very good for the poor.

Nishad is a member of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly from Gunderdehi in Balod district of the state and is known for his simplicity.

"I am putting best of my efforts to successfully make people get the benefit of the scheme. If any scheme can help the poor realize their dreams of building a house, it should be implemented widely," Nishad told ANI.

Nishad, reportedly used to live in a thatched house before becoming an MLA. A home for his father Dukhua Nishad is under-construction under the PMAY scheme in Arjunda village of Balod district.

Dukhua Nishad said, "This is a very good scheme. I have heard that the government is giving Rs 2.2 lakh to build houses."

In August last year, the Central government had stated that 1.07 crore rural houses were constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (rural) which aims at housing to all citizens by 2022.

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Congress' sitting local MP S P Muddahanumegowda on Friday decided to withdraw his nomination for the Lok Sabha elections. Today was the last day for the withdrawal of nomination from 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) president HD Deve Gowda is contesting from Tumkur seat.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had met Muddahanumegowda and urged him to withdraw his nomination in support of Gowda.

After the meeting, KPCC president Rao termed him as "one of the ablest parliamentarians." He also admitted "injustice" has been done to him.

"In this coalition, he is the only MP to lose his seat. He is one of our ablest parliamentarians. Definitely, injustice has been done to him. I have already expressed that view as the party president. It is the party's responsibility to rectify the mistake in the future," said Rao while talking to reporters.

Deputy Chief Minister Parameshwara also praised the sitting MP for doing "extremely well" in the parliament and in his constituency as well.

"No doubt, he is a pure Congressman. He has done extremely well in the parliament and in the constituency as well. He has been able to win the hearts of the common man in the last five years. We were hoping that he will be repeated," he said.

Parameshwara further said: "In the larger interest of the nation and as a part of the alliance we have formed in Karnataka with the JDS, we have to share some of our seats. Unfortunately, Tumkur was also one of them."

The two leaders also said that they have been instructed by the party president Rahul Gandhi to persuade him to withdraw his nomination against Gowda.

Karnataka will go to polls during the second and third phase of Lok Sabha polling on April 18 and 23 respectively. The results will be announced on May 23.

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The next meeting on Kartarpur Corridor which was slated to be held in Pakistan tentatively on April 2, is now in limbo.

It is learnt that India is upset by the constitution of the recently announced 10-member committee by the Pakistan Government to oversee Kartarpur Corridor as it includes some controversial names like that of Gopal Singh Chawla, Maninder Singh, Tara Singh, Bisan Singh and Kuljeet Singh.

Government sources said these names are involved in secessionist and anti-India activities. In fact, Gopal is linked with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and this has queered the pitch for Kartarpur Dialogue.

India on Friday summoned Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan and sought clarification on what these controversial names have to do with the Kartarpur Corridor. Government sources said India is highly concerned about the security of its pilgrims and has made it clear to Pakistan in earlier meetings that the Corridor should not be used for anti-India secessionist activities.

Sources said that while India wants to conclude Corridor in an expeditious manner and in letter and spirit but there can be no let up in security. "India is awaiting a response from Pakistan. Security is not the only sticking point," Government sources told ANI adding there are certain issues that need to be addressed.

For instance, India has asked for a visa-free system for entry of the pilgrims at the Corridor and believes a passport is good enough document to prove identity and citizenship. However, it is learnt that Pakistan wants an entry fee.

India has also demanded entry of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holders which Pakistan has not agreed to. Besides, Pakistan is allowing only 500 to 700 pilgrims to the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib on a daily basis citing infrastructure constraints while India wants about 5000 pilgrims daily and up to 15000 on special days keeping in view the huge demand. India also wants entry of pilgrims even at single level through foot while Pakistan is insisting on groups.

"India has sought clarifications from Pakistan on key proposals put forward by India at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. India has also shared concerns and sought clarifications on reports that controversial elements have been appointed by Pakistan to a committee to be associated with the Kartarpur Corridor. It has been conveyed that the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan's response," Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

"In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the Corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting. The government of India remains committed to realise the long pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the Corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner," MEA statement added.

Responding to India's statement, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said: "Pakistan regrets the Indian decision to postpone the upcoming Kartarpur meeting, jointly agreed by both sides on 14 March 2019. The meeting was to discuss and find consensus on outstanding issues. Last minute postponement without seeking views from Pakistan and especially after the productive technical meeting on 19 March is incomprehensible.

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A team of Election Commission on Friday seized Rs 25 Lakh cash at Jhatikara border in South-West Delhi, an official release said.

"Static Surveillance Team of Assembly Constituency -Matiala, SDM office, Kapashera, has seized Rs. 25 Lakh cash at Jhatikara border. The team consisting of Manoj Kumar Sahu, Executive Magistrate and others were doing surveillance duty to monitor MCC violations at the site wherein during a routine check-up the cash was found in a Ford Endeavour SUV," a press release of Election Commission.

"After interrogation of the car driver, Rs 25 Lakh cash was seized. The driver of the car could not produce any document or permission of authorities concerned to carry such big amount of cash during election time," it read.

According to release, the matter was immediately reported to concerned Police Station and Income Tax Department.

The cash has been handed over to the police and the matter is under investigation by the Police and Income Tax Department.

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The Enforcement Directorate on Friday attached properties of Kashmiri Separatist Shabir Ahmad Shah in Srinagar in involvement in terror funding case, officials said.

According to ED, Shah was involved in illicit activities along with Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad's hawala operator Mohd Aslam Wani. Shah has confessed during the interrogation that he has no source of income.

Wani and Shah were arrested by the ED in 2017 for the offence of money laundering.

This year in January, Wani was granted bail by Delhi High Court while Shah remained in judicial custody.

Earlier, Special Cell of Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet under sections 120B, 121, 121A, 122 and 123 of Indian Penal Code, sections 48 and 5 of Explosive Substance Act, sections 17 and 23 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and section 25 of Arms Act.

"The charge sheet has revealed that in 2005, Wani was apprehended with 5 kg of explosive, one Pistol with 15 live cartridges and a cash of Rs 62,96,000," ED said.

In the disclosure before the police, Wani had admitted that out of this cash Rs 52.96 lakh belongs to Shah and was to be delivered to him in Srinagar. He had further revealed that Shah was directing hawala operators from Pakistan to deliver money to him in Delhi.

During investigation before Delhi Police, Wani had revealed that in the past also he acted as a carrier for Shah and delivered Rs 2.08 crore on various occasions. He also revealed in the absence of Shah, he has delivered Hawala money to Shah's wife Dr Bilquies Shah in Srinagar.

The amount of Rs. 62.96 lakh recovered from Wani had been earlier attached by the ED and a prosecution complaint under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 was filed before the competent court at Patiala House.

Further investigation is under progress.

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Amid the ongoing tussle between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over Mumbai North-East Lok Sabha constituency, RPI chief Ramdas Athawale has said that he should be given the opportunity to contest the Lok Sabha polls from this seat.

"There is a struggle between BJP and Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena says that if BJP fields Kirit Somaiya, then it will field its own candidate and won't support BJP. The chances are there that the seat may come to us," said Athawale.

"I am prepared to contest from Mumbai North-East Lok Sabha seat. People in the constituency know me well. Earlier when I contested from there, I got 2.25 lakh votes," he said.

It may be noted that the BJP and Shiv Sena are yet to reach a consensus over Somaiya's candidature from Mumbai North-East Lok Sabha constituency.

As per the seat-sharing pact between the two political parties, the BJP will fight on the Mumbai North-East constituency. However, the Shiv Sena has been opposing Somaiya's candidature.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut on Friday said that the matter of his brother Sunil Raut contesting as an Independent candidate from Mumbai-North East constituency was conveyed to party chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Polling in Mumbai North-East parliamentary seat will be held on April 29 in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections and the counting of votes will take place on May 23. The last day for filing nominations is April 9.

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Congress leader Hardik Patel will not be able to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha elections after Gujarat High court on Friday rejected his plea seeking suspension of his conviction in a rioting case of 2015 in Mehsana.

"The court has rejected the application of the Hardik Patel. The court found that the applicant who has more than 17 FIR/complaints registered against him and seeing his conduct, his case cannot be considered as a rare or exceptional case for the court to stay his conviction," said Dharmesh Devnani, the public prosecutor.

"While his counsel argued in the High Court that conviction recorded by the lower court doesn't have the evidence to support conviction grounds and hence, he should get relief. However, the High Court turned down his application saying that the record, material or evidence in the lower court cannot be considered or tested at this stage," he said

"The stand of the state government was that a lawbreaker cannot be a lawmaker," said the public prosecutor. While Hardik's lawyer Saleem M Syed said that he will approach the Supreme Court against the High Court judgement.

Hardik, the Patidar agitation leader, officially joined Congress on March 12 at a party rally in Ahmedabad. The rally was organised after a Congress Working Committee meeting.

Patel was inducted into the party in the presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders.

Patel emerged as the leader of the agitation demanding reservation for the Patidar community in Gujarat in 2015. The people from this community were considered to be bedrock supporters of the BJP.

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Hearing on the bail plea of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi has begun at the Westminster Magistrate Court here on Friday.

Nirav Modi, donning a mustache and a semi-beard, is present inside the court along with his lawyer Anand Doobay.

Indian agency officers from the CBI and the ED are also present in the court-room.

Before the hearing commenced, Toby Cadman, representing the Crown Prosecution on behalf of the Indian authorities in London's Westminster Magistrate court, told ANI, "In case Nirav Modi gets bail, we will appeal against it in the High Court. We will do everything to keep him in."

India is seeking Nirav Modi's extradition to make him face the law of the land for allegedly committing economic offences.

A joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials arrived here on March 28 for the hearing.

This will be Modi's second attempt at securing a bail after his first request was turned down on March 20. Judge Marie Mallon had cited the "high value of amount involved in the allegations" as the reason behind the rejection of his bail plea.

Presiding over Modi's bail request is Judge Emma Arbuthnot, who in December last year ordered for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India to face charges of causing a loss of Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of banks.

Also present in the court today is Chetan Choksi, brother of Mehul Choksi, who is accused of defrauding ICICI bank's UK branch of US $25 million back in 2013. Chetan Choksi is the owner of Antwerp-based diamond dealer Diminco NV.

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After the Gujarat High Court on Friday rejected his plea seeking suspension of his conviction in a rioting case, following which he would not be able to contest the Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Hardik Patel said that the "law is only for the Congress."

"I welcome the decision of Gujarat High Court. Elections will come and go but the BJP is working against the Constitution. Why the 25-year-old worker of Congress party is being stopped from contesting elections? There are cases against many BJP leaders, even convictions but the law is only for us," tweeted Patel.

Patel will not be able to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha elections after the Gujarat High Court on Friday rejected his plea seeking suspension of his conviction in a rioting case of 2015 in Mehsana.

"We are not scared. We will continue to raise voice for the common people with honesty, non-violence, and truth. We will make the government of Congress that serves people. I will campaign for the party in Gujarat and the whole nation," he said.

Hardik, the Patidar agitation leader, officially joined Congress on March 12 at a party rally in Ahmedabad. The rally was organised after the Congress Working Committee meeting.

Patel was inducted into the party in the presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders.

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Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday reiterated his support for "inclusive development" in Balochistan.

Dawn quoted the Prime Minister while addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of Balochistan Medical Complex, as saying, "When you empower people on a village level, it will help development."

"We have to make sure that development is inclusive. The more we focus on Balochistan, the more it will develop and Pakistan along with it."

"The people of Balochistan fear that they will become a minority and lose their jobs. We were discussing this earlier. We need institutes for technical education and skill development. I will discuss this further with the chief minister," he said.

Prime Minister Khan said that the medical complex would become a part of the medical city planned in Quetta.

"We are also going to build a cancer hospital here," Khan said.

The Prime Minister further noted that Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid is working on a plan for a rail network from Quetta to Taftan in Iran, apart from creating a master plan for Quetta.

"Major cities in Pakistan do not have master plans, and cities are expanding. Unless you have master plans in place, you cannot provide basic facilities in urban areas," Khan said.

Balochistan is famous for its port city of Gwadar, which features the multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major investment project as well as a geostrategic asset for China to strengthen its military prowess in the South Asian region.

Prime Minister Khan regretted that Balochistan was neglected in the past and was only remembered at the time of elections in the country.

"Our focus is to develop Balochistan," ARY News quoted Khan as saying.

Dubbing the western route of CPEC as a "game changer", the Prime Minister said, "China was working on the eastern route. We should have worked on the western route." "This 305-kilometre route will bring a lot of change and development."

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for a new international airport at Gwadar, which he promised, will have the latest equipment and facilities and is expected to be one of the country's largest airports.

Lastly, the Prime Minister further announced that Gwadar will be connected to Pakistan's national grid.

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Congress candidate from Saharanpur Imran Masood on Friday lashed out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for calling him a relative of terrorist Masood Azhar.

Addressing a rally here, Imran also mocked at Adityanath for his 'ignorance' and said, "Yogi Adityanath was calling me Azhar Masood while the terrorist's actual name is Masood Azhar."

Taking a jibe at the Chief Minister, the Congress candidate said that if he is a relative of Masood Azhar then Adityanath should be ashamed of the fact that he is roaming freely."

Speaking in favour of Congress candidate Harendra Malik, he said: "In the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the contest is between BJP and Congress and there is no middle path available for the voters. Hence, Malik will get votes of all sections of society."

Hitting out at Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati for turning down Congress support, Imran said: "Mayawati says she will not talk to Congress. If that is so, then has she spoken to BJP (for an alliance)?"

He said the fate of Mayawati will be decided in Saharanpur when the results will be out on May 23.

Calling out the public to support Congress, he said that the only way to remove BJP from power is through Congress.

"The battle in this election is between two ideologies. The one led by Rahul Gandhi is the ideology of affection and the BJP talks about hatred," he said.

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The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday observed that it cannot interfere in the orders of the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the transfers of IPS officers in the state.

The ECI had recently ordered the transfer of Andhra Pradesh DG (Intelligence), and SPs of Kadapa and Srikakulam. Later, the TDP government had filed a petition in the High Court.

Senior advocate D Prakash Reddy argued in support of ECI. Advocate General D Srinivas, who represented the state government, argued that the ECI has no right to transfer DG (Intelligence), who has no connection with election duties.

The High Court bench led by Justice Praveen Kumar, heard arguments of both the parties and observed that it cannot interfere in ECI's orders.

In the wake of High Court's order, the Andhra Pradesh government has transferred DG (Intelligence) AB Venkateswara Rao who has been ordered to report to senior officials at the police headquarters.

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Israel is prepared for the extensive military campaign in Gaza against Hamas, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (local time).

"I recently ordered that the [IDF border] units be reinforced, that tools be added, in preparation for an extensive campaign. All citizens of Israel know that if an extensive campaign is necessary - we will go into it strong and secure after all other possibilities have been exhausted," The Jerusalem Post quoted Netanyahu as saying.

His remarks come in the wake of heightened tension between Isreal and Gaza after the latter's rocket fell in Tel Aviv on Monday.

Retaliating immediately, Israeli Air Force struck Hamas target throughout Gaza. Despite Hamas repeated clarifications that the rocket fell accidentally, Isreal launched multiple strikes towards Gaza. Furthermore, Egypt also tried to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. However, the talks failed and Israel continued to attack.

Netanhayu, who just returned from his state visit to United States, termed US' recognition on Golan Heights as Israel part as a "tremendous diplomatic achievement".

Claiming Golan Heights still faces threat, Netanhayu said, "Beyond the Golan Heights is Syria, and also Iran. Iran is constantly trying to bring precision long-range missiles, which are very advanced and very lethal, into Syria.

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Saudi Arabia's secretive hearing for 11 suspects accused in the murder of Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi's is the "violations of human rights law", said a United Nations human rights expert on Thursday (local times).

Agnes Callamard, who leads an international inquiry into the killing of the journalist, also said that the trail "did not satisfy" the United Nations in terms of "procedural fairness under international standards".

"The Government of Saudi Arabia is grievously mistaken if it believes that these proceedings, as currently constituted, will satisfy the international community, either in terms of procedural fairness under international standards or in terms of the validity of their conclusions," said Callamard.

"They risk being participants in a potential miscarriage of justice, possibly complicit should it be shown that the trials are marred by violations of human rights law," she added.

Reportedly, Saud al-Qahtani, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's special aid, who was sacked over the Khasshogi's murder, is not among 11 suspects.

Khashoggi was killed on October 2 last year at the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

His body is yet to be recovered.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had apprised the Congress, "President Trump has made it very clear. We will continue to work to identify those responsible for Mr Khashoggi's murder and hold them accountable. I stand by that today."

After presenting several contradictory theories, Saudi Arabia acknowledged that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate premises in what the country's then Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir had described as a "rogue operation".

According to the US intelligence agencies, the murder of Khashoggi was enacted upon orders by the Saudi Crown Prince.

However, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly rejected all the allegations against its Crown Prince, adding that it is committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice.

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Get ready to witness another fresh pairing on screen! The Bollywood starlet, Janhvi Kapoor, who made her debut with 'Dhadak', has bagged yet another film. Janhvi will be next seen opposite Rajkummar Rao in the upcoming horror comedy 'Rooh-Afza'. Indian film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the news on his Twitter handle. He also announced the release date of the film. "Janhvi Kapoor joins Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma in #RoohAfza... Directed by Hardik Mehta... Produced by Dinesh Vijan and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba... Shoot begins in June 2019... 20 March 2020 release... Official announcement," he wrote.

The upcoming film, co-starring 'Fukrey' fame Varun Sharma, will go on floors in June 2019.

As per media reports, Janhvi will play a double role in the film and both her characters namely Roohi and Afsana will be contrasting personalities.

Giving out more details about the film, Adarsh had tweeted in December, revealing that the 'Newton' actor will play the role of a small-town goon whose plans go haywire when he has supernatural encounters.

"More on producer Dinesh Vijan and actor Rajkummar Rao project... Rajkummar Raoplays a small-time goon whose plans go haywire when he has supernatural encounters... Filming starts early 2019... Jan 2020 release," he tweeted at that time.

This will be the second horror-comedy film for Rajkummar, who earlier starred in 'Stree' and won millions of hearts with his performance in the movie.

'Stree' received several awards at the recently-held Star Screen Awards 2018. While Rajkummar won Best Popular Actor (Male) award for the film and the movie won Best Film Award, the director of the film won Most Promising Debut Director award. The film also starred Pankaj Tripathi who earned the Best Actor Supporting (Male) award.

The upcoming film will be helmed by Hardik Mehta and backed by Dinesh Vijan and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba. It will be written by Mrighdeep along with Gautam Mehra.

This marks the third collaboration of Rajkummar with Dinesh, who earlier bankrolled 'Stree' and upcoming film 'Made In China'.

The film is all set to hit big screens on March 20 next year.

Apart from this, Rajkummar will be next seen in 'Mental Hai Kya', in which he reunites with his 'Queen' co-star Kangana Ranaut. He will also appear in 'Made in China' alongside Mouni Roy.

Meanwhile, Janhvi is currently working on a biopic based on Gunjan Saxena, India's first ever woman IAF officer and will also be seen in Karan Johar's multi-starrer 'Takht' alongside Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Bednekar and Anil Kapoor.

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Patiala House Court on Friday sent Sajjad Khan, an alleged associate of Pulwama terror attack mastermind Mudassir Ahmed Khan, to judicial custody till April 26.

Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Syal had earlier sent him to the custody of the Investigation Agency (NIA) for seven days, till March 29.

He was produced before the special court today at the end of the remand period. NIA also pressed that they do not wish to interrogate him further.

On March 22, the Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested Jaish-e-Mohammad operative Sajjad Khan near Red Fort.

"He was arrested under sections 120B and 121A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 17, 18, 18A, 18B, 20, 38 and 39 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)," an NIA statement said.

The statement further claimed, "In furtherance of this criminal conspiracy, Sajjad Ahmed Khan was specially sent to Delhi to set up hideouts in Delhi NCR. This was done to select specific targets and also to radicalise and recruit Muslim youths to further terror activities."

The accused is believed to be a close associate of Pulwama terror attack mastermind Mudassir Ahmed Khan who was gunned down by the security forces in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir on March 11. Huge quantities of ammunition and automatic weapons were found during the encounter.

Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14 after a JeM terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into their bus, which was a part of the convoy.

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Father Anthony, an alleged close aide of Kerala nun rape case accused Franco Mulakkal, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The arrest by the ED reportedly comes after unaccounted cash was recovered from his residence in Partappura near Jalandhar.

According to reports, Father Anthony has not produced any proof accounting for the seized cash.

Franco Mulakkal has been accused of raping a nun several times between 2014 and 2016 and is currently out on bail.

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Jalandhar Police has arrested a suspected Khalistani terrorist linked to Commando Force (KCF) and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF).

Identified as Amrik Singh alias Manga, the terrorist had entered India through Nepal. He had Ugandan citizenship.

The Counter Intelligence Wing and Commissionerate Police Jalandhar on Thursday arrested Amrik. He had entered India through Nepal and was living illegally for last two years in his village. He has been arrested following an intelligence input from Adda Jandiala.

In a press release, AIG Counter Intelligence, Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh said that the accused was wanted in twin blasts case at Jalandhar bus stand carried out by Satnam Singh alias Satta Lasuri on April 28, 2006 and May 24, 2006.

Khakh said that Pakistan-based KZF Commander Ranjeet Singh Neeta and USA based Balwinder Singh Posi had orchestrated the blasts along with Amrik Singh. Three persons were killed in the first blast, while the accused failed to execute the second bomb properly, he said.

"During preliminary interrogation of the arrested accused revealed that he was involved in the extremist activities from 1992 to 1995. Amrik had a close association with infamous terrorists Gurdeep Singh alias Deepa Heran wala of KCF who provided him one revolver and one Pistol, which he had used for some dacoity incidents in the year 1995", Khakh added.

The AIG further said that in 1998, Amrik and his six associates killed one person Harwinder Singh Bhola at Guru Nagar of Jalandhar due to latter's affair with the sister of his friend. In this case, they were sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2000 was imposed by the court of additional district and sessions Judge GK Roy. Later, Amrik jumped his parole and managed to fly to Uganda from India.

The AIG stated that in 2003, his Indian passport expired but he managed to get a new passport with his father's name Harmail Singh and by mentioning wrong birth date May 15, 1975, from the Republic of Uganda.

He added that Amrik Singh has been in close association with Pakistan based Ranjit Singh Neeta, US Based Paramjit Singh alias Baba Gaddri and Balwinder Singh Possi alias Happy who belongs to KZF.

In 2003, on the instructions of Balwinder Possi and Ranjeet Neeta, he called Satta Lasuri and Nirmal Singh for Uganda on sponsorship and managed their stay in Uganda. Further, Amrik arranged a passport for Satta and sent him to Pakistan for getting training in making homemade bombs and other weapon training.

Amrik was declared as proclaimed offender in 2007 in FIR under Explosive Act registered at Model Town Police Station.

The AIG also said that in 2012, Amrik was arrested by Uganda police for indulging in illegal human trafficking and was lodged in Uganda Jail for four years. Due to this case, the Indian embassy in Uganda refused him Indian visa three times Mr Khakh informed.

AIG said that in January 2017, he reached India via Nepal after staying for two weeks at Kathmandu in Nepal and arrived Delhi from Nepal border via train and moved to his village by bus where he has been living by changing his identity.

He said that Amrik will be produced in the court and will be taken on police remand to quiz him further about the cases and what he has been doing for the past two years here.

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The United States on Friday claimed that its citizens have been held in detention camps of Xinjiang in China.

US State Department sources told CNN that a few legal US residents were being held back in China. The sources, however, refused to divulge more information citing privacy concerns.

While addressing a press briefing at the State Department, Sam Brownback, the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom said that he has accessed a new, unconfirmed report about a legal US resident, who had not been heard since his visit to Xinjiang.

"He had legal status being here, travelled back to Xinjiang after being here with his son in California. And then has not been heard from since. And he's deeply concerned about whether what his treatment is. He has a number of chronic illnesses, he's a 75-year-old man and an intellectual," Brownback revealed.

Expressing concerns about the detention camps in the south-Asian nation, Brownback said, "And it's not just the camps anymore. Entire villages are being encased and people limited on their movement in and out, of the villages in that region that's occurring as well. The situation continues and in some cases appears to be escalating, not de-escalating."

The State Department Human Rights report of 2018 suggests that Beijing has "arbitrarily" detained 800,000 to possibly more than two million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslims in internment camps designed to erase religious and ethnic identities.

"International media, human rights organizations, and former detainees reported security officials in the camps abused, tortured, and killed some detainee," the report stated.

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Journalist Supriya Shrinate will be contesting the ensuing Lok Sabha elections from Maharajganj parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress announced on Friday.

The party had earlier announced the candidature of jailed politician Amarmani Tripathi's daughter Tanushree Tripathi on the seat in its 13th list of Lok Sabha candidates released on Thursday. However, Tanushree was earlier chosen by the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) from the same seat, thus paving way for Congress to choose Supriya.

"I will be taking an active plunge in politics, am grateful to @INCIndia @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @JM_Scindia for trusting me with Maharajganj. It will be an honour to keep my late father's legacy alive. I look forward to making a meaningful contribution," the journalist tweeted earlier today.

Shortly before she announced her entry into politics, Supriya announced that she would be stepping down from her post at an English news channel.

Along with Shrinate, the list has the names of other 11 candidates for the 2019 general polls in three states - four from Bihar and seven from Odisha.

Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar will contest from Sararam parliamentary constituency, while former journalist Satya Prakash Nayak, who joined the party in 2018, will contest against BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra from Odisha's Puri Lok Sabha seat.

The party has also made public the list of 20 candidates for the Odisha Assembly elections.

Elections will be held in seven phases in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar starting April 11. Odisha will witness simultaneous polls for its 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats. The state will vote in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party, YSR Congress Party and Telangana Rashtra Samiti are "anti-Andhra parties", adding that they should face "worst defeat ever" in the ensuing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Naidu, who held a teleconference with Telugu Desam Party leaders here, said: "The BJP, TRS, YSRCP are anti-Andhra parties. They all should face worst defeat ever in the ensuing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections."

"We will not get trapped in the YSR Congress' luring; will not be afraid of the BJP and TRS' threatening. We will save the self-respect of Andhrites and boost their self-confidence. Our aim is achieving a happy state," he added.

Continuing his tirade against the BJP, Naidu alleged that the raids which were conducted by the Income Tax department at Karnataka ministers' premises are the "epitome of harassment by the BJP". "The BJP is committing mistakes with the fear of defeat," he said.

Stating that all should condemn the "anarchic attitude" of Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRCP, Naidu said: "The YSRCP frustration has reached new peaks. Its attack on a pregnant woman at Gajuwaka public meeting is highly condemnable. Everyone should condemn the anarchic attitude of the YSRCP. It is a party of criminals. Voting for Jagan means you vote for criminals. The YSRCP should be defeated."

Wishing people on the occasion of TDP's 38th formation day, Naidu told his party cadres: "We have to take forward the message of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP founder NT Rama Rao to the people of the state."

"Our party has been in power for 23 years. It is an honour that no party could achieve. People first is our motto. 'Society is the temple and people are the gods' is a path that NTR has shown us," he added.

Naidu further said that TDP's aim is to achieve a happy society without poverty. "We've brought welfare revolution in these 5 years. We dedicate this welfare revolution to NTR. He is the first person in the country to begin welfare schemes. With his blessings, Andhra Pradesh has become an ideal for the country when it comes to welfare policies."

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister further said that 98 per cent of the population getting government aid is a history. "TDP is now at a matured age of 38 years and it can create miracles. Next 13 days are a crucial time for us, we have to fight courageously under pressure," he said.

Naidu added the entire country is looking towards Andhra Pradesh and "public mandate" here is a directive for the nation.

Stating that leaders of 22 opposition parties are supporting special status for Andhra Pradesh, Naidu said: " Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are campaigning for us. Soon West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and others will come here to campaign in our support."

Elections to the 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to be held on April 11 simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

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Bharat Gavit, son of octogenarian tribal Congress leader Manikrao Gavit, on Friday announced that he will contest the Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency as an Independent candidate in upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Bharat made the announcement after Congress declared KC Padavi as its candidate from the constituency.

"The Lok Sabha elections are very important for us. If we don't contest and win, our family's role in will be over. So I will have to contest, no matter what happens. It is disappointing that Congress did not give us a ticket," Bharat told ANI.

Responding to a question whether Manikrao will resign from the Congress for failing to secure his nomination, Bharat said: "His blessings are with me. He is supporting my decision to go alone in Lok Sabha this time. Nothing will change even if he quits the party as he is already 84 years old. I feel his resignation from the Congress is not needed and I don't think he will resign".

Manikrao was representing the Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency since 1981. He lost from the seat in 2014 General elections to BJP's Heena Gavit. It is believed that he was pushing for a ticket for Bharat from the reserved seat. But, the party gave the ticket to Padavi.

An office bearer of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, however, expressed confidence that the party will be able to pacify the Gavit family and will give him a chance to contest other elections in Maharashtra.

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The Sindh police on Friday informed that the two men, who allegedly abducted and forcibly converted two Hindu minor girls on the eve of Holi, were already married and had children from their previous marriages.

Geo News quoted Tufail Bhutto, the station house officer (SHO) of the Daharki police station in Sindh province, as saying that the wives and children of both accused, Safdar Khobar and Barkat Malik, have left them after learning of their second marriages.

Khobar has three daughters and a son, while Malik is the father of three daughters, the police noted.

The incident came to light after the girls' fathers and brothers revealed the details in videos that went viral on social media. In a separate video, however, the girls claimed that they accepted Islam out of their own will.

The Islamabad High Court, on March 26, directed the state to take custody of the two girls and ensure their safety on a petition by the sisters claiming that the story of their forcible conversion from Hinduism to Islam was "fabricated."

The petition was filed by the girls and their alleged spouses to seek protection from adverse action.

After hearing the petition, Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah also ordered that a woman Superintendent of Police should be deputed with the two sisters to ensure their safety.

The court directed authorities that an investigation report about their case should be presented before it by April 2 when it will issue further directions.

On Monday, police had arrested at least seven people, including a 'nikah khwan' (marriage officiator), allegedly involved in the case.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday asked Pakistan to return to the family two minor Hindu girls who were abducted, forcefully converted to Islam and married off on the eve of Holi in Sindh province.

The case of two Hindu girls from Sindh is one of many cases of forced conversion and marriage of underage Hindu girls to Muslim men, which are repeated in villages of districts of Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar and Umerkot in Sindh (close to Indian border) from time to time, many of which go unreported. These three districts Mirpurkhas (33 pc Hindus), Tharparkar (36 pc Hindus) and Umerkot (49 pc Hindus) contribute to the significant Hindu community in Sindh.

On March 27, another Hindu girl was allegedly abducted from Badin city in Sindh, with her father claiming that she was kidnapped at gunpoint from the Jam Khan Pitafi village and feared that his girl may be subjected to forceful conversion to Islam.

In a First Information Report (FIR), the father of Mala, 14, said that his daughter was kidnapped on March 16 by Ghulam Haider Taheem, a resident of Umerkot's Pithoro area, along with a few others from the same village.

Meanwhile, India had shared its concerns through an official note to the Pakistan Foreign Office over the incident. India sought suitable remedial action by the Pakistan government to protect and promote safety, security, and welfare of its own citizens, especially from the minority communities.

Pakistan human rights activists have claimed that this is another case of forced conversion and abduction, which are becoming increasingly common in the southern region of Sindh.

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UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday sought the adjournment of appeals filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Income Tax department's decision to re-open tax assessment related to the Herald and Young India transactions.

The top court has fixed April 23 as the date of next hearing in the case.

The Delhi High Court had last year rejected the plea by the Gandhis challenging the I-T notice seeking tax reassessment for the financial year 2011-2012. The reassessment notice for 2011-2012 had been issued by the department in March 2018.

The I-T department had told the High Court that the All India Congress Committee had transferred funds to the tune of Rs 99 crore to Associate Journal Ltd, adding that Rahul had willfully chosen to not disclose the fact that he held the director's post at Young India.

However, Rahul's legal counsel asserted that the Congress president did not receive any income from the source, and hence is not liable for any tax.

The Herald scam is an ongoing case filed in 2012 by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy against Sonia, Rahul, their companies and associates.

In November last year, Rahul and Sonia stated that the application filed by Swamy was not bonafide and that its sole objective was to delay proceedings in a "lifeless case.

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Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi may destroy evidence and try to bribe and threaten potential witnesses, said Toby Cadman, who is representing Crown prosecution on behalf of the Indian authorities, on Friday (local time) at the Westminster Magistrates' Court during the hearing on Modi's bail plea.

Cadman said that considering the scale of the fraud and the likely sentence that Nirav Modi would face, the fugitive businessman should not be granted bail. He added that there's a real danger that he would flee justice.

He further argued that telephone records relating to the fraud have been destroyed in India at the behest of Nirav Modi. "Potential witnesses have also been threatened by the diamantaire."

"He has the resources and intent to settle in a jurisdiction that may not be willing to extradite him to India," Cadman said.

"Given the nature of the charges and his willingness to interfere in the process of justice, he should not be granted bail and would flee justice. Despite the fact that the defence will argue that he will not do any such thing because of the 'intense media scrutiny' of the case," he argued.

The hearing has been adjourned for lunch and will now resume after an hour.

Nirav Modi's attorney Claire Montgomery argued that the businessman has a right to bail, despite the magnitude of the numbers. She argued that Modi is not a "threat" and has no connections with the "underworld."

"The reality is that the nature and size of these allegations is not a safe judgement that he will flea. He has remained in the UK since the fraud allegations were made in India," she stated, alleging that he had come to Britain to establish his business.

"He has been here since January 2018 and has not taken the opportunity to run away...He has made sure he remains here in a highly visible way," she said.

Before the hearing commenced, Cadman told ANI, "In case Nirav Modi gets bail, we will appeal against it in the High Court. We will do everything to keep him in."

India is seeking Nirav Modi's extradition to make him face the law of the land for allegedly committing economic offences like fraud and money laundering to the tune of US $ 2 billion.

A joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials arrived here on March 28 for the hearing.

This will be Nirav Modi's second attempt at securing a bail after his first request was turned down on March 20. Judge Marie Mallon had cited the "high value of amount involved in the allegations" as the reason behind the rejection of his bail plea.

Presiding over Modi's bail request is Judge Emma Arbuthnot, who in December last year ordered for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India to face charges of causing a loss of Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of banks.

Also present in the court today is Chetan Choksi, brother of Mehul Choksi, who is accused of defrauding ICICI bank's UK branch of US $25 million back in 2013. Chetan Choksi is the owner of Antwerp-based diamond dealer Diminco NV.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday fired a fresh salvo at the Opposition for raising questions over the IAF air strike at Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

"It is been a month (since the IAF air strike took place) and Pakistan is still counting bodies. When India takes action against terrorists, enters their house and kills them, some people here are asking for evidence," Modi said at a public rally here.

Accusing the Congress of demeaning the armed forces and scientists, the Prime Minister said it was about time to give an "apt reply" to those insulting the capabilities of the armed forces and the scientists.

"In the last seven decades, those people who have betrayed the poor are now insulting our armed forces and scientists day and night. It is about time to give an apt answer to people who are insulting the capabilities of our scientists and the armed forces," he said.

Attacking the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government, the Prime Minister said that Odisha failed to develop like other states despite being rich in minerals and resources.

Taking a swipe at the BJD leaders over its alleged involvement in graft cases, the Prime Minister said, "Can those who are involved in Chit fund scam make Odisha strong? Can those who are working with mining mafia and deprived tribals of their rights and resources make Odisha strong? This is the right time to punish Congress and BJD who were given ample time in Odisha to develop the region. However, they have failed miserably."

"Odisha is rich in natural resources but people are poor. This situation proves that Congress and BJD have failed to develop Odisha," he added.

The Prime Minister said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik did not implement the Centre's Ayushmaan Bharat scheme, despite repeated requests and hence, deprived quality health benefits to the poor.

Accusing the BJD of not doing anything for the tribals in the state, Modi said: "Out of Rs 6,500 crore accumulated under District Mineral Fund, the Odisha government has spent Rs 1,000 crore only for the poor tribals. I have ensured that there is a substantial increase in fund allocation for development of tribal-dominated areas."

Continuing his tirade against the state government, he said that the BJD played with the sentiments of the people and farmers.

"The government here took the people for granted. They think the people are in their pockets. They made policies for the poor and tribals but middlemen looted money for their personal gains," he said.

Urging the people to vote for the BJP in the impending Lok Sabha elections, the Prime Minister asked the electorate to choose between a 'majboot' (strong) government and a 'majboor' (helpless) government.

"When we follow the motto of 'Sabka saath, Sabka vikas' (development to all, development for all), it is Odisha which will be stronger and the entire nation will also be stronger," he said.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to address two rallies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh later in the day.

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RM Mishra, CMD, NSIC and AS & amp; DC, Ministry of MSME welcomed the High-level delegation led by Richard Maru, Minister of National Planning, Government of Independent State of Papua New Guinea (PNG) at NSIC. The CMD, NSIC appraised the delegation of various activities of NSIC for the promotion of MSMEs in the country and abroad.

He also discussed the opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in the MSME sector. The delegation from PNG also visited NSIC's Technical Incubation Centre for creating self-employment opportunities and Advanced Training Centre for upgrading the skills of Youth. Richard Maru expressed that NSIC's model is the apt model for engaging youth in productive activities in Papua New Guinea.

NSIC has the vision to be a premier organization fostering the promotion & amp; growth of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises in the Country. NSIC has the Mission to enhance the competitiveness of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises by providing integrated support services encompassing Marketing, Finance, Technology and other services.

NSIC facilitates micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) with a set of specially tailored schemes to enhance their competitiveness. NSIC operates through its countrywide network of offices and Technical Centres in the country. In addition, NSIC has set up Training cum Incubation Centres in different parts of the country.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

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Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, Congress general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that it was he who had gone to have 'Biryani' in Pakistan.

Modi had lashed out at the Congress yesterday stating that while the entire country is talking in one voice, it is Congress which is speaking in a different voice. "After India attacked terrorists in Balakot, Congress leaders made statements which are not in favour of the nation...How can an Indian citizen accept such language which is applauded in Pakistan?" He went on to add, "terrorists are pledging to get rid of the 'Chowkidar' and get these 'mahamilawati' come to power in Delhi."

When asked to comment on the BJP's remark that people of Pakistan will applaud Congress' win in Lok Sabha election, Priyanka said: "He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) had gone to have 'Biryani' in Pakistan."

Modi had made a surprise visit to Pakistan in December 2015, first trip by an Indian leader to Pakistan since 2004. It was a last minute visit to wish then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and attend his granddaughter's wedding.

Touching upon other issues, Priyanka said that Congress has "never practised the of tokenism."

She added, "The Congress had said that it would waive the loan of farmers. Within 10 days after coming in power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, they showed what they say. The BJP, however, had promised a lot of things that have not been implemented."

Priyanka further said that she will contest the Lok Sabha election from "wherever the party decides".

Priyanka on Friday held a roadshow in Ayodhya. However, she refused to say anything on Ram Temple and did not visit the site as the matter is currently sub-judice.

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Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he travelled across the world and hugged everyone, but did not reciprocate the same with the people in India.

"The Prime Minister visited America, Japan and China and hugged everyone there. He visited the whole world and hugged everyone, but he did not hug his own people," said Priyanka while addressing a rally here.

She said that she was surprised to know that Prime Minister Modi did not visit the villages in his Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, despite being popular due to his publicity stunts.

"I asked the people if the Prime Minister visits villages in Varanasi, I got a reply that 'he does not visit'. I was surprised because his popularity through publicity is such that I thought he must have been doing something for the people in the constituency," she added.

Accusing the BJP of being the 'chowkidar' (watchman) for the rich, and not for the poor, Priyanka termed the BJP government as "anti-farmer and anti-people", and is only focused on making the rich richer.

"This government works for the industrialists only. They waived off their loans. BJP government is anti-farmer and anti-people. Our farmers are drowning in debt. But, they do not have anything for the poor. So, the party which won a huge majority, it has betrayed you now," she said.

Claiming that the BJP leaders did not visit villages in India in fear of "facing the truth", the Congress leader said, "In a democracy, you need to listen to the people. But, they do not want to listen to your voice. They are scared that they will have to face the truth. You cannot hide or suppress the truth. The government wants to curb your voice."

Chastising the ruling party for its 'failure' to fulfil promises made during last poll campaigning such as Rs 15 lakh in every person's bank account and two crore jobs, Priyanka remarked that the BJP was making only "tall claims".

Accusing the BJP of blocking payments to beneficiaries under the Congress' MNREGA scheme, Priyanka continued, "Congress gave you MNREGA that guarantees you 100 days of employment. But when this government came, they made sure that those working under this scheme are not paid. People have not been paid in the last six months. They are deliberately doing this because they want to close this programme."

Continuing her tirade against the BJP, the Congress general secretary alleged that institutions and democratic structure of the country have been under constant attack in the last five years.

"In a democracy, people are the most powerful. But this government does not want to make you strong, they want to make themselves strong," Priyanka alleged.

Underlining that vote is a weapon for the people in a democracy, Priyanka told the electorate that they should make a wise decision before exercising their franchise.

"This is your country and does not belong to anyone. Farmers and jawans have made this country. You need to decide to elect a government who is committed to development, listen to your voice," she said.

Before visiting Ayodhya, Priyanka has already paid visits to Rae Bareilly and Amethi for electioneering.

Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in seven phases, from April 11 to May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Crediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Balakot air-strike on the terrorist camp located deep in Pakistan, BJP president Amit Shah on Friday said that the Prime Minister is not like former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh whom he termed as 'Mauni Baba' (dumb saint).

"Pakistan didn't expect that India will go for air strike after Pulwama terror attack, as they have no idea that Narendra Modi who is elected by the people is the Prime Minister and not 'Mauni Baba' Manmohan Singh," said Shah.

"After Pulwama terror attack in which 40 of our brave soldiers died, people were hopeless and were speculating that there will be no surgical strike as Pakistan had deployed all of its Army on the border along with tanks and artillery," said Shah.

"Everyone thought that nothing will happen but under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Air Force did the air strike on the terrorist camp in Pakistan," said Shah.

He also slammed Congress president Rahul Gandhi for allegedly asking proof of air strike, saying that Rahul Gandhi "knows nothing."

"Rahul Gandhi asked for proof. He knows nothing. He doesn't know what has happened. Before air strike, Israel and America were the only two countries who were known for taking revenge for their soldier's blood," he said.

"If somebody will fire bullets at us, we will not talk with them. This is Narendra Modi's government. If a bullet comes from that side, the bomb will go from this side," he said.

"The Grand Alliance will do no good to India. It is like a 'Mela' which has no leadership. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi works 18 hours in 24 hours, works with transparency, takes a bold decision, is sensitive. He is the leader who can remove poverty from India," said Shah.

Bihar will see polling in seven phases. The dates of polling in Bihar are April 11, 18, 23, 29 and May 6, 12 and 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting a single village of his Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency.

"Wherever I am going, I am getting to see the truth and reality of this government. I went to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency and asked people whether he comes to the constituency, people said yes he does. Then I asked whether he goes to villages? They said no, he does not go to the villages. So, I asked what does he do during his visits. They said whenever he comes, he holds big meetings, gives speeches and then leaves. Then I asked whether he goes to any village and find out about people's welfare? They replied no, he does not go to the villages. So, this is one reality," Priyanka said while addressing a rally here.

"He is one Prime Minister who did not make an effort to visit a single house in the villages. This is a government, which has neglected the people, done major publicity. Prime Minister Modi roamed around the world, but didn't visit the villages of his Lok Sabha constituency," she added.

Further slamming the NDA-led central government, Priyanka said, "Before the 2014 Lok Sabha election, they said they will give jobs to two crore people every year... Wherever I go, wherever my car stops, I can't find any youth who is employed. Moreover, they said they will put Rs 15 lakh to people's accounts. Now when the election is around the corner, they have started sending Rs 2,000. Also, that Rs 15,00,000 has come down to Rs 6,000, that too Rs 6,000 per year."

She added, "Today, the situation is such that the farmers are forced to protect their own land, while the BJP has made T-shirts with 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' written on it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday took a dig at Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for dissolving the state Assembly much before the completion of its term and asked if astrologers advised him to do so since the BJP could have swept the polls if the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections were held together.

"In the last assembly elections, you gave the verdict. But what has happened? The haste shown in conducting the elections was not shown in expanding the Cabinet. Astrologers advised him (KCR) for early elections. Were the same astrologers responsible for stalling the formation of the Cabinet," asked Prime Minister Modi while addressing an election rally here.

"On the astrologers' advice, the work delayed for a long time. If assembly and Lok Sabha elections were held simultaneously, the money could have been saved. Astrologers advised him to go for elections early because he knew that Modi would have swept the assembly polls along with the Lok Sabha polls. They were scared of facing assembly elections along with the Lok Sabha," said Prime Minister Modi.

"Who will decide Telangana's future--astrologers or people," he asked.

KCR dissolved the state assembly in September last year, eight months before the completion of its term. TRS bagged 88 seats in 119-member Assembly in the polls held in December last year.

Taking on the alliance between Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM in the state, the Prime Minister said: "KCR is a face of dynastic politics and appeasement politics. The alliance between TRS and AIMIM is for their own good and not for the welfare of the people."

TRS has extended its support to AIMIM for Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, which is currently held by Owaisi.

Prime Minister Modi also slammed KCR government for not allowing the benefits of Centre's schemes to reach the people of the state.

"We gave 1.50 crore concrete houses to the poor of this country but the government here said that they would give them flats. How many did actually get the flats? Ayushman Yojana is providing free healthcare to the poor of the country. However, the state government isn't allowing it to reach the people of this state," he said.

Mahbubnagar parliamentary constituency was won by TRS's Dr Azmeera Seetaram Naik in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

"Whatever work we have done, we could have done more but the state government did not care. The situation is that the state government has expertise in putting its label on the policies of the Central government. That is okay but they should at least work," he said.

Taking a jibe at the opposition, Prime Minister Modi said: "Security, prosperity, and respect are three aspects of our model. On the other hand, they don't have a leader, policies. The country is well aware of their intentions. Those who only take care of their family's interests cannot help poor."

Hailing his policies against terrorism, Prime Minister Modi said: "You no longer hear the news of bomb explosions as your used to hear five years ago. Terrorism is now confined to J & K. They get a befitting reply if they try to cross the boundaries. Terrorism was spread across the country. Everyone feels safe now. It is because the 'Chowkidaar' is alert."

Telangana, which has 17 Lok Sabha constituencies, will vote in the first phase of elections on April 11. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday (local time) arrived in Bolivia on the second leg of his three nations tour, and was welcomed by Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma and Foreign Minister Diego Pary Rodriguez at Viru Viru International Airport.

According to a statement issued by Bolivia's Ministry of External Relations, President Kovind, upon arrival, said: "I have the honour of making the first state visit to Bolivia. Today is a historic day in bilateral relations. "

"I hope to hold my meetings with President Morales tomorrow. I am confident that relations between India and Bolivia will grow, "the President added while addressing media at the Airport.

The arrival of President Kovind in Bolivia marks the beginning of a new historical chapter in the bilateral relations between the two countries, the statement noted.

President Kovind, accompanied by his wife, Savita Kovind and a delegation of around 100 ministerial officials, inspected the Guard of Honour during a ceremonial welcome at the airport. He was also presented with the key of the city of Santa Cruz.

"I am very happy to be in the beautiful land of Bolivia. A country rich in traditions and diversity, with people proud of their country," the President noted.

President Kovind, along with his Bolivian counterpart, is expected to address strategic issues such as lithium, Bioceanic Railway Corridor, technology, health, and others, said a statement released by India's Ministry of External Affairs.

During his three day visit to Bolivia, the President will hold delegation level talks with his counterpart. He will participate in India-Bolivia business forum meeting and also interact with the students at the University in Santa Cruz.

"India and Bolivia are ancient civilizations with rich and varied cultures. Our bilateral relations are warm and friendly, underpinned with abundant goodwill and the desire to forge closer cooperation in areas of mutual interest. Our interactions between the two countries so far have been at ministerial levels or at meetings on the sidelines of regional and multilateral events," the statement read.

"Bolivia is a landlocked country, it is rich in mineral resources. It has large deposits of lithium, gold, silver and gas reserves. Bolivia's lithium and our needs for eMobility and eStorage provides natural synergies. A delegation of companies had visited and has had discussions with Bolivian companies and we also see that as Bolivia would embark on industrialisation of its resources, India could be a partner that could provide know-how technology and skills. Some of our companies are already in Bolivia largely in sectors of IT and even in vehicles we have companies, who are in like, TATA motors, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, they have business links in Bolivia," the statement added.

"India has emerged as a major export destination for Bolivia and Bolivia is India's ninth largest trading partner in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Indian imports are USD 667 million and our exports are $105 million. Our main exports are vehicles and pharmaceutical products. We also provide capacity building support to prepare Bolivia and slots even in IT as well as training of diplomats," the statement noted.

President Kovind is currently on is three-nation visit to Croatia, Bolivia, and Chile from March 25 to April 4. He will be in Bolivia from March 28 to March 30.

Following this, President Kovind will be visiting Chile on March 30, marking 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

President Kovind earlier held talks with his Croatian counterpart, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, following which four Memoranda of Understanding were signed between India and Croatia, in the fields of tourism, education, sports, to name a few. Kovind also interacted with the Indian diaspora in Croatia on Tuesday.

On the sidelines of his state visit to Croatia, President Kovind also met President of Latvia, Raimonds Vcjonis, in Zagreb and discussed issues of mutual interest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rossello, in an exclusive interview with CNN, lambasted the White House administration and accused the officials of 'bullying'.

"If the bully gets close, I'll punch the bully in the mouth. It would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with courage," CNN quoted Rossello as saying.

He further asserted that he will not sit back and be subjected to bullying.

Amid the rising tensions between US President Donald Trump and Rossello over the slow disaster relief efforts for the island which was devastated after Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rican Governor's top aides stated that White House officials on Wednesday had warned the representative of the island for pushing too hard to arrange a meeting to discuss the dreadful situation of the US territory with the President.

Trump has declined to meet with Rossello, despite several requests from the Puerto Rican Governor to discuss recovery efforts that are still underway for about two years since the storm hit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
North Korea has almost completed the restoration of a key long-range rocket launch site in Dongchang-ri, according to South Korea's spy agency National Intelligence Service (NIS).

"The North started the reassembly work before the Hanoi summit. We cannot verify what that means," Yonhap News Agency quoted NIS as saying.

Pyongyang had allegedly begun to disassemble part of its facilities in July 2018 following the first US-North Korea summit where Kim Jong-un, the reclusive state's leader, agreed to complete denuclearisation.

This comes amid a deadlock between Washington and Pyongyang, following the Hanoi summit which ended abruptly last month without a joint agreement. Speculations are rife that North Korea may launch a missile or a rocket with a satellite in an apparent show of frustration due to the impasse.

The NIS also added that North Korea is keeping its uranium enrichment facility in Yongbyon in "normal operation."

This is the same nuclear facility that North Korea offered to completely dismantle in exchange for sanction waivers during the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi last month.

In fact, North Korea had stopped the operation of a five-mega-watt nuclear reactor at the complex last year, the spy agency noted.

US President Donald Trump has maintained that the relationship with North Korea continues to thrive, the two nations have not been able to resolve their respective differences over sanction waivers, leading to the latest breakdown of talks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"There is no doubt on that as why would someone actually take the trouble of trying to go to the court and stop a film unless there is an agenda behind it. It's common sense," he told ANI.

"I don't want to name anyone as it's sub-judice right now. We are under the order of the high court and unless we sorted it out and we are not allowed to speak on the details under the Constitution. I'm right now in talks with the lawyers and very soon we will move the Supreme Court. I'm very sure we will get justice," he added.

On being asked if Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been shown in bad light in the film, Verma said, "The film talks about real incidents. That's some well-known fact in the film, in fact admitted by them. The movie is only showing the process, it is not giving out information which people are not aware of."

Andhra Pradesh High Court has asked for the film's release to be stayed till April 3.

'Lakshmi's NTR' showcases the events in the later life of late NT Rama Rao, a legendary actor and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder. The biopic centres around NTR's second marriage to Lakshmi Parvathi, his party's landslide victory in the 1994 elections, the revolt and internal party coupled by NTR's son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu in August 1995 and NTR's death a few months later.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Days after India announced A-SAT missile launch, Russia has urged India to join the idea of developing a multilateral legally binding instrument for keeping outer space peaceful based on the Russian-Chinese draft treaty, with the support of a solid group of like-minded nations to prevent weaponization of outer space.

In a statement, Russia said, "We noted the test of anti-satellite weapons conducted by India on March 27, as a result of which an Indian spacecraft - a target - in a low earth orbit was hit by an interceptor ballistic missile."

"We highlight the nondirectedness of this test against any specific country declared by the Indian leadership, as well as the reassurance of the continuity of New Delhi foreign policy to prevent the deployment of weapons in outer space and thereby the development of an arms race in it".

Russia slammed the United States for weaponisation of outer space and believes India's test is a result of a degraded situation in the field of arms race.

Russia, in its statement, said: "We have to state that this action of India has been largely the result of the substantially degraded situation in the field of arms control."

"Russia has repeatedly warned that the destructive actions of the United States to undermine the entire architecture of international security and strategic stability, including unilateral and unlimited development of the US global anti-missile defense systems, as well as the reluctance to abandon plans for the weaponization of outer space, make other states think about improving their own equal potentials in the interests of strengthening their national security" the statement added .

Russia urged Washington to take a "responsible stand, come to senses and drop the insane, and most importantly - absolutely unrealizable - the idea of universal military domination."

"It is still possible to stop the arms race unfolding in various regions of the It is important to assist the responsible states in maintaining an adequate level of international security and stability," it added.

Russia said that for its part, it intends to continue to make all necessary efforts to prevent an arms race in outer space.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from two telecom service providers- Vodafone Mobile Services and Bharti Airtel Limited - on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) petition claiming that the two firms are not cooperating with the agency in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, issued a notice, returnable by April 8, to the two telecom companies.

The probe agency said it has been writing to the two service providers regarding call records of certain mobile phone numbers since last year. It also accused the two telecom service providers of being "surprisingly evasive in sharing the information."

"Till date, despite repeated requests of the applicant (CBI) and despite the specific direction of the Government of India, the service providers have not shared the information as sought...," read the plea by the CBI.

The Saradha Group financial scandal was a major scam caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by the conglomerate. The multi-crore-rupee chit fund scam allegedly involves several key leaders from the Trinamool Congress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Adjudicating Authority under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) has held a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative and his two other associates guilty in a hawala case related to terror financing and imposed a penalty of Rs 15 lakh, the Enforcement Directorate said on Friday.

The Adjudicating Authority said three persons -- Mohd Ayub Mir, Bechh Raj Bengani and Harbans Singh have been fined with Rs 5 lakh, Rs 7 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, respectively. It has also ordered for the confiscation of seized cash of Rs 7 lakh in a 17-year-old terror funding case.

The investigation under FEMA was initiated by the ED on the basis of a report received from a special cell against the three persons.

The ED added Mir is an active member of terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba and he has admitted that Rs 7 lakh which was given to him by Singh was Hawala money.

"On June 2, 2002, the Special Cell, Delhi Police had intercepted and arrested Mohd Ayub Mir while he was receiving Hawala payment of Rs 7 lakh from Harbans Singh for terrorist organization. Mir is an active member of LeT and was also wanted by Jammu and Kashmir Police," ED said.

"In his statement, Mir admitted that Rs 7 lakh seized from him is the amount of Hawala money. He has also admitted of having links with LeT," the ED added.

The investigation agency further said that Harbans Singh was working as a driver of Bengani and was engaged in delivering cash on the instruction of his employer to Mir. Bengani was an infamous racketeer in Hawala trade.

Further investigation is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Continuing his attack against ObamaCare, United States President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Affordable care act is "virtually unusable".

He further reiterated his claims that the Republican party will become "the party of great health care".

"The Republican Party will become the Party of Great HealthCare! ObamaCare is a disaster, far too expensive and deductibility ridiculously high - virtually unusable! Moving forward in Courts and Legislatively!," Trump tweeted.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
United States President Donald Trump will meet his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in for a summit on April 11 at the White House, amidst an impasse with North Korea on denuclearisation following the Hanoi summit held recently.

According to Yonhap, South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae issued a statement informing that Moon will arrive in Washington on April 10 and will meet Trump the next day.

Senior secretary for public relations, Yoon Do-han, said at a press briefing here, "The leaders will have in-depth talks to discuss ways to strengthen the Seoul-Washington alliance and to coordinate their stance on setting up a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula through complete denuclearization."

This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since last month's summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi ended abruptly.

The South Korean President had held an emergency telephonic conversation with Trump after the US-North Korea summit ended abruptly on February 28 without any joint agreement.

North Korea sought partial relief in sanctions at the summit in Vietnam, according to Pyongyang's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho. The United States, however, has held on to its stand to ease sanctions only when complete denuclearisation is reached.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...

Toys for the Prostate

Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.

The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.

Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.

Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.

You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.

By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.

Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)

The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.

Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.

sextoy for beinner women in India

The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.

The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.

Vibrator.

Dildo

Electric Masserger

Lets check out what each one is in detail.

If you want to check out womens toys, click here.

[BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm...

Vibrators

A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator.

Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy.

It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy.

Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women.

For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators.

Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex.

Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself.

This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual.

Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men.

When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons.

Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most...

Dildo

A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis.

It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass.

A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it.

They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well.

It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device.

A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo.

Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands.

For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis.

This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one.

To learn more about dildo, please click here.

What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th...

Electric Masserger

A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores.

It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low.

Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels.

Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation.

It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure.

For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm.

It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out.

If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager?

To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here.

What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th...

How to choose a sextoy for Indian

Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one.

Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points:  Does the size fit you (the partner)?

Does the size fit you (your partner)?

Is the environment able to produce sound without problems?

Price range

First of all, the choice of size is quite important.

Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women.

For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage.

Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems.

Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise.

If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level.

Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it.

Finally, there is the price range.

The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest.

Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy.

Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy?

I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance.

For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics.

If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out.

How to buy sextoys in India

The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping.

For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below.

Sextoy is one of them.

Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping.

SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India.

They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry.

Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card.

To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy.

ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.

Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on.

Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture.

Cautions for Indians using sextoy

When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind

Keep sex toys clean

Watch out for electrical leakage

Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy

As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone.

Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there.

It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case.

In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness.

Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful.

If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it.

You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly.

Summary

What did you think?

In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India.

The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future.

As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values.

However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health.

If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try?

Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women.

I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will accompany BJP president Amit Shah tomorrow during his nomination filing in Gandhinagar, in a show of strength of the NDA alliance.

"Amit Shah called Uddhav Thackeray and extended a special invitation, requesting our party chief to accompany him at the nomination in Gandhinagar. He (Uddhav) accepted the nomination and he is going to Gandhinagar tomorrow, in a show of strength of the NDA alliance," Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told ANI.

Shah, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, is set to contest the Lok Sabha elections for the first time. He has been fielded from the Gandhinagar constituency, which is currently being held by BJP veteran leader LK Advani.

On February 18, the BJP and its NDA ally Shiv Sena had announced the seat-sharing deal in Maharashtra. According to the agreement, the BJP will fight on 25 seats and Shiv Sena on 23 seats.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 seats while the Shiv Sena garnered 18 seats. The NCP and Congress won just four and two seats, respectively.

Maharashtra will go to polls in the first four phases, beginning April 11. Results will be announced on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Just three days after formally joining the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party led 'gathbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh, Nishad Party has severed its ties with the grand alliance over allegedly being denied its share in the Lok Sabha seats in the state.

"The Nishad Party has taken a decision that we are not with the 'gathbandhan.' We are free, and can fight elections independently or can look for new options as well. The party is free now," said Sanjay Nishad, chief of the Nishad Party.

"Akhilesh Yadav has given assurance that he will announce about from where the Nishad Party will contest polls. He promised one seat from his quota. But we are nowhere neither on the posters of 'gathbandhan' nor on banners. Nothing has been announced till date," said Nishad.

Nishad Party and Janvadi Party (Socialist) on Tuesday joined the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party led 'gathbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh in the presence of SP president Akhilesh Yadav.

In March 2018 bye-polls, Sanjay Nishad's son Pravin successfully contested on the SP ticket from Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat.

As per the present electoral arrangement, SP, BSP, and RLD are in a seat-sharing alliance in Uttar Pradesh in which SP will contest 37 seats, BSP 38 and RLD three. The alliance has decided not to contest two seats, Rae Bareli and Amethi.

Earlier in February, Akhilesh had said that many small regional players were part of the SP-BSP alliance and all other parties should come together to oust BJP from power at the Centre in the coming Lok Sabha polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cox & Kings owned MEININGER Hotels signed a contract with a German property developer for a new project in Stuttgart. From 2021 onwards, the hotel group will be present in the state capital of Baden- Wuerttemberg. The new hotel building will have 156 rooms and 460 beds.

The contract signing seals the second project for MEININGER Hotels in the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The planned new building in a central Stuttgart location covers a gross floor area of 6,900 sqm on four floors. In addition to 156 rooms or 460 beds, the accommodation will also have 20 parking spaces. The hotel is scheduled to open in fall 2021.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Global warming could expose as many as a billion people to mosquito-borne diseases including dengue and Zika by 2080, says a new study that examined temperature changes on a monthly basis worldwide.

The study found that with the rise in temperature, dengue is expected to have a year-round transmission in the tropics and seasonal risks almost everywhere else. A greater intensity of infections is also predicted.

To understand, researchers from Georgetown University in the US looked at temperatures month by month to project the risks through 2050 and 2080.

While almost all of the world's population could be exposed at some point in the next 50 years, places like Europe, North America, and high elevations in the tropics that used to be too cold for the viruses will face new diseases like dengue.

On the other hand, in areas with the worst climate increase, including west Africa and southeast Asia, serious reductions are expected for the Aedes albopictus mosquito, most noticeably in southeast Asia and west Africa, revealed the study, published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes can carry dengue, chikunguyna and Zika viruses, as well as at least a dozen other emerging diseases.

"Climate change is the largest and most comprehensive threat to global health security," said Colin J. Carlson, postdoctoral candidate in Georgetown University in the US.

"The risk of disease transmission is a serious problem, even over the next few decades," Carlson added.

Dengue is the fastest growing mosquito-borne disease across the world today, causing nearly 400 million infections every year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The 2018 data from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) and National Health Profile showed that cases of dengue increased 300 per cent -- from less than 60,000 cases in 2009, it increased to 188,401 in 2017.

--IANS

pb/rt/ksk/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 2019 Human Development Report (HDR), with its focus on inequality, will be released around this year's last quarter, the UNDP said.

The report will provide a comprehensive picture of the many forms of inequality that are shaping the 21st century. In a statement, the United Nations Development Programme acknowledged that today's world remains deeply unfair.

It said: "The life and prospects faced by a newborn in a poor country or in a poor household are radically different from those of wealthier children. In all societies, long-standing forms of inequality persist while gaps are opening in new aspects of life".

In his blog post, UNDP HDR Office Director Pedro Conceicao said the report will use a framework that looks beyond income (considering inequalities in health, education, tech and exposure to economic and climate-related shocks) and beyond averages (painting a more accurate and timely picture of the state of inequality).

It will also seek to look beyond today by taking a long-term view of inequality and by identifying trends and making projections.

"We are witnessing both convergence and divergence in human development. For instance, in many countries today, gaps have closed when we talk about access to primary But differences between children in poor and wealthy households are widening in both early childhood and quality of

"These inequalities will have lifetime consequences, particularly given the rapid technological changes, which are likely to impact labour markets. This is just one example of why our analysis of inequality must go beyond income, beyond averages and beyond today," Conceicao explained.

The first HDR in 1990 shifted the economic growth-centric paradigm to the one that also includes giving people opportunities and freedoms to live the lives they would value.

As of March 9, the HDR Office's Statistical Advisory Panel, had brought together prominent members from the statistical community and addressed many aspects of the statistical production for the 2019 report on inequality.

--IANS

sj/oeb

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Sri Lankan magistrate's court on Friday further remanded nine Iranian nationals who were arrested earlier this week for attempting to smuggle in 100 kg of heroin through the sea.

The Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) told the court that investigations into the drug bust were continuing and they had received details that the suspects had loaded the drugs into the trawler, off the Pakistan coastline.

The suspects were remanded till April 5, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Iranian nationals were arrested last Sunday in the seas off Sri Lanka's southern coast following a joint raid conducted by the navy, Special Task Force and the PNB.

Immediate investigations revealed that as the officers approached the suspects' trawler, they threw 50 kg of the heroin into the sea.

Sri Lankan investigators have since January launched a severe crackdown on drug dealers and smugglers, with several arrests being made within the past two months.

--IANS

soni/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gearing up for the Lok Sabha polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday launched its central 'War Room' comprising a 20-member team here.

Inaugurating the set-up packed with a dozen laptops and printers, and maps of the city and the constituencies on its walls, AAP leader Gopal Rai told the media, "This will play an important role in speeding up our campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi."

Similar 'war rooms' have been established in each of the seven Parliamentary constituencies in Delhi.

"The 20-member team sitting here will coordinate with the teams working on the ground. as well as the 'war rooms' in the constituencies," said Rai.

According to Rai, "AAP's campaign is running at four levels. While senior party leaders are holding rallies, the others are organising gatherings at different levels."

Most Central war room team members are loyalists who have been with AAP since its inception. They submit a daily report to Rai every night.

"Based on the report I receive, we strategise and plan our next move. The directions are conveyed to the Central room, which informs the others," said Rai.

The war rooms also takes care of the volunteers coming from outside Delhi.

The party has appointed Observers in each of the Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies.

"There are seven observers for the Lok Sabha constituencies and 70 for the Assembly constituencies. None of the observers are from the area they represent," the AAP leader added.

They all share their observations with the Central war room, which uses this information while preparing its report.

The party has also appointed a team of 14 people for Emergency Feedback, who will inspect the 'war rooms' and check the implementation of campaign plans on the ground. "In all about 1.5 lakh people will be involved in our campaign on the ground," he added.

--IANS

nks/rtp/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
All polling booths in West Bengal will have armed guards, either from the Central forces or from state police personnel, to ensure foolproof security, state Chief Electoral Officer Aariz Aftab said here on Friday.

"Deciding vulnerable pockets is a dynamic process. But the commission has confirmed that every polling station will have armed force personnel. Whether it will be state or Central force will be decided at the right time," Aftab told mediapersons.

He said the commission is keeping a close watch to ensure security in the border areas.

Asked about BJP state vice-president Jai Prakash Majumdar's allegation that the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee of the commission in the state had displayed its "partiality" in assessing the lyrics of the BJP theme song, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Basu said it was working as per guidelines.

"The MCMC body is working as per the guidelines. If anybody has a problem, they can appeal based on the legal procedure. They can also go to the Election Commission of India", Basu said.

Earlier, talking about the MCMC seeking re-submission of lyrics of the song, Majumdar told media: "We feel that the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee is doing partiality".

According to Majumdaar, they have used the word 'Didi' without naming anyone. "If Rahul Gandhi is not given a show-cause notice for his 'Chowkidaar Chor' comment, why can't their party go ahead with the lyrics?"

Meanwhile, the CEO office has seized 5,49,227 litres of liquor and Rs 11.15 crore of cash since the announcement of the election.

--IANS

bnd/ssp/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Friday gave the Gujarat government two weeks to complete disciplinary action against police officials found guilty by the trial court and the Bombay High Court in the 2002 post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gang-rape case.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked the Gujarat government to inform it about the action taken and posted the next hearing for April 23.

The court said that it would also hold a hearing on Bilkis Bano's plea for exemplary compensation as she had declined the Gujarat government's offer of Rs 5 lakh interim compensation.

The top court had in the last hearing sought the Gujarat government's response on the departmental action taken against the policemen convicted in the case.

Bilkis Yakub Rasool was 19 years old and pregnant when she was gang-raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The horrifying incidents occurred in Randhikpur village near Dahod on March 3, 2002 when she and her family was attacked by a mob.

Only Bilkis Bano and her two relatives, Saddam and Husain, survived the savagery. Her mother, sister, minor daughter and other relatives were killed.

--IANS

pk/rtp/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Friday, the day the UK was supposed to leave the European Union, the House of Commons members will vote again on Brexit on a part negotiated with the EU, which is only on the withdrawal agreement -- on the Irish "backstop", divorce bill and citizens' rights.

It will, however, not amount to a third "meaningful vote" on the deal, as it will not include a vote on the UK's future relationship with the EU.

This vote is "crucial" nevertheless, if the UK wants to secure a Brexit delay until May 22, the BBC reported.

Both Labour and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have said they would vote against the withdrawal agreement on the day.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the withdrawal agreement could not be separated from the political declaration "because otherwise you move into a blindfold Brexit".

The DUP's deputy leader Nigel Dodds said he was not expecting "any last minute rabbits out of the hat" that would change the party's position, the BBC reported.

The vote on Friday is May's request to MPs to allow "her to keep going, to carry on pursuing her route, with its well-documented flaws".

There are signs that many Eurosceptic MPs are ready to say "yes" - not because they suddenly have realised her deal is perfect but because more of them officially realise that it is the clearest break from the EU they can realistically hope for.

--IANS

in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Civil Aviation Ministry to provide Lucknow-based activist Nutan Takur information regarding the disinvestment of Air India (AI).

The Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Ministry had under Section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act denied Thakur information related to the records of the deliberations of the Cabinet.

According to the PIO, the Cabinet had in principle approved the proposed disinvestment of the national carrier, though the process had not been completed.

Information Commissioner Divya Prakash Sinha said that the Ministry had grossly erred in invoking Section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act to deny information to Thakur, despite the PIO himself admitting to the Cabinet decision in this regard.

The Commission directed the PIO to provide Thakur within 15 days the information available with the Ministry and send it a compliance report.

--IANS

md/rtp/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Commission for the Protection of Child Rights in Uttarakhand on Friday asked Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to order a CBI probe into the grisly murder of a student at a boarding school near here.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, Usha Negi, Chairperson of the Commission, said a CBI probe should be ordered to ensure justice to the murdered Class 7 student, Vasu Yadav.

She also stated that students in the school were not getting adequate food which might have forced the student to steal biscuits, which reportedly led to him being beaten to death.

"Had the students been given adequate nutritious food, then this stealing incident could have been avoided," she said.

The senior secondary boarding school where a student was bludgeoned to death early this month was actually an ashram for orphans, she stated.

"We have come to know that the boarding school was actually an ashram to educate orphans," said Negi, a day after she made an impromptu inspection of the school at Ranipokhri area near here where 12-year-old Yadav was killed by two senior students.

Later, the school management buried the body in the campus in an attempt to hush up the case.

"Other students are very scared now," Negi said.

Five persons have been arrested on charges of murder including the school manager and the two students who had beaten Vasu Yadav with a heavy bat repeatedly.

The incident came to light only after Negi visited the school soon after hearing reports about the death of Vasu Yadav on March 10.

Negi has also ordered an inquiry on how the school managed to get an NOC from the State Department as well as the Central Board of Secondary (CBSE). "If it is an ashram how can you obtain an NOC," asked Negi.

Negi said she would launch inquiries on all such schools which are being run with forged documents.

Negi also said the owner of the school was still at large. "The owner is also an accused in the case. He should be arrested," said Negi.

Negi took cognizance of the fact that there were no CCTVs installed in the school. "Even the villagers are saying that the working of the school was very suspicious."

Meanwhile, a student has gone missing from the school, Negi said. "We have sought a detailed police report on this 18-year-old boy, who disappeared in 2017," said Negi.

--IANS

str/oeb/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Children of Danish citizens who joined the Islamic State (IS) terror organization will be prohibited from receiving citizenship, the media reported on Friday.

The new policy is part of a recent agreement between the Danish government and the right-wing populist Danish People's Party (DPP), Denmark's second largest political party, Xinhua news agency reported.

A child "born of parents who turned their backs on Denmark should not be part of Denmark", said Danish Minister for Immigration, Integration and Housing Inger Stojberg.

"We don't want them back home," said DPP member Christian Langballe. "We never want to have them home again."

The policy tightens the law for all Danes who joined the IS, making it much easier to revoke their Danish citizenship.

The Swedish arm of the international aid organization Save the Children criticized the move, which will begin in Denmark this summer.

"It goes against all reasonable logic," Ola Mattson, head of Save the Children Sweden, told SVT News.

"We have a strong legal tradition in the Nordic region. We talk about children having individual rights in relation to the state. There are no rights that come with the parents' behaviour," Mattson said.

According to Danish Radio, the measure will only apply to citizens with dual citizenship.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Kerala Police has intensified its probe into a death threat against former ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair, warning him not to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an intelligence official said here on Friday.

Speaking to IANS, the official, on condition of anonymity, said the threat came in a letter two days ago.

"The death threat that came in a letter, mentions the name of the Jaish-e- Mohammed terror group. It has now been sent for a high-profile forensic examination and the test results are awaited. The police have already registered a case and detailed investigations are going on by multiple probe teams of the Kerala Police," he said.

The 75-year-old Nair, who resides in the heart of the state capital, retired as chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation in 2009 and is a Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee.

He played a crucial role in the design and development of the cryogenic engine for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

Last year, Nair joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

--IANS

sg/ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Delhi court on Friday asked a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) to appear before it on Saturday in connection to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) sedition case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat's direction came after the Delhi Police failed to explain the cause of delay in getting sanction to proceed with the case.

At its last hearing, the court questioned the police why it filed a chargesheet in haste without getting sanction from the Delhi government to initiate proceedings against the accused former student leaders.

The court had also told the Delhi government not to sit on the police file seeking sanction to proceed in the case.

The case involves a February 2016 event organised in the JNU campus against the hanging of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

The chargesheet was filed on January 14. It named former student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and seven Kashmiri students as accused.

--IANS

akk/ksk/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a shocking incident, a Delhi-based businessman has been duped of Rs 5.9 lakh by a Nigerian national, who allegedly befriended him on Facebook while posing as a London-based woman, police said.

According to police, the accused, identified as Ogbondo Ifeanyi Henrey, 35, was arrested when a team of crime branch raided his rented accommodation in south Delhi's Devli on Wednesday.

"The accused duped a Delhi based businessman, Sanjay Banerjee to the tune of Rs 5.90 lakhs after posing as a woman from London, Ms Holly David on Facebook. He used to send friend request to various people previously by using the same modus operandi," Additional Commissioner of Police AK Singla said.

"Banerjee told cops that one Holly David claimed to be resident of UK became his friend on Facebook in January 2017. They were in regular touch on Facebook messenger and Whatsapp. She also sent photos, which later found to be of a London-based female model," Singla added.

Holly David expressed her love desire and honey-trapped the victim, the ACP informed.

"She also told him that she would visit India to meet him in February 2017...On February 6, Banerjee received a call, wherein the caller posed himself as a custom officer from Mumbai told him that Holly David was in his custody and she had to pay Rs 55,000 for custom clearance," the ACP said.

Banerjee later transferred Rs 5.90 lakh from his bank account to the alleged person's account in three installments. However, the accused continued to demand more money. Banerjee, being suspected of falling in trap of an organised gang, refused to pay and complained to police, Singla told mediapersons.

"21 sim cards, two laptops, two routers and five debit cards that he used while perpetrating crime, were recovered from his possession," police said, adding that it was found that the accused along with his accomplice, Viveinlly, with whom he was in a live-in relationship, had cheated several others.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Election Commission has allotted 'gift pack' as the common symbol for candidates of T.T.V. Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) in Tamil Nadu.

In a tweet, Dhinakaran thanked the Election Commission for allotting the symbol for all its 59 candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls and Assembly by-elections in the state.

"The people were waiting to see the election symbol to be allotted to AMMK. This morning the symbol 'gift pack' was announced by the Election Commission," AMMK leader Thanga Tamil Selvan told IANS.

"Reaching out the symbol to the people is not difficult. We are also not perturbed if the 'pressure cooker' symbol is allotted to independents," Selvan added.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had refused to recognise AMMK's claim over the 'pressure cooker' symbol, with which Dhinakaran won the R.K. Nagar Assembly by-election last year.

The Dhinakaran-led party, which will contest elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, was formed after he and V.K. Sasikala were ousted from the AIADMK.

The Election Commission has recognised Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami's group as the real AIADMK and allowed it to retain the 'two leaves' symbol.

--IANS

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An anti-LGBTQ app on the PlayStore that influences a person's sexual orientation using psychological or spiritual interventions has raised questions about Google's corporate equality ideals leading to the search engine's suspension from the CEI rating.

The app "Conversation therapy" originates from a non-profit organisation -- Living Hope Ministries -- which "proclaims a Christ-centred, Biblical world-view of sexual expression rooted in one man and one woman in a committed, monogamous, heterosexual marriage for life because anything less than this ideal falls short of God's best for humanity".

US-based LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group -- Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation -- has suspended Google from its 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for failing to remove the app from PlayStore, USA Today reported on Thursday.

The CEI is a report published by the HRC Foundation as a tool to rate American businesses on their treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) employees, consumers and investors.

"Pending remedial steps by the company to address this app that can cause harm to the LGBTQ community, the CEI rating is suspended," the report noted.

"Conversation therapy" is a practice that is used to influence a person's sexual orientation or gender identity using psychological or spiritual interventions.

Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have removed the app from their platforms and currently, petition-filing platform Change.org has collected over 1,40,000 signatures for removal of this app from PlayStore.

Google's suspension from the CEI comes as a shock especially because the company has been known to support the LGBTQ community.

In 2018, Google scored a full 100 per cent on the CEI report.

Google has not yet commented on the matter.

--IANS

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"The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story" director Aneesh Daniel says the movie, which documents the tragic death of an Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his sons in Odisha, is very relevant in the current socio-political situation in the country.

The film is based on Staines, who worked among the underprivileged and leprosy victims in Odisha. In 1999, he was burnt to death along with his two sons allegedly by members of a hardline Hindu organisation inside his station wagon in Manoharpur village in Kendujhar district of the state.

"The story holds relevance even today and we should not forget the history. In fact, at the time of the general election, it holds most relevance," Daniel told IANS when asked why he decided to make a movie on the incident that took place years ago, and release it before the general election this year.

"Because at this moment, people are throwing mud at each other...People to people friendship is getting hampered because of their different political views. I believe this is the time we should talk about forgiveness," he added.

In 2003, Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh was convicted of the murders and sentenced to lifetime imprisonment.

However, Staines' widow Gladys forgave him, and continued to live in India and served leprosy patients till 2004.

Daniel said: "People should forgive each other like how Gladys forgave the killers 20 years back."

The English language film, starring Sharman Joshi, Stephen Baldwin, Shari Rigby, Manoj Mishra, Prakash Belawad, released on Friday.

Daniel says he started working on the film in 2007 when his team got approval from Gladys.

"It is just that it's divine timing. Andrew (Matthews) our scriptwriter came to India twice to research and we also spoke to a number of people who (then) witnessed the incident. We tried to find the right cast for the film, so that the film looks authentic. In fact, the driver who acted as Staines' driver (in the film) is the real person who used to drive Staines and his kids around for a number of years," the director said.

The film was shot in Araku Valley, a city in Andhra Pradesh.

"We shot in Araku Valley because I wanted to give the same feeling of the beauty of Manoharpur. The leprosy home we used is the real leprosy home where Staines served for many years."

--IANS

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India is leading the external storage business for Dell EMC in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region and the country has outpaced others with an all-time high demand for storage, helping the businesses deliver meaningful technology innovation to the customers, a top company executive has stressed.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the external storage market in India grew at 16.7 per cent (year-on-year) in 2018, which is one of the highest in the world.

The most popular external storage device for the Indian companies is an all-flash storage array (AFA) -- a storage architecture designed to take advantage of solid-state memory technology.

Benefits can include low latency, higher IOPS (input/output operations per second), greater storage density and reduced power consumption.

"The Indian companies are ordering AFAs from Dell EMC like never before and the country has beaten others in the APJ region in terms of growth," Kris Day, Vice-President, Modern Data Centre - Asia Pacific & Japan Dell EMC, told IANS.

Dell EMC is currently number one in India in the external storage market.

According to the IDC, India storage market is projected to grow at a CAGR of eight per cent over the next four years while the APJ (excluding China) market is expected to grow at only 1.39 per cent in the same time-frame.

"All-flash array (AFA) is nearly 34 per cent of all storage shipped today. By 2022, it would be 42 per cent in APJ (excluding China). In India, AFA is 37 per cent of all storage shipped today and by 2022, it would be 43 per cent of all storage," said the IDC in its latest report.

External storage offers hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid state drives (SSDs), all-flash and hybrid storage arrays for block, file or object-based storage, or a mix of these.

"Another great observation is that the Indian CIOs and CEOs have understood the importance of moving their operations to Cloud-enabled, software-defined data centres.

"They are looking for cost-effective, modern, scalable, secure and hybrid Cloud experience in an era where data is being generated exponentially," Day noted.

According to him, the Indian enterprises are now striving for Hybrid Cloud and multi-Cloud offerings where the same ease, simplicity and security can be achieved on-premise that a Cloud-only environment is expected to provide, in less cost.

(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)

--IANS

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Attorney Kay Bacchus-Baptiste, Lawyer for the petitioners side, has indicated her sides intention to appeal the Justice Johns ruling in the election petitions matter.

Kay Bacchus-Baptiste, member of the legal team representing the petitioners Lauron Baptiste and Benjamin Exeter in the election petitions trial, has disclosed that they are moving towards filing an appeal of the decision handed down by Justice Stanley John.

Baptiste and Exeter were New Democratic Party candidates in the constituencies of North Windward and Central Leeward respectively, in the general election of 2015.

Last week Thursday, Justice John dismissed both petitions which alleged irregularities in the conduct and counts in the constituencies which they contested.



An appeal was always on

Bacchus-Baptiste, however, while speaking on Thursday on a radio programme, appealed to the supporters of the NDP not to lose faith, admitting that going into the trial which started on February 11, the petitioners legal team always knew that the matter would be resolved in the Court of Appeal.

"We knew that if we won, the other side was going to appealand obviously if we lost, then we would have also appealed, Bacchus-Baptiste said.

She referenced a number of decisions which went against the government in the appellant court, including the case involving three teachers - Kenroy Johnson, Elvis Daniel and Addison Thomas.

Even the ruling made by Justice Brian Cottle to throw out the petitions had been reinstated after that decision had been appealed, Baccchus said.

"So that is customary; we understand that whatever happens, we end up in the court of appeal.

The attorney, who is also an Opposition Senator, described last Wednesdays ruling as not a legal victory but a political one.

Errors in judgment

Bacchus-Baptiste said that during the delivery of the ruling by Justice John, there were some things that disturbed her, one being his comment about there being only two petitions filed.

She argued that there were 15 elections conducted in 15 constituencies that collectively constitute a general election and that was the reason why the petitions were filed separately.

The other comment of concern was the Justices statement about there being no evidence, and that he had a mere disquiet over the alleged bias.

But the Organization of American States (OAS) team of observers of the 2015 general election, reported on the bias demonstrated by the returning officer of Central Leeward, Winston Gaymes, she argued.

A meeting held at the chambers of Lead Council Stanley Stalky John Q.C. following the ruling, also arrived at what it (the meeting) saw as errors made by the judge.

One such error she pointed to was the statement on the law as to what is required to declare an election void. They thought the judge was wrong and therefore, provided ground on which they thought they could win in the appeal.

She accused the judge of merging the elections  evident when he ruled that "the court holds that the breaches which took place during the general elections in Central Leeward and North Windward, did not affect the result of the elections from a qualitative and quantitate perspective.

Then, Bacchus-Baptiste said, there was a final comment in the judges ruling that there was a lack of proper training.

"I dont know how that can impact a bad ballot paper design gone wrong, Bacchus-Baptiste said.

The judge ruled that the petitioners had failed to satisfy the Court on "direct creditable and compelling evidence on the many serious allegations that they have pleaded."We have already established what we have always said - that the 2015 general elections were stolen. That there were numerous irregularities, and some of them were just not accidents, the veteran lawyer said.Accordingly, the two petitions filed were bound to fail, she said, on the basis that it appeared to the court that having considered all the evidence, the elections were conducted in accordance with the law as to the elections.The experienced lawyer noted that nowhere in the ruling was there any indication that consideration was given to the evidence given by Cheryl Sutherland, a resident of North Windward, who said that there was no final count in that constituency.
In a bid to strengthen Indo-French ties, India has been designated as the guest of honour at the Paris Book Fair in 2020, while France will be the guest country at the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) in 2022.

The announcement was made by the nodal agency - National Book Trust (NBT) - in a statement on Friday.

The Livre Paris (Paris Book Fair) will take place from March 20 to 23, 2020.

The designation of India as the guest country was declared in the joint statement signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron during the latter's visit to India in March 2018.

The statement also mentions France as NDWBF's 2022 guest country.

As a precursor to next year's presentation, the NBT participated in the recently concluded Paris Book Fair 2019.

--IANS

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Asian cinematic icon Jackie Chan hosted a special dinner for Indian actor Sonu Sood where they discussed plans for a second instalment of their film "Kung Fu Yoga".

Sonu had featured with Chan in Stanley Tong's 2017 action-comedy "Kung Fu Yoga".

When Chan, who is shooting for "Vanguard" with Tong here, got to know that Sonu is also in the same city, they decided to arrange a dinner for him.

"The whole dinner thing was very special. Everyone was so emotional," Sonu said in a statement.

"Friendship is one thing which can't be put in words. It stays with you. It really made me emotional," he added.

According to a source, Sonu is very close to Chan and his family.

"When they got to know about Sonu being in Dubai, they wrapped up the shoot early to host an exclusive dinner for him in an Italian restaurant.

"They also discussed 'Kung Fu Yoga 2', which Stanley is already writing. After wrapping up 'Vanguard', they are planning to start the sequel which will see Jackie and Sonu collaborate again," the source added.

--IANS

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday slammed the Congress, while accusing it of coining the "Hindu terror" slogan and filing cases based on fake evidence to gain political mileage.

Days after an anti-terror court in Haryana acquitted Swami Aseemanand in the 2007 bombing of the Samjhauta Express, Jaitley said a decision has to be taken in the end.

"Perhaps because of this, those who considered Hindus as terrorists are now trying to prove their devotion towards religion," he told the media, adding that the trial in court happened on the basis of evidence collected during the UPA regime.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that during the tenure of the UPA, when there was no evidence, the theory of Hindu terror was floated for the first time in the history of the country to tarnish the Hindu community.

"Three-four similar cases were made but none of them could stand in the court. The Congress floated the fake theory of Hindu terror to gain political mileage and tarnished the entire Hindu community. They should apologise to the community," he said.

Last week, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here acquitted all four accused, including Aseemanand, in the February 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast which killed 68 people, mostly Pakistanis.

Slamming the Congress, Jaitley said: "The judgment makes it clear that it was a trial of no evidence... So many innocent people died. Who will take responsibility of this? The responsibility lies with the UPA leadership. The society will not forgive them.

"You did not go towards the real culprits. To create a theory of Hindu terror, you caught the wrong people."

The NIA court had in January 2014 framed charges against Aseemanand, Kamal Chauhan, Rajinder Chaudhary and Lokesh Sharma.

--IANS

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Maria Ressa, a high-profile Philippines journalist and the Time Magazine Person of the Year, was arrested on Friday at the airport here shortly after stepping off a plane from San Francisco.

Ressa, the CEO of upstart media company Rappler, told CNN that she was later charged with violating the anti-dummy law, legislation related to securities fraud.

The journalist that she was posting bail -- the seventh time that the beleaguered, award-winning journalist has been forced to do so in recent months.

She had to post bail twice on Friday -- once in the sum of $1,709 and a further $2,430 in bail for charges brought at another court.

Rights groups have long alleged that Ressa is being targeted by the authorities as part of a campaign to silence and intimidate Rappler, which has reported extensively on Presidet Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs that has killed thousands.

Ressa's arrest follows that of Rappler's managing editor and five other former and current board members earlier this week.

Ressa told CNN before boarding the flight to Manila that her lawyers were expecting her to be taken into custody upon arrival.

Friday's arrest is the latest in a string of charges levelled against Ressa and Rappler.

She was arrested last month by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation on so-called "cyber-libel" charges, and was forced to spend a night in custody after a bail hearing could not be arranged in time.

--IANS

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NASA's Mars Helicopter has successfully completed a series of tests and is ready to take flight over the Red Planet, the US space agency said.

"The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," MiMi Aung, Project Manager for Mars Helicopter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement.

The Mars Helicopter will launch as a technology demonstrator with the Mars 2020 rover on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in July 2020 from the Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

It is expected to reach Mars in February 2021.

Weighing in at no more than 1.8 kilogram, the helicopter contains more than 1,500 individual pieces of carbon fibre, flight-grade aluminium, silicon, copper, foil and foam.

The helicopter is a technology demonstration project currently going through the rigorous verification process certifying it for Mars, which has much thinner atmosphere than Earth's. The planet also drops to icy temperatures that can destroy sensitive electronics.

To ensure that the helicopter copes with those conditions, NASA has created a Martian atmosphere here on Earth -- a 7.62 metre wide vacuum chamber in JPL's Space Simulator, in which carbon dioxide, the chief ingredient of Mars' atmosphere, has been injected.

"Gearing up for that first flight on Mars, we have logged over 75 minutes of flying time with an engineering model, which was a close approximation of our helicopter," Aung said.

In the Space Simulator, the team also created artificial gravity that matched what the helicopter would experience on Mars by creating a "gravity offload system".

The Mars Helicopter logged a grand total of one minute of flight time at an altitude of 5 cm, proving that it can work, NASA said.

--IANS

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Expanding its "Azure IP Advantage" programme, Microsoft is donating 500 patents to start-ups that are part of a non-profit organisation called License On Transfer (LOT) Network.

Launched in 2018, the "Azure IP Advantage" programme protects users of Microsoft's cloud computing service -- Azure -- against patent trolls.

Keeping in line with the intention of the programme, LOT Network protects companies against patent trolls by giving them access to a wide library of patents from its nearly 400 member companies including Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix and Uber among others.

"We want to help the LOT Network grow its network of start-ups and to provide an incentive we are going to provide these patents to them," TechCrunch quoted Erich Andersen, Corporate Vice President (CVP) and Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft, as saying on Thursday.

However, for any start-up to qualify for getting a patent granted to LOT Network, the company is required to meet a $1,000 per month Azure spend and Microsoft would check the start-up's last three monthly Azure bills.

"Qualified start-ups who join the LOT Network can acquire Microsoft patents as part of their free membership and as Andersen stressed, the start-ups will own them outright," the report said.

The LOT network will be able to provide its start-up members with up to three patents from this collection.

"The idea is that these start-ups come from a diverse set of industry sectors. The hope we have is that when they approach LOT, they'll find patents among those 500 that are going to be interesting to basically almost any company that might want a foundational set of patents for their business," Andersen added.

--IANS

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Militants shot and injured a civilian on Friday in Jammu and Kashmir's Tral area.

"Militants shot and critically injured a civilian in Tral area of Pulwama district on Friday evening," a police official said.

The victim was identified as a shopkeeper, Naseer Ahmad of Nowpora village.

"He was shifted to Srinagar for specialised treatment in a critical condition. The area has been surrounded for searches," the police said.

--IANS

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Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he "only meets and greets the rich" and has no time to meet people from villages.

Priyanka Gandhi said this as she huddled with a group of women under the scorching sun in Uttar Pradesh's Atka village and Naua Kuan in Faziabad district.

Addressing the party workers, the AICC's Uttar Pradesh (East) in-charge said: "I asked people if development happened in your villages and they replied that a 15-km road has been made.

"I asked them when was the road approved and the people said it was approved under the Congress government but 15 km of road has been made for publicity," she said.

"When I asked when was the bridge constructed, the people replied that it is a 75-year-old bridge. And when I pointed out that it looks like a new bridge, the people replied that it has only been given a fresh coat of painting and Chinese lights have been fitted so it looks new."

The Congress leader then said that when she asked the people if Modiji came to your villages, they replied "not even once in the last five years as he remains busy in doing publicity".

Targeting the Prime Minister over his foreign trips, she said: "He goes to foreign lands and hugs the people there. But he does not hug the poor in India."

The Congress leader also lambasted the Modi government for questioning the Nyuntam Aay Yojana or Nyay (minimum income guarantee scheme) announced by party President Rahul Gandhi and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says they do not have enough money to pay the people.

"The government has waived off the loans of several industrialists but they don't have money for the people of the country.

"This government wants to snatch poor people's employment. But the Congress through Nyay scheme will give Rs 72,000 to each poor family," she said.

The Congress leader then also targeted Modi over his 56-inch chest remark. She said political power is not a tool for publicity but it is for listening and serving the people.

Accusing the BJP of diverting attention from the real issues, she said they talk of "Mai Bhi Chowkidaar", but now the farmers are compelled to save their produce by acting as watchmen.

"They are insulting you. They want to divert your attention. BJP wants to ensure that whatever lie they say should be shown as a full package and people get diverted (from real issues)," she said.

Earlier, at Atka village the Congress leader launched a blistering attack on Modi, two days after his announcement of "Mission Shakti", saying: "If you cannot listen to the voice of your people, then what kind of power do you have?"

Not sparing BJP President Amit Shah, she called the saffron party's 2014 promise of giving Rs 15 lakh to every citizen as "rhetoric".

On Thursday, interacting with party workers in her mother Sonia Gandhi's constituency in Rae Bareli, she had surprised the cadres when responding to a query about contesting from her mother's safe seat, Priyanka Gandhi said: "Why not Varanasi?"

Priyanka Gandhi said it was the Congress which had brought people-friendly schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to give employment to people across the country.

"When they were in opposition, they opposed the MGNREGA, but as soon as they came to power they realised how good the scheme is," she said.

"These projects have now gone into the hands of contractors," she alleged, adding that now the enrolled people are not getting money for over six months.

Earlier in the day, while on her way from Rae Bareli to Faizabad, Gandhi made brief halted at several places. She met women workers and also paid obeisance at Materva Mazaar in Amethi.

The 47-year-old became nostalgic when a Muslim family reminded her of her grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's visit to the village in the 1980s.

Comparing her party's with that of the BJP, Gandhi said: "Their is of lie and publicity. It won't work anymore."

She also said that her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been speaking about the rights of the farmers. She reminded them that he had even gone to Bhatta Parsaul to fight for their rights.

During the day, Priyanka Gandhi will also hold a road show in the temple town of Ayodhya.

Before concluding her three-day poll campaign, she will offer her prayers at Hanumangarhi temple.

Enroute from Rae Bareli to Ayodhya, Priyanka Gandhi received a rousing welcome from party workers at several places.

(Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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In a scathing attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for promoting his son into politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged people to vote for 'son-set' to ensure 'sunrise' of the state.

Launching BJP's campaign for April 11 elections to Andhra Pradesh Assembly and all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state, he said he was sure that there will also be sunset of corruption in these polls.

Modi hit out at the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief for dynasty and corruption. He alleged that the schemes in the state were designed for scams.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, who earlier kicked off the campaign in Telangana and targeted its Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao for dynasty politics, voiced concern over the trend dominating the country. He said be it TDP, YSR Congress or Congress, he was fighting against this mindset.

Listing out the Central institutes sanctioned for the state and works done by the Centre during last five years, Modi said had he got cooperation from the state government, he would have done more.

"I did my best but those in power have no intention to develop Andhra Pradesh," he said targeting Naidu, whose TDP walked out of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in 2018.

Calling Naidu 'U-turn Babu' Modi alleged that there was corruption in developing the new state capital and various other projects.

"People know what are the tricks being played and whose coffers are being filled. When your chowkidar raised questions and held him to account, 'U-turn babu' took U-turn from the promise of developing Andhra Pradesh and distanced himself from NDA."

"U-turn Babu found friends who are on 'bail-gadi' and treading the path where Pakistan is treating them as the hero," said Modi.

He also accused the TDP chief of spreading lies for vested interests and to hide his failures.

Pointing out that the TDP and the Congress ruled Andhra Pradesh for decades and Naidu was the Chief Minister for a long time, he said they neglected farmers and cited Polavaram as a living example.

"The project is being built for seven decades. Our government released Rs 7,000 crore but this project remained incomplete as the state government is going on increasing the project cost," he said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday took a pot shot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he had gone to Pakistan in 2015 to eat biryani.

Responding to a query over Modi's remarks that people in Pakistan will applaud if Congress wins the Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi said: "It's their view."

When pressed further for her views on the Prime Minister's comments made during his rally in Meerut on Thursday, she said: "He (Modi) had gone to Pakistan to eat biryani," referring to Modi's surprise stopover in Pakistan in December 2015 to meet his then counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

The Congress General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East was speaking to the media after interacting with students at the Sun Beam Public School.

Gandhi also said that she would not offer prayers at the Ram temple here as the matter was sub-judice in court.

On the third day of her campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi held a mega road show in the temple town covering a distance of over 15 km as scores of Congress workers hit the road in support of their leader, raising anti-Modi slogans.

Several posters were also put up in the city which read: "Indira Gandhi returns".

The road show started from the Sun Beam Public School and concluded at the Hanuman Garhi temple after passing through several areas of the temple town. Gandhi then offered prayers at the temple before leaving for Lucknow.

Gandhi also provided first-aid to a party worker who injured his hand after being pushed by a Special Protection Group (SPG) officer while attempting to meet the Congress leader.

Vishal Sonkar, the injured person, later told IANS: "I was going to present a photograph of Indira Gandhi to Priyanka Didi. However, as I was about to reach her, an SPG officer pushed me and the photo frame broke and the glass pierced my hands. Noticing this, Priyanka Didi called me and provided me with first-aid."

Earlier in the day, Gandhi hit out at Modi and said that he "only met and greeted the rich" and had no time to meet people from the villages.

Gandhi said this as she huddled with a group of women under the scorching sun in Atka village and Naua Kuan in Faziabad district.

Addressing the party workers, Gandhi said: "I asked people if development happened in your villages and they replied that a 15 km road has been made.

"I asked them when was the road approved and the people said it was approved under the Congress government, but only 15 km of road has been made for publicity."

"When I asked when was the bridge constructed, the people replied that it is a 75-year-old bridge. And when I pointed out that it looks like a new bridge, the people replied that it has only been given a fresh coat of paint and Chinese lights have been fitted so that it looks new," she said.

The Congress leader then said that when she asked the people if Modiji came to their villages, they replied "not even once in the last five years as he remains busy in doing publicity".

Targeting the Prime Minister over his foreign trips, Gandhi said: "He goes to foreign lands and hugs the people there. But he does not hug the poor in India."

The Congress leader also lambasted the Modi government for questioning the Nyuntam Aay Yojana or NYAY (minimum income guarantee scheme) announced by party President Rahul Gandhi and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) always said it didn't have enough money to pay the people.

"The government has waived off the loans of several industrialists but they don't have money for the people of the country.

"This government wants to snatch poor people's employment. But the Congress will give Rs 72,000 to each poor family through NYAY," she said.

The Congress leader also targeted Modi over his 56-inch chest remark. She said political power was not a tool for publicity but it was for listening and serving the people.

Accusing the BJP of diverting attention from the real issues, she said they talk of "Mai Bhi Chowkidaar", but now the farmers are compelled to save their produce by acting as watchmen.

"They are insulting you. They want to divert your attention. The BJP wants to ensure that whatever lie they say should be shown as a full package and people get diverted (from real issues)," she said.

Coming down heavily on the Prime Minister, Gandhi said: "If you cannot listen to the voice of your own people, what kind of power do you have?"

She also called the saffron party's 2014 promise of giving Rs 15 lakh to every citizen only "rhetoric".

Gandhi said it was the Congress which had introduced people-friendly schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to give employment to people across the country.

"When they were in the opposition, they opposed the MGNREGA. But as soon as they came to power, they realised how good the scheme is," she said.

"These projects have now gone into the hands of contractors," Gandhi alleged, adding that the enrolled people were not getting money for over six months now.

Earlier in the day, while going from Rae Bareli to Faizabad, Gandhi made brief halts at several places. She met women workers along the way and also paid obeisance at the Materva Mazaar in Amethi.

The 47-year-old became nostalgic when a Muslim family reminded her of her grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's visit to their village in the 1980s.

Comparing her party's with that of the BJP, Gandhi said: "Their is of lie and publicity. It won't work anymore."

She also said that Rahul Gandhi has been vocal about the plight of the farmers for quite some time now. She reminded the people that he had even gone to Bhatta Parsaul to fight for their rights.

(Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A delegation from the Royal Navy is currently in St Vincent and the Grenadines on a recruitment drive.



In a small ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Conference Room on Monday March 25th, 2019, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sir Louis Straker welcomed the delegation, noting it was exciting to have them here, as many young people have shown an interest in entering the service of the Royal Navy.

The Minister noted the mutual benefit to both St Vincent and the Grenadines and the United Kingdom, as the recruitment drive provides young people with opportunities for professional advancement and personal development.

St Vincent and the Grenadines High Commission to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Cenio Lewis, expressed thanks that another recruitment request was accepted, and noted that this gives young Vincentians an opportunity for employment and building their existing skills.

Head of the Recruitment Team, William Adams said the Royal Navy was happy to be in the country. He noted that the Royal Navy is boosting recruitment in the Commonwealth, a process which he says brings varying skills to the Royal Navy.

The team will be here until April 6, during which time the Navy officials are expected to oversee more than 200 applicants as they undergo the recruitment process, which includes: a Recruit test, Pre-Joining Fitness test and a Selection Interview.

During his recent visit to here, the Prince Charles disclosed that Vincentians outnumber all other Caribbean nationalities serving in the Royal Navy.
The Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released details of usage of MPLADS funds which, typically, take the sheen off some reputations while showing some others in good light.

For instance, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP from West Bengal Derek O Brien released Rs 5 crore funds for projects identified by him against an entitlement of Rs 7.5 crore.

The expenditure incurred was Rs 2.35 crore, the unspent amount was Rs 2.65 crore, showing utilisation of 45 per cent of the funds released.

In the case of Congress party's West Bengal MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi, against an entitlement of Rs 5 crore, funds released was also Rs 5 crore, but the unspent balance was Rs 4.95 crore, showing an utilisation of almost nil.

Samajwadi Party stalwart Ram Gopal Yadav, the party's Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, had an exceptional 97.59 per cent utilisation of funds. Against an entitlement of Rs 45.03 crore for the constituency, the Union government released Rs 37.53 crore.

The cumulative amount recommended by him for MPLADS works was Rs 38.17 crore, the expenditure was Rs 37.03 crore and the unspent amount overall was Rs 1.77 crore.

If Yadav did exceptionally well with the utilisation of funds under MPLADS, consider the case of Kanimozhi, the DMK's Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu. Against an entitlement of Rs 47 crore for her constituency, the Union government released Rs 34.50 crore, of which expenditure incurred was Rs 34.38 crore, leading to an utilisation of 99.64 per cent of the released amount and an unspent balance of Rs 0.63 crore.

For the record Kanimozhi, from the DMK's first family, had recommended MPLADS works worth Rs 47.90 crore.

Former Rajya Sabha nominated MP Rekha did not do too badly on the MPLADS fund. The government released Rs 22.50 crore under MPLADS for her projects of which expenditure incurred was 20.01 per cent, showing 86.94 per cent utilisation of funds released.

These are figures released by the Ministry on March 28. All MPs receive up to Rs 5 crore a year to finance development projects of their choice under MPLADS.

For Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, funds released by the Union government for Sonbhadra was Rs 7.5 crore against an entitlement of Rs 10 crore for the constituency. However, the cumulative amount recommended for MPLADS works was nil, leading to the entire sanctioned amount being unspent.

Naturally, the percent utilisation of funds over released was also nil.

Kapil Sibal, the Congress party's Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, had funds worth Rs 10 crore released for Rae Bareli against an entitlement of Rs 12.50 crore. Cumulative amount sanctioned by him was Rs 10.84 crore. Overall, the unspent balance was Rs 4.55 crore, showing 55.64 per cent utilisation over funds released.

In the case of Samajwadi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan, the Union government released Rs 2.5 crore against an entitlement of Rs 5 crore. But, the actor-turned-politician did not recommend MPLADS works, leading to nil utilisation of funds and the entire amount of Rs 2.5 crore stayed unspent.

For Raj Babbar, Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Uttarakhand, against an entitlement of Rs 20 crore for Dehradun, total funds released were Rs 17.50 crore, and there was an unspent balance of Rs 5.48 crore, showing an utilisation of 69.5 per cent.

For BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, the Union government released Rs 2.50 crore for Varanasi, the unsanctioned balance amount was Rs 2.25 crore, and the unspent balance amount was Rs 2.55 crore.

For Union minister K.J. Alphons, the BJP's Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, the entitlement for Jaipur was Rs 7.50 crore, of which the government released Rs 5 crore. The unspent balance was Rs 4.87 crore (audit certificate is pending), which meant that expenditure was Rs 0.13 crore, the utilisation with respect to funds released was 1.63 per cent.

The figures show that 0.84 crore of MPLADS works had been recommended by him.

His party colleague Vijay Goel, who represents the BJP in the Upper House of Parliament from Rajasthan, has a far better record in this area.

Against an entitlement of Rs 25 crore for Jaipur, the government released Rs 20 crore, and following expenditure of Rs 16.20 crore and an unspent balance of Rs 3.96 crore (provisional utilisation certificate pending), it showed utilisation of 79.26 per cent. Goel had recommended MPLADS works of Rs 17.07 crore.

For Ambika Soni, Congress MP from Rupnagar in Punjab, the government released Rs 5 crore, unsanctioned balance was Rs 1.69 crore, and unspent balance was Rs 5.69 crore.

Swapan Dasgupta, nominated member considered close to the BJP even though he has not declared himself as a BJP member in the House, has a remarkable record. Of an entitlement of Rs 15 crore for Kolkata, the government released Rs 15 crore, the expenditure incurred was Rs 16.11 crore showing a fund utilisation of Rs 105.40 crore.

Dasgupta had recommended MPLADS works to the tune of Rs 17.01 crore.

Nominated Rajya Sabha MP KTS Tulsi also has an exceptional record like Dasgupta. Of the entitlement of Rs 15 crore, the government released Rs 10 crore. An expenditure of Rs 10.74 crore meant that utilisation over released funds was 105.37 per cent.

For nominated member Rakesh Sinha, a pro-RSS academic, against a sanctioned amount of Rs 5 crore for the constituency, the government released Rs 2.5 crore. However, nothing of this amount was spent, leading to nil utilisation of funds released.

For the record, the cumulative amount recommended by Sinha for MPLADS works was also nil, according to the figures released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

P. Chidambaram, Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, registered nil fund utilisation under MPLADS. The details are as follows: Entitlement for constituency (Mumbai City) Rs 12.63 crore; funds released by the government -- Rs 5.13 crore; expenditure - nil; unspent funds - Rs 5.13 crore. Projects recommended by him for MPLADS was Rs 0.65 crore according to the figures.

Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar showed a massive 107.17 per cent utilisation of funds. Against an entitlement of Rs 25.13 crore for constituency entitlement (Pune), the government released Rs 15.13 crore. But, there was an expenditure of Rs 16.22 crore (with interest the amount available was Rs 18.87 crore) leading to a 107.17 per cent utilisation with regard to released funds.

For the record, and as clarified by the ministry, under MPLADS, the role of MPs is limited only up to recommendation of works. Thereafter, it is the responsibility of the district authority concerned to sanction, execute and complete the works recommended by MPs within the stipulated time period.

Besides, the exact figure for expenditure is available only with the district authorities.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United Kingdom Members of Parliament on Friday rejected for the third time Prime Minister Theresa Mays European Union withdrawal agreement, throwing Brexit plans into more confusion.

The deal was turned down by 344 votes to 286 -- a majority of 58 votes, the BBC reported. Britain was earlier scheduled to leave the EU on Friday.

May said the vote would have "grave" implications and the "legal default" was that the UK would leave on April 12.

That meant there would not be enough time to get legislation through to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

It was the third time the deal was brought before the MPs, after being rejected twice by large margins.

According to the Guardian, the UK could ask for a further extension. But that would mean holding European elections. The MPs will consider further options on Monday.

May said it was a "matter of profound regret that once again this House been unable to support leaving European Union in an orderly way".

She said the "implications are grave" of the decision and added: "The default is the UK due to leave on April 12 -- in just 14 days time".

"I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this house," the Prime Minister said, adding that she will continue to press the case for an "orderly Brexit".

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called for May's resignation and sought an election.

Responding to the vote, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: "In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on April 10."

The pound fell following the announcement of the result.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) decision to contest on all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat is worrying the Congress.

Even though the Congress and NCP are allies nationally and in some states, things are not going smoothly in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah.

Jayant Patel a.k.a Bosky, the NCP Gujarat President, announced on Thursday that after seeing no scope for an alliance with the Congress in Gujarat, the NCP had decided to put up candidates in all the seats.

"Candidates will also be fielded in all five Assembly by-elections," he said.

According to Congress sources, the NCP leaders in Gujarat have little or insignificant presence in the state. Allying with them would not help the Congress in a significant way.

Congress sources also claimed that the NCP had staked claim to four or five seats in Gujarat including Gandhinagar, Porbandar, Panchmahals, Sabarkantha and Mehsana.

NCP leader Shankersinh Vaghela is eyeing the Godhra seat for himself.

Whenever the NCP has contested the Lok Sabha elections on its own, the Congress has suffered.

In 1999, there was no alliance between the two parties which hurt the Congress in Chhota Udaipur, a Scheduled Tribe seat that was a Congress bastion. NCP candidate Bheemsinh Koli got 9,048 votes, helping BJP's Ramsinh Rathwa to win by 1,198 votes.

In the 2004 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, both the parties were in alliance.

When the NCP fought on its own even in Assembly elections, the BJP was again the gainer.

In 2002, NCP candidates altered the results of 14 seats which the Congress lost. Votes polled by NCP candidates were higher then BJP's victory margin.

These included Morbi, Vankaner, Gondal, Kalavad, JamJodhpur, Khambhalia, Dhari, Kodinar, Gadhada, Palitana, Dhanera, Sarsa, Matar and Olpad seats.

Even in the 2017 Assembly elections, the Congress lost five seats because of NCP candidates.

The Congress lost by 2,551 votes to BJP in Prantij, where the NCP got 3,718 votes. In Dholka, the Congress lost to BJP by 327 votes while the NCP collected 1,198 votes.

Similarly, the Congress lost the Umreth seat by 1,883 votes to the BJP where the NCP got 35,051 votes. In Fatehpura, the Congress lost by 2,711 votes while the NCP candidate got 2,747 votes.

In Dangs, the Congress lost by 768 votes while the NCP candidate polled 1,304 votes.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Declaring that the pre-condition of political stability for economic development now stands fulfilled in Nepal, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday inaugurated the Nepal Investment Summit 2019, saying that political transformation cannot be sustained without an economic one.

The two-day summit, organised by the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) with the objective of promoting the landlocked Himalayan nation as an investment destination, is the third of its type after the first in 1992 and the second in 2017, which was held after the adoption of Nepal's new Constitution in 2015.

"Political stability is absolutely fulfilled now. Also political consistency, as well as legal, institutional and policy reforms, have been the best last year," Oli said.

"Political transformation alone cannot be sustainable without economic transformation. The Constitution of 2015 has ended the protracted political transition and has brought optimism for economic development," he added.

According to the IBN, over 600 foreign delegates from 40 countries were participating in the summit. Of these, 265 were from China and 120 from India.

Oli said that as many as 77 viable projects (50 public and 27 private) worth $32 billion were being showcased in the event. The projects were in the areas of hydropower, agriculture, industry, tourism, transportation, urban infrastructure, education and health.

Noting that Nepal aims to move up from its least developed category status to become a middle income economy by 2030, Oli said that the country will need investments of nearly $90 billion in five years to achieve its objective of rapid economic transformation.

Highlighting the reforms undertaken by his government to improve ease of doing business, Oli pointed to the three key legislations passed in the period leading up to the summit. These were the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, Public Private Partnership and Investment Act and the Special Economic Zone Act.

Describing Nepal as "virgin land" offering tremendous opportunity for investment, he said Nepal will "actively pursue" Bilateral Investment Protection Treaties with foreign countries, as well as Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements.

"The government is fully committed to protect your investments. There is no place for violence in Nepal and disruptions in law and order will be severely dealt with. Repatriation is guaranteed on earning and equity," the Prime Minister said.

Companies from India taking part in the summit included Dabur, Muthoot Group, Nestle India, CDC India, Hester Bioscience, Exim Bank and SJVNL.

(Biswajit Choudhury is attending the Nepal Investment Summit 2019 at the invitation of IBN. He can be reached at biswajit.c@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nepal on Friday unveiled dozens of private and public projects worth $30 billion at the start of a two-day investment forum.

The government is looking to boost growth in the Himalayan country, which is classified by the UN as one of the world's 48 least developed countries, reports Efe news.

"We need to attain a double-digit growth over the next years. A tentative estimation (...) is that the country would require an investment of over 97.77 trillion Nepali rupees (about $88.18 billion) over the next five years," Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said at the Nepal Investment Summit 2019's inauguration here.

"Domestic resources alone would not be sufficient to meet this requirement," he added.

More than 600 investors and high-level officials from multinational companies and organisations from 40 countries were expected to take part in the Nepal Investment Summit 2019.

More than half were expected to be from India and China.

Nepal is also often severely affected by natural disasters and is still recovering from the 2015 earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people.

According to Systematic Country Diagnostic report of the World Bank, Nepal's growth has been much lower than that of the other economies in the region during the last 20 years, growing at an average rate of 4 per cent annually.

To address this, the government has begun looking outward to stimulate its economy following years of instability.

"We all know the investment climate was not favourable in past years due to the unstable political situation, labour issues and the energy deficit," said Bhawani Rana, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"Now, the situation has improved. We have a powerful and stable government to deliver optimistic results," added Rana.

She said that the summit would be a platform to demonstrate to the international community that Nepal is open for business.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday rejected the bail plea of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi suspecting he could "flee" Britain and "interfere with witnesses", said sources.

Judge Emma Arbuthnot has granted the Metropolitan Police custody of the 48-year-old businessman till the next hearing on April 26.

Arbuthnot is the same judge who ordered the extradition of former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya last December.

The court order came after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), appearing on behalf of the Indian authorities, argued against Nirav Modi's bail. "There is a real risk that he could flee, interfere with witnesses, interfere with evidence," the prosecution said.

Defence barrister Clare Montgomery said, "I (Nirav Modi) have been in the UK even before the case was registered in India. How can my bail be opposed saying I might flee the UK?"

Montgomery, who had earlier represented Vijay Mallya, countered to say that his client is not a "flight risk" as he has rented a flat in London in his own name and was trying to open a bank account when he was arrested.

Before the hearing began, the CPS had submitted a new file with additional evidence against Nirav Modi in the Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Nirav Modi was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities from Holborn in London on March 19 in connection with the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.

He was sent to police custody and the next day, was produced before a judge at the Westminster Magistrates' Court, who denied him bail and deferred the hearing for Friday.

Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation after the PNB alleged that they cheated it of Rs 13,500 crore with the involvement of a few bank employees.

Both fled India before the details of the fraud emerged in January 2018. The ED on February 26, 2018 attached property worth Rs 147 crore of Nirav Modi and his associate companies in connection with the case.

On May 24 and 26, 2018, it filed charge sheets and sought non-bailable warrants against the duo.

The Interpol also issued a Red Corner Notice against Nirav Modi in July 2018 at the request of the ED and the CBI.

An extradition request against him had been pending before the UK authorities since September last year.

However, the businessman's whereabouts remained a mystery as he was spotted in New York, Hong Kong and other cities at different times.

His arrest came days after The Telegraph newspaper in Britain published a report earlier this month about Nirav Modi being spotted in London.

The daily reported that he was living in a three-bedroom flat, occupying half the floor of the landmark Centre Point tower block.

The paper said that Nirav Modi was involved in a new diamond business, run from an office in Soho, just a few hundred yards from his apartment. The new business was incorporated in May 2018, it added.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 25 people were killed after Taliban militants attacked police checkpoints in two Afghan provinces overnight, officials said on Friday.

In one incident, nine police officers, including a district police chief, were killed and six policemen wounded when Taliban militants stormed police checkpoints in Ghazni city, capital of the province with the same name, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Several militants were also killed and wounded during exchange of fire in Police District 3, outer side of Ghazni city and sporadic clashes continued till Friday morning. District police chief Mujib Rahman Mahmoodi also lost his life in the clashes," provincial police spokesman Ahmad Khan Serat said.

In Badakhshan province, five security forces, two civilians and eight Taliban militants were killed after clashes in Arghanjkhaw district.

"Militants armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades attacked police checkpoints in the district centre. The security forces fought back the attackers, who tried to capture the district administrative complex," an official said.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, claimed the insurgent fighters seized control of Arghanjkhaw after driving out the security forces.

In a separate incident, four Taliban militants were killed and two security forces wounded in clashes in Kaykhonak, an area on the outskirts of Aybak city, according to an Army official.

Among those killed was a Taliban local leader named Obaidullah.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Pakistani wives of Kashmiri militants who came back in response to the Jammu and Kashmir government's rehabilitation policy protested here on Friday, demanding citizenship rights and travel documents.

The state government's rehabilitation policy was announced in 2010.

These women have since been living with their husbands in Kashmir without either the citizenship rights or the travel documents to go back to Pakistan.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday took a pot shot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying when he does not know anything about villages in his Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency how will he develop them.

Priyanka Gandhi said this as she huddled with a group of women under a scorching sun in Uttar Pradesh's Atka village here.

Launching a blistering attack on Modi two days after his Mission Shakti, Gandhi said, "If you cannot listen to the voice of your people, then what kind of power do you have?"

She also did not spare BJP President Amit Shah and called the saffron party's 2014 promise of giving Rs 15 lakh to every citizen as "rhetoric".

The Congress leader said that the BJP and its leaders stay away from villages and keep on lying.

This is the second time in her three-day tour of the state that the Congress' eastern in-charge of the state has brought up the Prime Minister and his work.

On Thursday, interacting with party workers in her mother Sonia Gandhi's constituency in Rae Bareli, she had surprised the cadres when responding to a query about contesting from her mother's safe seat, Priyanka Gandhi said "Why not Varanasi?"

She also said that Modi does not hug the poor. "He goes to foreign lands and hugs the people there. But he does not hug the poor in India," she said.

"He only meets and greets the rich," she added to loud applause.

Priyanka Gandhi said it was the Congress which had brought the people-friendly schemes like MGNREGA to give employment to people across the country.

"When they were in opposition, they opposed the MGNREGA, but as soon as they came to power they realised how good the scheme was," she said.

"These projects have now gone into the hands of contractors," she alleged, adding that now the people enrolled are not getting money for over six months. "Actually, they want to close this scheme."

"This government wants to snatch the poor people's employment. But the Congress through NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojna) scheme will give Rs 72,000 per poor family," she said speaking about the party's fresh attempt to cater to the impoverished voters.

Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Gandhi said: "When we announced NYAY, BJP said that this is bluff and the government does not have money."

She questioned how then was the BJP working for the industrialists. She accused the BJP government of waiving loans of industrialists but not doing the same for the farmers.

Earlier in the day when she was on her way from Rae Bareli to Faizabad, Gandhi halted at several places. She met women workers and also paid obseisance at Materva Mazaar in Amethi.

The 47-year-old became nostalgic when a Muslim family reminded her of her grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's visit to the village in the 1980s.

They showed her the photographs of their family with Indira Gandhi. As she was being photographed some four decades later, Priyanka wanted to keep her grandmother's picture. An old man said: "Go ahead, we have a copy."

Comparing her party's with that of the BJP, Gandhi said: "Their is of lie and publicity. It won't work anymore."

She also said that her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi had spoken about the rights of the farmers. She reminded them that Rahul had even gone to Bhata Parsaul to fight for their rights.

During the day, Priyanka Gandhi will also hold a road show in the temple town of Ayodhya.

Before concluding her three-day poll campaign, she will pray at Hanumangarhi temple.

En-route from Rae Bareli to Ayodhya, Priyanka Gandhi received a rousing welcome from party workers at several places.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said he would not sit back and allow his officials to be "bullied" by the White House as tensions escalated between him and US President Donald Trump over slow disaster relief efforts.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Rossello said: "If the bully gets close, I'll punch the bully in the mouth... It would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with courage."

Rossello's top aides told CNN that during a tense encounter at the White House on Wednesday they were warned by senior administration officials that representatives for the US territory were pushing too hard to arrange a meeting aimed at discussing the island's dire situation with the President.

Despite their requests, Trump has declined to schedule a meeting with Rossello to discuss recovery efforts that are ongoing nearly two years after Hurricane Maria hit the island.

According to Puerto Rican officials, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, along with other senior officials, all but threatened the island's representatives during the meeting.

In response to the allegations, a White House spokesman said the administration would continue working with Rossello and his aides on recovery efforts. But he stopped short of saying definitively the President would meet with the governor in the future.

Trump claimed on Thursday he has "taken better care of Puerto Rico than any man, ever", rebutting claims he's ignored the island's plight after Hurricane Maria.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto responded saying Trump's comments were a reminder that he "cannot lead".

Besides Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 storm, also devastated Dominica and the US Virgin Islands in September 2017. A total of 3,057 people were killed.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The constituency of North Leeward now boasts a state of the art medical facility.

This, after the government officially opened of the Chateaubelair Smart Hospital and Clinic last Tuesday.

The project was executed by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and funded by the United Kingdoms Department for International Development (DFID).

Constructed at a cost of EC2.2 million, the work was undertaken by Franco Construction and involved a makeover - redesign, reinforcement and additions - of the old hospital structure, and retrofitting with modern furniture and equipment.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Cuthbert Knights said the Hospital serves as a visible demonstration of the rapid changes to our health care, and the dynamism of the health revolution which is ongoing.

A stroke of luck

David Latchman, Health Planner in the Ministry of Health, gave an account of developments and incidents that led to the project being undertaken here, in which he highlighted this countrys stroke of luck when Jamaica was unable to take up a Smart Health Care facilities project, and there was a chance of St. Vincent and the Grenadines getting a Smart Hospital.

This country, Latchman said, submitted two project proposals to PAHO, one of which was the Georgetown Hospital Modernisation which was approved. It was completed well within time, and PAHO successfully approached the UKDID for funding for more projects in the Windward Islands.

The Smart Hospital

The Smart Hospital in Chateaubelair boasts a resilient design, able to function during and in the aftermath of a disaster.

Water storage capacity has increased from a mere 600 to 9000 gallons, and while there is now a standby generator on the compound, the facility has a 29 kilowatt solar system which can provide up to 50% of the power requirement of the facility, a significant cost-saving measure.

Other features of the Hospital include automatic lighting, waterproof roof, a rainwater harvesting system, improved access for disabled persons, a fire alarm system, emergency exits and a full pharmacy.

Government's commitment

Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment Luke Browne expressed his pleasure with the completion of the Hospital and Clinic, counted it as "a complete response to any notion that we are not making any progress with Healthcare in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and described it as clear demonstration of "governments commitment to putting the infrastructure in place to provide Healthcare for all.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves delivered an address that detailed the "significant improvements in health made under his administration, not least being the increases in nurses and doctors that currently serve the national healthcare services.

He expressed his utmost happiness with the project.

The Hospital will provide secondary healthcare services, while the clinic will provide primary healthcare services, Knights said.The PAHO Smart Health Care Facility project has expanded into seven countries, with an investment of some 30 million pounds (sterling). The Chateaubelair Smart Hospital is the first undertaking in the 2nd phase of the PAHO project.SVG has now commissioned two Smart Hospitals. The Chateaubelair Hospital is the second to become operational. The other is the Georgetown Smart Hospital.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi has given broad hints of his partys plans for boosting entrepreneurship, start-ups and jobs by promising to do away with the angel tax and incentives based on the number of jobs created.

He also said no permissions will be required for the first three years of any new business.

Gandhi made the promises, which are seen as an answer to BJP government's 'Startup India' and 'Standup India' schemes, during his electioneering and conveyed them through a tweet on Thursday.

"Youngsters, want to start a new business? Want to create jobs for India? Here's our plan for you: 1. Zero permissions for the first three years of any new business. 2. Goodbye Angel Tax 3. Solid incentives and tax credits based on how many jobs you create. 4. Easy Bank Credit," Gandhi had tweeted on Thursday.

Congress leader Gourav Vallabh told IANS that the BJP government has missed the "golden opportunity" to give a boost to the economy.

"They did demonetisation and there was flawed implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). The data of the government has been questioned by economists. Startup India, Standup India have no impact on the ground. Skill India is just a name," he said.

Gandhi's announcements are seen as an effort by the Congress to woo the youth ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and keep the focus on economic issues.

Gandhi has continuously attacked the BJP-led government over its "failure" to create the promised jobs.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump told supporters at a rally that he had vanquished a corrupt group of Democrats, the news media and the Washington elite, who tried to "nullify" his "historic" election victory by painting him as an "agent of Russia".

"After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead," Trump said at his rally at Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday night.

"The collusion delusion is over," The New York Times quoted the President as saying.

This was his first rally since Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up his the 22-month investigation and found no evidence of collusion between the Trump's presidential election campaign and the Russian government.

"The Democrats need to decide whether they will continue to defraud the public with ridiculous b******t," Trump said during his 22-minute speech.

In vilifying his opponents, Trump was not troubled by the fact that the 300-plus-page report by Mueller is yet to be released, or that Attorney General William P. Barr, in his summary of Mueller's findings, stipulated that the report did not exonerate the President, even if it did not find him guilty of conspiracy or of obstructing justice.

"It's interesting," Trump said. "Robert Mueller was a God to the Democrats. He was a God to them until he said 'no collusion'. They don't like him so much now."

He called the Russia investigation "an extravagant waste of time" and underlined the need to "drain the swamp", and he celebrated his cheering supporters over what he described as the faithless elites in Washington.

"I'm President and they're not... They came, and they didn't even know these people existed," Trump said of the elites.

"I have a better education than them. I'm smarter than them. I went to better schools than them... Much more beautiful house. Much more beautiful everything."

Trump also went after the "fake news" media, celebrating what he claimed was a sharp decline in ratings for CNN and MSNBC after the Mueller findings were released, and predicting they would never regain their credibility.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to telecom service providers Vodafone and Airtel on a CBI plea claiming that the two service providers were not co-operating with the probe agency in furnishing the call records of the accused in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.

As the bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued notice to the two service providers on the application by the CBI, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi described the allegations as "completely wrong".

Denying the charge, Rohatgi appearing for Vodafone asserted, "We have given everything" sought by the probe agency.

The probe agency sought call record details from the two service providers as the CD given by the West Bengal police, which initially investigated the case before it was handed over to the CBI by the top court, was blank.

The hearing also saw Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointing to an incident at the Kolkata International Airport where police officials threatened custom officers as they tried to scan the luggage of Rujira Narula - wife of Trinamool Congress lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee - on the suspicion of her carrying gold and cash.

Banerjee is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,

With the Solicitor General contending that there was "constitutional anarchy" and "complete lawlessness" in the State, CJI Gogoi asked what he expected the court to do and told him to file an application stating all that he was saying orally.

The court directed the next hearing of the matter on April 8 when the matter relating to the two service providers would be taken up.

The incident relates to the intervening night of March 15 and 16 when Narula arrived at Kolkata airport from Bangkok.

Describing the allegations that Narula was caught at Kolkata airport for carrying gold in her check-in baggage as "baseless", Banerjee had on March 24 said that the complaint filed by the customs authorities alleging interference and obstruction by the local police was drafted in Delhi and was "highly politically motivated".

--IANS

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The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the life imprisonment of P. Rajagopal, the owner of South Indian hotel chain Saravana Bhavan, for murdering employee, Prince Shantakumar, in October 2001 to marry his wife on the advice of an astrologer.

The bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana gave Rajagopal time till July 7 to surrender.

The top court's decision comes on the Madras High Court order upholding his life imprisonment.

The High Court had enhanced the 10 year sentence given by a trial court.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the life imprisonment of P. Rajagopal, the owner of south Indian hotel chain Saravana Bhavan, for murdering an employee in October 2001 so as to marry his wife.

Upholding the sentence of life imprisonment, the bench of Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Justice Indira Banerjee said: "We find that the evidence on record fully proves the case of prosecution and that the trial court as well as the high court evaluated the material on record in its proper prospective while coming to their conclusion."

Pronouncing the judgment, Justice Shantanagoudar said: "The judgment of the trial court as modified by the high court need not be interfered with. Hence these appeals fail and stand dismissed."

Speaking for the bench, Justice Shantanagoudar said: "In our considered opinion, the overwhelming, consistent, cogent and reliable testimonies of two prosecution witnesses, along with the corroborative evidence, conclusively prove the prosecution case."

The ruling comes on a challenge to March 19, 2009 Madras High Court order upholding his conviction and enhancing the 10-year sentence given by a trial court.

When contacted, Rajagopal's son P.R. Shivakumar told IANS: "I just got an SMS about the verdict. I have to get more details."

The hugely popular Saravana Bhavan hotel chain has outlets within and outside India and is now managed by Shivakumar.

Rajagopal was arrested on charges of murdering his employee, Prince Shantakumar, so as to marry his wife.

Referring to the material facts, the court noted that either on the advice of an astrologer or having become besotted with the wife of Shantakumar, Rajagopal had evinced keen desire to take her as his third wife.

He used to talk to her over the phone frequently, and also gave her costly gifts including jewellery, silk sarees and even went to the extent of paying her medical bills.

--IANS

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The Sydney Airport's control tower was evacuated on Friday after a computer battery back-up system overheated, initially preventing all planes at the airport from departing and significantly delaying inbound flights from landing.

Flights were delayed by up to two hours while some inbound planes were diverted to other Australian cities of Canberra and Melbourne, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

At about 11.40 a.m., fire alarms went off and smoke was detected on the ground level of the control tower, Fire and Rescue New South Wales Inspector Bryce Jonas told The Herald.

"Occupants could smell smoke, they did the right thing and started to evacuate after diverting air traffic control to Melbourne," Jonas said.

He said thermal energy detectors were used to identify the source of the smoke and located a battery back-up system for the computers which malfunctioned and overheated.

"Firefighters used carbon dioxide extinguishers on the battery system to cool it down," Jonas added.

About 20 people were evacuated from the control tower. They returned within an hour of the evacuation.

Airservices Australia said at 1.19 p.m., the tower was "fully back to operations".

The Sydney Airport, which is a hub for airlines including Qantas Airways and Virgin Australia, is the nation's busiest airport.

--IANS

ksk

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Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, is likely to contest the Lok Sabha polls against the father of his estranged wife and RJD candidate Chandrika Rai from the Saran seat.

The development comes a day after Tej Pratap Yadav announced that he had resigned as the patron of the Rashtriya Janata Dal's student wing after being sidelined by his family and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Party sources said on Friday that Tej Pratap Yadav was angry that his younger brother and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav had named Rai as the RJD nominee from Saran, a seat which was won by their father Lalu Prasad four times.

"Tej Pratap felt insulted and humiliated over the party's decision to field Rai from Saran. He will contest the polls against him as an Independent candidate," a party leader said.

Tej Pratap Yadav is yet to make an official announcement.

In November, he filed a petition in a court seeking divorce from his newly-wed wife Aishwarya Rai. Despite pressure from his family, he refused to withdraw the plea.

Aishwarya is Chandrika Rai's daughter and granddaughter of former Chief Minister Daroga Rai.

--IANS

ik/ksk/mr/soni

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The adjudicating authority under FEMA has held a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative and two associates guilty for their involvement in a hawala case related to terror financing and imposed a fine of Rs 15 lakh, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday.

In the order on Wednesday, suspected LeT member Mohd Ayub Mir, his aides Bechh Raj Bengani and Harbans Singh were fined Rs 5 lakh, Rs 7 lakh and Rs 3 lakh respectively.

The adjudicating authority has also ordered to confiscate Rs 7 lakh in cash in a 17-year-old terror funding case.

The ED initiated a probe under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) on the basis of a report received from Delhi Police against the three accused.

On July 2, 2002, the Delhi Police arrested Mir while he was receiving hawala payment of Rs 7 lakh from Singh for the terrorist organization LeT.

The ED said Mir was an active member of the LeT and was also wanted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

In its statement, the ED said that Mir admitted that Rs 7 lakh seized from him was the hawala money. "Mir has also admitted to having links with the LeT."

Singh was working as Bengani's driver and was engaged in delivering cash on the instruction of his employer to Mir. Bengani was involved in hawala trade.

--IANS

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US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, will meet for a summit on April 11 here amid uncertainty over the future of nuclear negotiations with North Korea, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

Moon and Trump will "discuss the latest developments regarding North Korea as well as bilateral matters", CNN quoted Sanders as saying on Thursday.

Their face-to-face will take place after Trump held his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi last month.

The talks fell apart over disagreements on exchanging sanctions relief for steps toward the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

Though the summit ended abruptly, the White House has maintained the leaders left on good terms.

Meanwhile, a South Korean government official said on Friday that Trump proposed the meeting with Moon in a call to him made from the Air Force One after leaving Hanoi.

Trump "proposed to discuss the issues related to North Korea over lunch. President Moon gladly accepted his invitation", the official told the media in Seoul.

Moon has essentially positioned himself as the middle man between Washington and Pyongyang since the two countries began exploring diplomatic negotiations last year.

--IANS

KSK

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US President Donald Trump threatened to close the nation's southern border with Mexico next week, amid feud over illegal immigration.

"If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our southern border, I will be closing the border, or large sections of the border, next week," Trump said on Twitter.

He claimed closing off border crossings, key avenues for trade with Mexico, "would be a good thing!"

The threat comes a day after Trump criticised Mexico and several Central American nations for not halting illegal immigrants heading north to cross the US border.

"Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country. They are all talk and no action," Trump said in a tweet Thursday. "Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing."

"May close the Southern Border!" he added.

The US President's remarks stood in contrast with those of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who has thanked Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador for their efforts to help the United States secure the border.

"America shares common cause with the countries of Central America in confronting these challenges," Nielsen said in a statement Thursday.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has rejected Trump's criticism.

"We respect President Trump's position, and we are going to help," Lopez Obrador told reporters on Thursday. "This is a problem of the US, or it's a problem of the Central American countries. It's not up to us Mexicans, no."

Trump repeatedly threatened to seal the southern border late last year, when the White House and Congressional Democrats couldn't reach an agreement over his demand for billions of US dollars in funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border, a plank of his 2016 presidential campaign.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Miss SVG contestant Sylvorn Lavia paid a visit to her sponsor Metrocint General Insurance Company on Wednesday, where she is pictured interacting with customers and distributing 50th anniversary souvenirs.

Since her introduction to the public late February, Sylvorn Lavia has found her lifestyle designation which automatically pushes her into the public domain.

Sylvorn, from the North Windward village of Fancy, is sponsored by the Metrocint General Insurance Company Limited, and there is a hint that the combination is creating a bond of national unity.

A member of this countrys constabulary attached to the Criminal Investigation Department, Sylvorn makes it no secret that her reason for entering the Miss SVG show is to get the scholarship. That is worth over $80,000, and Sylvorn sees that as her way of enhancing her position in her field.

She intends to pursue a career in Criminal Justice, and the scholarship will undoubtedly go a long way toward her achieving that goal.

That desire aside, and with Metrocint General Insurance Company Limited into its 50th Anniversary celebrations, Sylvorn is working towards a golden jubilee reward for the company.

The pieces of the puzzle are being fitted together and, despite the "vigorous nature of the training schedule, Sylvorn is adjusting to the preparation in the way only people from Fancy know how.

The Metrocint Family has welcomed her, and whenever she is among them, there is a buzz of excitement that extends all round. Evidence of this emerged last Wednesday when Sylvorn made a visit to her sponsors. That was part of the package worked out with the Carnival Development Corporation.

Sylvorn was welcomed with open arms, and was given the red-carpet treatment characteristic of the Metrocint. She interacted with customers and shared moments, as well as souvenirs depicting the 50th Anniversary landmark.

When National Heroes Day activities took place in her home village March 14, Sylvorn was given a rousing welcome and treated with as much dignity.

She is balancing work and training, but she is comforted by the overwhelming support she has been getting.She is the second person to represent Fancy in a Miss SVG Pageant. THE VINCENTIAN congratulates Sylvorn and wishes her all the best in her endeavours.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido will be barred from holding public office for 15 years, the maximum allowed by law, following a probe that showed irregularities in his financial records, the state Financial Controller has announced.

"Disqualify from holding any public office the citizen Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaido Marquez," Comptroller Elvis Amoroso said on Thursday, following the investigation into his declaration of assets.

Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself interim President in January and has the support of more than 50 countries, including the US.

The decision will be "for the maximum period established in the decree with the scope, courage and strength of the law against corruption", Amoroso said.

According to the BBC, the decision to stop Guaido from holding office will come into force if he decides to put himself up for re-election at the end of his current term in the National Assembly.

Guaido rejected Amoroso's announcement, saying that he was "not auditor general".

"The legitimate congress is the only one with power to designate an auditor general," he said.

Last week, Guaido's Chief of Staff Roberto Marrero, 49, was accused of planning "acts of sabotage" against officials after being arrested.

Marrero's arrest sparked international condemnation, with the US, the European Union and Latin American nations demanding his immediate release.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said that "weapons and foreign currency" were found by intelligence services during a raid on his home.

Guaido said the security forces had committed an "illegal and unconstitutional" act, adding that he believed the items allegedly found at Marrero's home had been planted there.

With the backing of the Donald Trump administration, Guaido has been leading calls for Nicolas Maduro to stand down as President as discontent with his socialist regime grows.

Guaido and Maduro each claim to be the constitutional President of Venezuela. After Guaido declared himself interim leader, his assets were frozen and the Supreme Court, dominated by government loyalists, placed a travel ban on him.

But the 35-year-old opposition leader defied that ban in February when he visited Latin American countries to garner support.

Maduro, who still has the support of China and Russia, accuses the opposition of being part of a US-orchestrated coup.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido will be barred from holding public office for 15 years following an investigation that showed irregularities in his financial records, Venezuela's Comptroller General Elvis Amoroso said.

"Disqualify from holding any public office the citizen Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaido Marquez," Amoroso said on Thursday, following the investigation into his declaration of assets, Xinhua reported.

The decision will be "for the maximum period established in the decree with the scope, courage and strength of the law against corruption," Amoroso said.

--IANS

vin/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coming down heavily on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said the Modi government will reply to Pakistan's bullets with bombs.

"Mamata has recently become very angry with us (the BJP government). I was wondering what the matter was. Later the journalists told me, she is annoyed because Modiji entered Pakistan and conducted air strikes on terrorists," Shah told rally here.

He alleged that for people like Banerjee and certain opposition leaders who were questioning the air strikes, the country's security was less important than securing their vote banks.

"Mamata (Banerjee), Rahul Baba (Gandhi), Akhilesh Yadav are all talking about holding a dialogue (with Pakistan). She is trying to appease her vote bank. The terrorists from Pakistan attacked and killed 40 of our brave jawans. Should they be punished or not? Shouldn't the terrorists and Pakistan be given a befitting reply?" he asked.

It is India's right to defend itself. And I can assure you that the Modi government will not spare the terrorists. We will reply to Pakistan's bullets with bombs," he said.

Shah also flayed Banerjee for questioning the timing of 'Mission Shakti' announcement and said the "missile" of Bengal's voters will wipe her out of the state.

"Recently, India's missile destroyed a live satellite in space. With this India became the fourth country in the world to do this. Are you people happy or not? But Mamata is saying it should have been done later."

The saffron party leader alleged that the people of Bengal were not getting the benefit of Modi's Ayushman Bharat health scheme under which close to 50 crore Indians were getting free treatment worth Rs 5 lakh.

"Unfortunately, you will not be able to avail the benefits because Mamata Didi is preventing it from reaching you all. Unless you oust Mamata from power, none of you would be able to get the benefits of Ayushman Bharat," he added.

The BJP chief accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of running syndicates involved in smuggling of cows and collection of illegal toll tax.

Shah said the 2019 elections were very important for the security of India. "For Bengal, it is an election to protect its identity and democratic framework.

"Uproot this Trinamool Congress government and establish a government of the lotus. Remember, it is a symbol of Goddess Saraswati and Laxmi. It is a sign of prosperity," he told the crowd.

--IANS

mgr/ssp/rtp/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The other day a friend asked me to search for the word chowkidar on Twitter. Dozens of Twitter handles prefixed with chowkidar opened up.

Prefixing a hashtag to chowkidar in the search bar opened up another can of worms altogether. As politicians, opinion makers and the obnoxiously opinionated battled it out over the humble epithet on social media, I found myself thinking of D P Singh, an actual chowkidar. His life story isnt unique; in fact, it is pretty much like that of many others like him who have found employment in the city, thanks to the widening divide between the rich and ...
The Supreme Court Friday granted two more months to the Special Investigation Team to complete its probe into 186 cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and S Abdul Nazeer extended the time after the SIT informed it that more than 50 per cent of the work has been done and it wanted two more months to complete the investigation.

The apex court also issued notice to parties on a plea by petitioner S Gurlad Singh Kahlon, a member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, seeking inquiry into role of 62 policemen named in the riots.

The apex court had on January 11 last year constituted the SIT headed by former Delhi High Court judge Justice S N Dhingra and comprising retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular to supervise further probe into the 186 riots cases, in which closure reports had been filed earlier.

However, the SIT presently has only two members as Singh had declined to be a part of the team on "personal grounds".

Large-scale riots had broken out in the national capital in the aftermath of the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security guards on the morning of October 31, 1984. The violence had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone.

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Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Nowgam area of the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday morning, police said.

Security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in Nowgam area following information about presence of militants there, a police official said.

He said the two militants were killed in the ensuing encounter and their identity and affiliation were being ascertained.

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A 15-hour standoff at a New Hampshire hotel ended Thursday with three people dead, including two who had barricaded themselves inside a room and shot repeatedly at police and drug enforcement agents.

Authorities, including a SWAT team, swarmed the area around the Quality Inn in Manchester, closing off a bustling commercial neighborhood filled with car dealerships, a strip mall and several restaurants.

It began Wednesday evening when Stephen Marshall, 51, of Manchester, climbed out of a hotel window. Armed with an automatic handgun, Marshall "engaged" with a Manchester police officer and two Drug Enforcement



Administration agents who had come there to serve a warrant on him and another man. They only would say it was drug-related.

A police officer and DEA agent shot Marshall, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the state attorney general's office. No law enforcement officers or bystanders were injured.

Meanwhile, two other people a man and a woman whose names have not yet been released holed up in a first-floor room of the hotel. For nearly nine hours, one of the two fired multiple times on law enforcement who were outside.

SWAT team members eventually deployed chemical agents inside the room. At the same time, MacDonald said Manchester police officers "attempted to speak with these individuals and seek a peaceful resolution."



The standoff ended Thursday morning after law enforcement officers managed to get into the Quality Inn. The attorney general's office said the pair were found dead but wouldn't say how they died.

"It's disheartening that we have to face incidents like what we had to deal with today," Manchester Police Chief Carlo Capano said. "When you think about a nine-hour period of officers being shot at as much as they were ... we are truly blessed that none of those officers were hurt today."



WMUR-TV reports that Marshall had a criminal history dating back 10 years that included multiple drug charges.

New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald told reporters Marshall's shooting was being investigated by the New Hampshire State Police major crime unit under the direction of his office. The names of the two officers involved in the shooting were not released.

"This remains an active investigation. It is in its early stages and, as such, we are limited in the information we can provide," MacDonald told reporters, adding that the crime scene was "complex."



After Marshall was shot, a SWAT team arrived and the hotel and a nearby restaurant were evacuated. Police closed surrounding roads, and armored personnel carriers were stationed outside the hotel. Several firetrucks were also on the scene.

Michael Hughes, a shift manager at the Manchester Poker Room & Casino, which is next to the hotel, recalled how there were about 250 people inside playing bingo and other games when a few customers standing outside heard gunshots. That prompted the business go into a lockdown, eventually escorting customers five at a time past the heavy police presence around 9:30 pm



"It was chaotic," Hughes said, adding that the business opened as usual Thursday. "It was definitely not a normal occurrence." After the standoff, roads and businesses were reopened. However, the hotel is not expected to reopen for several days to more than a week.

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Three youths were arrested for allegedly robbing an advocate and a Delhi Police constable in Dhaula Kuan and Chankya Puri areas, officials said Friday.

The accused have been identified as Aniket (19), Rajkumar (20) and Dalip Kumar (18), they said.

The arrests were made at around 9 pm Thursday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said.

During interrogation, the accused persons said they have committed many robberies in Dhaula Kuan and Chanya Puri areas during night.

They disclosed that on the intervening night of March 22 and 23, they targeted one advocate near 11 Murti and robbed his valuables.

They also admitted that they had robbed one constable of the Delhi Police at Cantt area while he was returning home from his duty, the DCP said.

They said they used to ply in a car and pretend like passengers. They also used to offer lift to passerby. After getting the victim in their car, they used to forcefully beat and rob them at gunpoint. After robbing the passenger, they used to throw the victim at a lonely place and move away from the spot, Alphonse said.

One of them used to sit in the van in the uniform of the Delhi Police so that they would not be stopped by police in achieving their target, he said.

Police are looking to nab their associate Parful (21), they said, adding four mobile phones, one motorcycle, two cars, one pistol with two live cartridges were recovered from them.

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A total of 241 candidates are in the fray in Karnataka's 14 Lok Sabha constituencies that will go to polls in the first phase on April 18, poll officials said late Friday night.

A total of 33 candidates withdrew their nomination papers on the last day on Friday.

At 31, the Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency has the maximum candidates while Hassan has the least at six.

Prominent among those in the race in the first phase include former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda (Tumkur) and his grandsons Prajwal Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy from Hassan and Mandya respectively.

Also in the fray are Union Minister Sadananda Gowda (Bangalore North), senior Congress leaders Veerappa Moily (Chikkaballapura), B K Hariprasad (Bangalore South) and Karnataka Rural Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda (Bangalore North).

In a big relief to Deve Gowda, rebel candidate and sitting Congress MP from Tumkur S P Muddahanumegowda Friday pulled out of the contest.

"Angry" at being denied the ticket, Muddahanumegowda had filed his papers both as party candidate and as an independent but finally yielded to persuasion from the party leadership.

K N Rajanna, another Congress leader and former MLA who had filed his nomination from Tumkur as an independent candidate, upset over his party's decision to cede the seat to JD(S), too withdrew his nomination.

Karnataka will go to polls in two phases, 14 constituencies each, on April 18 and 23.

Meanwhile, 17 candidates filed 20 nominations on Friday for the second phase of polling on April 23, poll officials said.

Cumulative number of 40 nominations have been filed by 32 candidates so far in the second phase.

For the second phase polls on April 23, the last date for filing nomination is April 4. Scrutiny will take place on April 5 and the last day for withdrawal is April 8.

Counting of votes and announcement of results for both phases is scheduled for May 23.

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An inter-state gang selling SIM cards on fake identification was busted by the Delhi Police and seven people were arrested, an officer said on Friday.

Mohammad Shakeel (21), Rachit (23), Ramji Patel (21) from Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh along with Vishal (23), Prince Hinduja (25), Pankaj (23) and Manish Daima (22), all residents of Delhi were arrested by the northwest district police, they said.

The accused have sold more than 1,500 SIM cards in the last six months, the police said.

According to the officer, while probing a criminal case, it was found that the suspect's mobile number was registered in the name of a person residing in Kannuaj.

The man was questioned and it was found that the SIM card was indeed issued on the ID but he was not using it.

During further investigation, police traced down one Shakeel who used to work as a distributor with a leading telecom firm and had issued the alleged SIM card.

Shakeel was interrogated and a mobile handset was recovered from his possession in which he had used the same SIM card in January.

He used to get multiple SIM cards issued on the same set of documents after duping the customers who visited for purchasing new connections, police said.

On his instance, six others were arrested, police said.

During interrogation, it was disclosed that the accused had procured the SIM cards from Uttar Pradesh, Vijayanta Arya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest), said.

They generally procured 200-250 SIM cards in a month and would supply them in Delhi and other cities to criminals and persons running call centres for illegal activities, the DCP said.

A total of 203 SIM cards, 11 mobile phones and a laptop were recovered from their possession, they added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trend





The opening of the first Centers for Sustainable and Operational Social Security (DOST) will take place in the coming days, Azerbaijani Labor and Social Protection Minister Sahil Babayev said at a meeting with foreign diplomats on social reforms in the country, Trend reports.

The minister noted that the construction of the center building has already been completed. The creation of DOST centers will allow collecting all services of the ministry in a single place, Babayev added.

He also raised the issue of automating the assignment of benefits and pensions. The minister reminded that from Jan. 1, pensions are assigned automatically, and from April 1, the automatic allocation of disability benefits will begin. In addition, there are plans to automate the system of social benefits.

The DOST centers are established with the aim of rendering social services (employment, social security, targeted social assistance, pensions, social insurance and other services) through simplified procedures.

In 2019-2025, 31 DOST centers are planned to be established in Baku and the countrys districts: five in Baku, two in Sumgayit and Ganja, and the rest in the countrys other districts.
Eight passengers, including a minor and two women, were killed and 30 injured when a privately-operated bus rammed into a tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday morning, officials said.

The bus was en route Delhi from Uttar Pradesh's Jalaun district when the incident occurred at 5 am under Rabupura police station limits, they said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the deaths, while top officials of Gautam Buddh Nagar, including District Magistrate B N Singh and police chief Vaibhav Krishna, rushed to meet the victims in hospital.

"I am saddened by the demise of eight people in a bus accident in Greater Noida today. Praying for the peace of the departed souls and strength to their families. Also wishing speedy recovery to the passengers injured in the accident," Adityanth tweeted.

Police Circle Officer, Jewar, Sharat Chandra Sharma said, "Eight people were killed and 30 injured in the incident. The victims were rushed to the nearby Kailash Hospital in Jewar. The speeding bus rammed into a tanker which was moving relatively slowly."



"The exact cause of the incident is yet to be confirmed, but prima facie it appears the driver was drowsy. The tanker was moving at a slower pace and the speeding bus could have comfortably overtaken it, but instead rammed into it," Sharma told PTI.

The deceased have been identified as bus driver Mahesh Kumar (48), helper Bandu (25), passengers Vineeta (32), Arun (42), Asad (12), Suman (35) and Vishwanath Tiwari (75).

The passengers were from Jalaun, while the driver and helper hailed from Dhaulpur in Rajasthan, a police spokesperson said, adding Three women and three children were among the 30 injured who hail from Auraiya, Jalaun, Phaphund and Noida.

"The identity of one deceased was yet to be established," the official added.

Earlier, an official spokesperson in Lucknow said the chief minister had taken prompt cognizance of the incident and issued directions for immediate relief for the victims.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also condoled the death of the bus passengers and appealed for a compensation for injured and the kin of the deceased from the state government.

"Tragic death of eight people in a bus accident on Yamuna Expressway! Prayers for peace to the souls of the dead ad strength to their families. My condolences and appeal for monetary compensation to victims from government. The injured should be given all possible help," he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Eight people were killed on Friday morning when a privately operated bus rammed into a stationary truck on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida, officials said.

Another 20 people on board the bus were injured and rushed to a private hospital for treatment, police said.

Officials in Lucknow said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed Gautam Buddh Nagar police and administration chiefs to expedite assistance to the victims.

"The bus was on its way to Noida from Agra. The incident took place under Rabupura police station limits around 5 am. The bus belongs to Auraiya depot. Eight people were killed and 20 injured in the incident," police said in a statement.

Police personnel were present at the site of the accident and the victims were rushed to the nearby Kailash Hospital in Jewar, it said.

An official spokesperson in Lucknow said, "The chief minister has taken cognisance of the bus accident in Greater Noida where eight passengers have died."



"He has directed the district administration and the police to provide all assistance. The district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police are reaching the accident site," the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The AAP Friday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that his reference to the Armed Forces in a recent interview was in violation of the model code of conduct ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

In a letter to the Election Commission, the AAP legal cell alleged that the Prime Minister talked about Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan, during the interview to obtain political gains.

The AAP said that the EC has given specific instructions for not using photographs of defence personnel and also asked parties not to make any reference to the Armed Forces during the political campaign, doing which would be seen as a violation of the poll code.

"Using his (Abhinandan) name in an interview with an intention to obtain political gain is a complete violation of the model code of conduct," the AAP alleged in the letter.

Abhinandan was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets during an aerial combat. He downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan before his plane was hit.

The AAP urged the Election Commission to take cognisance of the said violation of the poll code by the highest public functionary of the country - the prime minister himself and take appropriate action as per laws, the letter said.

The party also quoted the official Twitter handle of the BJP which posted Modi's quotes related to the Armed Forces.

Reacting to this, Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashok Goel said,"BJP thinks national security should be an issue in the elections and no violation of model code of conduct is involved in lauding the bravery of our soldiers.

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said his party needs an alliance with the Congress in Haryana, but not in Delhi, for the Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking to a TV channel on the sidelines of an election rally in Vijaywada, Kejriwal said the party is capable of winning all seven seats in Delhi on its own.

"It is in Haryana that we need the support of the Congress. I don't understand why they are not forming an alliance with us in Haryana," Kejriwal told NDTV.

He also held a meeting with Punjab party workers in Delhi and asked them to dispel any rumours related to alliance with the Congress.

According to sources, the AAP wanted to contest on three seats in Punjab, two in Haryana and five in Delhi.

But due to looming uncertainty, the AAP announced all seven candidates in Delhi, eight in Punjab and is waiting for a response from the Congress over an alliance in Haryana.

On March 13, the Delhi chief minister had appealed to the Congress to join the proposed alliance between his party and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) but his offer was snubbed by his Haryana-ally, which said it can "never have any truck" with the Congress.

Kejriwal had said that an alliance between the AAP, the Congress and the Jannayak Janata Party would defeat the BJP in the state.

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The Aam Aadmi Party plans to release its manifesto by the end of next month with a focus on issues related to women safety, health and education, senior party leader Gopal Rai said.

The national capital votes on May 12 to elect seven MPs.

Stepping up its campaign for full statehood for the Union Territory, the Aam Aadmi Party has set up a "war room" at its headquarters, which has been connected with the "war rooms" in all seven Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi.

Rai said the focus of the manifesto would be on the issues related to women safety, health and education.

A member of the manifesto team said they have been asked to come up within a week with the core issues related to the three topics. Rai said the preparations for the polls are in full swing and the party was trying to establish direct contact with the people at the grassroots level.

On the AAP's central "war room", the party's Delhi convenor Rai said one of the foremost tasks of the team at the Central office is to seek daily progress reports from all seven constituencies.

This work is monitored round the clock by a 20-member core team which keeps an eye on the volunteers given functional responsibilities in shifts in this central room.

The core team includes members from different units, who have to provide daily feedback from their units and collate reports on their units' performances. The overall incharge of the Central Control Room is senior party volunteer Suresh Kathait, who handles internal party coordination and communication.

Important units include media, social media, technical support, frontal organisations reporting, public meetings of party's star campaigners, relevant election commission permissions, manifesto preparation, daily research issues, daily reports from observers in all 70 constituencies, nukkad sabhas and exposing the the "lies of opponents", Rai said.

All the above mentioned units submit their daily reports to the party leadership by 10 PM. For seamless coordination, the party has appointed coordinators from the Central War Room for each Lok Sabha constituency and these seven coordinators communicate with 10 observers each.

In the next phase, the party is in the process of taking the coordination to all 70 assembly constituencies and eventually to all wards of Delhi.

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An accused in the case of assault on the brother of a 19-year-old woman, who was allegedly sexually harassed in nearby Pollachi, was Friday handed over to the CB-CID for interrogation for four days.

Manivannan, absconding for the last one month, had surrendered before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) S Nagarajan on March 25 and was remanded to judicial custody till April 8.

His bail plea was rejected by the court Thursday.

The CB-CID, which is probing the case, moved a petition seeking 11 days' custody of him for interrogation.

The magistrate allowed four days custody.

Mani was the fifth to be arrested in the case.

They had allegedly beaten up the woman's brother for lodging a police complaint about the sexual harassment by a four-member gang on February 12.

The gang had allegedly tried to strip the woman inside a car near Pollachi, recorded the act and blackmailed her using the visuals.

The victim, who managed to free herself, lodged a complaint with the police.

Later, as the incident triggered state-wide outrage, the Tamil Nadu government ordered a CB-CID investigation and later transferred the case to the CBI.

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After announcing candidature of senior leader Digvijaya Singh from Bhopal, which the Congress has not won since 1989, the party is mulling fielding prominent leaders from other seats like Vidisha and Indore, where it has not tasted success for last 15 years or more.

Bhopal is considered a tough seat for the Congress along with Indore, Vidisha, Bhind and Damoh as the BJP has not lost in these constituencies since 1989 but the Congress is hoping to build on the recent victory in Assembly polls to dislodge the saffron party here.

Apart from these five, there are nine other seats out of the total 29 Lok Sabha constituencies where the Congress has not won during the 15-year BJP rule in the state.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath has represented Chhindwara ten times including six times in a row while senior party leader and Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (West) Jyotiradiya Scindia has been winning from Guna since 2002. These were the only two seats out of 29 won by the Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha election which was swept by the BJP.

"The party will definitely field senior leaders in seats like Indore and Vidisha which it has not won since 1989," Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi told PTI.

"Like Assembly polls, our party this time has sought opinions of ground level workers from mandal, block and district to finalise the best candidate who can win from those seats where the party has not won for long," he said.

"The party had done similar experiment during assembly polls also and had got best results and the same is expected in Lok Sabha polls also because of anti-Modi sentiment in the country," he said.

The Congress' decision to field former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh from Bhopal has already raised the political temperature in the state.

Soon after Singh's candidature was announced, Ajay Singh, former leader of opposition and close confidant of Digvijaya Singh, demanded that the party should field other senior leaders from tough seats like Indore and Vidisha.

Without taking the name of any particular leader, he told PTI that "the party has a very tall leader in Chambal Gwalior region and he should be fielded from other tough seats like Indore and Vidisha".

He was apparently referring to Congress general secretary and Guna MP, Jyotiraditya Scindia. Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh and Scindia have been leading rival factions in the party's state unit.

The BJP has not yet decided its candidate in Bhopal and there is speculation that former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be pitted against Digvijaya Singh. In 2003 also, Chouhan had contested assembly polls against Singh from latter's home constituency Raghogarh in Guna district.

There are 14 constituencies from where the Congress had not won during the BJP rule in the state, while the saffron party failed to wrest Congress stronghold of Chhindwara and Guna.

State BJP's chief spokesman Deepak Vijaywargiya said, "This time BJP will try to win all the 29 seats in the state and will field strong candidates of the caliber of Scindia and Nath in their respective constituencies."



"The party will field the best workers from the remaining seats of the state so that it can win from all the constituencies," he said.

"Depending upon the opposition candidate, the party may also change its strategy at the last moment to ensure victory in each and every constituency," he added.

The fourteen seats from where the Congress has not won since last 15 years are -- Bhopal, Indore, Vidisha, Morena, Bhind, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Jabalpur, Balaghat, Betul and Rewa.

The Congress has announced candidature of Kiran Ahirwar from Tikamgarh, Kavita Singh from Khajuraho, Madhu Bhagat from Balaghat and Ramu Tekam from Betul.

Except Rewa, the BJP has been winning from the rest of the seats. In 2009, Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Devraj Singh Patel won from Rewa while in 2004 and 2014, the BJP emerged victorious from this seat in Vindhya region bordering Uttar Pradesh.

Since 1996, the BJP has not lost from Morena, Sagar, Jabalpur and Betul while it is winning continuously since 1998 from Satna and Balaghat.

In the remaining 13 seats -- Gwalior, Jhabua, Shahdol, Mandla, Hoshangabad, Rajgarh, Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Dhar, Sidhi, Khargone and Khandwa -- there have been mixed results for the two parties during the last 15 years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu Friday lauded the economic reforms of the Narendra Modi-led government, saying that the NDA has ushered in economic stability.

Patting its saffron ally, the AIADMK said the Centre's economic reforms have made India a 'decisive' player in South Asia, vis-a-vis economy.

It particularly praised its ally on demonetisation and the 2017 roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), both of which are being severely criticised by opposition parties like the Congress, DMK and the Trinamool Congress.

The GST "tax reform" may "taste bitter initially, but will later be sweet, like the Amla fruit" a write-up in AIADMK mouthpiece 'Namadu Puratchithalaivi Amma' said.

It further said the Congress had borrowed loans from agencies like the World Bank "during its over 50 year-rule and left the country in debts" and claimed that the BJP government has not opted for borrowings in the last five years.

This was an example of the BJP government's "efficient financial administration", it said.

"Further, following demonetisation, the number of people paying income tax increased from around 3.75 crore to 6.75 crore," it said.

The central government had made many achievements in the rail, road and power sectors, even as there have been no major terror attacks on people, it said.

"The Congress rule was beset with allegations of scam like in 2G spectrum allocation and Commonwealth Games..."



"But while there are no such allegations today (against the BJP), it is a fact that the Congress unsuccessfully tried to blow up the Rafale scam, where there was no iota of truth (of alleged irregularities)," it said.

The AIADMK is leading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the April 18 Lok Sabha polls.

A single phase polling is scheduled for the 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu and the one in Puducherry.

The NDA constituents include the BJP, DMDK and the PMK, besides some smaller outfits in Tamil Nadu, while AINRC is the coalition partner in Puducherry.

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A high school stage production of "Alien" has gone viral online, earning praise from none other than its director Ridley Scott, who has offered financial help to the students for an encore.

Scott, who is currently working on a sequel to his 1979 science-fiction blockbuster, penned a letter to the North Bergen High School students and said he felt very complimented that the students chose his film as an inspiration.

The students performed "Alien: The Play" on March 19 and March 22 at the New Jersey high school and earned acclaim for their production and creature design, which was all made with recycled materials with a shoestring budget.

"My hat comes off to all of you for your creativity, imagination, and determination to produce such an ambitious show. Limitations often produce the best results because imagination and determination can surpass any shortfalls and determine the way forward always," Scott wrote in a letter, available with Deadline.

"Self-sufficiency is what this country was largely based upon with its immigrant population coming in to a New World and working together. This is maybe the biggest lesson for all of you, and your future plans stay with this determination, and this spirit in everything you do, and you will succeed let nothing put you off or set you back.

In the end, Scott encouraged the students to put his film "Gladiator" on stage.

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: The Andhra Pradesh government Friday transferred the Director General of Intelligence A B Venkateswara Rao shortly after the High Court rejected its plea challenging the Election Commission's order.

Chief Secretary Anil Chandra Punetha issued a G.O transferring Rao and directing him to report to the police headquarters.

The high court rejected the state government's contentions, particularly that the DG had nothing to do with the conduct of elections and that the EC had no jurisdiction over him and ruled there was "no case for interim relief."



The high court refused to stall EC's order, transferring two IPS officers, including the Director General of Intelligence and a non-cadre officer in the state government, and keeping them away from election duties.

The Chief Secretary directed the Director General of Police (Head of Police Force) to not assign any election-related work to Rao till the completion of current elections.

The Election Commission on Tuesday night directed the AP Chief Secretary to shift the Intelligence DG and not assign him any poll duties.

The Chief Secretary immediately issued an order transferring the 1989 batch IPS officer.

However, Punetha issued another order on Wednesday afternoon, after Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu raised an objection to Rao's transfer, and cancelled Tuesday night's G.O.

Neither the ruling Telugu Desam Party nor the state government were not so particular about the EC's same directive in respect of the district SPs of Kadapa and Srikakulam.

The Chief Minister was adamant the Intelligence chief be continued in the same post and the state officials apparently toed his line.

The state government also filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the EC directive.

A division bench of the High Court, comprising acting Chief Justice Praveen Kumar and Justice Satyanarayana Murthy, ruled that there was "no case for interim relief" in the matter and said the state government should comply with the EC order.

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South Africa: Cabinet welcomes new SARS Commissioner

Cabinet has welcomed the appointment of Edward Christian Kieswetter as the new Commissioner of SARS, with effect from 1 May 2019.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday announced that Kieswetter will lead the revenue collector following a recommendation from a recruitment panel.

Cabinet said Kieswetter brings to SARS a wealth of managerial experience, which he acquired from both the private and public sectors. The new Commissioner, who has a Masters Degree in Commerce in SA and international tax law, worked at Alexander Forbes from 2010 to 2016 and is a member of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.

He obtained his Honours Degree in Education Science in 1988, a Master of Science Education in 1996 and a Master of Business Administration in 2001, amongst others.

The conclusion of this appointment gives effect to the recommendation made by the Commission of Inquiry into Tax Administration and Governance by SARS, chaired by retired Judge Robert Nugent.

Meanwhile, Cabinet said it was briefed on the outcome of the work of the Commission of Inquiry into Tax Administration and Governance by SARS and welcomed its findings and recommendations.

President Ramaphosa on 24 May 2018 appointed the commission to, among others, stabilise SARS, restore its credibility and strengthen its capacity to meet revenue targets. Its interim report was submitted on 27 September 2018 and the final report on 11 December 2018.

Cabinet noted the findings of the commission that most failings at SARS stemmed from a massive failure of governance and integrity under the former Commissioner, the statement reads.

The commission made 27 corrective recommendations to rectify past harmful decisions, covering an array of areas which included procurement, organizational design and strengthening of the organisational leadership. One of the key recommendations has been the urgent appointment of the Commissioner for SARS.

Cabinet expressed its broad support for the recommendations made by the Commission and the Minister of Finance will oversee the implementation of its recommendations, including leading a consultative process to amend the SARS Act to improve governance and accountability, and the potential role of an Inspector General compared to a Board.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Azernews





By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Relations between China and Tajikistan are a prime example of partnership between large and small states.

Countries always provide each other with strong support on issues affecting their key interests and support close coordination and interaction within the UN, the SCO and other international organizations.

China is hoping to strengthen security cooperation with Tajikistan, said Zhao Kezhi, a member of the State Council of China, Minister of Public Security of China, at a meeting with Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda.

Kezhi called on both countries to implement the important consensus reached by the leadership of both countries and to deepen cooperation in such areas as the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism, ensuring the security of the Belt and Path formation, border control and strengthening enforcement capabilities, Xinhua reports.

Member of the Chinese State Council also expressed hope for the creation of a mechanism for cooperation between China and Tajikistan in ensuring the security of major events.

In turn, Rahimzoda indicated that Tajikistan is ready to work with China to deepen bilateral cooperation in law enforcement and security.

Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, said that the active participation of China in the economy of Tajikistan is in the interests of Dushanbe.

Muhriddin noted that the republic was pleased with the investments from China.

Chinese companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Tajik economy, and we are pleased with them. The Chinese capital is being raised to develop the mining industry, energy, transport and other areas, said Muhriddin.

He added that the National Development Strategy was adopted in Tajikistan until 2030. According to the document, the republic will focus on economic development, including through foreign investment.

Diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and China were established on January 4, 1992.

With a foreign trade turnover of $ 651 million, China is in third place among Tajikistans trading partners.

It was previously announced that it is planned to increase the foreign trade turnover of Tajikistan and China to $3 billion by 2020.

Dushanbe has established a good economic dialogue with Beijing thanks to a common border - it is convenient, first of all, to trade with China in terms of logistics.
Arab leaders meeting in Tunisia on Sunday hope to project unified opposition to the Trump administration's acceptance of Israeli control over the Golan Heights and Jerusalem, but as with past Arab League summits, the gathering is likely to expose their own bitter rivalries.

Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are likely to tone down any statement of condemnation, eager to maintain good relations with the White House as it cranks up pressure on their main rival, Iran.

Affirming the international consensus that the Golan is occupied Syrian land would only further highlight Syria's absence from the Arab League, from which it was expelled in the early days of the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

Some Arab leaders think Syria a founding member should be readmitted. Others, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have spent years supporting the insurgency.

Arab League summits are nearly always marred by no-shows. This year, Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudan's Omar al-Bashir will skip the meeting as they contend with weekly mass protests against their long reigns.

Those expected to attend, meanwhile, are still split over the wars in Yemen and Syria, and the nearly two-year boycott of Qatar by fellow Arab League members.

Israel seized the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war after Syria had for years used the strategic plateau to shell northern Israel.

Arab states have long demanded its return, and condemned US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over it earlier this week.

Arab League spokesman Mahmoud Afifi said the 22-member bloc would aim to issue a proclamation on the Golan, but experts expect little more than a standard denunciation.

"It will be just a very strong, theatrical, nice, maybe strong statement," said Ahmed Abd Rabou, a visiting professor of international affairs at the University of Denver.

"But I doubt that this will have a true political effect."



Arab leaders responded similarly to the even more inflammatory US decision last year to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital with statements condemning the move but little else.

Many Gulf states view the US as a vital ally against Iran, welcoming Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement and restore crippling sanctions.

Other Arab states are preoccupied with their own troubles, with Yemen and Libya riven by internal conflicts and Iraq looking for international support as it struggles to rebuild after the war against the Islamic State group.

Many Arab states have softened their opposition to Assad as he has largely defeated the uprising with the help of Russia and Iran.

They are concerned about inroads made by non-Arab Turkey and Iran, and may also be eyeing lucrative reconstruction projects in areas devastated by war.

The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus in December, and other Arab nations are expected to follow.

Khemaies Jhinaoui, the foreign minister of summit-host Tunisia, said earlier this year that Syria's "natural place" is within the Arab League.

But Mahmoud Khemiri, a spokesman for the summit, said Assad's reintegration "isn't foreseeable at the current time."



Trump's Golan proclamation puts Arab leaders in the awkward position of standing up for a nation they have shunned, which could accelerate reconciliation efforts.

"It certainly gives Assad an opening to get himself readmitted mainly because now he can play the aggrieved party in an issue about which the Arab world is totally united," said Fred Hof, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.

Eight years after Arab Spring protests swept the region, threatening the future of the political order long upheld by the Arab League, protesters are again taking to the streets in Algeria and Sudan, calling for the resignation of two of the longest-serving Arab leaders.

Bouteflika, in office since 1999, cancelled the April 18 presidential election and withdrew his bid for a fifth term, but announced a transition process that opponents fear could keep him in power indefinitely.

The 82-year-old has rarely been seen in public and has not addressed the nation in person since a 2013 stroke.

Earlier this week, Algeria's top general called for initiating a constitutional process to declare Bouteflika unfit to serve, in a bid to address the mass protests held since February 22.

But opposition parties denounced the idea, fearing it would leave the secretive elite in power.

In Sudan, protests sparked by an economic crisis in December quickly morphed into calls for the resignation of al-Bashir, who seized power in an Islamist-backed military coup in 1989.

He has shown no sign of stepping down, and authorities have launched a crackdown that has killed dozens of people.

The Arab League, dominated by monarchs and autocrats, is unlikely to side with the protesters in either country.

Since its founding more than 70 years ago, the Arab League has struggled largely unsuccessfully for unity, with the perennial focus on the Palestinian cause eliding the many issues on which Arab leaders are deeply divided.

Libya, which slid into chaos after an Arab Spring uprising in 2011, is split between rival authorities in the east and west, each backed by an array of armed groups, some supported by other Arab states.

In Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition battling the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels has struggled with internal discord, with militias allied with the United Arab Emirates clashing with forces loyal to the internationally recognised government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Army jawan was killed in a landslide when he was patrolling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, Army officials said Friday.

Naik Parvej was leading an operational patrolling team in Baramulla when a landslide struck on Thursday, the officials said.

They said the soldier fell into a deep stream flowing along the route and sustained grievous injuries. Parvej was evacuated to 92 Base Hospital here for medical treatment where he died later.

The Army Friday paid tribute to Naik Parvej, with Corps Commander KJS Dhillon leading all ranks in paying homage to him.

"In a show of solidarity, representatives from other security agencies also paid their last respects to the martyr," an Army spokesman said.

The 29-year-old hailed from Shekhawas village of Rajasthan and he had joined the Army in 2009. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter, he said.

"The mortal remains of the martyr were flown for last rites to his native place, where he would be laid to rest with full military honours. In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved family and remains committed to their dignity and well being," he added.

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Defending its repeated attempts to block the listing of JeM chief as a global terrorist by the UN, China on Friday refuted US allegation that its action amounted to protecting violent Islamic groups from sanctions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday denounced China of its "shameful hypocrisy" toward Muslims, saying China abuses more than a million Muslims at home, but on the other it protects violent Islamic terrorist groups from sanctions at the UN."



Pompeo had said it in apparent reference to China's move to block India's proposal at the United Nations to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Azhar as a global terrorist.

Reacting to this, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here on Friday that if that is so, the country that had put most technical holds in the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Security Council should have been sheltering more terrorists.

At the UN Sanctions committee, the practice of putting technical hold is in line with the rules of the Committee, he asserted.

Without directly referring to the US, Geng said, "If a certain country accuses China of sheltering terrorists by putting technical hold, does that mean all the countries that put such holds are sheltering terrorists? If this makes sense then shall we say the country that put most hold is the biggest shelter of terrorists?



China has so far blocked the move four times in recent years. It recently blocked a US, UK and France resolution in the counter terrorism 1267 committee with "technical hold" saying that it provides time and space for the relevant parties to hold talks after the Pulwama terrorist attack.

Following this, the US has directly moved a resolution in the UN Security Council on Thursday to blacklist Azhar which China said amounted to undermining the 1267 committee.

Defending China's move to block Azhar's listing, Geng said, China put forward a technical hold with a purpose of conducting in-depth assessment so as to give enough time and space for the dialogue and consultation between parties. China is in communication with all parties to seek a settlement through dialogue. We hope this will be a common goal of all the members of the UNSC.

Asked about rejecting the evidence put forward by India on the Pulwama terrorist attack, he said, the 1267 committee has detailed and clear stipulation and requirements on the listing issue.

What China has done is in line with the requirement of the UNSC and rules and procedures of the committee. We are always working in a constructive manner and stay in communication with the relevant parties and seek a proper solution.

"It is improper to reveal to you the detailed discussions, he said.

To another question whether China is preparing to defend its stand in the UNSC when the latest US resolution would come up for discussion, Geng said, China stayed in close communication with all parties on the listing issue. We will act in a responsible and a constructive manner to participate in the discussion at the committee. We also hope to work with various parties to seek a proper settlement to the issue, he said.

China on Thursday asked the US not to complicate the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by "forcefully moving" a resolution directly in the UNSC, undermining the authority of the UN's anti-terrorism committee.

"This is not in line with resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations. This has reduced the authority of the Committee as a main anti-terrorism body of the UNSC and this is not conducive to the solidarity and only complicates the issue.

"We urge the US to act cautiously and avoid forcefully moving forward this draft resolution," Geng said.
The Indian pharmaceutical sector is growing impressively and German pharma major Bayer will continue to invest in the country for new drugs, a top company official has said.

The company is satisfied with the performance of its equal joint venture (JV) with Zydus Cadila, the official has noted. The JV is called Bayer Zydus Pharma.

"The Indian pharma market is growing at a very impressive rate and so has our business. We want to continue bringing most of our new medicines to India," Bayer Asia Pacific Senior Vice-President Claus Zieler told PTI here earlier this week without specifying the growth numbers for the company or for the market.

Asked about how he assesses the India operations, Zieler said, "We've been in a joint venture with Zydus Cadila since 2011 and it has been a successful collaboration. We're pleased with that and we are continuing to invest together with Zydus in India".

He did not quantify how much the proposed investments would be or a timeline, though. The strong performance for multiple years speaks of the growing demand for its drugs to patients battling serious ailments such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and eye diseases related to ageing and diabetes.

"We'll continue to bring new and better drugs to India and build more collaborations with external partners," he said.

Zieler said for cancer, precision medicines will hold a greater promise as it can ensure more targeted therapies and better outcomes. Despite progress in cancer survivals, there is still a higher medical need in this area, Zieler said adding that Asia accounts for half of the world's cancer burden and it is estimated that cancer cases in the continent will reach 10.6 million by 2030.

Bayer India's joint venture Bayer Zydus Pharma operates in key segments of the domestic drug market with a focus on women's health, metabolic disorders, diagnostic imaging, cardiovascular diseases, anti-diabetic treatment and oncology.

Bayer's Asia-Pacific Head for Medical Affairs Chuan Kit Foo said they are working to address the healthcare burden in the region by bringing in new and better treatments to patients.

"By involving Asia-Pacific patients in our clinical development activities, we can provide patients with earlier access to our innovative medicines," he said.

Bayer saw a 7.3 per cent growth in Asia-Pacific sales to over 5.2 billion euros in 2018 led by strong growth in Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Indonesia, and it eyeing a topline growth of about 4 per cent globally in 2019.

The company has also tied up with the National University of Singapore to launch an initiative to drive healthcare innovations to help prevent strokes and heart attacks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Friday asked the Gujarat government to take disciplinary action in two weeks against the erring police officials, including an IPS officer, convicted by the in the sensational Bilkis Bano case during the 2002 riots in the state.

Besides, Bano in a plea before the top court sought exemplary compensation from the state government, refusing to accept its offer of Rs 5 lakh.

A bench of and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna asked the Gujarat government to complete the disciplinary action within two weeks initiated against the erring officials indicted by the

"On the statement made by the Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Gujarat, that the proceedings for disciplinary action against the erring officers will be completed within two weeks, we adjourn the matter for two weeks.

"On the next date, the orders passed in the disciplinary proceedings be placed before the Court," the bench said.

The top court, terming the Rs 5 lakh compensation offered by the Gujarat government 'interim', said the plea for exemplary compensation will be heard on April 23.

"Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General appearing for the State has offered an interim compensation of Rs 5 lakh, which counsel for the petitioner is reluctant to accept and instead prays for final disposal of the special leave petition. Let the special leave petition be listed on April 23, 2019," it said.

At the outset, Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bano, said that no action has been taken by the state government against the erring officials, who were convicted by the high court.

She said that one IPS officer, currently serving in Gujarat is set to retire this year, while in case of four other officials who have retired no action has been taken against them like stopping of their pensions and retirement benefits.

The counsel further said that these police officers were convicted by the high court for botching up the investigation in the case.

With regard to compensation, she contended that Bano has been leading almost a nomadic life after being subjected to gruesome crime and therefore exemplary compensation should be granted.

Gupta said she is not willing to accept the interim compensation of Rs 5 lakh offered by the state government.

Senior advocate Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government said that disciplinary proceedings are going on against the erring police officials.

He said that it will be completed soon but the top court asked him to complete the proceedings within two weeks.

On the compensation part, Mehta said that state government has a policy of granting Rs 5 lakh as compensation in such incidents.

The bench said it will hear the plea for compensation on April 23.

Bilkis, five months pregnant at that time, was gang-raped while six other members of her family managed to escape from the mob. The trial in the case initially began in Ahmedabad.

However, after Bano expressed apprehensions that the witnesses could be harmed and the CBI evidence tampered with, the apex court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.

The high court had on May 4, 2017, convicted seven people -- five policemen and two doctors -- under sections 218 (not performing their duties) and section 201 (tampering of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The top court had on July 10, 2017, dismissed the appeals of two doctors and four policemen, including an IPS officer R S Bhagora, challenging their conviction by the high court saying there was "clear-cut evidence" against them. One of the officers did not appeal.

A special court had on 21 January 2008 convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment 11 men for raping Bano and murdering seven of her family members in the aftermath of the Godhra riots, while acquitting seven persons including the policemen and doctors.

The convicts had later approached the challenging their conviction and sought to quash and set aside the decision of the trial court.

The CBI had also filed an appeal in the high court seeking harsher punishment of death for three of the convicted persons on the ground that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.

According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2002, Bilkis Bano's family was attacked by a mob at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad.

The convicts had challenged the order on three main grounds that all evidence in the case was fabricated by CBI, that Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident, proving that she could not have been gang-raped, and the failure to find the bodies of some of her family members which proved that they were not killed.
The BJP Friday announced 11 more candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, including three each from Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

With this list, the party has announced the names of 367 candidates so far for the upcoming seven phase Lok Sabha elections starting from April 11.

The list of 11 names include three candidates each from Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and one each from Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir.

The counting will be held on May 23.

The party has earlier nominated Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its candidate from Varanasi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow.

Party chief Amit Shah will contest from Gandhinagar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP and the Congress are still grappling with selection of candidates on some Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, where the process of filing of nomination papers is underway.

Gujarat has 26 Lok Sabha seats and the ruling party has declared 19 candidates so far, while the main opposition Congress has come with out with just 12 nominees.

Friday was the second day of filing of nomination papers by candidates in Gujarat and the process will continue till April 4. The state will vote in a single phase on April 23.

It seems both the parties are waiting for the other side to declare candidates on crucial seats when stakes are high in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.

On late Thursday night, the Congress declared six more candidates, four of whom are sitting MLAs. However, the name of its young MLA Alpesh Thakor is missing from the list.

The Congress has fielded former MP Jagdish Thakor from Patan. The sixth Congress candidate is an OBC leader.

Both the parties have maintained they will declare the names of their remaining candidates soon.

"The process is going on and the remaining names will be declared in a short time," Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani told reporters Friday.

Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda and Leader of Opposition in the assembly Paresh Dhanani are camping in Delhi to finalise the names on the remaining seats.

State Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, "The process is going on and the names will be announced soon."



The Congress is yet to declare its candidate on the Gandhinagar seat, where Shah is the BJP candidate.

The Congress is still searching for a "strong" candidate to take on Shah, party sources said.

Patidar quota leader Hardik Patel's plan to contest the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket was thrown into disarray after the Gujarat High Court Friday declined to stay his conviction in a rioting case.

The 25-year-old Patidar leader, who recently joined the Congress, has been sentenced to two years in jail in the 2015 case, which is related to the quota agitation. Absence of a stay on his conviction will make him ineligible to contest polls.

Patel was widely expected to contest from Jamnagar, though a section in the Congress wanted him to fight against Shah in Gandhinagar.

The BJP is yet to declare candidates for Mehasana and Patan seats.

Alpesh Thakor, a prominent OBC leader, had earlier expressed his desire to contest from Patan, but the Congress has given ticket from the seat to Jagdish Thakor, who had lost to BJP candidate Liladhar Vaghela in 2014.

The Congress has declared candidates for Junagadh, Rajkot, Porbandar and Valsad seats.

In Junagadh, the Congress has fielded its Una MLA Punja Vansh, while in Rajkot it has nominated Lalit Kagathara, the MLA from Tankara.

The Porbandar seat has gone to Congress MLA from Dhoraji Lalit Vasoya, while in Valsad, the party MLA from Kaparada, Jitu Chaudhary, is in the fray.

The Congress has fielded its veteran leader V K Khant from Panchmahal.

The ruling BJP had won all the 26 seats in 2014.

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The BJP Friday demanded that Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy immediately step down as he "disclosed to the people beforehand" about the income tax raids in the state.

The saffron party alleged that the conduct of the chief minister went against the oath of secrecy he had taken while assuming the office.

"You have no authority to continue (as the chief minister). You must resign. How can you put obstacles on a secret operation by the income tax department, Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate? Your conduct is against the Constitution and the federal system of the country," BJP spokesperson Go Madhusudan told a press conference.

He was reacting to the ruling Congress-JDS alliance's allegations that the I-T raids were carried out on JD(S) leaders overseeing the elections of Kumaraswamy's son, Nikhil, in Mandya and nephew Prajwal Revanna in Hassan.

The crackdown came within a day after Kumaraswamy claimed Wednesday night that the I-T raids had been planned from 5 am on Thursday.

Madhusudan said, "You (Kumaraswamy) have taken the oath of secrecy too. When you had information about the raids, how can you leak it? By holding press conference, you belled the cat so that rats can escape."



He also sought to know when did "corrupt contractors" become JD(S) relatives when the I-T department made it clear in its statement to the media Thursday that a few bureaucrats, contractors and builders were among those raided.

"Give us account of the money you have stashed with the contractors. That is the taxpayers' money," Madhusudan added.

"The searches were carried out on a wide range of professions and businesses including bureaucrats, breweries, MNCs, mining barons, diagnostic centres, trusts, educational institutions, medical colleges, real estate, fisheries, and film industry and including "politically exposed persons," the I-T department had said.

Income Tax sleuths Thursday carried out pre-dawn raids at 15 to 20 locations including Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan, Ramanagar and Shivamogga.

Congress and JD(S) leaders led by Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, former chief minister Siddaramaiah and other top functionaries had staged a demonstration near the I-T office against the raids.

Kumaraswamy even called the raids "political vendetta by the Centre" and accused the income tax officials of working like "BJP's agent".

Meanwhile, searches continued in some parts of the state, sources in the I-T department said.

They, however, refused to divulge details.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday lashed out at the BJP, dubbing it "anti-farmer" and "pro-rich", and appealed to voters to oust the saffron party from power.

Vadra accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring his constituency of Varanasi.

"The BJP government is anti-farmer, anti-forces. Farmers are reeling in debt," she said at a "nukkad sabha" here on the last day of her three-day Uttar Pradesh visit. "The government's focus is only on helping the rich, making the rich richer."



The government has money for businessmen, but not for the poor, Vadra alleged.

The Congress general secretary incharge of eastern Uttar Pradesh accused the government of trying to shut down MGNREGA scheme and claimed that workers under the scheme had not been paid for six months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP faces a tough challenge in retaining its lone seat in Telangana after a dismal performance in the recent assembly polls, but the saffron party has pinned its hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma and its leaders say they are confident of pulling off victory.

The Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, where the BJP had 33.62 per cent vote share in 2014, has become a crucial battleground for all three main parties -- the BJP, the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Trying to ensure that each vote counts, the prime minister and the BJP president Amit Shah will both be holding rallies from Friday onwards to bolster the party's prospects in a state it was hoping will be its gateway to South India.

Leaving nothing to chance, the BJP has dropped former Union minister and sitting MP Bandaru Dattatreya and replaced him with G Kishan Reddy -- former BJP state president and three time MLA -- in a bid to retain the treasured seat at all cost.

Dattatreya has been contesting from the constituency since 1991 but faced consecutive defeats in the 2004 and 2009 elections. In 2014, he won with a massive majority of 2,54,735 votes against rival Congress. He was given the portfolio of Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment but was removed as minister in September 2017.

Kishan Reddy -- considered an outsider in this constituency -- was defeated from the Amberpet assembly segment in 2018 by a TRS candidate by a small margin.

Admitting that he is under pressure to win the lone BJP seat, Reddy exuded confidence that the BJP's gambit will pay off.

"I am a three-time MLA. I am ready to take this challenge. People are looking at this election differently from the 2018 Vidhan Sabha polls. This election is not to elect a chief minister but a PM of this country. If TRS wins, it will not benefit as the PM will not be made from a regional party," Reddy told PTI in the midst of his busy rally.

He added that Modi's rallies will bring in voter confidence and improve the party's winning prospects.

Unwilling to let the BJP's plan succeed, the TRS, which won six of seven assembly segments in the Lok Sabha constituency in 2018, has fielded the state's youngest candidate.

State minister T Srinivas Yadav's son Sai Kiran Yadav is just 32 years old and is ready to take on the BJP and the Congress with the help of friendly party AIMIM that won the seventh assembly seat in this Parliamentary constituency.

Claiming that Modi's charisma is on the wane, Sai Kiran Yadav is appealing to people in the constituency to vote for a regional party that can play a key role in forming a non-BJP, non-Congress government at the Centre



Ask why should people vote for TRS, he said, "We were insulted by the Union government that sacked outgoing MP Dattatreya as a central minister. It shows BJP does not want any representation from the state. People want to take revenge this time and vote for the TRS."



The Congress has fielded M Anjan Kumar Yadav again this time to take on the BJP candidate.

Dismissing any electoral threats from TRS candidate, Yadav -- who won twice in 2004 and 2009 was later defeated by Dattatreya in 2014 -- accused the BJP and the TRS of winning elections with malpractices.

"This election fight is between BJP and Congress and TRS is nowhere in the picture," he said.

Secunderabad -- which is named after Sikander Jah, the third Nizam of Asaf Jahi Dynasty -- was established in 1806 as a British Cantonment and was ruled by the British till 1948 despite it being part of Hyderabad state ruled by the Nizams.

The Secunderabad parliamentary constituency, created in 1952, has been won by either the Congress (12 times) or the BJP (four times) with the former having a slight upper hand till 1998.

In the 2018 assembly poll, the saffron party could win only one seat out of 119.

Political analysts are of the opinion the TRS appears to have a clear edge this time, buoyed by its landslide victory in the recent assembly elections and with opposition parties looking demoralised.

Suffering setbacks due to defection of its MLAs to TRS, the Congress is struggling to put up a strong fight against the regional party, while the BJP's prospects too look remote.

According to the Election Commission, there were 19,54,813 electors in Secunderabad constituency as on February 22, up from 18,90,075 in 2014.

Elections to 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana will be held on April 11, 2019. The state will see a single phase election and the counting of ballots for the entire country will be held on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trend





The Baku Grave Crimes Court continued the trial proceedings on the criminal case of the former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan Jahangir Hajiyev, his relative Ismayil Hidayetzade, ex-MP Dunyamin Khalilov, also Jamal Hasanov, Sarkhan Rasulov, Natig Imanov, Samir Hajiyev, Tabriz Abdulhamidov, Mahir Gafarov, Sadikh Murtuzayev, Tarlan Maharramov, Fakhraddin Heybatov, Ramin Ahmadov, Fariz Muradov, Salahaddin Gadirov, Erkhan Javad, Arif Ramazanov, Navai Shirinov, Svetlana Asadullayeva, Arif Madatov, Adil Mikailov and Ramiz Karimov accused of embezzlement, Trend reports.

Shahin Khalilbayov, who testified as a witness during the process, said that he was the head of the estimates department at the Institute of Municipal Engineering of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Our specialists checked the volume of construction work of companies and compared it with market prices, he noted. At that time I was a member of the commission, I worked as an engineer, and my job was to compile a table using figures taken from Form 2. All the figures in the table were correct.

The witness said that an audit of the volume of construction work was also conducted in the company Interglass. Two of our employees conducted the audit at this company, Khalilbayov added.

At the trial process, it was said that the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, on the basis of the instructions of the investigative body, conducted inspection of the volume of construction work of the company owned by Khalilov, compared it with market prices and compiled a table.

Senior specialist of the estimate department of the Municipal Engineering Institute of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Tunzala Afandiyeva, who was interrogated as a witness, noted that after employees of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime presented Form 2 to her, she checked the volume of work at Solit company.

Sometimes the workers who were in the workplace werent listed on Form 2, but later we included them into the table, said Afandiyeva.

She noted that during the audit she met accused Natig Imanov, the companys head, at the site. He told me that the construction was underway long before he worked there, she added.

Imanov also confirmed the words of the witness.

Yes, this construction was underway before I began to manage the company, Imanov said.

Witness Ilkin Jafarov in his testimony stressed that he was an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Jafarov said that he was checking the volume of work, in accordance with Form 2.

During the trial, it was announced that Jafarov was the chairman of the commission.

According to official information, during investigations there were reasonable suspicions that contracts for the purchase and sale of promissory notes in the amount of $3.4 billion and 987 million euros were concluded with some legal entities in various countries and illegal transactions were carried out by using promissory notes in 2001-2015 upon Jahangir Hajiyevs instructions, who was the chairman of the Board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan.

Moreover, there were reasonable suspicions that Khalilov, 20 more people, as well as other people, caused damage to the bank, misappropriating 4.7 billion manats. Moreover, Hajiyev declined to pay taxes to the budget in the amount of 1,752,000 manats from the profit of Aztorg LLC, jointly led by Hajiyev and Khalilov in 2011-2014.

The Baku Grave Crimes Court previously sentenced Hajiyev to 15 years in prison, Dunyamin Khalilov to 13 years, and Ismayil Hidayetzade to 7 years in prison.

Khalilovs sentence was reduced from 13 to 12 years and 9 months by a decision of the Baku Court of Appeals; Hidayetzades sentence was reduced to five years by the Supreme Court.
Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee Friday said the time has come to form a secular government led by party supremo Mamata Banerjee at the Centre in place of the one headed by Narendra Modi.

The BJP-led NDA government in the past five years has done nothing apart from spreading hatred and dividing the society on religious and caste lines, alleged Abhishek Banerjee, considered number 2 in the Trinamool Congress.

The coming Lok Sabha poll is a battle between Mamata Banerjee and Narendra Modi, he asserted.

"The time is up for BJP government. They won't return to power this time. We should work towards formation of a secular government at the Centre led by Mamata Banerjee. We have to free this country from BJP's reign of fear," he said addressing an election rally here in Purulia district.

Mamata Banerjee has been the prime mover of an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party front. The TMC, which is vying to play a major role in the formation of the next government at the Centre, has vowed to win all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It had won 34 seats in the 2014 general election.

Abhishek Banerjee, The MP of Diamond Harbour, also accused the BJP of "fuelling riots" in the country and in the state.

"This Lok Sabha poll is a battle for an united India. This is a battle to save the culture and heritage of the country, which BJP is trying to destroy," the TMC leader, who is the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, said.

Keeping up his attack of the BJP, he said the party talks about religion just before the elections, and wondered what had happened about the promises it had made earlier.

"What about the promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in every bank account? What about the promise of two crore jobs and others made in before 2014 polls," the TMC MP asked.

Mocking BJP president Amit Shah's target of winning 23 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, Abhishek suggested that the saffron party should first keep its government at the Centre and then set its aim elsewhere.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the BJP not announcing its candidate from Indore in Madhya Pradesh yet, suspense remains as to whether sitting MP and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan would be renominated.

The party declared three candidates Friday. So far, it has announced candidates for 18 out of 29 seats in the state.

The BJP has denied tickets to senior leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi this time, giving rise to speculation that 75-year-old Mahajan, an eight-time MP from Indore, may not be nominated either.

When asked whether she had refused ticket, Mahajan, popularly known as 'Tai' (elder sister in Marathi), told PTI, "This is a party matter, not to be discussed outside. The party will take a call. I have said neither 'yes' nor 'no'. Nobody has spoken to me yet, so I am not in the position to tell you anything.

"I am a senior party worker and as of now the responsible local MP, so when elections are around the corner, I have to work for the party. We are holding meetings in different wards of the city," she added.

However, a state BJP functionary said on the condition of anonymity that Mahajan's chances appeared bleak. "As far as I know, Sumitra-ji would not be re-nominated from Indore," he said.

The BJP had denied ticket to former chief minister Babulal Gaur and former Union minister Sartaj Singh, both of whom have crossed 75, in the assembly elections in MP last year.

In 2014, Mahajan had defeated her Congress rival Satyanarayan Patel by a staggering 4,66,901 votes, the highest victory margin in the state.

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The BJP on Friday used the Samjhauta train blast case verdict to target the Congress-led UPA government, saying the "Hindu terror" theory was established to further its political gains but the real culprits got away.

Addressing a press conference here, Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the UPA government and the Congress will have to be held accountable for the case falling flat in court.

"To establish their theory of Hindu terror, a wrong set of people were framed; innocent people lost their lives (in the blast) and the real culprits were not caught," he said.

Jaitley said in a bid to establish their theory, the Congress and the then UPA regime "defamed" the entire Hindu community for which people will "never forgive them".

All the four accused, Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary were acquitted by the special NIA court in Panchkula earlier this month.

The blast in Samjhauta Express took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari, the last railway station on the Indian side.

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Friday alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was trying to convert the constitutional relationship between Jammu and Kashmir and the Union of India into an "occupation".

"BJP is trying very hard to convert legal and constitutional relationship between Jammu and Kashmir and the Union into an occupation through subterfuge and systemic subversion," PDP leader Naeem Akhtar said in a statement here.

Akhtar was reacting to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's blog in which he had stated that Article 35-A was "constitutionally vulnerable".

"It is unfortunate that Sangh Parivar has fielded one of the better known lawyers of the country to oppose the Supreme Court orders which have upheld Article-35-A not once but twice in the past," the former state minister said.

It seems the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), considers itself above the apex court, he said.

"That is why Jaitley has chosen to patronisingly pronounce that Article 35-A is constitutionally vulnerable", he said.

Jaitley, perhaps, needs not to be told that the framing and the approval of the Constitution and its development is not an isolated event but it has a political constitutional history behind it, which the RSS and some of their allies in the media try to overlook in pursuit of votes, he said further.

Stating that the Sangh was selectively invoking history, Akhtar said while they were re-opening the files pertaining to the reign of Mughal king Babar in Ayodhya and digging up 500-year-old graves, in J-K's case, they were not willing to have a look at the contemporary history which was an essential part of nation building in South Asia.

"The accession by Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India was perhaps the most exciting experiment in the formation of modern, secular and inclusive nation but unfortunately the Sangh Parivar and its ilk in other parties have from time to time reduced this relationship to an uneasy sufferance," Akhtar said.

He said the accession was degenerated virtually into a forced marriage through repeated letdowns, erosion of authority of the state and deception.

Akhtar said Jaitley should know more than anybody else about the laws of the state and that the Article 35-A was not in anyway a hurdle in investment in the state.

"The state subject and land laws in Jammu and Kashmir have ample room for investment by non-state subjects whether in power sector, tourism, industries or education," he said.

"That is how most of the industrial activity in Jammu is run by non- state subject investors. Similarly, there are joint ventures with top brands in hospitality industry thriving in the state," added the PDP leader.

Akhtar said the constant attempts by the BJP to destabilise Jammu and Kashmir by threatening to do away with this special status has caused a reverse.

"If the BJP is sincere in bringing back peace to the state, it should follow what Vajpayee had done during his tenure in cooperation with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed," he said.

"It is unfortunate that the Sangh Parivar demonises Nehru who was one of the architects of the accession along with Sheikh Abdullah and on the other hand refuse to follow their own Prime Minister Vajpayee in finding a away out of trouble," he added.

Akhtar said that Article 35-A was neither a charity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir nor a concession.

"It is our right because Jammu and Kashmir in spite of having been an overwhelmingly Muslim majority, the state had decided to throw its lot with a secular country which is increasingly refusing to stay secular under BJP," he added.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday expressed confidence that the BJP will return to power with "absolute majority" after the April-May Lok Sabha election, saying the people have made up their mind to ensure victory of the National Democratic Alliance in 300-plus seats.

He also said that people have already decided in favour of the BJP and are, therefore, not searching for a "competing face".

In an interview to 'Republic Bharat' channel, he also said the timing of the launch of the anti-satellite missile was based on "open space" available to carry out the test.

"Call it an adventure or an initiative, they don't happen suddenly. You need to tell the global community that you want space at a particular time in (outer) space to ensure there is no space traffic or collision, you need to ask for an open space, you need to fix that space. It is a long process," he explained.

Modi rejected suggestions that the index of opposition unity is high as compared to 2014.

"If you go granular, you will find the opposition more scattered now than in 2014. Tell me, has there been any agreement in Andhra (Pradesh), (West) Bengal? Has there been any (agreement) with Communist parties? Has it happened in Kerala, Odisha," he said.

He also rejected possibility of opposition joining hands after elections, saying, "Today they are leaving no stone unturned to put each other down. You look at all their statements."



He also said that opposition joining hands post polls can happen only if people give fewer seats to him.

"When the people of this country have made up their mind to give highest number of seats to Narendra Modi, then what can happen? The results are certain. There is no doubt about that. The people of the country have decided to bring in a government that enjoys absolute majority. They have made up their mind to give NDA a mandate for a 300-plus government," he asserted.

Responding to a question on 'Modi Vs who' in the Lok Sabha polls, he said the question might arise in 2024. "But there is no such chance in 2019. The people of this country have made up their mind about one side. That is why the people of the country are not in search for a competing face. Not at all."



He said for TRP, channels rake up such questions.

"It is important for you because...see in 2014 you had Manmohan Singh ji. You could not have gained TRP by pitting him against me. So you had to get (Arvind) Kejriwal who did not have a single MLA, a single corporator. But you had to pitch him as a future prime minister to run your shops," he quipped.

To a question on unemployment and the opposition's attack on the government, the PM said he is trying to make new institutions so that there is a "perfect system".

He pointed out that when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister, the opposition had also raised the issue of unemployment.

"After Atal ji's tenure, there were statistics that proved that there were 6 crore jobs in Atal ji's tenure. And during UPA, there were only 1.5 crore jobs and yet they maligned Atalji's government. The Lutyens' (Delhi) ecosystem kept beating the drums," he said.

Referring to efforts by his government to generate employment, he said four crore people have taken money from banks via the Mudra scheme.

"Four crore people have taken money for the first time. They must have started some employment, they must have employed somebody. What do I tell you? The registrations at EPFO, more than 1 crore people have registered. Money has to be given for this, it is not for free," he said.

The PM said more roads are being built in India today than during previous governments. "Is manpower not required for that? Railways are growing at twice the rate, is manpower not required for that? Today, there is a huge campaign for solar energy in India. It's because of big investment. Are they saying, there's no employment because of it? What are they saying? Do they have any basis? Will they say anything they like and keep shouting," he shot back.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A seven-year-old boy was left with a cracked skull and is on ventilator support after allegedly being assaulted by his mother's partner here, police said Friday.

The accused, Arun Anand, 36, who was arrested, has at least four cases against him, they said.

Various IPC sections, including 303 (attempt to murder), and Juvenile Justice Act have been slapped against him, a police official said.

The boy, who suffered critical head injuries and bruises all over, is battling for life.

A doctor treating him at a private medical college hospital in Ernakulam district, said the boy was on ventilator support and there was no response from him.

Doctors are monitoring his situation and he is under observation for 48 hours, according to hospital sources.

The boy has a younger brother who is four years old.

Police have registered the statement of the child's mother, whose husband died 10 months ago after which the accused began staying with them.

On Wednesday, the accused, woke up the boy at 3 am, and started kicking and beating him as a punishment for bed wetting by the younger sibling.

The accused allegedly hurled the child on the ground smashing his head on an almirah and used a walking stick to beat him up.

Though an emergency surgery was performed at a private medical college hospital at Kolenchery in Ernakulam district, his condition continues to be criticial, hospital sources said.

"His life is sustained completely on ventilator support now. The next 48 hours is critical... As per the latest scan report, the blood circulation to the brain seems to have stopped," a doctor said.

The boy has suffered skull fracture, internal bleeding and lung injury, besides cuts and bruises all over his body.

The incident came to light after police and Child Helpline authorities here received information about the child's worsening health condition from a hospital here, where he was initially taken.

The boy was later shifted to the hospital in Ernakulam for emergency surgery.

Police said besides the victim, a second standard student, his 4-year-old brother also sustained injuries all over his body.

The younger sibling's statement has been recorded.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Friday sought an immediate report from the Idukki district authorities on the incident.

He also directed the hospital authorities to ensure all possible expert treatment to the boy.

Health Minister K K Shylaja said the government will bear the child's treatment expenses.

The health and social justice departments will take over the further protection of the boy and his younger brother, who is reportedly with some relatives now.

"Stringent action will be taken against those engaged in cruelty to children. The covering up of assaults against children is also a grave crime," the minister said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two alleged drug smugglers were apprehended by BSF troops from near the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam's Dhubri district, officials said Friday.

Based on specific information, BSF troops posted in Patamari border outpost observed suspicious movements towards the international border taking advantage of dense foggy weather on Thursday, a BSF release said.

Two women were challenged but they did not pay any heed and tried to cross the international border (IB), the release said, adding the two were apprehended by the troops before they could cross the IB along with 10,500 strips of contraceptive tablets.

The two apprehended women were handed over to Dhubri police station for further legal action, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP president Amit Shah on Friday lambasted Lalu Prasads RJD for giving a ticket to the wife of mafia don-turned-politician Mohd Shahabuddin, claiming that it showed the partys intention to bring back the era of jungle raj to Bihar.

Shah's hard-hitting comment against the RJD came while addressing an election rally here.

Sitting BJP MP Sushil Kumar Singh is pitted against Mahagathbandhan candidate from Hindustani Awam Morcha party Upendra Prasad at Aurangabad seat popularly called "Chittorgarh of Bihar" due to overwhelming population of the Rajputs.

"What did Lalu give to Bihar during his long political career. He gives a ticket to the wife of Shahabuddin, who has oppressed so many people before finally going behind bars.

"The development has made clear the RJDs intentionwhich is to bring back the era of jungle raj. In the event of the Mahagathbandhan coming to power", Shah said at his maiden rally in the state upon announcement of the Lok Sabha polls.

The 15 year rule of RJD from 1990 to 2005 in Bihar had drawn the moniker "jungle raj" on account of large-scale incidents of crime.

A several-term MP from Siwan from where the candidature of his wife Heena Shahab was announced earlier in the day, Mohd Shahabuddin has been accused of involvement in several criminal cases including the killing of former JNU students union president Chandrashekhar and journalist Rajdeo Ranjan.

He is at present serving life sentence awarded for the murder of two Siwan residents both of them brothers who were killed by being doused with acid. Another brother of the duo, who was an eyewitness in the case, was bumped off later.

Notably, the BJP candidate Om Prakash Yadav had defeated Heena Shahab in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, which her husband could not contest since he had been disqualified on account of conviction in the murder case.

The seat has gone to Chief Minister Nitish Kumars JD(U) this time and his party has fielded MLA Kavita Singh, wife of Ajay Singh, a local muscleman.

In an apparent bid to woo both upper and lower castes of Bihar, where polity has been riven along caste lines since Mandal days, Shah also spoke of measures like 10 per cent quotas to the economically weaker sections among the upper castes and constitutional status to the OBC Commission.

Shah also mocked Rahul Gandhi for having alleged at a rally in Purnea last week that the Narendra Modi government did not do anything for Bihar.

The UPA had spent only 1.98 lakh crore on the states development in 10 years. The NDA has spent close to six lakh crores. There is simply no comparison. Rahul baba, four generations of Bihar are seeking an answer from your party for the misrule the state had suffered while your party was in power, on its own or in alliance with RJD, the BJP president said.

Shah also said the ongoing Lok Sabha elections are not just about a new government. These are about helping India achieve the international standing it deserves, towards which Modi is working.

Modi presided over the strong response to the dastardly Pulwama terror attack which also claimed the lives of two CRPF jawans from Bihar. It left the opposition baffled and their sympathizers like Sam Pitroda have been crying that airstrikes should not have taken place, Shah said evoking jeers from the crowd.

But Modi has demonstrated Indias resolve to reply with goli ke badle gola (mortar shell in retaliation of gunshot). India now stands in the same league as the US and Israel which take no prisoners when it comes to clamping down on terror. Our defence capabilities have scaled new heights with Mission Shakti which has left our opponents in disarray, he added.

In addition to Modis performance, which also includes distribution of free LPG cylinders and complete electrification of villages ably assisted by leaders like Nitish Kumar in Bihar, the opposition finds its problems compounded by its own inability to project a leader.

"Rahul Gandhi had once remarked that he was not averse to becoming the Prime Minister which met with a rebuff from leaders like Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and Tejashwi Yadav in Bihar", Shah claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi High Court Friday asked the Lieutenant Governor to take a decision by April 12 on the plea for premature release of former Haryana chief minister O P Chautala, who is serving a 10-year jail term in the JBT teachers' recruitment scam.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Vinod Goel asked the Tihar Jail Superintendent to communicate the LG's decision to Chautala by April 12 and disposed of his application for premature release.

The direction came after Delhi government's standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain, appearing for the Home department, said the politician's case has been considered by an expert committee whose recommendations have been sent to the LG for final decision.

The order was passed on Chautala's application claiming that the Delhi government has not complied with the high court's February 20 direction to decide his representation for premature release within four weeks.

Chautala, represented by senior advocate N Hariharan and advocate Amit Sahni, has sought that he be released from prison in accordance with the Centre's policy for grant of special remission to prisoners.

According to a central government notification of July 18, 2018, the special remission has to be given to women and transgender convicts of 55 years of age who have completed half of their actual jail term as also male convicts of 60 years of age who have completed half of their sentence period.

The relief has to be given to physically challenged or differently-abled prisoners with 70 per cent disability and more and who have completed half of their actual jail term, those who are terminally ill and the convicts who have completed two-third of their jail term, it said.

However, the special remission will not be given to those convicted for heinous offences or under POTA, UAPA, TADA, POCSO Act, PMLA, FEMA, NDPS and Prevention of Corruption Act.

Chautala (83), in his plea, has contended that he should be considered for premature release considering his age and disability as also the period of seven years, with remission, already undergone by him in jail.

Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala and 53 others, including IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar, were convicted and sentenced in the case of illegal recruitment of 3,206 junior basic teachers (JBT) in 2000.

All of them were sentenced to varying jail terms in the case by a special CBI court in January, 2013.

Kumar, the then director of primary education in Haryana, had initially exposed the scam after he had filed a plea in the Supreme Court. Later, he was also found to be involved in the scam during a CBI probe.

Chautala's former officer on special duty Vidya Dhar and political advisor to then Haryana chief minister Sher Singh Badshami were also given 10-year jail terms.

The others who were given 10-year jail terms are Madan Lal Kalra, Durga Dutt Pradhan, Bani Singh, Ram Singh and Daya Saini.

Apart from them, one convict was handed a five-year jail sentence and the remaining 44 were given four years of imprisonment.

Among the 55 convicts, 16 were women officials.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A southern Chinese city is offering cash rewards for information about "illegal religious groups" as the ruling Communist Party continues to tighten its grip over faith communities.

A notice posted on the official website of the Guangzhou Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs said up to 10,000 yuan (USD 15,000) would be paid for verified information and assistance in hunting down key members and leaders of illegal foreign religious groups and revealing their structures.

The department said smaller rewards would be offered for reports about religious venues set up without permission and behaviour encouraging "religious extremism."



"The meaning of this document is to protect the lawful, prevent the illegal, contain extremism, resist infiltration and crack down on crimes," the department said in commentary on the incentives.

Under President Xi Jinping, the officially atheistic ruling party has sought to eliminate all religious expression not under its direct control, especially by Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim ethnic minority groups now being held in internment camps in Xinjiang where they are forced to swear allegiance to Xi and the party and condemn Islam and their traditional culture.

China has sought to defend itself against charges of cultural genocide, painting its critics as seeking to smear China's reputation.

It originally denied the camps' existence, then said they were established to provide vocational assistance to steer people away from extremism.

China has rejected any independent outside monitoring of the camps.

China's reputation for taking a hard line against religions Muslims in particular has drawn growing global attention.

The man arrested in the March 15 New Zealand mosque attacks said in his online manifesto that China is the nation that most aligns with his political and social values.

Earlier this month, a US envoy on religion called for an independent investigation of the detentions and for the release of those being held, describing the situation in Xinjiang as "horrific."



Sam Brownback, US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said China has done nothing to assuage concerns from the US and others over the detentions and accused it of being "at war with faith," drawing a furious response from Beijing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trend





Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Office Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade is leaving for Chechnyas Grozny city, Russia to participate in the international religious conference entitled "Islam is the herald of peace and good", Trend reports referring to the Caucasus Muslims Office on March 28.

Sheikhulislam will pay a visit upon the invitation of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

Pashazade will deliver a report at the conference.

During the visit, Pashazade will meet with officials of Grozny city, members of the Supreme Religious Council of the Caucasian Peoples and foreign guests participating in the conference.
Chinese infrastructure and connectivity projects around the world have an element of "national security" and are less of an economic offer for host countries, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said as Beijing is gearing to host the second Belt and Road Forum.

The One Belt One Road OBOR, also called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is a multi-billion dollar project focused on improving connectivity and cooperation among countries in Asia, Africa, China and Europe.

Pompeo Thursday told a Washington audience that China poses security threat to the US, its friends and allies.

"They're moving into the South China Sea is not because they want freedom of navigation. Their efforts to build ports around the world aren't because they want to be good shipbuilders and stewards of waterways, but rather they have a state national security element to each and every one of them," Pompeo said in conversation with Rich Lowry at the National Review Institute's 2019 Ideas Summit.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is no different, he asserted.

"We've said this every place we've gone, every if you talk to any of our ambassadors or our charges, they will tell you we are happy to compete on a fair, transparent basis under rule of law with the Chinese anywhere in the world. We'll win more than our fair share, but we'll lose some to them too, he said.

"But when you're showing up with a non-economic offer, whether that's through state-facilitated, below-market pricing or handing someone something knowing that you can foreclose on their nation shortly, so predatory lending practices, that's not straight and we are working diligently to make sure everyone in the world understands that threat," Pompeo said.

India has been raising concern over the BRI's China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it is being built through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The 3,000-km CPEC is aimed at connecting China and Pakistan with rail, road, pipelines and optical fibre cable networks.

India too cautioned specially the neighbouring countries about debt traps.

Apprehensions over the huge loans grew after China acquired Sri Lanka's strategic Hambantota port on a 99-year lease as a debt swap.

The world is waking up to this threat, the US secretary of State said.

"I think Asia and Southeast Asia in particular are waking up to this risk, and I hope the State Department can continue to be a part of making sure that they see that, identify it, and that it becomes more difficult for the Chinese to engage in these practices," Pompeo said.

Pompeo's comments came as China is getting ready to hold the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) next month. India boycotted the first BRF meet held in 2017 as Beijing went ahead with the CPEC with Pakistan.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told an annual media briefing here this month that the BRF meeting to be held in April would be bigger that that in 2017 with more international participation.

Wang refuted the criticism from the US, India and several other countries that the BRI is driving smaller countries in debt traps.

The BRI is not a "debt trap" that some countries may fall into but an "economic pie" that benefits local population, Wang claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese projects around the world, including its One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR) initiative, have an element of "national security" and are less of an economic offer, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

OBOR, also called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is a multi-billion dollar project focused on improving connectivity and cooperation among Asian countries, Africa, China and Europe.

Pompeo Thursday told a Washington audience that China poses security threat to the US, its friends and allies.

They're moving into the South China Sea is not because they want freedom of navigation.Their efforts to build ports around the world aren't because they want to be good shipbuilders and stewards of waterways, but rather they have a state national security element to each and every one of them, Pompeo said in conversation with Rich Lowry at the National Review Institute's 2019 Ideas Summit.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is no different, he asserted.

We've said this every place we've gone, every if you talk to any of our ambassadors or our charges, they will tell you we are happy to compete on a fair, transparent basis under rule of law with the Chinese anywhere in the world. We'll win more than our fair share, but we'll lose some to them too, he said.

But when you're showing up with a non-economic offer, whether that's through state-facilitated, below-market pricing or handing someone something knowing that you can foreclose on their nation shortly, so predatory lending practices, that's not straight and we are working diligently to make sure everyone in the world understands that threat, Pompeo said.

India has been raising concern over the BRI's China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it's being built through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The 3,000-km CPEC is aimed at connecting China and Pakistan with rail, road, pipelines and optical fibre cable networks.

The world is waking up to this threat, the US secretary of state said.

I think Asia and Southeast Asia in particular are waking up to this risk, and I hope the State Department can continue to be a part of making sure that they see that, identify it, and that it becomes more difficult for the Chinese to engage in these practices, Pompeo said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A UK court on Friday rejected the second bail plea of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, wanted in India for alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated USD 2 billion.

Following is the chronology of the case and its origin:



January 29, 2018: Punjab National Bank (PNB) files police complaint against Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and others accusing fraud to the tune of Rs 2.81 billion.

February 5, 2018: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launches an investigation into the alleged scam.

February 16, 2018: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) seizes a cumulative Rs 56.74 billion worth of diamonds, gold and jewellery from Nirav Modi's home and offices.

February 17, 2018: The CBI makes first arrest in the case. Two PNB employees and an executive of Nirav Modi's group detained.

February 17, 2018: Government suspends passports of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi for four weeks in connection with the PNB fraud.

February 21, 2018: CBI arrests CFO of Nirav Modi's firm and two other senior executives of his firms. It also seals his farmhouse in Alibaug.

February 22, 2018: The ED seizes nine luxury cars belonging to Nirav Modi and his firms.

February 27, 2018: A magistrate's court issues a bailable arrest warrant against diamond trader Nirav Modi.

June 2, 2018: The Interpol issues Red Corner Notice against Nirav Modi for money laundering.

June 25, 2018: The ED moves a special court in Mumbai seeking Nirav Modi's extradition.

August 3, 2018: The Indian Government sends a request for the extradition of Nirav Modi to the UK authorities.

August 20, 2018: The CBI officials request Interpol Manchester to detain Nirav Modi after the latter informs about his presence in London to Indian authorities.

December 27, 2018: The UK informs India that Nirav Modi is living in the country.

March 9, 2019: British newspaper 'The Telegraph' confronts Nirav Modi on London's streets and confirms his presence in the country.

March 9, 2019: The ED says government of the UK has sent an extradition request of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi to a UK court for further proceeding.

March 18, 2019: Westminister Court in London issues arrest warrant against fugitive Nirav Modi after the Indian government request was forwarded to the court by the UK Home Office



March 20, 2019: Nirav Modi arrested in London and produced in Westminister Court, which denies him bail.

March 20, 2019: Nirav Modi sent to Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Wandsworth till March 29



March 29, 2019: A Westminster Magistrates Court in London rejects Nirav Modi's second bail application, saying there are "substantial grounds" to believe that he will fail to surrender. The judge fixes April 26 as the next date of hearing when he will appear via video link from jail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
: CSI Coimbatore Diocese Friday called for elimination of cyber violence against women and girls.

In the backdrop of the recent sexual harassment incidents in nearby Pollachi, the diocese organised an awareness and confidence-building event on cyber security and human rights here, in which about 400 people attended.

Addressing the event, Bishop Timothy Ravinder drew the attention to existing deficiencies in combating cyber crime against women and urged the women to come out openly when faced with sexual harassment or abuse.

He told women to be self-confident and use the emergency hotlines as well as service providers and institutions when in distress.

The event was to urge civil society to adopt zero-tolerance approach to prevent cyber violence against women and girls, Ravinder said.

In her address, Inspector of Police Ruby of Gandhipuram special wing advised the women to download the app 'kavalan.sos' for any type of emergency, while going alone, particularly during the night, as police help could be availed of within 10 minutes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress in Tripura has accused the ruling BJP of attacking its Lok Sabha candidate from West Tripura constituency, Subal Bhowmik, when he was on his way to Agartala from Sipahijala, a charge denied by the ruling saffron party.

Bhowmik, who quit the BJP recently to join the Congress, claimed that a group of "50 activists of the saffron party" tried to block his way and damage his car at Melaghar Bazaar in the district, 10 km from here, on Thursday night.

"I had a meeting scheduled at Indiranagar village in Sipahijala district last night. As soon as I left the venue, a group of more than 50 activists of the BJP tried to attack me and damage my car. However, the police came to my rescue and dispersed them," Bhowmick told reporters.

The Congress had arranged for a meeting at local leader Idris Mia's residence in the district, where 70 activists of the CPI(M) joined the party. They were handed over flags of the grand old party by Bhowmik.

Corroborating Bhowmik's claims, Mia said, "When Bhowmick left my house, the BJP activists wasted no time in attacking him. We all resisted, and the police also managed to push them back."



Poluram Das, the officer-in-charge of Melaghar police station, said a team of officers deployed in the area sprung into action as soon as it saw a mob approaching Bhowmik's car.

"We had information that Bhowmick could be attacked at Melaghar Bazar, so we deployed police officers in the area. When Bhowmick arrived in his car, about 50 unidentified youths started hurling stones at him. We immediately dispersed them," Das said, adding that no one was injured in the melee.

Condemning the attack, Congress vice-president Tapas Dey said a party delegation would meet Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sriram Taranikanti to insist that a "conducive environment" be created in the state for free and fair polls.

"The BJP goons have let loose a reign of terror in Tripura. The atmosphere in the state has been vitiated by them. They are intimidating the Congress workers. So, we have decided to meet the CEO to lodge our protest," Dey told reporters in Agartala.

Refuting the allegations, BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said Friday that none of his party workers was involved in the attack.

"Our activists and party members had nothing to do with yesterday's attack. If someone is found guilty of attacking Bhowmik, the police should take action against him," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior BJP leader and former Chhattisgarh minister Brijmohan Agrawal Friday accused the ruling Congress of supporting Maoists and trying to protect them for its own benefit in the next month's Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Addressing a press conference at BJP office Ekatma Parisar here, Agrawal also accused noted economist Jean Dreze of being a "major link" of urban Maoists.

"Congress has made a mockery of both internal and external security of the country. In Chhattisgarh too, the government has put the security of state at stake.

"It seems the whole state has been left to the mercy of Maoists," he said.

The ruling Congress dismissed the charges as false and said the BJP had failed to solve the naxal problem despite being in power for 15 years.

Recently, the police failed to file a charge sheet in the court against N Venkat Rao alias Nakka Murty, an alleged urban operative of Maoists, within stipulated period of time that facilitated his release on bail, Agrawal said.

This raises doubt against the state government's intention as it was claimed by the police that Rao was a threat to Prime Minister's security, said Agrawal, an MLA.

Murty, a senior technical officer at the Hyderabad- based National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), was arrested from Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh in December last year on charges of being anoverground Maoist operative.

He was recently released on bail by a court in Bilaspur.

"Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh spoke in favour of an alleged major link of urban naxals in Jharkhand Jean Dreze, while commenting on the action taken by a state (Jharkhand) government.

"Now Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is saying that his government was ready for talk with naxals. All these things put the state government in dock so far as internal security of the state is concerned," the BJP leader claimed.

"It seems Maoists and their sympathisers have been able to infiltrate the state government. These infiltrators are allegedly influencing the governments policies and ideologies," Agrawal added.

In such a situation, the BJP will demand that the Election Commission (EC) carry out an extensive inquiry to find out whether the Congress is being supported internally by Maoists, the former minister said.

"We will also urge the EC to ensure safety and security of voters as well as party leaders and workers in LWE (naxal) affected areas," Agrawal said.

Replying to a query, Agrawal said, The ruling Congress has been supporting naxals and trying to shield them. They are trying to take advantage of naxals in (Lok Sabha) elections."



Refuting Agrawal's charges, Chhattisgarh Congress spokesperson Sushil Anand Shukla said the BJP had failed to contain naxalism during its long 15-year rule and is now levelling false allegations against the ruling party.

"During the 15 years of BJP rule (2003-2018), naxalism flourished and expanded from three development blocks to 14 districts of the state. Congress had to bear the brunt of naxal terror," he said.

Due to negligence of the then BJP government, the Congress had lost its whole generation of leaders in the Jhiram valley naxal attack in Bastar in 2013, Shukla said.

"The BJP failed to contain naxalism and did not draft any strong political, economic, strategic and social policy to deal with the menace.

"It is due to the negligence of BJP that the entire state is suffering with this problem," Shukla claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Karnataka PWD minister and JDS leader H D Revanna besides local Congress leaders were left red-faced Friday when Congress workers straightaway refused to support his son Prajwal Revanna in the Lok Sabha polls at an event in Hassan.

Prajwal, grandson of JDS patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, is the candidate of the ruling alliance for Hassan, which Gowda was representing.

The embarrassing incident occurred in front of Revanna who had come to seek support from Congress workers at a public event.

An ardent believer in astrology, Revanna had arrived at the venue holding seven to eight lemons in his hand to ward off bad omen that could eclipse his son's political prospects.

Usually Revanna carries at least one lemon with him.

As soon as he took his seat on the dais holding lemons, the Congress workers created a din shouting that they would prefer voting for the BJP rather than supporting the JD(S).

The compere's repeated pleas to stay silent were in vain as the rebel Congress workers created a noisy scene.

They shouted that they will not abide by the Congress' directions.

"We are die-hard Congress workers. We will not support the JD(S), come what may. We will not only vote for BJP, we will seek vote for the BJP candidate," they shouted.

The workers also objected to Revanna's presence at the Congress' event.

"Who is he to attend our event? Why is he here? He is ouropponent. How can we support him? We don't need him here," they shouted.

Policemen too reached there to calm the situation but to no avail as the sloganeering continued.

The rebellion stems from the fact that congress local strongman A Manju recently quit the party protesting the alliance with the JD(S) and joined the BJP, which has fielded him as its candidate.

Manju's bitterness against the Deve Gowda family is well known as he had been giving statements against the JD(S) leadership.

From the day the coalition government was formed, Manju hadbeen openly opposing it.He had even indicated that he would not stay in the party for long if the coalition continued.

Gowda has represented Hassan six times in the Lok Sabha.

This time, he has opted to contest the polls from Tumkur constituency leaving Hassan for his grandson Prajwal.

Gowda's another grandson and son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Nikhil, is also facing problems in Mandya, where the local Congress unit is unhappy over the party conceding the seat to the JDS.

With tempers running high, Revanna sought an apology from the Congress workers.

Addressing the irate workers, he said, "Pardon me if I have committed some small mistakes. Let us work together to ensure the victory. Let us stick to the decision taken by the party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress Friday announced two candidates for the assembly bypolls in Goa next month, naming former minister Mahadev Naik from Shiroda and fielding Sudhir Kandolkar from Mapusa.

By-elections are scheduled in Shiroda, Mapusa and another assembly constituency Mandrem on April 23. The same day voting will take place for the two Lok Sabha seats in the coastal state.

Naik, a former minister who had quit the BJP last month, will contest from his traditional Shiroda assembly segment in North Goa.

All-India Congress Committee General Secretary Mukul Wasnik cleared the names of both the candidates, who were earlier in the BJP, in a statement released in New Delhi.

The opposition party is yet to announce its candidate for the Mandrem assembly seat.

The by-elections in Shiroda and Mandrem were necessitated after their sitting Congress MLAs resigned and joined the ruling BJP.

The Mapusa seat fell vacant following the death of its sitting MLA Francis D'Souza of the BJP.

The BJP has already announced its candidates for the three by-elections.

Its candidate Subhash Shirodkar is in the fray in Shiroda, while the party has fielded Joshua D'Souza from Mapusa.

BJP leader Dayanand Sopte will contest from the Mandrem assembly constituency.

Another assembly constituency, Panaji, fell vacant after the death of its MLA and former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on March 17.

However, the Election Commission is yet to announce the Panaji bypoll date.

The effective strength of the 40-member Goa assembly currently is 36.

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/ -- CoWrks, one of India's largest co-working space providers, announced the launch of 'Converge' - a first of its kind solution for business meetings and events. Converge by CoWrks offers spaces that are powered by seamless technology and premium hospitality for professional meetings and events in prime properties across 23 locations and 5 cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi - NCR) in India.

Converge empowers professionals and organizations to avail meeting rooms, boardrooms, conference and event spaces through a seamless tech-powered booking experience. It further offers, planning and production support, world-class space design, high-speed secure Internet, premium hospitality, gourmet F&B offerings and state-of-the-art AV.

With the evolution of workspaces, Converge aims to reinvent the business meeting and event landscape. It is a one-stop solution for compact small meetings to expansive events - be it a cluster of 4, or a diverse crowd of 400.

Commenting on the development, Nruthya Madappa, Director - New Products, CoWrks, said, "We are excited to launch our brand new product 'Converge' which is an extension to our existing premium workspace solutions. With Converge, CoWrks is foraying into avenues that will revolutionize the way businesses work. Most meeting and event spaces that are available today are not fully equipped with solutions that match the requirements of businesses. With Converge, we aim to provide meeting/event spaces with quality services, hospitality and best-in-class amenities at CoWrks. Our spaces are carefully designed to deliver tailored experiences that fuel productivity.

Bookings for Converge are now open across locations in India. Businesses/individuals can visit the website www.convergehere.com to select the meeting/event space of their choice with an array of F&B and customization options that are available at transparent pricing with no intermediaries involved.

About CoWrks



CoWrks is India's largest and fastest growing large-format coworking space provider. Established in 2016, it has quickly become home to several leading entrepreneurs, a launch pad for startups and a work hub for millennials in large enterprises and Fortune 500 companies. Headquartered in Bangalore, CoWrks currently operates out of five cities and is spread across 1.5 million sq. ft, with a community of over 23,000 members. CoWrks caters to all demographics of the workforce with an array of membership options, including flexible and dedicated desks, customizable private studios and even virtual membership. CoWrks is driven by data and technology, providing a sophisticated visitor management system, a private social networking app, digital meeting room booking, and more. With 24*7 access to select workstations, a sweeping gamut of amenities and unique networking opportunities, the coworking space is creating a work culture that boosts creativity, productivity, cross-collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill upgrade.

For more information, visit www.cowrks.

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Former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was prevented from addressing an election meeting at Mohanbhog, a village in Sipahijala district by a group of BJP workers despite presence of police and paramilitary forces, a senior CPI (M) state leader claimed Friday.

Sarkar, who is leader of the opposition in the Tripura assembly, faced BJP workers wrath on Thursday when he had gone to the place to campaign in favour of the party candidate for West Tripura constituency, Shankar Datta.

Despite the presence of police and the paramilitary forces, Sarkar was not allowed to address the rally and he had to come back, CPI (M) state leader state secretary Gautam Das told reporters.

The village falls in Sarkars home turf Dhanpur.

Das said, Datta lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) through Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Sriram Taranikanti and demanded for proper measures against political violence.

When contacted, BJP spokesperson, Nabendu Bhattacharya said no BJP activist or supporter were present at Mohanbhog.

"We have heard that he faced Sarakar go back slogans and the people gathered there also showed him black flags," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, CPI(M) Lok Sabha candidate for West Tripura constituency Shankar Prasad Dutta accused BJP of attacking him during poll rallies in different parts of the state.

Das alleged that ever since BJP came to power on March 3 last year, they have let loose a "reign of terror in a fascist manner" as a result of which many CPI(M) activists were forced to flee from their houses and a number of the party offices demolished.

He said, police remained silent spectator to these incidents while the "constitution is throttled in the state."



The party secretary alleged that CPI(M) East Tripura candidate Jitendra Chaudhury and that from West Tripura seat Shankar Datta, both sitting Lok Sabha MPs, have been attacked several times during their poll campaign.

He alleged fear psychosis prevailed in the state as the BJP activists were intimidating the opposition party workers and supporters, including those of the Congress.

Das said, a delegation of the CPI-M, led by party General Secretary, Sitaram Yechuri had met the ECI on March 6 last and demanded to take appropriate actions for creating conducive atmosphere for elections.

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HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, has issued orders discontinuing the newly-introduced edition of the Mazaya housing programme. However, the standard Mazaya programme remains in effect, reported BNA.



HRH the Crown Prince emphasised the importance of continuing to deliver innovative housing solutions and efficient services for citizens, whose interests remain the core focus of development efforts, including national policies and strategies, it added.


The CPI(Ml) Liberation on Friday announced that it would not field its candidate from Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat, from where Lalu Prasads eldest daughter Misa Bharti is in the fray, as a gesture of reciprocation to the RJD which has left out Ara in favour of the ultra-Left party.

In a statement issued here, the partys state secretary Kunal, however, made it clear that it would be fielding its candidates from Siwan, Karakat and Jehanabad and support the CPI and CPI(M) in Begusarai and Ujiarpur where candidates of the Mahagathbandhan of which the RJD is the largest constituent are in the fray.

The CPI(ML) has already announced candidature of Raju Yadav, a former state president of AISA, from Ara formerly a hotbed of the naxal movement and candidates for the remaining three seats would be announced at the partys state-level convention on April 02, Kunal added.

In Siwan, the CPI(ML) has for long been engaged in an ideological and political battle with the RJD which intensified in the wake of the murder of former JNU students union president Chandrashekhar allegedly by goons of local MP Mohd Shahabuddin.

The RJD has fielded Hina Shahab, wife of Shahabuddin who is in jail, from Siwan.

The Karakat seat has gone to former Union minister Upendra Kushwahas RLSP. It is Kushwahas sitting seat, carved out of naxal-infested regions of central Bihar districts like Aurangabad and Rohtas.

Jehanabad, yet another naxal hotbed which used to be in headlines in the 1990s for massacres by outlawed ultra-Left outfits and private militias seeking to wipe these out, has RJD strongman Surendra Yadav in the fray.

Former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar is the CPI candidate in Begusarai where the RJD has fielded Tanveer Hasan while Ajay Kumar is the CPI(M) nominee in Ujiarpur the sitting seat of state BJP president Nityanand Rai which has fallen into the RLSPs kitty though the candidate for the same is yet to be announced.

Till about a year ago, the Mahagathbandhan which then comprised only the RJD, the Congress and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhis HAM was thinking in terms of an electoral understanding with the Left parties.

This, however, did not materialize as the bloated formation which now comprises half a dozen parties including late entrants like RLSP, HAM and LJD, was not left with enough seats to spare for the Left after accommodating all allies.

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The first cruise between Kolkata-Dhaka became a reality on Friday after it was flagged off from a city dock.

The vessel RV Bengal Ganga from Exotic Heritage group sailed off this morning for a 10 day trip with 19 passengers to Dhaka, company's VP Vinit Arora told PTI.

The cruise will follow the 1530 km protocol route between India and Bangladesh. A standard operating procedure (SOP), for movement of passenger and cruise vessels on Inland Waterways coastal shipping route is already in place.

Protocol routes are defined maritime navigational routes agreed upon by two countries through bilateral treaties.

Currently, waterway is used between Bangladesh and India for carrying goods. The cruise will go via Hooghly, Padma and Brahmaputra rivers.

The cruise is expected to cross the international border on the third day or March 31 after Customs & Immigration formalities from India's Hemnagar, the riverine international border on the India side of the Sundarbans.

The cruise will cover Mongla port, Barisal, Chandpur which is famous for its Ilish (Hilsa) fish before it enters Dhaka.

Two operators from each countries have shown interest on plying cruise.

Based on response, details of cost and schedule will be worked out, Arora said. The passengers of this trip are mostly tour operators and some guests.

Vikram Doraiswami, joint secretary in the External Affairs Ministry, had said the move was aimed to strengthen inland waterway routes between the two countries.

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Democrats intensified their demands for Robert Mueller's full report after learning the special counsel's findings from his Trump-Russia investigation run to more than 300 pages, while President Donald Trump boasted of total exoneration based on a four-page summary by his attorney general.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler was told by Attorney General William Barr that there's no intention of giving the confidential report to Congress immediately as he redacts grand jury testimony and other elements.

Democrats say they may subpoena the report if it's not forthcoming by their Tuesday deadline, which Barr has said will not be met.

Through the day, tempers were rising on Capitol Hill.

Shaking her fist for emphasis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Barr's summary, which cleared Trump of campaign collusion with Russia and criminal obstruction of Mueller's federal probe, was "condescending" and "arrogant."



"Mr. Attorney General," she said, "show us the report and we'll come to our own conclusions."



She asked what Trump and the Republicans were afraid of and mocked them as "scaredy-cats."Trump himself headed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a Thursday campaign rally, where he deemed the probe "the greatest hoax in the history of our country" and warned that those behind it "would be held accountable.""After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is dead," Trump told a packed house of roaring supporters. "This was nothing more than a sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people."The length of Mueller's still-confidential report makes clear that there are substantially more details that he and his team have documented in their investigation than Barr disclosed to Congress and the public. The volume of pages was described Thursday by a Justice Department official and another person familiar with the document.

The Justice Department official said Barr discussed the length of the report during a phone call Wednesday with Nadler, who would only indicate it was less than 1,000 pages.

Both the department official and the other person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the document.

Barr would not commit to providing the full report with its underlying evidence, according to a House Democratic aide granted anonymity Thursday to brief reporters.

The attorney general has been going through the report amid Democratic concerns that what has been made public so far was tilted in Trump's favor. It's unclear whether whatever Barr might release next will be Mueller's own words or another summary. Nadler offered to join Barr to seek a judge's approval to unseal grand jury testimony, the aide said.

Barr has said he'll provide Congress with at least a partial version in April and told Nadler he would agree to testify before his committee.

As that battle brews, House Democrats barreled ahead with their own investigation of the Trump administration, and Trump resumed his attack on Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., just as the chairman of the intelligence committee was about to gavel his panel into session.

"Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress!" Trump tweeted early Thursday.

Republicans picking up on Trump's complaints formalized their demand that Schiff resign as chairman of the intelligence panel over his comments that there was significant evidence the president and his associates conspired with Russia.

"We have no faith in your ability to discharge your responsibilities" in line with the Constitution, the Republicans wrote to Schiff in a missive they read aloud at the hearing.

Republicans pointed to Barr's synopsis, released Sunday, that said Mueller's probe didn't find that Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Schiff stood by his remarks, listing the meetings that people in Trump's circle had with Russians. He noted Trump's pursuit of a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

"There is a different word for that than collusion, and it's called compromise," Schiff said, as he opened the session. The hearing was called to provide an overview on how Russia in the past has blackmailed Americans.

Since Barr's findings were released, Schiff this week has repeated his assertion that evidence of collusion is in "plain sight." He says Mueller's failure to find a criminal conspiracy with Russia does not absolve the Trump campaign.

Pelosi stood by Schiff, saying she was proud of him and taunting Republicans including Trump for fearing the chairman, whom she called a "patriotic leader." "What is the president afraid of, Is he afraid of the truth?" she said. "They're just scaredy-cats."



Democrats complain that Barr overstepped by making the determination, with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, that Trump did not obstruct the investigation.

While Barr's summary Sunday said Mueller did not find that the Trump campaign "conspired or coordinated" with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election, it also said Mueller reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed the federal investigation, instead setting out "evidence on both sides" of the question.

"I would hope the attorney general would not be acting as a political operative for the president," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the Judiciary Committee.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As part of voters awareness campaign, the Election Commission and the railways have decided to utilise four long-distance trains to carry motivational messages for electorates, a statement from the poll panel said Friday.

The trains will display important contact details including voter helpline number and the National Voters' Services Portal address, besides motivational messages urging voters to exercise their franchise.

The four trains are: The Kerala Express, Himsagar Express, Howrah Express and Guwahati Express.

The Kerala Express, carrying posters for voter awareness, was Friday flagged off from the New Delhi Railway Station by Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh, SVEEP (Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation Program) director Padma Angmo, Election Commission of India, and Northern Railway DRM R N Singh Friday.

The three other trains will be flagged off in coming days.

The Kerala Express will be received by respective State Chief Electoral Officers and District Election Officers at the State and District HQs as it traverses the route.

As the trains travel across the country, citizens will be encouraged to click photographs with them and upload it on social media, for further spreading the message.

The trains have been selected on the longest North-South route and East-West route and covers 19 States in all.

The Kerala Express is a daily train covering 3,035 Kms through eight states in 51 hours 10 minutes and has 41 stops.

There are 20 halts with stoppage of five minutes or more. State capitals covered by Kerala Express are Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram.

The Himsagar Express is a weekly train covering 3,714 Kms in 12 states in 71 hours with 69 stops. There are 29 halts with the stoppage of 5 minutes or more including the last stop. The state capitals and major cities en route are Thiruvananthapuram, Bhopal, New Delhi (Nizamuddin) and Jammu Tawi.

The Howrah Express is a daily train covering 2,087 kms through six states in 37 hours 35 minutes with 63 stops. There are 19 stops with the stoppage of 5 minutes or more. State capitals and major cities covered by the train are Ahmedabad, Raipur and Howrah.

The Guwahati Express is a weekly train covering 3,237 kms in 7 states in 67 hours 40 min with 41 stops. There are 23 stops with the stoppage of 5 minutes or more. It covers major cities including Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Patna and Guwahati.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A controversy erupted on Friday as the main investigating officer (IO) in the Nirav Modi money laundering case was relieved of his charge by the in Mumbai, an order overturned by the agency headquarters within minutes.

The order divesting Joint Director Satyabrat Kumar of the charge of Mumbai zonal unit-I of the ED was issued by its top officer in the western zone, Special Director Vineet Agarwal, on Friday when Kumar was in London with regard to Modi's bail hearing in the extradition case.

As soon as the news came out, sources said, ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra cancelled the order in Delhi and restored the charge to Kumar.

Kumar, an Indian Revenue Service officer of the Customs and Indirect Taxes service, was divested of his charge by Agarwal on the technical ground and rule that no IO can continue at one post beyond five years and no order for his continuation was issued by the ED headquarters.

ALSO READ: Why it is still not going to be easy for India to extradite Nirav Modi

Special Director Agarwal, in his signed order, relieved Kumar from all the investigations, including the $2-billion PNB Bank fraud case against Nirav Modi, and handed over the additional charge of Kumar to his immediate superior authority of Additional Director (western region), who also sits in Mumbai.

The order, however, allowed Kumar to continue probing coal blocks allocation cases as he was appointed IO in this case by the Supreme Court and no officer can be changed without the apex court's permission.

Sensing the controversy being generated over the abrupt removal of the IO in this crucial case being monitored at the top level of the government, the ED headquarters cancelled the order immediately.

This cancellation will be followed by an approval of extension of tenure of Kumar which has already been sent for clearance to the Department of Revenue under the Union Finance Ministry and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the sources said.

The ED also issued a clarification through its Twitter handle. "Certain media reports have been appearing that Joint Director supervising investigation in the case of Nirav Modi has been relieved. This report is not correct and denied," it said.
The estranged wife of former Afghanistan hostage Joshua Boyle says Boyle allegedly struck her, tied her ankles and wrists with rope and forced her to have sex during an incident following the couple's forced captivity in Afghanistan.

Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, testified Friday at her husband's assault trial in Ottawa. Boyle has pleaded not guilty to a number of criminal charges for alleged offenses against Coleman, including assault, sexual assault and unlawful confinement.

Boyle and his wife were taken hostage in 2012 by a Taliban-linked group while on a backpacking trip in Afghanistan. The couple had three children during their five years in captivity. The family was rescued in 2017 by Pakistani forces.

Boyle was arrested in December that year. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The European Union on Friday, summoned leaders to an extraordinary summit, warning that Britain is now "likely" to crash out of the bloc on April 12 without a Brexit deal.

"In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April," tweeted Donald Tusk, the head of the European Council.

Almost immediately after the House of Commons voted to reject the withdrawal agreement, an EU Council official said Brexit would be postponed until April 12, as decided at a summit last week.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to draw up an alternative plan for an orderly Brexit before then, and will be asked to present it to her 27 EU colleagues at the emergency summit.

"We expect the UK to indicate a way forward before then, well in time for the European Council to consider," the Council source said, adding that May would be invited to "the beginning of the meeting."



Separately, a spokeswoman for the European Commission -- the bloc's executive -- increased pressure on London to come up with a plan for an orderly Brexit by warning of an abrupt divorce.

"A 'no-deal' scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario. The EU has been preparing for this since December 2017 and is now fully prepared for a no-deal scenario at midnight on April 12," she said.

"The EU will remain united. The benefits of the Withdrawal Agreement, including a transition period, will in no circumstances be replicated in a no-deal scenario. Sectoral mini-deals are not an option.

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The days of astronauts packing enough clean clothes to last a whole mission could soon be over as Russia said Friday it is developing a washing machine for space.

The RKK Energiya space corporation that builds spacecraft dropped a brief mention of the innovation in a video posted on YouTube.

"By the way, for future lunar expeditions and other interplanetary crafts, RKK Energiya has started developing a special space washing machine," the voiceover says, without giving further details.

With water at a premium, currently astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) for stints of some six months cannot wash their clothes in any way and simply put on new outfits when their clothes get dirty.

Astronauts usually wear the same outfit for three to four days and then throw them away with other rubbish.

In 2017, a Russian space industry journal published a paper by RKK Energiya researchers with a description and diagrams of a washing machine that could be used on the ISS.

It said that for three crew members, up to 660 kilogrammes (1,450 lbs) of clothes have to be ferried to the ISS over a year.

For a two-year flight to Mars with six crew members this could increase to three tonnes, the authors warned.

Having onboard "equipment for hygienic treatment (washing) could significantly lessen the stocks of personal hygiene products and items of clothing," the report said.

Researchers proposed using not water, which would be wasteful and require extra storage, but carbon dioxide that is produced by humans' breathing and can be turned into a liquid under pressure.

Last year, the Moscow Institute of Chemical Machine-Building said that it was going to develop a shower and sauna for astronauts as well as facilities for them to wash hands and clothes.

NASA has also wrestled with the problem, funding research into methods of washing clothes without water and anti-microbial clothing that could be worn longer.

The announcement of the washing machine project comes as NASA this week cancelled the first ever two-women spacewalk from the ISS because there was only one spacesuit on board of the right size.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
State-owned gas utility India Ltd Friday said it has signed an agreement with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) for cooperation in the development of projects.

" shall be the project developer and shall act as an engineering, procurement, construction and project management contractor," the company said in a statement.

shall also provide operation and maintenance services during the initial period upon becoming successful bidder.

"This development will help both the to leverage their competitive strengths to build a substantial portfolio in projects.

"The memorandum of understanding (signed Friday) aims at building a closer strategic partnership between the two Maharatna PSUs for jointly pursuing commercial projects through participation in tariff / Viability Gap Funding (VGF) based competitive bidding process," it said.

is India's biggest natural gas company with diversified interests across the value chain of trading, transmission, LPG production and transmission, LNG re-gasification, petrochemicals and city gas.

It owns and operates a network of around 11,400 kms of high-pressure trunk pipelines. It is working concurrently on multiple pipeline projects, aggregating over 5400 kms at an investment of about Rs 24,000 crore, to operate over 16,000 kms by 2021.

GAIL commands 75 per cent market share in gas transmission and has a gas trading share of over 50 per cent in India.

"GAIL is also expanding its presence in renewable energy like solar and wind. It has India's second-largest rooftop solar PV power plant at its petrochemical complex at Pata, Uttar Pradesh," the statement said.

is one of the few in the world, and only company in India, having the capability to manufacture the entire range of power plant equipment.

It has also been in the field of design, engineering, manufacturing, installation and commissioning of solar power plants over three decades and has a portfolio of more than 700 MW.
Germany's far-left Die Linke party demanded Friday that parliament vote to expel the controversial US ambassador Richard Grenell, a close confidant of President Donald Trump.

The small opposition party wants Grenell, 52, to be declared persona non grata for having "actively interfered" in German on issues from Iran to defence spending and telecom equipment.

Although the motion, a copy of which was seen by AFP, has little chance of succeeding, the fact it has been made at all is a sign of the badly strained transatlantic relations in the Trump era.

The US president has harshly criticised NATO ally Germany and its Chancellor Angela Merkel on issues ranging from immigration policy to defence spending and car exports.

Last week Wolfgang Kubicki of the opposition liberal Free Democrats also demanded that Grenell be sent home for "behaving like the high commissioner of an occupying power".

For almost a year, Grenell, a hawkish supporter of Trump's "America First" stance, has weighed in on German with tweets, regularly angering his host country.

Grenell made a splash on day one in his diplomatic post by tweeting that German companies should get out of Iran after Trump ripped up the nuclear deal with Tehran.

He soon followed up with reported comments to right-wing website Breitbart of his ambition to "empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders." At the time, Social Democratic lawmaker Thorsten Schaefer-Guembel tweeted that



"European citizens don't need a Trump vassal to tell them who to vote for". Grenell has also criticised Germany for spending too little on defence, attacked plans for a new gas pipeline from Russia and warned Berlin not to use telecom equipment made by China's Huawei.

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Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) recently installed the first solar panel system at an Australian Antarctic station.



The solar installation will provide up to 30 kW of electric power to the Casey research station, located on Vincennes Bay in the Windmill Islands, just outside the Antarctic Circle, during the Austral summer months.



The aim of the project, which is the first solar array providing power to an Australian Antarctic research station, is to reduce the reliance on diesel fuel, which is delivered yearly by the AADs Antarctic icebreaker, the Aurora Australis, from Hobart, Tasmania  a journey of 3,443km.



The initiative is part of a collaborative project between the AAD and Masdar on several unique and exciting projects. These include providing the solar PV system to Casey research station, building an energy management system, sponsoring a Khalifa University research project to improve the monitoring of changes in the Antarctic sea ice, and enabling young Emirati professionals to visit Casey as interns.



Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive officer of Masdar, said: As a global leader in renewable energy, Masdar is honoured to collaborate with the AAD to bring our expertise in clean energy from the hot deserts of the UAE to the cold desert of Antarctica as we strive to implement practical energy solutions, support research on climate change and environmental protection in line with the Antarctic Treaty System.



The solar PV panels, sourced from German company Aleo Solar, have been built to withstand extreme weather conditions in the Antarctic, the coldest continent on earth, where katabatic wind speeds can reach nearly 300 km/h and the average temperature ranges from -10 degrees Celsius to -60 degrees Celsius depending on the time of year.



The solar PV panels were shipped from Germany to Hobart, Tasmania, and from there to Casey by the Aurora Australis in December 2018. After extensive simulations conducted by Masdar and the technical team at Casey, it was decided that the solar panels would be mounted in a vertical position on the northern facade of Caseys green store building.



Australian Antarctic Division director Kim Ellis said the special mounting of the panels would strike a balance between maximum solar gain and stability in the wind, as well as ensuring the panels were easy to install, access and maintain.



He said the system of 105 solar panels would provide about 10 per cent of the stations total energy demand.



This is the first solar power array at an Australian Antarctic research station and amongst the largest in Antarctica, Ellis said. It will reduce Casey stations reliance on diesel generators for electricity, cutting fuel costs and emissions, as well as boosting the stations capacity in peak demand periods. Once we see how it performs as part of the stations power grid, well be able to look at how to get more out of the technology in the future.  TradeArabia News Service
The government is considering sending an official delegation to the US next month from the commerce ministry to discuss ways to resolve trade related issues, sources said.

The government is also expected to again extend the deadline to impose retaliatory duties on 29 US items till May 1. The current deadline will end on April 1.

Although officials of India and the US were negotiating a trade package, the Trump administration earlier this month announced its decision to withdraw export benefits provided by them to India under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

US companies have raised concerns over price capping on medical devices like stent. They also want greater market access for their dairy products and reduction in duty on Harley Davidson motorbikes.

According to exporters, withdrawal of incentives under GSP would impact India's export worth USD 5.6 billion to the US under this initiative.

Sources said that trade dialogue would help in resolving the issues as the US is one of the largest trading partners of India. The US is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus.

The commerce ministry has also sought intervention of the Prime Minister's Office on resolving trade issues with the US.

US President Donald Trump had said he intends to end the preferential trade status granted to India and Turkey, asserting that New Delhi has failed to assure America of "equitable and reasonable" access to its markets, an announcement that could be seen as a major setback to bilateral trade ties.

The US Trade Representative's Office said that removing India from the GSP programme will not take effect for at least 60 days after notifications to Congress and the Indian government, and it will be enacted by a presidential proclamation.

As many as 3,700 products get GSP benefits but India exports only 1,900 items such as chemicals and engineering under that concession, which was introduced in 1976 by the US.

The government on Tuesday extended the deadline to impose retaliatory customs duties on 29 US products, including almond, walnut and pulses, till April 1. As discussions are going on between India and the US for a proposed trade package, the commerce ministry had asked its finance counterpart to again defer the implementation of a notification to impose high duties on US products.

A notification said that implementation of increased customs duty on specified imports originating in the USA has been postponed from March 2, 2019, to April 1, 2019.

Further In June 2017, India decided to impose retaliatory tariffs after the US imposed high customs duties on certain steel and aluminium products.

As part of the imposition of higher import duties, New Delhi has notified higher tariffs on several products. While import duty on walnut has been hiked to 120 per cent from 30 per cent currently, duty on chickpeas, Bengal gram (chana) and masur dal will be raised to 70 per cent, from 30 per cent currently. Levy on lentils will be increased to 40 per cent, from 30 per cent.

As both the countries were negotiating a trade package and no deal was concluded, India was again and again extending the deadline to impose these duties.

India is pressing for exemption from the high duty imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products, resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under their generalised system of preferences (GSP), greater market access for its products from agriculture, automobile, automobile components and engineering sectors.

On the other hand, the US is demanding greater market access through a cut in import duties for its agriculture goods, dairy products, medical devices, IT and communication items.

India's exports to the US in 2017-18 stood at USD 47.9 billion, while imports were USD 26.7 billion. The trade balance is in favour of India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The central government is looking at raising Rs 4.42 lakh crore through borrowing in the first half of the 2019-20 fiscal, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said Friday.

Parliament has approved a gross borrowing for Rs 7.1 lakh crore for the entire 2019-20 fiscal.

"We will be raising Rs 4.42 lakh crore (gross) in the first half (of FY 2019-20), or Rs 17,000 per week for 26 weeks," Garg told reporters.

The remaining Rs 2.68 lakh crore or 37.7 per cent of the total gross borrowing would be raised from the markets by floating government bonds and treasury bills during the October-March period.

Net borrowing in the first half (April-September) would be Rs 3.40 lakh crore. In the second half, net borrowing would be lower at Rs 1.33 lakh crore.

"So in the second half, it would be Rs 83,000 crore plus buyback of Rs 50,000 crore. Net borrowing for the full year is Rs 4.23 lakh crore," the secretary said.

The government, in the interim Budget in February, had proposed to restrict the fiscal deficit at 3.4 per cent of the GDP in the next fiscal beginning February 1. The government borrows from the market to the fiscal gap.

As per the Union Budget, the gross borrowing was pegged at Rs 7.1 lakh crore for 2019-20, higher than Rs 5.71 lakh crore estimated for the ongoing fiscal.

Garg said the gross borrowing is higher because of the repayment programme.

Gross borrowing amount is also used towards repayments of past loans.

Garg also said the government will stick to the fiscal deficit target of 3.4 per cent of the GDP for the current fiscal.

He also said the government would be be introducing a new benchmark of 7 years for dated securities.

"You would recall in the current financial year we had introduced two new benchmarks of two-year security and five-year security. Now there will be 7-year security also. So we complete the yield curve," he added.

The Reserve Bank of India releases the schedule of government borrowing.

The central bank also provides funds to the government under Ways and Means Advances (WMA) mechanism to help it tide over short-term mismatch in receipts and payments.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a big relief to JDS patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Congress sitting MP from Tumkur S P Muddahanumegowda Friday pulled out of the contest as the rebel candidate against him.

Gowda is the joint nominee of Karnataka's Congress-JDS ruling alliance, which was worried over his electoral prospects after Muddahanumegowda jumped into the fray defying the understanding under which the seat was allotted to the JDS.

"Angry" at being denied the ticket, Muddahanumegowda had filed his papers both as party candidate and as an independent but finally yielded to persuasion from the party leadership.

The leadership made several attempts to pacify Muddahanumegowda, with Congress president Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal intervening finally.

Muddahanumegowda told PTI that he has withdrawn his nomination, respecting the "persuasion" made by the Congress high command.

"Rahul Gandhi himself spoke to me (Thursday morning), K C Venugopal spoke to me several times, also our KPCC president, deputy chief minister and also CLP leader Siddaramaiah started persuading me and said the coalition is at stakebecause of my nomination as rebel," he said.

"Though my people did not agree for withdrawing nomination, somehow I had to, as I didn't want to become reasonfor anything going wrong between two parties," he added.

Muddahanumegowda said he was "angry" and "furious" for thereason that the sitting MP was deprived of contesting election.

He said he had filed the nomination as constituency leaders and workers insisted on his contesting, after his request to coalition leaders to reconsider the decision and field him, did not yield result.

The Congress leader said he had gone through "agony and mental torture" after being denied ticket despite being "active and performing member."



Asked about campaigning for Gowda, he said, "I'm a sensitive politician..I will think over..I will need some time."



Muddahanumegowda, who had worked as a judicial officer in the past is the only member among ten sitting Congress MPs from the state denied ticket, citing coalition compulsions.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister GParameshwara and KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao visited Muddahanumegowda's residence in the city to persuade him, as Friday was the last day to withdraw nomination.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rao said the party has respect for Muddahanumegowda and conceded that "injustice" has happened to him, as he blamed coalition compulsions for it.

"It is the responsibility of the party to treat him respectfully," he added.

Meanwhile, K N Rajanna, another Congress leader and former MLA who also had filed his nomination from Tumkur as anindependent candidate, upset over his party's decision to cede the seat to JD(S), has also withdrawn his nomination.

Stating that he was with Muddahanumegowda, Rajanna told reporters he will abide by the party's decision.

The JD(S) bagged Tumkur seat after a hard bargain withthe Congress as the grand old party did not concede Mysore, another seat that it had demanded, due to strong resentment from Siddaramaiah, as it is his home turf.

Mysore and Tumkur both come under old Mysuru region where Vokkaliga community, seen as a strong vote bank of JD(S) is dominant.

The Congress too has considerable presence there.

Gowda opted for Tumkur seat over Bangalore North, another option that was available before him, after giving up Hassan Lok Sabha seat that he had been representing, tograndson Prajwal Revanna.

If Muddahanumegowda had contested from Tumkur as a rebel candidate, it would have added to the Congress-JD(S) coalition worries as the alliance is facing backlash at several places, including Mandya and Hassan, with party workersunhappy with the seat arrangements.

For the coalition to emerge as a formidable opposition to BJP and win more number of seats, it is crucial for the Congress to transfer its votes to JD(S), and vice-versa.

The BJP has fielded G S Basavaraj as its candidate from Tumkur which will go to polls in the first phase on April 18.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan Friday met the parents of a seven-year-old girl, who was sexually assaulted and killed near here recently, and said such incidents showed that Tamil Nadu was not a safe place.

The Makkal Neethi Maiam chief said the government should make efforts to bring the culprits to book.

"If a child is not able to play some 20 feet from home, it is not a safe Tamil Nadu..," Haasan said.

A party release said Haasan met rural superintendent of police R Pandiarajan and wanted the culprits to be arrested.

The girl's family deserved justice, which should be delivered swiftly, he said.

The police official assured Haasan that all steps were being taken to nab the culprits, the release added.

Coming close on the heels of sexual harassment of women in nearby Pollachi, the rape of the minor received widespread condemnation, including from leaders of political parties, with some demanding death sentence for the criminals.

The class II student, reported missing since the evening of March 25, was found dead with limbs tied and injuries on the body the next morning.

Initially, it was suspected to be a murder but the post-mortem report Wednesday said the girl was sexually assaulted and throttled to death.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Patidar leader Hardik Patel's hopes of fighting next month's Lok Sabha polls hit a major roadblock with the Gujarat High Court Friday dismissing his plea to stay his conviction in a 2015 rioting case.

April 4 being the last date of filing of nominations in Gujarat, Hardik has a few days to challenge the judgement in the Supreme Court.

Hardik, who joined the on March 12, had expressed his willingness to contest the election from Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat.

During the earlier hearings, the Gujarat government had strongly opposed his plea saying that Hardik has criminal antecedents with 17 FIRs registered against him, including two cases of sedition.

After the high court's judgement, Hardik's lawyers said they would first study the order and then decide about approaching the Supreme Court.

Justice A G Uraizee took into account the submissions made by the Gujarat Government while rejecting Hardik's petition seeking a stay on the conviction awarded to him by a sessions court, which was coming into his way to contest the April 23 Lok Sabha polls.

In his order, Justice Uraizee noted that conviction can be stayed only in exceptional cases and Hardik's case does not fall into that category.

Citing the state government's submission, the court said as many as 17 FIRs were registered against Hardik in Gujarat.

The court also noted that looking at the criminal background of Hardik, no relief can be granted.

In July last year, the sessions court at Visnagar in Mehsana district sentenced Patel to two years of imprisonment for rioting and arson in Visnagar town in 2015 during the Patidar quota stir.

In August last year, the high court suspended the lower court's order sentencing him to two years' jail term in the 2015 rioting case, but did not stay his conviction.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court Friday refused to stall the Election Commission of India's order, transferring two IPS officers, including the Director General of Intelligence and a non-cadre officer in the state government, and keeping them away from election duties.

The Chandrababu Naidu government was keen on retaining the controversial DG, Intelligence, A B Venkateswara Rao, whom the opposition YSR Congress has been accusing of "working like a TDP cadre".

A division bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Praveen Kumar and Justice Satyanarayana Murthy, ruled that there was 'no case for interim relief' in the matter and said the state government should comply with the EC order.

It rejected the government's contentions on the issue, particularly that the DG had nothing to do with the conduct of elections and that the EC had no jurisdiction over him.

The EC had late on Tuesday night issued an order to Chief Secretary Anil Chandra Punetha, directing that the DG, Intelligence, and Superintendents of Police of Kadapa and Srikakulam districts be transferred forthwith and attached to the state police headquarters.

It said no election-related work should be assigned to the three officers till the completion of the polls. Around midnight on Tuesday, Punetha issued an order transferring the three officers in line with the directive.

The scene, however, changed on Wednesday as the Chief Secretary issued a fresh order that afternoon, cancelling his earlier one and retained the Intelligence DG to the same post while shifting the two SPs.

The EC subsequently appointed Grewal Navdeep Singh and Abhishek Mohanty as SPs of Srikakulam and Kadapa districts.

The chief secretary also got a writ petition filed in the High Court, challenging the ECI order even as Chief Minister Naidu shot off a seven-page letter to the poll panel, protesting the transfers, particularly that of the DG, Intelligence.

Naidu alleged that the election commission's action was 'prima facie hasty, biased, undemocratic and suffers from the principles of natural justice".

He claimed the EC's conduct has become "questionable" due to this "coloured decision", which is deliberately aimed at benefitting the YSR Congress "under the influence of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, aided by (Telangana Chief Minister) K Chandrasekhar Rao".

The government issued a separate order on Wednesday, designating certain police officers from the DGP to the rank of a constable for law and order duties in connection with the April 11 elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assembly.

The DG of Intelligence has been kept away from election duties.

"The ECI cannot engage in unchecked, arbitrary and uncanalised exercise of power. The ECI order suffers from the vice of lack of jurisdiction, suffers from being a colourable exercise of power and is based on alien purposes or oblique motives which have nothing to do with the conduct of polling duties," state Political Secretary (General Administration Department) N Srikant said in the petition, filed on behalf of the chief secretary.

The High Court heard arguments in the case on Thursday.

The YSR Congress also impleaded in the case.

Advocate General D Srinivas contented that the ECI has no jurisdiction to transfer an officer not under its purview.

Former AG Prakash Reddy, counsel for the ECI, pointed out that the Intelligence DG was very much on election-related duties under Section 28-A of the Representation of People Act and that the state government issued an order in this regard.

The AG claimed the said government order was issued erroneously.

"How could the police department function without the intelligence wing?" the ECI advocate countered.

The High Court delivered its verdict on the petition on Friday, refusing to grant any relief to the state government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bombay High Court Friday asked the Centre to inform the court of the steps it was taking to ensure that the fishermen affected by the coastal road project were not robbed of their source of livelihood.

A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N M Jamdar directed the Union government counsel, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, to file an affidavit.

The affidavit should state whether the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was required to have had experts conduct a specific study on the effect of the reclamation and construction work for the project on the fisherfolk in the city and their source of livelihood, the bench said.

Such study was a condition imposed by the Union Ministry of and Forest on the BMC at the time of granting clearances for the project, which envisages building a 29.2-km long road along Mumbai's west coast, connecting Marine Drive in South Mumbai to Kandivali, a western suburb.

The court directed the Union government to file the affidavit clarifying if such a condition still existed, and if so, then "whether the study was to be conducted simultaneously with the reclamation work, as it progressed along the proposed stretch of the road, or, if the study should have been done before the work began"?



The HC was hearing a petition by two associations of the fisherfolk from the city, the Worli Koliwada Nakhwa and the Worli Machimmar Sarvodaya Sahakari Society, raising grievances against the coastal road project.

The petitioners, through advocate Gayatri Singh, claimed the BMC and Maharashtra government authorities had not conducted any public hearing, or consultations with the fisherfolk before starting work on the project.

They said in their plea that the road, once constructed, will take away their livelihood.

BMC counsel Anil Sakhre, however, told the court that the corporation would ensure that the fishermen affected by the project were duly compensated.

He also said the civic body will ensure that any likely damage to the breeding areas of fish along the stretch was minimised.

The HC, however, cautioned that if it was "not satisfied" with the steps taken by the state and central authorities to protect the fishermen, it would have to "think about whether to let the project go ahead or not".

It directed the Union government to file its affidavit by April 9.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) Friday said it has crossed 1,000 dealership milestone in the country.

The company opened its 1,000th dealership in Zirakpur (Punjab).

With this, HMSI's total network count, including sales and service touchpoints, in the country has now crossed the 6,000th outlet mark.

"This landmark achievement brings Honda closer to the hearts of its customers, who have reposed their trust in the brand," HMSI President & CEO Minoru Kato said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dubbed an "outsider" by the Opposition, BJP MP Hema Malini has said she has a "divine connection" with the city of Lord Krishna and has no intention of becoming a minister.

The actor-turned-politician, who has been fielded once again by the BJP from the Mathura constituency, filed her nomination papers for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections earlier this week.

The 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal has said that Mathura will witness an "outsider vs Brijwasi" battle as Hema Malini lives in Mumbai.

"Yes, I have a house in Mumbai. What is the problem with that? I have a house here also and I am a Virndavanwasi," Hema Malini told PTI in an exclusive interview.

"I am so involved with the city and I feel some divine connection with this city. I have been playing Radha and Meera throughout my life and I was in a temple only when my candidature was announced," she said.

The BJP MP said she also has to fulfil her professional commitments as an actor and a danseuse.

"In the last five years I have come here more than 250 times. People should understand that I am not just an MP and I have to use my talent as an actor and a danseuse as well. There is no need for me to be here 24 hours. I come and get things done in 10 days," Hema Malini said.

"I know that I can't satisfy the entire city, which is so huge, but I have done my work with utmost sincerity and will continue to do so in future as well," she said.

Hema Malini said it pained her when people questioned her work in the last five years.

"I really feel hurt when someone asks 'apne kya kaam kiya?' (what work did you do). The first two years were difficult as I could not communicate (with the people). But in the last two years I was able to get things done with the support of the Centre and the state government," she said.

"Many projects have been sanctioned under Brij Teerth Vikas Parishad and I am working to revive the old heritage of Brij Mandal," she said, adding that she needed another five years for that.

"This is why I have decided to stay back," she said.

Despite being a star campaigner of the ruling BJP, the BJP MP said she was not eyeing a ministerial berth at the Centre and wants to focus on Mathura only.

"I am not a hardcore politician and I want to limit myself to Mathura only. I am asked many times if I want to become a minister and it sounds so strange. Being a minister is a full-time responsibility," Hema Malini said.

"Women ministers in Modiji's cabinet have done extremely well and I am proud of them, but this is not a competition," she said.

Rejecting speculation about differences in the BJP's local unit, Hema Malini said everyone is working together to ensure a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"There is no infighting and my party workers have a lot of love and respect for me. They are supporting me in a big way and I am 100 per cent sure of winning with a bigger margin this time," she said.

Asked about her announcement, which she made after filing her nomination papers, that this election will be her last, Hema Malini said as of now, she was focussing on making the most of the next five years.

"We will talk about the future after five years. Let's see how much energy I will have left by then," she said.

Asked about the possibility of her family members campaigning for her, she said, "I can't say yet whether Dharamji will come. I wanted Esha to come but she is expecting a baby," she said.

Hema Malini had defeated RLD's sitting MP Jayant Chaudhary in 2014 by a huge margin of 3,30,743 votes in 2014.

This year, she is pitted against RLD's Kunwar Narendra Singh.

Voting will be held in Mathura in the second round of seven-phase Lok Sabha polls on April 18. Results will be announced on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kerala Janapaksham founder and MLA P C George, who is a voter of Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, Friday said he would vote for BJP candidate K Surendran, as he was the one and only candidate who visited his home seeking his vote.

George, however, said a decision on his party cooperating with the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha polls would be taken in two days.

"I will vote for Surendran as he was the only candidate who visited my home seeking my vote.

No decision has been taken so far on extending my party's support to Surendran or other NDA candidates," George said hours after the BJP candidate visited him seeking his support.

George, who supported protests by Hindu outfits over the Sabarimala issue, had said recently the state committee of the Janapaksham had discussed the issue of cooperating with the NDA in the elections after the Congress leadership did not respond to his demand that his party be made a partner of the United Democratic Front.

The BJP has fielded its strongman K Surendran from Pathanamathitta where the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple is located.

While CPI(M) has fielded its sitting MLA Veena George as its candidate, the Congress renominated sitting MP Anto Antony.

George had supported protests by various Hindu outfits last year against the implementation of the Supreme Court verdict lifting the traditional ban on entry of women in the 10-50 age group into the Sabarimala temple.

He had come out openly against the LDF government's stand supporting entry of women in the menstrual age group into the hill shrine.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Lufthansa Innovation Hub has launches Rydes, Europe's first reward programme for all urban mobility services as well as air, rail and bus travel between different cities.



Launched under the motto "Loyal to the way you move," the programme offers reward points for each journey with a digitally bookable mobility service. These include car sharing bike sharing and eScooter sharing services not to mention public transport busses and trains. Kick scooters will be added soon, a statement said.



"With Rydes, we are launching a whole new type of loyalty program that does not reward loyalty to a type of transport and thus reacts to the changing mobility behaviour of parts of the young, digital-savvy generation, said Rene Braun, Rydes project manager at the Lufthansa Innovation Hub.



With Rydes, we are testing a new program that stands out in three key ways: It works for all mobility providers, it is 100 per cent digital, the rewards are curated for the target group and can be redeemed transparently and very easily.



Collecting and redeeming points for rewards works directly via the Rydes app: Users scan their digital tickets and Rydes books the points for each trip to their personal points account. From there these can be redeemed for various premiums. In addition to free minutes with mobility partners, there are vouchers with the reward partners Eurowings, Amorelie, Tinder, ABOUT YOU, and Amazon, discounts for fitness memberships, or a quick free coffee on the way to work.



Users can also collect additional points via mobility challenges. In the "Up-in-the-Air Challenge," users are rewarded with an instant reward if they upload a flight ticket from Eurowings, easyJet, or Ryanair. In the "Transporter Challenge" MILES rewards the booking of a rental van with 1000 extra points. Seven additional challenges benefit entirely different types of mobility  from environmentally friendly driving to intercity travel.  TradeArabia News Service
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Friday signed an agreement with Common Services Centers (CSC) to help upskill one lakh young professionals in core technologies over the next year, according to a statement.

CSC is a network that is a part of the government's rural outreach programme for delivery of digital services.

Under the pact, IEEE will work through CSCs across the country to train the young professionals in skills that align with the government's Digital India initiative, which in turn will spur jobs in the emerging fields of building or managing data networks and Internet of Things (IoT), the statement said.

"The aim of this agreement is to jointly create jobs and bridge the digital divide. IEEE Blended Learning Program (BLP) aims to upskill 1 lakh young professionals across the country in the emerging areas of technology such as the Internet of Things and building Wi-Fi community networks," Harish Mysore, Senior Director IEEE India Operations, said.

The BLP certificate programmes are developed in conjunction with industry leaders and vetted by experts to ensure their effectiveness in content and learning experience. It is backed by micro-learning modules, application modules and data analytics, ultimately leading to an IEEE certificate, which aims at bridging the skills gap between academic learning and industry needs.

Dinesh Tyagi, CEO of CSC, said through the partnership it is looking to strengthen offering in the eLearning space for learners, who will benefit from CSC's last mile reach.

"With the skills attained through these programmes, we expect that the learners will be able to improve their chances of getting hired in the respective new age domains of technology," Tyagi added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Friday highlighted his government's "achievements" in space under 'Mission Shakti' and at grass-roots level through various social welfare schemes, and asked people to vote for an administration that can take concrete decisions and not just raise slogans.

Launching his campaign for the April-May parliamentary election in eastern India with a rally in the Jeypore area of Odisha's Koraput district, Modi referred to the successful anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test under 'Mission Shakti' and said his government has put a 'chowkidar' even in space.

The NDA government wouldn't have been able to do any development work in the country without the support of the people, the prime minister said as he sought blessings from his supporters for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"The NDA government has been working hard to develop road and rail infrastructure in the state. There is no dearth of funds when it comes to development work in the country.



"In the last five years, the government has been able to build homes for eight lakh families, light up 3,000 houses and provide gas connections to 40 lakh homes," Modi stated.

He came down heavily on opposition parties who, he said, "belittled" 'Mission Shakti, which paved the way for the country to enter an elite space club.

"Those who are criticising the anti-satellite technology will be given a befitting reply in the elections," he claimed, urging people to vote for a government that "can take concrete decisions, not the one that only raises slogans".

Referring to the surgical strikes in Balakot last month, the prime minister said it was "appalling" that the opposition parties sought evidence of the retaliatory air strike conducted by the Air Force on terrorist camps in Pakistan, following the Pulwama terror strike.

"Should we tolerate this? Should we not punish them for insulting our scientists and defence forces?" the prime minister asked people who gathered in this south Odisha town to attend the public meeting.



The PM stressed that development work in Odisha will be accelerated if the state votes the BJP to power in the upcoming assembly elections.

"Odisha is rich in natural resources but people are poor. This proves that the subsequent governments have failed to develop Odisha. The BJD government has also kept the people of Odisha away from the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. It deprived the poor of their right to quality healthcare.

"A double engine government of the BJP at the Centre and the state will benefit the people here. Odisha will become stronger only when the tribals, the farmers, the youngsters here, have proper means of income," the PM maintained.

The Centre is striving hard to provide jobs and livelihood to farmers, women and youths, he said.



ALSO READ: How CM Modi predicted PM Modi

"Five years ago, minimum support price was available for only 10 forest produces. It has been now increased to 50. Under the Mudra Yojana, the central government is providing collateral-free loans to the women and the youth," Modi said.

Hitting out at the BJD government, Modi said that the ruling party in the state has been mired in multiple controversies.

"Can those involved in chit fund schemes make Odisha strong? In the last seven decades, what did the state governments do to alleviate poverty in the state?



"This is the right time to punish the Congress and the BJD, who had ample time to develop the region, but did not nothing noteworthy. They have failed miserably," Modi added.

Election to 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 Assembly constituencies in Odisha will be held simultaneously in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.
India on Friday summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner here and conveyed concerns over the presence of a leading Khalistani separatist in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor project, official sources said.

They said India will wait for a response from Pakistan on the issue and is likely to reschedule a meeting on the Kartarpur corridor which was to be held on April 2 in Wagah on the Pakistani side.

Sources said India has sought clarifications on a number of issues from Pakistan including on the presence of Khalistani separatist Chawla in the Kartarpur committee as well as association of other anti-India elements like Bison Singh, Kuljit Singh and Maninder Singh in the project.

They said Chawla, a close aide of terrorist Hafiz Saeed, is part of the committee, which was not acceptable to India.

The Pakistani Cabinet constituted a 10-member Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) to facilitate Sikh pilgrims after opening of the Kartarpur Corridor.

Sources said Pakistan has agreed to allow pilgrims from all faiths to visit Kartarpur Sahib as demanded by India. Initially, Pakistan said only Sikh pilgrims will be allowed to visit the shrine.

Pakistan was conveyed that the issue has raised fresh concerns in India about the safety and security of pilgrims and possible misuse of the corridor for anti-India activities, sources said.

India has been strongly emphasising on the need for foolproof security for its pilgrims on the Pakistani soil and demanding commitment from the neighbouring country to insulate them from any anti-India propaganda during their visit to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, sources said.

India also asked Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah his country's stand on key proposals put forward by New Delhi at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, they said.

A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement said it has been conveyed to the Paksitani side that the next meeting on the modalities of the corridor can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan's response.

The two sides had met on March 14 to thrash out sticky issues relating to the project.

In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, the statement said.

The Indian government remains committed to realising the long-pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner, it said.

India has asked Pakistan to allow pilgrims to travel on foot, if they wish. It also urged that another 10,000 pilgrims be allowed access on festivals like Baisakhi and Gurupurab.

Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.

Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district.

Two days later, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, 125 km from Lahore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India on Friday summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner here and conveyed concerns over the presence of several Khalistani separatists in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor, sources said.

India also asked Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah his country's stand on on key proposals put forward by New Delhi at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, they said.

A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement said it has been conveyed to the Paksitani side that the next meeting on the modalities of the corridor can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan's response.

The next round of talks were scheduled to be held on April 2 at Wagah border.

In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, the statement said.

The Indian government remains committed to realising the long pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner, it said.

India has asked Pakistan to allow pilgrims to travel on foot, if they wish. It also urged that another 10,000 pilgrims be allowed access on festivals like Baisakhi and Gurupurab.

Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.

Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district.

Two days later, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, 125 km from Lahore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India and the US Friday renewed a pact that provides a framework for promoting bilateral cooperation to meet the developmental aspirations of partner countries, particularly in Asia and Africa.

The First Amendment to the Statement of Guiding Principles (SGP) on Triangular Cooperation for Global Development was signed by Devyani Khobragade, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs of India, and Mark Anthony White, Mission Director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in India.

The SGP agreement, signed in November 2014, underscores the contribution of the India-US partnership to global stability and prosperity.

It provides a framework for promoting cooperation between the two countries to meet the developmental aspirations of partner countries, particularly in Asia and Africa.

The first amendment to the SGP agreement extends the validity of the SGP agreement up to 2021, a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement said.

It expands the scope of capacity-building activities undertaken jointly by India and the US under this framework and also provides a consultative mechanism for joint biannual monitoring and review of activities undertaken under the SGP.

"Under the agreement, India and the US will continue to offer capacity-building assistance to partner countries in multiple sectors, focusing primarily on agriculture, regional connectivity, trade and investments, nutrition, health, clean and renewable energy, women empowerment, disaster preparedness, water, sanitation, education and institution building," the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Institutional anarchy" and "complete lawlessness" have been prevailing in West Bengal as the police recently tried to arrest custom officials for checking the luggage of wife of a TMC leader at the Kolkata airport, the Centre alleged in the Supreme Court on Friday.

The custom officials at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at Kolkata were "intimidated, harassed and threatened" by the local police for checking the baggage of wife of Trinmool Congress MP, who is a relative of Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee, it said.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna told the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to file a proper application in this regard.

"You have drawn our attention to the incident. Now, what do you want us to do," the bench told Mehta.

The solicitor general replied that they want the case to be registered against the concerned police officials, which is not being done.

"You file an appropriate application in this regard," the bench said.

Mehta said that on the intervening night of March 15-16 at around 1.10 AM, two women, who arrived from an international flight, and their luggage were checked by the custom officials.

"They were asked to allow checking of their baggage but they resisted. They were asked to show their passports after which they abused the officials present there," he said.

Mehta added that soon after the ladies left the airport, a huge contingent of police personnel entered the premises and tried to arrest the custom officials for checking the baggage of the women.

"This is institutional anarchy and complete lawlessness going on in West Bengal," he said, adding that custom officials tried to lodge the FIR but no case was registered by the police so far.

A letter was written by Assistant Commissioner of Customs to Inspector in-charge of Airport police station on March 22, seeking registration of an FIR for interfering, obstruction and criminal intimidation by the West Bengal police, he said.

The custom commissioner has narrated the entire incident and said that one of the ladies whose baggage was checked was wife of TMC MP Abhishek Bannerjee, nephew of the West Bengal CM, as per the letter.

The Commissioner alleged that police officers who entered the airport in different batches tried to intimidate, harass and threaten the custom officials with arrests.

The commissioner has said that West Bengal police wanted a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the custom officials where VIPs were not "checked" and "a safe passage of their VIPs without any interception by customs".

Police personnel, who arrived at the airport have claimed that they have received a complaint from one of the two women, who were checked by custom officials alleging harassment, intimidation and extortion by them, the letter said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Income Tax officials continued their searches in parts of KarnatakaFriday, even as Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy claimed that not even Rs ten unaccounted money was found in the raids.

In a pre-dawn swoop Thursday, I-T sleuths had carried out coordinated raids at many locations across Bengaluru, Ramanagara, Kanakapura, Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan and Shivamogga.

"It has not concluded yet," an I-T official said withoutdivulging any detail.

Taking to the streets, Kumaraswamy had on Thursday staged a protest in front of the I-T department here in the first such protest by the State chief minister in recent memory.

The crackdown came within a day after Kumaraswamy claimed Wednesday night that the I-T raids had been planned from 5 am on Thursday.

The ruling Congress-JDS alliance alleged that the I-T raids were carried out on JD(S) leaders overseeing the elections of Kumaraswamy's son, Nikhil, in Mandya and nephew Prajwal Revanna in Hassan.

Kumaraswamy said, "I was watching the television, (where it was claimed that) crores of rupees were found.

Did your income tax officers get even Rs 10? Why did they go for it (raids)? It was intentional."



He sought to know why the BJP leaders were spared from the raid and only Congress and JD(S) leaders were targeted.

"Whom did they raid? Did they raid the houses of BJP leaders? Are the BJP leaders poor? Do they seek vote by prostrating without giving money?" the chief minister said.

Meanwhile, Congress state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao wrote to President Ramnath Kovind alleging that the raids were conducted to create a fear psychosis among the voters.

In the letter, a copy of which was released to the media, he said the I-T department was carrying out raids on the relatives of Congress and JD(S) leaders to mar the election prospects and create a fear psychosis among voters, supporters, leaders and candidates of the alliance partners.

Rao requested the President to direct the income tax department to desist from conducting raids in the interest of free and fair elections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) Friday said it has secured new orders worth Rs 588 crore in international markets.

The transmission and distribution business has secured projects of Rs 588 crore in international markets, KPTL said in a statement.

"Our total order inflows for 2018-19 is approximately Rs 8,500 crore and we are favourably placed/L1 in orders of Rs 1,800 crore. Given the order book and visibility, we are confident to deliver healthy growth in revenue and profitability for 2019-20," KPTL MD and CEO Manish Mohnot said in the statement.

KPTL is a specialised engineering procurement and construction company engaged in power transmission and distribution, oil and gas pipeline, railways, infrastructure development, civil contracting and warehousing and logistics business with a strong international presence in power transmission and distribution.

The company is currently executing several contracts in India, Africa, Middle East, CIS, SAARC and Far East.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls here as a CPI candidate, was on Friday booked for violation of Model Code of Conduct.

The case was lodged at Mansur Chak police station of the district under relevant sections of the Representation of People Act, SHO Arvind Kumar said.

He said as per the FIR, based on the complaint of Mansur Chak Block Development Officer-cum-flying squad magistrate Shatrughan Rajak, Kanhaiya had addressed a public meeting in a village on Thursday without obtaining prior permission for the same from the authorities.

The former student leader, who is making his electoral debut from Begusarai, is engaged in a triangular contest wherein Union minister Giriraj Singh is in the fray as a BJP candidate while the RJD has fielded Tanveer Hasan its candidate in the last general elections who had finished the runner-up.

Polling will be held in Begusarai in the fourth phase of elections on April 29 while the filing of nominations will begin on April 02.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue of surgical strikes, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Friday said such "strategic attacks" are never disclosed and claimed 11 similar strikes were made during the UPA I regime when he was a Union Minister.

Addressing an election rally in Nalgonda district hours after the Prime Minister launched BJP's campaign in the state, he alleged Modi was spreading 'lies' against the TRS government for the sake of votes and political gains.

He also mocked at Modi over his 'chowkidar' (watchman) slogan, saying Chaiwala has gone and Chowkidar has come.

"...surgical strikes happened eleven times when I was in the Union Cabinet. They are strategic attacks which are never disclosed. They do it, we do it," said Rao, who was a member of the UPA cabinet till 2006 when he resigned from it over the issue of separate statehood for Telangana.

Referring to the recent air strikes on JeM terror camps in Balakot in Pakistan, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti supremo said Modi "boasts of that 300 terrorists were eliminated in a single attack.

"Azhar Masood (head of Jaish-E-Mohammed) said not even an ant died, KCR, as Rao is popularly called, claimed.

The Indian Air Force carried out the pre-dawn strikes on JeM camp in Balakot in the backdrop of the Pulwama terror attack that left 40 CRPF jawans dead.

Attacking Modi, KCR sought to know what good happened to the country in the last five years of his rule.

Chaiwala is gone and Chowkidar has come. The country should tread a new path to get rid of all problems. These inept people cannot relieve the country of the problems, he said.

Reacting to charges levelled by Modi against his government at an election rally in Mahabubnagar, Rao accused the prime minister of speaking lies and dared him for an open debate on the Centre's Ayushman Bharatand the state's 'Aarogyasri' Health Scheme to ascertain which was better.

"Being a PM, is it right to speak lies?, KCR asked.

Earlier, Modi in his address at the rally said the TRS-led government in Telangana was not extending the PMJAY health insurance scheme for the poor people of the state.

KCR also accused the BJP of indulging in "political Hindutva".

"We are dharmic people, who are devoted. These fake Hindus... political Hindutva is only for the sake of votes. So, people, particularly the youth, should not get swayed away by it," he said.

Rao, who has been proposing a non-BJP, non-Congress federal front at the Centre, appealed to the people to vote for the TRS candidates in the coming elections, saying the party MPs would fight for the rights of the state.

Someone should raise a war cry and I am ready to do it if you bless me. Will you bless me? Will you give me the strength? For that, we should win 16 MP seats. That should be the beginning, KCR said.

He claimed the BJP-led NDA and Congress would not get more than 150 and 100 Lok Sabhat seats respectively and asserted that the regional parties will form the government.

The BJP which contested for 118 seats in the December last assembly elections, lost deposits in 103 constituencies and won only one seat, the chief minister said adding yet the party leaders make tall claims about their strength in Telangana.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New South Wales Self-Drive e-learning module for Travel Agents in India

New South Wales is Australias most popular tourism destination for national and international visitors. There are countless reasons to visit  from our world famous icons such as Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the unspoilt beaches, world-heritage National Parks, thrilling adventure activities and calendar of

world-class events across our diverse and beautiful State.

Driving on well-maintained roads is a pleasure. Even better are the smooth roads that take you through impressive scenery, including World Heritage areas, of which NSW has both. Youll discover enchanting rainforests and secluded beaches, seaside villages and country towns, mountains and valleys, and the vast outback.

You can do day trips on each route, but take several days or more to enjoy the attractions along the way. Youll find plenty of accommodation choices and lots of things to do in the towns and villages you pass through. Three popular scenic routes start from Sydney, all varying in length: the Grand Pacific Drive on the South Coast to Shoalhaven the Legendary Pacific Coast Drive up the North Coast, and the Greater Blue Mountains Drive, through the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains.

Other scenic drives include the 300-km Snowy Valleys Way through the Snowy Mountains, and the 200 km Waterfall Way on the northern tablelands of NSW. The Poachers Way is a food and wine trail where you can savour fresh produce and great wines in NSW towns near Canberra, three hours drive from Sydney.

While completing this e-learning module, you will learn about all the basic information you need in order to sell New South Wales competently to your clients. With this expert knowledge, you will love selling Sydney and New South Wales as much as your clients will love discovering it. But of course more than anything we would love to welcome you in New South Wales. That is why everyone who completes this e-learning module by 4th May 2019 , will go in the draw to win a trip to New South Wales.

Good luck!

Your Destination NSW India Team.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called on Britain's parliament Friday to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's divorce deal with the European Union and negotiate a new one with better terms.

Khan told AFP ahead of parliament's third vote on May's twice-rejected Withdrawal Agreement with the other 27 EU nations that uncertainty associated with a Brexit extension was better than May's way forward.

"My message to MPs from all parties is to vote against this deal," Khan said after meeting a group of EU nationals at a university in east London.

"I appreciate that may lead to a bit more uncertainty, but I'd rather have a short period of uncertainty with a good future."



Khan has focused his energy in the past year on preparing London's massive financial district for the consequences of a potentially abrupt and chaotic no-deal ending to Britain's 46-year involvement in the European project.

He admitted that no-one entirely knew -- or was fully ready -- for the eventuality of the sides splitting apart without any safety mechanisms in place to cushion the blow.

The Bank of England warned in November that the UK economy could shrink by eight per cent within months of a messy divorce.

Britain must present the EU with an alternative proposal by April 12 if May's deeply unpopular deal is rejected for a third time.

The Withdrawal Agreement's approval on Friday would give the UK parliament until May 22 to get all the accompanying legislation passed.

Failure to do so could still theoretically result in the sides breaking up without a deal. Khan is a member of the opposition Labour party who backs calls for May to put up any pact approved by parliament up for confirmation in a national vote that would also include the option of staying in the bloc.

"Rather than a group of MPs deciding our future, who by the way have changed their mind, the British public should be allowed a say," Khan said.

"MPs get not just one say, but a second say and now a third say, yet the British public are not allowed a final say on whether we accept the deal negotiated by the government with the option of staying in the European Union."



He called May "incompetent" and the government's handling of the entire process "shambolic".

"I think we can all agree that Brexit has been a complete and utter mess."



He added that the European leaders he has been in talks with since Britons voted to leave in 2016 would still like to see voters change their minds and reverse Brexit in the months to come.

"When I speak to leaders from across Europe, whether it's in France, whether it's in Germany, whether it's in Brussels, what is clear to me is that nobody want to punish us," said the London mayor.

"Everybody is heartbroken we are leaving.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The April 11 elections would herald a "new sunrise" and see the "son set" in Andhra Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here Friday, in a fiery attack aimed at Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh.

Your vote will make the sun rise and the son set. Do you not want the sunrise of AP? Should not the son set happen ? the Prime Minister asked people at a largely-attended election campaign rally of the BJP in this historic town that was the capital of the erstwhile Andhra state in the 1950s.

Modi said he was told that it was the first time that a Prime Minister visited Kurnool.

Peoples vote on April 11 - for the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and the state assembly -- would ensure the double engine growth for Andhra Pradesh, with a BJP government at the Centre and also at the state, Modi remarked.

Your vote will also help build a New India that enables equal opportunities for all. Help strengthen this by voting the BJP, he appealed.

In his 25-minute address, the Prime Minister elaborated what all the Central government did for AP in the last five years and how the rulers of the state focused only "on filling" their own coffers.

I could have definitely done a lot more for the state had I got the required support of the state government. But their intention was not to serve the people or develop the state but design schemes only to indulge in scams," he said.

Infrastructure development programmes could have been taken up at a brisk pace but the rulers here were busy working for their "own familys political and economic benefits, the Prime Minister noted, hitting out at Chandrababu Naidu, whom he continued to call U-turn Babu.

The TDPs contesting candidates list is filled with relatives of the U-turn Babu, he said.

Modi said as the pradhan sevak and chowkidar (watchman), he was constantly fighting the corrupt and dynastic politics, be it of the TDP, Jaganmohan Reddy (of the YSR Congress) or the Congress, the other three main political players in the state.

Their intentions itself are malafide. In the Chandrababu Naidu government, its not just scams in the schemes but schemes itself were designed only for scams, the Prime Minister charged, referring to the state capital city Amaravati and Polavaram multipurpose project.

Polavaram is a live example. The Centre released Rs 7,000 crore but instead of building the project, the state government went on escalating the costs. Thats why there is water scarcity in the parched Rayalaseema region. Not only are farmers suffering but also industrial growth is hampered, Modi lamented.

TDP and Congress ruled the state for decades and Chandrababu Naidu had been the Chief Minister for a very long time.

Rivers Tungabhadra and Krishna flowed through the region but farmers in Rayalaseema which otherwise was known as a 'ratanaala seema' (land of the gems) did not get water for their crops, the Prime Minister said.

This was only due to the "ill intentions" of the rulers, he added.

The Prime Minister listed out various initiatives of his government like the setting up of a greenfield petroleum complex, establishing a new railway zone at Visakhapatnam, opening of numerous institutions of national importance like IIM, IIT, IIIT, National Institute of Ocean Technology and AIIMS.

He also recalled the sanctioning of Visakhapatnam- Chennai Industrial Corridor, expanding the airports at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Rajamahendravaram, saying they contributed to the progress of the state.

Under Sagarmala, we have taken up projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in AP alone. As many as 82 lakh small farmers in the state are drawing benefit under the PM Kisan scheme.

"The Chandrababu Naidu government is merely pasting stickers on the Central schemes and claiming them as its own, Modi alleged.

It was for this reason Naidu earned a dubious moniker of Sticker Babu besides U-turn Babu, the Prime Minister said mockingly.

He has taken a U-turn when this chowkidar started seeking accounts for the funds released by the Centre. He has taken a U-turn on development (of the state) and quit the NDA.

"He now chose such friends who are on bail gadi who are steeped in corruption and who treat Pakistan as hero, Modi said in an apparent reference to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi who are on bail in the National Herald case.

The Sticker Babu had been spreading lies and falsehood for over a year now only to cover his 'dramas', Modi added.

BJP state president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, MP G V L Narasimha Rao and other leaders were also present at the well-attended rally.

Andhra Pradesh goes to siumultaneous elections to the 175-member assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in the first phase on April 11 with the BJP contesting them alone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kickstarting the BJP's poll campaign in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday targeted the opposition chief ministers of the two states, calling former ally N Chandrababu Naidu 'U-turn Babu' and alleging that K Chandrasekar Rao is under the influence of astrologers.

Andhra Pradesh with 25 seats and Telangana with 17 figure in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls starting April 11. Assembly polls will be also held simultaneously in AP where the Naidu-led TDP is in power.

Levelling charges of corruption and dynasty politics against Naidu, Modi said April 11 will usher in the "double engine" of AP's growth -- a BJP government both at the Centre and the state.

There was debate going on in AP that there were 'schemes for corruption,' ranging from the creation of the new capital Amravati, the prime minister charged.

"The people of Andhra Pradesh know whose coffers are being filled.. when this chowkidar sought accounts, u-turn Babu took a u-turn from AP's growth and walked out from NDA," Modi said addressing a rally in Kurnool.

Naidu had snapped ties with the NDA in March last year, accusing the Centre of not honouring the "promised" special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Hitting out at the TDP supremo for getting close to the Congress, Modi said Naidu has "found friends who are on bail," apparently referring to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi who are on bail in the National Herald case.

Modi, who had in the past hit out at Naidu for alleged family politics, said the election should also see the 'son set', and called for a new 'sun rise'.

He deliberately stressed on using 'son" to drive home his point on dynasty politics to target the chief minister and his son and state minister Nara Lokesh.

Alleging that Naidu's "intent" was not on state's development, Modi sought to reject the chief minister's repeated attacks that his government neglected the state.

He accused Naidu of pasting state government 'stickers' on Central schemes.

"For sure, I could have done more work. I just required the cooperation of the state government. I made all efforts from my side, but the person who is running the government (Naidu), his intention is not Andhra Pradesh's development," Modi said.

Asking the people of Telangana to vote for a "new Bharat" where the people of the state will also benefit, Modi said the citizens in the country were moving forward sans any fear as the 'chowkidar' has been 'alert.'



Addressing a rally in Mahbubnagar, Modi took a swipe at the Telangana chief minister for the delay in forming the cabinet after securing a massive win last year, saying the latter must have been influenced by some astrologer.

K Chandrasekar Rao is said to be a firm believer in rituals and astrology.

Modi also described Rao as the "face" of dynastic and appeasement politics.

Targeting Rao, the prime minister alleged he took some decisions based on the advice of astrologers.

The swiftness Rao showed in advancing assembly polls ahead of its schedule was only matched by a long delay in formation of full-fledged Cabinet bringing governance in the state to a standstill, Modi said.

"The reason behind this may be some astrologer."



"You tell me whether the people of Telangana will decide the future of Telangana or an astrologer?" he asked.

Rao, who led his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to a decisive victory in the assembly polls in December, was sworn as chief minister along with one minister on December 13, but expanded the cabinet more than two months later on February 19.

Modi claimed Rao advanced the polls as he feared defeat. "If it were to be held simultaneously with Lok Sabha, he would have "sunk" as "stars of Modi will shine in April-May".

"Based on a suggestion of astrologer, both elections were delinked", the prime minister said, adding had the assembly and Lok Sabha elections been conducted simultaneously, a huge expenditure could have been avoided.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he protects the rich while his own party bats for the poor, the weaker sections and the farmers.

The 2019 polls are a fight between two ideologies. On one hand are the BJP, the RSS and Narendra Modi and on the other is the Congress," he said.

Gandhi is on a day's visit to Haryana to be part of Congress state unit's ongoing Parivartan Yatra.

He was scheduled to address a series of meetings.

"During the past five years, Modi has made several promises to the people of this country. Wherever he goes, he spreads hatred," Gandhi said.

"He promised putting Rs 15 lakh into every Indian's bank account. Did anyone get anything? he said at a public meeting in Yamunanagar district's Jagadhri town.

He said unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress keeps its promises.

Gandhi recalled the recent Congress announcement on NYAY, a minimum income guarantee scheme, that it plans to introduce if it forms the government.

The Congress leader claimed the prime minister waived loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore of 15 industrialists. Modi protects the rich, he said.

But the Congress works for the farmers, the weaker sections and the poor, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday launched a blistering attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and erstwhile ally N Chandrababu Naidu, calling him 'u-turn Babu', whose "intent" was not on state's development.

Addressing a well-attended election rally here, he sought to reject Naidu's repeated attacks that his government neglected the state.

Andhra Pradesh goes to siumultaneous elections to the 175-member assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in the first phase on April 11 with the BJP contesting them alone.

Listing various initiatives taken by the NDA government for Andhra Pradesh, Modi said it was during his regime that the Vizag-Chennai industrial corridor was flagged off and approval for the first National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) given.

It was also the 'chowkidar' who cleared the first Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) besides approving the greenfield petrochemical complex for the state, he said.

"Five years ago, your one vote made me PM. Your Pradhan sewak worked selflessly day and night for the people of the country. Chowkidar kept the interest of the state in mind," he said.

Modi also recalled that the NDA government sanctioned first central university in Anantpur.

He accused Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party supremo, of pasting state government 'stickers' on the Central schemes.

"For sure, I could have done more work. I just required the cooperation of the state government. I made all efforts from my side, but the person who is running the government (Naidu), his intention is not Andhra Pradesh's development," Modi said.

Levelling charges of corruption and dynasty against Naidu, he said the election date of April 11 will usher in the "double engine" of the state's growth -- a BJP government both at the Centre and the state.

There was debate going on in AP that there were 'schemes for corruption,' ranging from the creation of the new capital Amravati, the Prime Minister charged.

"The people of Andhra Pradhesh know whose coffers are being filled.. when this chowkidar sought accounts, u-turn Babu took a u-turn from AP's growth and walked out from NDA," Modi lashed out.

Naidu had snapped ties with the NDA in March last year, accusing the Centre of not honouring the "promised" special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Hitting out at the TDP supremo for getting close to the Congress, Modi said Naidu has "found friends who are on bail," apparently referring to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi who are on bail in the National Herald case.

Modi, who had in the past hit out at Naidu for alleged family politics, said the election should also see the "son set", and called for a new "sun rise."



He deliberately stressed on the "son" part to drive home his point on dynasty targeting the AP chief minister and his son and state minister Nara Lokesh.

Without elaborating, Modi mocked that Pakistan has now accepted Naidu's "friends" as "hero.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Aditya Birla Group's retail chain 'More' plans to invest around Rs 1,000 crore to scale up its operations in the next five years, a top company official said Friday.

The retail chain, in which US-based e-commerce major Amazon and Samara Capital jointly invested around Rs 4,200 crore last year, also expects its turnover to grow three-fold in five years.

The company operates two retail formats -- supermarkets and hypermarkets, apart from its online channel.

It currently has around 600 supermarkets and 20 hypermarkets.

According to Aditya Birla Retail CEO Mohit Kampani, More has now become a debt-free company, which is helping the retail chain to expand.

"The mandate from our our board is that in the next five years, the company has to grow three times. That's our target," Kampani told PTI.

More has a present turnover of around Rs 4,500 crore, he added.

"You can expect our supermarket count to grow to 1,200 from 600 and hypermarket, you can expect us to grow at five times of today, which would be between around 120 to 125 stores," he added.

"We would invest Rs 1,000 crore to open new stores. It's not only the front end, we would invest in the back-end operations also," he said, adding that most of the funds "would come from internal accruals as the company is profitable and is generating cash."



Online accounts for around 5 per cent of the company's total sales.

"Idea is that our one-fifth (20 per cent) business should be online in next five years," Kampani said.

More also expects contribution from its private labels to increase.

"Currently, 30 per cent sales comes from our own labels, which are in food, FMCG and staples, and the target is to take that to 40 per cent in next five years," Kampani said.

As part of its expansion, More Friday opened a hypermarket at Omaxe Connaught Place here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tribal leader and Congress MLA in Madhya Pradesh Panchilal Meda Friday offered to resign in protest against police's failure to act against a liquor contractor who allegedly misbehaved with him.

The Dharampuri MLA met Chief Minister Kamal Nath later, with the party claiming that the issue was resolved.

In a letter to Nath, Meda said a liquor contractor for Dhamnod and Sundarail in his constituency and his men abused Meda and some Congress workers, hurling casteist slurs even inside Dhamnod police station, on March 26.

But no action was taken against the contractor, and the administration was in fact helping him in illegal transportation of liquor in the area, the MLA alleged.

"Please take action against the guilty or accept my resignation," Meda wrote in the letter which he shared with the media. He also demanded withdrawal of a case registered by the contractor against Congress workers over the fracas.

As Meda was speaking to reporters at his house here Friday afternoon, ministers Pradyuman Singh Tomar and Bala Bachchan reached there to mollify him.

Tomar took Meda to meet Nath at Manas Bhawan auditorium where the MLA had a closed door meeting with the chief minister, and later participated in a function of the Adivasi Parishad along with Nath at the same venue.

The MLA could not be contacted later. State Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja said the issues raised by Meda were sorted out, and the BJP was behind the whole drama.

The opposition party said Meda had been insulted.

"It shows that a nexus of corrupt people is controlling the administration. Such behaviour with an MLA is an insult to elected representatives. Someone misbehaved with an MLA and no action was taken. This should be investigated by a central agency," said BJP spokesman Rahul Kothari.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was released from a high-security jail here for six weeks on medical grounds, has been advised "complete rest" by doctors after increase in angina pain and kidney complications.

Sharif, 69, was released from the Kot Lakhpat jail here on Tuesday night after the Supreme Court granted him bail for six weeks to obtain medical treatment within the country.

He was lodged in the Kot Lakhpat jail since December last year, serving



a seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case.

Doctors at the Sharif Medical City (SMC), which was set up nearly two decades ago by the former prime minister's family, examined the three-time premier on Thursday and advised him complete rest.

Giving details about his health, Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz said in a tweet on Thursday, Mian Nawaz Sharif was taken to SMC today. Preliminary work up & clinical review done. Examined by professors of Cardiology, Medicine, Nephrology & Urology. Recurrent angina & deterioration of renal function are the prime concerns. Further investigations planned tomorrow (Friday) onwards. Advised rest.

According to sources, Sharif might not meet PML-N leaders owing to his health condition.

Perhaps, no political activity will be arranged at Jati Umra residence till Sharif's health improves, they said.

The National Accountability Bureau filed three corruption cases against Sharif on the orders of the Supreme Court following the publication of the Panama Papers.

Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law retired captain Mohammad Safdar were granted bail in September last year in the Avenfield properties case that involved buying of four luxury flats in London through fraudulent means.

He was acquitted in December last year in the Flagship Investments corruption case in the high profile Panama Papers scandal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Friday asked the government and the debt-ridden IL&FS to submit details of assets and liabilities of 13 entities of the group.

A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya asked the IL&FS group to submit the details of four 'amber' entities -- Hazribagh Ranchi Expressway Ltd, Jharkhand Road Project Implementation Company Ltd, Moradabad Bareily Expressway Ltd and West Gujarat Expressway Ltd.

It also asked IL&FS to prepare a similar list for the rest nine 'amber' entities of the group.

Under its resolution plan, the government has categorised IL&FS group companies into green, amber and red categories based on their respective financial positions.

Companies classified as 'green' would continue to meet their payment obligations, while 'amber' category firms can meet only operational payment obligations to senior secured financial creditors.

Red category entities are those which cannot meet their payment obligations towards even senior secured financial creditors.

In its order Friday, the NCLAT bench said, "Union of India and ILFS Ltd are allowed to submit details of assets and liabilities of each of aforesaid four entities, including the amount payable to one or other financial creditor and operational creditor."



The matter with regard to these four amber entities will be taken up on the next date of hearing, which is April 8.

"However, in the meantime, with regard to rest of the nine Amber entities, similar status report be prepared and kept ready for taking up their matter subsequently," the order said.

During the proceedings, the appellate tribunal also clarified that there was no stay on the government to proceed with the resolution plan for IL&FS companies.

The bench also said it would hear the banking regulator RBI on moratorium against IL&FS group companies at the next hearing.

During the proceedings, senior secured financial creditors of IL&FS asked the tribunal to direct the amber companies to discharge their debt liability.

Earlier, the corporate affairs ministry submitted the debt resolution plan for IL&FS.

The entire resolution process is based on the principles enunciated in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, as per the ministry.

During the previous hearing on March 19, IL&FS had informed NCLAT that the number of 'green' companies has increased to 50 from 21.

The number of 'amber' companies also increased to 13 from 10.

IL&FS, which is facing a debt burden of over Rs 90,000 crore, is in the process of classification of the rest group companies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Friday asked the government and the to provide financial details, including amounts payable to creditors, regarding 13 group entities. A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya also clarified that there was no stay on the government to proceed with the resolution plan for entities. During the proceedings, the bench said that whatsoever step is taken by the newly-appointed board and the government for resolution of and its group would have to be approved by the appellate tribunal. The has listed the matter for next hearing on April 8. The bench also said it would hear the banking regulator RBI on a moratorium against IL&FS group at the next hearing. In an order Friday, the tribunal sought financial details about 13 entities of IL&FS group that have been classified under the 'amber' category. Under its resolution plan, the government has categorised IL&FS group entities into green, amber and red categories based on their respective financial positions.

Entities classified as 'green' would continue to meet their payment obligations, while 'amber' category firms can meet only operational payment obligations to senior secured financial creditors.

ALSO READ: IL&FS defaults, liquidity crunch may lead to M&As between banks and NBFCs

Those falling in the 'red' category are the entities which cannot meet their payment obligations towards even senior secured financial creditors.

Earlier, the corporate affairs ministry submitted the debt resolution plan for IL&FS.

The entire resolution process is based on the principles enunciated in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, as per the ministry.

At the previous hearing on March 19, IL&FS had informed that the number of 'green' has increased to 50 from 21.

The number of 'amber' entities also increased to 13 from 10.
By Auqib Javeed and Murtaza Ali, TwoCircles.net

There is hardly a part of the country right now that has not been gripped by the election fever. Across the nation, rallies, big and small, are taking place the ruling party BJP is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a return to the centre.

The mood, however, is slightly different in what is probably Indias most conflict-torn constituency, Anantnag. And here, the BJP has nominated Sofi Yousuf, a former MLA, who has been in the party since the mid-90s. Anantnag has seen about 80 civilian deaths at the hands of security forces in 2018.

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The mood of the common people can be understood from the fact that while BJP organises massive rallies across the nation witnessed by tens of thousands of people, the local BJP unit meeting can be accommodated in the front porch of a small building. Small BJP flags adorn the walls, a rare display of a party that rarely if ever, bags a substantial number of votes in the region in the state and Lok Sabha elections. In 2014 elections, for example, the party got less than 1,500 votes in this region.

But that has not stopped them from hoping. The BJP leaders here believe that the people in this region, who come out in thousands to show their love for militants killed in the encounter, would vote for a party that more than anyone epitomises an anti-Kashmiri attitude in this region.



And the BJP attitude is aptly represented by Sofi Yousuf. Ask him about the condition in the region, and he blames the National Conference, the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party. Ask him why people have protested against the possible tinkering with Article 35 and Article 370, and he blames it on NC, PDP, and the separatists. Yousuf repeats a common narrative parroted by many leaders from mainstream parties: people do not want to talk about the Kashmir conflict, they just want peace and development. His party takes credit for the development of roads and colleges in the areas but washes their hands off any violence in the region. He blames the protests on gun culture, although he is unable to support his arguments.

But his best BJP defence comes when asked about the follow-up to Pulwama attack when a number of Kashmiri students and traders were targeted by angry mobs across the nation. In this interview with TwoCircles.net, he says that the Kashmiri students were celebrating the attack and shouting Pakistan Zindabad slogans and that the attack was a result of peoples emotions. He also believes that incidents of mob lynching of Muslims in the country, in which over 40 people have been killed including in Jammu, were vastly exaggerated by the media. Only time will tell if the BJP will win in this region, but given that its members hid their faces when the media showed up at their party meeting a few weeks ago, a victory seems unlikely.
Nepal's Prime Minister K P Oli on Friday urged foreign investors, including from India and China, to invest in the Himalayan nation, saying it required around USD 88 billion business in the next five years to graduate from the category of Least Developed Countries to the Lower Middle Income country.

Inaugurating the two-day Nepal Investment Summit, 2019 here, Oli said that Nepal was committed to improve investment climate through enactment of new investment laws and pursuing a consistent foreign investment policies.

"Nepal aims to graduate from the Least Developed Countries' list in the short term and this requires around 88 billion US dollar investments in the next five years period," Oli said during the inauguration ceremony.

Terming Nepal a "virgin land" for investment, Oli said that his country already has a duty free arrangements with India for most of its products while China has granted a significant number of Nepal's tariff lines duty free access to its market.

The summit is being attended by over 300 investors from over a dozen countries, mainly from China and India. The event is likely to witness signing of a dozen of MoUs.

The event commenced amidst tight security following a bomb blast last month at the head office of Ncell, the private telecom giant in Bhaisepati of Kathmandu, killing one person and injuring two others.

Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range has deployed security personnel at 109 places and deployed 4,200 additional Armed Police Force, to prevent any untoward incident, a senior police official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nirav Modi should not be granted bail because he posed a significant flight risk and had even issued death threats to witnesses related to his fraud and money laundering case, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told a UK court as the fugitive diamantaire appeared for his second bail application hearing in London on Friday.

Looking more dishevelled and dressed in a similar white shirt as his first court appearance last week, the 48-year-old was brought to the dock to be produced before Westminster Magistrates Court Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot and sat behind a glass enclosure as the hearing got underway.

Arguing on behalf of the Indian government, CPS barrister Toby Cadman told Judge Arbuthnot that there was a "substantial risk" that the prime accused in the Punjab Bank (PNB) fraud to the "amount of between USD 1 and 2 billion", would flee and attempt to interfere with witnesses and evidence.

"Given the nature and seriousness of charges and the resources available to him there will be an overwhelming desire to flee the jurisdiction and interfere with the administration of justice," said Cadman.

Giving details of Modi's attempt to interfere with witnesses, the CPS barrister made specific reference to one such witness, Ashish Lad, who Modi "threatened to kill in a phone call" and also offered him an incentive of Rs 2 million to provide a false statement.

Nilesh Mistry and three other witnesses were similarly targeted by Modi and mobile phones and a server holding "material critical to the fraud" were destroyed at request of Modi, raising fears of further "destroying of evidence" if bail was granted, the court was told.

"Due to the nature of his business he has at his disposal diamonds, gold and pearls," added Cadman.

ALSO READ: Why it is still not going to be easy for India to extradite Nirav Modi

The court was also told about Modi's attempt to attain citizenship in jurisdictions less likely to be willing to extradite him to India, including Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean at the end of 2017 on the basis of a USD 200,000 investment. However, Vanuatu citizenship request was declined as a result of the ongoing Indian criminal investigation.

Modi's defence team, led by barrister Clare Motgomery who was also the barrister for former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya in his extradition case - opposed the CPS claims of Modi being a flight risk and stressed that in fact Modi sees UK as a "haven where his case will be fairly considered".

"The size and nature of these allegations is not a safe touchstone by which you can judge if he should be granted bail," said Montgomery, who claimed a series of "underlying issues" were behind PNB withdrawing insecure lending.

At the very start of the hearing, Judge Arbuthnot said she was getting a sense of "deja vu", in reference to her having ordered the extradition of Mallya in December last year.

"Do we know which part of India he [Modi] is being sought in," the judge asked, to try and establish which jail Modi is likely to be held in.

She was told by the CPS that it would be an extradition to Mumbai and that he may in fact be held in the same Arthur Road Jail as that prepared for Mallya, to which the judge said in a light-hearted vein that it could even be the same cell as we know "there is space" from the previous video submitted during Mallya extradition trial.

In another throwback to the Mallya trial, Montgomery raised the issue of the state of the paperwork submitted by the Indian authorities, claiming it "made her cry" at one stage. The judge concurred with her and was very firm about proper indexing of all documents to be submitted to the court in relation to the case.

Cadman assured the court that the point had been conveyed to the Indian authorities.

A three-member joint Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and (ED) team from India was present in court and handed over a new file of evidence which was review by the judge before the hearing.

Modi is believed to have been living in the UK on an Investor Visa, applied for in 2015 at a time when the so-called golden visa route was relatively easier for super-rich individuals to acquire residency rights in the UK based on a minimum of 2-million pound investment. The greater the level of investment, the faster the process to acquire indefinite leave to remain (ILR).

According to official Home Office data, around 76 Indian millionaires have used this visa category to gain permanent settlement in Britain since 2009, with a peak of 16 Indian applicants in 2013 and seven last year.

The UK government has since tightened the criteria for the category over concerns of its misuse for money laundering purposes. Under reforms unveiled earlier this year, applicants must now prove that they have had control of the required investment for at least two years, rather than 90 days, or provide evidence of the source of those funds.

Modi had been denied bail by District Judge Marie Mallon at his first hearing soon after his arrest by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch as he tried to open a new bank account and has been in custody at HMP Wandsworth prison in south-west London since then.

During his first court appearance, it emerged that the diamantaire accused of defrauding PNB via fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) had been in possession of multiple passports, since revoked by the Indian authorities.
Barely three days after joining the SP-BSP-RLD 'Mahagathbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh, the Nishad Party Friday sprang a surprise by parting ways with the fledgling anti-BJP alliance and meeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

There was no immediate word from either side as to what transpired at the meeting between the Nishad Party leaders including its President Sanjay Nishad with Adityanath in Lucknow.

"The Nishad Party is no more in alliance with the Samajwadi Party," Nikky Nishad alias Riteash Nishad, media in-charge, Nishad Party, told PTI in Gorakhpur.

"There was conflict between the two parties on Maharajganj seat as Nishad Party wanted to contest with its own party symbol where as Samajwadi Party was not ready for it," he added.

The party workers were not willing to contest on the SP symbol and many of them began quitting, he said.

"So, our national president Sanjay Nishad ji went to Lucknow and on late Thursday it was confirmed that the Nishad Party is no more a part of the alliance," he added.

When asked whether Pravin Nishad, MP, will also quit Samajwadi Party, he said, "I don't know about it."



The Nishad Party is headed by Sanjay Nishad, the father of Pravin Nishad who had won the Gorakhpur parliamentary seat on an SP ticket in the 2018 by-polls.

The win had been remarkable, as Gorakhpur was considered a bastion of Adityanath, who had represented the parliamentary constituency several times before.

A Nishad Party insider accused SP chief Akhilesh Yadav of backtracking on his promises.

"They did not put our name on the posters/letters or anything. Our party workers, authorities, core committee were upset," he said.

"So, the Nishad Party has taken a decision today that we are not with the 'gathbandhan', we are free, can fight elections independently and can look for other options as well. The party is free now," he added.

When contacted, SP national spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury told PTI that he had no information of the decision taken by the Nishad Party.

Just three days ago on Tuesday, the Nishad (Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal) Party in a press conference in Lucknow had announced that it was joining the grand opposition alliance in the state.

On the day of the announcement, Sanjay Nishad had addressed a press conference in which he had attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him a 'jumlebaz' as well as Adityanath.

"Our constitution, youth and farmers' futures are in grave danger. People voted for a 'jumlebaz' party cause of their false promises," he had said.

"Modi and Yogi promised many things for Nishad community but nothing was done. The Nishad community will now give full support to the SP-BSP alliance in all the state," he added.

The Nishad Party, sources said, is in talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for some seats including Gorakhpur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day after the Bombay High Court rapped Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the slow pace of probe into the killings of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare, state Education Minister Vinod Tawde defended the CM saying there was no delay on his part.

The CBI is probing the Dabholkar killing case, while the state CID is investigating the Pansare case.

The high court had Thursday expressed displeasure over the pace of investigation into the killing of rationalists, asking whether the chief minister did not have time to take stock of the cases.

"What is the CM doing? He holds 11 portfolios, including Home, but does not find the time to take stock of the case. His deputies do not have the time to remove obstacles in the probe?" the court had said.

It is "shameful" that almost every investigation requires the court's intervention, a bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and B P Colabawala had said.

Talking about the high court's observations, Tawde Friday claimed that there was no delay on the part of Fadnavis as far as taking decisions on the investigation into the Pansare murder case was concerned.

"As far as taking decisions is concerned, I think there is not a single decision that is pending. If there was any delay from our side then it could have a different implication," he said.

"But the law clearly says that a CM or a minister should not interfere in any investigation. Once we get the order, we will present our stand before the high court," the minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
/ -- The Chief Financial Officer of Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd., Mr. Maneesh Agrawal, was conferred with the 'CFO100 2019 Roll of Honour' by CFO India. Nuvoco is one of the country's leading building materials and Mr. Agrawal earned the accolade for spearheading the company's initiatives in cost control and management, The Award presented by CFO India, a monthly publication by the 9.9 Media group, recognized Mr. Agrawal's role in controlling variable and fixed costs for Nuvoco's cement business; despite increases in input costs.

Commenting on his win, Mr. Maneesh Agarwal said, "I am privileged to be named in the CFO100 Roll of Honour this year as well. The role of a CFO has transformed over time; and it is heartening that we have such platforms that recognise and encourage new developments in this field. Nuvoco has always valued and encouraged innovative strategic thinking. I thank my wonderful team for their unstinting support and contribution to Nuvoco's success story."



Instituted by CFO India, the CFO100 Programme annually recognises the top hundred senior finance professionals in India who have made a difference with their acumen, attitude and leadership. The programme recognises the contribution made by these visionaries with respect to collaboration, cost management, capital raising, risk management, governance and strategy. The CFO100 Programme, which has entered its 9th year now, selected 100 CFOs through a stringent process of evaluation by a distinguished jury of peers and subject matter experts. The participants are primarily CFOs and Head of Finance from different companies operating in areas of manufacturing, services, information technology, BPOs and listed / unlisted entities across India.

About Nuvoco



Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd. is a leading manufacturer and retailer of building materials with a vision to build a safer, smarter and more sustainable world. The company started operations in India in 1999 via acquisitions; and it has since emerged as one of the major players in India. Today it has an installed capacity of around 10.92 MTPA with six cement plants in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal; and a pan-India presence in the ready-mix concrete (RMX) business with around 70 plants across the country. Our aggregates business is based out of Kotputli with a capacity of 240 tonnes per hour. In Cement we are amongst one of the leading players in Eastern, Central and North India; with high performance, premium blended cement variants, which include Duraguard, Duraguard Microfiber, PSC, Concreto, and Infracem. We also offer value added products like construction chemicals, wall fill solutions and cover blocks. Our RMX range; comprising specialised products like Agile, Artiste, XLite, InstaMix, and Robuste; is trusted alike by large developers, small contractors, builders, architects, government agencies, and individual house builders. We are proud contributors to landmark projects like Lodha World One, the Metros [Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai]. Guided by the enduring principles of safety for its employees and social responsibility for the community, the company is charting new roads in providing solutions to meet the country's infrastructure needs. [http://nuvoco.in/ ]Source: Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Friday hit out at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for advocating repeal of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, saying any such talk will raise questions on the accession of the state to India as well.

He told reporters that the BJP and its leadership would have to tread carefully on this issue and the terms and condition cannot be renegotiated.

"If you want to debate Article 370 and Article 35A, then I am sorry, there will be questions raised on the accession as well, because accession was on these very terms," he told reporters.

Article 370 grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir while Article 35A empowers the state legislature to define the states "permanent residents" and their special rights and privileges.

Abdullah said Jaitley's claim that poverty in Jammu and Kashmir is because of Article 35A is completely wrong.

"He either forgets or has not been informed well enough that before the advent of militancy (in 1989) there was no such complaint here. If Jammu and Kashmir has suffered, it is due to militancy and not Article 35A. If you look at the period before 1990, the state was counted among the fastest growing ones of the country. There was no industry which was not found in the state then," he said.

The former chief minister said he was surprised when people talked about removing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

"How do they want to do it? This state became part of the country on the basis of this special status... Accession was on the basis of a negotiated settlement by virtue of which the state had all the powers, except those related to currency, communications, defence and foreign affairs.

"Nowhere has it been made time-bound, like it will last for 10 or 20 years. It is a straightforward thing -- as long as this state is part of India, it will be given the special status," he added.

Abdullah said the special status and identity of Jammu and Kashmir was under severe threat. "This danger is not new but has increased over the past five years, especially since 2015 when BJP joined the state government," he alleged.

He claimed that a blog by Jaitley over Jammu and Kashmir's special status on Thursday was evidence that the thinking of BJP and its leaders about the state is not right.

"Whatever we say we cannot change the thought process of BJP and its leaders. However, we could have taken this debate forward, had they put forward truth and facts about the issue. Reality has been presented in a distorted way and a wrong impression was sought to be created that Jammu and Kashmir is lagging due to its special status," he said.

The NC leader hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his handling of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and held it responsible for the slow growth in the state.

"If Modi sahab had dealt with the situation of the state well and kept it in the same condition as the UPA had handed it over to him in 2014... we would have developed much more.

"How do you expect an investor to set up a hotel in the state when a sitting governor talks about boycotting Kashmir. I did not hear Jaitley saying that this is wrong. No BJP leader told the governor that talking about economic boycott of a part of the country is unconstitutional and illegal. That time they stayed silent and now they talk about law," he added.

Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir was not the only state in the country with special status.

"There are other states as well which enjoy special status under the Constitution. But no one talks about those states, be it the northeast states, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar or Lakshadweep. When an assault is launched, it is only on the special status of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

He said a wrong notion was being spread that articles 370 and 35A were benefitting only the Muslims of Kashmir.

"The fact is that special status of Jammu and Kashmir has benefits for not only the valley but it has also protected Jammu and Ladakh regions as well. The masses of Jammu and Ladakh when spoken to, devoid of politics, do not want Article 35A to be removed," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the BJP denying tickets to 12 MPs in Uttar Pradesh, the opposition is planning to cash in on the clout of these disgruntled parliamentarians in the upcoming general elections.

In its list of 61 candidates, the saffron party has refused tickets to 12 MPs, four of whom have already switched sides and joined the rival parties -- Samajwadi Party and Congress.

Allahabad BJP MP Shayama Charan Gupta and Bahraich MP Savitri Bai Phule are now official candidates of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress from Banda and Bahraich, respectively.

Another BJP MP Anshul Verma from Hardoi also joined the SP ahead of the polls, terming the ruling party "anti-Dalits".

Although Verma claimed that he joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led party "without any condition", the Samajwadi Party is planning to utilise his support base among the Dalits, especially in Hardoi area.

BJP's Etawah MP Ashok Kumar Dohre Friday joined the Congress in presence of its president Rahul Gandhi.

Asked about giving preference to BJP turncoats this election, SP MLC Rajpal Kashyap said such a strategy is only aimed at "exposing misdeeds of the ruling party" in the state.

"They are the ones who were on the ground for five years. They can very well tell the electorate what the BJP is and expose their misdeeds," he said.

"Our alliance with the BSP and the RLD is very powerful and that is why these leaders have faith in us," Kashyap said.

The SP has tied up with Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Chaudhary Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for the Lok Sabha elections.

BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule, who resigned before the Lok Sabha polls were declared, is now a vocal critic of the saffron party.

"The BJP did nothing for Dalits and backwards. Its government functions in an unconstitutional manner and is conspiring to end reservation. I will ensure defeat of the BJP in my constituency and am ready to campaign wherever my party sends me," she said.

Ballia BJP MP Bharat Singh had recently written an open letter to the people of his constituency.

"What is my fault? Why was I denied ticket? I have always taken up issues related to the constituency. The candidate announced from Ballia has no connect with the people here," he wrote.

Singh, however, did not talk about his future course of action.

BJP's Fatehpur Sikri MP Chowdhury Babulal has also openly shown his resentment after being denied ticket.

In Kushinagar, supporters of BJP MP Rajesh Pandey protested against the denial of ticket to their leader and demanded the leadership to re-consider the decision.

Other prominent BJP leaders who are missing from the party's list of candidates this time are Murli Manohar Joshi (Kanpur), Prikanka Rawat (Barabanki), Union minister Krishna Raj (Shahjahanpur-SC), Anju Bala (Misrikh-SC) and Satypal Saini (Sambhal).

Commenting on the trend of leaders switching allegiance over denial of tickets, BJP spokesman Shalabh Mani Tripathi said, "This happens during election time when leaders look for opportunities."



"Our cadre is intact and people have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. There will be no impact of these leaders going to other parties," he added.

Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats, the highest in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan on Friday described as "incomprehensible" India's decision to reschedule the upcoming meeting of the experts on the Kartarpur Corridor.

India on Friday summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner in New Delhi and conveyed concerns over the presence of several Khalistani separatists in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor.

The Pakistani Cabinet constituted a ten-member Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) to facilitate Sikh pilgrims after opening of Kartarpur Corridor, the state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

However, it did not name the members of the committee.

The next meeting of technical experts on the Kartarpur corridor was earlier scheduled in Wagah on the Pakistani side of the border on April 2 and was "jointly agreed by both sides" on March 14, the Foreign Office said here.

"Pakistan regrets the Indian decision to postpone the upcoming Kartarpur meeting. The meeting was to discuss and find consensus on outstanding issues," Mohammad Faisal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted following a statement from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday.

"Last minute postponement without seeking views from Pakistan and especially after the productive technical meeting on March 19 is incomprehensible," Faisal tweeted.

The FO said that the 10-member purely-religious committee referred to by India was indeed PSGPC and was not specific to Kartarpur but responsible for upkeep of all Sikh Gurdwaras in Pakistan.

"It is not a new mechanism but was constituted under Section 3 of the 'Scheme for Renovation, Maintenance and Preservation of Sikh Holy Shrines' in 2004 and is reconstituted after every three years," it said.

The FO said that "postponing the meeting only endangers Pakistan's Kartarpur initiative".

Faisal's response comes shortly after India said it had "sought clarifications from Pakistan on key proposals put forward by India at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor".

An MEA statement in India said it has been conveyed to the Paksitani side that the next meeting on the modalities of the corridor can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan's response.

In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, the statement said.

Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.

Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur Corridor in Gurdaspur district.

Two days later, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, 125 km from Lahore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan on Friday described as "incomprehensible" India's decision to reschedule the upcoming Kartarpur meeting at an appropriate time.

India on Friday summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner in New Delhi and conveyed concerns over the presence of several Khalistani separatists in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor.

The Pakistani Cabinet constituted a ten-member Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) to facilitate Sikh pilgrims after opening of Kartarpur Corridor, the state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

However, it did not name the members of the committee.

The next meeting of technical experts on the Kartarpur corridor was earlier scheduled in Wagah on the Pakistani side of the border on April 2 and was "jointly agreed by both sides" on March 14, the Foreign Office said here.

"The meeting was to discuss and find consensus on outstanding issues," Mohammad Faisal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted following a statement from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday.

"Last minute postponement without seeking views from Pakistan and especially after the productive technical meeting on March 19 is incomprehensible," Faisal tweeted.

Faisal's response comes shortly after India said it had "sought clarifications from Pakistan on key proposals put forward by India at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor".

A MEA statement in India said it has been conveyed to the Paksitani side that the next meeting on the modalities of the corridor can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan's response.

In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, the statement said.

Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.

Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district.

Two days later, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, 125 km from Lahore.

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The Pakistan Army shelled forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, a defence spokesman said.

"Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling mortars and firing small arms along the LoC in Mankote and Krishna Gati sectors from 0750 hours," the Defence spokesman said.

He said the Army was retaliating befittingly and there was no report of any casualty on the Indian side in the cross-border firing which was still continuing when last reports were received.

The latest incident of ceasefire violation comes after a gap of two days.

Pakistan troops shelled villages along the LOC in Nowshera sector on Tuesday.

Seven persons including three soldiers have been killed in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch since India's air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26.

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Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi visited Egypt March 23, the premier's first trip abroad since assuming his post last October. Following the two-day trip, Iraq's Foreign Ministry described the visit as not only a success for Iraq's policy of distancing itself from all political axes, but also an opportunity to expand work with different economic circles in the region. Al Monitor reports in its article Iraq tells Mideast leaders Baghdad will take no sides that the statement also emphasised encouragement of all countries to invest in Iraq despite their political disputes in the region.

During a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Abdul Mahdi discussed several economic projects, including a potential electricity deal. Later on, Jordan's King Abdullah joined the tripartite summit to discuss the extension of an Iraqi pipeline to Egypt. Iraq and Jordan had previously agreed to build a pipeline to transfer Basras oil in southern Iraq to the port of Aqaba in western Jordan. The 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) pipeline will transfer Iraqi crude from Basra to export ports in Aqaba, at a cost of about $18 billion and a capacity of one million barrels per day.

The agreement on the pipeline extension has yet to be finalized, but according to their final statement, the three leaders have agreed on working on common infrastructure and expanding their economic ties and will establish a committee to follow up on the agreements.

In his opening speech, Abdul Mahdi said, This summit marks a major turning point in the future of common relations and the interests of our peoples." He added, Our agreements will serve the interests of many other countries as well. It could have been a reference to the United States' forthcoming Mideast peace plan  commonly referred to as the deal of the century  that will ostensibly work to resolve Arab-Israeli disputes by promoting major economic deals that serve the interests of both sides. This is especially relevant due to Israel's location in the middle of the pipeline, which could eventually transfer Iraqi oil to Israel as well.

During the Sulaimaniyah Forum on March 6-7, Iraqi President Barham Salih highlighted the economic role of Iraq in bringing peace to the region, saying that Iraq is moving toward being a bridge between the regions economies by linking infrastructure between the Gulf, Turkey and Iran on one side and between the Arab region and the Mediterranean region on the other."

Similarly, in his speech to the Egyptian Parliament, Abdul Mahdi said, Our country cooperates with everyone and rejects the axes and war that destroyed our countries and peoples.

Iraq hosted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in mid-March, a visit that resulted in the signing of several economic agreements, the waiving of visa fees between the two countries and a significant expansion of bilateral ties. Iraq was also the destination of Jordans King Abdullah last month, after Salih paid a visit to Jordan and Saudi Arabia to expand Baghdad's relations with the Arab world.

Yet Iraq's efforts to expand ties with Egypt goes far beyond the economic angle. Military and security cooperation between the two countries was also among the meeting's main goals.

During his meeting with Sisi, Abdul Mahdi highlighted the importance of drying up the sources of terrorism, adding, Cooperation between Egypt and Iraq will be essential for this matter." Egypt, like Iraq, has had success in fighting terrorism. The Islamic State was active in Egypts Sinai Peninsula for years before Egypt succeeded in eliminating the group and restoring security to the area.

The new Iraqi policy of being a bridge in the region rather than getting involved in regional conflicts requires Iraq to build an independent position in the region and for rival powers to stop interfering in Iraq's internal affairs. This message was also made clear to the Iranian president during his recent visit to Iraq.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani told Rouhani, Iraq's sovereignty must be respected." In his speech welcoming Rouhani, Salih said, We hope that Iraq can become a bridge between the regions nations based on mutual respect and common interests." He added, Iraq is lucky to be a neighbor with Iran, as well as a neighbor with Turkey and connected to the Arab world at the same time." Iraq's new policy was also likely informed by US President Donald Trump's recent comment that he wants US troops in Iraq to keep an eye on Iran, further prompting Iraq to distance itself from all conflicts and instead build independent relationships with all parties. If Iraq succeeds in building this dream bridge across the Mideast, it stands to play a major peacemaking role in the region.
A French man who rented his flat to the ringleader of the 2015 Paris attacks during a massive police manhunt was sentenced to four years in prison Friday for "hiding terrorists".

Jawad Bendaoud was convicted on appeal of hiding Islamic State jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud and his accomplice Chakib Akrouh, who holed up after the November 13 attacks in Bendaoud's apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

Bendaoud was the first person to be tried in France over the synchronised shooting and suicide attacks on the Bataclan concert hall, national stadium and several cafes in which a total of 130 people were killed.

The attacks were the worst in France since World War II.

Five days later, police tracked Abaaoud down to Bendaoud's flat and launched a dramatic raid, in which Abaaoud, Akrouh and a female cousin of Abaaoud's were killed.

Bendaoud, a 31-year-old drug dealer, became a national laughing stock after declaring in an infamous TV interview that he had detected nothing suspicious about his lodgers.

At his first trial, the court found insufficient evidence that he knew the men were part of the November attacks cell.

Bendaoud presented himself as a cocaine-sniffing womaniser who was in the habit of renting out his flat to gangsters without asking questions.

The prosecution appealed the verdict, which was overturned on Friday. Abaaoud's cousin Youssef Ait Boulahcen, a 26-year-old ambulance driver who was tried alongside him, was also sentenced to a four-year custodial sentence on Friday for "failing to report a terrorist crime".

In a separate case earlier this week, Abaaoud was given a one-year sentence for issuing death threats against one of the survivors of the Paris attacks.

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Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Udhampur-Kathua constituency, Friday said people living in the border villages are India's first line of defence.

Singh will take on the grandson of erstwhile Maharaja Hari Singh, Vikramaditya Singh, and former BJP minister Choudhary Lal Singh in the Udhampur-Kathua parliamentary constituency, where polling will be held on April 18.

Singh, who is the sitting MP here, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ensured decisive retaliatory action against Pakistan, which the people living along the border would testify to.

Addressing a series of public meetings in the border villages close to International Border (IB) in Kathua and Hiranagar sectors, Singh said, "None other than the people living in the border areas are India's first line of defence against the enemy for 24 hours, 365 days a year."



Singh said no person other than the borderline villagers could appreciate the concern with which the Modi Government had retaliated.

In contrast to the earlier governments, it was under Modi's leadership that orders were issued to give a free hand to the defence forces to decide the nature and extent of military action, he said.

"Since there was no political intimidation, the defence forces had been able to perform their best, whether it was in the form of surgical strike (2016) or air strike (2019)", he said.

Singh said it was strange that the air strike resulted in killing of hundreds of terrorists on the Pakistan side of the border, but the pain was being felt by the leaders of the Congress, the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party.

Singh said during his parliamentary term bunkers and Seema Bhawans were being constructed here.

He said it was also during this period of five years that hundreds of 'sulabh' toilets were being built along the International Border.

He said a gross injustice was undone when 3 per cent reservation was provisioned for the youth living along the IB on the same lines as those living along the Line of Control.

On the last day before the Model Code of Conduct was imposed, orders were issued for setting up of eight mobile towers along the IB as it would immensely benefit students and youth who heavily depend on connectivity, he said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a brief stopover at Jagdalpur airport in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh on Friday, on his way to Odisha.

Modi arrived at Jagdalpur airport around 10.30 am by a special aircraft. He was there for a few minutes before proceeding to neighbouring Odisha, a local BJP leader said.

BJP leaders, including Bastar MP Dinesh Kashyap and former MLA Santosh Bafna, welcomed Modi at the airport.

The PM took stock of the preparation of Lok Sabha polls in Bastar, the only constituency that will go to polling in the state in the first phase on April 11, he said.

"The PM left for Jeypore in Koraput district of Odisha at around 10.40 am," he added.

On his return journey from Odisha, the PM will again land at the Jagdapur airport in the afternoon and after a brief break of about 10 minutes, he will leave for his destination, the BJP leader said.

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Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh Friday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has double standards on dealing with Pakistan and can do "anything" to win the April-May general elections.

The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said it was the Vajpayee-led BJP government which had freed a dreaded terrorist like Masood Azhar, the head of Jaish-e-Mohammed.

"I have never been to Pakistan. Modi has been to Pakistan, hugged their (former) premier (Nawaz Sharif), attended a marriage, called their intelligence agency ISI to probe Pathankot (air base attack)," Singh told reporters here.

"On one hand, he (Modi) gets people to oppose Pakistan and on the other, he writes a letter to Pakistan. Modi can do anything to win elections," said the 72-year-old Congress candidate from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat.

The Rajya Sabha MP said the Congress has always made sacrifices for the country.

"Narendra Modi should look within who compromised with terrorists? The BJP (under the Vajyapee government) freed terrorist Masood Azhar," he said.

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The NCP claimed Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation about a successful test of an anti-satellite missile violated the Model Code of Conduct for Lok Sabha polls.

Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil, in a statement here, also ridiculed state minister Chandrakant Patil for reportedly saying that India had shot down an enemy country's satellite.

Modi Wednesday announced that India had demonstrated anti-satellite missile capability by shooting down a live satellite.

The Election Commission has already set up a committee to examine the issue in the light of the poll code.

"Earlier, scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) would make announcement about its missions. But this time the prime minister declared shooting down of satellite. This is violation of Model Code of Conduct," Patil said in a statement here.

Referring to Chandrakant Patil's reported statement, he said the BJP minister had made a "strange discovery", and it was wrong to expect any better from him.

He also alleged that Modi's foreign policy had failed, noting that the government could not ensure that Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar was designated as a global terrorist.

India's relations with neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bhutan also came under strain in the last five years, the NCP leader said.

Referring to some Congress and NCP leaders switching over to the BJP, Patil said his party had enough candidates, and did not need to import leaders from other parties.

Meanwhile, NCP's candidate from Raigad Lok Sabha seat, Sunil Tatkare, filed his nomination Friday.

Jayant Patil in his statement also said that the NCP will field a candidate from Jalgaon, while ally Congress will contest Raver, on which both the parties had staked claim earlier.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on the successful test-firing of an anti-satellite missile did not violate the model code of conduct, the Election Commission said Friday night.

The EC took the decision based on the report of a committee of officers which found that the prime minister did not violate the provision of 'party in power' in the poll code.

"The committee has, therefore, reached the conclusion that the MCC provision regarding misuse of official mass media...is not attracted in the instant case," the commission said, citing the report of the committee constituted to look into the case.

Model code of conduct is in place for the April-May parliamentary election and some state polls.

India shot down one of its satellites in space on Wednesday with an anti-satellite missile to demonstrate this complex capability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced, making it only the fourth country to have used such a weapon.

Declaring India has established itself as a global space power after the success of the operation 'Mission Shakti', Modi said the missile hit a live satellite flying in a Low Earth Orbit after it traversed a distance of almost 300 km from earth within three minutes of its launch.

The announcement was made by the prime minister in a broadcast to the nation on television, radio and social media.

Several opposition parties had complained to the Election Commission alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

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It is unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resorted to fearmongering in his election campaign rather than focusing on his five-year track record in governance, says National Conference leader Omar Abdullah.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, who believes the Congress is the only pan-India opposition party and should have formed regional alliances with various outfits in states, said he is surprised by the prime minister's campaign tack.

"I am surprised that a prime minister who has supposedly a five-year track record to fight these elections on is fighting them on the fear mongering that it is only Pakistan and terrorists who want him to lose," Abdullah told PTI in an interview.

Abdullah used Modi's speeches in Meerut, Rudrapur and Akhnoor on Thursday to substantiate his point.

Launching his party's Lok Sabha poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, Modi kept the focus on national security, terrorism and how his "decisive" government had shown the courage to conduct a surgical strike in all spheres -- land, sky and space.

"The PM has gone back again to use Pakistan to try and consolidate his election victory. The initial assessment of his three speeches yesterday -- he mentioned Pakistan 10 times, he mentioned jobs only thrice, once each in the three rallies," he said.

Abdullah said it showed where the prime minister's priorities lie and where the narrative is sought to be steered.

"I think it is unfortunate. This country has enough internal problems without the PM trying to drum up support on the basis of fear," he said.

Discussing the apparent failure of the opposition to cobble up a nationwide alliance, the National Conference vice president said he always had reservations about the "Mahagathbandhan".

"I always had reservations about this Mahagathbandhan. I always knew that it is going to be problematic. I had from time to time cautioned some of the bigger opposition leaders not to try to get into this cobbling up an alliance of 15 or 16 parties," he said.

Abdullah asserted the Congress is the only one pan-India opposition party as on date and the party should have formed regional alliances with various state outfits.

"At the end of the day, there is only one pan-India opposition party and that is the Congress. The Congress has to get into regional alliances at the state level with various regional parties. Therefore, this idea of the conglomerate of an opposition parties was misleading.

"Now, what stakes do I have in West Bengal, Andhra or Telangana or anywhere outside of J&K. Similarly, what stakes does Mamata Banerjee didi have outside of West Bengal, so on and so forth. If anything that needed to be done, it was to work towards putting together regional alliances between the Congress and the regional outfits," he said.

It has happened in some cases and not in others, Abdullah added.

On the tie-up between his party and the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, he said it was not really an alliance.

"We chose not to field candidates from Jammu and Udhampur in order to keep the secular vote from splitting and PDP followed our decision and announced something similar.

"In Srinagar, out of regard for Farooq Abdullah, Congress has decided not to put up a candidate. We will be contesting against Congress in the other three seats of south Kashmir, north Kashmir and Ladakh," he said.

According to Abdullah, the main poll plank for his party is the protection of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir as enshrined in the Constitution of India.

"The primary issue for us is the protection of Jammu and Kashmir's special status. Yesterday's blogpost by Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) makes it amply clear as to what the intentions of the BJP are. It makes it all the more important that we contest these elections on the commitment to ensuring J&K's special status, particularly enshrined in Articles 370 and 35A," he said.

In a statement that came amid the BJP pressing for early elections to state assemblies in the state, Jaitley said Article 35A, which restricts non-permanent residents to buy property in Jammu and Kashmir, is "constitutionally vulnerable" and also hampering economic development of the state.

Abdullah said his party wanted the voice of people of Jammu and Kashmir to be heard in Parliament and they have put forward their best representatives.

"(Anantnag Lok Sabha seat candidate) Justice (retired) Hasnain Masoodi's judgments on Article 370 are well known and we could not have got anyone better than our party president Farooq Abdullah (for Srinagar constituency).

"Akbar Lone (Baramulla constituency), whatever you may say or may not say about some of the things he comes out with, he is a fighter. He is not a man who shies away from speaking. We want someone who can stand up and speak in Parliament and be heard," he added.

Jammu and Kashmir has six Lok Sabha constituencies and goes to the polls over multiple phases beginning April 11.

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The Election Commission Friday told the Supreme Court that the present method of counting the VVPAT slips is the most suitable.

The poll panel justified the existing system of random counting of the VVPAT slips from one polling booth per assembly segment.

The Election Commission, which was asked on March 25 by the apex court to give its view on increasing the number of random sample surveys from one booth per assembly segment, said in future elections, it may consider any suggestions which result in further improving the holding of polls in free and fair manner.

"It is submitted that with the imminent elections issues raised in the instant petitions are matters that have already been considered, studied and determined by the Election Commission of India and have since culminated in adopting the course of conduct of the imminent election in the present manner," the EC said in its affidavit.

It said the writ petition filed by 21 opposition leaders, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, does not raise any ground or base for altering the existing system at this juncture.

The poll panel said the present system which is being adopted for the imminent elections be allowed to be continued as "it has been found to be most suitable".

The poll panel currently adopts a system of counting of VVPAT slips in one polling booth per assembly constituency in the Vidhan Sabha polls and in one polling booth in each assembly segment for the Lok Sabha polls.

The affidavit was filed by the EC in a plea in which 21 opposition leaders sought that VVPAT slips of at least 50 per cent of voting machines in each assembly constituency be checked randomly in the Lok Sabha elections next month.

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President Ram Nath Kovind arrived here on Friday on a three-day visit to Bolivia, the first high-level visit to the Latin American country since the establishment of diplomatic ties.

Kovind was welcomed by Bolivian President Evo Morales along with other dignitaries as he arrived at the Viru Viru International airport here and also received the Guard of Honour, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a tweet.

Kovind will hold restricted and delegation-level talks with Bolivian President Morales during the visit.

He will also participate in an India-Bolivia business meet, address university students, and interact with Indian community members during his stay in the country.

On March 30, he will head to Chile where he will hold talks with the restricted and delegation-level format with Chilean counterpart Sebastin Piera.

The president is on a three-nation tour to strengthen ties in key sectors such as trade, investment and renewable energy.

He was in Croatia from March 25-28.

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President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday held wide-ranging talks with his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales on a number of bilateral issues such as economy, space, IT and traditional medicines.

It was the first-ever presidential-level visit between the two countries.

Kovind is on a three-day visit to Bolivia, India's first high-level visit to the Latin American country since the establishment of diplomatic ties.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet: "In first ever Presidential level visit between India and Bolivia wide ranging discussions were held between #PresidentKovind and Bolivian President Evo Morales on political economic and cultural issues including space, mining, IT, pharmaceutical and traditional medicines".

Kovind, during his three-day visit to Bolivia, will also participate in an India-Bolivia business meet, address university students and interact with the Indian community.

On March 30, he will head to Chile to hold talks with his Chilean counterpart Sebastin Piera.

The President is on a three-nation tour to strengthen India's ties in key sectors such as trade, investment and renewable energy. He was in Croatia from March 25-28.

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The so-dubbed Armenian Velvet Revolution soon will mark year one. Last April, the professed reformer and democrat, Nicol Pashinyan, took control and the old guard, comprised of modern-day warlords and former Soviet and Russian functionaries, was relegated to guiding events from the annexes. Washington Times reports in its article Beyond Armenia's 'Velvet Revolution' that praise came from European quarters, as did acknowledgements from Armenias few stalwart supporters in the U.S. Congress. Yet, the White House and State Department, following a recent visit by National Security Advisor John Bolton, remained highly skeptical.

Ambassador Boltons position, slightly paraphrased  the South Caucasus is a strategically vital region to the United States.; Azerbaijan and Georgia are steadfast and reliable U.S. allies; and Armenia remains impotent to join this esteemed club, ceding its sovereignty to Mother Russia.

According to Mr. Bolton, key to its success is a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh (NK) conflict  the ongoing confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan that sees Armenia occupying 25 percent of Azerbaijani territory in the guise of a fictitious and unrecognized state  that can transform Armeniaand set it upon a path to independence, modernity and prosperity, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans chief promises.

Experts add that the South Caucasus, as a region, can only realize its wide-ranging potential with the full participation of all three nations. Thus specified, Armenia must end the NK war, concurrently step out from its vassals shadow and demonstrate conduct indicative of partnership, sans rabble-rousing played for Russias benefit at the expense of unwittingly oblivious members of Congress.

Following his installation as prime minister and alluring all with promises of renewed negotiations and peace, Mr. Pashinyan embarked upon a worldwide campaign to raise aid money, ostensibly to fund his reforms for a new Armenia.

Many were ecstatic at the prospect of Armenias withdrawal from alliances with Iran and Russia; promises of economic reforms to benefit the poor Armenian populace; the pledge of bona fide elections, a first since independence from the USSR in 1991; and the vow to extricate from Russias sphere of influence onto a road congruent with its Western-oriented South Caucasus neighbors.

All this and more were on the agenda, including, strikingly, a resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict through good faith negotiations. The conflict plays deeply into Armenias story and is both directly and indirectly responsible for Armenias lack of development, deep poverty, acute brain drain and, most significantly, Armenias profound and entrenched dependence on Russia and Iran.

Armenia could mirror its neighbors; oil and gas wealthy Azerbaijan and entrepreneurial Georgia enjoy major economic development  oil and gas pipelines, ports, West/East rail, satellites, tourism, education, modern medicine, science, the arts and a respected and valued place amongst nations.

A year hence, little or no progress has been made toward the fulfillment of Mr. Pashinyans promises to the Armenian people and the international community.

Armenias economy experienced incalculably diminutive liberalization or diversification. Russian oligarchs still own the energy sector in its entirety, as well as massive stakes in countless other areas. Conspicuously, Mr. Pashinyans first visit abroad, within days of taking office, was to Moscow and followed up upon several times subsequently.

Indefensibly, soon after taking office, Mr. Pashinyan opened negotiations with Russia to purchase four 4th generation Su-30SM Flanker-H fighter aircraft. Flanker, its NATO designation, is amongst the most advanced fighters in Russias inventory. Revealingly, Armenia purchased these fighters at the Kremlins cost, far less than Russia sells them to any other party. A long-term loan was even provided. The cost was a whopping $140 million USD.

Simultaneously, the Kremlin ordered Armenian troops deployed to Syria, under Russian command, allegedly to remove land mines. However, photos of the Armenian detachment showed soldiers in full tactical gear and weaponry.

It is suspect that the Flanker is not particularly conducive to such a small geographic footprint as Armenia. There is simply not enough airspace to effectively operate such fighters. A smaller, less expensive fighter would prove more advantageous. Syrian airspace, however, is certainly large enough; it remains to be seen where the fighters are deployed.

Of additional concern to the United States is Armenias well-earned standing as a sanction buster. A $140 million USD purchase of advanced fighters from Russia is certainly cause for deep apprehension. And, what of Irans fleet of vintage U.S. F-14 Tomcats? New Russian-made Flankers would make a fine addition to the Iranian Airforce.

Notably, the last time (of which we are aware) Armenia helped Iran sanction bust, European arms were smuggled by Armenia to Iran and transferred to insurgents in Iraq  American service members died as a result of Armenian illegality and sanction busting.

Armenian politics, policy, diplomacy and economics remain as they were in the hands of supposedly lesser men. Was the Velvet Revolution a charade? The persistent question is whether Mr. Pashinyanintentionally maintains the status quo at the behest of Russia and Iran or if he purely lacks the capacity to lead.

Either way, Georgia and Azerbaijan stand next door as examples of what to do to become successful. Prime Minister Pashinyan need only follow their lead.
A day after hinting that she is not averse to contesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked him for ignoring his own Varanasi constituency.

On Thursday night, reacting to a suggestion from a party worker that she should fight the elections from her mother Sonia Gandhi's Rae Bareli constituency, Priyanka Gandhi had quipped, Shouldn't I fight from Varanasi?



She fuelled more speculation on this possibility on Friday by targeting Modi over the state of the constituency that sent him to Parliament in 2014.

But when reporters asked her a direct question, she said, If the party tells me, I will fight from anywhere.

At a nukkad sabha street corner meeting -- in Ayodhya, she lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, calling it pro-rich, anti-farmer and against the interests of the armed forces.

Referring to her own recent visit to Varanasi, Priyanka Gandhi said she was told about the road from the airport to the city when she asked about development in the area.

She claimed only 15 km of a 150-km road sanctioned by the previous Congress government has been built there, and when people drive away from the airport it is full of potholes.

Claiming Modi did not care about Varanasi, she said, "I was told that in the past five years he has not visited even a single village in his own constituency though he has been travelling all over the country and abroad."



She was expected to visit the Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya, but planned to keep away from the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

Earlier during this campaign trip, the Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, visited the family bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli which have elected party president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

She claimed the BJP government is helping only the rich. The government's focus is only on helping the rich, making the rich, richer. They have money for the businessmen, but not for the poor," she lamented.

She accused it of planning to shut down the MGNREGA scheme, the mega rural employment guarantee plan launched by a Congress-led government.

Priyanka Gandhi said Modi retained the scheme on coming to power, despite criticising it.

But funds are not being given to the scheme for six months. They are giving the money to contractors... they want to close the scheme," she said.

She recalled the recent Congress announcement that it will launch NYAY, a minimum income guarantee scheme for the poorest 20 per cent of the population, if it comes to power.

The Congress leader accused the Modi government of trying to destroy democracy and constitutional institutions.

"This government does not have the courage to hear your voice. They do not go to the villages as they will face reality," she said.

"I have seen the truth in the leaking roofs of the weavers' houses, in the eyes of the farmer who said that only the rich have a chowkidar (watchman), she said, in an indirect reference to Modi's 'I am a chowkidar too' campaign. These elections are for saving the country and the Constitution," she said.

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Canada's Quebec province on Thursday unveiled controversial draft legislation that would ban a significant section of public servants from wearing religious symbols such as a crucifix, yarmulke or hijab.

The measure -- which applies to police, teachers and others in positions of authority -- is expected to become law by June with Premier Francois Legault's government holding a majority of seats in the Quebec legislature.

But it was swiftly panned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who said:"For me, it's unthinkable (that) a free society would legitimize discrimination against anyone based on religion."



Montreal mayor Valerie Plante voiced "serious concern about the message that this bill sends to minorities about their fundamental rights."



The important thing, she said, was that the process of making laws was secular, not that people divested themselves of religious attire and symbols.

Teachers unions said they would not enforce the law, while pundits and the government's own lawyers, according to reports, anticipate a court challenge for contravening Canadians' Charter right to personal religious freedom.

The Quebec government, however, has already made it clear that it would invoke a rarely-used constitutional clause to quash any rights challenges.

"Some people will find that we are going too far, others not enough, and we are convinced that we have struck the right balance," Quebec Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette told a press conference.

The government said the measure -- combined with the removal of a cross installed in the main chamber of the national assembly in 1936 -- underscored Quebec's break with religion a half century ago, when it rejected the Catholic Church's powerful influence in local politics.

The secularism bill would also enshrine into law a rule previously adopted by Quebec that denies government services to people wearing face veils, reflecting a backlash against Muslim immigration.

Jolin-Barrette argued that this was intended to simply bolster safety and security by being able to verify the identity of people accessing services.

Both measures, along with curbs on immigration, were promised by Legault during an election campaign last year, after a decade of divisive debate on secularism and religious freedom that was influenced by a similar discourse in France.

In addition to France, eight other European countries enforce restrictions on religious attire.

"We will do whatever we can to bring together people," Legault said Thursday before the law was presented.

"That should be the objective of everyone in the weeks ahead, to have a serene debate. We are responding to what a large majority of Quebeckers want."



The opposition, however, accused the government of rushing the legislation, with Liberal Helene David saying not enough time has been allotted to debate its impacts on "living together" as a society.

This is the fourth attempt by successive Quebec governments to pass a secularism law.

What began as a pushback against a few cases of religious accommodation of minorities in public institutions and private businesses led to a public inquiry.

The tribunal heard testimony on the merits of secularism that ranged from the metaphysical to the absurd -- such as outrage that an eatery had removed pork from its pea soup to accommodate Muslims.

Jews and Sikhs were also the subject of controversy, but the focus shifted to Muslims -- Muslim women in particular.

One previous government tried but failed to impose a values charter that would have limited "ostentatious" displays of religiosity.

In the end, the regulations were narrowed to apply only to public servants.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress president has not ruled out contesting the Lok Sabha election from a constituency other than Amethi, saying many party leaders have fought elections from more than one seat in the past and a decision on the issue will be taken by the party soon.

Referring to demands from party leaders that his sister Vadra should contest, Gandhi told PTI in an interview that she will have to take a call on whether to fight the polls or not.

Speculation about the newly appointed Congress general secretary contesting grew after she asked people in Varanasi on Thursday whether she should fight the polls from the temple town, the constituency from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a re-election.

"Amethi is my 'karmabhoomi' and shall always remain so. I am deeply grateful for the love, affection and the sentiments expressed by our party workers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala who have asked me to contest a second seat from their states," the Congress chief told PTI in response to a question on the speculation over him contesting from Wayanad in Kerala.

"In the past, too, many leaders from the Congress and other parties, including Mr Modi himself, have contested elections from more than one seat. The Congress party will take a decision on this issue at the earliest," he said.

In 2014, defeated BJP's Smriti Irani by a margin of over one lakh votes. Both are pitted against each other again from Amethi.

Asked about contesting the election, the Congress chief said candidate selection is an ongoing process and the party has announced over 300 candidates so far.

"As far as Priyanka is concerned, it is up to her to decide if she wants to contest the election or not," he said.

On whether party veterans will be fielded by the Congress to put up a strong fight, Gandhi said the party has a system of identifying candidates and it goes through various processes.

"I have looked at young as well as experienced candidates equally because I have believed that Congress party needs both. Seniors are fighting elections. We also have many new faces who will be fighting their first election," he said.

There has been a clamour among Congress leaders from the south for to contest from Kerala as well as Karnataka and the state units have already passed resolutions on the issue.

His mother, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, earlier contested from the Bellary Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka while his grandmother, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, had contested from Chikamangalur in Karnataka.

The process of nominations in Kerala, which goes to the polls on April 23, started on Thursday and will end on April 4.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Friday cleared Rs 19,240.91 crore towards Cash Credit Limit (CCL) for Punjab for the purchase of wheat in the Rabi marketing season.

With this, the bulk of the CCL sought by the state government for the purchase of 130 lakh tonne of wheat for this season has been released by the central bank, an official release said here.

The release of the CCL would facilitate the state government in making timely payments to farmers against purchases of food grains in the current season, which would begin from April 1 and culminate on May 25, it said.

The central government has fixed the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat at Rs 1,840 per quintal, hiking it by Rs 105 from last year's Rs 1,735 per quintal.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh reviewed the arrangements for smooth wheat procurement on Friday and issued strict directives to the Food and Civil Supplies Department to ensure that the farmers do not face any hassles in the procurement of their grain.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 40-year-old Romanian was arrested from South Delhi for allegedly withdrawing money by cloning ATM cards, police said on Friday.

The accused has been identified as Lupoi Emil, a native of Constanta in Romania.

The police formed teams after they received several complaints about unauthorised withdrawal of money from different ATM cards in South Delhi.

The police also analysed CCTV footage of suspected ATMs and started keeping a watch on them, a senior official said.

On Wednesday, they apprehended Emil red handed from the ATM of Yes Bank situated at MB Road while trying to implant a card cloning or skimming devise, Vijay Kumar, deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said.

Emil revealed that he used to visit India to earn money by cloning ATM cards and was involved in cheating and cyber crimes to support his family's luxurious lifestyle, he said.

Emil and his associate were staying at Green Park.

His associate had left before the police could reach, the DCP said



One ATM card skimming device, two key-pad of ATM used for copying PIN numbers, five unauthorized ATM cards, one cap to hide face from CCTV camera inside the ATM booth, one mobile phone and Rs 18,220 were recovered from Emil's possession, they added.

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A team from the Delhi poll body seized Rs 25 lakh in cash in southwest Delhi Friday, a statement from the Chief Electoral officer here said.

The Static Surveillance Team of Matiala assembly constituency, SDM office, Kapashera, seized the cash at Jhatikara border, it said.

The team was doing its surveillance duty to monitor model code of conduct violations at the site, and during a routine check up the cash was found in a Ford Endeavour SUV bearing a Haryana registration number, the statement said.

After interrogation of the car driver, the cash was seized.

The driver of the car could not furnish any document or permission of authorities concerned to carry such huge amount of cash during election time.

The matter was immediately reported to the concerned police station and the Income Tax Department. The cash has been handed over to police and the matter is under investigation by police and the Income Tax Department, the statement said.

The poll panel also said its statistics surveillance team, constituted to keep an eye on the expenses of the political parties, has seized around Rs 10 lakh in cash from outer Delhi.

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The acquittal of Aseemanand and three others in the 2007 Samjhauta train blast case is a reminder that "terrorists of extreme Hindutva variety" are not brought to justice in India, the CPI(M) claimed Friday.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece People's Democracy, the Left party said that between 2006 and 2008 six "terrorist" incidents were perpetrated by a network of extreme Hindutva groups, and Aseemanand, Pragya Thakur and Lt. Colonel Shrikant Purohit were among the prominent conspirators.

"The acquittal of Aseemanand and three others in the Samjhauta train blast case is a shameful reminder that the criminal justice system in India is incapable of bringing terrorists of the extremist Hindutva variety to justice for their crimes," it said.

The blast in Samjhauta Express between India and Pakistan took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari, the last railway station on the Indian side.

A special court in Haryana's Panchkula, which had acquitted Aseemanand and the three others, Thursday said the National Investigating Agency lost a valuable piece of evidence by not conducting an identification parade.

The CPI(M) editorial further claimed that Aseemanand, an RSS-VHP activist who was earlier acquitted in the Mecca Masjid blast and the Ajmer Dargah blast cases, was considered to be the main organiser of the terrorist attacks which targeted Muslim places of worship.

"Both these cases were investigated by the National Investigation Agency(NIA). Under the Modi regime, the NIA has the dubious record of undermining all the terrorist cases related to the Hindutva extremist groups," it said.

In the Mecca Masjid blast, in which nine people were killed in 2007, all the accused including Aseemanand were acquitted. In the Ajmer Dargah blast case, prosecuted by the NIA, Aseemanand and six others were acquitted.

"It was only in this case that two RSS pracharaks were convicted and sentenced to life; however their sentences were stayed by the High Court. In the case concerning the Malegaon blast of 2008, the NIA dropped charges against Pragya Thakur under the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act). But the special court reinstated the case against her under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)," it said.

The party alleged in the editorial that with this judicial verdict, the message has gone that "no one is responsible" for this terrorist event, when in fact there was sufficient evidence linking the blast to persons connected with the outfits affiliated to the RSS.

"What the Samjhauta, Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sherif blast cases have revealed is that the Modi government will not recognize or accept that there were terrorist attacks planned and executed by extremist Hindu elements. For the Modi government, terrorism can only be perpetrated by Muslim extremists and not by Hindu extremists. The criminal justice system is being subverted to convey this chilling message," it said.

Earlier in the day, senior BJP leader and Union minister Arun Jaitley attacked the Opposition, especially the Congress, over the Samjhauta blast verdict and said people cannot tolerate an entire community being labelled as terrorists.

Jaitley said wrong set of people were "framed" by forging evidence and the entire Hindu community was "smeared".

Innocents were killed in the blast but investigators focussed not on real culprits but on establishing the political theory of Hindu terrorism, he said, alleging that the Congress gave the slogan of "Hindu terrorism" for its "vote bank" politics.

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National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Friday said reports about prosecution withholding critical information about the Samjhauta Express blast case from the court was a reflection of the respect the BJP-led central government had for institutions of the country.

"The judge presiding over the special NIA court has himself said that the prosecution withheld critical information that would have allowed a guilty verdict to be passed. Clearly, this government has no respect for institutions," Abdullah told reporters at a press conference here.

The former chief minister said the disrespect for the institutions was seen across the length and breadth of the government.

"Whether NITI Aayog chairman being hauled up by the Election Commission for giving political statements or the way they have treated Reserve Bank of India and reduced it to a subsidiary of the government, rather than an independent body.

"We are yet to see a decision from the Election commission of India where the Prime Minister uses a space-related announcement to further the BJP's campaign. And now what we have seen with the courts and the way in which Samjhauta trial has been sabotaged by withholding the evidence," he said.

Abdullah said even the railways was being used to campaign for the Prime Minister.

"I don't know how effective the chowkidar slogan will be for the BJP, that only time will tell, but the fact that railways is circulating cups with chowkidar written on them and the Election Commission is powerless to do anything about it, is a reflection on independence and how the institutions have been weakened.

"I myself am a witness to boarding passes for at least two flights departing from Srinagar with photographs of PM Modi even after model code of conduct came into effect. It is no surprise that this government has very little, if any, regard for institutions," he added.

A special court in Haryana's Panchkula, which had acquitted Swami Aseemanand and three others in the Samjhauta Express train blast case, Thursday said the National Investigating Agency lost a valuable piece of evidence by not conducting an identification parade.

NIA court special Judge Jagdeep Singh said the agency did not bother to conduct a Test Identification Parade (TIP) of the suspects after learning that an Indore tailor may have stitched the covers of the two suitcases in which unexploded bombs were found in the train.

All the four accused -- Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary -- were acquitted by the court on March 20.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court Friday agreed to hear a plea of CBI against mobile service providers Vodafone and Airtel that they were not cooperating with the investigation in Saradha chit fund scam case.

CBI claimed that they were not providing it full call detail records (CDRs) of the accused in the scam despite repeated requests.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna issued notice and sought the reply of mobile service providers by April 8, the next date of hearing.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, said the service providers were not cooperating with the probe agency despite repeated requests for the CDRs.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the companies, denied the allegations and said that they are providing all the necessary assistance to the agency.

CBI had recently filed a status report relating to the interrogation of the then Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the scam.

The apex court had on March 26 termed as "very very serious" the revelations made by the CBI in its status report relating to interrogation of Kumar.

The top court had said that it cannot "close its eyes" if some "very very serious facts" were disclosed to it and directed the agency to file an application seeking appropriate relief against Kumar, who had earlier headed the state SIT to probe the chit fund scam.

It had refused to drop the contempt proceedings against the West Bengal DGP, the chief secretary and Kumar.

It was hearing CBI's contempt application against various senior officials of the West Bengal government on the ground of non-cooperation in its probe and alleged tampering of evidence, including CDRs of key accused and Sardha group CMD Sudipta Sen and Debjani Mukherjee.

The court, which had earlier directed the CBI director to file an affidavit giving details about the alleged contempt committed by West Bengal cops and others in the case, had perused the reply of the CBI chief and the fresh status report, pertaining to quizzing of Kumar.

The agency alleged non-cooperation by the West Bengal Police and providing of incomplete information as also tampering with details.

The apex court had said that the allegations made by the CBI were serious enough and it was an "obligation" on part of the agency to disclose full details of the alleged contempt committed by the then police commissioner.

It had questioned the CBI for the delay in moving the apex court when the agency allegedly noticed the tampering of electronic evidence in June 2018.

The probe agency came out with a contempt petition after the February 3 incident in which the CBI sleuths, who had gone to probe Kumar at his residence, were taken into custody and manhandled by the West Bengal Police.

Though the apex court had taken note of the February 3 incident in which the top police officers of the state police allegedly sat with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on dharna, it was annoyed as to why the CBI did not bring to its notice the tampering of the CDRs when it happened in June 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Besotted" with the wife of his employee, P Rajagopal, founder of South Indian restaurant chain 'Sarvana Bhavan', was Friday awarded life imprisonment by the Supreme Court for abducting and killing the woman's husband in 2001.

Either on the "advice of an astrologer" or "having become besotted with" the wife of his employee Santhakumar, Rajagopal initially attempted to make her his third wife and after failing in his endeavour, plotted abduction and murder of her husband, the top court noted its judgement.

A bench of Justices N V Ramana, M M Shantanagoudar and Indira Banerji dismissed as many as nine appeals of nine convicts including Rajagopal and upheld the Madras High Court verdict awarding life term to them.

The High Court had in 2009 enhanced to life term the 10-year imprisonment awarded by a local court to Rajagopal and eight others in the murder case.

"In our considered opinion, the prosecution has proved the complicity of all the appellants in murdering Santhakumar by strangulating him and thereafter throwing the dead body at TigerChola," the top court said in its verdict.

"Having regard to the entire material on record and the totality of facts and circumstances, we find that the evidence on record fully proves the case of the prosecution and that the Trial Court as well as the High Court evaluated the material on record in its proper prospective while coming to their conclusion.

"Thus, the judgment of the Trial Court as modified by the High Court need not be interfered with. Hence these appeals fail and stand dismissed," said Justice Shantanagoudar, who wrote the verdict.

The top court lent credence to the testimony of the wife of the deceased and termed her version as "overwhelming, consistent, cogent and reliable" and said that her testimony can be corroborated with the statements of others.

"We reiterate that PWs 1 (wife)...steadfast in their testimony about the motive, the last seen circumstance, recovery of the dead body based on the confession of Accused No.2, and about the identification of the dead body. We do not find any embellishment or exaggeration in the evidence of these witnesses," it said.

The court did not consider minor discrepancies and lack of DNA test to identify the dead body as fatal to the case.

"It is worth recalling that while it is necessary that proof beyond reasonable doubt should be adduced in all criminal cases, it is not necessary that such proof should



be perfect, and someone who is guilty cannot get away with impunity only because the truth may develop some infirmity when projected through human processes," it said.

The traditional dogmatic "hyper-technical approach" has to be replaced by a "rational, realistic and genuine approach for administering justice in a criminal trial", it said, adding that "justice cannot be made sterile by exaggerated adherence to the rule of proof, inasmuch as the benefit of doubt must always be reasonable and not fanciful."



The judgement noted that either upon the advice of an astrologer or "having become besotted" with the wife of the employee, the key accused had evinced a keen desire to marry her.

In order to fulfil his desire, Rajagopal used to financially help the woman, her family members and her husband, it said, adding that the key accused used to talk to the woman on phone frequently and also gave her costly gifts.

On October 1, 2001, the key accused got the woman and her husband abducted. The accused first persuaded and then threatened them to separate so that he can re-marry her.

A separate proceedings was on in the abduction case.

Few day later, the victim was again abducted and then killed.

The body was later exhumed at the instance of one of the accused and the post mortem was conducted and the report suggested that he was strangulated.

"In our considered view, the recovery of the body of



the deceased at the instance of Accused No. 2 and the identification of the body as that of Santhakumar by PW1, her family as well as by the accused, on the basis of



photographs, the clothes and belongings of the deceased, and his scar, stand proved beyond all reasonable doubt," the apex court said.

The apex court asked the convicts including Rajagopal to surrender by July 7 to serve the jail terms.

The Sarvana group has over 20 outlets in the south India, many others in the north and overseas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The single most worrying issue in the European economy right now is the ongoing collapse of German manufacturing. Last week, another raft of factory sentiment data came out and the charts look ugly: Analysts are saying things like "grim," "misery," "horrific," and "this is a serious recession warning in the German economy."

Business Insider reports in its article 'This is a serious recession warning in the German economy' that while the European Central Bank is flashing warnings about the economic health of the whole region  President Mario Draghi on Wednesday said he might halt rate rises on a slump in demand  Germany is especially alarming. "Winter has come back with a vengeance for the industrial sector," Oxford Economics analyst Angel Talavera told his clients. "The shocking plunge in the German manufacturing index to its lowest since 2012 is a stark reminder that the outlook for the industrial sector continues to be dominated by uncertainty, overwhelmed by a multitude of potential negative shocks ranging from a hard Brexit to the imposition of tariffs by the US."

PMI refers to the "purchasing managers' index." Although manufacturing in Germany isn't as large as its services sector, which remains buoyant, the country is psychologically identified with its historic manufacturing prowess. Think BMW, VW, Audi, BASF, and Bayer. Germany is also the largest economy in Europe. It sits at the heart of the eurozone currency area, and its largest non-European trading partners are China and the US. It is also the fourth largest economy globally. If German manufacturing sneezes, everyone else can catch a cold, in other words.

"The gap between the services and the manufacturing PMIs has now risen to levels not seen since the global financial crisis," Talavera also wrote, in a note seen by Business Insider. To be clear, analysts are not expecting a repeat of the financial crisis this year. But they are discussing a potential rerun of the mild recessions of 2012 and 2002. That's the base case.

"The rise in the March ifo index [a business climate survey that is broader than manufacturing PMI] does little to lift the fog of uncertainty over the outlook for the German economy," said Oxford Economics analyst Oliver Rakau in a note to clients. "The strong increase in expectations eases the recession fears that last week's horrific drop in the PMI raised, as marked strength in the services sector continues to suggest little spill-over of industrial woes into domestic demand."
The Supreme Court on Wednesday conferred senior designation on 37 lawyers, taking total number of practising senior advocates designated by it to 420.

The Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi conferred senior designations on lawyers who had applied for the same on November 13, last year.

The list of lawyers, who have now become senior, included names such as Madhavi G Divan, R Balasubramanian, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Devadatt Kamat, Anupam Lal Das, Aparajita Singh, Aishwarya Bhati and Gaurav Bhatia.

The 'Supreme Court Guidelines to Regulate Conferment of Designation of Senior Advocates' was notified in August last year following the judgement of the apex court on a PIL filed by senior advocate Indira Jaising.

The guidelines empower the committee to deal with all the matters relating to such conferment and it comprises Chief Justice of India as its Chairperson.

Two senior-most Supreme Court judges, Attorney General for India, and a member of the Bar are nominated by the Chairperson and other members.

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The Supreme Court Friday said it will hear from April 23 the final arguments on an appeal filed by Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia against the Delhi high court order allowing re-assessment of their Income Tax for 2011-12 in connection with the National Herald case.

The Gandhis sought adjournment of the hearing which was opposed by the Income Tax Department (ITD) saying the issue requires detailed hearing.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta said it is listing the matter for final disposal on April 23.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Gandhis said that the issue has various aspects which would require considerable time, therefore an adjournment should be granted.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for ITD, opposed the suggestion and said the issue would not require much time as it has already been argued at length in the high court.

The bench then listed the matter for detailed hearing on April 23.

On January 8, ITD had informed the apex court that an assessment order (AO) with respect to the tax of Rahul and Sonia for 2011-12 in connection with the National Herald case has been passed but has not been given effect.

The top court had allowed the AO, passed on December 31, 2018 raising the tax demand from them and others, to be placed on record after the ITD insisted on it but said that it would not form any opinion on the merits of the case on its basis.

It had asked Sonia and Rahul to file an affidavit and place on record in four weeks a CBDT circular which was issued on December 31, 2018 to clarify about taxes on valuations, but was recalled on January 4.

The court asked the I-T department to file its reply to the affidavit and the circular to be filed by the Congress leaders within a week thereafter.

The tax matter is related to the National Herald case in which other the Congress leaders are also facing criminal proceedings.

The Gandhis argued that CBDT had on December 31 issued a circular clarifying applicability of section 56(2)(viia) of the I-T Act for issue of shares by a company.

"This circular December 31, 2018, clarified the point of receive of share. However, interestingly four days later, the CBDT withdrew the circular saying the matter is sub-judice", they had said.

They had contended that as per the CBDT circular of December 31, 2018, fresh issuance of shares are not taxable.

On December 4, last year the apex court had allowed ITD to re-assess the tax of the top Congress leaders. It had however, restrained the department from "giving effect" to its order.

The Gandhis and senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes have challenged the Delhi High Court's September 10 verdict which dismissed their plea against the re-assessment of their tax for 2011-12.

The apex court had not issued formal notice on the petitions filed by Rahul, Sonia and Fernandes as the I-T department was represented by its counsel.

The I-T probe against the Congress leaders has arisen from the investigation into a private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before a trial court here in connection with the National Herald case, in which the trio is out on bail.

Sonia and Rahul were granted bail in the case by the trial court on December 19, 2015.

A tax evasion petition (TEP) was also addressed to the finance minister by Swamy.

In the complaint before the trial court, Sonia, Rahul and others have been accused of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which Young Indian (YI) had obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) owed to the Congress party.

It was alleged that YI, which was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of Rs 50 lakh, had acquired almost all the shareholding of AJL, which was running the National Herald newspaper.

The I-T department had said the shares Rahul has in YI would lead him to have an income of Rs 154 crore and not about Rs 68 lakh, as was assessed earlier.

It has already issued a demand notice for Rs 249.15 crore to YI for the assessment year 2011-12.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two Supreme Court judges including Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi Friday recused themselves from hearing a plea filed by former Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar against an high court order to register an FIR against him.

A bench of Chief Justice Gogoi, and Justices Dipak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna said the matter will be listed before an appropriate bench on April 1.

"List the matters before a bench wherein two of us (the Chief Justice and Justice Sanjiv Khanna) are not members. List the matters before second Court on April 1, 2019," the bench said.

The former Delhi police chief has moved the apex court against the Delhi HC order asking the police to register an FIR against him and others for allegedly fabricating documents in a nearly two-decade old case.

Appearing for Neeraj Kumar, Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar said the Delhi HC on March 13 ordered registration of the FIR against the police officer and conclusion of investigation within two months.

A division bench of the high court dismissed the appeals against a 2006 order of a single-judge bench that directed the police to lodge an FIR against Kumar and then CBI officer Vinod Kumar Pandey.

"On June 26, 2006, the writ Court had directed for registration of FIR and proceed with the investigation immediately and conclude it within two months. This order has not been given effect to till now. Accordingly, we direct for registration of the FIR forthwith and conclude the investigation within a period of two months as directed by the writ court," the division bench had said in its order.

The case pertains to an incident in 2001 when Kumar was posted as a joint director in the CBI and relates to alleged fabrication of documents of a case.

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The Supreme Court Friday upheld the life term awarded to P Rajagopal, founder of popular South Indian Sarvana chain of restaurants, and others in the murder case of his employee in 2001.

A bench comprising Justices N V Ramana and M M Shantanagoudar dismissed as many as eight appeals filed by the convicts challenging the 2009 verdict of the Madras High Court in the case.

The High Court had enhanced to life imprisonment the 10-year jail term awarded by a local court to Rajagopal and eight others in the murder case.

The apex court asked the convicts including Rajagopal to surrender by July 7 to serve the jail terms.

It was alleged by the prosecution that Rajagopal and others conspired and killed the employee in October, 2001 as he wanted to marry the wife of the deceased.

The group has over 20 outlets in the south India, many others in the north and overseas.

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Sikkim Chief Minister and SDF president Pawan Kumar Chamling Friday announced various sops for the youth, including a one-time grant of Rs five lakh to those starting a livelihood venture, if his party is voted to power again.

"Our policy is youth first ... youth has always been our priority," he said while releasing the election manifesto of his party, Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), at the Vijay Sankalp Rally in West Sikkim's Soreng town.

He said that those youth not opting for Startup scheme will be given a one-time grant of Rs five lakh by the SDF government for starting a livelihood venture.

Chamling, who is the founding president of the SDF, also promised that his government will increase the startup loan to Rs 30 Lakh from Rs. 20 lakh.

Our government will launch a scheme 'One Person, One Profession' whereby every eligible individual will be helped with a profession, he said.

The SDF president also promised to institute a Youth Forum in order to make Youths partners in policy making of his government.

He said that his government will make education free up to university level.

Chamling, who is spearheading the SDF's bid for a sixth consecutive term in power in Sikkim urged the voters to trust him to safeguard their future saying that he was a seasoned politician, not a seasonal politician.

Reeling out some achievements of his government during 25 years, he said that Sikkim is the first state in the country to fulfil basic minimum needs of its people.

"My government has also ensured peace and security over the last 25 years to make Sikkim an oasis of peace in the world," he claimed.

Seeking to counter his political adversaries charge that unemployment has increased under his rule, Chamling said that his government had given Muster Roll (MR) jobs to 30,000 Sikkimese people and their jobs were regularised subsequently.

Similarly, those people getting government jobs under 'One Family, One Job' scheme late last year, will also be regularised, he said.

The SDF government will also regularise the workers under various public sector undertakings (PSUs) in Sikkim, he said.

The Chief Minister said that loans taken from SABCO, including educational loans and loans taken for agriculture will be waived off by our next government.

Chamling sought to woo the farmers too by saying that his next government will provide cash assistance of Rs 60,000 to organic farmers and financially poor families.

Additionally, agricultural implements of Rs 40,000 will also be provided to the farmers under a scheme called 'Financial Security'.

Seeking to cash in on regional sentiments of the indigenous people, the SDF supremo said that his government has protected the rights and interests of the Sikkimese people by protecting Article 371F and Rule 4(4) and will continue to do so in future if elected to power again.

Article 371F in the constitution has special provisions with respect to the State of Sikkim.

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Several BJP bigwigs, including party chief Amit Shah and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, will take part in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign via video-conferencing in Delhi on Sunday.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is also likely to attend the programme with party workers, said Delhi BJP leaders.

Over 4,000 people, including party workers, will listen to the prime minister's address at Talkatora Stadium, said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari.

"Narendra Modi has revolutionised the masses who have rose in his support after Rahul Gandhi crossing the limits of decency heaped allegations on him without any evidence," Tiwari said.

The Delhi BJP has arranged for gatherings of party workers and locals in seven Lok Sabha constituency to join in Modi's event.

Party president Amit Shah will join one such gathering at Lawrence Road in Chandni Chowk constituency. Rajnath Singh will join the event at Ganesh Chowk in East Delhi, while Sushma Swaraj will be present at Uttam Nagar along with party workers and locals.

The event will be beamed across the country at 500 places where gatherings of BJP workers, professionals, chowkidars (watchmen), traders, farmers among others will listen to Modi and interact with him through video-conferencing.

Tiwari said Modi has received support from people which is evident by around 17 crore impressions and 30 lakh tweets related to 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' hashtag.

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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has claimed to have busted a massive gold smuggling racket with seizure of 106.9 kg of gold and arrest of seven persons here.

Acting on a tip-off, its sleuths seized 75 kg of smuggled gold concealed in two vehicles in Mumbai's Dongri area recently, and detained Abdul Ahad Zarodarwala, Shaikh Abdul Ahad and Shoeb Zarodarwala.

Shoeb Zarodarwala and Abdul Ahad Zarodarwala allegedly admitted that they had received a total of over 200 kg of smuggled gold from one Nisar Aliyar.

They sold smuggled gold in the wholesale market for a commission and one of their customers was Raju alias Manoj Jain who had bought around 100 kg of smuggled gold from them in the past, the two told DRI sleuths.

The sale proceeds were sent through "non-banking channels" (hawala) and they had sent Rs 12 crore through one Aaquil Fruitwala to Dubai, they allegedly revealed.

Nisar Aliyar, when summoned by the DRI, allegedly confessed that he had smuggled more than 200 kg of gold into India from Dubai by concealing it in containers of brass scrap.

Apart from Zarodarwalas, he had also sold around 30 kg of smuggled goods to one Happy Dhakad, he said.

A total of 106.9 kg of gold and Rs 1.81 crore in cash have been seized during the probe so far, the DRI said.

Aliyar, Shoeb Zarodarwala, Abdul Ahad Zarodarwala, Shaikh Abdul Ahad, Dhakad, Jain and Fruitwala were arrested and remanded in judicial custody while further probe is on, it said.

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BJP president Amit Shah Friday lashed out at the Opposition parties for questioning the Narendra Modi government over air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and advocating talks with Islamabad to resolve various issues.

The Narendra Modi government has given befitting replies to China and Pakistan, he said, adding "we are fighting to secure our country".

Kicking off the BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign in West Bengal from Alipurduar, Shah said, "We have given befitting replies to China on the Dokalam issue and to Pakistan for its use of terror elements against India. If Pakistan fires a single bullet, we will answer with artillery fire."



He hit out at the Opposition parties, saying "when the government is fighting against terrorists to protect the nation, they are questioning it."



The electorate this time will choose between "strong and decisive" Narendra Modi on the one hand and "thugbandhan leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav on the other", he said in a veiled reference to the 'mahagathbandhan' or grand alliance of the opposition parties to dislodge the BJP.

Shah mocked Congress president Rahul Gandhi for seeking answers on the Modi government's performance. "We don't need to answer you. First you should tell us what the UPA government did in 10 years."



The Congress-led UPA-I and UPA-II governments under Manmohan Singh had been in power from 2004 to 2014.

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Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has thrown a hint that she is not averse to taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his own Lok Sabha constituency.

"Shouldn't I fight from Varanasi?" Vadra said when a party worker asked her to contest from Rae Bareli, according to a participant at the meeting.

During a visit to Rae Bareli, the constituency of her mother, Sonia Gandhi, Vadra held meetings with party leaders and workers late into Thursday night and faced fresh demands for entering the electoral battle from the constituency.

On Wednesday, in a brief interaction with the media in Amethi, the constituency of her brother and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Vadra had said she would contest the election if the party wants her to do so.

At the Bhueymau guest house in Rae Bareli on Thursday, the Congress incharge of eastern Uttar Pradesh had asked the party workers to highlight among the people the alleged failures and failed promises of the Modi government.

There is no dearth of issues for the Congress. Workers have to go among the people, Vadra told the party workers who had come from all the assembly segments, as well as the workers of the Jan Adhikar Party, the grand old party's alliance partner.

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US President Donald Trump will host his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in at the White House on April 11, according to an official announcement.

Trump and Moon will discuss the latest developments regarding North Korea as well as bilateral matters, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.

The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region. This visit will strengthen this alliance and the friendship between the two countries, the press secretary said.

Moon was instrumental in brokering talks between Washington and the nuclear-armed and sanctions-hit North Korea.

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had met in February in Hanoi in Vietnam.However, the US-North Korea summit ended abruptly without a deal, with the US president 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 in June 12 last year.

Moon will be accompanied by his wife Kim Jung-sook during his visit to the US, the statement said.

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This year marks five years since the treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Union was signed and 25 years of the Eurasian integration idea, first expressed by President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1994. During the '25 years of Eurasian Integration: from an idea to a sustainable union' conference, PR manager and journalist Yerzhan Yensebay once again recalled that barriers and restrictions on the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor within the Union countries were removed thanks to the EEU, while Nazarbayev's initiative promoted the dynamic development of economies and significantly strengthened cooperation between the EEU member countries.

Yerzhan Yensebay deemed it necessary to recall the chronology of Eurasian integration: "In the 1990s, Nazarbayev voiced the idea of forming a Eurasian Union. Speaking at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in the UK on March 22, 1994, he said: "It should be understood that the CIS is not a state, not a national entity, but a mechanism of regional interaction that has developed in natural conditions." That is, the alliance mechanism was important for the CIS countries. On March 29, 1994, a week after speaking at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, President Nursultan Abishevich put forward the idea of forming a new integration association - the Eurasian Union - at a meeting with the Lomonosov Moscow State University faculty during his visit to Russia. On October 27, 2011, he wrote in the article 'Eurasian Union: from idea to future history': "In March 1994 I first suggested to create in the CIS countries a new integration Association  the Eurasian Union of States. This idea was not accidentally released by me in the academic audience at Moscow State University. I directly addressed the intellectual elite of the Commonwealth with firm determination to bring forward the process of multilateral integration, in which he was already two years after the formation of the CIS. I frankly said that the CIS does not meet the objective requirements of the time and does not ensure the integration of the member countries, which our peoples need so badly. Therefore, there is a need to create a new interstate association, which would act on clearer principles"...

At the same time, it was stated that no old union would be recreated, no empire would come. The head of Kazakhstan proposed the creation of a Eurasian Economic Union on the principles of economic pragmatism. That is, working within the framework of the Union was now profitable for the participating countries. Methods of economic pragmatism have borne fruits in the industry, in particular, there has been a significant increase in mechanical engineering, metallurgy, automotive, metal products, furniture industry. Within the framework of the union, the working capital of trade enterprises increased. This format allowed to reveal Kazakhstan's growth prospects in the integration processes in the post-Soviet space."

Yerzhan Yensebay said that such structures as the Central Asian Union, the Customs Union, the Union State of Russia and Belarus were being formed at that time. These steps allowed the heads of state to establish the Eurasian Economic Community (EEU) on December 10, 2000, in Astana, an international organization with a clear functional structure, an effective mechanism of work, clear and understandable goals in the form of a customs union, a single economic space and integration into the world trade and economic system. On May 29, 2014, the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union was signed. On December 4, 2014, the Armenian parliament ratified the agreement on the country's accession to the EEU. On December 23, an agreement was signed on the accession of Kazakhstan to the EEU at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. On January 1, 2015, the Treaty on the Establishment of the EEU entered into force. On January 2, 2015, Armenia officially joined the EEU, the procedure for Kazakhstans accession to the EEU was completed in August 2015. Thus, Nursultan Nazarbayev's Eurasian idea theoretically and practically developed in the last 25 years in accordance with the requirements of the time, laying the strategic foundations of economic integration for many decades to come."

Head of the Rukhaniyat communal state institution under the Akimat of Astana, which was renamed to Nur-Sultan, Dauletkhan Zhienkulov said that after the EEU was established, Kazakhstans GDP grew by 1.2% in 2015, by 1.1% in 2016, by 4% in 2017, by 4% last year: "These statistics show the achievements of the EEU. The geographical location of Kazakhstan obliges it to become a "golden bridge" between Asia and Europe. New President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, a professional diplomat, worked with China, with Europe, at the UN, therefore, integration processes will continue not only within the EEU, our international integration will drastically intensify."

The journalist of BAQ.kz, Kymbat Yeltai, found it necessary to remind that "on March 21 of this year, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the conversation, Vladimir Putin thanked Nursultan Nazarbayev for his personal contribution to the development of allied bilateral relations, and noted his historical role in the success of the Eurasian integration project. The Russian leader expressed confidence that the first President of Kazakhstan would continue to actively contribute to the efforts to strengthen cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union. The heads of state agreed to work closely in order to further enhance constructive Kazakh-Russian cooperation in all areas, as well as work together to resolve topical issues on the international agenda."

"We also know from media reports that Vladimir Putin invited President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev to visit Russia in the near future. Our Russian colleagues write that Nursultan Nazarbayev has always been a true friend of Russia and showed his friendly feelings towards the neighboring state. About Kazakhstan being an important ally of Russia, and new president of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev being a brilliant well-educated intelligent politician. Russian colleagues also hope that cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia will further strengthen. And we also look forward to further fruitful cooperation," Kymbat Yeltai said.
Slovakia's lawmakers have approved a resolution to reject an international treaty on women's rights.

In the 150-seat Parliament, 101 lawmakers voted Friday to ask the government to stop the process of ratification of the treaty known as the Istanbul Convention and inform the Council of Europe that Slovakia will stay out of it.

The document was adopted by the Council of Europe in 2011 in a bid to fight violence against women throughout Europe.

The resolution was drafted by the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party, a member of the ruling coalition.

Opponents of the convention in Slovakia, a Roman Catholic stronghold, charge that some provisions would violate the Slovak constitution for example because the constitution defines marriage as a union of a man and a woman.

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Afghan officials say the latest Taliban attacks have killed 17 policemen across the country.

Nik Mohammad Nazari, spokesman in northern Badakhshan province, says three policemen were killed on Friday in the district of Arghanj Khowa, where fighting is still underway.

Provincial police chief Ghulam Daoud Tarakhil says the Taliban launched massive attacks in eastern Ghazni province, targeting two checkpoints on Thursday and killing nine policemen. Tarakhil says the Taliban were "defeated with heavy causalities" after hours of gunbattles.

Deputy provincial council chief Asadullah Kakar says five policemen were killed in southeastern Zabul province's district of Shinkay on Thursday.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for all three attacks.

Separately, governor spokesman Asadullah Dawlatzai says a mortar struck a house in eastern Laghman province on Thursday, killing two, including a child.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a Srinagar-located asset linked to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah in connection with a 14-year-old terror funding and money laundering case against him and others, the agency said Friday.

The property is located in Effandi Bagh in the Rawalpora area of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital, and the central probe agency issued a provisional order to attach the asset under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The action is part of a multi-agency crackdown launched by the government against separatists and terror operatives functioning from Kashmir Valley.

The ED said the asset is being "held in the name" of Shah's wife and daughters.

The seized asset is valued at Rs 25.8 lakh, the agency said.

It added that Shah, currently in judicial custody, is "involved in carrying out illicit activities along with his accomplice Mohd Aslam Wani, who is an activist of banned militant organisation JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammad)".

"Shah was using Wani as a carrier for collecting hawala money sent by his Pakistan-based sympathisers through hawala operators...," the agency said.

Records show, the ED said, that this property has been gifted to Shah's wife and daughters by his sisters-in-law in 2005, which was purchased in their name by his father-in-law in 1999.

However, in spite of repeated opportunities given to Shah's father-in-law and sisters-in-law they failed to justify the sources of fund to acquire the property, the agency claimed.

Investigation has also revealed that Shah is the de-facto owner of the property purchased through unexplained source of fund by his father-in-law, it alleged.

The ED said its probe revealed that Shah "was in touch with global terrorist Hafeez Sayeed, chief of banned outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa based in Pakistan and that he had been receiving money for carrying out separatist activities in J-K and has acquired various properties through a maze of dubious transactions".

Shah and Wani were arrested by the ED in 2017.

Wani was granted bail by a court in January 2019.

The case dates back to August 2005 case when the Delhi Police's special cell arrested Wani (37), an alleged hawala dealer, who had claimed that he had passed on Rs 2.25 crore to Shah.

Wani was arrested allegedly with about Rs 63 lakh, received through hawala channels from the Middle East, and a large cache of ammunition on August 26, 2005.

During questioning, he had told the police that Rs 50 lakh was to be delivered to Shah and Rs 10 lakh to Jaish-e-Mohammad area commander in Srinagar, Abu Baqar, and the rest was his commission.

An amount of Rs 63 lakh was earlier attached by the ED.

Wani, who hails from Srinagar, had also claimed that he had delivered around Rs 2.25 crore to Shah and his kin in multiple instalments over the past year and in absence of Shah he used to deliver these money to his wife Bilquees Shah, it said.

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Trade talks with China are progressing "very well", US President Donald Trump said, as top negotiators from the two countries Thursday began meetings to resolve their tariff war.

US trade negotiators arrived in Beijing on Thursday and the talks began with a working dinner.The meetings will last the entire day Friday.

The fresh round of talks are the latest in a series of exchanges between the two nations on trade.

"We're doing very well with our trade talks with China, and our trade talks and other talks with other countries. Our country is doing great," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the status of the ongoing trade meetings with the China.

He was also asked if the release of the Mueller report was having an effect on the ongoing talks.

Some media reports have claimed that the Chinese were waiting for the Mueller report's release before making any moves.

"I can't tell you whether or not it had an impact on other countries, including China. I can say this: that countries are reacting very well," Trump said.

The report by special counsel and former FBI director Robert Mueller is a nearly two-year investigation into the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections.

The US delegation to the talks is led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Trump also said, "If you look at other countries, if you look at what's happening, the economies of other countries -- we're leading the world economically."



"We're leading the world as far as our economy is concerned. We have a strong dollar. I mean, things are going very well, he said.

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US President Donald Trump will meet his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in at the White House on April 11 to discuss their efforts to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula and bilateral issues.

The White House said in a statement on Thursday that Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook will visit the White House on April 11.

Trump and Moon will discuss the latest developments regarding North Korea as well as bilateral matters, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.

"The alliance between the US and the Republic of Korea remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region. This visit will strengthen this alliance and the friendship between the two countries," she said.

Moon was instrumental in brokering talks between Washington and the nuclear-armed and sanctions-hit North Korea.

The two presidents will meet a little more than a month after Trump held his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam.

However, the US-North Korea summit ended abruptly without a deal, with the US president 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 in June last year.

Trump and Kim signed a vaguely worded agreement at their first summit in Singapore pledging to work toward full denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Members of Trump's administration, meanwhile, acknowledge North Korea is still developing a nuclear weapons programme and US sanctions on the country remain in place.

While North Korea has refrained from overtly provocative actions like testing nuclear warheads or ballistic missiles, it has yet to agree to actually give up any piece of its atomic arsenal.

The last nuclear test North Korea conducted was in September 2017. The regime also launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017. Some experts say the regime no longer needs to conduct such tests because of advances in its nuclear weapons programme.

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A UN official charged with investigating alleged violations of a UN arms embargo on Libya, has been detained in neighbouring Tunisia on suspicion of spying, Tunisian and UN officials said Friday.

Moncef Kartas, a member of the panel of experts of the Libya sanctions committee, was arrested on his arrival in Tunis on Tuesday, a UN spokesman told AFP.

"We are in contact with the Tunisian authorities to know why he has been held for questioning," a UN statement said, adding that as a UN expert Kartas was entitled to diplomatic immunity.

Tunisia website universnews said Kartas had dual Tunisian and German nationality.

Confirmation of his arrest comes just a day before UN chief Antonio Guterres is due to attend an Arab summit in Tunis with the conflict in Libya to be high on the agenda.

After initially making no comment on the case, the Tunisian authorities confirmed on Friday that they had detained two Tunisians, including Kartas, on suspicion of "spying for foreign parties".

"Confidential documents containing sensitive detailed data capable of harming national security were seized, along with technical equipment for jamming and intercepting communications that is banned in our country," the interior ministry said in a statement.

In a 2017 report co-signed by Kartas, the UN panel of experts found that arms and ammunition continued to be delivered to the warring parties in Libya in violation of the UN embargo with the involvement of member states.

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Turkey's foreign minister said Friday his country is committed to a deal to purchase advanced Russian surface-to-air missile defence system, despite warnings from Washington that the deal could put the NATO member country's participation in the US F-35 fighter aircraft program at risk.

Turkey's decision to purchase the S-400 air defence systems from Russia has increased already tense ties between the two NATO allies, including over the war in Syria.

The US has issued repeated warnings to Turkey over the planned purchase, arguing that the Russian system may pose a security threat to the high-tech F-35s.

Speaking at a joint conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu ruled out the possibility of Turkey selling the S-400s to another country as suggested by some analysts as a compromise solution.

Cavusoglu also insisted Turkey had met all of its obligations concerning the F-35 program.

"As a principle it is contrary to international laws for a third country to oppose an agreement between two countries," Cavusoglu said.

"We are committed to this agreement. There can be no such thing as selling to a third country. We are buying them for our own needs."



Cavusoglu added that Turkey and Russia were discussing delivery dates.

The US had agreed to sell 100 of its latest, fifth-generation F-35 fighters to Turkey, and has so far delivered two of the aircraft.

But Congress last year ordered a delay in future deliveries.

Earlier this month, the top US military commander for Europe, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, told the US Congress that Turkey should reconsider its plan to buy the S-400 from Russia or forfeit other future American military aircraft and systems.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed such threats and has even said Turkey could consider purchasing the more advanced Russian S-500 system in the future.

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A city court Friday sentenced two persons to life imprisonment for trafficking a minor girl to Uttar Pradesh and forcing her to perform obscene dance in an orchestra.

Additional district and sessions judge Lilamoy Mondal awarded the maximum sentence for the crime to two persons - one of whom trafficked her to Uttar Pradesh and the other who bought her and forced her to perform in the orchestra.

The charge of trafficking a minor girl results in a prison term of 10 years to life imprisonment and fine.

The judge sentenced Rahul Ghosh and Suresh Gupta to life imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on each, which if not paid will lead to another six months in jail for each of the two.

The girl, who resided on the footpath at Shyambazar area in North Kolkata with her family, was offered to work in Uttar Pradesh by Ghosh.

Taking advantage of her family's poverty, Ghosh got her to board a train to their destination, but suspecting something amiss, she tried to get off and return.

She was, however, forced to go to Ramchandrapur, Deoria Sadar in Uttar Pradesh by Ghosh, who then sold her off to Gupta, owner of a dance bar there.

The parents of the girl had filed a missing complaint at the Ultadanga police station in Kolkata.

On receiving the information from a social worker that she was in the clutches of Gupta, the girl's parents went to Deoria Sadar to bring her back, but the orchestra owner threatened them at gun point.

Police went to Deoria Sadar and rescued her on September 22, 2014, and arrested both the accus



ed, public prosecutor Vivek Sharma said.

Ghosh and Gupta were brought to Kolkata for trial.

Following completion of the trial, during which the two accused were in judicial custody, the judge sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for life for trafficking the girl.

The two were also found guilty of wrongful confinement, for which they were sentenced to one year in prison.

Both the punishments would run concurrently, the judge ordered.

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A UK court rejected Nirav Modi's second bail application on Friday, saying there are "substantial grounds" to believe the fugitive diamantaire will fail to surrender.

Looking more dishevelled and dressed in a similar white shirt as his first court appearance last week, the 48-year-old was brought to the dock to be produced before Westminster Magistrates Court Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot and sat behind a glass enclosure as the hearing got underway.

Rejecting Modi's bail plea after hearing both defence and prosecution, Judge Arbuthnot said his attempt to try and seek citizenship of Vanuatu, a remote island country located in the South Pacific Ocean, shows he was trying to move away from India at an important time.

"There are substantial grounds to believe he will fail to surrender," said the judge, who fixed April 26 as the next date of hearing.

Modi will appear via video link from jail at the next hearing.

Earlier, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of Indian authorities, said Modi should not be granted bail because he posed a significant flight risk and had even issued death threats to witnesses related to his fraud and money laundering case.

CPS barrister Toby Cadman told Judge Arbuthnot that there was a "substantial risk" that the prime accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud to the "amount of between USD 1 and 2 billion", would flee and attempt to interfere with witnesses and evidence.

"Given the nature and seriousness of charges and the resources available to him there will be an overwhelming desire to flee the jurisdiction and interfere with the administration of justice," said Cadman.

Giving details of Modi's attempt to interfere with witnesses, the CPS barrister made specific reference to one such witness, Ashish Lad, who Modi "threatened to kill in a phone call" and also offered him an incentive of Rs 2 million to provide a false statement.

Nilesh Mistry and three other witnesses were similarly targeted by Modi and mobile phones and a server holding "material critical to the fraud" were destroyed at request of Modi, raising fears of further "destroying of evidence" if bail was granted, the court was told.

"Due to the nature of his business he has at his disposal diamonds, gold and pearls," added Cadman.

The court was told about Modi's attempt to attain citizenship in jurisdictions less likely to be willing to extradite him to India, including Vanuatu at the end of 2017 on the basis of a USD 200,000 investment. However, Vanuatu citizenship request was declined as a result of the ongoing Indian criminal investigation.

Modi's defence team, led by barrister Clare Motgomery who was also the barrister for former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya in his extradition case - opposed the CPS claims of Modi being a flight risk and stressed that in fact Modi sees UK as a "haven where his case will be fairly considered".

"The size and nature of these allegations is not a safe touchstone by which you can judge if he should be granted bail," said Montgomery, who claimed a series of "underlying issues" were behind PNB withdrawing insecure lending.

The defence offered to submit Modi to an electronic tag for monitoring in an attempt to secure bail for him. They also disputed the death threats allegations to witnesses by Modi.

At the very start of the hearing, Judge Arbuthnot said she was getting a sense of "deja vu", in reference to her having ordered the extradition of Mallya in December last year.

"Do we know which part of India he [Modi] is being sought in," the judge asked, to try and establish which jail Modi is likely to be held in.

She was told by the CPS that it would be an extradition to Mumbai and that he may in fact be held in the same Arthur Road Jail as that prepared for Mallya, to which the judge said in a light-hearted vein that it could even be the same cell as we know "there is space" from the previous video submitted during Mallya extradition trial.

In another throwback to the Mallya trial, Montgomery raised the issue of the state of the paperwork submitted by the Indian authorities, claiming it "made her cry" at one stage. The judge concurred with her and was very firm about proper indexing of all documents to be submitted to the court in relation to the case.

Cadman assured the court that the point had been conveyed to the Indian authorities.

A three-member joint Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) team from India was present in court and handed over a new file of evidence which was review by the judge before the hearing.

Modi is believed to have been living in the UK on an Investor Visa, applied for in 2015 at a time when the so-called golden visa route was relatively easier for super-rich individuals to acquire residency rights in the UK based on a minimum of 2-million pound investment.

According to official data, around 76 Indians have used this visa category to gain permanent settlement in Britain since 2009, with a peak of 16 Indian applicants in 2013 and seven last year.

The UK has since tightened the criteria for the category over concerns of its misuse.

Modi was denied bail by District Judge Marie Mallon at his first hearing soon after his arrest by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch as he tried to open a new bank account and has been in custody at HMP Wandsworth prison in south-west London since then.

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Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi was denied bail a second time Friday as a UK court ruled that there were "substantial grounds" to believe that he would fail to surrender and also noted that "very unusually in a fraud case" the accused had made death threats to witnesses.

At the end of the second bail application hearing at the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London of the 48-year-old prime accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ruled that the one million pounds his legal team had offered as security for bail as well as the offer to meet stringent electronic tag restrictions on their client's movements failed to convince her to grant bail.

She set Modi's next remand hearing for April 26 via videolink from jail.

"This is a case of substantial fraud, with loss to a bank in India of between USD 1-2 billion. I am not persuaded that the conditional bail sought will meet the concerns of the government of India in this case," she noted.

The court was told that Modi's son, who had been at school in London, had now left for higher studies in the US, which led the judge to conclude that Modi not only had a "lack of community ties" in the UK but also large resources at his disposal to try and flee the country.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, had also flagged Modi's attempt to acquire the citizenship of Vanuatu, a remote island country located in the South Pacific Ocean, in late 2017 as a sign of a man trying to evade justice.

The judge agreed that the action was "some way away from a person running a series of businesses" from the UK and that the move to seek citizenship of Vanuatu did indicate that he was trying to "move away from India at an important time".

The judge reiterated her previous strong direction to the Indian authorities to ensure all the documents submitted in the case are "properly paginated with a proper index", before setting May 24 as the deadline for the CPS to submit their documents in the case before the court can decide on a potential hearing date for a full-fledged extradition trial.

Modi, meanwhile, can make a third bail application at the same court but only if the grounds for the bail plea were substantially different. Alternatively, his defence team has a couple of weeks to also move a bail application in the High Court.

During Friday's hearing, the CPS strongly opposed bail on the grounds that Modi posed a significant flight risk and had even issued death threats to witnesses related to his fraud and money laundering case.

Looking more dishevelled and dressed in a similar white shirt as his first bail hearing last week, Modi was brought up to the dock to be produced before the judge and sat behind a glass enclosure as the hearing got underway.

The court was told that Modi was the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB and then laundering the proceeds of crime.

CPS barrister Toby Cadman told the judge that there was a "substantial risk" that the prime accused in the PNB fraud to the "amount of between USD 1 and 2 billion", would flee and attempt to interfere with witnesses and evidence.

"Given the nature and seriousness of charges and the resources available to himthere will be an overwhelming desire to flee the jurisdiction and interfere with the administration of justice," said Cadman.

Giving details of Modi's attempt to interfere with witnesses, the CPS barrister made specific reference to one such witness, Ashish Lad, who Modi "threatened to kill in a phone call" and also offered him an incentive of Rs 2 million to provide a false statement.

Nilesh Mistry and three other witnesses were similarly targeted by Modi and mobile phones and a server holding "material critical to the fraud" were destroyed at request of Modi, raising fears of further "destroying of evidence" if bail was granted, the court was told.

"Due to the nature of his business he has at his disposal diamonds, gold and pearls," said Cadman.

The court was informed about Modi's attempt to attain citizenship in jurisdictions less likely to be willing to extradite him to India, including Vanuatu at the end of 2017 on the basis of a USD 200,000 investment. However, the Vanuatu citizenship request was declined as a result of the ongoing Indian criminal probe.

Modi's defence team, led by Clare Montgomery who was also the barrister for former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya in his extradition case, opposed the CPS claims of Modi being a flight risk and stressed that in fact Modi sees UK as a "haven where his case will be fairly considered".

"The size and nature of these allegations is not a safe touchstone by which you can judge if he should be granted bail," said Montgomery, who claimed a series of "underlying issues" were behind the PNB withdrawing insecure lending.

At the very start of the hearing, Judge Arbuthnot said she was getting a sense of "deja vu", in reference to her having ordered the extradition of Mallya in December last year.

A three-member joint CBI and Enforcement Directorate team from India was present in court and handed over a new file of evidence which was review by the judge before the hearing.

Modi is believed to have been living in the UK on an Investor Visa, applied for in 2015.

He was denied bail at his first hearing soon after his arrest by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch. He is lodged at HMP Wandsworth prison since then.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On the eve of the first meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the War Party of Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan strengthened anti-Pashinyan propaganda in the hope of turning any progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement against Pashinyan and hurt his ratings.

One of the main comrades of the Karabakh clan leaders, the representative of the Republican Party of Armenia, Eduard Sharmazanov, posted a message on his Facebook page, comparing Prime Minister's methods to Francisco Franco and Augusto Pinochet, as if forgetting that Pinochet methods were used by Armenian authorities for the last 20 years.

The fact that Pashinyan violated all written and unwritten laws of democracy is proved by his methods. He uses blackmail, threats and repression for several months already, politik.am reports citing Sharmazanov.

In conclusion to his post Eduard Sharmazanov wrote that Nikol Pashinyan's actions already led to several extremely negative results for Armenia.

The end goal of such propaganda is clear: the War Party either wants to prevent Pashinyan from reaching compromises with Baku, threatening to hurt his popularity through such statements, or, if compromise is reached, will try to return to power.
British lawmakers on Friday rejected the Brexit deal proposed by Prime Minister Theresa May in Parliament for the third time.

MPs voted in the House of Commons against the terms of Britain's so-called divorce from the European Union (EU) by 344 to 286.

May on Wednesday bowed to mounting pressure from within her own Conservative Party and offered to resign as the UK Prime Minister if her MPs agreed to back her twice-defeated Brexit divorce bill to get it over the line in a third parliamentary vote.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China and the US on Friday resumed their negotiations to end the trade war amid a bitter spat between them over Beijing's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects which Washington said have national security element and less of an economic offer for host countries.

Top US and Chinese trade officials have been holding a series of talks to end the tariff war between the world's two largest economies, kicked off by US President Donald Trump last year who demanding Beijing to reduce the USD 375 billion trade deficit, protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) technology transfer and more access to American goods in to China's markets.

Trump has already increased the tariffs on over USD 250 billion Chinese exports to the US and threatened to extend it on USD 200 billion Chinese imports to 25 per cent.

He, however, held back his threat to impose additional tariffs on the rest of Chinese imports after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in December last year, during the G20 Summit in Argentina. The US and Chinese officials stepped up talks to finalise a deal.

On Friday, both sides resumed trade talks here, giving another push to their high-stakes negotiations to end their months-long tariff war.

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He met US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the Chinese capital, after the two sides kick-started the talks over a working dinner on Thursday in a clear effort to speed up negotiations.

As the US delegation left their hotel earlier in the day, Mnuchin said they had a "very productive" working dinner on Thursday evening.

"A full day of intense negotiations has been scheduled on Friday to cover as much ground as possible. Issues identified included the protection of intellectual property rights, government subsidies for state-owned enterprises, trade barriers, market access and the US' trade deficit with China," the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said on Thursday that the Trump administration was prepared to stretch the talks for "months" and Washington was in no rush to resolve the conflict.

"We are getting close, but we are not there yet," Kudlow said.

As they resumed talks, both sides, however, traded charges over the BRI, President Xi's signature initiative to fund infrastructure development abroad to expand China's influence.

Chinese infrastructure and connectivity projects around the world have an element of "national security" and are less of an economic offer for host countries, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said as Beijing is gearing to host the second Belt and Road Forum.

Pompeo Thursday told a Washington audience that China poses security threat to the US, its friends and allies.

"They are moving into the South China Sea is not because they want freedom of navigation. Their efforts to build ports around the world aren't because they want to be good shipbuilders and stewards of waterways, but rather they have a state national security element to each and every one of them," Pompeo said.

The Belt and Road Initiative is no different, he asserted.

Refuting the allegations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang told a media briefing here that "for some time, it seems that some US politicians cannot go anywhere without attacking China, tarnishing China's reputation, and sensationalising the so-called "China threat".

"They frame China's development assistance as a 'debt trap' and accuse Chinese enterprises of spying with trumped-up charges. These actions are extremely immoral and unfair," he said.

"I want to stress that a lie, even repeated a thousand times, will still be a lie. Certain people in the US should not overestimate the effectiveness of their rumour-mongering or underestimate other people's ability to make informed judgments," he said.

He said, both Italy and Luxemburg have signed up to BRI which is backed 150 countries and international organisations.

Preparations are underway for the second Belt Road Forum (BRF) to be held here next month to highlight the achievements of BRI, he said.

India did not attend the first BRF held in 2017 and signalled to boycott the second BRF over its objections on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

"To be honest, we have made no secret of our views and our position on BRI is clear and consistent and one that we have conveyed to the authorities concerned, India's Ambassador to China Vikram Misri told the Chinese state-run daily Global Times recently.

"Above all, connectivity initiatives must be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty, equality and territorial integrity of nations. No country can participate in an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A British government report issued Thursday detailing security risks posed by Chinese firm confirms US government warnings of security risks associated with the telecom giant, according to a US official.

The report from a cybersecurity watchdog identified "significant technical issues" in Huawei's engineering and warned there is "only limited assurance" the risk can be managed.

The US official said those findings support similar American assessments that concluded Huawei's equipment cannot be "made safe from Chinese influence or disruption."



The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief the media publicly.

denies that its equipment could be used to facilitate spying and Chinese authorities have accused Washington of exaggerating security concerns to limit competition with Western vendors.

Washington is campaigning in Europe and beyond for allies to ban the use of technology as they develop plans to build new high speed fifth generation, or 5G, mobile networks.

The US has experienced significant pushback from allies concerned about remaining competitive in the global race to develop 5G technology.

Germany recently announced Huawei would be able to bid on 5G contracts there and the US has issued warnings to Israel that Chinese investment could result in reduced intelligence sharing.

The United Kingdom has previously said it believes Huawei's security risks could be managed. Thursday's report authored by British cybersecurity inspectors also said Huawei's plans to address security flaws "could in principle be successful."



The US argues Huawei could give the Chinese government backdoor access to snoop on internet users worldwide.

"Our intelligence community has made it abundantly clear Huawei and ZTE put the security of our communications at risk and it is concerning that allies like Germany are considering relying on their products," said Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado in statement Thursday.

"It is my hope all of our allies in Europe and around the globe hear us loud and clear."



The US accused ZTE Corp., a major supplier of telecom networks and smartphones based in southern China, of misleading American regulators after it settled charges of violating sanctions against North Korea and Iran. The company was blocked in 2018 from importing American components for seven years.

Despite the security flaws identified in the report Thursday, British authorities said they do not believe the defects were a result of "Chinese state interference" and the report did not find that Huawei was giving the Chinese government backdoor access as the U.S. is warning.

US officials didn't expect to find dedicated backdoors, instead assessing its more likely the Chinese government would use what appear to be flaws in Huawei's code to gain access, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official added that type of access can be just as damaging.
A bipartisan group of five powerful US Senators have introduced a legislation to strengthen the country's leadership in space, arguing it was essential in view of the aggressive and dangerous Chinese designs.

The Space Frontier Act, that was introduced on Thursday, would secure funding to continue operations for the International Space Station (ISS) through 2030, eliminate overreaching regulations to support further development of the commercial space sector and to strengthen America's leadership in space exploration.

The act moves the US forward in securing the country's competitive edge against China in low-earth orbit and enacts meaningful reforms to modernize the nation's launch and re-entry regulations, and streamlines non-governmental earth observation regulations, Ted Cruz, chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation and Space, who is one of the Senators to introduce the legislation, said.

Besides Cruz, other senators are Kyrsten Sinema, Roger Wicker, Ed Markey and Gary Peters.

"Fifty years after the United States first put a man on the moon, we are in the midst of a new and exciting space race," Wicker said.

Noting that the challenge in space requires policy certainty, partnerships with the private sector, country's friends across the globe, its continuing competitive edge and innovative thinking, he said that the act would ensure American leadership in space for years to come.

Markey said that the the act will help the American space industry achieve new heights, all while protecting small businesses and the scientific research that benefits all Americans through innovation and discovery.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Accusing the ruling BJD in Odisha of being "insensitive" to the plight of the poor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday asserted that a "double- engine" government of the BJP at the Centre and the state will ensure speedy development in the state.

Kicking off his campaign for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Odisha from here, Modi said the subsequent governments in the state have betrayed its people.

In a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik government, a departure from the usual practice of going soft on the ruling party in the state, Modi said: "Both the Congress and the BJD have betrayed the people of Odisha. Now it's the time to punish them and bring in a double-engine government of the BJP at the Centre and the state to build of a 'new Odisha'."



The PM, who began his speech in Odia to strike an emotional chord with the people here, said the state government has not been "cooperative" with the Centre, as a result of which the poor were deprived of benefits of several welfare schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and PM-KISSAN.

"This is an insensitive government. Had it been thinking about the welfare of its people, it would have implemented the Ayushman Bharat health scheme and the PM- KISSAN scheme," Modi said, alleging that state government "chose political interests over development".

He also pointed out that the state has about Rs 6,500 crore in District Mineral Foundation, of which it could spend only Rs 1,000 crore.

The remaining funds are lying in the government coffers, he stated.

The PM also charged the state government with "giving a free hand to mines mafia and chitfund looters".

"Should you not punish this government? Don't you deserve a change for a better. I want to tell you that this is your opportunity to bring about that change," Modi said, calling upon the people to vote for the BJP in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and give the party a chance to do 'chowkidari' in Odisha.

The PM and his partymen have launched the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' (I too am a watchman) campaign to blunt the Opposition's, especially the Congress's, 'chowkidar chor hai (watchman is a thief) slogan.

Asking people to have faith on BJP, Modi said, "Chowkidar sajag achi (watchman is vigilant)".

Odisha is rich in resources with vast stretches of forests, long coastline, plenty of mineral reserves and ancient monuments, but people here has remained poor over the years due to lack of political will on part of the ruling parties to bring about development.

"It takes 10 minutes for the BJD government to walk 10 steps," he claimed.

Highlighting his government's achievements in Odisha, the PM said, "The NDA has been working hard to develop road and rail infrastructure in the state. There is no dearth of funds when it comes to development work in the country.

"In the last five years, the central government has been able to build homes for eight lakh families, light up 3,000 villages and provide gas connections to 40 lakh homes," he added.

Election to 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 Assembly seats in Odisha will be held simultaneously in four phases - on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Global warming could expose as many as one billion people to mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and Zika by 2080, according to a study that examined temperature changes on a monthly basis across the world.

The is bad even in areas with only a slight risk of having a climate suited for mosquitoes, because the viruses they carry are notorious for explosive outbreaks when they show up at the right place under the right conditions, according to the study published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

"Climate change is the largest and most comprehensive threat to global health security," said Colin J Carlson, a postdoctoral fellow in Georgetown University in the US.

"Mosquitoes are only a part of the challenge, but after the Zika outbreak in Brazil in 2015, we're especially worried about what comes next," said Carlson.

The team, led by Sadie J Ryan of the University of Florida and Carlson, studied what would happen if the two most common disease-carrying mosquitoes -- Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus -- track and move as the temperature changes over decades.

According to the World Health Organization, mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals in the world, carrying diseases that cause millions of deaths every year.

Both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus can carry the dengue, chikunguyna and Zika viruses, as well as at least a dozen other emerging diseases that researchers say could be a threat in the next 50 years.

With global warming, the researchers say almost all of the world's population could be exposed at some point in the next 50 years.

As the temperature increases, they expect year-round transmissions in the tropics and seasonal risks almost everywhere else. A greater intensity of infections is also predicted.

"These diseases, which we think of as strictly tropical, have been showing up already in areas with suitable climates, such as Florida, because humans are very good at moving both bugs and their pathogens around the globe," said Ryan.

More severe climate change would produce proportionally worse population exposures for the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

However, in areas with the worst climate increase, including west African and southeast Asia, serious reductions are expected for the Aedes albopictus mosquito, most noticeably in southeast Asia and west Africa. This mosquito carries dengue, chikunguyna and Zika.

"Understanding the geographic shifts of risks really puts this in perspective. "While we may see changing numbers and think we have the answer, imagine a world too hot for these mosquitoes," Ryan said.

The researchers looked at temperatures month by month to project risk through 2050 and 2080. The modelling did not predict which type of mosquito would migrate, but rather accounted for a climate where their spread would not be prevented.

"Based on what we know about mosquito movement from region to region, 50 years is a considerable long time and we expect significant spread of both types of insects, particularly Aedes aegypti, which thrive in urban environments," Carlson said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court Friday asked the central and Tamil Nadu governments why could not they try modern artificial methods such as 'cloud seeding' to generate rain to tackle drinking water shortage.

Also, the court asked why were the governments not establishing more desalination plants on various coastal areas to overcome water scarcity.

Justices N Kirubakaran and S S Sundar shot these questions while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a direction to the governments to store water on a war-footing and direct the departments concerned to provide drinking water regularly.

The judges wondered as to why the governments could not set up more desalination plants by tying up with corporates under the corporate social responsibility initiative.

Also, the petitioner sought to create awareness among the people about the water crisis through the media.

With rainfall scarce and water-table depleting, the petition said, the governments should use new methods like cloud seeding to tackle scarcity.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on April 10.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP president Amit Shah said Friday his party will replicate the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in West Bengal on coming to power at the Centre to "throw out" infiltrators.

He, however, made it clear that Hindu refugees will not be touched.

"We will also bring in NRC in Bengal and throw out all inflitrators. We will also ensure that the Hindu refugees are not touched. They are very much a part of our country," Shah said.

The NRC is a document containing names of all genuine Indian citizens in Assam.

It, however, became a hugely contentious issue after the complete draft, released last year, omitted the names of lakhs of people who have been residing in the state for several decades.

The BJP president also said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls are all about restoring democracy in the TMC-ruled West Bengal.

"The TMC stands for three Ts -Trinamool, toll and tax. Under the TMC government, syndicates (groups of extortionists) are flourishing in Bengal," he claimed.

Criticising opposition leaders for questioning the government over air strikes in Pakistan's Balakot to avenge the Pulwama killing of 40 CRPF personnel, Shah said only a strong leadership under Narendra Modi could give a befitting reply to China on Dokalam issue and Pakistan for its terror tactics.

"But the opposition leaders are questioning the government (over the air strike). They want to hold talks with Pakistan. In this election, you have two ways - one leads you to Narendra Modi, the other to Thugbandhan (a gang of thugs) of leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav," Shah said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Oil prices rose on Friday, pushed up by ongoing supply cuts led by producer club OPEC and US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, putting the crude markets on pace to post their biggest first quarter gain since 2009. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $59.56 per barrel at 0211 GMT, up 26 cents, or 0.4 per cent, from their last settlement. WTI futures are set to rise for a fourth straight week and are set for a first quarter gain of 31 per cent. Brent crude oil futures were up 30 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $68.12 per barrel. Brent futures are set to increase by ...
The meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has started in Vienna, Austria, head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev wrote on Twitter.

This is the first round of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement talks at the highest level in a year and a half.

Earlier, editor-in-chief of 'National Defense' magazine Igor Korotchenko, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, Yerevan, despite the change of power, will once again take a non-constructive position and try to dead-lock the whole process. "An ideal option would be Pashinyans decision to return the five Azerbaijani regions occupied by Armenian troops under Bakus control. But unfortunately, it will not happen, and we will see Yerevans desire to delay the negotiations once again. In particular, Pashinyan will express a desire to put some 'NKR representative' at the negotiating table along with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, which is absolutely unacceptable both in terms of international law, in terms of international mediators and in terms of common sense and justice. Of course, Baku will categorically oppose such an option," he said.

Director of the Political Studies Institute Sergey Markov said that Pashinyan will try to get any possible economic benefits at the upcoming meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Vienna, since it's necessary for internal political course of the new Yerevan. "There can be very serious expectations, since they have an opportunity to achieve serious breakthrough. Nikol Pashinyan is full of energy and hopes for economic breakthrough in the development of Armenia, he stated that there's a need for economic revolution in the country. However, under existing blockade, they can only achieve some kind of transformation, rather than effective growth. Now Armenian economy is cornered, and it can't escape without the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. That's why Pashinyan set such an ambitious goal - escape from blockade and get access to global economy," the expert said.

The associate professor of the Department of International Security of the Faculty of World Politics of Moscow State University, Alexey Fenenko, said one can expect the most provocative behavior from Nikol Pashinyan. "I think that the only thing can be expected now - clarifying the situation with the St. Petersburg plan of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, worked out in June 2016. After the talks, it will be clear if it can be reanimated or the parties will look for some other scenario. In the second case, it will be a blow to Russian diplomacy, since Moscow acted as the guarantor of a constructive peace process after the April clashes in 2016," he said, adding that Armenia will try to sabotage St. Petersburg plan.
It's the ambition of almost all Engineering graduates to be recruited by top-most global companies including multinationals like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, to name a few. However, not all manage to get into these corporations. But Abdullah Khan from Mumbai, has managed to make it happen without a degree from IIT background. An Engineering student from Mumbai, Khan (21) has been offered a package of Rs 1.2 crore by the London office of Google.

The company offered him the job after viewing his profile on a programming site. The average salary offered to a graduate from a non-IIT engineering college is 4 lakh per annum.

Khan is in his final year of BE (Computer Science) and will reportedly join the Google's site reliability engineering team in September. The coding enthusiast is currently a student of Shree LR Tiwari Engineering College, Mira Road, Maharashtra. He was called for an interview by Google after the company saw his profile on a programming website that hosts various competitive programming challenges.

Khan was called for the final screening in Google's London office, on March 5, where he had appeared for 5 interviews (40 minutes each), after he passed various online interview rounds. He has completed his schooling from Saudi Arabia and came to Mumbai only after class 12th.

Asking about how supportive his parents were, Khan said to India Today,"My parents had been very supportive and they asked me to verify the package mentioned. I remember the Google executives asking me if there was any competing offer from some other organisation to which I had refused, I hadn't demanded any particular sum. The sum mentioned in the offer was by them and I accepted it".

The only brother of three sisters, youngest in the family, Khan would participate in online coding competitions and events. He had been participating in these programming events and coding leadership programmes since the past two years. It was one of those programming and coding enthusiasts sites named HackerRank where Google executives saw Khan's profile and work and had contacted him through email. Once the email was received, Khan was asked to appear for an online test, however, he couldn't do well in the first test so he was asked to appear again and he scored well, this time.

"Once the online test was cleared, I was asked to come to UK for the interviews. The trip and accomodation was sponsored by Google. We travelled to UK and the interviews were conducted on March 5" said Khan.

The offer letter states that Khan has to accept the offer before April 5, 2019 and then start the process to sign the employment contract and stock letter. The offer letter mentions offered base salary at 60000 pounds while 15 percent company bonus plan. The total calculation comes to around 1.20 crore rupees annually.

Khan's father worked as an accountant and currently runs his own business while mother is a homemaker.

Presently the twenty one year old is preparing for his final semesters and once that is completed, he will join Google UK by mid of the year.

(Edited by: Nehal Solanki)

Also read: Bottom 10% easiest to identify for NYAY implementation; the next 10% will be challenging: Abhijit Banerjee

Also read: India's goods, services export to touch $540 billion this fiscal: Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu
The hearing on Nirav Modi's bail plea has begun in Westminster Magistrates Court. He is being represented by the same legal team that spoke for fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya during his extradition hearing.

At the beginning of the hearing, Toby Cadman of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), representing the Indian authorities said that they would move the High Court if Nirav Modi was granted bail. We will do everything to keep him in, ANI quoted Cadman as saying.

Opposing Modi's bail plea, Cadman said that the accused was a flight risk and could flee if granted bail. Cadman argued that Modi could influence witnesses and destroy evidence if set free.

Earlier today, Indian agencies have submitted fresh evidence against Modi to CPS before the hearing. The additional evidence against Nirav Modi is expected to be presented before the court today. It is meant to build a stronger case against him and stop him from getting a bail. Meanwhile, the joint team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers is present at Nirav Modi's hearing.

Modi is likely to be produced before Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, the same judge who had ordered the extradition of fugitive Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya last December. Modi's legal team has appealled for bail again today. His earlier bail plea was turned down by the UK court during the first hearing last week.

ALSO READ: Nirav Modi to seek bail again at London court hearing today

Modi's defence team had offered 500,000 pounds as security and also agreed to any stringent conditions that may be imposed upon their client in order to get him bail. They might further enhance the offer today in order to convince the judge to grant him bail during the second hearing. Following this, the case will proceed to a series of case management hearings and setting of a trial date.

Arguing the case on behalf of the Indian government, the CPS will emphasise that Modi has travelled out of the UK thrice despite his passport being cancelled by Indian authorities, India Today reported.

ALSO READ: Mehul Choksi says not related to firm involved in PNB fraud, claims innocence

During his first court appearance, it was found that Modi had been in possession of multiple passports, since revoked by the Indian authorities. While one passport is now with the Metropolitan Police, a second expired passport is lying with the UK Home Office and a third with the UK's Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) for a driver's licence. Besides the passports, multiple residency cards, some of them expired, were also found in his possession. These residency cards covered regions and countries such as the UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Modi was reportedly living in a posh area of London and had started a new jewellery business nearby with help from his associates in the city. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate the source of capital used to start this business, India Today reported.

ALSO READ: Bombay HC seeks I-T Dept's reply on plea against auction of Nirav Modi's paintings

Modi was arrested by uniformed Scotland Yard officers from a Metro Bank branch in central London as he attempted to open a new bank account on March 19. The move came after UK authorities approved Indian agencies' extradition request for Nirav Modi.
The minimum income guarantee scheme announced by Congress President Rahul Gandhi promising Rs 72,000 income per annum to 20% families in poorest of the poor category can be financed by taxing the rich, the World Inequality Lab has said in its report

The report suggests several options the Congress government can look at if it comes to power in the Lok Sabha elections to fund the scheme. The main option could be imposing taxes on the top income group, according to the report.

"There are several options to finance an increase in social transfers. The best way to do so in order to tackle rising inequality at the top of the distribution is to implement progressive taxes on income and wealth," the report says.

Also Read: Bottom 10% easiest to identify for NYAY implementation; the next 10% will be challenging: Abhijit Banerjee

Firstly, it suggests that a 2% tax on total wealth on households owning more than Rs 2.5 crore of wealth (top 0.1% of households) would yield Rs 2.3 lakh crore or 1.1% of GDP. Such a tax would not affect 99.9% of households in the country.

The second option is to impose a 2% tax on only land and building above Rs 2 crore which would yield Rs 2.6 lakh crore (1.2% of GDP), impacting just the top 1% of the households.

Another way, the reports suggests is to identify new tax brackets for the super rich. "Another complementary way to finance such redistributive schemes is through the implementation of new income tax brackets on top income groups. There are, again many solid economic arguments to tax top income in a highly progressive manner," the report highlights.

Also Read: Who are the people behind Rahul Gandhi's NYAY?

New income tax brackets on top income groups (top 0.1% of population) by 20% points could generate Rs 1.36 lakh crore (0.6% of GDP), the report says.

"Top income tax rates reduce post-tax income inequality levels but also limit the rising concentration of capital, and hence pretax income inequality which is largely due to rising capital incomes at the top. Perhaps more fundamentally, top income (and wealth) tax rates protect democracy from being captured by the wealthiest," it adds.

Also Read: MIT professor who was consulted by Congress speaks on NYAY scheme

The analysis, however, flags the concern of such a wealth tax not being progressive at the top of the distribution since richest individuals tend to own more financial assets than land and buildings.

The report also underscores the importance of transparency on income and wealth in India as there is a lack of clear and independent data. India does not have a comprehensive income database neither at individual level nor at household level, the report points out.

Also Read: Is Rahul Gandhi's minimum income scheme viable?

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi's income guarantee promise to burst fiscal discipline, says Niti Aayog VC Rajiv Kumar
Nearly one quarter of Munster-based jobseekers are currently applying for positions overseas. Of this number, 41% are applying for jobs in the UK.

This is according to a new survey conducted by Jobs Expo Cork, Munsters largest jobs and careers event, which is taking place on Saturday 30th in the Clayton Hotel, Silver Springs.

The survey also reveals that while 64% are actively looking for work in Cork, 14% of job seekers are looking for work anywhere in Ireland and 4% are seeking for jobs in Dublin.

Of the recorded jobseekers attending the Jobs Expo Cork event, 46% are employed but seeking a new position while 0.5% are actively looking to move outside the country to work. The individuals hail from a variety of backgrounds - 14% from Science/Engineering/Medtech, 13% from IT, 6% from the Banking/Financial sectors, 4% from Healthcare, and this year also sees a spike in attendees from the Hospitality sector, up from 5% to 12%.

While people from Ireland make up 70% of responders, the number of jobseekers who hail from elsewhere in the EU has risen by 8%, and presently makes up 27% of the total respondents.

Forty five percent of people are concerned about their childrens future employment prospects due to the past recession years and the continuing economic uncertainty with Brexit. Eighty three percent of the jobseekers believe Brexit will have an adverse effect on Irelands economy and 73% feel that the Government hasnt prepared properly for the outcome.

Nineteen percent said they would consider moving in the future. The 67% who said they would be considering relocating, cited employment as the main reason.

In addition, the research found that:

47% of people believe that working conditions in Ireland are getting better

42% believe the economy is approving

45% of people are concerned about their childrens prospects

51% of people believe they had been offered a fair salary for their last job offer

61% of respondents have considered changing careers

Jobs Expo Cork will feature some of the largest employers in Ireland and showcase hundreds of active job opportunities. It is a free event that will be of interest to anyone looking to meet leading employers in the region.

Commenting on the event, Kevin Branigan from Jobs Expo says, "At this time of year, people are thinking about new employment options and the purpose of an event like Jobs Expo Cork is to locate all of this information in one convenient location. Anyone attending will have the chance to chat directly with leading employers in the region and find out all the information they need to ensure that they find the role that suits their requirements."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
It is estimated that 60 top companies in Ireland have contributed over 30 million to charities and community groups last year while employees racked up 264,735 volunteer hours.

This is according to data captured by Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI), a business network that advises Irelands top companies on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. The data is featured on an online Business Impact Map which gives a breakdown of how 60 companies and their employees supported local community groups and charities during 2018.

The Business Impact Map shows that over 13.5 million was given in cash donations; 11.7 million was contributed through in-kind donations and over 5.5 million was raised through employee fundraising. Employees also volunteered over 264,735 hours to local groups and projects during the year.

In 2018, the areas of health, social inclusion, education and children/youth were the best supported. Over 4 million was donated to health with a further 3.8 million being donated to social inclusion and another 3.3 million each going towards education and children/youth.

This year, for the first time, BITCI asked the companies to map their community support against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These are often called the to do list for the planet and many employees are asking companies how they are helping reach these goals. The top 5 Goals supported by the companies in 2018 were Good Health and Wellbeing, Quality Education, Responsible Production and Consumption, Reduced Inequalities and Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Commenting on the report, Business in the Community Ireland Chief Executive, Tomas Sercovich said, "Employees want to work for companies that encourage volunteering as part of everyday business and crucially want to work where their values align with their employer. Companies understand the critical value of engaging in tackling social issues; it is a fundamental sustainability challenge."

He added, "Employee engagement is a critical tool to attract and retain the best talent as employees now expect their employers to have a community strategy in place as standard."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
GrandPad, the first tablet-based solution designed exclusively for older people, is now available in Ireland and the UK.

The high-tech, high-touch company whose mission is to improve the lives of millions of older people, as well as their family and friends, is celebrating its European launch with the opening of its headquarters in Gorey, Co Wexford, Ireland.

GrandPad is focused on reducing loneliness and improving connectivity among those over the age of 75. It is complete with apps designed for older adults that use large, clearly labeled icons for video and voice calls, photos, email, music, games, news, weather and search.

According to the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, an estimated 400,000 people in Ireland are lonely. GrandPad believes technology can play an important role in helping older adults reduce loneliness and isolation by allowing them to stay connected with loved ones and live independently at home.

GrandPads unique employment approach could also mean significant growth for small-town economies all across Ireland. In the next five years, GrandPad is projecting to employ more than 75 employees in Ireland. GrandPads approach is to hire employees in rural communities and enable them to work from their home and avoid long commutes.

Attending todays launch event, Minister of State at the Department of Finance and the Department Of Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael DArcy said, "I am delighted to welcome GrandPad to Gorey. This is a significant win for County Wexford and the South East Region. It highlights the potential and attractiveness of Co Wexford to global companies as an eminently suitable location in which to establish and grow their business. I wish Scott, Edwina and the GrandPad team every success and will follow their progress with interest."

CEO and co-founder of GrandPad, Scott Lien added, "Ireland is a great choice for our European headquarters and we are grateful to our partners at IDA Ireland for endorsing our mission to improve the lives of older people. Our product combines high-tech with high-touch and were excited to bring more unique jobs to Ireland while offering a new, innovative solution to help improve the lives of elderly people across Europe."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Turkey is committed to a deal to purchase advanced Russian surface-to-air missile defense system, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

"The contract with Russia on S-400s remains in force and these defensive systems will be delivered to Turkey. Now talks on this issue are underway," Cavusoglu said after negotiations with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

"We are not going to sell S-400s to third countries. We do not need this as we are acquiring them for our own needs," TASS cited the Turkish foreign minister as saying.

According to the Turkish diplomat, Turkeys NATO allies failed to offer appropriate terms for the delivery of similar systems while Ankara had held negotiations and reached a deal with Moscow
If Hainan province wants to develop into a successful free trade zone, it must develop and modernize its services industry and take lessons from Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, experts at the Caixin Boao Roundtable Forum said.

Hainan will be an attractive place only if it has the most open policies in the whole country, Chi Fulin, head of the Hainan branch of the China Institute for Reform and Development told the forum held in the southern province on Tuesday.

Chinas central government has designated the tropical island province in the South China Sea as the countrys 12th free trade zone and aims for the pilot program to be underway in 2020. It will be the countrys first free trade port, set to open in 2025. However, Hainan will need to take advantage of its location and further open up for the project to become a success, experts said.

Chi said that one of the major challenges to developing Hainans free trade zone will be modernizing the provinces service industry, which is currently too small and too traditional. Along with tourism, health care is another potential area for development, specifically in terms of attracting medical tourism.

While Hainans trade in services has developed rapidly  growing 20%, according this years provincial government work report  it still lags far behind the rest of the country. In 2017, Hainans service industry was equivalent to only 1.6% of Hong Kongs and only 0.8% of Singapores.

Chi Fulin, head of the Hainan branch of the China Institute for Reform and Development speaks at the Boao Forum for Asia on March 26 in Qionghai, Hainan province. Photo: VCG

Hainan should also develop unique industries, such as the marine industry, tropical agricultural positions, and the green industry. So far, there has been no major green project in Hainan, Chi said. The island province should develop high-tech industries such as cross-border payments and innovative businesses.

Greater financial openness will also allow Hainans financial sector to grow, as it currently accounts for only 6.4% of the provinces gross domestic product, lower than the national average of 7.7%, Chi said.

Sun Dahai, the deputy director of Hainans reform office who was also at the roundtable, agreed that the province needs to make good use of land. To this end, Sun, who is also the secretary-general of the provincial party committee, said that the province has established a planning system, approved the implementation of the development plan of 16 cities and counties as well as the Yangpu Economic Development Zone, and had issued land use efficiency standards.

According to Sun, Hainan currently has about eight square miles of idle residential land that will be recovered or converted for use in other projects in tourism, modern services, or high-tech industry.

Sun emphasized that the development of tourism in Hainan should be based on security and stability. He said that horse racing would be part of plans to develop tourism, but gambling will not be allowed.

At the roundtable discussion, Cao Li, vice president of the Boao Forum for Asia Research Institute, presented the draft of a new report exploring how Hainan can take advantage of modernizing the service industry, preferential tax policies, and liberalized market access for development.

The Caixin Boao Roundtable Forum is a specialized meeting organized by Caixin Media. Other attendees included Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the Peoples Bank of China and vice chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia; Tong Daochi, Sanyas Communist Party Secretary; and Sun Dahai, deputy secretary general of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee.

Contact reporter Ren Qiuyu (qiuyuren@caixin.com)
The official death from this weeks wave of torrential flooding in Iran rose to 44 on Thursday, Middle East Monitor reported citing Anadolu Agency.

Irans Mehr News Agency quoted Hamidreza Khankeh, deputy head of Irans emergency directorate, as saying that 21 people had been killed in Fars province; seven in Golestan province; five in Mazandaran province; three in North Khorasan province; two in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province; two in Lorestan province; and one each in the Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Semnan and Hamadan provinces.

An estimated 47,000 others, according to Khankeh, have been hospitalized after suffering injuries.

On Wednesday, local officials said that the flooding  triggered by excessive rainfall  had caused some $170 million worth of material damage.
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Aboriginal leader and civil rights activist Charles Perkins fifty years ago declared, "if we're not in Canberra, we're history". He had already led the Freedom Rides through NSW, forcing Australia to recognise its own racism, when he moved to Canberra in 1969 seeing a place to bring change for Aboriginal people nationally. The public service career that followed - including a historic appointment as the first Aboriginal person to lead a federal department - has gained renewed recognition with the naming of the government's national office for Indigenous affairs in his honour on Thursday last week. Charles Perkins House, in Woden, bears the name of a leader who once described the tension between his place as a bureaucrat, expected to be silent, and as a fiery advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, clashing with his seniors and ministers. Nearly 19 years after his death, his daughter, Hetti Perkins, remembers him also saying that to change the system, he had to work inside it. An Arrernte and Kalkadoon man, raised partly in Alice Springs, he may have preferred to live elsewhere but decided he needed to be closer to the centre of federal politics. "He was very strategic, he really understood politics and the political process very well, and certainly he was a quick learner and that was where he felt his efforts would be best used," Ms Perkins said. The federal government since the 1967 referendum had grown more involved in Indigenous affairs, and Perkins would work through evenings and weekends to bring change. Under Gough Whitlam, the office Perkins joined grew into the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, where he became the public service's first Indigenous secretary in 1984. He pushed to bring more Aboriginal people into the public service. Perkins was forced to resign in 1988 amid accusations about his leadership and conduct, and after clashes with political enemies. He was later cleared, but his federal public service career was over. His daughter said the naming of Charles Perkins House, formerly Centraplaza, went some way to rectifying that wrong. "There is no way of sugar coating it, that political character assassination of our father," she said. "We feel that this is some vindication." The building name also recognised other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public servants and unsung heroes who worked to bring change from within, and would hopefully inspire more to fight for Indigenous people. "We hope it becomes some sort of a constant reminder of the inalienable right of our people to be on the national agenda, to be centre stage of the national agenda," Ms Perkins said. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet deputy secretary for indigenous affairs, Ian Anderson, said the building's name was not only recognition of Perkins' legacy, but looked forward to the rise of more Indigenous people to the public service's senior ranks.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/8c9c8b3b-d704-46b7-a84e-0422e99a940b/r0_2546_6104_5995_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
Five people have died and 11 others have been injured in a fire that broke out this morning at a three-story building in the Altndag district of Ankara, officials said.

A large number of ambulances, firefighters and National Medical Research Teams (UMKE) were dispatched to the scene of the fire, which started in an abandoned building in the Iskitler Ata Industrial Housing Estate.

The fire has been brought under control and teams are currently conducting cooling-down operations. The 11 people affected by smoke inhalation are receiving treatment in nearby hospitals.

The bottom floor of the building was used by paper collectors, most of which were Afghan nationals, as a warehouse and the top floor was used as a shelter, Daily Sabah reported.
The German government said it would extend a ban on exporting arms to Saudi Arabia for a further six months.

"The ban will be extended for a further six months to September 30. Over this period no new export applications will be approved," a by government spokesman Steffen Seibert's statement reads.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that future decisions on whether to deliver arms to Saudi Arabia would depend on how the conflict develops in Yemen.

Germany announced the ban in October, amid the controversy surrounding the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Modified On Apr 18, 2019 06:22 PM By Dinesh

Will make its global debut at the New York International Auto Show

Update: The Hyundai Venue has been revealed ahead of its India launch on 21 May 2019. Read the details here .

Hyundais Carlino concept from the Auto Expo 2016 will be called Hyundai Venue in its production form. It was rumoured to be called Styx before.

Will share some design bits with bigger Hyundai SUVs like the Kona and Santa Fe.

The Venue is expected to be a feature-loaded SUV, getting a sunroof and connected vehicle tech.

Prices expected to start from Rs 8 lakh, with India launch expected in May 2019.

Hyundai has confirmed the name for its upcoming subcompact SUV, which was codenamed the QXi, as the Venue. It will be showcased to the world at the New York International Auto Show on 17 April 2019. The India-spec Venue is likely to be revealed on the same day, while the launch is expected in May 2019.

The latest teaser image of the Venue reveals how it would get its name badge at the rear, like the Tata Harrier and the Mahindra Alturas G4. Hyundai has done the same before with the biggest SUV in its portfolio, the Palisade.

With the Venue, Hyundai will be taking its first proper stab at the sub-4m compact SUV segment in India. A few days back, Hyundai teased the Venue through a video which featured the sub-4m SUV with a camouflage. From the video, we could make out that the India-spec Venue will get a sunroof and DRLs at the front. Like other Hyundai cars, its also expected to feature wireless mobile charging, push button start/stop, cruise control, auto climate control, a touchscreen infotainment unit with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto-- and if we are lucky, ventilated front seats as well, just like on the Creta and Verna.

Hyundai says the Venue will be a connected SUV without divulging any further details. It might equip the Venue with the Blue Link telematics feature that is available on its cars overseas. The telematics control unit is handled via a mobile application and furnishes key information related to the cars health, service reminder, geo-fencing, driving analysis and status of other working components of the car. This feature is already available on Toyota, Honda, Maruti Suzuki and even Nissan cars in India.

The Hyundai Venue will be sold in India with a 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine paired with a 7-speed dual clutch automatic transmission. None of the cars in this segment get a DCT for now, one of the more sophisticated automatic transmission tech. While the 1.0-DCT combination might be reserved for the top-spec Venue, its lower variants are expected to be powered by a set of 1.4-litre petrol and diesel engine options from Hyundais current portfolio.

When launched in India, it will rival the likes of Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport, Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300. The Hyundai Venue is expected to get a starting price close to Rs 8 lakh.
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Candidates have to register online for the IMU CET examination. The online application window will be open from April 1 to May 5, 2019. Candidates should visit the website of the Indian Maritime University (IMU) - http://www.imu.edu.in and click on the CET June 2019 hyperlink for online registration.

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President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with Vice-Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Heinz-Christian Strache in Vienna, Trend reports referring to the presidential press-service.

Recalling his meeting with the Austrian vice-chancellor in Baku, the head of state said that they had a broad exchange of views on the bilateral cooperation at that meeting. Praising the successful development of Azerbaijan-Austria relations, including political and economic ties, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the importance of his visit to Austria, as well as his meeting with the vice-chancellor in terms of expanding cooperation.

Vice-Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Heinz-Christian Strache said that his meeting with President Ilham Aliyev and fruitful discussions held during his visit to Azerbaijan gave impetus to the development of relations between the two countries.

The sides touched upon the initiatives to establish cooperation formats in order to expand economic and trade ties between Azerbaijan and Austria, and stressed the significance of enhancing relations between the two countries` government authorities and business communities within this framework.

The sides discussed issues of mutual interest.
Photo: The Canadian Press Pope Francis leaves at the end of his weekly general audience, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 27, 2019.

Pope Francis has set the record straight about why he pulled his hand away when throngs of people lined up this week to kiss his ring: for fear of spreading germs.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said Thursday that Francis was concerned about hygiene when, after greeting dozens of well-wishers in a lengthy receiving line Monday in Loreto, he began pulling his hand away to discourage people from kissing his ring.

Video of the incident went viral, with conservative critics blasting what they said was Francis' "graceless" disrespect for the tradition and the faithful who wanted to honour it.

Gisotti said Thursday he had just spoken to the pope about it, and Francis replied that it was nothing of the sort.

"The Holy Father told me that the motivation was very simple: hygiene," Gisotti told reporters. "He wants to avoid the risk of contagion for the people, not for him."

The tradition of kissing the ring of a bishop or pope goes back centuries, as a sign of respect and obedience.

Gisotti noted that Francis is more than happy to receive the ring-kiss in small groups, where the spread of germs is more contained, as he did Wednesday when a handful of people were lined up at the end of his general audience to greet him.

Several bent down to kiss his ring, and Francis patiently allowed it.

"You all know that he has a great joy in meeting and embracing people, and being embraced by them," Gisotti said.

Francis is known for gleefully embracing babies given to him to kiss and  germs be damned  sipping from mate gourds offered to him by strangers when he's out and about on his popemobile.
Photo: Ministry of Environment

UPDATE: 10:55 p.m.

Despite earlier reports that Kootenay Pass would remain closed through the night, it has been reopened to single-lane, alternating traffic between Creston and the junction with Highway 6, south of Salmo.

The fatal fuel tanker truck crash had closed Highway 3 since Wednesday night, but it was reopened just before 10 p.m. Thursday.

Those needing to get through only have until 8 a.m. though, as the highway will be closed in the morning to allow for recovery of the crashed truck.

DriveBC estimates the highway will be fully reopened by 2 p.m. Friday.

UPDATE: 9:15 p.m.

Highway 3 remains closed through Kootenay Pass after a fatal, single-vehicle crash closed the highway Wednesday night.

The crash of the two-tanker fuel truck killed the driver, who was from Alberta, and a "significant" amount of diesel and gasoline was spilled into the Salmo River.

The highway is expected to remain closed through Thursday evening, and DriveBC estimates it could open by 9 a.m. Friday.

A detour north along Highway 3A has resulted in delays of more than 10 hours at the Balfour Ferry, but the ferry will remain running through the night to deal with the demand.

UPDATE: 4:15 p.m.

Police say the driver of a tanker truck was killed and a "significant" amount of fuel was spilled in a single-vehicle crash on Wednesday night.

RCMP Cpl. Mike Halskov says the two-tanker truck was carrying gasoline and diesel, and the tankers ruptured as a result of the crash.

RCMP investigators were called to the crash scene on Highway 3 at 8:20 p.m. on Wednesday.

Drive BC says the bottom of Kootenay Pass was closed in both directions and is expected to open Friday.

Investigators say they were hampered by the fuel spill in the Salmo River but determined the driver of the vehicle, who was from Alberta, had died.

Police say environmental emergency response is assessing the situation and will determine when it is safe for the police to enter the area and resume the investigation.

Interior Health says the incident resulted in fuel contamination in the South Salmo River but there is a low risk to public health.

The agency is asking residents who get their water from the river between the bottom of Kootenay Pass and the Salmo River at the United States border to check their water for any signs of diesel fuel including sheen or fuel odour.

They are also asking people not to use the water for recreational purposes.

 The Canadian Press

ORIGINAL: 10:30 a.m.

A fatal crash involving a significant fuel spill in the Salmo River has closed Highway 3 through the Kootenay Pass until at least Friday morning.

RCMP were initially called to a single-vehicle crash on Highway 3 Wednesday at 8:20 p.m. on the western end of the Kootenay Pass near Salmo.

Investigators were hampered by a significant fuel spill in the Salmo River, but have confirmed the driver of the vehicle from Alberta was the lone occupant and he is deceased, said Sgt. Chad Badry of West Kootenay Traffic Services.

The provincial government says a tractor hauling twin tankers carrying diesel and gasoline crashed into the river about two kilometres east of the Highway 3 and Highway 6 junction.

A spill response team arrived on site early this morning. Its not yet clear exactly how much fuel spilled into the river.

DriveBC estimates Highway 3 will reopen between Creston and Salmo at 9 a.m. Friday. A detour is available using Highway 3A and the Kootenay Lake Ferry, but lineups are expected because the ferry is running on its reduced winter schedule.
Harvard's School of Public Health recently published important research by Tyler J. VanderWeele and Ying Chen which evidences the positive role played by traditional religion on the development of youth and their health and welfare.

The VanderWeele and Chen study analyzed data from more than 5,000 children and concluded that teens with religious or spiritual practices lead happier and healthier lives in their 20s and beyond. It is somewhat unique in that it tracked children from an early age and followed them into adulthood. The study specifically found that a religious upbringing greatly helps adolescents navigate life's challenges by providing them with an inner strength that brings about many positive outcomes in young adulthood (including processing and giving expression to emotions).

In particular, those brought up religiously are 47% more likely to have a strong sense of purpose in life, 18% more likely to report high levels of happiness, 12% less likely to suffer from depression, 33% less likely to use illegal drugs, 30% less likely to start having sex at a young age, 40% less likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease, 38% more likely to volunteer for community service, and 87% more likely to have high levels of forgiveness.

Concluding that "the effects of a religious community are profoundly positive," the study states, "there is evidence that religion is an important social determinant of health over life-course." By setting boundaries and standards for children, "religion provides directives for personal virtue to help maintain self-control and develop negative attitudes toward certain behaviors."

In addition, they conclude that "Peer religious youth groups may be an important source of social support and adult role modeling, and they may be an avenue to direct peer influence on behavioral choices. Religious congregations could also connect adolescents to networks and resources in the broader community."

While this Harvard study joins a multitude of studies with similar findings, it is one of the few dealing with the effect of religious parents on the lives of their children.

The adult studies overwhelmingly found that people of faith tend to be less depressed, less anxious, and far more able to handle the vicissitudes of life than do nonbelievers. A 2015 survey by researchers at the London School of Economics and the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that participating in a religious organization was the only social activity associated with sustained happiness.

Benefits of religious upbringing

One of the very first to look at the effects of religion on the development of young children was John Bartkowski, a Mississippi State University sociologist. His 2008 study concluded:

"The kids whose parents regularly attended religious services  especially when both parents did so frequently  and talked with their kids about religion were rated by both parents and teachers as having better self-control, social skills and approaches to learning than kids with non-religious parents."

Bartkowski postulates three reasons for these benefits. First is the social support provided to parents by their religious network. Such networks usually reinforce the parental messages received in the home. Second, because the dominant values and norms within religious communities tend to be self-sacrificing and pro-family, both adults and children tend to incorporate such principles in their relationships to each other. And, finally, "religious organizations imbue parenting with sacred meaning and significance."

The latter causality is sometimes referred to as the "sanctification theory". A study published in Bonn, Germany reinforces the sanctification theory and found that religious affiliation and religiosity have a beneficial effect on the overall physical and psychological health of children ages 6 to 19. An important additional finding is that, "while religious affiliation matters, compared to having no religion, there does not appear to be a consistent significant effect of any particular denomination among the affiliated."

Policy-Makers Should Pay Heed

The Bonn study referenced likewise confirms important implications for public policy.

"A religion-friendly public policy, even without favoring any one religion, can have positive effects on the population's health status, even among children, and thereby reduce public expenditures on health care.  In addition, healthier adults generate greater productivity and higher life satisfaction."

A United Kingdom study reinforces this conclusion by determining that policy makers "cannot afford to be complacent" about the positive influence of religion on family life or "presume that religion only has negative influences."

Alexis de Tocqueville, the noted commentator on America's political and social system in the early 19th century, correctly observed (a) religious faith was an indispensable element of a well-functioning society, (b) the absence of religion was both a dangerous and pernicious threat to the well-being of society, and (c) non-believers or secularists should be considered natural enemies of social harmony.

Nevertheless, progressives tend to denigrate the importance of religion in our daily lives. Consider for example the infamous 2008 statement of President Obama in which he portrayed low income Americans as clinging to their religious beliefs in order to avoid the frustrations of a changing economy ("They cling to guns and religion") and the 2019 swearing in of Senator Krysten Sinema who refused to be sworn in on the customary Holy Bible, opting instead to be sworn in on a secular law book.

This negative attitude toward traditional faith is particularly evident today in the face of modern legislation and cultural trends hostile to the three Abrahamic religions upon which the founders of America premised its constitution and society.

Substantively, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam each acknowledge the centrality of the Noahide principles to their religious dogma. All share the ideal of monotheism and a personal relationship with a Heavenly Father. At the Divine revelation at Mount Sinai, of which the Ten Commandments are the centerpiece, the pre-existing universal Noahide laws were reiterated by Moses, the prophet that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam each acknowledge as genuinely transmitting these values to their individual belief systems. In fact these principles likely encompasses 75% of the world population: not only the three monotheistic religions but by a circuitous route also Hinduism and Buddhism via the sons which Abraham sent to the East.

Religion versus Secularism

Over 25 years ago, syndicated public affairs columnist William Raspberry perceptively wrote:

"Almost every commentator on the current scene bemoans the increase of violence, lowered ethical standards and loss of civility that mark American society. Is the decline of religious influence part of what is happening to us? Is it not just possible that anti-religious bias masquerading as religious neutrality is costing more than we have been willing to acknowledge?"

While secularists continue to advocate for decreased religiosity, it is important that policymakers become aware of the plethora of studies demonstrating the benefits of religion in society and, in particular, the benefits accruing to youth and the values by which they may live their lives.

The anti-religious bias Raspberry spoke of is part of an ongoing attempt to establish nonbelief in a Deity as the basis of our national government. Historian Wilfred McClay (Univ. of Oklahoma) indicates that "The U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment to the Constitution were not intended to create a purely secular government, neutral or indifferent to religionThe First Amendment[was intended] to protect against sectarian conflict and exclusiveness and the power grab by some national church."

McClay distinguishes between two types of secularism: one which recognizes "the legitimacy and even moral necessity of religious faith while preventing any one faith from being established"; and the other, which really becomes an alternative faith that seeks to become the established dominant belief, "hostile or even necessarily suspicious of the public expression of religion."

Many commentators refer to this latter view as a new religion of secularism. This latter form of secularism is the most dangerous challenge to the West's traditional way of life as it seeks to expel religion from society and to "liberate" humanity from the religious and metaphysical values of the Noahide laws that undergird the three Abrahamic faiths. Numerous Polls, including a 2013 Harris Poll, a 2015 Pew Report, and a 2018 Gallup poll, confirm that this message is succeeding both in America and around the world.

George Washington, in his farewell address to the American nation, eloquently warned against diminishing religion in the public square.

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.  [L]et us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

While secularists continue to advocate for decreased religiosity, it is important that policymakers become aware of the plethora of studies demonstrating the benefits of religion in society and, in particular, the benefits accruing to youth and the values by which they may live their lives. Clearly the studies cited herein join the many that unearthed numerous benefits to people and society in general by researchers who have looked at the influence of religion on one's health and well-being.

We need to oppose any efforts to drive G-d out of our public life. "We must rediscover the importance of religion and put G-d back in the foreground of our social and political consciousness." Creating a purely secular country will inevitably create unimaginable social problems.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that protest activities in the North Caucasus region of Ingushetia require attention.

"We are receiving reports about what is going on there," TASS cited Peskov as saying.

When asked whether the Kremlin believed there was a link between the protests and the March 26 shooting incident at the Nazran mayors office, the spokesman said "there is no reason to draw such conclusions."
The United States decision to recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel is a deliberate demonstration of permissiveness, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu following meeting of the Joint Strategic Planning Group.

"In addition to the fact that many people analyze that move in light of the upcoming elections in Israel, it also has another dimension, of course," Lavrov noted.

"I feel that this is a deliberate, conscious demonstration of permissiveness. This demonstration of permissiveness, along with threats, ultimatums and sanctions, are the tools used by the U.S. on the international stage," TASS cited the Russian top diplomat as saying.

"That is sad, but such an attitude towards international law can be seen everywhere," he stressed.

Lavrov referred to Washingtons withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Irans nuclear program, which was "a flagrant violation of the UN Security Councils resolution, which endorsed it," along with the Venezuelan crisis.
IME Group plans new NPR10bn plant in Nepal

29 March 2019

IME Group, a Nepal-based business conglomerate, has announced plans to invest NPR10bn (US$89.89m) for a cement plant in Chormara, Nawalparasi.

"We decided to venture into the cement industry after forecasting the increasing demand for cement in the future," said Chandra Dhakal, chairman. "The demand for cement will exponentially rise in the coming years as the local governments will be focusing on infrastructure development."

As such, the company has already acquired around 10.5ha of land in the province. Limestone will be supplied from a mine located 25km away from the plant site, which holds approximately 18.72Mt of raw material, according to the Investment Board of Nepal.



While the capacity of the project has not been announced, it is expected to enter operation in four years. Mr Dhakal stated that the process will be expedited after the completion of the Nepal Investment Summit on 29-30 March, where the company will showcase IME Cement.

Published under
New limestone discovery in Zambia attracts cement plant interest

29 March 2019

The recent discovery of limestone in Nyimba district, Zambia, is anticipated to attract cement plant investors to the mineral resource-rich district, Eastern Province regional mining survey officer Brian Nyambe has said.



An investor has since expressed interest to set up a cement plant in the district. Zambia currently has four integrated and one grinding plant, with a total cement capacity of approximately 3.6Mta.

Published under
Grupo Argos to invest COP2.6trn in subsidiaries in 2019

29 March 2019

Colombias Grupo Argos, parent company of Cementos Argos, has stated that it plans to invest around COP2.6trn (US$816m) in its cement, energy and construction subsidiaries this year.



Cementos Argos, Celsia and Odinsa will be the focus of the spending, made possible by the increase in net profits for the group in 2018. "In the coming years we'll continue to be a relevant player in the infrastructure of the country and the continent," said Grupo Argos CEO, Jorge Mario Velasquez.

Published under
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is due to visit the United States in April for the meeting of NATO ministers of foreign affairs to mark the 70th anniversary of the bloc, the military alliance said on Thursday, adding that the bloc's chief is also due to meet US President Donald Trump, Urdu Point reported.

"The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will travel to the United States, Washington DC, on 2-4 April 2019. The Secretary General will chair the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs (3-4 April 2019), celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Alliance, and will have a series of engagements ahead of the ministerial meeting," the statement from NATO said.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia can cut oil output to the level agreed by the OPEC+ deal at the end of March.

"I think by the end of March we will achieve the average daily (reduction) of the output," the minister stressed.

He also said that Russia did not discuss any timeline of possible prolongation of the agreement at a meeting of the monitoring committee in Baku in March.

"We said generally that we need to monitor the market. Lets see how the situation develops in April," the Prime news agency cited the minister as saying.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a meeting with Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman in Washington, according to the U.S. Department of State website.

"The Secretary expressed appreciation for Saudi Arabias continued support for UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths efforts to advance the political process in Yemen," the statement reads.

The sides also agreed on the need for parties to adhere to the agreements made in Sweden. In addition, Pompeo and Khalid bin Salman discussed a broad range of bilateral and regional issues, including countering the Irans destabilizing activities in the region.
Moscow and Ankara agreed to accelerate the process of forming the Syrian constitutional committee, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"We have agreed to speed up the formation of the constitutional committee in cooperation with our colleagues from the United Nations and, of course, in contacts with the Syrian government and opposition," the Russian top diplomat said.

"We are confident that the constitutional committee will at last help start the Geneva process, which our Western colleagues talk so much about," Sputnik cited Lavrov as saying.

Originally, the accord to establish the committee was reached at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, which was held in the Russian resort city of Sochi in January 2018.
Rep. Colton Moore, Republican from Dade County, is urging citizens to call for passage of the anti-abortion Heartbeat Bill.

He said:

Dear Citizens of Georgia, The matter of abortion before us is one of the most controversial bills in Georgias history. Passing by only two votes in the House, no vote this session has been as close as House Bill 481. This bill pulls at the deepest heartstrings of who we are as citizens and human beings as we fight for a better Georgia for all.

As your legislator, you entrust in me to represent your voice on every issue. The time has come for the people of this state to declare our views on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, even for those who are speechless in their defense and clinging to life in their mothers womb.

According to the Center for Disease Control, over 600,000 abortions occur each year across the United States of America. It is estimated that Georgia performs over 30,000 yearly, making it one of the highest producing abortion states in the country. House Bill 481 protects the heartbeat of Georgias unborn children.

This bill protects life from abortion in Georgia the moment the heartbeat of a fetus is detected. House Bill 481 will protect more than 99 percent of these deaths. Currently, abortions after rape or incest account for less than one percent of abortions in Georgia. In such cases, this bill will allow the mother to make such a decision on her own accord and with God. We have an incredible opportunity to protect hundreds of thousands of living, breathing humans over the next decade that would otherwise be killed under existing Georgia abortion laws.

Should this bill not pass, over 50,000 lives will be extinguished over the next two years from abortions that would have otherwise been made illegal with House Bill 481. My fellow legislators and I must make a decision to move Georgia forward and protect lives now or reject this bill in the hope of a better bill in the future.

I strongly urge you to think about the decision that will bring the greatest good to the greatest number of unborn Georgians today. House Bill 481 will impose some of the most strict abortion laws in the country. This bill and the progress I have outlined above reaffirms my commitment to advancing the protection of all unborn lives across the United States of America.

I look forward to passing this bill and demand all previous Yea votes hold strong to their values and instincts. Keep in mind the death toll that will otherwise occur if we reject this bill. These 50,000 lives, created in the image of God, rest in our hands. This bill provides a rare opportunity for us to protect the living, unborn citizens and future leaders of Georgia.
April 1, New-trepreneur Bookkeeping: 10 Mistakes to Avoid

Noon to 1 p.m.

INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd. (Park across the street in the Republic lot)

In this seminar, Lynn Talbott of HR Business Solutions teaches 10 common bookkeeping mistakes and solutions. Topics include: how to classify workers, receipt requirements, meal expenses and more.

Register at tsbdc.org/chscc/.

No cost.

April 2, Chamber Member Orientation

8:30 to 10 a.m.

Chattanooga Chamber Board Room: 811 Broad St.

Join us to learn more about your member benefits and what's going on at the Chamber. Please RSVP to ARiley@ChattanoogaChamber.com .

April 2, Reality Check at Howard High School

9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Howard High School: 2500 S. Market St.

Reality Check teaches ninth graders budgeting and emphasizes the connection between education and income by allowing students to roleplay as heads of household on a budget. Community volunteers are needed to assist with this event. To volunteer for this Chattanooga Chamber career readiness program, please contact Cathy Humble at 423.763.4321 or chumble@chattanoogachamber.com.

April 2, North Chattanooga Chamber Council Meeting

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd. (Park across the street in the Republic lot.)

Topic: Chattanooga - A Leader in Sustainability

Moderator: Clea Klagstad, Circadian Consulting

Speakers: Thrive Regional Partnership, Reflection Riding & green|spaces

$10

April 3, AM Networking l Sponsored by Echelon Studio

8 to 9 a.m.

Echelon Studio: 1400 Market St.

Held the first Wednesday of every month, AM Networking brings an average of 100 business people together for networking and hot coffee. This month's AM Networking will be sponsored by Echelon Studio.

No cost.

April 3, Ribbon Cutting for Logan's Roadhouse

10:45 to 11:15 a.m.

Logan's Roadhouse: 504A Northgate Mall

Join the Chattanooga Chamber for a ribbon cutting event for Logans Roadhouse.

April 4, Downtown Chamber Council Meeting

7:30 to 9 a.m.

Holiday Inn: 434 Chestnut St. [Permanent Location Change]

Topic: Finding & Retaining the Talent You Need

Moderator: Molly Blankenship, Chattanooga Chamber

Panelists: Emmanuel Escobar, Bellhops; Bethany Chaffin, Accountemps; Greg Laudeman, Eduity LLC; Erin Washington, TVA

$15

April 4, Small Business Orientation  Morning Seminar

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd. (Park across the street in the Republic lot)

Have you been thinking about starting your own business, but don't know where to begin? In this seminar, we will cover business entity options, tax registration, the importance of business planning, financing options and more.

Register at tsbdc.org/chscc/.

No cost.

April 4, East Ridge Chamber Council Meeting

11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.

East Ridge Community Center: 1517 Tombras Ave.

Speaker: Josh Brown, TSBDC

$12

April 4, Small Business Orientation  Evening Seminar

5:30 to 7 p.m.

INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd. (Park across the street in the Republic lot)

Have you been thinking about starting your own business, but don't know where to begin? In this seminar, we will cover business entity options, tax registration, the importance of business planning, financing options and more.

Register at tsbdc.org/chscc/.

No cost.

April 4, How to Overcome and Deal with Adversity

6 to 7 p.m.

The Edney, Floor Five: 1100 Market St.

In this class, you will get inspired to live again, get pointers on how to get unstuck and learn a story of overcoming the odds no matter what you may have been through or are going through.

Register at thechattery.org.

$15

April 5, Ooltewah/Collegedale Chamber Council Coffee

8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Wired Coffee Bar: 5707 Main St.

Consider attending this monthly networking event in Ooltewah to catch up with the best business connections around.

No cost.

April 5, Ribbon Cutting for I Go Tokyo

3:30 to 4 p.m.

I Go Tokyo: 205 Manufacturers Rd., Ste. 106

Join the Chattanooga Chamber for a ribbon cutting event for I Go Tokyo.

More on these events and other support for your business at chattanoogachamber.com.
Christina Lane, senior mortgage loan officer with Movement Mortgage, has been awarded the Chattanooga Mortgage Bankers Association (CMBA) Diamond Award of Excellence.

In order to qualify for this honor, the winners had to have reached at least $20 million in production. Ms. Lane not only reached the qualifying $20 million, but exceeded it at more than $25 million in 204 closings for the year of 2018.

Im honored to have been able to help so many people in 2018. Its very rewarding knowing youre part of helping someone purchase a home, said Ms. Lane. Some people dont think they can become a homeowner for one reason or another, and I love being the person to help them realize that its actually achievable.

In addition to the CMBAs Diamond Award for Excellence, Ms. Lane also earned a spot in Movement Mortgages Presidents Club for the second year in a row. This designation means she is among the highest tier of producers at Movement Mortgage, and her efforts will be rewarded with an all-expense-paid trip to Playa del Carmen in Mexico.



This job can be so stressful, but being recognized in this way makes me feel appreciated and makes me want to take it to the next level this year, said Ms. Lane. The amount of people who actually get these awards based on how many people are in the business - it makes you feel special. It makes me love my job more.



She said her goal for the coming year is to reach 45 million in volume and help 250 people achieve their homeownership dreams.

Its a big deal to buy a house, she said. I try to make my clients feel like theyre the only client I have. That what I strive for.

Ms. Lane lives with her husband and five children in Ooltewah.
Julie Rust will be speaker and musician at Christ Unity of Chattanooga on Sunday at the 11 a.m. service.

Christ Unity is at 105 McBrien Road.

About Julie Rust:

Ms. Rust has touched audiences across the United States with her soothing voice, honest lyrics and virtuosic piano playing for over 35 years. When a near-death experience left her ill for five years, and doctors were unable to help her, Ms. Rust experienced an unfolding of information, leading her to tools that took her from near death to a healthy, joyful life. The information came to her from God in a variety of ways, including songs, visions, dreams, books, and other healers. Ms. Rust shares her stories and songs in a beautifully intimate and authentic way. Her presentations have been described as "spiritually-enlightened" and "the voice of musical and spiritual wisdom."

Ms. Rust reminds people of their personal power through her music, Audible Insights, stories of her own healing, workshops, and Sacred Space Experiences. The Sacred Space Experience is a unique musical firewalk, massaging the soul with meditation and music chosen especially for each participant.

Ms. Rust has recorded seven CDs and published a poetry book entitled, Little Awakenings.
The family history library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chattanooga held a genealogy session Tuesday entitled Climbing Your Family Tree. The event was held at Christ United Methodist church as part of a community outreach program sponsored by Boomers, Shakers, and Beyond.

More than 52 people attended the event, which was conducted by Mrs. Gloria Smartt and Tom Tosh, who serve as family history consultants for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the greater Chattanooga area.

Mrs. Smartt and Mr. Tosh were invited to introduce the free family history website, FamilSearch.org, and present research tips. Mrs. Smartt began the presentation by showing everyone how to create accounts in Family Search. Family Search is all about families. It is a non-profit family history organization dedicated to connecting families across generations. FamilySearch believes that families bring joy and meaning to life, Mrs. Smartt quoted from the site.  Anyone can create a tree for free at familysearch.org, she said.

Mrs. Smartt shared the pros and cons of a family tree in Family Search. Mr. Tosh discussed the pitfalls to avoid in genealogy such as things to do when saving old family photo, or assuming someone is buried in a particular place when there is no death date or tombstone. Mrs. Smartt and Mr. Tosh also held a lengthy question and answer session. The genealogy session was about two hours long.

The Family History consultants also informed participants that they could schedule individual appointments at the Family History Library located at 3067 Ooltewah Ringgold Road. The appointments and services are also free. Family History Centers are branches of the world-famous Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Church of Jesus Christ has more than 5,100 Family History Centers in 140 countries and one of the worlds largest collections of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

We were appreciative of the opportunity we had to talk about best practices for searching for our families, Mrs. Smartt said. Knowing who we are, why we are here, and the purpose of life is what unites all of us. We invite other organizations, churches and individuals in the greater Chattanooga to utilize the free resources provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and delve into family history. You can contact us through familysearch.org or by doing an online search for the Chattanooga Tennessee Family History Center.
The East Ridge City Council has selected Chris Dorsey as its city manager .

Council members selected Mr. Dorsey and three other candidates from a list of more than 45 applicants to advance to the final interview phase. At the conclusion of the interviews, Mr. Dorsey, a former Red Bank and also Signal Mountain city manager, received a unanimous vote from the council and was offered the position.



Mr. Dorsey said, I look forward to working with the mayor and council of East Ridge to continue to move this city in a positive direction. The city has a great group of employees and Im excited to start this new journey with them.



Mr. Dorsey has a masters degree in Public Administration and is a Certified Municipal Finance Officer. Before accepting the position at East Ridge, Mr. Dorsey served as city administrator at Sparta, Tn.



I am very excited to have Mr. Dorsey as our city manager, said Mayor Brian Williams. I am confident that he will be a great asset to our community.

He said Mr. Dorsey "has 11 and one-half years experience as a city manager and vast knowledge with respect to city management, Tennessee legislation and other related Institutions."

Mr. Dorsey is a past member of the board of directors of TML (Tennessee Municipal League), has certifications from MTAS (Municipal Technical Advisory Service) and is a current member of both the Tennessee City Management Association and International City/County Management Association.



Mayor Williams stated, I would like to thank the citizens and council for their time and efforts during this process. Hiring the right city manager is critical to the success of our city and another positive step forward. We are very excited about the future of East Ridge.

Mr. Dorsey goes on the job on May 6.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is holding talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Antalya.

The settlement of the situation in Syria and the latest events in Venezuela are being discussed at the meeting.

After the talks, the minister will take part in the meeting of the Russian-Turkish Joint Strategic Planning Group, during which plans for bilateral cooperation for 2019-2020 will also be discussed.
A Rossville man who reportedly told law enforcement officers he traded methamphetamine for a gun so he could kill his ex-wife is scheduled to appear Friday in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga on drug and weapons charges.

Charles Henry Skibbe, 56, was arrested March 11 in Dunlap for drug possession and felony possession of a firearm. Unable to make his $50,000 bond, he has remained in the Sequatchie County Jail.

That changed this week, however, when Sequatchie County dismissed its charges against him after a federal grand jury indicted Skibbe for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and other charges.

He was then transferred to the Hamilton County Jail by U.S. marshals.

The statement about his former wife was part of the testimony during Skibbe's hearing in Sequatchie County, when the judge set Skibbe's bond at $50,000 and made one of the conditions of the bond that he "was not to go near the victim."

Skibbe is scheduled to appear at 11:30 a.m. Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Steger. He has been indicted on charges that he:

 Did knowingly possess . . . a firearm, despite having previously been convicted in court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

 Did knowingly possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime for which he may be prosecuted in a court of the United States, that is, distribution of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.

 Did knowingly, intentionally and without authority distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.

Skibbes arrest on March 11 grew out of a sting by the Dunlap Police Department, Sequatchie County Sheriffs Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

An undercover agent with TBI arranged to meet Skibbe at the Walmart (in Dunlap) where Skibbe would be trading methamphetamine for a firearm, according to an affidavit of complaint filed March 11 by Detective Robert Raber of the Dunlap Police Department.

The undercover agent was wired with audio recording device where officers could hear Skibbe talking, the complaint said. Skibbe handed the undercover agent approximately 3.78 grams of methamphetamine in a red bag in exchange for a handgun. Skibbe took possession of the Taurus Millennium .40 caliber handgun and placed the gun in his truck seat.

Following the suspects arrest, the report noted, officers found two more bags of white crystal ice substance. Upon weighing . . . the first bag weighed approximately 0.90 grams and the second bag weighed approximately 0.68 grams.

According to Detective Rabers affidavit of complaint, Skibbe was convicted of felony grand theft auto in Florida in 2013. Earlier, in Wisconsin, he had been convicted for second-degree recklessly endangering safety in 1996 and as a felon in possession of a firearm in 1999.
Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd, who represents East Ridge, was at the Thursday night East Ridge city council meeting to assure citizens of the city that a wastewater treatment plant would not be built there.

He said that it set me on fire, that a committee headed by Dean Moorhouse suggested it. To begin with, he said the report was titled Mayors search committee. He said, "That is false and an absurdity. County Mayor Jim Coppinger had only suggested the citizen group as a courtesy for them to find a better location, after a year- long search by paid professionals had identified the best place to build a new treatment facility."

He said that in December 2018 the same people that comprise the search committee had complained about the Mahan Gap Road site. He said that he "gives no credence at all" to the report that they submitted "since they started with that kind of bias."

Commissioner Boyd said, "They had the audacity to say that the plant would have a more negative impact on their $400,000 homes than it would have on the small houses located in East Ridge. That was an elitist comment. I wont stand for people looking down on us.

Commissioner Boyd said he is an engineer and is very familiar with sewer systems. He said the Mahan Gap site is the most efficient because of topography. He said, "It makes engineering sense to build it there."

He said there is not enough developmental land around the location of the old, closed sewage treatment facility behind the hospital on Spring Creek Road. "Its not going to happen," he said. But there is a possibility of a sewage storage tank nearby, because Hamilton County has to give an answer to the EPA by June 1. There is a long term and a short term plan and concentration is now on the short term plan, he stated.

We stand united to make sure we dont have a waste treatment plant in East Ridge, said Mayor Brian Williams.

The city is making improvements to Camp Jordan Park, and the scope of work to one building has changed leading to a change order for electrical and plumbing work. The building that was originally planned as a restroom will now become both a restroom and concession stand. The added expense that is not to exceed $56,513 was approved by the council.



Another area of the park that has been a RV park and campground for the past 20 years has been causing rising water utility bills that continue to increase because of water leaks that cannot be found. Because it continues to be a nuisance and financial burden, the council approved permanently closing sections two and three, but leaving section one, which has 10 available spots functional. The areas that are closed will continue to be available for parking campers but without electricity and water utilities.

So that the city can begin the process of purchasing right-of-way along Ringgold Road for making multi-modal improvements, a loan from TDOTs Multimodal Access Grant Program in the amount not to exceed $1,500,000 was authorized by the council. The city will be responsible for five percent of the cost.

Another grant, TDOTs Tennessee Highway Safety Office Grant, will be applied for. If received, this 100 percent grant would provide $27,500 to pay for overtime for the police department and would buy two radar units and e-readers.

Each council member made one appointment to the citys zoning appeals board. They will have staggering term lengths. The new board members are Steve Leach, Steve Porter, Mac Bentley, Mickey Spence and Jane Sharp.

Approval was given to waive fees for the Vietnam Veterans Chapter 203 to use the large picnic pavilion for their annual picnic on May 4 and for The Church of God of Union assembly for their free community Easter egg hunt on Saturday, April 20, from noon until 4:30 p.m.

The council voted to donate $500 to East Ridge Elementary School for their teacher appreciation luncheon. They voted to accept a donation of assorted ammunition from Cabelas in Fort Oglethorpe.

March 28, 2019 was proclaimed to be American Legion Day to honor the contributions the organization has made. Representatives from Post 95, which has been in East Ridge since 1952, accepted the honor.
The 19th annual Bunny Hop! event to benefit Chambliss Center for Children will be held on Friday, May 3. This family-friendly fundraiser will be held in the open-air First Tennessee Pavilion from 6-8:30 p.m.

"Parents can enjoy an evening with friends and festivities while their kids take advantage of the numerous activities for children," officials said. "All ages are welcome and encouraged to attend, including grandparents and adults without children."



With the generous involvement and support of the Chattanooga community, the incredible staff at Chambliss Center for Children is able to care for more than 800 children each day, said Julie and Patrick Stowe, co-chairmen for this years Bunny Hop! This event provides the perfect atmosphere to celebrate family and community, while supporting an agency that has been caring for this areas children for nearly 150 years.

Were looking forward to another great event with activities, music and fun for all.Activities for children include a wide range of arts and crafts; a petting station with bunnies, chicks, lambs, and baby goats; balloon artists; a magician; a "sports zone"; inflatables; a photo booth; Kid Karaoke and more. All children in attendance also receive a Peter Rabbit coloring book to take home.Adults will enjoy a silent auction and dinner. Food provided for the children will include chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese from The Feed Co., fruit and carrots from Food City, chips and cupcakes. The event entrance is off of Carter Street, where attendees can sign in and pay if reservations were not pre-paid.Little ones under the age of two are free. A family package, which includes two adults and up to four children, is $100. Prices will increase after April 22. Reservations are requested ahead of time. To make a reservation, visit www.chamblisscenter.org
Cleveland High School senior, Lauren Proctor, has been selected as one of only two Tennessee student-delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp.

The camp is a residential science education program for young scientists the summer after high school graduation. Students from around the country are challenged to explore new areas in the biological and physical sciences, art, and music with staff members. Opportunities are provided for delegates to present seminars covering their own areas of interest and research. Selected delegates attend the National Youth Science Camp at no expense, transportation included, due to the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation.

Lauren will travel to Washington, D.C. for three days this summer to study national science concerns in meetings with scientists and behind-the-scenes visits to sites such as NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Sciences, and Teaching and Learning national museums. A highlight of this visit will be a luncheon with members of the United States Senate.

Ms. Long, CHS science teacher, said, Lauren has excelled in science classes and science organizations at Cleveland High School. We are so proud she has been selected to attend the National Youth Science Camp. We are excited she will have the opportunity to hear from researches in STEM fields and meet with lawmakers in Washington, DC.

Lauren has taken Chemistry I Honors, Biology I Honors, Aquatic Biology (Scientific Research) Honors, AP Environmental Science, AP Chemistry, and Anatomy and Physiology Honors. Her junior year, as part of the Aquatic Biology (Scientific Research) Honors course, Lauren conducted original scientific research examining the effectiveness of constructed wetlands in industrial and residential settings. Based on the quality of her work, Lauren was invited to and gave a presentation in front of a panel of scientists at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville as part of the Tennessee Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. She was also invited to present her work in front of a panel of scientists as part of the Tennessee Junior Academy of Science at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Lauren is a member of the Science Olympiad Team, Environmental Awareness Association, and Science National Honor Society. She currently serves as president of the Science National Honor Society.
Southern Adventist Universitys School of Music invites the community to an evening of music presented by the Wind Symphony, under the direction of Professor Ken Parsons. Themed With Liberty and Justice for All, the concert will be on Sunday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists.

The concert focuses on the concepts of freedom and liberty, the struggle that has always ensued to earn them, and the ongoing struggle for all people to be treated equally, with dignity, and respect, Mr. Parsons said.

The performance will feature pieces such as Liberty Fanfare by John Williams, New England Triptych by William Schuman, From the Delta by Willian Grant Still, and more.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the School of Music at 236-2880.
Does anybody remember the Ray Steven's song Shriner's Convention? Listen to it and get a chuckle about the boys in the bar.

Mitch Thurmer

* * *

I am very concerned about the motivation of your writer who brought to our attention the supposed "strange" activities of some area Shriners, who apparently went to a restaurant that sells alcoholic beverages, played some music, and solicited donations.

Your writer was apparently also eating, or imbibing, singing, or listening to music, which was why he went there too.

So what is his problem? Does he think that Shriners ought not to drink alcohol? Does he think that they ought not to solicit funds for the worthwhile activities they engage in?

I must admit that I am a little prejudiced, because when my daughter was two and a half years old, she was critically burned in a household accident while I was at work, and my local hospital was going to let her die because I had no insurance, and my $7 an hour earnings disqualified me as earning too much to qualify for Medicaid.

Miraculously, my local police chief at the time notified the Shriners of her situation, and they arrived at the hospital in an ambulance, took my daughter to an air ambulance waiting at the airport, flew her to the Shriner's Burns Institute in Cincinnati, and after tens of thousands of dollars in emergency treatments and numerous skin grafts, saved her life.

So when I see Shriners soliciting funds, I really don't give a darn whether they are drinkers or not. Whether or not they play bagpipes or drive funny cars in parades concerns me not a whit. What I care about is that when they raise funds from strangers using any means whatsoever to attract attention, that is a good thing if it helps save the lives of innocent children.

And people who are really concerned about the drinking habits of strangers ought to consider staying out of businesses that sell alcohol. And if fraud or conversion of funds is genuinely suspected, then the district attorney ought to be notified. But if the writer's motives were to simply cast aspersions on a group of human beings who donate their time and money to raise funds to help victims who happen to be children, and they decide to have a beer, that does not concern me in any way whatsoever.

Anyone who wasn't at that restaurant that night, who might want to help support the mission of the Shriners to help children deal with very serious health issues, please ignore the disparaging inuendo from your writer, and go on line or seek out any Shriner and make a contribution to help innocent children who are victims of various life-threatening conditions.

I, for one, ask every reader to find a Shriner, thank him, offer to buy him a beer, and then write out a check or hand over cash, like I do regularly, so that the next kid has hope for life since our government and your writer have such little respect for those who reach out to help those who need help.

There is never a day when I forget to thank God for those Shriners who saved the life of my daughter. And I hope God forgives your writer for having the unmitigated gall to impugn the motives of these thirsty guys who go around soliciting funds without any pay or compensation whatsoever for their work. God bless the Shriners.

Mark Regan
The Cherokee Area Council, Troop 3 and Troop 23, of the Chattanooga Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held an Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Wednesday on behalf of Eagle Scout recipients T.C. Robinson, Kevin Ward, Karson Gay, and Chayson Hatch.

Welcoming remarks were provided by Scout Master Doug Denton. Special guests included Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger; Scout Executive of the Cherokee Council, Scott Fosee; and James Barrott, chairman of the Board of the Cherokee Council and second counselor in the Chattanooga Stake, who also serves as executive vice president of Chattanooga State Community College.

The opening ceremony included the formation of Eagles Nest, the presentation of colors by the Color Guard, and invocation by Lance Ward. Troop 3 awards were presented by Aiden Denton. Scott Fosse and County Mayor Coppinger served as guest speakers.

County Mayor Coppinger said being an Eagle Scout means you have the ability to stick to something. It shows you have achieved Scoutings toughest challenge. Scoutings goal has always been to help Scouts develop strong character and to be good citizens, and the Eagle Ceremony celebrated the achievements of these young Chattanoogans.

For the Eagle ceremony, Jim Barrott shared his thoughts and led the Eagle Charge. Zach Ward led the Eagle pledge. Scout Master Denton made the presentation of Eagle rank. Eagle Scout Chayson Hatch also offered remarks. The closing ceremony included the retiring of colors. The benediction was offered by Clark Higdon.

The ceremony began and ended with a reminder from Robert Baden-Powell, a British Army officer and founder of the Boy Scouts Association. The real way to gain happiness is to give it to others, Mr. Baden-Powell said. The Eagle Scout is the highest rank available in the Boy Scouts of America. Requirements include earning at least 21 merit badges and completing a service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads and manages.

It has been said that since the inception of the Eagle Scout award in 1912, only 2 percent of eligible Scouts have earned Scoutings highest honor. The Chattanooga Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joins with family, friends and the community in commending T.C. Robinson, Kevin Ward, Karson Gay and Chayson Hatch on a job well done, on exemplifying what it means to do your best, on your honor.
Ramona Sue DePrimo of Phoenix, Arizona and more recently of Chattanooga, Tennessee, passed away peacefully with her family by her side on March 24, 2019, at the age of 69.

Mona was born on April 22, 1949 in Claremore, Ok. She graduated from Muskogee High School in 1967 and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in January, 1968. She married her husband, Joe, also a member of the Air Force, on Valentines Day 1969, and they began their family. Through the years, Ramona devoted herself to her family as they lived the nomadic life that the military requires, managing a total of nine permanent station changes with three children. She was an elder of the Quapaw Tribe, as well as a member of the Creek Nation. She and her husband had recently celebrated their 50-year wedding anniversary by taking a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean.



Mona was a devout Christian who spent time studying and memorizing the Bible and teaching her children to do the same. As a homemaker, she was a creative cook, an outstanding seamstress, and she loved to crochet. With her husband, she was a leader in the Single Adult Ministry at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Phoenix for more than 20 years. Since moving to Chattanooga, they became members of the Woodland Park Baptist Church, where they attended the Marriage Adventure Bible Study Fellowship.



She was preceded in death by her mother, Mary Lee Quapaw; father, James Quapaw; brother Jimmy Philip Quapaw; and sisters Shirley Henderson and Merelene Horn.



She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Joe DePrimo; children, Jim (Polly) DePrimo of Chattanooga, Tennessee; John (Lisa) DePrimo of Gilbert, Arizona; and Martha (Jeb) Drew of Phoenix, Arizona; 12 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.



A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, April 1, in the funeral home chapel with Reverend Brian Kinlaw officiating. Pallbearers will be Jim DePrimo, Philip DePrimo, Ryan DePrimo, Miles DePrimo, Jeremy Robinson, and Bill King. Burial will follow at Chattanooga National Cemetery.



Please visit www.heritagechattanooga.com to share words of comfort to the family.



The family will receive friends on Monday, April 1, from 11:30 a.m.1:30 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Home, 7454 E. Brainerd Road.


Robert B. Ashlock, 88, a resident of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, went to be with his Lord on Thursday, March 28, 2019.

Born on September 17, 1930 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Bob was an emeritus professor at Covenant College on Lookout Mountain. He was also an active member of Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church where he served as clerk of session for 15 years and participated in the music program as pianist, organist and choir member.

After serving in the U.S. Navy he earned B.S. and M.S degrees from Butler University, then served as a teacher and school administrator in Indiana public schools. Upon completion of a doctorate at Indiana University in 1965, he began a career as teacher educator, administrator and writer. For 15 years he was a professor at the University of Maryland; later taught at Reformed Theological Seminary and at Bellhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi. He continued in teacher education at Covenant College on Lookout Mountain, where he began teaching in 1988 and helped initiate their first graduate program.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Hobert and Juanita Ashlock.

He is survived by his lovely wife of 67 years, Julia Ann Bronnenberg Ashlock; brother, John Curtis Ashlock of Henderson, Nevada; daughter, Joli Ann Moore of Flintstone, Georgia; son, Alan Dean Ashlock of Bunker Hill, West Virginia, eight grandchildren, April Duffey, Justin Ashlock, Joshua Moore, Joanna Moore, Benjamin Ashlock, Joseph Moore, John Moore and Jason Moore; 13 great-grandchildren.

After a private burial at Forest Hills Cemetery, friends will be received at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church from 10:3011:45 a.m. on Tuesday, April 2. A memorial service at the church will follow at 12 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church or to Covenant College.

Arrangements are by the East Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, 404 South Moore Road, East Ridge, Tn.

Please share your thoughts and memories at www.ChattanoogaEastChapel.com.
For the second consecutive year, Unum received a 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaigns Corporate Equality index, the educational arm of the nations largest LGBTQ civil rights organization.



We want every employee to feel valued and celebrated for their backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, said Wade Hinton, vice president of Inclusion and Diversity at Unum. An inclusive workplace fosters diverse and innovative ideas, which allow us to better deliver for our customers.

The Corporate Equality Index offers a benchmark to assess policies and programming related to LGBTQ+ inclusion.The index measures corporate policies and practices that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer workers around the world. Companies were ranked based on non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs and public engagement in the LGBTQ community."Unum provides progressive benefits for same-sex couples and transgendered employees, including parity for different- and same-sex spouses, domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples, and health care coverage for procedures related to gender transition," officials said. "Its equal opportunity employment and antiharassment policies specifically protect LGBTQ+ employees."One of the ways Unum supports a culture of acceptance and inclusion is through the companys LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG), which is a community of 150 employees who develop and support education and advocacy efforts. The group also offers help to all LGBTQ+ employees in their growth, development and wellbeing as employees."
Russias Navy is monitoring the movement of the three NATO warships that entered the Black Sea, Russias National Defense Management Center said.

"The Black Sea Fleet is monitoring the movement of a group of three NATO vessels that entered the Black Sea, which belong to the Netherlands, Canada and Spain," the center's statement reads.

"The Ivan Khurs and Vasily Bykov ships from the Russian Navy are monitoring the movement of the NATO vessels," TASS cited the Center as saying.

According to the Bosphorus Naval News portal, a group of NATO ships entered the Black Sea on Thursday.
On Saturday, April 13, at 2 p.m., Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will host a 90-minute tour focusing on some of the more extreme soldiers associated with the Battle of Chickamauga. This program begins inside the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center, before making its way onto the battlefield.



Officials said, "The years leading up to the outbreak of the American Civil War witnessed huge divisions within the United States on politics, religion and many other parts of everyday life, all pointing to what some have called a 'moment of possibility.' It was a time when an opportunity for change was possible, ranging from slaverys death to stemming the tide of democracy. People across the nation fell into bitterly opposed camps and became unwilling to talk or compromise any longer.

"In the South, Fire Eaters arose to tear the country apart, while in the North, Radical Abolitionists spoke out in opposition. Though small in number, their voices resonated and its vibrations ripped the country apart and plunged it into war.

"In September 1863, at Chickamauga, some of those men found themselves upon the battlefield. This program will share some of their stories."



For more information about upcoming programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military

Park, contact the Lookout Mountain Visitor Center at 423-821-7786 or the Chickamauga

Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241.
Torah Harding-Laman, a Lee University senior anthropology major, presented her research at the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Portland, Or. Her project is titled, Wayi Wah! (Let's Go!): Tsimshian and Language Revitalization in Southeast Alaska.

Ms. Harding-Laman is a Tsimshian Native American from Ketchikan, Ak. With a stipend from Lee Universitys McNair Scholars program, Ms. Harding-Laman spent the summer at home where she immersed herself in Tsimshian culture and the study of Shmalgyack, the Coast Tsimshian language.

My mother has been the key to my research, Ms. Harding-Laman said. She works for the tribe and has made lots of connections for me. The more I learn about Tsimshian, the more I learn about myself. When I learned that Tsimshian believe everything is connected, and all humans are part of the whole creation, I thought, That is exactly who I am.

Her paper provided a history of language loss, the languages current state, and revitalization mechanisms of the Shmalgyack language. Her research includes interviews with 30 reliable informants connected to Smalgyack language revitalization. Despite oppression and abuse of the Tsimshian for speaking Smalgyack, fluent elders are working with linguists, teachers, and students to preserve the language.

Due to dedicated Tsimshian elders, teachers, and students, Shmalgyack perseveres within and beyond Southeast Alaska. Mentor-apprentice programs teach new speakers, organizations have been established for Shmalgyack revitalization, and policies have been initiated to validate Shmalgyack as an official state language.

The SfAA Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for scholars, practicing social scientists, and students from a variety of disciplines and organizations to discuss their work, trade ideas, and brainstorm practical solutions with SfAA members from a variety of disciplines.

For more information about the SfAA, visit https://www.sfaa.net/annual-meeting/
Michael Bates is making her dreams a reality a little quicker than she had anticipated. A few weeks back the Bringing Up Bates star told fans on Instagram that she was in the process of saving up money to begin nursing school. While the 29-year-old ultra-conservative Christian told supporters that she was in the planning phase, it seems like Bates may have fibbed just a little bit. She just announced that she is packing up and heading to Tennessee so she can achieve her dream. She will begin classes in the fall!

Does Michael have an existing degree?

Michael Bates has been busy in Chicago as a wife, but before her marriage, she was a college student. Fans of the Bates family note that the family is far more liberal than the Duggars because they allow their children to attend college if they want. Michael received an associate degree from Roane State Community College.

The degree is a good stepping stone as the Tennessee native jumps into the next phase of her life. Not only will the degree ensure she can meet the necessary academic standards of her new school, but it should also only take her around two years to receive the Bachelor of Science degree shell need to become a nurse.

Has Michael Bates ever worked in healthcare before?

It seems like Michael has been interested in healthcare for some time. Prior to her marriage to Keilen, Bates worked as a volunteer EMT and even studied health science as a minor when she attended Roane State Community College.

Married since 2015, Michael made the move from her familys Lake City, Tennessee farmhouse to Chicago to support her husband. Keilen, also 29, was working for the Institute for Basic Life Principles as a videographer.

The IBLP is a controversial Christian ministry that experienced upheaval when their founder, Bill Gothard, was ousted. Gothard was accused of sexual misconduct by several members of the ministry. Bates sister, Erin Paine, recently took to Instagram to denounce the ministry.

Michael isnt the only nurse in the small religious group

While Michael grew up in a religion that strongly advises women to focus on being wives and mothers, she isnt the only member of the group who has gone on to complete a degree in nursing. Abbie Burnett, John-David Duggars new bride, turned heads when it was revealed she was a nurse before her engagement to the second-oldest Duggar boy.

The Bates Family (Photo by Christopher Martin/UP TV via Getty Images)

Abbie further raised eyebrows when online sleuths found out she had transferred her nursing credential from her home state of Oklahoma to Arkansas. Abbie moved to Arkansas after marrying John-David. Superfans believe that Abbie will be working directly with John-David in a medical flight services business he is rumored to be launching.
The name has become synonymous with nuclear disaster. When the No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine (then part of the USSR) experienced an explosion and partial meltdown, massive quantities of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere.

Dozens of people died in the immediate aftermath of the April 1986 incident, many fell ill, and thousands were forced to relocate. The radioactive cloud stretched across most of Europe  in fact, the disaster only became known to those outside of the Soviet Union when scientists in Scandinavia noticed unusually high levels of radiation in the air.



Now, HBO is bringing the dramatic story of the Chernobyl incident to life in a new miniseries, which is set to premiere this May.



Chernobyl premieres on May 6



Chernobyl premieres on Monday, May 6 on HBO. The five-part series stars Stellan Skarsgard, Jared Harris, and Emily Watson. Craig Mazin, who wrote The Hangover Part II and Identity Thief, wrote the screenplay and Johan Renck, who directed several episodes of Breaking Bad, directed. Heres how HBO describes the show:



Chernobyl dramatizes the story of the 1986 nuclear accident, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, and of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster, all the while battling a culture of disinformation.

From the moment Craig Mazin pitched us the story, we were convinced that this all-too-true tale of horror and redemption needed to be told, Kary Antholis, president of HBO Miniseries and CINEMAX Programming, said in a statement when the miniseries was announced in 2017. It will engage  and enrage  our viewers, as well as audiences around the world.



Who are the characters?



Stellan Skarsgard in Chernobyl | Liam Daniel/HBO

In the miniseries, Harris will play Valery Legasov, a prominent Soviet nuclear physicist who is part of the team that responds to the disaster and is one of the first to grasp the extent of the crisis. (In the trailer for the series, he says that every atom of uranium released into the atmosphere as a result of the explosion is like a bullet penetrating everything in its path.)



Stellan Skarsgard plays Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina, the man dispatched by the Kremlin to lead the government commission thats investigating (or covering up, depending on your point of view) the Chernobyl disaster. Emily Watson plays Ulana Khomyuk, a Soviet nuclear physicist who wants to discover what really caused the devastating accident.



The rest of the cast includes Paul Ritter, who portrays Chernobyl deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov; Jessie Buckley as Lyudmilla Ignatenko, a resident of the nearby city of Pripyat who is married to a firefighter on the first response team; Adrian Rawlins as Chernobyls chief engineer Nikolai Fomin; and Con ONeill as plant director Viktor Bryukhano.

The series is like a horror movie

The series strives for historical accuracy, according to Mazin. We want to be as accurate as we can be. We never changed anything to make it more dramatic or to hype it up, he said at the Television Critics Association in February. The last thing we wanted to do is fall in to the same trap that liars fall into.

Chernobyl will be a horror movie, it will be a war movie, it will be a political thriller and a courtroom drama, Antholis said. You know how bad you think Chernobyl was? It was hours away from being much worse.

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Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are both wonderful granddaughters-in-law to Queen Elizabeth. Her Majesty has close relationships with both of them and has even made official appearances with both duchesses. With Meghan and Kate being such wonderful additions to the royal family, it is certain that everyone gets along just wonderfully.

However, with their different personalities and approach to royal life, many fans are left wondering who Queen Elizabeth gets along better with, Meghan Markle or Kate Middleton?

Kate Middleton was slowly welcomed into the royal family

Kate and Prince William dated for many years before finally announcing their engagement. During this time, Kate got to know members of the royal family such as Prince Harry, Charles, and Camilla. Though it wasnt until she had been dating William for over seven years that she finally met the queen. Even after they officially became the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, it took a while before Kate finally made a solo appearance with her husbands grandmother.

This doesnt necessarily mean the queen and Kate do not have a good relationship, though. They seem to get along just fine, and we should not forget that Kate was very young when she met William. Kates recent solo appearance with the queen was also a great way for Queen Elizabeth to show her support during a time when Meghan seems to be getting all of the attention.

Meghan is more of a celebrity than Kate

As we all know, Meghan Markle rose to fame in the world of acting. She got her big break on the hit drama Suits and has a strong fan base in both the United States and England.

While Kate Middleton is certainly a household name, she became well-known simply by her status as a royal, while Meghan got famous as a celebrity long before ever meeting Prince Harry. Queen Elizabeth might prefer the fact that Kate does not have ties to Hollywood, and although she has a strong relationship with Meghan, Kates background might be more favorable.

Kate closely follows the royal rule book

There is a strict set of rules for the royals , and Kate Middleton seems to follow just about every one of them. From her dresses being a certain length to refraining from holding Williams hand in the presence of the queen, we can always count on Kate to do exactly as she is expected. While Meghan is certainly not defiant by any means, she does put her own twist on royal life.

The Duchess of Sussex has been seen in dresses without pantyhose, deliberately messy hair, and mismatched earrings. And, we can always count on her and Harry to be hand in hand no matter who can see them, even Queen Elizabeth.

Meghan and Harry split from the royal household

Queen Elizabeth II | Toby Melville  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Both couples have jam-packed schedules and need plenty of team members to help with the daily aspects of coordinating their royal duties. Kate and William, much to the delight of the queen, have always had their home base in London, living at Kensington Palace, and having their official offices at Buckingham Palace and Clarence House.

Recently, Meghan and Harry decided to go their own way and split from the royal household as a way of declaring their independence. They decided that they wanted to do things their own way, and it is likely that the queen has mixed feelings about the whole situation. William and Kate are in keeping with royal protocol, while Meghan and Harry seem to enjoy being on their own.

Although the queen loves both Kate and Meghan, she may get along just a little better with Kate. The Duchess of Cambridge is very predictable and does things exactly the way Queen Elizabeth would expect. Meghans celebrity background causes her to take just a few more risks, and while this may cause just a little friction with the queen, it is one of the many reasons that we love her as much as we do!
As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle prepare for the arrival of Baby Sussex, the couple are having their Frogmore Cottage home renovated. Will the renovations be finished by the time the baby is born, however? The project has hit some delays and with the babys arrival quickly approaching, they might be cutting things close.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

The couple are facing delays on their home improvements

As home renovation projects go, there have been some delays in getting all of the pieces completed. While the couple was expected to move into Frogmore Cottage this week, things have been delayed another four weeks. With the due date coming up this spring, its definitely a race to get things buttoned up in time.

A source told The Sun: its been all hands to the pump. The builders have worked all week whatever the weather. But they keep making changes, particularly on the layout.

The source further noted: The word is theyve been quite demanding, which is understandable as what homeowner doesnt want their house to be perfect?

The insider added: Given the scale of the project, a three or four-week delay isnt too bad. The couple are pleased with how its all going.

What renovations are being done to Frogmore Cottage?

Their new house is undergoing significant improvements, including the addition of a yoga studio and a reported elaborate Gone With the Wind-style double staircase, as well as new fireplaces in the principal rooms, a kitchen dining area, alcove bookcases, and vanity units, the Daily Mail reports.

Additionally, security will be boosted to Fort Knox levels. According to The Sun, they are also soundproofing the entire home as its located near Heathrow Airport, so the noise of the passing jets certainly creates a disturbance, especially with their new baby.

Frogmore Cottage was previously broken up into 20 apartments for royal staff but has been converted to five bedrooms.

How much do the Frogmore Cottage renovations cost?

With so much work to be done to Frogmore Cottage, its estimated that the cost falls between $2.5 and $3.8 million. Of course, theres the debate over who is paying for the home improvements, with the Daily Mail reporting that the building work costs will be covered by the Sovereign Grant, and Harry and Markle will pay for the fixtures, appliances, furniture, and soundproofing.

The Suns royal correspondent, Emily Andrews, tweeted about the home being a gift from the Queen, noting in a Twitter post: Instead the Queen has given them Frogmore Cottage in Windsor. Its within the private Home Park and faces the beautiful grounds of Frogmore House. Its where they had their private evening wedding party & where their gorgeous engagement pictures were shot.

It needs major building work to turn it back into a luxury family home, boasting 10 bedrooms & a new nursery plus space for a gym & yoga studio. Currently its been chopped up into 5 units where palace staff have been living. Harry, Meghan & baby Sussex hope to move in next year.  Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) November 23, 2018

When is Meghan Markles due date?

While its unclear when the baby will arrive, the big day will be coming soon, based on comments Markle has made recently. Without explicitly revealing a date, Markle has shared some vague details, such as during a visit to Birkenhead, when asked when she was having the baby, she noted, end of April, early May.

The Frogemore Cottage renovations might not be completed in time but no worries, Harry and Markle will have a place to live, as theyve reportedly been offered an apartment at Buckingham Palace until their home is ready.
If anyone knows what its like to lose a loved one, its Prince Harry. Harry and his brother lost their mother, Princess Diana, when Harry was only 12 years old. And in the years that followed, Harry developed a rebellious attitude in response to having trouble dealing with the grief. Today, Harry has grown from his loss and developed into a respectable, dignified man. And now, hes helping others grow from their bad experiences, too.

Charlotte Graham/WPA Pool/Getty Images

After Diana passed away, Harry had a difficult time accepting the loss

When Diana was tragically killed in a car accident in 1997, Harry took the loss extremely hard. For years after that, Harry couldnt quite find his place in the world. He rebelled and was often photographed drinking and partying. He hated the royal spotlight and wished he didnt have a certain reputation to live up to. Harry knew he was smoking and drinking too much, and according to an interview with Newsweek from 2017, he was living in total chaos.

Ultimately, Harrys older brother helped steer him back in the right direction

Although Harry bottled up his grief for nearly 20 years, he did have someone to lean on  his brother, Prince William. William and Harry were the only two who knew what the other was going through, but Since William was going to be king, he had even less freedom to lash out than Harry did. Harry told Newsweek that when he was 28, William suggested he seek professional help to manage everything that had happened to him. Harry consented, and today, hes almost a completely different person.

Recently, Harry reminded a young boy that despite his loss, things do turn around

When Harry was in New Zealand meeting some fans, he met a young boy and learned he had recently lost his mother. Life will always be alright, you know that? he said to the boy, according to Good Morning America. I made it 34 years old, and life is great. After Harry got the help he needed, he realized he could use his status to do good in the world. He said in his interview that he loves doing charity work, meeting new people, and making them laugh. And for this boy, he likely made a world of a difference just from a few words.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will welcome a baby in April. | Charlotte Graham/WPA Pool/Getty Images

He noted that his beautiful wife and baby on the way show that everything turns out okay

Harry told the boy that his life his great, and he also mentioned why. I have a beautiful wife and a baby on the way, he said. Your life is going to be sorted. Dont you worry about that. Harry married Meghan Markle back in 2018, and now the two are expecting their first child in April. Its clear he has come a very long way since his mother passed. While the hurt of losing a loved one will always be with him, hes met and married the woman of his dreams, and she will be his rock through anything else he goes through in life. And its heartwarming to see him pass his own story of overcoming grief down to someone younger.

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Actress Madeline Carroll turned down roles with nudity, promiscuity to honor God Christian Post Contributor | 28 March, 2019 by Sheryl Lynn

Actress Madeline Carroll has always loved the Lord. So when Hollywood was only offering her roles where she had to act as a promiscuous teen or strip down to nothing, she couldn't take it anymore.

"I can't do this anymore," she recalled telling God, as she spoke to attendees at the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention in Southern California on Tuesday. She planned to quit acting the next day.

Carroll, 23, got her acting start at only 3-and-a-half years old. After being discovered by an agent at a nail salon, she began doing commercials and had minor roles in a few films.

"God just moved for me very quickly," she said at the NRB event.

Her first lead role was in the 2008 film "Swing Vote" with actor Kevin Costner. That ended up opening many doors for her, including the opportunity to play a superhero  which she wouldn't have to audition for  for a "ridiculous amount of money."

After reading the script, she turned it down.

"It just wasn't something that I knew God wanted me to do," said Carroll, who spends a lot of time reading Scripture.

"My mom told me, it's better, Madeline, to err on the ways of righteousness than err on the ways of the world."

She went on to act in several more movies but when she hit 15 years old, everything changed.

Instead of being offered roles where she plays the young daughter, she was now being offered teen roles that compromised her values (i.e. the teenage girl who wanted to sleep with everybody in school).

Carroll was devastated.

From that point on, she had to turn down all the opportunities that came her way because of the nature of the roles.

"I went from so much happening to literally nothing happening and me saying no to all these opportunities," she described.

After a year of this, she "came to a broken place." But inspired by Isaiah 43 in the Bible, she accepted that she was going to go through a difficult season in her life and decided to keep going.

Her breaking point came after a phone call with her agent at the age of 19. By now, she had gone through three more years of turning down roles and changing agencies as they were frustrated with her choices.

On the phone, her agent described a role where she had to be nude. When Carroll passed on it, her agent told her, "You're crazy ... If you don't want to do nudity, I don't know what to tell you because that's all there is in this industry."

That's when Carroll crawled into her bathroom and told God she couldn't do this anymore.

"God, I can't hang on to this dream that you've given me anymore. I feel like I missed you somewhere and you wanted me to do something else and I didn't hear you," the actress described emotionally through tears.

She laid it all down before God and let her dream die.

"I said I'm going to call my agent and I'm going to quit. And literally, I don't know, the Holy Spirit, I guess, pulled me back down to my knees and I said 'but God, if you still called me here and this is what you want from me, then you have to send me something and better yet, send me something that would edify you and that's how I'll know that I'm still called to be here.'"

God answered her prayer the next day. She was contacted to be a part of the film "God Bless the Broken Road."

Continue reading about Madeline Carroll on The Christian Post.
Three out of nearly a dozen prominent Saudi women activists arrested over nine months ago were temporarily released yesterday.

Some of the women told a Riyadh court they had been subjected to torture in detention, sources familiar with the matter said.

According to sources, the rest were set to be freed on Sunday.

The charges against at least some of the women are related to human rights work and contacts with foreign journalists and diplomats, Reuters reported.

Informed sources identified the three women as blogger Eman al-Nafjan, academic Aziza al-Yousef, who is in her 60s, and Ruqayya al-Mohareb, a conservative preacher detained in an earlier crackdown on clerics and intellectuals.
But the Words are Already Out There! Christian Examiner Contributor | 28 March, 2019 by Mark Klages

These are fun times we live in, are they not? (I can see my Marine Corps Drill Instructor, SSgt Demars, standing in front of us with his knife hands saying, "It's a good morning for PT, is it not?")

Everywhere we turn our senses are assaulted with negative this and bad that. I've actually curtailed several posts just because I don't want to add to the din of hate that seems to have encompassed our society. This week alone, the mainstream media has been awash with more accusations and innuendo because nobody liked the outcome of Attorney General Barr's memo on Special Council Mueller's report, regardless of legal precedent.

I'm reminded, unfortunately, of a passage in Timothy.

"Be sure of this. In the last days hard times will come. People will love themselves. They will love money. They will talk about themselves and be proud. They will say wrong things about people. They will not obey their parents. They will not be thankful. They will not keep anything holy. They will have no love. They will not agree with anybody. They will tell lies about people. They will have no self-control. They will beat people. They will not love anything that is good. They cannot be trusted. They will act quickly, without thinking. They are proud of themselves. They love to have fun more than they love God. They act as if they worshipped God, yet they do not let God's power work in their lives." (2 Tim 3:1-5, NKJV)

Seriously, read the chapter, if not just these verses. Is this not the time in which we are living? (Said using knife hands.) I mean, last year all the praise was heaped on Mueller and Trump was lambasted regularly. Now both sides of the "aisle" are skewering Mueller for not reaching a conclusion. Never mind the Special Council's office has indicted 34 people over the last 2 years. He didn't "get Trump" so his $30M was a total waste, according to never-Trumpers.

Solomon was and is considered the wisest of all kings. His wisdom was God's gift (1 Kings 3:9) and his rulings were more than adequate  they were perfect. So, when Solomon advised to feed and clothe our enemies rather than taking vengeance on them (Prov 25:21-22) his counsel should be considered if we ever have that choice. One of my favorites is in the same chapter, Proverbs 25 verse 19, "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint." It's like Solomon knew FOX, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR  pretty much all mainstream media  would begin to gnaw at us like an abscessed tooth. You can't eat on that side of your mouth without suffering. You just can't trust it to do its job without causing you pain.

But where do we stand? I mean, if God's love is so pervasive, so perfect, so encompassing, how do we resolve not to become part of the hate we see everyday? How do I as a writer who professes to live by God's word and trust in His precepts, write about today's events without becoming part of the problem? How do we as Christians avoid joining in when everyone around us, even the deacon and the church board, are Negative Nancys?

Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego: Put yourself in the shoes of one of the Bible's most famous trios. Young Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were thrown into a furnace. Why? Because they wouldn't join the noise around them. They chose to love their God and pushed back against wrong worship and it could have cost them their lives. What was their answer?

"O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." (Dan 3:16-18, NKJV)

They said "we trust God" even if it meant God let them die in the fire.

Abraham and Isaac: What about the father of Israel, Abraham, and his son, Isaac, promised of God? As the patriarch of a nation, Abraham faced a choice, kill the son God gifted to him or disobey God because He had to be wrong. He chose to trust God knew what He was doing  always.

"Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son." (Gen 22:13, NIV)

Abraham said, "God will make a way."

Peter: As one of Jesus' closest disciples, Peter once said he would rather die with Jesus than reject His deity (Matt 26:35). But what if we've already fallen into the trap? What if our last ten posts are all political or negative or just another cymbal in the cacophony of negative sounds?

"But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." (Luke 22:60-61, NKJV)

"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." (1 Peter 2:3, NKJV)

If anyone needed forgiveness, it was Peter. After denying Christ the day of his crucifixion, Peter went on to see the empty tomb, witness His victorious post-resurrection form, and preach His word until the Apostle was (likely) crucified upside down in Rome. (Remember Matthew 26:35?)

How much more hope is there for us to see the error of our ways, seek His forgiveness, and walk even closer to Him which is all He wants from us anyway! So, never fear. God is love. God is forgiveness. And each lesson helps us to walk even closer, which is where He wants us.

Mark Klages is an influential contributor, a former US Marine and a lifelong teacher who focuses on applying a Christian worldview to everyday events. Mark blogs at https://maklagesl3.wixsite.com/website under the title "God Provides where Hate Divides," with a heart to heal social, political, relational, and intellectual wounds through God's divine love and grace. Mark can also be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-klages-04b42511/.
JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News)  Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked two predominantly Christian villages in north-central Nigeria after beating, raping and killing a 19-year-old Christian woman in the pre-dawn hours on Saturday (March 23), her father said.

Danlami Mante told Morning Star News that armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen ambushed Joy Danlami and her two younger siblings as they were returning to Mante village, Nasarawa state, at about 2 a.m. after the Christians attended a community feast in Katanza village, Akwanga County. His younger daughter, 16-year-old Patience Danlami, and 14-year-old son, Aboy Danlami, escaped with gunshot and machete wounds, he said.

The armed herdsmen chased them with dangerous weapons, Mante told Morning Star News. Joys nose and face was battered, and then she was sexually assaulted by the herdsmen before being killed. She was shot.

After the ambush, the herdsmen proceeded to the familys native Mante village, where they burned down 17 houses, he said. They then rampaged through Nidan village, burning another 11 homes. They also burned two Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) buildings and two belonging to the Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ (ERCC) in the two villages, Mante said.

Hundreds of Christians displaced in the attacks have taken refuge in Akwanga town.

Pastor Samson Gamu Yare, leader of the Mada ethnic group in Nasarawa state, confirmed the attacks to Morning Star News by phone and appealed to security agencies to send personnel to the area. A resident of Akwanga town, Yare urged the federal government make urgent efforts to stem the tide of herdsmen attacks.

We are faced with the burden of caring for those who fled the two villages in order to escape from the herdsmen carnage, Yare told Morning Star News.

Samuel Meshi, chairman of the Akwanga Local Government Council, said by phone that officials are making efforts to assist the displaced villagers.

We have informed the Nasarawa state government about the incident, and hopefully relief materials would be made available to those displaced in the attacks, Meshi said.

Christians make up 51.3 percent of Nigerias population, while Muslims living primarily in the north and middle belt account for 45 percent.

Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors 2019 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews. org/resources/aid-agencies/ fo r a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.
A small Ohio town is being criticized for opening its council meetings with prayer  with some of them being distinctly Christian prayers.

At one recent council meeting in Mount Sterling, Ohio, Dortha Ross, associate pastor of Mount Sterling Church of the Nazarene, prayed: We are thankful that, God, you are our creator, and that you sent your Son, Jesus, as our Redeemer.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that Councilman David Timmons ended another prayer by saying, In Jesus wonderful name, Amen.

Mount Sterlings population is about 1,700.

Chris Line, an attorney with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said the group may not file a lawsuit but that the prayers are troubling.

If youre giving a Christian prayer, and only a Christian prayer, thats where you really get into problems, Line told The Dispatch.

Mayor Billy Martin said he is determined to have prayer at the opening of each meeting.

But religious liberty groups say the prayers are permissible under the U.S. Constitution and are rooted in American history.

The practice of opening public meetings with prayer is as old as our country, Jeremy Dys, an attorney with First Liberty, told Fox News. All Americans are free to pray (or not) before public meetings according to the dictates of their consciences.

Earlier this week, a Republican Pennsylvania legislator came under fire from some Democrats for her Christ-centric prayer.

Jesus, weve lost sight of you. Weve forgotten you, God, in our country, and were asking you to forgive us, Jesus, Rep. Stephanie Borowicz prayed.

Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com.

Photo courtesy: Jack Sharp/Unsplash
This month brings two profoundly different takes on the biblical Gospels to the small screen. In Jesus: His Life, which premiered Monday and runs through Easter, History seeks to commemorate the Lenten season with a reverent, fast-paced, inclusive miniseries.

The story of Jesus is one of the cornerstones of Western civilization, says Mary Donahue, executive producer of the series and senior vice president of programming for History. Our production partners at Nutopia came to us with this new angle on the life of Jesus. As a network always looking for fresh ways to tell great stories, we were fascinated by the concept.

Historys docudrama series combines dramatic vignettes filmed on location in Morocco with a wide spectrum of talking-head faith scholars. Its narrative scenes bring to life first-century Judea with desert vistas, elaborate palace sets, and other fitting locales over eight episodes.

Meanwhile, the other TV project has less emphasis on visual spectacle and more on character development. Independent show The Chosen is already turning heads in Hollywood. When upstart platform VidAngel Studios pitched the concept to followers online, they brought in $11 milliona new crowdfunding record for any media project.

Debuting online April 15, The Chosen will reimagine the radical ministry of Christ upending societal norms in a multi-season show. Creators aim for it to be faithful to the biblical text while gritty in tone. A lot of Jesus projects on-screen are intentionally formal, which often means emotionally detached and less human, says writer/director Dallas Jenkins.

Were striving in this show to lift the curtain and get to what is authentic and real, he says. The approach to storytelling and how we film it, often with handheld cameras, is very raw.

Top Cable Network Comes to Jesus

Behind-the-scenes on Historys Jesus: His Life, New Testament scholar Scot McKnight of Northern Seminary served as an advisor. After script revisions, he praises where the miniseries has landed.

Coming at Jesus from the angle of eight different peoples views of him is helpful and realistic, says McKnight, noting the installments on Peter, Pontius Pilate, and John the Baptist as standouts. Each episode affirms a positive, accurate presentation of the Gospels.

Over two dozen faith leaders provide on-screen commentary including Joshua DuBois, former head of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Obama administration. Calling the series diversity of Christian perspectives unprecedented, he points to scholarship from McKnight and Miroslav Volf of Yale University Divinity School as grounding the narrative.

Sometimes youre forced to choose, says DuBois. Either you have a historically rigorous documentary approach, but you feel like theyre trying to critique the Bible. Im not comfortable with that. Or you have an approach that is more about the spiritual themes but lacks historical scholarship. This weaves both of them together in a powerful way.

Though only two of eight episodes have aired, Jesus: His Life already has its critics. One Catholic writer claims it reinterprets and questions the authenticity of certain Bible passages.

Other reviewers are wary of featured voices like televangelist Joel Osteen, known for his emphasis on believers receiving prosperity and blessing; and Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry, the minister who presided over Prince Harry and Meghan Markles wedding and whose views on the sacrament of marriage do not comport with many orthodox Christian traditions.

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At times, I was surprised by the people chosen to offer commentary, McKnight says diplomatically, in answer to critics. But if one canvasses the broad church of the United States, one can see why the various people were chosenfrom Michael Curry to Joel Osteen.

In this series, they are not criticizing what the text is rather they share their perspective and angle on what it says.

Entrepreneurs Reshaping How TV Works

With every segment wrapped up before the next commercial break, viewers of Historys docudrama always have clarity on what Gospel events are being depicted and discussed. By contrast, the first episodes of The Chosen drop audiences midstream into the story with little context.

Episode one opens mysteriously. A young girl and her father light a candle and repeat a sacred promise in dim light, referenced visually at shows end during a significant character reveal. It reflects how the small-budget drama seeks to surprise viewers while faithfully retelling events from two millennia ago.

We make these characters so human, says Jenkins, whose previous credits include faith-based comedy The Resurrection of Gavin Stone released by Walden Media in 2017.

For example, we portray Matthew the tax collector as someone with Aspergers, which Ive had experience with personally, notes the writer/director. Because of what we can glean from the Gospels, we thought: Thats not completely out of line. Matthew was a numbers and facts guy, and he didnt mind a job that made him socially unacceptable.

With its storytelling approach yet to be seen, headlines have focused on the funding model pioneered by VidAngel Studiosproducers of viral sensation Dry Bar Comedy. Using a little-known online public offering, or Regulation A+, The Chosen drew over 16,000 mostly small-dollar investors to back season one at $11 million. These backers receive equity in the show.

This is not like Kickstarter or Indiegogo, says Jenkins. Anyone who contributed to this project wasnt just donating; they are actually investing. It took us a few months to get approved by the SEC. Once we did, we released the pilot for free out on Facebook and said to people: If youre interested in investing in a show like this, join us in this equity crowdfunding.

Last year, Jenkins and his team scouted locations and landed in Weatherford, Texasan hour outside of Dallas. They built up an existing Capernaum Village that had been used for religious tourism, in addition to filming interior scenes on a sound stage. Producers found some topography in rural Texas similar to Israel, they say, while visual effects will also supplement.

Four initial episodes have been filmed, with pre-production underway on the next four. Despite Jenkins resumemostly light dramas and comedies for Hallmark and PureFlixhe warns that this subject matter is hardly for children. Set to be distributed by VidAngel, a streaming service that filters profanity, violence, and mature content, the series will have its own filtering options.

This is for sure a TV-14 show, says Jenkins. In fact, episode one of The Chosen is not for kidsthere is demonic possession and physical violence. The setting in which Jesus came was a very depressed and oppressive time period. On the surface, little about the Gospels is bright, happy, clean, fun, and family-friendly.

What makes the redemption of the gospel so powerful is the depth of what theyre being redeemed from, which this show will portray.

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Seeking to Engage Diverse Audiences

Producers of both TV series say they aspire to reflect historically accurate Mideast ethnic diversityand, through the power of story, bridge what divides various faith traditions.

Historys miniseries has a beautifully diverse tapestry, notes DuBois. Angels are portrayed by actors of African descent, as well as other roles with people of color, he says. Even more, its the voices who shape the series. People like Reverend Otis Moss III and Professor Nyasha Junior from Temple University represent strong black church traditions as on-screen commentators.

The series seeks to appeal to three different audiences, according to Donahue. Devout Christians will find new insights they may not have heard before, she says. Our History fans will learn more about Jesus time and his political context. And people who just love great stories will find a lot of drama, excellent acting, and powerful storytelling from each episode.

Nearly 30 advisers and faith leaders helped craft Jesus: His Life, from Fr. Jonathan Morris, who often appears on Fox News, to evangelical scholar Ben Witherington III of Asbury Theological Seminary to Rabbi Joshua Garroway of Hebrew Union College.

Just as Pilate saw Jesus in a very different way than how his mother Mary saw him, each person brings their own relationship to this story to the table, says Donahue. We each have our own contexts and experiences. Having a diverse team of contributors helped us consider and hold all of those perspectives into one telling.

The team behind The Chosen also rejects past Gospel adaptations traditional white European look, to quote Jenkins. Filming in Texas, their casting process proved challenging.

Capernaum, where season one is based, was a melting pot, says the showrunner. It was on a trade route, so there were travelers from all over: people with Asian influences, Latin influences, and African influences. When youre shooting outside of Hollywood or New York, its harder to find that, [yet] we were aggressive in looking to reflect the ethnic diversity of that time.

To ensure accuracy in the storytelling, a board of three scholars reviewed all scripts. They include Fr. David Guffey of the Congregation of the Holy Cross in Santa Monica, California; New Testament professor Doug Huffman of Biola University; and Messianic Rabbi Jason Sobel, who grew up in a Jewish family and has since become a follower of Yeshua, his website states.

Each of them has impeccable credentials in biblical, historical research, says Jenkins. They provided facts and context on the political and social structures of the day. Each has said: This character wouldnt say it that way. Or, She wouldnt be in that location. They had an impact on several episodes, which were going to go some other directions.

In addition, The Chosen team welcomed input from religious experts to open up broad appeal to Judeo-Christian audiences. From the Jewish and Catholic perspectives, because I am neither one of those, I always wanted to know how their communities would view each episode, says the director, son of evangelical author Jerry Jenkins.

At times, we changed how characters express themselves to have the widest audience, he says. We dont mind offending peoplewe just want to be doing it for the right reasons.

Will History Repeat Itself?

Among the highest-rated cable TV networks, History clearly hopes to replicate its success with 2013s hit series The Bible. Yet advisers contend Jesus: His Life is more than a ratings ploy.

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This is not a series that avoids tough stories and issues, says DuBois. The life of Jesus is central, but theres also Judas and Pilate. It grapples with evil in the world, as we have to engage with these things today. There is an element of hope, as ultimately Jesus overcomes.

Days from its premiere, The Chosen showrunners are forging ahead with plans for a multi-season retelling of the Gospels. However, the recent demise of a similar show invites comparisons.

After premiering Easter Sunday on NBC in 2015, an episodic adaptation of the Book of Acts called A.D.: The Bible Continues faced a ratings decline. Only one third into its source material, plans for further seasons never materialized.

With its novel funding and distribution model, production of The Chosen will not be dependent on TV network metrics. Nonetheless, Jenkins, who says he admired the 2015 show, sees its fate as a cautionary tale. To be honest with you, I dont know that were going to succeed where others have fallen short, he says. But we are in this for the long haul.

Hopefully, these first few episodes people see will excite them for how much time we really are going to spend with Jesus and the characters around him.

Josh M. Shepherd covers culture, faith, and public policy issues for media outlets includingThe Stream and The Federalist. A graduate of the University of Colorado, he previously worked on staff at The Heritage Foundation and Focus on the Family. Josh and his wife live in the Washington, DC, area with their son.
Robert Finleywho founded Christian Aid Mission, considered the first missionary organization dedicated to supporting indigenous missions abroaddied last week at age 96.

Finleys long ministry career intersects with major evangelical leaders and organizations, and his early insistence in the effectiveness of local missionaries over Western outsiders has become a driving principle among many missions experts.

Looking back on 85 years of memories, I am humbled to see Gods hand leading me to be an advocate for native missionaries, he wrote in his autobiography Apostolic Adventures. I've seen these brave men and women who have sacrificed so much, sometimes their own lives, because of the call of God to reach their own people for Jesus Christ.

As a young evangelist with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Youth for Christ in the late 1940s, Finley preached alongside Billy Graham at US rallies, with Cliff Barrows leading the crowds in ...

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Minnesota sues school district for making trans student use 'enhanced' locker room

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The Minnesota Department of Human Rights is suing a school district that built an enhanced locker room to accommodate the privacy needs of a biologically female trans-identified student who's competing on the boys swim team.

According to the litigation against the Anoka-Hennepin School District and school board, the student in question joined the boys swim team at Coon Rapids High School in the 2015-2016 school year and was allowed to use the boys locker room without any issue.

But over the summer of 2016, the district built an enhanced privacy boys locker room at Coon Rapids that the student was required to use. The enhanced locker room is an entirely separate facility from the main boys locker room and the lawsuit alleges that the student was threatened with discipline for not using the locker room.

The lawsuit was filed last month in state court against the school district by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and Gender Justice, accusing the school district of violating the Minnesota constitutions right to due process and equal protection as well as the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, represented by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, filed to join the lawsuit, claiming that the school districts actions stigmatized the student and created a hostile education environment.

We filed to join this lawsuit because equal access to public schools for all students, including transgender and gender nonconforming students, is a civil right protected by the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minnesota Department of Human Rights Deputy Commissioner Irina Vaynerman said in a statement. School districts should have policies and procedures that enable all students to thrive, free from discrimination. We stand proudly with transgender and gender nonconforming students across the state.

The Department of Human Rights reports that students have filed multiple claims of discrimination against the Anoka-Hennepin School District related to their sexual orientation and gender identity. The school district was sued in 2011 following a string of LGBT student suicides. It was claimed that the district perpetuated a harmful and toxic environment for LGBT students.

The school district maintains that it acted within the law by providing a safe and respectful learning environment.

"The use of restrooms and locker rooms are determined on a case-by-case basis. The goal is to ensure that all students feel safe and comfortable, the statement reads. Plans for accommodation for restroom and locker room use are made in consultation with school building administrators, the Title IX coordinator, and superintendent in compliance with state and federal law."

The school district asserts that its approach is consistent with guidance from the National School Boards Association and the Minnesota School Boards Association.

"The Minnesota Supreme Court held in Goins v. West Group that the Minnesota Human Rights Act neither requires nor prohibits restroom designation according to self-image of gender or according to biological gender, the statement argues. In permitting the student to use the boys' restrooms and locker room consistent with his gender identity, the district surpassed what Minnesota law prescribes. The courts decision in Goins is consistent with the Minnesota Human Rights Acts provisions governing discriminatory practices in places of public accommodation.

Under the Act, it is an unfair discriminatory practice to deny any person the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of a place of public accommodation because of, among other things, sexual orientation or sex, the statement continues. This provision does not apply, however, to such facilities as restrooms, locker rooms, and other similar places.

The Anoka-Hennepin School District case is the second transgender-related discrimination lawsuit that the state has filed this month. A lawsuit was filed against CSL Plasma, a collection center, for denying a biologically male trans-identified woman the right to donate his plasma because of his gender identity.

However, the company maintains that it acted lawfully.

CSL Plasma policies have evolved since the FDA updated its guidance on donor suitability in December 2015. Since that time, CSL Plasma has put in place policies that support self-identification based on gender preference, a statement from the company reads in part. The state has made no efforts to discuss this matter with us in advance of filing its complaint.

Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., called for Ellison, the former deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, to investigate USA Powerlifting over its policy barring biologically male transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.

USA Powerlifting defended its policies.

Men naturally have a larger bone structure, higher bone density, stronger connective tissue and higher muscle density than women, an online statement from the organization reads. These traits, even with reduced levels of testosterone do not go away. While [male-to-female] may be weaker and [have] less muscle than they once were, the biological benefits given them at birth still remain over than of a female.
Breakthrough: Miracle teen resurrected after mother's prayer to God feels called to be pastor

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WINNIPEG, Canada  The person behind the upcoming Christian film Breakthrough, John Smith, says he received a call from God to become a pastor after his mother's prayers brought him back to life.

After being rescued from an icy lake, John Smith was pronounced dead at a hospital after doctors were unable to resuscitate him. But John's mother, Joyce, was determined not to give up on her son. She prayed and cried out to God that her child would be brought back to life, and he was.

"I've seen this all my life how God can come in and heal and take care of things, and it's just believing that it can happen, Joyce Smith told The Christian Post in an interview on the set of Breakthrough" last year. When you're losing something that you feel like is God's gift to you, it puts it to another level where you're going to go in and do whatever and ask God to do what He says He can do.

John Smith, who after being pronounced dead came back to life 45 minutes later, said that while hes still searching for answers and waiting and praying about where God will ultimately lead him, he gained some clarity about his life's calling while at a youth camp after his recovery.

"[I was] constantly fighting God and Him just saying, 'Keep listening to Me, just pay attention, just walk where I need you to walk.' And then finally, after I started to realize that the earthly idols that I have been chasing are coming to an end, it's time to be chasing toward the heavenly gold, John said.

He assumed his overzealous feeling would wear off after camp but it didnt, so John identified it as God speaking to him.

[Thats] Him just calling me to ministry. I'm truly excited to see where He's going to take me, John said.

Marcel Ruiz, the 15-year-old actor who plays John in Breakthrough, told CP in an interview that he admires the aspiring minister because of his conviction.

Jason Noble, the family's pastor who tirelessly labored in prayer with the Smith family before and after the miracle, said he believes God always answers prayers.

"I think that prayers are always answered, Noble told CP. It may not be the answer that we want, and it's one of the things we've talked a lot about [because] people ask us: 'What if John would have died? Would you have you had the same kind of faith? Our answer has been Yes.

Noble emphasized that everyone eventually dies, but in Heaven there is always healing.

I think it's reframing what our perspective of a miracle and God's healing is, because if a person goes to Heaven and stands before the throne and they're healed, it's the same, it's a miraculous healing, Noble said.

"God always heals. There's always a purpose. And God always answers your prayers," he continued. "It might not be how we want them answered but He'll answer them the best way. I think we can look back over life and go, 'God, I could see why you moved the way you did and did what you said you were going to do. But when we pray, I think it's so important that we say, 'God, I'm going to pray and then trust you with the outcome. It's not, 'God, you need to do this and here's how the outcome needs to be,' because that's where we do get disappointed.

In the film, Chrissy Metz (This is Us) plays the role of Joyce Smith and actor Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama) plays her husband, Brian Smith. Marcel Ruiz (One Day at a Time) portrays their son, John.

The 20th Century Fox movie is based on Joyce Smith's book, The Impossible, and was adapted for the screen by Grant Nieporte ("Seven Pounds").

"Breakthrough" will be released on April 17.
'The Story of God with Morgan Freeman': Former executioner says God told him to end death penalty

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The third season of National Geographic's "The Story of God with Morgan Freeman" premiered earlier this month and on episode four of the series the Academy Award-winning actor interviewed a former executioner who said God showed him that the death penalty is sinful.

In this week's episode, Freeman uncovered the origins of self-flagellation, talked to the late Sen. John McCains jailer in Vietnam about sin, and met Jerry Givens, an executioner who had a change of heart.

Christians believe we must reckon with our sins on judgment day, but does that day come in Heaven or down here on Earth? Freeman asked.

Givens, who said he's been a firm believer in God all of his life, worked as the chief executioner for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 19821999. During his time there 62 executions took place.

He told Freeman that leading up to each execution he prayed with the inmate before their last days which would end either through lethal injection or electrocution. Fifteen days before carrying out the sentence he said he would prepare each person for what was next.

Freeman, who said he was confused by the Old Testament verses that say "thou shalt not kill" and taking an eye for an eye," asked Givens if he believed he was doing Gods will as an executioner. Givens replied by saying that, at the time, he did believe that. It wasnt until Givens was days away from executing an innocent man that he had a change of heart.

In 1984, 22-year-old Earl Washington was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder. He spent more than 17 years on death row. Nine days before he was to be executed, he became the first man to ever be exonerated.

I always asked God to never allow me to execute an innocent man, Givens revealed, admitting that Washingtons case filled him with doubt about the guilt of others who were sentenced to death.

Despite his conviction, Givens continued to perform executions until one day he was convicted of a crime he said he didn't commit. He said he took that as a sign that God wanted him to stop being an executioner.

I've learned that innocent people can be executed and the court system is not fair, Givens told Freeman. It is a sin to kill.

Following that wake-up call, Givens became an outspoken advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.

Why do we have to kill someone to show that killing is wrong? Givens asked. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Freeman was noticeably touched by Givens' testimony.

He did what we all should do, wrestle with ourselves and our faith and do what is right, Freeman said.

The full episode is now available to watch on National Geographic.

Season 3 of Story of God with Morgan Freeman features six episodes that take viewers on an interfaith journey around the globe, traveling to 30 different cities of historical and anthropological importance, including Jerusalem, Kathmandu, Jericho, Rome, Bethlehem, Paris, Prague, Hanoi, Toronto and Lourdes.

"The series filmmakers met with 13 religious experts, eight priests, three druids, three shamans, one imam, one rabbi, one former executioner, one nun, two so-called 'living goddesses' and hundreds of monks," according to National Geographic.

Visit National Geographic for more information about the series.
Pro-abortion group sues Mississippi over heartbeat abortion ban

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An abortion advocacy group is attempting to prevent a Mississippi law from taking effect that bans abortions when a baby's heartbeat can first be detected.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed Senate Bill 2116 into law on March 21. The law includes an exemption for abortions if it's deemed that a mother's facing a life threatening medical emergency in which the baby cannot be saved.

The Center for Reproductive Rights has expanded a preexisting lawsuit they had against Mississippi regarding earlier pro-life legislation to include the heartbeat abortion ban.

Nancy Northup, president of the abortion advocacy group, said in a statement released Thursday that she believes the heartbeat abortion ban is a near total ban on abortion.

Many women dont even know theyre pregnant at six weeks, and this law would force them to carry their pregnancies to term, Northup lamented.

Just four months ago, a federal judge told Mississippi they cannot ban abortion after 15 weeks, and now theyve banned it even earlier. We will keep taking them to court until they get the message.

In February, Mississippis legislature passed a pair of bills that would ban most abortions as soon as a heartbeat is detected. The Mississippi-based Clarion Ledger labeled it one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S.

Bryant applauded the passage of the bills in a statement posted to his Twitter account last month, noting that he planned to sign the legislation into law when it was given to him.

Ive often said I want Mississippi to be the safest place for an unborn child in America. I appreciate the leadership of the MS House and Senate, along with members of the legislature, for passing the fetal heartbeat bills today. I look forward to signing this act upon passage, tweeted Bryant tweeted at the time.

Earlier this year, Polk County District Judge Michael Huppert ruled that an Iowa law banning abortion when a baby's heartbeat can first be detected was unconstitutional.

The Iowa Supreme Court held that a womans right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy is a fundamental right under the Iowa constitution, and that any governmental limits on that right are to be analyzed using strict scrutiny, wrote Huppert in January.

In an interview with EWTN last week regarding the possibility of a lawsuit over the heartbeat law, Bryant welcomed the legal battle.

We feel very certain there will be a lawsuit filed. Thats fine. If weve got to fight over something, an unborn child is worth the struggle and the battle and we intend to wage it, Bryant told EWTN.

If you cannot invest money to protect an innocent life, what can we invest money for?"
Former Catholic school principal, wife accused of stealing $150K from church

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A man who once served as a Catholic school principal and his wife have been charged with stealing $150,000 from a Pennsylvania diocese.

Thomas James Murphy, a 65-year-old former principal and church deacon, was charged along with his wife, 61-year-old Ann Marie Murphy. The two surrendered to authorities on Thursday.

The couple allegedly stole the money by using a credit card and checking account funded by donations and reimbursements for St. Francis Academy and the Most Blessed Sacrament Parish, according to The Morning Call.

The parish and academy are both in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown. In a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday, the diocese explained that it first became aware of the theft during an internal audit performed last August.

It then performed a forensic audit, and turned the results of that audit over to the district attorney in mid-September, the Diocese said.

The diocese then removed Murphy as principal. The diocese cooperated with civil authorities at all times during the investigation.

Mark E. Smith, chief financial officer for the diocese, explained in the statement that the diocese intends to pursue restitution.

Our financial audits are designed to ensure that the funds entrusted to us by parishioners, school parents and donors are used for the intended purpose, Smith said.

Jim Strunk, who attended the school where Murphy served as principal, told WFMZ that the whole neighborhood was shocked by the news.

My mom's shocked. We're shocked. Everybody's shocked, Strunk told the news outlet. You donate money. You expect it to go to the church. It's aggravating.

Berks County District Attorney John Adams, whose office has been overseeing the investigation, told news outlet WFMZ that he believed the school must be disappointed by the couples actions.

I think this is very disappointing to the school, said Adams, that their leader has stolen money from the school, and from an account that was created with contributions and for the betterment of the school.
Not only the 'party of war' of Sargsyan and Kocharyan - the Republican Party of Armenia - but also its permanent ally, ARF Dashnaktsutyun was among political forces, which lost the 'velvet revolution' in Armenia. The Dashnaks, formally unrelated to the Karabakh clan, are trying to settle a score with their ancient opponents by putting pressure on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

In particular, recently head of the Civic Platform initiative group Aghvan Poghosyan wrote on his Facebooks page about the ex-ARF chairman Rouben Hakobians desire to see Armenia's first president Levon Ter-Petrosian in jail, to whom the Dashnaks lost the 1991 presidential election (Ter-Petrosyan won with 83% of the vote, at a turnout of 70%, while the ARF's Sos Sargsyan - only 4.3%). As a pretext to imprison him, Hakobian suggested that Pashinyan should reconsider the results of the 1996 second election, when Ter-Petrosyan won with a minimum result of 51.3% with a turnout of 60.3% (the ARF did not participate then).

"Yesterday, a former member of the National Assembly Ruben Hakobian published the U.S. State Department's 1996 Human Rights Report. In particular, the report touched upon the violence and cruelty on the part of the authorities against opposition members and demonstrators that took place in the post-election period. The reports stressed that Levon Ter-Petrosyan was re-elected as a result of controversial elections, which were marked by a number of illegal actions and serious violations of the electoral law," Poghosyan reports.

"In general, speaking of committing electoral fraud, beating demonstrators and violating constitutional order, these processes were initiated by falsifying the 1996 elections, as there are comments from the Ter-Petrosian team's members. In particular, Vano Siradeghyan and Karapet Rubinyan said that the elections were rigged. There are grounds and facts that could result in criminal proceedings concerning violation of constitutional order and election fraud," the head of the Civil Platform cites Hakobian's words.

Then, the former ARF head tries to draw an analogy with the criminal prosecution of second president Robert Kocharyan, who came to power in 1998 after Ter-Petrosians resignation (due to the Karabakh clans unwillingness to follow Ter-Petrosians plan to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict) to put in jail the first president, who is Nikol Pashinyans political mentor.

"Why should they be shy of these facts if the Special Investigation Service is preparing materials based on Shirkhanyan's open letter to initiate criminal proceedings in the 1998 elections? One can go back two years ago and fully disclose the falsified elections. The ball is on Nikol Pashinyans court. and now he has to prove that his actions are really based on the state's interests and don't conceal political persecution and revenge," Rouben Hakobian concluded.
UK to reconsider Iranian Christian's asylum claim following global condemnation

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The U.K. Home Office said it would take a second look at an Iranian Christian's asylum claim after the department first denied the application because, they argued, Christianity is not a peaceful religion.

The department faced international criticism for attacking Christianity as a violent religion in a letter stating their reasons for denying the Christian convert's asylum application.

The Home Office have agreed to withdraw their refusal and to reconsider our clients asylum application, offering us a chance to submit further representations. A good start, but more change is needed, the Iranian's caseworker, Nathan Stevens, tweeted on March 22.

Stevens added that he hopes there will be real change though as it isn't all about this one case; there's a much wider problem to be addressed here.

On his Twitter page, Stevens said that several years ago, in another asylum applicant's refusal letter, the Home Office attacked an applicant's faith in Jesus, saying: "You affirmed in your AIR that Jesus is your saviour, but then claimed that He would not be able to save you from the Iranian regime. It is therefore considered that you have no conviction in your faith and your belief in Jesus is half-hearted.

Stevens posted photos of the rejection letter sent to the Christian convert asylum seeker in which the Home Office quoted verses from the Bible to argue that he converted from Islam to Christianity because he considered the latter a religion of peace.

These examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it's a peaceful religion, as opposed to Islam which contains violence, rage and revenge, the Home Office said, in part, in the letter Stevens publicly shared on March 19.

The rejection letter quoted a few verses from the Bible books of Exodus, Leviticus, Matthew and Revelation that contained violent imagery to justify their claim.

Ive seen a lot over the years, but even I was genuinely shocked to read this unbelievably offensive diatribe being used to justify a refusal of asylum, tweeted Stevens along with excerpts from the letter.

In response to the news, the Church of England denounced the reasoning of the Home Office, with Bishop Paul Butler, the lead Church of England Bishop in the House of Lords on immigration, asylum and refugees, expressing concern in a statement released last Friday.

I am extremely concerned that a government department could determine the future of another human being based on such a profound misunderstanding of the texts and practices of faith communities, Butler said, the Anglican Communion News Service reported.

To use extracts from the book of Revelation to argue that Christianity is a violent religion is like arguing that a government report on the impact of climate change is advocating drought and flooding.

Professor Paul Williams, chief executive of the England-based organization the Bible Society, also released a statement denouncing the rejection letter as taking verses from the Bible out of context.

Taking individual verses out of context to prove a point is not only naive but, in this particular case, deeply disturbing, said Williams.

Whatever beliefs we hold, it is vital that we have adequate levels of biblical literacy  given the size of the global Christian community and the centrality of the Bible to western civilization.

Williams added that his organization would be happy to work with the Home office to support adequate levels of biblical literacy among their staff.

In response to the backlash, the Home Office released a statement via email acknowledging that the letter was authentic, and claimed that it did not adequately represent their policies.

This letter is not in accordance with our policy approach to claims based on religious persecution, including conversions to a particular faith, stated the Home Office, The New York Times reported.
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Our culture has a crisis going on. You may even be holding it in your pocket right now. Its probably within arms reach. If you lose it or leave your house without it, you may just go into full-blown panic mode. Yes, Im talking about your cell phone. That shiny, portable little device that has the power to capture our attention like nothing else ever has.

I was an early adopter of this technology. Im old enough to remember when Motorola appropriately dubbed the first mobile phone the brick when it debuted in 1983. Approximately the size of a WW2 walkie-talkie, this thing was huge. The battery lasted around 8 minutes, but hey, you could take it anywhere, and that was a huge deal.

Fast forward to 2007. Steve Jobs releases the first ever iPhone, and the world was in complete awe. In fact, The Wall Street Journal breathlessly described it as Apples new Jesus phone because it combined a phone, iPod and internet access all-in-one. Herein lies the problem. For so many peopleespecially young peoplethese phones have literally taken over their lives.

A massive study of over half a million 8th -12th graders found a 33 percent rise in depression, stating: Adolescents who spent more time on new media (including social media and electronics such as smartphones), were more likely to report mental health issues, and adolescents who spent more time on non-screen activities (in-person social interaction, sports/exercise, homework, print media and attending religious services), were less likely.

Kids often live in the virtual world of texting, snap-chatting, and gaming that disconnects them from reality. They fall into the trap of comparing themselves to others seemingly perfect lives online and it only exasperates the problem. Theres also social media bullying that threatens to steal the self-esteem, worth and joy of young people all across the globe. It is no coincidence that the suicide rate among young people has risen dramatically.

So, what do we do about this? I have a two-word answer: Be still.

We need to make a conscious effort to disconnect from this barrage of media. This doesnt have to be a permanent thing (though that wouldnt be the worst idea ever) but it does need to be intentional. According to a survey, when given the choice between a text-only phone vs call-only phone, 75% of millennials preferred texting! But even if most young people did prefer phone calls, that still wouldnt be enough. We need to sit down, look at each other, and talk.

Licensed family therapist Dr. Linda Mintle recently stated that social media is to largely to blame for relationships not offering the benefits of real, in-person connections. "They need to be real-time, face-to-face, intimate," she said. "There are so many studies that show the support, the community you get from being in a relationship with other people sustains you in so many ways. They need to be more than the superficial ones that we often have online."

This is a critical time for the Church and faith communities to step forward. This doesnt mean we have to offer our version of everything culture has, but rather something the culture is severely lacking. Im talking about authentic, loving community filled with people who go out of their way to engage with othersespecially those who are youngand then take them under their wing to mentor and disciple them.

This is how those who are older can connect with younger people in a way that even their peers cannot.

So many Millennials and those from Gen Z, those born from the mid-90s to the early 2000s, are coming from broken homes. They need godly father- and mother-figures in their lives. Someone did this for me when I was 17-years-old, at a time when my alcoholic, single-mother had just divorced for a seventh time. I was desperately searching for community, family, and reality. In the early 70s I was the exception, but now its sadly more the rule.

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

We dont need the Jesus phone. We need Jesus.

We dont need instant, digital connections. We need deep, authentic ones.

We need to put down the phone and pick up the Bible.

We need to connect with God and his people.
Avoid causing religious offence this Easter, advertisers told

The Advertising Standards Authority has issued a warning to advertisers to be sensitive to Christians in their Easter promotions.

The religious nature of Easter can sometimes be overlooked by retailers and brands in their seasonal promotions but for Christians, however, it is the holiest time of the year when they commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and celebrate His resurrection.

In a reminder sent to advertisers, the ASA acknowledges that marketers may want to use Easter as a "cultural point of reference" to engage consumers but cautions that they should be aware of religious sensitivities.

The ASA said marketers were permitted to use religious language and imagery in advertisements but only provided these were "not mocking or disrespectful".

It was "important to exercise caution" and promote products in a way that still respects people's faith and beliefs, the ASA said.

It also reminded marketers that "public sensitivities and prevailing standards" are taken into consideration when deciding whether an advert has used religion "in a way that has crossed a line in terms of being offensive or inappropriate".

It calls on brands to "carefully consider" the tone of their adverts and consider conducting research beforehand to establish whether there is a risk of causing "serious or widespread offence" to people of faith.

"Easter is a holiday that holds religious significance, particularly for those of the Christian faith," the ASA said.

"It is also a cultural point of reference that marketers may use to engage consumers. Given the sensitivities surrounding people's religious beliefs, marketers must take care not to cause serious or widespread offence when using religious references in their campaigns in or around Easter."

As an example of an inappropriate advert, it cited one online betting site that ran an Easter promotion using cartoon-style imagery of blood dripping from a nail-pierced hand alongside the slogans "nailed on bonus", "dearly departed JC" and "sacrilecious [sic] bonus".

In 2016, the ASA upheld complaints that the advert was offensive and mocked Christianity at an important time of the year for Christians. In its assessment, the ASA said that the ad was likely to cause serious offence and that it was therefore in breach of the Advertising Standards Code.

On the other hand, an advert by a different company in which Jesus was depicted wearing a bunny costume was found to be acceptable by the ASA because the marketers argued that the image was intended to highlight the commercialisation of Easter at the expense of the original Christian meaning of the festival.

In its latest guidance, the ASA continued: "While humour can sometimes help to reduce the likelihood of causing serious or widespread offence, the line when it comes to religion can often be very thin.

"You should therefore tread carefully and bear in mind that just because something might be considered funny by some  it will nevertheless be problematic if it offends a particular group."

It added: "So, keep in mind that whilst Easter ads can be fun and entertaining, they must also be responsible."
Coalition for Marriage voices disappointment after vote on sex and relationships education in Parliament

The Government has been accused of being "obsessed with trying to force ever younger children to learn sex and relationships" after MPs this week approved the expansion of sex and relationship lessons that will teach primary-age school children about LGBTQ relationships.

The draft Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019 were approved in the Commons on Thursday by 538 votes to 21.

If the regulations are approved by the House of Lords, then from September 2020, primary school children will learn about different forms of family, while lessons for secondary age school will cover sexual orientation and gender identity.

Colin Hart, Chairman of the Coalition for Marriage, said the plans risked "downgrading marriage" while the restrictions on opting children out of the lessons were effectively "sidelining parents".

He urged education secretary Damian Hinds to "think again" on "imposing these lessons on all".

"This is a disappointing result that continues the tyranny of the Department for Education, which is obsessed with trying to force ever younger children to learn sex and relationships, even when it is not age appropriate and goes against the wishes of parents," he said.

"It waters down the importance of marriage, which children should be taught, by traducing the Institution to just one form of many different types of relationship.

"It ignores the fact that traditional marriage matters. Traditional marriage is the most stable form of relationship and research shows that stability is important for the healthy development of young people."

The draft regulations require that schools consult with parents about the contents of the sex and relationship lessons, which should also be "appropriate having regard to the age and the religious background of the pupils".

However, the limited right of parents to opt their children out has proved contentious for parents of faith.

While requests to withdraw children at the primary school level will be automatically granted, at secondary school the rules change and parents will only be able to opt their children out up to the age of 15, unless the head teacher believes that such a request should not be granted. After the age of 15, opted out children can choose by themselves to participate in the lessons.

Tory backbencher Sir Edward Leigh was among those voting against the plans on Thursday. He has been an outspoken critic of the proposals and previously said they represented a "fundamental shift of power to the state".

"All previous Conservative Governments have given an untrammelled right to parents to remove their children from sex education," he said.

"But here in certain circumstances that right has been transferred to the headteacher."

The draft legislation was passed as Muslim and Christian parents continue to protest against equality lessons at Parkfield Community School in Birmingham.

Hundreds of parents have withdrawn their children from the lessons taught by the "No Outsiders" programme, which cover same-sex relationships.

They are demanding that No Outsiders be scrapped by the school, which has a largely Muslim student population.

The school has temporarily suspended the lessons in the wake of the protests.

The lessons were introduced at the school by assistant head teacher Andrew Moffat, who is gay. He told BBC WM, that there were "misconceptions" about what the No Outsiders lessons teach.

"People are worried about the way the government are proposing to change sex relationship education in the UK and people are mixing that up with No Outsiders," he said.

"No Outsiders isn't about sex education. It's about community cohesion, British values, it's about people getting along and co-existing."

Free Church of Scotland minister the Rev David Robertson, however, said that Christians should stand with Muslims on this issue.

"Despite the claims, this is not about diversity. It is in fact the very opposite," he wrote on his blog.

"This is about imposing one, and only one, sexual/relationship philosophy upon everyone. They don't want diversity. They will not allow Muslim parents (or Christian) to have their children brought up in their faith.

"We must all be brought up in the secular humanist faith and whatever its celebrants tells us at any particular time is moral or 'on the right side of history'."

He continued: "Homosexuality is not the issue here. There are far deeper and much more profound issues. Not least the freedom for us, and our Muslim brothers and sisters, to bring up our children, without being dictated to by the political elites who seek to impose their bourgeoise morality on our children. On this issue Christians and Muslims stand together."
St Paul's increasing security after arrest of suspected gunman

St Paul's Cathedral said it was beefing up security after a suspected gunman was arrested outside the cathedral on Friday.

The cathedral and City of London Police said there was "no indication" that the incident was terror-related and that the historic landmark would be open as usual over the weekend, although with increased security.

City Police confirmed they had arrested a man believed to have been in possession of a firearm shortly after midday.

According to the BBC, a man pointed a weapon at security staff in the Cathedral's crypts and pulled the trigger but no bullet was fired. He attempted to flee the scene and discarded the weapon before being detained by the police.

Following reports of an armed man at #StPaulsCathedral, we can confirm we've arrested a man who we believe to be in possession of a firearm at 12.05 today. He was detained behind One New Change by armed officers. There is no indication this incident is terror-related at this time  City of London Police (@CityPolice) March 29, 2019

St Paul's said in a statement that it was putting extra security staff on duty and increasing screening at entry points but that the building would remain open for visitors.

"Shortly after midday on 29th March 2019 a man was arrested by the City of London Police who was believed to be in possession of a firearm. He was detained behind One New Change by armed officers. There is no indication that this incident is terror related at this time," it said.

Although an entrance to St Paul's was cordoned off after the incident, the popular London landmark remained open for the remainder of Friday.

The cathedral added: "The safety and security of all our staff and visitors are of the utmost importance. Additional security officers will be on duty at the Cathedral today and over the weekend, with increased security screening taking place.

"The cathedral will remain open today and over the weekend as usual."
Turning shotguns into sharing platters: why we all need to mind our Brexit language

There are currently over 600 MPs in the UK. Right now, they're rather busy and deeply unpopular, but regardless of the circumstances, they exist.

It's a statistic that makes me question why we're constantly subjected to seeing the same handful on every news item, radio phone-in and newspaper article.

Yesterday, Conservative MP Mark Francois popped up on our screens (again). He was discussing the vote on the EU Withdrawal Treaty and was on his usual bullish form, but really took things up a notch when he said this:

"I wouldn't vote for it if they put a shotgun in my mouth."

It's what we've come to expect from the man elected by 36,914 people in Rayleigh & Wickford. Previous interviews have seen him invoke World War II when discussing the thoughts of a German businessman and remind us how unwilling to lose he is because of his time in the Territorial Army.

It's interesting that Mr Francois can't speak about his job without referring to war, the military or armed abductors. But that wasn't what struck me most. It was the notion that, for this particular politician, his answer to the question of whether or not he could change his mind was that he wouldn't even if there was a shotgun in his mouth.

Quite rightly, his "shotgun" remark prompted suicide prevention minister Jackie Price-Doyle to urge ministers to "tone down" their language around Brexit.

"All MPs have a responsibility to be careful about the language we use. If we cannot discuss important matters without resorting to violent or aggressive terms something is wrong," she said.

"People are more aware of mental health issues nowadays and MPs referring to death in the context of Brexit is inappropriate. They should tone it down."

While it's tempting to think this cautionary intervention only applies to Mr Francois, the Brexit entrenchment aside (see, I too like a military metaphor from time to time), it struck me that perhaps he wasn't that different to many of us, myself included.

I wonder how often, when faced with an alternative opinion, I choose to plant my feet rather than lean in?

I wonder how often, when my position is challenged, I take a battle stance rather than an affirming one?

I wonder how often, when faced with the chance to reach out to a new idea or the person holding it, I instead reach for a metaphorical shotgun?

Politics might be all we can think about right now, but of course this idea goes beyond that. As people of faith we can find ourselves faced with all sorts of challenges to our opinions, ideas, even our beliefs. When faced with these alternatives, I wonder how often we choose the Francois school of defence over deference. Warfare over willingness. Finding ourselves unwilling to even engage with the prospect of changing our mind, although our imagination finds no such limit in how dangerous our perceived opponent or their ideology is.

The theologian Pete Enns says this: "If having faith means holding on to certainty, when certainty is under "attack," your only option as a good Christian is to go to war - even if that means killing your own." Or in the case of Mark Francois, imagining your own being willing to kill you.

For those of us who follow Jesus, the temptation to retreat into certainty is certainly appealing. Having the "right answers", knowing "the truth" can be incredibly reassuring, but it can make real relationship with those who see it differently difficult, if not impossible.

And while disagreeing on the commentary can be fun, dividing the community or disqualifying from the communion can never be an outcome we chase or cherish.

And so I wonder if we need to put the shotguns down. Better still, let's melt them down and turn them into something better. More chairs for the table or maybe a bigger table itself.

Like turning swords into ploughshares, or shotguns into sharing platters, if we're willing to offer up our immovable opinions and allow them to be transformed into interesting conversations I wonder if something won't be changed...even if it isn't our minds.

Matt White is a Northern Irish TV producer living in Essex and working in London. Follow him on Twitter @mattgwhite
Bold, colourful, exquisite: the Tibor Collection of Chinese Export art

Specialist Becky MacGuire takes us inside the Tibor Collection, amassed over the course of 40 years and built around the extra-large, richly decorated vases known as tibores

All works of art embody their histories, in what they depict, the way they were made, how theyve been used, or the hands through which theyve passed. In the category of Chinese Export art, this is true on nearly every count. Each piece affirms a history and a pattern of collecting that foreshadow the dynamic, global nature of art, design and connoisseurship today. Chinese Export porcelain is porcelain ware that was made in China specifically for export to the Western world, explains Becky MacGuire, a senior specialist in Chinese Export Art. In Europe, we only had clay pottery until about the 1710s or 1720s. Nobody knew how to make true, hard-paste, fine-white porcelain. Only the Chinese, who had been making it for hundreds of years. Europeans were astounded by Chinese porcelain, and it became a coveted luxury item. Chinese porcelain first appeared on the market as early as the 14th century, MacGuire says, then increasingly in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries as navigation improved, trade with China accelerated, and Europeans sailed to Asia with the purpose of bringing back shiploads of Chinese goods.

The nature of the artworks and objects they brought back shifted over the course of these centuries, too, as Chinese craftsmen sought to capitalise on this new interest in their work, and European companies and connoisseurs realised they could commission pieces that aligned with their own tastes. What resulted was a fascinating synthesis of East and West. The Tibor Collection excels in nearly every category of Chinese Export porcelain, from armorial motifs to famille rose and famille verte patterning, to whimsical serving vessels and figures. Yet it takes its title from its particular strength in extra-large, richly decorated vases  called tibores by their Hispanic buyers and admirers.

The term also speaks to the Latin origins of this collection, which was amassed over some 40 years. Not only is it strong in Chinese Export porcelain that was made at the very height of the China Trade period, its also strong in work that was made specifically for those who were living and thriving in Spain and the Spanish territories in North and Central America, then referred to as New Spain. The Spanish were in the Americas from about 1520 to 1820, MacGuire says. For the wealthy and the aristocracy that ruled in the Viceroyalty there was a fantastic life to be led. A love of Chinese luxury goods was certainly a very exalted part of the taste of the New Spain period.

Hispanic tastes tended towards the big, the bold and the colourful, as evidenced throughout the Tibor Collection. Highlights include 5ft-high soldier vases lavishly enamelled with images of exotic flora and auspicious carp; cranes and roosters sculpted masterfully from talon to beak; tibores made for chocolate; tibores made for decoration; and tibores made for royalty  select soldier vases in the collection were originally commissioned for King Philip V of Spain.

The Tibor Collection is rich in fantastical tableware as well  pieces for serving things in, pieces for show, and, most dramatically, a series of bird and fish tureens that puffed out steam when put to use.

A portion of the Tibor Collection was previously sold at Christies, and further pieces are being offered in January 2021. A lot from the April 2019 sale conveys much of the history of Chinese Export art in capsule form: a rare punchbowl from the Qianlong period, circa 1785. On the outside we have a Chinese tiger hunt, MacGuire says, with some hunters on horseback, others spearing this poor tiger thats just met his fate. And on the inside we have a European fox hunt.

For the Chinese enameller, foxhunting would have been completely unknown. He would have been given prints to copy to show him how the hunters dressed, what the hunting horn looked like, what a fox looked like.

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Law firms in Texas are in a fierce battle to represent businesses, private equity funds and banks involved in mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, and the fight may get even more heated - and more expensive - this year.

A handful of Texas-based law firms - Vinson & Elkins, Baker Botts, Locke Lord and Akin Gump - are desperately competing against a group of deep-pocketed national legal practices - Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Sidley Austin and Gibson Dunn - to represent buyers and sellers in mega-M&A deals that result in more than $1 billion in revenues for lawyers in Texas.

New data from two separate services that track M&A activity in Texas shows that lawyers at Chicago-based Kirkland and Houston-headquartered V&E far and away led the most deals and the biggest deals involving Texas companies in 2018.

In fact, Kirkland and V&E were involved in about one in every six M&A deals in Texas last year - many times across the negotiating table from each other.

Kirkland represented exactly 100 businesses or private equity firms involved in Texas dealmaking last year, while V&E advised 73 such entities, according to Mergermarket research provided exclusively to The Texas Lawbook.

V&Es M&A transactions, however, were considerably larger in dollars than any other law firm, Mergermarket reports. V&Es 73 transactions had a combined value of $133.7 billion - compared to a total deal value of $42 billion for Kirklands clients.

The bottom line is that two law firms - V&E and Kirkland - continue to fight for the top of the M&A leaderboard and the rest of the law firms are a good distance behind, says Chad Watt, an M&A analyst and senior writer for Mergermarket in Texas. Kirkland has been ranked No. 1 for three years in a row for deal count and V&E has been a solid second.

When it comes to doing the biggest deals, V&E remains No. 1, he says.

More Information Law Firm Rankings Representing Texas Businesses in M&A Deals in 2018 Kirkland & Ellis - 100 - $42B Vinson & Elkins - 73 - $133.7B Locke Lord - 46 - $11.8B Baker Botts - 42 - $53.2B Gibson Dunn - 42 - $44.4B Jones Day - 42 - $39B Latham & Watkins - 40 - $101.9B DLA Piper - 40 - $5.8B Source: Mergermarket/Texas Lawbook Texas Law Firms Leading 2018 Deals Valued at $500M or more Vinson & Elkins - 27 - $122.9B Sidley Austin - 17 - $29.6B Kirkland & Ellis - 15 - $17.7B Latham & Watkins - 12 - $74.4B Baker Botts - 12 - $32.2B Gibson Dunn - 11 - $25.2B Source: Texas Lawbook/Corporate Deal Tracker See More Collapse

The Texas Lawbook reported recently that M&A activity - both in deal count and deal volume - set record highs in 2018.

In addition, The Texas Lawbooks Corporate Deal Tracker will report this week that lawyers at six corporate firms in Texas - V&E, Kirkland, Sidley Austin, Baker Botts, Akin Gump and Gibson Dunn - worked on a combined 308 M&A deals valued at $411 billion in 2018.

One-third of those transactions - although handled by Texas lawyers - involved businesses based outside of the state, according to the Corporate Deal Tracker.

V&E worked on 27 M&A deals in 2018 that each had a value of $500 million or more. Sidley handled 17, Kirkland advised on 15, Latham and Baker Botts each led 12 and Gibson Dunn represented 11 companies involved in transactions in which the sale price was $500 million or more, according to the Corporate Deal Tracker.

With 430 business lawyers in Houston, Dallas and Austin, V&E is the largest corporate law firm in Texas and has long been viewed as having one of the leading energy legal practices in the world, according to Watt.

Legal industry analysts say that V&E, which is 101 years old, has an historical advantage in Texas because the firm has placed scores of its former partners as general counsel at dozens of energy companies. Those V&E alumni tend to hire their old law firm for some of their legal work.

For example, V&E represented Energy Transfer Equity in its $60 billion restructuring and simplification and RSP Permian in its $9.5 billion sale to Concho Resources in 2018. The general counsel at ETE and RSP Permian are former lawyers at V&E.

Kirklands surge in the Texas legal market has been nothing short of extraordinary. The firm opened its first Texas office in Houston in April 2014. It now has more than 200 lawyers in the state - most of them stolen from V&E and other Texas competitors.

Watt and others point out that Kirkland has its own strategic advantage: The firm has more than 2,300 lawyers worldwide and revenues topping $3.7 billion. More than half of Texas M&A transactions handled by Kirkland in 2018 were led by lawyers for the firm based outside of Texas.

To be sure, the other Texas corporate law firms are not suffering. Dallas-based Locke Lord ranked third in the Mergermarket report with 46 Texas deals valued at $11.7 billion. Baker Botts, Gibson Dunn, Latham & Watkins, DLA Piper and Jones Day each acted as the lead legal advisors in more than 40 transactions involving Texas companies.

Twenty-two of the top 30 corporate law firms increased the number of Texas deals they handled during 2018.

Latham saw its M&A deal count decline from 55 transactions in 2017 to 40 last year, but the size of the deals Latham handled jumped 62 percent - to $101.8 billion.

Twenty-three of the top 30 law firms in the Texas M&A rankings are headquartered in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and other cities outside the state. Eighteen of those 23 non-Texas based firms , however, now have offices in Dallas, Houston or Austin.

Two national law firms that stood out in 2018, according to legal industry analysts, were Sidley and Gibson Dunn. Despite having significantly fewer lawyers in Texas than their counterparts at V&E and Kirkland, Sidley ranked second with 17 deals over $500 million and Gibson Dunn was sixth with 11 such transactions, according to the Corporate Deal Tracker.

For more coverage of Texas corporate law firms, please visit TexasLawbook.net.
Traffic remains constricted on a 7-mile portion of the Houston Ship Channel a week after pollutants leaked into the waterway, flowing from a breached containment wall at the charred Intercontinental Terminals Co.

That has prompted a lot of hustle in a windowless room at Ellington Airport, where civilians and U.S. Coast Guard members monitor the ship channel with cameras, radar and the automatic identification system, or AIS, that ships use to share their location, vessel type, speed and route.

About every minute and a half, the phones ringing, said Alberto Hernandez, watch supervisor for the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Vessel Traffic Service.

Its a nonstop circuit of mariners calling or radioing into the Vessel Traffic Service, which is charged with providing navigational information. Typically, that means alerting vessels to when they'll meet other vessels in the waterway or when a faster vessel will overtake them.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Mariners navigate diverse dialects on the radio

But in special circumstances such as the ITC spill, the ship channel monitors become traffic cops.

The Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service gave the order to close a portion of the Houston Ship Channel on Friday, and began opening this segment of waterway to daylight traffic a few days later, starting with smaller vessels and then gradually increasing to larger ones.

Daylight restrictions will remain in place until officials are confident ships wont pick up pollutants and carry them to another part of the waterway.

To provide time for inspecting the vessels and, if needed, diverting them to be cleaned with a pressure washer, the Coast Guard is metering traffic. They want roughly one hour between each ship passing through the contaminated area and half an hour between each towboat pushing barges.

The last thing we want to do is spread that beyond the area where we have it contained, said Steven Nerheim, director of the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Vessel Traffic Service.

As of early Thursday afternoon, two ships and one towboat traveling through that area had some contaminants stuck to the hull (and this was cleaned before proceeding down the ship channel). But some ships were docked in the contamination area, floating in the pollutants. And as they unload cargo, making the vessel lighter and causing it to rise, more of the hull could be covered. The Coast Guard is working to get these vessels out.

As of Thursday morning, the Houston Pilots reported that 58 ships were set to enter the ship channel and 23 ships were set to leave the ship channel. One ship was preparing to move locations within the port. The Houston Pilots, tasked with guiding ships through the waterway, also reported that 13 ships passed through the contaminated area Wednesday.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston Ship Channel closure could cost energy industry $1 billion

Nerheim emphasized that vessel traffic is flowing normally downstream of the incident. But traffic in the stretch from the contaminated area upstream to Houston was running about 10 percent of its normal volume Wednesday, Nerheim estimated.

The first priority when reopening the waterway is to get ships out, making room at docks for vessels waiting to come in. Ships are then prioritized on level of need, as determined by the Port Coordination Team, a group that includes the Coast Guard, Port Houston, companies and other ship channel users.

The team is activated for any potential disruption, working together before and after hurricanes, fog and spills.

Were all reacting to this. We had a massive pollution incident midday Friday, and were recovering from it, Nerheim said. Were starting to move traffic, and every day were going to move more and more traffic. And while the effect is significant, well get back to normal traffic volumes.
The Moscow State Museum of Oriental Art will host an exhibition titled 'Harmony of space. Traditional Art of Azerbaijan' on April 11-May 12.

The exhibition will feature more than one hundred objects of decorative and applied art from the collections of the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum and from the funds of the State Museum of Oriental Art.

The exposition aims to introduce art lovers to the peculiarities of traditional interior in the houses of Azerbaijan of the 19th - early 20th centuries, the role of carpets and textiles in creating an amazing harmony of space, AzerTAc reported.

The museum visitors will see exhibits from the rich collection of the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, associated with the wedding ceremony, integral elements of the traditional dowry. Art lovers have a chance to enjoy a showcase dedicated to Azerbaijan's traditional headscarf kelaghai.

A special part of the exhibition will be art works related to beliefs - from prayer rugs to traditional amulets.

The State Museum of Oriental Art will present jewelry, copper dishes as well as Karabakh carpet 'Lankaran' of the late 19th century. The carpet was included into museum's collection in 1918.

The exposition will share with visitors the ancient Azerbaijani culture, harmony and beauty, glorified by the masters of decorative and applied art of Azerbaijan.
BRIDGEPORT  Sgt. Paul Scillia raced from the East Side in his police cruiser.

On duty from 4 p.m. to midnight, he was about an hour and a half from the end of his shift when he heard a 10-32 call signaling all available officers to respond to the scene of a pre-Halloween party.

The sergeant sped to Colorado Avenue, lights on and sirens blaring, on Oct. 21, 2017.

He ended up being one of 46 cops there.

It was a rough night, Scillia recalled later in a 405-page Office of Internal Affairs report, released to Hearst Connecticut Media on March 6 after a Freedom of Information Act request in January.

Chief Armando Perez requested an investigation following two civilian complaints about police conduct that evening. The report told of excessive force and a lack of supervision by police, and of intoxicated and confrontational partygoers.

Seventeen officers and two civilian detention officers were cited in the report for violating Bridgeport Police Department policies. They were referred to the city Police Commission for hearings on their conduct.

For some, accusations of Bridgeport police abuse didnt come as a surprise. There had been other such instances in recent years.

In 2015, officers Elson Morales and Joseph Lawlor were each sentenced to three months in prison for stomping suspect Orlando Lopez Soto in Beardsley Park in 2011. A third cop, Clive Higgins, chose to have a trail and was acquitted.

In May 2017, rookie Bridgeport Police Officer James Boulay fatally shot 15-year-old Jason Negron. A report by Waterbury States Attorney Maureen Platt found Boulay was justified in firing at Negron, who the report said was driving a stolen car that was about to run him over.

Negrons sister, Jazmarie Melendez, and others have said they dont trust the police investigations in Bridgeport. They say the Bridgeport Police Department murdered Negron  and 18-year-old Corbin Cooper, who died when a car in which he was a passenger crashed on Route 8 while being pursued by police in June 2018.

There have been demonstrations sparked by the teens deaths and what critics of the Bridgeport Police Department say has been a systemic lack of accountability.

One of the main points that weve always been calling for is these officers brutalize and then nothing happens to them and more damage happens, Melendez said in a recent interview.

In early March, an unidentified group of people confronted Perez after the chief spoke at a mosque following the massacre of Muslims in New Zealand.

A video posted on Facebook showed a tense back-and-forth between Perez and an unidentified woman whose face was turned away from the camera. She questioned the chief about Negron and Cooper. He responded at one point by saying that they had received justice, and that Negron should have been cared for while he was living on the streets. The reference alluded to statements made by Melendez shortly after the teens death that he had been living in friends cars.

Perez said he regretted his response. And he has maintained that Bridgeport police are here to help.

I want Bridgeport residents to realize we serve and protect them, Perez said.

Mayor Joe Ganim said in a recent statement, Generally speaking, the men and women of the Bridgeport Police Department have a very good relationship with the community.

Opposing views

Accounts of the October night in 2017 differ, though, among police and the two Colorado Avenue partyers interviewed in the recent Internal Affairs investigation. In their report, investigators interweaved those interviews with civilian video showing the party and police footage from inside department headquarters.

The word chaotic comes up again and again in the report.

Everybody sees things a little bit differently, Perez said. Truth is what you perceive at the time that you are experiencing that event. You may not remember one thing, or you may not have seen something, but cameras catch it.

Two calls were made that night to the Bridgeport police dispatch center.

It really was a nothing call  a noise complaint, Perez said later.

Officer Natalie McLaughlin was dispatched at 10:17 p.m., with another officer sent as her backup. Three minutes later, they found the party on Colorado Avenue and, they later said, were met with pushback from some of the 25 or so people there.

Peter Diaz and Carmelo Mendez, who were among the people arrested that night, filed civilian complaints a few days later. They were the only party guests who agreed to speak with Internal Affairs investigators, and they have declined to speak publicly about the details of the incident since the report was released.

The two appeared Wednesday in Bridgeport Superior Court, where their cases were continued. On Friday, an attorney filed a lawsuit against some of the officers involved, claiming Mendezs 6-year-old son and 12-year-old niece witnessed their family, dressed in superhero costumes, being attacked and severely beaten by the police and were traumatized.

Mendezs initial complaint to the department, included in the Internal Affairs report, indicated that police acted aggressively when they arrived at the party that night.

McLaughlins cover unit said otherwise.

When we made them aware of the noise complaint, Fernando (Morales, one of the partys hosts) immediately became belligerent, said an officer who was not cited for wrongdoing in the investigative report. This behavior incited other party attendees to become belligerent by disobeying the repeated commands of officers to calm down.

City Councilman Ernie Newton said Thursday that the encounter might have escalated at least in part because of cultural differences.

A lot of our police officers come from suburbs. They dont deal with the kind of stuff that happens in urban areas, Newton said. Weve got some work to do in our police department.

State Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport, voiced a similar sentiment.

We need people here who not only look like us, but understand us, who are organically from the community, who know who each and every single one of us are, so we can effectively work with law enforcement, Bradley said Thursday, at an event urging the reopening of a dormant police substation on the citys East End.

Ganim also said that many of the officers who responded that night were relatively new to Bridgeports police force.

Raising the stakes

McLaughlin, who called for backup on the night of the party, later told investigators she had hoped more officers would bring calm to the situation.

Instead, things got worse, and arrests quickly followed. In their complaints, Mendez and Diaz said officers were yelling at the party. Cops said partygoers were yelling and cursing, the Internal Affairs report said.

If I yell at you, youre going to yell at me  thats just human nature, Newton said. Weve got to do a better job on how we de-escalate situations, so they dont turn into what happened at that party.

But often, encounters between cops and the urban communities are framed by mistrust, in Bridgeport and elsewhere.

According to a 2016 survey conducted by the National Police Research Platform through the Pew Research Center, 21 percent of police officers surveyed nationwide said their jobs always or often made them feel angry and frustrated. The survey found these officers were more likely to have physically struggled with a suspect or to have been verbally abused by a citizen in the past month.

I think all residents in Bridgeport want a better relationship with law enforcement, said City Councilman Kyle Langan, who along with Marcus Brown was elected more than a year after the Colorado Avenue party to represent that neighborhood. Residents want to see police officers outside their cars, interacting with people ... People want to know their beat cop and have a relationship with their officers.

Newton agreed.

Weve been working so hard to try to get community policing in our community, he said. Thats what its going to take in order to build trust between people and police.

Suddenly sideways

The Internal Affairs report said that when officers Daniel Faroni, Thomas Lattanzio, Todd Sherback and Michael Mazzacco arrived at the party as backup, they were confronted by a crowd. A threatening statement from Fernando Morales prompted the 10-32 call, the report said.

At 10:27 p.m., McLaughlin and Sherback took Morales into custody. Wanda Mendez, the other homeowner, was arrested at about the same time. Diaz, who was in a wheelchair because of recent foot surgery, was arrested a minute later.

In Diazs complaint, he said he tried to get between Morales and the cops to prevent anything from escalating. Someone pulled Diaz back, although he didnt know who it was, he told investigators.

Mazzacco said the N-word to Diaz in repeating back a phrase Diaz said to him earlier, according to the report. Daiz claimed to have that exchange on video, but the report said he did not provide it to investigators.

Mendez said in his complaint that people were arrested for no reason.

Sara Deida was arrested at 10:29 p.m. after she threw a beverage at several cops, police said. In his complaint, Mendez said Deida was slapped a couple of times and dragged down some stairs. Video footage showed  and officers told investigators  that Deida resisted arrest, the report said, but it cited no proof of excessive force in her arrest.

The report said Officer Adam Szeps forced Mendez to the ground about 10:30 p.m. after he refused to leave. Szeps yelled gun after he saw a firearm on Mendezs waistband, the report said.

In his complaint, Mendez said he yelled that he had a pistol permit. The police questioned about the arrest said they didnt hear that, the report indicated.

Lt. Robert Sapiro was seen on camera observing other officers struggling to handcuff Mr. Mendez, the report said. Officer Michael Stanitis, who joined the officers arresting Mendez, appeared to repeatedly hit Mendez with his flashlight, the report said. Investigators said the marks seen on Mendezs face were consistent with wounds inflicted by the end of a flashlight.

Scillia, the sergeant drawn to the scene by the 10-32 call, kicked or stomped on Mendez and appeared on video to punch him, the report said.

Ganim said after the report was released earlier this month that since the party, Perez has cracked down on supervisors.

Youve got to have strong supervision, Perez said of the incident. The supervisors should have been more aware of what was going on. When they got there, they shouldve pulled everyone back.

The departments technology has been upgraded, too. In 2017, Bridgeport police did not have body or dashboard cameras, which might have clarified what happened at the party and possibly changed behaviors that night.

Last August, the city implemented a camera program, and state lawmakers announced on Thursday that the State Bond Commission would approve a reimbursement to Bridgeport of more than $1 million for equipment.

Body cameras provide the public with transparency, and can work to improve the relationship and trust some members of the community have with law enforcement, Bradley said in a release accompanying the reimbursement announcement.

This funding will help protect both residents and police officers in our communities, said Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport.

Trouble in booking

After police broke up the Colorado Avenue party, chaos continued into the night at department headquarters. Typically, no more than two people are brought into the booking area to be processed at the same time. That night, eight people who had been arrested were brought in at once.

Sgt. Mark Belinkie, assigned to booking, was set to wrap up his shift at 10:30 p.m. He was working when Diaz was brought in by Faroni, who admitted to investigators that he briefly dragged Diaz when the man refused to cooperate. The Internal Affairs report said Belinkie intervened and told Faroni to help Diaz up and write a report about the dragging incident.

Another sergeant was to relieve Belinkie at 10:30 p.m., the report said, but had responded to the 10-32 and didnt get to booking until 10:59. Belinkie left before 11, the report said, and the two did not cross paths, but Belinkie told investigators booking sergeants often dont have a face-to-face switch.

While in booking, Scillia told investigators, he accidentally hit Diaz in the face and accidentally bumped Diazs injured foot, the report said. Diaz told investigators it was intentional. Video footage viewed by investigators appeared to support Diazs statement, the report said.

In his complaint, Diaz said Lattanzio suddenly punched him in the face. The report said surveillance video also showed Diaz spitting in Lattanzios face before the punch was thrown. Lattanzio later told investigators he acted the way he did to protect himself.

Diaz told investigators he had six to 10 straight shots of Remy Martin cognac that night. The next day he remembered some stuff and not everything, he told them, according to the Internal Affairs report. He mentioned that he has short-term memory loss but didnt think that was the reason for the gaps in his recollection, the report said.

The relief sergeant, who was not accused of wrongdoing in the report, told investigators he should have gotten somebody up in booking to cover the flow of people that were coming in.

A time of stress

The Office of Internal Affairs investigation into the party incident took more than a year. It began on Oct. 24, 2017, and was led by Officer in Charge Lt. Brian Dickerson. The results were released to the chief and the mayor on Nov. 13, 2018.

Walter Signorelli, a former New York Police Department inspector and professor of law and police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said internal investigations are taxing on those under scrutiny.

It undermines your self-esteem; its very demoralizing, he said. You have a certain image of yourself, and your friends and family do, too  law-abiding, honest  and this puts that into question ... These officers are already being painted with a broad brush.

The process can wear down investigators, too. Dickerson was transferred to a position with less stress earlier this month.

The officers named in the report were referred for hearings, unscheduled so far, in front of the Police Commission. Those sessions will be closed to the public, as with other police disciplinary procedures.

Sgt. Chuck Paris, head of the police union, submitted a letter to the Police Commission on March 19 requesting 11 of the officers named in the report be subject to discipline by Perez instead of the commission.

Chairman Dan Roach said that request would be considered. As of Friday, there was no announcement of a decision.

Perez said he couldnt comment on the unions actions, but he was concerned about a public rush to judgment.

Im worried that the entire truth of the event is not out there, the chief said. Its not adjudicated, its not completed.

Lattanzio died by suicide on Dec. 4, 2017. Belinkie killed himself on March 2. There has been no direct link established between the report and the suicides.

Sapiro retired earlier this month, immediately after being promoted to captain.

In early March, state Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport, criticized the city for not releasing the report nearly four months after it had been delivered to city officials.

Moore, who is running for mayor against fellow Democrat Ganim, said there was no excuse for the delay. She mentioned the two police suicides and said Latinos civil rights were violated by police.

The day after Moores criticism, the city released the Colorado Avenue report. But the city has yet to release the Internal Affairs report conducted after Boulay shot and killed Negron.

A request by Hearst Connecticut Media sent last June was denied, with a note indicating the internal probe into his conduct remained active/open. An follow-up request for the report was submitted March 9; that request is still pending as of Friday.

On Thursday, Moore heralded the news of the citys reimbursement for police dashboard and body cameras.

The timing for this funding could not be better, she said, in light of the miscommunications between our police and our community.

Staff writers Daniel Tepfer and Ethan Fry contributed to this report.
Thirty years ago, the Houston Chronicle set out to clue in all those squares as to the lingo that was hip with teens.

Houston students were enlisted to help explain the mysterious language we used with our "road dogs."
Springtime in Houston brings many wonderful things such as perfect patio weather and outdoor concerts, but it also brings a pesky nuisance that some Houstonians are starting to take notice: large web-like clusters of fuzzy looking caterpillars.

Springtime signals the mating season for the caterpillars, also known as webworms. You may have noticed the insects forming large tent-like webs on the trees in your backyard, or on the side of your house. While the insects may look potentially dangerous from afar, local experts say there is nothing to worry about.

"They are not poisonous," Mikal Shamsi of Pest Police told Chron.com. "They are harmless, they are just more of a nuisance than anything. Sometimes they can get into the thousands, easily. It depends again how many trees you have in your area and how far apart are the trees."

The caterpillars are attracted to over 100 different types of trees, namely pecan and mulberry, that are common in the Houston area, Shamsi said. Shamsi added suburban areas like Sugar Land tend to see the highest populations of the bugs.

PHOTOS: Big Bend photographer captures the beauty of largest bluebonnets bloom in decades

They like to lay their eggs on the underside of leaves so that when the larvae hatch, they hatch in big clusters, Shamsi said. Similar to the cycle of a butterfly, the caterpillars will eventually grow into little white moths.

"When they eat, they are eating as a caterpillar and they tear up the leaves from the tree," Shamsi said. "If the tree is healthy and strong, [the caterpillars] won't kill the tree. Unless it's a young tree or a sick tree, the tree should survive."

Shamsi said the webworms are also attracted to bright light. He said a recent client had hundreds of the insects covering the side of a building and discovered it was because a bright, fluorescent light was left on that was attracting them in droves.

The webbing material created by the caterpillars comes from the fecal matter they release while eating, Shamsi said. The bugs usually end up on buildings or outside homes when wind gusts displace them, he said.

LADY BUG LOOK-A-LIKES: Asian Lady Beetles will burrow in your dogs mouth

"They are so camouflaged that when you see them on the tree they are very hard to see, but once they start falling on cars parked underneath the trees or it's a bright white cement wall, unfortunately, they become an eyesore," Shamsi said.

Shamsi advised if anyone touches the caterpillars to quickly wash and sanitize their hands.

"If they are killed on the ground or on a vehicle the residue that they leave behind can be kind of hard to wash away," he said. "So the sooner you can clean your car the better."

The pesky bugs can be removed with a water hose or glue traps. For more extensive clusters, Shamsi recommends calling a pest control specialist.

"Once they mate and reproduce they pretty much vanish," Shamsi said.

Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message


Lakeland Village Center, the retail and shopping center from the Howard Hughes Corporation, will receive some new restaurants for Bridgeland residents and their neighbors to enjoy.

Jim Carman, senior vice president of commercial development for the Howard Hughes Corporation, confirmed that Local Table, a Mediterranean themed restaurant, Local Bar, a bar from the same owners of Local Table and Edelweiss Stube, a Swiss cuisine restaurant, will open in the Lakeland Village Center soon.
Fire investigators are expected to get access to the charred Deer Park tank farm on Monday to begin probing for the cause of last's weeks massive chemical fire, while researchers probe several wildlife deaths nearby.

Since the blaze began March 17, the burn site has been too unsafe for investigators to visit. Intercontinental Terminals Co. plans to provide access on Monday to the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, ITC incident commander Brent Weber said.

IMPACT: Spill from Deer Park plant fire threatens vulnerable marsh

In the meantime, a judge ordered on Friday that the company preserve any evidence related to the incident as cleanup continues at the site, where Weber said nine of 15 tanks were secure as of Friday.

"We made good progress," he said. "We've been focused on product removal."

In the Houston Ship Channel and nearby waterways, the U.S. Coast Guard is still leading efforts to remove contaminated water. A containment wall breach a week ago allowed an unknown volume of chemicals from the tanks into the channel and adjacent bayous. Most of the tanks contain chemicals used to make gasoline.

More than 100,000 feet of boom remain to contain the spill, which is impacting an area that includes Battleship Texas, the oyster beds in Burnett Bay, Carpenters Bayou, Crystal Bay Marsh, Old River, Patrick Bayou, Santa Anna Bayou, the western shore of the mouth of the San Jacinto River, Tucker Bayou, and the Intercontinental Terminals Co. docks, according to the company.

LEGAL ACTION: Harris County sues ITC, only on HoustonChronicle.com

Captain Kevin Oditt said the Coast Guard has made significant progress re-opening the Ship Channel, which was closed a week ago after the chemical spill. Oditt said 23 ships and 115 tow boats passed through the channel on Thursday, about half of the waterway's normal volume.

Five vessels were observed with oil on their hulls, requiring decontamination before they could proceed out of the channel, Oditt said. Crews have removed 1.2 million gallons of oily water from the waterways and 1.5 million gallons of product mixed with firefighting foam from the tank farm.

Adam Adams of the federal Environmental Protection Agency said investigators have yet to determine the cause of death for a number of animals found dead in recent days in Tucker Bayou, which lies just east of ITC. Adams said the count to date includes 13 fish, two red-eared slider turtles, one frog and three birds  including a federally protected cormorant.

Adams said the EPA will also look into the death of a dolphin in Seabrook, which borders Galveston Bay.

U.S. Coast Guard officials took members of the media on a brief boat tour of the Houston Ship Channel near the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site.

Oditt called traffic in the area slow, but pointed out a couple of ships traveling through the channel.

"We think we found an equilibrium," he said.

The tour, which went from Lynchburg to Old River to Carpenter's Bayou, showed less clean-up activity than would be expected in a more polluted area, such as Tucker Bayou.

Some oily sheen was visible in the water, and lines of orange containment boom crossed parts of the channel.

One skimmer sidled alongside a larger vessel as workers moved the oily product to the hull of the ship until it could be unloaded off shore.

Zach Despart covers Harris County for the Chronicle. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at zach.despart@chron.com.

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Marked by booming cannon and crackling rifles, the annual San Jacinto Day Festival in La Porte can be counted on to draw tens of thousands to celebrate the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto that led to Texas independence.

But this year the guns will be silent, with the festival proving to be the latest victim of disruptions caused by the recent fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. chemical plant in Deer Park.

Our train of thought has always been safety first with our guests, Larry Spasic, president of the San Jacinto Museum of History, said in explaining why the April 13 event was canceled for only the second time in 35 years.

Firefighting foam and a mixture of chemicals that flowed down the Houston Ship Channel from the ITC terminal have impacted up to two miles of shoreline along the park, along with the park's Santa Anna Bayou.

Different entities have conducted air quality testing, and there have been hot spots of elevated benzene levels, Spasic said. The winds change where those are located, and even as we felt things were settling down, they became unsettled, and we dont want to put Texans or their guests in danger.

Postponing the event was out of the question, said Bill Irwin, superintendent of the the San Jacinto State Historic Site Complex.

Inside the park, the San Jacinto Monument and Battleship Texas have been closed since the fire.

The last time the festival was canceled was more than a decade ago when large electrical storm posed a risk to the expected crowd of between 10,000 and 20,000 people, Spasic said.

Fought on April 21, 1836, the battle saw Gen. Sam Houstons Texian army surprise and destroy a force under Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Houston forced Santa Anna to sign a treaty recognizing Texas independence.

To me, this is the most sacred site in Texas, and weve been very lucky to be able to celebrate it so many times, Spasic said.

When it comes to our guests, we must be prudent and careful and thoughtful in our decisions, and this is what weve done, he said. We dont know what next week or the week after will bring, but we need to know that anyone who comes out when will be safe.
It was just a matter of time.

Cher has announced her return to Houston as part of the Here We Go Again Tour. She performs Dec. 15 at Toyota Center.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. April 5 at toyotacenter.com.

Nile Rodgers and Chic will open the show. Their legendary hits include "Le Freak" and "Good Times."

RELATED: 90's music icon energizes House of Blues crowd

Cher's album of ABBA covers, "Dancing Queen," was released last year and became her highest-charting to date, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. She's reportedly working on several new projects, including a Christmas album, a second album of ABBA covers, an autobiography and a film based on her life.

Her last local performance was in 2014 at the same venue.

PREVIEW: Get experts picks for concerts, kids stuff, fine arts, movies and more delivered to your inbox weekly.

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.
Houston got yet another taste of Latina superstar Selena with free performances at Party on the Plaza, a semi-regular Thursday night gig at Avenida Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Thursdays party kicked off at 6 p.m. and lasted until around 10 p.m., featuring Siempre Selena, a tribute to the late great queen of Tejano, Selena Quintanilla.
The big gamble for Sambrooks Management Company  the new hospitality brand that has ambitious plans for the Houston restaurant scene  is heating up with the opening of 1751 Sea and Bar next week.

The company, which is aggressively expanding its restaurant operations, will open a luxe seafood restaurant on April 2 in the home of the former Star Fish space, 191 Heights. But while 1751 Sea and Bar is only one of Sambrooks' projects, it may well be its defining operation  upscale seafood towers, caviar, global fish and gin cocktails galore in a space that failed when it was a crown jewel of the now-shuttered Cherry Pie Hospitality brand.

FOODIE BOOMTOWN: How Houston became the country's hottest dining city

"We've been working on this one for so long, we can finally see the finish line," said Michael Sambrooks, co-owner of Sambrooks Management.

Pressure? Most certainly. But as 1751's executive chef J.D. Woodward put it: "You can't form a diamond without pressure."

How brightly that diamond shines remains to be seen. But the Sambrooks team has spent considerable time polishing its new gem. Physically, 1751 is a looker  a sophisticated dining room tricked out in black and white tiles, black pendant lamps, bistro chairs, black padded banquettes and an open raw bar. The room's focus is a magnificent, lighted bar that boasts what is probably the city's biggest cache of gin (more than 100 varieties) for an enterprising cocktail program that has been completely re-mastered. The bar/lounge area that now seats 40 has been expanded to include a communal dining table  a long expanse set with chic lamps.

For diners, however, the proof will be in the food, which falls to the culinary team of Woodward, Sambrooks culinary director Lyle Bento and chef Michael Nutt who have created a sumptuous, upscale menu full of surprises and a shot through with luxurious detail.

The menu opens with sea jewels: An iced tower holding oysters, snow crab, shrimp, octopus campechana, poke, lobster salad and pickled mussels. There's an iced platter of a dozen oysters, shrimp cocktail and crudo; oyster selections from the Gulf (appellation varieties form Texas and Alabama), New England and Canada. And osetra caviar served with a shot glass of tiny caviar-like beads of vodka.

The chefs' charcuterie board is like no other in town. It features house-smoked seafood: smoked salmon gravlax, cured tuna, smoked oysters, cured anchovies and pickles. Other starters include baked oysters in smoked herb butter; scallop chawanmushi (Japanese custard) with mushrooms; lobster spring rolls with Louis dressing; chicken karrage with house pepper oil and miso butter rice; crispy duck Thai salad; Caesar salad-style Brussels sprouts with anchovies, pickled onion, egg and black pepper croutons; pork belly with house kimchi and grilled pineapple; a salad of octopus, chorizo, cucumbers and tomato in an anchovy vinaigrette; and New Zealand rainbow clams cooked in olive oil and garlic and served with toasted bread. Two over-the-top options as starters: A crawfish souffle filled with creamy etouffee and pasta sauced with a rich sea urchin sauce topped with osetra caviar.

FOR HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM SUBSCRIBERS: From Space City to Food City?

Entrees options from the sea: pan-seared flounder with chayote squash, oven-dried tomatoes and smoked pan sauce; grilled swordfish with Israeli couscous and bok choy; crispy snappers with mushrooms and kimchi; grilled salmon with bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, snow peas and Fresno chiles; Cajun-spiced redfish on the half shell with collard greens and cane syrup lacquer; seared scallops with celery root and caramelized fennel; and a hot pot of lobster, langoustines, rock shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops and mushrooms. For seafood purists there's daily catch (founder, salmon, snapper and swordfish) that can be simply wood-grilled or seared. For the meat lovers a ribeye with burgundy-roasted mushrooms and for the vegetarians and pasta with roasted garlic, grilled broccoli, artichokes, mushrooms and snow peas with smoked tomato and parmesan.

"It's one of the biggest menus we've ever put out," Bento said of the team's menu collaboration.

Overseeing the bar program is David Maness, who remains from Star Fish's vaunted bartending team, who has created a menu of flavorful gin and vodka martinis, creative classic cocktails, and inventive gin and tonic libations. Some of the potions include the Pride of Houston (Waterloo Old Yaupon Gin, Benedictine and elderflower), Gin Lane (rhubarb-infused Sipsmith Gin, lemon and blood orange), Katana 75 (Roku Gin, yuzu, matcha tea, honey and sparkling sake), Dutch Courage (Anchor Genevieve Genever-style gin, grapefruit bitters, orange bitters and honey), and Gin Act, a dry gin martini with vermouth, orange bitters and a lemon twist. (The restaurant's title, 1751, references the Gin Act of 1751 in London which quashed the underground gin trade and ushered in a new era of better quality gin.) A 140-bottle wine list and craft beers round out the beverage list.

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Once 1751 is up and running, Sambrooks and team (Bento and director of operations Steve Breaker) will turn their attentions to the company's next projects. In September, Sambroooks Management announced it had acquired the assets of former Cherry Pie operations including Star Fish, Pie Pizza and Lee's Fried Chicken. The company, which owns The Pit Room, one of Houston's best barbecue joints, has already rebranded Lee's as Sam's Fried Chicken & Donuts.

Next up is a Tex-Mex restaurant that will go up in the former Cane Rosso space in Montrose at 4306 Yoakum, next to The Pit Room, 1201 Richmond. That restaurant has not been named but Sambrooks said it will offer barbecue tacos (using Pit Room 'cue), fajitas, and grilled meats and seafood from wood-burning grills. That project is expected to open late summer 2019. After that the company will turn its attentions to Pi Pizza, 181 Heights, which will be rebranded at Dobro's Pizza & Sandwiches. That will open in early fall 2019.

1751 Sea and Bar, 191 Heights, 832-831-9820; 1751houston.com. Open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 4 to 11 p.m., Sunday 5 to 10 p.m.; closed Monday. Happy Hour with discounted oysters and drinks is Tuesday through Saturday 4 to 6 p.m.

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.
Today (March 28), the world celebrates Historian Day. Vestnik Kavkaza congratulates all historians, in particular employees of the history department of the Moscow State University, on their professional holiday and wishes them happiness, health and creative success.

Russian information-analytical agency Vestnik Kavkaza was created by graduates of the MSU's History Faculty and countinues active partnership with it.

Graduates of the faculty are still working in the agency, and former employees work at Russian embassies and consulates abroad.
UPDATE:

Houston Transtar reports the accident site was cleared at 3:19pm, and all main lanes have re-opened.

Earlier, TxDOT Houston tweeted, "Crews have completed the clean up and made repairs to the crash cushion protection barrier. Pavement repairs are now underway. We are working to get the road open as soon as possible."

TxDOT Spokesman Danny Perez says crews repaired the pavement with a special fast-drying material, but it takes time to lay down. Perez said the freeway should re-open late Friday afternoon.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A truck driver was killed Friday morning in a fiery crash along the Eastex Freeway in Humble after he struck a guard rail, authorities said.

All southbound main lanes of U.S. 59 remain closed as of 7:30 a.m. Friday as crews work to clean and repair the roadway. That could take at least two more hours, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

The crash happened in the southbound lanes of U.S. 59 near FM 1960 around 12:30 a.m., Humble Police Department Lt. Duke Caruthers told media on scene. Early on, Humble officers only received reports from passing drivers about an 18-wheeler on fire.

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"When we got here, the whole vehicle was engulfed in flames," Caruthers said. "There was no one on scene who actually observed the accident."

Officers and firefighters did not initially know whether the driver made it out in time. They eventually found the person dead inside the truck cab, Caruthers said.

RELATED: Fire engulfs equipment at new HEB construction off South Freeway

He said investigators believe the truck struck a guard rail on the exit ramp to FM 1960, causing the rig to flip on its side and ignite. Police did not know the identity of the driver nor the company that owns the truck.

The truck appeared to be carrying lawn mowers, Caruthers said.

It is unclear why the driver crashed.

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
Co-founders of the Barker Flood Prevention advocacy group are encouraged that a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve how the Addicks and Barker reservoirs function and to reduce upstream and downstream flood risks along the Buffalo Bayou and its tributaries will produce short- and long-term solutions.

Im very optimistic, said Wendy Duncan, co-founder. I know that some solutions will be short-term and some will be longer term. However, we are moving in the right direction.

Whats important is were making progress and moving forward, said Andrew Weber, project manager. A lot of interested parties are all doing our part to address those issues that everyone is concerned about.

Marlin Williford, Barker Flood Prevention co-founder, said, We are extremely encouraged with the approach and alternatives that the Corps is working on in this overall resiliency study.

Weber presented information about the study at the March 27 Spring Partnering Forum organized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Galveston. The three-year study began last October.

KATY ISD: Police investigate repeated complaints of man taking photos near school bus stop

Were still in the data collection phase  possible solutions, data collected in the past, said Weber. Were taking different options and putting engineering numbers behind them. This involves looking at the options feasibility, benefit, cost and impact to the environment, he explained.

As the study evolves, officials will do cost benefit ratios to determine where funds spent will have the biggest return, he added.

Flood risk management is the purpose of the $6 million feasibility study, which lists eight objectives:

Reduce damages from river flooding/reservoir pool flooding on channels upstream and downstream

Optimize the reservoir operations

Optimize/improve/safely convey detained water

Reduce sediment and erosion

Reduce risk of dam failure

Reduce risk to health and life safety

Develop flood damage components that enhance or complement the environment where possible

Analyze the potential for recreational opportunities

Weber said there is no preference for conveyance versus increased storage and called them all potential tools.

RODEO WRAP UP: Grand champions win big in Katy ISD auction

The purpose of the study is to look at all of them unbiased and what is best for the federal investment and for the future of Houston, he said.

Weber said he thought the presentation was well-received. He said architects/engineers seemed interested in the technical side and local advocacy groups and local governments are glad to see progress is being made.

Duncan said the Corps is considering the Cypress Creek solution such as a third reservoir or levee to prevent overflow from going into the Addicks Reservoir. Theyre considering the flood tunnel to provide conveyance out of the Barker and Addicks reservoirs, she said. And, theyre considering the select excavation to provide additional detention capacity in the Barker and Addicks reservoirs.

She added,  The Corps also is looking at operation of the dam during flood events, the level of the spillways and improvements that can be made for dam safety.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: The Houston area still hasn't decided how to fix its flood infrastructure

Williford honed in on the flood tunnel to convey water from the reservoirs east to the Houston Ship Channel as an alternative that merits attention. The Buffalo Bayou east of the Beltway lacks room for easements or improved capability to improve the flow going east, he said. Understanding that a tunnel wont be cheap, Williford said, Its one of the more realistic, cost-effective buildable solutions in the intermediate term.

Excavations inside and outside the reservoir to increase detention means the water could be held longer and benefit residents until longer-term solutions come into effect, he said.

Noting the groups and governmental units represented at the forum, Williford talked of the importance of private sector-public partnerships and added, Everyone seems focused and looking for ways to get things done and not just study things to death.

Residents will have an opportunity to learn more about the study firsthand as the Corps plans to hold community meetings in April and May. Dates and times will be announced.

Officials will present what theyve come up with so far in their study at the meetings, said Weber. They will be asking the public if there is anything that was missed in the formulation. That local knowledge will help officials refine their study, he added.

Weber recognized that concerns are different depending upon where residents live in the Buffalo Bayou watershed.

In the northwest, there is a lot more interest in a third reservoir, he said. Downstream there is interest in tunnels.

The purpose of the study is to do an impartial evaluation to get the best solution for the region, said Weber. Not whats best for a smaller geographic area.

The Corps is partnering with the Harris County Flood Control District, which recently received $320,000 in federal funds that it will match with $80,000 for a feasibility study of a tunnel to convey water from the reservoirs.

The biggest takeaway right now is weve looked at a gamut of solutions, said Weber. Were getting ready to start crunching numbers.

The goals are tentative results by April 2020 with a tentative draft report by the summer 0f 2020, he said.

karen.zurawski@chron.com
A contractor who worked on a storm sewer extension project in Katy Hockley Estates will have to wait a little longer for payment of a change order.

Katy City Council in a 5-0 vote on March 25 approved tabling payment of the $46,583.58 change order for reconciling all bid items with G.W. Phillips Concrete Construction Co. for the Brant Drive storm sewer extension.

Councilman at large Chris Harris said he talked with two neighbors, both of whom are unhappy with the state of the project.

Some neighbors said it looks incomplete, Harris added.

Ward A Councilman Frank Carroll said the project needs to be done right. Referring to problems associated with the project, he said additional assurances are needed that the work will be done correctly.

In a Tuesday interview, Harris said he had talked with several residents who have property adjacent to the improvements. Their concerns included left over equipment from the contractor remaining on their property, dirtwork not replaced as promised and cable and electrical lines not returned to their status prior to the project beginning.

On Facebook, Katy resident Sandra Farris wrote, in part, Hope the City will carefully review the poor workmanship and additional costs on the Brant St drainage project. It was at least seven months over scheduled time line. Why didnt the Engineer know about the pipelines since he did the survey? Contractor was awful and of course had costs overage when he is allowed to drag the project long over schedule. Who is responsible for vetting and supervising the Contractor?

Before paying the remainder of the balance, council needs to made sure everything is done and cleared with city staff, Harris said. This project has gone on longer than intended.

City Engineer David Leyendecker said work started in July 2017.

George W. Phillips, III, owner G W Phillips Construction Co., couldnt be reached for comment.

In his March 21 letter to Byron Hebert, city administrator, Leyendecker wrote, The Brant Drive Storm Sewer Extension project is complete and ready for acceptance. He told council, They removed all the equipment about two weeks ago.

The subdivision is accessed off Katy Hockley Road which was closed last week to all but local residents. The city started on March 18 a drainage restoration project to enhance the drainage for Katy Hockley Road between Morton and Clay roads.

Leyendecker told City Council that the project has a contingency of between $10,000 and $11,000, but several council members thought that tabling payment at the Monday meeting might be a greater incentive to ensure the project has been completed properly.

Leyendecker said all the items involved in the change order are legitimate. We worked through various items, he said, and added that all are complete.

Because of rainy conditions, the company had to work off laminated mats to expedite the project, he explained in response to a question from Carroll about an item in the change order. He added that cable companies also worked on the site and the city has no control over those companies.

Mayor Chuck Brawner said the property should be returned to its original condition and said he planned to go over and take a look at the site.

Leyendeckers letter said that the original contract bid amount was $223,950 plus 10 percent contingency. The final contract amount is $292,928.58, he wrote.

In other business, council approved two ordinances. Council appointed Katy Heerssen and Kesley Moebes as regular members of the Keep Katy Beautiful board. Sharon Rhoads was named an emeritus member. Adam Rice and Frank Mannion Jr. were named regular members of the Joint Airport Safety Board.

Council also approved three resolutions.

The mayor received authorization to sign a third amendment to an agreement by and between the city, Reinvestment Zone No. 1 and the Katy Development Authority relative to funding, the TIRZs expiration on Dec. 31, 2038 and annexation.

He also was authorized to sign Amendment 5 to the service agreement with Consolidated Communications regarding increasing Internet speed for municipal courts at an additional monthly cost of $600 to upgrade from 100 MB to 300 MB.

In the third resolution, the city accepted a $378,328 grant from the Texas Office of the Governors First Responder Mental Health Resiliency Program for the fire department. Ward A Councilwoman Janet Corte asked if the grant could be extended to the police department. Fire Chief Russell Wilson said a new grant would be needed to include the police department.

According to the agenda packet, The grant allows funding for a program to be instituted within the Katy Fire Department for dealing with cumulative stress as a result of, life and death situations routinely encountered by first responders. The grant does not obligate the City of Katy to fund any part of the program. Instead, all matching funds will be covered by in-kind contributions of service by Valentia Bilingual Therapy Services, PLLC.

karen.zurawski@chron.com
courtesy of the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office

A Nacogdoches man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to the murder of his 12-week-old daughter.

Tyrese Dewan Hightower, 20, will have to serve at least half of his sentence before being eligible for parole. Hightower was sentenced in presiding Judge Lisa Michalks 221st district court, according to a release from the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office.
This Saturday, about 150 Air Force Junior ROTC cadets from Oak Ridge and The Woodlands high schools are to trek 14 miles in the W. G. Jones State Forest as an act of remembrance for the World War II Bataan Death March prisoners of war.

Retired Lt. Col. Lynn Bentley, who a teacher and ROTC leader at Oak Ridge high, said this is the third year hes helped coordinate the march and the second year the two high schools have joined forces for the activity.

Its motivational for the students and very powerful. They understand the sacrifice even though theyre young kids, Bentley said.

When the cadets meet at the state forest at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, theyll hear all about the reason theyre marching. During the Bataan Death March, the Imperial Japanese Army forced between 60,000 and 80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war to march more than 60 miles.

It happened in 1942 in the Bataan peninsula of the Philippines and is aptly named: Bentley said about 30 percent of the prisoners died during the march.

It was horrendous. Weve been talking about it in class and the kids at both schools get it. They understand that these people werent doing this for fun, Bentley said.

The cadets will make two 7-mile loops throughout the day, with a break for lunch in between as they march to remember the captives. Bentley said some of the kids will wear backpacks during the march to make it more difficult, and others will carry a life-size stretcher with a fake injured troop member the entire 14 miles.

Oak Ridge Cadet Capt. Andrew Givens participated in the march last year, and said it was a good history lesson for what happened to U.S. troops during World War II.

It gave me a very small idea of what it was likethey were starving, on the verge of death, sick and malnourished. I cant understand how they felt completely, but I couldnt fathom doing it, Givens said.

Givens fellow Cadet Capt. Alyssa Jones also acknowledged the contrast between the reenactment and the real thing.

Its one thing for us to walk or run those miles, but for them its a great amount more without any food or water, and they were sick and dying. We have hydration and our friends near us and know theres an end, but they didnt even know if there was an end, Jones said.

As a group, theyre using the march as a way to raise funds for the Blue Star Mothers Houston area chapter: a patriotic nonprofit group that supports the U.S. armed forces and their families by sending care packages to men and women serving in combat zones and overseas.

We wanted to find a military group thats closer to home. Well give them the money now, and then well get together with them later to make boxes (for the troops), Bentley said.

Bentley said his favorite part of the event is when theyre able to present the check to the organization they raise money for. Theyre aiming to raise between $2,000 and $2,500.

jane.stueckemann@chron.com
A Houston police investigator probing a deadly botched drug raid in January was quietly relieved of duty earlier this month, law enforcement officials confirmed.

Angel August was taken off duty with pay on March 13, according to a Houston Police Department spokesman. Officials have not yet publicly divulged the reason for their decision to bench August, who joined the department in 2011.

August was the officer who filed the initial report a day after the Jan. 28 shooting at 7815 Harding Street that left two residents dead and five police officers injured, according to a police report obtained by the Houston Chronicle under the state open records law.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Scrutiny into ex-cop's past cases likely to expand

The botched raid has since blossomed into a major scandal that officials are still struggling to contain amid allegations that the case agent, Officer Gerald Goines, lied about a drug buy that served as justification for the raid. Goines, the case agent, and Officer Steven Bryant were also relieved of pay following the raid, and both have since retired from the department.

The Harris County District Attorneys Office and the FBI have launched investigations into the incident, and Chief Art Acevedo said last week he expects more than one officer to be criminally charged in connection with the failed raid.

Acevedo has described two avenues of inquiry  one into the fatal shooting and a second into the possibility of corruption.

On HoustonChronicle.com: HPD Chief Acevedo says narcotics cop committed likely crime by lying in affidavit for deadly raid

Department spokesman John Cannon confirmed August was relieved of duty but declined to elaborate. On Thursday, Acevedo did not return a request for comment, but last week briefly fielded one question about the removal.

A person has been placed on administrative leave, he said, but it has nothing to do with the corruption investigation.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Number of cases handled by Gerald Goines could be higher than initial estimate

August joined HPD in 2011 and quickly made her way onto the homicide division and Acevedos elite Special Investigations Unit after stints working patrol in Northeast Houston and Clear Lake. She also served in the now-defunct Investigative First Responders Division, where one supervisor noted she worked 50 cases in six months, producing 24 arrests, according to internal police records.

While a homicide detective, she routinely received high praise from supervisors for her work output and productivity, records show.

Detective August is very thorough with the cases she is assigned to investigate, one supervisor wrote last fall, checking off the highest possible score in each evaluation criteria. Detective August completes her assignments in a timely manner  with minimal supervision and is constantly seeking to learn new investigative skills.

On HoustonChronicle.com: FBI opens civil rights investigation into botched Houston drug bust, police chief says

A 2016 employee evaluation noted that August worked as an Internal Affairs assistant who prepares all pertinent data, documents, and evidence for divisional investigations.

Augusts personnel records do not show any significant previous disciplinary actions by HPD. Department brass issued several commendations in her file, including one incident in 2015 in which she helped capture a dangerous suspect, another for helping rescue stranded citizens during Hurricane Harvey, and in November 2014 for helping calm a mentally ill person who was threatening suicide.

Union officials said they would be representing August if the department hands down any disciplinary action.

st.john.smith@chron.com

keri.blakinger@chron.com
The three candidates vying for Pasadena City Councils District B seat in the May 4 election agree that a priority should be to improve the districts infrastructure.

In my six years on City Council, I have always stressed public safety, infrastructure, and I make myself available to constituents all of the time, said incumbent Bruce Leamon, 70, who is challenged in his bid for a fourth consecutive term by Steve Halvorson and Blanca Sanchez. Im also retired; so I can devote all of my energy and time to representing District B and working with the city of Pasadena.

Halvorson, 52, who lost to Leamon in the 2017 election by nine votes, also wants to push for infrastructure improvements but believes the city can be more frugal.

I want to rein in a lot of the spending, look at the budget very closely and see where we can trim here and there but still provide steady services to our community, he said. We need more infrastructure and improvements on our north end. The areas around my community are pretty neglected as well; so I would like to see services to them.

Sanchez, a 69-year-old immigrant from Honduras, has lived in Pasadena for more than 15 years and worked for 11 years as a telemarketer. In discussing her campaign, she kept a close focus on infrastructure issues.

I decided to run for District B because I know what Pasadena needs, and I think Pasadena needs better drainage and better streets, she said.

Halvorson, the research director for Baylor College of Medicine and an Army veteran, doesnt believe Leamon is standing up enough to the citys administration under Mayor Jeff Wagner.

The only thing about (Leamon) that Im concerned about is that this last term, he was kind of going along with the administration, Halvorson said. He never protested City Hall when it came to raising taxes.

In a divided vote, City Council on Oct 16 approved a 4 cent increase in the property tax rate to bring the total rate to 61.5 cents per $100 of home valuation.

If were are going to raise taxes at all, said Halvorson. We should go to our voters first before we just obligate their tax money.

Leamon, who is a retired supervisor for an air products and chemicals company, declined to talk about his opponents and their platforms.

I prefer just to talk about things that Ive done and things I want to do, he said.

Leamon said his accomplishments include implementing over 15,000 feet of sidewalks and over 20,000 feet of water lines and sewer lines in the district, working with Wagner and District A Councilman Felipe Villarreal to improve Richey Street and securing a significant amount of the $105 million FEMA mitigation grant to the city for District B to improve drainage and miles of streets.

Weve also been able to make significant improvements to Queens Park, Leamon said, referring to work completed about a year ago. I was able to get a walking trail built and dedicate it to a former city employee who was killed in a traffic accident while on duty. His name was Geno Cruz.

That was one project Im very proud of. I worked long and hard on that.

Sanchez said that after Hurricane Harvey, residents in District B and throughout the city had problems with the water system.

This is a beautiful city and I want to help all of the community, she said. My voice is a voice of the people.

Leamon and Halvorson have conflicting views about Wagners service as mayor.

Although both are supporters of the improvements Wagner is making with the infrastructure, Halvorson doesnt believe the city is going about it the right way.

The transparency issue is very important to me, he said. I dont understand where all the reasoning is for the tax increases, the obligating of money without talking to citizens.

After (Hurricane Harvey), they started increasing our taxes, and thats when I got a little confused because I didnt understand what was happening.

Halvorson also took issue with the mayor using a security detail.

Were talking about police services to protect the mayor when there didnt seem to be a credible threat directed at him, he said. That takes resources away from police in the field who could be patrolling in the community at large.

Leamon said he thinks Wagner is doing a fine job as a first-time mayor.

Neither Leamon nor Halvorson is reflecting on the close margin of the previous election for the district seat.

You never know how an election is going to go. Its just a matter of getting your supporters out to vote, said Leamon, who has lived in Pasadena since 1953. I want to talk about things I want to see in the future, and thats to keep Pasadena moving forward and making more improvements to the old part of Pasadena, which is where I represent.

Halvorson, who has lived in Pasadena for over 21 years, plans to reach out more to the senior adults in District B this time around.

My goal is to let the senior citizens in north Pasadena know a little more about me, he said. They got to know me last time, and I believe now that theyve seen me and gotten used to me being in the neighborhood and knowing who I am, I think they will feel more comfortable voting for me.

Halvorson is also on the citys crime control board and believes that will assist with getting his name out to the community.

Early voting for the city of Pasadena election begins Monday, April 22.

To learn more about the race for District A in Pasadena, click here.

tyler.johnson@chron.com
Pearland police made numerous drug-related arrests in various cases.

Narcotics

Police arrested a Houston woman, 24, for possession of drug paraphernalia March 18 in the 11400 block of Shadow Creek Parkway.

A 29-year-old Pearland man was arrested for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia March 18 in the 2700 block of Cullen Parkway, police said.

Police arrested a Pearland man, 23, for marijuana possession March 19 in the 1800 block of Cullen Parkway.

A Rosharon woman, 20, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia March 19 in the 1800 block of Cullen Parkway, police said.

Police arrested a Pasadena man, 32, for possession of a controlled substance March 19 in the 4000 block of West Plum Street.

A 19-year-old Natchitoches, Louisiana, man was arrested for marijuana possession March 19 in the 5300 block of Main Street, police said.

Police arrested a Jonesboro, Georgia, man, 27, and a Natchitoches, Louisiana, man, 26, for marijuana possession March 19 in the 18900 block of State Highway 35.

Police took a Houston man, 36, into custody for marijuana possession March 20 in the 3900 block of Broadway Street.

Police arrested a La Porte man, 27, for possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia and driving while license invalid March 20 in the 8300 block of Freedom Drive. An Alvin man, 24, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.

A 21-year-old Friendswood woman was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and DWI March 20 in the 2000 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Police took a Houston man, 53, into custody for possession of a controlled substance and a warrant March 20 in the 2700 block of Manvel Road.

A Houston man, 26, was arrested for marijuana possession and unlawfully carrying a weapon March 20 in the 14700 block of Texas 288, police said.

Police arrested a Pasadena man, 42, for possession of a controlled substance March 21 in the 16000 block of Texas 288.

A 19-year-old Pearland man was arrested for marijuana possession March 22 in the 4400 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Police took a Pearland man, 21, into custody for possession of a controlled substance March 22 in the 100 block of East Locust Street.

Assault

Police arrested a Pearland man, 32, for assaulting a public servant and DWI March 18 in the 2900 block of Waterloo Road.

A Lake Jackson woman, 21, was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon March 18 in the 9000 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Police arrested a Pearland man, 49, for assault March 19 in the 12800 block of Southern Manor Drive.

A Pearland woman, 53, was arrested for assault March 20 in the 2100 block of North Pearland Avenue, police said.

Police arrested a 21-year-old Pearland woman for assault March 22 in the 2200 block of Business Center Drive.

Police arrested a Pearland man, 49, for assault March 23 in the 3000 block of Windwood Street. A Pasadena man, 37, was arrested for public intoxication, police said.

Theft

Police arrested a 17-year-old Houston man for shoplifting and engaging in organized criminal activity March 19 in the 6900 block of Gulf Freeway.

A Houston man, 25, was taken into custody for theft of a firearm, possession of drug paraphernalia and evading arrest or detention March 20 in the 3000 block of Dixie Farm Road, police said.

Police arrested a Houston man, 60, for theft March 20 in the 1900 block of Main Street.

Police took a Houston man, 26, into custody for shoplifting March 22 in the 700 block of North San Jacinto Street.

Fraud, forgery

Police took a Rosharon woman, 34, into custody for forgery March 19 in the 2500 block of Cullen Parkway.

A Pearland man, 30, was taken into custody for credit or debit card abuse March 20 in the 2700 block of Glendale Drive, police said.

Police took four Houston men, ages 36, 49, 50 and 66, into custody for identity fraud March 21 in the 3600 block of CR 45. A fifth Houston man, 35, was taken into custody for an accident involving damage to a vehicle, police said.

A Houston man, 31, was arrested for credit or debit card abuse March 22 in the 11100 block of Shadow Creek Parkway, police said.

Driving while intoxicated

Police arrested a Tyler man, 48, for DWI March 18 in the 13000 block of Mykawa Road.

A Brazoria County woman, 38, was arrested for DWI March 19 in the 3300 block of Manvel Road, police said.

Police took a 17-year-old Pearland man into custody for driving under the influence of alcohol by a minor March 20 in the 3700 block of Magnolia Road.

A Pearland man, 58, was arrested for DWI March 24 in the 2600 block of West Oaks Boulevard, police said.

Police arrested a La Porte man, 38, for DWI March 24 in the 3400 block of McLean Road.

A 21-year-old Alvin man was arrested for DWI and a warrant March 24 in the 4800 block of Main Street, police said.

Criminal mischief, trespass

A Houston man, 26, was arrested for criminal mischief and criminal trespass March 19 in the 5800 block of Village Grove Drive, police said.

Police arrested a South Houston woman, 33, for criminal trespass March 24 in the 11300 block of Harris Avenue.

Protective order

Police took a Houston man, 30, into custody for violation of a protective order and possession of a weapon in a correctional facility March 20 in the 700 block of North San Jacinto Street.

Public intoxication

Police arrested a Pearland woman, 35, for public intoxication March 19 in the 11200 block of Broadway Street.

A Corpus Christi man, 34, was arrested for public intoxication March 24 in the 8000 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Traffic

A Pearland woman, 39, was arrested for driving while license invalid and failure to maintain financial responsibility March 19 in the 2500 block of Cullen Parkway, police said.

Police arrested a Houston man, 31, for driving while license invalid March 20 in the 12800 block of Shadow Creek Parkway.

A Houston man, 40, was arrested for fictitious or altered registration March 22 in the 4800 block of Main Street, police said.

Police arrested an 18-year-old Pearland man for no drivers license March 22 in the 3800 block of Magnolia Road.

A 17-year-old Pearland man was taken into custody for reckless driving March 23 in the 2500 block of Cullen Parkway, police said.

Threats, harassment

Police arrested a Pearland man, 50, for terroristic threat March 20 in the 2800 block of Oak Road.

Robbery

Police arrested a Houston man, 26, for aggravated robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon March 21 in the 11700 block of Crescent Cove Drive.

Deadly conduct

Police arrested a Richwood man, 23, for deadly conduct March 23 in the 16500 block of Texas 288.
For approximately 1,450 Houston-area female high school students, a free dress and a lesson in empowerment has given them the chance to look and feel great on the inside and out.

From March 27 to March 29 the Giving Gown Foundation, partnering with the Junior League of the Woodlands, invited high school students from around greater Houston to pick a free dress and pair of shoes before having lunch and attending an empowerment workshop during Boutique Days.

The Giving Gown Foundation, founded in 2007, is a nonprofit organization that collects dresses, gowns and accessories for high school girls without the means to purchase formal attire. Cassie Miller, president of Giving Gown, said the event has grown exponentially since 2007, and picks girls based on registration requirements on their website.

The event was held at Bammel Church of Christ on Cypress Creek Parkway, where girls entered the designated boutique area, selected their clothing and asked for free alterations on site when necessary.

SAVE THE DATE: Northwest Preschool Preview invites parents, schools to network

As of (March 28) we will have served more than 10,000 girls (total), Miller said. The ladies who started it just saw a need in the community for girls who would like to go to prom and couldnt. They brought them in and served 82 girls the first year and now were serving 1,450 this year.

Gowns are collected from Tide Dry Cleaners around Houston and are cleaned and delivered to Giving Gown free of charge, Miller said. Tide Dry Cleaners also provided a $2,000 scholarship for one attendee, she said.

The Junior League of the Woodlands, an organization of women for the betterment of women, also contributed more than 50,000 toiletry and makeup items for the event, Miller said.

Each girl will get a swag bag filled with things that they can take home and use, Miller said. Shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, basic things that you need, but also additional things that are great. Some of the girls we serve will be receiving non-perishable bags of food to take home.

As for the empowerment workshop, Miller said the girls learned not only how to feel good about the outward appearance, but gave them courage to be proud of themselves on the inside.

STAY ALERT: Spring Fire Deptartment warns residents of telephone scam

The most important part of our event is the empowerment workshop, she said. We talk a lot about self-esteem and teach the girls that beauty comes from within.

Jamie Sierra, high school student at Kashmere High School in Houston ISD, said she was excited to participate in Boutique Day.

Its a new experience, Sierra said. I can see a lot more opportunities here.

Danielle Shepherd, member of JLW, said she is glad to help students in need.

Its awesome just to get out here with these girls and give them the opportunity to look beautiful on their prom day or the military ball, like for Jamie here, Shepherd said. Its fun to get dressed up. Who doesnt like shopping?

The event ends on March 29 at 3:30 p.m. For more information, visit the Giving Gown Foundation website.

chevall.pryce@chron.com
A delivery driver who had just dropped off a pizza was fatally shot Thursday night in an apartment complex parking lot near Spring.

Detectives said they believe the man, later identified as 44-year-old Glenn Allen Takakura, was killed in an attempted robbery, according to Metro Video.

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Shots rang out around 9:15 p.m. in the 21000 block Inverness Forest, near Bammel Road and the Hardy Toll Road, according to Harris County Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit Sgt. Ben Beall. A witness heard at least one gunshot and saw two men hop into a gray vehicle and speed off, he said.

RELATED: Fiery big rig crash kills driver, closes Eastex Freeway for hours

The delivery driver was found dead between two cars in the parking lot, Beall said. He declined to answer questions from media on scene, citing the ongoing investigation.

The sheriff's office later said Takakura worked for Papa John's and that his car was still running when he was found dead.

Keith Sullins, president of Papa John's Houston, said in a statement that his company will pay Takakura's funeral expenses.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident involving one of our valued delivery drivers," Sullins said. "We are fully cooperating with law enforcement officials as their investigation continues. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and team members."

Anyone with information is urged to call Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

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
The Spring Fire Department is alerting residents to reported scam telephone calls from an entity claiming to be fundraising as the Spring Fire Department.

The caller ID shows the call as being from the Spring Fire Department, according to a March 28 press release.

It has come to my attention that an organization claiming affiliation with the Spring Fire Department is cold calling residents in our area seeking donations to purchase fire trucks and equipment, states Spring Fire Chief Scott Seifert in the press release.

As the Fire Chief, I can assure you that the Spring Fire Department does not use a telemarketing service to seek donations over the phone.

Seifert urges residents who receive these calls to report the incident to local law enforcement.

Annette Bethany is a Spring resident who reported receiving scam calls. She arrived home earlier this week and saw she received a call from what looked to be the Spring Fire Department on her caller ID, she said. She did not call back.

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Then Wednesday night, I was watching TV and my phone rang and it was a person, not a recorder, Bethany said. The man said that he was with the fire department and went into a spiel about donations and so forth to replace equipment.

According to Bethany, her neighbor also reported getting calls from the Spring Fire Department.

Its gotten easier for scammers to change the name on their phone to appear on caller IDs as someone else, said Spring Fire Department Communications Director Tracee Evans, and this is not the first time that phone scammers have posed as the fire department.

It happened some time last year, Evans said. Dont fall for it. We just want to make sure people know thats not us.
Better insurance coverage and including gender identity in non-discrimination policy are two topics that have been a focus of the Lone Star College American Federation of Teachers recent advocacy campaigns.

The Lone Star College AFT is independent of the Lone Star College system.

Lone Star College AFT is part of a nationwide union organization, the American Federation of Teachers, which advocates on behalf of educators. AFT members gathered in Austin on March 11 during their March to the Capitol initiative to promote school system improvements.

The Lone Star College AFT has existed for four decades and provides members with benefits such as legal aid and assistance with workplace issues.

John Burghduff, representative for Lone Star College AFT, said the organization advocates year-round for employee rights. Recently, he said, the organization pushed for including gender identity and gender expression included in the Lone Star College non-discrimination policy.

We advocated through chancellors, the board of trustees, we wrote letters and wrote out a proposed policy change, Burghduff said.

Currently, the AFT is focused on several longstanding issues including better insurance coverage for teachers.

Earl Brewer, AFT representative, said thousands of teachers statewide left the Teacher Retirement System of Texas due to premiums and deductibles increasing after the approval of Texas House Bill 3976 in 2017.

One of the downsides of that, when you have 36,000 people leave that means money is not going into the medical side, Brewer said. The higher premiums and higher out-of-pocket costs are really eating way into their take home pay.

Sure, they get a $5,000 raise, but how much of that is going to be taken by out-of-pocket costs? said Brewer, referring to the proposal to pay full-time teachers $5,000 more a year which passed the Senate on March 4, but was waiting for a vote from the House.

Related: Texas Senate passes $5,000 raises for teachers, librarians

Brewer said a long-term goal for Lone Star College AFT is to shift teachers to the Employee Retirement System of Texas. He says ERS offers lower premiums and deductibles, but currently applies only to other school system employees and not to teachers.

The union lobbies at the Capitol in Austin for issues like these, Burghduff said.

Balancing the ratio between part-time, graduate, adjunct and non-tenured faculty is another focus of the AFT. According to the AFT, almost 73 percent of faculty in post-secondary education nationwide are part-time, while the last 27 percent is full-time.

The impact on adjunct faculty, Burghduff said, is that they will teach the maximum number of hours at one campus, then drive to another and do the same.

If a student in their class says theyre having trouble, they cant meet them because they have to be at another school teaching another class, Burghduff said. Ultimately the students lose out.

Burghduff said the AFT is looking for solutions that dont negatively impact students like raising tuition or raising property taxes might.

The Lone Star College AFT intends to continue working at the state and local level to advocate for employees across the education system.

We keep an eye on the general situation in the school and if there are areas that are in need of change, then we speak up for policy changes, Burghduff said.

chevall.pryce@chron.com
Spring ISD students participating in FFA often start their days before the sun even rises to get to the agriculture barns.

These dedicated students got to show off their skills at raising livestock at the districts 68th annual livestock show and fair, held March 28 to March 30.

Reyna Hopkins, a sophomore at Spring High School, would get to her schools ag barn at 5:30 a.m. to clean up, feed and work with her goat, who she named Fiji.

Goats in general like to eat anything they can see. I put a muzzle on him so when we take him out to this big arena, he wont eat the grass and wont get fat so he can exercise and run around, she said.

Hopkins said she began working with Fiji during the holiday break in December and injured her right knee, for which she eventually had surgery.

Despite her injury not allowing her to work with Fiji for a month, she earned the title of grand champion on Thursday, March 28, during the goat show.

In the previous shows, Hopkins said she raised rabbits before changing her animal of choice to a goat.

I just thought goats were cute, she said.

Kierstin Taylor, a senior at Wunsche High School, earned second place during the goat show.

Like Hopkins, Taylor said she would wake up at dawn and be at the ag barn to work with her goat, who she named Little Bad Attitude.

The more you work with them, the better your relationship will be. If youre nervous, hes going to be nervous. If youre confident, hell be confident, Taylor said.

Like any other goat, Little Little Bad Attitude also likes to eat and Taylor said she kept things away from him all the time.

We have a treadmill and I just run him on a treadmill every day. We have to wash him a lot also because he gets dirty a lot, she said.

While she will be graduating later this year, Taylor said she plans on pursuing agriculture education as a major when she enrolls in college and eventually become an agriculture teacher.

Zechariah Rickett, a junior at Dekaney High School, will get to show his steer, Kobe, who hes been raising since May.

One of the first things he did was help Kobe get used to people.

When you first get him, youve got to be very friendly with them. Let him get to know you. I think thats what I did the most and let him meet as many people as he can, touch on him and stuff like that so he doesnt get too afraid when hes surrounded by them, he said.

While Rickett has also raised pigs and turkeys, he said he wanted to steer when he was a freshman, but was unable to do so at first because he hadnt participated in FFA for at least two years.

As part of his participation, Rickett would have to wake up early to work with Kobe at the ag barn, making sure to feed him, clean out the stable, bathing him regularly and having him exercise by walking in a field.

Steers should have a shiny coat and be well fed, but not fat, he said.

I think Im going to do well. I have a lot of faith in him, he said.

Participating students in their last year of school can also earn scholarships that range from $500 to $2,500, said Marsha Cook, president of the Spring Tri-Club, which hosts the event.

In 2018, the show raised $103,780, which was used to help fund the show, hire the judges and provide scholarships to students, she said.

It all goes back to the kids, she said.

mayra.cruz@chron.com
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  The largest supplier of bump stocks turned in its entire remaining inventory to be destroyed  some 60,000 devices. Washington state's buyback program was so popular it ran out of money. One dealer held a "Viking funeral" for his last bump stock, pouring a can of beer on it and then melting it down with a flamethrower.

A nationwide ban took effect Tuesday on bump stocks, the attachment used by the gunman in the 2017 Las Vegas massacre to make his weapons fire rapidly like machine guns.

How many of the estimated half-million devices believed to be in circulation in the U.S. are still around is anyone's guess, but in the weeks leading up to the ban, there were signs that many were destroyed or turned in as required.

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Anyone in possession of a bump stock from now on can be charged with a federal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives outlawed the attachments at President Donald Trump's direction after the Las Vegas gunman rained fire from his high-rise hotel suite on concertgoers, killing 58 people in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to put the ban on hold.

RELATED: Pizza delivery driver killed in an apparent robbery

As the prohibition drew near, RW Arms in Fort Worth, Texas, featured a countdown clock on its website and heavily promoted last chances to buy the accessories. By the time the ban took effect, RW Arms was left with 60,000, probably worth millions, since they sell for around $150 to $250 each.

The company turned over crates of them to the ATF, and a video showed boxes being loaded onto a conveyer belt and fed into an industrial grinder.

Washington state set aside $150,000 to offer owners $150 for each device they turned in to police. Within weeks, the money had been used up.

The ATF declined to say how many people brought their bump stocks to an ATF office.

T.J. Kirgin, owner of a firearms tactical gear company in St. Peters, Missouri, said that in the weeks before the measure went into effect, he made one last sweep through his warehouse to make sure he didn't have any more devices left.

And then he took his very last one and with some friends held a mock funeral for it, reducing it to a hunk of melted plastic embedded in a rock.

While gun control activists welcomed the end of the line for a device blamed for horrifying carnage, Kirgin called it not just the day bump stocks died but the day freedom died.

"If they can do this with a piece of plastic, then they'll be able to do it with another piece of plastic and another piece of metal, another piece of plastic," he said. "And it's just systematically taking away Second Amendment rights."

__

This story has been amended to correct the full name of the ATF.

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By Bill Hughes Mar. 28, 2019 | 04:55 PM | PADUCAH

The McCracken County Fiscal Court will no longer be using the services of Align PM, effective immediately.County Judge Executive Craig Clymer told West Kentucky Star he informed Scott Darnell of the decision after he saw an email sent to city leaders urging them not to approve an extension for the rehabilitation of a home owned by Mayor Brandi Harless and her husband, Adam Moyers. The City Commission approved the extension by a 4-0 vote Tuesday night (Mayor Harliss abstained, see more on this at the link below).The email, which was sent Tuesday morning to City Commissioners Richard Abraham, Gerald Watkins and Brenda McElroy, urged them to take back the property and sell it to someone else. It is the last home in the Lower Town Revitalization Project.Clymer said Darnell's opinions in the email could create an awkward position for the county if they continue using him as an economic development consultant, since county and city governments have been collaborating on several projects that benefit them both."I like the young man, he's really smart, he provided us a really good service, gave us a lot of good information and we learned a lot from him, but we just can't tolerate putting a division between the county and the city, and I think that's what that was doing," Clymer said.Clymer said he has spoken to County Commissioners and they share his opinion on the matter. Since there was no usage or payment requirement for Darnell, they simply won't call him again, but Clymer said they may have to take some kind of formal action at a Fiscal Court meeting.Darnell is still the Executive Director of PACRO, with Clymer and County Commission Eddie Jones on the Executive Committee. Clymer said he doesn't believe this decision will affect their working relationship in PACRO.Clymer said, "I told him, 'Don't take it personal, you made a mistake. We'll go on working together and put it behind us.' It's just the way things have got to be."

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It was March 2018, nearly 10 months into his Russia investigation, when special counsel Robert Mueller III, a man of few words, raised the stakes dramatically in a meeting with President Donald Trump's lawyers: If the president did not sit down voluntarily for an interview, he could face a subpoena.

In the months that followed, Mueller never explicitly threatened to issue a subpoena as his office pursued a presidential interview, a sit-down for which the special counsel was pushing as late as December.

But with that prospect hanging over them, Trump's legal team conducted a quiet, multipronged pressure campaign to avert such an action and keep the president from coming face-to-face with federal investigators - fearful he would perjure himself.

At one point last summer, when a lull in talks had the president's attorneys worried that Mueller was seriously contemplating a subpoena, White House lawyer Emmet Flood wrote a memo laying out the legal arguments for protecting the president's executive privilege. He sent the document to Mueller's office and to the deputy for top Justice Department official Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw the probe, according to two people familiar with Flood's outreach.

Meanwhile, the Trump lawyers sent a steady stream of documents and witnesses to the special counsel, chipping away at Mueller's justification for needing an interview with the president.

In the end, the decision not to subpoena the president is one of the lingering mysteries of Mueller's 22-month investigation, which concluded last week when he filed a report numbering more than 300 pages.

The special counsel did not find a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but - in an unusual move - failed to come to a decision about whether Trump obstructed justice, according to a summary of the Mueller report released by Attorney General William Barr. An interview with the president would have been pivotal to helping assess whether the president had corrupt intent, a key element of such a charge, legal experts said.

It is an open question whether a subpoena would have survived the court challenge that Trump's lawyers say they would have waged. The Supreme Court has never issued definitive guidance on issuing a subpoena to a president, but had Mueller pursued one, the courts could have established a precedent for future presidents.

In assessing whether to pursue such a high-stakes move, the special counsel was not operating with complete autonomy. That was a contrast with predecessors such as Kenneth Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton and had broad leeway under the now-expired independent counsel statute.

But Mueller was supervised by Rosenstein, a Trump appointee. The special counsel, Rosenstein noted in one letter to a Republican senator, "remains accountable like every other subordinate."

Rosenstein himself was under intense political pressure: Trump mused about firing the onetime George W. Bush appointee and former U.S. attorney for Maryland, whom he derided at one point as "the Democrat from Baltimore." And House conservatives threatened to impeach Rosenstein, accusing him of withholding information about the Russia probe.

Internal Justice Department discussions about whether to subpoena the president - including Rosenstein's views on such an action - remain tightly held.

In the final months of the probe, there was upheaval in the department's leadership. Trump ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had recused himself from the investigation. He was replaced temporarily by his former chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who was publicly critical of the special counsel before joining the department.

A month before Mueller submitted his report, Barr was confirmed as attorney general. He had questioned Mueller's obstruction-of-justice inquiry in a June 2018 memo to Rosenstein months before his appointment, writing that "Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the President submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction."

If Mueller wanted to push for a subpoena, he did not force the issue with Justice Department leaders. Barr told lawmakers last week that no decision the special counsel wanted to take was vetoed during the investigation.

The Justice Department and the special counsel's office declined to comment.

More answers could be revealed in Mueller's full report, which House Democrats are pushing Barr to release.

What is known is that the president's lawyers now believe keeping their client from sitting down with investigators was their greatest victory.

"The president would not have helped his case had he gone in," said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for Trump's legal team. "No lawyer worth his salt would let that happen."

- - -

The president was initially inclined to sit for an interview with Mueller. He thought he could deliver a convincing performance and put a swift end to the probe.

Negotiations between the sides began around Thanksgiving 2017, and an interview was scheduled for January 2018, according to a person close to the legal team and a former senior administration official.

But John Dowd, then the president's lead attorney, canceled the session. He had argued against it because he feared Trump could misspeak or even lie. And a practice session with the president further convinced Dowd that the president could be a problematic interviewee, these people said.

White House officials declined to comment.

Over the next 12 months, Mueller tried repeatedly to reschedule the interview, to no avail.

Trump continued to state publicly that he would be glad to sit for an interview - he believed being seen as willing to talk with prosecutors showed "strength," according to a former administration official with direct knowledge of his thinking. But the president came to agree with his lawyers that doing so would be too risky, especially after former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017, current and former White House aides said.

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said that some of what Trump's legal advisers were hearing from Mueller "raised our suspicion that this is a trap, rather than a search for more information."

As the standoff continued, Mueller's team discussed at length the idea of issuing a subpoena, if necessary, to compel Trump to sit for an interview, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.

The discussions - which included Mueller, his top deputy James Quarles, and prosecutors Michael Dreeben and Aaron Zebley - centered both on whether a subpoena was legally feasible and what the costs of such a move might be to the overall investigation, the person said.

A fight over a presidential subpoena would have been likely to set legal precedent.

Under President Richard Nixon, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that investigators could subpoena evidence from a sitting president and ordered Nixon to turn over materials including secret recordings made in the Oval Office. That ruling did not, however, address testimony by the president.

When Starr was independent counsel, he issued a subpoena to Clinton ordering the president to testify before a grand jury about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton's team considered challenging the subpoena in court but instead decided that it would be politically damaging to be seen as fighting the investigation. Clinton's lawyers agreed that he would voluntarily sit for an interview, and Starr withdrew the subpoena - leaving open the question of whether a president can be compelled to give testimony.

Robert Ray, a former independent counsel now in private practice at Thompson & Knight, said Mueller's team would have had to weigh whether a subpoena could survive the court challenge that was all but certain to come from the Trump White House.

The Supreme Court has never issued definitive guidance on the question, but in a previous independent counsel investigation, of Mike Espy, an agriculture secretary in the Clinton administration, an appellate court offered some clarity on the bounds of how the White House could fight a subpoena by citing presidential privilege.

On the basis of the precedent from that case - which was focused on documents, rather than an interview - Mueller would have had to demonstrate both a need to subpoena Trump to advance his investigation and show that he could not get the information he sought in any other way, Ray said.

Another major factor was time: Mueller had to consider the likelihood that such a move would bog the investigation down in a lengthy legal battle.

"That's a major fight, and you have to decide whether, in the country's best interests, it's worth it," Ray said.

Mueller broached the topic during a tense meeting on March 5, 2018, at the special counsel offices in Southwest Washington, as Trump's attorneys maintained that the president had no obligation to talk to investigators.

The special counsel noted there was an option if Trump declined: He could be subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, as The Washington Post previously reported.

Dowd erupted angrily.

"You're screwing with the work of the president of the United States," he told Mueller, according to two people briefed on the discussion.

After that meeting, the special counsel team changed its approach: trying to coax Trump to sit for an interview voluntarily.

Prosecutors hoped the president would agree to meet, mindful that they could not explicitly threaten a subpoena unless they were prepared to issue one, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Still, the Trump's legal advisers felt after the March meeting that a subpoena threat hung over the president.

"The whole exercise was premised on the idea that that was a legal option they could pursue, and we were never absolutely sure until the end that they would not," said one Trump adviser familiar with the legal negotiations.

That threat governed the president's legal strategy in the months that would follow.

- - -

Trump's lawyers left the distinct public impression that they were not an equal match for Mueller, a venerated former FBI director. Dowd and Ty Cobb, another legal adviser to Trump, were overheard by a reporter discussing over lunch at a popular Washington steakhouse how much they would cooperate with Mueller. Giuliani developed a habit of misspeaking in meandering television interviews.

But behind the scenes, Trump's legal advisers had a quiet weapon: a husband-and-wife pair of criminal lawyers, Jane and Martin Raskin, who brought rigor and regimen to the team when they came aboard in April 2018.

While Giuliani and attorney Jay Sekulow managed the public relations strategy, the Raskins did most of the lawyering from a temporary office they set up in Washington. They declined to comment.

Giuliani said that roughly 80 percent of the Trump team's interactions with the special counsel's office were handled by Jane Raskin, who has known both Mueller and Quarles for years. She knew Mueller from her time as a federal prosecutor in Boston, while her husband had worked with Quarles.

She communicated mostly by email, developing a written record that Trump's attorneys intended to use as evidence of their cooperation and responsiveness if they ended up in court fighting a subpoena.

Martin Raskin, meanwhile, did a great deal of the writing and editing of legal arguments, including a "counter report" defending the president that Giuliani said has been prepared but may never be released.

Central to the Trump strategy - developed first by Cobb and Dowd and later carried out by Giuliani, Sekulow and the Raskins, as well as Flood, who from his White House perch represented the office of the presidency - was to cooperate fully with every request for documents and witnesses from Mueller, including Trump's written answers to some questions.

Their goal: to satisfy Mueller's hunt for information to the extent that the special counsel would not have legal standing to subpoena the president's oral testimony.

"We allowed them to question everybody, and they turned over every document they were asked for: 1.4 million documents," Giuliani said. "We had what you would call unprecedented cooperation."

Trump's lawyers, citing the independent counsel investigation of Espy, argued that to justify a subpoena of Trump, Mueller needed to prove that he could not get the information in any way other than by asking the president.

"No matter what question they would say they wanted to ask, I felt confident we could turn it over and say, 'You already have the answer to it,' " Giuliani said. "If they said, 'Why did you fire Comey?' I'd give them five interviews, and particularly the Lester Holt tape, where he goes into great detail as to his reasons."

Giuliani was referring to Trump's May 2017 interview with the "NBC Nightly News" anchor in which the president said he was thinking about "this Russia thing" when he fired James Comey as FBI director, one of the actions Mueller was investigating as possible obstruction of justice.

All the while, Giuliani said, the legal team was not convinced that it would have prevailed in court. "Honestly, I don't know who would have won," he said. "I think our argument got better as time went on. But I don't know if we would have won."

- - -

As Mueller's lawyers quietly labored, a political storm was raging around them.

Trump, his lawyers and his allies in Congress routinely attacked Mueller and his investigators as compromised and corrupt. The president repeatedly urged an end to the probe, which he condemned as a "witch hunt," a "fraud" and a "hoax" that was wasting taxpayer money.

Rosenstein urged lawmakers to respect the confidential work of the special counsel, saying in a June 2018 letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, then the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the probe would comply with all laws and Justice Department policies.

But Rosenstein also noted that Mueller was not an entirely independent actor - and that his work was being closely supervised.

"Under the terms of his appointment, both by statute and by regulation, Special Counsel Mueller remains accountable like every other subordinate Department official," Rosenstein wrote.

A few months later, Flood sent his memo on the scope of executive privilege. While it made broad arguments, the document could have been construed to pertain to Mueller's push to interview the president, according to someone with knowledge of the contents.

Notably, Flood sent the memo not just to Mueller's office, but also to Rosenstein by way of his top deputy, Edward O'Callaghan.

Flood declined to comment.

As each month passed without a subpoena, the president's attorneys increasingly doubted that Mueller would seek to obtain one, according to people with knowledge of internal discussions.

Mueller's team kept insisting it needed to interview the president - but never followed through with an actual demand.

Mueller and Quarles would stress that they needed to know Trump's intentions when he fired Comey and took other actions that could have thwarted the Russia investigation. Jane Raskin would respond by pressing them for a legal justification for seeking to interview the president, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The president's team asked, "What evidence have you obtained that justifies you interviewing the president?" according the person, who added that Mueller's office was "never able to articulate a compelling case. They never gave up asking, but they had no good answer for that question."

In the absence of an interview, Trump's attorneys offered Mueller a substitute: The president would provide answers to a set of questions about Russia and the campaign, submitted in writing. But, citing executive privilege, they refused to provide answers to questions pertaining to the president's time in office - questions that went to the heart of the special counsel's inquiry into possible obstruction of justice.

However, the process of compiling answers dragged. Trump's lawyers found it difficult to get the president to focus on drafting the submission, according to people familiar with the sessions. Trump's meetings with his lawyers were frequently interrupted by phone calls and other White House business.

Finally, in late November 2018, the lawyers sent Trump's answers to Mueller.

In December, Mueller's team made one more request for an interview with the president.

And in January, the special counsel's office contacted Trump's lawyers to ask some follow-up questions, according to people familiar with the request.

But Trump's lawyers again declined. They neither agreed to an interview nor answered the additional questions.

Two months later, Mueller submitted his report without having spoken to the president. The investigation was over.

- - -

The Washington Post's Rosalind S. Helderman and Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.
University at Albany

ALBANY  The University at Albany has named a microbiologist who is currently at the University of Maine system as the next provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Carol Kim, who was hired after a national search, will join the UAlbany campus on Aug. 1.

Kim is currently associate vice chancellor for Academic Innovation and Partnerships at the University of Maine System. Prior to that, she was director of their Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, vice president for Research, and dean of the Graduate School.
Miramont Issues Lying Press Release Bob Moriarty

Archives

Mar 29, 2019 For those who have not yet read Basic Investing in Resource Stocks, you should consider it. I predict the big collapse to come soon, very soon followed by what I term The Big Reset. Martin Armstrong just put out a piece essentially saying the same thing titled, The Financial Panic of 2019? I realized when I wrote my book in January of this year that I was climbing way out on a limb and sawing it off behind me. I am going to look either very stupid or very bright and only time will tell. With the advent of the Internet, control of the narrative has changed. For all of history the elite controlled the narrative. They told the masses, the mob as it were, how to think and how to vote. The Internet has changed all that. You can still lie to the throng but since most of the world has what is effectively free communication, whatever lie the elite try to pass off will soon be countered by some blogger somewhere who never had a voice before the Internet. Only two days after the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate some imaginary collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in May of 2017, FBI agent Peter Strzok texted his paramour Lisa Page and said, Theres no big there, there. Now we have an announcement from William Barr, Attorney General of the United States that specifically stated, The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In other words, it took Mueller almost two years to figure out what a Trump hating FBI agent knew right from the gitgo. Those who listen to the mainstream media may not have known the facts but anyone with a device similar to or better than a $200 smart phone had access all along to what was essentially a coup Detat on the part of chunks of the United States government against the democratically elected president of the US. And in a masterpiece of obfuscation Director Barr and William Mueller sorta ignored the very real involvement by Russia in the 2016 election in the form of the Russian Dossier made up of whole cloth by the Democrats, the FBI, the DOJ and the CIA. The elite long since lost control of the narrative. If you actually look around you can find a video of Victoria Nuland bragging about how the US spent $5 Billion, thats Billion with a capital B, interfering with the democratic process in Ukraine. Charging Russia with interference in the US election of 2016 after the US pissed away $5 billion interfering in Ukrainian elections is nothing short of remarkable but not quite as remarkable as Donald Trump demonstrating the total and absolute control that Benjamin Netanyahu has over the US political system by his suggestion that Israel be allowed to permanently take control of the Golan Heights. Ive written before how Sheldon Adelson essentially bought Donald Trump for a $35 million contribution to his political campaign in the 2016 election. The Zionist stranglehold on the American political system is so complete that the very first bill considered by Congress in the latest session would forbid Americans to boycott Israel. All this information is on the web. The elite have lost control of the narrative and alternative points of view are available for anyone willing to do a little research. Bill Pincus, President of Miramont Resources told me they began drilling in Southern Peru on the 22nd of January. The company planned nine drill holes in three major targets. It would take 3-4 weeks to get assays back. Three holes would be released at a time, representing each of the three targets. There was a chance assays for the first three holes would be back and released by PDAC. I have kept in close contact with Bill Pincus and been told for two months that those assays for the first three holes were not back. He lied. Yesterday, March 28th Miramont announced the results from six holes, not three as I have been told all along. And if you look closely you will find no assay results from the first three holes. But those should have been back and released a month ago. How did the company go from announcing three holes at a time to announcing that six holes had been assayed but only giving numbers for holes four, five and six. Easy. The assays from holes one, two and three were total duds and almost certainly were back a month ago. Bill Pincus knew that and failed to not only release the poor holes, he didnt mention a word to Quinton Hennigh or the Board until this last weekend. And you have to look very closely at the press release to realize that while it talks about six assays, it only shows bits and bats from three holes. Pre-Internet days it was common for management of junior mining companies to get poor results and to sit on them in the hopes that later drill results would bail them out. I highly suggest that anyone working with me not pull that trick because it takes the decision to buy or sell shares out of the hands of investors where it belongs and allows corrupt management to essentially lie to investors. Drilling tells you two things. It tells you where the mineralization is and where it is not. It is just as important to know where there isnt any ore as it is to know where there is ore. Putting out piss poor results is part and parcel of exploration. But it allows investors to reconsider if they really want to own the shares. If Miramont shareholders knew a month ago that the first three holes were barren they had the choice of selling their shares or buying more or just sitting.



Since it is their money, it should have been their decision. By hiding the results of the first three holes Bill Pincus cost investors both money and the right to determine what to do with their shares. In simple terms, it was lying. I devoted an entire chapter in my latest book talking about dealing with liars. I have lost the most money investing in companies where management wouldnt tell the truth. I had a major investment in Miramont and like 100% of other Miramont shareholders; I lost 66% of the value of my shares yesterday. Lying to me is a really bad idea. I sold a lot of the shares of Miramont I had bought in PPs and in the open market yesterday. I want to see major changes in how Miramont announces drill results. A change in management would help. Do your own due diligence. Miramont Resources

MONT-C $.16 (Mar 28, 2019)

MRRMF-OTCBB 54.8 million shares

Miramont Resources website ### Bob Moriarty

President: 321gold

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Jon Whitfield talked to his daughter, Diamond, for the last time March 20.

On that day, the Houston-born rapper had been hanging out with fellow artists at a recording studio at 4119 Reed Rd, where he wrote music on a regular basis, she said.

He asked her the usual questions about her infant daughter, her job and what she'd been up to. The 42-year-old had just become a grandfather about 7 months earlier, and he was always asking about the child, she said.

The following Monday, two suspects broke into the studio and fatally shot him multiple times during an apparent robbery. Houston police are still looking for the suspects, leaving Diamond with lingering questions about why someone would kill her father.

"I'm depressed about the whole situation," said Diamond, 23. "I didn't think last week would be the last time talking to my dad and saying 'I love you' and hugging him. It was really a shock to my heart and my whole perspective."

RELATED: Suspects in Houston rap studio shooting demanded money, drugs

Police said the suspects, at least one of whom was armed, demanded money and drugs before shooting Whitfield. A second man was held at gunpoint but wasn't injured, police said.

Police initially described the incident as a "shootout" that left bullets flying through the glass studio entrance. It's not clear who may have been armed inside the studio. Houston police declined to comment on the specifics of the case, citing the ongoing investigation.

Whitfield's daughter doesn't believe he died in a random robbery. Based on rumors circulating among friends and acquaintances, she thinks her father knew the shooter.

"To hear form the streets all these stories, and to hear that it turned out to be somebody he knew, I feel like it was a setup," she said.

Diamond said she doesn't know who the suspect might be. She said her father always appeared to be cautious about who he surrounded himself with, but he rarely let her talk to his friends in the studio.

She chalks it up to his loving and protective nature.

"My dad was the type that, when I went to visit him [at the studio], we would leave or he would come out to my car," she said. "I think personally it's because I'm a female. He didn't want me surrounded by them. My dad is very protective over me."

RELATED: The most homicide-prone ZIP codes in Houston

She said her father was an entrepreneur who spent most of his time writing rap songs with the Hoodkat Music Group studio on Reed. He had been looking to invest in real estate before his death, she said, but he mostly enjoyed writing verses with other artists and doing freestyles.

She said he rarely performed in public. Regardless, HKMG studios posted about his death Thursday on its Facebook page.

"We do it for them," said the post, which included photo of Whitfield and another rapper.

Whitfield went by various nicknames, including "O.G. Nitty." He favored rappers such as Rick Ross and Z-Ro. More notably, Diamond said he wrote a verse for Fat Pat, a well-known figure in Houston's hip-hop scene. His lyrics appeared in his song "I'm a Slicka," she said.

Diamond said her father was born in Houston, and mostly raised on the south side. She said he was always there for her and her brother, even after separating from their mother.

He kept a positive attitude about life, and loved traveling with his children, she said.

"I (still) talked to him a lot," she said. "I reached out to him several times a week, and I'd probably see him at least twice a week if I'm in the area or if I'm off."

Whitfield's mother, Sheila Whitfield, also relayed a message about her son through Diamond. She said she thinks of a "humble spirit" when her son comes to mind.

"Jon was a person who walked in another's shoes and tried to understand their trials and tribulations," Sheila Whitfield said. "I'll definitely miss my gentle giant."

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.
Four men were convicted Friday in federal court in Houston of various charges arising from a ruthless shoot-first-rob-later scheme that targeted armored truck guards, one of whom was killed during a 2016 heist.

Defendants Marc Anthony Hill, Nelson Alexander Polk, John Edward Scott and Bennie Charles Phillips, Jr. sat stoically as a federal judge read the verdict: Guilty on all counts. None appeared surprised.

On the other side of the courtroom, the mother and brothers of slain security courier David Guzman, 25, sat motionless as they took in the panels decision from the front row near the jury box.

Prosecutors believe that Redrick Red Batiste fatally shot Guzman from a distance Aug. 29, 2016, as he was stocking an ATM at a Wells Fargo branch at U.S. 290 and Hollister. As the courier lay dying, robbers moved in and took $120,000 in cash.

Hill, 48, and his nephew Polk, 40, were found guilty of aiding and abetting in the deadly heist and using a firearm in the commission of the robbery that caused Guzmans death. Hill and Polk, along with Scott, 43, and Phillips, 31, were also convicted of using a firearm and aiding and abetting in a Dec. 7, 2016, robbery attempt that was thwarted by police and FBI agents.

Batiste was killed by law enforcement officers during a shootout in that confrontation.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner said a sentencing date would likely be set in late June.

The jurys seven women and five men deliberated for eight hours after hearing two weeks of testimony and multimedia evidence on par with a prime-time police procedural. There were code words, wiretapped calls, intercepted texts, cellphone video and audio and video footage of the suspected gunman recorded clandestinely by police inside a stolen car.

The intensity set in early in the trial when Hills wife was accused of trying to sneak a razor blade to another defendant. Polk, whod sought to represent himself but refused to comply with the judges directions, was briefly banished to a downstairs room, where jurors saw him on video. Hill, who initially represented himself, was dragged from the courtroom following an outburst.

Batiste is also suspected in deadly robberies dating back to 2015, including the fatal March 2016 shooting of Loomis security courier Melvin Moore, who was gunned down while refilling an ATM at the J.P. Morgan Chase on Airline, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.

But this months federal trial focused on a spree that began with the sniper-style slaying of Guzman and ended three months later with the failed robbery attempt of an Amegy Bank of Texas branch on Imperial Valley Drive on Dec. 7, 2016. Defense lawyers argued that the mastermind of the operation kept their clients in the dark about his plans and used them as unknowing pawns in his scheme.

Polks mother, Evette Polk, said by phone Friday night that the trial was tainted from the beginning.

I just feel like the case wasnt justified. It was very unfair, she said.

Britney Polk, the defendants sister in law, said she also thought the judge was unfair and that prosecutors pushed jurors to take leaps of faith based on the accounts of defendants whod entered into plea deals.

Defense lawyer Michael DeGeurin said his client, Scott, showed great respect for the court and jury during the entire trial. Though disappointed with the verdict, we respect the jurys decision, he said.

Hills lawyer, Neal Davis III, said he planned to appeal and would continue fighting to prove his clients innocence. He said his client ran several businesses, had three children and was a good family man.

David Cunningham, who represents Phillips, said he was crushed by the outcome. He said Phillips comes from a good family and that his parents are heartbroken. He said it was painful, too, to see the Guzman family crushed by their loss.

Hill and Polk were accused of helping to facilitate the deadly heist in August 2016. Surveillance video showed a getaway driver pulling in beside the ATM and and a third man hopping out of the car to grab money bags carrying what turned out to be $120,000 in cash.

Prosecutors argued, based on cell tower data, that Hill was the lookout for that operation and that Polk, his nephew, drove the getaway car.

According to witness testimony, in the weeks following Guzmans death, police learned from an informant about Batiste and obtained court permission to wiretap his phone. The lead FBI agent on the case said the robbery crew rented a car, rigged the key fob, added a tracking device and returned the car so they could steal it again when the next person rented it.

Law enforcement then set up a trap. They, too, visited the rental agency and added their own tracking device to the Enterprise car as well as hidden audio and camera equipment, said Jeffrey Coughlin, the lead agent on the case for the FBI.

When the robbery crew moved in to steal the rental vehicle, police began tracking its movements. The in-car surveillance system allowed law enforcement to view the attempted December heist as it happened. Officers arrived hidden inside an armored truck.

Hill was convicted of being the lookout man, Polk was found guilty of being the getaway driver. Phillips was convicted of arranging for the man who would do the actual robbery. A key witness, co-defendant Trayvees Duncan-Bush, previously pleaded guilty in the case. He told the jury that he was in Polks car and intended to grab the cash.

Family members recall Guzman as outgoing and friendly, the eldest of five boys. His mother said he always took care of his brothers and loved hanging out with friends. His gravestone in a Greenspoint cemetery is covered with Easter decorations and decals showing a soccer ball and a video game equipment.

Querido hijo, hermano y amigo, it says. Beloved son, brother and friend.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
The Houston Fire Department would idle six to nine fire trucks and employ fewer firefighters per shift, risking a modest increase in response times, if City Council approves a $25 million reduction in HFDs budget as part of Mayor Sylvester Turners plan to fund Proposition B, Fire Chief Sam Pena said.

The mayor and fire union officials disagree whether the proposed cuts would put the public at greater risk. Turner said Wednesday that the city can withstand fewer firefighters, while Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association President Marty Lancton said the cuts will risk firefighters safety and the people we serve.

Shrinking the department through a combination of attrition and layoffs would mark the first tangible citywide impact of the Prop. B pay parity referendum, creating a difficult choice for City Council members who must approve a balanced budget by June 30 but also risk being accused of undermining public safety during an election year.

Passed in November, the parity measure grants firefighters the same pay as police of corresponding rank and experience, which Turner says will cost the city $80 million a year. The figure assumes that firefighters would receive reduced raises if they lack the educational degree required by the corresponding police department position, Turner said Wednesday. Fire union leaders say this plainly violates the voter mandate.

To absorb its portion of the cut  $25 million  the fire department will need to reduce its head count by 378, Pena said, noting that the figure includes employees lost to retirement, resignation and other factors aside from layoffs.

HFD typically loses 150 to 160 firefighters annually through attrition, though Pena said he expects that number to rise this year amid the turmoil of Prop. Bs implementation, leaving perhaps 200 or fewer firefighters to receive pink slips. The citys fiscal year 2019 budget accounts for 4,090 firefighters.

District G Councilman Greg Travis said he would look to cut elsewhere from the city budget before voting for something that negatively impacts HFDs services, adding that he was inclined to believe Pena if the chief said the cuts could prompt response times to increase.

Hes never lied to me. Hes straightforward and honest, Travis said. If hes telling us there could be service cuts, then we all should be concerned.

Service reductions could be avoided, Pena said, if the city and fire union agree on a way to phase in the pay raises over multiple years. Pena also said he could maintain current levels of service by cutting only 239 positions. A personnel reduction of that amount would save $15.8 million  about $9 million short of what Turner has directed Pena to cut.

Turner on Wednesday confirmed HFD would need to shrink by 378 employees and stand down 10 units without a phase-in, but he said that doing so would not jeopardize public safety. Lancton disagreed, citing a city-commissioned report by Facets Consulting that found the department should expand, not reduce, certain areas.

The mayor did not like that study, so he bought another one from a slash-and-burn consultant to justify his current position, Lancton said, referring to the PFM consulting study often cited by Turner to justify layoffs. Theres no legitimate formula that cuts hundreds of Houston firefighters and maintains service levels.

If both sides fail to reach a phase-in agreement, Pena said he would try to avoid closing any fire stations by idling trucks at stations that currently have multiple units. HFD officials have modeled various scenarios, including ones in which stations would close, Pena said, but they have yet to finalize a plan.

The chief added that he would ensure the remaining trucks are still fully staffed with four firefighters, a department policy since then-Mayor Lee Brown put an additional firefighter on each truck in response to a firefighters death from an apartment blaze.

What I dont want is to piecemeal any response vehicle, because thats a firefighter safety issue, and I dont want to risk that aspect, Pena said.

HFD has not studied how the layoffs and idled engines would impact response times, though Pena estimated the cuts could slow responses by 10 to 15 seconds citywide. Related models showed modest increases overall with more pronounced delays in areas were vehicles were idled, he said.

You take units out of an active system, yes, you're going to see an increase in response times, Pena said. ...It doesn't seem like a whole lot, but in the certain areas where those specific units are taken out, then we can see a difference in those areas, a bigger increase.

Penas plan to minimize the impact of layoffs depends on the department switching from a four-shift to a three-shift work schedule, a change Pena was considering long before Prop. B that he said would allow the department to idle fewer trucks.

Firefighters would work the same 20 24-hour shifts every 72 days but would work more shifts in some weeks and receive longer breaks in others, Pena said. Under the current four-shift model, firefighters must come in for Debit Days, or occasional extra shifts, on which there is a high absentee rate and firefighters typically are deployed to a different station than their usual one. The three-shift model would instead allow Pena to schedule Kelly Days, when firefighters get regular shifts off.

The projected rise in average hours worked by each of the 800-plus firefighters on duty, Pena said, helps explain why the change would allow only six to nine trucks to be idled instead of 20 or more, which Pena said would be the case if HFD shrunk by 378 positions on its current four-shift model.

The fire union disputes that the change  which is generally viewed as a more arduous work schedule  would save money, and says it would need to go through collective bargaining. Union officials point to the Facets study, which found that without a requirement for firefighters to work more hours per week, we do not envision any appreciable cost savings in converting to a three (3) shift system.

The finding refers to a provision of Texas local government code under which Houston firefighters begin accruing overtime pay when they work for more than an average of 46.7 weekly hours during a 72-day work cycle. Without the added overtime cost, firefighters in other cities often work 53- or 56-hour weeks, with many operating on a three-shift cycle.

Pena disagreed with the Facets studys conclusion because it lacked evidence, he said.

The study had essentially one sentence that said three shifts wouldnt have appreciable savings, but they didnt expand on that, didnt have analysis, Pena said. That was essentially a statement they made.

Though the report later goes into some detail about its conclusion, it does not break down why the three-shift model would not produce appreciable cost savings, though it implies that the added overtime costs would cancel out any savings.

As for the collective bargaining argument, Pena contended that changing to a three-shift schedule would not require union approval because firefighters would still average the same number of hours each week.

Union officials, who oppose the move, say that a federal court ruling in a 1990s Houston Black Fire Fighters Association lawsuit regarding minority promotions included a change from the three- to four-shift module, and any subsequent change would therefore be subject to union approval.

In addition to the firefighter layoffs, Turner plans to close the citys projected $197 million budget deficit by asking all city departments to cut their budgets by at least 3 percent, which likely would require layoffs of as many as 100 municipal workers.

So far, the fire union has proposed to fully implement Prop. B over three years retroactive to July 1, 2018, while the city has offered raises over a five-year span without fully granting firefighters benefit pay enumerated in Prop. Bs ballot language.

In an updated proposal sent to Lancton Wednesday, Turner again sought to implement raises over five years, increasing the base and incentive pay totals from a prior city offer. The proposal still falls short of reaching parity, said Lancton, who renewed his request for the city to provide details about the police departments pay.

With both sides stuck at three and five years, several council members on Wednesday wondered if the city and fire union could compromise on a four-year phase-in agreement. Lancton said the union would be receptive to ideas if the city hands over police pay data and promises not to lay off firefighters.

Turner said Wednesday that anything short of a five-year phase-in would require layoffs. Earlier this month, Pena appeared on Fox 26 Houston and said he could absorb the personnel positions through attrition, without layoffs, if given three fiscal years to do so.

The city, meanwhile, is planning to dip into its fund balance to issue firefighters $31 million in back pay retroactive to Jan. 1. Council member Amanda Edwards asked Turner Wednesday why the city is using that date, but the mayor did not give a direct response.
No one seemed to be in charge when Alissa Parker arrived at Sandy Hook Elementary on Dec. 14, 2012.

Minutes earlier, she had gotten a call from her 6-year-old daughter Emilies Newtown, Conn., school district that every school was on lockdown after a shooting. Parents were scattered across the path from the school and a nearby fire station, and Parker was given three conflicting sets of instructions for how to find her daughter.

In the chaos, Alissa learned Emilie was one of 20 children and six adults killed in the deadliest school house shooting in United States history. Shes been on a mission since to help make sure other victims families avoid the heartache of both school shootings and their disorganized aftermath.

She and other survivors of Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook and other shootings spent Friday sharing their stories and lessons theyve learned at the inaugural National School Safety Summit in northwest Houston. Parker and Michele Gay, whose daughter Josephine was killed in the same classroom as Emilie, founded the Safe and Sound Schools nonprofit, which hosted the event with Crime Stoppers of Houston and the Texas Education Agencys Region 4 Educational Service Center.

Our children serve as our inspiration for what we do. Theyre the reason we come in front of you, Parker said. We want to honor their memory to help others be protected to keep these things from happening in your community.

Some of the speakers told audiences how they ignored signs of their trauma until it began to cripple their day-to-day lives. Experts relayed information for how to best craft local policies and lobby for state laws to improve safety and recovery responses. Parents and education leaders shared ways to improve law enforcement responses to help ease concerns among parents.

Their remarks came less than two months before one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at Santa Fe High school that left 10 dead and 13 injured. The Galveston County massacre, which came on the heels of the Stoneman Douglas High shooting in which 17 people died in February 2018, jolted school districts across Houston and the nation into action. Many locally worked to make their campuses more physically secure, increased their ranks of mental health counselors and drafted more complete emergency preparedness plans. Texas lawmakers are reviewing a bevy of school safety bills during their ongoing 2019 Legislative Session, including a proposal to pour tens of millions of dollars into making schools more secure.

Few of those state and local discussions, however, have focused on how to help folks recover after a shooting or other traumatic event rocks a school. Lisa Hamp, who survived the Virginia Tech shooting, noted the lack of support offered to uninjured survivors

She was in classroom 205 of the universitys Norris Hall on April 16, 2007, when another student entered the building and ultimately killed 33 people and injured 23. Those in her science class barricaded the door to their room, likely sparing those inside from physical harm but not the trauma of nearly being killed.

In the days and months after, Hamp found the campus mental health resources and those offered as charity elsewhere unhelpful. She ended up trying to cope on her own, eventually developing an eating disorder and flinging herself into professional and physical challenges to keep her mind off what she had endured. She wouldnt begin her mental recovery until 2015 whens he began seeking therapy in earnest.

On Friday she chastised her alma mater and urged others to think about the aftermath and survivors who may have escaped injury.

When I walked out of that building, I thought it was behind me. What I didnt realize was that was just the beginning of a very long recovery, Hamp said. (Virginia Techs administrators) say they recognize the psychological impact, they say resources will be available to survivors. But what they do is a different thing.

shelby.webb@chron.com

twitter.com/shelbywebb
An earlier version of this story misstated where the migrants were released due to incorrect information provided. Immigration authorities have released 51,500 migrants along the South Texas border and in San Antonio.

Immigration authorities have released 51,500 migrants along the South Texas border and in San Antonio since late December, more than in any other city and almost half of all migrants released, said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, who was briefed by Homeland Security officials.

Facing a surge in border apprehensions that reached 100,000 this month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been releasing thousands of migrants in border cities with notices to appear later in court. Since Dec. 21, ICE has released 117,500 migrants.

Homeland Security officials say that the influx of migrants has put ICEs facilities at a breaking point. ICE has a 150 person-per-day processing capacity, Cuellar said at the press conference Friday morning.

ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations released 34,500 migrants in El Paso, 20,000 in Phoenix, and 11,500 in San Diego during the same period.

While the number of apprehensions is lower than in the early 2000s, the number of Central Americans and families seeking asylum has skyrocketed  73 percent of migrants come from Central America now, compared to 90 percent coming from Mexico in 2006.

The federal government has been grappling with how to process and detain migrants of this new population.

ICE typically drops the immigrants off at the bus station downtown, where Catholic Charities and the Interfaith Welcome Coalition volunteers offer them food and water, and help them arrange for bus tickets to their final destinations. Catholic Charities has said it often gets little to no notice of the releases.

Earlier this month, immigration officials said they would begin releasing migrants with a court date in the Rio Grande Valley sector, and later in the Del Rio sector, because ICE detention facilities were out of space.

ICE has also had to shift personnel from other departments to handle the influx. Cuellar said that 330 ICE enforcement and removal operations personnel are on temporary duty status or were resigned from another department to help handle the surge.

Transportation services are also straining to keep up with demand  they can only serve half of the unaccompanied minors projected to require transportation in fiscal year 2019, according to Cuellars Homeland Security briefing.

Another new figure presented by Homeland Security was the percent of released migrants who dont show up to their court dates. Cuellar said that number was nearly one in three for family units.

Less than 2 percent of undocumented immigrants are in one of ICEs 200 facilities across the country, he said.

sfosterfrau@express-news.net | @SilviaElenaFF
Adria Malcolm / Bloomberg

President Donald Trump plans to travel to Texas on April 10 for fundraisers in Houston and San Antonio as Republicans build a campaign fund for the 2020 election, according to a Texas GOP official familiar with planning.

No other details were available, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly about the visits.
Year after year, he came.

Orange, plastic and hungry for lasagna, his self-satisfied face was stuck in a permanent grin. Sometimes he came intact. Other times, he was in pieces or badly coated in grime.

"It never stops," one local said.

For 30 years, Garfield the cat novelty phones kept washing up on the beaches of France. A 15-mile stretch of beach near Brest saw nearly 200 phones and phone pieces wash ashore in 2018 alone. Why, locals wondered, did Phone Garfield live in seemingly endless numbers off the coast of Brittany?

French environmentalists sought an answer, hoping to finally stop the relentless, if whimsical, pollution. An anti-littering group called Ar Vilantsou started a media blitz about the phones, which caught the attention of a local farmer. That man remembered a stormy day in the 1980s; from that day on, phones appeared on the beaches with some regularity.

ALSO: Adopted dog returned to shelter for being too good

The farmer contacted Ar Vilantsou and told them about the incident. He also recalled, tucked away in some sea caves, a container that blew off the ship that day.

So curious anti-littering crusaders followed the farmer into the sea cave. And there, they found the remnants of a broken shipping container. All around were more pieces of Phone Garfield. At last, they'd found the breeding ground of their orange mystery.

"This is the first time in our lives that we've seen that,"Ar Vilantsou's Claire Simonin-Le Meur told reporters.

Alas, while the mystery is solved, the problem is not. Garfield will continue to wash up on the shore, because the container is wedged in an inaccessible spot.

For now, all locals can do is continue to police the beaches for those errant telephonic cats, forever seeking a Pooky to keep them company.
Pilot will provide foreign agri-food workers with a pathway to Canadian permanent residence

Canada to launch dedicated Agri-Food industry immigration pilot Pilot will provide foreign agri-food workers with a pathway to Canadian permanent residence

Canada to launch dedicated Agri-Food industry immigration pilot Pilot will provide foreign agri-food workers with a pathway to Canadian permanent residence

Canada to launch dedicated Agri-Food industry immigration pilot Pilot will provide foreign agri-food workers with a pathway to Canadian permanent residence CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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The Canadian government announced plans for a new three-year immigration pilot designed to support the growth of Canadas agri-food sector.

In its Budget 2019, released March 19, the Government of Canada stated:

To help the agri-food sector meet Canadas ambitious export targets and attract and retain needed labour, the federal government will launch a three-year immigration pilot to bring in full time, non-seasonal agricultural workers that will include a pathway to permanent residency.

The Canadian Meat Council (CMC) supports the federal governments plans. In an update, the CMC says it has been requesting 2,750 immigration spots to fill meat packers, meat processors and equipment supplier positions that have not been filled by Canadians.

According to Industry Canadas Agri-Food Economic Strategy Table report published in September 2018, there is an alarming need to address the immediate labour shortages facing the agriculture sector and to utilize Canadas permanent immigration and temporary foreign worker programs to attract workers across various skill levels.

Canadas Agriculture and Agri-food system contributes $111 billion to the economy annually and $304 million per day.

The federal governments immigration division, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), has yet to announce details on the pilot.

Further details will be published on CICNews as they become available.

Discover your Canadian immigration options

 2019 CICNews All Rights Reserved
2019 off to a bigger start than 2018 following the first quarter

Express Entry 2019 Quarterly Report: Over 20,000 invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence 2019 off to a bigger start than 2018 following the first quarter

Express Entry 2019 Quarterly Report: Over 20,000 invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence 2019 off to a bigger start than 2018 following the first quarter

Express Entry 2019 Quarterly Report: Over 20,000 invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence 2019 off to a bigger start than 2018 following the first quarter Eman Katem Noah Turner Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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The first quarter of 2019 has officially surpassed the first quarter of 2018 with 21,200 invitations to apply for permanent residence issued to candidates in Canadas Express Entry system.

This is a 3,700 increase from 2018s first quarter that ended at 17,500 invitations issued.

The year 2018 set an all-time record of 89,800 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) issued. This is the highest number of invitations issued for any one year since Express Entry was introduced in 2015. This year is expected to be an even bigger year based on Canadas three-year immigration levels plan.

The plan outlines rising annual admission targets for the years ahead, culminating in 350,000 admissions in 2021.

The increasing admission targets for 2019 and 2020 could mean the total number of invitations issued in 2019 may exceed the ITA record set in 2018.

The Canadian government utilizes the Express Entry system to select permanent immigration candidates from a pool of potential candidates who are eligible under one of the Federal High Skilled economic immigration programs  the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program or the Canadian Experience Class.

Express Entry profiles are assessed on core human capital, skill-transferability and additional factors. Profiles are assigned what is officially called a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. This score, out a maximum of 1,200 points, determines a candidates rank in the Express Entry pool.

The Government of Canada regularly conducts draws from the pool of eligible candidates where the highest-ranked are invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

Find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool

This year began in full swing with the largest-ever first draw of a year since the Express Entry system was introduced four years ago.

When comparing the total number of Express Entry ITAs issued in the initial quarter of 2018 and 2019, it is evident that the first quarter of this year beat last year in terms of ITAs issued.

However, in 2017, the federal government issued the most ITAs for a first quarter with a total 86,023 ITAs issued for the year. This number was eventually surpassed with 89,800 ITAs issued in 2018 and is expected be outperformed again this year.

So far this year, Express Entry draw sizes were set at 3,350 ITAs for four out of the six Express Entry draws with the exception of the first two draws when 3,900 ITAs were issued in both occasions.

The chart above illustrates the number of ITAs issued in the first quarter of each year versus Federal High Skilled economic immigration admissions targets. These targets represent the number of highly skilled foreign nationals admitted as Federal Skilled Workers, Federal Skilled Trades and Canadian Experience Class applicants.

It remains to be seen which parts of the year will be busiest, as the Government of Canada works toward meeting its Federal High Skilled economic admissions target of 81,400 for 2019 and 85,800 for 2020.

Lowest all-program CRS cut-off since 2017

In the first quarter of this year, the minimum CRS score requirement dropped as low as 438, which is its lowest cut-off for an all-program draw since the final quarter of 2017 when the CRS fell to 436.

The minimum CRS score is the score that a candidate must satisfy in order to be invited to apply for permanent residence during a given draw. All candidates in the Express Entry pool with scores above this cut-off are drawn and are issued invitations to apply for permanent residence.

A score of 438 is the second lowest minimum CRS requirement for a first quarter of a year. The lowest recorded CRS for a first quarter was 434 in 2017. That year also holds the record for the lowest minimum CRS ever recorded in an all-program draw which occurred on May 31, 2017, when the minimum CRS dropped to 413.

This first quarter ended with the minimum required CRS score dropping two points, to 452. This was a 5-point reduction from the highest point it reached during the first quarter.

Looking at recent draws, the time between draws can influence the minimum CRS requirement.

Less time between draw means less profiles are submitted into the Express Entry system. This could result in less high-scoring candidates entering the pool, which may have the effect of lowering the cut-off score at the time of a draw.

On two separate occasions January 10 and February 20  the time between draws was more than 20 days. In both events, the CRS threshold increased in comparison to the former draw. However, in the two most recent draws that occurred within the regular two-week interval, the CRS score decreased. This trend is captured in the chart below.

Another trend that coincides with the changing CRS score is draw size. In the last four Express Entry draws, the ITA total was 3,350. This number represents a 550 ITA decrease from the larger draw size of 3,900 ITAs in late 2018 and early 2019. The draw sizes for the first two draws of 2019 were both the largest ever for a first quarter.

Draw sizes may increase again over the course of 2019 as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Government of Canadas division responsible for Canadian immigration matters, works to reach the admissions target for 2019.

If IRCC moves toward possible larger or more frequent draws, we may also witness a more dynamic  or even reduced  minimum CRS requirement in upcoming quarters.

Express Entry and Canadas Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

Canadian provinces have been exceptionally busy in the first quarter of the year with Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and other provinces using their Provincial Nominee Programs to select Express Entry candidates through dedicated streams.

A nomination from a Canadian province or territory results in an Express Entry candidate being awarded an additional 600 CRS points and puts them in a favourable position to receive an ITA.

Similar to Federal High Skilled admission targets, PNP targets are set to rise annually in Canadas three-year immigration levels plan. The PNP admission target for this year is 61,000. By 2021, the PNP target will account for 71,300 admissions.

In the first quarter of 2019, Ontarios popular Human Capital Priorities (HCP) Stream held its largest draw ever with 1,493 Notifications of Interest issued to Express Entry candidates who had CRS scores between 439 and 448.

To select candidates, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) searches the Express Entry pool for candidates who meet the eligibility criteria of the HCP or any other Ontario Express Entry stream  French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream or Skilled Trades Stream.

The Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP), which has three Express Entry-aligned streams, held two draws in the first quarter through its Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities Stream.

In its first draw in January, the passive stream targeted financial auditors and accountants with CRS scores between 400 and 450. The second draw held March 20 prioritized Express Entry candidates who listed French as their first official language.

Other provinces like Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island have been publicly announcing draws through their unique Express Entry-aligned immigration streams. The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) held three Express Entry draws with a cumulative 515 invitations issued to Express Entry candidates registered in the provinces unique Expression of Interest (EOI) pool.

Are you currently in the Express Entry pool? Visit our dedicated page to learn ways to improve your CRS score and ranking in the Express Entry candidate pool.

Find out if you are eligible for Express Entry or any of Canadas provincial immigration pathways

 2019 CICNews All Rights Reserved
IT is a constantly expanding sector with its ever-increasing demand for skilled talent and the projected scope for growth within the next few years. This is especially true for the Information Security subfield for which the vacancies are drastically going up while the workers are struggling to catch up in learning the craft.

Although the term skills shortage may sound intimidating, dont let it deter you.

This is great news for anyone wanting to enter IT and cybersecurity fields: there is a legitimate need that needs to be met. Your job here is to determine whether you can fulfill this need and whether a job in this sector will ultimately fulfill your goals, both personal and professional ones.

When I am asked by seasoned professionals about what it takes to enter IT, how can they make a move into cybersecurity or another IT field, my advice tends to not vary much, depending on an individuals circumstances. Whether you are a current IT professional or someone wanting to enter IT/cybersecurity from an unrelated field, the following steps should help you carve out a solid plan that is realistically achievable.

1. Envision yourself at work

Before doing anything it is important to understand what do you see yourself doing at work on a daily basis? This helps out eliminate the plethora of noise out there in the form of job listings. IT and Cybersecurity are very broad fields. You could be a Cybersecurity Engineer inspecting and configuring network firewalls, only to find out another professional with the same title is reverse engineering source code.

If you were to make a switch to this field, what kind of work would you be interested in? This may take some independent research and talking to existing professionals in the field is an excellent idea to get acquainted with the real-world duties which may be expected of you. The point here is to set a target and not be misled by Hollywood into believing that all security jobs would be fancy hacking gigs out of a Bond movie. Within every fields there are can be a dozen subfields and within each subfield a hundred different kinds of jobs.

2. Have a backup plan

You want to be strategic here and have a contingency plan. What if you dont end up liking your new job? Would returning to your existing one be easy? How about testing the waters first? An undo button in real-life would be handy if there was one.

To address this dilemma, I recommend that folks follow what I call, a free trial approach: to stick to their current job in the beginning and start exploring if making a lateral shift within the same company is a possibility. For example, if you have been a Database Administrator for years and are curious to explore Cybersecurity, see if there is a Cybersecurity team at your workplace. Chances are you can at least shadow them if not take onto a simple project or two with the managements approval. In this manner, if you end up absolutely hating the day-to-day work in that field, rolling back to your current role would be effortless.

3. Search for job listings but dont apply yet

To get a feel for what kind of work you may be interested in, its helpful to check out online job boards and career sites like Glassdoor and LinkedIn. Start with the generic keywords and narrow down your searches based on the many job descriptions youll be sorting through. As an example, if you are more for policymaking, business and compliance-focused roles, your keywords may better off be GRC security jobs as opposed to broader terms.

4. Compare what you have now to what you need

Often times, contrary to our internal fears and beliefs, nobody is ever starting from a zero. Depending on the listing you are looking at, chances are you already have at least some of the skills expected for the position and need to learn others. After browsing through a handful of listings in the areas you can comfortably envision yourself working in, you should now have a good idea about where you are now, where you want to be and what you need to get there.

If you want to be a Network Security Engineer and the job listings in this area specify a certain certification as an absolute requirement, then that is what you need to work towards.

5. Meet the skills gap

Meeting the skills gap is now likely to feel slightly more achievable because of increased focus on your end. If a job requires the knowledge of Python language, hands-on experience is easy to pick up, thanks to YouTube, Udacity, Udemy and other MOOC platforms. Similarly, self-teaching via online tutorials may not earn you a credential but it gives you something thats practically useful: the confidence to declare, yes, I know the subject, on your resume, along with links to a hands-on project or two. To a prospective employer, this is excellent proof demonstrating your capability in and knowledge of the subject.

6. Craft a killer resume

At this stage, you should craft a resume which is geared towards the specific jobs within the subfield youd like to work in. Be thorough demonstrating your previous work experience in the sector along with any applicable certifications earned, and initiatives undertaken by you to meet the skills gap.

In the next few steps, we will reuse this template resume and very slightly modify it prior to applying to a specific job at a specific company.

7. Revisit those listings  apply now

Now is the time to revisit the job postings of your choice, only this time with the intention of applying. Meticulously read the job description for each listing and tailor your templated resume to match the requirements of the listing as closely as possible, while maintaining integrity. This is not cheating. You are making it easier for the recruiting managers who find your resume among hundreds to check all the boxes on their end.



If an IT job requires experience with setting up 2FA solutions, and you have done so at a previous job  even in a minimal capacity, or for a school project, it would be advisable to include this milestone within your past job experiences on the resume. On the contrary, if a past job experience lists bullet points which are not as relevant to the gig you are applying to, it might be better to take those out. The objective of a resume is to help you grab the recruiters attention and to land your first interview at a particular company.

Following all these steps in order, it is very likely that youll land your first IT job in a relatively small amount of time. In this way you can channel your energy and resources into working smarter towards your career goals with results which are realistically achievable and lasting.
The history of academic criminology is one of grand pronouncements that dont often prove out in the real world. In the 1960s and 1970s, for example, criminologists demanded that public policy attack the root causes of crime, such as poverty and racism. Without solving these problems, they argued, we could not expect to fight crime effectively. On this thinking, billions of taxpayer dollars poured into ambitious social programsyet crime went up, not down. In the 1970s and 1980s and into the 1990s, as crime rates continued to spike, criminologists proceeded to tell us that the police could do little to cut crime, and that locking up the felons, drug dealers, and gang leaders who committed much of the nations criminal violence wouldnt work, either.

These views were shown to be false, too, but they were held so pervasively across the profession that, when political scientist James Q. Wilson called for selective incapacitation of violent repeat offenders, he found himself ostracized by his peers, who resorted to ad hominem attacks on his character and motivations. Wilsons work was ignored by awards committees, and criminological reviews of his books, especially Thinking About Crime and Crime and Human Nature, were almost universally negative. In the real-world policy arena, however, Wilson attained significant influence: the Broken Windows theory of policing and public order, which Wilson developed with criminologist George Kelling, became a key part of the proactive policing strategies that would be largely responsible for the great crime decline starting in the mid-1990s.

In short, while academic criminology has had much to say about crime, most of it has been wrong. How can an academic discipline be so wrongheaded? And should we listen to criminologists today when, say, they call for prisons to be emptied, cops to act as glorified playground attendants, and criminal sentences to be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated? Answers to the first question are readily availableand suggest the answer to the second.

Academic criminologists are mainly sociologists, trained in statistics and armed with theories. Though most dont study crime or violence directly, they have produced useful studies about offenders and the criminal-justice system. Through their work, we know, for example, that criminal behavior is strongly intergenerational, that relatively few people account for the majority of all crimes, and that some offenders desist from crime over time but many others simply change the types of crimes they commit. We also have learned that most offenders are generaliststhat is, they commit a diverse assortment of crimesand that steps can be taken to reduce criminal events by making them more difficult to carry out. Most criminals, it turns out, are lazy.

In other ways, though, criminologists lack of direct contact with subjects, situations, and neighborhoodstheir propensity to abstractioninvites misunderstandings about the reality of crime. Most academics have never met with women who have been raped or children who have been molested, or seen the carnage wrought by a bullet that passed through a human skull, or spent a lot of time with police on the street. The gulf between numbers on a spreadsheet and the harsh realities of the world sometimes fosters a romanticized view of criminals as victims, making it easier for criminologists to overlook the damage that lawbreakers causeand to advocate for more lenient policies and treatment.

Evidence of the liberal tilt in criminology is widespread. Surveys show a 30:1 ratio of liberals to conservatives within the field, a spread comparable with that in other social sciences. The largest group of criminologists self-identify as radical or critical. These designations include many leftist intellectual orientations, from radical feminism to Marxism to postmodernism. Themes of injustice, oppression, disparity, marginalization, economic and social justice, racial discrimination, and state-sanctioned violence dominate criminological teaching and scholarship, as represented in books with titles like Search and Destroy: African American Males in the Criminal Justice System, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, and Imprisoning Communities: How Mass Incarceration Makes Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Worse.

A quick perusal of Presidential Awards for Distinguished Contributions to Justice, bestowed by the American Society of Criminology (ASC), shows that the winners were primarily rewarded for their left-wing advocacy. They included a judge in Massachusetts who advocated abolishing the states death penalty, an FBI agent who successfully sued the organization for ethnic discrimination, and a former director of juvenile corrections in Massachusetts who closed the states juvenile reformatories and wrote a book alleging that the system hunted down black men for sport. The society also honored Zaki Baruti, a radical black activist in St. Louis known for his hatred of police and support for leftist causes.

Recently, the ASCs policy committee sent a mass e-mail to members, asking for help in countering a Wall Street Journal editorial written by Heather Mac Donald, a longtime City Journal contributing editor and a writer known for eviscerating liberal claims about the police and the justice system. Mac Donald argued that because of increased scrutiny and charges of racism, police had rolled back their efforts to deter crime, at least in minority communities, resulting in rising violence in many cities across the country. She called this the Ferguson Effect, after the town in Missouri where the (justified) police shooting of Michael Brown, a young black man, in 2014 ignited riots and gave rise to a new anti-law-enforcement push from advocates, the press, and Democratic politicians. The existence and extent of the Ferguson Effect is an empirical question that can be debated. But it is telling that the ASC had never shown any interest in rebutting the hundreds of editorials that repeated factually baseless claims about police shootings or the racism supposedly embedded in the criminal-justice system. Only Mac Donalds work was singled outas was Wilsons, years earlier.

Walter Miller, one of the few mid-twentieth-century criminologists whose work was unapologetically conservative, suggested that ideology can turn plausibility into ironclad certainty . . . conditional belief into ardent conviction . . . and reasoned advocate into the implacable zealot. When shared beliefs take hold, as they often do in the academic bubble in which most criminologists live, ideological assumptions about crime and criminals can take the form of the sacred and inviolable dogma of the one true faith, the questioning of which is heresy, and the opposing of which is profoundly evil.

Millers observations have proved prophetic. Led by the work of Jonathan Haidt, a growing number of scholars now acknowledge that a lack of ideological diversity in the social sciences skews research in favor of leftist claims, which become the guiding principles of many fields, challenged only at the risk of harming ones career. Liberal assumptions go unchecked and tendentious claims of evidence become fact, while countervailing evidence doesnt get published or faces much more rigorous scrutiny than the assertions that it challenges.

Liberal political values can shape and distort the research that criminologists do and the public positions that they take. Lee Ellis and Anthony Walsh surveyed several hundred criminologists and found that self-reported ideological perspective was strongly associated with the type of theory that the scholar most often advocated, with liberal criminologists primarily supporting theories that locate the causes of crime in social and economic deprivation. Coauthor John Wright has recently collected data showing that political ideology predicts almost perfectly the policy positions of criminologists. On issues ranging from gun control to capital punishment to three-strikes laws, liberal criminologists showed almost no variation in their beliefs. (Needless to say, they dislike guns, oppose punitive sentences, and vehemently object to the death penalty.)

Liberal criminologists primarily support theories that locate the causes of crime in social and economic deprivation.

Most criminologists follow a penal-harm narrative, which seeks to account for all the ways that the criminal-justice system hinders the lives of offenders and their communities, generating and reinforcing social inequality and harming minorities, since they are the primary targets. Purveyors of the penal-harm narrative assert that conservative legislators demagogically used the upswing in crime rates during the late twentieth centuryincluding more than 20,000 murders and hundreds of thousands of rapes, robberies, and assaults per yearto incite racial animosity and arouse support for overly punitive crime policies. The lawmakers pushed for more police and longer and more uniform criminal sentences, went after gangs and street crimelargely located in minority neighborhoodsand backed increased prison capacity. The result was an era of mass incarceration. Amazingly, the criminological community could not see that decades of rising American crime rates might have had something to do with why the public had supported the adoption of three-strikes laws, the imposition of other mandatory-minimum sentences, the rise in incarceration rates, and the death penalty. Instead, criminologists stick to the contention that the anticrime efforts were all about conservatives eagerness to harm vulnerable minority populations.

In 2012, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)commissioned a scholarly review on the growth of incarceration. Leading these efforts was Jeremy Travis, director of the National Institute of Justice under President Bill Clinton and a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, a liberal think tank. Travis recently stepped down as president of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and has a long history in Democratic politics. To assess the evidence on incarceration, he staffed two committees with scholars who had, in one way or another, embraced the penal-harm narrative long before the NAS came knocking. Bruce Western, Michael Tonry, and Marie Gottschalk had written damning accounts of the damage supposedly wrought by rising incarceration rates. Tonry (a past president of the ASC) had previously equated incarceration with Guantanamo, the CIA rendition program, and torture; Gottschalk had condemned the rise of the carceral state as a method to control black populations. Their views dominated the NAS report, which does not differ substantially from the arguments of radical left-wing groups like Black Lives Matter.

What was achieved by ensuring that violent offenders served 85 percent of their sentences or that more murderers were sentenced to prison? Not much, according to the report, other than to reward racists. Crime rates, the authors argued, werent affected, but incarceration took minority men out of their neighborhoods, stripped them of voting rights, destabilized families, and sapped already-paltry economic resources from struggling communities. Such claims could seem plausible only if one believescontrary to evidence and common sensethat career criminals contribute positively to their neighborhoods, enjoy stable and functional families, vote, and work. What they did, in reality, was to prey on their neighbors.

In the NAS report and in subsequent publications, Travis stated that a just-the-facts approach to policy assessment should be replaced by normative values in the research process. What values should displace objective evaluation? The answer: social justice. Scholars cannot claim to be dispassionate analysts when they embrace a social-justice agenda from the outset. Agenda-based politics will overrun their scientific objectivity.

While promoting the report, Travis and Nicholas Turner, president of the Vera Institute of Justice, an advocacy organization, published a New York Times op-ed assailing American prisons and holding up the German penal system as a positive exemplar. To be sure, there are significant differences between the two countries, the authors observed. Most notably, Americas criminal justice system was constructed in slaverys long shadow and is sustained today by the persistent forces of racism. Not only does this statement shed light on the authors ideological views; it also manages to insult anyone who works in the criminal-justice system and who values public safety and order.

Social-justice themes suffuse the NAS report. Consider the authors argument that, while crime has gone up and down at different periods, the incarceration rate has never increased so dramatically as it has in recent years. This is true only in a limited sense. Crime rates didnt vacillate yearly, as the report claims. From 1928 until about 1960, the rates rose slowly each year. Then, during the 1960s, crime rates exploded, launching a three-decade climb that would culminate in remarkable levels of violence. Yet incarceration rates remained flat prior to the 1960s and began to climb only thereafter. By the reports own numbers, prior to 1980, only 40 percent of individuals arrested for murder were sentenced to prison (and murderers served only an average of five years). Less than 10 percent of those arrested for sexual assault in 1981 were sentenced to prison, and they spent an average of only 3.4 years behind bars. After sentencing reforms, 92 percent of convicted murderers were imprisoned for an average of 17 years, and 30 percent of those arrested for sexual assault were sent to prison for 6.6 years. Somehow, the NAS report authors see incarcerating only 40 percent of murderers as just, and sending more murderers and rapists to prison as unjust.

And what about the crime reductions associated with locking up more serious offenders or keeping them behind bars longer? This perennially important policy question was apparently too difficult to answer. After presenting a litany of complex statistical issues that complicate these types of analyses, the authors stated that we cannot arrive at a precise estimate, or even a modest range of estimates, of the magnitude of the effect of incarceration on crime rates.

Gauging the impact of any policy is challenging, but it seems untenable that the authors couldnt craft a range of estimates based on various modeling assumptions. Several studies exist that have done just that, including William Spellmans award-winning work, and most show modest crime reductions connected with incarceration. Steven Levitt (of Freakonomics fame) and Thomas Marvell and Carlisle Moody found that each additional prisoner contributes to reductions ranging from 15 to 30 serious index crimeswhich include murder, rape, aggravated assault, armed robbery, burglary, motor-vehicle theft, larceny, and arson. Unfortunately, criminologists either lack the tools and abilities to assess the amount of crime prevented through incarceration, or, more likely, they lacked the will to do so.

To understand why many criminologists refuse to acknowledge criminal behavior as a potent predictor of life outcomesincluding premature mortality, health disparities, arrest and incarceration, and even being shot by the policeone must understand that most liberal criminologists feel strangely protective about criminals. Criminologists who work collaboratively with the police have done important work in understanding how best to respond to crime and how to prevent it. Their research, which often includes complex spatial analyses of crime patterns and which targets specific, high-rate offenders for arrest and prosecution, has been rigorously evaluated and confirmed. Yet liberal-minded criminologists dismiss these scholars as administrative criminologistsmeaning that they help the state impose unfair social and economic arrangements.

Liberal criminologists avoid discussing the lifestyles that criminal offenders typically lead. Almost all serious offenders are men, and they usually come from families with long histories of criminal involvement, often spanning generations. They show temperamental differences early in life, begin offending in childhood or early adolescence, and rack up dozens of arrests. Their lives are chaotic and hedonistic, including the constant pursuit of drugs and sex. They produce many children with different women and rarely have the meansor inclinationto support them. Active offenders exploit others for their own benefit, including women, children, churches, and the social-welfare system. They commit many crimes before getting arrested, and they move in and out of the criminal-justice system for decades. Many also report enjoying acts of violence; the social-media accounts of martyred gangsters shot by police often illuminate this subculture. Perhaps not surprisingly, they see the police as another competing tribe that has to be manipulated, controlled, and sometimes confronted. In sum, the lives of persistent criminal offenders are often shockingly pathological. The nature of this world is hard to grasp without witnessing it firsthand.

Unfortunately, criminology has had a long history of suppressing evidence for expressly political reasons. For most of its history, the discipline has overtly censored research, for instance, on biological, genetic, and neurological factors that scientists have shown to be associated with antisocial traits and behavioral problems. Even today, despite lots of hard scientific evidencesuch as that 50 percent of the variance in antisocial behavior is attributable to genetic factors, or neuroimaging studies that show systemic structural and functional brain differences between offenders and non-offendersthose who pursue this line of research get branded as racists or even eugenicists. We have personally experienced hostile receptions when presenting our work in these areas at professional conferences and have been excoriated in the anonymous-review process when attempting to publish our papers. The disciplinary animus toward the study of biological factors extends to other individual factors, including intelligence and personality, and to a range of traits, such as callous and unemotional behavior, psychopathy, and self-control.

When it comes to disciplinary biases, however, none is so strong or as corrupting as liberal views on race. Disproportionate black involvement in violent crime represents the elephant in the room amid the current controversy over policing in the United States. Homicide numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Supplementary Homicide Reports, 19762005 indicate that young African-American males account for homicide victims at levels that are ten to 20 times greater than their proportion of the population and account for homicide offenders at levels that are 15 to 35 times greater than their proportion of the population. The black-white gap in armed-robbery offending has historically ranged between ten to one and 15 to one. Even in forms of crime that are allegedly the province of white malessuch as serial murderblacks are overrepresented as offenders by a factor of two. For all racial groups, violent crime is strongly intraracial, and the intraracial dynamic is most pronounced among blacks. In more than 90 percent of cases, the killer of a black victim is a black perpetrator.

Criminologists talk about the race-crime connection behind closed doors, and often in highly guarded language; the topic is a lightning rod for accusations of racial hostility that can be professionally damaging. They avoid discussing even explicitly racist examples of black-on-white crime such as flash-mob assaults, polar bear hunting, and the knockout game. What criminologists wont say in public is that black offending differences have existed since data have been collected and that these differences are behind the racial disparities in arrest, prosecution, and incarceration. They also wont tell you that, despite claims of widespread racial discrimination in the justice system, legal variablesnamely, the number of prior arrests and the seriousness of the crime for which the offender has currently been arrestedaccount for all but a small fraction of the variance in system outcomes. Nor will they tell you the truth about politically correct remedies, such as diversifying police forces, hiring black police chiefs, or training officers in the alleged effects of implicit bias: that these measures wont reduce racial disparities in crime.

Fifty years of research on the topic have failed to find the smoking gun linking justice-system disparities to racism. 

In the aftermath of the Department of Justice reports on Ferguson and Baltimore, it may sound odd to hear that the system does a good job of processing individuals with comparable criminal backgrounds similarly, regardless of race. But 50 years of research on the topic have failed to find the smoking gun linking justice-system disparities to racism. Claims to the contrary often manipulate data or ignore them altogether. In the case of the DOJ reports, and in the eyes of many criminologists, racism has to be the cause of these disparities because recognizing the truth about the huge racial imbalance in crime is politically intolerable.

The values that characterize an academic community cant help but affect, to some degree, the work of that communityin the case of academic criminology, cutting off research or leading to distorted conclusions. But when entering the realm of public policy, these biases can translate into disastrous consequences for real people. Public safety may be compromised, and valuable and limited resources may be squandered. Under the best circumstances, criminal-justice policy confronts a complex and imperfect reality of criminals and their victims; the stakes are too high to accept research tainted by political bias. The hands-off policing now advocated by many liberals doesnt work, and it endangers the lives of police and citizens at the same time that it erodes the legitimacy of law and order.

Reliable evidence tells us that the most effective strategies to reduce crime involve police focusing on crime hot spots, targeting active offenders for arrest, and helping to solve local problems surrounding disorder and incivility. Putting predatory, recidivistic offenders in jail or in prison remains the best way to protect the publicespecially those who live in high-crime neighborhoods. Lower-level offenders can often be supervised in the community, and many benefit from programs that seek to modify drug and alcohol addictions that contribute to their criminal behavior. Despite our best efforts, though, most will re-offend and reenter the system at some point.

The current national conversation about criminal-justice reform is well-intentioned, but we run the risk of succumbing to passionate rhetoric and to being misled by promises built on flimsy evidence. Gains made in reducing crime have been hard-won, but faulty reform can easily erode them. Its costs will be measured in lost lives and suffering. The reality of crime does not easily lend itself to analysis by spreadsheet; nor is it a matter of arcane theory or philosophical principles to those whove been victimized. Reform efforts must recognize these stubborn facts. We encourage policymakers to listen to what criminologists have to saybut we also encourage them to pay attention to what they dont say, which is often more important.

Top Photo: The eminent political scientist James Q. Wilsons work had a major impact on public policy, even as he found himself ostracized by academic criminologists. (AP PHOTO)
OHCHR Moldova: Apel deschis pentru aplicatii din partea OSC-urilor pentru a beneficia de suport in desfasurarea activitatilor de advocacy la nivel international in contextul celui de-al treilea ciclu de EPU a R. Moldova
Level B training does not involve simulators.

On Wednesday, Boeing outlined a series of changes to the MCAS system. It continues to believe existing emergency protocols allow pilots to correct a runaway stabilizer, which can be caused by a MCAS failure among other things. Boeing says its new changes give pilots more authority.

The amount and quality of training that Boeing and airlines provided to 737 MAX pilots is one of the issues as investigators around the world try to determine the causes of two 737 MAX crashes within five months that claimed 346 lives. All 737 MAX airliners are grounded until regulators around the world approve the new software and training protocols.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Boeings development process and what Boeing disclosed about MCAS.

A Boeing spokeswoman said the company followed industry standards and conducted thorough safety analyses in designing the MAX flight controls and other systems.

The design and certification of the MCAS flight control law adhered to these processes and assumptions, she said.

The decisions to avoid simulator training had their roots in the companys decision under intense pressure from the aircraft market over a weekend in 2011 to change strategy and outfit an upgraded 737 with more efficient engines similar to those on the new Airbus, rather than build an all-new design.

The new 737 MAX engines had to be mounted further forward on the wing, raising the risk that the planes nose would tilt up, threatening a stall in some situations.

MCAS was designed to automatically and powerfully push the nose down if data from an angle of attack sensor mounted near the front of the plane showed risk of a stall.

Former Boeing engineers who worked on MCAS said there was no pressure to compromise safety. After analyzing solutions for MCAS, Boeings engineers chose a simpler design for solving the jets pitch-up tendency, according to the three former Boeing employees and an industry executive with knowledge of the decision.

It wasnt necessarily the simplest way to get around the regulations, said Mike Renzelmann, a former Boeing engineer who worked on flight controls on the 737 MAX. It was the safest way to get around the regulations.

MCAS was just one of many so-called control laws on the 737 MAX, a few lines of code embedded into the flight control system.

Its always a balance between complexity and availability of the function. The more complex you make something, the more likely it is to be unavailable when you need it, a Boeing official said.

Last Line of Defense

Boeing rated MCAS a hazardous risk, an FAA term that means multiple deaths could result if the system failed, the Boeing official said. That is a step below catastrophic, which could cause loss of the plane and death of all on board.

Boeings rationale was that trained pilots would know how to respond if MCAS failed, the official said. Long-established procedures for runaway stabilizer trim would prompt pilots to shut down MCAS, whether they knew it existed or not.

Under FAA rules, hazardous risks are allowed to happen more frequently than catastrophic ones.

One industry source familiar with plane certification said he was astonished that Boeing was able to gain FAA approval for the MCAS system with one angle of attack sensor and pilots as backup.

In reality, no single device is that robust and reliable which is why there needs to be mitigations, he said.

On Wednesday, Boeing said the MCAS system would now rely on two sensors.

During nine to 12 months of MAX flight testing, test pilots injected errors into the flight system that tested stall conditions and runaway stabilizer, among other scenarios, the people said. But no one was aware of a specific test of an MCAS failure mode triggered by erroneous sensor data.

The problem with these two accidents is that there were failure modes that people didnt analyze properly or consider they could happen that way, according to an FAA official with direct knowledge of the 737 MAX certification.
Bayer AG vowed to keep defending its weedkiller Roundup after losing a second trial over claims it causes cancer, indicating that the embattled company isnt yet ready to consider spending billions of dollars to settle thousands of similar lawsuits.

A jury in San Francisco federal court awarded compensatory damages of $5.3 million and punitive damages of $75 million to a 70-year-old man who became ill after spraying the herbicide on his property for decades. Wednesdays verdict follows a similar decision by a state court jury last summer, and comes as a third trial is under way in Oakland, California.

The company will continue to vigorously defend the herbicide, which it considers safe, Christian Hartel, a spokesman, said by phone from Bayers headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany. It plans to appeal the verdict and doesnt view the ruling as a harbinger for others because each trial has different factual and legal circumstances.

Some experts disagree. You cant keep trying case after case after case and keep losing and say, Were not going to settle, said Thomas G. Rohback, a trial lawyer at Axinn in New York. If Bayer continues to lose at trial, it has to put the possibility of a settlement of these cases into the mix.

Roundup became the German companys leading headache after it acquired Monsanto Co. for about $63 billion last June. Bayer has lost more than 40 percent of its value since the transaction. On Thursday, its shares fell as much as 3.3 percent to 54.48 euros in Frankfurt, the lowest level in more than six years.

The case was brought by Edwin Hardeman, who used the herbicide on his large plot of land in Sonoma County, about 60 miles north of San Francisco. As with the thousands of other consumers suing Bayer, Hardeman argued his years of exposure to the chemical caused his non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

The jury found that theres a defect in Roundup, that Bayer failed to warn of the products risks and that the company was negligent.

Some analysts have put the price of settling lawsuits over Roundup filed by more than 11,200 people in the U.S. at more than $5 billion. Rohback said Bayer may be pursuing a long game, based on a strategy of continuing to fight in hopes of finding some plaintiffs it can beat.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

A new $80 million verdict against Bayer over claims its weedkiller caused a consumers cancer signals a tough slog ahead for the company in many of the 11,200 cases pending across the U.S.

The Roundup verdict is the third-largest product liability jury award in the U.S. so far in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The largest such verdict, for $151.8 million, was issued by an Alabama jury last month against Ford Motor Co., over an Explorer rollover accident.

Bayer wont have the advantage in Oakland that it had in San Francisco federal court. Hardemans trial was split into two parts, a format that legal experts said gave the company its best chance of evening the score after it lost the first Roundup trial last summer and was ultimately ordered to pay $78.6 million in damages.

Secret Campaign

Instead, the Oakland trial will permit lawyers to present jurors at the outset with their narrative about Monsanto Co.s secret campaign to manipulate public opinion and bury evidence of Roundups cancer risks.

Jurors in Hardemans case first sat through weeks of scientific testimony to decide whether Roundup was a substantial factor in causing his illness before they heard any evidence that Monsanto ghostwrote influential studies and improperly leaned on regulators. Bayer countered that scientific studies showed the herbicide is safe and argued to the jury that damning emails were taken out of context.

Hardeman sought more than $19 million in damages, including compensation for hospital bills as well as pain and suffering.

Monsantos Actions

His lawyers said the verdict sends a message to Monsanto that it needs to change the way it does business.

It speaks volumes that not one Monsanto employee, past or present, came live to trial to defend Roundups safety or Monsantos actions, Aimee Wagstaff and Jennifer Moore said in a statement.

Bayers adversaries in Oakland are Alva and Alberta Pilliod, a couple in their 70s who invoked a California law that gives scheduling preference to people who are ill. A school groundskeeper who won the first trial against Bayer in August relied on the same law. Bayer is appealing the August verdict, too.

If the losses keep coming, Rohback said, Bayers only justification for continuing to fight is if plaintiffs lawyers are making unrealistic demands to resolve the litigation. At some point youre not getting a lot of encouragement to go forward with the same approach, he said.

The case is In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2741, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
A U.S. federal appeals court refused to hold Grindr liable to a New York man who said his former boyfriend used the gay dating app to post fake profiles, in a harassment campaign that caused more than 1,000 men to approach the victim for sex.

The 3-0 decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals against Matthew Herrick came in a closely watched case over how far the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 federal law meant to restrict pornography while allowing other speech online, should shield Internet-based companies from user abuses.

The court rejected Herricks negligence and emotional distress claims for Grindrs failure to edit or remove his former boyfriends offensive content.

It said Grindr was shielded from liability for exercising a publishers traditional editorial functions, or providing neutral assistance in the form of tools and functionality available equally to bad actors and the apps intended users.

Grindr is owned by Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. The Chinese gaming company is trying to sell Grindr after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States said its ownership posed a national security risk, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Herrick, who stopped using Grindr in 2015, said the fake profiles caused as many as 16 strangers a day to visit his home and the restaurant where he worked, expecting sex, for several months starting in Oct. 2016.

He sued in Jan. 2017, and a federal judge dismissed his case a year later, prompting the appeal.

Herricks lawyer Tor Ekeland said in an interview he was disappointed but not surprised by Wednesdays decision because courts are extremely deferential to big tech when interpreting the CDA.

He may ask the entire Manhattan-based appeals court to rehear the case.

What happened to Matthew is not an isolated incident, Ekeland said. Apps are being used to stalk, rape and murder. Under the courts reading of the CDA, big tech companies dont have responsibility to do anything about it, even if they know it is happening. Congress needs to amend this statute.

Moez Kaba, a lawyer for Grindr, said the decision clarified that CDA protections extend to apps, which is important in the smartphone era, where so much activity is done on apps rather than through traditional web pages.

No one disputes that the plaintiffs situation was unfortunate, he said, but the 2nd Circuit was plainly correct in finding that apps and their owners cannot be liable for this sort of third-party conduct.

The case is Herrick v Grindr LLC et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 18-396.
CLEVELAND, OHIO -- Connie Busemeyer had car problems, and time was running out. Its not a short drive from Medina to Columbus.

"Good for the online stuff," she said, explaining that she went to the internet to rent a car for an important ride.

Busemeyer felt an urgency because, as a caregiver, she wanted to represent those who couldn't get to Ohio's capital city for the Alzheimer's Association's recent Memory Day event.

"My purpose for going to Memory Day was to be a voice for caregivers," said Busemeyer, "for those family members who are caring for their loved ones, 24/7. Those sons, daughters, husbands or wives taking care of their loved ones.

I knew I didnt want to let my clients or families down. Memory Day -- with me being an advocate for those who cant attend -- is just a way I can do more for the clients, families, and other caregivers by speaking out. Hopefully, in my lifetime I will see the first person cured of this disease.

Busemeyer, who spoke with legislative aides at Memory Day, is an advocate for those who take care in their homes of a loved one suffering from Alzheimers or other dementia diseases.

Senate Bill 24's sponsors, state senators Steve Wilson, left, and Kenny Yuko, during the bills first hearing on March 20. (Photo Courtesy of Kenny Yuko)

The March 14 Memory Day in the Ohio Statehouse Rotunda featured a luncheon, followed by meetings of caregivers and their advocates with state legislators and aides. The Alzheimers Association has coordinated one such day a year since 1998.

Its so powerful to meet people and hear their stories, State Sen. Kenny Yuko said via email. Memory Day helped reinforce why we need to pass Senate Bill 24 and create a task force to address the diseases impact on Ohioans. We can and should help improve the lives of people with Alzheimers and those who love them.

Yuko, a Democrat representing Ohios 25th Senate District -- which includes parts of Cuyahoga and Lake counties -- and District 7 Republican Steve Wilson are the primary sponsors of Senate Bill 24.

Ohio is the only state without a comprehensive Alzheimers plan. Senate Bill 24 would create the Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias Task Force to develop a state plan to improve services for people who have Alzheimers and dementias, and to support those providing care for ill loved ones.

According to the Alzheimers Association, about 220,000 Ohioans have Alzheimers, and there were 5,117 deaths in Ohio from the disease in 2017. Alzheimers diminishes memory and other mental functions, and is progressive and incurable. Treatment can help its victims -- who often live for years with the disease -- to varying degrees.

(Senate Bill 24) had its second hearing on March 26 in the Senate Health, Human Services and Medicaid Committee, said Sen. John Eklund (R-18) in an email. I remain hopeful that there is support in the legislature to have a comprehensive plan for this growing public health crisis, and that Gov. (Mike) DeWine will sign it when the measure gets to his desk.

Busemeyer, 67, is a retired registered nurse who is now a caregiver for Home Instead Senior Care, which visits private homes to aid people who have Alzheimers and other illnesses, such as various forms of dementia. Her late father had dementia, and a late uncle had Alzheimers.

Cleveland Heights' Karen D. Gorman Jones spoke to the Memory Day crowd in the Ohio Statehouse Rotunda. (Photo Courtesy of Alzheimer's Association of Cleveland)

The majority of people suffering from the diseases are cared for in their homes by a relative or friend. Its such caregivers that the Alzheimers Association hopes will be aided by Senate Bill 24.

Paula, 72, lives in Chagrin Falls with her 73-year-old husband, David, who has Lewy Body Dementia, which diminishes mental abilities and often includes Parkinson's Disease-like physical symptoms.

She asked that the couple's last name not be published.

It is very difficult, sad and heart-wrenching to watch a loved one struggle with the day-to-day problems of this horrendous disease, said Paula, who went to Memory Day on a bus chartered by the Alzheimers Associations Cleveland chapter. She is Davids primary caregiver.

Its a real constant on your mind. Will I be able to take care of him, and take care of myself so I dont burn out? Paula said.

Paula, whose mother lived with Alzheimers for 18 years, said one of the biggest challenges is "keeping him safe. Another curse of this disease is that his brain doesnt always tell him when he is in danger. His mind will tell him he can walk across a room perfectly fine. As a result, he is often unstable and falls, and some of the falls have been very serious.

"We are still going out to dinner with friends. We still go to the movies and to the theater. On nice days, we go to one of the Metroparks and do some walking or just sit in the sun and watch the people hike by."

Paula was in a group of caregivers who spoke in several 20-minute sessions with Ohio Senate and House representatives and aides at Memory Day.

Cleveland Heights Karen D. Gorman Jones cares for her mother, Inez Gorman, 90, at home. She brought her mother with her to the Statehouse, and got a standing ovation after speaking in front of the 350 caregivers, advocates and legislators.

"I believe that it is important for my mother to experience and be involved in everything she can, while she can," Jones said of bringing her mother. "I want her to be and to experience everything possible. I am very proud of my mother. Although she has Alzheimer's, she has chosen to fight and do all that she can to maintain her lifestyle and positive mind-set for as long as she possibly can.

Having her with me gave me the strength to speak on her behalf and for the other 220,000 with Alzheimers in Ohio. She knew we were there to tell our story, and she actually gave input about her journey to the legislators and their representatives.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed suit against Summit County and Bath Township on behalf of a panhandler who said police harassed him and enforced an unconstitutional ordinance.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday on behalf of Leon Wilson, said a law the County Council passed last year violates the First Amendment. It also says Bath Township police, including Chief Vito Sinopoli, confronted Wilson about panhandling several times.

Wilson, 66, served in the Marines and holds his sign at stop signs and traffic lights. The lawsuit says he does not interfere with traffic or put himself or anybody else at risk while holding the sign.

Summit County passed an ordinance in 2013 that made it a crime to ask for donations in groups of two or more in many locations, such as within 25 feet of an intersection. The ACLU and National Center for Homelessness and Poverty sent a letter to the county in August that said the ordinance was unconstitutional, according to the suit.

The County Prosecutors Office also said the ordinance was unconstitutional and the County Council repealed the ordinance in October. In December, it passed a new ordinance. Councilman Clair Dickinson, a sponsor of the bill who is also a lawyer, said he, the Prosecutors Office and counsel for the county executive all reviewed the new ordinance and believe its constitutional.

However, the ACLU says the new ordinance does the same thing as the old one  tries to exclude panhandlers from certain parts of the county.

The ordinance makes it a crime for any person in a right-of-way to engage in distribution with a driver or passenger of a vehicle. It defines distribution as an exchange or an attempt to exchange a physical item between two or more persons, according to the suit.

Thus, a panhandler who holds up a sign and tries to receive a donation from someone would be guilty of distribution,' the lawsuit states.

Police in Bath Township, which the ordinance covers, told Wilson he had to leave on several occasions between December and February. On two occasions, Sinopoli himself told Wilson he could no longer panhandle. In December, Sinopoli told Wilson that I want you to leave and never come back, according to the lawsuit.

Wilson originally filed suit in January against the city of Akron pro se, meaning without a lawyer. He later added Bath Township and the police chief to the case. The ACLU changed the claims and defendants once it started representing Wilson.

The ACLU has either sent letters or filed lawsuits over several cities panhandling laws in recent years, including for Cleveland and Akron. Both cities changed their laws in the wake of lawsuits.

Sinopoli said Friday that he received a copy of the lawsuit but declined comment, citing township policy. He said township officials are discussing the lawsuit with the County Prosecutors Office and legal counsel.

A spokeswoman for County Executive Ilene Shapiro declined comment.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge John Adams.

Click here to read the lawsuit on a mobile device.
Your Own Worst Enemy

Gordon Jack

HarperCollins, $17.99, 436 pp.

You think Washington politics is bad? Try high school politics, specifically the race for student body president at Lincoln High School in southern California. It doesnt get any worse (or more entertaining) than this. The candidates: Stacey Wynn, high school queen bee and front-runner; Julia Romero, a transfer student with a secret past; and Tony Guo, a goofball pot smoker whose only motivation is returning chocolate milk to the school cafeteria. Protagonist is Brian, best friend to Stacey and love interest to Julia, who spends his days trying to negotiate the political and personal landmines of high-drama high school elections. Teens who are paying attention to todays political climate will be in on the joke. That its a metaphor for our times is apparent on the very first page, when Stacey, hiding out after an election-day brawl, sees that her name is trending with the hashtag #LockHerUp. At times touching and other times laugh-out-loud-funny, this one will resonate with readers old and young, male and female.

Grade: A

Skyward

Brandon Sanderson

Delacorte Press, $19.99, 510 pp.

Sixteen-year-old Spensa Nightshade, call sign Spin, has wanted to be a pilot her entire life, ever since her father abandoned his fleet, forever deemed a coward. Now its Spensas turn to prove she is different. The action takes place on planet Detritus, where the exiled human race has set up a mostly underground existence. Still under attack by alien enemies known as the Krell, the humans need a new crop of pilots every year to ward off frequent attacks. Spensa, a fierce warrior with special powers and a magical ship, sets out to learn the truth about her father. In the process, she (not surprisingly) learns a lot about herself. Sanderson, the bestselling author of the Reckoners series (Steelheart, Firefight and Calamity), has another winner on his hands. A fantasy-sci fi hybrid, Skyward is the first in a four-book series, with the second installment, Starsight, due out later this year. The good news: Skyward can stand alone. But why should it? Let the heroic adventures of Spensa continue.

Grade: A-

The Lying Woods

Ashley Elston

Disney Press, $17.99, 327 pp.

This is one of those stories that, when you get to the ending, you want to start all over again to discover the clues the author left along the way. High school student Owen Foster is the protagonist, the son of wealthy parents, who is abruptly pulled from his New Orleans boarding school after his father goes missing, accused of embezzling millions and stealing from the retirement accounts of his employees. Forced to re-enroll in the local public schools, Owen struggles to adjust. Helping him cope: an old friend who becomes a love interest and his work on a nearby pecan farm, where his father used to work and where his parents first met. The story is told in alternating years, 1999 and the present, eventually linking up for a should-have-seen-it-coming ending that may send you back to the beginning searching for clues.

Grade: B+
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and two employees of his InfoWars website on Friday were dismissed as defendants in a lawsuit that claimed InfoWars employees lied about their injuries during an American flag-burning protest during the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Joey Johnson, who set Supreme Court precedent over the constitutionality of flag burning, sued Jones and the InfoWars employees because he said the two employees lied about their injuries and that Cleveland police violated his rights when they arrested him for assault based on the employees statements.

U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver ruled Friday that the statements of employees Joseph Biggs and Jordan Salkin during a police investigation are privileged and cant be used against them in the lawsuit.

Jones was sued because he owns InfoWars and Johnson claimed he was responsible for their actions.

Oliver has not yet made a decision on whether or not Johnsons claims against Cleveland police will continue.

Johnson was charged with assault, but prosecutors later dropped the misdemeanor charge.

Police reports of Johnsons arrest list Biggs and Salkin as victims because both suffered burns on their left hands. The affidavit of probable cause identifies the men as members of the media.

But in a video posted by Jones, Biggs claimed that he attacked Johnson as the flag burned.

In an August 2016 interview with cleveland.com, Biggs said he never attacked Johnson, despite the fact that the video clearly shows him claiming that he punched and kicked Johnson. Instead, Biggs said I wish I would have, since I was so angry.

Johnson was one of 16 people arrested during the flag-burning. All charges were eventually dismissed.

Johnsons lawsuit accuses Cleveland police of lying when they reported that Johnson set himself on fire during the flag burning. He claims in the lawsuit that officers scrambled to find a charge to cover up what was a violation of his free-speech rights.

Jones found himself in the news Friday after attorneys representing the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting released hours of recorded depositions Jones made as part of the lawsuits. The families sued Jones claiming that they have been subjected to years of harassment that stems from Jones persistent conspiracy theory that the 2012 shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead was a staged false-flag event.

A federal judge in Virginia also said Friday that a defamation lawsuit filed against Jones can proceed. The suit was brought by Brennan Gilmore, a protester who filmed James Alex Fields Jr. as he drove into a crowd of protesters killing Heather Heyer during an August 2017 white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In the days after the video was posted on Twitter, Jones portrayed Brennan Gilmore as part of the government deep state.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The City Club of Cleveland will host a discussion about the United States place in international violent conflicts.

Today, as racism, hate speech, violent misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of xenophobia are on the rise, what is the United States role in the prevention of  or response to  grave violence and crimes against humanity? a description of the event reads.

Panelists include:

Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Malta

John Evans, Former Ambassador to Armenia and author, Truth Held Hostage: America and the Armenian Genocide

Julie Mazzei, Kent State University associate political science professor

WCPN ideastream host and producer Tony Ganzer is set to moderate the conversation.

Watch live in the video player above at 12:30 p.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Many poor and affluent school districts alike would see state funding frozen under a new Fair School Funding plan proposed in the Ohio House this week, though none would lose money and districts that are growing will see more aid over time.

Funding simulations released yesterday for a plan created by State Reps. John Patterson, an Ashtabula County Democrat, and Robert Cupp, a Lima Republican, show gains and freezes that could surprise many.

Though the plan would increase state aid to schools statewide by about six percent next school year, then another four percent the year after, 88 districts would be frozen next year.

That includes several urban school districts like Cleveland, East Cleveland, Lorain, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown. But it also includes affluent districts like Hudson, Brecksville-Broadview Heights and Chagrin Falls.

In most cases, thats because the districts have lower enrollment.

At the same time, other urban areas like Akron, Cincinnati and Columbus would see increases. And some smaller local districts like Fairport Harbor and Maple Heights would see about 40 percent jumps in state aid.

Click here to see projections for all districts in Ohio.

The projections released Friday are preliminary and are still subject to changes because of demographics and enrollment in districts. The plan also needs to gain support of both the House and state Senate, with the House just starting its discussion of it this week.

While the plan may change funding in major ways for some districts, many are backing the plan, which bases state aid off of the minimum number of teachers and other staff a school needs for its enrollment, while also weighting aid based on the income and property values per student of a district.

To get to where we want to be, there are going to be some choppy waters, warned Patterson.

Even with a funding freeze, count Lakewood Superintendent Michael Barnes as a supporter of the plan. He worked with Cupp and Patterson, as did several other school officials, to try to create a funding system that is less complicated than the patchwork created under former Gov. John Kasich and the legislature.

Im excited about the proposal based on actual costs to educate students and what our residents can afford, Barnes said.

Chardon Superintendent Michael Hanlon, who also worked on the plan, will see a 12 percent increase. He told a House committee Wednesday that the old funding plan, which also had its own calculation of affluence and student needs, was too complex for many to understand.

For political reasons and a lack of money, 80 percent of districts werent even funded based on the current formula. They either had a guarantee of no decrease or a cap on how much they could gain in a year.

It is cumbersome and fails to provide a rational, understandable and predicable result, he said of the old plan.
CINCINNATI, Ohio  A suspect in the hit-and-run death of a 2-year-old boy has died of an apparent drug overdose after he was found unresponsive in his jail cell, according to reports.

Satwinder Singh, 31, had been held in the Hamilton County Justice Center on aggravated vehicular homicide charges in connection with the Dec. 31 death of Dameon Turner Jr., WCPO Channel 9 reports.

He was found unresponsive in his cell on Tuesday and later died at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, WLWT Channel 5 reports.

Police say Singh was driving a vehicle that jumped a curb and crashed into Dameon, who was being pushed in a stroller by his father.

Singh reportedly was under the influence of fentanyl, cocaine and other opiates at the time of the crash.

Dameons mother, Brittney Hutcherson, tells WLWT the news of Singhs death has left her feeling she will not be able to get justice for her son.

Im angry. Im mad. Im upset. I feel like I was failed, Hutcherson tells WLWT. Not only do I want more answers, but I want answers from the justice center, because I feel like they failed me also.

If youd like to comment on this story, visit Thursdays crime and courts comments section.
NEW YORK (AP)  New York on Thursday sued the billionaire family behind OxyContin, joining a growing list of state and local governments alleging the drugmaker sparked the nations opioid crisis by putting hunger for profits over patient safety.

The state, which averages nine opioid-related deaths per day, amended an existing lawsuit against pill maker Purdue Pharma to add members of its controlling Sackler family as defendants. The state also added as defendants five other companies that produce opioid painkillers and, in what New York Attorney General Letitia James called a novelty, four drug distributors.

"This is an extensive lawsuit that leaves no stone unturned," James, a Democrat, said at a news conference.

The lawsuit seeks penalties and damages that could add up to tens of millions of dollars and a dedicated fund to curb the opioid epidemic. It also seeks to have the companies stripped of their licenses and barred from marketing and distributing painkillers in New York until they abide by strict safeguards.

The companies, the lawsuit said, deliberately betrayed their duties under state drug laws "in order to profiteer from the plague they knew would be unleashed."

The lawsuit described the opioid epidemic as a "statewide catastrophe."

The announcement of New York's expanded lawsuit came two days after Purdue and the Sacklers agreed to pay $270 million to the state of Oklahoma. It was the first settlement in a recent wave of nearly 2,000 lawsuits that the company says could push it into bankruptcy. In settling the case, Purdue denied any wrongdoing.

New York's lawsuit echoes the other cases, alleging the Sacklers' and Purdue's aggressive marketing of OxyContin beginning in the mid-1990s led to massive overprescribing and a scourge of dependency, addiction and death. Once the pills ran out, the lawsuit alleges, many patients craving the same effects turned to cheaper, more potent alternatives: heroin and fentanyl.

New York's lawsuit accuses drug manufacturers of collaborating to falsely deny the serious risks of opioid addiction. It accuses drug distributors of saturating the state with opioids while lacking adequate compliance systems to spot potential red flags. Both groups are accused of lying to state regulators.

Purdue is accused of downplaying the addiction risks and pushing doctors to increase dosages even as the dangers became known, the lawsuit said. Some of the company's marketing tactics included hiring a respected New York City doctor to tout the drug and sending representatives on more than a million sales visits to doctors' offices, the lawsuit said.

Richard Sackler, then senior vice president responsible for sales, proudly told the audience at an OxyContin launch party in 1996 that it would create a "blizzard of prescriptions that will bury the competition," the lawsuit said.

In a statement on the Oklahoma case, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company said the money that will go toward addiction studies and treatment in the state will help people across the country. CEO Craig Landau said the company is committed to "help drive solutions to the opioid addiction crisis."

Members of the Sackler family weren't defendants in the Oklahoma case and voluntarily contributed to the settlement, the company said. "We have profound compassion for those who are affected by addiction," the family said in a statement.

The Sacklers have given tens of millions of dollars to New York City cultural institutions. Several members of the family own multimillion-dollar Manhattan apartments. One has a $5 million Long Island estate.

In the past few weeks, as the accusations against the family have mounted, the Tate museums in London and the Guggenheim Museum in New York have cut ties with the family, and other institutions have come under pressure to turn down donations or remove the Sackler name.

New York's lawsuit underscores the impact of opioid addiction in the state. From 2010-2013, the lawsuit said, there was a three-fold increase in heroin-related deaths in New York. Since 2013, opioid-related deaths in the state have more than doubled and there's been a 30-fold increase in fentanyl-related deaths in New York City.

The lawsuit also highlighted the death of one New York woman: Saige Earley, who was found dead last September in a bathroom stall at the Syracuse airport with a needle in her arm and a boarding pass for a flight to drug rehab in her hand. Earley, 23, had turned to heroin after getting hooked on painkillers when she had her wisdom teeth pulled.

The other defendants in New Yorks lawsuit are: Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals; U.K.-based Mallinckrodt plc, which has an opioid manufacturing plant in Hobart, New York; Dublin-based Endo and Allergan; Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva and the drug distributors McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and Rochester Drug Cooperative Inc.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A federal judge in Youngstown on Thursday took aim at the U.S. Attorneys Office in Cleveland for something done by prosecutors across the country: saying a suspect committed a crime.

U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson, in a 12-page order, criticized a press release U.S. Attorneys Office spokesman Mike Tobin sent out in February regarding charges against six people in what prosecutors described as a scheme to defraud Medicaid out of tens of millions of dollars.

Pearson said the release vacillates between reciting allegations and espousing fact and does not say enough times that the claims came from a grand jury indictment. The judge also criticized what she said were disparaging quotes from officials about the defendants, some of which ended up in news articles covering the case.

(You can read the full order here or at the bottom of this story)

The judges order is peculiar because of its subject matter. It is fairly common for prosecutors spokespeople, either at the federal or state level, to issue press releases that include quotes from the head of the office and other agencies that worked on an investigation.

Prosecutors and law enforcement also frequently grant reporters interviews and hold press conferences to announce the arrest and charging of suspects in high profile cases. They often insist the suspect will be found guilty.

Pearson, a former federal prosecutor, made it clear she thought the U.S. Attorneys Office was doing it the wrong way.

It is improper  for the Government to express opinions about the bad character and supposed guilt of unconvicted defendants, Person wrote.

The issue came up because Cleveland defense lawyer Paul Flannery filed a motion March 7 asking the judge to sanction the government for improper public statements made directly to the media, Pearson wrote.

The attorney represents Dr. Thomas Bailey, one of six people charged following an investigation into Braking Point Recovery Center, a for-profit company that provided detox, outpatient treatment, day treatment and sober-living services. Federal prosecutors say Bailey, who lives in the small Mahoning County village of Poland, worked with Braking Point owner Ryan Sheridan and others in a scheme to improperly bill Medicaid for more than $48 million.

Tobins release included quotes from several public officials. Ryan Korner, then the special agent in charge of the IRS criminal investigations office in Cincinnati, called the defendants thieves. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said that these scams are a sucker punch in the face to every family with loved ones struggling with addiction.

Flannery, a former assistant U.S. attorney who left the office in 2017, argued that statements made by officials in the news release were inflammatory and tainted the jury pool. He said the government violated local court rules, Ohios rules for attorney conduct and Justice Department policies about confidentiality and statements to the media.

Prosecutors conceded that certain remarks could have been better stated" but said none of the statements were improper or prejudiced Bailey.

Pearson agreed the statements were problematic but went farther than that. She cited other examples where prosecutors press releases went for long stretches of text without attributing allegations to court filings or an indictment.

Despite the issues she found with the release and others, she declined to issue sanctions, citing no proof of lingering prejudice." Flannery pointed to four anonymous comments posted online about a news story, but that is hardly an outpouring of community anger, the judge wrote.

In fact, the commentators almost immediately lost interest in the news of the indictment and focused their complaints on politics and dollar store robbers, Pearson wrote in a footnote.

She said, however, that the Government shall not publish any further suggestive or inflammatory statements about this case prior to its conclusion, and should seriously reconsider its penchant for commenting about cases in which defendants have been charged but not convicted.

Tobin declined comment.

Flannery, who co-runs a law firm with fellow former federal prosecutor Chris Georgalis, also declined comment, including when he was asked whether he raised concerns about press releases for his cases when he worked at the U.S. Attorneys Office.

For example, prosecutors on Aug. 23, 2017, announced the indictment of 20 people from the Youngstown area charged in a scheme to launder $16 million obtained through computer hacking and fraud. In that release, U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman is quoted as saying these defendants were a vital cog in an international theft ring.

Flannery said he couldnt talk about internal conversations that happened while he was at the U.S. Attorneys Office.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Investigators looking into the troubled Cuyahoga County jails have sought information from the County Medical Examiners Office in connection with the death of an inmate last summer.

A subpoena, served Friday on the medical examiner, requests records related to the examination, autopsy, verdict and findings connected with the death of 47-year-old Joseph Arquillo, as well as any reports received from the County Sheriffs Department pertaining to Arquillo.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is looking into Arquillos death. He died of a drug overdose on Aug. 28, with heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and Valium in his system, according to the County Medical Examiners Office.

County corrections officer Martin Devring is accused of kicking Arquillos mat as he fell prior to his death, according to county records, and of failing to check on Arquillo even though surveillance video showed Arquillo in obvious physical distress.

Devring was fired several months after the incident for failure to perform his duty and falsification, according to a county spokeswoman.

A spokesman for the Ohio Police Benevolent Association stated at the time that Devring denied responsibility for Arquillos death.

Arquillo is one of eight county inmates who have died since June 10, 2018. One of them was housed at the county-run Euclid Jail. The others died at the main jail in downtown Cleveland.

The deaths occurred during County Executive Armond Budishs drive to regionalize county jail operations. That effort resulted in jail crowding.

The investigators serving the subpoena are part of a team looking into county operations in several areas, including the jail. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael OMalley, whose office is defending the county against lawsuits related to inmate deaths, turned the investigation over to the Ohio Attorney Generals Office to prevent a conflict of interest.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Less than a month after proposing a federal budget that would have cut Great Lakes cleanup money from $300 million to $30 million, President Donald Trump pledged to provide the full $300 million during a campaign rally in Michigan.

During the rally in Grand Rapids, Trump told the audience We have some breaking news!

You ready? Can you handle it? he asked. I dont think you can handle it. I support the Great Lakes. Always have. They are beautiful. They are big, very deep, record deepness, right? And I am going to get, in honor of my friends, full funding of $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which you have been trying to get for over 30 years. So, we will get it done.

Since entering the White House, all the yearly budgets that Trump has presented to Congress suggested cuts to the program, but Congress has overruled Trump by giving the program $300 million each year. Over the past two years, Trump proposed a 90 percent cut to the program. During his first year in office, Trump called for eliminating the program.

Ohio members of Congress who secured money for the program in past years after Trump recommended cuts said they were pleased with the reversal.

As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, which approves funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, I would have never allowed Trumps gutting of GLRI make it through Congress without a fight," said a statement from Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur. "The GLRI is critical for containing invasive species such as Asian Carp, and for restoring the Great Lakes economic and ecological vitality. The program has enjoyed broad bipartisan support, which put his proposal even more out of touch with the mainstream. Its an insult to the 30 million people who rely on the Great Lakes that he would even put such a disastrous proposal on the table.

Bainbridge Township Republican Rep. Dave Joyce took to Twitter to say he was glad to hear Trumps remarks.

I look forward to working with you to ensure the # GLRI receives full funding so we can continue to protect the # GreatLakes, " Joyce said.
The European Parliament has approved controversial copyright reforms without any changes, thus paving the way for an early implementation. Robert Michael | picture alliance | Getty Images

If you're an internet user in Europe, chances are the way you use platforms like YouTube and Facebook could be about to shift drastically in the coming years. The European Parliament recently passed sweeping changes to the EU's almost two decades-old copyright rules, and critics are worried it could be a misfire that ultimately results in online censorship. The aptly-named directive on "Copyright in the Digital Single Market" is all part of the bloc's efforts to update its laws to reflect the challenges posed by the age of information. First introduced by the European Commission in 2016, the new copyright law contains two particular sections that have attracted heavy scrutiny from activists and internet giants alike: Articles 11 and 13 (or 15 and 17 as they're now numbered after a recent update).

The former is aimed at giving news organizations more protections to ensure they're paid fairly for the dissemination of their stories online. Services like Google News will be under particular pressure, as the rules will mean tech firms need to agree to licenses with publishers to share their articles. In fact, Google has gone as far as to suggest that it may even be forced to pull its news aggregation platform from Europe as a result of the new legislation. But the biggest source of worry for the people and companies protesting the new measures by far is Article 13. Currently, the onus is on rightsholders to flag copyright violations with tech firms, who can then take action to pull content if they find it's in breach of copyright. With the new rules, liability now lies with tech giants to ensure their platforms aren't open to copyright breaches. Detractors have said this would lead to controversial pre-filter systems, where everything from memes to GIFs are blocked from online platforms. For its part, the European Parliament has said this won't be the case, and that memes, GIFs, hyperlinks and snippets of articles will still be able to be shared freely. But that hasn't allayed the concerns of tech companies, freedom of speech campaigners and regular internet users themselves.
Chapman students will be getting the Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccines in an effort to stop the spread of a mumps outbreak in Orange on Tuesday, April 4, 2017.

The Nassau-Suffolk area on Long Island, New York  home to some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the state  has the highest percentage of parents refusing to have their children vaccinated in the country. In that metro area, 14.2 percent of parents refused to give their infants at least one vaccine, the data show. The national refusal rate is 3.3 percent.

A growing number of parents are refusing to get their kids vaccinated, especially in wealthier and more highly educated pockets of the country, according to 2018 data from Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Two other New York metropolitan areas, including New York City, round out the top three areas of the U.S. with the highest rates of refusal.

Doctors say vaccines are the best way to protect against dangerous and sometimes deadly diseases such as measles and tetanus, yet some people refuse to get them.

Some parents cite religious reasons for refusing to vaccinate their children. Others rely on inaccurate reports that claim vaccines cause autism. Public health officials are increasingly alarmed by the number of so-called "anti-vaxxers," especially amid what's shaping up to be one of the worst measles outbreaks in years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified six measles outbreaks in the country right now, with two in New York state. More than 310 cases have been reported in the U.S. so far this year, compared with 372 for all of 2018, the CDC said.

Here are the top 10 metro areas where parents refuse to vaccinate their children:
(Adds quote from AWS)

BOGOTA, March 28 (Reuters) - Amazon Web Services (AWS), a unit of Amazon.com Inc, said on Thursday it will open a Latin America infrastructure location in Colombia and help train 2,000 students in cloud technology.

The company will team up with Colombia's public technical education institute to train students in cloud computing, Jeffrey Kratz, AWS' general public sector manager for Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada, said in a government statement.

The company's so-called Edge location, the fourth in Latin America, will help deliver data, videos and applications at higher speeds to end-users.

Kratz, in Bogota for a technology conference, said Amazon wants to support the development of digital infrastructure and help entrepreneurs create large-scale projects. He said the company would continue to invest in Colombia, though he did not provide further details.

"We are excited to continue investing in Latin America's success," Kratz told Reuters. "This investment will ensure that customers have the tools and services to continue innovating for a positive user experience."

Last August Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, announced that it would open its first customer service center in Colombia later this year and employ 600 people.

The service center will serve customers worldwide in Spanish, English and Portuguese. (Reporting by Helen Murphy and Julia Symmes Cobb; editing by Grant McCool and Subhranshu Sahu)
BRUSSEL, BELGIUM - DECEMBER 08: Former White House Chief Stratgist and Senior Counselor to President Donald Trump and CEO of the Trump Presidential Campaign, Steve Bannon speaks with journalists and delivers a speech during a conference of the Marrakesh-pact organised by Flemish far-right party Vlaams Belang at the Flemish Parliament on December 08, 2018 in Brussel, Belgium. Sylvain Lefevre | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The Movement is a group for nationalist parties in Europe which is supported by the U.S. political strategist Steve Bannon. But, the platform is reportedly struggling to mobilize right-wing parties on the continent. "It's a club for the populists, for the populist leaders facing the globalist movement. We want to organize ourselves on an international scale to be the voice of the voiceless," Mischael Modrikamen, managing director of The Movement, told CNBC in an exclusive interview, earlier this month. There are only three parties that are official members of this club: Italy Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini's Lega; Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia); and the Movement for Changes in Montenegro. However, Modrikamen told CNBC that there are many other right-wing parties that support this club. "We've announced the support of a few parties, but we have the support of much more parties and you'll see when we launch the summit fully in a month, a few weeks before the (EU Parliament) election, you'll see who is there and who is not there. Then you will judge the success or not of our movement," Modrikamen, a Belgian anti-establishment politician said.

The Movement wants to be the platform for anti-establishment parties, in a similar way that certain European summits tend to be for mainstream politicians. Having its own summit will allow the different politicians to come together and discuss their strategies. But some have questioned the reach it has been able to achieve. "In terms of catalysing the formation of a common populist front ahead of the European Parliament election, I would say its success has been so far rather limited," Antonio Barroso, managing director at Teneo Intelligence told CNBC over email. "Radical right parties across the EU remain far from creating a joint platform," Barroso said, adding that they all have different views regarding key issues, including relations with Russia. The summit was due to have taken place in January, then in March, and it is now expected to happen just before the EU elections. Modrikamen told CNBC that the meeting had to be postponed because of the busy schedules of certain leaders and ministers that were set to attend it. The gathering is now expected to happen in Brussels, just before the elections taking place from May 23 to May 26. Furthermore, some right-wing populists have somehow distanced themselves from this group, including France's Marine Le Pen and her National Rally party. She said last year she wanted to clarify "lots of conjecture" regarding the Movement. "But we, and we alone, are the ones who will shape the political force that is born from the European elections," she said, according to AP. Populists parties in Germany, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Hungary and the Czech Republic have also distanced themselves from the club, the Guardian has previously reported.

Relationship with Bannon

Modrikamen was introduced to Steve Bannon by the former head of the U.K. Independence Party and prominent Brexit proponent, Nigel Farage, last July. "We (with Bannon) are two partners in this club to have established It  he is the chairman of this, I am managing director. We basically take decisions together, but it's a club, I mean we are not the leaders of The Movement, I mean there are no leaders," Modrikamen told CNBC, confirming that Bannon will attend the summit in a couple of weeks' time.
House prices in London are falling at the fastest rate in a decade.

According to the Nationwide House Price index, prices over the first three months of 2019 in London dropped 3.8 percent in value, compared to the same period in 2018. The biggest drop since 2009.

The average house price in London during the first quarter of 2019 was 455,594 ($593,500), according to one of Britain's biggest mortgage lenders.

The capital's decline is the seventh consecutive quarter in which prices have fallen and Nationwide's chief economist, Robert Gardner, blamed high prices and changes to buy-to-let rules.

Gardner said in a statement Friday that housing market activity across the United Kingdom was broadly stable but new buyer enquiries were continuing to fall, hitting "their lowest level since 2008."

England recorded its first annual price fall since 2012, with prices down 0.7 percent when compared to the first quarter of last year. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all enjoyed price gains.

A recent survey of U.K. residential property from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) concluded that Brexit is currently the main obstacle for market activity.

More than the three quarters of estate agents that were asked, said uncertainty over how the U.K. leaves the European Union was holding back both buyers and sellers of property.

Speaking to CNBC last week, RICS Chief Economist Simon Rubinsohn said that there was evidence that if Brexit could be resolved then the market would be reasonably well set.

"That doesn't mean that prices will spike up, but it is visible in the responses that the degree of pessimism is measured," said Rubinsohn.
Activists, New York City politicians, and union members hold a press conference on the steps of City Hall to voice their opposition to a tax break deal given to Amazon, on December 12, 2018 in New York City.

The sun is setting on parts of Republicans' signature tax reform. As that happens, some American companies are likely to be hit with a renewed tax burden.

Key provisions are set to either change or expire in the next few years. But companies will start altering decisions and capital investment to prepare for that in the near-term, according to a new report from Morgan Stanley this week.

In aggregate, these sun-setting provisions "will result in a scheduled de facto tax increase if Congress does not act to extend the provisions," Morgan Stanley analyst Todd Castagno said in a note to clients this week.

"This presents one more headwind to U.S. earnings growth and corporate credit," Castagno said. "Corporate America's best tax days are likely behind them."

The 2017 tax overhaul  a key piece of legislation for Republicans and President Donald Trump  lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. It was the biggest change to the U.S. tax system in more than 30 years. But not all of those changes are permanent.

One scheduled change is a phaseout of an expense-recognition benefit called "bonus depreciation." When a business buys a piece of machinery or equipment, under the current tax laws they can write off that expense immediately. Most businesses want their eligible capital expenditures right away instead of waiting for it to be amortized, or spread out over multiple years. But this won't last. Bonus depreciation starts petering out at the end of 2022, and fully expires by 2027.

Having money upfront to invest in research and development has been a key driver of increased investment in things like hardware, Morgan Stanley said. Manufacturing and telecommunications companies, for example, both have historically been the "most favorably exposed" to bonus depreciation incentives. This could cause companies to move up their purchases of machines, knowing that eventually that bonus tax rate won't last forever, according to tax expert Robert Willens.

"The earlier you can realize tax savings the more valuable they are," said Willens, former managing director in the equity research department at Lehman Brothers. "Future capital expenditure could suffer dramatically because everyone will have accelerated it to get the bonus tax rate."

Morgan Stanley estimated that scheduled changes "will result in a rate that nearly equals the prior code by 2023, and nearly quadruples today's rate by 2027 if Congress does not extend these policies."

Another is a change will affect the portion of interest that will be tax deductible. Right now, the limit on interest deductions is 30 percent of EBITDA  or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. If this provision is not renewed by 2023, companies will no longer be able to add depreciation and amortization to determine that base.

"That will mean a smaller portion of their interest expenses will be deductible," Willens said. "And that of course raises your cost of capital, and makes it more expensive for them to borrow."

This reduces the incentive for businesses to borrow money to invest in capital projects, Health care, communications services and energy are the most exposed to the interest deductibility limit, Morgan Stanley said.

Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income, or GILTI, is another changing tax benefit. Willens described it as a punitive provision, designed to discourage multinational U.S. companies from earning income outside of the U.S. and encourage them to earn income inside the U.S.

It looks to apply a minimum tax rate on multinational companies that operate in low-tax jurisdictions. Those rates are set to jump to a minimum of 13.1 percent from a minimum of 10.1 percent WHEN. Companies like Ohio-based consumer products maker Procter & Gamble are already seeing crimped profits thanks to that tax, The Wall Street Journal reported this week.

Based on recent filings, Morgan Stanley estimated that companies already paid an additional $2.2 billion in GILTI tax last year. Companies in the health care, materials and industrial sectors were the most affected. Of the 200 companies Morgan Stanley said disclosed an impact, GILTI increased their effective tax rate by 2.2 percent on average.
Tim Sloan's decision to step down as chief of Wells Fargo hinged in part on a looming congressional committee meeting on banks next month, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Friday.

The top brass of the big banks will be in Washington, D.C., on April 10 for the House Committee on Financial Services hearing on banks. The committee, headed by Rep. Maxine Waters, would surely focus on Sloan, Cramer said.

"No matter what he said or did, the fact that he served as an executive at Wells Fargo under John Stumpf, now disgraced, meant that as far as Congress is concerned he's guilty until proven guilty," the "Mad Money" host said.

Stumpf was chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo when the embattled bank was fined $190 million after being accused of opening fraudulent accounts without their customers' consent. Sloan, who served more than three decades at the firm in total, succeeded him as CEO in October 2016.

Cramer said Sloan would have been too easy of a target at the hearing because he was a high-ranking official at the bank during the time of the scandal. That's even if Sloan had no knowledge of the scheme, he added.

"One look at the make up of that committee made it obvious that Sloan was going to be a punching bag," Cramer said, adding that Senator Elizabeth Warren, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nominee is calling for him to be put in jail.

"Politically, it's just such a slam dunkbankers aren't popular to begin with and Sloan also had to live with the sins of his predecessor," he said.

Sloan cited the scrutiny surrounding his leadership when he stepped down, calling it a "distraction" for the company's forward progress. In January, Sloan told Cramer he would step aside if he felt his presence was hurting the turnaround. That was after Wells Fargo delivered a "very strong quarter and a very good year."

Earlier this month, the board granted Sloan a 5 percent pay raise to $18.4 million and a $2 million performance bonus, Cramer noted.

"I'm not saying we should feel bad for the guy ... He'll be fine," he said. "But I will say that Sloan was asked to clean up the Augean Stables and from what I can tell he's done a good job at that Herculean task, without derailing the earnings."

Sloan, being an executive from the Stumpf-era, made the smartest decision for both him and the bank's shareholders, Cramer said.

In the end, Sloan did not want Wells Fargo to go through the fire that he was in, he said.

"Tim Sloan did the right thing and took one for the team, which I think is actually something worth celebrating," he said.

The House Committee on Financial Services will hold its banks hearing titled "Holding Megabanks Accountable: A Review of Global Systemically Important Banks 10 years after the Financial Crisis" at 9 a.m. ET, on April 10.

Shares of Wells Fargo fell 1.57 percent Friday. The stock is up nearly 5 percent this year.
Torc Robotics challenged its Asimov self-driving software system by driving multiple routes in the Blacksburg. Virginia area during a snowstorm.

German automaker Daimler, the sales leader of Class 8 tractor-trailer semis, is taking a majority ownership stake in U.S. autonomous vehicle technology firm Torc Robotics, Daimler said Friday.

Neither company will disclose how much Daimler plans to invest or what percentage of Torc the German company will own.

"Torc takes a practical approach to commercialization and offers advanced, road-ready technology, plus years of experience in heavy vehicles," said Roger Nielsen, CEO of Daimler Trucks North America, in a statement announcing the deal.

Torc Robotics is one of several firms developing and road testing technology for autonomous trucks. Embark and self-driving truck company TuSimple have drawn plenty of attention and venture capital money as they develop autonomous semis.

Torc, based in Blacksburg, Virginia, was co-founded in 2005 by CEO Michael Fleming who had entered robotic competitions while studying at Virginia Tech. Fourteen years later, Fleming's company is considered by many to be a leader in the rapidly growing field of autonomous vehicles.

In a statement announcing Daimler's investment, Fleming said the U.S. will be a primary target for putting self-driving semi's on highways.

"With the ever rising demand for road transportation, not the least through e-commerce, there is a strong business case for self-driving trucks in the U.S. market," he said. The trucking industry has become a focus of autonomous vehicle development due to several factors including the shortage of truck drivers.
Two workers walk under the wing of a 737 Max aircraft at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, March 27, 2019.

Investigators looking into the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash involving a Boeing 737 Max plane are said to have reached a preliminary conclusion that an anti-stall system on board misfired, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Based on data retrieved from the flight's black boxes, the stall prevention system  known as the MCAS, or Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System  activated automatically before the plane nose-dived into the ground, the Journal said, citing people briefed on the matter.

Those sources told the WSJ the preliminary finding is subject to revisions and one of the people said the U.S. government air-safety experts have been analyzing details gathered from the Ethiopian investigators.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comments sent outside office hours.
The logo of Google Play is seen on a screen.

Google removed an app that promoted so-called "conversion therapy" from its Play Store, following pressure from an LGBT rights lobby.

The app was made by Texas-based Christian group Living Hope Ministries, which claims it helps gay people with "leaving" their sexuality.

"After consulting with outside advocacy groups, reviewing our policies, and making sure we had a thorough understanding of the app and its relation to conversion therapy, we've decided to remove it from the Play Store, consistent with other app stores," a Google spokesperson told CNBC in an emailed statement Friday.

The move came after civil rights group Human Rights Campaign dropped the tech giant from its annual Corporate Equality Index, which evaluates how well companies do at supporting LGBT employees.

In the report, a footnote states that the organization was aware an app distributed on Google's Play Store had promoted conversion therapy.
People walk by a Wells Fargo bank branch on October 13, 2017 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Tim Sloan is out at Wells Fargo, setting off a rare event when it comes to big American banks: An external search for a CEO. The journey begins Friday, according to the bank's chair, Betsy Duke. His replacement will have to regain the credibility lost after the lender's fake accounts scandal helped to unearth a series of problems across the bank's sprawling operations, according to analysts and investors. Most of the time, when the CEO of a big bank retires, the company's board has already picked a successor, and that person is usually already working at the bank. That happened recently when Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein resigned after 12 years and president David Solomon was made CEO.

The last time an American megabank entertained outside leadership was when Bank of America's Ken Lewis abruptly announced he would resign during the financial crisis. That job eventually went to an internal candidate, Brian Moynihan. Wells Fargo's next leader will have to be comfortable working under the glare of regulators, politicians, media and customers. During his four-hour Congressional drubbing, Sloan said that the bank was operating under no less than 14 consent orders from regulators. Still, much of the cleanup job has probably been done under Sloan's two and a half year tenure, and the new executive would enjoy a honeymoon period. And the lure of suddenly vaulting to the top of the nation's fourth biggest bank -- a behemoth with $1.9 trillion in assets -- at a crucial moment in the industry's evolution could be too hard to resist. The first place to look, according to industry watchers, is at rival J.P. Morgan. The biggest U.S. bank by assets has been a training ground for CEOs, helping seed Barclays, Standard Chartered, Visa and First Data with their leaders.

Marianne Lake, chief financial officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Jin Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images

J.P. Morgan chief financial officer Marianne Lake would be a strong choice because "she has the strong finance background working for a very complex organization," according to Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz. A former colleague of hers, Matt Zames, could also easily step into Sloan's shoes, Horowitz wrote. Zames was chief operating officer at J.P. Morgan and joined Cerberus Capital Management last year. Gordon Smith, co-President of J.P. Morgan, came up in "nearly every conversation" with investors as a potential successor, Bank of America analyst Erika Najarian said in a March 11 note.

Gordon Smith, JPMorgan Chase Harriet Taylor | CNBC

Management changes atop Goldman Sachs have also made two executives available for the position. Gary Cohn and Harvey Schwartz have both reportedly been considered as potential candidates, though Wells Fargo has pushed back on those reports. Other potential names from the banking world include Richard Davis, former head of U.S. Bancorp and Bill Demchak, CEO of PNC. Demchak is another former J.P. Morgan executive. One potential hurdle: Wells Fargo could be in the uncomfortable position of having to pay the candidate tens of millions of dollars in deferred compensation to join the bank.
From washing machines and ovens to microwaves and fridges, today's homes are packed with appliances and devices that have become crucial to modern living.



Many of these devices incorporate connected technology that, for instance, enables people to use their smartphones to turn their washing machine on and off.



At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado, researchers have set up a lab space that undertakes research on "smart energy technologies."



The Systems Performance Laboratory, which is located in the NREL's Energy Systems Integration Facility, connects appliances, homes and even communities to what the NREL describes as an "end-to-end energy ecosystem."

According to the NREL, the incorporation of power generation, energy storage and end loads in the lab enables researchers to simulate "real-world conditions" in a controlled environment.



"In the Systems Performance Lab we have many of the typical devices you'd see in a home appliances like a refrigerator, a washer, a dryer," the NREL's Blake Lundstrom told CNBC's Sustainable Energy.

"And then we have... the control layer that would go on top of that, so individual controllers at local devices that we can use to make smart decisions about how to dispatch and use those loads. But then we also have all the infrastructure all the way up to the grid."

Lundstrom went on to add that, "at the most basic level we can do research on how those devices perform, efficiency and so forth."



Take kitchen appliances. Working with the lab, the NREL states that a business could validate both the features of its smart washing machine and how it would perform in a "brownout scenario" or in areas where there are "high concentrations of rooftop solar power."



Lundstrom explained that researchers in the lab were able to take ideas on how to control devices or help improve the grid to reality quickly.



This was because teams were able to "demonstrate them in a lab environment (and) connect them to a simulated, large scale grid." Working with partners, these ideas could then be deployed in the real world and taken to market as soon as possible.



Looking at the bigger picture, Sara Budinis, a research associate at Imperial College London and the Sustainable Gas Institute, explained to CNBC why energy system models were important.



"An energy system model is a tool that can be used to understand how a decision can affect the energy system," she said, describing it as a very powerful tool that was based on a lot of data.



"It's very well suited when you want to compare two options and understand which one is the best," she added.


U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smile during a meeting at the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi on Feb. 28, 2019.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un heaped praise on President Donald Trump in a letter to the White House before a summit between the two leaders last month in Vietnam, while making clear he wished to negotiate only with the president and not his envoys, current and former U.S. officials told NBC News.

The letter appeared aimed at cutting out the U.S. envoy to North Korea, Stephen Beguin, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in the discussions on the regime's nuclear and missile arsenal, while seeking to appeal to the president's ego, said one current and two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

While Kim sought to curry favor with Trump before the Hanoi meeting, their second one-on-one summit, officials across the U.S. government as well as allied governments worked to prevent the president from giving up too much in the negotiations, the current and former officials said.

"A huge amount of energy was devoted to avoiding disaster," said one former U.S. official. "They were playing defense."

Kim wanted the discussions "strictly at the Trump and KJU level," said a current U.S. official, referring to the North Korean leader.

"It was about flattery, that only the president could deliver peace," said the former U.S. official.

The regime appeared to believe it had a better chance of securing a favorable agreement in exclusively direct talks with the president than in a more traditional negotiation with Trump's deputies preceding a one-on-one meeting, former officials and a foreign diplomat said.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment.

When asked about the letter and the pre-summit preparations, a State Department spokesperson said, "We don't comment on the details of our private diplomatic conversations."

Kim's letter tapped into Trump's own inclinations about how to conduct negotiations, with an emphasis on his personal role and his deal making skills, as opposed to a more lengthy, detailed process carried out between the leaders' deputies, current and former officials said.

The letter helped create the momentum for the Hanoi summit, as it came when diplomacy was somewhat dormant over the December holidays, regional analysts said.

But it echoed other signals that the North Korean regime sought to cut Pompeo and Beguin and the professionals out of the process. U.S. diplomats met with resistance when attempting to lay the groundwork for the Feb. 27-28 summit in Hanoi, which then ended abruptly without an agreement.

Former officials said working-level, detailed discussions establishing the summit agenda and the outlines of a potential agreement only began in earnest a week before the summit.

The administration has offered a different account, saying discussions began much earlier with talks between Beguin and his North Korean counterparts.

U.S. officials said Kim offered to dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear site in return for the end of the bulk of U.N. economic sanctions on the country. Trump said he rejected the offer, telling reporters: "Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times."

Trump has cited a series of letters from the North Korean leader as proof of his excellent relationship with Kim. In September, Trump said at a rally in West Virginia that after initial tensions earlier in his presidency, the two "fell in love."

"No, really, he wrote me beautiful letters, and they're great letters. We fell in love."

The Japanese government was involved in the effort to keep Trump from making concessions and remained deeply concerned about a potential damaging outcome in the run-up to the Hanoi talks. At the first summit between the two leaders last year in Singapore, Trump took allies and his own military commanders by surprise when he announced Washington would curtail military exercises on the Korean peninsula.

The pre-Hanoi briefings were largely about making sure the president understood what not to agree to in Hanoi, as opposed to focusing on a potential deal, the sources said.

"Ultimately Trump told Kim Jong Un no and walked away, which we see as a positive outcome," the current official said.

The Hanoi discussions were scheduled to conclude with a signing ceremony for an unspecified agreement, but the summit was cut short  even before Trump and Kim could sit down for a planned lunch. The White House announced there would be nothing to sign.

Former officials said North Korea's negotiating stance made it relatively easy for the United States to walk away from the talks, as it offered a vague proposal on its Yongbyon nuclear site in return for a major concession in the form of a relaxation of the bulk of international sanctions.

Both national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Pompeo advised the president to reject the offer, former officials said.
Lyft President John Zimmer (R) and CEO Logan Green speak as Lyft lists on the Nasdaq at an IPO event in Los Angeles March 29, 2019. Mike Blake | Reuters

With their highly anticipated IPO today, Lyft is the first in a growing list of highly valued tech unicorns that have been eyeing the public market throughout the early part of 2019. On Friday the seven-year-old ride-hailing company went public at $87.24 a share with a valuation of $28 billion. It joins an exclusive club of disruptive companies  Airbnb, Uber, Slack and Pinterest  that have amassed huge sums of private capital with valuations never before seen on Wall Street. As Lyft, Uber and other Silicon Valley companies have matured over the past decade, one of the many challenges they face has been how to manage a growing workforce of contract workers. Currently, Lyft has 1,600 full-time employees and 1.4 million contract drivers who have turned these side hustles into their full-time jobs. That large pool of independent contractors is expected to grow post-IPO, Lyft co-founders CEO Logan Green and president John Zimmer told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on "Squawk Box" Friday morning. Now the debate on whether independent contractor status helps or hurts them has widened. That's because they make an average of about $17.50 per hour and do not receive employee benefits. They're not eligible for overtime or a minimum hourly wage, and under federal law they don't have the right to unionize. Both Uber and Lyft have been under fire in the last few years for cutting their fares paid to drivers  most recently, an approximate 25 percent per-mile rate cut for Uber drivers. Despite the efforts of these ride-sharing giants to put their best foot forward for potential investors, this past week alone saw contract drivers picketing over 2018 pay cuts outside a Lyft IPO roadshow event in San Francisco. But for these massive gig economy companies, protests and lawsuits over pay and labor practices are nothing new. Last year Uber agreed to pay a $20 million settlement over claims that drivers should be classified as employees, not contractors.

Addressing low wages

In a move aimed to compensate for the growing inequity, both ride-hailing companies recently announced different plans to offer their contract drivers variations of cash bonuses and stock options upon going public. Tim Sullivan, CEO of venture capital firm Oceanic Partners, said that the move shows a degree of goodwill despite his own skepticism that contractors who drive for either company will really benefit from their offerings in a significant way. "As ride-sharing matures, they're going to ultimately have to pay drivers more," Sullivan said. "Otherwise, [the model] is not going to be sustainable." Lyft, a portfolio company of Sullivan's Oceanic Partners, claimed to hold 39 percent of the U.S. ride-sharing market at the end of 2018, making it one of the largest in the business segment only second to Uber. This, despite concerns about Lyft's profitability and the risk it continues to pose for the company following their public listing on Nasdaq. According to its S-1 filing, it lost $911 million in 2018.

Uber drivers protest the company's recent fare cuts and go on strike in front of the car service's New York offices on February 1, 2016. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Josh Felser, co-founder and early stage investor at Freestyle Capital, also believes that the move to introduce new benefits and incentives is meant to inspire contractor loyalty, but adds that he doesn't believe equity should be viewed as something that's owed to the contractor. "Whether a contractor or an employee, I just think of everyone as a worker," he said. "Companies want their workers to be happy, and that's why Uber and Lyft are making this kind of offer. Happier workers means better service, and better service means happier customers, but nobody was under the illusion that equity as a benefit was part of the deal between contractors and Uber or Lyft." But Felser still wants to see a path to full-time employment for contractors that work exorbitant hours to make the gig economy work for them full-time. "I do think there should be a path, but right now I think that path is really opaque," he said. "I do think the option to pursue said path should be given to the contractor, which will probably mean sacrificing some of the freedom that attracted them there in the first place," he added.

As ride-sharing matures, they're going to ultimately have to pay drivers more. Otherwise, [the model] is not going to be sustainable. Tim Sullivan CEO of venture capital firm Oceanic Partners

Though companies are unlikely to offer contractors the benefits of full-time employment anytime soon, there are a host of start-up companies such as Hyke and Catch out of Silicon Valley that are positioning themselves to answer the short-term call  tackling everything from payment of taxes to disability and health insurance. And while it may seem like a Band-aid, it could correct the inequities in the modern gig economy as some of its pioneering companies make their billion dollar exists throughout the remainder of the year.

And then there's the threat of autonomous cars ...
Malaysia's multi-pronged real estate business Sunway Group has three public listings to its name.

But what you'll never find listed on any stock exchange is its education arm.

That's despite Sunway Education's links to well-known institutions like Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute and Australia's Monash University.

"Right from the beginning, I had my mind set that no way I'm going to list the company," said Sunway Group founder and chairman, Jeffrey Cheah.

As the sixth child in a large family whose father  the sole breadwinner  drove trucks, Cheah came from a humble background. He grew up in the small rural town of Pusing, Malaysia, and he saw the effects of poverty on families and on the education of children.

Cheah's fortunes started to change when he seized the opportunity to pursue a business degree in Australia.

Today, the 73-year-old is one of the richest men in Malaysia, with a net worth of $1.3 billion, according to Forbes.

He is known for the building of mega townships and for being a strong advocate of transforming livelihoods through education.

About a decade ago, an investment banker approached Cheah with an offer to take the company public on a stock exchange. Cheah turned the banker down.

"So sorry, I've made up my mind," he recalls saying at the time. "This is what I want to return back to society. I want to put it in a foundation, structure the thing in a proper manner and in perpetuity. Hopefully, it will be my good legacy."

While not listing the education unit means turning away from potentially huge amount of funding, Cheah said the upside of his decision means the business will not be profit-driven. He won't be held to the demands of shareholders.

Instead, management will do whatever is best in the school's academic and research interests, he told Christine Tan at CNBC's Managing Asia: Sustainable Entrepreneurship conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 21.

Cheah said his overriding principle is that the businesses must do no societal harm  which is why he has never dabbled in anything involved with gambling or smoking, he said.

In fact, he turned down offers from overseas to set up casinos in Sunway's inaugural township in Greater Kuala Lumpur.

He had witnessed fellow townspeople addicted to gambling, he recalled  and compromising their children's education as a result.

"I told my people many a time, we will not go into businesses that hurt society," said Cheah.

Don't miss: At 100 years old, the world's oldest billionaire still goes to the office every day

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Top proxy advisors Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis on Friday recommended Bristol-Myers Squibb shareholders vote in favor of its bid to buy peer biotechnology company Celgene, according to CNBC's David Faber.

The recommendation from ISS and Glass Lewis comes just weeks before Bristol-Myers investors will vote on whether to approve the company's $74 billion bid for Summit, New Jersey-based Celgene.

"The transaction also significantly enhances BMY's pipeline, raising the number of late-stage drugs from one to six," ISS said, according to a Bristol-Myers press release Friday. "Both companies' current products and their pipelines are focused on drugs that fight cancer and blood disorders. As such, the merger appears logical strategically, and likely to generate more synergies than one involving disparate pharmacological areas of focus."

Though recommendations from proxy advisors like ISS do not dictate how investors vote, large passive fund managers like Vanguard and BlackRock often weigh their advice when deciding how to vote their shares. Celgene shares rose more than 7 percent, while Bristol-Myers dipped 0.2 percent in choppy trading.

"In particular, the merger represents an attractive, risk-adjusted opportunity to enhance Bristol- Myers' product portfolio by leveraging Celgene's current 'Big Five' late-stage, near-term product launches," Glass Lewis said, according to the same Bristol press release.

However, not everyone is happy with the big-ticket biotech deal.

Investment firm Wellington Management, one of Bristol-Myers largest investors, said last month that it is opposed to the tie-up.

In a rare public comment, Wellington said it "does not believe that the Celgene transaction is an attractive path towards" a business that "secures differentiated science and broadens the future revenue base."

Shortly thereafter, activist investor Starboard Value added that it will leverage its smaller stake in Bristol-Myers to oppose the the deal at a shareholder meeting on April 12. Starboard believes that the deal is not the best path forward for Bristol because Celgene will face headwinds once the patent for its cancer treatment, Revlimid, expires.

"Bristol-Myers is deeply undervalued and the recent announcement of the Company's proposed acquisition of Celgene Corporation is poorly conceived and ill-advised," Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith wrote in a letter. "There is a better path forward for Bristol-Myers, either as a more profitable standalone company with a more focused, lower-risk strategy, or in a potential sale of the whole Company."

A spokesperson for Wellington Management declined to comment for this story. Starboard Value did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.
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* Chalco's 2018 aluminum output up 16 pct y/y to 4.17 mln T

* Becomes second Chinese firm to overtake Russia's Rusal

* Output rise comes despite capacity closures, price slump (Adds comments, Chalco's results)

BEIJING, March 29 (Reuters) - China's Chalco said on Friday it boosted annual aluminum output by 16 percent in 2018, putting it ahead of Russia's Rusal as the world's second-biggest publicly traded producer of the metal.

The increase underscores China's growing dominance of the global aluminum market, as the world's biggest producer and consumer of the metal, although weak aluminum prices have already led to some production being shuttered this year.

State-controlled Chalco, formally known as Aluminum Corp of China Ltd , said in a presentation to analysts reviewed by Reuters that its aluminum production came in at 4.17 million tonnes last year, beating the 3.753 million tonnes churned out by Rusal.

The Russian company, formerly the world's top producer, had already been overtaken in terms of output by China Hongqiao Group in 2015.

Chalco did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Chalco's unlisted parent, Chinalco, now has a group capacity in excess of 5 million tonnes after taking over Yunnan Aluminium last year.

U.S. sanctions on Rusal, announced last April but withdrawn in January, did not have any major impact on the Russian company's production, but its aluminum sales did fall 7.2 percent in 2018.

Rusal will keep its aluminum production stable at 3.8 million tonnes in 2019, its stakeholder En+ said.

Beijing-based Chalco last produced more metal than Rusal in 2012, when both firms produced more than 4 million tonnes of aluminum, according to a review of company filings.

Chalco, which in late 2017 started a 500,000 tonne per year aluminum smelter in Inner Mongolia, managed to raise annual output considerably despite being forced to close some production toward the end of the year as Shanghai aluminum prices tanked.

It has already shuttered 200,000 tonnes of capacity in 2019, while Rusal plans to launch the second line of its Boguchansk aluminum smelter in Siberia by the end of this month.

"Chalco is still saddled with higher costs of production compared to the private behemoths like Hongqiao and Xinfa... which means it is more exposed to soft metal prices," said Paul Adkins, managing director of aluminum consultancy AZ China.

"If metal prices don't improve soon, they may not stay at that level of output for long," Adkins said.

Chalco posted its first quarterly loss in more than three years on Thursday and said annual net profits fell last year due to low aluminum prices and slack domestic demand.

Chalco also said its alumina production rose by 5.5 percent in 2018 to 13.51 million tonnes, as it sought to capitalize on global shortages of the aluminum raw material.

($1 = 6.8997 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Tom Daly; additional reporting by Polina Devitt in MOSCOW; editing by Richard Pullin)
A New York county's ban on unvaccinated minors in public is working, an official told CNBC on Friday.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day said more than 500 immunizations have been administered since he announced the ban on Tuesday.

"We've gotten their attention," he said in an interview with "The Exchange."

And that was the point. "We're not enforcing it by having people check people and things of that nature. But basically people simply understand now that we are serious about this," said Day.

The county, located in the northern suburbs of New York City, is one of six locations in the U.S. experiencing a measles outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 157 reported cases in Rockland County since October 2018.
The humanoid robot Pepper of the American company CloudMinds is seen shaking hands with a visitor during the MWC2019. Paco Freire | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

Concerns over the artificial intelligence's ability to spread disinformation may be overblown, according to one expert. "I think it's a little overhyped," Richard Socher, chief scientist at software firm Salesforce, told CNBC in an interview during his trip to Singapore. That's because humans are already adept at creating fake news without the help of algorithms, Socher said. Furthermore, fake news usually has some sort of "agenda" behind it  something that AI inherently lacks, he added. AI can already be used to create fake, superimposed images onto another person in videos. There have been rising concerns that such videos, also known as "deepfakes," could be used to spread misinformation.

Now that AI really works, we need to think about the impact that it has on people. Richard Socher chief scientist at Salesforce

Socher, an expert in natural language processing in the field of machine-learning, said current attempts at AI-generated text are often "not as coherent" when compared to humans who would write fake news. "I honestly think that people are much better at creating fake text news ... than AI will be for a long time," Socher said. "There are already people who look at being able to classify pictures or text and see if they were created by ... an algorithm or not," he said. "As with most things in security, there will be measures and counter-measures and an ongoing sort of race, but of all the concerns I have, this is not as high on my priority list."

Impact on bias and jobs

Instead, Socher spoke about the potential bias in AI as well as its possible impact on jobs  topics he said were currently at the forefront of discussions about AI ethics. "Now that AI really works, we need to think about the impact that it has on people," he said. "In some ways, AI holds a mirror in front of us," he said, adding that the algorithm essentially processes data generated from human actions before distilling them and automating processes. As a result, it is important to create AI algorithms that make "unbiased decisions that don't discriminate," he said.
Investors should sell the and New Zealand dollar, and put their money in the Chinese yuan and the instead, according to the Head of Asia Research at ANZ bank, Khoon Goh.

"The trade we've been recommending is to short the Australian dollar against the Singapore dollar, and to short the New Zealand dollar against the yuan," Goh told CNBC on Friday.

Shorting is a trading strategy that involves selling a borrowed stock or currency, with a view that it will drop in value, and can be bought back later at a lower price.

"I think that provides a good mix of play into the dovishness of the antipodean central banks and also the resilience of the Asian currencies," Goh said, referring to the central banks in Australia and New Zealand.

This week, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand shocked investors when it announced its next move in interest rates was more likely to be a cut. The Kiwi dollar was hit as a result on Wednesday, dropping 1.6 percent to below $0.68, while the Australian dollar weakened half a percent to $0.71.

The Australian dollar has also been hit hard this year, pummeled by twin concerns of its own economy and that of China  it's largest trading partner.

While Goh is expecting both those currencies to fall in value, he was a little more positive on the Australian dollar, saying that there was "further scope for the Aussie to outperform the Kiwi."

Comparatively, Goh said he was "fairly optimistic about the Chinese yuan."

"We're expecting the yuan to appreciate over the course of this year, largely on the back of our view that Chinese growth will start to stabilize in the second quarter as it responds to the various stimulus measures," he said.
Activist investor Starboard Value has ended its fight against Bristol-Myers Squibb's buyout of biotechnology company Celgene after two prominent proxy advisors announced their support for the deal earlier on Friday.

The withdrawal comes hours after both Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis recommended Bristol-Myers shareholders vote in favor of its bid.

"Despite the substantial swell of support against this transaction, it is extremely difficult for shareholders to prevail without a supportive recommendation from ISS and Glass Lewis to vote against the transaction," Starboard said in a press release. "Therefore, Starboard has decided to withdraw its proxy solicitation to vote against the Celgene transaction."

Though Starboard said it still plans to vote against the transaction at the April 12 shareholder meeting, the decision to pull its proxy solicitation represents a defeat for the fund, which announced its opposition one month ago.

Though ISS and Glass Lewis do not have an official say in how investors vote their shares, global passive fund managers like Vanguard often factor in their recommendations when casting their ballots. Celgene shares rose more than 7 percent in midday trading, while Bristol-Myers dropped 0.2 percent.

"We are extremely disappointed by the conclusions reached by the proxy voting advisory firms," Starboard said. "We continue to feel strongly that the proposed transaction between Bristol-Myers and Celgene Corporation is a bad deal for shareholders that carries too much risk."

As of 12:46 p.m. ET Friday, Bristol's second-largest shareholder, the investment firm Wellington Management, remained opposed to the tie-up.

That's despite positive comments from ISS and Glass Lewis earlier Friday.

ISS said that "the transaction also significantly enhances BMY's pipeline, raising the number of late-stage drugs from one to six," ISS said, according to a Bristol-Myers press release Friday.

"Both companies' current products and their pipelines are focused on drugs that fight cancer and blood disorders," ISS added. "As such, the merger appears logical strategically, and likely to generate more synergies than one involving disparate pharmacological areas of focus."

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Last week, Starbucks announced changes coming to its North American loyalty program in an effort to attract new members. But Bernstein said in a note published Friday that the adjustments could anger existing Starbucks Rewards members.

The Seattle-based company has been experiencing slowing foot traffic at North American stores as the coffee market grows more competitive. To keep sales numbers up, Starbucks has been focusing on ways to keep customers coming back every day, like investing in its cold beverages and switching up the loyalty program. Starbucks Rewards accounts for 40 percent of its daily transactions.

"We think the new rewards plan runs the risk of alienating the core customers," Bernstein analyst Sara Senatore wrote in the research note.

Members still earn two "stars" for every dollar they spend. However, the updated program eliminates Starbucks Rewards' two tiers and gives members of wider range of redemption options, from 25 stars to customize a drink to 400 stars for select merchandise or at-home coffee.

"We want to make the program more appealing to more people," Matthew Ryan, chief marketing officer at Starbucks, told CNBC when the changes were announced. "We want members more engaged out of the gate."

The current iteration lets customers exchange 125 points  earned by spending $62.50 at the coffee chain  for a free food or drink item. When the changes go into effect in several weeks, members will have to redeem 150 stars  the equivalent of spending $75  for a handcrafted drink, hot breakfast or parfait. A lunch sandwich or salad will set customers back even more: 200 points or $100.

"With lower discounts on higher value items, the program should be margin accretive  assuming no change to customer habits," the note said. "But customers are savvy, and higher spenders are likely to recognize that the effect reward rate is lower (as much as 50% lower on some items)."

When Starbucks last changed its rewards program in 2016 to encourage customers to spend more, some consumers protested the changes on social media. The same backlash has not happened yet for the latest round of tweaks, which will not go into effect until April 16.

"We are confident the upcoming enhancements to Starbucks Rewards will lead to the continued growth and customer enjoyment of the program," Starbucks spokeswoman Maggie Jantzen said in a statement to CNBC on Friday. "These changes will bring immediate value and increased choice to our members and we're looking forward to introducing them on April 16."
British Prime Minister Theresa May should step down as prime minister after negotiating a temporary extension to Britain's European Union membership, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said in its Saturday edition.

"She must now see or must be told  that while she can meet with the EU to negotiate an extension for Brexit, that is the natural end of the road. She must then bow out, for the sake of Brexit, for her party and for democracy itself," the newspaper said in an editorial column.

The Telegraph has traditionally been closely read by many members of May's Conservative Party. On Wednesday, May told Conservative lawmakers that she would resign as leader if parliament approved her Brexit deal, which instead was voted down by parliament on Friday.
Want a way out of your student debt? Try moving to Newburgh Heights, Ohio.

The 2,000-resident town, less than 10 miles from Cleveland, is offering to help college graduates pay off their student debt.

The rules are simple:

Be a graduate with student debt from a four-year accredited college or university.

Buy a house in the town valued at $50,000 or more within five years of graduating.

After 15 years, the town will pay off half of your debt, up to $50,000.

Even if you pay off the debt before the 15 years is up, you'll still receive the amount owed when you first enrolled in the town's program.

This deal is locked down, so even if the program is ended, you'll still get your payout.

The town's mayor, Trevor Elkins, told CNBC he's tired of seeing young people leave Newburgh Heights behind. "We wanted to provide an incentive for them to stay and put down roots here in the community, transitioning from the old Rust Belt manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based economy of health care and technology," he said.

Deals like this aren't just happening in this Ohio town. As student debt has come to burden Americans more than auto or credit card debt, several cities and states have created creative ways to help residents with the loans, said Mark Kantrowitz, an expert on education debt. Maine recently introduced a program that allows student borrowers to save on their income taxes.
Trump, who has made cracking down on illegal immigration a top political priority, has said he could shut down border crossings before without following through on the threat. However, his threat Friday comes at a particularly delicate time: his administration hopes Congress will ratify a replacement of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement by this summer.

In a series of tweets Friday, the president wrote that he would shut down "the Border, or large sections of the Border," if Mexico does not "immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug (sic) our Southern Border." He claimed closing off border crossings, key avenues for trade with a major partner, "would be a good thing!"

President Donald Trump threatened to close large parts of the U.S.-Mexico border next week if America's southern neighbor does not "immediately" stop illegal immigration.

It would likely be difficult for Mexico to "immediately" stop "all" illegal immigration, as Trump asks.

Trump tweet 1: The DEMOCRATS have given us the weakest immigration laws anywhere in the World. Mexico has the strongest, & they make more than $100 Billion a year on the U.S. Therefore, CONGRESS MUST CHANGE OUR WEAK IMMIGRATION LAWS NOW, & Mexico must stop illegals from entering the U.S....

Trump tweet 2: ....through their country and our Southern Border. Mexico has for many years made a fortune off of the U.S., far greater than Border Costs. If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING.....

Trump tweet 3: ....the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week. This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and "talk." Besides, we lose so much money with them, especially when you add in drug trafficking etc.), that the Border closing would be a good thing!

Later Friday, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said he did not have an announcement "at this time" about Trump closing down the border, but added that the president "has got to do something to fix it and he's looking at all his options." While Trump made the threat more than once Friday, his administration did not appear to take any concrete steps toward closing the border.

In response to the president's tweets, Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Mexico would not respond to threats. He called Mexico a "great neighbor" to the U.S. He added that 1.5 million Americans live in Mexico.

Ebrard tweet: Mexico no actua con base en amenazas.Somos un gran vecino. Diganlo si no el millon y medio de estadounidenses que eligieron a nuestro pais como hogar, la mas grande comunidad de ese origen fuera de EU. Para ellos tambien somos el mejor vecino que pudieron tener.

Trump has long hammered Mexico over trade, pledging to crack down on what he calls abuses that sap American jobs. His claims about Mexico making money off the United States appear to relate to inaccurate assertions he has repeatedly made about the U.S. trade balance with other countries.

While Trump claims the U.S. having a trade deficit with another country is the same as "losing" money, it simply means America buys more goods from the country than the trading partner purchases from the U.S. In 2017, the U.S. had a $71 billion goods trade deficit with Mexico and a $63.6 billion deficit for both goods and services, according to the U.S. Trade Representative.

In addition, while Mexico admits fewer immigrants than the U.S., it is not clear that Mexico has the strongest or America has the weakest immigration laws in the world, according to PolitiFact.

Trump sees calls to crack down on Mexico as a strong political argument and often intensifies them when looking toward an election. The president faces what will likely be a difficult campaign for re-election next year.

He also threatened to close the southern border last year ahead of the midterm elections. At the time, Trump's rhetoric sparked concerns about economic damage from closing points of entry with a vital trading partner.

States Trump aims to win next year such as Arizona and Texas rely heavily on trade with Mexico.

Neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to CNBC's requests to comment on his tweets.

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The president reached an agreement with Mexico and Canada last year to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which the president has long slammed as a "disaster" that saps American jobs. Republicans and the U.S. neighbors want Congress to ratify the deal by this summer.

President Donald Trump has a signature achievement within his grasp. All he needs to do is weave through a skeptical Congress  a task that has proven difficult for his administration in the past.

Getting the pact, which Trump has called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, approved would give Trump another policy to tout as he hits the 2020 re-election campaign trail. After the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, Trump set out to follow through on reworking relationships with several countries that the president has accused of trade abuses. The next few months are pivotal for Trump as he tries to ratify the North American pact and reach a new deal with China, the world's second-largest economy.

But approval of the USMCA, which Democrats have dubbed NAFTA 2.0 in part to signal that Trump made few changes, is not certain. Not only the majority House Democrats but also a key Senate Republican have expressed concerns about the deal.

Here are the latest developments on Capitol Hill as Trump pushes for the agreement's swift ratification:

Republicans emerged from a trade meeting with the president on Tuesday saying they want to get the pact signed this summer.



Rep. Kevin Brady, ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is ready to send legislation to lawmakers when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "gives the green light." He called getting the deal to Trump's desk this summer "crucial."



Rep. Kevin Brady, ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is ready to send legislation to lawmakers when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "gives the green light." He called getting the deal to Trump's desk this summer "crucial." Pelosi controls whether the trade deal gets to the House floor. Democrats are in no hurry to move it through the chamber. They have several reservations about the agreement, including its environmental and labor protections, its provisions for enforcing rules and its potential to increase prices on some drugs. A Pelosi spokesman did not immediately respond to a request to comment on where she stands now on ratifying the USMCA.



Earlier this week, House Ways and Means trade subcommittee Chair Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., told CNBC that Democrats are "not going to be bound" by "artificial deadlines" to ratify the agreement. The Ways and Means Committee will have to approve the deal before it goes to the House floor. On Tuesday, the trade subcommittee held a hearing on enforcing labor rules in trade deals, part of a series of events it expects to hold to assess the NAFTA changes.



The steel and aluminum tariffs Trump slapped on Canada and Mexico last year could also trip up ratification. After meeting with Lighthizer on Monday, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland said her country wanted the U.S. to scrap the duties. The Trump administration cited a national security threat from foreign metals imports when it levied the tariffs.



"In order to move ahead with that deal, I think Canadians feel that the right thing is there should be no 232 tariffs or retaliatory measures between our countries. And that was what I expressed clearly to Ambassador Lighthizer," Freeland told reporters. The "232" Freeland references is the authority the president has to impose tariffs for national security reasons.



"In order to move ahead with that deal, I think Canadians feel that the right thing is there should be no 232 tariffs or retaliatory measures between our countries. And that was what I expressed clearly to Ambassador Lighthizer," Freeland told reporters. The "232" Freeland references is the authority the president has to impose tariffs for national security reasons. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also told reporters this week that tariffs on Mexico and Canada should come off as part of the approval process. Trump has not signaled willingness to remove the duties.



Republicans have started a grassroots blitz to sell the deal to skeptical lawmakers and voters.

 CNBC's Kayla Tausche contributed to this report

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A federal judge has struck down a small-business health insurance plan widely touted by President Donald Trump, marking the second setback in a week for the administration's health care initiatives.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates wrote in his opinion late Thursday that so-called "association health plans" were "clearly an end-run" around consumer protections required by the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.

On Wednesday, another federal judge blocked the Trump administration's Medicaid work requirements for low-income people.

The plans at issue in Bates' ruling Thursday allow groups of small businesses and sole proprietors to band together to offer lower-cost coverage that doesn't have to include all the benefits required by the ACA, often called "Obamacare." They also can be offered across state lines, an attempt to deliver on a major Trump campaign promise.
People cheer as President of Turkey and the leader of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the crowd during a campaign rally ahead of March 31 local elections, at Cubuk district of Ankara, Turkey on March 28, 2019. Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Turkey's voters head to the polls on Sunday amid new, widespread worries about their currency, and with much at stake for investors in the country. Investor fears have roiled Turkey's lira over the past 48 hours, sending shockwaves through the country of 80 million just days before nationwide local elections. Markets still remember Turkey's currency crash last summer, which triggered a sell-off in emerging markets and sent investors running for the hills.

If the AKP loses to an opposition party challenger, it will be a symbolic indication that the ruling party is struggling to maintain its appeal with the urban elite. Emily Hawthorne Middle East and North Africa analyst, Stratfor

Results for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) could determine the fate of monetary policy and the stability of markets in Turkey and beyond. The lira dropped as much as 5 percent against the dollar Thursday on news that the Turkish Central Bank had burned through nearly a third of its foreign reserves in the first three weeks of March as it tried to prop up the currency and stifle short-sellers ahead of the vote. This week, Turkey's overnight swap rate skyrocketed to 1,200 percent as it tried to keep the lira from falling.

A matter of 'political capital'

There would "absolutely" be a sell-off in Turkish markets "if AKP loses Istanbul or Ankara," the country's two biggest cities, said Timothy Ash, senior emerging markets strategist at Bluebay Asset Management. "The assumption has been that after elections, Erdogan normalizes policy. But if he loses elections, he will lose political capital to do that." Voters have a major concern at the top of their list: the economy. Unemployment in Turkey is now around 13 percent, nearly a decade high, and inflation sat at 19.7 in February  though that's the first time it's dropped below 20 percent since August. Consumers' purchasing power has fallen. The pain is particularly acute for the many Turkish businesses that owe debts denominated in foreign currencies. The government has opened food stalls selling fruit and vegetables at below-market rates to help ease the inflation pain.

New tactics by opposition parties

Erdogan enjoyed re-election to another five-year term in a power-consolidating victory last summer, but his ruling right-wing AKP faces new challenges in big cities as opposition parties blame him for the economy. Local elections will see up to 57 million registered voters cast ballots for mayors and municipal leaders in 81 provinces. They are seen as a referendum on Erdogan himself.
U.S. government debt yields rose on Friday as traders monitor US-China trade talks.

At around 1:26 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 2.414 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 2.82 percent. The yield on the 3-month Treasury bill held at 2.408 percent.

The U.S. and China resumed their trade talks this week  seen as a positive sign for many investors, as they believe that a deal could be imminent. "The talks will conclude. They have to," Max Baucus, former U.S. ambassador to China, told CNBC's Martin Soong at the Boao Forum for Asia.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a tweet on Friday that he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had concluded "constructive" trade talks in Beijing.

"I look forward to welcoming China's Vice Premier Liu He to continue these important discussions in Washington next week," he said in the tweet.

Tweet

Mnuchin and Lighthizer were in the Chinese capital for the first face-to-face meetings between the two sides in weeks after missing an initial end-of-March goal for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign a pact.

Trump imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports last year in a move to force China to change the way it does business with the rest of the world and to pry open more of China's economy to U.S. companies.

On Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Beijing will sharply expand market access for foreign banks and securities and insurance companies, adding to speculation that China may soon announce new rules to allow foreign financial firms to increase their presence at home.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the United States may drop some tariffs if a trade deal is reached while keeping others in place to ensure Beijing's compliance.

"We're not going to give up our leverage," he told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

Mnuchin and Lighthizer greeted a waiting Liu at the Diaoyutai State Guest House just before 9 a.m. (0100) on Friday for what China's Commerce Ministry has said would be a full day of talks.

Among Trump's demands are for Beijing to end practices that Washington alleges result in the systematic theft of U.S. intellectual property and the forced transfer of American technology to Chinese companies.

U.S. companies say they are often pressured into handing over technological know-how to Chinese joint venture partners, local officials or regulators as a condition for doing business in China.

The U.S. government says that technology is often subsequently transferred to and used by Chinese competitors.

The issue has proved a tough one for negotiators as U.S. officials say China has previously refused to acknowledge the problem exists to the extent alleged by the United States, making discussing a resolution difficult.

China says it has no technology transfer requirements enshrined in its laws and any such transfers are a result of legitimate transactions.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC that he stands by his support of Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan, after backing the beleaguered chief executive minutes before Sloan's resignation was announced.

Buffett initially said he supported Sloan "100 percent" in an interview Thursday with CNBC's Becky Quick at The Gatehouse's Hands Up for Success luncheon in Grapevine, Texas. "I don't want his job. ... I'm very empathetic to anybody who walks into a big problem and a very, very large and politically sensitive institution," Buffett said.

The investor later told CNBC that he knew Wednesday that Sloan planned to resign. Buffett said Sloan called him Wednesday wanting to know if he could talk the next day, but Buffett told him he was going to be out of the office all day and so Sloan told him the news. Buffett said that the move was "out of the blue" and that he had not spoken to anyone on the Wells Fargo board about it.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is the bank's single-largest shareholder.

Sloan is resigning as CEO immediately, Wells Fargo said Thursday in a release shortly after Buffett made his remarks. The bank's general counsel, Allen Parker, will take over as interim chief executive, and Wells Fargo is searching externally for a permanent successor. Sloan was supposed to clean up the mess that had claimed his predecessor, but had struggled to satisfy regulators' demands to overhaul the sprawling institution.

CNBC's Hugh Son contributed to this report.
Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

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Types of obituaries

The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries  family obituaries and life stories.

A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries

A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories.
May faces day of reckoning but hopes arent high for winning vote

Prime Minister tries to buy time for her deal  The Guardian

MPs asked to vote on blind Brexit  FT

Battle of the flags outside Parliament  The Times

Labour hypocrites threaten to wreck split deal plan  Daily Mail

Theresa May will face a day of reckoning on Friday as she tables one last vote on her Brexit deal despite warnings from her closest aides and ministers that she is destined for yet another defeat. The Prime Minister has promised to resign if she gets a deal through Parliament, but Eurosceptic MPs have insisted she must announce the timetable of her departure on Friday regardless of the result. On the day that Britain was supposed to have left the EU, the vote marks a final roll of the dice for Mrs May after two years of Brexit negotiations. In a move described as desperate by critics, Mrs May announced on Thursday that she will ask MPs to vote on only one part of the Brexit deal  the legally-binding Withdrawal Agreement  in the hope that the whole deal will be agreed at a later date.  Daily Telegraph

If she loses?

>Today: Iain Dales column: Does May have a secret plan to lead the Conservatives into a snap general election?

>Yesterday:

Iain Duncan Smith: If we dont back the deal, the EU has us over a barrel

My concern is that if we dont approve the Prime Ministers EU withdrawal deal, Brussels will have Britain over a barrel. Westminster would be obliged to come up with an alternative exit proposal by April 12. If that happens, I am convinced that the overwhelmingly Remainer majority in the Commons would try to force through a much softer Brexit, and possibly no Brexit at all. Not only that. The other 27 national EU leaders now have the power to respond by making it tougher for Britain by demanding an extension to Article 50. This could mean us staying in the EU for another two years and British voters taking part in the European Parliament elections in May.  Daily Mail

We must resist this wretched deal  Owen Paterson MP, Daily Telegraph

Faustian pact to save a wretched Brexit  Philip Stephens, FT

MPs should back the deal, we can still prosper  Shanker Singham, Daily Telegraph

Now MPs have a taste for rebellion  Matt Bevington and Alan Wager, Times Red Box

What the separation of the vote means for Brexit  Tom Kibasi, The Guardian

Resignation makes consensus around Mays deal impossible  Stephen Bush, Daily Telegraph

Editorial:

If the deal falls one more time, let it die  Daily Telegraph

Third time lucky?  The Times

MPs must set aside their politics today  The Sun

>Today:

Customs union plan could sway DUP and Nationalists

Foster urged to save Brexit by backing deal  The Sun

Supporters of a soft Brexit are in talks with the Democratic Unionist Party and Scottish Nationalists about keeping Britain in the customs union and single market after the country leaves. Before another round of voting on alternative Brexit proposals in the Commons on Monday, supporters of the so-called Common Market 2.0 proposal have been asked into meetings with both party leaderships. Talks are also continuing with the Labour leadership, which encouraged its MPs to vote for the proposal on Wednesday night but stopped short of whipping for it. One source claimed that Labour MPs supporting a second referendum had put pressure on the leadership not to fully endorse the rival proposal to reduce its chances of gaining a majority.  The Times

More:

Tory MPs scent victory in bid to keep UK inside customs union  Daily Telegraph

MPs tailor indicative votes to maximise support  FT

Ministers devised secret plan to frustrate first round  The Sun

Labour backs indefinite delay  The Sun

Businesses voice utter frustration with stalemate  FT

Comment:

Even as a Remainer, I see a customs union deal is a total sham  Jeremy Warner, Daily Telegraph

Parliament is inching towards a solution  Simon Jenkins, The Guardian

Dont blame the DUP for the EUs trickery on the Border  Tom Harris, Daily Telegraph

How did we allow these narrow-minded bigots to wreck Brexit?  Leo McKinstry, The Sun

Unionists who faced down the IRA wont crumble for May  Eilis OHanlon, Daily Telegraph

>Yesterday:

Grieve deselection bid led by former UKIP opponent

The effort to deselect Dominic Grieve as a Conservative MP is being led by the man who stood against him as the Ukip candidate two years ago. The former Tory attorney-general faces a vote of confidence today from party members angry at his support for a second referendum. His opponents are being organised by Jon Conway, who stood as the Ukip candidate in the Beaconsfield constituency in 2017. Mr Conway, a pantomime producer, said that he was recruited to the party after serving as a regional organiser for the official Brexit campaign group, Vote Leave. In an email to Beaconsfield Conservative members sent last Friday he acknowledged his past affiliation but insisted that claims of mass entryism were unfounded.  The Times

Rivalries harden as infighting plagues Spartans

Lilley latest no deal advocate to back deal  The Sun

So-called Spartan in hot water over comments  Daily Mail

Some call them Spartans, others have cited Tacituss history of doomed British resistance to the Roman invasions  there have been insults relating to the relative merits of Eton and Winchester colleges. The dwindling band of diehard Tory opponents of Theresa Mays deal are staging their last stand with the weapons they know best. Tempers ran particularly high at a meeting of the European Research Group immediately after the prime minister announced she would stand down if her Brexit deal passed on Wednesday night As resistance dwindles so old methods of communication are abandoned. We dont use WhatsApp any more to be honest, one of the remaining Tory opponents said. Its like reformed smokers being the most likely to give you a lecture.  The Times

Comment:

Beware the anger of frustrated Brexiteers  Iain Martin, The Times

Public deserves to know how the negotiations went so wrong  Frank Field, Daily Telegraph

>Today: Mark Francois MP in Comment: The Government is bluffing. Why I and many others will vote against the Withdrawal Agreement later today.

>Yesterday:

Leadership 1) Rees-Mogg hints hell back Johnson for leader

Jacob Rees-Mogg has given his strongest hint yet that he backs Boris Johnson to replace Theresa May as Conservative party leader, saying he is a formidably able candidate. It is the most explicit endorsement of Mr Johnson by Mr Mogg since Mrs May announced on Wednesday night that she will stand down as Tory leader and Prime Minister if her Brexit deal is voted through by MPs. In an interview with Choppers Brexit Podcast, which you can watch by logging in or subscribing below, Mr Rees-Mogg said: I will not be PM. Im not going to be a candidate  that I wouldnt have any support among MPs, though I might have some support amongst the party and the country. Asked to confirm Westminster rumours that he will throw his weight behind Mr Johnson, he said the former foreign secretary is a formidably able political figure.  Daily Telegraph

Trump backs Johnson  Daily Mail

Dark horses in the leadership race  The Times

At least ten Cabinet ministers mulling bids  The Guardian

Leadership 2) Raab tells May to go and renegotiate a better deal

He positions himself as the no-deal candidate  Daily Telegraph

Truss hints at run after backing Canada-style deal  The Sun

Dominic Raab told the prime minister to return to Brussels and negotiate a better deal yesterday as potential leadership candidates sought to appeal to the Brexit-supporting membership of the Conservative Party. The former Brexit secretary declined to fall into line with Boris Johnson, who resigned as foreign secretary last year, and endorse Theresa Mays withdrawal deal. Instead he sought to present himself as the champion of vigorous Brexiteers and urged Mrs May to secure a legally binding exit from the Irish backstop, which she has previously been denied. Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, also set out her preference for no-deal rather than no Brexit as she declined to rule out running for the leadership.  The Times

Comment:

Raab knows his plan wont fly, but is catnip for members  Asa Bennett, Daily Telegraph

Leadership 3) Hunt claims support of 100 MPs as Javid eyes joint ticket with Gove

Jeremy Hunt has reportedly told Cabinet colleagues he can secure the backing of 100 Tory MPs, as Sajid Javid has begunoperation stop Boris in his bid to be the next Tory leader. Mr Hunt has privately told ministers he has 75 MPs locked down to back him, and another 25 on his maybe list, a government source told the Daily Telegraph Mr Hunt denies making the claim about the 100 MPs support. The Foreign Secretary has been lining up support in the Commons for months, including holding face-to-face meetings with backbenchers Meanwhile Mr Javid has been sounding out allies of Mr Gove to run on a joint ticket, with the Home Secretary aiming to occupy Number 10 with Mr Gove next door as Chancellor.  Daily Telegraph

Brutal race already underway  FT

Gove edges into the lead  Daily Mail

Philip Collins: The Tories could once again become the nasty party

The future of Conservatism is up for grabs  Daily Telegraph

Voters dont think Gove and Johnson have what it takes  Keiran Pedley, Times Red Box

We must all have a say in replacing May  Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian

The temptations of two particular doctrines have made the Tories all but ungovernable. The first is the appeal of sovereignty-based nationalism. There is a breed of Eurosceptic in the Conservative Party that loathes the European Union so much that they are not even prepared to vote to leave unless they can stick their fingers up to it as they go. Their vision of national sovereignty in a world of alliances, treaties and trade and capital flows is a century out of date and their assumption that taking back control from Europe is the answer to the problems Britain faces is simply fatuous. Yet they have got religion and cannot be reasoned with. The second doctrinal temptation is hang-over Thatcherism.  The Times

>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Theyre off! (Well, perhaps.) Twelve questions for leadership candidates.

Corbyn urged to discipline Brexit rebels

Jeremy Corbyn is under pressure to discipline frontbenchers who defied the party whip over a second Brexit vote. Ian Lavery, the party chairman, Andrew Gwynne, shadow communities secretary, and Jon Trickett, shadow Cabinet Office minister, all rebelled and abstained for the vote on Wednesday night. Melanie Onn, the Labour MP for Great Grimsby, stood down as shadow housing minister to vote against another referendum. No action has been taken against the other three, despite Labour MPs being ordered to vote for the proposal. A row has erupted within the party as angry MPs call on the leadership to act. Ben Bradshaw, a former Labour minister, warned that if no action was taken it would be very hard on those shadow ministers who had to go for defying the whip on the same issue earlier this month.  The Times

Why did the Peoples Vote campaign waste time wooing the Labour leader?  Layla Moran MP, Times Red Box

>Yesterday: Left Watch: Obviously Conservative discipline is in tatters. But, intriguingly, Labours isnt looking great either.

Activists with Labour links held over antisemitic conduct

McDonnell group backs controversial expelled member  The Times

News in Brief:

Why Ive reluctantly concluded that MPs need to vote for Theresa Mays deal  Jonathan Isaby, Brexit Central

As an ex-Brexit minister I can tell you  Mays plan was built on sand  George Bridges, The Spectator

Remainers must stop their generation blame game  Philip Patrick, Reaction

Will decoupling the Withdrawal Agreement end the impasse?  Dom Walsh, CapX

How I overcame my class stigma  Roger Scruton, UnHerd

A one-time Labour council candidate and a former party activist are among three suspects arrested after a dossier of alleged antisemitic social media activity was leaked to police. Roy Smart, 50, and Patricia Sheerin-Richman, 72, were arrested last week along with a man from Birmingham in his fifties on suspicion of distributing material likely to stir racial hatred. Both Mr Smart, who was expelled from the party after disciplinary proceedings while standing in council elections, and Ms Sheerin-Richman have previously been accused of Holocaust denial in social media posts. Allegations of antisemitism have engulfed Labour under Jeremy Corbyns leadership.  The Times
(ANSA) - Rome, March 29 - There was a clash Friday between the interior ministry and the European Commission on whether Libya can be considered a safe port for migrants to be returned to. Interior Minister Matto Salvini, who has closed Italy's ports to NGO migrant rescue ships, reiterated the "full legitimacy of Libyan rescue operations, also because the presence of the International Organisation for Migrations guarantees the respect of the immigrants' rights and at the same time faster rescues".

The interior ministry said this updated directive had been issued "in light of the opinion of the European Commission".

But a Brussels spokesman said "there are not conditions of safety in Libya".


100%

Website sozcukcevir.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: Boostrap. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 40180 bytes (39.24 kb uncompressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-10-05, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
(ANSA) - Padua, March 29 - A 49-year-old Italian man was shot dead in his home in the Philippines on Thursday, sources said on Friday.

Andrea Guarnieri, a 49-year-old from Padua, had lived in the Philippines since 2014 and ran a property-investment company there, the sources said.

The victim's wife, a Filipino, informed Guarnieri's brother in Padua of what happened, the sources said.


The Venezuelan debt crisis has dragged on for so very long now that there are literally dozens of proposals out in the public domain (aka ssrn.com) on how Venezuela should do its restructuring. Given how quickly the situation on the ground is changing, the plausibility of these various proposals also has been moving with great speed.

A new and interesting one just showed up today from Daniel Osorio of Andean Capital (available here). Daniel is someone who knows the Venezuelan situation inside out and has a lot of experience distressed debt workouts. I don't think we agree on the optimal way to peel this onion, but Daniel is super smart and I always take his views seriously. His proposal, as I understand it, is to do an debt exchange where investors are given what he calls Patient Capital Bonds. Basically, investors are being asked to be patient and cooperate with the Venezuelan government by giving them a lot more time to repay them (much more than say the proposals for a Venezuelan reprofiling (which would just buy the time for the IMF to do an estimate of the economic situation) have been asking for). The benefit to investors, that Daniel is positing will attract them to his proposals, is that there is a big potential upside if Venezuela is able to get economically healthy.

A couple of questions though. First, is Daniel being unduly optimistic in assuming that the holdout problem can be easily solved? (after all the amount of litigation on the defaulted debt is increasing on a daily basis and specialist holdout firms are the opposite of "patient" capital). Second, can Venezuela get back to health in a reasonable amount of time without imposing significant cuts on the principal obligations on its debt stock? (maybe, if the stretch out of payments is long enough, but that then brings its own problems in terms of getting investors to be that patient).

I do agree with Daniel though that stretching out payments will ultimately have to be part of the equation and that whatever mechanism that is used will need to ensure that the majority of creditors come in voluntarily (that is, the non holdouts). I also agree with him that the post-Saddam restructuring of Iraqi debt has lessons to teach us.

Here is the abstract of Daniel's nice and short paper (six pages):

Regime change in Venezuela is imminent. The transition may take longer than what most Venezuelans would like, but when it occurs it will be faster than most expected. The challenges of the reconstruction of Venezuela and its economy will be more similar to those faced by a country after a vicious war or a violent natural disaster than the aftermath of an economic and/or political crisis. First and foremost, this reconstruction must start by addressing Venezuelas urgent humanitarian needs. This initial phase of the normalization of Venezuela must be done in a collaborative fashion between the private and public sector as well as Venezuelans and the international community. However, this spirit of collaboration must not end there, but continue in order to meet the economic challenges that Venezuela will face.

He also talked about this on the telly, on Bloomberg News.
(ANSA) - Rome, March 27 - A new exhibition at Trajan's Market titled "Immortal Dead: Treasures from Sichuan in Ancient China", curated by the museum's deputy director, archaeologist Jinsha Wang Fang, opened Tuesday and will run through October 18.

The exhibition arrives in Rome following a run in Naples at the National Archaeological Museum, and contains 130 artifacts, to which 15 additional loans will be added when they arrive from China in May.

The show is a grand display of the myths of Chinese archaeology through the lens of the Sichuan civilisation, which developed along the Min River, colloquially known as the Blue River.

Comprised of digital reconstructions, photos, videos, and interactive tools, the exhibition allows visitors to explore artifacts from the Sanxingdui and Jinsha archaeological sites from eight Chinese musuems, amidst the backdrop of the ancient Roman site of Trajan's Market, highlighting connections between ancient China and Imperial Rome.

Artifacts on display include objects in bronze, gold, jade, and terracotta from the 2nd millennium B.C. to the 2nd century A.C., such as ritual statues and vases, masks, daggers, and scepters.

The use of jade shows the refined craftsmanship of the Han Dynasty.

There are also lacquered-wood containers and portraits on brick, all of which make up an exhibition that abounds with enigmas and symbolism to give visitors a unique look at the culture of the Shu population.

Rome Deputy Mayor Luca Bergamo said the exhibition "strengthens relations between the two countries following the presidential visit" of China's president Xi Jiping last week.

Bergamo said the location of the exhibition emphasises "parallel paths between our culture and that of the Chinese".

Wang Yi, director-general of the Sichuan province office of cultural heritage, said the show is "the first that testifies to the accord between Italy and China".

He said the works on display "come from a province, Sichuan, that has a population of 80 million people who, thanks to the new air routes available to Rome, will now be able to travel more easily".


The Marine Hotel Association (MHA) is not only focusing on the big and well-known cruise lines at its 34th annual conference and trade show in Naples, Florida, March 31 to April 2, 2019, but also reaching out to exclusive luxury brands and expedition cruise lines, as well as river cruises and ferry operators.

Huge Market Potential: The overall cruise industry is set to grow from about 380 ships and an annual passenger capacity of approximately 27.8 million passengers this year to more than 500 ships and 40 million passengers by 2027, according to the 2019 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.

Market Segments: To make it easier to tackle, the market can be segmented, allowing vendors to target not only the mass market, but also the luxury and expedition brands globally.

Small-Ship Speaker: Attending the 2019 conference and trade show will be representatives from the luxury and expedition brands, including Windstar, whose president, John Delaney, will be the keynote speaker on Monday, April 1.

Culinary Showcase: Some of the top chefs and culinary minds in the cruise industry will kick off the event on March 31 by taking part in the MHAs inaugural Culinary Showcase. The talented chefs will be on hand at the Naples Grande and will prepare their own custom creations for an audience of suppliers, cruise industry executives and other key players in Naples. The event will utilize the hotels Sunset Deck and Vista Ballroom, and will be a full evening of culinary delights running from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Lindblad recently rounded out the line up, adding to a strong culinary roster for the event.

Trade Show Event: The MHA's trade show runs on Monday and Tuesday, April 1 and 2, with vendors, cruise lines and other key parties all together on the trade show floor. Conference sessions are run strategically before the trade show doors open to keep the group together.

Tuesday Speakers: A new culinary and innovation panel will be the highlight Tuesday morning. Panel participants will share their expertise on culinary developments within the industry as well as comment on innovation, new concepts, partnerships, and issues around sustainability and managing the supply chain. The panel will also feature a short question and answer session with the audience.

Scholarship: Additional show and membership revenue is funneled back into the MHA's trademark scholarship program. Over 8,000 shipboard and shoreside staff have benefited from attending these programs with their tuition covered by MHA Scholarship funds.

Strategic Message: The MHA started the year off with a new strategic message issued by John McGirl, president of the MHA and Chief Operating Officer of The World, Residences at Sea

The MHA is a not-for-profit, international association run by and for the cruise industry and dedicated to enhancing the onboard guest experience," McGirl wrote. This will be achieved by providing active forums for open dialogue between the industry and a broad range of vendor partners and raising the level of cruise industry talent by creating opportunities for professional development and career growth.

The conference and trade show remains the only event of its kind dedicated to the marine hotel sector.

Our not-for-profit status makes our events accessible and affordable for every level of the marine hotel organization and provides an entry point for new suppliers to gain access to the sector without sacrificing any aspect of the experience, McGirl said. In fact, because we are run by a voluntary board of marine hotel executives and supplier companies, we pride ourselves on offering a truly exceptional conference and tradeshow mirroring the standards and quality we aspire to onboard all our respective vessels.

The Marine Hotel Associations conference and trade show takes place at the Naples Grande Beach Resort.
American Cruise Lines announced that its 2018 annual Holiday Cruise Campaign raised enough money to provide over 28,000 meals to neighbors in need.

Each year, American donates a portion of its Holiday Cruise sales to the Connecticut Food Bank.

The Connecticut Food Bank was founded in New Haven in 1982. It partners with food retailers, growers, donors, and volunteers to source food and distribute it through a network of community-based programs. The Connecticut Food Bank provides food to adults and children who are food insecure in six Connecticut counties: Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London and Windham. They are an affiliate of Feeding America, the nations food bank network and are the largest centralized source of emergency food in Connecticut.

Since the Holiday Cruise Campaigns inception, American Cruise Lines together with the Connecticut Food Bank, has been able to raise enough funds to provide over 128,000 meals for families in need and all those who struggle with food insecurity across the state. The Connecticut-based cruise line is looking forward to continuing the program for its 2019 Holiday Cruises, donating a portion of every ticket sold.
STAMFORD  Lord + Taylor has operated its department store at 110 High Ridge Road for some 50 years. It wants customers to know about its longevity.

In a trying year that has seen L+T close its flagship store in Manhattan and four others, the Stamford property and its establishments at the Danbury Fair and Westfield Trumbull malls have brighter long-term prospects. L+T President Vanessa LeFebvre has pinpointed those locations long-standing presence as key to customer relationships, as the business also focuses on growing its digital services.

As we think about how we go forward in building that more sustainable future, we actually want to build off that heritage, LeFebvre said in an interview last week at the Stamford store. Were known for this quality and great value. Were known as a destination for those special moments in your life. And thats a pretty incredible history we want to build on.

Making changes

On Jan. 2, Lord + Taylor closed the flagship store on Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, ending a 104-year run for the midtown establishment. The property was sold for $850 million last month to co-working powerhouse WeWork and partner Rhone Capital.

Making that kind of decision was challenging, but the reason that we did it was based on building a more financially solid foundation, LeFebvre said. Ultimately, it gives you the freedom to focus on the suburban stores.

While it has shrunk the number of its locations to 45, L+T continues to upgrade its stores. In late 2016, it completed a nearly two-year renovation of the 157,000-square-foot Stamford location.

The womens shoe department was expanded by more than 3,500 square feet, to nearly 13,000 square feet. The jewelry department has doubled to 4,500 square feet. And the dress department nearly doubled, to almost 8,000 square feet.

At this point, we believe that Stamford represents, quite frankly, the bread and butter of who Lord + Taylor is, LeFebvre said. A freestanding store is where we can have a more intimate relationship with our customers.

LeFebvre was appointed president of L+T last year, rejoining the company where she spent the first 10 years of her career, as a buyer and merchandise manager. Before returning, she worked at online retailer Stitch Fix, where she oversaw strategy and merchandising direction for its womens business.

A Southbury native and Irvington, N.Y. resident, she grew up shopping at the Stamford store with her grandmother. It was also where LeFebvres mother bought her wedding dress.

What I like to think about L+T is it being a store of generations, LeFebvre said. We build our future on that generational component of were that trusted brand of your parents and grandparents.

To bolster its customer relations, L+T is soliciting more feedback. She visited the Stamford store last week for a roundtable event in which she heard input from local clients.

I think weve been really focused potentially on the wrong things in the past few years, by trying to chase a customer that we might not have had, LeFebvre said. Thereve been all these millennial strategies, versus really focusing on who are the customers we have and where are they in their journey.

At the same time, L+T has sought to build up its digital presence.

Among its e-commerce initiatives, it runs a store on Walmart.com, offering 20 percent discounts on such top brands as BCBGMaxazria, Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, Nautica, Perry Ellis, Tommy Bahama, Tommy Hilfiger, Vera Bradley and Vince Camuto.

It has also expanded its personal-shopping service, whose features include recommendations to customers, emailed from L+T stylists. Those items can then be picked up in a store or shipped to customers.

Facing challenges

Lord & Taylors changes reflects the restructuring throughout parent company Hudsons Bay Co., which also owns the Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th chains. CEO Helena Foulkes took over in February 2018, joining from CVS Health.

Among major shifts, HBC last year sold online flash-sales retailer Gilt Groupe for less than $100 million. Two years earlier, it had acquired the business for about $250 million.

Some critics have advocated for even farther-reaching moves, including the sale of L+T and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Offloading the marquee brands could double or triple the companys underperforming share price, Stamford-based hedge fund Land & Buildings founder and chief investment officer, Jonathan Litt, wrote in a letter last November to shareholders.

Land & Buildings, as a long-term significant shareholder of Hudsons Bay, continues to believe that the companys stock is egregiously undervalued, Litt wrote. In our view, there are numerous pathways that Hudsons Bay should be pursuing to unlock shareholder value. Unfortunately, the company has failed to take the decisive actions necessary to achieve this goal.

Messages left this week for Litt were not returned.

In the past quarter, HBC recorded sales of about $1.6 billion, up nearly 6 percent year-over-year. For the same period, it finished with an approximately $92 million loss.

Amid doubts from the likes of Litt about the company, LeFebvre said Foulkes has cultivated a strong morale.

I love working for another woman who has a really tenacious personality, LeFebvre said. Shes very smart and got a great sensibility to her. Shes really focused on the customer.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
(ANSA) - Rome, March 28 - A bill on violence against women ws put off toll next week Thursday amid a disagreement on chemical castration between government partners the 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the League.

Sources said efforts would be made to heal the rift between Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio's M5S, which is against the move, and Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini's League, which is in favour of it.

The opposition, on the centre left and the centre right, disrupted discussion of the bill on Thursday and the session in the House was briefly suspended.


BRIDGEPORT  Ezequiel Santiago only died two weeks ago, but the election calendar does not wait for a mourning period to end. Potential successors are launching their campaigns.

Santiagos fellow Democrats from the citys South and West ends and downtown gathered Thursday night to nominate Antonio Felipe for the May 7 special election.

When Santiago died suddenly on March 15 at age 45, he had represented Bridgeport in the state legislature for a decade.

Felipe is 23, and has worked behind the scenes during elections.

Experience comes at different levels, City Council President Aidee Nieves said following Felipes quick nomination. What Antonio is able to bring to the table is a youthful insight of what the city needs. He understands the Bridgeport community; much of his work has been helping others push their agenda forward.

Felipe said he and his family were close to Santiago.

Zeke was a friend of the family, a good friend of mine, he said.

In a prepared speech, Felipe offered a moment of silence for the late lawmaker and noted he would be honored to take on the impossible task of filling Santiagos shoes.

I know that Bridgeports best days are ahead of us, and that my background as a Park City native and a son of the 130th District has prepared me to fight for our city up in Hartford, he said.

Because Felipes family recently relocated to Stratford, he is getting ready to rent an apartment in the district.

While the city is currently run by Mayor Joe Ganim, who stopped by Thursdays event at the partys normal gathering spot, Testos Restaurant in the North End, Felipe has ties to the Democratic faction Ganim ousted four years ago.

He is the son of Ruben Felipe, an aide to former Mayor Bill Finch, who Ganim defeated in a bitter 2015 Democratic primary. The Felipes are also close with another Finch-era employee, state Rep. Chris Rosario, D-Bridgeport, a good friend of Santiago. Antonio Felipe was Rosarios campaign manager.

Brett Broesder, Finchs former communications director turned consultant, stopped by Testos to wish Felipe well and said he will likely be assisting with the campaign.

The Felipes also have close ties to the sometimes controversial charter school movement. Ruben Felipe is the state director for the Northeast Charter Schools Network and Antonio Felipe was treasurer for the charter school-linked Build CT Political Action Committee.

The election to replace Santiago will not be uncontested.

Ex-state Rep. Hector Diaz, who was also present Thursday at Testos, said afterward he is considering gathering the 36 signatures necessary to petition onto the special election ballot.

I respect and like his family, Diaz said of Antonio Felipe. But, he added, the 130th was my district before. Diaz was a legislator there from 1994 until 2000.

Diaz, 58, acknowledging the age difference with Felipe, said, Age breeds leadership. Diaz is currently a citys Police Commission.

And Republicans, though severely outnumbered in Bridgeport, have nominated their own young contender for the 130th District seat. Joshua Parrow, 29, moved to the area from New York state in 2009 to attend the University of Bridgeport.

He earned his bachelors and masters degrees there, then became a university staffer. He has held a handful of positions, including recreation center supervisor, the centers assistant director, head of recruitment and, most recently, assistant director of development.

This is my first time running for political office, but Ive been very involved in the community, Parrow said, noting he is vice chairman of the South End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone and a member of the Bridgeport Generation Now civic group.

Parrow said he may be a Republican, but he has supported some Democrats, and never wanted to challenge Santiago.

He was a great steward of the community, Parrow said. That ball has to be picked up. I believe I can definitely do that.
GREENWICH  A court filing by attorneys representing the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich suggests employees were asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement regarding the employment of Andrew Atkinson, a former counselor at the club accused of sexually abusing at least nine children hundreds of times.

The court document does not specify why the nondisclosure agreement was signed or describe its entire contents. But a memorandum subject to a non-disclosure agreement addressing Atkinsons employment was produced by the club as part of the discovery process into lawsuits against the club filed by several men who say the counselor raped and molested them in 1970s and 80s, according to a motion filed by defense attorneys.

The motion  which requests a protective order to keep documents produced in the case confidential  says the nondisclosure agreement states, The reason for any employee of [BGCG] leaving his employment at [BGCG] or under what conditions or reasons they departed, are private and confidential. Information concerning employment is not to be given to ANYONE without the written permission of the Executive Director.

The agreement was signed in 1984 or 1985 after the termination of Atkinson, according to another lawsuit filed against the club by a new plaintiff last week.

This memorandum evidences knowledge by the defendant through its employees, agents [and] volunteers ... [about] Atkinsons sexual abuse ... of other Boys Club members, reads that complaint against the nonprofit.

Harry Clark, an attorney representing the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, declined to comment further on the case. Representatives of the local club have previously detailed the ways in which the club has improved its safety protocols, including since 2014  the year a Greenwich teaching aide was convicted of trying to molest a boy in the clubs showers in an unrelated case.

Atkinson was allowed to work alone with children after victims reported their abuse to the clubs director at the time, James Starcher, and his son, Jeff Starcher, who was also an employee and became assistant director of the club in the late 80s, according to the new complaint.

Jeff Starcher currently serves as director of organizational development for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Representatives for Boys & Girls Clubs of America said the organization investigated and found no evidence that Starcher was aware of any abuse. James Starcher is no longer living.

Atkinson in an interview with Greenwich Time has denied he abused anyone.

The sworn deposition testimony of three administrators at the national nonprofit are being sought in the Greenwich lawsuits. A Stamford Superior Court judge this month granted attorneys requests to take the out-of-state depositions of Boys & Girls Clubs of America President James Clarke, Chief Operating Officer Lorraine Orr and Senior Vice President of Field Services John Miller.

All three administrators  including the organizations president  may have knowledge of incidences of sexual abuse of children under the supervision of the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich between the years 1976 through 1984 and may be in possession of documents relevant to the case, according to plaintiffs court filings.

Representatives of Boys & Girls Clubs of America declined to comment on the case this week. Miller told Greenwich Time this month he oversees mandatory annual safety inspections of each local club.

We know more today than people knew 30 years ago, he said of the nonprofits safety procedures and guidelines. We now have better technology, better communication can create strong support for young people. We are not perfect, but we recognize how vitally important it is to get to a place where any kid who comes into any of our clubs is safe.
BRIDGEPORT  An increase in the citys grand list combined with election-year politics may have a positive impact on overburdened taxpayers.

Three years after Mayor Joe Ganim outraged some neighborhoods by hiking Bridgeports tax rate from 42 to 54 mills, he is running for re-election and considering including a modest tax reduction in his proposed budget.

That draft 2019-20 fiscal plan is expected to be forwarded to the City Council on Tuesday.

The mayor and I had a preliminary conversation about lowering or attempting to lower taxes, City Council President Aidee Nieves said. From my understanding, he is proposing a budget with tax cuts in it.

Ganim refused in a brief interview Thursday night to talk budget details, but stated, Im very sensitive to taxpayers. His last two spending plans kept the tax rate the same.

The mayor said he planned to consult with council members over the weekend, ahead of that legislative bodys regular Monday meeting. Ganim is expected to deliver a few comments on his budget then, and also to tout it when he makes his annual state-of-the-city address to the business community Tuesday at the University of Bridgeport.

Crunching numbers

Councilwoman Maria Zambrano Viggiano, along with the Budget Committee she co-chairs, will spend April reviewing the mayors draft. She said it is obvious Ganim would at least want to hold the line on taxes.

I suspect because it is an election year for the mayor it would be wise for him to keep taxes where they are, she said.

Viggiano said lowering taxes might be a good short-term political move not only for the mayor but for council members who are also facing re-election. But, she warned, that would be an irresponsible decision if it requires raising taxes in non-election years.

I dont want to see a significant reduction in taxes thats not sustainable, she said.

Ganim, a Democrat, and the all-Democrat council head into the budget season buoyed by some recent good fiscal news, but also facing new pressures.

The grand list of taxable properties grew 5 percent, thanks mostly to the ongoing construction of a natural gas-fired power plant. That project was initiated during former Democratic Mayor Bill Finchs administration and continued after Ganim was elected in late 2015.

It was Finch whom Ganim blamed when he and the council raised the tax rate to 54 mills, one of the highest in Connecticut. Ganim and his staff claimed at the time that he had inherited a surprise deficit from his predecessor.

The recent grand list growth means that if city spending stays roughly the same in the 2019-20 budget, Ganim and the council could conceivably reduce the tax rate and still collect enough revenue to balance the books.

But maintaining the same level of city spending will be a challenge, given changes to wages and benefits.

For example, the Ganim administration recently negotiated contracts with the Laborers International Union of North America and the City Supervisors Association that include 2 percent wage increases for the current fiscal year and the upcoming 2019-20 one that begins July 1. Ganims salary and the salaries of other elected or appointed officials are tied to the supervisors contract and will similarly rise.

And the state recently required municipalities that participate in Connecticuts non-education pension system to increase their contributions by 20 percent. That will have an estimated $3.5 million impact on Bridgeports 2019-20 budget.

Meanwhile, Gov. Ned Lamonts proposed budget flat-funded municipal aid while asking cities and towns to start contributing toward the states teacher pension program.

What about education?

Asked what his proposed 2019-20 budget would do for public schools, Ganim reiterated his frequent complaint that state government repeatedly shortchanges Bridgeport when it comes to education dollars.

The Bridgeport Board of Education wants $16 million above its current $248 million operating budget. Ganims past budget proposals have flat-funded the schools, leaving it up to the council to find more money.

Ganim said he will help fight for additional state education aid, adding: Its unfair what they do to Bridgeport, year after year after year.

Viggiano said the public would like to see more money go to the school district, but that the council has mixed feelings.

Im of the mind: Lets try to give additional funds, she said.

Viggiano said she is certain other areas of the budget can be cut. She referred to the costs of some recent, controversial municipal projects  the new public facilities garage and decorative lighting in the Black Rock neighborhood  as well as the ongoing FBI investigation of missing money from illicit scrap metal sales.

Theres definitely areas where money was spent where the council feels the administration could have done better, Viggiano said.

It is also possible that as the full council prepares to vote on a budget in early May, City Hall will find some new cost savings. Last year, for example, on the weekend ahead of the budget vote, Ganims staff announced a decision to shift the employee health plan from self-insured to a state program, which freed up over $1 million in the 2018-19 budget.
GREENWICH  Rain or shine, students will graduate from Greenwich High School on Monday, June 17.

The Board of Education voted 7-0, with one abstention, on Thursday night to approve the graduation date. The vote came after the board changed it from the original date of Friday, June 14, because the ceremony could last until sundown, which would overlap with the beginning of the Sabbath.

As of March 28, the Greenwich Public Schools have been closed district-wide for one snow day. All staff and students will have to make up the one day.

New Lebanon School was closed for students on Feb. 19 to allow staff members to move into the new building. New Lebanon students will have to make up a total of two days.

During the week of Oct. 8, Cos Cob School was closed for students for five days because of a flood and damages due to a broken faucet. Those students will have to make up a total of six days. Cos Cob staff members worked out of the Havemeyer Building on Oct. 10 but were unable to work the other four days that week. Cos Cob School Staff will have to make up a total of five days.

Based on a calendar of 180 days for students, and 187 days for staff, the last day for sixth-graders will be June 14.

All other students, except those at New Lebanon and Cos Cob schools, will finish on June 17 with an early release. New Lebanon students will finish school a day later, on June 18, with an early release, and Cos Cob students will finish on June 24, with early release.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
Information is from Office of Internal Affairs report about police intervention at a party on Oct 21, 2017:

Sgt. Mark Belinkie was cited for failing to supervise and not getting medical attention for Peter Diaz after seeing another officer drag him partway up the booking ramp. The report also said Belinkie didnt wait for his relief to arrive.

Sgt. Paul Scillia was found to have used excessive force during the arrest of Carmelo Mendez. The report said Scillia also failed to supervise officers and was untruthful in his recollection of what happened that night.

Lt. Robert Sapiro was cited for failing to supervise officers that night. He retired earlier this month after being promoted to the rank of captain.

Officer Daniel Faroni violated the departments use of force when he dragged Peter Diaz up the booking ramp. His recollection of the night was found to be untruthful.

Officer Thomas Lattanzio was found to use excessive force during the arrest of Jose Alvarado at the party and while in booking with Peter Diaz. He violated policy on truthfulness in his reporting of that night.

Officer Todd Sherback violated policy on public contact in connection with the arrest of Fernando Morales. Another part of the report indicated he did not violate any department policies.

Officer Michael Mazzacco was found to violate policy when he used a racial slur when speaking to Peter Diaz. Mazzacco repeated a phrase back to Diaz that he used himself while talking to the officer.

Officer Natalie McLaughlin violated policy on truthfulness when she submitted two reports about that night - one that named the officers involved in an arrest and another that didnt.

Officer Linet Castillo-Jimenez violated department policy on truthfulness when she wrote two reports about the incident, one in which she named two officers involved in an arrest and the second which just referred to them as responding officers.

Officer Matthew Johnson was found in violation of department policy for submitting two reports about the arrest of Sara Deida - one where he recorded her resistance to being arrested and another that left it out.

Officer Joseph Cruz violated policy on use of force during the arrest of Roman Davila, when Cruz knocked him to the ground.

Officer Adam Szeps violated policy on truthfulness in his recollection of the arrest of Carmelo Mendez. He violated policy for failing to get Mendez medical attention when he was noticeably hurt.

Officer Douglas Bepko violated policy on truthfulness when he said he didnt see anyone strike Carmelo Mendez during his arrest. He also blocked a woman from recording Mendezs arrest at least three times.

Detective Kenneth Fortes was found to be untruthful and provided inaccurate reporting of an incident related to that night. He told investigators he didnt see anyone get physical with Carmelo Mendez during his arrest, but various officers were caught on video hitting Mendez while Fortes stood among them.

Officer Michael Stanitis was found to use excessive force when he struck Carmelo Mendez during his arrest at the party.

Officer Steven Silva was found to have violated department policy for not providing medical attention for Carmelo Mendez, who collapsed in booking while Silva was asking for information about his pistol permit.

Officer Joseph Pires violated department policy on truthfulness and reporting of an incident when he wrote a report that he had to jump out of the way of a pickup truck speeding down Colorado Avenue after the arrests. Video footage showed he was near the truck but did not have to move out of the way.

Civilian Detention Officer Paul Humphrey was found to violate policy on public contact during his interaction with Fernando Morales in booking.

Civilian Detention Officer Jose Figueroa used excessive force when he poked Peter Diaz in the chest after Diaz made a vulgar comment while Figueroa was putting shackles on his legs before he was taken to the hospital.

Charges:

Carmelo Mendez was charged with misdemeanors of second-degree breach of peace and interfering with an officer/resisting arrest. He has pleaded not guilty.

Peter Diaz was charged with two counts of assault on a police officer, a felony charge. He was also charged with second-degree threatening, second-degree breach of peace and interfering with an officer/resisting arrest - all misdemeanor charges. He has entered not guilty pleas.

Sara Deidra was charged with interfering with an officer, assault on a police officer and breach of beach.

Wanda Mendez was charged with assault on a police officer, interfering with a police officer, breach of peace and inciting a riot.

Fernando Morales was charged with assault on a police officer, interfering with a police officer, breach of peace and inciting a riot.

Jose Alvarado was charged with interfering with a police officer and breach of peace.

Ramon Davila was charged with interfering with a police officer and carrying a dangerous weapon. (He was in possession

Jose Rosario was charged with interfering with an officer/resisting arrest.
Reiterating his new found mantra to just have the state get out of the way, Gov. Ned Lamont came to Essex on Friday to drill home that point.

Lamont was at Essex Elementary School along with politicians and school officials from the area who are seen as innovators when it comes to finding ways to share school services.

Essex, along with Deep River and Chester, make up the Region 4 school district.

Lamont met with local officials at the collaborative preschool program, which is shared between the towns of Chester, Deep River, and Essex.

The preschool has been operating for more than 20 years and has resulted in a significant savings for taxpayers, Region 4 officials said. However, Region 4 officials have said that trying to undertake similar efforts in grades K-12 are impossible under the current rules.

Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, introduced legislation that he believes will help other school districts share services and cut costs across the state.

Lamont took notice and backed off his earlier call for penalties for school districts that fail to regionalize some of their back-office services, and would instead use construction bonds to incentivize schools to share services and cut costs.

The Education Committee passed Lamonts revised bill Friday afternoon by a vote of 22-13, but not without criticism.

The idea of forced regionalization and consolidation was removed from the bill, but that wasnt good enough for Republican lawmakers.

Its all still based on the premise that local school districts must be prodded somehow to act in their own best interests, Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said.

Lavielle represents a community that organized loudly against Lamonts original legislation.

Rep. Kathleen McCarthy, R-Waterford, said the words consolidation and forced regionalization have been removed from the bill, but she said the structure of the shared services commission remains.

Theres a lot of angst still in the communities throughout the state, McCarthy said. Theres still enough in this bill for me that I cannot support.

Rep. Bobby Sanchez, D-New Britain, said he applauds Lamonts effort to change the bill, but he can understand that people have their doubts.

Needleman too applauded Lamonts flexibility on the issue.

At Governor Lamonts budget address in February, he told us he would work with us on important issues, and Im grateful we had the opportunity to do just that with him Friday, Needleman said.

Needleman, who has only been a state senator a few months, said he deliberately decided to introduce very few bills because he wanted the ones he introduced to be priorities.

Needlemans bill would allow multiple boards of education in a regional school district to act together and have that collaboration be recognized by the state as a Local Education Agency (LEA).

Needlemans bill would also require the state Education Department to develop a report on best practices for sharing educational services.

In Region 4, Chester, Deep River, and Essex operate a single central office with one set of administrators, including one superintendent, who serves the towns three elementary schools and high school. A number of other staff members, such as the art, music, and foreign language teachers, are employed by the towns cooperative agreement board, permitting staff to work across each of the towns schools without having to replicate the positions in each school.

Its working well for us, Essex Board of Education Chairman Lon Seidman said. He said Region 4 is just looking for some relief from some of the state mandates, adding that he believes the regions cost-savings model would work well in other districts.

Governor Lamont understands that for many towns the states current one size fits all solution for regionalism is just not compatible with our local systems of government, Seidman said. By eliminating these restrictions and allowing towns to design their school districts we will begin to see some very creative and innovative solutions to the many challenges our schools face.

There are 17 regional school districts in Connecticut. However, the state forces the towns and regional districts to maintain separate boards for each elementary schools plus a board for the regional schools.

When Lamont first talked about shared services in schools  a conversation forced by the need to find money to save in the state budget  his language was perceived by many, especially in the smaller communities, as pushing for forced consolidation.

He said his new proposal was developed in collaboration with stakeholders, and addresses concerns raised by members of many communities while continuing to encourage collaboration and shared services among schools. The governor said that he agrees with many constituents who do not want their school districts to be forced to consolidate operations, and is hopeful that the modifications to his proposal address those concerns.

The new language in Lamonts bill also calls for a bipartisan commission on shared school services, made up of education stakeholders. The commission would have no power to force the adoption of its recommendations, but will look around and outside Connecticut to offer information about how other districts share services.

Needlemans bill, which has morphed into SB 1069, was approved earlier this week.
MILFORD  Michael Rea, a carpenter and mechanic at Milford Hospital, told the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy this week that he wholly supports the acquisition of Milford Hospital by Bridgeport Hospital.

I believe I speak not only for myself, but also my co-workers when I say the potential for millions of dollars being invested into our campus to support and improve the physical plant and infrastructure through building, renovations and maintenance is very exciting, Rea told the panel.

Karen Santos, manager in central supply, told the state officials that for the first time in many years she is feeling optimistic about the future of the hospital and her fellow employees.

In the last nine months I have heard repeated references to our future growth, not downsizing and investments, not cutting, she said. These are words that I have not heard in a long time. Its very exciting.

Hospital staff, as well as Milfords mayor and the citys representatives in Hartford, were among those who spoke in favor of Bridgeport Hospital acquiring Milford Hospital at a hearing Tuesday.

The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy held the public hearing in Orange for a certificate of need application that would transfer ownership of Milford Health and Medical, Inc., the parent company of Milford Hospital, to Bridgeport Hospital, a member of the Yale New Haven Health System.

Under the plan, Bridgeport Hospital would operate Milford Hospital as a satellite hospital location. Milford Hospital will cease to operate, but instead would be the Milford Campus of Bridgeport Hospital.

State Sen. James Maroney joined state Reps. Kim Rose, Charles Ferraro and Kathy Kennedy to give public testimony in favor of allowing the asset purchase agreement.

For almost a century, Milford Hospital has been a pillar in our community, caring for us and our neighbors, and employing our friends and family, said Maroney. This partnership is necessary to save Milford Hospital and the jobs of its hard-working staff, who work tirelessly to save the lives of individuals in our community every day.

Milford Hospital is one of the largest employers in the city , with more than 700 employees and estimated payroll of $38 million, according to hospital officials.

Without the purchase agreement, Maroney said it is likely Milford Hospital would be forced to close. The hospital has been struggling financially for a number of years due to changes in the world of healthcare.

Lawmakers said this is a win-win for patients, the hospital, region and Milford community.

Milford Hospital employs many of our residents and offers critical care services to our community, Rose said. This merger will ensure that we retain jobs and can continue to offer premier medical services to our community.

Kennedy said the hospitals long term financial stability is paramount, and Ferraro said losing Milford Hospital would have a significant negative impact on the community.

I hope this transfer is approved, Ferraro said.

Last September Yale New Haven Health, Bridgeport Hospital and Milford Hospital boards of trustees voted to pursue the acquisition of Milford Hospital by Bridgeport Hospital.

The hearing in Orange was a step in the regulatory review process that would allow that to happen.

According to a spokesperson from the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy, the public comment portion of the hearing will remain open until April 2. Once the record is closed the office will have 60 days to render a decision.

Milford Hospital spokeswoman Karen Kipfer said she only heard positive comments about the acquisition during the hearing. She said staff is excited and looks at the proposal more as an integration of the hospitals rather than an acquisition. I think we went from being nervous to having a really shared optimism about this, Kipfer said.

Under the proposal, the Milford campus would remain an acute care hospital. In addition, Bridgeport Hospital/Yale New Haven Health System has committed to developing and expanding clinical programs and services based on the needs of the community, Kipfer said.

The specifics of the growth will be determined through a fully integrated operating and strategic plan which is currently being developed, Kipfer said.

Members of the public may submit comments regarding the acquisition plan by emailing CONcomment@ct.gov. The docket number is 18-32270-CON.
SHELTON  Shelton High School Headmaster Beth Smith has been placed on administrative leave, according to Superintendent of Schools Chris Clouet, who did not disclose the reason for the move.

Clouet said Friday that he informed Smith of the decision Thursday at the Board of Education administrative office building the previous day.

It is true that (Smith) is on paid administrative leave until further notice, but the circumstances of that decision are a personnel matter, and I cannot comment further, Clouet said.

Clouet did say he was concerned and extremely disappointed in the false reporting on this matter by various media outlets.

I made this decision to place her on paid administrative leave for her benefit and the benefit of the school district until this is resolved, said Clouet.

Board of Education Chairman Mark Holden said Friday that Clouet informed board members midday Thursday about the move.

Assistant Principal John Skerritt is acting principal while an investigation of Smith begins.

Holden said the board has not received any details on the issues surrounding Clouets decision on Smith.

There will be a thorough investigation, said Holden, and if the Board of Education needs to action, we will do so.

Holden also disputed reports of Smith, a longtime member of the Shelton school system, being arrested, saying that he has heard nothing of an arrest or of anyone being escorted from the high school by law enforcement.

Clouet met with her (Thursday) and he was the one who made the decision that she should be placed on administrative leave, with pay, Holden said.

In the meantime, Holden said he had tremendous confidence in (Skerritts) ability to cover what needs to be covered during this process.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
ASSISI (PERUGIA) - A total of 212 youths from 32 nations are attending on Friday morning a ceremony to present the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, with the Lamp of Peace award and then meet with him, as well as with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Premier Giuseppe Conte.

The event on Friday is also attended by the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, the president of the Italian Bishops Conference CEI, Card. Gualtiero Bassetti and 220 journalists.

The Franciscan community of 70 friars from 21 different nationalities will participate.

A total of 35 ambassadors are also expected in Assisi. The award ceremony will take place in the Basilica and will include a concert with the orchestra and choir of the Cappella musicale della Basilica di San Francesco.
President Donald Trump threatened to close the nation's southern border, or large sections of it, next week if Mexico does not halt illegal immigration at once.

"If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week," Trump said in a tweet. "This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and 'talk.'"
The White House confirmed Thursday night that South Korea President Moon Jae-in will visit President Donald Trump on April 11.

The two will meet for talks on North Korean nuclear diplomacy, The Associated Press confirmed.

"President Trump and President Moon will discuss the latest developments regarding the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as well as bilateral matters," Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region."

Sanders said the visit "will strengthen this alliance and the friendship between the two countries."



In February, Trump abruptly ended negotiations with North Korea in Vietnam, saying he was not willing to meet President Kim Jong Un's demand to lift sanctions on North Korea with no denuclearization commitment.

This is a breaking news story. Refresh for updates.
If youre a small business owner seeking inspiration on how to best use social media, look to the industry leaders. Nearly every business uses social media to share news, events, photos and videos -- but what are the best companies doing differently on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn?

Increasingly, were seeing successful businesses use social listening, also known as media monitoring. Social listening allows you to shrink the world of social media and focus only on whats important to you and your brand.

Related: 5 Ways Your Business May Not (But Should) Be Taking Advantage of Facebook Marketing

Every day, millions of Facebook updates, Tweets, Instagram posts and LinkedIn comments are posted online. And not every conversation relevant to your business -- whether because it includes your name or buzzwords from your industry or emerging trends you should be aware of -- can show up on your timeline.

Social listening tools allow you to collect all relevant conversations in one place and analyze them. You can use these reports to manage a cresting crisis, analyze them for general sentiment, and discover new opportunities to promote your brand.

As pointed out in a new Fundera report, The 30 Most Influential Companies on Social Media, some of the biggest names in business are clearly using social listening to provide more targeted, relevant and valuable responses to followers and customers on social. McDonalds, Subway, Lyft, Airbnb and others claimed spots on the list in part due to their monitoring tactics.

What can your business gain by using social listening tools? Here are four upsides:

1. Send quick replies to customer service issues.

For better or for worse, social media has become a popular place for customers to air their grievances. Did your driver arrive late? Is your pizza not cheesy enough? Go on Twitter and tag the business with your complaint, and youll often get a response.

Not every tweet or Facebook update concerning a customer service issue is intended as an official complaint, however. Some people simply use social media to vent about a bad experience or to warn friends off of a certain product or service. That means your business, as the offender, might not be tagged, or even mentioned explicitly.

Using social listening tools, you can find mentions of your business (or buzzwords that correlate with your business) across social media platforms, as well as online forums, blogs, and across the web. This means you can find customer service issues complaints and address them quickly. Not only will you identify issues plaguing your business before the problem becomes widespread, but youll win the respect of people who are used to being ignored by the brands they give money to.

Feeling as though a brand isnt listening to complaints can cause customers to move on from a business entirely. Gartner once predicted that failure to respond via social channels can lead to up to a 15 percent increase in churn rate for existing customers.

Related: 4 Simple Ways to Up Your Millennial Marketing Game

2. Reward customers for mentioning you on social.

When a customer tags or mentions you or your business on social media, thats essentially a form of free advertising -- which is something youll want customers to do more of, since their mentioning of your business can greatly influence what people in their social circles, such as friends and family, think of you, too.

One of the easiest ways to encourage repeat behavior is to reward someone for doing it. Therefore, one of social listenings best perks is that you can use it to find people talking about or complimenting your business, and responding to them positively for it.

You make customers heard when you reply, share, or otherwise acknowledge their comments. Knowing that they can get a retweet, fun response or encouragement from a favorite brand that in other contexts would not stop to talk with them could motivate them to continue promoting you via social.

3. Promote more products and services through replies.

People can say whatever they want on social media. When theyre talking about a business or brand, however, its rarely just to say I love X brand. Theyre typically excited about a product or shouting out something specific about great service.

This is a great opportunity for you to engage with your customers. Use what you know about a customers recent purchase to offer them -- and other followers and users -- related products or experiences in an organic way.

Airbnb, one of the companies listed in Funderas report does an excellent job of this. Youll often see Twitter users announce theyre taking a trip by saying they just booked an Airbnb. Whether they tag Airbnb or not, the company usually follows up with an encouraging Where are you heading? message. If they get a specific response -- Miami, Seattle, Nashville -- then Airbnb will reply again, this time with a link to one of their newer features, Airbnb Experiences, in that city.

This is essentially free marketing for Airbnb and allows the company to speak to customers with incredibly relevant, targeted campaigns. Airbnbs replies also show up in the mentions of any other friends tagged in the response, further multiplying the reach of this tweet-by-tweet campaign.

Related: The New Strategy for Lifetime Loyalty: Balancing 'Products' and 'Services'

4. Show off a different side of the business.

One of the main purposes of marketing and advertising is to differentiate your business from your competitors. Social media gives businesses that otherwise have a hard time finding their voice a place to experiment with different tones and angles. Eventually, you might discover a mode of expression that fits with your emerging brand.

Take Uber and Lyft, for example, two companies that made it on Funderas list of influential companies. The two offer nearly identical services, and marketing, advertising and PR may be the only differentiator for customers -- besides price, which varies on both platforms.

Uber, according to Fundera, is the most highly valued private company in the U.S. and primarily uses social media as a customer acquisition and retention channel, with posts about limited time deals and promotions.

Lyft, on the other hand, has friendlier social media messaging than Uber, and you can see that clearly in the way they respond to tweets about their company. While both companies appear to monitor media mentions, Uber typically responds with a stock answer like We'd love to share on our social channels! Can you please send us a DM? Lyfts preferred response is funny reaction GIFs.

The backbone of both brand styles is listening to what users are saying about them on social, but its then up to each business to decide how to respond.

Wrap-up.

Social listening tools are more affordable and easier to use when you are an international business with a big marketing budget and a robust social media team. But any small business can start monitoring media mentions -- even manually, using the search or discover functions of most social media apps.

It may be just one piece of what makes influential companies so effective on social media, but its one that almost any business, no matter how big or how small, can try for themselves.

Related:

10 Instagram Marketing Tools to Help Grow Your Brand on Instagram in 2019

The Most Influential Companies on Social Media Listen to Their Followers

4 Ways to Create Impactful Ad Campaigns Without Spending Much



Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
A widow grieves her "best friend forever," and lawsuits are piling on against Purdue Pharma  these stories and more are today's top headlines in Connecticut. Read on for more.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

Jennifer Hensel, wife of Jeremy Richman who committed suicide at the town hall in Newtown this week, issued a statement calling her husband her "champion" and her "best friend forever."
Italian Interior min, EC clash on 'Libya safe port' Libyan rescues legit says Salvini, EC repeats Libya not safe

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 29 - There was a clash Friday between the Italian interior ministry and the European Commission on whether Libya can be considered a safe port for migrants to be returned to. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has closed Italy's ports to NGO migrant rescue ships, reiterated the "full legitimacy of Libyan rescue operations, also because the presence of the International Organisation for Migrations guarantees the respect of the immigrants' rights and at the same time faster rescues".



The interior ministry said this updated directive had been issued "in light of the opinion of the European Commission".



But a Brussels spokesman said "there are not conditions of safety in Libya".(ANSAmed).




The travelers from Maryland knew the Welcome Center on Interstate 84 in Danbury would be closed. They saw the signs as they crossed the border from New York Wednesday afternoon and approached Exit 2.

Undeterred, they stopped anyway because in Maryland the restrooms are separate from the welcome areas and can remain open when the other area is closed.

Instead we used the porta potty, Sarah Sayre said.

Lets just say, it was moderately gross, Phil Sayre said. We laughed at the word moderately  he was being a gentleman. The outdoor portable toilet hadnt been cleaned since the 12th, more than two weeks earlier, according to a sticker inside. (I took Phils word on that.)

The pleasant couple from the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay were on their way to Cambridge, Massachusetts, which means they would be traveling on I-84 through our state. I didnt have the heart to tell them that they wouldnt find an open rest area on that highway from one end of the state to the other  even though it was still daylight.

Is this the way to welcome visitors and encourage them to stay a while? Even if you live along I-95 or the Merritt where rest areas are open, you should care about the message we are giving potential tourists  dont stop here.

The state with the highest per capita income in the country cant afford to keep all of its rest areas open on the interstates. How embarrassing is that?

The small amount saved, about $2 million in a $20 billion state budget, is foolhardy given the public relations disaster and the loss of tourists spending.

But this is the way weve been operating since Sept. 30, 2016, when the state Department of Transportation restricted hours at seven rest areas across the state. Four of those are in border towns.

The idea was to save on employee salaries; the result is that those welcome centers and rest areas are closed longer than they are open. Even the highway signs are negative  stating the areas are closed from 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., instead of when they are actually open.

Welcome to Connecticut, the land of bathroom penny pinchers.

Wasted stop for weary traveler looking for a break during long hours on I84. Sad, a New Jersey man with the handle Chris C. wrote March 14 in a Yelp review of the Welcome Center in Danbury.

Make it happen

Ive written about this before. Yes, Im a woman on a crusade to put the welcome back in Welcome Centers. Now Im not alone.

The Blue Ribbon Panel on Tourism, initiated last fall by Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, delivered recommendations Feb. 15. (Ill write about them sometime because theyre interesting and important, but for now lets stay focused on my mission.)

One of the recommendations is to reopen the centers.

For many their visit to our Welcome Center is their first impression of our State as a place to visit, live and/or work, and our opportunity to steer them to experiences we know they will enjoy and virally spread the word, the panel reported.

Staff the centers for hospitality and information services during peak travel hours, and keep restrooms open 24/7. While the DOT would remain responsible for operation and maintenance of the buildings, the hospitality services would be managed by the state Office of Tourism or regional destination marketing organizations (called DMOs).

This makes sense. You would immediately see plenty of brochures, suggestions for sights to see, activities to do, places to eat and stay. They could feature local produce for sale, such as maple syrup and apples, and works by local artists.

The Blue Ribbon panel dovetailed the work of the Arts, Culture and Tourism policy committee formed by then Gov.-elect Ned Lamont, one of 15 to help inform his transition.

Lisa Scails, the executive director of the Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut, was a member of that committee. So when Lamont came to the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerces Eggs & Issues breakfast last Friday, she was ready with a question  about the Welcome Centers.

Lamont didnt hesitate his answer. Its an embarrassment! he said. What kind of a welcome is that?

Precisely. He drew applause.

If the governor wants it to happen, if a Blue Ribbon tourism panel and tourism groups want it to happen, what are we waiting for? It shouldnt require an act of the General Assembly to shift around DOT funding priorities.

New York gets it right. When you cross from our state west to New York on I-84, you see a huge I (heart) NY logo built into the median. Much better than a Welcome Center closed sign, eh?

The outside of the Welcome Center in Danbury is quaintly charming. Picnic tables and old-fashioned grills are scattered under trees. Rocks, plentiful in these parts, are stacked in cairns.

The American and Connecticut flags waved in a gentle breeze as Sarah and Phil Sayre got on their way to Massachusetts just before 6 p.m. Wednesday. I didnt have the heart to tell them that shortly they would be in bumper-to-bumper traffic heading east  happens like clockwork every day  for several miles.

Well, at least were not greeting them with tolls  yet.

Jacqueline Smiths columns appear Fridays in Hearst Connecticut Medias eight daily newspapers. Email her at jsmith@hearstmediact.com.
Top Italian technology under the Suez Canal Technical solutions by CMC group in Ravenna

(by Rodolfo Calo) (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MARCH 29 - A special ''world record'' for the speed of excavation work and high tech solutions are boasted by the Italian company CMC based in Ravenna that is contributing to an ambitious and difficult project in Egypt: two tunnels under the Suez Canal and its partial doubling up.



A consortium set up by two Egyptian companies, Petrojet and Concord, has been selected by the engineering authority of the Egyptian armed forces to build two tunnels, each with a length of 4,840 meters and a diameter of 11,4 meters, the Med & Gulf Project Manager and CMC representative in Egypt, Mario Liti, told ANSA.



The Egyptian firms chose as ''technical partners'' two European companies specialized in the construction of galleries: France' Razel-Bec and the Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti (C.M.C.) in Ravenna.



The method chosen for the project is the mechanized excavation work through TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine), said Liti, stressing that the project is mainly in sandy soil and 67 meters below ground level.



Excavation work for the first tunnel, directly managed by Petrojet and CMC, started in June 2016 and was completed in December 2017 ''after just a year and a half'', stressed the manager, recalling that the second tunnel has also been completed.



The choice of a mechanized mechanism system enabled to progress fast in the work, stressed Liti.



The manager said that other technical solutions enabled to ''obtain and certify the world record in the monthly production of tunnels with diameters similar to that in Ismailia'' - the maximum daily production was 34 meters, weekly production was 206 and monthly production was 628 meters.



The maintenance of the machinery used for excavation work (which has an excavation diameter of over 13 meters) requires technicians to operate in an hyperbaric room called ''man lock'' for long periods of time, up to 28 days, said Liti.



The specialists experience a situation similar to astronauts, living in a special capsule - the ''living chamber'' - pressurized to 6 bars, which is positioned outside the tunnel and built with several rooms including bathrooms. In order to connect it with the rest of the machinery, a transport system called ''shuttle'' is used for the purpose.



Expressing ''great pride'' for Italy's production, the CMC manager highlighted the particular connection with the Suez Canal: at the end of the 1990s, the cooperative based in Ravenna excavated four tunnels of the ''El Salaam Siphon'', the irrigation channel bringing water from the Nile to the Sinai.



(ANSAmed).




CAIRO - Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, a blogger who became iconic during the Arab Spring, was released from jail on Friday after serving five years for having participated in an unauthorised demonstration in 2013.

Fattah will be on probation for five years and required to check in at his local police station on a daily basis, according to various media outlets including the Arab website of the BBC.

It is unclear from information currently circulating in the media whether other limitations will be imposed on Fattah, such as those that were placed on Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zaid, known as "Shawkan", who was convicted for his coverage of the bloody August 2013 repression.

Zaid was also released this month after five years in jail, but he is required to spend every night for the next five years in a police station and he is not allowed to manage his financial holdings for the same period of time.

In theory, Fattah's daily police check-in could also take place with a police officer visiting his home, given that the purpose of the check is to ensure that he stays in the area.


This month, I testified before the state Legislatures Public Health Committee. I talked about cancer, vaccines and science. I testified in support of HB 7199, a bill to increase Connecticuts rates of immunization against human papilloma virus, or HPV. I sat behind a microphone, facing a wide circle of legislators. Dozens of opponents glared, and one aggressively filmed me while I spoke.

HPV is a common infectious disease transmitted through skin-to-skin contact. Nearly all men and women are exposed at some point, and usually unaware of infection. High-risk strains cause cervical, genital, and head and neck cancer, years after infection. For over a decade, weve had a magic bullet to prevent these deadly and disfiguring cancers: the HPV vaccine.

This bill would make HPV immunization a school requirement, putting it on par with all other vaccines already required for school entry in Connecticut. As a primary care physician in New Haven and Waterbury, I care for many who fall through the cracks with preventative care, for complex socioeconomic reasons. So, school-based immunizations requirements are a crucial public health tool to ensure that children are kept healthy. The utility of giving this vaccine early in childhood, before skin-to-skin contact, is akin to the purpose of seatbelts. Seatbelts protect against injury or death in case of a car accident; this vaccine protects against cancer if exposed to HPV. The Legislature should seize this moment to save Connecticut lives.

As an internist, pediatrician and patient-advocate, I know that all bill-opponents share the same goal as me  to protect children from harm. But I was saddened to see parents victimized by irresponsible online groups that implant conspiratorial thinking about immunizations. Many who testified in opposition to the bill shared flagrant misinformation about vaccines that was inflammatory and misleading for legislators and for the public. Recent studies show that these voices have been amplified by the echo chamber of social media, further turbo-charged by automated bots. These anti-science lies have even prompted Google, Facebook, Amazon and Pinterest to take action against this propaganda.

Vaccine administration is under threat from junk science and fear-mongering. In fact, for 2019, the World Health Organization named vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten global health threats to mankind, alongside climate change and Ebola. At the hearing, vaccine opponents accused the worlds scientific and medical community  made up of experts at the CDC, the World Health Organization and every major government in the world  of recommending a vaccine that harms children. I urge the Legislature to leave this dangerous view behind and instead examine the strong evidence that supports the efficacy and safety of the HPV vaccine.

The truth is that vaccines are the greatest life-saving intervention in modern public health and medicine. We routinely protect children against diseases that used to disable and kill them  diphtheria, polio, tetanus and measles, for example. The vast majority of Connecticut parents do choose to vaccinate their children. And as with all medical interventions, physicians take risks and side effects seriously; thats why multiple robust clinical trials have demonstrated highly reassuring safety profiles before vaccine approval.

Just as important, vaccine safety is regularly monitored after licensing, both in the U.S. and internationally. VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System), a national passive reporting system for adverse events, is specifically designed to detect signals in vaccine safety, although many misinterpret the VAERS data as confirmation of causality. This is not the case. Instead, VAERS data is thoroughly examined by the CDC and multiple academic institutions to determine any serious side effects.

Lets talk about what scientific evidence does show. First, to date, there have been no serious side effects found associated with the HPV vaccine. Second, this vaccine works! In Australia, where most girls and boys now receive it, studies show that rates of HPV have dropped from 22 percent to 1 percent for women ages 18-24. Eradication of cervical cancer is predicted by 2060  in a single generation. Third, school immunization requirements help. In Rhode Island, where HPV vaccine is required for school entry, immunization rates for middle schoolers have reached 90 percent, dwarfing Connecticuts. Is it fair for a child growing up in our state to be much more at risk for HPV-associated cancer?

Legislators: Please do not miss this opportunity to eliminate cervical, penile, anal and oropharyngeal (head and neck) cancer in our future adults.

Readers: Call or email your legislator today and ask them to prevent cancer and vote for HB 7199.

Hannah Rosenblum is an internist and pediatrician at Yale New Haven Hospital.
To secure his states foothold in the growing offshore wind industry, Gov. Ned Lamont met Thursday in Washington D.C. with officials from Danish energy giant Orsted.

The company has plans for a massive offshore wind farm called Revolution Wind off the coast of Marthas Vineyard. It will power Connecticut with 300 megawatts of renewable energy and create construction jobs in the port of New London.

Like many other coastal states, Lamont wants to increase Connecticuts procurement of offshore wind. He has submitted a bill to set a goal for the state to get up to 1,000 megawatts of energy from offshore wind suppliers in the future.

He was also the only governor to attend the National Governors Association Global Energy Solutions Summit, where Thomas Brostrom, Orsteds North American president and CEO of US Offshore Wind, presented on Thursday.

Lamont said Thursday the Revolution Wind project is Connecticuts best option to serve its energy needs in the future. He noted the possible closing of the Millstone nuclear plant as more reason to explore clean-energy alternatives.

We have to think about world 10-to-12 years out, where nuclear is not a part of it, he said. How do we backfill? Wind, solar and energy efficiency is what weve been talking about.

But while Lamont pushes to expand the states offshore wind portfolio, he is also facing pressure to apply more regulation to the Revolution Wind project to protect marine wildlife and increase the number of Connecticut jobs the wind farm creates.

A small coalition of legislators and union supporters have met with the governors administration to make their pitch: they want Lamont to support legislation or Department of Energy and Environmental Protection policy to cap the amount of sound that Orsted can make during the installation of their wind turbines. The group has not spoken of their lobbying effort publicly before.

We are very sensitive to the impacts on marine life and wed like to make sure that that the technology used with any new offshore wind projects is environmentally appropriate, said Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport.

They are not concerned about humans hearing the noise, but instead the impact of huge sound waves on sea creatures like whales and turtles.

Two turbine bases  monopile and jacket pile  emit large amounts of sound when installed. These bases use enormous steel piles that are driven into the seafloor.

What I am very, very nervous about at this point is, there is a contract out for 200 megawatts and if this happens with the monopiling or jacket piling  in any case with high levels of decibels, over 140 decibels at, I believe, 750 meters distance  there is definitely disruption to the baleine whales, said Rep. David Michel, D-Stamford, an environmental activist who has previously worked on sea turtle conservation in Florida. That would interfere with their feeding, mating and also disrupt their sense of direction as well.

But by changing the base of the wind turbine, Orsted could change the underwater sound emissions created during construction, these advocates say. Another more rarely used base called a gravity foundation plants a steel pile in a bell of concrete that sits on top of the seafloor. This base can be floated slowly to the bottom of the ocean, minimizing sound emissions, advocates say.

The steel piles used in wind turbine construction are typically made in Europe, said Michel. But if Orsted opted for the gravity foundation, it might choose a local concrete producer to supply the thousands of tons of heavy concrete for the base, he said.

Michel was contacted about the issue of these wind turbine bases by Chris Bachant, a business agent for the Carpenters Union, which represents about 500 concrete workers in Connecticut. Bachant, who served on Lamonts transition team and has discussed the issue with the governor, believes this strategy is the best way to seize jobs in the offshore wind industry.

He and some lawmakers envision Connecticut as the birthplace of a new industry: the supplier of eco-friendly bases for offshore wind farms.

In my opinion, the best opportunity to create jobs is a concrete foundation, said Bachant.

Lamont has not taken a position on the wind turbine base question yet, but he shares the vision of Connecticut as a manufacturing hub for offshore wind.

New London is the most realistic and probable port for all of the manufacturing for the wind farm, said Ryan Drajewicz, Lamonts chief of staff. We believe the combination of the fact that it is a deep port and there is no bridge, that New London should be ground zero for this next revolution of alternative energy, that all of the manufacturing and assembling should be happening in New London. We think that makes good strategic sense and I think it creates an opportunity for New London to play a major, if not the major player in the manufacturing of the wind energy.

Orsted representatives and Lamont had one high-level, get-to-know-one-another meeting since Lamont took office, said Drajewicz. Their offices policy team has been looking into the issue of wind turbine bases, he said.

Lamont has also discussed this project with Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, said Drajewicz, because that state is getting 400 megawatts of power from Revolution Wind.

Meanwhile, Orsted has not yet finalized its turbine supplier or construction plan, said Meaghan Wims, a spokesperson for the firm. The company is still waiting on a range of state and federal approvals before it starts construction  possibly as early as 2021. The wind farm is projected to be in operation by 2023.

Orsted already plans to invest $15 million in the New London State Pier to support this and future offshore wind projects.

We plan to use port facilities in New London for important construction activities and will be able to provide more detail in the future as we further refine our engineering plans, Wims said. We also plan to construct one of the crew transfer vessels in Connecticut but we have not yet selected our boat builder.

Eversource, which transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas and supplies water to 4 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, agreed to pay $225 million for a 50 percent interest in two Orsted offshore wind projects and 257 square miles encompassing two lease areas off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Orsted and Eversource are now negotiating a contract on the sale of power. The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority will approve the contract when it is finalized, said Nick Neely, legislative liaison for PURA.

emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson

Hearst Connecticut reporter Dan Freedman contributed to this story.
STORY LINK Pound to Euro Exchange Rate Increases on Mays Brexit Deal Hopes

GBP/EUR Exchange Rate Rises as Johnson Backs Mays Brexit Deal

EUR/GBP Exchange Rate Falls as Spanish GDP Increases despite Downside Risk

GBP/EUR Forecast: Sterling Could Rise if Mays Brexit Deal Gains MPs Backing

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The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate rose today and is currently trading around 1.1662 on the inter-bank market.Sterling (GBP) gained on the Euro (EUR) today following the former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, declaring his support for Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit deal ahead of todays important parliamentary vote on the withdrawal agreement.Johnson tweeted:It is very painful to vote for this deal. But I hope we can now work together to remedy its defects, avoid the backstop trap and strive to deliver the Brexit people voted for.Liam Fox, the Tory Secretary of State for International Trade, has also urged MPs to back Theresa Mays deal, saying that a chasm of distrust would undermine faith in British politics.Any signs that Mays deal will be successful will mean that the UK will leave the EU on the 22 May this year. However, many Pound traders are remaining cautious as May now has a track record of her deal failing to gain MPs confidence.Today, meanwhile, saw the publication of the UK GDP figures for the fourth-quarter which held steady at 0.2%. The year-on-year figures, however, increased above expectation at 1.4%.The Euro, meanwhile, suffered following the release of the French consumer spending figures for February, which fell below expectation to -0.4%.The single currency, however, failed to benefit from decreasing German unemployment figures.EUR has held on to some of its gains following the publication of the Spanish GDP figures for the fourth-quarter, which increased to 2.3%  although this fell below the expected 2.4%.Oscar Acre, the Head of Research in Bank of Spain, remained gloomy, however, saying:The risks for the Spanish economy are clearly to the downside.Market confidence in the Euro has begun to slip following the Head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, saying that the Eurozones economy was not resilient enough for a possible financial crisis.Lagarde said:Its banking system is safer, but not safe enough. Its economic well-being is greater overall, but the benefits of growth are not shared enough.Euro traders will be looking ahead to Monday which will see the publication of the Eurozones CPI figures for March. Any signs of an increase could prove positive for the single currency.Pound traders, will be awaiting Mondays release of the UK Markit Manufacturing PMI figures for March, which are expected to come in around 51.3.The GBP/EUR exchange rate, however, will remain fixated on Brexit developments in the weeks going ahead. The Pound could benefit from any signs that Theresa Mays Brexit deal will successfully be voted through Parliament.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

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TEL AVIV - A UN official, Jamie McGoldrick, on Friday urged Israelis and Palestinians to avoid an escalation of violence on the first anniversary of the start of protests, the so-called March of Return with which Hamas says it is attempting to halt a blockade on Gaza.

Amnesty International Friday also called for an international embargo on arms sales to Israel.

Amnesty said, quoting a UN report, that between March 30, 2018 and last week, at least 195 Palestinian demonstrating at the border were killed while 29,000 others reported injuries.

Amnesty added that 6,000 were wounded by firearms and 122 others suffered an amputation.

Saleh Higazi, the deputy director of Amnesty for the Middle East and North Africa, said that the dimension and nature of wounds inflicted to Gaza demonstrators by Israeli forces ''induce us to think that Israel adopted a deliberate strategy to mutilate civilians''. The organization has called for a world embargo on arms sales to Israel.

Amnesty moreover urged Israel to immediately remove the blockade on the Gaza Strip and start impartial investigations to establish whether soldiers were responsible of war crimes.


Pine Grill Classic title could springboard Somerset's season

The Pine Grill Roundball Classic is in its 10th edition after a year hiatus because of COVID. A great local tournament opens the HS basketball season.
In Assisi 212 youths from 32 nations for Lamp of Peace King of Jordan, Premier Conte and chancellor Merkel to attend

(ANSAmed) - ASSISI (PERUGIA), MARCH 29 - A total of 212 youths from 32 nations are attending on Friday morning a ceremony to present the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, with the Lamp of Peace award and then meet with him, as well as with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Premier Giuseppe Conte.



The event on Friday is also attended by the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, the president of the Italian Bishops Conference CEI, Card. Gualtiero Bassetti and 220 journalists.



The Franciscan community of 70 friars from 21 different nationalities will participate.



A total of 35 ambassadors are also expected in Assisi. The award ceremony will take place in the Basilica and will include a concert with the orchestra and choir of the Cappella musicale della Basilica di San Francesco. (ANSAmed).




Two-day-old newborn among migrants rescued off Libyan coast Was in dinghy recovered on Tuesday, still had umbilical cord

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MARCH 29 - The Libyan Coast Guard provided details of a rescue at sea that took place on Tuesday evening, which it said included the rescue of a two-day-old newborn.



The rescue was reported on Tuesday by UNHCR, which said 114 migrants were saved.



On Friday, the Libyan Coast Guard posted on its Facebook page that 117 migrants "of different African nationalities", including 15 women and eight children, were rescued at about 22:00 on Tuesday, 45 miles north of Khoms.



It said that one of the migrants "was only two days old" and that the baby's mother had boarded the rubber dinghy just one day after giving birth, in a delivery that took place without the assistance of any health care facilities.



It said the newborn still had its umbilical cord attached, which was later removed at Al Jalaa pediatric hospital in Tripoli.



The hospital noted that the newborn was suffering from "severe low blood sugar", the post said.



"Following treatment, the baby was taken with its mother to the Ayn Zara medical centre," it said.(ANSAmed).




Unless Mother Theresa decides to come back from the dead by doing a Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction and emerges from the bathwater wielding a carving knife, were in for a Tory leadership contest.

Nothing can, of course, be ruled out after the past week of complete madness at Westminster. May has so far only said shell go if her risible deal passes the Commons.

And the chances of that happening still seem as remote as ever. So could she, in the event of it being rejected again refuse to stand down after all?

Stranger things have happened. She hasnt kept the promises she made to the electorate in the Tory manifesto, so why should she feel obliged to follow through on assurances she has given to her own MPs?

Theresa May faces a crucial third and final vote on her Brexit deal on Friday after it was hurriedly arranged on Thursday

Sajid Javid (left) in Downing Street yesterday. Rumours are growing of a joint ticket that would see him enter Number 10 with Michael Gove (right, today in Downing Street) as Chancellor

Meanwhile, the runners and riders to succeed her are under starters orders.

Bookies are laying odds and the tipsters are making their selections. Michael Gove is reported to be teaming up with Sajid Javid, aka Albert R. N., on a dream ticket to stop Boris. There are at least a dozen MPs throwing their rings into the hat  and more are considering putting their names forward.

One or two may be vaguely familiar, but the rest arent even legends in their own homes. Still, when 17.4 million people backed Leave in the 2016 referendum, they had no idea that they were voting to put Theresa May in Downing Street. Yet after Call Me Dave resigned, all sorts of obscure Tories were being mooted for the top job.

There was a strand of opinion which even claimed that the Brexit vote really meant: what we want is Stephen Crabb.

Then Welsh Secretary, or something, Crabb was briefly touted as the unity candidate, even though he had backed Remain and virtually no one had ever heard of him.

Sadly, well never know if he could have been the nations saviour, since shortly after announcing his candidature it was revealed that hed been sending sexually explicit text messages to a 19-year-old woman hed interviewed for a job. Collapse of leadership campaign.

Oh, dear. How sad. Never mind.

Anyway, if all goes according to plan, the starting pistol this time will be fired on May 22 and the whole business could take up to six weeks.

How the heart sinks. Six whole weeks of wall-to-wall Tory leadership coverage dominating the news. Six weeks of intense campaigning, six weeks of speeches, six weeks of aides and bloggers scouring social media for a gaffe one of the hopefuls may have committed in the dim and distant past.

Spare us, please, the televised candidates debates.

If they must face off against each other on TV, stick them on Pointless or The Chase.

Id much rather hear them being quizzed by Bradley Walsh or Alexander Armstrong than any of the usual political insiders.

Maybe they could have a special Pointless picture board, featuring all the Tory leadership candidates. Apart from Boris, how many members of the public could put a name to any of them? There would be plenty of pointless answers to choose from.

Heres another plan. Instead of dragging the process out for six weeks, why not just hold a one-day event to pick a winner?

Its going to be like Ben-Hur  therell be a cast of thousands, a Tory MP told the Mail. Now theres a good idea.

Make them all take part in a Ben-Hur-style chariot race, provided the chariots were all fitted with rotating blades and the competitors were kitted out with swords, maces, grappling hooks and nets.

Maybe let loose a few wild animals  lions, tigers, that kind of thing  to make it more interesting. Thered be no shortage of punters, especially if they were guaranteed plenty of claret and severed limbs. Mind you, attractive as the idea sounds, I cant see elfnsafety putting up with it. So I guess well have to look for a more gentle alternative.

Ive got it. They could model the leadership on Monty Pythons famous Upper Class Twit Of The Year sketch. Most of the front-runners would qualify, despite doing their best to burnish proletarian credentials.

Jacob Rees-Mogg wouldnt have looked out of place in the original, alongside Nigel Incubator-Jones, Gervaise Brook-Hampster and Oliver St John-Mollusc, like Rees-Mogg an old Etonian. His father was a Cabinet Minister and his mother won The Derby. So roll up for the Tory Twit Of The Year contest. Your commentator is Clare Balding, obviously.

And theyre lining up for the first race. Lets talk you through the field. Theres Jacob Rees-Mogg, a hedge fund manager. Hes brought his son along with him. And his nanny, who is going to push him round the course in a vintage Silver Cross Balmoral pram, bought in 1952.

Alongside Jacob, todays favourite, Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, popularly known as Bonking Boris, another Etonian with a reputation for chasing the fillies.

Boris Johnson remains popular with Tory grassroots who choose the party leader in a final head-to-head vote. But he faces a battle getting through the opening rounds of a leadership contest, which are determined by votes from less enamored MPs

Jeremy Hunt, a former head boy at Charterhouse, eldest son of an admiral, is heavily fancied, as is Esther McVey  especially by Boris.

Amber Rudd, Cheltenham Ladies College, represents the Remain stable, and Matt Hancock wears the colours of the private Kings School, Chester.

Bringing up the rear, Michael Gove, from the fee-paying Robert Gordons College, Aberdeen, like most of the rest of the field trained at Oxford.

And theyre off. And Boris immediately makes a beeline for Esther, but hes pursued by Gove, who seems intent on stabbing Boris in the back.

They round the first bend, manage to avoid the tricky Customs Union fence, but  oh, my goodness  Amber, Matt and Jeremy have all fallen at the Single Market. Jacob has refused and nanny is pushing him back to the start.

As they approach No Deal, Boris and Gove are neck-and-neck, but Gove is giving it the whip and trying to force Boris into the rails.

Theyre safely over, but now for the Backstop, which has unseated dozens of jockeys on this notoriously difficult course.

I cant watch. This is turning into a bloodbath. Boris is in the lead by a short head, but as they reach the final straight, Gove rugby tackles Boris and wrestles him to the ground before he can cross the finishing line.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ive never seen anything quite like this. Its like watching Ben-Hur...
BRUSSELS - The Council of the European Union on Friday officially approved an extension for Operation Sophia, previously EUNavForMed, through September 30.



The operation's commander received instructions to temporarily suspend, for operational reasons, the deployment of naval units for the entire extension period.



EU countries will continue to work on a solution to the problem of disembarkations as part of the conclusions from the European Council in June 2018, the Council said.



The Council of the EU's approval of the extension for Sophia, which came through a written procedure, formalises the agreement between EU ambassadors reached on Tuesday at the Political and Security Committee (PSC).



"The operation will continue to properly implement its mandate, increasing surveillance with aircraft and strengthening its support to the Libyan coast guard and navy in sea tasks through expanded monitoring, also on land, and continuing training," a statement from the Council said.



"The operation's main mandate is to contribute to EU efforts to dismantle the model of activity of migrant trafficking and human trafficking in the south-central Mediterranean. The operation also carries out support tasks. It is responsible for training the Libyan coast guard and navy, it checks the long-term efficiency of the training, and contributes to the implementation of the EU embargo on arms on the high seas off the coasts of Libya. The operation also carries out surveillance and intelligence-gathering activities on illegal traffic of oil exportation from Libya, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. In so doing, it contributes to EU efforts for the return of stability and security in Libya and maritime security in the central Mediterranean region".



Operation Sophia began on June 22, 2015 and is part of the EU's global approach to migration.



The operation's commander is Italian Division Admiral Enrico Credendino and its command is headquartered in Rome.
The minister for suicide prevention has urged politicians to tone down their language after an MP said he would rather be shot than back Theresa Mays deal.

Asked if he could be persuaded by whips to support the PM, hardline Tory Brexiteer and former part-time soldier Mark Francois had said: I wouldnt vote for it if they put a shotgun in my mouth.

Jackie Doyle-Price said: All MPs have a responsibility to be careful about the language we use. If we cannot discuss important matters without resorting to violent or aggressive terms something is wrong.

The minister for suicide prevention has urged politicians to tone down their language after an MP said he would rather be shot than back Theresa Mays deal, writes Simon Walters

People are more aware of mental health issues nowadays and MPs referring to death in the context of Brexit is inappropriate. They should tone it down.

Her comments were echoed by defence minister Tobias Ellwood, who was praised for trying to save the life of a police officer in the 2017 Westminster terror attack. He said: It is essential all MPs stay calm in deed and word in these difficult times.

Mr Francoiss was the latest wild statement made by one of a hardcore of up to 30 so-called Tory Brexit Spartans who say they will not cave in to pressure to back down.

The self-flattering description refers to the warrior race in ancient Greece renowned for fighting to the death.

Another anti-Brussels hardliner and fellow member of the European Research Group is Steve Baker. He has told colleagues hell oppose Mrs Mays plan til the day I die.

On Wednesday, he was said to be crying with emotion at a Commons meeting when he rounded on fellow ERG MPs who said they planned to back Mrs May. He said: I could tear this place [Parliament] down and bulldoze it into the river. These fools and knaves and cowards are voting on things they dont even understand.

Asked if he could be persuaded by whips to support the PM, hardline Tory Brexiteer and former part-time soldier Mark Francois had said: I wouldnt vote for it if they put a shotgun in my mouth', writes Simon Walters

Mr Francoiss was the latest wild statement made by one of a hardcore of up to 30 so-called Tory Brexit Spartans who say they will not cave in to pressure to back down, writes Simon Walters

Many of the 80-strong ERG group, including Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, have dropped their opposition to Mrs Mays deal.

But Mr Francois and other Spartans are resisting all pressure. Previously, the Essex MP had said that, having been in the Army, he was not trained to lose  although critics pointed out that the short and portly MPs soldiering experience was limited to a spell in the Territorial Army in the 1980s.

In another outburst on live TV in January, he ostentatiously ripped up a copy of a letter written to a newspaper by a UK-based German businessman criticising Brexit  and thundered: My father was a D-Day veteran. He never submitted to bullying by any German. Neither will his son.

And just last week, Mr Francois appeared to irresponsibly suggest there could be civil disorder if Brexit does not happen. He said there would be extreme anger  dont say you werent warned.

Wycombe MP Mr Baker, 47, whose hobbies include sky-diving and motor-biking is the unofficial leader of the Spartans. Hes said the only reason he became an MP was to ensure Britain left the EU and that he previously served as an RAF technician to fight totalitarianism.

The only Spartan with Cabinet experience is former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, the 45-year-old karate black belt.

Other Spartans include career anti-Brussels campaigner Sir Bill Cash, Andrew Bridgen, Andrea Jenkyns, Richard Drax and Marcus Fysh.

All these would-be martyrs should note that the Spartans were routed in the Battle of Leuctra in 371BC and their power never recovered.
Sara-Michelle was 16 when she tried ice for the first time.

After 12 hellish years of addition that left her broke, homeless and finally in jail, she regained control of her life, thanks in no small part to the twin sister who stood by her throughout the ordeal.

'It got very bad,' she told FEMAIL about her addiction.

'I was dealing. I went to jail. I was homeless. I was malnourished. I was involved in a lot - being a dealer I was committing crimes. I was charged a few times with drug trafficking and drug driving.'

She has now been clean for 15 months after ending up in jail and then attending a live-in rehab facility.

Sara-Michelle (pictured left) was 16 when she tried ice for the first time and was addicted to the drug for 11 years with no support from anyone but her twin sister. Pictured with twin Shamona

The now 29-year-old said she was locked up and bailed on the Court Integrated Services Program (CISP) program, which saw her regularly meet with supervisors and undergo rehabilitation.

She completed the program but she became homeless and quickly got involved with drugs again.

The student said she got caught a month later and ended up in jail for 30 days.

That is when she attended a live-in rehabilitation facility as police wouldn't approve bail without it.

The Melbourne woman was in the facility for eight months.

She said going into the facility was difficult, with many patients still using drugs, but Sara-Michelle was determined not to lapse again, and strived to get clean and change her life for good.

She said her addiction got to such a low point she found herself in prison repeatedly

'It was very hard, and it was so easy to get and it was around me all the time,' she said.

'I was still in a relationship with someone [who was an active user], who I met when I was using and still with when I was in jail and rehab.

'I got to a point where he was still using and living that life and I was over it. I wanted to keep moving forward, and I broke the relationship off.'

The magistrate initially deferred her sentence for four months while she studied, continued rehab and was on house supervision before he commended her.

'So I went back to court and he said I was the poster girl for rehabilitiation,' she said.

Growing up the pair were distant, with Shamona revealing while she tried to be there for her sister she couldn't understand why Sara-Michelle became an addict

'He said he had never seen someone in 22 years of working on the bench pull themselves out of addiction like me.

'He signed me out of court, I pretty much walked out of there with no more orders because of the work I put in.'

She didn't know how to feel when she walked out of court free for the first time in years.

'It was a new experience, I hadn't had something like that for a long time and I didn't know when it was going to end - to walk out and realise i could leave the state if I wanted, or technically the country,' she said.

'I was just walking out free and everything I did was taken into consideration - and what I did wasn't a walk in a park.'

She has achieved so much in the last year - and through it all her twin sister Shamona stood by her side.

'It was in our early 20s that I started to realise why she developed an addiction,' she said

Growing up the pair were distant, with Shamona struggling to comprehend Sara-Michelle's incapacity to break out of her destructive lifestyle.

'It was in our early 20s that I started to realise why she developed an addiction,' she said.

'I started to understand and I was still there for her through all of her hard times, even if it was hard for me.'

Shamona could see glimpses of her sister's true self trapped inside the drug user.

'[It was] heartbreaking,' she said.

'She is my twin sister, we didnt share the life most twins are fortunate to have.

Shamona said she could see her sister's true-self trapped inside and wanting to escape. She said she believed the addiction was a reason to numb internal pain

'The usual things that siblings worry about, like stealing each other's clothes or bickering about trivial items my biggest worry was if my sister was safe and alive.'

Sara-Michelle is extremely grateful for her sister and their current great relationship.

'She stood by me through everything,' she said.

'She is such a beautiful sister and I am so grateful to have her. She never gave up on me and helped me when I was in jail.

'She was always still there and doing what she could to help even though everyone else had turned their backs on me.'

Sara-Michelle has a lot lined up for the next year. To build on her studies she undergoing a diploma in community services case management and she continues to her story through Australia Anti Ice Campaign

Shamona is proud of everything Sara-Michelle has achieved in the last 15 months - including getting certificate four in alcohol, drugs and mental health, helping at Anti-Ice Australia and an upcoming adventure.

Sara-Michelle has a lot lined up for the next year. She is undergoing a diploma in community services case management and she continues to her story through Australia Anti Ice Campaign, where she visits schools to educate youth on the dangers of ice.

She will also be helping raise money for Anglicare Victoria on March 30, 2019, in the Altitude Shift.

She will also be helping raise money for Anglicare Victoria on March 30, 2019, in the Altitude Shift

The event will see her abseil down a 27-storey building in Melbourne's Central Business District.

She said she is doing this as the organisation has helped her in her life as she was a foster child herself.

Now she is 'facing my fears and just living my life and taking opportunities.'

She said: 'There is so much I have missed out on and I want to make the most in life.'
Glamorous single mothers who are getting by on benefits have hit back at critics who say they shouldn't be spending money on beauty treatments.

Natalee Carucci, 35, and Jo Sweeney, 33, both from Liverpool, appeared on Channel 5's controversial show Who Needs A Man When You've Got Spray Tan, which will return tonight under its new name: Spray Tan Mums: Single and Proud.

Natalee who has six children and Jo, who is a mother-of-four, have been criticised by viewers for spending their benefits money on beauty products, haircuts and lip fillers, which cost around 300 in and around the Knowsley area of Liverpool where they live.

Spray tans, which the mothers love, cost around 15 but a home-treatment like the one Natalee received on the show's first episode can be more expensive, and cost 40 to 50.

A manicure could set her back 20 to 40, and to have all the treatments they enjoy would set the mothers back up to 400 in total, although both insist they do no indulge often.

And Natalee told Femail that she's unashamed as mother is 'still a woman' and deserves some self-care.

Scroll down for video

Natalee Carucci, 35, a single mother-of-six who stars in Channe 5's Who Needs a Man when You've got Spray Tan (now Spray Tan Mums) was criticised for spending money on herself while on benefits

From left to right: Natalee behind the trolley, surrounded by nine-month-old Mackenzie, Riley, eight, Madeleine, 13, Alicia, 15, Gianna, ten and Paddy, three, in the trolley

'It's okay to look after yourself and and take care of yourself, to make sure you keep don't let yourself go,' she told MailOnline.

'At the end of the day, you may be a mother, but you're also still a woman, and you're still that woman that you were before you became a parent.'

Carucci makes a point of looking after herself. In the first episode, the mother is getting a spray tan while her children are arguing.

Her obsession with her looks and the fact she drives in a black BMW has drawn criticism from viewers, who suggested she should use her money in some other way.

Natalee is a mother of six children by three different fathers, will always find the time to unwind with a home spray tan

'Yeah, I do get my hair done, obviously. The last time I got my lips done was about four years ago, I don't get it on the regular, just with all the comments that are being said, I haven't had it done since,' Natalee said.

Jo agrees self-care is important, even on a budget, saying: 'Obviously as a woman I want to look nice for me, I'll go to the nail salon to get my nails done.

'I don't spend a lot on myself, but I will treat myself now and again,' she added. 'But I first focus on the kids.'

The programme follows several single mothers from around Liverpool as they battle with the demands of their daily lives and children.

Jo leaves her kids behind with her parents in order to go out and have fun in this week's episode of Spray Tan Mums: Single and Proud

Jo says she 'obviously' likes to look good and will treat herseld to a manicure once in a while, but insists she focuses on her children

Natalee's pamper session is interrupted by her kids and has to discipline them from her tanning booth. The mother admitted to having had lip fillers in the past and regularly going to the hairdresser

From left to right, Jo Sweeney with her four boys: eldest son Oliver, 12. Gabriel (with curly hair), two and twins Isaac and Zachary, one

Natalee said that although the flow of negative comments was a lot to take on, she was not too bothered.

'At end of the day, it was an hour long episode, and there are five of us. We all have a story to tell,' she said.

'How can you tell in 15 minutes of screen-time,' she asked, adding that there was not enough time to explain the whole background of every of the show's participants.

But she noted that the backlash had been violent and 'cruel.'

Viewers have been critical of Jo and Natalee after seeing them spend money on beauty treatments during the Channel 5 show

'People are so quick to judge other people and this is unfair.

'Of course, everybody is entitled to their opinion but at what point do you have to be so mean and cruel towards somebody and personally attack them?' she asked.

Natalee previously took to social media to address some of the criticism directed against her.

She sad she did not want people to 'feel sorry' for her or 'pity' her, but wanted to 'clear the air' so that people would understand her and her situation.

According to the Sun, she posted and then deleted a video on her Facebook page. In the video she said she was not a 'benefit sponge' or a 'sl**' and explained she 'physically can't work', as two of her children have special needs.

Natalee noted that she 'never asked to be a single parent' and that life can be 'hard', adding: 'I am not a benefit sponge, I have always worked my whole life. I am not a s*** because I have three different kids' dads.'

Jo has to take care of business by herself. In the second episode of the show the mother of four is doing works in her courtyard and then goes on a night out with a friend

Referring to her previous outburst, she told MailOnline: 'I think some people have become a lot more understanding now they know my current situation.'

Two of Natalie's six children suffer from severe conditions that mean they spend a lot of time in the hospital and need Natalee to care for them daily.

Riley, who is almost nine, suffers from a condition that affects his bowels and his bowel movements.

Kianna, ten, suffered from meningitis as a baby and also has a weakness on her left side due to her illness, which prompted problems with her vision and hearing.



'From my perspective I wanted people to understand that if I'm managing on my own with six children and two of them in the hospital on a regular basis, they can do it as well,' she said.

'It's okay to not be okay, to be sad, to feel bad about yourself, it's okay to question everything that you do.'

Fellow single mother Jo said: 'I know I work hard, I know I'm good with the kids, so I just take it on the chin and leave them to it,'

'I want to show people that not every single mum in a scrounger, not every single mum is a waste of space,' she added.

The second episode of Spray Tan Mums: Single and Proud airs tonight at 10pm on Channel 5.
While most mothers-to-be turn to maternity brands to dress their bumps, the Duchess of Sussex has continued to wear her favourite designer labels - pushing the value of her pregnancy wardrobe to more than half a million pounds.

It has been suggested that Meghan ditched the traditional maternity look because it's 'dowdy' and 'frumpy'.

And speaking exclusively to Femail, celebrity stylist Lucas Armitage agreed that Meghan seemed unwilling to let go of her high octane glamour despite her growing bump.

He said: 'Meghan has cemented herself a place as the leading stylish member of the Royal family, and rumours are circulating she has forced Kate to up her style game.'

He called the art of maternity dressing 'a dreaded challenge', and said options for mothers are limited.

'Whilst we hardly expected her to be making a trolley dash round mamas and papas for her maternity threads, it would have been great to see some affordable and attainable pieces in her maternity wardrobe,' he explained.

'Instead, she opted for bespoke designer creations and designer pieces that coincidentally would work on a bump.'

Meghan Markle, 37, almost always wears outfits from high-end designers. Pictured during January on a visit to the National Theatre

The Duchess of Sussex wore a designer dress by Roland Mouret worth 3,482 in January when she attended Cirque du Soleil's 'Totem' 10th anniversary premiere. The French designer doesn't normally create maternity wear

During the early stages of her pregnancy, Meghan veered towards loose-fitting designer dresses.

While on tour of Australia, shortly after announcing she was expecting, she wore floaty outfits and ditched her usual 'structured' style.

But as the pregnancy progressed, Meghan donned an increasing number of custom-fitted designer pieces that showed off her burgeoning bump.

The choice to wear almost all high-end designer outfits means she's very rarely repeated an outfit, or worn the same piece more than once.

Meghan donned a flowing dress by Carolina Herrara, which was custom made. Pictured in Morocco on 25 February

The Duchess of Sussex stepped out in a full Victoria Beckham outfit at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on 11 March - a popular choice for Meghan throughout her pregnancy

Even when the Duchess wore high-street brands, they were often from the 'main line', and adapted for her growing bump.

In October, Meghan wore pricey high-street brand Self Portrait as she arrived at Fua'amotu Airport in Tonga - but the outfit, which was worth approximately 380, was customised to fit her growing bump.

Throughout her pregnancy, Meghan was almost always pictured in heels, eschewing the usual 'comfort' of flat shoes that many pregnant women opt for.

But celebrity stylist Lucas has argued it's no surprise that Meghan avoided almost all maternity wear in favour for stylish, designer pieces - or that her maternity wardrobe featured very little that can be purchased on the high street.

Meghan wore pricey high-street brand Self Portrait as she arrived at Fua'amotu Airport in Tonga on 25 October - but the outfit was customised to fit her growing bump. Pictured, on day 10 of their 16-day tour of Australia and the South Pacific

Meghan has only been spotted wearing maternity brands a handful of times, but still tends to opt for the more dressy option than the traditional.

She has been snapped in trendy New York label Hatch and high street retailer H&M maternity wear on a couple of occasions, trying out tight fitting dresses that provide extra stretch.

Lucas continued: 'Whilst the public love Kate for her sometimes thrifty reusing of wardrobe staples and her love of mid range brands its interesting Meghan shuns then all-together.'

It comes after journalist Elizabeth Holmes told Town and Country magazine that the royal who eschewed maternity styles as they can be seen as 'frumpy' or 'dowdy'.

The mother-to-be has been pictured in clothing designed to be maternity wear just a handful of times (above). Pictured wearing a black dress from Hatch during a visit to Smart Works in London on January 10
A premium bootmaking company has announced a service that will see a new pair of wellies come ready coated with soil as to avoid 'fresh-out-the-box' embarrassment.

Brand Le Chameau, which is popular with royals such as Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and celebrities including Taylor Swift, claimed to be introducing the Pre Mudde service from April 1 - hinting at the fact that the offering is somewhat tongue in cheek.

The soil used has been curated by the brand's expert pedologists throughout the UK and Ireland and comes in 24 authentic shades - including Cotswold Brash, London Loam, Sussex Clay and Portsmouth Peaty.

Although the boots aren't the cheapest on the market, with women's styles starting at 135 and going up to 420 for leather lined pairs, adding some muddy country charm is free of charge for both the male and female collection.

In a world first, brand Le Chameau will offer a free Pre Mudde service to add some country charm to their entire boot collection. Pictured, the Portsmouth Peaty mud look

The soil used has been curated by expert pedologists throughout the UK and Ireland. Pictured, the London Loam option

'The new Pre Mudde service ensures you will be talk of the village as you embody the true spirit of the countryside,' said CEO of Le Chameau, David Robinson.

'You might even reunite with the friends you lost through your questionable etiquette.'

He added: 'As a brand we are dedicated to giving our consumers a remarkable service, while taking on board our customer feedback and offering a unique product.'

Pre Mudde is a world first and will offer boot lovers the desirable, well-worn country look in an instant.

Kate Middleton, pictured, wore a pair of Le Chameau's boots to watch Prince William and Harry play in The Golden Metropolitan Polo Club Charity Cup in Tetbury in 2012

Taylor Swift, left, also wore a pair of the premium boots for a stroll near the beach with Tom Hiddleston, right, in Lowestoft in Suffolk in 2016

Prince Harry, pictured, donned a pair of Le Chameau wellies when he visited Brockholes Nature Reserve in Preston in 2017

Le Chameau has several celebrity fans including Victoria and David Beckham, Taylor Swift and Kate Moss.

The Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have also been spotted wearing a pair of the wellies at polo matches and during official engagements.

Since 1927, premium bootmakers Le Chameau have prided themselves on innovation and excellence, inspiring the nation to embrace their passion for the countryside.

Le Chameau is the only brand to handcraft each pair of boots by a single Maitre Bottier (master bootmaker) from start to finish. It is the method used to make boots of exceptional comfort, quality and durability and one that uses skills no machine can match.

The brand was also the first bootmakers to perfect a zip on a rubber boot and to develop their own Chamolux rubber - which is remarkably supple and has the strength and durability to last for years while remaining stylish.

The Pre Mudde service is available from Monday April 1 and is free of charge. Above, the Sussex Clay shade
Seven teachers at the same Kansas elementary school are all pregnant at the same time.

The educators, who work together at Oak Street Elementary in Goddard, Kansas didn't plan any sort of pregnancy pact  yet they are each welcoming little ones within months and even weeks of each other.

Having lined up permanent substitutes to take over during each woman's maternity leave, the school's principal Ashley Miller joked to local news station KSN that now what they need was 'a sponsorship from like Pampers or Huggies.'

Bump buddies! Seven teachers at Oak Street Elementary in Goddard, Kansas are pregnant at the same time

The school announced the simultaneous pregnancies on Facebook this week.

'We are so excited to welcome these EIGHT little tiger cubs to our #265Family! (Yes, we counted correctly.),' the school wrote  pointing out that one mother is having twins.

'To me, it just becomes comical because it was a lot when there were three of us and then there were four of us and then there were five of us and then there were seven of us,' fourth grade teacher Tara Johnson said.

With so many women in the same school expecting at the same time, there have been lots of jokes  including 'don't drink the water.'

'When I actually went in to tell her, I'm like, "By the way, I drank the water,"' said third grade teacher Tiffany Schmidt, who is also expecting.

Contagious: With so many women in the same school expecting at the same time, there have been lots of jokes  including 'don't drink the water'

Yet another mom-to-be, fourth grade teacher Kelli Jo Sheahon, said their perfect timing makes sense given the school's belief that they're a family.

'To be experiencing life at the same time with these ladies I love so much already is really, really cool and it's a really fun experience,' echoed Johnson.

The women have different due dates ranging from March through October.

Meanwhile, the wives of seven firefighters in the Salisbury Fire Department in North Carolina are also currently pregnant at the same time.

The women are due to give birth on different dates now through September.

Photographer Brianna Mitschele organized a photo shoot for the moms-to-be, who posed together in their husbands' uniforms.

Mitschele made a onesie for each mother with the corresponding baby's name and the number of the station.

On fire! The wives of seven firefighters with the Salisbury Fire Department in North Carolina are expecting babies at the same time, too

They can match! Photographer Brianna Mitschele made a onesie for each mother

Nine labor and delivery nurses at Maine Medical Center are expecting babies this spring. Pictured from left to right: Erin Grenier, Rachel Stellmach, Brittney Vervill, Lonnie Souci, Amanda Spear, Samantha Giglio, Nicole Goldberg, Nicole Barnes and Holly Selby

'We took a bunch of fun group shots during the session,' Mitschele wrote on her blog, 'and right when we were finishing up, the rescue truck received a medical call and left with their lights flashing and blaring the air horn.'

She said two firefighters at the station recently welcomed little ones in December and February, and that the next 'little recruit' is expected within the week.

The remaining babies are due in April, May, June, August and September. Mitschele said six of the seven women are first-time moms.

And a hospital in Maine is currently experiencing a similar influx, with nine of its nurses in the labor and delivery unit expecting babies in the next few months.

Maine Medical Center announced the exciting news in a Facebook post, posting a picture of eight of the nine nurses and their bumps.

The army of infants is expected to arrive throughout April and July.
A wedding guest has been left 'speechless' after the bride said her $275 (150) gift wasn't expensive enough - and demanded a further $300 (160).

The Australian woman, who posted about the confrontation in an online wedding shaming group, explained she and her husband attended the nuptials with $200 (110) cash and a small designer candle that cost $75 (40).

But weeks later the bride phoned to say she had spent $500 (270) on accommodating the guest and her husband, and so felt she was due another $300 (160) in presents to even out the expense.

A wedding guest has been left 'speechless' after the bride said her $275 (150) gift wasn't expensive enough - and demanded a further $300 (160). Stock image

Writing on the group, the guest said: 'I've just hung up the phone from a friend (ex-friend now!) whose wedding was a few weekends ago.

Poll Would you give the bride more money? Yes No Yes, but less than $300 Would you give the bride more money? Yes 130 votes

No 9552 votes

Yes, but less than $300 72 votes Now share your opinion





'She had a beautiful wedding, lots of guests, lots of wine and food. There were even fireworks when she and her new hubby left (via yacht) to go on their honeymoon.

'She was ringing people thanking them for coming to her wedding. Sweet right? Wrong.'

The phone call saw the bride suggest that 'the cost of having my husband and I was far more than the miserly gift we gave'.

The guest explained she had initially thought the card with the cash inside had been stolen, believing this is what would warrant the reaction.

'[But then] She says to me, that it wasn't enough and that the venue charge was $250 per head, so I owed her another $300 cash.'

The guest continued: 'At first I thought she was being sarcastic and joking, but she was serious. She didn't consider the candle a real gift because she "can't do anything with it" and "it wasn't the big one that she wanted".'

Telling the forum that her friend has always been quick to judge and can come across as 'tone deaf rude', she did start to think that the card with the cash was stolen, to garner this kind of reaction

The larger designer candle was an eye watering $150 (80) and out of the guest's price range.

Unlike the US and other countries, it is not common for Australian wedding guests to give presents that cover the cost of their attendance, the guest explained.

Social media users were left similarly outraged by the bride's request.

The bride's shocking reaction was criticised by other social media users. Stock image

One posted: 'Throw the whole friend away, that's trashy to have done that,' one person said.

'You can't charge admissions for your wedding. You don't owe the bride anything,' another said.

A third added: 'Why would people expect you to pay a huge amount just to cover the costs of their extravagant party?'
Prince Harry's most devoted Australian fan was delighted when she received a birthday card from him in hospital.

War widow Daphne Dunne, who turned 99 today, is known for kissing the Duke of Sussex when he visits Sydney on royal tours.

In 2018 she Prince Harry's new wife Meghan Markle outside the Sydney Opera House.

On Friday Daphne appeared on the Today Show where reporters read out Prince Harry's message live on air.

When Harry met Daphne: Prince Harry meets war widow Daphne Dunne, then 98, outside Sydney Opera House. She received a personalised card from him for her 99th birthday

'Dear Daphne, my wife and I send our warmest wishes to you on the occasion of your 99th birthday on Friday,' the card read.

'We hope you have a wonderful celebration surrounded by family and friends and that you've managed to escape hospital.

'Congratulations on reaching this important and impressive milestone before your centenary year next year.

'Happy Birthday Daphne.

'Best wishes, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.'

Ms Dunne's daughter revealed she is suffering from a serious illness but that the royals had helped her during difficult times.

'Meghan and Harry have gotten mum through this terrible illness she's had,' her daughter said.

'She's still very unwell and I think the card they've sent means so much. I think it will be the thing that gets her through.'
The Duchess of York is famously close with her daughters and son-in-law - and it appears she already enjoys a similarly strong bond with Beatrice's boyfriend, too.

Sarah Ferguson, 59, joined her daughter, 30, and beau Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, an Italian property tycoon, for a night out at favourite hangout Annabel's, in Mayfair, on Thursday night.

Fergie looked stylish in an olive green dress and leather jacket for the outing, which she accessorised with a pair of 130 black velvet cat slides from Charlotte Olympia.

Sarah Ferguson, 59, joined Beatrice, 30, and beau Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, an Italian property tycoon, for a night out at favourite hangout Annabel's, in Mayfair, on Thursday night

Princess Beatrice and boyfriend Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi left together in a black cab

The Duchess added a touch of sparkle to the ensemble with a 1,100 cross-body velvet green Gucci bag which featured a dazzling 'G' logo on the front.

With her hair in curls and more dramatic eye make-up for the occasion, Fergie looked particularly glamorous.

It's been a whirlwind start to the year for the Duchess of York, with visits to Cologne, Madrid, London and even Sierra Leone for a charity appeal.

Fergie looked stylish in an olive green dress and leather jacket for the outing, which she accessorised with a pair of 130 black velvet cat slides from Charlotte Olympia

The Duchess added a touch of sparkle to the ensemble with a 1,100 cross-body velvet green Gucci bag which featured a dazzling 'G' logo on the front

Earlier this month, she arrived in the US attending a Women's Food Service Forum event in Dallas and earlier this week she was spotted in West Hollywood, where she enjoyed a night out in glamorous seafood restaurant Catch.

Meanwhile Beatrice plumped for a black velvet tuxedo style jacket, which she wore over a black dress.

Her millionaire boyfriend, known to friends as 'Edo', looked typically dapper in an open collar shirt and blazer.

Beatrice plumped for a black velvet tuxedo style jacket, which she wore over a black dress

Beatrice's millionaire boyfriend, known to friends as 'Edo', looked typically dapper in an open collar shirt and blazer

Rumours the couple were dating first emerged late last year and they have since spent time together in New York and Kenya

Rumours the couple were dating first emerged late last year and they have since spent time together in New York and Kenya.

Dashing divorce Eno, who is father to a two-year-old son, is thought to have been an acquaintance of Beatrice for years, but the pair have seen their friendship evolve into a romance.

The pair are among a group whose number include sisters Irene and Lydia Forte, daughters of hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, and the young Monagasque royals: Andrea, Pierre and Charlotte Casiraghi.
A mother-of-two has told how being in a polyamorous throuple with her exes has solved the 'tug of war' she felt on her heart.

Ali Jones, 29, from Cape Town, South Africa, was with Damian Grundy, 30, before the marriage broke down, and she quickly moved on with Matty Ruchton, 26.

But the mother of two felt a constant tug battle over her feelings for the two men, and broke up with Matty too.

After joking about having a threesome, the three shared a night of passion and decided to be together as a throuple, with Ali saying they share a 'rare, unconditional love' between them.

Ali Jones, 29, from Cape Town was heartbroken when her relationships with her exes didn't work out, but now they're incredibly happy as a 'throuple'. Matty pictured (left) with Ali (middle) and Damian (right).

Matty (left) and Damian became good friends in the wake of their relationships with Ali, and bonded over their similar outlooks on life

The whole family: the throuple all raise the children together, pictured with Ali's daughter Morgan, 10, and Tziyon-Moon, 4, her son with Damian

Ali was working as a tattoo artist when she fell in love with Damian, who works as a refrigeration technician.

She revealed: 'We had been acquaintances for a few years during high school as we had the same friend circles, but the magic happened one night while we were each out on the town.

'We shared our first kiss, Damian slept over that night and never left; it was love at first sight and he told me he loved me after five days.'

Already a mother to a little girl, Morgan, now 10, from a previous relationship, Ali felt that Damian was also a good father-figure for her.

Ali (front) with her two exes and now lovers, Matty (left) and Damian (behind). The throuple share two children between them

Ali and Damian were married for years, but broke up because the mother-of-two was struggling with her identity and feeling she wanted to be independent

Matty (front) in bed with Ali and her ex-husband Damian. The trio had joked about having threesomes before they shared a 'magical' night together

Now the trio live as a polyamorous throuple, and praises the intimacy the three of them feel in their relationship

After two years Damian proposed and in 2013, the couple got married in front of thirty of their closest friends and family.

They tried for a baby but Ali miscarried twice before she gave birth to their son, Tziyon-Moon, 4, in October 2014.

But Ali said that over the next two years, she felt intense pressure over being a young mother; striving to know who she was as a person and as an independent woman.

This affected their relationship and her insecurities meant that their relationship began to fall apart.

She revealed: 'Closer towards the end of 2016 our relationship started to suffer, for the most part because I was unhappy with myself, still trying to find my path due to the after-effects of having my first child so young. I was a mum at 19.

Ali says Matty (pictured) was a knight in shining armour after her marriage broke down with husband Damian

Shortly after they split up, Ali met another man, entrepreneur, Matty Ruchton, 26, who she hit it off with and they fell in love quickly.

She said: 'The way he made me feel and act was different to what Damian gave me. We also fell in love extremely quickly, he was exactly what I needed in my life.

'He also took on my kids as his own and loved them instantly. Obviously at first Damian wasn't happy, and was hurt that I had moved on so quickly.'

She described Matty as 'a sparkling knight in shining armour', and encouraged the two men to become friends.

Over time however, she felt she would compare her two relationships with each other and felt like her heart was split between the two, which negatively affected her relationship with Matty.



She couldn't help but feel the relationships alone were not enough for her, and she felt in the middle of the teo men: 'A big problem with how I was feeling; I was always comparing my relationship with Matty to my previous relationship with Damian.

'Obviously having been with someone for so long you get used to life that way and obviously life was different with Matty, still equally beautiful but different.

'At the same time, I knew there was a part of me that wasn't there with Damian. My heart was in constant tug of war between these two men I so clearly loved.'

The throuple pictured with their daughter Morgan, who is Ali's child from a past relationship. They now live as a family in South Africa

Ali's relationship with Matty ended after two years and she went travelling in Europe for several months, leaving both the men heartbroken.

In that time, Matty and Damian had become extremely close, while bonding experiences and shared love of Ali, as well as having a lot in common.

'They had even apparently made a joke about the three of us being together. They became the truest, best friends, so similar and so different, equally such beautiful souls.'

'When I came back three months later the three of us decided to have an evening of catching up. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this night would change all our lives,' she said.

The exes bonded over their love for Ali, as well as their many shared experiences, and would joke about having threesomes together

When Ali returned from a trip to Europe, the trio caught up and shared a 'magical night' together which sparked off their relationship

The trio reminisced about the old days, then joked about having a threesome.

Ali revealed: 'We had some drinks, spoke about and shared our stories and experiences over the past few months, we each gained a lot of perspective, understanding, appreciation and healing that night.

'The day went on and we all started joking about a threesome - joking, joking, joking - until no one knew if we were joking anymore and then it happened, the most profound sharing of all our lives.

'It was so completely natural, like we had always just been that way. A complete sharing of the most rare and beautiful unconditional love.'

Ali called the relationship completely natural, and said it felt like the relationships could work as a triad

While Ali initially considered the night of passion to be a 'one off', the men suggested trying out living as a throuple

Ali pictured (left) with her children Tziyon-Moon (middle) and Morgan, who are being raised by two fathers

Despite Ali thinking it would be a one time thing, Matty and Damian both brought it up again and they all decided to try being in a polyamorous triad.

'When it ended, I thought it would always just be one magical night, but then the guys brought to the table that we could try this out, see if it works.

'It took some convincing, but I agreed to give it a try on condition that it doesn't hurt anyone.

'The more time we spent together, the better and better things became. I mean for the most part we all hang out as best friends, but the intimacy we all share together as well as myself with Matty and Damian individually is so incredibly special.'

Ali, who took some convincing by her exes to try out living as a throuple, says the intimacy in their relationships is special

They have been together ever since, and they have felt stronger together than separately and her two children have become adapted to their new family.

'We are in a closed polyamorous relationship between the three of us. Which means that there are more than two people in our relationship, but it is not 'open' to sharing intimately or emotionally with other people outside of our triad.

'We all just balance each other out really well. We all add such different things to each other's lives, so what I get from Damian I may not get from Matty and vice versa.

'The understanding and healing we have all gained through the experiences we have had on our journey together have set the most solid foundation to start a relationship on. There is literally nothing we can't get through together.

Damian pictured (left) with Morgan (middle) and Matty (right). The two men became close friends after Ali split up with both of them

The throuple even got matching tattoos on their ankles to symbolise their mutual love for one another

'Our children are two happy, well adapted little humans. They are and always have been, no matter the situation, surrounded by the highest most unconditional love.

And Ali is determined to alter the way most people think about polyamory, saying that it does not necessarily mean being sexually promiscuous.

She said: 'There are so many types of poly relationships. What we are doing is redefining what is seen as normal constructs of a relationship. Redefining what we were taught love is meant to be.

'Loving more than one person does not make the love you feel for one any less, as when you have a second child, your love multiplies.

'People will always judge, no matter what you do or who you are. We are happy, our children are happy. We love each other. Need there anything more?'

Matty and Damian pictured with son Morgan, four. Ali says her children are surronded by 'unconditional' love
Interior min, EC clash on 'Libya safe port' Libyan rescues legit says Salvini, EC repeats Libya not safe

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 29 - There was a clash Friday between the interior ministry and the European Commission on whether Libya can be considered a safe port for migrants to be returned to. Interior Minister Matto Salvini, who has closed Italy's ports to NGO migrant rescue ships, reiterated the "full legitimacy of Libyan rescue operations, also because the presence of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) guarantees the respect of the immigrants' rights and at the same time faster rescues".



The IOM later said it upheld the UN stance that Libya cannot be considered a safe port.



The interior ministry said Salvini's updated directive had been issued "in light of the opinion of the European Commission".



But a Brussels spokesman said "there are not conditions of safety in Libya". (ANSAmed).




A great-grandmother who risked her life for a facelift is so pleased with the results she's saving to go under the knife again.

Toni Goldenberg, 80, from south London, became one of the oldest people in the country to have a lower face lift, ridding her of a dreaded 'turkey neck' and making her look years younger.

The 80-year-old said it was like a dream come true when she looked in the mirror for the first time after the her three-and-a-half hour procedure and saw 'the old woman had gone.'

She began saving her pension five years ago for the 10,000 procedure and has already began putting money away in her giant Coca Cola bottle for an upper face lift.

But after the surgery Toni was overjoyed with the results, and says she feels like herself for the first time in years

Toni, from Wallington in south London, said: 'I feet absolutely fantastic. It's like a dream come true.

'The old woman has gone and I hope she doesn't come back.

'When I look in the mirror, I thought I looked like a completely different person. But now I just see me and I forget what I looked like before.'

'My neck and jowls made me look cross and miserable but now I look fresh and happy.

Toni felt her neck and jowels made her look cross and miserable (pictured before her facelift surgery)

'Nan's face lift fund': Toni Goldenberg shows off the results of her facelift, which she says has transformed her confidence

'You could not ask for anything better, especially at my age.'

Doctors warned Toni could be left partially paralysed or even die from surgery and that the risks of general anaesthetic were much greater at her age.

But she was determined to fulfil her long-held dream and told doctors 'at least I would look good in my coffin.'

She said: 'I was told that I could die or that half of my face could be paralysed but I was willing to take that chance at my age.

Toni, pictured here after the surgery, was blown away by the results, and is now saving up for an 'upper face' lift

Toni's doctor Mr Hagen Schumacher warned her that she could die during the procedure, but she wasn't worried about it, saying:'At least I would look good in my coffin'

'There is no use worrying if you are going to die - you go out onto the street and get run over or die at any moment.

'I understood the risks but I told the doctor 'at least I would look good in my coffin.''

Toni, who was widowed 46 years ago, underwent extensive tests to evaluate her suitability for surgery and assessed her medical history, general health and level fitness.

She also faced a risk of poor wound healing and even tissue necrosis - where skin cells break down and die.

Toni's confidence was impacted when she felt her face no longer matched her size 10 body, and she was particularly upset about her jowels and neck

The 80 year old underwent extensive tests to evaluate her suitability for surgery, with doctors assessing her medical history, general health and level fitness

Toni said: 'I was not really that nervous before the operation.

'When they put me on the operating table, I started to think about it all but then the anaesthetist said he was going to give me some drugs.

'I didn't have time to think or worry it and the next thing I remember was waking up in bed after the op.

'Everybody at Harley Street was fantastic, I couldn't recommend them enough..'

Toni, pictured immediately after the surgery, has said her confidence has been transformed by the procedure

She had been saving up for the operation for five years, and finally underwent the operation in February

Toni went under the knife at the world renowned Harley Street Skin Clinic on February 15.

While she insisted she is 'too old for romance' Toni's new fresh look has done wonders for her confidence and she is set to start yoga and gym classes.

She said: 'I am too old to get back in the dating game but I would consider going out for a nice meal with somebody and sharing a man's company.

'I feel much more confident and plan to go to the gym every day except for Tuesdays when I look after my great-granddaughter.'

Toni wanted the facelift for years, having dreamt of aging like her own mother (pictured), who she said did not have any wrinkes when she died aged 84

Toni, who has two great-grandchildren, saved for the 10,000 op by putting all her loose change in a giant Coca-Cola bottle.

She filled her 'face lift fund' with spare pennies from her pension before starting again with pound coins and again with only 5 notes.

Toni is now saving for a 6,000 upper face lift which she expects to have before the age of 85.

She said: 'I am already using my Coca Cola bottle - I was saving for some new clothes but I will have to go to the charity shop for them now.

Toni used an old Coca Cola bottle to store the pennies to help her save up for another facelift, as she worries about her eyes

'I look in the mirror now and I see the baggy eyes so I'm saving up again to have the area around my eyes and forehead lifted - that will be another few years.

'My friends said it's the best thing I've ever done and they have already chipped in towards my next face lift.'

Six weeks on from surgery, the Harley Street team are impressed by Toni's 'extraordinary' and speedy recovery.

Lesley Reynolds, co-founder of Harley Street Skin Clinic, said: 'Toni surprised us all by her swift recovery from the surgery which is a testament to her tremendous energy and force of life.

Toni, who has been widowed for 46 years, said that she would now consider going out for a nice meal with somebody and sharing a man's company

Harley Street have been impressed by how swift Toni's recovery has been, calling it a testament to her energy

'Her general health is such that she bounced back very quickly after the operation - her bruising and swelling were minimal.

'This is in part due to the skills of our surgeon Mr Hagen Schumacher and the anaesthetist, but also perhaps down to Toni's general health.

'Usually people of Toni's age have some sort of health issues that would increase the risk of a general anaesthetic to the point of it not being advisable to have cosmetic surgery.'

Surgeon Mr Schumacher told Toni that the results will continue to improve over the next year.

Toni as a young woman in the 1960s - she had long dreamed of having cosmetic surgery, but spent years saving up for the procedure

Toni said: 'After the surgery, I had a bit of swelling for a few days but no pain at all - it was brilliant.

'It will take a year for it to be completely healed so it will just keep getting better.

'The surgeon was really, really good and I would recommend him to anybody.'

The great-grandmother began dreaming of having cosmetic surgery in her 20s when she noticed wrinkles appearing on her face.

Toni and her son Giles in the early 1980s. She worked hard to maintain a size 10 figure, but as she got older felt her wrinkles were impacting her confidence

She has always worked hard to maintain a size ten and had hoped she would take after her mother, who had 'barely any wrinkles' before she died aged 84.

But as she grew older, Toni felt her face no longer matched her body.

She said: 'I expected my skin would age in the same way as my mum but it didn't.

'I had wanted it done for decades and decades - I would read about it in the papers and I did a lot of research.'

Toni with with her son Giles, left and grandchildren Kelly and Christopher at Christmas in the 1980s

Toni said the facelift had 'transformed' her confidence, as it appeared natural. She can't wait for the rest of her face to match

She added: 'People won't tell you if they've had a face lift - they don't talk about it but I think people should.

'It has made an awful lot of difference to my confidence and I feel a lot better about myself - I don't even wear make up.

'I'm so pleased with it - it looks natural rather than having that drawn, wind-swept look.

'I can't wait to have the area around my eyes and brows lifted to match.'
A mother-of-four revealed how she had sex hours after giving birth.

Deborah Hodge, 44, of south-east London, and her then partner became intimate in a private hospital room shortly after welcoming their daughter Amelia in July 2013.

Speaking to Samantha Brick at the Sun, Deborah said that despite undergoing an emergency C-section just hours earlier, she doesn't remember feeling any discomfort.

'As Amelia lay in her cot, my partner and I were having a cuddle on the bed, when before I knew it we were having sex,' she recalled.

Mother-of-four Deborah Hodge, 44, of south-east London, and her then partner became intimate in a private hospital room shortly after welcoming their daughter Amelia in July 2013. Pictured, Deborah while pregnant with her daughter

While she didn't feel 'sexy', there was an 'incredible closeness' between them, she recalled.

'It was over so quick that I dont remember feeling any discomfort, but that could have been because Id had an epidural. I couldnt believe wed done it  I put it down to all the drugs I was on.'

Deborah, who is also mother to Felix, 20, Ella, 14, and Izzy, 10, later split from her partner, who was 15 years her junior.

Speaking to Femail previously, Deborah told how she met her former partner at a pub when she was attending a poetry evening.

Deborah said that despite undergoing an emergency C-section just hours earlier, she doesn't remember feeling any discomfort when having sex. Pictured, Deborah with daughter Amelia (left) and in January 2017 after undergoing a makeover (right)

'I went out for cigarette as I smoked then and we bumped into each other and started talking,' she said.

'I had just broken up with my third partner, it was long term and I was on the rebound  desperate to feel better and find my confidence again.

'We started drinking and chatting and at the end of evening we went home together.

'I must say I wasnt at that time put off the age gap  [he] was saying all the right things, we got on well and it was a massive boost for me.

Deborah, who is also mother to Felix, 20, Ella, 14, and Izzy, 10, later split from her partner, who was 15 years her junior. Pictured, on This Morning in January 2017

'He virtually didnt leave and without knowing it he had just moved in. We were happy he got on with my girls.

'I was told after my third daughter due to my periods being erratic and my age then 39 I couldnt have any more kids. But two months after we met I was pregnant.

'I was shocked and thrilled and [he] was over the moon  he couldnt wait to be a dad, was very hands on.

'The girls wanted another baby, my friends were shocked and concerned and others just accepted that it was fine to have bloke much younger. I continued working at my high level teaching job.

'[He] was there for the birth  I ended up having an emergency c section due to age and complications and we were so happy to hold Amelia.'
A couple, with an age gap of more than half a century, who vowed to keep their daily sex habit alive while on a reality show, have now spent two nights in the reality TV house, but have only cuddled while fully clothed.

Stunning brunette Milijana Bogdanovic, 21, and her fiance Milojko Bozic, 74, a grey-haired grandfather, live in the village of Pilatovici, in western Serbia's municipality of Pozega.

The age gap couple' are currently appearing on the Serbian reality show 'Parovi' ('Couples') and have spent two nights inside the Big Brother-style house.

Bogdanovic, who once claimed that she 'gets excited when Milojko spanks me on the bum', said before appearing on the show: 'Of course we will have sex, why wouldn't we?'

However, two nights into the show and the 'hot couple' have only been seen cuddling in bed while fully clothed.

Milijana Bogdanovic, 21 and her fiance Milojko Bozic, 74, from Serbia, have entered the reality show 'Parovi' (Couples) and plan to have sex on TV

Meanwhile, both contestants are still competing and therefore have plenty of time to get it on in front of the cameras.

'I would love to get pregnant and give birth to a baby, hopefully. If not on 'Couples' then maybe after we leave the show.

'We plan to cuddle and love each other there as if we were at home. I really want to prove to people that this is the real thing between Milojko and me, and not a marketing trick like everyone says,' Milijana said.

The greying granddad, who said that he only has to 'put my hand on her stomach and she wants sex with me', appeared less confident about bonking on TV.

Two nights into the show and the 'hot couple' have only been seen cuddling in bed while fully clothed

The age gap couple' are currently appearing on the Serbian reality show 'Parovi' ('Couples') and have spent two nights inside the Big Brother-style house

The romantic couple, Milijana and Milojko sitting and cuddling on a bench in Serbian reality show

He said: 'I know there are no cameras in the showers, and if it comes to us wanting to have sex, we can hide there.'

However, two nights into the show and the 'hot couple' have only been seen cuddling in bed while fully clothed.

Meanwhile, both contestants are still competing and therefore have plenty of time to get it on in front of the cameras.

The couple have kissed and cuddled on the show but not had sex - they said they would have sex on the show

Milojko already has three children, aged 40, 35 and 30, from his first marriage, and two grandchildren, aged 13 and 11.

Two nights into the show and the couple have only been seen cuddling in bed while fully clothed

Milijana says she loves older men and that men who do not have grey hair do not have a chance with her

Milijana's mother Sladjana Bogdanovic told local media: 'I was shocked at first, but now I have come to accept it.

'When will Serbia understand that she is my child and I will never abandon her. It's her life.'

Although they can't have sex in the missionary position because of the elderly man's heart problems, they claim to enjoy a very active intimate life without resorting to using Viagra.

Before they went into the show she claimed: 'Of course we will have sex, why wouldn't we? I would love to get pregnant and give birth to a baby, hopefully. If not on Couples, then after we leave the show.

'We plan to cuddle and love each other there as if we were at home. I really want to prove to people that this is the real thing between Milojko and me, and not a marketing trick like everyone says.'

Milojko, 74, has three children aged 40, 35 and 30, from his first marriage, and two grandchildren, aged 13 and 11

The age gap separating Milijana and Milojko is more than a half century but it does not bother the stunning brunette

The couple said they planned to kiss and cuddle each other 'as if we were at home' during their time of the show

Milijana said she loved to 'take a shower and go out naked from the bathroom' in order to arouse her partner

The couple have also revealed some of their bedroom secrets which have to take into account the fact that Milojko underwent heart surgery in December.

Milijana said: 'I love sex positions where the man dominates. I get excited when Milojko spanks me on the bum.'

She also revealed how she likes to seduce him, saying: 'It's enough for me to take a shower and go out naked from the bathroom.'

But the pensioner added they had to bear in mind doctor's orders when they have sex.

The pair has to be careful during their rompts and follow doctor's orders, as Milojko recently had heart surgery

In spite of his heart condition, Milojko said: 'If needed, for her I would drink Viagra and go happy to paradise'

Milojko and Milijana shared intimate details about their sex life and revealed they could not have sex in the missionary position

Milojko added: 'Milijana loves me to spank her on the bum! When it comes to positions our favourite is from behind.

'I would love to do it from the front, but I can't. Because of the heart surgery I cannot do missionary position.'

But he added: 'If needed, for her I would drink Viagra and go happy to paradise.'

Milijana said that she absolutely planned on having sex on the show, as Milojko and her are determined to start a family

'Of course we will have sex, why wouldn't we? I would love to get pregnant and give birth to a baby, hopefully. If not on Couples then after we leave the show,' Milijana said

Milijana is into older men and says she gets most excited when her fiance Milojko spanks her on the bum

The couple plan to marry in a registry office on 7 September after their local church told them it would not marry couples with an age gap of more than 15 years

The couple have stunned neighbours with their unusual relationship.

Milojko has three children, aged 40, 35 and 30, from his first marriage, and two grandchildren, aged 13 and 11.

The couple plan to marry in a registry office on 7 September after their local church told them it would not marry couples with an age gap of more than 15 years.
St. Louis is having a rough week after one man horrified the rest of the country by introducing the city's signature 'bread sliced' bagels to the internet.

New Yorkers, celebrities, and even politicians and public officials joined in the public shaming, calling it 'criminal' to 'desecrate' a bagel that way.

Now, the mockery is continuing with people cracking jokes about other foods St. Louis eats the wrong way, from pie with a slice cut out of the middle to a PB&J with the peanut butter and jelly on the outside.

Mocked: Alek Krautmann, an employee of the National Weather Service currently based in Washington, D.C., proudly showed off his bagel 'secret' on Twitter

What a mess! Now people are joking about how other foods are eaten 'St. Louis style,' with Chips Ahoy getting in on the teasing

Real deal: Only a few pointed out actual St. Louis-style food, like this criss-cross cut pizza

The horror! Most just showed pictures of food very obviously being consumed incorrectly

Looks familiar! Some 'bread sliced' other foods that are not meant to be cut that way, like sandwiches

Yuck! Others came up with horrifying dishes that should not be eaten at all, ever  like steak and bananas with ketchup on top

Looks messy! This man joked that people in St. Louis put sandwich ingredients on the outside, making for a very messy PB&J

Some people highlighted actual 'St. Louis style' food that differs from the rest of the country  particularly pizza that has been cut vertically and then horizontally in a criss-cross pattern.

But most came up with nonsense. Dozens have taken pictures of other foods cut in bread-like slices, the same way the bagel was cut.

They shared images of sandwiches, doughnuts, and even a baked potato cut vertically in several pieces.

The St. Louis County Police Department even got in on the joke with a picture.

Some pictures showed food items that weren't 'bread sliced,' though most would agree it's still not the right way to eat it: a Kit-Kat with a bite taken out of several sticks at once, a cake destroyed in a messy mound, and cereal poured out underneath a bowl.

Oh no! The St. Louis Country PD joked that the slicing method works on doughnuts, too

'What if we cut everything like this?' asked one horrified man, showing a picture of his destroyed sandwich

Sliced: California Pizza Kitchen even came up with a new version of St. Louis pizza

The horror! People posted lots of foods eaten the 'wrong' way, like Kit Kat

Still looks yummy! This baked potato might be a bit hard to eats sliced this way

Oh dear! This man shamed people from St. Louis by joking that they eat other breakfast foods wrong, too

The opposite of slicing: Another man joked that a St. Louis-style cake is a chopped-up mess

Serves 'em right! The jokes at the city's expense have been rolling in all week

Who knew? One man joked that the infamous cheese sandwiches served at Fyre Festival were just St. Louis-style grilled cheese

Chips Ahoy made followers laugh with their version of 'St. Louis style' cookies and milk, sharing a picture of milk poured on top of an entire open package of cookies.

Then, there were the foods that were prepared all wrong, like coffee beans floating in a cup of water for coffee.

Someone prepared a PB&J sandwich, but instead of folding the peanut butter and jelly into the inside, it was on the outside  getting all over hands.

Another person joked that St. Louis-style pizza is made with club crackers, slices of American cheese, and ketchup, while yet another made 'St. Louis-style sushi' with a Goldfish cracker on top of rice.

One man joked that the infamous cheese sandwiches served at Fyre Festival were just St. Louis-style grilled cheese.

Other horrifying fake St. Louis dishes included rainbow macaroni and cheese, cookies with salsa, deviled eggs made with Spaghetti O's, and an ice cream sandwich made with a hamburger bun.

Tasty! According to this jokester, sushi in St. Louis is made with Goldfish crackers

Yikes! Another person joked that St. Louis-style pizza is made with club crackers, slices of American cheese, and ketchup

The worst thing about this ice cream sandwich with a hamburger bun? Someone actually ordered it

Ew: Some Twitter users' concoctions  or the images they found floating around the internet, for that matter  were truly disgusting

Get that away from us! A man who joked that 'St. Louis-style' Oreo's are served with salsa has left some feeling disturbed

Just no: Someone thought rainbow macaroni and cheese would be a good idea

Beware  some of the fake St. Louis-style concoctions might make you gag

Anyone arguing that there's no 'wrong' way to eat something might think twice when they see this hotdog

The mockery has truly reached a fever pitch, having kicked off at the beginning of the week with a tweet from Alek Krautmann, an employee of the National Weather Service currently based in Washington, D.C..

Alek proudly showed off his bagel 'secret,' explaining that rather than serving bagels sliced down the middle, he likes to get the bagels 'bread sliced' into several thin pieces.

'Today I introduced my coworkers to the St Louis secret of ordering bagels bread sliced. It was a hit!' he wrote.

He included a picture of two boxes of Panera bagels. Each bagel had been sliced vertically multiple times, creating eight to ten slivers of bagel rather than two round halves.

Don't believe you: He said the 'bread sliced' bagels are a local favorite in St. Louis, and were a hit in his office

The slicing method actually seems to be unique to Panera, which advertises that it offers this service online.

While Alek insisted that his coworkers liked the bread sliced bagels, however, most of Twitter was horrified.

'This feels like something that should get a person sent to Gitmo,' wrote one woman.

'I work in a bakery that makes bread & bagels every morning.... If someone asked me to "bread slice" bagels I'd refuse service. I have standards and a healthy respect for bagels,' said someone else.

'You should be ashamed of yourself,' lectured another person.

'This isnt a hit. This is Hey let me find the worst and cheapest way to feed 25 people with 12 bagels!' said another.

Criminal: Twitter users came out in the thousands to express horror

How rude! This bakery worker would refuse service to anyone who showed this lack of 'respect' for bagels

Cruel: Alek has been called a 'monster' by disbelieving bagel fans

Take their knives away! One person joked that people in St. Louis don't know how to cut anything properly

Get outta here! Sen. Chuck Schumer tweeted: 'On behalf of the New York Delegation: St. Louis, fuhgeddaboudit'

Charge this guy! NYC Councilman Justin Brannan joked that this is a 'Class A felony' in New York

Not here! NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot F. Shea noted that Alek is lucky he wasn't in New York, where he'd be arrested

People also got incredibly territorial, with both New Yorkers and Jews taking particular offense.

Some joked that it was hateful to Jews, who originated bagels, writing 'this is anti-Semitism' and 'THIS is the most anti-Semitic thing I've ever seen!'

Others said that Alek should stay far away from New York, and that if he bought the bagels from Panera they aren't real bagels, anyway.

'On behalf of the New York Delegation: St. Louis, fuhgeddaboudit,' tweeted New York Senator Chuck Schumer.

'I believe this is a Class A felony in New York City. And if its not, it should be,' wrote NYC Councilman Justin Brannan.

'Thank you for reporting this crime, but we only serve New York City, where this would NEVER happen,' wrote NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot F. Shea.

Calling BS: This man expressed doubt that anyone in Alek's office actually liked the bread sliced bagels and said it's really a ploy to save money

The worst! Others told him that he should be 'ashamed' of himself and was committing blasphemy

Anti: Tweets like 'delete this' were liked thousands of times by disgusted Twitter users

Tragic: Some left GIFs to express their feelings about the sliced bagels

Oy vey! A few joked that slicing bagels this way is anti-Semitic

This is meshuga! Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy also cracked the joke; bagels originated in Jewish communities in Poland

Not the real deal! This woman noted that bagels not bought in New York or New Jersey aren't real, anyway

Doesn't meet the definition! Even Dictionary.com chimed in to point out that bagel comes from a word meaning 'a ring'

Here for it: Panera, though, was thrilled and offered Alek free bagels

Trevor Noah weighed in with a segment on The Daily Show, calling it a 'bagel massacre.'

And Chrissy Teigen tweeted, 'vote NO on prop: slicingbagels. I mean you can, and should, slice them once, horizontally.'

Luckily for Alek, at least Panera had his back. They retweeted him with the message, 'Our team is divided over here. Do other people slice their bagel Bread Co style?'

They also commented on his post, offering him free bagels the next time he visited.
We live in an age where social media rules our lives, making it hard to take our eyes off of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Some users have been driven to the edge of depression, plagued by low self-esteem due to their 'addiction'.

Experts have branded the damaging effects of too much screen time as 'digital fragmentation syndrome' (DFRAG).

It causes a catalogue of symptoms, which dozens of scientific papers have found strike those addicted to their phones and gadgets.

Dr Imran Rashid, a GP who works at the largest chain of private hospitals in Denmark, Aleris-Hamlet Private Hospitals, told MailOnline: 'Hundreds of millions of people are experiencing this new form of digital pollution.

'And its effects can be just as toxic to the body and mind as contaminants elsewhere in the environment.'

In a piece for MailOnline, Dr Rashid reveals the ten ways spending too much time on your smartphone is ruining your life.

'Digital fragmentation syndrome' (DFRAG) is an umbrella term named by Dr Imran Rashid and digital expert Soren Kenner, applying to the symptoms uncovered in an analysis of more than 200 scientific papers looking into the effects of tech on our lives

1. Lack of meaningful relationships

Dr Rashid believes that while living in a high tech time, we are also not physically touching each other enough.

This leads to a lack of emotional relationships as the level of the hormone oxytocin drops.

Often referred to as 'the cuddling hormone', oxytocin is strongly involved the process of bonding and building trust as it is raised during biological processes such as childbirth, breastfeeding and sex.

Dr Rashid said: 'This hormone can be used as a scientific measures of how deep our relationships are.

'When you aren't touched by as many people as you were used to as a child, the hormonal stimulation you should feel will reduce.'

2. More stress

The constant need to check calls, notifications, texts, social media and emails keeps the adrenal glands in a constant state of agitation, and the fight or flight stress response triggered.

Dr Rashid said: 'We know that being on social media causes reduced ability to recover from stress, which is measurable with the body's levels of stress hormone, cortisol.

'Studies have found that if you are reading a book rather than scrolling on social media, your cortisol levels decline faster.

'These cortisol spikes lead to an avalanche of issues including high blood pressure, increased heart rate and anxiety.'

3. Bad parenting

Dr Rashid said being on your phone a lot around your children could affect the way they form their relationships

Dr Rashid said that parenting skills could be negatively impacted if the parent is constantly distracted by their phone.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU ARE ADDICTED TO YOUR PHONE? If you think your phone is interfering with your ability to stay cool and focused here are some things you can do about it. 1. Turn off all of your notifications and get back in charge of your phone and make your own decisions on when to check mail, social media, texts and more. 2. Put your use on a schedule. Decide when and how much you will surf and be on social media. For example, a maximum of two hours after dinner. Now stick to your schedule. 3. Leave your phone behind. Dont bring your phone to the dinner table, to the bedroom or to meetings. And leave it switched off while you are driving. 4. Take a social media break. Try a couple of weeks offline, its really quite refreshing. 5. Introduce alternatives. Spend time with people, read books, play board games, learn the piano, listen to music - there are plenty of good alternatives out there. Advertisement

With technology always in the way, a parent could be in less sync with their child's cues and misinterpret their needs.

The child will also pick up their habits, he said.

'Children don't do what you tell them to, they do what they see you do.

'If you show them that being in a relationship means being distant and constantly distracted by a tablet screen, that becomes their model for relationships.'

And it won't just be their relationships that struggle - children who used screens more than two hours a day had lower cognitive skills in research last year funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Over seven hours a day, structures in the brain are physically changed.

4. Poor sleep

Scrolling on your phone too much may leave you struggling to get shut-eye, according to a 2017 study by the University of Pittsburgh.

Researchers found that logging on often was more likely to effect sleep quality than being logged on for long periods of time.

The team weren't sure, however, whether it was social media causing sleep disturbances or vice versa.

'But there's also a physiological reason,' Dr Rashid said. 'The blue light emitted by electronic screens tricks our brains into thinking it's still daytime.

'And then we don't produce enough of the sleep hormone melatonin to fall asleep quickly and get high-quality sleep.'

Studies have shown that social media use can cause sleep disturbances

5. No empathy for others

You may be more selfish if you are addicted to your phone.

In the US over the last 20 years, empathy score has gone down by 40 per cent in high school children, a University of Michigan study showed.

The sharpest drop occurred after the year 2000, which experts, including Dr Rashid, believe to be linked to the rise of the internet.

Dr Rashid said: 'One of the big issues is that eye-contact is a necessity to show and develop empathy.

'If too much of your social interaction becomes faceless, you could miss out on training the ability to detect social cues like body language, facial expressions and more.'

Another explanation could be due to a growing need of confirmation and strong friendships online, therefore diminishing your empathy for those around you.

'Removing empathy from a democracy is turning it into a collective of selfish people,' Dr Rashid said.

6. Unable to resist bad temptations

Over time, using your phone too much can lead you unable to resist tempations.

Dr Rashid explains: 'If you can't say no to your phone, your ability to say no - your impulse control - is being reduced.'

This could lead to indulging in bad habits, such as smoking or unhealthy eating.

Impulse control  that is, controlling your impulses - is important for building long term plans, maintaining relationships or saving money.

'Better health, grades and relationships are linked to the ability to defer instant gratification,' Dr Rashid said.

Too much use of your phone could lead you to be unable to resist temptations elsewhere in your life, leading to an indulge in bad habits such as unhealthy eating

A famous study in the 1960s called The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment demonstrates how crucial self-control is from a young age.

In the experiment, 600 children were offered the choice between having a marshmallow now, or waiting for 15 minutes in order to have two.

The researchers tracked the children into adulthood and found that the children who had enough impulse control to delay eating the marshmallow ended up with better exam scores and eventually better paid jobs.

Brain scans revealed that these children also had more prefrontal cortex - also known as 'new brain' - activity. The ability to master this part of the brain leads to the ability to defer reward for greater return in the future.

7. Laziness

Constant use of technology can make your brain 'give up' on decision making and always choose the easy option, Dr Rashid said.

He explained that being online for long periods gives us little doses of dopamine, a chemical in the brain that contributes to pleasure.

With so many releases of the natural high, you tire out the parts of the brain which are used to make decisions.

ARE SMARTPHONES CAUSING MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN YOUNG PEOPLE? Children as young as two are developing mental health problems because of smartphones and tablets, scientists warned in November. Just an hour a day staring at a screen can be enough to make children more likely to be anxious or depressed. This could be making them less curious, less able to finish tasks, less emotionally stable and lowering their self-control. Although teenagers are most at risk from the damaging devices, children under the age of 10 and toddlers' still-developing brains are also being affected. Researchers at San Diego State University and the University of Georgia analysed data provided by the parents of more than 40,000 US children aged two to 17 for a nationwide health survey in 2016. Adolescents spending more than seven hours a day on screens are twice as likely to have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression as those who spent an hour. The US National Institute of Health estimates children and adolescents commonly spend an average of five to seven hours on screens during leisure time. Advertisement

'You then tend to make the decisions that are "go with the flow" instead using rational examination,' Dr Rashid said.

'When you are constantly overwhelmed with choices it gives you a mental overload.

'Your brain's ability to keep on choosing declines slowly until "it gives up" and just goes for the basic, easy and habitual behaviour.'

This can be demonstrated by the fact people are more likely to pick up their phone than a book, he said.

Just 16 per cent of high school seniors in 2016 read a book, magazine or newspaper every day, compared to sixty per cent in the 1970s, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

8. Spending more money

You may have noticed adverts on your Facebook for things you would consider buying.

This, along with many other 'hacks', are what large companies use to grab your attention as you mindlessly surf online.

The more a company can keep you glued to your screen - the more online shopping is fueled.

The hacks are based on algorithyms, user interfaces and science of the brain, but people are unlikely to notice them consciously, Dr Rashid said.

'They are built to undermine your impulse controls. The more they can catch your attention, the longer they can hold it and make money.

'The best customers are the ones who can't control their impulsive behaviour or resist a deal,' Dr Rashid said.

9. Low self esteem

Women have been found to have low self esteem after spending too much time online

'Instagram will affect your self-esteem and Facebook makes you obsessed about other peoples opinion about you,' Dr Rashid said.

Research has often found that people who are always viewing other's lives on social media can end up with crippling low confidence.

Those who scroll through Facebook have higher levels of depression, one study found.

And those who admire the feeds of celebrities can feel dissatisfied with their own achievements.

Women especially can end up in a rut of negative thought about their body image, according to a study which found that college student spend an average of two and a half hours a day on social media.

Many participants felt closer to Facebook friends than friends in real life while having feelings of stress, cravings, and low self-esteem.



10. Narrow-minded

Algorithms on social media apps are made so that people form groups - such as Instagram's explore page showing content you may like.

'When you go to any platform, the chances of you meeting anyone that isn't like-minded is very low,' Dr Rashid said.

'That creates a view of the world that is heavily biased towards the same opinions as you.

'It can disturb your view. You talk to the same people and hear the same views of the time.'

Dr Rashid uses Brexit an example: 'No one ever expected this. But that's because they couldn't see outside their bubble.

'They tried to see how it would work through social media, not realising they were stuck in what is called an echo effect chamber.'

This story has been extracted from Dr Rashid's new book, Offline: Free Your Mind from Smartphone and Social Media Stress, co-authored with Soren Kenner.

ARE YOU ADDICTED TO YOUR PHONE? TAKE THE QUIZ

Answer the questions and add the score (in brackets) as you go.

You left the house without your phone, what do you do?

Nothing, it can wait (1)

Turn back and get the phone (2)

That would never happen (3)

You are at a meeting when your phone vibrates, what do you do?

Pick up the phone and see whats up (1)

Nothing, it can wait (2)

Turn off the phone (3)

You wake up in the middle of the night and see your phone blinking, what do you do?

Turn over on the other side and try to go back to sleep (2)

Reach out after your phone to see if there are messages (1)

I never bring my phone into the bedroom (3)

You have a report that needs to be done by tomorrow, what do you do?

Start doing it but keep checking mail and social media as well (2)

Sit down and get it done (1)

I get on Facebook to relax and wait till the last possible minute to do the report (3)

You are in your car stuck in a a queue, what do you do?

Listen to music on the radio (2)

Reach out for your phone to check messages (1)

I simply keep calm and wait (3)

You are at dinner and glance at your phone and see notifications, what do you do?

Pick up the phone to see whats going on (1)

Nothing, it can wait till you have time for it. (2)

I would never bring my phone to the dinner table (3)

Your friends invite you over for game night, what do you do?

Say no, you'd rather spend the time being online on my own (3)

Say yes, grab your phone and go (2)

Say yes, grab a board game to bring along and go (1)

Youve been on Facebook for two hours and it is boring. What do you do?

Decide to see whats going on on Instagram and Twitter instead (3)

Put down the phone and pick up a book to read (2)

I'd never spend two whole hours on Facebook (1)

Someone promised to send you a message. What do you do?

I keep checking my phone, wondering when I will get the message (3)

I hope the message will show up soon but stay calm (2)

I dont think about it. It will show up when it does (1)

Your score:
Mosquitoes carrying serious illnesses like Zika and dengue fever could migrate to the UK in the next few decades because of global warming, scientists predict.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito  currently found mostly in Africa and Asia  could be lured north by warmer, more humid weather as the global temperature rises.

And as many as a billion more people, including residents of Canada, the UK and Europe, could be exposed to the infectious bugs.

Researchers say this could become normal by 2080, if the current rate of climate change continues.

The scientists added the viruses are likely to cause particularly nasty outbreaks in countries which have never experienced them before  such as the UK  because people haven't built up any immunity to them.

They even went as far as to warn the spread of the insects poses one of the 'biggest threats to global security', if nothing is done about global warming.

Experts predict Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (pictured), which bite humans and spread illnesses like dengue fever and Zika, could migrate to the UK and US in the next few decades because of global warming

Researchers from the US said there must be quick action to slow down climate change if the spread of deadly disease in this way is to be stopped.

They used two models predicting changes from a 2.6C (37F) rise or an 8.5C (47.3F) rise by the year 2100 and found the more the global temperature rises, the bigger the problem will be.

The 2.6C rise was considered the best-case scenario, if action is taken to reduce climate change, while the 8.5C rise was the worst-case 'business-as-usual' scenario, they said.

If the viruses take hold it won't be just a matter of ill health, the experts said  countries with mosquito-borne illnesses suffer financially as well.

Study author Sadie Ryan, from the University of Florida, said the viruses can cause 'a loss of productivity at work, things like that'.

She added: 'Essentially, they will lead to economic decline in areas where they take off.'

The study predicted the movement of two of the most common disease-carrying mosquitoes  the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.

Scientists did this by looking at predicted future temperatures up to 2080, and comparing it with the bugs' current habitats.

As average temperatures around the earth rise, making them more suitable for mosquitoes, humidity will also increase because more water will evaporate from the ground and oceans and warmer air can hold more moisture, leading to more rain.

The mosquitoes can carry viruses including dengue, chikungunya and Zika, which can in some cases be fatal or cause other debilitating illnesses.

Those include hemorrhagic fever with repeated dengue exposure and congenital microcephaly in some cases of Zika exposure, said Dr Ryan.

Vaccinations do not yet exist for Zika or chikungunya, and only a few are in trial stages for dengue, said Georgetown University's Colin Carlson, another lead author of the analysis.

'The first line of defense for these diseases has never been vaccination,' said Dr Carlson.

The map produced to illustrate the worst-case scenario, an 8.5C rise, shows how northern areas with relatively low concentrations of the mosquitoes  shown by paler colours  will have far more of the bugs by 2080 (illustrated by darker shading)

The 2.6C rise was considered the best-case scenario by researchers but still showed the mosquitoes spreading north  although they didn't make it to most of the UK in this model

WHAT IS ZIKA VIRUS AND HOW IS IT SPREAD? The Zika virus is spread by mosquito bites, between people during unprotected sex, and from pregnant mothers to their children. It cannot be cured or prevented with medicines. Although most adults do not become seriously ill from the infection, it can cause serious birth defects if pregnant women get it. Foetuses' brains can be affected by the virus when it is passed on from the mother and it can cause microcephaly. Microcephaly is a condition in which babies' heads are unusually small, which can lead to seizures, delayed development and other disabilities. The virus can also increase the risk of unborn children developing Guillain-Barre syndrome  an uncommon illness in which the immune system attacks the nerves and can cause muscle weakness and paralysis. Zika is a tropical disease and is most common in Central and South America, Africa and South East Asia. There was an outbreak of the virus in Brazil's capital, Rio de Janeiro, in 2016 and there were fears that year's Olympic Games would have to be cancelled after more than 200 academics wrote to the World Health Organization warning about it. The virus is not commonly found in developed countries like the UK, US and Australia. But it is present in the Pacific Islands such as Fiji and Tonga, where the pregnant Duchess of Sussex will visit on her royal tour this month. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advertisement

'On the whole, it's a lot easier for us to prevent mosquitoes or viruses from showing up somewhere than to prevent an outbreak once it has already started.'

Those at risk can help lower the threat by measures such as using insect spray, putting screens on windows and removing excess rubbish and water from around the home, Dr Carlson said.

But he said the only real way to stop the spread of the mosquitoes is to do more to slow climate change and improve surveillance of the insects.

'If the climate doesnt change, that limits a good amount of where these mosquitoes can go,' Dr Carlson said.

Combining data on temperatures and changing populations suggested to researchers where mosquitoes may flourish or decline  and how many people will be at risk in the future, the researchers said.

'What this essentially gives us is the capacity to say where can we expect these things to show up, establish, invade and perhaps where outbreaks may occur,' Dr Ryan said.

'It kind of gives us a nice management tool to say, "Heres where we are going to see those increases in potential risk, so let's start doing some surveillance there, let's think about managing things there",' she said.

Virtually all the scenarios predict an increase in risk in North America, Europe and East Asia, Dr Carlson said.

Even a couple of degrees of permanent warming would be enough for mosquitoes to be attracted to the area.

Dr Carlson added that in areas where a lot of people live, mainly cities with a high population density, many people may face the viruses for the first time in their lives  which is a particular worry.

'Populations that have never faced these diseases before havent built up immunity,' he said. 'So we're very worried that they are going to have much larger outbreaks when these pathogens show up for the first time.'

In the worst-case emissions scenario, where the earth warms by 8.5C by the turn of the century, many more people will likely deal with mosquito-carried viruses, Dr Ryan said.

And she added that, without immediate action to reduce carbon emissions and curb climate change, the mosquitoes will be 'one of our biggest threats to global security'.

The research was published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
A teenager has a 'ticking timebomb' tumour that caused her to suffer blackouts which doctors dismissed as puberty.

Lily Biggs, 19, from Brecon in Wales, began to experience dizziness and randomly lose consciousness when she was 13.

But after seeing her GP, she was prescribed medication and reassured it was likely due to hormonal changes caused by puberty.

She was eventually seen by a specialist more than six months later who ran brain scans just in case.

Miss Biggs was then diagnosed with a brain tumour, which, although required surgery twice, cannot be removed.

The tumour is not threatening her life right now, though doctors fear that could suddenly change if it gets bigger, leaving Miss Biggs unsure of her future.

Refusing to give up on life, Miss Biggs threw herself into her A levels and is currently studying an aerospace engineering degree at university.

Lily Biggs, 19, pictured at her home of Brecon, Wales, began experiencing dizziness and blacking out five years ago. Since then, she has been diagnosed with a brain tumour but refuses to give up on life. She is currently studying aerospace engineering degree

Lily was diagnosed with a brain tumour, which required surgery twice (pictured in hospital), but doctors are not sure what type it is. It could become life-threatening at any point

Miss Biggs said: 'When someone tells you you have a brain tumour, it feels like a death sentence.

'I just don't know what the future will hold. I know that my condition could worsen and that's pretty scary.

'But if I sat and wallowed in it, I wouldn't get anything out of life. Then if something serious did happen, I would have wasted my life.'

In 2013, Miss Biggs' began having visual disturbances, tinnitus, and dizziness and blackouts if she turned her head too quickly.

A few weeks later, her GP put it down to hormonal changes during puberty.

But when medication prescribed failed to help, her mother Wendy and father Nic insisted she should see a specialist.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF A BRAIN TUMOUR? Low grade gliomas are benign (non-cancerous) tumours that develop from brain cells called astrocytes. Astrocytomas are the most common type of glioma. In children, more than 80 per cent of astrocytomas are low grade. Low grade astrocytomas usually develop only where they originated and grow slowly over a period of time. These tumours can arise anywhere in the brain or spinal cord. The majority of low grade gliomas are not life-threatening but some inoperable tumours (often in young children) can prove to be very difficult to treat. The symptoms depend on where the tumour is located and also whether there is increased pressure in the head (raised intracranial pressure). Symptoms include: nausea and vomiting (most common) lethargy and irritability headaches clumsiness seizures (fits) difficulty with tasks like handwriting gradual decline in school work changes in personality and behaviour abnormal gait (the way the child walks). If the tumour spreads or is located in the spinal cord, the signs and symptoms may include: back pain difficulty walking problems with bowel and bladder control. Source: The Royal Marsden Advertisement

After more than six months of persisting, Miss Biggs was seen by a paediatrician at Hereford Hospital who referred Miss Biggs- who was 13 at the time - for an MRI scan just in case.

But within a very short time the family's lives were turned upside down.

'After the first scan I was called back for a second one, because of a small area they couldn't see,' Miss Biggs said.

'After the second scan I was very quickly given blood tests, admitted to hospital and then told I had a brain tumour.'

Miss Biggs was later taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Although doctors aren't sure what type of tumour Miss Biggs has, it's been classified as a 'low grade brain stem glioma'.

Each year in the UK, approximately 4,300 people are diagnosed with low, slow growing brain tumours.

Around 75 per cent of brain stem gliomas are diagnosed in children and young adults under the age of 20, but they can affect older adults as well.

Approximately 5,270 brain and other CNS tumors will be diagnosed this year in children younger than 20 in the US.

Doctors are unable to perform surgery to remove Miss Brigg's tumour - sometimes, a tumour is located in a place a surgeon cannot reach or operating will cause more damage.

The tumour appears to be made of cells that are healthy - but that could change at any time, doctors have reportedly told Miss Biggs.

It could also threaten her life if it gets bigger, as it would create more pressure on the brain.

Miss Biggs said: 'I felt relieved when I found out. I wasn't surprised, I knew something serious was going on.

'Finally someone was telling me what was going on.

'You can finally do something about it.'

Following a procedure to relieve pressure on her brain, Miss Biggs was sent home within a week and told she would need no further treatment.

But three years later, in March 2017, one of her regular scans revealed a fast-growing cyst - requiring further complex surgery.

After she left hospital, Miss Biggs threw herself immediately into A Level revision, and in August of that year was rewarded with A* grades.

She was then accepted at Leeds University to study aerospace engineering.

Regular MRI scans check the size of the tumour, but Miss Biggs doesn't have any other medication or treatment.

Although doctors aren't sure what type of tumour Lily has, it's been classified as a 'low grade brain stem glioma'. It cannot be removed, but if it grows, it could become life-threatening

'Uni life is great,' Miss Biggs said. 'I do get fatigued sometimes but I'm generally able to keep up with most activities.

'I found adapting to independent life exhausting but I now love it and have settled right in.'

Despite the potential ticking timebomb in her head, Miss Biggs is not giving up on her dreams of becoming a primary school teacher.

She said: 'There may be another build-up of fluid in my brain, the cyst may grow or the tumour could become more aggressive.

'But I'm taking each day as it comes.'

Miss Biggs is sharing her story in support of The Brain Tumour Charity during Brain Tumour Awareness Month, which runs throughout March.

Sarah Lindsell, chief executive of The Brain Tumour Charity, said: 'We are immensely grateful to Lily for sharing her experience to help raise awareness of brain tumours and their symptoms.

'Her achievements in the face of her diagnosis are remarkable and we wish her the very best as she continues with her studies and her career.'
A grandmother has given birth to her own grandchild  because her daughter was born without a womb.

Emma Miles, 55, who already has two of her own children, gave the ultimate gift by offering to be a surrogate for her daughter Tracey Smith, 31, who feared she would never have a child of her own after being diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser Syndrome (MRKH).

Because Mrs Smith's ovaries still worked normally, she used IVF with her husband, Adam, 40, to create an embryo which was then implanted into Mrs Miles.

Even though Mrs Miles had already been through the menopause, she was able to be a surrogate because the baby was created from her daughter's eggs. Her womb was healthy enough to carry a child, though she needed to shed six stone (38kg) to reach a healthy weight and needed hormones to ensure the pregnancy took.

Older mothers, those over 35, face a higher risk of miscarriage and pre-eclampsia - a complication that can prove deadly to both woman and baby. But desperate to help her daughter, Mrs Miles decided to go ahead with surrogacy anyway.

Mrs Miles - a supermarket worker - gave birth to Evie Sian Emma Smith on January 16. She was healthy and weighed 7lbs 7oz, though she was born by caesarean section because Mrs Miles' natural labour was taking too long.

Emma Miles, 55, (right) was a surrogate for her own daughter, Tracey, and her husband, Adam, because Tracey had been born without a womb so couldn't have children naturally herself

Evie Smith was born by c-section on January 16th this year, weighing 7lbs 7oz  her parents Mr and Mrs Smith must now formally adopt her because parental rights automatically go to the surrogate and her partner  Mrs Smith's parents

Mrs Smith said: 'Every moment of heartache was so worth it just to have our little bundle in our arms. I am so grateful to mum for her amazing gift to us'

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH RISKS OF A LATE PREGNANCY? Increased risk of complications for both mother and infant during pregnancy and delivery (although the actual size of the risk may be small).

Greater risk of general maternal health problems, such as high blood pressure, which can contribute to complications.

Higher risk of miscarriage in women above the age of 35.

Higher risk of having twins or triplets, which is itself associated with higher risk of complications.

Increased chance of having a baby with a congenital abnormality, such as Downs syndrome.

Increased risk of pre-eclampsia.

Increased risk of complications during delivery, such as prolonged labour, need for assisted delivery or Caesarean section, or stillbirth. Source: NHS Advertisement

Mrs Miles, who is also mother to Nicola, 24, said: 'To find out that Tracey couldn't have children was gutting to me.

'She rarely felt able to open up but when I had the chance just after her diagnosis I remember sitting on her bed and saying: "I'm here if you need me."

'Despite my age I wasn't worried about giving birth at all. All of my focus has been about doing this special thing for my daughter.

'I don't feel anymore attachment to Evie than any other proud grandmother. Tracey is my baby and I did it all for her to be a mother.

'Now I'm glad to be back to work and getting back to normal. But I have offered to do it all again if they ever want a little brother or sister for Evie.'

It is thought that Mrs Miles is one of Britain's oldest ever surrogate mothers. In 2011, it was reported that 57-year-old Pamela Butler, from Blackwood, South Wales, had become the oldest, after she gave birth to her grandchild Josef, whom she carried in the womb.

And in 2016, 67-year-old grandmother Anastassia Ontou, from Greece, reportedly became the world's oldest surrogate mother. She also carried her daughter's child.

Mr and Mrs Smith got married in February, two weeks after Evie was born. And this year Mrs Smith will celebrate her first Mother's Day while thanking her own mother for her 'amazing gift'.

She said: 'Every moment of heartache was so worth it just to have our little bundle in our arms. I am so grateful to mum for her amazing gift to us.'

Mrs Smith, from Lampeter in Wales but now living in Coventry, found out she didn't have a womb when she still hadn't started her period by the age of 15.

Scans showed she had been born without a womb but she did have working ovaries and fallopian tubes.

At 16, Mrs Smith was diagnosed with MRKH  a condition which causes the vagina and uterus to be underdeveloped or absent, although external genitalia are normal.

The deformity affects around one in 5,000 women and is incurable. Doctors told a devastated Mrs Smith that she would never carry her own child.

At the time her mother, Mrs Miles, said she would do anything she could to help.

But it was almost 15 years later when Mrs Smith and her husband were considering fertility treatment and took Mrs Miles up on the offer.

Mrs Smith, a nursery worker, said: 'When I was diagnosed it tipped my world upside down. I was heartbroken at the idea that I wouldn't carry my own child.

'I'd always known that I wanted to be a mum, even at 15.

Mr and Mrs Smith, pictured on their wedding day in February, two weeks after Evie was born, conceived their daughter using IVF and had the embryo implanted into Mrs Smith's mother

Mrs Miles even lost six stone and took hormonal medication so she could be as healthy as possible for the pregnancy

Mrs Smith, pictured with her husband Adam, 40, found out she couldn't have children of her own naturally when she was a teenager, because she had been born without a womb. However, she still has functioning ovaries

Mrs Miles, who had always intended to be her daughter's surrogate if she wanted her to, said: 'To find out that Tracey couldn't have children was gutting to me... Despite my age I wasn't worried about giving birth at all. All of my focus has been about doing this special thing for my daughter'

Mr Smith (with his mother-in-law, who was eight months pregnant in this picture) and his wife considered using a surrogate through an agency but were concerned about UK laws which mean the surrogate and her husband automatically become the legal parents of the baby

How does surrogacy work and what are the laws in the UK? Surrogacy is when a woman carries a baby for a couple who are unable to conceive or carry a child themselves. Such couples may include those who have suffered recurrent miscarriages, repeated IVF failures, premature menopause or a hysterectomy. The risks of being a surrogate mother are the same as for every pregnancy, and include nausea, heart burn and back ache. In extreme cases, surrogates can suffer high blood pressure or gestational diabetes. Straight surrogacy This involves using the surrogate's egg and the intended father's sperm. It is the least expensive and simplest form of the procedure. Host surrogacy Host surrogacy requires IVF with either the intended mother's eggs or donor eggs rather than those of the surrogate. In this case, the surrogate is genetically unrelated to the baby. Donor eggs can be from friends or relatives, or anonymously donated. What are the laws? Surrogacy is legal in the UK, however, it cannot be advertised. No third parties are allowed to be involved and surrogates can only receive payments to cover expenses incurred as a result of being pregnant. In the US, surrogacy costs around $100,000 (75,879), with laws varying between states. Source: Surrogacy UK Advertisement

'Straight after my diagnosis mum made an offer to do what she could to help. I knew that she meant one day she'd carry my child for me.

'Over the years she mentioned it in passing but we never really made a firm plan.

'It was only after I met Adam and we got engaged in 2016 that he broached the subject of children.'

The couple considered using a surrogacy agency but were apprehensive because of the UK's 'outdated' laws.

'The law in this country gives the surrogate  and her husband if she has one  all parental rights from birth and that felt like a huge risk,' Mrs Smith said.

Instead, she turned to her mother and asked if she had been serious when she offered to help all those years ago.

She said: 'I remembered mum's promise to me.

'So the next time we met up I asked her if she'd been serious about carrying our baby.

'I was delighted when she replied: "Of course I was". She had just been waiting for me to ask.'

Mrs Smith's father, Robert Miles, 61, offered his support, too, and made sure it was put in writing through a solicitor that they would happily give parental rights to Mr and Mrs Smith once the baby was born.

Then his wife lost six stone and took hormone tablets to prepare her body for the pregnancy.

The IVF process involved taking an egg from Mrs Smith's still-functioning ovaries and fertilising it in a laboratory  so it could be placed into Mrs Miles's womb to grow.

Against the odds, it was successful at the first attempt.

And, on January 16 this year, Evie Sian Emma Smith was born at 7lbs 7oz by caesarean section.

Mrs Smith said: 'Adam and I were allowed to both stay by mum's side as Evie came into the world.

'It was such an incredible emotional moment. I was so nervous that everything would go well for mum and for the safe arrival of our baby.

'Adam saw Evie come into the world because of a reflection on the lamps in surgery and I just waited to hear that cry and burst into happy tears.'

Now the couple are going through the legal process of formally adopting Evie.

Mrs Smith said: 'Adam saw Evie come into the world because of a reflection on the lamps in surgery and I just waited to hear that cry and burst into happy tears'

Because of British law, Mrs Smith's parents are the legal parents of Evie, so the couple have to officially adopt their daughter
A mother-of-two has revealed how her 11-month-old baby girl's strange cough was a sign of deadly sepsis.

Louise Wood, 39, of Merseyside, called NHS 111 for advice about her daughter Clara's bizarre breathing on February 3.

She hadn't been too concerned about her long naps in the days before, considering Clara was recovering from a cold.

After answering a series of questions on the phone, Mrs Wood began to panic when the phone operator said paramedics were rushing to the house.

Within minutes, the youngster was taken to hospital where she was diagnosed with pneumonia and sepsis.

Mrs Wood and her husband, David, 39, waited in agony for a week as their youngest child battled against pneumonia and sepsis.

Louise Wood, of West Kirby, Merseyside, called NHS 111 for advice about her daughter Clara's bizarre breathing on February 3. Pictured with her husband, David

Clara was taken to hospital where she was diagnosed with pneumonia and sepsis

Now, after a full recovery, Clara has been christened and her parents are raising awareness of the symptoms of sepsis and pneumonia.

Communications manager Mrs Woods recalled: 'Her eyes were half open and she was making this weird coughing sound the paramedics later described as a "grunting" noise.

'She had been napping for a really long time and she had been quiet and subdued the day before but I had just put it all down to a bit of a cold that she had.

'I was in complete shock. You go from being at home one Sunday morning and next you find yourself in A&E.'

Mrs Woods was shocked when Clara was taken to nearby Arrowe Park Hospital in Birkenhead within minutes of calling NHS 111.

She said: 'On the phone they asked me a series of questions and then they said, "not to alarm you but we are going to send an ambulance".

'I was alarmed but equally thought "thank God I called". They arrived within about three minutes, which made me even more concerned in a way.

Mrs Woods, a communications manager, believed Clara's breathing and long naps were due to a cold. She rang the NHS 111 service just incase

After answering a series of questions on the phone, Mrs Wood began to panic when the phone operator said paramedics were rushing to the scene. Pictured, in hospital

A team of was waiting for the baby when she arrived at A&E, Mrs Woods said. Pictured, with her father in hospital

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF PNEUMONIA? The symptoms vary depending on the age of the child and also the precise cause of the infection. In general, the key symptoms for children are a temperature over 38.5C and rapid breathing, or difficulty in breathing. Other common symptoms include: Cough

Laboured breathing that makes the muscles under a childs rib cage draw inwards

Vomiting

Chest pain

Abdominal pain

Decreased activity

Loss of appetite (older children) or poor feeding (infants)

In extreme cases, bluish or grey lips and fingernails Advertisement

'When we got to A&E there was a team of doctors waiting for her and we went straight to resus.

'They put cannulas in to give her fluids, and Clara was put on oxygen because her saturation levels were so low.'

A head consultant arrived around five minutes later and confirmed it was pneumonia and sepsis, which was when the parents really started to panic.

Mrs Woods said: 'That's when the head consultant had some pretty frank words with us about her condition because babies' conditions with these things can change very rapidly.

'We had to wait to see if the treatment they were giving her was going to work.'

Luckily, Clara managed to make a full recovery within a week to the relief of her parents and her big sister Evelyn, four.

Despite vaccinations being available, there are still around 700 reported cases of pneumonia in the under-fives in the UK every year.

The disease claims the lives of around 40 children in England and Wales each year, and around 880,000 children in the US.

At least 46,000 people die every year in the UK as a result of sepsis, which is when the body reacts to an infection by attacking its own organs and tissues.

In the US, more than 75,000 children develop severe sepsis each year - amost 7,000 of these children die.

Clara was put on oxygen straight away and given cannulas for fluids. A head doctor later confirmed that Clara had pneumonia and sepsis and her condition could rapidly decline

The family, including older sister Evelyn, four, waited in agony while Clara recovered in hospital for a week

Mrs Woods, pictured with Clara in hospital during her recovery, said: 'I was alarmed but equally thought "thank God I called"'

Mrs Woods said: 'It was only the week afterwards that I had a major cry about it all and it properly hit me that it could have been a very different story.

'No-one wants to hear a doctor tell you "it's a good job you called when you did" because you realise then how serious it can be, but it just goes to show how important it is to call and ask for advice.'

By the following Sunday, the family were celebrating their Clara's christening and how far she had come since her near death experience.

Since Clara's life-saving treatment, Mrs Woods has written to the chief executive of Arrowe Park Hospital in Birkenhead and even met up with the staff that saved her daughter's life.

The family celebrated at Clara's christening a few days after she could go home

Mrs Woods, pictured at home with her family, said: 'No-one wants to hear a doctor tell you "it's a good job you called when you did" because you realise then how serious it can be'

She said: 'Clara's christening service was quite emotional because I had told our vicar about what was happening while we were in hospital.

'He told us that they had all been praying for us which was really lovely and reassuring to know.

'When I met the nurses and doctors who saved Clara it was amazing but it was very emotional.

'I wanted it to be more than just a letter of thanks or some flowers and I think it meant a lot to them to see the happy ending to the story because for them I suppose they are just doing their jobs, but they have done so much more than that for us.'
Scandinavia often tops polls as the happiest place on Earth, with locals enjoying a good work-life balance, generous maternity pay and glorious landscapes.

But a new study found Catalans scored highest on an internationally-recognised mental-wellbeing test.

Researchers warn methods that rate Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden as the most cheerful are too simplistic.

The team, from the universities of Southern Denmark and Warwick, admitted it is unclear why residents of Catalonia in northeast Spain are so content.

Catalans score higher on a mental-wellbeing test than Danes, research suggests (stock)

The study was led by Dr Vibeke Koushede, a midwife and senior researcher in the USD's department of health and social context.

World Happiness Reports have consistently ranked Scandinavians as the most content people on Earth since 2012, The Conversation reported. Finland has been top for the last two years.

Denmark also came out on top in the European Social Survey, followed by its fellow Nordic nation Iceland.

High levels of happiness in these countries is thought to come from their generous incomes, long life expectancies and government support services.

POLITICAL UNREST IN CATALONIA Catalonia's newfound status as being happier than Denmark may be met by surprise given its recent political unrest. The northeast region of Spain captured global attention in 2017 when its drive for independence was met with a ban on such a referendum. Catalonia's pro-independence leaders issued a referendum on October 1, which was declared illegal by Spain's constitutional court. Spain's national police were photographed beating voters, with politicians even being jailed. Catalonia - which boosts Barcelona as its regional capital - is one of Spain's wealthiest regions. Before the Spanish Civil War it had broad autonomy, which was then suppressed by the military dictator General Francisco Franco. When Franco died in 1975, the region was granted autonomy again. A 2006 statute then granted even greater powers, with Catalonia being described as a 'nation'. But the 2008 global financial crisis, alongside cuts to public spending in Spain, created local resentment. Many Catalans still feel the Spanish Government takes more in taxes than it gives back. The separatist majority in the Catalan parliament declared independence on October 27 2017. Madrid then dissolved parliament, sacked its leaders and called a snap election for December 21. The Citizens (Ciudadanos) party, or Cs, got the biggest share of the votes, meaning Catalonia had to remain united with Spain. In order for Catalonia to become independent in the future, it must first perform the tricky task of forming a coalition government. This would affect Spain greatly, with Barcelona being a strong source of tourism and the headquarter for many businesses. Source: BBC Advertisement

These nations are also said to have a strong community spirit, alongside attractive job security and positive working environments.

To test how happy the Danes really are, the researchers analysed the scores of 3,508 residents who completed The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale survey.

The participants - aged between 16 and 95 - self-reported how many times they felt 'loved', 'useful' or 'cheerful' on a scale of one-to-five in the past two weeks.

They also completed tests that measured stress, coping strategies, depression, anxiety and pain.

Their scores were then compared against similar data from people in England, Iceland and Catalonia.

Results revealed that despite Denmark often being hailed as a utopia, Catalans actually scored higher on the wellbeing scale.

Denmark came in second place, followed by Iceland and finally England.

Across all the nations analysed, men reported being slightly happier than women.

Mental wellbeing also rose with age in all the regions but Catalonia.

While Scandinavia often comes out on top in global happiness studies, the scientists behind the latest research worry these do not factor in the struggles experienced by the nations' minorities.

World Happiness Reports also tend to use Cantrils ladder of life to measure happiness, which asks people to rate their life on a scale of the 'worst possible' to 'best possible'.

Critics argue this can be heavily influenced by the state of the economy and is a poor proxy for wellbeing.

People who live in Nordic countries may also have a high level of eudaimonic happiness - the theory we are more content if our life has purpose and challenges.

However, hedonic wellbeing - the notion that increased pleasure and reduced pain leads to happiness - may be less consistent across Scandinavians, the researchers claim.

It is unclear why Catalonia came out on top, however, the researchers note it is 'quite distinct' from the rest of Spain, with 'considerable differences in ethnicity, cultural values and economic conditions'.

They add further multi-country studies on happiness are required to inform international mental-health policies.
ASSISI - King Abdullah II of Jordan, who received the Lamp of Peace prize in Assisi on Friday, said during his acceptance speech that protecting Jerusalem is "imperative in this moment".



"My task as Hashemite Sovereign and Custodian of the Holy Sites of Islam and Christianity in Jerusalem is to keep watch over the security and the future of the holy city," he said.



He said Jordan is working "to support the recovery of sacred Muslim and Christian sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Love and respect link millions of Muslims and Christians around the world to the holy city. Jerusalem must remain the city of peace and union among faiths," he said. King Abdullah also recalled Jordan's efforts regarding "a definitive solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.



"We hope for a sovereign, independent and autonomous Palestinian state, within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as capital, and where the security of Israel is also guaranteed, as an integral part of the region, recognised by Arab countries and Muslims worldwide," he said.
A woman with giant tumours on her legs and hips that stop her walking fears the masses will never stop growing.

Karina Rodini, 28, of Sao Paolo, Brazil, was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type one (NF1) when she was two years old.

But it wasn't until her teenage years that the rare condition truly took hold - and bullies at school noticed, too.

Now, with tumours that weigh 88.8lbs (40kg), Miss Rodini is unable to work and said she has become ostracised where she lives.



Doctors haven't managed to get the debilitating masses under control, leading Miss Rodini to seek costly medical help in India.

Karina Rodini, 28, from Sao Paolo, Brazil, was diagnosed with rare disease neurofibromatosis type one which has given her tumours weighing 40kg (88.8lbs) on her legs

Miss Rodini, who cannot walk, work or date, fears the masses will never stop growing

Miss Rodini, pictured as a child, was diagnosed with the condition when she was two

Miss Rodini said: 'My fear is that the disease never stops growing, and it will reach a point when I wouldn't know what to do.

'My left side, it is completely affected.' She claimed the condition affects her vision, and she struggles to see out of her left eye.

Miss Rodini has undergone seven surgeries and procedures in order to remove the tumours, but they keep growing back bigger each time.

Only around a kilogram of flesh can be removed in each procedure because she loses so much blood.

Following surgery in a public hospital in October last year, Miss Rodini says her legs have doubled in size.

She cannot find clothes to fit her and struggles to sleep because she is so uncomfortable. She also deals with severe scoliosis, where the spine curves.

Neurofibromatosis is a genetic condition which causes tumours to grow along someone's nerves.

Symptoms of NF1 can vary in severity, usually appearing in childhood. In most cases it the skin gets patches of colour, freckles and soft tumours.

Miss Rodini's condition began as dark moles on her skin as a child, she claims, but evolved in her adolescence.

She said: 'And it went on growing, growing, growing and growing.

Neurofibromatosis is a genetic condition which causes tumours to grow along someone's nerves. It most often starts as skin patches of coloured skin in childhood

Although Miss Rodini was diagnosed as a two-year-old, it it wasn't until her teen years, around age 14, that the condition truly took hold

NF1 can be unpredictable, causing anxiety for the people who have it, like MIss Rodini

'I need surgeries to remove as much [of the tumours] as I can and as soon as possible so it doesn't spread out more throughout the body.'

Miss Rodini said she has experienced a lot of bullying throughout her life because of her disease and her love life has come to a standstill.

She said: 'I learned how to deal with prejudice. Before I used to suffer more. Now I deal with it better. Prejudice is always going to exist.

'From various people, with various problems, you know. It can be with mine, with a person who has darker skin or a disabled person.'

Miss Rodini is also unable to work. She said: 'I started working at 16 years old and worked since then.

'But because of many visits to doctors, surgeries, and exams, I was fired from my previous job.

'Now, nobody wants to give me a job just because of the way I look. Everywhere I go people stare at me.'

Many people with NF end up with problems such as anxiety due to the uncertainty of their condition.

Miss Rodini said: 'It can grow in other parts of the body  internally and externally. So it is a surprise box.

'We never know what is going to happen with neurofibromatosis.'

Miss Rodini's mother, Fatima Mohamad Abou Ali, said that when Miss Rodini's disease progressed at that time their family was not aware of how bad it would become

Miss Rodini is barely able to leave her home. Pictured, with her mother and niece

According to the NHS, there is currently no cure for NF. Treatment involves surgery, medication, physiotherapy, psychological support and pain management.

Miss Rodini said that in Brazil there are not many doctors specialising in NF, therefore, she hopes to get treatment abroad.

Miss Rodini has found a hospital in India which is willing to try and tackle the entire of her growths.

Miss Rodini's family set up a GoFundMe page in hopes to raise funds for treatment that could change Miss Rodini's life.

Her mother, Fatima Mohamad Abou Ali, said that when Miss Rodini's condition progressed at that time their family was not aware of how bad it would become.

Ms Mohamad Abou Ali said: 'We didn't know what was it.

'The doctors didn't know how to explain it well, so I thought it was like moles that could fade.

'We saw that her moles were getting bigger and then we thought we had to get more information, to do research, to see what could be done.'

Ms Mohamad Abou Ali said that despite everything, her daughter has an optimistic outlook on life.

Miss Rodini also has severe scoliosis, where the spine curves, due to her condition

Ms Mohamad Abou Ali said she thought her daughters moles - the first signs of her condition - would fade as she grew up

She added: 'Karina is a very active girl, she enjoys life, she enjoys putting on make-up, going out, she likes playing with children.'

Miss Rodini said: 'In this last year when the disease has affected me more, I felt shy of exposing myself, of taking pictures, of being recorded.

'But now I try to overcome my insecurities.

'I try to expose myself more, especially because there are many people who have the same disease who have reached out to me.'

Miss Rodini believes that talking publicly about her disease she can help others who suffer from similar conditions and show them that despite the disease, people can still lead a normal life.

Miss Rodini said: 'You have to show yourself, you have to talk about the disease, you don't need to be embarrassed.

'You don't have to stay at home hiding and being depressed because you have a disease, you don't have to think there is no solution, because there is.'
Drug wholesalers should be banned from selling medicines to countries in the EU if there is a no-deal Brexit, an industry body has warned.

Firms may be able to make money by selling in the Eurozone with a weak pound, experts fear, leaving fewer meds for the NHS.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has called for a temporary ban on drug exports if Britain crashes out the bloc without a deal.

There are already concerns the health service could suffer shortages if international supplies are interrupted after Brexit  companies have been urged to build up at least a six-week stockpile of vital medicines.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry wants there to be rules imposed on pharmaceutical companies if there is a no-deal Bexit, to try and prevent them from selling cheap drugs to higher bidders in Europe instead of the NHS (stock image)

If the value of the pound drops after Brexit, pharmaceutical firms could make more money selling to Europe.

For example, companies would be keener to sell something for 1 when the Euro converts back to 1.10 than when it is only equal to 90p.

The ABPI said the Government must take more action to stop this from happening and companies choosing to sell abroad rather than to the NHS, the BBC reports.

In Greece during its financial crisis in 2013, the government put a temporary ban on exporting drugs intended for the country's own health service.

Medicine firms had tried to sell drugs intended for Greek people to higher bidders in other countries, but were stopped by the government.

And the ABPI is calling for a similar system in the UK, if no Brexit deal is agreed.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SETS UP BREXIT CRISIS HOTLINE FOR NHS The Department of Health has set up a 24/7 call centre for NHS suppliers to phone if they experience supply problems in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The call centre would 'record concerns' and make sure the right organisations are told about supply shortages. The Health Service Journal revealed the plans for the phone line after seeing a letter from a senior member of the Department of Health. Solutions to supply problems could include routing suppliers through a special shipping route set up with the help of DHL to protect medical supplies. The letter said suppliers have also been asked to have 'effective procedures for monitoring and managing demand to detect and challenge excessive ordering, and control stock despatches'. Advertisement

It wants the activity of wholesalers, which buy drugs at low prices from manufacturers and sell them to health service providers, to be regulated.

These companies can, in effect, sell drugs to whoever they like but many of them will be produced under the assumption they will be sold to the NHS.

The progress of Britain leaving the EU is unclear and Parliament is due to vote today, for the third time, on a withdrawal deal drawn up by Theresa May.

The nation was supposed to leave the bloc today, March 29, but Parliament has failed to organise the process.

A hospital chief executive warned in January that the NHS could quickly run out of vital medicines if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal.

Dr David Rosser, who runs the University Hospitals Birmingham trust, one of the biggest in the UK, warned a no-deal Brexit could trigger 'unprecedented' problems.

He said hospital trusts could quickly run out of 'vital' medicines despite attempts to stockpile and there could be 'severe and widespread risks to patient safety'.

Dr Rosser also warned more staff may leave the country if the atmosphere becomes more hostile in the country and the pound becomes less valuable.

In a memo to the UHB's board of directors he said: 'In terms of the potential for major operational impact and severe and widespread risks to patient safety, by far the greatest concern is the availability of medicines, devices and clinical supplies.'
A five-year-old boy who won the nation's heart in his battle against a rare cancer has found a stem cell match after a record-breaking 10,000 donors came forward.

Oscar Saxelby-Lee, of St John's, Worcester, was diagnosed with the aggressive blood cancer acute lymphoblastic leukaemia on December 28 last year after his parents noticed unusual bruising on his legs.

With just months to find a match, his parents Olivia Saxelby, 23, and Jamie Lee, 26, desperately launched an appeal that led to the public queuing for hours in the rain to get tested.

Miss Saxelby confirmed on her son's Facebook page today that three people proved to be a match for the youngster, which dramatically increases his chances of surviving.

Oscar - nicknamed Bear by his parents - is undergoing chemotherapy at Birmingham Children's Hospital while he awaits an imminent stem cell transplant.

Oscar Saxelby-Lee - who won the nation's heart in his battle against a rare cancer - has found a stem cell match after a record-breaking 10,000 donors came forward. The youngster is pictured at Birmingham Children's Hospital, where he is having chemotherapy

Pictured are some of the 4,855 people who queued for hours in the rain to get tested after Oscar's headteacher held an open day at Pitmaston Primary School, Worcester. Three of the 10,000 who were tested overall turned out be a match, raising the chance Oscar will live

Oscar's parents Olivia and Jamie (pictured celebrating their son's fifth birthday last month in hospital) announced on Facebook today they have 'the best news! Oscar has a match!!!'

Writing on the Hand in Hand for Oscar Facebook page, Miss Saxelby said: 'We have the best news to share! Oscar has a match!!!!

'Absolutely thrilled to announce Oscar has finally got a stem cell match, not just one but three and will be undergoing transplant very soon!!

'What an emotional rollercoaster it's literally been a journey of heartache and dread continuously, but..WOW!!!

'What a feeling of relief and positivity to help Oscar kick cancer's butt!!

'It's been so so traumatic but we are over the moon with being given a chance to tackle the next step in treatment.'

She then proceeded to express her gratitude to those who have supported her family.

WHAT IS ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKAEMIA? Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a type of blood cancer that starts from young white blood cells in the bone marrow. There are around 810 new cases in the UK every year. In the US, ALL affects approximately 1.7 adults per 100,000. Anyone can develop ALL, however, it mainly affects younger people. Many ALL symptoms are vague and flu-like, such as: General weakness

Fatigue

Fever

Frequent infections

Bruising or bleeding easily, including nosebleeds, heavy periods and blood in the urine or faeces

Unexplained weight loss

Bone or joint pain

Breathlessness

Swollen lymph nodes

Feeling full

Paler skin than normal Risks for developing ALL include exposure to radiation, smoking, being overweight and having a weak immune system. Research suggests being breastfed and exposed to childhood infections may reduce a person's risk. The main ALL treatment is chemotherapy. Patients may also have radiotherapy, steroids or bone marrow transplants. Source: Cancer Research UK Advertisement

'Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts to all of you out there who have registered, supported and continued to spread the word for our beautiful boy and those in need of wonderous bone marrow cells,' Miss Saxelby wrote.

'We could never have done this without you all!!'

Mr Lee added: 'I cannot tell you how ecstatic I am.

'I don't think any news has ever made us so happy in our entire lives.

'We know this is the beginning of yet another tough journey but we will beat this together and get him home where he belongs, living the life he absolutely deserves.

'Bear we are all behind you my darling.'

A record-breaking 4,855 people queued for hours in the rain to get tested after Oscar's headteacher Sarah Keating held an open day at Pitmaston Primary School in Worcester.

Would-be donors came from as far afield as Wales, Shropshire and Bath.

Later, around 1,000 people went to the Guildhall in Worcester to be tested.

And hundreds more turned up at the city's university.

DKMS, the charity that tested the swabs, claims its previous record for the number taking part in a single registration event is 2,200 people.

A series of other events saw more than 10,000 people volunteer to get tested.

Last week, Oscar's parents had more good news when doctors confirmed the chemotherapy was reducing his cancer cells.

This is after the youngster was forced to endure a fourth round of the treatment when the first three cycles had no effect.

Oscar - pictured before he became ill - was diagnosed with leukaemia on December 28 after his parents noticed bruising on his legs. He was also unusually exhausted over Christmas

The youngster - pictured in hospital with his parents - was forced to endure four rounds of chemotherapy after the first three cycles had no effect. His cancerous cells are now reducing, putting Oscar in a better position to receive a stem-cell transplant

Oscar's parents - who are childhood sweethearts - had just finished decorating their new house when their son was given the devastating diagnosis.

Miss Saxelby noticed her usually energetic son was lethargic and lost his appetite.

'Normally, he'd be running round, causing havoc, being a little monkey,' she said.

'But all he wanted to do was rest on the sofa.

'When he opened his presents at Christmas, he was really happy.

'But he just lay on the sofa all afternoon and didn't want dinner.

'He played a foam dart game with his uncle, but when a sponge arrow hit him in the face, a huge bruise came up immediately.'

Miss Saxelby's mother, Sarah, an NHS clinical commissioner, and sister, Jocelyn, 21, a medical student, feared Oscar may be anaemic and advised she consult his GP immediately.

A Google search of his symptoms made Miss Saxelby - who was three months into an undergraduate degree at the University of Worcester at the time - nervous he may have leukeumia, however, the GP reassured her it was highly unlikely.

But results of the blood tests later that day revealed the former teaching assistant's worse fear was a reality.

Oscar was immediately rushed to hospital, where he underwent a blood transfusion.

He later started chemotherapy, which caused him to lose his hair and mobility in his legs, leaving the youngster dependent on a walking frame.

Oscar's depleted immune system also meant he had to be kept in isolation after he caught flu from another patient.
A mother has called her five children miracles after doctors told her it was unlikely she would ever conceive.

Cheryl Dodd, 37, of Shropshire, was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome when she was 19.

The condition can leave woman struggling to become pregnant due to cysts on their ovaries and an imbalance of hormones.

Doctors prescribed medication to stimulate Ms Dodd's eggs, however, it did not work, leaving her considering adoption with her ex-husband Neil Sutton.

Two years later, at 21, the shop assistant took a pregnancy test as moral support for a friend, and was shocked to see a positive result.

Ms Dodd, who is now single, went on to have a healthy brood over the next 15 years without any medical assistance.

A mother has described her five children as 'miracles' after doctors told her it was unlikely she would ever conceive. She is pictured in the centre with her children (left-to-right) Ellie-Jayne Dodd-Sutton, 13, Elizabeth-Ann Hopkins, two, Annabelle Dodd-Sutton, nine, Harry Dodd-Sutton, 14 and Freddie Hopkins, four

Ms Dodd, 37, was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome when she was 19 years old, leaving her devastated at the prospect of not having children

The single mother had been considering adoption before her first pregnancy. She is pictured, with her children at their home in Telford, Shropshire

Ms Dodd, from Telford, Shropshire, is mother to Harry Dodd-Sutton, 14, Ellie-Jayne Dodd Sutton, 13, Annabelle Dodd-Sutton, nine, Freddie Hopkins, four, and Elizabeth-Ann Hopkins, two.

'When doctors told me I couldn't have kids I was devastated - I always assumed I'd be a mum,' she said.

WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS FOR POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME? Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) affects between eight and 12 percent of American women. The condition is marked by chronic ovarian cysts, which are fluid-filled sacs that can form if a follicle fails to deposit an egg. While any woman can get ovarian cysts, those with PCOS also have elevated levels of the male hormone, androgen. Scientists do not know what causes this endocrine abnormality, but it often coincides with obesity and insulin resistance. Yet, like many aspects of PCOS, obesity contribute to the development of PCOS, or the relationship may go in the opposite direction, such that PCOS causes weight gain. Advertisement

'I was told it would be very unlikely for me to have children naturally and despite having the IVF option, it was still very unlikely.'

Woman with PCOS often have cysts on their fallopian tubes that contain immature eggs.

The hormonal imbalance of PCOS interferes with their periods, as well as the growth and release of eggs from the ovaries.

With treatment, most women with PCOS are able to get pregnant.

The condition affects around ten per cent of women in the UK and 12 per cent in the US.

Ms Dodd was diganosed after having internal scans at a fertility clinic at 19.

She had experienced no symptoms of PCOS beforehand but had been struggling to conceive with her now ex-husband.

Doctors told her she would never be able to conceive naturally and was prescribed Clomid for a few months.

The drug encourages the monthly release of an egg in women who do not ovulate regularly, but it did not work for Ms Dodd.

At the age of 21, Ms Dodd was shocked to discover she and her now ex-husband, Neil, were pregnant with their first child, Harry, who is pictured as a baby

Ms Dodd went on to have Ellie-Jayne, left, the following year and Annabelle, right, in 2009 without any further issues - although she had two miscarriages in 2008

Speaking of hearing she would unlikely have children, Ms Dodd said: 'It was such a shock as I'd always thought I'd be fertile, just like my sister Freda.

'Eventually I thought "there are so many children in the world without parents who desperately need a loving, caring home" and decided I was going to adopt or foster one.

'So I was stunned to discover I was pregnant with Harry completely naturally.'

At 21, after two years of trying for a baby, Ms Dodd became pregnant.

She had only taken a pregnancy test to provide moral support for her friend who thought she might be expecting, and was stunned to see the results.

Ms Dodd went on to have Ellie-Jayne the following year and Annabelle in 2009 without any issues.

After getting together with her new partner Gareth in 2012, Ms Dodd then became pregnant again with her son Freddie, now four, and daughter Elizabeth-Ann, two.

After getting together with her new partner Gareth in 2012, Ms Dodd became pregnant again with her son Freddie, now four, who is pictured as a baby

Miss Dodd said she did nothing special in order to conceive and continued her life as usual, eventually falling pregnant for the fifth time with baby Elizabeth-Ann (right), now two

The mother, who has been single since last year, has set up her own blog to encourage other parents who are struggling to conceive to keep trying

s Dodd thought she would never have children but has been able to watch her's thrive

Ms Dodd claims she did nothing special in order to conceive and continued her life as usual.

It was not all plain sailing, however, as she did suffer two miscarriages in 2008.

The mother, who has been single since last year, has set up a blog to encourage other parents who are struggling to conceive.

'I always assumed I'd be a mum but I never thought I'd have a big family - I had never pictured myself as a mum-of-five,' she said.

'But now my family is complete and all my children are thriving.

'Harry is driven, he loves science and I'm sure he will change the world one day. Ellie is an artist, she is fantastic at writing and she wants to be an author.

'Annabelle is the performer, she is innocent, she sees hearts and rainbows everywhere. Freddie has the most vivid imagination and Bethy is our princess, she is spoiled by everyone.

'I love being a mum-of-five and wouldn't change it for anything in the world.'
At the height of his powers, tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch was celebrated as one of the most brilliant businessmen this country had ever seen, frequently described as Britain's answer to Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

The son of a nurse and a fireman from Essex, he rose from a modest background to the pinnacle of riches and acclaim, thanks to his abilities as a scientist and entrepreneur.

Now, in a dramatic showdown with Meg Whitman, one of the foremost female executives in the US, he is accused of being a fraudster on an epic scale  allegations he vehemently denies, claiming he is the victim of a cynical campaign to trash his reputation.

Meg Whitman Age: 62 Current role: Chief executive, Quibi. Career: Whitman is best-known for taking auction website eBbay from little over 4million in sales to more than 6billion in just a decade. She served as boss of HP from 2011 to 2015 and ran HPE until 2018. Wealth: Estimated at 2.7billion. She reportedly bought a two-bedroom apartment in Sierra Towers, Hollywood, for 4.9m and owns a 3.6m mountain ski home and 13.6m ranch in Colorado. Family: Married mother-of-two.

Mike Lynch Age: 53 Current role: Founder, Invoke Capital Career: Founded Autonomy in 1996, as a spin-off from fingerprint analysis firm Cambridge Neurodynamics. It was sold to Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in 2011 for 8.5bn. Awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to enterprise. Wealth: Estimated at 470m. Lives in 6million Georgian manor house set in 70 acres of East Anglia, where he keeps rare breeds of cows and pigs. Family: Married father-of-two.

In a vicious High Court battle  the biggest fraud trial in English legal history  he is pitted against the might of US giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), of which Whitman is a former chief executive, which is suing him and his former finance chief, Sushovan Hussain, for 3.8billion damages.

Lynch is counter-suing for sums likely to run into hundreds of millions of pounds for payments he says he missed out on and investments he claims were lost as a result of HPE's accusations.

It is a galling turn of events for Lynch, who also faces extradition to the US on fraud charges and a long prison term if found guilty.

Until he became embroiled in the confrontation with HPE, his career had seemed an unalloyed success.

After reading natural sciences at Christ's College, Cambridge, he founded Autonomy armed with little more than a clever observation about equations formulated in the 18th century by Thomas Bayes, an obscure Presbyterian clergyman.

The insight that Bayesian techniques could be used to sift masses of computerised data fuelled the growth of Autonomy, which was one of the most successful tech businesses ever on the London Stock Exchange before it was sold to HPE in 2011 for 8.5billion.

Just a year after the ink had dried on the deal, HPE claimed it had been sold a pup.

It wrote down the value of Autonomy by $8.8billion, claiming that $5.5billion of it was due to fraud, and that Lynch and Hussain had engaged in large-scale false accounting to inflate the company's revenues. Lynch and Hussain, 54, deny wrongdoing.

For his part, Lynch accuses HPE of running a systematic campaign to trash his reputation and to make him the scapegoat for its own poor management decisions.

He argues many of the so-called 'irregularities' HPE says it found in fact boil down to differences of opinion over accounting rules, and that all were signed off by the auditors, Deloitte.

After the sale, he ploughed a chunk of the 600million he made from the deal into setting up Invoke Capital, which invests in new technology businesses.

He claims the damage HPE has caused his reputation led to some investors shunning Invoke.

His lawyers argue it led to the loss of a $400million investment that was being considered by US private equity firm Warburg Pincus, along with $550million from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

Experts hired by Lynch also claim he has personally made up to $130million less from Invoke than he would have done if HPE had not attacked him.

On the other side, Laurence Rabinowitz QC, for HPE, told the court this week that: 'Contrary to what has been said by Dr Lynch, this is not a dispute about accounting standards. It is, pure and simple, a fraud.'

The stakes could not be higher. On the eve of the High Court trial, a string of charges were laid against Lynch in the US, including claims he destroyed documents and paid employees 'hush money'.

These come on top of charges for fraud in the US in November last year, which led to him stepping down as a scientific adviser to Theresa May.

Lynch's supporters claim HPE belatedly realised it had paid too much for Autonomy and tried to back out of the deal, but was prevented from doing so by the UK Takeover Panel.

They argue HPE has selected him as a target as the Americans need a high-profile 'villain' to blame for their own bungling, as well as a rich individual with deep pockets who could be made to pay.

A proudly self-made entrepreneur, Lynch certainly fits the latter description.

The fruits of his enterprise have brought lavish rewards, including a 6million Georgian manor house set in 70 acres of countryside where he keeps rare breeds of cattle and pigs.

The mansion in Suffolk has a swimming pool, four cottages and a lodge. His other homes include a five-storey townhouse in Chelsea worth more than 20million and, reportedly, a super-yacht.

Key to his defence is that, as the founder of a successful company with cash reserves of 500million, it makes no sense that he would feel the need to turn to fraud.

Nor, his defenders say, would he have agreed to take on an executive role at HPE after the sale if he really had committed a huge accounting fiddle with the US firm as his victim.

What is undeniable is that he had a great deal to lose. It is not just money, but his personal standing that is at risk.

Mike Lynch's guilt or innocence is yet to be proven, but it is tremendously sad a man with such a brilliant mind, who could be devoting his talents to creating the next British tech giant, finds himself in court instead of the research lab.
The market can be fickle  particularly, it seems, when it comes to the sin stocks.

Take Imperial Brands. On Wednesday, nobody wanted to know, even after an upbeat trading statement. Yesterday, punters were happy to get involved.

The reason? A glowing broker circular from Citi in which it upgraded both Imperial (up 2.3 per cent, or 59p, at 2619p) and rival British American Tobacco (up 2 per cent, or 62p, at 3152p) to 'Buy' status.

Analyst Adam Spielman and his team reckon the regulatory dark clouds over the sector are starting to dissipate, as are worries over the debt these groups carry.

A glowing broker circular from Citi upgraded both Imperial Brands (up 2.3pc, or 59p, at 2619p) and rival British American Tobacco (up 2pc, or 62p, at 3152p) to 'Buy' status

More to the point, Citi is bullish on the prospects for 'next generation products', or NGPs. That's vape and tobacco heating products to you and me.

'The shares could still rise a long way because we think the environment will continue to look less threatening,' the American bank told its clients.

'We expect organic growth will pick up this year as NGP sales accelerate and we think the regulatory threat will probably move away from cigarettes.'

The FTSE 100 appeared to shrug off the Westminster pantomime to close 0.6 per cent, or 40.14 points higher, at 7234.33.

The big overseas earners led the charge as the pound receded against a basket of international currencies.

Stock Watch - Diurnal Group Investors in Diurnal Group caught a break yesterday after the pharma firm signed a marketing and distribution deal for its Alkindi treatment covering the Nordics. Shares in the firm, which specialises in hormonal diseases, were 2 each last March but had dropped to a low of 21.5p by January. They rose 2.1 per cent, or 0.5p, to 24p yesterday as the tie-up with Sweden's Anthrop Pharmaceuticals will allow it to sell the children's treatment in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

One of the major attractions of the Footsie currently is a prospective yield of 4.7 per cent, which is streets ahead of the most generous savings account.

This year top-flight companies are expected to pay out a record 92billion in regular dividend payments.

And, if 2019 follows the trend of last year, investors can then expect a little extra on top of that figure. For, in 2018, the UK's top companies handed back around 6billion in special dividends.

BHP (up 1.2 per cent, or 22.2p at 1818p) has kicked things off with a 79.5p a share distribution.

And while these 'specials' are, by their nature, one-offs, a number of blue-chips are gaining a reputation for passing on additional cash generated by the business.

Insurers Admiral (up 0.7 per cent, or 15p, at 2152p) and Direct Line (up 0.1 per cent, or 0.5p, at 352.9p) are on that list, as are builders Barratt (down 2.8 per cent, or 17.2p, at 593.6p), Taylor Wimpey (down 0.4 per cent, or 0.65p, at 178.15p) and Berkeley (down 0.8 per cent, or 29p, at 3759p).

But there was a warning from stocks guru Russ Mould, of the investment group AJ Bell. He said there was some scepticism over the 'durability' of cash returns made by the housebuilders, which are underpinned by the generous Government incentive scheme Help To Buy.

'It could also be the case that a special dividend is not designed to be a return of excess cash, which management does not immediately require, but an attempt to curry favour with disgruntled shareholders,' Mould said.

It wasn't the best of starts for Ferro-Alloy, Kazakhstan-focused vanadium producer, which made its London Stock Exchange debut yesterday.

Shares were placed at 70p each with investors, helping to raise 5.2million of new funds. They ended the day at 56.5p.

Delving into the small-caps, music download platform 7digital hit the right note with investors, rising 12.2 per cent, or 0.12p, to 1.15p after inking partnership agreements with connected device firm Access and copyright technology group Dubset.

And, finally, leak-detection firm Water Intelligence surged up 5 per cent, or 14p, to 295p after it 're-acquired' its franchise in Orlando, Florida  an area it is targeting for accelerated business growth.
Conservative peer Lord Barker will bag a bonus for his work in getting US sanctions lifted from Russian mining giant EN+.

Last April the US Treasury put sanctions on companies run by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, including EN+, claiming that thanks to his close ties to President Vladimir Putin he benefited from Russia's 'malign activity' across the world.

But the US lifted them in January after 51-year-old Deripaska agreed to give up control by radically reducing his stake.

Earner: Conservative peer Lord Barker helped Russian mining giant EN+ get US to sanctions lifted

Barker, who is executive chairman of EN+, is a former Tory MP who joined David Cameron on his infamous hug-a-huskie trip to the Arctic in 2006, told a commodities conference in Switzerland: 'I will get a bonus. It's relatively modest.'

The bonus amount will be revealed in En+ Group's annual accounts published later this year.

Barker, 53, took time out from his role in the House of Lords in February so that he could concentrate on his role at EN+.

In annual results released yesterday, En+ said its revenue rose 2.3 per cent to 9.5billion, while profits surged 33 per cent to 1.5billion.
Few probably give much thought to where chocolate comes from or what lengths workers had to go through in order to produce the cocoa needed to create the perfect slab or Easter egg.

But the truth is that many of our best-loved chocolate bars may have a dark side to their creation, with claims some companies source cocoa from farms employing young children in poor conditions with minimal wage and little care for their safety.

There have been strides made to combat the problem in recent years, but one company, Tony's Chocolonely, believes more needs to be done and after conquering its native Netherlands it has now launched in the UK. We spoke to its 'chief chocolate officer' Henk Jan Beltman to find out more.

Chocolate mission: Henk Jan Beltman is 'chief chocolate officer' at Tony's Chocolonely - which has conquered the Dutch market

Tony's Chocolonely, which launched its assortment of chocolate bars in Britain at the start of the year, wants to increase consumer awareness around child slavery in chocolate production.

It is also challenging the industry to embrace socially responsible principles to create 100 per cent slave free chocolate.

The business has an intriguing back story. It was created in 2005 when investigative journalist Teun Van der Keuken (Tony) identified that illegal child labour and modern slavery are still commonplace in cocoa farms in West Africa.

From this investigation, he decided to create the ethical chocolate brand.

This is Money attended Tony's Chocolonely's pop-up store in Soho, London, which is treating chocolate enthusiasts to a free tasting alongside an educational video on child slavery in cocoa producing countries like Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

Some stats from Tony's Chocolonely 2017/2018 annual fair report on forced labour in Africa and modern day slavery that also exploits and traffics children

Beltman explains: 'We're an impact company that makes chocolate. Chocolate is a means to the goal of a 100 per cent slave free industry. Currently, the value chain involves 2.1million children doing illegal work.

I'm a huge fan... Assistant editor Lee Boyce writes: I discovered Tony's Chocolonely earlier in the year at Whole Food's Market. I have tried most of the flavours - and not only is it good to buy ethical, but the taste is among the best I've had via a chocolate bar. I only really eat dark chocolate - and this is a proper chunky slab. It is a little on the pricey side, but I buy it, and make it last the week (if I can...)

'Illegal labour is a sliding slope - it includes anything from kids walking with chemicals in the fields, not having protective clothes while working, to wielding a machete and not going to school.

'Child trafficking is also a big problem and something has to be done. You cannot enjoy chocolate that way.'

Tony's Chocolonely points out that there many chocolate lovers in Britain and that manufacturers, in turn, make huge profits out of this enjoyment.

While the company doesn't begrudge the profits, it points out that children and adult workers in Africa and other parts of the world are being exploited in the process.

It means that adults as well as children are being forced to grow cocoa illegally and get paid minimal wages or nothing at all.

Beltman adds: 'We wanted to inspire existing chocolate makers to change their ways. When I joined Tony's in 2011 we realised we had to create a company that sets an example.'

Chocolate enthusiasts taste Tony's chocolate at the pop up store in Soho, London

Their efforts have so far paid off. According to Tony's, it is now the market leader in Holland.

Since launching in Britain, the chocolate is available in Selfridges, Whole Foods Market, Waitrose and has been introduced to Sainsbury's shelves this month.

Chocolate lovers can also get their Tony's Chocolonely fix by ordering from Ocado or from the website itself.

While the chocolates offer an extra 80g more than the average 100g slab the company does ask consumers to part with more cash.

The large 180g bars retail for 3.49 while it's smaller 47/50g bars will set you back 1.49 (scroll down for a comparison on how Tony's compares to other favourite chocolate brands).

The bars are available in a range of flavours in the UK including milk chocolate, milk chocolate caramel sea salt and dark milk chocolate pretzel toffee to name but a few (see more flavours below):

You can get your chocolate fix by trying a variety of flavours offered by Tony's Chocolonely

Beltman says the mission is to demonstrate to major players in the chocolate industry that business can be profitable while ensuring that the production line is 100 per cent slave free.

He says: 'Over the last seven years the business has grown 50 per cent year-on-year.'

But over the past year, Tony's has seen a slowdown. In its 2017/18 report, the company admits to growing by 22.5 per cent instead of the intended 50 per cent target.

Tony's Chocolonely says the long, hot Dutch summer was to blame and that international growth was 'not as fast as we wanted'.

It explains: 'Strictly speaking, that's why we bought too many beans last year, which will impact the volume of beans over the coming year.

'We'll take responsibility, of course, and will limit the impact on farmers and cooperatives.'

Tony's Chocolonely tries to create more awareness about how chocolate is made by educating consumers on where cocoa comes from

But Beltman seems undeterred by this shortfall: 'I believe if you inspire other companies by showing them that you can be commercially successful and scaleable, then they will take the matter seriously and change.

'It may sound pretty naive and arrogant but I fundamentally believe we can inspire other companies and take out illegal labour in the cocoa industry.

'So that's what we do and why we do it and we've been doing that for the last 14 years in Holland.

'We've just launched in the UK. We're a chocolate brand that want's to eradicate slavery and do it in a way that people start talking about it.'

Chocolate prices compared Chocolate Price Grams Tony's Chocolonely 3.49 180 Montezuma's Dark Chocolate Absolute Black 2.60 100 Galaxy Milk Chocolate Bar 3.60 390 Cadbury Dairy Milk No.1 Dad Bar 3.59 200 Cadbury Dairy Milk Giant Chocolate Easter Egg 8.00 515 This is Money compared the price of Tony's Chocolonely with a couple of other chocolate favourites online. Sources: Tony's Chocolonely, Waitrose & Partners, Cadbury Gifts Direct

But Beltman acknowledges that change won't happen overnight because in spite of the acronym FMCG (fast moving consumer goods)  the companies in this sector aren't always 'fast moving' when it comes to change.

Solutions to slavery aren't always easy to find. He explains: 'Just sending children off a cocoa field doesn't make sense as they then go and work in rubber.

But he's still optimistic. 'I believe within ten years, the industry will turn around and there won't be any more illegal labour.

'I am persistent about making that happen.'

There are plans afoot to expand the range to other stores and to introduce more flavours to the UK.

But when asked about potential mergers and acquisitions, Beltman denies there are any plans for an FMCG company to take over the business.

'We are quirky and we want to prove to other companies it can be done.

'Tony's open chain is for private label chocolate and other chocolatiers to help them get into slave free chocolate.

'The goal is definitively not to be taken over but we want them to use the principles that we do.'
American Airlines is suspending its services to Venezuela indefinitely as the oil-rich nations remains stuck in political turmoil and unrest.

The airline announced its decision Thursday and could resume services when conditions are appropriate.

On March 15, American Airlines announced is was canceling its two daily flights from Miami to the capital city of Caracas. It also stopped servicing the lone daily service from Miami to Maracaibo through April 1.

The airlines acted on concerns expressed by the pilots' union which told its members not to work the flights into the troubled South American nation due to worries about security.

'American Airlines has made the difficult decision to indefinitely suspend service to Venezuela,' said spokesperson Martha Pantin in an email to DailyMail.

She also said the airline was 'committed to working cooperatively with our team members, union leaders and other key stakeholders to re-establish service when the conditions are right and minimize the impact on our customers and team.'

The Forth Worth, Texas-based airline has served Venezuela for over 30 years.

American Airlines is suspending its services to Venezuela indefinitely as the oil-rich nations remains stuck in political turmoil and unrest

American Airlines was the last U.S. airline flying to Venezuela.

United and Delta Airlines shut down their routes from Miami in 2017.

The United States was the first nation to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president, heightening tension with the Nicolas Maduro regime.

Maduro broke his country's diplomatic relationship with Washington on January 23, and gave the diplomatic personnel a 72-hour order to leave his nation.

U.S. diplomats left the country this month.

American Airlines' decision comes a day after President Donald Trump to Russia it had to pull out of Venezuela.

The U.S. accused the Kremlin of adding to unrest in the Latin American county.

The U.S. has said that Russia's military escalation is 'unconstructive' to a peaceful resolution to violent clashes between dictator Maduro and opponents of his regime. And President Trump warned on Wednesday that the U.S. could reciprocate.

'They've got a lot of pressure right now. They have no money, they have no oil, they have no nothing. They've got plenty of pressure right now, so we'll see. They have no electricity. Other than military, you can't get any more pressure than they have,' he told reporters before reasserting that 'all options are open' when it comes to U.S. military involvement in the conflict.
Iran's Supreme Leader has ordered the increase of his uranium enrichment capacity to improve the country's nuclear capability 'in case it's needed'.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the move in a speech last night vowing to preserve the country's nuclear programme.

European powers have been scrambling to preserve a landmark nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic ever since US President Donald Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the treaty in May.

Iran has already told the UN nuclear watchdog it will boost its nuclear enrichment capacity within the limits set by the agreement with world powers.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured) has ordered the increase of his uranium enrichment capacity to improve the country's nuclear capability 'in case it's needed'

European powers have been scrambling to preserve a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic ever since US President Donald Trump (pictured) announced Washington's withdrawal from the treaty in May

'If conditions allow, maybe tomorrow night at Natanz (plant), we can announce the opening of the centre for production of new centrifuges,' said Vice-President Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, according to conservative news agency Fars.

'What we are doing does not violate the (2015 nuclear) agreement,' he said, specifying this was just the start of the production process and 'does not mean that we will start assembling the centrifuges'.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed it had received a letter from Iran, which Salehi said was submitted on Monday and outlined Tehran's plans.

The EU said Tuesday that a 'first assessment' indicated that Iran did not breach its commitments under the beleaguered 2015 nuclear deal.

Under the 2015 nuclear agreement that Iran signed with world powers, it has the right to build and test certain centrifuges, though detailed restrictions exist for the first 10 years on the types and quantities of the machines.

Salehi also emphasised that these moves 'do not mean the negotiations (with Europe) have failed.'

Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for Iran's nuclear agency, was quoted by state TV as saying a letter was submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) detailing the move.

He said: 'The leader [Khamenei] meant that we should accelerate some process ... linked to our nuclear work capacity to move forward faster in case needed.'

Israel's intelligence minister called for a military coalition against Iran if the Islamic Republic were to defy world powers by enriching military-grade uranium. Iranian Revolutionary Guards are pictured in a parade in Tehran

Iran has said it has the option of resuming industrial-scale enrichment now that the US has withdrawn from the deal.

The agreement set strict limits on Iran's uranium enrichment - a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons - in return for the lifting of US and international sanctions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted swiftly to Salehi's announcement, declaring that the Islamic republic's aim was 'unlimited enrichment of uranium to create an arsenal of nuclear bombs' to destroy his country.

On Sunday, Khamenei repeated the long-standing view from Iran that Israel is 'a malignant cancerous tumour in the West Asian region that has to be removed and eradicated'.

It comes as Israel's intelligence minister called for a military coalition against Iran if the Islamic Republic were to defy world powers by enriching military-grade uranium.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured left, with French president Emmanuel Macron) reacted swiftly to Salehi's announcement

Yisrael Katz spoke out after in Netanyahu began visiting European leaders to discuss Iran's regional involvement and nuclear programme, both seen by the Jewish state as grave threats.

Katz addressed Tehran's threat to restart uranium enrichment at an 'industrial level' if the 2015 pact falls apart.

'If the Iranians don't surrender now, and try to return' to unsupervised uranium enrichment, 'there should be a clear statement by the President of the United States and all of the Western coalition,' he said.

'The Arabs and Israel surely would be there too.'

The message should be that 'if the Iranians return' to enriching uranium that could enable them to build a nuclear bomb, 'a military coalition will be formed against them,' Katz told Israeli public radio station Kan.

Khamenei on Monday warned European leaders to drop their 'dream' of Tehran continuing to curb its nuclear programme despite renewed economic sanctions.

The Iran deal paved the way for the partial lifting of international sanctions against the country, in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme for several years.

Israel argues the lifting of sanctions under the nuclear deal allowed Iran to expand its presence in the Middle East, both through its own forces and with proxy groups.

It also says the time limits on the accord do not guarantee Iran will not eventually obtain nuclear weapons, while it also wants to see restrictions on Iranian missile development.

Iran denies the pursuit of an atomic programme for military purposes.

In his Monday meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Netanyahu warned that Iran was 'seeking nuclear weapons to carry out its genocidal designs.'

'It's important to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. We commit, and I commit again, that we will not let that happen,' he said.

Netanyahu met French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday and will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday.
Lamp of Peace awarded in Assisi to King of Jordan Abdullah II says Italy is friend and partner in peace efforts

(ANSAmed) - ASSISI, MARCH 29 - The Custos of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, Fr Mauro Gambetti, awarded the Lamp of Peace prize to King Abdullah II of Jordan on Friday "for his action and efforts aimed at promoting human rights, harmony between different faiths and welcoming refugees".



In his acceptance speech, King Abdullah thanked Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte.



"Italy is a great friend of Jordan, an important partner in peace efforts, above all in my region," he said.



He then greeted Chancellor Angela Merkel, who he called "my dear friend", and asked for a moment of silence for the victims at the mosque in Christchurch and for "all victims of hate".



Chancellor Merkel, who was awarded the Lamp of Peace last year, gave a speech at Friday's ceremony in which she said Jordan "didn't close its eyes" in the face of the "millions of people who fled war and violence" in Syria.



She said Jordan "responded to the cruelty of war with humanity, helping those who lost everything".



Jordan, a country with 10 million residents, "granted protection to more than 770,000 refugees from Syria, and those are only the official figures", Merkel said.



"It's as if Germany were to welcome five million, Italy four million: we Europeans are aware of it; this requires us to have maximum respect but also solidarity, and in the future we have to be ready to lend a hand to Jordan," she said.(ANSAmed).




British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has collapsed unconscious in her jail in Iran, her husband has revealed.

The charity worker, from Hampstead, north London, suffered a panic attack and passed out today and has been taken to the prison's hospital wing, according to husband Richard Ratcliffe.

It comes just days after the 40-year-old was reunited with her family, including her four-year-old daughter Gabriella, during a three-day temporary release. She applied for an extension, but it was denied and she returned to her cell.

British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has collapsed unconscious in her jail in Iran, her husband has revealed. Nazanin is pictured saying goodbye to her young daughter Gabriella as her temporary release from prison came to an end

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe (pictured with her daughter Gabriella), who is British-Iranian, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2016 after being accused of spying by Tehrans Islamist regime

But Mr Ratcliffe said his wife had been complaining of headaches and numbness inher right arm and had been suffering from low blood pressure.

She had been 'feeling down', he said, and his wife is now undergoing tests after she 'blacked out'.

'What I do know is that she had a panic attack yesterday in prison and she had another panic attack today, and today she also blacked out, so today she was taken down to the prison clinic and as far as I know that's where she is still.

I've seen reports saying she's been taken to an external hospital but I haven't had those confirmed.'

A local Iranian journalist said this morning: 'After an anxiety attack in the prison, (she was) transferred to hospital. According (to) her friends in the prison, she was not able to move her arms and legs and finally fainted.'

Just days ago, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe could be seen hugging little Gabriella, who burst into tears when she was told her mother was returning to prison.

According to CNN, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she was delighted to 'see normal life again' at the weekend but that she was losing her faith in a 'dark world'.

She said: 'This feels a dark world. I used to pray but these past two years I've lost much of my faith. Who would take a child from their mother?'

'I was so happy yesterday walking in the street seeing normal life again.'

Saying she had envied people in the street who were walking and holding their children's hands, she said: 'I just want a normal life'.

The charity worker, from Hampstead, north London , suffered two panic attacks yesterday and today and passed out, according to husband Richard Ratcliffe (pictured)

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is British-Iranian, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2016 after being accused of spying by Tehrans Islamist regime.

She has consistently denied all allegations, insisting she was on holiday to introduce Gabriella to family.

Gabriella has been staying with family since Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was detained at Imam Khomeini airport in April 2016.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was released from Evin prison in Tehran on Thursday morning after two years in jail and was with her family and daughter in nearby Damavand.

Husband Richard Ratcliffe said his wife was told by the Iranian authorities that she would have to return to the prison by sunset.

He said: 'After discussion with her family in Iran, Nazanin decided that she would go into prison. She did not want to be dragged out of the house in front of her baby, but would walk into prison with her head held high.'

Nazanin 'waited for Gabriella to wake up before saying goodbye, and left her family home to return to Evin prison', he said.

'She promised Gabriella that the next time she saw her it would be forever not just for a few days, for proper freedom, not just for furlough.

'And next time they will go back to London to be with daddy.'

Kate Allen, of Amnesty International UK, said: 'This is a crushing disappointment.

'There were real hopes that not only would her three-day furlough be extended, but that her permanent and unconditional release was also just around the corner.

'We shouldn't lose sight of what Nazanin has had to endure - nearly two-and-a-half years behind bars, eight gruelling months of solitary confinement without a lawyer, a deeply unfair trial, and also being subjected to a string of unfounded accusations from the Iranian authorities.

'Nazanin is a prisoner of conscience who should never have been jailed in the first place.

'Anything the UK Government can now do to speed up the process of permanently freeing Nazanin, should be done.'

'The sooner that Nazanin is able to travel back to the UK with her young daughter Gabriella, the better.'

Prior to the decision to send Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe back to prison her husband said: 'The agony goes on  it's going to be a very worrying day,'

'If she doesn't get an extension, it will be a blow to all of us, but most of all to her: to be back in jail after tasting freedom for just three days would be very hard.'

Mr Ratcliffe, from North London, said that before learning that there would be no decision over the possible extension at the weekend, the family was able to enjoy an outing to a coffee shop yesterday- where he was able to talk to them via Skype.

He has applied for an Iranian visa, and was hoping if charity worker Nazanin gets the extension and his request is granted, he will try to visit her.

But he added: 'Until Nazanin is really home, she's not home.'

He and the family's lawyer had not expected her to be granted even a three-day spell of freedom after being refused earlier requests, 'and it would be naive to suggest that this is the beginning of the end, or to assume that from now on, it's going to be plain sailing. It's been a huge process just to get this far.'

Last year, then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was forced to apologise after falsely stating Nazanin had been in Iran to train local journalists  a claim which may still cause years to be added to her sentence.

Mr Ratcliffe could not say whether Mr Johnson's resignation in July had made a difference, but added: 'It's very clear [his successor] Jeremy Hunt really cares.'

Mr Hunt is considering whether to grant official diplomatic protection to Nazanin, who has dual British-Iranian nationality, to increase the pressure on the Iranians.

Mr Ratcliffe said this had to be carefully considered, though, as rather than help, it might hinder her chances of permanent freedom.

There are thought to be at least a dozen dual British-Iranian nationals in detention, most of whose cases have not been publicised at the request of their families.
The end of the tax year is approaching fast - so time's running out to use your tax-free ISA allowance before the 5 April deadline passes.

But which is the best one to pick?

Many of us think we need to choose between a low paying cash ISA or a more complicated stock market tracker, but that's not true. This year there's a straightforward ISA on offer that puts your money into property - the nation's favourite asset class.

If your perfect investment is a big, well-managed portfolio of buy-to-let investments in a tax-free ISA, Bricklane might just have the answer for you. Heres everything you need to know:

Savings: The end of the tax year is approaching fast - so the race is on to get a top, tax-free ISA

ONE: An ISA from Bricklane works like any other. Its a tax-free way to build up money for the future. You dont pay tax on any profits or growth and you dont even have to list your ISAs on your tax form.

CASE STUDY: HARRY London-based designer Harry is using his Bricklane ISA to try and build up enough money to buy his own home with his partner. Investing with Bricklane means that my savings mirror the property market. I get rental income and house price growth, which will help us buy sooner, he says.

TWO: The big difference is that with Bricklane your money doesnt go into a cash ISA or a stock market tracker. Instead its pooled together with money from all the other investors and used to buy a portfolio of residential properties.

The homes are selected, bought, rented out and managed by property professionals. The aim is to give you all the benefits of being a buy-to-let landlord  with none of the hassles.

THREE: You can choose between two different property funds. Both funds are REITs (real estate investment trusts), which together with tax-free ISA status, make Bricklane's funds the most tax-efficient way to invest in UK residential property.

The first buys and rents out properties in London while other fund focuses on homes in the Regional Capitals of Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham.

Bricks and mortar: The aim is to give you the benefits of being a buy-to-let landlord without the hassle

You can put money into either or both funds - and the bricklane.com website has details of all the properties to help you make the right choice. But remember, past performance is not always a reliable indicator of the future.

CASE STUDY: DUNCAN Investor Duncan chose a Bricklane ISA because he wants to diversify his property investments. Bricklane ticks all the boxes. 'Returns mirror the property market rather than losing value as cash, and I still earn returns from house price increases and rental income, without being tied to one property, he says.

FOUR: The value of your ISA depends on the combined value of the homes in the fund and the rent they all produce.

You can check your latest valuation online at any time  and funds are revalued every two weeks.

But the Regional Capitals fund returned 8.7 per cent in its first year and 6.3 per cent in its second.

Experts warn against using past performance to predict how an investment may perform in the future.

The newer London fund returned 9.6 per cent in its first full year and ends its second year in July 2019.

FIVE: If you want to earn an income from your ISA you can ask to have your share of your funds rent paid out to you every quarter, tax-free. But if youre investing for the future  maybe to build up enough money to buy your own home  you can have the income automatically reinvested every quarter instead.

SIX: You certainly dont need to be rich to take advantage of this ISA. Start investing with Bricklane from just 100. There's no maximum amount that you can invest. This year's ISA limit is 20,000, but Bricklane also offers standard investment and pension accounts. However you invest, its easy to sign up. Most new investors get the job done in less than ten minutes.

CASE STUDY: STEWART AND JAYNE Leicester-based couple Stewart and Jayne picked Bricklane ISAs because they want hassle-free returns from property. The tax benefits are great, the company is backed by big names and has helpful staff. 'In short its a great service that my wife and I have recommended several times, says Stewart.

SEVEN: Pension investors can also put money in the Bricklane fund though tax-friendly SIPPS (self-invested personal pensions).

And if youve already got an ISA, or if youve put in the annual maximum, you can also invest in a general investment account. All the information you need is on the website.

EIGHT: As with all investing, your capital is at risk. ISAs depend on your individual circumstances and tax rules can change.

See below for further risks.

NINE: Youve got big names behind your Bricklane stocks and shares ISA. The company is backed by the likes of Zoopla and boasts a dedicated team of property professionals to find and look after the right properties and tenants.

Partner company Touchstone makes sure tenants are treated well, and standard tenancies last for three years to give everyone more security.

You don't need to be rich to start investing - start with as little as 100, or as much as 20,000

TEN: Act before April 5 and theres still time to pick property for your 2018/19 ISA. And you dont have to stop there, because from April 6 you can put property in your 2019/20 ISA as well. So log on to Bricklane now for all the help you need.

BRICKLANE ISA: THE FACTS *Bricklane enables everyone to invest in the property market and earn returns from price changes and rental income. *There are three account types to choose from: ISAs, pensions and general investment accounts. Bricklanes ISAs (ISA type: stocks and shares) and pensions are the most tax-efficient way to invest in UK residential property. *Invest your 20,000 2018/19 ISA allowance before the end of the tax year on April 5. *Or invest your new 20,000 allowance for the 2019/20 tax year and make sure your money is working harder for you, rather than the taxman. *If you have any questions, please contact Bricklane's customer support team by emailing support@bricklane.com or calling on 0203 1111 432. *The business is backed by Zoopla, and trusted by thousands of customers. You can find further information at bricklane.com. *Capital at risk. Tax rules apply. See further information below.

Disclaimer:

Capital at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns. Fund performance is net of annual management fee and gross of investment fee (2%). Annualised performance is made up of blended performance across both funds from their launch to 01/03/2019. The Regional Capitals fund returned 8.7% in Year 1 and 6.3% in Year 2. The London fund returned 9.6% in Year 1. Tax rules and allowances depend on individual circumstances and may change. Your investment may go down, as well as up. Although the shares are listed, if you want to sell them, there is no guarantee that you will find a buyer within a time-frame or at a price, acceptable to you. Bricklane.com does not give advice. If you are unsure about whether investment is right for you, you should seek independent advice before investing, including tax advice.

This promotion is issued by Bricklane Investment Services Ltd. Trading as Bricklane.com which is an Appointed Representative of Gallium Fund Solutions Limited (Reference number: 487176), which Is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Barket remains in custody without a bail bond set in the Hillsborough County Jail. He faces life in prison if convicted

Barket submitted his fingerprints as part of an application for a nursing assistant position, and the prints matches those at the scene

Droplets of the killers blood were found trailing from Betters body to the cash register draw. Police also recovered fingerprints

The 68-year-old, who was just days away from retiring, had been struck with a blunt object in the head as well as being stabbed twice in the neck

On August 24, 1998, an assailant entered Lu Shays Consignment Shop in Delray Beach where Better worked as a clerk, and bludgeoned her to death

Todd Barket, 51, from Brandon, was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Sondra Better

Todd Barket, a 51-year-old from Brandon, was arrested Wednesday, after police say fingerprints he submitted as part of a job application matched those found at the scene of Sondra Better's murder

A two decade-old cold case unexpectedly re-opened in Florida this week, after a man who submitted fingerprints as part of a job application was matched to the scene of a killing.

Todd Barket, 51, from Brandon, was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Sondra Better.

On August 24, 1998, an assailant entered Lu Shays Consignment Shop in Delray Beach where Better worked as a clerk, and bludgeoned her to death, before clearing out the cash register.

The 68-year-old, who was just days away from retiring, had been struck with a blunt object in the head multiple times, as well as being stabbed twice in the neck.

Shards of glass and remnants of a broken ash-tray were found scattered around her body.

Better had a series of defensive wounds across her hands and arms, and one of her fingers had nearly been severed off in the altercation.

Soundra Better (left, pictured with her husband Seymore) was just days away from retirement when she was brutally bludgeoned and stabbed to death, in August 1998

Barket remains in custody without a bail bond set in the Hillsborough County Jail (pictured at his arrest on Wednesday)

Droplets of the killers blood were found trailing from Betters body to the cash register draw. Police also recovered fingerprints from a marble ball that was for sale in the store, as well as a bloody hand-print on the wall.

However authorities never found the weapon responsible for the stab-wounds, though a cake cutter was said to be missing from the store.

We had fingerprints, we had blood, we even had a possible description from a witness. But the person responsible for this heinous case seemed to just disappear, Acting Delray Beach Police Chief Javaro Sims said in a press conference on Wednesday.

For the next few years, a series of dead-ends and unhelpful tips plague the polices investigation before eventually the trail went cold.

36 potential suspects had been identified as Betters murder, but each failed to garner a match to the DNA found at the scene.

That was, until nearly 21 years later, on March 27, when Hillsborough Sheriffs deputies descended on the Barket apartment with a warrant for his arrest.

The vital breakthrough came in December, when Barket submitted his fingerprints as part of an application for a nursing assistant position, and the prints flagged up in the polices Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) database.

Prior to his arrest, Barket had never been considered a suspect before, but was later found to have lived just eight miles away from the consignment shop at the time of Betters murder.

Twenty-nine at the time of the murder, he also matched eyewitness descriptions of the assailant, police say.

The vital breakthrough came in December, when Barket (seen right with his wife) submitted his fingerprints as part of an application for a nursing assistant position

On August 24, 1998, an assailant entered Lu Shays Consignment Shop in Delray Beach (formerly above) where Better worked as a clerk, and murdered her. Police believe Berket is responsible for her death

For a series of months, agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement then began tailing Barket and obtained his DNA through undisclosed means.

In other high-profile cold cases such as the Golden State Killer, investigators have previously secured a suspects DNA by picking up discarded drinks cans or searching through their trash.

Police say a motive behind the killing remains unclear. Key suspect Barket had no contact with law enforcement in 1998, and has a limited criminal history, mainly consisting of traffic citations, police say.

After his arrest, investigators reportedly quizzed Barket about a scar on his chin, believing he sustained the wound in the struggle with Better. A dog bite, Barket is said to have replied.

In the years since the murder Barket is alleged to have carried out, the 51-year-old has worked as a bank clerk and most recently as a nursing aid at a retirement home.

Retired Delray Beach Police Detective Robert Stevens, who investigated the murder for nearly a decade, shared the news of Barkets arrest with Betters two surviving daughters.

It felt really good, Stevens said to the Sun Sentinel. There were some tears, there was some joy and of course now its gonna bring some closure to them.

Stevens said failing to close the case has haunted him ever-since.

Betters husband Seymour, who volunteered for the police for 15 years, has since passed away.

Berket's prints flagged up in the polices Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) database, after his job application was filed

He was a really nice guy, Stevens said. He was devastated by the loss of his wife. They were just getting ready to redo their vows. Thats a tragic way to end a marriage.

Hopefully it goes through the courts smoothly and we get a conviction, he added.

Barket remains in custody without a bail bond set in the Hillsborough County Jail. It's unclear if he has a lawyer who can comment on his behalf.

He has been charged with first-degree murder and faces life in prison if convicted.

It took us 20 years, Police Chief Javaro Sims said on Wednesday. Twenty years is a long time to want and ask for justice for a loved one.

This just goes to show that police departments dont give up. Even if its 20 years later, were still actively working the cases. So that should give hope to every victim out there.
He is the world's most infamous serial killer, partly thanks to him never being caught despite a huge manhunt involving hundreds of officers.

But an end is finally in sight to the case of Jack the Ripper, who can now be revealed to have murdered six, rather than five, women in 1888 in Whitechapel, East London.

A new BBC One documentary hosted by Silent Witness star Emilia Fox has applied cutting-edge forensic techniques to re-examine the murders and finally solve them.

Working with criminologists, she believes Polish barber Aaron Kosminski was Jack the Ripper after fresh DNA tests were taken from a blood-stained shawl.

The programme also found evidence that the Ripper had six victims, not five, with Martha Tabram murdered on August 6, 1888 - before the other women.

Emilia Fox uses cold case technology such as the world's first virtual reality dissection table

A crime scene investigation recreates the scene at 29 Hanbury Street in Whitechapel, East London, where Annie Chapman was murdered by Jack the Ripper and her uterus was removed

The woman, who was estranged from her husband and sold sex to fund her alcohol habit, was stabbed 39 times including in her breasts and genitals.

The show sees Fox, 44, stage a crime scene reconstruction with modern day investigators using scene photographs and notes from detectives at the time.

Fox also uses cold case technology such as the world's first virtual reality dissection table and a bespoke computer system to analyse criminal activity patterns.

She is joined by criminology expert David Wilson to investigate who the killer could have been, what motivated his crimes and how he avoided justice.

Fox said: 'Having worked on crime drama for many years this project has been a truly fascinating insight into how current real police procedure, forensics and technology can be applied to the most famous of unsolved historical crimes.

The programme has found Polish barber Aaron Kosminski (left) was Jack the Ripper - and that he had six victims, not five, with Martha Tabram (right) murdered on August 6, 1888

Fox is joined by criminology expert David Wilson to investigate who the killer could have been

Victorian murderer Jack the Ripper killed at least five women in 1888 in the East End of London

'Working alongside Professor David Wilson, we have approached it as a cold case might be investigated now, and with the help of other leading experts, have taken another look at the mind and actions of this brutal murderer.

Jack the Ripper's SIX women victims in 1888 Mary Ann Nichols was disembowled on Buck's Row.

was disembowled on Buck's Row. Annie Chapman 's uterus was removed at 29 Hanbury Street

's uterus was removed at 29 Hanbury Street Elizabeth Stride 's throat was cut at Duffield's Yard, Berner Street

's throat was cut at Duffield's Yard, Berner Street Catherine Eddowes 's uterus and kidney were removed and her cheeks torn on Mitre Square

's uterus and kidney were removed and her cheeks torn on Mitre Square Mary Jane Kelly was completely mutilated and her heart was removed at 13 Miller's Court It is also now claimed Martha Tabram was murdered by the Ripper in 1888 Advertisement

'This documentary appealed to me hugely because of my interest in crime, forensics and pathology and also because it looks at the victims - the women Jack the Ripper chose and what left hem so vulnerable to his brutality.

'It's been an immense privilege to get this behind-the-scenes insight into real crime-solving on such a fascinating case.'

BBC commissioning editor Craig Hunter said: 'Jack the Ripper is synonymous with murder and intrigue - even if you don't know all the details, you will have heard of the case.

'It is remarkable to think that today's scientific techniques can be used to help try and tackle unanswered questions which are more than a century old.'

It comes two weeks after Kosminski was separately revealed to be Jack the Ripper following the fresh DNA tests carried out on the shawl shawl.

Fox said it had been 'an immense privilege to get this behind-the-scenes insight into real crime-solving on such a fascinating case'

Fox said she had worked alongside Mr Wilson and other leading criminology experts

New evidence found that two sets of DNA traces on the clothing matches that of both Kosminski and one of his murdered victims, Catherine Eddowes.

The Polish immigrant lived with his two brothers and a sister in Greenfield Street, just 200 yards from where his third victim, Elizabeth Stride, was killed.

The identity was confirmed by researchers from Liverpool John Moores University who shared their findings in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

Businessman Russell Edwards, 48, who bought the shawl at auction in 2007, contacted the scientists several years ago.

It had been found next to Eddowes' body and was stained with what was believed to be her blood after she was slaughtered on the night of September 30, 1888.

Her kidney was hacked out and her cheeks ripped apart. The serial killer is then rumoured to have eaten her kidney in a revolting and twisted act of pride.

Jack the Ripper - The Case Reopened is on BBC One next Thursday at 9pm
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Thursday that wealthy countries are obliged to take care of victims of the fast-moving global economy who become 'roadkill'.

Some companies and workers inevitably become obsolete in a changing capitalist economy, and jobs move to other industries, improving quality of life over time, Buffett said at a charity event in Texas.

'You do take care of the people that for one reason or another can become - it's a terrible term, but it's true - roadkill in an economy,' the Berkshire Hathaway chief told told CNBC's Becky Quick at The Gatehouse's Hands Up for Success luncheon in Grapevine, Texas.

'I think that's the obligation of a rich country,' Buffet added.

Buffett also talked about how economic growth has slowed down lately.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Thursday that wealthy countries are obliged to take care of victims of the fast-moving global economy who become 'roadkill'

According to CNBC, the gross domestic product rose 2.2 per cent, in line with expectations, but it was down from the previous estimate of 2.6 per cent.

Others like J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon have also voiced concerns about the economic benefits that are leaving the poor behind, while benefiting big corporations.

When Buffet was asked about General Motors' plans to close some auto factories, Buffett, known as 'Oracle of Omaha', said some people will always become 'uneconomic in a world economy'.

He noted that Berkshire Hathaway started out as a textile company in New England with 2,000 workers, half of whom spoke only Portuguese, but the mills have all closed.

'A rich country can take care of... the relatively few who are dislocated and I think that's the obligation of a rich country,' he said.

He said he is '100 per cent for free trade' but the enormous benefits of can 'ruin the lives' of older workers and others who cannot retrain or relocate.

President Donald Trump has lashed out at GM chief Mary Barra for the plant closures, but Buffett said she is doing a 'sensational job' for the automaker.

GM last week announced a $1.8billion investment creating 700 new US jobs, and said it has openings for nearly all of the 2,800 workers impacted by the plant closures.
Wells Fargo's CEO Tim Sloan stepped down from his post on Thursday, saying he'd become too much of a political target following a seemingly unending wave of scandals at the bank.

In a statement, Sloan said he will give up his roles as CEO and president as well as his seat on the board, effective immediately.

He will fully retire from Wells Fargo on June 30, having led the bank for just three years.

A longtime insider, Sloan was chosen to replace outgoing CEO John Stumpf, who resigned in October 2016 after Wells Fargo employees were found to have fraudulently opened millions of bank accounts in order to meet the company's unrealistic sales goals.

Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer and President Timothy Sloan has stepped down from his post, the bank revealed on Thursday (pictured on March 12)

Sloan was chosen to replace outgoing CEO John Stumpf, who resigned in October 2016 after Wells Fargo employees were found to have fraudulently opened millions of bank accounts in order to meet the company's unrealistic sales goals

While Sloan sought to clean up Wells' reputation following the accounts scandal, new improprieties repeatedly came to light.

The bank was found to have tacked unnecessary auto insurance onto the accounts of car loan customers. Tens of thousands of customers were unable to afford the payments and, in many cases, got their cars repossessed.

The bank also foreclosed on the homes of hundreds of customers accidentally.

During his tenure as CEO, Sloan faced considerable criticism from Congress who scrutinized his leadership.

Just two weeks ago, he was grilled by Democrats - and some Republicans - on the House Financial Services Committee, who questioned Wells Fargo's commitment to compensating all the victims of the various scandals at the bank over the past few years.

Sloan told investors Thursday on a conference call that the target on his back from politicians was one of the reasons he decided to step down.

'There's too much focus on me,' Sloan said. 'I could not keep myself in that position as I was becoming a distraction. It's a hard decision step down; I can assure you of that.'

Wells Fargo's board of directors said it chose Allen Parker, who is currently the bank's general counsel, as interim CEO and president.

The bank also said in a statement that it will be looking at external candidates for its next CEO. Sloan was the bank's chief operating officer and was also chief financial officer under Stumpf, and was not a popular choice as CEO with the public.

While Sloan said he had no knowledge of the bank's bad practices, many experts felt Wells needed someone from the outside to help clean up its act.

Federal regulators lost patience with Wells Fargo's continued bad behavior and inflicted harsh punishments.

Wells had to pay a $1 billion fine last year to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

But more importantly, the Federal Reserve stepped in and handcuffed Wells' ability to grow its business until the bank could prove that it had gotten its house in order.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters earlier this month that he did not believe Wells Fargo had made enough progress to warrant less scrutiny.

'We will not lift (our restraints) until Wells Fargo gets their arms around this, comes forward with plans, implements those plans, and we're satisfied with what they've done. And that's not where we are right now.'

The bank was found to have tacked unnecessary auto insurance onto the accounts of car loan customers. Tens of thousands of customers were unable to afford the payments and, in many cases, got their cars repossessed

During his tenure as CEO, Sloan faced considerable criticism from Congress who scrutinized his leadership. Just two weeks ago, he was grilled by Democrats - and some Republicans - on the House Financial Services Committee (pictured on March 12), who questioned Wells Fargo's commitment to compensating all the victims of the bank's various scandals

Among politicians, Sloan was a favorite target of Senator Elizabeth Warren, who crusaded against Wall Street and the big banks as a Senator from Massachusetts and continues to do so in her campaign for the presidency in 2020.

Sloan testified in front of Congress earlier this month, where he continued to face heated questions about himself and Wells' business practices.

Due to the harsh political climate facing Wells Fargo, and considering it could get worse as the 2020 election approaches, it was maybe the right time for Sloan to step down, analysts said.

'[Wells Fargo] was going be a punching bag through 2020 if he didn't step down,' said Kyle Sanders, a bank analyst with Edward Jones who covers Wells Fargo.

Regardless of his legacy, Sloan is retiring a very rich man after being with the company more than 30 years.

The compensation analysis firm Equilar estimates Sloan's total compensation - salary, stock and benefits - from 2011 to 2018 was roughly $150 million.

Also, Sloan will receive a standard retirement package and has stock grants that Equilar estimates are worth about $24.5 million, based on Wells' closing price Thursday of $49.09.

Wells Fargo shares rose 2.3 percent to $50.20 in after-hours trading.
New York Police are hunting for 10 gang members behind the brutal killing of a man in Brooklyn earlier this month in a violent and barbaric attack caught on camera.

NYPD shared video footage of the harrowing murder on Thursday showing the gang members chasing the man down the street, through backyards, and over a fence before shooting him multiple times at the back of a private residence, in a seemingly unprovoked attack on March 19.

The victim was identified as Tyquan Eversley, 21, and the incident took place around 5pm on Elton Street in East New York.

So far police have arrested one of the assailants, identified three others, and are hunting for the additional six.

NYPD are hunting for 10 gangsters who chased and murdered 21-year-old Tyquan Eversley in Brooklyn on March 19

NYPD shared these pictures of the suspects behind the brutal attack

Cops shared their images on Thursday pleading for information on their identities

The pack of 10 gangsters were caught on camera running through the streets of Brooklyn on March 19 chasing then murdering 21-year-old Tyquan Eversley

Eversley is seen desperately running away from the crowd and crouching behind a random car on a private property as the men are seen on the street in hot pursuit

In the video a pack of men are seen chasing a victim through the streets, punching Eversley unprovoked.

At one point Eversley runs and hides behind a parked car at the side of the home.

'Hes literally hiding in fear for his life as the group is now searching for him. We have video surveillance of this group looking in alleyways, looking up and down the street, hunting, searching,' NYPD Deputy Chief Michael Kemper said Thursday.

Then Eversly dashes to hop a fence in a backyard. But behind that fence was another chain link fence with barbed wire, leading Eversley to get stuck.

The gang members pursue him and discover him caught in the barbed wire. One throws a boulder on top of Eversley and another leans over the fence to fire at least five rounds, killing him.

The men trespassed onto private property in their wild chase, the reason behind the attack is not clear

Eversley tried to escape the men by hopping this white fence, only to get caught and stuck in barbed wire on the other side

Stuck in place, the gang members attacked Eversley, the man in blue on the right is pictured throwing a bolder at the victim

Then the man in black above leans over the white fence and fires at least five rounds into him

After the attack Eversley was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead.

'The victim is literally running up and down blocks trying to escape these individuals,' Kemper said.

'The victim now is literally running for his life... and he is literally hiding behind a parked car for his life as the group is searching for him,' he added.

So far police only have one suspect in custody - 25-year-old Michael Reed. He's been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

Three other suspects, including the shooter, have been identified and are still being sought as per the New York Daily News. They are 29-year-old Donaven McDay, 22-year-old Alfred Crooks, and 24-year-old Shacore Huff.

Authorities are asking for help in identifying the other six suspects.

Three other suspects have been identified in the murder - (from left to right) 24-year-old Shacore Huff, 29-year-old Donaven McDay, and 22-year-old Alfred Crooks. Authorities are pleading for help in identifying the other six subjects

So far police only have one suspect custody - 25-year-old Michael Reed. He's been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon

The attackers are believed to have gang affiliations but it isn't clear just what triggered this murder.

Eversley had two open criminal cases when he was killed.

He was arrested on February 2 for crack possession and on October 15 he was arrested for robbery, assault with a weapon, menacing, harassment and grand larceny, according to police.

Cops are comparing the brutal attack to the #JusticeForJunior case that sparked nationwide outrage when a boy named Lesandro 'Junior' Guzman, 15, was mistakenly hacked to death with a machete in a Bronx bodega in a gang-related attack.

Anyone with information in regard to the identity of this male is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782)
A British tourist couple have been left disappointed after paying $28 for a cheeseboard and being handed a basket they claim contained a few slices of crusty bread, crackers and a few bits of cheese.

Russell Brown and his wife Maxine were visiting the Core Cider House, a trendy cider brewery in Pickering Brook in the Perth hills in Western Australia - when they decided to treat themselves to the $28 (15) gourmet cheese platter after a long walk.

The ravenous couple then claim they were left with rumbling stomachs after their meal arrived at the table.

However, Core Cider House believe the visitors may have been a little more hungry than they let on and ate some of the platter before taking the snap.

'Apart from a $6 hot dog it was the first meal of the holiday I'd bought and I just thought "we're in bother here, we're not going to last a week in Perth",' Mr Brown told Perth Now.

'You expect to pay a bit more in cities like Perth but I could have knocked that up in five minutes - and to put it in a basket that big was a joke.'

Although impressed with the venue's outlook and live music, Mr Brown said the cheese board left him feeling short-changed.

Core's menu states the Cheese Board, which sits under the 'great to share' section, is a 'chef selection of 3 premium WA cheeses from Harvey and Denmark with nuts, dried and fresh fruit and crackers' for $28.

The British couple said since paying a hefty $28, they expected a 'feast' (Pictured: A cheese and meat platter taken from Core Cider House's social pages)

The $28 platter the Browns received is vastly different from what the cider house promotes on their social media pages (Pictured: A meat platter from Core Cider House's social pages)

'We thought it was going to be a right feast for that price.

'It said 'cheese board', not a few scratty bits of raisins and a bit of cheese that could fit on a saucer.'

He then compared the sparse platter's price to what you'd get in the UK, saying diners could probably get a two-course meal for $28 (15).

The platter is vastly different from what the cider house promotes on their social media pages.

Images fill their Instagram page showing full plates and wooden boards are filled to the brim with cold meats, cheeses and fruits as happy punters sip on frosted glasses of cider.

The Core Cider House however, believe the cheese board was much larger than it appears in the photo.

'The customer had already consumed some of this platter and there should have been plum chutney and fresh fruits,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'We did not get a complaint that things were missing that were listed - we would have absolutely and gladly replaced everything had we been informed that there were products that were apparently not there but should have been, but we weren't informed.'

Mr and Mrs Brown claim they only consumed 'one or two crackers and a bit of cheese' before taking the photo of the spread.
A very bright paint job of a Chemist Warehouse building has left local residents so disgruntled by the colour that they avoid the shop all together.

The local council in Hornsby, Sydney, has been inundated with complaints about the colour of the building in recent weeks.

The council did a survey of residents six months ago and out of the 90 people who complained about buildings, 55 named Chemist Warehouse as an example of a building which colour scheme bothered them.

'This has been an issue of significant concern for the mayor since he took office in 2017.' spokesman Nick Cook told Daily Mail Australia.

The dramatic paint job of Chemist Warehouse corner store causes local residents to avoid it

The Hornsby Shire mayor, Philip Ruddock has now decided to take on the chain store in Pennant Hills in an attempt to change the bold paint job.

'It's only when you get something as garish as this that you ask yourself, "How did we allow this to happen?"' he said.

Mr Ruddock, the former immigration minister. says if the local Chemist Warehouse does not tone down the bright yellow exterior he will be forced to cover it up.

'I think the only option I've got is to plant some large trees in front of it,' Mr Ruddock said.

Mr Ruddock says if it doesn't change its colour he will be forced to cover it up with large trees

Mr Ruddock like other long term locals has avoided shopping at the corner store altogether.

Resident and historian Patricia Dewey admitted she 'hated' the colour when it was first applied.

'I avoid going past it because it virtually upsets me to see those colours in an area and in a suburb I've called home for 40 years,' she said.

The chain's pharmacist, Winny Lim is shocked to hear these complaints come up now as the store has been there and the same colour since late 2014.

'It's been about five years. We've never heard anything about this,' Ms Lim said.

The building was originally housed by a Commonwealth Bank for decades, despite this the structure was never listed as a heritage site.

Chemist Warehouse have not been aware of such issues in the local community

This meant that when the new owner moved into the historic building the council had no control over the dramatic change of the store.

While Mr Ruddock seems adamant about his threat to plant trees unless Chemist Warehouse change the shops exterior to a quieter colour. Mr Cook confirms there are no legitimate plans from the council to act on any of the statements the mayor has made.

Chemist Warehouse were contacted and declined to further comment.
The legal team of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has hit out at a Florida sheriff, branding him a 'liar'.

In an interview with USA Today, Kraft's attorney, William Burck, said Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder is more interested in his five minutes of fame than he is in securing justice.

Burck accused Snyder of lying to and misleading the public about the details of an investigation into a Florida massage parlor that has legally implicated Kraft and over 300 others.

'He lied about it,' Buck said. 'His officers lied about it. I dont really know what to say. Ive never seen anything quite like that before.'

This week, Snyder admitted to WPTV that the police's several month-long investigation into the Asia Day Spa in Jupiter - where Kraft is alleged to have paid for sexual services - may not actually be a human trafficking ring after all, contrary to the police's former understanding.

Kraft's attorney, William Burck, said Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder is more interested in his five minutes of fame than he is in justice

This week, Snyder admitted that the police's several month-long investigation into the Asia Day Spa in Jupiter lacked evidence of sex trafficking

Kraft has pleaded not guilty to both counts of solicitation, and has requested trial by jury

'It looks like trafficking. It feels like trafficking. It sounds like trafficking,' Snyder told the news station. 'I believe it is human trafficking. But we are just a little short to being able to prove that.'

Snyder and his office weren't directly involved in the surveillance or investigation of the spa that resulted in two counts of soliciting prostitution against 77-year-old Kraft.

But he did notify Jupiter police in the neighboring Palm Beach County of the spa Kraft visited two days in a row, shortly before the Patriots faced the Kansas City Chiefs on January 20.

There is no evidence that any of the women he allegedly paid for sexual services were victims of sex trafficking.

Despite this, in response to Burck, Snyder says he has 'zero' regrets for drawing parallels between the men arrested for solicitation and human trafficking.

'It is sex trafficking. There are several women lower down [in the alleged trafficking ring] who could still cooperate,' Snyder explained.

'Notwithstanding that, this has the markings of a classic, unadulterated sex trafficking ring. Period.'

During his time in Florida's House of Representative, Snyder helped write the state's trafficking laws.

'They can get all the high-priced attorneys they want and scream and yell that the cops are the bad ones,' Snyder said. 'But the cops werent the ones who were having...sex in the spas.'

Burck, however, believes the Sheriff's irreverent outbursts are resulting from the disappointment of his investigation's misfiring.

Police surveyed the Day Spa in Florida, Jupiter, for several months believing it to be a front for human trafficking

The spa's owner, Lei Wang (left) has been arrested and faces a multitude of charges. Kraft (right) has pleaded not guilty to two counts of solicitation

'Hes trying to hide behind it by saying they didnt find enough evidence,' he said. 'You dont get on a soapbox and start accusing people of being involved in human trafficking and then, weeks later, say never mind and think thats the way you can get away with that.'

'They are supposed to be upholding the law. They are supposed to be officers of justice, but instead hes concocting false allegations against people in order to further headlines rather than justice. Sheriff Snyder said "the monsters are the men." Sheriff Snyder is the liar.'

Kraft has pleaded not guilty to both counts of solicitation, and has requested trial by jury. He is scheduled to appear in court on April 9.

'I am truly sorry. I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who rightfully hold me to a higher standard,' Kraft said in a statement on Saturday.

'Throughout my life, I have always tried to do the right thing. The last thing I would ever want to do is disrespect another human being. I have extraordinary respect for women; my morals and my soul were shaped by the most wonderful woman, the love of my life, who I was blessed to have as my partner for 50 years.

'I expect to be judged not by my words, but by my actions. And through those actions, I hope to regain your confidence and respect.'
ROME - The withdrawal from the port city of Hodeidah in Yemen will happen, though slowly, the UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, was quoted as saying by Arab News.

Griffiths was quoted as saying that the cease-fire in the key port is holding.

''As I've been reminded recently there are 50 percent fewer civilian casualties in Hodeidah since the cease-fire came into account than in the previous three months,'' Griffiths reportedly said. ''So that's quite a change and that's good for the people of Hodeida, but we need to go further. We need to quickly see those redeployments happening'', he added, explaining that the sides in the conflict are meeting daily to finalize details of the first phase of the withdrawal from the main port and two smaller ones.
Canberra has been rated as Australia's best place to live.

The national capital had the highest liveability score for the third year running in the REA Group's annual Life In Australia Index report.

The city scored 62.3 out of 100 as a good place to live, putting it above the national average of 59.3.

Canberra (pictured) has been rated as Australia's best place to live despite being a two-hour drive from the beach. The national capital had the highest liveability score for the third year running in the REA Group's Life In Australia Index report

Australia's biggest cities, hampered by overcrowding, were rated as less liveable places, with Melbourne getting a score of 58.9 while Sydney did even worse at 58.4.

Melbourne fared poorly for safety while Sydney was marked down for having unaffordable housing.

In contrast, Canberrans felt better when it came to feeling safe, having decent, affordable housing, good job prospects and good health services.

The city, which is synonymous with politicians, was the only capital city to feature education as a top five factor for liveability.

Australia's biggest cities, hampered by overcrowding, were rated as less liveable places, with Sydney (Wynyard station pictured) scoring 58.4 out of 100, or less than the national average of 59.3

'Melbourne has for many years been regarded as Australia's most liveable city, however, when it comes to how residents actually feel about where they live, Canberra comes out on top,' the report said.

Poll What do YOU think is Australia's best city? Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Perth Adelaide Canberra Hobart Darwin What do YOU think is Australia's best city? Sydney 47 votes

Melbourne 41 votes

Brisbane 44 votes

Perth 40 votes

Adelaide 37 votes

Canberra 139 votes

Hobart 27 votes

Darwin 2 votes Now share your opinion





Melbourne's perceived quality of life has severely declined as the population grows and following a wave of African gang crime and the January 2017 rampage on Bourke Street, which saw six people fatally run over in the mall.

In November, Bourke Street was also the scene of a terrorist attack, which saw Italian-born cafe owner Sisto Malaspina stabbed to death by Somali-born Islamic State sympathiser Hassan Khalif Shire Ali.

'Melbourne has for many years been regarded as Australia's most liveable city, however, when it comes to how residents actually feel about where they live, Melburnians are feeling less safe than ever before,' the report said.

'Well-publicised gang-related violence and one-off attacks in major public places, like Bourke Street, may be driving fear and contributing to the perception that Melbourne isn't as safe as it was five years ago.'

Canberra residents, who mainly work in the public service, also have Australia's highest average full-time salaries of $95,524.

Melbourne's reputation for a liveable city has been surpassed by Canberra, with the Victorian capital (Federation Square pictured) scoring 58.9 out of 100, with many residents feeling less safe following a series of African gang crime and the Bourke Street car rampage

People living in the Australian Capital Territory are also more likely to afford a house, with median prices at $665,701, CoreLogic data showed.

Australia's liveability ranking 1. Canberra 62.3 2. Perth 62.0 3. Adelaide 61.1 4. Brisbane 60.2 5. Hobart 59.9 6. Melbourne 58.9 7. Sydney 58.4 8. Darwin 54.1 Source: REA Group's Life In Australia Index based on a survey of Advertisement

This is significantly less than Sydney's equivalent price of $888,117 and Melbourne's $729,392.

Despite house prices in Sydney dropping by 11.5 per cent during the past year, the New South Wales capital has continued to have the worst score for housing affordability.

'Of the sixteen attributes measured in the study, affordable decent housing in Sydney ranked the lowest nationally, showing steep decline over the last 12 months,' the report said.

After Canberra, Perth was regarded as Australia's second most liveable city.

It scored 62 out of 100, putting it ahead of Adelaide (61.1), Brisbane (60.2) and Hobart (59.9).

Darwin was rated as Australia's least liveable capital city, with a score of 54.1.

The REA Group's survey of 9,515 people was taken in October and released this week.
Anthony Haynes, 40, was convicted of multiple felony sex crimes on Wednesday, including sex-trafficking of a minor stemming from a case dating back to 2014

The Toledo pastor who groomed a 14-year-old girl to have sex with two of his fellow clergy members is facing up to life behind bars after being found guilty of multiple felony sex crimes.

Anthony Haynes, 40, the former leader of Greater Life Christian Center in the northwest Ohio city of Toledo, denied having sex with his victim, who is now 19, during his trial on Wednesday.

'I'm not a pervert,' he told the court while sobbing on the witness stand Wednesday, despite previously telling federal investigators during recorded conversations that he had sex with the girl.

Haynes claimed he had been manipulated by the teen accuser.

But the jury believed his victim, who testified that Haynes paid her for sex over the course of three years after promising her mother he would protect her and serve as her father figure.

Haynes (pictured left) is the former leader of Greater Life Christian Center in Toledo, Ohio. His wife, Alisa Haynes (right), is also charged with attacking Haynes' victim, who is now 19

Haynes served as pastor of The Greater Life Christian Center (pictured) at 1330 N. Detroit Avenue in Toledo Ohio, before he was charged with felony sex crimes

Haynes even vowed his congregation would look out for the girl, who was previously sexually abused by a relative and had a tumultuous upbringing, the victim said.

Instead of protecting her, Haynes' victim said he introduced her to two other local pastors, Kenneth Butler and Cordell Jenkins, who he encouraged her to engage in sex with her as well.

'She's been carrying this burden with her since 2014 and now she feels relieved,' U.S. attorney and prosecutor Michael Freeman told Cincinnati, Ohio's Local 12.

It took the jury less than three hours to find Haynes guilty, according to the Toledo Blade. He reportedly showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

Alisa Haynes (left), 43, and Alexis Fortune (right), 24, were arrested January 5. Both women are facing federal charges for allegedly attacking and threatening Anthony Haynes' sex abuse victim, who is now 19

Court officials hugged the victim as Haynes was handcuffed Wednesday night.

'Shell be able to move on her with life and sleep well knowing that this weight is no longer on her,' Freeman told the Blade.

Haynes' wife, Alisa Haynes, and stepdaughter, Alexis Fortune, must still stand trial for allegedly abducting the pastor's victim at gunpoint in January and warning her not to testify at the trial.

The two women allegedly forced the 19-year-old out of her apartment before choking her with a cord and telling her to renounce her previous statements to investigators.
Australia is in for a chaotic weekend with bushfires in the west and plummeting temperatures in the southern states.

Summer will seem like a distant memory for Sydneysiders as a cold snap moves in - bringing the coldest March day in 15 years with temperatures tipped to be as low as 12C on Sunday morning.

As residents dig out their winter woolies from the wardrobe, they should grab an umbrella too, with the city looking set for another wet weekend.

Summer will seem like a distant memory for Sydneysiders this weekend as a cold snap moves in

Queenslanders will also need to rug up as the state braces for below average March temperatures too

Showers are expected to start late on Friday, with a chance of thunderstorms on Saturday. However, that should clear by Sunday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Much of southern and central New South Wales will also see the mercury drop, as lows of about 13C are expected over the weekend.

Inland NSW is also set for cooler temperatures between 12C to 15C, while Canberra can expect a low of 4C overnight on Sunday.

However, it seems most of the country is in for an early taste of autumn.

Queenslanders will also need to rug up as the state braces for below average March temperatures.

A large cold front moving across the south coast of Australia will create winter like conditions bringing temperatures 10 degrees below the March average in some areas

Fickle weather is set to cause chaos in Australia with bush fires in the west and plummeting temperatures in the southern states

However, as a result of ex-tropical Cyclone Trevor merging with an upper trough, bands of heavy rain and thunderstorms are also expected.

Melbourne's temperatures are set to go from a summery 29C on Friday to a chilly maximum of just 15C on Saturday.

Senior forecaster Rod Dickson said a strong cold front was expected to move through the city on Friday, bringing isolated thunderstorms and rain.

And mountainous areas are even expected to get a dusting of snow over the weekend.

There's also potential for severe thunderstorms across northeast Victoria on Friday with showers, thunderstorms, damaging winds, large hail and up 60mm of rainfall possible.

Temperatures in the Victorian mountains near Mt Hotham (pictured) could get so low the region will see its first snowfall of the year

BOM has predicted a cold front for New South Wales on Saturday and Sunday, bringing gusty wind and rain

A total fire ban the Country Fire Authority has declared for the Mallee and northern country in regional Victoria on Friday

It's a stark contrast to the total fire ban the Country Fire Authority has declared for the Mallee and northern country in regional Victoria on Friday.

'CFA advises people living in areas at risk of fire to activate their bush fire plan,' it states.

Mildura was expected to hit a top of 30C on Friday before a cooler 20C on Saturday.

Further west in Perth, firemen have been battling a bushfire, which has destroyed about eight hectares of scrub.
The number of migrant families and children entering the U.S. from Mexico is so high that Border Patrol is immediately releasing them instead of transferring them to the agency responsible for their release, forcing local governments to help coordinate their housing, meals and travel.

'We need to work toward a clean sweep,' Border Patrol Deputy Chief of Operations Richard Hudson said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press sent to sector chiefs Thursday. 'This should be our daily battle rhythm.'

Agents are still doing medical screenings and criminal checks, but the decision means thousands of families will be released without first going through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which manages their deportation cases.

The Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley sectors in Texas and the Yuma, Arizona, sector earlier announced that agents would begin to release families on their own recognizance.

A Border Patrol official not authorized to speak on the matter said Wednesday that El Paso and San Diego planned on doing the same. Some sectors were not part of the change, including Tucson, Arizona and El Centro, California.

Central American migrants wait for food in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in a pen erected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process a surge of migrant families and unaccompanied minors. Earlier, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, center, announced the the Trump administration will temporarily reassign several hundred border inspectors, during a news conference at the border in El Paso. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)

Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls, right, during a news conference inside Yuma City Council Chambers about the current humanitarian crisis in the border region due to high volumes of illegal migrant crossing in Yuma, Arizona on March 28. U.S. Border Patrol Deputy Chief Patrol Agent for the Yuma Sector, Carl Landrum, is on the left

Families are typically released with notices to appear in immigration court due to legal restrictions on detaining them and lack of holding space.

Until now, Customs and Border Protection has detained them briefly before turning them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, generally within 72 hours, to be released pending the outcome of their immigration cases.

The move came as Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen wrote to Congress asking for emergency funding for humanitarian and operational needs, and the ability to detain families together as long as necessary to deport people faster.

'The volume of "vulnerable populations" is unsustainable. Our system has been able to cope with high numbers in the past, but the composition of today's flows makes them virtually unmanageable,' she wrote.

Arrests all along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months. Border agents are on track to make 100,000 arrests and denials of entry at the southern border this month, over half of which are families with children.

To manage the crush, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reassigning 750 border inspectors from their usual duties at the ports of entry to help Border Patrol keep pace with arrivals in between ports of entry. The head of the agency held a press conference in El Paso on Wednesday to say the breaking point had arrived.

This graph shows the increase in immigrants coming across the Southern U.S. border, including those who cross illegally and those who present themselves at legal checkpoints. Each line represents the first six months of a different fiscal year, with 2019 already seeing a sharp uptick

But federal lawmakers have fought over whether there is a 'crisis' at the border, particularly amid President Donald Trump's push for a border wall that he claimed will solve all the immigration problems.

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said Thursday the evidence shows the immigration system is cracking under the strain.

'The sad reality is that we now have a virtual open border for any migrant who crosses with a minor, and our border security enforcement has been reduced to a mere speed bump for migrants on their path to long-term occupancy in the United States,' he said, adding border officers are being asked to perform an impossible task with no help from Congress.

And along the border, officials were working to manage the families that had been suddenly released.

Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls said his city is working with various non-governmental organizations to make sure families released by the Border Patrol have temporary housing, food, medical care and help with traveling to their intended destinations.

Salvadoran migrants wait for a transport to arrive after turning themselves into US Border Patrol by border fence under construction in El Paso, Texas on March 19, 2019

Most immigrant families coming to the U.S. don't plan on staying in the border towns they cross through, but rather to meet up with family throughout the country.

The Yuma Sector has over the last two years seen an extraordinary spike in the number of immigrant families who turn themselves in. Yuma Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Carl E. Landrum said Thursday that agents have arrested 30,000 people in the relatively small sector since October 1.

The facility in Yuma has the capacity to temporarily hold 410 people. Until Thursday, ICE had been picking all of these families up and taking them to Phoenix and Tucson to be processed. But the numbers have swelled so much now that ICE doesn't have enough resources to pick everybody up, so Border Patrol agents themselves are releasing families in Yuma.

'It is overwhelming us locally, as well as overwhelming the system nationally,' Landrum said.

'The sheer volume of family units crossing the border has overwhelmed ICE's limited transportation resources; combined with a requirement to detain these individuals for no more than 20 days, the agency has no option but to expeditiously arrange for their release,' ICE spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez said in a statement.

The agency makes 'every attempt to coordinate the release of these individuals with NGOs that provide assistance with basic needs, but the heavy influx in recent months has inundated these organizations as well,' Rodriguez said.
Texas' attorney general opened an investigation Thursday into San Antonio's decision to exclude Chick-fil-A from opening airport concession facilities due to the fast-food chain owners' record on LGBT issues.

Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the investigation in a letter to San Antonio officials and stated his office will examine whether Texas' second-largest city violated state law with the rejection.

Paxton called the move 'the opposite of tolerance' and a 'discriminatory decision' based on the religious beliefs of the chain's owners.

Six council members approved ban on Chick-fil-A at San Antonio International Airport as part of a new project coming in April 2020

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation after Chick-fil-A was banned from San Antonio International Airport

Councilman Roberto Trevino made a motion to approve the Food, Beverage and Retail Prime Concession Agreement with Paradies Lagardere, 'provided it exclude the Chick-Fil-A concept'

'The Constitution's protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-A's chicken,' Paxton said in the letter. 'Unfortunately, I have serious concerns that both are under assault at the San Antonio airport.'

The attorney general's action comes after the San Antonio City Council voted 6-4 last week to block Chick-fil-A from getting a new concession contract at the airport. The councilmembers voted instead for city staff to find another company for the contract.

'The City's Attorney's Office is reviewing the letter. I am withholding comment until we have had adequate time to analyze it,' San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in an emailed statement.

Senator Ted Cruz has shared his opposition to Chick-fil-A being banned from the airport

Cruz tweeted 'ridiculous' in response to last weeks story on his personal Twitter

Councilman Manny Pelaez said at the meeting that Chick-fil-A has a history of funding anti-LGBTQ organizations that support and advocate for gay conversion therapy. Pelaez said approving the restaurant would 'help them fund those efforts by making money off of our airport.'

Paxton also told San Antonio officials he asked Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to investigate whether the city's actions violated federal law and regulations prohibiting religious discrimination by federal grant recipients.

Paxton has made religious freedom battles a focus of his office since being elected in 2014.

The Atlanta-based fast-food chain has faced opposition elsewhere over donating millions over the years to groups that oppose same-sex marriage.

In 2012, the company's chief operating officer criticized same-sex marriage, prompting some politicians to block the chain from expanding in certain areas.

Earlier this month, a dean at Rider University in New Jersey resigned over the school's decision to not consider bringing Chick-fil-A to campus because of its opposition to the LGBT community.
Icelandic budget airline WOW Air left hundreds of passengers stranded Thursday after going bust and grounding planes, sparking 'pandemonium' at airports across North America.

Footage from Newark shows dozens of travelers waiting in a packed departure lounge after it was announced their flights had been cancelled.

Lines of holidaymakers can be seen talking with airport officials after Wow Air told passengers on Thursday there would be no further flights and advised them to check with other airlines for ways to reach their destinations.

One passenger wrote: '@wowairsupport flight WW104 from #EWR was cancelled after a 4 hour delay and they gave us a $12 voucher Pandemonium at the gate. I need a refund + new earliest flight ASAP. @EWRairport'

Posting a video of a chaotic scene at Toronto airport in Canada, another added: '20 min to board, @wowairsupport cancels the flight. But then sends an email that its just delayed until 9pm. Oh but the crew left because it was cancelled. Updates coming from the guy in the middle of this crowd.'

Another video shows customers telling workers they are 'massively inconvenienced' by the abrupt news. At Baltimore police were called even called to the gate, CBS reports.

The airline specialized in ultra-cheap travel between the United States and Europe. It flew to cities including Washington, New York, Paris, London and its Reykjavik hub.

WOW grounded at least six planes in North America that were set to leave late Wednesday from Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Detroit, New York and Baltimore.

Footage posted to social media shows a police officer at Baltimore airport amid the chaos

Footage from Newark shows dozens of travelers waiting in a packed departure lounge after it was announced their flights had been cancelled

In Europe, Reykjavik-bound planes from seven cities - Amsterdam, Dublin, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt and Copenhagen - did not take off Thursday morning.

Travelers took to Twitter to express their frustration.

One wrote: 'Tempers were high last night at #yyz #wowair. I cant post anymore of this due to the swearing! The flight staff had just informed us they were in the same position as us.'

Another compared the closure to the disastrous Fyre Festival, adding: 'Currently accepting applications to star in the documentary for @wow_air cancelling all flights and stranding me in a foreign country when the CEO is still trying to sell flights #wowair #fyrefestival2.'

One airplane from WOW was grounded as collateral by Iceland's airport operator, which reportedly has a $16 million claim for unpaid landing fees against the airline.

American Sean Tinschert and his partner had rushed to the Reykjavik airport after learning the airline had gone under.

'We are trying to figure out how to get home,' he told The Associated Press. 'We live in Boston, Massachusetts. We've got to work tomorrow morning - so don't really think that is going to happen.'

In Berlin, Mary Sapp, a 30-year-old tattoo artist from Portland, Oregon, said she found out her WOW flight from Schoenefeld Airport to Reykjavik was canceled when she arrived at the airport Thursday morning.

'I feel frantic, and my shoulders are tight,' she said as she carried a huge black backpack up a flight of stairs. 'I am just going to get some food and figure out ... where I am going to stay tonight.'

Jamey Fierce, 62, from Toronto, sat at one of the Berlin airport's coffee shops trying to figure out an affordable route to get home, thinking that maybe he could book a flight via Lisbon.

'Not only was the flight cancelled - the airline was cancelled,' said Fierce with some humor.

WOW grounded at least six planes in North America that were set to leave late Wednesday from Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Detroit, New York and Baltimore

Its bankruptcy comes after six months of turbulent negotiations to sell its business.

WOW saw deals fall through to sell to its main rival, the national flag-ship carrier Icelandair, and later to Indigo Partners, an American company operating the airline Wizz.

Tourism is Iceland's largest industry and WOW's disappearance is set to have an effect on this summer's high season.

After starting operations in 2012, the airline expanded quickly to 37 destinations and reported up to 60 percent annual growth in passenger numbers. Its revenue per passenger, however, has not kept up and fell by about 20 percent in 2017, according to the last earnings report.

Stranded passengers set to travel with Icelandic airline Wow, wait in line at Iceland's international airport in Keflavik on Thursday

WOWs' troubles have put a spotlight on how difficult it is to make budget travel across the Atlantic work financially because the biggest source of profits on these routes are higher-paying business travelers.

Rival Norwegian Air Shuttle, which has also struggled to make profits, recently started offering 'premium' budget travel to capture some of that market.

Analysts at investment firm Stifel note that WOW accounted for just one percent of air traffic capacity between the U.S. and Europe, but that by offering low prices it put pressure on other airlines to cut fares.

They say that among competitors, United Airlines stands to gain most on U.S. routes from WOW's demise. Icelandair was quick to offer stranded WOW travelers cheap tickets .

'I will never forgive myself for not acting sooner,' said WOW founder Skuli Mogensen in a letter to employees Thursday. 'WOW was clearly an incredible airline and we were on the path to do amazing things again.'
Four people have been charged over the death of a pregnant Gold Coast nurse who was allegedly kidnapped and murdered in India.

Ravneet Kaur, 29, went missing from the village of Bagge Ke Pipal on the Pakistan-India border while on holiday with her four-year-old daughter on March 14. Her body was found 200km away in a canal in Lehragaga.

Her husband, businessman Jaspreet Singh, was in Australia at the time but local police allege he was having an affair and arranged the murder with his mistress.

Indian police have claimed she was speaking with her husband on the phone when she went missing.

Punjab police inspector Mohit Dhawan said four people have been charged in relation to Ms Kaur's death and there were discussions with the Australian High Commission about extraditing Singh to India, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

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Ravneet Kaur (pictured with her husband and their daughter), who lives on the Gold Coast, went missing from the village of Bagge Ke Pipal on the Pakistan-India border on March 14

Indian police have claimed Ms Kaur (pictured) was speaking with her husband on the phone when she went missing

Inspector Dhawan said an alleged 'murder conspiracy' resulted in the kidnap of Ms Kaur (pictured)

Inspector Dhawan said an alleged 'murder conspiracy' resulted in the kidnap of Ms Kaur.

'The maximum punishment for this offence is the death penalty, that's on the prosecutor and the judge,' he said.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in India but has only been carried out five times since 1995. It is done by hanging by the neck until death.

Australia has a long-standing policy of not allowing people who are facing the death penalty to be extradited.

One of the people charged in relation to Ms Kaur's death has denied being involved.

Australian Federal Police officers are expected to travel to Punjab to meet with Indian authorities.

Gold Coast police sources said they have not communicated with Indian police or Interpol in relation to the case.

One of the people being investigated by police reportedly went to the Surfers Paradise police station on Wednesday before leaving.

Ravneet Kaur went missing from the village of Bagge Ke Pipal on the Pakistan-India border on 14 March. Her body was found on Monday night in a canal 200km away in Lehragaga

Police believe Ms Kaur, 29, was sedated, driven away and killed before her body was dumped

THE DISAPPEARANCE AND DEATH OF RAVNEET KAUR February 27, 2018 - Ravneet Kaur travelled to Punjab with her four-year-old daughter to visit family in Punjab, India. March 14 - Ms Kaur goes missing from the village of Bagge Ke Pipal on the Pakistan-India border. March 15 - A woman who was allegedly having an affair with Ms Kaur's husband returns to Australia from India. March 25 - Ms Kaur's body is found in a canal in Lehragaga, 200km away from where she was last seen. Advertisement

An Attorney-General's Department spokesman said they would not comment on the case.

'As a matter of longstanding practice the Australian Government does not comment publicly on extradition matters, including whether it has received an extradition request, until the person is arrested or brought before a court pursuant to a request,' the spokesman said.

Ms Kaur, 29, who was pregnant, arrived in India on February 27 to visit her friends and family with her four-year-old daughter.

The Indian-born woman was meant to return on March 22.

Ms Kaur had been employed at Tricare in the Gold Coast and was described as a devoted worker and mother and was reportedly expecting a son.

Police have alleged Mr Singh was wanting to move to Canada with his mistress, who is also an Australian citizen.

Mr Singh denied the allegations in an interview with SBS Punjabi.

'I don't know what the basis of all these allegations is,' he said.

'I can't say anything. I will have to go to India and find out what happened. I have no role in this whatsoever.'

Indian authorities have been working with the Australian High Commission in New Dehli, police said.
The heartbroken wife of Jeremy Richman, the father of a Sandy Hook victim who took his own life this week, is paying tribute to her late husband.

Jennifer Hensel says her husband Jeremy 'succumbed to the grief that he could not escape' after they lost their six-year-old daughter Avielle in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012.

The 49-year-old father was found dead in his Connecticut office building on Monday morning of an apparent suicide.

'Side by side since 1991, Jeremy and I walked a path of deep friendship, marriage, and parenthood,' Hensel wrote in a moving note in a GoFundMe page for Richman's funeral arrangements.

Jennifer Hensel is paying tribute to her husband Jeremy Richman who took his own life on Monday. The couple lost their first daughter Avielle in the bloody Sandy Hook massacre

Hensel shared a personal note on a GoFundMe page raising money for Richman's funeral saying: 'He succumbed to the grief that he could not escape'

A GoFundMe page for their family as raised over $18,000 of the $30,000 goal by Thursday evening

'As you may know, our first born, our beautiful Avielle was murdered at Sandy Hook school in 2012. In 2013, we founded the Avielle Foundation to honor her life.

'The work of the Avielle Foundation is meaningful. But my champion and the love of my life is the person who had every tool in the toolbox at his disposal. He succumbed to the grief that he could not escape,' she added.

Richman and Hensel lost Avielle in Sandy Hook but shared two other children together - four-year-old Imogen and two-year-old Owen - who brought 'a renewed sense of joy and hope' to their lives.

'Imogen and Owen are imaginative, fun, caring, sweet, curious and RIDICULOUSLY loving. They are a true reflection of Jeremy and me. Our family is our true legacy,' she said.

'To parent our children without my champion shatters my heart and I will love my best friend forever,' Hensel said.

Following Sandy Hook, Richman and Hensel founded the Avielle Foundation, a violence prevention charity, in their daughter's name and dedicated their lives to raising awareness about gun violence.

The group not only rallied to stop violence but it conducted brain research to determine what leads to violence.

Jeremy Richman, 49, (right) was found dead from an apparent suicide at his Connecticut office on Monday. Richman and his wife Jennifer Hensel (left) lost their six-year-old daughter Avielle Richman (center) in the Sandy Hook massacre

Police said the body of Jeremy Richman was found in his Connecticut office building on Monday morning. His daughter Avielle Richman was among those killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre

On Monday at around 7am police were called to the Edmond Town Hall where Richman has an office to investigate reports of a suicide.

Richman - who was a mental health advocate - was dead when first responders arrived, police said.

'The death appears to be a suicide, but police will not disclose the method or any other details of the death, only to state the death does not to appear to be suspicious,' Newtown Police said in a statement.

Richman's body was taken to the Connecticut State Medical Examiner's office to undergo an autopsy.

'This is a heart breaking event for the Richman family and the Newtown Community as a whole, the police department's prayers are with the Richman family right now, and we ask that the family be given privacy in this most difficult time,' Police Lt. Aaron Bahamonde said.

For Richman, the work became a full-time pursuit and he gave up his job as a researcher at the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim to dedicate himself to the foundation.

Police said they were called to the Edmond Town Hall where Richman has an office at about 7am on Monday to investigate reports of a suicide. The hall is pictured above during a memorial for the Sandy Hook victims

The Avielle foundation provides grants for projects on topics including the effects that abuse, neglect and adversity have on the brain and the links between behavior and biochemistry.

Richman was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Violence Summit just last week at the FAU Brain Institute at Florida Atlantic University.

Richman and Hensel were honored for their advocacy by the psychiatry department at the Yale School of Medicine in 2016.

'The brain is just another organ and you don't have to be a neuroscientist to recognize that it can be healthy, it can be unhealthy, and that you need to feel comfortable advocating for your own brain health and the brain health of your loved ones,' Richman said back in 2016.

'We feel that the failure to do that led in large part to the tragedy at Sandy Hook.'

Richman and Hensel were among a group of Sandy Hook parents suing InfoWars host Alex Jones for calling the 2012 massacre a hoax on his show.

Richman founded and ran the Avielle Foundation - a violence prevention charity - with his wife Jennifer Hensel in honor of their daughter's death. They are pictured above just one month after the Sandy Hook massacre

The Avielle Foundation was created within months of the couple losing their daughter with the goal of reducing violence

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who has lobbied for stricter gun laws since the shooting, tweeted on Monday that he devastated about Richman's death

The lawsuit filed in Connecticut say that Jones' comments on Infowars have tormented them and subjected them to harassment and death threats by his followers.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who has lobbied for stricter gun laws since the shooting, tweeted on Monday that he devastated about Richman's death.

'My god. This is awful, horrible, devastating news. Jeremy was a good friend and an unceasing advocate for better research into the brains violence triggers. He was with me in my office two weeks ago, excited as could be about the Avielle Foundations latest amazing work,' Murphy said.

Richman's death is the third suicide in a week that is related to school shooting massacres.

Sydney Aiello, who survived the Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year, died by suicide last week.

The teenager, who graduated last year, had been diagnosed with PTSD.

A second student - 16-year-old Calvin Desir - at the same school died on Saturday in what police said was an apparent suicide.

Richman's daughter Avielle was among the 20 children shot dead when a gunman stormed Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 15, 2012

TWO PARKLAND MASSACRE SURVIVORS DIE BY SUICIDE: Two students at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have taken their own lives in just one week. Sydney Aiello, who survived the massacre last year, died by suicide last week. The teenager, who graduated from the school last year, had been diagnosed with PTSD. Sydney's family said she had suffered from 'survivor's guilt' after losing her best friend Meadow Pollack in the shooting that left 17 students and staff dead. Sydney Aiello, who graduated from Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year, took her own life last week after her family said she suffered from survivor's guilt Calvin Desir, 16, was identified by family as the male sophomore at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who died in an apparent suicide Saturday night Calvin Desir, 16, was a sophomore at the school and died on Saturday night in an apparent suicide. Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky said Monday that community leaders, government officials, parents, police and others held an emergency meeting after the second student killed himself over the weekend. The February 14, 2018, shooting at the 3,200-student school killed 14 students and three staff members and wounded 17 others. Some students have begun counting the two suicides among the victims of the shooting. Advertisement
Donald Trump Jr. called the 'Green New Deal' proposal backed by 29-year-old Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 'dangerous' and 'stupid' on Thursday after he spoke to a cheering throng in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Trump Jr. piled on Ocasio-Cortez during an interview at the Van Andel Arena before President Donald Trump's arrival onstage.

The president's eldest son drew chants of 'AOC Sucks!' during his warmup speech after blasting the Democratic presidential field for taking policy cues from a first-term congresswoman 'who three weeks ago didnt know the three branches of government. I dont know about you guys, but thats pretty scary.'

Afterward, he told DailyMail.com that the components of the Green New Deal 'are just dangerous. I think they're stupid, they're reckless.'

Donald Trump Jr. (left) piled on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (right) during an interview in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thursday; he said Green New Deal environmental policies 'are just dangerous. I think they're stupid, they're reckless'

President Donald Trump mocked the Green New Deal in his own rally speech on Thursday but joked that he didn't want Republicans to quickly laugh it off so it would be around for him to run against next year

He blasted Ocasio-Cortez for rejoicing after Amazon.com canceled its plans to locate one of its east-coast headquarters in a part of New York City near her congressional district.

Ocasio-Cortez opposed the Amazon project because the jobs were to be non-unionized, and because of billions in tax incentives New York City and state promised the company.

'You chase away 25,000 six-figure jobs in New York City?' Trump Jr. said Thursday night. 'That's just reckless and dangerous.'

'And putting someone in there and giving them the amount of press that she has received with no experience, no nothing?'

He cited the near-universal lampooning of the Green New Deal's emphasis on eliminating airplane travel, saying: 'I don't think too many people want to take the bus to Hawaii. You know, that's just  it's ridiculous.'

Donald Trump Jr. tosses hats to the audience during a rally in Grand Rapids on Thursday

'I just don't think she understands policy,' he charged. 'You can be intelligent and not understand policy. I don't think she can understand the ramifications of that. ... She's talking about a lot of things I think she couldn't possibly understand the gravity of.'

President Trump didn't criticize Ocasio-Cortez by name during his speech minutes later, but he mocked the Green New Deal as a gift-wrapped parody that he can run against in 2020.

'It's the craziest system I've ever seen, he said.

'I'd rather not talk about it tonight because I don't want to talk them out of it too soon, because I love campaigning against the Green New Deal,' Trump chuckled. 'I want them to make that a big part of their platform.'

'No more airplanes, no more cows, one car per family. One car! You're going to love that in Michigan!' he exclaimed.

Part of Trump's pitch to Michigan voters is a hard-edged trade policy that encourages automakers to produce cars in rust-belt states instead of shipping them into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada.

'Hey, how do you like the idea of one car per family? I don't think so. ... And it's got to be, of course, an electric car, even it if only goes, what, 160 miles?' he joked.

'No, we want to have a lot of cars per family, we want people to lead a great life and we want people to make those cars and we want all of these companies to keep coming to Michigan and all of the other great states.'

'And we had a a problem because when they didn't want the airplanes they were saying, "Well, how do you get to Europe? Nobody knew. How do you get to Australia? Nobody knew. But they're working on it,' the president said.

Both Donald Trumps, Sr. and Jr., spoke to a raucous crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed the Senate majority leader for holding a 'bluff vote' this week on her Green New Deal in which 43 Democrats voted 'present' rather than take a politically dicey position

The Green New Deal went down to defeat this week in a Senate floor vote by a 57-0 tally, with 43 Democrats voting 'present' instead of taking a position on a resolution in favor of it.

'The GOPs climate delaying is costing us lives + destroying communities. Iowa, Nebraska & many in the Midwest are catastrophically flooded right now, in one of the 1st major climate change disasters of 2019. A #GreenNewDeal urges us to pursue a plan on the scale of the problem,' Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

Her environmental blueprint is a statement of goals and doesn't make specific policy proposals, nor does it specify how it would pay for its ambitious plans.

Ocasio-Cortez's star rose fast when she came to Washington but it may be plummeting back to earth.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday found that just 23 per cent of Americans have a favorable view of the self-described democratic socialist.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee mocked he Green New Deal on the Senate floor Tuesday, saying its goal of ending airplane travel would leave Aquaman's preferred mode of transport as the only way to get from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii

Despite being on the April 1 cover of Time magazine, 38 per cent said they didn't know enough about her to decide.

Her own millennial age group, 18 to 34, provided her biggest thumbs-up  a 35 per cent approval rating.

And more Democrtas say she has beenbad for their political party than those who see her presence as a benefit.

The Green New Deal aims to slow global warming by ending reliance on fossil fuels within 10 years; upgrade power grids and buildings for maximum energy efficiency; overhaul transportation systems; and provide every American with a job and health care.

It also recommends a guaranteed income for every American  include those who are 'unable or unwilling to work.'

The conservative American Action Forum estimated the Green New Deal will cost $93 trillion. Other organizations have found the deal too vague to suggest a price tag. Forbes estimated just six of the goals would cost taxpayers roughly $2.5 trillion a year.
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Theresa May will challenge MPs to finally back Brexit with her allies warning another defeat for her deal would be a 'betrayal' of the 17.4million Britons who voted to leave the EU today.

In a high-stakes gamble, Mrs May will throw down the gauntlet to Labour and her own Eurosceptic MPs, amid fears that she risks a third, and possibly final, defeat and warnings that Britain will not cut ties with Brussels for five years.

If she does lose  and Parliament tries to make her accept a customs union and second referendum  allies fear she could be forced to call a General Election as early as next week.

A Whitehall source said another defeat for the Prime Minister's deal could see Brexit delayed for up to five years.

'Once you have taken part in the European elections, there is no limit on the number of extensions you could have during the lifetime of the parliament,' they said.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox warned that voters would feel 'betrayed' if the deal was not passed and Brexit was not delivered.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'This is a great historic moment for our country, this is about whether Parliament does what Parliament wants or whether Parliament does what the people want. I fear for the consequences if Parliament chooses to utterly ignore a promise that they made directly to the voters.'

Tory MP James Heappey tweeted: 'Today shouldve been Brexit Day. It still could be day on which Parliament finally agrees a plan and confirms our departure from EU. But only if we, at last, do what country is screaming for and vote for the frickin deal. Please colleagues. Please, please, please. Lets get this done'.

And in a warning about what will follow if the deal falls, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said today that Britain faces No Deal or a long delay to Brexit with Brussels deciding the conditions.

British Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at the House of Commons on Wednesday. She faces a third attempt to get her meaningful vote through

The Prime Minister made her move after deciding to take the dramatic step of splitting her deal in the hope of getting it through the Commons.

Theresa May's Brexit D-Day: What happens if it passes - and what happens if it fails What happens if it passes? Theresa May will have pulled off the most extraordinary - and unlikely victory - and Britain would be set to leave the EU on May 22. Britain wouldn't be guaranteed to leave in an orderly fashion, but it would be a huge step forward. The next hurdle would be actually getting the agreement into law via the Withdrawal Act, as well as the political declaration, not to mention any other Brexit legislation  all before May. If Parliament doesn't manage this, or request another extension, Britain would leave with No Deal, and no transition, on May 22. What if it doesn't pass? Theresa May's deal will most likely be killed off and she will lose control of Brexit. The chaos continues, and the ticking clock gets louder. They could try to have another go next week, but they would be up against a near-impossible April 12 deadline. As Parliament won't allow No Deal, the UK would be forced to go back to the EU cap in hand to ask for a longer extension of at least a year. That would mean the UK would take part in European Parliament elections in May. Mrs May has repeatedly said she would not swallow a Brexit delay beyond June. With MPs pushing for a softer Brexit or a second referendum - two of Mrs May's red lines - the most likely outcome appears to be a general election, which could be held as early as June. Advertisement

MPs will vote only on the 'divorce' element of the deal today  and not the political declaration on Britain's future relationship with the EU.

If Mrs May wins, the date of Brexit would be fixed at May 22, and Britain would not have to hold European Parliament elections the following day.

However, if she loses the vote, Mrs May is likely to have to return to the EU to seek another, longer delay  guaranteeing we would elect MEPs.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said he would now back the Withdrawal Agreement and hoped that a new leader who believed in Brexit would take over the future negotiations.

'I recognise, like many of my colleagues, that there are some fundamental flaws with this process,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today.

'But, that notwithstanding, I think that what we face is a Parliament made up substantially now of people who simply just do not want Brexit to take place. That majority now makes it almost impossible for us to do anything other than essentially to get what we have on the table.'

He added: 'I think it's time for us to take a decision, which is we want to leave, we want to be able to say to our constituents 'we have left, there is more that has to be done'.

'A new leader can therefore take that forward and a leader who really believes in Brexit, because the problem has been that the negotiations have been conducted under the idea that this is a damage limitation exercise.'

The warning came as:

A cross-party group of MPs led by Sir Oliver Letwin and Yvette Cooper threatened to change the law next week to force Mrs May to pursue a soft Brexit option, such as a customs union;

Boris Johnson, who dropped his opposition to the deal after Mrs May agreed to step down, was reported to have declared it 'dead';

Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab made a bid for the Eurosceptic vote in the coming leadership election by refusing to back the deal and urging Mrs May to go back to Brussels and negotiate;

Former chief whip Mark Harper and Tory grandee Crispin Blunt indicated they would now back the deal;

Mrs May's former deputy Damian Green suggested she would 'soldier on' as Prime Minister if her deal is defeated, despite ministers warning privately she could not lead the party into another election;

Writing in the Mail, Iain Duncan Smith urged his fellow European Research Group members to back the deal, saying 'Brussels will have Britain over a barrel' if the vote is lost;

Nigel Farage will lead a pro-Brexit rally outside Parliament while MPs are voting.

Ministers hope the symbolism of MPs voting on the day the UK was originally due to leave the European Union will pile pressure on opponents of the deal to back down. They also believe the public would blame MPs for blocking Brexit.

Tory leadership candidate Michael Gove leaves home for a run on Thursday as the Prime Minister fights to save her deal. Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured on Thursday) has urged hardline Eurosceptics to back Theresa May or face losing Brexit

Theresa May is rolling the dice on another vote on her divorce deal on Friday after finding a way around John Bercow's (pictured on Thursday in the Commons) 'sabotage' of the plan

On Thursday Boris Johnson branded Theresa May's Brexit deal 'dead' - less than 24 hours after he sensationally backed it - and will call on Mrs May to quit even if she doesn't deliver Brexit

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (pictured left, on Thursday) and David Lidington (pictured right on Thursday) confronted John Bercow on Thursday morning to establish whether he would allow a new vote on the Brexit deal

The Prime Minister will use what was supposed to be Brexit Day to hold a vote on just the legally binding divorce deal and not the political declaration - meaning the Speaker could not rule it out

Veteran Tory Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash said he believed there was enough opposition to the Brexit divorce deal to ensure it is again defeated.

Sir Bill, chairman of the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'I think there will be enough, and of course the DUP have shown themselves to be very firm on the subject.

'There are good reasons for this, because first of all the issue of whether or not we control our own laws includes Northern Ireland in relation to the backstop.

'It also includes the question of whether or not the British people will be governed, for the first time in their history - literally - by 27 other member states, by majority votes, and decisions there will be taken behind closed doors, without a transcript, and largely led by Germany and France.'

Sir Bill rejected the assertion that it was down to rebels like him that Brexit was not taking place today: 'Not remotely, I can assure you it is not through our actions, it is the Government, it is the Prime Minister and it is 30 Remainers collaborating with Labour who actually achieved that objective.'

Commons Speaker John Bercow, who had threatened to block a third vote on Mrs May's deal unless it was 'substantially' different, last night approved the vote, saying the decision to split the deal met his test.

Javid and Gove consider 'stop Boris' joint bid for Tory leadership after May Sajid Javid is floating the idea of a 'dream ticket' with Michael Gove as Chancellor that could see him become Prime Minister and would also shut Boris Johnson out of Downing Street, MailOnline can reveal. The pair are mulling whether Jeremy Hunt could be offered Home Secretary to drop his candidacy as part of the pact, while fellow Brexiteers Penny Mordaunt and Andrea Leadsom could also be handed promotions to fall into line, allies of Mr Javid have suggested. The 'Stop Boris' plot came as Mr Johnson - who is joint-favourite with Mr Gove to be the next Tory leader - backed Mrs May's Brexit deal only to pronounce it 'dead' hours later. The Prime Minister on Wednesday offered to sacrifice her leadership to win rebel Tories' backing for her deal, saying she will quit on May 22 if her deal passes this week. If the deal does not pass on Friday, May could stay and Brexit will thrown into chaos with rebel MPs trying to force a softer exit from the EU and ministers threatening to call an election. But Boris is now reportedly insisting Mrs May steps down even if her deal fails. MailOnline can reveal there are genuine fears that unless Mr Johnson's rivals agree a deal ahead of a leadership campaign their support could splinter, opening the door for the former Foreign Secretary to take over. As many as eight Cabinet ministers are expected to put their names forward and several are already out on manoeuvres today with former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab positioning himself as the No Deal candidate. Speaking on Thursday he said Mrs May should return to Brussels and demand they reopen negotiations so Britain can achieve a 'legally-binding exit from the Irish backstop'. He added: 'I think we should have sensible conversations over the two weeks we've got left around the suite of No Deal arrangements that can be made to mitigate any of the potential damage on either side'. Advertisement

But senior Tories acknowledge they face an uphill battle.

Mrs May's DUP allies last night said they would vote against the deal, despite days of frantic negotiations to win them round.

And despite Mrs May offering to resign before the second stage of Brexit talks, only a trickle of Tory Eurosceptics have switched sides.

MPs will today vote only on the withdrawal agreement, which sets out the separation terms.

They will not vote on the 'political declaration', which sets out the Government's vision for a close economic partnership outside both the customs union and single market.

The two documents have previously been bundled together.

Until now, Labour has objected to only the political declaration.

Justice minister Rory Stewart acknowledged that, with a bunch of hardline Eurosceptics dubbed 'the Spartans' still holding out, the Government would need the backing of some Labour MPs.

He said: 'What happens depends on Labour. The Labour front bench has said their problem is with the political declaration, not the withdrawal agreement. There is no reason for them to oppose it.'

But former minister Richard Benyon said Tory hardliners also had to face the reality that if they continue to reject the deal they will face a soft Brexit  or risk not leaving the EU at all.

He added: 'They need to recognise that there will be a softer Brexit if they don't help get this through. And tough on them, frankly.'

Mr Duncan Smith said: 'If I believed there was a scintilla of a chance that we could leave the EU with no deal, then I would not vote for Mrs May's deal today. But the brutal fact is that there isn't.'

The EU has indicated it is happy for the two elements to be split, with one source saying it was 'not an issue'.

If the withdrawal agreement is passed today, the UK's exit date would be fixed at May 22. But Mrs May would still have to implement both elements of the deal before then  or risk setting up another No Deal 'cliff edge' in late May.

Whitehall sources acknowledged that the odds are stacked against her winning today's vote.

But they warn she is running out of options. MPs are due to seize control of the parliamentary agenda again on Monday in the hope of identifying a majority for options such as a customs union or a second referendum.

Mrs May has said she will not accept options that breach the last Tory manifesto.

But Sir Oliver has indicated he will try to legislate on Wednesday to force her hand. One ally of Mrs May said she would have little choice but to call an election, as pursuing a customs union would tear the Tories apart.

As senior Tories began campaigning to replace Mrs May as party leader, one Cabinet minister raged last night: 'Everyone is building leadership campaigns and just looking at the prize.

But no one is doing anything to get the deal done.

'There's going to be nothing left! They're going to be fighting to be leader of the opposition.'

Brexit 'black hole' caused by MPs 'chasing rainbows' is costing jobs, say business leaders Jobs are being lost and firms are going to the wall because of the 'Brexit black hole' of uncertainty over the British economy, a business leader said. In an angry tirade at Westminster's politicians, British Chambers of Commerce director general Adam Marshall hit out at the 'political turmoil' caused by Brexit and warned that the country was not ready for a 'messy' no-deal scenario. There was already a 'growing list of business casualties' and 'in many parts of our economy, real world damage is happening right now'. Dr Marshall said firms faced: 'Increased costs. Orders lost to competitors elsewhere. Contracts unrenewed or put on hold. 'Investments postponed, cancelled or diverted elsewhere. Queries from customers that simply can't be answered.' He added: 'Business want to get on and escape from the gravitational pull of the Brexit black hole that has sapped energy, investment and business confidence for far too long. 'But uncertainty is generating a growing list of business casualties and a litany of rising costs. That damage is happening right now.' In a stark message to MPs he said: 'To Westminster we say - we are frustrated, we are angry, you have let British business down. 'You have focused on soundbites not substance, tactics not strategy and politics not prosperity. 'Listening without hearing.' MPs could back Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement, agree to a long extension to the Brexit process in order to work out a fresh plan or revoke Article 50 altogether and commit to EU membership for the immediate future, he said. He acknowledged the options were all controversial but MPs could not carry on 'chasing rainbows'. 'Like all of us in business, they need to start making tough decisions, however personally or politically difficult they might be,' Dr Marshall said. Advertisement

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH: If we don't back the Prime Minister's deal, the EU's got us over a barrel

Yes, Theresa May's deal is very flawed. But after much reflection, I have reluctantly reached the conclusion that when we MPs debate it again today, I should support it. I urge my fellow members of the European Research Group to do so, too.

Previously, I voted against the deal because I have passionately wanted Britain to get better terms, particularly on the Backstop.

However, as a result of some inept negotiation, that has sadly not been the case. We have therefore been left with a difficult choice.

My concern is that if we don't approve the Prime Minister's EU withdrawal deal, Brussels will have Britain over a barrel. Westminster would be obliged to come up with an alternative exit proposal by April 12.

Yes, Theresa May's deal is very flawed. But after much reflection, I have reluctantly reached the conclusion that when we MPs debate it again today, I should support it, writes Iain Duncan Smith

If that happens, I am convinced that the overwhelmingly Remainer majority in the Commons would try to force through a much softer Brexit, and possibly no Brexit at all.

Not only that. The other 27 national EU leaders now have the power to respond by making it tougher for Britain by demanding an extension to Article 50. This could mean us staying in the EU for another two years and British voters taking part in the European Parliament elections in May.

If I believed there was a scintilla of a chance that we could leave the EU with no deal, then I would not vote for Mrs May's deal today. But the brutal fact is that there isn't.

There are those who argue that the EU won't offer us an extension to Article 50 because they just want us out. But I don't agree.

As Donald Tusk and Angela Merkel have made clear, they want Britain to stay and they do not want a No Deal exit.

You only have to look at who, in this country, is arguing for an extension to Article 50 to understand the true threat. They include Tony Blair, who, in recent weeks, has reportedly been briefing France's president, Emmanuel Macron, on how to force Britain to stay in the EU.

I urge my fellow members of the European Research Group to do so, too, writes Iain Duncan Smith

Blair has made it clear that he wants a long extension, for one simple reason: He knows it's a means of stopping Brexit.

While there is much wrong with the Government's deal, it will allow Britain to leave the EU  even if we voluntarily accept the EU's rules and regulations during an implementation period.

Repealing the 1972 European Community Act at least means, too, that under a new Conservative leader, we would be able to enter trade talks, which are the next stage of the process, with renewed vigour and confidence as a nation. We would be a sovereign nation again.

Above all, we would be able to achieve the kind of settlement that could lead our country out of the mire of protracted Brexit negotiations, which have meant paralysis at Westminster, and towards a bright and prosperous future.

What happens next? JACK DOYLE answers all the questions on May's last chance to get her Brexit deal over the line

What happens today?

MPs will vote on the Mrs May's withdrawal agreement. This is the vast, legally binding treaty that deals with the exit part of Brexit and contains the money  about 39 billion  the 'transition period' to the end of 2020, and the rights of EU citizens and UK citizens on the continent.

How is this different from previous votes?

The first two times Mrs May put her deal to the Commons, MPs were also voting to approve the so-called 'political declaration'. This sets out the likely shape of the future relationships between the EU and the UK on trade, immigration and security.

Why has she now separated the two?

Short answer: Speaker Bercow. Invoking ancient Commons rules, he declared last week that the Government could not bring back the same motion before the Commons again and again. This threw a grenade into Downing Street's strategy. After talks with Attorney General Geoffrey Cox yesterday, he agreed to the new plan. There is also a political reason: to heap pressure on Labour to let Brexit pass. Will the party  and all its MPs in Leave seats  which pledged to respect the referendum result once again vote against Brexit on the day we were originally meant to be leaving?

These are the results of the indicative votes on Brexit, in order of preference. It shows that while MPs can't find a consensus they lean heavily towards a softer Brexit or second referendum

Why do it today?

It's near enough a last roll of the dice. Mrs May might have preferred to take a few more days to rally her MPs but she is up against a fixed deadline, and also has some momentum in her own party. When the EU agreed last week to extend Article 50  and delay Britain's Brexit date  it set her a target of 11pm tonight. If the withdrawal agreement is passed by then, she would have until May 22 to pass the rest of it, and related Brexit legislation, and get out. If not, the extension to Brexit is only until April 12, less than two weeks away.

What are the chances of success?

Slim at best. The DUP has already announced it will vote against it. Despite the best efforts of Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, who was drafted in to try to win the Unionists over, they don't appear to be budging. Labour will tell its MPs to vote against, calling the proposal 'the blindest of blind Brexits', even though the party has accepted in principle the need for the withdrawal agreement and its claim to respect the referendum result. There are also about 50 hardline Brexiteer Tory MPs who are refusing to back the deal. But Labour MPs in Leave seats will come under huge pressure to vote in favour or abstain.

What happens if it passes?

We wouldn't be guaranteed to leave in an orderly fashion, but it would be a huge step forward. That is a victory ministers would bite your hand off for. The next hurdle would be actually getting the agreement into law via the Withdrawal Act, as well as the political declaration, not to mention any other Brexit legislation  all before May. If Parliament doesn't manage this, or request another extension, Britain would leave with No Deal, and no transition, on May 22.

What if it doesn't pass?

The chaos continues, and the ticking clock gets louder. They could try to have another go next week, but they would be up against a near-impossible April 12 deadline. As Parliament won't allow No Deal, the UK would be forced to go back to the EU cap in hand to ask for a longer extension of at least a year. That would mean the UK would take part in European Parliament elections in May. Mrs May has repeatedly said she would not swallow a Brexit delay beyond June.

What about this week's 'indicative' votes?

Another key factor. After the process of voting on alternative Brexit options orchestrated by Sir Oliver Letwin failed to find an answer on Wednesday, he's going to have another go too. On Monday, expect all the alternatives to be put back before MPs  a customs union, a second referendum, the 'Norway model' and No Deal. If one passes  and customs union appears to be the only real runner  MPs plan to pass legislation on Wednesday to compel Mrs May to do what they say.

What happens then?

If the Commons agrees to a customs union Brexit, she faces a gruesome choice. Could she really accept something which contradicts her manifesto and delivers a Brexit she knows is worse than hers, and would rip the Tory Party into pieces? Could she try to 'prorogue' Parliament  ending the session, suspending the Commons for a few days then coming back to have another go at her deal and killing off any customs union law in the process? Or could she hit the last emergency button at her disposal, and call a General Election?

PM 'could stay if she loses vote'

Theresa May could 'soldier on' in Downing Street indefinitely if her Brexit deal is defeated, a close ally said yesterday.

In a dramatic gamble on Wednesday night, she told Tory MPs she was ready to quit this summer if her twice-defeated Brexit deal is finally approved in in the Commons.

Using that timetable she would resign as Tory leader on May 23, remaining as PM only until the party selects a new leader.

Damian Green, who served as Mrs May's deputy, predicted she would try to cling on, at least until Britain's divorce from the EU is finalised

But Downing Street indicated that her offer applied only if her deal gets through in the coming weeks.

And Damian Green, who served as Mrs May's deputy, predicted she would try to cling on, at least until Britain's divorce from the EU is finalised.

With speculation mounting that the Brexit crisis could spark a snap election, Mrs May could even find herself leading the Tories into another poll.

Mr Green, a friend of Mrs May's since university days, said: 'She will take the path of soldiering on because she sees the great duty of her and her Government is to get a Brexit deal. She will carry on for as long as she is Prime Minister doing that.

'Absolutely the last thing the country would need now would be a Prime Minister who walked away and said 'OK, choose someone else'. This is very serious.'

Addressing the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs on Wednesday night, the Prime Minister acknowledged there was 'a desire for a new approach  and new leadership  in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations  and I won't stand in the way of that'.

She was silent on what would happen if her deal failed to get through for a third time.

What sort of Brexit DO MPs want? Commons shows support for a second referendum, a customs union and Labour's plan for a soft Brexit but with no clear majority for any option

The backbench plot to snatch control of Brexit hit a wall on Wednesday as none of the alternatives to Theresa May's deal secured a majority - but MPs still showed Britain they favour a softer Brexit or a second referendum - and will never deliver No Deal.

On Wednesday evening, in an unprecedented move, politicians seized control of the Commons timetable from Theresa May to hold so-called indicative votes.

The poll showed Parliament is close to agreeing on a soft Brexit with a plan for the UK remaining in a customs union with the EU defeated by 272 votes to 264, while a second referendum was rejected by 295 votes to 268.

MPs were handed green ballot papers on which they voted Yes or No to eight options, ranging from No Deal to cancelling Brexit altogether. However, the votes descended into shambles as MPs rejected each and every one of the proposals - although its architect Sir Oliver Letwin always warned there wouldn't be a winner first time.

Ten Tories  including ministers Sir Alan Duncan, Mark Field and Stephen Hammond  supported an SNP plan to give MPs the chance to revoke Article 50 if a deal has not been agreed two days before Brexit. Some 60 Tory MPs backed the option of remaining in the single market.

The results of Wednesday's votes, in order of preference, were:

Confirmatory public vote (second referendum) - defeated by 295 voted to 268, majority 27.

Customs union - defeated by 272 votes to 264, majority eight.

Labour's alternative plan - defeated by 307 votes to 237, majority 70.

Revocation to avoid no-deal - defeated by 293 votes to 184, majority 109.

Common market 2.0: defeated by 283 votes to 188, majority 95.

No Deal: defeated by 400 votes to 160, majority 240.

Contingent preferential arrangements - defeated by 422 votes to 139, majority 283.

Efta and EEA: defeated by 377 votes to 65, majority 312.

Shadow housing minister Melanie Onn resigned after Jeremy Corbyn ordered his MPs to back a raft of soft Brexit plans, as well as a second referendum.

Some 27 Labour MPs defied the whip to reject a so-called 'confirmatory vote' on any Brexit deal. The party had instructed them to support the plan just hours after one of its senior frontbenchers publicly warned that it would be a mistake.

Sir Oliver Letwin, the architect of the Commons move, on Thursday insisted the indicative votes were not intended to give a precise answer right away - and will hold another round of votes on Monday.

MPs are due to hold a second round of votes - unless Mrs May can get her deal through first - after none of the eight options debated on Wednesday was able to command a majority. It could be that the eight options are cut down to the most popular.

Sir Oliver told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'At some point or other we either have to get her deal across the line or accept that we have to find some alternative if we want to avoid no deal on the 12th, which I think at the moment is the most likely thing to happen.

'At the moment we are heading for a situation where, under the law, we leave without a deal on the 12th, which many of us think is not a good solution, and the question is 'Is Parliament on Monday willing to come to any view in the majority about that way forward that doesn't involve that result?''

MPs will take control of the Commons order paper again on Monday, so they can narrow down the options if Mrs May's deal has not been agreed by then  or pass legislation to try and impose their choice on her. Speaking in the Commons after the results, Sir Oliver said: 'It is of course a great disappointment that the House has not chosen to find a majority for any proposition.

'However, those of us who put this proposal forward as a way of proceeding predicted that we would not even reach a majority and for that very reason put forward a ... motion designed to reconsider these matters on Monday.'
Authorities fear two boys who fled from police into crocodile-infested mangroves may have been taken by the reptiles.

The boys were in a stolen car when police intercepted it at Mount Elliot near Townsville before dawn on Friday.

The boys, aged in their mid to late teens, fled on foot and ran into mangroves about 4.30am and have not been seen since.

The boys were last seen at Cape Cleveland Road near Australian Institute of Marine Science

North Queensland is crocodile country and police are still searching the mangroves for the pair.

The boys are described as Aboriginal.

Police want to hear from anyone who saw the boys or picked them up.

North QLD is crocodile country and police are still searching the mangroves for the boys (file picture)

If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day.

You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, by calling 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersqld.com.au 24hrs per day.
A woman who spent $3,000 to have her neck tattoos removed so she could work for the police has been rejected again after reapplying for the job  because of the ink on her arms.

Kalgoorlie woman, Annie Hosking, said she was knocked back the first time for a flower tattoo on her neck.

Because of this she spent '$3,000 and eight painful months' on removing the tattoo, she told The West Australian.

Ms Hosking was rejected a second time for tattoo sleeves on her arms which she claims were not flagged as a problem the first time.

Annie Hosking (pictured) shows off her arm tattoos. Because of these she has been rejected as a recruit by the Western Australian Police Force

Now she wants to meet Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson for an explanation.

'It's an absolute joke being discriminated against over ink on your skin,' she said.

Mr Dawson has stood by the policy banning officers from having face, neck or hand tattoos.

While the WA police tattoo ban explicitly includes face, neck and hand tattoos, it can extend to tattoos 'that would potentially be visible if an officer wore a short sleeve top and shorts'.

According to the WA police recruit application form these tattoos need to be photographed, and have their meanings explained, at which time they will need to 'assessed and approved.'

Ms Hosking (pictured showing her back tattoos) paid $3000 to remove a tattoo from her neck after it prevented her from joining the WA Police

It is not clear whether Ms Hosking had gone through this process.

The latest incident comes after Ryan Banting, who served in the defence force for ten years, was told he couldn't proceed with his application to join the WA police because of the 'lest we forget' tattoo on his neck.

People on social media reacted with comments that the decision was 'discriminatory' and 'ridiculous because tattoos did not affect an officer's performance'.

Ms Hosking (pictured with her arm tattoos) wants a meeting with WA Police Commissioner, Chris Dawson, to discuss the issue

Some added that Mr Banting was being punished for a tattoo that respected Anzacs.

Mr Dawson denied the decision was about either patriotism or character, but about uniform standards.

You've got to have a standard and the standard we've got in fact is very similar to the Defence Force,' he said.

He added that Mr Banting could reapply once his neck tattoo had been removed, but Mr Banting has said he did not want to remove the tattoo because of its significance.
The detective who led the first Jill Dando murder investigation has claimed it is unlikely anyone else will stand trial for killing the BBC Crimewatch presenter.

Hamish Campbell, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Metropolitan Police at the time of the killing, helped convict Barry George of shooting the broadcaster dead outside her home in Fulham 20 years ago.

Former stuntman Mr George, 58, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001, but was acquitted seven years later after his conviction was quashed and a retrial ordered.

The case remains unsolved, but Mr Campbell told an upcoming BBC documentary he does not believe anybody else will ever stand trial for murdering Miss Dando, 37, outside her west London home in April 1999.

BBC Crimewatch presenter Jill Dando, 37, was shot dead outside her west London home in April 1999

Hamish Campbell (pictured), the detective who led the first murder investigation, has said he does not believe anybody else will ever stand trial for murdering Miss Dando

He said: 'Sometimes I felt we were a day away from solving it and other times, I thought "no, we're a long way away".

'Senior officers were asking "what are the likelihoods of this case being resolved?"

'We had over 2,000 people named as potential suspects or responsible. Some actions to trace and eliminate one person might take a day. One action might take two weeks.

'But there's thousands of them and that's the issue of managing stranger homicides.'

The new documentary reveals the decision-making happening behind the scenes of the inquiry into Miss Dando's murder.

It will show how a particle of gunshot residue in the pocket of a coat police found in Barry George's house became the key forensic evidence against him.

Former stuntman Barry George, 58, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001, but was acquitted seven years later after his conviction was quashed and a retrial ordered

The new documentary reveals the decision-making happening behind the scenes of the inquiry into Miss Dando's murder

The gunshot residue evidence was discredited at Georges 2007 appeal, when his murder conviction was quashed. It was deemed inadmissible as evidence at his 2008 retrial, when he was cleared.

Mr Campbell and the Metropolitan Police faced criticism after Mr George was cleared, but maintained that they had never used the convicted sex offender as a scapegoat.

He said: 'There's always been the view, in the media and elsewhere, that the police chose Barry George somehow as a scapegoat and for want of a better word, a patsy, for the investigation team because we couldn't solve it.

'That is somewhat insulting and completely untrue, and wrong.'

It comes days after Mr George told the Daily Mail that he would continue to fight for justice following the Governments refusal to compensate him for the years he spent in prison.

Compensation is only paid when the court quashes a conviction because a new fact has emerged to show beyond reasonable doubt that the applicant did not commit the offence.

How can you be acquitted unanimously by judge and jury, which means you (regain) innocent status, but then get told you are not innocent enough? he asked us last week.

Mr Campbell, pictured in 2000, and the Met Police faced criticism after Mr George was cleared, but maintained that they had never used the convicted sex offender as a scapegoat

'How more innocent than innocent can a person be? I spent years in custody and then they have looked at the thing and decided Im not innocent enough.

Miss Dandos family still remain hopeful her killer will be brought to justice one day.

Speaking during the documentary, her brother Nigel Dando, 66, said: I would just like to know, why someone would want to kill her.

The film will also show how BBC director general Tony Hall, then Head of News at the BBC, was targeted with threatening phone calls in the weeks after Jill Dando's murder.

'We had three calls, as I recall, to the BBC switchboards in London and Belfast,' he said.

'I listened to the voice of one of them, which said basically, I was next. I mean they were threatening me. I have no idea what that amounted to, Was it a real threat? Was it not a threat?

'You know there are often copycat things that happen after these sorts of events, and the police took it seriously, but I don't know.'

The Murder of Jill Dando airs on Tuesday at 9pm on BBC One.
A botched announcement about Jeremy Corbyns plans to renationalise the National Grid wiped 900million off its share value in less than three hours yesterday.

Labour had planned to reveal details of the policy, but it was pulled after the top team chose to delay it until a less busy date.

But in a blunder, the story appeared on the BBC News website for a short period of time.

Labour's plans to renationalise the National Grid were revealed when the BBC News website published an article on them

National Grid's share price tumbled from 880.4p a share to 854.2p a share when Jeremy Corbyn's renationalisation plans were revealed

Jeremy Corbyn's policy ignited fears in investors that if Labour wins the next general election there could be radical changes in the UK

The shares fell from 880.4p at 8am to 854.20p at 10.50am, meaning that the value of the company plummeted by 893,499,281 in just under three hours.

Traders attributed the drop to the report, which they said outlined the plan to transfer the utility back to public ownership.

The policy rekindled worries among investors about potential radical changes to public policy if Labour wins a general election.

Chris Philp, a Tory MP and vice-chairman of the party, said: If this is the damage Jeremy Corbyns plans can do in three hours, imagine the damage he would do to the countrys finances.

Among its other policies, Labour has pledged to break up state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland.

The BBC News website published the article on Labour's plans for a few hours yesterday, before it was removed

In a speech yesterday, Confederation of British Industry director-general Carolyn Fairbairn said Labours renationalisation proposals would do profound harm to our economy.

In 2017, the National Grids chief executive John Pettigrew said renationalisation was the last thing the industry needs.

A spokesman for National Grid declined to comment. The Labour Party was not immediately available for comment.
Labour was accused of hypocrisy last night after pledging to oppose Theresa Mays plan to split her Brexit deal in two.

The Prime Minister had hoped the move would help get her deal through the Commons today. The idea would be to separate the deal into the political declaration and withdrawal agreement.

Labour has previously declared its opposition to the political declaration part, because it rules out a customs union.

Labour was accused of hypocrisy last night after pledging to oppose Theresa Mays plan to split her Brexit deal in two. (Pictured) Jeremy Corbyn with John McDonnell and Keir Starmer

Labour had not previusly opposed the legally-binding withdrawal agreement which dictates how Britain would leave the EU

Until now it has not opposed the other half  the withdrawal agreement, the legally-binding text which dictates the terms on which Britain will leave the EU. But Jeremy Corbyn said his MPs would not vote for it today, claiming it would result in a blindfold Brexit with no indication of the future arrangements sought with Brussels.

He stressed that he wanted to ensure an economic relationship which protects consumer, environmental and workers rights that did not lead us into the direction of turning this country into some kind of low-tax, offshore, deregulated economy, opening ourselves up to American trade arrangements. Last night, it emerged that a Labour briefing vote, written for MPs earlier this month before the second meaningful vote, had confirmed the party had no problem with the Irish backstop, which is in the withdrawal agreement.

It said: At this stage in the negotiations, any withdrawal agreement will need to include a backstop... So the focus of the changes Labour want to see is firmly on the political declaration.

The focus of Labours concern with this deal has never been on the backstop.

Labour has repeatedly emphasised that there needs to be fundamental change to the political declaration to ensure a close economic relationship with the EU. At no point in the document does the party say it rejects the withdrawal agreement.

The Prime Minister split her Brexit deal into a political declaration and withdrawal agreement in the hope of getting it through parliament

However, Sir Keir Starmer said you 'can't separate' the two parts. 'Labour will not support this latest desperate attempt by the PM,' he added

Despite this, Labour Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer said yesterday: The truth is, you cant separate the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration. And the Prime Minister knows it.

The Prime Minister and the EU know these documents cannot be separated. Yet now she may ask the Commons to pretend they can. Labour will not support this latest desperate attempt by the PM.

To now split the withdrawal agreement and political declaration would leave us with the blindest of blindfold Brexits. Labour will not countenance that. Tory MP Simon Hoare said: This is hypocrisy verging on duplicity. Its playground politics. Labour cant keep flip-flopping between support for a second referendum and honouring the referendum result.

Mrs May is still hopeful of gaining the support of up to 27 Labour rebels who defied their leader on Wednesday to vote against a second referendum.

She hopes they back the withdrawal agreement in a bid to honour their constituents desire for Brexit. Among the rebels was frontbencher Melanie Onn, who resigned as a housing spokesman to oppose a so-called Peoples Vote.
The boss of Britains biggest supermarket warned yesterday that hundreds of thousands of jobs will go unless ministers do more to help high street shops.

Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis called for business rates to be overhauled because they were unfair to firms that trade out of shops rather than those doing business online.

He said online retailers should face higher taxes to level the playing field and warned that retail was at a tipping point, with job losses between 2017 and 2022 expected to hit 380,000.

The business rates bill for Tesco, which has 3,400 stores in Britain and 300,000 staff, has doubled to around 700million each year in the past decade alone. However, Tesco boss Mr Lewis said online rivals had not faced a similar tax rise [File photo]

The crisis has been highlighted by the Daily Mails Save Our High Streets campaign, which urges ministers to reform business rates so that shops and online rivals can do business on the same footing.

Mr Lewis, 53, said: Retail in 2018 was brutal. Stores closed and businesses failed  61,000 jobs were lost between March and September alone, followed by a disastrous November and then, for many, the worst Christmas in a decade.

Critics say bricks and mortar shops are at a tax disadvantage while struggling with rising costs and tough competition from online giants.

For example, Amazons rates bill for its out-of-town warehouses is far smaller than some of Britains biggest high street names, even though its sales are higher.

Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis called for business rates to be overhauled because they were unfair to firms that trade out of shops rather than those doing business online. He said online retailers should face higher taxes to level the playing field [File photo]

Business rates have been partly blamed for the loss of 150,000 retail jobs last year, with up to another 175,000 predicted to go this year as more high street shops close their doors for the last time.

Firms were given some relief in the last budget, but business groups insist more needs to be done. Mr Lewis said ministers could help by easing the tax burden on shops and introducing a levy on internet sales to pay for the loss to the Treasury.

The business rates bill for Tesco, which has 3,400 stores in Britain and 300,000 staff, has doubled to around 700million each year in the past decade alone.

However, Mr Lewis said online rivals had not faced a similar tax rise, adding: We need to rethink our business rates system.

He told the British Chamber of Commerce conference in London: Rates have become a rising tax on investment while profit taxes have fallen. It is a drag on growth and a drag on competitiveness.

Theres no longer a balance between taxation and sales.

As 20 per cent of sales have gone online, the burden on business rates has stayed and increased on a declining sales base.

Thats why I believe it is time to consider an online sales levy so that the burden of tax can follow the sales.

The crisis has been highlighted by the Daily Mails Save Our High Streets campaign, which urges ministers to reform business rates so that shops and online rivals can do business on the same footing [File photo]

A 2 per cent levy on online sales could raise 1.5billion a year, he claimed  enough to fund a 20 per cent cut in business rates for shops.

Mr Lewis said: If the Government acts now, it could benefit millions of businesses across retail and the country, in the process saving thousands of jobs and preserving some of their social and economic value in our towns, villages and communities.

In this nation of shopkeepers, strong retail is important for a strong Britain.

However, Tesco itself has been accused of damaging the high street by opening out-of-town superstores, luring shoppers from town centres.

Its critics coined the phrase Tesco towns to describe areas where the chain had become so powerful that it faced little competition.
Allies of Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson exchanged fire yesterday in the opening skirmishes of a Tory leadership battle for the party's Brexit wing.

Brexiteer MPs backing Mr Raab accused his rival of 'flipping' at the last minute and showing 'poor judgment' after Mr Johnson announced he was backing the Prime Minister's deal.

One MP said: 'It's a massive cock up, isn't it? It doesn't show very good judgment, does it? Boris backs a deal he might not even get to vote on.

Imagine being the standard bearer for the Eurosceptics then flipping at the last minute to back the deal. One up for Dom, one down for Boris.'

Brexiteer MPs backing Mr Raab accused his rival of 'flipping' at the last minute and showing 'poor judgment' after Mr Johnson (pictured in Westminster) announced he was backing the Prime Minister's deal

Meanwhile, supporters of Michael Gove suggested he might have as many as 50 MPs signed up to back him.

One minister said the Environment Secretary was someone with 'impeccable Leave credentials' who had also 'bothered to reach out to Remainers'.

According to Paddy Power, Mr Gove is the favourite to be next Tory leader at 7/2, followed by Mr Johnson (4/1), Jeremy Hunt (8/1), Mr Raab (8/1), Sajid Javid (12/1) and Matt Hancock (18/1).

Last night Mr Johnson appeared to win the backing of Donald Trump. In a response to a question about the Tory leadership battle and Brexit, the President replied: 'I like Boris Johnson a lot. He's a friend of mine.'

Mr Johnson revealed his change of heart on the withdrawal agreement at a meeting of the European Research Group of MPs on Tuesday night, just minutes after Theresa May said she was prepared to step down as leader if her deal passed the Commons.

He had previously described the deal as a 'suicide vest' but now fears Brexit may be lost altogether and doesn't want to be blamed if it is.

Former Brexit secretary Mr Raab is among a small group of 30 to 40 Tory Eurosceptics refusing to fall in line, and yesterday he endorsed a so-called 'managed' No Deal.

Mr Raab told Sky News that Mrs May should go back to Brussels and demand a 'legally-binding' exit from the backstop and if that didn't work she should discuss how to manage a No Deal Brexit.

Former Brexit secretary Mr Raab is among a small group of 30 to 40 Tory Eurosceptics refusing to fall in line

Speaking outside his home in Surrey, he said: 'I think this is a time for pragmatism and realism.

One thing I would like to see is us go back to the EU again, keep the arm of friendship open, explain that there is still time for an exchange of letters providing a legally-binding exit from the backstop.

I know a lot of people will say, well, the EU just won't move; that's been treated as a fixture of these negotiations, rather than being tested.

'But if they still don't move, I think we should have sensible conversations over the two weeks we've got left over the suite of No Deal arrangements that can be made to mitigate any of the potential damage on either side, to European jobs and livelihoods, but also to UK jobs and livelihoods.'

An ally of Mr Johnson said: 'His position is the same. He is going to vote for the deal. If it doesn't go through he's not going to get the blame.'

Asked about Mr Raab's intervention, he said: 'Apart from the ERG I don't know who you're impressing.'

A report yesterday suggested Mr Johnson had told friends the deal was 'dead' despite his last-minute conversion. Sources close to Mr Johnson denied the claim.

Supporters of Environment Secretary Michael Gove suggested he might have as many as 50 MPs signed up to back him

Meanwhile, other potential candidates were also gearing up their campaigns. Allies of Health Secretary Mr Hancock were yesterday calling MPs to sound out whether they might support him.

It was also claimed Home Secretary Mr Javid had floated the idea of a 'dream ticket' with him as Prime Minister and Mr Gove as Chancellor.

The idea, which was dismissed out of hand by Mr Javid's friends, would be used to shut Mr Johnson out of Downing Street, it was said.

A senior Tory source described the idea as a 'grown-up and sensible solution' that would bring 'stability' at the top of the party, adding: 'We know Michael Gove's limitations in terms of public appeal.

Sajid Javid has broad support around the country, the polling evidence proves that. And the fact that he has a back story that no one else in the party has.'

In a speech to business chiefs yesterday, Treasury chief secretary Liz Truss endorsed the idea of securing a Canada-style trade deal  based on the free trade agreement negotiated between the EU and Canada  in the second round of the negotiations.

Miss Truss, who backed Remain, told the British Chambers of Commerce conference: 'I'm a free trader, I believe that we need to open our economy to the rest of the world.'
A Melbourne engineer who claims his boss 'Mr Stinky' 'thrusted his bum' and farted at him repeatedly has lost his bullying case on appeal.

David Hingst, 56, was seeking $1.8 million in a suit against his former employer Construction Engineering, but a judge had blasted the case out of the Supreme Court last year.

Despite the case being dismissed once again at Melbourne's Court of Appeal on Friday morning, Mr Hingst has vowed he will now take it to the High Court.

David Hingst, 56, (pictured) was seeking $1.8 million in a suit against his former employer Construction Engineering, but a judge had blasted the case out of the Supreme Court last year

Mr Hingst applied to appeal the case, saying 'flatulence was a form of bullying' and his ex-colleague Greg Short was a serial farter.

The Court of Appeal ruled against Mr Hingst, refusing to grant him leave to appeal and ordering him to pay the defendant's legal costs.

'The application will be refused, with costs,' Justice Phillip Priest said.

In response, Mr Hingst promised to take the case further.

'I'm taking it to the High Court,' he told the judges.

Mr Hingst did not speak to reporters outside court as he was seen briskly walking with an item of clothing held over his mouth and face.

On Monday, Mr Hingst gave details of the alleged bullying, saying Mr Short would come into his small, windowless office several times a day and break wind.

Despite being dismissed once again, Mr Hingst has vowed to take his case to the High Court

'He would fart behind me and walk away. He would do this five or six times a day,' he told AAP outside court.

He also said Mr Short had abused him over the phone, used profane language and at times taunted him with gestures.

'He thrusted his bum at me while he's at work,' Mr Hingst told the judges.

However the judges also heard that Mr Hingst had called his boss 'Mr Stinky' on several occasions and had sprayed deodorant on him.

Mr Hingst, who has represented himself throughout the 18-day trial and the appeal process, sought leave to appeal on several grounds.

Mr Hingst said he suffered a psychological injury as a result of the bullying and has not returned to work since he was dismissed from Construction Engineering a decade ago

He claimed he didn't get a fair trial as he felt under pressure from Supreme Court Justice Rita Zammit when questioning witnesses, and felt the judge was biased against him.

But Justice Priest on Monday said the judge seemed to show 'remarkable latitude' to Mr Hingst during the trial.

Mr Hingst said he suffered a psychological injury as a result of the bullying and has not returned to work since he was dismissed from Construction Engineering a decade ago.

His $1.8 million claim includes compensation for lost past and future earnings, having previously earned a salary of about $100,000 for his design and engineering work on building projects.
A university that made its vice-chancellor the highest paid in the country spent more than 16,000 on a portrait of her.

Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, 66, resigned from the University of Bath last year following an outcry over her 468,000 pay package.

It has now been revealed the university spent 16,398 on a framed oil painting of the academic.

The University of Bath forked out 16,000 for an oil painting of their ex-vice chancellor Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell (pictured with university chancellor the Earl of Wessex)

The painting was unveiled by the Earl of Wessex on February 25, in a ceremony that cost the university 750.

An accompanying plaque cost an additional 462, according to a freedom of information request.

Students were outraged at the cost of the artwork, which has since been removed from its place alongside other paintings of former vice-chancellors.

Eve Alcock, the president of Bath Students' Union, condemned the expenditure as 'a huge insult to the students'.

She told The Times: 'In a climate where we're lobbying for more money for mental health and well-being initiatives or bursaries and financial support, this news comes as a huge insult to the students.

'It highlights just how much governance reform was needed, because this was signed off between a small group of people with no check or balance.

The portrait was painted by artist Joshua Waterhouse and was unveiled by Price Edward in a ceremony costing another 750

'When you start to think about what sorts of things more than 16,000 could pay for to benefit students and their university experience, it is frustrating that the money was used on this.'

Joshua Waterhouse, who painted the portrait, declined to comment. Dame Glynis received an annual salary of 468,000, a 31,489 interest free loan for a car and rent-free accommodation in a 1.6million Georgian townhouse.

She was a member of the remuneration committee that since 2011 had bumped up her pay by almost 200,000 in five years.

There was widespread outrage after it was revealed she claimed 20,000 in expenses in 2017, including biscuits worth 2.

After resigning in August last year, she was granted a sabbatical on full pay before she retired in February.

A university spokesman said: 'Portraits have been commissioned for all previous vice-chancellors... to mark their contribution.'
A groom who started an attack at his own wedding reception which left a man with a fractured jaw has been sentenced.

The attack on 27 April last year featured on Channel 4 documentary Famous and Fighting Crime  and the two defendants in the case were interviewed by celebrity Penny Lancaster alongside the investigating officer.

The victim had been at a comedy club night at the Cresset, in Peterborough, with his partner who was then invited by her friend to the wedding reception of 30-year-old Luke Stone, of Goodwood Road in Bretton, Peterborough.

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Both defendants, Luke (pictured) and Joshua Stone, were sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on Thursday

The victim had entered the function room to the wedding reception, held in the same building, and was stood with his partner when the groom walked over and punched him in the face.

The man was immediately punched for a second time by the groom's brother Joshua, 22 of Kirkmeadow in Bretton, Peterborough, causing him to fall to the floor unconscious.

Staff at the Cresset Theatre placed the victim in the recovery position while they waited for police and paramedics. Both defendants left the scene before officers arrived.

The victim was taken to hospital with a fractured jaw. The assault was caught on CCTV and the defendants were arrested and interviewed the following day.

In police interview, with DC Sam Delmer and celebrity Penny, Luke Stone claimed he punched the victim because he feared being assaulted by the man himself.

Penny Lancaster (centre) interviewing Joshua Stone as part of the Channel 4 documentary

She was one of five well-known rookies being given the chance to see what it's like to be in the police

He claimed he wouldn't wish serious injury on anyone, but added that if he could say anything to the victim he would say 'don't gate-crash parties'.

The defendant admitted it was him in the CCTV footage and said in hindsight he should have got a staff member to ask the victim to leave the party.

In his police interview, Joshua Stone said he had been drinking all evening and admitted things had got 'messy'.

He accepted punching the victim but said he believed it was just a 'warning jab' and didn't mean to hit the man so hard.

The defendant watched the CCTV footage and showed remorse for what he had done. He said he wanted to protect his family and would have resolved the issue in 'a more civilised manner' if he hadn't been drinking.

Luke Stone previously pleaded guilty to common assault, while Joshua Stone previously admitted causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent.

Left to right, comedian Marcus Brigstocke, Gogglebox star Sandi Bogle, TV presenter Katie Piper, Made in Chelsea's Jamie Laing and Loose Women panellist Penny Lancaster

Miss Lancaster, 47, trained with the police for a new Channel 4 TV programme

Both defendants were sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court today (28 March).

Joshua Stone was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay 1,000 in compensation to the victim.

Luke Stone was handed a conditional discharge and ordered to pay 500 in compensation.

DC Sam Delmer, who investigated, said: 'On what should have been one of the happiest days of Luke Stone's life, he decided to punch another man, together with his brother, and then flee.

'This was a nasty and serious assault that was exacerbated by alcohol.

'The outcome for the victim, who was simply out having fun with his partner on a Friday night, could have been much worse and I'd like to praise him for supporting a conviction in this case.'
Brussels was war-gaming for a No Deal Brexit last night amid growing concern that Theresa Mays deal will be defeated again today.

Member states met Michel Barnier, the EUs chief negotiator, yesterday before discussing the high price Britain must pay to get round the table after a hard Brexit on April 12  the next cliff-edge for Brexit.

EU ambassadors said Britain would still have to pay the 39billion divorce bill agreed in Mrs Mays deal if it wanted trade talks.

Member states met Michel Barnier, the EUs chief negotiator, yesterday before discussing the high price Britain must pay to get round the table after a hard Brexit on April 12  the next cliff-edge for Brexit

The UK would have to signal its intention to settle the bill by April 18, ambassadors for the remaining 27 member EU states agreed.

They would also expect Britain to implement the terms of the controversial Irish backstop for avoiding a hard border.

According to one diplomatic note following yesterdays meeting, which claims the Good Friday Agreement requires the border to remain open: For the first couple of months there are some contingency measures in the EU side that mitigate the cliff and turn it into more of a steep hill.

But if the UK wants to avoid the cliff after that moment it will have to make good on its obligations under the Good Friday Agreement and outstanding tab.

The backstop issue has been the main sticking point for getting Mrs Mays deal through the Commons because it involves keeping Northern Ireland in parts of the single market while the rest of Britain would not be  something the DUP refuses to accept.

EU officials began setting out their terms yesterday as expectations of a No Deal Brexit grew after the Commons rejected eight Brexit options on Wednesday. They also believe Mrs Mays deal will be rejected for a third time by the Commons today.

In order to secure a trade deal with the bloc, EU ambassadors said Britain would still have to pay the 39billion bill agreed in Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement in the event of no deal

According to the diplomatic note, after Mr Barnier set out his concerns the bloc was stepping up its full-on crisis plans and discussing full-on prep for No Deal.

A senior diplomat said: Today the feeling is rather of resignation and acceptance that No Deal is likelier than ever.

EU ambassadors agreed the UK should return to the negotiating table pretty soon after a hard exit, asking to secure the vital lines and procedures needed for the UK economy to survive. Another source said: The EU is already discussing what their price is for entering those discussions.

The bloc has agreed to extend Brexit day to May 22 if Mrs Mays deal is passed. But another failure to ratify it in the Commons today would mean leaving on April 12

No Deal contingencies to keep planes flying and haulage routes open, which expire after nine months, were also talked about.

Member states were said to be preparing the crisis structure and conditionality for the EU to return to the table after Brexit.

The bloc has agreed to extend Brexit day to May 22 if Mrs Mays deal is passed. But another failure to ratify it in the Commons today would mean leaving on April 12.

It is thought the bloc could offer a longer extension before then only if Britain moved towards a softer Brexit, a second referendum or pledged to hold a general election.

French former minister Nathalie Loiseau, who is running Emmanuel Macrons European election campaign, dismissed the idea of a long extension for a second referendum, adding: A new referendum would be a denial of democracy. Britain must leave.

But Polands European affairs minister Konrad Szymanski said Britain should be given as much time as it needs, adding that Mrs May was fighting for our cause, too in an heroic struggle because No Deal would harm us all and her deal would protect the interests of the bloc.
Patrick Murphy, 57, had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas on Thursday

The execution of a member of the 'Texas 7' gang of escaped prisoners over a policeman's killing 18 years ago has been halted this evening after a Buddhist priest was not allowed into the execution chamber.

Patrick Murphy, 57, had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas on Thursday at 6pm.

He said his life should be spared because he didn't fire the fatal shots.

The death row inmate, who became a Buddhist almost a decade ago while incarcerated, had also asked that his execution be stopped until prison officials allow his spiritual advisor to be with him when he is put to death.

And in a last minute ruling the Supreme Court stopped the execution Thursday evening based on the decision to not allow a Buddhist priest into the execution chamber.

They said the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had violated his religious rights, The Texas Tribune reports.

Only prison employees are allowed in the execution chamber and only Christian and Muslim clerics are employed by the state.

A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said the order will be reviewed by prison legal teams to 'determine what, if any, future impact it might have.'

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote: 'As this Court has repeatedly held, governmental discrimination against religion  in particular, discrimination against religious persons, religious organizations, and religious speech  violates the Constitution.'

His lawyers had alleged the officials' actions violate Murphy's First Amendment right to freedom of religion and the request had been turned down by a federal judge in Houston and by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Murphy's lawyer, David Dow, said Thursday: 'We are pleased the Supreme Court acknowledged...that Mr Murphy as a Buddhist is entitled to be accompanied in the execution chamber during the execution by a minister of his own faith.'

Murphy was among seven inmates who escaped from a South Texas prison and fatally shot 29-year-old Dallas police officer Aubrey Hawkins during a Christmas Eve robbery in 2000.

Murphy said he was only the getaway driver during the crime spree and was not the one who shot the officer 11 times.

He was still sentenced to die in 2003 after being convicted of capital murder of a police officer.

In his final interview before his scheduled execution, Murphy told CBS said he believed his death was 'vengeance'.

'I don't think sentencing and culpability about law of parties is about justice. I think it's about vengeance,' he said.

'I'm not challenging the guilt of the crime. My role was basically really to be the getaway driver. I'm sorry. I regret what occurred.'

Murphy was serving a 50-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault when he and six other inmates broke out of a maximum security prison in Kenedy on December 13, 2000.

Murphy was among seven inmates who escaped from a South Texas prison and fatally shot 29-year-old Dallas police officer Aubrey Hawkins (above) during a Christmas Eve robbery in 2000

The members of the Texas 7 gang (left to right) Joseph C. Garcia, Randy Ethan Halprin, Larry Jame Harper and Patrick Murphy, Donald Keith Newbury, George Rivas and Michael Anthony Rodriguez

Eleven days later, they donned fake security guard uniforms to steal firearms from a sporting goods store in Irving on Christmas Eve.

The officer was shot and killed by the group as they fled.

Hawkins, who had been with the Irving police force about 14 months, had just finished Christmas Eve dinner with his family when he responded to the call about the robbery at a sporting goods store and was ambushed.

The escaped inmates were caught a month later at a Colorado RV park following a six-week manhunt.

One of the inmates killed himself as officers closed in and the other six were all convicted and sentenced to death.

Murphy would be the fifth to be executed.

The sixth inmate, Randy Halprin, has not yet been given an execution date.

Since his sentence, Murphy's attorneys have filed several unsuccessful appeals challenging the merits of the case, including the constitutionality of the law of parties statute.

Murphy's attorneys filed an appeal on Tuesday to stop his execution, arguing his death sentence is unconstitutional because he was only the lookout during the robbery and was not a major participant in the crime.

In his final interview before his scheduled execution, Murphy told CBS said he believed his death was 'vengeance'

Eleven days later, they donned fake security guard uniforms to steal firearms from a sporting goods store in Irving on Christmas Eve. The officer was shot and killed by the group as they fled

Murphy's attorneys also contend his execution should be stopped because Texas lawmakers are debating in the current legislative session whether to change the law of parties to prohibit a death sentence for any individual convicted for the conduct of a co-conspirator.

Toby Shook, the lead prosecutor who handled Murphy's case and those of the other five members, said Murphy actively participated in the robbery, monitoring a police scanner from a getaway vehicle and telling the other inmates when Hawkins was coming to the back of the store.

'He alerted them. That allowed them to set up their ambush,' said Shook, who is now a criminal defense attorney in Dallas.

Murphy was serving 50 years for a Dallas sexual assault but was only 15 months away from being released on mandatory parole when he took part in the prison escape.

Shook said Murphy has a very long and violent criminal history, including molesting his step-sister and pulling a gun on his father.

'They all were violent felons,' Shook said.

'He fit in perfectly with the rest of the Texas 7. He actively participated in all their robberies and all their crimes when they were out on the run.'
A bus driver has been accused of deliberately slamming his doors shut on a Muslim woman wearing a hijab.

It's understood the woman was on her way back from a student vigil for the Christchurch massacre victims outside Al Noor mosque, three days after the terror attack occurred.

A witness claims the purple line Metro bus pulled to a halt at a bus stop and while the driver let a white woman on board, he then slammed the door shut before a woman wearing a hijab could get on.

(Metro buses at a bus station pictured, there is no indication that any of these buses were driven by the driver in question) A purple line Metro bus driver has been accused of deliberately slamming his doors shut on a Muslim woman wearing a hijab

'He just closed the doors on her and took off, the bus wasn't full at all,' eyewitness Roseanne Tia, 15, told Stuff.co.nz.

'We were just in shock, especially after what had happened on Friday. She had come from the memorial as well.

'We asked her how she was and she said she was all right, but you could tell she was sad. Her friend had dropped her off at the bus stop so obviously things didn't feel safe for her. We were just so mad,' she added.

Roseanne along with two other teenagers, Amiria Tikao and Yasmin Sadlier, waited with the woman until the next bus came.

(File picture) It's understood the woman was on her way back from a student vigil for the Christchurch massacre victims outside Al Noor mosque when the incident happened

They then went to the depot and managed to track down the bus and the driver's name, and reported the incident directly to the company.

However, Amiria spoke of her disbelief at the reaction of the staff behind the front desk.

Amiria said while she thought they'd be 'freaking out' they simply told them to make a complaint and said there was nothing they could do.

Red Bus chief executive Paul McNoe described the actions of the bus driver as 'completely inappropriate'.

The image shows the tributes laid outside the mosques for the victims of the terror attack

'We have reviewed video footage and we agree that our driver's actions were completely inappropriate,' Mr McNoe said.

'A disciplinary process is in progress, and we are working to make sure this kind of incident never occurs again.

'This is not the experience we want our customers to have when they choose to use our services. We would like to apologise directly to the young woman, but have been unable to identify her.

'We have apologised to the mother of the pupil who observed this event who was the contact point for this complaint,' he said.

Mr McNoe said as far as he was aware a police complaint had not been made.

He also said he was unable to disclose as to whether or not the driver in question had been suspended due to privacy laws in New Zealand.
A mother has warned about the dangers surrounding a popular walking path after her son plunged of a cliff and is now fighting for his life.

Kim Goodrick's son was walking on the Cape Byron track near a lighthouse in Byron Bay when he plunged down a 308ft cliff and suffered serious head injuries.

Her 15-year-old son is in an induced coma in the ICU of the Gold Coast University Hospital where doctors are unsure if he will make it through the next few days.

Ms Goodrick has urged others who are aware or have been involved in a similar situation, to contact her so they can put pressure on the council to erect signage or barriers and prevent a similar accident from happening again.

Kim Goodrick has warned others about the danger surrounding a popular walking path after her son plunged off a cliff and is now fighting for his life (stock)

The boy's mother, Kim Goodrick, posted to the Byron Bay Community Board on Facebook telling others about the accident and the condition of her son.

'We are beyond devastated. Sadly, it was our son who fell from the cliffs of Byron Bay on Saturday afternoon,' Ms Goodrick said.

'We are still unsure whether he will make it through the next few days, and if he does, what the future will bring.'

Ms Goodrick warned those in the Byron Bay community about the dangers surrounding the walking track and called for action from the council.

'We have found out that many people have had to be rescued from this same spot after trying to walk around the headland.

'This looks deceptively easy from the beach, but is in fact, extremely dangerous and it is only when you get into trouble that you realise that there is no way back.

'As far as we are aware, there is no signage or barriers to warn people of this risk, and as everyone will tell you, our son and the boy that was with him are sensible, considered and mature.

'There is no way they would have undertaken such a risky venture if they had known about it.'

Her 15-year-old son was walking on the Cape Byron track near a lighthouse in Byron Bay when he plunged down a cliff and suffered serious head injuries (stock)

The boy and a friend were walking track just after 2pm on Saturday when he suddenly fell several metres down the cliff.

Two ambulance crews and a Westpac Life Save Rescue helicopter were called to the scene after his friend called for help.

The rescue helicopter winched the boy from the base of the cliff and transported him to hospital

He was in a serious but stable condition when he arrived at the hospital but his condition deteriorated to critical on Sunday morning.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to the Byron Bay council for comment.
Donald Trump continues to spend millions on Facebook adverts focusing on political rivals Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, as well as his efforts to build the border wall, according to new figures.

The president is said to have paid out $3.6 million for ads on the site from December 30 to March 23, with his spending in early 2019 more than the Democratic campaigns combined.

The social media ads were a key part of his successful campaign in 2016 and look to be part of his early strategy for the 2020 campaign.

His biggest targets have been Schumer and Pelosi. They feature in at least 16,300 targeted Facebook ads - around 40 per cent - since January, NBC News reports.

The border wall made 30 percent of the presidents ads with a further 24 per cent on general appeals to support the Republican.

In recent weeks both Beto O'Rourke and Amy Klobuchar have outspent Trump, the Online Advertising Transparency Project shows.

President Donald Trump is outspending the Democrats in Facebook ads and targeting Schumer, Pelosi and the border wall. He is pictured speaking to supporters during a rally at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan Thursday

Trump's adverts focus on political rivals as well as his efforts to build the border wall

The social media ads were a key part of his successful campaign in 2016 and look to be part of his early strategy for the 2020 campaign

Two weeks ago O'Rourke spent $157,000 compared to Trumps $109,000. Klobuchar spent $198,000 to the presidents $150,000 last week.

Elizabeth Warren paid the most of any Democratic presidential candidate in the time period, spending $526,000 on Facebook ads.

Bernie Sanders came next at $521,000 and he was followed by Kamala Harris who spent $420,000.

Facebooks publicly available political ad archive was introduced in May 2018. It came amid concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election when Trump bought 5.9 million ads.

Trump's adverts urge supporters to contribute to an 'Official Secure the Border Fund', asking: 'How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?'

They also respond to news with adverts this week targeted at the end of the Mueller report.

Facebooks publicly available political ad archive was introduced in May 2018. It came amid concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election

Donald J. Trump for President Inc. and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee spent about $1.3 million in the first two full weeks in January.

Trump is said to have spent a whopping $44 million on political advertising on Facebook, running 175,000 variations of political ads during the 2016 campaign.

By comparison, the Clinton campaign bought $28 million worth of political ads on Facebook.
A father who was gunned down in the Christchurch terror attack has revealed his four-year-old daughter is still in a coma.

Waseem Al Sati's daughter Alin Al Sati was airlifted to Starship Hospital in Auckland, where she was operated on and is awaiting more surgery.

Mr Al Sati, who is also still in hospital after being shot multiple times in the head, hip and stomach, has also expressed his gratitude through a video posted on Twitter on Thursday.

'Don't forget us from your prayers. And we're all one guys and we always will be,' the father-of-four said.

Waseem Al Sati's (pictured with his kids) daughter Alin Al Sati was airlifted to Starship Hospital in Auckland, where she was operated and is in need of more surgery

Alin was operated by vascular surgeon Dr Abid Khanafer, who told Newshub it was an emotional experience.

'My daughter Alin, she hasn't woke up yet, she's got one more surgery hopefully to go  hopefully one more to go and that will be on Wednesday,' Mr Al Sait said in the video.

'Hopefully they will try to wake her up because we're all worried.'

Mr Al Sati said he was 'slowly getting better day by day'.

'Don't forget us from your prayers. And we're all one guys and we always will be,' the father-of-four said

Mr Al Sati, is also still in hospital after being shot multiple times in the head, hip and stomach

The father, who migrated with his family from Jordan five years ago, had previously shared another video of him in hospital on the day he was shot.

In a deep voice, Mr Al Sati struggled to breathe but pleaded for prayers for him and his daughter.

The massacre claimed 50 lives, after a gunman opened fire in the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Masjid Mosque on March 15.
Scammers have targeted Australian Netflix customers with an email aiming to get their bank account details.

Email security service MailGuard raised the alarm over the cunning email on Wednesday afternoon, with a warning to customers to be wary.

The email begins by telling customers they are having 'some trouble' with clients 'billing information'. Recipients are then directed to update their 'MASTERCARD' payment details.

Email security service MailGuard, raised the alarm over the cunning email on Wednesday afternoon, with a warning to customers to be wary

An 'UPDATE ACCOUNT NOW' button redirects customers to a site that resembles the real Netflix site, however, it is hosted by Blogspot.

This page has since been taken down and is no longer being displayed.

While the email incorporates the branding and logo of the company, it contains several red flags for anyone who is vigilant enough to spot fake email scams, MailGuard said.

There are several grammatical and spelling errors within the body, such as 'Dears Customer'.

Netflix is used as it's a popular and well trusted company with an immensely large customer database

Avoid clicking on emails that are:  Are not addressed to you by name, have poor English or omit personal details that a legitimate sender would include  Are from businesses youre not expecting to hear from.  Ask you to download any files  Take you to a landing page or website that does not have the legitimate URL of the company the email is purporting to be sent from Source: MailGuard Advertisement

Spacing errors are also present throughout the email, a trait that is expectedly not likely to be present if the email was, in fact, being sent from a well-established organisation such as Netflix, MailGuard said.

This is not the first Netflix based scam MailGuard has seen recently.

Netflix is a popular and well trusted company with an immensely large customer database, so their branding makes a good lure for cybercriminals looking to deceive people, MailGuard said.

Customers have been warned to exercise caution if they see an email from Netflix.

Daily Mail Australia has approached Netflix for comment.
A Russian Nazi fanatic died during an intense police stand-off in Christchurch less than two weeks after the far-right terror attack on two mosques, which left 50 dead.

Troy Dubovskiy, 54, died on Wednesday morning after officers raided his inner city home at St Martins on Tuesday.

According to Dubovskiy's 16-year-old son, police allegedly searched the man's home after the teen posted a new Facebook profile photo days earlier, Stuff reported.

Troy Dubovskiy, 54 (pictured), died on Wednesday morning after officers raided his inner city home at St Martins on Tuesday

The teen claimed the raids were allegedly prompted by someone reporting the photo, which showed him holding a replica rifle and wearing a Russian helmet.

But the 16-year-old claimed he and his father often used the equipment when they played Airsoft - a team sport where people shoot each other with pellet replica guns.

Also in the house at the time of the raid was his father's extensive collection of World War II memorabilia, which contained uniforms, pounces and helmets.

A former neighbour described Dubovskiy as an 'intimidating and cold' person and alleged he displayed behaviour, such as Nazi salutes, which made was unnerving.

'My first interaction with him as a neighbour was when my friend parked legally outside his house on the street and we came back and there had been messages written all over the car in permanent marker warning us not to park outside their house,' the man claimed.

Dubovskiy, who moved to New Zealand in 1997, was a former Russian soldier, who had previously appeared in court several times for various alleged firearm offences.

On one occasion, it's alleged he was found wearing commando-style attire, including boots, a wig and black leather gloves, the publication reported.

Dubovskiy's son said at the time of the raid, his father's extensive collection of World War II memorabilia, which contained uniforms, pouches and helmets, was in the house

Mr Dubovskiy has been described as a Nazi fanatic, who had a vast collection of World War II memorabilia (similar to objects pictured)

He was also jailed in 2000 after he was arrested for burglary, after the homeowners returned home to find him there with an imitation pistol.

At the time of the incident, his lawyer, Alister James, told the court his client was in fact suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to his experiences in Crimea.

He had also previously been jailed for six months in 1999 for possessing two imitation pistols, driving while disqualified, and assaulting a police officer.

Counsel Michael Knowles said at the time he believed Dubovskiy was more of a danger to himself than to others - but 'pretty soon he will get shot by the police'.

On another occasion, Dubovskiy was jailed for nine months for failing to stop for a police car, reckless driving, refusing to give a blood sample, possession of offensive weapons, carrying an imitation firearm, and driving while disqualified.

When police managed to finally get him to stop, he was allegedly dressed in commando-style gear and was carrying a balaclava, baton, imitation pistol, hunting knife and a type of screwdriver tool.
A grandfather who had a rock thrown at his head by a man at close range has revealed the sickening injuries he received.

The 60-year-old cleaner - who has not been named - suffered brain injuries after a man threw a rock at him during a disturbing robbery caught on camera.

He was attacked by two men outside Westside Auto Wholesale in Bentley, Perth's south-east, at about 9.20pm on March 18.

He suffered skull fractures, a broken jaw and bleeding on the brain after having his face smashed with the rock.

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A grandfather who had a rock thrown at his head by a man at close range has revealed the sickening injuries he received

A 60-year-old cleaner has suffered brain injuries after a man pegged a rock at his head in a disturbing robbery caught on camera

CCTV footage showed the victim sitting in a car park while taking a cigarette break when the two men circled him and began to threaten him.

The victim's son Patrick said he was outraged at the attack on his father.

'I mean how much of a disgusting human being do you need to be to do something like that?' he told Yahoo News.

'His whole life he's just been working for his family - keeps to himself, doesn't bother anyone, everyone loves him.'

Patrick said his father may never be able to work again.

Thousands of dollars have been donated to the cleaner as he recovers from his injuries.

Patrick said the generosity shown by others had been 'so overwhelming'.

'We didn't expect it in the slightest,' he said.

CCTV footage shows the victim was sitting in the car park to take a break when the two men circled him and began to threaten him

In the CCTV footage, a man was seen giving the other a rock before he threw it at the victim's face from about one metre away.

The cleaner lost consciousness and slumped to the ground while the attackers stole his wallet, phone and cigarettes before they fled in an allegedly stolen car.

They have yet to be found by police, but the Ford was discovered abandoned the following morning.

'We deserve as a community to not have people [like this] walking around. Please, if you know anything come forward so justice can be done,' Patrick said.

Lee Cotton from Westside Auto Wholesale described the attack as 'shocking' and said the cleaner did not need to be assaulted.

Police released an CCTV image on Wednesday of a man they believe can assist with their investigation into the assault

'He's a veteran of cleaning of 35 years, he is quite concerned to work nights again because he doesn't know what could happen again,' Mr Cotton said.

Police released a CCTV image on Wednesday of a man at a petrol station about an hour after the attack.

They believe he can assist with their investigation into the assault.

'Cannington Detectives wish to speak to the man pictured as he may have information about a robbery in Bentley in which a 60-year-old man was struck with a rock and his property stolen,' police said in a statement.
Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern have shared an awkward embrace as they met at a memorial for those killed in the Christchurch mosque terror attacks.

Ms Ardern greeted Mr Morrison as he arrived in Christchurch for the memorial service held on Friday.

The New Zealand Prime Minister offered her hand out to shake that of her Australian counterpart, but Mr Morrison went in for a long hug instead.

The encounter was in contrast to Ms Adern's interview with The Project host Waleed Aly earlier in the week. Ms Ardern asked Aly if she could have a hug before the pair sat down for an emotional interview.

Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern have shared an awkward embrace as they met at a memorial for those killed in the Christchurch mosque terror attacks

The New Zealand Prime Minister offered to shake her Australian counterpart's hand but Mr Morrison went in for a long hug instead

The encounter was in contrast to Ms Adern's interview with The Project host Waleed Aly broadcast earlier in the week (pictured)

'I know that might sound strange,' she told the TV host, who had travelled to New Zealand to speak with her in the wake of the attacks on March 15.

Ms Ardern's interview with Aly was far less contentious than his with Mr Morrison was just days earlier.

Tensions between the two men reached boiling point during their discussion on The Project, with Mr Morrison accusing Aly of conducting a smear campaign against him.

Aly spoke about comments Mr Morrison allegedly made regarding using anti-Muslim sentiment to win points with voters during a shadow cabinet meeting in 2010.

Mr Morrison has vehemently denied the claim and said it had damaged his reputation with the Islamic community.

'You implied Muslims couldn't feel safe because they had a PM who had somehow been prejudiced against them and I don't believe that's true,' Mr Morrison said.

Mr Morrison and Ms Ardern did eventually share a handshake (pictured left)

Ms Ardern's (pictured) interview with Aly was far less contentious than his with Mr Morrison was just days earlier

'Can't you see that what you're suggesting is at complete odds with the experience that I have been involved in over the last ten years of my public life?'

Mr Morrison said that as shadow immigration minister, he raised concerns about anti-Muslim sentiment and wanted them addressed.

'I was acknowledging there were fears, and we had to address them. Not exploit them.

'I was shadow immigration minister at the time and I was very concerned about these issues and the way people were feeling in the community.

Aly had referenced a 2011 report in the Sydney Morning Herald to make the claim, which Mr Morrison called a smear and a lie earlier in the week.

But The Project host challenged Mr Morrison's claim that the report was not valid.

Tensions between the two men reached boiling point during their discussion on The Project, with Mr Morrison accusing Aly of conducting a smear campaign against him

'Can you tell me who was lying?' Aly asked.

Mr Morrison responded that it could have been anyone who spoke to a journalist at the time with the intention to smear him, and questioned the credibility of the sources.

'You talk about people who have been on the record,' Aly said.

'There is at least one saying it did happen, you have multiple journalists, reporting multiple sources.'

Both men attempted to take control of the interview.

'I feel like it is very difficult to get through a sentence at the moment,' Aly said to a fired-up Mr Morrison.
A paedophile teacher who pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting two young girls under their desks at school will walk free without serving any jail time.

Alan Evans, now 76, assaulted the year three students in full view of the classroom while he was teaching at Boorhaman Primary School near Wangaratta, Victoria in the 1960s.

He was arrested and charged after he called one of his victims to apologise 50 years after assaulting her and said he did it because of troubles in his marriage.

Alan Evans, now 76, assaulted the year three students in full view of the classroom while he was teaching at Boorhaman Primary School (pictured) near Wangaratta, Victoria in the 1960s

When Evans was 24 years old abused a young girl under her desk while he pretended to finish paperwork, reports Herald Sun.

He put his hands up another victim's dress and under her bra on two separate occasions.

The County Court in Victoria was told by the victims that they were too scared to tell anyone because they thought that no one would believe them.

The victims developed depression and anxiety after the abuse which they suffered from for the rest of their lives.

Evans was convicted as a serious sex offender and sentenced the the County Court (pictured) yesterday to two years and nine months in prison which was wholly suspended and walked out of court a free man.

Judge Wraight said that Evans took advantage of his position of trust when he abused his two students.

'Clearly, you abused this trust. The offending occurred in a classroom where children should feel safe,' Judge Wraight said in court as reported by the Herald Sun.

Evans was convicted as a serious sex offender and sentenced yesterday to two years and nine months in prison which was wholly suspended and walked out of court a free man.

Judge Wraight suspended his sentence because there was no evidence of Evans re-offending and the phone call to the victim showed that he was remorseful.

'Your career and contribution to the community (since) has been exemplary.

'I accept your rehabilitation has been largely achieved.'
A man who raped and sexually assaulted teenage girls, and threatened to have them beaten up if they didn't send him nude photos, has been jailed for more than five years.

Rhian Lee Ryan, 21, repeatedly raped and assaulted a 14-year-old Perth girl between December 2014 and January 2015 after contacting her on Facebook and Snapchat.

The victim gave compelling evidence to the trial on Friday through a pre-recorded video - detailing Ryans threats before he raped and assaulted her.

She told the District Court of WA that he raped her, punched her in the ribs when she tried to leave, and bit her hand so hard she bled.

'You have traumatised these young girls,' Judge Simon Stone said to Rhian Lee Ryan in court on Friday - where he was sentenced to five years and four months for raping and sexually assaulting teenage girls

She described how Ryan called her 'a s**t and a tramp' and threatened to have people beat her up in public.

Ryan forced her to stay overnight - making her text her mother to say she was staying at a friend's house - but she eventually escaped in the morning when he was asleep.

The 21-year-old - who refers to himself as 'Facebook famous' - raped her four or five times during the horrific ordeal.

While Ryan was on bail in 2017 for posting explicit photos of a 12-year-old girl on Facebook, he sexually assaulted two 13-year-old girls he had met in a park.

Ryan is already serving 20-months for sexual offences against a 15-year-old, but in the District Court of WA on Friday, Judge Stephen Scott sentenced him to an extra five years and four months

The judge said the demeaning way Ryan communicated with the girls was 'disgusting' and 'deplorable.'

The court heard he sent them vile messages, calling them degrading names including 'temporary piece of p***y'.

Judge Scott said Ryan had stolen his victims' innocence and each had been affected by the crimes 'in the most distressing way'.

Rhian Lee Ryan repeatedly raped and assaulted a 14-year-old girl between December 2014 and January 2015 after contacting her via Facebook and Snapchat

The judge also said he didn't accept that Ryan was genuinely remorseful or had any real insight into his offending.

'You have demonstrated complete disdain for females,' he said, 'You have traumatised these girls.'

The court heard Ryan told police he was addicted to social media, had racked up 330,000 posts over five years and considered himself 'Facebook famous'.

The prosecutor noted he was 17 at the time of the first rape, saying 'he appears to have ingrained misogynist attitudes.'
Nevada brothel owner Dennis Hof died naturally from a heart attack but he was also found to have THC and Viagra-like medication in his system when he died.

The 72-year-old budding GOP politician also suffered from diabetes and was obese according to an autopsy report released by the Nye County Sheriff's Office in Nevada.

The report comes five months after Hof was found dead at his 'Love Ranch.'

Nevada brothel owner Dennis Hof, who died in October at the age of 72, but who was still elected posthumously in a state Assembly seat race, died of a heart attack

Love Ranch prostitute Dasha Dare (pictured) had sex with Dennis Hof just hours before he died

Hof had been celebrating his birthday after a campaign rally whose guests included aging porn star Ron Jeremy and former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, according to the New York Post.

Hof died at his Love Ranch in Crystal, Nevada, on October 16 shortly after having sex with prostitute Dasha Dare between 11pm and 12.50pm.

When Hof stopped replying to her text messages, she called on a friend to check on him.

Hof was found lying face-up and naked. He was unable to be resuscitated.

'Hollywood Madam' Heidi Fleiss has revealed that Hof had diabetes and his health had been deteriorating before his death.

Porn actor Ron Jeremy revealed in an exclusive DailyMail.com interview that Hof had just had sex with one of his prostitutes the night of his death.

Jeremy told DailyMail.com: 'Dennis was in great spirits and told me it was the best night of his life.

'We headed back to the Love Ranch South and got there about 11pm. At about midnight, Dennis went back to his private suite with Dasha Dare, she is a relatively new girl to the ranch. It's the same suite that Lamar Odom overdosed in.

'Dasha spent two hours with Dennis before leaving him and joining me at the bar with a few other women. Dasha said they had sex and nothing had been wrong with Dennis.

Hof looked to be in good health and spirits the night before his death as he celebrated his birthday at a campaign event with Ron Jeremy (left) and former sheriff Joe Arpaio (right)

Officials remove Dennis Hof's body from the Love Ranch brothel in Pahrump in October 2016

'I left the girls and went to bed at around 2.30am. I got up around 10.30am and I was expecting to see Dennis. He is an early riser and we had an event to go to on the campaign that morning.

'I figured he'd overslept because of the birthday party. I went into his room and he was lying his bed. I shook him by the shoulders, but there was no movement and I thought he was in a deep sleep.

'I've played a joke on him in the past where I throw off his sheets to wake him up. He was naked and still wasn't moving. I then went back to the bar and asked the girls for help to wake him up.

'I realized something was seriously wrong when we returned. His skin was cold and rigor mortis had already begun in his arm.

'Some of the girls there had CPR training. They called 911 and the operator was telling them to resuscitate him. Dasha was freaking out and praying. One of the house moms had to remove her from the area.'

Bunnies in bustiers: Hof (above with some of his workers in 2008), who was being investigated for rape and human trafficking at the time of his death, was at the Love Ranch South when he passed away last October

Dennis Hof and the ladies from HBO's Cathouse which ran from 2005 to 2014

The registered Republican, who nicknamed himself 'the Trump from Pahrump' was known to many for his role in the HBO series Cathouse, and found himself a fixture in the news cycle back in 2015 when Lamar Odom overdosed at one of his facilities.

He was also facing an allegation of rape and being investigated for human trafficking at the time of his death.

About a month after his death, he managed to win an election for a Nevada state assembly seat.
A teenager was arrested by police after allegedly making multiple homemade bombs and carrying one onto public transport.

The 16-year-old boy from Woodcroft in Adelaide, South Australia, was allegedly captured on CCTV carrying an explosive device onto a bus full of commuters in March.

South Australia police were led to the footage following an investigation into reports the teen intended to self-harm.

The 16-year-old boy from Woodcroft, in Adelaide, South Australia, was allegedly captured on CCTV carrying an explosive device onto a bus which was full of passengers in March (stock image)

A raid on his home swiftly followed where another two homemade explosive devices were found.

He was arrested on March 5 and has spent more than three weeks in custody.

The teenager did not activate the device on the bus, allegedly travelling down a southern route, and no one was harmed in the incident.

Despite his arrest in March, a suppression order prevented the case being reported by the media until now.

A lawyer representing media outlets made a successful application in Adelaide Youth Court which subsequently lifted the ban on Friday.

Although several reporting restrictions remain on the case, the magistrate Luke Davis said the public should know that investigations into the matter were ongoing.

'The public should be aware of that, in terms of their safety,' he said.

Police Minister Corey Wingard commended officers involved in the case

'SAPOL have responded incredibly well to this incident and we want to do everything we can to keep people safe,' he said on Friday.

'That is at the forefront of what SAPOL do, and I do commend the officers involved in this incident that made sure nothing more serious did happen.

'If people see something untoward they should report it to police and, as happened in this case, police responded very quickly and did an exceptionally good job.'

The teenager is facing nine charges including aggravated endangering life and manufacturing and possessing explosives.

He's been remanded in custody after SA police opposed his release on bail and will appear next in court in April.

If you or anyone you know needs to talk, call Lifeline confidentially 13 11 14.

A lawyer representing media outlets successfully applied for the suppression order to be lifted on the case on Friday at the Adelaide Youth Court (pictured)




Controversial nightclub lock-out laws in Australia's biggest city could soon be repealed with the Keep Sydney Open political party set to win an influential seat in Parliament.

Former ABC Rage producer, DJ and community radio host Tyson Koh could soon share the balance of power in the New South Wales upper house.

The 37-year-old would-be MP has vowed to repeal the controversial 1.30am lock-out laws, which former Liberal premier Barry O'Farrell introduced five years ago following the fatal one-punch attack on teenager Thomas Kelly in Kings Cross.

Nightclub lock-out laws in Australia's biggest city could soon be repealed with the Keep Sydney Open political party set to win an influential seat in Parliament (Kings Cross pictured)

Since then, nightclubs have closed around Sydney's city centre, with Kings Cross often a ghost town at night, as venues are banned from serving drinks after 3am.

'The lock-out laws have dealt a huge blow to Sydney's nightlife, its standing as a world city and the jobs in the nighttime economy,' Mr Koh told Daily Mail Australia on Friday.

'A lot of the nanny state rules, it hurts the venues' ability to be able to survive.

'If we do end up getting elected to the Legislative Council, then it would be with the promise that we would do everything in our power to push the government to scrap the laws and replace them with smarter measures.'

Mr Koh, a self-described enthusiast for live music and culture, wants 'well-run' nightclubs without violent incidents to be allowed to open for 24 hours a day, like The Star casino at Pyrmont.

'If they can run a venue safely, then why shouldn't they be able to trade... 24 hours like they do in other world cities?,' he said.

Former ABC Rage producer, DJ and radio host Tyson Koh (centre) could soon share the balance of power in the New South Wales upper house

Since the lockout laws were introduced in 2014, nightclubs have closed around Sydney's city centre, with Kings Cross often a ghost town at night, as venues are banned from serving drinks after 3am

An ABC analysis of counting, so far, shows his Keep Sydney Open party on course to win one seat in the Legislative Council, alongside former Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm.

New South Wales upper house count so far Labor, seven seats with 31.1 per cent vote Coalition, seven seats with 30.3 per cent vote Greens, two seats with 10.4 per cent vote One Nation, one seat with 6.4 per cent vote Shooters Fishers and Farmers, one seat with 4.3 per cent vote Keep Sydney Open, one seat with 3 per cent vote Liberal Democrats, one seat with 3 per cent vote Source: ABC analysis of vote counting for the 21 seats up for grabs in 2019 in the New South Wales Legislative Council. Candidates need to achieve a quota of 4.55 per cent after preferences. There are 42 seats in the upper house Advertisement

To get legislation passed, Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian may soon have to rely on Mr Koh and Mr Leyonhjelm's votes, with both likely to score eight-year terms.

By combining with the Shooters Fishers and Farmers party and the Greens, Keep Sydney Open could demand a scrapping of the lock-out laws in exchange for their vote in Parliament.

Mr Koh, who lives at Redfern in Sydney's inner-south, is also annoyed at rules banning pubs and nightclubs from serving undiluted spirits, like Scotch whiskey, after midnight.

'The idea of having to mix an Ardbeg with Coke is absolutely preposterous to any law-abiding adult,' he said.

Mr Leyonhjelm, a libertarian, said this law was an affront to small bars that specialised in selling expensive whiskey.

'You can imagine turning up at 12.30am and thinking you'll have a fancy nip of whiskey, it might cost you 100 bucks for a fancy nip, and the bar says to you, "Sorry, we've got to put something in it",' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'I mean, it's sacrilege really. It's like saying you can't have a cigar after midnight unless you put a filter on it.'

Former senator David Leyonhjelm also stands a strong chance of being elected to the NSW upper house

The former NSW senator also said the destruction of Kings Cross nightlife made it harder for police to catch crooks.

'It used to be Kings Cross was our naughty suburb, that made law enforcement easier as well,' he said.

'People who broke the law would often end up in Kings Cross where they could be dealt with. Now they're spread out all over the place.'

Deloitte Access Economics released a report in February which calculated that the lock-out laws had cost the Sydney economy as much as $16 billion a year.

The NSW Electoral Commission is due to declare the final upper house results on April 12.

Keep Sydney Open ran 63 candidates at this month's NSW election, and fielded candidates in regional areas from Albury on the Victorian border to Ballina on the far north coast.
Pauline Hanson has given a bizarre explanation for her controversial comments about the Port Arthur Massacre being a political conspiracy.

Speaking to Andrew Bolt during The Bolt Report on Thursday, the One Nation leader tried to explain what led to her make the comments, which she claimed were 'taken out of context'.

She said she empathised with the victims and slammed Al Jazeera for broadcasting footage of her saying the incident raises 'a lot of questions'.

'I do not support any conspiracy theory. I do believe Martin Bryant murdered those people, and I am sorry for those families,' Senator Hanson said.

Pauline Hanson (pictured) has given a bizarre explanation for her controversial 'precision shots' comments about the Port Arthur Massacre

Senator Hanson landed herself in troubled waters after an undercover journalism sting caught her insinuating the shooting at Port Arthur, Tasmania in 1996 had been orchestrated as a plot to change the gun laws in the country.

Al Jazeera journalist Rodger Muller secretly filmed the One Nation leader during a steak and wine dinner late last year, where she claimed 'precision shots' had been fired during the mass shooting.

During the interview on Thursday, Bolt called out Ms Hanson on her comments and asked her to explain what she meant when she said them.

Ms Hanson referred to a conspiracy book that allegedly suggests the gunman was a trained professional.

'I had the book sent to me. It was years later that I actually read that book, and thought well, I want to know about Port Arthur, so I read the book. The precision shots, and the MP, that was actually in the book,' she said.

Bolt replied by saying there weren't any precision shots because gunman Martin Bryant simply walked up to his victims and shot them point blank.

Senator Hanson continued to say she saw photos in the book that showed the gunman standing far enough away to suggest his aim was more professional.

'It's only what I saw and what I remember at the time, there were a couple of photos in the book, he wasn't up close to all these people,' she said.

Ms Hanson (pictured) told Andrew Bolt her comments in the hidden recording were taken out of context

Senator Hanson (pictured) stressed the 'heavily edited' hidden footage captured by Al Jazeera was taken out of context but added her party will not change its stance on gun laws

But when Bolt asked Senator Hanson to provide more details about the conspiracy literature, she simply replied by describing it as 'a blue book, it wasn't real thick'.

Despite being unable to recall more details about the book, Ms Hanson did tell the presenter there was 'no doubt whatsoever' Bryant had been the gunman.

She also made a point of telling Bolt she did not support any conspiracy theory and she believed Bryant had murdered the victims of the Port Arthur massacre.

Senator Hanson stressed the 'heavily edited' hidden footage captured by Al Jazeera was taken out of context but added her party will not change its stance on gun laws.


George Clooney has called on the public to boycott nine hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei following the nation's cruel anti-gay laws that would see any Muslims engaging in adultery and gay sex be stoned to death beginning on April 3.

On Wednesday it was revealed that homosexuality will now become a capital offense in the nation of Brunei where it is already illegal. The law only applies to Muslims.

In response to Brunei's strict Sharia law, that has been on hold for four years amid heavy criticism, Clooney penned an opinion piece for Deadline, calling for a boycott of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's hotels.

'On this particular April 3rd the nation of Brunei will begin stoning and whipping to death any of its citizens that are proved to be gay,' Clooney wrote.

George Clooney has called on the public to boycott nine hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei,Hassanal Bolkiah (right), following the nation's cruel anti-gay laws that would see anyone engaging in adultery and gay sex to be stoned to death beginning on April 3

Clooney went on to say that at 'the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world'. The sultan owns The Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles (pictured)

The sultan also owns The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles (pictured)

'Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone,' he added.

Clooney went on to say that at 'the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world'.

'The Big Kahuna. He owns the Brunei Investment Agency and they in turn own some pretty spectacular hotels,' the actor wrote.

GEORGE CLOONEY CALLS FOR A BOYCOTT OF NINE HOTELS 1. The Dorchester, London 2. 45 Park Lane, London 3. Coworth Park, UK 4. The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills 5. Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles 6. Le Meurice, Paris 7. Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris 8. Hotel Eden, Rome 9. Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan Advertisement

Among the hotels are The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Hotel Bel-Air, The Dorchester in London and Hotel Eden in Rome.

Clooney admitted that he's stayed at most of the nine hotels, but noted it was 'because I hadn't done my homework and didn't know who owned them'.

'They're nice hotels. The people who work there are kind and helpful and have no part in the ownership of these properties.

'But let's be clear, every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery.

Clooney wrote that he's 'learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can't shame them'.

'But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.'

He then listed the nine hotels owned by Brunei's sultan and said: 'It's up to each of us what we want to do.'

Clooney admitted that he's stayed at most of the nine hotels, but noted it was 'because I hadn't done my homework and didn't know who owned them'. The Dorchester (pictured) is located in London

Another hotel owned by the sultan is 45 Park Lane (pictured), which is also located in London

Clooney said that 'every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay'. The Coworth Park hotel (pictured) is located in the UK

Rights groups reacted in horror Wednesday to the latest hardline move from the resource-rich nation on Borneo, which practices a stricter brand of Islam than its neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia.

The tiny sultanate will implement the harsh new penal code next Wednesday.

The new penalty for theft is amputation of the right hand for a first offense, and the left foot for a second offense.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International urged Brunei to 'immediately halt' implementing the new penalties.

'To legalize such cruel and inhuman penalties is appalling of itself,' Brunei researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard said in a statement.

'Some of the potential "offenses" should not even be deemed crimes at all, including consensual sex between adults of the same gender.'

A notice on Brunei's Attorney General's Chambers dated December 29 last year said the provisions will take effect on April 3.

Brunei first announced the measures in 2013 but implementation has been delayed as officials worked out the practical details and in the teeth of opposition by rights groups.

However, a spokesman for the Brunei religious affairs ministry said only that Sultan Bolkiah was expected to make an announcement next week regarding the implementation of the new Sharia laws.

'Only after the event we will know regarding the date of the implementation of the new laws,' he told AFP.

'In terms of readiness, at the moment we are prepared to enforce the amputation of the hand for stealing only. That is all.'

Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch warned that implementation of the law 'will quickly drive the country towards human rights pariah status in the eyes of foreign investors, tourists, and international agencies'.

Clooney said he's 'learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can't shame them'. 'But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.' Pictured is the Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan

Rights groups reacted in horror Wednesday to the latest hardline move from the resource-rich nation on Borneo, which practices a stricter brand of Islam than its neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia. Another hotel owned by the country's sultan is Hotel Eden in Rome (pictured)

Le Meurice in Paris (pictured) is also owned by the sultan of Brunei

He added: 'If this ill-considered plan goes forward, there is every reason to believe the global boycott Brunei movement will re-start.'

Robertson said Brunei will become the only country in Southeast Asia to punish gay sex with death if it pushes through with the law.

Under a shift towards hardline Islamic law, Brunei in 2015 banned excessive Christmas celebrations for fear that Muslims could be led astray.

Brunei's Sultan is no stranger to controversy at home - the monarchy was deeply embarrassed by a family feud with his brother Jefri over the latter's alleged embezzlement of $15billion during his tenure as finance minister in the 1990s.

Court battles and investigations revealed salacious details of Jefri's un-Islamic jetset lifestyle, including claims of a high-priced harem of foreign women and a luxury yacht he owned called 'Tits'.
The principal of one of Sydney's highest-ranking schools has slammed the current exam system, claiming final year students should be allowed to use Google during exams.

Principal Shane Hogan, of all-girl private boarding school Kambala, told 2GB on Friday current systems are outdated and should be modified to reflect real-world, modern scenarios.

'There's no depth in their learning, there's no passion in their learning, it's merely a race to the finish line,' Mr Hogan told Ben Fordham.

The principal of one of Sydney's highest-ranking schools has slammed the current exam system, claiming final year students should be allowed to use Google during exams (stock image)

Principal Shane Hogan (pictured), of Independent girls school Kambala, said current systems are outdated and should be modified to reflect real-world, modern scenarios.

In New South Wales, students complete their 13 years of schooling by sitting the competitive High School Certificate (HSC) which scales marks from assessments throughout the year and gives heavy weighting to final exams.

Students who complete the HSC are then given an ATAR which determines their acceptance to university.

'The ATAR is a university tool for the universities to pick their students, it's not relevant to life,' Mr Hogan said.

Kambala, located in affluent Rose Bay of Sydney's eastern suburbs, ranked number 14 in the state for 2018 HSC.

But Mr Hogan has been left questioning the purpose of the ATAR and its ability to help students in the long-run.

He said the HSC is a 'memory test' where students are encouraged to recycle what they are told.

Kambala (pictured), located in affluent Rose Bay of Sydney's eastern suburbs, ranked number 14 in the state for 2018 HSC

Mr Hogan believes the system should be changed to reflect the skills students need for the workforce, in conjunction with society's reliance on technology.

'If we're going to test the kids lets let them use the tools they'll really use when they're out in the workplace,' he said.

'The real-world, the jobs today, they're about problem solving, they're about teamwork. It doesn't matter whether you're in a bank, doesn't matter whether you're in factory. It's about solving problems, working with people. The High School Certificate has none of those skills involved in the learning nor the testing.'

Mr Hogan thinks the exams should be taken on a computer or phone, reflecting the use of the technology.

Further, he argued Google and other online search engines should be allowed to help students display problem solving in an exam situation.
A Sydney man who plotted to kill 'five to seven' Australians a month under the orders of Islamic State has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Omarjan Azari, 24, was seen giving a one-finger ISIS salute and shouting 'Allahu Akbar' at NSW Supreme Court during his sentencing on Friday, The Australian reported.

Justice Natalie Adams sentenced him to 12 years behind bars for planning the attack, and eight years for his involvement in funding the terror group in Syria, with two years of each term served concurrently.

He will be eligible for parole after serving 13 and half years in 2028.

Omarjan Azari (pictured earlier in his trial) 24, was seen giving a one-finger ISIS salute and shouting 'Allahu Akbar' at NSW Supreme Court during his sentencing on Friday

Azari (right), planned the terrorist act in a phone call with Australian and high-ranking ISIS member Mohammad Ali Baryalei, who was very likely in Syria, in September 2014

'Belief in Islamic State led this offender to attempt to fly to Syria to fight, transfer funds to help Islamic State, liaise with a senior Australian member of Islamic State and become so indoctrinated that during the telephone call on 15 September 2014, he agreed that he would follow any order of the commander of Islamic State even if it included terror acts in Australia,' Justice Adams told the court.

'I am satisfied that the offender held radical... Islamist and anti-western, ideological beliefs at that time and was supportive of Islamic State and other militant Islamist groups.'

Azari was found guilty last year after he admitted to attempting to make funds available to the Islamic state in preparation for the attack.

The court had previously heard Azari planned the terrorist act in a phone call with Australian and high-ranking ISIS member Mohammad Ali Baryalei, who was very likely in Syria, in September 2014.

Baryalei told Azari that he and others should find a 'random unbeliever', 'finish' them and then put a flag of 'the state' in the background for videos.

He said 'five, six, seven,' people a month should be killed and that backpackers would make good targets because it would attract worldwide media attention.

'These people are unbelievers and their blood is like dogs' blood,' Baryalei said he'd been told by a 'big, big man' in the Middle East, according to a transcript that was read in court.

Court heard Baryalei (pictured) told Azari that he and others should find a 'random unbeliever', 'finish' them and then put a flag of 'the state' in the background for videos

'Find someone who can terminate five people for us every month.'

The court heard Azari told Baryalei that he and associates in Australia were under heavy surveillance and urged him to wait two months for him to get a new phone.

Azari, who had two brothers in Syria under the authority of Baryalei, had claimed he was trying to find a way to have the plan abandoned and never agreed to it.

The court previously heard Baryalei told him that senior ISIS figures wanted him to do 'work' in Australia.

'What the accused was attempting to do was to find excuses to put off Mr Baryalei,' defence barrister John Stratton SC said in his opening address.

'If he hasn't even agreed... it would hardly be said he had taken part in planning it (the alleged act).'

Afghan-born Azari has admitted attempting to send money to ISIS, through a younger Muslim man.

The attempted transactions happened the month before the phone call, after the youth was handed thousands of dollars in a Parramatta car park.
A wanted fugitive who made a foiled attempt to flee Australia by riding a jet ski to Papua New Guinea claims he's been denied his legal rights.

David James Jackson faced Cairns Magistrate Court on Friday and tried to fight his extradition to Western Australia.

The British national, who is wanted in the western state for drug offences, told the court he had been denied legal representation and was prohibited from making phone calls.

David James Jackson (pictured) faced Cairns Magistrate Court on Friday and tried to fight his extradition to Western Australia

However the 57-year-old's claims were called into question as the duty lawyer assigned to him appeared in court on his behalf, reported 9News.

Mr Jackson also stated he'd prefer to be represented by a British embassy lawyer, but claimed he had not been able to call the embassy.

'The duty lawyer only wants to get his face on the news, I want to fight the extradition,' he said.

But Magistrate Robert Spencer refuted his claims stating 'that is very strange' and added 'that is fanciful'.

The image shows Mr Jackson being arrested on Wednesday. He was then taken to Thursday Island, where he was detained by police

It's believed Mr Jackson was apprehended by authorities just 5km away from the Papua New Guinea mainland

Magistrate Spencer granted the extradition despite Mr Jackson's claims.

He is due to appear at both the Western Australia Magistrates Court and District Court on Monday.

The two separate appearances are for two different warrants.

Mr Jackson is believed to have left via Punsand Bay, in the far north-east of Australia, on a jet ski and travelled around 150km to Torres Strait.

He was then apprehended by the Australian Border Force, just five kilometres from the Papua New Guinea coast.

Mr Jackson was later transported to Thursday Island, where he was detained by Queensland Police pending extradition.
A man who spent 32 days in jail after his pediatrician wife falsely accused him of rape will sue for half a million dollars.

The Sydney man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been acquitted of all his charges including assault and domestic violence.

His wife had accused him of the crimes months after the pair experienced troubles in their marriage due to her long-term abuse of the prescription painkiller Tramadol, news.com.au reported.

A man who spent 32 days in jail after his paediatrician wife falsely accused him of rape will sue for half a million dollars (stock image)

The charges were dropped after a Sydney District Court judge issued a rare Prasad Direction, which allows a jury to find a defendant not guilty at any time after the close of the Crown case.

The court heard during the man's 10-day trial that his now ex-wife had prescribed herself the pills using his name for five years, to avoid getting caught.

In May 2015, the man discovered explicit text messages between his wife and a man from London.

He threw his wife's mobile phone through the front door of their home, smashing the screen and was charged with one count of domestic violence.

The second count of domestic violence involved a sarcastic email he sent to his wife of an explicit photo she had sent to him, which suggested she was the type of woman the London man wanted, the publication reported.

He initially pleaded guilty to the two counts of domestic violence, which the judge dismissed.

The Sydney man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been acquitted of all his charges including assault and domestic violence (stock image)

The woman had moved out and told police he had raped her three times after she went to visit the dogs where he lived in June, 2015.

But the claims proved to be made up through cameras she was unaware had been installed and instead showed the pair had consensual intercourse.

She sent him a text message wishing him a 'safe flight' days before he flew to Europe then reported false claims of rape, assault and domestic violence to police officers in Sydney's north shore.

Police arrested him at Sydney Airport in August 2015, where they also seized his laptop, iPod and hard drive.

The woman had moved out and told police he had raped her three times after she went to visit the dogs where he lived in June, 2015 (stock image)

The judge who acquitted the man said prosecutors had failed to take into account evidence which backed up the man.

Cops, judges and jurors worked on the case for two years, costing tax payers more than a million dollars.

The man's legal claim, obtained by news.com.au, states the defendants include police, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions and his ex-wife.

His legal team do not have an exact figure for his compensation but estimated about half a million dollars.
An anti-stall system on board the Boeing 737 MAX which crashed in Ethiopia killing 157 people was activated before it plunged from the sky, investigators believe.

The troubled system is now the prime suspect in two fatal Boeing crashes, after a Lion Air jet plunged into the ocean in Indonesia in October last year, killing 189.

The news comes as investigators review data from two black boxes that were on board the Ethiopian jet, with a preliminary report expected as early as next week.

An anti-stall system fitted to new Boeing 737 MAX jets was activated shortly before the Ethiopia Airlines crash earlier this month, sources say

Investigators made the discovery while looking at data from the plane's two black box recorders, and are due to issue a report in the coming weeks

Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 crashed on March 10 shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa.

Meanwhile it was revealed that American and European regulators knew that the MCAS anti-stall feature might malfunction in conditions similar to the Lion Air and Ethiopia Airlines crashes.

Despite that, the European Aviation and Space Agency (EASA) certified the plane as safe in part because it said additional procedures and training would 'clearly explain' to pilots the 'unusual' situations in which the system might not work.

The EASA certification document, available online, did list those situations but a flight manual taken from an American Airlines plane and seen by Reuters did not.

EASA and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ultimately determined that set-up was safe enough for the plane to be certified.

In the Lion Air crash, flight conditions when the plane came down were similar to those described in the EASA document.

While the exact conditions faced by the Ethiopia Airlines pilots have not been revealed, they are believed to be similar.

All 157 passengers and crew on board Flight 302 were killed in the crash on March 10

The EASA document specifically noted that at speeds greater than 230 knots (265mph, 425kph) with flaps retracted, pilots might have to use the wheel in the cockpit's centre console rather than an electric thumb switch on the control yoke.

EASA and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ultimately determined that set-up was safe enough for the plane to be certified, with the European agency citing training plans and the relative rarity of conditions requiring the trim wheel.

The regulator said simulations showed the electric thumb switches could not keep the 737 MAX properly trimmed under certain conditions, including those of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, according to the Indonesian preliminary report and a source with knowledge of the Ethiopian air traffic control recordings.

The trim system adjusts the angle of the nose. If the nose is too far up, the jet risks entering a stall.

Additional procedures and training needed to 'clearly explain' when the manual wheel might be needed, according to the document. The EASA spokesman said that was a reference to the Boeing flight crew operations manual.

An American Airlines Group Inc flight manual for 737 MAX pilots dated October 2017 said the thumb switches had less ability to move the nose than the manual wheel.

The manual, which is 1,400 pages long, did not specify the flight conditions in which the wheel might be needed.

The trim wheel is a relic of the Boeing 737's 1960s origins and does not appear in more modern planes like the 787 and Airbus SE A350. It is not often used, several current and former 737 pilots told Reuters.

The same anti-stall system was active before another 737 MAX jet owned by Lion Air plunged into the ocean in October last year, killing 189

'It would be very unusual to use the trim wheel in flight. I have only used manual trim once in the simulator,' said a 737 pilot.

'It is not physically easy to make large trim changes to correct, say, an MCAS input. You - or more than likely the other pilot - have to flip out a little handle and wind, much like a boat winch.'

The EASA document said that after flight testing, the FAA's Transport Airplane Directorate, which oversees design approvals and modifications, was concerned about whether the 737 MAX system complied with regulations because the thumb switches could not control trim on their own in all conditions.

FAA declined to comment on the European document. A trim-related 'equivalent level of safety' (ELOS) memorandum listed in its 737 MAX certification document is not available on the FAA website. The agency declined to provide it to Reuters.

The night before the Lion Air crash, different pilots on the same plane faced a similar problem with MCAS and tried to use electric trim to counteract it, according to the preliminary report from Indonesian investigators.

After the third time MCAS forced the nose down, the first officer commented that the control column was 'too heavy to hold back' to counter the automated movements, the preliminary report said.

Former FAA accident investigator Mike Daniel said that to prevent stalls, the control column was designed to require more force for a pilot to pull back than to push forward.

Boeing on Wednesday said software changes to MCAS would provide additional layers of protection, including making it impossible for the system to keep the flight crew from counteracting it.

On the 737 MAX, Boeing removed the 'yoke jerk' function that enabled pilots to disable the automated trim system with a hard pull on the control column rather than hitting two cut-out switches on the centre console.

In a blog post on his personal website, former Boeing engineer Peter Lemme said that could make things harder for a pilot in a crisis.

'In the scenario where the stabiliser is running away nose down, the pilot may only fixate on pulling the column back in response,' he said.

'They may not be mentally capable to trim back or cutout the trim - instead they just keep pulling.'

Ultimately the crew the evening before the Lion Air crash stopped the automated nose-down movement with the cut-out switches and used the wheel to control trim for the remainder of the flight, the preliminary report said.

That was the proper procedure to deal with a runaway stabiliser, according to Boeing.

All 737 MAX jets, Boeing's fastest-selling model, have been grounded around the world until a fix for the problem can be manufactured

However, current and former pilots told Reuters that the way the trim wheel and other controls behaved in practice compared with in training may have confused the Lion Air crews, who were also dealing with warnings about unreliable airspeed and altitude.

'MCAS activation produces conditions similar to a runaway trim, but the training is not done with a stick shaker active and multiple other failures, which make the diagnosis much more difficult,' said John Cox, an aviation safety consultant and former commercial pilot. The stick shaker alerts pilots to a potential stall by vibrating the control column.

Boeing's fastest-selling 737 MAX jet, with orders worth more than $500billion at list prices, has been grounded globally by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulators, although airlines are still allowed to fly them without passengers to move planes to other airports.

The manufacturer said it had developed a training package that 737 MAX pilots are required to take before the worldwide ban can be lifted, proposing as it did before two deadly crashes that those pilots do not need time on flight simulators to safely operate the aircraft.

On Thursday, a lawsuit against Boeing was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda, who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The lawsuit alleges that Boeing had defectively designed the automated flight control system. Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit.

The amount and quality of training that Boeing and airlines provided to 737 MAX pilots is one of the issues under scrutiny as investigators around the world try to determine the causes of two 737 MAX crashes within five months.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Boeing's development process and what Boeing disclosed about MCAS.

The U.S. Transportation Department said on Monday that a new blue ribbon commission will review how the Federal Aviation Administration certifies new aircraft.

U.S. and European regulators knew at least two years before the Indonesian crash that the usual method for controlling the 737 MAX's nose angle might not work in conditions similar to those in two recent disasters, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a document.

The European Aviation and Space Agency (EASA) certified the plane as safe in part because it said additional procedures and training would 'clearly explain' to pilots the 'unusual' situations in which they would need to manipulate a rarely used manual wheel to control, or 'trim,' the plane's angle.

Those situations, however, were not listed in the flight manual, according to a copy from American Airlines seen by Reuters. Boeing declined to comment on the EASA document.
Sandra Oh (pictured, left, with co-star Jodie Comer, right) won a Golden Globe for Killing Eve, which has been nominated for 14 Baftas

Bafta may have bent its own rules to net the hit spy comedy Killing Eve a massive 14 nominations for this year's awards.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's show left rivals trailing when it secured more nominations than any other programme for the Baftas.

But technically it may only be entitled to one, due to the fact that Jodie Comer's portrayal of assassin Villanell first aired in the US.

The rules state that eligibility for a nomination means series 'must have had the worldwide premiere transmission in the UK' between 1 January and 31 December 2018.

They also say 'a UK broadcaster must have the primary editorial control over the programme'.

The only exception to these guidelines is found in nominations for the international series category.

Killing Eve - which stars Sandra Oh as MI5 agent Eve Posner - was originally commissioned by BBC America.

Pictured: Sandra Oh starring in Killing Eve as the show's 14 Bafta nominations spark a row over the programme's eligibility due it first airing in the US

The US pay TV channel is owned by both the BBC and the American network AMC and the show first premiered in the states in April.

The licence fee does not fund BBC America, which is a separate entity to the British original.

Killing Eve only appeared on UK screens when the BBC acquired the show in June 2018.

What has Killing Eve been nominated for? The hit show is in the running for: 1. Costume Design 2. Director Fiction 3. Editing Fiction 4. Original Music 5. Photography & Lighting Fiction 6. Production Design 7. Sound Fiction 8. Titles and Graphic Identity 9. Writer Drama 10. Drama Series 11. Leading Actress (Sandra Oh) 12. Leading Actress (Jodie Comer) 13. Supporting Actress 14. Supporting Actor Advertisement

So the rules suggest that technically Killing Eve could only be nominated for an international series nod.

But Bafta has responded to the eligibility fallout saying its TV committee considers it a British show because of 'significant creative contribution from key UK talent throughout the production'.

Its statement did not address the fact that Killing Eve premiered in the US five months before its UK debut.

A spokesman for Bafta said: 'BAFTAs Television Committee deems Killing Eve a British series.

'Killing Eve received 14 nominations, 9 of which were eligible under BAFTAs criteria, and 5 of which were deemed eligible by the TV committee due to the significant creative contribution from key UK talent throughout the production.

'The Television committee is the arbiter of all eligibility.'

Its British credentials include creator Waller-Bridge, Bloomsbury-based production firm Sid Gentle Films and the Codename Villanelle series of books, penned by Luke Jennings.

The show's origins are also British, as the series was originally in development at Sky before BBC America got hold of it.

Sid Gentle said in a statement that it was 'absolutely thrilled' its 'small small British series has made waves around the world'.

Killing Eve is set for a second series next month - which will also air in America before Britain. A launch is expected on BBC One and Three later this year.

As well as being nominated for 14 Baftas, the first series saw Sandra Oh take the Golden Globe for Actress in a Drama TV Series. The programme was also nominated for a Drama TV Series Golden Globe.
Sonny Bill Williams has praised New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and the unflinching resilience of New Zealanders two weeks on from the Christchurch terror attack.

Williams took to the stage at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday to deliver the moving address in front of a hundreds-strong crowd.

'I am a proud Muslim and a proud New Zealander and the efforts led by Jacinda Ardern and fellow New Zealanders, I commend you, it has been special,' Williams said.

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Sonny Bill Williams has praised Jacinda Ardern and the unflinching resilience of New Zealanders two weeks on from the Christchurch terror attack

Williams took to the stage at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand to deliver the moving address in front of a hundreds-strong crowd on Friday

Jacinda Ardern has drawn global praise for both her sensitivity to the Muslim community and quick response to gun law reform in the wake of the mass shooting on March 15 (pictured, Mayor Phil Goff spoke at Eden Park)

Jacinda Ardern has drawn global praise for both her sensitivity to the Muslim community and quick response to gun law reform in the wake of the mass shooting on March 15.

Alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant allegedly opened fire at the Al Noor and Linwood Masjid mosques at Christchurch and claimed the lives of 50 people.

'To the brothers and sisters, families who are no longer with us here today please take solace and contentment that your family members are in a better place,' Williams said to the families of the victims.

'To those still healing in the hospitals down in Christchurch, we send our prayers to you guys.'

Auckland students sent their support to the affected families through a stirring music performance, and Williams praised community leaders who had carried the torch and led their neighbours through the dark and challenging time.

'Lets keep leading the way, lets keep being that light in stormy waters for the rest of the world.'

While the All Black and Blues star admitted he felt a lack of understanding surrounded Islam, he saw it as an opportunity for New Zealanders to grow and learn.

'I challenge you to reach out to a Muslim in your community and find out about us.

'As a Muslim, we believe that the Arab has no superiority over a non Arab, nor a black over a white, or a white over a black. At the very core of Islam is the fight against racism and hatred.'

Mayor Phil Goff carried the tone and said he saw a unified New Zealand following the attack.

'The terrorist tried to divide the New Zealand community but he has achieved the opposite

'We have seen that love is a more powerful emotion than hatred, good will always prevail over evil.

'Let this be a country where our children can grow up together whatever faith, whatever ethnicity, in harmony.'

The remembrance service at Auckland came as thousands flocked to Hagley Park in Christchurch, where Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten were present.

Auckland students sent their support to the families through a stirring Waiata

Politicians and residents appeared emotional as Williams praised community leaders who had carried the torch and led their neighbours through the dark and challenging time
A Russian model is fighting for her life after contracting meningitis on a 'white slave trade' contract in China.

Alisa Mitrova, 21, was originally wrongly diagnosed with chickenpox when she collapsed unconscious on a gruelling seven-month catwalk assignment.

This follows the case of Russian child model Vlada Dzyuba who died 18 months ago after she became seriously ill with 'acute meningitis compounded by anorexia' during a three month assignment on tiny pay in China unaccompanied by her parents.

Like 14-year-old Vlada and reportedly many Russian models in China, Miss Mitrova had no medical insurance when she was struck down.

Alisa Mitrova, 21, is fighting for her life in hospital two hours from Shanghai with meningitis after she was mistakenly diagnosed with chicken pox

Miss Mitrova is without medical insurance and was being charged 17,700 each night at the hospital in Shanghai where she was rushed by her Brazilian boyfriend Rafael this week

Miss Mitrova could not recognise herself or her boyfriend when she came back to consciousness

Miss Mitrova's mother Lina, 45, said: 'Now all we pray about is that she survives. We don't ask for anything else.'

After fainting, Miss Mitrova was this week rushed to hospital in Shanghai which hit her family with a bill of 17,700 a night, say reports.

When she briefly came round she didn't recognise herself in the mirror or her Brazilian boyfriend named Rafael who had saved her by rushing her to hospital.

Despite fighting for her life with bacterial meningitis, the uninsured model was then moved to a 'cheaper hospital' two hours outside the city.

Her father Vitaly said: 'Conditions there are naturally worse, but we were told that the level of help is still good  Medics say she is in a "heavy" condition, although there was a moment when she got back to senses and spoke to us.

Miss Mitrova has been moved to a cheaper hospital two hours outside Shanhai - her mother Lina, 45, said: 'Now all we pray about is that she survives'

Miss Mitrova's case is disturbingly similar to that of child model Vlada Dzyuba who died 18 months ago after she became seriously ill with 'acute meningitis compounded by anorexia' in China

Model Alisa Mitrova with father Vitaly, mother Lina and younger sister - fortunately her parents accompanied her - 14-year-old Vlada had been on her own when she fell ill in China

'The next four days are the most complicated because they will show if she'll make it ... Of course, there is no way she can continue working as a model.'

Concern has been expressed in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus over young women - some of school age - lured to work in China as models or in 'seedy clubs'.

Russia launched a criminal case into Vlada's death but critics have warned of such cases being the 'tip of an iceberg' of a 'white slave trade' with girls and women from poor families in the former USSR being exploited and paid 'pittances' for exhausting long hours of work.

Miss Mitrova before she came down with her illness relaxes beside the pool in China

Miss Mitrova and her Brazilian boyfriend Rafael walking across a sandy beach in Asia

Miss Mitrova started modelling in China aged just 15 and cases like hers have been described as the 'tip of the iceberg' of a 'white slave trade' in China which pays them meagre wages

Miss Mitrova's family hope she can make a full recovery after doctors made their diagnosis of bacterial meningitis

Miss Mitrova started modelling in China when she was 15, say reports.

Her total medical bill if she survives is estimated to be 30,000 which her family cannot afford.

Her family say that without social media fundraising by her friends, she could easily have died by now.

'Her appearance, her face, were in such high demand in China that she was asked to work abroad days after she completed her studies at the modelling agency,' said her mother, who works on a market in Rostov-on-Don.

Her model agency Vosmodels refused to comment.

A spokesman said Miss Mitrova's illness was 'no concern of the media' even though her parents and friends had put her plight into the public domain.

Miss Mitrova on the catwalk, her mother said: 'Her appearance, her face, were in such high demand in China that she was asked to work abroad days after she completed her studies at the modelling agency'

Miss Mitrova's mother Lisa (pictured) worked at a market in Rostov-on-Don before heading to China with the rest of the family

Vlada was laid to rest in a wedding dress in Perm city because she would never marry, said her family.

Her death - following an initial misdiagnosis of her condition after she collapsed exhausted on a catwalk - promoted an outcry over the fashion industry's alleged exploitation of young models.

The Chinese hospital where she died said she suffered blood poisoning 'with multiple visceral organs damaged, liver dysfunction and renal insufficiency.'
A same-sex couple, who booked a trip to Brunei before the nation introduced laws to punish gay sex, was told to act straight by a government travel advice service.

The Tasmanian couple, aged 27 and 29, who asked to remain anonymous, booked flights to London on Royal Brunei Airlines in mid-April via Webjet, news.com.au reported.





From April 3, the southeast Asian nation announced adultery and gay sex in Brunei will be illegal and subject to death by stoning and having limbs chopped off.

The Tasmanian couple, aged 27 and 29, who asked to remain anonymous, booked flights to London on Royal Brunei Airlines in mid-April via Webjet (stock image)

The pair, who also had a four-hour stopover in Brunei planned, expressed their concerns to Webjet after the laws were announced.

The 27-year-old told Webjet he felt uncomfortable talking to a Bruneian airline representative and was advised the pair could cancel their flights for $2,200.

They shared their concerns with a Smart Traveller representative, a travel advice service set up by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

The couple requested to speak with another representative after one claimed the previous adviser sounded 'annoyed' and was unaware of the new laws.

The second representative said: 'If you act heterosexual you should be fine.'

The laws were announced in 2014 by the Brunei's billionaire sultan Hassan Bolkiah, who is also the Prime Minister.

The strict sharia laws were on hold for the past few years due to heavy criticism.

From April 3, the southeast Asian nation announced adultery and gay sex in Brunei will be subject to death by stoning and having limbs chopped off (stock image)

An Australian petition was created to try and stop the Royal Brunei Airlines from landing in the country.

Brunei is the only country that executes LGBTIQ people which has a national airline with landing rights in Australia.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has urged Australians to 'exercise safety precautions' as the new law could target them while in transit.

Homosexuality is already illegal in Brunei, with a prison term of up to ten years and will now become a capital offence.

Department of Foreign Affairs said: 'the new law applies to Muslims, non-Muslims and foreigners even when transitioning on Brunei registered aircraft and vessels,

'We take the issues of Australian travellers, including those from the LGBTI community, very seriously.'
The mother of a woman who died during a botched butt injection operation yelled in court at the fake nurse who performed the procedure.

Latesha Bynum died after bogus nurse Allison Spence administered a back-alley butt lift operation in 2017.

Spence, 46, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and acting as a nurse without a license at the Manhattan clinic that used a Dunkin' Donuts as a waiting room.

Bertie Bynum launched a tirade at Spence just before she was jailed for eight years at a Manhattan court on Thursday.

Bynum was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of her 31-year-old daughter in a coffin.

The mother branded the defendant 'not even human' and added, 'You see my shirt? What I have to deal with. This is the way I have to see my baby, in a casket!'

Victim's mother Bertie Bynum appeared in court wearing a T-shirt showing her daughter laid in a coffin

'This is the way I have to see my baby, in a casket,' a distraught Bynum shouted out in court

As she spoke, Spence looked down and did not turn to look at the victim's family, ABC 7 reports.

According to the New York Post, Bynum added: 'You knew you wasn't no nurse. You knew you didn't go to no medical school. What right did you have to shoot anything into my child?'

Her jail term of eight years will include the estimated 17 months she has already spent in jail since her arrest.

Bynum shouted at defended Allison Spence just before she was sentenced for the manslaughter of her daughter Latesha

Allison Spence was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter and acting as a nurse without a license

Bynum, from Harlem, attended Gramercy Park clinic for silicone buttock injections on July 15, 2017, and Spence administered one injection at about 1pm.

But she had a negative reaction to the silicone in the injection and when it entered her blood stream it blocked her arteries and killed her.

When Bynum began to feel ill and complained of dizziness, Spence put the mother-of-two into a shower, then gave her a ride home.

Hours later, Bynum called 911 from her home and told responders that she felt dizzy and had chest pains.

Allison Spence, 46, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after giving a silicone injection that killed mother-of-two Latesha (pictured)

Victim's mother Bertie Bynum speaking during the sentencing of Allison Spence. Her daughter Latesha died after the procedure Spence performed at an unlicensed clinic

She fell into a coma and died in hospital two weeks later.

During sentencing on Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Harrison Schweiloch read a statement from an unidentified second victim who was permanently disfigured from the same procedure.

Co-defendant Kevin Richardson, the doctor who oversaw the running of the black-market clinic, already pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and three counts of unauthorized practice of a profession relating to the case.

Spence met Richardson's patients at a Dunkin' Donuts he used as a waiting room.

In exchange for accepting a plea deal, it is expected Richardson will be sentenced to four to 12 years behind bars.

She would then accompany them into the clinic, which was actually an apartment, for their buttock lift injections.
A teacher received death threats after giving children an assignment titled 'Trump Against American Values'.

Students were reportedly given an essay criticizing Donald Trump and asked to review what the author was saying about the president.

The purpose of the critical-thinking exercise was for the seventh-grade pupils to evaluate what information could be inferred by the text.

But the Texas-based teacher, who has not been identified, received threatening calls, including death threats, according to the Houston Chronicle.

One of the ten essays written by students was titled Trump Against American Values and said the president's policies 'have gone against what Americans value most, like freedom of opportunity'.

A seventh-grade teacher used as essay titled 'Trump Against American Values' for an exercise in critical-thinking

The writer began by stating: 'Throughout Donald Trumps time in the American spotlight we have come to see his true colors.'

The short piece then added, 'we have witnessed insensitive remarks toward other racial and cultural groups'.

Students were then asked to fill in a multiple choice response, the first asking, 'which of the following conclusions would the author most likely agree with?'

One pupil answered, 'Donald Trump should not be president'.

The second question asked the 12 to 13 years olds to finished the statement, 'the reader can infer that...'

One youngster replied, 'Mexican Americans are the major group upset with President Trump'.

After Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain posted a picture of the assignment on Facebook, the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District reportedly Breceived several calls, including death threats.

The Congressman said the teacher had 'lost the privilege of being in a classroom' in a Facebook post about the incident.

President Donald Trump speaking during a rally in Grand Rapids yesterday. Children at a school in Houston were asked to analyse an essay that criticized the president

He wrote on Tuesday: 'They [the teacher] have lost the privilege of being in a classroom with Texas children, and forfeit the title of teacher. No teacher should attempt to indoctrinate a child to their ideology, no matter who is in the White House.

'This individual has violated the sacred trust that every parent has with the State of Texas when they send their child into a public school.

'This type of non-factual rhetoric has no place in our schools regardless of who the president is.

'My children have experienced great teachers in the classroom, but I have also had to put up with those who see their roles as indoctrinators, not educators.'

The school district said the teacher made an 'error in judgement', in a statement to the Houston Chronicle.

It read: 'We received many calls at the district. Many of those calls were deeply disturbing and threatening in nature.

'While we all agree that the particular passage should not have been used, the teacher made a simple error in judgement. Like all of us, teachers are human and make mistakes from time to time.'

The original essay came from a website called Youth Voices that allows students to publish their own posts.
Delivering takeaways all day might not sound like the most glamorous job, but one waiter in the Philippines has certainly added a touch of style - by gliding around on a hover unicycle.

The waiter was spotted in Angeles City in Pampanga, the Philippines, as he showed of his impeccable balance while riding down a city street.

Laden with bags full of food to be delivered, the waiter has to be careful about weight distribution because just one wrong move could cause a fall.

A waiter was spotted in Angeles City in Pampanga, the Philippines, as he showed of his impeccable balance while riding down a city street delivering food. Towards the end of the clip the waiter can be seen grinning at someone behind him while he continues to manoeuvre his hover unicycle with ease

He seems to effortlessly float past the person filming the scene without wavering.

While moving down the street he weaves out of the way of parked cars without even wobbling.

Towards the end of the clip the waiter can be seen grinning at someone behind him while he continues to manoeuvre his hover unicycle with ease.

Onlooker Clark Macasio said: 'I was riding a jeepney bus (a common mode of transportation in the Philippines) then we saw him behind.

'His ability to balance is amazing. It's like a futuristic kind of delivery.'

And this isn't the first restaurant to use a futuristic food delivery service.

The Latitude Cafe & Lounge in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria, sees all of its waiters use hoverboards while serving customers.

The cafe believe that introducing a modern twist on table service will serve as a competitive edge over competing businesses in the area.
The paralysis at the centre of Britain's government has been exposed by a minister who described the cabinet as 'the living dead' in a foul-mouth rant.

Britain awaits the result of yet another vote on Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal deal, with almost no idea what will happen if it is voted down.

A minister's angry tirade about the situation was revealed by Nicholas Watt, the political editor of BBC's Newsnight show, last night, after he spoke with the cabinet member.

Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt last night revealed a minister's despair at Brexit

Mr Watt told show host Emily Maitlis the minister had told him cabinet is like 'the living dead'. Ms Mailtlis replied with a tortured 'oh God'

Mr Watt said: 'In cabinet, I am picking up complete and utter despair. I said to one cabinet minister: "So why is the Prime Minister holding a vote when she's pretty sure she's going to lose?"'

'Using very strong language this cabinet minister said to me "F*** knows! I'm past caring. It's like the living dead in here".

'This cabinet minister said to me: "Theresa May is the sole architect of this mess. It is her inability to engage in the most basic human interactions that brought us here."

'[The minister continued:] Cabinet has totally broken down, ministers say their bit. She gives nothing away. One side thinks X will happen. The other side think Y will happen. And the Prime Minister decides on Z.'

Viewers with dark senses of humour branded the sudden outburst of honesty 'the TV moment of the year'.

One joked: 'Give Nicholas Watt the Pulitzer!'

Viewers cheers the outbreak of honest language, saying the minister 'spoke for the nation'

Nick Gendler tweeted: 'More poignant than Nicholas Watt's reporting of the cabinet minister's sweary outburst against the PM was Emily Maitlis's reaction. Her despairing "oh God" spoke for the nation.'

The sense of despair around today's vote continued when Emily Maitlis told minister Tobias Ellwood: 'You're putting back on the table a horse so dead, flogged to death, it's practically a glue stick.'

Theresa May is battling to get her Brexit Withdrawal Agreement backed by the Commons on the day that was scheduled to see Britain quit the EU.

The Prime Minister split the legally binding treaty segment of her Brexit deal from the declaration on future relations with the EU in order to ensure MPs could vote on it on Friday.

But Mrs May faced an uphill struggle as key Government allies the DUP joined Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in saying they would vote against the move.
Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn't popular among voters - if they've even heard of her at all, according to a new poll.

A Quinnipiac University survey released Thursday found that just 23 per cent gave the New Yorker a favorable rating.

A surprising 38 percent said they didn't even know enough about the liberal politician to form an opinion on her, despite the 29-year-old being on the cover of April's Time Magazine.

How millennials rate AOC: The Quinnipiac poll shows how the firebrand Democratic socialist rated among 18- to 34-year-olds

How AOC is rated by all voters: This is how all 1,358 respondents measured up

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks to journalists after the Democratic House caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday. Forty seven percent of Democrats see her favorably

The poll surveyed 1,358 voters nationwide between March 21 and 25 and AOC got her highest favorable rating - 35 percent - from the 18-34 age group.

Republicans gave her a measly 2 percent rating and a huge 74 percent unfavorable rating. Twenty three percent said they didn't know enough about her to form an opinion.

'All is definitely not A-OK for AOC. Most voters either don't like the firebrand freshman congresswoman or don't know who she is,' said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the poll.

Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez a lot more, only 7 percent regard her unfavorably. Forty seven liked her, while the rest don't know her well enough.

The poll also asked respondents how they think she'd suit certain parties.

Overall, 33 percent of respondents thought she was a match for the Democrats, including 57 percent of that voter base.

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters at a closed Senate Republican policy lunch on Capitol Hill last week. Fifty three percent of voters say they won't vote Trump in 2020

Fifty seven is a number that was relevant for AOC this week as the senate unanimously voted down her new green deal 57-0 Tuesday.

Not surprisingly, 73 percent of Republicans said she was bad for the party. They let their feelings on her be known at a Trump rally yesterday, chanting: 'AOC sucks!'

The survey has a plus/minus 3.3 percentage-point margin of error.

It also found that Republicans and Republican leaners remain loyal to President Donald Trump, with 56  35 percent saying they do not want to see someone run against him in a Republican primary.

But 53 percent of American voters say they definitely will not vote for Trump in the 2020 general election if he is the Republican candidate.

From March 21 - 25, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,358 voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points, including the design effect. The survey includes 559 Democrats and Democratic leaners with a margin of error of +/- 5.1 percentage points, including the design effect, and 582 Republicans and Republican leaners with a margin of error of +/- 5 percentage points, including the design effect.
A baby boy has died after falling into a bucket of scalding water and suffering catastrophic burns as his mother prepared his bath in Ukraine.

Doctors had battled to save Daniil Chernenko after he suffered burns to 80 per cent of his body in the village of Salhany in southern Ukraine's Odessa Oblast region.

His heart stopped beating after 11 days in a critical condition, just two days after his first birthday and staff at the hospital in Odessa were unable to resuscitate him.

Tetyana Chernenko was with her son when he died and has not been able to forgive herself for what happened, reports say.

Daniil Chernenko died just two days after his first birthday following an 11 day battle at the hospital in the city of Odessa. He is pictured fighting for his life in hospital earlier this month

His mother Tetyana Chernenko said she had been preparing his bath and had turned away for just a few seconds when her baby plunged into the scalding hot bucket of water

Mrs Chernenko has been unable to forgive herself, as police are treating the incident as an accident

The incident is said to have unfolded when the baby was about to have a bath. His mother Tetyana Chernenko reportedly brought a bucket with boiling water into the bedroom and put it on the floor near a table.

She planned to mix some boiling water with cold water in a baby bathtub that was standing on the table so she could bath her son.

At this point, Daniil was playing on the table near the bathtub. But when his mother turned away for a few seconds to take some cold water, the child fell from the table into the scalding hot bucket of water.

Mrs Chernenko said: 'I saw how he fell in the boiling water. I rushed to the bucket and pulled him out.

'I hugged him, then wrapped him in a cotton cloth. When I unwrapped him I saw his skin was peeling off.'

Daniil was rushed to hospital in Odessa, the capital city of the region, in critical condition and diagnosed with burns to 80 per cent of his body.

Pictures taken by Katherine Nozhevnikova, a volunteer from a local charity organisation, show Daniil lying on the bed after being hospitalised.

It had been reported that only patches of skin on the youngster's forehead, fingers and toes escaped being affected.

Daniil was rushed to hospital in Odessa, the capital city of the region, in critical condition and diagnosed with burns to 80 per cent of his body

Hospital staff said the child became hoarse from the constant crying caused by his unbearable pain

Hospital staff said the child became hoarse from the constant crying caused by his unbearable pain.

Mrs Nozhevnikova said: 'Ten litres of boiling water and just a few seconds during which the mother's attention was diverted.

'The child won 11 days of life thanks to people who donated funds for his treatment. We have lost him. I am so sorry.'

Police are treating the case as an accident.
Sharife Elouhabi

Pictured: Fraudster Sharife Elouahbi

The 38-year-old, claimed to be living with a family of five on the 21st floor of the west London apartment block.

He was given 300 a week in food expenses and was put up in three different hotels, which were funded by the Grenfell disaster fund, before getting kicked out of two for breaking the rules.

The career criminal had 28 previous convictions, including stealing pictures of singer Will Young in drag to sell them to the press, robbery and assault.

Elouahbi was due to receive further resettlement payments worth another 14,730 towards a flat and free utilities before he was caught by police.

He was jailed for six years at Isleworth Crown Court after becoming the thirteenth person to be convicted of 'Grenfell fraud' and the person to steal the most from the fund set up to support victims of the fire that killed 72 people last June.

Abolaji Onafuye

Nigerian father-of-five Abolaji Onafuye

The Nigerian father-of-five claimed Zainab Deen, 32, who perished in the blaze was his sister and he was sharing a flat with her.

He was put up at one of London's top hotels and racked up a total bill of more than 35,000.

Onafuye later admitted he was not staying at the tower block and said he must have been 'hallucinating' when he claimed he was.

Local taxpayers in Kensington and Chelsea footed the 23,500 bill for Onafuye's stay at the four-star Grosvenor Hotel in Buckingham Palace Road.

Onafuye received another 13,000 in living costs after he was moved to a flat in Gorleston Street, Hammersmith - where two bedroom apartments can cost up to 500,000.

A jury at Isleworth Crown Court convicted Onafuye of two counts of fraud by false representation.

Koffi Kouakou

Koffi Kouakou, lied about his girlfriend dying in the Grenfell tragedy

This west Londoner lied about his girlfriend dying in the Grenfell tragedy to swindle the council out of thousands of pounds meant for real survivors. 53-year-old Koffi Kouakou of Westfield Close, Coleridge Gardens claimed he had been living in the tower with his girlfriend, an occupant who died in the tragic fire.

Following his claimed Kensington and Chelsea Council put him up in a hotel for two months before re-homing him in council accommodation.

The council spent more than 30,000 on accommodation for Kouakou who was found to be lying following a Metropolitan Police investigation.

Police confirmed Kouakou had not been living in Grenfell Tower and that he had not been in a relationship with the woman.

He pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at Isleworth Crown Court on October 17 and was jailed for four years.

Mohammed Syed Rinku

Illegal immigrant Mohammed Syed Rinku, claimed he was in a relationship with a Grenfell Tower Fire victim to try and stay in the country.

The 46-year-old applied to stay in the UK and received more than 5,000 in support while his claims were investigated.

He was found to be lying to try and stay in the country and charged with fraud as well as being ordered to pay back 4,044.36.

Rinku, who is of no fixed address, was jailed for 18 months at Isleworth Crown Court on October 9.

Abdelkarim Rekaya

Pictured: Abdelkarim Rekaya, who conned Kensington and Chelsea Council out of more than 80,000

The 28-year-old conned Kensington and Chelsea Council out of more than 80,000 in financial support after claiming he was a Grenfell Tower resident and had been made homeless by the tragic fire on June 17 last year.

He was re-homed at an address in Lots Road, Fulham where he lived rent free and without paying bills until July 1, 2018 when enquiries found his story was false and that he had never lived in Grenfell Tower.

He pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and obtaining leave to remain by deception at Isleworth Crown Court on September 21.

Rekaya has was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

Jenny McDonagh

The former Kensington and Chelsea Council finance minister admitted to stealing more than 60,000 meant for Grenfell Tower victims.

The 39-year-old took the money meant for survivors using pre-paid credit cards, despite having no personal connection to the tragedy, which she used to fund trips to Dubai and Los Angeles, expensive dinners and online gambling.

She was charged with two counts of fraud by abuse of position, one count of theft by an employee and one count of money laundering.

McDonagh who was described in court as a 'serial fraudster' who 'lived beyond her means', was jailed for five and a half years on September 28.

Jenny McDonagh took the money meant for survivors using pre-paid credit cards, despite having no personal connection to the tragedy

Derrick Peters

Homeless Derrick Peters, 58, lied about living in Grenfell Tower to get a shorter sentence for burglary.

He was put behind bars after falsely telling a judge he had lost all his belongings in the blaze.

His lies meant he put up in free four-star hotel accommodation worth 38,784, courtesy of Kensington and Chelsea Council .

Now Peters, who pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and perverting the course of justice will spend the next six years in jail.

This includes a three year and four month sentence for two counts of fraud by false representation, 20 months for one count of perverting the course of justice and 12 months after being resentenced for previous count of burglary - all to be be served consecutively.

Tommy Brooks and Elaine Douglas

Tommy Brooks, 52, and Elaine Douglas, 51, were described as 'parasitic' after they claimed to be victims of the devastating fire in order to freeload a combined 125,000 in financial support.

The duo claimed they had lived on the 19th floor of the building but they had been staying with friends the night of the tragedy.

Douglas had claimed 67,125.35 and Brooks had received 58,396.89 in financial support after the fire as well as free hotel accommodation by the time their fraud was discovered by the authorities.

They were sentenced at the same court, with Douglas receiving three years imprisonment and Brooks receiving three years and three months.

Tommy Brooks, 52, and Elaine Douglas, 51, were described as 'parasitic' after they claimed to be victims of the devastating fire in order to freeload a combined 125,000 in financial support

Mohammad Gamoota

Gamoota pretended his dad died in the fire to get hundreds of pounds in cash and a free hotel stay, where he racked up a large room service bill.

The 31-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to two fraud charges in June this year.

He claimed he had been living on the 24th floor of the tower with his dad, who he pretended had died in the devastating fire.

In reality he was living with his mum in Croydon and his dad was living abroad.

To make his fraud more convincing, Gamoota researched a newspaper article about one of the 71 real victims of the fire, and used their name and details - pretending they were his dad - to make his claims for free hotel accommodation and cash sound more convincing.

He also made Internet searches using the words 'Grenfell Tower Fraud'.

Gamoota was able to receive 500 in cash, although he had applied for 5,000 and he received 910 worth of free hotel accommodation over nine days, and a 354 room service bill.

He was sentenced to three years and two month's imprisonment at the court.

Antonio Gouveia

Antonio Gouveia fraudulently claimed more than 50,000

Antonio Gouveia fraudulently claimed more than 50,000 after pretending to be a victim of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The 33-year-old homeless man came forward days after the disaster, claiming to have lived in Flat 42 on the seventh floor of the tower.

Gouveia claimed nine months free accommodation at a Marble Arch hotel, worth 155 a night, as well as 260 in emergency cash, a 249.99 Google Chromebook laptop.

His hotel stay alone was worth a total of 53,456.76.

The cash and hotel accommodation were given to him after he turned up at Westway Centre, a hub for the emergency efforts at the time of the fire.

The 'disgusting' fraudster was jailed for three years at Isleworth Crown Court.

Joyce Msokeri

Joyce Msokeri posed as the widow of a fire victim

Joyce Msokeri posed as the widow of a fire victim to claim accommodation and goods worth 19,000.

The 47-year- old Londoner filled her free room at Kensington's Hilton hotel with donated items including handbags and dresses.

When officials began to suspect she was lying, she told them she had just found out her husband had in fact survived and had been living in a cave in Margate, Kent, where he was fed by tourists.

She was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Yonatan Eyob

The 26-year-old nabbed 87,000 worth of cash and hotel accommodation after claiming he had lodged in a flat where a family of five died.

It is the largest sum scammed by any single Grenfell fraudster.

CCTV footage proved Eyob had never actually been in the block, and when cops raided the Hilton hotel room he had been given, they found a stash of MDMA and cocaine.

It lead to him being convicted of drug offences in addition to fraud. He was jailed for a total of six years and eight months.

Anh Nhu Nguyen said he lost his wife and son in the blaze

Anh Nhu Nguyen

The 53-year-old was the first fraudster caught for falsely claiming he had lived in the tower.

He said he had lost his wife and son in the blaze  giving an elaborate account of his dramatic escape to Sky News.

The con artist, of Beckenham, South East London, was even comforted by Prince Charles at a meeting with victims.

He collected nearly 12,500 from charitable and council funds before being rumbled after giving multiple different flat numbers as his address.

Nguyen was jailed for 21 months after admitting fraud in February 2018.

Moses Ettienne

Moses Ettienne, 49, is believed to be the 15th person to be convicted for a Grenfell Tower fraud.

He said he was living in the Kensington residence when the fire broke out in June 2017 - and gave a non-existent flat address to authorities in order to collect 47,415 worth of accommodation and living expenses at a Park Plaza Hotel in London.

Ettienne refused to provide the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with details of his fictitious flat, claiming he was 'bound by secrecy' due to his 'top secret' work with foreign governments on renewable energy.

He was jailed for five years on March 28, 2019.
Concerned parents have slammed a high school amid allegations four teenage students were slashed with a rusty razor blade by one of their classmates.

The four year-eight students, three girls and one boy, were left with cuts to their legs after a fellow female student allegedly attacked them at Helensvale State High School, in the Gold Coast, on Tuesday.

The female student reportedly ripped the razor blade from a pencil sharpener to slash her four victims, Nine News reported.

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Concerned parents have slammed a high school amid allegations four teenage students were slashed with a rusty razor blade by one of their classmates

Parents of the students, who do not wish to be identified, have condemned the school for how the situation was handled.

'This was a rusty blade that has been used to cut multiple children,' one mother said.

'Where is the duty of care?'

Another mother said her daughter had four cuts on one leg and two on the other.

The parents claim they have not yet heard from the principal of the school and that the event was being treated as a minor incident.

The school allegedly told the parents they had 'nothing to worry about' as the situation had been dealt with and there was nothing more that could be done.

Parents of the students have condemned the school for how the situation was handled

The four year-eight students were left with cuts to their legs after a fellow female student allegedly attacked them at Helensvale State High School, in the Gold Coast, on Tuesday

Police were not notified about the alleged assault and the students did not receive health care from paramedics.

'We're angry, we're upset, it's been swept under the carpet,' said a mother of a victim.

A spokesperson for Queensland's Department of Education said Helensvale State High School, like all of state schools, holds the safety of its students and staff as a top priority.

'The school acted immediately to investigate as soon as staff became aware of an incident, and contacted parents and caregivers of all students involved,' the spokesperson said.

'As with any incident of a sensitive nature, Helensvale State High School staff will continue to offer guidance support for students.'

'The school is acting in line with its Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students to manage the incident.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Helensvale State High School for comment.
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New pictures have emerged of young children sleeping on the floor in chain-link enclosures after their families were arrested trying to cross the border from Mexico.

Hundreds of migrants are being held behind barbed wire at the enclosure in El Paso, Texas, as they wait to be processed at a nearby Border Patrol station.

Children were seen sleeping outside in temperatures which dropped to 47F overnight and having to take shelter on dirt and gravel surfaces under a bridge.

Around 3,500 migrants were in Customs and Border Protection custody with 1,000 arrested on Monday alone, officials said.

The enclosure was set up late last month below the city's Paso del Norte International Bridge to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Place to sleep: A young child rests his head on a foil sheet behind a chain-link fence, at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in El Paso, Texas, where thousands of migrants are being held

Mother's arms: A child looks out through a chain-link fence as she and another migrant are held in an enclosure on the U.S.-Mexican border where they are awaiting processing

How long they remain in the enclosure depends on how many migrants cross the border, said U.S. Border Patrol Agent Ramiro Cordero.

'It could be a couple of hours, it could be more than that, it could be overnight, I can't tell you, it's just too many people for me to tell you an exact time or time frame,' he said.

He said migrants are now crossing at an average of 570 people per day in the area, the highest rate in more than a decade.

The migrants are in facilities built for far fewer people and designed for single adults, who were once the bulk of arrested border crossers, officials say.

Migrants at the enclosure are given thermal blankets and can get shelter, food, water and a medical evaluation, according to border officials.

The CBP has temporarily closed all highway checkpoints along the 268-mile stretch of border in the El Paso sector in a bid to stem the flow.

Sealed in: A child looks out through chain-link fencing and barbed wire security while other migrants sit in thermal foil blankets while they await processing

Families: Mothers carry their children while other migrants sit on the floor at the El Paso facility, which has seen a surge in arrivals as 1,000 people were held on Monday alone

Let me out: A child appears to be crying as she hugs her mother behind the fencing in Texas while a young boy sits nearby. The latest pictures come in the wake of a furious political row over the treatment of infants at the border last year

Taylor Levy of El Paso migrant shelter Annunciation House said the enclosures were an 'inhumane and inexcusable way to treat people'.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said the agency planned to set up temporary buildings to house migrant families, before a planned $192 million processing facility is built.

Those buildings have yet to be put up, according to Cordero.

Families and children now form the majority of apprehensions across the Southwest border, with a record 55,000 family units apprehended or encountered in March.

The pictures of captive children are likely to reignite the furious political row over the treatment of young and infant migrants at the border.

Locked in: A woman wearing a pink jacket and holding an orange plastic bag is seen behind chain-link fencing at the enclosure in Texas where thousands of migrants have arrived

Temporary: The enclosure stands behind fences in El Paso where officials say they are given food and medical help but critics have called it an ''nhumane and inexcusable way to treat people'

Toy: A child plays with the foil which is provided to migrants to make thermal blankets, as the Central American families await processing underneath the Paso Del Norte Bridge in Texas

Last year's searing images of children and babies in custody after they were separated from their families sparked a fierce backlash from Democrats against Donald Trump's immigration policices.

Trump ended the family separation policy in June after wrongly claiming it had started under Barack Obama, but activists claim that children have still been taken from their parents since then.

In a tweet yesterday Trump said: 'We have a National Emergency at our Southern Border. The Dems refuse to do what they know is necessary - amend our immigration laws. Would immediately solve the problem!

'Mexico, with the strongest immigration laws in the World, refuses to help with illegal immigration & drugs!'

Responding, Mexican leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said tackling illegal immigration was an issue chiefly for the United States and Central America to address.

He said Mexico would help to check the flow of migrants heading north, but that his country was no longer the main driver of the phenomenon.

A group of migrants stand by the fence in daylight as they are held in temporary accommodation underneath the Paso Del Norte Bridge. Officials say a new $192 million processing facility is planned

Long wait: Migrants stand by the fence (left) and gather their thermal blankets as they huddle in the enclosure in Texas where hundreds of families are being held, while another man gives a pacifier to his baby (right)

Awake at night: Central American migrants stand at the edge of the enclosure where they are being held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. There has been a surge in the number of whole families attempting to cross the border

Sleeping quarters: Several young migrants are pictured next to a tent at the facility in Texas, where children have been seen spending the night outside on dirt and gravel in 47F temperatures
A fisherman has pulled an enormous severed shark's head out of the ocean off Australia's coast - sparking speculation it was killed by an even bigger predator.

The angler, named only as Jason and known online as Trapman Bermagui, made the gruesome discovery in the waters off the coast of New South Wales on Thursday.

He posted an image of what was left of the Mako shark online, describing the morning's catch as 'crazy'.

Jason, known as Trapman Bermagui, caught the severed shark's head weighing 200lb off the coast of New South Wales on Thursday. Speculation was rife among his followers on Facebook as to what could predator could have killed the Mako

'So this was all we got back of this monster mako,' he wrote.

'Unfortunately we didn't see what ate it but must of been impressive!! The head was about 100kg (220lbs).'

Soon afterwards, Jason's Facebook following began speculating about what kind of monster could have inflicted such damage on a Mako, which can grow up to 12ft in length and weigh up to 1,260lbs.

Makos are also fearsome predators and rarely become prey - they are the fastest species of shark and can reach speeds of up to 46mph.

Mako sharks can grow as large as 12ft and weigh up to 1,260lbs, so it would likely need an apex predator such as a great white shark or an orca to sever its head

Some people suggested that this could have been the work of an Orca, or killer whale. The apex predators are one of the fastest marine animals and typically weigh between four and six tonnes.

But Jason, who is based in Bermagui, a coastal town 240 miles south of Sydney, believes the unfortunate Mako was the victim of bigger sharks.

It might have been a tiger shark, according to Shamus Johnston, who commented that he had seen one kill a 12 ft shark with one bite.

'Tiger sharks get huge, with sightings and records of them getting 20+ feet and being extremely aggressive towards other sharks!,' he wrote.

But Greg Doble wrote that the distinctive pattern around the Mako's wound made it appear to have come from a 20ft great white - and probably more than one.

Greg Doble wrote on Facebook that the distinctive bite marks visible on the severed head of the Mako shark look as though the kill was the work of a great white shark (pictured)

'You can see the smaller or conveyor teeth outside major bite marks,' he wrote.

'Not Orcas - they tend to eat just the liver of large sharks and let the rest drop to the ocean floor.'

Lisa Newick agreed, adding: 'Despite their reputation as lone hunters, great whites will cooperate with one another, hunting in groups and sharing the spoils.

'They're social creatures and travel in groups at times as well, thats why you see them milling all over whale carcasses.

Others believe that the Mako was killed by either an Orca (left) or a tiger shark (right), as both have a bite powerful enough

'After seeing the pic Ill just uh stick to the swimming pool,' she added.

In another bizarre twist, Jason said that after he cut about a slab of meat from the mako head he discovered the bill of a marlin fish.

The long spike had been embedded in the head for years, but shark's 'amazing healing powers' had caused the wound to close around it.
A driver on parole and with a suspended licence has been caught on camera in a wild road rage attack against a police officer.

The officer had pulled over Mark Fatur during a routine traffic stop at Jannali in the Sutherland Shire, south of Sydney on Thursday.

The driver had allegedly overtaken a truck at more than 30km over the speed limit. After he was stopped, things took a turn for the worse, Yahoo 7 reported.

Fatur allegedly got back in his car and closed the door on the officer, before he was stopped again around the corner.

Mobile phone footage from a nearby bystander caught the ensuing struggle as the officer tried to subdue the driver.

The officer repeatedly grabs at the driver's arm as he constantly pulls away.

'I told you my name is Mark Fatur,' the driver can be heard saying.

'F-A-T-U-R'.

The driver then looks to get back in the driver's seat, but steps back out of the car to hurl verbal abuse at the officer.

'You b*****d,' the driver is heard screaming.

A driver on parole and with a suspended licence has been caught on camera in a wild road rage attack against a police officer

After a brief struggle the officer manages to bring the driver under control and handcuff him - he later needed medical treatment for a cut lip and bruising to his jaw.

Fatur is believed to have been driving on a suspended licence and to have also spent three months in prison last year over the assault of a different officer.

Not only that, but he is on parole for a separate incident of threatening serious harm.

Magistrate Jayeanna Carney said Fatur lunged towards police, verbally abused the officer and 'with his right fist enclosed... impacted the police officer's mouth.'

The court heard Fatur suffers from anxiety and the condition is being treated with heavy medication.

Fatur insisted he wasn't driving unlicensed at the time, though the magistrate threatened to send him to the holding cells if he spoke up in court again.

Fatur was refused bail and could face up to six years behind bars.

He will reappear in court in April.
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Theresa May's Brexit is in tatters today - and Tory rebels are already calling on her to quit - after her deal was defeated in the Commons by 58 votes.

The Prime Minister has now hinted she will consider calling a general election after the 'grave' result and said: 'I fear we are reaching the limits of the process in this House.'

Mrs May had begged the Commons 'with all her heart' to back her deal but her motion was rejected by 344 votes to 286 - a majority of 58.

If the 28 hardcore Tory Brexiteers who deserted her today had backed the deal the PM would have only been two votes short of victory, and the momentum would have been with her. Many accused the hardcore anti-EU MPs, who have dubbed themselves Spartans, of losing the very thing they have been fighting for through their intransigence.

Six Conservative remain rebels and 10 DUP MPs also refused to side with Mrs May - while only five Labour MPs were willing to defy Jeremy Corbyn.

Britain now faces at least two more weeks of chaos as MPs on Monday start to try and force a soft Brexit in 'indicative votes'.

They will try and arrive at a majority for one option, most likely a customs union and a second referendum, before passing laws to force it on the PM.

But at the same time May is expected to use that looming threat to win backing for her deal by before Britain is due to leave the EU on April 12.

The Prime Minister has signalled she is not willing to take Britain out without a deal, and if no agreement is reached by April 12 will likely agree to a long delay.

Her comments hinting at an election could mean she would then step down to allow a new Tory leader to take over following a 12-week leadership contest and then possibly call an election. Or she could call snap election within six weeks if two-thirds of MPs back her.

No 10 has warned a third defeat meant up to five years trapped inside the EU and European Council president Donald Tusk has now called an emergency summit of leaders in Brussels on April 10 to discuss the implications of the vote.

That will infuriate the 28 hardcore Brexiteer Tory rebels who voted against her including Mark Francois, Steve Baker and Suella Braverman. The other six rebels are remainers including Dominic Grieve and Boris Johnson's brother Jo.

Hinting at a general election three years early, Theresa May told the Commons: 'I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House. This House has rejected no-deal. It has rejected no Brexit. On Wednesday it rejected all the variations of the deal on the table, and today it has rejected approving the Withdrawal Agreement alone and continuing a process on the future'.

Afterwards her official spokesman refused three times to deny that a general election is now on the table. He also did not deny Mrs May could bring her deal back for a fourth vote before April 12.

As the result came in thousands of pro-Brexit protesters gathered in Parliament Square chanting 'disgrace', 'shame on you' and 'we want Brexit now' at the culmination of a 270-mile march from Sunderland that started a fortnight ago.

Theresa May heads back to Downing Street after her deal was defeated for a third time and hinted that a general election is an option

Thousands of Brexit protesters gathered in Parliament Square with many chanting 'disgrace' and 'shame on you' as MPs voted to delay Brexit again

With the vote on Mrs May's deal going against her for the third time, it emerged:

Theresa May faces choice of general election, bringing vote back or asking the EU for a long extension - but her own MPs are already calling on her to quit;

PM failed to convince Tory Brexiteers, the DUP and Labour rebels to switch despite begging 'with all her heart'

MPs led by Sir Oliver Letwin and Yvette Cooper could now change the law next week to force Mrs May to pursue a soft Brexit option, such as a customs union and second referendum;

Experts predict a general election would not break the Brexit deadlock and the public are also against it;

Thousands gathered for a pro-Brexit rally outside Parliament on day Britain was meant to leave EU;

ERG chairman Steve Baker, who has vowed never to vote for the PM's EU divorce, said: 'This must be the final defeat for Theresa May's Deal.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW THAT MAY'S DEAL HAS FAILED? What happens now that May's deal has failed? MPs will try to force a soft Brexit next week - and No 10 has threatened to call an election rather than be railroaded. Technically Brexit day will be reset to April 12, but rebel MPs have already started the process to delay that by months or even years. On Monday, MPs will have more 'indicative votes' to choose a Brexit alternative. Momentum is gaining for a majority to form behind agreeing a customs union with the EU and holding a second referendum. Once MPs have a majority for a Brexit alternative, they will try to pass a law on Wednesday to force Theresa May to adopt their plan. Ministers have threatened to call an election if MPs force them into a soft Brexit - and at this point May could call one. The PM can call an election by getting a two thirds majority of MPs - which is unlikely to be difficult because Labour also want one. A snap election would be incredibly messy and would likely deliver a similar division among the parties. May could instead announce she is stepping down, agree a long delay to Brexit to hold an election and Tory leadership contest. A delay to Brexit would also mean Britain must participate in EU elections at the end of May. Advertisement

'It's finished. And we must move on. It has not passed. It will not pass. I regret to say it is time for Theresa May to follow through on her words and make way so that a new leader can deliver a Withdrawal Agreement which will be passed by Parliament. This has been a tragic waste of time and energy for the country. We can waste no more.'

Before the vote the Prime Minister had begged MPs 'with all her heart' to vote for her deal and warned: 'If you don't vote for the motion, people will ask why you didn't vote for Brexit?'

But it failed to convince, and Mrs May said after today's defeat: 'I think it should be a matter of profound regret to every member of this House that once again we have been unable to support leaving the European Union in an orderly fashion.

'The implications of the House's decision are grave. The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on April 12 - in just 14 days' time.

'This is not enough time to agree, legislate for and ratify a deal, and yet the House has been clear it will not permit leaving without a deal. And so we will have to agree an alternative way forward'.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also called for Mrs May to step aside and for a general election to be held.

Mr Corbyn said: 'The House has been clear this deal now has to change. There has to be an alternative found.

'If the Prime Minister can't accept that then she must go. Not at an indeterminate date in the future, but now, so that we can decide the future of this country through a general election.'

No 10 will now consider to call a snap general election if MPs try to pass laws to force May to pursue their option next week.

Downing Street said that despite the Government losing the vote, it was still not an 'inevitability' that the UK would have to take part in elections to the European Parliament in May.

A No 10 source indicated that the Prime Minister would continue to seek support in the Commons for her deal.

'Clearly it was not the result we wanted. But, that said, we have had a number of senior Conservative colleagues who have felt able to vote with the Government today. They have done so in higher numbers than previously,' the source said.

'Clearly there is more work to do. We are at least going in the right direction.'

Theresa May listens to the speaker John Bercow after her Brexit deal was defeated for a third time today

The tellers line up to deliver the result of the vote on the government's Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons. The PM's motion was rejected by 344 votes to 286 - a majority of 58

The European Union has now summoned leaders to an extraordinary summit next month warning that Britain is now 'likely' to crash out of the bloc on April 12 without a Brexit deal.

The 28 Tory Brexiteer 'spartans' who rebelled against their own leader The 28 Conservative Brexiteer MPs who rebelled to vote against the motion were: Adam Afriyie (Windsor), Steve Baker (Wycombe), John Baron (Basildon and Billericay), Peter Bone (Wellingborough), Suella Braverman (Fareham), Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire), Bill Cash (Stone), Christopher Chope (Christchurch), James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East), Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford), Marcus Fysh (Yeovil), Philip Hollobone (Kettering), Adam Holloway (Gravesham), Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire), Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex), Andrea Jenkyns (Morley and Outwood), David Jones (Clwyd West), Julian Lewis (New Forest East), Julia Lopez (Hornchurch and Upminster), Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet), Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot), Priti Patel (Witham), Owen Paterson (North Shropshire), John Redwood (Wokingham), Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury), Andrew Rosindell (Romford), Lee Rowley (North East Derbyshire), Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet). ...and the six Tory remainers Guto Bebb (Aberconwy), Justine Greening (Putney), Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield), Sam Gyimah (East Surrey), Joseph Johnson (Orpington), Phillip Lee (Bracknell). Advertisement

'In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April,' tweeted Donald Tusk, the head of the European Council.

And European Commission secretary general Martin Selmayr - the right-hand man to president Jean-Claude Juncker - tweeted: 'April 12 is now the new March 29 #Brexit.'

MPs reflecting on the defeat admitted that all Brexit options are on the table.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told the BBC: 'What the House has just done is to vote effectively to leave this country either leaving the EU on April 12 with no deal, reversing Brexit or kicking it into the far long grass.

'I don't think that's what the majority in this country wants. We are going to have to think very hard over the next few hours how we respond to that. This is a hugely disappointing response that is absolutely not in the national interest.'

Mr Grayling said that Mrs May had made very clear that she will not ask for a Brexit extension beyond June. He said Cabinet ministers would be 'talking extensively' this evening and over the weekend.

Britain was 'in pretty good shape' to leave without a deal if necessary, said Mr Grayling, though he stressed this was not his preferred outcome.

Brexiteer Michael Fabricant tweeted: 'Withdrawal Agreement loses by 58 votes. The likelihood of a Customs Union now looms because of the #Remainer Parliament.'

Conservative MP Steve Brine, who quit as a health minister this week to fight a no-deal Brexit, told the BBC: 'It is now coming to the endgame, and everything is back on the table, including revoke, including second referendum, including a general election.

'I really do think all the options are on the table.'

Mr Brine urged ministers to listen to MPs' decisions when they vote on Brexit options again on Monday.

'If Parliament can come up with something as a consensus, it would be crazy to say 'No, sorry, we will walk away with no deal',' he said.

Solicitor general Robert Buckland told the BBC: 'The prospect of no Brexit is becoming a very real one indeed.'

Furious Theresa May blasts John Bercow for wrecking her Brexit withdrawal agreement by blocking all amendments before MPs rejected it for a third time John Bercow delivered another blow to the Tories by blocking an amendment from Labour MPs that could have swing behind the deal. Mrs May was defeated Furious Theresa May had a pop at John Bercow for wrecking her Brexit withdrawal agreement by blocking all amendments before MPs rejected it for a third time Theresa May blasted John Bercow for intervening to wreck her Brexit plans again as he blocked all amendments to her deal today. One of the proposals the Speaker barred was tabled by Labour backbencher Gareth Snell and sought to guarantee Parliament a say on the trade talks phase of the negotiations. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said the Government would have accepted the amendment if it had come to a vote - meaning it could have brought some Labour MPs on board and helped Mrs May win today. Before the vote on her Brexit deal this afternoon, Theresa May said it was unfortunate that the Speaker had not selected the Labour amendment because the government would have accepted it. She said: 'Mr Speaker, if you had selected the amendment in the name of the honourable member for Stoke on Trent Central and others, the Government would have accepted it, and if this motion carries today we will bring forward a withdrawal agreement bill that will include commitments to implement that amendment and will discuss the specific drafting of that with those who supported the amendment.' The Speaker has already come under fire for his alleged Remain sympathies, and was accused of sabotaging a third vote on May's deal before the EU summit last week by saying she had to change the deal before it could be brought back to the commons. In the hope of salvaging her concessions, Mrs May promised MPs she would make sure laws implementing the deal still reflect the plan in the event she pulls off an unlikely victory. Advertisement

Mr Buckland said that among MPs there had been 'a lot of wishful thinking about being able to go back time and time again and not enough thinking about things from the EU's point of view'.

He warned: 'We can't guarantee we will get a further extension. That very much depends on what the French and other countries think. We are in completely uncharted waters.'

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt tweeted: 'Deeply saddened and disappointed by this result. The referendum decision must be implemented.

The British public and businesses want us to get this done now.'

The DUP has encouraged the Government to return to Brussels to deal with the backstop issue.

Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said: 'We deeply regret the numerous missed opportunities by those who negotiated on behalf of the UK to listen to our warnings about the dangers of the backstop and to take steps to remedy those deficiencies.

'Over the coming weeks and months, we will continue to play a central role to chart a route that respects the democratic desire to leave the European Union but that does so in a way that strengthens our United Kingdom.'

Tory MP Nick Boles has shared on Twitter a motion he has lodged for what he calls 'the Common Market 2.0'.

He captioned a picture of the motion: 'A broad cross-party group including MPs from five parties and both Leavers and Remainers has just laid the Common Market 2.0 motion for Monday. No other compromise has the same breadth of support.'

Labour's Hilary Benn, chairman of the Commons Brexit committee, said Mrs May had been defeated by a 'considerable margin', telling the Press Association: 'The priority is to ensure that we don't leave without a deal in 14 days' time. And, therefore, we have to get an extension.'

Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: 'Third defeat for PM's bad deal - she must now accept that it's dead. The Commons will now return on Monday to find a way forward.

'I hope that will be to put the issue back to the people and/or revoke Article 50 - but @theSNP will work with others to find the best option possible.'

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox opened the crunch debate this morning by telling MPs this is the 'last opportunity' to back the deal and cranking up the pressure he said: 'This should've been the day we left the European Union'.

The Prime Minister's chances of her win had been boosted at 12.30pm when leading Tory Brexiteer Dominic Raab changed his mind and said he would back the PM - but her prospects of victory fell apart when the DUP said they wouldn't back her.

Mr Raab said this afternoon: 'I cannot countenance another longer extension and cannot countenance holding European elections in May. I will vote for the motion'.

But the DUP deserted her and their Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson called May's Brexit deal a 'con trick' in the Commons this afternoon.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (right) opened the crunch Commons debate with Theresa May watching behind by telling MPs this is the 'last opportunity' to back the deal and cranking up the pressure he said: 'This should've been the day we left the European Union'

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said the party would not vote for it 'today or in the future', leaving Mrs May's hopes of getting her deal through unlikely despite Brexiteer ringleader Dominic Raab deciding to back it at the 11th hour today

Britain faces a hung Parliament if another general election is held Sir John Curitce's latest numbers suggest a near identical Commons would be returned - accept with slightly weaker Tory and Labour parties in a more hung parliament If No 10 does call another general election Britain faces another hung Parliament, according to the latest polling on the issue. The majority of public is also opposed to going back to the polls to break the Brexit deadlock at Westminster. But Theresa May may be forced to call a possible snap general election within weeks if she loses because remainer MPs will try to force her to deliver a soft Brexit or a second referendum. Now she has lost MPs are preparing to force a soft Brexit and long delay to leaving the EU upon May next week. No 10 has threatened to call a general election rather than be forced into a soft Brexit - but looming over that threat is a new forecast of what might happen in a snap election by polling expert Sir John Curtice. But Sir John's latest numbers suggest a near identical Commons would be returned - accept with slightly weaker Tory and Labour parties in a more hung parliament. The figures suggest even the dramatic step of a new general election would do little to break the stalemate. The PM hopes this bleak outlook will persuade Labour MPs to back it as the party has accepted the divorce deal - but she is set to be disappointed. She needs 75 more votes than she got on March 12 to win. Polls since the 2017 election have seen the two main parties mostly neck and neck. The Tories have held a narrow lead in recent months Advertisement

Earlier, in a boost for Mrs May, Boris Johnson said he would back her and said: 'It is very painful to vote for this deal. But I hope we can now work together to remedy its defects, avoid the backstop trap and strive to deliver the Brexit people voted for'.

Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith also revealed he will now support the Government and said: 'If we say we stand up for 17.4 million people then we have to get those people what they asked for, to leave the EU. This now is the only way'.

Most observers expected May to lose the vote by around 50 because the 10 DUP MPs and more than 25 hardcore Brexiteer rebels were expected to vote against her.

Brexiteers held firm with ERG member Mark Francois saying today he will never back the deal, adding: 'You can't hold your nose when you are holding your hands up and surrendering'.

And Labour rebels were unwilling rescue the PM's deal with potential switcher Lisa Nandy saying Mrs May's resignation pact with Boris Johnson and Brexiteers l. Melanie Onn also ruled it out because of the upcoming Tory leadership battle and said: 'Which Donkey would we be pinning our tail to?'

Mrs May's mission was made even harder when Speaker John Bercow ruled out any amendments today - including a plan from some Labour MPs seeking to guarantee Parliament a role in the trade talks phase of negotiations. It could have swung some votes to the PM's deal.

A Whitehall source said another defeat for the Prime Minister's deal could see Brexit delayed for up to five years.

'Once you have taken part in the European elections, there is no limit on the number of extensions you could have during the lifetime of the parliament,' they said.

Today International Trade Secretary Liam Fox warned that voters would feel 'betrayed' if the deal was not passed and Brexit was not delivered, opening a 'chasm of distrust' between voters and the political system.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'This is a great historic moment for our country, this is about whether Parliament does what Parliament wants or whether Parliament does what the people want. I fear for the consequences if Parliament chooses to utterly ignore a promise that they made directly to the voters.'

Mrs May is now likely to have to return to the EU to seek another, longer delay  guaranteeing we would elect MEPs.

Conservative former leader Iain Duncan Smith said he would back the motion to get Brexit going, warning a longer extension on April 12 would mean the UK 'will never leave' the EU.

He said: 'We are in a chamber of people who really don't want to leave the European Union at all and I know and honour my friends who have fought and campaigned to get this changed.

'If we say we stand up for 17.4 million people then we have to get those people what they asked for - to leave the European Union and this now is the only way.'

Ministers hope the symbolism of MPs voting on the day the UK was originally due to leave the European Union will pile pressure on opponents of the deal to back down. They also believe the public would blame MPs for blocking Brexit.

The March to Leave protesters have walked more than 200 miles from Sunderland to Parliament Square and cheered on speakers calling for a No Deal

MPs bore the brunt of chants from the crowds outside Parliament and were branded traitors for failing to deliver Brexit

This banner was put up in front of the statue of Oliver Cromwell outside the House of Commons today

Anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray (L) and pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go nose-to-nose outside Parliament on the day Britain was due to leave the EU

Police are surrounding thousands of Brexit supporters in Parliament today - March 29 - the day Britain was meant to leave the EU

Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters take part in the final leg of the 'March to Leave' as it arrives in Westminster after a 200-mile journey

Pro-Brexit demonstrators carry placards and Union flags as they gather in Parliament Square

Pro-Brexit protesters take part in the March to Leave demonstration, as they walk along the River Thames with many holding 'Believe in Britain' banners

Tory MPs have openly admitted that unless today's deal is passed they will have 'betrayed' those who voted for Brexit

The 344 MPs including 24 Tories who voted to block Brexit 34 Conservative MPs: Adam Afriyie (Windsor), Steve Baker (Wycombe), John Baron (Basildon and Billericay), Guto Bebb (Aberconwy), Peter Bone (Wellingborough), Suella Braverman (Fareham), Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire), William Cash (Stone), Christopher Chope (Christchurch), James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East), Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford), Marcus Fysh (Yeovil), Justine Greening (Putney), Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield), Sam Gyimah (East Surrey), Philip Hollobone (Kettering), Adam Holloway (Gravesham), Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire), Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex), Andrea Jenkyns (Morley and Outwood), Joseph Johnson (Orpington), David Jones (Clwyd West), Phillip Lee (Bracknell), Julian Lewis (New Forest East), Julia Lopez (Hornchurch and Upminster), Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet), Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot), Priti Patel (Witham), Owen Paterson (North Shropshire), John Redwood (Wokingham), Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury), Andrew Rosindell (Romford), Lee Rowley (North East Derbyshire), Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet). 234 Labour MPs: Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington), Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth), Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow), Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting), Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale), Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower), Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South), Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West), Margaret Beckett (Derby South), Hilary Benn (Leeds Central), Clive Betts (Sheffield South East), Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham), Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central), Tracy Brabin (Batley and Spen), Ben Bradshaw (Exeter), Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West), Lyn Brown (West Ham), Nicholas Brown (Newcastle upon Tyne East), Chris Bryant (Rhondda), Karen Buck (Westminster North), Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield), Richard Burgon (Leeds East), Dawn Butler (Brent Central), Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill), Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth), Alan Campbell (Tynemouth), Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton), Sarah Champion (Rotherham), Jenny Chapman (Darlington), Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate), Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley), Vernon Coaker (Gedling), Julie Cooper (Burnley), Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford), Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North), Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark), David Crausby (Bolton North East), Mary Creagh (Wakefield), Stella Creasy (Walthamstow), Jon Cruddas (Dagenham and Rainham), John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead), Judith Cummins (Bradford South), Alex Cunningham (Stockton North), Jim Cunningham (Coventry South), Janet Daby (Lewisham East), Wayne David (Caerphilly), Geraint Davies (Swansea West), Marsha De Cordova (Battersea), Gloria De Piero (Ashfield), Emma Dent Coad (Kensington), Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough), Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East), Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth), Peter Dowd (Bootle), David Drew (Stroud), Jack Dromey (Birmingham, Erdington), Rosie Duffield (Canterbury), Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood), Angela Eagle (Wallasey), Clive Efford (Eltham), Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central), Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside), Chris Elmore (Ogmore), Bill Esterson (Sefton Central), Chris Evans (Islwyn), Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme), Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East), Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield), Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford), James Frith (Bury North), Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough), Hugh Gaffney (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill), Barry Gardiner (Brent North), Ruth George (High Peak), Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham, Edgbaston), Mary Glindon (North Tyneside), Roger Godsiff (Birmingham, Hall Green), Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland), Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston), Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South), Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West), Nia Griffith (Llanelli), John Grogan (Keighley), Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish), Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley), Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East), David Hanson (Delyn), Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle), Harriet Harman (Camberwell and Peckham), Carolyn Harris (Swansea East), Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood), Sue Hayman (Workington), John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne), Mark Hendrick (Preston), Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow), Mike Hill (Hartlepool), Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch), Margaret Hodge (Barking), Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West), Kate Hoey (Vauxhall), Kate Hollern (Blackburn), George Howarth (Knowsley), Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton), Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central), Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North), Darren Jones (Bristol North West), Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney), Graham P Jones (Hyndburn), Helen Jones (Warrington North), Kevan Jones (North Durham), Sarah Jones (Croydon Central), Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South), Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East), Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South), Liz Kendall (Leicester West), Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton), Ged Killen (Rutherglen and Hamilton West), Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon), Peter Kyle (Hove), Lesley Laird (Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath), David Lammy (Tottenham), Ian Lavery (Wansbeck), Karen Lee (Lincoln), Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields), Clive Lewis (Norwich South), Tony Lloyd (Rochdale), Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford and Eccles), Ian C. Lucas (Wrexham), Holly Lynch (Halifax), Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston), Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr), Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood), Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston), Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South), Sandy Martin (Ipswich), Rachael Maskell (York Central), Christian Matheson (City of Chester), Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak), Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East), Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden), Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough), John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington), Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East), Conor McGinn (St Helens North), Alison McGovern (Wirral South), Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton), Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North), Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton), Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North), Ian Mearns (Gateshead), Edward Miliband (Doncaster North), Madeleine Moon (Bridgend), Jessica Morden (Newport East), Stephen Morgan (Portsmouth South), Grahame Morris (Easington), Ian Murray (Edinburgh South), Lisa Nandy (Wigan), Alex Norris (Nottingham North), Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby), Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central), Kate Osamor (Edmonton), Albert Owen (Ynys Mon), Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East), Teresa Pearce (Erith and Thamesmead), Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich), Toby Perkins (Chesterfield), Jess Phillips (Birmingham, Yardley), Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South), Laura Pidcock (North West Durham), Jo Platt (Leigh), Luke Pollard (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport), Stephen Pound (Ealing North), Lucy Powell (Manchester Central), Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East), Faisal Rashid (Warrington South), Angela Rayner (Ashton-under-Lyne), Steve Reed (Croydon North), Christina Rees (Neath), Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge), Rachel Reeves (Leeds West), Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East), Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde), Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston), Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West), Matt Rodda (Reading East), Danielle Rowley (Midlothian), Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd), Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown), Naz Shah (Bradford West), Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall), Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield), Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury), Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn), Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith), Ruth Smeeth (Stoke-on-Trent North), Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood), Eleanor Smith (Wolverhampton South West), Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington), Laura Smith (Crewe and Nantwich), Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent), Owen Smith (Pontypridd), Karin Smyth (Bristol South), Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central), Alex Sobel (Leeds North West), John Spellar (Warley), Keir Starmer (Holborn and St Pancras), Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central), Wes Streeting (Ilford North), Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton), Paul Sweeney (Glasgow North East), Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside), Gareth Thomas (Harrow West), Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen), Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury), Stephen Timms (East Ham), Jon Trickett (Hemsworth), Anna Turley (Redcar), Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East), Derek Twigg (Halton), Stephen Twigg (Liverpool, West Derby), Liz Twist (Blaydon), Keith Vaz (Leicester East), Valerie Vaz (Walsall South), Thelma Walker (Colne Valley), Tom Watson (West Bromwich East), Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green), Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington), Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test), Martin Whitfield (East Lothian), Paul Williams (Stockton South), Phil Wilson (Sedgefield), Mohammad Yasin (Bedford), Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge). 34 Scottish National Party MPs: Hannah Bardell (Livingston), Mhairi Black (Paisley and Renfrewshire South), Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber), Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North), Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith), Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun), Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow), Douglas Chapman (Dunfermline and West Fife), Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West), Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde), Angela Crawley (Lanark and Hamilton East), Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk), Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire), Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw), Stephen Gethins (North East Fife), Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran), Patrick Grady (Glasgow North), Peter Grant (Glenrothes), Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts), Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey), Stewart Hosie (Dundee East), Chris Law (Dundee West), David Linden (Glasgow East), Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar), Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South), Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East), Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West), Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North), Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute), Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East), Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West), Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central), Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire), Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire). 11 Liberal Democrat MPs: Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington), Vince Cable (Twickenham), Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland), Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton), Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale), Wera Hobhouse (Bath), Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West), Norman Lamb (North Norfolk), Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon), Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross), Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire). 10 Democratic Unionist Party MPs: Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry), Nigel Dodds (Belfast North), Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley), Paul Girvan (South Antrim), Emma Little Pengelly (Belfast South), Ian Paisley (North Antrim), Gavin Robinson (Belfast East), Jim Shannon (Strangford), David Simpson (Upper Bann), Sammy Wilson (East Antrim). Four Plaid Cymru MPs: Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr), Ben Lake (Ceredigion), Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd), Hywel Williams (Arfon). One Green Party MP: Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion). 16 Independent MPs: Heidi Allen (South Cambridgeshire), Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree), Ann Coffey (Stockport), Mike Gapes (Ilford South), Chris Leslie (Nottingham East), Ivan Lewis (Bury South), Jared O'Mara (Sheffield, Hallam), Fiona Onasanya (Peterborough), Joan Ryan (Enfield North), Gavin Shuker (Luton South), Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge), Anna Soubry (Broxtowe), Chuka Umunna (Streatham), Chris Williamson (Derby North), Sarah Wollaston (Totnes), John Woodcock (Barrow and Furness). Advertisement

Remainer MPs who quit Labour and the Tories will register as a new party called Change UK in time for Euro elections in June The Independent Group set up by MPs who defected from Labour and the Conservatives has applied to register as a political party in order to be able to fight European elections if they take place this year. The group will stand under the party label Change UK - The Independent Group if polls are held on May 23. Former Conservative Heidi Allen (pictured last night) has been selected as interim leader of the new party. The UK will have to stage elections to the European Parliament as a condition of any further delay to Brexit. Defeat for Prime Minister Theresa May in a vote on her Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons on Friday would greatly increase the likelihood of an application on April 12 for a long extension to the Brexit process. In order to stand candidates in the European polls, conducted on a regional proportional representation system, any group must be registered as a political party with the European Commission. Ms Allen said: 'Today marks a huge step forward on The Independent Group's journey to becoming a fully-fledged political party, so I am delighted to have been chosen as our interim leader. 'If we are to deliver on our ambition to change politics for the better, it is vital that we attract support from people from every walk of life, every political background and none. 'Coming into the House of Commons from running my manufacturing business in 2015, I have seen with my own eyes how improved our political system would be if it harnessed the diverse skills and experience of our country. 'We in Change UK, as we hope to be known, don't just dream about a fairer and better future for our country, we are determined to unleash it through hard work, passion and shared endeavour.' TIG spokesman Chuka Umunna said Change UK would aim to put forward a 'substantial' number of MEP candidates with backgrounds from outside politics. 'There is clearly an appetite for an alternative to our broken politics which needs fundamental change, as shown by the disastrous Brexit process which has occurred under the watch of the two main parties,' said Mr Umunna. Advertisement

Commons Speaker John Bercow, who had threatened to block a third vote on Mrs May's deal unless it was 'substantially' different, last night approved the vote, saying the decision to split the deal met his test.

But senior Tories acknowledge they face an uphill battle.

Mrs May's DUP allies last night said they would vote against the deal, despite days of frantic negotiations to win them round.

And despite Mrs May offering to resign before the second stage of Brexit talks, only a trickle of Tory Eurosceptics have switched sides.

MPs will today vote only on the withdrawal agreement, which sets out the separation terms.

They will not vote on the 'political declaration', which sets out the Government's vision for a close economic partnership outside both the customs union and single market.

The two documents have previously been bundled together.

Until now, Labour has objected to only the political declaration.

Justice minister Rory Stewart acknowledged that, with a bunch of hardline Eurosceptics dubbed 'the Spartans' still holding out, the Government would need the backing of some Labour MPs.

He said: 'What happens depends on Labour. The Labour front bench has said their problem is with the political declaration, not the withdrawal agreement. There is no reason for them to oppose it.'

But former minister Richard Benyon said Tory hardliners also had to face the reality that if they continue to reject the deal they will face a soft Brexit  or risk not leaving the EU at all.

He added: 'They need to recognise that there will be a softer Brexit if they don't help get this through. And tough on them, frankly.'

Whitehall sources had acknowledged that the odds are stacked against her winning today's vote.

And she is running out of options. MPs are due to seize control of the parliamentary agenda again on Monday in the hope of identifying a majority for options such as a customs union or a second referendum.

Mrs May has said she will not accept options that breach the last Tory manifesto.

One ally of Mrs May said she would have little choice but to call an election, as pursuing a customs union would tear the Tories apart.

As senior Tories began campaigning to replace Mrs May as party leader, one Cabinet minister raged last night: 'Everyone is building leadership campaigns and just looking at the prize. But no one is doing anything to get the deal done.

'There's going to be nothing left! They're going to be fighting to be leader of the opposition.'

British Prime Minister Theresa May heads for the House of Commons today where she faces a third attempt to get her meaningful vote through

Iain Duncan-Smith (pictured arriving at Parliament) said he backs the deal because the 'balance of risk has changed' and told the Commons: 'We are in a chamber of MPs who don't want to leave the EU at all'

The Commons held an emergency debate and vote on the PM's deal. Jeremy Corbyn refused to back it after 20 minutes on the phone with Mrs May last night but her deputy David Lidington and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox battled and failed to get enough votes

How did your MP vote on the deal? May got back 41 Tory Brexiteer rebels but still lost 344 to 286 in third vote on her plan

Theresa May got back 41 Brexiteer rebels in the third vote on her deal - but still lost by 344 to 286 in today's showdown.

The Prime Minister failed to win over the DUP and their 10 MPs and was still defied by 34 MPs - 28 hard Brexiteers and six pro-EU Remainers.

The Brexiteer rebels include Priti Patel, the former Aid Secretary seen by some as a possible leadership contender, and former Cabinet ministers Owen Paterson, David Jones and Theresa Villiers.

The group is made of the so-called 'Spartans' in the hardline European Research Group who have vowed never to back the deal.

The six Remain Tories are all former ministers - Dominic Grieve, Justine Greening, Sam Gyimah, Guto Bebb, Jo Johnson and Philip Lee.

Switchers from the last vote on March 12 were led by Brexiteers Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and Jacob Rees-Mogg - who all admitted their fear of no Brexit at all was greater than their worries over the deal.

Mrs May got five Labour MPs in her lobby today - two better than the last vote as Rosie Cooper and Jim Fitzpatrick joined Kevin Barron, Caroline Flint and John Mann.

The hold-out Brexiteer rebels have dubbed themselves the 'Spartans' and include (from left) Steve Baker, Suella Braverman and Mark Francois

How did your MP vote as May's deal was defeated for a third time today? Theresa May's Brexit deal was defeated by a majority of 58 today - the third time it was crushed. Listed below are how every MP voted. It does not count the four Speakers or seven Sinn Fein MPs. Tories Andrew Stephenson and Craig Whittaker were tellers for the Ayes, while Labour MPs Nic Dakin and Thangam Debbonaire were tellers for the Noes. Four MPs missed the vote today - Labour MPs Ronnie Campbell and Dennis Skinner, Independent Kelvin Hopkins and SNP John McNally. TORY AYES (286) Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty), Bim Afolami (Hitchin and Harpenden) Peter Aldous (Waveney), Lucy Allan (Telford), David Amess (Southend West), Stuart Andrew (Pudsey), Edward Argar (Charnwood), Victoria Atkins (Louth and Horncastle), Richard Bacon (South Norfolk), Kemi Badenoch (Saffron Walden), Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire), Stephen Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire), Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk), Richard Benyon (Newbury), Paul Beresford (Mole Valley), Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen), Bob Blackman (Harrow East), Crispin Blunt (Reigate), Nick Boles (Grantham and Stamford), Peter Bottomley (Worthing West), Andrew Bowie (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine), Ben Bradley (Mansfield), Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands), Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West), Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South), Steve Brine (Winchester), James Brokenshire (Old Bexley and Sidcup), Fiona Bruce (Congleton), Robert Buckland (South Swindon), Alex Burghart (Brentwood and Ongar), Conor Burns (Bournemouth West), Alistair Burt (North East Bedfordshire), Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan), James Cartlidge (South Suffolk), Maria Caulfield (Lewes), Alex Chalk (Cheltenham), Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham), Jo Churchill (Bury St Edmunds), Colin Clark (Gordon), Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells), Kenneth Clarke (Rushcliffe), Simon Clarke (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland), James Cleverly (Braintree), Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds), Therese Coffey (Suffolk Coastal), Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe), Alberto Costa (South Leicestershire), Robert Courts (Witney), Geoffrey Cox (Torridge and West Devon), Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire), Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford), Chris Davies (Brecon and Radnorshire), David T. C. Davies (Monmouth), Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire), Mims Davies (Eastleigh), Philip Davies (Shipley) David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden), Caroline Dinenage (Gosport), Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon), Leo Docherty (Aldershot), Michelle Donelan (Chippenham), Nadine Dorries (Mid Bedfordshire), Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay), Oliver Dowden (Hertsmere), Jackie Doyle-Price (Thurrock), Richard Drax (South Dorset), David Duguid (Banff and Buchan), Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford and Woodford Green), Alan Duncan (Rutland and Melton), Philip Dunne (Ludlow), Michael Ellis (Northampton North), Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East), Charlie Elphicke (Dover), George Eustice (Camborne and Redruth), Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley), David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford), Michael Fabricant (Lichfield), Michael Fallon (Sevenoaks), Mark Field (Cities of London and Westminster), Vicky Ford (Chelmsford), Kevin Foster (Torbay), Liam Fox (North Somerset), Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire), George Freeman (Mid Norfolk), Mike Freer (Finchley and Golders Green), Roger Gale (North Thanet), Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest), David Gauke (South West Hertfordshire), Nusrat Ghani (Wealden), Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton), Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham), John Glen (Salisbury), Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park), Robert Goodwill (Scarborough and Whitby), Michael Gove (Surrey Heath), Luke Graham (Ochil and South Perthshire), Richard Graham (Gloucester), Bill Grant (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock), Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald), James Gray (North Wiltshire), Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell), Chris Green (Bolton West), Damian Green (Ashford), Andrew Griffiths (Burton), Kirstene Hair (Angus), Robert Halfon (Harlow), Luke Hall (Thornbury and Yate), Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge), Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon), Matt Hancock (West Suffolk), Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham), Mark Harper (Forest of Dean), Richard Harrington (Watford), Rebecca Harris (Castle Point), Trudy Harrison (Copeland), Simon Hart (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire), John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings), Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire), James Heappey (Wells), Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry), Peter Heaton-Jones (North Devon), Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey), Nick Herbert (Arundel and South Downs), Damian Hinds (East Hampshire), Simon Hoare (North Dorset), George Hollingbery (Meon Valley), Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton), John Howell (Henley), Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire), Eddie Hughes (Walsall North), Jeremy Hunt (South West Surrey), Nick Hurd (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner), Alister Jack (Dumfries and Galloway), Margot James (Stourbridge), Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove), Robert Jenrick (Newark), Boris Johnson (Uxbridge and South Ruislip), Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham), Gareth Johnson (Dartford), Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough), Marcus Jones (Nuneaton), Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham), Gillian Keegan (Chichester), Seema Kennedy (South Ribble), Stephen Kerr (Stirling), Julian Knight (Solihull), Greg Knight (East Yorkshire), Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne), John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk), Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North), Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire), Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire), Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford), Edward Leigh (Gainsborough), Oliver Letwin (West Dorset), Andrew Lewer (Northampton South), Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth), Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset), David Lidington (Aylesbury), Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke), Jonathan Lord (Woking), Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham), Rachel Maclean (Redditch), Anne Main (St Albans), Alan Mak (Havant), Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire), Scott Mann (North Cornwall), Paul Masterton (East Renfrewshire), Theresa May (Maidenhead), Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys), Patrick McLoughlin (Derbyshire Dales), Stephen McPartland (Stevenage), Esther McVey (Tatton), Mark Menzies (Fylde), Johnny Mercer (Plymouth, Moor View), Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle), Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock), Maria Miller (Basingstoke), Amanda Milling (Cannock Chase), Nigel Mills (Amber Valley), Anne Milton (Guildford), Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield), Damien Moore (Southport), Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North), Nicky Morgan (Loughborough), David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale), James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis), Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills), David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale), Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall), Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire), Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst), Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth), Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North), Jesse Norman (Hereford and South Herefordshire), Neil O'Brien (Harborough), Matthew Offord (Hendon), Guy Opperman (Hexham), Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton), Mark Pawsey (Rugby), Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead), John Penrose (Weston-super-Mare), Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole), Claire Perry (Devizes), Chris Philp (Croydon South), Christopher Pincher (Tamworth), Dan Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich), Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane), Victoria Prentis (Banbury), Mark Prisk (Hertford and Stortford), Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin), Tom Pursglove (Corby), Jeremy Quin (Horsham), Will Quince (Colchester), Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton), Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset), Mary Robinson (Cheadle), Douglas Ross (Moray), Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye), David Rutley (Macclesfield), Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury), Paul Scully (Sutton and Cheam), Bob Seely (Isle of Wight), Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire), Grant Shapps (Welwyn Hatfield), Alok Sharma (Reading West), Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell), Keith Simpson (Broadland), Chris Skidmore (Kingswood), Chloe Smith (Norwich North), Henry Smith (Crawley), Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon), Royston Smith (Southampton, Itchen), Nicholas Soames (Mid Sussex), Caroline Spelman (Meriden), Mark Spencer (Sherwood), John Stevenson (Carlisle), Bob Stewart (Beckenham), Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South), Rory Stewart (Penrith and The Border), Gary Streeter (South West Devon), Mel Stride (Central Devon), Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness), Julian Sturdy (York Outer), Rishi Sunak (Richmond (Yorks)), Desmond Swayne (New Forest West), Hugo Swire (East Devon), Robert Syms (Poole), Derek Thomas (St Ives), Ross Thomson (Aberdeen South), Maggie Throup (Erewash), Kelly Tolhurst (Rochester and Strood), Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon), Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole), Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire), David Tredinnick (Bosworth), Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Berwick-upon-Tweed), Elizabeth Truss (South West Norfolk), Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling), Edward Vaizey (Wantage), Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire), Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes), Charles Walker (Broxbourne), Robin Walker (Worcester), Ben Wallace (Wyre and Preston North), David Warburton (Somerton and Frome), Matt Warman (Boston and Skegness), Giles Watling (Clacton), Helen Whately (Faversham and Mid Kent), Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire), John Whittingdale (Maldon), Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire), Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire), Mike Wood (Dudley South), William Wragg (Hazel Grove), Jeremy Wright (Kenilworth and Southam), Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon). LABOUR AYES (5) Kevin Barron (Rother Valley), Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire), Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse), Caroline Flint (Don Valley), John Mann (Bassetlaw). INDEPENDENT AYES (4) Ian Austin (Dudley North), Frank Field (Birkenhead), Sylvia Hermon (North Down), Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne). DUP NOES (10) Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry), Nigel Dodds (Belfast North), Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley), Paul Girvan (South Antrim), Emma Little Pengelly (Belfast South), Ian Paisley (North Antrim), Gavin Robinson (Belfast East), Jim Shannon (Strangford), David Simpson (Upper Bann), Sammy Wilson (East Antrim). SNP NOES (34) Hannah Bardell (Livingston), Mhairi Black (Paisley and Renfrewshire South), Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber), Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North), Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith), Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun), Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow), Douglas Chapman (Dunfermline and West Fife), Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West), Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde), Angela Crawley (Lanark and Hamilton East), Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk), Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire), Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw), Stephen Gethins (North East Fife), Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran), Patrick Grady (Glasgow North), Peter Grant (Glenrothes), Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts), Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey), Stewart Hosie (Dundee East), Chris Law (Dundee West), David Linden (Glasgow East), Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar), Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South), Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East), Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West), Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North), Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute), Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East), Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central), Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire), Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire). LIBERAL DEMOCRAT NOES (11) Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington), Vince Cable (Twickenham), Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland), Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton), Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale), Wera Hobhouse (Bath), Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West), Norman Lamb (North Norfolk), Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon), Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross), Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire). PLAID CYMRU NOES (4) Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr), Ben Lake (Ceredigion), Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd), Hywel Williams (Arfon). GREEN NOE (1) Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion). INDEPENDENT NOES (16) Heidi Allen (South Cambridgeshire), Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree), Ann Coffey (Stockport), Mike Gapes (Ilford South), Chris Leslie (Nottingham East), Ivan Lewis (Bury South), Jared O'Mara (Sheffield, Hallam), Fiona Onasanya (Peterborough), Joan Ryan (Enfield North), Gavin Shuker (Luton South), Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge), Anna Soubry (Broxtowe), Chuka Umunna (Streatham), Chris Williamson (Derby North), Sarah Wollaston (Totnes), John Woodcock (Barrow and Furness). LABOUR NOES (234) Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington), Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth), Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow), Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting), Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale), Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower), Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South), Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West), Margaret Beckett (Derby South), Hilary Benn (Leeds Central), Clive Betts (Sheffield South East), Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham), Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central), Tracy Brabin (Batley and Spen), Ben Bradshaw (Exeter), Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West), Lyn Brown (West Ham), Nicholas Brown (Newcastle upon Tyne East), Chris Bryant (Rhondda), Karen Buck (Westminster North), Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield), Richard Burgon (Leeds East), Dawn Butler (Brent Central), Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill), Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth), Alan Campbell (Tynemouth), Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton), Sarah Champion (Rotherham), Jenny Chapman (Darlington), Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate), Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley), Vernon Coaker (Gedling), Julie Cooper (Burnley), Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford), Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North), Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark), David Crausby (Bolton North East), Mary Creagh (Wakefield), Stella Creasy (Walthamstow), Jon Cruddas (Dagenham and Rainham), John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead), Judith Cummins (Bradford South), Alex Cunningham (Stockton North), Jim Cunningham (Coventry South), Janet Daby (Lewisham East), Wayne David (Caerphilly), Geraint Davies (Swansea West), Marsha De Cordova (Battersea), Gloria De Piero (Ashfield), Emma Dent Coad (Kensington), Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough), Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East), Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth), Peter Dowd (Bootle), David Drew (Stroud), Jack Dromey (Birmingham, Erdington), Rosie Duffield (Canterbury), Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood), Angela Eagle (Wallasey), Clive Efford (Eltham), Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central), Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside), Chris Elmore (Ogmore), Bill Esterson (Sefton Central), Chris Evans (Islwyn), Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme), Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East), Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield), Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford), James Frith (Bury North), Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough), Hugh Gaffney (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill), Barry Gardiner (Brent North), Ruth George (High Peak), Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham, Edgbaston), Mary Glindon (North Tyneside), Roger Godsiff (Birmingham, Hall Green), Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland), Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston), Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South), Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West), Nia Griffith (Llanelli), John Grogan (Keighley), Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish), Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley), Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East), David Hanson (Delyn), Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle), Harriet Harman (Camberwell and Peckham), Carolyn Harris (Swansea East), Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood), Sue Hayman (Workington), John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne), Mark Hendrick (Preston), Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow), Mike Hill (Hartlepool), Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch), Margaret Hodge (Barking), Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West), Kate Hoey (Vauxhall), Kate Hollern (Blackburn), George Howarth (Knowsley), Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton), Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central), Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North), Darren Jones (Bristol North West), Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney), Graham P Jones (Hyndburn), Helen Jones (Warrington North), Kevan Jones (North Durham), Sarah Jones (Croydon Central), Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South), Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East), Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South), Liz Kendall (Leicester West), Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton), Ged Killen (Rutherglen and Hamilton West), Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon), Peter Kyle (Hove), Lesley Laird (Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath), David Lammy (Tottenham), Ian Lavery (Wansbeck), Karen Lee (Lincoln), Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields), Clive Lewis (Norwich South), Tony Lloyd (Rochdale), Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford and Eccles), Ian C. Lucas (Wrexham), Holly Lynch (Halifax), Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston), Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr), Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood), Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston), Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South), Sandy Martin (Ipswich), Rachael Maskell (York Central), Christian Matheson (City of Chester), Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak), Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East), Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden), Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough), John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington), Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East), Conor McGinn (St Helens North), Alison McGovern (Wirral South), Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton), Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North), Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton), Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North), Ian Mearns (Gateshead), Edward Miliband (Doncaster North), Madeleine Moon (Bridgend), Jessica Morden (Newport East), Stephen Morgan (Portsmouth South), Grahame Morris (Easington), Ian Murray (Edinburgh South), Lisa Nandy (Wigan), Alex Norris (Nottingham North), Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby), Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central), Kate Osamor (Edmonton), Albert Owen (Ynys Mon), Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East), Teresa Pearce (Erith and Thamesmead), Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich), Toby Perkins (Chesterfield), Jess Phillips (Birmingham, Yardley), Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South), Laura Pidcock (North West Durham), Jo Platt (Leigh), Luke Pollard (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport), Stephen Pound (Ealing North), Lucy Powell (Manchester Central), Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East), Faisal Rashid (Warrington South), Angela Rayner (Ashton-under-Lyne), Steve Reed (Croydon North), Christina Rees (Neath), Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge), Rachel Reeves (Leeds West), Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East), Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde), Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston), Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West), Matt Rodda (Reading East), Danielle Rowley (Midlothian), Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd), Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown), Naz Shah (Bradford West), Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall), Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield), Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury), Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn), Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith), Ruth Smeeth (Stoke-on-Trent North), Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood), Eleanor Smith (Wolverhampton South West), Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington), Laura Smith (Crewe and Nantwich), Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent), Owen Smith (Pontypridd), Karin Smyth (Bristol South), Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central), Alex Sobel (Leeds North West), John Spellar (Warley), Keir Starmer (Holborn and St Pancras), Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central), Wes Streeting (Ilford North), Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton), Paul Sweeney (Glasgow North East), Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside), Gareth Thomas (Harrow West), Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen), Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury), Stephen Timms (East Ham), Jon Trickett (Hemsworth), Anna Turley (Redcar), Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East), Derek Twigg (Halton), Stephen Twigg (Liverpool, West Derby), Liz Twist (Blaydon), Keith Vaz (Leicester East), Valerie Vaz (Walsall South), Thelma Walker (Colne Valley), Tom Watson (West Bromwich East), Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green), Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington), Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test), Martin Whitfield (East Lothian), Paul Williams (Stockton South), Phil Wilson (Sedgefield), Mohammad Yasin (Bedford), Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge). 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EU's Martin 'the monster' Selmayr taunts the UK by tweeting there is still time to CANCEL Brexit 'up until midnight, April 12' as MPs vote down May's deal

Top Eurocrat Martin Selmayr has taunted Leave voters by suggesting Britain still has two weeks to call of Brexit and stay in the EU.

Selmayr, who is Secretary-General of EU Commission and the bloc's top civil servant, seized on MPs latest rejection of Theresa May's exit deal to encourage the UK to stay in the union.

Responding to a Twitter post by Remainer lawyer Jo Maugham QC, Selmayr said Britain would have its 'last chance' to stay on the EU up to April 12.

EU official Martin Selmayr seized on the Commons vote today to suggest Britain still had time to stay in the EU

Selmayr sent out a series of tweets after the vote, suggesting Britain could still stay in the EU

Theresa May is now likely to return to Brussels and attempt to get an extension to the negotiation. European Council President Donald Tusk today called a meeting of leaders following the vote

The EU will ask Britain what it plans to do with the extension to the negotiation process

Mr Maugham posted: 'We can revoke even if we don't hold European Parliamentary elections - you can take it from Martin Selmayr.

Who is Martin Selmayr and why is he called the monster? Martin Selmayr has developed a fearsome reputation in Brussels, casting an authoritarian reign as Mr Juncker's chief of staff despite remaining relatively unknown to the public. But his brutal style of ruling - demanding that access to Mr Juncker for even the most senior EU officials is first channelled through him - has also led to a queue of enemies. His style has led to a variety of nicknames by colleagues, including 'Darth Vader' and 'Rasputin'. Former European Commission vice president Kristalina Georgieva blamed her resignation on his aggressive style, which she branded 'poisonous'. British officials have accused Mr Selmayr, who has privately expressed his dislike of Brexit, of 'hating' the UK while describing him as a 'psychopath'. Advertisement

And Selmayr replied: 'On 12 April, right before midnight #lastchance'

To ram home his point, Selmayr then tweeted: '12 April is now the new 29 March #Brexit'

Following the vote in the Commons today, Britain has two options, to leave with no deal at all on April 12, or apply for a lengthy extension from the EU, which some have suggested could be two years.

The EU today summoned leaders to an extraordinary summit, warning that Britain is now 'likely' to crash out of the bloc on April 12 without a deal.

'In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April,' tweeted Donald Tusk, the head of the European Council.

Theresa May is expected to draw up an alternative plan for an orderly Brexit before then, and will be asked to present it to her 27 EU colleagues at the emergency summit.

'We expect the UK to indicate a way forward before then, well in time for the European Council to consider,' an EU Council source said, adding that May would be invited to 'the beginning of the meeting'.

Separately, a spokeswoman for the European Commission - the bloc's executive - increased pressure on London to come up with a plan for an orderly Brexit by warning of an abrupt divorce.

'A 'no-deal' scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario. The EU has been preparing for this since December 2017 and is now fully prepared for a no-deal scenario at midnight on April 12,' she said.

'The EU will remain united. The benefits of the Withdrawal Agreement, including a transition period, will in no circumstances be replicated in a no-deal scenario. Sectoral mini-deals are not an option.'

Raab, Boris and Gove prepare to depose May and fight it out in Tory leadership contest - then they could have to take on Corbyn in an election

The pack of senior Tories fighting to take over from Theresa May all stepped up their campaigns today after the Prime Minister's Brexit withdrawal deal was rejected for a third time.

The vote increases the chances of another general election in the coming months, suggesting any new Conservative leader could have to fight Jeremy Corbyn for power soon after they are installed in the role.

If a snap election is called in the coming weeks, Mrs May could have to fight it herself.

But more likely is that Mrs May could stand down after agreeing a long negotiation extension with the EU, prompting a 12-week leadership election and potential a general election in around six months.

Mrs May only offered to quit if deal was passed, but even though she lost again her days are numbered and senior Tories are frantically jostling for position to replace her.

Prominent Brexiteers Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab fell in line to support the deal today, potentially denting their support among hardline leavers who opposed it.

Meanwhile, supporters of Michael Gove suggested he might already have as many as 50 MPs signed up to back him, while other contenders include Sajid Javid, Esther McVey and Jeremy Hunt.

Boris Johnson will now step up his bid to become PM after Theresa May's latest defeat

Boris's old foe Michael Gove (pictured today) is currently a popular favourite to stop him

Gove supporters say the Environment Secretary is someone with 'impeccable Leave credentials' who had also 'bothered to reach out to Remainers'.

Last night Mr Johnson appeared to win the backing of Donald Trump. In a response to a question about the Tory leadership battle and Brexit, the President replied: 'I like Boris Johnson a lot. He's a friend of mine.'

According to William Hill, Mr Gove is the favourite to be next Tory leader at 5/2, followed by Mr Johnson (4/1), Jeremy Hunt (6/1), Mr Raab (8/1) and Sajid Javid (9/1).

Following today's votes, the deputy chairman of the eurosceptic European Research Group of Tory Eurosceptics, Steve Baker, called on Mrs May to step down immediately.

Declaring that this should be 'the final defeat' for the PM's deal, Mr Baker said: 'I regret to say it is time for Theresa May to follow through on her words and make way so that a new leader can deliver a Withdrawal Agreement which will be passed by Parliament.'

Boris and Gove, pictured in 2016 during the Vote Leave campaign, fell out after the referendum when Gove announced he would stand for leader, severely denting Boris's chances. Boris then decided not to run

So who are the candidates looking to replace May and what chance have they got?

Michael Gove - 5/2

Unlike Boris and Raab, Gove has kept on board with May's deal and will therefore have greater appeal among his remainer colleagues. He was also seen as a 'high priest of Brexiteers', meaning he could appeal to Tories on both sides of the divide.

The drawback of this position is that hardline leavers and remainers may see him as part of opposing side. His other potential drawback is his perceived disloyalty after he knifed Boris Johnson in last leadership contest.

Mr Gove, 51, the adopted son of a Scottish fish merchant, is a cabinet heavyweight who's served as Education Secretary and Justice Secretary.

His debating skills, intellect and wit put him well above many candidates and is popular with Tory members.

Boris Johnson - 4/1

The 54-year-old former Foreign Secretary is undoubtedly the best-known candidate outside of the Westminster bubble.

His scruffy style, regular TV appearances, chaotic private life and show-off Classics references make him well known to the electorate.

He has experience of power and winning elections, having been twice voted London mayor but was seen as a bumbling foreign secretary.

He is unpopular among many MPs, who may form a 'Stop Boris' campaign to prevent him getting to Number 10.

However, party grassroots members love him and he's top of the ConservativeHome league table.

It has been claimed Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured in Downing Street) has floated the idea of a 'dream ticket' with him as Prime Minister and Mr Gove as Chancellor

Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab fell in line behind the deal today, denting his popularity among hardline Brexiteers

Sajid Javid - 9/1

The Home Secretary, 49, is a remainer who changed to a Brexiteer after the referendum.

He is the son of a bus driver who came to Britain from Pakistan with 1 in his pocket. Javid proved himself in business, becoming head of credit trading at Deutsche Bank.

He has experience of being Culture and Business secretary, a role in which he cracked down on union rights.

His strengths are seen as his extraordinary rags-to-riches back story, but is widely seen as a wooden and poor public speaker.

There were rumours earlier this week that he could form part of the 'Stop Boris' ticket, with Michael Gove potentially in support.

Dominic Raab - 8/1

The 46-year-old former Brexit Secretary and diehard Brexiteer is the son of a Czech-born Jewish refugee who fled the Nazis in 1938 and died of cancer when Raab was 12.

He is relatively inexperienced, lasting only four months as Brexit Secretary. He voted against May in leadership confidence vote. Mr Raab is seen as a skilled debater who honed his skills as an adversarial lawyer with blue chip legal firm Linklaters.

His weekness is that he seen lacking people skills and thus is unlikely to beat a more experienced candidate.

Others in the running include Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey

How will the next leader be chosen? If Mrs May's deal goes through, the UK is likely to leave the EU on May 22 and she would resign as Tory leader that day but stay on as interim PM while the contest to replace her begins.

Any Tory MP can stand but they need two nominations from colleagues.

A series of secret votes would be held every Tuesday and Thursday among the 314 members of the Conservative Parliamentary Party.

The last-placed candidate is eliminated at every stage and once it is clear who the front-runners are the back-markers usually drop out and support someone else.

After David Cameron stood down following the referendum in 2016 there were five candidates in the first round, who were whittled down to two: Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom.

The final two candidates then move on to the second phase, when party members vote by postal ballot.

Candidates will be expected to make speeches to members and tour the country to try to win support. This second phase is likely to last for up to a month.

Only members who have been in the party for three months or more can vote in a leadership contest, so joining now would not entitle you to a say.

Conservative sources say the whole process could be completed within a month to six weeks. Advertisement

Jeremy Hunt - 6/1

The Foreign Secretary, 52, is an ex-Remainer who may arouse suspicion among the party's Brexiteer members.

He is the eldest son of Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt and is married to a Chinese wife and he speaks Mandarin.

He has business experience and, before politics, he set up an educational publisher which was sold for 30million in 2017.

Mr Hunt has widespread cabinet experience and was the longest-serving health secretary in history.

Despite being one of the most experienced ministers in the field, unusually, he has made few political enemies and is therefore seen as someone who could unite the party after devisive battles over Brexit.

Andrea Leadsom - 20/1

The Leader of the Commons gained quite following when she stood for leader in 2016, but her bid fell apart when she made an ill-considered comment comparing her experience as a mother to the childless Mrs May.

Mrs Leadsom is a 55-year-old mother of three and a former city trader.

Since then however, she has blossomed as Leader of the Commons, winning plaudits for taking on Speaker John Bercow.

Popular among members and colleagues, she is now widely expected to have another tilt as leading the party.

Andrea Leadsom is also expected to throw her name into the hat after her bid in 2016

Esther McVey - 50/1

The 51-year-old former Welfare Secretary is also an ardent Brexiteer.

She spent the first two years of her life in foster care and was a breakfast TV presenter before becoming a Tory MP on Merseyside.

Won plaudits with members for resigning from Cabinet over Brexit deal and is seen as tough, having braved out vicious targeting by Labour during her time as welfare minister.

Some in the party say she doesn't have the intellectual fire power for top job and she is ranked 14th in ConservativeHome league table.

Remainer MPs will push a combined customs union and second referendum next week that they claim WILL get support from a majority of MPs

Rebel MPs will attempt to change the law within days to force Theresa May into accepting a softer Brexit  or even a second referendum.

Backbenchers led by Sir Oliver Letwin will take control of the Commons timetable on Monday for a second round of indicative votes on alternatives to her plan.

A first attempt ended in deadlock this week after none of the eight options put to MPs secured a majority.

However, a plan to stay in a customs union was narrowly defeated by just six votes, while a proposal for a second referendum lost by 27.

The rebels last night revealed plans to take control again next Wednesday so that if a majority emerges on Monday they can put through legislation forcing ministers to act.

If they are successful it would put them on a collision course with the Government and could precipitate a general election.

Former cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin (pictured yesterday) will take control of the Commons timetable on Monday for a second round of indicative votes on alternatives to her plan - pushing Britain towards a softer Brexit

Cross-party groups of MPs were last night meeting to discuss how they could adapt the eight proposals in a bid to find a compromise that can command the support of the House.

Tory former Cabinet minister Ken Clarke, who drew up the customs union plan defeated by 271 votes to 265, said he was 'reasonably confident' it would get over the line if the Commons does not pass the Prime Minister's deal today.

He told Sky News: 'We are very near, we lost by [six] votes. We will have another go on Monday. We will be able to get it through if the House goes dotty and rejects the withdrawal agreement again.'

Sir Oliver, the architect of the indicative votes process, said MPs would be looking for a Plan B to avoid No Deal if Mrs May's deal fails to secure enough support.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'At some point or other we either have to get her deal across the line or accept we have to find some alternative if we want to avoid No Deal on April 12.

'At the moment we are heading for a situation where, under the law, we leave without a deal which many of us think is not a good solution.

'Of course, the issue is  and nobody knows the answer to this yet  whether we can get to the point where Parliament has a majority in favour of an alternative on Monday.'

These are the results of last night's indicative votes on Brexit, in order of preference. It shows that while MPs can't find a consensus they lean heavily towards a softer Brexit or second referendum

Sir Oliver, who backed the Prime Minister's deal in both meaningful votes, added: 'MPs will be voting on the basis of seeing what happened last time. And something else will have happened, which is that either the Prime Minister will have got her deal through on Friday, in which case all this is unnecessary and I'll be breaking open the bottle of champagne. If it doesn't then I think people will finally see that isn't going to happen by April 12.

'I think quite a lot of Tories who didn't vote for any of the options because they were, perfectly honourably, taking the view that until they had a last chance to vote for the Prime Minister's deal they didn't want to commit themselves to anything else, may come round and say, 'OK, we'll choose among these options.'

Ministers have warned that a general election may have to be called if MPs try to force the Prime Minister into accepting a proposal that contradicts the Tory manifesto, which ruled out membership of the single market and customs union.

But Damian Green, her former de facto deputy, last night warned: 'If this is the will of Parliament, any Government has to obey it.'

And Mr Clarke said there would be a 'major constitutional crisis' if ministers ignored a Commons majority for a Brexit alternative.
Fast food delivery drivers are locked in a violent turf war as rival moped riders clash over work on their patch, MailOnline can reveal.

Gangs from different countries are fighting over the lucrative business in London.

A driver from Afghanistan said his front tyre was slashed with a screwdriver by a driver from Brazil, who had started collecting deliveries from a McDonald's restaurant he worked from.

In the latest sickening incident in the growing feud a female Uber Eats rider from Brazil had her scooter set alight by a competitor outside another McDonald's restaurant in North London.

Speaking to MailOnline, the 39-year-old woman said she had a minor disagreement with a fellow Uber Eats driver who returned an hour later and torched her moped.

'He came out of the McDonald's and I ticked him off about his behaviour,' she said. 'He was being aggressive and so I called the police because he was harassing me and he warned me that he'd make my life hell.

A female delivery driver from Brazil who is 39 has told how her scooter was set alight by a rival Uber Eats delivery driver at a McDonald's restaurant in Stonebridge, north London

The woman said she ticked off a rival driver about his behaviour last Thursday and he returned an hour later and set fire to her moped

Other drivers were said to have been jealous of the woman, originally from Brazil, a prolific worker, who got a lot of orders and received regular good reviews on her account

The attack at a McDonald's restaurant in Stonebridge came three weeks after she foiled a plot by two Brazilian riders to steal her bike because they felt she was 'stealing' orders from them

'He got onto his moped and rode off and I thought that was the end of it.

'But after an hour, some of my friends came running into the McDonald's to tell me that he had come back and was pouring petrol all over my bike.

'As I came out I managed to film him on my phone just as he lit the match. My bike went up in flames in seconds, there was nothing I could do. 'He then rode off again and hasn't been seen since. I think he's in hiding.

'But because the police haven't found him yet, I'm worried he could come after me, or follow me back from work.

'I don't want to carry on working for Uber Eats. It's not worth the stress.'

Other drivers were said to have been jealous of the woman, originally from Brazil, a prolific worker, who got a lot of orders and received regular good reviews on her account.

She was apparently targeted by one of her countrymen who was jealous of her success rate.

The attack came just three weeks after she foiled a plot hatched by two other Brazilian riders to steal her bike because they felt she was 'stealing' orders from them.

She said: 'A friend of mine overheard a couple of guys talking and they were saying that I was taking work from them.

'They were particularly annoyed because I was a woman and felt that because I had two phones I was able to get more business.

'These two riders said that if I continued to take work from them, they'd steal my bike.

'I told my husband and he confronted them and said that if they went ahead with the theft, we'd go to the police. They backed down and said everything was ok.'

Uber Eats delivery rider Jafir Noorzai (pictured), 25, originally from Afghanistan, said his bike was damaged by a Brazilian rival who stabbed his front tyre

She added: 'I know that there is also hostility between Brazilian Uber Eats riders and Asian riders over business. 'But as far as I know, this rivalry rarely erupts into serious violence.'

Shocking footage of her Honda SH125i being set ablaze has been posted onto Facebook and the victim has told MailOnline she now lives in fear.

Police are treating the attack, which happened last Thursday, as arson but have yet to make an arrest.

Speaking of growing tension between food delivery drivers, Simon Kempton, the lead on operational policing for the Police Federation, said: 'We've had reports where fierce competition among takeaway delivery is straying into criminality. My colleagues will clamp down on this and will not tolerate it'

A Facebook group which posted the video claim there is a 'massive problem' with illegal immigrants working as drivers.

Most Uber Eats workers who pick up deliveries from the Stonebridge McDonald's are from Brazil.

Recently they have started to collect from another McDonald's two miles away in Wembley and the increased competition has sparked isolated clashes.

Delivery rider Emerson Zerbinatti, 42, originally from Brazil's capital Brasilia, said: 'At the Stonebridge, the riders are usually Brazilian whereas the ones who pick up from Wembley Central are mostly Pakistani or Afghan.

'I don't tend to use that branch. When I do I always make sure I'm polite and friendly to the other riders and I have no issues.

'But I know of other Brazilians who've had problems in Wembley, they've been intimidated if they've had to pick up orders from there.'

Uber Eats delivery rider Jafir Noorzai, 25, originally from Afghanistan said his bike was damaged by a Brazilian rival who stabbed his front tyre.

Showing mobile phone footage of the aftermath of the attack, Jafir said: 'I was parking my bike in a side street round the corner from the McDonalds in Wembley Central and a Brazilian guy rode right up to me and stabbed my front tyre with a screwdriver.

'He said something to me in Portuguese but I couldn't understand what he was saying.

Mobile phone footage shows the aftermath of the attack where rider Jafir's moped tyre was stabbed with a screwdriver by a rival apparently from Brazil, according to Afghan Jafir

A delivery driver told MailOnline that there is tension between drivers from Brazil and Afghanistan who pick up fast food from a McDonald's restaurant in Wembley, north London

'His friend rode over to me a moment or two later and apologised and said that it was mistaken identity and that I'd been targeted by accident.

'I told him that his friend shouldn't go around doing things that hamper someone's livelihood.

'This happened in January but there hasn't been any arrests.

'I don't tend to pick up deliveries from Stonebridge. I stick to the Wembley area.

'There are a lot of Brazilian riders who use that branch. Over here there's a few of them but it's mainly riders of Afghanistan and north Pakistani origin.'

Last month a motorist was beaten up by takeaway delivery riders when a protest for workers rights descended into violence.

Deliveroo moped riders ganged up and began punching and kicking a white van driver, who suffered cuts and bruises.

He had complained their protest was blocking a road in Islington, North London.

In Manchester, a gang of around ten youths targeted a Just Eat delivery driver, viciously attacking him before stealing his bike and phone.

The victim was dropping off a KFC order last November when he was set upon by the thugs.

That incident came as some Deliveroo riders refused to work in certain parts of London after a spate of acid attacks last year.

The food delivery company said 71 of its drivers had refused jobs in London and seven have been reassigned to different locations after raising concerns about their safety.

A Deliveroo rider was among those attacked during a rampage through Hackney in East London last July that saw five people injured within 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, Immigration officials raided a north London McDonald's at the start of this year after a tip-off that delivery riders were working there with false documents.

It followed an investigation that found delivery jobs for Deliveroo and Uber Eats were being traded online.

Workers who had passed vetting checks offered to rent out their accounts for up to 100 a week, allowing others to make food deliveries without facing criminal record, right-to-work, insurance or passport checks.

An Uber Eats spokeswoman said: 'This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable.

'There is no place for violence or intimidation of any kind in our communities and we are currently investigating the alleged incidents.

'We will also work closely with the Metropolitan Police to assist with any investigation.'
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Remarkable never-seen-before photographs from the Second World War reveal the bravery, trepidation and esprit de corps of the brave Brits who flew life-threatening bombing raids across Nazi-occupied Europe.

The vintage images detailing the RAF's XV squadron, who were sent on deadly missions by RAF Bomber Command, include a heavily damaged Lancaster bomber just moments after a member of its aircrew was killed in an accident, and the blood-stained map of a navigator who was injured after a bomb prematurely exploded on board his plane.

Another picture shows the silhouettes of a group of brave ground crew standing atop a Stirling bomber.

The wreckage of an Avro Lancaster of XV Squadron from the rear port side, which crash-landed on the Fighter Command airfield at RAF Ford, Sussex, on June 30, 1944. The rear gunner lost his life in the practice manoeuvre when two planes collided while getting into formation. The plane was crash-landed with no further loss of life

These never-seen-before photographs show the exploits of the RAF's XV Squadron (pictured) during the Second World War. The images reveal the bravery, trepidation and esprit de corps of the brave Brits who flew life-threatening bombing raids across Nazi-occupied Europe

The XV Squadron Stirling Mk I bomber N3669 stands proudly on display outside St. Paul's Cathedral, London, during a morale-boosting Wings for Victory week. The aircraft was a British four-engined heavy bomber used in the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force

Smiling former prisoners of war wait near the crew entry doorway, ready to board XV Squadron's Lancaster ME455 for the journey back to the UK. The book, released by military historian Martyn Ford-Jones is based on the personal diaries of the RAF's brave XV squadron and is filled with unpublished images

The left image shows XV Squadron member Sergeant Pat Russell checking the bomb sight on a Lancaster NF953. The right snap shows artwork painted on the fuselage of XV Squadron's Stirling bomber BK611, Te Kooti, which depicts the aircraft bombing various targets in Germany and occupied France, smashing the swastika with flames engulfing German cities and shipping

Members of XV Squadron's ground crew climb on top of the Stirling bomber BK818, the usual aircraft flown by Squadron Leader Megginson, giving an indication on the size of the aircraft. The photograph is part of a series that reveals and focuses on the daily life of British aircrews during the war

The collection features in military historian Martyn Ford-Jones' re-released book Bomber Squadron: Men Who Flew With XV Squadron.

It focuses on the daily life of British aircrews during the war, based on their personal diaries and unpublished photographs.

The RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968, including Squadron XV, and was responsible for the strategic bombing of Germany during the Second World War.

'During the Second World War, thousands of young men volunteered for service with the RAF,' explained Ford-Jones.

'Some became fighter pilots but a great many more were destined to be trained as bomber aircrew - pilots, navigators, wireless operators, bomb aimers, gunners and flight engineers.

'On completion of their training, a number of these recruits were posted to XV Squadron, a highly-regarded frontline bomber squadron which had been formed during the First World War.

'Bomber Squadron: Men Who Flew With XV Squadron relates the personal stories of a small number of these men, giving an insight into their anxious moments when flying on operational sorties, staring death in the face in the form of prowling night-fighters and ground fire, and relaxing during their off-duty hours.

XV Squadron Flying Officer Boggis (right) and Pilot Officer John Ryan (left), look down from the cockpit of Stirling bomber N6086, LS-F, named MacRoberts. The XV Squadron was a highly-regarded frontline bomber squadron which had been formed during the First World War

This remarkable photograph shows the navigational map used by squadron member Ken Pincott, which became blood-spattered when he received wounds following the premature detonation of a flak shell inside his own plane on April 23, 1944

A flight of six XV Squadron Hawker Hind bombers, which were pre-war aircraft, photographed at RAF Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in early 1937. The Hind went into service in 1935 as an RAF light bomber but was changed to a training craft in 1938. In 1941, Hinds flew operations in their original role as light bombers against Axis forces before returning to training roles after the war

An in-flight photograph of the Lancaster cockpit, as viewed from the flight engineer's station. The aircraft is thought to be Avro Lancaster PB115, a plane of the XV Squadron. Lancasters were the main bombers for the RAF during the war, with a long, unobstructed bomb bay meaning that the Lancaster could take the largest bombs

The tangled components that once kept Stirling BK595 in the air lay strewn across a Spanish beach. Flown by XV Squadron pilot Michael Wyatt, he managed to complete his bombing mission over Italy with an engine out of action. He did not have enough fuel to get to homeground and so aimed for neutral Spain. He crash landed on a beach with no serious injuries or fatalities reported

The headstone in Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery which is thought to mark the last resting place of XV Squadronas Pilot Officer Leonard O'Hara. He was an US citizen who joined the war effort before his country officially joined the war. His plane went missing over the Netherlands following a bombing run in 1942

'The book also reveals the motivations, emotions and personal attitudes of these men who flew into combat on an almost nightly basis.'

Squadron XV actually flew to France one day before war was officially declared and Ford-Jones' book encompasses the whole six years of the conflict, where the squadron was involved in hundreds of hugely significant missions.

Flying various bomber types - including Fairey Battles, Bristol Blenheims, Vickers Wellingtons, Short Stirlings and Avro Lancasters - the recollections from squadron members include risking their lives by flying laden with bombs to the German capital in 130mph crosswinds, countless fear-inducing night-time raids across the continent, and heart-breaking losses of friends and colleagues.

There are also tales of award-winning bravery - and the sort of missions you might not expect to involve a flying machine designed to cause as much chaos as possible.

Military historian and author Martyn Ford-Jones (left) has an extensive knowledge of XV Squadron, which he shares in his book Bomber Squadron (right). The volume includes information on individuals who rose through the ranks of the XV Squadron to become top brass - even featuring a Marshal of the Royal Air Force among their alumni

The volume includes information on individuals who rose through the ranks of the XV Squadron to become top brass - even featuring a Marshal of the Royal Air Force among their alumni.

'The squadron participated in many major raids against enemy targets, including the first Thousand Bomber Raid on the night of May 30, 1941, followed by the second Thousand Bomber Raid two nights later,' continued Ford-Jones.

'During the Second World War, XV Squadron acquitted itself in a credible manner - not only through the men who flew with XV, but also the members of the ground crew who serviced the aircraft and made them ready for operations, and the ground staff who worked in the various associated offices.

'Apart from dropping a high tonnage of bombs, incendiary devices, and mines, at the end of the war, the squadron participated in the "Manna" operations - dropping food parcels to the starving Dutch population, and carrying out both "Exodus" and "Dodge" sorties.

'Exodus' was the codename given to the operations whereby former British prisoners of war located in Germany were flown back to England; while 'Dodge' was the codename given to flying prisoners of war home from Italy.'

In 2017, the XV Squadron was shut down at RAF Lossiemouth, 102 years after it was formed. It remains one of the oldest squadrons in Royal Air Force history.

Martyn Ford-Jones' Bomber Squadron: Men who flew with XV Squadron is published by Fonthill Media and was re-released last month.
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A former winner of the Britain's Strongest Woman award was involved in an explosive row at an Asda car park.

Becki Etchells, who won the title in 2012, struggled to climb into her car in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester on Sunday, before clashing with Courtney Roseweir, 25, who had parked a green Vauxhall Astra near Ms Etchell's vehicle.

Ms Etchells appeared to charge at Courtney before the pair exchanged insults and the former Strongest Woman winner spat at the other driver.

Becki, who won the title in 2012, said today: 'I lost my patience I shouldn't have spat at her - I agree it's a disgusting act.

'I was just so angry that somebody could be so rude and ignorant!

'And as for the green car she's not exactly parked straight herself.'

Becki added: 'I was taking my disabled neighbour shopping who has cerebral palsy. He is 16-years-old, not a two-year-old boy.

'I kindly asked the green car driver to move her car up as she had parked so close I couldn't open my door.

'She was clearly in a rush and replied, ''If you could f****** park then you wouldn't have this problem you fat c***!''

'I told her I had a disabled passenger who couldn't get out of the car.

'I'd like to add I was parked close to the white line as the car on the left side of me was over a bit, if there wasn't enough room for the green car to park leaving enough room for passengers to exit it shouldn't have parked there.'

One of the women involved in the row in the Asda car park has been identified as Becki Etchells, who won Britain's Strongest Woman in 2012

One of the women, identified as Becki Peel Etchells (left), dashes at camerawoman Courtney Roseweir (right) during the explosive row

As Ms Etchells drives off in the footage, she makes an obscene gesture to Ms Roseweir and then spits out of the window.

Ms Roseweir, from Manchester, posted the video on social media saying: 'This girl pulled up in her parking space and I pulled up second. She then proceeded to scream out of her window 'how am I suppose to f****** get out of there.'

'Now as you can see she clearly doesn't know how to park as she is parked on the white line. I simply told her [if] she parked her car straight, she would have no problem getting out.

'[She] continued to slam her car door into mine, spit at me, swing for me numerous times and call me all the names under the sun.

Ms Etchells lifted herself between her own vehicle and Ms Roseweir's green Vauxhall Corsa

She then appeared to spit at the camerawoman as she drove away from the Asda car park

'Not only that, she also had a child in the back seat whilst all this was going on. What is this world we live in. Where you can't even stop at Asda for a f****** lasagne for your dinner at work without encountering such behaviour.'

The video shows Ms Etchells trying to get into her car through the driver's side of the vehicle by standing on Ms Roseweir's green Corsa.

Ms Etchells says 'are you taking the p***?' and starts bounding towards Ms Roseweir, who shouts back 'What are you doing you f****** k***head, no I'm not moving the car, just move it over, f****** idiot.'

Ms Roseweir then walks back to her vehicle and once again tries to get through the drivers side of car by standing on Ms Roseweir's Corsa.

The fitness instructor lashes out again, saying 'move your f****** car, scruffy c***', to which Ms Roseweir replies 'no!'

Ms Etchells says 'are you taking the p***?' and starts bounding towards Ms Roseweir, who shouts back 'What are you doing you f****** k***head'

The incident happened in an Asda car park in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, on Sunday afternoon

The camerawoman then moves back showing both cars being mounted by Ms Etchells as she struggles to get into her driver's seat.

Ms Etchells' car appears to be parked on the white line of a parking bay leaving only a small gap for her to get into.

She reverses out of her space and stops next to Ms Roseweir before she is seen swearing through her window and winding it down to spit at her.

The video has been viewed over 160,000 times.

Many people felt it was easier to just park the car again or get in through the passenger door.

One commenter said: 'So sorry you had to go through that babe, your parking is absolutely fine it's common sense to just repark.'

Ms Etchell appeared to make an obscene gesture towards Ms Roseweir as she drove away

James Gathergood added: 'I can't even drive and I know which car's not parked properly.'

Darren Brooks: wrote: 'A bit of common sense if they had just arrived was to not get out of the car and just reverse out a bit and go back in and done. Less than a minute and everyone has a happy day. Some people need to learn to just think things through.'

Cal Robinson said: 'Why didn't she just get in the passenger door and jump over?'

Mark Mulligan added: 'Why didn't they just go through the passenger side. Problem solved.'

Airline worker Ms Roseweir today said that she was shocked to find the woman shouting at her.

She said: 'I thought the fact that she spat not once but twice was disgusting! I wouldn't even spit at someone I hate. It's awful!'

Ms Etchells posted in the comments on social media claiming to be the other woman in the video.

She commented: 'Definitely wasn't two kids in my car.'

Ms Roseweir said she did not report the incident to the police.
A shepherd has been found guilty of raping an American woman who saw him shoot dead her husband and four year old son.

He then killed Lora Smith, 42, forcing her at gunpoint over a cliff in ex-Soviet republic Georgia.

Malkhaz Kobauri, 19, was sentenced to life in prison by a court in the city of Gori after a jury took four hours to pronounce him guilty.

Prosecutors claimed that his motive for murder was his desire to rape the woman.

Malkhaz Kobauri was sentenced to life in prison by a court in the city of Gori for the rape and murder of Lora Smith, 42, and the murder of her husband and son

The Smith family were murdered on July 4 2018 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Lora, 42, was raped by 19-year-old shepherd Malkhaz Kobauri after he shot dead Ryan, 43 and Caleb, four with a hunting rifle

The killer had logged onto pornographic websites before staging his attack on the family last summer, according to evidence.

The FBI was involved in investigating the case against Kobauri who attacked Ryan and Lora Smith and their son Celeb when they visited a scenic waterfall in Georgia where the family lived.

The shepherd shot the 43-year-old husband in the back and face. Next he gunned down the child.

Lora Smith's body was discovered on July 6, 2018 by a Georgian emergency response group next to a waterfall in the Khada gorge.

Malkhaz Kobauri listens to his sentence in court after a jury found him guilty in four hours

Khada Gorge in the former Soviet state of Georgia, 52 miles from Tbilisi. The shepherd who was convicted of the Smith family's murder had been showing them to a scenic waterfall on July 4 2018

Ryan and Caleb (pictured) were gunned down while visiting a scenic waterfall in Georgia where the family lived

The following day investigators recovered Ryan's body, but Caleb was not found for three days.

A psychiatric examination of the shepherd Kobauri found he was fit to stand trial and has no mental health problems, Georgia today reported citing Kobauri's lawyer, Mr Kobaidze.

The 19-year-old was found guilty of raping the wife despite his defence's claims that he was incapable of having sex and was a virgin.

'The investigation found that before the incident, Malkhaz Kobauri had been visiting pornographic websites, which underlines his interest in this regard,' said prosecutor David Kazarashvili.

The Smiths were 'well respected' members of the local and expat community and had joint US and Georgian citizenship

Mariam Martiashvili, the mother of killer Malkhaz Kobauri, shouted: 'I don't want to live anymore' after the guilty verdict

Tests found the shepherd's DNA was in the body of the victim and on her underwear, said reports citing law enforcement.

The convicted man's mother Mariam Martiashvili claimed her son was forced to confess. A court video shows her furious at the guilty verdict against her son.

Helped out of the court, she shouted: 'I don't want to live anymore'.

Ryan, originally from California, and his wife Lora moved to Tbilisi 10 years ago to run a carpet weaving business called ReWoven

During the trial Kobauri withdrew an earlier confession and said: 'I didn't kill. Two strangers did it.

'They killed these people, and they told me not to tell anyone, otherwise my mother and my father would be killed.'

Prosecutor Zaza Datukishvili told journalists: 'A brutal crime was committed - three people were killed, including a child.

'The crime motive is unforgivable - it was committed for the rape of a woman.

'The only adequate punishment in this case is unlimited imprisonment. In this case it is the only fair decision.'

US Consul in Georgia Janet Reber said: 'We were closely watching this case, we had communication with the victims' family.

'The evidence did not leave space for any doubts. The family members of the Smiths support the life sentence. It was a fair trial and a fair sentence.'

Ryan, originally from San Diego, California, and Lora Smith had been living in Georgia's eastern Marneuli city for more than ten years.

They ran a business called ReWoven founded by Ryan, which produces traditional Azerbaijani rugs. Each carpet costs more than $1,000 and they have been sold all over the world.

The convicted man's mother Mariam Martiashvili (centre) claimed her son was forced to confess

The company uses traditional methods of centuries past which have 'all but vanished'.

According to its website, it hopes to maximize the benefits for 'weavers and their community today' and ensure the tradition continues.

Ryan left the US for Azerbaijan in 2002 because of his 'passion for travel and a love for people of other cultures'.

While living in the capital of Baku he started working in the rug market and was inspired to start his own weaving business.

Ryan left Azerbaijan in December 2005 and came back to the US where he met and married his wife.

The Smith family ran a business founded by Ryan (pictured) called ReWoven, that creates traditional, handcrafted Azerbaijani woven carpets

Lora (right with son Caleb) was a teacher while Ryan (left with Lora) started a handcrafted Azerbaijani carpet business that sold rugs all over the world

They were 'well respected' members of the local and expat community, having lived in the Marneuli region of eastern Georgia for around seven years. They received Georgian citizenship in 2012.

Lora had been a teacher in Washington state and later worked as an English teacher through a Georgian government program.

Kobauri is originally from the Akhalgori district in the Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, which is controlled by Russian forces and South Ossetian militia.

Since the 2008 Russia-Georgia war he has lived in the Mtskheta municipality of Georgia.
A large wild elephant has returned to a Chinese town for a second visit in five days, causing chaos once more.

The Asian elephant wandered into Meng'a Town in south-west China's Yunnan province on Sunday morning after it failed to find a female to mate and was driven out of its herd.

After local forestry police carefully herded it out of the town, the elephant was sighted trudging along the busy streets again on Thursday.

The large Asian elephant is seen in Meng'a Town in Yunnan province again on Thursday

Officials told reporters that the elephant was driven out of its herd after it couldn't seek out a female in oestrus. Above, new footage shows the elephant walking around the town

The large mammal destroyed nine vehicles and damaged houses during its first rampage, causing quite a commotion, according to Chinese media.

Forestry officials previously told reporters that the male elephant was driven out of its herd after it couldn't seek out a female in oestrus, resulting in the temper tantrum. Luckily, no one was injured.

In the new footage released by video news site Pear, the elephant is seen swinging its trunk while walking slowly along the busy street in the town in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.

In the new footage released by video news site Pear, the elephant is seen swinging its trunk while walking along the street in the town in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture

A wild elephant observer confirmed to Pear that the animal still couldn't find a female to mate, which left it 'broken-hearted'. The observer added that it did not show any sign of aggression

Curious locals were seen running away as the large animal approached them calmly.

A wild elephant observer confirmed to Pear that the animal still couldn't find a female to mate, which left it 'broken-hearted'.

The observer added that the elephant did not show any sign of aggression and hurt anyone.

The endangered Asian elephant is listed as a first-class protected species in China. About 300 of them live in Xishuangbanna, Pu'er and Lincang in Yunnan province.

The Asian elephant was first spotted wandering the streets and shops of Meng'a Town in south-west China's Yunnan province on Sunday morning after it failed to find a female to mate

Forestry officials told reporters that the male elephant was driven out of its herd after it couldn't seek out a female in oestrus, resulting in the temper tantrum on Sunday

While the elephant showed a calm temperament during a stroll past the shops in several clips, one video filmed on Sunday showed it charging at a parked vehicle on a mud road (left)

The endangered Asian elephant is listed as a first-class protected species in China. About 300 of them live in Xishuangbanna, Pu'er and Lincang in Yunnan province

Officials have warned members of the public to keep a safe distance and evacuate the area if they encounter similar circumstances.

According to the provincial forestry bureau cited by Xinhua, wild elephants have caused 32 deaths and 159 injuries from 2011 to 2017.

Population growth, reclamation expansion and a decrease of habitats for wild elephants are the primary causes of the conflicts, causing elephants to stray into farmlands and human habitats for food.


Hard-left activists were ridiculed online after calling for a boycott of Rachel Riley (pictured)

Hard-left activists calling for a boycott of Countdown's Rachel Riley have been mocked by the show on Twitter.

The TV host has become the target of an online hate campaign for highlighting anti-Semitism in the Labour party and blaming Jeremy Corbyn for not tackling it.

The keyboard warriors are using the hashtag #BoycottRachelRiley to attack her.

But the official Countdown twitter responded by mocking them: 'So, yes, we're going to boycott @RachelRileyRR tomorrow. "I'll start with a vowel please, Rachel........ Rachel? Where are you? Get me a vowel, hurry up, come on......." Unlikely. Can we boycott people saying "can i get a vowel" instead?'

The spat emerged as the 33-year-old star blasted The Canary website, which she branded a 'fake news site'.

In a Tweet she wrote that the site 'says its not anti-Semitic to compare Israel to Nazis' and accused it of defending 'anti-Semites' 'like Jackie Walker'.

Her post was aimed at eBay as she pointed out to the online shopping giant that adverts for it were appearing on the left-wing site.

She signed it off with the hashtag SFFN, which stands for Stop Funding Fake News.

eBay responded by saying it would remove its adverts from the site.

The shopping site tweeted: 'Thanks for letting us know and eBay believes in equality for all, which is what our platform is based upon and hear your concerns. Were getting this ad removed asap. Thanks for flagging, Team eBay'

This was Countdown's response to people calling for a boycott of Rachel Riley amid a row about alleged anti-Semitism

Labour expelled Jackie Walker this week after she said 'many Jews' were 'financiers' of the African slave trade.

It comes after yesterday's revelation that three Labour members had been arrested over alleged anti-Semitic posts online.

This is the tweet that Rachel Riley sent as she slammed the Canary for backing an alleged anti-Semite who was expelled from the Labour Party

Earlier this month Riley criticised a Labour councillor Jo Bird for making jokes about 'Jew process' and altering the words of a poem about the Holocaust during a speech.

She called the comments 'stomach turning' and said anti-Semitism in the party is 'beyond a joke and deeply worrying'.

In a recording leaked to the Jewish Chronicle of a meeting last year, Bird joked that the term 'due process' should be dubbed 'Jew process'.

The meeting was in support of Marc Wadsworth, who was expelled from the party last April after haranguing Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth at the launch of a report into alleged anti-Semitism in the party.

Riley Tweeted this in response to an outpouring of support online as people rushed to her defence online

And last month Riley threatened legal action against Twitter users alleged to have targeted and harassed her.

Riley has said she suffered 'horrendous abuse' and has repeatedly clashed with Labour supporters, particularly over Jeremy Corbyn's handling of anti-Semitism allegations within party ranks.

Her lawyer said he was preparing to take legal action against up to 70 people for libel or harassment of Riley and EastEnders actor Tracy Ann Oberman.

Lawyer Mark Lewis said he was contacting 'between 60 and 70 people' who are 'almost exclusively Labour supporters'.
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Theresa May gambled and lost today as she risked a third vote on her deal in a scramble to secure May 22 as exit day.

Instead Britain is currently on track for a No Deal on April 12 - but most in Westminster expect a long delay and possibly a general election instead.

The EU had said she must win approval on her deal by tonight to 'book' May 22 as Brexit day. Instead MPs are set to try and force Britain into a soft and slow Brexit that could take years.

Mrs May could yet try again but her hopes of passing the deal look bleak while the DUP are so resolutely against it.

MPs will hold their own debates and votes on Monday on alternatives, building on Wednesday's vote which saw the most support for a second referendum or a customs union.

It sets the stage for a possible showdown between Mrs May's deal and an alternative Brexit built by Parliament before an EU summit on April 10.

Ministers have warned a general election may now be needed to break the impasse - but this too will require Brexit to be put back for months if No Deal is to be prevented.

If a snap election is called in the coming weeks, Mrs May could have to fight it herself - despite announcing plans to resign of the deal passes.

But more likely is that Mrs May could stand down after agreeing a long negotiation extension with the EU, prompting a 12-week leadership election and a potential general election in around six months.

Looming over today's vote was a new forecast of what might happen in a snap election by polling expert Sir John Curtice.

But Sir John's latest numbers suggest a near identical Commons would be returned - accept with slightly weaker Tory and Labour parties in a more hung parliament.

The figures suggest even the dramatic step of a new general election would do little to break the stalemate.

With mounting questions this is MailOnline's guide to what might happen next:

Sir John Curitce's latest numbers suggest a near identical Commons would be returned - accept with slightly weaker Tory and Labour parties in a more hung parliament

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox opened today's debate with Prime Minister Theresa May looking on behind him

What happens now May has lost her third vote?

The first action will be on Monday night when MPs hold a second round of indicative votes on alternative plans.

No rules have yet been published for how it will work but the idea is to build on Wednesday night's first round, which tested eight ideas.

A second referendum got the most Aye votes, closely followed by a permanent customs union - which crucially was opposed by fewer MPs.

What will the EU do?

An emergency summit will be held on April 10. Britain can use this to ask for a longer delay to Brexit - perhaps to the end of the year or even longer.

Mrs May has told MPs a long delay will mean holding European Parliament elections on May 22.

What is No 10's plan?

Mrs May is ploughing on for now. Downing Street is insistent the deal remains the best way of securing an orderly Brexit and appears set on another vote at some point.

No 10 may now consider whether to call a snap general election if MPs try to pass laws to force May to pursue their option next week.

Will May go for a long extension or No Deal?

Nobody knows for certain. The Prime Minister has publicly ruled out personally going for a long extension but also admitted Parliament will rule out No Deal.

Will May resign now her deal has failed again?

Again, nobody knows for sure. Her announcement on Wednesday night that she would stand down was contingent on the deal passing.

In practice, it drained Mrs May of all remaining political capital. Most in Westminster think her Premiership is over within weeks at the latest.

As her deal folded for a third time this afternoon, she faced immediate calls from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn so stand down with instant effect.

What is clear is there is already a fight underway for the Tory leadership.

Polls since the 2017 general election show the two main parties tied close together - suggesting a similar result to last time is very likely

Does is all mean there will be an election?

Probably, at some point. The Commons is deadlocked and the Government has no functional majority. While the Fixed Term Parliaments Act means the Government can stumble on, it will become increasingly powerless.

Mrs May could try to call one herself or, assuming she stands down, her successor could do so.

Would May lead the Tories into an early election?

Unlikely. Having admitted to her party she would go if the deal passes, Mrs May's political career is doomed.

While there is no procedural way to remove her, a withdrawal of political support from the Cabinet or Tory HQ would probably finish her even if she wanted to stay.

How is an election called? When would it be?

Because of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act passed by the coalition, the Prime Minister can no longer simply ask the Queen to dissolve the Commons and call an election. There are two procedures instead.

First - and this is what happened in 2017 - the Government can table a motion in the Commons calling for an early election. Crucially, this can only pass with a two-thirds majority of MPs - meaning either of the main parties can block it.

Second an election is called if the Government loses a vote of no confidence and no new administration can be built within 14 days.

In practice, this is can only happen if Tory rebels vote with Mr Corbyn - a move that would end the career of any Conservative MP who took the step.

An election takes a bare minimum of five weeks from start to finish and it would take a week or two to get to the shut down of Parliament, known as dissolution - putting the earliest possible polling day around mid to late May.

If the Tories hold a leadership election first it probably pushes any election out to late June at the earliest.

Why do people say there has to be an election?

The question of whether to call an election finally reached the Cabinet this week.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay warned the rejection of Mrs May's deal would set in train a series of events that will lead to a softer Brexit - meaning an election because so many MPs will have to break manifesto promises.

Last night's Commons vote to seize control of Brexit from ministers will only fuel the demands.

Labour has been calling for a new vote for months, insisting the Government has failed to deliver Brexit.

Mr Corbyn called a vote of no confidence in the Government in January insisting the failure of the first meaningful vote showed Mrs May's administration was doomed. He lost but the calls did not go away.

Brexiteers have joined the demands in recent days as Parliament wrestles with Brexit and amid fears among hardliners promises made by both main parties at the last election will be broken - specifically on leaving the Customs Union and Single Market.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen wants Mrs May replaced with a Brexiteer. He believes it would push Remain Tories out of the party and then allow a snap election with more Eurosceptic candidates wearing blue rosettes.

At the same time people's views on whether Brexit is a good idea have not dramatically shifted. Remain has generally been narrowly ahead

What might happen?

Both main parties will have to write a manifesto - including a position on Brexit. Both parties are deeply split - in many cases between individual MPs and their local activists.

Under Mrs May, the Tories presumably try to start with the deal. But it is loathed by dozens of current Tory MPs who want a harder Brexit and hated even more by grassroots Tory members.

Shifting Tory policy on Brexit to the right would alienate the majority of current MPs who voted to Remain.

Labour has similar splits. Many of Labour's MPs and activists want Mr Corbyn to commit to putting Brexit to a second referendum - most with a view to cancelling it.

Mr Corbyn is a veteran Eurosceptic and millions of people who voted Leave in 2016 backed Labour in 2017.

The splits set the stage for a bitter and chaotic election. The outcome is highly unpredictable - the Tories start in front but are probably more divided on the main question facing the country.

Labour is behind but knows it made dramatic gains in the polls in the last election with its promises of vastly higher public spending.

Neither side can forecast what impact new political forces might wield over the election or how any public anger over the Brexit stalemate could play out.

It could swing the result in favour of one of the main parties or a new force.

Or an election campaign that takes months, costs millions of pounds could still end up in a hung Parliament and continued stalemate. This is the current forecast by polling expert Sir John Curtice.
Boris Johnson has announced he is rapidly speeding up the UK's coronavirus booster jab rollout as he warned the country: 'There is a tidal wave of Omicron coming'. The Prime Minister delivered an address to the nation this evening as he said he is bringing forward his end of January target for every adult to be offered a jab by one month. It means that everyone eligible aged 18 and over will have the chance to get their booster before the New Year, with Mr Johnson urging people to 'get boosted now'. Mr Johnson said the UK is 'now facing an emergency in our battle with the new variant' and 'we must urgently reinforce our wall of vaccine protection to keep our friends and loved ones safe'. The address to the nation came after the UK Covid alert level was raised following a rapid increase in the number of Omicron cases being recorded. The country's four chief medical officers and NHS England's national medical director recommended to ministers that the UK go up to Level 4 from Level 3 after a further 1,239 confirmed cases of the mutant strain were recorded across the country as of Sunday.
A southern Chinese city is offering handsome cash rewards to residents who can provide information about 'illegal religious groups'.

Up to 10,000 yuan (11,000, $15,000) would be paid for verified information and assistance in hunting down key members and leaders of illegal foreign religious groups and revealing their structures, the religious affairs authority of Guangzhou said.

The move comes as China's ruling Communist Party continues to tighten its grip over faith communities.

The authority of Guangzhou has encouraged its residents to report 'illegal' religious groups and their leaders. Pictured, tourists take pictures in front of the Guangzhou's Sacred Heart Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on September 22, 2018

The directive was posted on the official website of the Guangzhou Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs on March 20.

The statement said the campaign was aimed at curbing religious extremism and terrorist attacks, which have become 'a malignant tumour for society'.

It also said that 'foreign enemy forces' attempted to use religion to 'westernise' and 'separate' China, which is a violation to the Chinese constitution.

Smaller rewards, which range from 1,000 to 5,000 yuan (114 to 570), would be offered for reports about religious venues set up without permission and behavior encouraging 'religious extremism', according to the notice.

In this file photo taken on March 31, 2018, Chinese Bishop Joseph Li Shan (center) walks down the aisle during a Holy Saturday Mass on the evening before Easter at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a government-sanctioned Catholic church in Beijing

'The meaning of this document is to protect the lawful, prevent the illegal, contain extremism, resist infiltration and crack down on crimes,' the department explained the purpose of the incentives in the notice.

Under President Xi Jinping, the officially atheistic ruling party has sought to eliminate all religious expression not under its direct control, especially by Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim ethnic minority groups now being held in internment camps in Xinjiang where they are forced to swear allegiance to Xi and the party and condemn Islam and their traditional culture.

Chinese acolytes are seen praying during a Holy Saturday Mass on the evening before Easter at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing in this file photo from March 31, 2018

China has sought to defend itself against charges of cultural genocide, painting its critics as seeking to smear China's reputation. It originally denied the camps' existence, then said they were established to provide vocational assistance to steer people away from extremism. China has rejected any independent outside monitoring of the camps.

China's reputation for taking a hard line against religions - Muslims in particular - has drawn growing global attention. The man arrested in the March 15 New Zealand mosque attacks said in his online manifesto that China is the nation that most aligns with his political and social values.

Earlier this month, a U.S. envoy on religion called for an independent investigation of the detentions and for the release of those being held, describing the situation in Xinjiang as 'horrific.'

Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said China had done nothing to assuage concerns from the U.S. and others over the detentions and accused it of being 'at war with faith,' drawing a furious response from Beijing.
A family-of-four have been left without a backyard for three years after a retaining wall collapsed during a neighbour's building project.

Emma and Matt Paul, from Terrigal, north of Sydney, recalled the moment half of their backyard and its fence vanished in front of their eyes.

'I realised our fountain and frangipani [tree] had disappeared somewhere,' Ms Paul told A Current Affair.

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A family-of-four have been left without a backyard for three years after a retaining wall collapsed during a neighbour's building project

Builders working on a project below cut into the bordering slope of the townhouses to build a retaining wall and driveway but instead caused a landslide.

The Paul family at property number five lost their frangipani tree, while a pool at townhouse number six was destroyed.

Eli, at townhouse number four, said one of her children has been without a backyard for most of her life.

The Paul's are concerned about the current safety of their backyard and admitted they wouldn't let their two children play near the damage.

The husband and wife say they've had no luck in getting their backyard fixed - despite contacting their insurer at the time, the local council and NSW Fair Trading.

Emma and Matt Paul, from Terrigal, south of Sydney, recalled the moment half of their backyard and its fence vanished in front of their eyes

'We keep getting referred to someone else, you talk to someone else and they keep referring you back to where you came from,' said Mr Paul.

The builder reportedly sent an email to the property owners following the collapse, claiming they'd fix their destroyed backyards.

'Tokio Marine acknowledges the difficult situation faced by the affected residents at 61-63 Scenic Highway, Terrigal, however Tokio Marine is not the insurer of the affected property or the residents,' a spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.

The young married couple said they did hear from the Central Coast Council but were met with a hefty threat, as the collapse led to a broken sewer tank.

'I realised our fountain and frangipani had disappeared somewhere,' Ms Paul told A Current Affair

The council said they would be fined if they did not fix the tank forcing the couple to spend 'thousands of dollars' for it to be cleaned and for parts to be replaced.

They looked into getting their backyard wall fixed themselves but quotes in excess of $200,000 were too expensive for them to afford.

'We are house proud, we love our house, and we've had that taken away from us because they were trying to make money next door,' Ms Paul said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Central Coast Council for comment.
A Pakistani husband has been arrested for allegedly torturing his wife by stripping her naked, beating her and shaving her head after she refused to dance for his friends.

The disturbing incident came to the attention of the authorities after a woman covered in bruises appeared in a video on social media, identifying herself as Asma Aziz and begging the public for help.

Asma, from Lahore in Pakistan's north-eastern Punjab province, says in the video that her husband Mian Faisal and his colleagues became enraged when she refused to dance for them.

Asma Aziz (pictured) took to social media to beg the public for help, saying her husband had humiliated and tortured her by shaving her head and beating her

She alleges that they humiliated her by removing all her clothes and shaving her head, then used iron pipes to beat her.

'He took my clothes off in front of his employees. The employees held me as he shaved my hair off and burned it,' she says in the video.

'My clothes were bloody. I was bound by a pipe and hung from the fan. He threatened to hang me naked.'

Asma says that although Faisal was kind and loving when they first married four years ago, after just six months she noticed his behaviour beginning to change.

Asma alleges that her husband of four years Mian Faisal (pictured together) often becomes violent and abusive after drinking alcohol

The mother-of-three says he began to beat her - particularly after drinking alcohol - and often invited his 'vulgar' friends for parties at their house.

In the footage posted on Wednesday, a tearful Asma details how she escaped from the house the day after the alleged attack and managed to get to a police station.

But she says officers refused to register her case because she could not pay a bribe.

She further alleges that they refused to grant her access to medical treatment, insisting that she pay them first.

'The police demanded cash for medical examination. I had no cash to pay them,' she said. 'How and from where I can pay them?'

Faisal (second right) and his employee Rashid Ali (second left) were arrested after Asma's video went viral and came to the attention of authorities

She said she felt her only option was to ask the public for help, as her parents are dead and she has nobody else to turn to.

After seeing the viral video, Shireen Mazari, the Minister for Human Rights in Prime Minister Imran Khan's cabinet, wrote on Twitter that his office had taken notice and ordered the arrest of two men - Asma's husband Mian Faisal and his employee Rashid Ali.

They were reportedly handed over to police on Thursday on a four-day physical remand. Asma testified before a judicial magistrate on Friday, Pakistan Today reports.

In her statement she said: 'My husband brought two of his friends over to our house and asked me to drink alcohol and dance for them. When I refused, my husband, Faisal, tied my feet and started to torture me.'

She alleges that three of her husband's employees - Rashid, Amjad, and Farzana - were present at their house at the time.

Asma said her husband shaved all her hair off and then set it on fire in front of her, before threatening to strangle her

'When I tried to run out of the house, my husband hit me with a manhole cover,' she said in the statement.

She also told the magistrate that she had desperately called a friend from Farzana's phone.

'My friend came over and took me to the police station. When we asked the police officials to conduct a medical examination they asked for Rs5,000.

Asma before the alleged incident, in which her head was shaved and she was tortured by her husband

'The police neither gave a report nor conducted a medical examination.

'I walked out of the police station crying as they did not cooperate.'

Punjab police spokesperson Nabila Ghazanfar told ARY News that a high-level investigation has been opened to look into the incident, pending which the victim has been put under police protection.

The results of Asma's medical examination, seen by DawnNewsTV, reportedly show that she had multiple bruises on her left arm, bruises and swelling on both cheeks, a cut on her hand, redness and watering in her left eye, and had suffered dizziness and vomiting.

According to the report, there is no possibility that she could have fabricated the injuries. It recommends that she undergo X-rays of her head and hand, and visit optical, orthopedic and neurological specialists.

In a tweet on Thursday, Amnesty International South Asia said that while it is 'glad that strong and swift action has been taken against the torturers of Asma Aziz, we note with dismay the alarming rise in reported cases of violence against women.

'System change to protect women is necessary. Action can't only be taken on a case-by-case basis.'

Gulf News, citing Human Rights Commission of Pakistan data, reported that there were over 2,500 cases of violence against women filed in Pakistan last year.

In 2016, Pakistan ranked 150 out of 153 countries on The Georgetown Institute's Women, Peace and Security index. The data says that more than a quarter (27 per cent) of women said they had experienced domestic violence.
Private Geoff Gray, 17, from Hackney, east London, died after he suffered two gunshot wounds to the head in September 17, 2001

A former Deepcut soldier told how there were still pieces of another teenage squaddie strewn across the scene weeks after he was found shot twice in the head.

A lawyer for the family checked with the parents of Private Geoff Gray before an inquest into his death heard horrific details from his former colleague.

'I know the family are robust enough hear this,' John Cooper QC said, before asking the Colour Sergeant Ben Atherton to offer evidence.

CSgt Atherton was a trainee at Deepcut army barracks at Surrey Heath in 2001 and was posted to the gate Pte Gray had been guarding the night the 17-year-old's body was found.

'There were tissue remains strewn around the scene,' he had said in a police statement before he addressed the court.

He described how Pte Gray's remains were still at the scene, despite being posted there just weeks after the death, as grieving mother Diane and father Geoff listened.

CSgt Atherton told the inquest: 'I was back on guard and when I patrolled the area and I saw it. It was a couple of weeks after the incident. I just remember it quite vividly.'

Pte Gray was the third of four young soldiers to die from gunshot wounds at the controversial camp between 1995 and 2002. He was found in the early hours of September 17, 2001.

Geoff's parents - Geoff and Diane Gray (pictured) - won the right to a new inquest into his death

Military and police have always maintained he killed himself and an inquest in 2002 recorded an open verdict.

The second inquest into his death, ordered last year, has heard he was a popular, keen soldier with no personal problems who was looking forward to an Army career. Nicholas Moss for the MoD asked CSgt Atherton if his memory was clear.

'You say today as to tissue, you have a vivid recollection of the tissue being on the fence,' Mr Moss asked.

'I can't picture it now but I remember recalling that moment, if you like,' CSgt Atherton said.

Other witnesses told the inquest they heard the same fence rattle moments before the body was finally found. The first two searches of the area where Pte Gray was discovered failed to find him.

Former soldier Ben Morgan took the inquest through the timeline of his part in the search for Pte Gray with another trainees Pte Griffiths.

Four young soldiers died at the Deepcut army barracks in Surrey between 1995 and 2002

'We heard the fence rattling, then we stayed in position for another few minutes,' he said. 'This is when Pte Griffiths thought he saw something. There was a gap in time between the two. A minute or a couple of minutes.'

The pair used a three whistle code to call for backup and the body was found moments later in the same area the sounds had come from.

Following the discovery, the search party began to question how they could have missed the body, the inquest heard.

Corporal Filmer, who was second in command of the guard, seemed to be thinking aloud, Colour Sgt Atherton said, convinced he had searched the area where the body was found twice.

'I remember that to this day,' he said. 'He was speaking out loud. I remember him being pretty adamant they had been through it and they had searched that area.'

The inquest at the Coroner's Court in Woking continues.
Democrat donor Ed Buck waited 15 minutes to call the emergency services after finding a man passed out in his home from a drug overdose, it has been revealed.

Timothy Dean was the second gay black man to be discovered dead at the home of the wealthy political donor in the space of 18 months.

The 55-year-old was found unresponsive on a mattress after exhibiting 'bizarre behavior' at Buck's West Hollywood residence on January 7, a coroner's report states.

According to the report released on Thursday, the 64-year-old told police he left to have a shower when Dean began making a noose out of clothes.

He returned from the bathroom to find the fashion designer unresponsive in his sex-toy filled living, according to The Daily Beast.

Buck told a deputy he tried to perform CPR on Dean for around 15 minutes before calling 911, the report states.

Ed Buck (pictured) told investigators he performed CPR on Timothy Dean for 15 minutes before calling the emergency services

The death of Timothy Dean (pictured), 55, who was the second man to die inside the home of Democratic donor, Ed Buck, was been ruled a meth overdose

Protesters gather outside Ed Buck's home in California following the deaths of Timothy Dean and Gemmel Moore

The coroner's report reads: 'The witness [Buck] observed him using a piece of clothing to make a noose and tied it around his neck.

'The witness relays that he removed the ''noose'' and the decedent then stood up and began throwing clothes up in the air.'

Seymour Amster, Buck's attorney, said he waited to call for help because he was performing CPR and was not in the room when Dean fell unconscious.

Dean's death has previously been ruled a methamphetamine overdose, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department confirmed earlier this week.

Last month, Buck was hit with a wrongful death lawsuit by LaTisha Nixon who filed legal papers in a Los Angeles court, alleging he is responsible for the death of her son, Gemmel Moore.

Moore also died of a crystal meth overdose in the donor's apartment in July 2017.

Former model and actor, Buck has made more than $500,000 in political donations to both local politicians and national campaigns including Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid.

Buck pictured with Hillary Clinton. The former model and actor has made more than $500,000 in political donations to both local politicians and national campaigns including Clinton's 2016 presidential bid

LaTisha Nixon, pictured with her son Gemmel Moore. She filed a lawsuit is seeking damages from Buck over his death in 2017

The LA Sheriff's Department opened a homicide investigation, but a year later the District Attorney, Jackie Lacey, declined to file charges against Buck in relation to Moore's death due to insufficient evidence.

Dean's death prompted an outcry from local activists for the wealthy Democrat's arrest.

Nixon's suit names Lacey and Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum as co-defendants, accusing them of wrongfully failing to investigate and prosecute Buck for murder.

The coroner ruled the death an accidental overdose and Buck has always maintained his innocence and denied any wrongdoing.

Dean, 55, was found dead on January 7 on a mattress in Buck's apartment

The lawsuit is seeking damages against Ed Buck for 'wrongful death, sexual battery, drug dealer liability, premises liability, negligence per se, intentional infliction of emotional distress and hate violence'.

In her legal complaint, Nixon cites evidence from several men who told police that they were 'forcibly injected with crystal methamphetamine by Mr. Buck'.

Buck's attorney, Seymour Amster, has previously denied any wrongdoing by his client, said Buck did not inject anyone, and called the allegations against Buck 'spurious'.

Amster previously claimed Dean arrived at Bucks already under the influence of drugs and the autopsy report suggests Dean administered his own injection.

The report by Deputy Medical Examiner Matthew J. Miller also cited alcohol as a cause of death and said there were no signs of physical restraint on Dean's body.

The lawsuit claims that Buck bought Moore a plane ticket from Houston to visit him at his apartment in July 2017, and that just hours after he landed, Moore was dead.

Police found the apartment 'littered with multiple syringes with brown residue, a scale, several lighters and torches, a straw with white residue, glass pipes with white residue and burn marks, plastic bags with white powdery residue and a clear plastic bag containing a crystal-like substance,' the legal papers say.

The documents claim Buck had 'previously solicited sex' from Moore 'would insist upon injecting Mr Moore with crystal methamphetamine' then forcing him to watch hardcore gay pornography.
Dominic Raab attempted to court Eurosceptic Tories last night after endorsing a No Deal Brexit.

The former Brexit secretary, who is seen as a leading candidate to succeed Theresa May, changed his long-standing position to vote in favour of the withdrawal deal.

Speaking in the Commons, he said he wanted to avoid a long extension to Article 50 delaying Brexit and also to avoid the prospect of the UK taking part in European Parliament elections starting on May 23.

But shortly after the vote he made another pitch to hardliners, posting a clip of his speech, with a statement saying: We need to expedite our preparations for a WTO departure. This is a reference to trading on World Trade Organisation terms, without an EU trade deal.

By switching, he was in the same voting lobby as Boris Johnson, who also abandoned his opposition to the deal this week.

Dominic Raab attempted to court Eurosceptic Tories last night after endorsing a No Deal Brexit

By switching and backing May's deal, he was in the same voting lobby as Boris Johnson, who also abandoned his opposition to the deal this week

Explaining his decision yesterday, Mr Johnson wrote on Twitter that he remained intensely critical of the deal.

But he said: We have a choice to make now, and that means choosing between options that actually exist.

I have come to the sad conclusion that neither this Government nor this Parliament is willing to leave with no deal. We therefore run the risk of being forced to accept an even worse version of Brexit or losing Brexit altogether.

A bad deal that we have a chance to improve in the next stage of negotiations must be better than those alternatives.

It is very painful to vote for this deal. But I hope we can now work together to remedy its defects, avoid the backstop trap and strive to deliver the Brexit people voted for.

Mr Raab told the Commons he wanted to avoid a long delay to Brexit because of the very dangerous and corrosive effect on public trust in our democracy.

His intervention came as leadership candidates faced a furious backlash from Tory MPs for posturing for the leadership before Brexit had been secured.

Mrs May said on Wednesday she would quit as Tory leader if her Brexit deal went through. But with no sign of a Commons majority, MPs said the leadership contenders should focus on getting Brexit through instead of their own ambitions.

One Cabinet minister raged: Everyone is building leadership campaigns and just looking at the prize. But no one is doing anything to get the deal done.

Theres going to be nothing left! Theyre going to be fighting to be leader of the opposition.

In the Commons, former Home Office minister Sir Mike Penning said: Those running leadership campaigns to replace her should, for Gods sake, put it on the back burner until we get this through.

One member of the Government said the attempts by leadership candidates to court media attention this week were unseemly and grubby.

The MP, who said they had been courted by all the likely contenders, said: I told them youve got to sort Brexit first.

Theres no point having a vision if you havent got Brexit through.

Allies of Jeremy Hunt furiously denied reports he had already secured the support of 75 MPs, and had another 25 possibles. The report, one friend said, was an attempt to portray him as the favourite.

So who are the candidates looking to replace May and what chance have they got?

Michael Gove - 5/2

Unlike Boris and Raab, Gove has kept on board with May's deal and will therefore have greater appeal among his remainer colleagues. He was also seen as a 'high priest of Brexiteers', meaning he could appeal to Tories on both sides of the divide.

The drawback of this position is that hardline leavers and remainers may see him as part of opposing side. His other potential drawback is his perceived disloyalty after he knifed Boris Johnson in last leadership contest.

Mr Gove, 51, the adopted son of a Scottish fish merchant, is a cabinet heavyweight who's served as Education Secretary and Justice Secretary.

His debating skills, intellect and wit put him well above many candidates and is popular with Tory members.

Boris Johnson - 4/1

The 54-year-old former Foreign Secretary is undoubtedly the best-known candidate outside of the Westminster bubble.

His scruffy style, regular TV appearances, chaotic private life and show-off Classics references make him well known to the electorate.

He has experience of power and winning elections, having been twice voted London mayor but was seen as a bumbling foreign secretary.

He is unpopular among many MPs, who may form a 'Stop Boris' campaign to prevent him getting to Number 10.

However, party grassroots members love him and he's top of the ConservativeHome league table.

It has been claimed Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured in Downing Street) has floated the idea of a 'dream ticket' with him as Prime Minister and Mr Gove as Chancellor

Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab fell in line behind the deal today, denting his popularity among hardline Brexiteers

Sajid Javid - 9/1

The Home Secretary, 49, is a remainer who changed to a Brexiteer after the referendum.

He is the son of a bus driver who came to Britain from Pakistan with 1 in his pocket. Javid proved himself in business, becoming head of credit trading at Deutsche Bank.

He has experience of being Culture and Business secretary, a role in which he cracked down on union rights.

His strengths are seen as his extraordinary rags-to-riches back story, but is widely seen as a wooden and poor public speaker.

There were rumours earlier this week that he could form part of the 'Stop Boris' ticket, with Michael Gove potentially in support.

Dominic Raab - 8/1

The 46-year-old former Brexit Secretary and diehard Brexiteer is the son of a Czech-born Jewish refugee who fled the Nazis in 1938 and died of cancer when Raab was 12.

He is relatively inexperienced, lasting only four months as Brexit Secretary. He voted against May in leadership confidence vote. Mr Raab is seen as a skilled debater who honed his skills as an adversarial lawyer with blue chip legal firm Linklaters.

His weekness is that he seen lacking people skills and thus is unlikely to beat a more experienced candidate.

Others in the running include Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey

How will the next leader be chosen? If Mrs Mays deal goes through, the UK is likely to leave the EU on May 22 and she would resign as Tory leader that day but stay on as interim PM while the contest to replace her begins.

Any Tory MP can stand but they need two nominations from colleagues.

A series of secret votes would be held every Tuesday and Thursday among the 314 members of the Conservative Parliamentary Party.

The last-placed candidate is eliminated at every stage and once it is clear who the front-runners are the back-markers usually drop out and support someone else.

After David Cameron stood down following the referendum in 2016 there were five candidates in the first round, who were whittled down to two: Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom.

The final two candidates then move on to the second phase, when party members vote by postal ballot.

Candidates will be expected to make speeches to members and tour the country to try to win support. This second phase is likely to last for up to a month.

Only members who have been in the party for three months or more can vote in a leadership contest, so joining now would not entitle you to a say.

Conservative sources say the whole process could be completed within a month to six weeks. Advertisement

Jeremy Hunt - 6/1

The Foreign Secretary, 52, is an ex-Remainer who may arouse suspicion among the party's Brexiteer members.

He is the eldest son of Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt and is married to a Chinese wife and he speaks Mandarin.

He has business experience and, before politics, he set up an educational publisher which was sold for 30million in 2017.

Mr Hunt has widespread cabinet experience and was the longest-serving health secretary in history.

Despite being one of the most experienced ministers in the field, unusually, he has made few political enemies and is therefore seen as someone who could unite the party after devisive battles over Brexit.

Andrea Leadsom - 20/1

The Leader of the Commons gained quite following when she stood for leader in 2016, but her bid fell apart when she made an ill-considered comment comparing her experience as a mother to the childless Mrs May.

Mrs Leadsom is a 55-year-old mother of three and a former city trader.

Since then however, she has blossomed as Leader of the Commons, winning plaudits for taking on Speaker John Bercow.

Popular among members and colleagues, she is now widely expected to have another tilt as leading the party.

Esther McVey - 50/1

The 51-year-old former Welfare Secretary is also an ardent Brexiteer.

She spent the first two years of her life in foster care and was a breakfast TV presenter before becoming a Tory MP on Merseyside.

Won plaudits with members for resigning from Cabinet over Brexit deal and is seen as tough, having braved out vicious targeting by Labour during her time as welfare minister.

Some in the party say she doesn't have the intellectual fire power for top job and she is ranked 14th in ConservativeHome league table.

Andrea Leadsom is also expected to throw her name into the hat after her bid in 2016
Danish politicians plan to strip the children of jihadis who were born overseas of their citizenship.

The minority government announced the policy after reaching a deal with the populist Danish People's Party and it will put it to a vote, which it is expected to pass.

It is not yet clear how the law will be worded, but activists say it will raise 'complex' legal issues around statelessness and children's rights.

The news comes after Britain stripped Shamima Begum, who ran away from her London home in 2015 to marry an ISIS fighter and live in Syria, of her citizenship.

Danish politicians plan to strip children born to jihadis overseas of their citizenship, a move that campaigners say raises 'complex' issues around statelessness and children's rights

It comes after Britain stripped citizenship from Shamima Begum, a schoolgirl from London who ran away to marry and ISIS fighter and live in Syria in 2015

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the move was legal because Begum holds dual Bangladeshi citizenship, despite having never been to the country.

Begum also had a son who would have been a British citizen by law, but it is thought the baby has since died.

Under international law, countries are not permitted to strip citizens of their citizenship if it would leave them without a home country, or 'stateless'.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Denmark and Britain are signatories, also states that 'the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration' in any legal decision involving children.

UNICEF Denmark said the new law could amount to 'punishing children for their parents' sins' and would therefore be illegal.

Since 2016, it has been a criminal offence under Danish law to have fought in conflict zones for a terrorist group.

The courts have already convicted 13 people for having joined or tried to join a terrorist organisation.

Nine of those were stripped of their Danish nationality and deported, but the other four remained in the country because they did not hold dual nationality.

When she was discovered living in a refugee camp in northern Syria, Shamima also had a child who would have been a British citizen under law, but is since thought to have died

Danish Immigration Minister Inger Stojberg said children born to Danish jihadists forfeited their right to citizenship as 'their parents have turned their back on Denmark'

The new rules would make the process of removing nationality simpler, using an administrative order.

'Contrary to current rules, children who will be born in regions prohibited to Danes... will not automatically receive Danish nationality,' the immigration ministry said in a statement.

'As their parents have turned their back on Denmark, there is no reason for the children to become Danish citizens,' Immigration Minister Inger Stojberg was quoted as saying in the statement.

The fate of foreign fighters with the Islamic State group and their families has become a major international headache since the fall of the last vestige of its so-called caliphate in Syria.

Most are being held in refugee camps in northern Syria by US-backed Kurdish forces, but risk being turned loose when US troops withdraw.

Donald Trump has called on European countries to bring their citizens home and put them on trial.

There are around 40 jihadists with links to Denmark in what used to be territory held by the Islamic State group in Syria, 10 of whom have been captured, according to the government.

The exact number of Danish children born there remains unknown.
Canberra Raiders player Joseph Leilua has been slammed after he delivered a brutal elbow to the face of Newcastle Knights' Tim Glasby.

The Canberra centre dealt his opponent the astonishing blow with only 12 minutes left on the clock during the match at his home ground, GIO Stadium, on Friday night.

Coming off a tackle, Leilua had gone to play the ball but found himself unable to break free from Glasby's hold.

Moments later, a visibly annoyed and short-fused Leilua rammed his elbow into Glasby's head, sending his opponent flying backwards.

Raiders player Joseph Leilua has been slammed after he delivered a brutal elbow against Newcastle Knight's Tim Glasby

Without a sign of remorse, the Raiders player leapt to his feet and stood over a downed Glasby.

'Unfortunately, that is very Joey Leilua,' Fox League commentator Warren Smith said.

Glasby had to be taken off and David Klemmer fielded.

Although Newcastle Knights were awarded a penalty, Leilua walked away without any repercussion.

And that has not sat well with outraged spectators.

'How is purposely elbowing someone in the face not a sin bin offence?' one person tweeted.

Another posted: 'Not sure how Leilua didnt get at least a sin bin at the end there. And also not sure if there was a off season rule change, but Lee was tackled before he was dragged out.

'Shouldve been a Knights penalty. Ah well, not a Newc [sic] fan so Im not bothered that much.'

Fortunately for Leilua, his team still managed to seal a 17-10 win, in an otherwise clean game.

Without a sign of remorse, the Raiders player leapt to his feet and stood over a downed Glasby
The lawyer for the Nigerian brothers caught up in the Jussie Smollett scandal said on Thursday that it was 'atrocious' and 'offensive' for his team to say they were wearing whiteface when they attacked him as she doubled down on their claims that the whole thing was a publicity stunt orchestrated by the Empire actor.

Gloria Schmidt appeared on CNN on Thursday night as the fallout surrounding the case gathered pace and prosecutors faced tough questions over their decision to let Smollett go scot-free.

She revealed that she was just as stunned by the decision as the rest of the world and had been in touch with the State's Attorney's office days beforehand to arrange the brothers' appearances as witnesses at the trial.

Schmidt also slammed Smollett's lawyer Tina Glandian for saying that the brothers could have been wearing whiteface when they attacked him.

It was a bizarre explanation for why Smollett told police in interviewers that one of the assailants had 'pale or white skin'.

Scroll down for video

Gloria Schmidt said on Thursday night that she and her clients, Abel and Ola Osundairo, were 'baffled' by prosecutors' decision to drop the charges against Jussie Smollett and that they had been planning their testimony against him

Gloria Schmidt, an attorney who worked with the Osundairo brothers, says she agrees with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel that it's "an embarrassment" that charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped. https://t.co/JzaUWckW5p pic.twitter.com/FF1QAvGVYc  CNN (@CNN) March 29, 2019

'I think it's just absolutely atrocious. It adds to why people are giving lawyers a bad name.

'To distract from the real issue here and by putting out conspiracy theories, it just adds to the ridiculous and offensiveness of this entire thing,' she said.

Schmidt revealed that she was in touch with prosecutors days before the shock decision and was arranging for her clients to testify against Smollett.

'I originally was planning on going on spring break with my family.

'We were literally, in my living room packing, I told the state's attorney, I am going on spring break with my family, I'll see you next week.

'I had just been in touch with them a few days ago and then I see the news just like everyone else and was baffled. Baffled,' she said.

Abel and Ola Osundairo were 'fully prepared' to testify that Smollett paid them to stage the attack as part of an effort to raise his professional profile, she said.

Jussie Smollett walked out of court a free man on Tuesday after having the charges against hi dropped in exchange for community service and a $10,000 bond forfeiture

Jussie Smollett's lawyer Tina Glandian suggested on Thursday that the reason he told police his Nigerian attackers were white was because they 'might have been wearing white face' and had disguised themselves. Her evidence of the theory is 2016 video of Abel Osundairo (right) dressed up as the Joker. Schmidt said the suggestion was 'atrocious'

Trump called the decision by local prosecutors 'outrageous.' It was not entirely clear if he was demanding further investigation or calling for new activity

The brothers fled to Nigeria after the January 29 incident and were picked up by police upon their return.

Schmidt said it was only hen that they realized they had been betrayed by Smollett.

'This was completely a publicity stunt that my clients had trusted with their friends, once this got so big and saw that it was impacting so many people, they stood up and said, "we're not going to be part of this fraud."

After the charges against Smollett were dropped, Schmidt and the brothers parted ways.

Neither of them has been charged or arrested and prosecutors do not intend to bring charges against them.

They maintain that Smollett is guilty but say the deal - his charges being dropped in exchange for community service and a $10,000 bond forfeiture - is sufficient justice.

The city of Chicago disagrees and has given him a $130,000 bill for the time spent investigating the attack.

The mayor called Smollett's case a 'whitewash of justice' and President Trump has slammed it as 'outrageous' and an 'embarrassment to our nation'.

Smollett, 36, maintains he is telling the truth. He flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday ahead of the NAACP awards on Saturday where he is nominated for the Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role award.
An Illinois state trooper was killed when a semi-trailer truck slammed into her during a highway traffic stop.

Brooke Jones-Story, 34, died on Thursday while inspecting a semi-truck in Freeport on U.S. Highway 20 which was near Illinois Route 75, police said.

She was outside of her squad car when another semi-truck struck her squad car and the vehicle she was inspecting, police said.

Brooke Jones-Story, 34, (pictured), died on Thursday while inspecting a semi-truck in Freeport on U.S. Highway 20 which was near Illinois Route 75, police said

The impact of the crash caused both trucks to burst into flames and covered the area nearby with large plumes of smoke.

Brendan Kelly, acting director of Illinois State Police, said Brooke was a 12-year veteran of the force and the wife of a retired Illinois State Police officer.

ABC7 reported him as saying: 'Today is a dark day for the Illinois State Police family,' said Brendan Kelly, acting director of the Illinois State Police.

'These troopers are just doing their jobs and trying to protect everyone. How many times does this have to happen? How many more have to be hurt or killed.

At least 15 troopers have been involved in similar roadside crashes throughout the state this year, according to Kelly.

Another state trooper was hit and killed outside his squad car in January.

Jones-Story was outside of her squad car when another semi-truck struck her squad car and the vehicle she was inspecting

The impact of the crash caused both trucks to burst into flames and covered the area nearby with thick clouds of smoke

Kelly added: 'How many times does this have to happen? How many more have to be hurt or killed? When's enough, enough?'

'The men and women of this department, especially the troopers and colleagues of trooper Jones-Story, are sad, hurting and they're angry,' Kelly added.

Jones-Story was married to retired state police Master Sgt. Robert Story, agency officials said.

She is also survived by her parents, a sister, two stepchildren and a step-grandchild. She loved dogs and kept farm animals.

Brooke Jones-Story was married to retired state police Master Sgt. Robert Story, agency officials said. They are pictured on their wedding day, (left)

The latest incident comes just days after Governor JB Pritzker stepped up efforts to enforce Scott's Law in response to the number of accidents injuring state troopers.

It requires drivers to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles.

The law was introduced in 2002 and was named after Lieutenant Scott Gillen.

Gillen was a Chicago firefighter, who was struck and killed by an intoxicated driver while attending a crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway.

Brendan Kelly, acting director of Illinois State Police, claimed there had been a rising number of accidents injuring state troopers and called for motorists to be conscious of their speed

State troopers honored Jones-Story with one last salute at the crash scene, (pictured), which is about two hours from Chicago

The driver of the vehicle that struck Jones-Story has been cited with violation of Scott's Law and improper lane use, police said.

Governor J.B. Pritzker, who appeared at the Chicago news conference with Kelly to promote awareness of Scotts Law, extended his condolences to Jones-Storys family.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker extended his condolences to Brooke Jones-Storys family

He also asked motorists to obey road safety laws and be mindful of their speed.

'Our state troopers do incredible work keeping the public safe, and it is devastating to the entire state that another has been killed on the side of a highway,' Pritzker wrote on Twitter.

State troopers honored Jones-Story with one last salute at the crash scene, which is about two hours from Chicago.
A 'cannibal killer' frat boy who ate his victim's face as the man lay dying on the floor was convinced he was Jesus and became obsessed with the Illuminati, a mental-health report states.

Austin Harrouff, now 22, is accused of murdering Michelle Mishcon and John Steven, and trying to eat Stevens' face while police desperately fought to drag the former Florida State student off.

A 38-page psychiatric assessment of Harrouff, seen by the DailyMail.com, which was conducted by the killer's attorneys as part of their insanity defense, lists a disturbing and frightening descent into alleged psychosis.

The three-week trial is scheduled for November 4. Harrouff's attorneys hope the report will be enough to convince a jury that their client should not be held criminally responsible for his actions.

The penalty for first-degree murder in Florida ranges from life without parole to the death sentence.

Investigators say they found 'cannibal frat boy' Austin Harrouff, now 22, biting John Stevens' face while making growling noises on August 15, 2016. Harrouff's attorneys, who are preparing an insanity defense for the November 4 trial, enlisted the help of Dr Phillip Resnick to conduct a full psychiatric assessment to support their plea

Austin Harrouff was found by eating Michelle Mishcon and John Stevens (right together) in the garage of their home in Tequesta, Florida, in 2016

Among the key points listed in Dr Phillip Resnick's report, which included a six-hour interview with Harrouff, as well as numerous interviews with family and friends, are:

Harrouff felt he had 'superpowers within him' and felt like 'he was Jesus'. He began walking around in a 'slow harmonious manner' and believed he had a responsibility to fix people's problems.

He became preoccupied with the 'Illuminati' as well as religious and philosophical ideas. He was convinced demons were after him and refused to sleep in the dark. He studied: 'Tony Robbins, Lincoln and Krishna' obsessively.

In one instance, he claims to have seen a demon but did not know if he was asleep or awake, he became obsessed with 'Yin and Yang' - and good vs evil.

He believed water 'was a source of power' for him which allowed him to stay young and that he was able to manipulate water with his hands.

In 2016 he decided he would become a public figure and began creating rap videos under the alias Austi Frosti - some of his songs include the disturbing lyrics 'there's a new sheriff in town, he's going to eat you and make you frown'.

In another self-penned song, he described a girl's face as 'yummy', and also shared numerous bodybuilding videos where he posed topless

Dr Resnick's report says the fact that he continued to bite his victim 'in the presence of police officers, in spite of threats of being shot, being tased and receiving multiple kicks to the head, suggests that Mr. Harrouff was actively psychotic.'

Jeffrey Fisher, a neighbor of the murdered couple whose identity was obscured by the state attorney's office, walked into their garage to find Harrouff mauling them. He is shown above reliving it for prosecutors in the very garage where it happened, gesturing to the spot on the ground where he found Harrouff standing over Michelle

Harrouff was found with some of his victim's flesh still in his teeth. He was taken to hospital in restraints. The former Florida State student is pictured immediately after he was arrested

It went on to conclude Harrouff at the time of the attack was suffering from severe bipolar disorder, and an 'acute manic episode with psychotic features.'

As part of his research, Dr Resnick held a six-hour interview with Harrouff at the Martin County jail.

He said he also reviewed Harrouff's journal, his online searches and videos, studied an interview with Dr Phil, and interviewed numerous friends and family members.

In the lead up to the attack, Dr Resnick said Harrouff researched words like 'mania' and 'hallucinations' and searched whether he was going crazy.

Also detailed in the report is Harrouff's increasing paranoia.

It states he thought there were evil forces in his home and he began sleeping near his sister in order to protect her.

In the days up to the attack he bought a knife for protection, the report says.

Just a day before the savage attack, Dr Resnick said Harrouff began to think he was half-man half-dog and could run 'super fast'.

Harrouff's sister said he began wandering through bushes to be 'one with the animals', and sat in the back seat of the car where dogs sit.

According to police, Harrouff told them he'd been 'eating humans' when he was arrested and begged to be killed

Dr Resnick's report details how Harrouff was 'fearful and in a panic state' in the moments before the attack.

'Mr. Harrouff has a vague recollection of picking up a 'machete or something' and stabbing the woman and biting her,' the report said.

'He believed he was a dog at the time of biting her. He was unsure of the sequence of events in the garage.

'His best recollection was that he drank a bottle of alcohol "or something" while in the garage after stabbing the woman. He next recalled seeing a "guy in the doorway" and a dog.'

The murder suspect also bought a Fitbit, which while wearing, made him feel like The Terminator - part robot, part man.

He also, at another point, became fixated on horses - following his Sagittarius star sign - and believed himself to be a mythical beast Centaur.

The psychiatrist also noticed Harrouff shifted between feeling invincible to a feeling of fear and vulnerability.

Dr Resnick has been a noted figure in forensic psychiatry since he testified in 1982 before the National Commission on the Insanity Defense in Washington, D.C. after the verdict in the case of John Hinckley, the man who shot President Ronald Reagan.

The evaluation also reveals Harrouff's desire to help people.

While working as a dental assistant at Florida Atlantic Dental, he said he became too friendly with people who shared their problems with him.

In one instance, after hearing of someone's AIDs plight, he broke down and cried.

This was the scene inside the couple's home after the attack. A trail of blood led through the kitchen. It is not clear whose blood it is

This was found in Harrouff's possessions afterwards. His lawyers say he suffered a 'psychotic episode' and was not in control of his behavior

The couple's neighbor Jeffrey Fisher witnessed the 2016 attack and confronted Harrouff after hearing screams coming from the house.

It was suggested at first that he may have been high on 'zombie drug' flakka or bath salts because the substances had been linked to other murders in the area that had similarly gory details.

A toxicology report however found neither of those things in Harrouff's system.

He had a small amount of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, but others were from drugs he was given in hospital after he was arrested.

Last year, he entered a not guilty plea and his lawyers filed an intent to use an insanity defense.

They admit that he carried out the killings but say he should not be held responsible for them because he was not in control of his behavior at the time.

As part of the prosecution's case, they asked Fisher to go on camera and retrace his steps on the night of the killing.

He is seen in a video which was released in early February by TCPalm standing where he did on the night of the attack when he first approached the house after seeing Harrouff throw Michele to the ground.

'He was standing sort of like this and I actually saw Michelle laying here.

'I got to be right there. He turned, looked at me and said: 'You want no part of this, you want no part of me. One of the two. Then, from his right hand, swung,' he said.

Mischon and Stevens both died of their injuries. They did not know Harrouff

The pair then fought or, as Fisher described it, 'pitter patter'.

'It's not like we were going toe to toe. He was flinging and I was blocking,' he said, explaining how he blocked the man's blows.

He then brought Harrouff to the ground.

'I was able to get a hold of his shirt and yanked him. He lost his balance and went down to the ground right there face first.'

Fisher ran out of the garage through the door which connected the house to it. He then went back out front and tried to catch his breath and heard screaming from inside the garage, presumably from Michelle.

'The words were not making sense,' he said.

He then watched from the front of his property as police arrived.

Martin County Deputy Wayne Trocan was one of the first on the scene.

He arrived to find Harrouff straddling Stevens in the driveway, a few yards from where he had just attacked with a knife.

There was a large trail of blood in the driveway, he said.

'He was growling,' Trocan told investigators as he recalled the noises Harrouff was making.

He had his fingers in Stevens' mouth and was pulling it to one side 'like a fish hook'.

Trocan kicked him several times in the head and used a taser to try to get him off of the victim but it nothing to stop his rampage.

Stevens, who was still alive at this point, whimpered: 'Help me! Get him off!'

He even brought in a dog which bit Harrouff's arm but he brushed the animal off.

'The dog grabbed his arm and pulled it back but he ripped it out of the dog's mouth,' he said.

What finally tore him off the victim was one of 10 kicks to the head which sent it 'swinging back, off his shoulder.'

It caused his arm to fly back, giving Trocan the opportunity to handcuff him.

'I smacked the cuff on his hand and I dragged him to about here,' he explained.

Deputy Trocan revealed that one of his colleagues, a female police officer, was standing over Harrouff as he fought with Stevens and wanted to shoot him but could not get a clear enough shot.

'I didn't want [her] taking a shot, the way he was grappled up into him, there was no good shot.

'It would have went into him, into the victim.'

By the time they pulled him off of Stevens, he had been so badly stabbed they could see his ribs and Harrouff was chewing on his cheek, 'tearing like a dog.'

Harrouff's lawyers filed papers in court in December which claimed he was suffering from a 'full blown psychotic episode' when he launched the attack.

They are asking that he should not be convicted of murder.

The former student gave a tearful interview to Dr. Phil while he was still in hospital recovering from injuries he sustained during his rampage.

He said he was not a bad person and did not mean to carry out the killings.

It was previously reported that after he told police he had been 'eating humans' when he was arrested and begged them to kill him.
The parents of two teenagers with a mental impairment are fighting with the government to stay in Australia amid claims their care is too expensive for the taxpayer.

Faisal Altaf, from Pakistan, moved to Melbourne with his family eight years ago to ensure his sons Maas, 14, and Saim, 16, were given adequate treatment for their disability, which is similar to autism.

But the federal government wants to deport the family, citing they are too large a financial burden for Australian taxpayers, Seven News reported.

Faisal Altaf, from Pakistan, moved to Melbourne with his family eight years ago to ensure his sons Maas, 14, and Saim, 16, were given adequate treatment for their disability

The federal government wants to deport the family, citing they are too large a financial burden for Australian taxpayers

While the government estimates the siblings would cost more than $7million to taxpayers, Mr Altaf said he can support his family.

'I can support any aspect for my family... I can support them because that's my life.'

Mr Altaf works full time while his wife stays home to care for the children.

'These boys are harmless so what can I say to the Australian government? We are just here for the good life.'

The family have developed a strong rapport with their local community who visit the teenagers and have even donated toys for them to play with.

There is also a petition circulating to keep them in Australia.

While the government estimates the siblings would cost more than $7million to taxpayers, Mr Altaf (pictured) said he can support his family

'These boys stay here, they really need to be here they can't go back. They need to be here,' a community member told Seven News while crying.

Local MP Peter Khalil said he'd urge the government to consider compassionate grounds and the family's contribution to the country in the long-term.

Mr Khalil said the fact the community had rallied behind the family was a testament to them as 'wonderful' members of the locality.
Daniel Laird, 41, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter died after a helicopter crash in Texas on Wednesday

The U.S. Forest Service says a firefighter from California has died in a helicopter crash in the Sam Houston National Forest in Texas.

The agency says Daniel Laird, 41, was a two-decade veteran of the Forest Service.

He was helping with a controlled burn when the helicopter crashed Wednesday in Montgomery County, about 70 miles north of Houston.

'Last evening we tragically lost one of our own, firefighter Daniel J. Laird, in a helicopter crash in Texas, during a prescribed fire operation,' wrote Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen in a statement.

'Tragedies of this nature serve as a reminder of the honorable work and sacrifices made by women and men like Daniel. They daily commit themselves to supporting and protecting communities around the country.'

Authorities say Laird was killed in the crash of the 2009 Eurocopter AS 350, while two other people suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to a hospital.

Officials say Laird was a helitack (firefighters who are transported by helicopter to wildfires) captain from Tahoe National Forest in California.

Texas Department of Public Safety tweeted the photo of the crash site of the 2009 Eurocopter AS 350 that went down in Sam Houston National Forest during a controlled burn operation killing Daniel Laird and injuring two others

Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen released a public statement via Twitter on Thursday mourning the loss of Daniel Laird

The 41-year-old firefighter originally from Graeagle, California, leaves behind a wife Heather and daughter Evain, according to Randy Moore of the Forest Service in a statement posted the Wildfire Women community Facebook page.

'Daniel started as a seasonal firefighter on the Tahoe and worked his way up to Helitack Captain,' Moore added.

'His passion was in aviation, but he was also known for his ability to lead a strike team of engines or a task force of hand crews and heavy equipment. He was a true leader in every sense.'

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
A rare fungus used to boost men's sexual performance and three times the prize of gold has become the latest focus of China's anti-corruption campaign.

Billed as the 'Himalayan Viagra', the fungus is found in snow-capped mountains on the Tibetan Plateau as well as in Nepal and India.

It is considered as a highly prized 'wonder drug' in China and often used by companies and individuals to bribe government officials.

The rare caterpillar fungus (pictured) can fetch up to three times the price of gold in Beijing

The price of the caterpillar fungus, called 'yarchagumba', has skyrocketed in recent years due to its scarcity and huge market demand.

It can fetch up to three times the price of gold in Beijing, researchers from the Stanford University have said.

But now the Chinese anti-corruption watchdog is cracking down on the gifting of the sought-after natural aphrodisiac in its source region.

A three-month-long campaign has been launched by the Commission for Discipline Inspection in the province of Qinghai near Tibet, where the fungus can be found and is regarded as a 'regional specialty'.

Tibetan men are pictured selling the prized fungus at a market in Yushu, a county-level city of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the southern part of Qinghai province, China

The best caterpillar fungus are said to be those which are harvested deep in the mountains from areas with an altitude of 4,000 metres (13,123 feet) or above on the Tibetan Plateau

The Chinese anti-corruption authority is targeting four types of 'problematic behaviour' involving the expensive fungus, including using public funds to purchase it and receiving it as gifts, according to an online statement released on March 18.

Officials in the regions are also banned from giving it as a gift, interfering the trading of it and running a business involving it.

The authority has imposed the same restrictions on Kunlun Jade, a type of pale-coloured gemstone native to Qinghai and desired by the rich and powerful in China.

What is the 'Himalayan Viagra'? People in China believe the caterpillar fungus, billed as the 'Himalayan Viagra', can help treat anything from coughs, joint pain to impotence. They add it to stews and broths The fungus billed as the 'Himalayan Viagra' in Asia is called caterpillar fungus, or Yarsagumba. It's native to high-altitude mountainous regions in south-western China, Nepal and India. Its name translates as 'winter insect and summer plant' in Mandarin and is known formally as Ophiocordyceps sinensis. It has been considered as a medicinal food in the field of traditional Chinese medicine for centuries and is often added to stews, broths and teas. The best caterpillar fungus are those collected deep in the mountains in areas higher than 4,000 metres (13,123 feet) above sea level in early summer, according to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Web. It can help treat anything from coughs, joint pain to impotence, the website claims. However, over-harvesting and climate change have caused the number of the fungus to dwindle in recent years, according to Stanford University. This means the fungus is becoming a winning present for those who want to please officials in power in China. Advertisement

Chinese President Xi Jinping has presided over a sweeping corruption crackdown since coming to power in 2012, vowing to target both 'tigers' and 'flies', referring to elite officials and ordinary bureaucrats.

The campaign has led to the jailing or punishment of thousands of officials and also brought down dozens of senior party and military officials.

The anti-corruption effort has not only focused on issues like bribery and using public money to fund lavish lifestyles. It has also taken aim at those whose political loyalty is found lacking or who express doubt in public about party policies.

The latest high-profile Chinese figure to be accused of corruption is Meng Hongwei, the former chief of Interpol, or The International Criminal Police Organization based in Lyon, France.

China has said that it will prosecute Meng for graft after an investigation found he spent 'lavish' amounts of state funds, abused his power and refused to follow Communist Party decisions.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Jean Dreze is a world-renowned activist. Together with two colleagues, he refused to sign an oath of loyalty to the government. For him, democracy in India "is shrinking". Meanwhile, people survive by eating rats, says Sajan K George, and what does police do, they place people in preventive custody for an unauthorised meeting.

Mumbai (AsiaNews)  A Belgian-born Indian economist was arrested and then released by police in the Indian state of Jharkhand for participating in a protest in favour of the "right to food".

Jean Dreze has embraced the "Right to Food" movement, a worldwide campaign, and is taking it to Indian villages. The authorities, however, stopped him for allegedly not having the permits for a public protest.

This is appalling, said Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), speaking to AsiaNews.

In Jhanrkhand, people survive by eating rats and Jean Dreze is placed in preventive custody for an unauthorised meeting. People there are starving and officials continue to deny the truth."

The arrest took place yesterday in Garhwa, about 220 km from Ranchi. According to witnesses, the economist was demonstrating peacefully when he was surrounded by police.

The agents are said to have asked him and two other colleagues to sign an oath of "loyalty" to the government. When the three activists refused to sign, the agents took them to the police station, where they remained for about two hours.

News of their detention spread quickly on social media, sparking outrage and anger on the part of activists and civil society groups.

Police justified the arrest saying the protesters did not have permission and violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). However, as criticism mounted on social media, the three activists were released.

After he was let go, Dreze said that no one told him and his fellow activists they could not organise a protest.

It is very important to hold peaceful, non-political meetings during elections Dreze said. Nowhere in the MCC is it written that we cannot hold such meetings.

He is also upset at the unfairness, noting that police took no action against a public meeting held in the area the evening before. This is double standards, he said. Sadly, the understanding of democracy is shrinking.

Dreze, 59, is a well-known economist who teaches at the Delhi School of Economics and is a Visiting Professor at the Department of Economics, Ranchi University. He was a member of the National Advisory Council of India.

He arrived in India in 1979, and eventually became naturalised. He has been fighting for years against hunger, famine and gender inequalities.

By choice, he decided to live in the most extreme simplicity, giving up luxuries and comforts.

In the 1980s, when he taught at the London School of Economics, he lived with the citys homeless. As a result of his activism, several shelters were set up for panhandlers.

Today he lives with his wife in Delhi, in a one-room mud house.
California received nearly 250,000 personalized plates request in 2018 - and rejected thousands of ludicrous and hilarious ones.

Vanity plates were first introduced in the Golden State in 1972, and people have been trying to sneak their mischievousness in ever since.

DMV policy finds that 'any personalized license plate configuration that [carries] connotations offensive to good taste and decency' can be subject for rejection, LAMAG reports.

Most plates that fall under this purview have some sort of sexual, racial or profane meaning. And in a lot of cases, the plates aren't even intentionally provocative.

Last year, California DMV received 250,000 personalized plates request but had to reject thousands of submissions

Common grievances concern people's genitalia - words like 'pink', 'monkey' and 'muffin' are associated with vagina, while 'knackers', 'anaconda' and 'nards' are often associated with penis and testicles.

Anything with reference to porcine - meaning words like 'pig', 'swine' and 'oink' - are perceived as being derogatory towards police.

Any plate that has 'Jew' on it is also immediately struck from consideration but references to Christians, Muslims and Buddhists are accepted.

'Box' - which is associated with vagina - is only allowed for cases where the vehicle is a 'Box' type. Scions and Porsche Boxsters fit under this criteria.

BEMYBAE - A man wanted to get this plate for his girlfriend's anniversary but he wasn't able to. The DMZ rejected the plate because 'bae' is the Danish word for 'poop'

Cars that were built in 1969 are the only cars that are allowed to use the number 69 on their plates.

California is home to roughly 220 languages, causing the DMV to have to be on their best game when finding problematic plates.

The following personalized plates didn't make the cut:

KYLESEAN - A customer claimed that the plates were in homage to his two children, Kyle and Sean but DMV personnel felt that it really meant 'Kill Sean!'

Moorehed - Someone with the actual last name Moorehead was refused this plate because DMV staff felt that it looked like 'more head.'

BEMYBAE - A man wanted to get this plate for his girlfriend's anniversary but he wasn't able to. The DMZ rejected the plate because 'bae' is the Danish word for 'poop.'

CCS8JWS - While the husband asking for this plate claimed it stood for the date he and his wife got married, along with their initials, staff felt that '8' looks like 'Hate' and 'JWS' looks like Jews

FUKTRMP - This one is pretty obvious but the customer asserted that it meant 'funky trumpet in the funk music genre'

CCS8JWS - While the husband asking for this plate claimed it stood for the date he and his wife got married, along with their initials, staff felt that '8' looks like 'Hate' and 'JWS' looks like Jews.

ITSLIT - The popular slang phrase was rejected by the DMV because 'Lit=intoxicated, Slit=Rude slang for a woman or vagina.'

420EDDI - For this plate, the person asking for it did not have a meaning behind it. But the DMV identified that '420' is the national day for smoking cannabis.

ONW2BYB - This literally means 'On my way to bang your b***h' and speaks for itself why it was rejected.

DICKOUT - A parent said that the plate signified their elation that their son was moving out but obviously 'dick' is another word for penis\

HUF4RTD - While the person asking for the plate offered that it meant 'Have unwavering faith 4 respect the Day,' DMV personnel hilariously pointed out that it looked like 'Who Farted'

DICKOUT - A parent said that the plate signified their elation that their son was moving out but obviously 'dick' is another word for penis.

HUF4RTD - While the person asking for the plate offered that it meant 'Have unwavering faith 4 respect the Day,' DMV personnel hilariously pointed out that it looked like 'Who Farted'.

FUKTRMP - This one is pretty obvious but the customer asserted that it meant 'funky trumpet in the funk music genre.'

DCKXTSN - A man hoping to pay homage to his father 'Dick' (also his name) wanted to show how he was an extension of him. The DMV quickly rejected the notion and pointed out that the man's name was Brant.
Employees at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama have spoken out against what they say is a culture of 'racism and sexism' at the famous civil rights nonprofit group.

The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded in the early 70s to monitor the activities of domestic hate groups.

The SPLC says the organization is currently tracking more than 1,600 extremist groups. The Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazi movement are two movements mentioned on the center's website.

Employees have spoken out about alleged racism and sexism within the Southern Poverty Law Center

The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded in the early 70s to monitor the activities of groups including the Ku Klux Klan. Members of the Fraternal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan participate in the 11th Annual Nathan Bedford Forrest Birthday march July 11, 2009

The claims center around allegations that the SPLC suffers systemic problems with racism and sexism and from a 'pervasive racist culture and an environment in which a woman is not seen or heard,' according to CNN who spoke with three current employees on guarantee of anonymity.

One of those employees alleged that 'qualified African-American employees were regularly passed over for promotions.' The woman added, 'My boss only hires white people.'

The SPLC have gone on to change its leadership. Co-founder, five-times married Morris Dees, was fired earlier this month for unspecified misconduct.

According to the Los Angeles Times staff at SPLC headquarters in Alabama were told in an internal email that 'although he made unparalleled contributions to our work, no one's contributions can excuse that person's inappropriate conduct.'

Morris Dees, Co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, (pictured above) was fired in March for unspecified misconduct

SPLC President Richard Cohen (pictured above) stepped down from the post resigning a little more than a week after he fired Dees

Former Michelle Obama's Chief-of-Staff Tina Tchen has been appointed to lead a company-wide review.

On March 22, SPLC President Richard Cohen stepped down, resigning a little more than a week after he fired Dees.

'When one of our own fails to meet those standards, no matter his or her role in the organization, we take it seriously and must take appropriate action,' Cohen said in a statement following Dees departure.

'We've heard from our staff that we need to do a better job of making sure that our workplace embodies the values we espouse -- truth, justice, equity, and inclusion,' Cohen said in a statement announcing his own resignation, adding his departure would help the SPLC move forward.

Former Michelle Obama's Chief-of-Staff Tina Tchen, (pictured above) has been appointed to lead a company-wide review

One employee described the current upheaval as a revolution against the organization's leadership, 'initiated by employees tired of a pervasive culture unchallenged by those in charge.'

Both Dees and Cohen's departures follow the resignation of Meredith Horton, an associate legal director in the organization who's African-American.

Horton's resignation letter cites concerns about workplace culture.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has a track record in securing monetary damages against hate groups.

Members of the National Socialist Movement, one of the largest neo-Nazi groups in the US, hold a swastika burning after a rally on April 21, 2018 in Draketown, Georgia

In 1981 civil rights lawyer Dees successfully sued the Ku Klux Klan winning $7 million for the mother of Michael Donald, a black lynching victim in Alabama.

Following the judgment, The United Klans of America was forced to sell its national headquarters to help pay it off.

Bryan Fair, chairman of the Southern Poverty Law Center's board said in a statement that they are taking staff's concerns very seriously.

'We acknowledge and take very seriously the significant concerns that our talented and deeply committed staff have raised, and we are committed to listening further, taking ownership wherever we have failed to live up to our own standards and values, and to making any changes necessary at the conclusion of this process to ensure that the Center is exemplifying and upholding them,' Fair said.

No-one at the Southern Poverty Law Center was immediately available for comment regarding the workplace allegations when contacted by DailyMail.com.
A Playboy model living in Las Vegas has been arrested and charged in connection with the murder of a 71-year-old psychiatrist who was found bludgeoned to death in the trunk of a car earlier this month.

Kelsey Turner was taken into custody by police in Stockton, California, as part of their investigation into the death of Dr. Thomas Burchard - whose body was found in Nevada, March 7.

Turner's name matched that of a woman who posed for racy photos, including some on Playboy's Italian-language website, the Californian of Salinas reported.

Kelsey Turner (left) was taken into custody by police in Stockton, California, as part of their investigation into the death of Dr. Thomas Burchard (right) - whose body was found in Nevada, March 7

Turner's name matched a that of a woman who posed for racy photos, including some on Playboy's Italian-language website, the Californian of Salinas reported

Burchard's body was discovered near the entrance to the Lake Mead National Recreational Area after a passerby noticed a rock had been thrown through one of the vehicle's windows, police said.

An autopsy ruled Burchard died from a blunt force injury to the head - his death was ruled a homicide.

Burchard, who continued working beyond retirement age because he didn't want to abandon his patents, had worked nearly four decades in the behavioral health program with Montage Health, the Review-Journal reported.

'Dr. Burchard was a psychiatrist in our behavioral health program for almost 40 years and was very helpful to many patients,' Montage Health spokeswoman Mary Barker said.

Burchard, who continued working beyond retirement age because he didn't want to abadon his patents. had worked nearly four decades in the behavioral health program with Montage Health, the Review-Journal reported

'It's a very sad situation and our hearts go out to his family, friends, patients, and colleagues. We are notifying his patients and providing grief counseling for staff.'

Turner was being held in the San Joaquin County Jail without bail as she awaits extradition to face a murder charge in Las Vegas.

It's not immediately clear where she Turner is from originally.
Shane Rimmer, pictured with wife Shelia at a James Bond event in London in October 2012

Shane Rimmer who voiced Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds has died aged 89.

The Canadian actor appeared in more than 100 films including four James Bond movies - Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever.

The father-of-three was born in Toronto but moved to Britain in the late 1950s and found work as a cabaret singer before his involvement in Thunderbirds.

Rimmer also featured in hit films such as Gandhi, Batman Begins, Dr Strangelove and Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, in which he played an engineer.

He also made various TV appearances, such as Casualty and Coronation Street, which saw him play Joe Donnelli from 1968 to 1970 and Malcolm Reid in 1988.

Rimmer is said to have appeared in more Bond films than any other actor apart from the recurring characters.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years Sheila, with whom he lived in the Hertfordshire town of Potters Bar, with their sons and grandchildren.

Rimmer starred alongside Roger Moore in 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me

Rimmer was a Canadian actor who voiced Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds (pictured in 1965)

The news of his death was announced by Bond historian Mark O'Connell, who tweeted: 'Four Bond bullets, three Superman movies, one Star Wars, a Rollerball, a Dr Strangelove and Scott Tracy... RIP to the godfather of "I know that guy" casting - Mr Shane Rimmer. #RIPShaneRimmer.'

Producer Jonathan Sothcott added: 'RIP that fine character actor Shane Rimmer. A great face (and voice) in some of the best loved family films of the 70s: The Spy Who Loved Me, Warlords of Atlantis, Star Wars, Thunderbirds. Amazing career.'

Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar tweeted: 'RIP ShaneRimmer His instantly recognisable voice always filled me with comfort, primarily as Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds but in any movie, Bond or otherwise, he popped up in.'

Rimmer attended Gerry Anderson's funeral in Reading in January 2013, where he offered a tribute to the Thunderbirds creator's 'groundbreaking energy and vision'.

Rimmer also appeared in Yorkshire Television series Hadleigh whcih ran from 1969 to 1976

Rimmer is survived by his wife of 55 years Sheila, with whom he lived in the Hertfordshire town of Potters Bar. They are pictured together at a party in Leicester Square in September 2007

He said at the time: 'Gerry was an exceptional man - not only to those who began the studio work with him, and they were all terribly talented and so easy to work with - but also to the hundreds of thousands of young, and maybe a little older, viewers who watched that magic flow across television screens all over the world.'

Rimmer also had uncredited voice roles in Anderson's later science-fiction TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and The Secret Service.

He is also claimed to be only actor to have been in both the Christopher Reeve Superman film series and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
Police in China have rescued a pair of twins who were sold to separate families by their parents shortly after birth.

The unemployed couple in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia racked up a large debt from an online lending platform and came up with the desperate plan to earn some cash, according to police.

The baby twins, a boy and a girl, were each sold for 60,000 yuan (6,830) to two families in Hebei province, almost 800 kilometres (492 miles) away from home.

The baby twins (pictured above), a boy and a girl, were each sold for 60,000 yuan to two families in Hebei province, 490 miles away from their home in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia

The one-year-old boy (pictured) was rescued on March 2 in Langfang city, Hebei province

The baby girl (pictured) was rescued by Chifeng police on February 28 in Xingtai city

The baby girl was rescued by Chifeng police on February 28 in Xingtai city and her brother was rescued on March 2 in Langfang city, according to state-broadcaster CCTV.

Officers at the Yuan Bao Shan District Public Security Bureau received a report last December about a man suspected of child trafficking, according to officer Sun Zhibin.

After investigating and checking surveillance footage, officers located and detained the father, surnamed Lan, on January 22 at a local karaoke bar.

The next day, officers also arrested the mother, surnamed Feng, at a motel.

The couple admitted to selling the twins two months after they were born in Chifeng in September 2017.

The unemployed couple in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia racked up a large debt from an online lending platform and came up with the desperate plan to earn some cash, according to police

'We owed so much money. We didn't have any income at all,' the birth father, surnamed Lan was filmed telling officers during an interrogation at a police station

Officers also arrested the mother, surnamed Feng, at a motel on January 23

'We owed so much money. We didn't have any income at all,' Lan was filmed telling officers during an interrogation at a police station.

'We weren't able to borrow money anywhere. We couldn't afford to raise them,' he added.

The father reached out to the buyers through online messaging platform QQ and the children were transported to the families in Hebei, according to the Inner Mongolia's public prosecutor's office in a statement.

The couple then used the money to pay back the loan sharks.

'I did a horrible thing, ethically. I hurt myself and I hurt others,' he said. 'I have let my two children down.'

'We really didn't have a choice. I know it was wrong. But at the same time, the babies won't suffer with us,' the twin's birth mother, Feng, said in an interview with CCTV.

The family who adopted the baby boy said the wife, surnamed Xu, was infertile and couldn't get pregnant after being married for eight years.

The father reached out to the buyers through an online messaging platform and the babies were transported to Hebei, according to the Inner Mongolia's public prosecutor's office

The girl's buyer told police that her own son 'was all grown up', leaving her 'very lonely'

The children have been returned to the care of their birth mother, the report added

'I wish his birth parents will treat him better,' Xu told CCTV, her voice breaking.

The girl's buyer told police that her own son 'was all grown up', leaving her 'very lonely'.

'We're not the richest family in the world. But I love her and I would buy all the best things for her,' the woman said.

The twin's father, Lan, has been arrested and detained for child trafficking and the rest of the three involved in the case have been released on bail.

Two other suspects are under 'administrative detention,' according to CCTV.

The children have been returned to the care of their birth mother, the report added.

Child abduction and trafficking has long been a serious social problem in China, with an estimated 70,000 children going missing each year for forced labour, adoption or prostitution, according to a previous report by China Daily.

In a similar case, a father, surnamed Jiang, sold his daughter to a couple after racking up a debt of more than 60,000 yuan (6,798) by gambling online. Above, the toddler being returned to her family after police located her on March 15 in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province

A boy, nicknamed Hao Hao, is reunited with his grandfather. He was only two years old when his birth parents decided to sell him to another couple for 13,600 in January last year

Chinese courts ruled on 2,806 cases involving the abduction and trafficking of women and children between 2015 and 2018, according to the Supreme People's Court cited by Global Times.

Just two weeks ago, a couple in Wuzhou, Guangxi have been arrested for selling all five of their children - three boys and two girls - for a profit of more than 100,000 yuan (11,300).

In January, a boy in Jinjiang, Fujian province was reunited with his grandparents after his parents sold him to another couple for 120,000 yuan (13,600) last year. The unmarried couple in split the money before going their separate ways.

Zhang Baoyan, a delegate to the 13th National People's Congress, last week called for an amendment to the Chinese law to impose the death penalty on those convicted of trafficking women and children.

Zhang, who has been a long-time advocate for women's and children's rights in the country, also called for a stiffer punishment for buyers, who fuel the trade but are seldom held accountable. Currently, convicted buyers of human trafficking victims face no more than three years in prison.
A Kentucky motel clerk says his manager told him he had demons that were causing his marital problems, and would have to undergo a process akin to an exorcism at her church.

Jason Fields, of Leslie County, Kentucky, is suing Hampton Inn & Suites, Employee Resource Group and then-manager Sharon Lindon, saying he had to quit after being subjected to religious discrimination and harassment, according to local news reports.

According to Fields' lawsuit, which was filed mid-March, Field was a front desk employee at Hampton Inn in Hazard, Kentucky, at the time that Lindon learned that he was in the midst of a divorce, WKYT reported.

A former employee of the Hampton Inn & Suites in Hazard, Kentucky (shown) is suing the motel chain, his former manager and others for religious discrimination and harassment

He claims that Lindon then told him that marital woes were due to having demons and that he would need an exorcism if he wanted to continue working at the hotel.

Fields said Lindon, an apparent member of Common Bond Christian Fellowship Ministries, also provided him with a packet of invasive questions about his religious beliefs and sex life.

One question asked if he belonged to a cult, listing 'Mormons,' 'Native religions,' Buddhism and Islam as examples, and another asked if he'd 'ever made a pact with the devil.'

Other questions included whether he 'frequently masturbate,' had 'lustful thoughts' or 'ever sexually fantasized about an animal,' according to Lex18.

The former front desk worker is claiming that his ex-boss, a member of Common Bond Christian Fellowship Ministries (shown) tried to force him to get an exorcism

The lawsuit then stated that when Fields refused to answer the questionnaire, due to its personal nature, or undergo the exorcism, Lindon supposedly took steps to punish him by importing people from her ministry to pray for him in the lobby. Fields said that he was embarrassed by the prayers and that he heard guests talking about them.

Fields also claimed that his job duties and shifts were also changed, he was prevented from taking days off, was not given a raise and the threat of being fired was held over him, WDRB reported.

Fields said that he had to quit the job due to 'intolerable working conditions,' according to the lawsuit, which accuses Lindon of religious discrimination because Fields didn't share her beliefs.

Fields is now seeking punitive and compensatory damages in the lawsuit.

In a statement obtained by WKYT, Hampton Inn said, 'We intend to do a thorough investigation of the accusations made within the lawsuit. As a company, we oppose all types of discrimination and await our opportunity to discuss our side. At this time we have no further comments.'

The lawsuit's other defendants have not yet issued comments.
A man who has been living a law-abiding life for 13 years has been ordered back to prison after a mix-up resulted in his early release in 2006.

Jermaine Demetrius Anderson, 43, was shocked last week when U.S. Marshals pounded on the door of his New Haven, Connecticut home accusing him of evading arrest.

Free on bond for the moment, Anderson and his attorney have been spreading his story and even plan to plead President Donald Trump for a commutation before a judge determines his fate next week.

'I wasn't on the run,' Anderson told the New Haven Independent. 'I corrected myself. I don't want pity. I just want people to be ethical.'

Jermaine Demetrius Anderson, 43, was shocked last week when U.S. Marshals raided his home and accused him of evading arrest over a mistaken prison release 13 years ago

The strange case stems from a mix-up over whether Anderson was supposed to serve his state and federal sentences concurrently or consecutively.

Anderson's original crimes were committed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut in 2001 and 2003.

In September 2001, Anderson tried to use someone else's identity to submit credit applications to buy cars, according to court records reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

When police were about to arrest him at a Mazda dealership he fled, striking a police officer who was there to arrest him.

He was later sentenced to five to 23 months in prison for simple assault.

Then in September 2003, Anderson tried to use $4,000 in counterfeit bills to make purchases on two occasions.

He pleaded guilty to the crimes in 2005 and was sentenced to prison time in Connecticut state prison for identity theft. A federal judge also sentenced him to 16 months in federal prison for the counterfeit bills.

In his sentencing memo, Anderson's attorneys acknowledge that any federal sentence would have to be served after his state time. But when he was freed in 2006, there were no federal Marshals to pick him up, and he reported to his parole officer believing his time was served.

Anderson and his lawyer (together above) plan to petition President Donald Trump to commute the federal sentence that Anderson thought he had already satisfied

Officials with the Connecticut Department of Correction say that the agency had no record of anyone lodging a detainer against Anderson, the paperwork needed to hold an inmate for transfer to another agency.

The Marshals Service insists that it did file the detainer and blames Anderson's release on state authorities.

How did the mistaken release occur? Anderson pleaded guilty to state charges of identity theft and federal charges of counterfeiting in 2005

His federal and state sentences were supposed to be consecutive, but he thought they were concurrent

State officials say that they received no federal detainer ordering him turned over, and released him in 2006

Federal marshals insist that they filed the detainer and blame state officials for releasing him early

Anderson was arrested last week after a federal audit found he had never served his 16-month federal sentence Advertisement

After his release, Anderson went on to complete his state parole in Connecticut, first finding work at Walmart for four years.

He currently works in human resources for a non-profit, and works a second seasonal job with the city's parks department as a caretaker for the Lighthouse Point Park carousel.

Anderson is also a regular churchgoer, attending the Joy Temple Church near the two-bedroom condo he owns.

His life as a free man has not been without struggles, however. In 2016, Anderson's younger brother murdered both of their parents and his sister near Richmond, Virginia.

All three were stabbed in their necks while sleeping, with the killer blaming his crack cocaine addiction in police interviews, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

But Anderson said even that horror didn't match the stress of having half a dozen federal marshals pound on his door early in the morning to demand he return to prison.

'I was getting ready for work,' he told WTIC-TV. 'Could you imagine eight marshals, agents, banging on your door.'

'It's just so much stuff in my head,' Anderson said. 'It's still the unthinkable. It's just like a bad nightmare that I can't wake up from.'

Anderson served three years in a Connecticut state prison (above) and believed he had satisfied all of his sentencing requirements

Robert Clark, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said that Anderson's surprise apprehension was triggered by an internal audit of custody detainers.

He said that returning to arrest Anderson after 13 years was a way to ensure he was 'brought to face justice.'

Anderson is due to appear before U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond in Philadelphia next Thursday.

The judge, who has a reputation for toughness, may order him to prison on the spot, though Anderson's attorney hopes to delay the decision and petition the court to drop the prison sentence.

In the meantime, Anderson plans to file a petition with President Trump to commute his sentence and allow him to continue life as a free man.

'It's bleak, it's dark, it's unimaginable, it's scary as hell,' Anderson told the Inquirer of returning to prison.

He says returning to prison now for 16 months would destroy the life he's built, and likely cause him to lose his jobs and his condo.

'I couldn't see how to even possibly rebuild at all from it,' he said. 'I think it would literally just wipe me out.'
William Tyler Sims, pictured, is facing revenge porn charges after he allegedly sent suggestive pictures of his wife to a state lawmaker

A Virginia man is facing revenge porn charges after he allegedly sent suggestive pictures of his wife to a state lawmaker.

William Tyler Sims is accused of using his estranged wife's email account to send the pictures, pretending they were from her.

His wife was working as an intern for the unnamed General Assembly member at the time.

The 23-year-old now faces seven charges including 'harassment by computer' which could each carry a year in prison.

The Assembly member is said to have received the 'sexually suggestive messages and images of the victim' on January 17 last year.

'The images were sent using the victim's email, and they purported to have been sent by her,' a police spokesman said.

'However, an investigation by Capitol Police resulted in the discovery that the images had been sent by Sims using an email account belonging to the victim, who was Sims' estranged wife.'

Capitol Police said Sims, of Norfolk, was being held by the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office on an unrelated DUI charge when the alleged emails were discovered.

Authorities then noticed Sims was wanted by Capitol Police on seven warrants related to the pornography case.

Sims faces three counts of harassment by computer, for sending three emails to the General Assembly member.

Each of the charges is punishable by up to one year in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Courtesy: WTVR

Sims was charged after he allegedly used his wife's email account to send the pictures to a member of Virginia's General Assembly (pictured, the state Capitol in Richmond)

He is also charged with two counts of computer trespass, for the unauthorized use of the victim's email, and two of unlawful dissemination or sale of images of another.

According to online court records he is also accused of driving 20mph or more over the speed limit on the unrelated motoring charge.

Capitol Police chief Anthony S. Pike said: 'As we continue to see this type of unwanted criminal activity, it's important that our investigators respond as efficiently as they did.

'This criminal conduct not only disrupts the safety of people in the workplace, but it destroys the reputation of victims.

'I'd like to thank our investigators for their hard work on behalf of the constituents we serve daily at the seat of state government.'
Paul Manafort's ostrich-leather coat and snakeskin jacket will be waiting for him when he gets out of prison.

He'll get to keep the high-end outerwear, CNN reports. The $15,000 ostrich-skin jacket, an $18,500 python bomber and other fancy clothes he purchased while he was committing crimes were not part of a federal government asset and property seizure, estimated at $36 million.

Manafort is nearly 70 and has a 7.5 year prison sentence to serve, a least.

The state of New York charged him with 16 additional counts of fraud month.

Paul Manafort's ostrich-leather coat and snakeskin jacket will be waiting for him when he gets out of prison

President Trump could issue a pardon for Manafort's federal financial crimes, which the president's former campaign chairman says would have went unnoticed were it not for the investigation into allegations of Russian collusion.

He has no such authority to let him off the hook for crimes he could be convicted of at the state level.

Manafort is currently serving consecutive sentences for crimes he committed in connection with his private consulting business. They were uncovered during the special counsel probe, but they were not directly related to the former businessman's for Donald Trump.

Manafort is nearly 70 and has a 7.5 year prison sentence to serve, a least. This photo of him was taken last June; he was wheeled into the courtroom this month in a wheel chair

The feds found custom-made House of Bijan and Alan Couture suits, in addition to the ostrich and snakeskin jackets, at Manafort's home. The special counsel presented the coats as evidence of the wealth that was generated from Manafort's crimes at trial last August

Kevin Downing, defense attorney to the former Trump campaign chairman, speaks on the day Manafort was sentenced at the U.S. District Court in Washington this month

Manafort managed Trump's convention strategy and held the title of campaign chairman. He left in August of 2016, months before the election, when unaccounted for checks he allegedly received from an ousted, Ukrainian political leader brought him unwanted national attention.

The FBI eventually raided his home, after Trump was already in office. They found custom-made House of Bijan and Alan Couture suits, in addition to the ostrich and snakeskin jackets. The special counsel presented the coats as evidence of the wealth that was generated from Manafort's crimes at trial last August.

Testimony at trial from the companies revealed that Manafort would spend as much as $128,000 on custom outfits at one time and once paid $32,800 by wire transfer for an animal-skin jacket.

Investigators found a camel hair sportcoat valued at $6,500 and an ostrich vest worth $9,500 that they photographed but never confiscated, CNN reports.

Manafort will get to keep the high-end coats and suits and homes worth at least $4 million in Florida and Alexandria, Virginia, where his wife, Kathleen, still lives.

He forfeited five other properties in New York and the sum total of three bank plus his life insurance policy. His properties, including his Trump Tower condo, were be sold to pay off his mortgages.

This courtroom sketch shows Paul Manafort in a wheel chair in the U.S. District Courtroom during his sentencing hearing

The rest of the money from the property and assets the government seized will go into a government fund for crime victims.

None of the money will be put toward the tab for the special counsel probe that cost more than $25 million before it concluded last week. Taxpayers are on the hook for that.

And Manafort still owes the federal government $17 million - $6 million of which is due to be directed to the IRS for back taxes.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office announced on Thursday that the death of Robert Cooper, 37, and his 29-year-old wife, Ariel Prim, would be ruled a homicide

A Florida couple's death is being investigated as a homicide close to eight months after their bodies were found by firefighters at their 'burned to the ground' mobile home.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office announced on Thursday that the death of Robert Cooper, 37, and his 29-year-old wife, Ariel Prim, would be ruled a homicide.

Last summer, the couple had been found dead in their mobile home in Ocala, Florida.

A neighbor reported to firefighters on July 28 that their home was 'burned to the ground' but that the couple's vehicle was still in the driveway, ABC reports.

When first responders arrived to the scene at 7.35am, they had to force entry so that they could get through two locked gates on the property.

'Firefighters found the structure burned to the ground and found the deceased's remains,' the Marion County Fire Rescue. 'There are three horses and one goat on scene. Marion County Animal control is caring for the animals.'

Their bodies had been found on July 28 after a neighbor called authorities and told them that their Ocala, Florida, home was 'burned to the ground'

Neighbor also informed officials that the couple's car was still in their driveway (seen to the right)

Police weren't even able to identify the couple for three months. Their deaths were ruled 'suspicious' in December, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

'In the months following the incident, MCSO Major Crimes detectives conducted a thorough investigation into the deaths and finally received the DNA results confirming the remains to be Cooper's and Prim's on Wednesday, December 5, 2018,' the office said in December.

'The State Fire Marshal has conducted an independent investigation into the cause of the fire, and the cause has not yet been determined.'

Police weren't even able to identify the couple for three months. Their deaths were ruled 'suspicious' in December, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office

Initially, the medical examiner ruled the couple's death to have been a result of 'undetermined causes.'

Police have offered a $5000 reward for anyone who has information that may lead to an arrest.

'Detectives are now asking for the public's help in revealing any information that may bring some clarity to the suspicious circumstances surrounding their deaths,' the sheriff's office added.
by Wang Zhicheng

The new measures are aimed primarily at Protestant house churches, but it is almost certain that they will be applied to Catholics and other religions and across the country. Clues are worth 3,000 yuan; informing on foreigners can earn up to 5,000 yuan; working with the police means up to 10,000 yuan. Teaching the catechism to ones children at ones home is now a dangerous proposition. Reports can be made by phone, in writing or in person.

Guangzhou (AsiaNews)  The Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs in Guangzhou issued some measures on 20 March offering incentives and cash prizes to anyone who reports on "illegal religious activities" in the city, such as underground community meetings, catechism, or interactions with foreign religious personnel.

Cash prizes vary  3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 yuan (US$ 450, US$ 750, US,500)  depending on the scale, details and importance of the report.

"The authorities could not have picked a better time, just before Easter to introduce these measures," a local priest told AsiaNews. "At this time, we often meditate on the passion of Jesus and Judas treachery for 30 pieces of silver. The Guangzhou government wants to turn people into many mini Judas.

In all likelihood, the push to get people to snitch on each will especially affect underground Protestant communities, who are strongly rooted in Guangdong. Last December, the authorities shut down a local church, 5,000-member Rongguili Church; yet, Christians continue to meet and pray in private homes.

According to some Catholics, it is certain that the new measures will be applied to all religions, not only in Guangzhou but throughout the country.

In February 2018, the government adopted new regulations on religious activities that provide for fines and arrests for people, along with the seizure of buildings where "illegal religious activities" take place, i.e. not under the control of the Religious Affairs Office and local patriotic associations.

With the new measures, the authorities now have a wider array of means, such as recruiting neighbours, colleagues, and casual observers to spy. "Now here in China we live in a Big Brother atmosphere," said one newly baptised woman.

Encouraging snitches

The news measures are divided into five parts specifying first of all the general rules.

Chapter two explains that people can file a report by phone" (number to call provided); they can send letters with the most specific details" by mail or hand deliver them to the appropriate office; they can go in person to the right bureau: either the Religious Affairs Bureau or the Public Security Bureau. Everyone is assured of "maximum confidentiality".

Chapter three goes into detail as to "what" must be reported. Topping the list are illegal religious activities as defined by the negative view of religion of the Chinese Communist Party. This includes promoting, supporting and funding religious extremism; using religion to threaten national security, public safety, and national unity through secession and terrorism; violating civil and democratic rights; endangering the social order; violating public and private property."

Certain people and religious activities are listed as dangerous such as "those who establish religious places without authorisation; non-religious groups; non-religious institutions; non-religious places, temporary places of worship, religious activities and religious donations." This goes on to include "organising unauthorised religious courses, conferences, unauthorised pilgrimages.

Under the new regulations, teaching catechism to one's children at home becomes an offence since young people under the age of 18 are not allowed to take part in the Mass or catechism.

Rewards follow. Those who supply only clues can expect 1,000 to 3,000 yuan; those who "provide evidence against foreign illegal religious organisations and the people involved" can get 3,000 to 5,000 yuan; those who "provide evidence and help in the investigation leading to the arrest of the leaders responsible for illegal foreign religious organisations" can receive 5,000 to 10,000 yuan.

Perhaps expecting a flood of informers, the measures state that if two people report the same case, only the first one gets the reward with the reporting date as proof of time.

The other two chapters explain that the rewards will be decided and delivered by the Municipal Office for Ethnic and Religious Affairs. Funds are made available by municipal authorities.
A mother told police she planned to inject bleach into herself and her young daughter to get rid of parasites, court documents state.

Brooke Helmandollar triggered an Amber Alert child abduction emergency warning two weeks ago when she took her daughter, Alissa, out of school and went on a nearly 400-mile road trip.

The 41-year-old disappeared with the 10-year-old and took her from Nampa, Idaho, to a motel in Cheney, Washington.

Helmandollar pulled the girl out of school on March 12 and told a school staff member they would be staying in a hotel because their house was infected with parasites and insects.

Brooke Helmandolla (right) took her 10-year-old daughter, Alissa (left),out of school and went nearly 400 miles away to a motel

Police found bleach in the motel where the mother and daughter were staying, along with charcoal and materials for enemas, The Spokesman-Review reports.

Not long after the Amber Alert was issued, Alissa was spotted in Oregon.

After being arrested, Helmandollar said the bleach was for cleaning and not injecting.

She has been charged with criminal mistreatment of her 10-year-old daughter.

The 41-year-old may have mental health issues, according to court documents.

The child was placed in Child Protective Services custody following her mother's arrest.

Jon Helmandollar, her husband, is also being investigated for child endangerment.

Police said he repeatedly did not express concern for his daughters safety during the investigation and officers said he lied about the pair's whereabouts.
A man believed to be carrying a gun was arrested at St Paul's Cathedral this afternoon - more than three hours after police first rushed to his reported location in a different part of London.

Metropolitan and City of London officers were called to an address at Curtain Road in Shoreditch at 8.30am following claims of a man with a firearm.

But after searching the area and finding no sign of the suspected gunman, police detained who they believe to be the same man just after midday, 1.3 miles away outside St Paul's.

A cordon was put in place after police arrested a man in the grounds of St Paul's Cathedral following reports someone was seen carrying a gun

Officers were called to an address at Curtain Road in Shoreditch at 8.30am following claims of a man with a firearm. But they detained who they believe to be the same man just after midday, 1.3 miles away outside St Paul's

Social media photos show a cordon in place near the iconic building and popular tourist attraction with alarmed passers-by watching.

A firearm was recovered from the scene, although police are yet to determine whether it is real or a replica.

The arrested suspect is also 'not co-operating' with officers.

City of London police said: 'Following reports of an armed man at St Paul's Cathedral, we can confirm we've arrested a man who we believe to be in possession of a firearm at 12.05 today.

Shocked onlookers watched as the man was arrested by police near the famous cathedral at lunchtime today

'He was detained behind One New Change by armed officers. There is no indication this incident is terror-related at this time.

'Officers from both the City of London Police and Met Police attended a domestic-related incident this morning at 08:30 on Curtain Road (EC2A).

'This was following a report of a man in possession of a firearm. An investigation began immediately to locate this individual.

'We are now confident the man arrested at St Paul's this afternoon is the same individual.

'He currently remains in police custody and officers are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incidents.'
Britain's most middle-class graffiti artist voiced their dismay over a closing-down Marks & Spencer by scrawling 'absolute rubbish' on the shop's exterior.

A sign was posted outside the M&S in Deal, Kent, explaining that 'it's not goodbye' as customers would be able to find another store nearby.

But a shopper expressed their frustration with the sentiment, declaring it 'absolute rubbish' as Dover was '8.5 miles away' and 'Canterbury is 16 miles away'.

After the graffiti was spotted by staff on Thursday, staff at the axed shop covered it up with black marker tape.

Two shoppers expressed their frustration with the shop's sign, declaring it 'absolute rubbish' as Dover was '8.5 miles away' and 'Canterbury is 16 miles away'

Residents fought to prevent the Deal shop closing down with an online and paper petition.

The online petition attracted 3,000 signatures in the first 24 hours, with the number finally reaching more than 5,000.

A paper petition launched by Emma Ford from Tamarisk clothing boutique also gained more than 5,000 signatures.

She said: 'At least we tried. I'm so proud of all the volunteers who stood outside in the freezing cold, doing their bit.

'The response, both from M&S staff, and the town as a whole, was amazing. To everyone who helped, a big thank you.'



Marks & Spencer announced the April 27 closure with the message 'this store may be closing, by you can still find us nearby'.

The graffiti appeared outside the Marks & Spencer store in Deal, Kent, which is closing down

The closure comes after the retail giant confirmed closure of both Deal and Ashford stores despite efforts of online and paper petitions.

A Marks & Spencer spokesman said that the decision to close the shops was 'a difficult decision'.

He said: 'Over the past few weeks we've been consulting with our colleagues and, following this rigorous process, the decision has been made to close our Deal store on Saturday, April 27 and Ashford on Saturday, May 4.

'We'd like to thank our customers, the local community and their representatives for the feedback they've given.'

Deal and Dover MP Charlie Elphicke said: 'This is a deeply disappointing decision for our community.

'M&S has been at the heart of our high street for more than 80 years and benefited from the loyal customers of Deal.

'They owe it to the people of Deal to ensure a great retailer fills this prime location in the town centre.'

The graffiti has since been covered up with black tape by staff at the Kent store

The closure attracted heavy criticism from Deal residents online.

One local wrote: 'Obviously the spark has gone. M&S listen to your customers and keep little, friendly stores open.'

Another added: 'The closure will have a knock-on effect on chains and "indies". The High Street will wither and die'.

Julie Barrett said: 'Strange, I emailed them and had a response but then I replied and had no response back.

'There are staff in that store who will not be able to take up posts elsewhere because they cannot drive and have young children.'

Not all residents agreed over the closure, with others blaming modern shopping habits for the move.

One online commentor said: 'I wonder if all "5,000 outraged residents" who signed the petition are regular paying customers of the M&S store.

'I suspect not, in which case their voice doesn't really count for much.

'The store is not just there to make the rest of the high street look good - it has to be viable in its own right.'

An M&S spokesperson said: 'Shopping habits are changing and reshaping our store estate to reflect this means making some difficult decisions.

'In Deal we hope to see lots of customers continuing to shop online and at our Dover, Westwood Cross and Canterbury stores.'
Desperate families living in the ruins of Mosul say they want ISIS to return because life is so hard in the bombed-out ruins of the city.

Yaazi Ibrahim, a mother-of-three, explained how she is completely dependent on food aid to eat, and lives in a mud shack after her home was destroyed by the war.

Speaking to Channel 4, one of Yaazi's friends voiced their frustration, saying: 'Under ISIS life was better.

Desperate residents living in the ruins of Mosul say life was better under ISIS because they have no food and little electricity since the city was recaptured

Yaazi Ibrahim, a mother-of-three, told how she is completely dependent on aid rations for food, and has to cook on a square of mud outside a hut since her home was destroyed

'What has the government done for us? We havent had food rations for two months.

'They give us electricity for two hours and then they cut it off. We are very tired.'

Mosul, formerly Iraq's second city with a population of millions, was captured by ISIS in 2014 as the terror group grabbed the world's attention away from Al Qaeda.

They held on to the city, the largest they managed to capture, until it was liberated in July 2018.

But in order to recapture Mosul, Iraqi troops, backed by Kurdish militias, had to engage in bitter street-to-street fighting.

The city was pounded daily by suicide bombs, airstrikes and artillery fire.

In the process, tens of thousands of homes were destroyed along with 90 per cent of hospitals, dozens of schools, and almost the entirety of the Old City.

Now, large parts are uninhabitable - without water, food or shelter.

Mosul is thought to be home to hundreds of thousands of people since ISIS was drive out, but large parts of the city remain uninhabitable and without basic supplies such as water

Aid workers think it will take five years and $50billion to restore Mosul to its former glory after much of the city, including the entirety of the Old City (pictured) was destroyed in fighting

Rescue agencies estimate that it will take five years and up to $50billion to rebuild the city to its former glory. Almost $1billion will be needed just to restore basic infrastructure.

But not everyone is calling for the return of the terror group. Yaazi lives in the east of the city, where conditions are hardest, but in the west things are more bearable.

Saadi Mohammed, who lives in the west, said life under the jiahdis was full of 'fear and terror' and now they have gone she wants to send her daughter to study.

ISIS imposed an extremist version of Sunni Islam on all territories it occupied, banning smoking, dancing, music, art and most of the comforts of modern life - such as the internet and mobile phones.

The terrorists torched libraries, smashed up artefacts, and brutally cracked down on the rights of women while seeking to exterminate the LGBT community.

ISIS captured Mosul in 2014 in a move that announced it as the world's most powerful terror group, and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced his so-called Caliphate from its mosque

It took nine months of fierce fighting by US-backed forces - including daily airstrikes, suicide bombings and artillery fire - to recapture the city

Since Mosul was recaptured, life has slowly begun to return. Last month, its museum held an exhibition of contemporary art after being partially rebuilt.

ISIS also lost the last remaining portion of its so-called caliphate after US-backed fighters drove them out of a squalid encampment outside Baghouz, Syria, last week.

Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, wrote on Twitter: 'Syrian Democratic Forces declare total elimination of so-called caliphate and 100% territorial defeat of ISIS.

'On this unique day, we commemorate thousands of martyrs whose efforts made the victory possible.'

But commanders warn that, even though ISIS hold no territory, the group will continue to pose a threat using sleeper cells and suicide attacks.

They say the capture of Baghouz does not represent the end of the fight against ISIS, but merely a new phase in a continuing war.
Victoria has cancelled the visas of 20 gang members over the past three years in a crackdown on youth violence.

Nineteen more visas are 'under active cancellation consideration', The Australian reported.

Those who have had their visas cancelled include people with convictions for drug trafficking, assaults or armed robberies.

Victoria has deported 20 people as the state cracks down on gang violence in its cities and towns (pictured, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton)

Nineteen visas are 'under active cancellation consideration' while 20 have already been cancelled on character grounds

Others had convictions for kidnapping, police assault, weapons offences and sexual assault.

Within the group of 39 visas were people of Sudanese, New Zealander or Samoan descent - others were deemed 'stateless'.

Last September it was revealed Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton had ordered monthly reports of 'non-citizens linked to Victorian youth gangs'.

The reports came amid strong criticism of State Government and its youth gang crisis, and have since been spruiked as an effective way of protecting the community.

In total, 81 people have been referred to the Department of Home Affairs since April 2016.

According to the reports, the department is also 'reviewing cancellation processes in relation to minors, in discussion with legal division and child wellbeing branch.'

The report also notes that 42 people whose visas are no longer 'under active cancellation consideration' have been flagged on the internal systems.

'Should any of the individuals apply for another visa or citizenship, the processing area is advised to seek penal checks and contact the character and cancellation branch prior to any grant/approval,' the department said.

Within the group of 39 visas were people of Sudanese, New Zealander or Samoan descent - others were deemed 'stateless'
President Donald Trump began Friday by honoring U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War, ignoring his own history of studiously avoiding a military draft that doomed tens of thousands of poorer Americans.

'On this Vietnam War Veterans Day, we celebrate the brave Vietnam Veterans and all of Americas Veterans. Thank you for your service to our great Nation!' Trump tweeted in a presidential gesture.

Twitter erupted with outrage from self-described members of the anti-Trump resistance.

'Thank you for your lack of service and your fraudulent bone spurs. A**hole,' wrote pop-psychologist author Jeffrey Guterman.

President Donald Trump invited Twitter sarcasm on Friday when he tweeted a message of respect and gratitude to America's Vietnam War veterans

Comedian Tony Posnanski piled on: 'Thank you for everyone who didnt dodge the draft five times.'

The president famously received five separate draft deferments during the 1960s and 70s, including one for a medical condition  a bone spur in his heel  that the diagnosing doctor's children said last year was a 'favor' for Trump's late father.

As candidate Trump navigated the instant firestorm of his early verbal slams at Sen. John McCain, dismissing his iconic war-hero status because 'he was captured,' he was asked to explain why he never served in uniform.

After an unperturbed Trump told reporters that day about his bone spur, he waved off a question about which foot had been the problem, saying someone would 'have to check the records.' He later claimed it was both.

McCain, who died in 2018, survived more than five years in a North Vietnamese prison after surviving the shoot-down crash of his U.S. Navy jet. He received a Purple Heart, a Silver Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Trump told radio shock-jock in 1997 that surviving the sex-fueled 1980s in Manhattan was his 'personal Vietnam.'

Trump said bed-hopping with models made him feel like a 'great and very brave soldier,' and that he was 'lucky' to escape without a venereal disease.

Stern said that, in private, he and Trump had previously compared every woman's vagina to a 'potential land mine.

'There is some real danger there,' Trump joked during the broadcast.

Ultimately he conceded to New Hampshire voters in 2015 that he felt 'a little guilty' for not serving in Vietnam.

Pop-psychologist author Jeffrey Guternam and comedian Tony Posnanski led the Twitter outrage at the president Friday on Twitter

McCain said months before he died that he didn't fault Trump for finding a way to avoid the draft but criticized the loopholes that gave the wealthy a way out.

He had said in a 2017 C-SPAN interview aired that the U.S. military 'drafted the lowest-income level of America, and the highest-income level found a doctor that would say they had a bone spur.'

Days later on 'The View,' he put the obvious jab at the president in perspective.

'I don't consider him so much a draft dodger as I feel that the system was so wrong, that certain Americans could evade their responsibilities to serve the country,' McCain said.

As president, Trump has made two separate trips to Vietnam including an aborted summit this year with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

And he has slammed Connecticut Democratic Sen. Dick Blumenthal as 'Da Nang Dick' for exaggerating his military service record to include overseas service in Vietnam that never happened.

Contrary to his claims, Blumenthal was never deployed to Vietnam as part of his Marine Corps Reserve service. He later confessed that he had 'misspoken about my service, and I regret that and I take full responsibility.'
Scott Morrison's government is preparing to boost national security by spending $570million on counter-terrorism and anti-espionage operations in the upcoming budget.

The revelation comes just one year after ASIO warned the nation was facing levels of espionage greater than during the Cold War.

The 2019 budget, which will be unveiled on Tuesday, is expected to follow a theme of 'a stronger economy and a secure future' ahead of the Federal Election in mid-May.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is anticipated to lift the Liberal Party's credentials on national security, an issue tipped to be a battleground for the impending election, The Australian reported.

Scott Morrison's government are preparing to boost national security by spending $570million on counter-terrorism and anti-espionage operations in the upcoming budget

The budget will see Australian Federal Police and ASIO handed a major resourcing package

The budget will see Australian Federal Police and ASIO handed a major resourcing package.

The move to meet the demand of intelligence and security agencies comes after claims they're amidst a radically shifting security environment prone to threats.

The Christchurch massacre on March 15 suggests the terror alert in Australia will remain on high for the foreseeable future.

The national security spending of $571million will go towards counter-terrorism programs and the introduction of the Australian Federal Police's first anti-drone technology.

Drones have caused heightened fear as the most significant emerging terror threat.

The money from Tuesday's budget will also be allocated to foreign operations, including intelligence gathering from conflict zones and research into foreign fighters looking to return home.

The move to meet the demand of intelligence and security agencies comes after claims they're amidst a radically shifting security environment prone to threats

ASIO, who is facing threats of espionage, terrorism and national defence, will be given a boost to exploit artificial intelligence technology, with its original budget of $550million being increased by $58million

AFP will increase their current budget of $1.7billion by nearly a third.

The injection into national security comes after ASIO warned against the threat of espionage in January 2018.

Deputy director-general Peter Vickery said the scale was greater than during the cold war, as threats were unprecedented and harder to detect, the ABC reported.

AFP currently receive $1.7billion a year but will earn a $512million increase over the next five years, to deal with demand of counter-terrorism operations

'During the Cold War our adversaries were readily identifiable; it was the Eastern Bloc, the Russians and the East Germans for example,' he said last year.

'In the current climate, we are facing a raft of different countries that are seeking to conduct espionage and foreign interference.

'It is a lot more blurred in a sense, there are more state actors out there than there were during that time.'

While the government is expected to splurge on the budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is understood to be trying to restrain big handouts.

The 2019 budget, which will be revealed on Tuesday, is expected to follow a theme of 'a stronger economy and a secure future' ahead of the federal election in mid-May

Government sources revealed 'irresponsible' spending ahead of the election would be flagged, and the budget would focus on relieving the cost-of-living and an infrastructure package.

In a bid to appease younger voters, the Federal government will announce on Saturday a $30million fund to help boost the live music scene, The Courier-Mail reported.

Federal Arts Minister Mitch Fifield said the four-year package would help expand the live music and assist generation of new artists.

'Australia has a long history of bands  among the best in the world  cutting their teeth in small live venues,' he said.

While the government is expected to splurge in the budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (pictured) is understood to be trying to restrain big spending

'Audiences across the country enjoy live music and this package will ensure that small venues can schedule more performances to meet that demand and provide the essential training ground for the next generation of great artists.'

Mr Morrison is also set to unveil $150million funding for change rooms of grassroots women's sports, to take a stand against gender inequality.

The pre-budget announcement will also allocate an additional $40million for local sporting clubs to upgrade their services.

Sport Minister Bridget McKenzie said the government was keen to build on female athletes and their successes, The Courier-Mail reported.

'We want to support these women in sport, from the grassroots level up to elite representatives  you can't be what you can't see,' she said.
Friends and colleagues have gathered at the Gold Coast to commemorate the Indian-born nurse whose body was found dumped in a canal earlier this week.

Ravneet Kaur, 29, went missing from the village of Bagge Ke Pipal on the Pakistan-India border while on holiday with her four-year-old daughter on March 14.

She was found dead 200km away in the Bhakra Canal on Monday.

It has since been revealed her husband, businessman Jaspreet Singh, was in Australia at the time, but was believed to have been having an affair and allegedly arranged his wife's murder with his mistress.

Australian Federal Police confirmed in a statement they conducted searches on the Gold Coast on Friday and are working with Indian counterparts in investigating Ms Kaur's death.

Gold Coast nurse Ravneet Kaur, 29, was found dead in an Indian canal on Monday after she went missing on March 14

Friends and colleagues of the TriCare nurse gathered at Surfers Paradise to pay tribute to the mum-of-one in an emotional memorial service

On Friday, family and close friends met at Surfers Paradise to pay tribute to the beloved TriCare nurse, who was four months pregnant when she was killed.

Ms Kaur was remembered as 'beautiful' and a 'saint' as well as pleasure to work with, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

'You have no idea how beautiful this lady was, you'd never meet anyone like her.

'She was a saint. Honest to God, you talk to anyone, they'll say the exact same thing. Never a bad word, never,' former colleague Kerrie Hawker told the publication.

The group of mourners gathered at the shore to observe a moment of silence for the slain mum-of-one.

Loved ones were seen weeping while holding colourful flowers which were later thrown into the ocean.

A second memorial service for Ms Kaur has been planned for Sunday.

Earlier that day, Indian authorities confirmed four people have been charged in relation to Ms Kaur's death so far, and there are discussions with the Australian High Commission about extraditing Singh to India.

Ravneet Kaur (pictured with her husband Jaspeet Singh and their daughter), was on holiday visiting her family when she went missing from the the village of Bagge Ke Pipal on the Pakistan-India border. It is alleged Singh was having an affair and arranged his wife's murder

Indian police have claimed Ms Kaur (pictured) was speaking with her husband on the phone when she went missing

Ravneet Kaur went missing from the village of Bagge Ke Pipal on the Pakistan-India border on 14 March. Her body was found on Monday night in a canal 200km away in Lehragaga

Inspector Dhawan said an alleged 'murder conspiracy' resulted in the kidnap of Ms Kaur.

'The maximum punishment for this offence is the death penalty, that's on the prosecutor and the judge,' he said.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in India but has only been carried out five times since 1995. It is done by hanging by the neck until death.

Australia has a long-standing policy of not allowing people who are facing the death penalty to be extradited.

One of the people charged in relation to Ms Kaur's death has denied being involved.

Australian Federal Police officers are expected to travel to Punjab to meet with Indian authorities.

Police believe Ms Kaur, 29, was sedated, driven away and killed before her body was dumped

THE DISAPPEARANCE AND DEATH OF RAVNEET KAUR February 27, 2018 - Ravneet Kaur travelled to Punjab with her four-year-old daughter to visit family in Punjab, India. March 14 - Ms Kaur goes missing from the village of Bagge Ke Pipal on the Pakistan-India border. March 15 - A woman who was allegedly having an affair with Ms Kaur's husband returns to Australia from India. March 25 - Ms Kaur's body is found in a canal in Lehragaga, 200km away from where she was last seen. Advertisement

An Attorney-General's Department spokesman said they would not comment on the case.

'As a matter of longstanding practice the Australian Government does not comment publicly on extradition matters, including whether it has received an extradition request, until the person is arrested or brought before a court pursuant to a request,' the spokesman said.

Ms Kaur, 29, who was pregnant, arrived in India on February 27 to visit her friends and family with her four-year-old daughter.

The Indian-born woman was meant to return on March 22.

Ms Kaur had been employed at Tricare in the Gold Coast and was described as a devoted worker and mother and was reportedly expecting a son.

Police have alleged Mr Singh was wanting to move to Canada with his mistress, who is also an Australian citizen.

Mr Singh denied the allegations in an interview with SBS Punjabi.

'I don't know what the basis of all these allegations is,' he said.

'I can't say anything. I will have to go to India and find out what happened. I have no role in this whatsoever.'

Indian authorities have been working with the Australian High Commission in New Dehli, police said.
Two people died at the Grand Canyon in separate incidents this week that included one man stumbling over the edge while trying to take pictures, officials said.

A helicopter lifted the body of the Hong Kong man from 1,000 feet below the rim Thursday afternoon at Grand Canyon West.

The spot is a popular tourist destination on the Hualapai reservation outside the boundaries of the national park, spokesman David Leibowitz said. His identity has not yet been released.

The fall happened early on Thursday when not many visitors were at Eagle Point, a remote site best known for the Skywalk, a horse-shoe shaped glass bridge, (pictured)

The fall happened early on Thursday when not many visitors were at Eagle Point, a remote site best known for the Skywalk, a horse-shoe shaped glass bridge that juts out from the canyon wall.

The rim has some ledges and outcroppings below but no barrier between tourists and the edge.

The man, who is in his fifties, was taking photos when he stumbled and fell, Leibowitz said. Signs at Eagle Point warn tourists not to get too close to the edge.

The area is closed for the day, Leibowitz said. He extended the tribe's prayers to the man's family.

The Hualapai reservation includes a roughly 100-mile stretch of the Grand Canyon at its western edge.

Grand Canyon West is owned and operated by the Hualapai Tribe, according to its website.

'The thoughts and prayers of every Grand Canyon West employee remain with the loved ones of this individual and the members of the tour group,' the tourist destination said in a statement.

Authorities at Grand Canyon National Park were working to identify a person believed to be a foreign national who also died

A winter snowstorm develops over the canyon as viewed from the South Rim on February 5, 2019, in Grand Canyon National Park

Meanwhile, authorities at Grand Canyon National Park were working to identify a person believed to be a foreign national who also died.

A body was found Tuesday evening in a wooded area south of Grand Canyon Village away from the rim, the park said.

The person's relatives haven't been notified, and the cause of death is unclear, park spokeswoman Vanessa Ceja-Cervantes said. The National Park Service and the local medical examiner's office are investigating.

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the U.S., drawing nearly 6.4 million visitors last year.

Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai reservation gets about 1 million visitors annually.

On average, the Grand Canyon sees two to three deaths each year from falls over the rim, park spokeswoman Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski told a website dedicated to the Grand Canyon.
A man has admitted killing his estranged wife by stabbing her to death in the street during the school run.

Ricardo Godinho, 41, repeatedly knifed Aliny Mendes, 39, as she was going to collect their children from school in Ewell, Surrey, around 3pm on February 8.

Godinho appeared at the Old Bailey today where he pleaded not guilty to murder.

But he told the court through a Portuguese interpreter: 'I am guilty of manslaughter.'

Ricardo Godinho, 41 (left), admitted to killing his estranged wife Aliny Mendes, 39 (right), as she was going to collect their children from in Ewell, in Surrey. Godinho appeared at the Old Bailey and told the court through a Portuguese interpreter: 'I am guilty of manslaughter'

He also denied a second charge of possessing a bladed article without good reason or lawful authority.

Ms Justice McGowan remanded him in custody ahead of his trial, which is expected to last two weeks, beginning June 17 at Guildford Crown Court.

Officers from Surrey Police later announced that the matter had been referred to the police watchdog, the Independent Office of Police Conduct.

An IOPC spokesperson said: 'We have begun our investigation into the death of Aliny Godinho following a referral from Surrey Police.'

'We also received a separate referral from the Metropolitan Police Service in relation to this matter. It would be inappropriate to discuss these further.'

Following the killing, members of Ms Mendes's Roman Catholic church visited the murder scene near London Road to pay their respects with floral tributes.

Father Gianom, a priest at St George's Church in Epsom, said: 'She was a person full of life. She had four children, three boys and a girl.

Witnesses at the time say a man jumped out of a black 4x4 and chased Ms Mendes before stabbing her near Meadow Primary School in Ewell

Armed police arrested a man on suspicion of murder two hours later as he sat in a van a mile from the scene

'Every morning she got up at 4am for the children. She made a lot of sacrifices for them.

Her sister, who did not wish to be named, said: 'My sister was lovely, always thinking about everyone but mostly her children. She had a wonderful heart and there was no one else like her.

'She tried to help everyone where she could. She loved to cook and would organise surprise parties for friends and family giving cakes and presents she was loved by everyone. Everything she did was for the love for her children.'

A Meadow Primary School spokesman said: 'Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of Aliny Mendes. We will be working closely with the family to offer as much support as we can at this terrible time.

Members of Ms Mendes's Roman Catholic church visited the murder scene near London Road to pay their respects with floral tributes. Her sister also paid tribute saying: 'She had a wonderful heart and there was no one else like he'

A Meadow Primary School spokesman said: 'Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of Aliny Mendes. We will be working closely with the family to offer as much support as we can at this terrible time'

'We believe our community can be best supported by the school opening as usual tomorrow and we will ensure any pupils affected are given additional support to help them through this difficult time.'

An online fundraiser to repatriate Ms Mendes's body to Brazil topped its 40,000 target after more than 2,000 people donated.

Vanessa Ferro, who started the fundraiser, described Ms Mendes as a 'dear friend, colleague and mother of four adored children'.

'Her friends, church community, colleagues and her family in Brazil and other parts of the world are in total shock at the loss of this wonderful person,' she said on the fundraising page.
Francis issues three texts for the Vatican State extended to the Curia to "further strengthen the institutional and regulatory framework to prevent and combat abuses against children and vulnerable people".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis has created a new law for the Vatican State extended to the Curia to "further strengthen the institutional and regulatory framework to prevent and combat abuses against children and vulnerable people".

There are three documents that establish principles and rules for the protection of minors and those who are assimilated to them due to physical or mental limitations. It starts from the affirmation of the Church's duty "to generously welcome minors and vulnerable people and to create a safe environment for them, having their interests as a matter of priority " to establish criminal principles against those who commit abuses, rules for defense and protection of the victims and also for the hiring of personnel and the behavior of pastoral workers who deal with minors.

Thus, in order to "prevent all forms of physical or mental violence or abuse, neglect, violence or exploitation", the Pope asks that "everyone should be aware of the duty to report abuses to the competent authorities and to cooperate with them in prevention and enforcement activities . A duty that is "an obligation", to be fulfilled "without delay" for Vatican public officials.

Abuses are also prosecuted ex officio, that is without a complaint being necessary, and the prescription "is twenty years and starts, in case of offense to a minor, from the age of eighteen." There are also guidelines for behavior for pastoral workers.

With regard to the victims, the new legislation establishes that victims and their families be offered "appropriate pastoral care, as well as adequate spiritual, medical, psychological and legal support". In this context there is the "accompanying service" which, in addition to offering a listening point, guarantees medical and social assistance to the victims and their families.

In the logic of prevention there will be "training programs for the staff of the Governorate about the risks in terms of exploitation, sexual abuse and child abuse, as well as the means to identify and prevent these offenses and the obligation to report" organized by the Labor Office of the Apostolic See in conjunction with the Accompanying Service, and also the fact that in the selection and recruitment of the Governorate's staff, as well as of those who collaborate voluntarily, the suitability of the candidate for interact with minors .

All the principles concerning pastoral activities involving minors are also wide-ranging. Their protection "must be a priority". Therefore, in the course of their activities, pastoral workers must "use prudence and respect in relating to children", "provide them with positive reference models", "always be visible to others when they are in the presence of children", "report any potentially dangerous behavior to the responsible authority ".

They must also "respect the sphere of privacy of the child" and "inform the parents or guardians of the activities that are proposed and the related organizational methods". Pastoral workers are also required to "use due prudence in communicating with minors, including by telephone and on social networks".

It is also strictly forbidden for pastoral workers to "inflict corporal punishment of any kind", "to establish a preferential relationship with a single child", "to leave a child in a potentially dangerous situation for his mental or physical safety". It is also forbidden to "contact a minor in an offensive manner or to engage in inappropriate or sexually suggestive behavior" and "discriminate against a minor or a group of children".

Pastoral workers are then forbidden to "ask a child to keep a secret", ask a child to keep a secret and "give gifts to a child discriminating against the rest of the group".

Finally, it is forbidden to "photograph or film a child without the written consent of his parents or guardians" and "publish or disseminate, even via the web or social network, images that portray a child in a recognizable way without the consent of parents or guardians".
New tests have revealed that there is no DNA evidence that places Adnan Syed at the murder scene of Hae Min Lee.

Syed, whose case became famous thanks to the Serial podcast, was convicted of Lee's murder in 2000, a year after her body was found buried in a shallow grave in a Baltimore park.

Prosecutors with the Maryland State's Attorney's Office decided to test the fingernail, blood, bottle, condom wrapper and other evidence found at the crime scene last year, and a report obtained by DailyMail.com reveals that the only known match was Lee.

There was no trace of Syed or any male on the DNA evidence.

Syed remains behind bars however despite a growing number of holes in his conviction, with those same prosecutors who ran the test successfully fighting his latest attempt to appeal just this month.

In response to that, the Maryland State's Atttorney's Office said that this DNA testing does not exonerate Syed.

Development: Prosecutors with the Maryland State's Attorney's Office tested evidence found at the scene were detectives found the body of Hae Min Lee and none match Adnan Syed (above)

This is just the latest development in the case that has left some hopeful that Syed could walk free.

His first break came in 2015 when the Maryland Court of Special Appeals issued an order emanding to a lower court so the testimony of a witness who was never interviewed can be added to the record.

That witness, Asia McClain, said in an affidavit that she was in a library with Syed at the time he is said to have killed his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.

Syed had asked the appeals court for a new trial, arguing his attorney failed to adequately represent him.

The 37-year-old was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2000 for Lee's murder.

In 2014, Serial reopened the case in weekly installments, drawing in millions of listeners as host Sarah Koenig used the podcast to investigate the case and raised questions about Syed's defense attorney, the late Cristina Gutierrez.

Syed's attorney, Justin Brown, asked for a new trial based on the fact that Gutierrez never called McClain as a witness and did not seek a plea deal for Syed despite his request that she inquire about the possibility.

Additionally, in her affidavit, McClain said she was actively discouraged by prosecutors from attending any post-conviction hearings.

The appeals court's order did not guarantee McClain would be allowed to testify, but rather stated that Syed would eb able to file a request with the Baltimore Circuit Court to reopen proceedings to 'supplement the record with relevant documents and even testimony' that the appeals court will later review as it makes a determination about whether Syed deserves a new trial.

McClain's attorney, Gary Proctor, said at the time that 'if subpoenaed by either party, Ms. McClain, as she's always wanted to do, will fulfill her obligation to testify truthfully to any question asked of her.'

Syed was just 17-years-old at the time of Lee's death. Her body was not found until three weeks after her disappearance.

His first trial ended in a mistrial after Gutierrez accused the judge of calling her a liar in front of the jury.

He was convicted of her murder in his second trial, though has firmly maintained his innocence in the years since he was sentenced.

In June of 2016, Syed had his conviction vacated by a judge based on the evidence uncovered by the Serial team.

Two months later, the state of Maryland appealed that ruling.

Then, in Marc 2018, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals sided with the judge who ruled that Syed should get a new hearing.

And in Novemberm, the Maryland Court of Appeals finally heard arguments in the case.

Those hopes all came crashing down for Syed however earlier this month when the Maryland Court of Appeals declared that there was not sufficient evidence to show that the defense lawyer representing the defendant 'did not prejudice the case' in a 4 - 3 ruling.

In that decision the judgess did write: 'We agree with the conclusion of the Court of Special Appeals that Mr. Syed's trial counsel's performance was deficient under the Strickland v. Washington standard in failing to investigate the alibi witness. We disagree, however, with that court's conclusion that Mr. Syed was prejudiced by his trial counsel's deficiency.'
An uncle and nephew who had been imprisoned for 42 years for a Florida murder were vindicated Thursday when prosecutors asked a judge to vacate their convictions, saying they no longer believed in the men's guilt.

Clifford Williams, 76, and Hubert 'Nathan' Myers, 61, wiped away tears after the judge said she was vacating their convictions for the 1976 fatal shooting of Jeanette Williams and the attempted murder of her girlfriend, Nina Marshall.

The women, who knew the defendants socially, were asleep in bed at the time of the shooting.

They are the first men cleared since the state attorney's office in Jacksonville started an initiative last year reviewing claims of wrongful conviction, the first effort of its kind in Florida.

When he got outside Myers kissed the ground outside as supporters praised God for the turnaround.

'Thank you lord Jesus Christ,' he said after standing up from his kneeling position.

Scroll down for video

Nathan Myers, left, embraces his uncle, Clifford Williams, during a news conference after their 1976 murder convictions were overturned Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida

Myers kissed the ground they could now walk on after hearing he would be released

Kissing the ground. On @ActionNewsJax at 6:00 two men who were wrongfully convicted are free. They spent 42 years in prison for crimes they didnt commit. pic.twitter.com/Q5WUvBrDAy  Bridgette Matter (@Bmatternews) March 28, 2019

But he admitted to News 4 Jax that he was apprehensive.

'I'm nervous, you know, because I feel like I'm still locked up, he confessed. 'Once I get with my family and you can look back and not have any officers telling me what to do and how to do it, then reality hit me, I think I'll be alright.'

Their first trial, two months after their arrest, ended in mistrial and Myers was offered a five-year sentence in exchange for testifying against his uncle but he turned down the deal.

The men were convicted at a second trial during which prosecutors contended a $50 drug debt was the motive. The jury recommended a life sentence for Williams but he was sentenced to death by a judge. An appeal four years later overturned that to life behind bars.

Williams never got the chance to reconnect with the family member who perhaps was most important.

'Well, my mother died while I was on death row, and I just wanted to get out and be with my kids,' he said. 'There was nobody but them.'

Williams was 34 when he was convicted.

State Attorney Melissa Nelson said: 'When we have an opportunity to correct errors, we should do so.'

Nathan Myers, left, hugs his uncle Frank Williams. The order to vacate the convictions originated from the first ever conviction integrity review unit set up by State Attorney Melissa Nelson

The Innocence Project and the State Attorney's Office Conviction Integrity Unit, created two years ago in the 4th Judicial Circuit, re-examined the case in 2018, a year after Myers wrote them a letter.

Ten months later the State Attorney's Office said the convictions must not stand.

Myers, who was only 18 when convicted, also said at a news conference after the hearing that the first thing he wanted to do is re-establish ties with his family since 'everything else is second.'

He thanked Nelson and Shelley Thibodeau, the lead attorney who re-examined the case.

'Everyone else had plugs in their ears and wouldn't listen,' said Myers, who recounted how he reached out to Thibodeau's office after reading about the wrongful-conviction initiative in a newspaper. 'I tried and tried and tried.'

Jeanette Williams was killed in her apartment and her girlfriend Nina Marshall was shot in bed with her but she survived and died in 2001

The men were convicted at a second trial during which prosecutors contended a $50 drug debt was the motive. The jury recommended a life sentence for Williams (right) but he was sentenced to death by a judge. An appeal four years later overturned that to life behind bars

Evidence showed that the victims were shot from outside a window not by men standing at the bottom of the bed as surviving victim Marshall had claimed

Jeanette Williams died instantly but Marshall was able to flag down a car that drove her to a hospital. She identified Williams and Myers as the shooters.

The men claimed they had been at a birthday party a block from the shooting, and other party-goers backed up their alibi.

Defense attorneys presented no witnesses and entered no evidence but instead attacked Marshall's credibility as a witness.

No physical evidence linked the shootings to the men and the case relied solely on the testimony of Marshall, who said the men had fired their shots from the foot of her bed.

'In fact, the physical and scientific evidence actually contradicts her testimony about what happened,' according to a report from the state attorney's office outlining the reasons for vacating the convictions.

While in prison Myers (left) read a report said another man who died in 1994 had claimed responsibility and Myers answered questions truthfully during a polygraph test

Marshall identified Williams and Myers as the shooters but no physical evidence linked the shootings to the men and the case relied on the testimony of Marshall

Clifford Williams, foreground left, and his nephew, Nathan Myers, talk to the media after their 1976 murder convictions were overturned

Broken glass along with bullet holes in a curtain and an aluminum screen showed the shots came from outside a bedroom window, the report said. Forensics evidence also showed only one gun was fired.

Marshall died in 2001 and investigators re-examining the case were unable to question her.

The report said another man, Nathaniel Lawson, who died in 1994 had claimed responsibility for the slaying to his friends. He reportedly wanted to send the men's family money but said he couldn't turn himself in. He was never investigated.

It also said Myers answered questions truthfully during a polygraph test taken as part of the review of innocence.

'The culmination of all the evidence, most of which the jury never heard or saw, leaves no abiding confidence in the convictions or the guilt of the defendants,' the report said.

Wrongfully convicted people are required to receive anywhere from $50,000 to $2million in compensation in Florida.

Shelby Thibodeau, conviction integrity review director, right, speaks with Clifford Williams, left, and his nephew, Nathan Myers, before a hearing to overturn their 1976 murder convictions
A snap general election would leave the Commons ever more divided as both the Tories and Labour face losing a handful of seats, polling expert Sir John Curtice forecast today.

Sir John - who is in charge of the main exit polls at general elections - will spell out the details in a speech to the UK in a Changing Europe thinktank later.

But a preview of the findings suggests the Tories would finish on 307 seats - down from 317 last time - with Labour on 256, down from the 262 it won in 2017.

Such results would leave the Conservative Party far short of a majority, which needs at least 320 seats. Even a renewed alliance with the DUP would not be enough.

Labour would also find it almost impossible to form a coalition government. A rainbow deal taking in Lib Dem and SNP MPs, plus all others, would technically be enough to install Mr Corbyn in No 10 but in a deeply fragile way.

A snap general election would leave the Commons ever more divided as both the Tories and Labour face losing a handful of seats, polling expert Sir John Curtice forecast today. The findings suggest the Tories would finish on 307 seats - down from 317 last time - with Labour on 256, down from the 262 it won in 2017

Sir John - who is in charge of the main exit polls at general elections (he is pictured delivering the 2017 edition) - will spell out the details in a speech to the UK in a Changing Europe thinktank

Ahead of today's vote, government sources warned a new election may be the only way to break the Brexit impasse if MPs continue to reject the divorce deal.

Theresa May's hopes were crushed in the third vote at 2.30pm as she lost 366 to 284 despite a series of high profile switches of support from Tory rebels - including from Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, both of whom quit the Government over the deal.

A clutch of Leave-backing Conservatives including former Cabinet ministers Owen Paterson and Sir John Redwood and European Research Group vice-chairman Steve Baker made clear they will continue to oppose the agreement reached with the remaining 27 EU states in November.

And DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said the Northern Irish party's 10 MPs will vote against the agreement because it 'betrays the wishes of the vast majority of people who voted to leave'.

Polls since the 2017 election have seen the two main parties mostly neck and neck. The Tories have held a narrow lead in recent months

Mr Wilson told MPs that passing the deal would make it 'impossible to find a way of securing the kind of assurances required to make sure the United Kingdom is not broken up.'

With Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also ordering his party to vote against, Mrs May needed substantial numbers of Labour rebels to get her deal over the line. She got only five.

In an apparent bid to woo wavering Labour MPs, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told the Commons that the Government would have backed an amendment from the party's Gareth Snell.

The Stoke Central MP's amendment, giving Parliament the right to set the negotiating mandate for talks on future relations with the EU, was not selected for debate by Speaker John Bercow.
The conviction of a Swedish woman who blocked the deportation of an asylum-seeker by refusing to sit down on an airplane has been overturned, after it emerged a judge sitting on her trial had previously called her a 'criminal'.

The Court of Appeal for Western Sweden ordered a retrial in the case of Elin Ersson, who was found guilty of breaking aviation law and fined 3,000 kronor (250) in February.

Ersson had defied an airline crew's orders by refusing to sit down on a flight from Gothenburg to Turkey in July 2018, with the intention of preventing the deportation of a 52-year-old Afghan man onboard the plane.

However one of the lay judges, who play a role similar to that of a jury, had described Ersson as a 'criminal' on Facebook when commenting on a news article months before her trial.

Ersson, pictured during her trial in the district court in Gothenburg, Sweden, has been granted a retrial after it emerged a lay judge in her case had referred to her as a 'criminal' in the months before the trial

Elin Ersson, 21, staged a protest on an airplane as it was about to leave Sweden for Turkey, refusing to sit down until a 52-year-old Afghan man due to be deported was allowed off

'This statement must be considered as damaging the trust in the lay judge's impartiality in the case,' the court of appeal said in a statement.

The district court that fined Ersson was unanimous in its opinion - with the exception of the lay judge in question, who had pressed for a harsher punishment.

The judge, a member of the anti-immigration and right-wing populist Sweden Democrat party, reportedly favoured a 14-day jail sentence for the 21-year-old activist.

After his comment came to light, the lay judge was removed from his role, according to The Local.

Ersson's lawyer Tomas Fridh told the TT newswire that it is important for the court of appeal to maintain high standards of fairness.

'The court of appeal's decision isn't surprising,' he said.

'After the statement the lay judge made on social media, there was no possibility for him to be seen as impartial.'

However the role of lay judges in Sweden is somewhat controversial. They are appointed by political parties, causing critics to question how neutral they can be, particularly in highly-charged cases that draw a large public interest.

In district courts, three lay judges - who are not legally qualified - sit alongside the professional judge in an assisting role.

Ersson, 21, purchased a ticket for the Turkish Airways flight from Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg to Istanbul last summer as a protest, after learning that it would be carrying a failed 21-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan.

The 21-year-old said that finding out that the 52-year-old was a convicted criminal did not change her opinion about stopping his deportation as she claims being sent to Afghanistan amounts to a 'death sentence'

However, upon arrival at Landvetter Airport, she was told he had already been sent out of the country on another flight.

When she heard that 52-year-old Bismallah S. was due to be deported on an upcoming flight, she bought a ticket.

However it later emerged that the man, 52-year-old Bismallah S., had served time for assault after attacking his wife and two teenage daughters in their home in Sweden.

Swedish police denied that his asylum rejection was linked to his crimes.

Ersson's livestreamed video recording of her protest, which sees her argue with disgruntled passengers and staff ordering her to take her seat, went viral and generated millions of views worldwide.

At one point in the video, a disgruntled fellow passenger tries to seize her phone, but she asks him: 'What is more important, a life, or your time?'

'All I want to do is stop the deportation and then I will comply with the rules here. This is all perfectly legal and I have not committed a crime.'

Swedish activist Elin Ersson during her trial in the district court in Gothenburg, Sweden, on February 4 2019. She was originally found guilty and fined but has now been granted a new trial

However, prosecutors disagreed, and indicted her for breaking aviation laws in October last year.

Her disruption of the flight severely delayed take-off and eventually saw her, Bismallah S. and his assigned security removed from the flight.

Ersson said afterwards that she had not been aware that the 52-year-old was a convicted criminal, however said she still felt her protest was justified, as going to Afghanistan amounted to a 'death sentence'.

Bismallah S. was deported to Afghanistan a few weeks later.

Ersson's lawyer has always maintained that his client is innocent, saying the aviation act only applies to actions taken whilst the plane is in the air.

'During the entire action she was prepared to follow the orders of the captain on board, and she left the plane as soon as the pilot decided that she should do so,' the lawyer, Thomas Fridh, said at the time of indictment in October.
Empire's ratings dropped to an all time low on Wednesday night as fans boycotted the show in outrage over the Jussie Smollett outcome.

On Wednesday, 3.97million viewers tuned in to watch the 20th Century Fox show, the lowest in its history.

The show returned to TV after a mid-season hiatus on March 13 but the scandal has done nothing to boost its ratings.

After Smollett had the charges dropped on Wednesday, furious fans fumed on Twitter that they were boycotting the show unless it kicked him out.

Jussie Smollett is shown in Wednesday night's episode of Empire which attracted the smallest audience in the show's history

Fans have called for a boycott of the show in light of the charges against him being dropped

Soon after Smollett's charges were dropped on Tuesday morning, Fox issued a statement to say it was 'gratified' by the outcome but it has said nothing since.

Meanwhile, the very prosecutors who dropped the case have spoken out to say they believe Smollett is guilty and the city's mayor has billed him for $130,000 - the amount that was spent on police overtime investigating the January 29 attack.

The president has decried it as an 'outrageous' 'embarrassment' and the State's Attorney's Office behind the decision is facing a federal probe.

Politicians in Illinois have also proposed cutting Empire's 30 percent tax credit if they keep Smollett in the cast.

Rep. Michael McAuliffe announced the bill on Tuesday that he said would apply to any production which hires Smollett in Illinois.

An Illinois lawmaker has proposed cutting Empire's tax credits if it keeps Jussie Smollett on its pay roll in a move that will likely enrage the 20th Century Fox production

Fox has not given a comment since this one which it released on Tuesday before the city of Chicago turned on Smollett

He, like the mayor of Chicago and local cops, is outraged by prosecutors' decision to drop the charges against Smollett and believes he should be held accountable for allegedly staging a hoax attack on himself on January 29.

'Where the City of Chicago is concerned, Jussie Smollett is far from exonerated.

'While the States Attorney has chosen not to pursue justice in this case, we need to send a message that Smolletts actions are not a reflection of the values we have in Chicago and wont be tolerated.

Republican Rep. Michael McAuliffe said Smollett should not be able to benefit from the 'generous and robust' 30 percent incentive anymore

A spokesman for 20th Century Fox did not respond to DailyMail.com's inquiries on Thursday or Friday.

When Smollett was arrested on February 21, the network said it had excluded him from filming the final two episodes of the show.

He had already filmed several which are currently being aired.

The show wrapped last month and it has not yet been renewed or canceled.

On Tuesday morning, the writers tweeted smugly about Smollett's outcome.

He maintains that he is innocent and said in a press conference at the courthouse after the hearing: 'I would not be my mothers son if I was capable of one drop of what Ive been accused.

'I would not bring my family, our lives or the movement through a fire like this. I just wouldnt.'

But his lawyers have asked for the case to be sealed. A judge granted their motion and now it has been stricken from record, meaning none of the evidence police say they gathered against him will ever become public.

Local media outlets have lobbied the court to unseal the records as has Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Police Superintendent.
Theresa May blasted John Bercow for intervening to wreck her Brexit plans again as he blocked all amendments to her deal today.

One of the proposals the Speaker barred was tabled by Labour backbencher Gareth Snell and sought to guarantee Parliament a say on the trade talks phase of the negotiations.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said the Government would have accepted the amendment if it had come to a vote - meaning it could have brought some Labour MPs on board and helped Mrs May win today.

Before the vote on her Brexit deal this afternoon, Theresa May said it was unfortunate that the Speaker had not selected the Labour amendment because the government would have accepted it.

She said: 'Mr Speaker, if you had selected the amendment in the name of the honourable member for Stoke on Trent Central and others, the Government would have accepted it, and if this motion carries today we will bring forward a withdrawal agreement bill that will include commitments to implement that amendment and will discuss the specific drafting of that with those who supported the amendment.'

The Speaker has already come under fire for his alleged Remain sympathies, and was accused of sabotaging a third vote on May's deal before the EU summit last week by saying she had to change the deal before it could be brought back to the commons.

In the hope of salvaging her concessions, Mrs May promised MPs she would make sure laws implementing the deal still reflect the plan in the event she pulls off an unlikely victory.

John Bercow intervened to wreck Theresa May's Brexit plans again today as he blocked all amendments to her deal today.

Mrs May told the Commons: 'Mr Speaker I think it should be a matter of profound regret to every member of this house that once again we have been unable to support leaving the European Union in an orderly fashion.

'The implications of the house's decision are grave. The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on the 12th of April - in just 14 days' time.

'That is not enough time to agree legislate for and ratify a deal, and yet the house has been clear it will not permit leaving without a deal. And so we will have to agree an alternative way forward.

'The European Union has been clear that any further extension will need to have a clear purpose and will need to be agreed unanimously by the heads of the other 27 member states ahead of the 12th of April.

'It is almost certain to involve the United Kingdom being required to hold European Parliamentary elections.'

In the hope of salvaging her concessions, Mrs May promised MPs she would make sure laws implementing the deal still reflect the plan in the event she pulls off an unlikely victory

The Prime Minister continued, adding: 'Mr Speaker I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this house.'

One heckler interrupted, shouting: 'You are!'

Mrs May continued: 'This house has rejected No Deal, it has rejected No Brexit, on Wednesday it rejected all the variations of the deal on the table and today it has rejected approving the withdrawal agreement alone and continuing of process on the future.

'This government will continue to press the case for the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demands.'

The latest intervention by the Speaker comes after he ruled out Mrs May bringing forward a third full-blown meaningful vote to approve her deal.

He has also been accused of bending procedural rules to help pro-Remain rebels.

As debate began today, Mr Bercow said: 'I inform the House I have not selected amendments.'

Under the proposal from Gareth Snell, the Prime Minister would not have been able to sign an agreement with the EU on the future relationship without approval from MPs

Mr Cox said the Government would have accepted Mr Snell's amendment.

Mr Snell asked if the measures would be included in legislation to ensure the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Mr Cox replied: 'We would have accepted his amendments.

'If it requires an amendment to that legislation, we'd obviously consider its detail carefully, but we'd be minded to accept such.'

Under the proposal, the Prime Minister would not have been able to sign an agreement with the EU on the future relationship without approval from MPs.
The Pentagon will be 'unapologetic' about using AI weaponry in the face of threats from China, a former top defense official has said.

Robert Work, who was Deputy Defense Secretary under Barack Obama, said the U.S. armed forces will 'have to grasp the inevitability' of artificial intelligence.

Beijing has developed a deadly unmanned drone bomber and a stealth combat drone in recent months, sparking fears of an AI arms race.

Work said Washington would use the weapons 'ethically' and predicted that AI could help to reduce civilian casualties, Nextgov reported.

Obama-era defense official Robert Work (pictured) said the Pentagon would be 'unapologetic' about pursuing AI in its military technology

'The Department of Defense is absolutely unapologetic about pursuing this new generation of AI-enabled weapons,' he said.

'I would argue the U.S. military is the most ethical military force in the history of warfare, and we think the shift to AI-enabled weapons will continue this trend.'

He was speaking at a military forum in Washington, where the head of the Pentagon's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center added that there were 'grave misperceptions' about the DoD's use of the technology.

Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan said humans would always 'stay in the loop' when AI was used on the battlefield.

The Pentagon released an Artificial Intelligence Strategy last month, promising to 'incorporate AI into decision making and operations to reduce risk to fielded forces and generate military advantage'.

Defense chiefs vowed to use the tech in a 'human-centered manner' and said any designs would have to 'allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force'.

'AI will be used to protect the safety and security of U.S. citizens and to enable a stronger defense of U.S. critical infrastructure,' the document said.

China shows off its latest military drone Wing Loong I-D at last November's International Aviation and Aerospace exhibition on November 15

'Specifically, AI can enhance our ability to predict, identify, and respond to cyber and physical threats from a range of sources.'

These included 'attempts to disrupt U.S. infrastructure such as financial networks, electric grids, election processes, and medical systems,' officials said.

Last month a Washington-based think tank warned that China's development of military drones could lead to an AI arms race and an accidental war.

The Center for a New American Security warned that drone warfare would 'lower the threshold of military action' because fewer humans were at risk.

In December China showed off its latest drone bomber, releasing footage of the unmanned aircraft completing its first flight.

Wing Loong I-D, a type of combat and spy drone, can carry more than 10 different types of weapons and fly up to 35 hours without refuelling.

The drone is equipped with laser-guided missiles which can destroy tanks as think as 55 inches (1.4m) from as far away as 23,000 feet (7,000m).

Meanwhile the Blowfish A2, a helicopter drone, can have weapons including an AK-47 or a machine gun installed to increase its firepower.
A former international athlete, brain dead since December, has given birth to a baby boy in Portugal.

Catarina Sequeira, 26, a canoeist, gave birth to a baby boy called Salvador before her death after being brain dead for 56 days at the Hospital of St. John of Porto.

It had been the doctors' aim that she would reach 32 weeks, which would have been on Friday, but her condition deteriorated and the Cesarean section was brought forward to Thursday.

Catarina Sequeira, 26, gave birth to a baby boy called Salvador on Thursday, he weighed just 3.75lbs

Her funeral was to be held on Friday at 2.30pm.

The former athlete was put into an induced coma after she suffered an acute asthma attack at her home and was declared brain dead on December 26.

She was 19 weeks pregnant when she went into the coma and for 56 days a ventilator kept her breathing so that Salvador could survive, the BBC reported.

It was Portugal's presumed consent laws which kept the baby alive, as well as the wishes of Miss Sequeira's family.

The hospital's ethics adviser, Felipe Almeida, told the Observador: 'Being a donor is not just about being in a position to donate a liver or heart or lung, but also being in a position to give yourself so a child can live.'

Miss Sequeira's mother, Fatima Branco, said: 'I have a bitter joy. I do not want to meet my grandson with this bitterness.'

The Hospital of St. John of Porto in Portugal where the baby will be kept for at least three weeks until it is strong enough to go home with his grandparents

She described how she could not fill the void of her daughter's loss with her grandson, but would have to grieve and 'close the chapter' of her daughter's life first.

The infant was born weighing just 3.75lbs and will remain in the hospital for at least three weeks.

This is the second time in recent years a child has been born to a brain dead woman in Portugal, in 2016 a child called Lourenco was born in Lisbon after surviving 15 weeks in his dead mother's womb.
President Trump shouldn't get too comfortable, even though the special counsel and the Justice Department found no evidence of alleged crimes.

Most adults in America, 56 percent, have lingering questions. Just 36 percent believe that Trump is innocent.

Two polls taken since the conclusion of the probe, this one from Marist with NPR and PBS, found that Trump has not been cleared in the court of opinion.

The American public wants to see Mueller's report  75 percent of voters from across the spectrum say it should be released.

That includes a majority of Republicans, 54 percent, and almost every self-identified Democrat, 90 percent, who spoke to Marist.

President Trump shouldn't get too comfortable, even though the special counsel and the Justice Department found no evidence of alleged crimes

Most prospective voters, 56 percent, have lingering questions, according to a Marist poll. Just 36 percent believe that Trump is innocent

Marist's findings track with a Morning Consult/Politico poll released earlier in the week. Only 39 percent of registered voters told the publications' pollsters they believe the president's denials.

Both polls put Trump's approval rating at 42 percent, which is only slightly higher than and in he margin of error from January, when Marist said he had the support of 39 percent of Americans.

Mueller's approval ratings did shoot up, however, especially among Republicans. He's enjoyed a 48-point bounce over the last three months within the GOP, which has helped his overall rating to jump 17 points this year.

Even the president now admits that Mueller, a former FBI director with a sterling record, acted honorably in the case. He mocked Democrats on Thursday evening rally for hailing Mueller as a 'God' until he said 'no collusion' and let Trump off.

Democrats in Congress at least are not questioning Mueller's integrity - but some had questioned whether he wrote the report under duress.

Committee heads want Attorney General William Barr, a Trump appointee, to testify on the contents of the unreleased special counsel report that officials say is more than 300 page in length. Some Democratic legislators want Mueller to take the stand, too, to explain a controversial decision to punt on obstruction of justice.

Mueller left it to Barr and Deputy Rod Rosenstein to draw their own conclusions. Based on the evidence Mueller presented them, Barr said they had no reason to believe that Trump acted with criminal intent

The presumption of guilt for Trump from voters doesn't mean that voters want Democrats in Congress to pick up where Mueller left off and continue to investigate the Republican leader who has had Russia probes hanging over his head since he took office.

Democrats' plans to investigate had the support of 48 percent of the electorate, while 46 percent said they should not hold additional hearings.

Critics of the president seem content with voting him out of office, with 54 percent of Americans polled saying they will not vote to reelect him.
Mexico is bracing for the possible arrival of the 'mother of all caravans,' even as doubts arise over whether the group of Central American migrants will be all that big.

Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero has said a caravan of migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala could be forming.

'We have information that a new caravan is forming in Honduras, that they're calling 'the mother of all caravans,' and they are thinking it could have more than 20,000 people,' Sanchez Cordero said Wednesday.

But a WhatsApp group calling for people to gather Saturday in El Salvador to set off for Guatemala only has about 206 members.

A caravan of about 2,500 Central Americans and Cubans is currently making its way through Mexico's southern state of Chiapas on Thursday. Officials say Mexico is preparing for the arrival of another possible caravan gathering on Saturday

Mexico Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero has said a new developing caravan of Honduran migrants may have more than 20,000 people

A migrant mother and child, part of a caravan hoping to reach the U.S. border, move on a road in Tapachula, Chiapas State, Mexico, on Thursday

Activist Irineo Mujica, who has accompanied several caravans in Mexico, said reports about 'the mother of all caravans' were false, claiming 'this is information that (U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen) Nielsen is using to create fear.'

His group, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said in a statement there was no evidence the new caravan would be that large, noting 'there has never been a caravan of the size that Sanchez Cordero mentioned.' Indeed, past caravans hit very serious logistical hurdles at 7,000-strong.

She and others suspect the administration of President Donald Trump may be trying to fan fears of a big caravan to turn the U.S. national agenda back to the immigration issue.

Honduran activist Bartolo Fuentes, who accompanied a large caravan last year, dismissed the new reports as 'part of the U.S. government's plans, something made up to justify their actions.'

Central American migrants, part of the caravan hoping to reach the U.S. border, move on a road in Tapachula, Chiapas State, Mexico, Thursday

Later Thursday, Honduras' deputy foreign minister, Nelly Jerez, denied that a 'mother of all caravans' was forming in her country.

'There is no indication of such a caravan,' Jerez said. 'This type of information promotes that people leave the country.'

A caravan of about 2,500 Central Americans and Cubans is currently making its way through Mexico's southern state of Chiapas. The largest of last year's caravans in Mexico contained about 7,000 people at its peak, though some estimates ran as high as 10,000 at some points.

Mexico appears to be both tiring of the caravans and eager not to anger the United States.

It has stopped granting migrants humanitarian visas at the border, and towns along the well-traveled route to Mexico City sometimes no longer allow caravans to spend the night.

Central American migrants, part of the caravan hoping to reach the U.S. border, take a break in Acacoyagua, Chiapas State, Mexico,on Thursday

Central American migrants, part of the caravan hoping to reach the U.S. border, take a break on some stadium seats in Acacoyagua, Chiapas State, Mexico, Thursday. Mexican towns along the well-traveled route to Mexico City sometimes no longer allow caravans to spend the night

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday that Mexico is doing its part to fight immigrant smuggling.

'We are going to do everything we can to help. We don't in any way want a confrontation with the U.S. government,' he said. 'It is legitimate that they are displeased and they voice these concerns.'

Sanchez Cordero has pledged to form a police line of 'containment' around Mexico's narrow Tehuantepec Isthmus to stop migrants from continuing north to the U.S. border.

The containment belt would consist of federal police and immigration agents, but such highway blockades and checkpoints have not stopped large and determined groups of migrants in the past.
Eman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef and Roqaya al-Mohareb were able to leave their cell. In these months of imprisonment they have suffered violence and abuse. Another eight women should be released by March 31st. For their campaigns they risk up to five years in prison. The sentence expected for early April.

Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Riyadh has provisionally released - until the conclusion of the trial - three activists, who have been in prison for about a year for "contacts" with "foreign parties" and for promoting pro-human rights campaigns. According to reports from the Alqst group, Eman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef and Roqaya al-Mohareb were able to leave their cells and return home.

Furthermore, two different sources interviewed by Reuters add that the other eight activists still in prison should be released - also conditionally until the end of the proceedings - by next March 31st.

The group of 11 women must answer for crimes related to cybercrime, activism and for having "betrayed" the values of the ultra-conservative Wahhabi kingdom. They risk up to five years in prison. In reality they have fought for the end of male guardianship and for the womens right to drive.

Hum Rights bodes and NGOs welcome Riyadhs decision to release the activists subjected in prison to torture and violence, including sexual abuse. The release, they add, must not however be temporary, but definitive and all the accusations against them dropped.

On 8 March last 36 nations at the UN Human Rights Council criticized Riyadh for human rights violations, with a particular reference to incarcerated women. An absolute first which shows a growing pressure towards the facade "reforms" promoted by the 33 year old crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the context of the Vision 2030 program. war in Yemen with civilian victims, including children, and the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi are a cause for concern.

The liberation of activists is only temporary measure and does not mean that the trial has been closed. The sentence should arrive in one of the next hearings, scheduled for early April. However, analysts and experts consider it positive that they could return home. A sign that international pressure on Riyadh, already targeted by the Khashoggi affair, seems to work.
Traffic was brought to a standstill as police confronted an armed motorist suspected of robbing a nearby Walmart.

More than a dozen police cars filled four lanes of the freeway near Atlanta.

Marietta police said in a brief statement that a driver stopped on the Interstate 75 around 9.30am was armed and not cooperating with police Friday morning.

In an image from the moment they captured the suspect around 11am, he is being carried by cops who grip his arms and legs.

Scroll down for video

Marietta Police detained a suspect on the Interstate 75 (pictured left with officers carrying him) in the armed robbery of a Walmart store in Georgia Friday

Marietta Police block southbound lanes near Marietta, Georgia with an armored vehicle

The incident was due to an armed motorist stopped on the freeway just northwest of Atlanta

Cobb County Police said he was a suspect in the armed robbery of a store at 210 Cobb Parkway.

'The vehicle and driver match the description of a suspect who committed an armed robbery in the city,' Officer Chuck McPhilamy said. 'Within a short period of time Marietta Officers located the suspect vehicle and attempted to conduct a traffic stop.'

Police described the motorist as a 'non-compliant driver'.

He didn't initially stop but when he did pull over said he wasn't getting out of the car because he was afraid he'd be shot.

Officer McPhilamy said the suspect was initially speaking with negotiators via a cell phone, but then he stopped talking to law enforcement officers.

'Negotiators are speaking with the driver and are attempting to work toward a peaceful resolution to this situation,' he added.

Cops appear with guns drawn in this image made from video provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation, 30 minutes before the stand-off ended

Law enforcement officers were picture with their weapons as they stopped traffic in the road that was closed for three hours

Channel 2 Action News' Mark Arum said earlier: 'We've been watching this for over an hour and I haven't seen the driver move at all. He's motionless.'

Meanwhile thousands of motorists were trying to ease by the potentially dangerous situation at very close proximity to the suspect.

He was eventually pulled from a gray sedan and taken to the ground.

No injuries were immediately reported.

Traffic was backed up for 10 miles around the standoff near I-285.

The motorist was described as a 'non-compliant driver' and eventually stopped talking with them via a cell phone. Meanwhile traffic was backed up for 10 miles

The southbound lanes of Interstate 75 were shut down at 285 just northwest of Atlanta and traffic was diverted to Windy Hill

Friday's standoff comes on a particularly busy day on Atlanta highways as people are traveling through the city on their way to spring break destinations.

The southbound lanes of I-75 were shut down at 285 just northwest of Atlanta and traffic was diverted to Windy Hill.

The situation was unfolding near SunTrust Park, the home of the Atlanta Braves, but no game was planned Friday.

Georgia State Patrol and the HERO unit assisted and the area was cleared 20 minutes after the standoff ended.

Three hours after it began, the freeway was finally open again but traffic was backed up to the North Marietta Parkway loop.
A retired drag queen fatally stabbed a man who allegedly insulted him with a gay slur during a dispute in Indiana.

Edward Miller, 75, is charged with a count of murder and a count of voluntary manslaughter following the stabbing of Carlos Johnson, 64, on Tuesday.

Officers followed a trail of blood from a hallway and found Miller, who was arrested.

Edward Miller, 75, (pictured), is charged with a count of murder and a count of voluntary manslaughter following the stabbing of Carlos Johnson, 64, on Tuesday

They then found Johnson on the sixth floor of an apartment building in the 100 block of West 11th Avenue in Gary, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Lake County.

The deceased was leaning on a wall in a hallway with someone applying pressure to a wound.

He had several cuts on his forearm, tricep, shoulder blade and neck, and was taken to Methodist Northlake Hospital in Gary where he died, local police said.

Miller was standing nearby and arrested, an affidavit seen by the the Chicago Sun Times states.

In an interview with detectives, Miller stated that he was drinking with Johnson and his nephew inside an apartment when he mentioned he was a retired drag queen, the affidavit states.

The incident happened at an apartment at the 100 block of West 11th Avenue in Gary, Indiana

The two men began to argue when Johnson used a gay slur and called him a 'whore,' the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

It said that Miller told police both of the men grabbed knives and Johnson was stabbed.

Miller stated that he grabbed a butcher knife and stabbed Johnson once in the arm after Johnson had lunged at him, the affidavit states.

Miller is currently being held at Lake County Jail, police said.
A West Virginia doctor says a hospital run by a Republican state lawmaker prevented her from performing a medically necessary abortion, falsified records and forced her out of her job because of her political views.

Lori Tucker, an OB-GYN, is suing Princeton Community Hospital and the city of Princeton in federal court, as reported by The Charleston Gazette-Mail.

In the lawsuit, she claims she was forced out and also alleges that hospital and city officials violated her rights to freedom of speech and due process during a peer review in 2017.

Doctor Lori Tucker (pictured above) is suing the city of Princeton and a local hospital,

Tucker says she resigned as chief of staff in 2016 after she was barred from performing an ethics committee-approved abortion

Tucker says she resigned as chief of staff in 2016 after she was barred from performing an ethics committee-approved abortion.

According to the lawsuit, on the day of the procedure, an unnamed hospital administrator ordered Tucker not to perform the procedure, leading to her resignation as she felt the hospital had interfered with patient care.

The congenitally deformed baby, who had a condition known as 'mermaid syndrome,' died shortly after birth, and complications then caused the mother to undergo multiple surgeries.

Tucker said officials with Princeton Community Hospital Association falsified records amid a peer review after they prevented her from performing a medically necessary abortion

The hospital's president is West Virginia Republican Delegate, OB-GYN Joe Ellington who is anti-abortion (pictured above)

Tucker was also a public advocate for using buprenorphine, also known as the brand names Suboxone and Subutex for opioid-addicted pregnant women but the hospital refused to adopt the medication, according to the lawsuit.

In March 2017, Tucker spoke about advocating for buprenorphine on a national television program.

On March 29, 2017, Tucker says she was told she was to stop performing hysterectomies and other surgical procedures pending a peer review of her work.

Tucker claims in her lawsuit that the hospital then provided misleading documentation about her work that were submitted for review. She claims the hospital included documents from other physicians and omitted certain documents from the medical cases.

She also claims that hospital administrators failed to inform her that she could appeal and have an attorney present.

Tucker had a public spat over her abortion views with Eric Porterfield (pictured above) who is now a Republic delegate in West Virginia

Porterfield filmed a video response to Tucker back in 2016 and provided a link on Twitter

Tucker said she notified the chief of staff at the hospital that she would resign as a physician there in July 2017.

The lawsuit goes on to state that on July 10, the hospital's medical ethics committee drafted a letter restricting Tucker's surgical privileges.

Princeton Community Hospital and Tucker's political connections to members of the West Virginia House of Delegates aren't stated in the lawsuit.

The hospital's president is West Virginia Republican Delegate, OB-GYN Joe Ellington who is anti-abortion. Ellington is also chairman of the House Health and Human Resources Committee.

A doctor with the last name 'Ellington' is mentioned in the lawsuit as telling Tucker she would not be carrying out scheduled C-sections in June 2017. The doctor's first name is not mentioned.

Tucker publicly advocated for using buprenorphine for opioid-addicted pregnant women but the hospital refused to adopt the medication, according to the lawsuit

On July 10 2017, the hospital's medical ethics committee drafted a letter restricting Tucker's surgical privileges

There's also been public sparing about abortion on social media between Tucker and a Republican delegate, Eric Porterfield, prior to Porterfield's election to the House in 2018.

Tucker posted a video about abortion rights and Tucker and Porterfield exchanged messages on Facebook. Porterfield told the Gazette-Mail last year that he would organize an economic boycott of her practice if she didnt change to an anti-abortion position.

Porterfield filmed a response video after Tucker shared publicly, what was according to Porterfield, private Facebook correspondence.

A tweet with a link to his video response remains on his Twitter feed.

Porterfield also provided records from Mercer County Magistrate Court to the Gazette-Mail showing that Tucker filed for a protective service order against Porterfield.

The order later was dismissed.

The hospital hasn't comment on the federal lawsuit.
President Donald Trump said Friday there is a 'good possibility' he will be closing the southern border with Mexico next week  the latest in a series of escalating threats on immigration.

Trump is demanding that Mexico must stop all illegal immigrants from entering the U.S. at the southern border or he says he will close 'large sections' of the border.

Far from expressing reservations about the potential trade and human impact, Trump indicated he is willing to accept whatever consequences occur.

'So there's a very good likelihood that I'll be closing the border next week and that will be just fine with me,' Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago Friday afternoon.

The president pounded on Mexico throughout the day, blaming the country for failing to stop migrant caravans from Central American neighbors.

'I will close the border if Mexico doesn't get with it. If Mexico doesn't stop it. They come in from Guatemala. They come in from El Salvador. They come in from Honduras. They come in from all over. And they come in from Mexico.'

'Mexico is going to have to do something, otherwise I'm closing the border. I'll just close the border. And with a deficit like we have with Mexico, and have had for many years, closing the border will be a profit-making operation,' Trump claimed.

He indicated he would close ports of entry, which would be certain to have an impact on commerce between the U.S. and its Number Three trading partner, though without dwelling on the ramifications.

Trump brandished the threat both online and while touring Lake Okeechobee in Florida  an excursion about 50 miles from his Mar-a-Lago club. 'They don't stop it, we're closing the border,' Trump told reporters.

'You step on our land: Welcome to the United States. It's ridiculous,' President fumed Friday in remarks about illegal immigration

'So there's a very good likelihood that I'll be closing the border next week and that will be just fine with me,' said Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club

'We'll keep it closed for a long time. I'm not playing games. Mexico has to stop it. They have people coming right through Mexico,' Trump said.

The president complained about illegal immigration generally, and even put forward the claim that he had ended U.S. government support to three Central American nations.

'You step on our land: Welcome to the United States. It's ridiculous,' Trump fumed, surrounded by lawmakers including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a child of Cuban immigrants.

'They set up these caravans. In many cases they put their worst people in the caravan. They're not going to put their best in. They get rid of their problems,' Trump said.

So there's a very good likelihood that I'll be closing the border next week and that will be just fine with me.  President Donald Trump

He said of Mexico: 'They started at one point, a little bit  stopping [illegal immigration]. They don't do anything to stop it right now.'

'I've ended payments to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. No money goes there anymore. We were giving them $500 million dollars. We were giving them tremendous aide,' Trump said.

More than $600 million in fund appropriated by Congress for the region have been held in 'limbo' Politico reported this week, awaiting approval from the White House budget office. The White House can withhold certain funds under budget laws, but the situation is not resolved.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said this week she didn't think there was a 'different policy' with respect to the aide when asked about it by DailyMail.com.

The president issued his demand while also calling on Congress to change the nation's 'weak' immigration laws 'NOW.'

President Donald Trump is threatening to close the border next week if Mexico doesn't immediately stop 'ALL illegal immigration' at the southern border

'If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States [through] our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING...the Border'  or large parts of it  next week, Trump threatened on Twitter Friday.

The president's demand for legislation came just a day after his Homeland Security Secretary sent a letter to Congress outlining the 'urgent situation' at the border and seeking legislative changes.

'We have run out of space. We can't hold people any more. And Mexico could stop it so easily,' Trump claimed.

He also had choice words for Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez.

'Really good guy. Met him. Had him at the White House,' Trump said. 'He said how he's going to stop drug. More drugs are coming out of Colombia right now than before he was president. So he has done nothing for us,' the president groused.

'Mexico has done nothing,' he added.

Mexico's foreign minister Marcelo C. Ebrard fired back on Twitter.

'Mexico does not act on the basis of threats. We're a great neighbor. Just ask the 1.5 million Americans who chose our country as their home, the largest American community outside the U.S. We're the best neighbor they could have too,' he wrote.

Trump first revealed his threat online.

'The DEMOCRATS have given us the weakest immigration laws anywhere in the World,' Trump complained in a trio of tweets Friday fired off from Florida.

'Mexico has the strongest, & they make more than $100 Billion a year on the U.S. Therefore, CONGRESS MUST CHANGE OUR WEAK IMMIGRATION LAWS NOW, & Mexico must stop illegals from entering the U.S...through their country and our Southern Border,' he wrote.

President Trump brandished his border threat in a trio of tweets

Trump also complained about trade, having already reached an agreement to make changes to NAFTA that was agreed to by Canada and Mexico but has not gone through the Senate.

'Mexico has for many years made a fortune off of the U.S., far greater than Border Costs. If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States [through] our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING...the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week,' Trump threatened, accidentally misspelling 'through.'

'This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and 'talk.' Besides, we lose so much money with them, especially when you add in drug trafficking etc.), that the Border closing would be a good thing!' Trump added.

Migrants awaiting processing are held in temporary fencing underneath the Paso Del Norte Bridge on March 28, 2019 in El Paso, Texas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has temporarily closed all highway checkpoints along the 268-mile stretch of border in the El Paso sector to try to stem a surge in illegal entry

EL PASO, TX - MARCH 28: Migrants awaiting processing are held in temporary fencing underneath the Paso Del Norte Bridge on March 28, 2019 in El Paso, Texas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has temporarily closed all highway checkpoints along the 268-mile stretch of border in the El Paso sector to try to stem a surge in illegal entry

A tent is pictured at an improvised shelter under the Santa Fe international bridge, which connects Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. March 16, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

A tent is pictured at an improvised shelter under the Santa Fe international bridge, which connects Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. March 16, 2019

Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security wrote Congress asking for changes to immigration laws

Trump talked up the need for health care and immigration action during a meeting with GOP senators this week, but no reports emerged of his imminent threat to close the border.

The president told lawmakers he believes the conclusion of the Mueller report gives him a fresh start.

Trump also fired up supporters in Michigan Thursday when speaking about immigration, while attacking Democrats.

'Democrats want to pretend there is no border crisis, for one simple reason: because they have caused the border crisis. And you know why else, honestly? Because they want votes, and because they don't want to give us a win. They don't want to give us a win,' Trump told a crowd in Grand Rapids.

'They put that ahead of what's good for our country. The mass illegal immigration across our border is a direct consequence of Democrat-supported loopholes. Democrat promises of amnesty, amnesty! You have people coming up, you know, they're all met by the lawyers. They come out, they're all met by the lawyers come and and they say, 'Say the following phrase: I'm very afraid for my life. I am afraid for my life!' Okay, and then I look at the guy, he looks like he just got out of the ring, he's the heavyweight champion of the world.'

He continued: 'It's a big, fat con job, folks. It's a big fat con job. And Democrat sanctuary cities and their refusal to protect American borders, it's not the money. When I fought for them recently, they gave me so much money for everything else, but nothing for the wall. Now think of it. Walls work, folks. We need the wall. They said, 'Would you call it slats?' I said, 'I'll call it slats.' 'Will you call it steel barriers?' I said, 'I will call it whatever the hell you want. Just give me the money.' Then they got cold feet.'

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has written Congress saying there is an urgent situation at the border seeking legal changes to allow for quicker deportations of unaccompanied children.

Nielsen wrote in her letter that U.S. facilities are approaching maximum capacity to hold and process immigrants.

Trump also spoke about immigration at his rally in Michigan Thursday night

'We are increasingly unable to uphold that responsibility,' she wrote the House and the Senate, calling the size of vulnerable populations 'unsustainable.'

'We are grappling with a humanitarian and security catastrophe that is worsening by the day, and the Department has run out of capacity,' she added, in a letter addressed to congressional leaders and the heads of key committees.

Nielsen said facilities operated by the Health and Human Services Department are 'still approaching its maximum capacity and will very likely require thousands of additional beds in the coming weeks and months.'

She described a 'system-wide meltdown,' with 1,200 unaccompanied children in Customs and Border Protection custody.

By law, the children must be transferred to HHS care, however those facilities are at 'peak capacity,' she wrote.

'The result is that hundreds of Central American children come into our custody each day, await transfer to (Health and Human Services) care, and, ultimately are placed with a sponsor in the United States,' she wrote
A 15-year-old boy was rushed to hospital today after being stabbed in the shoulder at his secondary school.

The teenager was stabbed at Beckfoot Thornton School in Bradford, West Yorkshire, shortly before 11:35am this morning.

He was taken to hospital for treatment but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

West Yorkshire Police said a male of similar age had been arrested and a knife recovered from the scene after they were called to the scene.

A teenager was stabbed in the shoulder at Beckfoot Thornton School in Bradford this morning. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening

Panicked parents rushed to collect their children from the school after learning of the stabbing from a local news website.

One mother, Karen Lupton, took to Facebook to criticise the schools lack of communication for spreading panic, adding: Parents [were] rushing to collect children while police were trying to investigate.

Headteacher Jeremy Richardson confirmed in an email to parents that there had been incident at the secondary school, adding: The safety of our students is our highest priority and we know our school community will need to understand how this could have happened.

Worried parents have called for scanners to be installed at the schools gates. One said: I think they need to put some very strict measures in place, I think every child should be scanned so we know what children are going in there with.

We havent had any reassurance apart from the lady at the gate who said the children are OK, but other than that, nothing, which is appalling.

A mother of a teenage boy who attends the school added: I dont even know how to react because I never expected something like this to happen especially here. You see knife crimes being reported on from America or London but for it to happen here has left me in shock.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has pleaded for more money to put more policemen on the streets

...and mother says son, nine, took blade into class 'to scare off bully' The mother of a nine-year-old boy who brandished a knife in school yesterday said he was trying to scare off a bully. The youngster  who she described as no angel  was sent home after he showed off the blade in front of other children. Just two weeks earlier, the boys class was involved in a workshop with police on the perils of knife crime. Parents were outraged about the incident on March 19, at St Pauls CofE Primary in Stoke-on-Trent. Now the boys mother has stepped into the row, saying hes been bullied every day for two years. She said her son told her he just wanted to scare him [the bully] so hed stop and leave him alone. She added: It was a stupid thing to do and he understands that. While the mother accepts her son should be punished, she said teachers should have done more to prevent the issues with the other boy escalating. Head Nicola Finney said: The welfare of our schools children is our utmost priority. Advertisement

I dont understand whats happened here today, its a good school.

Residents believe the attack was a one off.

Keith Grice, 76, who has lived nearby for 20 years, said: This is an unusual thing to happen around here, the children never cause any issues.

A police spokesperson said: 'Emergency services attended and found a 15-year-old male with an injury to his shoulder.

'He was taken to hospital for further treatment although his injury is not believed to be life threatening.

'A knife has been recovered and a male of similar age has been arrested.

'Enquiries are continuing.'

Headteacher of the school Jeremy Richardson tried to reassure parents after the stabbing.

He confirmed in an e-mail to parents that an incident took place at the school today and a pupil was injured.

Mr Richardson said he is taking advice from officers about the shocking attack.

He added: 'There has been an incident at school today in which one of our students has been injured.

'The student is with his family and receiving the necessary medical attention.

'Another of our students is with the police and they have started a detailed investigation.

'We continue to take advice from the police and are working to re-assure our school community who are understandably concerned to hear this news.

'The safety of our students is our highest priority and we know our school community will need to understand how this could have happened.'

Just a month ago police chiefs up and down the country declared Britain's knife crime epidemic a 'national emergency' and demanded more funding to help combat it.

Some demanded a return to stop-and-search, which has in the past led to accusations of profiling.

Richard Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, called for emergency section 60 powers to be rolled out across the country.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid pleaded for more money to put millions of bobbies on the beat in a Cabinet intervention at the start of March.

He urged Prime Minister Theresa May - who was Home Secretary for six years - to sign off proposed new powers to make it easier for police to stop and search those suspected of carrying blades.
Italy is considering introducing chemical castration for rapists and making revenge porn a criminal offence.

MPs in the country's ruling populist coalition have already clashed over the proposals, which appear in a major new bill aimed at tacking sex crimes.

The idea of chemical castration for some sex offenders - with their consent - was put forward by the right-wing League. But the party's coalition partners Five Star were opposed to the idea.

Meanwhile, revenge porn is set to be made a crime - but there is still debate over the exact details of that proposal.

Italian Interior Minister and Vice Premier Matteo Salvini gestures at the Italian Senate in Rome

The bill, known as Code Red, is set to be discussed again on Tuesday.

League, whose Secretary-General is Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, put forward the idea of voluntary chemical castration for sex offenders but Five Star MP Veronica Giannone dismissed the idea.

She said: 'It's a joke to say "we'll castrate you, but only if you agree". Chemical castration isn't the method, but prison and certainty of punishment.

'This proposal is just political propaganda, and dozens of my colleagues think so too.'

Salvini had tweeted that it was a fitting punishment for three men who raped an American tourist in Catania, Sicily.

He said on the social media site: 'For the rapist worms in #Catania who raped a tourist there's no discount: certain punishment and chemical castration!'

All three of the men allegedly sexually abused and raped the woman while filming the sickening attack. Arrests were made when police identified and arrested them after one of the men sent the victim a video via social media and invited her out again the following evening.

Giulia Sarti, deputy of the Five Stars Movement, places the ballot during the first meeting of the new Italian parliament March 15, 2013 in Rome, Italy

Roberto Mirabella, 20, Salvatore Castrogiovanni, 19, and Agatino Spampinato, 19, were arrested by police on March 21 and taken to the Catania Piazza Lanza prison (pictured)





All three of the men allegedly sexually abused and raped the woman while filming the sickening attack (pictured: Policeman on a motorbike in Catania)

The coalition parties did, however, agree on the issue of revenge porn to an extent.

Five Star MP, Giulia Sarti, a recent victim of revenge porn, was supported by the mother of Tiziana Cantone, 31, who took her own life after sex videos of her went viral on the internet in 2017.

'As you are an MP, perhaps what happened can serve as input to legislate and finally intervene against this phenomenon,' Ms Maria Teresa Giglio said.

Mrs Sarti criticised another MP's stance on the matter as not strong enough, despite her supporting the criminalisation.

Laura Boldrini of the left-wing Free and Equal (LeU) party put forward an amendment that was defeated by 14 votes.

On Facebook, Ms Sarti wrote in response: 'The topic is so sensitive that it requires wide debate not only in parliament, but also judicial and social, above all involving experts, victims, families, analysts, jurists and all the relevant state actors, like the post and telecoms police.

'It's a very important issue, so serious regulation must not be incomplete.'
The fake German heiress accused of duping people out of millions of dollars in a socialite scam refused to enter court on Friday because she was unhappy with her clothes then cried in front of a judge before changing and returning.

Anna Sorokin, 28, is accused of fraud for allegedly trying to get a $22 million loan to open a private arts club by dishonestly claiming she had a $67 million fortune.

She went by the name Anna Delvey and duped hotels, bankers and socialites by claiming to be a German heiress. As part of her defense, her lawyer Todd Spodek has hired a celebrity stylist to dress her in high end labels.

There was a hold up on Friday morning when, after appearing before a judge in Michael Kors, Yves Saint Laurent and Victoria Beckham earlier in the week, Anna was confronted with an outfit she did not like.

She protested and refused to enter the courtroom, delaying the proceedings and infuriating judge Diane Kiesel.

Her lawyer said it was because the clothes were 'dirt' and unpressed. There was also a vague claim to her feeling sick and thinking that other inmates at Riker's Island were not treating her kindly.

When she eventually entered the court, Sorokin cried in front of the judge until she was able to change into an outfit her stylist, Anastasia Walker, had put together for her.

Sorokin then reappeared in court, smiling, in a crumpled white shirt and black pants. She listened as her attorneys cross examined a banker who claims she defrauded one.

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Anna Sorokin walks into the courtroom in Manhattan on Friday scowling after refusing to appear because she was not happy with her outfit. She is shown in prison clothes, a far cry from the designer outfit she was put in by her stylist the day before

Sorokin cried in front of the judge then was allowed to leave the courtroom to change to re-enter

When she reappeared, she was wearing a white shirt, black pants and was in a decidedly better mood

Unimpressed: Judge Diane Kiesel said she would not allow Sorokin to hold up the trial with her fashion emergency

Before she appeared, Judge Kiesel fumed: 'Your client seems a little too concerned about her clothing.

Your client seems a little too concerned about her clothing. This is a trial. She's a defendant. Judge Diane Kiesel

'This is a trial. She's a defendant. I'm sorry her clothing aren't up to her standards.

'Are you asking me to stop this trial because of the clothing? She's got to be here,' she said, according to Business Insider, which attended the trial.

There was some confusion over what Sorokin's problem was.

'She did't want to appear in her Riker's clothes. Her clothes are dirty and not pressed.

'She's dressed in sweatpants... she feels like she's not being treated well by other inmates,' her lawyer Todd Spodek told the court.

The judge replied: 'She seems to be tired or upset because of the nature of her clothing. I've gotten mixed signals here and when other defendants give me mixed signals, I've called them out and asked them about the nature of the sickness.

'I don't think Sorokin should get special treatment.

'If she refuses to show up for reasons I think are not legitimate, this case is going to go on with an empty chair,' she said.

It's mysterious chic Stylist Anastasia Walker

Sorokin's team has enlisted the services of stylist Anastasia Walker, who has worked with the likes of Courtney Love, T-Pain, and G-Eazy, and who is dressing her in Yves Saint Laurent, Michael Kors and Victoria Beckham.

Walker said she got put in touch with the accused fraudster by their mutual friend Neff Davis.

She said she wanted to help after seeing Sorokin dressed in a $200 outfit from H&M for jury selection.

Sorokin showed off a wrist tattoo as she sat and listened to her lawyers cross examine a banker who claims she defrauded him

Her legal team scrambled to get the outfit because they were worried she would look guilty if she was dressed in her prison slacks.

'The main reason I decided to help out was because of our mutual friend.

Sorokin's legal team has hired celebrity stylist Anastasia Walker

'I'm always happy to help, and I love what I do. If it works and I can make it happen, then why not?' she told Elle on Friday.

Walker would not reveal who is paying her. She said she and Anna had discussions on the phone about how she wanted to be dressed.

'I really tried to focus on classic silhouettes and classic pieces in general. [The all-black] may change in the futurewe may go lighter.

'It is mysterious chic, and although it's getting a lot of media attention, this is still her real life. People have made comments that she doesn't take life seriously, but to me black is just a strong and powerful color. It's serious,' she said.

The one item she did not need to add were the defendant's 'signature' Celine glasses.

On Thursday, Ryan Salem of City National Bank testified Thursday about Sorokin's attempt to get a $22 million loan to open a private arts club.

The bank denied that request but, despite a host of red flags, agreed to lend her $100,000 that Sorokin promised to repay within days.

Salem said the financial statements the one-time darling of the New York City social scene provided in support of the loan 'didn't add up.'

Anna Sorokin, pictured at New York State Supreme Court Thursday, refused to come to court on Friday morning because she was unhappy with her outfit

Prosecutors say the faux heiress left a significant paper-trail in her bid to defraud banks and is accused of swindling various people and businesses out of tens of thousands of dollars in a 10-month odyssey for a taste of the high life.

'We always believed that she had money,' Salem said, referring to a fortune of some $67 million that Sorokin claimed to have at her disposal overseas.

'She seemed to speak the language.

She understood the financial jargon that you need to know to interact and transact in this environment.'

Sorokin's lawyer says she never intended to commit a crime and planned to pay back any money she borrowed.

Jurors viewed dozens of emails Thursday between Salem and Sorokin, who became increasingly hard to pin down when the bank demanded repayment.

Salem, who spent the day on the witness stand, said his dealings with Sorokin hurt his credibility within the bank.

Anna's courtroom looks have included a beige sweater and skirt. She removed the sweater to reveal a plunging top

'I went to bat for somebody who at the end of the day was not somebody to go to bat for,' he said.

The faux heiress, currently on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court, turned heads on the first day her trial on Wednesday when she showed up to court in a sleek, low cut black dress and choker.

It was a stark contrast to the Rikers Island prison uniform and unkempt appearance she sported during an earlier court date. She is pictured above in February during a hearing

She is accused of swindling various people and businesses out of tens of thousands of dollars in a 10-month odyssey for a taste of the high life.

Her attorneys had also reportedly tried to get her into stilettos but the Department of Corrections deemed them to be too dangerous.

An Instagram account titled AnnaDelveyCourtLooks has since been created and features two variations of the outfit she wore during the first day of the trial.

During the trial on Wednesday, the jury heard that Sorokin lived in luxury New York hotel rooms she couldn't afford, promised a friend an all-expenses paid trip to Morocco and then stuck her with the $62,000 bill, and peddled bogus bank statements in a quest for a $22 million loan.

Sorokin, jailed since her arrest, faces deportation to Germany regardless of the outcome of the trial because authorities say she overstayed her visa.

She denies the charges and insists she was always trying to be seen as a businesswoman.
The family of a Down's Syndrome man who 'starved' in a hospital bed for 19 days have slammed the 'catastrophic' NHS failures that killed him.

Relatives of Giuseppe 'Joe' Ulleri, 61, said he should not have died while surrounded by doctors and nurses, but did so because of 'discrimination and indifference' by medical staff.

Mr Ulleri lost almost two-and a-half stone while he was being treated at Manchester Royal Infirmary where he died from pneumonia, brought on by food and saliva entering his lungs.

He was admitted to the hospital after a fall at his care home, but died just over three weeks later after struggling to feed from a tube.

The family of 61-year-old Joe Ulleri (pictured), a Down's Syndrome man who 'starved' in a hospital bed for 19 days, have slammed the 'catastrophic' NHS failures that killed him

Mr Ulleri was admitted to the hospital after a fall at his care home, in 2016, but died just over three weeks later after struggling to feed from a tube. Mr Ulleri lost almost two-and a-half stone while he was being treated at Manchester Royal Infirmary where he died from pneumonia, brought on by food and saliva entering his lungs

Relatives of Giuseppe 'Joe' Uller said he should not have died while surrounded by doctors and nurses, but did so because of 'discrimination and indifference' by medical staff. Pictured, Joe's brothers Giovanni (left) and Peter Ulleri

Following a five-day inquest, a jury found that neglect contributed to Mr Ulleri's death. After the conclusion was read out, one of his brothers, Giovanni, wept.

Now his brokenhearted family have said Mr Ulleri's horrendous case 'needs to be a catalyst for change'. They claim because he could not speak for himself, he was simply 'forgotten'.

Mr Ulleri, who had learning difficulties, needed surgery and was made 'nil by mouth' days after his admission.

Manchester City Coroner's Court heard before that he had lived in a 'supported living' home for three years and was still active despite some health issues.

He was found on the floor of his bedroom at the L'Arche home in Withington, Manchester on February 26, 2016.

X-rays initially revealed no significant injuries and he was sent back to the home, which is run by a Christian organisation.

But subsequent scans revealed he had fractures to his hip, wrist and neck and he was admitted back into hospital the following day.

Following a five-day inquest, a jury found that neglect contributed to Mr Ulleri's death. After the conclusion was read out, one of his brothers, Giovanni (with Joe, above), wept

The jury heard Mr Ulleri could be difficult and 'stubborn'. He struggled to eat lying in bed and that was not helped by the neck brace he was wearing and being laid flat.

It was March 9 before doctors fitted a naso-gastric feeding tube into Joe's stomach, but it was removed 24 hours later because he was struggling to deal with the discomfort.

His brother Peter told the inquest one of the country's biggest hospital suffers from having 'first rate buildings, but third rate medical care' which was 'fragmented'.

By March 18, Peter was told that Joe's condition was deteriorating and he asked hospital staff why he had received no nutritional assistance.

'Why the delay?' he said. 'He could die from this!'

Two days later, Joe passed away in the hospital. During his stay, his weight had dropped from around 9 stone to just over six and a half.

Manchester City Coroner's Court heard before that he had lived in a 'supported living' home for three years and was still active despite some health issues. He was found on the floor of his bedroom at the L'Arche home (file image) in Withington, Manchester on February 26, 2016

Acting area coroner for Manchester City Angharad Davies had told the jury 'the only nutritional support Joe received was during that 24 hours when a feeding tube was in place.'

The coroner quizzed hospital staff about the antibiotics and pain management Mr Ulleri was given and if they were prescribed in good time.

And questions were raised about the position he was laid in his bed which did not help prevent fluid or food particles leaking back into his lungs, which caused the infection.

An investigation at the NHS trust found staff caused 'Actual Harm Level 5' to Mr Ulleri - the highest level possible.

Today, after just over three hours' deliberation, the jury returned a narrative verdict.

They said: 'During his stay there [in hospital], there was a failure in his overall care, specifically nursing him in a supine position and a failure to provide adequate nutrition. This constituted neglect.

'He contracted aspiration pneumonia and passed away on 20 March 2016. The failures in care contributed to his death.'

All too often people with learning disabilities are treated as second-class citizens by the NHS and end up dying from indifference. Joe' brother Giovanni Ulleri

Following the hearing, Joe's brother Giovanni Ulleri said it was important to the family that the jury had decided neglect had played a part in his death.

'Our brother was the kindest and gentlest soul, yet he was allowed to die in the most horrendous way.

'Not only was he thoroughly neglected, he starved for 19 days in hospital and denied proper pain management.

'Joe's entirely preventable and premature death came as a result of the catastrophic failures from the Manchester Royal Infirmary who were supposed to be caring for him.

'When he had a fall in his care home, breaking his pelvis, we were told to not worry as 'people don't die from broken bones'.

'The simple truth is he should not have died in hospital. We believe Joe died, like many people with learning disabilities, because of discrimination and indifference by medical staff.

An investigation at the NHS trust found staff caused 'Actual Harm Level 5' to Mr Ulleri - the highest level possible

'We, and Joe's friends and carers were deeply concerned that Joe was being forgotten about, a belief that turned out to be true.

'Joe couldn't talk for himself and we feel so angry that those who were trying to advocate for him, were ignored.

'We only found out that he had been denied food following an internal inquiry. We would never have known otherwise.

'Joe's case needs to be a catalyst for change. There are too many Joes, although often their premature deaths remain unreported and uninvestigated. All too often people with learning disabilities are treated as second-class citizens by the NHS and end up dying from indifference.

'The NHS and society as a whole needs to learn from Joe's death to ensure nobody else with learning disability suffers in the same way that he did. If we get healthcare right for people with learning disabilities then we are likely to improve it for everyone'

Nina Ali, a Partner from Hodge Jones & Allen, who represents the family, said: 'This is one of the most horrific, tragic and yet avoidable cases I have ever dealt with.

'Joe was a healthy man. With the right care and treatment Joe's broken bones would have healed. He may well have recovered and gone home. The way in which he was neglected, left to deteriorate and not given any food for 19 days is indefensible.

Professor Jane Eddleston, Joint Group Medical Director at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, that runs Manchester Royal Infirmary, said: 'We wish to again offer our condolences and deepest sympathies to Joes family

'Time and time again we see cases where people with learning disabilities suffer and die because they are treated with indifference by medical professionals.

'It is unacceptable that anybody should suffer discrimination and neglect at the hands of the NHS, especially those who are most vulnerable. It is crucial that changes are brought across the NHS to ensure cases like Joe's never happen again.'

Professor Jane Eddleston, Joint Group Medical Director at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, that runs Manchester Royal Infirmary, said: 'We wish to again offer our condolences and deepest sympathies to Joes family.

'The Trust accepts fully the conclusion and findings of the Coroner following the outcome of today's inquest.

'The care provided to Joe fell well below our standards and for this we apologise sincerely.

'Following Joe's sad death, we immediately launched an investigation to examine the care he received and since then, we have implemented a number of measures to ensure that this does not happen again.'

She said through the implementation of a detailed action the Trust has 'strengthened' many areas where failings had been identified.

But Prof Eddleston added: 'In view of the Inquest findings, the Trust will re-examine its investigation and would like to extend an invitation to Joe's family to discuss this further to ensure that all issues are considered fully and all improvements implemented. We are committed to ensuring that lessons are learned to improve patient care.'
According to an arrest affidavit, the video shows a blue SUV driven by James William Hanlon (pictured), 53, who points a pistol at Dolce while wearing a blue, disposable glove

A manhunt is underway for a suspect identified in the fatal shooting of a Colorado man who covertly recorded the killing on his cellphone.

The phone was found next to 63-year-old Gary Dolce's body after he was shot several times on Wednesday in Colorado Springs and was still recording.

According to an arrest affidavit, the video shows a blue SUV driven by James William Hanlon, 53, who points a black handgun at Dolce while wearing a blue, disposable glove.

The video captures several shots and Dolce falling to the ground yelling 'Oh my God!'

A second volley of shots are heard but are not captured on video.

Police say Hanlon may have left the state.

The shooting happened about an hour after Hanlon was cited for having an aggressive animal.

In an audio recording regarding that, an animal control officer and Hanlon can be heard talking about the fence separating his property from Dolce's, according to the affidavit.

Over a month before the shooting, police responded to 'an altercation' between Dolce and Hanlon, according to the arrest affidavit.

Dolce told police 'his neighbor was trying to get him to fight and that there were ongoing issues with the neighbor,' the document said.

Authorities were called to the scene Wednesday at about 6.24pm along Rimwood Drive.

'I'm not in a position to make any determination on what the risk is,' Lt. Howard Black with the Colorado Springs Police Department told reporters.

'This is not an area that has a high crime rate, by any stretch of the imagination. But these events, as we all know, can happen anywhere in our city.'

A neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous, didn't hear the shots but said she knew Dolce who was 'very friendly'.

'Always waves, said hello when he was walking his dog and everything.

'It's just scary in a while situation, this is a quiet neighborhood and everybody is friendly. If somebody was targeting him, that's just scary all around.' they told KKTV.
Vanessa Cline, 32, was arrested on Wednesday in Stafford, Virginia

A woman has been accused of embezzling $93,000 from her employer to pay for a wedding and buttocks lift.

Vanessa Cline, 32, was arrested on Wednesday in Stafford, Virginia and charged with five counts of embezzlement, five counts of forgery, and five counts of false uttering.

Police say that as a bookkeeper for No Limits Construction she made numerous unauthorized personal purchases using the company credit card.

The company owner told a detective that he had been contacted by his credit card company informing him that one of his accounts was going to be closed due to lack of payment.

Cline had been hired as the bookkeeper at No Limits Construction to replace an employee who pleaded guilty to stealing at least $150,000 from the company

Police said the company owner began looking into the issue and learned that the former bookkeeper had made numerous unauthorized personal purchases.

A review of the files revealed unusual expenditures including a wedding dress for $2000 and a wedding planner for $25,000.

The suspect also paid over $7,200 using the company card to have her buttocks lifted by Elite Plastic Surgery in Miami, according to police.

Other purchases included clothing, perfume, household furniture, airline tickets, and an all-terrain vehicle. Cline also allegedly forged five checks totaling nearly $10,000.

Police say that Cline also paid over $7,200 using the company card to have her buttocks lifted by Elite Plastic Surgery in Miami (above)

In an ironic twist, Cline had replaced another former bookkeeper for the company who pleaded guilty to charges last year after embezzling at least $150,000 from the company between January 2016 and January 2018.

Cline was incarcerated at Rappahannock Regional Jail on an $8,000 bond.

It was unclear whether she had an attorney to speak on her behalf.
by Mathias Hariyadi

On 17 April, Indonesians will elect their president, vice president, and lawmakers. The former head of intelligence stands with moderate Widodo, urging voters to "go to the polls and make the right choice, to save the nation.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Indonesias upcoming general elections will be "a political clash between two opposing ideologies: pluralism and fundamentalist Islam, this according to General (Ret) Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono (pictured), who was the first chief of Indonesias State Intelligence Agency (Badan Intelijen Negara, BIN).

For the first time in Indonesian history, 190 million eligible voters will elect on the same day (17 April) their President and Vice-President as well as the Members of the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) and House of Regions (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, DPD).

For many observers, the election will be a "critical day" for the future of the countrys young democracy, which is threatened by Islamism.

General Hendropriyono is the latest prominent figure to appeal to voters not to shy away from voting or spoiling their ballot (golongan putih or golput).

Speaking yesterday in Kalibata (South Jakarta), the retired military officer explained that the election is not a political duel between President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and his rival Prabowo Subianto at the polls, but a battle between [Indonesias state ideology of] Pancasila and fundamentalist Islam.

As a proud supporter of Widodos Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan, PDIP), Hendropriyono calls on voters to "go to the polls and make the right choice, to save the nation and themselves."

For the former BIN chief, the Pancasila pluralist doctrine is what has held together so far a country so varied in ethnic groups, languages, cultures and social values, which is now threatened by radical Islamic movements, who are responsible for the growing support for the establishment of a caliphate in Indonesia, especially among young people and students.

"It makes no sense for Indonesians today to be attracted to this ideology, Hendropriyono said looking at the tragic example of such a political regime in Syria and Iraq. It is not just a concern. We must choose and vote for the good of the country.
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Police have again had to intervene after travellers took over a west London common and parked several caravans either side of a path through the green space.

At least eight caravans were scattered around parts of Ealing Common this afternoon, as groups of children ran between the vehicles.

It comes just three days after a similar incident in Bexleyheath, south-east London, where police moved up to 17 caravans off Crook Log Leisure Centre after they allegedly broke into the car park and swarmed the centre's toilets.

And four days ago, around 12 travellers' caravans overran a Tesco Extra car park near Wembley Stadium.

Some members of the public today said that they were too scared to walk between the vehicles in Ealing Common as they felt 'intimidated' by the travellers.

Police officers can be seen holding a document as they talk to travellers who were parked either side of a path on Ealing Common today

The two policemen hand a document to a man wearing a cap and plaid shirt while he holds a child outside his caravan

The large group of travellers, which is believed to comprise of at least eight caravans as well as other vehicles, pitched up at the common near Ealing Broadway tube station

A police officer talks to one of the travellers as child play around one of the caravans. The group parked up and set up propane bottles along with a dog house on the common

Officers could be seen handing a document to a man in a blue plaid shirt carrying a child next to his trailer, but it is unclear what it was regarding.

The caravans had parked up with propane tanks by the side of their homes, as well as a dog house and one even had a religious statue of Mary outside it.

Locals coming out of Ealing Common tube station looked bemused by the site - which is just around the corner from the underground.

Marie Shelton, 66, branded the group 'selfish' because the common should be enjoyed by everyone.

She said: 'It's frustrating that the council can't seem to stop them.

'I know it happens in other places and I think put up a barrier to stop them.

'It's called a common for a reason, it's for everyone to enjoy.

'But when they come along like this, it is selfish and it can be intimidating.

'They act like it's their own private land and don't care whether it affects other people who have lived here for years.

'I can't imagine it is good for the grass and I doubt they put all of their rubbish in the park bins - they are far too small.

'I doubt they pay for the trouble so that leaves us who pay council tax to fund the clean up.'

The four police offers on the scene walk down a path in Ealing Common as on of the travellers' dogs looks on

A passerby called Marie Shelton, 66, branded the group 'selfish' because she said the common should be enjoyed by everyone

Ms Shelton said: 'They act like it's their own private land and don't care whether it affects other people who have lived here for years'

It is not the first time travellers have made Ealing Common their home, it was claimed.

In fact, the caravans are often parked on the grass during the summer months, according to locals.

Becky Chambers, 26, a charity worker, said: 'I don't live far from here and to be honest I've gotten use to it.

'I know lots of people aren't happy about it and think they shouldn't be here.

'I understand some people might feel intimated but they don't affect me.

'You can see that they are families so if they are here they mustn't have anywhere else to go.

'They're here quite often but mainly during the summer when the weather is good.'

Members of the public walk along the path through Ealing Common as the caravans sit on either sides of the pavement

One woman, who has lived near the common for five years but asked not to be named, said more should be done to stop the families pitching up in the common. Pictured, police attend the scene

A policeman has handed over the document to the man and the two continue to talk in the sunshine this afternoon

The caravans can be seen on the side of a pathway through Ealing Common, west London, as a member of the public walks past

One woman, who has lived in the area for five years but asked not to be named, said more should be done to stop the families pitching up in the common.

She said: 'It completely ruins the ground.

'It looks horrible and the caravans leave tyre marks on the grass.

'They leave rubbish and the council has to come down to clear it up, it's not acceptable.

'They come every summer and usually it is different groups each time.

'Surely something has to be done to stop them because of the mess they make.'

One of the caravans at the site has a table outside it, as houses overlooking the common can be seen in the background

But City worker Tom Williams, 42, shrugged off the issue and said the group are 'here all of the time.'

He said: 'They're here all of the time when the weather warms up.

'It doesn't look great and I think some people feel more strongly about it than I do.

'I don't know the legality around it all but it does seem to be a bit of a problem.'

An Ealing Council spokesman said: 'The council was made aware of travellers on Ealing Common this week.

'As soon as we were notified, officers visited the scene to carry out statutory duties, which includes issuing codes of conduct and completing welfare assessments.

They added: 'As always we will work to support the police.'


A pair of identical twins who have been sharing the same driver's licence for 20 years in China have finally been caught after one of them started balding.

The man, surnamed Yan, was pulled over by traffic police last Thursday after being suspected of driving with a revoked licence and lied that he was his younger brother, Chinese media reported.

Despite looking almost exactly alike, officers noticed from an ID database that the younger brother had a full head of hair in his photo, while the older brother had some hair loss.

Despite looking almost exactly alike, officers noticed from an ID database that the younger brother had a full head of hair in his photo, while the older brother (above) had some hair loss

The brothers in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang province have been sharing the same licence for years until 2017, when the younger brother's permit was suspended for drink-driving, according to Harbin Evening News.

Shortly after, the older brother had his licence revoked as well, also for drink driving.

The younger Yan then successfully got his licence back after a driving test, prompting the pair to continue sharing the same permit.

However, the older brother was caught lying after officers at the Ken district traffic police pulled up his information from an online database.

The brothers in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang province have been sharing the same licence for years until 2017, when the younger brother's permit was suspended for drink-driving. Above, the older brother is seen covering his bald spot with a wool hat

The officer then asked the man to remove his wool hat, revealing his true identity

The officer then asked the man to remove his wool hat, revealing his true identity.

'Although they looked really alike, there were some features that set them apart - including the thickness and the length of their hair,' officer Zhao Xin said.

'I have been using the same driver's licence with my younger brother for 20 years,' the man was filmed telling the officer.

'We are twins, so we look very alike,' the man admitted.

The man was fined 2,000 yuan and remained under investigation, according to the report.
The European Commission has warned in an extraordinary summit today today that Britain is 'likely' to crash out of the bloc without a deal.

A spokeswoman for the bloc's executive branch warned that the EU is now 'fully prepared' for a no-deal scenario, which would strike at midnight on April 12 if the UK hasn't agreed a deal.

It comes after Theresa May's Brexit deal was defeated for a third time in the House of Commons.

Now European Council President Donald Tusk has given the Prime Minister just 10 days to draw up an alternative plan for an orderly Brexit by April 8, when she will be asked to present it to her 27 EU colleagues at the emergency summit.

Theresa May is now likely to return to Brussels and attempt to get an extension to the negotiation. European Council President Donald Tusk today called a meeting of leaders following the vote

The EU will ask Britain what it plans to do with the extension to the negotiation process

'We expect the UK to indicate a way forward before then, well in time for the European Council to consider,' an EU Council source said, adding that May would be invited to 'the beginning of the meeting'.

Separately, a spokeswoman for the European Commission - the bloc's executive - increased pressure on London to come up with a plan for an orderly Brexit by warning of an abrupt divorce.

'A 'no-deal' scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario. The EU has been preparing for this since December 2017 and is now fully prepared for a no-deal scenario at midnight on April 12,' she said.

'The EU will remain united. The benefits of the Withdrawal Agreement, including a transition period, will in no circumstances be replicated in a no-deal scenario. Sectoral mini-deals are not an option.'

The head of the European Council, Donald Tusk, tweeted: 'In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April'.

The blocs chief negotiator Michel Barnier said Britain faced a choice between a No Deal Brexit or asking for a long extension at the summit.

But a lengthy delay would come with strings attached, and EU leaders are only likely to grant it if Britain holds a second referendum, a general election or agrees to pursue a softer Brexit. It would also mean being forced into holding costly European Parliament elections in May.

EU official Martin Selmayr seized on the Commons vote today to suggest Britain still had time to stay in the EU

Selmayr sent out a series of tweets after the vote, suggesting Britain could still stay in the EU

Top Eurocrat Martin Selmayr has taunted Leave voters by suggesting Britain still has two weeks to call off Brexit and stay in the EU.

Selmayr, who is Secretary-General of EU Commission and the bloc's top civil servant, seized on MPs latest rejection of Theresa May's exit deal to encourage the UK to stay in the union.

Who is Martin Selmayr and why is he called the monster? Martin Selmayr has developed a fearsome reputation in Brussels, casting an authoritarian reign as Mr Juncker's chief of staff despite remaining relatively unknown to the public. But his brutal style of ruling - demanding that access to Mr Juncker for even the most senior EU officials is first channelled through him - has also led to a queue of enemies. His style has led to a variety of nicknames by colleagues, including 'Darth Vader' and 'Rasputin'. Former European Commission vice president Kristalina Georgieva blamed her resignation on his aggressive style, which she branded 'poisonous'. British officials have accused Mr Selmayr, who has privately expressed his dislike of Brexit, of 'hating' the UK while describing him as a 'psychopath'. Advertisement

Responding to a Twitter post by Remainer lawyer Jo Maugham QC, Selmayr said Britain would have its 'last chance' to stay on the EU up to April 12.

Mr Maugham posted: 'We can revoke even if we don't hold European Parliamentary elections - you can take it from Martin Selmayr.

And Selmayr replied: 'On 12 April, right before midnight #lastchance'

To ram home his point, Selmayr then tweeted: '12 April is now the new 29 March #Brexit'

French president Emmanuel Macron added another extension would not be automatic and that France was ready to handle No Deal.

But Mr Barnier left the door open for a softer Brexit deal to be done via a permanent customs union, which he said could be thrashed out within 48 hours.

When asked if the political declaration  which sets out the future relationship  could be changed to reflect this within a few days, he said: My answer is yes. In the House of Commons they only needed eight votes to agree on a customs union  we are ready to accept this proposal.

If Britain chose not to follow this course, Mr Barnier added: There will be two alternatives, either a No Deal  were preparing ourselves for that  or with some sound justification the UK will say they need more time, an extension of the negotiating period.

He did not put a limit on a long extension but said at the very least it would likely need to be for several months. Extending Article 50 for such a length would mean the UK having to hold EU Parliament elections in May, he said.

Mr Barnier said it was not guaranteed the leaders of the other 27 EU nations will agree to grant Britain a long extension, saying Mrs May will need to soundly justify her case.

Speaking in Warsaw yesterday, he said: We dont want simply to delay the process, we want to solve the problems. Let me be frank, without a positive choice, the default option will be No Deal.

Some of the remaining member states  who have to unanimously agree to a long delay  have indicated they will only grant it if Britain holds a general election, a second referendum or pursues a softer Brexit.

EU capitals are divided over how long Britain should be able to delay for. Germany and Poland are more relaxed about giving as much time as needed, while France and Belgium are toeing a harder line.

Following the Commons vote an EU Commission spokesman said: The Commission regrets the negative vote ... No Deal on April 12 is now a likely scenario.'

Irish premier Leo Varadkar has said Europe must be open to a long extension of Article 50 if the UK decides to fundamentally reconsider its approach to Brexit.

But the Taoiseach said it is up to the UK to indicate how it plans to proceed in order to avoid the UK crashing out of the EU.

Mr Varadkar said: 'I believe we must be open to a long extension should the United Kingdom decide to fundamentally reconsider its approach to Brexit and put back on the table options previously ruled out.

'I believe that will result in a generous and understanding response from the 27.'

The Taoiseach is due to hold bilateral Brexit talks with the French and German leaders next week and he will also be speaking by phone to other heads of government ahead of the EU Council meeting.
This is the moment a restaurant owner threatens to call immigration agents on an undocumented former employee who came to claim money he was allegedly owed after quitting his job.

Pedro Santizo had returned to La Fortuna in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on March 20, a day after he had resigned from his job as a cook.

According to the 23-year-old Guatemalan, the check for $500 had been held by the owner of the taco eatery, Felipe Montoya.

Pedro Santizo claims the owner of a Mexican taco shop in North Carolina threatened to call immigration agents after he visited the eater March 20, a day after he had resigned, to pick up a $500 check. Santizo allegedly made a payment for the aforementioned amount to secure his job as a cook in December

Felipe Montoya, the owner of La Fortuna, appears in the viral video imploring a young man (left) to call the cops and immigration agents

According to Mundo Hispanico, the money Santizo was seeking was a guaranteed advance payment he once made to secure his spot as a cook in December 2018.

A video shared by Santizo's wife on Facebook, Maria Guadalupe Lupian Valentin, shows the moment Montoya starts to lose his patience.

As he stood behind the counter, Montoya tells the Guatemalan undocumented migrant that he will not be paying him at all.

During the heated row, the former employee picks up a phone and tells his ex-boss: 'I am going to call the cops.'

Montoya tells him to 'talk to the cops, call the cops,' before his son replies, 'immigration, too.'

Montoya then takes a few steps behind the counter and says 'yes' before the video comes to an abrupt end.

La Opinion reported that Santizo and his wife don't have legal documents to reside in the United States.

Lupian Valentin told DailyMail she and Santizo, who are parents to a two-month-old baby boy, were frightened then by how the visit unraveled.

'We are still scared,' she said.

The 28-second clip has been viewed over 20,000 times.

La Fortuna actually participated in the February 2017 nationwide boycott, 'A Day Without Immigrants,' when thousands of immigrants and non-immigrants walked out of schools and business - including some that were closed for the entire day.

'We can't allow ... unscrupulous employers to take advantage of undocumented immigrants to work and then not pay them fairly,' said Teresa Greene, a North Carolina advocate for immigrants rights said.
A Democratic congresswoman who vowed in vulgar language to impeach President Donald Trump and later suggested pro-Israel Jewish members of Congress have dual loyalties got a thumbs-up this week from Barack Obama.

The former president 'met with us new members of Congress and we had a thoughtful discussion about serving our country,' Rep. Rashida Tlaib wrote Thursday on Instagram and Twitter.

'The best part was when he looked straight at me and said, "I'm proud of you".'

The posts included a photo of Tlaib and Obama grinning, with the former president's arm around her. Tlaib spokesman Denzel McCampbell told DailyMail.com that it was taken Monday night.

Obama tweeted about the event on Tuesday, writing that the new Democratic House freshmen are 'a young, diverse class, stocked with a bunch of my campaign and administration alums whove taken the torch. This group is going to be driving progress for a long time to come.'

Rep. Rashida Tlaib wrote that former President Barack Obama told her he was 'proud of you' this week at an event for Democratic congressional freshmen; Tlaib has been criticized for anti-Semitic remarks and for saying of President Donald Trump that 'we're going to impeach the motherf***er'

Obama posted his own remembrance of the same event, writing that Tlaib and other first-term Democrats have 'taken the torch' from him and will 'drive progress for a long time to come'

Tlaib is one of just three Muslim members of Congress.

She was photographed at an event in January posing with Abbas Hamideh, a Palestinian activist who has praised the Hamas and Hezbollah terror organizations, equated pro-Israel Jews to Nazis and claimed Israel has no right to exist.

'Yes, I am Muslim and Palestinian. Get over it,' Tlaib tweeted amid that controversy.

She also supports the 'Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions' (BDS) movement, which aims to economically isolate Israel.

According to The Times of Israel, however, her official website is built on Wix, an Israeli-owned platform.

Palestinian activist Abbas Hamideh published a photo of himself and Tlaib in January, along with a piece of art depicting her in Palestinian garb; Hamideh has praised Hamas and Hezbollah and compared pro-Israel Jews to Nazis

American Jewish leaders condemned her in January after she suggested that lawmakers who supported an anti-BDS measure held dual loyalties.

'They forgot what country they represent,' Tlaib tweeted at the time. 'This is the U.S. where boycotting is a right & part of our historical fight for freedom & equality.'

Questioning the national loyalty of American Jews is an age-old anti-Semitic canard meant to attack their patriotism.

Tlaib has also been criticized for following an Instagram account called 'free.palestine.1948,' a name referring to the year of Israel's founding.

These anti-Semitic images were posted by an anti-Israel account that Tlaib follows on Instagram

That account routinely posts anti-Semitic memes that compare Jews to rats, call them a 'plague' and suggest moneyed Jews control the U.S. news media.

One image on the account directly compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and suggested he was behind the 9/11 terror attacks.

When challenged about the account's content this year, its owner responded: 'Haha make me laugh f**k you and f**k israhell [] you wankers will never like the truth.'

Tlaib first burst onto Americans' radar just hours after she was sworn in as a Michigan congresswoman, when she was videotaped at a party saying that she had promised her young son that Democrats would remove President Donald Trump for power.

'We're going to impeach the motherf***er,' she said.
Tyler R. Barriss, 26, was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in federal prison

A California man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for hoax calls that led police to fatally shoot an unarmed Kansas man following a dispute between two people over a $1.50 bet in a 'Call of Duty: WWII' video game.

Tyler R. Barriss, 26, was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren under a deal in which he pleaded guilty in November to a total of 51 federal charges related to fake calls and threats.

The 2017 death of 28-year-old Andrew Finch drew national attention to the practice of 'swatting,' where someone reports a false emergency to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to descend on an address.

Authorities say an Ohio gamer recruited Barriss to 'swat' a Wichita gamer, but that the address they used was old, leading police to Finch, who was not involved in the video game or the dispute.

Tyler Barriss (above last year) was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison for a hoax call that led police to fatally shoot an unarmed Kansas man

Andrew Finch, 28, (pictured with his son) was the unarmed single father who was shot dead by Wichita Police after Barriss called in a false report of an armed killer

Barriss admitted he called Wichita police from Los Angeles on December 28, 2017, to falsely report a shooting and kidnapping at that Wichita address. Finch answered the door, and an officer shot the unarmed man.

Barriss' prosecution in Wichita consolidated other federal cases that had initially been filed against him in California and the District of Columbia involving similar calls and threats he made.

Prosecutors had asked for a 25-year sentence , while the defense had sought a 20-year term.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation recognized swatting as an emerging threat as early as 2008, noting it had become commonplace among gamers.

Finch died in a tragic 'swatting' hoax call that led police to his front door believing there was an armed man holding hostages inside

The 20-year sentence was what Barriss (above) had sought, while prosecutors had asked the judge to give him 25 years behind bars

The intended target in Wichita, Shane Gaskill, 20, and the man who allegedly recruited Barriss, Casey Viner, 19, of North College Hill, Ohio, are charged as co-conspirators.

Authorities say Viner provided Barriss with an address for Gaskill that Gaskill had previously given to Viner.

Authorities also say that when Gaskill noticed Barriss was following him on Twitter, he gave Barriss that old address and taunted him to 'try something.'

Viner and Gaskill pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice, wire fraud and other counts.

Shane Gaskill leaves the federal court in Wichita. He was the intended target of the hoax, and has been charged for allegedly providing a false address that was used

Casey Viner, 18, of Ohio, allegedly provided Barriss with an address for Gaskill that Gaskill had previously given to Viner

Viner has notified the court he intends to change that plea at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Gaskill's trial has been delayed to April 23 amid plea talks with federal prosecutors.

Finch's family has sued the city of Wichita and the unidentified officers involved.

Police have said the officer who shot Finch thought he was reaching for a gun because he moved a hand toward his waistband. Prosecutors declined to charge the officer.
Former Big Brother contestant Sallie Axl has been arrested for allegedly assaulting her ex-boyfriend after a video emerged appearing to show her lunging at him with a pair of scissors.

The model, whose real name is Sallie Przybeck, vowed to fight the charge in court, saying 'I will fight this not only for me but for every woman in a domestic abusive relationship'.

Sharing the news on Instagram, she wrote: 'I was arrested last night for a section 18. I can not believe he has done this to me.

'My phone has been seized. I will fight this. How can he do this to me? All the times I have done everything for him. And I'm arrested. I will fight this in court see you there.'

Sallie Axl (left) puts her arm around her ex Gerard Williams (right) in a social media post

Merseyside police arrested the model, 32, last night. Ms Przybeck, from Wirral, claimed the incident happened a year ago while she was at 'breaking point'

The model, whose real name is Sallie Przybeck, vowed to fight the charge in court, saying 'I will fight this not only for me but for every woman in a domestic abusive relationship'

In the footage, the model appears to thrust the scissors in the direction of her former partner Gerard Williams while a toddler looks on.

The 32 year old, from Wirral, claimed the incident happened a year ago while she was at 'breaking point'.

She claimed her former partner Mr Williams had 'laughed at her' while she was self-harming. Ms Przybeck appears to have cuts on her wrists in the video.

A Merseyside Police spokesperson said: 'A 32-year-old woman from Liverpool was arrested last night, Thursday 28th March, on suspicion of s18 assault.

Sallie Axl (pictured above) claims the incident happened over a year ago when she was at 'breaking point'

Sallie Axl appeared on Big Brother in 2013 and has since gone on to work as a glamour model

'She has been released on conditional bail until Wednesday 24th April.'

Ms Pryzbeck was the first person to be evicted from the 2013 edition of the Channel 5 programme, which also featured Dexter Koh, Gina Rio, twins Jack and Joe Glenny and eventual winner Sam Evans.

Ms Pryzbeck said she is not commenting at this time.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, or see samaritans.org for details.
Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon is resigning from the Trump administration.

President Trump confirmed Friday that the former, professional wrestling executive is stepping down to chair a political action committee backing his reelection.

'We're staying together. Very importantly, we're staying together,' he said.

Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon is resigning from the Trump administration

Sitting next to McMahon on a couch at Mar-a-Lago, the president said she is one of his 'all-time favorites' and she has been a 'superstar' of his administration

He made the announcement from Mar-a-Lago, where he's spending the weekend with his family. Sitting next to McMahon on a couch, he said she is one of his 'all-time favorites' and she has been a 'superstar' of his administration.

'She's helped so many people in the world of small business,' he said.

McMahon said she has an 'awesome' team and has experienced a 'powerful' and 'palpable' optimism among entrepreneurs since Trump took office.

'The highlight has certainly been the fact that you asked me to take on this position. It has been an honor to serve the country in your Cabinet and serve in the administration and the people of the United States and small businesses,' she said.

Trump said Friday mid-day that he would address the reports during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The late afternoon news conference he spoke of at a Florida dike was not originally on his afternoon schedule.

Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago that that he could have announced her departure in a statement. 'I'd rather do it this way than just say bye, bye,' he explained.

He indicated that he'd already decided on a replacement, in consultation with McMahon. He said was 'somebody that's really good, somebody that we know very well, and somebody that will fit in beautifully.'

Presidential ally Lindsey Graham suggested McMahon was leaving earlier in the day. He said he was 'disappointed' by the news in a statement.

'She did a terrific job for President Trump and small businesses all over the country,' she said. 'She has much to be proud of and will be missed.'

Trump said he would address the reports during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort after reports circulated that McMahon was leaving.

McMahon ran operations at WWE with her husband, Vince, until she left the company to run for the United States Senate in Connecticut in 2009. She ran for the office a second time in 2012. Both attempts were unsuccessful.

She joined the Trump administration in February of 2017, several weeks after the president took office.

Her Senate confirmation was one of the easiest of anyone in the Cabinet. She was approved 81-19 by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

Her time at SBA has been scandal-free, and she leaves on good terms with the president, which is more than most of his previous Cabinet secretaries can say.

Most that left the administration were forced out or fired by the president in surprise tweets. He gave Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador, a formal sendoff in the Oval Office. She is the only Cabinet member other than McMahon to leave on her own terms with the president's approval.
This is the moment a pervert who claimed he was a 'good guy' was snared by paedophile hunters for trying to meet a 15-year-old schoolgirl for an illegal sexual liaison.

Terence Lavelle, 50, from Newcastle, was jailed for 14 months, after trying to meet with the girl, invented by paedophile hunters Dark Justice, after they started talking on social media site Qeep.

The group set up fake internet profiles to snare adults looking for illegal contact with children.

Terence Lavelle, 50, from Newcastle, was jailed for 14 months and sentenced to a ten year sexual prevention order and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register

He was snared by paedophile hunters Dark Justice when he turned up for a meeting that he thought was with a 15-year-old schoolgirl

Lavelle is confronted by the paedophile hunters in his car, the video shows.

'What were you going to do with this young lass?', asks a member of Dark Justice.

'I was just going to talk, I wasn't going to do anything', he says shaking his head.

'You knew this girl's age. No one's forced you to come here tonight. You came here off your own back, off your own actions.'

He was later arrested by police officers when they arrived at the scene.

Newcastle Crown Court heard in October 2017 Lavelle started chatting to a 'Katie' and, after being told she was 15, started to warn her of the dangers of social media.

Prosecutor Jenny Haigh told the court: 'He told her to be careful while using Qeep as there was funny people on the site.

'When she said she would, he said I hope you do love, I would hate anything to happen to you.

'He also said Im a good guy, unlike most.'

The court heard Lavelle, who said he wanted to take the youngster on a coastal drive, turned the conversation sexual and messaged her in graphic terms, while saying he was 'lonely'.

Miss Haigh added: 'He said he enjoyed chatting to her but asked her to keep it to herself as he didnt want them to get into trouble.'

Dark Justice pose as young girls online to try to snare paedophiles. They invented the girl 'Katie' to try to catch Lavelle

Lavelle first started messaging what he thought was the schoolgirl on social media site Qeep

Lavelle, of Wellbeck Road, Walker, Newcastle, was arrested after he arranged to meet the teen but was confronted by Dark Justice.

He pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Recorder Sophie Drake sentenced Lavelle to 14 months imprisonment with a ten year sexual harm prevention order and sex offender registration.

The judge said she accepted Lavelles remorse for what he did is real but told him: 'You contemplated serious sexual offending against a 15-year-old child.'

Jane Waugh, defending, said Lavelle has had serious health problems, including cancer, and had worked all of his life until he was diagnosed.

Miss Waugh added: 'He is disgusted by his own behaviour.'
First Lady Melania Trump joined the effort to bolster Venezualan opposition leader Juan Guiado by meeting with first lady Fabiana Rosales at Mar-a-Lago.

The White House on Friday released hand-out photos of their south Florida encounter. The images of the two women smiling before a row of palm trees, and even posing for a selfie inside one of the gilded rooms of the president's luxury private club.

It was a display of camaraderie and affection that reinforced the administration's support for Guiado.

The images, along with comments from the first lady also released by the White House, cemented the position that the U.S. stands firmly behind the government of opposition leader Juan Guaido  even as Venezualan President Nicolas Maduro remains in power.

IN THE CLUB: First Lady Melania Trump poses for a photo with Fabiana Rosales de Guaido, the First Lady of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Thursday, March 28, 2019, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.

No reporters were allowed to witness the encounter, nor did they accompany the first lady to a local school where she met with children Thursday.

The first lady, a former fashion model from Slovenia, 'stands strong' with the Venezualan people, according to the White House. She also said the administration 'supports' Rosales and Guaido.

Rosales is a 26-year-old political activist who has represented her husband overseas as they seek to persuade other regimes to stand firmly in opposition to Maduro.

The first lady is in Mar-a-Lago with son Barron during his spring break. President Trump traveled in Florida Friday and is to return to his club later.

During their Thursday meeting, the two women discussed how children who have been affected by the tragedies in Venezuela and how Fabiana Rosales intends to assist in bringing the necessary relief to her people, according to a readout provided by the East Wing.

First Lady Melania Trump poses for a photo with Fabiana Rosales de Guaido, the First Lady of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Thursday, March 28, 2019, at Mar-a-LagO

Fabiana Rosales has been on a goodwill tour, and met this week with Vice President Mike Pence

The administration has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro remains in power despite a pressure campaign involving the U.S. and other nations

'I enjoyed speaking with First Lady Fabiana Rosales and learning about her goals for improving the lives of children in her country,' Melania Trump said in a statement. 'Our country stands strong with the Venezuelan people. The greatest gift we can give our children is freedom and the Administration supports First Lady Fabiana Rosales and her husband, President Juan Guaido, as they work to return democracy to the Venezuelan people.'

Earlier, on her visit to Washington, Rosales had an impromptu meeting in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, where he reaffirmed his support for her husband's bid to restore democracy in Caracas.

Her age, youthful energy, casual dress and globe-trotting ways has turned her into a prominent figure in her husband's campaign to bring change to the crisis-wracked country.

'Look, I am the wife of President Juan Guaido and I will accompany him on whatever route he takes and we will overcome whatever obstacles we face as we have done through all our years together,' Rosales told the Associated Press. 'But I got involved in politics because I want to change my country.'

'We will not rest. We are here to save lives and to give back freedom,' she said.

She has been on an international goodwill tour to drum up support for her husband.
Four years after the start of the conflict, Msgr. Hinder tells of a country "held hostage" by the struggling parties inability to "find a compromise". The hope of carrying out a pastoral visit in March 2015 canceled. And to send a priest to a Christian community marked by "material and spiritual" wounds and "worried" for the future of the country and of the Church.

Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) - The situation in Yemen four years after the start of the conflict "appears to be held hostage" by the struggling parties inability to "find a compromise", to seek a solution that leaves not only winners and losers.

Interviewed by AsiaNews Msgr. Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of southern Arabia (United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen), reveals his greatest desire before the end of his mandate: "I hope - he confesses - to be able to see Yemen again with my own eyes, before leaving my episcopate in Arabia ".

The prelate set foot in the country for the last time in December 2014, when signs of internal tensions were already visible. "I was in Aden - he recalls - where I blessed an altar of the cathedral and presided over the entry of the parish priest, who remained only three months". During the journey to the airport, he continues, "we changed the route at the last minute. Later I learned that the route we were supposed to take originally was the scene of an attack ".

The next pastoral visit was scheduled for March of the following year, but the entry of Saudi Arabia into the conflict and the escalation of violence blocked all the projects: "They called me from Yemen - says Msgr. Hinder - telling me not to come. Then two of the three priests left during Holy Week, accepting the requests of the Indian government [country of origin]. There is one left, but in 2016 he also had to leave for health reasons .

The Christian community has been deeply marked by the jihadist attack on the compound of the Missionaries of Charity of March 4, 2016, in which four nuns and 12 others were killed. The extremists seized a priest, Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, freed in September of the following year. "It would be a dream to make the pastoral visit - underlines the vicar  but any improvement of the situation" still appears far away.

In fact, in recent days eight people, including four children, died in an air raid that hit a hospital that works in collaboration with volunteers and activists of Save the Chilndren. Eyewitnesses report of a missile - probably started by a fighter of the Saudi-led Arab coalition - which hit a gas station near the main entrance of the Ritaf hospital, an agricultural area 100 km south of Saada. Already in the past Riyadh air raids had centered on hospitals or schools, with victims even among children.

There is still a climate of great tension and violence in Yemen. "Sometimes - says Msgr. Hinder - signs of improvement seem to emerge, then the process stops because the ability to reach a compromise is missing. Trust is needed, but the climate is lacking to rebuild it . To this, he adds, "whoever gains from the conflict and has no interest in stopping, known and unknown protagonists are playing games. The only innocents are civilian victims".

The war in Yemen broke out in 2014 as an internal conflict between pro-Saudi government and Shiite Houthi rebels close to Iran, but later degenerated in March 2015 with the intervention of the Arab coalition led by Riyadh.

So far it has registered over 10 thousand deaths and 55 thousand injured. Independent bodies set the toll (between January 2016 and end of July 2018) at about 50 thousand deaths. Since it only concerns the combatants, not the "indirect victims" (civilians) who have died from malnutrition or cholera.

Among the first victims there are children, who have died as a result of bombs or very serious malnutrition: at least 85,000 children under the age of five, according to various international humanitarian agencies. Recently UN experts have said that at least 14 million people are at risk of starvation. Moreover there are an estimated 2500 child soldiers and half of all young girls get married before the age of 15.

"On a humanitarian level - explains the prelate - the situation seems to have worsened, but the reality changes from region to region. Among the most critical nodes is the port city of Hudaydah, because goods, goods, and aids that are then conveyed into the area controlled by the Houthis enter from that sector, "while the opposite front tries in every way to block supplies.

Finally, there is the problem of "finding reliable and competent sources for gathering information". "Every now and then - he concludes - I can talk to some Christians still in the country, with not their concern for the future of the Church and Yemen. What are they asking for? In addition to peace, the possibility to love their faith and have a priest again.
President Trump pledged Friday to replace Obamacare with a 'much less expensive' alternative that will be 'so much better,' if the case courts nullify the existing law.

Trump has not said when the GOP will release the plan he claims to have directed a group of Republican senators to develop.

He told reporters as he toured a dike on Friday that the Republican plan will simultaneously cover pre-existing conditions and lower deductibles for patients without explaining just how it is they plan to do both.

'We are going to have a plan that is so much better than Obamacare. Obamacare's a disaster. We're going to have a plan that's so much better than Obamacare,' he insisted.

He was responding to a question about a challenge to health care law that the Trump administration is backing.

'It's losing in court. Right now, in the Texas court, as you know, probably ends up in the Supreme Court,' he said, 'but we're doing something that is going to be much less expensive than Obamacare, for the people.'

President Trump pledged Friday to replace Obamacare with a 'much less expensive' alternative that will be 'so much better,' if the courts decide it is unconstitutional

The U.S. president was in Florida on Friday afternoon visiting Lake Okeechobee and the Herbert Hoover Dike. His son Donald Trump, Jr., the state's governor and Republican lawmakers representing Florida in Washington accompanied him.

President Trump said Thursday he has asked a group of senators to work on a healthcare plan that will be 'far better than Obamacare.' He claimed his party will become the political party of health care, even though it failed, repeatedly, to pass a policy of its own wen it controlled both chambers of Congress.

'We're working on a plan now. There's no great rush from the standpoint we're waiting for decisions from the court,' he told reporters as he left the White House for Michigan on Thursday.

He said he's asked several Republican senators - including John Barasso, Bill Cassidy and Rick Scott - to take a look at the issue.

'They are going to work together, come up with something that's really spectacular,' the president said.

He also insisted the popular protection against pre-existing conditions will be found in the GOP plan.

'We will have a plan very better than Obamacare, including pre-existing conditions, which I've always been in favor of,' he said.

The portion of the healthcare law that offers protections for people with pre-existing conditions has proven to be on of its biggest hits among voters and Republicans are reassuring people it will stay.

President Donald Trump has asked a group of senators to work on a healthcare plan that will be 'far better than Obamacare'

Trump said he asked several Republican senators - including John Barasso, Bill Cassidy and Rick Scott - to form an alternative healthcare plan

'The Republicans will make sure pre existing conditions are protected,' House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday.

Democrats are vowing to fight back.

'We will fight that. We will fight that in the Congress. We'll fight it in the court. And we'll fight it in the court of public opinion, as I'm fond of saying,' Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

Trump is pushing his party to take the lead on healthcare, which was a winning issue for Democrats in the 2018 midterm election and a losing one for Republicans after they tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

'The Republican Party will become the Party of Great HealthCare! ObamaCare is a disaster, far too expensive and deductibility ridiculously high - virtually unusable! Moving forward in Courts and Legislatively!,' he tweeted Thursday afternoon.

His pivot surprised some members of his own party, who are now working to come up with a system to replace Obamacare should it be struck down.

The president is taking another swing at dismantling former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law - this time through the court system.

And when he lunched with Republican senators on Tuesday, healthcare was the main topic on his mind.

'Healthcare was the first thing out of his mouth,' South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters after the meeting.

'It was that, you know, we've got to be the party of healthcare, we've got to get pre-existing conditions, we're going to approve everybody that gets sick, they're not going to lose their coverage.'

A defiant Trump had told reporters minutes before entering the closed-door session that 'the Republican Party will soon be known as the party of healthcare. You watch.'

Elsewhere on the Senate side of the Capitol, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a brief press conference that 'if that is true, God help middle class Americans, because Donald Trump wants to raise the cost of prescription drugs, get rid of protections for pre-existing conditions [and] throw tens of millions of people off healthcare.'

The White House surprised much of Washington by pivoting to healthcare, an issue that could become a political liability in 2020.

The president made healthcare his theme of the day, seeming to snuff out the good news of his exoneration in the Mueller probe  or perhaps to ride the resulting goodwill to a domestic policy victory

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Trump stormed into a GOP Senate lunch meeting brimming with energy to pivot from bashing Democrats over the Mueller probe to reforming healthcare

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Tuesday that if Republicans are the new party of healthcare, 'God help middle class Americans'

His Justice Department asked a federal judge on Monday to declare the Obamacare law null and void, acting on an earlier ruling that found the law would be unconstitutional but for a legal mandate for taxpayers to have medical insurance.

That requirement is no longer in place, providing a new opportunity for the law to be challenged.

Graham said the president spoke about replacing the 2010-vintage Affordable Care Act with a 'modified block grant' system, suggesting a return to a divisive 2017 debate that doomed a proposal Graham authored with Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy.

The proposal was an amendment to an Obamacare replacement bill that would later fail in the Senate. It would have given the states new control over the Medicaid program and change the formula that dictates how much federal money each state gets, in a way that tended to favor Republican-led states.

Graham said the president asked Republican senators to 'challenge the Democrats to work with us. We're not going to give up on healthcare. It is an important issue and we think our ideas are going to work better for the public than Obamacare.'

'He said pre-existing conditions has to be the first thing we address,' Graham told DailyMail.com moments later in a private moment. 'We've got to let everybody in the country know you are not going to lose your healthcare.'

He said Trump entered Tuesday's lunch 'like a guy who just won an election... "I've got this behind me. It's a fresh start. Let's see what we can do. Starting with health care".'

Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt told DailyMail.com and other news outlets after Trump returned to the White House that Trump recognized the path forward will depend on the federal court's response to the DOJ's request to strike Obamacare down.

As Democrats clobbered his Justice Department for asking a federal court to invalidate the Obamacare law, President Trump seized the moment to declare that Republicans would soon be known as 'the party of healthcare'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats seized on the GOP's lack of an obvious plan to cover insurance-seeking Americans with pre-existing medical conditions

Pelosi recalled Trump's 2018 claims of caring about Americans with pre-existing medical conditions 'lies'

'It is really too early for us to know for sure what the court is going to say, and that is going to make a big difference on how you move forward,' said Blunt 'The president said to us exactly what he said to you  that he thought this was a great time for our party to step forward on healthcare.'

Moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins said the DOJ's decision to let Obamacare wither on the vine  'to even go more broadly in failing to defend the law'  is 'very disappointing.'

Democrats made defending the law a powerful messaging tool in the run-up to the 2018 elections, when polls showed eight in 10 Americans wanted to defend its most popular benefits including protections for insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

The strategy paid off: Democrats won a broad 38-seat majority in the House of Representatives.
A former soldier who tried to sue the Ministry of Defence for failing to provide antibiotics when he contracted Q fever lost his case today.

Wayne Bass, 34, from Redditch, Worchester, was diagnosed with Q fever chronic fatigue syndrome after serving in Helmand Province in 2011.

The former army private, who served with the 2nd Battalion of The Mercian Regiment, now takes 45 minutes to walk 600 metres and can no longer work.

Wayne Bass, 34, from Redditch, Worchester, was diagnosed with Q fever chronic fatigue syndrome after serving in Helmand Province in 2011

During his tour, Mr Bass was in contact with goats and sheep and 'was often required to take cover and jump through ditches and crawl along the ground, coming into contact with animal products and excrement', his lawyers said.

Diagnosed with Q fever after suffering from flu-like symtoms Mr Bass blames an absence of antibiotics for its progression to chronic fatigue.

Q fever is caused by breathing in dust particles from cattle, sheep and goats manure.

But Mr Bass said the MOD failed to provide antibiotics to cure the infection when intravenous antibiotics failed.

Mr Bass was repatriated back to the UK. The soldier then flew to Cyprus where he spent 24 hours before flying back to his base in Northern Ireland.

He then returned to his home in Birmingham and fell ill during an evening out with his wife in 2012, London County Court heard.

Mr Bass developed a high fever and experienced stabbing chest pain, joint pains, shivering, severe sweats, lethargy, breathlessness and even a slight black out.

He was discharged from the army in 2014 and was later diagnosed with chronic fatigue at the MOD's Headley Court Rehabilitation Centre in Surrey.

He told the BBC: 'On some days I'm OK, I can walk a few hundred metres but often I get breathless, have aches and pains all over my body for which I have to take very powerful painkillers.

'The nerve pain in my lower back and legs means that my back can lock up and I'm immobile.'

But Judge Heather Baucher QC, sitting at the Central London County Court on Friday, said the MoD had not breached its duty of care to Mr Bass.

Mr Bass was discharged from the army in 2014 and was later diagnosed with chronic fatigue at the MOD's Headley Court Rehabilitation Centre in Surrey

In her written judgement Judge Baucher said that the risk of Q fever was 'low' and there was no evidence to suggest this had changed when Mr Bass was deployed.

She added: 'There was nothing the defendant could do to avoid exposure to Q fever, save not to deploy troops to Afghanistan.

'I have found that the defendant is not in breach of its duty of care.'

Theo Huckle QC, representing Mr Bass, had previously told the court that as his employer the MoD should have identified the risks to him and taken 'all reasonable steps to minimise, remove or minimise the risks'.

In court documents setting out the case, it is argued that the MoD should have considered using doxycycline, an antibiotic used to treat Q fever, as an anti-malarial drug.

What is Q fever? Q fever is a bacterial infection you can catch from breathing in dust from feaces of infected farm animals such as sheep, cattle and goats. It's usually harmless, but can cause serious problems in some people. Symptoms include a a fever, aching muscles, tiredness, feeling sick and swollen glands. You can also get Q fever from drinking unpasteurised milk (milk that hasn't been heated to kill bacteria), but this is less likely. Although Q fever is rare, people who work closely with animals are more at risk, such as farmers, vets, stablehands and abattoir workers. In rare cases, it can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome. Source: NHS Advertisement

But Judge Baucher said there was no evidence to support claims that doxycycline would have been an effective preventative measure for Q fever.

She added: 'There is no evidence that because doxycycline is effective in a treating dose, it is effective in a preventative dose.

'It follows therefore that, irrespective of breach, that claimant cannot prove his case on causation.'

Judge Baucher said that despite losing his case she hoped Mr Bass can find a way to move she.

She added: 'I know the outcome will be a disappointment to Mr Bass.

'I was impressed with his resilience and demeanour during the course of the trial. I hope that now the case has been determined he can find a way to move forward.'

It was the first case to test the MoD's duty to protect against Q fever, said Hilary Meredith Solicitors, the firm acting for Mr Bass.

In a statement after the decision, Dianne Yates, a director at the firm, said: 'We will consider this judgment in detail before deciding on the best way forward for our client.

'Mr Bass, who was discharged from the Army in 2014, remains in poor health as a result of the Q fever he contracted in Afghanistan.

'While considering Mr Bass's options - including a potential appeal against this judgment - we will continue to support him in every way we can.

'We would urge the Ministry of Defence to do the same. His best interests must come first.'

In a statement a spokesman for the MoD said: 'The MoD follows the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which does not recommend vaccination for Q Fever.

'We carefully consider all claims and pay compensation where there is a legal obligation to do so.'
John P. Rivera, 23, was off duty early Saturday morning when he was fatally shot by a black man who police say was targeting Hispanic men

The slain Chicago officer who was killed while off-duty on Saturday in what police say was an act of race revenge was laid to rest Friday morning.

John P. Rivera's casket was carried into the Church of the Annunciata by his fellow officers around 10am as hundreds of mourners stood silently lining nearby streets on the city's East Side neighborhood.

One of the mourners was a middle-aged man who held a 'thin blue line' police flag as tears streamed down his face, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

Police say Rivera, 23, was sitting in a parked car with three friends, including his girlfriend, around 3.30am Saturday after leaving Stout Barrel House & Pizzeria when a gunman opened fire on their vehicle.

Investigators say Rivera shielded his girlfriend from the bullets during the attack.

Menelik Jackson, 24, and Jovan Battle, 32, have been arrested and charged with first degree murder in connection with the case.

Chicago mourners paid their respects Thursday to slain city officer John P. Rivera

Pallbearers carry in the casket for Chicago Police Officer John P. Rivera before the start of his funeral Friday morning

Rivera's casket was carried into the Church of the Annunciata by his fellow officers around 10am as hundreds of mourners stood silently lining nearby streets

Rivera's loved ones, fellow officers and locals from his community remembered him Thursday as a beloved member of his neighborhood with a bright future in law enforcement

Authorities allege that the two men were looking to shoot Latinos after a dispute with another group of Hispanic men on a party bus in a nearby McDonald's parking lot.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters Rivera and his friends had nothing to do with the men Jackson and Battle had allegedly fought with.

'I guess [Jackson] settled for [shooting] the first Hispanic he saw,' Johnson said.

Rivera was shot in the chest, mouth and arm. He was taken to Rivera Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead just before 4am.

Menelik Jackson (left) and Jovan Battle (right) are charged with first-degree murder in the weekend slaying of John P. Rivera who was repeatedly shot while sitting in a parked car

Family members arrive for Rivera's funeral Friday morning

Among the mourners Friday was Kristal Stosich, a local mother who brought her three sons to the funeral, including 10-month old Jack, who sat in a stroller decorated with blue ribbons.

'I want them to know that life is precious. I want them to support police and respect life, Stosich told the Sun Times.

Students from the East Side's Jane Addams Elementary School participated in the funeral profession, waving miniature American flags as they walked on the sidewalks to the tune of bag pipers who were marching along with the mourning caravan.

Some of students told reporters they aspire to be law enforcement officers like Rivera one day.

'I see future officers standing there now,' Assistant Principal Daniel Alvarez told them.

East Chicago resident Lorena Viveros said she has a son the same age as Rivera.

'As a mother, this is an awful feeling. I put myself in the shoes of his family and it breaks my heart. This is a young Latino man and he was just starting his life,' she said in Spanish to the Chicago Tribune.

Slain Chicago Police officer John P. Rivera (left) and his partner Nate Smith (right)

Rivera's loved ones and fellow officers remembered him on Thursday as a beloved member of his neighborhood with a bright future in law enforcement, the Sun Times reported.

'He represents everything that we have in our community. I can only feel for his family and his mother,' neighbor Patricia Aguilera told ABC 7.

On Thursday, Chicago 14th precinct tweeted remarks from Rivera's partner, Nate Smith.

Smith reflected on the friendship the two men developed working together. Rivera would have celebrated his second year as a cop in May.

'Words can't even begin to express the emotions, pain, sadness, and hurt in my heart,' Smith wrote. 'You weren't just a co-worker. John, you were one of my best friends I've ever had. And I'm always going to remember you and thank you for that... Until I see you again I love you brother.'

Two of the four people in the car with Rivera during the shooting were not harmed. His fellow wounded passenger was shot in the chest and arm is still in critical condition at a local hospital, but is expected to survive, according to the Tribune.
A Cincinnati couple were arrested after having sex in front of children at the city's SkyStar Wheel tourist attraction.

Michael Mathisen and Lauren Wilder were taken into custody about 6pm at the opening of the attraction - a 150-foot observation wheel temporarily in Cincinnati and scheduled to be toured around the country.

Court documents said Mathisen, 30, of Florence, and Wilder, 31, of North College Hill, were both drunk at the time of their alleged raunchy liaison.

Lauren Wilder and Michael Mathisen were taken into custody about 6pm on the Opening Day of the SkyStar wheel attraction - a 150-foot observation wheel that is temporarily in Cincinnati and will be toured around the country

The SkyStar Wheel has 36 enclosed and climate-controlled gondolas, each holding up to six passengers. The rides will last 12 minutes and include four revolutions

Both are scheduled to appear in Hamilton County Municipal Court at 12:30 p.m. Friday. More than 100,000 have ridden the wheel since its arrival in September

The couple 'engaged in sexual intercourse in the open in front of children and adults,' the report states.

Wilder, was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct and booked into the Hamilton County Jail around 6.30pm. She was released five hours later.

The SkyStar Wheel has 36 enclosed and climate-controlled gondolas, each holding up to six passengers. The rides will last 12 minutes and include four revolutions.

The couple 'engaged in sexual intercourse in the open in front of children and adults,' the report states. Both are scheduled to appear in Hamilton County Municipal Court at 12.30pm Friday

Mathisen was arrested on one count of disorderly conduct while intoxicated and is still housed at the Hamilton County Jail.

Both are scheduled to appear in Hamilton County Municipal Court at 12.30pm Friday.

More than 100,000 have ridden the wheel since its arrival in September.
Doctors have been blasted for missing a student's fatal head injury on his birthday night out because they thought he was drunk.

University of Bath economics student Alex Green, 22, was found unconscious at a bus stop in the city centre in the early hours of September 30, 2017.

He was taken to Royal United Hospital, but his injury - which included a fractured skull - was only spotted 10 hours later when he suffered a respiratory arrest.

Mr Green was transferred to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, but died there three days later.

Maria Voisin, senior coroner for Avon, said his death was 'contributed to by neglect' by hospital staff.

University of Bath economics student Alex Green, 22, died three days after hitting his head when doctors missed his fatal injury because they thought he was drunk

The five-day inquest heard that Mr Green should have undergone neurological examinations after arriving at the Royal United Hospital, experts said.

Patients suffering from alcohol intoxication usually sober up within four hours and questions should have been asked as to why Mr Green's consciousness was not improving, they added.

Ms Voisin found a number of gross failures that 'caused or significantly contributed to Alex's death'.

She concluded that the death of Mr Green, from East Molesey, Surrey, was an 'accident contributed to by neglect'.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Green's parents David and Karen described him as 'wonderful, bright, beautiful and kind'.

'Our grief is overwhelmingly painful every day,' they said.

'As a family, we are shocked and appalled by the lack of care given to Alex by both the South West Ambulance Service and the Royal United Hospital.

'Alex was in their care for over 10 hours, with a serious but detectable and treatable head injury which was not properly considered and never diagnosed.'

'There was an assumption by everyone managing Alex that he had been intoxicated when in fact, he had a significant head injury,' Ms Voisin said.

The coroner identified five failings with Mr Green's care, including the assumption that his reduced consciousness was due to intoxication with 'no corroborating evidence'.

She said Mr Green was not seen by a doctor for three hours, despite having a reduced Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, and was not managed properly after falling from his hospital bed.

He was not examined before being transferred to the hospital's observation unit and his reduced GCS was not acted upon despite never being normal, she found.

'There was also a gross failure to provide basic medical attention which Alex obviously needed,' Ms Voisin said.

Friends told the hearing they had surprised Mr Green with a birthday celebration in Bath on the evening of September 29.

At 2.42am, CCTV from The Second Bridge nightclub showed Mr Green picking up a female friend and them both falling over.

After this, Mr Green is seen holding the back of his head.

The group left the nightclub at 2.51am and went to McDonalds, with Mr Green seen walking alone in the city centre at about 3.26am.

He was taken to Royal United Hospital, pictured, but his injury - which included a fractured skull - was only spotted 10 hours later when he suffered a respiratory arrest

Ms Voisin said the last CCTV footage of Mr Green walking was at 3.42am, with a group of five students discovering him unconscious at 3.48am.

The inquest heard that there can be a gap in time between a person sustaining a head injury and the effects of it.

An ambulance took Mr Green to the Royal United Hospital at 4.35am, where he was noted to have reduced consciousness.

A paramedic concluded that the student's condition was due to alcohol, a view shared by a doctor who examined him at 7.15am.

This diagnosis was repeated during a handover at 8am, where the plan was to send him home when ready.

Mr Green was heard to fall from his hospital bed at 9am, but he was not examined and a decision was made to transfer him to an observation ward.

At 1.45pm, a nurse turned Mr Green on his side after hearing 'gurgling noises'.

He was noted to be in respiratory arrest at 2.05pm and given a CT scan, which revealed his head injury.

Mr Green was transferred to Southmead Hospital in Bristol for surgery.

'Due to the delay in diagnosis and transfer, the treatment was futile,' Ms Voisin said.

Neurosurgeon James Palmer told the hearing that Mr Green should have been given a CT scan by 6.35am, which would have shown his head injuries.

'[He said] a transfer any time before 11.15am would have led to a good outcome,' the coroner said.

Dr Basil Purdue, a forensic pathologist, described Mr Green's head injuries as 'spectacular' internally, but not externally.

The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust said it extended its 'sincere sympathy and apologies' to Mr Green's families and friends.

Bernie Marden, medical director, said: 'Following this tragic incident in 2017, we carried out an investigation and shared the findings with Alex's family and the coroner.

'We will now reflect on the coroner's findings and act on the further learning opportunities identified.'
Angelina Jolie was all smiles as she made her way to the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting in New York City on Friday.

The humanitarian arrived at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan to speak on the role women play as influential peacemakers.

Jolie wore a white blouse along with a high-waited black skirt. She accompanied the look with a sand-colored trench coat.

As she arrived, the actress greeted the Assistant-Secretary General for Africa Bintou Keit and posed for photos with Lieutenant Commander Marcia Andrade Braga, United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year.

Angelina Jolie was all smiles as she made her way to the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting in New York City on Friday

Jolie wore a white blouse along with a high-waited black skirt. She accompanied the look with a sand-colored trench coat

The A-List actress and UN special envoy for refugees delivered the keynote address at a conference to raise support for UN peacekeeping missions at a time when the United States is seeking major budget cuts to the blue helmet operations.

'I'm a patriot. I love my country and I want to see it thrive,' Jolie told the gathering at the General Assembly.

'I also believe in an America that is part of an international community.'

The actress smiles as she greets the Assistant-Secretary General for Africa Bintou Keit

She also posed for photos with Lieutenant Commander Marcia Andrade Braga, United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year

'Countries working together on equal footing is how we reduce the risk of conflict. It is how we avoid the need to send men and women of our militaries to fight and sacrifice overseas.'

The United Nations was set up to find ways of resolving differences peacefully and 'it is all in our interest for the UN to be made effective, brought closer to the lives of citizens, and not ever misused,' she added.

Jolie's praise for the United Nations stood in contrast with the disdain US President Donald Trump's administration has shown the world body.

Jolie was appointed to Special Envoy in April 2012 following years of service in working with mass population displacement

She delivered the keynote address at a conference to raise support for UN peacekeeping missions at a time when the United States is seeking major budget cuts to the blue helmet operations

Trump has cut US funding to the United Nations and his national security adviser John Bolton, a former UN ambassador, once remarked that if the UN's 38-floor building 'lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.'

Jolie, who has traveled to refugee camps worldwide, said that peacekeeping missions 'often represent the last and only hope for millions of people facing daily threats to their safety and their basic rights.'

The award-winning actress made an appeal for increasing the number of women peacekeepers in UN missions.

Jolie was appointed to Special Envoy in April 2012 following years of service in working with mass population displacement.
Ivanka Trump couldn't help but get excited to try on an exoskeleton suit Thursday as she toured the largest Toyota car manufacturing plant in North America.

The adviser to POTUS on job creation and economic empowerment, workforce development and entrepreneurship, clapped with glee as she walked around the facility in Georgetown, Kentucky.

A video from WTVQ then shows her getting kitted out in the item designed to enhance strength and endurance of assembly line workers.

She laughed as she and Governor Matt Bevin adjusted to wearing the piece, then with her jaw wide open gave him a two-handed high five.

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Ivanka Trump is seen laughing as she tries on an exoskeleton suit. She is pictured with Governor Matt Bevin

Ivanka was touring the largest Toyota car manufacturing plant in North America

Ivanka Trump got excited as she tried an exoskeleton suit Thursday in Georgetown, Kentucky

Republican Governor Matt Bevin joined her visit and laughed while dressed in the workers' kit

Susan Elkington, Toyota Kentucky President, explained how the Airframe by Levitate technology helps relieve stress from the body when working.

After learning about how Toyota creates opportunities to train skilled workers and the company doubled down on their pledge to create the same for 100,000, instead vowing to work with 200,000 people as part of the Pledge to American Workers campaign.

Sharing how the company was putting more investment into apprenticeships and job opportunities, she told her 6.33 million followers she had a 'great day'.

Trump seemed thrilled throughout her visit on Thursday and couldn't stop grinning

Trump took selfies with employees at the factory who surrounded her for a photo opportunity

Trump added: 'Since launching our campaign in July, we've reached 6,877,773 private sector pledges!!'

Two weeks ago Toyota announced a $13billion investment in the US and said it planned to create 600 new American jobs.

Trump was by North America CEO Jim Lentz's side as he signed the commitment.

Economic adviser Trump intently listens. Two weeks ago Toyota announced a $13billion investment in the US and said it planned to create 600 new American jobs with

Trump smiles as she leaves a roundtable discussion inside Toyota Motor Manufacturing Inc.

She told students and some of 8,000 employees: 'We have 7.3 million vacant jobs, but we have 6.5 million unemployed Americans.

'So, there are people who need those jobs, and these training programs provide them the pathway to those jobs.'

Trump added: 'This is a call to action for the private sector to join us.'

Lentz said in a statement: 'Toyota believes that continuous investment in workforce training is essential to ensuring we are prepared for the highly skilled jobs of the future that will define society and help sustain our economy.'

Car company doubled down on pledge to create jobs for 100,000 people and viewed to educate 200,000 as part of Pledge to American Workers campaign

Jim Lentz, Toyota North America CEO, left, signs a pledge to add education, training and re-skilling opportunities

The company was putting more investment into apprenticeships and job opportunities

Trump told her 6.33 million Twitter followers she had a 'great day' on Thursday at Toyota
Alex Jones claimed that the false statements he made after the tragic shooting in Sandy Hook were caused by a 'psychosis', according to his three hour deposition that was posted on Friday.

Jones made the assertion during the sworn deposition for a defamation case brought against him by families of 10 people who lost relatives in the 2012 shooting.

The Infowars conspiracy theorist asserted that 'the public doesn't believe what they're told anymore' because of corruption in the government and the 'mainstream media.'

He added: 'And I, myself, have almost had like a form of psychosis back in the past where I basically thought everything was staged, even though I'm now learning a lot of times things aren't staged.'

Alex Jones was defensive about his Sandy Hook remarks as he was deposed for three hours by law firms representing victims' families who are suing him. He claimed that a 'form of psychosis prompted a

The Sandy Hook shooting claimed 26 innocent lives, the majority of which were children's.

For years, Jones claimed on his InfoWars podcast that it was a hoax orchestrated by Democrats to trigger a crackdown on gun laws. He also claimed some of the parents who spoke to media outlets afterwards were crisis actors.

He has since admitted that he does believe it happened but is being sued by the families of some of the children killed for, among other things, emotional distress and defamation.

My opinions have been wrong; but they were never wrong consciously to hurt people Alex Jones

As part of their lawsuit, Jones sat for a three hour deposition and a video of it was released on Friday by the law firm leading the case.

It shows him squirming as he is confronted with some of the claims he has made and apologizing to the victims' families, saying: 'If I I had it all over to do, I'd do a better job; but I didn't do it on purpose be malicious.

'I'm not living this everyday. I'm not -- and I -- and I'm very sad for folks, you know, who have had to go through it and I'm sorry,' he said, adding that his memory of all of his comments on the subject was not sharp.

He went on to say he had never 'consciously tried to lie or hurt people' but had 'learned a lot' throughout the process.

'I, myself, have almost had like a form of psychosis back in the past where I basically thought everything was staged, even though I'm now learning a lot of times things aren't staged.

'So I think as a pundit, someone giving an opinion, that, you know, my opinions have been wrong; but they were never wrong consciously to hurt people.'

He repeatedly said that he did not remember videos he was being shown or could not understand the context of it so could not possibly answer the question.

'I talk four hours a day, and I can't remember what I talked about sometimes a week ago.

'Sandy Hook has been, in the aggregate, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of what I cover.

'And I understand that you've been living this and pouring over it constantly.

'I don't remember': Jones said more than once that he could not recall the context of a specific InfoWars clip so could not comment on it

As part of the deposition, Jones watched years-old video footage of himself speaking about the shooting where he suggested that the dead children's parents were crisis actors

'I have done almost no preparation for this. It's very  it gives me a headache, and I just  you're just showing me a bunch of edited tapes,' he said.

When asked if he knew the date of the massacre, he said: 'I don't know.'

Towards the end of the deposition, he said: 'I could have done a better job, in hindsight, and I've apologized for that.'

He maintained that elements of the conspiracy theory have merit and says he was merely doing his job by probing the issue.

'I was going over why people had -- the anomalies -- some accurate, some not accurate -- why people had questions,' he said.

The majority of his theories, he admitted, came from Wolfgang Halbig, a conspiracy theorist from Florida.

Jones said that he 'seemed credible at first' but became 'agitated' over the years.

They exchanged thousands of emails about the case and Jones had him on InfoWars as a guest.

'He seemed very credible anpd put together earlier on, but -- I can't remember the exact number -- he seemed to get agitated about four years ago, three years ago,' he said of Halbig.

One of the lawyers deposing him called Halbig a 'raving lunatic'.

Halbig's theories include that Avielle Richman, one of the children murdered in the attack, was still alive.

Her father, who was one of the parents suing Jones, killed himself this week. Jones also tried to justify publishing the address of parent Leonard Pozner, whose son Noah died in the shooting.

Two women are shown embracing outside the school on December 14, 2012, the day of the shooting when 26 innocent children and staff were murdered

One of the parents who complains Jones defamed him is Leonard Poezner whose son Noah died in the massacre

Jeremy Richman, 49, (right) was found dead from an apparent suicide at his Connecticut office on Monday. Richman and his wife Jennifer Hensel (left) lost their six-year-old daughter Avielle Richman (center) in the Sandy Hook massacre

'I mean, the guy's running an anti-free speech foundation,' he said, referring to Pozner's efforts to keep lies about his son's death off of the internet.

At another stage in the interview, he said did was not mocking the crying parents of children killed when he impersonated them cruelly on his own show and said he was merely 'showing what they were doing.'

Wolfgang Halbig, one of Jones' most relied upon sources, was described by one of the lawyers as a 'raving lunatic

The families allege that Jones knew the false claims about them being crisis actors were lies but he continued to push them because it made him money through advertisers.

He insists this was not the case and that he 'lost money' whenever he did a controversial episode because businesses did not want to endorse his views.

'Sandy Hook, before I was ever sued, lost money. 9/11 Truth lost me almost all my radio stations and lost money.

'Those type of really controversial stands, people don't like them; and they have crippled us before these lawsuits.

'And, I mean, in fact, we look back and you can see where we're talking about Sandy Hook and the listeners and everything goes down,' he said.

In the past, he defended the discussions on his show as 'rhetorical hyperbole' but denied it was defamation.

Jones has argued he was acting as a journalist and has previously cited First Amendment rights.
President Donald Trump said he is on board with Attorney General William Barr's decision to release the nearly 400-page Mueller report  minus several categories of redactions that are already drawing scrutiny.

'I have great confidence in the new attorney general, if that's what he'd like to do,' Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club Friday. 'I have nothing to hide,' the president said.

Then Trump went off on yet another attack against the Mueller probe, the product of which Barr would be releasing following a redaction process, according to a new letter from the attorney general.

'This was a hoax. This was a witch hunt. I have absolutely nothing to hide. And I think a lot of things are coming out with respect to the other side,' Trump said. The comment was a veiled reference to Democrats and other critics who have been set back by summary findings that Mueller did not find evidence that his campaign conspired with the Russian government.

'I have nothing to hide,' President Trump said Friday. He was speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago alongside outgoing Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda McMahon

By Friday evening, Trump took his attacks on Mueller online, casting the prosecutor who Trump earlier bragged 'totally exonerated' him as a partisan idolized by the 'Radical Left.'

'Robert Mueller was a Hero to the Radical Left Democrats, until he ruled that there was No Collusion with Russia (so ridiculous to even say!). After more than two years since the 'insurance policy' statement was made by a dirty cop, I got the answers I wanted ...' Trump wrote, referencing an FBI email uncovered through an Inspector General's investigation

'The problem is,' Trump followed up in another tweet, 'no matter what the Radical Left Democrats get, no matter what we give them, it will never be enough. Just watch, they will Harass & Complain & Resist (the theme of their movement). So maybe we should just take our victory and say NO, weve got a Country to run!' he wrote.

Earlier Friday afternoon, Barr told the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that he expects to release Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report in the next two weeks, and that he will testify publicly about it in early May.

In a letter to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Barr said the Justice Department is 'preparing the report for release, making the redactions that are required.'

'Our progress is such that I anticipate we will be in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner,' Barr wrote.

Democrats immediately pushed back on the categories of information Barr says he plans to hold back from Congress  and renewed their demand for a complete disclosure.

Letter: 'Our progress is such that I anticipate we will be in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner,' William Barr wrote to Congressional leaders Friday

'As I informed the Attorney General earlier this week, Congress requires the full and complete Mueller report, without redactions, as well as access to the underlying evidence, by April 2,' Nadler, a New York Democrat, said in response to Barr's letter. That deadline still stands.'

Nadler said it was critical for Barr to come before Congress 'immediately to explain the rationale behind his letter, his rapid decision that the evidence developed was insufficient' as well as 'his continued refusal to provide us with the full report.'

Nadler said Barr should work with Congress to request 'a court order to release any and all grand jury information to the House Judiciary Committee  as has occurred in every similar investigation in the past.' He called for Barr to testify 'immediately.'

One immediate battle line was already shaping up over information Barr said he would hold back because it might 'infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties.'

Although he did not spell out how he intended to carry out this goal, it raised the possibility that Congress might receive a document that would include significant redactions that would obscure evidence gathered about Trump business interests and other matters.

Mueller's report on Russia's 2016 election interference is 'nearly 400 pages long,' according to Barr, not including tables and attachments.

Mueller time: The almost 400-page report drawn up by the Special Counsel on whether and how Russia interfered in the election which ended in Donald Trump's victory will be published by mid-April

Letter: How William Barr told Congress that the Mueller report is due in a matter of a few weeks

His agency must scour it for classified information, details that could expose intelligence sources and methods, and anything that could bear on criminal cases.

Barr recommended a May 1 Senate hearing followed by May 2 House testimony.

He objected to his March 25 letter to a quartet of congressional intelligence committee leaders being described as a thorough 'summary' of Mueller's findings, saying it was only meant to reflect the special counsel's 'principal conclusions.'

'Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own,' he wrote.

Barr wrote in his March 25 letter that Mueller had found no evidence President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russians to impact the result of the election.

House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerold Nadler called for the release of the 'full and complete Mueller report'

He left open, however, the question of whether Trump may have obstructed justice by firing then-FBI Director James Comey.

Comey and anti-Trump partisans have claimed Trump intended to derail the counter-intelligence probe that preceded the Mueller probe.

Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein jointly determined that there was not sufficient evidence to support that allegation.

In Friday's letter, which also went to the two committees' ranking minority members, Barr said he doesn't expect President Trump or his attorneys to have an opportunity to assert executive privilege over anything in the Mueller report.

Such privileges can only be claimed by the president himself, and could be subject to court challenges.

'Although the President would have the right to assert privilege over certain parts of the report, he has stated publicly that he intends to defer to me and, accordingly, there are no plans to submit the report to the White House for a privilege review.'

What to release and what to conceal is 'up to the attorney general,' Trump said Monday at the White House.

The prospect of having the entire report open to public scrutiny, he added, 'wouldn't bother me at all.'

Democrats had spent the past week clamoring for the Mueller report's public release, with some suggesting that Republicans would try to keep it under wraps.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Barr's 'summary' was a 'condescending' and 'arrogant' encapsulation of a document the world has a right to see.

'Mr. Attorney General,' she said with her fists shaking, 'show us the report and we'll come to our own conclusions.'

'I think they are just scaredy-cats,' Pelosi charged. 'They just don't know what to do.'

She blamed Republicans' 'own insecurity, their own fear of the truth, their fear of the facts' for concealments that Barr now says he has no intention of making.

The president took an extended victory lap during a raucous rally speech Thursday night in Michigan.

'The special counsel completed its report and found no collusion and no obstruction,' he said. 'I could have told you that two and a half years ago very easily.'

'Total exoneration. Complete vindication.'

Trump said he wanted 'accountability' from Democrats and members of the media who promoted the idea that his 2016 campaign colluded with the Kremlin to tilt the election.

Recipients: William Barr wrote to Jerry Nadler (left), the Democratic chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Lindsey Graham (right), his Republican opposite number in the Senate, to tell them he will publish a redacted version of the Mueller report by mid-April

'Their fraud has been exposed,' he told a screaming crowd of more than 12,500, saying that 'they've now got big problems.'

Trump railed against 'this phony, corrupt, disgusting cloud' of suspicion that hamstrung much of his policy agenda during his first two years in office.

Later, he called the 'partisan' investigations and other pressure on him 'ridiculous bulls**t.'

Mueller completed his investigation on March 22, closing a 22-month chapter that began when Comey asked a friend to leak information to the press from memos he wrote after his private meetings with Trump.

Trump fired Comey in May 2017.

Comey later said he had hoped to generate public outrage about the possibility the president tried to interfere with FBI investigations, and that it would inspire demands for a special counsel investigation.

The president complained bitterly about what he called a resulting 'witch hunt,' blasting Mueller as an ideologically conflicted legal hitman who was biased because of an old business dispute involving a membership at a Trump golf course.

After Barr submitted his first letter to Congress, however, and Trump reveled in his exoneration, he told reporters he thought the special counsel had behaved honorably.

Instead he turned his rhetorical cannons on congressional Democrats including House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff.

'After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is dead,' he said. 'This was nothing more than a sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people.'

READ IN FULL: Attorney General Barr's letter to Congress summarizing the Mueller investigation findings Advertisement
Fabian Dusten Cardona, 18, faces a murder after a fatal shooting incident Thursday

An 18-year-old California man is accused of fatally shooting his mother at their home before police found him hiding behind a parked car while holding an AR-15-style assault rifle.

Fabian Dusten Cardona, 18, of Fontana, California, was arrested during an incident which occurred Thursday at about 1.44am, when police responded to reports of shots fired at a home and on the street, according to a Fontana Police media alert.

A 12-year-old girl was said to have been among the people who called 911 to report that a relative was shot inside the home.

When police arrived at the scene, they said that they found Cardona hiding near the passenger door of a white pickup truck, holding a AR-15-style rifle that he aimed in their direction.

After police fired a warning shot at Cardona, he dropped the rifle and surrendered himself to police.

Authorities said that they then entered the Cardona's home, where they found a 50-year-old woman  revealed to be Cardona's mother, Francis Cardona  with multiple gunshot wounds in her torso.

The woman was then taken to the hospital where she died from her wounds.

Cardona was arrested after police found him hiding near a truck, holding an AR-15-style rifle

Cardona surrendered to police after they fired a warning shot in his direction

A close up of the AR-15-style assault rifle Cardona was supposedly holding when arrested

Cardona's neighbor, Jeremiah Schultz, told KCAL that during the arrest, Cardona 'seemed a little disoriented cause he put his hands up and put them back down on his head, put his hands up, slurred speech.'

Neighbors also reported that Cardona and his mother had a history of fighting with each other at the home.

The 12-year-old girl who called police is said to be Cardona's sister.

Investigators said it appeared that Cardona had shot his mother before leaving their home and going to bang on two of their neighbors' doors.

Cardona then supposedly fired his gun at an unoccupied van that was parked on the street, before breaking into a pickup truck while waiting for officers to arrive.

The motive for the shooting is currently unclear.

Police said that nobody besides Cardona's mother was injured during the incident.

Cardona is currently being held in the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Jail records show that he does not have bail and that he is charged with PC187 murder. He is expected to appear in court on April 2.
The South Korean president announced the seventh meeting with Trump, on 11 April. In addition to diplomatic efforts for peace, Seoul plans exchange and cooperation projects. This year, 1,000 families divided by war will be able to exchange video messages. Intelligence reports indicate that Pyongyang has resumed its missile and nuclear programmes.

Seoul (AsiaNews)  South Korea will attempt to organise the first visit to Seoul by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a summit with President Moon Jae-in in order to improve cross-border relations and breathe new life into the process of denuclearisation.

After the failure of the US-North Korea summit in Hanoi, South Korea has not stopped its mediation efforts, announcing the seventh meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Trump, scheduled for 11 April in the US capital.

Meanwhile, intelligence reports indicate that North Korea has almost completed restoration work on its long-range rocket launch site at Dongchang-ri, on the north-western coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Last year, Seoul had announced a five-year plan to achieve complete denuclearisation of the peninsula, lasting peace and mutual trust with Pyongyang.

In addition to Kims possible visit, South Koreas Unification Ministry announced today that its officials are working to establishing regular inter-Korean meetings, a way deemed indispensable for resolving disagreements between the two countries.

In addition to its diplomatic efforts, Seoul plans to support exchange and cooperation projects such as the Kaesong industrial complex and accommodation facilities on Mount Kumgang (along the east coast of the Korean peninsula).

Seoul wants to restart the two initiatives in the hope that they will encourage Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.

Washington is opposed because it fears that they could undermine economic sanctions against Pyongyang at a time when little progress has been made in denuclearisation talks.

The Unification ministry has tried to be reassuring. The fate of the two projects is linked to the "close consultation" with the international community.

On the humanitarian front, the Moon administration is working on regularising reunions between members of families separated by the Korean War (1950-1953).

Recently, Seoul has secured a waiver of sanctions. The Unification Ministry announced that this year around 1,000 families will be able to exchange video messages.

According to some analysts, the latest revelations from South Koreas National Intelligence Service (NIS) that Pyongyang had almost completed the restoration of the Sohae satellite launching site in Dongchang-ri will weigh on the future of the Korean peace process.

In the latest statement to parliament, the NIS said that Pyongyang started work in February before the Hanoi summit.

Following agreements made with the US at the historic Trump-Kim summit in Singapore, the North had dismantled part of the site.

Lastly, the NIS noted that the North Korean regime seems to be keeping its uranium enrichment plant at the Yongbyon complex (north of the capital) in "normal operation" after stopping the five mega-watt reactor operations at the end of 2018.
The Cayman Islands has legalised gay marriage in a landmark case brought by a lesbian couple forced to flee the islands after their relationship was not recognised.

Chantelle Day, 32, from the Cayman Islands, and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush, 44, from the UK and Honduras, spent four years living away from home with their five-year-old daughter before bringing their case to the Cayman Islands' Grand Court.

Chief Justice Smellie ruled that the 'indignity' the couple had suffered could only be repaired by 'opening the institution of marriage to them'.

Only Northern Ireland and four territories in the Caribbean under British jurisdiction still refuse to recognise same-sex marriage.

Chantelle Day (second left) and Vickie Bodden Bush (second right) won their case in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands today legalising same-sex marriage

Peter Laverack (first right), who represented the couple in court, said: 'The judge agreed that under the constitution they are entitled to marry like any other couple that have chosen to spend their lives together.' (Pictured from left to right) Leo Raznovich, Ben Tonner QC, Chantelle Day, Vickie Bodden Bush and Peter Laverack

Chantelle, speaking to MailOnline after the ruling, said they were both 'lost for words'.

'We're just so happy right now. This is the result we were looking for.

'True equality, dignity and equal treatment, and we're really grateful for it.'

The couple moved abroad for four years after the Cayman Islands denied Vickie a spousal VISA and refused to recognise Chantelle as the mother of their daughter, who they jointly adopted in England.

They then spent two years living in Dublin, and two in London, before returning to 'make a stand for our rights'.

'If I was to go back home, I wanted to do it on an equal footing with a straight couple,' she said.

The Cayman Islands are a British territory in the Caribbean. The Grand Court's decision leaves only Northern Ireland, and four other territories in the Caribbean under UK jurisdiction still refusing to recognise same-sex marriage

The case was heard in court in February and the judgement was given today.

Their barrister Peter Laverack, who works at 5 Essex Court and was nominated as an LGBT campaigner of the year by PinkNews, said: 'The Chief Justice's judgement beautifully combines the common law and European Court case law, with a healthy dose of common sense.

'We made a plea for marriage or as a fall-back civil partnership.

'We won on marriage, and succeeded on all fronts, establishing violations of the rights to private and family life, freedom of conscience and equality.

'The judge agreed that under the constitution they are entitled to marry like any other couple that have chosen to spend their lives together.

'Chantelle and Vickie's relationship has finally been recognised. For too long they and their daughter were denied what loving couples and ordinary families take for granted.'

After the ruling, Chantelle said she and her partner were 'lost for words' and 'just so happy right now'

A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said they welcomed the judgement in the Cayman Islands

Which areas under British jurisdiction have legalised same-sex marriage? 1. England & Wales 2. Scotland 3. Guernsey (excluding Sark island) 4. Isle of Man 5. Jersey 6. Akrotiri and Dhekelia 7. Bermuda 8. British Antarctic Territory 9. British Indian Ocean Territory 10. Cayman Islands 11. Falkland Islands 12. Gibraltar 13. Pitcairn Islands 14. Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 15. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Advertisement

He wrote on Twitter earlier: 'Today we decriminalised homosexuality. Pleasure to work with on this long road with many bumps over the last 2.5 years.'

'Same-sex marriage is now lawful in the Cayman Islands!! Congratulations to my clients Chantelle and Vickie.'

The couple said they originally reached out to the UK Foreign Office in the Cayman Islands for help, but received none.

They filed to get married but, when that was rejected, they set up a GoFundMe page so that they could put together a legal team to fight the case.

Jonathan Cooper, a barrister at Doughty Street who had also advised the couple, said: 'Chantelle and Vickie should not have been forced to litigate in order to have their relationship recognised in law.

'It's a scandal that the Foreign Office made them do this. They could and should have insisted that all British Overseas Territories recognise LGBT relationships in law.

'Instead, they dragged the couple through the courts.'

A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office welcomed the judgement in the Cayman Islands.

'The UK believes that the strongest, safest and most prosperous societies are those in which all citizens can play a full, equal and active part,' they said.

The five British areas that are refusing to recognise same-sex marriage may place the UK in breach of international conventions at a time when the country is asking to be taken seriously on the international stage.
Drivers 'queued out the door' as many Post Offices ran out of International Driving Permits on what was thought to be the last chance to apply for one before Brexit.

The Post Office was blasted for being unprepared for a deluge of International Driving Permit applicants with stores across the country running out today.

Concerned motorists thought March 29 was the deadline to get their IDPs before a no deal Brexit as they joined lengthy queues for their permits.

But it was actually March 28 when new IDPs came in to force and there was never a deadline for applying for one.

Onjali Rauf needed an IDP to continue delivering aid to refugees in the EU but was forced to queue for two hours

The Post Office was blasted for being unprepared for a deluge of International Driving Permit applicants with stores across the country running out

Without a 5.50 permit British driving Licence holders cannot drive in European countries from April 12 in the case of a no deal Brexit.

And despite Brexit not going ahead today as previously planned panicked drivers rushed to their local post offices to get a permit.

Some customers were forced to queue for more than two hours and others joined queues that went out the door despite there being no deadline to apply for an IDP.

Andy Plested, a motorist, told ITV: 'The whole thing is a mess, a shambles, a worry. I am sure I am not the only person in this situation.'

Others took to Twitter to express their surprise at Post Offices running out of the permits despite the level of demand.

Phil Rogers tweeted: 'Just got an international driving permit 1949 because this Brexit is a shambles.

'Lady at post office were saying queues out the door yesterday and that everything is gone but the 1949 license. People want to go to Europe. They don't want this mess.'

Four types of permits are available depending on which country drivers are travelling through.

Drivers will need a 1926 permit to drive in Liechtenstein, 1949 permit to drive in Spain, Iceland, Malta and Cyprus or a 1968 permit to drive in all other EU countries, plus Norway and Switzerland

And if they are travelling through more than one country they need more than one permit.

Drivers will need a 1926 permit to drive in Liechtenstein, 1949 permit to drive in Spain, Iceland, Malta and Cyprus or a 1968 permit to drive in all other EU countries, plus Norway and Switzerland.

And if they're driving outside of the EU they need a new International Driving Permit, which supersedes the old version.

They are not required in Ireland.

Colin Boswell tried to get an IDP at a post office in Ealing Broadway but they had sold out.

He was told he could go to Slough or Heathrow where an IDP might be available.

He tweeted: 'Just been to the Post Office at Ealing Broadway to get an International Driving Permit.

'Guess what! They have run out. You could try Slough or Heathrow I was told. But we are driving not going by air. So much for a #nodealnoproblem. You couldn't make it up.'

Colin Boswell tried to get an IDP at a post office in Ealing Broadway but they had sold out. He was told he could go to Slough or Heathrow where an IDP might be available

And Onjali Rauf needed an IDP to continue delivering aid to refugees in the EU but was forced to queue for two hours.

She tweeted: 'Dear @PostOffice staff dealing with the chaos of #Brexit #IDP today, thank you for staying calm & not quitting your jobs! In the 2 hours I was queuing (so I can go on delivering aid to #refugees in the #EU) I witnessed 2 near-fights & utter confusion. Congrats @UKParliament #leavers.'

The Post Office said it may have been confusion over a cut off date for applying for IDPs that caused the spike in applications.

More IDPs are being delivered to Post Offices over the weekend and are expected to arrive by Tuesday, April 2.

A spokeswoman said: 'All post offices should have stock but there may be branches experiencing higher demand. That's because some people think there's a cut off date today which there isn't.

'There are 2500 Post Office branches across the UK providing International Driving Permits (IDPs).

'Some of these branches have seen high demand this week. We'd like to apologise to any customers who have been unable to purchase an International Driving Permit at their chosen branch.

'We have plenty supplies of IDPs and we have been providing branches with extra stock this week. Many will have received new supplies today and the remainder will receive this by 2 April.

'If any customers are travelling this weekend to a country where an IDP is required wherever possible we will be providing advice of the closest alternative branch offering this service.'
Shocking police footage shows the moment an aspiring rapper was shot dead by several officers who fired at him multiple times as he was apparently sleeping in the drive-thru of a Taco Bell in California.

Vallejo police released nearly 30 minutes of footage on Friday showing the shooting death of Willie McCoy, 21.

The 30-minute video begins with an explanation of the Vallejo police department's version of events on the night of February 9 when they found McCoy slumped in the driver's seat of Taco Bell parking lot with a gun in his lap around 10.30pm.

As they were investigating, police said that McCoy suddenly made a movement towards the gun in his lap.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO: WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

Vallejo police released nearly 30 minutes of footage Friday showing the shooting death of Willie McCoy, 21, (pictured), who was is in the rap group FBG

Six officers responded to the call and some fired their weapons multiple times at McCoy, killing him at the scene.

Footage released on Friday is from officers' bodycams and subtitles added to the video claimed that his gun was loaded with an extended 14-round magazine.

At the start of the video, one officer can be heard saying, 'there's a gun in his lap' and he suggests 'busting open the window' with his gun pointed towards McCoy.

They claim three minutes later that: 'He's moving,' with police subtitles saying that: 'driver then bends forward at waist, verbal commands continue.'

Multiple shots are fired at McCoy ten minutes into the footage as the officer shouts at him to 'cease fire' and 'let me see your hands.'

McCoy can be seen moving inside and several bullet holes are seen in the driver window and windscreen as they continue to shout 'Show me your hands, put your hands up.'

The footage then shows several angles of when the officers approached the vehicle before they shot at him.

One officer claims that McCoy is 'passed out but the car is in drive.' Footage of six officers is played in tandem to show where they were at precise moments during the incident.

Footage released on Friday is from officers' bodycams and subtitles added to the video claimed that his gun was actually loaded with an extended 14-round magazine

Police fire multiple shots into McCoy's vehicle around ten minutes into the 30 minute video footage

The officers involved have been placed on administrate leave as the shooting remains under investigation and the results of an autopsy on McCoy's body are completed

McCoy was pulled out unconscious a short time later and was later pronounced dead at the scene

Before the shooting, police can be seen up close looking in at him in the car as he appears to be asleep.

Police said they were responding to a call from Taco Bell employees at Admiral Callaghan Lane of a driver who was slumped over in the driver's seat in their drive-thru.

Vallejo Police Department also released the original 911 call recording that summoned police to the scene.

In a statement, they said on Friday: 'This is our first time releasing video in this fashion and it is our hope that we provided sufficient context for the community to understand the facts of this incident.

'We have also released the raw footage from the six involved officer's body worn cameras.

Police said they were responding to a call from Taco Bell employees at Admiral Callaghan Lane that McCoy had been slumped over in his car at their drive-thru

'To respect the privacy of the decedent and his family, we are withholding the portions of the videos showing officers rendering medical aid.'

McCoy was pulled out unconscious a short time later and was later pronounced dead at the scene.

His family attorney previously said that he was not threatening police and was shot at around 20 times, with his ear partially blown off.

Vallejo Police Department said that the incident remains under investigation in accordance with the Solano County Fatal Incident Protocol and additional details of the event 'are still being explored.'

His family attorney previously said that he was not threatening police and was shot around 20 times, with his ear partially blown off

Police withheld portions of the videos showing officers rendering medical aid to Willie McCoy to 'respect the privacy of' him and his family

They added: 'Once the investigation is complete, the Solano County District Attorney's Office will make their final determination.'

The Department claimed that it is continuing to work closely with the Solano County District Attorney's Office to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting.

'Any loss of life is a tragedy,' stated Police Chief Andrew Bidou. 'The investigation is still in the early stages, however, the following is a summary of the events that unfolded on the night of the shooting.'

They issued a statement claiming that, as officers were still positioning a patrol unit to the rear of the vehicle, and waiting for the supervisor, McCoy began to suddenly move and looked at the uniformed patrol officers.

It continued: 'Officers gave the driver several commands to put his hands up. The driver did not comply and instead he quickly moved his hands downward for the firearm.

The Department claimed that it is continuing to work closely with the Solano County District Attorney's Office to conduct a thorough and in-depth investigation into shooting

'Fearing for their safety, six officers fired their duty weapons at the driver. Officers continued to yell commands at the driver and ultimately reached through the broken glass of the driver's window to unlock the vehicle.

'Officers removed the driver from the vehicle, began rendering medical assistance and attempted lifesaving efforts on the driver. Unfortunately the driver was pronounced deceased at the scene.'

The officers have been placed on administrate leave as an investigation is ongoing.

Melissa Nold, an attorney for McCoy's family claimed earlier this month that he was shot around 25 times and had his ear partially blown off.

Nold criticized the way the incident was handled and said the cops had an obligation to 'avoid use of deadly force'.

She hypothetically asked what if McCoy had been experiencing a medical emergency at the time and needed help.

'Willie was a good person he didn't deserve that,' his cousin, Levonte Cole, told KTVU. 'I have no words for Vallejo police. They're supposed to protect and serve. They're not supposed to shoot to kill.' He also said that he had been sleeping at the time of the incident.
A seven-year-old girl from Guatemala died of a bacterial infection while she was under custody of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, an autopsy has revealed.

The El Paso County Medical Examiner's office released a report Friday of its findings in the death Jakelin Caal Maquin.

Maquin died December 8, a day after she was arrested with her father, 29-year-old Nery Caal, and 163 others trying to enter the United States at the Antelope Wells Port of Entry in New Mexico.

According to the medical examiner's report, traces of streptococcus bacteria were found in the young girl's lungs, adrenal gland, liver, and spleen.

The autopsy indicated Maquin faced a "rapidly progressive infection" that led to the failure of multiple organs.

The medical examiner did not determine which form of streptococcus bacteria Jakelin contracted.

DailyMail reached out to the U.S. CBP for comment.

Jakelin Caal Maquin, a 7-year-old girl from Guatemala, she died on December 8 of a bacterial infection while she was under custody of the U.S. Border Patrol

Jakelin's mother Claudia Maquin said: 'The girl said when she was grown up she was going to work and send dough back to her mom and grandma'

A sign outside the family's home announced Jakelin's tragic dead death

Maquin was one of two children to die in Border Patrol custody, raising questions about the agency's medical practices as it faces a surge in migrant families crossing the southern border.

Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, also from Guatemala, lost his life on Christmas Eve after being held at a detention center by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Nery Caal decided to leave Guatemala because he was tired of living in extreme poverty - as the family was surviving on just $5 a day made harvesting corn and beans.

Jackeline Caal Maquin died on December 8th a day after being detained on the border with her father. Her death has sparked humanitarian concerns about the US's treatment of illegal migrants in their custody. Above is an illustration of her final hours

Jakelin was the only child her father took with him from the family when they left their home in Raxruha for the US several weeks ago

GOVERNMENT TIMELINE OF GIRL'S DEATH December 6th, 9.15pm: Jackeline is detained at the Antelope Wells Port of Entry 10pm: She is looked over by border agents who clear her and say she has no signs of ill health December 7th, 4.30am: Jackeline is put on a bus with her father to be taken to the Lordsburg Patrol Station 5am: The child begins vomiting on the bus Agents call ahead to the Lordsburg station and keep driving 6.30am: Jackeline's father tells agents she has stopped breathing 6.45am: EMTs treat Jackeline at the border patrol station 7.45am: She is airlifted to Providence Children's Hospital in El Paso, Texas December 8th: Jackeline Dies in the early morning after a CT scan revealed brain swelling, liver failure, dehydration, and septic shock Advertisement

His daughter had dreams of also chipping in, too.

'The girl said when she was grown up she was going to work and send dough back to her mom and grandma," her mother Claudia Maquin said a week after her child's sudden death.

The father and daughter tandem left their hometown of San Antonio de Cortes on December 1, traveling more than 2,000 miles so Jakelin's father could look for work in the United States.

She was detained along with her father Nery at 9.15pm on December 6th as they crossed into the US in New Mexico illegally.

At 10pm that night, Nery was questioned about their health and, according to Customs and Border Patrol, told agents that neither he nor his daughter had health problems.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say he did not understand when he was asked in Spanish if his daughter was in good health.

He answered yes because his native tongue is Mayan.

Domingo Caal Chub, 61, (pictured), Nery's father, and the rest of the family are said to speak a Mayan dialect with both English and Spanish being their second languages

The Department of Homeland Security reported December 17 that the girl most likely suffered from septic shock.

Septic shock is a widespread infection that can lead to extremely low blood pressure and multiple organ failure.

Initially it was believed that she died from dehydration.
Officials say four of five family members killed in a suburban Philadelphia apartment earlier this year were suffocated, and the fifth was strangled.

It's the latest development since authorities charged a mother and her adult daughter with killing their close family members in February.

The Bucks County coroner's office said Friday that nine-year-old twins Imani and Erika Allen, 13-year-old Damon Decree Jr. and 25-year-old Naa'Irah Smith died by asphyxiation. Jamilla Campbell, 42, was strangled.

The deaths were ruled to be homicides.

Victims: Jamilla Campbell (left) was one of the family members killed in Pennsylvania, along with 25-year-old Naa'Irah Smith (right). Campbell was strangled and Smith was suffocated

Damon, 13, was among the dead inside the family's apartment (pictured)

Police say 46-year-old Shana Decree and her daughter, 19-year-old Dominique Decree, each face five counts of homicide and one count each of conspiracy.

The Decrees' attorneys declined comment. Prosecutors say the investigation is continuing.

Shana told police that 'everyone at the apartment wanted to die' and talked about suicide, including the children, according to court documents.

Her daughter claimed that one of the victims, her aunt Jamilla Campbell, 42, killed one of her own twin daughters, aged nine, before she herself was slain.

But a family friend told The New York Post another relative, Tyquilla Campbell, had visited both the mom and daughter after becoming concerned by their behavior.

Latasha Harris said: 'Tyquilla went there, more concerned for the kids, and they were basically like, "Get out of here, you're a demon. You're not wanted here, you're going to die". They said something about [how] the world is supposed to be coming to an end in February of 2019.'

Harris' daughter is the half-sister of the killing's two youngest victims. She added: 'I think the whole family was brainwashed by the mother, Shana. I'm thinking [Shana and Dominique] were waiting to die, also. They were all supposed to go, but it just didn't go according to plan.'

Bucks County District Attorney's Office photo released these booking photos of Shana Decree, left, and Dominique, right, showing marks on Dominique's neck

The mother and daughter (pictured together) are said to have thought the world was ending

Crime scene tape is seen at the Robert Morris Apartments in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, the day after police found the five dead bodies on February 25

Among the deceased are two other children of Shana Decree - Naa'Irah Smith, 25, and Damon Decree Jr, 13. Also killed were Jamilla Campbell's twin daughters, Imani and Erika Allen, aged nine.

The bodies were found on February 25 inside the unit at the Robert Morris Apartments in the Philadelphia suburb of Morrisville after Bucks County child welfare officials showed up unannounced and got no response when they knocked on the door.

A maintenance worker opened the door and found Shana and her daughter Dominique in a 'disoriented' state, according to court documents.

Matt Scott, Dominique's ex-boyfriend, told DailyMail.com last month: 'It's f***ing sick how she could do that, and it doesn't make any sense. Her and her mother were amazing people.'

He did say, however, that he has not spoken to Dominique since they split up in 2017 after about two and a half years of dating.

'Her family were very close,' Scott said. 'I don't see how this could have happened, especially with the mother: she was very religious.

'Every family has their struggles but they always stood together as a team, from what I could tell. I was in shock, I was like, 'This isn't f***ing real. They were so f***ing close.'

'I would have never expected this, or even thought of it. They were all so f***ing nice. Everyone is shocked about this; no one would have expected this, and the kids were so f***ing sweet. I'm just horrified, it's scary shocking.'

Victim Naa'Irah, pictured with her mom Shana, who has now been charged with her murder

Dominique (left) has been charged over the death of her aunt Jamilla (right)

An investigator steps out from the Robert Morris Apartments in Morrisville

Police responded at 4pm and found all five bodies in a bedroom. The apartment was in 'disarray,' according to Police Chief George McClay, with broken drywall and broken glass, overturned furniture, and other clutter.

Damon, Shana's teenage son, was found lying face up on the bed with his right foot jammed through the wall into the adjacent bedroom.

Neighbors had grown concerned for the family when nobody saw them outside the house for several days, NBC reported earlier.

One friend of the victims said she had tried knocking on the door multiple times on but received no answer.

She said: 'I saw the landlord and said, what's going on? And she said, 'we are doing a welfare check because trash is piled up out there for awhile to see if they are alright'. Nobody answered the door so the maintenance guys went in.'

Shana Decree, 45 (left), and her 19-year-old daughter, Dominique Decree (right), have been charged with killing five of their relatives, among them three children

Investigators carry out items from the crime scene during an ongoing homicide investigation

Both suspected killers received medical treatment at a hospital before they were taken into custody. They agreed to speak to the police without a lawyer present.

Dominique, who had injuries to her neck, initially denied knowing what had happened inside her family's apartment. She asked if her relatives were alive and talked about her desire to die, according to the documents.

Her mother Shana is also said to have pleaded ignorance and claimed that her sister Jamilla's boyfriend and two other men came into their apartment and killed everyone, only leaving her and Dominique alive.

Investigators went back to Dominique and told her that her mother has named a potential suspect. The 19-year-old then also pointed a finger of blame and her aunt's boyfriend and two other men.

Dominique, however, later changed her story, telling police that her mother killed one of her sister's twins, her own son, and daughter, Naa'irah Smith; that her aunt Jamilla choked her other twin daughter, and that Dominique herself choked Jamilla to death.

Thai Hall, 24, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, said she attended Morrisville High School with Smith and spoke with her about three months ago. Hall, whose mother lives in a neighboring apartment, said Smith was attending cosmetology school. She remembered Smith warmly.

'She was a happy person, happy person and cared for people,' Hall said.

Shana (left) told police that 'everyone at the apartment ... wanted to die' and talked about suicide. Dominique, right, initially said she did not know what happened

Shana allegedly killed her son Damon (pictured together, left) and her daughter Naa'irah, right

Bucks County's District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said at a press conference: 'This is a terrible tragedy.

'I just spoke with the family of all five of the deceased and we're all heartbroken. I wish I had better news to report.

'The people who committed these atrocious acts are now in custody and will be made to pay for their crimes.'

Detectives are still investigating how the victims died and it was 'premature' to suggest a motive, he said.

Authorities who had been looking for Campbell's 17-year-old son Joshua found him in Willingboro, New Jersey, where he was staying with friends, McClay said.

Weintraub earlier stressed the teen is not a suspect, saying authorities just want to 'ensure his safety.'
A group of high school boys in East Haddam, Connecticut are said to be facing criminal charges after a police investigation determined they were taking 'up skirt' photos of some of their female classmates.

Local police arrested three male students at Nathan Hale-Ray High School for allegedly taking the photos during school hours without the consent of their alleged victims.

Police did not indicate what the boys have been charged with.

The perpetrators, whose names also haven't been released because they are juveniles, did not attend school on Friday, according to WTNH.

Three male students at Nathan Hale-Ray High School in East Haddam, Connecticut were arrested for allegedly taking unsolicited photos up girls' skirts

Police in East Haddam said most of the photos were taken during school hours without the consent of the boys' alleged female victims

The school district's superintendent sent a letter to parents Thursday, saying there's a 'zero-tolerance policy' for this type of criminal sexual behavior

East Haddam Superintendent of Schools Brian S. Reas wrote a letter to parents Thursday that said the school district has a 'zero-tolerance policy' for such criminal sexual behavior.

'This type of alleged activity is illegal, intolerable and offensive,' he said.

The school did not indicate how many girls were victimized. Counselors were on site at the high school Thursday to aid potential victims, WTNH reported.
This is a job for Batman! Or, maybe not?

He may be the caped crusader but even Batman is not allowed to cross a police line no matter how honorable his intentions.

The realistic-looking comic book superhero appeared to have traded in his usual Batmobile for a pickup truck, but there was no mistaking who he had come to help - the local police force in Kelowna, British Columbia.

A person dressed as Batman tried to help officers in Kelowna, British Columbia

The wannabe superhero was captured on camera walking across to a police line

He was quickly turned away by police who said they had things 'under control'

The fearless fighter was caught on camera by a fellow motorist who managed to capture the humiliating turnaround after being told to return to the Batcave.

Batman was seen walking back across the street to his car looking rather sullen and rejected - his cape not flowing quite as majestically as usual.

If he'd have listened to his police scanner, he would have realized that the police were responding to a domestic incident and likely didn't need his help.

Upon approaching the armed Kelowna officers during the incident to offer them assistance, cops assured him that they 'had it under control'.

The Caped Crusader was seeing driving a pick-up truck as opposed to his usual Batmobile

The superhero was seen looking rather forlorn as he made his way back across the street

'We were driving home from a friend's house Saturday evening when a police car pulled out in front of us and blocked the intersection,' said Melissa Parent who shot the video an uploaded it to Facebook.

'He was followed by five more police cars, so we pulled over at a safe distance to see what was going on. Before we knew it, the cops had their guns drawn and Batman came out of nowhere, parked in front of us in his black Dodge truck covered in the Batman logo and sprung into action.'

A police spokesman told local media, 'Situations like this are dynamic and subject to change very quickly: the presence of 'Batman' or anyone else is an unwanted distraction and foolish as they are placing themselves at risk.'

The video of the unusual was sighting was captured by Melissa Parent from British Columbia
There are more firearms in Australia today than there were more than two decades ago before the harrowing Port Arthur Massacre.

The revelation comes after Al Jazeera broadcast its undercover investigation exposing recordings of members of Australia's One Nation party asking American pro-gun groups for money to help relax gun control.

One Nation Queensland leader Steve Dickson and chief-of-staff James Ashby travelled to the U.S. on a fundraising mission in September last year and were filmed saying they could 'change Australia' if given money.

There are more firearms in Australia today than there were more than two decades ago before the harrowing Port Arthur Massacre (Pictured: a selection of firearms on display at the Sydney Police Centre in Sydney)

One Nation Queensland leader Steve Dickson (left) and chief-of-staff James Ashby (right) travelled to the U.S. on a fundraising mission in September last year and were filmed saying they could 'change Australia' if given money

Al Jazeera broadcast its undercover investigation exposing recordings of members of Australia's One Nation party asking American pro-gun groups for money to help relax gun control

The secret recordings have brought to light the amount of hate gun enthusiasts have for Australia's strict gun laws and how the laws have weakened since the 1996 mass shooting.

While Australia's gun laws are some of the strictest in the world, it seems the number of firearms in the country has been steadily increasing.

Experts say there are now more firearms in the country than before the Port Arthur massacre with the number of guns per owner skyrocketing by 85 per cent.

According to Gun Control Australia's (GCA) Australia Institute report, the number of guns exceeds that of the 3.2 million firearms that existed before the massacre.

The amount of privately owned firearms in Australia was last recorded at 3.6 million in 2017, a 400,000 jump from the amount owned prior to the 1996 shooting.

The study found that in just 22 years, guns per owner increased dramatically from 2.1 to 3.9 while the number of licensed gun owners fell by 40 per cent.

It was also revealed that if the ratio of guns per owner remained at the same rate it was at in 1997, there would have only been 1.7 million guns in Australia by 2016.

There are now 100 people in New South Wales who own more than 70 firearms each, with one person in Sydney's southeast owning more than 305 guns.

The secret recordings have brought to light the hate gun enthusiasts have for Australia's strict gun laws since the 1996 shooting (pictured: Norm Legg holds up an armalite rifle which is similar to the one used in the Port Arthur massacre)

Experts say there are now more firearms in the country than before the Port Arthur (pictured) massacre with the number of guns per owner skyrocketing by 85 per cent

Another resident located in Mosman owns 285 guns to himself.

President of Gun Control Australia Sam Lee said over eight years gun lobby groups have donated $1.7 million to political parties and the watering down of gun laws led to the rise of guns in the country.

'An NRA style gun lobby is flourishing in Australia. It has deep pockets, extensive networks and parliamentary representation,' Ms Lee said.

'Like the NRA, the aim of the Australian gun lobby is to dismantle our gun laws. Gun laws that have kept Australians safe for decades.'

In the secret Al Jazeera recordings, Mr Dickson and Mr Ashby were filmed meeting with senior National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbyist Brandi Graham.

Ms Graham said if Australia's gun laws were softened, it would even have a positive impact on how the NRA is viewed in America.

'That helps us because the biggest argument we always get from folks is, ''Well, look at Australia'',' Ms Graham said.

'They are continually attacking us, it's never-ending.'
The white supremacist graffiti that was found in a Sydney alleyway has been removed more than a month after residents begged the council to get it removed.

Swastikas and racial slurs such as 'ni**a', 'white power', and 'f**k off g**ks' covered more than four square meters of adjoining Indian, Korean and Thai restaurant walls on Beecroft Road in Epping.

The removal was organised by the Parramatta Council after relentless resident and internet outcry.

Liberal federal member for Bennelong, John Alexander (pictured centre) attended the site to help painters remove the graffiti

'City of Parramatta is a proud multicultural community. Council's Community Strategic Plan specifically identifies being welcoming and celebrating culture and diversity as a key objective,' a council spokeswoman told The Daily Telegraph.

Liberal federal member for Bennelong, John Alexander helped painters remove the graffiti.

'There is no place in Bennelong for horrifically divisive views of this kind, I condemn this graffiti in the strongest possible terms,' Mr Alexander said.

He said the diverse multicultural community was represented through the two painters, Oli and Ibby from Parramatta Council, who helped remove the hate-speech on Friday.

Mr Alexander helped Parramatta Council workers Oli and Ibby (pictured left and right) remove the offensive graffiti on Friday

'[They're] top blokes who represent the best that we are as a community. I was proud to have met them and to assist them in painting over the offensive markings of the vandals,' he said.

The graffiti was brought the council's attention after a man posted images of the offensive graffiti to his Facebook page on Wednesday.

'I almost lost my appetite - not only for what these filthmongers had done to the place... but for the knowledge that my own flesh and blood had to tread alone through this neighbourhood amidst such human garbage', Anouk De Silva wrote.

'Nobody deserves that.'

Owners of the restaurant Thai Place, whose walls have also been targeted, say the racist graffiti was there for two years - but it always gets added to

People in the comments section of his post were equally as disturbed by the racist ramblings.

'It's sick!! Sadly it is a sign of the times we live in', one Facebook user wrote.

'These are probably done by the same people that say s**t like, ''my grandfather fought in WWII to protect the Australian way of life'', read another comment, '

Another user pointed out the Star of David signs in the graffiti.

'Epping isn't exactly an area where lots of Jewish people live so what's with the Star of David signs? Pathetically uneducated.'

Swastikas and racial slurs such as 'ni**a', 'white power', and 'f**k off g**ks' covered more than four square meters of the wall, in Epping in Sydney's north

Owners of the restaurant Thai Place, on Beecroft Road, whose walls have also been targeted, say the racist graffiti had there for two years and it always gets added to.

'We close at 10pm, so whoever is doing it must be coming after midnight', the owner said.

'The Indian restaurant's doors are covered in the paint, but we don't know who [did it]'
The estranged wife of former hostage Joshua Boyle says he struck her, tied her ankles and wrists with rope and forced her to have sex during an incident following the couple's forced captivity in Afghanistan.

Caitlan Coleman, 33, traveled from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her family to testify Friday at her husband's assault trial in Ottawa, Canada.

Boyle, 35, has pleaded not guilty to a number of criminal charges for alleged offenses against Coleman, including assault, sexual assault and unlawful confinement.

Coleman told court Friday: 'Some of the details are a little bit fuzzy, but he was angry over the fact that I told him that I didn't want to have anal sex, which was something that he expressed to me that he wanted and that he felt he had a right to have with me.

'I was feeling I can't do this anymore.I suggested to Josh I was going to take the children and leave. I just can't do this anymore.

'He got extremely angry. He hit me. My face. He was very, very, very angry at me, that I can't try to leave him.

'He took ropes he kept in a bag and he started to tie my hands and legs. I wasn't resisting him. I was very scared of him so I was just doing what he was telling me to do.'

Caitlan Coleman, the estranged wife of former Afghanistan hostage Joshua Boyle says Boyle allegedly struck her, tied her ankles and wrists with rope and forced her to have sex during an incident following the couples forced captivity in Afghanistan

Joshua Boyle and his father Patrick Boyle arrive to court in Ottawa on Monday. Boyle has gone on trial in Canada on charges that he repeatedly assaulted his wife

Former Taliban hostage Caitlan Coleman, the estranged wife of fellow hostage Joshua Boyle, arrives at the courthouse for his criminal trial in Ottawa Wednesday

A screengrab of a YouTube video published by Taliban media in 2016 shows Caitlan Coleman, Joshua Boyle and their children during their captivity

She claims he then bound her wrists behind her back and tied her ankles together and refused to untie them.

In testimony via closed-circuit television to keep away from Boyle, Coleman added: I think I might have asked him, "Why?" He explained that he couldn't trust me; that I would leave if he untied me. I started crying and I think I was pleading with him to untie me.

'I was never to disagree with him, even on small things,' she said. 'In the past, he made it clear he didn't feel any guilt hurting me.'

Boyle and his wife were taken hostage in 2012 by a Taliban-linked group while on a backpacking trip in Afghanistan.

The couple had three children during their five years in captivity. She had their first son in 2013, their second in 2015 and their daughter in 2017.

At some stage during the captivity, she also miscarried another baby girl.

The family was rescued in 2017 by Pakistani forces. Boyle was arrested in December that year. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

He is expected to claim in court that his estranged spouse consented to the 'physical, sexual, and emotional' abuse after the trauma of her kidnapping.

The pair married in 2011 during a different trip in Central Asia. They both, he said, had an interest in BDSM and travel

A partial gag order was lifted as the trial started, revealing that all but one of the 19 charges relate to his American wife.

The other victim in the case has not been named in accordance with a legally mandated publication ban.

Boyle and his wife were taken hostage in 2012 by a Taliban-linked group while on a backpacking trip in Afghanistan.

Boyle has pleaded not guilty to a number of criminal charges for alleged offenses against Coleman, including assault, sexual assault and unlawful confinement

Coleman described in documents how Boyle, who she says tricked her into going to Afghanistan in 2012 where they were kidnapped by the Taliban, piled onto her suffering during the five years they were held against their will.

Coleman added that her husband, who was arrested for sexual assault shortly after returning to Canada, had been obsessed with extremist Islam for years.

'I would like to stress, most strongly, that for more than a decade, the respondent (Boyle) has had an interest in extremist ideologies and in the complete subservience of women.

'I have never shared that interest,' she said.

Coleman claimed he tricked her into going to Afghanistan in 2012 by first taking her to Central Asia, when she was five months pregnant, and then telling her they would enter the Taliban stronghold for him to pursue a story as an aspiring journalist.

In late January, Boyle was determined fit to stand trial - though he was transferred from prison to a secure mental health facility for further assessment and psychiatric treatment.

Boyle, his American wife Caitlan and their three children were freed in October 2017 in Pakistan. They are pictured with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau following their release.

The pair married in 2011 during a different trip in Central Asia. Before setting off when she was pregnant, they split up briefly.

Boyle, who denies abusing her and says she was neglectful of their children and him in captivity, explained in his own court submissions how they met online.

They both, he said, had an interest in BDSM and travel.

'We both enjoyed BDSM. We both wanted to travel by way of backpacking, and we both wanted to see the world,' he said.

He contended that Coleman knew about his plans to travel to Afghanistan and that she did nothing to look after the children in captivity.

Boyle even claimed their captors referred to him as the children's mother and father because Coleman apparently did so little.

Before marrying Coleman, Boyle was married to the sister of Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a senior al-Qaida financier who had contacts with Osama bin Laden.
The police also detained the episcopal vicar, Fr. Zhang Jianlin. A priest banned from ministry accused him of "not following the Vatican's instructions" and urged the police to arrest him. The faithful and the priests of the diocese are asking Christians worldwide for prayers for a "safe return as soon as possible". From 2007 onwards, Msgr. Cui Tai has been subjected to continuous detention or house arrest.

Rome (AsiaNews)  The underground bishop of Xuanhua (Hebei) Agostino Cui Tai, was taken away by police yesterday, faithful of the diocese report adding that the episcopal vicar, Fr. Zhang Jianlin was arrested with him.

At the moment the official reason for his arrest or the length of his detention are unknown. Msgr. Cui Tai had to struggle to assert his authority as a bishop (recognized by the Holy See) against a priest, Fr. Zhang Li, who accused him of not following the Vatican's directions.

According to Fr. Zhang Li the agreement signed between China and the Holy See establishes the end of the underground Church and from now on all the faithful and bishops must flow back into the official Church.

Strengthened by the support of the local government, Fr. Zhang Li also pushed the police to arrest the bishop.

After appealing to the "competent Holy See authority ", the episcopal vicar and then the bishop intervened by banning the priest from ministry.

After a few days, Msgr. Cui Tai was taken by police for 15 days, prompting him to lift the ban. The ban on Fr. Zhang Li from ministry is also motivated by the fact that he is the promoter of a "Pentecostal" group in ambiguous collaboration with a Protestant pastor, in which miraculous effects [of prayer] are exaggerated, and miracles invented.

According to some priests, the reason for the new arrest is precisely the fact that Msgr. Cui Tai "exposed" publicly revealing his episcopal identity: this is considered illegal, because he is recognized by the Holy See, but not by the government. The faithful and priests of the diocese ask Christians throughout the world to pray for them, hoping that they "return safely as soon as possible".

Since 2007, the authorities have illegally detained or placed Msgr. Cui Tai under house arrest almost continuously, without any reason and without any legal process.

During these years, the bishop was often locked up in various secret detention centers, or in hotels, or taken away for forced "trips" under the escort of government officials.

In these years, only during the Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival (of the moon) Msgr. Cui Tai could occasionally return home for a brief visit to his elderly sister. For the rest of the time he has always remained under the guard and control of the government.

The Diocese of Xuanhua was founded by the Holy See since 1946, but in 1980 the government formed the official diocese of Zhangjiakou, joining it with that of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi. The diocese of Zhangjiakou is not recognized by the Holy See.
This spring Saturday was meant to be Day One of a glorious new era. After 46 years in the EU, Britain was supposed to be a sovereign state again, no longer partly ruled by bureaucrats in Brussels who dont go to the bother of getting elected.

Instead of that joyous state of affairs, we are sinking further into the mire. After Theresa Mays third, and pretty resounding, defeat in the Commons yesterday afternoon, we find ourselves at the mercy of the European Union, which we thought we had escaped.

EU leaders may now offer us a lengthy extension beyond April 12, but at the cost of our taking part in Euro elections at the end of May. Some  me included  doubt whether we will ever leave. A general election and a Marxist Corbyn government may lie ahead.

The Independent Group and SNP MPs pose for pictures in the Chamber last month

How did this great betrayal happen? Why have 17.4 million votes cast in the referendum nearly three years ago been set aside amid chaos and in-fighting? The people of this country find themselves more frustrated and divided than at any time in living memory, and politicians can only lead them deeper into the mess.

And so it has become fashionable, particularly in Left-wing circles, to say our political system is broken. Our unwritten constitution, based on the 1689 Bill of Rights, is declared redundant. It may have served us well during Britains greatest days. It may have guided us through World War II. But it has been unequal to the challenges of Brexit.

Some assert we need a written constitution. I heard one supposedly knowledgeable expert on the BBC enthusiastically propose that we copy the example of South Africa  a novel idea since that country is one of the most corrupt and least well-governed on earth.

Others aver that the two-party system is moribund and we need proportional representation to deliver us from its dead hand. Its said we must have more devolution to counter the excessive power of central government  not that this allegedly unruly beast has exactly been on the rampage in recent months.

A few even suggest that a vigorous new broom should sweep away the knee breeches and wigs and coronets and State carriages and all the paraphernalia acquired over the centuries, including perhaps even the monarchy itself, and replace them with the unfussy appurtenances of the modern age.

It would be foolish, after the political convulsions of the past few months, to argue that there is nothing in our political arrangements that should be changed. Im sure improvements could be made.

But Im convinced that the problem is not so much a defective system as a failed political class. Its not the rat-infested, antiquated House of Commons letting us down  as Green MP Caroline Lucas claimed on Radio Fours Today programme yesterday  but the MPs sitting on its benches.

Lets conduct a brief thought experiment. Imagine that instead of emerging from the 2017 General Election as the wounded leader of a minority government, Theresa May had romped home with a majority of more than 150, as early polls suggested she would.

Prime Minister Theresa May (next to Andrea Leadsom and Geoffrey Cox) during a debate on Brexit in the House of Commons on Friday

Do we seriously suppose that in those happy circumstances she would have been unable to deliver a version of Brexit that would have satisfied the reasonable majority in Parliament and the country (i e. not the head bangers on the extremes of Remain and Leave) to get it through the Commons?

Surely its highly likely that, if she had had such a stonking majority, our now stricken Prime Minister would have been able to shape an acceptable Brexit, and would have done so without repeatedly having to rattle her begging bowl in an excruciatingly humiliating way under the condescending noses of EU panjandrums.

Oh, what joy there would have been! Today we would be celebrating a triumph of democracy, not grieving over our national embarrassment as the laughing stock of Europe. No one would suggest our political system is broken.

What has happened is that the peculiar  and, in modern British history, relatively unusual  conditions of minority government have exposed the shocking limitations of our political leaders on both sides of the House.

Without a comfortable majority, Mrs May was never going to be equal to the task of delivering Brexit. She might have coped with lesser problems (as the 1974-79 Labour administration struggled through with Liberal support) but not a divisive and once-in-a-lifetime issue.

Needless to say, she has been admirably resilient, and worked as tirelessly as was possible. But she lacks the empathetic skills to attract doubters in her own party and among opposition MPs to her cause, and her stubbornness and rigidity of mind made her a poor negotiator.

Moreover, she has been cursed with a Cabinet which, despite one or two exceptions such as Michael Gove, is one of the most mediocre in living memory. It has several members who would be fortunate to hold down jobs in middle management.

Errors of judgment by the hapless Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary, are legion, not least in relation to his No Deal planning. Gavin Williamson must be one of the intellectually feeblest Secretaries of Defence ever to occupy that great office of State.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling smiles as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday

His most ludicrous faux pas was his recent indication that he might despatch Britains sole aircraft carrier to the South China Sea even though it lacks planes, and could be sunk by the Chinese in minutes. The government in Beijing cancelled a trip which the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, had been planning to make to China. Few in the Cabinet have much knowledge or experience of foreign affairs, far less the inscrutable workings of the EU. Which among them could with any accuracy be described as statesmanlike?

The ineptitude of our rulers is by no means restricted to Brexit, though it is undeniably most painfully felt there. There is good reason to think that under Tories or Labour we are less well governed than we used to be.

The last Labour government managed to fight an illegal war in Iraq which cost the lives of 179 British soldiers, and a futile war in Afghanistan which accounted for the lives of 454 military personnel.

For years the Home Office, described by one former Labour Home Secretary as not fit for purpose, has been a by-word for incompetence. Its latest dereliction of duty was to deport at least 83 black British subjects in the so-called Windrush scandal.

Whether we are considering inefficiencies in the NHS or a falling clear-up rate by the police or a dysfunctional welfare system, there is a mountain of evidence that the political class is not up to running the country.

To return to the catastrophe of Brexit: if the current Tory front bench is weak and ill-suited to meet its challenges, Labour is uniquely ineffectual. Whereas the 1964 Labour Cabinet was crammed with Oxford firsts and men with practical experience, todays Shadow Cabinet has perhaps a couple of people of intellectual distinction, and many who have never had a proper job.

Foremost among them, of course, is polytechnic drop-out and life-long Marxist ideologue, Jeremy Corbyn. Its not just his mental equipment which needs a good overhaul. The man who offered himself as a breath of fresh air has turned out to be politically poisonous.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking on a point of order in the House of Commons on Friday

What prevented Labour from supporting the Withdrawal Agreement yesterday? Corbyn had previously expressed no significant quarrel with its terms for our extricating ourselves from the EU. But he nonetheless refused to back what he called a blindfold Brexit.

And yet the Withdrawal Agreement is very specific. It is the non-legally binding and aspirational Political Declaration, which was not voted on yesterday, that might reasonably be described as blindfolded.

The truth is that Corbyn will cynically seize any pretext he can find to oppose the Government because he hopes to precipitate a general election, which he believes he would win  and then unleash his madcap Marxist experiment on an unsuspecting public.

The pity of it is that he may now succeed, and Britain could face economic impoverishment at his hands and his sinister comrade-in-arms John McDonnell, by the side of which No Deal  not that I think it will happen  would resemble a stroll in the park.

Has any political leader ever so egregiously put party before country at a time of national crisis as Corbyn? In May 1940, the Labour leader, Clement Attlee, joined a coalition government led by Winston Churchill. He wasnt even thinking about Labours electoral prospects.

Alas, its not just the leadership of both main parties that have failed so lamentably to rise to the occasion. There are plenty more minor players who are equally authentic representatives of a failed political class.

Look at the Tory European Research Group (ERG). I dont doubt their members have principles. But some of them are also cussed characters who are constitutionally incapable of compromise, which is an essential part of successful government, and was once considered a quint- essentially British political virtue.

For example, the ERGs Mark Francois, a combative little bruiser who makes a great deal of his short time in the army, insisted on Thursday that I would rather put a gun in my mouth than vote for Mrs Mays deal.

Mark Francois, a Tory member of the European Research Group, walks through Westminster yesterday

Around the same time, Steve Baker, deputy leader of the ERG and a man of scary certainty, announced he would oppose the deal and would rather bulldoze Parliament than fall into line. Why do these people favour such apocalyptic language?

Even more intransigent are the ten Democratic Unionist Party MPs, an insular sect which claims to uphold the union but in reality thinks only of its own interests in Northern Ireland. Mrs Mays grisly supposed allies, although they voted against her yesterday, are an extremist party with links to the provinces terrorist past.

Meanwhile on the Remain side there are plenty of tin-pot Napoleons. What unites them is their self-importance and their hunger for the limelight, the Soubrys, Grieves, Wollastons et al. How they relish their moment in the sun!

Above them all looms Speaker John Bercow, the most preposterous figure in a crowded field. Almost unbelievably, this creature is venerated by some television news addicts abroad as an engagingly eccentric Englishman.

Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow gestures as he officiates on Friday

To many more weary British eyes, he is a Remain activist vaingloriously trying to scupper the whole Brexit process by a one-sided appeal to precedent in defiance of the votes of 17.4 million people. He made no attempt to conceal his delight as he announced the cataclysmic vote.

With a cast of characters like these, its not surprising that public esteem for our politicians is rock bottom. Naturally, I dont deny that on all sides of the Commons there are sensible and committed MPs. Unfortunately their voices have been drowned out.

No, what we see is a political class whose upper echelons are less competent than perhaps at any time in the past 200 years while, lower down the food chain, there are foot soldiers who are bigoted, parochial, and too partisan to accept the need to compromise.

And theyre sometimes venal, too. According to recent figures published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, MPs are claiming 22 per cent more in taxpayer-funded expenses than they did a decade ago before the expenses scandal was exposed.

Much of the increase reflects higher staffing costs, which some may consider reasonable. But some MPs are charging for first-class train travel and business class flights  contrary to the spirit, if not the letter, of a supposedly more frugal expenses regime.

In all manner of ways, our politicians assume they occupy a different moral universe to the rest of us. While Theresa Mays political corpse is still warm, Tory Cabinet ministers are already publicly jostling for her job. Have they no shame? Cant they grasp what we think of them?

Ive been amazed over recent months by how well-informed most people I meet are about Brexit, whether Remainers or Leavers. Its a curious paradox that while the public grows more knowledgeable, the political class deteriorates.

The sad truth is that the best and brightest are no longer going into politics, though of course there are exceptions. Its not first-past-the-post or the two-party system or our ancient institutions that are the blight. Its our pygmy politicians.

No one knows where our country is heading. Therell be months of tiresome negotiations. We may well never leave the EU. Well certainly never get the Brexit 17.4 million people voted for. We could have an election, and a Corbyn government, and the ruination of Britain.

Tens of millions of people, including thoughtful Remainers, will blame a fractious, blind and selfish political class. The legacy of this Brexit debacle will be a lack of respect for our political masters bordering on contempt  and a perilous gulf between the rulers and the ruled that grows ever wider.
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Protests at Britain's Brexit chaos ran deep into the night as Theresa May hinted she would have a fourth attempt at passing her deal.

The country is now facing the chaos of a general election to break the Brexit deadlock after Mrs May told the Commons: I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House.

Demonstrators clashed with police officers during pro-Brexit rallies across London last night to voice their dismay at the country's deepening crisis.

The Prime Minister has also hinted that she may have yet another attempt at pushing her withdrawal deal through the Commons next week.

But her fourth attempt can only come after rebel MPs hold a second round of indicative votes on alternatives to her deal on Monday.

Demonstrators clash with police officers during a pro-Brexit rally in Parliament Square last night as the crisis deepens

Brexit supporters were pictured burning a European Union flag near Trafalgar Square following the March to Leave protest

The country is now facing the chaos of a general election to break the Brexit deadlock (pictured: Officers clash with demonstrators in London)

It is thought speaker John Bercow will only hold votes on the options that were closest to passing, including staying in the customs union or holding a second referendum.

The backbenchers, led by Sir Oliver Letwin, are planning to put through legislation forcing ministers to act if they find a majority.

That could precipitate a general election as Mrs May has warned she would not accept a soft Brexit that contradicts the partys manifesto commitments on leaving single market and customs union.

The news comes after the EU warned a 'no-deal' scenario is 'likely', following today's loss by the PM.

Minutes after her deal was rejected, the Prime Minister signalled a national poll could now be on its way

I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House, Theresa May told MPs today

Tens of thousands of 'betrayed' Brexiteers descended on London as they celebrated Theresa May's latest EU defeat

Huge crowds marched from south London along the River Thames to Whitehall today. One woman is seen wearing a '52 per cent and proud member'

Crowds cheer as ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage tells crowds: 'Frankly, I believe that what's happened over there, has not just turned this day that should've been one of great celebration into a day that history will mark as a day of great betrayal, I believe that what's happened over the course of two years is actually one of the saddest and worst chapters in the history of our nation.'

Aerial images of London's Parliament Square show the scale of the protest, which came a week after the Put It To The People march when remainers demanded another vote on Brexit

One pro-Brexit protestor, draped in the English and British flags, carried a cardboard coffin labelled 'democracy'

Extreme Brexiteers were seen proudly holding the burning EU flag aloft while others took photos near Trafalgar Square

Police officers lined up outside the Downing Street security gates this evening as pro-Brexit demonstrations continued

Furious Theresa May blasts John Bercow for wrecking her Brexit withdrawal agreement by blocking all amendments before MPs rejected it for a third time John Bercow delivered another blow to the Tories by blocking an amendment from Labour MPs that could have swing behind the deal. Mrs May was defeated Furious Theresa May had a pop at John Bercow for wrecking her Brexit withdrawal agreement by blocking all amendments before MPs rejected it for a third time Theresa May blasted John Bercow for intervening to wreck her Brexit plans again as he blocked all amendments to her deal today. One of the proposals the Speaker barred was tabled by Labour backbencher Gareth Snell and sought to guarantee Parliament a say on the trade talks phase of the negotiations. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said the Government would have accepted the amendment if it had come to a vote - meaning it could have brought some Labour MPs on board and helped Mrs May win today. Before the vote on her Brexit deal this afternoon, Theresa May said it was unfortunate that the Speaker had not selected the Labour amendment because the government would have accepted it. She said: 'Mr Speaker, if you had selected the amendment in the name of the honourable member for Stoke on Trent Central and others, the Government would have accepted it, and if this motion carries today we will bring forward a withdrawal agreement bill that will include commitments to implement that amendment and will discuss the specific drafting of that with those who supported the amendment.' The Speaker has already come under fire for his alleged Remain sympathies, and was accused of sabotaging a third vote on May's deal before the EU summit last week by saying she had to change the deal before it could be brought back to the commons. In the hope of salvaging her concessions, Mrs May promised MPs she would make sure laws implementing the deal still reflect the plan in the event she pulls off an unlikely victory. Advertisement

Mrs May yesterday confirmed publicly that she will step down within weeks if Parliament approves her deal. She made the offer at a private meeting of Tory MPs, then told the Commons: I have said I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended to secure the right outcome for this country.

Downing Street refused three times to deny the Prime Minister was now considering going to the country. If a national vote is held it would be the third general election in just four years.

But elections expert Sir John Curtice, who is president of the British Polling Council, yesterday warned that even an early election may not resolve the Brexit deadlock  predicting it would lead to another hung parliament.

He projected that neither of the main parties would get the 320 seats needed to have a working majority, with the Tories forecast to have 307 MPs, down seven, and Labour expected to gain 11 MPs to have 256.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the Prime Minister and Cabinet members would hold discussions over the weekend on how to go forward, but warned that an election would be a last resort because of the chaos it would bring.

He told Sky News: I think the last thing this country needs right now is a general election, we have got to sort out the Brexit process. We cannot throw everything up in the air. I know Jeremy Corbyn might like it, it is why he has voted against his own policy today, but I do not see how this country benefits from the chaos of a six or seven week general election campaign.

Mr Grayling, who ran Mrs Mays 2016 leadership campaign, said he did not believe she should step down yet.

Theresa May has already said she is going to go, but in the middle of this situation I do not think it would help to have an immediate Conservative leadership contest, he added. Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, the Prime Minister could call an early election, giving just six weeks notice, if backed by two-thirds of MPs.

It could also happen if a motion of no confidence in the Government is passed by a majority of MPs and within 14 days an alternative government is not formed.

Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs are likely to demand that Mrs May is replaced by a new party leader before an election takes place.

The timetable and rules for a leadership contest would be decided by the 1922 executive committee and then approved by the Conservative partys board.

It has previously been suggested the entire process could take 12 weeks, but it is expected the process would be speeded up if a general election was on the cards.

There are likely to be disagreements over what the party would have as its manifesto policy on Brexit, with many backbenchers likely to stand with their own individual pledges on the way forward.

If a general election took place, it could see voters facing three ballots in quick succession as it would require a delay to Brexit, meaning the country would be required to hold European Parliament elections on May 23. Local elections are scheduled to take place across much of the country on May 2.

Labour leader Mr Corbyn yesterday demanded that Mrs May step aside so a general election can be held. Following the Government defeat, he told the Commons: This is now the third time the Prime Ministers deal has been rejected. When it was defeated the first time, the Prime Minister said it was clear this House does not support the deal.

Does she now finally accept this House does not support the deal? Because she seemed to indicate just now that she is going to return to this issue again.

The House has been clear this deal now has to change. If the Prime Minister cant accept that then she must go.

Brexit supporters shout through megaphones and carry placards saying 'My leave vote matters, I won't be gagged'

Protestors, one with a purple and yellow Ukip rosette, march through Whitehall holding a 'Long Live The Queen' Union Jack

One man in a Union flag shirt holds an American flag over his shoulder as the Brexiteer group march down towards the media area at College Green. Protestors staked out their territory around the green from the early hours yesterday

London's Metropolitan Police pulled in extra officers to deal with the 13 planned protests due to take place today as the UK was supposed to leave the European Union

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP makes an appearance at the protest in front of Parliament surrounded by supporters holding Believe in Britain placards

The Brexit Betrayal: On the day we should have left the EU, Corbyn conspires with Brexiteers to block deal AGAIN plunging Britain into chaos

by Jason Groves and John Stevens for the Daily Mail

Britain was in political paralysis last night after Jeremy Corbyn allied with hardline Eurosceptics to block Brexit.

On the day the UK was meant to leave the EU, MPs threw out Theresa Mays withdrawal deal by 344 votes to 286  wrecking hopes of an orderly departure.

Britain faces having to hold European Parliament elections in May  almost three years after the referendum.

Mrs May even said a general election might be needed to break the deadlock, telling the Commons: I fear we are reaching the limits of the process in this House. Her solicitor general Robert Buckland said: The prospect of no Brexit is becoming a very real one indeed.

Jeremy Corbyn yesterday ordered his MPs to vote against a stripped-down version of Mrs Mays exit plan, which Labour had previously indicated it could accept.

Britain was in political paralysis last night after Jeremy Corbyn allied with hardline Eurosceptics to block Brexit

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking after the government's withdrawal agreement was voted down for the third time in the House of Commons on Friday

Immediately following the Governments defeat, the Labour leader called for an election  without offering any solution to resolve the crisis.

Thirty-four Tory rebels, including 28 Brexit hardliners dubbed the Spartans, also voted to reject the withdrawal agreement. Tory chairman Brandon Lewis said: Labour just voted against Brexit on Brexit Day. Whatever they say, they dont want us to leave the EU. Labours promise to honour the referendum result lies in tatters.

Government sources suggested Mrs Mays plan could be put to MPs for a fourth time next week  possibly in a run-off against a soft Brexit option, such as a customs union.

However, Speaker John Bercow has ruled against repeated votes on the same matter.

As supporters of Brexit rallied in Parliament Square:

Mrs May confirmed publicly that she would leave Downing Street earlier than I intended in a bid to heal Tory divisions;

Ministers prepared to ask the EU for a further delay to Brexit at an emergency Brussels summit on April 10;

Tory leadership contenders Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab dropped their opposition and voted for the withdrawal agreement;

A cross-party group of MPs led by Sir Oliver Letwin and Yvette Cooper said they would try to persuade Parliament to back a soft Brexit on Monday;

The European Commission said a No Deal Brexit was now a likely scenario;

The DUPs deputy leader Nigel Dodds said he would rather remain in the EU than risk the break-up of the United Kingdom.

Government sources suggested Mrs Mays plan could be put to MPs for a fourth time next week, but speaker John Bercow has ruled against repeated votes on the same matter

Mrs May, the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox listen as Deputy leader of the DUP Nigel Dodds speaks in the House of Commons on Friday

Solicitor General Robert Buckland (centre right) points at the frontbench of the opposition party next to Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond (right)

Mrs May yesterday dropped the political declaration element of her exit package and let MPs vote only on the withdrawal agreement, which includes the divorce bill, 21-month transition period, protections for citizens rights and the Irish backstop.

Britain faces a hung Parliament if another general election is held Sir John Curitce's latest numbers suggest a near identical Commons would be returned - accept with slightly weaker Tory and Labour parties in a more hung parliament If No 10 does call another general election Britain faces another hung Parliament, according to the latest polling on the issue. The majority of public is also opposed to going back to the polls to break the Brexit deadlock at Westminster. But Theresa May may be forced to call a possible snap general election within weeks if she loses because remainer MPs will try to force her to deliver a soft Brexit or a second referendum. Now she has lost MPs are preparing to force a soft Brexit and long delay to leaving the EU upon May next week. No 10 has threatened to call a general election rather than be forced into a soft Brexit - but looming over that threat is a new forecast of what might happen in a snap election by polling expert Sir John Curtice. But Sir John's latest numbers suggest a near identical Commons would be returned - accept with slightly weaker Tory and Labour parties in a more hung parliament. The figures suggest even the dramatic step of a new general election would do little to break the stalemate. The PM hopes this bleak outlook will persuade Labour MPs to back it as the party has accepted the divorce deal - but she is set to be disappointed. She needs 75 more votes than she got on March 12 to win. Polls since the 2017 election have seen the two main parties mostly neck and neck. The Tories have held a narrow lead in recent months Advertisement

Opening the debate, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said Labour had not emitted a peep of disagreement with a single clause or article of that agreement, and their position today is that they intend to vote it down. What kind of cynicism is that?

Mr Corbyn said Labour would never support a blind Brexit shorn of the political declaration that sets out a vision for the UKs future relationship with the EU.

Ahead of the vote, the pro-Corbyn Momentum group suggested MPs could face deselection if they backed the withdrawal agreement, saying: After years of botched negotiations, its time for all Labour MPs to reject Mays abysmal deal once and for all. Any Labour MP voting for a deal that leaves us with an uncertain future is undeserving of being a Labour MP.

Only five Labour MPs voted with the Government.

The 34 Conservative MPs who voted against the exit plan included hardliners from the European Research Group, such as former ministers Steve Baker, Priti Patel and Owen Paterson. They were joined by Remainers including Dominic Grieve and Justine Greening.

Mr Baker said: I regret to say it is time for Theresa May to follow through on her words and make way so that a new leader can deliver a withdrawal agreement which will be passed by Parliament.

Michael Fabricant, one of 40 Eurosceptic Tories to switch sides and back Mrs May, said: If Brexiteers think that a victory has been won, because Remainers and Labour voted down the deal, think again.

On Monday, the Remainer Parliament will try to keep us in the customs union which means our obeying EU legislation and having no say in making it.

Mrs May said the result would mean at least a delay and perhaps destroy Brexit.

On Monday, Sir Oliver will lead a fresh series of indicative votes on Brexit alternatives. If he can build a consensus around a soft Brexit option, such as membership of the single market and customs union, Parliament could order Mrs May to pursue it. Remainer ministers, including Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke, were last night urging Mrs May to embrace a customs union policy.

One Cabinet minister told the Mail they believed the UK would end up in a customs union. I just cant see what the alternatives are, said the source.

The customs union vote is close and there are a lot of people in Cabinet pushing for it.

Treasury Chief Secretary Liz Truss has told MPs Mrs May should play hard ball and push for No Deal  by refusing to lay the regulations for the European elections.

Mr Raab called on ministers to step up preparations for No Deal.

Government sources last night insisted Mrs Mays plan was not dead, pointing out that it was defeated by only 58 votes  down from 149 earlier this month and 230 in January.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has been deployed to try to build bridges with the DUP, whose ten MPs are seen as critical to any chance of the withdrawal agreement passing.

But Mr Dodds insisted: I would stay in the European Union and remain, rather than risk Northern Irelands position. Thats how strongly I feel about the union.

Dominic Raab courts Eurosceptics by backing no deal ahead of fight with Michael Gove and Boris Johnson to be the next Tory leader

Dominic Raab attempted to court Eurosceptic Tories last night after endorsing a No Deal Brexit.

The former Brexit secretary, who is seen as a leading candidate to succeed Theresa May, changed his long-standing position to vote in favour of the withdrawal deal.

Speaking in the Commons, he said he wanted to avoid a long extension to Article 50 delaying Brexit and also to avoid the prospect of the UK taking part in European Parliament elections starting on May 23.

But shortly after the vote he made another pitch to hardliners, posting a clip of his speech, with a statement saying: We need to expedite our preparations for a WTO departure. This is a reference to trading on World Trade Organisation terms, without an EU trade deal.

By switching, he was in the same voting lobby as Boris Johnson, who also abandoned his opposition to the deal this week.

Dominic Raab attempted to court Eurosceptic Tories last night after endorsing a No Deal Brexit

By switching and backing May's deal, he was in the same voting lobby as Boris Johnson, who also abandoned his opposition to the deal this week

Explaining his decision yesterday, Mr Johnson wrote on Twitter that he remained intensely critical of the deal.

But he said: We have a choice to make now, and that means choosing between options that actually exist.

I have come to the sad conclusion that neither this Government nor this Parliament is willing to leave with no deal. We therefore run the risk of being forced to accept an even worse version of Brexit or losing Brexit altogether.

A bad deal that we have a chance to improve in the next stage of negotiations must be better than those alternatives.

It is very painful to vote for this deal. But I hope we can now work together to remedy its defects, avoid the backstop trap and strive to deliver the Brexit people voted for.

Mr Raab told the Commons he wanted to avoid a long delay to Brexit because of the very dangerous and corrosive effect on public trust in our democracy.

His intervention came as leadership candidates faced a furious backlash from Tory MPs for posturing for the leadership before Brexit had been secured.

Mrs May said on Wednesday she would quit as Tory leader if her Brexit deal went through. But with no sign of a Commons majority, MPs said the leadership contenders should focus on getting Brexit through instead of their own ambitions.

One Cabinet minister raged: Everyone is building leadership campaigns and just looking at the prize. But no one is doing anything to get the deal done.

Theres going to be nothing left! Theyre going to be fighting to be leader of the opposition.

In the Commons, former Home Office minister Sir Mike Penning said: Those running leadership campaigns to replace her should, for Gods sake, put it on the back burner until we get this through.

One member of the Government said the attempts by leadership candidates to court media attention this week were unseemly and grubby.

The MP, who said they had been courted by all the likely contenders, said: I told them youve got to sort Brexit first.

Theres no point having a vision if you havent got Brexit through.

Allies of Jeremy Hunt furiously denied reports he had already secured the support of 75 MPs, and had another 25 possibles. The report, one friend said, was an attempt to portray him as the favourite.

So who are the candidates looking to replace May and what chance have they got?

Michael Gove - 5/2

Unlike Boris and Raab, Gove has kept on board with May's deal and will therefore have greater appeal among his remainer colleagues. He was also seen as a 'high priest of Brexiteers', meaning he could appeal to Tories on both sides of the divide.

The drawback of this position is that hardline leavers and remainers may see him as part of opposing side. His other potential drawback is his perceived disloyalty after he knifed Boris Johnson in last leadership contest.

Mr Gove, 51, the adopted son of a Scottish fish merchant, is a cabinet heavyweight who's served as Education Secretary and Justice Secretary.

His debating skills, intellect and wit put him well above many candidates and is popular with Tory members.

Boris Johnson - 4/1

The 54-year-old former Foreign Secretary is undoubtedly the best-known candidate outside of the Westminster bubble.

His scruffy style, regular TV appearances, chaotic private life and show-off Classics references make him well known to the electorate.

He has experience of power and winning elections, having been twice voted London mayor but was seen as a bumbling foreign secretary.

He is unpopular among many MPs, who may form a 'Stop Boris' campaign to prevent him getting to Number 10.

However, party grassroots members love him and he's top of the ConservativeHome league table.

It has been claimed Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured in Downing Street) has floated the idea of a 'dream ticket' with him as Prime Minister and Mr Gove as Chancellor

Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab fell in line behind the deal today, denting his popularity among hardline Brexiteers

Sajid Javid - 9/1

The Home Secretary, 49, is a remainer who changed to a Brexiteer after the referendum.

He is the son of a bus driver who came to Britain from Pakistan with 1 in his pocket. Javid proved himself in business, becoming head of credit trading at Deutsche Bank.

He has experience of being Culture and Business secretary, a role in which he cracked down on union rights.

His strengths are seen as his extraordinary rags-to-riches back story, but is widely seen as a wooden and poor public speaker.

There were rumours earlier this week that he could form part of the 'Stop Boris' ticket, with Michael Gove potentially in support.

Dominic Raab - 8/1

The 46-year-old former Brexit Secretary and diehard Brexiteer is the son of a Czech-born Jewish refugee who fled the Nazis in 1938 and died of cancer when Raab was 12.

He is relatively inexperienced, lasting only four months as Brexit Secretary. He voted against May in leadership confidence vote. Mr Raab is seen as a skilled debater who honed his skills as an adversarial lawyer with blue chip legal firm Linklaters.

His weekness is that he seen lacking people skills and thus is unlikely to beat a more experienced candidate.

Unlike Boris and Raab, Gove (pictured today) has kept on board with May's deal and will therefore have greater appeal among his remainer colleagues. He was also seen as a 'high priest of Brexiteers', meaning he could appeal to Tories on both sides of the divide

Others in the running include Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey

How will the next leader be chosen? If Mrs Mays deal goes through, the UK is likely to leave the EU on May 22 and she would resign as Tory leader that day but stay on as interim PM while the contest to replace her begins.

Any Tory MP can stand but they need two nominations from colleagues.

A series of secret votes would be held every Tuesday and Thursday among the 314 members of the Conservative Parliamentary Party.

The last-placed candidate is eliminated at every stage and once it is clear who the front-runners are the back-markers usually drop out and support someone else.

After David Cameron stood down following the referendum in 2016 there were five candidates in the first round, who were whittled down to two: Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom.

The final two candidates then move on to the second phase, when party members vote by postal ballot.

Candidates will be expected to make speeches to members and tour the country to try to win support. This second phase is likely to last for up to a month.

Only members who have been in the party for three months or more can vote in a leadership contest, so joining now would not entitle you to a say.

Conservative sources say the whole process could be completed within a month to six weeks. Advertisement

Jeremy Hunt - 6/1

The Foreign Secretary, 52, is an ex-Remainer who may arouse suspicion among the party's Brexiteer members.

He is the eldest son of Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt and is married to a Chinese wife and he speaks Mandarin.

He has business experience and, before politics, he set up an educational publisher which was sold for 30million in 2017.

Mr Hunt has widespread cabinet experience and was the longest-serving health secretary in history.

Despite being one of the most experienced ministers in the field, unusually, he has made few political enemies and is therefore seen as someone who could unite the party after devisive battles over Brexit.

Andrea Leadsom - 20/1

The Leader of the Commons gained quite following when she stood for leader in 2016, but her bid fell apart when she made an ill-considered comment comparing her experience as a mother to the childless Mrs May.

Mrs Leadsom is a 55-year-old mother of three and a former city trader.

Since then however, she has blossomed as Leader of the Commons, winning plaudits for taking on Speaker John Bercow.

Popular among members and colleagues, she is now widely expected to have another tilt as leading the party.

Esther McVey - 50/1

The 51-year-old former Welfare Secretary is also an ardent Brexiteer.

She spent the first two years of her life in foster care and was a breakfast TV presenter before becoming a Tory MP on Merseyside.

Won plaudits with members for resigning from Cabinet over Brexit deal and is seen as tough, having braved out vicious targeting by Labour during her time as welfare minister.

Some in the party say she doesn't have the intellectual fire power for top job and she is ranked 14th in ConservativeHome league table.

Andrea Leadsom is also expected to throw her name into the hat after her bid in 2016
Phoebe Waller-Bridge has always had an uncanny ability to make people laugh

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has always had an uncanny ability to make people laugh. Two years ago, when accepting her first Bafta award for her performance in BBC3s darkly comic hit series Fleabag (a show the multi-talented star also wrote), the willowy brunette had the Royal Festival Hall audience in stitches with her acceptance speech.

Most of all, I want to say thank you to my mother, who said to me: Darling, you can be whatever you want to be as long as youre outrageous. 

Her mother, Teresa, in the audience, lowered her head to her hands in embarrassment, but one senses Mrs Waller-Bridge, whose father was a baronet, is well-accustomed to her talented daughters rare gift both for riding roughshod over polite sensibilities and raising a laugh. At 33, the younger Waller-Bridge is rapidly developing the golden touch when it comes to dramatic success.

She acts, she writes; big screen, small screen, UK, America. Stellar names such as Olivia Colman and Fiona Shaw queue to read her lines. Shes currently earning plaudits on stage in New York with her one-woman stage version of Fleabag, which also happens to be midway through its second season on the BBC.

Meanwhile, her other critically- acclaimed hit Killing Eve, this week emerged as the favourite to run away with all the prizes at this years Bafta awards when it scooped 14 nominations  more than any other programme.

Canadian actress Sandra Oh and Brit Jodie Comer are both up for best actress for the BBC America drama, which is about to return for its second season. But the reason the show has been such a runaway success with both critics and viewers is Waller-Bridge, who was tasked with bringing Luke Jenningss Codename Villanelle novella series to the small screen.

So just who is Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and  for those who havent seen her two best-known hits  has she adhered to her mothers advice? Given that she once revealed her mother referred to her work as Phoebes porn, we perhaps dont have to look too far for answers.

Fleabag is provocative, to say the least. Its not one, perhaps, to watch with the parents. But fans have loved it, drawn to a character who is flawed, anarchic and tinged by sadness.

As for Killing Eve, the shock factor is fractionally lower, but with its two strong female leads, a psychopathic assassin and an intelligence operative who are locked in a curiously romantic game of cat and mouse, its an unconventional hit.

But then there always seems to have been an unconventional edge to Phoebe Waller-Bridge, despite her well-heeled antecedents (theres a baronet on her fathers side too).

Father Michael co-founded Tradepoint, the first fully electronic stock market and mother Teresa works for the Ironmongers Company, in the City. The couple are divorced. Raised in Ealing, West London, shes the middle of three children.

Older sister Isobel is a composer in film and television and younger brother Jasper, a music manager. The sisters, who rent a flat together in East London, would create radio plays, staging them in a cupboard.

Waller-Bridge, who stands at nearly 6ft and cuts a very elegant, decidedly feminine figure, had a childish spell of dressing like a boy  and calling herself Alex  but insists it was never an issue for her parents.

The thoroughly middle-class family dinner table was her first platform, where she sharpened her wit  every dinner was all about sharing stories and jokes and points of view, she recalled.

Shocking people was her childhood trademark, practising on her Christian, buttoned-up  and adored  grandmother.

As for Killing Eve, the shock factor is fractionally lower, but with its two strong female leads, a psychopathic assassin and an intelligence operative who are locked in a curiously romantic game of cat and mouse, its an unconventional hit

Academically bright, she went to an independent Catholic girls school in Ealing. She turned down a place to read English at Trinity College Dublin to go to Rada, where contemporaries included Tom Hiddleston.

If television viewers associate Waller-Bridge with writing strong female characters, it may owe something to her Rada days. The girls didnt get many decent parts because not that many plays have them, Waller-Bridge recalled. I was always crying or pointing at things.

Having graduated from the prestigious drama school assuming I would be fine because being posh with curly hair basically equals a Shakespearean career, she struggled to find acting work or even an audition for almost two years and did a lot of temping, before a fortuitous meeting with her creative partner and friend Vicky Jones.

Jones was directing a play in which Waller-Bridge won a part, but got the sack for meddling with the script. In an act of solidarity, Waller-Bridge left, too.

Drowning their sorrows over a bottle of wine in a nearby pub, the two forged a bond which led to the creation of their own theatre company, DryWhite.

The duo would put on short plays in a room they could use for free above a pub in Londons Docklands. Since then, Waller-Bridge has proved herself a very multi-talented star. She has appeared in the second series of Broadchurch, as a barrister, wrote Channel 4 comedy series Crashing and had a part in film The Iron Lady, during which she met Olivia Colman.

At the time, she confided in Colman she was thinking about starting to write and recalled how the older actress told her, let me know if you ever write anything I could be in  which, as fans of Fleabag will know, was to prove a very useful connection when it came to casting the eponymous characters passive-aggressive future stepmother.

Fleabag started life as a ten-minute stand-up routine, which was expanded into a one-hour, one-woman show for the 2013 Edinburgh Festival.

She came out of the depths of me, Waller-Bridge said this year, citing the humiliating but hilarious experiences she and girlfriends had experienced being single in the city as inspiration. If we can laugh about those things we can survive, she said.

Another influence was dad Michael, who Waller-Bridge cites as the person who encouraged her writing and credits with teaching her about feminism. Fleabag (she insists it is very personal but not autobiographical) the television show came about after the Edinburgh production transferred to Londons Soho Theatre and the controller of BBC Comedy saw it.

The last few years, have, it seems, been rather a whirlwind (the first season of Fleabag was made while she developed Killing Eve), but she still found time to marry documentary maker Conor Woodman, who asked her out after watching her perform in a play which required her to spend most of the performance naked in a bath.

They married in a chateau in France, Waller-Bridge in a sexy, silvery dress. That relationship, however, was short-lived. They announced their divorce in 2017 and she is now in a relationship with playwright, screenwriter and director Martin McDonagh.

As for the sexually frank nature of some of the material she writes, she insists it is the emotional scenes that are far more exposing. She was unfazed by the thought of her parents watching Fleabag, which features a very, very rude, post-coital, opening monologue: they saw an early cut, as did brother Jasper, who apparently turned white with shock.

I think youre going to scare a lot of men with this show. Its going to freak them out, he said. Its about bloody time, responded Waller-Bridge.
The DUP last night said it was prepared for Brexit to be cancelled altogether.

Deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the UK should stay in the EU if that was only way to preserve Northern Irelands place in the union. I would stay in the European Union and remain rather than risk Northern Irelands position, he insisted. Thats how strongly I feel about the union.

Despite the DUPs stance, talks are continuing between ministers and the party in a bid to get its support for a possible fourth vote on the withdrawal agreement.

Ministers have warned that continued opposition could lead to a united Ireland. One said: They are being incredibly stupid. If they carry on like this they are going to end up with a united Ireland  and frankly they will deserve it.

All ten DUP MPs voted against the deal for the third time, despite rumours earlier this week that they would swing round in support. And yesterday the party urged the Government to return to Brussels to demand changes that would make the backstop acceptable to Parliament.

Deputy DUP leader Nigel Dodds said the UK should stay in the EU if that was only way to preserve Northern Irelands place in the union

Mr Dodds said the EUs resistance to amending the withdrawal agreement must be challenged by the Prime Minister.

The EU has made it clear it will not look again at the backstop. A Cabinet minister said Northern Ireland faced an existential threat because No Deal makes a referendum on the provinces future more likely.

If its No Deal, therell be a border poll and Northern Ireland will disappear, the minister told The Sun. If theres a general election and Corbyn wins, the same. Its time the DUP woke up and smelt the coffee. Theyre facing an existential threat.

The DUP remained firm yesterday, with the partys Twitter account saying: The backstop has always been the problem.

All ten DUP MPs voted against the deal for the third time, despite rumours earlier this week that they would swing round in support. Pictured: DUP leader Arlene Foster

The backstop remains the problem. Use the time constructively to deal with it.

Mr Dodds said his party had consistently and repeatedly made clear it would not support the withdrawal agreement unless the backstop protocol was changed.

The North Belfast MP said: We have said that were the backstop to become operational, Northern Ireland would sit in a separate legal position from the rest of the UK in economic and trade terms.

In those circumstances, there is the strong possibility that we could have a long-term outcome whereby Northern Ireland would inevitably pull away from its biggest trading market in Great Britain as there would be new internal barriers within the United Kingdom.
Theresa May in the House of Commons on Friday

All I can say is thank God Big Bens covered up. At least it is now spared from the rest of the world seeing its shame.

The great bells home is currently cocooned tip-to-toe in scaffold as its revered tower gets a much-needed spruce-up. But when it comes to repairs, its the building which sits down below in need of the most urgent attention.

Vain, arrogant, sour, self-serving, smug, deceitful, delusional, ill-mannered. This may just be the most chillingly detestable bunch of MPs we have had to endure in a Parliament which, lets face it, has produced its fair share of vintage crops in recent years.

Here is a collective which was handed a directive from the British people and at the third time of asking yesterday took a collective honk of the pipes and spat it right back at them. Regain sovereignty? Take back control? No, sorry. We. Know. Better. What an utter shower they are.

The result of the vote was never really in question. Those peculiar bods the Democratic Unionists had already seen to that. But the atmosphere around the Commons was no less dramatic.

As the tellers arrived back in the chamber just before 3pm, the Governments chief whip Julian Smith, face longer than a Derby winner, made a beeline for the Prime Minister. As he whispered the bad news in her ear, she gently nodded her head and gave him a reassuring pat on the hand. Thank you, she murmured. No really, thank you.

When her defeat was announced  by a margin of 58  Mrs May afforded herself a resigned itch of the nose before propelling herself to the dispatch box. She expressed profound regret that once again the House had failed to deliver the Brexit people had asked of them.

Mrs May, the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox listen as Deputy leader of the DUP Nigel Dodds speaks in the House of Commons on Friday

Johnny Mercer (Con  Plymouth Moor View) slumped forward, head in hands. So too did Sir Nicholas Soames (Con  Mid Sussex).

Jeremy Corbyn immediately took the opportunity to toss lime on Mrs Mays remains, demanding she go now. Further daggers came from Vince Cable (Lib Dem  Twickenham) and hateful Caroline Lucas (Green  Brighton Pavilion). Honestly, Ive seen scavenging urban foxes behave with more dignity.

Westminster had been gorgeous that morning. Weather-wise that is. Otherwise it was Millwall meets Magaluf.

The entire area outside the Parliamentary estate was awash with banners. Everywhere you turned, petty scuffles broke out between Remain and Leave supporters. There was a woman with a microphone telling anyone whod listen that the PM was a treacherous cow. And that was one of the more highbrow political rants.

Solicitor General Robert Buckland (centre right) points at the frontbench of the opposition party next to Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond (right)

Inside, there was a dress-down Friday feel about the place. Sir Oliver Letwin (Con  West Dorset) donned his weekend shooting tweeds. Soames rocked a beige Man-From-Del-Monte number with matching sneakers.

The debate began right after morning prayers. Speeches, I fear, were far from Premier Cru. Vin ordinaire stuff at best.

SNP leader Ian Blackford spoke for what seemed like an eternity, offering a tirade on Scottish independence. Poor Blackers, he could bore the pants off a Papal librarian. There were valiant attempts by Conservatives to speak sense to the ERG clowns. Iain Duncan Smith (Con  Chingford and Woodford Green) pointed out the House was stuffed full of Remainers. The No Deal the ERG craved would never be allowed to happen. Eurosceptic dunderhead Sir William Cash (Con  Stone) turned on his heels and walked out. Like talking to a bag of rocks.

When her defeat was announced  by a margin of 58  Mrs May afforded herself a resigned itch of the nose before propelling herself to the dispatch box

Mrs May reacts to Jeremy Corbyn's speech in the Commons yesterday after the vote. She is flanked by Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Stephen Barclay (left) and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox

Summing up time was a tale of two speeches. Mr Corbyn spoke to a three-quarter full chamber, the soundbites depressingly familiar (Nothing has changed This is a government in chaos). Behind, there was a blanket of uninterest from his backbenchers. Mrs May delivered a corker, making one last plea to members to back her deal. Entertaining cockney diamond Lyn Brown (Lab  West Ham) was having none of it. Aint gonna appen, luv, she kept yelling. She was right, of course.

Later that afternoon, I spotted that down-at-mouth chap Mercer in the pub dripping sweat in his tracksuit. He was so fed up hed had to for a jog to make sense of it all.

And so to Monday. What next? Whatever it is, it will not be what the public voted for. Brexit now rests in the palms of the Letwins, Coopers and Grieves who never wanted us to leave and will now possibly never let us.

Call the medic. Send for the men in white coats. We have all become Gods madmen.
Tragically, there is not much we know for certain about whats going to happen with Brexit. But there is one thing we do know.

It is that whenever Labour front-benchers speak on the subject, not a word they say can be believed or trusted. It is no exaggeration to say they are liars.

Virtually every day since the referendum in June 2016, Labour has offered warm words and iron promises to honour the countrys decision. Their 2017 manifesto, on which every Labour MP stood, was explicit: Labour accepts the referendum result.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking after the government's withdrawal agreement was voted down for the third time in the House of Commons on Friday

As recently as Monday, their trade spokesman, Barry Gardiner, declared: Labour is not a Remain party.

And yet when push came to shove yesterday, rather than vote to honour the referendum, the partys MPs went back on their word and treated voters with utter contempt.

With the exception of Kevin Barron, Rosie Cooper, Jim Fitzpatrick, Caroline Flint and John Mann  the five honourable MPs who yesterday defied their party whip and supported Mrs Mays withdrawal agreement  every other Labour MP exposed himself or herself to be a liar.

It was shameless and appalling.

Just five days ago, Sir Keir Starmer, Labours Brexit spokesman, told the Commons that he accepted that there was no realistic alternative to the withdrawal agreement established by the Government and the 27 other EU countries.

Labours Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer speaks at the annual Chamber of Commerce conference on Thursday

I certainly accept the proposition that the EU has said that the agreement is not for reopening at any stage, and it has resisted that for month after month from the Government, he said.

In other words, Labour, at its highest levels, was well aware that the only options left were the withdrawal agreement or no Brexit  since Labour and other MPs have made clear that they will not countenance leaving the EU without a deal.

Last month, Jeremy Corbyn wrote to Mrs May setting out his demands for changes to the deal. Not once did he mention opposing the withdrawal agreement. All his demands were focused on the political declaration that was intended to run alongside the agreement.

As Labours own statement put it: The Labour leader says that while the Prime Minister is focused on negotiating changes to the backstop, she needs to enshrine five changes to the political declaration in law to secure Labour support for a sensible deal that can bring the country together.

Yesterdays Commons vote had the political declaration deliberately omitted precisely so that MPs would be able to pass the withdrawal agreement and progress could then be made towards delivering Brexit.

If Labour had meant a word of what it said about honouring the referendum, it would have acted in accord with its own promises and not opposed the withdrawal agreement. But it didnt.

Nothing more clearly exposed the basic truth that Labour isnt, and has never been, interested in delivering Brexit than the contrast yesterday between Mr Corbyns party and the behaviour of the hardline Conservative Brexiteers.

Far too late, most of the Tory arch-Brexiteers realised that the only real choice they had was between the withdrawal agreement or no Brexit.

So they were forced to eat humble pie and do the right thing by the country in voting for Mrs Mays deal, knowing that their previous obstinacy and opposition to it had endangered Brexit altogether.

But for Labour, Brexit and the current chaos represent nothing more than a political opportunity to cynically exploit in the hunt for power. Looking at the arithmetic of yesterdays Commons vote, the mess Britain is in today can be laid squarely at the door of the Labour party.

A party which has played fast and loose with the countrys economic well-being, international reputation and its future.

When Corbyn became Labour leader, some saw him as a breath of fresh air  a man of lasting principles who would change politics for the better.

Jeremy Corbyn is incapable of telling the truth on the subject, writes Stephen Pollard. Mr Corbyn speaks in the House of Commons on Friday

Can there be anyone left who still believes that guff?

Leave aside all the other issues that show how unfit for office he is, such as the anti-Semitism crisis, his support for terrorists and the repeated siding with Britains enemies over our allies.

Focus on Brexit alone. Corbyn is incapable of telling the truth on the subject.

During the referendum campaign he was conspicuous by his absence. Since then, he has tried to ride both horses, letting his heartland voters in the north of England think that he would honour their support for Brexit. Meanwhile, he let his metropolitan Remain voters  including the young who helped sweep him to the party leadership  believe he was on their side.

In truth, what he really thinks doesnt matter.

What matters is how he acts. And his actions have shown him to be the most cynical mainstream party leader in living memory.

Brexit, and the views of 17.4million voters, have been exploited by him and his cronies as nothing more than a vehicle to cause maximum chaos, to engineer the circumstances in which he and his untrustworthy hard-Left allies can take power.

It may well be that Mr Corbyn gets his way and our country is subjected to its third general election in four years. The terrible truth is that shamelessness and treachery can be rewarded in politics. How we will all suffer if that is now the case.
Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd might not return to face justice in Britain for weeks due to delays with paperwork.

The fugitive is awaiting extradition in a Georgian jail after agreeing to return to fight his conviction for the manslaughter of Charlotte Brown.

It was hoped the 31-year-old, who handed himself in to police in January after ten months on the run, would be back on British soil within days of the court ruling last Tuesday.

Jack Shepherd (pictured during his court appearance in Tbilisi on Tuesday) might not return to face justice in Britain for weeks due to delays with paperwork

The fugitive is awaiting extradition in a Georgian jail after agreeing to return to fight his conviction for manslaughter

But now sources close to the case say delays in translating documents mean it could be as long as two weeks before Shepherd, originally from Exeter, is back, having fled before his trial in March 2018.

'He is yet to be served the formal written judgement from the ruling as they need to be translated from Georgian into English,' a source told the Mail.

'Once he is served this he will have seven working days to appeal and only once that has passed the Ministry of Justice [MoJ] will have an extra five days to sign off his extradition.'

Shepherd's legal team have said they will not fight the extradition as he wishes to contest his conviction at the Court of Appeal in the UK.

He is yet to serve a day of his six-year prison sentence for killing his date during a drunken ride on the Thames in central London in 2015.

But it is understood his time in a Georgian jail  over two months at present  could count towards his sentence if he asks the MoJ.
Almost one billion people's personal data has been breached online by a shadowy marketing company that has since disappeared without a trace.

Email addresses from 982 million people were listed in what researchers are calling one of the 'biggest and most comprehensive email database' breaches ever.

Personal information including names, gender, date of birth, employer, details of social media accounts and even home addresses were listed.

Security researchers uncovered the breach in an online database created by Verifications.io that had no privacy protections in place.

The firm offered an 'enterprise email validation' service that let other marketing firms check whether lists of email addresses they have harvested are real.

Verifications.io took down their website after the leak was uncovered and they have refused requests for a comment on the situation.

Little is known about the people behind the business with its backers maintaining their anonymity due to the dubious tactics it employs.

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Hundreds of millions of people's personal data has been breached online by a marketing company who have since taken their website down. Pictured here, a screen grab of the website when it was active

HOW TO CHECK IF YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IS COMPROMISED Have I Been Pwned? Cybersecurity expert and Microsoft regional director Tory Hunt runs 'Have I Been Pwned'. The website lets you check whether your email has been compromised as part of any of the data breaches that have happened. If your email address pops up you should change your password. Pwned Passwords To check if your password may have been exposed in a previous data breach, go to the site's homepage and enter your email address. The search tool will check it against the details of historical data breaches that made this information publicly visible. If your password does pop up, you're likely at a greater risk of being exposed to hack attacks, fraud and other cybercrimes. Mr Hunt built the site to help people check whether or not the password they'd like to use was on a list of known breached passwords. The site does not store your password next to any personally identifiable data and every password is encrypted Other Safety Tips Hunt provides three easy-to-follow steps for better online security. First, he recommends using a password manager, such as 1Password, to create and save unique passwords for each service you use. Next, enable two-factor authentication. Lastly, keep abreast of any breaches Advertisement

The website went offline after Cyber security expert Bob Diachenko, one of the researchers who found the breach, notified its support team.

It was unclear whether the exposed data was accessed by others, but hackers are often quick to strike when leaks occur.

Passwords and payment card details were not leaked but other records in the collection included company names, annual revenue figures, company websites, and even personal addresses.

Mr Diachenko , along with NightLion Security's Vinny Troya, cross-referenced the datasets with the HaveIBeenPwned database, a list of all public data breaches.

They were then able to establish that the Verifications.io leak contained unique records that had never been exposed in any previous breach 'collections'.

'This is perhaps the biggest and most comprehensive email database I have ever reported,' Mr Diachenko wrote in his post.

'Upon verification, I was shocked at the massive number of emails that were publicly accessible for anyone with an internet connection.

'Some of data was much more detailed than just the email address and included personally identifiable information.'

The researchers said that Verifications.io offered a service to marketers where it would 'verify' lists of email addresses.

Marketing companies often employ third party verification companies to do this, due to tedious effort of doing this manually as well as the increased effectiveness of spam filters.

Marketing companies use these services to send out mass emails to a large email list they need to 'validate' to confirm whether the addresses are real or still active.

A screengrab of the website today. It was taken down after security researchers uncovered the breach left in an unsecured online database by the company, which sends out tens of thousands of emails to validate these users

HOW EMAIL VERIFICATION COMPANIES WORK 1. Companies or individuals upload a list of email addresses that they want to validate. 2. The verification service has a list of mail servers and internal email accounts that they use to 'validate' an email address. 3. They do this by literally sending each address on the list an email. 4. If it does not bounce, the email is validated. If it bounces, they put it in a separate list so it can be blacklisted Advertisement

This usually involves sending an email to everyone on the list and checking to see if any messages bounce.

If they do bounce they simply put them in a 'bounce list' so they can easily validate it later on.

The company, with an Estonia address, sends out tens of thousands of emails to validate these users.

Data breaches like this put the people involved at a much higher risk of being exposed to not only nuisance calls and emails but also hack attacks and fraud.

Each one of the users on the list gets their own spam message saying 'hi'.

Then the company sends a verified, and valid list of users to these companies so they can start a more focused phishing campaign, according to Mr Diachenko.

They said that marketing companies hide behind services like this so that they are not blacklisted for spamming.
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A hybrid-electric plane made in the UK could be ferrying people on short journeys through the skies by 2025.

If the concept plane becomes reality it would be able to complete the journey from London to Manchester in just 42 minutes - noticeably faster than the one hour flight it currently takes to fly between the two UK cities.

Start-up firm Faradair revealed it wanted to become the world's most environmentally-friendly planes back in 2014.

It has now unveiled plans for a super-quiet small airliner with 18 seats that will be made of a carbon-composite body and designed to complete short trips.

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The concept plane was ever manufactured it would be able to complete the journey from London to Manchester in just 42 minutes, significantly faster than HS2, its designers claim

The vehicles will be powered by a 1,600hp bio-diesel engine which will work alongside batteries to fly at speeds of up to 230mph. Start-up firm Faradair revealed it wanted to become the world's most environmentally-friendly airplanes back in 2014

The vehicles will be powered by a 1,600hp bio-diesel engine which will work alongside batteries to fly at speeds of up to 230mph.

Take-off and landing will be dominated by an electric motor powered by the batteries and the engine will be the predominant power source throughout the cruising phase of the flight, while also recharging the batteries - with some help from fixed solar panels.

The budding company, based in Cirencester, is working in partnership with Swansea University to perfect its unique 'triple box-wing' design which is intended to maximise lift.

Take-off and landing will be dominated by an electric motor powered by the batteries and the engine will be the predominant power source throughout the cruising phase of the flight, while also recharging the batteries - with some help from fixed solar panels

The budding company, based in Cirencester, is working in partnership with Swansea University to perfect its unique 'triple box-wing' design which is intended to maximise lift

HOW QUICKLY WILL THE HYBRID PLANE TRANSPORT PASSENGERS? The planes are designed to be able to make use of small runways and can reach speeds of 230mph. It would likely complete short journeys around countries and nearby nations. Times below are listed according to claims by the manufacturers. Currently London to Manchester - 1 hour Sacramento to San Francisco - 55 minutes Boston to New York -1 hour 20 minutes London to Paris - 1 hour 15 minutes Paris to Berlin - 1 hour 45 minutes Oslo to Stockholm - 1 hour With new concept plane London to Manchester - 42 minutes Sacramento to San Francisco - 41 minutes Boston to New York -1 hour 9 minutes London to Paris - 1 hour 17 minutes Paris to Berlin - 2 hours 43 minutes Oslo to Stockholm - 1 hour 23 minutes Advertisement

Faradair's concept plane is dubbed the BEHA_M1H and builds on its previous designs which focus on allowing it to take off and land on runways less than 1,000 feet (300 meters) long.

It utilises a system called 'vectored thrust' from two contra-rotating propfans in the rear which are housed in a sound-cancelling area of the vehicle.

Engineers working on the project say they are aiming to keep take-off noise to as little as 60 decibels, similar to the noise level of background music and conversation.

A typical jet engine used on many existing airliners at the moment create 140 decibels of noise.

BEHA_M1H is predominantly designed with transportation of passengers in mind but would also be able to carry cargo of up to five tonnes by striping out the seats.

'The BEHA M1H variant, multi-role aircraft, will allow operators the ability to provide viable air transport services including; scheduled commuting flights, flight training and charter by day and the ability to use the quiet flight characteristics and payload capability for cargo operations at night,' says Managing Director of Faradair, Neil Cloughley, New Atlas reports.

'Our order book is now open and we look forward to working with potential customers and airport operators, as we begin the build of our first demonstration prototypes later this year, intended for flight trials by 2022.'

Faradair's concept plane is dubbed the BEHA_M1H and builds on its previous designs which focus on allowing it to take off and land on runways less than 1,000 feet (300 meters) long
Asteroids that crashed into Mars may have brought with them the building blocks needed for life.

A new study has found 'key ingredients for life' were transported to the red planet millions of years ago when the space rocks landed on it.

Mars may have had an atmosphere made of hydrogen at the time and if this was the case, asteroids would likely have brought nitrogen to the planet - an essential element for many biological molecules.

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'Key ingredients for life' may have transported to the red planet via asteroids. Mars may have had an atmosphere made of hydrogen at the time and if this was the case the essential building blocks of life may have flourished on Mars

Dr Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, published the findings in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

It involved creating various mixtures in flasks designed to imitate early asteroid impacts on Mars.

They combined hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide and analysed the levels of nitrate in them with infra-red analysis.

Nitrates were the key to the investigation as they were found on the surface of Mars by the Curiosity rover and are essential for life.

Dr Navarro-Gonzalez said: 'The big surprise was that the yield of nitrate increased when hydrogen was included in the laser-shocked experiments that simulated asteroid impacts.

'This was counter-intuitive as hydrogen leads to an oxygen-deficient environment while the formation of nitrate requires oxygen.

'However, the presence of hydrogen led to a faster cooling of the shock-heated gas, trapping nitric oxide, the precursor of nitrate, at elevated temperatures where its yield was higher.

A dense layer of gases is needed to maintain any form of life, with Earth being the only planet with an atmosphere conducive to sustaining lifeforms.

Mars currently has an incredible thin atmosphere which does not protect te surface from cosmic radiation.

This has led to a long-standing school of thought that Mars is barren but evidence is emerging to the contrary.

Images from the surface of Mars emerged this week revealing the presence of mushrooms (pictured), a group of scientists claimed in a controversial new study. It states some images captured by NASA's Curiosity show fungi is growing on the surface of the supposedly barren planet

Study co-author Jennifer Stern said: 'If you have a link between two things that are good for habitability  a potentially warmer climate with liquid water on the surface and an increase in the production of nitrates, which are necessary for life  it's very exciting.

'The results of this study suggest that these two things, which are important for life, fit together and one enhances the presence of the other.'

Images from the surface of Mars emerged this week revealing the presence of mushrooms, a group of scientists claimed in a controversial new study.

It states some images captured by NASA's Curiosity show fungi is growing on the surface of the supposedly barren planet.

The claims have yet to be confirmed or refuted by NASA.

Photographic evidence of such flourishing lifeforms, should the discovery be confirmed, would likely revolutionise our understanding of Mars and life outside of Earth.
Google is receiving significant backlash for potentially profiting from antisemitism on YouTube, which it owns.

Users were using the site's 'Super Chat' feature which allows them to pay a small fee in exchange for their comment to be highly visible in the comment section of videos.

These comments are meant to abide by the company's terms of service, which prohibit hate speech.

An investigation into the feature saw a host of extremist and antisemitic remarks on content from right-wing vloggers and conspiracy theorists.

Some called the horrific terrorist events in New Zealand, where 50 people lost their lives, an Israeli 'false flag' operation and others said Brexit required a violence-orientated solution.

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Users were using YouTube's 'Super Chat' feature which allows them to pay a small fee in exchange for their comment to be highly visible in the comment section of videos (file photo)

Comments can be promoted for a sum anywhere up to 500 in exchange for a certain period of time at the top of the 'comment ticker' which is displayed on the screens alongside the content.

This money goes to the producer of the video, but Google takes a 30 per cent cut of the takings.

According to The Times, one of the videos involved a chat about if the alleged perpetrator of the Christchurch attack was a Mossad agent.

Another $5 post said: 'What's your take on the fact that the murderer did not once mention Zionist influence in America or Europe?'

One paid $2 to promote his opinion and comment saying there is a 'Lubavitch Synagogue in Christchurch'.

Other uses of the feature to spread extremist views include a post from a Briton who said:

A British viewer paid 10 to post: 'VIOLENCE IS THE ONLY SOLUTION. I AM WILLING TO DIE FOR MY NATION.'

Amanda Bowman, vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: 'There is no excuse for accepting money from people who are promoting their own racism.'

The comments are meant to abide by the company's terms of service, which prohibit hate speech. YouTube has since removed the video calling for violence and discussing 'super Jews' but the other comments are still in place (file photo)

YouTube has since removed the video calling for violence and discussing 'super Jews' but the other comments are still in place.

A YouTube spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We do not allow videos or comments that incite hatred on YouTube and work hard to remove content that violates our policies quickly, using a combination of human flagging and review and smart detection technology.

'We're making progress in our fight to prevent the abuse of our services, including hiring more people and investing in advanced machine learning technology.

'We know there's always more to do here and we're committed to getting better.'
A brutish tribe of people who lived in the Neolithic era more than 4,000 years ago is being touted as the most violent and aggressive society to ever live.

A growing body of evidence is convincing archaeologists that the Yamnaya society ruthlessly massacred opposing societies.

It is believed the primitive society capitalised on disease, warfare and famine and unceremoniously swept through Europe, destroying entire civilisations and leaving destruction in their wake.

DNA evidence from several prehistoric burial sites has revealed hoards of these tall, muscular and violent warriors would overwhelm other societies on horseback.

They would murder men and sire their own children so that within a few generations the presence of the previous societies is all but eradicated.

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DNA evidence from several prehistoric burial sites has revealed hoards of these tall, muscular and violent warriors would overwhelm other societies on horseback. They started in the European steppe and ended up conquering most of Europe and preserving their own genetic lineage through brutal genocide of rival males

Yamnaya people interbred with the Corded Ware people, who made the pictured pottery, in central Europe, with later generations inheriting a significant amount of Yamnaya DNA

Yamnaya people arrived in Eastern Europe approximately 5,000 years ago and their culture and customs spread rapidly to both the east and the west.

They then interbred with the Corded Ware people in central Europe, with later generations inheriting a significant amount of Yamnaya DNA.

Environments in these two locations were vastly different at this time in history with the European steppe and its shrubland giving way to forests and vast areas of greenery.

Evidence of genetic remnants of these people so far away from their origin sparked confusion and outrage among many experts, who scrambled for an explanation to explain how the tribe moved so swiftly across the continent.

Not only were the people spreading, but so were their customs.

The Yamnaya buried their dead in easily identifiable ways, in 'pit graves' and not the common communal graves of the time.

Wooden beams covered the grave and a mound of Earth, known as a kurgan, was created atop the burial site.

These, and there artefacts and remains of the Yamnaya, have been found dotted around many other areas of the continent.

Some experts claim the presence of their technology and rituals is proof of them preceding their actual migration but others claim they exploited a time when the rest of Europe was weak and vulnerable.

A TIMELINE OF HOW THE YAMNAYA CONQUERED EUROPE Arrive at the European steppe in the south-east of the continent 5,000 years ago. Reach the far more central areas which are vastly different and covered in forests in a mere 100 years. They interbred with the Corded Ware people. Bell Beaker people appear in Iberia at this time in Iberia. Bell Beaker culture spreads eastwards over the next few centuries and is embraced by the Corded are people who carry the Yamnaya DNA. These then interbreed and the so-called Yamnays Beakers travelled to Britain using sea-faring knowledge garnered from the Iberian natives. They conquer Britain and within a handful of generations the people who built Stonehenge are eradicated form the genetic record. Advertisement

Various pieces of evidence from the archaeological record, DNA and isotope analysis and even pollen from ancient sites has found the centuries before the dominance of the Yamnaya people to be a time of great suffering.

Vast mega-settlements of the previous era had been razed to the ground after becoming a festering pit for disease and poverty.

The earliest known relative of the black death was discovered dating back 5,700 years.

'These mega-settlements were beginning to be abandoned and burned down a little after 5700 years ago,' Professor Kristian Kristiansen at the University of Gothenburg told New Scientist.

'By 5400 years ago, they were gone.'

Such was the devastation and long-lasting impact of these disease-riddled settlements, evidence of the black death was found in Scandinavia 400 years after the last one was abandoned and destroyed.

The remaining people to survive this bleak and elongated period of history were likely small and weakened from the ordeal.

Carbon dating of a range of products, including arrowheads, bell-shaped pots (pictured) found the Iberian civilisation known as the Bell beaker people collided with the Yamnaya descendants

Britain began the move from 'hunter-gatherer' to farming and settlements about 7,000 years ago as part of the 'Neolithic Revolution' The Neolithic Revolution was the world's first verifiable revolution in agriculture. It began in Britain between about 5000 BC and 4500 BC but spread across Europe from origins in Syria and Iraq between about 11000 BC and 9000 BC. The period saw the widespread transition of many disparate human cultures from nomadic hunting and gathering practices to ones of farming and building small settlements. Stonehenge, the most famous prehistoric structure in Europe, possibly the world, was built by Neolithic people, and later added to during the early Bronze Age The revolution was responsible for turning small groups of travellers into settled communities who built villages and towns. Some cultures used irrigation and made forest clearings to better their farming techniques. Others stored food for times of hunger, and farming eventually created different roles and divisions of labour in societies as well as trading economies. In the UK, the period was triggered by a huge migration or folk-movement from across the Channel. The Neolithic Revolution saw humans in Britain move from groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled communities. Some of the earliest monuments in Britain are Neolithic structures, including Silbury Hill in Wiltshire (pictured) Today, prehistoric monuments in the UK span from the time of the Neolithic farmers to the invasion of the Romans in AD 43. Many of them are looked after by English Heritage and range from standing stones to massive stone circles, and from burial mounds to hillforts. Stonehenge, the most famous prehistoric structure in Europe, possibly the world, was built by Neolithic people, and later finished during the Bronze Age. Neolithic structures were typically used for ceremonies, religious feasts and as centres for trade and social gatherings. Advertisement

Yamnaya, untainted by the torrid events which occurred before their arrival, blossomed against the pitiful natives.

Ancient DNA reveals these migrants were well nourished, tall and muscular. Some archaeologists also argue that the warrior tribe consisted of skilled horsemen.

'It looks like they lived mostly on meat and milk products,' says Professor Kristiansen.

'They were healthier and probably physically quite strong.'

A controversial study from 2017 also claimed the burial rituals of the men and women differed in societies after the Yamnaya had invaded and succeeded.

The men maintained their burial traditions while women were buried in the traditional ways of their local civilisation.

This, some say, indicates the Yamnaya invade, massacred all the males and impregnated the women in order to rapidly further their bloodlines.

Such aggressive and murderous behaviour would have inevitably caused some consternation among Neolithic societies struggling to hold back the powerful Yamnaya.

Evidence of a fightback against the brutal folk comes from an archaeological site in Germany called Eulau.

Here, graves were found where large amounts of women and children were buried together.

Isotope analysis of the adults' teeth revealed they were in fact not local to the area and grew up elsewhere before moving to the region - likely women captured by the Yamnaya.

Of the 13 bodies at the site, five suffered injuries which were likely the cause f their death and experts claim this is evidence they were ambushed and massacred by rival tribes in a revenge attack.

The men of the tribe were likely away from the site at the time tending to the cattle when the raid was launched, leaving the women and children defenceless.

Eulau is an example of a fightback from scorned locals, but experts caution that it was likely an anomaly.

Genetic analysis found that the movement of the Yamnaya across the English Channel into England happened around 4,400 years ago and coincides with when the Britons of the time, who built Stonehenge (pictured), completely disappeared from the genetic record

STONEHENGE'S CONSTRUCTION REQUIRED GREAT INGENUITY Stonehenge was built thousands of years before machinery was invented. The heavy rocks weigh upwards of several tonnes each. Some of the stones are believed to have originated from a quarry in Wales, some 140 miles (225km) away from the Wiltshire monument. To do this would have required a high degree of ingenuity, and experts believe the ancient engineers used a pulley system over a shifting conveyor-belt of logs. Historians now think that the ring of stones was built in several different stages, with the first completed around 5,000 years ago by Neolithic Britons who used primitive tools, possibly made from deer antlers. Modern scientists now widely believe that Stonehenge was created by several different tribes over time. After the Neolithic Britons - likely natives of the British Isles - started the construction, it was continued centuries later by their descendants. Over time, the descendants developed a more communal way of life and better tools which helped in the erection of the stones. Bones, tools and other artefacts found on the site seem to support this hypothesis. Advertisement

Evidence is mounting to support the theory that the Yamnaya were accomplished warriors that defeated all comers in their journey across Europe, but archaeologists warn it may not be that simple and to believe a model based on a single assumption could be a tempting, but misleading, trap.

Propagation of their DNA throughout the continent may have been aided by interceding with different cultures.

Around 4,700 years ago, a population in modern-day Spain and Portugal called the Bell Beaker people were thriving.

This group of people was also made of celebrated warriors who shared similar customs - such as burying their dead in single graves.

Carbon dating of a range of products, including arrowheads, bell-shaped pots and copper daggers proved their origin to be from the Iberian peninsula.

But their culture - but not the people - then migrated west towards central Europe, where it collided with the Corded Ware people of Yamnaya descent heading in the opposite direction.

There is currently no evidence of a conflict, instead the Corded Ware people appear to have embraced the notion 4,600 years ago.

'They simply take on part of the Bell Beaker package and become Beaker people,' says Professor Kristiansen.

This ability to adapt allowed Yamnaya DNA to survive from the original society, into the Corded Ware people and then manifest again as the Beaker people.

A genetic fork was forged by this mixing of the groups and created true Beaker people, who remained in Iberia, and the new branch in modern-day Netherlands with Yamnaya blood.

This mixing was integral to the next step in the journey of these people as they used the sea-faring knowledge obtained from the Beaker people to cross the English Channel.

Once on English turf, the people went about their usual business and eradicated almost all the local inhabitants of the island.

Genetic analysis found that this movement of the Yamnaya descendants happened around 4,400 years ago and coincides with when the Britons of the time, who built Stonehenge, completely disappeared.

There is no remnants of their DNA in the genome of modern people, but more significantly, there is no proof of the original Brits even a handful or generations later.

Evidence of a fightback against the brutal folk comes from an archaeological site in Germany called Eulau. Here, graves were found where large amounts of women and children were buried together after being massacred in retaliation. Pictured are the bodies of mothers embracing their children in a grave at the site in modern-day Germany

The Yumnaya took over and erased all genetic evidence of the land's previous stewards.

This theory is backed up by David Reich at Harvard Medical School who is due to release a piece of research stating the Yumnaya orchestrated a systematic genocide of Neolithic men.

Original Bell Beaker people collided with the Yumnaya people 4,50 years ago and this provides some of the strongest evidence yet of their brutality.

Forty per cent of all males had a Y chromosome linked to Yumnaya, indicating after the cultures met, only Yumnaya men were procreating.

'The collision of these two populations was not a friendly one, not an equal one, but one where the males from outside were displacing local males and did so almost completely,' Reich told New Scientist Live in September.

'It's the only way to explain that no male Neolithic lines survived.'
Evolutionary roboticists have been testing radical methodologies that allow robots to 'mate' with one another autonomously.

The process would work with two robots that are able to combine their code and produce 3D-printed offspring.

And while it may seem far-fetched, researchers say this could become commonplace within about 20 years, according to Wired.

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Evolutionary roboticists have been testing radical methodologies that allow robots to 'mate' with one another autonomously. Two robots would combine code and make a 3D-printed baby

HOW COULD ROBOTS REPRODUCE IN THE FUTURE? Opinions differ as to how robots could breed and reproduce in the future. Professor Noel Sharkey said that there might not be any need to look at molecules as robots can be 'bred' by swapping software so that the code used to make robots perform certain tasks particularly well, can be combined to create a 'child'. He believes that robots of the future will be able to print their offspring, a little like a 3D printer, but could assemble them too. George Zarkadakis, who is a novelist as well as an engineer, said if robots could reproduce, it would defend them from computer viruses and make them more robust. Professor Warwick said breeding with each other could mean robots could evolve at a fast pace, while Professor Sharkey thinks the process could take millions of years. Advertisement

Research around evolutionary robots was published recently in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence.

In it, computer scientists from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam devised an automatic process that 'designs robots across multiple levels and niches them to tasks and environmental conditions.'

'Lifes ability to produce useful embodiments comes from a free-form evolutionary process where variance occurs across multiple levels,' the study explains.

'Making robot design similarly free-form and level-based might herald a new wave of capable embodiments to finally tackle challenging unstructured environments.'

Breakthroughs in evolutionary robotics could lead to great improvements in robots' ability to navigate complex environments.

Among the environments called out by the researchers include: 'Cataloguing biodiversity in remote areas, searching destroyed buildings for survivors following an earthquake, and exploring labyrinthine cave systems.'

For the study, the researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam programmed two robots to create their own offspring.

Researchers added 'noise' to the data supplied to create the offspring, so as to model the process of biological mutations, according to Wired.

They found that the resulting offspring had elements of the two robots' 'genomes,' as well as some mutations.

Scientists have conducted research around generating 'offspring' from two robots. Findings could lead to great improvements in robots' ability to navigate complex environments

'One parent is fully green, and the other parent is fully blue,' Gusz Eiben, a profess or artificial intelligence at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, told Wired.

'Then the child has some modules that are blue and some that are green, but the head is white.

'That's not what we put in - it's a mutation effect,' he added.

It comes as additional research has been conducted around using algorithms and 'evolution' to build better robots.

Last year, scientists in Australia let algorithms design robot legs to handle different surfaces.

Typically, when scientists build robots, they look back at earlier designs and engineer different versions accordingly.

However, for the study, they took 20 digital shapes, tested their walking abilities and, from there, took the top performers and 'mated' them to produce similar-looking legs.

They did this repeatedly until they generated legs that are adapted to walk on hard soil, gravel or in water, Wired reported.

Continued work around evolutionary robotics could make it easier to produce advanced robots more quickly than before.

Fears that the technology will spiral out of control are most likely irrational, as humans still oversee the 'evolutionary' process while it's carried out by robots, Wired noted.
A new study has found that resolving debts can lighten the load in more places than just your wallet.

Researchers surveyed 200 low-income individuals on their decision-making skills and anxiety before and after their debt was partially paid off.

They found that debt relief lowered the 'mental burdens of the poor' that previously prevented them from making better decisions, among other things.

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A new study has found that resolving debts can lighten the load in more places than just your wallet. A team of researchers surveyed 200 low-income individuals on their decision-making skills and anxiety before and after their financial debts were partially paid off

WHAT DID THEY FIND? Researchers surveyed 200 low-income individuals before and after debt relief. The study findings included: Error rates in cognitive function tests dropped from 17 percent to 4 percent after debt relief

People who reported generalized anxiety disorders went from 78 percent beforehand to 53 percent

Present bias fell from 44 percent to 33 percent among respondents Advertisement

The study was conducted by the Social Service Research Centre at the National University of Singapore and published recently in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Participants in the study received debt relief worth up to 5,000 Singapore dollars, or roughly three month's household income.

The charity payments were put toward portions of participants mortgages, utility bills and municipal debts.

While all participants received the same dollar amount of debt relief, not all had the same debt levels - some had more debt accrued compared to others, meaning they had more debt leftover after the charity donation.

They were then told to take a survey that measured anxiety and cognitive functioning, as well as financial decision-making.

The survey was given to participants before they received debt relief and then three months after receiving debt relief.

Researchers found that participants' average error rates in cognitive function tests dropped from 17 percent to 4 percent after their debt was reduced.

Additionally, participants who reported generalized anxiety disorders went from 78 percent beforehand to 53 percent after debt relief.

The graph measures participants' error rates on cognitive function tests before and after debt relief. Error rates dropped from 17 percent to 4 percent after debt was paid down

Present bias, or the tendency to value immediate gratification over long-term goals, fell from 44 percent to 33 percent among respondents.

The results demonstrate the 'bandwidth taxes' that can weigh on people trapped in the weight of debt.

Similar research conducted in the U.S. has showed comparable outcomes.

The findings also challenge the commonly held belief that the poor are in debt 'because of their personal failings,' said Dr Ong Qiyan, a research fellow with the Social Service Research Centre.

'Our study shows that because debt impairs psychological functioning and decision-making, it would be extremely challenging for even the motivated and talented to escape poverty,' Qiyan explained.

'Instead, the poor must either have exceptional qualities or be exceptionally lucky to get out of poverty. It is hard to be poor, harder than we thought.'

Short of paying off debt, people can minimize anxiety and mental fatigue associated with it by consolidating their debts, or combining multiple debts into a single payment, thereby simplifying the payoff experience.
Some sixty-six million years ago, a scene of unimaginable horror played out in a North Dakota floodplain now aptly known as the Hell Creek Formation.

It came without warning; Earth shook violently with the seismic waves originating from an impact equal to a magnitude 10 or 11 earthquake, and deadly glass beads rained down from the sky like tiny ballistic missiles traveling 200 miles per hour.

But for Cretaceous life in Hell Creek, it would be the waves from an inland sea that proved most devastating.

Through six years of digs at the site, a paleontologist has finally confirmed something he's long suspected  in the heart of North Dakota lies a prehistoric killing field that may be the best evidence yet of the events that occurred during Earths most notorious mass extinction.

Fossilized fish, vegetation, mammals, insects, marine reptiles, and even part of a Triceratops lay piled atop one another, preserving for eternity the moment a 30-foot wall of water pummeled the landscape and buried all living creatures in its path.

According to paleontologist Robert DePalma, its the first mass death assemblage of large lifeforms thats ever been found from the dinosaur extinction event.

Fossilized fish, mammals, insects, marine reptiles, and part of a Triceratops lay piled atop one another, preserving for eternity the moment a 30-foot wall of water pummeled the landscape and buried all living creatures in its path. An artist's impression of the scene is shown

A TIMELINE OF THE HELLS CREEK EVENT Researchers estimate seismic waves hit the Hell Creek Formation within 10 minutes of the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago. These would have been the equivalent of waves from magnitude 10 or 11 earthquake. The team suspects an inland sea then spawned at least two massive waves, called seiches. These battered the land with only about 20 minutes in between, ultimately dropping more than six feet of deposits on top of the doomed creatures at the site. All the while, deadly glass beads called tektites rained down from the sky like tiny ballistic missiles traveling 200 miles per hour. The fossil record shows these beads continued to pelt the surface for 10 to 20 minutes after the first wave, before a second hit and buried the stranded fish in sand and gravel. This thick deposit was eventually sealed off with a layer of iridium-rich clay  a material thats rare on Earth, but common in asteroids and comets. Advertisement

Its not just another cache of Cretaceous fossils  the scene discovered at what's now known as the Tanis outcrop may well be the Holy Grail.

At no other K-T boundary section [end of the Cretaceous Period] on Earth can you find such a collection consisting of a large number of species representing different ages of organisms and different stages of life, all of which died at the same time, on the same day, a said DePalma, curator of paleontology at the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History in Florida and a doctoral student at the University of Kansas.

During the Cretaceous, the Hell Creek Formation was home to an inland sea that hosted all sorts of prehistoric life, from mosasaurs to snail-like cephalopods called ammonites.

When the asteroid struck thousands of miles way, it birthed a tsunami-like wave that temporarily reversed the flow of a nearby river and tossed hundreds, even thousands of sturgeon and paddlefish onto land.

There, stranded on the sand bar, the fish were then pelted by high-speed glass beads called tektites that rained down from the sky as a product of rock melted during the impact.

Paddlefish were found to have tektites embedded in their gills, which likely occurred as they swam through the water, mouth agape, raking in food. Experts say they were the first direct victims of the impact.

All of this can be seen in the fossilized deathbed at the Hell Creek Formation.

Its like a museum of the end of the Cretaceous in a layer a meter-and-a-half thick, said Mark Richards, a professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington.

When the asteroid struck thousands of miles way, it birthed a tsunami-like wave that temporarily reversed the flow of a nearby river and tossed hundreds or thousands of sturgeon and paddlefish onto land. A fish tail from Tanis deposit can be seen above

Stranded on the sand bar, fish were pelted by high-speed glass beads called tektites (pictured) that rained down from the sky as a product of rock melted during the impact

DePalma and colleagues, including researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, have detailed their remarkable findings in paper set to be published next week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The fossil record shows tektites continued to rain down on the surface for 10 to 20 minutes after the first wave, before a second hit and buried the stranded fish in sand and gravel.

The seismic waves start arising within nine to 10 minutes of the impact, so they had a chance to get the water sloshing before all the spherules had fallen out of the sky, Richards said.

These spherules coming in cratered the surface, making funnels  you can see the deformed layers in what used to be soft mud  and then rubble covered the spherules. No one has seen these funnels before.

Tsunamis from the Chicxulub impact are certainly well-documented, but no one knew how far something like that would go into an inland sea, DePalma said. The team determined there were at least two massive waves, which battered the land with about 20 minutes in between

DePalma has been digging at Hell Creek since 2013. And in the years since, his team has identified fish, burned tree trunks, conifer branches, dead mammals, mosasaur bones, insects, the partial carcass of a Triceratops, marine microorganisms called dinoflagellates, and ammonites in the Cretaceous graveyard.

Walter Alvarez and Robert DePalma are pictured at the Tanis outcrop in North Dakota

The researchers say seismic waves likely hit the area within 10 minutes of the impact, spurring a standing wave in the inland sea.

All the while, tektites fell at speeds of 100 to 200 miles per hour.

You can imagine standing there being pelted by these glass spherules, Richards said.

They could have killed you.

The team suspects there were at least two massive waves, called seiches, which battered the land with only about 20 minutes in between, ultimately dropping more than six feet of deposits on top of the doomed creatures at the site.

This thick deposit is sealed off with a layer of iridium-rich clay  a material thats rare on Earth, but common in asteroids and comets.

Tsunamis from the Chicxulub impact are certainly well-documented, but no one knew how far something like that would go into an inland sea, DePalma said.

The team has identified fish, burned tree trunks, conifer branches, dead mammals, mosasaur bones, insects, a Triceratops, marine microorganisms called dinoflagellates, and ammonites in the Cretaceous graveyard. Fish carcasses and two logs tossed together are shown above

When Mark came aboard, he discovered a remarkable artifact  that the incoming seismic waves from the impact site would have arrived at just about the same time as the atmospheric travel time of the ejecta,' DePalma said.

'That was our big breakthrough.

The stunning discovery now represents a direct glimpse into whats known as the K-T boundary  or, the end of the Cretaceous Period and the beginning of the Tertiary Period.

Bodies piled atop one another at Hell Creek and preserved in fossil form are just a snippet of the widespread devastation that resulted from the Chicxulub impact; when the asteroid struck, it ultimately wiped out 75 percent of life on Earth.
The motorhome wave  a rather discreet, three-finger, Masonic-like salute to fellow motorhome drivers (and there are an awful lot of them in Sweden)  comes naturally.

But it takes us a full day to master everything else about our luxurious new 4.5ton home.

The gargantuan size of the Swift Toscane vehicle, the blind reverse, the sofas that turn into beds, the endless windows that open and close at unexpected angles, not to mention the unsecured salt and pepper pots that fly about in the back as my husband tackles Swedish bends with gusto.

Dining al fresco: Jane and her boys outside their motorhome at the coast

Soon the endless pine forests are blurring past outside as we embark on our eight-day family odyssey of Southern Sweden, across Smaland from Jonkoping (where the 130m deep lake has only just thawed) right down to the sandy beaches on the island of Oland, reached by a magnificent four-mile bridge.

How many trees are there here, Mummy  5,000? 6,000? A gazillion? ask sons Freddy, six, and Sandy, five.

About 3.2 billion, at the latest count. But the verges also billow with wild lupins, lilac, poppies and clouds of cow parsley. The sky is brilliant blue, the roads are deserted and blue and yellow flags flutter everywhere.

Naturally, everything works perfectly, including our (surprisingly spacious) shower and chemical loo.

Swedish men are strong and firm and look like they could knock up a log cabin, after first chopping down the necessary trees and slaying a moose or two while theyre at it.

The women spend a lot of time taking fika  stopping everything theyre doing at least twice a day, every day, to drink coffee, eat delicious, dense cinnamon buns and chat  and living the lagom way.

Roughly translated, lagom means not too little, not too much. It is central to the Swedes approach to everything from their homes (small, unshowy and invariably painted dark red) to their choice of car (Volvo).

Once the sun pops out after eight months of winter, the entire population rushes outside with deckchairs, canoes, inflatable beach balls and very small bikinis to tilt their beautiful pale faces up to the sun. They hurl themselves into icy-cold lakes, barbecue pork ribs on the extravagantly beautiful beaches, hike, cycle, kayak and swim. But most of all they camp.

Happy campers: The family started their adventure at Jonkoping, Sweden (pictured above)

Camping and motor-homing is very lagom. Sweden boasts endless fantastic campsites such as Saxnas camping, Granna Campsite in Granna and the wonderful Habo Camping near Jonkoping, which, as well as offering hot chips, immaculate loos (everything in Sweden is immaculate, thanks to their national mantra of leave as you find) and a beautiful beach, has its very own onsite cheese shop.

Even in poor weather, there are lots of attractions which are wholesome and fun and display a refreshingly relaxed attitude to health and safety.

Based on the imagination of the Pippi Longstocking author, Astrid Lindgrens World, in Vimmerby, is a plastic-free oasis of ferns, trees, castles and of activities that mostly involve climbing trees and falling into water; Kyrkekvarn pony riding involved being shown your (teeny) steed, directed to the bridle path and asked if  when youve had enough  you could kindly untack it and stick it back in the field.

Pretty much everything at the Isaberg Mountain Resort  dirt-bike riding, climbing and assault course for us produces enormous bruises and wide smiles. And at the crystal factory Glasriket, we are allowed to wander free range past fiery furnaces and watch as our ecstatic sons blew their own boiling hot glass bubbles.

But Kalmars Elk Park is a highlight. Here we meet Sylvia, Astrid and Ferdinand, admire their velvety muzzles and feed them birch branches  and then head back to a log cabin where we barbecue elk burgers and marvel some more at how tasty they are.

In an expensive country, motor homing is a fantastically cheap option particularly if, like us, you alternate campsites and the wild.

If you are tempted by a family motor-homing holiday  and you should be  Sweden is the place to do it.

Off main roads, when the sun is out, it is wild and beautiful and provides the sort of holiday we all remember from our childhood, but probably never had.
When the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo put paintbrush to canvas, the results were striking.

But when she turned herself into a work of art, sporting flamboyant national costumes, jangling jewellery and her trademark monobrow, she became a sensation.

With her championing of indigenous culture, Kahlo became the poster girl of modern Mexico.

Artists colony: The city of San Miguel de Allende has attracted creatives since the Thirties

Yet poster girl doesn't quite explain her fame.

As the wife of the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, she was already well-known in her lifetime.

But since her death in 1954, her reputation has far eclipsed his.

A polio victim who suffered a terrible traffic accident at the age of 18, she was plagued by ill health, eventually losing a leg to gangrene. 'At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can,' she once said.

Translating her own experiences of pain and infertility into art helped to make her one of the most compelling painters of the 20th century.

Vibrant capital: The Cox & Kings Kahlo-inspired itinerary includes two nights in Mexico City

An exhibition, Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up, which opened earlier this month at London's Victoria & Albert Museum, examines her legacy.

On show are 200 personal effects that have never left Mexico before, including her jewel-coloured costumes, chunky jewellery and, most poignantly, her prosthetic leg. Plus, the eyebrow pencil used to enhance that unibrow.

As Claire Wilcox, co-curator of the show, points out, her mixed heritage (European and Mexican) and her defiance of social conventions make her increasingly relevant to today's society: 'She achieved an individualism that has survived, that's alluring.'

Gender-fluidity? Cross-dressing? Frida got there first.

In Mexico City, she adorns banknotes, cushions and shopping bags.

Yet in the calm of her former home, the Blue House in Coyoacan, a quiet suburb, the souvenir tat is soon forgotten.

Despite attracting more than 25,000 tourists a month, the museum remains a tranquil place in shades of cobalt and terracotta.

Visiting is like stepping into a vivid paintbox.

It was here that she lived, worked and loved in equal measure: her lovers including the exiled Russian communist, Leon Trotsky.

With her husband, she was part of a political and cultural renaissance that attracted artists from all over the world to Mexico, many from war-torn Europe.

Seduced by the bohemian lifestyle and the landscape of volcanoes and pyramids, these artists soon established colonies, making the country a powerhouse of the avant-garde.

Boho hotel: The newly refurbished Belmond Casa Sierra de Nevada in San Miguel de Allende

With those communities in mind, I flew north some 170 miles from Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende, where Rivera worked for a time.

It's an elegant colonial city that grew rich from the silver trade. Arriving at dusk, we walked through the streets of 16th and 17th-century mansions to the main square, Plaza Allende, where men were playing chess and sipping beer.

Listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2008, the architecture of the old town remains unchanged since the Spanish ruled.

But today it's art, not silver, that has brought this town wealth.

With two leading art schools, foreign students have been arriving since the Thirties.

Many settled and today an estimated 20,000 expats live here, mostly U.S. and Canadian citizens, making up a third of the population.

'It's only ten hours' drive from the border, so it's our equivalent of Tuscany', one American woman told me.

We based ourselves at the newly refurbished Belmond Casa Sierra de Nevada, a cluster of old town houses (casonas).

Walking work of art: One of the colourful photography portraits at the V&A exhibition

Arts and crafts are centre-stage here: each room features original artworks and textiles woven by artisans.

Guests are encouraged to try their hand in an art class given by the hotel's resident artist.

One evening we climb up to the roof terrace to watch the sunset over the town.

Beneath us the mauve of the jacaranda trees darkens to amethyst, the pantiled roofs gleam gold and the sky turns ultramarine.

These were Frida's colours.

Now it's our turn to stop in our tracks and look in wonder.
Tourism businesses in Majorca, including hotels and restaurants, say their profits are plunging due to renewed competition from Turkey, Egypt and Greece and the islands' new doubled tourism tax.

Hotel reservations for July, August and September have dropped so much that discounts of up to 40 per cent are being offered to tempt holidaymakers.

Businesses involved in hotels, catering, transportation and associated services say their profits are already down in contrast to the boom times of 2017.

Hotel reservations for July, August and September in Majorca, pictured, have dropped so much that discounts of up to 40 per cent are being offered to tempt holidaymakers

Gabriel Llobera, a member of the board of directors of the Association of Hotel Chains of the Balearic Islands, told Spanish newspaper Ultimahora.es: 'Business profitability will fall compared to 2017 but not as much as hotel occupancy.

'The strong competition from Turkey, Egypt and Greece, as well as the prices we have in the islands, are the main causes. To this we must add the impact of the eco-tax.'

The group says there are hotels on the islands that have so few bookings in the coming months that they are making "all sorts of offers and discounts".

Mr Llobera warned: 'The situation is very different from the one in 2017, which we can describe as the record year.

'From now on, we will have to get used to this new commercial dynamic in the Mediterranean.'

The hotel management of Mallorca FEHM is blaming the decline in occupancy on the recovery of competing countries and the increase in accommodation places for holiday rentals.

Businesses involved in hotels, catering, transportation and associated services say their profits are already down in contrast to the boom times of 2017

They say the loss of German and British tourists will lead to a drop in income but this will need to be filled by alternative markets, particularly domestic tourism from the Spanish mainland.

President Maria Frontera confirmed: 'This is a very different situation from previous years. We can speak of an atypical season due to the confluence of multiple factors that will change the expected results, with a clear downward trend.

'The evolution of German and British tourism is lower than last year.'

While president of the Balearic Business Federation of Transport, Rafael Roig, confirmed to Ultimahora.es: 'The volume of business registers an average decrease of between ten and 15 per cent with respect to 2017.

'This will affect the business profitability ratios.'
Train journeys tend to start and end at railway stations.

But in Alaska they do things a little differently - and run a train that picks up passengers who simply flag it down. Anywhere on the route.

The service is called the Hurricane Turn Train and it is, as the Alaskan Railroad website points out, 'a train like no other'.

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Alaska's Hurricane Turn Train picks up passengers who flag it down - anywhere on the route

All passengers have to do is wave a white flag - or even their arms or a white T-shirt - to catch the driver's attention.

The train will then come to a stop and the passengers can clamber aboard, along with their pets, as one fascinating video shows.

Filmed by a passenger on board, it shows the train coming to a halt in the middle of a wood and a group of hikers loading up their gear - and a trusty hound.

The twin-engine train is only three-carriages long and its operators say this makes it easy to stop at short notice.

People standing on the side of the tracks wait for the train to come to a halt after flagging it down

A railroad worker first loads their bags and other luggage on to the train before they come aboard on a separate carriage

Not only does the train take human passengers, they also allow dogs. Pictured is one pet being lifted on to the train

According to Alaskan Railroad, locals in the state take advantage of the Hurricane Turn as it provides access to hard-to-reach cabins, where guests can hunt and fish.

In summer, the Hurricane route starts in Talkeetna, a village north of Anchorage, and runs north on a 55-mile route.

It also takes in Hurricane Gulch, known for its picturesque bridge - the longest and tallest on the route.

The Hurricane Turn Train travels from Talkeetna north to Hurricane Gulch, pictured, before reversing for the return trip

During the summer, a trip from Talkeetna to Hurricane costs $54, while a winter trip costs $49

Locals in Alaska take advantage of the Hurricane Turn Train as it provides access to hard-to-reach cabins, where guests can hunt and fish

In winter, the journey changes slightly and the train leaves Anchorage taking in Wasilla, Talkeetna and the flagstop area south of the Hurricane Gulch.

This allows people living in 'off-the-grid' remote cabins the chance to take the train south for the day. However, the service only runs once a month.

During the summer, a trip from Talkeetna to Hurricane costs $54, while a winter trip costs $49.
Online travel sites are duping holidaymakers with 'too good to be true' deals before ramping up prices through 'questionable' sales tactics, according to a consumer rights group.

These operators are often small websites, but they have access to huge audiences through popular search engines like Skyscanner, Kayak and Momondo, where their prices often appear among the cheapest fares, said Which?

It launched an investigation that revealed how passengers who have used these providers to secure cheap flights have then faced demands for more cash after making a booking - and been left high and dry if they insisted the agent honour the original bargain price.

Online travel agents are luring in holidaymakers with 'too good to be true' deals before ramping up prices through sales tactics that a consumer group has described as questionable

One of those was Kam Hughes, who said she felt 'blackmailed' when Checknfly demanded an extra 79 the day after she booked a 415 return flight to Vancouver to see her sick mother - and said it would cancel the flight if she didn't pay up.

The company claimed the cost had gone up by 160 while she was making her booking - but Mrs Hughes told Which? that the bargain price was still being offered online 24 hours later.

She refused to budge and booked with British Airways instead.

Checknfly claimed it wasn't at fault and said in a statement: 'We were ready to bear half the loss and requested that Mrs Hughes pay 79 in order to secure the flights.

'When she refused we processed the full refund back onto the card she paid from.'

Which? also heard from a Gotogate customer who bought a flight to India for almost 200 cheaper than anywhere else.

But when he got to the airport on the day he was due to fly out, he was told at the check-in desk that he did not have a seat on the plane.

Gotogate initially refused to help, meaning the passenger's friend flew to India without him.

The company only admitted making a mistake 'due to human error' and paid compensation after Which? made contact about the incident.

Gotogate refunded the cost of booking a second flight and added compensation of just over 300.

It told Which? Travel: 'We have many customers and, of course, make mistakes now and then.

'When that happens, we try to correct the mistake as soon as possible and compensate if necessary.'

The passenger had found Gotogate through Skyscanner. The price comparison site said that it does take responsibility for the behaviour of agents that it lists.

It said: 'We log complaints, which then form part of the provider's quality rating and we will take action against providers who breach our strict thresholds, or have consistent patterns in negative feedback.

'Our business is based on offering our customers the cheapest available airfare.'

And while the nightmare of being left without a flight is relatively rare, poor service seems to come as standard with some agents, Which? said.

It pointed out that Gotogate makes customers pay extra for a prompt response to customer service queries or refund claims, charging 9.90 for 'premium support' and 19.90 for 'platinum support'.

It also charges for a flight compensation solicitor service, bag tracking service and a visa waiver for trips to the United States.

Gotogate said: 'We offer several add-on products so customers can customise their trip.'

Which? said it found other 'less obvious' charges.

Its report also highlights a flight to New York with Norwegian Air, offered by Edreams, for 362 return, while the airline itself was charging 369 return.

It's a small saving, but one that could end up costing more down the line, Which? Travel said, because Norwegian charges 35 each way for luggage, but Edreams adds a surcharge of 13, bringing the price up to 48 each way.

Bravofly, part of the Lastminute Group, meanwhile, sells something it calls 'Stress Free Web Check-in' for around 3, depending on the cost of the flight.

All this means, said the investigators at Which?, is that it emails the boarding pass instead of customers checking in online themselves - for free.

Rory Boland, Which? Travel Editor, said: 'Comparison sites are the best place to start your flight search but if you are offered a too-good-to-be-true deal, do a bit of research on the travel agent selling the ticket - a Google search might be enough to put you off.

An investigation by consumer champions Which? revealed how one passenger booked a trip to Vancouver for 415, but was asked for another 79 the following day. The online travel site she booked with claimed the price of the flight had gone up

'Even reputable companies have complaints, but if disappointed customers are consistently making the same complaint on online forums and social media, that should be considered a red flag.

'If you're unsure, book direct with the airline or a well-established travel agent.'

Edreams admitted that it does have a surcharge on luggage, adding: 'The prices we advertise via aggregators are always achievable but, of course, might increase depending on the additional services added to a booking.'

And Bravofly defended its web check-in service, claiming that it's 'a reasonable add-on for those who aren't familiar with procedures of various airlines, don't wish to navigate different websites, or have never booked a trip online before'.
Should you continue half a mile to Ham or journey further on to Sandwich?

MailOnline Travel has scoured the world for some of the most comical place names, with these two communities in Kent offering some food for thought.

Continuing on the culinary theme, a tiny gold mining community in Alaska called Chicken proves to be another nugget of joy.

While Sexbierum in the Netherlands might appeal those looking for some post-dinner revelry. The village, however, is a lot more sedate than its moniker suggests.

A spot that's more likely to kill your appetite is Bogey Lane in England, with the signpost coloured an apt shade of green. Scroll down for a host of places bearing bizarre names...

A cut above the rest: Accident is a town in Maryland with a population just over 300. The origin or meaning of the name is unknown

Hold fire: Cut and Shoot is a city in Texas. According to some locals, the town was named after confrontation in the community that took place in 1912 that almost led to violence

Three vices in one: Sexbierum is a village in the central north region of the Netherlands. The spot is famous for its contraction of the words 'Sex', 'Bier' (the Dutch word for beer) and 'Rum' and the traffic sign is often subject to theft

Room for growth: Fertile in Iowa was named for the quality of the soil in its valley

Spreading its wings: Chicken was settled by gold miners in the late 19th century and is one of the few surviving gold rush towns in Alaska. The population was seven at the time of the 2010 Census, down from 17 in 2000

Meal deal: Ham is a hamlet near the town of Sandwich in Kent, England. A signpost which regularly gets photographed points to both the hamlet and the town, thus appearing to read 'Ham Sandwich'

Snot far to go: Bogey Lane in Downe is marked with a signpost featuring an apt shade of green

Nothing to see here: The Perthshire hamlet of Dull decided to pair with the U.S. town of Boring in a bid to boost tourism, with a new road sign unveiled

Lost in translation: The town of Condom is located in southwestern France. The name is thought to have originated from the Gallo-Roman word 'Condatomagus', meaning a market town where a tributary joins a larger river

Off grid living: No Place is a small village in County Durham. Some say the name was a result of the shortening of 'North Place' or 'Near Place'
Breton nationalists have started a campaign against holidaymakers after claiming those who buy second homes in Brittany are leaving villages and towns 'in ruin'.

The group, called Dispac'h, which translates as 'Revolt', says that the area of western France, which is popular with British tourists, has been left with no affordable housing for local people or seasonal workers.

According to the group, 40 per cent of properties on the Breton coast are second homes, meaning they are empty for large parts of the year.

Breton nationalists from the separatist group Dispac'h plaster posters on second homes saying 'villages in ruin' and 'youth in exile'

This also means that public services are then reduced and that businesses start to move away from the area.

And the campaigners, who describe themselves as 'separatists', have been plastering posters over second homes that say 'villages in ruin' and 'youth in exile'.

The posters started appearing on properties in Saint-Malo in March and as well as in other towns.

Anton Burel, spokesman for Dispac'h, told MailOnline Travel that the rise in second homes in Brittany means people are having to leave the area in order to find a more affordable standard of living.

He said: 'Our campaign against second homes is not against the British or the French but against second homes in general since many Bretons, whether they live in Brittany or elsewhere, have second homes.

'The huge increase of home and flat prices in towns and villages exclude inhabitants, especially young people, and prevent them to live in their region.

A beach around the walled city of St Malo in Brittany. Anti second-home posters started appearing on properties there in March as well as in other towns

'The same goes for seasonal workers who are unable to find a place to stay in the summer, like in Quiberon.'

Olivier Lepick, the mayor of Carnac, a town in Brittany has tried to reassure locals saying that secondary residents contribute to the local economy.

He told Le Figaro: 'The locals are very happy to sell their house to Parisians for a high price but then complain about not being able to stay.

'Wanting them [tourists] to leave or taxing them would be tantamount to shooting ourselves in the foot.'

But Dispac'h don't agree and say tourism is actually harming the wealth of the local area.

Olivier Lepick, the mayor of Carnac, a town in Brittany, has tried to reassure locals saying that secondary residents contribute to the local economy. Pictured is Morbihan Bay in Brittany

Mr Burel added: 'The tourism economy has an impact on other sectors of the economy such as agriculture - the installation and expansion of farms is extremely difficult because the tourist economy inflates the agricultural land prices on the coast.

'In terms of employment, it only provides precarious short-term contracts for two months in the year. In coastal towns, there is almost no social life or economic activity out of the summer season and that is what we are mobilizing against.'

In a similar situation, locals in the town of St Ives in Cornwall complained about being pushed out of the community by wealthy visitors looking for a getaway on the coast.

And last year, the town won a High Court battle to outlaw a new housing development that was set to offer plush second homes to holidaymakers.

The ruling is expected to have an impact on other popular resorts in Cornwall and across the rest of Britain.
Aviation is an expensive business for airlines, partly because of the staggering amounts of money they have to shell out on fuel - around 22,000 ($30,000) per flight, give or take a few thousand.

So it's no surprise that carriers devote a lot of time and effort to the business of making their planes as light as possible - after all, the less weight there is, the less thirsty the engines are.

From changing the paper stock of the in-flight magazines to save $300,000 a year to ditching plates in first class passengers never really used, airlines go to extreme lengths to lighten their load, as we reveal here.

Different airlines are using different tactics to make planes lighter so they can save money on fuel. One of those is British Airways, pictured, which has a dedicated fuel efficiency team

Airlines over time have discovered that even the most subtle changes can lead to vast savings on fuel costs and a lower carbon footprint.

British Airways, which has a dedicated fuel efficiency team, told MailOnline Travel that one weight-saving measure is to ditch paper manuals, charts and maps for pilots and instead give them iPads.

The airline says that by doing this, it saves more than 40kg on each of its 300,000 flights a year.

British Airways has reduced the weight of its catering equipment and now uses lighter trolleys on board

Other ways BA has made its services lighter is by reducing the weight of its catering equipment, including using lighter trolleys and even printing its in-flight magazine on lighter paper.

US-based United Airlines has employed similar tactics.

It says that by changing the paper on its in-flight magazine by one ounce per copy it has saved nearly $300,000 a year, according to CBS.

What's more, its cargo containers are also 80 pounds lighter, saving two million gallons of fuel a year, while scrapping on board duty free sales has saved 1.4million gallons of fuel a year - a combined saving of $7million.

At fellow US-based carrier Southwest Airlines, 576,000 gallons of fuel have been saved each year by switching paper charts and manuals to electronic tablets, just as BA have done.

This equates to a saving of around one million dollars annually.

In addition, Southwest told MailOnline Travel it has changed the way it restocks its galley, saving 148,000 gallons of fuel.

Virgin Atlantic discovered that huge savings could be made by offering passengers less alcohol.

Southwest Airlines saved 576,000 gallons of fuel each year by switching paper charts and manuals to electronic tablets

It told MailOnline Travel that it now saves almost 100,000 per year by reducing the amount of items in its bar on inbound night flights.

The airline found that bars were not used as much on these services as most passengers just want to sleep, so it stocks fewer bottles.

Another way Virgin has made flights lighter is to convert the upper class sundries cart from a full-size to half a size.

This came following a review of what upper class passengers were taking from the cart and ditching the items that were being left behind. This simple change saved the airline over 17,000 per year in fuel.

The airline even removed slate-like black dining plates from its upper class cabin after noticing they weren't being used, making a modest saving of 5,822 per year in fuel.

Virgin Atlantic told MailOnline Travel that it now saves almost 100,000 per year in fuel by having a smaller stock of bottles in the bar on night flights

Having slimline seats are another way that airlines can save on fuel and Norwegian has rolled out brand new ones on its Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

The fleet of 12 planes will fly between the UK and Ireland and New York and Providence and feature the Recaro 3710C seat.

Each seat weighs around 10kg - 1kg less than the older model, which reduces the weight of the aircraft by more than 200kg overall.

Norwegian say this reduces its operating costs, which they claim allows it 'to continue delivering affordable fares and an environmentally friendly service'.

Buying brand new planes altogether helps, too.

According to British Airways, in the next five years, it will take delivery of 72 new aircraft, which are all lighter and more efficient.

New models include the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787-10 for long-haul flights and the Airbus A320 and A321neo for short-haul.

The British flag carrier also added that in the future it hopes to start powering its aircraft with jet fuel made from household waste thanks to a partnership to develop renewable fuel plants.

Middle East-based Qatar Airways says it too is investing in the Airbus A350-100, which is one of the lightest new generation aircraft to take to the skies.

It is made from composites including titanium and advanced aluminum alloys.
An extra 5,000 French police are patrolling the streets of Paris this summer in a bid to protect tourists from pickpockets and scam artists.

The French capital is on course for one of the biggest influxes of visitors in recent years during the peak season to late September.

But the city authorities admit that keeping all tourists safe from being robbed or sold fake goods can be difficult.

An extra 5,000 French police are patrolling the streets of Paris this summer in a bid to protect tourists from pickpockets and scam artists. Pictured is a police officer on patrol beside the Eiffel Tower

And now they have deployed extra officers at seven different sites across Paris in a bid to crackdown on crime.

Places with the extra police presence will include the Louvre, Montmarte, the Champs-Elysees, the area around Trocadero and the Eiffel tower, the Latin Quarter, Chatelet and Opera.

According to the local.fr, Paris police chief Michel Delpuech said he visited police on duty around the Louvre museum: 'We are doing everything we can to make sure that tourists are secure in a safe and peaceful city without transforming the city into a bunker.'

While Frederic Dupuch, a senior Paris security official, told Le Parisien newspaper: 'Ninety per cent of thefts that tourists suffer are from bag snatchers or street sellers, card sharks or people with fake petitions.'

The French capital is on course for one of the biggest influxes of visitors in recent years during the peak season to late September

Paris is one of the world's most popular cities for tourists and attracted 18 million visitors last year.

Tourists who are the victims of crime are also being given multilingual forms in police stations to lodge their complaints.

And bilingual police officers have been deployed on the streets, backed up by French foreign language students, to help distressed tourists.

Paris is one of the world's most popular cities for tourists and attracted 18 million visitors last year. Pictured is the Louvre

Places with the extra police presence will include the Louvre, Montmarte, pictured, the Champs-Elysees, the area around Trocadero and the Eiffel tower, the Latin Quarter, Chatelet and Opera

Earlier this month, French prosecutors revealed a Bosnian gang including an embassy official made almost 3million sending migrant children on to the streets of major French cities including Paris to steal.

They released details of the scam after charging eight alleged ringleaders with a range of crimes including human trafficking, forging documents, money laundering, bribery and theft.

The defendants were able to transport the children to France effortlessly, even though none of them had passports.
Advertisement

A new airline is set to bring luxury jet travel to the masses for a snip of the usual price.

AURA will start running flights in early 2019 and has unveiled renderings of its state-of-the-art aircraft, complete with comfy armchair-style seats, large windows and slick interior design.

A spokesperson for the Florida-based firm told MailOnline Travel that tickets will cost from $280 with frequent flights connecting Miami, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles.

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AURA, which will start running flights in early 2019, has unveiled renderings of its new aircraft, complete with comfy armchair-style seats, large windows and slick interior design

A spokesperson for the Florida-based firm told MailOnline Travel that tickets will cost from $280 with frequent flights connecting Miami, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles

The Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft will have 29 seats onboard with two classes of service, First and Wave.

The First class area will feature 21 seats with the most leg-room of any domestic first-class service in the U.S.

While the Wave class cabin, with eight seats, has been designed to imitate the intimacy of a private jet.

Zander Futernick, who founded AURA, said 'affordability was the underlying principle' in developing the business.

The technology entrepreneur, who is just 21 years old, added: 'Having flown economy my entire life, AURA needed to be a product I could afford myself.

'AURA is a sincere endeavour to democratise the luxury of private aviation.

The Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft will have 29 seats onboard with two classes of service, First and Wave

The Wave class cabin, with eight seats, has been designed to imitate the intimacy of a private jet

'Gone are senselessly expensive membership fees and phony claims of affordability. AURA leads a new category in aviation where being fair and doing good are never compromised.'

Other features of the AURA plane will include high-speed WiFi, complimentary iPads, HD IMAX-style screens and virtual reality headsets to passengers can get a birds-eye view of the flight they're on.

On the food front, fresh sushi and sashimi will be served daily, along with a spread of other cuisines, from 'Spanish tapas to Chinese dim sum and Mediterranean meze'.

Boasting self-cleaning toilets, AURA is also set to be the most hygienic aircraft in the sky.

A blurb on the website explains that 'in only 20 seconds, nozzles positioned around the lavatory sanitize every surface, followed by ultraviolet lights killing 99 per cent of all germs. The lavatory is quickly scented for the next guest.'

The First class area will feature 21 seats with the most leg-room of any domestic first-class service in the U.S.

Other features of the AURA plane will include high-speed WiFi, complimentary iPads, HD IMAX-style screens and virtual reality headsets for a birds-eye view of flight

Frequent fliers can pay $250 a month to be a member of AURA and purchase plane fares at fixed rates.

Those who fly less, can book trips as they go, but AURA says the fares will start at least twice the price for non-members.

To match the convivial experience onboard the AURA jet, all flights will depart from private airports where passengers may arrive only 20 minutes before take-off.

Mr Futernick concluded: 'AURA is the vision of an aviation geek who wants you to re-imagine what air travel can be. AURA is all about you. Gone are expensive membership fees and disingenuous claims of affordability.

'AURA leads a new category in aviation where being fair and doing good are never compromised. We are forward-looking. AURA is the future, going beyond the nostalgic Golden Age of air travel.'

On the food front, fresh sushi and sashimi will be served daily, along with a spread of other cuisines, from 'Spanish tapas to Chinese dim sum and Mediterranean meze'
If you suffer from claustrophobia and have a fear of the dark, then this kooky underground hotel in Africa might not be for you.

Travel blogger Drew Goldberg, 27, from Arizona, visited a rural part of Malawi, where he discovered the unusual inn.

In a video he explains that it took a man named Chifundu 11 years to dig the guesthouse out of the clay-like mud, and now he charges anywhere from 68 cents to $2 for people to stay.

Scroll down for video

Travel blogger Drew Goldberg, 27, from Arizona, visited a rural part of Malawi, where he discovered an unusual underground hotel

In a video he explains that it took a man named Chifundu 11 years to dig the guesthouse out of the clay-like mud, and now he charges anywhere from 68 cents to $2 for people to stay

Venturing into the hotel, Goldberg explains that a main staircase leading off the entrance 'just keeps going down and down'.

As there is no electricity, it makes filming a little difficult but Goldberg manages to shed some light on the interiors.

He explains that there are a total of ten rooms at the hotel.

The beds appear to be pretty simple, with mats placed on top of rectangular mounds of mud.

There are ten rooms in total but no electricity or mattresses

As there is no electricity, it makes filming a little difficult but Goldberg manages to shed some light on the interiors

Goldberg points out that 'at least there are pillows' as he gives one of the beds a test

Goldberg points out that 'at least there are pillows' as he gives one of the beds a test.

'Not bad for $2 a night. I could sleep here easily,' he exclaims.

Venturing back to daylight, Goldberg discovers the kitchen in the backyard, with a stove fashioned out of bricks.

Apparently Chifundu started digging the hotel in 1974 and finished his project in 1985.

Goldberg says there is no electricity or internet in the area.

While it might not make for the most comfortable of stays, Goldberg concludes: 'Chifundu is an amazing person who is as happy as Ive ever seen a human being.

'It's worth coming here just to meet him.'

Goldberg, who has been to more than 130 countries since 2012 making videos via his blog 'Drew Binsky' and Facebook, plans to hit Bhutan for his next adventure.

Apparently Chifundu started digging the hotel in 1974 and finished his project in 1985

Venturing back to daylight, Goldberg discovers the kitchen in the backyard, with a stove fashioned out of bricks
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Let there be light!

Some people like the ambience of a semi-lit abode, but if your tastes are the opposite, then these Airbnb rentals are for you - because they let the sunshine stream in.

From Scotland to New Zealand via California, they are stunning properties that offer great big windows to the world (or lots and lots of little ones).

Geodesic dome, Andalusia, Spain

The stunning view across the Spanish landscape from the geodesic dome in Tarifa, which is enclosed in glass and available to rent on Airbnb from 45 per night

Hidden behind trees and bushes, this secluded geodesic dome is described as being the perfect place for 'lazing in the sun'.

Located close to Tarifa in southern Spain, the igloo-shaped structure is set on a wooden platform and is enclosed with glass.

It has just one bed and a bathroom, making it big enough for three people. A night's stay in the dome starts from 45.

The Glasshouse, Northland, New Zealand

The Glasshouse on New Zealand's North Island, which has floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides of the house. Stays start from 675 per night

The Glasshouse is a somewhat jaw-dropping luxury one-bedroom property on New Zealand's North Island that has beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides of the house.

It is nestled in a forest, with the hosts saying it allows guests to feel as though they are 'in the environment rather than watching from afar'.

Stays at the Glasshouse start from 675 per night and guests can be assured of complete privacy - it is the only property on the tip of the Northlands coast peninsula.

Glass Cottage, Santa Barbara, California

Glass Cottage in California has mirrored glass that enables it to blend into its surroundings

The bizarre house has one bedroom and one bathroom and can sleep up to just two people. Its glass design is such that it gives guests the illusion that they're outside

Set in three private acres, the Glass Cottage in Santa Barbara is a modern design that has two walls of thick solid glass that gives guests the illusion of being outside.

But the mind-boggling design features don't stop there. It's also (almost) invisible, thanks to mirrored walls that reflect the surrounding woods and make it blend in.

The bizarre house has one bedroom and one bathroom and can sleep up to just two people. Prices start from 174 per night.

The Glass House, Cusco, Peru

Set on the side of a Peruvian mountain, The Glass House in Cusco is described as having 'front row seats to world class views of the mountains'

The Glass House is a studio loft with airy windows that is integrated into the side of a Peruvian mountain.

The stunning property is described as being 'surrounded with nature' and having 'front row seats to world class views of the mountains'. It is also listed as being a great base for those visiting Macchu Piccu.

A night's stay at the house, which can sleep up to two people, starts from 75.

Forest retreat, North Uist, Outer Hebrides

At this secluded forest retreat in the Outer Hebrides spectacular views come as standard - thanks to lots of large windows

The retreat has one bedroom, one bathroom and sleeps two. On cloudless nights, because there are no street lights, guests can step outside onto a balcony and enjoy incredible views of the stars

Guests can relax by a log fire and gaze through the huge living room windows to the forest and beach beyond

At this secluded forest retreat in the Outer Hebrides spectacular views come as standard.

Guests can relax by a log fire and gaze through the huge living room windows to the forest and beach beyond - and on cloudless nights, because there are no street lights, they can step outside onto a balcony and enjoy incredible views of the stars.

There's wildlife to spot, too, including the UK's smallest bird, the goldcrest, eagles and deer, which sometimes graze right outside the cabin.

The retreat has one bedroom, one bathroom and sleeps two. It costs 204 per night.

AirShip 002, near Drimnin in the Scottish Highlands

The AirShip 002 on the Scottish coast comes complete with kaleidoscopic windows

Designed by Roderick James Architects, the aluminium-clad AirShip 002 is located on four acres of expansive greenery

The AirShip 002 on the Scottish coast comes complete with kaleidoscopic windows as well as multiple portholes so guests can almost feel like they are sleeping outdoors.

One guest, Debbie, said of the capsule: 'We knew the airship would be amazing from the Airbnb page but we didnt expect it to be even better than that! What a beautifully designed, thoughtful and spacious place in a stunning location.'

Designed by Roderick James Architects, the aluminium-clad AirShip 002 is located on four acres of expansive greenery near Drimnin in the Scottish Highlands and is available to rent on Airbnb for 150 per night.

The Glass House on the Lake, Cowaramup, Australia

This unusual one bedroom rental in Cowaramup, Western Australia, has three glass walls for guests to gaze out of

Surrounded by a magical forest and a beautiful lake, it's no wonder that this property was built with three glass walls for guests to gaze out of.

Located in Western Australia's Margaret River region, this unusual one bedroom rental is set in 40 acres of land close to Ironstone Lake.

Stays start from 102 per night and the house is just 10 minutes from the beach.

Villa, Akureyri, Iceland

This stunning villa located close to the Arctic Circle in Iceland has floor-to-ceiling windows, so guests can gawp at snow-capped peaks to their hearts content

This stunning luxury villa in Iceland capitalises on the surrounding scenery of snow-capped peaks.

That's because the front of the three bedroom property has floor-to-ceiling windows so guests can make the most of the views.

The villa sleeps up to five people and is located close to the Arctic Circle. Stays start from 201 per night.

Penthouse, Mexico City

This penthouse in Mexico City is available to rent on Airbnb. Its large windows show off the view across the huge Chapultepec Park

Located seven floors up and with a huge window right across the front, this penthouse in Mexico City looks out on to the huge Chapultepec Park.

It has three bedrooms but it is the lounge that brings home the bacon, view-wise.

The penthouse can sleep up to eight guests and is available from 302 per night.

The Glass House, Three Rivers, California

There are absolutely no bricks, stone or dry wall in this light Airbnb property located close to Sequoia National Park in California

In a rural location close to Sequoia National Park, this property has no bricks, stone or dry wall - it is all made out of glass.

The listing says: 'Lay in bed and see the animals stroll on by or watch an amazing lightning storm with no barriers!'

The house has two bedrooms and can sleep up to four people. Stays start from 208 per night.

Glass roof loft, Paris

This Paris loft in the city's Montmarte area is light and airy thanks to its glass roof

Although it doesn't have any windows, this Paris loft is still light and airy thanks to its glass roof.

It is located in the heart of the city's Montmarte area and close to many of the tourist attractions.

With three bedrooms, the loft can sleep up to five guests with rates starting from 300 per night.

Note - other rental sites are available, such as www.homestay.com and www.homeaway.co.uk.
Stacey Dooley reportedly barely spent any time at home with beau Sam Tucknott since winning Strictly Come Dancing last year, according to The Sun, amid rumours they have gone their separate ways.

The 32-year-old broadcaster was apparently 'away for weeks' while filming for the show, which she later went on to win alongside partner Kevin Clifton and has 'only been seen once' at the couple's home since taking the trophy.

The claims come after it was revealed Stacey struggled to maintain her romance with the personal trainer, 30, as insiders claim their lives have gone in 'different directions' after she won 2018's edition of the contest in December.

Absent: Stacey Dooley reportedly barely spent any time at home with beau Sam Tucknott since winning Strictly Come Dancing last year, according to The Sun, amid rumours they have gone their separate ways

Although neighbours claim that the couple haven't been sighted together much over the last few months, Sam is thought to still be living in the Brighton flat.

A resident told the Sun: 'She hasn't really been around since she won Strictly, I don't think I've seen her more than once since then.

They added that it appeared that Sam had been living by himself, although they couldn't confirm when the last time they saw him was either.

Busy: The 32-year-old broadcaster was apparently 'away for weeks' while filming for the show, which she later went on to win alongside partner Kevin Clifton

The neighbour continued: 'Often Stacey was away for weeks and I think when they were filming Strictly she was hardly here at all. No-one has seen her and no-one has seen them together in months.'

MailOnline has contacted Stacey's representatives for further comment.

As news of the split broke, insiders claimed their lives have gone in 'different directions' over the course of the last few months.

Break-up: The claims come after it was revealed Stacey struggled to maintain her romance with the personal trainer, 30

A source told the publication: 'Stacey confided in her friends that she was struggling to hold down her romance with Sam because her life has been a whirlwind after Strictly.

The insider continued: 'She barely saw him during the month-long tour and has gone straight back into filming documentaries and has been travelling all over the world.'

'They have a close circle of friends who hope things might yet work out but its not looking likely. It was very emotional and has been tough on them both', they added.

Parted ways: Although neighbours claim that the couple haven't been sighted together much over the last few months, Sam is thought to still be living in the Brighton flat

The BBC star recently hinted her relationship with the fitness enthusiast was under strain as she labelled him useless, annoying and messy around the house while reflecting on the ups and downs of their home-life in a candid interview.

Stacey said on The Russell Howard Hour last month: 'My boyfriend never goes [travelling] with me, he would be useless.'

'I sort of get a bit annoyed when hes not crying and sliding down the walls when I leave for these places. Im like, "Are you not scared Im never going to return? Are you not scared youre going to lose the love of your life?"

Success: The BBC star won the dance competition series with professional dancer Kevin Clifton in December last year

'And hes like, "Youll be fine, youll be back in two weeks moaning about the state of the flat." And hes right, thats exactly what I do!'

She added: 'I say to myself before I put the key in the door, "Dont kick off about the state of the flat because it doesnt matter," I go in, the first thing I say is, "Have you been busy at work? Is that why the dishes are in the sink?" Im all passive aggressive!

'He will be like, "dont start" and thats fair, I think, "I cant be ar**d, Im too jet lagged, well resume this tomorrow!" He contributes in other ways...not like that!'

Candid: She recently hinted her relationship with the fitness enthusiast was under strain as she labelled him useless, annoying and messy around the house

She echoed her comments in an interview with You Magazine , admitting she does most of the housework as Sam is 'not very whizzy'.

Despite her remarks, Stacey praised his 'chilled and supportive' nature: 'He understands when youre on top of a hill in the Democratic Republic of the Congo you cant panic because someones waiting for you to call home.'

Stacey denied rumours that she was growing close to former dance partner Kevin back in February and said Sam wasn't in the least bit jealous.

She told The Times: 'The truth is Kevin and I are brilliant friends and hell be my pal for life, and Sam was probably the most supportive he has ever been.

'When I first got the gig he was just so made up. He was dancing round our living room. And every week hed say, "Listen to Kevin. Kevin knows best". He was a dream.'

She also said: 'Of course its weird. King Kev was my knight in shining armour, he sort of dragged me through the whole experience, it was such a dream.'
Kate Hudson revealed on her Instagram page this Thursday that she is starting up a new fashion brand called Happy x Nature.

The 39-year-old daughter of Goldie Hawn posted a 'sneak peek' video in which she modeled some of the clothes that the new line will offer.

Her evocative clip had an Americana theme, complete with a tumbleweed rolling past an old convertible parked along a country road lined with chaparral.

On the horizon: Kate Hudson revealed on her Instagram page this Thursday that she is starting up a new fashion brand called Happy x Nature

The Almost Famous star could be seen in a short-sleeved brown top and matching trousers as she unloaded some luggage from the car.

Kate was also filmed laughing in a roadside diner booth while wearing denim overalls and a black and white horizontal-striped tee.

Her Instagram caption parroted the brand's slogan: 'Striving to make you and nature happy,' and dished: 'Were almost ready!'

Happy x Nature is her 'my first ever ready-to-wear line,' s she pointed out to her more than 10 million followers on the social media platform.

Looking fab: The 39-year-old daughter of Goldie Hawn posted a 'sneak peek' video in which she modeled some of the clothes that the new line will offer

On brand: Her evocative clip had an Americana theme, complete with a tumbleweed rolling past an old convertible parked along a country road lined with chaparral

Coordinated: The Almost Famous star could be seen in a short-sleeved brown top and matching trousers as she unloaded some luggage from the car

The brand already has its own Instagram page, where partial photos of the new collection's outfits have been appearing since February 20.

On October 2 this past year, Kate gave birth to her first daughter and youngest of three children, Rani Rose Hudson Fujikawa.

Kate shares her bouncing baby daughter with her musician boyfriend Danny Fujikawa, whom she has been dating for over a year now.

Sleek and chic: Kate was also filmed laughing in a roadside diner booth while wearing denim overalls and a black and white horizontal-striped tee

So excited: Her Instagram caption parroted the brand's slogan: 'Striving to make you and nature happy,' and dished: 'Were almost ready!'

New frontier: Happy x Nature is her 'my first ever ready-to-wear line,' s she pointed out to her more than 10 million followers on the social media platform

She has a 15-year-old son called Ryder by her ex-husband Chris Robinson, as well as a seven-year-old son called Bingham by her former fiance Matt Bellamy.

Although Goldie had Kate with her second ex-husband Bill Hudson, Goldie's beau of more than 30 years, Kurt Russell, is the man Kate calls 'Pa.'

Marcia Ross, the casting director of the smash hit 1999 comedy 10 Things I Hate About You, recently told New York Times that Kate was offered the Julia Stiles role in the film 'But her mom didn't like the script for her, so she passed.'

Plenty of reasons to smile: On October 2 this past year, Kate gave birth to her first daughter and youngest of three children, Rani Rose Hudson Fujikawa
Ryan Serhant was feeling very nostalgic Thursday about the recent birth of his baby girl.

The Million Dollar Listing star, 34, took to his Instagram to post a photo of the positive pregnancy test he and his wife took last year.

The photo was captioned: '#tbt to THAT moment. I will never forget it. We put a towel over the pregnancy test and sat there FREAKING OUT for 6 minutes. We wanted to give it extra time just in case.'

Nostalgic joy: New dad Ryan Serhant took to his Instagram on Thursday to post a photo of the positive pregnancy test he and his wife Emilia Bechrakis took last year

Serhant went on: 'And we kept telling each other it would be negative so that we would have low expectations. OR that if it WAS positive, it was a false positive. Because after so many years of trying, theres NO WAY it worked. Right??? Even with all the shots and all the positive thinking.

'And then we saw two lines and we cried. And then we tested again and again JUST TO BE SURE!!! And then we spent the next few months talking to Emilias belly and saying over and over, Stick, Baby, Stick! And now we have Zena, stuck with these crazy parents forever.'

Serhant and his wife Emilia welcomed their first child on February 26.

The couple met in 2011 and got engaged in September 2015. They tied the knot in grand fashion in Greece on July 7, 2016.

Parents: Serhant and his wife Emilia welcomed their first child on February 26 - a daughter Zena

Beautiful couple: The Million Dollar Listing star met his future wife in 2011 and they got engaged four years later (pictured in 2018)

The beautiful couple had been unsuccessful in the early attempts to conceive a child naturally and chose to have in vitro fertilization to become pregnant.

Serhant has previously spoken about the difficulties and disappointments the couple had while trying for a child in a lengthy Instagram post.

'Your momma and I have waited almost 3 years to meet you,' he wrote in a lengthy caption. 'We had no idea how difficult getting pregnant with you was going to be. We tried everything. We were so nervous you might never come,' the Bravo reality star explained.

'When we finally decided to try IVF, we were so scared it wouldnt work. And then you stuck. And then we heard your little heartbeat for the first time. Your mom and I were so excited every time we would go to the hospital to see you, but even more terrified we would lose you.'

'Because the fact that we were pregnant - as beautiful as it was - was almost too good to be true,' he wrote. 'And because of that fear, we loved you as hard as we could from the moment we knew you existed.'

Cute: The doting dad has been posting tons of pics to social media showing him with his adorable baby girl

Baby bliss: The couple spent three years trying for a baby and turned to IVF to get pregnant

Emilia took to her own Instagram to post her own joy over the baby girl stating, 'I have waited to exhale for months. It took a long, painful journey to meet you. From the first time we heard your heart beating, I instantly wanted to cocoon you and protect you from the world. I talked to you every single day for 41 long weeks, begging you to "stick."

'(Until the last two weeks I begged you to stop kicking my ribs so hard with those big feet and come out!) I told you every day how much I love you.

'I rubbed my belly and cherished every single movement, as any sign that you were listening. Every night, I prayed with all my soul that you were healthy and thanked God for the miracle that you are.

'Now that youre finally here, and I get to stare into your eyes, to smell your skin, to hold you, my heart is bursting...

'I cant find the perfect words to describe how madly in love I am. I am forever grateful...my babylino, that you chose me to be your Mommy.'
It turns out that Matt LeBlanc's revelation this week about the offer of a threesome with Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne was true.

Sharon confirmed the story on Thursday's episode of her CBS daytime chat show The Talk, saying she had indeed propositioned the Friends star at the Golden Globes in 2012.

'I was ish-ish kidding,' she acknowledged. 'If hed have gone for it, Id have called my husband  I would have loved to have filmed it.'

'We would have loved to have watched it,' retorted her co-host Sara Gilbert quick as a flash.

It's true: Sharon Osbourne confirmed on her CBS daytime chat show The Talk on Thursday that she had indeed once propositioned Friends star Matt LeBlanc for a threesome

Two's company but...: LeBlanc revealed this week Sharon had offered him a threesome with her and her heavy metal rocker husband Ozzy but added he hoped she had been joking

Shocking: 'I was ish-ish kidding,' Sharon said on The Talk. 'If hed have gone for it, Id have called my husband  I would have loved to have filmed it.' Her co-host Sara Gilbert retorted quick as a flash: 'We would have loved to have watched it'

LeBlanc spoke about his backstage encounter with Sharon during an appearance on late night show Conan on TBS.

He said he had been backstage at the Globes having just won an award for his role on Episodes when he ran into the British TV personality and reality star who acts as manager for her Black Sabbath rocker husband.

LeBlanc recalled: 'I say, My God, Im such a big fan of your husbands. He is so awesome. And this is what she says to me, with a completely straight face  immediately she goes, Oh, thats great! Maybe after this, youll come back to the house and well have a threesome.''

The actor added that he had hoped Sharon was kidding but it turns out, she really wasn't.

Revelation: LeBlanc told Conan O'Brien on his TBS late night show that he'd run into Sharon backstage at the Golden Globes in 2012 and that's when she propositioned him

LeBlanc recalled: 'I say, My God, Im such a big fan of your husbands. He is so awesome. And this is what she says to me, with a completely straight face  immediately she goes, Oh, thats great! Maybe after this, youll come back to the house and well have a threesome''

Meanwhile, Ozzy continues to recover from his serious bout of pneumonia that landed him in hospital and forced the cancellation of the UK, European, Australian, New Zealand and Japan legs of his current tour.

It's hoped he will be well enough to continue with the North American portion of his No More Tours 2 that's scheduled to kick off in Oklahoma on May 25.

He has promised to reschedule the canceled gigs for the fall.
He recently split from his TV presenter girlfriend Liv Phyland after a brief romance.

And Dr Chris Brown, 40, still can't figure out why he hadn't found 'the one'.

'If you could uncover the answer I'd really appreciate it,' the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star said during an interview on Triple M's Moonman in The Morning on Friday, when asked why he was still single.

'The answer is he can have his choice of the two billion women on the planet and that's why he's denied commitment,' co-host Lawrence Mooney joked.

Chris's frank conversation about his love life comes after the TV personality told Stellar Magazine last month it surprised him how much still being single 'got to him'.

'It certainly made me look at where I am in my life,' he said.

'It's my doing - I've probably prioritised work more than I potentially should have over the past 10 years to the detriment of my personal life.

'It's a lot to ask of a girlfriend to put up with the lack of face time.'

'If you know the answer I'd appreciate it!': Dr Chris Brown said he didn't know why he is still single during an interview on Triple M on Friday

Chris is said to have endured heartbreak in January when Liv broke up with him 'within minutes' of him boarding a flight to South Africa to film I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, earlier this year.

A source told New Idea: 'Chris had only been gone for like 10 minutes before Liv decided it was all over. He's absolutely devastated and heartbroken.'

The veterinarian was said to have already met Liv's family and 'they got on like a house on fire', making the break-up all the more unexpected.

Despite being photographed on romantic dates together, neither Chris nor Liv have ever publicly confirmed their romance.
She made an explosive exit from Married At First Sight after learning that her 'husband' Sam Ball was having an 'affair' with their co-star Ines Basic.

And Elizabeth Sobinoff has raised eyebrows once again, as she was spotted buying a pregnancy test in Newcastle.

The 27-year-old jewellery store manager looked visibly downcast as she picked up the test at a local chemist last month.

What have you got there? MAFS' Elizabeth Sobinoff looked downcast as she bought a pregnancy test at a drugstore during a tense solo outing in Newcastle

Elizabeth was seen holding the box and reading the back of it, before taking a tense phonecall.

She seemed subdued as she surveyed the shelves for other tests, before deciding on one and putting it in her shopping basket.

The outspoken reality star donned a sheer scarlet lace camisole with a plunging neckline for the shopping trip.

She teamed the statement garment with a pair of black wide-leg culottes and leopard-print stilettos.

Glum: The 27-year-old jewellery store manager looked visibly downcast as she picked up the test last month

Tough times: Elizabeth was seen holding the box and reading the back of it, before taking a tense phonecall

Styling her blonde extensions in a tousled braid, she accessorised with plenty of gold and silvery jewellery and some black round-eye sunglasses.

Elizabeth has made no mention that she could be pregnant on social media or in interviews. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the reality star for further comment.

The blonde beauty's outing comes as her 'ex-husband' Sam unleashed a furious tirade at her, ranting that she had 'sucked the life out of him like a sponge'.

In a now-deleted post on his Instagram Stories, the 26-year-old tradesman raged that Elizabeth had trashed him in endless interviews since they left the show because she's fame-hungry and had 'no life'.

Solo outing: She seemed subdued as she surveyed the shelves for other tests, before deciding on one and putting it in her shopping basket

Looking good: She donned a sheer scarlet lace camisole with a plunging neckline during the outing

'I thought I signed up to meet the woman of my dreams oh how mistaken I was,' Sam wrote in his post, which was discovered by fan account MAFS Funny.

Sam went on: 'You wasted the best three weeks of my life that I will never get back. You sucked the life out of me like a sponge.

'I think Ive done about 5 interviews in comparison to her 50 due to the simple fact that I have a life to live and dont see the point of running someone down because obviously she wants exposure.'

'I didnt think she would just keep going even now. I made a mistake going on the show. Ive sat back and just heard all the s**t talk about the funeral and how apparently it wasnt real.'

Chic: She teamed the statement garment with a pair of black wide-leg culottes and leopard-print stilettos

Glam: Styling her blonde extensions in a tousled braid, she accessorised with plenty of gold and silvery jewellery and some black round-eye sunglasses

War of words: The blonde beauty's outing comes as her 'ex-husband' Sam Ball (pictured) unleashed a furious tirade at her, ranting that she had 'sucked the life out of him like a sponge'

The budding actor also claimed that the producers were controlling his 'villain' antics behind the scenes.

'Nobody understands that I was forced to be late to dinner parties, the separate hotel I had to stay in so I didnt run into other contestants, who I am as a person on and off the show etc,' he vented.

Elizabeth attracted widespread public sympathy on MAFS after being cheated on by Sam.

But insiders have alleged that she was going to be this season's 'villain', before producers changed their minds at the eleventh hour.

A source told Woman's Day: 'You can tell [what producers originally planned] by the way they were setting her up in the one-on-one interviews at her wedding.'

Rant: 'I thought I signed up to meet the woman of my dreams oh how mistaken I was,' Sam wrote in his post

Fuming: Sam went on: 'You wasted the best three weeks of my life that I will never get back. You sucked the life out of me like a sponge'

The insider continued: 'They were trying to make her out to be a psycho, provoking her to get all the shots of her with her evil eyes.'

According to the publication, MAFS producers initially wanted her to cheat with one of the grooms - and told her they would do anything to make it happen.

But Elizabeth supposedly got 'cold feet' and rejected the offer to be a villain, with the role eventually going to fellow bride Ines Basic instead.

Once Ines started an affair with Elizabeth's husband Sam, producers repackaged her as the 'jilted lover' character - much like the role Tracey Jewel played last year.

Fan favourite: Elizabeth attracted widespread public sympathy on MAFS after being cheated on by Sam
He was caught on video applying for a marriage license at a Las Vegas courthouse on Saturday in a somewhat agitated state.

And now Nicolas Cage has filed legal documents seeking an annulment of his four-day marriage to girlfriend Erika Koike who also agrees that it was a 'mistake.'

TMZ reported Thursday that the Leaving Las Vegas Oscar winner asked a judge Wednesday to void the nuptials.

Cage, 55, and makeup artist Koike are believed to have started dating a year ago.

It's over: Nicolas Cage has filed a request to annul his fourth marriage just days after he and girlfriend Erica Koike were spotted applying for a marriage license in Las Vegas, pictured

Jilted bride: Not much is known about Koike, who has one credit on IMDB as a makeup artist, but records list her age as 34. She and Cage are pictured in Beverly Hills in May last year

The Blast has since reported that Cage is not the only one who believes tying the knot was not a great idea as his new wife agrees and will not fight the annulment.

Sources told the publication that Cage believes the entire situation was a 'mistake.'

In footage obtained by DailyMail.com, Cage was filmed making a scene while applying for a marriage license with his much younger girlfriend, bizarrely telling onlookers she was going to take all of his money.

The couple were spotted at the Clark County Court House Marriage Licence Bureau in downtown Las Vegas around 11 a.m. on Saturday and Cage appeared to be 'very out of it' and was 'most likely drunk', an eyewitness told DailyMail.com.

At one point, the nephew of The Godfather film director Francis Ford Coppola raised his voice and started shouting about how Koike's 'boyfriend' is a drug dealer and that 'he isn't doing it' - seemingly referring to getting a marriage license.

The video shows Koike calmly telling Cage: 'I never asked you to do this', before he smiles and gently pushes her through the hallway, saying 'come on, let's go'.

Agitated: Cage, 55, was filmed making a scene while applying for a marriage license at the Clark County Court House Marriage Licence Bureau on Saturday in footage obtained by DailyMail.com

Drama: At one point, the actor raised his voice and started shouting about how Koike's 'boyfriend' is a drug dealer and that 'he isn't doing it' - seemingly referring to getting a marriage license. The video shows Koike calmly telling Cage: 'I never asked you to do this'

'They started by filling the application in one of the machines,' the source told DailyMail.com. 'The whole time he was yelling 'she is going to take all my money' and 'her ex is a druggy, her ex is a druggy'.'

'The woman only kept saying 'Baby, I am not asking you to do this',' the source added.

Because the couple were making such a scene, they were taken into a private room and later left the courthouse with papers, according to the source.

The Con Air and Face/Off star was first spotted with Koike last April while he was filming in Puerto Rico.

They've been seen together a few times since, including heading to dinner together in Beverly Hills in May 2018, but have mostly stayed out of the spotlight.

Not much is known about Koike, who has one credit on IMDB as a makeup artist, but records list her age as 34.

Loud: Cage appeared to be 'very out of it' and was 'most likely drunk', an eyewitness told DailyMail.com

The Con Air and Face/Off star was first spotted with the makeup artist last April while he was filming in Puerto Rico (pictured)

Cage has been married three times before - to Patricia Arquette, Lisa Marie Presley and most recently to Alice Kim.

He and Kim were married from 2004 to 2016 and share a son Kal-El who was born in October, 2005.

Before that, Cage was wed in 2002 to Elvis' only child Lisa Marie but the union lasted just three months.

His first marriage was to actress Patricia Arquette, 50, from 1995 until 2001.

Ex: Cage, who has been married three times, was most recently wed to Alice Kim. Seen together in 2013 at the Venice International Film Festival

Heartbreak hotel: Cage was wed in 2002 to Elvis' only child Lisa Marie Presley but the union lasted just three months

First time around: His first marriage was to actress Patricia Arquette, 50, from 1995 until 2001. The pair are seen in 1995 at Cannes above

Cage also has a son, Weston, 28, from a previous relationship with actress Christina Fulton.

In 1995, he won a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in the drama Leaving Las Vegas.

He starred as a Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his alcoholism and decides to drink himself to death in Vegas.

But then he meets a prostitute, played by Elisabeth Shue, and while he's still determined to end it all, the two form an uneasy friendship.

Acclaimed role: In 1995, Cage won a Best Actor Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas in which he starred as an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who decides to drink himself to death in Vegas
She played Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies.

And Sigourney Weaver revealed her love for a high school production of the 1979 Ridley Scott classic, on Thursday.

The 69-year-old actress shared a video praising the North Bergen High School students in New Jersey, whose staging of Alien went viral earlier this month.

High praise: Sigourney Weaver revealed her love for a high school production of the 1979 Ridley Scott classic, on Thursday

The three-time Academy Award nominee was seen in a You Tube clip, talking directly to the students.

'Hey guys I saw a bit of your production of Alien,' she said to camera, continuing: 'It looked incredible. You put so much heart and soul into that and the alien, I must say, looked very real to me.

'I just wanted to send our compliments. Not only from me, but from James Cameron and the original screenwriter Walter Hill. We all say "Bravo. Well done," she told them.

Iconic role: She played Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies

The Gorillas In The Mist star looked radiant, with fans commenting on how she hasn't aged since the original movie.

Her brunette tresses were loose and swept away from her face and she had emphasised her striking features with light make-up.

Weaver wore a black top with a green lining inside the front zip.

Enjoyed it! The three-time Academy Award nominee was seen in a You Tube clip, talking directly to the students

'Hey guys I saw a bit of your production of Alien,' she said to camera, continuing: 'It looked incredible. You put so much heart and soul into that and the alien, I must say, looked very real to me'

Elegant: Her brunette tresses were loose and swept away from her face and she had emphasised her striking features with light make-up

The star also had a small warning about the Xenomorphs for the students, whose video of their shoe-string production went viral and garnered nearly 3 million social media hits.

She concluded: 'You know the alien might still be around. So shhh. When you're opening your locker, just do it very slowly.'

Whereas the movie had a budget in the range of about $10 million, Alien: The Play had costumes, props and set designs made mostly from donated and recycled materials so that the total cost of the play was under $3,500.

North Bergen High School doesn't even have a theater department; there is no annual high school musical.

On line hit! North Bergen High School students in New Jersey staged Alien and it went viral earlier this month
She is the star of the upcoming series Ratched.

And Sarah Paulson was spotted on set of the forthcoming show in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The 44-year-old actress was dressed in a 1940s style coral-colored dress as she prepared to shoot a scene.

In character: Sarah Paulson was spotted on set of the forthcoming show in Los Angeles on Thursday

Despite being dresses as the undeniably cruel Nurse Mildred Ratched, Paulson looked elegant and beautiful.

The Ocean's 8 star's shin-length frock featured a black collar and a large black button in the middle.

A small, flat black hat was strapped over her auburn red tresses and she painted her lips a robust red.

The look was completed via a set to straightforward black heels and sparkling earrings.

The 44-year-old actress was dressed in a 1940s style coral-colored dress as she prepared to shoot a scene

Ratched is an origins story based on the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, aand follows the titular character beginning in 1947.

It boasts a cast of Alice Englert, Rosanna Arquette, Don Cheadle, Sharon Stone, and Cynthia Nixon.

Series creator Ryan Murphy announced filming would commence back in January on Instagram.

'RATCHED on Netflix starts shooting in a couple weeks. On behalf of myself and Ms. Sarah Catharine Paulson who plays the title role and is also a big fancy producer on it, we are thrilled to announce our amazing cast...a true murderers row of talent,' wrote Ryan.

Elegance: Despite being dresses as the undeniably cruel Nurse Mildred Ratched, Paulson looked elegant and beautiful

'So many of these actors are supremely talented folks who Sarah and I have both longed to work with. The Ratched Principal Players, in alphabetical order: JON JON BRIONES, CHARLIE CARVER, JUDY DAVIS, HARRIET HARRIS, CYNTHIA NIXON, HUNTER PARRISH, AMANDA PLUMMER, COREY STOLL, SHARON STONE AND FINN WITTROCK.'

The critically-acclaimed book One Over The Cuckoo's Nest was published by Ken Kensey in 1962.

A film adaptation starring Jack Nicholson as the rebellious patient R.P. McMurphy and Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched was released in 1975.

Both Louise and Jack won Academy Awards for their roles.
Ines Basic was sentenced to 70 hours of community service and disqualified from driving for three months after pleading guilty to drink driving in Brisbane on Tuesday.

And after being told by a magistrate to stop being a 'brat' and 'get some perspective on life', the Married At First Sight villain may be moving interstate for a fresh start.

Ines's friend and co-star Martha Kalifatidis told Yahoo Lifestyle on Thursday that the 29-year-old legal assistant 'wants to move to Sydney' in the near future.

A fresh start? Married At First Sight's Ines Basic 'is moving to Sydney' after pleading guilty to drink driving - but she'll have to complete 70 hours of community service in Queensland first. Pictured arriving at Cleveland Magistrates Court in Brisbane on Tuesday

Martha, who lives in Sydney, said: 'She's jealous, I keep sending her Insta Stories of me doing the coastal walk [from Bondi to Bronte]. She's like, "I've gotta come!"'

However, Ines is unlikely to move away from the Gold Coast for a little while because she has 70 hours of community service to do first.

In sentencing her at Cleveland Magistrates Court earlier this week, Magistrate Deborah Vasta said she hoped the punishment would help Ines 'get into reality' and understand the 'real fabric of society'.

It is believed her community service must take place within Queensland.

Moving interstate: Ines's friend and co-star Martha Kalifatidis (left) told Yahoo Lifestyle on Thursday that the 29-year-old legal assistant 'wants to move to Sydney' in the near future

Ines's legal dramas began on Christmas Day last year, when she got drunk and rammed her car into her sister Ena's vehicle as it was parked in the driveway of her Redland Bay home.

According to the prosecutor, Ines had been 'carrying on like an idiot' and screaming obscenities during the incident, which took place at around 7pm.

She had been drinking vodka since 10am and was arguing with her sister about her decision to appear on Married At First Sight.

Guilty! Ines's legal dramas began on Christmas Day last year, when she got drunk and rammed her car into her sister Ena's vehicle as it was parked in the driveway of her Redland Bay home. Pictured with Bronson Norrish (left) on Married At First Sight

After police arrived at the scene, Ines called them 'c**ts' and told a female officer, 'F**king arrest me then, b**ch!'

She also provided police with the false name 'Vanessa Dorothy Ines'.

In total, Ines pleaded guilty to a mid-range drink driving offence, driving without due care, being a public nuisance and contravening the direction or requirement of police officer.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
CBS Films, Lionsgate, and eOne released the first official trailer for Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark on Thursday.

It's the latest scare-fest film from the mind of Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro.

'This town has told stories about me -- horrible stories -- but they don't realize I have scary stories of my own,' the female narrator begins over day shots of a quaint American town.

Creep-fest: The first official trailer was released for Scary Stories To Tell In The dark

Those idyllic pictures of the town quickly turns to dark shadowy shots of an old mansion and a group of teenagers who enter the front door, with a chilling piano-version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow playing in the background.

It is the mansion on the edge of town that Sarah Bellows, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories.

Those stories become all too real for a group of teenagers who stumble upon Sarahs terrifying tome, circa 1968.

Award winner is back: Guillermo del Toro co-wrote the story for the screen with Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan; his most recent film, The Shape Of Water (2017), earned him Best Director and Best Picture Oscars

Idyllic: The trailer with shots of a quaint American town

Edge of town: Those idyllic pictures of the town quickly turns to an old mansion

What follows is a sequence of creepy creatures and terrifying scenes involving the teenagers, where at one point the lead character, Stella Nicholls (Zoe Colletti), utters: 'You don't read the book, the book reads you.'

Along with Colletti, the film also stars Michael Garza, Austin Abrams, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn and Dean Norris.

It was directed by Andre vredal, who's best known for writing and directing the Norwegian dark fantasy film Trollhunter (2016), and for helming The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (2016).

The script was co-written by Dan and Kevin Hageman from a screen story by Guillemo del Toro, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan that was based on the children's book series of the same name by Alvin Schwartz.

It is the mansion on the edge of town that Sarah Bellows, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories

As the story turns: In the trailer, lead character Stella Nicholls (Zoe Colletti) utters: 'You don't read the book, the book reads you'

Dark: The trailer slips into a sequence of creepy creatures and terrifying scenes

Knack for the spooky: The film was directed by Andre vredal, who's best known for writing and directing the Norwegian dark fantasy film Trollhunter (2016)

There are dozens of stories in the book series; to condense things down, del Toro and company chose the best five or six to be presented in the film.

"This is not an anthology movie,' said vredal as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. 'It is a cohesive, two-hour feature with one story, where everything is weaved together to be part of that story.'

Del Toro's most recent film, The Shape Of Water (2017), earned him Best Director and Best Picture Oscars.

His resume also horror films like Mimic (1997), The Devil's Backbone (2001) and Hellboy (2004), as well as the fantasy drama Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and the sci-fi monster film Pacific Rim (2013).



Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark opens in theaters August 9.

Unnerving: The trailer closes with something coming out of the face of one of the teenagers

Chilling: The film was based on the children's book series of the same name by Alvin Schwartz
He's been trying to get verified on Instagram for almost a year.

And while ex-Married At First Sight contestant Nasser Sultan continues to wait for his blue tick, multiple stars from the current season were officially verified this week.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia about the snub, an enraged Nasser said: 'It's a disgrace!'

'It's a disgrace!' Former Married At First Sight star Nasser Sultan (pictured) has lashed out at this year's cast after they were verified on Instagram - while his account still remains unverified

The 51-year-old continued: 'I am bigger and more known than any of those wannabes. My celebrity status is growing and those people are fly-by-night.

'But if Instagram recognises bogans and delinquents then this country is sad and we as a Australia have got a problem.'

It's unclear who Nasser was referring to in his statement, but Ines Basic, who just had her Instagram account verified, pleaded guilty to drink driving earlier this week at Cleveland Magistrates Court in Brisbane.

'If Instagram recognises bogans and delinquents then this country is sad and we as a Australia have got a problem,' raged the 51-year-old

And according to Nine News, Daniel Webb has been charged with aggravated fraud after allegedly taking part in a huge telemarketing scam on the Gold Coast.

In addition to Dan and Ines receiving verifications, other cast members like Nic Jovanovic, Cameron Merchant, Jessika Power and Heidi Latcham have all received blue ticks.

Nasser has been actively campaigning for the coveted blue tick since last year, when every one of his season five MAFS co-stars were verified except for him.

Blue tick! Most of this year's cast have now been verified, including Heidi Latcham, Bronson Norrish, Dan Webb and Nic Jovanovic

Bad girl: Ines Basic, who just had her Instagram account verified, pleaded guilty to drink driving earlier this week at Cleveland Magistrates Court in Brisbane

The pint-sized reality star even released a rap song about his ordeal called 'Blue Tick'.

Since appearing on Married At First Sight, Nasser has starred on Trial By Kyle and become a regular fixture on The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

He is rumoured to be working on new TV projects, and has publicly put his hand up to become Australia's first mature-aged Bachelor.
Felicity Kendal opened up about rejecting advances from men

Felicity Kendal said she never had a problem dealing with unwanted advances from lecherous men.

The actress refused to go into detail but said succinctly: 'Let's put it this way: I've never suffered from that situation.'

She added: 'That's probably because I was able to handle it. It's a tricky one, because I don't think we're ever going to improve the world to such a degree that human beings don't behave like complete a***holes.

'We just have to re-educate ourselves to being able to firmly say 'No'. It's very simple  a bit like drugs. Just Say No.'

She conceded that sometimes, the consequences of being adamant 'may be terrible'. 'But it's the choice of women now to say something.'

Kendal mentioned Edith Eger's harrowing memoir The Choice, about surviving Auschwitz, and exhorted people to read it. 'Out of every disaster, you get a choice,' said the actress, who, despite acclaimed work on stage and television, is still best known for The Good Life  a TV sitcom she finished working on four decades ago.

We had arranged to talk about The Argument, the William Boyd play she has agreed to do for producer Danny Moar at the Theatre Royal, Bath, from August 7. The black comedy, directed by Christopher Luscombe, is about a series of lacerating altercations involving a couple and the woman's parents.

It was first staged at Hampstead Theatre's experimental downstairs studio but Boyd has rewritten some of it, so to all intents and purposes it's a new work.

Kendal said she liked it immediately, noting that Boyd is 'wonderful at writing for women', and telling me she had been lucky, over the years, with the male playwrights she'd worked with. 'Shakespeare wasn't bad,' she joked, before going on to praise Tom Stoppard, Christopher Hampton and David Hare.

Kendal (pictued during filming for The Good Life) is soon to star in The Argument, the William Boyd play she has agreed to do for producer Danny Moar at the Theatre Royal, Bath

Sitting in her country home in Hampshire, where (a Good Life-esque touch) the roof had sprung a leak, she told me The Argument had tempted her back to work after 'a year and a bit' off  a rare period of relaxation for her.

She admitted she felt 'a terrible guilt if I didn't always do everything I was offered'  a work ethic instilled by her actor-manager father, Geoffrey Kendal.

Returning to her earlier theme, she said #MeToo matters had 'become a minefield'.

'If you're quoted in black and white, it can be taken in so many different ways. I'm not in a position  politically, psychologically or any kind of way  to start commenting on it.

'You can't pass judgment on somebody else's life or situation. Some people are being judge and jury,' she said, observing that it's not always 'a totally female situation'.

'It has happened to men and women. The shame-and-blame thing is dangerous.

'It's time to clean up the act,' she agreed, 'but judging people is for the courts to do.'

Boyd's play is still casting other roles and there are already tentative discussions about it transferring to the West End. But Kendal cautioned that they need to see how audiences get on with it in Bath, first.

Michael Rudman and Felicity Kendal attend the press night after party for 'The Price'

Steel city show is a tour de force

Halfway through Standing At The Sky's Edge, a show by Chris Bush set in the brutalist Park Hill flats in Sheffield, with fabulous music and lyrics by Richard Hawley, there is a fleeting reference to what I now know to be Henderson's Relish.

A character remarks on the spicy sauce to Alex Young, who plays a woman who has fled London to live in the flats.

During the interval at the Crucible Theatre, the gentleman sitting next to Mrs B explained that the condiment is known locally as Enderson's (you drop the H) and boasted that it's 'Sheffield's finest'.

So is Standing At The Sky's Edge. The story, about the various occupants of one flat from the time the estate came into use in 1960 to the present day, is universal. There is a special place in my heart for theatre that tackles how we live in Britain, as this does. It is expertly directed by Robert Hastie and choreographed by Lynne Page. The cast, including Young, Robert Lonsdale, Rachael Wooding, Adam Hugill, Fela Lufadeju and Faith Omole (both pictured right), are superb.

Rupert Lord, who spent six years developing it, said ideally he would like to take it on tour to cities such as Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham. But then it deserves a place on the National's Olivier main stage. It is one of the best theatre productions of the year so far.
They are both starring in the upcoming season of Bachelor In Paradise.

And it seems Alex Nation and Cat Henesy have struck up a firm friendship on the dating show, which they filmed in Fiji last year.

The Bachelor winner, 27, beamed as she caught up with her glamorous co-star over cocktails in Melbourne on Thursday.

'My fave bae!' Alex Nation sipped cocktails with Cat Henesy during girly day out in Melbourne... after the pair bonded on the upcoming series of Bachelor In Paradise

Cat shared an Instagram snap of the duo sipping Aperol spritzes at an alfresco bar, which she captioned: 'FAVE BAE.'

Alex commented under the shot, 'Was just so great to see you,' to which Cat replied: 'Love you Bu x.'

While Bachelor In Paradise premieres in less than two weeks, Alex appeared to reveal that she doesn't find love on the show when she paid tribute to her ex-fiancee Maegan Luxa on Instagram on Thursday.

She described Maegan as a 'wonderful human' and said she was 'forever grateful' for the 'kindness' she had shown her during and after their romantic relationship.

There they are! The reality stars will hit screens when Bachelor In Paradise returns in less than two weeks Mobile caption 2

'I am forever grateful for you': It comes after Alex sparked rumours she's reunited with Maegan Luxa as she paid tribute to her 'wonderful' friend

While Alex did not confirm their reconciliation, she spoke warmly of Maegan in a way that suggests they could be more than friends.

She captioned a photo of her ex: 'Shout out to this wonderful human who despite all the bulls**t we've gone through as friends, lovers or partners has supported me and encouraged me to do all the things I've ever wanted to do (even when my choices have been questionable).

'I'm forever grateful for your endless kindness.'

Romantic tribute? Taking to Instagram, Alex described Maegan as a 'wonderful human' and said she was 'forever grateful' for the 'kindness' she had shown her

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Alex Nation for comment.

Alex, who has an eight-year-old son Elijah from a previous marriage, rose to fame when she won Richie Strahan's heart on The Bachelor in 2016.

The part-time model, who identifies as pansexual, announced her split from Richie in August 2017.

Former flames: While Alex did not confirm their reconciliation, she spoke warmly of Maegan in a way that suggests they could be more than friends. Pictured before their break-up in 2017

She met Maegan while playing for the Melbourne Frankston Bombers women's footy team. They got engaged in December 2017 but split after a few months.

Following their break-up, Alex flew to Fiji to film the second season of Bachelor in Paradise late last year.

Richie is also a contestant on the show, and trailers have hinted that the exes get involved in a very heated argument soon after reuniting.
Tracy Tutor made the leap to international businesswoman representing the Royal Atlantis in Dubai on Thursday's season finale of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.

The 43-year-old real estate agent traveled to Dubai to meet with Issam Galadari, director of Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences.

'I am a little nervous,' Tracy admitted to Maria Morris, head of residential for Knight Frank Middle East ahead of the meeting.

International agent: Tracy Tutor became an international real estate broker as she was named the ambassador for Royal Atlantis in Dubai on Thursday's episode of Million Dollar Listing LA

Maria, who short-listed Tracy for the project, assured her that she knew the details.

'This is my chance to become the global ambassador to the US for the Royal Atlantis. So I feel ready, but I'm incredibly nervous because it's the developer who gets the final say on whether or not I get the job, so this meeting is crucial,' Tracy said in a confessional.

Issam said the project was 'not just for Dubai, it's for the world' and asked Tracy to convince him that she was up for the challenge.

'Well, I think the most important thing to understand, and particularly in selling luxury prime real estate at this level, is that it's about relationships. It's about the people that I bring to the table,' Tracy said.

Broker's dinner: The 43-year-old real estate agent held a dinner for brokers with international clients after being named ambassador of Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences

Short list: Maria Morris of Knight Frank Middle East said that Tracy was on their short-list of qualified candidates for the position

Job interview: Issam Galadari, director of Royal Atlantis Residences, asked Tracy to convince him that she was up for the challenge

'And the buyers and the agents that have known me for 20 years trust that I don't represent properties that I don't stand behind. And, candidly, there's a level of taste and a level of understanding luxury that I think your agent, your ambassador in the US, needs to have. I believe I'm that person,' she added.

She was asked during the interview where she was from and Tracy answered that she was 'born and raised in Los Angeles'.

'Oh my, god. California, such a lovely dream,' Issam said.

California girl: The Los Angeles native made a strong case for hiring her as ambassador

Lovely dream: Issam had fond memories of California after Tracy said she was born and raised in Los Angeles

Under construction: The Royal Atlantis project was under construction while Tracy was in Dubai

He revealed that he used to travel a lot and loved the Los Angeles air and landscape as well as the classic rock song Hotel California.

'Every time I listen, it is like my first time,' Issam said as Tracy agreed saying, 'The Eagles are amazing.'

Tracy was assigned to co-host an upcoming broker's open as a challenge by Issam.

Her team member Erika quizzed her on details before the event and Tracy knew there were 231 apartments, three different finishes and 82 different floor plans.

Project quiz: Tracy was quizzed by her team member Erika before the broker's open in Dubai and she knew all the key details

Team member: Erika went with Tracy on the trip to Dubai and helped her prepare for the event

Tracy during the event showed off the sales suite of a two-bedroom, 1,800 square feet condominium with a listing price of $1,900,000.

Issam arrived and shadowed Tracy as she gave a tour highlighting the artwork and fixtures for brokers.

'You just don't see this level of detail, in my opinion, in certainly anything in the States,' Tracy said.

Sales suite: The real estate agent gave a tour of the sales suite during the event

Luxury living: A two-bedroom, 1,800 square feet condominium at Royal Atlantis in Dubai had a listing price of $1,900,000

German appliances: The sales suite kitchen featured Gaggenau appliances

Issam after the event told Tracy that he was pleased with how she explained the development.

'I was really impressed. How about if you can join us as an ambassador?,' Issam said.

Tracy gladly accepted the offer and said she was looking forward to sharing it with her buyers.

Impressive performance: Issam watched Tracy from a distance and later offered her the ambassador position

She got back to work upon her return and held a meeting with her team, including new assistant Eleanor.

'We took a trip to Dubai, and we got the job. So we're international!,' she told the team.

Tracy said she had to launch the brand in a few weeks and wanted to kick it off with a dinner for 30 brokers with international clients.

Business meeting: Tracy after the trip told her team they were 'international' and started organizing a dinner to promote Royal Atlantis

'This event is crucial. My goal is to not just be a part of the Royal Atlantis but be a part of Issam's team on his next development, which you know is gonna be around the corner,' she said in a confessional.

Tracy shimmered in a golden metallic dress at the event where she gave a presentation about Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences.

Maria showed up adding some pressure and Tracy warned her guests Josh Altman, Josh Flagg and James Harris not to fight.

Golden gal: The dinner host shimmered in a golden metallic dress at the dinner

Tracy during dinner described Dubai as 'Hawaii on steroids' and during her presentation called the Royal Atlantis development 'the most iconic project in Dubai to date'.

Maria afterward assured Tracy that Issam would be pleased with the turnout at the dinner.

Tracy called it a total success and quipped that hopefully her 'clients will Dubai it'.

The presentation: Maria also attended the event and helped Tracy with the presentation

For sale: Tracy shared highlights of the development with her dinner guests

Her dinner also saw real estate rivals Altman and Flagg agree to an odd alliance.

Altman proposed going to a listing appointment together for the Antelo property in Bel-Air near Mulholland Drive.

The five-acre property hasn't been on the market for 30 years and the owners were seeking two brokerages to cast a wider net.

Teaming up: Josh Altman proposed going to a listing appointment with his rival Josh Flagg to ensure that one of them would get the listing of a property in Bel-Air

Altman at Tracy's dinner suggested they put their differences aside to get the listing.

'What do you think?,' Altman asked.

Flagg said that he was 'torn' before admitting that he actually liked his longtime rival.

Face slap: The real estate agents decided to put their differences aside including an incident when Flagg slapped Altman in the face during an argument

'You know what the problem is in our relationship? We're too similar. I think the problem is that we're so competitive that we don't get along, but I actually do like your style,' Flagg said.

Altman proposed surprising the buyer by showing up together and after closing the deal splitting the marketing 50/50.

Flagg said he was up for it as long as there wasn't any 'tricky business' and they shook hands on working together.

Too similar: Flagg admitted that he actually liked Altman but said they have been too competitive to get along

Altman and Flagg were then shown a week later meeting up just ahead of the listing appointment.

'Just follow my lead,' Altman told him.

'Really, I don't want to lose the listing,' Flagg shot back.

My lead: Altman a week later at the listing meeting told Flagg to follow his lead

'Not everyone has your interesting sense of humor,' Altman warned him.

'You mean my panache,' Flagg retorted.

The episode ended with Altmann and Flagg walking in together for the listing meeting.

Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles premiered on Bravo on August 29, 2006.
Thandie Newton's daughter Nico Parker, 14

Nico Parker, aged 14, threw her mother (the actress Thandie Newton) a look and said: Im doing my interview now.

The subtext was simple: You stay in the corridor while I go into the room.

I took in the mother-daughter moment, and entered the suite at the Corinthia Hotel with Nico. Her publicist, Jodi Gottlieb, accompanied her, because shes a minor.

She was my protection.

Nico stars in director Tim Burtons beautifully realised Depression-era remake of the Disney animated classic Dumbo, about a baby elephant with ears so big he can fly. The film, which opens today, is perfect escapism.

Nico was 12 when she was cast as Milly, the savvy daughter of WWI veteran Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell). Milly and her brother have been raised in the circus run by ringmaster Max Medici (Danny DeVito). The moment Nico was cast, she looked into circus animals and how they can be mistreated. Dumbo is bullied but its a happier version of the reality, she told me.

Nico lives in North-West London with her parents, 18-year-old sister and five-year-old brother. Her father is Ol Parker, a film director whose last venture was the hit Mamma Mia sequel Here We Go Again.

She didnt take acting advice from her parents because that can be a bit intimidating, although they did give her tips on how to behave on set. Like, be quiet when theyre filming.

Danny DeVito, Colin Farrell, and Nico Parker in Dumbo. Nico was 12 when she was cast as Milly

There is no Milly character in the original film. So I didnt have to live up to anything, apart from being in a massive Disney film.

Millys a bright spark who loves all things scientific. Nico, meanwhile, is into English and creative writing at school; and music. Beyonce, of course. And the cool Jorja Smith. And A$AP Rocky, with whom she is obsessed.

Jordan Peeles Get Out is a favourite film, and she is keen to see his new one, Us, which stars Lupita Nyongo. She and Nyongo were both booked on the Stephen Colbert show in the U.S. She had these fantastic contacts in her eyes! she told me.

Nico spent six months working on Dumbo and was tutored on set, but she was happy to go back to school, her teachers and her friends.

As much as she loved attending the Dumbo galas in LA and London, and seeing her Dumbo family, she knows that life is not normal. Nor is having a personal stylist  although she did covet the Schutz silver sparkly ankle boots Jason Bolden picked out for her. She also had her eye on a pair of Comme des Garcons Nike trainers.

I dont think Ill be allowed to keep them, though, she said, laughing.

Nico spent six months working on Dumbo and was tutored on set, but she was happy to go back to school

Watch out for...

Martha Plimpton, who will be joined by her close colleague Clare Perkins in the transfer of Donmar Warehouse hit Sweat, the prizewinning drama by Lynn Nottage about blue-collar workers in rustbelt Pennsylvania fighting for their jobs and way of life.

Perkins appeared with Plimpton in the brilliant, clear-eyed production directed by Lynette Linton that opened at the Donmar in December.

But she had already agreed to move to the Vaudeville with the Shakespeares Globe play Emilia, and it was thought she would not be able to do Sweat in the West End as well.

However, Emilias creative team and producers were gracious enough to let the actress leave Emilia two weeks early, so she could open at the Gielgud for previews on June 7.

Perkins appeared with Plimpton in the brilliant, clear-eyed production directed by Lynette Linton that opened at the Donmar in December

Nica Burns, who runs the Vaudeville, told me that Perkins will, from Sunday, have her name in lights on the marquees at the Vaudeville and the Gielgud. Quite an achievement for any artist.

Leanne Best, Osy Ikhile, Wil Johnson, Stuart McQuarrie, Sule Rimi and Sebastian Viveros (all from the Donmar cast) are also going to the Gielgud. However, theres still one more part to be cast.

Camille Cottin (pictured), Thibault de Montalembert, Gregory Montel, Liliane Rovere, Fanny Sidney, Laure Calamy, Nicolas Maury, Stefi Celma and Assaad Bouab, who play the motley crew representing actors and creatives in Call My Agent!, a drama set in Paris that developed a cult following during its three seasons on Netflix.

Now the shows makers, Mon Voisin Productions, have confirmed to me that a fourth season is being written, with filming scheduled for September in Paris, and the aforementioned actors returning.

What gives the series added grit is the appearance of real-life stars, as fictionalised versions of themselves, in single episodes (Monica Bellucci, Jean Dujardin and Isabelle Huppert have all guest starred).
She unveiled her new clothing collection earlier this month.

But on Hayley Hughes was supporting the launch of another range on Thursday evening as she celebrated the Annabelle Lawrence bikini line.

The 21-year-old Love Island star rocked a black form-fitting vest top and a pair of tiny denim hot pants as she made her way to Vanitas Restaurant in Manchester.

Glam: Hayley Hughes was supporting the launch of another range on Thursday evening as she celebrated the Annabelle Lawrence bikini line

Hayley added a quirky vibe to her look with a YSL belt bag, which no doubt held all of her essentials during her night out on the town.

The reality star showcased her toned pins in the thigh-grazing shorts, while teaming her look with a pair of fishnet sock boots.

She also rocked a cropped satin blue jacket and accessorised with a plethora of gold chain necklaces with dainty pendant charms which dangled from the chains.

Casual: Meanwhile, Coronation Street stars Sair Khan and Victoria Ekanoye kept it casual in more dressed-down attire as they joined Hayley at the launch

The blonde bombshell wore her long wavy locks in a loose style, while sporting a signature coat of make-up for the fashion event.

Meanwhile, Coronation Street stars Sair Khan and Victoria Ekanoye kept it casual in more dressed-down attire as they joined Hayley at the launch.

Sair looked cool in an embellished jacket, which she wore with a semi-sheer black blouse and form-fitting black jeans with cream loafers.

Glammed up: Hayley went solo for the glitzy outing, after splitting from boyfriend Tom Zanetti in late January

Victoria cut a stylish figure as she arrived in snakeskin print blouse, which she wore with a leather mini skirt and ankle boots.

Hayley went solo for the glitzy outing, after splitting from boyfriend Tom Zanetti in late January.

She announced her break-up on Instagram: 'Due to a lot of speculation I would like to confirm me and Tom have in fact split. I believe the most important relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves. I wish him all the best x'.

Heartache: She announced her break-up on Instagram: 'Due to a lot of speculation I would like to confirm me and Tom have in fact split. I believe the most important relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves. I wish him all the best x'.

Happy days: Taking to Instagram the Liverpudlian beauty announced she had called in quits with the musician, 29

In their OK! interview back in November, the Liverpuldian DJ and her DJ beau discussed tying the knot with the blonde beauty admitting: 'He knows my ring size.'

The couple first started dating in August last year, following her appearance on ITV2 dating show Love Island.

She was eliminated from the villa early on into the series, after struggling to find romance while on the show.

The blonde beauty originally paired up with Eyal Booker before they decided they hated each other, and eventually moved on with Charlie Frederick.

But they became the first couple to leave the villa after being deemed as 'the least compatible' couple.
They just celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary.

And on Thursday, Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth looked as in love as they stepped out for lunch with the actress' son Deacon Phillippe, 15.

The trio smiled and laughed together as they strolled along with Deacon carrying some items to go in a couple of brown bags.

Happy together: They just celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary. And on Thursday, Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth looked as in love as they stepped out for lunch in LA

Reese, 43, looked ready for spring in a yellow print dress with buttons down the front.

She added a blue jean jacket and a pair of white sneakers and had a tan shoulder purse slung across her body.

Talent agent Jim, 49, was dressed in a black sweater and black skinny pants along with patterned slip-on canvas shoes.

Deacon, whose father is Reese's first husband Ryan Phillippe, kept it casual in a black t-shirt with khaki pants and trainers.

Strolled along: The couple were joined by the actress' son Deacon Phillippe, 15, who carried some items to go in a couple of brown bags

Mother and son: Reese, 43, wore a yellow print dress with buttons down the front and a blue jean jacket, while Deacon kept it casual in a black t-shirt with khaki pants and trainers

Reese is also mom to daughter Ava, 19, from her marriage to actor Ryan Phillippe which ended in 2007. She and Jim are parents to son Tennessee who was born in September 2012

Reese is also mom to daughter Ava, 19, from her marriage to her Cruel Intentions co-star which ended in 2007.

She and Jim are also parents to son Tennessee who was born in September 2012.

Earlier this week, the Big Little Lies star had been in the spotlight at the much talked about Apple TV+ launch event in Cupertino, California.

She joined Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell on Monday to share a first look at their new drama series The Morning Show.

The production was first announced in November 2017 and is one of the first that Apple picked up for its new streaming service.
She is rumoured to be moving to Sydney to live closer to her Bondi-based BFF Martha Kalifatidis.

And Ines Basic certainly has the figure for it, as she demonstrated on Friday by stripping down to a skimpy black bikini.

In a photo shared to Instagram, the 29-year-old legal assistant showcased her sensational summer body while at a swimming pool.

She'll fit right in! MAFS' Ines Basic flaunted her sensational figure in a black bikini on Friday amid rumours she is 'moving to Bondi' after pleading guilty to drink driving

It comes after Martha, 30, told Yahoo Lifestyle on Thursday that she believes Ines 'wants to move to Sydney' in the near future.

'She's jealous, I keep sending her Insta Stories of me doing the coastal walk [from Bondi to Bronte]. She's like, "I've gotta come!"' she said.

However, Ines is unlikely to move away from the Gold Coast for a little while because she has 70 hours of community service to do first.

Legal woes: Ines was sentenced to 70 hours of community service and disqualified from driving for three months after pleading guilty to drink driving in Brisbane on Tuesday. Pictured arriving at Cleveland Magistrates Court

Ines was sentenced to 70 hours of community service and disqualified from driving for three months after pleading guilty to drink driving in Brisbane on Tuesday.

In sentencing her at Cleveland Magistrates Court, Magistrate Deborah Vasta said she hoped the punishment would help Ines 'get into reality' and understand the 'real fabric of society'.

It is believed her community service must take place within Queensland.

Moving interstate: Ines's friend and co-star Martha Kalifatidis (left) told Yahoo Lifestyle on Thursday that the 29-year-old legal assistant 'wants to move to Sydney' in the near future

Ines's legal dramas began on Christmas Day last year, when she got drunk and rammed her car into her sister Ena's vehicle as it was parked in the driveway of her Redland Bay home.

According to the prosecutor, Ines had been 'carrying on like an idiot' and screaming obscenities during the incident, which took place at around 7pm.

She had been drinking vodka since 10am and was arguing with her sister about her decision to appear on Married At First Sight.

Guilty! Ines's legal dramas began on Christmas Day last year, when she got drunk and rammed her car into her sister Ena's vehicle as it was parked in the driveway of her Redland Bay home. Pictured with Bronson Norrish (left) on Married At First Sight

After police arrived at the scene, Ines called them 'c**ts' and told a female officer, 'F**king arrest me then, b**ch!'

She also provided police with the false name 'Vanessa Dorothy Ines'.

In total, Ines pleaded guilty to a mid-range drink driving offence, driving without due care, being a public nuisance and contravening the direction or requirement of police officer.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, and Bobby Berk glammed up in their differing styles for the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Beverly Hills on Thursday.

The confidence clan were 'honored' to be nominated for the reality program trophy alongside VH1's RuPaul's Drag Race, VH1's Love & Hip Hop, ABC's American Idol, and TLC's I am Jazz.

JVN - the grooming expert - celebrated his 32nd birthday at the Beverly Hilton ceremony while clad in a baby-blue silk gown and matching socks beneath white platform heels.

Yasss henny! Queer Eye's (from L-R) Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, and Bobby Berk glammed up in their differing styles for the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Beverly Hills on Thursday

Who will win? The confidence clan were 'honored' to be nominated for the reality program trophy alongside VH1's RuPaul's Drag Race, VH1's Love & Hip Hop, ABC's American Idol, and TLC's I am Jazz

The Illinois-born hairstylist - who relies on stylist Alison Brooks - accessorized his red carpet attire with a tiny black purse, curly mustache, and a tidy top bun.

Van Ness - a self-described 'figure skating prodigy' - was thrilled to have two-time Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan as his date for his special night.

35-year-old Antoni - the food and wine expert - looked as dapper as James Bond in his classic tuxedo and sockless patent leather loafers selected by stylist Chloe Hartstein.

The Canadian heartthrob - who's fluent in Polish and French - resembled John Mayer's hotter younger brother.

Werk! JVN - the grooming expert - celebrated his 32nd birthday at the Beverly Hilton ceremony while clad in a baby-blue silk gown and matching socks beneath white platform heels

Feeling himself! The Illinois-born hairstylist - who relies on stylist Alison Brooks - accessorized his red carpet attire with a tiny black purse, curly mustache, and a tidy top bun

'Power couple of the night!' Van Ness - a self-described 'figure skating prodigy' - was thrilled to have two-time Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan as his date for his special night

Amazing achievement: Tan France proudly cherished the Outstanding Reality Program award which went to his TV show Queer Eye

Missing from Porowski's side was his boyfriend, Flipping Out alum Trace Lehnhoff, whom he confirmed he was dating in December.

Once inside, the Horror Time actor met up with 35-year-old castmate Tan and The Buddy Games actress Olivia Munn flashing cleavage in a sheer black gown selected by stylist Jessica Paster.

The British silver fox is the fashion expert so he flaunted his flair in a sheer kimono jacket over a white button-up, high-waisted black pants, and patent leather loafers.

As usual, France (born Tanweer Safdar) sported his signature sky-high pompadour and a bit of stubble.

007: 35-year-old Antoni - the food and wine expert - looked as dapper as James Bond in his classic tuxedo and sockless patent leather loafers selected by stylist Chloe Hartstein

Handsome: The Canadian heartthrob - who's fluent in Polish and French - resembled John Mayer's hotter younger brother

Partner: Missing from Porowski's side was his boyfriend, Flipping Out alum Trace Lehnhoff, whom he confirmed he was dating in December (pictured March 14)

Hey girl! Once inside, the Horror Time actor met up with 35-year-old castmate Tan (L) and The Buddy Games actress Olivia Munn (M) flashing cleavage in a sheer black gown

Red carpet moment: The British silver fox is the fashion expert so he flaunted his flair in a sheer kimono jacket over a white button-up, high-waisted black pants, and patent leather loafers

Hairspray alert! As usual, France (born Tanweer Safdar) sported his signature sky-high pompadour and a bit of stubble

'Hubby': Missing from the Muslim designer of Pakistani descent's side was his Salt Lake City-based husband, illustrator Rob France (pictured October 16)

Missing from the Muslim designer of Pakistani descent's side was his Salt Lake City-based husband, illustrator Rob France.

37-year-old Bobby - who's the design expert - looked chic in a grey plaid suit, black button-up, matching necktie, and patent leather loafers.

The Texan-born, Missouri-raised interior designer also teased his hair up a few inches like Tan and he sported a full beard.

It's been a week since Berk bought his first home in Los Angeles with his husband of six years, maxillofacial surgeon Dewey Do.

GQ smooth: 37-year-old Bobby - who's the design expert - looked chic in a grey plaid suit, black button-up, matching necktie, and patent leather loafers

Strike a pose: The Texan-born, Missouri-raised interior designer also teased his hair up a few inches like Tan and he sported a full beard

'We are so excited to put down roots together!' It's been a week since Berk bought his first home in Los Angeles with his husband of six years, maxillofacial surgeon Dewey Do

Solid gold: The Fab Four appeared to have a blast reuniting for the LGBTQAI-friendly festivities where they posed with prolific Olympic diver Greg Louganis

Fabulous fun: Meghan Trainor posed with the Queer cast after they lifted the trophy for the GLAAD media awards' top reality program

The Fab Four appeared to have a blast reuniting for the LGBTQAI-friendly festivities where they posed with prolific Olympic diver Greg Louganis.

It's unclear why culture and lifestyle expert Karamo Brown 'couldn't make' the show with his co-stars, but he Insta-storied a #tbt underwear boudoir snap in his absence.

The eight-episode third season of the Fab Five's Emmy-winning, tear-jerking 'make better' reality series is now streaming on Netflix.

The GLAAD Media Awards served as a reunion for Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly, who played lesbian lovers in the Wachowskis' 1996 heist classic, Bound.

Thirst trap: It's unclear why culture and lifestyle expert Karamo Brown 'couldn't make' the show with his co-stars, but he Insta-storied a #tbt underwear boudoir snap in his absence

So good: The eight-episode third season of the Fab Five's Emmy-winning, tear-jerking 'make better' reality series is now streaming on Netflix

The 56-year-old Riverdale actress and the 60-year-old Oscar nominee were thrilled to serve presenting duties at the star-studded ceremony.

A Star is Born actor and RuPaul's Drag Race alum Shangela donned a pink strapless Walter Collection ball gown and brunette wig.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne donned a Tom Ford double-breasted tuxedo while Orange Is the New Black star Lea DeLaria donned a blue single-breasted suit.

RuPaul's Drag Race judge Ross Mathews was the official host of the GLAAD Media Awards looking solid gold in a metallic quilted suit.

Yes! The GLAAD Media Awards served as a reunion for Gina Gershon (L) and Jennifer Tilly (R), who played lesbian lovers in the Wachowskis' 1996 heist classic, Bound.

Embrace: The 56-year-old Riverdale actress and the 60-year-old Oscar nominee were thrilled to serve presenting duties at the star-studded ceremony

Halleloo! A Star is Born actor and RuPaul's Drag Race alum Shangela donned a pink strapless Walter Collection ball gown and brunette wig

Suited ladies: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne (L) donned a Tom Ford double-breasted tuxedo while Orange Is the New Black star Lea DeLaria (R) donned a blue single-breasted suit

Big Brother runner-up: RuPaul's Drag Race judge Ross Mathews was the official host of the GLAAD Media Awards looking solid gold in a metallic quilted suit

Mom star Allison Janney sparkled in a ruby-sequin Sally LaPointe dress and black Jimmy Choo stilettos selected by stylist Tara Swennen.

Once inside, the 59-year-old Oscar winner locked lips with Will & Grace funnyman Sean Hayes.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom flaunted significant cleavage in a gold cocktail dress and metallic platform heels.

Both The Mayor actress Lea Michele and transgender rights activist Janet Mock opted for slinky silk gowns in lavender and plum shades, with Janet choosing a stunning Cushnie option for her red carpet turn.

Gleaming: Mom star Allison Janney sparkled in a ruby-sequin Sally LaPointe dress and black Jimmy Choo stilettos selected by stylist Tara Swennen

TV sitcom twosome: Once inside, the 59-year-old Oscar winner locked lips with Will & Grace funnyman Sean Hayes

Broadway in the house! Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom flaunted significant cleavage in a gold cocktail dress and metallic platform heels

Retro thirties glam: Both The Mayor actress Lea Michele (L) and transgender rights activist Janet Mock (R) opted for slinky silk gowns in lavender and plum shades

Juice singer Lizzo looked fabulous in a neon Christopher John Rogers creation selected by stylist Marko Monroe.

Both Access on-air correspondent Sibley Scoles and Grammy winner Meghan Trainor rocked yellow looks on the red carpet.

Former Disney Channel star Josie Totah - who came out as transgender last August - looked edgy in a voluminous, white-ruffled Kentaro creation.

Queen frontman Adam Lambert donned a shiny brown suit as former E! reality star EJ Johnson showed a lot of leg in a plunging black blazer top and skirt.

Minnesota in the house! Juice singer Lizzo looked fabulous in a neon Christopher John Rogers creation selected by stylist Marko Monroe

Hello sunshine! Both Access on-air correspondent Sibley Scoles (L) and Grammy winner Meghan Trainor (R) rocked yellow looks on the red carpet

Came out as transgender last August: Former Disney Channel star Josie Totah looked edgy in a voluminous, white-ruffled Kentaro creation.

Attendees: Queen frontman Adam Lambert (L) donned a shiny brown suit as former E! reality star EJ Johnson (R) showed a lot of leg in a plunging black blazer top and skirt

Shimmering: Logan Browning, 29, looked beautiful in a shimmering teal dress with a plunging neckline

Beauty: Jameela Jamil stunned in a off-the-shoulder black dress and black boots

Cosy: Jameela proved to be a social butterfly as she mingled with Queer Eye's Tan France

Peacocking: She donned a sheer top that featured black ostriches across her chest

Looking good: Jamie Lee Curtis, 60, donned a sheer black top and paired it with black pants

Gorgeous: Gigi Gorgeous wore a sheer light grey dress covered in silver pieces

Handsome: Josh Duhamel, 46, wore a charcoal colored suit that he paired with a white shirt and a skinny tie

Stand out: Meghan Trainor was impossible to miss in a bright yellow dress and anorak as she joined scantily-clad Lizzo

Sexy in stripes: Hayley Kiyoko went braless in a VERY plunging nude leotard worn with a colourful jacket at the glittering GLAAD party, in Beverly Hills on Thursday

Style credentials: A shimmering rich palette complemented the singer's dazzling gem-encrusted bodysuit for a super chic look when she hit the red carpet

So glam: The singer packed all her belongings into a rectangular lilac clutch bag with a rose gold clasp and edging to contrast with the violet surface

Take the plunge: The singer, 27, displayed her braless bust in a plunging leotard which offered a look at her phenomenal figure with its semi-sheer nude material

Cute: Hayley made an appearance on stage with a shimmering Gigi Gorgeous
Harry Shum Jr., 36, has welcomed his first child with his wife Shelby Rabara, 35.

The little girl is named Xia, and the couple shared a black and white photo of the newborn to each of their Instagram pages.

'How wonderful life is, now you're in the world was written over the picture of the baby's feet and legs.

First one: Harry Shum Jr., 36, has welcomed his first child with his wife Shelby Rabara, 35

Thrilled: The little girl is named Xia, and the couple shared a black and white photo of the newborn to each of their Instagram pages pictured January 27, 2019

Harry shared the photo to his Instagram with the caption, '(folded hand emoji) Baby XIA (folded hand emoji).'

Shelby shared the same shot to her Instagram as well, with the caption, 'My everythings (heart emoji).'

Harry announced that the couple were expecting their first child back in November via an Instagram post.

In the photo, the Step Up 2: The Streets actor held his hands around his wife's belly as they stood beneath a tree with pink/red leaves.

Happy couple: Harry announced that the couple were expecting their first child back in November via an Instagram post

Harry and Shelby began dating in 2007, and got engaged during a Hawaiian vacation in 2013.

The happy couple married two years later in Costa Rica, where Harry was born.

The duo actually met before Harry premiered on Glee, and Shelby was the first to actually star on the Fox comedy.

It has been an incredible last 12 months for Harry who was part of the smash hit Crazy Rich Asians.

He also one a People's Choice Award for Male TV Star Of 2018 for his work on Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instrument.
RHOC star Tamra Judge received hope for a future reconciliation with her estranged daughter Sidney on the latest episode of Hollywood Medium Tyler Henry.

Tamra, 51, and her husband Eddie Judge sat for a reading with Tyler on Thursday's episode, where the young medium predicted Tamra would begin writing a book about her personal life.

When Tamra confirmed she was indeed planning on writing a book, she became emotional, revealing the novel would focus on her relationship with her daughter.

Renewed hope: RHOC star Tamra Judge received hope for a future reconciliation with her estranged daughter Sidney on the latest episode of Hollywood Medium Tyler Henry

Though she dreamed of writing the book, she was fearful it would actually push her daughter further away.

'It's a slippery slope for me because I'm still estranged,' she said. 'It's really hard for me because I want to be the voice and I want to help, but I don't want her to get upset. In my heart I can feel it, she's going to come back.'

Tyler had good news for Tamra.

'She will. I guarantee you, she will come back. I feel there will be an opportunity to make mends,' Tyler said, with total confidence in his prediction.

Emotional support: The reality star had her husband Eddie Judge by her side during the reading

New chapter: Tyler said Tamra's new book would focus on intimate life issues, which Tamra confirmed meant her daughter

Tamra said after the reading she had hope for a reconciliation.

'Hearing him say that was the best thing I could have heard,' she said.

Tamra also connected with her grandmother, who suffered from schizophrenia and was subsequently institutionalized during her life.

Unfortunately, she was unable to care for her family, leaving Tamra's mother Sandy to care for herself and her father as a young girl.

Good news! Henry confidently predicted Judge would reconcile with her daughter

Relief: 'Hearing him say that was the best thing I could have heard,' she said

Tamra's mother Sandy was present backstage during the reading, and recalled memories of taking care of the family when her mother was away.

'She didn't want to hold your mom back,' Tyler told Tamra.

Tamra admitted she never thought of her grandmother as suffering from schizophrenia, and cherished the memories she had of her loved one.

Still, she was blown away by Tyler's insight.

Reliving the past: Tamra's mom Sandy was present backstage during the reading, and confirmed a portion of the reading concerning her own mother

Wow: Judge was blown away by Tyler's insight into her grandmother

'It wasn't my grandmother's choice, she was very sick,' Tamra said. 'So, to hear her say that to my mom, you're acknowledging that, "You weren't there for me, you know? I pretty much raised myself." That's nice that she acknowledged that and she was very thankful.'

Tyler then began connecting with Eddie's family.

Interestingly enough, he noted that though he was connecting with Eddie's biological family, they were not emotionally connected.

His turn: The young medium then began connecting with Eddie's family

Revelation: Sandy revealed backstage Eddie was in fact adopted

Sandy revealed backstage Eddie was in fact adopted.

'To what extent do you know your family tree?' Tyler asked Eddie.

'I don't,' Eddie replied, though added he recently took a DNA test.

'We have an idea of who his dad might be, but he doesn't necessarily feel like he should reach out,' Tamra chimed in. She was supportive of connecting with her husband's family, however.

Questions: 'To what extent do you know your family tree?' Tyler asked Eddie

Encouraging: The RHOC star said they found a man who may be Eddie's father, and she was supporting a reunion

Tyler said the emphasis was being placed on Eddie's sister.

'They're having you talk about going back, family tree, and then sister, sister, sister.'

'The way this is coming through, it's like, know who to care for, know whose going to use you,' he said.

Wise words: 'When people show you their true colors, listen,' Tyler urged Eddie

'That makes sense,' Tamra chimed in.

'You don't have to force something that isn't working,' Tyler said.

Though Eddie was initially skeptical of psychics, he was impressed that the 'other side' had confirmed he had an unhealthy relationship with his sister.

'When people show you their true colors, listen,' Tyler urged.

From skeptic to believer? Though Eddie was initially skeptical of psychics, he was impressed that the 'other side' had confirmed he had an unhealthy relationship with his sister

Also receiving readings on the show was Brooklyn Nine-Nine actress Stephanie Beatriz, who was just days away from getting married to Brad Hoss.

Tyler predicted the newlyweds would be going on two honeymoons, which Stephanie enthusiastically confirmed was the plan.

'Yeah! We're having two honeymoons! We're going to Tokyo and we're gonna go to Paris!'

She's impressed! Also receiving readings on the show was Brooklyn Nine-Nine actress Stephanie Beatriz, who was just days away from getting married to Brad Hoss

Love & Hip Hop Atlanta's Rasheeda and her husband Kirk Frost also got some good news during their reading with Tyler.

The couple rejoiced after Tyler saw the couple successfully entering the restaurant industry.

'You are the bomb!' Rasheeda told Tyler as her husband revealed they were in the process of opening a bar/lounge.
Anthony Field left his blue skivvy at home for a rare public outing with his wife, Michaela Patisteas, in Sydney on Friday.

The couple, who have been married for 16 years, were spotted enjoying lunch together in the exclusive neighbourhood of Double Bay.

They appeared to have been having an animated discussion as they walked down the busy street together.

Day date: Anthony Field (left) left his blue skivvy at home for a rare public outing with his wife, Michaela Patisteas (right) in Sydney on Friday

The 55-year-old children's entertainer was virtually unrecognisable without his trademark Wiggles costume.

Cutting a casual figure, Anthony stepped out in grey pants and a printed navy blue T-shirt, which showed off his tattooed arms.

Usually concealed under his long-sleeved blue skivvy, onlookers were treated to a rare glimpse of the inking on Anthony's right forearm, while another tattoo peeked out from underneath his left sleeve.

Grabbing lunch: The couple, who have been married for 16 years, were spotted enjoying lunch together in the exclusive neighbourhood of Double Bay

Something to talk about: They appeared to have been having an animated discussion as they walked down the busy street together

Keeping a low profile: The 55-year-old children's entertainer was virtually unrecognisable without his trademark Wiggles costume

Tats cool: Cutting a casual figure, Anthony stepped out in grey pants and a printed navy blue T-shirt, which showed off his tattooed arms

Think ink: Usually concealed under his long-sleeved blue skivvy, onlookers were treated to a rare glimpse of the inking on Anthony's right forearm

He rounded out his ensemble with a pair of white sneakers and brown sunglasses.

Meanwhile, his wife - who Anthony affectionately refers to as Miki - looked chic in a knee-length black dress printed with white stars.

Like Anthony, she also donned white sneakers, and a black handbag hung from her right shoulder.

Seeing stars: His wife - who Anthony affectionately refers to as Miki - looked chic in a knee-length black dress printed with white stars

Sneaking around: Like Anthony, she also donned white sneakers, and a black handbag hung from her right shoulder

Tied up: Miki's bobbed hair was worn pulled back in a low ponytail, as they chatted while walking down the street

Child-free: The couple were without their three children, daughters Lucia, 15, and Marie, 13, and son Antonio, 11

Still going strong: Anthony and Miki appeared to have been having an enjoyable day out, chatting and smiling as they walked down the street

Her bobbed hair was worn pulled back in a low ponytail, as they chatted while walking down the street.

The couple were without their three children, daughters Lucia, 15, and Marie, 13, and son Antonio, 11.

They appeared to have been squeezing in some valuable couple time before Anthony begins his national tour with The Wiggles in Newcastle on Saturday.
She's putting on a brave face amid her husband Joe Giudice's legal turmoil.

But on Thursday, Teresa Giudice lifted her spirits while celebrating her sister-in-law Melissa Gorga's 40th birthday in New York City.

The Real Housewives Of New Jersey star, 46, looked exquisite as she did so, rocking a baby blue fur sweater over a plunging black jumpsuit.

Keeping her spirits lifted: Teresa Giudice took her mind off her family's problems to celebrate her sister-in-law Melissa Gorga's 40th birthday in New York City on Thursday

The reality star showed off her killer figure and eye for style while rocking a dangling pair of dazzling earrings, strappy black heels, while carrying a chic clutch.

Hair was styled into sleek, glossy waves that cascaded past her chest.

She accentuated her radiant complexion with a dewy tint of bronze blush, along with a dramatic application of mascara to bring out her hazel eyes.

An array of gold bracelets along with a matching watch gave her already glamorous outfit another dazzling touch.

Birthday kisses! Birthday girl Melissa Gorga gave her husband Joe a kiss on the cheek

Fur goodness sake! Giudice rocked a baby blue fur sweater atop her plunging jumpsuit

Meanwhile, Melissa brought the razzle dazzle in a plunging sequin jumpsuit.

Melissa looked ready to party as she kissed her husband Joe Gorga on the cheek.

The skin tight number fit Melissa like a glove, highlighting her gym-honed physique to full effect.

She pulled her hair up into a sleek high ponytail.

That's her name! Gorga posed proudly beside a gold display of her name

Strike a pose! The RHONJ star brought the va va voom in a skin tight sequin jumpsuit

Though Melissa seemed to be having the time of her life Thursday night, it has been a difficult time for her family.

Earlier this month, Teresa's husband Joe Giudice was released from a Pennsylvania prison and immediately transferred to an immigration detention center.

Joe reported to Fort Dix Correctional Institution in March 2016 to serve a 41 month sentence after he and Teresa pleaded guilty to a number of counts of conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud.

It takes two: The Gorgas have been married for 15 years

Teresa admitted to Andy Cohen during the Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion that she may soon be splitting from her husband Joe if he is deported following his release from prison.

Joe was born in Italy but brought to the U.S. as a baby, and does not speak Italian. However he never pursued his U.S. citizenship.

'I'm not doing a long distance relationship. I'm not doing it,' Teresa told Andy. 'I want somebody with me every day.'

Joe reported to Fort Dix Correctional Institution in March 2016 to serve a 41 month sentence after the couple pleaded guilty to 39 counts of conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud.

Teresa and Joe have four children together: Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 13, and Audriana, 10.
She is the face of the Today Show's overhauled new lineup.

And presenter Deborah Knight, 46, bravely hit back at trolls who criticized her hairstyle during an interview she conducted with Pauline Hanson on Friday - calling it 'bloody shocking'.

Now, Daily Mail Australia looks back at Deb's stunning hair transformations from her early days in the noughties as a reporter, to now.

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Back to her roots! Take a look back at the hairstyles The Today Show's Deborah Knight has sported through the years, after she bravely hit back at trolls critical of her messy tresses during her Pauline Hanson interview on Friday (pictured)

Making her debut as a young Sydney reporter, he sported short blonde curls when she attended the Pink Ribbon Ball in 2006.

The talented TV anchor proved herself on trend, pinning her blonde fringe back with a simple bobby pin - which was en vogue at the time.

The Channel Nine anchor also showed off her flair for fashion at the event, wearing a cream dress which she paired with light accessories.

Back to her roots: Taking a look at her looks through the years, Deborah Knight was introduced to TV audiences with short and curly hair which she wore pinned back. Seen here at the Pink Ribbon Ball in October, 2006

Short and sweet: Deb unveiled a textured pixie fringe, which framed her face. Pictured here at Sydney Dance Company's production Underland in September, 2006

The same year, Deb opted to wear her blonde tresses down with a blunt fringe and a layered blonde mane.

Attending the Sydney Dance Company's production Underland, Deb opted to wear a simple yet plunging royal blue frock.

Showing she keeps up with the trends, Deb's pixie fringe was heavily textured at the back with the structured hairstyle framing her face.

Elegant: Deb wore her blonde tresses in a stylish up-style for the TV Week Logie Awards. Here in May, 2007

In 2007, Deb opted for an elegant up-swept hairstyle while attending the TV Week Logie Awards at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.

Choosing to keep her fringe stylishly pushed to one side of her face, Deb looked resplendent wearing her blonde hair up and back at TV's night of nights.

The host debuted her fondness for cropped locks back in 2011, flaunting a textured blonde bob while appearing on Channel Ten News.

High glam: Deb looked every inch the fashionista during a David Jones event, wearing her tresses in a quiff. Here in Sydney, 2013

Flash forward to 2013, Deb proved she can certainly hold her own in the fashion stakes at the David Jones 175 year celebrations in Sydney.

The anchor went high-glam, wearing her blonde fringe slicked back which she offset with a stunning hot pink frock.

In 2016, Deb flaunted her stunning cropped blonde locks yet again, in a more relaxed style while fronting a Channel Nine event.

Keeping it curly: Deb opted for relaxed curls at a Nine content event, sporting her stunning cropped blonde locks. Here in November, 2016

Deb allowed her blonde hair to fall in a relaxed way, with it slightly curled and framing her face.

The anchor opted to wear a form fitting black-and-white frock to the event, which she paired with stylish black pumps.

In 2017, Deb opted for a change, opting to have no fringe while wearing her blonde tresses stylishly back.

Swept back: Deb looked high glam with her fringe swept back at a Nine network event. Here in October, 2017

The anchor attended a Channel Nine event, wearing a flirty multi-coloured frock, which she paired with strappy heels.

Meanwhile, last year, Deb dazzled when she channeled Old Hollywood glamour by wearing her cropped hair blown out to one side.

Deb opted for a stunning canary yellow gown, which had a glamorous long scarf which she wore elegantly around her neck.
She's never afraid to make a statement at glamorous red carpet events.

And Jameela Jamil, 33, ensured all eyes were on her as she attended the GLAAD Media Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday night.

The Good Place star cut a stylish figure in a sleek black strapless dress as she took to the stage to present the Outstanding Documentary accolade to Imagine Dragons musician Dan Reynolds, 31.

Chic: Jameela Jamil, 33, ensured all eyes were on her as she attended the GLAAD Media Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday (Pictured with Stephanie Beatriz)

Her chic mini dress was overlaid with a sheer mesh skirt, the fabric falling just above her ankle with intricate lace detailing on the hem.

And Jameela finished off her ensemble with a pair of heeled studded biker boots and delicate silver jewellery.

The actress wore her brunette locks loosely curled around her shoulders and added a pop of colour to her monochrome look with bold fuchsia eye shadow.

Stylish: The Good Place star cut a stylish figure in a sleek black strapless dress as she posed on the red carpet ahead of presenting the award for Outstanding Documentary

Fashion: The chic mini dress was overlaid with a sheer mesh skirt, the fabric falling just above her ankle with intricate lace detailing on the hem

Activist Jameela also donned a blue '&' pin - which is the symbol of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation - when she presented an award later in the night.

The event celebrated accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community within the media.

Beyonce and Jay Z were honoured with one of the night's biggest prizes - the Vanguard Award - at the 30th annual show.

Inclusion: The event celebrated accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community within the media

Bold: The actress wore her brunette locks loosely curled around her shoulders and added a pop of colour to her monochrome look with bold fuchsia eye shadow

This is an honour traditionally bestowed to those who actively promote acceptance and tolerance of LGBTQ people. It has previously been awarded to Cher, Janet Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Antonio Banderas.

Also present at the star-studded event were Lea Michelle and Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Stephanie Beatriz.

Queer Eye's Fab Four - Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Tan France and Bobby Berk - were also in attendance at the ceremony.

Award: The actress presented an award to Imagine Dragons musician Dan Reynolds on Thursday

Believer: The musician was nominated for Believer, a documentary featuring his work to increase LGBTQ inclusion in the Mormon Church

The confidence clan were 'honoured' to be nominated for, and later win, the reality program trophy alongside VH1's RuPaul's Drag Race, VH1's Love & Hip Hop, ABC's American Idol and TLC's I am Jazz.

Jameela's appearance at the glamourous ceremony comes after she revealed she was once 'punched in the face' by a man after she rejected his advances as a teenager.

The television presenter and actress recalled the encounter on Twitter on Sunday - and hundreds of people then shared similar experiences with street harassment.

Jameela, who was just 19 at the time, said the stranger became aggressive when she snubbed his romantic interest and 'didn't have an excuse'.

Symbol: Jameela also donned a blue '&' pin, which is the symbol of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, when she presented the award later in the night (Pictured with Pamela Stewart)

Pals: Queer Eye's Fab Four - Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Tan France (pictured) and Bobby Berk - were also in attendance at the ceremony

She wrote: 'I once said no thank you to a man when I was 19 and didn't have an excuse... and he punched me in the face.

'After that whether or not I have a boyfriend, I say I do. Being a woman is truly, constantly scary. It's like existing on thin ice.'

The Good Place star went on to say 'we need to change the way we see rejection as a society' so it 'doesn't feel like the ground it swallowing you up when someone says no.'

'This would lessen their need to lash out,' she wrote.

Guests: Also present at the star-studded event was Lea Michelle and Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Stephanie Beatriz
He is well recognised for his good looks, charm and brunette locks.

And Zac Efron continued to show off his icy makeover when he attended the premiere of his latest movie The Beach Bum, in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The High School Musical actor, 31, looked unrecognisable with his peroxide blonde after recently ditching his darker mane.

He's a heartthrob: Zac Efron continued to show off his peroxide blonde locks at his latest movie premiere The Beach Bum in Los Angeles on Thursday

The Beach Bum tells the story of Moondog, a pot-smoking and beer-drinking writer who lives life on the edge while he pens the next great American novel.

Matthew McConaughey played the leading role in the film as he joined a star-studded cast including: Efron, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill and Snoop Dogg.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile star Zac shared his quirky tastes as he donned a colourful bear print tie with his light blue trouser suit.

Mane attraction: The High School Musical actor, 31, looked unrecognisable with his peroxide blonde after recently ditching his darker mane (R)

He's so stylish: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile star Zac shared his quirky tastes as he donned a colourful bear print tie with his light blue trouser suit

As well as filming The Beach Bum, Zac took on the leading role of Ted Bundy in the upcoming Netflix movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.

The streaming service acquired Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile in an estimated $9m deal, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Netflix is said to be giving the film its theatrical run in the autumn on the back of the success of Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.

The movie will hit cinemas in the UK and be available on Sky Cinema on May 3.

Wildly different: The dashing hunk continued to show off his icy makeover (R) when he attended the premiere of his latest movie

Extremely Wicked is told through the eyes of the madman's girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer (Liz Kendall) who testified on his behalf at trial.

Ted's lover was so enamored with the serial killer that she even said 'yes' when he proposed to her during that time.

The film tells the story of Bundy's infamous crime spree in the 1970s where he murdered dozens of women.

Storytelling: The Beach Bum tells the story of a writer who lives life on the edge while he pens the next great American novel (pictured Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Efron)

Recently, Zac was able to put down the crutches in late March as he continues his recovery following his surgery for a torn ACL.

Given Zac's penchant for fitness, it's fitting that he's currently dating Olympic swimmer Sarah Bro, according to Us Weekly.

He and the Danish beauty were spotted looking very cozy and happy at a UFC match in Las Vegas on March 2.

What a crowd! Efron joined Jimmy Buffet, Fisher, McConaughey, Stetefania LaVie Owen, Harmony Korine and Snoop Dogg

Top role! Matthew played the leading role in the film as he joined a star-studded cast including: Efron (pictured together), Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill and Snoop Dogg

In a 2016 interview with The Times, the Dirty Grandpa star claimed that dating could never be normal for him due to his celebrity status and the assumptions people have about him.

'Dating is something Ill never be able to do. As in the dictionary definition of dating, because one way or another, Ive impacted that persons life and theyll soon realize it,' he said.

'A date has to be very long to dispel whatever people think about me. Amazingly, when I signed up for Tinder, nobody swiped me! They thought it was fake.  That never happened.'
Gwyneth Paltrow looked incredible as she took to the stage at the 30th annual GLAAD Awards held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on Thursday night.

The special guest, 46, wore a silk shirt which had an ostrich feather detail, as well as cropped trousers, all from Peter Pilotto, as she made her appearance.

She wore a sky-high pair of heels for the occasion and they were so high in design that her husband Brad Falchuk gave her a helping hand down some stairs.

And the winner is... Gwyneth Paltrow looked incredible in a feathered silk shirt and trousers by Peter Pilotto as she took to the stage at the GLAAD Awards at the Beverly Hilton hotel on Thursday

Putting her best foot forwards: She wore a high pair of heels for the occasion and they were so high in design that her husband Brad Falchuk gave her a helping hand down some stairs

Brad had a huge smile on his face as he assisted his stunning wife and he too, looked handsome wearing a smart blue suit.

The night was certainly a star-studded affair with Beyonce and Jay Z taking to the stage to accept the organization's Vanguard Award

Special guests included Lena Waithe, Olivia Munn and Meghan Trainor. Lizzo performed during the event, opening the show with her single Juice.

There for her: Brad had a huge smile on his face as he assisted his stunning wife and he too, looked handsome wearing a smart blue suit

Important cause: The event celebrates accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community within the media

The event celebrates accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community within the media.

Meanwhile, it emerged last week that Gwyneth is selling kinky lingerie on her lifestyle website, Goop, with a $786 (600) leather bra and knicker set promising to fulfil BDSM (bondage, discipline, dominance and submission) fantasies.

The Shallow Hal star has sparked controversy in the past with the advice on the website, including vaginal steaming, however she will no doubt stun even further with the new saucy touch to the divisive website.

Details: The special guest, 46, wore a silk shirt which had an ostrich feather detail, as well as cropped trousers as she made her appearance

Chic: Gwyneth teamed her shirt with a pair of cropped trousers and killer heels

Team work makes the dream work: Gwyneth caught up with American television personality Ross Mathews

Friends in high places: Gwyneth (4th from R) posed with the cast and crew of Love, Simon, winners of the Outstanding Film - Wide Release award

Gwyneth has always proudly stood by the more quirky choices on the Goop site, with the latest line of handmade bondage lingerie set to stun.

The product description reads: 'Handmade in England, this saddle leather bra is what BDSM fantasies are made of...

'O-ring details, racy demi cups for freeing the nipple, buckles to be undone, this piecepaired with the matching knickersis prepped for full speed ahead. Layer an easy tee underneath for a more subtle statement.'

Kinky: Meanwhile, it emerged last week that Gwyneth is selling kinky lingerie on her lifestyle website, Goop, with a $786 (600) leather bra and knicker set promising to fulfil BDSM (bondage, discipline, dominance and submission) fantasies

Oh my! The 46-year-old Shallow Hal star has sparked controversy in the past with the advice on the website, including vaginal steaming, however she will no doubt stun even further with the new saucy touch to the divisive website

Not afraid: Gwyneth has always proudly stood by the more quirky choices on the Goop site, with the latest line of handmade bondage lingerie set to stun

Lovely: Gwyneth looked fabulously flawless on the night as she was accompanied by her man

Hey guys! She gave a little wave to the gathering crowds

And back she goes: Wherever she went, Brad was always by Gwyneth's side
She's already addressed it on Instagram, and now Deborah Knight has detailed the real reason she appeared dressed down during her interview with Pauline Hanson on Friday's Today show.

According to the 46-year-old Today show host, she was only given 40 minutes notice to get to the airport on Thursday night after lining up a last minute interview with the One Nation leader in Brisbane.

In an essay for 9Honey on Friday, Deb said she was also dealing with a sick husband at home, who she had to leave in charge of the couple's three young kids.

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Going natural: In an essay published Friday, Deborah Knight (pictured) detailed the real reason she appeared dressed down during her interview with Pauline Hanson on the Today show

'My husband was at home sick with the lurgy, so I was able to hand over the afternoon madness of homework, dinner prep and play with the three kids to jump in the car and arrive at Sydney airport just as the flight was boarding,' she wrote.

Deborah went on to write that while her hair and makeup artist, Norman Gonzales, was joining her on the trip, their last minute flight booking meant they were sitting separately on the plane.

'The problem was Norman and I were not sitting together on the flight, so we improvised as best we could - he gave me a basic face of makeup and a quick burst of hair spray after we arrived in Brisbane and dashed to the city for the interview,' she continued.

Rush job: Deb said she was only given 40 minutes notice to get to the airport on Thursday night after lining up a last minute interview with the One Nation leader in Brisbane

Busy mum: 'My husband was at home sick with the lurgy, so I was able to hand over the afternoon madness of homework, dinner prep and play with the three kids to jump in the car and arrive at Sydney airport just as the flight was boarding,' she wrote. Deb is pictured during her Pauline Hanson Interview on Today

With no time to spare, Deborah had to race from the airport to the interview, and then back to the airport, all on the same night, so she could be in the TV studio in Sydney on Friday morning in time to host Today.

'My makeup and hair, however, were the least of my concerns. My focus was on the substance rather than style, wanting to question Pauline Hanson on her claims she was taken out of context,' she wrote.

Deb said that while she expected people to have opinions about her interview with the 64-year-old controversial politician, she was dismayed when someone called her out on her appearance.

All made up: Deborah said that while her hair and makeup artist, Norman Gonzales, was joining her on the trip, their last minute flight booking meant they were sitting separately on the plane

Focus: 'My focus was on the substance rather than style, wanting to question Pauline Hanson on her claims she was taken out of context,' she wrote

'Don't worry about her Deb! Focus on fixing your hair cut... Bloody shocking,' commented one person on Instagram.

Deb called out the troll in a post on Instagram on Friday, sharing a screenshot of their comment.

'Ah the joys of social media. No my hair wasn't 'done' for my interview with @senatorpaulinehanson - nor was my makeup the full tilt. I literally just jumped on a plane with no time,' she captioned it.

Backlash: 'No my hair wasn't 'done' for my interview with @senatorpaulinehanson - nor was my makeup the full tilt. I literally just jumped on a plane with no time,' Deb wrote on Instagram

'I know it's a visual medium but but sometimes the substance is more important than the style. #justsaying'.

Deb said that while she usually ignores nasty comments aimed at her on social media, this one really irked her.

She also urged viewers to focus more on the important issues at hand as opposed to her appearance.
She's no stranger to making a glamorous turn on many a red carpet.

And it was business as usual for Allison Janney as she attended the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards in a glittering red gown at the Beverly Hills Hotel, California on Thursday.

The actress, 59, oozed sophistication in the sequinned ruby number which featured a daring split at the front.

That's one way to sparkle: Actress Allison Janney, 59, attended the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards in a glittering red gown at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday

Smooch: The I, Tonya actress was in high spirits at the glitzy event, even sharing a cheeky kiss with Will And Grace favourite Sean Hayes

Allison accessorised her glam look with matching red earrings, black strappy sandals and a matching clutch bag.

The star sported a chic half up, half down hairdo, while she emphasized her sparkling eyes with dramatic eye make-up.

The I, Tonya actress was in high spirits at the glitzy event, even sharing a cheeky kiss with Will and Grace favourite Sean Hayes - who was the recipient of the Stephen F. Kolzak award.

Allison also shared the love with Sean's husband Scott Icenogle, planting a kiss on his lips.

Dazzling: The actress oozed sophistication in the sequinned ruby number which featured a daring split at the front

Pucker up: However, Allison also shared the love with Sean's husband Scott Icenogle, planting a kiss on his lips

Ever the social butterfly, she was also spotted stopping for a chat with showbiz pals including Jamie Lee Curtis, Gina Gershon and Adam Lambert.

Allison later took to the stage at the event, where she addressed the audience and presented her pal Sean with his accolade.

The event celebrates accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community within the media.

The awards also saw Gwyneth Paltrow, 46, take to the stage in an eye-catching silk feathered shirt, cropped trousers and towering heels.

Glam: Allison accessorised her glam look with matching red earrings, black strappy sandals and a black clutch bag

Pose: The star sported a chic half up, half down hairdo, while she emphasized her sparkling eyes with dramatic eye make-up

However, the actress' heels were so high that she had to be helped down the stairs by her husband Brad Falchuck.

Brad had a huge smile on his face as he assisted his stunning wife and he too, looked handsome wearing a smart blue suit.

The night was certainly a star-studded affair with Beyonce and Jay Z taking to the stage to accept the organization's Vanguard Award

Special guests included Lena Waithe, Olivia Munn and Meghan Trainor, while Lizzo performed during the event, opening the show with her single Juice.
She's back in town filming new TV series, Les Norton, in Sydney.

And on Friday, the 39-year-old took time out of her busy schedule to take a stroll through Barangaroo in Sydney.

Taking to Instagram, she shared a sun-drenched selfie while posing in front of Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge.

'Gotta love working in Australia!' Actress Rebel Wilson, 39, (pictured) is back Down Under to film the new TV series Les Norton and shared a social media snap in Sydney on Friday

Appearing makeup free, wearing a black cap and headphones in her ears, she seemed happy and relaxed to be on home soil.

'Gotta love working in Australia, she wrote and then used a koala emoji.

The Australian actress will star in 10-part series Les Norton, being made for the ABC, which has already begun filming according to TV Tonight.

Local! 'Gotta love working in Australia,' Rebel wrote on social media and then used a koala emoji. Pictured: Rebel in Melbourne, March, 2019

The series is based on the Les Norton book series by Australian author Robert G. Barrett.

About lovable battler Les, who works in an illegal Kings Cross casino, the series is riddled with violence and racy sex scenes.

Set in the 1980s, the show also stars David Wenham and Alexander Bertrand.

Racy? The series is based on the Les Norton book series by Australian author Robert G. Barrett and is described as riddled with violence and racy sex scenes. Pictured in Pitch Perfect in 2017

Fluffy and fun! It comes after the success of Rebel's new comedy, Isn't It Romantic (pictured) in which she starred opposite Liam Hemsworth (right)

It comes after the success of Rebel's new comedy, Isn't It Romantic, in which she starred opposite Liam Hemsworth.

The actress admitted it was a 'brutal' filming experience because she is on screen so much.

Speaking at 'Build Series' in New York City, she quipped: 'When we would film, we would film 16 hours a day, and it was kind of brutal, and I just had to keep going because I am in every scene of the movie.'
Remote, rural Norway provided the backdrop as work on Daniel Craig's long-awaited swan-song as James Bond got underway on Thursday.

While Craig was not present, a mysterious, theatrically masked gunman was seen stumbling in pursuit of a terrified young girl as she fled across the ice.

Cameramen tracked the pair during what appeared to be a dramatic scene, filmed in a large clearing surrounded by pine trees in Nittedal, just north of capital city Oslo.

Here we go: A mysterious, masked gunman was seen on set as filming for the 25th installment in the James Bond franchise got underway in Norway on Thursday

At one point the gunman appeared to lie in wait for the young girl, who obviously stood outside a large wood-panelled property while he crouched nearby.

With Spring temperatures rising to an average eight degrees across northern Norway, the production team were seen sprayed artificial snow across the large area during a short break between takes.

The sequence represents the first Bond action in four years, although little is known about the scene and its relation to plot developments in what will be the long-running film franchise's 25th installment.

However social media fan sites claim the scene is a flashback, with the young actress playing a teenage Madeline Swann, Bond's love interest in 2015 release Spectre.

Quit on set: Members of the production team were seen readying the surrounding area as what appeared to be a chase scene got underway

Involved: A young girl joined the gunman, with social media footage tracking him as he chases her across the ice

Chilly: The girl sported a colourful winter jacket as she huddled on the ice between takes with the gunman, who covered his features with the theatrical looking mask

Waiting game: The pair idled on the ice during a break between scenes in Norway

Get ready: Crew members surrounded the pair as they prepared to film their sequence

If so, the scene would suggest Craig's yet to be titled fifth film as the secret agent will adopt a non-linear narrative, a departure from the more conventional mode of storytelling used by the franchise.

Bond was last seen driving into the sunset with sultry psychologist Swann, played by French actress Lea Seydoux, after apprehending perennial nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

The film, which divided critics, delved into his past as he traced the origins of a mysterious ring, only to discover it belongs to a global terrorist organisation led by childhood friend Franz Oberhauser - the son of Bond's legal guardian.

Originally thought dead, Oberhauser, played by Christoph Waltz, had instead masterminded the criminal group under the alias of Blofeld - his mother's maiden name - with the objective of killing Bond.

Let's talk: The actor chatted to one of the production team while cradling his machine gun beneath an arm

Unmasked: Oscar-winner Rami Malek is rumoured to be playing Bond's adversary, but little is known about the actor seen on set on Thursday

Realistic: With Spring temperatures rising to an average eight degrees across northern Norway, the production team sprayed artificial snow across the large area

Seydoux's reprisal of Swann was confirmed by Bond 25 director Cary Joji Fukunaga in December, along with the return of British stars Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris.

The director praised the Bond Brit pack  and British thespians in general  noting that he has worked with many on past projects, including Beasts Of No Nation and Jane Eyre.

'You have some of the best actors in the world here,' he told the Daily Mail. 'Why wouldn't I have the best coming back?!'

Let's talk: The actor passed the time while waiting cameras to roll on the Norwegian set

Busy: Various locations in Jamaica, where Bond creator Ian Fleming once lived, and the Italian province of Matera will also be used as filming continues throughout 2019

Coming soon: Bond 25 is expected to go on general release on 8 April 2020

Oscar-winner Rami Malek is widely thought to be playing Bond's latest enemy, although he was not seen during principal photography this week.

Various locations in Jamaica, where Bond creator Ian Fleming once lived, and the Italian province of Matera will also be used as filming continues throughout 2019.

Bond 25 is expected to go on general release on 8 April 2020.

Watch out: The gunman appeared to be lying in wait as the young girl obliviously idled close to large, wood-paneled property

Unwelcome visitor: With his mask in place, the mysterious character looked like a terrifying home invader as he stood outside the home

Job done: The actor pulled on a thick winter coat after filming his first scenes

Hard at work: Meanwhile the production team assembled camera equipment in the wooded area

Mucking in: The group were see
She had a magical Maldives wedding in front of all of her family and friends.

And Billie Faiers pined for the morning strolls under the tropical sunshine, in the Maldives as she shared a throwback bikini snap on Friday.

The Mummy Diaries star, 29, looked extraordinary in a flimsy patterned bikini edged with red string that caught the eye while Arthur, two, was in a pram.

Sensational: Billie Faiers looked fantastic in a flimsy Fendi bikini in throwback snap shared on Instagram on Friday as she pines for Maldives wedding celebrations

Newly wed Billie slipped into a Fendi bikini, which will retail for around 320.00, showcased her bronze tan which she topped up during her time in the Maldives.

The reality star mum was super glam with her gigantic sunglasses with gold frames to complement her flashy watch and a pendant.

Greg Shephard and daughter Nelly didn't accompany Billie on her morning walk in the glorious sunshine.

Billie and Greg tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in the Maldives after she flew 96 friends over to the resort for a week of partying to celebrate the nuptials.

Big occasion: Billie and Greg tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in the Maldives after she flew 96 friends over to the resort for a week of partying to celebrate the nuptials

Back to reality in the UK, the mother-of-two was clearly longing for their fun-filled week as she shared a throwback snap saying she missed the 'morning strolls'.

She wrote in the caption: 'Miss these morning strolls.'

The reality star enjoyed a night on the town with her BFF Ferne McCann, her mum Suzanne and her sister Sam at Sheesh, in Essex.

Earlier in the day, Billie appeared to red-faced when Phillip Schofield grilled her over whether she had 'cut a deal' to pay for her ceremony during a TV interview.

Bridal party: Billie Faiers headed out on the town with (from left) Ferne McCann, mum Suzanne, and sister Sam as she reunited her wedding guests on a night out at Sheesh on Wednesday

This Morning presenter Phil, 56, had estimated that it would have set her back 229,000 if she had to pay for the guests' trip to the Maldives.

He said: 'My God, you must be earning beautifully to do this. This is the Kuramathi Resort in the Maldives. So we had a look, if you were to stay there next Saturday it would be 650 a night, that would be 4,588 for a week for the superior beach villa.

'The whole week for 100 guests, 229,000. So you must have got a deal there. 229,000 for your wedding?'

Not having it: Earlier in the day, she appeared to red-faced when Phillip Schofield grilled her over whether she had 'cut a deal' to pay for her ceremony during a TV interview

But Billie who appeared on the show with sister Sam, 28, said it 'wasn't quite that,' as she giggled awkwardly.

Phillip then grilled her further after claiming she didnt get a discount, saying: 'Right, so they did give you a deal?'

Billie then said: 'We had the beach houses and split them in two, it really helped us out with the rooms and stuff.'

Despite having a great time, sister Sam confessed she will be having the opposite wedding to her sibling as she branded Billie the 'entertainer' with 'epic' plans.

She said on Heart breakfast: 'Put it this way, I wont be having a 100 people and going all the way to the Maldives, but it was amazing.

'Billie and Greg are entertainers, they are always doing something so we always knew their wedding would be humongous and epic.'
Thing's got a little awkward on Friday's Good Morning Britain after Andi Peters walked off after being accused of being 'sexist' by colleague Ben Shephard.

The trouble began when Andi, 48, distributed Mother's Day gifts to co-stars Kate Garraway, 51, and Charlotte Hawkins, 43.

However, Ben, 44, kicked up a fuss after Andi failed to give him a gift too.

Here we go: Thing's got a little awkward on Friday's Good Morning Britain after Andi Peters walked off after being accused of being a 'sexist' by colleague Ben Shephard

As Andi shared out the cellophane wrapped gifts of flowers and chocolates, he said: 'Obviously any mother sitting around this desk will be entitled to a lovely Mother's Day gift.

'Kate for you. Oh yeah weve pushed the budget out this time. Charlotte for you - happy Mother's Day.'

However, Ben appeared put out by the gesture, with the star stretching his arms out and saying 'hold on,' as he looked at his co-star's flowers.

But before he had the chance to speak further, Andi cut in, informing him: 'but you're not a mother'

Walking away: Andi strode away after accusing Ben of only wanting a Mother's Day gift to give to his wife Annie Perks

As Ben tried to protest, Andi hit back telling the anchor that he only wanted the gift so he could give it to his wife Annie Perks.

He said: 'All you wanted is something to give to Annie and that's not going to happen!'

While Kate and Charlotte nervously giggled, Ben looked shocked at the accusation as he stuttered over his words.

Andi meanwhile remained resolute, shouting: 'I'm walking away, I'm walking away' as he strode away from the desk to another part of the studio.

Snubbed: 'Ben appeared put out by the gesture, with the star stretching his arms out and saying 'hold on,' as he looked at his co-star's flowers'

He then proceeded to introduce the show's latest competition.

As Andi walked away, Ben was then heard saying: 'That's not on. That is not alright by the way!'

Kate jokingly called across the studio, telling Andi that he was being 'sexist'.

While Ben swiftly agreed, retorting: 'That is sexist.'

Friends again: Following the misunderstanding, the duo later made up when Andi gifted Ben a cupcake

The altercation, while in jest, was quickly spotted by viewers watching at home, with one hitting out at Ben for being a 'diva'.

They tweeted: 'Now @benshephard is being a DIVA and calling @andipeters sexist for giving Charlotte & Kate a #MothersDay gift. That is disgraceful. He took the JOY out of that for Charlotte & Kate. Grow up Ben!!!!! #BigGirlsBlouse.'

However, the duo later made up when Andi gifted Ben a cupcake.

Good Morning Britain continues weekdays at 6am on ITV.
NRL WAG Phoebe Burgess, 29, just reconciled with her Rabbitohs star player husband, Sam.

And on Friday, family was obviously on the mind of the blonde beauty when she shared a snap of her newborn son, Billy.

Taking to Instagram, Phoebe gushed over her adorable youngest child, who sat on a beige cushion in a pale linen jumpsuit.

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'My chunky monkey': WAG Phoebe Burgess has gushed over her adorable son Billy in an intimate family snap on Instagram on Friday after reuniting with NRL star husband Sam

'My chunky monkey,' she wrote humorously under the snap of the cherubic tot.

Phoebe has been sharing a lot of family snaps of late, including of her young song and daughter Poppy Alice, 2, both of whom she shares with Sam.

Cute! Phoebe has been sharing a lot of family snaps of late, including of her young song and daughter Poppy Alice, 2, (pictured) both of whom she shares with husband Sam

Back on: While Phoebe and Sam Burgess, 30, (left) have not officially confirmed they are back together, they have made public appearances together of late after splitting at Christmas

While Phoebe and Sam, 30, have not officially confirmed they are back together, she very tellingly flashed her diamond wedding ring on her left hand.

The couple made their first public appearance at the Longines Golden Slipper Day in Sydney last week, following their reconciliation last month.

The united front came three months after South Sydney Rabbitohs star, Sam, split from his wife of three years, three weeks after the birth of his second child Billy Mark.

Out: The couple made their first high profile public appearance at the Longines Golden Slipper Day in Sydney last week, following their reconciliation last month

Things are going swimmingly! Earlier this month, the couple (right) were spotted together at Sydney's Gordon's Bay

An insider told The Sydney Morning Herald at the time, that they are 'working on things' for the sake of their young children.

Earlier this month, the couple, who married in 2015 after one year of dating, were spotted together at Gordon's Bay.

An onlooker told Daily Mail Australia that Sam and Phoebe 'looked loved-up and very much back together'.
They have rarely been separated since embarking on a romance together last year.

And Charlotte Crosby smooched her boyfriend Josh Ritchie when they enjoyed an amorous reunion at Durham Train Station after his trip to London on Friday.

The former Geordie Shore star, 28, looked ecstatic to have her man back in her arms as she planted a tender kiss on his lips.

He's back! Charlotte Crosby packed on the PDA with her beau Joshua Ritchie as they enjoyed a VERY amorous reunion in Durham on Friday

Swept up in the overwhelming emotional moment, the MTV personality didn't let her love go and she wrapped her arms around Joshua's body.

Love Island 2015 star Joshua had his hands full with an over sized checkered bag and a Louis Vuitton rucksack.

The reality star still had his Apple earphones dangling around his ears, having spent the last few hours listening to music on the train back to Charlotte.

Charlotte ensured she had the eyes of her lover in a canary yellow sweater which she dressed with microscopic floral shorts and trainers.

Homecoming: The Charlotte Show star couldn't hide her joy when she made a beeline for her reality star boyfriend to greet him after he had spent time away

It's real love: The loved-up couple have rarely been separated since embarking on a romance together last year

The Charlotte Show star couldn't hide her joy when she made a beeline for her reality star boyfriend to greet him after he had spent time away.

Charlotte and Joshua have been going steady since early last year but their relationship inevitably hasn't been without furious fights or drama.

Their amorous reunion comes shortly after Charlotte emerged from Emily Atack's fashion launch bash in tears reportedly wailing she had been 'betrayed by everyone'.

Couple: Charlotte and Joshua have been going steady since early last year but their relationship inevitably hasn't been without furious fights or drama

At the time, the reality star looked upset as she was escorted to her waiting car, where she climbed in and fell into the arms of a male friend.

Reported in The Sun, Charlotte then reiterated it with an emotional tweet, posting: 'The feeling of being betrayed by every1 you no is honestly one of the worst [sic].'

A source told the newspaper : 'She milled around outside the VIP area while Emily partied just metres away with Scarlett Moffatt, Leigh Francis and James McVey.

Pain: Their amorous reunion comes shortly after Charlotte emerged from Emily Atack's fashion launch bash in tears reportedly wailing she had been 'betrayed by everyone'

'Despite being left out, Charlotte seemed to take it on the chin, telling a fellow partygoer: "I can't get in, it's only for friends and family. I wish Emily all the best.'

'It was a small space but when Emily wandered off to use the loo she totally ignored Charlotte, who looked on uncomfortably with boyfriend Joshua and at one point tried to dance sexily for the 50 or so people in the area.'

While the precise situation is not known, Charlotte also recently launched a foul-mouthed rant about 'fake' celebrities who attempt to be her friend for 'social status'.
Lorraine Kelly was given the ultimate Mother's Day surprise by her daughter Rosie on Friday.

The presenter, 59, was reduced to tears as she received a sweet video message from Rosie, who is currently working in Singapore.

After watching the video, Lorraine confessed it would 'get her crying again,' gushing she couldn't wait to see her daughter again.

Lovely: Lorraine Kelly was given the ultimate Mother's Day surprise by her daughter Rosie on Friday, as she was reduced to tears by a sweet video message

Lorraine's surprise came as she joined resident fashion guru Mark Heyes, who was showing different Mother's Day gifts viewers could still buy ahead of the big day.

But as they shared an array of gifts, Mark then told Lorraine he had a special Mother's Day message for her, joking he tried to recruit her peg dog Angus for the clip, but to no avail.

The video then showed Rosie in front of a stunning Singapore city backdrop, and she said to her mum: 'Happy Mother's Day all the way from Singpore, I'll see you really soon and we can celebrate properly I love you bye!'

Lorraine struggled to hold back tears as she struggled to hide her shock at the clip, saying: 'I love you more that's so sweet you're gonna get me crying again! She looks so beautiful, I miss her so much.'

Happy Mother's Day! The presenter, 59, couldn't hide her emotion as she received the brief message from Rosie, who is currently working in Singapore

Delighted: Fashion guru Mark Heyes sprung the surprise clip on Lorraine, joking he 'tried get her dog Angus to do it'

The sweet gesture comes after Lorraine spoke candidly about her relationship with Rosie, after she moved to Singapore to work in public relations.

She told Weekend Magazine: 'We talk about everything under the sun. Im her mum, though, Id never say I was her best friend because shes got her friends already.

'Id love to think she tells me everything but she doesnt.'

The star also said that despite the long distance between them, she and Rosie are in touch all the time.

After Rosie flew the nest, Lorraine also revealed last year that she and husband Steve Smith downsized, moving out of their seven-bedroom property in Dundee to a Buckinghamshire boat house.
She recently revealed her desire to crack America and move to glamorous Los Angeles - where she wants cameras to be on her the minute she lands.

And Gemma Collins proved she has all the makings of the superstar job on Thursday as she hit the pool during her recent trip to Tenerife where she was soaking up the sun while sizzling in a sexy swimsuit.

The 38-year-old former TOWIE star was giving her look a bizarre edge as she was sporting the worlds first solar-powered swimwear, which includes speakers, wireless phone charger, waterproof pocket and phone cooler.

Woah! Gemma Collins proved she has all the makings of the job on Thursday as she hit the pool during her recent trip to Tenerife where she was soaking up the sun while sizzling in a sexy swimsuit by the pool

Gemma was not only showing off her figure but also her tech savvy as she plugged her phone into the well-wired 149.00 'Techini, designed by On the Beach.

While she was loving life showing off her new ensemble, fans were left dismayed when she shared a snap on Instagram, which they claimed was heavily edited.

Fans took to the comments section to write: 'This is insanely photoshopped... its definitely photoshopped she was only on the tv 2 weeks ago and didnt look like this. I cant say she looks great cos I dont think its a real pic...

'please stop photoshopping your pics! You really dont need to, people want to see celebs like you embracing their size.'

Strutting her stuff: The 38-year-old former TOWIE star was giving her look a bizarre edge as she was sporting the worlds first solar-powered swimwear, to include speakers, wireless phone charger, waterproof pocket and phone cooler

Snap happy: While she was loving life showing off her new ensemble, fans were left dismayed when she shared a snap on Instagram, which they claimed was heavily edited

Prior to her holiday, Gemma spoke candidly about her hopes to move to sunny California whilst on the Jonathan Ross Show earlier this month.

She revealed: 'Ive never been to LA. (Im going to LA because) the cameras want to be on me the minute I touch down in LA, to follow me having a go at it.'

In February it was reported that Gemma had begun talks with TV producers to land her own reality show, after winning an army of new fans on Dancing On Ice

Bizarre: Gemma was not only showing off her figure but also her tech savvy as she plugged her phone into the well-wired 149.00 'Techini, designed by On the Beach

A source told The Sun that the TOWIE star has been bombarded with big money deals after being eliminated from the skating show, but is taking some time off before making a decision.

It comes after Gemma's boyfriend James 'Arg' Argent also confirmed that he would be open to appearing on a reality show with her, as he makes a return to TV following a stint in rehab.

The source said: 'Gemma has been inundated with big money offers for different shows. She's spent the last couple of weeks weighing up her options and deciding what the next step is in her career.

'Shes hoping to film in Essex, London, Marbella and even Los Angeles to visit close pal Jonathan Cheban.'

Way back when: It comes after Gemma's boyfriend James 'Arg' Argent also confirmed that he would be open to appearing on a reality show with her, as he makes a return to TV following a stint in rehab

Moving on up: The GC spoke candidly about her hopes to move to sunny California whilst on the Jonathan Ross Show earlier this month

Gemma won a whole new army of fans as she showcased her outrageous personality on Dancing On Ice. She previously took centre stage in the one-off Gemma Collins: Diva Espana last year, but despite fans campaigns it is yet to spark a full series.

Arg also recently revealed that he would be open to appearing in a show with his girlfriend, as he also hinted at a return to TOWIE this year.

He told The Sun: 'I'm ready to start working again now; in 2019 I will get back into TV work again.

'I'm going to start meeting the bosses at ITV and Lime Pictures from January and then we will be making a plan  whether that be me going back to TOWIE or Gemma and I doing our own show together.'

Hot stuff: Gemma won a whole new army of fans as she showcased her outrageous personality on Dancing On Ice
She revealed in September 2018 that she was recovering from the deadly disease.

And Marcia Cross has bravely spoke about her anal cancer battle in a bid to end the stigma surrounding the illness.

The Desperate Housewives star, 57, vowed to stop the 'shame' and 'embarrassment' that comes with the rare disease.

Speaking out: Marcia Cross has bravely spoke about her anal cancer battle in a bid to end the stigma surrounding the illness (pictured at a Stand Up To Cancer event in 2016)

Talking to People magazine, she said: 'I want to help put a dent in the stigma around anal cancer.

'Ive read a lot of cancer-survivor stories, and many people, women especially, were too embarrassed to say what kind of cancer they had.'

Vowing to stop any stigma surrounding the illness, she added: 'There is a lot of shame about it. I want that to stop.'

In September 2018, Marcia who rose to fame as Bree Van de Kamp on Desperate Housewives, revealed in a candid post that she had been battling cancer.

End the stigma!: The Desperate Housewives star, 57, vowed to stop the 'shame' and 'embarrassment' that comes with the rare disease

Sharing a beautiful selfie with fans, the actress shared a picture of herself with her hair starting to grow back after treatment.

She penned: 'So grateful and happy to be alive but sad that my hair fell out and is about 1 inch long now and looks cra cra. Anyone else have #hairloss due to #cancer? Talk to me. I feel you. Xxoo m.'

Marcia's followers were left concerned over the post, which led to her posting a statement on her Instagram the next day.

She said: 'Dearest Kindest Followers, I am so sorry my post wasn't clear. I am POST cancer. All good now.

Candid: Talking to People magazine , she said: 'I want to help put a dent in the stigma around anal cancer. There is a lot of shame about it. I want that to stop.'

TV stardom: Marcia rose to fame as Bree Van de Kamp on Desperate Housewives (pictured on the hit ABC series in 2005)

'Hard journey, but I am HEALTHY, happy, and more present and grateful than ever. Thank you from the bottom of my ever expanding heart for all of your LOVE.'

She added: 'After posting a picture of myself here and uttering the words #cancer and #hairless, I felt liberated, deliriously free and completely me.

'How or why this simple act gave me such a power lift I did not question, but I thanked God or whatever gave me the internal push to move forward and expose myself.

'I certainly wasn't expecting the response of love and kindness that flowed to me. My capacity to receive requires a massive expansion!

'I am ecstatically alive and what interests me post cancer is #AUTHENTICITY. #VULNERABILITY. #TRANSPARENCY. And of course #LOVE.

Speaking out: Marcia's followers were left concerned over the post, which led to her posting a statement on her Instagram the next day

Grateful: 'I am ecstatically alive and what interests me post cancer is #AUTHENTICITY. #VULNERABILITY. #TRANSPARENCY. And of course #LOVE,' she penned

'On that note, if you were wondering, I had #analcancer. I know, right?! Thank you again for your love and for sharing your personal stories with #cancer and #hairloss and getting your footing in the world. Always, Marcia.'

Marcia has continued to remain positive, revealing to her fans that she is 'getting on with the glory of living'.

Sharing a picture of herself with a knitted pink beanie, she penned: 'Thanks for all of your love. I am rockin a #beanie and a #hairtopper and getting on with the glory of living! #resurrection #cancer #gratitude ONWARD.'

Anal cancer is a rare disease which affects the end of the bowel, with the NHS stating 1,300 people are diagnosed with it in the UK each year.

The website claims that the main treatments for anal cancer are chemoradiation, which is chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and surgery to remove the tumour.
He's currently filming scenes for forthcoming Paolo Sorrentino series The New Pope in the Italian capital.

And John Malkovich made the most of his downtime while enjoying a dinner with Hollywood pal Dustin Hoffman and their respective wives, Nicoletta Peyran and Lisa Hoffman, at La Rosetta restaurant in Rome on Thursday evening.

The actor, 65, looked in high spirits as he left the Italian eatery with his arm tenderly wrapped around his wife's shoulders.

Double date: John Malkovich enjoyed a dinner with Hollywood pal Dustin Hoffman and their wives, Nicoletta Peyran and Lisa Hoffman, at La Rosetta restaurant in Rome on Thursday

Casually dressed in a blue jacket, dark jeans and a scarf, The Being John Malkovich star waved his companions goodbye as he made his way down the street with his film director spouse.

Dustin, 81, was also spotted on the streets of the European city, having left the dinner early with his wife Lisa Hoffman before the merriment commenced.

The Rain Man star and his wife of almost 40 years looked happier than ever as they strolled arm in arm.

Dustin was dressed all in black and added a pair of bright green trainers to his look, while Lisa looked chic in a matching black ensemble.

Easy does it: The actor, 65, looked in high spirits as he left the Italian eatery with his arm tenderly wrapped around his wife Nicoletta Peyran's shoulders

Low-key outing: Casually dressed in a blue jacket, dark jeans and a scarf, the actor appeared happy and relaxed during his evening out in the Italian capital

The Hollywood stars had been joined by fellow actor Riccarrdo Scamarcio, 30, his partner.

The casual meet-up came after a long day of filming for John, who had earlier transformed into the supreme pontiff as he filmed scenes for the new series.

John looked worlds away from his usual attire as he donned a white choir dress, mozzetta, gold pectoral cross, two gold Fisherman's rings and a white zucchetto skullcap.

The star filmed in Vatican City and was surrounded by hundreds of extras holding yellow roses, no doubt in reference to the Golden Rose, which is a gold ornament blessed on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

Ciao for now! The Being John Malkovich star waved his companions goodbye as he made his way down the street with his film director spouse

Cool: Dustin was dressed all in black and added a pair of bright green trainers, while Lisa looked chic in a matching black ensemble

Couple: The Rain Man star and his wife of almost 40 years looked happier than ever as they chatted outside in the Italian capital

During the scenes, the actor was pictured holding a young child in the air as the crowd of actors cheered on and greeted him.

The eight-part show also stars Jude Law, who has reprised his role as Pope Pius XIII (born Lenny Belardo).

The New Pope documents the election of Lenny, the first American pontiff, into the highest position in the Catholic church.

Unrecognisable: John had earlier transformed into the supreme pontiff as he filmed scenes for The New Pope in Vatican City

According to Variety The New Pope will not be a 'second series of The Young Pope' but instead a 'second limited series set in the world of the modern papacy'.

Filming for The New Pope started in Italy last year, Paolo Sorrentino has created the series with Umberto Contarello and Stefano Bises.

HBO and Sky announced the follow-up to acclaimed limited series The Young Pope in May 2017.

Sky Italia chief of content Andrea Scrosati said: 'Just like The Young Pope, Sorrentino is writing the script for the new show, but it will have a different twist than what would be expected.'
She lent her voice for the soundtrack of her latest film.

And Elle Fanning exuded boho chic vibes as she stepped out in Studio City on Thursday afternoon with friends.

The 20-year-old starlet rocked a strappy denim top and flowing skirt ahead of the release of her latest song, Wildflowers, for her upcoming movie Teen Spirit.

Out and about: Elle Fanning exuded boho chic vibes as she stepped out in Studio City on Thursday afternoon with friends

Elle's billowing blue tank top featured thin straps and panels of delicate white lace along the hem.

She hid her fantastic figure underneath a periwinkle skirt covered in a white and purple floral pattern.

Adding a quirky touch to the otherwise summery ensemble, Elle donned a pair of white leather boots with a chunky wooden heel.

Trendy: The 20-year-old starlet rocked a strappy denim top and flowing skirt ahead of the release of her latest song, Wildflowers, for her upcoming movie Teen Spirit

Summery: Elle's billowing blue tank top featured thin straps and panels of delicate white lace along the hem

She kept her bright blonde hair tied up into a messy top knot and wore a pair of amber sunglasses while carrying a cream colored leather bag in one hand.

The Super 8 star seemed to be enjoying her time with friends as she giggled with pals while chasing around a toddler.

Fanning recently returned from Shanghai, China, where she celebrated the launch of Miu Miu's latest fragrance, Twist.

In addition to traveling the world as of late, the Maleficent actress released a new track for her upcoming film Teen Spirit, called Wildflowers.

Easy and breezy: She kept her bright blonde hair tied up into a messy top knot

Chic: She hid her fantastic figure underneath a periwinkle skirt covered in a white and purple floral pattern

Cutie: The Super 8 star seemed to be enjoying her time with friends as she giggled with pals while chasing around a toddler

Elle takes the leading role of Violet in the 'stylish spin on the Cinderella story' and audiences will also witness the young star's first time singing in a movie, according to IMDb.

Max Minghella, 33, also makes his directorial debut in the coming of age story about a small town girl looking to make it big as a performer.

The project, which is set to be released on April 12, is one that Elle actually sought out herself as she wanted the opportunity to showcase her singing - a talent she's been passionate about since she was young.

Casual: Adding a quirky touch to the otherwise summery ensemble, Elle donned a pair of white leather boots with a chunky wooden heel
It has been a year since he candidly shared details about his ongoing battle with Crohn's disease.

And Dynamo appeared happy and healthy as he stepped out for a casual stroll in North London on Thursday.

The magician, 36, has slimmed down since he put on two stone in weight as a result of his medication to treat a flare up of his Crohn's from 2017-2018.

Back to health: Dynamo, 36, appeared happy and healthy as he stepped out for a casual stroll in North London on Thursday

Dynamo cut a casual figure in a striped top, joggers, hoodie and a beanie as he enjoyed his stroll.

The star recently gave an update on his health on Instagram, posting a message about his motivation.

'One thing Ive learnt while dealing with my illness is how important it is to stay focused!' he told his fans.

'Its easy to get distracted when your world feels like its falling apart around you, but having a real perspective on whats actually important allows you to zone in on your inner strengths and helps give you direction and purpose.'

Low-key: He cut a casual figure in a striped top, joggers, hoodie and a beanie as he enjoyed his stroll

Health woes: The magician has slimmed down since he put on two stone in weight as a result of his medication to treat a flare up of his Crohn's from 2017-2018

Dynamo - real name Steven Frayne - has suffered from Crohn's disease since he was a teenager and had half of his stomach removed when he was seventeen.

Last year, Dynamo revealed he is debating taking legal action after uncooked chicken served in a restaurant led to his hospitalisation for a Crohn's disease flare up.

The star, who first opened up about his battle with the autoimmune disease at the beginning of 2018, insisted his hospital stint in summer 2017 was down to the raw food, as he revealed his plight in an interview with The Sun.

Condition: Dynamo - real name Steven Frayne - has suffered from Crohn's disease since he was a teenager and had half of his stomach removed when he was seventeen

The magician previously said he was unable to shuffle a pack of cards due to the arthritis associated with the condition.

Dynamo said: 'I know exactly what it was that caused the food poisoning  it was chicken. I know where I got it from. I've got the receipt.

'I'm considering taking action right now and seeing what I can do. I'm talking to my team about it.'
Russell Crowe and Sienna Miller looked unrecognizable as they portrayed former Fox News chief Roger Ailes and his wife Elizabeth.

The 54-year-old Oscar-winning actor and 37-year-old British-American actress were in full make-up with prosthetics as they were seen filming in New York City on Wednesday.

Their film The Loudest Voice In The Room focuses on former Fox News Chairman and CEO Ailes' fall from grace after he was accused of sexual harassment.

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Transformation: Russell Crowe and Sienna Miller were in full make-up with prosthetics as they portrayed former Fox News chief Roger Ailes and his wife Elizabeth while filming in New York City on Wednesday

Aside from the heavy prosthetics, Russell resembled the now deceased Ailes in body size no doubt with the help of some Hollywood magic.

He was dressed in a charcoal-colored blazer over blue sweater, striped navy trousers and black leather dress shoes.

Crowe wore tiny spectacles as he walked with the aid of a cane while holding hands with his British-American co-star.

Support system: The 54-year-old Oscar-winning actor and 37-year-old British-American actress walked hand-in-hand on the set of series The Loudest Voice In The Room

True to life: Aside from the heavy prosthetics, Russell resembled the now deceased Ailes in body size no doubt with the help of some Hollywood magic

Inspiration: Roger and Beth were married in 1998 until his death in May 2017 as the television executive suffered a subdural hematoma which was aggravated by his hemophilia, they are pictured together in October 2015

Miller got into her role as Elizabeth Ailes - AKA Beth - with the help of the make-up team on set as she sported a grey, beige, and white sweater with blue trousers and matching flats.

She carried along a designer bag as she accessorized with a large gold necklace.

Her platinum blonde hair was worn down as her make-up was completed with a swipe of pink lip.

Looking good: He was dressed in a charcoal-colored blazer over blue sweater, striped navy trousers and black leather dress shoes

Quite the change: Miller got into her role as Elizabeth Ailes - AKA Beth - with the help of the make-up team on set as she sported a grey, beige, and white sweater with blue trousers

Despite the serious subject matter of the film, the cast certainly knows how to have fun as Sienna's six-year-old daughter Marlowe was on set.

The American Sniper actress looked every bit the doting mother as she carried her only child who gave her sweet smooches on the cheek in between takes.

Marlowe even had a bit of fun with Russell as he handed her his cane to play with.

Happy family: Despite the serious subject matter of the film, the cast certainly knows how to have fun as Sienna's six-year-old daughter Marlowe was on set

Adorable: The American Sniper actress looked every bit the doting mother as she carried her only child who gave her sweet smooches on the cheek in between takes

Roger and Beth were married in 1998 until his death in May 2017 as the television executive suffered a subdural hematoma which was aggravated by his hemophilia.

Cameras started rolling in New York City back in November for the biopic based on the book with the same name The Loudest Voice In The Room.

In addition to Crowe and Miller, a host of stars have been hired to pull off the epic eight-part television series including Simon McBurney as Rupert Murdoch.

Naomi Watts will take on the role of former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson.

Nice gesture: Marlowe even had a bit of fun with Russell as he handed her his cane to play with

Excited: No doubt Marlowe was happy to join her famous mother on set

Seth MacFarlane will portray former Fox News spokesperson Brian Lewis, and Annabelle Wallis, Aleska Palladino and David Whalen will also join the star-studded cast on their project.

Showtime's new limited series will tell the story of the last decade of Ailes' life, including his fall from Fox after a slew of women accused him of sexual harassment.

The drama will explore how Fox News founder fought to push the network to the top, after employees including anchor Gretchen made accusations against him.

Moving on: Sienna shares Marlowe with ex Tom Sturridge as the two were married from 2011 to 2015

It will also include flashbacks to defining events in Ailes' life and will be told through multiple points of view to give a number of characters a voice.

Showtime Networks president and CEO David Nevins told Variety of the project: 'In many ways, the collision between the media and politics has come to define the world we live in today.

'We've seen this phenomenon depicted on screen as far back as the story of Charles Foster Kane, and it finds contemporary embodiment in the rise and fall of Roger Ailes.'
Kendall Jenner is breathing a sigh of relief after her alleged stalker was taken into custody by authorities.

John Ford, who is accused of stalking the model, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, according to The Blast .

The Kardashian-Jenner family said that thanks to ICE they now have 'peace of mind' when it comes to Kendall and their overall safety.

In custody: Kendall Jenner's alleged stalker was arrested on Monday and is in ICE custody, according to The Blast

Jenner's alleged stalker is reportedly a 38-year-old Canadian citizen whose visa had expired and will be sent back to his home country.

TMZ claimed: 'Ford entered the U.S. a year ago Friday from Canada at Sweetwater, Montana, with a non-immigrant B-2 visa, which allowed him to stay here for no longer than 6 months.'

ICE had been tracking Ford for several weeks before 'HSI special agents, officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations' apprehended him in the parking lot of a hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Monday, The Blast reported.

'This timely arrest could very well have prevented a violent crime,' HSI El Paso special agent in charge, Jack P. Staton told the outlet.

Off the streets: ICE had been tracking John Ford for several weeks before apprehending him in the parking lot of a hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Adding: 'Our special agents acted quickly on this tip to ensure that this obsessive behavior didn't escalate to become a tragedy.'

In October, LAPD arrested Ford for trespassing on Kendall's property after scaling the side of a mountain to access her gated home.

The Kardashian-Jenner family released a statement expressing their gratitude that Ford is behind bars.

'This timely arrest could very well have prevented a violent crime,' said HSI El Paso special agent in charge, Jack P. Staton

'We are extremely appreciative of the hard work by the Los Angeles Police Dept. and ICE, whose swift response and professionalism led to this man's apprehension.'

'His actions have not only had a severe impact on Kendall's life, but the entire family's sense of security, causing us to fear for Kendall's safety as well as our own. Knowing this individual is in custody gives us peace of mind.'

Kendall had previously sought and was granted a five year restraining order against Ford.

ICE officials: Ford is being held at an ICE facility in Texas while awaiting deportation to Canada

At the time of his arrest in October, authorities had put Ford on a 5150 psychiatric hold.

Due to his lack of insurance, he was transported to Los Angeles County Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and released after he was determined to be mentally stable.

Upon his release, police arrested him in connection with criminal trespassing and violation of a restraining order, with officials setting bail at $30,000.

Terrifying: In October, Ford (pictured above) was arrested in LA after scaling a mountain to gain access to Jenner's property

He had been previously arrested in September after a break-in, pleaded guilty to a trespassing charge, and was issued a restraining order to remain at least 1,000 feet in distance from Kendall's property.

He did not obey, as he was spotted on the property twice since, with authorities placing him into custody the second time he was spotted.

Ford is currently being held in El Paso, TX until his upcoming deportation hearing.
Kim Kardashian had insomnia on Thursday evening causing her to post plenty of older photos.

And by Friday morning the 38-year-old beauty was still at it as she shared an image from a fitting. The Selfish author had on a see-through and skimpy Versace dress as she posed away with no shoes on.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashian star's caption read, 'I have fitting pics for days.'

Kim in pink: Kim Kardashian had insomnia on Thursday evening causing her to post plenty of older photos. And by Friday morning the 38-year-old beauty was still at it as she shared an image from a fitting

She did it first: Nineties supermodel Naomi Campbell wore the same dress in 1997 at the MTV Music Awards. She added a diamond cross pendant and gold peep-toe shoes with a matching gold purse

The star wore her black hair down and had on minimal makeup as she showed off her chest and legs.

She was in a room with racks of clothes everywhere and an assistant nearby.

Nineties supermodel Naomi Campbell wore the same dress in 1997. She added a diamond cross pendant and gold peep-toe shoes with a matching gold purse.

Deja vu all over again! And Kim wore a very similar look but in silver in December 2018. The dress again was Versace and the shoes, clear pointy heels, were by Yeezy

And Kim wore a very similar look but in silver in December 2018. The dress again was Versace and the shoes, clear pointy heels, were by Yeezy.

Kim has been copying a lot of Naomi's looks lately - there was that black lace catsuit as well as the purple and green slip dress.

And has made it clear she's very aware of it, sharing to social media that she looks up to the model. She even said, 'Naomi Forever.'

So Naomi: Kim has been copying a lot of Naomi's looks lately - there was that black lace catsuit as well as the purple, blue and green slip dress (pictured). And has made it clear she's very aware of it, sharing to social media that she looks up to the model. She even said, 'Naomi Forever'

Back in the day: Campbell had on the outfit on the catwalk in 1996

Kim has been wearing a lot of Versace lately too.

She seemed to be a big fan of the designs when she wore a gold mesh Versace dress to the May 2018 Met Gala in NYC.

Kim seems to have become friends with the designer Donatella Versace, who also calls Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Madonna pals.

But they are pals: Here Naomi put her arms around Kim during a selfie in 2016

Earlier, Kim shared several flashback images.

One saw her in a purple and pink mini dress when she was only four years old. Her hair was wore in pigtails and mom Kris Jenner put a big bow in her hair.

There was also a baby photo of the perfume mogul where she looked much like her youngest child Chicago.

Together Kim and husband Kanye West have three kids: North, Saint and Chicago. They are expecting a fourth child via gestational carrier 'soon,' said the beauty.
Irini Tzortzoglou has been crowned this year's MasterChef champion after the show's very first all-female final.

The retiree, 61, became the fifteenth amateur cook to claim the coveted title when she beat fellow finalists Jilly McCord, 42, and Delia Maria Asser, 28, on Friday.

Irini was awarded the trophy by judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace after seven grueling weeks of culinary challenges and a close final cook-off.

Winner: Irini Tzortzoglou has been crowned this year's MasterChef champion in the show's very first all-female final

The final task challenged chefs to produce a three-course meal for the two judges.

Irini's winning menu was inspired by her childhood in Crete, Greece. She cooked up red mullet with squid risotto and confit tomatoes to start; griddled rosemary lamb chops with trahanas puree for a main course; and a fig and hazelnut baklava for dessert.

The champion chef, who now lives in Cartmel, Cumbria with her husband John, said: 'I'm trembling, I'm floating on air, I don't think my feet are touching the ground right now. What an experience, I just don't have the words to say how thrilled and grateful I am.

Finalists: The retiree, 61, became the fifteenth amateur cook to claim the coveted title when she beat fellow finalists Jilly McCord, 42, (centre) and Delia Maria Asser, 28, (left) on Friday

'I can finally say I believe in me; I believe it takes something tough at times, but that strength can surface, and when it does it can achieve wonders.'

John Torode declared the chef has 'magic in her finger tips and a fire in her belly' after the winner was announced.

He said: 'Taking the food that she knows from the island of Crete and putting it into a modern context  that's what Irini does and it's stunning.

'She has a magic in her finger tips and a fire in her belly. She wanted to make her grandchildren proud  she's done that!'

Grueling: Irini was awarded the trophy by judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace after seven difficult weeks of culinary challenges and a close final cook-off (Pictured during a challenge in Hong Kong)

Winner: Irini's winning menu was inspired by memories of her childhood in Crete, Greece

And Gregg Wallace praised Irini's 'inspired' used of Greek ingredients and flavours.

He said: 'Irini's little touches of Greek flavours and Greek ingredients are nothing short of inspired.

'You can learn cooking technique, what you can't put into somebody is absolute love and passion, and Irini is just bursting with it. It's from the heart every time she cooks.'

He went on to praise her winning menu as 'beautiful', whereas John said she 'introduced us to things we've never seen before.'

Magic: John Torode declared the chef has 'magic in her finger tips and a fire in her belly' after the winner was announced

Influence: And Gregg Wallace praised Irini's 'inspired' used of Greek ingredients and flavours

Ahead of John announcing the winner, a tearful Gregg said to the three finalists: 'Watching you grow, watching you achieve your personal goals, I've found uplifting.

'I think today was a proper celebration of culinary art done by people who are obviously completely in love with what they do. It's joyous.'

Irini fought her way from 54 amateur cooks and was pushed to show the judges the skills, creative flair and perseverance needed to succeed at the highest level.

In an extremely demanding final week, MasterChef fans watched Irini cook a fine dining tasting menu for some of the team who took part in the Transglobe Expedition - the first and only longitude circumnavigation of the world.

Emotional: Ahead of John announcing the winner, a tearful Gregg said to the finalists: 'Watching you grow, watching you achieve your personal goals, I've found uplifting'

The event celebrated the 40th anniversary, and diners included expedition leader, and the world's greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Irini has also been on a trip of a lifetime to Hong Kong to learn from dim sum master Chef Tak, at Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons - the first Chinese restaurant in the world to be awarded three Michelin stars.

She said: 'I feel a totally different person from only three months ago; I feel I have grown massively. What MasterChef has given me is deep seated confidence.

'It's been a long road but I have enjoyed every second.'
He's the final member of the Will & Grace cast to be honored by the GLAAD Media Awards.

And Sean Hayes used his time at the podium on Thursday to take aim at controversial Empire star Jussie Smollett's recent legal woes.

'Ive been getting in shape for tonight with the Jussie Smollett workout. You hire two trainers and sweat for 8 weeks,' quipped the 48-year-old.

Shots fired: Sean Hayes used his time at the podium on Thursday to take aim at controversial Empire star Jussie Smollett's recent legal woes

The comedian took the stage at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills to accept the Stephen F. Kolzak award.

His Smollett gag was in reference to claims that the Empire actor hired two Nigerian bodybuilding brothers -Abimbola 'Abel' and Olabinjo 'Ola' Osundairo- to stage an attack on him in Chicago earlier this year.

Cook County prosecutors dramatically dropped all charges against the actor earlier this week.

And while according to Deadline, Hayes' Smollett gag was met with a 'mixed reaction' from the audience, his joke about Vice President Mike Pence went down a little better.

Boom-tish: 'Ive been getting in shape for tonight with the Jussie Smollett workout. You hire two trainers and sweat for 8 weeks,' quipped the 48-year-old of the Empire actor, seen here earlier this week

Political: Hayes suggested that the GLAAD Awards -which honor the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) community- could either be Mike Pences worst nightmare or dream come true

Hayes suggested that the GLAAD Awards -which honor the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) community- could either be Mike Pences worst nightmare or dream come true.

'We will never know,' quipped the Illinois native.

The vice president has been a frequent target of Hayes' Emmy winning sitcom, with the show suggesting he's a closeted gay man on multiple occasions.

Laughing stock: Hayes' Smollett gag was met with a 'mixed reaction' from the audience, his joke about Vice President Mike Pence went down a little better. Pence pictured this week

Sean also took a playful dig at the earning disparity between himself and movie actors Allison Janney, when the I, Tonya actress presented him with the award.

'A movie star can get a reservation at any restaurant in town.'

'A TV star can actually buy the restaurant,' came the punch-line.
Kym Marsh will take to the stage with her young daughter Polly for upcoming musical Elf: A Christmas Spectacular.

The actress quit Coronation Street after 13 years to help her pregnant daughter Emilie out when her baby is born.

But it looks like Kym, 42, won't be slowing down on her career as she revealed she was extremely proud and excited to be sharing the stage with her eight-year-old.

Runs in the family: Kym Marsh will star alongside her daughter Polly, 8, in upcoming Elf: A Christmas Spectacular as she gushed about being a 'proud mum' (London, May 2016)

The mother said: 'It's amazing that I get to share the next part of my acting journey with Polly.

'She loves acting and performing, so for her to land her first role aged eight is great, and we're all so proud of her.

'It's lovely to think she wants to follow in my footsteps and I know she'll do a great job. I think she was born to be in the spotlight  she's quite the little character.'

Big news: But it looks like Kym, 42, won't be slowing down on her career as she revealed she was proud and excited to be sharing the stage with her eight-year-old (2018, London)

Big show: The musical is set to play at various venues throughout December 2019

Polly will play the naughty child who shares a scene with Santa while Kym will play the role of Buddy the Elf's girlfriend Jovie among a line-up of 70 cast members.

The little girl has been learning the ropes at First Take School of Acting, in Manchester which was co-founded by her Hollyoaks actor dad Jamie Lomas.

Elf: A Christmas Spectacular will kick off the tour in the thick of the festive season in December at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.

Stars in her eyes: Polly will play the naughty child who shares a scene with Santa while Kym will play the role of Buddy the Elf's girlfriend Jovie (2016, London)

The stars will then head to The SSE Hydro in Glasgow and the SSE Arena in Wembley to perform the festive show inspired by the movie Elf.

In early March, Kym announced she would be waving goodbye to her character Michelle Connor for good after starring on Coronation Street for 13 years.

The actress said the impending arrival of her grandson was a big factor in her reasoning behind taking a break from the soap.

Big part! The little girl has been learning the ropes at First Take School of Acting, in Manchester which was co-founded by her Hollyoaks actor dad Jamie Lomas (Feb 2015, London)

Moving on: In early March, Kym announced she would be waving goodbye to her character Michelle Connor for good after starring on Coronation Street for 13 years (pictured)

It's going to be a busy year as her daughter Emilie, 21, prepares to give birth to her first child making Kym a grandmother aged 42.

She told the OK! magazine: Another big factor in my decision to take a break from Corrie is the impending arrival of my grandson.

'Im looking forward to having more time to spend with him and Emilie after hes born this summer.

'Ive loved every minute of working there and Ive made some great friends at work but now feels like the right time for me to take a break and spread my wings.'
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She was in full defence mode as she hit back at online trolls for mocking her appearance following a gruelling 12-hour shoot.

However, before the online showdown, things began innocently, and glamorously enough, as Gigi Hadid was seen on the full-day photoshoot in a series of sensational outfits in Tulum, Mexico.

The model, 23, proved to be in her element as she slipped into a billowy black dress which showed off her slender figure, and with the help of a stylist completed the look in a choppy blonde wig.

Work it! Before Gigi Hadid was trolled for her appearance following a 12 hour photoshoot, things began glamorously enough as the star was seen on the full-day photoshoot in a series of sensational outfits in Tulum, Mexico

With years of modelling experience under her belt, Gigi looked delighted to be in the company of her stylist pals as they dressed her while also chatting away.

Gigi's locks were covered with a choppy darker blonde wig, which was styled behind her ears with a pin as she prepared to work her moves in front of a camera.

After look one was done, it was time for another outfit change, as she slipped into a nude-coloured bodysuit which made the most of her incredible figure.

Style: The model, 23, proved to be in her element as she slipped into a billowy black dress which showed off her slender figure, and with the help of a stylist completed the look in a choppy blonde wig

Mane attraction: Gigi's locks were covered with a choppy darker blonde wig, which was styled behind her ears with a pin as she prepared to work her moves in front of a camera

Like a pro! With years of modelling experience under her belt, Gigi looked delighted to be in the company of her stylist pals as they dressed her while also chatting away

Fashion: After look one was done, it was time for another outfit change, as she slipped into a nude-coloured bodysuit which made the most of her incredible figure

Basics: The high-fashion look was completed with a pair of white underwear which showed off her long, lean legs

The high-fashion look was completed with a pair of white underwear which showed off her long, lean legs.

To switch up her beauty look, the stylist tamed her wig in place with a stylish black bandana and took a few moments to ensure it was securely fixed in place.

At one point a red sarong was added around her ensemble as a further team of stylists fussed over her.

Mixing it up: To switch up her beauty look, the stylist tamed her wig in place with a stylish black bandana and took a few moments to ensure it was securely fixed in place

Pop of colour: At one point a red sarong was added around her ensemble as a further team of stylists fussed over her

Babe: Gigi's naturally striking features were relied upon with a simple slick of make-up, focusing on heavy blusher and smokey eye shadow

Helping hand: The stylist worked over time to ensure that everything was pinned and positioned in place

In good condition: Framing her face to perfection, Gigi's wig perfectly fit the fashionable brief, with its choppy detailing and messy fringe

Famous family: Gigi is the elder sister of fellow supermodel Bella Hadid and lesser-known model Anwar Hadid - as well as the daughter of ex-Real Housewife Yolanda Hadid

Busy: Gigi lately has been flitting from Fashion Week to Fashion Week, walking for Prada in Milan, Tom Ford in New York and Burberry in London before alighting in Paris, where she has been hitting the runway for such names as Isabel Marant and Off-White

Love life: Gigi is currently in a relationship with Zayn Malik, however the pair have reportedly not seen each other in months

Gigi's naturally striking features were relied upon with a simple slick of make-up, focusing on heavy blusher and smokey eye shadow.

Framing her face to perfection, Gigi's wig perfectly fit the fashionable brief, with its choppy detailing and messy fringe.

Meanwhile, taking time after the long day, Gigi obliged a couple of young fans by posing up for pictures. However was shocked to see those same images being used to mock her on Twitter.

Sent to an older cousin by the excited pre-teens, the images were reposted with the youngster's heads blurred out.

Claims: An insider told E! News the singer and the model both 'think that time apart is best for the sake of their relationship right now'

Hitting back: This comes after Gigi took a stand on Twitter after she was mocked for her frazzled look while taking selfies with fans

The model's appearance was then roundly insulted by Twitter users, including the poster, using the name noor LOVES zayn, a reference to Gigi's on/off boyfriend, British pop star Zayn Malik.

The user captioned the images 'tell me [who] my cousins met'. Her friends replied with comments like 'Gigi's worst look' and 'why does she look like that'.

Spotted by Gigi, the supermodel decided to share her thoughts.

'Woww ... this thread .. Out of context and styling from the shoot , and after wrapping shooting in the sun for 12 hours in a wig, this look wasn't my best moment to take a pic w fans .... had that in mind when I decided to still be open and kind to your family, noor.'

Social media: 'Tell me [who] my cousins just met?' posted user Noor alongside Gigi's selfies

Attacked: The model's appearance was then roundly insulted by Twitter users, including the poster, using the name noor LOVES zayn, a reference to Gigi's boyfriend

She continued: 'It bums me out that there's people like you who function on an intelligence level that would look beyond the nice experience I had with your sweet fam & turn that into such a negative and mean train of thought.....!'

And she finished: 'Your tweets don't make me ugly gurrl , they make u.'

Gigi's responses sparked a backlash from the model's devoted fans, who attacked the original poster on her behalf.
She is one of the top stars in music, was named Humanitarian of the Year by Harvard University in 2017, and owns successful companies in the fashion and beauty worlds.

And if that wasn't already enough, Rihanna was her own best advertisement for yet another entrepreneurial endeavor.

The 31-year-old Barbadian mogul - full name Robyn Rihanna Fenty - looked drop dead gorgeous as she promoted her upcoming Savage x Fenty lingerie line on her Instagram Friday.

Cheeky: Rihanna looked drop dead gorgeous as she promoted her upcoming Savage x Fenty lingerie line on her Instagram Friday

The We Found Love hitmaker posted two sultry snaps on the picture-sharing social network including one of her backside.

She donned a sheer yellow camisole and panties combination which featured multi-colored floral patterns printed on it.

In another one of the steamy photos, Rihanna could be seen lifting up her top to show off her taut tummy.

Hello sunshine! The 31-year-old Barbadian mogul donned a sheer yellow camisole and panties combination which featured multi-colored floral patterns printed on it

Her brunette tresses were held back by gold flower pins and worn down as they looked like waves flowing over her shoulder.

Rihanna's complexion looked flawless as always as her make-up was topped off with ruby red lipstick.

She accessorized with plenty of different jewelry including large dangling earrings, gold chain, and multiple rings and bracelets.

Golden girl: Last week Rihanna looked stunning in gold as she promoted her Fenty Beauty line

Golden: Savage x Fenty was an instant success after its May 11 2018 launch, earning over $100million in its first 40 days

Rihanna posted one of the images with the caption: 'Waiting for that April @savagexfenty drop get it on April 1st !!'

Savage x Fenty was an instant success after its May 11 2018 launch, earning over $100million in its first 40 days.

In addition to her lingerie collections, the B**** Better Have My Money songstress, who was named the CFDA's Style Icon of the year in 2014, has lent her name to Fenty Beauty cosmetics line as well as the ready-to-wear brand Fenty x Puma.

Money moves: In addition to her lingerie collections, the B**** Better Have My Money songstress, who was named the CFDA's Style Icon of the year in 2014, has lent her name to Fenty Beauty cosmetics line as well as the ready-to-wear brand Fenty x Puma

Details about Rihanna's latest fashion endeavor made news last month, less than a month following first reports about the forthcoming luxury line in January.

The brand, Project Loud France, will mark the first time luxury conglomerate LVHM has taken on a black, female designer's label.

And the corporation - which also owns Louis Vuitton, Celine and Christian Dior - is planning quite the investment.

LVHM has reportedly split a 60m investment in the line with Rihanna herself, according to Business Of Fashion.
She regularly enjoys family time with her two children.

And Sam Faiers was joined by beau Paul Knightley as they took their children, Paul, three, and Rosie, one, on a fun day out at Willows Activity Farm in Hertfordshire on Friday.

The 28-year-old reality star cut a casual figure in a light blue sweatshirt and navy leggings as she strolled with the pram.

Family time: Sam Faiers was joined by beau Paul Knightley as they took their children, Paul, three, and Rosie, one, on a fun day out Willows Activity Farm in Hertfordshire on Friday

The Mummy Diaries star opted for a pair of comfortable white trainers and stylish aviator sunglasses as she made the most of the sunshine.

Wearing her brown locks in a top bun, the TOWIE star finished the look by toting a chic cross-body Fendi bag.

The happy couple looked in high spirits and high-fived each other as they paused to look at the farm animals.

Baby Paul looked cute in a navy striped jumper and joggers while Rosie was the spitting image of her stylish mother in a coral romper suit.

Sam's family outing came after she stunned audiences by sharing a kiss on the lips with mother-in-law Gaynor Knightley on Wednesday night's episode of The Mummy Diaries.

High-five: The happy couple looked in high spirits and high-fived each other as they paused to look at the farm animals

The star and her partner Paul's beloved mum, 60, shared a sweet moment in which Gaynor cradled her face and planted a kiss on her lips.

The scene had alarming echoes of the moment that shot the show to prominence in 2016, when Paul and Gaynor shared a sweet kiss - however after Loose Women stars blasted the moment, Paul concluded: 'I don't like them b**ches'.

The reality star was celebrating her birthday with an idyllic Maldives getaway with her partner Paul and their two children.

The couple were also joined on their trip by Sam's mum Sue, 48, and Gaynor and one scene from the show filmed Sam reading out her birthday cards from her family.

After reading a sweet card from her mother-in-law where she referred to her as her 'precious girl', Sam went over to thank Gaynor and they pecked on the lips.

After the documentary aired and the shock kiss hit social media and headlines, Sam posted a defiant photo on Instagram showing her kissing Paul Jnr on the lips.

In an obvious reference to Paul locking lips with his mother, Sam wrote: 'I will kiss my baby boy on the lips forever...

'Thank you for everyone's support and kind comments on our show. Media & people will always try find negative. I'm happy & so totally in love with my family #myworld #positive x.'
Nicolas Cage has said he was 'too drunk' to get married in annulment papers filed four days after he tied the knot in Las Vegas.

In court documents the actor claims he and now ex-wife Erika Koike were intoxicated and he 'lacked understanding of his actions in marrying [Koike] to the extent that he was incapable of agreeing to the marriage'.

The Blast reports how Cage's lawyers stated: 'Prior to obtaining a marriage license and participating in a marriage ceremony, [Cage] and [Koike] were both drinking to the point of intoxication.

'As a result of his intoxication, when [Koike] suggested to [Cage] that they should marry, [Cage] reacted on impulse and without the ability to recognize or understand the full impact of his actions.'

The document also states Koike didnt 'disclose to [Cage] the full nature and extent of her relationship with another person' and didnt inform him of her 'criminal history' including 'additional active criminal proceedings'.

She is understood to have pleaded not guilty to a DUI charge in Las Vegas and is due back in court in June.

Just hours after their impulsive walk down the aisle the couple were seen in the midst of screaming match outside of a Las Vegas casino.

The 55-year-old Oscar winner had earlier been caught on video applying for a marriage license at a Las Vegas courthouse on Saturday in a somewhat agitated state.

Wedded bliss? Nicholas Cage and his wife Erika Koike were seen in the throws of an argument out front of a Las Vegas casino after impulsively tying the knot just hours earlier on Saturday

The couple tied the knot the same day that they applied for the license but the honeymoon period didn't last long.

New photos show the newlyweds in the throws of an argument as Cage's makeup artist wife appeared to be getting into a waiting cab to leave.

One shot features Cage handing off Koike's bags as she seemed to be shouting something in his direction.

The Con Air actor filed legal documents seeking an annulment of his four-day marriage to his girlfriend who also agreed that the union was a 'mistake.'

Leaving Las Vegas: Erika appeared to be grabbing her bags from her new 'husband' as she rushed into a waiting cab

Unclear: The reason for the pair's discord was unclear, however, they were seen earlier behaving bizarrely and bickering as they applied for a hasty marriage license

TMZ reported Thursday that the Leaving Las Vegas Oscar winner asked a judge to void the nuptials.

The couple had been dating a year at the time of their sudden marriage.

Agitated: Cage was caught earlier on surveillance making a scene while applying for the license at the Clark County Court House Marriage Licence Bureau on Saturday in footage obtained by DailyMail.com

It's over: Nic later filed a request to annul his fourth marriage just days after tying the knot

In footage obtained by DailyMail.com, Cage was filmed making a scene while applying for a marriage license with his much younger girlfriend, bizarrely telling onlookers she was going to take all of his money.

The couple were spotted at the Clark County Court House Marriage Licence Bureau in downtown Las Vegas around 11 a.m. on Saturday and Cage appeared to be 'very out of it' and was 'most likely drunk', an eyewitness told DailyMail.com.

Cage, dressed in a dark jacket, red shirt and dark pants, was filmed slowly walking behind his girlfriend, muttering to himself.

At one point, the nephew of The Godfather film director Francis Ford Coppola raised his voice and started shouting about how Koike's 'boyfriend' is a drug dealer and that 'he isn't doing it' - seemingly referring to getting a marriage license.

The video shows Koike calmly telling Cage: 'I never asked you to do this', before he smiles and gently pushes her through the hallway, saying 'come on, let's go'.

Drama: At one point, the actor raised his voice and started shouting about how Koike's 'boyfriend' is a drug dealer and that 'he isn't doing it' - seemingly referring to getting a marriage license. The video shows Koike calmly telling Cage: 'I never asked you to do this'

'They started by filling the application in one of the machines,' the source told DailyMail.com. 'The whole time he was yelling "she is going to take all my money" and "her ex is a druggy, her ex is a druggy."'

'The woman only kept saying "Baby, I am not asking you to do this,"' the source added.

Because the couple were making such a scene, they were taken into a private room and later left the courthouse with papers, according to the source.

The Face/Off star was first spotted with Koike last April while he was filming in Puerto Rico.

Loud: Cage appeared to be 'very out of it' and was 'most likely drunk', an eyewitness told DailyMail.com

They've been seen together a few times since, including heading to dinner together in Beverly Hills in May 2018, but have mostly stayed out of the spotlight.

Not much is known about Koike, who has one credit on IMDB as a makeup artist, but records list her age as 34.

Cage has been married three times before - to Patricia Arquette, Lisa Marie Presley and most recently to Alice Kim.

He and Kim were married from 2004 to 2016 and share a son Kal-El who was born in October, 2005.

Before that, Cage was wed in 2002 to Elvis' only child Lisa Marie but the union lasted just three months.

His first marriage was to actress Patricia Arquette, 50, from 1995 until 2001.

Ex: Cage, who has been married three times, was most recently wed to Alice Kim. Seen together in 2013 at the Venice International Film Festival

Heartbreak hotel: Cage was wed in 2002 to Elvis' only child Lisa Marie Presley but the union lasted just three months

First time around: His first marriage was to actress Patricia Arquette, 50, from 1995 until 2001. The pair are seen in 1995 at Cannes above
She's the newest member of the Jonas family.

And Priyanka Chopra was proud to join the group to celebrate brother-in-law Frankie Jonas' graduation from The Blackbird Academy professional school of audio in Nashville Tennessee on Friday.

The Bollywood beauty, 36, stepped in for new hubby Nick, as he was not able to attend.

Congratulations! Priyanka Chopra joined her in-laws to celebrate little brother-in-law Frankie Jonas' graduation from The Blackbird Academy professional school of audio on Friday

In his place: The Bollywood beauty, 36, stepped in for new hubby Nick, above March 7, as he was not able to attend

Also there was Joe Jonas, mom Denise, and dad Paul.

'The man of the hour!!,' Priyanka captioned an affection group photo of the gang all gathered around Frankie.

'[Frankie] we r so proud of u.. "Graduate" ! Cant wait to witness what else u will accomplish in your life. To bigger and greater heights! Love u.'

The Baywatch actress looked glowing as she wrapped her arm around her new father-in-law.

Educator: Frankie and Priyanka took a photo with the school's co-director Mark Rubel

Making it official! Priyanka shared a close up of Frankie's diploma

Fits right in: It looked like Priyanka was getting along with her in-laws great, seen above with Frankie and mom Denise

She made a fashion statement wearing a colorful patchwork trench coat.

Joe stood on the opposite end of the group, looking stylish in a polka dot shirt.

He also sent his little brother love on Instagram, posting a video of the youngest Jonas walking across the stage to receive his diploma.

'Words cannot describe how proud I am of this guy right here. @franklinjonas has graduated from @theblackbirdacademy watch out world! Im not crying you are crying!' the Sucker rocker wrote.

Ceremonial! Middle brother Joe sent his younger sibling love on Instagram, posting a video of the youngest Jonas walking across the stage to receive his diploma

Couldn't be happier: Mom Denise Jonas posted a photo with her daughter-in-law captioned 'So Blessed #daughterinlove'

It seems like Priyanka has a stellar relationship with her new in-laws.

Mom Denise hasn't been shy about sharing her love for the new Mrs. Jonas on her social media.

Posting a photo of the pair back in November, she wrote: 'So Blessed #daughterinlove.'

Priyanka and Nick were married in a series of lavish ceremonies back in November.

And the Jonas family will get another new addition this summer, when Joe is set to wed fiancee Sophie Turner.
She was rumoured to be quitting Hollyoaks in order to 'spread her wings'.

And Lauren McQueen, who plays Lily McQueen in the show, has now confirmed that is leaving the show to pursue other acting roles in a Twitter post.

Lily will reportedly exit the show after contracting sepsis, as she continues to struggle with her self-harm battle after suffering a relapse to due the guilt of cheating on her husband.

Goodbye: Lauren McQueen, who plays Lily McQueen in the show, has confirmed that is leaving the show to pursue other acting roles in a Twitter post

According to Metro, Lily will die after she revisits her old habit and ends up contracting sepsis, while trying to decide whether to stay with her husband Prince (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) or leave him for lover Romeo Quinn (Owen Warner).

The show particularly focused on Lily's battle with self-harm throughout 2017 after she was badly scarred in a car crash.

The story line was critically acclaimed, with the special standalone episode winning a British Soap Award.

The website reported that Lily's final episode will flash back to her memories with her mum, while in real time she will be waiting for a train with Romeo, after appearing to make a decision.

Struggling: Lily will reportedly exit the show after contracting sepsis, as she continues to struggle with her self-harm battle

Heartfelt: Lauren confirmed the news on her Twitter page as she thanked the show for her experience

However meanwhile Prince desperately searches for her after her blood tests reveal that she has a sepsis infection, leaving her in grave danger.

Lily confirmed the news with a heartfelt tweet, writing: 'I've decided to leave the show to pursue other acting roles and I'm so grateful I get to leave doing a huge storyline involving self harm & sepsis which such an important message!

'I can't thank @Hollyoaks enough for this amazing experience.'

It was previously reported that Lauren handed in her notice so she can pursue other acting roles outside of her character on the show.

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.

Story line: According to Metro , Lily will die after she revisits her old habit and ends up contracting sepsis, while trying to decide whether to stay with her husband Prince (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) or leave him for lover Romeo Quinn (Owen Warner)

'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.'

Lauren joined the soap in January 2017 and has been involved in some of the soap's biggest storylines.

Lily has recently been involved in a racy love triangle after falling in love with her best friend Romeo behind her husband Prince's back.

Prince 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.
She has been littering her Instagram page with a series of sizzling swimwear shots.

But Winnie Harlow sported an entirely different look on Friday, as she shared a snap of herself covered in glistening blue body paint with her legions of followers.

The 24-year-old model looked sensational as she smouldered for the camera while wrapped herself in a plush maroon towel as she posed for the sultry selfie.

Shimmering: Winnie Harlow sported an entirely different look on Friday, as she shared a snap of herself covered in glistening blue body paint with her legions of followers

Winnie covered her stunning features in a layer of shimmering paint, while also adding other touches of make-up to her look.

The catwalk queen kept the attention on her model looks, as she swept her raven tresses back from her face and worked them into a sleek bun.

Winnie, real name Chantelle Brown-Young, was discovered by America's Next Top Model host Tyra Banks on Instagram and competed on cycle 21 of the show in 2014.

Wow: The 24-year-old model looked sensational as she smouldered for the camera while wrapped herself in a plush maroon towel as she posed for the sultry selfie

She went on to finish in sixth place on the show and has since walked on fashion's leading runways.

The Canadian star recently defended herself over comments she made about her time as a contestant on the show and perceived criticism of host Tyra, 45.

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.

Stunning: Winnie covered her stunning features in a layer of shimmering paint, while also adding other touches of make-up to her look

'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.
She became an HBO all-star with her role on Big Little Lies.

And Nicole Kidman was back to filming for the notorious network as she stepped out on set of The Undoing in New York on Friday afternoon.

The 51-year-old actress looked polished to perfection wearing a red coat paired with black boots for a scene opposite her daughter Faith, eight.

Work: Nicole Kidman was back to filming for the notorious network as she stepped out on set of The Undoing in New York on Friday afternoon

Nicole kept warm underneath a long, rust-colored jacket with a matching belt highlighting her slender waistline.

Peeks of a silky blue and red blouse peered from underneath the lapels of her winter coat, which she paired with short black booties and matching nylons.

The Aussie-born beauty wore her fiery red hair in natural curls with a dusty pink hue swiped across her lips.

Family in film: The 51-year-old actress looked polished to perfection wearing a red coat paired with black boots for a scene opposite her daughter Faith, eight

Chic: Nicole kept warm underneath a long, rust-colored jacket with a matching belt highlighting her slender waistline

Faith sported a dark green coat with a fuzzy pink hood as she crossed paths with her mother in between takes.

Her role on the television series included playing pet-sitter as she held onto a long leash to walk with a fuzzy white dog.

David E. Kelley of Big Little Lies fame wrote the drama miniseries with Nicole taking on executive producing credits.

Young actor: Faith sported a dark green coat with a fuzzy pink hood as she crossed paths with her mother in between takes

Luscious: The Aussie-born beauty wore her fiery red hair in natural curls

Friends! Her role on the television series included playing pet-sitter as she held onto a long leash to walk with a fuzzy white dog

In The Undoing Kidman plays successful therapist Grace Sachs, whose world in upended when husband Jonathan, played by Hugh Grant, goes missing right before she's about to publish her first book.

Donald Sutherland joined the project in November with Noah Jupe added to the storyline in January, with Fala Chen, Edgar Ramirez and Lily Rabe to follow.

The premium cable project is based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz and has yet to receive a release date.

Thriller: In The Undoing Kidman plays successful therapist Grace Sachs, whose world in upended when husband Jonathan, played by Hugh Grant, goes missing right before she's about to publish her first book
Miranda Kerr has announced she's pregnant and expecting her third child.

The 35-year-old Australian supermodel confirmed the happy news to Daily Mail Australia on Saturday, with the child being her second with Snapchat CEO and founder husband, Evan Spiegel.

In a statement, her representative said: 'Miranda, Evan, Flynn and Hart are looking forward to welcoming the newest member to their family.'

Baby joy! Miranda Kerr has announced she's expecting her second child with Snapchat founder husband, Evan Spiegel (pictured together in February last year)

The pregnancy news comes after Miranda welcomed son Hart, ten months, with Evan in May last year.

Miranda is also mother to son Flynn, eight, who she shares with ex-husband, Orlando Bloom.

She and Evan married in May 2017 at Evan's home in Brentwood, California, with Miranda stunning in a custom white Dior wedding dress at their 'small but lavish' ceremony.

Adding to their brood! In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, her representative said: 'Miranda, Evan, Flynn and Hart are looking forward to welcoming the newest member to their family'

Miranda and Evan stepped out in public together as a couple in June 2015, after first meeting at a Louis Vuitton dinner in New York City in 2014.

Previously speaking to E! News, she gushed over their romance and claimed she knew he was The One, saying: 'He's just a really kind personvery genuine, very authentic.'

'I really appreciate that about him. And also, he's very intelligent. We started out as friends, and eventually, it developed into more.'

So happy! Previously speaking to E! News, she gushed over her and Evan's romance and knowing he is The One, saying: 'He's just a really kind personvery genuine, very authentic'

Shortly after the birth of Hart meanwhile, the former Victoria's Secret model gushed about being in 'baby bliss'.

Taking to Instagram at the time, Miranda wrote to her fans: 'Thank you so much for all of your warm wishes. Evan, Flynn and I have been in baby bliss for the last 17 days with our new arrival, baby boy Hart. We feel so very blessed.'

At the end of last year, the Kora Organics founder spoke about motherhood and said how women should not feel any pressure to 'snap into shape after a baby'.

Sweet: Shortly after the birth of Hart meanwhile, the former Victoria's Secret model gushed about being in 'baby bliss'

Speaking to Marie Claire Australia, the brunette beauty said women should be positive when thinking about their bodies.

'It's really important as women that we're gentle with ourselves and don't feel like we have to snap into shape after a baby,' Miranda told the publication.

She added: 'I took nine months - well, 10 months - to grow a beautiful child and it might take 10 months to feel good in a swimsuit again. Or longer. Or never.'

Miranda also said how much she adored motherhood, saying: 'I love being a mum. It's just the most rewarding thing.'
Mandy Moore was glimpsed this Friday modeling a colorful sheer knit striped top while enjoying a sunlit stroll in Los Angeles.

The 34-year-old This Is Us star slipped into a pair of black slacks, slinging a matching coat over her left forearm and shading her face with sunglasses.

She accentuated her features with makeup and rounded off her ensemble with a large black FRAME handbag and a pair of open-toed heels.

Glowing: Mandy Moore was glimpsed this Friday modeling a colorful sheer knit striped top while enjoying a sunlit stroll in Los Angeles

This Monday, the actress and musical artist received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at a ceremony attended by her This Is Us co-stars.

Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Milo Vengimiglia and Justin Hartley, who all feature with her on the smash hit series, were with her for her big day.

'As a little girl from Orlando, Florida who got her start singing the National Anthem, I'm not sure I ever would have dreamed this big,' said Mandy during her speech.

She shared that 'for me there are two monumental projects that represent where I started and where I am now: A Walk To Remember and This Is Us.'

On the go: The 34-year-old This Is Us star slipped into a pair of black slacks, slinging a matching coat over her left forearm and shading her face with sunglasses

Starring Mandy opposite Shane West, A Walk To Remember was a 2002 romantic melodrama film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel.

Shane, 40, swung by Mandy's Walk Of Fame ceremony on Monday and posed up a storm with the lady of the hour while wearing a sleek silver suit.

Mandy recently discussed the outpouring of support she received after saying her ex-husband Ryan Adams was 'psychologically abusive' during their marriage.

She told the New York Times that Ryan, himself a successful musician, was domineering to the point of impeding her singing career.

What a moment: This Monday, the actress and musical artist received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at a ceremony attended by her This Is Us co-stars

'His controlling behavior essentially did block my ability to make new connections in the industry during a very pivotal and potentially lucrative time - my entire mid-to-late 20s,' Mandy told the newspaper.

The article also featured multiple accusations that Ryan engaged in sexual misconduct, including alleged phone sex with an underage teen.

Ryan denied the allegations against him, and at the beginning of the month it emerged he had canceled an upcoming tour of Britain and Ireland.

At PaleyFest last week, Mandy told Us Weekly that after she spoke to the Times: 'So many women reached out to me, echoing...that the idea that psychological and emotional is often swept under the rug, or not addressed or not talked about, or not considered in the same category of just general abuse.'
Greys Anatomy has tackled serious subject matters this season, from gun violence to drug addiction, and this weeks episode is no exception.

Not only is this week focused on Jo (Camilla Luddington), the storylines all focus on survivors of sexual assault.

Jo finally decided to visit her birth mother, Vicky (Michelle Forbes), last week, but viewers only saw the aftermath  Jo crying in bed alone. This week, however, we finally get to see what really went down when she met her biological mom.

Jo finally decides to visit her birth mother, Vicky, after tracking her down and she wants answers about her past and her father

Jo pulls up to the house and sees Vicky is living a very normal life. She has kids, a husband, and a dog. Though Vickys initially hesitant to talk with Jo, she agrees to meet at a diner

Vicky and Jo continue their emotional conversation and share more about each others lives. In fact, Jo reveals she was pregnant while she was married to her ex-husband, Paul

Jo becomes more and more hostile with her mother, that is until Vicky reveals she was raped by Jos biological father

Jo pulls up to the house and sees Vicky is living a very normal life. She has kids, a husband, and a dog. Though Vickys initially hesitant to talk with Jo, she agrees to meet her at a diner down the road.

Vicky shows up to the diner, but their initial conversation is tense. Jos upset with her mom for abandoning her despite the fact she has a great life now. Vicky, on the other hand, believed she was giving Jo a better life by giving her up.

Jo becomes more and more hostile with her mother, that is until Vicky reveals she was raped by Jos biological father. She met the man in college and agreed to go on one date, which is when he raped her.

Nine months later she welcomed Jo and five days later Jo was gone. Despite the fact Jos biological father died in a motorcycle accident, Vicky wishes he had faced a more gruesome death for the way he abused her.

A patient named Abby enters Grey Sloan Memorial with a cut on her face. Jo helps Abby to a bed and, after asking her questions, realizes Abbys injuries are way more serious

Though Abby first denies anything happened to her, she finally reveals she was sexually assaulted after a night out at a bar

In one of the most powerful Greys Anatomy moments ever, the women of Grey Sloan Memorial line the hallway to the elevator to support Abby as she heads into surgery

Its not only a moment of strength for victims of sexual assault like Abby, its a moment of solidarity for women and victims of abuse everywhere

Vicky and Jo continue their emotional conversation and share more about each others lives. In fact, Jo reveals she was pregnant while she was married to her ex-husband, Paul, but she decided to have an abortion because she didnt want to raise a child with him after he beat her severely.

Both women seem to bond over their past abuse, which is heartbreaking, but its clear they both have sympathy for one anothers struggles. Jo, however, is devastated to hear shes the outcome of a terrible situation.

Meanwhile, in real time, a patient named Abby enters Grey Sloan Memorial with a cut on her face. Jo helps Abby to a bed and begins asking her questions, which is when shes realizes Abbys injuries are way more serious.

Jo brings in Teddy (Kim Raver), who does an ultrasound on Abbys stomach and discovers both her internal and external injuries. Abby needs surgery, but Teddy doesnt want to move forward just yet because she believes Abby is a victim of sexual assault. If they take her in for surgery theyd be forced to sterilize her, which would destroy any evidence.

Though Abby first denies anything happened to her, she finally reveals she was sexually assaulted after a night out at a bar. Abby, visibly emotional and distraught, leans on Jo for support, as she too is a victim of domestic violence. Abby eventually agrees to a rape kit, which Teddy and Jo complete, and bravely decides to go to surgery.

Abby is petrified after her rape and doesn't want to see the face of any man, for fear she will just see the face of her attacker, Alex is in charge with keeping all men away

With Jo still suffering after learning about her birth mother and father, she starts pulling away from Alex, which leaves him unsure of what to do

Abby is, of course, petrified and doesn't want to see the face of any man, for fear she will just see the face of her attacker. Then, in one of the most powerful Greys Anatomy moments ever, the women of Grey Sloan Memorial line the hallway to the elevator to support Abby as she heads into surgery.

Its not only a moment of strength for victims of sexual assault like Abby, its a moment of solidarity for women and victims of abuse everywhere.

Jo is still suffering after learning about her birth mother and father, which is pulling her away from Alex (Justin Chambers). In the sneak peek clip for next weeks episode, it looks like their relationship is only going to get more strained because Jo refuses to open up.
Geoffrey Rush will soon learn the outcome of his high-profile defamation case against the Sydney newspaper publisher that ran articles about an allegation he behaved inappropriately toward a female co-star.

Justice Michael Wigney will hand down his judgment in the Federal Court in Sydney on April 11, more than four months after he reserved his decision about the two articles and a newspaper poster published by The Daily Telegraph in late 2017.

They related to an allegation the Oscar-winning actor behaved inappropriately toward a co-star - later revealed to be Eryn Jean Norvill - during a production of Shakespeare's King Lear by the Sydney Theatre Company in 2015 and 2016.

Rush denies the claim.

He launched legal action against the Telegraph's publisher Nationwide News and journalist Jonathan Moran in late 2017, saying they made him put to be a pervert and a sexual predator.

Nationwide News denied the newspaper conveyed those imputations but argued that if they're found to have done so, they're substantially true.
A radicalised inmate wrote a letter threatening to kill the NSW Corrective Services Commissioner if he didn't stop his staff "oppressing" the prisoner, saying "I will personally execute you in public".

Bourhan Hraichie also spoke about a planned attack on police, prepared in prison for an attack on correctional officers, and carved an Islamic State slogan into his cellmate's forehead, according to a statement of agreed facts tendered in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday.

The now 21-year-old faced a sentence hearing after admitting to four charges including doing an act in preparation for a terrorist act, causing grievous bodily harm/wounding to a person with intent to murder and sending a document threatening death or grievous bodily harm.
The families of 10 people murdered by Snowtown serial killer Robert Joe Wagner fear he will strike again if released from prison.

Wagner, 47, appeared before the South Australian Supreme Court on Monday in his bid to have a non-parole period set on his life sentence.

Noah Redmond, appearing on behalf of commissioner for victims' rights Bronwyn Killmier, said the application was a "slap in the face" for victims and demonstrated Wagner had no regard for anyone but himself.

"The prisoner has stated that the setting of a non-parole period would assist his mental wellbeing, but it would not help the mental wellbeing of the people suffering because of his actions," Mr Redmond told the court, as Ms Killmier sat in the gallery.

"It is, in fact, abhorrent to them that he might be given an opportunity to be released."

Mr Redmond said the victims' families had suffered lasting effects as a result of Wagner's crimes and took some comfort knowing he would never be released.

"Not only are the victims concerned for their individual wellbeing but also for the safety of the community," he said.

"They do not believe that Wagner has reformed, rehabilitated or demonstrated remorse.

"In fact, a number of the victims believe that he is not finished and, if released, he will kill again."

Since 1999, Wagner has been serving 10 life sentences over the infamous "bodies-in-the-barrels" killing spree.

The ringleader in the murders, John Justin Bunting, is similarly serving life without parole.
A man raped by a student priest in 2003 while his father was dying has told a Melbourne court the "evil" act still gives him sleepless nights.

Paul Pavlou, 59, was studying to become a priest in 2003 when he stayed with his friend, who had terminal cancer, before raping the man's 12-year-old son three times.

Pavlou appeared in the County Court of Victoria on Monday after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16.

After the attacks, Pavlou would make comments like his victim "was a special child", that he loved him, and that his victim "was a child of God".

Thirteen years later, the man reported the rapes to police, but Pavlou initially claimed he "couldn't recall" molesting the boy.

He later told police that he and the boy had both been "vulnerable and needed to comfort each other".

Pavlou was subsequently charged with molesting an altar boy and for possessing child pornography.

His 12-year-old victim - now an adult - delivered an emotional statement to the court via video link on Monday, saying it was "the hardest thing I've ever had to read".

"To betray your dying best friend (and his partner) ... by raping their young son is one of the most evil acts I've ever heard of ... even worse than murder," the man said.

"I've lost count of the number of times I've cried myself to sleep."

The man said he'd had about 2000 sleepless nights over the years, and often woke in the middle of the night.

"I blamed myself for many years for what Paul Pavlou had done," he said.

"I have to remind myself he's locked up.

"I never got the childhood I deserved."

A statement by the victim's mother was also read to the court, in which she said she struggled with the crimes every day and felt she'd "failed as a mother".

Judge Greg Lyon said he doubted Pavlou had learnt anything over the years after "taking advantage of a dying man's family".

Pavlou will be sentenced at a date to be fixed.
A teenager who egged an ultra-conservative Australian senator for his words over the New Zealand terrorist attack has admitted it wasn't the right thing to do.

More than a week after Will Connolly, 17, rose to fame for cracking an egg on the back of Senator Fraser Anning's head in Melbourne, he says violence wasn't the answer.

"I understand what I did was not the right thing to do. I can understand why some people would react the way they did," Connolly told Ten's The Project on Monday night.

"There is no reason to physically attack anyone."

Connolly, dubbed "Egg Boy", was angered by the independent Queensland senator who said Muslim immigration contributed to the 50 deaths in the Christchurch massacres.

So he attended Senator Anning's political event on March 16 in the hope of forgiving him for his words in the wake of the terrorist attack, listening for an hour before he cracked.

"I thought the world should be supporting all those victims, giving them love and passion, and the senator released a statement which was pretty much a divisive hate speech blaming the victims for the attack. I was just flat-out disgusted," Connolly said.

"I went in to listen to him for an hour to see if it would change my mind, as I am a pretty forgiving person, in my mind I wanted to forgive him. Then he started saying some more things ... which empowered me to egg him."

While Connolly understands what he did was wrong, he said the egg has united people including about $80,000 raised through a crowdfunding campaign.

He will donate the money to victims of Christchurch massacre.

Connolly won't pursue legal action against Anning or his supporters who put him in a headlock, and he was interviewed and released by police without charge.

Connolly says the egging has blown up and too much attention has been taken away from "the real victims suffering".

So he's decided to stay away from eggs for now, and mix up his food choice.

"I was actually called 'egg boy' before this happened as I'd eat boiled eggs at lunch and all the girls would be like 'get away from me, that reeks'," he said.

"I am off the eggs now."
A Melbourne engineer who claims his colleague repeatedly farted nearby and "thrusted his bum" at him, is hoping his bullying claim is successful on appeal.

David Hingst, 56, had sought $1.8 million in a suit against his former employer Construction Engineering, but a judge blasted the case out of the Supreme Court last year, finding there was no bullying.

Mr Hingst's appeal came before the Court of Appeal on Monday, when he said "flatulence was a form of bullying", and his ex-colleague Greg Short was a serial farter.

"I would be sitting with my face to the wall and he would come into the room, which was small and had no windows," Mr Hingst told AAP after the hearing.

"He would fart behind me and walk away. He would do this five or six times a day."

The structural engineer, who previously lived and trained in Germany for 20 years, said Mr Short - at the time his manager - had also abused him over the phone and at times would taunt him with gestures.

"He thrusted his bum at me while he's at work," Mr Hingst told the panel of judges.

But the appeal judges also heard Mr Hingst had called his colleague "Mr Stinky" on occasion.

"And you sprayed deodorant at him," Justice Phillip Priest said.

In any case, Justice Priest said farts were not the key issue in Mr Hingst's original claim, as it had focused more on the phone calls.

But Mr Hingst said the flatulence had caused him "severe stress" and should still be taken into account.

He claimed Mr Short's behaviour was part of a conspiracy to get rid of him, and says his time at Construction Engineering caused him psychiatric injuries.

Mr Hingst, who has represented himself throughout the trial and appeal, is seeking leave to appeal on several grounds.

He claims he didn't get a fair trial as he felt under pressure from Supreme Court Justice Rita Zammit when questioning witnesses, and felt the judge was biased against him.

But Justice Priest said the trial judge seemed to show "remarkable latitude" to Mr Hingst during the 18-day proceeding.

"The very distinct impression I get is you were given every opportunity to put your case," he said.

The Court of Appeal judges will deliver their ruling on the appeal on Friday.
Tech titans are being hauled into meetings with Australia's prime minister to explain their handling of hate speech and violent online material.

Scott Morrison will discuss violent offences being broadcast on sites such as Facebook and YouTube with social media executives in Brisbane on Tuesday.

The meetings come less than two weeks after the Christchurch mosque massacre, in which 50 people were killed.

A video of the right-wing terror attack, in which a lone gunman opened fire at two mosques during Friday prayers, was live-streamed on social media.

The tech giants are also being urged to properly protect the personal information of Australians who use their platforms.

Mr Morrison plans to force online titans to cough up more cash if they breach Australian privacy laws.

Under his government's proposed changes to the Privacy Act, online platforms that seriously or repeatedly breach privacy laws would be fined $10 million, compared to the current penalty of $2.1 million.

Alternatively, they could be charged three times the value of any benefit obtained by misusing information or 10 per cent of their annual domestic turnover, depending on which figure is greater.
The national boss of the Liberal Party's organisational wing believes it must be "flexible and tactical" in its approach to One Nation at the upcoming federal election.

Nick Greiner says a "sweeping general policy" to place the minor party last on how-to-vote cards will not work.

"I think it's a matter of being flexible and tactical and doing what is best in each seat," he told Sky News on Monday night.

"Giving in to invitations either from the Labor Party or from the media to have a sweeping general policy, frankly, doesn't make sense."

Liberal Party MPs are deeply divided over the coalition's stance on One Nation.

Moderate Liberal MPs have been scathing about Pauline Hanson after the Christchurch mosque killings, saying her party should be placed last on how-to-vote cards because of racism.

But a rump of conservative Queensland Liberal-National MPs believe the Greens should be placed below One Nation.

The group, which includes Deputy Prime Minister and NSW MP Michael McCormack, argue the environmentalist party's economic policies are more dangerous than Senator Hanson's views on Islam.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists the Liberals won't be doing preference deals, but is refusing say whether One Nation will be placed last.

Mr Greiner said it was a matter for state organisations to look at who is running in each seat, with Pauline Hanson, Clive Palmer and Bob Katter all fielding candidates in various electorates.

"I think the next two months will tell but I certainly wouldn't be in for a sweeping, general policy," he said.

"I think you do need to allow the locals to determine what's best."

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has reiterated his commitment to put One Nation and other "extremist" parties last on Labor's how-to-vote cards.

Victorian Liberal Tim Wilson said One Nation should be put "dead last" in his Melbourne electorate of Goldstein because of the party's long history of fanning bigotry.

"We should show spine, not be supine, and that means standing up to them and discrediting them at every single opportunity," he told Sky News.

Nationals MP Ken O'Dowd wants to put One Nation well above the Greens, while fellow Queenslanders Scott Buchholz, Keith Pitt, George Christensen, Llew O'Brien and Ian Macdonald also want the left-wing party last.
A Melbourne teenager who rose to fame for smashing an egg on an ultra-conservative independent Queensland senator's head says the crack has united people.

More than a week after Will Connolly, 17, hit Senator Fraser Anning's head with an egg at a political event in Melbourne, he has admitted it wasn't wise but says it brought people together.

"There is no reason to physically attack anyone," Connolly told Ten's The Project on Monday night.

"I understand what I did was not the right thing to do however this egg has united people and money has been raised, tens of thousands of dollars, for those victims."

Connolly, dubbed "Egg Boy", was angered by the independent Queensland senator who said Muslim immigration contributed to the 50 deaths in the Christchurch massacres.

He went to Senator Anning's political event on March 16, hoping to forgive him for his words in the wake of the terrorist attack, and listened for an hour before he cracked.

About $80,000 has been raised through a crowdfunding campaign for Connolly but he's going to donate "every cent" to the victims of the Christchurch massacre.

"I didn't think this was going to blow up. It's blown up completely out of proportion, to the point where it is kind of embarrassing because too much attention is brought away from the real victims. We should be focusing on them," the schoolboy urged.

He's also giving up the eggs for now in a bid to lose the nickname which first stuck after he began eating them hard-boiled in his school lunch before the hit.

"I am off the eggs now," he said, with a smile.
Ashleigh Barty has fought back from a set down against Kiki Bertens to book her place in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open.

The Australian No.1 lost the first set 6-4 against her seventh-seeded opponent, but dug deep to draw level by taking the second 6-3.

The world No.11, who knocked out compatriot Samantha Stosur in the previous round, continued her dominance in the decider, the 12th seed serving it out for 6-3 in one hour and 53 minutes.

Barty now holds a 4-0 record over Dutchwoman, with three of those career wins against her coming from a set down - the most recent before Monday's win coming in the semi-finals of this year's Sydney International.

Barty will play either Petra Kvitova or Caroline Garcia in the last eight, with the added carrot of breaking into the top 10 for the first time if she makes the semi-finals.
A motorcyclist is fighting for life after crashing into a power pole in Sydney's southwest.

The 39-year-old man was riding in Denham Court on Monday evening when he apparently lost control off his bike and hit the power pole. He suffered numerous fractures and internal injuries and is in a critical condition in Liverpool Hospital.

The crash occurred hours after NSW Police issued a warning to motorcyclists to exercise care following the deaths of three men in bike crashes over the weekend.
The ancestral remains of 37 indigenous people will be returned to Australia from London's Natural History Museum.

Narungga community representatives from South Australia, Douglas Milera and Professor Peter Buckskin, travelled to the UK to attend the handover ceremony on Tuesday night Australian time.

They received the remains of an ancestor who will be cared for at the South Australian Museum until the community is ready to conduct a reburial ceremony.

The SA Museum will also look after another seven repatriated ancestral remains.

The remaining 29 ancestral remains will go to the National Museum of Australia until the Ngarrindjeri, Far West Coast, Kaurna and Flinders Ranges communities are ready to lay them to rest.

"This return is a significant event for our country," Arts Minister Mitch Fifield said in a statement distributed in Australia.

He said the indigenous repatriation program had led to the return of more than 1480 ancestral remains, including more than 1200 from the UK.
Detectives are searching a Queensland backyard after receiving tip-offs from the public about the cold case murder of Jay Brogden in 2007.

Scientific police will search the Airlie Beach backyard on Wednesday for items they believe are linked to the murder of the 21-year-old, but would not detail exactly what they were hoping to find.

It comes as police seek to extradite from NSW a 32-year-old Coffs Harbour, who is expected to be charged with Mr Brogden's murder when he arrives in Queensland.
A police diver battled floating debris in silt-filled water as he searched for six missing men after a fishing trawler capsized in wild seas off the Queensland coast, an inquest has heard.

With near zero visibility, Senior Constable James Hall was forced to rely on a touch as he explored the flooded cabin of the FV Dianne after it sank off the town of 1770 on October 16, 2017.

At an inquest into the six deaths, Senior Constable Hall is expected to give evidence about his search of the vessel as it lay upside down on the sea floor 30 metres below the surface.

Counsel assisting the coroner John Aberdeen says Senior Constable Hall initially struggled to move a refrigerator "jammed" in the sleeping cabin's only door due to a "suction" effect.

"(He) searched the accommodation by touch and he was able to find the body of one crew member," he told the inquest at Gladstone on Wednesday.

Senior Constable Hall found the body of skipper Ben Leahy, 45, inside the Dianne's bunkhouse.

Adam Hoffman, 30, was also found in the cabin on a later dive.

The bodies of Eli Tonks, 39, Adam Bidner, 33, Zach Feeney, 28, and Chris Sammut, 34, have never been found.

Earlier, the sole survivor, Ruben McDornan, told the inquest the Dianne had delayed departure from Bundaberg harbour due to bad weather.

"There were concerns by (skipper) Ben Leahy ... he arranged for us to leave a day later," he said.

The vessel began motoring north to fishing grounds near Middle Island about 2.30pm in windy conditions.

Five hours later it had rolled and six crew members were missing.

Mr Aberdeen said despite the vessel having all the correct safety gear, none of it worked when needed.

"The capsize was complete in a matter of seconds (and) although there was an EPIRB on the rear wall of the wheelhouse it could not be reached by anybody," he said.

There was also no time to put on life jackets as the boat rolled, or to pick up grab bags with marine survival equipment, and an automatically deploying life raft failed to fire, he said.

Mr McDornan agreed with coroner David O'Connell that emergency lighting and grab bags with dive masks and mini oxygen tanks stowed in sleeping cabins - for easy access in the case of an emergency - would be a good recommendation to come from the inquest.

"That was exactly what was needed ... that's a small cost for what I believe to be an absolute must item," he said.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has hinted contracts for the coalition's underwriting power projects scheme won't be signed before the government enters caretaker mode.

The government has announced a dozen energy projects on the shortlist for potential underwriting.

But with the election set to be called after next Tuesday's budget, the pressure is on the energy companies to make their business case to the government.

"Big projects like these take time," Mr Taylor told Sky News on Wednesday.

"You can't do them overnight."

It took two years for the government to make a final investment decision on the Snowy Hydro expansion, he added.

The shortlist includes five gas projects, six hydro and an upgrade to an existing coal-fired power station.

A $10 million feasibility study will also be conducted into a coal project in Collinsville, to ensure there is enough power for industry in Queensland.

"In north Queensland and central Queensland we have to deal with the challenge of supporting big industries up there, in particular, the aluminium smelter," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Sydney.

"So we're doing a project to ensure that their reliable energy needs are catered for into the future, so their jobs are secure."

Mr Taylor says the project was one of the 66 submissions to the underwriting plan, but the feasibility study is needed because the proposal is only in initial stages.

The minister insists it's not a political move to appease his Queensland Nationals colleagues who want taxpayer money used for a coal project in their state.

But Nationals MPs have taken the feasibility study as a sign of a sure thing, with George Christensen saying on Wednesday it means "getting a coal-fired power plant in Collinsville shovel ready".
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) hosted a state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping with some 200 guests

The leaders of China, France, Germany and the EU were set to meet in Paris on Tuesday for "unprecedented" talks on how to improve ties, despite growing jitters over Beijing's massive investments in Europe.

It comes ahead of an EU-China summit in Brussels next month and a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an array of deals with France including a huge aircraft contract.

At a glitzy state dinner on Monday evening French President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped to build a "new global governance" with China and would discuss this at the "unprecedented meeting with the German chancellor and the president of the European Commission".

"This is an important gesture that we are making now. It is testament to your deep attachment to China's cooperation with Europe... and my desire to build a strong Europe," he told Xi.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker will join Xi and Macron at the Elysee Palace to explore "points of convergence" between the two trading giants.

Xi's visit poses a particular challenge for Macron, who wants to deepen EU ties with China while pushing back against Beijing's growing global clout

On Monday China and France inked a dozen deals on nuclear power, cultural exchanges and clean energy, while Beijing also committed to buy 290 Airbus A320s and 10 A350 airliners from Europe's Airbus conglomerate.

The order, originally for 184 A320s for 13 Chinese airlines, was first announced during Macron's state visit to China in January 2018.

All of the deals, including one on French exports to China of frozen chicken, amount to a total of some $40 billion.

Xi's visit poses a particular challenge for Macron, who wants to deepen EU ties with China while pushing back against Beijing's growing global clout.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping laid a wreath before the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Monday

Speaking at the Elysee Palace on Monday following talks with Xi, Macron called for a "strong Europe-China partnership", adding that this must be based on "strong multilateralism" and "fair and balanced" trade.

Meanwhile Xi stressed that "a united and prosperous Europe fits in with our vision of a multipolar world".

"China will always back European integration and its development," he added in a statement to the press.

Around 200 guests including the French actor Alain Delon, who is widely known in China, French electronic music composer Jean-Michel Jarre and Chinese actress Gong Li attended the state dinner on Monday.

- 'New Silk Road' -

Earlier on his trip, Xi visited Italy, which became the first G7 state to sign up to China's vast "New Silk Road" infrastructure project that has sparked unease in the US and the European Union.

Macron announced that France and China will cooperate on a number of investment projects in some of the countries involved in the initiative, a massive undertaking to link Asia to Europe.

The "New Silk Road" is a massive Chinese infrastructure project including road, rail and ship routes

Italy's participation comes despite misgivings over the huge venture by other European nations wary of China's growing influence.

Xi has insisted the project will be a two-way street of investment and trade.

But EU Budget Commissioner Gunther Oettinger in a newspaper interview over the weekend expressed "concern that in Italy and other European countries, infrastructure of strategic importance like power networks, high speed rail lines or harbours are no longer in European but in Chinese hands".

Europe's distrust of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, which is poised to become the dominant player in next-generation 5G mobile technology worldwide, is also emblematic of the increasingly rocky relationship.

Prior to the dinner meeting with Macron, Xi went to the nearby principality of Monaco, where he was received by Prince Albert II and his wife Princess Charlene

The US is pressuring European allies not to use Huawei technology, saying it creates a security risk by potentially letting Beijing snoop on sensitive communications.

France has so far not ruled out using Huawei technology.

As well as addressing commercial cooperation and strategic issues with Xi, Macron has also been urged to deal with the case of Meng Hongwei, the Chinese former head of the France-based Interpol police agency.

Meng's wife has had no news of her husband since his arrest in China nearly six months ago. It emerged Sunday she had written to Macron asking him to bring up his disappearance with Xi.

Meng is believed to be facing corruption charges.

Despite the many sources of friction, France wants to engage China as a closer partner as Washington becomes more isolationist under Trump's "America First" policy.

For example, Macron may seek more Chinese support for the French-backed G5 Sahel force fighting Islamist extremists in Western Africa, French presidential aides said.
The body of Ansi Alibava, who was killed during the New Zealand mosque attacks, is carried upon arrival at Cochin International Airport in Kerala, India

The body of an Indian student killed in the Christchurch mosque attacks was returned Monday to her grieving family in Kochi, where relatives remembered a bright young woman dedicated to her studies.

Masters student Ansi Alibava, 25, was among at least five Indians shot dead by a white supremacist in New Zealand on March 15 and her body was the first of two to be repatriated.

Her body arrived at an airport in Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala early on Monday where it was received by relatives and government officials.

It was then taken to her nearby hometown of Kodungallur and put on display -- her mother Razia and brother Asif Ali weeping over the coffin -- before a funeral.

"She hails from a poor family and her whole family counted on her. She was a girl who took up the challenge to succeed in life in all adverse circumstances," said K. I. Noushad, Alibava's uncle.

She was praying at the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch with her husband, Abdul Nazer, when the Australian gunman opened fire on worshippers, killing 43.

Another seven were murdered at a separate mosque when the shooter later turned his weapon on Muslims there in the worst violence of its kind ever seen in New Zealand.

Some families have opted for burials in Christchurch itself, where a national remembrance service for the victims will be held on Friday, two weeks after the tragedy that shocked the world.

Alibava started supporting her family after her father died five years ago in Saudi Arabia where he had been working.

She took out thousands of dollars in loans to fund her studies in business agriculture at Christchurch's Lincoln University.

Alibava's cousin, P.H. Niyas, told AFP the dedicated student was soon to finish her studies.

"She had gone there last year, the course was due to finish by April. There was to be a six-month training (course) after which she was to return home by December," said Niyas.

- Supermarket job -

Alibava also worked part-time at a supermarket with Nazer, who she married two years ago.

On March 15, they went to the Al Noor Mosque and sat separately in the men and women's sections.

When gunfire broke out, Nazer managed to flee through an emergency exit but his wife did not make it.

When he returned to look for her, Nazer found his young wife motionless and face down, according to Indian media reports.

He was officially informed of her death 24 hours after the massacre.

Another Indian family who lost relatives in the attack opted for burial in Christchurch.

Father and son Asif Vora and Rameez Vora hailed from Gujarat, in western India, and were visiting family in New Zealand when they were killed.

The body of another victim also from Gujarat, Maheboob Khokhar, was expected to arrive late Monday at Ahmedabad airport. The body was due to be taken to a mosque for prayers and then to a burial ground.
White truffle hunters comb the desert in Libya for the fungus known locally as "Terfas" which grows under the sand nurtured by the combined effect of rain and cold temperatures at night

Braving the cold and hostile Libyan desert, Milad Mohammed scratches the ground to extract what he calls "manna from heaven" -- white truffles coveted as a delicacy at home and abroad.

The fungus known locally as "Terfas" is the only thing, besides some wild grass, that grows under the desert sands nurtured by the combined effect of rain and cold temperatures at night.

They have been consumed since Roman times for their delicate taste as well as their nutritious and medical properties, and are sold to Gulf countries as a luxury food item.

White truffles are coveted as a delicacy in Libya nad abroad, especially in the Gulf countries

Mohammed harvests the white truffle as a hobby and each year before springtime he treks through the desert region of Al-Hamada al-Hamra, southwest of Tripoli, to look for them.

"I don't earn my living from this. It's a passion," says Mohammed, in his 60s, a retired civil servant from the western city of Zintan.

"It's like a therapy, a way to purify myself from the chaos of the city," he adds as he takes a drag from a cigarette outside a tent he pitched in the desert after a day's work.

"It's a beautiful place, and rough, and you feel so isolated here," says Mohammed.

For hours he wanders across the desert by foot or in his pickup truck, covering dozens of kilometres (miles) and stopping at several spots to scratch the sand with his hands or a cane in search of white truffles.

Usually they are buried deep underground.

- Digging with bare hands -

"There is nothing more satisfying than to use your bare hands to dig into the sand and extract these delicious truffles," says Mohammed.

"They're manna from heaven."

But searching for this white gold in the oil-rich North African country that descended into chaos after the fall of veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi in the 2011 NATO-backed uprising is no easy task.

"There is nothing more satisfying than to use your bare hands to dig into the sand and extract these delicious truffles," says Milad Mohamad, a truffle hunter.

Libya has been gripped by unrest since the revolt, with various groups vying for control of its oil wealth and cities, while the desert has become a hornet's nest for jihadists and criminal gangs.

Unlike hunters of black truffles, who use dogs or hogs to search for the prized mushroom, Mohammed only trusts his eyes to spot the place where they grow.

According to him, white truffles -- scientifically known to provide a rich source of protein -- have health benefits and their juice is used to treat eye diseases.

But truffles are also in great demand in Gulf markets.

- Buyers and sellers -

Over the past few years the price per kilo of white truffles tripled to 130 dinars ($33), a merchant said, as harvesting the fungus became more difficult due to Libya's unrest and unfavourable weather conditions.

Milad Mohamad, a truffle hunter, at his desert camp site, says he harvests the white truffle as a hobby and each year before springtime treks through the desert southwest of Tripoli to look for them

This year the harvest was good thanks to abundant rain but that meant that the cost per kilo dropped to 80 dinars.

Wholesale transactions often take place at a tent erected on a road near Zintan that leads to Al-Hamada al-Hamra.

It is there that pickers like Mohammed and Khaled Abdelwahed go to sell the truffles they found in the desert.

"We endured very cold weather but the merchant is offering us a fraction of the price," says Abdelwahed, as he tried to negotiate a good deal for the eight kilos of truffles he collected after four nights spent in the desert.

"The merchant's making a better profit than us, and all that time he keeps warm in his tent" while truffle pickers do all the hard work, he says.

The Libyan white truffle is "of excellent quality" and "prized in Gulf countries", says truffle merchant Abdallah Miloud

The buyer Khalifa al-Sahraoui, a merchant from neighbouring Algeria who travels to Libya each year for truffle season between November and March, disagrees.

"We buy the truffles and sell them to other merchants," he says.

Abdallah Miloud, another truffle merchant, says the harvest is sold to middlemen who in turn "sell them to clients abroad".

The Libyan white truffle is "of excellent quality" and "prized in Gulf countries", he adds.

There are no official figures for the export of Libyan truffles.

But according to Miloud, revenues from sales have "rescued several families" from financial hardship.
Children water plants and clean tombstones to support their families in war-torn Yemen

Barefoot in a blue striped shirt, Ahmed al-Hamadi walks from school to a cemetery in the Yemeni capital where he works to help his family survive.

The 13-year-old makes his way through the cemetery, where graves are cramped together and overgrown with weeds.

Hauling gallons of water on his tiny shoulders, he waters plants and sprinkles tombstones to rid them of the Sanaa dust for a modest payment from the families of the deceased.

"We usually wait for funeral processions to work," Ahmed told AFP. "If no one has died, we just hang around the graves and play around here."

Ahmed is among millions of children struggling to stay in school in Yemen, where war, poverty and disease have brought the Arab world's poorest country to its knees.

The Yemen conflict, which pits the government against northern rebels linked to Iran, took a turn for the worse when Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened on behalf of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

March 26 marks four years since the Saudi-led coalition launched the military campaign to oust the Huthi rebels who occupied most of Yemen several months earlier -- triggering what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

- Children most at risk -

Yemen has the highest level of child labour in the Arab world, both as a percentage and in sheer numbers, according to the International Labour Organization.

And in the chaos of war children are the most at risk, with girls facing forced marriage and boys recruited as fighters.

UNICEF, the UN children's fund, called Yemen a "living hell for children" in 2018, with a whopping 80 percent of minors in need of aid.

The agency estimates that two million Yemeni children, out of an eligible seven million, are out of school as the war grinds into its fifth year.

Alongside the violence, Yemen's already-fragile economy has contracted by over 50 percent since the escalation of conflict in 2015, according to the World Bank.

The currency has plummeted, and with it purchasing power.

In the chaos of war, children are the most at risk and boys face being recruited as fighters

Yemen's private sector is all but dead and the government-run central bank has struggled to pay civil servants' salaries despite over $2 billion of cash injections by Saudi Arabia.

Many families have had no choice but to rely on their children for income -- sometimes as little as a few dollars a month.

Three years ago, Atiqa Mohammed was an officer in the Yemeni military. Today, she runs a little grocery store and more often than not her shelves are empty.

She had to turn a group of children away one March afternoon, with neither bread nor milk to sell them.

"The war has devoured everything," she told AFP. "I don't want much. Bread and tea would be enough, as long as it's an honest living."

- 'Crowded with visitors' -

Three-quarters of Yemen's population of 29 million are in need of humanitarian aid, with upwards of 10 million on the brink of mass starvation, according to the UN.

And in some areas, both government- and rebel-held, teachers have not been paid their wages since 2016. UNICEF stepped in this month, disbursing the equivalent of $50 per month to some 100,000 educators.

The UN estimates two million Yemeni children, out of an eligible seven million, are out of school

Ahmed is one of the luckier ones. His school still opens its doors to pupils in Sanaa, controlled by the Huthis since the rebels staged a takeover of Yemeni territory in 2014.

But when his father could not find work, it was up to him to help his family. He first tried street peddling before turning to the cemetery as a last resort.

Fifteen-year-old Yasser al-Arbahi also found himself working at the cemetery after his father had a stroke, putting his dreams of becoming a doctor on hold.

His days have become routine: wake up, attend class until noon, then head to the cemetery after lunch.

"If there's a grave that needs to be cleaned, I'll spray it down. Then on Fridays, I make sure I have water to sell to the families who come to visit the graves."

The World Health Organization says 10,000 people have been killed over the past four years, but rights groups say the toll could be five times higher

Some 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen over the past four years, according to the World Health Organization, although rights groups say the toll could be five times higher.

Both the Saudi-led alliance and Huthi rebels have been accused of acts that could amount to war crimes, while the coalition has been blacklisted by the UN for killing and maiming children.

By the tombstones in Sanaa, Yasser pays particular attention to cacti and flowers planted on the graves, taking the time to water them all.

He appeared thankful for the work: "Cemeteries are crowded with visitors."
Thailand's election was seen as a referendum on the military

Results of Thailand's first election since the 2014 coup were expected to trickle out Monday, with the junta primed to retain its grip on power after a vote that saw its main rival diminished, but vaulted a new pro-democracy force into the kingdom's politics.

The Election Commission delayed without explanation a full announcement of preliminary results on Sunday night as a blizzard of complaints mounted over apparent mistakes in the count and possible irregularities at the polls.

Nearly 1.9 million votes had been invalidated with 93 percent of votes tallied, the EC said late Sunday. Earlier counts showed that in a handful of provinces more than half the ballots cast were invalidated.

Sunday's election -- seen as a referendum on the military -- was held under new rules written by the junta to ease its transformation into a civilian government.

Despite that headstart, analysts had not expected the army-linked Phalang Pracharat party to win the popular vote, given anger at junta rule and the enduring popularity of Pheu Thai -- the party of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

But as initial figures dribbled out, Phalang Pracharat -- with 2014 coup leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha as its candidate for prime minister -- edged into a clear lead, racking up more than 7.6 million votes with more than 90 percent of ballots tallied.

"This will give them... popular legitimacy and more credibility," Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, told AFP.

Thailand vote

Phalang Pracharat had nearly half a million more votes than Pheu Thai, despite the track record of Thaksin whose parties have won every vote since 2001, drawing on loyalty from the rural and urban poor.

That should propel Prayut's party to the 126 lower house seats it needs to secure a parliamentary majority, in combination with a 250-seat upper house Senate that is appointed by the junta.

Shock gripped the pro-democracy camp, which had hoped to harness widespread anti-junta sentiment.

Thaksin, the self-exiled billionaire ex-cop turned-Thai premier, who is at the crux of Thailand's political breakdown, reached out to supporters as the results tipped against his Pheu Thai party.

"As long as we still have breath, we can not give up," he said in a Facebook post on Monday.

- Deep divides -

Prospects of an anti-junta coalition squeezing into power began to evaporate late Sunday.

Thailand's junta appears set to hold on to power after an election seen as a referendum on its rule

The Election Commission has said it will finalise the results by May 9.

But questions over the count have billowed out, with social media ablaze with allegations of vote buying, mass invalidation of electoral cards and bungling by polling staff across the country.

About 400,000 people signed a change.org petition to dissolve the commission.

Three candidates from the junta's Phalang Pracharat were the first to file petitions for a recount after losing in their constituencies.

More disputes are expected across the political spectrum.

Turnout was also 64 percent, much lower than forecasts.

A co-ordinator for Thailand-based election monitor We Watch said that voter education was "really insufficient" for the first election in eight years.

Voters were, for example, confused about "how to make the ballot valid, how to mark the ballot," We Watch's Chompunut Chalieobun told AFP.

Chompunut also said many monitors were blocked from accessing polling stations.

Election night hoisted a new, youth-focused political party with vigorous anti-junta positions -- Future Forward party -- onto the Thai political stage.

Led by telegenic billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, it took more than five million votes, which could make it Thailand's third-biggest party.

And on the eve of the poll, Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn issued a cryptic statement urging people to support "good" leaders against those who create "chaos."

Another royal command in February torpedoed the candidacy of the king's elder sister Princess Ubolratana for prime minister via a party linked to Thaksin.

Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup, and has lived in self-exile since 2008. The administration of his sister Yingluck was also the victim of a 2014 power grab by the military.

The Shinawatra-aligned Pheu Thai party has vowed to accept the results but said it needed more "clarity" on the outcome before it took a stance.
Australia has one of the world's highest incidences of shark attacks, but fatalities remain rare

A man has been bitten on the leg by a shark in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, authorities said Monday, the fourth such attack in six months at the popular tourist site.

Paramedics were called to a diving pontoon at Hardy Reef off the Queensland coast just after midday local time after the man, aged in his 20s, was bitten on his thigh.

His injuries did not appear to be life-threatening and he was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital in a stable condition, Queensland ambulance and rescue authorities said.

It is the fourth shark attack -- including one fatality -- in six months in the Whitsunday Islands region.

A 33-year-old man died in November after his legs and arm were mauled. In September, a woman and a 12-year-old girl were bitten and seriously hurt by sharks within 24 hours of each other in the same area.

Authorities had set out baited lines to capture and kill several sharks after the September attacks.

Australia has one of the world's highest incidences of shark attacks, but fatalities remain rare.

Shark attacks are considered to be uncommon in the Whitsundays, a collection of spectacular tropical islands and popular tourist destination at the heart of the Barrier Reef.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and US President Donald Trump have developed a close relationship

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Donald Trump in Washington on Monday amid expectations the US president will formally recognize the Jewish state's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Trump broke with longstanding international consensus last week over the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, saying the US should recognize Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau.

Israel's foreign minister said the US president will go one step further on Monday when he welcomes a grateful Netanyahu -- who is looking for an electoral boost ahead of April 9 parliamentary polls -- to the White House.

"President Trump will sign tomorrow in the presence of PM Netanyahu an order recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights," Israel Katz tweeted.

Map locating the Golan Heights

Netanyahu has long pushed for such recognition, and many analysts saw Trump's statement, which came in a tweet on Thursday, as a campaign gift.

Netanyahu is locked in a tough election fight with a centrist political alliance headed by former military chief Benny Gantz and ex-finance minister Yair Lapid.

New opinion polls last week showed Netanyahu losing ground to his electoral rivals, and the Washington visit was seen as an opportunity to regain momentum.

The prime minister has a "working meeting" at the White House on Monday and a dinner on Tuesday.

- Trump's latest pro-Israel move -

Netanyahu is also set to address the annual conference in Washington of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Tuesday. Gantz speaks at the high-profile event on Monday.

The Golan Heights decision is the latest major move in favor of Israel by Trump, who in 2017 recognized the disputed city of Jerusalem as the country's capital.

(L to R) Netanyahu, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US ambassador to Israel David Friedman touch the stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on March 21, 2019

Syria and other states in the region condemned Trump's pledge, saying it violates international law. France said the same.

Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Netanyahu phoned Trump to tell him he had made "history," and called the gesture a "Purim miracle," a reference to the Jewish holiday that Israel was celebrating that day.

Although Trump professed no knowledge of the Israeli politics in play, Netanyahu's relationship with the US president has long been a central feature of his campaign.

Trump appears on giant campaign billboards in Israel shaking hands and smiling with Netanyahu, and the premier has shared video of the US leader calling him "strong" and a "winner."

On the same day as Trump's Golan Heights tweet, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Jerusalem, where he joined Netanyahu in a visit to the historic Western Wall, offering his host a prime pre-election photo opportunity.

It was the first time such a high-ranking American official had visited one of the holiest sites in Judaism, located in mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem, with an Israeli premier.

Trump relies on pro-Israel evangelical Christians as part of his electoral base and has moved US policy firmly in Israel's favor.
The office in the Northern city of Kaesong was opened in September as the two Koreas knitted closer ties, but the North pulled its staff out last week

North Korea has returned its staff to an inter-Korean liaison office, Seoul said Monday, just days after unilaterally withdrawing from the joint facility.

The office in the Northern city of Kaesong was opened in September as the two Koreas knitted closer ties, but the North pulled its staff out last week amid a deadlock in talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

The unification ministry said some of the North Korean staff were back at work on Monday saying they had come to cover their "shift as usual".

"Thus, the South and the North held consultation at the liaison office this morning and will continue to operate the office as usual," the ministry said in a statement.

It said the North did not offer details on why they had returned or pulled out in the first place.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in was instrumental in brokering the talks process between the nuclear-armed, sanctions-hit North and the US, Seoul's key security ally.

Moon has long backed engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table, and has been pushing the carrot of inter-Korean development projects, among them an industrial zone also in Kaesong and cross-border tourism for Southerners.

But the failure by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump to reach agreement in Hanoi last month on walking back Pyongyang's nuclear programme in exchange for relaxation of the measures against it has raised questions over the future of the process.

In his New Year speech -- a key political event in the North -- Kim said without giving details that Pyongyang might see a "new way for defending the sovereignty of the country and the supreme interests of the state" if Washington persisted with sanctions.
The UAE has put on trial eight Lebanese Shiite Muslims charged with "terrorism" with local media saying they are linked to the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah

Eight Lebanese citizens, all Shiite Muslims, have been charged with "terrorism" in the UAE and denied legal representation in a trial "marred with violations", Human Rights Watch said Monday.

While the charges have not been made public, families of the eight men say they were charged with terrorism, according to New York-based HRW.

UAE media reported that they are linked to Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.

Although the Iran-backed Hezbollah holds three cabinet posts and is 13 seats in the Lebanese parliament, it is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the United Arab Emirates.

A representative of the UAE government could not be immediately reached for comment.

Family members told HRW the defendants had been held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods and denied legal representation and visits by their relatives.

"Time and again, the UAE has used the spectre of terrorism to justify its utter lack of respect for the rule of law," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW.

"By not respecting the rights of the defendants to a fair trial, the Emirati authorities are indicating that they have already decided the outcome."

All of the men under trial have lived and worked in UAE for more than 15 years, seven of them for Dubai-owned Emirates Airlines, HRW said.

The eight men had been detained between December 2017 and February last year and held for one year before their trial opened on February 13, it said.

Family members told HRW that none of the men had any known political affiliations and their confessions were made under duress.

Leading English-language Gulf News daily on February 13 reported an Abu Dhabi court had charged 11 "Arabs", including three in absentia, with "setting up a terrorist cell and planning attacks in the UAE upon the orders of Lebanon's Hezbollah" and that they communicated with the Shiite group in favour of Iran.

The next hearing is scheduled for March 27.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embrace before Trump signs a declaration recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, US President Donald Trump declared Monday that the Golan Heights belongs to Israel -- handing another major diplomatic victory to the premier ahead of tight elections.

Netanyahu spared no praise as he watched Trump sign the Golan proclamation at the White House, likening him to President Harry S Truman, who recognized Israel, and even to Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who freed the Jews of Babylon.

"Your decision to recognize Israel's sovereignty on the Golan Heights is so historic," Netanyahu told Trump. The Jewish state captured the territory from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967.

"Your recognition is a twofold act of historic justice. Israel won the Golan Heights in a just war of self-defense, and the Jewish people's roots in the Golan go back thousands of years," he said.

Trump -- who in 2017 took the even more momentous step of recognizing disputed Jerusalem as Israel's capital -- called the Golan declaration "a long time in the making."

"It should have taken place many decades ago," said Trump, who had revealed his intentions on the Golan on Thursday in a Twitter message.

Netanyahu, a wily right-winger who this year would become the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history, is facing an unexpectedly stiff challenge in April 9 elections from centrist Benny Gantz, who also came to Washington for AIPAC.

Netanyahu was visiting Washington for the conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel US lobby, but cut his visit short after a rocket fired Monday from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip hit a house north of Tel Aviv, wounding seven Israelis in an unusually long-range attack.

Just as Netanyahu entered the White House, Israeli warplanes struck targets in Gaza linked to Hamas -- which denied carrying out the attack -- with the prime minister vowing to respond "forcefully to this wanton aggression."

- International opposition -

US Vice President Mike Pence hails President Donald Trump before the pro-Israel US lobby AIPAC

Trump was isolated in the move, with the United Nations and US allies France and Britain all saying that they still considered the Golan Heights "Israeli-occupied" in line with UN resolutions.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Trump's declaration "ignores all international procedures" and "could drive a new wave of tensions" in the Middle East.

Syria denounced the "blatant attack" on its sovereignty, while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized Trump for giving "virtually an election gift" to Netanyahu.

Israel annexed the Golan in 1981 but had won no international support. The territory had long been seen as a comparatively easy problem to resolve, as both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Golan's 20,000 settlers are largely secular in a region dominated by religious feuds.

But changing the strategic dynamics, Syria has been embroiled for years in a devastating civil war in which Iran has made inroads -- to the staunch opposition of Israel, which has vowed to eradicate the clerical regime's presence.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined Benjamin Netanyahu in a recent visit to the historic Western Wall in Jerusalem

Shortly before the Golan proclamation, Vice President Mike Pence brought the AIPAC audience to its feet as he hailed Trump as "the greatest friend of the Jewish people and the state of Israel ever to sit in the Oval Office."

Amid Trump and Netanyahu's mutual affection and the Israeli leader's rightward turn, top Democrats seeking the White House have steered clear of AIPAC -- an absence that Pence eagerly highlighted.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a liberal Democrat whose city is home to 1.2 million Jews, nonetheless spoke at AIPAC, where he acknowledged differences with Netanyahu but won a standing ovation for opposing the movement to boycott Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians.

- Gantz touts 'strength' -

Map locating the Golan Heights

Challenger Gantz showed virtually no daylight with Netanyahu on security issues in his AIPAC address.

Citing his mother's experience as a Holocaust survivor and his son's service in the military, the former military chief said that "strength and moral power come together."

"That is why I say from this stage to the Iranian regime -- never again. We will not allow you to establish yourself in Syria, we will not allow you to develop nuclear weapons," he said.

"On my watch, you will not become a regional power and I will not hesitate to use force if and when needed," he said.

Gantz said that Jerusalem would always be Israel's "united and eternal capital" and added, without ruling out a Palestinian state in the West Bank, that the Jordan Valley would "always" be Israel's eastern security border.

But he won loud cheers from the American Jewish audience when he turned to domestic issues, promising more inclusiveness at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where women are separated from men, and chiding Netanyahu for allying with a party widely condemned as racist.
China is trying to establish a global media order to suppress criticism and control information, watchdog RSF has warned

China is trying to establish a "new world media order" to prevent and counter criticism, a project that threatens press freedom globally, watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned in a report released Monday.

Communist authorities in China strictly control the flow of information to citizens, including through the "Great Firewall" which blocks access to websites and content deemed inappropriate by the state.

But the bid to regulate information is not limited to China, and RSF said Beijing is "exporting" its methods of censorship and control of information to other countries.

"Through its embassies and its network of Chinese culture-and-language Confucius Institutes, China no longer hesitates to harass and intimidate in order to impose its 'ideologically correct' vocabulary and cover up the darker chapters in its history," according to the report.

Beijing's methods to exert influence beyond its borders include "lavishing money on modernising its international TV broadcasting, investing in foreign media outlets, buying vast amounts of advertising in the international media, and inviting journalists from all over the world on all-expense-paid trips visits to China", RSF said.

Lo Shih-hung, communications professor at Taiwan's National Chung Cheng University, said Beijing had "made headway in shaping a more favourable public opinion of itself worldwide" by using soft power as well as common political and business interests.

"The results are quite evident... Many countries... are reluctant to ask China too many hard questions or pressure the Chinese government."

The RSF report also detailed what it called a "trojan horse policy", under which Beijing routinely buys advertorials in prestigious international newspapers -- including The Wall Street Journal, Le Figaro and the Daily Telegraph.

Written entirely by teams from state-owned media, the watchdog said, these supplements carry official Chinese messages for foreign readers.

"The new world media order which the Chinese authorities are promoting around the world is against journalism," said Cedric Alviani of RSF's East Asia Bureau.

"It is a new media order in which the journalist works for the state not for the citizen."

The watchdog's report said the Chinese campaign "poses a direct threat not only to the media but also to democracies".

Beijing dismissed the report as "totally not in conformity with the facts, and not worth refuting," with foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang accusing RSF of "prejudice" against China.

China was ranked 176 out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom index.
After years of legal battles, South Korea's Supreme Court last year ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay compensation to several victims of wartime forced labour

A South Korean court has approved the seizure of Mitsubishi's assets over the Japanese industrial giant's use of forced labour during World War II, an activist group said Monday.

Japan and South Korea are both democracies, market economies and US allies, but their relationship has been strained for decades as a result of Tokyo's brutal 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.

Around 780,000 Koreans were conscripted into forced labour by Japan during the 35-year occupation, according to data from Seoul, not including women forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops.

After years of legal battles, five Korean victims won a ruling from the country's Supreme Court in November ordering Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay each plaintiff compensation of up to 150 million won (US$132,000).

Four of the wartime labour conscripts filed an asset seizure request in January, saying Mitsubishi had failed to respond to court orders. One plaintiff died earlier this year.

On Friday, the Daejeon District Court south of Seoul ordered the seizure of two trademark rights and six patents belonging to Mitsubishi, a civic group campaigning against Japan's forced wartime labour policies said.

"The process of compulsory execution against war criminal firms has officially begun," the group said in a statement released Monday.

"With the latest court ruling, the debtor will be barred from carrying out transfer of rights... or any other act of disposal on the concerned trademark and patent rights," it added.

If Mitsubishi fails to show a "sincere attitude", the group warned it would sell the seized assets.

Japan says all historical compensation issues were settled under a 1965 treaty that re-established diplomatic relations and included a reparations package of about $800 million in grants and cheap loans.

But recent court rulings in Seoul determined that the use of forced labour by Japanese firms was not included in the controversial treaty.
Thursday's explosion in Yancheng city, eastern Jiangsu province razed an industrial park and blew out the windows of surrounding homes

The death toll from a chemical plant explosion in China rose to 78 on Monday, as Beijing ordered a nationwide inspection of chemical firms four days after one of the country's worst industrial accidents.

Thursday's explosion in Yancheng city, eastern Jiangsu province razed an industrial park and blew out the windows of surrounding homes.

The State Council, China's cabinet, told regional authorities around the country to launch a "comprehensive investigation" into companies involved in "nitration manufacturing and storage" in the wake of the blast.

They should also conduct risk assessments on chemical industrial parks, it said in an online statement, and identify and fix potential safety hazards in mining, fire, construction and other industries to prevent further accidents.

More than 500 people are still in hospital, said city officials in Yancheng on their official Twitter-like Weibo account.

Among them, 13 are critically injured and 66 are seriously injured, the statement said.

Out of the 28 people who were reported as missing on Saturday, 25 have been found dead and three successfully rescued, said city officials.

The city government said some 89 houses were damaged beyond repair and families were resettled after those structures had been demolished.

Classes at 10 schools damaged by the blast resumed Monday morning, they added.

Local authorities are investigating the cause of the accident and said an unspecified number of people were taken into police custody on Friday.

The facility involved in the explosion belonged to Tianjiayi Chemical, a firm with 195 employees established in 2007 that mainly produces raw chemical materials including anisole, a highly flammable compound.

Tianjiayi Chemical has a history of violating environmental regulations, according to online records from Yancheng city's environment and ecology bureau.

In 2015 and 2017, the firm was fined for violating rules on solid and water waste management.

Amid concerns of air and water pollution, the Yancheng city government has said that "pollution indicators are within the normal range" and that drinking water is "not affected".

Authorities said Saturday they had also dammed a tributary to the nearby Xinfeng River to prevent any "outflow of sewage from the chemical industrial park."
Grounded: The Boeing 737 MAX

Ethiopian Airlines "believes in" Boeing despite the crash of its 737 MAX 8 plane that killed all 157 people on board and led to the model's grounding, the carrier's CEO said on Monday.

"Let me be clear: Ethiopian Airlines believes in Boeing. They have been a partner of ours for many years," Tewolde GebreMariam wrote in a statement.

"We will work with investigators in Ethiopia, in the US and elsewhere to figure out what went wrong," he added.

Flight ET 302 crashed on March 10 just minutes into its flight to Nairobi.

It was the second disaster for the 737 MAX 8 since the October crash of an Indonesian Lion Air Jet that killed all 189 passengers and crew. Aviation regulators responded by grounding the model around the world.

Ethiopia's transport minister has said "clear similarities" exist between the two crashes based on an analysis of black box data, without giving further details.

While pledging "full and transparent cooperation to discover what went wrong," Tewolde also hit back at reports critical of Ethiopian's safety record.

The New York Times reported last week that the pilot of the doomed flight had not trained on a 737 MAX 8 simulator.

"Contrary to some media reports, our pilots who fly the new model were trained on all appropriate simulators," Tewolde said in the Monday statement.

The Washington Post also reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) received two complaints about Ethiopian's training and safety record in 2015, before the 737 MAX 8 was in use.

Tewolde announced on Saturday the airline would sue both publications for "publishing baseless defamatory stories", according to Ethiopia's state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate.

Ethiopian Airlines is Africa's largest carrier and has had a long association with American aviation.

Founded in 1945 with assistance from former American carrier Trans World Airlines (TWA), Boeing aircraft make up the majority of the Ethiopian fleet.

Tewolde called for the 737 MAX 8's grounding after the crash, but in the statement struck a conciliatory tone towards Boeing.

"Despite the tragedy, Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines will continue to be linked well into the future," he said.
Islamic State group fighters surrender to US-backed Syrian forces after losing the last sliver of their "caliphate" in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz

Suicide bombers, snipers, rockets -- Islamic State group fighters did everything they could to defend their last scrap of territory in eastern Syria, but their diminished resources were not enough.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday declared victory over the jihadists in the remote village of Baghouz, after reducing their once terrifying proto-state to a ghostly riverside camp.

From the top of an abandoned building overlooking the devastated encampment, SDF fighter Hamid Abdel Aal points to an earth berm half way to the Euphrates River.

"We arrived at night. We were there at that barricade," says the man in his thirties, a checkered green scarf wrapped around his jet black hair.

"In the morning, they attacked. They had snipers shooting at us," he says, a large yellow flag of the Kurdish-led SDF billowing behind him after their victory.

For four hours, the jihadists fought back, he said. But in the end, they retreated to the reedy river edges.

"Eight of them blew themselves up. Others handed themselves over," says Abdel Aal, who has been fighting with the Kurdish-led SDF since 2016.

This combination of pictures created on March 24, 2019 shows an assortment of improvised explosive devices and explosive belts lying on the ground in the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria after the defeat of IS jihadists

Abdel Aal, who hails from the northeastern Kurdish province of Hassakeh, shows off war scars acquired in years of battle.

On his right side is a gunshot wound sustained during the battle for the jihadists' former de-facto Syrian capital of Raqa, on his neck a scar from a mine explosion.

- 'Hiding in tunnels' -

Another fighter named Omar, a slim 31-year-old wearing a mismatching uniform, also recalls the past days of battle.

Even as SDF forces advanced backed by the air strikes of a US-led coalition, the jihadists "would attack sporadically", he says.

"Suicide bombers would leap out of tunnels. Most were foreigners -- from Kazakhstan, France, Saudi Arabia and Iraq."

There was a time when the jihadists injected fear and claimed deadly attacks across the Middle East and beyond.

There was a time when the jihadists injected fear and claimed deadly attacks across the Middle East and beyond, and ruled over millions in a "caliphate" the size of the United Kingdom

After declaring a "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq in 2014, they ruled over millions in territory the size of the United Kingdom.

But in the previously unheard of village of Baghouz, the group's fighters have emerged from tunnels and caves in the rocky hillside to surrender.

On Sunday, AFP reporters saw dozens of people -- mostly bearded men in heavy woollen tunics, some with their faces concealed in a scarf -- trudge out of the battered camp.

"They were hiding under the hill or in tunnels," Omar says.

"It's normal. At any time, you can see them emerge from a trench," says the father of three girls and a boy, who has also fought the jihadists on other fronts.

- 'Tom and Jerry' -

"The battles used to be more ferocious," Omar says.

"They used to be at the peak of their force. They used car bombs, heavy artillery, drones, and planted explosive devices in homes," he says.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces declared victory over the jihadists in the remote village of Baghouz after reducing their once terrifying proto-state to a ghostly riverside camp

At the height of their rule, IS collected taxes and stamped their own coins.

Now all that remains of their "caliphate" are charred vehicles, plastic basins, the odd gas stove, and blankets or sheets thrown over hastily dug-out trenches.

Two dead bodies, a blue plastic water can stuffed with explosives, and a book in the Cyrillic alphabet lie in the ruins.

"Until the end, they had rocket-launchers. They would shoot at our cars from afar," says SDF fighter Hisham Haroun, a gun in its holster slung over his shoulder.

"They were strong, but it wasn't the IS strength of yonder years," says the stocky combattant with grey eyes, a military cap on his head.

"When we started fighting IS, they had combat expertise, military strategies," he says, a walkie-talkie clipped into his pocket.

"But towards the end, it was like Tom and Jerry -- like a mouse in a corner," he adds.

"It no longer has a way out from the cat."
King Abdullah II of Jordan considers Jerusalem a "red line"

Jordan's King Abdullah II cancelled a visit Monday to Romania after its prime minister vowed to move her country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, his office said.

The king "decided to cancel his visit to Romania which was due to begin on Monday in solidarity with Jerusalem" following the announcement by Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, a royal court statement said.

Dancila's promise, made on Sunday at the annual conference of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC in Washington, broke with the position of both the European Union and her own president.

"I, as prime minister of Romania, and the government that I run, will move our embassy to Jerusalem," said Dancila, whose country holds the EU's rotating chairmanship.

Romania's centrist President Klaus Iohannis, who has opposed the embassy transfer as a breach of international law, criticized Dancila.

"Because of the amateurism of the prime minister our relation with this region is damaged", Iohannis said Monday during a meeting with mayors from across Romania.

"Romania built a relation based on trust with the Arab world... Now the prime minister has managed to cripple it. And for what? For nothing", Iohannis said, adding that King Abdullah took Dancila's decision as a "personal affront".

The move would align Romania with the United States which moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last year, sparking international criticism and Palestinian and Arab anger.

Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila's announcement breaks with the European Union's position on Jerusalem

International consensus holds that the status of Jerusalem -- one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- must first be decided through negotiations between the two sides.

A spokeswoman for the European Comission also reacted on Monday by saying "the position of the European Union has not changed". The EU supports the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, both with Jerusalem as their capital.

King Abdullah, whose country is the custodian of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, has repeatedly said that the question of Jerusalem is key to achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

The only way to do that, he has said, is by creating a Palestinian state in the disputed holy city alongside Israel.

Last week he called Jerusalem a "red line" for Jordan, while the kingdom's parliament recommended that the government expel Israel's ambassador in response to "Israeli aggression" at holy sites in the city.

Jordan is the only Arab country apart from Egypt to have a peace deal with Israel. But the treaty is overwhelmingly opposed by Jordanians, more than half of whom are of Palestinian origin.

Israel sees the entire city of Jerusalem as its capital while the Palestinians consider the eastern sector annexed by Israel as the capital of their future state.
Naresh Goyal, founder of Jet Airways, has stepped down from the company's board, according to a statement

India's troubled Jet Airways said Monday that founder Naresh Goyal has stepped down as chairman and left the company board as part of a rescue plan.

Jet, which has debts of more than $1 billion, said in a statement that its creditors would inject up to $218 million of "immediate funding support" into the airline.

The Mumbai-based carrier, which until recently was India's second biggest airline, has been forced to ground three-quarters of its 119-aircraft fleet.

This is because it was unable to pay aircraft lessors. Its pilots have also complained of delays in receiving their salaries.

Thousands of customers have been stranded in recent weeks after their flights were in some cases abruptly cancelled.

Jet employs more than 20,000 people.

A collapse would deal a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pragmatic pro-business reputation ahead of elections starting on April 11.

India's air passenger numbers have rocketed six-fold over the past decade with its middle class taking advantage of better connectivity and cheaper flights.

The country's aviation sector is projected to become the world's third-largest by 2025.

But like other carriers Jet has been badly hit by fluctuating global crude prices and a weak rupee, as well as fierce competition from budget rivals.

Alarm bells for Jet first rang in August when it failed to report its quarterly earnings or pay its staff, including pilots, on time. It later reported a loss of $85 million.
Map of Afghanistan locating Kunduz, where at least 13 civilians were killed in air strike by "international forces" last week

At least 13 civilians were killed, mostly children, in an air strike by "international forces" in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz late last week, the United Nations said Monday.

The strike happened between late Friday and early Saturday in support of ground operations conducted by pro-government forces fighting Taliban militants in the area.

"Initial fact-finding indicates that 10 of those killed were children, part of the same extended family whom were displaced by fighting elsewhere in the country," the UN mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.

The US is the only member of the international coalition in Afghanistan that provides air support in the conflict.

A NATO spokesperson told AFP the coalition was investigating the claims.

"Those who were killed were internally displaced families who had fled the war in Dasht-e-Archi district and had recently moved to the city," added Khosh Mohammad Nasratyar, member of Kunduz provincial council, saying three children were also wounded in the attack.

The deaths come as ordinary Afghans continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, with more civilians killed in the Afghan war in 2018 than during any other year on record, according to a UN report.

The uptick in violence in 2018 coincides with a significant increase in the number of deaths caused by the "deliberate targeting of civilians", according to the report, mostly stemming from suicide attacks by insurgents allied with the Taliban or Islamic State (IS).

An increase in air strikes by US and Afghan forces also led to more civilian deaths in 2018, with more than 500 killed by "aerial operations for the first time on record".

Fighting continues to flare across Afghanistan even as the US and Taliban press forward in peace talks aimed at ending nearly 18 years of fighting.

The ongoing peace talks with the Taliban follow years of escalating violence in Afghanistan.

According to the UN, at least 32,000 civilians have been killed and another 60,000 wounded in the last decade.

Kunduz has been the scene of repeated air strikes gone awry over the course of the conflict, including an Afghan strike last April on an outdoor religious gathering in Dashte Archi that killed or wounded 107 people, mostly children, according to the UN.

And in 2015, a US airstrike struck a Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) hospital amid heavy fighting in the area, killing 42 people, including 24 patients and 14 members of the NGO.
After the devastation wrought by Cyclone Idai, the new threat is from disease, the Red Cross warned

A powerful cyclone that pummelled southern African countries earlier this month has left survivors facing "a ticking bomb" of looming disease outbreaks, the Red Cross chief warned Monday.

Cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique's coast 10 days ago, unleashing hurricane-force wind and rain that flooded swathes of the poor country before battering eastern Zimbabwe -- killing at least 705 people across the two nations.

While aid workers have been rushing to bring emergency aid to the hundreds of thousands of affected people, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) stressed the urgent need to focus on hygiene, sanitation and clean water.

"We are sitting on a ticking bomb," Elhadj As Sy, IFRC Secretary General told reporters in Geneva after returning from a weekend visit to Mozambique.

He pointed to the "high risk of water-borne diseases", like cholera and typhus -- as well as malaria, which is endemic in the region.

The United Nations has also warned that stagnant water in many areas, decomposing bodies and the lack of good sanitation in overcrowded shelters in Mozambique in particular could create breeding grounds for such diseases.

The government has already identified some suspected cases of cholera, still to be confirmed, Sy said.

But while a large-scale cholera outbreak following this kind of disaster would not be surprising, the worst could still be avoided, he said.

"That is the reason why I am raising the alarm. Many of these water-borne diseases are a great risk, but they are preventable," he said.

- 'Preparing for the worst' -

The IFRC has deployed emergency response units to help improve hygiene, sanitation as well as clean water access, and Sy voiced optimism that this, joint with massive efforts by national authorities and other international players would pay off.

"We may not have this big outbreak," he said, emphasising though that "all depends on the speed, the quality, the scale and the magnitude of the responses we bring."

"We know how to prevent cholera, we know how to respond to cholera," he said, adding that "we are already preparing ... for the worst".

Women and children were disproportionaltely affected by the disaster, said IFRC chief Elhadj As Sy

More than two million people have been affected in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi where the storm started as a tropical depression causing flooding which killed 60 and displaced nearly a million people. Hundreds are still missing in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Sy said women and children had been disproportionately affected in the disaster.

"The worst thing is the children crying and looking for their parents... It is heartbreaking," he said, adding that it remained unclear how many children may have been orphaned.

He said IFRC initially had appealed for 10 million Swiss francs ($10 million, 8.9 million euros) to address the crisis.

"But when I was on the ground..., we realised very, very quickly that this is not going to be anywhere near the scale and magnitude to make any difference," Sy said.

The organisation had therefore tripled its appeal to 30 million francs, allowing it to reach some 200,000 people in need, he said.
Rahul Gandhi, president of India's main opposition Congress, is promising a safety net for Indians living beneath the poverty line in the world's second-most populous nation

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday vowed a "final assault on poverty" in India if elected prime minister in May, promising a minimum income for tens of millions of the country's poorest.

The Congress Party leader, broadly seen as trailing the incumbent Narendra Modi in the race for top office, described the scheme to pay a guaranteed basic income of $1,000 a year to 50 million poor families as the largest of its kind on Earth.

The sop to voters comes less than three weeks before Indians start casting their ballots in mammoth elections that stretch nearly six weeks until May 19.

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party routed Congress at the last general election in 2014 and his supporters hope the Hindu nationalist leader can deliver another crushing victory.

But Gandhi is trying to close the gap, promising among other things a safety net for Indians living beneath the poverty line in the world's second-most populous nation.

"People have suffered in the last five years. We will give justice to them," the scion of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty told reporters in Delhi.

"It is on this day that the Congress Party launched its final assault on poverty. It will be the world's largest minimum income scheme."

Gandhi, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather were all prime ministers, has attacked Modi's economic record, accusing him of failing to create jobs for the nation's youth or aid desperate farmers.

His proposed cash handouts for the poor are seen as modelled loosely on universal basic income, a concept attracting growing interest around the world.

UBI -- supported by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg among others as a way to reduce inequality -- involves people being given a flat lump sum by the state instead of subsidies and social security payments.

It has been tried out in several countries including Finland and Kenya, and has been promised by the ruling party of the small northern Indian state of Sikkim as well as Italy's new populist government.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Gandhi was using the poor for political gains with his new scheme.

"The announcement is a bluff. Congress has a history of doing politics over removing poverty and swindling people in name of poverty alleviation," he told reporters.

Modi has already unveiled a raft of sweeteners for farmers and the middle class in Asia's third-largest economy, hoping to deflect opposition salvos over his 2014 campaign promise to create "good days" for all.
Tens of thousands of people fled the IS jihadist bastion over the past months with women and children linked to Islamic State group trucked to the Kurdish-held camp of Al-Hol in northeastern Syria

More than 9,000 foreigners, mostly children, linked to the Islamic State group are present in a camp for the displaced in northeast Syria, a Kurdish spokesman said Monday.

The total number of foreigners in Al-Hol camp includes more than 6,500 children, Luqman Ahmi, official spokesman for the Kurdish authorities told AFP.

The figure was from a week ago, he said, before the US-led Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announced the end of the IS "caliphate" in the eastern village of Baghouz.

Tens of thousands of people fled the shrinking jihadist bastion over the past months.

Suspected jihadists have been weeded out and detained.

Women and children have meanwhile been trucked up to Kurdish-held camps for the displaced further north including Al-Hol.

The SDF on Saturday announced the end of the "caliphate" proclaimed by IS in 2014 across a large swathe of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
Police take away a plainclothes policeman injured in Monday's clashes

Police fired teargas and rubber bullets Monday to disperse more than 100 opposition supporters as Comoros awaited the results of elections President Azali Assoumani is tipped to win, AFP correspondents saw.

Two people were injured -- a protester and a plainclothes policeman -- when the group including several candidates began marching towards the capital Moroni's Independence Square to protest alleged electoral fraud.

The country is awaiting the results of Sunday's presidential elections which the opposition claims was riddled with flaws.

Heavily armed soldiers were deployed to several key locations in the capital with orders to prevent unrest, Interior Minister Mohamed "Kiki" Daoudou told AFP.

- 'Coup d'etat'? -

Twelve people were slightly hurt in Monday's police crackdown including three election candidates, a hospital source said.

Sixty-year-old Azali's main rivals, the Union of the Opposition, allege that irregularities at several polling stations reported by the electoral commission on Sunday amounted to a "coup d'etat" and called for public "resistance".

An electoral commission official told AFP on Sunday that a dozen booths were vandalised during polling.

Witnesses said several stuffed ballot boxes were found on Anjouan island -- an opposition stronghold.

Comoros President Azali Assoumani cast his vote on Sunday

Some opposition poll monitors were also prevented from carrying out their duties, they added.

"The security forces have taken a stand for a government which has lost its legitimacy," said opposition Juwa party candidate Mahamoudou Ahamada.

Counting started Sunday night at the National Assembly under police guard and Daoudou, the interior minister, said the first results would be announced by early Tuesday.

"We have counted (ballots from) Moroni and surrounding areas," an electoral commission official told AFP.

The commission was waiting for boxes from Anjouan and Moheli, two of the three islands that make up the country, the source said, adding that results would be released within the legally required five days.

The army intervened during vote-related unrest on Anjouan that left one protester dead and several others injured, according to an election observer group.

Daoudou told AFP he had "never seen more transparent elections in our country".

- 'Some problems - it's not a surprise' -

Police on Sunday blocked opposition candidates from reaching the National Assembly

Azali's campaign director Houmed Msaidie described opposition claims of election fraud as "pathetic", accusing them of creating "a climate of panic to invalidate the electoral process".

"If there was fraud, they should go to the appropriate authorities," he told AFP.

Azali played down the incidents.

"I've been told there have been some problems -- it's not a surprise," he said after casting his ballot at a school in Mitsoudje on the main island Grande Comore, adding that he was confident of victory.

Some 300,000 voters were eligible to vote in the Indian Ocean archipelago, which has a two-round system for electing the president.

Comoros Islands

The mainly Muslim nation of 800,000 people is one of the world's poorest and most coup-prone states -- there have been more than 20 attempted or successful power grabs since independence from France in 1975.

The Supreme Court barred some of Azali's major rivals, including former president Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, accused of corruption, from running.

Azali staged the poll after Comorans voted in a referendum, boycotted by the opposition, to support the extension of presidential mandates from one five-year term to two.

The change upset a fragile balance of power established in 2001 that sought to end separatist crises on Anjouan and Moheli, and halt the endless cycle of coups.
Osman Mirghani recovering after an incident in 2014 when he was beaten by armed men who raided the offices of his newspaper

Dozens of Sudanese journalists Monday protested in downtown Khartoum demanding the release of a prominent editor detained for criticising a state of emergency imposed by President Omar al-Bashir, witnesses said.

Osman Mirghani, editor-in-chief of independent daily Al-Tayar, was taken away by security agents from his office on the night of February 22 after making televised comments on Bashir's decision to impose emergency rule nationwide.

Bashir declared the state of emergency after an initial crackdown failed to quell widespread protests against his administration that erupted in December.

The journalists gathered in downtown Khartoum to express their solidarity with Mirghani and to fight for freedom of expression in the east African country.

"We are the voice of our own people and not of the regime," they chanted and carried banners demanding Mirghani's release, witnesses said, before dispersing.

The protest was organised by the Sudanese Journalists Network, a group belonging to the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) that is spearheading the protest campaign against Bashir's iron-fisted rule.

Mirghani was arrested after an interview with Sky News Arabia in which he said Bashir's measures would "spark a new wave" of protests and send a message that the public "can exert more pressure to achieve its goal of removing this regime".

The US-educated engineer turned journalist has often been targeted by security agents, who have detained him several times, confiscated copies of his newspaper or barred its publication without giving any reason.

Sudan's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) regularly seizes entire print runs of newspapers over articles it deems inappropriate, especially those criticising the authorities or government policies.

Sudan is ranked 174th out of 180 countries in media watchdog Reporters Without Borders 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

On Monday, scores of protesters also staged a demonstration in south Khartoum's district of Jabra, where Bashir inaugurated a hospital hours earlier.

Men and women chanted anti-government slogans as they walked through the district, witnesses said.

Protests first erupted on December 19 in response to a government decision to triple the price of bread.

But they swiftly escalated into nationwide demonstrations against Bashir's three-decade rule, with protesters calling on him to step down.

Protesters accuse his adminstration of mismanaging the country's economy that has led to soaring food prices, shortage of fuel and foreign currency.

Bashir, 75, has remained defiant in the face of protests.
The Syrian Democratic Forces say more than 5,000 jihadists -- Syrian and foreign -- have been captured since January and now demand the creation of an international court to try them

US-backed forces in Syria Monday called for the establishment of an international court in the country to try suspected Islamic State group jihadists.

The announcement came two days after the jihadist group's "caliphate" was declared defeated.

"We call on the international community to establish a special international tribunal in northeast Syria to prosecute terrorists," the Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement.

In this way, "trials can be conducted fairly and in accordance with international law and human rights covenants and charters", it said.

Syria's Kurds have previously warned that despite the demise of the IS proto-state, the thousands of foreign jihadists they have detained are a time-bomb the world urgently needs to defuse.

According to the SDF, more than 5,000 jihadists -- Syrian and foreign -- have been captured since January.

The Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria has warned it does not have capacity to detain so many people.

But the home countries of suspected IS members are reluctant to take them back, due to potential security risks and the likely public backlash.

"The Kurdish administration in northeast Syria has appealed to the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards members of the terrorist organisation detained by Kurdish security forces," read Monday's statement.

"But unfortunately there was no response," it said.

It called on the international community, particularly countries that have nationals detained, to support the establishment of an international tribunal, calling for legal and logistical cooperation and coordination.

In the past, two international tribunals were created by the international community: the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which tried genocide perpetrators in the African country, and the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, which tried those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in wars that tore apart the Balkans in the 1990s.
Cars pilled up in a street of the southern Iranian city of Shiraz where at least 11 people were killed and 68 injured in flooding

The death toll of floods that have swept across most Iranian provinces has risen to 18 with more than 70 injured, the country's emergency services said Monday.

National Emergency Service chief Pirhossein Koolivand said the casualty toll in the southern city of Shiraz was 17 dead and 74 injured, while another person was killed in Sarpol-e Zahab in the western province of Kermanshah, the service said on its website.

Iran has been facing unprecedented floods in 25 of its 31 provinces, the country's Crisis Management Organisation said.

The latest floods have struck mostly west and southwest Iran and follow major flooding on March 19 in the northeast's Golestan and Mazandaran provinces, for which no official casualty toll has been issued.

Emergency services have been hampered by Iranian New Year holidays, with many employees on vacation.

Flooded streets in the northern Iranian village of Agh Ghaleh

The police have advised against road trips in the coming days, with many roads blocked by flooding or landslides caused by heavy rains.

The Crises Management Organisation and the health ministry, in charge of hospitals, have cancelled all leave and been placed on full alert, while provincial chiefs have been ordered to remain at their posts.

Iran's meteorological service has warned that the rains will carry on into Wednesday.
Palestinian journalist Hajar Harb won an appeal over a graft report in which she claimed that doctors were writing false reports to allow people leave the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip for treatment

A Palestinian journalist was acquitted on appeal over an investigative report about corruption in the Gaza Strip Monday, according to Amnesty International and a campaign group.

In a 2016 report for Al-Araby TV, Hajar Harb alleged that doctors were writing false medical reports to let people leave Gaza for treatment, one of the few reasons Israel allows Palestinians out of the blockaded strip run by Hamas.

In October that year, two doctors launched legal proceedings accusing her of defamation and "publishing false information," according to Amnesty International.

The 34-year-old had been sentenced to six months in prison and fined, but the appeals court overruled the decision, Fathi Sabah, head of a group supporting Harb, told AFP.

The appeals court in Gaza "acquitted journalist Hajar Harb of all charges and closed her file," he said.

"This represents not just a victory for Hajar but for freedom of the press," he added.

Amnesty said Harb had been questioned by police at least four times following her report, but welcomed the decision of the court.

"It is really good news that Hajar Harb was acquitted today, she was standing a trial that should not have taken place to begin with," Saleh Higazi, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, told AFP.

"We hope that the Gaza authorities take this opportunity to signal that they are serious about freedom of expression and the press."

In 2018, the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms recorded 77 violations of press freedom in the Palestinian Authority-run West Bank and 37 such cases in Gaza.

Islamists Hamas have controlled Gaza for more than a decade and have recently cracked down violently on street protests.
Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra hit out during an interview with AFP in Hong Kong on Monday, accusing the junta of stacking the deck in its favour ahead of the vote and using dirty tricks at the ballot box

Thailand's election was marred by "irregularities" and "rigged" to ensure the military retain their political grip on the kingdom, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra told AFP in an interview on Monday.

"Everyone knows in Thailand, everyone international that observed the election in Thailand, knows that (there) is irregularities," he told AFP in English. "What we call, we should call, rigged elections is there. It's not good for Thailand."

The 69-year-old tycoon was ousted in a 2006 coup and has since chosen self-exile in Dubai, but has remained a towering figure in Thailand's decade-long treadmill of protests and coups.

In the months running up to Sunday's vote Thaksin had remained tight-lipped.

But he hit out during an interview with AFP in Hong Kong on Monday, accusing the junta of stacking the deck in its favour ahead of the vote and using dirty tricks at the ballot box.

"Any game, if the rule and the referee is not fair, the result will not be respected," he said.

Asked whether he thought the vote was rigged he replied: "Definitely".

When pushed for evidence he listed reports of suspiciously high ballots cast for the pro-military party in key provinces as well as the large number of votes that were invalidated by election officials.

"If you look at the number of ballots and the number of voter turnout, the ballots much more exceed the number of voter turnout in many, many provinces," he said.
There have been intermittent clashes in Hodeida since a ceasefire went into effect on December 18

Clashes in Yemen's Hodeida have left five fighters dead, medical and military sources said Monday, despite a ceasefire agreement between warring parties in the port city.

Fighting between Yemen's armed rebels, known as the Huthis, and pro-government forces erupted late Sunday in the eastern part of the city, a military official told AFP.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a doctor at Hodeida's main hospital said medics had received the bodies of three rebel fighters.

A doctor at a government-run field hospital in Hodeida said two loyalists had been killed in the hours-long clashes.

The Red Sea city of Hodeida last year emerged as the main frontline in the war. The city is home to Yemen's most valuable port and has been controlled by the rebels since 2014.

In December, the rival sides agreed to a ceasefire in Hodeida under a deal brokered by the UN in Sweden -- just weeks after forces loyal to the government were able to enter the rebel-held city.

Fighting in Hodeida, whose port serves as the country's lifeline, has largely stopped since the ceasefire went into effect on December 18, but there have been intermittent clashes.

Both the government and the Huthis have been accused of violating the truce deal, while an agreed redeployment of forces has also stalled.

The Yemen conflict pits the Iran-linked Huthis against a regional pro-government coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which intervened in the conflict four years ago.

Since then the war has killed around 10,000 Yemenis, according to the World Health Organization, triggering what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Some rights groups say the toll could be much higher.
Mourners in Karachi offer funeral prayers to the coffin of Syed Areeb Ahmed, a Pakistani victim of the Christchurch mosque attacks

Hundreds gathered to pay their final respects in Karachi on Monday as the remains of one of the Pakistani victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks were laid to rest back home.

Syed Areeb Ahmad was one of nine Pakistani nationals murdered in the New Zealand city earlier the month, when an accused white supremacist gunman killed 50 Muslim worshippers in two mosques.

Ahmad's body was flown into the southern port city of Karachi and transported to a relative's house where family and friends gathered before heading to the cemetery for the burial.

"It was very painful for the parents and all of us to wait. His funeral is taking place now that is a bit of relief for us," said Ahmad's uncle Aleemullah Khan.

"But his father is in so much agony as Areeb was his only son and the provider for the family," he added.

The other eight Pakistani victims were buried in New Zealand, according to the Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman.

Islamic custom dictates that the dead should be buried within 24 hours, but strained authorities were forced to move carefully with their investigation, delaying funerals by several days in some cases.

Ahmad's burial comes days after Pakistani officials posthumously awarded Naeem Rashid -- who tried to tackle the gunman before being shot dead -- with the order of bravery during Pakistan Day celebrations over the weekend.

During a visit to Islamabad Monday, the EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini offered her condolences to the victim's families, while warning against the growing threat of Islamophobia.

"It's a threat not only for Muslims but also for our societies because the strength of our societies lies in their diversity and whoever attacks the diversity of our societies, attacks the entire society, not just one segment of it," Mogherini told a press conference.
Many patients shun the cutting-edge Chinese-built hospital on the impoverished Comoran island of Anjouan because it is too expensive

The Bambao hospital, nestled in a tropical forest on Anjouan island in the Comoros, was meant to bring state-of-the-art medical care to the poor Indian Ocean nation.

Just two years later, the hospital is deep in debt and shunned by potential patients who find it too costly.

"A poisoned chalice", "a colossus with feet of clay", "a sinking ship" are among the cliches that chief paediatrician Ahmed Rakibou used to describe the facility funded and built under a Chinese aid scheme.

"If they had consulted us while building it, this could have been a jewel," the doctor said, regretting that "today it's all going straight to hell".

The hospital is some 30 kilometres (about 20 miles) east of Mutsamudu, the capital of Anjouan, the poorest of the three islands comprising the Union of the Comoros.

The aim was to make the hospital a flagship of Comoran healthcare, with 120 beds in a brand-new building, a team of 167 staff, many recruited locally, and modern equipment including a digital radio scanner.

China's ambassador to the Comoros, Xiao Ming, hailed a "new page in the annals of cooperation" at the opening ceremony, saying "public health has always had a priority place in Sino-Comoran cooperation".

But a project that cost four billion Comoran francs (8.1 million euros, $9.2 billion) today looks more like a ghost ship, with a handful of patients wandering its corridors in stifling heat. For lack of funds, about 100 staff jobs have not been filled.

- 'Not many patients' -

The scanner broke down soon after it was first used. The hospital took out a loan to get the machine working again

In the emergency ward, a doctor silently examines a child's injured arm. The lethargic mood is broken only by the arrival of an ambulance carrying the victim of a motorcycle accident.

"Our activity is very varied," nurse Ali Mosthadoi says cautiously before going further. "In fact, we don't have many patients."

Deputy director Sidi Chaanbane was more forthcoming. Since the hospital was opened by President Azali Assoumani in 2017, it has faced mounting difficulties, he said.

"At the start, the road from Mutsamudu was in a very bad state and patients had trouble getting here," the administrator said. "It's been repaired since, but our real problem is that we sorely lack equipment and staff."

In addition to staff salaries, the Comoran state provides just five million francs (10,000 euros) a month, but the hospital needs three times as much to pay its bills.

"We can't balance the budget," Chaanbane said.

Day-to-day management is a nightmare. The scanner broke down soon after it was first used. Repairs were not covered by the Chinese cooperation agreement, so the hospital took out a loan to get the machine working again.

The main problem is the cost of treatment, which is not free in the former French colony, independent since 1975.

Much of the funding comes from the French Development Agency (AFD) in its aid budget. France still rules over the fourth major island in the archipelago, Mayotte.

Comoros Islands

The three islands forming Comoros lack the standard of living on Mayotte and are far from able to make up the remaining health budget.

- 'Expensive' -

Rakibou said the hospital charges 125,000 Comoran francs for a Caesarian birth.

"What Comoran can pay that?" he asks. "No -- this hospital is not made for the population."

Kanissa Adbou, 27, brought her eight-year-old daughter who trod on a nail to the hospital. "The treatment is expensive. If I could afford it, I would go to Mayotte because there, hospital is free."

Those who believed that providing a modern hospital on Anjouan would dissuade Comorans from trying their luck on Mayotte have been disappointed, although the trip is illegal.

"People here prefer to pay 1,000 euros to go to Mayotte by kwassa kwassa (human traffickers' dugouts) than to come to us," a nurse said. "They trust only white doctors."

The failure to put the sophisticated equipment at Bambao to regular good use enrages Ahmed Abdallah, secretary general of the Hombo public hospital in Mutsamudu.

"The money spent there would have been enough to repair our buildings, replace our equipment and build roads so that sick people could come from nearby villages," he said.

"We don't have even a single ambulance, yet the government has I don't know how many four-wheel drives."

The hospital's halls are largely deserted as potential patients find treatments too costly

Health Minister Fatma Mbaraka declined to respond to requests for comment from AFP.

But Rakibou refuses to throw in the towel. He hopes that the winner of Sunday's presidential election and the international community will come up with increased funding. "It wouldn't take much to change our lives!" he said.
The jewel in crown

South African conglomerate Naspers, the continent's biggest media company, said Monday that it will spin off online assets into a new company with a primary listing in Amsterdam, creating Europe's biggest listed consumer internet company.

The subsidiary, called NewCo, will group all of Naspers' internet investments outside of its home market, including stakes in Chinese giant Tencent, mail.ru, OLX and Avito, it said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal put the value of the 31-percent Tencent stake held by Naspers alone at $134 billion.

NewCo, to be listed on the Euronext exchange in Amsterdam, will be 75-percent owned by Naspers, with a free float of around 25 percent, it said.

NewCo will comprise assets in online classifieds, food delivery, payments, etail, travel, education, and social and internet platforms sectors, and others.

Naspers gave no date for the listing, but said it would happen no earlier than the second half of this year.

"The listing will present an appealing new opportunity for international tech investors to have access to our unique portfolio of international internet assets," said Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk in the statement.

Naspers' fast growth has made it a behemoth on the Johannesburg stock exchange, where it alone makes up almost a quarter of the SWIX index, compared to five percent five years ago, it said.

Institutional investors in South Africa have come up against limits on holdings of a single stock, forcing them to sell Naspers shares.

The Euronext listing is to address that problem, as well as create shareholder value, the company said.

Even after the spinoff Naspers will remain the biggest company listed in South Africa.

NewCo will receive a secondary listing in Johannesburg, it said.
The Syrian Democratic Forces say more than 5,000 jihadists have been captured since January

Syria's Kurds on Monday called for an international court to be set up in the country to try suspected Islamic State group jihadists following the announced fall of their "caliphate".

IS imposed its brutal interpretation of Islam on millions living in the proto-state that it declared across a large swathe of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014.

The extremists stand accused of carrying out numerous crimes including mass executions, kidnappings and rape.

"We call on the international community to establish a special international tribunal in northeast Syria to prosecute terrorists," the Syria Kurdish administration said.

In this way, "trials can be conducted fairly and in accordance with international law and human rights covenants and charters", it said in a statement.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday announced the end of the "caliphate" after defeating IS jihadists in the eastern village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces led the ground offensive against the jihadists' last strip of territory in Syria

Kurdish-led forces, backed by a US-led coalition, have detained thousands of suspected IS fighters in more than four years battling the jihadists, including around 1,000 foreigners.

While alleged IS fighters are held in jail, women and children suspected of being affiliated to the group are housed in Kurdish-run camps for the displaced.

More than 9,000 foreigners, including over 6,500 children, were held in the main camp of Al-Hol, a Kurdish spokesman said, giving the latest figures from a week ago.

- 'Not realistic' -

The Kurdish administration has repeatedly called for the repatriation of foreign IS suspects, and warned it does not have capacity to detain so many people.

Tens of thousands of people streamed out of the last Islamic State group stronghold in Syria in recent months

But the home countries of suspected IS members have been reluctant to take them back, due to potential security risks and a likely public backlash.

"The Kurdish administration in northeast Syria has appealed to the international community to shoulder its responsibilities" with regards to IS suspects, it said Monday.

"But unfortunately there was no response."

It urged the international community, particularly countries that have nationals detained, to support the establishment of an international tribunal.

A top foreign official for the Kurdish administration said foreign experts could work side by side with local judges.

"They could be foreign judges working with local judges and be experts in crimes committed by terrorist groups," Abdel Karim Omar told AFP.

Previous international courts include the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which tried genocide perpetrators in the African country.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia meanwhile tried those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in conflicts that tore apart the Balkans in the 1990s.

Joel Hubrecht, a Paris-based expert in transitional justice expert, said setting up an special tribunal to judge IS was a good idea in theory in view of the international dimension of its alleged crimes.

"The idea of an international criminal court is relevant and interesting," he told AFP.

"But in northeast Syria it's not realistic."

The Syrian Kurdish authorities are not internationally recognised, setting up such a tribunal usually takes time, and ensuring witness protection is tough in a war-torn country, he said.

- Humanitarian crisis -

Despite the declared victory against IS in Baghouz, the jihadists still maintain a presence in the country's vast desert and have continued to claim deadly attacks in SDF-held territory.

President Bashar al-Assad's forces have made a territorial comeback against rebels and jihadists with key Russian backing since 2015, but the war is far from over.

The battle to end the "caliphate" has triggered an exodus of tens of thousands of people -- mainly women and children -- out of crumbling IS territory, sparked a humanitarian crisis.

The main camp in Al-Hol is now bursting at the seams, housing more than 70,000 people -- in a place designed for just 20,000.

"Humanitarian conditions in Hol camp are extremely critical," World Food Programme spokeswoman Marwa Awad said Monday.

At least 140 people -- overwhelmingly young children -- have died on the way to the camp or shortly after arriving, the International Rescue Committee aid group says.

The Kurdish administration on Monday called on the United Nations to improve living conditions at the Al-Hol camp.

It particularly called for more humanitarian assistance, expanding the camp, and better water and sewage networks.

Syria's war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Apart from fighting IS, the Kurds have largely stayed out of the civil war, instead setting up their own semi-autonomous institutions in the northeast of the country.
As roads to affected communities have been reconnected in southern Africa, the full scale of the humanitarian crisis has been revealed for the first time since the storm struck

Survivors of a powerful cyclone that pummelled southern Africa were to begin receiving emergency medicine, food and tents on Tuesday as floodwaters receded, while the Red Cross warned of "a ticking bomb" of disease in the storm-struck region.

Cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique's coast, unleashing hurricane-force wind and rain that flooded swathes of the poor country before battering eastern Zimbabwe -- killing more than 700 people across the two nations.

The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Elhadj As Sy said Monday "we are sitting on a ticking bomb" as he called for renewed efforts to address the worsening health situation.

Flooding in southern Africa

As logistical conditions improved and roads to affected communities have been reconnected, the full scale of the humanitarian crisis has been revealed for the first time since disaster hit on March 15.

More than two million people have been affected in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi where the storm started as a tropical depression causing deadly flooding which displaced nearly a million people.

Hundreds are still missing in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

"The conditions for rescue are improving. Yesterday a road reopened which was really important to allow officials to work and rescue," Mozambique's Land Minister Celso Correa told reporters on Monday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' Sebastian Rhodes Stampa also said Monday that 30 aid missions were flying in while others were going by road "so we can really deliver volume".

More than two million people have been affected in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi where the storm started as a tropical depression

"We are packing food and shelter now -- they will go out (Tuesday) both north and south," he said.

In New York, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock launched an appeal to provide Mozambique with $282 million to help with relief efforts over the next three months.

Lowcock told reporters that similar campaigns would be instigated in the coming days for Zimbabwe and Malawi.

- 'Children looking for their parents' -

Buzi, one of Mozambique's worst-hit towns located 30 kilometres (19 miles) southwest of the city of Beira, became reachable by road on Monday -- for the first time since the storm hit.

The UN has launched a fresh aid appeal to help with relief efforts in the stricken areas

"It will now be much faster to deliver aid," Stampa added.

In Buzi, survivor Joao Zacaria said that "one man who had 40 cows lost them all. Forty, can you imagine!"

IFRC head Sy, who had just returned from the region, warned of a "high risk of water-borne diseases" like cholera and typhus -- as well as malaria, which is endemic in the region.

A procession of mourners carried the coffin containing the body of Tomas Joaquim Chimukme, who was killed by the cyclone, through saturated marshland outside Beira.

Mourners carry the coffin of Tomas Joaquim Chimukme outside Beira, Mozambique

Many of those attending wore open sandals in the water which was ankle-high.

The UN has warned that stagnant water in many areas, decomposing bodies and the lack of sanitation in overcrowded shelters in Mozambique could create breeding grounds for such diseases.

The government has already identified some suspected but unconfirmed cases of cholera, Sy said.

"That is the reason why I am raising the alarm. Many of these water-borne diseases are a great risk, but they are preventable," he added.

"The worst thing is the children crying and looking for their parents... It is heartbreaking," he said, adding that it remained unclear how many children may have been orphaned.

Medical services in the affected region were stretched even before the cyclone hit and according to aid group MSF, Beira hospital's operating theatre sustained serious damage. As many as 17 health centres have lost their roofs, it added in a statement.

The South African military has deployed several aircraft to the affected area and an EU-funded World Food Programme chopper is supporting rescue and recovery efforts.
France's armed forces chief says jihadist forces in Mali are on the back foot but the fight to restore peace in the poor Sahel country will be long.

Speaking to AFP and French radio station RFI, General Francois Lecointre said recent attacks by jihadists in Mali should be seen as the sign of a beleaguered enemy.

"The reason why the enemy has reacted so brutally is precisely because we went after him in his last holdouts," he said last week while visiting troops from France's Operation Barkhane in Mali.

"Another probable reason is that it has to restore a certain reputation with the public" for its ability to mount attacks, he argued.

Since the start of the month, 26 Malian troops have been killed in jihadist attacks central Mali, sparking angry protests by their relatives.

"These highly symbolic attacks, which come on the heels of very powerful blows by Barkhane and its allies, are the reaction of someone who feels cornered," Lecointre said.

"For me, it's a positive sign."

But the enemy had not yet been defeated, he said.

"Obviously.. these groups are trying to get themselves back together and forge alliances because they have been weakened."

- 'Long-term battle' -

France sent troops into Mali in 2013 to help drive back Islamist insurgents who took control of the north of the country.

And Operation Barkhane, which has 4,500 troops, remains in place, with 2,700 soldiers in Mali to support poorly-equipped local military forces.

But the deployment comes at a hefty cost and has been subjected to political scrutiny.

Lecointre, 57, said Mali faced a long-term battle for stability.

"I am cautious," he said.

"It will be a long battle to change mindsets, to ensure the public believes in its State, in a Mali whose competence extends across the whole of the country.

"This is not the kind of work that can be done at the flick of a switch -- it has to bring together the military effect and real work in communication and development."

On Saturday, 130 Fulani villagers in central Mali were killed by an ethnic militia, a massacre that prompted the government to sack senior military officers and break up the militia.

- G5 Sahel task -

Lecointre also admitted that early expectations for a French-backed five-nation anti-terror force in the Sahel had been premature.

Conceived in 2015, the G5 Sahel aims to pool the military strengths of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

The French-backed force carried out its first operation 18 months ago but faces major obstacles in terms of training, equipment and funding. It has still only mustered 4,000 out of a proposed 5,000-man complement.

"I think we were too impatient," Lecointre said.

"We probably pushed for this joint force to make a symbolic commitment to carry out operations when it was not completely ready," he acknowledged

There were political gains from the launch, which saw the G5 Sahel gaining a measure of international support, he said.

"However, it is always difficult to build an army, an operational force," he said.

"It's politically complicated."

But the force is now operating within an established legal framework, he said.

"And now the forces made available for the G5 Sahel have to reach capacity, while understanding they are subject to their national armies which are heavily engaged in their respective territories."

Lecointre said the rising number of jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso was "a source of concern".

"It indicates a spread of the jihadist movement to the south," he said.

France was stepping up its cooperation with Burkina Faso and was looking at ways of helping it combat jihadist encroachment in frontier zones, he said.
Grounded: The Boeing 737 MAX

An anti-stall system believed to have caused a fatal October jet crash in Indonesia was probably also involved in this month's crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed all 157 people onboard, the carrier's CEO said on Monday.

Tewolde GebreMariam told The Wall Street Journal an automatic anti-stalling system specific to the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was "to the best of our knowledge" activated on the fatal March 10 crash of Flight ET 302 minutes into its journey to Nairobi.

Although he is not a part of the official crash probe and gave no details on how he knew of the system's activation, Tewolde's comment adds pressure on Boeing to fix the popular aircraft model, which was grounded worldwide after the disaster.

Ethiopia's transport minister last week said "clear similarities" exist between the Ethiopian crash and the October crash of an Indonesian Lion Air jet which killed all 189 passengers and crew.

Investigators in that case have honed in on the MCAS automated anti-stalling system designed to point the nose of the 737 MAX 8 downward if it is in danger of stalling, or losing lift.

Boeing is expected this week to unveil a patch to the MCAS system, with the aim of getting the model back in the air.

- Confidence -

Tewolde's comments to The Wall Street Journal came the same day as the CEO issued a statement saying the carrier "believes in" Boeing despite the crash.

"Let me be clear: Ethiopian Airlines believes in Boeing. They have been a partner of ours for many years," he wrote.

"We will work with investigators in Ethiopia, in the US and elsewhere to figure out what went wrong," Tewolde added.

He also hit back at reports critical of Ethiopian's safety record.

The New York Times reported last week that the pilot of the doomed flight had not trained on a 737 MAX 8 simulator.

"Contrary to some media reports, our pilots who fly the new model were trained on all appropriate simulators," Tewolde said in the Monday statement.

The Washington Post also reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) received two complaints about Ethiopian's training and safety record in 2015, before the 737 MAX 8 was in use.

Tewolde announced on Saturday the airline would sue both publications for "publishing baseless defamatory stories", according to Ethiopia's state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate.

Ethiopian Airlines is Africa's largest carrier and has had a long association with American aviation.

Founded in 1945 with assistance from former American carrier Trans World Airlines (TWA), Boeing aircraft make up the majority of the Ethiopian fleet.

Tewolde called for the 737 MAX 8's grounding after the crash, but in the statement struck a conciliatory tone towards Boeing.

"Despite the tragedy, Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines will continue to be linked well into the future," he said.
The two Saudi sisters said they made a break from an abusive family during a holiday in Sri Lanka last September

Two Saudi sisters marooned in Hong Kong have arrived in a safe third country after securing humanitarian visas, their law firm said on Monday, ending a months-long ordeal as they sought sanctuary from an abusive family.

The siblings -- the latest example of Saudi women escaping the ultra-conservative kingdom only to find themselves stranded in foreign cities -- said they were "thrilled" their story had a "happy ending" after making a public appeal for their safety.

The young women, aged 20 and 18, said they made a break from an abusive family during a holiday in Sri Lanka last September with the intention of heading for Australia, but they only made it as far as Hong Kong.

The pair -- who use the aliases Reem and Rawan -- said they were intercepted at the airport by Saudi consular officials and their air tickets cancelled. Fearful they might be abducted, they entered Hong Kong as visitors but later had their passports revoked, leaving them stranded in the semiautonomous Chinese city.

The sisters, who had previously said they lived in constant fear of being found by Saudi authorities and their family while in Hong Kong, were finally able to leave the city late last week after being granted "emergency humanitarian visas" and start new lives in another country, their law firm said.

A video posted on the firm's Facebook page showed the sisters jumping around excitedly as they departed Hong Kong airport.

"We are thrilled that our story has a happy ending and that we have found our way to safety to re-start our lives free of violence and oppression. We wish for our story to offer hope to others who face similar situations," Reem and Rawan said in a statement.

"We want to say loud and clear to the Saudi authorities and other regimes which treat women unequally: never underestimate the strength of brave women," they added.

- 'Immense courage' -

Their lawyer Michael Vidler did not disclose their new location "to ensure their future security", saying no further details would be provided, including on the application process and their new lives.

Vidler said the sisters would not give interviews again, but thanked local and international media for their support.

The two women last month told AFP that chronic physical abuse by male family members prompted them to flee. They said they had also renounced Islam, a crime technically punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.

Their testimony cannot be independently verified and Saudi authorities have yet to comment on their allegations.

Lynn Maalouf, Middle East research director at Amnesty International, said the sisters "showed immense courage and took huge risks to escape the repeated abuse by their male relatives".

"The sisters must be allowed to build their lives without living in fear that their family or the Saudi authorities will force them back," she added.

Many Saudi women who flee overseas have spoken to media and rights groups of persuasive and coercive tactics used by Saudi officials and family members to pursue those who escape.

At the beginning of the year, 18-year-old Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun drew global attention with her dramatic escape from an allegedly abusive family, gaining refugee status in Canada.
Felix Tshisekedi was elected in January

DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi on Monday paid tribute at a genocide memorial on the sidelines of an economic forum in Rwanda, a highly symbolic gesture in bilateral relations badly hobbled by the 1994 bloodbath.

The Twitter account of the genocide memorial published a video of Tshisekedi, who was elected in January, laying a wreath at the memorial in Kigali, a diplomatic first.

The gesture came ahead of the 25th anniversary on April 7 of the start of the massacre, in which at least 800,000 people -- mainly minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus -- were killed in 100 days.

After the carnage, many of the men who carried out the massacres fled into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, destabilising the region to this day.

Tsishekedi's tribute sparked anger in the DRC.

Some on social media blasted Rwandan President Paul Kagame for his record on human rights and for Rwanda's own reputed role in the turmoil in the east of the country.

Many Congolese accuse of Rwanda of arming and supporting rebel militias, pillaging the DRC's mineral wealth.

A rights group, the Struggle for Change (Lucha) also drew attention to the DRC's own bloody past, which includes Belgium's brutal colonial occupation and two civil wars in the past quarter of a century.

"When will there be memorials and an official commemoration for the millions of dead Congolese, from (Belgian King) Leopold II to the wars and violence of these last 25 years?" it asked.
Dhaka says shifting 100,000 refugees to the muddy silt islet of Bhashan Char in the Bay of Bengal will take pressure off overcrowded camps along its southern border

The United Nations said Monday it was examining how to assist Bangladesh in relocating thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote island despite warnings it could trigger fresh humanitarian upheaval.

Dhaka says shifting 100,000 refugees to a muddy silt islet in the Bay of Bengal will take pressure off overcrowded camps along its southern border, where almost a million Rohingya Muslims live in cramped tent cities.

But the move to Bhashan Char -- which is an hour away by boat from the mainland -- is unpopular with many refugees and experts have raised concerns about the island's capacity to withstand the monsoon that tears along Bangladesh's coastline every year.

Bangladesh, which has built shelters and flood walls on the island, says it will begin relocating refugees there on a voluntary basis from April.

The UN resident coordinator's office in Bangladesh said Monday it would "engage constructively" with the government to ensure any refugees moved there could live "in safe and sustainable living conditions".

"We are also examining the potential operational implications of setting up a humanitarian response on Bhasan Char, including the requirements, time frames and costs involved in providing services," the statement said, stressing that any relocation be on a voluntary basis.

The island only emerged from the water in 2006 and lies in a coastal area prone to flooding, cyclones and other extreme weather that has killed hundreds of thousands in past decades.

A UN special rights rapporteur in January warned rushing refugees to the island could spark a "new crisis".

But Dhaka says the island is ready, pointing to a newly-constructed three-metre (nine-feet) embankment they say will keep out tidal surges in the event of a cyclone.

Some UN officials have visited the island but access has not been granted to the media.

Bangladesh has spent some $280 million transforming the muddy strip but previous deadlines for shifting the Rohingya from camp sites in Cox's Bazar have passed unmet.

The camps there host nearly a million refugees who have fled persecution in neighbouring Myanmar in waves going back decades.

The largest exodus was in August 2017, when the first of about 740,000 Rohingya escaped violence in Myanmar described by UN investigators as bearing the hallmarks of genocide.

The fetid camps quickly swelled into the largest refugee settlement on earth, with huge levels of humanitarian aid needed to care for their inhabitants.

The UN refugee agency said Monday nearly $1 billion was needed for the Rohingya in Bangladesh but only a tiny fraction had been raised so far.

Khaled Khalifa, a regional UNHCR representative, told reporters in Dhaka "every penny short" of the $920 million needed this year would impact lives on the ground.
Biar (centre) was detained last July after criticising the failure of the new country's leadership to stop five years of civil war costing an estimated 00,000 lives

A high court in Juba on Monday charged prominent South Sudanese activist and economist Peter Biar Ajak, 34, with terrorism, after eight months in detention with limited contact with the outside world.

Biar was detained in July 2018 after comments he made criticising the failure of the new country's leadership on all sides to stop five years of civil war in which nearly 400,000 people are thought to have died.

Prosecutor Deng Acuil charged Biar and six fellow accused, including businessman and philanthropist Kerbino Agok Wol, who has been jailed since April 2018, with sabotage against the state, banditry, possession of firearms and public disorder.

The charges relate to an October riot in the National Security Service headquarters -- a much feared detention centre known as "Blue House" -- in which detainees reportedly briefly overpowered guards before surrendering.

The accused all pleaded not guilty.

None of the accused has yet to face charges linked to their original arrests.

"This is a confusing part of it because these persons were first arrested on different reasons which are not known to us. They are being brought to court on other reasons which is an event of October," said Biar's lawyer Philip Anyang.

He said Biar "is a civilian who has never touched a gun, held a gun or been involved in any rebellion or any thing to do with the army," Anyang told AFP.

Wol, a former security officer who became a businessman and runs his own private security firm as well as an NGO to empower youth, told the court he was forced to give a statement while "guns were on my head" during the investigation.

Biar is an economist who has worked for the World Bank, studied in the US in Philadelphia and at Harvard, and is studying for his doctorate in Britain's University of Cambridge. His arrest prompted condemnation from the United States.

South Sudan descended into war in 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy and fellow former rebel leader Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

The pair had risen to power during Sudan's 1983-2005 civil war between north and south, before South Sudan won independence in 2011.

Machar was reinstated under a peace deal as vice-president in 2016, but fled the capital months later chased by Kiir's tanks and helicopter gunships.

He is due to return to Juba in May as vice president under a reincarnation of the peace deal signed in September 2018. But progress in the latest deal has been slow amid multiple lingering unresolved issues.
US President Donald Trump faces more investigations after being cleared of collusion with Russia in the Mueller probe

The Mueller investigation is over, but President Donald Trump now faces a slew of other investigations by federal prosecutors in New York and Democrats in Congress that could create more deep troubles for his administration.

The biggest threat comes from federal prosecutors in New York, who have already prised a guilty plea on multiple charges from Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and who could be a dangerous witness against the president in other cases.

Investigators in the notoriously aggressive SDNY office -- Southern District of New York -- and its sister bureau in Brooklyn, are believed to be looking at a whole manner of possible wrongdoing by Trump, his family, and his Trump Organization real estate group.

Those range from Trump's election-eve hush payments for alleged former mistresses, financial improprieties surrounding the celebrations of his inauguration, and possibly illegal funnelling of foreign money to the Trump campaign and inauguration.

The New York state attorney general has opened inquiries into violations by the Trump family charity, real estate dealings, and taxes.

Most of those probes are taking place in secret, but the state attorney general has already sued Trump, members of his family and the Trump Foundation alleging it was used as a virtual slush fund for family needs in "a pattern of persistent illegal conduct."

- Hush payments to mistresses -

Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump, could be a dangerous witness in further investigations focused on Trump

In all of those, Cohen, who has been sentenced to three years in prison, is potentially a dangerous witness as a longtime insider who has turned against his former boss.

One particularly explosive case is the SDNY probe into the payoffs Cohen illegally arranged to buy the silence of at least two women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, who claimed credibly to have had affairs with Trump before he ran for president.

Those were part of "catch-and-kill" arrangements with tabloid newspaper National Enquirer, which Cohen has testified had for years financial arrangements to protect Trump from any damaging personal news.

Cohen testified that the payment he made to Daniels, which was ruled an illegal use of campaign funds, was ordered and reimbursed by Trump himself -- a possible criminal act.

A third woman, Summer Zervos, a one-time contestant on Trump's reality television show "The Apprentice," has sued him for defamation after he said she lied in claiming that he groped and forcibly kissed her.

Trump's lawyers have failed to get the case thrown out, opening the door to the possibility that the president could be forced to confront his accuser in court as a witness.

- Fraud at the Trump Organization? -

In his February testimony in Congress, Cohen raised issues of financial malfeasance by Trump and the Trump Organization in banking and real estate deals.

He said Trump falsified data in financial disclosures to banks and insurance companies, providing more meat for federal investigators.

For that and the probe into the Trump Foundation, eyes are now on the figure who likely knows more secrets about Trump than anyone else: Allen Weisselberg, the accountant who has served the Trump Organization for four decades.

- Profiting as president -

The Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC

Meanwhile in the US capital Trump is fighting a lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of Maryland and Washington alleging that Trump's continued ownership of a hotel in Washington frequented by lobbyists, company executives and foreign governments violates the Constitution's "emoluments" ban on the president profiting from his office.

Evidence has shown that Trump has reaped significant financial gains from the Trump International Hotel just a few blocks from the White House, and from his properties in New York, based on the patronage of those seeking favor with the president.

It's not clear how far the emoluments case will go: the Justice Department is fighting to have it quashed as baseless.

- Democrats push probes -

And in Congress, Democrats have stepped up pressure with several investigations of the president.

The main one, by the House Intelligence Committee, parallels the Mueller probe's focus on Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign had a role in that.

And the House Judiciary Committee is examining allegations of obstruction of justice against Trump, after Mueller declined to conclude anything from his evidence on this subject.

"We're going to move forward with our investigation into obstruction of justice, abuses of power, corruption, to defend the rule of law, which is our job," committee chairman Jerry Nadler said.
More than 6,500 foreign children are living in the overcrowded Al-Hol camp in Syria

The Kurdish administration in northeast Syria said Monday it handed over three Russian orphans to a delegation from Moscow who will transfer them back home.

Kurdish foreign affairs official Abdel Karim Omar said the children, aged five to seven, are being sent back at the request of Russia.

He told AFP their parents had been affiliated with the Islamic State group, although it was not immediately clear how or when they arrived in Syria.

A member of the Russian government delegation said the siblings are from the country's North Caucasus region. The majority-Muslim southern territory is home to most of the Russians that joined IS.

Nelly Kouskova said the children were orphaned nearly one year ago, without providing details.

Their aunt back in Russia had asked authorities to help bring them home, Kouskova told a press conference.

Since the death of their parents the children have been living in the Al-Hol camp, a Kurdish-run shelter designed to accomodate 20,000 people.

But due to the mass exodus of people fleeing the battle to oust IS from its final strip of territory -- over which Kurdish-led forces claimed victory on Saturday -- the numbers have swelled to 70,000.

More than 9,000 foreigners, including over 6,500 children, are being held in the overcrowded camp, the Kurdish administration said on Monday.

Syria's Kurds have repeatedly called for the repatriation of foreign IS suspects and their relatives.

But the home countries of suspected IS members are reluctant to take them back, due to potential security risks and the likely public backlash.

Russia, however, can be seen as a pioneer in systematically returning children of suspected jihadists home.

Last month, 27 children aged four to 13 were flown from Iraq to the Moscow region. That followed the repatriation from Iraq of 30 children in late December.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in late 2017 called the drive to return the children "a very honourable and correct deed" and promised to help.

Some other foreign governments have also taken steps to bring the children of jihadists home.

France has repatriated five orphaned children of French jihadists' from camps in northeast Syria, the government said on March 15, in the first such transfer.

Belgium has said it will help the repatriation of children younger than 10, as long as the link with one Belgian parent is proven.
Cars pilled up in a street of the southern Iranian city of Shiraz where at least 11 people were killed and 68 injured in flooding

Major floods across much of Iran have left 19 people dead and more than 90 injured, blocking roads and triggering landslides with warnings of more heavy rain to come, emergency services said Monday.

Such a widespread flood threat is unprecedented in arid Iran, which until 2018 was dealing with decades of drought.

Seventeen people were killed and 94 injured in the southern city of Shiraz, one person died in the western province of Kermanshah and another in Lorestan, also in the west, rescue services said.

The national emergency has struck in the middle of Iranian New Year holidays, with many relief workers also on vacation.

Many of those killed in Shiraz were holidaymakers caught in the flood as they entered the city in their cars.

With 25 of Iran's 31 provinces experiencing floods or facing imminent threat, the country's National Crisis Management Committee was activated at cabinet level.

"I have ordered all governor-generals, all provincial managers and officials nationwide to stay at their posts throughout the next 72 hours which is the peak of the flood threat," First Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri said on state television after the committee's first meeting.

President Hassan Rouhani issued a statement expressing condolences to victims' families and thanking emergency services and the military for their responses to the crisis.

He demanded an "immediate investigation" into the causes of the high death toll in Shiraz.

Since the flooding, Rouhani had previously been absent from public view, with his deputies and ministers taking his place in visiting disaster-struck areas.

Reports on the ultra-conservative Fars news agency that Rouhani has been vacationing on the southern Gulf island of Qeshm triggered criticism from his hardline opponents and even some reformist allies.

- Situation 'critical' -

Iran's meteorological service has warned of more heavy showers until Wednesday, forecasting as much as 15 centimetres (almost six inches) of rainfall in some western provinces in the next 24 hours.

The situation is "critical" in the provinces of Khuzestan, Lorestan and Kohgiluyeh-Va-Boyerahmad, said Deputy Interior Minister Mehdi Jamalinejad, quoted by the ISNA news agency.

The latest floods follow major flooding on March 19 in the northeast's Golestan and Mazandaran provinces, for which no official casualty toll has been issued.

Flooded streets in the northern Iranian village of Agh Ghaleh

The police have advised against road trips in the coming days, with many roads blocked by flooding or landslides caused by heavy rains.

Tehran's Mehrabad Airport announced delays or cancellations of flights to the provinces.

The Crises Management Organisation and the health ministry, in charge of hospitals, have cancelled all leave and been placed on full alert.

Local media reported that hundreds of villages have lost electricity and water, many of them cut off as access roads were washed away.

- Climate change -

The army has been called in to help the worst affected areas, and villages are being evacuated for fear of rivers and dams overflowing.

Residents of the northern Iranian village of Agh Ghaleh use a boat in a flooded street

Officials have gone on state television to broadcast urgent calls for holidaymakers as well nomadic tribes in western Iran to move to high ground and away from rivers.

Flood warnings have gone out for central provinces such as Isfahan and the capital Tehran.

"Climate change is forcing itself on our country," said Energy Minister Reza Ardekanian, who is in charge of dams and water supply.

"These unprecedented floods in our country are because of climate change worldwide," he said, quoted by Tasnim news agency.
More than 550 people were killed last year in the third-largest US city of Chicago -- more than the combined total in New York and Los Angeles, both with greater populations

Chicago police Monday charged two African Americans with the "hateful murder" of a Hispanic off-duty officer, shot to death over the weekend in a city fighting to control gun violence.

Authorities charged Menelik Jackson, 24, and Jovan Battle, 32, with the shooting death Saturday of officer John Rivera, 23, in the city's tony downtown area. Police were still searching for a third suspect.

Rivera and a friend, who was wounded, were gunned down in their car -- seemingly picked at random after Jackson and Battle failed to locate a group of Hispanic men with whom they had fought earlier in the evening, police said.

"In an act of cowardice, Mr. Jackson went to get a gun to settle this petty dispute, which resulted in him murdering the first Hispanic man that he came in contact with," Chicago police chief Eddie Johnson told a news conference.

Both suspects were known to police, with a history of criminal convictions. They face one count each of first degree murder and three counts of attempted murder.

Johnson, who called the crime a "hateful murder," said hate crimes charges were possible.

Rivera's supervising commander said colleagues were "struggling" with his death.

"He was such a good person -- not only a good police officer, but a good person," Commander William Bradley said.

The killing came at a time when police have been making progress in combating a gun violence epidemic that has made the city one of the most violence-prone in the country.

More than 550 people were killed last year in the nation's third largest city -- more than the combined total in New York and Los Angeles, both with greater populations.

So far this year, 60 people have been murdered, a 39 percent reduction compared to last year.
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita arrives at the Ouagadougou airport on March 1, 2019

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita vowed Monday to beef up security as he visited a village where more than 130 people were killed by suspected militiamen from a rival ethnic group.

"We need security here -- this is your mission," Keita said, giving a public order to military chief General Aboulaye Coulibaly, who was abruptly appointed on Sunday after the massacre.

"Justice will be done," he vowed.

The deadly raid took place on Saturday at Ogassogou, a village in central Mali near the border with Niger inhabited by the Fulani herding community.

A militia from the Dogon ethnic group -- a hunting and farming community with a long history of tension with the Fulani over access to land -- is suspected to have carried out the raid.

State television ORTM on Sunday gave a "provisional toll" of 136 dead.

An AFP reporter on Monday said many homes in the village had been burned down, and the ground was littered with corpses.

"I have never seen anything like that. They came, they shot people, burned homes, killed the babies," said 75-year-old survivor Ali Diallo.

The perpetrators "are not jihadists. They are traditional hunters," a health worker told AFP.

The victims, many of them woman and children, were shot or hacked to death with machetes, a security source told AFP.

It was the deadliest attack in Mali since the end of the 2013 French-led military intervention that drove back jihadist groups who had taken control of the north of the country.

Jihadist raids remain a persistent threat, and in the centre of the country, an ethnic mosaic, the attacks have had a bloody impact on groups with a history of rivalry.

The Fulani have been accused of supporting a jihadist preacher, Amadou Koufa, who rose to prominence in central Mali four years ago.

So-called self-defence groups have emerged in the Dogon community in the declared role of providing protection against the insurgents.

But these militias have also used their status to attack the Fulani.

Violence between the Fulani and Dogon and between the Fulani and Bambara ethnic group claimed some 500 civilian lives last year, according to UN figures.

In January, Dogon fighters were blamed for the deaths of 37 people in another Fulani village, Koulogon, in the same region.

On Sunday, Keita fired the heads of the army and air force and replaced armed forces chief of staff M'Bemba Moussa Keita with Coulibaly.

The Dogon militia, called the Dan Nan Ambassagou, was ordered to be dissolved.
A memorial for the 14 students and three staff members killed on February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida

The community of Parkland was grieving Monday after a second student took their life a little over a year following the shooting at the Florida town's high school that left 17 people dead.

As Parkland was mourning, the authorities said the father of a child killed in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, had apparently committed suicide.

Jeremy Richman, 49, lost his six-year-old daughter, Avielle, in the Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 children and six staff members.

"This is awful, horrible, devastating news," Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said on Twitter, reacting to reports of Richman's death.

"He was just here in Parkland last week," said Ryan Petty, whose 14-year-old daughter Alaina was among the 14 students killed in the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Three adults were also killed.

"He was here meeting with some of the families here, helping us," Petty said. "It's just heartbreaking to know that he was suffering."

A memorial in front of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

In Florida, the head of the Emergency Management Division urged the state legislature to devote more resources to helping survivors of the school shooting in Parkland.

"Mental health is a bipartisan issue," Jared Moskowitz said on Twitter. "While we are in session NOW is the time."

Moskowitz's appeal followed two suicides over the past week -- one of a former student at Stoneman Douglas and one of a current student.

Sydney Aiello, 19, a Florida Atlantic University student whose best friend, Meadow Pollack, died in the attack at Stoneman Douglas, committed suicide last week.

Her mother told a local television station that Aiello had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and with "survivor's guilt" following the school shooting.

- 'Still at risk' -

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez (C) and other students at the "March for Our Lives" rally in Washington in 2018

The second suicide victim has not been publicly identified.

According to the authorities, the student was currently enrolled at Stoneman Douglas and took his own life on Saturday.

Parkland parents, students, teachers and county officials held a gathering on Sunday to discuss providing more support to the community.

"Today was the first of many meetings with all city, county and mental health experts in order to make sure our students, teachers and parents receive the education they need to prevent the next suicide," Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex was among those killed at Stoneman Douglas, said on Twitter.

Petty told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that "we have students and staff that are still at risk."

"We have to recognize after an event like this there is trauma, anxiety and depression," Petty told the newspaper. "We have to educate parents and teachers to recognize the signs and ask the right questions."

David Hogg, an 18-year-old Parkland survivor who has become a leader of a Stoneman Douglas student-led movement for gun control, tweeted: "Rip 17+2."

"How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government/school district to do anything?" Hogg asked.

Stoneman Douglas students have became crusaders against gun violence under the banner "March for Our Lives," lobbying for tougher gun control laws and organizing protests and rallies across the United States.

Several 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls spoke out following the suicides.

"It's horrific that the Parkland and Sandy Hook communities continue to endure even more loss," Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted.

"We must take real action to end our gun violence epidemic and do everything we can to support the families who have been affected by this crisis."

California Senator Kamala Harris said she was "absolutely heartbroken."

"Gun violence affects so many lives and we must do better to help each other heal after such tragedies," Harris tweeted.
All charges have been dropped against actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of lying to police about a fabricated racist and homophobic hate crime.

Chicago authorities on Tuesday dropped the charges against a US television actor accused of fabricating a hate crime, in a shock move that enraged the city's police and mayor, who dismissed it as a "whitewash."

Prosecutors said they had shelved all 16 felony charges against "Empire" star Jussie Smollett in exchange for an agreement that he carry out community service and forfeit a $10,000 bond payment.

But Smollett's lawyers claimed there was no such agreement, and that the actor was the victim of a rush to judgment.

"There is no deal. The state dismissed the charges," attorney Patricia Holmes said as the actor celebrated with family, whose claim that Smollett had been vindicated was flatly rejected by the police.

The 36-year-old, one of the main cast members on Fox musical drama "Empire" alongside Taraji P. Henson, was accused of masterminding a hoax attack in downtown Chicago to gain publicity and secure a bigger paycheck.

He reported to police that he was attacked in the middle of the night in January by two masked men while walking near his home.

Smollett maintained his innocence in the face of a damning public account from authorities' of their case against him.

They accused him of sending himself a threatening letter and hiring two acquaintances to stage the attack, complete with homophobic and racial slurs, while invoking Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

"I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one," Smollett, who is black and gay, said at a brief news conference.

"This has been an incredibly difficult time," he added, "Honestly, one of the worst in my entire life."

"Mr. Smollett is still saying that he is innocent, still running down the Chicago Police Department. How dare him?" said an outraged Mayor Rahm Emanuel, pictured here at an August 2018 event

Chicago's police chief and mayor, both visibly angry, denounced the decision to drop the case and countered Smollett's insistence of his innocence.

"This is a whitewash of justice," Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman and White House chief-of-staff, told a hastily-arranged news conference.

"Mr. Smollett is still saying that he is innocent, still running down the Chicago Police Department. How dare (he)?" the mayor added.

- 'We did not exonerate' -

"Empire" star Jussie Smollett speaks to reporters outside Chicago's Leighton Courthouse after all charges were dropped against the actor.

The prosecutor's office offered little explanation at first for suddenly reversing course before finally characterized its decision as a routine one carried out in thousands of cases.

"This is not a new or unusual practice. An alternative disposition does not mean that there were any problems or infirmities with the case or the evidence," the Cook County State Attorney's office said in a statement.

"We stand behind the Chicago Police Department's investigation and our decision to approve charges in this case. We did not exonerate Mr. Smollett."

Authorities have said there is enough evidence to back up their case, including surveillance camera footage, text messages, phone records, and a cashed check Smollett wrote to brothers Ola and Abel Osundairo, both of whom worked on "Empire," to carry out the alleged plan.

"I think this city is still owed an apology," Chicago police chief Eddie Johnson said Tuesday.

"They chose to hide behind secrecy and broker a deal to circumvent the judicial system," he said. "I stand behind the detective's investigation."

Holmes, Smollett's lawyer, acknowledged that the brothers had admitted carrying out the attack, but accused police of using "the press to convict people before they're tried in a court of law."

"We believe that it was the correct result in this case. We are very happy with this result," she said.

The initial news of the attack had prompted widespread sympathy for Smollett and outrage over the nature of the alleged crime.

But the star was written out of the last two episodes of the most recent season of "Empire" -- which is set in New York but filmed in Chicago -- amid uproar over the accusations against him.

Smollett said he wanted "nothing more than to just get back to work and move on with my life."

His family described him as "an innocent man whose name and character has been unjustly smeared" in a statement published by the ABC News.

Fox producers said Tuesday they were "gratified that all charges against him have been dismissed" but would not comment on whether he would return to the show.
New Zealand's intelligence minister said he was allowing spy agencies to carry out 'intrusive' activities following the Christchurch mosque shootings

New Zealand's intelligence minister said Wednesday he was allowing spy agencies to carry out "intrusive" activities following the Christchurch mosque shootings that claimed 50 lives.

The government this week ordered a judicial inquiry into whether the South Pacific nation's intelligence services could have prevented the March 15 attack amid criticism the white supremacist gunman went unnoticed as they were too focused on Muslim extremists.

Andrew Little -- the minister responsible for the GCSB and SIS intelligence services -- said he had signed powerful surveillance warrants as information gathering continued in the wake of the attack.

"I have given authority to the agencies to do intrusive activities under warrant, the number of those (warrants) I'm not at liberty to disclose," he told Radio New Zealand.

Little said intelligence services typically monitored 30-40 people but that number had now increased, although he was unwilling to reveal by how much.

He said a warrant permitted anything from physical surveillance to the monitoring of telecommunications activity.

"The whole gambit of what would otherwise be described as intrusive activity," he told the New Zealand Herald.

"The purpose of a warrant is to authorise and effectively make lawful what would otherwise be unlawful activity."

Little denied New Zealand had proved a "soft target" for the accused gunman, an Australian with apparent links to right-wing groups who reportedly moved to the country with the intention of carrying out an attack.

Little said he maintained confidence in the intelligence services and until the inquiry into their actions was complete it was "premature" to say they had failed.

"Until there's a very microscopic look at what the agencies have been doing and whether they've missed anything, I can't say for certain," he told RNZ.

"It's important for me, the agencies, but ultimately for public confidence that we let that commission of inquiry do its job and reach its conclusions."

Meanwhile, police remained tight-lipped about two raids conducted by armed officers in Christchurch overnight.

The raids took place at opposite ends of the city centre, the first at 8:00 pm (0700 GMT) Tuesday and the second around 1:00 am Wednesday.

Police said the first operation was "in relation to an ongoing inquiry" but refused to say if either raid was linked to the Christchurch shootings.
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft -- like these ones pictured in Phoenix, Arizona earlier this month -- made an emergency landing on March 26, 2019, as it was being ferried to California for storage

A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by Southwest Airlines made an emergency landing Tuesday after experiencing an engine problem as it was being ferried from Florida to California, the US Federal Aviation Agency said.

"The aircraft returned and landed safely in Orlando," the FAA said in a statement, adding that no passengers were on board the aircraft, which was being transferred to Victorville, California for storage.

"The FAA is investigating," added the agency, which grounded the Boeing 737 MAX on March 13 following two deadly accidents involving Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air but continues to allow the planes to be ferried from airport to airport.

Southwest said the plane experienced an engine problem "shortly after takeoff."

"The crew followed protocol and safely landed back at the airport" around 3:00 pm (1900 GMT), spokesman Chris Mainz said.

"The Boeing 737 MAX 8 will be moved to our Orlando maintenance facility for a review."

It was the latest setback for Boeing's flagship narrow-body plane following October's Lion Air crash and the Ethiopian Airlines accident earlier this month, which together killed 346 people.

The accidents, which shared similarities, led authorities across the world to ground the aircraft.

Boeing has since conducted test flights of its 737 MAX to evaluate a fix for the MCAS stall prevention system targeted as a potential cause for the deadly crashes, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The system has been criticized since it can malfunction and make it difficult for pilots to control the aircraft. Both of the recent crashes occurred moments after takeoff.

A Senate Commerce Committee panel will hold a hearing Wednesday to question FAA Acting Administration Daniel Elwell and Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel

The officials are expected to face questions from lawmakers on the FAA's certification of the 737 MAX and whether regulators have become too cozy with the company, and fast-tracked some approvals.

The session is expected to be followed by a second hearing at a later date with Boeing, airline pilots and other stakeholders, the committee said.
Female panda Bai Yun (R) and male panda Gao Gao (L) view each other through a screened gate between their exhibits on April 15, 2011 at the San Diego Zoo

Two giant pandas that have been a star attraction at the San Diego Zoo for decades will soon be returned home to China, officials announced.

Bai Yun, the 27-year-old female giant panda, and her son, six-year-old Xiao Liwu, will be repatriated to their ancestral homeland in late April.

"Although we are sad to see these pandas go, we have great hopes for the future," Shawn Dixon, chief operating officer for San Diego Zoo Global, said in a statement issued Monday. "Working with our colleagues in China, San Diego Zoo Global is ready to make a commitment for the next stage of our panda program."

The pandas had been on loan to the zoo as part of a long-term conservation agreement that is coming to an end.

The animals had been a star attraction at the zoo, one of very few in the United States to have giant pandas.

The species was threatened with extinction when the zoo teamed up with China 25 years ago as part of a conservation program.

Today, pandas are listed as a vulnerable species. That means that while their survival is still threatened, conservation efforts have helped reduce their danger of extinction.

"We understand that pandas are beloved around the world, including by our staff, volunteers and millions of annual guests," said San Diego Zoo director Dwight Scott.

"We are planning a fitting celebration next month for Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu that includes a big thank you to the Chinese people for their continued partnership and our combined conservation accomplishments in helping to save this amazing species."
Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro previously pledged to move his country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

Moving Brazil's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would be an "attack" on Palestinian people and a breach of international law, the Palestinian envoy to the Latin American country said Tuesday.

The comments by Ibrahim Alzeben come days before Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro makes an official visit to Israel where his earlier pledge to move the embassy from Tel Aviv is expected to be raised.

"Moving the embassy of any country... is a violation of international law and an attack on the Palestinian people," Alzeben told AFP.

After taking power in January, Bolsonaro reiterated his promise to follow US President Donald Trump's lead in relocating the embassy to Jerusalem.

The controversial proposal has raised fears the shift could endanger Brazil's valuable meat exports to Arab markets.

Foreign minister Ernesto Araujo told reporters last week the government was "still studying" the plan.

The decision to move the embassy is highly sensitive because Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while Palestinians view east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Virtually all countries agree that Jerusalem's status can only be defined through wider Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

So far, only the United States and Guatemala have broken with that consensus by opening embassies in Jerusalem. Paraguay backtracked on a decision last year to move its embassy. Israel and the US have spoken with Honduras about its embassy going to Jerusalem.

The Palestinians cut off ties with the Trump administration after its decision was first announced in December 2017, saying the government's pro-Israel bias meant it could no longer lead peace negotiations between them and Israel.

Bolsonaro will visit Israel from March 31 to April 3. Alzeben said the Brazilian leader had been invited to visit Palestinian territories, but he had not responded.
A painting stolen from the family of art collector Adolphe Schloss during World War II will be returned April 1, facilitated by FBI agents

A painting stolen from the family of art collector Adolphe Schloss by Germans during the World War II occupation of France will be returned to his descendants in New York, the French consulate said in a statement Tuesday.

The painting, Dutch artist Salomon Koninck's 1639 "A Scholar Sharpening His Quill," was part of an important collection of Flemish and Dutch works owned by Schloss, a Jewish man who lived in Paris.

Its return on April 1, facilitated by FBI agents, will take place at the French consulate under the watch of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and representatives from the Jewish community, according to the statement.

The identities of Schloss's descendants were not immediately available.

A collection of some 333 paintings owned by Schloss was originally stored in southern France during World War II before the Nazis found and seized it.

Some of those works, including the Koninck painting, were then sent to Hitler's headquarters in Munich.

The painting resurfaced in November 2017 when a Chilean art dealer tried to sell it through a New York auction house, the Manhattan federal prosecutor said last year upon launching a formal procedure to return it to Schloss's heirs.

The seller explained to authorities that his father had purchased the piece in 1952 from Walter Andreas Hofer, the man who was in charge of buying art for Nazi leader Hermann Goring, and a major player on the stolen goods market.

Millions of items owned by Jews and in art galleries were confiscated under the Nazi-aligned French Vichy government's anti-Semitic laws during the German occupation.

With several major auction houses located in New York, Manhattan prosecutors regularly submit requests to return goods stolen during World War II.
(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 30, 2018 Palestinian protestors run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli security forces during clashes after a demonstration commemorating Land Day, near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers Hamas have backed an Egyptian proposal to foster calm on the Israel border ahead of major expected protests, two Hamas officials said Friday.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli side on the potential agreement.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are expected to gather Saturday for the first anniversary of the often violent protests along the border, which Hamas has strongly backed.

Egypt, the United Nations and others have been trying to mediate an agreement to limit the level of violence.

An Egyptian delegation held talks with Hamas and other factions in Gaza in meetings that stretched into the early hours of Friday, the officials said.

A Hamas official who took part in the meetings told AFP on condition of anonymity they had backed an Egyptian proposal that will see protesters stay several hundred metres from the border.

Hamas-backed attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank would also cease, the official said.

In exchange, the official said, "the Egyptians informed us that the (Israelis) promised to ease their measures".

In particular the Israelis will not fire on protesters unless they approach the border fence and will also allow Qatar to increase the amount of aid it funnels into the Gaza Strip.

His remarks were confirmed by a second Hamas official.

At least 258 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests began on March 30 last year, most during the border clashes.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed.
A South African student from the University of the Witwatersrand explains how to use an HIV self-testing kit Hillbrow, Johannesburg

The World Health Organization has estimated that disease strips hundreds of millions of dollars from Africa's economic output, as the burden of untreated disease hugely outweighs the potential expense of healthcare.

In a report published at the end of a three-day UN forum for universal health coverage in Africa, the WHO estimated that the 47 countries in its Africa region lost approximately 630 million healthy working hours in 2015 due to disease.

"A Heavy Burden: The Productivity Cost of Illness in Africa", released Thursday, the WHO quantified that loss of productivity in economic terms.

It estimates that, if nations fail to adequately invest in healthcare and sanitation, annual loss of gross domestic product (GDP) could equate to 2.4 trillion international dollars -- a hypothetical currency that has the same purchasing power parity as the US dollar.

"This is a huge cost to the Region and, indeed, for Africa as a whole," said WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti in the report.

"Implementing the recommended essential health services to address the main causes of morbidity and premature mortality in the region would almost halve this cost."

Countries south of the Sahara account for roughly half of the five million children around the world who each year die before their fifth birthday, while 40 percent of people with the AIDS virus in Africa still do not have access to HIV drugs.

The WHO said the majority -- 59 percent -- of illnesses to cause the loss of healthy working hours were communicable diseases, maternal and nutritional conditions, with around 30 percent due to non-communicable diseases and some 10 percent down to injuries.

Five countries -- Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania -- accounted for almost half of the work hours lost to poor health.

The WHO made a case for the region to "invest adequately in the development of resilient national and local health systems".

It estimated that more than a third of the total cost of illness could be saved in 2030 if nations meet their health-related development goals.

Development specialists say out-of-pocket expenditure for health is a major source of impoverishment in Africa.

Universal health coverage is poor or absent across Africa, experts say, a view supported by a lack of statistics about the issue.

In 2001, African Union countries pledged to allot at least 15 percent of their annual budget to health. The WHO said very few -- only four in 2015 -- have achieved this goal.

flc-burs-sst/klm/bp
Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba waves from his car upon returning to Libreville on Saturday after suffering a stroke and being treated in Morocco

Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba presided over his first cabinet meeting since returning to Libreville on March 23 after a five-month absence through illness.

"I presided this Friday, March 29, in Libreville over the cabinet," tweeted Bongo.

"Several important texts were discussed. I used the chance to remind members of the government of my demands -- action in the service of the Gabonese people. Efficiency. Results. Let's speed things up," Bongo wrote.

His office meanwhile released pictures and video footage of the meeting showing the president clad in a djellaba gown and turban, supporting himself with a cane as he talked with ministers.

"He is on form. He led the cabinet meeting with panache and even humour," said Finance Minister Jean-Marie Ogandaga.

Bongo flew back into Libreville last Saturday, accompanied by his wife Sylvia, to be welcomed by Prime Minister Julien Nkoghe Bekale and senior government members.

Several thousand people also turned out at the airport to greet Bongo, who suffered a stroke on October 24 while visiting Saudi Arabia.

He had in the meantime only made two very brief visits to Gabon, undergoing convalescence in Morocco.

His long absence stoked concern about a power vacuum, apparently sparking a brief attempted coup by renegade soldiers on January 7.

Bongo took office after an election in 2009 that followed the death of his father, former president Omar Bongo, who took office in 1967.

Some opponents on Thursday urged a judicial enquiry into Bongo's state of health to determine if he retains the capacity to lead the country.

If not, they say an election should be held to replace him.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The first glimpse into the special counsel's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election did little to mend a gaping American political divide.

The four-page summary of Robert Mueller's probe released by Attorney General William Barr didn't satisfy many who wanted more details. But in a bitterly divided country, the little bit that was known stirred cheers from many Republicans and scoffs from many Democrats.

"The one side that's happy is happy. And the other side that's not happy wants to do some more investigation or do something else," said Stephen Turner, an electrical engineer from Belmont, North Carolina, who is Republican and voted for Trump. "I wish it'd just go away."

Across the union, the split reaction to the Mueller news repeated.

In West Palm Beach, Florida, along the route Trump's motorcade took before returning to Washington on Air Force One, Mary Jude Smith got a wave and a smile from the chief executive. The 71-year-old retiree from Hypoluxo, Florida, speaks about him with passion and insists he has been exonerated. She sees the investigation as Democrats' pathetic attempt to impeach Trump.

"I think Mueller was a crook. He wasted millions of our tax dollars for nothing," she said, before offering her assessment of Trump: "He's as clean as the driven snow."

Helen Jones poses for a photo in downtown Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 23 ,2019. (AP Photo/Lindsay Whitehurst)

In blue-state New York, 49-year-old filmmaker Dan Lee of Brooklyn Heights felt let down by Mueller and left with more questions than answers.

"It stings a little, because I trusted Mueller," said Lee, a Democrat. "There are still so many questions and it seems inconceivable that obstruction isn't one of the conclusions."

In red-state West Virginia, 44-year-old truck driver Michael Tucker of Bancroft, declared the Russian investigation "a joke, for the most part" and that Trump has been treated unfairly.

"It's one witch hunt after another," said Tucker, who gave his vote to Trump in 2016 and likely will again next year. "If they could have found anything, they would have."

There were morsels in Barr's letter both sides could savor. For Republicans, it was acknowledgement that there was no evidence Trump or his campaign conspired with Russia. For Democrats, it was the admission that while Trump wasn't charged with obstruction, he also wasn't exonerated.

Trump supporter Richard C. Osburn, 52, a nurse from South Charleston, West Virginia, said Mueller's findings were proof the president was "drug through the mud." He knows Democrats are "hell-bent" on destroying Trump, but says it's time for the president to be given a break.

"The things that the man's doing to try to help the average worker in this country never gets recognized by the mainstream media," said Osburn, a longtime Republican. "They would rather hate, hate, hate than recognize accomplishments. Those days have got to stop."

In Los Angeles, 57-year-old accountant Sue Arani, checked news on her phone as she took her dog for an afternoon walk Sunday. She calls herself a Republican-leaning voter, though she gave her support to Clinton in 2016. She trusts Mueller, but even with Barr's release, she thinks there was collusion between Trump's campaign and the Russian government.

"The public needs to see the report," she said, "especially before the next election."

Claire Finkelstein, a University of Pennsylvania professor who founded the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, said if the full report isn't made available to the public and its contents become known only through leaks and back channels, it would be damaging to faith in the government.

"Secrets are where conspiracy theories fester and grow," Finkelstein said. "The only way that we are going to be able to move past this state of affairs is by as much coming out into the light as possible. Let's flesh out the facts, let's get them on the table and have a robust conversation."

What seemed certain was there would be no end to the debate over Trump, Mueller's investigation, and the political divide across the U.S.

In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 74-year-old Richard Howell, a supporter of the president, said news of the Mueller report proves what critics of the investigation have been saying all along.

"So we spent two years and millions of dollars," he said, "worrying about nothing."

In Gaston County, North Carolina, Trump voters outnumbered Clinton backers nearly two-to-one in 2016, but Joy Owens didn't budge from her opposition. She believes Mueller has done a good job with the investigation but she's left feeling unfulfilled.

"I keep hoping that if we just be patient, we be patient for a little bit longer, that there will be justice," said Owens, 66, who recently retired from running a yarn shop and framing business. "I cannot believe of all the other convictions that are happening about this that Trump is going to be scot-free on this."

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Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org and https://twitter.com/sedensky

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Contributing to this report were Corey Williams in Detroit, Michigan; Sharon Cohen in Chicago, Illinois; Chris Weber in Los Angeles, California; Claire Galofaro in Louisville, Kentucky; Jeff Baenan in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Rebecca Santana in New Orleans, Louisiana; Tim Talley in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston, Massachusetts; Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; Josh Replogle in West Palm Beach, Florida; Colleen Slevin in Denver, Colorado; Sarah Blake Morgan in Belmont, North Carolina; Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kansas; Adam Geller in New York, New York; and John Raby in Cross Lanes, West Virginia.

Nora Kubiaczyk poses for a photo in downtown Minneapolis on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (AP Photos/Jeff Baenen)

William Braasch, 36, of Detroit, poses for a photo in Detroit on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Latest on reaction across America to the first glimpse into the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation (all times local):

9:15 p.m.

Bob Miller is a retired manufacturing engineer, from Franklin, Wisconsin, who describes his political views as "middle to the left." He says questions still linger in his mind following the special counsel's Russia investigation.

He says of the report by special counsel Robert Mueller: "From what I know of the report it sounds like there was no collusion. But I'd want to see the whole report or find out everything."

Adds the 65-year-old retiree: "If Congress gets the full report and all the information, I'll make my decision at that point."

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Helen Jones poses for a photo in downtown Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 23 ,2019. (AP Photo/Lindsay Whitehurst)

8:40 p.m.

Stephen Turner, an electrical engineer from Belmont, North Carolina, is a Republican who voted for Donald Trump for president. He says he's glad the Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller is over.

"My first reaction is I'm glad ... I'm glad maybe we can move on," Turner told The Associated Press. "The ones side that's happy is happy. And the other side that's not happy wants to do some more investigation."

He says it's time to move on "and actually do stuff for the country and not spend all these resources and time on these investigations."

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8:20 p.m.

Justin Linot, a truck driver interviewed in Derby, Kansas, is a registered Democrat. He expressed surprise at the outcome of the Russia investigation.

Speaking at a Starbucks in that suburb of Wichita, Kansas, the 36-year-old trucker said Sunday: "I am really surprised they weren't able to find anything significant enough to be able to indict him."

He says he thought special counsel Robert Mueller did a good job investigating, but doesn't feel the public will necessarily ever learn the truth about Trump's dealings with Russia. Says Linot, "I feel too many people haven't told the truth to begin with."

He adds Democrats were right to investigate Trump, calling the matter something that should have been looked into regardless of whether the president was a Republican or a Democrat. Of Trump, he concludes, "I think he has been treated more than fairly."

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8:10 p.m.

Luke Ahearn, a 29-year-old general contractor from New Orleans, was grocery shopping in its suburb of Metairie with his brother Sunday when he learned about the Mueller report's outcome. Ahearn, who describes himself as a Trump supporter, questioned whether the time and money put into the two-year investigation was worth it.

Ahearn says he thinks special counsel Robert Mueller did a fine job. Officials say Mueller found no evidence President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential vote.

But he adds of the investigation: "I just think they spent way too much money on it, too much time on it."

Ahearn says he doubts whether it's worth going through the effort of getting the entire report released, saying the country has a lot of other problems to deal with, adding, "Let's move on to the next problem in our society."

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8:05 p.m.

Morgan Raum, a 22-year-old senior at New York's Barnard College who is active in campus Republican and Libertarian clubs, says the conclusion of the investigation confirmed her longtime doubts about allegations of collusion.

Raum, who is majoring in political science and Judaic studies, said, "It took 22 months and I don't really know how it could've taken this long to conclude nothing happened. For me the whole time it seemed pretty far-fetched."

But Raum, who is from Manhattan, says she doesn't expect the report to change the minds of many Democrats.

"They've been sure he (Trump) was guilty even before the investigation started," she says.

Raum is president of Columbia University Libertarians. She says she had long had issues with Trump, disapproving of his tweets and his belittling of adversaries. She voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson in the 2016 presidential vote.

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7:50 p.m.

Helen Jones, of Salt Lake City, Utah, says she is conservative and a registered Republican, but can't stand Trump. The 72-year-old retired English professor said she voted for third-party candidate Evan McMullin in 2016.

She doesn't expect anything "sensational" to come out of the Mueller report, but pointed to other ongoing investigations in New York and elsewhere involving Trump and those in his orbit.

She said, "I think it's just the beginning. I can't believe he's not implicated in some way. Look at the people he's surrounded himself with, they're all crooks and liars."

Jones said she hopes the entire report is released, but expect it to change the minds of her relatives who are strong Trump supporters - or her own mind, for that matter.

A longtime "political junkie" who closely followed Watergate, she believes this is another historical moment.

"I hope it's a turning point in the Trump presidency," she said. Still, doesn't want Trump to be impeached.

"My preference would be he just gets elected out," she said.

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7:35 p.m.

Carl Solberg, a New York City Democrat who used to work as a federal prosecutor, called Mueller a "very straight arrow kind of guy" and said he believes Mueller did exactly what he was tasked to do. But Solberg doubts it will put an end to questions about Trump and Russia.

While in Boston visiting family, the 72-year-old Solberg said, "Whether there is a prosecutor that pursues it or not, I think there will continue to be questions in people's minds about the Russians."

He noted that Mueller's "mandate was narrow. He that "... frankly if I were a prosecutor trying to find evidence of criminal intent in Donald Trump, I don't (think) he has criminal intent I think he's just got a basically empty skull. So it would be very hard to prove that and I think Mueller probably realized that pretty early on."

Solberg said the conclusion of the Mueller investigation doesn't mean Trump is in the clear, noting that he remains under investigation by the federal prosecutors in New York.

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Trump supporter Richard C. Osburn of South Charleston, West Virginia, said the president was "drug through the mud" and wants his critics to give him a break.

The 52-year-old nurse said, "The things that the man's doing to try to help the average worker in this country never gets recognized by the mainstream media. They would rather hate, hate, hate than recognize accomplishments. Those days have got to stop."

Osburn, a longtime Republican voter, supported Trump in 2016. He said the Mueller report does not end questions about Trump and Russia.

"It's never going to go away," he said. "This is what the media has to understand. (Democrats) absolutely despite this man. It's all about their own agenda. They're hell bent on finding anything."

Osburn said he's satisfied with what he's seen in the Mueller report and criticized Democrats for pressing for the investigation.

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7:20 p.m.

Michael Tucker of Bancroft, West Virginia, is not a fan of President Donald Trump. But the 44-year-old truck driver says he does not believe the president was treated fairly in the Russia investigation.

He also doesn't think Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report will bring an end to questions about the president and Russia.

While shopping at a farm supply store Sunday in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, Tucker called the Russia investigation "a joke, for the most part."

Tucker says if Trump colluded with Russia, "they would have come up with something by now. It's one witch hunt after another, basically. If they could have found anything, they would have."

Tucker says he's confident that Mueller did "what he was hired to do" and has mixed feelings about whether Democrats should have pressed for an investigation into Trump's Russia ties.

Tucker said he considers himself an independent voter but would vote for Trump again compared to anyone currently in the Democratic field.

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In Oklahoma City, Fernando Sevilla, a Republican who voted for Trump, said Trump is "doing a great job" and that he believes the Mueller investigation was "witch hunts."

Sevilla said, "I don't think he went with Russia at all. He added, "He's a businessman, he was never a politician. Politicians to me they're just a bunch of crooks. They promise you one thing and they do another."

While Democrats were right to seek the investigation, he said Trump has not been treated fairly.

The 66-year-old Sevilla said the investigation did not answer questions he has about Trump's Democratic opponent in the 2016 election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the whereabouts of thousands of deleted emails.

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In Detroit, 36-year-old William Braasch has been following the Mueller probe from its start and - while disappointed in what Barr released Sunday afternoon- he's not surprised.

Braasch, a registered nurse, said, "I honestly doubted that much would come out, given that Barr was appointed by Trump. I'm not any more let down than I would have been before with this administration and the investigations."

Braasch added that he is "looking forward" to Congressional investigations of Trump and investigations in New York state into Trump's foundation.

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Sue Arani, an accountant, was walking her dog and checking news on her phone Sunday in downtown Los Angeles. The 57-year-old Arani is originally from Iran but has been a US citizen since 1981. She describes herself as "Republican leaning," but says she voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential contest.

Arani said the full report should "absolutely" be made public immediately, "in the name of full transparency."

She says the public must see the report, "especially before the next election." She also says the White House shouldn't be allowed to spin the results: "Trump is famous for lying too much."

Arani trusts Mueller: "I'm sure, based on his excellent reputation, that he did a complete job in his investigation. But he is in between a rock and a hard place, politically."

Arani personally believes that there was likely collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. "But it's possible that a lot of stuff wasn't disclosed from the lower levels to the top (within the campaign). They might have kept Trump in the dark on purpose, so he could stay beneath it all. Maybe that was his idea too."

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Nora Kubiaczyk (pronounced koo-bee-AH-che) lives in Minneapolis, works in advertising, leans Democratic and considers herself "pretty liberal." She voted for Clinton in 2016. In an interview Sunday in downtown Minneapolis she said, "I'm not shocked. It seems like with each of these investigations, there's always going to seem like something like it's a coup, or there's somebody that seems like a smoking gun, and then it will be like yesterday's news in no moment and Trump will keep walking on."

She said it seemed there moments where Mueller was going after Trump and others where there were "a couple fumbles."

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7:10 p.m.

Many Republicans are cheering and Democrats are scoffing as first word on the details of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation emerge.

For supporters of President Donald Trump, the four-page summary of the investigative findings released by Attorney General William Barr felt like an exoneration of the man they back.

For Trump's opponents, some of whom had visions of the Mueller's work ending with the president being led away in handcuffs, it is a disappointment.

What seemed certain in the wake of Sunday's release was that it marked no end to the political divide, to the fierce criticism of Trump or to calls for more of Mueller's report to be released.

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Contributing to this report were Corey Williams in Detroit; Sharon Cohen in Chicago; Chris Weber in Los Angeles; Claire Galofaro in Louisville, Kentucky; Jeff Baenan in Minneapolis, Rebecca Santana in New Orleans; Tim Talley in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston; Denise Lavoie Josh in Richmond, Virginia; Josh Replogle in West Palm Beach, Florida; Colleen Slevin in Denver, Colorado; Sarah Blake Morgan in Belmont, North Carolina; Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kansas; Adam Geller in New York; and John Raby in Cross Lanes, West Virginia.

President Donald Trump speaks with the media after stepping off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Washington. The Justice Department said Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The letter from Attorney General William Barr to Congress on the conclusions reached by special counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia probe photographed on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Nora Kubiaczyk poses for a photo in downtown Minneapolis on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (AP Photos/Jeff Baenen)
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - Swedish diplomats are keeping a room ready for the U.S. to use if it ever decides to have an official presence in the North Korean capital.

The unmarked, slightly musty room next to the Swedish ambassador's office in Pyongyang's diplomatic quarter has been kept in an odd state of limbo for years.

On one shelf sits an issue of the Pyongyang Times from the days of detente between the late leader Kim Jong Il and President Bill Clinton. The top shelf is taken up by a newer edition - with a photo of the North's current leader, Kim Jong Un, and President Donald Trump on its front page.

The room has more or less remained in this condition since a 1995 agreement that provided for the Swedes to serve as Washington's "protective power" in North Korea. There were a lot of talks going on between the U.S. and North Korea at the time and it seemed like a good idea to prepare some sort of a foothold since the U.S. had no diplomatic relations with the North and thus no embassy of its own.

With the U.S. and North Korea engaged in the most serious talks since those years, the possibility of actually giving the little room an American tenant has returned to the negotiating table.

A proposal to establish a liaison office in Pyongyang was floated ahead of the first summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore last June. Trump seemed to support it again as he sat down for talks with Kim at the second summit, in Vietnam last month, though the meeting ended without any significant agreements.

This March 22, 2019, photo shows the building that houses the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea. Swedish diplomats have maintained a room in the embassy for the United States to use if it ever decides to open an "interest section" in the North Korean capital. (The Swedish Embassy via AP)

"It's actually not a bad idea," Trump said as the two faced each other across the negotiating table.

"I think that is something that could be welcomed," Kim replied through an interpreter.

The room at the embassy, which The Associated Press was allowed to see but for security reasons not photograph, would be used as an "interest section" for the United States.

In diplomat speak, that would make it one step below a liaison office, which is one step below an actual embassy.

They are generally set up between countries that don't formally recognize each other and have tense relations but require some form of working contact.

Like the one described in the agreement with Sweden, interest sections are normally established in the embassy of a third country that has diplomatic relations with both sides. The U.S. has maintained interest sections in places like Cuba during the Cold War and Iran.

South Korea is already moving ahead with the idea - it opened a liaison office of its own last September in the North Korean city of Kaesong. But even for Seoul, it hasn't been a smooth process. The North announced last week that it was withdrawing its staff from the office, but didn't say whether the withdrawal would be temporary or permanent. The Koreas previously used telephone and fax-like communication channels that were often shut down in particularly tense times.

Washington and Pyongyang have agreed to open liaison offices before.

Lynn Turk, a U.S. official involved in talks to exchange offices in 1994, wrote in a recent article for the 38 North website that the plan was for each to have up to seven people. The physical space was to increase as the relationship expanded, with the goal being an exchange of embassies and ambassadors.

North Korean officials, he wrote, toured office space in Washington and housing alternatives in Washington and northern Virginia. The North Koreans were concerned about the cost of renting and were "pleased by the lower costs and larger housing in the D.C. area," though they indicated they would probably opt for housing in northern Virginia.

The talks were put on indefinite hold in 1995.

One of the big hurdles to talks is the fact that North Korea and the United States are technically at war - the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The previous discussions ran into problems over how the American or Americans would be allowed to get in and out of the country. A suggestion that they should be allowed to come across the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South was rejected by the North Koreans.

There are other, smaller problems as well.

Pyongyang doesn't have a big foreign diplomatic presence.

The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang - along with the British Embassy - is located on the premises of the German Embassy. Setting up an interest section wouldn't necessarily require major changes in that arrangement, but under the current agreement Sweden would no longer be responsible for U.S. interests once a liaison office is established.

So, with no Trump properties in North Korea yet, the U.S. might need to find a new landlord.

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Talmadge, the AP's Pyongyang bureau chief since 2013, is the only American journalist working regularly in North Korea.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand will hold a top-level inquiry into the massacre of 50 people at two Christchurch mosques that will examine what roles guns, social media and spy agencies played preceding the attacks.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday that it would hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry, the country's highest form of investigation.

"While New Zealanders and Muslim communities around the world are both grieving and showing compassion for one another, they are also quite rightly asking questions on how this terror attack was able to happen here," Ardern said.

Her Cabinet had previously agreed on holding an inquiry, but had not decided what level of investigation. She said royal commissions are usually reserved for matters of the gravest public importance and that was clearly appropriate in this case. She said the exact terms of the inquiry, including its duration, would be finalized over the next two weeks.

"In short, the inquiry will look at what could have or should have been done to prevent the attack," Ardern said. "It will inquire into the individual and his activities before the terrorist attack, including, of course, a look at agencies."

She said those agencies will include the country's domestic spy agency, the Security Intelligence Service, and its international counterpart, the Government Communications Security Bureau. Other agencies to be looked at include police, customs and immigration.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses a press conference in Wellington, New Zealand Monday, March 25, 2019. Ardern has announced a top-level inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the massacre of 50 people in two Christchurch mosques on March 15. (AP Photo/Nick Perry)

A royal commission is run independently from the government and is chaired by a high-court judge. It has the power to compel witnesses to testify and organizations to hand over documents. But it remains up to the courts or government to follow through on any recommendations or findings.

Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 28, has been charged with murder for the March 15 attacks. He is next due in court on April 5.

Some people have already criticized New Zealand's intelligence agencies for focusing too much on perceived threats from Muslim extremists and left-wing radicals while not looking deeply enough into possible threats from nationalist groups and white supremacists.

"There will be a focus on whether our intelligence community was concentrating its resources appropriately and whether there were any reports that could, or should, have alerted them to this attack," Ardern said. "It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to the bottom of how this act of terrorism occurred and what, if any, opportunities we had to stop it."

On Thursday, less than a week after the attack, the government announced it was rushing through new laws to ban "military-style" semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines like those used by the gunman.

Ardern said Monday that it was unacceptable that a disturbing video of the attack taken by the gunman and livestreamed on Facebook continued to be available on some social media platforms. She said she wanted assurances from social media leaders that something similar would never happen again.

New Zealand has previously held royal commissions into the 2010 Pike River coal mine disaster and building failures during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. It is currently holding an inquiry into historical abuse in state care.

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Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Last year, proponents of limiting partisan politics in the creation of electoral districts needed to win over Justice Anthony Kennedy. They couldn't.

The issue is back before the Supreme Court again, with arguments on Tuesday, and it might be harder than ever to convince the justices to rein in the practice known as partisan gerrymandering, designing districts to benefit one political party.

A new round of redistricting awaits after the 2020 census, and the court's decision could help shape the makeup of Congress and state legislatures over the next 10 years.

With Kennedy retired, the question is whether federal courts will remain open at all to complaints about political line-drawing.

"The question of what the outcome will be in light of recent changes in the membership of the Supreme Court is anybody's guess," said Seth Waxman, the former lead high court lawyer in the Clinton administration and a supporter of limits on drawing districts for partisan gain. Justice Brett Kavanaugh is in Kennedy's seat.

Chief Justice John Roberts is now the court conservative closest to the center and the focus of the arguments for reining in partisan redistricting, said Michael Kimberly, the lawyer for Republican voters who challenged a Democratic congressional district in Maryland.

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2019, file photo, the Supreme Court is seen at sunset in Washington. A long-delayed disaster aid bill that's a top political priority for some of President Donald Trump's GOP allies is facing a potentially tricky path as it heads to the Senate floor this week. Although the measure has wide backing from both parties, the White House isn't pleased with the bill and is particularly opposed to efforts by Democrats to make hurricane relief to Puerto Rico more generous. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

"The concern now is persuading him," Kimberly said, acknowledging Roberts' skepticism about the court's involvement in the issue during arguments last term.

Critics of partisan manipulation of electoral maps say that when one party controls redistricting, it can exaggerate and entrench its power, even in states that are otherwise closely divided between Republicans and Democrats.

Republicans were the big beneficiaries of the most recent round of redistricting in 2011, following the once-a-decade census, because they scored resounding victories in the 2010 elections.

The court has before it two cases, from Maryland and North Carolina, with strong evidence that elected officials charged with drawing and approving congressional districts acted for maximum partisan advantage. In North Carolina, Republicans ran the process and sought to preserve a 10-3 split in the congressional delegation in favor of the GOP, even as statewide races are usually closely divided. In Maryland, Democrats controlled redistricting and sought to flip one district that had been represented by a Republican for 20 years.

Both plans succeeded and lower courts concluded that the districts violated the Constitution.

Bolstering those court outcomes were the candid appraisals by former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, and North Carolina state Rep. David Lewis, a Republican, of the critical role politics played in redistricting.

Part of the point in redrawing the 6th congressional district in western Maryland was to "create a district where the people would be more likely to elect a Democrat than a Republican, yes, this was clearly my intent," O'Malley said in testimony for the lawsuit challenging the district.

Needing to reduce the district's population by just over 10,000 people to ensure similarly sized congressional districts, Maryland Democrats instead removed 360,000 Republicans and replaced them with 350,000 Democrats.

In North Carolina, Lewis boasted that the congressional map he helped draw in 2016 - to replace a map that had been struck down for relying too heavily on race - would preserve the Republicans' already sizable edge. He told fellow lawmakers then that he was proposing a 10-3 map "because I do not believe it's possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats." Lewis said later he was joking, but those who sued don't think so.

The 2018 race margins describe a tell-tale sign of partisan gerrymandering, according to map critics: Voters supporting the minority party are packed tightly into fewer districts, resulting in easy victories, while the majority party wins narrower races, but in more districts. While each of the three incumbent Democrats cruised to re-election in November with at least 70 percent of the vote, no winning Republican in a contested race received above 60 percent.

North Carolina voters will fill two House seats this year. One is in the GOP-leaning 9th Congressional District, where the state elections board ordered a new election based on evidence of illegal absentee ballot activities involving a political operative who worked for the Republican candidate. The other is the seat held by the late Rep. Walter Jones Jr.

A court ruling that leads to further remapping could add confusion for voters and candidates in the middle of campaigns.

But the Supreme Court might not be as receptive as the lower courts.

In 1986, the justices held that federal courts should be open to claims of partisan gerrymandering. But since then, the court has not struck down districts on those grounds or even decided on the right way to do so. By contrast, the court has invalidated many districts because of racial gerrymandering over the past 50 years.

By 2004, four conservative justices were ready to take courts out of the business of dealing with partisan gerrymandering claims, but Kennedy wouldn't go along.

Kennedy's position encouraged supporters of limits when the justices took up cases last year involving Republican-drawn state legislative districts in Wisconsin and the same Maryland congressional district.

The cases had statistical analyses, proposals for how judges could reasonably determine when districting plans went too far and the non-partisan optics of Republicans in the offending role in one state and Democrats in the other.

Yet the court left the big issues unresolved in a pair of rulings in June that were nonetheless a setback for advocates who hoped they had finally found a way to prove their case to a long-skeptical Supreme Court and Kennedy, in particular.

But lower federal courts have continued to rule on redistricting complaints. In addition to the Maryland and North Carolina decisions, there are pending challenges to Republican-controlled plans in Michigan and Ohio that could be affected by the high court's decision.

Paul Clement, who served as President George W. Bush's top Supreme Court lawyer, said the justices should once and for all declare federal courts off limits for partisan redistricting because the inherently political job of drawing electoral districts belongs to the politicians. In his Supreme Court filing on behalf of North Carolina Republicans, Clement wrote that a "judicially manageable test for adjudicating partisan gerrymandering claims does not exist."

A separate state court challenge to North Carolina legislative districts also is underway, following an approach used by Pennsylvania Democrats to win a state Supreme Court ruling last year that struck down the state's Republican-drawn congressional districts.

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Robertson reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.
It was 1982, the height of the civil war in El Salvador. Four Dutch TV journalists had linked up with leftist rebels near the town of El Paraiso, which has an army base on its outskirts.

Planning to spend several days behind rebel lines, the newsmen hoisted rucksacks onto their backs and, carrying their recording gear, walked single-file down a narrow dirt trail.

They had only minutes to live. Lying in wait, Salvadoran soldiers armed with assault rifles and machine guns were ready to spring an ambush.

"They were sitting ducks. The military waited for them and basically executed them," said Thomas Buergenthal, an American who was part of the three-member United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador, set up as part of a U.N.-brokered peace agreement in 1992.

In 1993, the commission's report on wartime human rights violations concluded that the ambush was set up to kill the journalists and was ordered by Col. Mario Reyes Mena, a brigade commander.

Calls are now mounting in the Netherlands for Reyes Mena and others responsible for the killings to be brought to justice after a documentary shown on Dutch TV cast a spotlight on the never-prosecuted slayings. The investigative piece, aptly titled "In Cold Blood," revealed that Reyes Mena had been living for years in relative obscurity in the United States.

In this March 11, 1982 photo, from left, Jan Cornelius Kuiper, director, Koos Koster, producer, Johannes Willemsen, cameraman, and Hans ter Laan, soundman walk north of the capital, San Salvador, days before they were killed in El Salvador. Calls are mounting for Col. Mario Reyes Mena, a former Salvadoran army colonel, to be brought to justice for the killings. (AP Photo)

"It is very much in the interest of the Dutch government to bring those responsible for the deaths of the four journalists to justice," the Dutch foreign and justice ministers told lawmakers six weeks after the documentary aired. "Not only because it concerns four Dutch citizens who were shot dead, but also because it concerns journalists, who have an indispensable task in a democratic constitutional state."

"The government will make every effort to achieve this result," the ministers said.

Reyes Mena, now 79, lives in a Washington suburb. A legal resident of the United States since at least 1987, he is no longer shielded by a 1993 amnesty law that protected the military, paramilitary groups and guerrilla fighters from prosecution for human rights abuses during the 12-year war. The Salvadoran Supreme Court declared the amnesty unconstitutional in 2016, though the country's legislature is now considering granting another one.

Even before the Dutch documentary aired in September, the attorney general's office in El Salvador had begun investigating possible criminal charges against Reyes Mena and Francisco Antonio Moran, the former head of the Salvadoran secret police who was also named in the U.N. report. The prosecutors were acting on a criminal complaint filed in March 2018 by lawyers for Gert Kuiper, a brother of one of the slain journalists, said Oscar Perez, a spokesman for Kuiper's legal team.

"I need to find justice," said Kuiper, whose older brother, Jan, was killed two days before his 40th birthday.

The Salvadoran attorney general's office won't comment on its confidential investigation, which the Dutch government says began last June.

The developments come amid a growing push for justice on behalf of victims of El Salvador's civil war, during which an estimated 75,000 civilians were killed, mostly by U.S.-backed government security forces.

In November 2017, former Salvadoran army Col. Inocente Orlando Montano, accused in the 1989 massacre by soldiers of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in San Salvador, was extradited from the United States to stand trial in Spain. Several of the victims were Spaniards. He remains jailed, and the trial is expected to begin later this year.

In January 2016, former Defense Minister Jose Guillermo Garcia Merin was deported from the United States to El Salvador. He is among those being prosecuted for the December 1981 massacre by a U.S.-trained Salvadoran army battalion of almost 1,000 people in the village of El Mozote, the largest massacre in modern Latin American history.

Geoff Thale, of the human rights group Washington Office on Latin America, said it is important for El Salvador to see justice done in these cases, even as the Central American country struggles with gang-related violence.

"It's hard to imagine that Salvadorans would feel confident about the ability of attorneys general and courts to bring them justice today if they can't bring justice in cases like El Mozote, or internationally covered cases like the Dutch journalists or the Jesuits," Thale said. "It's a test of the judicial system and of the rule of law in El Salvador today."

In its report, the U.N. truth commission cited statements from officers at a military base outside El Paraiso in naming Reyes Mena as the planner of the ambush on the Dutch journalists.

An Associated Press reporter, photographer and videographer went to the town house where Reyes Mena lives in Centreville, Virginia, last month after telephone calls seeking comment about the allegations were not returned. A middle-aged man opened the door a crack and then slammed it shut without saying a word.

In the Dutch documentary, Reyes Mena accused the filmmakers of being part of a communist conspiracy for seeking answers about the killings.

"I don't have to be talking about it. It was more than 30 years ago," he said. The filmmakers left after a younger man standing behind Reyes Mena told them to go.

Days before their deaths, journalists Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen had come under the scrutiny of El Salvador's secret police after Koster's contact information was found on a guerrilla. Before dawn on March 11, 1982, the four were rousted in their San Salvador hotel and taken to secret police headquarters for interrogation by Moran.

A photo taken after their release later that day appeared in a local newspaper with a headline identifying Koster as "a contact for subversives," according to the U.N. report.

Undeterred, the four pushed ahead with their plan to meet up with Salvadoran guerrillas on March 17. A German journalist drove them in a Volkswagen van from the capital to the outskirts of El Paraiso, where, guided by a young boy, they linked up with four rebels and headed down a path. The truth commission report, citing testimony of the sole survivor of the ambush, a rebel identified only as Martin, described what happened next.

"They had gone about 250 meters when they came under heavy fire from M16 rifles and M60 machine guns, coming from two hills about 100 meters away. Martin saw two of the journalists fall to the ground. They were hit by the first shots and never moved again," the report said.

Martin ran a zig-zag path to evade the bullets and escaped.

Soon after the ambush, Todd Greentree, a political officer at the U.S. Embassy at the time, met with reporters and dismissed as fiction the official Salvadoran account that the newsmen died in crossfire.

Still, Greentree says he's "very ambivalent" about seeking justice for what he said was "obviously a war crime."

Bringing individual officers to trial for what appeared to be a coordinated operation among different security force branches seems at best "an incomplete form of seeking justice," he said by telephone from his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Greentree said the Dutch journalists were seen by Salvadoran security forces as agents of the enemy because of a previous film that Koster made that they considered sympathetic to the rebels.

Buergenthal disagrees. "These were legitimate journalists," he said.

Globally, journalists now face even greater peril, with the number killed in retaliation for their work nearly doubling in 2018 over the previous year, to 34, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The 1982 case stands out because state security targeted the newsmen, said Natalie Southwick, CPJ program coordinator for South and Central America.

Bringing those responsible to justice is "incredibly important" because it sends a message to those considering killing journalists that they won't get away with it, Southwick said.

Buergenthal, who from 2000 to 2010 served as a judge on the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, said the Dutch government was oddly silent about the killings for years.

"I expected, when I was elected to the court, that sooner or later somebody from the Dutch government would try to find out more about the case," Buergenthal recalled. "Not a word. No interest shown, whatsoever. I don't know why."

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Associated Press reporters Mike Corder in Amsterdam; Marcos Aleman in San Salvador, El Salvador; and Luis Alonso Lugo in Centreville, Virginia, contributed to this report.

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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky

In this March 19, 1982 photo, two of the four Dutch journalists killed in the northern province of Chalatenango lie in a San Salvador, El Salvador, morgue. Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen were killed in 1982 while on assignment for IKON, a Dutch public TV broadcaster. Calls are mounting for Col. Mario Reyes Mena, a former Salvadoran army colonel, to be brought to justice for the killings. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

In this undated photo provided by Gert Kuiper, his brother, Jan Kuiper, right, sits with fellow journalist Koos Koster, two of the four journalists killed in El Salvador in 1982. Calls are mounting for Col. Mario Reyes Mena, a former Salvadoran army colonel, to be brought to justice for the killings. (Courtesy of Gert Kuiper via AP)

In this Jan. 17, 2019 photo, Todd Greentree, a former U.S. Embassy political officer in El Salvador during its civil war, shows a rebel Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front flag in his Santa Fe, N.M., home as he talks about the killings of four Dutch journalists in 1982. Greentree said that he's "very ambivalent" about seeking justice for what he called an obvious war crime. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)

In this Jan. 30, 2019 photo, Gert Kuiper, brother of Jan Kuiper, one of the four journalists killed in El Salvador in 1982, talks about the murder case during an interview in The Hague, Netherlands. "I need to find justice," Kuiper said. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

This Sept. 1, 2018, frame from video provided by Zembla shows former Salvadoran army Col. Mario Reyes Mena in Centreville, Va. Reyes Mena was a brigade commander stationed at a base outside El Paraiso, El Salvador, when four Dutch TV journalists were killed nearby in 1982. Calls are mounting for Reyes Mena, named by a United Nations truth commission as the person who ordered an ambush to kill the journalists, to be brought to justice after a documentary on the killings was shown on Dutch TV in September. (Zembla via AP)

In this Jan. 17, 2019 photo, Todd Greentree, who served as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador during the wars of the 1980s, sits in his Santa Fe, N.M., home and talks about the killing for four Dutch journalists in El Salvador in 1982. Greentree said that he's "very ambivalent" about seeking justice for what he called an obvious war crime. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)

In this Jan. 30, 2019 photo, Gert Kuiper, brother of Jan Kuiper, one of the four journalists killed in El Salvador in 1982, talks about the murder case during an interview in The Hague, Netherlands. "I need to find justice," Kuiper said. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
WASHINGTON (AP) - House Democrats pressed the Justice Department Monday to provide the full report from special counsel Robert Mueller even as Republicans gleefully called for them to "move on" from the Russia investigation. President Donald Trump accused those responsible for launching Mueller's probe of "treasonous things against our country" and said they "certainly will be looked into."

Trump said the release of Mueller's full report "wouldn't bother me at all," and Democrats quickly put that statement to the test, demanding that his administration hand over the entire document and not just Sunday's four-page summary from Attorney General William Barr.

Six House Democratic committee chairmen wrote to Barr that his summary is "not sufficient" and asked to be given Mueller's full report by April 2. They also want to begin receiving the underlying evidence the same day. The information is "urgently needed by our committees to perform their duties under the Constitution," they wrote, implying that the information would be subpoenaed if it is not turned over by the deadline.

Barr said in his letter to Congress that Mueller did not find that Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election - knocking down arguments from Democrats who have long claimed there was evidence of such collusion.

But he also said Mueller reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed the federal investigation, instead setting out "evidence on both sides" of the question and stating that "while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him." Absent a recommendation from Mueller, Barr stepped in and decided there wasn't sufficient evidence to establish that the president obstructed justice. Democrats said Barr's judgment is not the final word.

"All I'm interested in is them releasing the full report, the full Mueller report," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. Trump said the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's full report "wouldn't bother me at all" as congressional Democrats demanded that the Justice Department hand it over quickly. Trump's remarks came as Democrats planned to huddle behind closed doors Monday evening to figure out how to move forward with their own investigations on obstruction of justice and Russian collusion.. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Despite Mueller's refusal to exonerate Trump, his spokesmen and leading congressional Republicans all claimed total vindication for the president anyway. Questioned by reporters, Trump said he welcomed Mueller's results but complained he had been abused by the investigation occurring at all and taking too long.

"We can never let this happen to another president again," he said. "There are a lot of people out there that have done some very evil things, very bad things, I would say treasonous things against our country."

"Those people will certainly be looked at. I've been looking at them for a long time. And I'm saying, why haven't they been looked at? They lied to Congress. Many of them you know who they are."

He didn't name names, but Trump has spent months railing against former Justice Department officials, including former FBI Director James Comey, accusing them of an illegal witch hunt for the purpose of delegitimizing his presidency. He has also falsely claimed that the investigation was based on memos compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, and even blamed former Sen. John McCain, who died last year, for passing the memos to the FBI.

The investigation began months before the FBI saw the dossier - and the FBI already had a copy by the time McCain turned it in.

On Monday, after a series of evening strategy meetings, Democrats vowed to continue their multiple investigations into Trump, perhaps with shifted focus. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who has become a focus of Republicans' post-Mueller ire, said he is "circumspect about how much more we will be able to find on issues that he thoroughly investigated," but said Mueller's conclusion would not affect his own committee's counterintelligence probes.

"There may be other corrupt meetings between the Trump campaign and the Russians, there may be other profound financial conflicts of interest that are not mentioned in the Mueller report, and there may be unanswered questions even within what he did examine," Schiff said.

Democrats also signaled that they will curtail some public focus, at least, from their investigations of Trump and try to keep attention on their policy goals. Schiff postponed an open hearing with Felix Sater, a Russian-born former business adviser to Trump who helped him negotiate an ultimately unsuccessful deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow, while the intelligence committee tries to get a look at Mueller's report.

Pelosi, meanwhile, was scheduled to hold a press conference Tuesday on health care legislation, Democrats' top campaign issue.

Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, a member of Democratic leadership, said he has been encouraging colleagues to talk about those policy issues like health care and infrastructure.

"We need to talk about the work we are doing on these really important economic issues that matter in people's lives," Cicilline said. "We're doing the work, but we need to be more effective about sharing that" and not just responding to questions about corruption and Mueller's investigation.

Democrats seem more likely to focus on those issues, and their ongoing investigations, than engaging in the talk of impeachment that has been amplified on Pelosi's left flank. As the release of Mueller's report loomed, she recently tried to scuttle that talk by saying she's not for impeachment, for now.

But Mueller's report hasn't dissuaded some of Trump's fiercest critics among the new Democratic lawmakers who helped flip the House from Republican control. By the end of the month, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is still planning to introduce her resolution calling for the Judiciary Committee to investigate grounds for Trump's impeachment.

Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers called for Congress to move on. "This is done with," said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. "It is time for the country to move forward."

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican, said Democrats don't want facts, "They just want to change the outcome of the 2016 election."

At the same time, however, Republicans followed Trump's lead in looking into how the investigation began. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham promised to "unpack the other side of the story" of the Russia investigation.

Graham, who spent the weekend with Trump in Florida, said his committee will probe the actions of the Justice Department. Still, he said the investigation was legitimate and had to happen in order to answer questions about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The South Carolina Republican also had a warning for Trump using his pardon power to help those who were ensnared by Mueller's investigation.

"If President Trump pardoned anybody in his orbit, it would not play well," Graham said.

Among those whom Mueller charged during the course of his investigation were the president's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Five Trump aides pleaded guilty and a sixth, longtime confidant Roger Stone, is awaiting trial on charges that he lied to Congress and engaged in witness tampering.

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Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Catherine Lucey, Jill Colvin, Alan Fram, Mike Balsamo and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report.

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Follow all of AP's Trump Investigations coverage at https://apnews.com/TrumpInvestigations .

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2019, file photo, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, joined at right by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, speaks to House Democrats, now in the majority, during an event at the Capitol in Washington. Nadler, Cummings, and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said in a joint statement, "The Special Counsel's Report should be allowed to speak for itself, and Congress must have the opportunity to evaluate the underlying evidence." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

The letter from Attorney General William Barr to Congress on the conclusions reached by special counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia probe photographed on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

FILE - In this Friday, March 8, 2019 file photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks at an Economic Club of Washington luncheon gathering in Washington. The day after Democrats swept to power, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi stood before the cameras and declared impeachment was "off the table." That was November 2006. More than a decade later, Pelosi, again facing a restive left flank that's now ready to confront President Donald Trump, says she's "not for impeachment." It's a remarkably consistent stance from Pelosi who must lead the House through another moment when a vocal part of the electorate wants to end a presidency. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The "Medicare for All" legislation that's become a clarion call for progressives has two little-noticed provisions that could make it even more politically perilous for 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

The legislation from White House hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with a similar measure in the House, lifts curbs on government health insurance for people in the country illegally and revokes longstanding restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortions.

Embracing the changes will give Democratic candidates a boost with the party's liberal base in a wide-open primary fight. But such divisive issues could complicate things for an eventual nominee seeking voters in the middle. President Donald Trump has denounced Medicare for All as "socialism," and immigration and abortion are issues that energize Trump's political base .

"It seems like the writers of the bills are just trying to pander to the Democratic activists," said Janet Robert, president of the anti-abortion advocacy group Democrats for Life. "You don't see this coming from Democrats who run in communities in more rural areas. You don't just need votes from Democratic activists to win the election."

But Kristin Lynch, a spokeswoman for 2020 Democratic hopeful Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, said the senator believes "it is imperative that all residents of the U.S. have affordable, quality health coverage," including "comprehensive reproductive care." Booker is a co-sponsor of Sanders' bill.

Other Democratic senators running for president have also signed on to their Vermont colleague's legislation: Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, and Elizabeth Warren of New York. Their offices did not respond to requests for comment.

FILE - In this March 10, 2019, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., addresses a rally during a campaign stop in Concord, N.H. "Medicare for All" legislation has two provisions that could make it even more politically divisive for 2020 Democratic presidential candidates: It lifts curbs on government health insurance for people in the country illegally and revokes longstanding restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortions. Embracing these will give Democratic candidates a boost with the party's liberal base in the primaries. But that could complicate things for an eventual nominee seeking support from voters in the middle (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Beyond the Senate, a spokeswoman for 2020 Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg said he supports lifting current restrictions on taxpayer funding for abortion. Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, generally supports covering immigrants even if they are in the country illegally, but she said he'd have to see specifics.

Neither Sanders' bill nor the similar measure in the House has a realistic chance of becoming law, with the Senate controlled by Republicans and Trump in the White House. But the House bill will get committee hearings this year, and supporters are pressing for votes.

So far, the debate has centered on the bill's promise of quality care with no premiums or copays versus its potentially huge costs. Adding immigration and abortion take it in a different direction.

The words "immigrant" and "abortion" don't appear in Sanders' bill, which is expected to be re-introduced soon, or in House legislation from Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Debbie Dingell of Michigan. Instead the legislation refers to U.S. "resident" and "comprehensive reproductive" care.

Both Medicare for All bills would extend coverage to every U.S. resident, delegating the health and human services secretary to define residency. The House bill also prohibits the government from denying benefits because of "citizenship status." Both bills call for steps to deter immigration for the "sole purpose" of getting free medical care.

That's different from former President Barack Obama's health care law, which limited benefits to U.S. citizens or nationals, and "lawfully present" immigrants. The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimates there are about 6 million people in the U.S. without legal permission who are uninsured.

"Everyone, no matter who they are or what services they need, must have access to quality affordable health care," said Dingell. She said she's looking to start "conversations across the country to build the consensus that will ensure every person gets the health care coverage they need."

On abortion, both bills essentially would sweep away the Hyde amendment, the term for federal laws stretching back more than 40 years that prohibit taxpayer money for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman. Such restrictions would not apply to Medicare for All. and comprehensive reproductive care would be a covered benefit.

Sanders' and Dingell's offices confirmed that abortion would be covered.

Supporters of abortion rights say that's a long-overdue recognition of shifts in society and the power of women in the Democratic Party.

"You had this election where women in particular showed up because health care is front-and-center in their minds," said Leila Abolfazli, who specializes in federal policy for the National Women's Law Center. "It makes sense that if you are going to do a new type of health care system it would include the full range of reproductive health services."

Polls show Americans generally support abortion rights, but are divided on whether the government should pay. About 6 in 10 said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a Pew Research Center poll from last fall. A Public Religion Research Institute poll earlier in 2018 found that 51 percent of Americans said government insurance programs for low-income women should not pay for abortion services, while 46 percent said they should.

On immigration, a recent Gallup poll found about 4 out of 5 Americans support letting people living illegally in the country become citizens if they meet certain requirements.

"We are not going to split hairs forever over your immigration status," said Sonya Schwartz of the National Immigration Law Center, which advocates on behalf of immigrants.

But R.J. Hauman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports immigration curbs, said Medicare for All would just become a "pull factor," drawing more immigrants to the U.S.

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Associated Press writers Sara Burnett in Chicago and Hannah Fingerhut in Washington contributed to this story.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Beto O'Rourke's splashy campaign event in Pennsylvania last week appeared to herald the start of the state's presidential primary season.

But if Pennsylvania's Democratic Party faithful are searching for a favorite from among the crowded 2020 primary field, it may be in vain. Early-voting states typically make that choice.

Pennsylvania historically gets the short end of the stick in presidential primaries, rarely voting in time to help decide a party's nominee, despite being one of the most sought-after general election prizes.

Yet, Democratic Party strategists and officials suggest that a crush of candidates could force a competitive race all the way until April 28, 2020, when Pennsylvania holds its primary election.

"When you have a big field like this and it's possible to win early-voting states with 10, 12 or 15 percent, it really is open to everybody," said Aren Platt, a Philadelphia-area Democratic campaign strategist.

Pennsylvania is the sixth-largest electoral prize for Democrats seeking the party's nomination and, next year, it will be the last of the delegate-rich states to vote, except perhaps New Jersey.

Former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke answers a question during a campaign stop at a brewery in Conway, N.H., Wednesday, March 20, 2019. O'Rourke announced last week that he'll seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

It also occupies an indelible place in the minds of Democrats. It flipped to Republican Donald Trump - by less than 1 percentage point - in the 2016 election after backing Democrats in six straight presidential elections.

To some Democrats, a candidate must show strength in a Pennsylvania primary, since the state is a must-win in 2020.

"To me, you would have to," said U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans of Philadelphia. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand. Trump won Pennsylvania. That's what put it in play."

In the past, Pennsylvania's primary election was largely academic. Usually, earlier-voting states winnow the field to one candidate who has a commanding lead by the time Pennsylvania votes.

Still, besides the big primary field, there are a couple other reasons that Pennsylvania could see a competitive Democratic primary.

There is the rise of small-dollar donations, which fueled Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 run against the eventual nominee, Hillary Clinton. Then there is the party's new rule for 2020, in which superdelegates - party establishment insiders who are automatic delegates to the party's convention - cannot vote on the first presidential ballot if the convention remains contested.

Many in 2016 declared their support for Clinton even before primary votes. Now, Pennsylvania's Democratic Party chairwoman, Nancy Mills, said she asked the state's national party committee members to remain neutral until the convention.

"That will make a difference and a more level playing field for all the candidates coming into Pennsylvania," Mills said.

Perhaps 1984 was the last, most impactful Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania, said Terry Madonna, a pollster and public affairs professor at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. That's when Walter Mondale, Gary Hart and Jesse Jackson came to Pennsylvania with the nomination still in doubt.

O'Rourke's Monday rally at Penn State wasn't the first presidential primary campaign activity in Pennsylvania in March.

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg made book tour appearances in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard held a meet-and-greet at a Philadelphia brewery. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker held private fundraising events in Philadelphia.

But it was easily the highest-profile event, attracting hundreds on short notice, and party strategists and officials predict that more such activity is coming.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, if he runs, has a built-in advantage in Pennsylvania, many say. He is from neighboring Delaware, has close ties to longtime party officials and is a fixture on Pennsylvania's campaign trail, including stumping in November for Gov. Tom Wolf and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.

In September, Biden marched in Pittsburgh's Labor Day parade, drawing shouts of encouragement from building trades union members to run for president.

"All the labor leaders took notice," said Mike Mikus, a campaign strategist who advises Pittsburgh-area labor unions.

Among the hundreds who came out to see O'Rourke at Penn State, some expect a competitive Pennsylvania primary and want to get to know the candidates better. Many liked O'Rourke, but not exclusively.

"Right now, it is so early, I want to hear as much as I can about the candidates," said Joanna Suarez, a Penn State sophomore from Gettysburg. "My mind is pretty open."

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Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/timelywriter .

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This story has been corrected to show O'Rourke's rally was last week, not this week.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea said some North Korean officials returned to an inter-Korean liaison office on Monday, three days after the North abruptly withdrew its entire staff citing unspecified instructions from "higher-level authorities."

It wasn't immediately clear why North Korea sent some workers back to the office or whether it would restore a full staff. The North's decision to withdraw its staff on Friday came a week after its vice foreign minister threatened to pull out of nuclear negotiations with the United States following the collapse of a nuclear summit last month between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in Vietnam.

Seoul's Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, said in a statement that four to five North Korean officials showed up for work Monday at the liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and told South Korean officials they came to work their usual shifts.

The ministry said the North had still not provided a clear explanation as to why it withdrew staff from the office. It expressed hope that even the partial return of North Korean personnel would allow the office to serve its "essential function." The North reportedly had sent about 10 workers each working day to the office since it opened last September as part of a slew of reconciliation steps between the rivals agreed to by Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

"We plan to continue operating the inter-Korean liaison office like we did in normal times," said Baik Tae-hyun, the ministry's spokesman.

Some analysts say the withdrawal was part of North Korean efforts to pressure South Korea to back its position with the United States more strongly following the breakdown of the Trump-Kim summit. North Korean state media have recently demanded that South Korea distance itself from the United States and resume joint economic projects that have been held back by U.S.-led sanctions against the North.

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2018, file photo, South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, center left, and Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification, center right, attend at an opening ceremony for two Koreas' first liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea. South Korea said some North Korean officials returned to an inter-Korean liaison office on Monday, March 25, 2019, three days after the North abruptly withdrew its entire staff citing unspecified instructions from "higher-level authorities." (Korea Pool/Yonhap via AP, File)

The Koreas in past months have also dismantled some of their front-line guard posts, halted military exercises across their border and vowed to resume inter-Korean economic projects when possible, voicing optimism that international sanctions could end, allowing such projects.

While Moon says inter-Korean reconciliation is crucial for achieving progress in nuclear negotiations, the breakdown of the Trump-Kim summit has created a difficult environment to push engagement with the North.

Washington and Pyongyang have struggled with the sequencing of North Korea's nuclear disarmament and the removal of sanctions, and blamed each other for the collapse of last month's meeting in Hanoi.

The liaison office between the Koreas is the first since the Korean Peninsula was split into a U.S.-backed capitalistic South and a Soviet-supported socialist North in 1945. The rivals previously used telephone and fax-like communication channels that were often shut down in times of high tensions.

Kaesong is also the location of a now-shuttered factory complex that was jointly run by the two Koreas. It combined South Korean capital and technology with cheap North Korean labor. Both Koreas want the United States to allow exemptions from the sanctions to permit the reopening of the factory park, which provided North Korea with much-needed foreign currency. Critics say Kaesong and other inter-Korean economic projects helped North Korea fund its nuclear weapons program.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - The Latest on the mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand (all times local):

7 p.m.

The body of a 26-year-old Pakistani who was among 50 worshippers killed during attacks on mosques in New Zealand has arrived at an airport in the southern port city of Karachi.

Syed Areeb Ahmed was among nine Pakistanis who were killed on March 15 when a white supremacist shot people inside two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

On Monday, his sobbing father Syed Ayaz Ahmed, family members and government officials received his body.

Ahmed was an only son who had immigrated to New Zealand for work, according to his uncle Muhammad Muzaffar Khan.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses a press conference in Wellington, New Zealand Monday, March 25, 2019. Ardern has announced a top-level inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the massacre of 50 people in two Christchurch mosques on March 15. (AP Photo/Nick Perry)

Last week, Pakistan observed a day of mourning for the victims and honored another Pakistani, Naeem Rashid, who died along with his son after trying to tackle the gunman.

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3 p.m.

New Zealand's prime minister has announced a top-level inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the massacre of 50 people in two Christchurch mosques.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the country's highest form of investigation, a royal commission of inquiry, was appropriate for "matters of the gravest public importance."

Her Cabinet had previously agreed on holding an inquiry, but had not decided what kind of investigation would be held.

She said the Cabinet agreed Monday a royal commission of inquiry "will look at what could have or should have been done to prevent the attack."

An Australian white supremacist has been charged with murder for the March 15 attacks.

A student gives finishing touches to a mural paying tribute to Naeem Rashid, a Pakistani citizen who was killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings, at a school in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2019. Rashid along with his son and 48 others were killed in a terror attack at two mosques in New Zealand, on March 15. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
BEIJING (AP) - A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves:

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at developments in the South China Sea, the location of several territorial conflicts in the region.

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CHINA COMPLAINS OVER LATEST US CRUISE

China has complained to Washington over the latest cruise by U.S. ships through the Taiwan Strait, considered a hot-spot for conflict between the two nations.

FILE - In this March 18, 2019, file photo, U.S. Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, commander of the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet, gestures during an interview with a select group of journalists aboard the USS Blue Ridge, the U.S. 7th Fleet Flagship, while docked at Manila South Harbor in Manila, Philippines. Sawyer says the U.S. won't alter its so-called "freedom of navigation" sailings in the disputed South China Sea and has pressed ahead with such operations despite a dangerous maneuver by a Chinese navy ship against an American destroyer. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

Reports said the U.S. sent the destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur and the Coast Guard cutter Bertholf through the strait from Sunday night to Monday morning.

The 100 mile (160 kilometer)-wide Taiwan Strait separating the self-ruling island democracy is international waters. However, China considers Taiwan its own territory to be brought under its control by force if need be and closely monitors all foreign military activity in the waterway.

"The Chinese side has been closely monitoring the U.S. warships sailing through the Taiwan Strait," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Monday. "We are well aware of the whole process. We have also made complaints with the U.S."

Geng said the U.S. should abide by previous commitments to China "so as not to avoid damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait."

The U.S. says the status of Taiwan is to be determined by the two sides, but is bound by law to treat any threat to Taiwan's security as a matter of national importance.

China considers control over Taiwan a matter of national pride, as well as key to its access to the Pacific, the South China Sea and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Taiwan claims territory in the South China Sea and operates a military installation on Taiping Island, also known internationally as Itu Aba. It is the largest naturally occurring islet in the group but has been dwarfed by China's construction in the area of seven man-made islands atop coral reefs equipped with airstrips and other military infrastructure.

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PHILIPPINE FOREIGN SECRETARY PRAISES CHINA

The Philippine foreign secretary heaped praise on China's ruling Communist Party during a visit to Beijing, underscoring the growing distance between the Philippines and the United States as China's regional political and economic influence rises.

Teodoro Locsin said Wednesday that China's authoritarian one-party system has provided opportunities for developing economies to grow and has given them a certain momentum for improvement that Western democracies currently lack.

"Without the new China there will be no prospect whatsoever for the developing world to grow into emerging economies," Locsin said.

The secretary's remarks reflected sentiment in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has frequently praised China and criticized his county's long-standing alliance with the U.S.

Earlier this month, the Philippine defense secretary said his country's defense treaty with the U.S. needs to be re-examined, bringing expressions of concern from Washington.

The newfound goodwill comes despite the fact that China and the Philippines have competing claims to territory in the South China Sea. The Philippines has been successful at international arbitration to contest China's claim to virtually the entire crucial waterway, but Beijing has ignored the ruling.

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EX-PHILIPPINE OFFICIALS CLAIM CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Two former Philippine officials are filing a complaint with the International Criminal Court accusing Chinese President Xi Jinping of crimes against humanity over his government's assertive actions in the South China Sea.

The two former officials contend that China's actions have deprived thousands of fishermen of their livelihood and wrecked the environment.

Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and ex-chief anti-graft prosecutor Conchita Carpio Morales said Thursday that they filed the complaint with the tribunal before the current Philippine president's move to withdraw the country from the tribunal took effect.

They accused Xi and other Chinese officials of turning seven disputed reefs into islands, causing extensive environmental damage, and of blocking about 320,000 Filipinos and other counties' fishermen from their fishing grounds.

"This has seriously undermined the food and energy security of the coastal states in the South China Sea, including the Philippines," del Rosario and Carpio Morales said in a statement.

China's island building, which started in 2013 in an effort to construct air and naval bases in the disputed waters, reportedly destroyed large expanses of coral reefs and endangered fisheries.

"It presents one of the most massive, near permanent and devastating destruction of the environment in humanity's history," they said.

There was no immediate reaction from China.

Duterte decided to withdraw the Philippines from the ICC last year in a move that took effect March 17. Duterte's move has been challenged by human rights advocates before the Philippine Supreme Court.

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US NAVY PROTESTS CHINESE BEHAVIOR

A senior U.S. Navy commander says the U.S. won't alter its so-called "freedom of navigation" sailings in the disputed South China Sea and has pressed ahead with such operations despite a dangerous maneuver by a Chinese navy ship against an American destroyer.

Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, told reporters in Manila that Washington protested that "unprofessional behavior" by the Chinese ship, which maneuvered very close to the USS Decatur as the latter sailed closely by a Chinese-occupied island in the Spratlys in September.

"No, it's not going to change where we do our freedom of navigation operations," Sawyer said when asked if the Sept. 30 incident off Gaven Reef would change such U.S. Navy operations. Several such sail-bys have been undertaken by American naval ships since that close encounter in the disputed waters, he said.

"It was concerning because the ships got too close," Sawyer said, adding that U.S. officials have voiced "our displeasure with what we consider to be unprofessional behavior."

The USS Decatur had sailed within 12 nautical miles of Gaven Reef when a Chinese destroyer approached within 45 yards (41 meters) of the bow of the U.S. Navy ship, which changed course to prevent a collision. The Decatur was also warned to leave the area, U.S. Pacific Fleet officials said at the time.

China said the Luoyang, a Chinese missile destroyer, was deployed to identify the U.S. warship and drive it away near Chinese territory. Beijing protested the Decatur's action as provocative.

One of seven disputed reefs transformed by China into militarily fortified islands in recent years, Gaven is claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. Malaysia and Brunei also have claims in the South China Sea.

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Associated Press writer Jim Gomez reported from Manilla, Philippines.

FILE - In this March 12, 2019, file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a plenary session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Two former Philippine officials are filing a complaint with the International Criminal Court accusing Chinese President Xi of crimes against humanity over his government's assertive actions in the South China Sea. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. That brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting.

The battle began Monday as White House aides and allies blanketed television news broadcasts to trumpet the findings and claim that Trump has been the victim in a probe that never should have started.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump will let Attorney General William Barr decide whether the special counsel's Russia report should be publicly released, though she adds that "he's more than happy for any of this stuff to come out."

Trump cheered the Sunday outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration. "It's a shame that our country has had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this," he said.

Democrats pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and demanded to see his full report. They insisted that even the summary by the president's attorney general hardly put him in the clear.

Mueller's conclusions, summarized by Barr in a four page letter to Congress, represented a victory for Trump on a key question that has hung over his presidency from the start - whether his campaign worked with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

President Donald Trump gestures after stepping off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Washington. The Justice Department said Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

That was further good news for the president on top of the Justice Department's earlier announcement that Mueller had wrapped his investigation without new indictments. That could deflate the hopes of Democrats in Congress and on the 2020 campaign trail that incriminating findings from Mueller would hobble the president's agenda and re-election bid.

But while Mueller was categorical in ruling out criminal collusion, he was more circumspect on presidential obstruction of justice. Despite Trump's claim of total exoneration, Mueller did not draw a conclusion one way or the other on whether he sought to stifle the Russia investigation through his actions including the firing of former FBI director James Comey.

According to Barr's summary, Mueller set out "evidence on both sides of the question" and stated that "while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

Barr, who was nominated by Trump in December, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller in May 2017 and oversaw much of his work, went further in Trump's favor.

The attorney general said he and Rosenstein had determined that Mueller's evidence was insufficient to prove in court that Trump had committed obstruction of justice to hamper the probe. Barr has previously voiced a broad view of presidential powers, and in an unsolicited memo last June he cast doubt on whether the president could have obstructed justice through acts - like firing his FBI director - that he was legally empowered to take.

Barr said their decision was based on the evidence uncovered by Mueller and not affected by Justice Department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Mueller's team examined a series of actions by the president in the last two years to determine if he intended obstruction. Those include his firing of Comey one week before Mueller's appointment, his public and private haranguing of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation because of his work on the campaign, his request of Comey to end an investigation into Michael Flynn, the White House's first national security adviser, and his drafting of an incomplete explanation about his oldest son's meeting with a Russian lawyer during the campaign.

Mueller's findings absolve Trump on the question of colluding with Russia but don't entirely remove the legal threats the president and associates are facing. Federal prosecutors in New York, for instance, are investigating hush-money payments made to two women during the campaign who say they had sex with the president. Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, implicated Trump in campaign finance violations when he pleaded guilty last year.

The special counsel's investigation did not come up empty-handed. It ensnared nearly three dozen people, senior Trump campaign operatives among them. The probe illuminated Russia's assault on the American political system, painted the Trump campaign as eager to exploit the release of hacked Democratic emails to hurt Hillary Clinton and exposed lies by Trump aides aimed at covering up their Russia-related contacts.

Thirty-four people, including six Trump aides and advisers, were charged in the investigation. Twenty-five are Russians accused of election interference either through hacking into Democratic accounts or orchestrating a social media campaign to spread disinformation on the internet.

Sunday's summary - and its suggestion that Mueller may have found evidence in support of obstruction - sets up a fight between Barr and Democrats, who called for the special counsel's full report to be released and vowed to press on with their own investigations.

"Attorney General Barr's letter raises as many questions as it answers," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

"Given Mr. Barr's public record of bias against the special counsel's inquiry, he is not a neutral observer and is not in a position to make objective determinations about the report," they said. Trump's own claim of complete exoneration "directly contradicts the words of Mr. Mueller and is not to be taken with any degree of credibility," they added.

Trump was at his Florida estate when lawmakers received the report. Barr's chief of staff called Emmet Flood, the lead White House lawyer on the investigation, to brief him on the findings shortly before he sent it to Congress. Mueller submitted his report to Barr instead of directly to Congress and the public because, unlike independent counsels such as Ken Starr in the case of President Bill Clinton, his investigation operated under the close supervision of the Justice Department.

Barr did not speak with the president, Mueller was not consulted on the letter, and the White House does not have Mueller's report, according to a Justice Department official.

Though Mueller did not find evidence that anyone associated with the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government, Barr's summary notes "multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign."

That's a likely reference not only to a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting at which Donald Trump. Jr. expected to receive damaging information on Clinton from a Kremlin-connected lawyer, as well as a conversation in London months earlier at which Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos was told Russia had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of thousands of stolen emails.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, said Congress needs to hear from Barr about his decision and see "all the underlying evidence." He said on Twitter, "DOJ owes the public more than just a brief synopsis and decision not to go any further in their work."

Barr said that Mueller "thoroughly" investigated the question of whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia's election interference, issuing more than 2,800 subpoenas, obtaining nearly 500 search warrants and interviewing 500 witnesses. Trump answered some questions in writing, but refused to be interviewed in person by the Mueller team.

Barr said Mueller also catalogued the president's actions including "many" that took place in "public view," a possible nod to Trump's public attacks on investigators and witnesses.

In the letter, Barr said he concluded that none of Trump's actions constituted a federal crime prosecutors could prove in court.

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Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire in New York, Deb Riechmann in Palm Beach, Florida, and Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

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Online: Read the letter: http://apne.ws/Am0jB94

Follow all of AP's Trump Investigations coverage at https://apnews.com/TrumpInvestigations

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Fla., en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Special Counsel Robert Mueller walks past the White House after attending services at St. John's Episcopal Church, in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2019. Mueller closed his long and contentious Russia investigation with no new charges, ending the probe that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Fla., en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Attorney General William Barr leaves his home in McLean, Va., on Sunday morning, March 24, 2019. Barr is preparing a summary of the findings of the special counsel investigating Russian election interference. The release of Barr's summary of the report's main conclusions is expected sometime Sunday.(AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz)

A copy of a letter from Attorney General William Barr advising Congress of the principal conclusions reached by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, is shown Sunday, March 24, 2019 in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

President Donald Trump speaks with the media after stepping off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Washington. The Justice Department said Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
TERESIN, Poland (AP) - Not long ago, Andriy Lytvynenko was fighting Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine. These days the Ukrainian war veteran drives a trolley up and down aisles of a supermarket warehouse in rural Poland and loads it with grocery items.

Unable to support his wife and three children as a driver at home in Ukraine, he recently left for the better pay offered in neighboring Poland.

"We fought in the war to make things better, but nothing has changed," the 36-year-old veteran, wearing a safety vest and helmet, said as he worked. "Friends die and that's it. And everything remains the same."

As Ukrainians get ready for a presidential election on Sunday, millions have already voted with their feet to leave a nation mired in corruption and inequality, a nation where the separatist war in the east has dragged on for five years, killing 13,000 people and showing no signs of ending.

With Russia in control of Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and backing separatists in eastern Ukraine, the government in Kiev is unable to fulfill its aspirations of joining the European Union or NATO. Ordinary Ukrainians long for better wages but see them stuck at a monthly average of $350. Business owners crave transparent rules and predictability but often face being extorted for bribes by corrupt officials, an intractable problem in Ukraine.

Many Ukrainians who dream of a decent existence are seeking it elsewhere.

Supermarket warehouse workers ride trolleys and sort food and drinks near Teresin, Poland, March 12, 2019, with nearly half the workers being Ukrainian. Millions of Ukrainians, an estimated one in 10, have left their country to seek the opportunity of working abroad, as many see no hope if they remain at home. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

In a nation of 44 million people, about 5 million - more than one in 10 people - now work abroad, according to an estimate by the All-Ukrainian Association of Companies on International Employment.

The group's president, Vasyl Voskoboynyk, says the large-scale emigration is helping to "release pressure in our boiling kettle" by significantly lowering Ukraine's jobless rate and injecting large sums of cash into the economy in the form of money sent home. Those remittances reached $11.6 billion last year and are expected to rise to $12.2 billion this year, nearly 12 percent of Ukraine's gross domestic product.

"These are huge numbers," Voskoboynyk said. "It's much more than what we get from the IMF (the International Monetary Fund) or from foreign investments."

For Ukraine's government, that still isn't enough. It is considering a new law to tax the income earned abroad.

Many Ukrainians work abroad for only a few months at a time, returning home often due to legal restrictions in EU countries. That has created a back-and-forth work migration that leaves open the possibility that many could return home for good if economic conditions in Ukraine ever improve.

"(But) sooner or later, if people see that there are no changes, we will lose them," Voskoboynyk said.

While workers going abroad have traditionally been in agriculture, construction or domestic jobs, a small but growing number are skilled specialists like doctors, nurses and computer specialists, threatening the former Soviet republic with a brain drain.

Dr. Oksana Lozova, head of the cardiology ward at Regional Children's Hospital in Rivne, a city in western Ukraine, said a doctor in her hospital recently left for Poland but smaller cities are feeling the loss of doctors and nurses much more.

"Experienced professionals are leaving and their places are filled with inexperienced young people," Lozova said.

Lozova was treating a 9-year-old girl for rheumatoid arthritis who had been brought 80 kilometers (50 miles) by her mother for treatment because there were no specialists nearer.

Ukraine's economic stagnation was visible in the pale bricks that had fallen from hospital's facade, in the potholes in city roads, in the white zebra stripes almost totally washed away at pedestrian crossings.

Ukrainians have been drawn to Western European countries like Italy and Germany, but also to neighboring ex-communist countries like Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which years ago entered NATO and the EU, and have since seen corruption fall and their economies expand.

The country attracting the most Ukrainians has been Poland, population 38 million, where some 1.2 million Ukrainians now work, according to the central bank. There, average wages are about three times higher than in Ukraine, around $1,050, still low by Western standards but growing fast.

The Ukrainians are replacing some of the 2 million Poles who left for Western Europe, especially Britain, after Poland joined the EU in 2004. Those who chose Poland do so because of its geographic proximity, cultural and linguistic similarities that make integration nearly frictionless and a booming economy desperate for workers.

"Poland is now the China of Europe," said Andrzej Korkus, the CEO of EWL, one of the work agencies that places Ukrainians in construction, warehouse and other jobs.

Of the 600 employees at the supermarket warehouse where Lytvynenko, the Ukrainian war veteran, works, 43 percent are Ukrainians. Manager Marcin Szczepanski said so few Poles are willing to work in warehouses now that the business could not function without the Ukrainians.

Poland has also seen a huge surge in recent years in the number of Ukrainian university students, some of whom say they are better off paying tuition in Poland than the bribes required at home. Many of them stay on after graduation, taking jobs in Poland.

Medical professionals from Ukraine are also filling gaps left by Polish doctors, dentists and nurses who fled west for higher wages, but the process takes longer.

Olena Aleksiychuk, a 31-year-old Ukrainian dentist, left behind her parents, a home and her private dental practice in western Ukraine four years ago. She spent nearly three years learning Polish and passing Poland's medical licensing exams. In that time, she worked as a dental hygienist, but says the temporary demotion was worth it, given the higher wages and greater opportunities to develop professionally that are available to her now in Poland.

She said she personally knows about 50 Ukrainian doctors, ranging in age from 20s to 50s, who are now taking steps to work in Poland.

"Life is more comfortable in Poland. It's safe and it's all easier," Aleksiychuk said, speaking from in her treatment room in a sleekly designed clinic run in a Warsaw neighborhood full of modern glass office buildings. "You don't have to worry about what will happen tomorrow."

One of her patients was also from Ukraine.

Lesya Benko, 25, arrived in Poland in 2015 and is now an account sales manager for a global headset company in Warsaw. Benko said she now runs into so many Ukrainians in her daily life - in stores, coffee shops and offices - that sometimes "you can't tell if you are in Ukraine or Poland."

Andriy Lytvynenko Ukrainian war veteran, sorts drinks and food at his workplace at a supermarket warehouse near Teresin, Poland, March 12, 2019, with nearly half the workers being Ukrainian. Millions of Ukrainians, an estimated one in 10, have left their country to seek the opportunity of working abroad, as many see no hope if they remain at home. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

Ukrainians disembark the Kharkiv-Warsaw bus in Warsaw, Poland, on March 10, 2019. As Ukrainians prepare to go to the polls in a presidential election March 31, millions have already voted with their feet to leave the country, seemingly mired by corruption, poverty and conflict. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

Nurse attends the child in Rivne Regional Children's Hospital, Ukraine on March 14, 2019. As Ukrainians prepare to go the polls in a presidential election March 31, millions of Ukrainians, an estimated one in 10, have left their country to seek the opportunity of working abroad, as many see no hope if they remain at home.(AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

Mother and daughter walk away from the Rivne Regional Children's Hospital, in Rivne, Ukraine, on March 14, 2019. As Ukrainians prepare to go to the polls in a presidential election March 31, millions of Ukrainians have already voted with their feet by leaving the country, seemingly mired in corruption, poverty and conflict. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

Olena Aleksiychuk, a Ukrainian dentist, treats a patient, who is also Ukrainian, at a private dental clinic in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday March 11, 2019. 31-year old Ukrainian dentist Aleksiychuk, left behind her parents, a home and her private dental practice in Ukraine four years ago, to learn how to speak Polish and seek the opportunity of working abroad. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Ukrainians pray at the St. Mary Magdalene Church in Warsaw, Poland, on March 10, 2019. Ukrainians prepare to go the polls in a presidential election March 31, although millions of Ukrainians, an estimated one in 10, have already left their country to seek the opportunity of working abroad, as many see no hope if they remain at home. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

People walk along the street of Rivne, Ukraine, on March 14, 2019. As Ukrainians prepare to go to the polls in a presidential election March 31, millions of Ukrainians have already voted with their feet by leaving the country, seemingly mired in corruption, poverty and conflict. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

An elderly woman takes a walk to the WWII monument in Rivne, Ukraine, on March 14, 2019. Millions of Ukrainians, an estimated one in 10, have left their country to seek the opportunity of working abroad, as many see no hope if they remain at home. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

A girl peeks out from the door in Rivne Regional Children's Hospital, in Rivne, Ukraine, on March 14, 2019. As Ukrainians prepare to go the polls in a presidential election March 31, millions have already voted with their feet, by leaving the country mired by corruption, poverty and conflict. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A devastating Taliban attack over the weekend on an Afghan army outpost in southern Helmand province killed 26 soldiers and seven policemen, a provincial official said Monday - casualties the country's defense ministry has refused to disclose.

Separately, the United Nations said Monday that a NATO airstrike over the weekend in northern Kunduz province killed 13 civilians, including 10 children.

NATO did not comment on the strike and it was not immediately clear if it was related to fighting Friday on the outskirts of the city of Kunduz, the provincial capital, in which two U.S. soldiers were killed.

The attacks - and the fact they were not reported by the embattled Afghan government - underscore the challenges in efforts to resolve Afghanistan's 17-year war, America's longest. The Taliban stage near-daily attacks on Afghan forces, inflicting staggering casualties, even as they hold peace talks with the United States.

According to Helmand council chief, Attahullah Afghan, the attack on the army outpost took place in Sangin district on Friday. Along with 33 fatalities, he told The Associated Press at least 31 soldiers were wounded.

The Taliban claimed the attack a day later but the government remained silent. On Monday, Afghan military spokesman Nawab Shah said only that government jets had aided the besieged troops and eventually sent reinforcements to Helmand, an old Taliban heartland. He refused to discuss casualties.

Men stand over bodies during a protest in Kunduz province north of Afghanistan, Saturday, Mar. 23, 2019. Dozens of people protested while carrying dead bodies, claiming that they had been killed during a military operation, according to a provincial official. (AP Photo/Bashir Khan Safi)

A second Taliban attack in Helmand targeted a public ceremony on Saturday in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, killing at least four people, including a provincial official, said Omar Zwak, spokesman for the Helmand governor. Yet another attack in Helmand, this one on Sunday, killed five policemen, said Zwak.

Following the airstrike in northern Kunduz province, residents of the area held a protest, carrying several of the bodies. The airstrike was apparently in support of Afghan troops battling the Taliban, the U.N. statement said.

Earlier this month, Washington's special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban held a 13-day round of peace talks in Qatar, where the Taliban have an office. The next round of talks is expected within the coming weeks.

The talks have sidelined Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government. Also, Khalilzad has been pressing the Taliban to declare a cease-fire, something the insurgents have refused to do.

Also Monday, a bomb went off outside a clinic in the eastern city of Jalalabad, wounding six people, all of them women and children, said Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in the area.

A wounded man is carried away following multiple explosions in Lashkar Gah city of Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Saturday, Mar. 23, 2019. An Afghan official says that at least three have been killed in twin bomb explosions occurred during the Farmer's Day ceremony in southern Helmand province. (AP Photo/Abdul Khaliq)

Police and civilians lie on the ground after multiple explosions in Lashkar Gah city of Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Saturday, Mar. 23, 2019. An Afghan official says that at least three have been killed in twin bomb explosions occurred during the Farmer's Day ceremony in southern Helmand province. (AP Photo/Abdul Khaliq)

A U.S. Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Joseph P. Collette, Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Collette, of Lancaster, Ohio, was killed March 22 while involved in combat operations in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia savored an "I told you so" moment Monday after special counsel Robert Mueller found no collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Moscow. Government officials also dismissed the extensive evidence uncovered by Mueller of Russian cyber-meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

"It's hard to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if it isn't there," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, insisting that Russia has never interfered in elections in the U.S. or any other countries.

While Mueller found no evidence Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Moscow to sway the election in his favor, he uncovered multi-pronged Russian meddling and indicted 25 Russians on charges of hacking Democratic email accounts and spreading disinformation on social media.

The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected those charges as "ridiculous" and "politically motivated" and denounced Mueller's investigation as a waste of taxpayer money stemming from the Democrats' effort to discredit Trump.

"Colossal efforts and significant taxpayers' funds have been spent to refute a clear fake," it said.

Russian authorities over the past months have described the Mueller probe in a language strikingly similar to that of Trump, denouncing it as politically driven witch hunt.

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 file photo, people walk in Red Square on a cold day, with St. Basil's Cathedral in the background, in Moscow, Russia. A senior Russian lawmaker on Monday March 25, 2019, has welcomed the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian involvement in the U.S. presidential election, saying this gives the countries a chance to mend ties. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

"The results of Mueller's investigation are a disgrace for the U.S. and its political elites," Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the information committee at the Federation Council, tweeted Monday. "All of the accusations were proved to be trumped up."

Russian state-owned Channel One suggested that U.S. media had been deliberately whipping up hysteria about possible collusion to turn American public opinion against Russia.

"There were so many fake scoops: the one about the non-existent back channel between Washington and Moscow, the one about the so-called Russia Dossier with the Kremlin's alleged compromising information on Trump," said Channel One's U.S. correspondent, Yulia Olkhovskaya. "But will the viewers hear the rebuttals now?"

Putin's spokesman said that Russia wants good relations with the U.S. but that it's up to Washington to move to repair ties.

Vladimir Pozner, a veteran TV commentator in Russia, said that by lifting the cloud hanging over Trump, Mueller's report removes a barrier to better U.S-Russia relations.

"It creates a kind of an opening for an improvement of relations, which is badly needed considering the situation today," Pozner said Monday.

Other Russian officials and commentators held out hope that Trump would now reach out to Moscow, but most also noted that congressional support for sanctions against Russia and political infighting in Washington made any improvements in relations unlikely.

"There is nothing to celebrate here in Russia; the accusations against us remain," Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Federation Council's foreign affairs committee, said. "There's an opportunity to reset our relations, but the question is whether Trump will take the risk."
BANGKOK (AP) - The two top parties began angling for the upper hand in forming a new government in Thailand on Monday after partial results showed no group won a majority of seats in the country's first national election since a 2014 military coup.

One outcome: many accusations of cheating in Sunday's vote, in efforts to discredit the other side's claim to leadership and perhaps get some winners disqualified.

The allegations highlight continuing deep divisions in Thailand, which has been wracked by political instability for nearly two decades.

The junta-appointed Election Commission announced the results of 350 constituency races but said full vote counts, which are needed to allocate 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday after apparent counting problems.

The partial results showed the military-backed Palang Pracharath party won the most popular votes nationwide. But under a complicated new electoral system put in place by the junta, the anti-military Pheu Thai party is likely to win the highest number of seats in the House.

Each party insists its advantage gives it the right to try to form a government, though neither holds a majority in terms of votes or seats. And because an unelected 250-member Senate appointed by the junta will also vote for prime minister, a party must win a combined 376 votes to assure victory.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrives at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. The junta-appointed Election Commission announced the results of 350 constituency races but said full vote counts, which are needed to allocate 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday after apparent counting problems. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

That vote will likely take place sometime in May and give Palang Pracharath's candidate, current junta Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a considerable advantage.

The election is the latest chapter in a nearly two-decade struggle pitching conservative forces including the military, courts and ultra-royalists against the political machine of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon who upended tradition-bound Thai politics with a populist political revolution and is now despised by the military.

Thaksin now lives in exile abroad to avoid a prison term, but parties allied with him have won every election since 2001 despite repeated efforts by the military and courts to block his influence. His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who led the Pheu Thai government that was ousted in 2014, also fled the country after what supporters said was a politically motivated prosecution.

While behind-the-scenes recruitment of smaller parties is the main way for Palang Pracharath or Pheu Thai to try to gain enough support to form a government, the public battle is being fought with cries of foul on social media, mostly from Pheu Thai partisans.

Although formal ties between Thaksin and Pheu Thai are now legally banned, he amplified the accusations of foul play in an op-ed in The New York Times on Monday.

His complaints included inconsistent and delayed results from the Election Commission, ballot numbers exceeding voters in some areas, turnouts twice the number of registered voters, and a suspiciously large number of voided ballots.

Thailand's main poll-watching organizations have not yet publicly addressed most of the allegations.

The watchdog group P-Net charged that the junta-appointed Election Commission was inefficient, and that it had found vote buying ahead of the voting.

But there is concern about the other allegations.

Allen Hicken, professor of political science at the University of Michigan, noted that while Thaksin's words read as "sour grapes," the allegations have been circulating widely.

He said he considered the three most troubling issues to be the delayed result announcements, turnouts exceeding 100 percent and a large number of invalid ballots.

Hicken said he would withhold judgment pending explanations by the Election Commission, "but all three are consistent with electoral chicanery in other contexts."

The commission's secretary-general, Charoongwit Poomma, defended its handling of Sunday's vote and said delays in announcing full results reflect its duty to ensure the election is free and fair. He said he had not received reports of issues such as excessive voting numbers or disappearing votes.

The cheating charges come on top of the judgment by many human rights and pro-democracy groups that the rules set by the junta made a fair election impossible.

Palang Pracharath chief Uttama Savanayana said it will contact like-minded parties to form a new government.

The leader of Pheu Thai, Sudarat Keyuraphan, also said it would try to form a government because it won the most constituency races.

"The party with the most seats is the one that has received the confidence from the people to set up the government," Sudarat said.

Thailand's Palang Pracharat Party leader Uttama Savanayana, left, looks on as he prepares to hold a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Election Commission announced the results of 350 constituency races but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Pheu Thai party leader Sudarat Keyuraphan smiles during a press conference at the party headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March 25, 2019. Thailand's Election Commission said it will announce the results of 350 constituency seats on Monday but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit smiles after a press conference at the party headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Election Commission announced the results of 350 constituency races but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Pheu Thai party leader Sudarat Keyuraphan smiles during a press conference at the party headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March 25, 2019. Thailand's Election Commission said it will announce the results of 350 constituency seats on Monday but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit smiles during a press conference at the party headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Election Commission announced the results of 350 constituency races but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Secretary-General Charoongwit Poomma, left, and Deputy Secretary-General of Election Commission Nut Laosisavaku switch the microphone during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March. 25, 2019. Thailand's Election Commission said it will announce the results of 350 constituency seats on Monday but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Charoongwit Poomma, Secretary-General of Election Commission speaks during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March 25, 2019. Election Commission said it will announce the results of 350 constituency seats later Monday but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Thailand's Palang Pracharat Party leader Uttama Savanayana, center walks to hold a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Election Commission announced the results of 350 constituency races but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrives at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. The junta-appointed Election Commission announced the results of 350 constituency races but said full vote counts, which are needed to allocate 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday after apparent counting problems. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha blows flute during an event to promote Thai Heritage Conservation Day before cabinet meeting at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. The junta-appointed Election Commission announced the results of 350 constituency races but said full vote counts, which are needed to allocate 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, won't be available until Friday after apparent counting problems. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A former senior Philippine police official said President Rodrigo Duterte, who has faced widespread criticism over his deadly drug crackdown, has been photographed with two Chinese men involved in illegal drugs and that he sent a report to warn him about the two.

Dismissed Senior Superintendent Eduardo Acierto said late Sunday that he's unaware what government action has been taken after he submitted his report about the Chinese men to top police officials starting in December 2017. Instead, Acierto said he's now facing illegal drugs complaints and has been the target of death threats that forced him to go into hiding recently.

"In my investigation, I discovered that our president ... is often accompanied by two people deeply involved in illegal drugs," Acierto, who was a veteran anti-narcotics official before he was dismissed last year by an anti-graft agency, said in a video message shown to reporters before he appeared at a news conference in Manila. "What popped into my mind at the time was maybe the president isn't aware that these are suspected drug lords."

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Aaron Aquino told The Associated Press that he received Acierto's report and sent it to Duterte's office, adding that both his office and that of the president took steps to validate the allegations against the two Chinese. An initial check showed that at least one of the Chinese was not facing any illegal drugs case in the country, he said.

There was a suspected drug dealer in the northern Philippines with the same name as one of the two Chinese Acierto identified in his report, but Aquino said investigators would have to check if they were the same person.

"It's wrong to say that there was no action taken because it was acted upon," Aquino said. He played down the significance of the photographs showing Duterte with the two Chinese men, saying officials often get approached by all sorts of people for group photographs without being able to rapidly check their background.

In this Sunday, March 24, 2019, photo, former Police Senior Superintendent Eduardo Acierto gestures during a clandestine news conference for the first time with a select group of journalists in Manila, Philippines. Acierto, who was assigned in various units of the police anti-illegal drugs for 18 years, is now in hiding after being included in President Rodrigo Duterte's so-called "matrix" list of persons allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

"I get to be asked for selfie shots and I wouldn't know that the one I'm being photographed with is a drug lord," Aquino said.

Aside from his alleged involvement in the irregular issuance of gun permits that led an anti-graft prosecutor to order his dismissal last year, Acierto also faces criminal complaints for his alleged role in the entry of a large amount of methamphetamine through the Bureau of Customs in Manila, Aquino said.

"In terms of credibility, it's evident that he's not credible because, first of all, he has been implicated in the smuggling of drugs," Aquino said.

Acierto's confidential report about the alleged drug links of the two Chinese contained many details, including the involvement of one of them in the establishment of a secret methamphetamine drugs manufacturing laboratory that was raided by authorities in 2004 in southern Davao city, where Duterte served as a longtime mayor before rising to the presidency in mid-2016.

Police have not said if they investigated those specific allegations or what they found out. Profiles of the two Chinese provided by Acierto to reporters said they were similarly involved in the "manufacturing, financing, the importation, transhipment and local distribution of meth or shabu," referring to the local name of the powerful stimulant.

Acierto said he made a video message about his findings and contacted the media to make them public to be sure the potential danger the two men posed would be dealt with even if he gets killed. He did not elaborate on the death threats but said they forced him to go into hiding with the help of friends and church people.

Acierto, who spent 18 years of his 33-year police career in anti-narcotics work, said he initially welcomed Duterte's passion to combat illegal drugs. But he said he later realized that the president's crackdown took a wrong approach by targeting mostly poor drug suspects instead of addressing the "supply side" by going after drug producers, financiers and largescale traffickers.

"Maybe the killings are not the solution and most of those killed belonged to the lower classes," Acierto said. "If there's supply there will be addicts. Will they annihilate all these Filipinos?"

More than 5,000 drug suspects have been killed in what the police reported were gunbattles that ensued during drug raids under Duterte's crackdown. The killings have alarmed Western governments and human rights group and sparked two complaints for mass murder before the International Criminal Court.

Duterte denies condoning extrajudicial killings but has openly threatened drug suspects with death.

___

Associated Press videojournalist Cecilia Forbes contributed to this report.
BEIRA, Mozambique (AP) - The United Nations is making an emergency appeal for $282 million for the next three months to help Mozambique start recovering from the devastation of Cyclone Idai.

The U.N. funding will be used to provide water, sanitation, education and restoring the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people, U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said Monday.

He said separate appeals will be made shortly for Zimbabwe and Malawi, also hard-hit by the cyclone.

Lowcock said funds for cyclone victims are starting to come through, including 22 million pounds from the United Kingdom, but are far outstripped by the needs.

UNICEF head Henrietta Fore just visited Mozambique's ravaged port city of Beira and said "it's a race against time" to help the displaced and prevent disease.

Authorities in Mozambique say that with a key road open to the badly damaged city of Beira, conditions on the ground improving and more international help arriving, vital aid to those hit by Cyclone Idai should now flow more freely.

Schoolchildren pick up books that were left to dry in the sun after their school was damaged by Cyclone Idai, in Inchope Mozambique, Monday March 25, 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera.

In Mozambique the number of dead has risen to 446 while there are 259 dead in Zimbabwe and at least 56 dead in Malawi for a three-nation total of 761.

The death toll is "very preliminary," said Mozambique's environment minister, Celso Correia, who said it is expected to rise.

The U.S. military will join the number of international aid groups assisting in providing food and medical care to those affected by the massive cyclone, one of the worst natural disasters in southern Africa in recent history.

Some 228,000 displaced people are now in camps across the vast flooded area of Mozambique, said Correia, who is the government's disaster coordinator, briefing journalists on Monday. It is still too early to give a number of missing, he said.

Diarrhea is reported in camps but he says it is too early to say whether it is cholera. He has said that it is almost certain that the deadly disease will emerge.

Aid teams are going to high points on islands created by Cyclone Idai and finding "a lot of people," Correia said.

Until all areas can be reached and assessed, it is impossible to say the disaster response effort has turned a corner, he said.

When asked by journalists about people found sheltering in a school along the newly opened main road to Beira who said they had not eaten since the storm, Correia said the aid had to be prioritized according to necessity.

At least they were found and aid is coming, he said. "They can still hang on for a few days."

Correia defended Mozambique's storm warning system, asserting that people knew weeks in advance that trouble was coming. More than 300,000 people were warned in advance, he said. "All reports say the system worked," he said.

Some residents of Beira and Buzi, however, have said they had heard nothing to indicate the scale of the cyclone and were shocked by the quickly rising waters, and some have expressed anger at the government for not giving more warning.

Mozambique's former president, Joachim Chissano, was at the press briefing and said authorities "did what they could" to warn residents. Chissano added that it would take three years to rebuild the city of Beira.

Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, deputy director of the U.N. Humanitarian operation, told reporters that "a lot more assistance" should be seen by Tuesday as more aid arrives at staging areas such as the Beira airport.

He confirmed the reports of diarrhea in camps. "It's a killer," he said.

He said the government is repairing key roads just enough to allow aid and other trucks to have access, with repair crews on hand when problems arise. They are being repaired "for now, and that's good enough," Stampa said.

One bright spot amid the hurried response efforts is the weather, which on Monday morning in Beira was dry, partly cloudy and hot. With no rains, the flooded areas should be able to drain.

"I'm pretty confident in the weather," Stampa said. "It's the only thing I'm confident about."

The United States military says President Donald Trump has directed it to support relief efforts to help Mozambique with the destruction caused by Cyclone Idai more than a week ago.

The U.S. Africa Command statement comes three days after Mozambique's government made a formal request to the international community for aid. The southern Africa nation earlier declared a national disaster as its president said deaths from the cyclone could reach 1,000. Confirmed deaths are now close to 450.

The U.S. statement says AFRICOM provides disaster relief "when it has unique capabilities that can be utilized in the U.S. Government's response."

It says the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa will lead the U.S. military efforts and that its initial assessments have begun at the scene of the disaster.

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Edith M. Lederer contributed to this story from the United Nations

Displaced families, victims of Cyclone Idai, eat lunch at the Samora Machel Secondary School which is being used to house victims of the floods in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday March 24, 2019. The death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the cyclone storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Phill Magakoe)

Displaced families victims of Cyclone Idai, eat lunch at the Samora Machel Secondary School which is being used to house victims of the floods in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday March 24, 2019. The death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the cyclone storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Phill Magakoe)

The Salvation Army holds a prayer service for members displaced in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe Sunday, March 24 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/KB Mpofu)

A woman exits her collapsed home in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe, Sunday, March 24 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/KB Mpofu)

Displaced victims of Cyclone Idai, sleep under a mosquito net at the Samora Machel Secondary School which is being used to house victims of the floods in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday March 24, 2019. The death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the cyclone storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Phill Magakoe)

Residents remove mud from their home and yard caused by Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe Sunday, March 24 2019. The death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/KB Mpofu)

A World Food Programme (WFP) helicopter takes off, in Beira, Mozambique, Friday, March 22, 2019. A week after Cyclone Idai hit coastal Mozambique and swept across the country to Zimbabwe, its death, destruction and flooding continues to grow in southern Africa, making it one of the most destructive natural disasters in the region's recent history. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Survivors of Cyclone Idai in an abandoned and derelict building near Nhamatanda about 50 kilometres from Beira, in Mozambique, Friday March, 22, 2019. As flood waters began to recede in parts of Mozambique on Friday, fears rose that the death toll could soar as bodies are revealed. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Survivors of Cyclone Idai in an abandoned and derelict building near Nhamatanda about 50 kilometres from Beira, in Mozambique, Friday March, 22, 2019. As flood waters began to recede in parts of Mozambique on Friday, fears rose that the death toll could soar as bodies are revealed. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Survivors of Cyclone Idai in a makeshift shelter by the roadside near Nhamatanda about 50 kilometres from Beira, in Mozambique, Friday March, 22, 2019. As flood waters began to recede in parts of Mozambique on Friday, fears rose that the death toll could soar as bodies are revealed. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A man passes through a section of the road damaged by Cyclone Idai in Nhamatanda about 50 kilometres from Beira, in Mozambique, Friday March, 22, 2019. As flood waters began to recede in parts of Mozambique on Friday, fears rose that the death toll could soar as bodies are revealed. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A UN humanitarian helicopter prepares for a day of work, at the airport in the Mozambique city of Beira, Friday March 22 2019. Some hundreds of people are dead, many more still missing and with many thousands at risk from massive flooding in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)

A man points to a house submerged in water caused by Cyclone Idai in Inchope, Mozambique, Monday March 25, 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A young boy walks past a house submerged in water caused by Cyclone Idai in Inchope, Mozambique, Monday March 25, 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A young boy walks past a house submerged in water caused by Cyclone Idai in Inchope, Mozambique, Monday March 25, 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Schoolchildren pick up books that were left to dry in the sun after their school was damaged by Cyclone Idai, in Inchope Mozambique, Monday March 25, 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

School books at Inchope primary school in Inchope, Mozambique, are left to dry in the sun after the school was damaged by Cyclone Idai, Monday March, 25, 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

School books at Inchope primary school in Inchope, Mozambique, are left to dry in the sun after the school was damaged by Cyclone Idai, Monday March, 25, 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
LONDON (AP) - British lawmakers seized a measure of control over the stalled Brexit process from Prime Minister Theresa May's foundering government Monday, setting up a series of votes that could dramatically alter the course of the U.K.'s departure from the European Union.

The move came after May conceded that Parliament would defeat her twice-rejected divorce deal with the EU again if she put it to a third vote.

With Brexit delayed and the new departure date up in the air, the House of Commons voted to give itself temporary control of the parliamentary timetable starting on Wednesday so lawmakers can vote on alternatives to May's withdrawal deal. The government usually controls the scheduling of votes in Parliament.

Lawmakers who backed Monday's motion, which passed 329-302, hope the planned "indicative votes" will narrow the options down to one that can secure majority support. Possible options include a "soft Brexit" that maintains close economic ties with the EU or scrapping Britain's departure altogether.

Three government ministers quit their posts so they could back the motion. Richard Harrington, who resigned as a junior business minister, accused the government of "playing roulette with the lives and livelihoods of the vast majority of people in this country" by failing to resolve Britain's Brexit impasse.

The government said it was disappointed by the vote, claiming it "upends the balance between our democratic institutions and sets a dangerous, unpredictable precedent for the future."

Protestors for opposing views face off against each other, with pro-Brexit split from Europe at right, and pro-Europe anti Brexit at left, outside parliament in London, Monday March 25, 2019. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

But it also conceded that the new votes might be a way to break the months-long Brexit gridlock. May said she would "engage constructively" with the results of the process, though she said she was skeptical that it would produce a decisive result.

The move raises the chances that Britain will tack toward a softer Brexit, and is likely to be welcomed by the EU. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, tweet that it was an "opportunity to build a cross-party cooperation leading to an enhanced political declaration & a closer future relationship!"

Earlier in the day, May acknowledged, "with great regret," that her deal still lacked "sufficient support" to be approved as of Monday.

She said she hoped to hold a third vote on the agreement later this week and was working to build support for the deal, which sets out the terms of withdrawing from the EU and the outline of future relations with the bloc.

May warned opponents that continuing to reject the deal could lead to a "slow Brexit" that postpones the country's departure indefinitely.

With the March 29 Brexit day set almost two years ago days away and the withdrawal agreement lacking Parliament's approval, European leaders agreed to a postponement last week to avoid a chaotic cliff-edge departure that would be disruptive for the world's biggest trading bloc and deeply damaging for Britain.

However, the EU granted a shorter delay than May sought. It said if Parliament approves the proposed divorce deal, the U.K. would leave the EU on May 22. If not, the government has until April 12 to tell the 27 remaining EU countries what it plans to do - leave without a deal, cancel Brexit or chart a path to a new option.

In agreeing to the postponement, European leaders hoped Britain's deadlocked politicians would find a solution to the crisis. But the EU isn't counting on it. The European Commission said Monday it had completed planning for a no-deal Brexit, calling that outcome "increasingly likely."

The EU said its members would be able to cope with a no-deal departure, although more remained to be done on ensuring an open border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.'s Northern Ireland - something both sides have agreed to. Checkpoints there were a source of tension and a target during the decades of sectarian violence before Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord.

An EU official said the bloc was in "in intense discussions with the Irish authorities about these matters."

May stands little chance of getting the deal she struck with the EU approved unless she can win over Brexit-backing lawmakers in her Conservative Party and its Northern Irish ally, the Democratic Unionist Party. The DUP said Monday that the party's "position remains unchanged."

May has come under intense pressure to quit the prime minister's post as the price of winning support for the deal.

At a meeting Sunday at the prime minister's country retreat, Chequers, prominent Brexiteers told May they might back the deal - if she agreed to step down so a new leader could take charge of the next phase of negotiations, which will settle Britain's future relations with the EU.

Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who attended the meeting and is likely to be a contender in any future Conservative leadership race, accused the government of lacking "gumption" and chickening out on delivering Brexit.

Britain's best-selling newspaper, The Sun, put a call on its front page for the prime minister to resign under the headline "Time's up, Theresa."

May is hanging on, hoping she can persuade Brexit-backing lawmakers that rejecting her deal means Britain may never leave the EU.

She told lawmakers that Britain would not leave the EU without a deal unless Parliament - which has already rejected the idea - voted for it.

Opponents of Brexit feel the political tide may be turning in their favor. Hundreds of thousands of people marched through London on Saturday calling for a new referendum on whether to leave the EU or remain.

But with the deadline for a Brexit decision less than three weeks away, British politicians remain divided, and increasingly despairing about the country's political gridlock.

"Brexit is like the Death Star of politics," Conservative legislator George Freeman said. "I always feared it would be like this. It's destroying and soaking up all the prime minister's room for maneuver and political goodwill.

"I've never known this country so divided, so angry and in such a dangerous state," he said.

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Lorne Cook reported from Brussels. Danica Kirka contributed to this story.

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Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement on Brexit to lawmakers in the House of Commons, London, Monday March 25, 2019. May is under intense pressure Monday to win support for her Brexit deal to split from Europe.(House of Commons via AP)

Anti Brexit campaigners wave flags outside Parliament in London, Monday, March 25, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May is under intense pressure Monday to win support for her Brexit deal to split from Europe. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

An anti Brexit campaigner shows her support for Europe waving a European Union flag outside Parliament in London, Monday, March 25, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May is under intense pressure Monday to win support for her Brexit deal to split from Europe. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Liam Fox Britain's Secretary of State for International Trade arrives for a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Monday, March 25, 2019. Embattled Prime Minister Theresa May was scrambling Sunday to win over adversaries to her Brexit withdrawal plan as key Cabinet ministers denied media reports that they were plotting to oust her. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

An effigy of British Prime Minister Theresa May is wheeled through Trafalgar Square during a Peoples Vote anti-Brexit march in London, Saturday, March 23, 2019. The march, organized by the People's Vote campaign is calling for a final vote on any proposed Brexit deal. This week the EU has granted Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May a delay to the Brexit process. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay leave 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, March 25, 2019. Embattled Prime Minister Theresa May was scrambling Sunday to win over adversaries to her Brexit withdrawal plan as key Cabinet ministers denied media reports that they were plotting to oust her. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Demonstrators carry posters and flags during a Peoples Vote anti-Brexit march in London, Saturday, March 23, 2019. The march, organized by the People's Vote campaign is calling for a final vote on any proposed Brexit deal. This week the EU has granted Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May a delay to the Brexit process. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt arrives for a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Monday, March 25, 2019. Embattled Prime Minister Theresa May was scrambling Sunday to win over adversaries to her Brexit withdrawal plan as key Cabinet ministers denied media reports that they were plotting to oust her. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Britain's Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay arrives for a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Monday, March 25, 2019. Embattled Prime Minister Theresa May was scrambling Sunday to win over adversaries to her Brexit withdrawal plan as key Cabinet ministers denied media reports that they were plotting to oust her. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A campaigner holds a banner outside Parliament in London, Monday, March 25, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May is under intense pressure Monday to win support for her Brexit deal to split from Europe. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
BEIJING (AP) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is to visit China next week, in a possible easing of recent tensions over a block on the purchase of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei's 5G equipment.

Ardern will be in China on Sunday and Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily briefing Monday. He gave no details about her itinerary.

Relations between China and New Zealand have been strained in recent months after New Zealand's spy agency in November stopped mobile phone company Spark from using Huawei equipment in its planned 5G upgrade. The agency said the Chinese tech giant's equipment posed a "significant network security risk."

New Zealand has been caught in the fray as the U.S. cautions allies against partnering with Huawei over national security concerns. The country is part of the "Five Eyes" security alliance along with the U.S., Britain, Canada and Australia.

At the same time, China is New Zealand's largest trading partner and a key customer for its dairy and other agricultural products. Ardern said last month that no final decision has been made on whether Huawei equipment can be used in the country's slated 5G network.

Since taking office in 2017, Ardern has promised to travel to China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but said an official visit was delayed as a result of scheduling difficulties.

New Zealand was shaken earlier this month by shooting attacks on two mosques in the city of Christchurch that left 50 people dead.
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan has charged a former police officer in last year's high-profile killing of a 27-year-old aspiring male model whose death triggered nationwide protests by members of his tribe.

Prosecutor Jabran Nasir says the former officer, Rao Anwar, pleaded not guilty at Monday's hearing. He says the trial will begin in April.

The aspiring model, Naqeeb Ullah, was killed under suspicious circumstances in January 2018 in what authorities initially described as shootout during a raid on a militant hideout in the southern port city of Karachi.

Following the shootout, Anwar and several other officers were arrested. At the time, Anwar claimed Ullah had links to militants.

A subsequent government probe concluded that Ullah, who hailed from the South Waziristan region, once a Taliban stronghold, had no ties to militants.
PARIS (AP) - French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that he hoped a 73-year-old yellow vest protester who suffered a head injury after being charged by police in Nice gains "wisdom" over the incident.

The Nice prosecutor said he had opened an investigation to uncover how anti-globalization activist Genevieve Legay was injured, and who, if anyone, was responsible. However, prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre noted that the Saturday demonstration was "at once illicit and forbidden" and participants had been summoned to leave before the police charge.

An Associated Press reporter saw Legay, who was waving a rainbow flag marked "Peace" and holding a yellow vest, fall to the pavement, blood spilling from her head.

The prosecutor told a news conference that Legay "was pushed" from behind and fell to the ground, fracturing her head, which hit a metal pole. She received a 3 centimeter gash, but was talking, coherent and remained hospitalized for surveillance.

He said at least three other people, including a protester and a cameraman, were behind Legay when she fell, not just police.

In an interview published in the Nice Matin newspaper on Monday, Macron suggested Legay didn't behave "responsibly," saying that "fragile" people shouldn't attend "places that are defined as prohibited."

FILE - In this Saturday, March 23, 2019 file picture, anti-globalization activist Genevieve Legay, 73, lies unconscious after collapsing on the ground during a protest in Nice, southeastern France, as part of the 19th round of the yellow vests movement. Genevieve Legay was waving a rainbow flag marked "Peace" and a yellow vest when riot police carrying shields suddenly pushed toward the group of a few dozen protesters Saturday. (AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)

"I wish her a speedy recovery, and perhaps a form of wisdom," he added.

French authorities banned protests in several areas Saturday to cut short violence during the 19th straight week of protests by the yellow vest movement - after rioting and destruction the previous week. Nice was under extra security because the city was preparing for the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Legay's daughter, Delphine, filed a complaint, along with Attac, the group that Legay belongs to, which said Monday its complaint was for "voluntary violence" on a vulnerable person by a person holding "public authority."

At least 2,000 people have been injured in protest violence since the yellow vest movement began in November, and 11 people have been killed in protest-related road incidents.

FILE - In this Saturday, March 23, 2019 file picture, anti-globalization activist Genevieve Legay, 73, demonstrates in front of riot police officers during a protest in Nice, southeastern France, as part of the 19th round of the yellow vests movement. French authorities are investigating the case of Genevieve Legay who suffered head injuries when police charged people defying a yellow vest protest ban in Nice. (AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Norwegian officials have opened an investigation into why a cruise ship carrying more than 1,370 people set sail along the country's often wild western coast despite storm warnings, forcing a major evacuation by helicopter.

One person is in critical but stable condition in an intensive care ward, hospital officials said, adding that eight others were still hospitalized after the weekend ordeal.

The Viking Sky had left the northern city of Tromsoe and was headed for Stavanger in southern Norway when it had engine problems and issued a mayday call on Saturday afternoon.

The ship anchored in heavy seas to avoid being dashed on the rocks in an area known for shipwrecks. Norwegian authorities then launched a daring rescue operation despite the high winds, eventually winching 479 passengers off the ship by helicopter in an operation that went on for hours Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

Dag S. Liseth of Norway's Accident Investigations Board said "the high risk which the ship, its passengers and crew were exposed to made us decide to investigate the incident."

After about half of the ship's passengers were taken off, the captain made the decision mid-day Sunday to halt the evacuation. About 900 people were still on board when the ship limped into the port city of Molde on its own engines.

The cruise ship Viking Sky arrives at port off Molde, Norway, Sunday March 24, 2019, after the problems in heavy seas off Norway's western coast. Rescue helicopters took more than 475 passengers from a cruise ship that got stranded off Norway's western coast in bad weather before the vessel departed for a nearby port under escort and with nearly 900 people still on board, the ship's owner said Sunday. (Svein Ove Ekornesvag/NTB scanpix via AP)

Viking Ocean Cruises said Monday it had begun "an internal investigation .... to establish a complete and thorough understanding of what happened," and welcome the official investigations which they "will fully support."

In the same statement, Viking Ocean Cruises chairman Torstein Hagen also said he "would like to personally apologize for what our guests experienced."

Liseth said investigators were heading to Molde on Monday and declined to speculate why the Viking Sky captain had decided to sail to Stavanger in the first place despite the weather warning. He couldn't immediately say how long the cruise ship would remain in Molde.

Yngve Skovly, of the police force in Moere and Romsdal district, where Molde sits, said there is no suspicion of a criminal offense but police have opened an investigation to find out why the ship had engine problems. That probe would be part of the one by the Accident Investigations Board.

The Viking Sky is a relatively new ship, delivered in 2017 to operator Viking Ocean Cruises.

The ship was on a 12-day cruise along Norway's coast before its scheduled arrival Tuesday in the British port of Tilbury, on the River Thames. The passengers were mostly an English-speaking mix of American, British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian citizens.

All the cruise ship passengers were expected to be flown out of Norway by Monday evening, police said.

Viking Sky's next trip, to Scandinavia and Germany, which was to leave on Wednesday, has been canceled but its owner said no other trip cancellations for the ship were foreseen yet.

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This story has been corrected to use the spelling of Tromsoe, per AP style.

Passengers are helped from a rescue helicopter in Fraena, Norway, Sunday March 24, 2019, after being rescued from the Viking Sky cruise ship. Rescue workers are evacuating more passengers from a cruise ship that had engine problems in bad weather off Norway's western coast while authorities prepare to tow the vessel to a nearby port. (Svein Ove Ekornesvag/NTB Scanpix via AP)

The cruise ship Viking Sky arrives at port in Molde, Norway, Sunday March 24, 2019, after having problems and issuing a Mayday call on Saturday in heavy seas off Norway's western coast. Rescue helicopters took more than 475 passengers from a cruise ship that got stranded off Norway's western coast in bad weather before the vessel departed for a nearby port under escort and with nearly 900 people still on board, the ship's owner said Sunday. (Svein Ove Ekornesvag/NTB scanpix via AP)

Some of the remaining passengers look out as the cruise ship Viking Sky arrives at port off Molde, Norway, Sunday March 24, 2019, after having problems and issuing a Mayday call on Saturday in heavy seas off Norway's western coast. Rescue helicopters took more than 475 passengers from a cruise ship that got stranded off Norway's western coast in bad weather before the vessel departed for a nearby port under escort and with nearly 900 people still on board, the ship's owner said Sunday. (Svein Ove Ekornesvag/NTB scanpix via AP)
CAIRO (AP) - A United Nations humanitarian agency said on Monday that Yemen has witnessed a sharp spike in the number of suspected cholera cases this year, as well as increased displacement in a northern province.

The report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says 100,000 suspected cholera cases were found across Yemen from the beginning of the year until March, and over 190 people have died.

In the capital, Sanaa, the physician Saddam al-Azizi said last week's numbers exceeded 50 cases per day at al-Sabeen hospital, one of the largest in Yemen. He told The Associated Press that most of the cases were acute watery diarrhea, and 20 percent were confirmed cholera cases.

Yemen has witnessed two outbreaks of cholera and acute watery diarrhea since 2016, with over one million suspected cholera cases and some 3,000 deaths recorded nationwide. The U.N. agencies have deployed cholera vaccines to limited areas starting Mary 2018.

Cholera is caused by eating contaminated food or drinking water, and U.N. agencies have been working to support water, sanitation, hygiene and health facilities in Yemen. The aid agencies said that the epidemics are rooted in the country's collapsing health system after four years of conflict.

Spikes in cholera cases usually take place during rainy seasons in Yemen.

FILE- In this Sept. 27, 2018 file photo, a girl is treated for a suspected cholera infection at a hospital in Hodeida, Yemen. A Monday, March 25, 2019, report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Yemen has witnessed a sharp spike in the number of suspected cholera cases this year, as well as increased displacement in a northern province. The UN agency said 100,000 suspected cholera cases were found across Yemen from the beginning of the year until March, and over 190 people have died. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

"It's mainly because of the rain, which sweeps the garbage and sewage, and it ends up in water wells," said al-Azizi. Wells are the main source of drinking water in many parts of Yemen.

Yemen's grueling civil war pits Houthi rebels - who control northern Yemen - against the Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally-recognized government. The war has forced the displacement of more than three million people and left most of the population food insecure.

In Monday's report, the U.N. also said more than 10,000 families had been newly displaced after fighting ravaged the northern province of Hajjah.

Thousands of people were caught in fierce clashes between warring factions in a district in Hajjah governorate called Kushar, a mountainous area only 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the border with Saudi Arabia. It has been isolated from the outside world - roads and all communication lines are cut after Yemen's Houthi rebels imposed tight control over Kushar this month after powerful local tribesmen took up arms against them in late January.
SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Indian police on Monday blamed rebels for the death of a 12-year-old boy who was held hostage during a clash in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.

Police officer Rahul Malik said the boy was taken hostage by the insurgents and killed Friday in the northern town of Hajin during a search operation by government forces which also left two insurgents dead.

Rebels have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with neighboring Pakistan since 1989. India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the region in its entirety.

Army spokesman Rajesh Kalia said on Friday that security forces found the bodies of two insurgents and the boy after an exchange of gunfire that started in the area a day earlier.

Police officer Malik provided new details on Monday after a preliminary inquiry into Friday's clash.

He said the insurgents initially held two civilians as hostages. One of them, 60-year-old Abdul Hammed, managed to free himself, Malik said.

"Another civilian, a 12-year-old boy, Aatif Mir, was kept hostage by the terrorists till the end and despite repeated requests by community members and police for his release, he was brutally killed by the terrorists and could not be rescued from the clutches of the terrorists," a police statement said.

The rebels then fired on the security forces, who engaged them after evacuating civilians in adjoining areas to safer places, the statement said. In the ensuing fighting, two rebels belonging to the banned group Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed, it said.

Khurram Parvez, a prominent Kashmiri human rights activist who heads the Coalition of Civil Society, condemned the killing of the young boy.

In a tweet, he said the boy "was killed during the encounter at Hajin when the house in which militants were hiding was destroyed by armed forces."

The boy "was held hostage by militants. Militants and armed forces are both responsible for this murder. Surely militants are accused of a horrible crime," he said.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the insurgents, a charge Islamabad denies. Pakistan says it provides only diplomatic and moral support to the rebels fighting Indian rule.

Tensions escalated last month after India launched an airstrike inside Pakistan, targeting militants blamed for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 troops.

Pakistan retaliated and said it shot down two Indian planes and captured a pilot, who was later returned to India. However, India says it lost only one aircraft. International pressure helped prevent the situation from worsening.
MILAN (AP) - Italy's center-right, led by Matteo Salvini's League, has wrested control of the small southern region of Basilicata from the center-left Democratic Party that ran the regional government for nearly a quarter of a century.

Salvini on Monday touted the victory, saying that the League had tripled the number of votes in the region since last year's national election and he was looking ahead to elections for the European parliament in May. "Now to change Europe."

The center-right candidate, Vito Bardo, won 42 percent of the vote, ahead of the center-left's 33 percent. The 5-Star Movement took 20 percent, less than half of the vote registered in last year's national election when it dominated the region.

Center-right coalition candidate for governor of the Basilicata region Vito Bardi is surrounded by reporters as he arrives to meet the media in Potenza, southern Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019, a day after people in Basilicata voted in regional elections. The center-right led by Matteo Salvini's League wrested control of the small southern region of Basilicata from the center-left Democratic Party that ran the regional government for a quarter of a century. Salvini on Monday touted the victory, saying that the League had tripled the number of votes in the region since last year's national election, taking a swipe at the weakened center-left and looking ahead to elections for European parliament in May with ''greetings to the left, now to change Europe.'' (Tony Vece/ANSA via AP)
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Jordan's King Abdullah II has canceled a visit Monday to Romania to protest its prime minister's support for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The Royal Hashemite Court said the decision came "in solidarity with Jerusalem." Abdullah was scheduled to visit Romania later in the day.

On Sunday, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila told a conference in Washington that her country was moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. She later appeared to backtrack, calling her comments "a personal opinion."

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, a rival who's in charge of the East European nation's foreign policy, said the prime minister hadn't consulted with him over the decision.

Later Monday, Iohannis accused Dancila of "ruining relations with the region," saying the good ties Romania had with Arab countries were one of the "few constants of Romania's foreign policy."

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as their capital. Jordan is the custodian of Muslim holy sites in east Jerusalem's Old City.

President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the U.S. Embassy there last year. That decision was welcomed by Israel but infuriated the Palestinians, who severed ties with the White House.

Nearly all countries maintain their embassies in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - An Australian teen known around the world as "Egg Boy" conceded on Monday that egging a far-right senator was not the right thing to do, but said the gesture united a world reeling from a white supremacist's alleged massacre of 50 Muslims in New Zealand.

Will Connolly, 17, gave his first television interview since becoming an online hero among many for cracking an egg on Sen. Fraser Anning's head as the maverick legislator spoke at a news conference after a gunman killed or wounded 100 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques on March 15.

Anning has been widely criticized for blaming Muslim immigration for the racist attacks.

Connolly said he was embarrassed that the international attention he had attracted with the egging, which was caught on video, had distracted attention from the victims in Christchurch.

"I understand what I did was not the right thing to do, however this egg has united people and money had been raised - tens of thousands of dollars has been raised for those victims," Connolly told Ten Network television's "The Project" program.

A GoFundMe page set up to raise 2,000 Australia dollars ($1,400) to pay for Connolly's "legal fees" and "more eggs" reached AU$80,000 on Monday.

In this image made from video, a teenager breaks an egg on the head of Senator Fraser Anning while he holds a press conference, Saturday, March 16, 2019, in Melbourne, New Zealand. Following the mass shootings on Friday, Anning came under sharp criticism over tweets including one that said: "Does anyone still dispute the link between Muslim immigration and violence?" (AP Photo)

Connolly said the money would go to Christchurch victims.

He said he hasn't had time to think about how he will respond to offers from supporters such as a vacation in Turkey and a lifetime of free beer in Canada and Wales.

Australian Brenton Tarrant was arrested within an hour of the mosque shootings and has been charged with murder.

Anning came under blistering criticism over tweets within hours of the massacre, including one that said, "Does anyone still dispute the link between Muslim immigration and violence?"

"The real cause of the bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place," he said in a later statement.

Police say the egging constituted an assault. But police are also investigating Anning, who retaliated by striking Connolly twice, and Anning's supporters who roughly pinned the boy to the ground. No charges have yet been laid.

Anning later defended his actions, telling reporters, "He got a slap across the face, which is what his mother should have given him long ago, because he's been misbehaving badly."

Connolly said his mother had not approved of the egging.

"There's no reason to physically attack anyone. She's glad I stood up for what I believe in; she definitely disagrees with the way I did it," Connolly said.

The government and opposition party have agreed to pass a censure motion against Anning over his Christchurch comments when Parliament resumes next week.

While such a reprimand is a symbolic gesture, the major parties expect to demonstrate how isolated Anning's views are among Australia's 226 federal lawmakers. The major parties' support ensures the censure motion will be passed by both chambers.

Connolly said he is tiring of his celebrity and the nickname by which he is known around the world.

"I always prefer Will. Egg Boy is getting pretty annoying to be honest," Connolly said.

In this image made from video, a teenager breaks an egg on the head of Senator Fraser Anning while he holds a press conference, Saturday, March 16, 2019, in Melbourne, New Zealand. Following the mass shootings on Friday, Anning came under sharp criticism over tweets including one that said: "Does anyone still dispute the link between Muslim immigration and violence?" (AP Photo)
BERLIN (AP) - Developers behind a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany said Monday they are confident of getting an outstanding permit from Denmark to close the gap on the 1,200-kilometer (746-mile) route and played down the possibility that companies involved in the project could be hit by U.S. sanctions.

A spokesman for Nord Stream 2 said the company has submitted proposals for two routes around Denmark's island of Bornholm that are currently pending with authorities in the Nordic nation.

One of the routes goes through Danish territorial waters and would require permission from the country's foreign ministry. A second route, submitted for approval in Aug. 2018, passes through Denmark's wider exclusive economic zone, skirting both territorial waters and the need for a decision at the political level in Copenhagen, said Nord Stream 2 spokesman Jens D. Mueller.

The two options "give us good reasons to expect timely permission from Denmark," he told reporters in Berlin.

The Baltic Sea pipeline has come under fire from the United States and some European countries that claim it could increase Europe's dependence on Russia as a supplier of energy.

Washington, which wants to sell its liquefied natural gas to Europe, has threatened sanctions against companies involved in the undersea pipeline. While it is wholly owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom, half of the project's 8 billion euro ($9 billion) cost is covered by five European energy and chemicals companies including Shell, BASF and ENGIE.

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2018 file photo a ship works offshore in the Baltic Sea on the natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 from Russia to Germany. The company building a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany says it's confident of getting an outstanding permit from Denmark to close the gap on the 1,200 kilometers ,746 miles, route. (Bernd Wuestneck/dpa via AP)

Mueller said developers are confident the terms of a 2017 U.S. sanctions bill and State Department guidelines accompanying it won't have an impact on Nord Stream 2.

"We can't comment on any further discussions and speculation," he said when asked about comments by U.S. ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, suggesting companies involved in the project could face American sanctions. "Those are political statements."

Last month, the European Union's main institutions agreed on a tentative deal that will tighten regulation and oversight and impose tougher conditions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Under the draft deal, which still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and national legislatures, the EU Commission will have more oversight and power to judge whether a deal threatens competition or the region's energy security. Experts say the regulations will subject Russia's state-controlled gas company Gazprom to EU rules on the pipeline, and it will not allow it to be its sole operator.

Mueller suggested that the 180-kilometer stretch of pipes through Danish waters could be laid within a month, once Nord Stream 2 gets the necessary permission.

Asked whether the pipeline could avoid Denmark entirely, he said the complexity of the project and its junctions in Sweden and Germany effectively ruled out such alternatives.

Russia, Finland, Sweden and Germany have already issued permits.
LORETO, Italy (AP) - Pope Francis traveled Monday to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth.

Francis celebrated Mass in Loreto's cathedral and then signed the document, which will be officially released on April 2. The text, entitled "Christ Lives," gives Francis' take on the October 2018 meeting of the world's bishops on ways to better minister to today's young people.

The meeting was dominated by discussion about how to better welcome gays into the church, give women a greater say in decision-making, and manage the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal.

The pope said Monday he chose Loreto, which according to tradition is the site of Mary's home, to sign his document because it is the "house of the youth."

"The House of Mary is also the home of the family," Francis said. "In the delicate situation of today's world, the family, founded on marriage between a man and a woman, takes on an essential importance and mission. It is necessary to rediscover the plan traced out by God for the family, to reaffirm its greatness and irreplaceability at the service of life and society."

Pope Francis, white figure in the background, is framed by balusters as he celebrates Mass outside Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis prays inside the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto, in central Italy, where Francis is paying a one-day visit, Monday, Mar. 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis speaks to the faithful gathered outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto where, during a one-day visit, he celebrated mass and prayed in the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica, in central Italy, Monday, Mar. 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

A pilgrim holds a poster of Pope Francis in Piazza della Madonna Square as they wait for him to arrive at the Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in central Italy for a one-day visit, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Faithful wait in Piazza della Madonna Square for Pope Francis to arrive at the Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in central Italy for a one-day visit, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis prays inside the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto, in central Italy, where Francis is paying a one-day visit, Monday, Mar. 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Faithful wait for Pope Francis to arrive at the Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in central Italy for a one-day visit, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Faithful wait for Pope Francis to arrive at the Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in central Italy for a one-day visit, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis prays inside the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto, in central Italy, where Francis is paying a one-day visit, Monday, Mar. 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis seen on a giant screens in the background, celebrates Mass outside Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Faithful hand a baby to Pope Francis to bless upon his arrival at Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis caresses a child as he leaves the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto where he celebrated mass and prayed in the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica, in central Italy, during a one-day visit, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis caresses a child as he leaves the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto where he celebrated mass and prayed in the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica, in central Italy, during a one-day visit, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis, white figure, is framed by balusters as he celebrates Mass outside Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis celebrates Mass outside Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Faithful hand a baby to Pope Francis to bless upon his arrival at Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis delivers his message at Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis listens to archbishop of Loreto Fabio Dal Cin, back to camera, at Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis speaks to the faithful gathered outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto where, during a one-day visit, he celebrated mass and prayed in the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica, in central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis, top right, greets faithful upon his arrival at Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis greets faithful as he celebrates Mass at Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis, hands in hand with two children, leaves the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto where, during a one-day visit, he celebrated mass and prayed in the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica, in central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis caresses a child as he leaves the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto where he celebrated mass and prayed in the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica, in central Italy, during a one-day visit, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis greets faithful upon his arrival at Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

Pope Francis, hands in hand with two children, leaves the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto where, during a one-day visit, he celebrated mass and prayed in the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica, in central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis waves to the faithful gathered outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto where, during a one-day visit, he celebrated mass and prayed in the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica, in central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
CAIRO (AP) - Egyptian prosecutors have referred 28 terror suspects in two separate cases to court on charges of joining local affiliates of the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.

They said Monday the suspects were plotting attacks against security forces and the headquarters of the high state security prosecution in Cairo.

They say only 17 of the 28 suspects are in custody. No date has been set for their trials. It was not clear when or where they were arrested.

An IS affiliate based in northern Sinai has carried out attacks across Egypt in recent years, mainly targeting security forces and the country's Christian minority.

Egypt has been battling Islamic militants for years, but the insurgency gathered strength after the 2013 military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president.
BEIJING (AP) - Five people died Monday in a shooting in China's Inner Mongolia region, authorities said.

An individual shot and killed five people before being apprehended by police, authorities said in Inner Mongolia's eastern Kailu county.

Police did not describe the suspect, provide a motive or say whether anyone else was injured.

Gun crime is rare in China, where private firearm ownership is almost entirely forbidden. But guns can be purchased on the black market through online dealers.

Regulations introduced in 2014 mandate that police officers carry guns - a change after decades in which Chinese police were unarmed.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - An unknown assailant threw a firebomb at the Athens home of Greece's deputy health minister in a pre-dawn attack Monday that caused minor damage and no injuries, police said.

Authorities detained four people on suspicion of involvement in the attack outside the home of Pavlos Polakis. Three of them were later released, while one remained in custody for a separate issue, as he was found to be in the country illegally and was awaiting deportation.

Polaris, a colorful figure who has often sparked controversy, issued an enraged response on social media, accusing the "shadow state" of being behind the attack and saying it was because he had helped uncover political scandals in Greece.

The governing left-wing Syriza party issued a statement condemning the attack.

"It is clear that neither Syriza nor the government is intimidated and that society stands firm against such practices," it said.
LONDON (AP) - A charity connected to the wealthy Sackler family has paused new donations because of controversy over alleged links to the U.S. opioid crisis.

The chair of the Sackler Trust, Theresa Sackler, said in a statement Monday that media attention about legal cases in the U.S. is piling pressure on institutions supported by the trust, distracting them from their work. The trust has donated millions of pounds in the U.K.

The decision comes days after the Tate group of galleries in Britain said it wouldn't accept further donations and the National Portrait Gallery said a 1 million-pound ($1.3 million) gift wouldn't proceed.

The Sackler family owns Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, which has been accused of downplaying the addictiveness of painkiller OxyContin.

Theresa Sackler rejected "false accusations" against Purdue and the family.
LONDON (AP) - Britain has just a few weeks to break its Brexit impasse, with the fate of the country's departure from the European Union and that of Prime Minister Theresa May both hanging in the balance.

Here's a look at what might happen next:

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DEAL OR NO DEAL

With British politicians deadlocked, EU leaders last week granted Britain a two-stage "flextension" to Brexit, which had been due to take place on March 29. Under the new plan, if U.K. lawmakers approve the divorce deal agreed upon between Britain and the bloc, the country will leave the EU on May 22.

If they defeat it, Britain has until April 12 to tell the EU what it plans to do next: leave without a deal, risking economic chaos, or seek a long delay to Brexit and chart a course toward a softer exit or even remaining in the bloc.

In this handout photo provided by the UK Parliament, Britain's oposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, front, makes a statement after Prime Minister Theresa May made a statement on Brexit to the House of Commons, London, Monday, March 25, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May conceded Monday that Parliament would defeat her twice-rejected Brexit divorce deal again if she put it to a new vote, but said she still hopes to change lawmakers' minds and get the agreement approved. (Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament via AP)

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PARLIAMENTARY BATTLE

The battle now shifts back to the British Parliament, which is split down the middle between supporters and opponents of Brexit.

Both sides voted in large numbers, twice, to reject May's Brexit deal. But May wants to try again. She hopes to persuade reluctant pro-Brexit lawmakers that backing her deal is their only hope of leaving soon and in an orderly fashion, and to convince pro-EU legislators that they must choose between her deal or a chaotic no-deal Brexit.

But May conceded Monday that "as things stand, there is still not sufficient support" for a new vote on the deal, though she hoped to change that before the end of the week.

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OTHER OPTIONS

There is little evidence yet that lawmakers' opinion has shifted strongly in favor of May's deal.

Anti-EU supporters of "hard Brexit" still believe that rejecting it can lead to a no-deal departure from the bloc as soon as April 12.

A larger group in Parliament, from a range of parties, favors a compromise Brexit in which the U.K. keeps close economic ties with the bloc.

These pro-EU lawmakers had a victory late Monday when the House of Commons agreed 329-302 to take temporary control of the parliamentary agenda, usually the government's prerogative, to schedule a series of votes on alternative Brexit options. The goal of the "indicative votes" is to see if there is majority support for any of the alternatives.

Proposals could include seeking closer ties with the bloc than May's deal envisages, or putting the Brexit deal to a public vote.

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THE END OF MAY?

British politicians are divided over Brexit, but they agree that the process is in a mess - and many blame May, who has refused to consider alternatives to her deal and failed to win changes to the agreement from the EU.

Many Conservatives are now calling for May to step down. Some pro-Brexit Tories who have so far opposed her deal say they would support it if she promised to hand over the next stage of negotiations - when Britain and the EU will hammer out their future relations - to a new leader.

For now, May is standing firm. Under Conservative rules, May cannot face a formal leadership challenge from within her own party until December because she survived one three months ago.

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BYE-BYE BREXIT?

Opposition politicians think the only way forward is an early election that could rearrange Parliament and break the political deadlock. May has ruled that out, but could come to see it as her only option.

And anti-Brexit campaigners haven't abandoned the idea of a new Brexit referendum on remaining in the EU. There's currently no majority for that in Parliament, but pro-referendum campaigners feel opinion is shifting in their favor. Hundreds of thousands of people marched through London on Saturday to demand a new Brexit vote.

The "nuclear option" of simply canceling Brexit is also gaining support. An online petition urging the government to revoke the decision to leave the EU has amassed more than 5 million signatures.

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Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

A demonstrator sits on one of the lions in Trafalgar Square during a Peoples Vote anti-Brexit march in London, Saturday, March 23, 2019. The march, organized by the People's Vote campaign is calling for a final vote on any proposed Brexit deal. This week the EU has granted Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May a delay to the Brexit process. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

A demonstrator sits on one of the lions in Trafalgar Square during a Peoples Vote anti-Brexit march in London, Saturday, March 23, 2019. The march, organized by the People's Vote campaign is calling for a final vote on any proposed Brexit deal. This week the EU has granted Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May a delay to the Brexit process. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, March 25, 2019. Embattled Prime Minister Theresa May was scrambling Sunday to win over adversaries to her Brexit withdrawal plan as key Cabinet ministers denied media reports that they were plotting to oust her. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the conclusion of the special counsel's Russia investigation (all times local):

11:35 a.m.

The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says his panel will "unpack the other side of the story" of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into President Donald Trump and his campaign.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who spent the weekend with Trump in Florida, said his committee will investigate the actions of the Justice Department in the Russia investigation, including the FBI's use of a dossier compiled by British spy Christopher Steele.

Graham spoke Monday after Attorney General William Barr reported to Congress on Mueller's findings. Barr said Mueller found no evidence that Trump or his associates conspired with Russia. Mueller did not make a determination on whether Trump obstructed justice.

Graham said he will be speaking with Barr at noon and wants him to testify before his committee.

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the 2019 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference, at Washington Convention Center, in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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10:40 a.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is claiming that special counsel Robert Mueller has delivered "total vindication" of President Donald Trump.

Pence said Monday that despite the two-year Russia investigation and what he described as "reckless accusations by many Democrats and members of the media" the special counsel confirmed "there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election."

Pence claimed that Attorney General William Barr "also confirmed that there was no obstruction of justice." But according to Barr, Mueller reached no conclusion on whether there was obstruction of justice.

Pence spoke at an annual convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

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7:40 a.m.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders says President Donald Trump will let the attorney general decide whether the special counsel's Russia report should be publicly released, though she adds that "he's more than happy for any of this stuff to come out."

Sanders spoke to NBC's "Today" show Monday as White House aides and allies blanketed television news broadcasts to trumpet a summary of the report that said that Robert Mueller did not find evidence that Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Asked last week about publicly releasing the report, Trump said: "Let it come out. Let people see it. That's up to the attorney general."

Asked whether Trump would support release of the report, Sanders told NBC, "I don't think the president has any problem with it," but stressed the decision was up to Attorney General William Barr.

Barr issued a four page summary of Mueller's findings Sunday. Democrats are demanding the full report.

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12:20 a.m.

Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. That from Attorney General William Barr on Sunday. The report brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting.

Trump cheered the outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration. Democrats pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and demanded to see his full report. They insisted that even the summary by the president's attorney general hardly put him in the clear.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller walks past the White House after attending services at St. John's Episcopal Church, in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2019. Mueller closed his long and contentious Russia investigation with no new charges, ending the probe that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

President Donald Trump gestures while walking across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington after stepping off Marine One helicopter, Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Washington. The Justice Department said Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Fla., en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Fla., en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Attorney General William Barr leaves his home in McLean, Va., on Sunday morning, March 24, 2019. Barr is preparing a summary of the findings of the special counsel investigating Russian election interference. The release of Barr's summary of the report's main conclusions is expected sometime Sunday.(AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Flash floods in southern Iran have killed at least 17 people and injured 74, Iranian state TV reported on Monday.

Heavy rains outside the city of Shiraz triggered the sudden flooding, according to the head of Iran's emergency medical services, Pirhossein Koulivand.

State TV earlier said most of the people killed had been trying to take videos of the flooding on their phones.

The provinces of Fars, Kurdistan, Qom and Isfahan were on alert for imminent flooding, and the water authority in the capital, Tehran, said floods were a possibility there as well.

Enayatollah Rahimi, governor of Fars province, said the flooding is under control and aid work is in progress, but asked people "to stay in their homes," the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

The northern provinces of Golestan and Mazandaran have been struggling with flooding for over a week, and five people have been killed, according to the state-run Press TV channel.

Military vehicles rescue people after flash flooding around the northern city of Aq Qala in Golestan province, Iran, Monday, March 25, 2019. Iranian state TV reported on Monday that flash floods in southern Iran have killed at least 17 people and injured scores more. The northern provinces of Golestan and Mazandaran have been struggling with flooding for over a week, and five people have been killed, according to the state-run Press TV channel. (AP Photo/Mohsen Esmaeilzadeh/ISNA)

Over 56,000 people have been affected in various cities and rural areas in the two provinces as a result of heavy rainfall that hit on March 19 and 20.

Iran's metrology department had warned about the heavy rains in various areas across Iran.

Last year, at least 30 people were killed by flash floods in the Iranian province of Eastern Azerbaijan.

A child's doll lies in front of destroyed cars after a flash flood in the southern city of Shiraz, Iran, Monday, March 25, 2019. Flash floods in southern Iran have killed at least 17 people and injured scores, Iranian state TV reported on Monday. The northern provinces of Golestan and Mazandaran have been struggling with flooding for over a week, and five people have been killed, according to the state-run Press TV channel. (AP Photo/ISNA)

In this photo provided by Mehr News Agency, vehicles are piled up on the street after a flash flood in the southern city of Shiraz, Iran, Monday, March 25, 2019. Iranian state TV reported that flash floods have killed at least 11 people and injured 15 in the country's south. The provinces of Fars, Kurdistan, Qom and Isfahan are also on alert for imminent flooding. (AP Photo/Amin Berenjkar/Mehr News Agency)
AMUDA, Syria (AP) - A border crossing linking Syria's Kurdish-administered areas to Iraq's northern Kurdish region has been flooded due to heavy rains.

The Semelka crossing was shut Monday as flooding rendered two pontoon bridges across the Tigris out of order.

The crossing had been key for international journalists entering Syria to report on the U.S.-backed Syrian forces' fight in Baghouz, the last area held by Islamic State militants. The village was liberated Saturday.

The crossing opened in 2013, giving the Syrian Kurds in the country's northeast access to the outside world independent of President Bashar Assad's government. Damascus doesn't recognize the Kurdish-administered areas.

Seasonal heavy rains hit this part of Syria over the weekend, flooding roads and farms. Mosques in the town of Jawadiyah urged an evacuation, fearing the local dam would flood.
ST. LOUIS (AP) - A Missouri man who confessed to knocking over about 120 headstones at a Jewish cemetery near St. Louis has been sentenced to three years of probation.

Thirty-five-year-old Alzado Harris, of Northwoods, also was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution when he was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to felony institutional vandalism.

Harris was accused of knocking over headstones at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City in February 2017. The case drew so much attention that Vice President Mike Pence visited.

But prosecutors said it didn't appear there was an anti-Semitic motive when Harris was linked to the vandalism last year through DNA found on a discarded jacket. The DNA matched a sample he gave in an earlier burglary.

Harris told authorities he was drunk, high on marijuana and angry at a friend. The repaired cemetery was rededicated in August.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greece's prime minister said Monday that Turkish fighter jets harassed the helicopter he was traveling on during a visit to a remote Greek island to celebrate Greece's independence day.

Alexis Tsipras said he was "welcomed" by Turkish fighter jets violating Greek airspace during his arrival Monday on the small eastern Aegean island of Agathonissi.

The move forced the helicopter pilot to carry out low maneuvers until Greek fighter jets arrived to deflect the Turkish aircraft, Tsipras said.

Greece and Turkey have long had tense relations and are divided over several issues, including territorial disputes in the Aegean. Athens often complains that Turkish fighter jets violate its airspace, sometimes flying directly over Greek islands, and Greek and Turkish warplanes often engage in mock dogfights.

"A short while ago I had the honour of being welcomed here on Agathonissi by some fighter jets from the Turkish airforce," Tsipras said during a speech on the island. "They wanted to also participate in our national celebration."

The prime minister was on the island to celebrate the anniversary of Greece's 1821 revolution against the Ottoman Empire, the precursor to modern-day Turkey.

Military aircraft fly over the temple of the Parthenon during a parade in Athens, on Monday March 25, 2019. The parade commemorates Greek Independence Day, which marks the start of the war of independence in 1821 against the 400-year Ottoman rule. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

"They must know that these silly actions make no sense. They waste kerosene and gasoline," Tsipras said of Turkey.

Tsipras stressed Greece is committed to dialogue and cooperation with Turkey, but that if necessary "we will do what our ancestors taught us, to defend our rights and our sovereignty."

The two neighbors and NATO allies have come to the brink of war three times since the mid-1970s, over the divided island of Cyprus and territorial issues in the Aegean, although they have also enjoyed periods of relatively good ties.

Turkish officials rejected the accusation.

A Turkish security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said there was "no question of any harassment attempt by the Turkish planes during the Greek prime minister's activity today. The Turkish planes carried out their routine duties."

Greece's main opposition party criticized the Turkish fighter jets' actions.

"It is not the first time in recent years that Turkish provocation has been expressed even against the representatives of our country's political leadership," said Giorgos Koumoutsakos, who handles foreign affairs for the conservative New Democracy party. "Nor is it the first time Ankara provocatively ignores even the days on which Greeks celebrate their history and religion."

In Athens, Greeks marked independence day with a military parade complete with tanks and military aircraft flying by the ancient Acropolis. Student parades were also held.

Security was tight following concerns of protests by opponents of a deal Greece recently reached with neighboring North Macedonia, under which the country changed its name in return for Greece dropping its objections to the former Yugoslav republic joining NATO.

In the northern city of Thessaloniki, capital of the Greek province of Macedonia, one of the participants in the local parade held a placard reading: "Traitors, God forgives, the Greek Macedonians never." Protesters who tried to reach the area where officials were watching the parade were held back by police.

Police in one Athens neighborhood arrested 12 people after scuffles broke out, charging them with throwing Molotov cocktails, attacking police, causing injuries and other crimes.

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Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, Greece and Suzan Fraser in Istanbul contributed.

A boy dressed in traditional costume walks in front of a military vehicle ahead of a parade in Athens, on Monday March 25, 2019. The parade commemorates Greek Independence Day, which marks the start of the war of independence in 1821 against the 400-year Ottoman rule. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Army officers paint their faces ahead of a military parade in Athens, on Monday March 25, 2019. The parade commemorates Greek Independence Day, which marks the start of the war of independence in 1821 against the 400-year Ottoman rule. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

A man with a boy holding a Greek flag walk in front of military vehicles ahead of a parade in Athens, on Monday March 25, 2019. The parade commemorates Greek Independence Day, which marks the start of the war of independence in 1821 against the 400-year Ottoman rule. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Army officers paint their faces ahead of a military parade in Athens, on Monday March 25, 2019. The parade commemorates Greek Independence Day, which marks the start of the war of independence in 1821 against the 400-year Ottoman rule. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Red Cross personnel speak with nurses ahead of a military parade in Athens, on Monday March 25, 2019. The parade commemorates Greek Independence Day, which marks the start of the war of independence in 1821 against the 400-year Ottoman rule. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)
LONDON (AP) - British officials say dead rats stuffed with drugs and mobile phones have been thrown over prison fences to provide contraband to prisoners.

Officials said Monday that staff had found the rats inside the perimeter fence of a prison in Dorset, 130 miles (210 kilometers) southwest of London.

The staff noticed the bodies appeared to have stitches along their stomachs and opened the rodents.

The three rats contained five mobile phones and chargers, three SIM cards, cigarette papers, marijuana and the drug Spice.

Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said the find "shows the extraordinary lengths to which criminals will go to smuggle drugs into prison.".
LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Brexit (all times local):

10:15 p.m.

British lawmakers are set to hold a series of votes on different options for Brexit in an attempt to break the country's political deadlock.

Lawmakers voted 329-302 to take control of Parliament's timetable from the government starting Wednesday to hold votes on alternative Brexit options.

The alternatives could include remaining in the European Union's single market or canceling Brexit altogether.

The government promised to "engage constructively" with the process but has not committed to enacting whatever lawmakers decide.

A demonstrator leads a dog wearing a suit in the EU colors during a Peoples Vote anti-Brexit march in London, Saturday, March 23, 2019. The march, organized by the People's Vote campaign is calling for a final vote on any proposed Brexit deal. This week the EU has granted Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May a delay to the Brexit process. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Parliament has twice rejected the divorce deal May's government struck with the EU, and May acknowledged on Monday the agreement still lacks enough support to pass.

The impasse has led Britain to seek a delay to Brexit, which was set to go into effect this Friday. If May's deal passes, it will leave May 22.

Otherwise, the U.K. has until April 12 to inform the EU of a new plan of action.

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3:45 p.m.

Prime Minister Theresa May says she will not lead Britain out of the European Union without a deal unless Parliament agrees to it - effectively taking that option off the table.

At present, the U.K. is set to leave without agreement unless lawmakers approve a divorce deal or choose another path by April 12.

That could cause major economic upheaval.

May has told lawmakers that "unless this House agrees to it, 'no deal' will not happen." The House of Commons has already voted in principle against leaving without a deal.

May urged lawmakers to back her deal, saying the only other options were canceling or delaying Brexit.

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3:40 p.m.

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May says she doesn't have enough support to put her European Union divorce deal to a new vote in Parliament.

May told Parliament Monday she regrets that Britain isn't set to leave the EU on March 29 as originally planned.

She says she is still trying to build support for her plan. Her withdrawal plan has already been defeated twice.

The prime minister says she is skeptical that a series of "indicative votes" in Parliament will be able to set a clear path forward for breaking the Brexit impasse.

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2:30 p.m.

British Prime Minister Theresa May still hasn't committed to bringing her twice-rejected European Union divorce deal back to Parliament for a third vote this week.

If May can win approval for the deal, the U.K. will leave the EU on May 22. If the deal is not approved, Britain has until April 12 to come up with a new plan, such as leaving without a deal or canceling Brexit.

May's spokesman, James Slack, says the prime minister is determined to win support for her deal, but "we will only bring the vote back if we believe we would be in a position to win it." And there are no signs of big shifts in lawmakers' opinion.

Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, whose opposition has helped sink the deal, said the party's "position remains unchanged."

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12:10 p.m.

The European Union says it has completed preparations for the potentially-chaotic scenario in which Britain leaves the bloc without a Brexit deal, but talks on how to manage the Irish border are continuing.

Amid doubt about whether Britain will endorse the divorce agreement by Friday, the EU says a no-deal Brexit on the new departure date, April 12, "is increasingly likely."

The European Commission said Monday that "this will obviously cause significant disruption for citizens and businesses," and noted that Britain will leave "without any transitionary arrangements."

The commission says it has published 90 preparedness notices for citizens and businesses and made 19 proposals for new legislation.

The remaining 27 EU countries are hiring hundreds of staff to conduct extra border and customs checks.

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9:25 a.m.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will be meeting with her Cabinet to map out a strategy for delivering Brexit as she fights to stay in power.

The session comes after a weekend of speculation that she may be forced to resign to win approval of her twice-rejected Brexit deal.

Lawmakers are preparing to debate proposals for a series of votes on alternatives to May's deal, which could take control of the process away from the government.

Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Monday claimed May had "chickened out" on delivering Brexit this week. Writing in the Telegraph, he says that to win support for her deal she must show that the next phase of negotiations - on future relations with the European Union - will be different.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement on Brexit to lawmakers in the House of Commons, London, Monday March 25, 2019. May is under intense pressure Monday to win support for her Brexit deal to split from Europe.(House of Commons via AP)

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, and European Council President Donald Tusk participate in a media conference at the conclusion of an EU summit in Brussels, Friday, March 22, 2019. European Union leaders gathered again Friday after deciding that the political crisis in Britain over Brexit poses too great a threat and that action is needed to protect the smooth running of the world's biggest trading bloc. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

An effigy of British Prime Minister Theresa May is wheeled through Trafalgar Square during a Peoples Vote anti-Brexit march in London, Saturday, March 23, 2019. The march, organized by the People's Vote campaign is calling for a final vote on any proposed Brexit deal. This week the EU has granted Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May a delay to the Brexit process. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

Demonstrators carry posters and flags during a Peoples Vote anti-Brexit march in London, Saturday, March 23, 2019. The march, organized by the People's Vote campaign is calling for a final vote on any proposed Brexit deal. This week the EU has granted Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May a delay to the Brexit process. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

A demonstrator in an astronaut suit carries a sign during a Peoples Vote anti-Brexit march in London, Saturday, March 23, 2019. The march, organized by the People's Vote campaign is calling for a final vote on any proposed Brexit deal. This week the EU has granted Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May a delay to the Brexit process. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Protestors for opposing views face off against each other, with pro-Brexit split from Europe at right, and pro-Europe anti Brexit at left, outside parliament in London, Monday March 25, 2019. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

In this handout photo provided by the UK Parliament, Britain's oposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, front, makes a statement after Prime Minister Theresa May made a statement on Brexit to the House of Commons, London, Monday, March 25, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May conceded Monday that Parliament would defeat her twice-rejected Brexit divorce deal again if she put it to a new vote, but said she still hopes to change lawmakers' minds and get the agreement approved. (Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament via AP)
NEW DELHI (AP) - The chairman of India's private Jet Airways has resigned amid mounting financial woes which have forced it to suspend 14 international routes and ground more than 80 planes.

The airline said in a statement that its board on Monday accepted the resignations of Chairman Naresh Goyal, his wife and a nominee of Gulf carrier Etihad Airways from the board. It said Goyal will also step down as chairman.

Goyal had been trying to obtain new funding from Etihad Airways, which holds a 24 percent stake in the airline, which was founded 27 years ago.

The statement said the airline will receive 15 billion rupees ($217 million) in immediate funding under a recovery plan formulated by its creditors, led by government-owned State Bank of India.

It also said the board approved the setting up of an interim management committee to oversee daily operations and cash flow of the company.

The lenders will complete in the June-August quarter the bidding process for the issuing and sale of shares to new investors.

In this Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, file photo, Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal sits during a press conference to announce the signing of enhanced cooperation agreement with Air France-KLM in Mumbai, India. The chairman of India's private Jet Airways has quit amid mounting financial woes forcing the airline to suspend operations on 14 international routes with more than 80 planes grounded. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

Jet Airways recently grounded its five Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft after a crash in Ethiopia that killed all 157 people on board.

The airline said it was not flying any of the 737 Max planes in its fleet and was "in contact with the manufacturer."
BEIRUT (AP) - Human Rights Watch says eight Lebanese men charged with links to the Hezbollah militant group are being poorly treated and held in undisclosed locations in the United Arab Emirates.

The rights group said Monday the trial of the eight men, all Shiite Muslims and long-time residents, has been marred with violations and irregularities, including brief hearings closed to the public and lack of access to defense lawyers.

They are expected to appear in court Wednesday. Local media reported they are likely to face new charges.

The men were detained more than a year ago, but were only charged last month. They are accused of setting up a "terrorist cell with links to Hezbollah in Lebanon." The men deny the charges.

HRW says they are being held in solitary confinement.
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - A gold refinery established by a Belgian is facing Ugandan sanctions over the questionable importation of 7.4 tons of gold earlier in March, adding to growing allegations that minerals from conflict-plagued countries pass through the Uganda-based company.

The company, African Gold Refinery, had already exported 3.8 tons of the gold that may have originated from South America. But police are holding the remaining 3.6 tons as they await advice from the attorney general on whether to seize the gold and criminally charge the company's directors, police spokesman Fred Enanga told The Associated Press Monday.

African Gold Refinery, which is licensed to process raw gold, has not yet revealed where disputed consignment was sourced, he said, adding that the alternative is to release the gold if the appropriate taxes are paid to the Ugandan government.

"There is a possibility that it could have come from Venezuela, but that is not conclusive yet," he said.

Government-owned media, citing local police, reported that the gold came from Venezuela, which is under U.S. sanctions targeting a gold sector that is a key economic pillar of the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

Alain Goetz, the Belgian tycoon who established African Gold Refinery in 2014, told The Associated Press that the company had committed no crime in importing the disputed consignment as gold at any stage of purity "can be treated, can be recast."

"They do not know that. They do not know anything about gold," he said of Ugandan police.

He complained that the refinery, for which he now serves as a consultant after selling his stake to an investor from Bahrain, had been unable to export for 17 days, leading gold dealers to move to regional capitals like Nairobi in Kenya.

This is not the first time African Gold Refinery, which is located in Entebbe, 43 kilometers (27 miles) from Kampala, near the international airport, is under scrutiny for suspicious dealings in minerals.

The company has drawn activists' concern that minerals from conflict-prone countries in the region, especially Congo, will be among its raw materials.

The value of gold exports from Uganda has been rising in recent years, though not much is mined locally.

Gold is now Uganda's major export commodity, along with coffee. The value of gold exports rose to $204 million in the 2015/16 financial year, up from $250,000 in 2013/14, according to government figures.

The Sentry, an investigative initiative co-founded by American actor and activist George Clooney, reported in 2018 that gold mined from conflict areas in eastern Congo may be reaching international markets thanks to the Uganda-based African Gold Refinery.

The Sentry said at the time that a "corporate network controlled by Belgian tycoon Alain Goetz has refined illegally-smuggled conflict gold from eastern Congo at the African Gold Refinery in Uganda and then exported it through a series of companies to the United States and Europe."

That report urged Ugandan authorities to investigate the refinery for potential money laundering and called on the U.S., the U.N. Security Council, and the European Union to "investigate and, if appropriate, sanction gold refining and trading companies and their beneficial owners."

African Gold Refinery denied the allegations, saying it followed the law.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Norwegian officials say they have found a ship buried in the ground west of Oslo, adding that it likely dates to the Viking era.

The ship was found by use of geo-radar, and archaeologists say they have no immediate plan to unearth it, but they will be using non-invasive methods to find out more about it.

Vestfold county spokesman Terje Gansum said Monday the ship burial - where a vessel is used as a container for the dead - was found in the Borre burial mounds, considered one of Norway's most important cultural heritage sites

He said Viking-era ships are always at least 15 meters (50 feet) long.

The find is next to a museum promoting the local area's Viking heritage. The Viking era was approximately 793-1066.
PARIS (AP) - France's European Affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau, will lead President Emmanuel Macron's campaign in European Parliament elections in May.

Macron's party said Loiseau's candidacy will be formalized on Monday evening. As a consequence, Loiseau is expected to resign as a minister, leading to a probable government reshuffle in the coming days.

Loiseau, a career diplomat, joined Macron's government in June 2017 and was notably involved in the country's Brexit preparations.

She will head the centrist, pro-European campaign of Macron's party for the May 23-26 election in an effort to counter a populist and nationalist wave across the continent.

French polls suggest that Macron's party is ahead of the far-right, anti-immigrant National Rally.
DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian police said Monday they also found geckos and chameleons in the luggage of a Russian tourist who was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of Bali.

Andrei Zhestkov was detained late Friday at Bali's international airport after security officers found a 2-year-old endangered male orangutan sleeping in a rattan basket in his luggage.

Police showed the suspect along with the lizards and other evidence at a news conference Monday. Zhestkov, wearing an orange detainee uniform, refused to comment.

Local police chief Ruddi Setiawan said Zhestkov had confessed that he bought the orangutan for $3,000 from a street market on Indonesia's main island of Java. He said Zhestkov said he fed it allergy pills mixed with milk so it would lose consciousness for up to 10 hours on his planned flight back home to Vladivostok.

"We are still investigating his motive in attempting to smuggle the orangutan out of Indonesia," Setiawan said. "We are also searching for the trader who sold the animals to the suspect."

He said authorities found two geckos and four chameleons in his bags.

Denpasar police chief Ruddi Setiawan, center left, holds a two-year-old male orangutan as Russian Andrei Zhestkov, center right, stands during a press conference in Bali, Indonesia on Monday, March 25, 2019. Indonesian authorities have arrested the Russian tourist who was attempting to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of the resort island of Bali, a conservation official said Sunday. Orangutans are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

He said Zhestkov, if found guilty, faces up to five years in jail and $7,000 in fines for attempting to smuggle wildlife.

Orangutans are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Only around 13,400 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild.

A 2018 comprehensive study of Borneo's orangutans estimated their numbers have plummeted by more than 100,000 since 1999, as the palm oil and paper industries shrink their habitat and fatal conflicts with people increase.

A two-year-old male orangutan is kept in a cage during a press conference in Bali, Indonesia Monday, March 25, 2019. Indonesian authorities have arrested a Russian tourist who was attempting to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of the resort island of Bali, a conservation official said Sunday. Orangutans are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Indonesian Natural Resources Conservation Center officers carry a two-year-old male orangutan in a cage during a press conference in Bali, Indonesia Monday, March 25, 2019. Indonesian authorities have arrested a Russian tourist who was attempting to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of the resort island of Bali, a conservation official said Sunday. Orangutans are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - Ethiopian Airlines' CEO says the pilots who flew the plane that crashed on March 10 had trained on "all appropriate simulators," rejecting reports that they had not been adequately prepared to handle the new aircraft.

Tewolde Gebremariam said in a statement Monday that the airline owns simulators to help pilots train on the Boeing 737 Max, which has software installed that requires new training. The software can pitch the plane's nose down in some cases to keep it from stalling.

There is speculation that the software could have contributed to the crash, which killed 157 people, as well as to the crash of another Boeing 737 Max, a Lion Air flight, in October.

Regulators say both planes had similar erratic flight paths shortly after take-off, an important part of their decision to ground the roughly 370 Max planes around the world.

Boeing Co. is likely facing heavy costs to update the flight-control software on the Max and compensate airlines that have lost use of now-parked Max jets.

Separately, Boeing's European rival Airbus announced a deal to sell 300 planes to Chinese airlines, which are also major operators of the Max. The deal - signed before Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron - includes 290 Airbus A320 jets, which compete with the Boeing 737. The number that are A320neo jets, the chief competitor to the Boeing Max, will be determined later, an Airbus spokeswoman said.

Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, poses for a photograph after speaking to The Associated Press at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Saturday, March 23, 2019. The chief of Ethiopian Airlines says the warning and training requirements set for the now-grounded 737 Max aircraft may not have been enough following the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash that killed 157 people. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

China's demand for airliners is huge, and it could still order plenty more Boeing jets, but the announcement highlighted the peril Boeing faces in restoring airline and passenger confidence in its best-selling jet.

After the Lion Air crash off the coast of Indonesia, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing issued new training material for pilots. Questions lingered, however, whether the required training was sufficient and whether airlines like Ethiopian had access to simulators to give pilots thorough experience handling the software.

Gebremariam said Ethiopian Airlines owns and operates a Boeing 737 Max simulator.

"Contrary to some media reports, our pilots who fly the new model were trained on all appropriate simulators," Gebremariam said. "The crews were well trained on this aircraft."

The CEO, however, had told The Associated Press this weekend that he thinks the warnings and extra training material from Boeing and U.S. regulators "might not have been enough."

He said in a subsequent interview to The Wall Street Journal on Monday that it appeared that the anti-stall software had been activated on the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed, though it was still too early to be sure.

Ethiopian Airlines is widely seen as Africa's best-managed airline. It had been using five of the Max planes and was awaiting delivery of 25 more.

Boeing is updating the plane's anti-stall software and has invited more than 200 pilots, technical experts and regulators to its factory in Renton, Washington, for a briefing.

The Federal Aviation Administration expects Boeing's update this week.

As part of the update, Boeing said it is tweaking the anti-stall software. After the update, the system will rely on data from more than one sensor before it automatically pushes the plane's nose lower. The system won't repeatedly push the nose down, and it will reduce the magnitude of the change.

Boeing said it will pay to train airline pilots. Additional training - to be done on computers, not on a plane or in a flight simulator - is designed to drill home for pilots how they can override the software if it engages unnecessarily.

A Boeing spokesman on Monday said the company was continuing to determine the cost of updating the flight-control software and related changes. He declined to comment on whether the company would compensate airlines whose jets have been grounded.

Boeing has not said what it expects to pay to relatives of the people who died in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. In filings, Boeing has not disclosed a charge for potential costs related to the Oct. 29 Lion Air accident.

An aviation analyst for financial-services firm Cowen estimated the cost of the software fix at $400 million to $500 million, or roughly $1 million for each of the nearly 400 Max jets delivered or in the process of being delivered. Analyst Cai von Rumohr said Boeing may have little contractual obligation to compensate the airlines, but it will have to give them something to limit its loss of goodwill, and that is likely to be Boeing's biggest direct cost from the accidents.

Von Rumohr estimated that Boeing's compensation to the families of Ethiopian Airlines victims could be $150 million - around $1 million for each of the people who died - and less after insurance.

The worldwide grounding of the Max fleet will eat into Boeing's cash flow because aircraft manufacturers get most of the purchase price only when the plane is delivered - Boeing has suspended Max deliveries.

However, the Chicago company would receive that cash eventually if airlines don't cancel orders. So far, Garuda Indonesia has said it plans to scrap a $4.9 billion order for 49 planes, but no other major Max customers - of which Southwest Airlines, with 249 orders, is the biggest - have indicated they plan to cancel. Boeing has about 4,600 unfilled orders for the plane's various configurations.

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AP Airlines Writer David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Two years ago, country duo Maddie & Tae were in the studio working what they thought would be their sophomore record on Dot Records. Maddie Marlow and Taylor Dye were both just 18 when they signed their record deal and had a successful debut album "Start Here" with a No. 1 platinum debut single "Girl in a Country Song," a roasting of gender stereotypes in contemporary country music. Expectation was high for their follow-up record.

Then they got the call: their label was shutting down. "We were completely blindsided and just trying to figure out how do we put out music for our fans," said Marlow, now 23. How do we recover from this?"

Now nearly four years after releasing their first album, the duo is releasing their first EP under their new label Mercury Nashville. "One Heart to Another," out on April 26, will have five songs with a full album coming later this year.

During the time it took to transition to a new label, they decided to focus on writing and going deeper than they were able to get on the first record.

"If it weren't for Dot closing and us having to completely start fresh, we would not have the body of work that we have now," Marlow said. "So it was a huge blessing in disguise and there's no ill will."

When "Girl in a Country Song" hit in 2014, the airwaves were awash in bro country tropes about women as objects of desire. Marlow, from Sugar Land, Texas, and Dye, from Ada, Oklahoma, were lauded by critics for their beautiful harmonies and songs that earned them comparisons to the Dixie Chicks. Their subsequent singles, "Fly" and "Shut Up and Fish," made it to the Top 10 and the Top 25 respectively on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. But they also were conscious that people might pigeonhole them before they even got a chance at a second record.

In this March 20, 2019, photo, Madison Marlow, left, and Taylor Dye, of the duo Maddie & Tae, pose in Nashville, Tenn. Nearly four years after their first album, the country duo are releasing their first EP on their new label Mercury Nashville called "One Heart to Another," on April 26. A full album will be released later this year. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

"A lot of people named it novelty or a one-hit wonder," said Dye, also 23. "But we just knew that was just a side of us that we were going to show first and there was going to be multiple sides to follow after that. So we never really let it get to us in a standpoint of making us doubt who we are and what we do."

Considering they wrote their first album when they weren't even of drinking age, the new music shows a more sophisticated side, a maturity reached from having setbacks and the realization that they're just going to have to work harder because they are women in a male-dominated industry. There's more than one breakup song on the EP, which is a bit of a reflection of how they felt after Dot closed. The title track "One Heart To Another" shows the vulnerability in getting dumped by a serial heartbreaker, but without any anger or jealousy toward the other woman.

"We went to the writing session and we just said, 'OK, you know what? Industry aside, radio aside, everything else aside, what do we want to say?'" Dye said. "Do we want to be bolder? What do we want this next record, this next phase of us to look like? And are we going to be scared and shy away from things that we've never talked about or should we just go for it? And we went for it."

While they've been addressing the gender disparity issues in country music since the beginning of their careers, the problem has only gotten worse since "Girl in a Country Song." In December, there were weeks where no women were in the top 20 of Billboard's Country Airplay chart for the first time since its launch in 1990.

Maddie & Tae have released three songs from their forthcoming album already, but only one has made it to the Top 35 of the country airplay chart. They've had more success outside of the FM dial, with satellite radio embracing "Die From a Broken Heart," and they are included on two of Spotify's country playlists. Additionally they are opening for Carrie Underwood on her arena tour that starts this May.

JR Schumann, SiriusXM's senior director of country music programming, said he immediately latched onto "Die From a Broken Heart" and started putting it in heavy rotation on their channel "The Highway."

"It connects on a personal and emotional level that I haven't seen in a long time," Schumann said. "Every time we played it, especially early on as people were discovering it, our social media platforms would literally light up."

But they haven't completely abandoned the wit and sass that drew everyone to them in the first place. "New Dog, Old Tricks" is a takedown of those lame pickup artists who think they've got just the right lines to woo a woman. Written by Emily Wiseman, Jesse Frasure and Laura Veltz, they've wanted to record it for years because Marlow said it felt "ballsy."

"This is so on brand for us, and this is part of our message, empowering women," said Marlow. "Just reminding people who runs the world, you know?"

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Online:

www.maddieandtae.com

___

Follow Kristin M. Hall at https://twitter.com/kmhall .

In this March 20, 2019, photo, Taylor Dye, left, and Madison Marlow, of the duo Maddie & Tae, pose in Nashville, Tenn. Nearly four years after their first album, the country duo are releasing their first EP on their new label Mercury Nashville called "One Heart to Another," on April 26. A full album will be released later this year. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

In this March 20, 2019, photo, Madison Marlow, left, and Taylor Dye, of the duo Maddie & Tae, pose in Nashville, Tenn. Nearly four years after their first album, the country duo are releasing their first EP on their new label Mercury Nashville called "One Heart to Another," on April 26. A full album will be released later this year. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

In this March 20, 2019, photo, Madison Marlow, left, and Taylor Dye, of the duo Maddie & Tae, pose in Nashville, Tenn. Nearly four years after their first album, the country duo are releasing their first EP on their new label Mercury Nashville called "One Heart to Another," on April 26. A full album will be released later this year. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

In this March 20, 2019, photo, Taylor Dye, left, and Madison Marlow, of the duo Maddie & Tae, pose in Nashville, Tenn. Nearly four years after their first album, the country duo are releasing their first EP on their new label Mercury Nashville called "One Heart to Another," on April 26. A full album will be released later this year. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A murder trial is moving forward for a Florida man who threw his 5-year-old daughter off a Tampa Bay area bridge.

Prosecutors made opening statements Monday afternoon at the Pinellas County Courthouse. It took a week for lawyers to agree on 12 jurors and four alternates to decide the fate of 29-year-old John Jonchuck.

No one disputes that Jonchuck dropped his daughter Phoebe 62 feet (18 meters) into Tampa Bay on Jan. 8, 2015, and prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. If convicted of first-degree murder, he'll automatically go to prison for life.

Jonchuck's lawyers are using an insanity defense. They must convince jurors his mental illness was so severe that he didn't know what he was doing.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - The Greek government voiced opposition Monday to the suggestion from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Istanbul's Hagia Sophia - a Byzantine-era cathedral that now serves as a museum - could be reconverted into a mosque.

In a television interview Sunday ahead of Turkey's March 31 local elections, Erdogan indicated that it was possible to "change its name from museum to Hagia Sophia Mosque."

There have been increasing calls for the government to convert the symbolic structure back into a mosque, especially in the wake of reports that the gunman who killed Muslim worshippers in New Zealand left a manifesto saying the Hagia Sophia should be "free of minarets."

Erdogan's suggestion drew ire in Greece as the cathedral, originally built in the 6th century was the main seat of the Greek Orthodox church. It remained so until it was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of the city, then-known as Constantinople, in 1453. Turkey's secular founder turned the structure into a museum in 1935 that attracts millions of tourists each year.

"It is not only a great temple of Christendom - the largest for many centuries - it also belongs to humanity. It has been recognized by UNESCO as part of our global cultural heritage," Greek Foreign Minister George Katrougalos said.

"So any questioning of this status is not just an insult to the sentiments of Christians, it is an insult to the international community and international law."

Backdropped by Hagia Sophia, a Byzantine-era cathedral that was turned into a mosque and now serves as a museum, demonstrators protest against the mosque attacks in New Zealand, in Istanbul, Saturday, March 16, 2019. Thousands of demonstrators have protested the New Zealand mosque shootings outside Istanbul's Hagia Sophia - a Byzantine-era cathedral that was turned into a mosque and now serves as a museum. The demonstrators - mostly members of Islamic-leaning civil society groups - called for the symbolic edifice to be reconverted into a mosque.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

"We want to hope that the correct statements of March 16 by the Turkish leadership will be valid and there will be no change of this status," he added, in reference to a speech by Erdogan when he ruled out its conversation into a mosque.

Erdogan himself recited prayers inside the Hagia Sophia last year.

Backdropped by Hagia Sophia - a Byzantine-era cathedral that was turned into a mosque and now serves as a museum, demonstrators protest against the mosque attacks in New Zealand, in Istanbul, Saturday, March 16, 2019. The demonstrators - mostly members of Islamic-leaning civil society groups - called for the symbolic edifice to be reconverted into a mosque. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Demonstrators participate in a protest against the mosque attacks in New Zealand during a protest in Istanbul, Saturday, March 16, 2019. Thousands of demonstrators have protested the New Zealand mosque shootings outside Istanbul's Hagia Sophia _ a Byzantine-era cathedral that was turned into a mosque and now serves as a museum.The demonstrators _ mostly members of Islamic-leaning civil society groups _ called for the symbolic edifice to be reconverted into a mosque. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Demonstrators participate in a protest against the mosque attacks in New Zealand during a protest in Istanbul, Saturday, March 16, 2019. Thousands of demonstrators have protested the New Zealand mosque shootings outside Istanbul's Hagia Sophia _ a Byzantine-era cathedral that was turned into a mosque and now serves as a museum.The demonstrators _ mostly members of Islamic-leaning civil society groups _ called for the symbolic edifice to be reconverted into a mosque. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan salutes the supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party during a rally in Agri, Turkey, Monday, March 25, 2019. Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, a Byzantine-era cathedral that was turned into a mosque and now serves as a museum, could be reconverted into a mosque, Erdogan has said during a television interview late on Sunday ahead of Turkey's March 31 local elections.(Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party during a rally in Agri, Turkey, Monday, March 25, 2019. Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, a Byzantine-era cathedral that was turned into a mosque and now serves as a museum, could be reconverted into a mosque, Erdogan has said during a television interview late on Sunday ahead of Turkey's March 31 local elections.(Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool)
BEIRUT (AP) - The U.S-backed Syrian fighters who drove the Islamic State from its last strongholds called Monday for an international tribunal to prosecute hundreds of foreigners rounded up in the nearly five-year campaign against the extremist group.

The administration affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said such a tribunal is needed "for justice to take its course," particularly after countries have refused to bring home their detained nationals. The SDF has captured more than 1,000 foreign fighters, including many from Western countries.

"We don't have other options," Abdulkerim Umer, a foreign affairs official in the Kurdish-led administration, told The Associated Press. "No one wanted to take the responsibility (of repatriating their nationals). We can't put up with this burden alone."

Western countries have largely refused to take back their detained citizens, fearing they would not be able to convict them in civilian courts and that they could pose a security risk. The problem has grown more urgent since President Donald Trump announced his intention to reduce the U.S. military presence in Syria, where American forces are fighting alongside the SDF.

"It is an exceptional situation and we are looking at an exceptional framework," said Ilham Ahmed, the head of the political arm of the SDF, told the AP. "We are dealing with a failed state. In this case we can treat the (Kurdish-administered) region as an exception."

Asked about the tribunal proposal in Washington, U.S. special envoy for Syria and the anti-IS coalition, Jim Jeffrey, said: "We're not looking at that right now."

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2019 file photo, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters stand guard next to men waiting to be screened after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State group militants, near Baghouz, eastern Syria. The SDF fighters who drove the Islamic State from its last strongholds called Monday, March 25, 2019, for an international tribunal to prosecute hundreds of foreigners rounded up in the nearly five-year campaign against the extremist group. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

Jeffrey said the priority is to deal with the Iraqi and Syrian prisoners, which he estimated at 7,000 held in eastern Syria and representing the vast majority of those in detention. The second priority, Jeffrey said, is convincing the home countries of the foreign fighters to take them back.

Umer said foreign fighters should be tried where their crimes occurred and where they were detained. "The international community has evaded its responsibility, so we ask that they help us set up the court here," he said.

Germany's Foreign Ministry said in an email that it only knew of the proposal from media reports, but that setting up such a tribunal would "raise many political and legal issues, which would require careful evaluation by the international community."

Germany has said bringing detained German militants home would be "extraordinarily difficult," in response to a U.S. call for European nations to repatriate their nationals.

The SDF has been fighting IS since 2014 and has retaken large areas in northern and eastern Syria. Its administration is not recognized internationally or by the Syrian government, which has vowed to bring all the country's territory back under its control.

The Kurdish-led administration has asked the government to grant it autonomy in a new constitution, something Damascus has roundly rejected. Umer said the issue of the foreign detainees is therefore an "exceptional case" that requires an international tribunal. He said the presence of the foreign fighters is a "big problem" that could stoke further instability in the region.

"It is a burden and a risk for us and the international community," he said.

Nadim Houry, the director of the counterterrorism program at Human Rights Watch, said "it is hard to imagine" setting up an international tribunal on sovereign territory without that country's approval. Previous efforts to get Security Council backing for international tribunals for crimes committed in Syria have failed, mostly because of vetoes by Russia, a main ally of Damascus.

Houry said a major legal concern would be trying people for the same crimes in different courts depending on their nationality.

"There is no real precedent for creating an international tribunal for some nationals and not the others," Houry said. "It is an option that raises as many questions as it provides answers."

He said that while the U.S.-led coalition has provided military aid to the SDF, it has done nothing to help develop the local judiciary.

"It is a fair call on the (SDF)'s part to say this should be an international responsibility, but so far the path to such help is unclear."

Kurdish-run courts in northeastern Syria have tried hundreds of Syrians suspected of links to IS. In trials attended by the AP last year, Kurdish authorities showed leniency toward the mostly Arab suspects in a bid to build bridges with the majority Arab population. The courts do not impose the death penalty.

Umer said an international tribunal would help bring the system in line with global norms.

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Associated Press writers Frank Jordans in Berlin and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.

FILE - This file frame grab from video posted online Monday, March 18, 2019, by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, shows an IS fighter firing his weapon during clashes with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, in Baghouz, Syria. The SDF fighters who drove the Islamic State from its last strongholds called Monday, March 25, 2019, for an international tribunal to prosecute hundreds of foreigners rounded up in the nearly five-year campaign against the extremist group. (Aamaq News Agency via AP, File)
South Africa: Mkhize advocates for human rights in rural communities

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Zweli Mkhize has called for the protection of human rights in rural communities, saying the violation of the rights of women and children in these areas is not acceptable.

Mkhize made the remarks during a dialogue with traditional leaders in Moletjie Moshate, Limpopo, on Thursday. The dialogue is part of the ongoing commemoration of Human Rights Month held under the theme, Not in my culture.

Public dialogue and engagement is an integral part of our lives as Africans, hence it provided an opportunity for government to interact with and engage various sectors on issues of human rights.

The day marked an affirmation by ordinary people, who attended the dialogue, that the rights of humans are important. To delegates, todays dialogue was also a commitment and a reminder of our rights and the price paid for our democracy and freedom, said Mkhize.

Mkhize affirmed the importance of the traditional leadership sector as an integral part of democracy.

Issues such as customary marriage, divorce, inheritance, land tenure and many others still reflect the lingering bias and oppression of women. To this effect, the violations of the human rights of traditional communities, particularly the rights of women and children, is not acceptable. We urge traditional leaders to play an important part to protect women and say Not in my culture, said the Minister.

Mkhize said traditional leaders need to work hand in hand with government departments and authorities to identify and help the most vulnerable among their people.

Members of the LGBT communities and those living with albinism endure abuse in some communities. Some are even killed for nefarious ends, such as mutilation for muti purposes. We must also protect older women, grandmothers, who are accused of witchcraft in some communities and are attacked.

Delegates spoke about the protection of young women from practices such as ukuthwala, where they are abducted and forced into marriages, and ukungena, where women are forced to marry relatives of their late husbands against their will.

They also raised the importance of preserving indigenous languages as part of heritage.

They foster cohesion in our communities and are a foundation for our identity as distinct traditional communities, as well as for the institution of traditional leadership itself.

Language, including sign language, is also a very important right enjoyed under freedom of cultural expression in our Constitution and it is through it that we preserve our history and heritage, Mkhize said.

Delegates agreed that women should live as full equals, without any fear of violence, enjoying protection, where they are able to play very influential roles.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
My colleagues may think its okay that the Russians offered dirt on a Democratic presidential candidate as part of what was described as the Russian governments effort to help the Trump campaign, you might think thats okay.

My colleagues may think its okay when there was an offer to the son of the president, who had pivotal role in campaign, the presidents son did not call FBI, he did not adamantly refuse that foreign help. No, the presidents son said he would love the help of the Russias. You might think thats okay. he took that meeting.

You might think thats okay that Paul Manafort, the campaign chair summed with great experience in running campaigns also took the meeting, you might think thats okay, that the presidents son-in-law also took that meeting. You might think thats okay that they concealed it from the public. You might say that's all okay, that the only disappointment from that meeting was that the dirt they received on Clinton wasnt better. You might think thats okay.

You might think thats okay when that was discovered a year later, they lied about that meeting, and said that was about adoption. You might think thats okay that the president who have reported to helped to dictate that lie. You might say that's all ok. I dont!

You might think thats okay that the campaign chairman of the presidential campaign would offer information about that campaign to a Russia oligarch in exchange for money or debt forgiveness. You might think thats okay, I dont!

You might think thats okay that the campaign chairman offered polling data, campaign polling data to someone linked to Russian intelligence, I dont think thats okay!

You might think thats okay that the president himself called on Russia to hack his opponents emails if they were listening

You might think thats okay that later that day in fact the Russians attempted to hack a server affiliated with that campaign. I dont think thats oaky.

You might think thats okay that the presidents son-in-law sought to establish a secret back channel communication with Russians through a Russian diplomat facility. I dont think thats oaky.

You might think thats okay that an associate of the President made direct contact with GRU through Guccifer 2 and WikiLeaks and considered as hostile intelligence agency.

You might think thats okay that a senior campaign official was instructed to reach to that associate to find out what that hostile intelligence agency had to say in terms of dirt on his opponent.

You might think its ok, that the national security advisor designate secretly conferred with a Russian ambassador about undermining US sanctions. And you might think its ok. He lied about it to the FBI.

You might say that's all OK. You might say that's just what you need to do to win. But I don't think it's OK. I think it's immoral. I think it's unethical. And I think it is unpatriotic, And yes, I think it is corrupt. And evidence of collusion.

now I have always said that the question whether this amounts to proof of conspirtacy was another matter.

Wheither the special counsel could prove beyond a reasonable doubt. the Proof of that crime act would be up to the special counsel and I would accept his decision and I do.

He is a good and honorable man and he is a good prosecutor. But I do not think that conduct, criminal or not, is okay! and the day we do think that's okay, I think that is the day we will look back and say that is the day America lost its way.

And I will tell you one more thing that is of the hearing today. I don't think it's okay during a presidental campaign, Mr. Trump sought the Kremlin's help to have a real estate deal in moscow that would make him a fortune, according to the special counsel, hundreds of millons of dollars.

And I don't think that is okay he concealed it from the public and advocating a more and favorable policy to the russians even as he was seaking the Russian's help. The Kremlin's help to make money.

I don't think it's okay his attorney lied to our committee. there is a different word for that than collusion and it's called compromise and that is the subject of our hearing today.

Congressman Adam Schiff
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Authorities say a juvenile has been charged in the shooting death of a newborn baby at a home in North Carolina.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said Sunday that the juvenile is in custody in the shooting death Friday night of a 21-day-old infant in Fayetteville.

The sheriff's office says the baby was pronounced dead at a medical center where it was taken Friday night.

Authorities declined to identify the juvenile, disclose further details of the shooting or the charge or charges involved.

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that 43 percent of U.S. homes with children and guns had at least one unlocked firearm, meaning it wasn't kept in a locked place nor protected by a trigger lock or other mechanism.

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Information from: WRAL-TV, http://www.wral.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Monday recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, reversing more than a half-century of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump made formal a move he announced in a surprise tweet last week.

The president said it was time for the U.S. to take the step after 52 years of Israeli control of the strategic highlands on the border with Syria. The U.S. is the first country to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as Israeli-occupied.

Syria and neighboring Lebanon denounced the move, and at least two NATO members, Canada and Turkey, said they would not follow suit.

Trump said his decision would cement the Jewish state's ability to defend itself from regional threats should a broad Arab-Israeli peace deal ever be reached. Trump's action also likely gives Netanyahu a political boost ahead of what's expected to be a close Israeli election.

During his 90-minute visit to the White House, reporters and photographers were invited to see Netanyahu at least four times, including his arrival at the South Lawn and in the Oval Office.

President Donald Trump holds up a signed proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Israel has long argued that the strategically important area has, for all practical purposes, been fully integrated into Israel since it was captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and that control of the strategic plateau is needed as protection from Iran and its allies in Syria.

"Today, aggressive acts by Iran and terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, in southern Syria continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks on Israel," Trump said in the proclamation.

The proclamation noted the "unique circumstances" presented by the Golan, language that appeared to be aimed at countering criticism that the recognition would be used by other countries to justify control of disputed territory, such as Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

But criticism was speedy and intense.

Syria slammed the U.S. step as "blatant aggression" on its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The foreign ministry said Trump's move represented the "highest level of contempt for international legitimacy" and showed that Washington was "the main enemy" of Arabs.

Lebanon, which Secretary of State Mike Pence visited over the past weekend, said that the Golan Heights is "Syrian Arab" territory and that "no country can falsify history by transferring" land from one country to another.

Even U.S. allies Canada and Turkey expressed opposition.

"In accordance with international law, Canada does not recognize permanent Israeli control over the Golan Heights. Canada's long-standing position remains unchanged," the Canadian foreign ministry said. "Annexation of territory by force is prohibited under international law."

Turkey's foreign minister said that the U.S. had ignored international law and that the decision would further increase tensions in the region.

And, at the United Nations, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. chief Antonio Guterres adheres to Security Council resolutions that Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights is "null and void and without international legal effect."

Amnesty International called the decision "irresponsible, reckless and yet another example of the Trump administration violating international law and consensus by condoning Israel's illegal annexation."

Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said Trump seems to want to "drive a wrecking ball" through international law that protects the people who live in "occupied Golan Heights." He said it could embolden other "occupying states to double down on their own land grabs, settlements and plunder of resources."

Netanyahu, even as he was somberly cutting short his visit to Washington to deal with a rocket attack in central Israel, was elated by Trump's move.

"Israel has never had a better friend than you," he told the president.

Netanyahu noted a series of steps Trump has taken since assuming office, including his withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.

In addition to signaling U.S. support for Israel's security, the decision appeared to show Trump's support for Netanyahu, who is up for re-election April 9. Netanyahu is facing a tough challenge from a popular former military chief and reeling from a series of corruption allegations. He has repeatedly sought to focus attention on his foreign policy record and strong ties with Trump.

The two leaders met as the Israeli military was striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket that hit a house north of Tel Aviv, injuring seven people.

In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee earlier Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said the rocket attack "proves that Hamas is not a partner for peace." Pence told AIPAC that "Hamas is a terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Israel, and the United States will never negotiate with terrorist Hamas."

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday for what was to have been a three-day visit but announced early Monday he would leave early to take charge of the response to the rocket.

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Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Donald Trump welcomes visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu smiles as he speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room during a proclamation signing with at the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019, with President Donald Trump. Trump signed an official proclamation formally recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Donald Trump embraces Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Vice President Mike Pence looks on, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Hugh Jackman says he's looking forward to coming back to Broadway next year as a classic roguish traveling salesman in a play he first performed in as a teenager.

"I'm very, very excited about doing 'The Music Man'," he told The Associated Press.

The two-time Tony winner said he first performed the show in high school, and that it was the first musical he ever acted in.

"It's amazing I'm going back to it," he said.

As con man Harold Hill, Jackman will sing such favorites as "Ya Got Trouble," ''Seventy-Six Trombones" and "Gary, Indiana."

Jackman was speaking with the AP on Sunday at the Global Teacher Prize award ceremony in Dubai, where he announced the winner and performed musical numbers from his 2017 film "The Greatest Showman."

Actor Hugh Jackman speaks during the US dollars 1 million Global Teacher Prize presentation in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 24, 2019. Kenyan educator Peter Tabichi, a science teacher who gives away 80 percent of his income to the poor in the remote Kenyan village of Pwani, won this year's prize. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Actor Hugh Jackman hugs Bronx teacher Melissa Salguero during the US dollars 1 million Global Teacher Prize in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 24, 2019. Kenyan educator Peter Tabichi, a science teacher who gives away 80 percent of his income to the poor in the remote Kenyan village of Pwani, won this year's prize. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Actor Hugh Jackman performs a song-and-dance number at the US dollars 1 million Global Teacher Prize in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 24, 2019. Kenyan educator Peter Tabichi, a science teacher who gives away 80 percent of his income to the poor in the remote Kenyan village of Pwani, won this year's prize. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Kenyan teacher Peter Tabichi, right, reacts as actor Hugh Jackman, watches after the teacher won the $1 million Global Teacher Prize in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 24, 2019. Tabichi is a science teacher who gives away 80 percent of his income to the poor in the remote Kenyan village of Pwani. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Kenyan teacher Peter Tabichi, right, listens to actor Hugh Jackman, after winning the $1 million Global Teacher Prize in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 24, 2019. Tabichi is a science teacher who gives away 80 percent of his income to the poor in the remote Kenyan village of Pwani. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is rejecting an appeal from a company owned by an unidentified foreign government that has refused to turn over information demanded by special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

The justices didn't comment Monday in turning away the company, which is racking up a fine of $50,000 a day for not complying with the grand jury subpoena for documents.

Mueller turned over his report to Attorney General William Barr on Friday, but the status of the grand jury is unclear.

Fines have been accruing since Jan. 15 and could total nearly $3.5 million. New daily fines stop once the grand jury is discharged.

Mueller found no evidence President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. Trump claims vindication.
WASHINGTON (AP) - For President Donald Trump, the fight over the "witch hunt" is only just beginning.

Now that special counsel Robert Mueller's two-year investigation into Trump's campaign is over, it's being transformed into a rallying cry and a weapon for the president's re-election campaign.

The pall of the two-year probe lifted Sunday, when Attorney General William Barr released a summary of Mueller's findings that said the wide-ranging investigation found no evidence of collusion by Trump's 2016 campaign with the Russian government. Barr's four-page letter was immediately seized upon by the Republican president and his allies as a weapon to use against Democrats, the so-called Deep State and the media.

"There are a lot of people out there that have done some very evil things, very bad things, I would say treasonous things against our country," Trump said Monday as he sat in the Oval Office next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Those people will certainly be looked at."

Even before Mueller's conclusions were revealed, it was clear that Trump saw the end of the investigation as a political opportunity.

As the president's lawyers debated legal strategy, Trump aides and political allies developed a plan to turn the end of the probe into the launching pad for a new round of attacks on the president's foes and a moment to reinvigorate his supporters in the run-up to the 2020 campaign. Trump surrogates rushed to take a victory lap, depict the probe as a failed coup and rub the results in the face of Democrats, many of whom had spent months promising that Mueller would turn up more.

President Donald Trump speaks with the media after stepping off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Washington. The Justice Department said Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

"You've made a great victim of Donald Trump here," Trump counsellor Kellyanne Conway said Monday morning.

Trump's campaign moved quickly to raise money off the Mueller news, with a text message to supporters stating, "Dems raised millions off a lie. Now we FIGHT BACK!"

The team's plans going forward are more expansive, according to seven aides and allies involved with the effort, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private deliberations.

While Trump's base has long been suspicious of Mueller, the president's team believes independents and moderate Democrats who backed him in the last election but have since soured may return to the fold if convinced he was unfairly targeted.

Some Republicans who had mused about a primary challenge to Trump if Mueller returned a smoking gun may now stay on the sidelines.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, one of several Republicans considering a bid to unseat the president, had told the AP last month he would only mount a campaign if the political dynamics in the race have changed. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, though, said Monday in New Hampshire that "I wasn't really counting on the president getting caught in the soup" and was still considering a bid.

Major talking points for Democrats who had pinned great hopes on Mueller may have vanished. And some swing voters, wary at the prospect of endless investigations and talk of impeachment, may prove more sympathetic to the president.

The president and his allies will now link the report with the investigations launched by House Democrats and try to make the case that, in the wake of Mueller's findings, further probes are partisan overreach.

"I think they can't move forward until they apologize," Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told The Associated Press.

He singled out Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and said the congressman's investigation would have no credibility because he had deemed Trump "treasonous" and promised clear evidence of collusion that didn't materialize.

"If there are people who contrived this investigation, who made up this collusion, maybe they themselves should be investigated," Giuliani said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., echoed that sentiment, making clear that Republicans weren't ready to move on from the investigations, firing a warning shot to Hillary Clinton and Justice Department officials that "to those who were abusive of the process in 2016 on the other side, you haven't had much scrutiny, but that's coming."

Trump's campaign on Monday afternoon released a memo from communications director Tim Murtaugh warning television producers against booking Democrats who had claimed on their networks that there had been evidence of collusion with Russia.

"At this point, there must be introspection from the media who facilitated the reckless statements and a serious evaluation of how such guests are considered and handled in the future," Murtaugh wrote.

Democrats have pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and have demanded to see his full report.

The president's allies also intend to use the moment to heighten attacks on the media, which many Trump supporters believe unjustly fanned the flames of the special counsel's probe in an effort to bring down the president. They aim to highlight specific news organizations and, in some cases, individual reporters and paint them as biased and untrustworthy, according to two presidential confidants.

The president's campaign and pro-Trump outside groups are poised to amplify the message that Democrats tried to use the probe to obstruct the White House's agenda, while his advisers expect Fox News and the conservative media to act as an echo chamber. A full-throated attack on the investigation also will be the centerpiece of Trump campaign events, including rallies, Trump advisers have said.

Trump's next rally is set for Thursday in Michigan, a state he narrowly won in 2016 and will invest in heavily this time. Count on hearing an earful.

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Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writer Hunter Woodall contributed reporting from Concord, New Hampshire.

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Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Miller at http://twitter.com/@zekejmiller

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One, Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md., as he returns from Mar-a Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, left, walks with Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley, right, to speak with reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
BEIRUT (AP) - Lebanon's prime minister underwent a heart procedure in a Paris hospital on Monday and is expected to be discharged later in the day.

Saad Hariri's office said the 48-year-old underwent an hour-long angioplasty procedure, used to treat blocked arteries. Hariri's personal physician, Essam Yassin, said the prime minister is well and described the procedure as a "preventive" measure.

He said Hariri will return to his home in Paris later Monday.

Hariri is the youngest head of state in the region, and has been Lebanon's prime minister for three separate periods since 2009. He is now presiding over his third Cabinet, after being named premier again in February.

His father, Rafik Hariri, a business tycoon who also served as Lebanon's prime minister, was assassinated in 2005.
PARIS (AP) - Migrants trying to reach Europe face routine rape and sexual torture throughout their journey, and especially in Libya, with men facing abuse nearly as routinely as women.

That's according to a study released Monday by the Women's Refugee Commission that is based on dozens of interviews with aid workers and migrants.

Along the journey, smugglers torture migrants and film it to extract ransom payments from their families, and to thin the number of people in their unofficial prisons, according to the witness accounts. They report systematic sex abuse in official detention as well.

Monday's report comes as Europe has blocked rescues at sea. The EU-funded Libyan coast guard now intercepts migrant boats and brings them back to detention centers where, migrants say, the abuse resumes.

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the name of the organization that carried out the study. It is the Women's Refugee Commission.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017 file photo, Aquarius the vessel of NGOs, SOS Mediterranee and MSF drifts in the international waters north of Libya. Migrants trying to reach Europe face routine rape and sexual torture throughout their journey _ and especially in Libya _ with men facing abuse nearly as routinely as women, according to a study based on dozens of interviews with aid workers and migrants. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 1, 2017 file photo, African migrants who were rescued from the Mediterranean Sea north of the Libyan coast, look out from the deck as the Aquarius vessel of SOS Mediterranee and MSF (Doctors Without Borders) NGOs, approaches the port of Pozzallo on Sicily, Italy. Migrants trying to reach Europe face routine rape and sexual torture throughout their journey _ and especially in Libya _ with men facing abuse nearly as routinely as women, according to a study based on dozens of interviews with aid workers and migrants. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)
TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Albanian prosecutors say they have questioned opposition Democratic Party leaders about suspicious spending abroad of $650,000 during parliamentary elections two years ago.

A statement by the Tirana prosecutor's office on Monday said Democrats' leader Lulzim Basha and three other politicians were questioned on why their party had not declared the money spent in United States and Scotland.

Basha denied breaking any laws, saying that responses from the authorities in the United States and Britain "prove that the Democratic Party and its leaders have not broken any law."

The U.S. publication Mother Jones has alleged that the Democrats received secret funds from Russian sources using a U.S. lobbyist, Nick Muzin, who was paid by a Russian-linked company called Biniatta Trade.

The center-right Democrats have rejected the allegations.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey lawmakers dealt a blow to the prospects of legal recreational marijuana use in the state Monday, when the state Senate president postponed a vote after his and the governor's lobbying campaign failed to muster enough support in the chamber.

But Senate President Steve Sweeney and Gov. Phil Murphy, both Democrats, said the issue isn't going away. Sweeney didn't specify when a vote would happen again, but he promised to hold one.

"We'll be back at this, so anybody that thinks this is dead - they're wrong. We're gonna get back, and one way or another we'll get this passed," Sweeny said at a news conference Monday.

Murphy cast the setback in historical terms and said, without legalization, hundreds of people a week would be arrested on marijuana-related crimes.

"History is rarely made at the first attempt. History is often a bumpy road of fits and starts of progress and of setbacks," he said. "Certainly I'm disappointed, but we're not defeated."

Legal recreational pot has been widening its footprint across the country despite a federal prohibition. New Jersey would join the District of Columbia and 10 other states if the measure succeeds.

Senate President Steve Sweeney, left, speaks to reporters in Trenton, N.J., Monday, March 25, 2019. New Jersey's Senate president says there are not enough votes to pass a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. The vote in that chamber has been postponed. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

But it's not clear when or if that will happen.

Among the stumbling blocks are that the measure would allow a fast track to expunge marijuana-related convictions for many people. Others have raised concerns that black communities in New Jersey could miss out on economic opportunities in a legal weed market. Still others have philosophical concerns with legalization.

The delay is a setback for Murphy, a first-term governor who campaigned on legalizing recreational weed, and comes even though his party controls both chambers of the Legislature as well.

Murphy had said he was burning up phone lines leading up to the vote, trying to persuade enough lawmakers to back the measure.

After the delay in the Senate, the Democrat-led Assembly also decided to postpone a vote on the measure.

In a statement, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said he was "disappointed" the measure didn't get enough support and said he's committed to continue working to get it passed.

"We moved closer to the goal than ever before," Coughlin said.

New Jersey's Statehouse was a hive of supporters, opponents and TV cameras covering the stalled vote on the measure to allow those 21 and over to possess or buy up to an ounce (28 grams) of marijuana.

Opponents declared the canceled vote a win and took credit for "flooded phones and email boxes" among lawmakers.

"This is a huge victory for us," said Kevin Sabet, the president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Act. "They told us legalization was inevitable, and this action proves them wrong."

Supporters downplayed the significance of the delay. Scott Rudder, the head of the state's pro-legalization CannaBusiness Association, said he was confident that lawmakers would eventually come to support legalization and that they needed more time to understand the intricacies of the bill.

New Jersey's bill calls for a tax of $42 per ounce, setting up a five-member regulator commission and expediting expungements to people with marijuana-related offenses.

The bill would also let towns that host retailers, growers, wholesalers and processors levy taxes as well, up to 3 percent in some cases.

Tax revenue would go into a fund for "development, regulations, and enforcement of cannabis activities," including paying for expungement costs.

The expungement provisions, which Murphy says would set New Jersey apart from any other state with legal weed, waive any fee for expungement processing and permit clearing of records for possession up to 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms).

That unsettled some lawmakers, including Republican state Sen. Michael Doherty. The change appeared to permit felons, and not just low-level offenders, to qualify for expungement, he said.

Under earlier versions of the bill, the expungement provision covered people convicted of possession roughly 2 ounces (57 grams) of marijuana.

Lawmakers said during hearings that while 5 pounds sounds like a lot, it's necessary to allow for an expedited expungement process because the statute covering possession for small amounts of cannabis goes up to 5 pounds.

The measure calls for an investigation on the influence of cannabis on driving and for funding drug-recognition experts for law enforcement.

FILE - In this June 22, 2017 file photo, marijuana plants grow indoors at Breakwater Treatment and Wellness in Cranbury, N.J. After more than a year of negotiations, mostly behind closed doors, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders said Tuesday March 12, 2019, they've agreed on legislation to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, left, speaks to reporters in Trenton, N.J., Monday, March 25, 2019. New Jersey's Senate president says there are not enough votes to pass a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. The vote in that chamber has been postponed. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

State Sen. Nick Scutari, left, sponsor of the marijuana legalization bill, speaks to reporters in Trenton, N.J., Monday, March 25, 2019. New Jersey's Senate president says there are not enough votes to pass a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. The vote in that chamber has been postponed. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on challenges to Wisconsin Republicans' lame-duck laws limiting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul's powers (all times local):

12:45 a.m.

A judge says he'll issue a decision on whether to block laws Republicans passed during a lame-duck legislative session within 24 hours.

Five unions filed a lawsuit in Dane County in February arguing the laws violate the separation of powers. Judge Frank Remington heard hours of oral arguments Monday. At the conclusion of the hearing he said he will issue a written decision on whether to order a preliminary injunction blocking the laws or portions of them by the end of business Tuesday.

Remington wouldn't say how he would rule but did say the order will deny Republican legislators' request to dismiss the lawsuit.

Another Dane County judge has blocked the laws in their entirety in a separate lawsuit last week. The 3rd District Court of Appeals is considering whether to stay that order.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers answered reporters questions at the State Capitol in Madison, Wisc., Thursday, March 21, 2019, after a Dane County judge has blocked the lame duck laws that Republicans passed in December to limit the power of the governor and attorney general. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

The laws limit Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul's powers. Republicans passed the statutes in December, just weeks before Evers and Kaul took office.

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11:25 a.m.

Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says he is moving ahead "as quickly as possible" to fill vacancies after a judge's ruling last week struck down 82 appointments Republicans made during a lame-duck legislative session.

Evers told reporters Monday that he doesn't know how quickly he can fill the positions, but some of the posts may go to people who previously held them. One opening is on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and another is on the Public Service Commission.

Evers says his office is reviewing what possible action he can take, but that he doesn't anticipate doing anything Monday.

Republicans have asked a state appeals court to put the ruling striking down the lame-duck laws on hold.

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9:15 a.m.

An attorney for a group of unions says Republican-backed laws that limit the powers of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul are an egregious attempt to steal power from the executive branch.

A hearing was held Monday in a lawsuit filed by the unions, which argue that the laws violate separation of government powers. The laws were quickly passed in December, before Evers and Kaul - both Democrats - took office.

The unions' attorney told the judge that a handful of GOP legislators essentially took power away from the executive branch. He called the actions "an egregious attempt" at political gain.

The Legislature's attorney has filed a motion to dismiss the case.

A different judge temporarily blocked the laws last week in a separate lawsuit filed by a coalition of liberal-leaning groups.

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8:05 a.m.

A Dane County judge is set to hear arguments in another lawsuit challenging Republican-backed laws limiting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul's powers.

Five unions sued in February, alleging the laws violate the separation of powers doctrine because they transfer power from the executive branch to legislators. Judge Frank Remington is set to hear oral arguments at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

The lawsuit is one of four challenging the laws.

The state Democratic Party and liberal group One Wisconsin Now have each filed a lawsuit in federal court. A coalition of liberal-leaning groups filed a third action in Dane County. Judge Richard Niess ruled in that case last week that the Legislature convened illegally when it passed the laws in December.
TOWSON, Md. (AP) - A Maryland university student has pleaded guilty to illegally wiretapping a congressional staffer and putting the conversation on Facebook Live without consent.

The state prosecutor's office said Monday a plea agreement was reached with Jake Burdett, a Salisbury University student. Under the agreement, Burdett will receive probation before judgment and 100 hours of community service.

Prosecutors say Burdett, a 21-year-old advocate for Maryland Marijuana Justice, took part in a rally in front of Rep. Andy Harris' office in Salisbury, Maryland, in October. Then he and others met with a member of the congressman's staff in his office.

Harris' staff told the group not to record the meeting, citing office policy, but prosecutors say Burdett recorded and streamed it on Facebook Live without the staffer's consent.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Thousands of people living downstream from an endangered mine dam carried out a practice drill Monday for a possible evacuation just two months after a mine collapse in the same Brazilian state killed 212 people and left 93 still missing.

The drill for as many as 6,000 residents in Barao de Cocais, some 150 kilometers (95 miles) from the dam that collapsed in January, was aimed at ensuring people know what to do if the dam that threatens them also gives way.

Mining giant Vale on Friday raised the risk level at the dam near the city to level three. According to Brazil's mining and energy secretary, level three means that "a rupture is imminent or already happening."

Minas Gerais state civil defense agency said in a statement that in case of rupture, the mining waste would reach the urban area of the city in an hour and 12 minutes.

Residents living in a 10-kilometre (6-mile) perimeter had already been evacuated in February. More than 440 people were relocated in temporary housing or with family members.

Residents living beyond this first security perimeter were expected to take part in the drill, Vale said in a statement.

FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2019 file photo, helicopters hover over an iron ore mining complex to release thousands of flower petals, in homage of those who were killed or went missing after a mining dam collapsed a week prior in Brumadinho, Brazil. In late March 2019, firefighters in Brazil are still looking for 93 people who remain missing two months after the dam containing mining waste collapsed. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

On Jan. 25, the collapse of a Vale dam in Brumadinho unleashed a torrent of thick reddish-brown mud that covered everything in its path, destroying houses, roads and trees and contaminating nearby rivers.

The type of dam used to hold mining waste in Barao de Cocais is the same that was in place in Brumadinho. State authorities have since banned this type of construction but companies were given three years to replace the dams.
HOUSTON (AP) - Businesses and residents expressed concern Monday about the environmental and economic fallout from a fire at a Houston-area petrochemical storage farm that sent huge plumes into the air for days and prompted the partial closure of one of the busiest commercial waterways in the U.S.

Officials said it could be several more days before a section of the Houston Ship Channel reopens. Investigators with Harris County, which includes Houston, said they have delivered a subpoena to Intercontinental Terminals Company - the firm that owns the facility - to preserve any evidence regarding the cause of the blaze. Students returned to class after the fire prompted school closures near the facility.

Here's a look at what has happened and what to expect:

THE FIRE AND RESPONSE

A massive fire started March 17 at the ITC plant in the suburb of Deer Park, southeast of Houston. It left several petrochemical tanks damaged or destroyed and thrust plumes of black smoke into the air and burned on and off for days.

It's unclear how the blaze began.

In a Wednesday, March 20, 2019 photo, maritime traffic moves through the Houston Ship Chanel past the site of now-extinguished petrochemical tank fire at Intercontinental Terminals Company in Deer Park, Texas. Air quality and water pollution from the fire's runoff, seen on the right, into the ship channel are some of the concerns in the aftermath of the blaze. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

On Thursday, residents were warned to stay inside for their own safety because of high levels of benzene in the air. The chemical evaporates quickly and can cause drowsiness, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, and headaches, with worse symptoms at higher levels of exposure.

Some of ITC's tanks leaked oil products and a containment area was breached Friday, leading to the mixture reaching the ship channel, said company spokesman Brent Weber.

Authorities shut down part of the ship channel Friday to traffic to try and continue the cleanup and contain the spill.

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Kevin Oditt said Monday it could be several more days before that part of the channel reopens.

"The priorities remain ensuring the safety of our on-scene responders as well as mitigating any impact to the waterway or the environment and reopening the Houston Ship Channel," Oditt said.

The San Jacinto River, a waterway leading into the ship channel and located north of ITC's facility, was reopened to barge and tow traffic but only for about three hours on Monday.

Oditt said officials have performed several test runs with ships, letting them pass through the affected area to see if they don't interfere with the cleanup and don't get contaminated. Such test runs will help the Coast Guard determine when the channel can be fully opened.

EFFECTS ON COMMERCE

The Port of Houston is the No. 1 in the U.S. in foreign tonnage and is in the top five in the U.S. in the number of containers it handles.

The head of a maritime trade organization representing more than 200 companies at the port said the closure of several miles of the channel has slowed but not stalled commerce. The top products that pass through the ship channel include resins and plastics, chemicals, fabrics, including raw cotton, and steel and metals.

Capt. Bill Diehl, president of the Greater Houston Port Bureau, said Monday the port is a manufacturing center for petrochemicals and supporting businesses and that those places are still operating but that products may be slow to come in or out right now.

Diehl said the channel is 52 miles long and other sections have remained open. As of Monday afternoon, some ships were being slowly taken through the area that had been closed to make sure they didn't disturb the cleanup. That section, for now, is only open to daylight transits, Diehl said.

"It has an effect on business," Diehl said, "but not as much as you'd think."

Diehl said that half of the ships that come into Texas come through the Port of Houston. He said on average they move 55 ships a day.

WHAT'S NEXT?

ITC is facing legal challenges over the fire and spill.

On Monday, seven people who live near the storage facility filed what is believed to be the first civil lawsuit against ITC over the fire. The suit was filed in state district court in Houston.

The residents are asking for at least $1 million in damages, accusing ITC of negligence. They allege they suffered a variety of illnesses due to the fire and the release of chemicals into the air, including, bronchitis, pneumonia and itchy, burning eyes.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against ITC on Friday and said the state must hold the company "accountable for the damage it has done to our environment."

State and other environmental watch dogs also are continuing to test water and air.

Water samples from the Houston Ship Channel have been tested, but those results were still not complete Monday, said Jeff Kunze, with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Over the weekend, benzene levels in the air were very high near the site of the fire, but dropped significantly, according to monitoring by the Environmental Defense Fund.

Tests by the nonprofit the Galveston Bay Foundation over a four-day period starting Friday found benzene in 14 water samples taken from the Houston Ship Channel. But only one sample, from Saturday, had levels of benzene considered to be unsafe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. By Monday, all samples tested were at safe levels, according to the foundation.

Adam Adams, the federal onsite coordinator with the EPA, said Monday that air monitoring from his agency as well as several others in the last 24 hours had not found any hazardous conditions that would require warning the public.

"That's very positive," Adams said.

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Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Tammy Webber in Chicago contributed to this report.

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Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

FILE - In a Wednesday, March 20, 2019 file photo, emergency crews continue to douse what's left of the now-extinguished petrochemical tank fire at Intercontinental Terminals Company, in Deer Park. Fire crews extinguished the blaze at ITC about 3 a.m., Wednesday, almost four days after it started, which caused a plume of black smoke to linger over the Houston area. ITC officials said the cause of the fire is still unknown. EPA on-site coordinator Adam Adams said they have been in Deer Park since Sunday, conducting air monitoring at ground level and in the plume. Biggest concerns are "volatile organic chemicals" and particulates, Adams said. He added that no hazardous levels have been detected. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

Jessica Leija holds up her hand to ask a question as Bill Ogden, a lawyer with Farrar & Ball, talks to a crowd of Deer Park residents Saturday, March 23, 2019, outside where he and Chance McMillan, founding partner of the McMillan Law Firm, were suppose to host a town hall-style meeting about the legal ramifications stemming from the recent ITC fire, in Deer Park, Texas. The crowd was to large to accommodate inside. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
LONDON (AP) - The flight on Monday seemed to go perfectly well, until passengers realized that their plane had landed in both the wrong city and the wrong country.

The British Airways flight from London City Airport was supposed to head to Duesseldorf, Germany, but ended up in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

The airline said Monday the problem started when an incorrect flight plan was filed by WDL Aviation, which operated the flight on behalf of British Airways. Officials say the pilot followed the flight plan for Edinburgh, and that air traffic control officials also were following the same flight plan and saw nothing amiss.

WDL aviation said it was trying to determine the cause of the "obviously unfortunate mix-up."

The flight was refueled and set off again, this time directly to Duesseldorf.
BERLIN (AP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc is advocating stepping up security cooperation among European Union nations to create what it calls a "European FBI."

The proposal was part of a program for the May 23-26 European Parliament elections approved Monday by Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister, the Christian Social Union. The CSU's Manfred Weber is the European center-right's candidate to be next president of the EU's executive Commission.

The program states that Europol, the Netherlands-based EU law enforcement agency, should become "a European FBI," though it also says that EU member countries should retain control of "operational police powers."

Weber pointed to Germany's own federally organized security structures as a model and said the phrase is meant to underline ambitions to strengthen security cooperation and data exchange.
NEW YORK (AP) - A lawyer for a man suspected of killing a reputed New York mob boss says hate speech and right-wing conspiracy websites are to blame for recent changes in the man's behavior.

However, Anthony Comello pleaded not guilty on Monday as he was arraigned under heavy security on murder and other charges in the March 13 killing of reputed Gambino boss Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali.

Authorities say the Staten Island slaying may have been related to a romantic dispute, not mob business.

At a court appearance last week, the 24-year-old had pro-Donald Trump slogans and an apparent conspiracy symbol on his hand.

Attorney Robert Gottlieb said Monday Comello's family attributes behavior changes to "hate spewed throughout the internet."

He's being held without bail. His next hearing is April 3.
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) - Kosovo's prime minister has fired a deputy justice minister from the ethnic Serb minority after she described NATO's intervention 20 years ago as an act of "genocide" on Serbia.

Ramush Haradinaj said Monday he fired Vesna Mikic because of her "unacceptable" comment in a Facebook post.

On Sunday, Belgrade commemorated the 20th anniversary of the NATO intervention in Kosovo as an aggression. Kosovo hailed it as the beginning of its national liberation.

The two countries' ties remain tense though the European Union has urged them to normalize relations if they want to join the bloc. The talks have stalled.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Union attorneys and Gov. Tony Evers' lawyers worked Monday to convince a judge to block laws Republicans passed during a lame-duck legislative session that weakened Evers' and the attorney general's powers, hoping to build on their momentum after a separate court enjoined the provisions indefinitely last week.

Republicans appealed last week's ruling. Appellate judges could rule as soon as Monday on the GOP's request to immediately reinstate the laws and put last week's ruling on hold.

Evers has moved quickly to take advantage of the window before the appeals court acts. He ordered Attorney General Josh Kaul on Thursday to begin procedures to withdraw Wisconsin from a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Affordable Health Care Act, a power taken away from him during the lame-duck session. On Friday he rescinded 82 of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker's appointments confirmed during the lame-duck session.

Evers told reporters Monday that he was moving as quickly as possible to fill the 82 openings, but that he didn't know if he could do it before the appellate court decides whether to reinstate the laws. People Walker appointed to nonpartisan positions could end up right back in their jobs, he said.

The laws also specifically ensured Walker's choice to lead the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Mark Hogan, would keep his job until September. With the laws blocked, Evers could fire him immediately but the governor said he had no plans to replace him.

Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess ruled Friday that the laws were illegally passed because the type of session lawmakers used to meet in December was unconstitutional. Republicans called themselves into an "extraordinary session" to pass the bills, but Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess said there was no basis in state law to call such sessions.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks to reporters Monday, March 25, 2019, in Madison, Wis. Evers moved quickly after last week's order to rescind 82 of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker's appointments that the state Senate confirmed during the lame-duck session. And Attorney General Josh Kaul, at Evers' order, moved to withdraw Wisconsin from a multi-state lawsuit seeking repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act, a power taken away from him during the lame-duck session. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer).

Republican lawmakers' attorney, Misha Tseytlin, argued that the ruling jeopardizes the validity of thousands of other laws passed during extraordinary sessions. That case was brought by the League of Women Voters and other groups.

The lawsuit heard Monday was filed by a coalition of five unions. They argue that the laws violate the state constitution's separation of powers doctrine because they take power from the executive branch and transfer it to the Legislature. Republicans counter the laws balance power between the two branches.

The unions' attorney, Matthew Wessler, told Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington the laws are an "egregious attempt to override the democratic process for political gain." Evers' attorney, Lester Pines, said the laws "hobble" the executive branch.

Tseytlin insisted that the branches share power under the laws.

"It's a cooperative regime," he told Remington at one point as he and the judge debated a provision requiring the attorney general to get legislators' permission before settling cases.

Remington grilled the attorneys for four hours, going through each of the laws, section by section, and demanding both sides defend their positions on each provision.

He pledged to issue a written decision by the end of business Tuesday. He didn't say how he would rule but did reveal he will deny Tseytlin's motion to dismiss the case.

The lame-duck session laws gave lawmakers, rather than the governor, the power to withdraw the state from lawsuits. That blocked Evers from fulfilling a campaign promise to get Wisconsin out of a federal lawsuit seeking repeal of the federal health care law.

The laws also require the attorney general to seek approval from the Legislature's budget-writing committee before settling any case and to deposit settlement winnings in the state general fund rather than in state Department of Justice accounts. The laws also rework voting regulations, restrict early in-person voting to the two weeks preceding an election and loosen requirements for military and overseas voters.

A federal judge already struck down the early voting restrictions as unconstitutional in a separate lawsuit. The state Democratic Party has filed a fourth lawsuit challenging the lame-duck laws in federal court.

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Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - A new power outage spread across much of Venezuela on Monday, knocking communications offline and stirring fears of a repeat of the chaos almost two weeks ago during the nation's largest-ever blackout.

The outage began shortly after 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) and appeared to have affected as many as 16 of Venezuela's 23 states, according to reports on social media. Officials declared that power had been fully restored by early evening, but hours later the lights went out again in much of the country.

As with the previous outage, the government of President Nicolas Maduro sought to blame U.S.-backed opponents, accusing them of sabotaging the Guri dam, source of the bulk of Venezuela's electricity.

"A macabre, perverse plan constructed in Washington and executed with factions of the extreme Venezuelan right," Vice President Delcy Rodriguez declared on state television, describing it as an "electromagnetic" assault.

Officials said the "attack" had been controlled, but their assurances, similar to ones the last time around, did little to calm the anger of residents in Caracas who filled traffic-clogged streets as they walked home after subway service in the capital was suspended. Their patience grew increasingly thin when a second outage struck late into the night, leaving neighborhoods pitch black.

On social media, Venezuelans reported outages in Caracas and much of western Venezuela. Some said residents were banging pots and pans in the darkness in a sign of the nation's mounting tensions. The latest outages come as President Nicolas Maduro tries to keep his grip on power amid a revived opposition movement and punishing economic sanctions from the United States.

People wait inside a darkened office building during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. The subway suspended service because of the power cuts Monday, as local media reported outages in at least six states. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Twenty-seven-year-old restaurant manager Lilian Hernandez said she was bracing for the worst.

"We Venezuelans suffer all kinds of problems," said Hernandez, who had just recently managed to restock food that spoiled during the previous outage.

Netblocks, a non-government group based in Europe that monitors internet censorship, said the early afternoon outage had knocked offline around 57 percent of Venezuela's telecommunications infrastructure. The second failure left nearly 90 percent of the country offline, the organization said.

The Trump administration, which has made no secret of its desire to remove Maduro, has denied any role in the outages. Electricity experts and opposition leader Juan Guaido fault years of government graft and incompetence.

"This outage is evidence that the dictator is incapable of resolving the crisis," Guaido wrote on Twitter Monday.

Meanwhile, as Venezuela's economic and political crisis deepens, many seem resigned to continuous disruptions in their daily routines.

"The important thing is for people not to get desperate," said William Rodriguez, who sells books at a kiosk under a downtown highway overpass.

Also Monday, the rift between Russia and the United States over how to resolve the crisis in Venezuela widened following the arrival of Russian military personnel to support Maduro.

In a telephone call, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that "the United States and regional countries will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela," the State Department said. Pompeo said "the continued insertion of Russian military personnel" in Venezuela could prolong the country's problems and urged Russia "to cease its unconstructive behavior."

Lavrov countered during the call that "Washington's attempts to organize a coup in Venezuela and the threats directed against its legitimate government represent a violation of the U.N Charter and blunt interference into internal affairs of a sovereign nation," according to the Russian foreign ministry.

Pompeo's call to Lavrov came after a Venezuelan official said Russian aircraft arrived in Caracas this past weekend as part of ongoing military cooperation. Reports that two Russian air force planes arrived could not be independently confirmed.

The U.S. and dozens of other countries support Guaido, who says Maduro's re-election last year was rigged. Maduro alleges the U.S. and Guaido are plotting a coup.

A woman waits for public transportation during a power outage that suspended the subway service in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Commuters ride in the bed of a private truck during a power outage that suspended the subway service in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

People wearing El Universal newspaper uniforms sit inside a darkened office building during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. The subway suspended service because of the power cuts Monday, as local media reported outages in at least six states. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

People line up at a bus stop during a power outage that suspended the subway service in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

People jockey to enter a bus during a power outage that suspended the subway service in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A woman tries to make a cell phone call during a power outage where commuters wait for buses while the subway service is suspended in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

People walk home during a power outage that suspended the subway in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) - Police have arrested actor Michael Madsen after they say he was stopped while driving under the influence.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says Madsen was driving a Land Rover, which struck a pole in Malibu, California, around 8 p.m. Sunday. The 61-year-old, who has been featured in such Quentin Tarantino movies as "Reservoir Dogs" and "Kill Bill," was not injured.

Officers questioned Madsen and he was placed under arrest. His blood-alcohol level was not immediately available. He was released from jail Monday morning.

His publicist has not responded to an email seeking comment.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Congress and the special counsel's Russia investigation (all times local):

7:20 p.m.

The Democratic leaders of six House committees are demanding that Congress have the full report by special counsel Robert Mueller "no later" than April 2.

The chairmen of the panels wrote in a letter to Attorney General William Barr Monday that his four-page summary of Mueller's work is "not sufficient for Congress, a coequal branch of government" to perform oversight duties.

According to Barr, Mueller did not find that Trump or his associates colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 elections. By Barr's account, Mueller did not implicate or exonerate Trump of obstruction of justice, effectively punting that question.

The heads of the committees asked Barr to send them the full Mueller report by April 2 and start sending Congress the underlying documents the same day.

President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, March 22, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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5:45 p.m.

The House intelligence committee is postponing an open hearing with a Russian-born former business adviser to President Donald Trump as Democrats seek more information about special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

The panel was scheduled to interview Felix Sater on Wednesday. He is a former business adviser to Trump who worked on an unsuccessful deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Intelligence committee spokesman Patrick Boland said Monday that the panel is instead focusing this week on bringing in Justice Department officials to better understand Mueller's report.

A four-page letter from Attorney General William Barr announced Mueller's main findings, including no evidence of collusion by Trump's 2016 campaign with the Russian government.

Democrats say the letter is not enough and are looking for the full report.

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5:15 p.m.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is trying to quickly pass a resolution urging the public release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, but he's being blocked by Republicans.

Schumer said Monday that since President Donald Trump supports releasing the report, "there's no good reason for anyone to object."

Shortly after the Senate opened, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell objected to Schumer's request. He says the Justice Department needs more time to wrap up Mueller's two-year probe.

The House unanimously approved the resolution last week.

Trump said earlier Monday that the release of Mueller's report "wouldn't bother me at all."

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4:10 p.m.

The special counsel's office is handing off a court fight over a subpoena issued to an unidentified company that refused to turn over information demanded in Robert Mueller's investigation.

Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller's office, said Monday that the matter was being handed off to federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia.

Mueller concluded his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election without additional charges Friday. His office has been handing off lingering issues to other offices in the department to see through to the end.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from the company. The unidentified company, which is owned by an unidentified foreign government, has been racking up fines of $50,000 a day for not complying with a subpoena for documents.

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1:40 p.m.

Sen. Lindsey Graham says he told President Donald Trump that the late Sen. John McCain "deserves better" than the president's harsh criticism.

The South Carolina Republican said Monday that Trump blames McCain for the Russia investigation. The former Arizona senator had turned over to the FBI a salacious dossier he received about Trump's activities in Russia. McCain died last year.

Says Graham: "Trump believes it was the McCain people who spread this."

But Graham says he told Trump, "it was not John McCain."

Graham and McCain were dear friends, but parted ways over Trump. Graham is now close to Trump and spent the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club.

Graham said McCain did "exactly what he should have done" in giving the dossier to authorities.

Trump publicly criticized McCain last week.

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1:10 p.m.

Kentucky's Republican senators say special counsel Robert Muller's investigation vindicated President Donald Trump, but a home-state, Democratic colleague in the House says many questions remain after the summary of Mueller's report was made public.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the special counsel's conclusions confirmed Trump's account that there was no effort by Trump's campaign to conspire or coordinate with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Paul told reporters in Louisville on Monday that the nearly two-year investigation was a "colossal waste of money and time."

Rep. John Yarmuth said Attorney General William Barr's summary of Mueller's conclusions "leaves many questions unanswered."

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1:01 p.m.

President Donald Trump is accusing those responsible for launching the special counsel investigation of "treason" and says they "will certainly be looked at."

Trump did not specify who he's referring to, but told reporters Monday, that "There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things. I would say treasonous things against our country."

Trump adds that, "Those people will certainly be looked at" and says: "I've been looking at them for a long time."

The comments come a day after the attorney general told Congress that special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence Trump or his associates conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

Asked about the possibility of issuing pardons, Trump also says: I "haven't thought about it."

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12:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump says the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report "wouldn't bother me at all."

Trump says he's glad Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling is over and wishes it could have gone quicker. Trump says "we can never let this happen to another president again."

Asked Monday whether Mueller had acted honorably, Trump responded: "Yes, he did."

Attorney General William Barr has told Congress that Mueller found no evidence Trump or his associates conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Mueller did not make a determination on whether Trump obstructed justice.

Trump was asked about Mueller's report as he spoke to reporters along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo).

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12:35 p.m.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team told the attorney general about three weeks ago it would not be reaching a conclusion about whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice. That's according to a Justice Department official who spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The official says the news from Mueller's team to Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was "unexpected."

In releasing a summary of Mueller's findings on Sunday, Barr said Mueller had drawn no conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice. Instead, his report laid out the evidence on both sides of the question.

Barr told Congress that he and Rosenstein decided there wasn't enough evidence to prove Trump had committed that crime.

- Associated Press writer Eric Tucker

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12:05 p.m.

A close ally says President Donald Trump felt a sense of relief after learning special counsel Robert Mueller's report had cleared him of conspiring with the Russian government.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham flew home from Florida with Trump after spending the weekend awaiting Mueller's findings. On Sunday, Attorney General William Barr told Congress Mueller did not find evidence that Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia during the 2016 election.

Graham says that on the flight home Trump conveyed a "sense of relief" that there was now the "legitimacy" of his presidency where there had been questions before.

Trump has declared the findings a total vindication, but Mueller reached no conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice. Barr says Mueller's report presents "evidence on both sides" of that question.

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11:45 a.m.

Sen. Lindsey Graham says President Donald Trump came out of the Russia investigation stronger. But he is warning Trump not to pardon any associates convicted during special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

The South Carolina Republican, who spent the weekend with Trump, told reporters on Monday that "if President Trump pardoned anybody in his orbit, it would not play well."

He's referring to figures such as Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort has been convicted in Washington and Virginia of crimes related to years of Ukrainian political consulting work.

Mueller's report, turned over to Friday to Attorney General William Barr, did not find evidence that Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Mueller reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.

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11:35 a.m.

The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says his panel will "unpack the other side of the story" of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into President Donald Trump and his campaign.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who spent the weekend with Trump in Florida, said his committee will investigate the actions of the Justice Department in the Russia investigation, including the FBI's use of a dossier compiled by British spy Christopher Steele.

Graham spoke Monday after Attorney General William Barr reported to Congress on Mueller's findings. Barr said Mueller found no evidence that Trump or his associates conspired with Russia. Mueller did not make a determination on whether Trump obstructed justice.

Graham said he will be speaking with Barr at noon and wants him to testify before his committee.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., walks from the podium after speaking at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The Capitol Rotunda is seen in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019, as Democrats vowed to press ahead with their multiple investigations into the president and whether he obstructed justice after special counsel Robert Mueller did not find that President Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with Russians to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y, speaks during a news conference at a subway station in the Upper West Side neighborhood of New York Sunday, March 24, 2019, in the wake of Attorney General William Barr's Summary of the Mueller Report. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

President Donald Trump turns to depart after speaking with the media after stepping off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Washington. The Justice Department said Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The letter from Attorney General William Barr to Congress on the conclusions reached by special counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia probe photographed on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

A copy of a letter from Attorney General William Barr advising Congress of the principal conclusions reached by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, is shown Sunday, March 24, 2019 in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

The motorcade for Attorney General William Barr arrives at the Department of Justice, Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Washington. Barr was expected to release his first summary of Mueller's findings on Sunday, people familiar with the process said, on what lawmakers anticipated could be a day of reckoning in the two-year probe into President Donald Trump and Russian efforts to elect him. Since receiving the report Friday, Barr has been deciding how much of it Congress and the public will see. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - In this Friday, March 8, 2019 file photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks at an Economic Club of Washington luncheon gathering in Washington. The day after Democrats swept to power, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi stood before the cameras and declared impeachment was "off the table." That was November 2006. More than a decade later, Pelosi, again facing a restive left flank that's now ready to confront President Donald Trump, says she's "not for impeachment." It's a remarkably consistent stance from Pelosi who must lead the House through another moment when a vocal part of the electorate wants to end a presidency. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y, speaks during a news conference at a subway station in the Upper West Side neighborhood of New York Sunday, March 24, 2019, in the wake of Attorney General William Barr's Summary of the Mueller Report. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y, speaks during a news conference at a subway station in the Upper West Side neighborhood of New York Sunday, March 24, 2019, in the wake of Attorney General William Barr's Summary of the Mueller Report. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., pauses as he speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, March 22, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, March 22, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump welcomes visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - A Canadian judge ruled Monday that a war crimes sentence for former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr has expired, so he no longer faces the threat of returning to prison and can obtain a Canadian passport.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the decade he had already spent in custody at the American prison. He returned to Canada from Guantanamo Bay two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

His sentence would have ended last October, but a judge freed him on bail, effectively extending his sentence.

Chief Justice Mary Moreau said Monday that all court conditions have been lifted. Until now, Khadr could not have access to a Canadian passport and was banned from unsupervised communication with his sister, who lives in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. He also had to notify his bail supervisor before leaving Alberta.

"I'm really happy," Khadr said outside court. "I am just going to try and focus on recovering and not worrying about having to go back to prison and just struggling."

Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr leaves court in Edmonton on Monday, March 25, 2019. A judge ruled Monday that that a war crimes sentence for former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr has expired. Monday's ruling means he no longer faces the threat of returning to prison. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Khadr was the youngest and last Western detainee held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He was paid $8 million by Canada's government in 2017 under a court ruling that his rights had been violated while he was locked up at Guantanamo.

News of the multimillion-dollar payout to Khadr, whose case received international attention after some dubbed him a child soldier, angered many who considered him a terrorist.

Khadr's lawyers have long said he was pushed into war by his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, whose family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy. Khadr's Egyptian-born father was killed in 2003 when a Pakistani military helicopter shelled the house where he was staying with senior al-Qaida operatives.

Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr, left, and his lawyer Nathan Whitling speak after court in Edmonton on Monday March 25, 2019. A judge ruled Monday that Omar Khadr has completed his sentence. Monday's ruling means he no longer faces the threat of returning to prison. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019 photo, former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr and his lawyer Nate Whitling speak with media outside the courthouse in Edmonton, Canada. A Canadian judge ruled on Monday, March 25, 2019 that a war crimes sentence for Khadr expired, meaning he no longer faces the threat of returning to prison. The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Tragedies like the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and Sandy Hook Elementary school massacres eventually fade from view, blunted by other mass shootings and the passage of time. But for the survivors, the pain can never end.

The father of a Sandy Hook victim killed himself Monday, just days after two Stoneman Douglas students also took their lives. The Florida deaths have officials in Parkland and nearby Coral Springs renewing their communities' focus on the suicide prevention and mental health resources that remain available 13 months after a gunman killed 17 people at the high school.

In Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 first-graders died along with six staff members six years ago, the body of 49-year-old Jeremy Richman was found outside his office Monday morning.

Richman's daughter Avielle was fatally shot at Sandy Hook. He had visited Florida last week and met with the parents of Stoneman Douglas victims, said Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter Alyssa died there.

Richman and his wife oversaw The Avielle Foundation, a group they started dedicated to preventing violence by better understanding brain health.

"Our hearts are shattered, and our heads are struggling to comprehend," the foundation said in a statement. "Tragically, his death speaks to how insidious and formidable a challenge brain health can be and how critical it is for all of us to seek help for ourselves, our loved ones and anyone who we suspect may be in need."

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2018 file photo, mourners bring flowers as they pay tribute at a memorial for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla. The community of Parkland, Florida, is focusing on suicide prevention programs after two survivors of the Florida high school massacre there killed themselves this month. Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky said Monday, March 25, 2019, that officials are publicizing the available counseling services after a second Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student apparently killed himself over the weekend. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP, File)

Multiple suicides among mass shooting survivors can be alarming, but mental health experts said the Florida deaths are not surprising. They come amid a rising nationwide trend: More than 47,000 U.S. suicides occurred in 2017, at the highest rate in at least half a century - 14 per 100,000. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among U.S. teenagers.

"One of the big risk factors for suicide is exposure to violence," said Dr. Louis Kraus, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Even if they weren't hit by bullets or didn't see shots fired, "anyone who was at that school is at risk," Kraus said, and should be screened.

"The scars simply don't go away with a fresh coat of paint," he said.

Psychologist April Foreman, a board member at the American Association of Suicidology, said survivors are more prone to suicide and thus must be vigilant about mental health check-ups just as if they had a family history of breast cancer or heart disease.

With help, people can overcome their suicidal impulses, she said.

"It's not a foregone conclusion that this will happen to everyone who's been exposed to this and the majority of people who are suicidal don't go on to die. They go on to recover and live," she said.

The first suicide took place March 16. Cara Aiello told WFOR-TV last week that her 18-year-old daughter Sydney had suffered from survivor's guilt - her friend, Meadow Pollack, died in the attack.

Sydney had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and struggled to attend college because she feared being in a classroom, but never asked for help, her mother said.

Coral Springs police officer Tyler Reik confirmed Monday that a Stoneman Douglas sophomore apparently killed himself Saturday, but said an official determination had not been made pending an autopsy. The boy's name was not immediately released.

Community leaders, government officials, parents, police and others held an emergency meeting Sunday after the second student suicide, Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky said.

The biggest push will be to alert parents to talk to their children about whether they are having suicidal thoughts and outline the danger signs for them, such as personality changes or a preoccupation with death, she said.

The groups also want students to look out for each other, and noted that the community counseling and resource centers that opened after the attack still remain available.

The task has been made more difficult as Stoneman Douglas students are on spring break.

Hunschofsky said that while there is concern the two suicides could lead to more, it is more dangerous not to discuss what happened.

"We cannot be afraid of talking - the only way we are going to identify people who need help is to talk about it," she said.

A 16-year-old Stoneman Douglas sophomore who was in a classroom where three students died on Feb. 14, 2018, told The Associated Press on Monday that she tried to kill herself four times before she entered therapy.

At first, she was ashamed, she said, fearing that accepting counseling would mean she "couldn't' handle my problems" and "I was broken." But her attitude changed with the support of therapists, family and friends, said the girl, who the AP is not naming because of her age.

The girl said she fears not every Stoneman Douglas student who needs counseling is getting it and noted that some teachers seem uncomfortable talking about suicide and simply want to move on.

In Connecticut, Richman was among the Sandy Hook relatives suing Infowars host Alex Jones for contending the Newtown shooting never happened.

Neil Heslin, whose son, Jesse Lewis, was killed at Sandy Hook, said the families' grief has been compounded by such conspiracy theories.

"Every day you get up, you expect to get punched in the chin," Heslin said. "I give Jeremy credit for what he accomplished with his work and his amazing strength that grew through the years."

Newtown Police Lt. Aaron Bahamonde said Richman left a suicide note, but did not disclose its contents.

On Monday, residents streamed into the Resiliency Center of Newtown, which was set up shortly after the shooting as a place for therapy and for people to gather to talk. Richman worked with the center in providing "brain health" first aid for children and others.

His friend, Stephanie Cinque, the center's executive director, said people are angry, sad and shocked by his death.

"There's mixed feelings throughout town," she said. "Grief is complicated. It's very sad for the family, the children, the entire community. So today we're letting people know it's OK to have those feelings."

The emotional scars survivors feel last for decades.

Columbine High massacre survivor Heather Martin was not physically injured in the 1999 shooting that left 13 dead, but said she took years to emotionally overcome the attack. She helped form the Rebels Project, named after Columbine's mascot, to assist mass trauma survivors.

"Resilience is connecting with other people and gaining strength from other people," Martin said. "You don't always have to be the strongest person."

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Tanner reported from Chicago. Associated Press writers Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Dan Elliott in Denver; and Joshua Replogle in Parkland, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Editors note: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached at 800-273-8255. The Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 crisis support by text. Text 741741 to be connected to a trained counselor. Students from Broward County schools can text FL to 741741.

FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2014 file photo, Jeremy Richman, father of Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting victim Avielle Richman, addresses the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission in Newtown, Conn. Richman was found dead early Monday, March 25, 2019, at the town hall in Newtown, where he had an office. The chief medical examiner's office was to perform an autopsy Monday. Richman's death comes as officials in Parkland, Florida, are publicizing counseling services after two survivors of a high school massacre there killed themselves. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) - Seven people including South Sudanese academic and activist, Peter Biar Ajak, were charged in court Monday with sabotage, insurgency and possession of weapons for allegedly staging an uprising in South Sudan's main national security prison in October. If found guilty they could be sentenced to death.

The men are being tried in a civilian court and are being accused by the country's National Security Service for stealing firearms and communicating false statements while in prison. South Sudanese businessman, Kerbino Agok Wol, one of the accused, allegedly spearheaded the attack and then spoke about it with U.S. based news outlet, Voice of America while in jail.

The charges are the first to be brought against the men, and they are different from the reasons each of them was originally detained.

Ajak, a political commentator and a graduate of Harvard University and a PhD student at Cambridge University in Britain was arrested in July at Juba's international airport. Businessman and philanthropist, Wol was detained last April and another of the accused, Benjamin Agai, had been in prison for 10 months for allegedly stealing a car, yet this was the first time he'd seen a judge, he said.

During the hearing, Ajak's lawyer, Monyluak Alor Kuol accused the prosecution of trying to deflect public attention away from the reason his client was in jail in the first place. "He's a victim of abuse of power by some national security elements," said Kuol.

Last month the United Nations warned that South Sudan is increasingly run by its national security service and the country is at risk of becoming a police state, according to a report by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.

South Sudanese academic and activist, Peter Biar Ajak, gestures to dispute the prosecution's version of the statement he gave them, at his trial in the capital Juba, South Sudan, Monday, March 25, 2019. Seven people including Ajak were charged in court on Monday with sabotage, insurgency and possession of weapons for allegedly staging an uprising in South Sudan's main national security prison in Oct. 2018 and if found guilty they could be sentenced to death. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Monday's hearing, in a packed courtroom attended by members of the international community including the United States, the United Nations and advocacy groups, was at times charged.

At one point the prosecution presented government papers to the court referring to incidents with names and dates that didn't match the present case. "This trial is something else, these statements are something else," said Wol's defense lawyer, Ajak Mayol Bior waving his hands in the air.

In recent months several in the international community has pressured South Sudan's government to release both Wol and Ajak.

In March the U.N. condemned Ajak's continued detention citing a "clear trend in the use of national security and counter-terrorism legislation by states to criminalize free expression and the legitimate work of human rights defenders." U.S. congresswoman Madeleine Dean tweeted in February that it's time for South Sudan's President Salva Kiir to free South Sudan's political prisoners, including Ajak.

And for the first time ever, earlier this month South Sudan's government was summoned to appear before the East African Court of Justice over the arbitrary arrest and detention of Wol, according to Amnesty International.

As the trial continues with two more hearings scheduled later this week, local advocacy groups are calling on the government to uphold the rule of law.

"It is a right time for the state to exercise its constitutional obligations on protecting the rights of the citizens," said Edmund Yakani, executive director for Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, a local rights group.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington (all times local):

4:20 p.m.

The U.N. Security Council in a December 1981 resolution called Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights "null and void and without international legal effect" - and the U.N. says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (goo-TEHR'-esh) adheres to council resolutions.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric (steh-FAHN' DOO'-jar-ihk) said Monday that Guterres' position remains unchanged despite President Donald Trump's formal recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Guterres said in a report on recent activities of the U.N. peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights that he was "gravely concerned" at escalating tension there between Israel and Syria. He circulated the report on Monday to the Security Council.

The secretary-general singled out three incidents between Syria and Israel between Nov. 20 and Feb. 11.

President Donald Trump signs a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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2 p.m.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says the U.S. has "ignored international law" by recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Cavusoglu said on Twitter on Monday that the decision would "never legitimize Israeli occupation."

The minister said: "The decision will further increase tensions in the region by preventing peace efforts in the Middle East."

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Monday recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in 1967 and unilaterally annexed in 1981.

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2:05 p.m.

Lebanon says the decision by President Donald Trump to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory undermines any efforts to reach a fair peace and further isolates Israel.

Lebanon's foreign ministry said Monday that the Golan Heights are "Syrian Arab" territory and "no country can falsify history by transferring" land from one country to another.

Lebanon is technically at war with Israel, which occupied parts of southern Lebanon until it withdrew in 2000. Lebanon says Israel is still occupying the disputed Shebaa Farms and Israel considers the Lebanese Hezbollah group a strategic threat.

Trump signed a proclamation Monday recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The decision further isolates Israel, Lebanon's foreign ministry said, adding that Israel will only find security with a fair and comprehensive peace.

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1:05 p.m.

Syria says President Donald Trump's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights makes Washington "the main enemy" of Arabs, and the Damascus government is calling the U.S. decision a "slap" to the international community.

Trump has signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, which Israel occupied in 1967 and unilaterally annexed in 1981.

Syria's Foreign Ministry calls the decision a "blatant aggression" on its own sovereignty and territorial integrity. The ministry says the U.S. move represents the "highest level of contempt for international legitimacy."

The U.N. Security Council refers to Israel as "the occupying power" and says Israel's attempt to "impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect."

Trump's decision reverses more than a half-century of U.S. policy.

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12:55 p.m.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) is asking President Donald Trump for permission to share Israeli wine with the White House staff.

And the Israeli leader is joking that he hopes "they don't open an investigation" as a result. Back home, Netanyahu is facing a pending indictment on corruption charges.

And Trump has been the subject of numerous investigations, but is claiming vindication following the release of a summary of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Netanyahu made the offer after Trump signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu says he brought Trump a case "of the finest wine from the Golan." But he says Trump, who doesn't drink alcohol, is "not a great wine drinker," and that he wanted to give the wine to Trump's staff instead.

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12:20 p.m.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) says Israel is "responding forcefully" to a morning rocket attack in central part of the Jewish state.

Israel's military says it's started striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after a rocket hit a house north Tel Aviv and wounded seven people.

Netanyahu spoke during a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump, who later signed an official proclamation formally recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu calls the rocket attack "wanton aggression" and says "Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate it."

The prime minister says he plans to return to Israel after the meeting with Trump.

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12:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The document reverses more than a half-century of U.S. policy as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) visited the White House.

Trump had previewed the move in a tweet last week that it was time for the U.S. to take the step after 52 years of Israeli control of the strategic highlands on the border with Syria.

Netanyahu has pressed for such recognition for months. Trump's action gives him a political boost just weeks before what's expected to be a close Israeli election.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war but its sovereignty over the territory is not recognized by the international community.

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9:35 a.m.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) says he's cutting short his visit to Washington after a Gaza rocket attack on Israel.

Netanyahu describes Monday morning's rocket launch that struck a home in central Israel as a "criminal attack" and he's pledging to strike back hard. He says he'll return to Israel to handle the crisis shortly after his meeting with President Donald Trump.

An Israeli rescue service says the rocket from the Gaza Strip wounded seven people.

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday for what was to have been a three-day visit. He was going to speak at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's policy conference and was to be hosted at a White House dinner.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make statements in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019, with President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Donald Trump makes statements in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey is ordering five companies that manufacture chemicals used to stain-proof clothing and produce non-stick cookware to spend what could be hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up contamination from the substances.

The state Department of Environmental Protection Mo ordered the manufacturers Monday to provide a detailed account of their use and discharge of so-called PFAS substances over the years.

The firms - Solvay, DuPont, Dow DuPont, Chemours and 3M - also must pay to clean up any contamination they caused. If they refuse or drag their feet, they could be charged three times the amount of money the state spends to deal with the problem.

The substances are sometimes called "forever chemicals" because they do not break down, and tend to accumulate in the air, water, soil and even fish. They can harm fetuses and newborns, and have been associated with kidney and testicular cancer, auto-immune illnesses and decreased response to vaccines, according to the state.

They have been used for more than 60 years and have become staples of modern life for consumers who want to protect their clothing from stains or water, and prevent food from sticking to cookware. They have been used in brands such as Stainmaster, Scotchgard, Teflon, Gore-Tex, and Tyvek, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"In issuing this directive, we are putting these five companies on notice that many years of contaminating New Jersey's precious drinking water and other natural resources will not go unchecked," said Catherine McCabe, New Jersey's environmental protection commissioner. "On behalf of all New Jerseyans, we will hold these companies accountable and insist that they step up to address the problem they have created."

This Jan. 6, 2014 photo shows a section of the Pinelands region in Lakehurst N.J. On March 25, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ordered five companies that make chemicals used to stain-proof clothing and make non-stick cookware to fund a plan to clean up contamination of the state's environment, including waterways, that have been tainted by the presence of the chemicals. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

Chemours issued a statement saying it is in regular contact with the state regarding such substances and had already decided to reduce air and water emissions of such substances by at least 99 percent.

Solvay said it has already begun remediation efforts at its West Deptford, New Jersey facility, where such compounds are present.

The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.

McCabe said the substances are discovered on a near-daily basis in New Jersey's drinking water, groundwater, surface waters, sediments, soils, air, fish, plants and other natural resources. Similar contamination has occurred throughout the country.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a plan to address PFAS contamination nationally, but that plan could take years to enact.

The companies have 21 days to say whether they intend to comply with the directive, which the state says is authorized by New Jersey's Spill Compensation and Control Act, Water Pollution Control Act, and Air Pollution Control Act.

"This is critical that DEP is going after these companies to make them clean up their mess they made," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. He said the state's limits for these substances in drinking water will be the strongest in the nation.

The department would decide whether any plan proposed by the companies is sufficient, McCabe said.

She recommended consumers avoid products that use these substances but acknowledged it is often hard to know whether they are present in a particular item of clothing or kitchenware.

"It seems like we keep doing this to ourselves: inventing these fabulous new things - remember DDT? - and putting them into commerce without looking enough at the risks," McCabe said.

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Follow Wayne Parry at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC

This Jan. 6, 2014 photo shows a stream running through a wooded area in Lakehurst, N.J. On March 25, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ordered five companies that make chemicals used to stain-proof clothing and make non-stick cookware to fund a plan to clean up contamination of the state's environment, including waterways, that have been tainted by the presence of the chemicals. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
It's hard to begin watching the Netflix movie "The Highwaymen" and not think about the way it will inevitably end - in a famous ambush and a hail of bullets.

That's what happened to Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow on May 23, 1934, the day the law finally caught up to the couple who had spent years on a multi-state murder spree.

For film fans of a certain age, we've practically seen the fatal ambush. "The Highwaymen" is haunted by the 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde," which had at its final scene a torrent of gunfire riddling Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty.

That film romanticized the criminal duo who killed 13, and their fatal ambush seemed less like a necessary law enforcement action than a gutless slaying. Now, 52 years later, comes the reverse view with "The Highwaymen," screenwriter John Fusco's tale of how two handkerchief-wiping, retired Texas Rangers tracked them down.

If Bonnie and Clyde were the heroes of director Arthur Penn's 1967 film, lawmen Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) and Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson) are the ones here - gruff, taciturn and hard-nosed officers. Director John Lee Hancock is so unwilling to glamorize the young outlaws that he virtually never focuses his camera on Bonnie and Clyde, instead using dreamlike filters or odd angles.

Like its predecessor, there's lots of cultural commentary going on in the moody and enjoyable Netflix take - issues of criminal determinism, ageism, poverty, moral compromising and, of course, celebrity.

This image released by Netflix shows, from left, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Costner and Thomas Mann in a scene from "The Highwaymen." (Merrick Morton/Netflix via AP)

A cult sprang up around Bonnie and Clyde - including women aping Bonnie's fashion - and fans gland-handed the pair like movie stars. Harrelson's character notes that while talent used to lead to fame, "now you just shoot people."

There's a throw-back, Western feel to the film, with its flabby, creaky heroes begged to come out of retirement, just this once, to hunt down the killers, only to endure guff by the new generation for their old fashioned methods.

"Your time has past, cowboy," one young officer tells them, revealing that law enforcement has become addicted to wire taps and aerial surveillance. Instead, Hamer and Gault have their gut instincts and tested skills, like looking at footprints in dirt. Hamer knows where to find the duo: "Outlaws and mustangs always come home," he says.

The film has been gestating so long that it was once going to star Robert Redford and Paul Newman, which raises all kinds of nostalgia issues. (Think about the leads of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting" donning fedoras and dark suits, getting into Depression-era Fords and fighting on the OTHER side of the law).

Costner plays his Hamer like a classic Costner role; silent and focused, with a moral charisma and a sly hint of sweetness underneath the grumpy exterior. Harrelson turns in another fine performance, just the kind of sassy, good ol' boy you'd want next to you on a stakeout. "I'm above ground and ready to go," he tells his partner. They're a great odd couple.

The script at times tries too hard - "There's always blood at the end of the road" is one clunky line - and lingers a little too much on symbols (like greyhound hood ornaments). There's a very evocative score by Thomas Newman and Hancock's style is cool and unrushed, letting the miles of highway roll and making his action sequences feel all the more electric when they occur.

Now, when it comes to the end, this film describes the final shoot-out in a very different way than "Bonnie and Clyde." (Hint, the cops had some honor.) The film often feels in many ways as an attempt to correct history, or at least the previous Dunaway-Beatty-led portrayal of a bumbling Hamer.

But there are moments of beautiful stillness and nicely-filmed sequences - like a nifty car chase in dust clouds - that make the hunt enjoyable. You'll know how it ends, but this time things are different: The good guys win.

"The Highwaymen," a Netflix release, is rated R for violence and language. Running time: 132 minutes. Three stars out of four.

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MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Online: https://www.netflix.com/title/80200571

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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

This image released by Netflix shows Woody Harrelson, left, and Kevin Costner in a scene from "The Highwaymen." (Merrick Morton/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Woody Harrelson in a scene from "The Highwaymen." (Hilary B Gayle/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Kevin Costner and Kim Dickens, right, in a scene from "The Highwaymen." (Merrick Morton/Netflix via AP)
HOUSTON (AP) - The Latest on fire damage at a petrochemical storage facility that led to a partial closure of the Houston Ship Channel (all times local):

5:10 p.m.

Officials say they continue investigating the cause of a fire at a Houston-area petrochemical storage facility but have still not been able to visit the site of the blaze due to ongoing clean up efforts.

Harris County Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen said Monday afternoon officials have delivered a subpoena to Intercontinental Terminals Company, the firm that owns the facility, to preserve any evidence regarding the cause of the blaze.

Christensen says the subpoena is standard practice in such a probe and ITC officials have been cooperative in the investigation.

Christensen could not say how long the investigation of the fire at ITC's facility in Deer Park would take, adding that "it will take time."

In a Wednesday, March 20, 2019 photo, runoff from the now-extinguished petrochemical tank fire at Intercontinental Terminals Company is blocked by an oil skimming buoy, in Deer Park, Texas. Fire crews extinguished the blaze at ITC about 3 a.m., Wednesday, almost four days after it started, which caused a plume of black smoke to linger over the Houston area. ITC officials said the cause of the fire is still unknown. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

County officials said Monday the incident continues to be overall a low health risk to the community.

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11:30 a.m.

A U.S. Coast Guard official says it could be several more days before a section of the Houston Ship Channel closed amid cleanup efforts after a fire at a petrochemical storage facility is reopened.

Coast Guard Capt. Kevin Oditt said Monday that officials let one ship pass through the affected area Sunday. Oditt said that ship didn't interfere with the cleanup and didn't get contaminated.

Oditt says additional test runs with four more ships and barges were set to be done on Monday. Crews are cleaning up after products from storage tanks at the facility leaked into the ship channel following the March 17 fire. The tanks contained components of gasoline and materials used in nail polish remover, glues and paint thinner.

Intercontinental Terminals Company says it continues emptying the damaged tanks.

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9:30 a.m.

Students are returning to school in an area southeast of Houston after a fire at a petrochemical storage facility prompted several days of canceled classes.

Students were back in class Monday in Deer Park, Galena Park and other communities near the International Terminals Company in Deer Park. Classes were canceled because of concerns over air quality near the facility, which caught fire on March 17 and burned for several days.

The fire destroyed or damaged storage tanks that contained components of gasoline and materials used in nail polish remover, glues and paint thinner. Elevated levels of benzene were detected in the air Thursday, prompting officials to order people to remain indoors.

The fire also led to the closure of part of the Houston Ship Channel. The U.S. Coast Guard says it hopes to have the channel reopened Monday.

FILE - In a Wednesday, March 20, 2019 file photo, emergency crews continue to douse what's left of the now-extinguished petrochemical tank fire at Intercontinental Terminals Company, in Deer Park. Fire crews extinguished the blaze at ITC about 3 a.m., Wednesday, almost four days after it started, which caused a plume of black smoke to linger over the Houston area. ITC officials said the cause of the fire is still unknown. EPA on-site coordinator Adam Adams said they have been in Deer Park since Sunday, conducting air monitoring at ground level and in the plume. Biggest concerns are "volatile organic chemicals" and particulates, Adams said. He added that no hazardous levels have been detected. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

Jessica Leija holds up her hand to ask a question as Bill Ogden, a lawyer with Farrar & Ball, talks to a crowd of Deer Park residents Saturday, March 23, 2019, outside where he and Chance McMillan, founding partner of the McMillan Law Firm, were suppose to host a town hall-style meeting about the legal ramifications stemming from the recent ITC fire, in Deer Park, Texas. The crowd was to large to accommodate inside. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Firefighters arrive at the site where the Intercontinental Terminals Company petrochemical fire reignited, Friday, March 22, 2019, in Deer Park, Texas. The efforts to clean up a Texas industrial plant that burned for several days this week were hamstrung Friday by a briefly reignited fire and a breach that led to chemicals spilling into the nearby Houston Ship Channel. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Sarai Aranda hugs her son, who was part of the cleanup crew to empty out the remaining chemicals in the open tanks, as the Intercontinental Terminals Company petrochemical fire reignited, Friday, March 22, 2019, in Deer Park, Texas. The efforts to clean up a Texas industrial plant that burned for several days this week were hamstrung Friday by a briefly reignited fire and a breach that led to chemicals spilling into the nearby Houston Ship Channel. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)
BERLIN (AP) - An Austrian court has sentenced a dog owner to six months in prison after her Rottweiler mauled a toddler who died of his injuries weeks later.

Public broadcaster ORF reported Monday that the Vienna regional court convicted the 49-year-old defendant of serious negligent homicide.

Authorities determined the woman, who wasn't identified, was intoxicated during the attack. She testified she'd had "at most half a liter (17 ounces) of Prosecco."

The Rottweiler, which wasn't wearing a muzzle as required, attacked a 17-month-old boy walking with his grandparents, biting him on the head.

The court also gave the woman a 12-month suspended sentence and ordered her to pay 65,000 euros ($73,613) damages to the boy's family.

The dog was taken to an animal shelter but later destroyed after attacking a keeper.
The Nova Scotia-based owner of a Maine utility that serves many of the state's rural and remote regions announced Monday that it has reached an agreement to sell its interest in the power company to another Canadian firm.

Emera Inc. and ENMAX Corp. said in a joint statement that the agreement to sell Emera Maine to ENMAX for $959 million is "definitive." ENMAX is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, and generates and sells power through its subsidiaries to customers in Alberta, where it serves more than 669,000.

Emera Maine is headquartered in Bangor and serves 159,000 customers in the state, while its parent company Emera Inc. is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The sale of the Maine utility remains subject to regulatory approvals at the state and federal levels. Parties said they expect the deal to close late this year.

Winning state approval might not be automatic. Democratic Rep. Seth Berry of Bowdoinham, who is the House chair of the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology, said it's less than ideal for a company thousands of miles away to control Mainers' power.

"It is time to stop allowing more and more distant control of a basic necessity: our power. Maine's captive customers deserve better," he said.

Emera Inc. president and chief executive officer Scott Balfour said in a statement that ENMAX was the right choice for a buyer because the company has "the technical skills, experience and financial strength to assure that our customers will continue to receive high quality, reliable service." Emera Inc. first moved into Maine in 2001 with the purchase of Bangor Hydro and bought Maine Public Service Company in 2010 to form Emera Maine.

ENMAX pledged to maintain reliable service in Maine after the sale goes through.

"The acquisition of Emera Maine is a complementary opportunity for ENMAX to grow our regulated utility business and enhance our connections with customers," said Gianna Manes, president and CEO of ENMAX, in a statement.

Emera Inc. had previously signaled that it wanted to sell assets that weren't performing well and announced the sale of three gas-fired plants in New England in November.
Guadalajara Breaks World Record for Tequila Tasting

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico - United by a special fondness for Mexico's national drink, a crowd of 1,486 people gathered in Guadalajara, Jalisco on March 24 to taste tequila and beat the world record for the largest tequila tasting ever held.

Official Guinness World Records judge Natalia Ramirez Taledo congratulated Guadalajara residents on the record-breaking tasting, which took place on Sunday as part of the festivities surrounding the first National Tequila Day, designated by the national tequila industry in conjunction with state and local governments.

The distinction had been awarded to Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, and to Guadalajara just last week for a tasting that was attended by 1,486 tequila tipplers. Toronto, Canada, won the title in 2013 for a tasting that drew just 341 participants.

The registration of volunteers for Sunday's tasting in Plaza Liberacion began several days ahead of time, and spaces filled up after just two days. Participants were guided by tequila master Jaime Villalobos Diaz through three different varieties of the spirit, which were specially distilled for the event.

Tourism Secretary German Ralis Cumplido highlighted the success of various initiatives that in recent years have linked the fiery spirit to Jalisco's capital.

"With the Tequila Route, we obtained the World Heritage designation, and today it's an obligatory stop for anyone visiting Guadalajara. We currently have much more to offer tourists, because right now in addition to sightseers, culinary tourists are on their way."

In the last 10 years, visitors to the eight municipalities that make up the Tequila Route have soared from 130,000 to one million annually.
NEW YORK (AP) - A prominent Hong Kong businessman earned leniency with a three-year prison sentence dispensed Monday by a judge who said bribes paid to the presidents of two African countries were serious crimes but kindness including playing violin for fellow inmates was extraordinary.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska sentenced Dr. Chi Ping Patrick Ho, 69, who is also an ophthalmologist and was once Hong Kong's home affairs secretary.

Preska said acts of charity were common for those who had achieved Ho's wealth, but he went "above and beyond" by restoring sight for strangers, bringing music to the Metropolitan Correction Center and tutoring inmates who then finished high school.

"It is indeed extraordinary," Preska said.

Ho was convicted in December of paying bribes to the presidents of Chad and Uganda in a scheme to secure oil rights for an energy conglomerate known as CEFC China Energy.

Lawyers for Ho insisted at trial that payments to the presidents were legitimate charitable donations. The payments included $2 million in gift boxes delivered to Chad's president in 2014.

Ho was charged in New York City by authorities who cited meetings and wire transfers in Manhattan related to the bribes.

Prosecutors had recommended Ho serve five years. Defense lawyers said his 16 months behind bars as a model inmate were enough.

Ho will likely serve about another year behind bars before he is deported.

"The actions that have caused this suffering and brought me to this courtroom today were mine and mine alone," he told Preska as he choked up several times.

"I accept full responsibility for them and I am deeply sorry," Ho said.

He said he was grateful to guards and inmates at the MCC for keeping him safe.

When he finished his remarks, Ho took a full bow before the judge to show his "gratitude and appreciation."

During a weeklong trial, prosecutors said Ho approached the presidents of Chad and Uganda on behalf of CEFC China Energy after growing accustomed to using money to entice foreign officials to help the company expand its business.

Prosecutors say the Ugandan scheme emerged at the United Nations in New York when Uganda's foreign minister served as president of the U.N. General Assembly.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The Latest on a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey (all times local):

4:35 p.m.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says he's disappointed but "not defeated" after legislation to legalize recreational marijuana failed to get enough votes to pass the Legislature.

Murphy spoke Monday alongside legislative leaders, just hours after the state Senate postponed a vote because it didn't have enough support.

Murphy cast the delayed vote as a bump in the road on the way toward making New Jersey the 11th state to legalize recreational weed.

The bill stalled despite Democratic control of state government and highlighted the difficulty Murphy and leaders faced in persuading people to support legalization.

FILE - In this June 22, 2017 file photo, marijuana plants grow indoors at Breakwater Treatment and Wellness in Cranbury, N.J. After more than a year of negotiations, mostly behind closed doors, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders said Tuesday March 12, 2019, they've agreed on legislation to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Murphy says he'll continue to push for the legislation, but the timing of a vote is unclear.

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12:55 p.m.

New Jersey's Senate president says there are not enough votes to pass a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. The vote in that chamber has been postponed.

Senate President Steve Sweeney said Monday that he remains committed to passing the law and will continue to work to do just that.

Leaders and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy back the measure, but some lawmakers were hesitant.

A vote was also scheduled in the state Assembly Monday, and it was not clear how that was affected.

If the bill passes, New Jersey would join the District of Columbia and 10 other states.

The bill calls for a tax of $42 per ounce, sets up a five-member regulator commission and would offer expedited expungements to people with marijuana-related offenses.

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10:15 a.m.

A vote to legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey is hours away, but the governor and legislative leaders are still courting lawmakers.

The Democrat-led Senate and Assembly have scheduled votes Monday on the legislation backed by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, but its passage is far from certain.

Murphy said last week he's been trying to persuade hesitant lawmakers to back the bill but still doesn't have the votes needed.

Murphy says if the bill fails or falls short, he'd continue to try to persuade people. But it's unclear when another vote could take place.

New Jersey would join the District of Columbia and 10 other states if the measure succeeds.

The bill calls for a tax of $42 per ounce, sets up a five-member regulator commission and would offer expedited expungements to people with marijuana-related offenses.
Like many companies, JPMorgan Chase expects artificial intelligence and other new technologies will change how its employees will work over the next decade. The company announced recently that it will spend $350 million over five years to support training programs, invest in community colleges and conduct research on ways to help less-skilled workers find better jobs and careers. The goal is to help train workers in the U.S. and globally, not just its own employees.

Jennie Sparandara, JPMorgan Chase's Head of Workforce Initiatives, explains why the company has taken this step. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Why has the company launched this program?

A. The focus is really on supporting people who are most at risk of being left behind, who are not sharing in the kind of economic growth and prosperity that we're seeing in places. So the funding supports job training organizations, nonprofits, community colleges, other kinds of educational institutions that are really working in partnership with employers to understand what skills are needed, what credentials have value and then how do we prepare people with those skills and abilities.

We have a business outlook survey and every year it tracks what are the top concerns for business. And this year in 2019 number one is talent. So it's surpassed even growing revenue and sales.

Q. You are also going to forecast upcoming skills that JPMorgan Chase employees will need as part of this initiative. How will that work?

This undated photo provided by JPMorgan Chase shows Jennie Sparandara, JPMorgan Chase's Head of Workforce Initiatives. JPMorgan Chase expects artificial intelligence and other new technologies will change how its employees will work over the next decade. The company announced recently that it will spend $350 million over five years to support training programs, invest in community colleges and conduct research on ways to help less-skilled workers find better jobs and careers. (JPMorgan Chase via AP)

A. Researchers at M.I.T. have developed some tools to look at the suitability of certain skills for machine learning. So it's a way that you can look at how might a job change with the development of new technology. They have not turned their attention yet to financial services, and that's one of the things we're going to enable them to do.

Q. This initiative follows an earlier five-year, $250 million skills development program. What results have you seen from that?

A. (For example,) we have a great relationship with Columbus State Community College (in Columbus, Ohio). We look to examples like that and say, OK, how do we export that to other communities?

Q. Do you feel that it's harder now than in the past to forecast future skill needs?

A. I've been doing this for about 10 years. I think the pace of change has genuinely accelerated. And I think business is more accustomed to moving with the speed of that pace of change. And it's a place where we can really support the community based organizations - the non-profits, the educational institutions - because they don't necessarily have access to the same type of information.
SANAA, Yemen (AP) - Yemeni security officials say fighting has erupted in the key port city of Hodeida, killing at least eight people, including civilians.

Officials say the clashes began overnight and continued into Monday, leaving fires burning on the main front lines in the city's east and south, while exchanges of artillery fire shook the beleaguered city.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to brief journalists.

The new fighting could jeopardize the U.N.-brokered December cease-fire in Hodeida between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed government forces.

Hodeida is the main entry point for humanitarian aid to Yemen, where nearly four years of war has spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
GENEVA (AP) - Japan's ambassador to the United Nations-backed Conference on Disarmament says his country has not developed fully autonomous weapons systems and has no plans to do so.

Nobushige Takamizawa spoke at Monday's opening of the latest weeklong meeting of government experts in Geneva on the future of "Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems," also known as "Killer Robots."

Takamizawa's comments have been widely anticipated in Japan, a country with highly sophisticated technological know-how and concerns about regional security threats - notably North Korea, which in recent years has tested missiles by firing them over Japanese territory.

He mentioned "positive effects" of autonomous weapons systems under human oversight, such as saving labor and reducing collateral damage. Opponents of fully automated systems fear that machines could one day conduct wars without human control.
YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) - Radio show host Hugh Hewitt has been tapped to head a foundation focused on preserving the legacy of former President Richard Nixon, officials said Monday.

The Richard Nixon Foundation said the politically conservative author, commentator and law professor will become its next chief executive in July. Hewitt, who also served in the Reagan administration, helped start Nixon's presidential library and museum in Yorba Linda, California, nearly three decades ago.

"The world needs to be reminded of President Nixon's lasting foreign policies, the strategic methods by which he assessed conflict and disagreement, and how he crafted strategies for resolution -- building a more peaceful world," Hewitt said in a statement issued by the foundation.

Today, the presidential library is overseen by the National Archives and Records Administration.

The foundation runs educational programs and supports the library and museum, which was renovated several years ago to include interactive touchscreens and video of Nixon's speeches in an effort to draw younger audiences.

Hewitt will continue to host his radio show, write columns for the Washington Post and appear as a panelist on NBC's Meet the Press, the statement said.

In this March 9, 2017 photo provided by the Richard Nixon Foundation, Hugh Hewitt speaks at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. Radio show host Hugh Hewitt has been tapped to head a foundation focused on preserving the legacy of former President Richard Nixon. The Richard Nixon Foundation said Monday, March 25, 2019 that the politically conservative author, commentator and law professor will become its next chief executive in July. The foundation says Hewitt helped start Nixon's presidential library and museum in Yorba Linda, Calif., nearly three decades ago. (Richard Nixon Foundation via AP)

This Feb. 8, 1980 photo provided by the Richard Nixon Foundation shows the former president, left, and Hugh Hewitt, then a member of Nixon's staff, at Nixon's home in San Clemente, Calif. Radio show host Hugh Hewitt has been tapped to head a foundation focused on preserving the legacy of former President Richard Nixon. The Richard Nixon Foundation said Monday, March 25, 2019 that the politically conservative author, commentator and law professor will become its next chief executive in July. The foundation says Hewitt helped start Nixon's presidential library and museum in Yorba Linda, Calif., nearly three decades ago. (Richard Nixon Foundation via AP)
The relationship between Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration, which has set the global standard in aviation safety for decades, will come under unprecedented scrutiny this week after two deadly airline crashes.

Both accidents involved a Boeing jet green-lighted by the U.S. regulator, which relied heavily on safety assessments made by Boeing employees.

In a startling break from the past, other nations and airlines grounded the Boeing 737 Max en masse after the second fatal crash this month while the same model of plane continued to carry tens of thousands of passengers a day in the United States.

This week, Congress joins the investigation into Boeing and the FAA. On Wednesday, the Senate aviation subcommittee will examine how the FAA oversees safety in the commercial aviation industry.

The acting FAA chief is scheduled to testify. So is the Transportation Department's inspector general, who is conducting a separate probe of the FAA's decision to approve the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, the type of plane that crashed in Indonesia in October, and then in Ethiopia two weeks ago.

The U.S. House plans to hold its own hearings and The Associated Press has reported that the Justice Department is also investigating.

FILE- In this March 22, 2019, file photo a worker on a lift works on a Boeing 737 Max 8 being built for SpiceJet at Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Wash. On Wednesday, March 27, the Senate aviation subcommittee will examine how the FAA oversees safety in the commercial aviation industry. Expected to testify is the Transportation Department's inspector general, who is conducting a separate probe of the FAA's decision to approve the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, the type of plane that crashed in October in Indonesia, and this month in Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

At the very least, it looks like Boeing and the FAA are going to be under more intense scrutiny for some time.

Here are some questions that lawmakers are almost certain to ask:

CAN FAA EFFECTIVELY REGULATE BOEING?

For decades, the FAA has relied heavily on safety certifications performed by employees of aircraft manufacturers, whose work is overseen by the FAA.

The FAA defends this delegation of work, saying it improves safety by involving more skilled professionals into the review of what companies do. Agency officials stress that the last fatal crash of a U.S. airliner took place a decade ago.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called the FAA arrangement with manufacturers "safety on the cheap," and said he wants to know more about the role that Boeing employees played in the FAA's decision to certify the Max.

SHOULD FAA'S BUDGET BE INCREASED?

The agency concedes that it doesn't have resources to keep pace with growth in the aviation industry. Outside experts say the FAA is overmatched - it can't pay enough to attract and keep people with the technical expertise to regulate such a complex industry.

"It's a money thing, and they don't have the money to do all the kinds of oversight," said Todd Curtis, a former Boeing Co. safety engineer and creator of airsafe.com, a website that focuses on airline safety.

WHAT DID THE FAA KNOW ABOUT THE FLIGHT SYSTEM?

With the Max, Boeing created an automated flight-control system that has never been used before; it can direct the nose of the plane down if sensor readings indicate the plane may be about to stall, or lose aerodynamic lift from the wings. The interaction between pilots and that automated system is now at the center of the investigation into both crashes.

According to published reports, high-ranking FAA officials were unaware of a Boeing's stall-protection system called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. Lawmakers are likely to ask who within FAA knew about the software and whether they failed to grasp its significance.

WHY DID THE FAA ACT IN GROUNDING THE PLANE?

Flight safety regulators worldwide have followed the lead of the FAA for decades, but not this time. China, whose airlines have more Max jets than any other country, grounded the plane one day after the crash in Ethiopia. Others including the European Union and Canada followed quickly, citing a need for caution. That left the U.S. standing alone in allowing passengers to keep flying on the Max.

President Donald Trump announced the grounding of the Boeing plane on the afternoon of March 13, three days after the crash in Ethiopia. The FAA said the planes were being parked because of "newly refined satellite data" and evidence collected at the crash site. Satellite information showed the planes that crashed had similar flight paths - erratic rates of alternately climbing and descending almost immediately after takeoff.

Acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell said the agency grounded the plane as soon as it had data to support the decision.

Lawmakers will want to know whether the FAA's delay exposed tens of thousands of passengers to unnecessary risk.

IS PILOT TRAINING GOOD ENOUGH, ESPECIALLY AT FOREIGN AIRLINES?

New airline pilots can fly sooner overseas than their American counterparts.

After a 2009 crash that killed 50 people near Buffalo, New York, Congress raised the minimum experience for starting airline pilots from 250 flight hours, to 1,500 hours in many cases, and 1,000 hours for graduates of an accredited aviation school.

U.S. airlines once got most of their pilots from the military. Brent Bowen, a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said most now get a college degree and flight training from an aviation school, then work another couple years as a flight instructor before joining an airline.

Other countries follow training standards updated in 2006 by the United Nations' aviation organization, which require far less flying time and emphasize simulator training and being part of a flight crew.

"Most of the world's airlines are using training academies where they can hire people off the street without any higher education, give them 250 hours of flight training in small aircraft, and in as little as 12 to 14 months they put them in the (co-pilot's) seat of a full-size airliner," Bowen said.

FILE- In this March 13, 2019, file photo a worker walks past an engine on a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane being built for American Airlines at Boeing Co.'s Renton assembly plant in Renton, Wash. On Wednesday, March 27, the Senate aviation subcommittee will examine how the FAA oversees safety in the commercial aviation industry. Expected to testify is the Transportation Department's inspector general, who is conducting a separate probe of the FAA's decision to approve the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, the type of plane that crashed in October in Indonesia, and this month in Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
PARIS (AP) - The Latest on Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to France (all times local):

8:30 p.m.

French President Emmanuel Macron says China's signature in Paris of a deal to buy 300 planes from Airbus is an "excellent signal" showing the strength and reliability of the relations between the two countries.

In a joint statement with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Elysee presidential palace, Macron said the discussions aimed at seeking a "strong Euro-Chinese partnership, based on clear, strict and ambitious rules."

He added that France and China share views on the importance of the fight against climate change. Macron also said he raised "concerns" about the respect of fundamental human rights in China during "frank exchanges."

Xi praised "friendly and fruitful discussions" with Macron. He said China "attaches great importance" to its relations with Europe.

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, center left, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan visit the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

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7:25 p.m.

China has signed a deal to buy 300 aircraft from European plane maker Airbus during Chinese leader's Xi Jinping state visit to France.

A statement by the French Presidency says China Aviation Supplies Holding Company ordered 290 Airbus A320 and 10 Airbus A350. Further details and financial sums were not specified.

The global deal is estimated to be worth around $34 billion at list prices, although buyers often secure discounts.

Fifteen business deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors were signed in the presence of Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday at the presidential palace in Paris, in addition to other bilateral agreements.

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12:30 p.m.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors.

Xi will be welcomed Monday by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris, before a meeting and a state dinner at the Elysee presidential palace.

The Chinese leader, who previously visited Italy and Monaco, arrived in France on Sunday evening where he had a private dinner with Macron in the resort town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer, on the French Riviera.

He will also meet in Paris on Tuesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Europe wants to increase trade with China but on European terms, especially amid U.S.-China trade tensions.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping prior to a meeting at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French President Emmanuel Macron, 2nd left, his wife Brigitte Macron, left, Chinese President President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan leave the Arc de Triomphe monument after attending a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier, in Paris, France, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron, 2nd left, his wife Brigitte Marcon, left, Chinese President President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan leave the Arc de Triomphe monument after attending a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier, in Paris, France, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping prior to a meeting at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, welcomes his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping prior to a meeting at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Brigitte Macron, left, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, and Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, stand at attention during a wreath laying ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris, France, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping review an honor guard prior to a wreath laying ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris, France, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris, France, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan step out their plane upon their arrival at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport near Paris, France, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (Philippe Lopez/Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, 2nd left, and his wife Brigitte Macron, left, welcomes Chinese President Chinese President Xi Jinping, 2nd right, and his wife wife Peng Liyuan at the Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, southern France, Sunday, March, 24, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is coming to Monaco and France amid mixed feelings in Europe about China's growing global influence. (Jean-Paul Pelissier/Pool Photo via AP)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron walk on the terrace of the Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, southern France, Sunday, March, 24, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is coming to Monaco and France amid mixed feelings in Europe about China's growing global influence. (Jean-Paul Pelissier/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, right, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan walk down the steps as they visit the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, right, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan wave toi the crowd as they arrive to visit the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, left, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan wave to the crowd after visiting the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, right, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan arrive to visit the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, right, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan wave toi the crowd as they arrive to visit the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (Yoan Valat/Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a press conference after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Monday, March 25, 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a 3-day state visit in France where he is expected to sign a series of bilateral and economic deals on energy, the food industry, transport and other sectors. (Yoan Valat/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, left, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan pose as they visit the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, left, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan wave to the crowd after visiting the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, left, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan pose as they visit the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron, left, and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan pose as they visit the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. The Chinese President is on a three-day state visit to France. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)

French president's wife Brigitte Macron and Chinese president's wife Peng Liyuan walk down the steps after visiting the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris as part of a state visit to France, Monday, March 25, 2019. (Martin Bureau/Pool Photo via AP)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Monday denied a request by drugmakers to postpone the start of what is expected to be the first state trial in lawsuits accusing the companies of fueling an opioid epidemic.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter sued 13 opioid manufacturers in 2017, alleging they fraudulently engaged in marketing campaigns that led to thousands of overdose addictions and deaths.

The drugmakers argued last week that they needed more time to analyze more than a million documents of evidence they received from the attorney general last month. They requested a 100-day postponement of the trial scheduled to start May 28 in Cleveland County. A judge there had already denied the request.

Hunter said Monday that the Supreme Court's ruling keeps the lawsuit on track for trial.

"Every day that goes by, we lose more of our loved ones to overdoses or down the tragic road of addiction," the attorney general said in a statement. "We appreciate the quick action taken by the court and for not rewarding the defendants with more time for a problem of their own making."

Sandy Coats, an attorney for one of the drugmakers, Purdue Pharma Inc., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2019, file photo, is Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter smiles during an interview in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has denied a request by drugmakers to postpone the trial in the state's lawsuit accusing them of fueling the opioid epidemic. The state's highest court handed down the decision Monday, a week after attorneys for drugmakers and the state made oral presentations on the request to delay the trial's scheduled May 28 start. Hunter sued 13 opioid manufacturers in 2017, alleging they fraudulently engaged in marketing campaigns that led to thousands of overdose addictions and deaths. Several states have filed similar lawsuits, but Oklahoma's is expected to be the first to go to trial. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Several states have filed similar lawsuits, but Oklahoma's is expected to be the first to go to trial.

Among other things, Oklahoma's lawsuit seeks an injunction against the manufacturers' marketing practices and monetary damages that Hunter said he hopes will be dedicated to the rehabilitation of opioid-addicted Oklahomans.

State officials have said that since 2009, more Oklahoma residents have died from opioid-related deaths than in vehicle crashes in the state. The lawsuit states that Oklahoma is one of the leading states in prescription painkiller sales per capita, with 128 painkiller prescriptions dispensed per 100 people in 2012.

Purdue Pharma has said it made billions of dollars selling the prescription painkiller OxyContin but that it is considering bankruptcy among its legal options, potentially upending hundreds of lawsuits including Oklahoma's.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - The rebuilding of Isle Royale National Park's gray wolf population is off to a strong start.

The Michigan park in Lake Superior now has 15 wolves following the transfer of seven from Canada over the weekend. Six came from Michipicoten Island and one from the Ontario mainland.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry says the wolves were fitted with radio collars before their release so scientists can monitor their movements.

They're the latest newcomers relocated to Isle Royale from Ontario and Minnesota since the restoration project started last September, when only two wolves remained at the park. Their population had dropped the previous decade because of inbreeding and other problems.

Officials eventually want 20 to 30 wolves on the island to keep its moose numbers under control.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Monday was one of the most powerful launched ever by Gaza militants, flying nearly 120 kilometers (70 miles) before it slammed into a house in central Israel, wounding seven people.

Over more than a decade, the Islamic militant Hamas group has built up a large arsenal of rockets and missiles. It started with crude short-range projectiles and now possesses rockets that can strike virtually anywhere in Israel.

Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, prompting Israel and Egypt to impose a blockade on the territory, largely to prevent the militants from amassing more weapons. But the blockade and three wars with Israel - the most recent in 2014 - failed to prevent Hamas from expanding its arsenal.

A network of smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border is believed to have helped Hamas bring in advanced weapons and raw materials, though Egypt shuttered most of the tunnels around 2013.

In 2018, Gaza's Hamas chief Yehiya Sinwar boasted that the group had not only replenished the rockets it fired during the 50-day war in 2014, but had many more at its disposal. He said that what had been fired in 50 days "would be fired within five minutes" of any future Israeli offensive.

Monday's rocket strike was the furthest a Gaza rocket has landed since 2014, when Hamas struck the northern Israeli city of Haifa, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) away.

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 2016 file photo, Palestinian masked members from the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, a military wing of Hamas, ride a vehicle carrying a Qassam--A rocket during a rally in Rafah refugee camp, Gaza Strip. Over the years, the Islamic militant Hamas group has built up a large arsenal of rockets and missiles that have evolved from rudimentary short-range projectiles into powerful weapons capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)

Hamas doesn't release details about its military capabilities.

Gabi Siboni, an Israeli military analyst, said Hamas "has a variety of advanced, precise, and effective weaponry." He said this includes guided anti-tank missiles and shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, both produced by Russia, as well as some drones.

ROCKETS

-Qassams: In 2001, a year after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising against Israel, Hamas first fired a cross-border rocket toward Israel, calling it "Qassam" after the group's military wing. The homemade rockets, aimed at Israeli border towns, had an irregular trajectory and sometimes landed inside Gaza.

-R-160: Hamas calls this its longest-range home-grown rocket. It was first fired in the 2014 war and at one point hit Haifa. The "R'' in the name refers to Abdel-Aziz Rantissi, a senior Hamas official who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2004. The number refers to the range, in kilometers.

-J-80: This rocket, also produced locally, is named after Hamas military wing commander Ahmed Jabari, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his car in 2012, setting off an eight-day war. Israel reportedly believes the rocket that hit central Israel on Monday was this model and blamed Hamas. The group has not claimed responsibility.

-M-75: Hamas unveiled this rocket in 2014, claiming it was homemade. But experts believe it is a version of the Iranian Fajr 5 rocket, which Iran acquired in the 1990s and is based on Chinese technology.

-Hamas also possess a variety of Russian Grad rockets. These projectiles, with a range of about 20 kilometers (12 miles), are believed to have been delivered via Iran.

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TUNNELS

In recent years, Hamas has built a sophisticated network of tunnels. These include attack tunnels that run under the Gaza-Israel perimeter fence, for use by assailants to infiltrate Israel. Defensive tunnels, located away from the border, are used to store weapons and serve as hideouts.

Hamas first used tunnels in a 2006 cross-border attack in which it killed two Israeli soldiers and captured a third. The soldier, Gilad Shalit, was swapped for more than 1,000 prisoners in 2011.

Hamas also used the tunnels in the 2014 war, killing five soldiers in one cross-border raid.

During the fighting, Israel said it discovered and destroyed 32 tunnels. Since then, it says it has discovered and destroyed several additional tunnels.

To combat the tunnel threat, Israel has begun building an underground barrier running the length of the Gaza Strip, and this year it said it was reinforcing the Gaza fence with 20-foot-high galvanized steel.

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IMPORTED WEAPONS

-Mortars. Hamas has fired hundreds of mortars at short-range targets just across the border. The mortars are believed to have been smuggled from Libya through Egypt.

- Laser-guided anti-tank missiles made by Russia. Last November, Hamas fired such a missile, known as Kornet, at a bus from which Israeli soldiers had just exited. One soldier was seriously wounded. In a 2006 war, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia killed dozens of Israeli tank soldiers using these weapons.

-Drones: Hamas has developed an early-stage drone program, displaying images of Israeli fields purportedly filmed by these aircraft. It's not known whether they have been used for attacks.

FILE - In this Jan 7, 2009, file photo, a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip is seen from southern Israel, near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Over the years, the Islamic militant Hamas group has built up a large arsenal of rockets and missiles that have evolved from rudimentary short-range projectiles into powerful weapons capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. Jose Serrano, a 16-term Democrat from the South Bronx, said Monday he has Parkinson's disease and will retire at the end of his term.

The 75-year-old Serrano is a fixture in Bronx politics and is among Congress' foremost defenders of Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory where he was born. First elected in 1990, Serrano is the most senior Latino currently serving in Congress.

He's chairman of a House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the departments of Justice and Commerce, and he pledged to use that post to "fight for climate change research, a fairer justice system, and an accurate 2020 census count."

Serrano's announcement came shortly after New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres announced he'd run for the congressional seat, which is a lopsided Democratic stronghold that gave Hillary Clinton 94 percent of the vote against President Donald Trump. Serrano's announcement promises to lead more Democrats to enter the fray.

In his announcement, however, Serrano cited his diagnosis.

"Although this disease has not affected my work in Congress, over the last few months I've come to the realization that Parkinson's will eventually take a toll, and that I cannot predict its rate of advancement," Serrano said. Serrano said Parkinson's hasn't affected his work yet, but he has slowed in recent years.

FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2019, file photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., administers the House oath of office to Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., during a ceremonial swearing-in on Capitol Hill in Washington, during the opening session of the 116th Congress. Serrano, a 16-term Democrat from the South Bronx, says he has Parkinson's Disease and will retire at the end of his term. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Over almost three decades in Congress, Serrano has been a reliable vote for Democratic leaders and has focused much of his attention on the issues before the Appropriations Committee, such as funding legal aid for the poor, the census, and revitalizing the economically troubled South Bronx.

"I am extremely proud of the work we did to revitalize the Bronx River, to bring billions of federal dollars to our borough, to expand access to the ballot for language minorities, to increase STEM resources for minority students," Serrano said. He also cited efforts to end the bombing of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, as part of U.S. naval training exercises.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Police fatally shot an armed man in the parking lot of a North Carolina fast-food restaurant after he ignored repeated requests to drop his weapon, the police chief said Monday. Protesters at the scene questioned whether police rushed into using fatal force.

Witnesses said the armed man entered the store with a gun and began to fight with an employee, according to 911 calls.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney told reporters that employees at a Burger King called police after the man acted suspiciously and gave the employees an "uneasy feeling." He said the man walked outside, where officers ordered him multiple times to drop the gun.

"We get here, engage the subject, who is armed. There are multiple commands to drop the weapon, as we engage him outside in the parking lot. At some point ... one of the first arriving officers perceived a lethal threat (and) fired at least one round, striking the subject," Putney said.

The wounded man was taken to a hospital and died.

Putney said a gun was found at the scene.

Police say the officer was placed on administrative leave, which is routine in shootings involving police. She was identified by police as Officer Wende Kerl, who has been on the force since 1995.

Police identified the man fatally shot as Danquirs Napoleon Franklin, who was 27.

According to the 911 recordings, one woman who called from inside the Burger King said the man came into the restaurant, walked behind the counter and started to fight with an employee. She then began to frantically tell the operator that the man had a gun.

"Can you please send somebody quickly? Please. He got a gun. ... He's pointing it," she said.

After he walked out of the store, the caller was heard telling others to lock the doors.

Another 911 caller, a customer waiting outside for food, said she saw a man walk outside as employees ran away. She said the man stopped by her car and appeared to be reaching into his pants, though she didn't see a weapon. She said she quickly drove away.

News images from the scene after the shooting showed many officers surrounding Burger King and a group of fewer than two-dozen protesters gathered there around noon. Some were chanting "Shoot first, ask questions later," near the officers, according to The Charlotte Observer .

Lt. Brad Koch declined to release the races of Franklin and Kerl. But two witnesses said the armed man who came in the restaurant was black.

Two women who answered at phone listings for Franklin and his relatives declined to comment.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump and House Republicans moved to build congressional support for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade accord on Tuesday with lawmakers selling the plan as offering big benefits for American workers. But prospects remain uncertain as Democrats are in no hurry to secure a political victory for the president.

GOP lawmakers emerged from a White House meeting knowing they likely have a narrow window to push it through both chambers of Congress, given that lawmakers tend to avoid tough trade votes during election season.

"There are a lot of big wins for American workers in this agreement," said House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. "We'd like to see it move through Congress as fast as possible and create even more jobs with this growing economy."

The White House described the meeting as the first in a series that Trump will have with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle "to build broad support" for the pact.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the chairman of the House subcommittee that has jurisdiction over trade, said the pact needs adjustments to be "worthy of support."

Some Republican lawmakers also have concerns. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, maintains that the president should lift steel and aluminum tariffs on products brought in from Canada and Mexico as a first step to getting the trade agreement through Congress.

Rep. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., center, together with Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, left, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wa., right, and other Republican members of Congress speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House following a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Trump's top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, told lawmakers during a recent congressional hearing that if they don't pass the trade agreement, the United States will have "no credibility at all" with future trading partners, including China.

"There is no trade program in the United States if we don't pass USMCA. There just isn't one," Lighthizer said.

The White House's legislative affairs team has talked to more than 290 members of Congress and staff over the past two months to push the deal. But the administration knows that making changes in the agreement to win over lawmakers could jeopardize support for the pact from Canada and Mexico.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told reporters recently that many in her state's agricultural community are "still with the president, but if we don't get the trade deals done, they could turn quickly."

She said, "We need to start wrapping this baby up."

The trade deal is designed to supplant the North American Free Trade Agreement , which took effect in 1994 and gradually eliminated tariffs on goods produced and traded within North America.

U.S. trade with its NAFTA partners has more than tripled since the agreement took effect, and more rapidly than trade with the rest of the world.

But Trump has called NAFTA a disaster for the United States. The new pact his administration negotiated is meant to increase manufacturing in the United States. Trump is warning that if lawmakers don't approve the pact, the U.S. may revert to what he has described as "pre-NAFTA."

Blumenauer is looking to make changes to the agreement in four areas: enhancing environmental and labor protections, ensuring enforcement of the agreement, and taking on protections for pharmaceutical companies that he believes drive up drug costs for consumers.

"I don't think anyone wants to blow it up, but there is interest in strengthening it," Blumenauer said.

Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, the ranking Republican on the trade subcommittee, said he believes the vast majority of Republicans will end up voting for the agreement. He's tried to assure Democratic colleagues that Republicans were "open-minded to try and get some things done" to address their concerns.

Still, Republicans conceded that Democrats are in charge of the calendar.

"Ambassador Lighthizer has said legislation will be sent to the Hill when Speaker Pelosi gives the green light," said Rep. Kevin Brady, the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Brady said Republicans would work with Democrats to address "any fine-turning" they'd like to see, adding "we think it's crucial ... that we come together and pass this new agreement and get it to the president's desk this summer."

Canadian officials have been lobbying the U.S. to end Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs and have suggested that approval by Canada's Parliament could be conditioned upon them being lifted. David MacNaughton, Ottawa's ambassador to Washington, has said it will be a tough sell to pass if the tariffs are still in place.

Dan Ujczo, a trade lawyer and Canada-U.S. specialist in Columbus, Ohio, said the trade deal could pass "relatively quickly" once the tariffs are removed.

But Scalise described the tariffs as helping to create more leverage to get a deal done.

In Mexico, the administration of then-President Enrique Pena Nieto spearheaded Mexico's negotiations, but representatives of current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador were deeply involved in the talks to ensure an agreement that both the outgoing and incoming administrations could live with.

Allies of Lopez Obrador, who took office Dec. 1, enjoy a large majority in the Mexican Senate, so passage of the agreement would seemingly go smoothly.

Kenneth Smith Ramos, who was chief negotiator for Pena Nieto's government and now works as an international trade consultant at Mexico City-based AGON, said Mexican enthusiasm for the deal could dim though if there are significant new demands on labor, pharmaceuticals, the environment or other issues.

"We made some important concessions," he said, adding that if "the U.S. still wants more, then that starts to unbalance the agreement and there may be a growing opposition in Mexico."

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Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro in Washington, Rob Gillies in Toronto and Peter Orsi in Mexico City contributed to this report.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The maker of OxyContin and the company's controlling family agreed Tuesday to pay a groundbreaking $270 million to Oklahoma to settle allegations they helped create the nation's deadly opioid crisis with their aggressive marketing of the powerful painkiller.

It is the first settlement to come out of the recent coast-to-coast wave of nearly 2,000 lawsuits against Purdue Pharma that threaten to push the company into bankruptcy and have stained the name of the Sackler family, whose members rank among the world's foremost philanthropists.

"The addiction crisis facing our state and nation is a clear and present danger, but we're doing something about it today," Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said.

Nearly $200 million will go toward establishing a National Center for Addiction Studies and Treatment at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa, while local governments will get $12.5 million. The Sacklers are responsible for $75 million of the settlement.

In settling, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company denied any wrongdoing in connection with what Hunter called "this nightmarish epidemic" and "the worst public health crisis in our state and nation we've ever seen."

The deal comes two months before Oklahoma's 2017 lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and other drug companies was set to become the first one in the recent barrage of litigation to go to trial. The remaining defendants still face trial May 28.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter speaks about a settlement with Purdue Pharma for opioid abuse, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin and the company's controlling family agreed Tuesday to pay a groundbreaking $270 million to Oklahoma to settle allegations they helped create the nation's deadly opioid crisis with their aggressive marketing of the powerful painkiller. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

Opioids, including heroin and prescription drugs such as OxyContin, were a factor in a record 48,000 deaths across the U.S. in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oklahoma recorded about 400 opioid deaths that year. State officials have said that since 2009, more Oklahomans have died from opioids than in vehicle crashes.

Other states have suffered far worse, including West Virginia, with the nation's highest opioid death rate. It had over 1,000 deaths in 2017.

In a statement, Purdue Pharma said the money that will go toward addiction studies and treatment in Oklahoma will help people across the country. CEO Craig Landau said the company is committed to "help drive solutions to the opioid addiction crisis."

Plaintiffs' attorney Paul Hanly, who is not involved in the Oklahoma case but is representing scores of other governments, welcomed the deal, saying: "That suggests that Purdue is serious about trying to deal with the problem. Hopefully, this is the first of many."

But some activists were furious , saying they were denied the chance to hold Purdue Pharma fully accountable in public, in front of a jury.

"This decision is a kick in the gut to our community," said Ryan Hampton, of Los Angeles, who is recovering from opioid addiction. "We deserve to have our day in court with Purdue. The parents, the families, the survivors deserve at least that. And Oklahoma stripped that from us today."

Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin in the 1990s and marketed it hard to doctors, making tens of billions of dollars from the drug. But the company has been hit with lawsuits from state and local governments trying to hold it responsible for the scourge of addiction.

The lawsuits accuse the company of downplaying the addiction risks and pushing doctors to increase dosages even as the dangers became known. According to a court filing, Richard Sackler, then senior vice president responsible for sales, proudly told the audience at a launch party for OxyContin in 1996 that it would create a "blizzard of prescriptions that will bury the competition."

Earlier this month, Purdue Pharma officials acknowledged that they are considering bankruptcy . But Oklahoma's attorney general said the company gave assurances it will not take such a step in the near term. And he said the settlement money is "bankruptcy proof" - that is, "it's not at risk in the event Purdue declares bankruptcy."

Lance Lang, a 36-year-old recovering user from Oklahoma City, said he is glad some of the settlement will go toward helping those still suffering from addiction.

"My heart breaks for those that we've already lost. I've buried several myself," said Lang, who now helps recovering users find housing. "But I also know we have waiting lists of dozens and dozens for our facilities, and the state has waiting lists of hundreds and hundreds of people who need help right now."

But Cheryl Juaire, whose 23-year-old son Corey died of an overdose in 2011, said she was devastated to hear about the settlement.

Jauire, who lives in Marlborough, Massachusetts, had been organizing a group of hundreds of mothers to go to the first day of the trial and stand outside with photos of their dead children. She said a complete airing of the facts is the only way to fully hold Purdue to account.

A settlement is "a huge disservice to the tens of thousands of families here in the United States who buried a child," she said. "That's blood money from our children."

Members of the Sackler family are defendants in some of the lawsuits but were not actually parties to the Oklahoma case. The company said the family nevertheless voluntarily contributed to the settlement. "We have profound compassion for those who are affected by addiction," the family said in a statement.

The Sacklers are major donors to cultural institutions, and the family name is emblazoned on the walls at many of the world's great museums and universities. In the past few weeks, as the accusations have mounted, the Tate museums in London and the Guggenheim Museum in New York have cut ties with the family, and other institutions have come under pressure to turn down donations or remove the Sackler name.

A Massachusetts court filing made public earlier this year found that Sackler family members were paid at least $4 billion from 2007 until last year.

Purdue Pharma has settled other lawsuits over the years, and three executives pleaded guilty to criminal charges in 2007. But this is the first settlement to come out of the surge of litigation in the past few years that focuses largely on the company's more recent conduct.

More than 1,400 federal lawsuits over the opioid crisis have been consolidated in front of a single judge in Cleveland who is pushing the drugmakers and distributors to reach a nationwide settlement.

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Follow the AP's complete opioid coverage: https://www.apnews.com/OvercomingOpioids

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Read Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter's full statement about the state's settlement with Purdue Pharma: http://apnews.com/685994c1a8064c15bdbd2f3bf280ec87

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Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press reporters Adam Kealoha Causey and Ken Miller in Oklahoma City; Claire Galofaro in Louisville, Kentucky; and Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas contributed to this report.

FILE - This Feb. 19, 2013, file photo shows OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. Oklahoma's attorney general will announce a settlement Tuesday, March 26, 2019, with Purdue Pharma, one of the drug manufacturers named in a state lawsuit that accuses them of fueling the opioid epidemic. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter speaks with reporters about a settlement with Purdue Pharma for opioid abuse, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin and the company's controlling family agreed Tuesday to pay a groundbreaking $270 million to Oklahoma to settle allegations they helped create the nation's deadly opioid crisis with their aggressive marketing of the powerful painkiller. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2018 file photo, family and friends who have lost loved ones to OxyContin and opioid overdoses protest outside Purdue Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Conn. Oklahoma's attorney general will announce a settlement Tuesday, March 26, 2019, with Purdue Pharma, one of the drug manufacturers named in a state lawsuit that accuses them of fueling the opioid epidemic. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter speaks about a settlement with Purdue Pharma for opioid abuse, as Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences President Dr. Kayse Shrum, right, and OSU President Burns Hargis, listen, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin and the company's controlling family agreed Tuesday to pay a groundbreaking $270 million to Oklahoma to settle allegations they helped create the nation's deadly opioid crisis with their aggressive marketing of the powerful painkiller. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
JERUSALEM (AP) - The Israeli army on Tuesday bombed several targets in the Gaza Strip and bolstered its forces along the volatile frontier as a truce with the territory's Hamas rulers showed signs of unraveling.

Palestinian militants responded with a new barrage of late-night rocket fire, setting the stage for a fresh round of fighting less than two weeks before Israel holds national elections. The violence is likely to become a major theme in the final stretch of a tight re-election campaign for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu cut short a visit to the U.S. and rushed back to Israel on Tuesday to deal with the crisis. After meeting with Netanyahu, Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, ordered an additional troop buildup along the border.

Netanyahu had been scheduled to give a speech in Washington to the AIPAC pro-Israel lobbying group. Instead, he addressed the group by satellite, telling them that over the past 24 hours Israel had pounded militant sites in Gaza on a scale not seen since a 2014 war with Hamas.

"I can tell you, we are prepared to do a lot more," he said. "We will do what is necessary to defend our people and to defend our state."

Tuesday night's airstrikes came in response to a lone rocket attack. The military said it hit a Hamas military compound and a weapons manufacturing warehouse in southern Gaza. Militants responded by firing another rocket. Israel said both projectiles landed harmlessly in open areas.

Israeli soldiers work on their tanks at a gathering area near the Israel-Gaza border, Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home from Washington on Tuesday, heading straight into military consultations after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed Gaza targets and the strip's militants fired rockets into Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The sudden burst of late-night fighting ended a daylong lull that had raised hopes of a cease-fire taking hold.

Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies that have fought three wars and dozens of skirmishes since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza in 2007.

The latest round of violence was triggered by a rocket fired early Monday from Gaza that slammed into a house in central Israel and wounded seven people.

Overnight, the Israeli air force pounded militant sites of Gaza's Hamas rulers and the smaller Islamic Jihad group. The targets included a multistory building in Gaza City that Israel said had served as a Hamas military intelligence headquarters and the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Gaza's Health Ministry said seven Palestinians were wounded.

Gaza militants responded by firing dozens of rockets into southern Israel, forcing residents to spend the night in shelters and canceling school across the region.

The fighting subsided by Tuesday morning. Senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan told reporters Tuesday that the militant group accepted a cease-fire plan with Israel, saying "we are committed to it" as long as Israel is. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Both Netanyahu and Hamas are in difficult situations, and neither side would seem to have an interest in a major conflagration.

Netanyahu is locked in a tight race for re-election, and heavy fighting near the April 9 election could turn voters against him. Netanyahu has sought to campaign as the country's most experienced statesman and security expert.

Netanyahu faced the difficult task of delivering a tough blow to Hamas while avoiding protracted fighting that could work against him on election day. He has come under heavy criticism from both allies and opponents for what they say has been a failure to contain Gaza militants.

In Gaza, Hamas is facing perhaps the toughest domestic test of its 12-year reign.

An Israeli-Egyptian blockade, combined with sanctions by the Palestinian Authority and mismanagement by the Hamas government, have fueled an economic crisis that has left Gaza with an unemployment rate above 50 percent.

Hamas has been leading weekly protests along the Israeli perimeter fence for the past year in hopes of easing the blockade, but the demonstrations, in which some 190 people have been killed by Israeli fire, have had little effect.

Last week, hundreds of Gazans trained their ire on Hamas instead as they protested the dire conditions. Hamas responded with a violent crackdown, beating and arresting dozens of demonstrators and drawing rare public criticism.

The sides have conducted indirect cease-fire talks through Egyptian mediators in recent months, and Israel even allowed the delivery of millions of dollars of Qatari aid to Hamas to ease harsh conditions in the territory.

Netanyahu has indicated the election would not deter him from acting.

"Hamas needs to know that we will not hesitate to go in and take all necessary steps, regardless of anything, any date, other than Israel's security needs," he said after meeting Trump.

Two weeks ago, rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel's densely populated commercial capital of Tel Aviv, and the Israeli military struck back hard, seemingly headed toward all-out-conflict. But Gaza's Hamas leaders said the rocket fire was accidental and the fighting quickly subsided.

For Israelis living along the border who have suffered from years of rocket attacks, that is little comfort.

"The Israeli government can't, under no circumstances, settle," said Haim Jellin, a Labor party candidate for parliament and a former head of the bordering Eshkol regional council. "Firing at Israeli communities that border with Gaza is the same as firing toward Tel Aviv, and it's impossible we will show restraint at the continuous firing."

___

Akram reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.

Residents inspect the damage of the destroyed multi-story building of Hamas-affiliated insurance company, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

An Israeli soldier drives a tank at a gathering area near the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home from Washington on Tuesday, heading straight into military consultations after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed Gaza targets and the strip's militants fired rockets into Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli soldiers react as they work on their vehicles at a gathering area near the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home from Washington on Tuesday, heading straight into military consultations after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed Gaza targets and the strip's militants fired rockets into Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An Israeli soldier works at a gathering area near the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home from Washington on Tuesday, heading straight into military consultations after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed Gaza targets and the strip's militants fired rockets into Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli soldiers work on their tanks at a gathering area near the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home from Washington on Tuesday, heading straight into military consultations after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed Gaza targets and the strip's militants fired rockets into Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli soldiers work near their tanks at a gathering area near the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home from Washington on Tuesday, heading straight into military consultations after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed Gaza targets and the strip's militants fired rockets into Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A Palestinian girl looks out from her family house at the damaged offices of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

A man examines damage to a house after it was hit by a rocket on Monday in Sderot, southern Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Israel and Gaza's Hamas militants traded fire overnight after a rocket attack from Gaza struck a home in central Israel Monday. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A house is damaged after it was hit by a rocket on Monday in Sderot, southern Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Israel and Gaza's Hamas militants traded fire overnight after a rocket attack from Gaza struck a home in central Israel Monday. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A man examines damage to a house after it was hit by a rocket on Monday in Sderot, southern Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Israel and Gaza's Hamas militants traded fire overnight after a rocket attack from Gaza struck a home in central Israel Monday. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli soldiers near the Israel Gaza border, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold on Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict, just two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A Hamas police officer inspects the damage of the destroyed multi-story building of Hamas-affiliated insurance company, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Palestinians inspect the damage of the destroyed multi-story building of Hamas-affiliated insurance company, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Palestinians gather in front of destroyed multi-story building of Hamas-affiliated insurance company, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Residents look at the damage of the destroyed multi-story building of Hamas-affiliated insurance company, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Palestinians gather in front of destroyed multi-story building of Hamas-affiliated insurance company, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Residents inspect the damage of a destroyed multi-story building of Hamas-affiliated insurance company, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Read Tahtawi inspects the damage of his building which was destroyed during an Israeli airstrike on the offices of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Palestinians inspect the damage of the offices of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Palestinians inspect the damage of a building near the offices of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A tense quiet took hold Tuesday morning after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in what threatened to devolve into a major conflict two weeks before the Israeli election. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
STRASBOURG, France (AP) - European Union lawmakers approved a copyright directive Tuesday intended to give writers and artists more protection of their creative rights and incomes. But outspoken critics say the contentious measure could have major implications for US tech companies and could censor anyone who posts on the internet.

The European Parliament voted 348-274 to pass the online copyright bill, with 36 abstentions. Opponents argued the legislation, which had been in the works for three years, would stifle freedom and creativity online. The EU's member countries gave the measure preliminary approval in February and have final reviews set for next month.

The directive largely updates existing copyright law. If enacted, companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google parent company Alphabet likely would have to pay European artists more and do more to keep work that appears online from being used without permission.

But two sections of the legislation have become particularly controversial - one because it would make companies responsible for proactively filtering out copyrighted material that is uploaded to their online platforms. The other concerns how information from news organizations is linked and quoted.

"Web giants have been able to benefit from content created in Europe by paying derisory taxes, transferring huge profits to the U.S. or China," European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said. "Parliament has chosen to put an end to the existing digital Wild West."

Lobbying against the bill by internet giants was said to be so intense that even after EU members gave their provisional support, passage wasn't viewed as a sure thing Tuesday. More than 5 million people signed an online petition trying to prevent the directive from passing, saying the measures would unfairly censor posts online.

People gather at the front of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday March 26, 2019, to show their support for the copyright bill. The European Parliament is furiously debating the pros and cons of a landmark copyright bill one last time before the legislature will vote on it later. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

The directive would put the legal onus on companies to ensure that copyrighted material was not being uploaded to their sites - including through user posts on sites like Facebook and YouTube, said Gus Rossi, global policy director at Public Knowledge, a nonprofit that advocates for an open internet.

Companies are not required to, but would likely have to monitor for that by using artificial intelligence systems that are taught to recognize known copyrighted materials, he said.

Advocates are concerned that such filters have two problems. Only the largest companies like Google and Facebook could afford to build and maintain them, pricing out smaller firms. And even when built, these systems almost certainly won't be completely accurate, meaning some materials that should be allowed online will be caught and deleted.

"The average consumer is not an expert in copyright law," Rossi said. "Most likely, most consumers won't pursue recourse. That will create a chilling effect in most situations."

Supporters of the directive say it will protect creators' rights to get paid for their work.

German EU lawmaker Axel Voss, who was the bill's lead backer, let out a massive sigh when the vote tally flashed up on a screen inside the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France.

"We have agreed a new set of rules which will do exactly the opposite of killing the internet," Voss said.

After the vote, Google said in a statement that the bill "will still lead to legal uncertainty and will hurt Europe's creative and digital economies. The details matter, and we look forward to working with policy makers, publishers, creators and rights holders as EU member states move to implement these new rules."

The company has spoken out against pieces of the directive over the past year, saying it is overbroad and could cause the removal of posts and YouTube videos when it's unclear who holds which rights.

EDiMa, an association of European tech companies, said in a statement that the version approved Tuesday improved on earlier drafts, but "we still fundamentally disagree with it, as it undermines other EU law, tries to force a licensing business model on open platforms, and weakens the fundamental privacy and freedom of speech rights of EU citizens."

Tens of thousands of people marched in cities across Germany over the weekend to protest what the EU sees as reforms and what critics see as restrictions that could lead to online censorship.

Outside parliament, a French band performed music to push the point that artists need higher payments and better copyright protection.

"There is nothing like free lunch, and I don't know why the giant techs should carry on, you know, having a free lunch on our expense," French music producer Wally Badarou said.

In France, ever the guardian of European culture, the government greeted the bill's passage with relief.

"The EU message is clear," French Culture Minister Franck Riester said. "Everyone intervening on the European market must respect our common preferences, whether it is copyright or fiscal rules" that require America's tech companies to pay more taxes in Europe.

The leader of the EU parliament's liberal ALDE group, Guy Verhofstadt of Belgium, countered the bill's critics by saying the cards had been stacked so much in favor of "monopolistic American companies" that it was ridiculous to talk about a free internet.

"The only freedom you have is to send your data mainly to U.S. companies who are using it for their profit. That is all," Verhofstadt said during Tuesday's session.

But open internet advocates in the U.S. stress that the directive could stifle traffic to news organizations and censor people's posts online.

Filtering systems to catch copyright issues often give crude matches, said Cory Doctorow, a bestselling novelist and special consultant to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. A filter could catch, for instance, a new photographer's timely photo and delete it because in the background it shows a bus ad with a copyrighted image.

"They can probably make tuna nets that catch all the tuna, provided you don't care how many dolphins they catch at the same time," he said.

The directive would need to be implemented by all EU member states into their own national laws, leaving room for separate interpretations.

___

Kelvin Chan contributed from London and Rachel Lerman contributed from San Francisco.

Axel Voss, Member of the European Parliament and rapporteur of the copyright bill, poses for the media at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday March 26, 2019. The European Parliament is furiously debating the pros and cons of a landmark copyright bill one last time before the legislature will vote on it later. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

European Parliament Brexit chief Guy Verhofstadt speaks during a press conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday March 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

Axel Voss, Member of the European Parliament and rapporteur of the copyright bill, stands at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday March 26, 2019. The European Parliament is furiously debating the pros and cons of a landmark copyright bill one last time before the legislature will vote on it later. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

People gather at the front of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday March 26, 2019, to show their support for the copyright bill. The European Parliament is furiously debating the pros and cons of a landmark copyright bill one last time before the legislature will vote on it later. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

People gather at the front of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday March 26, 2019, to show their support for the copyright bill. The European Parliament is furiously debating the pros and cons of a landmark copyright bill one last time before the legislature will vote on it later. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

Axel Voss, Member of the European Parliament and rapporteur of the copyright bill, speaks at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday March 26, 2019. The European Parliament is furiously debating the pros and cons of a landmark copyright bill one last time before the legislature will vote on it later. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

Axel Voss, Member of the European Parliament and rapporteur of the copyright bill, stands at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday March 26, 2019. The European Parliament is furiously debating the pros and cons of a landmark copyright bill one last time before the legislature will vote on it later. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
NEW DELHI (AP) - Facebook is taking steps to reduce the spread of false information on its platforms ahead of India's general election, company officials said Monday.

Facebook listed a variety of measures it is taking, from blocking fake accounts to employing third-party fact-checking organizations, through the campaign and voting, with polling scheduled to take place in stages from April 11 to May 19.

Calling the Indian elections a "top priority," Samidh Chakrabarti, director of Facebook's Product Management for Civic Integrity division, said the company has put in a "tremendous amount of efforts over the last two years" to prepare for the polls.

He said Facebook has partnered with Indian media organizations to check and flag false stories in English, Hindi and some other regional Indian languages.

After a fact-checker flags a story as containing false information, Facebook reduces the number of times it appears in any individual user's newsfeed by about 80 percent, Chakrabarti said.

The social media giant came under immense scrutiny after it failed to prevent the spread of false information during the 2016 U.S. elections, when allegations of outside interference resulted in Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg testifying in the U.S. Senate.

A woman checks the Facebook page of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Facebook says it is preparing for Indian elections by working to limit false stories, videos and photos on its platform. Indian politicians increasingly are using social media to run campaign advertisements, share political songs and interact with young voters. Polling in the general election is to take place in seven stages from April 11 to May 19. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Facebook-owned messaging applications such as WhatsApp have been repeatedly scrutinized by the Indian government and security agencies, and asked to prevent the spread of false information and rumors that have been linked to mob killings.

In 2018, at least 20 people were killed in India, mostly in rural villages, in attacks by mobs that were inflamed by social media.

In response, WhatsApp restricted the forwarding of messages to five recipients at a time, instead of the 256 previously allowed.

Although the move was India-specific, it was applied globally earlier this year, WhatsApp announced in January.

But social media have also become a critical tool for Indian political campaigns. Ahead of elections in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party used social media extensively for political advertisements and to interact with young voters.

The Election Commission of India is trying to rein in social media giants such as Google, Twitter and Facebook to prevent the release of user data and to curb the spread of politically motivated manipulative information.

Social media companies have presented a "Voluntary Code of Ethics for the General Elections 2019" to the election monitoring body, a new requirement this year.

"We are working hard to prevent bad actors from interfering with elections on Facebook," Chakrabarti said, adding that Facebook has tripled the number of people working on safety and security to 30,000.

India reportedly has the highest number of Facebook users in the world, with more than 300 million. That is about a third of the 900 million people eligible to vote in 2019.

The elections will be held in seven phases to ensure proper security and manageable logistics across the country of 1.3 billion people. Counting of votes is to be conducted on May 23, with results expected the same day.
MADRID (AP) - Spain has issued at least two international arrest warrants for members of a self-proclaimed human rights group who allegedly led a mysterious raid at the North Korean Embassy in Madrid last month and offered the FBI stolen data from the break-in.

A National Court judge who lifted a secrecy order in the case Tuesday said an investigation of the Feb. 22 attack uncovered evidence that "a criminal organization" shackled and gagged embassy staff members before escaping with computers, hard drives and documents.

The intruders also urged North Korea's only accredited diplomat in Spain, business envoy So Yun Sok, to defect, Judge Jose de la Mata said in a written report on the Spanish investigation. So refused to do so and was gagged, according to the report.

The assailants identified themselves as "members of an association or movement of human rights for the liberation of North Korea."

That group is the Cheollima Civil Defense, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the incident. The shadowy activists have the self-declared mission of helping defectors from North Korea.

De la Mata identified citizens of Mexico, the United States and South Korea as the main suspects being investigated on charges that include of causing injuries, making threats and burglary. He named Adrian Hong Chang, a Mexican citizen living in the United States, as the break-in's leader.

This Wednesday, March 13, 2019 photo show a general view of the North Korea's embassy in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday March 13, 2019. A Spanish court is accusing an American, Mexican and South Korean part of a 10-strong group that led an attack on the North Korean Embassy in February, saying the FBI was offered stolen data. National Court judge Jose de la Mata on Tuesday, March 26 lifted a secrecy order, announcing it had found evidence of various crimes, including trespassing, injuries, threats and burglary committed by "a criminal organization." (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Hong Chang flew to the U.S. on Feb. 23, got in touch with the FBI and offered to share material and videos with federal investigators, according to the court report. The document did not say what type of information the items contained or whether the FBI accepted the offer.

The FBI said in a statement that its standard practice is to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations. The agency added that "the FBI enjoys a strong working relationship with our Spanish law enforcement partners."

An official with Spain's National Police who wasn't authorized to be named in media reports confirmed to The Associated Press that arrest warrants were issued for Hong Chang and one other suspect. No one had been charged as of Tuesday.

The assailants purchased knives and handgun mock-ups when they visited Madrid in early February and used them during the attack, according to the investigation document.

While in Madrid, Hong Chang also applied for a new passport at the Mexican Embassy, the investigation found, and used the name "Oswaldo Trump" to register in the Uber ride-hailing app.

The North Korean Embassy hasn't pressed charges in Spain, and officials in Pyongyang haven't officially commented on the attack.

Spanish police learned about the break-in after the wife of an embassy employee escaped by jumping from a window. When officers went to check on the situation, Hong Chang allegedly greeted them at the door and pretended to be a diplomatic official, the investigation found.

He sent the officers away with assurances everything was fine, paving the way for the invading group to make a getaway in the embassy's cars.

A police investigator with knowledge of the case told the AP that "this attack, whatever it is, would have gone unnoticed if it wasn't for the woman who escaped."

So, the North Korean diplomat, didn't respond to written questions from The Associated Press and declined to talk to reporters during a recent encounter outside the Madrid embassy.

The timing of the incident, which happened less than a week before a high-stakes U.S.-North Korea summit on denuclearization derailed in Hanoi on Feb. 28, led to speculation the incursion was carried out to obtain data related to North Korea's former ambassador to Spain.

Kim Hyok Chol, who was expelled from Spain in September 2017 following Pyongyang's sixth nuclear test and its missile launches over neighboring Japan, has become North Korea's top nuclear negotiator with the U.S.

Asked if Washington had any connection to the embassy break-in, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino answered, "The United States government had nothing to do with this."

Palladino said that "regarding the specifics of what's going on, the Spanish authorities are investigating. The investigation is still underway. For any details on their investigation, I would have to refer you to Spanish authorities."

The South Korean Embassy in Madrid said it had no knowledge of the events and couldn't offer further comment.

Others identified as part of the assailants' group were Sam Ryu, from the U.S., and Woo Ran Lee, a South Korean citizen. Their whereabouts and their hometowns weren't immediately known. None of the suspects were thought to be still in Spain, the judge wrote.

Spanish authorities tried to keep information about the attack from becoming public until Spain's El Confidencial news site revealed some details on Feb. 27.

Last week, the rights group that allegedly led the attack posted a short video on its website allegedly showing a man shattering portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on the floor.

The group said the video was filmed recently "on our homeland's soil," wording that would accurately apply to the North Korean Embassy in Madrid.

___

AP writers Deb Riechmann and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

In this Wednesday, March 13, 2019 photo, a member of the North Korea's embassy tells reporters not to take pictures of the diplomatic building in Madrid, Spain. A Spanish court is accusing an American, Mexican and South Korean part of a 10-strong group that led an attack on the North Korean Embassy in February, saying the FBI was offered stolen data. National Court judge Jose de la Mata on Tuesday, March 26 lifted a secrecy order, announcing it had found evidence of various crimes, including trespassing, injuries, threats and burglary committed by "a criminal organization." (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

In this Wednesday, March 13, 2019 photo, a van with diplomatic plaque exits the North Korea embassy in Madrid, Spain. A Spanish court is accusing an American, Mexican and South Korean part of a 10-strong group that led an attack on the North Korean Embassy in February, saying the FBI was offered stolen data. National Court judge Jose de la Mata on Tuesday, March 26 lifted a secrecy order, announcing it had found evidence of various crimes, including trespassing, injuries, threats and burglary committed by "a criminal organization." (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday accused a dismissed police colonel, who had publicly criticized him and his deadly anti-drug campaign, of criminal involvement and said he wanted to know why the former officer "is still alive."

In a late-night televised speech, Duterte condemned dismissed Senior Superintendent Eduardo Acierto, who told reporters over the weekend that the president had been repeatedly photographed with two Chinese men involved in drug trafficking.

Duterte defended one of the two Chinese men, saying he had accompanied China's premier on a visit to the Philippines and was a businessman who traveled to the country in 1999 to sell Chinese-made cellphones.

Acierto, a veteran anti-narcotics officer before his dismissal by an anti-graft agency last year, said he submitted a report to top police officials and Duterte's office about the two Chinese to warn the president of their background. But he said he was never informed if the two were ever investigated.

"In my investigation, I discovered that our president ... is often accompanied by two people deeply involved in illegal drugs," Acierto told a news conference late Sunday in Manila, adding that he was later accused by authorities in a criminal complaint of involvement in drug smuggling instead of the Chinese men.

Duterte said Acierto was the only police official who has made the allegations against the two men. He said Acierto was an "idiot" allegedly involved in corruption, drug smuggling, kidnappings of Chinese nationals and the killing of a South Korean man.

In this Sunday, March 24, 2019, photo, former Police Senior Superintendent Eduardo Acierto gestures during a clandestine news conference for the first time with a select group of journalists in Manila, Philippines. Acierto, who was assigned in various units of the police anti-illegal drugs for 18 years, is now in hiding after being included in President Rodrigo Duterte's so-called "matrix" list of persons allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

"Don't ever believe specially this Acierto," Duterte said in a speech in southern Koronadal city. "What if I ask the military and the police, 'Why is this son of a bitch still alive?"

Acierto denied any wrongdoing.

The president mentioned Acierto while talking about his efforts to combat corruption, including corrupt policemen. He also criticized and ridiculed opposition senatorial candidates running in mid-term elections in May.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Aaron Aquino told The Associated Press on Monday that he received Acierto's report and sent it to Duterte's office, adding that both his office and that of the president took steps to validate the allegations against the two Chinese. He said the two were not on any list of drug suspects.

Aquino played down the photographs showing Duterte with the two Chinese men, saying officials often get approached by all sorts of people for group photographs without being able to rapidly check their background. He questioned the credibility of Acierto, who he accused of being linked to drug smuggling.

Profiles of the two Chinese provided by Acierto to reporters said they were involved in the "manufacturing, financing, the importation, transhipment and local distribution of meth or shabu," referring to the local name for methamphetamine, a stimulant.

Acierto said he initially welcomed Duterte's passion to combat illegal drugs. But he said he later realized that the president's deadly crackdown took a wrong approach by targeting mostly poor drug suspects instead of going after powerful drug lords and traffickers.

More than 5,000 drug suspects have been killed in what police say were gunbattles that ensued during drug raids under Duterte's crackdown, alarming Western governments and human rights groups.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The National Park Service improperly banned an Alaska moose hunter from using a hovercraft on a river through a national preserve, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a unanimous decision.

The court limited the National Park Service's authority to enforce laws and regulations on state-owned rivers in Alaska. Justices rejected the agency's argument that the river was "public land" for regulatory authority and that the agency's water rights interest gave it rule-making authority.

The outcome was a victory for moose hunter John Sturgeon of Anchorage, who had sued and lost in lower court rulings.

"We reverse the decision below and wish Sturgeon good hunting," Justice Elena Kagan said in reading a summary of the decision.

Sturgeon called it "a huge win for Alaska."

"What it basically said is that the federal government doesn't get the manage in-holdings including navigable waters in any of the conservation units in Alaska, and that's huge," he told The Associated Press.

The Supreme Court building is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. The Supreme Court is returning to arguments over whether the political task of redistricting can be overly partisan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Justices cited the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act that in 1980 set aside 162,500 square miles (420,875 square kilometers) of land for preservation purposes. The law created 10 new national parks, preserves and monuments but said agency rules would not apply on state or private land within the conservation units that are not federally owned.

Sturgeon for 40 years hunted moose along the Nation River, a waterway within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve in northeast Alaska. In 2007, he was using a hovercraft, a loud, blower-powered amphibious vehicle that can navigate in shallow water or even mud.

The agency had banned hovercraft in other states. Three Park Service rangers told Sturgeon it was illegal to operate his hovercraft and he headed home.

Sturgeon sued in 2011. After lower courts rejected his arguments, the Supreme Court in 2016 said the 1980 law had carved out numerous Alaska-specific exceptions to the Park Service's general authority over federally managed preserves, such as snowmobile and airplane travel between villages.

Justices sent the case back for reconsideration but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded the agency had regulatory authority over a river in a preserve. The Supreme Court justices rejected that conclusion.

The 1980 law creating new parks and reserves surrounded more than 28,125 square miles (72,844 square kilometers) of state, Alaska Native and private land, Kagan wrote. The National Park Service, the court said, has broad authority to administer lands and waterways within parks across the country. However, Congress in the Alaska law added a provision that only "public" land - the federally owned land and waters - would be subject to the federal regulations, Kagan wrote.

The federal government's reserved water right in the Nation River, she said, allows the National Park Service to protect it from depletion or diversion but not to target hovercraft.

"I was very happy that they kind of really understood Alaska. They recognized that the rivers in Alaska are very often our highways, like (Interstate) 5 that goes through California and Oregon and Washington, and the Yukon is kind of our equivalent of I-5," Sturgeon said.

"Sturgeon can again rev up his hovercraft in search of moose," Kagan wrote.

"I thought that was pretty cool," Sturgeon said of Kagan's humorous touches, adding they made the decision feel "real human."

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Associated Press writer Jessica Gresko contributed to this story from Washington, D.C.
ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A Roman Catholic diocese in Pennsylvania has agreed to pay $2 million to a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest who made him say confession after the assaults.

The settlement with the Diocese of Erie was announced Tuesday by the victim's attorney, Mitchell Garabedian.

The defrocked priest, David Poulson, was sentenced this year to 2 1/2 to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to the sexual assault of one boy and attempted sexual assault of another. Garabedian confirmed at a press conference Tuesday that his client who is identified as John Doe in documents was one of the two boys abused by Poulson in his criminal case.

"This settlement is significant because it shows that the Diocese of Erie is responsible for the wholesale sexual abuse of children post, after 2002," when the church put revised policies for handling abuse into effect, Garabedian said.

During a news conference Tuesday, Garabedian alleged that the diocese was aware of allegations of abuse against Poulson earlier than the 2018 report by a military chaplain that his client had disclosed significant abuse.

"The $2 million represents validation to my client that the abuse was not his fault and that he did nothing wrong," he said.

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2019 file photo, David Poulson, center, a Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys, is taken away from court after sentencing in Brookville, Pa. It was announced Tuesday March 26 that the Diocese of Erie has agreed to pay $2 million to a man who was sexually abused as a child by Poulson, who made him say confession after the assaults. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

The Erie diocese turned over a "confidential memorandum" dated in 2010 that contained an admission by Poulson that he had been "aroused" by a boy, prosecutors said.

Poulson started at the diocese in 1979 and resigned in 2018.

In a statement late Tuesday, Anne-Marie Welsh, a spokeswoman for the diocese said Bishop Lawrence Persico respected the right of the victim in the settlement to remain anonymous and to publicly disclose details of the agreement. The statement said the bishop took issue with Garabedian's characterization of how the diocese handled this specific allegation, saying law enforcement was immediately notified when the report was made.

The Bishop "has expressed his disappointment and surprise at the amount of misinformation in Mr. Garabedian's comments. He failed to take into account much information that is publicly available. If what Mr. Garabedian alleges were true and complete, then Attorney General Shapiro would have prosecuted individuals beyond David Poulson," Welsh wrote in an email to reporters.

Poulson is one of a handful of priests criminally charged as a result of a Pennsylvania grand jury investigation that detailed decades of abuse by 300 priests.

He was accused of abusing the man when he was an altar boy more than 20 times in various rectories. According to charging documents in Poulson's case, the man said the priest would make him confess the abuse to him after it occurred.

Poulson took the victims to his primitive, secluded hunting camp in Jefferson County about a decade ago, where they watched horror movies on a laptop and he abused them, prosecutors said. The victims were 8 and 15 at the time the crimes occurred, according to authorities.
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - Algeria's powerful army chief called Tuesday for starting the constitutional process to have President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared unfit for office, possibly paving the way for the ailing president's ouster after 20 years in power.

Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah's statement comes after more than a month of mass protests against Bouteflika's long rule. The 82-year-old leader has rarely been seen in public since he suffered a stroke in 2013.

Gaid Salah said in remarks carried on Algerian television that "the only guarantee for political stability" is to apply the article of the Algerian constitution that empowers the Constitutional Council to determine if the president is too ill to do his job, and to ask lawmakers to declare him unfit.

His remarks, which he made during a stop at an army base in southern Algeria, carried special weight since the army chief is one of the country's top power brokers and deeply loyal to Bouteflika.

Yet the general's comments were met with little joy in the streets, where protesters have been demanding the overhaul of a system that has safeguarded a leader who hasn't addressed the nation in years. In massive marches each Friday since Feb. 22, demonstrators have demanded that Bouteflika step down, accusing him and his entourage of corruption, hoarding the gas-rich country's wealth and being out of touch with ordinary Algerians, especially struggling youth.

"In this context, it becomes necessary, even imperative, to adopt a solution to get out of the crisis which reflects the legitimate demands of the Algerian people," Gaid Salah said in his televised address from a military base in the southern city of Ouargla.

FILE - In this Sunday, July 1, 2018 file picture Algerian chief of staff Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah presides a military parade in Algiers. Algeria's powerful army chief, Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah, wants to trigger the constitutional process that would declare ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika unfit for office. (AP Photo/Anis Belghoul, File)

In what seemed like paradox, some of Bouteflika's top supporters welcomed the general's proposal, while opposition parties railed against it. They included the Front for Socialist Forces, which denounced what it dubbed a move against "the popular will ... the departure of the system and its men, not just the head of state."

Another opposition group, the Rally for Culture and Democracy denounced, what it called "an attempted coup d'etat."

"Gaid Salah is part of our misfortune. He can in no way be the solution," party spokesman Yassine Aissiouane said in a statement.

The main moderate Islamist party, the Movement for a Peaceful Society, said the army chief's proposal could lead to a solution - but only if the people's demands are answered first.

"The military institution should be limited to the role of an accompanist," a party statement said.

The army chief's speeches have been watched closely as he travels from region to region to inspect bases. The army has held a top role in the country's power structure since Algeria won independence from France in 1962 after a brutal seven-year war.

The country had a presidential election scheduled for April 18, but Bouteflika announced in a letter this month that he was withdrawing as a candidate and delaying the vote in response to the protests. First elected in 1999, he has not addressed the nation in years. The stroke required him to use a wheelchair and weakened his voice.

Critics said the postponement was unconstitutional and alleged it amounted to a desperate bid to cling to power until the president's entourage found its own replacement.

Bouteflika's March 11 letter said he planned to establish a national conference to draft a new constitution and to set a new date for the presidential election.

The president also dismissed his prime minister and appointed a new one the same day. Noureddine Bedoui, a Bouteflika loyalist, promised to form a new Cabinet within days to respond to the demands of Algeria's demonstrators.

However, Bedoui is struggling to form a government, with many potential ministers trying to keep their distance from the unpopular president.

Bouteflika is credited with bringing peace to his nation after what Algerians call the "black decade" of the 1990s. During that period, extremists hoping to create an Islamic state battled security forces while carrying out village massacres and targeting journalists, intellectuals and foreigners.

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Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this report.

FILE - In this April 28, 2014 file photo, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, sitting in a wheelchair, applauds after taking the oath as President in Algiers. Algeria's powerful army chief wants to trigger the constitutional process that would declare ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika unfit for office. (AP Photo/Sidali Djarboub, File)

FILE - In this April 28, 2014 file photo, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika sits in a wheelchair after taking oath as President, in Algiers. Algeria's powerful army chief said Tuesday March 26, 2019 that he wants to trigger the constitutional process that would declare President Abdelaziz Bouteflika unfit for office, after more than a month of mass protests against the ailing leader's long rule. (AP Photo/Sidali Djarboub, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Supreme Court arguments over whether the political task of redistricting can be overtly partisan (all times local):

6:45 p.m.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority sounded wary of allowing federal judges to determine when electoral maps are too partisan. That's in spite of strong evidence that the political parties drew districts to guarantee congressional election outcomes.

The decisions in two cases the justices heard Tuesday, from Maryland and North Carolina, could help shape the makeup of Congress and state legislatures for the next decade in the new districts that will be created following the 2020 census.

More than two hours of arguments focused on Republican-drawn congressional districts in North Carolina and a single congressional district drawn to benefit Democrats in Maryland.

The justices on the right side of the court asked repeatedly whether unelected judges should police the partisan actions of elected officials.

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2019, file photo, the Supreme Court is seen at sunset in Washington. A long-delayed disaster aid bill that's a top political priority for some of President Donald Trump's GOP allies is facing a potentially tricky path as it heads to the Senate floor this week. Although the measure has wide backing from both parties, the White House isn't pleased with the bill and is particularly opposed to efforts by Democrats to make hurricane relief to Puerto Rico more generous. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Justice Neil Gorusch asked, "Why should we wade into this?"

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11:55 a.m.

The Supreme Court seems wary of getting federal judges involved in determining when electoral district maps are too partisan.

The high court on Tuesday heard more than two hours of arguments in two cases involving the issue. The first case involves North Carolina's heavily Republican congressional map, and the second involves a map drawn by Democrats in Maryland.

In deciding the two cases the high court could come out with the first limits on partisan politics in the drawing of electoral districts. It also could ultimately decide that federal judges have no role in trying to police political mapmaking.

Democrats and Republicans eagerly await the outcome of the cases because a new round of redistricting will follow the 2020 census. The decision could help shape the makeup of Congress and state legislatures over the next decade.

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12:25 a.m.

The Supreme Court is returning to arguments over whether the political task of redistricting can be overly partisan.

The cases at the high court Tuesday mark the second time in consecutive terms the justices will see if they can set limits on drawing districts for partisan gain. Or the court could rule that federal judges should not referee disputes over districts designed to benefit one political party.

Democrats and Republicans eagerly await the outcome of cases from Maryland and North Carolina because a new round of redistricting will follow the 2020 census, and the decision could help shape the makeup of Congress and state legislatures over the next decade.

Last year, the court essentially punted on cases from Wisconsin and the same Maryland congressional district that's up for consideration Tuesday.

The Supreme Court building is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. The Supreme Court is returning to arguments over whether the political task of redistricting can be overly partisan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The Supreme Court building is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. The Supreme Court is returning to arguments over whether the political task of redistricting can be overly partisan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a March 26 story about former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos's appearance before Congress, The Associated Press reported erroneously that he pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in 2017.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Ex-Trump campaign aide says FBI wanted him to wear a wire

A former Trump campaign aide at the center of the early days of the FBI's Russia investigation says the FBI wanted him to wear a wire

By ERIC TUCKER

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - A former Trump campaign aide central to the early days of the FBI's Russia investigation said the FBI wanted him to wear a wire to record conversations with a professor who had told him the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton.

George Papadopoulos, the first of five Trump aides to plead guilty and agree to cooperate in special counsel Robert Mueller's recently-concluded investigation, told House lawmakers and staff in a closed-door interview last October that he rejected the FBI request.

A transcript of that interview was released Tuesday by the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee as part of an ongoing effort to sow doubt about the origins of the FBI's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign. Mueller ended his investigation last week without finding a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign to affect the 2016 presidential election, according to a Justice Department summary of his findings released Sunday.

Papadopoulos was a vital figure in the early days of the FBI's investigation. The revelation that Papadopoulos had learned in an April 2016 meeting in London that Russia had "dirt" on Democrat Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of stolen emails helped kick start the FBI probe months later.

In his interview with lawmakers, Papadopoulos says an FBI agent asked him during a 2017 encounter to wear a wire to a record future conversations with the Maltese professor, Joseph Mifsud, who he has said told him about the "dirt."

"And he basically told me that Washington wants answers and you're at the center of this, something like that to make it seem like I was in some deep trouble if I wasn't going to wear a wire against this person," Papadopoulos said, describing his conversation with the agent. "I rejected it."

The FBI declined to comment Tuesday.

Papadopoulos said he wasn't sure what to make of Mifsud's claim about Russia having dirt on Clinton since, at the time, "people were openly speculating about that."

"So yeah, it was an interesting piece of information, but you know, by that point you have to understand, he had failed to introduce me to anyone of substance in the Russian Government," Papadopoulos said. "So he failed to do that, but now all of a sudden he has the keys to the kingdom about a massive potential conspiracy that Russia is involved in."

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Mifsud and was sentenced to 14 days in prison. Papadopoulos has been promoting a new book called "Deep State Target: How I Got Caught in the Crosshairs of the Plot to Bring Down President Trump."

The Papadopoulos transcript is the latest release over the last month from Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. Other transcripts recently made public include those of Justice Department lawyer Bruce Ohr and ex-FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, all steady targets of Trump's outrage.

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Read the transcript: http://apne.ws/Bk8yMYk
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A pioneering use of drones to fly blood samples across a North Carolina hospital campus launched Tuesday in the latest move to expand their roles in business and health care.

The short trips between WakeMed buildings in Raleigh mark the first time the Federal Aviation Administration has allowed regular commercial flights of drones carrying products, according to UPS and drone company Matternet, which partnered with the hospital on the program.

"This is a turning point, and it's an historic moment because this is the first FAA-sanctioned use of a (drone) for routine revenue-generating flights," Bala Ganesh, vice president of UPS' advanced technology group, said in an interview before the announcement.

The FAA confirmed in a statement Monday that it hadn't previously allowed drones to make routine commercial package deliveries, known as revenue flights. Others have flown drone deliveries as part of smaller-scale tests or demonstrations.

The WakeMed program will start by flying patients' medical samples one-third of a mile (.5 kilometer) from a medical park to the main hospital building for lab testing at least six times a day five days a week, Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos said in an interview. Vials of blood or other specimens will be loaded into a secure box and carried to a drone launching pad, where they will be fastened to the aircraft and flown to another building. He said the flights will technically be within sight of operators on either end of the route, and they are authorized to fly above people.

The aim is to cut down on the time it takes to transport the time-sensitive samples typically driven on the ground.

Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos walks next to an operator carrying a drone used for delivery of medical specimens after a flight at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 26, 2019. Matternet and UPS partnered with the hospital to start commercial flights of medical samples across the WakeMed campus. (AP Photo/Jonathan Drew)

"This is going to bring tremendous benefit to health care," he said in an interview. "Health care is one of these domains of commercial activity where being fast really matters."

The announcement doesn't mean routine physical checkups this year or next will feature unmanned aircraft whizzing into your internist's office to speed along your cholesterol results, experts say.

But the North Carolina program could expand to flying miles-long routes between Raleigh-area WakeMed buildings in the coming months, Raptopoulos said. He also said medical specimen flights could start at one or two more hospitals in other cities later in 2019.

North Carolina is one of nine sites participating in the FAA's pilot program to accelerate integrating drones for new uses ranging from utility inspections to insurance claims. The test sites get leeway trying new innovations while working closely with the federal officials in charge of regulating the drones.

At other program test sites, drone operators recently delivered ice pops to doorsteps in a Virginia neighborhood, and officials in Reno, Nevada, are in early testing of a program to deliver defibrillators to people having health emergencies.

The Nevada defibrillator project has so far been testing at a rural site and hasn't begun home deliveries, said Rebecca Venis, the city's communications director. The approval process for drone flights of medical devices or supplies is complex because they may contain hazardous materials.

"It's different than dropping a package," she said.

Mark Blanks, the director of the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, also said the approval to fly commercial drones can be a significant achievement.

"It's not a safety piece; it's an economic licensing portion," he said.

Colin Snow of the drone research firm Skylogic said it remains to be seen how cost-effective medical drone deliveries will be. He said regulatory hurdles and the significant costs of establishing the programs could hinder their wide rollout across the country.

"It just goes down to the old adage: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should," he said. "They're cool, headline-making tests. But when you get down to ... the economics of logistics, that's a different matter."

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Follow Jonathan Drew at www.twitter.com/JonathanLDrew

In this March 2019 photo provided by UPS, a drone operator handles a drone used for carrying medical specimens at a landing area at WakeMed hospital in Raleigh, N.C. UPS, Matternet and WakeMed announced a program on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, to use drones for commercial flights of blood samples and other medical specimens at the North Carolina hospital campus. (UPS via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Congress and President Donald Trump's border wall (all times local):

6:05 p.m.

The Democratic-led House has failed to override President Donald Trump's first veto, salvaging his effort to steer billions of extra dollars to erecting barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Lawmakers voted 248-181 to overturn Trump's veto, but that fell 38 votes shy of the required two-thirds margin

Tuesday's vote bolsters Trump's drive to build a wall along the boundary with Mexico, a hallmark of his 2016 presidential campaign and a priority of his presidency.

Just 14 Republicans joined all voting Democrats in Tuesday's futile effort to void Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the Southwest border.

FILE - In this March 15, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump signs the first veto of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Trump issued the first veto, overruling Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding. Trump is nearing a victory over Democrats as the House tries overriding his first veto. Tuesday's vote seems certain to fail, which means his declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border would stand. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

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2 p.m.

An effort by House Democrats to override President Donald Trump's first veto has failed. That hands him a victory because his declaration of a national emergency at the Southwest border will remain in effect.

The Democratic-controlled chamber has voted 248-181 in favor of overriding Trump's veto. That fell 38 votes short of the 286 needed for Democrats and their handful of Republican allies to prevail, because a two-thirds majority was needed.

The emergency declaration would let Trump shift an additional $3.6 billion from military construction projects to erecting barriers along the border with Mexico. Building the wall was one of Trump's most repeated campaign pledges, though he said it would be paid for by Mexico, not taxpayers.

Congress voted to provide less than $1.4 billion for barrier construction. Court challenges may eventually block the extra money Trump wants

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1:05 p.m.

House Democrats trying to override President Donald Trump's first veto say his plan to shift billions of extra dollars into building border barriers is a waste of money and an abuse of his powers.

But their veto override attempt seems certain to fall short of the two-thirds majority they will need to succeed later Tuesday.

Congress sent him legislation blocking his declaration of a national emergency at the border. He's using it to shift $3.6 billion from military construction projects to building barriers.

Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon says money shouldn't be spent on Trump's "stupid, static wall." Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro says Trump is guilty of "constitutional vandalism."

Republican Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri says there is a border crisis and says Trump acted "well within his legal authority."

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12:17 a.m.

President Donald Trump is nearing a victory over Democrats as the House tries overriding his first veto. Tuesday's vote seems certain to fail, which means his declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border would stand.

Trump's emergency would let him shift an additional $3.6 billion from military construction projects to work on a barrier along the southwest boundary.

Congress has approved less than $1.4 billion. Building the wall was one of his most oft-repeated campaign promises, though he claimed the money would come from Mexico.

Trump's emergency declaration drew unanimous opposition from congressional Democrats and opposition from some Republicans. Lawmakers objected that he was abusing presidential powers.

The House seems sure to fall short of the two-thirds margin needed to override vetoes.

President Donald Trump signs the first veto of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2019, in Washington. Trump issued the first veto, overruling Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In this March 15, 2019, photo, President Donald Trump speaks about border security in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2019, in Washington. Trump's veto of a bipartisan congressional resolution rejecting his border emergency declaration is more than a milestone. It signals a new era of tenser relations between the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks about border security in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2019, in Washington. Trump issued the first veto of his presidency, overruling Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
BALTIMORE (AP) - A search is underway in Maryland for "Healthy Holly" - not a fugitive or a missing citizen, but a self-published children's book series authored by Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and sold for half a million dollars to a health care system whose board of directors she sat on for nearly two decades.

Since 2011, Pugh received $500,000 selling her illustrated books to the University of Maryland Medical System, a $4 billion hospital network that's one of the largest private employers in the state. Since the arrangement was exposed by The Baltimore Sun earlier this month, she's stepped down from the volunteer board and returned her most recent payment of $100,000 for the hard-to-find books. She also defended her actions and portrayed press inquiries as a "witch hunt."

A Democrat who became mayor in 2016 and represented some of Baltimore's poorest areas in the state's Senate before that, Pugh is the public face of the still-unfolding debacle. But the Baltimore mayor - who served on the UMMS board since 2001 and once sat on a state Senate committee that funded the major health network - is hardly the only influential Marylander connected to the board or the medical system facing questions.

One-third of the UMMS board members received compensation through the medical system's arrangements with their businesses, a revelation that Gov. Larry Hogan has called "appalling." Two other members of the board also resigned, and four others went on voluntary leave while the system reviews governance practices. The president and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical System has recently been sent on a temporary leave of absence.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot said Tuesday that an independent audit is urgent to understand how many "self-dealing" arrangements there have been over the years. In Pugh's case, there needs to be a thorough examination of whether a product was actually delivered, he said.

"I describe it as juvenile, this arrangement where she was providing or not providing books - no receipts, no contracts, no procurement. It was simply a $500,000 gift to her from the University of Maryland Medical System," Franchot asserted in a phone interview.

FILE - In this June 8, 2018 file photo, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh addresses a gathering during the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Boston. Pugh on Monday, March 18, 2019, stepped down from the University of Maryland Medical System's board of directors, days after it came to light that the hospital network had for years purchased her self-published children's books. Board positions are unpaid, but The Baltimore Sun reported last week that around a third of the board received compensation through the UMMS network's contracts with their businesses. The newspaper revealed that Pugh failed to fully disclose a $500,000 business relationship she began with the 11-hospital network in 2011.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

The slim "Healthy Holly" books, sharing tips on nutrition and exercise, were meant to be distributed to schools and daycares. However, the Sun has reported that 50,000 copies are unaccounted for, leading to widespread speculation that a good chunk were never printed in the first place. In recent days, fewer than 9,000 copies were tracked down collecting dust in a warehouse of Baltimore's school district, which has described Pugh's children's books as "unsolicited" donations. The city library system, daycare programs and booksellers can't find copies. "Healthy Holly: Exercising is Fun" is unavailable on Amazon, where the only reviews for the book are entries of people savaging Pugh's ties with UMMS.

In a written statement, Pugh has defended her lucrative book deal with UMMS, saying it started as a passion project.

"I recall passing the time by thumbing through the first book before an UMMS meeting. One my colleagues loved it and thought it would help advance children's health," she said in a recent statement.

Pugh has since cancelled all public appearances and her spokespeople say she was hospitalized over the weekend with pneumonia. They say she will address the matter more once her health improves.

Criticism of UMMS and of Pugh - who faces a 2020 Democratic primary for re-election in a city dominated by a single party's political machine - has been intense. The Washington Post's editorial board asserted the UMMS had a "get-rich-quick program" for many of its board members, with Pugh's involvement painted as an egregious case of "political sleaze."

Meanwhile, UMMS and Pugh have not provided clarity on the whereabouts of the 100,000 copies of the "Healthy Holly" series books or definitive proof they were published and distributed. A spokeswoman for the university-based health network says their communications team was "working hard on all of the inquiries." The medical system had classified the "Healthy Holly" purchases as grants in federal filings.

Some critics say the various statements made by Pugh and others regarding the arrangements with UMMS board members are absurd on so many levels that it's hard to know where to begin.

"Whatever Pugh does, she is going to be operating under a very, very big cloud for a long time," said Donald Norris, professor emeritus of public policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. "This is an unethical lapse of humongous proportions - $500,000 worth."

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Follow McFadden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmcfadd
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A county in New York City's northern suburbs declared a state of emergency Tuesday over a measles outbreak that has infected more than 150 people since last fall, hoping a ban against unvaccinated children in public places wakes their parents to the seriousness of the problem.

"It's an attention grab, there's no question about it," Rockland County Executive Ed Day said at a news conference, noting that he didn't believe such a drastic step has ever been tried in the U.S. before.

Day said he was taking the action in hopes of reversing a recent uptick in cases amid disturbing reports that health workers were encountering resistance when investigating cases. Rockland's outbreak has most heavily affected Orthodox Jewish communities, in which vaccination rates tend to be lower.

Under the declaration, which lasts for at least 30 days, anyone under 18 who is not vaccinated against measles is barred from public gathering places, including shopping malls, civic centers, schools, restaurants and even houses of worship. Those in violation could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.

But Day acknowledged that there will be no concerted enforcement effort and that the intent is not to arrest people but to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.

"There will not be law enforcement or deputy sheriffs asking for vaccination records. That is ridiculous," Day said. "However, parents will be held accountable if they're found to be in violation of this emergency declaration."

An Orthodox Jewish man walks through the parking lot of a supermarket, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Spring Valley, N.Y. Rockland County in New York City's northern suburbs declared a state of emergency Tuesday over a measles outbreak that has infected more than 150 people since last fall, hoping a ban against unvaccinated children in public places wakes their parents to the seriousness of the problem. Rockland's outbreak has most heavily affected Orthodox Jewish communities, in which vaccination rates tend to be lower. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

The county is experiencing New York state's longest measles outbreak since the disease was declared officially eliminated from the United States in 2000. Health officials say the best way to stop the disease's spread is a vaccination rate in the community of 92 to 95 percent. Day said only 72.9 percent of people under 18 have been vaccinated against measles in Rockland County, which has more than 300,000 residents.

Civil rights attorney Michael Sussman, who represents the parents of 44 unvaccinated children who were barred from a Waldorf School in the county, said he would discuss a possible challenge to the emergency declaration in a meeting with his clients Tuesday night.

"It's irrational," Sussman said. "You're punishing people who don't have the illness rather than quarantining people who are sick."

Sussman said a quarantine of measles patients and those close to them would quickly stop the disease's spread.

This month, a federal judge, citing the "unprecedented measles outbreak," denied the parents' request to let unvaccinated children return to the Waldorf School. The lawsuit said the county's order banning unvaccinated children from schools regardless of religious or medical exemptions violated their constitutional rights.

The outbreak began in the Rockland area when seven unvaccinated travelers diagnosed with measles entered the county last October. There have been 153 cases to date, Day said. In the early days of the outbreak, people were cooperating with health officials and getting children vaccinated, he said, but that has changed.

"Our health inspectors have been hung up on and told not to call again. They've been told, 'We're not discussing this, do not come back,' when visiting the homes of infected individuals as part of their investigations," Day said. "This type of response is unacceptable and frankly irresponsible."

On the same day as the federal judge's ruling on the school children, pediatric organizations expressed support for state legislation that would allow minors to get vaccinated without parental consent.

The state legislation's Democratic sponsors said too many parents believe unsupported claims that vaccines are unsafe and cause autism or other conditions. Day echoed that message, noting celebrities who have spoken out against vaccines.

"If you're going to People magazine and Jenny McCarthy and Robert De Niro for your medical advice, you need to re-evaluate your life," he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists six measles outbreaks, defined as three or more cases, around the country in 2019, including Rockland County's. The CDC said the outbreaks are linked to travelers who brought the disease back from other countries, such as Israel and Ukraine, where large measles outbreaks are occurring.

There have been 181 confirmed cases of measles in Brooklyn and Queens since October, most of them involving members of the Orthodox Jewish community, according to the CDC.

Day said the emergency order was timed with the upcoming religious holidays of Easter and Passover in mind.

"We want people to be able to celebrate," he said. "We don't want to see a repeat of how this outbreak started when we saw people gathered together and then fall ill last fall."

The CDC says 15 states have had at least one case of measles confirmed in 2019, for a total of 314 cases to date. In 2014, 667 cases were confirmed nationwide and there were 372 cases in 2018.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Democratic-led House failed Tuesday to override President Donald Trump's first veto, salvaging his effort to steer billions of extra dollars to erecting border barriers and delivering a victory to the White House in a constitutional and political clash that's raged for months.

Lawmakers voted 248-181 to overturn Trump's veto, but that fell 38 votes shy of the required two-thirds margin. Just days after Attorney General William Barr announced that special counsel Robert Mueller had found Trump didn't scheme with Russia to help his 2016 election, Tuesday's vote bolstered Trump's drive to build a wall along the boundary with Mexico, a hallmark of his 2016 presidential campaign and a priority of his presidency.

"Thank you to the House Republicans for sticking together and the BIG WIN today on the Border," Trump tweeted. "Today's vote simply reaffirms Congressional Democrats are the party of Open Borders, Drugs and Crime!"

While clearly a defeat for Democrats, the vote afforded them a chance to reemphasize policy differences with Trump and change the subject from collusion allegations that have lost political clout. Underscoring that, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi placed her name atop a House Democratic fundraising email referencing the failed veto override, writing, "I know grassroots Democrats won't let Trump's enablers get away with this."

Just 14 Republicans joined all voting Democrats in Tuesday's futile effort to void Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the Southwest border.

By invoking that power, Trump has said he will shift $3.6 billion from military construction to erecting barriers along that boundary. Congress has voted to provide less than $1.4 billion for border barriers, leaving Democrats and some Republicans fuming that Trump is abusing his powers by ignoring Congress' constitutional control over spending.

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he arrives for a Senate Republican policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Despite his veto remaining intact, Trump may not be able to spend the money for barriers quickly because of lawsuits by Democratic state attorneys general and others that could take years to resolve.

Trump insisted during his campaign that Mexico, not taxpayers, would pay for the wall. To keep the issue alive into the 2020 campaign season, House Democrats may force fresh votes on the emergency declaration in six months, as the law allows.

The Pentagon sent lawmakers a list last week of hundreds of military construction projects that might be cut to pay for barrier work. Though the list was tentative, Democrats say that by backing Trump, GOP lawmakers were endangering local bases to pay for the wall.

Unhappiness over Trump's plan to siphon the money from the military has become a bipartisan concern. On top of the $3.6 billion from construction, the Pentagon has informed Congress that it wants to steer another $1 billion from personnel accounts to border barriers.

At a House Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, panel Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., said it was wrong to use the Pentagon as "sort of a piggybank-slash-slush fund." The committee's top Republican, Mac Thornberry of Texas, also said he opposes redirecting defense funds.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told the lawmakers that while his department could pay a future price for maneuvering around Congress, he was following a "legal order from the commander in chief."

Congress had approved a resolution annulling the national emergency that Trump declared at the U.S.-Mexico border in February. That included passage by the Republican-led Senate, in which 12 GOP senators - nearly 1 of every 4 - joined Democrats in blocking him.

Trump vetoed that measure almost immediately.

"We take an oath that we must honor" to protect the Constitution," Pelosi, D-Calif., speaking on her 79th birthday, said Tuesday. "The choice is simple, between partisanship and patriotism. Between honoring our sacred oath or hypocritically, inconsistently breaking this oath."

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, called Trump's declaration "constitutional vandalism."

Republicans said Trump was merely following a 1976 law that gives presidents emergency powers, and was trying to head off Democrats with little concern about border security.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said Trump was acting against the "radical left in this House that would dissolve our borders entirely if given the chance" - a stance that no Democrat has taken. Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., called the veto override effort "a partisan whack job" because of its certain defeat.

All 13 Republicans who voted with Democrats last month to oppose Trump's declaration did the same Tuesday. They were joined by Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., who missed the earlier roll call.

Border arrests are up since falling to a 46-year-low during Trump's first year in office.

John P. Sanders, Customs and Border Protection's chief operating officer, said Tuesday that the agency expected to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March, about double the 50,347 during the same period last year. Nearly 6 in 10 are arriving as families.

U.S. authorities made 4,036 border arrests Monday, the highest mark ever, Sanders told reporters in San Antonio, Texas.

The showdown began building last year. Trump's insistence on wall money prompted this winter's record 35-day partial government shutdown, which ended when he surrendered in January without getting any funds. Eventually a $1.4 billion compromise was struck.

Opponents of Trump's emergency warned that besides usurping Congress' power over spending, he was inviting future Democratic presidents to circumvent lawmakers by declaring emergencies for their own favored initiatives.

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National Security Writer Robert Burns and reporter Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Nomaan Merchant in San Antonio contributed.

President Donald Trump accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, arrives for a Senate Republican policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

President Donald Trump signs the first veto of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2019, in Washington. Trump issued the first veto, overruling Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In this March 15, 2019, photo, President Donald Trump speaks about border security in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2019, in Washington. Trump's veto of a bipartisan congressional resolution rejecting his border emergency declaration is more than a milestone. It signals a new era of tenser relations between the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Trump waves as he leaves after attending the weekly Republican policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate turned away from the Green New Deal on Tuesday as both parties shunned an opportunity to debate a comprehensive climate change plan offered by Democrats.

Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate forced the vote as they seek to turn the Green New Deal into a wedge issue in the 2020 elections. Democrats called the GOP's move a "sham" and said it carries its own political risk by mocking an issue - climate change - that a growing number of Americans care deeply about.

Senators voted 57-0 against a procedural motion to take up the nonbinding resolution, which calls for the U.S. to shift away from fossil fuels such as oil and coal and replace them with renewable sources such as wind and solar power.

Three Democrats and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, joined all 53 Senate Republicans in opposing the climate plan. Forty-three Democrats voted "present" to protest the GOP's action. Democrats accused the GOP of quashing debate by blocking public hearings and expert testimony about the consequences of inaction on climate change.

In shifting the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels, the Green New Deal calls for virtual elimination by 2030 of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming.

The plan has broad support among Democratic activists, and all six of the 2020 presidential contenders serving in the Senate have signed on as co-sponsors, putting it at the forefront of the party's sprawling primary race.

Sen. Edward Markey, D- Mass., speaks at a rally for Green New Deal, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, outside the Capitol in Washington. The Green New Deal calls for the U.S. to shift away from fossil fuels such as oil and coal and replace them with renewable sources such as wind and solar power. (AP Photo/Matthew Daly)

However, Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper said Tuesday he opposes the Green New Deal. The former Colorado governor said the proposal sets "unachievable goals" and shuns the private sector.

Republicans say the plan would devastate the economy and lead to a huge tax increase. They call it more evidence of the creep of "socialism" in the Democratic Party, along with "Medicare for All" and a sweeping elections reform package that would allow public financing of congressional campaigns.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky scheduled Tuesday's vote, saying it would force Democrats to take a stand on a plan that "might sound like a neat idea in places like San Francisco or New York" but would result in communities across the country being "absolutely crushed."

By "basically outlawing the only sources of energy that working-class and middle-class families can actually afford," the Green New Deal would "kill off entire domestic industries" and eliminate millions of jobs, McConnell said. The plan could lead to a spike in household electric bills of more than $300 a month, he said.

President Donald Trump also weighed in against the plan, which the White House called "job crushing." At a luncheon with Senate Republicans, Trump urged lawmakers to keep the Green New Deal alive as an issue to use against Democrats.

"He said it's important to run against," said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. Trump likes the way the Green New Deal makes Democrats "uncomfortable," said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, called the Green New Deal "ridiculous" and displayed pictures of dinosaurs, cartoon characters and babies as he derided the plan. He said he was treating it "with the seriousness it deserves."

One poster Lee displayed depicted President Ronald Reagan shooting a machine gun while riding a dinosaur that was holding a U.S. flag. The outlandish image was intended to illustrate the U.S. winning the Cold War, Lee said, but its fictional nature served a purpose: "Because this image has as much to do with overcoming communism in the 20th century as the Green New Deal has to do with overcoming climate change in the 21st," he said.

Lee's remarks enraged Democrats, who called climate change deadly serious, citing floods in the Midwest, wildfires in the West and hurricanes in the South.

"Climate change is not a joke," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., the resolution's lead Senate author. "Mocking it is shameful."

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the lead House author, trolled Lee's argument on Twitter. "If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything," she wrote to her 3.7 million followers.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, one of a half-dozen senators seeking the Democratic nomination for president, said Republicans treat climate change "as a game" and said Democrats "will not fall for this stunt."

Slowing climate change "should be our nation's moonshot" in the 21st century, Gillibrand said, calling it a generational challenge similar to the race to the moon in the 1960s.

"We don't know if we can get to net-zero carbon emissions in 10 years, but why not try?" she said at a rally before the Senate vote.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Democrats were being hypocritical by refusing to vote for their own plan. "I've never seen a bill sponsored by a dozen people who don't want to vote on it," he said.

The Green New Deal goes far beyond energy to urge national health care coverage and job guarantees, high-quality education and affordable housing, as well as "upgrading all existing buildings in the United States" to be energy-efficient. Democrats have not specified a price tag, but Republicans say costs could run into the tens of trillions of dollars.

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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this reporter.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., right, accompanied by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., left, speaks to members of the media following a Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The parents of a woman killed by an immigrant who was released from custody despite a federal request that he be held cannot sue San Francisco for negligence over the death that touched off a fierce national debate, a U.S. appeals court ruled.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday unanimously refused to reinstate a lawsuit the parents of Kate Steinle filed against San Francisco and its former sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi, in the July 2015 shooting by Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate.

The shooting turned into a major campaign issue in multiple national and local races across the country. President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to the shooting during his 2016 campaign to bolster his argument for tougher immigration policies and his opposition to so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with immigration officials.

Mirkarimi released Garcia-Zarate, a Mexican national, from jail three months before the shooting despite a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to inform them of his release date and hold him until they could pick him up for deportation proceedings. Garcia-Zarate had already been deported five times.

An email to an attorney for Steinle's family, Frank Pitre, was not immediately returned.

The facts of the case are "undeniably tragic," but the sheriff was well within his authority when he issued a memo that limited his department's cooperation with immigration officials, 9th Circuit Judge Mark Bennett said. Bennett was nominated to the court by Trump, a frequent critic of the 9th Circuit.

FILE - In this July 17, 2015 file photo, flowers and a portrait of Kate Steinle remain at a memorial site on Pier 14 in San Francisco. A federal appeals court refused to reinstate a lawsuit the parents of Kate Steinle filed against San Francisco for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities seeking to deport a man later charged with killing Steinle. A three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled Monday, March 25, 2019, that the city's non-cooperation policy with federal immigration officials broke no federal, state or local laws. (Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)

"The tragic and unnecessary death of Steinle may well underscore the policy argument against Sheriff Mirkarimi's decision to bar his employees from providing the release date of a many times convicted felon to ICE," Bennett said. "But that policy argument can be acted upon only by California's state and municipal political branches of government, or perhaps by Congress."

Federal immigration laws cited by the plaintiffs also did not require Mirkarimi to provide Garcia-Zarate's release date, Bennett said.

A San Francisco jury in 2017 acquitted Garcia-Zarate of murder, but convicted him of illegal gun possession. Garcia-Zarate said a gun he found on the pier accidentally fired when he picked it up.

He is also facing federal gun charges to which he has pleaded not guilty.

The gun used in the fatal shooting belonged to a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger who reported it stolen from his car parked in San Francisco. Steinle's parents also named the federal government as a defendant in their lawsuit because the ranger had allegedly left the gun in plain view in an unlocked car on a downtown street. That part of the lawsuit is moving forward.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The ballot-rigging investigation that voided a congressional election and forced one of the country's few do-over races simply followed the money, top North Carolina elections officials said Tuesday.

Investigators were following tips that a political operative in rural Bladen County was illegally collecting ballots and didn't target Republican Mark Harris' campaign in the 9th Congressional District, state elections director Kim Westbrook Strach said during a discussion at Davidson College, about 20 miles (32.2 kilometers) north of Charlotte.

The operative, Leslie McCrae Dowless, had been in the sights of election officials after the 2016 elections, when the board's investigators referred to state and federal prosecutors the findings that he may have violated laws banning the handling of ballots. Dowless wasn't charged until last month.

So in October, state elections officials sent letters to Bladen County voters who requested an absentee ballot warning that it was illegal for anyone to come to their homes and collect mail-in ballots, Strach said.

"We didn't know that he (Dowless) was working for the Mark Harris campaign at all. We just had gotten complaints that a couple of people had got their ballots picked up," Strach said.

There was no money trail linking Dowless and Harris because the candidate had contracted with political consulting company Red Dome Group to handle many campaign logistics, including paying Dowless, state elections board attorney Josh Lawson said. That changed just before the state elections board decided on Nov. 27 to delay certifying Harris as the winner, he said, because elections officials noticed a Dowless worker posted on Facebook that she was being paid through Red Dome.

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2019, file photo, Mark Harris, Republican candidate in North Carolina's 9th Congressional race, prepares to testify during the fourth day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th Congressional District voting irregularities investigation at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina's elections board is expected to decide Monday, March 4 when to hold new party primaries and the general election for the 9th congressional district, where a seat still remains vacant after November's result was tainted by ballot fraud concerns. Democrat Dan McCready is running again in the new election. Harris will not. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP, Pool, File)

"That was our link as of the 27th of November when we pushed pause on the election," Lawson said. "This was not trying to get a particular person. This was trying to make sure that this was election, which was very important, had reliable results. And we already had cause to believe that that may not the case."

The bipartisan state elections board last month unanimously declared the election tainted and ordered another.

Harris isn't running again. Ten others are seeking the Republican nomination in May's primary. Democrat Dan McCready is running again for the congressional seat he thought he narrowly lost last fall. He faces no primary opponent.

Dowless was charged last month by a state prosecutor for similar ballot activities in 2016 and for his work for Harris in the 2018 primary.

Though state elections officials don't have the authority to prosecute election crimes, North Carolina became one of the first in the country in 2013 to have state funding for an investigations staff, Lawson said. That team has been working on election cases ever since, but none as big as last year's Harris-McCready race, which Harris seemed in November to have won by 905 votes out of almost 278,000 cast, he said.

"This surfaced because you happened to have a close race that could have been affected by absentee votes," Lawson said.

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Follow Emery P. Dalesio on Twitter at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/emery%20dalesio.

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2018 file photo, N.C. Sen. Dan Bishop speaks during a joint N.C. House-Senate committee meeting on judicial reform and redistricting held at the Legislative Office Building in downtown Raleigh, N.C. Bishop of Charlotte filed on Thursday, March 14, 2019 to run in the 9th Congressional District re-do election. He faces at least two others in May's Republican primary. (Chris Seward/The News & Observer via AP)

FILE - In this May 8, 2018 file photo, 9th Congressional district Democratic candidate Dan McCready smiles as he speaks with U.S. Rep. Alma Adams outside Eastover Elementary School in Charlotte, N.C. North Carolina's elections board is expected to decide Monday, March 4, 2019, when to hold new party primaries and the general election for the 9th congressional district, where a seat still remains vacant after November's result was tainted by ballot fraud concerns. McCready is running again in the new election. Republican candidate Mark Harris will not. Jeff Siner/The Charlotte Observer via AP, File)

FILE - This June 22, 2004 file photo shows North Carolina state senator, Fern Shubert during a forum in Indian Trail, N.C. Shubert is running in the Republican primary in May for a shot to fill a still-vacant congressional seat after a political operative working for the previous GOP candidate collected mail-in ballots, making votes vulnerable to being changed or discarded. (APPhoto/Rusty Burroughs)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A mind-bending battle over some of the technology used in iPhones became even more muddled Tuesday when a federal trade agency handed separate victories to the embittered foes, Apple and Qualcomm.

On Tuesday, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued two decisions within a few hours of each other.

In one, Administrative Law Judge MaryJoan McNamara recommended blocking some iPhones from being imported into the U.S. after concluding Apple's best-selling device infringed on technology owned by mobile chip maker Qualcomm.

Then the full commission weighed in another case brought by Qualcomm, and overturned a ruling issued last September by another judge, Thomas Pender. Although Pender had concluded Apple's iPhones had violated another patent owned by Qualcomm, the ITC decided instead that Qualcomm's claim was invalid.

The full commission still has to review McNamara's decision, too. If it sides with McNamara, it's unclear whether it will also impose an import ban and, if so, which iPhone models would be affected.

The tangled developments are just the latest twist in a high-stakes dispute between Qualcomm and Apple over the rights to some of the technology that connects iPhones to the internet.

FILE- In this Jan. 3, 2019, file photo a man leaves an Apple store in Beijing. A trade court judge will recommend banning some iPhones from being imported into the U.S. after concluding Apple's best-selling device infringed on technology owned by mobile chip maker Qualcomm. The U.S. Trade International Trade Commission decision is the latest twist in a bitter legal dispute between Qualcomm and Apple over the rights to some of the technology that enables the iPhone to connect to the internet. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Qualcomm applauded McNamara's findings, while Apple cheered the commission for invalidating the other patent claim.

The battle between Qualcomm and Apple broke out more than two years ago after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Qualcomm for allegedly using its portfolio of mobile technology patents to gouge smartphone makers and stifle competition in the chip market. A federal court judge in San Jose, California, is still mulling a decision in that case, two months after presiding over a trial.

Shortly after the FTC filed its case in 2017, Apple pounced with its own lawsuit accusing Qualcomm of trying to wring licensing fees for technology that it didn't really invent.

Apple subsequently stopped paying royalties to Qualcomm, further poisoning the two companies' relationship.

Qualcomm prevailed in another round of skirmishing when a federal court jury in San Diego decided Apple should pay $31 million in damages for making several different types of iPhones that violated Qualcomm patents. The bout is scheduled to resume April 15 at yet another federal court trial in San Diego.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A lawyer for elastic exercise band maker TheraBand blamed former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid on Tuesday for his own serious injuries, including blindness in his right eye, suffered when he says his grip slipped and he fell while using a flexible device on New Year's Day 2015.

With the former Democratic party leader, now 79, sitting in a wheelchair in a Las Vegas courtroom, company attorney Laurin Quiat told a civil trial jury that congressional exercise advisers tried for months to teach Reid to improve his foot stance, balance and technique while using the resistance bands at his doctors' recommendation.

"This product was designed to provide him with stability, strength and good health as part of a cardio-rehabilitation program," Reid attorney James Wilkes II said during opening statements in Nevada state court.

Attorneys spent a contentious day and a half picking eight jurors and two alternates from a pool of 100 prospective jurors that included some who flatly stated they couldn't impartially consider any case involving Reid.

Wilkes said he felt more discomfort in the courtroom Monday than ever in his long legal career. He hasn't said when Reid and his wife, Landra, will testify. Testimony is expected to take a little more than a week.

"The evidence will show that he was using a band ... it slipped from the hand, he spun to the right ... and landed right on the eye," Wilkes said, telling jurors they'll hear from doctors and see photos of Reid's bathroom with hard granite and marble counter tops.

Former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid sits in court Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Las Vegas. A jury in Nevada heard opening arguments Tuesday in Reid's lawsuit against the maker of a flexible exercise band that he says slipped from his hand while he used it in January 2015, causing him to fall and suffer lasting injuries including blindness in one eye. (AP Photo/John Locher)

"It ended his career," Wilkes said, noting that after 30 years in the Senate, Reid decided after undergoing surgeries for his injuries not to seek re-election. "It changed his life. It changed his wife's life forever."

Quiat countered during his overview of the case that Ohio-based Hygenic Intangible Property Holding Co. and subsidiaries that make TheraBand feel sorry that Reid was injured. But he called it an accident.

Reid also was treated for broken bones around his eye, fractured ribs, a concussion and bruises.

His lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages from the company for negligence and failure to warn the public the elastic physical resistance band was "unreasonably dangerous," particularly for the elderly like him.

Quiat, displaying a gray flat stretch of wide elastic band that he said was marketed for decades, said jurors can never know for sure if Reid was using his company's product at all, because Reid family members threw out the one he used the day he was hurt.

"You will hear Sen. Reid testify that at the date of the accident, his hands were very strong ... and he did not consider himself elderly or frail," Quiat said. "You'll hear him testify that he was a boxer in his youth and still had strong hands, even at 75."

No one will contend that Reid intentionally let go of the exercise band that had been looped through a shower door, the company attorney said. But jurors might surmise that Reid lost his balance because he was dangerously leaning away instead of using the wide and balanced stance he'd been advised to use with the bands.

Wilkes said Reid will testify that "he remembers pulling the thing and the next thing he knows his eye is broken, his ribs are broken, there's blood everywhere." Secret Service agents drove Reid to a hospital, the attorney said.

Quiat told jurors that "just because someone was hurt doesn't mean someone else is responsible for those injuries."

"Sen. Reid was improperly using a flat resistance band that morning and he's responsible for his own injuries," the company attorney said.

Former U.S. Senator Harry Reid, who sued the makers of an exercise band after injuring his eye, leaves the courtroom after attending the first day of jury selection in his civil trial at the Regional Justice Center on Monday, March. 25, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid sits in front of a monitor showing instructions for an exercise band in court Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Las Vegas. A jury in Nevada heard opening arguments Tuesday in Reid's lawsuit against the maker of a flexible exercise band that he says slipped from his hand while he used it in January 2015, causing him to fall and suffer lasting injuries including blindness in one eye. (AP Photo/John Locher)

James L. Wilkes II, attorney for former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, holds a rubber exercise band in court Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Las Vegas. A jury in Nevada heard opening arguments Tuesday in Reid's lawsuit against the maker of a flexible exercise band that he says slipped from his hand while he used it in January 2015, causing him to fall and suffer lasting injuries including blindness in one eye. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A multimillion-dollar settlement in the nation's deadliest drug crisis brought no relief to Jodi Barber, whose 19-year-old son died of a prescription drug overdose. He became addicted to painkillers after breaking his collarbone.

"The pain is always going to be there as a parent," said Barber of Orange County, California. "Knowing that it was preventable really hurts. All these deaths are preventable and that hurts."

Anger and hope tinged survivors' reactions Tuesday to news that Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, had reached a $270 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma. Numerous lawsuits accuse the company of minimizing the addiction risk and pushing doctors to up dosages even as overdoses climbed. The Oklahoma settlement comes two months before the case was set for trial.

Cheryl Juaire had been organizing a group of hundreds of mothers to go to the first day of the trial and stand outside with photos of their dead children. No amount would have satisfied her, she said, and the deal means Purdue gets to avoid revealing its responsibility for the opioid epidemic at trial. Her 23-year-old son died of an overdose in 2011.

She pleaded with other states and cities suing the company not to settle, which she described as a "huge disservice to the tens of thousands of families here in the United States who buried a child."

Others saw hope in a detail of the agreement: nearly $200 million for a national research center at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa.

FILE - In this June, 19, 2018, file photo Cheryl Juaire, of Marlborough, Mass., stands at her son Corey Merrill's grave in Chelmsford, Mass., who died from a prescription drug overdose. Anger and hope tinged survivors' reactions Tuesday, March 26, 2019, to news that Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, had reached a $270 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma. Juaire, who has been organizing a group of hundreds of mothers to go to the first day of the trial and stand outside with photos of their dead children, said she was devastated to hear about the settlement. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Craig Box, whose son Austin was a 22-year-old standout linebacker for the Oklahoma Sooners when he died of a prescription drug overdose in 2011, said he was pleased by that. He praised Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter for pursuing the case aggressively.

"It's a great day for the state of Oklahoma that they had the courage to fight this battle and push it as hard as they have, and candidly, that may have something to do with Purdue settling it, because Purdue's been trying to continue to trial," said Box, who anticipates testifying if the case against other drugmakers proceeds to trial.

Ryan Hampton of Los Angeles, who is in recovery from opioid addiction, would rather see the money go to people who need treatment now. He described the allocation of the funding, with most going to the university, as "unconscionable."

"That money needs to go to front-line workers, to recovery and harm prevention," Hampton said. "We already know what we need to do save lives. We need 100 percent of this money to fund direct services for people who need help immediately."

In Owasso, Oklahoma, the news was just sinking in for Allison Baker, whose 38-year-old daughter died of an overdose in 2014. When told the settlement amount, she asked, "How do you put a value on the life of a little girl you raised and had hopes and dreams for and she's just gone?"

Lance Lang, a 36-year-old recovering opioid addict from Oklahoma City, said while he empathizes with victims who wanted to see a trial, he's hoping some money will go toward helping those still suffering from addiction.

"My heart breaks for those that we've already lost. I've buried several myself," said Lang, who now works helping recovering addicts find housing. "But I also know we have waiting lists of dozens and dozens for our facilities, and the state has waiting lists of hundreds and hundreds of people who need help right now."

While "disappointing" for families searching for answers, Oklahoma is getting "an astounding figure" and Purdue still faces thousands of claims, said Jonathan Novak, a lawyer representing the city of Albuquerque, the state of Utah and other governments in opioid lawsuits.

"I get that disappointment," Novak said, "but this is the result people should be hoping for."

Jarrod Barber would take OxyContin with his friends during the depths of his addiction, his mother said, and the settlement is a pittance.

"Hopefully they will end up bankrupt," said Jodi Barber, "and every penny will be taken from them."

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Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Claire Galofaro in Louisville, Kentucky; and Sean Murphy and Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

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More of The Associated Press' coverage of the national opioid crisis can be found at: https://www.apnews.com/OvercomingOpioids
CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on the case against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett (all times local):

8 p.m.

Fox Television, which produces "Empire," says it is "gratified" that all charges against actor Jussie Smollett have been dropped.

In one-sentence statement, Fox says: "Jussie Smollett has always maintained his innocence and we are gratified that all charges against him have been dismissed."

Smollett's character was removed from the final two episodes of this season in the wake of his arrest in February on charges that he staged a racist, anti-gay attack on himself.

Smollett, who is black and gay, plays a gay character on the show that follows a black family as they navigate the ups and downs of the recording industry.

Actor Jussie Smollett leaves the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago on Tuesday March 26, 2019, after prosecutors dropped all charges against him. Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts related to making a false report that he was attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

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7 p.m.

The two candidates seeking to succeed Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel are asking for a more detailed explanation for the dropping of charges against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett.

Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot says the public has to be told what the underlying basis was for the Cook County State's Attorney Office's decision Tuesday.

Lightfoot noted when the charges against Smollett were announced, it looked like prosecutors had a very airtight case against the actor for allegedly staging a phony attack and claiming he was the victim of a hate crime.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle pointed out she is not a lawyer. However, she said it is important the state's attorney "be allowed to provide a fuller explanation as time goes on."

The candidates spoke about the Smollett case during a mayoral debate presented by Fox-Chicago. Voters will decide next week who will succeed Emanuel, who criticized prosecutors for their decision.

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4:30 p.m.

Many legal experts are stunned by prosecutors' decision to drop charges against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett.

Smollett told police he was the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack.

Cook County First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats told reporters that he still believes Smollett filed a false police report.

Magats says prosecutors dropped the case because Smollett forfeited a $10,000 bond payment and did community service. But Smollett is not backtracking from his account that he was the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack in downtown Chicago in January.

Legal experts say it's particularly unusual that prosecutors didn't demand an apology or otherwise insist Smollett take responsibility.

Phil Turner is an attorney who is not affiliated with the case. He called it "totally bizarre."

He said, "The damage done was worse than a broken arm or money lost in a fraud."

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3 p.m.

Prosecutors say one of the reasons they decided to drop charges against actor Jussie Smollett was because they want to focus resources on the city's gun violence.

Cook County First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats told WLS-TV on Tuesday that prosecutors want to combat "violent crime, gun crime and the drivers of violence."

His comments came after prosecutors dropped felony charges accusing Smollett of falsely telling police he was attacked.

Magats says Smollett faced accountability by doing community service and forfeiting his $10,000 bond payment. Magats called it a fair and just outcome.

He says he doesn't regret charging Smollett because "it was the right thing to do then."

Smollett isn't backtracking from his account of being attacked. He insists he's been "truthful and consistent."

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2:25 p.m.

Prosecutors says a stunning decision to drop charges against Jussie Smollett doesn't mean they no longer believe he staged a racial and homophobic attack against him in January.

First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats told reporters Tuesday that he still believes Smollett filed a false police report. He says prosecutors "stand behind the investigation and the facts." He added that "this was not an exoneration."

A minimum requirement for the dropping of charges is typically that a defendant accept some responsibility and offer an apology.

But speaking after prosecutors told a judge they were dropping all charges, Smollett conceded nothing and did not apologize. He insisted he'd been "truthful and consistent on every single level since day one."

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2:05 p.m.

The family of Jussie Smollett says they feel grateful after charges were dropped against the "Empire" actor.

His family said in a statement Tuesday that Smollett's character was "unjustly smeared" and the "truth prevailed" shortly after prosecutors dropped felony charges against him during a Chicago court hearing. The actor had been charged with falsely telling police he was attacked in the downtown area in January.

Smollett's family says the scrutiny he faced over the past several weeks was "heartbreaking" as many were "quick to judgment before hearing the actual truth."

The black and gay actor was accused by police and prosecutor of staging the racial and homophobic attack because he was unhappy with his pay.

The family called Smollett the victim and hope the "real perpetrators" are brought to justice.

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1:55 p.m.

Chicago's police union is outraged but not surprised that prosecutors dropped charges against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett.

Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Martin Preib said Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx is "not respected with police officers." He says the union previously asked the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago to look into the Smollett case.

Smollett had faced felony charges accusing him of falsely reporting to police that he was attacked in January. Police and prosecutors had said the black and gay actor staged the racial and homophobic attack because he was unhappy with his pay and to promote his career.

The charges were dropped Tuesday. Foxx's office hasn't responded to multiple requests for details. She had recused herself in February from the case.

Preib says Foxx "hasn't worked with the police to prosecute criminals at all so this is not surprising, but it is nevertheless offensive and wrong."

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1:05 p.m.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city's police chief have angrily criticized Jussie Smollett and the decision by prosecutors to drop all charges that alleged the "Empire" actor staged a racial and homophobic attack in the city in January.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, a visibly angry Emanuel called the decision a "whitewash of justice" and asked, "Where is the accountability in the system?"

Emanuel criticized Smollett for not taking any responsibility despite what he described as overwhelming evidence. He also says Smollett continues to drag Chicago's reputation through "the mud." His voice seeming to quiver with anger he said about Smollett, "Is there no decency in this man?"

Police Superintendent Eddie T. Johnson said Smollett still owns the city an apology.

Smollett has not backtracked from his original story, insisting he'd been "truthful and consistent on every single level since day one."

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12:50 p.m.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is calling the dropping of charges against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett "a whitewash of justice."

The comments Tuesday came after prosecutors dropped charges accusing Smollett of lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack in downtown Chicago.

Prosecutors haven't explained why they made the surprise decision and haven't said if they still maintain Smollett orchestrated the incident.

Smollett told reporters earlier that he'd been "truthful and consistent on every single level since day one."

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12:10 p.m.

Neither Jussie Smollett nor his attorney have backtracked from his original account that he was the target of a racist and homophobic attack in January.

The "Empire" actor spoke to reporters Tuesday after a court hearing in which his attorneys say prosecutors dropped all 16 felony counts alleging Smollett staged the attack. Prosecutors haven't explained why they made the surprise decision and haven't said if they still maintain Smollett orchestrated the incident.

A minimum requirement for dropping of charges in cases where prosecutors had said the evidence was strong is typically for defendants to accept some responsibility and perhaps even offer an apology.

But outside court, Smollett appeared to concede nothing Tuesday, insisting he'd been "truthful and consistent on every single level since day one."

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12:05 p.m.

"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett says he wants to get back to work and get on with his life.

Smollett spoke to reporters Tuesday after his attorneys said prosecutors dropped felony charges against him during a Chicago court hearing. The actor had been charged with falsely telling police he was attacked in downtown Chicago in January. He says it has been "an incredibly difficult time" and called it "one of the worst of my life."

Smollett says he wouldn't bring his family "through a fire like this." He thanked family and friends for their support. He says he'll continue to fight for justice and betterment "of marginalized people everywhere."

Police and prosecutors had said the black and gay actor staged the racial and homophobic attack because he was unhappy with his pay and to promote his career.

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11:20 a.m.

"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett says he's "been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one."

Smollett made the comment Tuesday after an emergency court hearing where his attorneys say charges alleging he lied to police about attack have been dropped.

Smollett had faced 16 felony counts alleging he lied to police about a racial and homophobic attack against him in January.

Police and prosecutors have said the black and gay actor falsely reported to authorities that he was attacked Jan. 29 in downtown Chicago because he was unhappy with his pay on the Fox show and to promote his career.

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10:55 a.m.

Prosecutors say they believe they've reached an "appropriate resolution" in the case against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett.

Attorneys for Smollett said Tuesday that all charges alleging he lied to police about attack have been dropped.

Smollett had faced 16 felony counts alleging he lied to police about a racial and homophobic attack against him in January.

In a statement, prosecutor's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton offered no detailed explanation.

The statement said, "After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett's volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case."

Smollett had made a $10,000 bond payment to the city to get out of jail after his arrest on the charges.

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10:20 a.m.

Attorneys for "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett say charges alleging he lied to police about attack have been dropped.

Smollett attorneys Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes said in a Tuesday morning statement that Smollett's record "has been wiped clean." Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts related to making a false report that he was attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs.

A spokeswoman for Cook County prosecutors didn't immediately respond to messages requesting comment.

Police and prosecutors have said the black and gay actor falsely reported to authorities that he was attacked Jan. 29 in downtown Chicago because he was unhappy with his pay on the Fox show and to promote his career.

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Check out the AP's complete coverage of the Jussie Smollett case.

Actor Jussie Smollett leaves the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago on Tuesday March 26, 2019, after prosecutors dropped all charges against him. Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts related to making a false report that he was attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A second Wisconsin judge on Tuesday blocked key portions of laws that Republicans passed in a lame-duck session limiting Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul's powers, handing Democrats another legal victory in their battle against the legislation in less than a week.

Dane County Judge Frank Remington issued a preliminary injunction blocking language that bars Evers from pulling Wisconsin out of multistate lawsuits without legislators' permission. That statute was designed to keep Evers from pulling out of a multistate lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act.

The injunction also blocks provisions that require Kaul to get legislative approval before settling cases, force state agencies to review publications explaining how they interpret state law by July or else take the documents down, and allow lawmakers to suspend agency regulations multiple times.

Majority Republicans passed the legislation in December after Evers and Kaul defeated Republican incumbents in the November midterm election. The moves outraged Democrats, who urged outgoing Gov. Scott Walker not to sign the legislation. He did anyway.

Remington's order stems from a union lawsuit alleging the laws violate the separation of powers between the Legislature and the executive branch. The unions argue the laws essentially steal power from the governor and attorney general and transfer it to lawmakers.

Walker appointed Remington to the bench in 2011. But the judge wrote in his order that government officials should focus on the people of Wisconsin rather than a "parochial vision of political power held by one party, or one branch of government over another."

"The people of Wisconsin deserve more and the (state) constitution requires no less," Remington wrote.

Evers praised the ruling, calling the lame-duck session "nothing more than an illegal power grab."

It wasn't a total win for Democrats. Remington let stand other sections that grant the Legislature the right to intervene in lawsuits with its own attorneys rather than Kaul's state Department of Justice lawyers. The judge wrote that he can't include those provisions in the injunction because he has "more questions than answers" since the Legislature has always been able to ask a judge to intervene in cases. He also left alone a requirement that state health officials implement a federal waiver setting up work requirements for childless adults to receive state health insurance.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, both Republicans, said in a joint statement they were encouraged that Remington let some elements of the law stand but they will appeal the rest of his order.

In a separate lawsuit last week, Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess blocked the laws in their entirety. In that case, a group of liberal-leaning organizations argued that the Legislature convened illegally when it passed the laws in December in a so-called extraordinary session.

Extraordinary sessions are previously unscheduled floor periods convened by the majority party. The liberal-leaning groups contend lawmakers can convene only on dates scheduled as part of a resolution the Legislature passes at the beginning of each biennium or at the governor's call. Republicans have countered that position is absurd and outlawing extraordinary sessions would leave thousands of statutes passed during such sessions over the decades vulnerable to legal challenge.

Empowered by Niess' injunction, Evers ordered Kaul to withdraw from the lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act within hours of the judge issuing the order. On Friday he rescinded all 82 of Walker's appointments.

Republicans have asked the 3rd District Court of Appeals to stay Niess' ruling pending a full appeal. A decision could come at any time.

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This story has been corrected to remove a note that the judge let stand language that prohibits Evers from withdrawing from lawsuits without legislative approval. The order does block those provisions, allowing Evers to pull Wisconsin out of lawsuits.

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Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1
WASHINGTON (AP) - News that special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has put President Donald Trump in his favorite position as he heads into his 2020 re-election campaign: the victim, fighting against an establishment that has tried to take him down.

"It's a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this," Trump told reporters after a summary of the report was made public over the weekend. "This was an illegal takedown that failed. And hopefully, somebody is going to be looking at the other side."

It's unusual for a president to run for re-election against a Washington establishment that he purportedly leads. And it is striking for one to be so willing to keep the focus on a wide-ranging investigation that led to criminal convictions against his former campaign manager, national security adviser and personal lawyer, among others, and that still could turn up more damaging information when additional details are released.

But for Trump and his allies, the report - which they and the public have yet to see - is nonetheless being wielded as a rallying cry for the supporters they need to return to the polls in November 2020 and as a weapon against Democrats and the media, whom they accuse of driving a false narrative in order to delegitimize Trump's presidency.

Trump is expected to continue to push that theme at his political rallies, starting Thursday when he speaks in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

"They've made Donald Trump look like the victim here because he has been," White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Monday. On Tuesday, she said the investigation was "a witch hunt against the president and his campaign" and "an insult from the beginning" to those who worked for him.

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he arrives for a Senate Republican policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

"There were a lot of shenanigans going on because people did not want him to be elected president," she said, accusing opponents of "deriding the Trump voters as the smelly Walmart shoppers."

"If you even like the president, you're a target," Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close friend of the president, said on his talk radio show on Tuesday.

It's a familiar playbook for Trump, whose 2016 campaign was a model of grievance politics, with constant claims that he was being "treated unfairly" by the media and the Republican Party. Trump frequently claimed the election was "rigged" against him - until he won. He embraced his Democratic rival's attempts to paint his supporters as "deplorables," saying he was fighting for the "forgotten men and women" whom he uniquely understood.

"Clearly, at least for now, the strategy will be to use this as part of this theme that he is a soldier for his base, he is being attacked on both sides, and that allows him to be the underdog and the outsider, even though he's the president of the United States," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of American political history at Princeton University.

That approach, he said, differs from past presidents, as well as Vice President Al Gore, who tried to avoid talk of Clinton administration scandals in his losing 2000 race.

Past presidents have tried to discredit allegations, Zelizer says, "but then they are desperate to move on. They want to talk about issues, they want to talk about personality - anything but the scandal."

Trump, for his part, is out for vengeance.

On Monday, he accused those who launched the investigation of having done "evil" deeds and "treasonous things against our country." On Tuesday, he continued to stoke visions of a vast conspiracy against him.

"I think it went very high up," he said. "It went very high up, and it started fairly low, but with instructions from the high up."

Asked whether he thought "it reached the West Wing of the Obama White House," Trump responded coyly: "I don't want to say that, but I think you know the answer."

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Follow Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly could be forced to replace Kansas' top business development official because of two small grants to a nonprofit group he previously managed from a fund tied to a late physician known nationally for doing late-term abortions.

Acting state Commerce Secretary David Toland has no role in regulating abortion providers, but the state's most influential anti-abortion group has joined an effort by some Republican legislators to oust him. They are troubled by grants totaling less than $20,000 to a southeast Kansas economic development group from a memorial fund named for Dr. George Tiller.

Tiller was among a handful of physicians in the U.S. known to terminate pregnancies in their final weeks. His clinic in Wichita was the site of repeated anti-abortion protests, including the weeks-long "Summer of Mercy" in 1991. He was shot to death in 2009 in his church by an anti-abortion zealot who is serving a 25 years-to-life prison sentence.

Toland's political problems began with serving as the unpaid treasurer for Kelly's successful campaign last year and have since mushroomed. The Republican-dominated Senate is expected to vote on his appointment next week, and it refuses to confirm him, he will have to step down from the Cabinet post he's held since Kelly took office in January.

Several Republican senators said Tuesday that the Tiller fund grants troubled them, and the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life emailed all 40 senators a letter Monday urging them not to confirm Toland's appointment. A few GOP lawmakers noted that the commerce secretary controls programs and incentives for luring businesses to Kansas.

"The next logical question is: Is he going to try to increase the number of abortion clinics in the state of Kansas?" said state Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, a conservative Kansas City-area Republican. "I think that we can't rule that out."

In this Wednesday, March 20, 2019, photo, Acting Kansas Commerce Secretary David Toland speaks with reporters following a Senate committee's confirmation hearing at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kansas. Toland is under fire because a nonprofit group that he used to run received two small grants from a fund tied to a late physician known nationally for doing late-term abortions. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Opposition to Toland's appointment is an example of how abortion remains an enduring political issue in Kansas, which has only three clinics providing abortions. The Legislature has had solid anti-abortion majorities for two decades and recently passed a resolution condemning a new law in New York protecting abortion rights.

"The last thing we want to see happen is a commerce secretary who is dialed in to how to get money from the Tiller foundation," said Mary Kay Culp, Kansans for Life's executive director.

The controversy also shows how Kelly, who promised a bipartisan governing style, has had a rocky start in the face of resistance to her agenda from conservative Republican leaders. It's especially notable because it's rare for even Democratic governors to have Cabinet appointments rejected.

"It's a smear campaign," said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat and close Kelly ally. "It's just politics."

Toland previously served 11 years as executive director of Thrive Allen County, the southeast Kansas nonprofit. He's received credit for helping to lure a new grocery store to his hometown of Iola and persuade voters to build a new community hospital.

Some Republicans have questioned Toland's credentials and criticized him over a few social media posts and comments he made at a rally last year for expanding Medicaid. However, he also has the support of business leaders and local chamber-of-commerce officials across the state, and even some GOP senators consider him well-qualified.

"It's time to end these baseless attacks and confirm him to be our next secretary of commerce," Kelly said in a statement Tuesday.

According to the Wichita Community Foundation , which administers the Tiller fund, its first grant to Thrive Allen County, in 2015, was $9,380. It went to efforts to help low-income pregnant women stop smoking and get them to appointments for breast and cervical cancer screenings.

The second grant, in 2018, was $10,000 and went to the local health department to help provide long-acting contraceptives to women who have no or limited health insurance coverage.

Toland said in statement that he's proud of Thrive Allen County's work and, "We have healthier mothers and healthier babies in the county as a result, which is good for businesses and our economy."

Kansans for Life and other abortion opponents are put off because Thrive Allen County's website lists the Tiller fund as one of its "partners."

Culp worries that small grants across the state could be used to refer women to abortion providers as part of a "racket to protect abortion."

And Sen. Gene Suellentrop, a conservative Wichita Republican, said Toland and Thrive Allen County now have a tie with the Tiller fund.

"It does trouble me," he said.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna .

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly answers questions from reporters as she announces her veto of a Republican tax relief bill during a news conference, Monday, March 25, 2019, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kansas. The Democratic governor said the tax bill would have created a "self-inflicted budget crisis." (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Kansas state Sen. Gene Suellentrop, left, R-Wichita, reads an email from Kansans for Life, as Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, R-Galena, watches, Tuesday, March 26, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kansas. The anti-abortion group opposes the confirmation of Acting Commerce Secretary David Toland, and the email asks senators to vote against Toland. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

In this Wednesday, March 20, 2019, photo, Acting Kansas Commerce Secretary David Toland testifies during a Senate committee confirmation hearing at the Statehouse, in Topeka, Kansas. Toland's appointment as the state's top business development official faces opposition from abortion opponents. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's opposition to further disaster aid for hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico hardened on Tuesday as he told GOP allies at a Capitol Hill meeting that the U.S. island territory has gotten too much rebuilding money compared with mainland states like Florida and Texas.

Trump's ardent opposition to additional Puerto Rico funding sets up a showdown with House Democrats, who insist that a $13 billion to $14 billion disaster aid package that's a top priority for southern Republicans won't advance without further aid for the island.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said Trump told Republicans at a closed-door luncheon on Tuesday that aid for Puerto Rico "is way out of proportion to what Texas and Florida and others have gotten."

Trump does support $600 million to deal with a food stamp shortfall in Puerto Rico that has already meant slashed benefits, Rubio said, but opposes more generous terms for delivery of disaster aid dollars and funding to rebuild antiquated water systems and make them more resilient to future storms.

The disaster aid package cleared a procedural hurdle by a 90-10 vote and is expected to pass the Senate as early as late this week, which would set up talks with the Democratic-controlled House. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said the House will insist on further aid for Puerto Rico or the disaster aid measure won't clear Congress.

"Nearly 3,000 American lives were lost in the historic storms that devastated Puerto Rico and destroyed its infrastructure, and the island is still struggling to recover," Lowey said in a joint statement with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

This June 18, 2018, file photo shows an aerial view of the Amelia neighborhood in the municipality of Catano, east of San Juan, Puerto Rico. A long-delayed disaster aid bill that's a top political priority for some of President Donald Trump's GOP allies is facing a potentially tricky path as it heads to the Senate floor this week. Although the measure has wide backing from both parties, the White House isn't pleased with the bill and is particularly opposed to efforts by Democrats to make hurricane relief to Puerto Rico more generous. (AP Photo/Dennis M. Rivera, File)

The measure has wide support from both Democrats and Republicans and is ardently backed by Trump loyalists such as David Perdue, R-Ga., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., whose states were slammed by hurricanes last fall. The measure has been expanded so that Midwestern states such as Iowa and Nebraska that are currently suffering from flooding are eligible for disaster help.

"Just at the time when harvesting was starting, Hurricane Michael hit and crops were completely destroyed across most of our state," Perdue said.

The House passed a companion $14.2 billion version of the legislation in January, but it got tangled up in the politics of the partial government shutdown and Trump's demands for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The measure is especially sought by lawmakers from Southern states like Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, which were hit by hurricanes Michael and Florence last year. There's money to respond to an earthquake in Alaska, wildfires in California and floods in South Carolina and for the ongoing recovery effort in Puerto Rico, which was devastated by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017.

The Trump administration has been slow to deliver the aid to Puerto Rico that Congress has already approved for the island.

"The lack of leadership and coordination, combined with delays in meeting the basic needs of the island, more than eighteen months after receiving a presidential disaster declaration, has left far too many children and elderly citizens in unhealthy and unsafe conditions, families in severely damaged homes, and communities without adequate infrastructure to sustain a decent quality of life," Leahy and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a letter to the White House on Tuesday.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A sixth police officer in New Jersey's third-largest city faces criminal charges in connection with a federal probe that has painted a grim picture of illegal searches, drug dealing, thefts from drug suspects and assaults.

Paterson Police Officer Daniel Pent was arrested Tuesday at police headquarters by FBI agents on a complaint charging him with conspiring to deprive individuals of civil rights under color of law. He made an initial appearance in federal court, where his attorney called the 32-year-old "a hero police officer, a very dedicated police officer" who once took down an armed man in an alleyway.

"Now it's our turn to do an investigation into these charges," attorney Michael Calabro said.

Paterson Director of Public Safety Jerry Speziale said Tuesday his department has cooperated with investigators during the probe.

"This is a collaboration we relish," he said. "We will never allow or accept any type of corruption. This is not reflective of the 418 men and women who serve with pride and dignity."

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh has called for an outside audit of the police department.

The allegations are similar to ones leveled several years ago against the police department in Newark, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Paterson. Those resulted in a Department of Justice investigation that led to a consent decree and federal monitoring of the department that is in its third year.

Speziale defended his department's handling of the investigation.

"This is a situation where the Paterson Police Department recognized a problem, identified a problem and worked with the federal authorities to root out corruption," he said.

According to a criminal complaint, Pent and fellow officer Eudy Ramos illegally stopped individuals and vehicles in Paterson and stole money from the people they stopped. In one instance in February 2017, the two officers allegedly took $10,000 from a suspected drug dealer and Pent later filed a report saying the man had $36 in his possession.

Ramos was indicted last week. Through his attorney, he has maintained his innocence.

Two other officers have been charged with similar shakedowns. Former officer Jonathan Bustios pleaded guilty in December to one civil rights count and one extortion count. While Matthew Torres, also charged in December, allegedly told FBI agents that he and Ramos engaged in criminal conduct routinely, according to a criminal complaint.

Torres' attorney didn't immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday.

Two other officers were charged with separate crimes. Last June, Ruben McAusland admitted dealing drugs - including some he stole from a crime scene while on duty - and taking part in the unrelated assault of a hospital patient.

Federal prosecutors say McAusland distributed heroin, crack cocaine, powder cocaine and marijuana on multiple occasions to someone who was cooperating with law enforcement.

Fellow officer Roger Then pleaded guilty in December to concealing knowledge of a felony from authorities in connection with the assault of the patient.
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Vermont filed a lawsuit Tuesday against two pharmaceutical distributors, accusing them of selling ever-increasing amounts of prescription opioids in the state while failing to effectively monitor and control the sales and acknowledge the quantity of pills was outpacing the need.

The lawsuit alleges Cardinal Health, Inc. and McKesson Corporation committed unfair and deceptive acts and practices, were negligent, and that their behavior constitutes a public nuisance.

"By law, these companies - McKesson and Cardinal Health - are supposed to be the gatekeepers to keep out the flow of opiates in this state," said Attorney General T.J. Donovan. "They essentially opened the gate, and let the flood of these pills come into this state and overwhelm the state of Vermont."

"The idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and is regulated," said John Parker, a spokesman for the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a national trade association representing wholesale distributors. "Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation."

McKesson did not directly address the lawsuit in an emailed statement but said that the company has "strong programs designed to detect and prevent opioid diversion within the pharmaceutical supply chain."

It noted that it only distributes opioids to state-licensed and Drug Enforcement Administration-registered pharmacies. It said it is concerned about and working to address the opioid crisis.

An email seeking comment was sent to representatives for Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal.

The lawsuit was filed on the same day that the maker of OxyContin and the company's controlling family agreed to pay $270 million to Oklahoma to settle allegations they helped create the country's opioid crisis with their marketing of the painkiller.

Vermont has a similar lawsuit pending against the company, Purdue Pharma. Last week, a judge denied Purdue's motion to dismiss the state's case. Purdue has denied it acted improperly.

In the newest lawsuit, the state alleges McKesson and Cardinal Health were involved in marketing aimed at increasing sales in Vermont, although Donovan said the companies deny that.

"They worked with Purdue Pharma, the manufacturers, to increase the sales to make money at the cost of hundreds of Vermonters who have died and thousands whose lives have ruined," he said. "That is why we bring the lawsuit today, against McKesson and Cardinal Health."

In 2015, nearly 500,000 opioid prescriptions were dispensed in Vermont, which had about 625,000 residents.

The two companies also failed to notify regulators of increasing evidence of widespread diversion of the drugs that should have been apparent in their distribution and sales data, Donovan said.

About a dozen states have pending lawsuits against distributors, the attorney general's office said.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on the U.S. International Trade Commission's findings in cases alleging Apple's iPhones infringed on technology owned by Qualcomm (all times local):

3 p.m.

The U.S. International Trade Commission is reversing an administrative law judge's findings that Apple's iPhones infringed on technology owned by Qualcomm.

The decision invalidating Qualcomm's patent claim handed Apple a victory late Tuesday in Washington. It came a few hours after Apple suffered a setback in another ITC case brought by Qualcomm that could still result in a U.S. import ban on some iPhones.

It's all part of a messy battle between Apple and Qualcomm over which company owns the rights to some of the technology underlying key features in the iPhone.

In the latest development, the trade commission tossed aside a decision reached last September on one of Qualcomm's patent claims.

FILE- In this Jan. 3, 2019, file photo a man leaves an Apple store in Beijing. A trade court judge will recommend banning some iPhones from being imported into the U.S. after concluding Apple's best-selling device infringed on technology owned by mobile chip maker Qualcomm. The U.S. Trade International Trade Commission decision is the latest twist in a bitter legal dispute between Qualcomm and Apple over the rights to some of the technology that enables the iPhone to connect to the internet. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

The commission must still review Tuesday's earlier decision, which found that an iPhone feature violated a different Qualcomm patent.

___

1:15 p.m.

A trade court judge will recommend banning some iPhones from being imported into the U.S. after concluding Apple's best-selling device infringed on technology owned by mobile chip maker Qualcomm.

The U.S. International Trade Commission decision is the latest twist in a bitter legal dispute between Qualcomm and Apple over the rights to some of the technology that connects iPhones to the internet.

It's unclear if the recommended ban will be imposed or even which iPhone models would be affected. McNamara's recommendation still must be weighed by the full trade commission.

Qualcomm applauded McNamara's findings. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

A similar decision was reached by a trade commission judge last September in another patent infringement case that Qualcomm filed against Apple. The full commission is expected issue its ruling on that judge's initial findings later Tuesday.

The legal battle between Qualcomm and Apple broke out more than two years ago after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Qualcomm for allegedly using its portfolio of mobile technology patents to gouge smartphone makers and stifle competition in the chip market. A federal court judge in San Jose, California, is still mulling a decision in that case, two months after presiding over a trial.

Shortly after the FTC filed its case in 2017, Apple pounced with its own lawsuit accusing Qualcomm of trying to wring licensing fees for technology that it didn't really invent.

Apple subsequently stopped paying royalties to Qualcomm, further poisoning the two companies' relationship.

Qualcomm prevailed in another round of skirmishing when a federal court jury in San Diego decided Apple should pay $31 million in damages for making several different types of iPhones that violated Qualcomm patents. The bout is scheduled to resume April 15 at yet another federal court trial in San Diego.
GENEVA (AP) - Two independent U.N. human rights experts are denouncing moves by big investment and private equity firms to buy up affordable and low-income homes to the detriment of tenants, singling out one by name: Blackstone Group.

A statement from the United Nations human rights office in Geneva on Tuesday said Leilani Farha and Surya Deva had written to Blackstone to air concerns that "its actions are inconsistent with international human rights law with respect to the right to housing."

Blackstone responded in an extensive rebuttal letter faulting "numerous false claims, significant factual errors and inaccurate conclusions" by the experts.

The concerns expressed by the experts, who are among dozens of outside experts who work in connection with the rights office but are not U.N. staffers, amounted to a relatively rare instance in which a single company's activities were flagged for concerns about their human rights implications.

The experts faulted firms like Blackstone that buy up properties "en masse," renovate them and jack up rental rates - thus forcing tenants out of their homes and communities.

Farha, the rapporteur on "the right to adequate housing" whose position is mandated by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, based her concerns on the "right to an adequate standard of living."

The experts also contacted five European countries and the United States, saying they had facilitated the "financialization" of housing through measures like favorable tax laws and weak tenant protections.

In its four-page rebuttal dated Monday, Blackstone claimed a number of benefits to its investments - such as improving housing through renovations, providing rental opportunities to people who cannot afford to buy, and putting up capital that "helped to stabilize local housing markets following the financial crisis," among other things.

"We take our responsibilities as residential landlords around the world incredibly seriously, and hold ourselves to the highest standards of fairness, transparency and empathy for our residents," the letter said.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - It's pronounced "app-uh-latch-uh," not "app-uh-lay-sha."

Lawmakers give the pronunciation lesson in a resolution calling for an official state manual called the Tennessee Blue Book to discuss how people in Appalachia talk. A Senate panel advanced the proposal Tuesday.

The push by Republican Sen. Steve Southerland of Morristown says Appalachian people are often misrepresented and misunderstood by society, and their dialect is often disparaged.

The resolution counters that Appalachian is a "fully legitimate dialect and most deserving of the respect afforded other dialects of American English."

The resolution links Appalachian linguistics to early influencers. It says a "pone" of cornbread is borrowed from the Native American language Algonquian; having "boo coos" of something links to the French "beaucoup;" and that "might could" is a compound helping verb influenced by the Scotch-Irish.

"I liketa have all of you all vote for it," Southerland told the Senate committee. "'All of you all' is plural to y'all," he added, drawing some laughs.

In this undated file photo, Davy Crockett, American pioneer and member of the U.S. Congress, is shown in a portrait drawing. It's pronounced "app-uh-latch-uh," not "app-uh-lay-sha." Lawmakers give the pronunciation lesson in a resolution calling for the state's Tennessee Blue Book to discuss how people in Appalachia talk. A Senate panel advanced the proposal Tuesday, March 26, 2019. The resolution also ties the speech of Appalachia to other parts of the country, noting that Tennessean Crockett and other Appalachians traveled to parts of Texas, likely bringing the construction "liketa" with them. (AP Photo, File)

The resolution also ties the speech of Appalachia to other parts of the country, noting that Tennessean Davy Crockett and other Appalachians traveled to parts of Texas, likely bringing the construction "liketa" with them.

As defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission, the 205,000-square-mile region traces the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi, including all of West Virginia and parts of 12 other states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

The resolution calls for Appalachian lingo to be covered in the Tennessee Blue Book, published every two years by the Secretary of State's office. It serves as a manual on the state and its government, and includes a section named "A History of Tennessee: The Land and Native People."

Republican Rep. Jeremy Faison of Cosby, who is pushing the resolution in the House, said people might think it's a little bit funny, but they're fascinated when they start hearing the history.

"The Appalachian language is the oldest language in the state of Tennessee, and it has rich history all throughout America that stretches all the way from New England to Texas," Faison said. "Our dialect is a beautiful dialect, and I want it to be honored in our Blue Book."
ATLANTA (AP) - A prize-winning show dog that vanished at the Atlanta airport has been found.

Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport say Gale, a 22-year-month-old American Staffordshire terrier, is back with her owner after days of searching for her.

News outlets report airport search crews spotted the dog in an airfield thicket Tuesday and set up a baited trap. She was reunited with her owners not long after.

Gale's handlers arrived at the airport March 23 to fly back to Amsterdam. Gale was checked in and went through security, but according to the owner, the handlers were about to board a plane when officials told them the dog was missing. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said in a statement that the dog broke out of its cage.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Cardi B is trying to clarify herself after a video resurfaced online where the rapper said she drugged and robbed men for money.

The Grammy winner posted a statement Tuesday on Instagram that she had "very limited options" and needed to do anything to "survive." The former stripper says she wasn't trying to glorify her actions, but felt it was necessary at the time.

Cardi B is facing backlash from the Instagram Live video she says is from three years ago. Some on social media have criticized the rapper for her admission with the hashtag #SurvivingCardiB in reference to the R. Kelly documentary "Surviving R. Kelly."

Cardi says the men she spoke about in the video were ones she dated and they were "conscious, willing and aware."

FILE - This Dec. 7, 2018 file photo shows Rapper Cardi B, center, arriving at Queens County Criminal Court in New York on charges related to a brawl at a New York strip club. Cardi B is trying to clarify herself after a video surfaced online where the rapper said she drugged and robbed men for money. The Grammy winner posted a statement Tuesday, March 26, 2019, on Instagram that she had "very limited options" and needed to do anything to "survive." The former stripper says she wasn't trying to glorify her actions, but felt it was necessary at the time. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - A man convicted in a deadly car attack on a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia is expected to change his plea to federal hate crime charges Wednesday.

James Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, was convicted in state court in December in the death of anti-racism activist Heather Heyer and for injuring dozens more.

Fields separately pleaded not guilty to 30 federal hate crime charges in July. An online court docket updated late Tuesday says Fields is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville Wednesday for a change-of-plea hearing.

One of the charges carries the death penalty, although prosecutors had not yet announced whether they planned to seek that punishment.

It's unclear what Fields' change of plea will include. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen said prosecutors would have no comment until after Wednesday's hearing. Attorneys for Fields did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The "Unite the Right" rally on Aug. 12, 2017, drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Hundreds more turned out to protest against the white nationalists.

FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2017 file photo, people fly into the air as a vehicle is driven into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. A man convicted in the deadly car attack on a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia is expected to change his plea to federal hate crime charges. An online court docket updated late Tuesday, March 26, 2019, says James Alex Fields Jr. is scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday for a change-of-plea hearing. (Ryan M. Kelly/The Daily Progress via AP, File)

The car attack came after violent brawling between the two sides prompted police to disband the crowds.

During his state trial, prosecutors said Fields - described by a former teacher as an admirer of Adolf Hitler - drove his car directly into a crowd of counterprotesters because he was angry after witnessing earlier clashes between the two groups. The jury rejected the defense claim that Fields acted in self-defense because he feared for his life after witnessing the earlier violence. Jurors recommended a life sentence plus 419 years, although a judge still has to decide on the punishment. Sentencing is scheduled for July 15.

The federal indictment against Fields brought charges under two hate crime statutes, including the one under which Dylann Roof was prosecuted for the 2015 killings of nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Twenty-nine of the counts were brought under that statute, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

A single count was brought under a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. That charge accused Fields of racially motivated violent interference with a federally protected activity - in this case, the use of the public streets and sidewalks of Charlottesville. That charge carries a possible death penalty.

President Donald Trump sparked an uproar when he blamed the violence at the rally on "both sides."
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max made a safe emergency landing Tuesday in Orlando, Florida, after experiencing an engine problem, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The crew declared an emergency after taking off from Orlando International Airport around 2:50 p.m., and returned to the airport safely. No passengers were on board, and the aircraft was being ferried to Victorville, California, where Southwest is storing the airplanes.

The 737 Max was grounded in the U.S. March 13 after a deadly crash involving a Max in Ethiopia on March 10. It was the second fatal crash involving the airplane. U.S. airlines are allowed to shuttle the planes but cannot carry passengers.

The FAA says it's investigating but the emergency was not related to anti-stall software that is suspected as a cause of the two fatal crashes including one last year involving a plane from Indonesia.

Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell says one of the airport's three runways was shut down for cleaning after the landing. She says its standard procedure to check a runway for debris after an emergency landing. It wasn't clear if any parts actually fell off the plane.

Fennell says the airport's other two runways remained open, and normal operations weren't affected.

FILE - In this Monday, March 18, 2019, file photo, the logo for Southwest Airlines appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The Federal Aviation Administration says a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max jet made a safe emergency landing Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Orlando, Fla., after experiencing an apparent engine problem. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Southwest said the plane's pilots reported a "performance issue" with an engine shortly after taking off for the California airport, where it was flying to be in short-term storage. The Max 8 jet was to be moved to Southwest's Orlando maintenance facility to be checked, a company statement said.
NEW YORK (AP) - A New York judge on Tuesday dismissed portions of a lawsuit filed by former Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine against the company last year.

Levine was the Met's music or artistic director from 1976-2016, then became its music director emeritus. He was fired in March 2018 after the Met said an investigation found evidence of sexual abuse and harassment. Levine sued three days later, claiming breach of contract and defamation and seeking at least $5.8 million in damages.

The Met moved last July to dismiss the defamation counts.

New York Supreme Court Justice Andrea Masley on Tuesday dismissed all but one of the defamation claims.

Breach of contract claims remain part of the suit.

Bettina B. Plevan, a lawyer for the Met, said the company was pleased.

FILE - In this July 7, 2006 file photo, Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine conducts the symphony on its opening night performance at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. A New York judge dismissed two of the seven counts and part of a third in the lawsuit filed by the former Metropolitan Opera music director against the company last year. Levine was the Met's music or artistic director from 1976-2016, then became music director emeritus. He was fired by the Met on March 12 last year after the company said an investigation found evidence of sexual abuse and harassment. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

Levine's lawyer, Edward J.M. Little, said he was encouraged by the decision to uphold the one defamation claim.

"The Met didn't just fire him," Little said in a statement. "It defamed him on the way out after his 50 years of brilliant artistic genius that contributed greatly to what the Met became."
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota utility regulators have granted a final approval to Enbridge Energy's proposed Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement.

The Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday unanimously rejected the last pending petitions for reconsideration, including one from the state Commerce Department.

The Commerce Department had joined with tribal and environmental groups in challenging the project's approvals before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which sent the case back to the commission last month.

Gov. Tim Walz says his administration will study Tuesday's decision before deciding next steps.

Line 3 has carried Canadian crude since the 1960s and is showing its age. The new line would cross Alberta, a corner of North Dakota and northern Minnesota to an Enbridge terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. Besides clearing the legal challenges, Calgary-based Enbridge also needs state and federal permits, which the company hopes to secure around end of the year.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Authorities say the manager of an Oklahoma Arby's restaurant has been charged in the fatal shooting of a customer who she said threatened her.

Tulsa County jail records show 25-year-old Deionna Young is being held without bond Tuesday on a first-degree murder charge. Records don't list an attorney representing Young, who was arrested Monday.

Sgt. Shane Tuell says Young reported to police on Saturday that a drive-thru customer cursed and spit at her. She asked him to leave.

Tuell says the customer, 25-year-old Desean Tallent, returned later, but drove away. Young followed him and shot into his car, hitting him in the upper torso.

Young then returned to work, and Tallent crashed into a Walmart. He later died at a hospital.

An Arby's spokesman says the franchise owner is cooperating with authorities.
PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona woman who used to operate a popular YouTube channel featuring children has been indicted on charges that she kidnapped five of her seven adopted children and abused them by pepper-spraying them, forcing them to take ice baths and striking them with clothes hangers.

The indictment filed Monday mirrors some charges brought last week against Machelle Hobson. Christy Wilcox, a spokeswoman for the Pinal County Attorney's Office, said prosecutors didn't have direct evidence that Hobson was abusing two of the adopted children, both of whom are aged 3.

Hobson is accused of using pepper spray on a child's genitals, applying a lighter or stun gun to a victim's genitals, arm or other body parts, and causing them to suffer malnourishment.

Authorities have previously said Hobson locked up the children in a closet for days at a time without food, water or access to a bathroom.

Hobson attorney Richard Scherb didn't immediately return a call Tuesday afternoon seeking comment on his client's behalf.

Hobson, who remained jail Tuesday on a $200,000 bond, is scheduled to enter a plea on 24 counts of child abuse, five counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated assault at an arraignment hearing on Friday.

FILE - This file booking photo provided by Pinal County Sheriff's Office shows Machelle Hobson. Hobson, who used to operate a popular YouTube channel featuring children, was indicted Monday, March 25, 2019, on charges that she abused and kidnapped five of her seven adopted children. (Pinal County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

YouTube has since terminated Hobson's channel, which featured skits about such things as children stealing cookies or a boy with superpowers, after determining the channel violated its guidelines.

Investigators had said they found two cans of pepper spray in Hobson's bedroom.

Police had said the children were malnourished, noting that one hungry child was fearful to eat a bag of chips that police had given her because she didn't want Hobson to smell them on her breath. They also said the children were taken out of school so they could keep filming the video series and hadn't been back in school for years.

Hobson's biological daughter, who is an adult, alerted police of the abuse nearly two weeks ago, prompting officers to visit Hobson's home in the city of Maricopa, located 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Phoenix.

The Arizona Department of Child Safety later removed the children from the home, and Hobson and her two of her adult sons were arrested. The sons, Logan and Ryan Hackney, are accused of failing to report abuse of a minor.

The child safety agency declined to say whether it had any prior contacts or complaints related to Hobson, citing confidentiality laws.

In a statement Tuesday, Child Safety Director Gregory McKay said Hobson's case brings pain to those who work for the agency and pointed out the difficulty in detecting abuse by people who have no criminal records.

McKay said at least 20 systems or agencies were involved with Hobson and the adopted children, including two police departments and a foster care review board.

"However much I wish someone would have detected these alleged horrors sooner, no one did," McKay said in the statement.

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Follow Jacques Billeaud at twitter.com/jacquesbilleaud.
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - The Latest on a Vermont lawsuit against two pharmaceutical distributors (all times local):

6:55 p.m.

One of the companies named in a Vermont suit accusing two pharmaceutical distributors of failing to monitor opioid sales says it has strong checks designed to prevent the diversion of such painkillers.

The office of Attorney General T.J. Donovan filed the suit in Burlington on Tuesday against Cardinal Health, Inc. and McKesson Corporation. Donovan says the distributors were supposed to "raise the warning flag that too many pills were coming into Vermont."

He says both Cardinal and McKesson were involved in marketing aimed at increasing sales in Vermont although the companies have denied that.

San Francisco-based McKesson says in a statement that it has no specific response to Vermont's lawsuit.

But McKesson says it is working to address the opioid epidemic.

___

6:08 p.m.

Vermont is suing two pharmaceutical distributors, accusing them of selling ever-increasing amounts of prescription opioids while failing to monitor the sales or acknowledge the quantity of pills was outpacing the need.

The office of Attorney General T.J. Donovan filed a lawsuit in Burlington on Tuesday against Cardinal Health, Inc. and McKesson Corporation, seeking an undetermined amount in damages.

Donovan says the distributors were supposed to "raise the warning flag that too many pills were coming into Vermont."

He says both Cardinal and McKesson were involved in marketing aimed at increasing sales in Vermont although the companies deny it.

Emails seeking comment were sent to Cardinal and McKesson representatives.

A spokesman for Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a trade association representing wholesale distributors, says the idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions defies common sense.
CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri man accused of calling in a bomb threat to a high school to try to get out of a traffic stop has pleaded guilty in the case.

Robert Ritter of Carthage in southwestern Missouri entered the plea Monday to a charge of making a false bomb threat. The Joplin Globe reports that Ritter was given a four-year suspended sentence as part of his plea deal and placed on five years of supervised probation.

The 44-year-old Ritter was a passenger in a car that a Jasper County deputy pulled over in November for having expired plates that did not match the vehicle. Authorities said Ritter called in the bomb threat to try to get the deputy to leave the traffic stop and report to the high school.

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Information from: The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) - Flagstaff police are investigating what they say appear to be hate symbols at a synagogue.

Officers responded to the Chabad of Flagstaff on Monday and found multiple rooms damaged.

Police say paint smeared on windows and carvings in a wall appeared to be swastikas. The symbols aren't well-defined in photos released by the Flagstaff Police Department.

Rabbi Dovie Shapiro says the Jewish community is shocked and disturbed by what he called an act of hate.

Police say the damage occurred sometime between Friday and Monday when a construction crew working at the site was off-duty.

Police spokesman Sgt. Charles Hernandez says officers have collected fingerprints, biological evidence and video footage to try to determine who is responsible. He says the damage is at least $1,000.

Police don't believe anything was stolen from the property.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Latest on former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's negligence lawsuit against the maker of an elastic exercise band he blames for injuries including blindness in one eye after losing his grip and falling while using a flexible device in 2015 (all times local):

4:50 p.m.

A lawyer for an elastic exercise band maker blamed U.S. Sen. Harry Reid for his own serious injuries, including blindness in one eye, suffered when he lost his grip and fell while using a flexible device in 2015.

Attorney Laurin Quiat (KWIE'-at) told a civil trial jury in Las Vegas on Tuesday that congressional exercise advisers tried for months to get the former Democratic party leader to improve his stance, balance and technique for using the resistance bands.

Quiat concluded opening statements telling jurors that just because someone gets hurt doesn't mean someone else is responsible.

Quiat also says jurors will never know for sure if Reid was using his company's exercise product, called TheraBand, because Reid family members threw out the one he used the day he was hurt.

Former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid sits in front of a monitor showing instructions for an exercise band in court Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Las Vegas. A jury in Nevada heard opening arguments Tuesday in Reid's lawsuit against the maker of a flexible exercise band that he says slipped from his hand while he used it in January 2015, causing him to fall and suffer lasting injuries including blindness in one eye. (AP Photo/John Locher)

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1:30 p.m.

Opening arguments are scheduled in former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's lawsuit against the maker of a flexible exercise band that he says slipped from his hand while he used it in 2015, causing him to fall and suffer lasting injuries including blindness in one eye.

Clark County District Court spokeswoman Mary Ann Price says a jury in Las Vegas was seated Tuesday for the civil trial in Nevada state court.

The 79-year-old former Senate Democratic party leader and his wife, Landra Gould, seek damages from Ohio-based Hygenic Intangible Property Holding Co. and subsidiaries that make the product called TheraBand.

Reid's lawsuit alleges negligence and calls the elastic physical resistance band defective and unreasonably dangerous, particularly for the elderly.

The company says Reid got hurt because he misused the exercise band.

Former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid sits in court Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Las Vegas. A jury in Nevada heard opening arguments Tuesday in Reid's lawsuit against the maker of a flexible exercise band that he says slipped from his hand while he used it in January 2015, causing him to fall and suffer lasting injuries including blindness in one eye. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Former U.S. Senator Harry Reid, who sued the makers of an exercise band after injuring his eye, leaves the courtroom after attending the first day of jury selection in his civil trial at the Regional Justice Center on Monday, March. 25, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

James L. Wilkes II, attorney for former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, holds a rubber exercise band in court Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Las Vegas. A jury in Nevada heard opening arguments Tuesday in Reid's lawsuit against the maker of a flexible exercise band that he says slipped from his hand while he used it in January 2015, causing him to fall and suffer lasting injuries including blindness in one eye. (AP Photo/John Locher)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Latest on flooding throughout the Midwest (all times local):

7:25 p.m.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is assessing two Superfund sites located in areas that have seen overwhelming floods in recent weeks.

The EPA identified the Superfund sites as the Nebraska Ordnance Plant in Mead, Nebraska, and the Conservation Chemical Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. Superfund is a law that gives the EPA funding and authority to clean up contaminated sites.

The Mead site operated as a munitions plant from 1942 to 1956 and its disposal of radioactive waste and other chemicals led to groundwater contamination. The EPA says it has not found evidence that any hazardous contaminants were released by the flooding.

The federal agency says it will evaluate the sites further as floodwaters recede.

In this Monday, March 25, 2019 photo, water from White Clay Creek pools near the ranch of Ernie Little on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, near Pine Ridge, S.D. (Ryan Hermens/Rapid City Journal via AP)

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3:20 p.m.

Flooding that has hit parts of the Midwest hard has nearly paralyzed an American Indian reservation in southern South Dakota.

Floodwaters on the Pine Ridge Reservation caused by heavy snowfall and a rapid melt have swamped roads, trapped people in homes and cut off water supplies to thousands. Volunteers have used horses to get to some people in need.

The situation is slowly starting to improve, and National Guard soldiers dispatched by the governor over the weekend have ended their water supply work.

But Oglala Sioux President Julian Bear Runner says there are still people in rural areas without easy access to pharmacies and grocery stores. And he says the flooding could put the tribe in recovery mode for months, if not longer, and devastate its economy.

Bear Runner hopes the "state and federal government help out to the best of their abilities."

In this Monday, March 25, 2019 photo, tribal employees bring water, to elders and others who were stranded in their homes on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Porcupine, S.D., following spring flooding. (Ryan Hermens/Rapid City Journal via AP)

In this Monday, March 25, 2019 photo, tribal employees bring water, to elders and others who were stranded in their homes on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Porcupine, S.D., following spring flooding. (Ryan Hermens/Rapid City Journal via AP)

In this Monday, March 25, 2019 photo, water flows over the spillway at White Clay Dam near Pine Ridge, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation following spring flooding. (Ryan Hermens/Rapid City Journal via AP)

In this Monday, March 25, 2019 photo, members of the Rapid City-Pennington County Water Rescue Team place sandbags at the Oglala Dam on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Oglala, S.D., following spring flooding. (Ryan Hermens/Rapid City Journal via AP)
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LOS ANGELES (AP) - President Donald Trump is returning to California next week for a campaign fundraiser that has premium tickets going for $150,000.

The April 5 event in Los Angeles will bring the Republican president back to the heavily Democratic state where Hillary Clinton handily beat him in the 2016 presidential election.

Tickets for a reception start at $15,000. That's according to an invitation paid for by Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee of the president's campaign and the Republican National Committee.

The chance to take a photo with the president will cost supporters $50,000.

The top-priced tickets include a roundtable discussion.

The trip comes shortly after the end of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which Attorney General William Barr said found no evidence of coordination between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The Navy is investigating after a Marine from Colorado was found shot to death while on guard duty at Southern California's Camp Pendleton, according to a report Tuesday.

Lance Cpl. Riley Schultz was discovered dead around 4 a.m. March 15 with a gunshot wound to the head, the Orange County Register reported.

His mother, Misty Schultz-McCoy, said she begged one of the Marines who broke the news to "'unofficially' tell us what they thought" led up to the shooting.

"She said, they thought it was suicide. The next day they acted differently and said there would be an official memorial because they did not believe he committed suicide," Schultz-McCoy told the newspaper from her home in Longmont, Colorado.

Officials from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force would not discuss details of the death or the investigation.

The Marine Corps presented Schultz-McCoy with a Gold Star and a citation that said her 19-year-old son died while in the service of his country.

Schultz-McCoy said both her son's grandfathers served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and he had wanted to become a Marine since he was a boy.

Schultz enlisted after high school and went to boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in the summer of 2017.

"All he wanted to do was protect people," his mother said.

Schultz's body will be flown this week to Colorado for services scheduled for April 6. A memorial service is planned for April 3 at Camp Pendleton.

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Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Latest on a U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting federal authority to enforce laws on state-owner rivers in Alaska (all times local):

5:10 p.m.

An Anchorage moose hunter says a unanimous decision from the U.S. Supreme Court is "a huge win for the state of Alaska."

Justices on Tuesday unanimously limited the National Park Service's authority to enforce laws and regulations on state-owned rivers in the nation's largest state

Justices rejected the agency's argument that the river was "public land" for regulatory authority and that the agency's water rights interest gave it rule-making authority.

Hunter John Sturgeon says the court recognized that the rivers in Alaska are often used like the interstate highways in the Lower 48.

The Supreme Court building is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. The Supreme Court is returning to arguments over whether the political task of redistricting can be overly partisan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The decision also came with a little humor. Justice Elena Kagan wrote: "Sturgeon can again rev up his hovercraft in search of moose."

Sturgeon says Kagan's comments were "pretty cool" and made the decision feel human.

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6:33 a.m.

An Alaska moose hunter can "rev up his hovercraft" in search of moose, the Supreme Court says.

The court on Tuesday limited the National Park Service's authority to enforce laws and regulations on state-owned rivers in Alaska. Justices held unanimously that the Park Service can't enforce a ban on amphibious vehicles known as hovercrafts on rivers that run through national conservation areas there.

The outcome was a victory for hunter John Sturgeon. Three park rangers ordered Sturgeon off the Nation River within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve in northeast Alaska. They told him it was illegal to operate the noisy craft that can navigate shallow water or even mud.

Justice Elena Kagan said in her opinion that Sturgeon "can again rev up his hovercraft in search of moose."
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump's rally in Michigan (all times local):

10:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump has deemed the Russia investigation "the greatest hoax in the history of our country."

He is also warning that those behind the probe will "be held accountable," calling it an attempt "to tear up the fabric of our great democracy."

Trump addressed a boisterous crowd at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Thursday night.

He said: "After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is dead. This was nothing more than a sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people."

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., Thursday, March 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

It was Trump's first political event since Attorney General William Barr released a summary that said special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence that his campaign "conspired or coordinated" with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election.

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8:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump is trying to win over Michigan voters by saying the automobile industry "was decimated and going down" before he took office.

He says his administration has taken "historic and dramatic action to save the American auto industry and defend American auto workers right here in Michigan."

Since Trump took office in 2017, auto manufacturing employment has risen by about 51,000 jobs to just over 1 million, according to the Labor Department. That's a 5 percent increase over two years.

However, GM in November announced plans to shut four U.S. auto factories and one in Canada. Two of those plants are in Michigan.

The company said the moves are necessary to stay financially healthy as GM faces large capital expenditures to shift to electric and autonomous vehicles.

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8:10 p.m.

President Donald Trump is announcing that he will fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative after his administration proposed a 90 percent spending cut.

Trump is telling supporters at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that he will be providing $300 million for the cleanup program, framing the announcement as "breaking news."

Trump says "it's time," though it's unclear what he means.

Trump's 2020 budget offered just $30 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which receives $300 million most years to remove toxic pollution, prevent algae blooms and species invasions and restore wildlife habitat.

Governors of five states had warned the move would cost jobs, hurt tourism and jeopardize public health.

Trump says he "supports the Great Lakes," noting "they're big" and "very deep."

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8 p.m.

President Donald Trump is using the case of "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett to rile supporters at a campaign rally in Michigan.

Smollett, who is black and gay, claimed that two men attacked him and yelled he was in "MAGA country."

Prosecutors charged him with making a false police report, but abruptly dropped those charges this week, infuriating Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Trump says it's "maybe the only time I've ever agreed with the mayor of Chicago."

Trump calls the dropped charges "an embarrassment not only to Chicago. That is an embarrassment to our country, what took place there."

Smollett has maintained his innocence and insisted the attack was real. Trump's comments Thursday night are the second time he addressed the case in a matter of hours.

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7:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump is attacking Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California as he speaks to supporters in Michigan, calling the Democratic lawmaker a "little pencil-neck."

The president is running through a list of grievances as he revels in his attorney general's summary that Special Counsel Robert Mueller could not establish that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Earlier in the event, his son Donald Trump Jr., issued similar insults incorporating Schiff's last name.

Trump says the Democratic Party, the "fake news media" and the "deep state" failed to overturn the result of the 2016 election.

He says "many people were badly hurt by this scam, but more importantly our country was hurt."

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7:30 p.m.

A fired-up President Donald Trump is turning the end of the special counsel's Russia investigation into a political weapon at a boisterous rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Trump is telling a crowd of thousands that: "After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead. The collusion delusion is over."

He's also calling the investigation "nothing more than a sinister effort" to undermine his 2016 election victory and "sabotage the will of the American people."

The rally is Trump's first political event since news broke that special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of his campaign colluding with Russians.

Mueller did not, however, come to a conclusion on obstruction of justice, leaving that up to his new attorney general.

Trump is calling the report "total exoneration" and "complete vindication" nonetheless.

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7:15 p.m.

President Donald Trump's supporters are taking a victory lap at his first political rally since the end of the Mueller investigation was announced.

The president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is telling a crowd of thousands in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on America" is now "out the window."

And he's thanking his father's supporters for sticking with him, saying "it's not just our vindication, it's your vindication" too.

The Justice Department announced Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia - but that Mueller did not reach a conclusion on obstruction.

Trump Jr. is also taking repeated shots at Trump antagonist Michael Avenatti, who was arrested this week, saying the lawyer went from "Avenatti 2020 to Avenatti 20-25. Maybe 50."

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5:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump is turning his attention to 2020 now that the special counsel's investigation is largely behind him.

Trump is heading to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a rally Thursday night - his first political event since the Justice Department said Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not find that his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia's election meddling.

As he left the White House, Trump said, "Michigan is booming."

Loyal supporters started lining up in front of the Van Andel Arena on Wednesday evening, with some camping out in tents and sleeping bags overnight. By midafternoon, a crowd of thousands, many in red "Make America Great Again" hats, snaked for blocks around downtown Grand Rapids, just across the river from The Gerald Ford Presidential Museum.

People wait for President Donald Trump to speak at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., Thursday, March 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 28, 2019, for the short trip to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Trump is traveling to Michigan to speak at a rally before spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Special counsel Robert Muellers investigation did not find evidence that Donald Trumps campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, the Justice Department said.

Mr Mueller also investigated whether Mr Trump obstructed justice but did not come to a definitive answer, Attorney General William Barr said in a letter to Congress summarising Mr Muellers report.

The special counsel does not exonerate Mr Trump of obstructing justice, Mr Barr said, and his report sets out evidence on both sides of the question.

However, the President tweeted that he had been completely exonerated of collusion and obstruction of justice.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington from a weekend at his private club in Florida, Mr Trump said it was a shame the nation had to go through the investigation.

Mr Trump claimed the report found there was no collusion with Russia, there was no obstruction.

He also lashed out at the investigation, claiming without evidence that it was an illegal takedown that failed.

President Donald Trump talks to the media before boarding Air Force One (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

After consulting with other Justice Department officials, Mr Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined the evidence is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offence.

Mr Barr released a four-page summary of Mr Muellers report on Sunday afternoon. Mr Mueller wrapped up his investigation on Friday with no new indictments, bringing to a close a probe that has shadowed Mr Trump for nearly two years.

President Donald Trump spent the weekend in Florida (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Mr Barrs chief of staff called White House counsel Emmet Flood on Sunday to brief him on the report to Congress. Mr Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, about to return to Washington after spending the weekend there.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that Mr Trump had been completely exonerated.

The Special Counsel did not find any collusion and did not find any obstruction. AG Barr and DAG Rosenstein further determined there was no obstruction. The findings of the Department of Justice are a total and complete exoneration of the President of the United States.  Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) March 24, 2019

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham added that the cloud hanging over President Trump has been removed.

Mr Graham, a close ally of Mr Trump, also said it is a bad day for those hoping the Mueller investigation would take President Trump down.

Republican Doug Collins said there is no constitutional crisis while House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican said it is time we move on for the good of the nation.

Eric Trump, the Presidents son, called for a simple apology from the media for the hell everyone has been put through during the two-year probe.

But the House Judiciary Committee chairman said Mr Mueller clearly and explicitly is not exonerating the president.

Democrat Jerry Nadler tweeted that Mr Barrs letter to Congress says that while Mr Trump may have acted to obstruct justice, the government would need to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt.

But Mr Nadler tweeted that Congress must hear from Mr Barr about his decision making and see all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts.

There must be full transparency in what Special Counsel Mueller uncovered to not exonerate the President from wrongdoing. DOJ owes the public more than just a brief synopsis and decision not to go any further in their work.  Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019

Top Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said Mr Barr is not a neutral observer and they urged the full release of the report.

Ms Pelosi, the House speaker, and Mr Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said that Mr Barrs letter to Congress raises as many questions as it answers.

In a joint statement, the leaders said that Mr Barrs past bias against the special counsel inquiry shows he is not in a position to make objective determinations.

They say that the fact that Muellers report does not exonerate the president on a charge as serious as obstruction of justice demonstrates how urgent it is that the full report and underlying documentation be made public without any further delay.

Several Democratic presidential candidates said Mr Muellers full report must be made public.

Kamala Harris said Mr Barr must testify before Congress, adding: That is what transparency looks like.

Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, noted that lawmakers have voted to release the full Mueller report, not a summary from what she called Mr Trumps handpicked Attorney General.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said the public deserves the full report and findings immediately, not just the in-house summary from a Trump Administration official.

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the Mueller report must be made public. She tweeted: The President works for the people, and he is not above the law.

Mr Muellers investigation ensnared nearly three dozen people, senior Trump campaign operatives among them.

The probe illuminated Russias assault on the American political system, painted the Trump campaign as eager to exploit the release of hacked Democratic emails to hurt Democrat Hillary Clinton and exposed lies by Trump aides aimed at covering up their Russia-related contacts.

A copy of a letter from Attorney General William Barr advising Congress of the principal conclusions reached by Special Counsel Robert Mueller (Jon Elswick/AP)

Mr Mueller submitted his report to Mr Barr instead of directly to Congress and the public because, unlike independent counsels such as Ken Starr in the case of President Bill Clinton, his investigation operated under the close supervision of the Justice Department, which appointed him.

Mr Mueller was assigned to the job in May 2017 by Mr Rosenstein, who oversaw much of his work.

Mr Barr and Mr Rosenstein analysed Mr Muellers report on Saturday, labouring to condense it into a summary letter of main conclusions.
The Prince of Wales has honoured Cubas national hero Jose Marti at the start of his historic visit to the Communist state.

Charles stood in silent contemplation as a large wreath of roses was laid at the open-air monument to the famous essayist and poet in Havanas Revolution Square.

Fidel Castro, Cubas former Communist ruler, would address the people close to where the prince stood before the ceremony began, giving speeches at important moments.

Surrounded by imposing ministry buildings, the heir to the throne, whose wife Camilla was nearby, walked behind two soldiers who held aloft the large floral tribute made of roses and then laid it at the stone monument.

The Prince of Wales attends a wreath-laying ceremony (Jane Barlow/PA)

The heir to the throne touched it briefly before taking a few steps back and pausing to look at the wreath.

The British Embassy in Havana has described the royal visit to Cuba as a historic moment.

The wreath that was laid at a ceremony by the Prince of Wales (Jane Barlow/PA)

It tweeted: Everything is ready for today when TRHs The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall arrive in #Cuba for the first official #RoyalVisitCuba.

A historic moment for both countries.

Charless visit offers an opportunity for the UK and Cuban governments to forge closer ties in the wake of the soft diplomacy employed by members of the monarchy, who use it to make friends and build bridges during foreign tours.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Jose Marti Memorial (Jane Barlow/PA)

A spokesman for the couple, who arrived in the ministerial jet RAF Voyager, said: Their Royal Highnesses are looking forward to experiencing the culture and meeting the people of Cuba.

There was another milestone as it is believed to be the first time an RAF plane has landed in Communist Cuba, which had very close ties with Russia during the Cold War.

Later Charles and Camilla were given a tour of the museum dedicated to Marti inside the monument which stands over 100 metres tall and dominates Havanas skyline.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall tour the Jose Marti exhibition, learning more about his life. #RoyalVisitCuba pic.twitter.com/Mq0tTtAMd0  The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 24, 2019

Curator Eva Maria Diaz told him about the writers life and the history of Havana, which prompted Charles to point out that Britain had once occupied the city during the 18th century  briefly.

As they left he told her: Ive learnt a great deal about Jose Marti.

Saying that he would like to spend more time in Cuba, he joked: You might get fed up with us very quickly.

The Jose Marti Memorial in Havana pays tribute to the essayist, poet and national hero of Cuba.



Their Royal Highnesses attend a wreath laying ceremony at the memorial. #RoyalVisitCuba pic.twitter.com/4C0sT8rXpb  The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 24, 2019

He added: I am sorry to have dragged you in on a Sunday. I hope it is not inconvenient for you.

Ms Diaz said afterwards about the prince: He knew that Havana was under British power in the 18th century. It was a very brief period.

He said that he would like to have more time to continue the visit. He was especially interested in Jose Martis life and work.

I told him that Martis writings were published in 27 books, including literary, political and journalistic works.
A number of improvements must be made in order to address systemic problems created following reform of Scotlands police and fire services, according to a committee of MSPs.

On Monday, Holyroods Justice Committee published its conclusions following a review into the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012  one of the biggest transformations of a public service since devolution.

In Scotland, the police and fire services had each consisted of eight regional organisations prior to the Act being introduced.

When the Act came into effect in 2013, these organisations were merged to instead create two national bodies  Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

In April last year, the Justice Committee began an inquiry into the centralisation of the two services in order to examine how effective the change has been.

In its conclusions, the committee said that although reform had led to greater consistency of service across Scotland, as well as allowing for more equal access to specialist capabilities and support, a number of issues, particularly within Police Scotland, should be further addressed.

The conclusions of an inquiry into police and fire service reform were published on Monday (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The committees report on policing indicated that poor financial management, unclear lines of responsibility and a failure to focus on the views of officers and staff in the early stages of reform lie at the root of many of the problems faced by Police Scotland.

Among the issues highlighted were forecast savings not being realised, IT problems hampering police effectiveness and a string of well-publicised personnel problems resulting in senior management instability and concerns over a lack of clear leadership in the initial years of the reform process.

A need for an exemption for police and fire services from the payment of VAT was also highlighted in the committees considerations.

The report set out a range of recommendations for improving Police Scotland, including; an overhaul of police complaints processes to create a more equitable, clear and fair system, a more proactive role by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) in its oversight and scrutiny of new Police Scotland policies and to provide more robust financial projections.

The committee also suggested that the option of including the Scottish Parliament in the appointment process of the SPA chair should be explored, as well as stating that SPA and Police Scotland should demonstrate that recent improvements in leadership and governance would mean that previous shortcomings caused by personality issues could not reoccur.

Justice Committee convener, Margaret Mitchell MSP, said: Our police and fire services do a vital job keeping people in Scotland safe. It is imperative that the structures and regulations underpinning these organisations work well.

The Justice Committee has found that some of the problems it has seen can be traced back to the frameworks and relationships created by the Act itself.

These are not simply teething problems of a new service bedding in, but systemic problems that must be addressed.

The Committee has identified a raft of necessary improvements to regulations, structures and practices. Members look forward to working closely with the Scottish Government and the organisations created by the Police and Fire Reform Act to implement changes.

Reform of these frontline public services is one of the biggest challenges undertaken since the start of devolution in Scotland. It is in everyones interest that they succeed.

Cabinet Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf said: The people of Scotland are well-served by officers and staff in Scotlands police and fire services who are working alongside communities and a range of partners to make Scotlands streets and homes safer.

I am very grateful to the Justice Committee for its work on scrutiny of the 2012 Act which was the largest exercise in public service reform since devolution.

It has rightly recognised some significant achievements, including the creation of national capabilities in policing, described as a success story for Scotland and improvements in how Police Scotland deals with sexual offences.

This has been delivered alongside the Scottish Governments commitment to protect Police Scotlands revenue budget during this parliament to deliver a total boost of 100 million by 2021 and the announcement of a 6.5% pay deal for officers.

The report also makes a number of recommendations which ministers plan to consider in full, alongside Police Scotland, SPA and SFRS over the coming months.

The report recognises that Dame Elish Angiolini is leading a review into complaints and conduct in policing. It is right and proper that the review be allowed to conclude and its findings be published before considering the next steps.

Susan Deacon, of the Scottish Police Authority, said: It is clear that the creation of a single police service for Scotland has delivered significant benefits.

I am pleased that the committee has acknowledged the improvements which have been made in the leadership and governance of both Police Scotland and the SPA since the early days of police reform.

The SPA remains firmly committed to driving further improvement and change so that people across Scotland continue to have a strong and effective police service in which they can have confidence and trust.

Dr Kirsty Darwent, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, said: We welcome this report which highlights how we have successfully worked through major transition over the last five years whilst ensuring the ongoing safety of our communities and firefighters.

We continue to work closely with our partners, representative bodies and stakeholders as we move forward to deliver a national service locally.

There is of course further work to be done and we would welcome discussions on the structure of UK-wide terms and conditions for Retained Duty System firefighters so that their pay more accurately reflects their availability.

We otherwise continue to invest heavily in our RDS firefighters. This includes the recent introduction of 40 bespoke appliances, forming part of a 7.6 million investment, the addition of a number of full time management posts in rural areas and also new wet weather kit, at a cost of 1.3 million.

This ongoing effort sits within our wider transformation journey  equipping firefighters to respond safely and effectively to new and emerging risks such as severe weather related flooding.

Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said the single force has transformed the way it investigates rape and other sexual crimes.

He said it had improved its approach to investigating murders and unexplained deaths, and become better at dealing with national threats, while the merger had allowed the consolidation of support services rather than cutting local, frontline officers.

Mr Livingstone said: I am in no doubt that Scotland is safer now than it would have been had we not gone through the process to become a single national service.

As I have been clear on many occasions, we did not always get everything right and we have work to do.

In the early years of Police Scotland we were not as engaged as we could have been with our officers, support staff, communities and elected members.

We decided what was needed and we needed to implement it quickly.

Now that we have established that framework of common standards, my priority is to allow much greater autonomy at local level, within that framework.

He said Police Scotland is a learning organisation and the force will consider what any recommendations mean for it and how it can do better.
Theresa May is battling to stay in power as MPs seek to seize control of parliamentary business in a bid to secure a softer Brexit.

At the start of another crunch week in Westminster, the Commons is due to vote on an amendment which would force a series of indicative votes on alternatives to the Prime Ministers Withdrawal Agreement.

Defeat for the Government on Monday night on the plan  tabled by former ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve and Labour MP Hilary Benn  would be a further humiliation for Mrs May.

The proposal seeks to pave the way for a series of indicative votes in the Commons on Wednesday, effectively taking control of the Brexit process out of the hands of the Government.

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay warned the risk of a general election would increase if MPs took control of parliamentary proceedings and brought about a constitutional collision.

But Chancellor Philip Hammond said one way or another MPs would be given the opportunity this week to decide what it is in favour of, though could not confirm whether Tories would be given a free vote on the options.

(PA Graphics)

After a weekend which saw two senior ministers dismiss reports of a coup to oust the PM, Mrs May will convene her Cabinet in the morning before she updates the Commons on the Brexit process following last weeks European Council summit where she agreed to delay Britains departure beyond March 29.

On Sunday, Mrs May held lengthy talks with prominent Brexiteer backbenchers including Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and David Davis at her country residence Chequers to discuss whether there is sufficient support among MPs for another vote on her deal.

A Downing Street spokesman said: The PM and a number of Government ministers met today at Chequers for lengthy talks with senior colleagues about delivering Brexit.

The meeting discussed a range of issues, including whether there is sufficient support in the Commons to bring back a Meaningful Vote this week.

Elsewhere, Mr Johnson claimed the Government had chickened out of delivering Brexit this week and told Mrs May to set out convincing proofs of how the next phase of the negotiations will be different from the last to win support for her deal.

Writing in the Telegraph, he said: If she cannot give that evidence of change  she should drop the deal, and go back to Brussels, and simply set out the terms that so many on both sides  remainers and leavers  now believe are sensible.

Extend the implementation period to the end of 2021 if necessary; use it to negotiate a free trade deal; pay the fee; but come out of the EU now  without the backstop. It is time for the PM to channel the spirit of Moses in Exodus, and say to Pharaoh in Brussels  let my people go.

(PA Graphics)

However, Foreign Office Minister Mark Field said he would support revoking Article 50 if it became an option in the event Mrs Mays deal was defeated and free votes granted for indicative votes.

He told BBC Radio 4s Westminster Hour: My personal view is that I would be happy to revoke Article 50  I appreciate that is probably a minority view  but if we get to this utter paralysis and I sincerely hope that in the next 48, 72 hours we do not, then if that becomes an option thats an option that I would personally take.

Meanwhile, The Sun newspaper used its front page on Monday to urge Mrs May to promise to resign in order to win support for her deal from Tory Brexiteers and the DUP.

Unlike so many she has determinedly respected the will of the Leave majority She must now take the next principled step  and show she is not just another craven politician determined to cling to power, it said.
New Zealand will hold an inquiry into the massacre of 50 people at two Christchurch mosques, the countrys prime minister said.

The investigation will look into what roles semi-automatic guns, social media and intelligence agencies had preceding the attacks earlier this month.

Jacinda Ardern said the country would hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry, New Zealands highest form of investigation.

People gather for a vigil in Hagley Park following the mass shooting (Mark Baker/AP)

While New Zealanders and Muslim communities around the world are both grieving and showing compassion for one another, they are also quite rightly asking questions on how this terror attack was able to happen here, she said.

Her Cabinet had previously agreed on holding an inquiry, but had not decided what level of investigation.

She said royal commissions are usually reserved for matters of the gravest public importance and that was clearly appropriate in this case.

What has happened in Christchurch is an extraordinary act of unprecedented violence. It has no place in New Zealand. Many of those affected will be members of our migrant communities  New Zealand is their home  they are us.  Jacinda Ardern (@jacindaardern) March 15, 2019

The exact terms of the inquiry, including its duration, would be finalised over the next two weeks.

In short, the inquiry will look at what could have or should have been done to prevent the attack, Ms Ardern said.

It will inquire into the individual and his activities before the terrorist attack, including, of course, a look at agencies.

A royal commission is run independently from the government and is chaired by a high court judge.

It has the power to compel witnesses to testify and organisations to hand over documents but it remains up to the courts or government to follow through on any recommendations or findings.

Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 28, has been charged with murder for the March 15 attacks.

He is next due in court on April 5.

Some people have already criticised New Zealands intelligence agencies for focusing too much on perceived threats from Muslim extremists and left-wing radicals but too little on the possible threats from nationalist groups and white supremacists.

There will be a focus on whether our intelligence community was concentrating its resources appropriately and whether there were any reports that could, or should, have alerted them to this attack, Ms Ardern said.

It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to the bottom of how this act of terrorism occurred and what, if any, opportunities we had to stop it.
A trust that has donated millions to medical science, healthcare, education and the arts in the UK has announced it is pausing all new giving as it faces legal cases amid the opioid drug crisis in the US.

The Sackler Trust is run by the Sackler family, members of which own Purdue Pharma, a company selling the prescription painkiller OxyContin.

The business is facing hundreds of lawsuits in the US aiming to hold it to account for its alleged role in the countrys opioid drug crisis.

Earlier this month, a 1 million donation to the National Portrait Gallery was cancelled, and the trust has now said all philanthropic giving will temporarily cease so the issue will not be a distraction for institutions that are applying for grants.

Commitments that have already been made will be honoured.

Sackler Trust chairwoman Dame Theresa Sackler said in a statement issued on behalf of the trustees: I am deeply saddened by the addiction crisis in America and support the actions Purdue Pharma is taking to help tackle the situation, whilst still rejecting the false allegations made against the company and several members of the Sackler family.

Dame Theresa Sackler issued a statement on behalf of the trustees (Philip Toscano/PA)

The current press attention that these legal cases in the United States is generating has created immense pressure on the scientific, medical, educational and arts institutions here in the UK, large and small, that I am so proud to support.

This attention is distracting them from the important work that they do.

The trustees of the Sackler Trust have taken the difficult decision to temporarily pause all new philanthropic giving, while still honouring existing commitments.

I remain fully committed to all the causes the Sackler Trust supports, but at this moment it is the better course for the Trust to halt all new giving until we can be confident that it will not be a distraction for institutions that are applying for grants.

Since 2010, the Sackler Trust claims to have donated more than 60 million in support of medical science, healthcare, education and the arts in the UK.

OxyContin is a time-released opioid that was introduced in 1996.

Lawsuits against Purdue Pharma allege that the company, based in Stamford, Connecticut, sold OxyContin as a drug with a low chance of triggering addictions, despite knowing this to be not true.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2017 opioids were involved in nearly 48,000 deaths.

Purdue, which denies wrongdoing, has said that its products were approved by federal regulators and prescribed by doctors.
Orange Botswana Foundation has teamed up with Conexus, a youth owned business to introduce ATLEGA, a mobile education app that helps students from primary to Cambridge level to study anywhere they are.

The Orange Foundation Digital Schools programme addresses the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan in many ways, including but not limited to, deployment of ICT gadgets to schools. This is achieved through donation of tablets to participating schools, Development of digital content or e-content.

Through the introduction of ATLEGA mobile education app, the company intends to reach each and every child regardless of their geographical location as well as close the economic and social inequality in the access to, use of, or impact of information and communication technologies in the educational sector. This will be done through facilitating all students to revise and retain information, view the National Curriculum (syllabus), test their knowledge and understanding, share knowledge with their peers, and access educational news and other relevant student information.

Speaking to BG News Orange Director, Legal Service and Corporate Affairs, Lepata Mafa- Nthomola said, In times like these, where technology continues to play a pivotal role in our lives, it is vital for our children to have access to relevant studying materials. Whether for tests, studies or purely for the love of learning, ATLEGA offers access to educational information that keeps all in tune with what matters most to them. It is simple, convenient, and, above all, available to everyone.

She further said Orange Botswana understands its role in helping to drive wider socio-economic development.

Through collaborations with upcoming start-ups, we believe the students will benefit even more, consequently improving educational performance of our schools and thus raising a well informed and educated nation which is enunciated in the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

PARTNERSHIP

Mafa  Nthomola said ATLEGA was designed in partnership with Conexus, a youth owned business which Orange Botswana previously engaged to develop an e-learning application for the Orange Foundation Digital Schools programme. The collaboration speaks to empowerment of local start-ups and partnering with like-minded organisations to find solutions that drive socio-economic development.

The launch of ATLEGA educational application is actually the second act in the quest by Orange Botswana to digitally transform the educational landscape in the country. Last year Orange Botswana signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Basic Education and Local government to launch a digital school programme in government schools. The main challenge in government schools is access to books and learning material therefore Orange Botswana partnered with Conexus who are digital experts to convert upper primary school learning material into digital format.
Theresa Mays future as Prime Minister continues to come under the spotlight ahead of another key week in Westminster. So what can we expect during the coming days?

 Monday March 25

Mrs May will convene her Cabinet on Monday morning before updating the Commons on the Brexit process following last weeks European Council summit, where she agreed to delay Britains departure past March 29.

Parliament will then debate an amendable Government motion on the Brexit deal, which gives MPs a chance to put their favoured outcomes to a vote.

A proposal backed by Sir Oliver Letwin, Dominic Grieve and Hilary Benn, seeks to pave the way for a series of indicative votes in the Commons on Wednesday, effectively taking control of the Brexit process out of the hands of the Government.

Mrs May could table secondary legislation which must go through the Commons and Lords by Friday to remove the date of March 29 from Brexit legislation.

Mrs Mays effective deputy David Lidington has promised to introduce a process for MPs to debate potential Brexit outcomes over the following two weeks.

 Tuesday March 26

Tuesday has been suggested as a possible date for the third meaningful vote  known in Westminster as MV3  on Mrs Mays Withdrawal Agreement.

Downing Street says that no date has yet been fixed for the vote, which must come by the end of the week.

 Wednesday March 27

MPs led by Sir Oliver will hope to seize control of parliamentary time to force votes on Brexit options on Wednesday.

Mrs May will also face Prime Ministers Questions.

Theresa May will face PMQs on Wednesday (PA)

Friday March 29

Friday is no longer Brexit day, with EU leaders having offered to delay the departure until April 12 if MPs do not back Mrs Mays deal, or until May 22 if they do.

Leave-backing walkers who have taken part in the Brexit Betrayal march from Sunderland are due to arrive in London on Friday.
US special counsel Robert Mueller has spent 22 months examining whether Donald Trumps presidential campaign conspired with Russia to sway the 2016 election.

His conclusion: There was no collusion.

However, the question of whether Mr Trump obstructed justice was not so clear-cut. In laying out Mr Muellers findings, US attorney general William Barr said the special counsel did not weigh in on the question. Instead, Mr Barr ultimately made the call that Mr Trump did not violate the law, a move that drew criticism from Democrats who say the president is hardly in the clear.

Here are the key points from Mr Muellers findings:

No collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia

Mr Mueller made that clear.

Mr Barr quoted Mr Muellers confidential report as saying the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.

That finding marks a victory for the US president, who has turned no collusion into a daily refrain on Twitter.

The letter from US attorney general William Barr to congress on the conclusions reached by special counsel Robert Mueller (AP)

However, the letter is short on detail. Mr Barr said he will have to consult with Mr Mueller and other US justice department officials before he can release more of Mr Muellers confidential report or any other information he gathered during the investigation.

Mr Barrs letter did not say what Mr Mueller learned that fell short of a crime about a broad range of Trump associates who had Russia-related contacts. It also did not answer why several of those people lied to federal investigators or US congress during the Russia probe since there was not any direct coordination going on.

No smoking gun on obstruction of justice, but no exoneration either

Mr Mueller decided not to make a judgment one way or the other on whether Mr Trump obstructed justice.

He wrote: While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.

Instead, the special counsel laid out the evidence on both sides of the question.

According to Mr Barr, Mr Mueller left unresolved what he viewed as the difficult issues of law and fact concerning whether the presidents actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction.

2 yrs of constant attacks, the largest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people, & what do we have?



BOOMING economy. Lowest ever unemployment for Blacks, Hispanics, & Women. Rising wages.



Maybe Dems should cool it w the conspiracies & try working w @POTUS for ALL Americans  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 25, 2019

Barr made the decision over prosecuting obstruction

With no recommendation from Mr Mueller, Mr Barr said he then stepped in.

The attorney general, who was appointed by Mr Trump, said he and his deputy Rod Rosenstein decided there was not sufficient evidence to establish that the president obstructed justice.

That conclusion was based on Mr Muellers investigation, Mr Barr said. It was not a reflection of the justice departments view that a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Mr Barr determined that none of Mr Trumps actions amounted to obstruction and that there was not sufficient evidence to show he acted with a corrupt intent.

He also noted there was not an underlying crime involving Mr Trump.

US attorney general William Barr (AP)

The bar for prosecution over collusion was high

The letter sheds some light on how Mr Mueller approached the collusion question.

In assessing whether Americans committed crimes related to Russias election interference, Mr Mueller was looking for a specific agreement tacit or express between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

Mr Barr said investigators did not find that. But his letter does contain a nod to some of the Trump campaigns contacts with Russia, noting that Mr Mueller uncovered multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.

Grand jury witnesses have shown that Mr Mueller scrutinised a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower involving a Russian lawyer. The presidents eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, took the meeting even though it was described as a Russian government effort to help his father. Trump Jr expected the meeting to produce derogatory information on Mr Trumps Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.  Abraham Lincoln  Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) March 24, 2019

Court papers also show that Mr Mueller uncovered that a Maltese professor told a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser that the Russians had dirt on Mrs Clinton in the form of emails  a message passed along weeks before it became public that Democratic groups had been hacked.

Mr Trump was also trying to cut a business deal in Russia during the campaign, an effort that included his personal lawyer discussing the proposal with a Kremlin official.

But according to Mr Mueller, the Americans involved did not violate the law.

Mr Trump still faces a number of probes as the 2020 elections approach (AP)

Is Trump out of the woods?

No.

Mr Trump also plays a central role in a separate case in New York, where prosecutors have implicated him in a crime. They say the president directed his personal lawyer Michael Cohen to arrange illegal hush-money payments as a way to quash potential sex scandals during the campaign. New York prosecutors also are looking into Mr Trumps inaugural fund.

Congressional investigations also are swirling around the president. Democrats have launched a sweeping probe over Mr Trump that threatens to shadow the president through the 2020 election season.

And they are now demanding that Mr Barr should turn over Mr Muellers confidential report and the underlying evidence he gathered in order for them to draw their own conclusions.

They are also calling for Mr Barr to testify on Capitol Hill.
New legislation which would ban adults from being able to smack their children has been introduced in Wales.

The Welsh Government wants to remove the common law defence of reasonable punishment which is currently available to parental figures if accused of assault or battery against a child.

If passed the Children (Wales) Bill would act as the first divergence of core criminal law between Wales and England, where parents would still be able to legally physically punish a child as long as it is deemed reasonable.

The Government-led bill is being supported by a number of organisations including the NSPCC, Barnardos and Action for Children, and comes as a private members bill in Scotland is currently being considered by MSPs which would remove the defence of justifiable assault in Scots law.

Wales deputy minister for health and social services, Julie Morgan, said: We are sending a clear message that the physical punishment of children is not acceptable in Wales.

What may have been deemed as appropriate in the past is no longer acceptable. Our children must feel safe and be treated with dignity.

The Welsh Government is introducing legislation to ban smacking (Rebecca Naden/PA)

As one of the most progressive nations in the world when it comes to promoting childrens rights, I am proud this Welsh Government is legislating to bring an end to the physical punishment of children in Wales, further protecting childrens rights.

The bill will now be scrutinised by AMs, with Welsh Government sources confident it will be passed by the National Assembly and brought into law after achieving Royal Assent by Spring 2020.

The Government says the legislation will be accompanied by an awareness-raising campaign and support for parents.

Research published last year found 81% of parents of young children in Wales disagreed that it is sometimes necessary to smack a naughty child, while the Parental Attitudes Towards Managing Young Childrens Behaviour 2017 survey found only 11% of parents with young children reported they had smacked their children in the last six months.

The legal defence of reasonable chastisement has been used in law since 1860 and is currently available in England and Wales for parents or adults acting in loco parentis against charges of common assault.

The most recent figures available show between 2005 and 2007 there were 12 cases where the use of the defence resulted in an acquittal of a defendant or a discontinuation of proceedings against them in England and Wales.

Wales would join the 54 countries around the world which have already banned the physical punishment of children, including Greece, Latvia, Albania, DR Congo, Kenya, with Sweden being the first to do so back in 1979.

Viv Laing, head of policy at NSPCC Cymru, said: Its wrong that children in Wales have less protection from assault and that a legal defence which does not exist when an adult is hit can be used to justify striking a child.

We have long campaigned for equal protection for children and we strongly believe a change in the law is a common-sense move. Closing this loophole brings Wales in line with dozens of countries across the world and is simply about fairness and equality for our children.

Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: When a parent raises a hand to a defenceless child, whether thats a smack, slap or another physically harmful behaviour, they have lost control.

Research tells us that children who are physically punished are more likely to have poorer mental health and physical well-being and when they grow up, are more likely to engage in self-destructive or antisocial behaviour. Hurting a child isnt acceptable and it is a form of child abuse.

But the plans have been criticised by the campaign group Be Reasonable  backed by The Christian Institute and The Family Education Trust  which said the legislation would criminalise parents.

Spokeswoman Lowri Turner said: It is disappointing that the Welsh Government has decided to press on with this unnecessary piece of legislation that will do nothing to protect children, but will criminalise loving parents.

As we have seen from a slew of Freedom of Information requests, parents suspected of smacking face suspension, investigation by the police and social services, and prosecution.
Thailands election commission has said it will release full vote counts from the first election since a 2014 coup on Friday.

The announcement came as an anti-junta party claimed it won the most seats and will try to form a government.

The commission said it will announce the results of 350 constituency seats later in the day, but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in parliament, will not be available for several days.

Palang Pracharat Party leader Uttama Savanayana (AP)

The Pheu Thai party, which was ousted from government in the coup, said it won the most constituency seats in Sundays election and will try to form a government with similar-minded parties.

Unofficial results show the military-backed Palang Pracharat party won the popular vote.
The Israeli military has said it is reinforcing its troops along the Gaza border and calling up reserves after a rocket attack on an Israeli home.

Military spokesman major Mika Lifshitz said two armoured and infantry brigades are being mobilised and that there is a limited drafting of reserves under way following the attack, which destroyed a house and left seven people wounded in central Israel.

She said the military has concluded that Gazas militant Hamas rulers fired the rocket from one of their launching pads in the southern part of the coastal strip, near Rafah.

Maj Lifshitz said it was a self-manufactured rocket with a range of about 75 miles.

Seven people were hurt in the blast (AP)

The attack prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short a trip to Washington.

The rocket destroyed a residential home in the farming community of Mishmeret, north of the city of Kfar Saba, wounding six members of a family.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people overall, including two women who were moderately wounded. The others, including two children and an infant, had minor wounds.

Its a miracle that nobody got killed, said Assi Dvilanski, a paramedic who was one of the first responders at the scene.

Mr Netanyahu held emergency consultations with military officials back in Israel and decided to cut his visit short, cancelling a planned address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference and meetings with US congressional leaders.

He said: There has been a criminal attack on the State of Israel and we will respond forcefully.

Shoes are seen inside a car near a house hit by a rocket in Mishmeret (AP)

In a few hours I will meet with President Trump. I will return to Israel immediately afterward.

Anticipating a strong Israeli response, Gazas Hamas leaders have apparently gone underground.

Witnesses reported seeing Hamas evacuating its personnel from government premises. Hamas also announced that its Gaza chief, Yehiya Sinwar, had cancelled a scheduled public speech.

Israel also shut down its main crossings into Gaza and imposed restrictions on fishing off the Gaza coast.

Mondays attack came 10 days after rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israels densely populated commercial capital of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military at the time struck back and the sides appeared to be hurtling toward another confrontation. But Gazas Hamas leaders said the rocket was fired accidentally and calm was quickly restored.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Mondays attack, but it would seem to be much harder to dismiss the latest incident as another misfire.
US president Donald Trump has directed the American military to support relief efforts to help Mozambique after the destruction caused by Cyclone Idai.

The US Africa Command (Africom) confirmed the move three days after Mozambiques government made a formal request to the international community for aid.

The southern African nation earlier declared a national disaster as its president Filipe Nyusi said deaths from the cyclone could reach 1,000. The confirmed death toll is now approaching 450.

Families displaced by Cyclone Idai, eat lunch at the Samora Machel Secondary School (AP)

The US statement said Africom provides disaster relief when it has unique capabilities that can be utilised in the US Governments response.

It said the Combined Joint Task Force  Horn of Africa will lead the US military efforts and that its initial assessments have begun at the scene of the disaster.
A multimillion-pound publicity drive encouraging EU nationals to secure their post-Brexit status will be launched on Monday.

Adverts on billboards and at bus stops and railway stations will be rolled out across the country ahead of the full opening of the Home Offices settlement scheme this weekend.

The month-long marketing campaign, which has been allocated around 3.75 million, will be visible at 6,000 sites and in every major UK city.

Adverts will also run on catch-up TV, radio, social media and online.

(PA Graphics)

Immigration minister Caroline Nokes said: It is my priority to make sure that EU citizens, who have built their lives here and who have contributed so much to our society, continue to feel welcome in the UK.

That is why I am launching this UK-wide campaign, which will include billboards and radio advertising, so that everyone who is eligible knows how to apply and gets the status they need.

I want EU citizens to stay and to continue to call the UK their home and I would encourage all EU citizens to apply once the scheme goes live.

(PA Graphics)

The launch represents a ramping up of the Governments efforts to raise awareness of the process for securing post-Brexit immigration status.

From Saturday, the Home Offices EU settlement scheme will be fully open following test phases during which nearly 200,000 people have received status.

EU nationals and their family members who have lived continuously in the UK for five years can obtain settled status, meaning they are free to go on living and working in the UK indefinitely.

People with less than five years residence can apply for pre-settled status, which can later be converted into settled status.

(PA Graphics)

The Government has designed an online application platform from scratch.

Applicants are asked to prove their identity, declare any criminal convictions and upload a facial photograph.

Officials check employment and benefits data to confirm proof of residence and all applications are run through UK criminality and security databases.

Government estimates indicate that between 3.5 million and 4 million European Economic Area citizens will be eligible to apply, and the Home Office has assigned over 1,500 caseworkers to the scheme.

The deadline for applying will be June 30 2021, or December 31 2020 if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
A former school which now sells beer and food and holds quizzes and music events, has been named the best club in the country.

The Appleton Thorn Village Hall near Warrington has won the accolade for the second time in a decade.

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) said the sandstone building is the hub of the local community, selling a range of beers from regional and micro breweries, and having a games room and bowling green.

Keith Spencer, Club of the Year organiser, said: This club is the very hub of the community, from hosting pre-school events to yoga, dance, Guides and rehearsals for the Vale Royal String Orchestra.

It is a very deserving winner of this years Club of the Year competition and a shining example of the intrinsic role that clubs can play in their local areas.

Chris Massey, steward of the Appleton Thorn Village Hall, said: We are a true community club and take pride in hosting a range of activities and events for our locals and serving great beers as well.

The Club of the Year is a former school (Camra/PA)

Other finalists included the Real Ale Farm in Bargoed, Wales, the Canine Club in Accrington and the Egham United Services Club in Egham.
Frances President Emmanuel Macron has said he hopes a 73-year-old yellow vest protester, who suffered serious head injuries after being charged by police in Nice, gains wisdom over the incident.

Anti-globalisation activist Genevieve Legay remains in hospital on Monday after police advanced aggressively on people defying a protest ban on Saturday.

A reporter saw Ms Legay, who was waving a rainbow flag marked Peace, fall to the pavement, blood spilling from her head.

Anti-globalisation activist Genevieve Legay (Claude Paris/PA)

In an interview published in Nice Matin on Monday, Mr Macron suggested Ms Legay did not behave responsibly, saying that fragile people should not attend places that are defined as prohibited.

He added: I wish her a speedy recovery, and perhaps a form of wisdom.

At least 2,000 people have been injured in yellow vest protest violence.
The centenary of a record-breaking airship journey is being marked by Scotlands National Museum of Flight.

The giant R34 airship made the first return flight across the Atlantic and the first east-west crossing by air in 1919.

Bosses at the East Lothian museum, a base which has a close connection to the airships history, hope visitors will use the anniversary as a reason to visit and learn about the epic 6,000-mile double-Atlantic crossing.

The 634ft R34, nicknamed Tiny, was stationed at East Fortune  now home to the museum, which started out as a Royal Naval Air Station.

The primary duty of airships was to protect convoys and carry out anti-submarine activities.

HMA R34 arrived at East Fortune in May 1919, having been constructed at the Wm Beardmore factory at Inchinnan near Glasgow but completed too late for active service in the First World War.

Curator Ian Brown polishes a cabinet holding a model of the R.34 airship (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The airships main claim to fame came in July 1919 when it and a crew of 30 set off on the first direct flight between Britain and the US.

Its journey began on July 2, just a few weeks after Alcock and Browns record-breaking west-east Atlantic flight.

The R34 reached Mineola in Long Island at 9.45am on July 6, 108 hours and 12 minutes after departing from Scotland.

The journey was hampered by dwindling fuel supplies, violent squalls and a leak that was repaired with the crews supply of chewing gum.

Its story is told as part of the National Museum of Flights Fortunes of War permanent display.

It features objects such as the large bowplate from the R34, the airships altimeter dial, binoculars and a camera used on the flight as well as a bottle of brandy taken on board for medicinal reasons.

A pair of binoculars is among the items on show (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The museum is also launching a search for images of memorabilia plus recollections from descendants of the R34s crew members, which it hopes to develop into a digital gallery to help tell the airships story.

Ian Brown, assistant curator of aviation, said: The story of the R34 is packed with insights into the technologies and social history of the time.

It was a huge undertaking that was front-page news both in the UK and the USA, and its fascinating to know that the crew really were convinced that large, rigid airships like the R34 were the future of long-distance travel.

Were very proud that our East Fortune home has such close links to this historic adventure and hope that as many people as possible will visit during this centenary year to learn more about it.

The National Museum of Flight begins seven-day opening for the new season on Saturday.
A year on from the Great March of Return I still mourn my daughter Razan, killed in cold blood, writes Sabreen Al-Najjar

She was 20-years-old when she was shot. It was June 1 2018, and Razan, the eldest of my six children and a volunteer medic and nurse from Palestine, was helping to treat wounded protestors taking part in the Great March of Return, which had begun on 30 March last year

In spite of her white coat she became a target for the Israeli Defence Force. As she tried to help evacuate the wounded near Israels border fence, she was hit. Her death transformed her into a symbol for an entire nation under the boot of Israel. But her mere presence at the 2018 protest, even in a medical capacity, was never guaranteed. Denied a career as a doctor by our financial circumstances, she studied nursing, and in anticipation of the Great March of Return, sold her phone and ring to buy medical equipment.

She defied those in Gazan society that would not have a young woman take part. And from the very first day of the protest, she was tending to the wounded. As at so many times during a life cruelly cut short, she evinced a determination that was born out of the rubble of Gaza following the 2008 attack on the city.

Razan was insistent that she support her countrymen and women at the Great March. As she saw it, she was not only a paramedic, but an active member of the resistance. She joined activists and writers, journalists and youth group members, and found herself at home among the mass of peaceful faces that together reflected the spirit of Palestine.

Like so many of them, she held the simple dream of one day returning home  in her case, to her familys village in Jaffa. She was optimistic that she would meet her grandparents, from whom she was separated by the illegal blockade. But those who put that same blockade in place would make sure she never did.

The bullet that struck her was not the first aimed in her direction. IDF snipers, sat safely in military towers, had been trying to prevent her from carrying out her work in the field. It is a testament not only to her bravery and resolve, but also her ability as a paramedic and nurse, that she moved through gunfire to comfort, treat and evacuate men, women and children.

In what was an unprecedented violation of international humanitarian rights and international humanitarian law, medics, journalists and even the disabled were gunned down in cold blood that day. The compassion Razan showed is an example for us all to follow. We must learn from those like my daughter who risk their lives for others in the name of peace, fairness and freedom.

It is a love for those values that gave rise to The Great March of Return, our cry for justice. Confined to a densely populated, prison-like strip of land, surrounded by Israeli blockades and walls, we are a forgotten 1.8 million people, living in an unjust society. This is why we march every Friday. This is why we will march this weekend. We will protest peacefully against our oppressors, and stand together for the rights and freedoms freely given to others without hesitation.

Seventy years after our expulsion, we, the people of Palestine, still yearn for our homeland. The vast majority of the land lived on before the Palestine War and the Nabka remains underpopulated, as if waiting for the return of those who once called it home. And those who did so will not rest until that dream is realised.

The right of return is more than a political position, more than a principle: wrapped up in it, and reflected in literature and art and music, is the essence of what it means to be Palestinian. It is in our blood. As we approach the anniversary of the Great March of Return this weekend, my daughter, Razan al-Najjar, remains a symbol, not only of Palestinian nationhood, but of the courage and defiance that defines the people of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Unmoved by time or place, the exodus of 1948 is as fresh in our collective memory as ever. A solution exists; an end to this dark period is now in the hands of Israel. This piece first appeared on The Independent website.
A no-deal Brexit on April 12 is becoming increasingly likely, the European Commission has warned.

The warning came as Theresa May addressed senior ministers at a special meeting of Cabinet ahead of a historic week of crunch votes in the House of Commons which could shape the outcome of Brexit.

Mrs May is facing a battle to hold on to power as MPs seek to seize control of parliamentary business in a bid to secure a softer Brexit, while some of her own backbenchers openly discuss her removal as Prime Minister.

Her hopes of winning DUP support for the Brexit deal also suffered a setback after a phone call with Arlene Foster failed to change the unionist partys opposition to the Withdrawal Agreement.

In its statement, the European Commission said it had completed its preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit, but warned it would nonetheless cause significant disruption for citizens and businesses.

If it crashes out without a deal on April 12, the UK will not benefit from a transition period to new arrangements, but will immediately be subject to checks and tariffs on its exports to the EU, while significant delays can be expected at the borders, said officials.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay arriving for the Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Following Cabinet, Mrs May was due to meet Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn before delivering an oral statement to MPs on the decision reached at last weeks EU summit to extend the Brexit negotiation period beyond March 29.

MPs will then debate and vote on a proposal to force a series of indicative votes on alternatives to her Withdrawal Agreement.

Defeat for the Government on Monday night over the plan  tabled in an amendment by former ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve and Labour MP Hilary Benn  would be a further humiliation for Mrs May.

The proposal seeks to pave the way for a series of indicative votes in the Commons on Wednesday, effectively taking control of the Brexit process out of the hands of the Government.

Sir Oliver acknowledged that any votes would be advisory rather than binding on the Government and it may take several rounds of voting before a majority is found for any of the options  if one can be found at all.

He said Mrs May hasnt been able to get a majority and we dont know what she could get a majority for, so once we find that out there is a way forward, in principle, and then the next thing would be for the Prime Minister to take that forward and for the Government to implement it.

But he told BBC Radio 4s Today: None of us know whether it will work.

Tory backbencher Nigel Evans, a joint executive secretary of the influential Conservative 1922 Committee, said Theresa May should set out her plans to quit in order to get her Brexit deal through.

(PA Graphics)

Clearly a number of people do not want the Prime Minister anywhere near the next phase of negotiations, which is the future trading relationship between ourselves and the EU, he told Today.

He said there should be an orderly process to replace the Prime Minister, with a full leadership contest rather than an interim successor.

And Mrs Mays former Downing Street director of communications, Katie Perrior, said it was time for the Prime Minister to announce her departure date to get her Brexit deal through.

Writing in The Times Red Box, Ms Perrior said: Maybe its time to stop finding scapegoats and admit that Theresa May and her lack of leadership has made a bad situation worse.

With great sadness, its time for her to swap her departure date in return for the deal. Its the least she can do.

But International Trade Secretary Liam Fox insisted that Mrs May was respected by the public, despite calls for her to go from MPs.

What I was finding from real voters was people spontaneously saying: I dont understand how Theresa May puts up with the pressure, she is a great public servant, her resilience is amazing, Dr Fox told Today.

He said Tory Eurosceptics had to accept that MPs would block a no-deal Brexit.

I think we will see today that there is a mood in the House of Commons to stop us leaving without a deal, even if that means no Brexit, said Dr Fox. I think that is a constitutionally disastrous position.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove  tipped at the weekend as a possible replacement for Mrs May as PM  told the BBC: We need to ensure that we leave the EU and we do so in an orderly fashion, and as many people as possible (need to) recognise that that means supporting the Prime Minister and making sure she gets the deal through.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove urges support for Theresa May during the current #Brexit deadlock, saying "this is an immensely serious week"https://t.co/Rtmdjo1O5q pic.twitter.com/B06LTNrU9D  BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 25, 2019

Meanwhile, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said images of an estimated one million people marching in favour of a second Brexit referendum were very telling, but added that the commission was negotiating only with the UK Government.

For as long as the UK Government does not tell us otherwise, we are working on the presumption that the UK will leave the EU, he told a Brussels press conference.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who was one of a group of prominent Brexiteers to meeting Mrs May at Chequers on Sunday, claimed the Government had chickened out of delivering Brexit.

In an article in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson signalled his belief in the need for a change of leadership by asking: Can we really go on with a negotiating team that has so resoundingly failed?

(PA Graphics)

If Mrs May cannot deliver convincing proofs of how the next phase of the negotiations will be different from the last, he said she should drop the deal and demand an immediate departure from the EU with an extended transition period stretching as late as December 2021 to negotiate a trade deal.

It is time for the PM to channel the spirit of Moses in Exodus, and say to Pharaoh in Brussels  let my people go, said Mr Johnson.

Meanwhile, The Sun newspaper used its front page on Monday to urge Mrs May to promise to resign in order to win support for her deal from Tory Brexiteers and the DUP.

Unlike so many she has determinedly respected the will of the Leave majority She must now take the next principled step  and show she is not just another craven politician determined to cling to power, it said.
The jury in the trial of Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield has retired to consider its verdicts.

The six men and six women were sent out at 10.51am on Monday after 10 weeks of the trial at Preston Crown Court.

Judge Sir Peter Openshaw told them: You are under no pressure of time whatsoever. You can and should take just as long as you want or need.

Duckenfield, 74, denies the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans who died in the disaster at the FA Cup semi-final on April 15, 1989.

Ninety-six men, women and children died in the fatal crush on the Leppings Lane terrace.

Under the law at the time, there can be no prosecution for the 96th victim, Tony Bland, as he died more than a year and a day after the disaster.

Retired chief superintendent Duckenfield is standing trial alongside former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell, who denies failing to discharge his duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell (Peter Byrne/PA)

It is alleged Mackrell, 69, failed to take care as safety officer particularly in respect of ensuring turnstiles were of such number to admit fans at a rate where there were no unduly large crowds waiting for admission.

The court has heard there were seven turnstiles for the 10,100 Liverpool fans with standing tickets for the match against Nottingham Forest.

Duckenfield, who was promoted to the role less than three weeks before the disaster, gave the order to open exit gates to the ground after crowds built up outside.

More than 2,000 fans entered the ground after the gate was opened, with many making their way down the tunnel to the central pens of the terrace, where the fatal crush happened.

The judge has previously told the jury to be dispassionate and objective when considering its verdicts.

He said: The death of 96 spectators, many of whom were very young, is a profound human tragedy attended by much sadness and anger which for many is as raw today as it was 30 years ago.

Understandably, and probably inevitably, there have been times during the trial of heightened emotion and distress of which you will have been keenly aware.

But, as you go about your duty to strive to deliver verdicts according to the evidence you must try and put aside your emotions and sympathies and to decide the case after an objective and dispassionate review of the evidence.

The jury was sent home for the evening at 4.01pm to resume deliberations on Tuesday morning.
A Brexit supporter who egged Jeremy Corbyn while yelling respect the vote has admitted an assault charge.

John Murphy, 31, smacked the Labour leader with an egg after he visited a mosque in his Islington North constituency.

Mr Corbyn was shocked and surprised by the attack, which has prompted his team to work on increasing his security, Westminster Magistrates Court heard on Monday.

Murphy, of Whetstone, in Barnet, north-west London, was warned by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot that he may be jailed for assault by beating in order to send a clear message that attacks on MPs must stop.

The Labour leader was left shocked by the incident (Jason Roberts/PA)

Prosecutor Kevin Christie said Mr Corbyn was with Labour shadow home secretary Diane Abbott at the Muslim Welfare Centre in north London after visiting the Finsbury Park Mosque on March 3.

Mr Corbyn took off his shoes and sat down next to his wife Laura Alvarez and a group of people who seemed to be in great spirits.

Suddenly, he felt a strike to the right side of his forehead and then realised someone had reached over his right shoulder and struck him, Mr Christie said.

As he was struck he heard a male voice shouting: Respect the vote.'

Mr Corbyn had left the room to wash himself when he realised he had been struck by an egg.

Murphy continued to shout respect the vote while being restrained by staff.

Mr Corbyn, who was largely uninjured but left with a red mark, noted Murphys face was contorted with rage and he appeared very aggressive.

In a victim impact statement read to court, the Labour leader said: I was shocked and surprised when the assault occurred as I have always felt safe and secure at the Muslim Welfare House.

The assault was completely unprovoked and threatening.

Whilst Im determined to make sure Im able to interact with people as I always have, I now have to be more cautious.

I feel these kinds of attacks drive a wedge between elected representatives and those who elected them in the first place. We are now reviewing and increasing my security protection.

Remain-supporting politicians have spoken about heightened tensions turning into abuse and violence, with independent MP Anna Soubry saying she has been targeted by very, very serious death threats.

Anna Soubry has spoken out about the death threats she has received (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Labours Lloyd Russell-Moyle said a man shouting traitors grappled with him and grabbed his glasses on the streets of Brighton in an attempted assault.

Prime Minister Theresa May has faced heavy criticism from MPs, who accused her of whipping up tensions and putting them at risk of physical attack after she blamed them for delaying Brexit in a Downing Street speech.

The attack on Corbyn came about a week after the party announced it would support a second referendum.

Ms Arbuthnot warned she is considering a short prison sentence for Murphy, who had been equipped with four further eggs.

This is a public servant and attacks on MPs must stop. The message must go out  this must stop, she said.

Malik Aldeiri, defending, said Mr Corbyns statement was slightly over egged in the sense that Mr Corbyn himself hasnt suffered any impact, with the main concerns being from his family.

Murphy, of Totteridge Common, was bailed until later in the day when he may be sentenced.
The House of Commons is to debate a motion tabled by Theresa May under the terms of an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Act forced on her by MPs.

The motion simply states that the House has considered a written statement delivered by the Prime Minister following the second defeat of her Brexit plan in a meaningful vote earlier this month.

But crucially, it is amendable, allowing MPs an opportunity to seek support for their preferred options for the next steps forward.

Speaker John Bercow will select the amendments to be debated (House of Commons/PA)

It is likely that not all amendments will be selected for debate by Commons Speaker John Bercow, and some of those selected may not be pushed to a vote. Amendments approved by the Commons are not binding on the Government.

The amendments are:

Labour

Tabled by leader Jeremy Corbyn with the backing of his top team, calls on the Government to provide parliamentary time to debate a range of Brexit options, including Labours own plan, the Common Market 2.0 proposals, a customs union and a second referendum.

Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Tom Brake wants a further extension to the Article 50 negotiating period (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Liberal Democrats

Tabled by Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake and backed by members of Sir Vince Cables party and The Independent Group of MPs, this would require the Government to seek a further extension to the Article 50 negotiating period to hold a referendum on Mrs Mays deal versus Remain.

Indicative votes

A cross-party amendment put forward by Sir Oliver Letwin, Dominic Grieve and Hilary Benn and signed by 109 MPs from all parties, this would allow Parliament to seize control of the agenda in the House of Commons on Wednesday to hold a series of indicative votes to establish whether there is a majority for any Brexit outcome.

Colchester Tory MP Will Quinces amendment says the result of the 2016 referendum should be honoured (PA)

Honour the referendum

Tabled by Colchester MP Will Quince and backed by 81 MPs drawn largely from the Leave wing of the Conservative Party and the DUP  but also including Labours Graham Stringer, Kate Hoey, Gareth Snell and Ronnie Campbell  this amendment states that Parliament gave the decision on EU membership to the British people in the 2016 referendum and that its result should be honoured.

Stop no-deal

A cross-party amendment. put forward by Labours Yvette Cooper, instructs the Government, if Mrs Mays Brexit plan is not approved by March 28, to set out by the end of that day its proposals for ensuring the UK does not leave the EU without a deal.

Anna Soubry is calling for a second referendum (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Second referendum

Put forward by Anna Soubry with the support of members of The Independent Group and Liberal Democrats, this amendment would require an immediate referendum asking voters to choose between a version of Brexit chosen by Parliament or remaining in the EU.

Parliamentary approval for no-deal

Tabled by Labour former foreign secretary Dame Margaret Beckett, this would require Parliament to be given an opportunity in the week before a mooted no-deal Brexit to vote on whether the Government should go ahead and take the UK out of the EU or seek a further extension to negotiations. It would also require Parliament to be recalled if a no-deal Brexit is set to occur during recess.
Members of the Scottish Cabinet felt as if they were sitting on the naughty step at times because of the strained relationship between Holyrood and Westminster over Brexit, a new report has revealed.

Former Scottish health secretary Shona Robison complained about the treatment Holyrood ministers received from Westminster, saying: You felt sometimes you were sitting on the naughty step because we were seen as to only be talked to and informed when need had it.

She spoke out in a new report on 20 years of devolution, produced by the Institute for Government think tank.

Researchers interviewed 13 former Cabinet minsters from both Scotland and Wales to mark the 20th anniversary of devolved administrations being set up in Edinburgh and Cardiff.

In the same report, former Scottish deputy first minister Lord Wallace  who also served as Advocate General for Scotland in the UK Government  said he did not believe Theresa Mays government had kept its commitment that Scottish and Welsh politicians would be fully engaged in the preparations for Britains exit from the European Union.

Lord Wallace, who was interviewed in autumn last year, said: I dont believe that the United Kingdom ministers are living up to what they said at the outset of proper and full engagement with Scotland, Wales and unfortunately there arent Northern Ireland ministers.

[NEW REPORT] Ministers Reflect on Devolution: the experience of ministers in Scotland and Wales over 20 years of devolution https://t.co/VvSrvacGzc #MinistersReflect pic.twitter.com/PmiSrqRGkB  Institute for Gov (@instituteforgov) March 25, 2019

The report itself recalled that shortly before triggering Article 50, Prime Minister Theresa May affirmed the devolved governments should be fully engaged in (the Brexit) process.

However, it added: Our interviewees argued that UK Government attempts to involve Scottish and Welsh ministers have been insufficient.

The think tank said they had to negotiate and cooperate with UK counterparts to achieve their objectives and to influence decisions taken at Westminster (and in Brussels) that affect devolved matters.

Former Scottish first minister Lord McConnell found the occasionally dysfunctional relationship between then-Labour PM Tony Blair and his Chancellor Gordon Brown hard to work with, because things would be agreed with one and then took ages to be implemented by the other.

In addition, former ministers found the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC)  set up to bring together UK ministers with representatives from the devolved governments  not particularly helpful, according to the report.

It stated: The overall message from our interviews is that while the JMC is better than nothing, it is not particularly helpful from a devolved perspective when there are more fundamental differences between the governments.

Former Welsh education minister Leighton Andrews told researchers: The Joint Ministerial Committee is, you know, its there, its important to have it, if youre going to air genuine issues I think that its valuable.

[But] I dont think wed evolved a structure  certainly not in my time  that demonstrated to us in Wales that Whitehall had taken devolution on board.

The Welsh Assembly building in Cardiff. (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Meanwhile, Ieuan Wyn Jones, who served as Welsh deputy first minister, complained the JMCs procedure for resolving disputes between the administrations wasnt worth the paper it was written on.

The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments formally raised a dispute over funding linked to the 2012 London Olympics, arguing for addition resources to come to the devolved administrations.

The report noted the dispute resolution process is chaired by a UK minister, with Mr Wyn Jones saying when devolved ministers pressed for a more independent procedure the UK Treasury wouldnt have any of that.
A military-backed party that based on unofficial results won the most votes in Thailands first election since a 2014 coup has said it will try to form a government, after a rival party also claimed it had the right to govern.

The conflicting claims following Sundays election highlight the deep divisions in Thailand, which has been wracked by political instability for nearly two decades.

Uttama Savanayana, the head of the Palang Pracharat party that is backed by junta leader and prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, said it would contact like-minded parties to form a new administration.

But earlier on Monday, Sudarat Keyuraphan, leader of the Pheu Thai party that was ousted in the 2014 coup, said it would try to form a government because it won the most constituency races.

Thai prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, right, arrives at Government House in Bangkok (Sakchai Lalit/AP)

The party is allied with exiled Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra.

As we have said before, the party with the most seats is the one that has received the confidence from the people to set up the government, Ms Sudarat said.

But the party faces an uphill battle because selection of the next prime minister will be decided by the 500-member lower house as well as a 250-member junta-appointed Senate.

The Election Commission announced the results of 350 constituency races but said full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in the House of Representatives, will not be available until Friday.

Unofficial results show Palang Pracharat had the highest popular vote, which along with the appointed Senate puts Mr Prayuth in a relatively strong position to stay in office and cobble together a coalition government.

Analysts say the next government is likely to be unstable and short-lived, whichever party leads it.

Pheu Thai party leader Sudarat Keyuraphan (Sakchai Lalit/AP)

The election is the latest chapter in a nearly two-decade struggle pitching conservative forces including the military against the political machine of Mr Thaksin, a tycoon who upended tradition-bound Thailand politics with a populist political revolution.

Mr Thaksin was ousted as prime minister in a 2006 military coup and now lives in exile abroad to avoid a prison term, but parties allied with him have won every election since 2001.

His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who led the Pheu Thai government that was ousted in 2014, also fled the country after what supporters said was a politically motivated prosecution.

The blunt-speaking Mr Prayuth, who as army chief led the 2014 coup, has aimed to extend his hold on power by engineering a new political system that stifles the influence of big political parties not aligned with Palang Pracharat and the military.

Under the convoluted election system created by the junta, 350 of the lower house members are elected from constituencies and 150 are allocated to parties based on share of the nationwide popular vote.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the anti-junta Future Forward party, which polled in a strong third place after scooping up first-time voters, said the party will not nominate him as a prime ministerial candidate to avoid a political deadlock.

He urged all parties that support a true democracy to form a coalition to trump the spoiling effect of the votes of 250 junta-appointed senators.

A supporter hugs Pheu Thai party leader Sudarat Keyuraphan, right (Sakchai Lalit/AP)

The Election Commissions secretary-general, Charoongwit Poomma, defended the ECs handling of Sundays vote and said delays in announcing full results reflect its duty to ensure the election is free and fair.

Elections in our country are not like other countries, he said.

We have laws to determine whether the election was free and fair or not. It needs to go through the process of orange, yellow, red cards before results are announced, Mr Charoomwit said, referring to different levels of seriousness for election violations.
Greeces prime minister has said Turkish fighter jets harassed the helicopter he was travelling on during a visit to a remote Greek island to celebrate independence day.

Alexis Tsipras said he was welcomed by Turkish fighter jets violating Greek airspace during his arrival on Monday on the small eastern Aegean island of Agathonissi.

The move forced the helicopter pilot to carry out low manoeuvres until Greek fighter jets arrived to deflect the Turkish aircraft, Mr Tsipras said.

Greece and Turkey have long had tense relations and are divided over several issues, including territorial disputes in the Aegean.

The Aegean Sea pictured during an outbreak of forest fires (NERC Satellite Receiving Station/PA)

Athens often complains that Turkish fighter jets violate its airspace.

Mr Tsipras stressed Greece is committed to dialogue and cooperation with Turkey.

However, he said if necessary we will do what our ancestors taught us, to defend our country.

A short while ago I had the honour of being welcomed here on Agathonissi by some fighter jets from the Turkish airforce, Mr Tsipras said during a speech on the island.

They wanted to also participate in our national celebration.

The prime minister was on the island to celebrate the anniversary of Greeces 1821 revolution against the Ottoman Empire, the precursor to modern-day Turkey.

Cyprus is one of the issues that divides Greece and Turkey (Andrew Matthews/PA)

They must know that these silly actions make no sense. They waste kerosene and petrol, Mr Tsipras said of Turkey.

Firstly because we will always be there to defend our national integrity.

Secondly because the Greek prime minister will be on the most isolated island of our country, at the most isolated border area, even if he has to swim there, he added.

The two neighbours and Nato allies have come to the brink of war three times since the mid-1970s, over the divided island of Cyprus and territorial issues in the Aegean, although they have also enjoyed periods of relatively good ties.
A woman will appear in court charged with impersonating someone who has not been seen since she vanished in 1981 when she was a toddler.

Katrice Lee disappeared on her second birthday while she was on a shopping trip with her family at a NAAFI store near the British Army base in Paderborn, Germany, where her father Richard was serving.

Mr Lee, from Hartlepool, said someone had been impersonating his daughter on social media and a woman will appear in court.

An image issued by the Minstry of Defence of how Katrice Lee could look now (MOD/PA)

He Tweeted: I unfortunately cannot say anymore, but will update you as and when.xx

Merseyside Police said 40-year-old Heidi Robinson, from East Way, Moreton, Wirral, will appear before Wirral Magistrates charged with a malicious communications offence.

The force said: Robinson will next appear at Wirral Magistrates Court on Wednesday 1 May.

Mr Lee has been critical of the Royal Military Polices initial investigation into his daughters disappearance.

Last year a section of a river bank was excavated as part of the renewed investigations, but nothing was found.
The clock is ticking towards a nightmare scenario of a hard border re-emerging on the island of Ireland, a residents group has warned.

Border Communities Against Brexit said people living on the Irish border are becoming increasingly concerned for the future of the local economy, farming and free movement of people.

The group unveiled a Brexit countdown clock at the border in Jonesborough, Co Armagh, ahead of their mass demonstration on Saturday.

Bernard Doyle and Declan Fearon, members of Border Communities Against Brexit, unveil the countdown clock (Niall Carson/PA)

With four days left on the clock, residents say a no-deal Brexit scenario will have devastating consequences for industries, jobs and the movement of people crossing the border every day to work, study or trade.

The groups spokesman Declan Fearon said: We are now reaching the nightmare scenario that we have envisaged from day one and the clock is ticking.

There are several days left until Friday night and we are at the point now where people living on the border are very concerned.

He accused the British Government of refusing to meet with local residents and those who will be most impacted by a hard border.

He explained the purpose of the clock was to focus peoples minds around the reality of Brexit.

Mr Fearon described how the previous hard border divided communities and people, and kept some 250 roads closed.

A return of the hard border will once again divide communities socially and split parishes, it really is a nightmare, he added.

We always knew it was going to come to this. No one in the last three years has come to close to a solution.

No one has convinced us that we will not have road closures, that is what is on the cards.

Right from day one (Prime Minister) Theresa May has been trying to appease the very right-wing groups within her party, especially the ERG (European Research Group) and the DUP who are crucial in all of this.

The Brexit chaos at Westminster continues with MPs simply jockeying for position in a race to become the next prime minister, while at the same time seeking to prevent a split in the Tory party which is the Governments number one priority.

Anti-Brexit signage in the village of Jonesborough (Niall Carson/PA)

Newry and Armagh Sinn Fein Assembly member Conor Murphy, who also attended the unveiling of the clock, said that London has failed to provide solutions to prevent a hard border from re-emerging.

This community and communities like it across the border region have bore the brunt of partition for the last 100 years, he added.

I dont doubt that Europe is now looking to protect the integrity of its Single Market and that is very worrying for people who live in this area.

Communities here have been starved of investment for many years.

The ultimate solution to all of this is the end of the border and reunification is the solution which should suit Britain and Europe, but until we can get to that point then we need to ensure the livelihoods of these regions do not become collateral damage of British Government action and policy.
The introduction of new domestic abuse legislation next week will be a landmark moment for Scotland, the First Minister has said.

Nicola Sturgeon spoke about the issue as she visited a Womens Aid centre to find out about their preparations for the change in the law  which the organisation has hailed as being the gold standard.

MSPs at Holyrood passed the Domestic Abuse Act in February 2018, creating a specific new offence of domestic abuse.

As well as covering physical abuse, the law covers psychological and emotional treatment and coercive and controlling behaviour, where abusers isolate their victim from their friends and relatives or control their finances.

For the first time in the UK, it makes the impact domestic abuse can have on children an aggravating factor, which could lead to courts handing down tougher sentences as a result.

The Scottish Government has invested 166,000 in training materials to pave the way for the new legislation coming into effect.

Ms Sturgeon and Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf saw these as they met abuse survivors at Glasgow East Womens Aid.

The First Minister said: Scotland is leading the way with this new legislation.

It will be a landmark moment in our efforts to tackle domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour, and will strengthen the power of police and prosecutors.

She added: Coercive and controlling behaviour can have a devastating and long-lasting impact on survivors.

It is a form of abuse that is often hidden but can rob victims of their confidence, self-esteem and safety.

Organisations like Scottish Womens Aid do vital work supporting victims and the new training materials theyve developed will help them provide even more support to victims of all forms of domestic abuse.

Mr Yousaf paid tribute to staff working in the justice system and voluntary sector who have been preparing for the change in the law, including development of appropriate training to raise awareness across the justice sector about what qualifies as coercive and controlling behaviour and the different forms this behaviour can take.

He added: With one week to go until this change in the law, I want to be clear that this behaviour is absolutely unacceptable.

We will continue to take steps to safeguard those who are at risk and to prosecute those who engage in abusive behaviour.

Dr Marsha Scott, chief executive of Scottish Womens Aid with former justice secretary Michael Matheson. (Jane Barlow/PA)

Scottish Womens Aid chief executive Dr Marsha Scott said: What an opportunity stands in front of us as our new worlds gold standard law goes into effect.

Women and children have been telling us for 40 years that it is the emotional abuse and controlling behaviours of domestic abuse that have the most traumatic effect, that trap them in dangerous relationships with abusive partners and ex-partners.

Now these behaviours will be crimes in Scotland and how well we police and prosecute them will say much about our commitment to ending domestic abuse.

She added: We have now honed our training materials about coercive control with each of the 36 Womens Aid services across Scotland.

The materials and the trainers are now available to violence against women partnerships, community planning partnerships, multi-agency risk assessment conferences and other multi-agency bodies that are keen to learn about the new law.
An investigation has been launched following the death of a pensioner in a house fire.

Firefighters were called to an address in Mundy Street in Derby at 10.38am on Monday, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

A woman in her mid-70s died as a result of injuries she suffered in the fire.

Tragically a lady has died in a house fire on Mundy Street, Derby. Firefighters were called to attend at 10.38am this morning. Our thoughts & sympathy are extended to the family & friends of the deceased at this distressing time. A fire investigation into the cause is underway.  Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service (@DerbyshireFRS) March 25, 2019

The fire service said a joint investigation with Derbyshire Police had been launched to establish the cause of the blaze.

Crews from Nottingham Road, Ascot Drive and Kingsway attended the fire and remain on scene, a spokeswoman added.

A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: We were called at around 10.40am this morning to assist our colleagues in the fire service at a fatal house fire on Mundy Street, Derby.

Firefighters at the scene on Mundy Street in Derby (Josh Payne/PA)

Our officers remain on scene, and we will be working with the fire service to investigate the cause of the fire.
Jeremy Corbyn is reviewing his security after a Brexit supporter hit him with an egg while yelling respect the vote, it has emerged.

The leader was visiting a mosque in his constituency less than a week after Labour announced it would support a second referendum on EU membership when he was attacked by 31-year-old John Murphy.

The assault on March 3 came amid heightened tensions over Brexit, with Remain-supporting politicians telling how they have received death threats and MPs being warned about their safety.

Murphy was told by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot that he may be jailed after admitting assault by beating in order to send a clear message that attacks on MPs must stop.

Mr Corbyn, in a statement read to Westminster Magistrates Court, said he was shocked and surprised by the egging.

I feel these kind of attacks drive a wedge between elected representatives and those who elect them in the first place. We are now reviewing and increasing my security protection, he said.

Mr Corbyn had gone to the Muslim Welfare Centre with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott after visiting north Londons Finsbury Park mosque, which was the site of the terror attack by far-right extremist Darren Osborne.

Mr Corbyn was visiting the Muslim Welfare Centre with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott (Victoria Jones/PA)

Prosecutor Kevin Christie told the court that Mr Corbyn took off his shoes and sat down next to his wife Laura Alvarez and a group of people who seemed to be in great spirits.

Suddenly, he felt a strike to the right side of his forehead and then realised someone had reached over his right shoulder and struck him, Mr Christie said.

As he was struck he heard a male voice shouting: Respect the vote.'

Mr Corbyn, after washing the egg off to reveal a red mark on his head, witnessed a very aggressive Murphy being restrained while his face was contorted with rage.

Murphy, of Barnet, north-west London, continued to yell the slogan as he was held.

The Labour leader said in the victim impact statement that he was determined to continue to interact with the public, but accepted he must now be more cautious.

Labour declined to comment on the increased security measures.

In recent days, independent MP Anna Soubry said she was targeted by very, very serious death threats and Labours Lloyd Russell-Moyle said a man shouting traitors grappled with him in an attempted assault.

MPs have also been warned by Commons Deputy Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to travel by taxi or with colleagues because of the hostile climate.

Prime Minister Theresa May has faced heavy criticism from MPs, who accused her of whipping up tensions and putting them at risk of physical attack after she blamed them for delaying Brexit in a Downing Street speech.

Ms Arbuthnot told the court she is considering a short prison sentence for Murphy, who had been equipped with four further eggs.

This is a public servant and attacks on MPs must stop. The message must go out  this must stop, she said.

Malik Aldeiri, defending, said Mr Corbyns statement was slightly over egged in the sense that Mr Corbyn himself hasnt suffered any impact, with the main concerns being from his family.

Murphy, of Totteridge Common, in Whetstone, was bailed until later in the day when he may be sentenced.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Istanbuls Hagia Sophia, a Byzantine-era cathedral that was turned into a mosque and now serves as a museum, could be reconverted into a mosque.

Mr Erdogan spoke during a television interview on Sunday ahead of Turkeys March 31 local elections.

The former Byzantine cathedral was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul in 1453.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Niall Carson/PA)

Turkeys secular founder turned the structure into a museum in 1935 that attracts millions of tourists each year.

There have been increasing calls for the government to convert the symbolic structure back into a mosque.

Those calls were amplified by reports that the gunman who killed Muslim worshippers in New Zealand left a manifesto saying the Hagia Sophia would be free of minarets.

Mr Erdogan himself recited prayers inside the Hagia Sophia last year.

The suggestion that Hagia Sophia could be turned into a mosque drew ire in Greece.

Protesters calling for the Hagia Sophia to be reconverted into a mosque (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP)

It is not only a great temple of Christendom, the largest for many centuries, it also belongs to humanity.

It has been recognised by Unesco as part of our global cultural heritage, Greek foreign minister George Katrougalos said.

So any questioning of this status is not just an insult to the sentiments of Christians, it is an insult to the international community and international law.

We want to hope that the correct statements of March 16 by the Turkish leadership will be valid and there will be no change of this status, he added, in reference to a speech by Mr Erdogan when he ruled out its conversation into a mosque.
A cruise ship boss has apologised to guests on the Viking Sky liner, which was stranded off the coast of Norway after getting into difficulties in stormy seas.

A total of 215 people from the UK were on board the ship which sent a mayday call on Saturday after losing engine power, prompting the start of an operation to airlift 1,300 passengers and crew from the vessel in high winds.

As would-be holidaymakers begin returning home, footage released by Norwegian rescue services captured the moment passengers from the ship were hauled to safety.

The operators chairman, Torstein Hagen, said: The past few days have been stressful and hectic for both guests and crew alike. I would like to personally apologise for what our guests experienced.

The shipping tycoon, who is one of Norways richest men, added: I would also like to say how impressed and grateful I am for the efforts of the national rescue services, rescue personnel, local authorities and the people along the Moere coast, and thank them for the concern and generosity they have shown our guests.

I would also like to express my thanks to the crew on board the Viking Sky for their efforts and dedication.

Police in Moere og Romsdal said the ships crew had managed to anchor in Hustadvika Bay on Saturday, amid fears the vessel would run aground.

Some 479 passengers were airlifted from the vessel.

There were still 436 guests and 458 crew members on board following the end of the evacuation, the operator said.

A spokeswoman for Viking Cruises said the ship had docked in the port in the city of Molde, on Norways west coast, at 4.30pm local time on Sunday, having travelled there under its own power.

Viking Cruises said 20 people suffered injuries and were receiving treatment in Norway, with some already discharged.

The company said on Monday afternoon that the majority of guests have disembarked or are in the process of leaving the vessel and are travelling home.

We will continue to follow up with them to ensure their needs are covered.

We have already begun our own internal investigation and our goal is to establish a complete and thorough understanding of what happened, and we welcome the investigations that have been launched, and will fully support them, a company statement said.

A video, released by the Southern Norway Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC), shows a rescuer rappelling on to the deck of the stranded cruise ship from a helicopter before helping passengers.

Set against a picturesque backdrop of the Norwegian fjords, crew members aboard the ship can be seen catching the rescuers rope to help with the descent as strong gusts threaten to put the rescue in danger.

After landing safely aboard in the violent winds, the rescuer secures a middle-aged man in a life jacket to the rope before he is then whisked into the air and hauled into the hovering aircraft.

A second individual is also pictured being lifted to safety.

Footage online appeared to show the ship rocking dramatically, with debris falling from the ceiling and furniture including chairs sliding across the floor as passengers sat waiting to be rescued.

Rescue workers off Norways western coast rushed to evacuate 1,300 passengers and crew (Alexus Sheppard/AP)

Derek and Esther Browne, from Hampshire, said the whole boat was swaying, it was very rough before they were airlifted to safety.

Mr Browne told BBC Radio 5 Lives Stephen Nolan: We had a few people on stretchers, several with cuts, two with broken limbs, but fortunately we were all right. We were airlifted on to the helicopter which was quite a frightening experience.

He added: Id never been in a helicopter before, there were a lot of high winds, hovering overhead and the winchman came down and we were then collected up and so I shut my eyes as we arrived into the helicopter and there were 15 of us for about a 20-minute ride.

The ship was due to arrive in Tilbury in Essex on Tuesday.

Viking Cruises advised anyone with concerns about guests who were on board to visit www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/my-trip/current-sailings/index.html.

The 745ft Viking Sky was built in 2017 and is described on the official website as a comfortable, award-winning ship, intimate and thoughtfully created by experienced nautical architects and designers to enrich your interaction with your destination in every way.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: We are in touch with Norwegian authorities and stand ready to help any British people who require our assistance.
Russian officials exulted in state media after the conclusion of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Moscows involvement in the US presidential election did not find evidence of collusion.

Wrapping up the 22-month investigation, Mr Muellers report found no evidence that US President Donald Trumps campaign conspired with Russian officials to influence the 2016 election.

Mr Mueller said in a passage from the report quoted by US attorney general William Barr that there was no evidence that Mr Trump was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference.

But the released summary did not clear the president of improper behaviour regarding Russia.

Until Monday, there was little to no coverage in Russia of the Mueller investigation.

Russian media did not closely follow all the leaks that accompanied the probe, but referred to the investigation from time to time as an example of what they described as US hysteria against Russia.

Russian officials and state media, who have vehemently denied that the Kremlin wanted Trump to win and was helping him in the campaign, on Monday relished the news.

The results of Muellers investigation are a disgrace for the US and its political elites, Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the information committee at the Federation Council, tweeted on Monday.

All of the accusations were proved to be trumped up.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had a more muted reaction on Monday, saying that Russia has never interfered in elections in other countries and doesnt intend to do so.

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Its hard to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if it isnt there, he said.

Thirty-four people, including six Trump aides and advisers, were charged in the investigation.

Twenty-five are Russians accused of election interference either through hacking into Democratic accounts or orchestrating a social media campaign to spread disinformation on the internet.

Russian authorities over the past months portrayed the Mueller probe as a witch hunt against Trump and a tool of the Democratic Party to fan the flames of the anti-Russian sentiment in the US.

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee at the Federation Council, on Monday described the probe and the discussions around it as two years of incessant lies.

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last year (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

State-owned Channel One on its morning news show suggested that US media had been consciously whipping up the hysteria about possible collusion in order to sway the public opinion against Russia.

There were so many fake scoops: the one about the non-existent back channel between Washington and Moscow, the one about the so-called Russia Dossier with the Kremlins alleged compromising information on Trump, Channel Ones US correspondent said.

But will the viewers hear the rebuttals now?

The conclusions of the probe led some to believe that Mr Trump will have a free hand now to improve ties with Russia.

Theres an opportunity to reset our relations but the question is whether Trump will take the risk, Mr Kosachev said.
British Airways passengers were mistakenly flown to Edinburgh rather than Dusseldorf due to a paperwork error.

The pilot of Flight BA3271 took off from London City shortly after 7.30am on Monday and followed instructions to fly to the Scottish capital instead of the German city.

(PA Graphics)

The destinations are more than 500 miles apart.

After the flight crew was alerted to the mistake, the British Aerospace 146 plane was refuelled and then flown to Dusseldorf, where it touched down more than three-and-a-half hours behind schedule.

German firm WDL Aviation operated the flight on behalf of BA CityFlyer, which is a subsidiary of British Airways.

An investigation has been launched by the firms to find out why the paperwork error occurred.

The flight has been diverted to Edinburgh, we don't have any information as to why at the moment. There is an estimated departure time of 10:30 from Edinburgh to make way to Dusseldorf. Sarah  British Airways (@British_Airways) March 25, 2019

We're sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. As we've previously advised we don't have currently have any information on this. However, we do know that there is an estimated departure at 10:30. Kieran  British Airways (@British_Airways) March 25, 2019

A British Airways spokesman said: We are working with WDL Aviation, who operated this flight on behalf of British Airways, to establish why the incorrect flight plan was filed.

We have apologised to customers for this interruption to their journey and will be contacting them all individually.

WDL Aviation said in a statement: We are working closely with the authorities to investigate how the obviously unfortunate mix-up of flight schedules could occur.

At no time has the safety of passengers been compromised.

We flew the passengers on the flight with number BA3271 to Dusseldorf after the involuntary stopover in Edinburgh.
Forensic investigations into the death of university student Libby Squire are ongoing after her body was found seven weeks after she went missing, an inquest into her death has heard.

The inquest into the 21-year-olds death was opened and adjourned by coroner Professor Paul Marks at Hull Coroners Court on Monday afternoon.

Police told the hearing that the inquiry into her death has been declared as a homicide probe and that a man remains under investigation after being arrested on suspicion of abduction last month.

Miss Squire was found dead in the Humber Estuary on Wednesday afternoon. She had been missing since the early hours of Friday February 1 following an evening out in Hull, and her disappearance sparked an intensive search.

Prof Marks told the inquest that she sadly was pronounced dead on March 20 near Spurn Head, at the mouth of the River Humber, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

A statement was read to the inquest by Catherine Land, an identification expert with West Yorkshire Police, which confirmed Miss Squire had been identified by her fingerprints.

The 21-year-old initially went missing after a night out in Hull (Humberside Police/PA)

Detective Superintendent Martin Smalley, of Humberside Police, said investigations were ongoing. He said: Post-mortem forensic investigations are still ongoing.

Its now been declared a homicide investigation.

Mr Smalley said Miss Squire was refused entry to the Welly nightclub on January 31 and was last seen at around midnight near Haworth Street and Beverley Road, with no sightings after that time.

He said Pawel Relowicz was arrested on February 6 in relation to her kidnap and remains under investigation.

The detective added that Relowicz, 24, has been charged with a variety of other offences, including burglaries, voyeurism and outraging public decency.

Mr Smalley previously said a post-mortem examination had taken place, but officers would not be releasing any results for investigative and operational reasons.

Prof Marks said police are not yet in a position to release Miss Squires body to her family due to the ongoing investigations.

He offered his condolences as he adjourned the inquest to a later date.

He said: Its my intention to adjourn the inquest pending further investigation to a date to be set down.

I would like to extend my sincere condolences to members of Libbys family for their sad loss.

On Saturday, Miss Squires mother described her familys heartache at the loss of her darling daughter.

Libby Squire with her mother Lisa (Humberside Police/PA)

In an emotional tribute, Lisa Squire affectionately referred to her daughter as Pie and said she had lost one of the four most precious things in my life.

Writing on Facebook, she said: I cannot thank you enough my darling Pie for making me a mummy.

For choosing me to be your mummy. Its an honour, a privilege and a joy.

I kept you safe for as long as I could and I am so sorry I could not keep you safe on that night. Im sorry. Im so so sorry.

Relowicz, 24, of Raglan Street, Hull, has been remanded in custody charged with 12 offences unrelated to the investigation into Miss Squires disappearance.

He is due to go on trial in Sheffield in July.

Miss Squires parents and siblings joined around 1,000 students and staff at the University of Hull on Monday evening to pay their respects to the philosophy student.

Packed into a square outside the university library, the crowd joined together in a minutes silence before forming a procession past a remembrance tree, where some mourners laid flowers.

Professor Susan Lea, vice-chancellor of the university, said they were absolutely devastated by the death of Miss Squire.

Naomi Purchon looks at floral tributes to Libby Squire at the bench on Beverley Road where she was last seen (Amy Murphy/PA)

Prof Lea said: Libby was one of our students. She was part of our community. Libby was one of us.

Here in Hull, we are close-knit. We try to look out for each other, we genuinely care, thats what defines our university and our city.

Osaro Otobo, the union president, added: At this incredibly sad time, what struck me is how we have united to support one another.

Ive been moved by the outpouring of support that has come from students who wanted to do anything they could to help.

Ms Otobo said students were united in their shock and sadness and their determination that Libby will always be remembered.

Floral tributes also covered the bench on Beverley Road where Miss Squire was last seen.

Naomi Purchon, 22, and Gina Capell, 51, lit candles and left flowers and gifts.

Ms Capell said she had been to the bench every day since Miss Squires body was found and said she wanted a lasting memorial to be installed there.

Ms Purchon said Miss Squires death has brought everyone together in the city. She said: Its just a shame something like this had to happen.
Irish leader Leo Varadkar has refused to discuss any potential delays at the border in the event of a no-deal Brexit, following a warning by the European Commission.

The Commission said it is increasingly likely that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union without a deal on April 12.

In a statement, the body said it had completed its preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit, which it said would cause significant disruption for citizens and businesses and significant delays at borders.

In such a scenario, the UKs relations with the EU would be governed by general international public law, including rules of the World Trade Organisation, said the statement released in Brussels.

The Taoiseach refused to answer questions about the issue at a photocall event in Dublin, and stated only that he wished to see a deal ratified, and that the Commissions statement was just a statement of fact.

Im still confident and I still think its likely we will have a deal, he said.

However, as every day passes, no-deal does become more likely. Thats just a statement of fact.

So were intensifying our no-deal preparations. They have been very much under way now for months, if not years.

Mr Varadkar said no-deal Brexit preparations would be stepped up (Brian Lawless/PA)

They are being intensified and finalised at the moment. We need to see now what happens in Westminster over next couple of days and weeks and well take it from there.

Mr Varadkar then walked away, leaving Health Minister Simon Harris to field further questions.

Ive given up making predictions in relation to Brexit, but focus needs to stay very much on the House of Commons this week, Mr Harris said.

The ball is very firmly in Westminsters court, and the EU has provided more time for Britain to make its decision, and that time needs to be used wisely, we need not just to hear what Britain is against, we need to hear what Britain wants as a way forward.

Mr Harris said despite senior DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson suggesting Ireland join the Commonwealth, he doesnt see it happening.

I dont wish to see it arise, remember my party was the party that declared Ireland a republic, he said.

We are going to have to find new ways to work with the United Kingdom and continuing to wanting to work with the UK should they leave the European Union.

There are lots of different views in relation to it, but I think we have a strong, deep, historical, personal relationship with the UK, I hope that continues and I dont think that necessitates being a member of the Commonwealth.
A woman has told how her life was turned upside down by a fraudster who stole 60,000 from her and her family.

Michelle Szombara met Alan Clarkson on a dating website but within weeks of getting to know each other he was stealing money from her.

The con, which spanned a four-year period, caused his then-partner to lose her home and declare herself bankrupt.

Ms Szombara is now backing a Police Scotland campaign to raise awareness of the type of fraud known as a romance scam.

The 40-year-old from Fife told how the relationship began with messages on the dating site and they met up within a few weeks.

He turned up at my house with some spare clothes and stayed for the next four years, she said.

Police are urging people to be cautious about what they reveal online (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Police Scotland said Clarkson, of West Lothian, then started to claim he could not access his bank account and was in debt.

He sent her emails purportedly from financial institutions and produced fake paperwork to show he had money in another account to pay her back.

The fraud also affected Ms Szombaras parents, who handed over money to Clarkson.

She said: He took over the rent for my house. I ended up over 7,000 in rent arrears and my council tax wasnt getting paid.

It got to the stage we were living off of nothing. I was so stressed.

I did every hour going at my work to be left with nothing. I had a lovely house and I lost everything.

I was embarrassed and ashamed that I got my mum and dad involved.

They worked all their days, only had a couple of years left on their mortgage and were now living in a council house because of him.

The fraudster was jailed for 42 months in February after being convicted of stealing 60,000 from Ms Szombara and her parents between 2010 and 2014.

Warning people to be on the alert, Ms Szombara said: My advice would be to be really cautious with everybody.

Check email addresses are related to the company. Throughout the four years we were together I never met his family so always check someones background.

Police say romance fraud is largely unreported due to victims feelings of embarrassment, lack of evidence or a feeling it might have been their fault.

Nevertheless, figures from April to December last year show the number of reported fraud incidents, including romance scams, increased by 21% from 6,106 the previous year to 7,398.

Officers are highlighting the type of fraud as part of a national acquisitive crime campaign, which will run for four weeks.

Their advice includes never sharing or exchanging personal information which can be used by fraudsters to obtain credit.

People are also being urged never to send money or bank details to someone they have met online.

Detective Superintendent Nicola Shepherd said: Criminals can be extremely convincing and they prey on people who are emotionally vulnerable, particularly online.

It can be easy to get caught up with the attention you receive but its important to stop and think if a strangers actions are genuine.
The European Commission has published advice on travelling between the UK and the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Here is what will change.

Will there be additional border checks?

The European Commission has announced that there will be additional border checks between the EU and the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit (Steve Parsons/PA)

UK citizens travelling to the EU will face extra border checks. Guards may ask travellers for information including the duration and purpose of their trip, as well as an explanation of how they intend to support themselves while in the bloc.

To cross the border UK citizens will need a passport issued within 10 years preceding the date of travel which also remains valid for three months after the planned trip is over.

The Commission has proposed that UK nationals will be able to travel visa-free for trips to the EU of up to 90 days in a 180-day period, provided the UK allows EU citizens to do the same.

The UK has announced that EU citizens can travel to the UK without a visa for visits of up to three months.

Will luggage be subject to additional customs checks?



The EU will impose customs checks on those entering the bloc from the UK and travellers will not be allowed to carry some goods across the border.

Meat, cheese, milk, plants, plant products and some animals will not be allowed into the EU from the UK, as well as cash exceeding 10,000 euro.

The UK may apply similar customs checks on EU citizens.

Those travelling from the UK to the EU will be entitled to duty free allowances.

If you intend to travel between the UK and the EU in the event of no deal, #Prepare4Brexit on:

 Border checks, visa and customs checks, VAT refund

 Passenger rights

 Validity of tickets

 Healthcare when travelling

 Driving licences

 Pets

 Roaming pic.twitter.com/Bg2Ok62Ctl  European Commission  (@EU_Commission) March 25, 2019

Will there be access to healthcare when travelling?

Healthcare access using the European Health Insurance Card for both UK citizens in the EU and EU citizens in the UK will no longer be available in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The Commission advises people consider taking out private travel insurance.

Will UK and EU driving licences remain valid?

EU countries decide which international driving licences to recognise at national level. UK citizens planning on driving in the EU should check the rules in the member state they are travelling to as some will require you to hold an international permit.

Drivers will continue to be able to travel using a valid EU driving licence in the UK.

Will pets be able to travel between the UK and EU?



Pets travelling from the UK to the EU must comply with the blocs rules on transporting animals (Tim Ockenden/PA)

Pets travelling from the UK to the EU must be chipped, vaccinated against rabies, tested for rabies, comply with rules on infections and diseases and be accompanied by identification documents.

Those bringing pets from the EU to the UK should check restrictions and may need to provide a pet passport or an animal health certificate.

Will EU mobile data roaming laws continue to apply?



Companies will no longer be bound by EU restrictions on roaming fees for mobile calls, texts or data. UK citizens in the EU may be subject to a surcharge when using phones, and vice versa.

Will those travelling from the UK be entitled to VAT refunds on goods bought inside the EU?

Visitors from outside the EU can get a refund of VAT paid on goods purchased during a visit to the bloc. UK citizens must present the goods along with VAT refund documents when they are leaving the EU.
President Donald Trump and his allies have wasted little time in turning what they have long termed a witch hunt into a weapon in the early stages of what will be his re-election campaign.

Now that special counsel Robert Muellers two-year investigation into Mr Trumps campaign is over, it is being transformed into a rallying cry and a weapon for the president.

The pall of the two-year probe lifted on Sunday, when US attorney general William Barr released a summary of Mr Muellers findings that said the wide-ranging investigation found no evidence of collusion by Mr Trumps 2016 campaign with the Russian government.

Democrats and their liberal media allies for two years slandered President @realDonaldTrump for conspiring with Russia. It was all a malicious, preposterous lie given wall to wall media coverage despite zero evidence. This should never again happen to an American President.  Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) March 25, 2019

Mr Barrs four-page letter was immediately seized upon by the Republican president and his allies as a weapon to use against Democrats, the so-called Deep State and the media.

Even before Mr Muellers conclusions were revealed, it was clear that Mr Trump saw the end of the investigation as a political opportunity.

As the presidents lawyers debated legal strategy, Trump aides and political allies developed a plan to turn the end of the probe into the launching pad for a new round of attacks on the presidents foes and a moment to reinvigorate his supporters in the run-up to the 2020 campaign.

With pre-written tweets and talking points, Mr Trump surrogates rushed to claim victory and rub the results in the face of Democrats, many of whom had spent months promising that Mr Mueller would turn up more.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders speaks to reporters (Susan Walsh/AP)

Democrats and their liberal media allies for two years slandered President @realDonaldTrump for conspiring with Russia,' press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted.

It was all a malicious, preposterous lie given wall to wall media coverage despite zero evidence.

This should never again happen to an American President.

Breaking a 48-hour stretch of lawyer-imposed silence on Twitter, Mr Trump stood on the tarmac beside Air Force One on Sunday and jubilantly hailed the results, exaggerating the findings as a total exoneration.

He also seethed that those behind the probe, which he compared to a failed coup, should be held responsible.

Youve made a great victim of Donald Trump here, Trump counsellor Kellyanne Conway said on Monday morning.

Mr Trumps campaign moved quickly to raise money off the Mueller news, with a text message to supporters stating: Dems raised millions off a lie. Now we fight back!

The teams plans going forward are more expansive, according to seven aides and allies involved with the effort, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about private deliberations.

While Mr Trumps base has long been suspicious of Mr Mueller, the presidents team believes independents and moderate Democrats who backed him in the last election but have since soured may return to the fold if convinced he was unfairly targeted.

Republicans who had mused about a primary challenge to Mr Trump if Mr Mueller returned a smoking gun may now stay on the sidelines.

Maryland governor Larry Hogan, one of several Republicans considering a bid to unseat the president, had said he would only mount a campaign if the political dynamics in the race have changed.

If anything, theyve changed in Mr Trumps favour.

Major talking points for Democrats who had pinned great hopes on Mr Mueller may have vanished.

And some swing voters, wary at the prospect of endless investigations and talk of impeachment, may prove more sympathetic to the president.

The president and his allies will now link the report with the investigations launched by House Democrats and try to make the case that, in the wake of Mr Muellers findings, further probes are partisan overreach.

Democrats are vying with eachother for the nomination to contest the presidency with Donald Trump (Andrew Milligan/PA)

I think they cant move forward until they apologise, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said.

He singled out Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and said the congressmans investigation would have no credibility because he had deemed Mr Trump treasonous and promised clear evidence of collusion that did not materialise.

If there are people who contrived this investigation, who made up this collusion, maybe they themselves should be investigated, Mr Giuliani said.

Democrats have pointed out that Mr Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and have demanded to see his full report.

The presidents allies also intend to use the moment to heighten attacks on the media, which many Trump supporters believe unjustly fanned the flames of the special counsels probe in an effort to bring down the president.

They aim to highlight specific news organisations and, in some cases, individual reporters and paint them as biased and untrustworthy, according to two presidential confidants.

President Donald Trump (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Eric Trump, the presidents son, went on Twitter moments after Mr Barrs letter was released to ask for a simple apology from the news media for the hell everyone has been put through for the past two + years, listing a half-dozen news organisations.

In the days before Mr Mueller submitted his report, Mr Trump told his inner circle that, if the release validated him, he would use Twitter and the power of his office to trumpet the findings, complain about the probes cost and depict the entire investigation as an attempt to obstruct his agenda, according to advisers and confidants.

The presidents campaign and pro-Trump outside groups are poised to amplify the message, while his advisers expect Fox News and the conservative media to act as an echo chamber.

A full-throated attack on the investigation also will be the centrepiece of Trump campaign events, including rallies, they say.

Mr Trumps next rally is set for Thursday in Michigan, a state he narrowly won in 2016 and will invest in heavily this time.

He may have plenty to say.
A Brexit supporter who yelled respect the vote as he struck Jeremy Corbyn while clutching an egg has been jailed for 28 days.

The Labour leader has been forced to review his security after the attack in his constituency by John Murphy, which came less than a week after his party announced it would support a second referendum on EU membership.

The assault on March 3 came amid heightened tensions over Brexit, with Remain-supporting politicians telling how they have received death threats and MPs being warned about their safety.

Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot acknowledged the current climate as she jailed remorseless Murphy, 31, of Barnet, north-west London, for 28 days on Monday after he admitted a charge of assault by beating.

She told Westminster Magistrates Court: An attack like this is an attack on our democratic process.

Ms Arbuthnot had warned she wanted to send the message that attacks on our MPs must stop and noted Mr Corbyn has been forced to review his security, which could hinder his ability to meet voters.

CCTV footage released after the hearing shows Murphy calmly walking up behind a seated Mr Corbyn before thumping him on the side of the head.

The shouting assailant was then restrained by men and women at the Muslim Welfare Centre.

In a statement read to court, Mr Corbyn said he was shocked and surprised by the attack.

I feel these kind of attacks drive a wedge between elected representatives and those who elect them in the first place. We are now reviewing and increasing my security protection, he said.

Mr Corbyn had gone to the centre with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott after visiting north Londons Finsbury Park mosque, which was the site of the terror attack by far-right extremist Darren Osborne.

Prosecutor Kevin Christie told the court that Mr Corbyn took off his shoes and sat down next to his wife Laura Alvarez and a group of people who seemed to be in great spirits.

Suddenly, he felt a strike to the right side of his forehead and then realised someone had reached over his right shoulder and struck him, Mr Christie said.

John Murphy (standing centre) is restrained after the incident (Crown Prosecution Service/PA)

As he was struck, he heard a male voice shouting: Respect the vote.'

Mr Corbyn, after washing the egg off to reveal a red mark on his head, witnessed a very aggressive Murphy being restrained while his face was contorted with rage.

The Labour leader said in the victim impact statement that he was determined to continue to interact with the public, but accepted he must now be more cautious.

Malik Aldeiri, in mitigation, blamed Murphys frustration and anger borne out of the political situation we find ourselves in.

He felt he was making a statement. He believes his civil rights were violated and this was a demonstration by him against what he says is a failure by Parliament to adhere to his democratic vote, Mr Aldeiri added.

In recent days, independent MP Anna Soubry said she was targeted by very, very serious death threats and Labours Lloyd Russell-Moyle said a man shouting traitors grappled with him in an attempted assault.

MPs have also been warned by Commons Deputy Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to travel by taxi or with colleagues because of the hostile climate.

Prime Minister Theresa May has faced heavy criticism from MPs, who accused her of whipping up tensions and putting them at risk of physical attack after she blamed them for delaying Brexit in a Downing Street speech.

Murphy, a freelance events promoter who lives with his parents in Totteridge Common, Whetstone, will also spend a year on licence.

In a statement he wrote before being sentenced, Murphy likened himself to civil rights protesters and said he was perfectly happy to go to jail, adding: Id rather be a rebel than a slave.
A trade union has said it is still fighting to win the war against outsourcing after it lost a High Court battle over the employment rights of outsourced workers at the University of London.

The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) took legal action in a bid to represent outsourced security guards, post room workers, audio-visual staff, porters and receptionists at the university.

The university has refused to recognise the IWGB for the purposes of collective bargaining, arguing that the workers are employed by a facilities management company, Cordant Security.

In January last year, the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), a tribunal which considers union recognition and collective bargaining cases, rejected the IWGBs application to represent Cordant employees as the company already had an agreement with another trade union, Unison.

The CAC also found that the University of London was not one of the outsourced workers employers.

Giving his judgment in London on Monday, Mr Justice Supperstone dismissed the IWGBs challenge to the CACs decision.

Outsourced workers and their supporters outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London (PA/Sam Tobin)

He ruled that there had been no interference with the outsourced workers right to collective bargaining as the union was free to seek voluntary collective bargaining arrangements with both Cordant and the university.

The judge held that, even if there had been an interference with that right under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, any such interference was justified.

At a hearing in February, the IWGB claimed the University of London was in reality also the outsourced workers employer and that its members were being denied their human right to collective bargaining with their de facto employer.

But Mr Justice Supperstone said that a de facto employer is not a known or recognised concept.

He ruled: I do not accept that Article 11 requires that the union should have a right of compulsory collective bargaining with the university, which is not the relevant workers employer and with whom they have no contract relationship.

The judge added: There are, in my view, relevant and sufficient reasons for limiting the right to compulsory collective bargaining to workers and their employers.

The university has a right to arrange its operations in what it considers to be the most efficient and beneficial manner.

Organisations are entitled to adopt outsourcing arrangements, should they wish to do so, as a legitimate means of organising their activities.

In a statement after the ruling, IWGB general secretary Jason Moyer-Lee said: The University of London, with considerable help from the Tory Government, may have won the battle.

But when it comes to the exploitative, discriminatory and fundamentally unfair practice of outsourcing it is the war that the IWGB is fighting to win.

Outsourced workers at the University of London and elsewhere will continue to fight in both the courts and in the workplace until they are brought in-house and treated equally with their directly employed colleagues.

A University of London spokeswoman said: We note the High Courts judgment and its conclusion that the Central Arbitration Committee was correct in determining that the application of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain for recognition by the University of London for collective bargaining in respect of a group of workers not employed by the university but by Cordant Security Ltd was inadmissible.

We note that in reaching this conclusion the court determined that the legislation based on which the CAC made its decision was fully compatible with Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The universitys plans for bringing externally contracted services in-house progress to schedule.

Before the hearing in February, the IWGB said victory could have extended the rights of the UKs 3.3 million outsourced workers by introducing the concept of a joint-employer to English law.

The High Court hearing coincided with strikes at the University of London and two Government departments organised by the IWGB and fellow trade unions the United Voices of the World (UVW) and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).

Around 200 outsourced workers and their supporters also held a march organised by the three unions which gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of the hearing.
The Scottish Government will propose a series of reforms to devolution shortly  though Constitutional Relations Secretary Mike Russell has insisted independence is the only way to become a modern state.

Mr Russell restated the Scottish Governments view it has a cast-iron mandate to hold a second referendum on independence during a speech in London.

He said he believed Theresa May has refused to permit another vote because she fears it might be lost by her argument, therefore she does not want to have it.

Nicola Sturgeon says a second independence referendum is `inevitable (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Mr Russells comments, in an address at the Institute for Government think tank, came just after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said another vote on independence for Scotland was as inevitable as its possible to be.

She will make her position on the prospect of a second ballot on the issue known when there is more clarity about the UKs future post Brexit.

Mr Russell said the SNP leader would give more detail than I can give on this.

He criticised Mrs May, who has repeatedly said now is not the time for Scots to have another vote on independence.

I find it insulting to be told by anybody, let alone the Prime Minister, that now is not the time and you do not have permission to do something, Mr Russell said.

The people of Scotland are mature enough to be able to choose whether we do something or not.

He added: I suppose the Prime Minister is basing her argument on the fact that she doesnt think there is any support for this, I think she should look at opinion polls.

I think she should look at what the people of Scotland are doing at the ballot box and realise that is no longer the case.

There is support for this and there is support for independence.

What I suspect motivates the Prime Minister at the moment is not lack of support for a referendum, it is the fact that the referendum might be lost by her argument, therefore she does not want to have it.

The Constitutional Relations Secretary insisted Brexit had highlighted the very fragile position of Scottish autonomy and decision-making, with Scots having overwhelmingly voted to stay in the European Union in 2016.

While Scots voted by 55% to 45% against independence in 2014, Mr Russell stressed that at the time they were voting for a United Kingdom that was part of the EU, but also a United Kingdom that was characterised repeatedly during the campaign as a union of equals.

He added: Now the UK is set on leaving the EU against the clear will of the people of Scotland.

That is such an enormous change that it would by itself justify returning to the people of Scotland to reconsider the issue of independence.

And we did set out these exact circumstances very clearly in our manifesto for the 2016 Scottish general election.

Prime Minister Theresa May was criticised by Mr Russell (Victoria Jones/PA)

The SNP won most seats at Holyrood in that election on a manifesto which set out that the Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold another referendum  if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances which prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will, he stated.

Mr Russell added: No matter what the Prime Minister thinks, we have a cast-iron mandate for a further independence referendum on those grounds alone.

He said that was a mandate supported by a majority in the Scottish Parliament, as the Scottish Greens hold the same view, and a majority of Scottish MPs at Westminster.

Telling the audience he had been born in that hotbed of Scottish nationalism of Bromley, Mr Russell said Scotland would continue to have a good relationship with the rest of the UK if it became independent.

He said: I am in no doubt the social union will continue and underpin whatever eventual relationship Scotland has with the rest of the UK.

Were always going to work together, cooperatively and collaboratively. Were going to have to find ways of discussing matters or mutual interest and concern.

Mr Russell said that had been the imperative for constructive proposals the Scottish Government has made to improving the governance of the United Kingdom in key areas such as future trading relations and migration.

He added: The Scottish Government will continue to produce constrictive and considered proposals to improve and enhance the governance of the United Kingdom.

Mr Russell said Scottish ministers would shortly bring forward new proposals on the reform of devolution, which would cover statutory foundations for the relationships between the different administrations, dispute avoidance and a new approach to arbitration.

Maurice Golden claims Scots are `fed up with the independence debate (Danny Lawson/PA)

Scottish Conservative chief whip Maurice Golden said: This is more proof that the SNP is abusing the Brexit process in the hope of engineering another independence referendum.

Even if senior SNP figures are now taking this message to London, its the people of Scotland who are most fed up by it.

They need to drop the separation agitating and get on with the job voters want them to do.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said:

Mike Russell should look more closely at the opinion polls  every single poll for over a year has found that a majority of Scots want to remain in the UK.

The SNP has a duty to govern for the whole of Scotland, not just the minority who want to leave the UK.

More than half of people in Scotland do not want a divisive second independence referendum for at least a decade and SNP politicians should start listening to what people are telling them and take this threat off the table.
Prime Minister Theresa May has acknowledged that there is not enough support in the House of Commons for her to bring back her Brexit deal for a third meaningful vote.

But Mrs May said she would continue her efforts to build support for the deal  defeated by 230 votes in January and 149 votes in March  and stage a vote before the end of the week.

The European Council has set a deadline of Friday for the PM to secure parliamentary approval for her Withdrawal Agreement if the UK is to leave the EU with a deal on May 22.

If she cannot get it through the Commons, then the UK has until April 12 to propose a different approach or crash out of the EU without a deal.

MPs are expected later on Monday to debate and vote on a proposal to force a series of indicative votes on alternatives to her Withdrawal Agreement.

In a statement to the House of Commons following a special meeting of Cabinet to discuss her plans, Mrs May said she regretted having to delay Brexit beyond the scheduled date of March 29 and thought the right way forward was to leave with a deal on May 22.

But she told MPs: I have had to conclude that as things stand, there is still not sufficient support in the House to bring back the deal for a third meaningful vote.

I continue to have discussions with colleagues across the House to build support, so that we can bring the vote forward this week, and guarantee Brexit.

Setting out the choices facing MPs, Mrs May said: Unless this House agrees to it, no deal will not happen.

No Brexit must not happen.

And a slow Brexit, which extends Article 50 beyond May 22, forces the British people to take part in European elections and gives up control of any of our borders, laws, money or trade, is not a Brexit that will bring the British people together.

She said her deal was a compromise which respected both sides of the argument and if this House can back it, we can be out of the European Union in less than two months.

But Tory former minister Crispin Blunt accused her of a shameful surrender in effectively taking the option of a no-deal Brexit off the table.

Does the Prime Minister understand that by taking no-deal off the table at the behest of this Remainer Parliament, she has just put the final torpedo into her own deal and any real prospect of Brexit, and that her statement will represent the most shameful surrender by a British leader since Singapore in 1942? Mr Blunt asked the PM in the Commons.

Mrs May responded: The reality is that this House has shown its intention to do everything it can to take no-deal off the table and we all need to recognise that if we are going to deliver on Brexit then we need to recognise that situation.

The European Commission warned that a no-deal Brexit on April 12 is becoming increasingly likely.

In its statement, the European Commission said it had completed its preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit, but warned it would nonetheless cause significant disruption for citizens and businesses.

If it crashes out without a deal on April 12, the UK will not benefit from a transition period to new arrangements, but will immediately be subject to checks and tariffs on its exports to the EU, while significant delays can be expected at the borders, said officials.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove, tipped at the weekend as a possible replacement for Mrs May as PM, told the BBC: We need to ensure that we leave the EU and we do so in an orderly fashion, and as many people as possible (need to) recognise that that means supporting the Prime Minister and making sure she gets the deal through.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove urges support for Theresa May during the current #Brexit deadlock, saying "this is an immensely serious week"https://t.co/Rtmdjo1O5q pic.twitter.com/B06LTNrU9D  BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 25, 2019

But former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who was one of a group of prominent Brexiteers to meet Mrs May at Chequers on Sunday, claimed the Government had chickened out of delivering Brexit.

In an article in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson signalled his belief in the need for a change of leadership by asking: Can we really go on with a negotiating team that has so resoundingly failed?

It is time for the PM to channel the spirit of Moses in Exodus, and say to Pharaoh in Brussels  let my people go, said Mr Johnson.
Pope Francis has travelled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to young people.

Francis celebrated mass in Loretos cathedral and then signed the document, which will be officially released on April 2.

The text, entitled Christ Lives, gives Francis take on the October 2018 meeting of the worlds bishops on ways to better minister to todays young people.

The meeting was dominated by discussion about how to better welcome gays into the church, give women a greater say in decision-making, and manage the Catholic Churchs sex abuse scandal.

Pope Francis seen on a giant screen at right, celebrates mass outside Loretos cathedral (Sandro Perozzi/AP)

The pope said on Monday he chose Loreto, which according to tradition is the site of Marys home, to sign his document because it is the house of the youth.

The House of Mary is also the home of the family, Francis said.

In the delicate situation of todays world, the family, founded on marriage between a man and a woman, takes on an essential importance and mission.

It is necessary to rediscover the plan traced out by God for the family, to reaffirm its greatness and irreplaceability at the service of life and society.
More female, black or ethnic minority computer designers are needed to make artificial intelligence like driver-less cars more inclusive, an academic has said.

Dr Bethany Waterhouse-Bradley said progress was being spearheaded by white, male, middle-class computer engineers.

That can show itself through sensors which find it harder to detect black hands than white, the lecturer in social policy at Ulster University said.

She added: Ultimately, if you have designers who dont have life experiences with various ability issues, various race and class issues and gender issues, we see repeatedly in history that society is designed for the people in the industry that it reflects and the tech industry is still very male-dominated.

It is still very white and middle-class, and even Stanford (a university in California) has introduced a new artificial intelligence humanity institute and there are no black people represented at all, even though the idea of ethical artificial intelligence and some of the most leading research on that has been done by black and minority ethnic people.

So, it is getting inclusiveness across the board so that people understand the lived experience that they are trying to design for.

Progress is being spearheaded by white, male, middle-class computer engineers, the conference heard (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Computer algorithms are susceptible to bias because they are drawn up by humans, a discussion organised as part of the Festival of Politics and Ideas at the York Street campus of Ulster University heard.

Experts used the example of an Uber self-driving vehicle which knocked down a cyclist to illustrate a discussion about the limitations of artificial intelligence.

The human driver was observed not paying attention since the vehicle was autonomous.

The idea behind artificial intelligence is that it works best when humans work with computers, rather than leaving it solely up to them, experts at the university said.

Expecting humans to pay attention when they are not needed 99% of the time, like in a driverless car, can be a difficult proposition.

Dr Waterhouse-Bradley said: These are very human decision-making processes and we have a right and an ability to engage in that is really important for making these ethical decisions that are best for most people in society.

Debate is continuing about how to regulate artificial intelligence.

Dr Waterhouse-Bradley added: Some people argue that transparency is not the issue and that regulation and having a minimum standard of what is acceptable and how we challenge those things is the biggest issue.

Transparency helps with those things, but accountability and regulation would be quite consistent in terms of what the best outcomes for the most marginalised people would be.
Theresa May has struck a conciliatory tone with MPs as she sought to repair the damage done by her Downing Street statement on Brexit.

The Prime Minister used a Commons appearance to acknowledge they were doing difficult jobs as they wrestled with Brexit.

She later expressed regret over her choice of language if it had impacted negatively on MPs and the public, although stopped short of offering an apology.

It was a markedly different approach from last weeks Downing Street statement, in which she blamed MPs for failing to implement the result of the 2016 EU referendum and told frustrated voters: I am on your side.

Pro-EU Tory Sam Gyimah, who quit as a minister over her deal, described her remarks at Number 10 as toxic and a low blow.

The Prime Minister needs to win over MPs if she is to have any chance of overturning the 149-vote defeat suffered by her Brexit deal.

Theresa May makes a statement on Brexit to the House of Commons (House of Commons/PA)

Speaking in the Commons, she stopped short of apologising for her remarks, but admitted they were made in frustration.

She said: This is the first chance I have had to address the House since my remarks last Wednesday evening.

I expressed my frustration with our collective failure to take a decision, but I know that many members across this House are frustrated too.

We all have difficult jobs to do.

People on all sides of the debate hold passionate views and I respect those differences.

I would also like to thank all of those colleagues that have supported the deal so far, and those that have taken the time to meet with me to discuss their concerns.

Labour MP Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) later said: The Prime Minister said in her statement this afternoon about what she said on Wednesday I expressed my frustration with our collective failure to make a decision.

I dont think that is actually correct. It was an attack on members of Parliament doing their job scrutinising the Government at a time where tensions across the country are already heightened and MPs are accused of being traitors.

In my constituency, the majority of people who have asked me about this dont want me to vote for the Prime Ministers deal.

Can the Prime Minister now do the right thing and apologise for the things she said on Wednesday evening?

Mrs May said: It was never my intention that what I said should have the sort of impact that she is talking about, and I regret if it did have that impact because the point was a very simple one that I was trying to make, which is that we stand at a moment of decision for this House.

It is an important moment, people have talked about responsibility. We all have responsibility as members of this House to make the decision that enables us to deliver Brexit for the British people.

Labour MP Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) had also said: Just a little over a week ago I spoke to (the Prime Minister) at the door of this chamber and I begged her to dial down the hate borne not just out of the incessant abuse and threats that I receive, but for the millions of people in our country who are fearful.

She responded on Wednesday evening with the despicable statement that, frankly, many of us felt put more of us and more of the public at risk.

Being Prime Minister is a huge privilege, but with that privilege comes responsibility.

Mrs May responded: I was expressing my frustration. Everybody has their frustration in relation to this issue.

Mrs May said she and others needed to be more careful with the language they used in the current political climate.

She added: As we carry this debate forward, we should indeed take care and I will take care for the language that I use.
Israel has begun responding forcefully to a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip, the countrys prime minister has said.

Speaking at the White House, Benjamin Netanyahu said he will not tolerate the rocket strike, which struck a home in central Israel early Monday and wounded seven people.

As we speak, he said, Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression.

He said Israel will do whatever we must do to defend itself.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, greet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Susan Walsh/AP)

The military has started striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas leader says his group would respond if Israel retaliated too forcefully.

Ismail Haniyeh said in a written statement that the Palestinian people will not surrender and its militant factions will deter the enemy if it exceeds the red lines.

The Israeli military had earlier reinforced its troops along the Gaza border and calling up reserves after a rocket attack on an Israeli home.

Military spokesman major Mika Lifshitz said two armoured and infantry brigades were being mobilised and that there is a limited drafting of reserves under way following the attack, which destroyed a house and left seven people wounded in central Israel.

Seven people were hurt in the blast (AP)

She said the military has concluded that Gazas militant Hamas rulers fired the rocket from one of their launching pads in the southern part of the coastal strip, near Rafah.

Maj Lifshitz said it was a self-manufactured rocket with a range of about 75 miles.

The rocket destroyed a residential home in the farming community of Mishmeret, north of the city of Kfar Saba, wounding six members of a family.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people overall, including two women who were moderately wounded.

The others, including two children and an infant, had minor wounds.

Its a miracle that nobody got killed, said Assi Dvilanski, a paramedic who was one of the emergency personnel at the scene.
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were mobbed by the public and the press as they went on a walkabout in Old Havana during their historic tour of Cuba.

Royal protection officers and Cuban security had their hands full keeping back the crowds from Charles and Camilla as they explored the Unesco World Heritage Site.

Charles and Camilla take a tour of Old Havana, Cuba #RoyalVisitCuba  @belperbarlow @PAImages pic.twitter.com/9kF92uS3uY  PA Royal Reporters (@PARoyal) March 25, 2019

Camilla carried a parasol to ward off the searing sun but Charles managed to keep cool in a shirt, tie and suit during their guided tour.

The old town has retained many of its 18th-century colonial Spanish buildings, with their verandas, brightly-coloured frontages and internal courtyards, with several renovated in recent years.

To begin day two of #RoyalVisitCuba, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall are seeing Old Havana on foot, accompanied by local historian Dr. Eusebio Leal.



This year marks the 500th anniversary of the city of #Havana. pic.twitter.com/FbXDaj33b5  The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 25, 2019

Stray dogs wandered across the royal couples path and, like Cubas citizens who benefit from their countrys renowned healthcare system, they have been vaccinated, and their claws clipped.

The couple stopped by a group of elderly street musicians and, as a huge media scrum tried to capture the moment, Charles put a note in their collection hat.

Charles puts a note in a hat as he watches musicians play in Old Havana (Jane Barlow/PA)

Camilla wandered over to a group of American tourists who questioned her about the Duchess of Sussexs pregnancy.

Mimi Ricketts, 50, said: I said Are you excited about the new baby about to arrive in your family? and she said yes she was.

Mindy Whittle also got the chance to meet royalty and said after her encounter: I love her (Camillas) dress. We shook hands  do I have to pay extra for that?

The prince and the duchess on tour (Jane Barlow/PA)

The couple began their tour in Arms Square, close to the site where the Spanish established the city on November 16, 1519.

They briefly visited the El Templete  small temple  a building from 1828, and as they left, the crowds swarmed around them.

The prince and duchess have made history by becoming the first members of the royal family to officially visit Cuba.

Charles and Camillas groundbreaking trip is likely to usher in a new chapter in the relationship between the UK and the Communist state once ruled by Fidel Castro.

The prince passed up the offer to try some churros, a sweet deep-fried street food made from batter, during the walkabout.

Carlos Leuva, speaking through an interpreter, said he knew who the prince was and thought he was a great personality and looked like he had a great sense of humour.

He added: I offered him some churros but he said he had already had some breakfast.

As the duchess made her way through the crowd, shaking hands with a line of people, she met a living statue of Cuban hero, the essayist and poet Jose Marti.

The prince enjoyed the tour (Jane Barlow/PA)

The man stood stock still in a suit painted bronze  and then moved to present her with a rose and kiss her hand.

After meeting a group of female entrepreneurs running a bicycle repair business, she was accosted by an Australian tourist, Frank Buckley, 68, who addressed her breezily: Good to see you! How are you enjoying it?

He said afterwards: She said she had not been here long. She looked to me a little bit puffed. But she had no trouble walking up to me and shaking my hand.
Members of a British-Israeli family in the Middle East have been injured after a rocket was apparently fired from the Gaza Strip amid continuing violence between the Palestinian territory and Israel.

Up to seven people including children are reported to have been wounded after the strike on the home in the farming community of Mishmeret, around 50 miles north west of Jerusalem, and approximately 62 miles north of Gaza.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was appalled by what he described as a terrorist attack overnight, while Britains ambassador to Israel said there was no justification for the strike.

Appalled by terrorist attack from Gaza against civilians, including British-Israeli dual nationals. My thoughts are with all those affected. Completely UNACCEPTABLE actions by militant groups  Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) March 25, 2019

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was cutting short a three-day diplomatic visit to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House following the attack, prompting Israels military to launch its own strikes on Gaza, which is controlled by the militant Islamic group Hamas.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Hunt said: Appalled by terrorist attack from Gaza against civilians, including British-Israeli dual nationals. My thoughts are with all those affected. Completely UNACCEPTABLE actions by militant groups.

A Foreign Office (FCO) spokesman said they were unable to provide any further information about the injuries sustained by the family, nor comment on claims children were among those hurt.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating seven people, including two women who were moderately wounded.

The others, including two children and an infant, had minor wounds.

David Quarrey, the British ambassador to Israel, said in a statement: We unequivocally condemn todays rocket attack into Israel from Gaza.

Police officers inspect the damage to the house (Ariel Schalit/AP)

Our thoughts are with the British-Israeli family whose house in Mishmeret was hit.

There can be no justification of any kind for this attack, whose consequences could have been devastating.

Alistair Burt, minister of state for the Middle East, said: I condemn the rocket attack from Gaza, which destroyed a family home in Mishmeret with innocent civilians inside.

Shocked to hear that dual British-Israeli citizens are among those injured.

Such acts are unacceptable and part of a hopeless cycle of violence and suffering.

US vice president Mike Pence said the rocket attack proves that Hamas is not a partner for peace.

The rocket was the second launched towards central Israel in recent weeks.

The Israeli military quickly mobilised troops and called up reserves in response to the strike.

It comes as bloodshed on the border between Israel and Gaza continues, despite hopes towards the end of last year that talks between the two would see a reduction in violence.
President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation recognising Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights, reversing more than a half-century of US policy.

Standing alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Mr Trump made formal a move he announced in a tweet last week.

The president said it was time for the US to take the step after 52 years of Israeli control of the strategic highlands on the border with Syria.

Mr Netanyahu had pressed for such recognition for months.

Mr Trumps action on Monday gives him a political boost weeks before what is expected to be a close Israeli election.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war but its sovereignty over the territory is not recognised by the international community.

President Donald Trump gestures toward Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Susan Walsh/AP)

Today, aggressive action by Iran and terrorist groups in southern Syria, including Hezbollah, continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks against Israel  very violent attacks, Mr Trump said.

This should have been done numerous presidents ago, Mr Trump said.

The two leaders met as the Israeli military was striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket that hit a house north of Tel Aviv and wounded seven people.

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the 2019 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression, said Mr Netanyahu, who planned to return to Israel to manage the attack following his meeting with Mr Trump and other US officials, including Vice President Mike Pence.

He added: Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate it.

In a speech earlier Monday, Mr Pence said the rocket attack proves that Hamas is not a partner for peace.

Mr Pence told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that Hamas is a terrorist organisation that seeks the destruction of Israel, and the United States will never negotiate with terrorist Hamas.

Syria reacted angrily to the signing ceremony, saying the decision made Washington the main enemy of Arabs.

Damascus called the US decision a slap to the international community.

Syrias foreign ministry branded the decision a blatant aggression on its own sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that the US move represents the highest level of contempt for international legitimacy.
All the talk in Westminster is about indicative votes on Brexit.

But what are they, and how would they work?

 What is an indicative vote?

An indicative vote is an opportunity for MPs to vote on a series of options in a particular situation to establish whether any of them can command a majority in the House of Commons. As an expression of the Houses will, it is not necessarily binding on the Government.

 Who is proposing it?

A cross-party group of MPs, led by Conservative former ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve and Labours Hilary Benn, are seeking to use a vote on Monday evening to seize control of the parliamentary agenda on Wednesday so a series of votes can be held then.

Sir Oliver Letwin (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

 Who is backing it?

The Letwin amendment has been signed by 109 MPs from all sides of the House, including Conservatives Nick Boles and Sir Nicholas Soames, Labours Yvette Cooper and Jack Dromey, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford and several members of the breakaway Independent Group. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said his party will support it.

Jeremy Corbyn (House of Commons/PA)

 Why does the Prime Minister oppose it?

Theresa May has warned that allowing Parliament to take control of the Commons agenda, which is normally determined by the Government, would set an unwelcome constitutional precedent. If MPs reject the Letwin plan, she has promised to provide Government time for a similar procedure led by ministers. But she said she is sceptical about the process and will not be bound by its outcome, which she warned could produce contradictory outcomes or no outcome at all.

 What might MPs vote on?

There is no list of options yet, but they could include the Prime Ministers deal; no deal; a Canada-style free trade agreement; Labours plan for a customs union and close alignment with the single market; the so-called Common Market 2.0 proposals; a Norway-style close partnership with the EU; revoking Article 50 to maintain EU membership; or a referendum on any of these possible outcomes.

 And which is most likely to win?

So far, Mrs May has secured no more than 242 out of a possible 650 votes for her deal, and she admitted on Monday she cannot guarantee a majority for it. A softer Brexit involving participation in the customs union or single market may come closer to commanding the support of more than half of MPs, but it is not thought likely that either no deal or no Brexit would come out on top.

MPs have rejected a number of Brexit options in votes in the Commons (UK Parliament/Mark Duffy/PA)

 Is there certain to be a winning option?

This would depend on the voting system. If MPs were asked to vote Aye or No on each proposal in turn, there is every possibility that all of them would be rejected. However, Mrs Mays effective deputy David Lidington is understood to have floated the possibility of using a different system which would guarantee a result. This could involve an alternative vote, under which MPs would number options in order of preference, with votes redistributed as the least popular are eliminated, or exhaustive votes, with MPs taking part in a series of rounds of voting as defeated options are removed one-by-one from the list.

 Has this ever been done before?

It is a very rare parliamentary procedure. In 2003, MPs voted on seven options for reform of the House of Lords and rejected every one of them, with the result that proposals for a partially or fully elected second chamber ran into the sand and have never been revived.

 Why havent MPs voted on these things yet?

The only real opportunities to vote on alternative Brexit options in the Commons have come in amendments to Mrs Mays meaningful votes on her Withdrawal Agreement and motions following its defeat. This process has seen MPs reject options including a no-deal Brexit, a second referendum, the Labour plan and the revocation of Article 50. However, in a tribal Commons, many MPs are reluctant to back a proposal tabled by their opponents. It is far from certain the results would be repeated in an indicative vote.
President Donald Trump has accusing those responsible for launching the special counsel investigation of treason and said they will certainly be looked at.

Mr Trumps comments came after the US Justice Department said Robert Muellers investigation did not find evidence that Mr Trumps campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Mr Trump did not specify who he was referring to, but told reporters on Monday: There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things.

I would say treasonous things against our country.

Mr Trump added: Those people will certainly be looked at.

He then said: Ive been looking at them for a long time.

Asked about the possibility of issuing pardons, Mr Trump said: Havent thought about it.

Special counsel Robert Mueller (Cliff Owen/AP)

The president said the release of Mr Muellers report wouldnt bother me at all, saying he wish the inquiry could have been concluded more quickly and saying: We can never let this happen to another president again.

Asked whether Mr Mueller had acted honourably, Mr Trump, who was hosting Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, responded: Yes, he did.

Mr Mueller also investigated whether Mr Trump obstructed justice but did not come to a definitive answer, attorney general William Barr said in a letter to Congress summarising Mr Muellers report.

The special counsel does not exonerate Mr Trump of obstructing justice, Mr Barr said, and his report sets out evidence on both sides of the question.

However, the president tweeted that he had been completely exonerated of collusion and obstruction of justice.

Previously, speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington from a weekend at his private club in Florida, Mr Trump said it was a shame the nation had to go through the investigation.

Mr Trump claimed the report found there was no collusion with Russia, there was no obstruction.

He also lashed out at the investigation, claiming without evidence that it was an illegal takedown that failed.

President Donald Trump talks to the media before boarding Air Force One (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

After consulting with other Justice Department officials, Mr Barr said he and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein determined the evidence is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offence.

Mr Barr released a four-page summary of Mr Muellers report on Sunday afternoon.

Mr Mueller wrapped up his investigation on Friday with no new indictments, bringing to a close a probe that has shadowed Mr Trump for nearly two years.

President Donald Trump spent the weekend in Florida (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Mr Barrs chief of staff called White House counsel Emmet Flood on Sunday to brief him on the report to Congress.

Mr Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, about to return to Washington after spending the weekend there.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that Mr Trump had been completely exonerated.

The Special Counsel did not find any collusion and did not find any obstruction. AG Barr and DAG Rosenstein further determined there was no obstruction. The findings of the Department of Justice are a total and complete exoneration of the President of the United States.  Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) March 24, 2019

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham added that the cloud hanging over President Trump has been removed.

Mr Graham, a close ally of Mr Trump, also said it is a bad day for those hoping the Mueller investigation would take President Trump down.

Republican Doug Collins said there is no constitutional crisis while House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican said it is time we move on for the good of the nation.

Eric Trump, the Presidents son, called for a simple apology from the media for the hell everyone has been put through during the two-year probe.

But the House Judiciary Committee chairman said Mr Mueller clearly and explicitly is not exonerating the president.

Democrat Jerry Nadler tweeted that Mr Barrs letter to Congress says that while Mr Trump may have acted to obstruct justice, the government would need to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt.

But Mr Nadler tweeted that Congress must hear from Mr Barr about his decision making and see all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts.

There must be full transparency in what Special Counsel Mueller uncovered to not exonerate the President from wrongdoing. DOJ owes the public more than just a brief synopsis and decision not to go any further in their work.  Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019

Top Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said Mr Barr is not a neutral observer and they urged the full release of the report.

Ms Pelosi, the House speaker, and Mr Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said that Mr Barrs letter to Congress raises as many questions as it answers.

In a joint statement, the leaders said that Mr Barrs past bias against the special counsel inquiry shows he is not in a position to make objective determinations.

They say that the fact that Muellers report does not exonerate the president on a charge as serious as obstruction of justice demonstrates how urgent it is that the full report and underlying documentation be made public without any further delay.

Several Democratic presidential candidates said Mr Muellers full report must be made public.

Kamala Harris said Mr Barr must testify before Congress, adding: That is what transparency looks like.

Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, noted that politicians have voted to release the full Mueller report, not a summary from what she called Mr Trumps handpicked attorney general.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said the public deserves the full report and findings immediately, not just the in-house summary from a Trump Administration official.

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the Mueller report must be made public. She tweeted: The President works for the people, and he is not above the law.

Mr Muellers investigation ensnared nearly three dozen people, senior Trump campaign operatives among them.

The probe illuminated Russias assault on the American political system, painted the Trump campaign as eager to exploit the release of hacked Democratic emails to hurt Democrat Hillary Clinton and exposed lies by Trump aides aimed at covering up their Russia-related contacts.

A copy of a letter from Attorney General William Barr advising Congress of the principal conclusions reached by special counsel Robert Mueller (Jon Elswick/AP)

Mr Mueller submitted his report to Mr Barr instead of directly to Congress and the public because, unlike independent counsels such as Ken Starr in the case of President Bill Clinton, his investigation operated under the close supervision of the Justice Department, which appointed him.

Mr Mueller was assigned to the job in May 2017 by Mr Rosenstein, who oversaw much of his work.

Mr Barr and Mr Rosenstein analysed Mr Muellers report on Saturday, labouring to condense it into a summary letter of main conclusions.
A boy slashed in the face metres from a north London police station is one of four teenagers attacked with knives across the capital in one day.

Teenagers were also stabbed in Blackheath, south-east London, Barking, east London and Tooting, south-west London on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said.

The Metropolitan Police said a boy, believed to be aged 17, received a slash wound to his face at about 6.05pm on High Road, Tottenham.

The alleged attack is said by police to have taken place by a Betfred shop.

Police cordons have been set up (Tony Diver/PA)

Blood splatters were being cleaned from the pavement outside a taxi office opposite Tottenham Police Station, around 160 metres down the road, on Tuesday evening.

Cordons have been set up at both locations.

An officer at the scene said a man had received facial injuries after an altercation between two young groups, and that the two cordons were linked.

The boy was treated at the scene by the London Ambulance Service staff, who assessed the injury to be non life-threatening, and taken to an east London hospital.

It comes as three other teenage boys were attacked with knives on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to hold a major summit in Downing Street on April 1 aimed at tackling the problem.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick said the last few years undoubtedly have been the highest and most worrying levels in my service.

She added: If you look at stabbings of young people I do think this is a new and tragic and worrying phenomenon.

Earlier on Tuesday, another teenager received multiple stab wounds in south-east London.

A male, believed to be aged 18, was taken to hospital with injuries not thought to be life-threatening after the incident in Thyme Close, Blackheath, at around 3.24pm.

Were at the scene of a stabbing just before 7pm in Waterside Close #Barking. 17yr old male victim at hospital and not life-threatening. No arrest yet. Witnesses pls call 101 ref 6839/16Mar  Barking & Dagenham MPS (@MPSBarkDag) March 26, 2019

And a 17-year-old boy was stabbed in Waterside Close, Barking, east London just before 7pm.

He was taken to hospital with injuries not thought to be life-threatening, police said.

An 18-year-old man was stabbed in Tooting High Street, south-west London, just after 9pm.

He was taken to hospital and his condition is not yet known.

Anyone with information should call police on 101.
Former Liverpool Council deputy leader Derek Hatton has withdrawn his application to rejoin Labour.

The former Militant firebrand, who was expelled from the party in 1986 because of his membership of the group, had been readmitted to the party in February. He was then suspended by the Labour Party less than 48 hours later.

The suspension was over social media posts made in 2012.

Labours ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) had been due to review the 71-year-olds application on Tuesday.

A party spokesman said: Derek Hatton has withdrawn his membership application and is therefore not a member of the Labour Party.

His decision to withdraw his application is understood to have come before the committee had considered his case.

Mr Hatton, was originally expelled by the then leader Neil Kinnock for membership of the left-wing Militant Tendency.

It followed a national outcry in the 1980s after the council set an illegal budget and then sent out redundancy notices to thousands of staff by taxi.

He and other members of the Trotskyite group known as the Militant Tendency were widely blamed for making Labour unelectable when Neil Kinnock was party leader.

The possible readmission of the outspoken left-winger drew criticism from some MPs earlier this year .

Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner told the Commons he had written to the Labour Partys general secretary and lodged a formal complaint against Mr Hatton.

Mr Gardiners comments followed Labour MP Neil Coyle saying Mr Hatton had tweeted what seemed to imply that every Jew, wherever they live in the world, is responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, adding: Does he share my view that Derek Hatton has no part to play in our Labour Party?

Barry Gardiner lodged a formal complaint against Mr Hatton (Victoria Jones/PA)

The shadow cabinet member replied: This morning I saw the reports about not just the readmission of Derek Hatton but the tweets he has mentioned.

I wrote to the general secretary of our party, I lodged a formal complaint. I understand that action has since been taken in respect of the complaint and Im sure that I will be looking out to see precisely what appropriate action is taken in due course.

I totally agree with you. I think it was a travesty that, at least I think many of us knew for some while that he had applied to rejoin the party, but for the news of his readmission to come to public attention on the very day when some members of our party were forced out  I think it was appalling.
Theresa May is set to face calls to name the date of her departure as she faces Conservative MPs on Wednesday ahead of a set of votes to alter the direction of Brexit.

There were signs that the Prime Minister is winning over some Tory rebels in her last-ditch bid to force her EU Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament by Fridays deadline.

But MPs have seized control of the House of Commons agenda to force votes on alternatives to her plan  including a call for a public vote on any deal and a demand for Parliament to choose between no-deal and no-Brexit if the UK gets within two days of crashing out.

In a highly unusual change to normal Commons procedures, MPs will be asked to take part in a paper ballot on a series of indicative votes in the hope of establishing what sort of Brexit could command a majority in Parliament.

Immediately before the votes, the Prime Minister will address Tory MPs at a meeting of the backbench 1922 Committee, where she is expected to seek further support for her Agreement, rejected by 230 votes in January and 149 in March.

Tonight @peterkyle and I put the #KyleWilson #compromise motion down in the House of Commons in the name of Margaret Beckett. The people should have the #FinalSay pic.twitter.com/KguyfOWH64  Phil Wilson (@PhilWilsonXMP) March 26, 2019

The Agreement, and a Political Declaration on future EU/UK relations, must be passed by Friday if the UK is to benefit from an automatic delay in the date of Brexit to May 22. If not, it has to April 12 to make new proposals or leave without a deal.

Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson hinted he might be ready to swing behind the PMs deal, telling an audience of Daily Telegraph readers: If we vote it down again, for the third time, there is now, I think, an appreciable risk that we will not leave at all.

But the former foreign secretary stressed he was not there yet and signalled that a change at the top may be required to win him over, saying: If people like me are to support this deal  then we need to see the proof that the second phase of negotiations will be different from the first.

Boris Johnson says the first phase of Brexit talks has gone "very badly" and wants to see a "massive change" in the UK's negotiating strategy if he's to support Theresa May's deal



Read more: https://t.co/XuGiV6JlFU pic.twitter.com/Ris8QoVByD  ITV News (@itvnews) March 26, 2019

Meanwhile, an influential critic of the Agreement, the chair of the European Research Group Jacob Rees-Mogg, said he was ready to back the deal so long as it wins the support of the DUP.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Mr Rees-Mogg said: I have come to this view because the numbers in Parliament make it clear that all the other potential outcomes are worse and an awkward reality needs to be faced.

Conservative MP Nigel Evans, a joint executive secretary of the 1922 Committee, made an open call for Mrs May to give the timetable for her departure at Wednesdays meeting.

Mr Evans told BBC Radio 4s PM: A number of Brexiteers are reluctant to support her deal because they think if it gets over the line, she will then say Look what Ive achieved, Im staying.

A number of them want to make absolutely certain shes nowhere near the negotiating table when we start talking about the future trade relationship with the EU.

If the Prime Minister announces a timetable of departure, I think thats going to swing a lot of people behind her deal, we could get it over the line.

(PA Graphics)

But other former rebels urged fellow Tories to get behind the PM, warning that otherwise the Brexit process might slip out of their control.

ERG member Daniel Kawczynski said there was definitely a palpable shift among Leavers deciding they must come together behind Mrs Mays deal as the least worst option.

The DUP has so far given no indication it will end its opposition.

DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson told the Telegraph that some former opponents of the deal now take the view that the Withdrawal Agreement, even though it is a rotten deal, is better than losing Brexit.

He said: To them I say that, if the deal goes through, we have lost our right to leave the EU.

Mr Wilson suggested that a long extension to Article 50, keeping the UK in the EU, was a better option even if it meant leaving without a deal at the end.

The ERG were due to meet before Wednesdays votes to discuss tactics, though it was not clear whether they will act as a bloc. The group has not tabled a motion, though individual members have.

Labour has tabled its alternative Brexit plan  featuring a permanent customs union with a UK say on trade deals and close alignment with the single market  as one of the indicative vote options.

And there was speculation the party would back a motion tabled in the name of former foreign secretary Dame Margaret Beckett, requiring a public vote before ratification of any Brexit deal, after shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry predicted it would be popular.

(PA Graphics)

A motion from SNP MP Joanna Cherry demands a vote in Parliament to approve a no-deal Brexit two days before it happens, with the automatic revocation of Article 50 if it fails.

Other options on offer include a new customs deal; a Norway-style Common Market 2.0 plan; and the so-called Malthouse Compromise, which would enact Mrs Mays deal with the controversial backstop replaced by alternative arrangements for the Irish border.

MPs will not be given the opportunity to express their views on Mrs Mays deal, as the Government has not tabled any motion for the indicative vote process.

No final victor is expected to emerge from Wednesdays votes, but the most popular options will be subject to further debate on Monday to try to whittle the list down.

Mrs May must table a motion for a third meaningful vote on her deal by the end of Wednesday if it is to be debated on Thursday. If it comes any later, she would have to ask the Commons to sit on Friday March 29  initially marked out for Brexit day and currently listed as a non-sitting day.

However, she will also need to persuade Speaker John Bercow that it is not a simple re-run of an earlier vote.

Mrs Mays official spokesman said: If we are able to hold and win a vote this week, we would then be able to leave the EU in less than two months time with a deal, which the Prime Minister firmly believes is what the public wants.

Meanwhile, Mrs May was facing the threat of possible resignations if she tries to whip ministers for the indicative votes. Steve Brine, who quit as health minister over Brexit, told Newsnight that north of a dozen others could resign.

And four ERG members, led by Sir Bill Cash, have warned of serious legal objections to a statutory instrument being debated on Wednesday to delay Brexit beyond March 29.

In a letter to Mrs May, the MPs said the extension agreed at last weeks EU summit could amount to an unlawful use of the Royal Prerogative and a breach of the Vienna Convention on treaties.
Shoppers attracted to promotions in supermarkets are far more likely to be obese and buy less fruit and vegetables than those who ignore them, according to new research.

Almost three in 10 (29%) food and drink items in UK supermarket baskets are bought on promotion, the study of the shopping habits of more than 16,000 people found.

Those shoppers who are the biggest consumers of food bought on promotion are 54% more likely to be obese than those who shun promotions.

These shoppers also buy a fifth more unhealthy food and drink that is high in fat, sugar or salt than low promotional shoppers.

The report, from Cancer Research UK, found that a promotion-loving family with two adults and two children buys an extra 11 items per month that are high in fat, sugar or salt.

On balance, bargain-lovers buy much more sugar and less fibre than low promotional shoppers. They also buy less 30% less fruit and a quarter fewer vegetables, which are often not on promotion.

Obese people buy more junk food on promotion, says Cancer Research UK (Clara Molden/PA)

Researchers found that shopping for promotions was the same across all demographic groups, and did not vary according to income.

The report concluded that promotions tend to be for less healthy food, with almost half of all chocolate, crisps, popcorn and savoury snacks bought on promotion.

Promotions tend to increase the amount people eat, which can lead to obesity, it added.

It said: High promotional shoppers buy more from typically less healthy food categories like cakes, confectionery, crisps, sugary drinks and puddings.

This is at the expense of foods in healthier categories such as fruit, vegetables and unsweetened yoghurts.

Being overweight or obese is linked to 13 types of cancer, including breast and bowel cancer, and excess weight and obesity accounts for around 6% of all cancer cases in the UK.

After smoking, being overweight or obese is the second leading preventable cause of cancer and is predicted to overtake smoking as the leading cause of the disease in women in around 25 years.

According to Cancer Research UK, obesity costs the NHS around 5.1 billion every year.

Professor Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UKs prevention expert, said: Promotional items offer people a wealth of tempting yet unhealthy food and drink choices when doing their weekly shop.

With cut-price deals on things like chocolate, biscuits, cakes and fizzy drinks, its no surprise that people who buy more on promotion have a greater likelihood of being obese.

With young children frequently being the ones who suffer from the effects of these purchases, introducing restrictions is important for their future health.

We know that more than one in five enter primary school overweight or obese, yet the number worsens to around one in three when they leave.

Alison Cox, director of cancer prevention at Cancer Research UK, said: The Governments proposed 9pm ban on junk food ads is a step forward in fighting childhood obesity.

Now we want to see restrictions on price promotions for unhealthy food and drink items, as well as those strategically-placed at checkouts. This will help families to make healthier choices.

There isnt one magic fix for the problem, but removing these incentives to buy unhealthy food is key to changing it.

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: Retailers have led the way in tackling obesity through clear labelling, healthier choices and improving the nutritional balance of products.

Furthermore, the sector is looking closely at the current Government consultation on childhood obesity to see what more could be done to ensure we are both delivering great value and promoting the health of our customers.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: This research supports what we already know  promotions for sugary and fatty foods make it much harder for people to make healthier choices for their families, and encourage them to spend more on less healthy products.

We are consulting on restrictions for promotions of foods high in fat, sugar and salt  including placements of such foods by checkouts.

Tackling childhood obesity is part of our Long Term Plan to ensure the sustainability of the NHS  backed by 33.9 billion every year by 2023/24.
The Scottish Green Party will urge the Scottish Parliament to declare a climate emergency in a debate at Holyrood.

The party will call on Parliament to back the goal to limit global warning to 1.5C, to bring in a legislative ban on fracking and to realise a policy of maximum economic recovery of oil and gas is incompatible with addressing the climate emergency.

Scottish Green Environment and Climate spokesman Mark Ruskell, who will lead the debate, will also ask the parliament to support the 1.4 million young people worldwide staging school strikes to highlight climate change.

"When do we want action?"

"Now!"



 Watch @AlisonJohnstone in conversation with #schoolstrike4climate at the Scottish Parliament today. Climate breakdown is happening now; action can't wait any longer. pic.twitter.com/dfqFNrNQkr  Scottish Greens (@scottishgreens) March 15, 2019

Mr Ruskell will argue that Parliament has a moral duty to act in the interest of future generations and countries on the frontline of climate change.

He said: Young people in Scotland and across the world have been an inspiration, walking out of classes to highlight the threat posed by the climate emergency, and urging governments to take the bold action required to address it.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has given us a decade to bring emissions down to a level where we can keep global temperature rises below 1.5 degrees.

To miss that objective would be to condemn millions to misery and bring the widespread collapse of our natural world.

This is a climate emergency.

If we are serious about tackling this crisis head on, there needs to be an acknowledgement that maximum economic extraction of oil and gas cannot happen.

We cant burn all the reserves we already know about, and we should not kid ourselves that further exploration is a responsible option.

Mark Ruskell wants Holyrood to declare a climate emergency (Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/PA)

Mr Ruskell said anti-fracking campaigners will be frustrated at the delay of a final decision on fracking from the Scottish Government.

It recently announced plans for a third public consultation on fracking, having previously said it would make its final decision to Parliament before April 2019.

Mr Ruskell said: QC legal advice is clear that Scotland has the powers to implement a legally watertight ban on this destructive and unsustainable process and the Government should get on with doing that.

Greens will give MSPs the chance to back that call in Parliament today.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: It is a cause for optimism that young people around the world are taking a stand on climate change and we are pleased to see our young people engaging actively on this global challenge.

The First Minister met with young climate change campaigners today and listened to their concerns and arguments for even stronger ambition. Our Climate Change Bill contains the most ambitious statutory targets of any country in the world for 2020, 2030 and 2040, and will mean Scotland is carbon-neutral by 2050.

However, we want to achieve net-zero emissions for all greenhouse gases as soon as possible and have been clear that well set a target date as soon as this can be done credibly and responsibly.

We are currently awaiting advice from the UK Committee on Climate Change, which is due on 2 May. If the Committee advise that we can now set even more ambitious targets, we will act on that.
Almost half a million food parcels were given out by independent food banks in 18 months, nearly double the number previously thought, according to new figures.

Data available for the first time shows that 84 independent food banks in Scotland distributed 221,977 three-day emergency food packages between April 2017 and September 2018.

The data, collected by the Independent Food Aid Network and A Menu for Change, builds on existing figures published by the Trussell Trust, which showed their network of 118 food banks distributed 258,606 food parcels during the same time period.

The new combined statistics show that at least 480,583 food parcels were distributed by the Trussell Trust and independent food banks across Scotland between April 2017 and September 2018.

Campaigners from A Menu for Change are now calling on the Scottish Government to urgently use its new social security powers to help prevent people being pushed further into poverty.

Scottish Ministers have promised to bring in a new income supplement by 2022, but campaigners say people facing hardship cant afford to wait three years for this extra support.

Nearly half a million food parcels were handed out in Scotland in 18 months, new figures show (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Dr Mary Anne MacLeod, research and policy officer at A Menu for Change, said: These figures are truly shameful in rich Scotland and they should make for deeply uncomfortable reading for our political leaders: the problem of rising levels of hunger in Scotland is much worse than previously known.

The Scottish Government should be commended for its plans to help families put food on the table through the new income supplement, but promises to help people in three years time are of little comfort to parents whose cupboards are empty right now.

If the Scottish Government wants to reduce the number of people facing hunger, it must urgently bring forward its plans to top up the incomes of Scotlands poorest families from 2022.

Campaigners said the true scale of food bank provision in Scotland is even higher than the combined figures show as a small number of independent food banks were not able to contribute data.

Experts also warn that data on food parcel distribution is the tip of the iceberg and only provides a partial picture of the number of people in Scotland who are struggling to feed themselves and their families, with most people choosing to use other ways of coping such as skipping meals, rather than use a food bank.

Joyce Leggate, chairwoman of Kirkcaldy Foodbank , said: Every day in Kirkcaldy, we meet people who are being driven to our doors because of problems with the benefits system.

A third of the food parcels we give out go to families with children  the innocent victims of a system which is pushing people into debt, despair and poverty.

We hope that todays figures shine a light on the previously hidden role independent food banks are playing in picking up the pieces of a failing social safety net, and spur policy makers into taking decisive action to stop food banks like ours from becoming entrenched in Scottish society.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell MSP said: I absolutely agree that it is unacceptable that people are having to rely on charity to eat in a country as prosperous as Scotland and that this government has to spend 125 million to mitigate against the worst impacts of UK Government benefit cuts.

We will also provide 3.5 million in 2019-20 for our Fair Food Fund to support organisations responding to food insecurity.

Significant work is being taken forward on our low-income supplement and an update on this will be provided to parliament by June. Scotland is taking concrete action to eradicate child poverty  we are the only country in the UK with legal targets to do so, all while continuing to mitigate the welfare cuts and failed policies of the UK Government which are set to reduce social security spending in Scotland by 3.7 billion in 2020-21.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: The reasons for people using food banks are complex. Meanwhile for those who need extra support, the UK Government spends over 90 billion a year on support for those who need it, including those who are on a low income.

In addition, Scotland has significant welfare powers and can top-up existing benefits, pay discretionary payments and create entirely new benefits altogether.
Some victims of the Northern Ireland conflict feel as though the Government is punishing them for surviving, a representative has claimed.

Paul Gallagher was left in a wheelchair 25 years ago when loyalist gunmen in Belfast shot him after they were unable to find his neighbour.

He has been campaigning for a special pension for the most badly injured during the decades of violence and said the sums involved would not be lucrative.

This is about dignity and empathy  not charity.

He said often people had to survive much longer than expected on an award.

In one case, a colleague who was paralysed at the age of 17 was told she would not see her 33rd birthday due to her injury, Mr Gallagher said.

She is now in her 60s.

He said: It is a miracle that most of us survived what happened to us; we feel as if we are being punished for surviving still.

Campaigners brought together by the Wave Trauma Centre support group have buried four members since their campaign started.

Most are in their late 60s, with some in their 70s and 80s.

Some felt they would have been better off dying at the time of the attacks than go through life without the recognition, Mr Gallagher said.

That is how bad it is sometimes, especially when you are feeling down  it is depressing, waiting for the Government to do something which is relatively simple.

Victims Commissioner Judith Thompson has called on the Government to urgently progress her proposals for a pension for the physically injured (Liam McBurney/PA)

He reiterated a call from Victims Commissioner Judith Thompson for the Government to urgently progress her proposals for a pension for the physically injured.

Her recommendations on the psychologically harmed are being finalised.

Progress at Stormont on a pension stalled over the inclusion of a small number of perpetrators of violence who suffered injuries among those eligible.

Mr Gallagher said it was up to Westminster to act in the absence of devolution in Belfast.

It is the Governments responsibility to go by its own laws that it made.

It does not need to get caught up in the politics around this place, it just has to look after the victims on the ground and show leadership and show courage and just bring this forward.

He said it was up to the Irish Government as co-signatory to the Good Friday Agreement to look after victims.

The two Governments need to step up and take on their responsibilities before it is too late.

A UK Government spokesperson said: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has requested advice on a victims pension from the Commissioner for Victims and Survivors for Northern Ireland, covering both physical and psychological injury.

We have received some initial advice, which we are considering. It would be premature to set out next steps in advance of receiving further advice expected at the end of this month.

We look forward to receiving this and to continuing to work with the Victims Commissioner on the way forward.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar is to hold bilateral Brexit talks with the French and German leaders next week, it has been confirmed.

The Taoiseach will travel to Paris on Tuesday for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be in Dublin for a one-day visit on Thursday.

A spokesman for the Irish Government said both meetings will focus on the latest developments on Brexit.

He added that the discussions will address current EU issues and other matters including the Future of Europe agenda ahead of the summit in Romania and the appointment of a new European Commission, Council President and High Representative in June.

These two meetings reflect the deep and warm relations Ireland enjoys with both France and Germany, including the support shown to Ireland during the Brexit negotiations, the spokesman said.

Irish premier Leo Varadkar is to hold bilateral Brexit meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Brian Lawless/PA)

Speaking ahead of next weeks meetings, Mr Varadkar said: Both leaders have been strong and consistent allies of Ireland in responding to the unique challenges we face from Brexit.

I will again express the Governments gratitude for their continuing solidarity. We will take stock of the latest developments on Brexit when we meet, efforts to secure ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement and no-deal planning.

We will also take the opportunity to consider the Future of Europe agenda.

Important discussions lie ahead, with an informal summit on the Unions strategic agenda due in early May in Sibiu, and negotiations on the EU budget for the period after 2020 due to be finalised by the end of this year.

While I meet regularly with both the President and Chancellor at the European Council in Brussels, these bilateral meetings are an important opportunity for an in-depth and one-to-one exchange on how to further strengthen our relations away from the bustle of the European Council.

Our bilateral relations with both Germany and France are better than ever and will become even more important as we move to a European Union of 27 members.
Thousands of girls in Malawi will learn computer skills, thanks to funding from the Scottish Government.

A project that will train and equip 80 teachers in the African country to teach digital literacy is one of 18 initiatives that will receive a share of 450,000.

It will help 9,000 girls, who would normally not receive an education because of their gender, disability or where they live, to learn vital skills, the Scottish Government said.

The cash, from the Small Grants fund, will also help a project working to improve paediatric care training for student nurses in Malawi, as well as going to an initiative that provides additional training for emergency workers in Central Zambia.

International development minister Ben Macpherson said the fund helped projects that demonstrated a commitment to enhancing Scotlands role as a good global citizen.

He added: Scotland is proud to be an internationalist, outward-looking country, and over the last six years this programme has enabled Scottish organisations to make a significant impact and help some of the worlds most vulnerable communities.

Scottish Government funding will help girls in Malwai learn computer skills (Marys Meals/PA)

Partnership working is fundamental to the success of this programme, providing an opportunity for Scottish organisations to build their capacity for international development work and, crucially, to work closely with their in-country partners to promote capacity building, learning and delivery on the ground.
By Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday amid OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, putting crude markets on track for their biggest quarterly rise since 2009.

May Brent crude oil futures were up 83 cents at $68.65 a barrel by 1232 GMT, set for a gain of nearly 28 percent in the first quarter. The more active June contract was up 89 cents at $67.99 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $60.44 per barrel, up 1.14 cents, and on track for a rise of more than 33 percent over the January-March period.

For the two futures contracts, January-March 2019 is the best-performing quarter since the second quarter of 2009, when both gained about 40 percent.

Oil prices have been supported for much of this year by an agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia to cut output by around 1.2 million barrels per day.

"Production cuts from the OPEC+ group of producers have been the main reason for the dramatic recovery since the 38 percent price slump seen during the final quarter of last year," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Barclays bank said on Friday oil prices "are likely to move still higher in Q2 and average $73 per barrel ($65 WTI), and $70 for the year".

Prices shrugged off a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday calling for OPEC to boost crude production.

"While OPEC, and above all Saudi Arabia, appeared in November to be obeying U.S. President Trump's repeated demands to increase oil production, his tweets now are more likely to fall on deaf ears," Commerzbank said in a note.

OPEC and its allies are scheduled to meet in June to set policy, but some cracks in the union are emerging.

OPEC's de facto leader Saudi Arabia favours cuts for the full year while Russia, which joined the agreement reluctantly, is seen as less keen to restrict supply beyond September.

U.S. sanctions on OPEC members Iran and Venezuela are also buoying prices.

Washington is exerting further pressure on oil traders to cut oil dealing with Venezuela or face sanctions themselves.

Bank of America said it expected oil to rise in the short term, with Brent forecast to average $74 per barrel in the second quarter.

Heading towards 2020, however, the bank warned of a recession.

A monthly Reuters survey of economists and analysts forecast Brent would average $67.12 a barrel in 2019, about 1 percent higher than the previous poll's $66.44.

(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson and Louise Heavens)
By Michel Rose

PARIS, March 29 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron has set his sights on the green vote in May's European elections, aiming to tap into deepening environmental concerns to build as broad a coalition as possible in the EU parliament and increase his party's influence.

On Wednesday, the French leader's party announced its list of candidates for the May 26 vote, surprising rivals with the presence of a long-time member of the Green party, Pascal Canfin, in second place.

It was a signal that Macron hopes to capitalise on the renewed surge in environmental activism, especially among the young, evidenced by the success of Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg's "school strike for climate".

After the electoral successes of Green parties in Bavaria, Luxembourg and Belgium in recent months, Macron is keen to ensure France's greens, who usually do better in European elections than national ones, don't steal a march on his party.

But beyond the purely domestic appeal to environmentally conscious voters, the 41-year-old president is also betting that green names on his list will convince other Green parties in Europe to join a future coalition in Strasbourg.

That coalition -- which Macron aims to build with like-minded centrist or "progressive" parties -- will be critical in determining whether Macron gains influence in Brussels and ends up at the forefront of shaping legislation and filing key jobs, such as the next European Commission president.

Canfin, a former European lawmaker and minister for development who headed conservation group WWF's French operation until he was poached by Macron, did not waste time spelling out the goal he has been tasked with.

"We'll champion a coalition deal and clearly we'll offer the European Greens the opportunity to join," he told French radio this week.

Macron has confused many in Brussels with his reluctance to agree to join the liberal-centrist family in the European parliament, known as ALDE, which would seem his natural home.

Partly that is because the word "liberal" in France has long held negative associations with Anglo Saxon-style free market economics, which French officials have mentioned as a branding problem. But the main reason is Macron's desire to build a broader church, one that, as well as the Greens, might pull in centrist MEPs from the two main groups, the centre-right EPP and the centre-left S&D.

Such a coalition, in which Macron's potential 20-24 MEPs would likely be the biggest contingent, could put the French leader in the position of kingmaker, since polls show the EPP and the Socialists are both unlikely to win a majority.

"SUPERFICIAL GREEN REPACKAGING"

The biggest prize Macron is hoping to win is Germany's Greens. Because of the size of the German contingent - the Gruenen currently have 13 MEPs but are likely to increase that number in the election - that could help Macron beef up the ranks of his 'progressive' grouping.

Macron's campaign director, Stephane Sejourne, named the German Greens in an interview with Reuters last October as one of the parties he was hoping to partner with.

Macron's call to "make our planet great again" in 2017, and his self-endorsed role as defender of the Paris climate accord, have burnished his green credentials, Sejourne said.

"We've put a lot of political capital into European climate diplomacy," he told Reuters. "This is how we're identified abroad, the president is identified as a climate leader."

Sejourne said Germany's Greens, who are accustomed to the demands of coalition compromises, would be a better fit for Macron's En Marche than France's Greens, who are to the left.

But it remains to be seen whether the Gruenen would shake hands with Macron, whose high-profile environment minister quit on him last August, criticising the former investment banker's pro-nuclear policies in particular.

In a party that was founded on anti-nuclearism, some German Greens openly express scepticism about the sincerity of Macron's environmental outreach.

Reinhard Buetikofer, a Gruene European lawmaker and co-chair of the European Green Party, tweeted that Macron was giving his En Marche party an environmental makeover out of simple fear of losing votes to the French Greens.

But a source in the party says the German Greens are divided over Macron. "There are ones that put his pro-Europeanism first and his slight greenness second and therefore are favourable to collaboration with him," the source said.

"On the other side there are people who see his right-wing economic policies and see him getting cozy with the Greens as 'greenwashing' and they don't really believe it."

Jon Worth, a German green party member and EU blogger, says the fact party members shape what the party does makes it unlikely they would agree to join Macron's ranks, especially considering the profile of candidates put forward this time.

"Many of them are quite independent-minded, quite left-wing people," he said. "I can't see many Macron-favourable people there on the list." (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Luke Baker and Peter Graff)
WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi at the White House on April 9 for talks on strengthening their strategic partnership and working on shared priorities in the Middle East, the White House said on Friday.

The White House said in a statement the two leaders would discuss "building on our robust military, economic, and counterterrorism cooperation" as well as regional economic integration and "Egypts longstanding role as a lynchpin of regional stability." (Reporting by David Alexander Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
By Sergio Goncalves

LISBON, March 29 (Reuters) - Telecoms firm Altice has more than a dozen potential buyers for its Portuguese fibre network, including investment and infrastructure funds, the chief executive of the Portuguese unit of the business said on Friday.

Altice Europe, founded by billionaire Patrick Drahi, announced on Thursday it expects to conclude the Portuguese asset sale in the second quarter of this year to reduce debt.

"Many (parties) are interested, more than a dozen candidates," said Altice Portugal chief executive Alexandre Fonseca, who did not name any of the potential buyers.

Fonseca described the business as "valuable" and said that was reflected in the number of interested parties who have been analysing it, but declined to estimate a sale price.

"This network has a lot of value because of its size, its modernity, capillarity, and the fact that it can accommodate new services and new operators," he said.

Sources told Reuters last month the Altice Group was running a process to find a buyer for part of Altice's Portuguese fibre network and had asked interested parties to submit indicative offers by mid-March.

The network business serves 4.5 million of Portuguese homes and aims to cover 100 percent of the country, or 5.3 million homes by next year. Unlike its French network it offers bidders steady returns and no extra cost to lay down the cable infrastructure.

"In Europe we are the most advanced country in terms of fibre penetration in the total population, followed by Estonia, which is a smaller country, and we will cover about 100 percent (of Portugal) next year," Fonseca said.

Last year Altice raised some 4 billion euros from selling stakes in its towers businesses in France and Portugal.

The Amsterdam-listed group has flipped its strategy from cost-cutting towards gaining clients and selling infrastructure assets in a bid to reduce debt and lift its stock price.

Its debt of 28.8 billion euros ($32 billion) at end of 2018 is more than twice its yearly revenues. (Writing by Catarina Demony Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
The March 27 test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile lofted India into an elite club of just three other countries which have demonstrated the capability to destroy orbiting satellites.

The ASAT interceptor, launched by the DRDO from APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha, successfully engaged an Indian orbiting satellite in Low Earth Orbit in a Hit to Kill mode, i.e., a direct hit, rather than one using a proximity explosion to shatter it.

Why destroy satellites?

Parked in the near-invulnerable sanctuaries of low earth orbits, satellites have enormous use as military communication, navigation  and surveillance aids.

In the US, Russia and China  the only countries with proven ASAT capabilities  research is veering towards using them as 'kill' vehicles to disrupt other satellites. China, which first tested an ASAT weapon in 2007, has deployed multiple ground-ascent and ground-based laser weapons. A February 2019 Pentagon report warns of China apparently developing sophisticated on-orbit capabilities, such as satellite inspection and repair, at least some of which could function as a weapon.

Is it a beginning  or just a one-off test? (Photo: Twitter)

An ASAT capability gives India the power of detecting and tracking these suspicious rogue satellites  besides speedily neutralising them. In that aspect, they are strategic deterrents which seek to deter first use by an adversary.

The name of the test  Mission Shakti (power)  harked back to the moniker given to Indias 1998 nuclear tests.

A perception was evidently reinforced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi breaking the news on national television an hour after the test. On November 5 last year, the PM announced another strategic milestone  Indias first SSBN, the INS Arihant, completing its maiden deterrent patrol.

Just as the Arihant marked the operationalising a third leg of the nuclear triad, Mission Shakti marks a first but significant step towards fielding ASAT capability.

A dummy interceptor missile on the Tata Power SED Transporter Erector Launcher towed by a Volvo FM 440 truck. (Photos: India Today)

India now possesses the capability to strike targets in outer space with precision and accuracy in terms of centimetres, DRDO Chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy told news agency PTI after the test.

The test was clearly a validation of the DRDOs hypothesis that its ongoing anti-ballistic missile shield also had a latent ASAT capability  this fact was openly hinted at since 2011, when the DRDO had conducted multiple tests of interceptor missiles equipped with new technologies, like radio-frequency seekers and directional warheads capable of manoeuvring to strike incoming ballistic missile warheads.

The March 27 test, however, used an all-new missile developed over the past few months under a new technology development project. This project borrows elements from Project AD  the DRDOs Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) project begun in the mid-1990s, aimed at protecting Indian cities from Pakistans newly acquired M-11 intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs). Project ADs two-tier missiles were meant to intercept short-range ballistic missiles with endo-atmospheric interceptors and longer ranged IRBMs and ICBMs with exo-atmospheric interceptors.

The acquisition of key technologies, like Israeli Swordfish Long Range Tracking Radars (LLTRs), in the early 2000s opened up a world of possibilities. Its 600-km detection range, since enhanced to over 1400 km, meant the DRDO could track satellites in Low Earth Orbit  the band of space extending 2000 km above the planet.

BMD capability overlaps with direct-ascent ASAT systems  both use powerful ground-based radars and missiles to detect and destroy targets  ballistic missiles in their boost phase, or, as in the case of the ASAT, satellites in low earth orbit.

This is where the similarities end.

The name 'Mission Shakti' reminds us of 'Operation Shakti'  the nuclear tests of 1998. (Photo: Reuters)

In certain cases, satellites, however, are easier to intercept than ballistic missiles. They follow predictable, fixed paths, have a larger cross-section and can be monitored. DRDO chief Dr Saraswat seemed to suggest this in his April 2012 India Today interview. In the BMD project, we track and intercept a 0.1 square meter target over 1,000 km away. A 1-metre wide satellite is 10 times larger.

With the velocities being equal, intercepting a satellite or a ballistic missile are equally challenging. An LEO satellite cannonballs around the earth at a speed of 10 km a second  roughly the same speed as a ballistic missile in its boost phase, climbing up into space. But ballistic missiles, unlike satellites, dont have predictable orbits.

The sleek 14-metre-long ASAT interceptor fired on March 28 appears to be a derivative of the Prithvi Defence Vehicle or PDV Mark-II, a 1,000-km range exo-atmospheric interceptor from Phase 2 of the project. The Mk-II interceptor, being tested since 2014, launches a kinetic projectile into low earth orbit which homes in on incoming warheads using an infra-red imaging seeker and destroys them with kinetic force.

In an extremely significant milestone, the Mission Shakti test intercepted the satellite at 300 km, twice the range of the Phase-1 interceptor, first tested in 2006.

The DRDOs AD programme from where the Shakti was spun out of, however, is over a decade behind schedule. The system was to have been deployed with the IAF by 2012, but serious technological challenges mean that even Phase 1 of the project is nowhere on the horizon. The programme has undergone multiple deadline extensions.

Mission Shakti was only a technology demonstrator. The building of a full-fledged ASAT capability would call for an enormously expensive and distinct programme to develop advanced interceptors and radars which could track, detect and destroy satellites in orbits over 10,000 km. It is presently unclear whether the government will choose to walk down this path or let it remain where it is at present  a subsidiary of the long-delayed Project AD.

It might be more realistic to assume that Mission Shakti might instead give the long-struggling Project AD a funding fillip and a life-extension.

Also Read: Mission Shakti: India's satellite strike in space is as significant as its nuclear tests
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Bhd., Mercer Consulting Limited, Mercer Consulting Middle East Limited, Mercer Consulting S.L.U., Mercer Consulting Venezuela C.A., Mercer Corredores de Seguros Limitada, Mercer Corretora de Seguros Ltda, Mercer Danismanlik Anonim Sirketi, Mercer Deutschland GmbH, Mercer Employee Benefits - Medicacao de Seguros Unipessoal Lda., Mercer Employee Benefits Limited, Mercer Financial Advice (Australia) Pty Ltd, Mercer Financial Services Limited, Mercer Financial Services Limited liability company, Mercer Financial Services Middle East Limited, Mercer Global Investments Europe Limited, Mercer Global Investments Management Limited, Mercer HR Consulting Borrower LLC, Mercer HR Services LLC, Mercer Health & Benefits (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Mercer Health & Benefits Administration LLC, Mercer Health & Benefits LLC, Mercer Holdings Inc., Mercer Holdings Inc. [Philippines], Mercer Human Resource Consulting Ltda, Mercer Human Resource Consulting S.A. de C.V., Mercer ICC Limited, Mercer Investment Consulting Limited, Mercer Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Mercer Investment Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Mercer Investments (Australia) Limited, Mercer Investments (Hong Kong) Limited, Mercer Investments (Japan) Ltd, Mercer Investments (New Zealand) Limited, Mercer Investments LLC, Mercer Ireland Holdings Limited, Mercer Italia Srl Socio Unico, Mercer Japan Ltd., Mercer Korea Co. Ltd., Mercer LLC, Mercer Limited, Mercer MC Consulting Borrower LLC, Mercer Master Trustees Limited, Mercer Mauritius Ltd., Mercer Oliver Wyman Holding B.V., Mercer Outsourcing (Australia) Pty Ltd, Mercer Outsourcing S.L.U., Mercer Pensionsfonds AG, Mercer Pensionsraadgivning A/S, Mercer Philippines Inc., Mercer Private Investment Partners IV General Partner S.a.r.l., Mercer Private Markets AG, Mercer Private Markets Advisers (US) AG, Mercer Services Poland Sp. z.o.o., Mercer Sigorta Brokerligi Anonim Sirketi, Mercer South Africa (Pty) Limited, Mercer Superannuation (Australia) Limited, Mercer Switzerland Inc., Mercer System Services LLC, Mercer Technology Acquisitions Limited, Mercer Treuhand GmbH, Mercer Trust Company LLC, Mercer Trustees Limited, Mercer WorkforcePro LLC, Mercury Insurance Services Pty Ltd, Moola Systems Limited, Mountlodge Limited, Muir Beddal (Zimbabwe) Limited, NERA Australia Pty. Ltd., NERA Economic Consulting GmbH, NERA Economic Consulting Limited, NERA S.R.L., NERA SAS, NERA UK Limited, NERA do Brasil Ltda. (for dissolution), National Economic Research Associates Inc., NetComp Insurance Corp., Neuburger Noble Lowndes GmbH, Normandy Reinsurance Company Limited, Northern Alliance Brokers Limited (in liquidation), OWL Marine Insurance-Brokers GmbH & Co.KG, OWL Marine Verwaltungs GmbH, Oliver Wyman (Bermuda) Limited, Oliver Wyman (Hong Kong) Limited, Oliver Wyman AB, Oliver Wyman AG, Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting Inc., Oliver Wyman B.V., Oliver Wyman Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, Oliver Wyman Consultoria em Estrategia de Negocios Ltda., Oliver Wyman Energy Consulting Limited, Oliver Wyman FZ-LLC, Oliver Wyman Group KK, Oliver Wyman Inc., Oliver Wyman LLC, Oliver Wyman Limited, Oliver Wyman Limited Liability Company, Oliver Wyman Limited/Oliver Wyman limitee, Oliver Wyman Ltd., Oliver Wyman Pte. Ltd., Oliver Wyman Pty. Ltd., Oliver Wyman S. de R.L. de C.V., Oliver Wyman S.A.S., Oliver Wyman S.L., Oliver Wyman S.r.l., Oliver Wyman SNC, Oliver Wyman SPRL/BVBA, Oliver Wyman Sdn. Bhd., Oliver Wyman Services Limited, Oliver Wyman Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Oliver Wyman sp. z o.o., Omega Indemnity (Bermuda) Limited, Organizacion Brockman y Schuh S.A. de C.V., Osbornes Insurances Oxford Limited (in liquidation), PFT Limited, PI Indemnity Company Designated Activity Company, PT JLT Reinsurance Brokers, PT Jardine Lloyd Thompson, PT Marsh Indonesia, PT Marsh Reinsurance Brokers Indonesia, PT Mercer Indonesia, PT Nexus Asia Pacific, PT Oliver Wyman Indonesia, PT Quantum Computing Services, PT Quantum Investments, PT Quantum Support Services, Pallas Marsh Servicos Ltda., Pavilion Alternatives Group (Singapore) PTE. Ltd, Pavilion Financial Corporation Holdings UK Limited, Pavilion U.S. Investments Holdco LLC, Pension Trustees Limited, Pensionsservice Benefit Network Sverige AB, Perils AG, Personal Pension Trustees Limited, Pet Animal Welfare Scheme Limited, Portsoken Trustees (No. 2) Limited, Portsoken Trustees Limited, Potomac Insurance Managers Inc., Premier Pension Trustees Limited, Premium Services Australia Pty Limited, Professional Claims Handling Limited (in liquidation), Profund Solutions Limited, Promerit AG, Promerit Hungary Kft, Promerit Schweiz AG, Pymetrics Inc., R G Ford Brokers Limited, R R B Beratungsgesellschaft fuer Altersversorgung mbh, R. Mees & Zoonen Holdings B.V., Renewable Energy Loss Adjusters LLC, Renewable Energy Loss Adjusters Limited, Resource Benefit Associates, Rightpath Reinsurance SPC Ltd., Risk Management Australia Pty Limited, Rivers Group Limited, Rockefeller Risk Advisors Inc., Rutherfoord International Inc., SAFCAR-Marsh, SBJ Holdings Limited, SCIB (Bermuda) Limited, SCM Global Real Estate Select GP LLC, SCM Infrastructure General Partner S.a r.l., SCM International Private Equity Select III GP LLC, SCM LT General Partner S.a.r.l., SCM PE General Partner S.a.r.l., SCM PE II GP Ltd., SCM PE II Scotland GP Ltd, SCM Strategic Capital Management (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., SICAR Marsh S.a.r.l., SME Insurance Services Limited, Sail Insurance Company Limited, Scalene Re Ltd, Seabury & Smith Borrower LLC, Seabury & Smith LLC, Secure Limited, Sedgwick (Holdings) Pty. Limited, Sedgwick Consulting Group Limited, Sedgwick Dineen Group Limited, Sedgwick Financial Services Limited, Sedgwick Forbes Middle East Limited, Sedgwick Group, Sedgwick Group (Australia) Pty. Limited, Sedgwick Group (Bermuda) Limited, Sedgwick Group (Zimbabwe) Limited, Sedgwick Group Limited, Sedgwick Internationaal B.V., Sedgwick Limited, Sedgwick Management Services (Barbados) Limited, Sedgwick Management Services (Singapore) Pte Limited, Sedgwick Noble Lowndes (UK) Limited, Sedgwick Noble Lowndes Group Limited, Sedgwick Noble Lowndes Limited, Sedgwick Overseas Investments Limited, Sedgwick Private Limited, Sedgwick Re Asia Pacific (Consultants) Pte Ltd (for dissolution), Sedgwick Trustees Limited, Sedgwick UK Risk Services Limited, Sedgwick Ulster Pension Trustees Limited, Settlement Trustees Limited, Shanghai Mercer Insurance Brokers Company Ltd., Shorewest Insurance Associates LLC, Sirota Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Sirota Consulting UK Limited, Smith Long Term Disability Management Group Inc., Societe d'Assurances et de Participation Guian SA, Software Underwriting Systems Limited (in liquidation), Southern Marine & Aviation Inc., Southern Marine & Aviation Underwriters Inc., Sudzucker Versicherungs-Vermittlungs GmbH, Sumitomo Life Insurance Agency America Inc., Sylvite Financial Services, TBX Solutions Limited, Talent Tech Labs LLC, The Benefit Express Holdings Limited, The Benefit Express Limited, The Carpenter Management Corporation, The Insurance Partnership Holdings Limited, The Insurance Partnership Services Limited, The Positive Ageing Company Limited, The Purple Partnership Limited, The Recovre Group Pty Ltd, Thomsons Online Benefits (HK) Ltd., Thomsons Online Benefits Inc., Thomsons Online Benefits Limited, Thomsons Online Benefits Pte Ltd., Thomsons Online Benefits S.R.L, Torrent Government Contracting Services LLC, Torrent Insurance Services LLC, Torrent Technologies, Torrent Technologies Inc., Tower Hill Limited, Tower Place Developments (West) Limited, Tower Place Developments Limited, U.T.E. AMG, U.T.E. Marsh - Caja Castilla La Mancha Junta de Comunidades, U.T.E. Marsh - Salvado Reus (in liquidation), U.T.E. Marsh - Salvado Reus 2012, U.T.E. Marsh - Salvado Vila-Seca 2010, UAD BB Marsh Lietuva, Vezina & Associes Inc., Vezina Assurances Inc., Victor Insurance Europe B.V., Victor Insurance Holdings Inc., Victor Insurance Italia S.r.l., Victor Insurance Managers Inc., Victor Insurance Managers Inc./Gestionnaires d'assurance Victor inc., Victor O. Schinnerer & Co. (Bermuda) Ltd., Victor O. Schinnerer & Company Limited, Victoria Hall Company Limited, Wellnz Limited, William M. Mercer (Canada) Limited/William M. Mercer (Canada) Limitee, William M. Mercer AB, William M. Mercer Comercio Consultoria e Servicos Ltda., Wortham Insurance & Risk Management, everBe SAS, and realright GmbH.
Saga plc provides general insurance, package and cruise holidays, and personal finance products and services in the United Kingdom. The company operates in three segments: Insurance, Travel, and Other Businesses and Central Costs. It offers car, home, health, travel, landlord, boat, motorhome, caravan, pet, and personal accident, breakdown cover, building, content, renter, holiday, and holiday home insurance. The company also operates and delivers package tours and cruise holiday products; and provides equity release and care funding advice, savings accounts, credit cards, and wealth management services, as well as shares ISA and share dealing services. In addition, it offers mailing house services; retirement benefit schemes; and publishes Saga Magazine, as well as repairs automotive vehicles. The company was formerly known as Saga Limited and changed its name to Saga plc in May 2014. Saga plc was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Folkestone, the United Kingdom.

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iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF's stock was trading at $123.88 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, LQD shares have increased by 7.2% and is now trading at $132.79.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
Two Harbors Investment pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 11.26%. TWO has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. Two Harbors Investment has been increasing its dividend for 2 consecutive year(s), indicating that it does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio of Two Harbors Investment is 61.26%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on EPS estimates, Two Harbors Investment will have a dividend payout ratio of 83.95% in the coming year. This indicates that Two Harbors Investment may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

View Two Harbors Investment's dividend history.
iShares MSCI South Korea ETF's stock was trading at $52.04 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWY shares have increased by 55.1% and is now trading at $80.74.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
The Williams Cos., Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company, which explores, produces, transports, sells and processes natural gas and petroleum products. It operates through the following segments: Transmission and Gulf of Mexico; Northeast G&P; and West. The Transmission and Gulf of Mexico segment comprises of interstate natural gas pipelines, Transco and Northwest Pipeline, as well as natural gas gathering and processing and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region. The Northeast G&P segment includes midstream gathering, processing, and fractionation businesses in the Marcellus Shale region primarily in Pennsylvania and New York, and the Utica Shale region of eastern Ohio. The West segment consists of gas gathering, processing, and treating operations in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Wyoming, the Barnett Shale region of north-central Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale region of south Texas, the Haynesville Shale region of northwest Louisiana, and the Mid-Continent region which includes the Anadarko, Arkoma, and Permian basins. The company was founded by David Williams and Miller Williams in 1908 and is headquartered in Tulsa,

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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! Limited, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, AIG Shared Services Business Processing Inc, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co. Ltd., Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Accenture (UK) Limited, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Agencia Interativa Ltda, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture B.V., Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BPS Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A., Accenture Canada Holdings Inc, Accenture Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Limited, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co. Ltd, Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Pty Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SASU, Accenture Customer Services Ltd, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Delivery Poland S.p. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance II Limited, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services S.r.l., Accenture Financial Advanced Solution & Technology S.r.l., Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Global Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Global Engagements Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Limited, Accenture Global Services Limited, Accenture Global Solutions Limited, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc, Accenture Holding Brasil Ltda, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SASU, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services B.V., Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture International B.V., Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea B.V., Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Lithuania UAB, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Marketing Services LLC, Accenture Marketing Services Limited, Accenture Middle East B.V., Accenture Minority I B.V., Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi Pty Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations GmbH, Accenture Operations S.p. z o.o., Accenture Operations Services Private Limited, Accenture Operations Services Sdn Bhd, Accenture Outsourcing S.r.l., Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations B.V., Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru SRL, Accenture Post Trade Processing SASU, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture Qiyun Technology (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture S.p. z o.o., Accenture S.p.A., Accenture SASU, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sdn Bhd, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services and Technology S.r.l., Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Single Member S.A. Organization Information Technology & Business Development, Accenture Solutions Co. Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions S.p. z o.o, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc, Accenture Sub III Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions S.r.l., Accenture Technology Solutions SASU, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures B.V., Accenture Technology Ventures SPRL, Accenture Tecnologia Consultoria y Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co. Limited, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Ltda, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Advoco, Agilex Technologies Inc., Allen International, AlphaBeta Advisors, Altevie Technologies S.r.l., Altima, Altima (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Altima Asia Ltd, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Altius Consulting Limited, Altius Data Solutions Private Limited, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Apis Group Pty Ltd, Appaloosa Technology SASU, AppsPro, Arca, Arca Ingenieros y Consultoria S.L., Arca Telecom S.L., Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Artio People (Payroll) Pty Ltd, Artio People Pty Ltd, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Automation Partners Pty Ltd, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc, Avanade Consulting Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Limited, Avanade Europe Services Limited, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SASU, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade Inc, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy S.r.l., Avanade Japan KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Middle East Limited, Avanade Netherlands B.V., Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain S.L., Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Limited, Avanade do Brasil Ltda, Avanade Osterreich GmbH, Avenai, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCS Consulting, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BENEXT, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing Zhidao Future Consulting Co. Ltd, Benext, Berico Technologies LLC, Bionic, Bionic Solution LLC, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Bow & Arrow, Bow & Arrow Limited, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, Byte Prophecy Private Limited, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CS Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, CS Technology (UK) Limited, CS Technology Group LLC, CS Technology LLC, CadenceQuest Inc., Callisto Integration Europe B.V., Callisto Integration Europe Limited, Callisto Integration LLC, Callisto Integration Ltd, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc, Certus Solutions Consulting Services Limited, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. 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.
ADLER is one of Germany's leading residential property companies with a focus on affordable housing. Its portfolio is primarily located in A- or on the outskirts of A- large and growing conurbations in northern, eastern and western Germany and has considerable upside potential in terms of revaluation gains, vacancy reduction and rent uplifts. All of the Group's properties and business operations are located in Germany, and benefit from the high employment in the German economy in general and also favourable real estate market dynamics in German A'B cities'. The Group's residential portfolio has been built up over the past five years by acquiring individual portfolios or shares in property holding companies.

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Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 1,400 bank branches and 4,800 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

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BHP Group engages in the natural resources business in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, rest of Asia, North America, South America, and internationally. It operates through Petroleum, Copper, Iron Ore, and Coal segments. The company engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas properties; and mining of copper, silver, zinc, molybdenum, uranium, gold, iron ore, and metallurgical and energy coal. It is also involved in mining, smelting, and refining of nickel; the provision of towing, freight, marketing and trading, marketing support, finance, administrative, and other services; and potash development activities. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

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There is not enough analysis data for BlackRock Utilities, Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust.

4.4 Community Rank

Outperform Votes BlackRock Utilities, Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust has received 70 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes BlackRock Utilities, Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust has received 37 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment BlackRock Utilities, Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust has received 65.42% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about BlackRock Utilities, Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe BUI will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe BUI will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

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Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. engages in the mining of copper, gold and molybdenum. It operates through the following segments: North America Copper Mines, South America Mining; Indonesia Mining, Molybdenum Mines, Rod and Refining, Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining and Corporate, Other and Eliminations. The North America Copper Mines segment operates open-pit copper mines in Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita and Miami in Arizona and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico. The South America Mining segment includes Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. The Indonesia Mining segment handles the operations of Grasberg minerals district that produces copper concentrate that contains significant quantities of gold and silver. The Molybdenum Mines segment includes the Henderson underground mine and Climax open-pit mine, both in Colorado. The Rod and Refining segment consists of copper conversion facilities located in North America and includes a refinery, rod mills, and a specialty copper products facility. The Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining segment smelts and refines copper concentrate and markets refined copper and precious metals in slimes. The Corporate, Other and Eliminations segment

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Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. is an international offshore energy company. It focuses on subsea construction, maintenance and salvage services to the offshore natural gas and oil industry. The firm also provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry, with a focus on well intervention and robotics operations. The company operates through three segments: Well Intervention, Robotics and Production Facilities. The Well Intervention segment offers vessels and related equipment that are used to perform well intervention services primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea regions. The Robotics segment involves four chartered vessels and also includes ROVs, trenchers and ROVDrills designed to complement offshore construction and well intervention services. The Production Facilities segment includes its investment in the Helix Producer I and Kommandor LLC. Helix Energy Solutions Group was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

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Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A., a multinational bank, primarily engages in the financing of foreign trade in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates through two segments, Commercial and Treasury. It offers short and medium-term bilateral, structured and syndicated credits, and loan commitments; financial guarantee contracts, such as issued and confirmed letters of credit, and stand-by letters of credit; and guarantees covering commercial risk and other assets, as well as co-financing arrangements, underwriting of syndicated credit facilities, structured trade financing in the form of factoring and vendor financing, and financial leasing. The company also provides treasury solutions, which include term deposits and private placements. It primarily serves financial institutions, corporations, and sovereigns and state-owned entities. The company was formerly known as Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. and changed its name to Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. in June 2009. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Panama City, the Republic of Panama.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Banco Santander: 2 & 3 Triton Limited, A & L CF (Guernsey) Limited (f), A & L CF June (2) Limited, A & L CF June (3) Limited, A & L CF March (5) Limited, A & L CF September (4) Limited, AFB SAM Holdings S.L., ALIL Services Limited (b), AN (123) Limited, ANITCO Limited, Abbey Business Services (India) Private Limited, Abbey Covered Bonds (LM) Limited, Abbey National, Abbey National Beta Investments Limited, Abbey National Business Office Equipment Leasing Limited, Abbey National International Limited, Abbey National Nominees Limited, Abbey National PLP (UK) Limited, Abbey National Property Investments, Abbey National Treasury Services Investments Limited, Abbey National Treasury Services Overseas Holdings, Abbey National UK Investments, Abbey Stockbrokers (Nominees) Limited, Abbey Stockbrokers Limited, Ablasa Participaciones S.L., Administracion de Bancos Latinoamericanos Santander S.L., Aduro S.A., Aevis Europa S.L., Afisa S.A., Albert., Aljardi SGPS Lda., Alliance & Leicester, Alliance & Leicester Cash Solutions Limited, Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank Limited, Alliance & Leicester Investments (Derivatives) Limited, Alliance & Leicester Investments (No.2) Limited, Alliance & Leicester Investments Limited, Alliance & Leicester Limited, Alliance & Leicester Personal Finance Limited, Altamira Santander Real Estate S.A., Alternative Leasing FIL, Amazonia Trade Limited, Amherst Pierpont, Andaluza de Inversiones S.A., Aquanima Brasil Ltda., Aquanima Chile S.A., Aquanima Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Aquanima S.A., Arcaz - Sociedade Imobiliaria Portuguesa Lda., Argenline S.A. (b), Asto Digital Limited, Athena Corporation Limited, Atual - Fundo de Invest Multimercado Credito Privado Investimento no Exterior, Atual Servicos de Recuperacao de Creditos e Meios Digitais S.A., Autodescuento S.L., Autohaus24 GmbH, Auttar HUT Processamento de Dados Ltda., Aviacion Antares A.I.E., Aviacion Britanica A.I.E., Aviacion Centaurus A.I.E., Aviacion Comillas S.L. Unipersonal, Aviacion Intercontinental A.I.E., Aviacion Laredo S.L., Aviacion Oyambre S.L. Unipersonal, Aviacion Real A.I.E., Aviacion Santillana S.L., Aviacion Suances S.L., Aviacion Triton A.I.E., Aymore Credito Financiamento e Investimento S.A., BEN Beneficios e Servicos S.A., BRS Investments S.A., BZW Bank, Banca PSA Italia S.p.A., Banco Bandepe S.A., Banco Madesant - Sociedade Unipessoal S.A., Banco PSA Finance Brasil S.A., Banco Popular, Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A., Banco Santander (Mexico) S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico como Fiduciaria del Fideicomiso 100740, Banco Santander (Mexico) S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico como Fiduciaria del Fideicomiso 2002114, Banco Santander (Mexico) S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico como Fiduciaria del Fideicomiso GFSSLPT, Banco Santander - Chile, Banco Santander Consumer Portugal S.A., Banco Santander International, Banco Santander International SA, Banco Santander Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Banco Santander Peru S.A., Banco Santander Rio S.A., Banco Santander S.A., Banco Santander Totta S.A., Banco Santander de Negocios Colombia S.A., Banco de Albacete S.A., Bansa Santander S.A., CCAP Auto Lease Ltd., Canyon Multifamily Impact Fund IV LLC, Capital Street Delaware LP, Capital Street Holdings LLC, Capital Street REIT Holdings LLC, Capital Street S.A., Carfax (Guernsey) Limited (f), Carfinco Financial Group, Carfinco Financial Group Inc., Carfinco Inc., Casa de Bolsa Santander S.A. de C.V. Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Cater Allen Holdings Limited, Cater Allen International Limited, Cater Allen Limited, Cater Allen Lloyd's Holdings Limited, Cater Allen Syndicate Management Limited, Centro de Capacitacion Santander A.C., Certidesa S.L., Chrysler Capital Auto Funding I LLC, Chrysler Capital Auto Funding II LLC, Chrysler Capital Auto Receivables LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding 2 LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding 4 LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding LLC, Cobranza Amigable S.A.P.I. de C.V., Community Development and Affordable Housing Fund LLC (g), Compagnie Generale de Credit Aux Particuliers - Credipar S.A., Compagnie Pour la Location de Vehicules - CLV, Comunidad Laboral Trabajando Argentina S.A., Comunidad Laboral Trabajando Iberica S.L. Unipersonal en liquidacion (b), Consulteam Consultores de Gestao Lda., Consumer Lending Receivables LLC, Crawfall S.A. (b), Cantabra de Inversiones S.A., Cantabro Catalana de Inversiones S.A., Darep Designated Activity Company, Decarome S.A.P.I. de C.V., Deva Capital Advisory Company S.L., Deva Capital Holding Company S.L., Deva Capital Investment Company S.L., Deva Capital Management Company S.L., Deva Capital Servicer Company S.L., Digital Procurement Holdings N.V., Diners Club Spain S.A., Direccion Estratega S.C., Dirgenfin S.L. en liquidacion (b), Ebury, El Corte Ingles, Elavon Mexico, Electrolyser S.A. de C.V., Entidad de Desarrollo a la Pequena y Micro Empresa Santander Consumo Peru S.A., Erestone S.A.S., Esfera Fidelidade S.A., Evidence Previdencia S.A., Financeira El Corte Ingles Portugal S.F.C. S.A., Financiera El Corte Ingles E.F.C. S.A., Finsantusa S.L. Unipersonal, First National Motor Business Limited, First National Motor Contracts Limited, First National Motor Facilities Limited, First National Motor Finance Limited, First National Motor Leasing Limited, First National Motor plc, First National Tricity Finance Limited, Fondos Santander S.A. Administradora de Fondos de Inversion (en liquidacion) (b), Fortensky Trading Ltd., Fosse Funding (No.1) Limited, Fosse Master Issuer plc, Fosse Trustee (UK) Limited, GTS El Centro Equity Holdings LLC, GTS El Centro Project Holdings LLC, Gamma Sociedade Financeira de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Gesban Mexico Servicios Administrativos Globales S.A. de C.V., Gesban Santander Servicios Profesionales Contables Limitada, Gesban Servicios Administrativos Globales S.L., Gesban UK Limited, Gestion de Instalaciones Fotovoltaicas S.L. Unipersonal, Gestion de Inversiones JILT S.A., Gestora de Procesos S.A. en liquidacion (b), Getnet Adquirencia e Servicos para Meios de Pagamento S.A., Global Vosgos S.L. Unipersonal, Grupo Empresarial Santander S.L., Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico S.A. de C.V., Grupo Financiero Santander SAB de CV, Guaranty Car S.A. Unipersonal, HQ Mobile Limited, Hispamer Renting S.A. Unipersonal, Holbah II Limited, Holbah Santander S.L. Unipersonal, Holmes Funding Limited, Holmes Master Issuer plc, Holmes Trustees Limited, Hyundai Capital Bank Europe GmbH, Iberica de Compras Corporativas S.L., Independence Community Bank Corp., Insurance Funding Solutions Limited, Interfinance Holanda B.V., Inversiones Capital Global S.A. Unipersonal, Inversiones Maritimas del Mediterraneo S.A., Isla de los Buques S.A., Klare Corredora de Seguros S.A., Landcompany 2020 S.L., Langton Funding (No.1) Limited, Langton Mortgages Trustee (UK) Limited, Langton Securities (2008-1) plc, Langton Securities (2010-1) PLC, Langton Securities (2010-2) PLC, Laparanza S.A., Liquidity Limited, Luri 1 S.A. en liquidacion (b) (e), Luri 6 S.A. Unipersonal, Master Red Europa S.L., Mata Alta S.L., Merciver S.L., Mercury TFS, Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.A. de C.V., Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.L., Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.p.A., Moneybit S.L., Mortgage Engine Limited, Motor 2016-1 PLC, Motor 2017-1 PLC, Mouro Capital I LP, Multiplica SpA, NW Services CO., Naviera Mirambel S.L., Naviera Trans Gas A.I.E., Naviera Trans Iron S.L., Naviera Trans Ore A.I.E., Naviera Trans Wind S.L. (b), Naviera Transcantabrica S.L., Naviera Transchem S.L. Unipersonal, NeoAuto S.A.C., Norbest AS, Novimovest  Fundo de Investimento Imobiliario, Open Bank Argentina S.A., Open Bank S.A., Open Digital Market S.L., Open Digital Services S.L., Operadora de Carteras Gamma S.A.P.I. de C.V., Optimal Investment Services SA, Optimal Multiadvisors Ireland Plc / Optimal Strategic US Equity Ireland Euro Fund, Optimal Multiadvisors Ireland Plc / Optimal Strategic US Equity Ireland US Dollar Fund, PBE Companies LLC, PECOH Limited, PI Distribuidora de Titulos e Valores Mobiliarios S.A., PSA Bank Deutschland GmbH, PSA Banque France, PSA Finance UK Limited, PSA Financial Services Nederland B.V., PSA Financial Services Spain E.F.C. S.A., PSA Renting Italia S.p.A., PagoFX Europe S.A., PagoFX HoldCo S.L., PagoFX UK Ltd, PagoNxt Merchant Solutions S.L., PagoNxt S.L., Parasant SA, Patagon.com, Pereda Gestion S.A., Pingham International S.A., Popular Spain Holding de Inversiones S.L.U., Portal Universia Argentina S.A., Portal Universia Portugal Prestacao de Servicos de Informatica S.A., Prime 16  Fundo de Investimentos Imobiliario, Punta Lima LLC, Punta Lima Wind Farm LLC, Retop S.A., Return Capital Servicos de Recuperacao de Creditos S.A., Return Gestao de Recursos S.A., Riobank International (Uruguay) SAIFE (b), Rojo Entretenimento S.A., SAM Asset Management S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, SAM Investment Holdings S.L., SAM UK Investment Holdings Limited (b), SANB Promotora de Vendas e Cobranca Ltda., SCF Eastside Locks GP Limited, SDMX Superdigital S.A. de C.V., SMPS Merchant Platform Solutions Mexico S.A de C.V, Sancap Investimentos e Participacoes S.A., Santander (CF Trustee Property Nominee) Limited, Santander (UK) Group Pension Schemes Trustees Limited, Santander Ahorro Inmobiliario 1 S.A., Santander Ahorro Inmobiliario 2 S.A., Santander Alternatives SICAV RAIF, Santander Asesorias Financieras Limitada, Santander Asset Finance (December) Limited, Santander Asset Finance plc, Santander Asset Management - S.G.O.I.C. S.A., Santander Asset Management Chile S.A., Santander Asset Management LLC, Santander Asset Management Luxembourg S.A., Santander Asset Management S.A. Administradora General de Fondos, Santander Asset Management S.A. S.G.I.I.C., Santander Asset Management UK Holdings Limited, Santander Asset Management UK Limited, Santander Back-Offices Globales Mayoristas S.A., Santander Banca de Inversion Colombia S.A.S., Santander Bank & Trust Ltd., Santander Bank National Association, Santander Bank Polska S.A., Santander Brasil Administradora de Consorcio Ltda., Santander Brasil Gestao de Recursos Ltda., Santander Brasil Tecnologia S.A., Santander Capital Desarrollo SGEIC S.A. Unipersonal, Santander Capital Structuring S.A. de C.V., Santander Capitalizacao S.A., Santander Cards Ireland Limited, Santander Cards Limited, Santander Cards UK Limited, Santander Chile Holding S.A., Santander Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Santander Consumer (UK) plc, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2013-B2 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2013-B3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L4 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L5 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-B1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-L2 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-L3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-B1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-L1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-L2 LLC, Santander Consumer Bank, Santander Consumer Bank AG, Santander Consumer Bank GmbH, Santander Consumer Bank S.A., Santander Consumer Bank S.p.A., Santander Consumer Banque S.A., Santander Consumer Credit Services Limited, Santander Consumer Finance Benelux B.V., Santander Consumer Finance Global Services S.L., Santander Consumer Finance Oy, Santander Consumer Finance S.A., Santander Consumer Finance Schweiz AG, Santander Consumer Financial Solutions Sp. z o.o., Santander Consumer Finanse Sp. z o.o. (b), Santander Consumer Holding Austria GmbH, Santander Consumer Holding GmbH, Santander Consumer International Puerto Rico LLC, Santander Consumer Leasing GmbH, Santander Consumer Mediacion Operador de Banca-Seguros Vinculado S.L., Santander Consumer Multirent Sp. z o.o., Santander Consumer Operations Services GmbH, Santander Consumer Receivables 10 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables 11 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables 3 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables 7 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables Funding LLC, Santander Consumer Renting S.L., Santander Consumer S.A., Santander Consumer S.A.S., Santander Consumer Services GmbH, Santander Consumer Services S.A., Santander Consumer Technology Services GmbH, Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc., Santander Consumer USA Inc., Santander Consumo S.A. de C.V. S.O.F.O.M. E.R. Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Santander Corredora de Seguros Limitada, Santander Corredores de Bolsa Limitada, Santander Corretora de Cambio e Valores Mobiliarios S.A., Santander Corretora de Seguros Investimentos e Servicos S.A., Santander Customer Voice S.A., Santander Digital Assets S.L., Santander Drive Auto Receivables LLC, Santander Equity Investments Limited, Santander Espana Merchant Services Entidad de Pago S.L. Unipersonal, Santander Espana Servicios Legales y de Cumplimiento S.L., Santander Estates Limited, Santander F24 S.A., Santander Facility Management Espana S.L., Santander Factoring S.A., Santander Factoring Sp. z o.o., Santander Factoring y Confirming S.A. E.F.C., Santander Finance 2012-1 LLC, Santander Financial Exchanges Limited, Santander Financial Services Inc., Santander Financial Services plc, Santander Finanse Sp. z o.o., Santander Fintech Holdings S.L., Santander Fintech Limited, Santander Fundo de Investimento SBAC Referenciado di Credito Privado, Santander Gestion de Recaudacion y Cobranzas Ltda., Santander Global Consumer Finance Limited, Santander Global Facilities S.A. de C.V., Santander Global Facilities S.L., Santander Global Operations S.A., Santander Global Services S.A. (b), Santander Global Sport S.A., Santander Global Technology Brasil Ltda., Santander Global Technology Chile Limitada, Santander Global Technology S.L., Santander Global Trade Platform Solutions S.L., Santander Guarantee Company, Santander Holding Imobiliaria S.A., Santander Holding Internacional S.A., Santander Holdings USA Inc., Santander ISA Managers Limited, Santander Inclusion Financiera S.A. de C.V. S.O.F.O.M. E.R. Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Santander Insurance Agency U.S. LLC, Santander Insurance Services UK Limited, Santander Intermediacion Correduria de Seguros S.A., Santander International Products Plc. (d), Santander Inversiones S.A., Santander Investment Bank Limited, Santander Investment Chile Limitada, Santander Investment I S.A., Santander Investment S.A., Santander Investment Securities Inc., Santander Investments GP 1 S.a.r.l., Santander Inwestycje Sp. z o.o., Santander Lease S.A. E.F.C., Santander Leasing LLC, Santander Leasing S.A., Santander Leasing S.A. Arrendamento Mercantil, Santander Lending Limited, Santander Mediacion Operador de Banca-Seguros Vinculado S.A., Santander Merchant Platform Operations S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Services S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions Mexico S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions S.A., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions Uruguay S.A., Santander Merchant Platform SolucoesTecnologicas Brasil Ltda., Santander Merchant S.A., Santander Mortgage Holdings Limited, Santander Paraty Qif PLC, Santander Pensiones S.A. E.G.F.P., Santander Pensoes - Sociedade Gestora de Fundos de Pensoes S.A., Santander Private Banking Gestion S.A. S.G.I.I.C., Santander Private Banking UK Limited, Santander Private Banking s.p.a. in Liquidazione (b), Santander Private Real Estate Advisory & Management S.A., Santander Private Real Estate Advisory S.A., Santander Real Estate S.A., Santander Retail Auto Lease Funding LLC, Santander Rio Asset Management Gerente de Fondos Comunes de Inversion S.A., Santander Rio Trust S.A., Santander Rio Valores S.A., Santander S.A. Sociedad Securitizadora, Santander Secretariat Services Limited, Santander Securities LLC, Santander Seguros y Reaseguros Compania Aseguradora S.A., Santander Servicios Corporativos S.A. de C.V., Santander Servicios Especializados S.A. de C.V., Santander Technology USA LLC, Santander Tecnologia e Inovacao Ltda., Santander Tecnologia Argentina S.A., Santander Tecnologia Espana S.L.U., Santander Tecnologia Mexico S.A. de C.V., Santander Totta SGPS S.A., Santander Totta Seguros Companhia de Seguros de Vida S.A., Santander Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A., Santander Trade Services Limited, Santander UK Group Holdings plc, Santander UK Investments, Santander UK Operations Limited, Santander UK Plc, Santander UK Technology Limited, Santander Wealth Management International SA, Santander de Titulizacion S.G.F.T. S.A., Santusa Holding S.L., Services and Promotions Delaware Corp., Services and Promotions Miami LLC, Servicio de Alarmas Controladas por Ordenador S.A., Servicios de Cobranza Recuperacion y Seguimiento S.A. De C.V., Sheppards Moneybrokers Limited, Shiloh III Wind Project LLC, Sociedad Integral de Valoraciones Automatizadas S.A., Sociedad Operadora de Tarjetas de Pago Santander Getnet Chile S.A., Socur S.A., Sol Orchard Imperial 1 LLC, Solarlaser Limited, Sovereign Community Development Company, Sovereign Delaware Investment Corporation, Sovereign Lease Holdings LLC, Sovereign REIT Holdings Inc., Sovereign Spirit Limited (f), Sterrebeeck B.V., Suleyado 2003 S.L. Unipersonal, Summer Empreendimentos Ltda., Super Pagamentos e Administracao de Meios Eletronicos S.A., Superdigital Argentina S.A.U., Superdigital Colombia S.A.S., Superdigital Holding Company S.L., Superdigital Peru S.A.C., Suzuki Servicios Financieros S.L., Swesant SA, TIMFin S.p.A., TOPSAM S.A de C.V., Taxagest Sociedade Gestora de Participacoes Sociais S.A., Teatinos Siglo XXI Inversiones S.A., The Alliance & Leicester Corporation Limited, The Best Specialty Coffee S.L. Unipersonal, Time Retail Finance Limited (b), Tonopah Solar I LLC, Toque Fale Servicos de Telemarketing Ltda., Tornquist Asesores de Seguros S.A. (b), Totta (Ireland) PLC, Totta Urbe - Empresa de Administracao e Construcoes S.A., Trabajando.com Mexico S.A. de C.V. en liquidacion (b), Trabajando.com Peru S.A.C., Trans Rotor Limited (b), Transolver Finance EFC S.A., Tresmares Growth Fund Santander SCR S.A., Tresmares Santander Direct Lending SICC S.A., Tuttle and Son Limited, Universia Brasil S.A., Universia Chile S.A., Universia Colombia S.A.S., Universia Espana Red de Universidades S.A., Universia Holding S.L., Universia Mexico S.A. de C.V., Universia Peru S.A., Universia Uruguay S.A., Uro Property Holdings SOCIMI S.A., WIM Servicios Corporativos S.A. de C.V., WTW Shipping Designated Activity Company, Wallcesa S.A., Wave Holdco S.L., Waypoint Insurance Group Inc., and Wirecard (Technological Assets).
The following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen Coding GmbH, Allen France SAS, Alpine Automation Limited, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Holdings Inc., Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, Arylux Hungary Elektromechanikus Alkatreszgyarto Kft, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix (Suzhou) Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel (Ireland) Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Brooks Instrument LLC, Buell Industries Inc., CAPMAX Logistica S.A. de C.V., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS (Australia) Pty Limited, CS (Finance) Europe S.a.r.l., CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, CSMTS LLC, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures (Australasia) S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Coeur, Coeur (Shanghai) Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Dorbyl U.K. (Holdings) Limited, Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO (Holding) AG, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elga Skandinavian AS, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, FEG Investments L.L.C., Fasver, Filtertek, Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech (Taicang) Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart (Japan) K.K., Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart Foster Belgium, Hobart International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW (China) Investment Company Limited, ITW (Deutschland) GmbH, ITW (EU) Holdings Ltd., ITW (European) Finance Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance III Co. Ltd., ITW (Ningbo) Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Alpha Sarl, ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components (Langfang) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium, ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS (UK) Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Contamination Control (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Delta Sarl, ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Dynatec GmbH, ITW Dynatec Kabushiki Kaisha, ITW EAE B.V., ITW EAE Mexico S de RL de CV, ITW EF&C France SAS, ITW EF&C Selb GmbH, ITW Electronic Business Asia Co. Limited, ITW Electronic Components/Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Electronics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Epsilon Sarl, ITW Espana S.A., ITW FEG Hong Kong Limited, ITW FEG do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW Fastener Products GmbH, ITW Finance Designated Activity Company, ITW Finance Europe S.A., ITW Fluids and Hygiene Solutions Ltda., ITW Food Equipment Group LLC, ITW France Finance Alpha S.A.S., ITW GH LLC, ITW GSE ApS, ITW GSE Inc., ITW Gamma Sarl, ITW German Management LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings Y Compania Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones, ITW Global Investments II Inc., ITW Global Investments Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Europe GmbH, ITW Global Tire Repair Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Japan K.K., ITW Graphics (Thailand) Ltd., ITW Graphics Asia Limited, ITW Graphics Italy S.R.L. in liquidazione, ITW Great Britain Investment & Licensing Holding Company, ITW Group France (Luxembourg) S.ar.l., ITW HLP Thailand Co. Ltd., ITW Holding Quimica B.C. S.L. Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings UK, ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Holdings X Limited, ITW Holdings XI Limited, ITW Hungary Finance Beta Kft, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Finance Srl, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lombard Holdings Inc., ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW M FILMS II LLC, ITW MH LLC, ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. De R.L. de C.V., ITW Mexico Holdings LLC, ITW Morlock GmbH, ITW Mortgage Investments II Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments III Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments IV Inc., ITW Netherlands Administration BV, ITW Netherlands Beta B.V., ITW Netherlands Finance Alpha BV, ITW New Universal LLC, ITW New Zealand, ITW Novadan Sp. Z.o.o., ITW PPF Brasil Adesivos Ltda., ITW Packaging Technology (China) Co. Ltd., ITW Participations S.a r.l., ITW Pension Funds Trustee Company, ITW Performance Plastic (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Japan Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Korea Limited, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids OOO, ITW Performance Polymers (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers ApS, ITW Performance Polymers and Fluids Group FZE, ITW Peru S.A.C., ITW Philippines Holdings LLC, ITW Poly Mex S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Polymers Sealants North America Inc., ITW Pronovia s.r.o., ITW Pte. Ltd., ITW Qufu Automotive Cooling Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Real Estate Germany GmbH, ITW Residuals III L.L.C., ITW Residuals IV L.L.C., ITW Rivex, ITW SMPI, ITW SPG Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Simco-Ion (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., ITW Slovakia s.r.o., ITW Spain Holdings S.L., ITW Specialty Film LLC, ITW Specialty Films France, ITW Specialty Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Spraytec, ITW Sverige AB, ITW Sweden Holding AB, ITW Test & Measurement Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, ITW Test and Measurement Italia Srl, ITW Test and Measurement Services Industry and Trade Ltd., ITW Texwipe Philippines Inc., ITW Thermal Films (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW UK, ITW UK Finance Beta Limited, ITW UK Finance Delta Limited, ITW UK Finance Gamma Limited, ITW UK Finance Limited, ITW UK Finance Zeta Ltd., ITW UK II Limited, ITW Universal II LLC, ITW Welding, ITW Welding AB, ITW Welding GmbH, ITW Welding Products B.V., ITW Welding Products Group FZE, ITW Welding Products Group S. DE R.L. De C.V., ITW Welding Products Italy Srl, ITW Welding Products Limited Liability Company, ITW Welding Produtos Para Solgdagem Ltda., ITW Welding Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Welding Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW de France, ITW do Brasil Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Ideal Molding Technologies LLC, Illinois Tool Works (Chile) Limitada, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Nederland B.V., Illinois Tool Works Norway AS, Impar Comercio E Representacoes Ltda., Industrie Plastic Elsasser GmbH, Inmobiliaria Cit. S.A. de C.F., Innova Temperlite Servicios S.A. de C.V., Innovacion y Transformacion Automotriz S.A. de C.V., Instron (Shanghai) Ltd., Instron (Thailand) Limited, Instron Brasil Equipamentos Cientificos Ltda., Instron Foreign Sales Corp. Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Holdings Limited, Instron International Limited, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, International Leasing Company LLC, International Truss Systems Proprietary Limited, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kester Components (M) Sdn. Bhd., Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft S.L., Loma Systems, Loma Systems (Canada) Inc., Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, MOA Enterprises Inc, Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, Norden Olje AB, North Star Imaging Europe, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited (Enping), Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Peerless Machinery Corp., Penta Dnepr LLC, Penta Sever OOO, Penta Volga OOO, Polyrey, Premark FEG L.L.C., Premark HII Holdings LLC, Premark International, Premark International LLC, Prolex Sociedad Anonima, QSA Global Inc., Quimica Industrial Mediterranea S.L., Ramset Fasteners (Hong Kong) Ltd., Rapid Cook LLC, Refrigeration France, S.E.E. Sistemas Industria E Comercio Ltda., ST Mexico Holdings LLC, Sealant Systems International Inc., Sentinel Asia Yuhan Hoesa, Shanghai ITW Plastic & Metal Co. Ltd, Simco (Nederland) B.V., Simco Japan Inc., Societe de Prospection et dInventions Techniques  SPIT, Speedline Holdings I Inc., Speedline Holdings I LLC, Speedline Technologies GmbH, Speedline Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Speedline Technologies Mexico Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Stokvis Celix Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Stokvis Danmark ApS, Stokvis Holdings S.A.R.L., Stokvis Promi s.r.o, Stokvis Prostick Tapes Private Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Taiwan) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes BVBA, Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek (China) Limited, Teknek (Japan) Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V.B.A., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta (Guangzhou) Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Vesta Global Limited, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wynn Oil (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, ZF TRW (Engineered Fasteners and Components), and Zip-Pak International B.V..
The following companies are subsidiares of InterContinental Hotels Group: 2250 Blake Street Hotel LLC, 24th Street Operator Sub LLC, 36th Street IHG Sub LLC, 426 Main Ave LLC, 46 Nevins Street Associates LLC, Allegro Management LLC, Alpha Kimball Hotel LLC, American Commonwealth Assurance Co. Ltd., Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, BHMC Canada Inc., BHR Holdings B.V., BHR Luxembourg SARL, BHR Pacific Holdings Inc., BHTC Canada Inc., BOC Barclay Sub LLC, Barclay Operating Corp., Bristol Oakbrook Tenant Company, Cafe Biarritz, Cambridge Lodging LLC, Capital Lodging LLC, Compania Inter-Continental De Hoteles El Salvador SA, Crowne Plaza Amsterdam (Management) B.V., Crowne Plaza LLC, Cumberland Akers Hotel LLC, Dunwoody Operations Inc., EVEN Real Estate Holding LLC, Edinburgh IC Limited, General Innkeeping Acceptance Corporation, Guangzhou SC Hotels Services Ltd., H.I. (Ireland) Limited, H.I. Soaltee Management Company Ltd, HC International Holdings Inc., HH France Holdings SAS, HH Hotels (EMEA) B.V., HH Hotels (Romania) SRL, HI Sugarloaf LLC, HIM (Aruba) NV, Hale International Ltd., Hoft Properties LLC, Holiday Hospitality Franchising LLC, Holiday Inn Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Holiday Inns (China) Ltd, Holiday Inns (Chongqing) Inc., Holiday Inns (Courtalin) Holdings SAS, Holiday Inns (Courtalin) SAS, Holiday Inns (England) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Germany) LLC, Holiday Inns (Guangzhou) Inc., Holiday Inns (Jamaica) Inc., Holiday Inns (Malaysia) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Middle East) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Philippines) Inc., Holiday Inns (Saudi Arabia) Inc., Holiday Inns (South East Asia) Inc., Holiday Inns (Thailand) Ltd., Holiday Inns (UK) Inc., Holiday Inns Crowne Plaza (Hong Kong) Inc., Holiday Inns Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, Holiday Inns Inc., Holiday Inns Investment (Nepal) Ltd., Holiday Inns of America (UK) Ltd., Holiday Inns of Belgium N.V., Holiday Pacific Equity Corporation, Holiday Pacific LLC, Holiday Pacific Partners LP, Hotel Inter-Continental London Limited, Hotel InterContinental London (Holdings) Limited, Hoteles Y Turismo HIH SRL, IC Hotelbetriebsfuhrungs GmbH, IC Hotels Management (Portugal) Unipessoal Lda, IC International Hotels Limited Liability Company, IHC (Thailand) Limited, IHC Buckhead LLC, IHC Edinburgh (Holdings), IHC Hopkins (Holdings) Corp., IHC Hotel Limited, IHC Inter-Continental (Holdings) Corp., IHC London (Holdings), IHC M-H (Holdings) Corp., IHC May Fair (Holdings) Limited, IHC May Fair Hotel Limited, IHC Overseas (U.K.) Limited, IHC UK (Holdings) Limited, IHC United States (Holdings) Corp., IHC Willard (Holdings) Corp., IHG (Australasia) Limited, IHG (Marseille) SAS, IHG (Thailand) Limited, IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan LLC, IHG ANA Hotels Holdings Co. Ltd., IHG Bangkok Ltd, IHG Brasil Administracao de Hoteis e Servicos Ltda, IHG Commission Services SRL, IHG Community Development LLC, IHG Cyprus Limited, IHG ECS (Barbados) SRL, IHG Franchising Brasil Ltda, IHG Franchising DR Corporation, IHG Franchising LLC, IHG Hotels (New Zealand) Limited, IHG Hotels Limited, IHG Hotels Management (Australia) Pty Limited, IHG Hotels Nigeria Limited, IHG Hotels South Africa (Pty) Ltd, IHG International Partnership, IHG Istanbul Otel Yonetim Limited Sirketi, IHG Japan (Management) LLC, IHG Japan (Osaka) LLC, IHG Management (Maryland) LLC, IHG Management (Netherlands) B.V., IHG Management MD Barclay Sub LLC, IHG Management SL d.o.o, IHG Management d.o.o. Beograd, IHG Orchard Street Member LLC, IHG PS Nominees Limited, IHG Systems Pty Ltd, IHG Szalloda Budapest Szolgaltato Kft., IHG de Argentina SA, IND East Village SD Holdings LLC, Inter-Continental D.C. Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Investment Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Partner Corp., Inter-Continental Hospitality Corporation, Inter-Continental Hoteleira Limitada, Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Owning Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation, Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation de Venezuela C.A., Inter-Continental Hotels of San Francisco Inc., Inter-Continental IOHC (Mauritius) Limited, Inter-Continental Management (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental (Branston) 1 Limited, InterContinental (PB) 1, InterContinental (PB) 2, InterContinental (PB) 3 Limited, InterContinental Berlin Service Company GmbH, InterContinental Brasil Administracao de Hoteis Ltda, InterContinental Gestion Hotelera S.L., InterContinental Hotel Berlin GmbH, InterContinental Hotel Dusseldorf GmbH (Germany), InterContinental Hotels (Puerto Rico) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Canada) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Espana) SA, InterContinental Hotels Group (Greater China) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (India) Pvt. Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Japan) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (New Zealand) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Shanghai) Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Customer Services Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Healthcare Trustee Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group Operating Corp., InterContinental Hotels Group Resources Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group Services Company, InterContinental Hotels Group do Brasil Limitada, InterContinental Hotels Italia S.r.L., InterContinental Hotels Limited, InterContinental Hotels Management GmbH, InterContinental Hotels Nevada Corporation, InterContinental Management AM LLC, InterContinental Management Bulgaria EOOD, InterContinental Management France SAS, InterContinental Management Poland sp. z.o.o, InterContinental Overseas Holding Corporation, Intercontinental Hotels Corporation Limited, KG Benefits LLC, KG Gift Card Inc., KG Liability LLC, KG Technology LLC, KHP Washington Operator LLC, KHRG 11th Avenue Hotel LLC, KHRG 851 LLC, KHRG Aertson LLC, KHRG Alexandria LLC, KHRG Alexis LLC, KHRG Allegro LLC, KHRG Argyle LLC, KHRG Austin Beverage Company LLC, KHRG Baltimore LLC, KHRG Born LLC, KHRG Boston Hotel LLC, KHRG Canary LLC, KHRG Cayman Employer Ltd., KHRG Cayman LLC, KHRG DC 1731 LLC, KHRG DC 2505 LLC, KHRG Donovan LLC, KHRG Employer LLC, KHRG Goleta LLC, KHRG Gray LLC, KHRG Gray U2 LLC, KHRG Hillcrest LLC, KHRG Huntington Beach LLC, KHRG King Street LLC, KHRG La Peer LLC, KHRG Miami Beach LLC, KHRG Muse LLC, KHRG NPC LLC, KHRG Onyx LLC, KHRG Palladian LLC, KHRG Palomar Phoenix LLC, KHRG Philly Monaco LLC, KHRG Pittsburgh LLC, KHRG Reynolds LLC, KHRG Riverplace LLC, KHRG SFD LLC, KHRG Sacramento LLC, KHRG Savannah LLC, KHRG Schofield LLC, KHRG Sedona LLC, KHRG State Street LLC, KHRG Sutter LLC, KHRG Sutter Union LLC, KHRG Taconic LLC, KHRG Tariff LLC, KHRG Texas Hospitality LLC, KHRG Texas Operations LLC, KHRG Tryon LLC, KHRG VZ Austin LLC, KHRG Vero Beach LLC, KHRG Vintage Park LLC, KHRG WPB LLC, KHRG Wabash LLC, KHRG Westwood LLC, KHRG Wilshire LLC, KHRG Zamora LLC, Kimpton Hollywood Licenses LLC, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC, Kimpton Phoenix Licenses Holdings LLC, Kimpton Sedona Licenses LLC, Louisiana Acquisitions Corp., MH Lodging LLC, Mercer Fairview Holdings LLC, PML Services LLC, PT SC Hotels & Resorts Indonesia, Pollstrong Limited, Powell Pine Inc., Priscilla Holiday of Texas Inc., RM Lodging LLC, Regent Hotels and Resorts, Resort Services International (Cayo Largo) L.P., SBS Maryland Beverage Company LLC, SC Cellars Limited, SC Hotels International Services Inc., SC Leisure Group Limited, SC NAS 2 Limited, SC Quest Limited, SC Reservations (Philippines) Inc., SCH Insurance Company, SCIH Branston 3, SF MH Acquisition LLC, SPHC Group Pty Ltd., SPHC Management Ltd., Semiramis for training of Hotel Personnel and Hotel Management SAE, Six Continents Corporate Services, Six Continents Holdings Limited, Six Continents Hotels Inc., Six Continents Hotels International Limited, Six Continents Hotels de Colombia SA, Six Continents International Holdings B.V., Six Continents Investments Limited, Six Continents Limited, Six Continents Overseas Holdings Limited, Six Continents Restaurants Limited, SixCo North America Inc., Solamar Lodging LLC, Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation (BVI) Ltd., Southern Pacific Hotels Properties Limited, Universal de Hoteles SA, White Shield Insurance Company Limited, and World Trade Centre Montreal Hotel Corporation.
The Boeing Co. is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space and Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Defense, Space and Security segment refers to the research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems for global strike, including fighter and combat rotorcraft aircraft and missile systems; global mobility, including tanker, rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including command and control, battle management and airborne anti-submarine aircraft. The Global Services segment provides services to commercial and defense customers. The Boeing Capital segment seeks to ensure that Boeing customers have the financing they need to buy and take delivery of their Boeing product and manages overall financing exposure. T

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The following companies are subsidiares of BlackRock: Acero Cooperatief U.A., Acero Holdings I B.V., Amethyst Merger Sub LLC, AnalytX Hosting LLC, AnalytX LLC, AnalytX Software LLC, Aperio, Aperio, Aquila Heywood, Asia-Pacific Private Credit Opportunities Fund I (GenPar) Ltd., BAA Holdings LLC, BFM Holdco LLC, BLK (Gallatin) Holdings LLC, BLK SMI LLC, BR Acquisition Mexico S.A. de C.V., BR Jersey International Holdings L.P., Beijing eFront Software Company Limited, BlackRock (Barbados) Finco 1 SRL, BlackRock (Channel Islands) Limited, BlackRock (Luxembourg) S.A., BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V., BlackRock (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco II Pte. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco Pte. Limited, BlackRock (Singapore) Limited, BlackRock AP Investment Holdco LLC, BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited, BlackRock Advisors LLC, BlackRock Advisors Singapore Pte. Limited, BlackRock Alternative Advisors GP Holdings LLC, BlackRock Alternatives Management LLC, BlackRock Argentina Asesorias Ltda., BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG, BlackRock Asset Management International Inc., BlackRock Asset Management Investor Services Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited, BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Schweiz AG, BlackRock Asset Management UK Limited, BlackRock Australia Holdco Pty. Ltd., BlackRock Brasil Gestora de Investimentos Ltda., BlackRock Cal 1 Investor LLC, BlackRock Canada Holdings LP, BlackRock Canada Holdings ULC, BlackRock Capital Holdings Inc., BlackRock Capital Investment Advisors LLC, BlackRock Capital Management Inc., BlackRock Cayco Limited, BlackRock Cayman 1 LP, BlackRock Cayman Capital Holdings Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 3 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay IV Limited, BlackRock Cayman Z Limited, BlackRock Channel Islands Holdco Limited, BlackRock Chile Asesorias Limitada, BlackRock Colombia Holdco LLC, BlackRock Colombia Infraestructura S.A.S., BlackRock Colombia SAS, BlackRock Company Secretarial Services (UK) Limited, BlackRock Corporation US Inc., BlackRock Delaware Holdings Inc., BlackRock Enterprise Management Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Europe Development Management Limited, BlackRock Execution Services, BlackRock Finance Europe Limited, BlackRock Financial Management Inc., BlackRock Finco LLC, BlackRock Finco UK Ltd., BlackRock First Partner Limited, BlackRock France SAS, BlackRock Fund Advisors, BlackRock Fund Management Company S.A., BlackRock Fund Managers Limited, BlackRock Funding International Ltd., BlackRock Funds Services Group LLC, BlackRock Germany GmBH, BlackRock Group Limited, BlackRock HK Holdco Limited, BlackRock Holdco 2 Inc., BlackRock Holdco 3 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 4 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 5 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 6 LLC, BlackRock Hungary Kft, BlackRock Index Services LLC, BlackRock Infrastructure Management I LLC, BlackRock Institutional Services Inc., BlackRock Institutional Trust Company National Association, BlackRock International Holdings Inc., BlackRock International Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Dublin) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Korea) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Investment Management (Taiwan) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management Ireland Holdings Limited, BlackRock Investment Management LLC, BlackRock Investments LLC, BlackRock Japan Co. Ltd., BlackRock Japan Holdings GK, BlackRock Jersey Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Latin America Holdco LLC, BlackRock Latin American Holdings B.V., BlackRock Life Limited, BlackRock Lux Finco S.a r.l., BlackRock Luxembourg Holdco S.a r.l., BlackRock Mexican Holdco B.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura I S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager S de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Operadora S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, BlackRock Mortgage Ventures LLC, BlackRock Niagara LLC, BlackRock Operations (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., BlackRock Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock PC Holdings LLC, BlackRock Pensions Limited, BlackRock Peru Asesorias S.A., BlackRock Property Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Property France S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Lux S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., BlackRock Realty Advisors Inc., BlackRock Saudi Arabia, BlackRock Scale Holdings LLC, BlackRock Services India Private Limited, BlackRock Singapore III Pte. Ltd., BlackRock Slovakia s.r.o., BlackRock Strategic Investors GP LLC, BlackRock Strategic Investors LP, BlackRock Trident Holding Company Limited, BlackRock UK (Alpha) Limited, BlackRock UK (Beta) Limited, BlackRock UK (Delta) LP, BlackRock UK (Gamma) Limited, BlackRock UK (Sigma) Limited, BlackRock UK 2 LLP, BlackRock UK 3 LLP, BlackRock UK 4 LLP, BlackRock UK A LLP, BlackRock UK Holdco 2 Limited, BlackRock UK Holdco Limited, Blackhawk Investment Holding LLC, CIE Automotive, Cachematrix Holdings, Cachematrix Holdings LLC, Cachematrix Integrations Private Limited, Cachematrix Software Solutions LLC, Cachematrix UK Limited, FutureAdvisor Inc., Glass Mountain Pipeline, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Advisors LLC, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure II Advisors LLC, Grosvenor Alternate Partner Limited, Grosvenor Ventures Limited, HLX Financial Holdings LLC, MGPA (Bermuda) Limited, MGPA (Exec) Limited, MGPA Limited, Mercury Carry Company Ltd., Mercury Private Equity MUST 3 (Jersey) Limited, Object Capital Technology Inc., Phoenix Acquisition B.V., Phoenix Acquisitions Holdings LLC, Portfolio Administration & Management Ltd., Prestadora de Servicios Integrales BlackRock Mexico S.A. de C.V., SVOF/MM LLC, St. Albans House Nominees (Jersey) Ltd., State Street Research & Management, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tlali Acero S.A. de C.V. SOFOM ENR, Trident Merger LLC, eFront, eFront, eFront (Jersey) Limited, eFront DMLT Holdings LLC, eFront DMLT Holdings S.R.L, eFront DR S.R.L, eFront Do Brasil Solucoes Informaticas Para Sistemas Financeiros Ltda., eFront FZ-LLC, eFront Financial Solutions Inc., eFront GmbH, eFront Holding II SAS, eFront Holdings SAS, eFront Hong Kong Limited, eFront II SAS, eFront Kabushiki Kaisha, eFront Ltd, eFront SAS, eFront Singapore Pte. Ltd, eFront Software Luxembourg S.a r.l., eFront Solutions Financeieres Inc., eFront d.o.o. Beograd, iShares (DE) I Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, and iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC.
PetroChina Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in a range of petroleum related products, services, and activities in Mainland China and internationally. It operates through Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline segments. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment refines crude oil and petroleum products; and produces and markets primary petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. The Marketing segment is involved in marketing of refined products and trading business. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and sale of natural gas. As of December 31, 2020, the company had a total length of 31,151 km, including 22,555 km of natural gas pipelines, 7,190 km of crude oil pipelines, and 1,406 km of refined product pipelines. The company is also involved in the exploration, development, and production of oil sands and coalbed methane; trading of crude oil and petrochemical products; storage, chemical engineering, storage facilities, service station, and transportation facilities and related businesses; and production and sales of basic and derivative chemical, and other chemical products. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

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TCF Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for TCF National Bank that provides various financial products and services in the United States and Canada. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Enterprise Services segments. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; individual retirement accounts; debit and credit cards; and check cashing and remittance services. It also provides investment management and custodial services, trust services, financial and estate planning, and retirement planning and employee benefit programs; residential, consumer, and small business lending products; and consumer real estate secured lending, consumer loans, loans secured by personal property, and unsecured personal loans. In addition, the company offers loans and lines of credit, deposits, cash management, capital market products, international trade finance, letters of credit, foreign exchange management services, and loan syndication services. Further, it provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate banking, and lease financing; and treasury services comprising investment and borrowing portfolios, as well as manages capital, debt, and market risks. As of December 31, 2020, the company operated 478 branches, including 373 traditional branches, 102 supermarket branches, and three campus branches located in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arizona, and South Dakota; and 1,062 ATMs. TCF Financial Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.

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Toachi Mining Inc. engages in the mineral exploration activities. It holds an option to acquire 60% to 75% interest in the La Plata gold-rich copper-zinc-silver-lead volcanogenic massive sulphide project located to the southwest of Quito, Ecuador. The company was formerly known as Ferrum Americas Mining Inc. and changed its name to Toachi Mining Inc. in March 2016. Toachi Mining Inc. was founded in 2010 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

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United Technologies Corporation provides technology products and services to building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. Its Otis segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs passenger and freight elevators, escalators, and moving walkways; and offers modernization products to upgrade elevators and escalators, as well as maintenance and repair services. The company's Carrier segment provides heating, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigeration, fire, security, and building automation products, solutions, and services for commercial, government, infrastructure, residential, and refrigeration and transportation applications. This segment also offers building services, including audit, design, installation, system integration, repair, maintenance, and monitoring. Its Pratt & Whitney segment supplies aircraft engines for commercial, military, business jet, and general aviation markets; and provides aftermarket maintenance, repair, and overhaul, as well as fleet management services. The company's Collins Aerospace Systems segment provides electric power generation, power management, and distribution systems; air data and aircraft sensing systems; engine control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; engine components; environmental control systems; fire and ice detection, and protection systems; propeller systems; engine nacelle systems; aircraft lighting, seating, and cargo systems; actuation and landing systems; space products and subsystems; avionics systems; flight controls, communications, navigation, oxygen, and training systems; food and beverage preparation, and storage and galley systems; and lavatory and wastewater management systems. The company offers its services through manufacturers' representatives, distributors, wholesalers, dealers, retail outlets, and sales representatives, as well as directly to customers. United Technologies Corporation was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut.

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WisdomTree International LargeCap Dividend Fund's stock was trading at $38.95 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, DOL stock has increased by 24.7% and is now trading at $48.58.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
Friends of Deceased, in shock after news of his death at the Deido District Hospital Twitter

Students of Government Bilingual High School, GBHS Deido, Douala, were all in shock and tears this Friday, March 29 following the murder of a student, by his peer of same school.

Schools officially closed this Friday March 29 for the second term of the academic year 2018/2019 and results of end of course examinations were shared in most schools

The attacker, a Form Four Student who recorded a poor performance could not resist being mocked at, by his friends. It was at this moment that he removed a knife and stabbed his form 5 mate.

The helpless student in pains and pool of blood, was rushed to the emergency unit of the Deido district hospital, where he gave up the ghost.

This is not the first time incidents as such occur in GBHS Deido. Former students of the school recount how they lived in fear throughout, because most students were very violent.

A similar incident took place few months ago on same campus of GBHS Deido, where a student was stabbed by a former student of the school. The accused was dismissed during the first term and returned to settle scores with another student. He was later arrested.

Seemingly, schools in urban areas are noted for such occurrences on their campuses.

Reports say three months ago at GBHS Bonaberi, another student stabbed his peer. The victim, however survived the attack, after passing through the surgical unit of the Douala General Hospital.
Des militants du MRC Archives

The spokesperson of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) has declared the opposition party, will stage another protest on the 6th of April in Cameroon.

The information was revealed after a meeting held at the partys headquarters in Yaounde on Thursday March 28.

The party further announced, it would be taking part in the municipal, legislative and regional elections, expected this 2019 in Cameroon.

The news of a protest, has been received with mixed feelings by citizens and authorities. The last national and international protest organised by the CRM party on January 26,against electoral fraud and injustice in Cameroon, led to the arrest of over 150 militants and sympathisers of the party.

The National President, Maurice, leader of the womens wing Barrister Michele, amongst other top members of the party are detained in Yaounde. It was alleged that Cameroons military, used rubber bullets on protesters last January 26, although government spokesman, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, denied the accusations.

Cameroons government has lately received several blows from national and international parties, describing the arrest of these militants as illegal. Calls have been made by the USA, European Union, United Kingdom and some human rights groups, for Cameroon to release these party officials. Amnesty International is consistently asking for the liberation of the female politician, Barrister Michele Ndoki.

However, the country insists that their arrest isnt politically motivated, but judicially inclined.

Despite their detention, the leaders of CRM have been communicating from jail, where they all call on militants to remain steadfast until they achieve their objectives.
Civilians converge to pray for peace, despite violent attacks in the Far North region Facebook

The Regional Director of UNFPA for Central and West, Mabingue Ngom has rounded off a humanitarian mission to the Far North region of Cameroon, where many people have been displaced, due to constant attacks from terrorist group, Boko Haram.

The mission that came to an end on Thursday March 28, prompted a visit of the UNPFA delegation to a village called Zamai on Tuesday, where they met local beneficiaries and communed with them, on population and development issues, following the series of violent attacks.

Amongst the delegation of the Regional Director of UNFPA, the resident coordinator of United Nations Systems, Ministers of Health, youth and civic education, the Governor of the Far North, amongst others.

The humanitarian visit, that ran from March 25-28, 2019, is part of the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for Cameroon.

Cameroon's humanitarian response plan, was launched on February 20, 2019 by the United Nations in partnership with the Cameroonian government. At the center of concerns, urgent needs estimated at $ 299 million.

The plan, aims to help 2.3 million people. People considered to be in urgent need in 8 of the 10 regions of Cameroon.

Two working sessions took place, to strengthen the strategic lines of partnership between Cameroon and UNFPA, especially on the former's economy, health, youth and the advancement of women. The UNFPA/Cameroon working visit, focused on issues related to the capture of the Demographic Dividend, the empowerment of young people and women.

Among other major axes of cooperation between Cameroon and UNFPA, is fight against maternal mortality, violence based on gender.
Gets the cosmetic updates that were introduced on the mu-X facelift in 2018.

Looks similar to the Thai-spec model.

New 1.9-litre diesel engine with a 6-speed AT will get 4X4 capability.

Will get 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system.

Will get leather upholstery, automatic air conditioning, rear parking sensors and camera.

The top variant will be called Prestige.

The 2019 Isuzu D-Max V-Cross has been spied again, and this time weve got conclusive information about the powertrain and features that will be on offer. The 2019 D-Max V-Cross, which will be launched soon, will get a 1.9-litre diesel engine that will conform to BSIV emission standards at launch. It will be available with both manual and automatic transmission options, and the automatic transmission will be available with the 4x4 setup.

The 1.9-litre diesel engine on the D-Max V-Cross will be upgraded to meet BSVI emission norms ahead of the April 1, 2020, deadline. On the UK-spec EuroVI D-Max, this 1.9-litre diesel engine makes 164PS of power and 360Nm of peak torque and can be had with both 6-speed manual and 6-speed automatic transmissions. This engine will replace the 2.5-litre diesel engine on the current India-spec D-Max V-Cross. The 2.5-litre diesel engine makes 134PS of power and 320Nm of torque and is available with a 5-speed manual transmission only.

In terms of cosmetic updates, the D-Max V-Cross will get refreshed a refreshed front and look similar to the UK-spec model which went on sale in 2017. It will get projector headlamps instead of halogens. The front bumper, front grille, rear bumper and tail lamps will also be updated. Similar updates were also introduced on the 2018 mu-X facelift.

Inside, the cabin layout remains similar to the current V-Cross. However, instead of the beige-brown finish, it gets a brown-black finish. For an upmarket feel, the cabin also features piano black inserts on the dashboard, central console and doors. They replace the silver-coloured trim elements in the current model.

The D-Max V-Cross in the spy images seems to be a top-spec variant which will be badged as the Prestige in India.

This variant seems to be inspired by the UK-spec D-Max Utah which gets the following features:

ABS, EBD and BA

Electronic stability control

Hill-start assist

Hill-descent control

Front, side and curtain airbags

Rear parking sensors and parking camera

Push-button start

7 Touchscreen infotainment system (gets Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in the UK)

Leather upholstery and leather-wrapped steering wheel (gets heated front seats in the UK), Automatic air conditioning

18-inch alloy wheels

Silver side steps

LED rear lights

Cruise control

LED DRLs

The Isuzu D-Max V-Cross is expected to go on sale in India in the first half of 2019. It is currently available in 2 variants: Standard and High. The Standard variant is priced at Rs 15.32 lakh while the High variant costs Rs 16.82 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Prices are likely to go up with the addition of more features and automatic transmission to the D-Max V-Cross range.

Also Read: Spec Comparison: Mahindra Alturas G4 vs Isuzu mu-X vs Ford Endeavour vs Toyota Fortuner

Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho.
DLF's group Chief Financial Officer Ashok Tyagi recently said the QIP proceeds and further infusion of Rs 2,500 crore from promoters against the issue of warrants would help the company to significantly reduce its debt. (Photo: File | PTI)

New Delhi: Realty major DLF on Friday said it has raised Rs 3,173 crore by selling shares to institutional investors through its QIP offer.

DLF, the country's largest real estate firm in market value, would utilise this amount mainly to prepay debt, which stood at around Rs 7,000 crore at the end of December 2018. On Monday, the company had launched its qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue, offering up to 17.3 crore shares to investors. The issue closed Thursday.

In a regulatory filing, DLF Friday informed that the Securities Issuance Committee has approved the allotment of 17.3 crore equity shares to eligible qualified institutional buyers at an issue price of Rs 183.40 per share, aggregating to about Rs 3,172.82 crore. Sources on Tuesday had said that DLF's QIP issue has been oversubscribed by two times, enabling the company to raise around Rs 3,200 crore.

Major institutional investors who participated in QIP offer include Oppenheimer, UBS, HSBC, Marshall & Wace, Myriad, Key Square, Goldman Sachs, Indus, Eastbridge, Tata Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund, sources had said.

This is the third major fundraising from DLF. In 2007, DLF raised about Rs 9,200 crore through an initial public offering (IPO). In 2013, the company had raised nearly Rs 1,900 crore through an institutional placement programme.

Meanwhile, the committee on Friday also approved the conversion of 24.97 crore compulsory convertible debentures (CCDs) issued to promoters entities into equal number of equity shares at Rs 217.25 per share. In December 2017, the company's board had allotted on preferential basis 37.97 crore CCDs and nearly 13.81 crore warrants to promoters entities against their infusion of funds in DLF.

DLF's group Chief Financial Officer Ashok Tyagi recently said the QIP proceeds and further infusion of Rs 2,500 crore from promoters against the issue of warrants would help the company to significantly reduce its debt.

DLF promoters KP Singh and family have already infused Rs 9,000 crore in the company and would pump in Rs 2,250 crore more. In lieu of this fund, DLF had issued CCDs and warrants to the promoters. As infusion of the fund by promoters could have led to an increase in their shareholdings beyond permissible limit of 75 per cent, the company planned QIP to maintain minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent in a listed entity.

In August 2017, the promoters had sold the entire 40 per cent stake in rental arm DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for Rs 11,900 crore and infused bulk of this amount in the company to cut net debt.
Ola claimed to be the only app in UK that offers black cabs and Private Hire Vehicles.

London: Taxi hailing app Ola on Friday said it has expanded its service footprint to three more cities -- Liverpool, Reading, and Birmingham --in the United Kingdom.

"We are delighted to launch our services in Birmingham, Liverpool and Reading, thus solidifying Ola's presence across 7 large metropolitans in the UK," Ben Legg, Managing Director of Ola UK, said in a statement. In Birmingham and Reading, the platform is set to go live on April 1, and driver onboarding is already underway, the company said.

Ola started Liverpool operation by offering free rides on green tuk-tuks last week for a limited time period, as a part of the promotional campaign.

"We received requests from users across the UK to introduce the Ola platform in their cities," Legg said.

The company started service in UK from Cardiff in August 2018. It then started operations in Bristol in October 2018, followed by Bath and Exeter in November 2018.

Ola is planning to expand operation across North England and the Midlands in the coming months. Ola claimed to be the only app in UK that offers black cabs and Private Hire Vehicles.
The current funding measures are short term and will not bring much confidence till a new investor is on board, said Kapil Kaul, India CEO at aviation consulting firm CAPA. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Jet Airways investors are cheering this weeks government-led rescue deal, but the cash-strapped Indian airlines future looks mired in uncertainty as convincing a new investor to come on board may not be easy.

The airline, which was on the brink of bankruptcy, was bailed out on Monday by state-run banks, which have temporarily taken a majority stake in the company, given it a new loan of USD 218 million and forced its chairman, Naresh Goyal, to step down from the board of the airline he founded 25 years ago.

Jet shares have rallied 20 per cent since news of the rescue on hopes that the airline would now be able to clear salaries, redeploy grounded planes and claw back market share.

Its future is far from certain though, as a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India now rushes to find a new investor and sell its stake in the airline.

This may not be easy especially with Goyal still holding a 25.5 per cent share in Jet, which gives him the legal right to block key decisions including raising capital, issuing new shares and diluting equity.

If a deep-pocketed investor is not found soon, Jet may struggle for funds again as the interim loan given by the banks will not last for very long, say lessors and analysts.

Right now Jet is in survival mode, there is no strategy, said an executive at one of Jets lessors. Jet has been in talks with the lessor since securing the deal but it has given few details on settling pending lease payments and on its turnaround plans, he said.

The important thing for us to know is if the airline has somebody who is patient, capable and has the financial muscle to revive it, he said, adding his company is yet to decide whether to keep the aircraft they grounded tied to Jet.

Once Indias leading full service carrier, Jet has struggled to compete with low-cost carriers in recent years. The airlines market share has nearly halved to 11.4 per cent from 21.2 per cent in 2016 and it has been forced to ground about two-thirds of its fleet leading to hundreds of flight cancellations.

Indian conglomerate Tata Sons had been in talks to invest in Jet on the condition that Goyal would step down, or take a less prominent role, sources told Reuters in November. While the rescue deal could put Tata back in the race, Goyals trimmed stake may still be a problem.

Are you not creating a huge hurdle for the potential investors? said a senior government official, reacting to the bank-led bailout in which Goyal still has a stake.

India also wants a domestic investor to replace the banks, which rules out potential deep-pocketed suitors like Qatar Airways but the government-backed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, whose shareholders also include Abu Dhabi Investment Fund, is still in the fray, sources have said.

State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar has said Goyal would not pose a problem for any incoming investor but also said that the former chairman would be allowed to bid for the banks shares when they are auctioned, leaving a window open for the founder to come back.

The bank was not immediately available for comment.

Lost confidence

In a fresh sign of its weak financial situation, just days after the bailout, Jet told the Indian stock exchange on Thursday that it had defaulted on an overseas loan due to temporary liquidity constraints. Local media reported that it was a loan of USD 140 million.

Saving the airline is crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he looks to avoid thousands of job losses ahead of a general election.

This is just a band-aid until the elections, said a source close to Jet. We dont know if this bailout will work, he said, adding that Jet is like a hot piece of coal for the banks which they want to drop as soon as possible.

Several Jet pilots, who have not been paid for months, have switched airlines, and rival carriers like SpiceJet have been in talks with Jets lessors to take some of its grounded planes on lease, a source has told Reuters.

Jet has assured Indian authorities that no more planes will be grounded and that it is in talks with lessors to have a total of 75 planes back in the air by end-April from about 35 today.

The current funding measures are short term and will not bring much confidence till a new investor is on board, said Kapil Kaul, India CEO at aviation consulting firm CAPA.

Process of returning (Jets) fleet back to the system might not be easy especially since the aircraft can be deployed easily to other airlines or markets, said Kaul.
Mumbai: Producer and former chairperson of the censor board, Pahlaj Nihalani, is suddenly in the news again, thanks to the ever-newsy Kangana Ranaut, who lashed out at Nihalani, saying, Pahlaj Nihalani had offered me a film called I Love You, Boss. They had organised a photo shoot where they gave me a robe to wear and no undergarments. So, all I had was a satin robe for a show-girl pose, from which I had to stick my leg out while walking out of the darkness. I was supposed to play a young girl lusting after her middle-aged boss. So it was a soft-porn kind of character. And I had this epiphany that I cannot do this. I felt like this is exactly what my parents were talking about. I actually went through the photo shoot, but then I disappeared. I changed my number.

Nihalani has a very different story to tell. First of all, I wasnt even there when the photo-shoot happened. Kangana had gone for the shoot with her then secretary Rakesh Nath, who also looked after Madhuri Dixit. So what she had to wear for the photo-shoot or what she did not wear was not my look-out. Secondly, does Kangana even remember how desperately she needed this role in my film which she is now calling pornography, and how much she requested me to cast her? Kangana had gone around the entire film industry with Aditya Pancholi, knocking on every producers door for work. But it wasnt happening. Nobody was signing her. Only I ventured to sign her, although I was advised against it.

Nihalani wonders how the film has suddenly come back into Kanganas consciousness after all these years. For 10 years, she has acknowledged Anurag Basu as her mentor and discoverer. She seemed to have completely forgotten that long before Anurag Basu ever cast her, I had roped her in to act in I Love You, Boss. And she seemed most happy about it. The story was about a young girl and her crush for her boss. I approached Amitabh Bachchanji for the boss part. When he turned down the role, I approached Rishi Kapoor with the script. However, he couldnt do the film either so I finally asked my dear friend Shatrughan Sinha and he agreed.

This was when Kangana dropped the first hot brick on the project.

Recalls Nihalani, Kangana said that she did not want to work with Shatruji. She told me that Zarina Wahabji had advised her not to. She didnt take Aditya Pancholis name. She pinned it on his wife instead. I was livid. Was Kangana in a position to turn down a film with a legend like Shatrughan Sinha? That was the end of the project.

She apparently broke her contract with Nihalani. Kangana was in a contract for three films with me. But when she asked me if she could do Anurags film, I released her from the contract. Does she ever talk about this? Or has she ever mentioned about the time when she was in trouble for providing the wrong Mumbai address on her passport when she had to fly out to shoot for Ritesh Sidhwanis film? Misinformation on the passport is a serious criminal act. I ran from pillar to post to bail her out of trouble. And this is how she repays me? By accusing me of exploiting her? Actors like Kangana Ranaut bring a bad name to all the struggling actors, who are given an opportunity by producers like us. With success, the struggle is forgotten and so are those who might have helped, concluded the infuriated producer.
Everybody is quite surprised that Chiranjeevi has kept completely silent about his political opinion. The megastar, who is busy shooting for his upcoming film Sye Raa, did not comment about his brother Pawan Kalyan who is campaigning in Andhra Pradesh for the Jana Sena party.

Naga Babu, who also happens to be a brother of the actor, is contesting from the Bheemavaram constituency for Jana Sena party. And although everybody was naturally expecting the actor to say a thing or two or at least to wish his brothers, Chiru clearly prefers to keep his political opinions to himself.

Apparently, the actor, in an attempt to divert any possibility of being questioned on the subject, has not even been stepping out to attend events. He knows that if he does step out, then the media will definitely ask him about his brothers who are contesting in the elections, said a source.

It would obviously do no harm to anybody if Chiru wished his brothers luck for the elections, but the actor wants to avoid even the slightest possibility of controversy. Some people are even accusing Pawan Kalyan and Chiranjeevi, but Chiranjeevi does not seem to want to respond to them, either, added the source.
The film Lakshmis NTR is released all over the world except Andhra Pradesh. The movie is getting good openings on the first day in Telangana and director Ram Gopal Varma spoke with media about his plans to release it in AP too. In India this is the first time in the history that a film didnt released in one particular area. When producer Rakesh Reddy approached me for this film, I dont know that he belongs to YSRC Party.

Even then I dont stop to make this film, says RGV. He added that he want to tell the world what happened in the last days of NTRs life. Everyone should know the story behind the last days of NTR. Because of a persons pressure the film didnt released in Andhra Pradesh and everyone knows who that person is, says RGV who didnt mentioned the name of person.

The director says that the court asked to stop the films screening.

As a citizen I too agreed with the court. Now, the producer and the distributors, we are all planning to approach the Supreme Court about the films stopping in AP. We are doing everything we can to release it in AP, says RGV. The first days response is good, says the director. Its a good response everywhere it released. I got a best compliment from a fan who said, I am the true son of NTR, says the director.
Many women in Markles native California have taken to hypnobirthing, a relaxation technique that involves deep breathing and a form of self-hypnosis. (Photo: AP)

Los Angeles: From baby yoga to cloth diapers, Meghan Markle faces an hypnobirthing array of options that embrace her preference for natural and mindful living as she prepares to welcome her royal baby.

Long before she became the Duchess of Sussex on her 2018 marriage to Britains Prince Harry, the former US actress shared her love of yoga and meditation in her now defunct wellness website The Tig. Many women in Markles native California have taken to hypnobirthing, a relaxation technique that involves deep breathing and a form of self-hypnosis.

Clinical hypnotherapist and doula, or birth assistant, Alisha Tamburri has been teaching a relaxed state of consciousness for over 20 years to celebrity clients including actress Jessica Alba. She (Markle) will shut out the world. It wont even be existing. Shell be with Prince Harry and just the two of them and their precious little baby, Tamburri told Reuters.

When she is ready to return to yoga, Markles baby will be welcome. At baby yoga classes, mothers incorporate their newborns into their routines, picking them as additional weights for a squat or side lunge or kissing them as they swoop down for a sun salutation.

It would be great for her (Markle) to get back in connection to her body. Also, Im sure she has a lot of stress on her shoulders compared to the average person, so finding that centre and time with her baby, it would be great, said Crystal DAngora, who teaches a class at Zooga Yoga in the Los Angeles area.

Markle will find plenty of natural baby products for the newborn seventh in line for the British throne, from toxin-free teething rings to organic rompers and cloth diapers. Cloth diapers, which are washed and reused and which sometimes come with a laundry delivery service, are an eco-friendly alternative to the disposable kind.

Renee Powers opened her Earth Baby boutique in Los Angeles five years ago when she discovered her youngest son Tannen was allergic to a chemical in disposable diapers. I feel like celebrities are kind of following the trend of green, organic, chemical-free (products), she says.

Earth Baby sales assistant Tamara Cshetina, who is 30 weeks pregnant with her first child, has been following Markles journey and was delighted to find they are expecting their babies around the same time. Im definitely looking at her as an inspiration. She does so much and she inspires me to keep going and saying I can do it, said Cshetina.
When you pick them up, they're very pleasant to touch, so small and furry. (Photo: AFP)

Europe: After spending the winter months hibernating inside a fridge at a rescue centre in Belarus, a group of bats awaken and are released into the wild.

To ensure a good winter's sleep, each bat was tucked up inside a cloth bag by volunteers at the centre, and then hung up inside an ordinary domestic fridge, giving them just the right amount of moisture and cold.

The Kozhanopolis centre, which is located in Minsk, takes in bats that are found by members of the public after struggling to find a safe place to hibernate. "In winter, bats fall into a very deep sleep and for hibernation, they need fairly cold and moist environments," says the centre's head, Alexei Shpak.

"They fly into people's balconies, into apartment block entrances, ventilation shafts, cellars and so on. Sometimes people just find them on the ground in the snow." The right conditions for a bat to hibernate are temperatures between zero and five degrees Celsius (32 to 42 Fahrenheit) and moisture levels of more than 50 percent, and the bat shelter has found an easy way of providing these.

"That's exactly what a fridge does. Just the most ordinary fridge," says Shpak. The centre only has one fridge but it has enough space for the 32 bats the spent the winter hung up in bags. Some of the bats at the centre are "old-timers" who have been sleeping in the fridge since mid-December, he says.

The bats are two different types found across Europe: parti-coloured bats and serotine bats. The centre has no state funding but has premises provided by a state educational facility and equipment paid for by crowd-funding. With the arrival of spring and as outside temperatures rise above 10 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit), Shpak and the three other volunteers at the centre carefully remove the bats from their cloth bags so that they wake up naturally.

"When they sense a higher temperature, their body temperature starts going up a little bit and they wake up," Shpak says. The black bats stretch their wings as they get a weigh-in to check they are healthy. They are hand-fed with grubs and given a drink of water through pipettes to bring up their strength.

In the evening, a procession of interested locals follow Shpak and the volunteers to a city park where they gently coax the bats onto trees, from where they will return to their previous haunts.

Those watching talk about their prejudices about bats and how seeing them released back into the wild has changed their feelings. Anna, a school teacher who came with her small daughter, smiles as she talks about getting close to the bats.

"They're so ugly, really, but when you pick them up, they're very pleasant to touch, so small and furry. And you realise this is a kind of miracle."
As per the Election Commission, ballot papers will be used instead of EVMs if any Lok Sabha constituency has more than 64 candidates. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: The Nizamabad Lok Sabha election will be a test case in the war of EVMs verses ballot papers. As many as 185 candidates in the fray, 182 of them farmers after the withdrawal of nominations on Thursday.

As per the Election Commission, ballot papers will be used instead of EVMs if any Lok Sabha constituency has more than 64 candidates. In view of this, Telangana chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar said ballot papers would be used in the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency.

The outcome of this would be that counting of votes and declaration of the result would be delayed.

Opposition parties at the national level have demanded a return to elections by ballot papers, alleging that EVMs can be fixed. Opposition parties have alleged that there are many instances of EVMs having gone rogue in high numbers.

They said the speculation about EVMs being programmed to transfer votes to the ruling party no matter which button was pressed had raised doubts about the credibility of EVMs and the purity of the electoral process.

The Election Commission has time and again condemned these allegations and doubts.

After the recent Assembly elections in the state, the Congress had alleged that the TRS government had managed the EVMs to win. TRS leaders condemned the Congress allegations.

Now, following the MLC election results TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has stated again that the Congress would have won if the elections were held through ballot papers.

Congress leaders said the party would win in Nizamabad. Their TRS counterparts said the mode of voting did not matter and the ruling party would win. They pointed to the outcome of the panchayat elections which were conducted through ballot papers and which TRS-backed candidates won.

Elsewhere, 60 candidates withdrew their nominations for the Lok Sabha elections in the state, the highest, 10, from Bhongir. No one withdrew from the fray in Peddapalli and Mahbubnagar, and one candidate each withdrew from Nagarkurnool, Chevella, Malkajgiri and Karimnagar.

According to EC officials, 443 candidates would contest the ensuing LS polls.

Chief electoral officer Dr Rajat Kumar Mr Kumar said that EC has sought explanation from TRS party for indulging in political activities in Pragati Bhavan. He said that the EC has also received complaint on young farmer Sharath Bhoomi in Mancherial district.

He said that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao called him over phone after a Facebook post that his land was registered on somebody elses name by the revenue department officials.

He said Mr Rao assured him of justice over phone for which Opposition finding fault.
Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the UPA government and the Congress will have to be held accountable for the case falling flat in court. (Image: ANI)

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday used the Samjhauta train blast case verdict to target the Congress-led UPA government, saying the "Hindu terror" theory was established to further its political gains but the real culprits got away.

Addressing a press conference here, Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the UPA government and the Congress will have to be held accountable for the case falling flat in court. "To establish their theory of Hindu terror, a wrong set of people were framed; innocent people lost their lives (in the blast) and the real culprits were not caught," he said.

Jaitley said in a bid to establish their theory, the Congress and the then UPA regime "defamed" the entire Hindu community for which people will "never forgive them". All the four accused, Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary were acquitted by the special NIA court in Panchkula earlier this month. The blast in Samjhauta Express took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari, the last railway station on the Indian side.
India's response came a day after Pakistan sought more information and evidence from New Delhi on the involvement of the JeM in the February 14 terror attack and the presence of camps of the terror outfit in Pakistan. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: India on Thursday expressed disappointment over Pakistan's response to its dossier on Jaish-e-Mohammed's involvement in the dastardly Pulwama attack, saying Islamabad continues to be in "denial" on the issue of cross border terrorism.

India's response came a day after Pakistan sought more information and evidence from New Delhi on the involvement of the JeM in the February 14 terror attack and the presence of camps of the terror outfit in Pakistan.

"India is disappointed at Pakistan's response to our detailed dossier on the Jaish-e-Mohammed's complicity in the cross-border terror attack in Pulwama, the presence of its terror camps and leadership in Pakistan," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

"Regrettably, Pakistan continues to be in denial and even refuses to acknowledge Pulwama as a terror attack," he said.

The MEA spokesperson said India was hardly surprised as "this identical script" was followed by Pakistan in the past -- be it the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 or in Pathankot in 2016.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said the "preliminary findings" on the "Pulwama incident" were shared with Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria in Islamabad after examining the Indian dossier.

Kumar said India was examining the paper handed over by Pakistan to India on Pulwama strike, adding Islamabad has not shared details of credible action, if any, taken by it against terrorists or terrorist groups operating from its soil.

India handed over the dossier to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi on February 27 with specific details of JeM's complicity in the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed and presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan.

"It is a well-known fact that the UN-designated terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. This was again acknowledged recently to international media by Pakistan's Foreign Minister," Kumar said.

"There's no dearth of sufficient actionable information and evidence in Pakistan itself to take action against them, if there is sincerity and intent to do so," he said.

The MEA spokesperson said Pakistan should take "immediate, credible, irreversible and verifiable" actions against terrorists and terror organizations operating from territories under its control.

"Pakistan should abide by the commitment it gave in 2004, and which its current leadership has recently repeated, vowing not to allow any territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India in any manner," said Kumar.
The opposition claimed that it was a violation of Model Code of Conduct in place ahead of the general elections. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India is likely to take a call on Prime Minister Narendra Modis address to the nation on the success of Mission Shakti on Friday.

The EC said a committee has been formed and was examining the speech of PM Modi, which some opposition parties claimed was aimed at gaining political mileage out of achievement by Indias defence and space scientists. The opposition claimed that it was a violation of Model Code of Conduct in place ahead of the general elections.

Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena, who is heading the committee, said EC was examining if it needed to seek a response from YouTube as it was the platform for the feed.

"It has three aspects -- law, media and the poll code. We have collected information and we are going into the entirely to see whether there was violation. By tomorrow, there will be a decision," Saxena said on Thursday.

Saxena is also the in-charge of the Model Code division.

Two broadcast arms of Prasar Bharti had already submitted their response.

On Wednesday, PM Modi addressed the nation and informed about Indias entry into an elite club of nations having the capability to hit satellite in space. After the US, China and Russia, India became the fourth nation with this capability.

As the address was over, opposition parties like TMC and CPI(M) complained that the speech was a breach of poll code and a committee should be set up to examine the issue.

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Economist and activist Jean Dreze was detained and interrogated earlier on Thursday on charges of holding an event without permission in Jharkhand's Garwa area. (Photo: File)

Garwa: Economist and activist Jean Dreze was detained and interrogated earlier on Thursday on charges of holding an event without permission in Jharkhand's Garwa area.

He was later released by police.

According to reports, Dreze was holding a public meeting on the right to food.

Dreze and his associates were reportedly holding a meeting without permission from district authorities.
Hardik has a few days to challenge the judgement in the Supreme Court. (Photo: PTI)

Ahmedabad: Patidar leader Hardik Patel's hopes of fighting next month's Lok Sabha polls hit a major roadblock with the Gujarat High Court Friday dismissing his plea to stay his conviction in a 2015 rioting case.

April 4 being the last date of filing of nominations in Gujarat, Hardik has a few days to challenge the judgement in the Supreme Court. Hardik, who joined the Congress on March 12, had expressed his willingness to contest the election from Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat.

During the earlier hearings, the Gujarat government had strongly opposed his plea saying that Hardik has criminal antecedents with 17 FIRs registered against him, including two cases of sedition. After the high court's judgement, Hardik's lawyers said they would first study the order and then decide about approaching the Supreme Court.

Justice A G Uraizee took into account the submissions made by the Gujarat Government while rejecting Hardik's petition seeking a stay on the conviction awarded to him by a sessions court, which was coming into his way to contest the April 23 Lok Sabha polls. In his order, Justice Uraizee noted that conviction can be stayed only in exceptional cases and Hardik's case does not fall into that category. Citing the state government's submission, the court said as many as 17 FIRs were registered against Hardik in Gujarat.

The court also noted that looking at the criminal background of Hardik, no relief can be granted. In July last year, the sessions court at Visnagar in Mehsana district sentenced Patel to two years of imprisonment for rioting and arson in Visnagar town in 2015 during the Patidar quota stir.

In August last year, the high court suspended the lower court's order sentencing him to two years' jail term in the 2015 rioting case, but did not stay his conviction.

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Bengaluru: Unlike in 2009, when he had just a day to file his nomination from Bengaluru South, RDPR minister, Krishna Byregowda had three full days to prepare to take on Union Minister, D V Sadananda Gowda from Bengaluru North these parliamentary relections.

What's even more comforting for Mr Byregowda is that his home constituency of Byatarayanapura is part of Bengaluru North, which gives him the advantage of familiarity. Besides, five of the eight Assembly segments in the parliamentary constituency are represented by Congress MLAs and two by the JD(S), with the BJP present only in Malleswaram.

But the minister is not making any over confident claims of winning by a huge margin, admitting that the voting pattern in an Assembly election is different from that of a parliamentary poll. He is also aware that all JD(S) votes may not translate into Congress or coalition votes due to the differences among their party workers.

The problem is that we cannot shake the BJP votes polled during the Assembly elections. But some Congress and JD(S) votes may go to the BJP in a parliamentary poll. My result will depend largely on how far we will be able to arrest these slip away votes, he says. The other problem is the lack of a developmental agenda these elections, in his view. "This election has only one agenda, whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be back or not. Earlier, the BJP voters would at least listen to us. But now, they just try to pick a fight. There is a lot of bitterness among voters, which is difficult to handle. Also, we need to work on coordination between the Congress and JD(S) workers,'' he adds.

Mr Byregowda , however, believes that a large number of lower middle class and middle class voters will back him and the bonus could be employees of the public sector undertaking (PSU), who are against the Centre's policies. "The constituency has several HAL and HMT workers, who are against the Union government. So we could get their votes. Besides, there are 1.2 lakh voters, who are from Kerala," he notes.

While agreeing that he was reluctant to contest the Lok Sabha poll, he says he finally decided to respond to the faith reposed in him by the party. "In December, (KPCC president) Mr Dinesh Gundu Rao started it, but I refused the offer and during seat allotment the constituency went to the JD(S) and we thought (JDS supremo) Mr Deve Gowda would contest from it. But the people from Tumakuru forced him to contest from there. Although he did not tell me this, but Mr Gowda did tell Mr K C Venugopal and Mr Dinesh Gundu Rao that I would be the best candidate in his place. So there was no way I could refuse. In politics, we need to be open to change,'' he explains. It is a learning process and I have a lot to learn. If I get elected, I will learn. If I don't, facing the election will be another experience, he concludes.

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Considering that his selection was a surprise and he is relatively inexperienced in politics, there has been some scepticism about his ability to carry on with the partys winning streak in the constituency. But insiders in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which is believed to be backing him strongly, insist he is a promising politician of the future.

It has been anti-Congress since 1977 except in 1989 when former Chief Minister, the late R Gundu Rao won from the constituency. But Bengaluru South has been painted saffron for most years with former Union minister, the late Ananth Kumar winning six terms from it 1996 onwards.

In the last 2014 Lok Sabha poll, Mr Kumar defeated IT magnate, Nandan Nilekani by over two lakh votes. And this parliamentary poll, the BJP stronghold will see 28-year-old Tejaswi Surya of the party take on Congress veteran, B.K. Hariprasad.

Considering that his selection was a surprise and he is relatively inexperienced in politics, there has been some scepticism about his ability to carry on with the partys winning streak in the constituency. But insiders in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which is believed to be backing him strongly, insist he is a promising politician of the future.

I believe that Tejaswi can carry forward the legacy of Ananth Kumar, who was both approachable and a good worker. Moreover, he is confident and shares an easy rapport with the people, said Mr Praveen Patavardhan, co-coordinator of the Vishwa Samvada Kendra. In his view, should Mr Surya even lose, he will have ample time to rise again to the challenge. We all want him to win, but even if he loses he can strike back later as he is still young and has a long way to go. So this a win-win situation, he contended.

But while the young candidate has been making the rounds of the constituency already, not everyone seems to be happy with his fiery speeches. Running down a critic as anti-national or calling the election a test of the peoples patriotism does not sound right coming from a person as talented as Tejaswi. As a young voter, I dont like his choice of words, it scares me. Mr Kumar was different and let even his critics have their say. I want an approachable and reasonable MP, said 24-year-old Amit, a young voter of the constituency who seemed taken aback by Mr Suryas rhetoric.

But political observers believe that he has a winning chance from the constituency as of Bengaluru Souths eight assembly segments, the BJP holds five and the Congress, three. Besides, the constituency has a mix of Brahmin and Muslim voters in Gurappanapalaya. But on the other hand , others believe Congress veteran, B.K. Hariprasad who lost to Mr Ananth Kumar by 65,000 votes in 1999, cannot be written off either.

In politics one cannot write off anybody. Hariprasad knows the city well and has been in active politics for almost two decades. Though Tejawai has a better chance given that Bengaluru south is a BJP bastion, there could be a shift in the voter's mind, said Mr Chaitaiyna, a local businessman, who, however, admits to being a Modi supporter. I will certainly vote for the BJP as I want to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi a second chance. Also, former Union minister, Ananth Kumar did some exemplary work in the constituency . So it is natural for voters to go with the party if not with the current candidate, he added.

Ananth kumars legacy lives on

He may be gone but the late Union minister, H.N. Ananth Kumars contribution to the city lives on in peoples memory, especially Bengalurus inclusion in the Golden Quadilateral project. As civil aviation minister, he gave a facelift to the HAL airport and signed an MoU to create a world class international airport, which culminated in the Kempegowda International Airport on the outskirts of the city.

His contributions both as a Union minister and MP are well known. He did tremendous work and this was precisely why he was liked by politicians cutting across party lines. He was instrumental in getting the Cauvery Phase IV too for the city, observes Mr Ameen Pasha, a resident of Banashankari.

Recalling the constrution of houses and community toilets under the Valmik Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY), he points out that over 10,000 houses were not only built in Bengaluru and but also registered in the name of women. Mr Ananthkumar is also remembered for cutting the price of knee implants by 69 per cent.
Chennai: The Madras High Court had given a detailed version of the prosecution case that led to the conviction of the accused at the end of the long proceedings of Rajagopal's appeal trial in 2009. And that narration could well serve as not only the most accurate version of the crime of passion but also the most comprehensive sewing up of the various statements from the witnesses as well as the police records backed by relevant forensic investigations. A gist of that court statement would make compulsive reading now in the present circumstances.

Either besotted by her looks or on the advice of his astrologer, Rajagopal wanted to take Jeevajothi, the young daughter of one of his assistant managers as his third 'simultaneous' wife. He had married the mother of his two sons in 1972 and took away the wife of one of his employees as his second wife in 1994.

Jeevajothi rejected her father's boss but the man persisted, flooding her with gifts of jewels, clothes and lots of money to even help her open a travel agency. He also told her his second wife too had initially rejected him but after the marriage, was now 'living like a queen'.

Jeevajothi accepted the gifts but continued turning away the suitor. She was in love with her brother's math tutor Santhakumar and the two eloped in 1999. They later returned and started family in Chennai, where Rajagopal continued his wooing with gifts and pleading she should marry him leaving her husband. On September 28, 2001, Rajagopal went to the couple's place at midnight and warned Santhakumar he would come to grief if he did not leave Jeevajothi in two days.

The couple decided to flee to someplace where Rajagopal would not be able to find them but the boss's henchmen, led by restaurant manager Daniel, intercepted them. They were bundled into a car and taken to a Saravana Bhavan godown in KK Nagar, where Rajagopal gave Santhakumar a good thrashing. They were later kept in some kind of a house arrest but managed to escape on October 12 saying they were going to attend a felicitation function for Rajagopal but instead, went to the city police commissioner's office to file a complaint.

Six days later, Rajagopal's men caught the couple again and while Jeevajothi was pushed into a Mercedes that had the boss, Santhakumar was taken away. Rajagopal sneeringly brandished a photocopy of her police statement against him-a reflection of the man's clout with the rulers in the state; another example of that was when he openly bragged much later how he spent Rs 1 lakh a month to get great home-cooked food delivered to him while he was in prison.

Two days later, Santhakumar phoned his wife to tell her that Rajagopal paid Daniel Rs 5 lakh to have him killed but Daniel let him go with the advice he must flee to Mumbai. Jeevajothi asked her husband to come back so they could together plead with Rajagopal to let them live in peace.

While her conduct could seem intriguing to some as she was telling her man to walk into a pit of fire, the court felt otherwise. It is obvious, the court had concluded, that their overwhelming love for each other persuaded them to take the risk.

In any case, later that night, the couple along with Jeevajothi's parents and brother, went to meet Rajagopal at his hotel headquarters. He told them to wait in the next room and called in Daniel to quiz him what happened to Santhakumar. Since he did not know about the family's arrival for mercy plea, Daniel lied that he had tied up Santhakumar to a railway track and he was run over by a train, after which he burned his clothes to obliterate evidence. The boss then called Santhakumar into the room and asked Daniel, 'Who's this then, Santhakumar's ghost?' After this, Daniel beat up Santhakumar for the 'betrayal' and the family was put into a van to be driven to a faraway village for 'exorcism'.

Two days later, Santhakumar was taken in a car along with Daniel and they drove for several hours towards north. Forest officials found a body high in the Western Ghats near Kodaikanal on October 31. Postmortem showed that the young man had died of 'asphyxia due to throttling'. Jeevajothi later identified the body to be of her missing husband. The lungi used for throttling him was found under the seat of Daniel's car. Daniel, along with Rajagopal and six others were convicted of murder and sentenced to life. They moved an appeal before the Supreme Court and the verdict has come out finally now, though they have been granted time till July 7 to surrender and serve out the sentence.
India has told Pakistan that it awaits its response on the Indian concerns following which the next date for talks on the Kartarpur corridor can be decided.

New Delhi: Indian concerns over Khalistani propaganda in Pakistan have scuttled the next round of talks on the Kartarpur Sahib corridor on April 2 at Wagah in Pakistani Punjab even though New Delhi is moving at breakneck speed to construct the corridor on its territory (Indian Punjab) by September.

The government sources on Friday said India had called in Pakistan deputy high commissioner Syed Haider Shah and conveyed to him the concerns over appointment of known pro-Khalistan people like (Pakistani Sikh) Gopal Singh Chawla and others on a committee on the Kartarpur pilgrimage and sought to know the role that they would be playing.

India has told Pakistan that it awaits its response on the Indian concerns following which the next date for talks on the Kartarpur corridor can be decided. This effectively means that the talks that were supposed to take place on April 2 at Wagah in Pakistan between the two sides will not happen. But in a key concession, Pakistan has agreed to allow Indian pilgrims irrespective of faith for the Kartarpur Sahib after New Delhi said that apart from Sikhs, a large number of non-Sikhs also follow the ideals of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism and first Guru of the Sikhs.

Apart from Mr Chawla, India is also concerned about the presence of alleged pro-Khalistan people like Maninder Singh, Tara Singh, Bisant Singh and Kuljit Singh on the committee.

This has raised our security concerns. Gopal Singh Chawla is also associated with (Mumbai terror attack mastermind) Hafiz Saeed and the JuD. There can't be any let-up on security concerns. There are clouds of doubt, the government sources said.

They further added, These people are involved in making statements and engaging in activities that promote violence and hatred against India.

But apart from the Khalistani propaganda by elements in Pakistan, other issues were also expressed.
Hyderabad: The tweets of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday about his visits to Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh reveal how he differentiates between the ruling parties in the two states  the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the Telugu Desam.

Mr Modi tweeted separately in Telugu about his visits to Mahbubnagar in Telangana state and Kurnool in AP. In his tweet on Kurnool visit, he made allegations against the TD government headed by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. But in the tweet on his Mahbubnagar visit, he did not comment on the administration of the TRS government headed by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Regarding his AP visit, the PM tweeted: This evening, I will address a rally in Kurnool. The decline of NTRs ideals, corruption at its peak in the state and the administration failure in all fields (is a concern). I seek the blessings of the people of Andhra Pradesh for fulfilling the dreams of youth.

Of his visit to TS, Mr Modis tweet was: I am appealing to the people of Mahbubnagar and surrounding areas, and also from Hyderabad city, to participate in the public meeting, so that I can explain in detail various programmes and welfare schemes taken up by the NDA. I will explain why the people should elect the NDA back to power.

Mr Chandrababu Naidu had been repeatedly criticising the Prime Minister for discriminating against AP and favouring Telangana state.

Mr Modi alleged that the Naidu government was corrupt and weak. He has sought the blessings of the people of AP for him and his party. But in his tweet about his visit to Telangana state, Mr Modi said he would explain why the people should elect the NDA government that his party heads back to power.

However, it is reported that in the public meeting Mr Modi, made some serious allegations against the TRS government and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday confirmed the life imprisonment on R. Rajagopal, proprietor of Saravana Bhavan chain of hotels in India and abroad and seven others for causing the murder of his employee Santhakumar to marry his wife Jeevajothi.

A three judge Bench of Justices N.V. Ramana, Shantanagouder and Ms Indira Banerjee thereby upheld the Madras high court judgment, which had enhanced the sentence to life term from 10 years sentence, awarded by the trial court. The bench granted time till July 7 to the accused,who are on bail to surrender to the trial court to serve out the sentence.

Santhakumar was abducted and later murdered on October 26, 2001 and his body was buried in Perumalmalai in Kodaikanal forest. The cause of death was found to be asphyxia due to throttling.
Guwahati: The Oppositions anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) grand alliance failed to take the desired shape as Congress president Rahul Gandhi chose not to override the sentiments of state leaders who did not favour the move, party veteran and thrice Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said.

Mr Gogoi, a six-term former MP and Union minister, also rubbished the BJPs allegation of the Congress being a dynastic party, insisting it was the most democratic in the country.

He said despite the opposition alliance being nebulous because of lack of formal tie-ups, the anti-BJP parties were united in their intent of defeating the saffron party and its allies.

Rahul Gandhi was keen on alliance most of the time. But the local party leaders said no. Our party gives importance to regional leadership. That is why we have not been able to form alliances in many places, Mr Gogoi said.

Though the Congress is often dubbed as a dynastic party, it is the most democratic party. Rahul Gandhi does not override the sentiments of local leaders who are heard and given due importance, he said. Mr Gogoi, when asked if a pre-poll pact between potential partners of the proposed grand alliance could have got them more seats, said nobody could predict that with any amount of certainty.

The Assam leader also appeared to favour the largest party in a winning coalition deciding which direction the government would take.

Even in the case of an alliance, the largest party can administer and rule the country. That is also needed. The single largest party must have sufficient strength so that it is not dependent on alliance all the time. Otherwise, the alliance (its smaller constituents) would dictate. And that is not good for the country, he said.

Referring to the seat-sharing agreement betw-een the Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) for the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2016, he said it was not beneficial as sometimes alliances do not help and go against our own interest.

The Congress leader conceded that uniting all Opposition parties on one platform is not an easy task as ideological differences and reluctance to cede political space to each other often come in the way.

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The Shiv Sena is contesting Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal for the first time. (Photo: File)

Kolkata: The Shiv Sena, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA on Thursday announced that it would contest 15 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal and claimed that the ruling party is now an extended part of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The Shiv Sena is contesting Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal for the first time.

"Today we announced candidates for 11 seats. Within a few days we will declare candidates in four more seats. The BJP leadership in Bengal can never fight the TMC. That is why Shiv Sena has entered the fray," said the party's state general secretary Ashok Sarkar said.

"All the tainted leaders of the TMC have joined the BJP making it an extended part of the ruling party," he claimed.

Several sitting MPs and an MLA of the TMC have joined the BJP in recent times.

Shiv Sena announced candidates from Tamluk, Contai, Midnapur, North Kolkata, Purulia, Barrackpore, Bankura, Barasat, Bishnupur, North Malda, Jadavpur.

The BJP has made inroads in some of these seats in the past few years.

Sarkar said he would be contesting Midnapur Lok Sabha seat against the BJP state president Dilip Ghosh and the TMC's Manas Bhunia.

In 2016 state assembly election, the Shiv Sena had contested 18 seats but failed to make an impact.

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RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also declared the name of his party's candidates. (Photo: ANI)

Patna: The 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) in Bihar on Friday announced the seats to be contested by each of the alliance partners  the RJD, Congress, RLSP, HAM and VIP  in phases three to seven of the general elections.

Out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, polling would be held in 31 constituencies in phases three to seven between April 23 and May 19.

Announcing the seat-sharing arrangement at a press conference here, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also declared the name of his party's candidates and said that no nominee would be fielded by the alliance in Ara to help the CPI(ML) Liberation.

He said the candidate for Sheohar seat "will be decided in two-three days". Senior leaders of the Congress were conspicuous by their absence at the press conference.

Yadav also said his party would contest the Darbhanga seat, which has emerged as a bone of contention between the RJD and the Congress with the latter insisting on having the seat as it wanted to field sitting MP Kirti Azad, who had recently joined the party after quitting the BJP.

Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui would fight from Darbhanga. Among the other prominent RJD candidates, Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti would contest from Pataliputra, which she had lost to her father's former loyalist-turned-BJP leader Ram Kripal Yadav in 2014.

Chandrika Rai the father of Tej Pratap Yadav's estranged wife Aishwarya, will be fighting from Saran.

Tejashwi also claimed that the Congress, which was represented at the press conference by former MLC Narendra Kumar Singh, had cleared the names of some of its candidates which included sitting MP from Supaul Ranjeet Ranjan and former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar who would try her luck from Sasaram.

Meira Kumar has been contesting from her Sasaram parliamentary constituency for many years but had lost in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
His remark, however, backfires when the social media took him to task for the comment and said it was sexist and insulting to women. (Photo: Sanjay Jha | Twitter)

New Delhi: Congress leader Sanjay Jha used a western cliche to mock PM Modi on Twitter on Thursday. His remark, however, backfires when the social media took him to task for the comment and said it was sexist and insulting to women.

Jha wrote on Twitter:

He has white hair. But he sounds more like a blonde.  Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) March 28, 2019

And what do you mean by a "blonde"? Where did you pick up this outdated piece of American sexism? Watching re-runs of 1970s American serials on your computer?  Reshmi Dasgupta (@ReshmiDG) March 28, 2019

Such misogynist, sexist statement shameful! All feminism thekedaar are hiding under the carpet  Chowkidar Meera  (@imeerage) March 28, 2019

Sexist remark Sanjay. Please avoid.  Kiran// (@Chivas_Desi) March 28, 2019

Twitter users pointed out that his party also has leaders who had grey hair.

Which of these are you referring to Sanjay? pic.twitter.com/vEKHnYWZOp  Chaitanya Chinchlikar (@filmy_foodie) March 28, 2019

Sanjay Jha is the national spokesperson of the Congress and is one the most forceful critics of PM Modi and his government.
Ayodhya: Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he travelled across the world and hugged everyone, but did not reciprocate the same with the people in India.

"The Prime Minister visited America, Japan and China and hugged everyone there. He visited the whole world and hugged everyone, but he did not hug his own people," said Priyanka while addressing a rally here.

She said that she was surprised to know that Prime Minister Modi did not visit the villages in his Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, despite being popular due to his publicity stunts.

"I asked the people if the Prime Minister visits villages in Varanasi, I got a reply that 'he does not visit'. I was surprised because his popularity through publicity is such that I thought he must have been doing something for the people in the constituency," she added.

Accusing the BJP of being the 'chowkidar' (watchman) for the rich, and not for the poor, Priyanka termed the BJP government as "anti-farmer and anti-people", and is only focused on making the rich richer.

"This government works for the industrialists only. They waived off their loans. BJP government is anti-farmer and anti-people. Our farmers are drowning in debt. But, they do not have anything for the poor. So, the party which won a huge majority, it has betrayed you now," she said.

Claiming that the BJP leaders did not visit villages in India in fear of "facing the truth", the Congress leader said, "In a democracy, you need to listen to the people. But, they do not want to listen to your voice. They are scared that they will have to face the truth. You cannot hide or suppress the truth. The government wants to curb your voice."

Chastising the ruling party for its 'failure' to fulfil promises made during last poll campaigning such as Rs 15 lakh in every person's bank account and two crore jobs, Priyanka remarked that the BJP was making only "tall claims".

Accusing the BJP of blocking payments to beneficiaries under the Congress' MNREGA scheme, Priyanka continued, "Congress gave you MNREGA that guarantees you 100 days of employment. But when this government came, they made sure that those working under this scheme are not paid. People have not been paid in the last six months. They are deliberately doing this because they want to close this programme."

Continuing her tirade against the BJP, the Congress general secretary alleged that institutions and democratic structure of the country have been under constant attack in the last five years.

"In a democracy, people are the most powerful. But this government does not want to make you strong, they want to make themselves strong," Priyanka alleged.

Underlining that vote is a weapon for the people in a democracy, Priyanka told the electorate that they should make a wise decision before exercising their franchise.

"This is your country and does not belong to anyone. Farmers and jawans have made this country. You need to decide to elect a government who is committed to development, listen to your voice," she said.

Before visiting Ayodhya, Priyanka has already paid visits to Rae Bareilly and Amethi for electioneering.

Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in seven phases, from April 11 to May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.

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The Chief Minister said, 'When he (YS Jaganmohan Reddy) complained to the EC, within 24 hours they are acting by transferring DGP, SPs everybody. When we are complaining, no action is taken. They are delaying. Even as the Chief Minister, I dont have any say even to do good for people or fair elections.' (Photo: ANI)

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has claimed that special teams comprising of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (IT) officials have been created to raid opposition party leaders.

"Today I don't know which place officials of Income Tax Dept are going to raid. In Karnataka, same thing happened. During polls, a minister's house is raided. Special teams have been created to raid opposition party leaders through ED and IT," Naidu said while referring to I-T raids conducted across Karnataka on Thursday.

I-T department said it has seized Rs 1.66 crore cash in raids across Karnataka. A total of 24 premises were searched.

However, in a statement, it also said that no MP, MLA or minister has so far been covered in the searches, which are underway.

Talking about the Election Commission of India's (ECI) orders to transfer three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in Andhra Pradesh after YSRCP leaders accused them of working in favour of Naidu-led TDP, the Chief Minister said, "When he (YS Jaganmohan Reddy) complained to the EC, within 24 hours they are acting by transferring DGP, SPs everybody. When we are complaining, no action is taken. They are delaying. Even as the Chief Minister, I dont have any say even to do good for people or fair elections."

The ECI earlier this week transferred Intelligence Director General AB Venkateswara Rao, Kadapa Superintendent of Police (SP) Rahul Dev Sharma and Srikakulam SP Venkata Ratnam after YSRCP accused them of favoring TDP.

EC also directed the three officers to not take-up any election-related duty.

The election to 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to be held on April 11 simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

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Nellore: The Bharatiya Janata Party is putting all its efforts into securing more Lok Sabha seats in the North-eastern states, West Bengal, and Odisha. National general secretary of the party Ram Madhav disclosed this when speaking to this newspaper on the sidelines of a well-attended, extensive meeting with party cadres at Nellore on Friday.

He said they are expecting 40 more seats than last time from the eastern parts of the country. He also said he was confident of getting more seats in Telangana and Karnataka apart from Tamil Nadu.

The party is contesting five seats in association with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and is confident of bagging at least three seats.

Reacting to a question, he said an action plan is ready to strengthen the partys position by 2023 in Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh, adding that four years is not a long time in politics.

Addressing party cadres earlier in the day, he said the people of the country have already decided to give their mandate to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the discussion now is only about the number of seats.

He alleged that the AP government had failed to utilise the financial assistance provided by the Centre. He rebuked the Telugu Desam government for not laying a proper road to the capital city till now.

AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao have been trying to project themselves as kingpins for uniting the Opposition parties, forgetting that there is already a king (Modi) and there is no use (being) with the anti-Modi team, Mr Madhav said.

He claimed that the Central government has already initiated steps to establish the Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor as the state government is not being cooperative.

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Bengaluru: While most candidates hit the road in their constituencies after filing their nomination papers to curry favour with the voters, former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda doesn't seem in a hurry to do so. Even five days after filing his nomination papers in Tumakuru, where he is contesting the LS polls from for the first time, Mr Gowda is going about his usual routine with no sense of urgency to get down to campaigning.

When Deccan Chronicle caught up with him at his home in Padmanabhanagar in the city Friday morning, he had just finished speaking to visitors and party workers. After a bath and reciting the Devara Nama (God's names) for over half an hour, he enjoyed his favourite brunch of ragi ball, beans curry and some curd rice before speaking to this newspaper.

Clad in his trademark white dhoti and khadi shirt, Mr Gowda spoke for over an hour, and among other things declared that he had no hesitation in backing Congress president, Rahul Gandhi for Prime Minister. There would, however, be more aspirants from the alliance partners, he observed. There is Mamata and Mayawati. Mr Sharad Pawar has been waiting for long and Mr Chandrababu Naidu is a promising leader.

The non-NDA alliance will take shape after the elections and once it comes together, the leadership issue will be sorted out in three or four days,'' he said, exuding optimism.

Q: What do you think is the main agenda for this Lok Sabha election? The media and social media are talking only about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A: The media and social media campaign is only one aspect. The common people are no fools. They see everything. Five years ago, for the first time in the history of the country, a communal government came to power. It had partners like Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and even TDP. Look at its performance. On the economic front, the debt of the country has gone up by 50 per cent to touch Rs 88 to 90 lakh crore. They have cut funds for MGNREGA and not released MPLAD funds. As for harmony among people in the country, in a bid to usher in a Hindu nation, they started a disastrous programme called Ghar Wapsi in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, UP and Gujarat, and the Gorakshak organisation started killing people without reason, forcing the Prime Minister to plead to kill him instead. Kashmir saw three kinds of governments and later President's rule. People have their own local issues too. This government will go after the elections.

Q: But the agenda seems to be only whether Mr Modi should continue or not...

A: He is very good at taking credit for everything and marketing himself

although scientists had made breakthroughs when Mrs Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister and when Mr Vajapayee was Prime Minister, the Pokhran test was conducted. Mr Modi spoke of removing corruption from the country. But only he can tell us how successful he has been on this front. In reality, the government has done great damage to the country. There has been interference in the judiciary and the autonomy of the CBI has been infringed upon. The government is trying to intimidate the opposition through IT raids and by using the Enforcement Directorate.

Q: When a Mahaghatbhandan is in the offing, could isolating the Congress during the local seat sharing in places like Uttar Pradesh, prove a setback?

A: I do agree with that to some extent. The Congress has its own vote share in Uttar Pradesh. But for local reasons, they did not include it in the seat sharing. Even in places like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, they are going it alone. I think they are coming to an understanding in Delhi. Every regional party has its own compulsions. But once the election results are declared, the non-NDA parties will come together. Since we are coalition partners with the Congress here, we don't have a problem in backing Mr Rahul Gandhi for Prime Minister. But there will be other aspirants. However, a week after the results are out, these issues will be sorted out.

Q: You seem to be having issues with your coalition partner, the Congress, even in Karnataka

A: This has a historical reason. After the Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by Mr Dharam Singh fell in 2006, Mr Kumaraswamy formed the government with the BJP. Since then, till 2018, we shared a strained relationship (with the Congess). But in 2018, to keep the communal forces at bay, we had to come together. This was after a gap of 12 years and so the workers from both parties are finding it difficult to share a common platform. Also in the sharing of seats in Karnataka, we were given eight and later gave up two. I am not breaking my head over the fact that we got only six and they got more. It is our duty to iron out differences among our party workers. In Tumakuru, I am fighting elections under the leadership of (deputy CM), Dr G Parameshwar. We had not asked for Tumakuru at all.

However, Mr Siddaramaiah wanted to retain his home district and we got it. Tomorrow, we will attend a rally under the leadership of Mr Rahul Gandhi to send a message to our workers that we are working together.

Q: What about the IT raids?

A: They have resulted in a loss of face for the BJP. They thought we would park our money with contractors for the election expenses. But what did they get? Some papers, Rs 50,000 in one place and Rs 1 lakh in another. We are fighting on our own in Mandya and Hassan. In one place, the BJP has fielded a candidate and in another, it is supporting an independent. We know which forces are behind this, but I don't want to say more.

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KOCHI: Fatigue is written largely on the faces of Congressmen across the state, waiting for party president Rahul Gandhi to announce whether he would contest from Wayanad or not.

Even the UDF allies are disappointed over an impending anticlimax in the offing. There are diehard optimists, though, who argue that the spell of uncertainty precedes the grand announcement.

But these Congress netas! They jumped the gun. Like children grabbing Santa Claus goodies, they went to town with the gifts. The gift of Prime Minister-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad was too good, or is it destined to be ephemeral.

That is how it looked on Friday evening, given the intense lobbying launched by NCP boss Sharad Pawar and Sharad Yadav of Loktantrik Janata Dal with Rahul Gandhi against contesting from Wayanad. The argument: it would be an affront to the national secular line-up.

For more than a week, Congress leaders made themselves and many others believe Rahuls new turf is Wayanad. AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy, PCC president Mullappally Ramachandran and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, in group-wise hurrahs, vouched for Rahuls southern sojourn.

For proof of the royal coming, they even banished the candidate, T. Siddique, from the campaign. He was only too happy to play along. Vacating the seat for future king is short-term pain and gain, long-term. Simple logic, poor UDF cadre also played along.

There were Doubting Thomases, though, who thought no Congressman or woman in proper senses would mess up battle lines, ranged between secularists and Manuwadis on the larger canvas. Why take on the Communists, who are on Rahuls side at the national level and punch holes in the secular armour? These were sound posers. But the likes of Chandy and Chennithala were cocksure that the knight in shining armour would lead the battle against the Pinarayi camp, decimating the CPM and leaving the BJP running for cover.

These are passable as curtains going up on the once-in-five-year poll jamboree. But the fact is that the Congress and its allies, early favourites, have by now lost a few points in overall popularity rating for slowing down a campaign that had begun late. They may not have another eureka moment this election and will have to earn by the sweat of their brow.

Yet it is intriguing why the soft-spoken Muslim League supremo Panakkad Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal plumped for Rahul even after Chandy and Chennithala prevaricated over what they had said more than a week back about Rahuls candidature. The well-meaning Thangal must have thought Rahuls presence would minimise leg-pulling among Congressmen. So the Thangal hoped against hope that Rahul would accept UDFs unanimous invite.

As electioneering gathers steam, the Chandy group squirms in embarrassment; as he was the most vocal in assuring the cadre of Rahuls candidature. The spell of uncertainty is bugging Congress campaign committee chairman K. Muraleedharan in Vadakara. He said the uncertainty would impact other seats though not his. Mr Ramachandran, the KPCC president, is cooling his heels, blaming the CPM for landing the Congress in the current mess.

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Hyderabad: Criticising Telangana state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for advancing the Assembly elections in the state and putting a financial burden on people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was done on the advice of an astrologer.

Maintaining that the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the Congress were alike in promoting dynastic politics, Mr Modi said irrespective of Assembly results, the Centre had been liberal in giving Telangana an All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a Tribal University, national highways and a railway link to Mahbubnagar.

The BJP government, he said, had not hesitated to cross the border and destroy terror havens, nor had it baulked at taking decisive steps to test its space weapons. As a result, he said, terrorism is now confined to Jammu and Kashmir. You no longer hear news of bomb explosions as you used to do five years ago.

It is unfortunate that the Opposition parties are questioning the armed forces, and also abusing him, but because of the peoples blessings he is steadfast in remaining on the path of development.

Your blessings allowed me to tolerate all kinds of pressures. That's why I could run a decision-making government, he said. He claimed that he was working hard in areas ranging from civic amenities to space - the latter an obvious reference to the successful test firing of an anti-satellite missile this week.

On April 11, you are not just going to select an MP or vote for a Prime Minister, you will be voting for a new India which will be reflective of the aspirations of Telangana, he declared.
Hyderabad: Wading into the controversy over the Centres claims on surgical strikes, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday said that when he was part of the UPA-I government, India had carried out 11 surgical strikes but never claimed credit.

Prime Minster Narendra Modi was now showing photographs of surgical strikes and asking for votes, Mr Rao said. He also raked up the issue of Hindutva.

Addressing a massive public meeting at Miryalguda, Mr Rao said he had never before witnessed such golmal politics in his political life. Speaking after Mr Modis meeting in Mahbubnagar, Mr Rao alleged that the Prime Minister was speaking blatant lies.

He dared Mr Modi and BJP leaders to a debate on the merits of the state governments Arogyasri and the Centres Ayushman Bharat health scheme. He has drawn considerable flak for not subscribing to the Centres scheme.

Claiming that the BJP would not win 150 Lok Sabha seats and the Congress 100, the Chief Minister said: The time has come for regional parties to rule the country. If necessary, the TRS will launch a national party to form a consortium of regional parties.

Terming the BJP leaders as pseudo Hindus, Mr Rao said the BJP was using Hindutva for votes. We are the real Hindus and lead life religiously for our sake, not for the sake of votes.

Stating that the chaiwala had gone and the chowkidar had taken his place, Mr Rao asked what Mr Modi had done for BCs, SC and STs during his tenure. Why did he not set up a ministry for BCs at the Centre despite repeated demands, Mr Rao asked.

Mr Rao also reminded TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy of his pledge that he would quit politics if the TRS came to power for a second time. He recalled Mr Reddys pledge of not shaving till the Congress came to power. Asking why anyone would care if Mr Reddy shaved or not, Mr Rao asked why he was contesting elections as he had said he would quit politics.

He demanded that Mr Reddy apologise to him for alleging that he had sold party tickets. Selling tickets is the culture of the Congress not the TRS, he said.

Maintaining that in 73 years, the Congress and the BJP had not achieved much, he stressed the need for qualitative change in politics. He said the TRS would take the initiative to bring about a change in national politics.
India now can hit most satellites flying up to an altitude of 1,000 km, according to DRDO scientists. However, our A-SAT cannot yet reach either the medium orbit or very high satellites that are found beyond the atmosphere.

While the timing of Indias anti-satellite test on March 27, just a fortnight before voting begins in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, has for obvious reasons become a focal point of public debate, the bigger issue of the tests implications for the countrys defence has in the process been somewhat obscured.

What does the test named Mission Shakti really imply? Is it the prelude to Star Wars over South Asia? A major achievement or just carefully orchestrated hype for electoral consumption? To make sense of it all, sans politics, we need to get into a little rocket science. To begin with, Star Wars has long been a reality. Whether we like it or not, space is militarised and a nation like India, confronted by adversaries on both its flanks, has no option but to develop credible deterrence against the use of space weapons. This essentially requires an offensive capability to take out critical space-based assets. India has been quietly but steadily acquiring such a capability for several years now.There are two related aspects of the military use of space  the first has to do with ballistic missiles and the second with satellites. While the development of ballistic missiles is an old story, the means to knock them down is more recent. Most countries with missile capabilities, including the United States, Russia, China, Israel and India, have been developing anti-ballistic capabilities for some years now.

The A-SAT programme is a spin-off from the much larger anti-ballistic missile (ABM) programme. The missile used in this case was similar to those used in our ongoing ballistic missile defence programme, except that it was of much longer range. The ABMs are shorter range weapons designed to take out incoming ballistic missiles during the last stage of their re-entry into the atmosphere. The anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile was launched at 11.26 in the morning from the Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island, formerly known as Wheeler Island, which is just off the coast of Odisha at Chandipur, and within three minutes hit a low-altitude decommissioned satellite orbiting at a height of about 300 km.

It was a single-stage solid fuel propelled missile light in weight as it did not have any payload and used its momentum or kinetic force to destroy the target satellite. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has apparently been developing these missiles, both with and without warheads, which can be deployed and launched very quickly in response to an incoming threat.

More complex than the missile itself is the associated radar target acquisition, tracking and missile guidance systems required to steer the A-SAT or ABM towards a target. Once close to the target, the onboard target acquisition system takes over and guides the missile right on it (or near it as would be the case of a missile fitted with an explosive warhead).

Mission Shaktis success is a big deal no matter what the governments critics might feel. It suggests India can do serious damage to an adversarys space assets. More important, perhaps, the test demonstrates New Delhis determination to press on with the development of key military technologies for the defence of its aerospace.

Recessed deterrence as practised in the past by successive Indian governments lacked credibility and was ultimately shelved by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government that conducted full-blown nuclear weapons tests in 1998. Then, as now, it was clear that military capability of any sort needs to be demonstrated and not kept under wraps.

This is why nations have military parades, military exercises and weapons testing that are advertised to deter potential enemies. Whether India had the capability or potential to destroy satellites in the past is immaterial as it was not credible.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, never a great proponent of the military, is said to have denied any public testing of the countrys anti-satellite capabilities. The March 27 test, in contrast, laid to rest any speculation about Indian capabilities, although the foreign media as always managed to dredge up some expert or the other to belittle the achievement. Having said this, have we, as our Prime Minister said, really become a space superpower? The clear answer is not yet.

Most military satellites used for mapping and sensing operate in the low-orbit range, that is between 160 km and 2,000 km above the earth. The lower these satellites orbit the better imagery they can collect and a large number of them

are found moving at about 400-900 km above the earth.

India now can hit most satellites flying up to an altitude of 1,000 km, according to DRDO scientists. However, our A-SAT cannot yet reach either the medium orbit or very high satellites that are found beyond the atmosphere.

Medium earth satellites such as those responsible for GPS systems orbit at an altitude of about 22,000 km while geostationary satellites, most suited for telecommunications, meteorology and so on, operate well outside the atmosphere at altitudes of 36,000 km. Military communications satellites too orbit at the higher altitudes.

China, on the other hand, has demonstrated it can destroy space objects at very high altitudes. In January 2007, China became the third country, after the United States and Russia, to conduct a successful anti-satellite test by launching a ballistic missile to destroy an inactive weather satellite at an altitude of 865 km. Since then it has launched a number of missiles which are reported to be capable of destroying both satellites and missiles in the exosphere.

Indias anti-satellite capabilities in comparison are still modest and there is clearly a need to expand them further. The same is true of our more critical anti-ballistic missile defence programme. While the Prime Minister deserves praise for prioritising these areas of national security, he and his predecessors are equally to blame for the large gaps that have persisted in Indias overall aerospace defence capabilities.

The aerospace realm today is an integrated arena requiring a combination of both air and space weapons systems. While the success of an anti-satellite weapon is a major milestone worthy of celebration, it cannot compensate for the persisting and alarming gaps in our radar, early warning, electronic warfare, communications or air defence and offence systems.

It would have been commendable if the Prime Minister in his five-year tenure had been as generous regarding the countrys overall military aerospace needs as he has been with sops, subsidies and loan waivers for his electoral constituency.
Some people in India were applying reason and rationale to the context of the UN Security Council move to declare Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist. That would have meant Beijing's acceptance of the proposal, against its three earlier instances of rejecting it. Internationally, there was a furore against the Pakistan-supported JeM terror strike involving the car bomb attack at Pulwama, that led to the killing of over 40 Indian securitymen. Many in India felt that China, in this black and white situation, would not like to be singled out as a state supporting another that sponsors terror and proxy war in a neighbouring country. However, little did we realise that geopolitics matters more than sentiment to decide Chinas stand on international security issues.

Whats the geopolitics involved in this decision? Simply, all that is happening in Southwest Asia is virtually an extension of the New Great Game! The area is one of the world's most turbulent hotspots, and highly unstable too. The United States intends to withdraw its last 14,000 troops from Afghanistan, and hopes for some kind of deal with the Taliban to enable that, with Pakistan as the intermediary. Afghanistan is a messy affair, with multiple scenarios that could emerge over the next few months. The Chinese want the Americans out from the region and don't want to create a situation where Pakistan's role as an intermediary is compromised as that may set back the US withdrawal. Behind the scenes, China has been advising Pakistan not to trigger any more turbulence with India, but it cant go against Pakistans interests in the India context by having it isolated internationally. In fact, Pakistans isolation would have been a huge Indian foreign policy success, which would tempt maverick Pakistani terrorist groups to attempt further targeting of Indian interests in Kashmir. Second, China wouldn't like to see a major embarrassment for the Imran Khan government because Pakistan has run out of political options, with its other two mainstream parties in the doghouse. If Imran Khan is weakened, it will only be at the cost of even greater strengthening of the Pakistan Army and the Deep State, whose actions could be unpredictable even to the Chinese. Third, China has invested just too much in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Pakistan's public is not too enthused, and socially it is meeting resistance, especially over the presence of Chinese labour and management. By not holding Pakistan's hand in its moment of crisis and possible isolation, China would open itself to greater compromise internally within Pakistan. In CPEC, it has invested its own outreach to a potential economic empire in Africa and the Middle East. There can be no compromise with that long-term objective. In addition, the strategic isolation of Pakistan would upset any future economic bailout of Pakistan by international monetary institutions and force China to invest even more in rescuing its strategic partner from utter bankruptcy.

What China may have advised Pakistan behind closed doors is to take a step back over sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir. The move against Masood Azhar was too close to acceptance this time. Countries like France and Britain were transformational in their approach to proscribing the JeM chief and in turn isolating Pakistan, much against the transactional attempts in the past. What Pakistan may have told China is that without more active interference in Kashmir, it ran the risk of the Indian security forces smothering the local movement, something akin to what the situation was in 2011-13. Through Pulwama, it would have hoped for greater reaction against Kashmiris and more communal colour to Indias politics, something it always sees as a strategic advantage to itself. India did almost play into

that gameplan, but fortunately pulled back from the brink.

Is Pakistan likely to follow Chinas advice and at least temporarily stop active interference in Kashmir through its subsidiaries? It appears there could be a hiatus as far as big ticket events is concerned. Pakistan clearly miscalculated Pulwama and Indias response. The latter has now climbed higher notches in the escalation matrix, bringing the potential that the response to another major terror act could be more intense, bringing the two sides closer to armed confrontation of varying intensity. It will need to reconfigure its strategy. As far as the ongoing activities to bring more alienation, infiltration through the early spring and summer and prevention of a large voter turnout for the parliamentary elections are concerned, the Deep State will be more than active. For India, it is vital to continue its diplomatic campaign against Pakistan, unlike the past when such efforts on our part flagged off with time. We must never regard the absence of violence as any form of approaching normality. The focus on intelligence against potential use of explosives in another form must remain live. But more than

anything else, the muscular security policy must be balanced by many more conversations with the Kashmiri people. Election time is not a bad time for that.

It would be realpolitik on Indias part to perceive that the Wuhan spirit with China pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not taken as being of advantage only to India. China stands much to gain from stabilising its ties with its southern neighbour. As it stays on the defensive on the US trade wars and the potential of a not-too-stable Southwest Asia region, it may not wish to create fresh rumblings in its external relations. The treatment meted out to the Uyghur minority has the potential of putting it on the backfoot, though on human rights it has always resisted international pressure. Subtle messaging over the Wuhan spirit going haywire in the course of the Chinese support to Pakistan is a strategic necessity. It will help in China imposing greater caution on Pakistan, that may yet treat Chinese advice with less seriousness than it should with reference to the India policy.

There is little potential for Southwest Asia stabilising any time in the near future, and China will continue playing to its perception of interests that focuses on putting many eggs in the Pakistani basket. However, whatever happens, India needs to remain engaged with China to progressively sensitise it to the fact that all its interests do not necessarily lie in the actions Pakistan may take against India and Afghanistan.
With the successful testing of an anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile on Wednesday, India demonstrated its capability to knock out or blind a potential adversarys satellite in space in order to degrade its communications capabilities. Military and civilian programmes for even daily use applications these days are lodged inside satellites orbiting in space at varying altitudes.

India knocked out a micro satellite of its own launched only this January to demonstrate its capability, which is a marriage of missile and space technologies, and became only the fourth country after the United States, the former Soviet Union (now Russia) and China to do so. The satellite our scientists killed was 300 km in low orbit above the earth. The Chinese had demonstrated a similar capability in 2007 by hitting a useless satellite of theirs 500 km above.

Its an open question whether a proven capability to strike a satellite in the lower reaches of space, which we have just demonstrated, automatically means we can also hit satellites placed in higher orbits. Having embarked on this path, perhaps its a matter of time when we will need to shoot missiles at higher-placed satellites, just to be doubly sure.

There was really no urgent security dimension to the A-SAT test, even if thats the dummy sold by the government to the Election Commission, which seems to have accepted it with willingness and alacrity.

Seen from the countrys perspective, the A-SAT test could well have happened two months afterwards, or even later. There was no enemy knocking at the gate. But from the ruling partys and governments perspective, time was slipping away as the casting of the first ballot in the seven-phase election is exactly a fortnight away.

The ruling side seems set on a needless course to convince the country that it is a better guardian of the nations security than its rivals, notably the Congress, overlooking the fact that the vivisection of Pakistan in 1971 and the first nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974 (when India was a much poorer nation) were executed by Congress governments.

Even the A-SAT capability was ready by 2010, as defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, finance minister Arun Jaitley, and present and former top scientists of DRDO, which conducted the test, attest. That the Manmohan Singh government didnt go ahead and test may not be due to a lack of political will, as some have suggested. That factor would come into play only if there was an immediate security requirement. At the moment the A-SAT test seems more to be in the realm of perfecting a science and technology capability.

And lest we get carried away, this isnt Star Wars prowess. That will involve parking weapons in outer space. No country is yet capable of that. Lets not get breathless about things.
Goa may be well known as a holiday paradise, but theres a lot more to it, including a history of defecting politicians. The party-hopping is almost in the Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram league that had prompted the anti-defection law. Due to the weaknesses of the letter of the law, a state like Goa that elects legislators from many small parties beats the intent of the anti-defection law with machinations like midnight defections changing the equations drastically. Such is the effect of the latest round of changing loyalties as to force upon us a total rethink of the anti-defection law. Otherwise, the basic principle of democratically electing members of parties as MLAs will be scoffed at as is evident from the shifting affiliations in Goa.

The latest round of floor crossing was so bizarre as to cock a snook at the entire political system. Sudin Dhavalikar, deputy CM of a few days standing after the death of popular CM Manohar Parrikar, initiated the numbers game again, was sacked as both his colleagues from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) moved over to BJP CM Pramod Sawants camp. As two members represent two-thirds of the small party, the defection rules dont apply to them. Such manoeuvring has become the norm since the last Assembly election, in which Congress emerged the single largest party and yet the BJP was called first by the governor to form the government. Given such a dubious first call, the party had the advantage of engineering defections. Goa, like Haryana of old, is now the epicentre, from where calls for introspection are rising about the foundation of our party system and MLAs loyalties being for sale.
Faced with the charge that it is protecting an international terrorist, China is going around in circles trying to defend its action on Pakistani terrorist mastermind Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed (which is a creation of Pakistan's ISI) which took credit for the February 14 Pulwama terrorist attack in Kashmir.

Beijing began placing a technical hold in the UNs 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee  which lists "global terrorists" and seeks to curb their activities by tightening the noose on them through travel bans and the freezing of assets  on penalising Azhar as far back as 2009, and did so for the fourth time about a fortnight ago.

Yet, Beijing pretends that its action is not intended to provide comfort to a terrorist but to allow time for the parties concerned  meaning India and Pakistan  to engage in dialogue.

This laughable explanation, whose only purpose can be to comfort its all-weather ally Pakistan, was put out by the Chinese foreign ministry on Friday in response to the tough American action earlier this week of moving a draft resolution in the UN Security Council direct on the Azhar issue.

Eventually this may not be taken to a formal vote as China has a veto in the UNSC, but informally the move could lead to a condemnation of the Pulwama suicide bombing. That would amount to a snub of Beijing.

Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, spoke sharply when he condemned Beijing's shameful hypocrisy in abusing a million Muslims at home  who are placed in internment camps  while protecting a known terrorist. This seems a reasonable enough assessment.
Anti-satellite weapon systems have a long history and were a product of the Cold War hostilities between the United States and the then Soviet Union during President Ronald Reagans administration in the 1980s, which led to the so-called Star Wars programme.

Wednesdays A-SAT operation is the first major step towards building up a futuristic defence in India against attacks by space-borne systems and space docking activities. Such activity requires multi-agency coordination, including the Tracking and Command network of the Indian Space Research Organisation, the radar network of the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the excellent and 100 per cent reliable communications link between the various ground stations, radars and computational infrastructure.

This mission was accomplished with the help of good computational capability, a precise triangulation algorithm, automated launch and control of missile, accurate, orbital and position estimation of the satellite and various other systems. The scientists and all other personnel of both Isro and DRDO deserve the entire nations hearty congratulations!

While reports talk about Chinas earlier space test in 2007, the destruction of the satellite was a slightly easier task as it was at a higher orbit and therefore the velocity of the satellite was slightly less than that of the missile.

The physical cross-section of the LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite could be between, say two square meters to a maximum of six square meters. The radars section will depend on the aspect angle with respect to radar. Hence, to precisely determine the position of the satellite, a multi-pronged approach is used where a network of radars, the satellite ground tracking network, if possible optical tracking, etc, are used, and then the position or more precisely the arc of the orbit of the satellite over Indian territory or may be over international waters is determined and selected with high levels of accuracy.

After the launch of A-SAT, and say within a 100-200 meter vicinity of the satellite, the missile seeker will guide the missile (Seekers could be infra red (IR), radio frequency (RF) active or passive, laser/optical seekers). Indias A-SAT employed an IR seeker. The whole process is like seeking a coin and targeting it in a heap of hay under dynamic conditions, in a very limited period of time. The role of the seeker is very critical as it helps to home in on the target and hits it without delay of even a nano second.

Therefore, it is a major achievement and needs a lot of appreciation by the entire country.

When a satellite is orbiting in LEO (300 km from earth), it will travel at speeds of 7-8 km per second, but the speed of the missile will be 3 km per second, so even a millisecond difference will mean that the missile will miss the target by several meters. Therefore, the accuracy of the timing, and finding the orbital position of the satellite will be very critical in order to hit the bulls eye over Indian territory during such a mission.

In future, India would be well advised to emulate the United States and Russia, which have positioned satellites in space to control and track the launch of missiles and also photograph and trace the target with much higher accuracy. This would help in hitting the targets even over international waters rather than over our own territory.

There are subdued reactions to the Wednesdays A-SAT test by various countries given the present geopolitical situation. However, in future, if an international treaty on such activities is signed, India will be treated at par with the United States, Russia and China. This activity was conducted only to demonstrate the capability and preparedness of the country for any kind of warfare in space. It is not a routine activity, and no administration would like to load its infrastructure for such tests.

Anti-satellite weapon systems have a long history and were a product of the Cold War hostilities between the United States and the then Soviet Union during President Ronald Reagans administration in the 1980s, which led to the so-called Star Wars programme. These weapons came back into popular currency after China conducted an anti-satellite missile test on January 11, 2007. The target was a Chinese weather satellite  the FY-1C  which sailed at an altitude of 865 km. A year later, the United States launched Operation Burnt Frost, the code name to intercept and destroy a non-functioning US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite named USA-193. Back home, while Mission Shakti may have targeted an object in outer space, India has long developed the capability to intercept incoming missiles.

In 2011, a modified Prithvi missile mimicked the trajectory of a ballistic missile with a range of 600 km. Radars at different locations swung into action, tracking the enemy missile, constructing its trajectory and passing on the information in real time to the Mission Control Centre (MCC) to launch the interceptor, an Advanced Air Defence (ADD) missile. It had a directional warhead aimed at the adversarial missile before exploding to inflict damage on it.
Ab booye gul, na baad e saba/ maangte hain log,/ Woh habs hai, ki loo ki dua/ maangte hain log

(People no longer seek the fragrance of the gentle morning breeze, they pray for dry, hot winds to break the suffocating stillness.)

Well, the people of New Zealand, led by their Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, have brought a gust of freshness. They handled the racist, Islamophobic outrage in Christchurch with such nobility and compassion that the gates of hope may well have opened.

Heaven knows the Nobel Peace Prize has in recent years been in urgent need of some value addition. The Cold War and its aftermath clearly politicised the prize. The Nobel Committee has a chance to restore to the prize some of its lost elan. The Prime Minister of New Zealand deserves the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

Such tragedies generally fall prey to judgmentalism, preconceived and motivated. The causes are obscured, until another occasion rises for us to scream our lungs out, being judgmental.

I have made a study  the subject of a book  of events like Christchurch, a bit of which I share here.

When Phoolan Devi, the low caste mallah (boatwoman), shot dead 22 high-caste Rajputs in the village of Behmai, 80 km from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on February 4, 1981, she had taken the law into her own hands. This she had done because no law enforcement agency had come to her rescue when the very same men had locked her in a room and taken turns, repeatedly, to rape her over weeks. It was gross injustice she was fighting.

During the British Mandate over Palestine, the Jews formed Haganah, a secret, militant organisation  with guns, hand grenades, etc  to protect Jewish enclaves against Arab gangs. Why was Haganah formed? Perceived injustice. In 1939, the British produced a White Paper restricting Jewish immigration. That is when the French-built liner, Patria, carrying nearly 2,000 Jews to Mauritius, was sunk off Haifa, killing 267 people. Later, the groups offshoot, Irgun, bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing 28 British soldiers. Both were ghoulish acts. But would Menachem Begin, a member of Irgun and later Israels Prime Minister, have seen it this way? According to their lights, Begin and indeed the entire Haganah outfit were fighting British injustice.

April 13 will be the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar. Reginald Dyers character or a psycho analysis will not shed light on whether or not police action was required on a scale which killed over 1,000 people. The official British figure was 379 dead. Punjabs lieutenant-governor Michael ODwyer justified the military action on administrative grounds. This is not the way Udham Singh the nationalist saw the massacre. He turned up in Britain and shot dead ODwyer on March 13, 1940 at Caxton Hall. It was injustice that he was fighting.

At his trial Udham Singh said: He wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I crushed him. For a full 21 years I have been trying to wreak vengeance. I am happy that I have done the job. There are a series of such incidents which the State would have considered acts of terror. The perpetrators have been celebrated as martyrs and patriots, including the iconic Bhagat Singh. They were fighting an unequal battle against injustice.

The examples I have touched upon are of people who had experienced injustice, suffocated and, presumably, had waited for their time. But the perpetrator of the Christchurch outrage is in an entirely different category. He experienced no injustice. His phobia, like that of his fellow murderer from Norway, Anders Breivik, derives from the contemporary curse called the global media. They have been fed on versions of the post-Soviet Union, the post-9/11 wars in which millions were killed and displaced. But Tarrant and Breivik have seen these stories covered by a media which has mysteriously cast the victims as villains. Jean Raspails novel Camp of the Saints shows destruction of Western civilisation through Third World immigration. This becomes Tarrants nightmare. Australian Senator Fraser Anning is, alas, in the same league.

I was witness to the launch of the global media in Baghdad in January-February 1991. Operat-ion Desert Storm was covered live by Peter Arnett of CNN. Not to comprehend the significance of this event is to miss out on the nature of international affairs in the post-Soviet period. Remember, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989; and the Soviet Union came down like melting ice cream in 1991. This was the first time in human history that coverage of a war was brought live into our drawing rooms.

The coverage divided the world into two hostile camps  the triumphant West and the defeated, demoralised Muslim nations. This critical division got amplified exponentially as the two intefadas erupted, followed by the four-year-long Bosnia war, which once again brought the brutalities being heaped upon the Bosnian Muslims, day after day, into the worlds living rooms. The climax came, of course, with the 9/11 wars and the unbelievable fireworks over Afghanistan.

With each war and the accompanying global coverage, the West-Muslim divide widened. It was this atmosphere so thoroughly saturated with Islamophobia which shaped the minds of Breivik and Brenton Tarrant. Leaders like George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Australias John Howard cynically used this othering of the worlds Muslims as a strategy for Western cohesion. The fear of terrorism, real or simulated, resulted in the loss of status of foreign offices. Intelligence agencies acquired fresh saliency. Be wary on that score, Madam Prime Minister.

In India, the sheer hypocrisy of the elite shrouded and thereby aggravated a corresponding division between non-Muslims and Muslims, stoked by our television anchors. The new liberal economic policies of the 1990s demanded a multiplication of television channels. This also coincided with accelerated communalisation after the fall of the Babri Masjid in December 1992. Capitalism and communalism joined hands and set the national agenda conducive to the consolidation of Hindu nationalism. In the ranks of these nationalists, one would find folks galore willing to give a sympathetic quarter to Brenton Tarrant.
Since the impact altitude exceeded 800 km (500 miles), many of the resulting scraps stayed in orbit. (Representational Photo: AP)

Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Thursday he expected debris from an Indian anti-satellite weapons test to eventually burn up in the atmosphere instead of creating a lasting debris field that could threaten other satellites.

Asked about comments by Indias top defense scientist that the debris would burn up in 45 days, Shanahan said he could not confirm any particular timeframe.

But in terms of threats to other objects, thats consistent with what Ive heard, that it will burn up in the atmosphere, Shanahan told reporters traveling with him in Florida.

The comments came a day after India said it used an indigenously developed ballistic missile interceptor to destroy one of its own satellites at a height of 300 km (186 miles), in a test aimed at boosting its defenses in space.

In 2007, China destroyed a satellite in a polar orbit, creating the largest orbital debris cloud in history, with more than 3,000 objects, according to the Secure World Foundation.

Since the impact altitude exceeded 800 km (500 miles), many of the resulting scraps stayed in orbit.

Asked whether he believed India, with a test at a lower altitude, had avoided a China-type scenario, Shanahan said: Thats my understanding.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday the US militarys Strategic Command was tracking more than 250 pieces of debris from Indias missile test and would issue close-approach notifications as required until the debris enters the Earths atmosphere.

Lieutenant General David Thompson, vice commander of US Air Force Space Command, said on Wednesday that the Indian test had hit the target vehicle.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Thursday that no new threats had arisen from debris yet.

The official added that there was no information so far to cast doubt on the claims made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Critics say such technology, known to be possessed only by the United States, Russia and China, raises the prospect of an arms race in outer space, besides posing a hazard by creating a cloud of fragments that could persist for years.

Shanahan said the Indian test was a reminder about how space was becoming increasingly contested, and underscored the necessity of creating a Space Command - a stepping stone toward President Donald Trump goal of creating a Space Force.

It really speaks to: Why we need to stand up Space Command. Think about the importance now of rules of engagement, the authorities, the tactics, techniques and procedures, Shanahan said.

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The companys so-called Edge location, the fourth in Latin America, will help deliver data, videos and applications at higher speeds to end-users.

Amazon Web Services (AWS), a unit of Amazon.com Inc, said on Thursday it will open a Latin America infrastructure location in Colombia and help train 2,000 students in cloud technology.

The company will team up with Colombias public technical education institute to train students in cloud computing, Jeffrey Kratz, AWS general public sector manager for Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada, said in a government statement.

The companys so-called Edge location, the fourth in Latin America, will help deliver data, videos and applications at higher speeds to end-users.

Kratz, in Bogota for a technology conference, said Amazon wants to support the development of digital infrastructure and help entrepreneurs create large-scale projects. He said the company would continue to invest in Colombia, though he did not provide further details.

We are excited to continue investing in Latin Americas success, Kratz told Reuters. This investment will ensure that customers have the tools and services to continue innovating for a positive user experience.

Last August Amazon, the worlds largest online retailer, announced that it would open its first customer service center in Colombia later this year and employ 600 people.

The service center will serve customers worldwide in Spanish, English and Portuguese.

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The women had long campaigned for the right to drive and to abolish the restrictive guardianship system that gives male relatives arbitrary authority over women. (Photo: AP, Representational Image)

Riyadh: Saudi women activists detained for almost a year offered their defence at an emotionally charged hearing on Wednesday, alleging torture and sexual harassment during interrogation, courtroom sources said.

Eleven women responded to charges that rights groups say include contact with international media and human rights groups, in the second hearing of a high-profile trial that foreign reporters and diplomats are barred from attending.

Some of them wept and consoled each other and their family members gathered before a three-judge panel in Riyadh's criminal court as they accused interrogators of subjecting them to electric shocks and flogging and groping them in detention, two people with access to the trial said.

At least one of the detained women tried to commit suicide following her mistreatment, a close relative said.

The government, facing intense international scrutiny of its human rights record, denies the women were tortured or harassed.

The women, including prominent activist Loujain al-Hathloul, blogger Eman al-Nafjan and university professor Hatoon al-Fassi, were detained last summer in a sweeping crackdown on campaigners just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female motorists.

The women had long campaigned for the right to drive and to abolish the restrictive guardianship system that gives male relatives arbitrary authority over women.

Their trial has intensified criticism of the kingdom over human rights following global outrage over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder by Saudi agents last October.

Loujain's brother and sister, based overseas, have alleged that Saud al-Qahtani, a top advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who was fired over Khashoggi's killing, oversaw the torture.

The top adviser of the prince was threatening to rape my sister, kill her, cut her body into pieces, Walid al-Hathloul, Loujain's brother, said.

He's the one who should be in court today, not my sister. Qahtani has not appeared in public since his sacking was announced.

Some of the detained women have appealed for bail, with the judges expected to make a decision on on Thursday, family members said.

The trial is set to resume on April 3, they added. There was no immediate comment from the criminal court.

At the time of their arrest, officials accused the women of links to foreign intelligence agencies, while state-backed media branded them traitors and agents of embassies.

The charge sheets, however, make no mention of contact with foreign spies, campaigners who have reviewed the documents say. Some of the charges against the women fell under a section of the kingdom's sweeping cyber crime law, which carries prison sentences of up to five years. Loujain asked the court for one month to respond to the charges saying she was not given enough time to prepare, Walid said.
Jakarta: Indonesias president has started beaming a hologram of himself to reach voters in key battleground provinces as he shuttles around the Southeast Asian archipelago ahead of national polls.

Joko Widodo, running for re-election in the world's third-biggest democracy, has a tight schedule so he and his vice-presidential running mate are projecting three-dimensional images of themselves at some campaign rallies, his team said.

The high-tech campaign launched this week and is targeting the heavily populated provinces of West, Central and East Java -- seen as key sources of support.

More than 190 million people are registered to vote on April 17, with thousands running for seats in parliament and local councils across Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim majority nation.

Like the candidate himself, Widodo's life-sized hologram will keep moving across the Southeast Asian nation in the coming weeks.
Beijing: Defending its repeated attempts to block the listing of Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN, China on Friday refuted the US allegation that Beijings action amounted to protecting violent Islamic groups from sanctions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday denounced China of its shameful hypocrisy toward Muslims, saying China abuses more than a million Muslims at home, but on the other it protects violent Islamic terrorist groups from sanctions at the UN.

Pompeo said it in an apparent reference to Chinas fourth move to block Indias proposal at the United Nations to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Azhar as a global terrorist.

Reacting to this, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here that if that is the case, the country that had put most holds in the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Security Council should have been sheltering more terrorists.

At the UN Sanctions Committee, the practice of putting technical hold is in line with the rules of the Committee, he asserted.

Without directly referring to the US, Geng said, If a certain country accuses China of sheltering terrorists by putting technical hold, does that mean all the countries that put such holds are sheltering terrorists? If this makes sense then shall we say the country that put most hold is the biggest shelter of terrorists? China has so far blocked the move four times in recent years. It recently blocked a US, UK and France resolution in the counter terrorism 1267 committee with technical hold saying that it provides time and space for the relevant parties to hold talks after the Pulwama terrorist attack.

Following this, the US has directly moved a resolution in the UN Security Council on Thursday to blacklist Azhar which China said amounted to undermining the 1267 committee.

Defending Chinas move to block Azhars listing, Geng said, China put forward a technical hold with a purpose of conducting in-depth assessment so as to give enough time and space for the dialogue and consultation between parties. China is in communication with all parties to seek a settlement through dialogue. We hope this will be a common goal of all the members of the UNSC.

Asked about Pakistan rejecting the evidence put forward by India on the Pulwama terrorist attack, he said, the 1267 committee has detailed and clear stipulation and requirements on the listing issue.

What China has done is in line with the requirement of the UNSC and rules and procedures of the committee. We are always working in a constructive manner and stay in communication with the relevant parties and seek a proper solution.

It is improper to reveal to you the detailed discussions, he said.
Seoul: North Korea has almost completed rebuilding a long-range rocket site it had promised to close, Seoul lawmakers told reporters on Friday after a closed-door meeting with South Korean intelligence officials.

The claim comes a month after a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February ended without an agreement, deepening a gap between the two on how to achieve complete denuclearisation.

Shortly after the end of the Hanoi summit, a series of satellite images emerged suggesting increased activity at the Norths Sohae rocket site, triggering international alarm that the nuclear-armed state might be preparing a long-range or space launch.

The North began rebuilding the centre, which was partly dismantled last July, before the North-US summit in February, lawmaker Kim Minki said after the closed-door briefing by the National Intlligence Service.

North Korea has been banned by the UN Security Council from carrying out space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

But earlier this month the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said there was deliberate and purposeful activity going on at the Sohae rocket site.
London: British lawmakers have voted on eight different possible Brexit options, but none received the majority support that would clarify the U.K.'s course.

Parliament is trying to find an alternative to Prime Minister Theresa May's twice-rejected EU divorce deal.

Lawmakers voted on Wednesday on options that included leaving the European Union without a deal, staying in the bloc's customs union and single market, putting any EU divorce deal to a public referendum, and canceling Brexit if the prospect of a no-deal departure gets close. The strongest support was for a plan to stay in a customs union with the bloc after Brexit, which was defeated by eight votes: 272-264.

Lawmakers plan to narrow the list of options down and hold more votes on Monday. Britain has until April 12 to find a new plan or crash out of the EU without a deal.

A Northern Ireland party that props up May's government says it won't support her divorce deal, a blow to May's hopes of winning approval for the agreement in Parliament.

The Democratic Unionist Party said Wednesday it won't support the deal because of a provision designed keep an open border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.'s Northern Ireland after Brexit.

11

The pro-British Unionist party opposes the provision because it fears it would weaken the bonds between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said, We cannot sign up to something that would damage the Union. May wants to try again to get her twice-rejected Brexit deal through Parliament. Many pro-Brexit lawmakers have said they will back it, but only if the DUP agrees.

Britain's former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, a longtime foe of Prime Minister Theresa May's EU divorce deal, now plans to vote for it. Conservative lawmaker Conor Burns, an ally of Johnson's, said the former foreign secretary told a meeting that he would back the deal. The shift came soon after May told Conservative Party lawmakers that she will step down if her twice-rejected deal is approved and Britain leaves the European Union.
Pakistan on Thursday said it has examined 22 "pin locations" shared by India but found no terror camps and claimed that there are no links to nail 54 people detained in connection with the Pulwama terror attack as it shared the "preliminary findings" with New Delhi.

Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

"While 54 detained individuals are being investigated, no details linking them to Pulwama have been found so far," it said.

"Similarly, the 22 pin locations shared by India have been examined. No such camps exist. Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations," the FO said.

It said that in consistent with its commitment to cooperate, Pakistan on Wednesday shared preliminary findings of its investigations with India along with a set of questions.

India handed over the dossier to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi on February 27 with specific details of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)'s complicity in the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel on February 14 and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan.
While five-phase parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir are scheduled to begin from April 11, the politically sensitive issue of Article 35A is dominating the discourse during the campaigning by political parties.



While the regional National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are trying to convince voters in the state that only they can safeguard Article 35A, that grants special rights to the people of J&K on owning property and getting jobs, the BJP is trying to win the sympathies of people by saying it is constitutionally vulnerable and also hampers the economic development of the state.



NC leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah during an election rally on Thursday said that the upcoming election is significant as it will decide the future course of action on Articles 370 and 35A, asserting that his party would ensure the protection of the two legislations within and outside the courts.



PDP president and another former CM Mehbooba Mufti, who has decided to contest from the volatile south Kashmir Lok Sabha seat, said there is a threat to Article 35A and they need a voice in Parliament and the party thought I would fit the bill.



To win back the sympathies of pro-separatist elements in the valley, Mehbooba, who governed the state in alliance with the BJP until they split last June, said an ongoing crackdown on militants and those supporting secession could further alienate the people.



On the other hand, BJP leaders are repeatedly saying that they will revoke Article 35A if voted to power, as the law is temporary which can be removed and should be removed.



Union finance minister Arun Jaitleys Thursday statement calling Article 35A "constitutionally vulnerable" and questioning its existence is sure going to raise the political temperature further in the restive Himalayan state.



The other issues confronting the state are security related as nearly three years since Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wanis killing, Kashmir continues to face multiple challenges as there continues to be a perception gap between New Delhi and Srinagar on how to handle political and security issues. Prevailing circumstances indicate that New Delhi is likely to face an uphill task as it tries to improve the political situation in the Valley after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.



Developmental issues, concerning common man, have taken a back seat during the campaigning by political parties. The common man is not featuring much amid the poll din as the parties are more interested in slinging mud at the opponents.
With the Lok Sabha poll campaign heating up, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday sought to milk political dividends of the Samjhauta Express train blast case verdict, accusing the Congress of "smearing" Hindus by implicating innocent people in the case during its regime.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, senior BJP leader and Union minister Arun Jaitley alleged that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government coined the term saffron terror and made the wrong set of people accused in the case only for political gains.

Congress disgraced the entire Hindu community by coining Hindu terror theory. This has happened for the first time in history. Who will take the responsibility? It rests with the leadership of the Congress. The society will never forgive them, he said.

Replying to a question, he also took a dig at Congress leaders including its president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi over their temple visits, saying those who believed Hindus to be terrorists are now busy showing their dedication to the religion.

After the court's verdict in the case, it is an opportunity for them to now apologise to the society. I fail to understand why they are not apologising,

A special court in Panchkula on Wednesday acquitted Swami Aseemanand and three others in the Samjhauta train blast case which had left 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, dead in 2007. The blast in the train took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when it was on its way to Attari in Amritsar.

I definitely accuse them (Congress) of tarnishing the image of the Hindu community by creating a bogus theory of Hindu terror. They did it only for their political gains. That's why the Congress has not come out with any statement after the court's verdict, Jaitley said.

Reading parts of the court's verdict, which was released in its entirety on Thursday, the Union minister said the court, while acquitting the accused, noted that it was a case of no evidence.

The investigation into the case was carried out between 2007 and 2009 when the UPA was in power, he said.

They coined the theory of Hindu terror and instituted 3-4 such cases for political gains. None of these cases could stand the scrutiny of the court. Innocent people were killed in the blast but the investigators did not go for the real culprits, he added.

When asked about the then home secretary and now BJP leader RK Singh who had echoed the 'Hindu terror' during the UPA regime, Jaitley said it is not important what the bureaucrats said as such decisions are taken at a political level.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has reached an important milestone with Italy getting on board this ambitious, Chinese economic and geopolitical venture. Italy is the 124th country in the world and the 13th from the European Union to join BRI. More importantly, it is the first member of the G-7 group of industrialised countries to be drawn into BRIs ambit. During Chinese President Xi Jinpings recent visit to Rome, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding under which Italy agreed to participate in BRI. The two sides signed 29 separate deals for projects worth $2.8 billion. These projects envisage co-operation in the banking, energy and infrastructure sectors. Developing Italys infrastructure is a priority for the two countries. China is investing in developing port infrastructure at Trieste, Genoa and Palermo. Italy is among the worlds top 10 largest economies but its infrastructure is crumbling. In addition to boosting Sino-Italian trade and Chinese investment in Italy, BRI offers Rome an opportunity to jumpstart its sluggish economy. For China, BRI opens up yet another market. More important is its symbolic value; China has managed to draw a G-7 member into an embrace. This is no small achievement given the rising hostility and apprehension of G-7 members, especially the United States, towards China.

However, there are formidable challenges that Italy must prepare to face in the coming years. Already burdened by a huge public debt  among the largest in the eurozone Italys economy went into recession late last year. Will it be in a position to pay back massive loans to China? Asian participants in BRI such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar have cautionary tales to offer Italy. Besides, rifts within Italys fragile coalition government are in danger of coming to the fore. Italys right-wing League Party is said to be strongly opposed to the Chinese initiative and in a show of this displeasure, its leader Matteo Salvini, who is also the Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, stayed away from all official BRI-related ceremonies.

Italys participation in BRI has raised hackles in several Western capitals. EU member-states and the US are concerned over Chinese investment in critical sectors such as ports and energy in Italy. They have warned Italy against allowing Chinese firms to develop telecom networks as this would make European and American communications vulnerable to Chinese disruption and spying. Will Italy be the only G-7 member to join BRI or will others follow its lead? Despite American opposition, the UK became a founding member of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in 2015. Soon, France, Germany and Italy followed London into the AIIB. This could be the G-7s experience with BRI.
UPPER PROVIDENCE  The body of a missing 20-year-old Rose Valley man was discovered in the Springton Lake Reservoir at about 11 a.m. Thursday, according to a release from the Pennsylvania State Police.

Joshua Zhixiang Luo, who was last seen alive around March 22, was found in the reservoir about 11 a.m. Thursday. Trooper Jessica Tobin said she could not provide many other details because the investigation is ongoing, but indicated there was no evidence of foul play.

Luo, a Rochester, N.Y., college student, had been reported missing after driving off in his fathers Subaru Forrester sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. March 22.

The initial missing persons release indicated Luo took his fathers wallet and a bottle of Tylenol with him. The release stated he had recently unenrolled from college after being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

The Upper Providence Township Police Department, which was assisting state police in the search, issued a statement March 26 announcing the Subaru had been located on Birnam Woods at Lakeview Drive in Upper Providence on March 25. Tobin said law enforcement continued to search that area after the vehicle was found.

Anyone with additional information that might be helpful to the investigation is urged to contact the PSP Media barracks at 484-840-1000.
U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore, sent a letter Thursday to the House Armed Services and Defense Appropriations committees urging them to support two Boeing Company-made aircraft crucial to the defense industrial base of the region  the CH-47 Chinook and the V-22 Osprey.

We are extremely concerned that the FY20 budget request (from the U.S. Army) delays the Armys production of the CH-47F by five years, the letter reads. Delaying production of the CH-47F Block II by five years cuts production by 67 percent, will result in the loss of over 1,000 skilled jobs and will drive a $3.2 billion cost increase to the program.

The letter notes the FY 20 budget also requests 10 new tilt-rotor Ospreys for the Navy as well as modernization upgrades for older V-22 aircraft, and urged both committees to support those requests.

Under Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy announced that the Army would delay planned upgrades for the Chinook earlier this month as part of a broader effort to focus more on modernization in areas like technology and air defense.

United Aerospace Workers Local 1069 President Mike Tolassi said the news sent shockwaves throughout Boeings Ridley plant and his team has been working with local and federal legislators to convince the Army to reverse course.

The Chinook, a twin-engine, tandem rotor, heavy-lift cargo helicopter, has been a staple workhorse of the U.S. military and its allies for decades. It previously underwent a Block I upgrade that McCarthy indicated effectively makes it the youngest fleet in the Army and noted the Army already has 10 percent more Chinooks than it needs.

But the Chinook, which has been built in Ridley Park since the 1960s, has become heavier and bulkier over the years as additional armor was added. The tradeoff came in lowered range and lift ability, which the Block II upgrades were meant to address with advanced rotor blades, redesigned fuel tanks, a sturdier fuselage, and an improved drivetrain.

The letter delivered Thursday and signed by a bipartisan cadre of nine Congress members  including Brian Fitzpatrick, R-1 of Middletown Township, Bucks County, and Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-4 of Jenkintown  notes the Army first notified the House that it was moving forward with Block II in 2017.

We ask that your respective committees include language directing the Army to continue the CH-47F Block II program in accordance with its 2017 notification to Congress, and provide an additional $28 million of advanced procurement funding to ensure that five CH-47F Block II aircraft can be procured in FY21, per the Armys 2017 congressional notification, the letter reads.

Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. of Lehigh County, has also sent a letter to Army Secretary Dr. Mark Esper noting the Chinook enjoys an outsized role in supporting warfighters as the only heavy-lift rotator-craft capable of moving troops and heavy equipment.

Expected upgrades to the fleet of 542 aircraft would provide more than 2,000 additional lift-pounds of transport and allow the Chinook to stay in service for decades to come, according to a Boeing fact sheet.

Boeing spokesman Andrew Africk previously said there are three Block II Chinooks on the production line currently under an Engineering Manufacturing Development contract with the Army, the first of which is due to come off the assembly line soon. Tolassi indicated that work is ahead of schedule and under budget.

A formal flight test program for the first Block II test/prototype Chinook is scheduled to begin in the next few months at Boeings facility in Mesa, Arizona, according to Africk.
SPRINGFIELD  The school board and Springfield Education Support Professional Association have signed a four-year contract months before the existing agreement ends. The contract term is July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2023 and calls for salary increases aligned to the yearly Act 1 index. The 2019-20 index is 2.3 percent.

In addition to the salary component, terms include no change to medical plans and remaining at 8 percent contribution; district management of the prescription plan with no change to the current monthly premium contribution of 13 percent; and a pay for any employee who works in the Extended School Year Program to be paid at their current rate or $15, whichever is higher  the previous rate was $10. The agreement also calls for implementation of an evaluation system to be developed between the contract ratification and July 1.

School Board President Bruce Lord, personnel committee chairman, thanked the union leadership, district Executive Director Don Mooney and Human Resources Director Linda Bellace for the negotiations. The union is comprised of 88 employees in support positions including secretaries and earning/teaching assistants in classrooms throughout the five schools and central office. Director Kevin Keenan recused himself from the vote, stating his mother is a union member. There was no other board or public comment.

The board approved the first reading of an update to policy E8 titled Smoke-free Workplace Tobacco Use/Nicotine Delivery System/Vaping. The policy, first adopted in 1994 and last revised in 2010, is specific to all employees and visitors. Policy Committee Chairman Dom Bentivegna said changes have been made to reflect issues raised by vaping.

In other business, a proposal from Berkshire Systems Group, Inc. in the amount of $117,229 was approved. This calls for installation of new security camera hardware, operating software, and training to be used in the new high school. Mooney said the benefit of purchase at this time was to integrate the operating software with existing camera equipment in the districts other schools. Communication with police and other services will be substantially improved with the new system.

Finally, the board approved the Resolution, Trust Agreement and Participation Agreement for the district to become a member of the Delaware County Public School Healthcare Trust. The consortium was organized by Delaware County Intermediate Unit in 2013, at which time the district chose to provide for healthcare on its own. Mooney said the five year history of data indicate joining the trust will reduce district costs. In addition to the other 14 districts in the county, Delaware County Community College will also be a participating member.
President Donald J. Trump is on a roll, isnt he?

First, his attorney general concludes that he has been completely exonerated from colluding with Russia and trying to obstruct justice.

Then, emboldened anew, he immediately pivots to taking health insurance away from 33 million Americans, including many in his slavishly loyal base.

Its going to be a great two years.

Many of us are admittedly disappointed by what we know so far about the Mueller report.

We should keep in mind that we have not yet seen the Mueller report itself, but rather only a brief, generalized summary of it by a biased attorney general who auditioned for his job by writing his own 19-page script arguing that the president of the United States is indeed above all laws.

So when you hear a TV pundit say the Mueller report says  or Mueller says , remind yourself, we dont know what Robert Mueller says, only what Attorney General William Barr says he says.

The public needs to read and digest the full report because there are still so many questions about both conspiracy with Russia and obstruction of justice that remain unanswered.

Maybe Mueller has concluded that Trump and his campaign staffers were simply the gang that couldnt collude straight, that they were so naive and inexperienced, they didnt even know conferring with Russians was a no-no.

Through the indictments and guilty pleas Mueller obtained, he has left no doubt that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election campaign bigly, but lots of other questions still hang out there.

What other presidential campaign have you ever heard of that had so many of its employees, including the candidates son and son-in-law (19 in all), make so many contacts with citizens and agents of a hostile foreign power during an election and transition (more than 100) and then lie about those contacts so vehemently for so long?

What other campaign has ever happily hired on a longtime agent of a Pro-Russia Ukrainian faction, Paul Manafort, as campaign chair, especially as he offered to work for free even while owing $15 million to a Russian oligarch?

And how did Manafort manage to change the one plank in the Republican platform that Russia cared about, the one calling for the lifting of sanctions against Russia for its Ukraine grab?

What other presidential candidate has repeatedly lied to the voters about pursuing business interests in Russia even as his personal lawyer proceeded with those plans? Whose interests were (and are) paramount there, Trumps or Americas?

Just what does President Trump talk about with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin in all those private meetings  the plight of the Ukrainians whose country Putin has invaded, the site of a future Trump Moscow tower or something else altogether?

What other president have you ever seen tell agents of a hostile foreign power that he had to fire the director of the FBI because he was crazy and a nutcase and now the pressure was off? What pressure? To do what?

That video, by the way, came from Russian media as American reporters and photographers were not permitted in the Oval Office while the head of our nation met with Russian officials and spilled the beans on a joint U.S.-Israeli intelligence project.

When Independent Prosecutor Leon Jaworskis findings on Richard Nixons wrongdoing were turned over to Congress in 1974, they formed the basis or roadmap for public congressional investigations and hearings that ultimately led to articles of impeachment against Nixon.

As commentators said then  quoting Winston Churchill about an early loss in World War II  Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

I hope thats the case with the Mueller report, the congressional investigations, the Southern District of New York probe and the New York Attorney Generals investigations, not to mention countless civil suits over the emolument clause, the Wall and other constitutional issues.

We have already seen a lot of the evidence that Mueller gathered on obstruction, such as Trump publicly admitting twice he fired FBI Director James Comey to quash the Russian interference probe.

Trumps defenders argue that Mueller cannot prove the intent prong of an obstruction charge because we cant know what was in his mind. Really? I think he says whats in his mind pretty much all the time.

By producing his own summary and delaying release of the Mueller report, Attorney General Barr has now handed Trump the means to be absolutely insufferable, both daily and on the campaign trail for the next two years.

Who knows what other autocratic measures a cocky, re-energized Trump plans to inflict on the American people between now and 2020? Hes already back to destroying the Affordable Care Act.

He has already nearly destroyed the EPA , demoralized all federal employees, upended our foreign policy, rattled our economy, given the country away to the wealthy and overrun our system of checks and balances.

And he and Mitch McConnell have systematically installed the right-wing judges he expects to support him in those endeavors.

Trump is a master propagandist and in Fox News he has a whole cadre of underlings who are already working hard to paint the investigators the evil bad guys and Trump as the innocent victim.

Journalism schools will be studying this era for decades to come.

The Mueller Report  once it is made public  may answer the one question we are all still asking about Trump and his (six guilty) minions: If they did nothing wrong, why did they lie every single time about every single thing even when they didnt have to?

In legal circles, such behavior is known as evidence of guilty knowledge, but I dont think Trump can feel guilty because in his mind he has never done anything wrong, only his enemies have.
Most alliances die young.

That is how The Economist magazine begins an insightful special essay on the durability of NATO, or North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This military alliance turns 70 years old this year. The treaty was signed in Washington in April 1949. The fact-based Economist essay notes coalitions of the Napoleonic wars lasted on average five years.

The current U.S. administration has directed strong public criticism at European allies for not doing more. However, such tension has been a feature of life in NATO almost from the beginning.

This administration also last April hosted the Baltic Summit, underscoring defense commitment to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In 1940, the Soviet Union annexed the Baltic States, which had achieved independence in 1918. All three nations became NATO members in March 2004.

Montenegro became NATOs newest member in early June 2017. The tiny Balkan state had been campaigning for alliance membership for over a decade.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and East Europe communist regimes ended the Cold War, but not conflict in Europe. In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed the territory of Crimea. The armed invasion of Ukraine by Russias army, after months of covert aid to insurgent rebel forces, generated the most serious crisis in Europe since the Balkan wars of the 1990s  and perhaps since World War II.

In 2008, Russian troops invaded a portion of Georgia, following an attack by Georgian troops on South Ossetia. This territory as well as Abkhazia had declared independence from Georgia. Russia encouraged and fostered these breakaway efforts, though the international community did not support them.

The end of the Cold War was a great victory for the policy of restraint and deterrence, termed Containment. Every United States president from Harry Truman, when the Cold War commenced, to George H.W. Bush when that conflict ended, supported this foundation security policy.

NATO endures, for good reasons. Bureaucracies naturally seek self-perpetuation, but strategic realities provide persuasive justification. General war in Europe was avoided for a century between the final defeat of Napoleon and the outbreak of World War I. A Concert of European nations, brokered by Great Britain, helped keep the general peace.

NATO today arguably represents an approximate counterpart to the uncertain but generally effective Concert. The alliance has operated well beyond the nations of the North Atlantic region, including not only on the margins of Europe but in distant territory, including notably Afghanistan

Article 5 of the NATO treaty states that an attack on one member amounts to an attack on all. The 9/11 terrorist strikes on New York and Washington, D.C., and in the sky over Pennsylvania, triggered this clause, for the first time.

Todays alliance leaders in Europe are articulate and effective, including in particular Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel. Chancellor Merkel spearheaded expansion of Germanys roles in international humanitarian relief. She also provided arms to Kurds fighting Islamic extremists in Iraq.

Another outstanding leader is David Cameron, who was Britains Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016. He termed Russias aggression unacceptable and unjustified, and bluntly stated that any efforts to appease Vladimir Putin would be a repetition of the same mistakes made by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in accommodating Adolf Hitler in 1938. Britain and Germany both have highly effective militaries.

In 2002, NATO renewed efforts to develop rapid reaction military capabilities. The credibility of the alliance is essential. The periodic belligerent nationalist rhetoric from the White House undermines that cooperation.
SALT LAKE CITY  For the women of Sweat, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play which explores the plight of modern steel factory workers, theres little room for indirectness.

My character (Tracey) is very strong, and it's a nice reminder that makes you think, Maybe I can shoot from the hip a little bit more,' said Margot White, a New York actress playing the lead role in the Pioneer Theater Companys production of Sweat. She reminds me that I don't have to always say something thats going to be liked or approved. It's sort of a gift to be able to live in that character for a couple weeks at least, without the fear of acceptance.

Written by African-American playwright Lynn Nottage, Sweat takes a close look at communities in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 2000 and 2008, a time when many factories were shutting down, according to White. Set in a bar frequented by the plays factory workers for the past 20 years, the play illustrates the social impact that recent changes, such as trade agreements and alternative energy, are having on todays laborers.

Pioneer Theatres production of Sweat will run March 29-April 13 at the Simmons Memorial Theatre, located on the University of Utahs campus

It's a really interesting examination on how relationships can constrain, no matter how close you are with some people.  Nafeesa Monroe, cast member of Pioneer Theatre Company's production of "Sweat"

While the play sheds light on some of todays unresolvable social issues, it is truly a play about people: the suffering they endure as a result of corporate decisions, the close-knit environments they inhabit and the relationships that make up their lives.

I think the play can be looked at as a political statement, but really more than anything it's a play about relationships, said Nafeesa Monroe, who plays Cynthia in the production. And I think that it's a really interesting examination on how relationships can constrain, no matter how close you are with some people. Life may throw things at you that put friendships to the test.

Beyond challenges of friendship and social class, Monroes character contends with issues of race. As an African-American woman in the Reading community, her challenges are often different than those of her coworkers. Monroe, who, like the character she plays, has African-American heritage, believes the play accurately portrays some of the racial challenges shes experienced in her own life.

I actually grew up in a Caucasian neighborhood, she said. Feeling like the other, feeling like you're being punished for wanting something better for your life, feeling like not everybody in your family is pulling the weight, having your friends question your ability to do things  all of those things I have experienced. I think Lynn (Nottage) has done a really good job of, through this one character, allowing people to get a little insight of what it's like to be a person of color in the United States  especially in a small town.

In spite of the differences among those in the play's community, the collective challenge of recovering ones identity, financial well-being and sense of value is shared by all.

Tracy definitely goes through it  she goes through the wringer, Margot White said about the plays protagonist. But shes a unique character from my perspective because she's tough as nails, she's strong. She said what she means, she shoots from the hip and she expects the same in return.

And, perhaps because of the play's Rust Belt setting, theres no shortage of strong women in the script. The play's author studied the city of Reading for years.

Cynthia is tough  she's tough as hell, which is actually a quote from the play, Monroe said about her character. She is really loyal to her friends, but she's also an African-American woman in a town where not a lot of people of color are  getting the higher-end jobs.

While the play delves into the stories of Cynthia and Tracey, it ultimately aims to portray the life of the community as a whole. As Monroe said, it is a play about the community rather than a play focused on any individual.

As for why Pioneer Theatre chose to run this production now? Timeliness, White said, is a factor.

I think you could say there's a pre- and post-Trump feeling amongst America  and that's not to say the play is pro or anti anything, White explained. (Sweat) is just an acknowledgement that life in these communities, and the way we purchase and consume energy, is different. There's still a way to go  I don't mean to make it political. But I do think  the play can definitely be related to our current government and politics.

If you go 

What: Pioneer Theatre Companys Sweat

When: March 29-April 13, times vary

Where: Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East

How much: $32-$45

Web: pioneertheatre.org
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SALT LAKE CITY  President Trump threatened to close the southern border Thursday, saying that Mexico and other Central American countries were not doing enough to stem the tide of migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico.

This comes two days after U.S. Customs and Border Patrol detained 4,100 migrants on March 26  the highest number of total detentions in one day at the border in more than a decade, according to The Washington Post.

Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country. They are all talk and no action. Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing. The Dems dont care, such BAD laws. May close the Southern Border!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019

Trump tweeted that Mexico is "doing NOTHING" to stop the flow of illegal immigrants, adding that "They are all talk and no action."

This isnt the first time Trump has threatened to close the border: the president first said he would do so last November.

But this renewed vow to seal the border comes on the heels of a proclamation Wednesday by Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, that the U.S immigration enforcement system along the nations southern boundary is at the breaking point, The Washington Post reported, and that authorities are releasing migrants into the country after cursory background checks because of the overwhelming number of families with children crossing the border seeking asylum.

That breaking point has arrived this week, McAleenan told The Washington Post. CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our southwest border, and nowhere has that crisis manifested more acutely than here in El Paso."

For the first time in a decade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reluctantly conducting direct releases of migrants: instead of turning them over to Immigration and Customs and Enforcement for detention or giving them ankle bracelets to track their whereabouts, the agency is releasing migrants with just a notice to appear in court, the Post reported.

According to McAleenan, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol detained more than 4,100 on March 26, the highest total detentions in one day at the border in more 10 years. The agency expects border apprehensions are on pace to exceed 100,000 this month  more than a 3 percent increase, according to The Washington Post. For context, in May 2014, at the height of the last border crisis, there were more than 68,800 migrants apprehended at the border, the newspaper reported.

The number of migrants coming to the border dramatically increased after President Trump reversed course on his zero tolerance immigration policy, announcing that parents and children would no longer be separated at the border, according to The Washington Post.

McAleenan postponed an appearance before Congress on Wednesday to travel to the border, Politico reported.

Trumps threat to close the border also comes amid a battle over the national emergency he declared last month over border security. Trump seeks to shift billions of dollars from the Pentagons budget toward building a wall on the southern border, a key promise of his 2016 presidential campaign.

[Read more: [What President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration tells us about the state of American democracy]](https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900060281/what-president-donald-trump-national-emergency-border-declaration-tells-us-about-the-state-of-american-democracy.html)

Though both houses of Congress attempted to block the declaration, the emergency declaration is set to stand after Congress failed to override the presidents veto.

[Read more: Shutting down the internet, testing chemical weapons on people and 2 more alarming things President Donald Trump could do with national emergency powers_]_

Trump has previously accused El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras of misuse of U.S. aid intended to improve economic conditions spurring migrants to cross the border in the first place, according to Politico. The president threatened to cut that aid off altogether in December.

More recently, earlier this week, Politico reported that confusion over Trumps tweets about the three countries had stalled delivery of U.S. aid.

U.S. Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen traveled to Honduras Wednesday to address the issue, meeting with Northern Triangle government leaders to forge what she called a HISTORIC agreement to confront the root causes of the crisis on our border.

I'm pleased to announce the U.S. & our Northern Triangle allies have reached a HISTORIC agreement to confront the root causes of the crisis on our border. Working with Central American govts to increase security & prosperity in the region has been one of my greatest priorities. pic.twitter.com/QQMpZVI9yp  Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen (@SecNielsen) March 27, 2019

Working with Central American govts to increase security & prosperity in the region has been one of my greatest priorities, she said in a tweet, though she did not elaborate further.

In November, Trump implemented his controversial "Remain in Mexico" plan, which requires aslyum-seekers to remain in Mexico until their asylum status is granted.

(Read more: How Utah Sen. Mike Lee may have paved the way for Trump's new asylum plan)

Before the plan was officially put into place, Utah Sen. Mike Lee traveled to Mexico and Guatemala to float the idea of such a plan with government officials in both countries, the Deseret News reported in November.

(Read more: Utah Sen. Mike Lee in Mexico, Guatemala seeking solutions to migrant caravan)

According to a July 2017 report by Human Rights First, migrants and refugees face acute risks of kidnapping, disappearance, sexual assault, trafficking and other grave harms in Mexico.

The American Civil Liberties Union will challenge the "Remain in Mexico" policy in federal court on Friday, according to NPR.
With the 2019 general legislative session completed, a policy dissection is in order. So, what was accomplished in Utah education policy? The answer: A good chunk of work.

What work is still left to do? Ditto.

Educators

The Legislature is ever concerned with teachers. Undoubtedly, the 4 percent increase in weighted pupil unit will be seen as a boon for teachers, since this may be used to increase their salaries.

And the companion legislation to 2018s tax hike for schools  the Teacher and Student Success Act  was passed, allowing 25 percent of account funds (40 percent in some circumstances) to be used for teacher salaries as well. Better compensation may help improve the professions leaking pipeline, but the problem may be more complex than money.

Which is why this year, to combat the aforementioned teacher shortage  thanks to the passage of the Public Education Exit Survey  the state board of education will begin receiving data on why educators are leaving the profession. Survey results, we can assume, will be used to help make more informed policies for attracting and retaining the best teachers. For similar reasons, the Legislature passed a bill to extend the STEM salary supplement to teachers who have been teaching in the STEM fields for 10 years or more, regardless of certification. Future opportunities may lie in expanding certification for those who want to become teachers as well as finding merit-based ways to earn more in the classroom.

Accountability

At its core, accountability in education is whether a parent is satisfied with their childs education. But so long as we have a state accountability system and a statewide assessment, we should make these tools of transparency and choice. Thankfully the Legislature avoided gutting the state accountability system of its easy-to-understand A-F grades (similar to a students report card). No statewide accountability system is perfect, but the rankings it generates should at least be consumable by the public. Otherwise, what is it for?

In a fairly controversial move, the Legislature passed a bill that allows the statewide assessment to improve a students grade or to demonstrate competency, if so desired by the student and parent. The statewide test opt-out is in full force, but some  to their chagrin  still see this policy as encouraging students to take the statewide test. But for those who like the idea of giving parents and students alternatives for how to use a test to its greatest advantage, the policy may be a good thing.

Going forward, we should continue to expand options for how students can use the statewide assessment, like using a section of it as pass/fail full credit for a particular course, in the spirit of competency-based models. The Legislature could also consider creating a menu of state assessments so local education agencies can decide what works best for their school (similar to Arizonas policy).

Options

Speaking of options, our Legislature championed increased choices for students  by spreading awareness of apprenticeships and making competency-based programs more compatible with our traditional system  but missed a major opportunity to expand needed options for special needs students.

Apprenticeships serve as an important educational/vocational option for students. The Legislature created a commissioner of apprenticeships similar to the commissioners over higher education and technical colleges and also created a pilot program for apprenticeships in the Utah Talent Ready Program.

For students pursuing competency-based education, or CBE programs  the Legislature clarified that institutions of higher education must treat CBE transcripts on equal footing as traditional diplomas for admissions, scholarships and financial aid. And now, concurrent enrollment is available for students at younger ages than ever before. The shift toward a competency-based mentality is a good thing. Let students move at their own pace. Its a no-brainer.

Importantly, the Legislature failed to pass a tax credit scholarship for students with special needs. Right now, families can access the Carson Smith Scholarship program, which is a wonderful but fairly limited program that helps students with special needs access private schools. The tax credit scholarship would have offered more students with special needs a plethora of education options (not just private schools) and with a cost savings to the state. Hopefully this passes next year.

Governance

A bill to address the education governing structure didnt pass but received attention. A constitutional amendment and companion bill would have replaced the current 15-person, elected state board of education with a nine-person, governor-appointed board. The goal was to clarify education politics for voters and to give the governor the power most people already assume he or she has. We can anticipate the issue to be studied during the interim and to gain broader consensus. Whatever happens, we need a policy thats honest about remediating the current confusion over whos in charge in education.

What did pass? A clarifying bill that says a candidate running for state board of education can run as a partisan, nonpartisan or write-in candidate. If you have strong feelings on either side of this, then you should stay tuned for this conversation. Its not going away.
Utah is renowned for many things: We lead the nation in birth rate, volunteerism and even Jell-O consumption  but it may come as a surprise that our state is a leader when it comes to protecting electronic privacy.

Utahs legacy of valuing electronic privacy is evident in the laws our Legislature passes. In 2012, the Utah Legislature enacted SB236, establishing that GPS tracking constitutes a search that requires judicial authorization. In 2014, Utah became the first state in the nation to enact legislation simultaneously protecting location information and electronic communications content, regardless of age, from government access.

In the wake of several stunning abuses by law enforcement in accessing the prescription drug database, in 2015 the Utah Legislature specified that a warrant is required before police may access the electronic prescription drug records of Utahns. Now, in 2019, Utah is once again leading out, establishing through HB57 sponsored by Rep. Craig Hall, R-Dist. 33  which passed unanimously  that a warrant must be secured before law enforcement may access electronic data held by a third party.

Why is this such a big deal? It is well established that law enforcement must seek and obtain a warrant before they can access the contents of your home or car or even your phone. But what about the electronic information that you transmit to a remote computing service? What about your electronic information when it is held by a third party, such as a cellphone service provider, photo sharing service, or social media company, as a necessary condition to operating? And what about the data created about us by companies with whom we interact?

Traditional legal analysis would have dictated that under what is known as the Third Party Doctrine, a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he or she voluntarily turns over to third parties. But the relevance of the Third Party Doctrine may be waning in a world where increasingly we share information with third parties on a near constant basis: uploading photos, cellphone call logs, financial information and calendar entries, to name just a few.

The Supreme Court of the United States has been inching nearer every year to confirming that the Third Party Doctrine does not absolve the need for law enforcement to secure a warrant, as evidenced in the courts decision in Carpenter v. U.S. in 2018. Mr. Carpenters legal woes began in 2011, when without getting a probable cause warrant, the government obtained several months worth of cellphone location records for suspects in a criminal investigation in Detroit. For Mr. Carpenter, the records revealed 12,898 separate points of location data  an average of 101 each day over the course of four months.

With the assistance of his counsel and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others, Mr. Carpenter objected to the warrantless disclosure of this information to law enforcement. The Supreme Court agreed, holding that a customer does indeed have an expectation of privacy in his or her cell service location information. In order to seek and use this type of information, the court stated in the Carpenter decision that law enforcement must first obtain a warrant under the Fourth Amendment. In so doing, the Supreme Court tacitly acknowledged that privacy principles need to adapt for the digital era.

In general, the courts are slow to catch up to technological advances, underscoring why the passage of HB57 is so significant. The bill codifies the Carpenter decision but also goes further, making clear a warrant is required before law enforcement may obtain, use, copy or disclose electronic information regardless of whether it is stored on our phones or on a server owned by a third party.

HB57 is essential in ensuring that the privacy rights of Utahns are protected in the digital age. And Utah has demonstrated, once again, that first is a good place to be when it comes to our privacy rights.
Editor's note: This commentary is part of an ongoing Deseret News opinion series exploring ideas and issues at the intersection of faith and thought.

Contempt has proven a strangely unifying force in contemporary American life.

As a conservative, I found common cause with my liberal friends and family in the early weeks of President Trumps term as we united over our contempt for the state of modern politics. And unless Im misguided, much of the country has done the same. But, while such ill-gotten unity may come with cursory benefits  a moment of feeling understood or validated, perhaps  surely uniting around our shared hate cant be good for our national health.

More to the point, what is it doing to our spiritual health?

Were throwing sawdust in a broken engine  feeling better with each contemptuous exchange, but ignoring a problem that continues to fester. Were living on borrowed time, and feeding on hate will eventually rot us through.

Expelling contempt was so important to the central figure of Christianity that he publicly taught to drop everything and first be reconciled to thy brother.

And he didnt stop there. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy, he told his listeners. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

It was, and still is, an hard saying. Should I be praying for my so-called political enemies? Should I bless them amid their shoddy, sometimes harmful, work? If the president has offended me, should I forgive him?

The answer is yes, but its not just for their benefit. Its for mine.

Contempt is an addiction, as social scientist Arthur Brooks puts it. We love to put others down and relish their misfortune. If you or I have hurt someone with  harsh words, mockery or dismissiveness, Brooks says, then start the road to recovery from this harmful addiction, and make amends wherever possible. It will set you free.

Psychology confirms hates ugly effects. People who feel excluded or rejected  usually the result of a contemptuous encounter  have poorer sleep quality and lower-functioning immune systems. Hate increases heart rate, blood pressure and kills neurons in the brain that are responsible for storing memories and making good judgements.

It is possible, then, to possess both a heart of compassion and an eye of discernment. Wed be wise to utilize both more fully.

But the best data comes from ourselves. Process your own anger and honestly evaluate how it makes you feel. Depressed? Lonely? Uncontrollable?

Turning away hate will extricate us from its control. Take prayer, which at its best, is less concerned with forcing our desires on others as it is with healing our own hearts. I can petition in frustration to fix my leaders, or I can open my heart to forgiveness and personal change.

Which do you think is the more rewarding exercise?

Of course, this isn't to erase accountability. Our politicians are and should remain accountable to their constituents. When Gordon B. Hinckley, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, faced a question from Larry King about the misconduct of President Bill Clinton, he responded, I feel very sorry for him. Here's a man of great talent and capacity who evidently just hurt himself so terribly. It must be a terrible thing. But, he continued, he is accountable to the people who elected him. Hes accountable to the Congress.

It is possible, then, to possess both a heart of compassion and an eye of discernment. Wed be wise to utilize both more fully.

Consider the example of the Dalai Lama, who at age 24 was exiled from his Tibetan homeland. After China pressured Tibet into incorporation with the Peoples Republic, a revolt broke out and the Dalai Lama fled, fearing for his life. The spiritual and political leader is now 84 years old, and rather than caving to hardheartedness, he practices what he calls warmheartedness. Each day he offers sincere prayers for China and its people. Warmheartedness is the ultimate source of a happy life, he says.

I confess, I dont possess a natural instinct to pray for the president, but what choice do I really have? Like all Christians, Im under a divine command to love my enemies. I might as well start with my fellow Americans.
SALT LAKE CITY  Facebook announced Wednesday it will ban praise, support and representation of white nationalism and white separatism on Facebook and Instagram, adding that it will direct users who post or search content connected to these ideologies to an organization that helps people leave hate groups.

The policy comes weeks after Facebook received intense scrutiny for how its platform was leveraged by the killer in the Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque shooting to share a 74-page white supremacist manifesto and livestream a video of the killings. According to The Guardian, Facebook did not receive the first user report about the livestream until 12 minutes after it had ended. After the video was removed, there were over 1.5 million attempts to re-upload it  20 percent of which were successful  raising questions about the social networks ability to efficiently detect and remove hateful or dangerous content.

The move also comes at a time when white supremacist propaganda is becoming increasingly pervasive. As the Deseret News previously reported, instances of white supremacist propaganda on college campuses in the U.S. increased 182 percent from 2017 to 2018, and almost 500 percent in Utah during the same time period.

The ban marks a departure from Facebooks previous guidelines, which drew a distinction between white supremacy and white nationalism and separatism. While the social network banned praise, support, or representation of white supremacy, it allowed users to express those views for white nationalism or separatism because those ideologies didn't seem to be always associated with racism (at least not explicitly), according to a 2018 Motherboard investigation.

In a statement announcing the ban, Facebook explained, We didnt originally apply the same rationale to expressions of white nationalism and white separatism because we were thinking about broader concepts of nationalism and separatism  things like American pride and Basque separatism, which are an important part of peoples identity.

But over the past three months, the statement continues, our conversations with members of civil society and academics who are experts in race relations around the world have confirmed that white nationalism and white separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups. ... Going forward, while people will still be able to demonstrate pride in their ethnic heritage, we will not tolerate praise or support for white nationalism and white separatism.

Many civil rights groups and nonprofits have applauded Facebooks decision to ban speech promoting white nationalism and white separatism, but it has also raised questions about how the policy will be enforced and anti-conservative bias online  as well as whether other popular platforms such as YouTube and Twitter will follow Facebook's move and enact similar policies.

Lets explore answers to each of these questions.

What is the difference between white supremacy, white nationalism, and white separatism?

Originally, Facebooks policy drew a distinction between white supremacy and white nationalist or white separatist ideologies. But experts have argued that the three are inseparable.

The Anti-Defamation League defines white supremacy as a belief system with several tenets: 1) whites should have dominance over people of other backgrounds, especially where they may co-exist; 2) whites should live by themselves in a whites-only society; 3) white people have their own culture that is superior to other cultures; 4) white people are genetically superior to other people.

It defines white nationalism as a euphemism for white supremacy, adding that some white supremacists have used the term to refer to a form of white supremacy that emphasizes defining a country or region by white racial identity and which seeks to promote the interests of whites exclusively, typically at the expense of people of other backgrounds.

It defines white separatism as a form of white supremacy that emphasizes the idea that white people should exist separately from all inferior, non-white races, whether by establishing an all-white community somewhere or removing non-whites from their midst.

Facebook representatives told Motherboard that an overwhelming majority of experts said white nationalism and white separatism have close connections to organized hate, and that all experts it spoke to agreed that white nationalistic sentiments expressed online have led to real-world violence and harm, which led the company to change its policy.

Is the ban an example of anti-conservative bias online?

Facebook and other social networks have been criticized in the past for allegedly showcasing an anti-conservative bias through their algorithms and search engines, though these claims have been hotly contested. Critics of Facebooks new policy will likely point out the fact that other separatist and nationalist movements arent being banned.

As Motherboard reported, Facebook will still allow content relating to black separatist movements and the Basque separatist movement to be posted, due to experts' arguments that white separatism should be handled differently because of the long history of white supremacism that has been used to subjugate and dehumanize people of color in the United States and around the world.

Whiteness is not an ethnicity, it is a skin color. And America is a multicultural society. White nationalism is simply a form of white supremacy. It is in an ideology centered on hate.  Mark Pitcavage, who tracks domestic extremism for the Anti-Defamation League

However, Facebook does ban content centered on black nationalism, Motherboard reported. The Southern Poverty Law Center has characterized groups that espouse black nationalist ideology as hate groups, with the added proviso that "they should not be seen as equivalent to white supremacist groups  such as the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazis  in terms of their history of violence and terrorism."

Others have argued that limiting white nationalist and white separatist speech is equivalent to saying that white people are not allowed to have pride in their ethnic heritage.

Mark Pitcavage, who tracks domestic extremism for the Anti-Defamation League, told The New York Times that white nationalism is not the same thing as ethnic pride or American patriotism.

"Whiteness is not an ethnicity, it is a skin color," Pitcavage said. "And America is a multicultural society. White nationalism is simply a form of white supremacy. It is in an ideology centered on hate."

How will the ban on white nationalist and white separatist speech be enforced?

Brian Fishman, Facebook's policy director of counterterrorism, told Motherboard that the company will use content matching  which consists of using an algorithm to detect and remove flagged images  as well as machine learning and artificial intelligence to enforce the ban, but didn't specify exactly how those tools would be used or what would be flagged.

These tools also only go so far. As The Washington Post reported, last year only about 50 percent of posts using hate speech were removed as soon as they were uploaded to Facebook. The rest of the work falls to human moderators who are trained to decide whether a specific piece of content should be removed from Facebook's platform or not.

Questions have also been raised about the consistency of Facebook's policies and how they are moderated. For example, the social network has allowed certain Neo-Nazi groups to continue maintaining their Facebook pages, finding they did not violate "community standards," the Independent reported.

Facebook representatives told Motherboard that the company will not immediately ban "implicit and coded white nationalism and white separatism" because messages that don't use language or images that explicitly reference white supremacy are harder to detect and police.

According to Motherboard, phrases like "I am a proud white nationalist" and "Immigration is tearing this country apart; white separatism is the only answer" would be banned under the new policy. Previously, these types of phrases would not have been banned. Facebook did not provide examples of the types of statements or images that would be allowed under the new policy.

It also remains unclear how Facebook will define white nationalist and white separatist content, something that needs to be explained, Madihha Ahussain, a lawyer for civil rights group Muslim Advocates, told The New York Times. "For example, will it include expressions of anti-Muslim, anti-Black, anti-Jewish, anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ sentiment  all underlying foundations of white nationalism?" Ahussain asked.

"Further, if the policy lacks robust, informed and assertive enforcement, it will continue to leave vulnerable communities at the mercy of hate groups," Ahussain added.

Have other platforms enacted similar bans?

Although other popular sites like YouTube and Twitter have community standards that restrict the types of content allowed on their platforms, Facebook "appears to be the first major platform to take a stance against white nationalism and separatism specifically," Louise Matsakis reported in Wired.

Twitter bans accounts affiliated with groups known to promote violence, and YouTube also takes down videos that incite violence. These platforms, along with Facebook, have traditionally leveraged their technology to prevent terrorist groups like the Islamic State or Al Qaeda from sharing videos or posts, but haven't invested as much energy in prohibiting white supremacist groups from posting content, Wired reported.

Concerns have recently been raised about YouTube's recommendations feature, which has been shown to steer users toward extreme content, CNN reported.

The recommendations strategy "makes sense from a marketing perspective," Seamus Hughes, the deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, told CNN. "If you like Pepsi then you're going to watch more Pepsi videos ... but you take that to the logical extreme with white supremacy videos."

These companies are "going to have to figure out how to not completely scrap a system that has brought them hundreds of millions of dollars of ad revenue while not also furthering someone's radicalization or recruitment," Hughes added.

Is banning certain kinds of speech the solution?

Other experts add that banning or taking down content shouldn't be the only solution to combating hate speech.

"What happens when large platforms take down this content or these views is that the content just shifts to smaller platforms" which are often more radical, Bill Braniff, the director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, told CNN.

"If instead of (re-directing) people who might be flirting with extremism to (supportive resources), if you censor them and remove them from these platforms you lose ... the ability to provide them with an off-ramp," Braniff said.

This may be part of the rationale for Facebook's decision to direct users who post or search for white supremacist, nationalist, or separatist speech to the organization Life after Hate, which is run by former far-right extremists.

"Unfortunately, there will always be people who try to game our systems to spread hate," Facebook said in its statement. "Our challenge is to stay ahead by continuing to improve our technologies, evolve our policies and work with experts who can bolster our own efforts."
SNOWVILLE, Box Elder County  Ahead of the 150th anniversary of the driving of the golden spike, the Bureau of Land Management is offering two free automobile tours along the transcontinental railroad grade backcountry byway.

The tours will take place on Saturday, April 20, and Saturday, May 4, from 8:30 a.m. to about 5 p.m., according to a news release from the bureau.

During the outing, BLM workers will lead participants, who will follow in their own vehicles, along "remote and scenic portions" of the railroad grade.

"Numerous stops along the byway provide visitors with the opportunity to view engineering features created by Chinese, Irish, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' workers using hand tools and dynamite. The tour will also visit historic town sites and view examples of the various culverts, wooden trestles, cuts, fills, sidings, and artifacts found along the grade," the release states.

The tours will start at the Flying J, 90 S. Stone Road, in Snowville, Box Elder County, and travel west from Kelton to Terrace before returning to Snowville.

"Vehicles must be in good working order and have at least one functional spare tire," according to the release. The BLM also urges attendees to come prepared with adequate food, water and clothing for varying weather conditions.

Each tour has a 15-car limit, with one car per party, officials said.

Pre-registration is required for the tours at transcontinental-railroad-grade-tour.eventbrite.com.

For more information, contact Ray Kelsey at rkelsey@blm.gov.
SALT LAKE CITY  Intermountain Healthcare recently donated $1 million to Shelter the Homless' Home4Change campaign.

The campaign is gathering money for three new homeless resource centers spread across Salt Lake City. The Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation is matching the donations with a $10 million grant, according to a news release from Shelter the Homeless officials.

So far, donations matched by the Miller Family Foundation equal more than $4 million, the release states.

"Housing stability is a key determinant for both physical and mental health. Intermountains donation will help facilitate access to health services and improve quality of life to those individuals receiving services in the new resource centers," Preston Cochrane, Shelter the Homeless executive director, said in the release.

Mikelle Moore, senior vice president of community health at Intermountain, said that "we hope to support community organizations that improve prevention, detection, and management of chronic diseases, including those experiencing homelessness that will be served by the partners of Shelter the Homeless, who are even more vulnerable to these conditions."
CORINNE, Box Elder County  A second chance for life feels somewhat miraculous, but a Corinne man is getting a third chance, courtesy of a liver transplant.

When Kelton Bronson, 29, left University of Utah Hospital Wednesday, he received an escort home from colleagues and friends in the Box Elder County Sheriff's Office, where he's a deputy. In Corinne, friends, family and neighbors lined his street to welcome him.

Bronson was born with biliary atresia, a liver and bile duct disease that is unusual and potentially deadly. When he was 9 months old, his mother Yvonne Bronson donated a segment of her liver in an experimental operation at the University of Chicago Hospital. He was just the third person in the United States to receive a living-donor liver transplant.

Last fall, he started to have health problems that he and his wife Kelsee later learned stemmed from liver failure. The Deseret News chronicled his need for a new liver after Bronson was hospitalized in early February.

Being listed for transplant put Bronson among nearly 14,000 people waiting for a liver transplant in the United States. Unlike some who are sent home to wait and hope a liver will be available, Bronson was so sick and fragile from the start of the process that he stayed in the hospital and entered the transplant list near the top.

Who gets a liver transplant when an organ is available depends on many factors, including blood type and how sick the person needing a transplant is, determined by an algorithm called a MELD score. MELD stands for Model End-stage Liver Disease, and is based on concentration of creatinine, bilirubin, sodium and albumin levels in the blood.

"The higher the MELD score, the more likely one is to die within the next few months if no transplant occurs," United Network for Organ Sharing spokeswoman Anne Paschke told the Deseret News.

Bronson was in dire condition and his MELD was high when he was placed on the list.

He was transplanted in a very long surgery in early March. But it hasn't been an entirely smooth ride for the young man, who endured a second surgery to remove his spleen.

"The doctor told us with these biliary atresia kids, when the spleen goes bad it doesn't tend to recover," his mother said, adding he's still weak and is having physical therapy to regain his strength.

But he's already healthier than he was before the transplant. A healthy liver is key to survival and it's an organ assigned numerous complex tasks. According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network's guide to transplantable organs, the liver stores vitamins, processes carbohydrates, fats and proteins and transforms nutrients absorbed as food passes into the intestines into materials the body needs, including blood clotting factors. The liver helps break down fats and toxins, too.

"We are so ecstatic to have him home," said older sister Kylie Bronson. "It will be very good for his mental health and to be around family while he recovers at home. We are hopeful that being home and more comfortable will speed up parts of the recovery."

Doctors have prepared the Bronsons for a long recovery and the fact they might face a few hurdles. "We know it will be a long but exciting journey ahead," wife Kelsee Bronson said. "The surgeon did say don't be surprised if we come back in the next couple of months for some fine-tuning of everything."

"We are so proud of him and all that he has gone through," Kylie Bronson said. "He is the toughest guy I know and he is so anxious to return back to work, and doing what he loves, but he's aware of the process and that it is going to take time.

"Our family is ready to have our Kelton back!" she added.

Although this is his second transplant, Kelton and Kelsee Bronson are still learning what to expect and how to manage his recovery. But his mom and dad Corey Bronson figure perhaps the best medicine of all  apart, of course, from a healthy liver  will be healing in familiar surroundings with his wife and their little boys Winston, 2, and Mason, 4, right there.
Share All sharing options for: Inside the story of how one Utah Orthodox rabbi's decision to talk about sex abuse is bringing change to the world

CROWN HEIGHTS, NEW YORK  On a bone-chilling Thursday evening, Utah Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel, fresh off a flight from Salt Lake City, knocks on the door of an elegant limestone townhouse in Brooklyn's Crown Heights district.

Rabbi Zippel visits this neighborhood  the global headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch, the world's largest Jewish outreach movement  about five times a year. It's where he finished rabbinical school and the place where he met his wife, Sheina Zippel.

But this time everything feels different. A nervous excitement courses through him, making his heart pound.

Its just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. And nowhere was the impact felt more profoundly than here in Crown Heights, the place where the house of the revered Rebbe, the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson still stands, the man who sent thousands of observant Jewish emissaries out into the farthest reaches of the globe with the mission of fostering Jewish faith and community.

Rabbi Zippel's parents Rabbi Benny and Sharonne Zippel were the first Utah Chabad emissaries, and now Rabbi Avremi and Sheina Zippel are among them.

[Read more: A Utah Orthodox rabbi said his childhood nanny sexually abused him for 10 years. Here's why he decided to tell his story for the first time]

Already, Rabbi Zippel has felt the stares and heard the whispers of residents who see him on the street or in one of the neighborhood's kosher restaurants, recognizing him as the first rabbi to ever come forward publicly about being sexually abused.

His story has sparked conversations in Chabad households and schools throughout the Jewish world, setting off a #MeToo movement inside this insular religious community. During his trip to Crown Heights that weekend, he was approached by approximately 20 people who said they are survivors of sexual abuse  women and men, old and young, alone and with their families. They came to him on the streets, during prayer services, and in line at the bakery, all stopping to thank him, or congratulate him, to tell him their own stories, or just to simply cry.

But tonight at the townhouse, Rabbi Zippel is here to visit one fellow Chabad rabbi in particular, Rabbi Peretz Chein, the co-founder of the Chabad House at Brandeis University.

In addition to the black hat traditionally worn by observant Jewish men, Rabbi Chein wears another hat as well, as the host of a popular podcast with listeners in 40 American states and 19 countries across the globe.

The podcast, which he hosts with his wife, Chanie, is called A New Conversation with Chanie and Peretz and seeks to engage in authentic conversations on a variety of topics which in turn empower listeners, especially students and young adults, to think critically and thoughtfully, and grow to become better people, according to the podcasts website.

Rabbi Chein contacted Rabbi Zippel, whom he had not met before, immediately after the story was published, asking him if he would be willing to be interviewed on his podcast. When Rabbi Zippel told Rabbi Chein he would be visiting Crown Heights for a Chabad conference, Rabbi Chein offered to travel from Boston to New York City to meet him and use the living room in Rabbi Cheins aunts house in Crown Heights as a makeshift recording studio.

Rabbi Chein comes to the door and greets the rabbi, grasping his hand warmly. They sit down at the table with his recording equipment, pour small crystal glasses full of whiskey, and say LChaim! (To Life!) as they knock them back  a customary way of bonding and creating an environment for open and authentic conversation in the Chabad tradition.

For more than an hour and a half, the two rabbis explore the nuances of Rabbi Zippels sexual abuse and how he related to that experience in the context of his faith and his identity as a learned student of Torah and of Chabad philosophy and culture.

[Listen to Rabbi Chein's full podcast episode, "Chabad Rabbi's #MeToo," here.]

Then, all of a sudden Rabbi Chein falls silent. For several minutes, all that can be heard is the soft hiss of his breathing as he toys with his beard, seemingly lost in reflection.

I want to do something Ive never done before, he said, his voice wavering. When I was 11 years old I was sexually abused in a very serious way. ... And the reason Im sharing this publicly now is because the power that it has to inspire others to be able to overcome it, by being able to face it straight on, is important. Youve inspired me to do that ... Im sharing it because it's something that there shouldn't be shame associated with it, and shame, and guilt, is more devastating than the act itself, because you carry it with you ... it dominates you, all the time.

A growing #MeToo movement

The story of Rabbi Zippels alleged sexual abuse by his childhood nanny, as told for the first time in the Deseret News in early February, was read by hundreds of thousands of people everywhere from Utah to New York to Tel Aviv, and picked up by the local, national and international press, including The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel and The Jewish Press.

The Deseret News has followed Rabbi Zippel across the country in the weeks following the publication of the story, to Crown Heights, New York, and most recently Washington, D.C., to document what many are calling a #MeToo movement within the observant Jewish world, catalyzed by Rabbi Zippel's story.

I think every day the (Chabad) community is more and more ready to have this conversation. Any community that said it doesnt happen here, it doesnt happen to us, its not our problem... I wouldnt call them ignorant, I just think they are just waiting for reality to hit, said Rabbi Zippel.

I dont think the problem is worse in the observant community than for every other group of people in the nation. But now, through the article, by showing that it did happen to one of us, weve forced people to talk about this. We have given people a place to talk about sexual abuse.

But while Rabbi Zippel has heard from many other sexual abuse survivors in the weeks following the articles publication, he said Rabbi Cheins revelation of his own history of sexual abuse caught him completely off guard, and was particularly meaningful given his position as a fellow Chabad rabbi and his willingness to tell his own story in such a public venue as a podcast.

He found within him the inner strength to talk about it, and make a difference in the lives of others, and its pretty amazing and its pretty validating and it brings me comfort that my journey has been able to have that effect on people, Rabbi Zippel said. It was very special.

Rabbi Chein told the Deseret News he was sexually abused on different occasions by different individuals when he was between the ages of 11 and 13. He said he wasnt planning on sharing his own experience of sexual abuse in advance of the podcast recording session, but felt inspired to do so in the moment, particularly after Rabbi Zippel said that his motivation for sharing his story was to help others feel safe sharing their own stories.

He said that perhaps, without being conscious of it at the time, it was his own history of sexual abuse that motivated him to reach out to Rabbi Zippel in the first place.

Perhaps I wanted to speak to him so that I could draw from, get under the hood of someone who came out with it, and in a certain sense, possibly, draw the courage to do so myself if ever necessary, if ever I could see a benefit for it, said Rabbi Chein.

And those two happened in that conversation. In other words, first I looked into the soul of somebody ... who did it in a far more intense, severe way than myself, in a far more vulnerable position in his life. That in a certain sense gave me the tools to do it myself. And then my conversation with him showed me this may be a way to contribute to (helping others) in my own way.

A society of survivors

On an overcast morning in Washington, D.C., three weeks after his trip to Crown Heights, Rabbi Zippel sits in the back of an Uber in a crisp gray suit, checking his Apple Watch nervously, worried that hes going to be late.

It is the rabbi's first time visiting the nation's capital, but he doesnt even glance at the White House or the Capitol building as the car whizzes by. Instead, hes lost in thought, his mind carefully reviewing his mental notes before his upcoming meeting.

At this point, it has been nearly two months since the story broke, and while overwhelming at first, Rabbi Zippel has become used to the nearly constant stream of calls, texts, WhatsApp and Facebook messages, and emails from all over the world that come in at all hours of the day, expressing thanks and support.

But there are messages that still leave him feeling troubled and unprepared to adequately respond: the ones from other survivors of sexual abuse and their families in the Chabad community, and ones from worried parents, fearful for their childrens safety in the hands of nannies, teachers and camp counselors.

Their words are often poignant, not just describing the pain and trauma associated with abuse, but the deep wounds caused by years of silence, and the anxiety associated with not knowing what to do next and how to prevent such abuse from happening in the first place.

It is his desire to help these individuals that has brought him to Washington for a meeting with the National Childrens Alliance, the national association and accrediting body for Childrens Advocacy Centers, with facilities located in every state in the country bringing law enforcement, child protection services, mental health experts and victim advocates together to investigate child abuse, help children heal, and hold offenders accountable.

Grid View Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during a trip to the nation's capital to establish a partnership between Chabad International and the National Children's Alliance to prevent child sex abuse in the Orthodox Jewish world, on Monday, March 25, 2019. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during a trip to the nation's capital to establish a partnership between Chabad International and the National Children's Alliance to prevent child sex abuse in the Orthodox Jewish world, on Monday, March 25, 2019. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during a trip to the nation's capital to establish a partnership between Chabad International and the National Children's Alliance to prevent child sex abuse in the Orthodox Jewish world, on Monday, March 25, 2019. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits with Teresa Huizar, executive director, Blake Warenik, director of communications, both of the National Children's Alliance, and Deondra Brown of the Utah Children's Justice Center Program, left to right, to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits Washington, D.C., to establish a partnership between Chabad International and the National Children's Alliance to prevent child sex abuse in the Orthodox Jewish world, on Monday, March 25, 2019. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits with Teresa Huizar, executive director of the National Children's Alliance, to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during a trip to the nation's capital to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits with Teresa Huizar, executive director of the National Children's Alliance, to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits with Teresa Huizar, executive director, and Blake Warenik, director of communications, both of the National Children's Alliance, to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel, bottom right clockwise, visits with Teresa Huizar, executive director, Blake Warenik, director of communications, both of the National Children's Alliance, and Deondra Brown, center, and Tracey Tabet, on screen, of the Utah Children's Justice Center Program, to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during a trip to the nation's capital to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits with Teresa Huizar, executive director, and Blake Warenik, director of communications, both of the National Children's Alliance, left to right, to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel visits the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during a trip to the nation's capital to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel holds on to his hat while visiting the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during a trip to the nation's capital to work with the National Children's Alliance to create a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately. Rabbi Zippel recently told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. The story has had a profound reverberation throughout Chabad across the world, sparking earnest conversations about child abuse prevention for the first time, and catalyzing a #MeToo movement of sorts within the Orthodox Jewish world. He has received thousands of calls, texts, emails, from supportive community members as well as from other victims who have thus far remained silent. Cheryl Diaz Meyer, For the Deseret News

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel, right, is interviewed by Rabbi Peretz Chein, co-founder of the Chabad House at Brandeis University, for a podcast episode entitled "Chabad Rabbis #MeToo," in Crown Heights, New York. Rabbi Chein is the host of a podcast with listeners in 40 American states and 19 countries across the globe. Rabbi Chein contacted Rabbi Zippel after he told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. Two hours into the interview, Rabbi Chein tells Rabbi Zippel that he, too, was sexually abused as child, on different occasions by different individuals, when he was between the ages of 11-13. Gillian Friedman

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel, left, is interviewed by Rabbi Peretz Chein, co-founder of the Chabad House at Brandeis University, for a podcast episode entitled "Chabad Rabbis #MeToo," in Crown Heights, New York. Rabbi Chein is the host of a podcast with listeners in 40 American states and 19 countries across the globe. Rabbi Chein contacted Rabbi Zippel immediately after Rabbi Zippel told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. Two hours into the interview, Rabbi Chein told Rabbi Zippel that he, too, was sexually abused as child between the ages of 11-13. Gillian Friedman

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel, right, is interviewed by Rabbi Peretz Chein, co-founder of the Chabad House at Brandeis University, for a podcast episode entitled "Chabad Rabbis #MeToo," in Crown Heights, New York. Rabbi Chein is the host of a podcast with listeners in 40 American states and 19 countries across the globe. Rabbi Chein contacted Rabbi Zippel immediately after Rabbi Zippel told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. Two hours into the interview, Rabbi Chein told Rabbi Zippel that he, too, was sexually abused as child between the ages of 11-13. Gillian Friedman

Rabbi Avrohom Zippel, right, is interviewed by Rabbi Peretz Chein, co-founder of the Chabad House at Brandeis University, for a podcast episode entitled "Chabad Rabbis #MeToo," in Crown Heights, New York. Rabbi Chein is the host of a podcast with listeners in 40 American states and 19 countries across the globe. Rabbi Chein contacted Rabbi Zippel immediately after Rabbi Zippel told his story about being allegedly sexually abused by his nanny for 10 years, from age 8-18, for the first time in the Deseret News. Two hours into the interview, Rabbi Chein told Rabbi Zippel that he, too, was sexually abused as child between the ages of 11-13. Gillian Friedman

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel gives a tour of Crown Heights, New York, on March 1, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel gives a tour of Crown Heights, New York, on March 1, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel gives a tour of Crown Heights, New York, on March 1, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel shared his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel sits in the main synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway, Crown Heights, New York, otherwise known as Chabad World Headquarters, on March 1, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel sits in the main synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway, Crown Heights, New York, otherwise known as Chabad World Headquarters, on March 1, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel at an event in Crown Heights, New York, on March 2, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel at an event in Crown Heights, New York, on March 2, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel at an event in Crown Heights, New York, on March 2, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel at an event in Crown Heights, New York, on March 2, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel speaks at the Ohel, the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M Schneerson, located in the Old Montefiore cemetery in Queens, New York, on March 3, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel speaks at the Ohel, the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M Schneerson, located in the Old Montefiore cemetery in Queens, New York, on March 3, 2019, just weeks after Rabbi Zippel told the world his story of alleged childhood sexual abuse for the first time in the Deseret News. BENTZI SASSON

The meeting is momentous, its the first opportunity for concrete change since the article came out, Rabbi Zippel told the Deseret News. All the admiration and warm wishes and nice thoughts are great, but here is a chance to really do something, to make an impact within the observant community. The profoundness of this moment is not lost on me. There is a real chance here.

The idea for the meeting started weeks before, when Rabbi Zippel was contacted by Tracey Tabet, administrator for the Utah Childrens Justice Center Program at the Utah Attorney Generals Office, which is one of the Childrens Advocacy Centers under the umbrella of the National Childrens Alliance.

Tabet told him she had read the story and wanted to talk about how the Utah Childrens Justice Center could be of help to other children in Rabbi Zippel's position. When Rabbi Zippel explained that this was a problem affecting not just Utahns but Chabad communities across the nation, she suggested a meeting in Washington with the National Childrens Alliance.

When Rabbi Zippel said he would be in Washington, D.C. in a few short weeks in order to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committees annual policy conference, Tabet set up the meeting.

The National Childrens Alliance headquarters is a modest yellow building converted from an old house. Here the rabbi is ushered down the stairs to a conference room, where he is greeted warmly by Teresa Huizar, executive director of the Alliance.

Deondra Brown, a sexual abuse survivor, advocate and a member of The 5 Browns musical group, who was introduced to Rabbi Zippel through Tabet, is also in attendance, as well as Tabet herself, who attends the meeting via video call from Salt Lake City.

Deondra is a tremendous inspiration to me because she is a very visible public advocate for survivors in their families, in addition to the fact that she had a similar path to me, in that she was somewhat well-known before she disclosed her abuse and felt like she wanted to do something about it, said Rabbi Zippel. She went to the police, let justice take its course, then decided to fight for it on behalf of others. Shes a tireless advocate and supporter of survivors and their families. She has made it her lifes mission.

Above all, the purpose is to remind Chabad families who endure this kind of situation that they are not alone.  Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel

Rabbi Zippel is given the floor, and proceeds to lay out his vision for a potential partnership between the National Childrens Alliance and a group of Chabad rabbis who reached out to him about creating a network for families in their communities who have experienced sexual abuse.

He explains his hope for creating a streamlined process for the prevention of sexual abuse in the Chabad world, and a protocol for ensuring that instances of abuse are handled appropriately and rapidly, by looping in law enforcement as well as directing victims and their families to mental health services.

Above all, the purpose is to remind Chabad families who endure this kind of situation that they are not alone, said Rabbi Zippel.

For nearly two hours, Huizar, a petite woman with a commanding presence, carefully listens to the rabbi. Every so often, she interrupts his thoughts with questions about how such a partnership would actually be able to function, given what she describes as the specific and unusual challenges of working with an insular religious community that is highly private and often closed off from and resistant to intervention from the outside world.

What I think I have a lot of appreciation for is that first of all, a survivor being brave enough not only to come forward and tell their story, but to be a link back and a bridge really between their community and the Childrens Advocacy Center, Huizar told the Deseret News after the meeting.

I feel very encouraged by the conversation because I think that the Childrens Advocacy Centers want to serve every single child that needs them, and that if we can make the connection between this faith community and Childrens Advocacy Centers its going to have a huge impact on children and families.

Rabbi Zippel also walked away feeling optimistic and excited about the positive impact such a partnership could have on his own community.

Here we are, different members of this clandestine group, all introducing ourselves to each other and realizing how many of us there really are.  Rabbi Avrohom ("Avremi") Zippel

He said he looks forward to the possibility of telling survivors, their families, and fearful parents not just that he understands their fear and their pain  but that he would be able to direct them to a professional resource specifically designed to respond to their needs, one that is catered toward understanding and respecting the intricacies that come with being a member of the observant Jewish faith community, so that people can use the resource without fear of judgment or alienation.

Its remarkable to think about how much has happened in less than two months, from going from a place where this was something where I was scared to death for anyone to know about it, to something that has inspired people to come forward, be brave and tell their stories, and find acceptance, Rabbi Zippel said.

The most meaningful part, he said, is watching as other survivors have found the strength to share their own stories.

It feels honestly like we started up a little secret society, said Rabbi Zippel. Here we are, different members of this clandestine group, all introducing ourselves to each other and realizing how many of us there really are.
SALT LAKE CITY  A woman accused of setting two cars on fire at the residence of an ex-boyfriend was the victim of an alleged kidnapping and assault a couple of days after her arrest, police say.

On Feb. 27, Jessica Halee Wright was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of two counts of arson. She was formally charged on March 4 with the crimes, a second-degree felony.

In that case, Wright, 27, allegedly, set two cars on fire that were parked in front of a house at 5016 W. Longmore Drive (6175 South) on Feb. 25. Based on surveillance videos collected from the area, the person responsible was identified by the homeowners as the ex-girlfriend of the homeowner's son, according to charging documents.

As Unified police and the Unified Fire Authority continued to investigate the case, they learned that on March 2, Wright's live-in boyfriend, Alejandro Rodriguez Jr., 24, of Millcreek, became angry with her and continuously beat her - including with a metal mop handle and a BB gun - "told her multiple times that he would kill her or harm her," and would not allow her to leave, according to charging documents.

Rodriguez eventually took Wright to the hospital "and told her to lie about how she received her injuries," the charges state. Doctors noted that Wright suffered "head trauma, multiple bruises and abrasions all over her body, and she required sutures to close a laceration on her knee," the charges state. Wright went back to the hospital on March 4 and "found she had a broken hand," according to charging documents.

Rodriguez was charged March 8 in 3rd District Court with aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony, aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, three counts of domestic violence in front of children, a third-degree felony, drug distribution, a third-degree felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.

Prosecutors requested Rodriguez be held without bail because in addition to his current charges, he is a documented gang member, he has another domestic violence case involving a gun pending, and he has a felony evading case also pending that he was out on bail on at the time of his arrest, charging documents state.

Police did not know Friday whether the arson case and the domestic violence charges were related.

Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting the YWCA's Women in Jeopardy program at 801-537-8600, or the confidential statewide Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online at udvc.org.
SALT LAKE CITY  A criminal charge was filed Friday against a man accused of getting into a struggle with a Salt Lake police officer.

Leonard Dwayne Clark, 24, is charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated assault on a law enforcer, a first-degree felony.

On March 25, an officer spotted Clark riding his bicycle through a red light, according to charging documents. The officer followed Clark to a 7-Eleven at 309 E. 400 South.

"Clark apologized for running the red light and claimed he was in a hurry to buy a bottle of water for his sick friend," the charges state.

The officer said he needed to get some information from Clark and then he could continue on his way, according to court documents. But Clark "began pacing" and didn't want to give the officer his personal information, the charges state.

As Clark continued to disobey the officer's commands, the officer grabbed his arm and Clark pushed him away, according to the charges. As the struggle continued, police say Clark pulled out a knife but it fell to the ground. Clark later said he was trying to show the officer he didn't have a gun.

A backup officer arrived and helped place Clark under arrest.
SALT LAKE CITY  Utah's "bridge" program to expand Medicaid to about 70,000 to 90,000 adult Utahns got federal approval Friday  meaning eligible adults can apply starting Monday.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service approval of Utah's program comes after the Utah Legislature earlier this year passed a replacement to the voter-approved Proposition 3, which would have fully expanded Medicaid.

Instead, Utah lawmakers passed a more limited plan, extending Medicaid coverage for Utahns earning only up to 100 percent of the approximately $12,000 federal poverty rate  not up to 138 percent covered under the full expansion in Proposition 3.

Leading up to lawmakers' passage of the plan, SB96, critics questioned whether the federal government would approve the waivers needed for Utah's plan, while lawmakers said they had been given indications that the waivers would be approved. Approval for the first part of Utah's program came Friday.

It isnt easy to design a program that cares for the whole needs of a person, including the social determinants that we know have such a large impact on health like work and community engagement, said Seema Verma, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service administrator, in a news release.

Gov. (Gary) Herbert and his team have shown tremendous leadership by developing a sustainable Utah solution that extends coverage while helping to lift families from poverty instead of trapping them in public assistance, Verma said.

Critics on Friday continued to blast the Utah Legislature for limiting Medicaid expansion rather than allowing Proposition 3 to take effect, which would have covered an estimated 150,000 Utahns.

"This waiver leaves more than 50,000 Utahns without health insurance and sends billions of our tax dollars back to Washington," said Andrew Roberts, spokesman for Utah Decides, the group behind Proposition 3. "In their rush to overturn the will of the voters, politicians cooked up a backroom deal that leaves us paying three times as much per person covered."

The 'bridge'

Under the newly approved plan, Utah residents who earn up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level  about $12,492 for an individual or $25,752 for a family of four  will be eligible to receive full Medicaid benefits, according to the Utah Department of Health.

The federal government will cover approximately 70 percent of the cost of the new program while the state of Utah will cover the remaining 30 percent. Utah's other waiver request to move to a 90 percent and 10 percent split still awaits approval.

This is an important first step in covering vulnerable Utahns in a financially sustainable way, Herbert said in a prepared statement. But its just a first step. In the coming months, we will submit a detailed proposal seeking a new funding arrangement with CMS that will decrease the states share of the costs, provide the federal government with assurances on its costs, and provide the state with additional flexibility to manage the program.

House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, was out of town Friday, but his spokesman, Matt Lusty, told the Deseret News "he's very excited" about the approval.

"This is an important step as we expand Medicaid and make sure that we take care of the most vulnerable among us in society," he said. "We need to do so in a way that protects the state budget, and this is the first and most important step."

Friday's approval paves the way for Monday's partial expansion, known as a "bridge" plan, a temporary plan requiring more state money to expand Medicaid to Utahns earning below 100 percent of the federal poverty level.

Friday's federal approval also allows the state to cap enrollment in the program if there are insufficient state funds available to match the federal funds. It also includes authorization to implement a self-sufficiency requirement and to require eligible individuals to enroll in their employer-sponsored insurance plans, if available. However, these two requirements will not be implemented until January 2020, according to the Utah Department of Health.

Utah's alternative Medicaid expansion plan imposes certain requirements on enrollees, requiring different terms from the Affordable Care Act.

This is an important first step in covering vulnerable Utahns in a financially sustainable way. But its just a first step.  Utah Gov. Gary Herbert

Imminent challenge?

Days ago, a federal judge struck down Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky and Arkansas, leading critics to ponder the possibility of whether Utah's program could be legally challenged.

"There are still so many question marks in the air," said Stacy Stanford, policy analyst for Utah Health Policy Project. "So much of this is unprecedented.  It's really stunning that they're still approving this two days later, when Utah's case will very likely go to the same court, to the same judge, to the same ruling. So it's very brazen. It's a very brazen attempt to limit Medicaid."

Tom Hudachko, spokesman for the Utah Department of Health, told the Deseret News that that work requirement portion of Utah's program isn't expected to be rolled out until Jan. 1, 2020, so Friday's approval likely won't be affected by the court case.

Whether it will in the future remains to be seen, Hudachko said, though he noted Utah's work requirements are quite different than those challenged in other states.

While those states require people to be employed and work a number of hours every month, Hudachko said Utah has exemptions that can allow people who aren't employed to still be covered. They would need to complete certain requirements to be eligible, including an online assessment, online training programs and at least 48 job searches within the first three months.

Later this spring, the Utah Department of Health will submit the second waiver request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service. In addition to seeking to raise the federal share of the cost of the program to 90 percent, it will include provisions such as a cap on federal funding, the ability to provide housing supports, and allowing up to 12 months of continuous eligibility, according to health officials.

As news of Utah's waiver approval spread, national Medicaid experts weighed in, slamming Utah leaders for attempting to place enrollment caps and creating more red tape for an already complex system.

"First of all, Utah has rejected the enhanced match, so it's actually paying more to cover fewer people," said Judy Solomon of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for low-income people.

Solomon noted that the judge that ruled in the Arkansas and Kentucky case determined Medicaid programming is not a "buffet" and states "can't pick and choose what they want to do." Enrollment caps, she said, create inequities and could deny otherwise eligible people coverage just because of the timing of their application.

"This waiver fundamentally ignores the very roll Medicaid was designed to play," Solomon said, adding that people who fall on hard times or lose their jobs "shouldn't be arbitrarily denied coverage just because of the day they apply."

But Utah leaders say SB96 balances health care coverage and a way to protect Utah's budget from unknown costs.

We have been working on Medicaid expansion for many years in our state," Rep. Jim Dunnigan, who was the House sponsor of SB96, said. "This approval builds on the work we have done in previous years to cover parents, the homeless and those involved in the justice system. It is exciting to see the states work come to fruition and for us to begin covering all of the adults who are in the coverage gap.

Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, who sponsored SB96, applauded the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service for approving the waiver and said "we look forward to working with them" on the other request.

To be eligible for the new program, individuals must be Utah residents between the ages of 19 and 64, a U.S. citizen or legal resident, and meet income requirements.

Information on how to apply for Medicaid can be found at https://medicaid.utah.gov/apply-medicaid.
HILL AIR FORCE BASE  More than $129 million in construction associated with Hill Air Force Base is on a Pentagon list of projects that could be delayed in order to fund and build President Donald Trump's border wall.

The list, released earlier this month, identifies 400 projects, totalling $13 billion. Which projects could be shelved to free up $3.6 billion sought under Trump's emergency declaration has not been determined.

On Tuesday, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told the House Armed Services Committee that any money for military housing or barracks would not be touched, as well as any projects that will have contracts awarded before the end of this fiscal year, Sept. 30. When those projects are removed, about 150 remain, totaling about $4.3 billion.

One of the contracts at Hill  $20 million to replace "POL facilities"  was to be awarded this month, making it off limits for border wall funding. The air force base directed all inquiries about the list to the Department of Defense, which did not respond to a request Friday for more information about the Utah projects.

Other projects tied to Hill AFB are:

 $55 million for a "D5 Missile Motor Receipt/Storage Fac."

 $28 million for a Utah Test and Training Range "Consolidated Mission Control Center."

 $26 million for a "Composite Aircraft Antenna Calibration Fac."

Last year, Utah GOP Congressmen Rob Bishop and Chris Stewart said they opposed the president using military money to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, predicting that Congress wouldn't go along.

And House lawmakers on the Armed Services Committee this week denounced the plan as an unbelievably irresponsible" maneuver.

Whatever one feels about the border wall, to look at the Pentagon as sort of a piggy bank  slash  slush fund, where you can simply go in and grab money for something when you need it, really undermines the credibility of the entire DOD budget, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the panel, said Tuesday.

Pentagon officials received a similar rebuke from minority Democrats in the Senate last week when it released the list of projects potentially on the chopping block.

What President Trump is doing is a slap in the face to our military that makes our border and the country less secure, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., according to The Washington Post. He is planning to take funds from real, effective operational priorities and needed projects and divert them to his vanity wall.

On Friday, Bishop, who sits on the Armed Services Committee and in whose district Hill Air Force Base is located, released a statement blaming the Senate for putting the projects at Hill and around the world in jeopardy of delay.

He said majorities in the House and Senate had agreed in December to fund the government and border security, but the possibility of a filibuster by Democrats in the Senate stalled the measures.

"Due to the looming filibuster threat and new leadership in the House, the bill wasnt reintroduced in January," Bishop said, contributing to 35-day government shutdown over funding Trump's border wall.

When Trump didn't get the $5 billion in border wall funding in the budget bill that he eventually signed, he declared a national emergency at the border to enable him to find the money elsewhere.

"In addition to the $3.6 billion of military construction money, the administration has its eye on $601 million from the Treasury Forfeiture Fund and $2.5 billion from the DOD's counter-narcotics budget," the publication Constructive Dive reported.

Armed Services Committee Chairman Smith sent a letter from the committee to the Pentagon denying a request to shift about $1 billion in surplus personnel funds to a counter-drug account. The panel doesnt have the legal authority to block the transfer, but could make changes in the law to block any funding shifts in the future.

In addition to opposition in Congress, more than 20 states have joined in a lawsuit against the administration to block the funding maneuver they allege is unconstitutional, so it's uncertain if emergency declaration funding will ever happen.

Shanahan told the committee he knew that maneuvering around Congress to fund the wall would have long-term negative effects on the department. But he said the department was executing a legal order from the commander in chief.

Army Secretary Mark Esper has told The Associated Press that he and other military service leaders will work to protect critical projects.

I will prioritize based on readiness, lethality and things like that, he said, noting that something like a training complex could be protected if its designed to help soldiers face emerging threats from Russia or China, for example.

Bishop's statement said the projects at Hill are top priorities, and any delay would be temporary, not permanent.

But a number of lawmakers have objected to the Pentagons assumption that Congress would simply refund the affected projects next year.

Contributing: Associated Press
SANDY  Over concerns raised by regents about raising college tuition during a robust economy and after healthy legislative appropriations, the Utah State Board of Regents approved on Friday tuition changes for the coming year precisely as proposed by each institution.

The schedule ranges from no increase at Southern Utah University to a 5 percent hike at Dixie State University.

Across the system of higher education, tuition hikes averaged 2.46 percent. Unlike previous years, when the regents set a percentage increase that applied to undergraduate tuition on all campuses, tuition rates were set specific to each institution.

Each institution presented its proposal to the board Thursday, which was preceded by "truth in tuition" hearings conducted on each campus to solicit student input.

Through this robust process, the board of regents has worked to consider the needs of our growing institutions while keeping tuition as affordable as possible for Utah students, said chairman Harris Simmons in a statement.

This approved increase hits the right balance between those priorities. We appreciate the work and collaboration of our institutions, their trustees, and their student leaders in this process. We also thank the Utah Legislature for its support of higher education, which allows us to keep these increases as low as possible.

At the University of Utah, tuition will go up 3.2 percent, and 3.25 percent at Utah State University, except at its USU Eastern and Blanding campuses, which will increase by 4.2 percent.

During a meeting at the Miller campus of Salt Lake Community College, the board approved a 2 percent increase at Weber State University; 1.7 percent at Utah Valley University; 2 percent at Salt Lake Community College; and 2.5 percent at Snow College.

The institutions presented their proposed tuition increases to the board on Thursday and all were approved as proposed.

But two regents spoke against the increases, which saddle students with growing higher education costs.

"I struggle with asking the students to do more when the economy is doing great," said Sanchaita Datta.

Datta noted that SUU proposed no increase in tuition or fees, which was "amazing."

"How do we get to the same number for all of the institutions?"

Regent Thomas Wright said the board did not have full picture of the institutions' budget as it made difficult decisions affecting revenue.

Wright said he knows students who struggle to keep up with rising cost of college, which means going into debt, taking longer to complete their degrees and working multiple jobs.

"If this was really our best year for appropriations from the Legislature, we shouldn't have to be asking our students to step up," he said.

Moreover, some of the millions spent on buildings should have been shifted to compensation so that students don't have to shoulder the load, he said.

Wright and Datta cast the lone votes against the tuition adjustments.
When it comes to decorating a home, artist and shop owner Michael Chandler shirks design labels like traditional or modern. Instead, he believes the common denominator of any house should be you. With this approach, if you love a piece, get it. If it doesnt match, who cares? Live in the moment! Michael exclaims, and make yourself the axis around which your space revolves. Design with this in mind, and all the seemingly-unrelated pieces [youve collected] will organically blend together to create a deeply-personal retreat, not because of what its made of but because of who crafted it.

Step inside Michaels own retreat, a 900-square-foot rental in South Africas Cape Town, and youre immediately transported to his world. Its a place where his past mingles with the present, a wall can always hold one more painting, and a constant parade of new finds eagerly tries to catch your eye.

Oftentimes these new works of art find their way to Michael through his gallery and shop, Chandler House. Its there that he gets the opportunity to not only meet many of Cape Towns creative players but to fall in love with their craft. One such artist is Olivie Keck, whom Michael recently worked with to create a quaint artistic chapel. Always on the lookout for exciting accessories, Michael ended up bringing one of Olivies Madonna statues home so he could create his own quiet space inside his rental. Youll find it sitting beneath a lampshade spiced up by a tasseled trim of dangling coral. Nearby, an ever-growing collection of blue-and-white ceramics bursts from the painted interior of an antique hutch.

While the inside of the apartment is undoubtedly eye-catching, the part of Cape Town it sits above seems downright picturesque. Open any window of the top-floor unit, and murmurs from the bustling bagel shops and restaurants below float through, providing a hushed soundtrack to nights in with friends. Come sunset, guests can even sit back and enjoy the homes unbeatable view of Table Mountain, South Africas most iconic landmark.

All things considered, the element Michael speaks most fondly of isnt the apartments curated walls or buzzing location. No, its the homes proximity to the nearby Muslim neighborhood the Bo-Kaap that Michael seems to cherish most of all. Five times a day the mosque calls its followers to prayer, and Michael can hear it right there in his bedroom. Its wonderful, he says, and something hell greatly miss when the time comes to move on to his next home. He isnt sure when that will happen, but he knows a change is inevitable. Until then, youll find him savoring every minute inside this colorful, layered roost. Garrett

Photography by Michael Chandler

Image above: The previous tenant  an artist who was using the space as a studio  needed extremely-brilliant overhead lights to create their work, and the amount of wattage they left behind was much too severe for a residential space. Rejiggering the rental to make its lighting more inviting and less severe was the first thing Michael did after moving in.

1/20 The apartment building used to be an industrial storage facility.

2/20 Michaels creative journey is best summed up in his own words: After finishing high school I studied literature and art history at the University of Cape Town. After working in auction houses and galleries for a few years, I decided to start Chandler House, where I could combine my love of art and antiques with my creative urges. Since then I have really [leaned] into my creativity and enjoy illustration work and decorating ceramics with [cobalt blue] glaze.

3/20 The chairs were found [at an] auction and upholstered with fabric from a former lover who I flew to Vietnam to meet, Michael explains. The walls pastel shade of pink was custom mixed by Michael.

4/20 This painting by Patricia Fraser depicts Michael and his former colleagues celebrating the opening of their shop.

5/20 The ceramic sculpture of Aphrodite is by Olivie Keck whose work I exhibit. We also once collaborated on a chapel together where I painted the tiles for the chapel and she made the Madonna figure. I loved it so much that I asked the artist for one of my own so I could also have a quiet space in my home, Michael explains.

6/20 A painting by Kate Arthur and Michaels collection of ceramic fruit rest atop an antique cabinet.

7/20 Michaels bevy of blue-and-white ceramics features pieces both old and new and even includes an ancient Chinese porcelain that was salvaged from a shipwreck!

8/20 Ample seating is imperative when you host as much as Michael does. Some of his most cherished memories have been made here laughing and playing games with friends all night.

9/20 A vintage table and set of chairs from South Africa sit in the combination kitchen/dining room. The pieces were made in the 1830s [in the] part of South Africa where I am from, and I like to think that perhaps my ancestors once sat on them too! Michael tells us.

10/20 The latest addition to Michaels art collection is this portrait by Yasser Booley. It shows two young Muslims in a bus going to celebrate Ramadan in the nearby Muslim neighborhood of the Bo-Kaap, he explains.

11/20 A gift from a close friend on display near the curio cabinet.

12/20 Michael isnt inspired by or in love with his current kitchen, but since hes renting he cant change much about it. He uses polaroids to cover up the cabinets dusty gray hue, a color he wouldnt have picked if given a choice.

13/20 A vintage ashtray acts as a spoon rest and a vase from Michaels late grandmother holds utensils near the stove.

14/20 An oil painting by Jordan Sweke enlivens the short staircase that leads to Michaels bedroom. The retreat is perched on the very tip-top of the building he rents in, so Michael calls the area his sky nest.

15/20 This plant grows fast and furiously, but luckily Michael has finally found a pot large enough to house it for a while.

16/20 [The bedroom] has a metal roof, so when it rains it makes the most beautiful sound. My apartment is also very near the local Muslim neighborhood, and I get to hear the call to prayer throughout the day. Its wonderful! Michael says.

17/20 Michael commissioned this self portrait from Ian Grose a couple years ago. When Ian finished, he was concerned he had made Michael look too old. Michael says, I replied that he neednt worry. One day it would look younger than me!

18/20 A hand-embroidered textile from Uzbekistan acts as the door separating Michaels bedroom and bathroom.

19/20 Michaels typically found here at his bedroom desk working well into the night.

20/20 What I love most about my home is its my sanctuary from the world.  Michael Chandler
Highlights

Microsoft and Sony working on consoles with more than 10.7 teraflops of power.

Next-gen consoles are still a very tightly guarded secret.

Big reveal expected from Microsoft at E3.

Google made big waves when they announced Stadia, the companys cloud gaming platform. With a whopping 10.7 teraflops of computing power behind the service, Google is poised to make a big splash in the gaming scene, so it would be assumed that Microsoft and Sony would have some reason for concern. Turns out, the two veteran console makers have plans of their own.

According to Kotakus Jason Schreier, both Microsoft and Sony are readying consoles, the Xbox One Scarlett and PS5 respectively, which would go well beyond the 10.7 teraflops. Schreier has been steadfast in his predictions of 2020 being the year we get new next-generation consoles, not 2019. In the ResetERA forums, Schreier says that very few developers have been brought into the knowledge of the next-gen consoles. Even within companies like, say, DICE, therell be a small team of engineers who now have a rough idea of specs, and everyone else will know when they need to know. Not a lot of devs are disclosed on next-gen right now. In other words, dont expect much in the way of substantial leakage just yet. The only thing to know for sure is that both Sony and Microsoft are aiming higher than that 10.7 teraflops number that Google threw out last week. (And, as has been reported, Microsofts got a few things in the works.)

The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have been in the market for some time now, and while their pro versions, the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro have shown no signs of slowing down in terms of their performance. However, with the world moving towards a trend for favouring on-the-go experiences, both Sony and Microsoft are expected to announce something on similar grounds. What we do hope for, however, is some detail about the companies respective consoles being revealed this year at E3.

Related Read: Understanding Google's cloud gaming service Stadia
According to the researcher, Asus employee left password in a repository on code sharing platform Github, which gave hackers access to the companys corporate network.

Highlights:

A researcher blames Asus for attack on their software update utility.

He claims that company employees shared passwords on Github which gave hackers access to companys corporate network.

Apparently, Asus got a heads up two months before the attack was executed.

Asus is being held responsible for the attack on its software update utility that was hacked to install malware on thousands of computers. A researcher has claimed that an Asus employee left passwords on code-sharing platform GitHub that gave hackers access to companys corporate network. Moreover, it is also being claimed that the Taiwanese tech company was warned two months before the attack was executed.

Citing a security researcher, who goes by name SchizoDuckie, Tech Crunch reported that Asus was warned two months ago that employees were improperly publishing passwords in their GitHub repositories that could be used to access the companys corporate network. A password was found in an employee repo which allowed the researcher to access an email account used by internal developers and engineers to share nightly builds of apps, drivers and tools to computer owners.

The researcher claims that the repo in question was owned by an Asus engineer who left the email accounts passwords publicly exposed for at least a year. It was a daily release mailbox where automated builds were sent, the researcher was quoted as saying. He also said that the emails in the mailbox of that employee had the exact internal network path where drivers and files were stored, which apparently made it easy for attackers to execute the plan.

All youd need is send one of those emails with an attachment to any of the recipients for a real nice spearphishing attack, he said, adding, Companies have no clue what their programmers do with their code on GitHub. TechCrunch claims that a day after the company was alerted about the researchers email, the repos containing the credentials were pulled offline and wiped clean. However, Asus spokesperson Randall Grilli said that the computer maker was unable to verify the validity of the claims in the researchers emails.

Asus has already released a fix for the issue. We have updated and strengthened our server-to-end-user software architecture to prevent similar attacks from happening in the future. Additionally, we have created an online security diagnostic tool to check for affected systems, and we encourage users who are still concerned to run it as a precaution, Asus told Digit in a statement.

Related Read:

NotPetya is a wiper, not ransomware: Here's what that means

4% of Indian users attacked by banking Trojans in 2018: Kaspersky Lab
BSNL has announced four vouchers for its Wi-Fi hotspots service, which is said to be available across india.

Highlights:

BSNL announces four new Wi-Fi hotspot vouchers for its WiFi hotspots.

The vouchers are priced at Rs 19, Rs 39, Rs 59 and Rs 69.

One will get to use a certain amount of data, depending upon the value of the purchased voucher.



BSNL has announced new WiFi hotspot tariff vouchers that will enable users to access the telcos WiFi hotspots across the country. The announcement comes via the companys official Twitter handle, as per which, there are 38,000 operation Wi-Fi hotspot locations by BSNL that are operational in India. One can access them by buying the newly announced Wi-Fi vouchers that are priced starting at Rs 19. The company has announced a total of four vouchers. With the Rs 19 voucher, one will get to avail 2GB data, which is valid for two days. Then, theres the Rs 39 and Rs 59 vouchers, which enable usage of 7GB and 15GB data for seven and 15 days respectively. The BSNL WiFi 69 voucher is priced at Rs 69 and comes with 30GB of data, which is valid for a month.

While one can buy these vouchers online or offline, to know where a BSNL WiFi hotspot is, they can head over to this website. Once a user is in range of the hotspot, they can switch on Wi-Fi on their device and search for the SSID (WiFi name) BSNL WiFi. They need to connect to the network and log in to it. As per BSNL one can log in into the network via EAP or non-EAP method. One needs to have a BSNL SIM to use EAP method, which requires the user choosing SIM authentication and selecting the BSNL SIM slot. In case of non-EAP login, one needs to provide their phone number on which they will receive a pin to login to the Wi-Fi network. Theres also an option to log in through the BSNL 4G Plus app.

India's largest network of #WiFi #Hotspot now available at a very affordable price. Walk into the nearest #BSNL retailer store and recharge today! pic.twitter.com/1u5BCmzMum  BSNL India (@BSNLCorporate) March 28, 2019

Theres a 30 minute free trial for users who have not purchased a voucher for the service. After one connects to BSNLs Wi-Fi network, a Captive Portal will be shown with Free Wi-Fi and Premium Wi-Fi options. One using the service for free will need to select the free option and log in, while with the premium option, the user needs to enter the coupon number from the purchased voucher.

Related Reads:

Airtel partnering with Google for WiFi hotspots at popular public places
The team at NASA have completed test flights of the Mars Helicopter while simulating the conditions on Mars.

Highlights

The Mars Helicopter is scheduled to launch alongside the Mars Rover in 2020.

It is a technology demonstrator and researchers hope to complete flights of 90 seconds on Mars.

Researchers had to replicate the thin Martian atmosphere and lower gravitational pull here on Earth.

Next year, NASA is set to launch a new mission to Mars. This time around, the US space agency plans to send a rover as well as a small helicopter. The team behind the helicopter has announced that they have compete test flights while simulating martian conditions. The Martian atmosphere as well as gravitational pull is very different than that on earth, so the team had to replicate those conditions in order to prove that their helicopter would be capable of flight.

"Gearing up for that first flight on Mars, we have logged over 75 minutes of flying time with an engineering model, which was a close approximation of our helicopter," said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Mars Helicopter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "But this recent test of the flight model was the real deal. This is our helicopter bound for Mars. We needed to see that it worked as advertised."

The helicopter itself weighs 1.8Kg, and in order to test it. Aungs team had to mimic Martian conditions here on earth. They did this by using a 25 foot wide, (7.62m) vacuum chamber that sucked out all the air, and then injected carbon dioxide, the main ingredient of Mars atmosphere.

The atmosphere was only one aspect, the second was to mimic the lower gravity on Mars. The researchers did so by using a gravity offload system, which is a motorized lanyard attached to the top of the helicopter. This would provide an uninterrupted tug equivalent to two-thirds of Earths gravitational pull. The team says that a hover of 5cm enough for them to obtain the data sets needed to confirm that the Mars Helicopter would fly autonomously as designed.

"The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," said Aung. "Watching our helicopter go through its paces in the chamber, I couldn't help but think about the historic vehicles that have been in there in the past. The chamber hosted missions from the Ranger Moon probes to the Voyagers to Cassini, and every Mars rover ever flown. To see our helicopter in there reminded me we are on our way to making a little chunk of space history as well." [sic]

The Mars Helicopter and the Mars 2020 rover will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in July 2020. It is expected to reach Mars in February 2021.

The Mars Helicopter would launch as a technology demonstrator. After landing on Mars, it will be deployed and test flights of up to 90 seconds long will begin, a first from the surface of another planet.

Recommended read

NASA's Opportunity Rover Mission on Mars concluded after 15 years of exploration
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By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN

Associated Press

HAVANA  Cuba and Google signed a deal Thursday moving the island one step closer to having a state-of-the-art connection to the modern internet.

The American internet giant and the Cuban government agreed to create a seamless, cost-free connection between their two networks once Cuba is able to physically connect to a new undersea fiber-optic cable that would be laid sometime in the future.





. . .
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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  Some Florida theme parks will be debuting new attractions this week.

SeaWorld Orlando on Wednesday is opening a Sesame Street land, while down the interstate, Legoland Florida in Winter Haven is debuting an area based on The Lego Movie and its sequel.





. . .
Jet Airways defaults on $140-mn ECB loan

The financial crisis at Jet Airways deepened with the beleaguered airline defaulting on a $140 million loan due to HSBC Bank. The first repayment tranche of $31 million was due on 11 March and the second installment of $109 million was due on 28 March.

The airline informed stock exchanges that the payment of external commercial borrowings (ECB) due on Thursday was delayed because of temporary liquidity constraints and that it was engaged with the bank regarding the same.

The loan, signed between Jet and HSBC in January 2014, had a five-year term and was due for repayment at the end of the fifth year. The loan was guaranteed by Eithad Airways, which now owns 12 per cent in Jet

The default takes place after the lenders of Jet Airways committed to provide Rs1,500 crore in emergency loan to tide over financial crisis. There was also a change of guard with Naresh Goyal stepping aside as chairman and MD of the airline.

Jet, in a letter to HSBC on March 11, had said it is going through a severe liquidity crunch and is working on a bank-led resolution plan for its revival.

The plan, it has told the bank, is in the final stages of seeking regulatory and corporate approvals and pending these approvals, the company is unable to repay tranche of $31 million to the bank.

Jet Airways, which grounded four more planes, is hoping to get these off ground once its finances stabilise.

With lenders taking control of Jet Airways, Etihad is undecided on the interim funding plan.

The Gulf carrier is eyeing 49 per cent stake in Jet Air, which is the maximum permitted under FDI rules in India.

Etihad Airways is reported to be in talks with a partner to jointly bid for Jet Airways, which has been put up for sale by banks.

Government sources said Etihad has not given up on Jet in which it held 24 per cent stake. After banks acquired 50.1 per cent stake in Jet, shareholding of all existing investors fell by half with Etihad left holding 12 per cent stake.

Etihad is reported to be looking for the right partner as it can hold only 49 per cent stake. The airline is said to be in talks with an investor for jointly bidding for Jet Airways.
Russia keen to sell Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter to India: report

Russia is exploring possibilities of exporting its latest Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter to India and is keen to cooperate with India in sharing the fifth-generation fighter jet technology with India, Interfax quoted Russian minister of industry and trade Denis Manturov as saying.

The twin-engine multirole fifth-generation air superiority and attack fighter Su-57 is the latest supersonic stealth jet in the world and several countries would be interested in having the lethal aircraft in their arsenal, he told Interfax.

Since the Indian Air Force (IAF) already flies over 250 Sukhoi Su-30MKIs, a 4++ generation fighter, Russia is interested in selling the Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter also to India.

"Confidence in the supplier is one of the key factors when it comes to purchasing weaponry of this kind" and India was the biggest market for Russian defence products and could be interested in the Sukhoi Su-57 jet, formerly known as Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation (PAK FA or T-50), Manturov said.

United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the makers of Su-57, will soon get the clearance to export the fighter, according to Russia's Rostec defence industrial holding company's international co-operation and regional policy director Viktor Kladov.

The export version of the fighter will be called Su-57E.

Kladov told a press conference at the 2019 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition in Malaysia's Langkawi that Rostec and UAC have submitted "all the necessary documentation" required for the approval to export the Su-57E to the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin is likely to give his consent soon.

Once the export clearance is obtained, Russia plans to officially unveil that Su-57E during the November 2019 Dubai Air Show. Klodov was confident that Su-57 will generate a lot of interest in several countries, including India and China as the air forces of both these countries already fly different versions of the Sukhoi fighters.

He also dismissed the apprehension that the threat of US Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) will dissuade the potential Su-57E buyers.

Some Russian Su-57s had taken part in combat training missions in Syria in February 2018. According to Russian defence officials, the Su-57s were deployed in war-torn Syria to "undergo real-world testing" and "combat training".
US steps up UNSC moves against Masood Azhar, China objects

The United States, Britain and France have stepped up moves in the United Nations Security Council to bring Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) after China vetoed an earlier resolution moved by France two weeks ago.

The United States on Wednesday circulated a draft resolution, which is supported by Britain and France, to the 15-member council seeking to designate JeM leader Masood Azhar a terrorist and subjecting him to an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze.

China, however, opted to cling to its earlier stand and accused the US of undermining the authority of the UN anti-terror committee by "forcefully moving" a resolution at the UN Security Council to list Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. America's move only "complicates" the issue, said Beijing, hinting that it would continue to block the move.

China had put a hold on an earlier proposal by France to list Masood Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council.

"This is not in line with resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations. This has reduced the authority of the committee as a main anti-terrorism body of the UNSC and this is not conducive to the solidarity and only complicates the issue. We urge the US to act cautiously and avoid forcefully moving forward this resolution draft," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during a media briefing.

JeM has claimed responsibility for the 14 February attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama that killed at least 40 CRPF personnel, making it the deadliest in Kashmir during a 30-year-long insurgency.

China, which had previously prevented the committee from sanctioning Azhar in 2016 and 2017, had then sought more time to consider the proposal even after a "comprehensive and thorough evaluation" of the proposal.

While the Sanctions Committee goes by consensus, a resolution in the Security Council only needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by China, Russia, the United States, France or Britain to pass.

It is not clear when the draft resolution to designate Azhar could be put to a vote.
Navy brings cheer to the residents of flood-ravaged Kerala village

The Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy on Thursday handed over three newly-built houses to three families in Cheriya Kadmakkudi village in Ernakulam district of Kerala rendered homeless after the devastating floods of August 2018, as part of the rehabilitation activities being undertaken by the Indian Navy.

Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla, AVSM, NM, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (C-in-C), Southern Naval Command, handed over the keys of newly constructed houses to three smiling families of Cheriya Kadmakkudi on Thursday.

The beneficiaries included Binu PP, Mariyamma and Joseph Antony, whose houses have been constructed at a total cost of Rs28 lakh. These new houses were built as per specific suggestions and requirements of each house owner. Each house has bedrooms, drawing room and kitchen with modern amenities such as vitrified tiles in all the rooms and electrical fittings etc, says a defence ministry release.

The project being steered by INS Venduruthy, has been completed in five and a half months.

In addition, the Navy is installing solar power equipment in all the 55 houses of Cheriya Kadmakkudi, of which 30 have been completed, including the three newly constructed houses. Cheriya Kadamakudi, will therefore be a fully Green Village in the next few weeks, says the release.

Further, the C-in-C laid the foundation for construction of a steel arch bridge connecting Cheriya Kadamakudi with Pizhala Island, a long pending demand of the residents. The existing concrete walkway bridge has been in a dilapidated condition for long, and it was recently declared unsafe even for pedestrian traffic by the PWD. The new bridge will be constructed adjacent to the existing bridge and will be 50 metres long and 3.5 metres wide. Vehicles up to 4 tonnes will be able to ply on this bridge, thus providing the much-needed connectivity to the villagers.

The C-in-C was accompanied by Sapana Chawla, president, Navy Wives Welfare Association (Southern Region), and a few other senior officers. Vice Admiral Chawla was taken around the new constructions and had a good interaction with the happy families. Mrs Chawla also distributed sweets to these families.

The Rehabilitation Package was earlier announced by Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff during his visit to Muttinakam in August 2018, and has been funded by the Indian Navy, which includes contributions from service personnel of Southern Naval Command.
Coffee Board launches blockchain-based e-marketplace

Indian Coffee Board has launched a pilot project for online marketing of coffee that would integrate farmers with market in a transparent manner. Commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan, launched the blockchain-based coffee e-marketplace through video conferencing in New Delhi on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, the commerce secretary said the pilot project will help integrate the farmers with markets in a transparent manner and lead to realisation of fair price for the coffee producer. The blockchain, he said, will also reduce the number of layers between coffee growers and buyers and help farmers double their income.

The project was activated simultaneously by Jose Dauster Sette, executive director, International Coffee Organisation (ICO) from Nairobi, Kenya at a function in the presence of Indias High Commissioner to Kenya Rahul Chhabria.

India is the only country in the world where entire coffee is grown under shade, handpicked and sun dried. It produces one of the best coffees in the world, produced by small coffee growers, tribal farmers adjacent to national parks and wild life sanctuaries in the Western and Eastern Ghats, which are two of the major bio-diversity hot spots in the world. Indian coffee is highly valued in the world market and sold as premium coffees. The share of farmers in the final returns from coffee is very meagre.

Blockchain based market place app while bringing transparency in the trade of Indian coffee, maintain the traceability of Indian coffee from bean to cup so as the consumer tastes real Indian coffee and the grower is paid fairly for his coffee produced. This initiative will help in creating a brand image for Indian Coffee through traceability in reducing growers dependency an intermediaries by having a direct access to buyers for a fair price for their produce, in finding right coffee suppliers for exporters and within the stipulated time to meet the growing demands and in building a better trust and long term relationship due to increased visibility towards the traceability and transparency of the produce.

Coffee Board is collaborating with Eka Plus, one of the global leaders in Digital Commodity Management platforms for agriculture for development of blockchain-based marketplace application. Eka Plus have developed the application and a group of 15-20 coffee farmers, exporters, roasters, importers and retailers are already registered on the platform from India and abroad. It is one of the few coffee blockchain processor for coffee after France and Ethiopia in the world.

The stakeholder like coffee farmers, traders, coffee curers, exporters, rosters, importers and retailers register on the platform to make trade transactions. The coffee farmer registers credentials like place where coffee is grown, details of the crop, elevation, certificates if any and any relevant information. A block is created for each of the lot the farmer sells on the blockchain. The credentials of the block/ lot will be stored on the blockchain throughout its journey and are immutable.
Saudi Aramco to buy 70% stake in SABIC for $69 billion

Saudi Aramco, the worlds largest oil refiner, has agreed to buy a 70 per cent stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) from the kingdoms wealth fund for $69.1 billion, in what would be the biggest deal in chemical industry.

Saudi Aramco on Wednesday said it acquired the 70 per cent majority stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, in a private transaction for SAR 259.125 billion ($69.1 billion) valuing SABIC at SAR 123.39 per share.

The remaining 30 per cent publicly traded shares in SABIC are not part of the transaction, and Saudi Aramco said it has no plans to acquire these remaining shares. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

The acquisition of SABIC will advance Saudi Aramcos integrated refining and petrochemicals business, while providing SABIC with a strategic energy industry shareholder and expanded growth opportunities, a Saudi Aramco release stated.

With 17 and 62 million tonnes per annum, respectively, of current petrochemicals production capacity for Saudi Aramco and SABIC, the acquisition will help enhance competitiveness and address fast growing petrochemicals, Saudi Aramco said.

Headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, SABIC has global operations in over 50 countries with 34,000 employees. In 2018, SABICs consolidated production volume across its various business units was 75 million metric tonnes, and recorded net income of $5.7 billion, annual sales of $45 billion, and total assets of $85 billion.

This is a win-win-win transaction and a transformational deal for three of Saudi Arabias most important economic entities. It will unlock significant capital for PIFs continued long-term investment strategy, underpinning sectoral and revenue diversification for Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, it will introduce a strategic owner that can add considerable value to SABIC and all its shareholders, while capitalizing on SABICs strong capabilities to unlock the opportunities for growth that Saudi Aramco, a key player in energy markets around the world, can offer, Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, managing director, Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, said.

This transaction is a major step in accelerating Saudi Aramcos transformative downstream growth strategy of integrated refining and petrochemicals. SABIC is a world-class company with an outstanding workforce and chemicals capabilities. As part of the Saudi Aramco family of companies, together we will create a stronger, more robust business to enhance competitiveness and help meet rising demand for energy and chemicals products needed by our customers around the world, Amin Nasser, president and CEO, Saudi Aramco, said.

The acquisition is in line with Saudi Aramcos long-term strategy to drive growth through an enhanced downstream portfolio by increasing global participated refining capacity from 4.9 million to 8-10 million barrels per day by 2030, of which 2-3 million barrels per day will be converted into petrochemical products. This Downstream portfolio will consume significant quantities of Arabian crude oil.
Nifty ends FY19 above 11,600, Sensex gains 127 pts; metal stocks surge

Market Close: Indian indices ended higher on the last trading day of the current financial year 2018-19 with Nifty finished above 11,600 level.

At close, the Sensex was up 127.19 points at 38,672.91, while Nifty was up 53.90 points at 11,623.90. About 1429 shares have advanced, 1185 shares declined, and 162 shares are unchanged.

Indiabulls Housing, HPCL, Vedanta, Grasim Industries and UPL were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers were GAIL, IndusInd Bank, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto and Bharti Infratel.

Except PSU Bank, all other sectoral indices ended higher led by metal, which gained over 2 percent followed by pharma, auto, energy, infra, IT and FMCG.

Buzzing: Shares of Indiabulls Integrated Services gained 5 percent after the redemption of preference shares and appointment of a new Independent Director.

Colgate Palmolive declares second interim dividend: The company declared second interim dividend of Rs 7 per equity share of Re 1 for the financial year 2018-19.

A meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 27/05/2019 to consider and approve audited financial results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2019.

Buzzing: Shares of Tata Metaliks rallied more than 6 percent after the company allotted equity shares and convertible warrants worth Rs 403.79 crore to parent company Tata Steel.

HDFC Securities Initiates Coverage With Buy Call on Mastek

Software firm Mastek shares gained 2 percent intraday after HDFC Securities initiated coverage with a buy call on the stock and expects it to return 50 percent.

Mastek is well placed to generate revenue/EPS CAGR of 15/16 percent over FY19-21E (despite US softness and Brexit uncertainty) and is available at attractive valuations of 8.3x FY21 versus midcap average of around 13x, the brokerage house said.

Stake in Majesco US (around Rs 79 per share), net cash position (Rs 82 per share) provides additional comfort, it added.

Hence the brokerage initiated coverage with a buy rating and a price target of Rs 660, based on 11x FY21E EPS.

Buzzing: Capacite Infraprojects shares gained 1.5 percent after Emkay initiated coverage with a buy call and target price at Rs 288, implying 28 percent potential upside from current levels.

Market Update: Benchmark indices erased all its early gains and trading at day's low point.

At 11:03 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 39.32 points at 38585.04, while Nifty is up 15.30 points at 11585.30. About 1153 shares have advanced, 861 shares declined, and 130 shares are unchanged.

Highest Roll Spread

The Nifty is starting the new series with 16.9 million shares, which is relatively higher than the open interest seen at the inception of the last series. Continued positive momentum in the Nifty may be the reason behind fresh build up of open interest in the next series. However, the roll spread in the Nifty inched further high and ended around 100 points. The current roll spread is one of the highest ever seen in the Nifty in points terms. Data indicates continued rollover of long positions in the index

The Bank Nifty is also starting the new series with significantly higher open interest compared to the last series. OI at inception is highest since August 2018 for Bank Nifty. The roll spread in banking index also remained high around 130 points during settlement.

Rollovers

The Nifty rolls were near 66.73 percent, higher against 3-month (3M) average of 62.94 percent. Market wide rolls were at 85.4 against the 3M average of 85 percent.

Highest rollover was seen in Wockhardt, OFSS, United Breweries, GSFC and Ceat while rollover activity was relatively low in RBL Bank, Arvind, Marico, Petronet and Container Corporation.

Among index stocks, Sun Pharma, Yes Bank, Grasim and Titan witnessed high rolls into the April series while HDFC Bank, L&T, Gail and JSW Steel witnessed relatively low rolls into the next series. (Source: ICICIDirect)

Weak Debut

State-owned e-commerce firm MSTC's shares listed on March 29 at a discount to the issue price despite positive market sentiment. The tepid response to the issue and reduction in price band could be the reason for the weakness in stock price.

The stock opened at Rs 115 on the National Stock Exchange, 4 percent lower than the issue price of Rs 120 while on BSE, it started the trade at Rs 111, a discount of 7.5 percent.

Credit Suisse on Bank of Baroda: The research house maintained underperform rating but raised target to Rs 115 from Rs 105 per share.

It remain cautious on slower growth and await further clarity on outlook & management continuity at the merged company.

Research house cut EPS estimate by 23-38% as its incorporate merged numbers.

Buzzing: Shares of Andhra Bank surged almost 2 percent after the public sector bank issued equity shares worth Rs 3,256 crore to the government.

Gold Update: Gold inched up on Friday, but was on track for its first weekly decline in four weeks after posting its steepest fall in more than seven months in the previous session on a strong dollar.

PNB to offload its stake in PNB Housing: Punjab National Bank has entered into agreements for sale of 1,08,91,733 equity shares held in PNB Housing Finance (PNBHF) to General Atlantic Group at a per share price of Rs 850 aggregating to Rs 925.80 crore.

Also, sale of 1,08,91,733 equity shares held in PNBHF to VardePartners at a per share price of Rs 850 aggregating to Rs 925.80 crore.

Meanwhile, PNB would continue to hold strategic stake of 19.78 percent of the paid up capital of PNBHF.

Crude Update: Oil prices rose on Friday, pushed up by ongoing supply cuts led by producer club OPEC and US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, putting the crude markets on pace to post their biggest first quarter gain since 2009.

Market Opens: It is a strong start for the April F&O series on Friday with Nifty above 11,600 level.

At 09:18 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 171.30 points or 0.44% at 38717.02, and the Nifty up 49.60 points or 0.43% at 11619.60. About 592 shares have advanced, 203 shares declined, and 50 shares are unchanged.

The gainers are IOC, Indiabulls Housing, Hindalco, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, RIL, BPCL, Can Fin Homes, Vodafone Idea, Jet Airways, PFC, REC while losers include Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Eicher Motors, SBI life and Motherson Sumi.

All the sectoral indices are trading in green led by metal, energy, infra, IT, pharma and auto.

Rupee Opens: The Indian rupee gained in the early trade on Friday. It opened higher by 10 paise at 69.24 per dollar versus previous close 69.34.

Market at pre-open: The benchmark indices are trading positive in the pre-opening session on Friday.

At 09:02 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 138.14 points or 0.36% at 38683.86, and the Nifty up 55.50 points or 0.48% at 11625.50.

Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank are trading higher in the pre-opening session.

Asian markets trade higher: Asian shares posted narrow gains on Friday on revived hopes of progress in US-China trade talks, while global bond yields moved higher after a prolonged slide on worries about the economic outlook.

Wall Street ends higher?:US stocks climbed on Thursday as Treasury yields rose off 15-month lows, with investors optimistic about the latest round of US-China trade talks.

SGX Nifty: Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative start for the broader indices in India, a fall of 25 points or 0.21 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 11,645-level on the Singaporean Exchange.
Donegal schools are among seventeen nationally selected for a Department of Climate Action pilot energy saving scheme.

In all, five Donegal schools have been chosen for what is a pilot energy saving scheme. The five, are Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, Doire Beaga, Gaelscoil Adhamhnain and Loreto Secondary School,in Letterkenny and Scoil Mhuire and St Oran's NS,in Buncrana.

They will share the 7 million fund targeting energy use reduction by 33% with the 12 other schools from around the country that have also been selected for the project.

Their selection has been welcomed by Donegal TD Thomas Pringle who had a Fossil Fuel Divestment bill passed in the Dail last year and who joined students from Inishowen on a climate protest outside County House, in Lifford, last week.

More investment is needed so that schools and public buildings can generate renewable energy, not just reduce it, insisted Mr Pringle.

Im delighted to see that five schools in Donegal will receive funding under this project in an effort to reduce energy consumption.

Mr Pringle feels if the minister was serious about addressing climate change more funding would have been provided to ensure schools can generate renewable energy.

Renewable energy, they can sell onto the grid and provide much-needed funding. Mr Pringle went on to say that he was delighted the scheme.

But he also told of the time he went to visit a school in Tipperary that had heat to heat exchangers. But the Department of Education could not see the benefit of renewable energy generation and the potential of schools selling back energy onto the grid.

In terms of infrastructure we are way off course in transitioning schools and public builds to rely on renewable energy sources.

Schools are important institutions in our communities and have already fostered future leaders as the younger generation begin to take on campaigns calling for greater climate action.

Students from schools across Ireland and across the globe have been partaking in climate strikes demanding that Governments act now on climate change, in recent weeks.

This week I hosted a number of students from Inishowen who had organised a climate strike in Lifford a few weeks before and who presented to the Climate Action Committee which I am a member.

Deputy Pringle said it was clear to those students that Fine Gael do not have climate action as a priority and are not responding adequately to the threats of climate change.

While he welcomed the announcement deputy Pringle said he would urge the Minister to seriously rethink the limited scale of the scheme and consider providing funding to transform energy infrastructure in this country that truly reflects the need to transition to a low carbon economy.
Donegal men diagnosed with prostate cancer are being called upon to partake in the largest prostate cancer research programme ever undertaken in Ireland.

The Irish Prostate Cancer Outcomes Research programme, which is funded by mens health charity, the Movember Foundation, in partnership with the Irish Cancer Society, is calling all men diagnosed with the disease in 2016 and 2017, to participate.

The groundbreaking study is aimed at providing unique insights into prostate cancer care in Ireland and improving the care of those diagnosed with the illness.

.The research programme was set up in 2016 has established a nationwide prostate cancer registry capturing medical and quality of life information from newly diagnosed patients.

As part of its research, IPCOR gathers clinical data from patients, including the type of treatment they receive, self-reported experiences of care, physical and mental well-being.

In November, IPCOR released the first research report which found that four out of five Irish men with prostate cancer showed no symptoms when they were diagnosed with the disease.

The study also found that one in five men diagnosed with prostate cancer are under the age of 60. For more information and how to get involved in the research go to www.ipcor.ie
Irish Water is working to end the practice of discharging untreated wastewater into Rutland Sound by developing a new wastewater treatment plant as part of the Burtonport Sewerage Scheme.

In announcing the move, Irish Water said the practice of discharging the equivalent of 160 wheelie bins of untreated wastewater into Rutland Sound per day is unsustainable.

"The new wastewater treatment plant will bring benefits to Burtonport in terms of health, integrity of the environment and improved water quality for all," Irish Water said.

"Cleaner water will enhance Burtonports amenity value and act as a platform for social and economic development. The new sewer pipes, pumping station and wastewater treatment plant have all been sized to accommodate an increase in the local population and will facilitate future growth in the area. The project will also ensure that the water quality standards set down by regulatory bodies will be achieved.

"Consultations have been on-going with all landowners identified on the proposed scheme. Irish Water was unable to acquire all of the required wayleaves and lands on a voluntary basis. Given the importance of the project to the waste water infrastructure, Irish Water will now endeavour to acquire the wayleaves and lands by way of Compulsory Purchase Order pursuant to the provisions of the Water Services Act, 2007 (as amended). Irish Water has submitted the Compulsory Purchase Order to An Bord Pleanala.

"In addition to the land acquisition process Irish Water will be seeking planning permission for the Burtonport Sewerage Scheme from Donegal County Council. The timeline for the commencement of works is subject to the planning and CPO statutory approvals."
Pat McMahon is a suckler farmer located in North County Louth. The farm lies between two of the roads that meet at Hackballscross.

Pat is a current applicant in the Green Low Carbon Agri- Environmental Scheme (GLAS). He is also a former winner of the National Tidy Farm Awards. Pat was able to avail of the GLAS Traditional Farm buildings Grant Scheme managed by the National Heritage Council on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine which is funded by the 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme  The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development in Europe. Pat held an open day on the farm to showcase traditional farm buildings that he has recently made massive improvements to. It is an area that garners massive interest from farmers with over 100 people in attendance on the day.

In depth research was carried out on Pats behalf with regards to the history of the buildings as well as what grants were available. These buildings date back to the late 1800s. The buildings form an exterior of an old farm courtyard. In by-gone times, it provided a meeting point for local people where they danced and played music. In more recent times, the buildings were used for storing and bruising grain. Remnants of such activities still remain within the buildings to this day. The appearance of the buildings are traditional to the area and remains so following restoration.

The slates started to fall off some of the roofs after storm Ophelia so he knew he would have to do something with it for safety reasons if for nothing else, Pat explained. Pat put a lot of time researching what was available through the grant and also the history of the buildings on the farm which were built in the late 1700s. It is important for anyone to know from the outset that the grant is aimed at conserving traditional buildings and not restoring them. Minimum intervention is key, Pat explains. Pat worked closely with Anna Meehan, Project Manager from the Heritage Council on the project. Anna also organised a seminar in the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone last year and invited all participants around Ireland who were going to be grant aided. Pat said that to have all those people in the one room talking about the same topic was inspiring.

It is about preserving what is there more than anything else, Pat explained. He got approval for the project in mid 2018 but getting started wasnt as straight forward as expected. He had to get a bat/bird survey done and found out that bats used the buildings. The bat/bird survey was carried out by Donna Mullen from Bat Conservation Ireland. Following this survey a derogation licence under the Wildlife Acts 1976 was required due to the presence of bats in the building. Bat Conservation Ireland is a charity dedicated to the conservation of Bats in Ireland. This meant he could only start work on the September 1, 2018.

The first job that was done was to strip off the slates and ridge tiles on the loft. The building itself forms an exterior of an old farm courtyard. In by-gone times, it provided a point for local people where they danced and played music. In more recent times, the building was used for storing and bruising grain. Remnants of these activities remain in the building itself. The appearance of the building is traditional to the area.

Some rafters of the buildings were rotting and had to be spliced. The Heritage Council had no objection to the provision of an additional lower line of collar ties to the roof, which helped to tie the buildings while also maintaining head height. All slate batons were replaced on the roofs. 80% of the slates on the existing roofs were salvaged. The shortfalls of slates were obtained from a local salvage yard. The slates had to be re-instated using copper nails only. The ridge tiles were re-bedded using lime mortar.

A new floor was reinstalled in the loft which Pat said was a great job. All timbers in the buildings were treated for woodworm. Pat replaced all doors to the buildings himself. All they needed was to be sanded down, primed and glossed to match existing doors Pat says the main issues when people go to do up old buildings is water ingress/water getting into a building and destroying the walls. Pat decided to replace all spouting made from cast iron as this is the old method and looks traditional to the building.

There was some lime pointing done on the eaves of the buildings also. Lime can be a difficult material to work with especially at this time of the year.

The biggest factor with lime is the time to get everything cleaned out properly first says Pat. Then to get the lime on, cured and covered. There is a lot of background work with it. Lime is a breathable product and if it is not done properly, it will do damage down the road, Pat outlined.

Work to the lower building beside the loft was postponed. Pat saw a fox climbing a half door to this barn previously, so he says there must be something good in there. Upon investigation, he discovered a breeding pair of barn owls, happily ensconced with two young owlets nesting between the rafters and gable wall.

According to Birdwatch Ireland, the barn owl is a characteristic farmland bird that has undergone a decline in its geographical range in recent times. It is a red-listed bird of conservation concern in Ireland due to its decline of over 60% in its population over the past 40 years. It is also listed as a Species of European Conservation concern.

I love traditional buildings, says Pat, and I have perfect soil and sand for sustainable building and repairs here. He laments the loss of skills in rural Ireland. Pat said it was a great project as he had the buildings well maintained previously and it a finishing touch to them. It is clear that the sheds are an integral part of the farmyard.

Pat uses his local Teagasc Advisory Office in Dundalk for advice. His Advisor James Mimnagh submitted the grant application and was followed through by James successor Feidhlim Burke. Both Advisors looked after him well throughout the project. Pat takes pride in his work and in the surrounding environment.
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The largest prostate cancer research programme in Ireland has today called for Louth men with the disease to make an unprecedented difference in improving prostate cancer care by providing information on their cancer experience.

IPCOR, the Irish Prostate Cancer Outcomes Research programme, which is funded by mens health charity, the Movember Foundation, in partnership with the Irish Cancer Society, has called for men diagnosed with the disease in 2016 and 2017, to participate in a groundbreaking study aimed at providing unique insights into prostate cancer care in Ireland.

The research programme was set up in 2016 through the support of Movember Ireland and the Irish Cancer Society has established a nationwide prostate cancer registry capturing medical and quality of life information from newly diagnosed patients. As part of its research, IPCOR gathers clinical data from patients, including the type of treatment they receive, self-reported experiences of care, physical and mental well-being.

This registry generates robust data on a range of important clinical outcomes of men with prostate cancer and assesses processes, consistency and quality of prostate cancer care. By providing evidence-based data and recommendations to clinicians, hospitals, decision-makers and the National Cancer Control Programme, the registry promotes equal access to services and improvements in care nationally. Over time, it is envisaged that this registry will lead to the improvement of patient experiences and maximise quality of life for the 3,550 Irish men diagnosed with prostate cancer in Ireland each year.

IPCOR is hoping to get more prostate cancer patients to become involved in this programme, thereby increasing real-world knowledge of the disease. In November, IPCOR released the first research report which found that four out of five Irish men with prostate cancer showed no symptoms when they were diagnosed with the disease. The study also found that one in five men diagnosed with prostate cancer are under the age of 60.

From Monday 25th March, prostate cancer patients will receive a patient information leaflet about the IPCOR study, consent forms and quality of life questionnaires via post. Participants are asked to fill in the form or complete the online questionnaire via www.ipcor.ie.

Dr David Galvin, IPCOR programme lead and Consultant Urologist, said: Patient engagement is at the core of our research. We want our research to be a catalyst to enhance prostate cancer care, improve patient experience and maximise quality of life for men diagnosed in Ireland and we are calling on prostate cancer patients across the country to help us gain a greater insight into the disease.

Neil Rooney, Movember Ireland Country Director, said: through the ongoing support of thousands of Irish men and women, The Movember Foundation is proud to support IPCOR and humbled that together we are funding the largest prostate cancer research programme of its kind in Ireland. Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in Ireland. Through funding IPCOR, the Movember community are playing a vital role in improving the lives of prostate cancer patients across the country. However, we need patients help to really assess and learn about this disease in order to better support and improve their quality of life.

IPCOR, which is funded for a five-year period by Movember, is a collaborative partnership involving the Irish Cancer Society, National Cancer Registry Ireland, the HRB Clinical Research Facility in Galway, the National Cancer Control Programme and the nations major academic institutions represented by Clinical Research Development Ireland. IPCOR will continue to report ever year to the public, to hospitals and to doctors. Visit www.ipcor.ie for more information.
Chambers Ireland have announced their short list for their annual awards. The winners will be announced on April 10.

Dundalk Chambers www.m1corridor.ie has been shortlisted in the category of Most Successful Policy Campaign.

The other nominees are Carlow Chamber and Cork Chamber and Limerick Chamber.

President Pat McCormick expressed his delight at hearing the news, saying "it was a testament to the professionalism of the Chambers work".

Paddy Malone, PRO of the Chamber, said that this was yet more support for the project.

He had noticed that the IDA and EI were engaging with the project. He also jokingly said: "Yet again Cork and ourselves in direct competition."

The projects aim is to attract jobs into the region from Drogheda through Dundalk and on to Newry.

The website is based around six one minute videos on all aspects of the region plus a range of statistics.

Drogheda Chamber have been shortlisted for their work on the Fleadh under the Cooperation with Local Authorities category.
The local branch of Comhaltas have just announced the lineup for their annual traditional music festival in Carrickmacross, the Feile Patrick Byrne.

Every year the committee try to bring the best traditional music performers to the area.

This year's festival will feature the exciting Mairtin OConnor Band, Louth fiddle maestro Gerry O'Connor and the Salamanca Ceili Band.

As well as the concerts, there will be workshops, sessions, a guided walking tour plus a free public lecture on Patrick Byrnes place in the Irish harp tradition.

This public lecture will be of particular local interest as it will be on Patrick Byrnes place in the Irish harp tradition. Featuring music played by Byrne on a wire strung harp of the type he would have played, the talk will be given by Sylvia Crawford in the Shirley Arms Hotel at 8pm Thursday week, 11th of April.

Sylvia is a tutor with the Historical Harp Society of Ireland which aims to revive this old style harp, a sound which has not been heard in Carrickmacross since the passing of Patrick Byrne in 1863. The talk is free and attendees will have a complimentary cuppa.

The Feile Patrick Byrne has been running successfully since 2007 on the Palm Sunday weekend, which this year falls on 14 April. It is a particularly important event for local music students as they get a chance to learn from top traditional musicians, play with them in sessions and see them perform live. Further details will be available here next week and can also be found on facebook and carrickmacross.ie.
Louth TD Declan Breathnach has called on the Government to support beef farmers who are in the midst of a crisis and suggests it could be alleviated by forward contract pricing.

Speaking in the Dail on a Fianna Fail motion on the beef crisis, Deputy Breathnach said:

The farming community is not seeking a handout; it is seeking the Minister's commitment to support them, and to explore the necessary measures to make it viable.

The crisis in our beef industry has been severely compounded by stock numbers and the uncertainty of Brexit. In 2018 we had the highest kill in 15 years, with 1.8 million cattle, 80,000 more than in 2017.

Obviously those increased numbers have had an impact on both supply and demand. The perfect storm has been brewing and the Minister has known about it for a long time.

From a farmer's perspective, a poultry farmer in Poland can fix his price 12 months in advance. A grain farmer in Ireland can forward sell his grain. The relative success of the dairy sector in Ireland in the past five years has been based on farmers knowing well in advance the price per litre. I firmly believe it is time for the beef manufacturers and the beef producers to become friends and deliver what is needed for this industry, which is forward pricing.

Minister Creed in the Dail said that he agreed wholeheartedly with my suggestion regarding forward pricing. He outlined how producer organisations, negotiated contracts and strengthening the position of farmers in the supply chain will be explored.

The Minister outlined that in this regard his Department has approved a number of organisations to act as facilitators for producer organisations.

The Fianna Fail TD concluded by saying:

It is as simple as this, if a farmer has price certainty in expectation from calf to beef he can adjust his cost base. This is achievable.

"The main stakeholders, the beef producers and manufacturers and the purchasers are indicating that they are up to doing this. What is needed is proper coordination and assistance from the Department and the representative farming groupings to make it happen."
LVLY is an Australian start up that has become the Uber of gift giving since it was founded by Hannah Spilva and Verity Tuck only 4 years ago.

In 2015, Hannah and Verity saw a gap in the market when they themselves found that they werent easily and conveniently able to send gifts quickly to loved ones in other parts of the country.

LVLY is the only personalised gift giving service with a national presence now across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The business is going from strength to strength with an expected $3.5m in sales in this financial year alone.

One of the co-founders and director, Hannah Spilva, has shared her insights into the biggest challenges faced with building the start-up and also highlights specific obstacles that women in business are seeing right now.

She also talks to us about how LVLY started, how to balance parenting whilst building a well-known national brand and where their business is headed in the future.

How did the idea for LVLY start?

We were both living away from home (in Sydney) and were struggling to find ways of spoiling/ connecting /reaching out to our family and friends across states or even countries. It wasnt just the birthdays or the big-ticket occasions, it was when your best friend had a bad day or your brother had a massive win at work  those moments that youd usually be present to share with them, share a glass of wine and hug or high five.

Without being physically present, how could we send them something to let them know they mattered to us and that we were still there even though we werent. Thats when the idea emerged for an affordable gift delivery service that could get some fun, beautiful gifts to recipients just because. After working in advertising for ten years, we were ready for a fresh challenge and excited by idea of building a brand from the ground up.

What have been or are the biggest challenges faced so far generally and as a businesswoman)?

Generally: Looking back over the last four years theres been so many challenges. Cash is always a big challenge when youre boot strapping a company and getting the tech right is a challenge were still working on.

But Id say logistics has always been the biggest challenge facing LVLY. As one of the first companies in Australia to offer customers same-day delivery, we were making big promises and taking big risks in a logistics and delivery, an area neither of us had any experience with.

When we started LVLY in 2014, same-day delivery was a new concept and we struggled to find a courier business that would support us, so we began delivering the gifts ourselves which we knew we couldnt do forever. We had to wait about 12 months for the logistics industry to catch up before we could outsource deliveries to a trusted partner.

As we enter our next phase of growth there will be a whole new set of challenges we have to navigate, like raising capital for the first time! But its all these things that keep us excited and energised.

As a female: As a female founder youre definitely outnumbered by the guys and youre statistically less likely to get funding. Couple that with the fact that women typically minimise their achievements and often dont recognise the true value of their experience and strengths. Its a tough gig.

Having said that I actually think its a great time to be a female entrepreneur, theres a sharp spotlight on the gender imbalance that exists when it comes to women on boards, women getting funding and women in CEO roles. Personally, I feel really energised about being able to help shift that imbalance and be part of the solution.

What are your best tips for parents with young children that are wanting to start a business?

Finding balance between baby and business is hard but its definitely possible because ultimately, youre in control of defining work hours and setting boundaries. My business partner and I place a big emphasis on outcomes over hours.

That means were clear about what outcomes we want to achieve by when and as long as we hit them it doesnt matter when the work gets done. That means youre not bound by conventional work hours.

Im often working late into the evening and over the weekend but I also spend every Friday with my son instead of being at work. The beauty of running your own business is you can write your own rules.

What is the future plan for LVLY?

Ultimately our goal is to build a global business but right now our focus is on making LVLY a household name in Australia. Currently we provide same-day delivery in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as a national next day service.

Weve got plans to roll out our same-day offering to Perth and Adelaide and were assessing a potential international test market.Our business is driven by the purpose of making peoples day and well never move away from that. Weve got a strong, value led culture and maintaining that as we scale and grow is hugely important to us.
The daily practices you need to cultivate to set yourself up for success in 2022.
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By Marlene Cimons

Mosquitoes are unrelenting killers. In fact, they are among the most lethal animals in the world. When they carry dangerous viruses or other organisms, a bite can be unforgiving. They cause millions of deaths every year from such infectious diseases as malaria, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever and at least a dozen more.

But here's the really bad news: climate change is expected to make them even deadlier. As the planet heats up, these insects will survive winter and proliferate, causing an estimated billion or more new infections by the end of the century, according to new research.

"Plain and simple, climate change is going to kill a lot of people," said biologist Colin J. Carlson, a postdoctoral fellow in Georgetown University's biology department, and co-author of the study, published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. "Mosquito-borne diseases are going to be a big way that happens, especially as they spread from the tropics to temperate countries."





Climate Nexus The study predicted an amenable climate could prompt some of these new cases within regions not previously regarded as vulnerable, including the U.S. These viruses can result in volatile outbreaks when conditions are right, as was the case with Zika. "We've known about Zika since 1947, and we watched it slowly spread around the world until 2015, when it arrived in Brazil and suddenly we had an explosive epidemic on our hands," Carlson said. "Chikungunya has done something not too different from that," he added. "These viruses proliferate quickly in populations that don't have any immunity  and we're very scared about that. If you only have one month that's warm enough for outbreaks, the question is: 'how much damage you can do?' For viruses like these, it's a lot." The study underscores the growing evidence that climate change is having  and will continue to have  a deleterious impact on global health, not only from the direct effects of extreme weather events like heat waves and flooding, but also because mosquitoes thrive in warm temperatures and carbon dioxide, encouraging them to flourish and spread disease. Rising temperatures also are causing many to migrate to new locations.

Climate Nexus "This is a very important forward-looking report," said Robert T. Schooley, an infectious diseases expert at the University of California, San Diego, and editor of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, who was not involved in this study. "Understanding in as much detail as possible the risks we face as we move toward a warmer planet is essential. Mosquitoes are able to spread blood-borne pathogens faster than epidemiologists can track an epidemic. There are many one-way doors through which we will go as the planet warms. The spread of mosquitoes and other vectors that can transmit multiple pathogens is an important one that those who don't think climate change is a serious problem should ponder." The research team, also led by Sadie J. Ryan, of the University of Florida's emerging pathogens institute and associate professor of medical geography, looked what would happen to the two most common disease-carrying mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, as temperatures increase during the coming decades. It found that global warming will expose almost all of the world's population to mosquitoes at some point in the next 50 years. Also, there likely will be year-round transmissions in the tropics and seasonal risks almost everywhere else, along with a greater intensity of infections, according to the study. Moreover, shorter, warmer winters will mean more mosquitoes will survive. "Where the number of temperature-suitable months of the year increase, so too will the winter months decrease, lowering the threshold for overwintering survival of the mosquitoes," Ryan said. "We already have evidence, for example, in New England, that tire piles can provide sufficiently ambient overwintering habitat already for albopictus, by virtue of retaining pooled water that doesn't get too cold. With fewer months at those very low temperatures, the pressure on survival is lessened, and more overwintering mosquitoes will make it to the next season."

Humidity and water are crucial for vector breeding. Pixabay The scientists' goal was to better understand what increasing temperatures would mean for the handful of viruses that Aedes mosquitoes spread. "We used a model of virus spread at different temperatures to mark out where in the world these viruses might be over time, and used climate models to map people at risk now and in the future, that is, 2050 and 2080," Carlson explained. "This study is a bit of a numbers game: with 7 billion people on Earth, who's most at risk now? Who's at risk in a generation? We don't know where mosquitoes will be in the future. What we can do is say where they might be able to transmit viruses if they show up." The burden on developing countries, already hard hit, likely will increase, especially in the East African portion of sub-Saharan Africa, "one of the top regions to experience increases in people at risk," Ryan said. "These are regions in which we tend to focus on malaria and malaria control  However, we know that there is also dengue circulating in these regions. It is essential to think about surveillance of these diseases now. This is a part of the world that will be facing the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities under climate change, with underfunded infrastructure to manage multiple health impacts."

Regions most impacted by Dengue worldwide, 2015. CDC Dengue, which causes high fever, headache, and joint pain, is the most common vector-borne viral disease in the world, with up to 100 million infections and 25,000 deaths annually, and, in recent years, has appeared in the U.S. It caused an epidemic in Hawaii in 2001, as well as a cluster of cases in Florida about ten years ago, with additional sporadic infections since then. It also has shown up with increasing frequency along the Texas-Mexican border. The 2009 Florida cases, in fact, were the first dengue cases acquired in the continental U.S.  outside of the Texas-Mexico border  since 1945, and the first locally transmitted cases in Florida since 1934. "We've seen dengue showing up in Hawaii and Florida, then we saw Zika arrive in Florida and really grab public attention," Ryan said. "Because Aedes aegypti is such a globalized mosquito, the potential for it to facilitate new outbreaks of many diseases is high." Often, cases that arise in the U.S. typically result after Americans travel and are infected abroad. Once they return home, a local mosquito bites them and acquires the virus. It then can transmit it to others. "Travelers overseas can bring back pathogens that can establish in local mosquito populations," Ryan said. "This potential is a very real issue."

Estimated potential range of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in the U.S. Maps do not represent risk for spread of disease, 2017. CDC There are several thousand species of mosquitoes, but only a few transmit disease. Anopheles mosquitoes carry the parasites that causes malaria and filariasis  also called elephantiasis  and the virus that causes encephalitis. Culex mosquitoes carry encephalitis, filariasis, and the virus that causes West Nile, while the two Aedes species studied in this paper transmit the viruses that cause yellow fever, dengue and encephalitis. "We've only managed to capture the uncertain futures for two mosquitoes that spread a handful of diseases  and there's at least a dozen vectors we need this information on," Carlson said. "It's very worrisome to think how much these diseases might increase, but it's even more concerning that we don't have a sense of that future. We have several decades of work to do in the next couple years if we want to be ready." He believes that climate mitigation could save millions of lives, "but I also don't want us to fall into the trap of mitigating climate change just to keep dengue and Zika in the tropics, and out of the U.S. and Europe," he said. "Facing something as massive as climate change gives us a chance to rethink the world's health disparities, and work towards a future where fewer people die of preventable diseases like these. Facing climate change and tackling the burden of neglected tropical diseases go hand-in-hand."

Reposted with permission from our media associate Nexus Media.
EcoWatch teamed up with sustainability activist and Instagram influencer Margarita Samsonova via Facebook Live to give you the tools you need to make a massive impact on this planet through volunteer work.

Here are five steps including valuable "pro-tips" to get you on your way to a life-changing experience as a volunteer abroad.









1 . Imagine Your Capabilities Step one is using your imagination to discover what you are capable of. Samsonova explained that she never would have thought she'd be where she is today. "I just had a passion but I couldn't even phrase it," said Samsonova as she shared how the path she once imagined didn't make logical sense at the time. She had no idea who she would one day be when she first recognized her passion to study zoology and thus make a difference on the planet. Samsonova trusted and surrendered to her passion, eventually discovered her message, and today she has a video with 22,000 views on Facebook and 106,000 followers in Instagram. She's inspiring people around the globe to do the work. And she gets to spend at least one month each year doing volunteer abroad work. See on Instagram

2 . Do the Research Research everything until you find the organization of your choice. For example, you might start by searching "penguin rescue center" + "your preferred destination." Once you find a specific organization, be sure to check reviews as well. In case you find yourself stuck on third party websites that disclose the name of specific organizations and cost large amounts of money. Samsonova shared a "pro-tip" for you. On that website, view the description for the volunteer opportunity you've found. Copy and paste some of the words in that description to your preferred search engine including the country. For example, copy and paste words like "spend time giving medications to turtles + Costa Rica" to your search engine. There's a high chance you will then find the name of that organization and void the fees from the third party website. See on Instagram

3 . Follow the Money As described in the Instagram post below, it can costs money to volunteer. Samsonova offered another "pro-tip"  $20 - 30 per day is the recommended cost you should pay. If an opportunity costs more than that, it's important to get back to researching and find out where that money is going. Another way to avoid paying money is telling the organization about any value you can add while you are there. If you are a skilled worker, you can discuss offering your services in exchange for a the volunteer opportunity. See on Instagram

4 . Be Patient Those who offer volunteer work are often times incredibly busy people who are working on saving orangutans from illegal logging operations, rescuing sea turtles from poachers and capturing ghost nets trapping endangered species such as the vaquita. "Things can be really slow. They can be located in the middle of no where with limited service. They have other things to think about. The process can be quite long ... they might forget to reply," said Samsonova. She urged viewers to avoid taking these circumstances personally and explained an experience she once had where the messages were very short and she thought they might not want her to come. "Maybe I shouldn't go," she wondered. She realized they were just too busy to have long conversations. "If you want to come, come here, trust me we will show you everything," is the message she received. See on Instagram
My first year teaching high school was in 2015, months after the Supreme Court ruled on Obergefell v. Hodges, which guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry in the United States. Like many members of the LGBTQ community, I celebrated the landmark decision. But as a transgender man, I worried that not everyone at my school would be ready to embrace the T.

Schools are some of the most binary-gendered spaces in our society. Every adult uses the honorific Mr. or Ms. Dress codes and uniforms often differ for boys and girls. The building has a boys bathroom and a girls bathroomsingle-stall, gender-neutral facilities are seldom an option.

A decade earlier, when I was attending high school and beginning my transition from female to male, these binaries were direct challenges for me. But when I began my career nearly four years ago as a binary, male-passing teacher, to talk about my trans identity was a choice. Could I work openly as a trans teacher? Or would I be better off not telling anybody?

Our training that summer had a strong focus on forging relationships among staff. We played team-building games and read teaching articles together, jigsaw-style. On a three-day retreat in the mountains, we shared our stories, hopes, and fears. We were given prompts like, What is the hardest thing youve ever done in your life? and What is an experience you had as a student that informed your philosophy of education?

For me, all the answers were tied to my trans identity. To omit this would be to omit the best and most valuable things about myself. And so I chose to stand up and share the story of my transition with my 50 new coworkers. First the room was silent apart from my trembling voice, then the air was filled with claps and snaps. My coworkers applauded my act of courage and authenticity. I slept soundly that night in my bunk with the other male staff.

By the time students had been in the building for a few weeks, I knew I wanted to tell them, too.

Supporting Transgender Staff

I told my principal, Dan, that I wanted to come out to the students at one of our all-school morning meetings. We sat down together to plan out what that would look like. I wanted to broadly message to students that identity can be tricky to figure out, and it can only be self-determined. Thinking of our queer, trans, and questioning students, as well as our students of color and multiracial students, I wanted to pass on a message of affirmation: Believe that people are who they say they are, and celebrate it. Our school emphasized civic engagement, so I planned to highlight my experience as a student petitioning my high school for a trans-inclusive bathroom policy.

Dan liked all of these messages, and he scheduled my coming out for a Monday morning in November. Recognizing the sensitive topic, he planned to send a letter home to parents, allowing them to opt their child out of attending the morning meeting. Before I could object, Dan spoke with an equity consultant who talked him out of it.

The consultant asked him to reflect, What if it were a presentation about homosexuality or Black history? Would you allow parents to opt out of that? She suggested instead that Dan invite families and community members to this event, as a nod to the significance of my coming out.

When the day came, I stood in front of 500 students and I spoke my truth. I told the students that I was transgender, what it meant, and the challenges that I went through as a young person navigating school, work, family, and social life. As the carefully practiced story finally left my mouth, it entered 500 different minds, each to process it in a unique way. The students in the Gay-Straight Alliance club loved that this was happening, and in our after-school GSA meeting they gushed over its impact. I was stopped in the hall by a Harvard-bound senior that I did not teach, and she thanked me for sharing my story. An email landed in my inbox from a parent expressing gratitude for my decision to come out.

If any parents were upset, they didnt contact methey must have talked to Dan, who dealt with their concerns without my involvement. If anybody asked to switch out of my class, Dan didnt allow it.

His support as a principal was a major factor in my decision to be out with the students. It is in the hands of school leaders to ensure that transgender staff are never made to feel like a burden for being themselves. School districts need precise guidelines on how to support transgender staff as they transition, come out, and continually navigate the workplace.

My Impact

Four years later, I have shared my story with every new class that Ive taught, totaling about 1,000 students in Denver-area schools. For many, I am the first openly transgender person that they have known. The significance of this is clear to every single childif Im coming out to a class of 30, I will have no fewer than 30 pairs of eyes staring at me intently while I speak.

Students find my story fascinating and easier to relate to than they might have expected. Not everyone has felt gender dysphoria, but almost everyone can relate when I say that when I looked in the mirror, it didnt match how I felt inside, or when I say that my parents didnt see me for who I really was.

Students process my story by talking about it with their friends or with other adults in their lives. Ive seldom been asked a question that was intentionally rude, but when I decline to share, for example, my birth name, students easily understand that it is no longer a part of my identity.

It can be challenging for students to process ideas about gender-diversity, and some students express their frustration outwardly. One boy, who had a history of anti-gay remarks, came around my classroom during lunch and peeled my school picture off of the door. He stuck my photograph onto the sign of the gender-neutral bathroom nearby. Another boy in my class decided to write my name, incorrectly, as Mrs. Long on the cover of his final exam. I have noticed that it tends to be adolescent boys, processing many messages about masculinity, who externalize more discomfort about my trans identity.

Queer, trans, and questioning students react profoundly to my story and ongoing presence. For some, the reaction is all internal, and they dont say a word or ask any questions on the day I come out. Others smile and nod, approach me afterwards, and want a hug. Every day I go to work, I get to be living proof that trans people can be happy and successfulproof that didnt exist when I was a student. The result is that closeted LGBTQ students begin to consider coming out. In every year that Ive shared my story, its been followed by at least one student coming out to the school community.

In some cases, I get to advocate for LGBTQ students when they are struggling. It breaks my heart when I learn that LGBTQ students are being bullied, almost as if I feel obliged to be a human shield for them. But the reality is that transphobia will persist in schools until confronted by all staff and all role models. The trans teacher cant do it alone.
Residents shout down oil and gas execs over fracking at US Steel mill

"We don't want you here. Go somewhere else."
Technology Assessment Will AI ever have consciousness? 29. Marz 2019, 11:24 Uhr | Joachim Kroll

The title of the research project sounds like a criminal file: Clarification of the suspicion of ascending consciousness in artificial intelligence. Behind this is the question of whether AI can become dangerous for humanity.

Alexa, Sophia, Watson: The age-old idea of a machine similar to humans but equipped with superhuman abilities has received new nourishment through the progress of AI research. Some actors are promising the development of a superintelligence that will become aware of itself. But how realistic is this? In the project Clarification of the Suspicion of Ascending Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), technology impact researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are getting to the bottom of this previously little researched question.

When in October 2017 the robot Sophia stepped up to the lectern at a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and explained its self-image of a learning and communicating machine in human form to the half amused, half astonished audience, this was a milestone in public perception on the seemingly ever shorter way to an artificial intelligence that awakens its individuality and reflects its internal states.

AI-supported systems such as the smart loudspeaker Alexa, IBM's dialogue-capable super-brain Watson or Google's self-learning chess giant AlphaZero also fuel the vision of a super-intelligence that can be realized in the foreseeable future and that eclipses everything that has existed before. Renowned actors in science and art warn of the consequences of such a change of epoch, others point to the almost utopian opportunities. The fundamental question of what conscious AI is at all and what could be the point of the scenarios of machines with an independent existence is surprisingly seldom asked.

Relevante Anbieter

So far a question of faith

This is where the two-year research project Clarification of the Suspicion of Ascending Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence (AI Consciousness) comes in. Our aim is to demystify the topic of AI consciousness, says project leader Professor Karsten Wendland from the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) at KIT. Some, the computer scientist and technology consequence researcher explains his objective, consider it impossible for machines, especially AI systems, to become 'conscious' at some point. Others claim that conscious AI systems have been around for a long time and are still hiding from us. Here we would like to develop a transdisciplinarily sustainable understanding and introduce the results into the public discourse.

Collecting theses and arguments

In a mixed method approach, the project team will first examine the status quo in terms of AI awareness by systematically recording the debates in the specialist disciplines and in public discourse, in expert interviews and in bibliometric media analysis. For the first time, typical positions, arguments and ways of speaking will be identified and described. As analysts, says project manager Wendland, we adopt a neutral attitude with regard to content. At the same time, we do not shy away from including very courageous positions on AI consciousness in our research, positions that are rather rare in Europe, such as that it is not necessary to differentiate between humans and machines, since there is a piece of creation in everything.

In a second step, the scientists want to bring together experts on central research questions in the field of AI awareness who have not yet spoken to each other. These transdisciplinary bridges, deepened in workshops and symposia, are intended to build up and consolidate an interdisciplinary understanding of this mysterious and sensitive topic.

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Isle of Man Bank tells customers about changes

Isle of Man Bank has written to its customers to explain a planned move of its business.

It want to move its products and services to the Royal Bank of Scotland International in Jersey.

Officials say customers will notice no changes to the running of their accounts.

Isle of Man Bank has applied to the High Court for approval of a scheme to transfer over the legal entity.

The court hearing is expect to take place on May 21.
Germany continues selling arms to Saudi-led coalition

German government approved nearly 400 million in arms exports to Saudi Arabia and its allies involved in the Yemen War.

Merkels coalition government approved 400M in arms exports to Saudi-led coalition, according to local media.

Despite a coalition government agreement last March restricting arms exports to countries involved in the Yemeni conflict, Berlin has so far approved 208 arms deals with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Egypt Jordan and Kuwait, according to German news agency DPA.

"YEMEN WAR IS THE WORST DISASTER OF MODERN TIMES"

Arms deals with Saudi Arabia has topped the list with the government issuing 10 permits worth 255 million, followed by dozens of defense contracts with the UAE which amounted to 57 million.

Opposition parties heavily criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition partner Social Democrats for the arms deals. The federal government must stop aiding Saudi Arabias war crimes in Yemen. There should be no more arms deals with the dictators, neither with Saudi Arabia nor with the UAE, which is its close ally in the Yemen war, the Left Party wrote on Twitter.

Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The ongoing violence has destroyed much of Yemens infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times.
Guaido banned from holding public office for 15 years

The government cites irregularities in self-proclaimed interim president's financial records for the move.

The Venezuelan government said Thursday that it has barred opposition leader Juan Guaido from holding public office for 15 years, according to local reports.

HE WAS ACCUSED OF RECEIVING MONEY

The National Assembly leader was accused of having inconsistencies in his personal financial disclosures and a spending record higher than his income, according to a statement by state comptroller Elvis Amoroso.

Amoroso said all lawmakers were obliged to disclose their financial status and spending in line with Venezuelan laws. Guaido had made 91 international trips, for which he spent 300 million bolivars ($30 million) and did not record where the money came from, Amoroso added. He was also accused of receiving money from national and international associations without any reason.

Guaido declared himself interim president of Venezuela in January amid an economic crisis there.

The US was the first nation to recognize him as Venezuela's leader. Dozens of nations, including most in Latin America, have followed suit.

But Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is strongly supported by Russia, has refused to cede power, instead insisting that he is the target of a U.S.-orchestrated coup.
Trump to meet Egypt's Sisi at White House

Trump will host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi on April 9 for talks on strengthening their strategic partnership and working on shared priorities in the Middle East.

The White House said in a statement the two leaders would discuss building on our robust military, economic, and counterterrorism cooperation as well as regional economic integration and Egypts longstanding role as a lynchpin of regional stability.

TRUMP HAD SIGNED A DECREE ON RECOGNIZING GOLAN HEIGHTS

The visit by al Sisi comes at a time of renewed tensions between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza after a rocket fired from the coastal enclave wounded seven Israelis near Tel Aviv. Israel responded with airstrikes and warnings from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel was prepared to wage a broad military campaign in Gaza if needed.

Trump on Monday signed a decree recognizing Israels annexation of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 war. The decision, which was criticized by Arab states, came as Israel gears up for elections on April 9.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Golan decision would help resolve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians by removing uncertainty. White House advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt have been working to put together a peace proposal to address the conflict.
Turkey and Russia slam US decision on Golan Heights

Turkey and Russia criticized the US decision on Golan Heights, saying it was against international law.

Top diplomats of both countries meet in the Mediterranean province of Antalya to discuss bilateral ties, regional developments.

"IT CREATES CHAOS IN THE REGION"

"We definitely do not recognize such a decision and such a signature because it is against international law and UN resolutions. These are the territories of Syria," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a news conference in the Mediterranean province of Antalya.

Cavusoglu's remarks came after the 7th Turkish-Russian Joint Strategic Planning Group Meeting, where the minister discussed bilateral relations as well as current regional and international developments with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Cavusoglu said the US decision did not contribute to regional peace and stability, adding: "On the contrary, it creates unrest and chaos in the region."





Lavrov, for his part, said Russia also did not recognize the decision, saying: "This is against international law. All kinds of international law was violated and broken." On Monday, Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

Israel occupies roughly two-thirds of the wider Golan Heights as a de facto result of the conflict. It moved to formally annex the territory in 1981 -- an action unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council.
Turkeys national satellite observes Antarctica

turkeys first national satellite Rasat observed Antarcticas Horseshoe Island hosting Turkey's scientific research camp.

Space Technologies Institute of Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK Space) shared images of Horseshoe Island and the surrounding area on Twitter.

TURKISH TEAM HAD TRAVELED TO ANTARCTICA

Rasat, literally meaning observation, can shoot satellite image everywhere in the world and transfers them to the earth station in TUBITAK Space. The images are used in cartography, disaster monitoring, smart agriculture, environment, and urban planning.

Earlier in February, a Turkish team traveled to Antarctica as part of the Third National Antarctic Science Expedition to spend 30 days, which was supported by the Turkish Presidency, the Industry and Technology Ministry, and Polar Research Center of Istanbul Technical University, along with other Turkish universities.

During the expedition, Anadolu Agency covered the teams scientific efforts in Antarctica with a group of three journalists; economy correspondent Dilara Zengin, photojournalist Ozge Elif Kizil and cameraman Servet Ulku.

In April 2016, the first-ever Turkish team of researchers -- including doctors, botanists, geologists, and oceanographers from seven universities -- traveled to Antarctica to study the impact of climate change.

Antarctica, the coldest continent on earth, has served as a scientific research zone since the signing of a 1959 treaty.
Atlanta-March 29, 2019-New research demonstrating the clinical utility of Bio-Rad's Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) powered liquid biopsy will be presented this week during the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Atlanta, March 29-April 3. Many of the studies rely on the sensitivity, speed, and cost-effectiveness of ddPCR technology to measure blood-based tumor biomarkers in a reproducible way.

Cited in more than 900 liquid biopsy publications, ddPCR technology is often employed by cancer researchers and oncologists to track disease progression and determine therapy response, but it is yet to be ascertained whether changing therapies based on this timely information translates to improved patient outcomes. A large phase 3 study currently underway is addressing that question by analyzing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in plasma using ddPCR technology. Below we highlight this study and other notable research that will be presented during this year's AACR Annual Meeting.

Liquid biopsy could be superior to tissue biopsy in predicting breast cancer therapy response

Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and her collaborators used ddPCR technology in their investigation of the benefits of tracking drug-resistance mutations in the ctDNA of patients with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer.

In the phase 3 study, researchers measured mutations in two genes (PIK3CA and ESR1) implicated in drug resistance. Their study included 334 plasma samples and 434 archival tissue samples from 669 patients treated with either fulvestrant alone or fulvestrant plus abemaciclib. The researchers found a correlation between the presence of PIK3CA and ESR1 mutations and response to abemaciclib in ctDNA, but not in tissue samples. They also found that while the addition of abemaciclib was beneficial for all patients, those with PIK3CA and ESR1 mutations benefited more.

"These findings lend support to the use of ctDNA and liquid biopsies to identify molecular alterations that could help inform treatment choices," Tolaney said.

The next step is validating these data in prospective clinical trials.

This poster (abstract #4458) will be presented on Tuesday, April 2, 3-5 PM in Room B312.

ctDNA could be a predictor of surgery success for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive, but relatively rare, tumor associated with asbestos exposure. Most patients with MPM are over 70 years old, so surgery can be risky and may not improve outcomes. Luke Martinson, PhD, of the University of Leicester, and his colleagues conducted a proof-of-principle study to understand the potential use of ctDNA as a prognostic biomarker for surgical success for these patients.

The scientists compared genetic differences between tumor and normal tissue in 11 patients with MPM and developed a ddPCR assay that could detect MPM-specific ctDNA. Next, they tested patient blood samples collected before surgery. Results showed that patients with MPM-specific ctDNA had a worse prognosis after surgery.

"Detection of ctDNA requires highly sensitive methods and ddPCR technology was ideally suited to help us answer the question of whether or not the ctDNA status was informative of patient survival," said Martinson.

The researchers hope to confirm the preliminary findings with a larger cohort. If validated, ctDNA would represent one of the few known prognostic markers for MPM.

This poster (abstract #1349) will be presented on Monday, April 1, 8 AM-12 PM in Section 18.

Detecting therapy resistance in HER2-negative breast cancer

Continuing work presented at last year's American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, researchers are examining whether changing therapies may be effective for patients with advanced breast cancer when mutations are detected in their ctDNA. This is the first large-scale effort to monitor resistance mutations and personalize breast cancer therapy in real time, according to Francois-Clement Bidard, MD, PhD, of the Institut Curie, Paris, the study's author.

This phase 3 clinical trial, run in more than 80 French cancer centers, has enrolled 1,000 patients with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who were treated with endocrine therapy. Using ddPCR based liquid biopsy tests -- done both before and during treatment -- the researchers are tracking the emergence of ESR1 mutations linked to endocrine therapy resistance. While the study is still ongoing, preliminary results indicate that ddPCR technology can rapidly detect the presence of ESR1 mutations.

"Droplet Digital PCR is the only cost-effective solution that enables us to track the onset in real time of ESR1 mutations in thousands of serial ctDNA samples," said Bidard.

If this study determines that switching patients with ESR1 mutations to a new treatment is more effective, ddPCR could potentially be applied in the clinical setting to continually monitor patients and help physicians know when to make that switch.

This ongoing study will be presented on Monday, April 1, 1:35-2 PM during Session SY31.

Bio-Rad's new scATAC-Seq solution and FDA-cleared QXDx BCR-ABL %IS Kit will be on display at Bio-Rad's booth (#2627). In addition, Bio-Rad will showcase its new ddPCR Multiplexing Supermix for detection of multiple targets. To learn more about Bio Rad's ddPCR technology, visit the booth or bio-rad.com/digitalPCR.

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Bio-Rad, Droplet Digital PCR, and ddPCR are trademarks of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. in certain jurisdictions.

About Bio-Rad

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: BIO and BIOb) is a global leader in developing, manufacturing, and marketing a broad range of innovative products for the life science research and clinical diagnostic markets. With a focus on quality and customer service for over 65 years, our products advance the discovery process and improve healthcare. Our customers are university and research institutions, hospitals, public health and commercial laboratories, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, as well as applied laboratories that include food safety and environmental quality. Founded in 1952, Bio-Rad is based in Hercules, California, and has a global network of operations with more than 8,000 employees worldwide. Bio-Rad had revenues exceeding $2.2 billion in 2018. For more information, please visit http://www.bio-rad.com.

This release may be deemed to contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements we make regarding our development and launch of new products and our expectations regarding our products. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plan", "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "may," "will," "can," "intend," "estimate," "continue," or similar expressions or the negative of those terms or expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include our ability to develop and market new or improved products, product quality and liability issues, our ability to compete effectively, and international legal and regulatory risks. For further information regarding our risks and uncertainties, please refer to the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation" in Bio-Rad's public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Bio-Rad cautions you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect an analysis only and speak only as of the date hereof. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
British lawmakers will hold a vote on the withdrawal agreement on Friday in a fresh effort to break the current Brexit deadlock.

Pro-Brexit campaigners lobby outside Parliament in London, Thursday, March 28, 2019. The British government says it plans to hold a new Brexit debate in Parliament Friday, but hasn't confirmed whether it will call a third vote on its twice-rejected European Union divorce deal. [Photo: AP]

The British House of Commons will hold the vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, which has been voted down twice by the parliament since January.



The decision was made after the British government is seeking to hold the vote on Brexit deal on Friday following a debate on Thursday in the parliament.

The speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, said Thursday in the parliament that the motion is "new and substantially" different while he was clearing the motion for debate and vote on Friday.

The vote will take place at a time when the British businesses are increasingly angry over the stalled Brexit process.

Bercow said the proposed motion for a debate in the House of Commons complied with parliamentary rules that meant the prime minister's Brexit deal could not return to the commons unchanged.

He said the government's motion complies with a convention that motions that are the same or substantially the same must not be put to the house more than once in a parliamentary session.

"In short, the motion is new, and substantially different" he said.

He confirmed Friday's motion will only cover the withdrawal agreement and not the accompanying political declaration.

"The previous meaningful vote encompassed both the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration -- this motion covers the former but not the latter," said Bercow.

It came hours after Boris Johnson, the former British foreign secretary who is among those against the prime minister over Brexit, branded May's deal as being "dead."

There were further calls on Thursday for May to honor her commitment to step down even if the parliament rejects her blueprint again.

On Wednesday, May told MPs that she will quit as prime minister if the British parliament backs her Brexit plan, which was rejected twice by MPs since January.

In appealing to Tory MPs to support her Brexit deal, the prime minister said that she will step down earlier than planned.

Her offer to stand down came in response to calls from a number of her backbenchers for her to name the date of her departure in return for their help in pushing the deal through the parliament.

British lawmakers on Wednesday voted to change original Brexit departure date in law to April 12 or May 22 as the prime minister was in an 11th hour appeal to Tory MPs to back her Withdrawal Agreement.

MPs voted 441 to 105 in the House of Commons to bring the new Brexit date into law and remove the original plan for Britain to leave the European Union (EU) on March 29.

MPs also voted on Wednesday night to reject eight Brexit alternatives to May's Brexit deal as the British government fails in last-ditch bid to halt the process.
The winners are as follows:

Ramil Nasibullin, Associate Professor, Department of the Theory of Functions and Approximations - for his work on Hardy-type inequalities and polyharmonic mappings;

Yekaterina Garanina, Senior Research Associate, Laboratory of Gene and Cell Technologies - for her work on Hantavirus Puumala genetic variations for the treatment of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome;

Valeriya Solovyova, Senior Research Associate, Laboratory of Gene and Cell Technologies - for her research stem cell-based microvesicle delivery in cancer treatment;

Polina Yermolaeva, Associate Professor, Department of General and Ethnic Sociology, and Nataliya Larionova, Associate Professor, Department of Economic Theory and Econometrics - for their work on digital models of social-and-ecological problem solving in Russian cities;

Dinar Fazullin, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Ecology (Naberezhnye Chelny Institute) - for his inquiry into ultrafiltration and nanofiltration membranes for water treatment;

Andrey Frolov, Senior Research Associate, Chebotarev Research Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics - for his research of computable representation of linear orders.

The six candidates of sciences (PhDs) will receive 600 thousand rubles each, and Dr. Frolov, who is a doctor of sciences (DSc), will be awarded 1 million rubles.

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Michigan State University will share almost $3 million to develop a freshwater recovery system to extract clean irrigation water from hydraulic fracturing wastewater. The reclaimed water could help dry western states that need water for crops and livestock.

The collaboration with Oregon State University and the University of Nevada Reno is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

Finding a way to reuse fracking wastewater is important because of the sheer amount produced. For example, oil companies in Texas and New Mexico generate enough wastewater to fill more than 1,000 Olympic-size swimming pools daily.

MSU's goal is to use low-grade solar or industrial waste heat to develop a new process of extracting clean water from the fracking wastewater. Researchers hope to create a system that is modular, portable, scalable and easily deployable in the field.

Andre Benard, associate professor of mechanical engineering, will serve as MSU's lead investigator. He'll work with MSU Foundation Professor James Klausner, chair and professor of mechanical engineering.

"MSU's focus will be designing the novel multiphase heat exchangers needed for the process," Benard said. "We're working on a system that will efficiently separate, condense and reclaim purified water from wastewater, using a heat-activated swirling nozzle and in-line demister, which helps remove droplets from the vapor stream."

MSU's solution will provide an alternative to current practices. Generally, the salty wastewater is disposed of by pumping it deep underground via injection wells, a somewhat controversial process.

"There is a strong focus on delivering a low-cost wastewater treatment solution by leveraging the novel treatment system fabricated with low-cost materials," Klausner added. "Ending the practice of wastewater reinjection will have a positive environmental impact."

ARPA-E supports the development of innovative technologies to transform the nation's energy system. Since 2009, it has provided $1.8 billion in research and development.

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Touch is one of five basic senses, yet the mechanism of tactile sensations remains shrouded. An international collaboration of researchers is working to pull back the veil on how humans process touch, starting with how roughness can differ between individuals.

The team found that people differ substantially in how they perceive roughness. The results were published on January 30, 2019, in PLOS ONE.

"Roughness perception, one of the most basic sensations, seems complex and is under investigation," said Yoshihiro Tanaka, an associate professor in the department of electrical and mechanical engineering in Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITech) in Japan. "Understanding the relationship between physical parameters and the tactile sensation will not only be valuable from a fundamental point of view, but also for the design of textures on products and the development of touch sensors and displays."

Tanaka and his team developed a sensor that wraps around a person's finger, much like a bandage over a paper cut, just around the digit between the first and second knuckles. As a person touches different surfaces, the sensor measures how the skin vibrates in reaction to interacting with the various textures.

"We tackled the problem of determining the physical factor for surface roughness perception, in particular considering individual differences in the perception," Tanaka said. "We aimed to investigate the relationship between subjective roughness ratings and three physical parameters."

The participant's subjective ratings were compared to how the skin vibrated and the friction created from the touch, coupled with the size of the particles in the grain of the samples.

Thirty participants tested 15 different rough textures consisting of non-sharp glass particles or varied grains of sandpaper. Wearing the sensor, as well as a blindfold and headphones to limit other perceptions of the texture, each participant touched the surfaces and rated them from one to one hundred the rougher they felt.

The recorded information from the sensor - the physical measurements of vibration and friction in response to a known grain size - showed different relationships with roughness for each individual participant. A participant may have rated sandpapers as rougher or close to coarse glass particles that cause similar skin vibration. Another participant could rate sandpapers as low for roughness, despite increased vibrations and friction, and rate coarse glass particles as rougher.

"We found that important cues in tactile sensations can be different for each person," Tanaka said, noting that they specifically focused on skin vibrations, grain size, sharp edges, and other mechanical properties. "This paper demonstrates the presence of individual differences in roughness ratings. For perceptual evaluation of roughness, different individuals weigh skin vibration information, spatial information, and other mechanical properties differently."

Next, Tanaka plans to investigate why the participants process their sense of touch so differently. He noted that individuals may weigh the sensory information differently, but that there may be biomechanical differences, such as fingerprint structure or the finger's stiffness.

"Ultimately, our goal is to establish an estimation model of perceptual roughness ratings involving individual differences in the cognitive weights," Tanaka said.

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Tanaka worked with Makiko Natsume, who is also with NITech, and Astrid M.L. Kappers, a professor of engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. At the time of the research, Kappers was a professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, also in the Netherlands.
Paper published in Scientific Reports describes paleontologists' unearthing part of a skull, illustrating that there is much to learn about biodiversity and the environments of the Cretaceous Arctic

HOKKAIDO, JAPAN (March 29, 2019) - Paleontologists from Hokkaido University in Japan, in cooperation with paleontologists from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas, have discovered the first-confirmed occurrence of a lambeosaurine (crested 'duck-billed' dinosaur) from the Arctic - part of the skull of a lambeosaurine dinosaur from the Liscomb Bonebed (71-68 Ma) found on Alaska's North Slope. The bonebed was previously known to be rich in hadrosaurine hadrosaurids (non-crested 'duck-billed' dinosaurs).

The discovery proves for the first time that lambeosaurines inhabited the Arctic during the Late Cretaceous. In addition, the numeric abundance of hadrosaurine fossils compared to the lambeosaurine fossils in the marine-influenced environment of the Liscomb Bonebed suggests the possibility that hadrosaurines and lambeosaurines had different habitat preferences.

The paleontologists' findings were published today in Scientific Reports, an open-access, multi-disciplinary journal from Nature Research dedicated to constructive, inclusive and rigorous peer review. The paper - entitled "The first definite lambeosaurine bone from the Liscomb Bonebed of the Upper Cretaceous Prince Creek Formation, Alaska, United States" - is co-authored by Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Ph.D., and Ryuji Takasaki, of Hokkaido University, in cooperation with Anthony R. Fiorillo, Ph.D., of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Other authors are Ronald Tykoski, Ph.D. of the Perot Museum and Paul McCarthy, Ph.D., of the University of Alaska.

The paper can be read in Scientific Reports here.

"This new discovery illustrates the geographic link between lambeosaurines of North America and the Far East," said Takasaki. "Hopefully, further work in Alaska will reveal how closely the dinosaurs of Asia and North America are connected."

The newly discovered fossil, which is housed in the collections of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, is a supraoccipital, one of the bones that forms the braincase. The new supraoccipital differs from those of hadrosaurines by the presence of large supraoccipital bosses and it's short, front-to-back length. Since these features are commonly seen in other members of Lambeosaurinae, the newly discovered supraoccipital was assigned to that group.

"This first definitive evidence of a crested hadrosaur in the Cretaceous Arctic tells us that we still have much to learn about the biodiversity and the biologically productive environments of the ancient north, and that the story these fossils tell us is continually evolving," adds Dr. Fiorillo.

Background. The Arctic is an extreme environment that is low in temperature, lacks sunlight during winters, and has seasonally limited food resources. Though it was warmer during the Late Cretaceous, the Arctic was surely one of the most challenging places to live for large vertebrates at the time. The Prince Creek Formation on the North Slope of Alaska is a world-famous rock unit for studying dinosaurs of the ancient Arctic. Because the dinosaurs found there lived in the ancient Arctic, rather than tropical or sub-tropical conditions, these dinosaurs challenge much of what we think we know about dinosaurs. The Liscomb Bonebed (71-68 Ma), which was deposited near the ancient Arctic shoreline, is especially rich in dinosaur bones, with more than 6,000 bones collected from it thus far.

More than 99% of dinosaur fossils known from the Liscomb Bonebed are hadrosaurs, a group of large, duck-billed herbivorous dinosaurs who lived during the Late Cretaceous and were found throughout much of the northern hemisphere. All of the hadrosaur fossils from the Liscomb Bonebed were long considered to belong to a hadrosaurine duck-billed dinosaur called Edmontosaurus. Up until now, all of the hadrosaurids known from across the Arctic, including those from the Liscomb Bonebed, were considered to belong to crest-less hadrosaurines.

The discovery of a fossil from a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid in the Liscomb Bonebed is historically important for Japanese paleontologists. The first "Japanese" dinosaur, Nipponosaurus, is a lambeosaurine hadrosaur. Based on the new discovery, Hokkaido University and the Perot Museum together used this discovery to further investigate the ecology of the Arctic hadrosaurids.

Significance

1. The first Arctic lambeosaurine. The new discovery indicates Arctic inhabitance and adaptation of lambeosaurines for the first time. In addition, the fossil's morphological similarities to the same bone in the skull of southern Canadian lambeosaurines suggest faunal interactions between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes.

2. Implication on habitat preferences. While the Liscomb Bonebed is known for numerous hadrosaurine fossils, the newly discovered bone represents the only definite lambeosaurine fossil from the site. The same trend is also known in mid-latitude localities of North America and eastern Asia, which were also deposited in near-shore environments. On the other hand, more lambeosaurine fossils are found in deposits laid down in inland environments. Therefore, we hypothesize that lambeosaurines favored inland environments, while hadrosaurines preferred coastal environments, a trend likely to have been independent of latitude. Different habitat preferences might have been a strategy to avoid excessive competition between the two groups of 'duck-billed' dinosaurs.

Future plans. Although the new discovery reveals Arctic inhabitance by lambeosaurines, more specific taxonomic status and potential functional adaptations to the severe Arctic environment remain unknown due to incompleteness of the specimen. Additional excavation and further research will help answer these questions.

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For images, go to perotmuseum.org/press

About the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The top cultural attraction in Dallas/Fort Worth and a Michelin Green Guide three-star destination, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a nonprofit educational organization located in Victory Park in the heart of Dallas, Texas. With a mission to inspire minds through nature and science, the Perot Museum delivers exciting, engaging and innovative visitor and outreach experiences through its education, exhibition, and research and collections programming for children, students, teachers, families and life-long learners. The 180,000-square-foot facility in Victory Park opened in December 2012 and is now recognized as the symbolic gateway to the Dallas Arts District. Future scientists, mathematicians and engineers will find inspiration and enlightenment through 11 permanent exhibit halls on five floors of public space; a children's museum; a state-of-the art traveling exhibition hall; and The Hoglund Foundation Theater, a National Geographic Experience. Designed by 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and his firm Morphosis Architects, the Victory Park museum has been lauded for its artistry and sustainability. To learn more, please visit perotmuseum.org.

About Hokkaido University and Hokkaido University Museum. Hokkaido University is home to some 4 million specimens and documents that have been gathered, preserved and studied since the Sapporo Agricultural College began more than 130 years ago. Amongst these are more than 10,000 precious "type specimens" that form the basis for the discovery and certification of new species. Opened in the spring of 1999, the Hokkaido University Museum conveys the diverse range of research carried out at Hokkaido University while also using various original materials and visual media to introduce the university's cutting-edge research. The Hokkaido University Museum offers exhibits and diversified information equal to those of any museum, facilitating conversation and creating an atmosphere that encompasses both past and future. Visitors to the museum can shift their attention at will, examining what intrigues them most and gathering information behind the individual exhibits, thus expanding their universe.

CONTACTS:

Becky Mayad

Perot Museum of Nature and Science

work: 214-352-1881

cell: 214-697-7745

becky@mayadpr.com

Dr. Yoshitsugu Kobayashi

Hokkaido University Museum

011-706-4730

ykobayashi@museum.hokudai.ac.jp
Caesarean sections are disproportionately threatening the lives of women and babies in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London.

The analysis of data from 12 million pregnancies, published in The Lancet, finds that maternal deaths in LMICs are 100 times higher than in some high-income countries, and a third of all babies in some regions do not survive caesarean section.

First author Dr Soha Sobhy from Queen Mary University of London said: "To our knowledge, this is the largest and most comprehensive study to-date on the risks of death following caesarean section. The outcomes for women in low and middle-income countries are far worse than we expected.

"In sub-Saharan Africa, one in 100 women who has a caesarean section will die - 100 times more than women in the UK. The outcomes for their babies are even worse, with eight per cent not surviving longer than a week."

Lead author Professor Shakila Thangaratinam from Queen Mary University of London added: "Caesarean sections are the most commonly performed operation worldwide. They are meant to be life saving for both mother and baby, but because of many factors, such as poor access, late referrals, inappropriate procedures, poor resources and training, this is not always the case.

"Now that we know the risk factors and countries associated with poor outcomes, we can make a more targeted effort to improve conditions for mothers globally, so that timely and safe caesarean sections can be done wherever they are needed."

Every year 300,000 women die during childbirth, 99 per cent of which are from LMICs. Timely access to caesarean section when needed is required for safe childbirth, but procedures are being performed 'too little, too late', or 'too many, too soon'.

The analysis looked at data from 196 studies from 67 LMICs, covering 12 million pregnancies, and found that:

The risk of maternal death in women in LMICs undergoing caesarean section was 7.6 per 1,000 procedures - around 100-fold higher than the UK (8/100,000)

The highest burden was in sub-Saharan Africa (10.9/1,000)

The overall rate of stillbirth in babies born by caesarean section was 56.6 per 1,000, with the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa (82.5/1,000)

The perinatal death rate (stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life) was 84.7 per 1,000 caesarean sections, with the highest rates in Middle East and North Africa (354.6/1,000)

A quarter of all women in LMICs who died while giving birth had undergone caesarean section (23.8 per cent)

Women undergoing emergency caesarean section in LMICs were twice more likely to die than those delivering by elective caesarean section. The odds were increased 12-fold when caesarean section was performed in advanced labour at full dilatation of the cervix (second stage) than in the first stage

Perinatal deaths were increased 5-fold with emergency vs. elective caesarean sections, and 10-fold when undertaken in the second vs. first stage of labour

Maternal death rates were particularly high in countries with very low caesarean section rates, highlighting the problems with too little access, too late

A third of all deaths following caesarean section were attributed to postpartum haemorrhage (32 per cent), pre-eclampsia (19 per cent) and sepsis (22 per cent), and 14 per cent to anaesthesia related causes.

Based on these findings, the researchers are calling on policy makers and healthcare professionals to improve access to surgery, promote appropriate use of the procedure, provide safe surgical environments, and increase neonatal resuscitation to help improve outcomes to babies.

The team also highlight that training in labour management needs to cover why caesarean sections are carried out, in order to reduce inappropriate caesarean sections, and promote a reduction in caesarean sections performed in the second stage of labour, which are the most risky.

The finding that postpartum haemorrhage was the commonest cause of maternal death following caesarean section, highlights gaps in resource and skills to manage massive obstetric haemorrhage, and a need for specific training in this area.

The work was carried out at Barts Research Centre for Women's Health, based at Queen Mary University of London, funded by Barts Charity, and in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

Francesca Gliubich, Director of Grants at Barts Charity said: "The Barts Research Centre for Women's Health is undertaking many important studies and Barts Charity are proud to fund their work. This latest research will help to inform global health policies around Caesarean sections and help to avoid the preventable deaths of both mothers and babies."

The study was also funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Ammalife Charity and the ELLY Appeal. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

The findings are limited by the differences in the characteristics of population and the team could not adjust for underlying obstetric and socio economic factors. It was also not possible to determine if the adverse outcomes following caesarean section were due to the procedure or from a pre-existing risk factor. Very few studies were published in some regions such as Europe and central Asia and Middle East and North Africa, and may affect the generalisability of the findings.

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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

A full table of maternal death data by country and maps can be found on Dropbox here: http://bit.ly/2HV9eLM (other tables and manuscript available on request)

Research paper: 'Maternal and perinatal mortality and complications associated with caesarean section in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 12 million pregnancies'. Soha Sobhy MD, David Arroyo-Manzano MSc, Nilaani Murugesu Bsc, Gayathri Karthikeyan MD, Vinod Kumar MS, Inderjeet Kaur MSc, Evita Fernandez MD, Sirisha Gundabattula, MD, Ana Pilar Betran PhD, Khalid Khan MSc, Javier Zamora PhD, Shakila Thangaratinam PhD1. The Lancet. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32386-9

Available here after the embargo lifts: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32386-9/fulltext

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.

About the National Institute for Health Research

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.
You can now perform supercomputer simulations of the heart's electrophysiology in real time on desktop computers and even cellphones. A team of scientists from Rochester Institute of Technology and Georgia Tech developed a new approach that can not only help diagnose heart conditions and test new treatments, but pushes the boundaries of cardiac science by opening up a floodgate of new cardiac research and education.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and cardiac dynamics modeling can be useful in the study and treatment of heart problems like arrhythmias. However, due to the complex electrophysiology of heart cells and tissue, modeling conditions like arrhythmias requires solving billions of differential equations and previously has been limited to only those with access to supercomputers.

"This opens up a lot of new research opportunities, including for RIT undergraduates," said Elizabeth Cherry, associate professor and director of RIT's mathematical modeling program and co-author of a new Science Advances article that introduces the new methodology. "I felt really restricted in what I could ask undergraduates to do in Research Experiences for Undergraduates programs or even our full-time students because the previous supercomputer simulations took so long. But now they can work with these complex models in real-time so it opens up a whole new world of opportunities to what they can study."

In hospital settings, the real-time models could allow doctors to have better discussions with their patients about life-threatening heart conditions.

"This visualization can be very useful for doctors to address a variety of cardiac problems," said Abouzar Kaboudian, a research scientist at Georgia Tech and co-author. "For example, a doctor can see what would happen if a pacemaker was placed on a particular location of the heart. Or, if the structure from CT scan data was available to a doctor, they could import the structural data for a particular patient and see what would cause an arrhythmia and what would be the course of action to eliminate the arrhythmia."

The novel approach relies on using WebGL code to repurpose graphics cards to perform calculations that speed up the scientific computing applications. The researchers developed a library that allows for high-performance computing of complex problems that require large-scale simulations to run them. Their streamlined methodology allows users to solve problems as fast as a supercomputer in web browsers that they are already familiar with.

"This opens the door to the possibility of doing patient-specific modeling in a reasonable way," said co-author Flavio Fenton, professor of physics at Georgia Tech. "There are many problems related to trying to solve these complex models for clinical use, but one of the big bottlenecks was performing these high-performance computing real-time simulations of complex models of the heart. Now they can be done."

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The study was published in Science Advances. For more information, go to http://advances.sciencemag.org/.

For more information, contact Luke Auburn at 585-475-4335, lraits@rit.edu or on Twitter: @lukeauburn.
HOUSTON - (March 29, 2019) - The stirrers that mix cream into your coffee probably don't make much difference to the drink. But in a chemistry lab, it turns out using the wrong stirrer can skew the science.

Rice University scientists have determined that stir bars made of PTFE, more commonly known as Teflon, can introduce errors into a standard lab reaction used to manipulate the properties of carbon or boron-nitride nanotubes.

Stir bars are pellet-like rods of ferromagnetic metal covered in PTFE that sit in the bottom of a beaker and are turned by a rotating magnetic field. They allow a solution to be mixed in a closed flask without manual stirring.

The Rice lab of Angel Marti published a paper in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Omega outlining what happens when PTFE stir bars are used to functionalize nanotubes through Billups-Birch reduction, a long-used reaction developed in part by Rice Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Edward Billups that frees electrons to bind with other atoms.

Reduction is often used to make nanotubes more amenable to functionalization, the process of customizing them for applications by adding molecules like proteins. That can be as simple as dispersing nanotubes in a chemical bath laden with the molecules you want to add. Billups-Birch is one such method, a one-step process used to functionalize nanotubes with a variety of molecules, according to the researchers.

When they used it to modify nanotubes of boron-nitride, the researchers were surprised to see their tubes turn gray, while the PTFE stir bars turned black. Standard thermogravimetric analysis, usually adequate to see evidence of functionalization, didn't see anything wrong - but the researchers did.

"Aside from that, we couldn't get consistent results," Marti said. "Sometimes we would get very high functionalization - or apparent functionalization - and sometimes we wouldn't. That was really strange."

They found the lithium in the ammonia-based solvent used in the Billups-Birch reaction was reacting with the white PTFE from the bars, turning them black.

"Because carbon nanotubes are black, it would be easy to believe that nanotubes were depositing on the bars throughout the reaction," Marti said. "But that's not what happens. We found that in Billups-Birch conditions, the PTFE reacts.

"Teflon doesn't generally react with anything," he said. "That's why it's used in stir bars, and in cookware. That's why it's also easy to overlook what we saw happening in the lab."

Marti said search of the literature turned up nothing about avoiding PTFE in Billups-Birch.

"That was odd, too," he said. "Maybe everybody else knows - but just in case we decided to explore the problem. That's why we decided to write a paper."

The researchers suspect the unexpected reaction with Teflon is creating radicals that reduce the efficiency of the reaction and that can attack the boron-nitride or carbon nanotubes. In the meantime, their quick solution to the problem is perhaps the simplest.

"Now we use glass-coated stir bars," Marti said. "Glass is completely inert. That gives us reproducibility and good functionalization."

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David Ruth 713-348-6327 david@rice.edu

Mike Williams 713-348-6728 mikewilliams@rice.edu

Rice graduate student Carlos de los Reyes is lead author of the paper. Co-authors are Rice graduate student Ashleigh Smith McWilliams, research assistant Kendahl Walz-Mitra, undergraduate students Katharyn Hernandez and Selin Ergulin, and Matteo Pasquali, the A.J. Hartsook Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a professor of materials science and nanoengineering and of chemistry. Marti is an associate professor of chemistry, of bioengineering and of materials science and nanoengineering.

The National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Welch Foundation supported the research.

Read the abstract at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.8b03677

This news release can be found online at https://news.rice.edu/2019/03/29/odd-reaction-creates-a-stir-in-the-lab/

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Related materials:

New nano building block takes a bow: http://news.rice.edu/2018/05/21/new-nano-building-block-takes-a-bow/

Marti Research Group: http://martigroup.rice.edu

Department of Chemistry: http://chemistry.rice.edu

Wiess School of Natural Sciences: https://naturalsciences.rice.edu

Video:

https://youtu.be/wl72l2z7K9A

Video produced by Brandon Martin/Rice University

Images for download:

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2019/03/0401_STIR-1-WEB-2e2w2h6.jpg

Rice University chemists discovered that stir bars covered in PTFE, also known as Teflon, react with chemicals in an unexpected way during the modification of nanotubes through Billups-Birch reduction. The bars that start out (and usually stay) white turn black in the solution and alter the results. (Credit: Photo by Brandon Martin/Rice University)

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2019/03/0401_STIR-2-WEB-2fwbps8.jpg

A pristine stir bar made of ferromagnetic metal with a PTFE, or Teflon, coating. Rice University chemists discovered the inert bars, which are commonly used to mix chemicals, cause unwanted results during Billups-Birch reactions with carbon and other nanotubes. (Credit: Photo by Brandon Martin/Rice University)

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2019/03/0401_STIR-3-WEB-2mbo2ry.jpg

Rice University chemists who discovered that chemicals used in Billups-Birch reductions of carbon nanotubes react with the white PTFE stir bars, turning them black. They recommend using glass stir bars, like the one in the middle, for such reductions. (Credit: Photo by Brandon Martin/Rice University)

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BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA and CARDIFF, UK - An article published in the SPIE journal Optical Engineering, "Arbitrary spectral matching using multi-LED lighting systems," marks a substantial advance in lighting science and technology. In their paper, the researchers announce a two-pronged approach to both measure and self-adjust the spectral power distributions (SPDs) of LED lighting systems. Their methodology demonstrates the system's ability to maintain consistency and stability over an extended period of time.

Solid State Lighting (SSL) can be used to enhance our vision, sleep patterns, and wellbeing. SSL benefits are evident across their wide use in residences and offices as well as across industrial and commercial sectors, including the ongoing development of applications in medicine, imaging, agriculture, communication, transportation, and museum lighting. Some of these applications require highly precise light spectra that don't produce optical power variations or shifts in color over time.

The open-access paper addresses two challenges: how to keep temperature changes and age-based deterioration from impacting a light emission's strength, consistency, and color, as well as providing a reliable, internal, self-monitoring method.

The authors use a fast-computation, high spectral fidelity algorithm to determine channel weights of a targeted SPD; in conjunction with that method, an internal microprocessor provides a closed-loop control system that monitors and corrects the spectral output, compensating for shifts due to temperature changes or LED wear and tear. The authors' use of a general framework for multi-channel SSL systems, ensures the universal applicability of their findings across different lighting technologies.

According to Optical Engineering Associate Editor, SPIE Senior Member, and U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Technical Advisor Daniel A. LeMaster, the research showcases significant advances in terms of lighting technologies, "This method to monitor and quickly compensate for the colorimetric issues that arise from junction heating and LED aging will be of great utility in the global LED lighting market."

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The article authors are Aleix Llenas, of the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) and Ledmotive Technologies, Spain, and Josep Carreras, of Ledmotive Technologies.

Michael T. Eismann, an SPIE Fellow and senior scientist at the U.S. Air Force Research Lab, is the editor-in-chief of Optical Engineering. The journal is published in print and digitally by SPIE in the SPIE Digital Library, which contains more than 500,000 publications from SPIE journals, proceedings, and books, with approximately 18,000 new research papers added each year.

About SPIE

SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, an educational not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based science, engineering, and technology. The Society serves 257,000 constituents from 173 countries, offering conferences and their published proceedings, continuing education, books, journals, and the SPIE Digital Library. In 2018, SPIE provided more than $4 million in community support including scholarships and awards, outreach and advocacy programs, travel grants, public policy, and educational resources. http://www.spie.org.

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The beginning of the end started with violent shaking that raised giant waves in the waters of an inland sea in what is now North Dakota.

Then, tiny glass beads began to fall like birdshot from the heavens. The rain of glass was so heavy it may have set fire to much of the vegetation on land. In the water, fish struggled to breathe as the beads clogged their gills.

The heaving sea turned into a 30-foot wall of water when it reached the mouth of a river, tossing hundreds, if not thousands, of fresh-water fish -- sturgeon and paddlefish -- onto a sand bar and temporarily reversing the flow of the river. Stranded by the receding water, the fish were pelted by glass beads up to 5 millimeters in diameter, some burying themselves inches deep in the mud. The torrent of rocks, like fine sand, and small glass beads continued for another 10 to 20 minutes before a second large wave inundated the shore and covered the fish with gravel, sand and fine sediment, sealing them from the world for 66 million years.

This unique, fossilized graveyard -- fish stacked one atop another and mixed in with burned tree trunks, conifer branches, dead mammals, mosasaur bones, insects, the partial carcass of a Triceratops, marine microorganisms called dinoflagellates and snail-like marine cephalopods called ammonites -- was unearthed by paleontologist Robert DePalma over the past six years in the Hell Creek Formation, not far from Bowman, North Dakota. The evidence confirms a suspicion that nagged at DePalma in his first digging season during the summer of 2013 -- that this was a killing field laid down soon after the asteroid impact that eventually led to the extinction of all ground-dwelling dinosaurs. The impact at the end of the Cretaceous Period, the so-called K-T boundary, exterminated 75 percent of life on Earth.

"This is the first mass death assemblage of large organisms anyone has found associated with the K-T boundary," said DePalma, curator of paleontology at the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History in Florida and a doctoral student at the University of Kansas. "At no other K-T boundary section on Earth can you find such a collection consisting of a large number of species representing different ages of organisms and different stages of life, all of which died at the same time, on the same day."

In a paper to appear next week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he and his American and European colleagues, including two University of California, Berkeley, geologists, describe the site, dubbed Tanis, and the evidence connecting it with the asteroid or comet strike off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago. That impact created a huge crater, called Chicxulub, in the ocean floor and sent vaporized rock and cubic miles of asteroid dust into the atmosphere. The cloud eventually enveloped Earth, setting the stage for Earth's last mass extinction.

"It's like a museum of the end of the Cretaceous in a layer a meter-and-a-half thick," said Mark Richards, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of earth and planetary science who is now provost and professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington.

Richards and Walter Alvarez, a UC Berkeley Professor of the Graduate School who 40 years ago first hypothesized that a comet or asteroid impact caused the mass extinction, were called in by DePalma and Dutch scientist Jan Smit to consult on the rain of glass beads and the tsunami-like waves that buried and preserved the fish. The beads, called tektites, formed in the atmosphere from rock melted by the impact.

Tsunami vs. seiche

Richards and Alvarez determined that the fish could not have been stranded and then buried by a typical tsunami, a single wave that would have reached this previously unknown arm of the Western Interior Seaway no less than 10 to 12 hours after the impact 3,000 kilometers away, if it didn't peter out before then. Their reasoning: The tektites would have rained down within 45 minutes to an hour of the impact, unable to create mudholes if the seabed had not already been exposed.

Instead, they argue, seismic waves likely arrived within 10 minutes of the impact from what would have been the equivalent of a magnitude 10 or 11 earthquake, creating a seiche (pronounced saysh), a standing wave, in the inland sea that is similar to water sloshing in a bathtub during an earthquake. Though large earthquakes often generate seiches in enclosed bodies of water, they're seldom noticed, Richards said. The 2011 Tohoku quake in Japan, a magnitude 9.0, created six-foot-high seiches 30 minutes later in a Norwegian fjord 8,000 kilometers away.

"The seismic waves start arising within nine to 10 minutes of the impact, so they had a chance to get the water sloshing before all the spherules (small spheres) had fallen out of the sky," Richards said. "These spherules coming in cratered the surface, making funnels -- you can see the deformed layers in what used to be soft mud -- and then rubble covered the spherules. No one has seen these funnels before."

The tektites would have come in on a ballistic trajectory from space, reaching terminal velocities of between 100 and 200 miles per hour, according to Alvarez, who estimated their travel time decades ago.

"You can imagine standing there being pelted by these glass spherules. They could have killed you," Richards said. Many believe that the rain of debris was so intense that the energy ignited wildfires over the entire American continent, if not around the world.

"Tsunamis from the Chicxulub impact are certainly well-documented, but no one knew how far something like that would go into an inland sea," DePalma said. "When Mark came aboard, he discovered a remarkable artifact -- that the incoming seismic waves from the impact site would have arrived at just about the same time as the atmospheric travel time of the ejecta. That was our big breakthrough."

At least two huge seiches inundated the land, perhaps 20 minutes apart, leaving six feet of deposits covering the fossils. Overlaying this is a layer of clay rich in iridium, a metal rare on Earth, but common in asteroids and comets. This layer is known as the K-T, or K-Pg boundary, marking the end of the Cretaceous Period and the beginning of the Tertiary Period, or Paleogene.

Iridium

In 1979, Alvarez and his father, Nobelist Luis Alvarez of UC Berkeley, were the first to recognize the significance of iridium that is found in 66 million-year-old rock layers around the world. They proposed that a comet or asteroid impact was responsible for both the iridium at the K-T boundary and the mass extinction.

The impact would have melted the bedrock under the seafloor and pulverized the asteroid, sending dust and melted rock into the stratosphere, where winds would have carried them around the planet and blotted out the sun for months, if not years. Debris would have rained down from the sky: not only tektites, but also rock debris from the continental crust, including shocked quartz, whose crystal structure was deformed by the impact.

The iridium-rich dust from the pulverized meteor would have been the last to fall out of the atmosphere after the impact, capping off the Cretaceous.

"When we proposed the impact hypothesis to explain the great extinction, it was based just on finding an anomalous concentration of iridium -- the fingerprint of an asteroid or comet," said Alvarez. "Since then, the evidence has gradually built up. But it never crossed my mind that we would find a deathbed like this."

Key confirmation of the meteor hypothesis was the discovery of a buried impact crater, Chicxulub, in the Caribbean and off the coast of the Yucatan in Mexico, that was dated to exactly the age of the extinction. Shocked quartz and glass spherules were also found in K-Pg layers worldwide. The new discovery at Tanis is the first time the debris produced in the impact was found along with animals killed in the immediate aftermath of the impact.

"And now we have this magnificent and completely unexpected site that Robert DePalma is excavating in North Dakota, which is so rich in detailed information about what happened as a result of the impact," Alvarez said. "For me, it is very exciting and gratifying!"

Tektites

Jan Smit, a retired professor of sedimentary geology from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam in The Netherlands who is considered the world expert on tektites from the impact, joined DePalma to analyze and date the tektites from the Tanis site. Many were found in near perfect condition embedded in amber, which at the time was pliable pine pitch.

"I went to the site in 2015 and, in front of my eyes, he (DePalma) uncovered a charred log or tree trunk about four meters long which was covered in amber, which acted as sort of an aerogel and caught the tektites when they were coming down," Smit said. "It was a major discovery, because the resin, the amber, covered the tektites completely, and they are the most unaltered tektites I have seen so far, not 1 percent of alteration. We dated them, and they came out to be exactly from the K-T boundary."

The tektites in the fishes' gills are also a first.

"Paddlefish swim through the water with their mouths open, gaping, and in this net, they catch tiny particles, food particles, in their gill rakers, and then they swallow, like a whale shark or a baleen whale," Smit said. "They also caught tektites. That by itself is an amazing fact. That means that the first direct victims of the impact are these accumulations of fishes."

Smit also noted that the buried body of a Triceratops and a duck-billed hadrosaur proves beyond a doubt that dinosaurs were still alive at the time of the impact.

"We have an amazing array of discoveries which will prove in the future to be even more valuable," Smit said. "We have fantastic deposits that need to be studied from all different viewpoints. And I think we can unravel the sequence of incoming ejecta from the Chicxulub impact in great detail, which we would never have been able to do with all the other deposits around the Gulf of Mexico."

"So far, we have gone 40 years before something like this turned up that may very well be unique," Smit said. "So, we have to be very careful with that place, how we dig it up and learn from it. This is a great gift at the end of my career. Walter sees it as the same."

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Co-authors with DePalma, Smit, Richards and Alvarez are David Burnham of the University of Kansas, Klaudia Kuiper of Vrije Universiteit, Phillip Manning of Manchester University in the United Kingdom, Anton Oleinik of Florida Atlantic University, Peter Larson of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota, Florentin Maurrasse of Florida International University, Johan Vellekoop of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and Loren Gurche of the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History.
University of Cincinnati archaeologists say these farms likely produced cotton and other goods to support Yucatan trade routes

Archaeologists with the University of Cincinnati used the latest technology to find evidence suggesting ancient Maya people grew surplus crops to support an active trade with neighbors up and down the Yucatan Peninsula.

They will present their findings at the annual American Association of Geographers conference in Washington, D.C.

The Mayan civilization stretched across portions of Mesoamerica, a region spanning Mexico and Central America. The oldest evidence of Maya civilization dates back to 1800 B.C., but most cities flourished between 250 and 900 A.D. By the time Spanish ships arrived in the 1500s, some of the biggest cities were deserted. Researchers at UC are trying to piece together the life history of the Maya before the Spanish conquest.

Nicholas Dunning, a professor of geography in UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, was part of a research team that found evidence of cultivation along irregular-shaped fields in Mexico that followed the paths of canals and natural water channels at a place called Laguna de Terminos on the Gulf of Mexico. The archaeologists expect to find evidence of habitation when they begin excavations.

The extensive croplands suggest the ancient Maya could grow surplus crops, especially the cotton responsible for the renowned textiles that were traded throughout Mesoamerica.

"It was a much more complex market economy than the Maya are often given credit for," Dunning said.

Local workers brought the Laguna de Terminos site to the attention of researchers about seven years ago.

"A forester working in the area said there seemed to be a network of ancient fields," Dunning said. "I looked on Google Earth and was like, 'Whoa!' It was an area in the Maya Lowlands that I'd never paid any attention to. And obviously not a lot of other people had, either, from the perspective of looking at ancient agriculture."

Satellite images revealed a patchwork quilt of blocks along drainage ditches that suggested they were built. Archaeologist also studied imagery NASA created of the region using a tool called Light Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR, that can depict the contours of the ground beneath the leafy canopy of trees and vegetation. Their review confirmed Dunning's suspicions: the area was covered in ancient farm fields.

"It appears they developed fairly simply from modifications of existing drainage along the eastern edge of the wetlands," Dunning said. "They probably deepened and straightened some channels or connected them in places, but then further expanded the fields with more sophisticated hydro-engineering."

LIDAR gives scientists a never-before-seen picture of the Earth's surface even after centuries of unchecked jungle growth conceals the remains of ancient structures. Researchers look for telltale signs of human activity: squares and rectangles indicating old foundations and circular pits from man-made reservoirs and quarries where the chert used in stone tools was mined. On the LIDAR maps, any hidden structures pop out, including ancient roads and former villages.

"That's the magic of LIDAR," UC assistant research professor Christopher Carr said.??Carr spent a career practicing engineering before returning to UC to study and eventually teach in the geography department. He approaches questions about the ancient Maya from an engineer's perspective.

Carr pointed to a map of Yaxnohcah, Mexico, showing a small reservoir the ancient Maya apparently dug in a wetland far from cultivated fields or known settlements.

"What were my ancient counterparts thinking when they built that water reservoir? What did they want to accomplish?" he asked.

Carr also used the LIDAR imagery in the project to follow an ancient Maya road that perhaps hasn't been traveled in more than 1,000 years. The road is perfectly visible on the LIDAR map but is virtually impossible to discern when you are standing right on it, Carr said.

"There's vegetation everywhere. But when you've been doing this for a while, you notice little things," Carr said. "I'll have a LIDAR image on my smartphone that shows me where I am, but I don't see anything but rainforest. You just walk back and forth until you can feel something underfoot and follow it."

Identifying possible roads is important for another interest of the UC researchers: ancient Maya marketplaces. Dunning and Carr are working at Yaxnohcah with researchers such as Kathryn Reese-Taylor from the University of Calgary and Armando Anaya Hernandez from Universidad Autonoma de Campeche to unlock the mysteries of the ancient Maya economy. Additionally, they and graduate student Thomas Ruhl have been analyzing NASA's LIDAR imagery across the Yucatan Peninsula to identify more ancient marketplaces.

Unlike pyramids or even many homes, marketplaces had no foundations or permanent structures, researchers said. They were built on low platforms or cleared areas, perhaps like a seasonal fair or flea market. But they were an important part of life in Maya culture

Dunning said the presence of roads between Maya cities would lend credence to the value the ancient Maya placed on trade with their neighbors. He thinks some of the larger squares identified on the LIDAR maps represent these open markets.

"In some areas, they have this very distinct physical signature," Dunning said. "So far, we've identified several possible marketplaces. We don't know for sure that they're marketplaces, but they have an architectural layout that is suggestive of one."

Soil analysis at other locations identified evidence of ancient butcher shops and stone masons. Dunning solicited the help of UC's botanists who are conducting analyses that might shed light on his marketplace hypothesis. But the LIDAR maps themselves are instructive.

"I look at spatial patterns. If you look at these big structures and small pyramids, you can tell they're important structures," Carr said. "And then you have this 'lightweight' thing next to it. That's what a marketplace looks like to me."

Dunning said the ancient Maya likely sold perishable goods such as maize and a starchy tuber called manioc. And they traded "mantas," or bolts of the ornate and richly patterned textiles made from the cotton they grew. These were prized by the Spaniards who arrived in the 1600s.

"We don't have direct evidence of what the textiles look like in this area. But if you look at ancient paintings and sculptures, people were wearing very elaborate garments," Dunning said.

Dunning first explored the historic sites of the Yucatan Peninsula at age 14 when he and his older brother drove down to Mexico from Illinois.

"We took a train to the Yucatan and used public transportation to get around to the sites," Dunning said.

He applied to the University of Chicago partly because it offered a Mayan language class. Dunning returned to Mexico while in college to conduct his first field research. He's been back many times since.

"My interest in archaeology is in human-environment interactions, including agriculture," Dunning said.

Dunning is learning more about how ancient Maya people shaped their world to overcome challenges and take advantage of natural opportunities. Dunning's work also took him to a place called Acalan near the Gulf of Mexico.

"Roughly translated, Acalan means 'place of canoes' because it's very watery," Dunning said. "And getting around by water is far easier than any other means in that area."

Then as now the region is covered in thick tropical rainforest. Researchers have to be wary of cheeky monkeys that will throw fruit or worse from the treetops. Carr said one encounter left him sore for days.

"There was this aggressive spider monkey. He'd seen me a couple days earlier. And he's back shaking the trees," Carr said. "And all of a sudden, I'm lying flat on the ground. A branch hit me in the shoulder and knocked me to the ground."

Visiting archaeologists at Yaxnohcah stay at a former Army outpost that was converted into a staffed research station.

"Living conditions are actually luxurious by camping standards. You're in the field all day and you're dirty and tired. But you can take a shower. And when you're finished, someone has cooked you a meal," Carr said.

At Laguna de Terminos, UC researchers are working to collect clues about the ancient Maya before they are lost to development. Many of the wetlands are being drained or plowed up for grazing pasture.?

Dunning said ironically these low-yield pastures provide far less economic value to today's farmers than the seeming bounty of crops the ancient Maya derived from them more than 1,000 years ago. Their study warns the land-use practices are causing environmental damage to some of these valuable wetlands.

"It's a shame because the grazing isn't particularly good. The economic production from that land use is minuscule compared to what was produced by the Maya," Dunning said.

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Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest could accelerate as a result of the US-China trade war, researchers have warned.

Increased tariffs saw exports of US soya beans to China halved in 2018, creating a huge shortfall that could trigger extensive tree-felling in Brazil, experts say.

The study, from the University of Edinburgh and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, warns that Brazil will be under pressure to provide up to 38 million tonnes of soya beans - used principally as livestock feed - for China each year.

Pressure to fill the shortfall could see Brazil increase its land used for crop production by up to 39 per cent - 13 million hectares - according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Two decades of growth in the global soya bean market has already led to large-scale deforestation in Brazil's rainforests.

Political and legal controls that have prevented the expansion of soya bean production in the Amazon have recently been weakened, researchers say.

They warn that deforestation increased by 29 per cent between 2015 and 2016. Brazil's newly elected president has also removed the land rights of many indigenous people.

China's Brazilian imports have increased by 2,000 per cent in the past two decades. Researchers say it is highly likely that China's appetite for livestock feed and bioenergy will drive further increases.

By late 2018, 75 per cent of China's soya-bean imports came from Brazil, meaning that the entire US shortfall was substituted with Brazilian crops.

With little prospect of China reducing its intake of soya beans, the study, published in Nature, suggests a range of measures to ensure no further loss of the Amazon rainforest.

Researchers say China and the US should acknowledge their roles in driving tropical deforestation and remove trade tariffs on the crop.

China could also seek a wider range of suppliers, including Argentina and Europe.

Researchers also urge Brazil to improve its environmental protection schemes by financially rewarding developers and businesses for not clearing forests.

Dr Peter Alexander, from the University of Edinburgh's School of Geosciences, said: "Governments, producers, regulators and consumers must act now. If they don't, the Amazon rainforest could become the greatest casualty of the US-China trade war."

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Astronomers once thought asteroids were boring, wayward space rocks that simply orbit around the sun. Only in science fiction movies were they dramatic, changing objects.

New observations are turning science fiction into science fact, showing that asteroids are anything but dull. Asteroid Gault, discovered in 1998, has begun to slowly disintegrate. The crumbling was first detected earlier this year on January 5, by the University of Hawaii at Manoa Institute for Astronomy (IfA) Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescopes on Mauna Loa and Haleakala. Later investigation proved there were no asteroid collisions.

"Each night the ATLAS survey scans the sky looking for hazardous near-Earth asteroids, and we also observe tens of thousands of known asteroids in the main asteroid belt," said Larry Denneau, an ATLAS project scientist. "Our collaborator Ken Smith in Belfast, Ireland, found an unusual looking moving object, and he alerted us that it might be a new comet. Instead, it turned out to be an asteroid in the main belt that just developed a comet-like tail. These events are rare and mysterious, and we were lucky to detect the event right after its turn-on."

Gault is a well-known asteroid and the newly found tails are the first evidence of any misbehavior. These new observations suggest that asteroids are dynamic, active worlds that can ultimately disintegrate due to the long-term subtle effect of sunlight, which can slowly spin them up until they begin to shed material.

Astronomers estimate that this type of event is rare, occurring roughly once a year among the 800,000 known asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. That's why only the latest astronomical surveys--like ATLAS--that map vast swaths of the sky nightly, can catch asteroids as they fall apart.

"Asteroids such as Gault cannot escape detection anymore," noted Olivier Hainaut, a member of the observing team of the European Southern Observatory in Garching, Germany. "That means that all these asteroids that start misbehaving get caught."

Once the new tail was discovered, Denneau and IfA colleague Robert Weryk looked back into archival data from ATLAS and the UH Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) telescopes. The tail also turned up in data taken as far back as December 2018. In mid-January, a second shorter tail was detected by IfA astronomer Jan Kleyna using the Canada France Hawai`i Telescope (CFHT), as well as by other observers.

An analysis of both tails suggests the two dust releases occurred last year around October 28 and December 30.

Tantalized by this new discovery, IfA astronomers Kleyna and Karen Meech, along with colleagues worldwide, began to observe Gault with telescopes around the world and in space. Spectacular images of asteroid 6478 Gault from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show two narrow, comet-like tails of debris streaming from the 2.5-mile-wide asteroid. The tails are telltale evidence that Gault is beginning to come apart by gently puffing off material in two separate episodes over the past several months.

Gault is only the second asteroid uncovered whose disintegration is decisively linked to a spin-up process, known as a YORP (Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack) torque. When sunlight heats an asteroid, infrared radiation escaping from its warmed surface carries off momentum as well as heat. This creates a tiny force that can cause the asteroid to spin faster and faster. If this centrifugal force overcomes gravity, the surface becomes unstable, and landslides send dust and rubble drifting into space.

Watching an asteroid come unglued by this natural process gives astronomers the opportunity to study the makeup of these space rocks without sending a spacecraft to sample them. Analyzing an asteroid's ingredients as they are spread out into space offers a glimpse into planet formation in the early solar system.

"We didn't have to visit Gault," explained Olivier Hainaut of the European Southern Observatory in Garching, Germany, a member of the observing team. "We just had to look at the image of the streamers, and we can see all of the dust grains sorted neatly by size. All the large grains (about the size of sand particles) are close to the object and the smallest grains (about the size of flour) are the farthest away, because they are being pushed fastest by pressure from sunlight."

For astronomers, piecing together Gault's recent volatile activity is an astronomical forensics investigation, involving telescopes and astronomers from around the world. The first clue was the accidental detection of the first debris tail.

Follow-up observations with the William Herschel Telescope and ESA Optical Ground Station in La Palma and Tenerife, and the Himalayan Chandra Telescope in India, measured a two-hour rotation period for the object, close to the critical speed at which a loose "rubble-pile" asteroid begins to break up. "Gault is the best 'smoking-gun' example of a fast rotator right at the two-hour limit," Kleyna said.

But the seeds to this self-destruction may have been sown 100 million years ago, a time when the dinosaurs roamed Earth. Pressure from sunlight slowly began spinning up the tiny asteroid at an estimated rate of 1 second every 10,000 years.

"It could have been on the brink of instability for 10 million years," Kleyna said. "Even a tiny disturbance, like a small impact from a pebble, might have triggered the recent outbursts."

The researchers suggest that as the asteroid rotated ever faster, destabilized material began cascading toward the equator. When the rotation rate reached a critical point, landslides sent debris drifting off into space at a few miles per hour, or the speed of a strolling human. Gault's weak surface gravity couldn't hold it any longer. The gentle process was like scattering powdered sugar into the air, where wind - or, in the case of Gault, sunlight - stretches it into a long streamer.

An analysis of the asteroid's immediate neighborhood by Hubble revealed no signs of excess dust, which rules out the possibility of a collision with another asteroid causing the outbursts.

Hubble's sharp imaging also reveals that the tails are narrow streamers, indicating that the dust was released in short bursts, lasting anywhere from a few hours to a few days. These sudden events puffed away enough debris to make a "dirt ball" approximately 500 feet across if compacted together. The tails will begin fading away in a few months as the dust disperses into interplanetary space.

Based on observations by the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope in Hawaii, the astronomers estimated that the longer tail stretches over half a million miles and is roughly 3,000 miles wide. The shorter tail is about a quarter as long.

Added Kleyna, "If the dust cloud lasts a couple of months, and the surveys see things once a month, we will see them. But if traditional observers are looking every couple of years, they'll miss these events."

The team said that this discovery shows the synergy between all-sky surveys such as ATLAS and Pan-STARRS, ground based telescopes and space-based facilities like the Hubble Space Telescope. This discovery would have been impossible without contributions from all three.

The researchers hope to monitor Gault for more dust events.

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The team's results have been accepted for publication and will appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The NASA-funded ATLAS program is described at http://atlas.fallingstar.com.

Photo caption: Hubble Space Telescope captured this striking image of asteroid (6478) Gault, showing two narrow, comet-like tails of dusty debris. Each tail represents an episode in which the asteroid gently shed its material -- key evidence that Gault is beginning to come apart.

Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Meech and J. Kleyna (University of Hawaii), and O. Hainaut (European Southern Observatory)
The bond between a parent and their child is forged within the first few weeks of life. The nurse places the baby in their parents' arms where it will be comforted and rocked for countless hours of their newborn life. For parents whose babies are born premature or with complications, these bonds are harder to establish as the baby needs to be hooked up to a variety of wires to be constantly monitored. Illinois professor Naresh Shanbhag is part of a team, led by former Illinois professor John Rogers, working to replace the wires with a patch that would allow parents to hold their little one while it's being monitored.

When a baby is placed into a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), its vitals are continuously recorded through electrodes placed on the skin with wires attached to monitoring platforms. Explained in-depth in this article, published in the journal Science.

"Wired electrodes with their rigid interfaces can hurt the baby's tender skin," said Shanbhag, the Jack S. Kilby Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "They make it hard for parents to hold their child or to adjust their position. Today's health monitoring systems present a barrier in establishing parental and neonate connection, which can delay or inhibit the baby's growth."

This project emerged as a collaboration between Shanbhag and Rogers within the SONIC (Systems on Nanoscale Information fabriCs) Center. The group was formed to develop Shannon and brain-inspired models of computation for designing intelligent systems in emerging nanoscale technologies. One of the key research outcomes of the SONIC center was the concept of bringing computation to the sensor (in-sensor computing) in order to eliminate the energy cost of data transfer. Shanbhag and Rogers' project was one of the many successful SONIC projects in the area of in-sensor computing.

"Our goal was to replace the current monitoring technology with an alternative that could yield the same accuracy, precision and measurement while taking away the disadvantages of the tapes and the wires," said Rogers, currently the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University. "We worked in close collaboration with medical doctors and CSL to figure out a better way."

The group developed a wireless, battery-free sheath that can be laid on the skin and then gently peeled off when needed. The paper-thin patch is the combination of four technologies: wireless power and data transfer, efficient onsite data analytics, time-synchronized data streaming from multiple sites, and enabling visual inspection of the skin interface while also allowing magnetic resonance imaging and x-ray imaging of the neonate.

The ability to wirelessly transfer power was crucial. Wires were part of the problem with conventional monitoring and batteries would cause the same issues. In addition to powering itself the patch would need to gather the medical data (temperature, heart rate, electrical heart patterns, blood oxygenation, etc.) and then process the data locally to reduce the amount information that needed to be sent wirelessly to the monitors. This is where Shanbhag and his student Pourya Assem's algorithms were put to use.

"We developed efficient algorithms to process data in real-time on an on-site microcontroller," Shanbhag said. "The device has limited computational resources so we had to choose the most information-preserving computations to implement."

Data is collected through two separate patches on each neonate (NICU patient), generally on the child's back and then either their chest or foot. Since there is multiple data streams the information must be synchronized before it can be processed and streamed to the monitors. Even with these three other technologies, if the patch gets in the way of the medical staff it won't be of much use. The patch must also allow staff to observe the skin in addition to allowing for x-rays and magnetic resonance images to be taken.

In order to be sure the patch the researchers created worked it had to be tested. The devices were deployed at the Lurie Children Hospital in Chicago on NICU patients whose parents agreed to the research. To make sure they were getting accurate measurements the patches were placed on neonates who were also hooked up to the conventional wired system to compare the data readings. The patients involved in the research were also surrounded by nurses, neonatologists, and dermatologists to ensure everything ran smoothly. So far 90 babies have used the patches and helped validate the patches as a feasible alternative to the current technology.

"The NICU in particular is an area that urgently needs new technology," said Rogers. "Everyone - nurses, parents, neonatologists - agrees on this point. The transition to a wireless approach represents an attractive solution, but also a daunting engineering challenge, given the fragility of the patient population and the extreme requirements in data precision and operational reliability."

Use of the devices has expanded to a NICU at Prentice Women's Hospital, also in Chicago, and NICUs across the globe are reaching out to Rogers and other contributors to deploy the patches at their locations. Later this year 10,000 units will be distributed in Zambia supported by the Gates Foundation and the Save the Children Foundation.

While this is the most visual project coming from former SONIC researchers, it is just one of many that are still being worked on.

"This project demonstrates that combining innovations in materials, sensors, circuits, architectures and algorithms in unique ways can lead to impactful research outcomes," said Shanbhag. "The future of such technologies has immense possibilities as we seek to harness their potential to enhance wellness and to positively impact lives."

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SONIC was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), brought together a diverse set of 27 faculty and 100+ graduate students from 10 top-tier U.S.-based universities. The SONIC project officially concluded in 2017, the 27 faculty and 100+ graduate students involved have carried on some of the developed projects.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 4, 2019) -- Using foreskin tissue from newborn circumcisions, a group of researchers have identified a potential cellular mechanism that connects a mother's smoking while pregnant with an increased risk of offspring obesity later in life.

Obesity is considered an epidemic in the U.S., with nearly 35 percent of adults and 20 percent of children six to 19 years old deemed obese. Obesity is a serious economic burden as well: more than $150 billion is spent annually on obesity-related healthcare costs in the U.S. alone.

"It has been consistently shown that mothers who smoke during pregnancy confer increased risk of obesity to their baby, but the mechanisms responsible for this increased risk are not well understood," said the study's principal investigator Kevin Pearson of the University of Kentucky (UK). "These data mark a first step towards defining those mechanisms with an eye toward potential interventions in the longer term."

In collaboration with UK's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a total of 65 new mothers were recruited for the study in two different cohorts: 46 in Cohort 1 (2012-2013) and 19 in Cohort 2 (2015-2016). All of the infants were full-term; approximately half of all new mothers reported smoking during their pregnancies. DNA and RNA were isolated from foreskin tissue which would otherwise be discarded after routine circumcisions and analyzed with a focus on chemerin gene expression.

Chemerin is a protein that is produced by fat cells and appears to play a role in energy storage. Previous research had determined that chemerin is present in higher levels in the blood of obese people. However, Pearson said, it has not been measured in neonates exposed to cigarette smoke.

Results showed that chemerin was more prevalent in the skin and isolated cells of infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy, suggesting that smoking in pregnancy could be leading to changes in the regulation of the genes that play an important role in fat cell development and, by extension, obesity.

"Our work demonstrated that expectant mothers who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy induce distinct changes in chemerin gene expression in their offspring," Pearson said.

The next step is to reproduce their findings in females since they were not represented in the study. Pearson et al propose to use cells from umbilical cords to do so. The group also hopes to study smoke exposure during pregnancy in genetically modified mice as both chemerin and its receptor can be removed to highlight this pathway more directly. The current and future results could provide a springboard for the development of effective treatments against pediatric and adult obesity in babies born to smokers as well as those exposed to other in utero environmental exposures.

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Funding for this study was provided by the National Institutes of Health 1R56ES025188 and R01ESO22223 and the American Heart Association 15POST25110002
Dina Dechmann, Alex Jordan and Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin are each part of separate teams, among 34 winning teams worldwide that have been selected for the prestigious 3-year grant.

Selected from a pool of 814 project applications involving scientists working in more than 60 different countries, the teams of Dechmann, Jordan, and Strandburg-Peshkin went through a rigorous year-long selection process in a global competition. Comprising two Program Grants and one Young Investigator Grant, the three HFSP grants will fund research in Konstanz and abroad on topics ranging from a rare case of seasonal brain shrinkage and regrowth in a tiny mammal, to learning optimal network design from plant societies, to communication and coordination in animal groups.

Under the umbrella theme "complex mechanisms of living organisms", HFSP's Research Grants are awarded to teams with the creative, interdisciplinary, and innovative thinking needed to create novel approaches to problems in fundamental biology. By combining diverse expertise from members across continents, HFSP teams are expected to drive discovery and expand the intellectual horizons of individual researchers.

The curious case of seasonal brain change in shrews

Sorex araneus might be the world's most common shrew, but this tiny mammal has a rare and astonishing ability that helps it survive the cold: its brain shrinks in winter and then regrows again in spring.

Dina Dechmann, who is also a senior scientist at the Max Planck Department of Movement and Migration and lead Principal Investigator on the HFSP grant, will answer the fundamental question of how the shrew shrinks and then regrows its brain and many other organs seasonally. The shrew does this in order to survive on fewer resources and preserve its functions during harsh winter months, and with reversible size changes of up to a quarter of brain mass is by far the most extreme known case of mammalian brain regeneration.

"The common shrew's remarkable wintering adaptation makes it the perfect model system to understand the mechanisms underlying this und ultimately provide valuable information on tissue regeneration," says Dechmann, a behavioural ecologist who has extensively studied how seasonal changes affect movement and migration of animals. "For example, in the skull we have already been able to show that the size change is driven by a mechanism that is not yet considered in osteoporosis or bone reconstruction research."

Together with colleagues from Stony Brook (USA) and Aalborg University (Denmark), Dechmann's team will explore the biological, molecular, biochemical and genetic processes behind this reversible brain size change - creating knowledge that will shed light on the process of neurological degeneration in mammals and might pave the way for treating degenerative illnesses such as multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease.

Novel tools for understanding coordination in animal groups

Five researchers from the fields of animal behaviour, evolution and ecology, computer science, and quantitative biology are pooling their skills to explore how vocal communication enables group coordination in animal societies. Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin, lead Principal Investigator on the HFSP grant, says these examples, which include meerkats, coatis, and spotted hyenas, represent an intriguing unknown in the study of collective animal behaviour.

"When most people think of animals coordinating as a group, they think of bird flocking and fish schooling," says Strandburg-Peshkin, who currently holds the Gips-Schule fellowship for Animal Social Networks and a Zukunftskolleg Research Fellowship at the University of Konstanz. "In these classic cases, animals are making short-term decisions in a shared context in order to stay together. However, many animals form stable social groups that coordinate and cooperate over extended time spans, across a range of spatial scales, and in diverse contexts."

To achieve coordination under such challenging circumstances, animals often use sophisticated signalling systems, such as vocal communication, in order to pass information on to other members of the group. So far, studying how vocal communication is used by animals to coordinate movement has been hindered by difficulty of capturing data simultaneously from all members of social groups. Now, the team led by Strandburg-Peshkin, which includes researchers with laboratories in Germany, Australia, USA, and Switzerland, will use state-of-the-art tools in machine learning and GPS tracking to record movements and vocalizations concurrently from all members of wild animal groups at a high resolution, and across varying degrees of spatial dispersion.

"A key aspect of this project is that it will allow us to combine the deep biological insights and long-term perspective of behavioural field studies with detailed information on the behaviours of multiple individuals simultaneously," says Strandburg-Peshkin. "I am especially excited and honoured to be working with such a fantastic team of researchers who can contribute diverse perspectives on this topic. Ultimately, through this collaboration I hope we'll be able to shed light on both unifying features and important differences in how animal groups coordinate with one another."

Designing the perfect network by looking at sunflowers

The structure of networks can have massive impacts on how information moves. From the viral spread of fake news, to power blackouts, to crowd funding, the ways individual systems connect and influence one another shapes much of modern life. A broad goal across disciplines is to understand and design optimal network structures, but understanding the multitude of ways individuals in these systems affect one another presents a massive challenge to researchers.

To address this issue, Alex Jordan, leader of the Integrative Field Biology Group in the Max Planck Department of Collective Behaviour and University of Konstanz, has teamed up with computer scientist Orit Peleg (Colorado) and plant physiologist Yasmine Meroz (Tel Aviv) to understand how information moves through massive networks of plants, aiming to create models of optimal network structure that can be employed in areas from computer science transport. Their HFSP grant is one of only nine 2019 Young Investigator Grants, which are awarded to researchers within five years of establishing their independent research group and no more than ten years from their doctoral degree.

Because they can move their leaves and flowers to track the sun by maximizing their own exposure, sunflowers in turn throw shade on their social partners. These plants must then in turn move to avoid being shaded themselves, creating large network cascades of cause and response in these plant communities.

"I have long been studying the ways animals interact and affect one another's behaviour in social groups", says Dr Jordan. "But animals are incredibly complex - interacting with one another through sight, sound, touch, smell. The complexity of these interactions, coupled with the fact that animals often move around in space, means a complete understanding of social network interactions in these systems is close to impossible".

"In contrast, with the sunflower system we have the ability to measure and manipulate every aspect of interaction, from reduced photosynthesis from shading, to spatial arrangement of individuals, and even to prevent movement in response to light at all. As such, we can capture all the information that flows in the system".

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Facts:

Three Konstanz researchers awarded the Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) research grant: Dina Dechmann (Program Grant), Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin (Program Grant) and Alex Jordan (Young Investigator Grant).

Selected from a pool of 814 project applications involving scientists working in more than 60 different countries.

Funding in the amount of up to 125,000 dollars per year for three years.

Research is carried out in the context of the Cluster of Excellence "Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour" at the University of Konstanz.

Note to editors:

Photos can be downloaded via the following links:

https://cms.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2019/ExIni/three_hFSP_grants/dina_dechmann.jpg

Caption: Dina Dechman

Copyright: Gustavo Alarcon Nieto

https://cms.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2019/ExIni/three_hFSP_grants/ariana_strandburg_pershkin.JPG

Caption: Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin

https://cms.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2019/ExIni/three_hFSP_grants/alex_jordan.jpg

Caption: Alex Jordan

Copyright: Simon Gingins
A new international study is the first to determine the comprehensive global impact of the deadly fungal disease chytridiomycosis--and the news is not good. The disease, which eats away at the skin of amphibians such as frogs, toads and salamanders, has caused dramatic population declines in more than 500 amphibian species--including 90 extinctions--within the past 50 years, according to the findings.

The study, led by researchers from the Australian National University with contributions from University of Maryland Biology Professor Karen Lips, concluded that chytridiomycosis is singlehandedly responsible for the greatest loss of biodiversity due to a disease. The team published its findings in the March 29, 2019, issue of the journal Science.

"What's new here is the worldwide picture of the numbers. For the first time, we're able to look at the global scale and say how many species have been affected, how many have gone extinct and how many may have potential for recovery," Lips said. "I've done detailed work in Panama, for example, while others have focused elsewhere. But this is the first study to pull all these findings together in a coordinated, methodical way."

The researchers integrated data from a number of sources, including published and unpublished data from amphibian experts around the world and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The team found that chytridiomycosis is present in more than 60 countries, with the most extensive losses concentrated in Australia, Central America and South America.

"Highly virulent wildlife diseases, including chytridiomycosis, are contributing to the Earth's sixth mass extinction," said Ben Scheele, a postdoctoral researcher at the Australian National University and the lead author of the research paper. "We've lost some really amazing species. Knowing what species are at risk can help target future research to develop conservation actions to prevent extinctions."

Chytridiomycosis is caused by one of two fungal species. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, first discovered in 1998, has been documented primarily in frogs and toads, while Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, discovered in 2013, preferentially infects newts and salamanders. Of the 501 amphibian species found to be in decline, only one was directly attributable to B. salamandrivorans. The remaining 500 species declines and extinctions are linked directly to B. dendrobatidis--placing that fungal species on par with rats and cats in terms of the danger they present to other species worldwide.

The research team concluded that, although species declines peaked in the 1980s, 39 percent of the species identified in the study are still experiencing losses today. The results offer some hope, however, suggesting that 12 percent of declined species have shown some signs of recovery. This is consistent with recent work by Lips and her colleagues, which showed that some species in El Cope, Panama, had developed the ability to coexist with chytrid fungus.

"Ben and his team at the Australian National University came up with some rules of thumb to put hard numbers on estimated declines due to chytridiomycosis. They applied this method to Australia first, then got lots of researchers from around the world to help round out the global picture," Lips said, noting that more than 40 researchers contributed to the study. "This fills in some crucial gaps, especially since the IUCN has not done a global amphibian assessment since 2004. Even then, IUCN looked at declines from a more general perspective. This method allowed us to quantify the global threat of chytrid fungus specifically."

According to Scheele, more than 40 Australian frog species have declined in the past 30 years--including seven species that have gone extinct. Despite these losses, Scheele credited conservation programs in Australia for preventing further extinctions, in part by developing effective new reintroduction techniques. To prevent further extinctions around the world, Scheele called for improved biosecurity and wildlife trade regulation at the global scale.

"Globalization and wildlife trade are the main causes of this global pandemic and are enabling the spread of disease to continue," Scheele said. "Humans are moving plants and animals around the world at an increasingly rapid rate, introducing pathogens into new areas. We've got to do everything possible to stop future pandemics, by having better control over wildlife trade around the world."

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The research paper, "Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity," Ben Scheele et al., was published in the March 29, 2019, issue of the journal Science.

Lips' participation in this work was supported by the National Science Foundation. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views of this organization.

Media Relations Contact: Matthew Wright, 301-405-9267, mewright@umd.edu

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About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences

The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 9,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $175 million.
Researchers found high concentrations of mercury, arsenic, and lead, in blood samples obtained from Great white sharks in South Africa. The samples had levels that would be considered toxic to many animals. However, the study found no apparent negative consequences of these heavy metals on several health parameters measured in the sharks, including body condition, total leukocytes, and granulocyte to lymphocyte ratios, suggesting no adverse effects on their immune system.

"The results suggest that sharks may have an inherent physiological protective mechanism that mitigates the harmful effects of heavy metal exposure," said Liza Merly, study lead author and senior lecturer at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

"As top predators, sharks bio-accumulate toxins in their tissues via the food web from the prey they eat," said Neil Hammerschlag, study co-author and research associate professor at UM's Rosenstiel School and Abess Center for Ecosystem Science & Policy. "So by measuring concentrations of toxins, such as mercury and arsenic, in the blood of white sharks, they can act as 'ecosystem indicators' for the health of the ecosystem, with implications for humans," he said. "Basically, if the sharks have high levels of toxins in their tissues, it is likely that species they eat below them will also have toxins, including fishes that humans eat."

For the study, 43 great white sharks were captured and sampled in South Africa, as part of Ocearch's 2012 expedition to the area. "To collect the samples, white sharks were carefully raised on a specialized platform, while blood samples and body measurements were taken by biologists before the sharks were tagged and released," said Chris Fischer, expedition leader and founding chairman of Ocearch.

The shark's blood was screened for concentrations of 12 trace elements and 14 heavy metals. This study provides the first published account of blood concentrations of heavy metals in wild sharks. The data is instrumental in creating a baseline and reference for levels of heavy metals present in the blood of white sharks in South Africa. Considering many populations of large sharks are experiencing declines across the globe, it is important to understand the impact of toxic metals, if any, in this population.

The possibility that white sharks could have a physiological mechanism that protects them from the harmful effects of metal exposure offers new opportunities for future shark research.

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The study is titled "Blood plasma levels of heavy metals and trace elements in white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and potential health consequences", https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.03.018 was published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin on March 19 2019. Study authors include Lisa Merly of the UM Rosenstiel School, Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Lucia Lange from PathCare VetLab, PathCare Reference Laboratory; Michael Meyer from Oceans and Coasts, Department of Environmental Affairs, Republic of South Africa; Adrian Michael Hewitt from the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town; Pieter Koen from Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Services; Chris Fischer from Ocearch; Johann Muller from PathCare VetLab, PathCare Reference Laboratory; Volker Schilack and Mauritz Wentzel from V&M Analytical Toxicology Laboratory Services, and Neil Hammerschlag of the UM Rosenstiel School, Department of Marine Ecosystems and Society and UM Leonard and Jane Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy

Ocearch provided the research platform and technical support for sample collection.
The role of mosquitoes in spreading malaria is the biggest factor behind a recent study that found them to be the 'World's Deadliest Animal'. It is particularly concerning that current measures to control them (the most important of which is the use of insecticide treated bed-nets) are losing potency as mosquitoes are evolving resistance.

The persistence of malaria in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa has motivated the development of novel tools to complement existing control programmes. These include gene-drive technologies to modify mosquito populations, either to reduce them in number or to make the mosquitoes unable to transmit disease.

In new research published today in BMC Biology, from Oxford's Department of Zoology and Oxford Martin School, a team of scientists model the potential of modifying mosquitoes with a gene-drive technology called "driving-Y chromosome" to reduce mosquito populations in a one million square km area of West Africa, including all of Burkina Faso. A driving-Y chromosome has been genetically modified so that the male mosquitoes that carry it produce predominantly male offspring (which also carry the modification). Since only female mosquitoes bite, the spread of this modification will result in less females to transmit the disease, and less mosquitoes overall.

The researchers predict that introductions of driving-Y mosquitoes will cause significant reduction of the target mosquito species in some regions and complete elimination in others.

Lead researcher, Dr Ace North, from the Department of Zoology, said: 'Gene drive holds a lot of promise for malaria control, yet the potential impact at the scale of a country has not been considered much before. We built models to help understand how a gene-drive technology could affect mosquito populations in Burkina Faso, a country with a huge malaria burden. Our results suggest it would have a major impact in reducing malaria.'

The researchers found seasonality to be the most important predictor of the local impact of the gene-drive. Population elimination is more likely in regions with mild dry seasons, while reduction is more likely in regions with strong seasonality. However, even in the most challenging environments, populations were reduced. The model suggests that this approach would have a major impact in reducing malaria.

To reach this conclusion, the scientists fed large and varied data into their models, including:

information of more than 40,000 settlements

locations of all rivers and lakes - seasonal and permanent

historical rainfall data

field data estimating mosquito population sizes and mosquito movement rates

They ran a large number of simulations on Oxford University "super-computer" facilities to explore how different factors and assumptions influence the outcome of introductions of genetically modified mosquitoes with a driving-Y chromosome.

This technology, still under development, proposes creating a driving-Y chromosome modification into the most important species of malaria mosquitoes of sub-Saharan Africa.

Professor Charles Godfray, Director of the Oxford Martin School and co-author, said: 'This study suggests that repeated introductions of modified mosquitoes over a few years into a small fraction of human settlements may be sufficient to substantially reduce the overall number of mosquitoes across the entire geographic area.'

Dr Abdoulaye Diabate, a medical entomologist at the Institut de Recherche en Science de la Sante (IRSS), Burkina Faso, said: 'There is evidence that this approach, with the right national and international approvals, could be rolled out within the next 10 years.'

The region to model was selected as it is one of the worst malaria affected areas in Africa and exhibits much of the wide variation in environmental conditions found in West Africa.

The researchers are part of Target Malaria, an international not-for-profit research consortium aiming at developing and sharing new, cost-effective and sustainable genetic technologies to modify mosquitoes and reduce malaria transmission.

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For more information or to request images, please contact the University of Oxford press office at ruth.abrahams@admin.ox.ac.uk / 01865 280730.

Notes to editors

About the University of Oxford

Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the third year running, and at the heart of this success is our ground-breaking research and innovation. Oxford is world-famous for research excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions. Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 170 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past three years.

Target Malaria

Target Malaria is an international not-for-profit research consortium aiming at developing and sharing new, cost-effective and sustainable genetic technologies to modify mosquitoes and reduce malaria transmission. It brings together more than 130 experts from a range of scientific disciplines, risk assessment specialists and regulatory experts, stakeholder engagement and communication teams and project management experts from Africa, North America and Europe.

Source: Mosquito 'World's Deadliest Animal': https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week
It's gory, sticky and undoubtedly on the nose, but a blend of icing sugar, chicken stock and flexible resin is proving to be the just the right recipe for creating realistic foot ulcers as part of a world-first podiatric training initiative at the University of South Australia.

Concocted by UniSA's Dr Helen Banwell and Dr Ryan Causby the gooey mixture is being added to newly printed 3-dimensional feet and is designed to mimic infected and non-infected diabetic foot wounds.

The 3D printed feet are created with wound-like cavities in place. Made from thermoplastic polyurethane (a plastic with many properties, including elasticity, transparency, and resistance to oil, grease and abrasion), each takes a week to print, and costs less than $4 to produce. The addition of life-like ulcers and effects is added by the creative hands of UniSA's podiatry team and can encompass anything from dry gangrene to oozing pus.

Dr Banwell says the 3D foot models will play an important part in teaching fourth-year podiatry students about how treat and manage high-risk foot conditions.

"Managing and adeptly treating severe foot conditions is an essential podiatric skill, particularly given the consistent rise in type 2 diabetes within our population," Dr Banwell says.

"Foot care is incredibly important for people with diabetes, as even one small cut can potentially lead to catastrophic consequences, including foot ulcers, lower limb wounds or amputations."

Diabetic foot disease is one of the leading causes of disability across the world with a mortality rate worse than many cancers. Diabetic Foot Australia estimates that on any given day 300,000 people are at risk of developing diabetic foot disease.

In Australia, diabetes causes more than 4400 amputations, and 10,000 hospital admissions for diabetes-related foot ulcers, many of which end with a limb or part of a limb amputated.

"Over the past two decades we've seen a 30 per cent increase in lower limbs amputation rates," Dr Banwell says.

"About 85 per cent of these are preceded by a foot ulcer and could be prevented with appropriate care.

"The most effective way to manage these conditions is to medically remove dead or damaged skin to expose the healthy skin underneath and encourage healing. But learning the necessary scalpel skills to do this is challenging due to the risks of 'practicing' on a such a high-risk population.

"The 3D foot models - and the mock injuries with which we enhance them- enable us to provide a realistic but safe learning tool for students to practice their scalpel skills, before they begin clinical placements, and all without the stress or anxiety of treating a real patient."

To support the training, ulcer debridement and management videos are being developed in partnership with the via the NADC accredited high-risk foot clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

"New technologies are opening doors every day," Dr Banwell says. "Our 3D injury-enhanced foot models are a meeting of creative minds and new technologies, and we're very pleased with the result.

"When the students encounter the models, we know they'll be pleasantly (or perhaps unpleasantly) surprised. Either way, we're sure they'll be gaining the confidence, techniques and critical skills that will place them steps ahead of the competition."

The new training with 3D foot models officially kicks off on Monday 1 April (no joke).

Notes to editors:

* UniSA is also trialling 3D printed 'baby legs' in podiatry paediatric teaching sessions to allow students hands-on practice for clubfoot casting.

###

Media: Annabel Mansfield: office +61 8 8302 0351 | mobile: +61 417 717 504

email: Annabel.Mansfield@unisa.edu.au

Researchers: Dr Helen Banwell office: | +61 8 830 21256 | email: Helen.Banwell@unisa.edu.au Dr Ryan Causby office: | +61 8 830 21274 | email: Ryan.Causby@unisa.edu.au
Red blood cells are amazing. They pick up oxygen from our lungs and carry it all over our body to keep us alive. The hemoglobin molecule in red blood cells transports oxygen by changing its shape in an all-or-nothing fashion. Four copies of the same protein in hemoglobin open and close like flower petals, structurally coupled to respond to each other. Using supercomputers, scientists are just starting to design proteins that self-assemble to combine and resemble life-giving molecules like hemoglobin. The scientists say their methods could be applied to useful technologies such as pharmaceutical targeting, artificial energy harvesting, 'smart' sensing and building materials, and more.

A science team did this work by supercharging proteins, which means that they changed the subunits of proteins, the amino acids, to give the proteins an artificially high positive or negative charge. Using proteins derived from jellyfish, the scientists were able to assemble a complex sixteen protein structure composed of two stacked octamers by supercharging alone, findings that were reported in January of 2019 in the journal Nature Chemistry.

The team then used supercomputer simulations to validate and inform these experimental results. Supercomputer allocations on Stampede2 at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and Comet at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) were awarded to the researchers through XSEDE, the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

"We found that by taking proteins that don't normally interact with each other, we can make copies that are either highly positively or highly negatively charged," said study co-author Anna Simon, a postdoctoral researcher in the Ellington Lab of UT Austin. "Combining the highly positively and negatively charged copies, we can make the proteins assemble into very specific structured assemblies," Simon said. The scientists call their strategy 'supercharged protein assembly,' where they drive defined protein interactions by combining engineered supercharged variants.

"We exploited a very well-known and basic principle from nature, that opposite charges attract," added study co-author Jens Glaser. Glaser is an assistant research scientist in the Glotzer Group, Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan. "Anna Simon's group found that when they mix these charged variants of green fluorescent protein, they get highly ordered structures. That was a real surprise," Glaser said.

The stacked octamer structure looks like a braided ring. It's composed of 16 proteins - two intertwined rings of eight that interact in very specific, discreet patches. "The reason why it's so hard to engineer proteins that interact synthetically is that making these interacting patches and having them all line up right such that they'll allow the proteins to assemble into bigger, regular structures is really hard," explained Simon. They got around the problem by adding many positive and negative charges to engineer variants of green fluorescent protein (GFP), a well-studied 'lab mouse' protein derived from the Aequorea victoria jellyfish.

The positively charged protein, which they called cerulean fluorescent protein (Ceru) +32, had additional opportunities to interact with the negatively charged protein GFP -17. "By giving these proteins all these opportunities, these different places where they could potentially interact, they were able to choose the right ones," Simon said. "There were certain patterns and interactions that were there, available, and energetically favored, that we didn't necessarily predict beforehand that would allow them to assemble into these specific shapes."

To get the engineered charged fluorescent proteins, Simon and co-authors Arti Pothukuchy, Jimmy Gollihar, and Barrett Morrow encoded their genes, including a chemical tag used for purification on portable pieces of DNA called plasmids in E. coli, then harvested the tagged protein that E. coli grew. The scientists mixed the proteins together. They initially thought the proteins might just interact to form large, irregularly structured clumps. "But then, what we kept on seeing was this weird, funny peak around 12 nanometers, that was a lot smaller than a big clump of protein, but significantly bigger than the single protein," Simon said.

They measured the size of the particles that formed using a Zetasizer instrument at the Texas Materials Institute of UT Austin, and verified that the particles contained both cerulean and GFP proteins Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), which measures the energy transfer between different colored fluorescent proteins produce fluorescence in response to different energies of light to see if they are close together. Negative stain electron microscopy identifed the specific structure of the particles, conducted by the group of David Taylor, assistant professor of molecular biosciences at UT Austin. It showed that the 12 nm particle consisted of a stacked octamer composed of sixteen proteins. "We found that they were these beautifully shaped flower-like structures," Simon said. Co-author Yi Zhou from Taylor's group of UT Austin increased the resolution even further using cryo-electron microscopy to reveal atomic-level details of the stacked octamer.

Computational modeling refined the measurements of how the proteins were arranged into a clear picture of the beautiful, flower-like structure, according to Jens Glaser. "We had to come up with a model that was complex enough to describe the physics of the charged green fluorescent proteins and present all the relevant atomistic details, yet was efficient enough to allow us to simulate this on a realistic timescale. With a fully atomistic model, it would have taken us over a year to get a single simulation out of the computer, however fast the computer was," Glaser said.

They simplified the model by reducing the resolution without sacrificing important details of the interactions between proteins. "That's why we used a model where the shape of the protein is exactly represented by a molecular surface, just like the one that's measured from the crystallographic structure of the protein," Glaser added.

"What really helped us turn this around and improve what we were able to get out of our simulations was the cryo-EM data," said Vyas Ramasubramani, a graduate student in chemical engineering at the University of Michigan. "That's what really helped us find the optimal configuration to put into these simulations, which then helped us validate the stability arguments that we were making, and hopefully going forward make predictions about ways that we can destabilize or modify this structure," Ramasubramani said.

The scientists required lots of compute power to do the calculations on the scale that they wanted.

"We used XSEDE to basically take these huge systems, where you have lots of different pieces interacting with each other, and calculate all of this at once so that when you start moving your system forward through some semblance of time, you could get an idea for how it was going to evolve on somewhat real timescales," Ramasubramani said. "If you tried to do the same kind of simulation that we did on a laptop, it would have taken months if not years to really approach understanding whether or not some sort of structure would be stable. For us, not being able to use XSEDE, where you could use essentially 48 cores, 48 compute units all at once to make these calculations highly parallel, we would have been doing this much slower."

The Stampede2 supercomputer at the TACC contains 4,200 Intel Knights Landing and 1,736 Intel Skylake X compute nodes. Each Skylake node has 48 cores, the basic unit of a computer processor. "The Skylake nodes of the Stampede2 supercomputer were instrumental in achieving the performance that was necessary to compute these electrostatic interactions that act between the oppositely-charged proteins in an efficient manner," Glaser said. "The availability of the Stampede2 supercomputer was at just the right point in time for us to perform these simulations."

Initially, the science team tested their simulations on the Comet system at the SDSC. "When we were first figuring out what kind of model to use and whether this simplified model would give us reasonable results, Comet was a great place to try these simulations," Ramasubramani said. "Comet was a great testbed for what we were doing."

Looking at the bigger scientific picture, the scientists hope that this work advances understanding of why so many proteins in nature will oligomerize, or join together to form more complex and interesting structures.

"We showed that there doesn't need to be a very specific, pre-distinguished set of plans and interactions for these structures to form," Simon said. "This is important because it means that maybe, and quite likely we can take other sets of molecules that we want to make oligomerize and generate both positively charged and negatively charged variants, combine them, and have specifically ordered structures for them."

Natural biomaterials like bone, feathers, and shells can be tough yet lightweight. "We think supercharged protein assembly is an easier way to develop the kind of materials that have exciting synthetic properties without having to spend so much time or having to know exactly how they're going to come together beforehand," Simon said. "We think that will accelerate the ability to engineer synthetic materials and for discovery and exploration of these nanostructured protein materials."

###

The study, "Supercharging Enables Organized Assembly of Synthetic Biomolecules," was published in the journal Nature Chemistry in January of 2019. The study co-authors are Anna J. Simon, Yi Zhou, Arti Pothukuchy, Jimmy Gollihar, Jillian C. Gerberich, Janelle C. Leggere, Barrett R. Morrow, Cheulhee Jung, David W. Taylor and Andrew D. Ellington of UT Austin; and Vyas Ramasubramani, Jens Glaser, and Sharon C. Glotzer of the University of Michigan. The study was funded by the US Army Research Laboratory, US Army Research Office, the Welch Foundation, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, and an Arnold O. Beckman postdoctoral fellowship held by AJS. The grant principal investigators are Sharon Glotzer, the Anthony C. Lembke Department Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan; and Andy Ellington, associate director of UT Austin's Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology. The XSEDE resources are funded by the National Science Foundation.
Navigator to further hike prices for woodfree uncoated papers as of January
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Thursday's European Commission Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) release indicated that while overall Eurozone and Euro area confidence had fallen, UK business confidence bucked the trend, rising modestly - especially in the dominant services sector.

Friday's release of the latest Lloyds Business Barometer findings, followed suit, indicating that confidence among UK businesses had posted a moderate rebound following last month's slump to a multi-year low.

Above: Lloyds Business Confidence

Despite the successive indications that economic sentiment within the UK has to some degree become accustomed to persistent uncertainty with both rising despite deepening political chaos, the Pound Sterling failed to gain on either release with the overall Brexit outcome and the probabilities attributed to the options therein remain the predominant factor driving GBP rates, overshadowing domestic data releases.

According to the Lloyds Commercial Banking release, sentiment among UK firms rebounded by 6 points to 10% in March while firms' perceptions of the impact on Brexit remained largely unchanged with 38% reporting a negative impact and 21% reporting positive effects (balance of -17).

By sector, retail firms reported the largest increase in confidence, followed by services, offsetting declines in confidence among businesses operating within the manufacturing and construction sectors.

From the Lloyds release, "Business confidence in March partially recovered from the sharp fall to the lowest level since mid-2016 in the previous month. Both trading prospects and economic optimism contributed to this months rise.

"The net balance reporting stronger trading prospects was up 7 points to 20%, while economic optimism increased by 5 points to 0%. Overall business confidence increased by 6 points to 10%, after falling by 15 points to 4% in February." On the employment front, expectations increased for the first time in three months with the net balance increasing by 3 points to +13%, representing a third of firms expecting to add to their payroll while 20% reported projections for a reduction. Despite the increase, overall business confidence remains significantly below the long-run average with current levels comparable to those witnessed around the June 2016 EU referendum and the European sovereign debt crisis. Lloyds banking senior economist, Hann-Ju Ho wrote "Although below the long-term average, confidence remains well above levels during the height of the global financial crisis in 2008/9."

Above: Lloyds Business Barometer Long-term Average

In terms of firms' preparedness for the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, 62% of respondents reported that they were prepared for additional pressures on their working capital while 27% said they were either "unprepared" or "not very prepared".

Regarding a no-deal Brexit specifically, 63% of respondents said their business operations would be expected to continue as usual while 15% claimed a messy Brexit could prompt issues which limit their ability to continue operating.

Businesses appeared to be withholding capital in anticipation of Brexit with one fifth of respondents claiming they were holding back from refinancing debt due to uncertainty and 28% reporting they would increase capital expenditure once Brexit clarity emerges.
Copyright  2006-2021 Exchange Rates UK. All rights reserved. The advice provided on this website is general advice only and does not constitute as a financial recommendation. Any news, opinions, research, analysis, values or other information contained on this story, by Exchange Rates UK, its employees, partners or contributors, is provided as general market commentary. Exchange Rates UK will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.
Friday, March 29, 2019

Yummm sugar skull donuts!

Plan to attend the Albuquerque Death Cafe! The objective of the Death Cafe is To increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives. Its an interesting, unstructured conversation with no specific agenda. The Death Cafe offers a relaxed, confidential and safe setting to discuss death, drink tea (or your favorite beverage) and eat delicious cake or cookies. We also provide fruit and nuts for those avoiding gluten and added sugar.

The regular monthly Albuquerque Death Cafe will take place on Sunday, April 28, 2019 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. We meet in the Fifth Floor Lounge at Manzano del Sol Village, 5201 Roma NE, Albuquerque, NM. The building is located just south of Lomas Blvd. and just west of San Mateo Blvd.

As always, refreshments will be provided. The event is free and donations are welcome. Send a note to Gail [at] AGoodGoodbye.com to RSVP.

The Death Cafe concept was started in the United Kingdom by Jon Underwood. He was influenced by the ideas of Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz, who started holding Cafe Mortel events in France and Switzerland. For more information about Death Cafes, visit this page at AGoodGoodbye.com or visit www.DeathCafe.com.

Your Death Cafe Host

Gail Rubins motto is Talking about sex wont make you pregnant, and talking about funerals and end-of-life issues wont make you dead.

Gail Rubin, CT, host of the Albuquerque Death Cafe, is a pioneering death educator. Rubin is a public speaker, a published author of three books, host of a TV interview series and podcast, a blogger, a funeral industry trade journalist, a Certified Funeral Celebrant, and an innovator in the funeral business. She created a conversation-starting game called The Newly-Dead Game, introduced the Death Cafe movement in the United States, and held the first Before I Die Festival west of the Mississippi in 2017. Albuquerque Business First named her one of their 2019 Women of Influence.

Learn more about Gail and the Before I Die New Mexico Festival here.

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Two San Antonio companies were among the 21 in Texas to earn perfect scores for LGBTQ-inclusive workplace policies, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation said Thursday.

Both USAA and Rackspace scored 100 on HRCs Corporate Equality Index for factors including non-discrimination policies, equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families, and supporting an inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility.

Nationwide, 571 businesses had top scores, compared to 13 when the ratings started in 2002.

On ExpressNews.com: See how the city of San Antonio fared in a 2018 HRC survey

Time and again, leading American businesses have shown that protecting their employees and customers from discrimination isnt just the right thing to do  its also good for business, HRC President Chad Griffen said in a news release.

Two other large San Antonio companies didnt rate so well. Fortune 500 radio broadcaster iHeart Media scored a 60 after losing points for equivalency for medical benefits, diversity councils and LGBTQ-friendly contracting and supply chains.

H-E-B, San Antonios largest employer, got a 30. The supermarket chain didnt meet the foundations criteria for factors such as discrimination policies and outreach and engagement with the larger LGBTQ community.

H-E-B does not respond to any third-party surveys, H-E-B spokeswoman Dya Campos said in an email. We are consistently ranked as one of the best employers in the nation by our partners and that speaks to the passion we have for our people and our customers.

An iHeart Media spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

On ExpressNews.com: See previous coverage of corporate equality index in San Antonio

HRC is the nations largest advocacy group representing lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and queer people.

Its 2018, index evaluated a total of 892 companies and law firms, up from 887 in 2017.

"While we do not ask this question directly of participants, we do know that companies are making their investments in LGBTQ inclusion because it is good for their businesses and is a key component of their overall talent management strategy, said Beck Bailey, acting director of the HRC Foundation's Workplace Equality Index. Attracting, retaining and engaging employees is a mission-critical business imperative in any job market and even more so in a tightened one."

Top-scoring companies offer health care benefits to same-sex domestic partners and spouses, eliminate transgender exclusions such as for hormone therapies and transition-related care, and ensure full LGBTQ inclusion in their supply chains.

According to HRCs findings, 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies include gender identity in their corporate non-discrimination policy, compared to 3 percent in 2002. About 84 percent offered transgender-inclusive health care coverage, compared to none in 2002.

Such policies are important considering employer-provided health insurance is the United States largest source of health care coverage, HRC said in an accompanying report.

The average score for Texas companies and law firms was 74 percent.

Both USAA and Rackspace have played up their diversity and inclusion groups  USAAs LGBTQ group is called BOLD, while Rackspaces is Pride  in blogs and social media posts.

USAA strives to be a great place to work by providing an inclusive environment where employees feel a sense of belonging and have access to world-class benefits and career development opportunities, said Pat Teague, USAAs chief human resources officer. We are proud that USAA is being recognized for its culture.

Rackspace celebrated its survey score in a blog post Thursday.

Making this list shows our commitment to fostering a diverse, engaged workforce, Rackspace Chief People Officer Laura Sue DAnnunzio said. Rackers, would-be Rackers, and our customers continue to see that Rackspace truly is a place where we can bring our whole selves to work.

Lynn Brezosky is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering trade, agriculture and the economy. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lbrezosky@express-news.net | Twitter: @lbrezosky
As the last day of February turned into the first of March, Nick Foster was anxious. He knew his friend Kaitlin Castilleja was going to the home of a Madison High School junior for a late-night confrontation.

Foster texted Castilleja basically saying, I dont think you should go over there. I have a bad feeling about this, said his mother, Heather Doyon, who later saw the message.

Castilleja, 18, was stabbed to death in the fight, police said. Charged with murder and aggravated assault was the high-schooler, 16, whom the Express-News is not naming because she is a juvenile.

In the days and weeks since, a group of young adults  all Madison students or recent graduates  have been grappling with fallout from the trauma.

Among them are two women who went with Castilleja to the younger girls house that night: Fosters sister Vivian Foster, 20, who graduated two years ago from Madison, and Aaliyah Latiker, 18, a senior at the school.

They said later they didnt want Castilleja to go alone.

And there is Nick Foster, 18, who dated Castilleja during their junior year of high school and graduated last year with her. Up until Castillejas death, the couple had wavered between friendship and romance, Doyon said.

They spoke every day, she said.

In the confrontations aftermath, the 16-year-old told police shed received threatening messages from two people on social media. Some of Castillejas friends think she and Castilleja were feuding over Nick Foster.

Doyon hadnt heard more than rumors. In a recent interview, Latiker denied the two were warring on social media but declined to answer further questions.

The accused girl is still in custody. Her father declined to comment and her attorney, Libby Wiedermann, did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Whatever the dispute, Castilleja had made up her mind to go to the younger girls house, her friends said. Latiker said she didnt think Castilleja and Vivian Foster intended to seriously harm the high-schooler.

They wanted to scare her, Latiker said. That was it.

Castilleja and Vivian Foster scuffled with the girl in her driveway. Latiker said she waited by a fence, unable to see much.

Vivian Foster was cut in the chest and, more deeply, in the left arm, Doyon said.

Castilleja emerged from the darkness clutching her bleeding neck, Latiker said.

Latiker said another young man they all knew had driven up and was asking for Nick Foster, but she couldnt remember anything else about that  by then, she and Vivian Foster were helping Castilleja into their car.

A wounded, frantic Vivian Foster drove Castilleja and Latiker to Northeast Methodist Hospital. Latiker said she held a towel to Castillejas neck. Castilleja was fading in and out of consciousness, Latiker said.

Kaitlin was talking to me, Latiker said. She was saying she didnt want to die in the backseat of a car.

Latiker told Castilleja she loved her, everyone loved her and she was going to be OK.

Youre not going to die, Latiker told her. I got you.

At the hospital, Doyon said, her daughter repeatedly asked to see Castilleja. The staff kept telling Vivian Foster they first had to treat her  both her wounds needed staples.

Castilleja was transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 1:59 a.m.

Regretting the confrontation

At some point, Vivian Foster called her brother, who came to Northeast Methodist. Together, the siblings called their mother, who lives in Oklahoma but was in Atlanta that night for work.

The call woke Doyon in her hotel room. Groggy, she heard her daughter say shed been stabbed and Castilleja was dead.

Doyon told her children she loved them. Just stick together, she said repeatedly. She caught an early flight back from Georgia and came to San Antonio the next day.

I thank God to have my daughter, because that could have just as easily been her, Doyon said.

Vivian Foster was released from the hospital hours after being admitted. She went to a police station for questioning, her mother said. The Fosters father contacted an attorney and they were advised not to speak to reporters.

When Doyon got to San Antonio, she spent time with her children in the apartment they share. She took them grocery shopping and they did a lot of talking.

Doyon calls her daughter by her middle name, Paige. She said neither of her children had ever been caught fighting.

Paige is probably one of the least violent people that I know, and honestly, it was even hard for me to believe she went over to do that, Doyon said. We definitely had the talk. But at the same time, you dont really want to browbeat someone that just went through what she went through.

She knows it was a bad decision. She has regrets about it, so why continue beating that into her head? All I can do is continue to be a mom  love her and support her and also continue to try to guide her in the right direction.

The night after the fight, a childhood friend of Castillejas organized a candlelight vigil off Toepperwein Road, at a neighborhood park.

Nick Foster wanted to go to the park a couple of days later, when other people wouldnt be there, his mother said. He didnt know if Castillejas parents would blame him for the fight, or for any of the times he and Castilleja had quarreled.

He just wanted to respect their boundaries because he didnt know how they were feeling and what they were going through, Doyon said.

Doyon, Vivian Foster and her boyfriend came along. At the park, they said a prayer for Castilleja. Then Nick Foster asked everyone to go back to the car, so he could have a moment to talk to her, alone.

Hes very broken up about it, Doyon said. Everybody grieves in their own way, and hes just having to grieve the best way he knows how. Yeah, the kids have had loss in their lives. Theyve lost grandparents and things like that. But theyve never had this traumatic of a loss.

At a detention hearing March 18, the accused  a petite girl in a gray jumpsuit, her hair in two French braids  stood before Juvenile District Court Judge Lisa Jarrett. Wiedermann asked Jarrett to release her to her parents with a tracking device, saying shed behaved in the detention center and didnt have issues at home.

Based on the seriousness of the charges, Jarrett denied the request and ordered the girl detained until her next hearing, which is set for Monday.

Doyon said she never heard of the 16-year-old before the fatal fight.

It wasnt a name that was ever coming out of either one of my kids mouths, and I pretty much talk to my kids just about every day, she said.

Young couple in love

The Foster siblings went to elementary school in Oklahoma, but moved to San Antonio after Doyon and their father divorced. Doyon lives in Tulsa  but she knew Castilleja.

Kaitlin and Nick were basically inseparable when they were dating, Doyon said.

Sometimes they would fight. Sometimes they would break up. If Nick Foster was upset with Castilleja, his sister would take his side, Doyon said. Then Doyon would hear that her son and Castilleja were talking again.

It had its trying times because, of course, thats how teenagers operate, Doyon said. I can say for a fact, within the last year or six months, that Kaitlin and Paige had made peace with one another and were friends.

Doyon came down from Oklahoma when her daughter graduated and Castilleja was at the graduation parties each parent threw. Afterward, Castilleja joined the siblings and their mom at a place Doyons father rented in the Hill Country.

We all sat in the kitchen and played games, and laughed and joked and were kids with each other, Doyon said.

Castilleja struck Doyon as someone with a beautiful personality who loved her son.

She was very sweet, Doyon said. She was very talkative and she had that smile that could just light up a room, just make you smile. The infectious smile.

Vivian Foster, aspiring to a career in law enforcement, studied criminal justice at Texas State University in San Marcos. She took this semester off and works in the restaurant industry, as does her brother, Doyon said.

The Foster siblings have done their best to go on with their lives, but both have been replaying the night of March 1 in their minds, Doyon said.

Theyre both asking what they could have done to prevent this, she said. They have their days, still to today, that are so up and down, but they have both been very strong and have tried to do their best to be there for one another.

Losing a close friend

Latiker, who had been one of Castillejas closest friends since they ran track together two years ago, attended the detention hearing carrying anger toward the 16-year-old girl. Latiker said she struggles with her emotions, especially when shes alone.

Sometimes she forgets and calls Castilleja.

I usually called her every day, Latiker said, crying. Waking up in the morning just to go to school and not hearing Kaitlins voice is just hard for me.

Latiker said she got in trouble last spring and couldnt attend Castillejas graduation. I didnt get to see her walk the stage, and that haunts me, like, all the time, she said.

In the weeks since the fight, people have taken sides on social media. Some say the younger girl was just defending herself, and some have made comments about Castilleja that Doyon considers bullying. No matter what, Doyon and Latiker said, Castilleja did not deserve to die.

At the end of the day, a young woman, who was just starting her life, lost her life, Doyon said. The one person who cannot speak for herself, and will never be able to speak for herself.

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
Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that hes launching an investigation into whether the city of San Antonios rejection of Chick-fil-A from its airport violates state law.

Related: Ted Cruz bashes San Antonio City Council for its airport Chick-fil-A ban

Council members last week excluded the business from its list of vendors, after some said they couldnt support it because of its anti-LGBT reputation.

The Constitutions protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-As chicken, Paxton wrote in a letter to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. Unfortunately, I have serious concerns that both are under assault at the San Antonio airport.

Related: Brockhouse apologizes to Chick-fil-A for San Antonios decision to remove restaurant from airport plan

Paxton said he is also encouraging Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao to look into whether the city broke any federal law or regulation.

I trust the City will fully cooperate with my investigation into this matter, and will abide by relevant federal and state laws in the future, he wrote.
A San Antonio man involved in the pharmaceutical industry has been charged with fraud, money laundering and tax evasion over allegations that he scammed investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and hid income from the IRS.

Edward C. Wagner ran limited liability companies or pharmaceutical sales entities known as Pharmacogenetics, EcoChem, Leaf 24 and NutrECS, according to a news release from federal authorities.

A federal grand jury indicted him last week on 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and six counts of tax evasion. Wagner, who was arrested and released on bond Friday, is accused of offering proprietorship to investors in order to pump money from them, which he then allegedly misused.

On ExpressNews.com: Feds arrest ex-business partner of San Antonio philanthropist Bill Greehey

A federal public defender was appointed for him, and hes scheduled for arraignment April 4.

Our capitalist system works only when our legal rules against fraud are vigorously enforced. That is why DOJ relentlessly pursues those who defraud investors, said U.S. Attorney John Bash.

Wagner is charged with exploiting his investors trust by using those monies meant for his businesses for his own personal gain, said Sarah Kull, special agent in charge of the Houston field office of the IRS Criminal Investigation division, which also covers San Antonio. In this case, IRS-Criminal Investigation is not only enforcing the nation's tax laws, but also holding an individual accountable for violating the trust of his investors.

The indictment alleges that from June 2011 to September 2016, Wagner collected $645,000 from company investors under false and fraudulent pretenses and spent it on personal expenses.

On ExpressNews.com: Luxury cars seized in San Antonio money laundering investigaton

The indictment also alleges that he evaded paying taxes from 2007 to 2016. From 2007 through 2010, Wagner accrued $744,186 in unpaid taxes and penalties based on taxable income of $1.4 million, the indictment alleges.

The indictment also said that Wagner intentionally disguised his actual income by hiding his sources of income, using nominee financial institution accounts, dealing extensively in cash and cashiers checks and creating a false loan document. He is also accused of failing to file an income tax return from 2013 through 2016.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each wire fraud charge, up to 10 years in prison on the money laundering counts and a maximum of five years in prison for each tax evasion count.

Guillermo Contreras covers federal courts in San Antonio and international legal issues. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland
Joe Milligan knew he had a problem when his North Vietnamese prison guards began wearing handkerchiefs over their faces when they entered his cell.

The odor of rotting, infected flesh came from his arms, badly burned after Milligan ejected from his crippled F-4C Phantom and into a fireball.

His burns become infected from rolling in the dirt during a torture session at Hoa Lo Prison, called the Hanoi Hilton by the Americans held there. American POWs were interrogated and tortured at a part of it called the Heartbreak Hotel.

Milligan had no medicine and if his captors had any, they werent sharing, the retired Air Force colonel and veterinarian recalled this week before joining other former POWs for an annual reunion Friday at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.

I realized that I was in a lot of trouble. I didnt have a lot of medical knowledge at the time, but I knew enough to know that if that infection went systemic I was probably going to die, said Milligan, 77, of San Antonio.

And I remembered the training I got in survival school, which was if you have combat injuries like that and no medical attention available, let the flies get at your wounds.

The flies lay eggs, which hatch into maggots, which eat bacteria but not live flesh, he knew.

The next step was to wash the wounds with a sterile fluid. Milligan didnt have anything but his own urine. It worked.

Fridays ceremony at the 46th annual Freedom Flyers Reunion came nearly 52 years after he was shot down in a fierce dogfight. There were flyovers from F-16 fighters and a B-2 Spirit bomber, and a three-ship missing man formation. A wreath was brought forward, salutes were given and old comrades remembered their piece of the war.

The closing bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace made Milligan think of some of the gentlemen that I knew that didnt come home, he said as the crowd broke up.

On ExpressNews.com: Aviator looks back on path to priesthood

First Lt. Joseph Edward Milligan was one of 684 American prisoners of war to come home alive in 1973 after the long conflict in Vietnam.

His plane went down May 20, 1967, over a mountainous area where the indigenous people he encountered were curious, not angry. It was as if they knew nothing at all of the war.

Milligan and a fellow pilot, Maj. Jack Loan, had flown their Phantom out of Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. The mission, his 113th of the war, was to join three other F-4C fighters and escort a group of F-105 Thunderchiefs to bomb the Kep railyard northeast of Hanoi.

The Thunderchiefs could hit Mach 2 but were heavy with bombs. The Phantoms were to protect them from enemy aircraft.

We got into a big dogfight, a rather historic dogfight. On the way to the target we encountered a large force of MiG-17s, and its still not sure how many there were, Milligan recalled. Years later, getting some of the participants in that dogfight together to talk about it, we think there were 32 MiGs and we attacked those with four F-4s. So needless to say, we were greatly outnumbered.

A wild battle ensued for the next 15 minutes, a duration Milligan thinks might have been the longest in the history of jet combat. When it was over, at least four and as many as seven MiGs had been shot down. The F-105s were untouched. Loan and Milligan were the sole Americans downed.

They had just fired a missile at one of the MiG-17s in hopes of driving it off of the tail of their flight leader, World War II ace Robin Olds, when they heard the whump-whump of 37mm cannon fire hitting their own plane.

Suddenly, their flight controls stopped working.

Loan called out the last order. Ejecting from the front seat, he just cleared the fireball erupting at the back of the Phantom and was uninjured. But Milligan flew right into it, suffering third-degree burns to his forearms, and first- and second-degree burns to his face.

On ExpressNews.com: For Vietnam POWs, resistance wasnt futile

As both drifted toward earth, a pair of MiGs closed to strafe them but a Phantom piloted by Capt. Bob Pardo chased the intruders away.

Milligan waved to Pardo, who would become famous for using his F-4 to push a powerless fighter over enemy territory for 20 minutes  a legendary feat of airmanship now called Pardos Push.

Its memorialized in a painting at the 12th Flying Training Wings offices, where the 560th Flying Training Squadron gave four ex-Vietnam POWs fini flights Thursday, a tradition that ends with champagne  the way their deployment would have ended if they hadnt been shot down. Milligan observed but didnt participate  hed had his fini years ago.

Loan and Milligan landed in a thick canopy of craggy jungle and were amazed to find they had nothing in their survival kits to treat burns. They had no hope of becoming the few to escape captivity, something only 37 Americans did over the course of the war. After an hour, they encountered their reception committee  mountain tribesmen wearing black pajamas whod never seen aviators flight suits. They had no idea how to unbutton the pockets as they frisked the pilots, so they cut them open with knives.

Their firearms seemed from the previous century. Milligan wondered if he could make a run for it, guessing the weapons might blow up in their captors faces, but gave up on the idea. In addition to his burns, he had injured a knee.

The tribesmen took Loan in one direction and Milligan in another. They wouldnt meet again until the Hanoi Hilton.

They started poking me with bayonets trying to get me to move and try to start climbing down the mountain, he said. It quickly became obvious they werent going to help me  so torn up knee or not, I climbed down that mountain on my own power.

The experience grew surreal as darkness fell and they reached a village. To Milligan, it was like a walk back into prehistory  a half-dozen mud-and-stick huts so tiny that the average-size American couldnt stand up in one.

The impression I got was this was the end of civilization right there, Milligan said.

But each village got a little larger than the last as the march went on, and he was treated more as a guest than a captive. They came to a village with a communal house, where Milligan was seated with tribal elders. No one could speak English, so they used sign language.

On ExpressNews.com: A solemn moment in Freedom Hall

The elders were curious about the coins in his pocket, so Milligan raised one finger to identify a penny and five fingers for a nickel. A group of younger men then entered the hut. They were followed by even younger males and then women with children.

Milligan was offered tea in a tiny cup.

They were showing their hospitality in a traditional Vietnamese way, he observed.

They came to a more modern village where the homes had stucco walls and red-tiled roofs. The two-day journey ended with a pair of North Vietnamese soldiers handcuffing Milligan and beating him with their rifles. They gave him one bowl of rice and a small teapot of water over the days it took to reach Hanoi from there.

At the Heartbreak Hotel, the beatings began in earnest. Over the years before his release on Feb. 18, 1973, Milligans life was marked by long stretches of boredom wondering when the next torture session would come.

He would live in seven POW camps and eat a bowl of something that vaguely resembled soup with rice or bread twice a day  the bread sometimes moldy and laced with roaches and rat droppings.

The Vietnamese would give him a pot of tea daily, not enough in a hot, humid climate that baked the prisoners from dawn to dusk. His captors cruelty and indifference took its toll. Weighing 180 pounds on the day he was shot down, Milligan slowly starved. He once was as low as 130 pounds, but gained about 20 more as the Vietnamese fed the prisoners more often while negotiating a peace treaty in Paris.

His trek with the tribesmen had been a different world. People were kind. At the final, more modern village, the warm reception might have been a reunion of old friends and relatives, not a chance encounter of enemies.

Everybody in the village came in at once to see me and everybody wanted to touch me. They looked at my wounds and would go Tsk, tsk, showing some sort of sorrow for the physical state that I was in, and they brought me two bottles of beer to drink, Milligan said. Those are still the two best bottles of beer Ive had, ever, in my life. I say that facetiously, but it was something I needed at the time, for sure.

Sig Christenson covers the military and veterans in San Antonio, Bexar County and the nation. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sigc@express-news.net | Twitter: @saddamscribe
On Monday night, Austin Independent School District trustees voted to change the name of that citys Sidney Lanier High School. The move marked the culmination of Austins effort to rid its public schools of any associations with the Confederacy.

Lanier, a Georgia native, not only served in the Confederate Army but came to be known as the poet of the Confederacy. The AISD school board settled on a new name that would honor the memory of Juan Navarro, an Austin Lanier graduate who served in the U.S. Army and was killed in Afghanistan in 2012.

Austins move came three years after Houston trustees similarly decided to rename that citys Sidney Lanier Middle School, replacing it with the name of the late Houston Mayor Bob Lanier.

In recent years, San Antonio dealt with the Confederacy issue at Robert E. Lee High School. In June 2015, a week after a 21-year-old white supremacist named Dylann Roof murdered nine African-Americans at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., then-Housing Secretary (and former San Antonio Mayor) Julian Castro called on the North East Independent School District to find someone more appropriate than Lee to honor.

Castros Facebook post launched a Lee name-change movement that failed in its first iteration but succeeded in 2017 with the NEISD board arriving at a compromise that seemed to frustrate everyone: Legacy of Educational Excellence (LEE) High School.

There has been deafening silence, however, on the issue of this citys Sidney Lanier High School, a cornerstone of the West Side for nearly a century. (For that matter, theres been no serious discussion about Sul Ross Middle School, named after a Confederate general.)

In a way, its hard to explain the lack of outrage over Lanier. After all, the argument made by Castro and others against Robert E. Lee was that he committed treason against the United States and fought to preserve slavery.

Lanier did the exact same thing.

On ExpressNews.com: Lee doesnt change, but what he symbolizes does

Lee, who died five years after the end of the Civil War, devoted the final years of his life to preaching reconciliation between the North and South, and urging his fellow Southerners to discard any physical or emotional remnants of the Confederacy.

Lanier took a more confrontational tack, with a poem, Civil Rights, that protested against the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

Lanier delivered his repugnant creation from the perspective of a character named Old Uncle Johnny Stiles. The poem argued that politicians from the North, with their outrageous notions of civil rights, were tossing both white and black Southerners into the ragin sea.

Lanier concluded the poem this way: By God! ef they dont fling a rope, Ill push the (n-word) in!

What it comes down to is that Lee, Lanier and Ross all made the same decision to fight for the Confederate cause, but Lee is more famous for it, so he arouses more vitriol. Hes low-hanging fruit. Even though he urged the Southern states not to secede, Lees name is synonymous these days with the Confederacy.

To the degree that Lanier is remembered at all, hes regarded as a poet. His stint in the Confederate Army is seen as a mere footnote. At one time, however, Laniers symbolic importance in the Confederate story was more evident.

Houstons Lanier Middle School initially carried the name of Abraham Lincoln, before Confederate veterans protested. They convinced school trustees in July 1925 to change the name to honor Lanier  their beloved poet laureate of secession.

Since Lanier is a relatively obscure figure these days, you dont score a lot of political points for taking on his legacy. Nonetheless, Mario Salas, a former San Antonio councilman who fought in 2015 for the Lee name change, applauded this weeks vote by the Austin school board.

Any school, any monument, any plaque that has been used to uplift the names of people who supported slavery, and who fought for the protection of the institution of slavery, should be removed, Salas said.

Patti Radle, the president of the San Antonio Independent School District board of trustees, said the board would be willing to discuss Lanier High Schools name if a groundswell ever emerged in the community. No such outcry has materialized.

It hasnt had any real serious discussion, not while Ive been on the board, Radle said. At the campus, it seems to me that Sidney Lanier has always been lifted up as a poet, an educator, and I think the idea of him having been in the Confederate Army is just not something that has surfaced as an issue.

At this point, the Lanier name is a source of tradition, an emblem of the West Side community, something that binds generations of families. By the same token, folks on the Northeast Side had grown attached to the Lee name because, in some families, it linked three generations of educational history.

The Lee name didnt go down without a serious fight. The same would be doubly true if SAISD ever contemplated a name change for Lanier.

Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
On the South steps of the Texas Capitol, state Rep. Briscoe Cain prayed that the children standing beside him would not be mocked for their parents decision not to vaccinate them.

We ask that you strengthen these children  we ask that you shield them, said Cain, R-Deer Park. May government leaders never forget that parents know what is best for their children.

On Thursday, more than 300 anti-vaccination advocates and their children rallied with Texans for Vaccine Choice to support bills filed by a handful of state lawmakers that would require doctors to provide families with both the benefits and risks of immunization, and make it easier to opt out.

I walk these halls and I see  the fun they are poking at our children and our families, and it angers me, said the groups president, Jackie Schlegel, who said her daughter is disabled due to complications from a vaccine. The time is now to stand up, to be here for your families, to be here for your children, the ones who do not have a voice.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccines and says they have no link to autism and very rarely cause serious side effects, Schlegel points to a growing number of Texans who dont buy it.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Statewide data shows a steady rise in children whose parents have claimed conscientious exemptions from vaccine requirements. In 2018, 76,665 individuals requested affidavits for the exemption, an 18.8-percent increase over 2017, and a 63.8-percent increase since 2014, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

As the movement grows, Texas has seen a series of outbreaks of infectious diseases that were thought to have been virtually eliminated in the U.S.

State health officials are investigating a recent case of whooping cough at the Capitol. In February, six cases of measles were reported in the greater Houston area  including four in Harris County. This year so far, Texas has seen 14 confirmed cases of measles, more than in the past four years combined, state data show.

A 2018 study ranked four Texas cities  Austin, Fort Worth, Houston and Plano  among 15 metropolitian hotspots whose high exemption rates put them at risk for epidemics of pediatric infectious diseases such as measles and whooping cough.

A 2017 report by the CDC shows 87.8 percent of Houston children from 19 months to 35 months were vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella  below the statewide average of 90.3 percent and the 90 to 95 percent threshold that public health officials say is needed to prevent outbreaks.

At the rally, the parents group endorsed anti-vaccination legislation filed this session, including state Rep. Jonathan Sticklands House Bill 4418, which would allow nurses to sign off on vaccine exemption forms, rather than just doctors.

House Bill 1490 by state Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, would make it easier to submit exemptions and prevent the state health department from tracking them. House Bill 4274 by state Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, would require informed consent to vaccinate by requiring doctors to provide the benefits and risks of immunization.

The night before the rally, state Rep. Michelle Beckley, D-Carollton, passed an amendment to the state budget that will study vaccination coverage in Texas child care centers and facilities.

This amendment will ensure data already collected by the Department of State Health Services is made available to the public and will allow state agencies to take active measures that prevent further outbreaks in the future," Beckley said in a press release.

Stickland, R-Bedford, said he doesnt doubt the group will face obstacles this session, but hes optimistic.

I have been blown away, this Capitol of politicians has been blown away and our political enemies who want to force mandates down on us are blown away by what you have done  and the difference you are making in just a couple of years.
Ask yourself this simple question: When you heard the news that special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that President Donald Trump had not engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia, were you relieved or disappointed?

Be honest.

If the answer is the latter, then its time for a little introspection. Every American should be thankful that, as Attorney General William Barr explained in his letter to Congress, the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government  despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.

It would have been devastating for our country if the president of the United States had engaged in a criminal conspiracy with a foreign power to undermine our democracy. Muellers finding that he didnt should be cause for celebration by Trump supporters and opponents alike. You do not have to believe Trump is a good president to know that it is good that the president did not betray the country.

But the sad truth is that many Democratic presidential wannabes were hoping Mueller would find evidence the president had conspired with Russia. Some were almost salivating in anticipation of the Mueller report. In February, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., crowed that by the time we get to 2020, Donald Trump may not even be president. In fact, he may not even be a free person. Last month, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., tweeted, A campaign for President of the United States should never be in the business of scheming with foreign adversaries to tamper with our elections. And just this Saturday (one day after Mueller delivered his report exonerating Trump), Beto ORourke assured us that you have a president who, in my opinion, beyond a shadow of a doubt, sought to, however ham-handedly, collude with the Russian government, a foreign power, to undermine and influence our elections.

No, he didnt. As Barr notes, the special counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses. Mueller found no evidence of conspiracy or even coordination with Russia. Thank God.

It is understandable that Trump believes the Mueller investigation should never have happened. But the probe may end up being the best thing that ever happened to him. If even career prosecutors in his own Justice Department had cleared Trump of conspiracy charges, Democrats would never have accepted their conclusions. But after embracing Mueller  even launching a campaign to pass legislation protecting him from being fired by Trump  Democrats now will look ridiculous if they refuse accept his determination that there was no Trump-Russia conspiracy.

Moreover, keep in mind that Mueller was not simply investigating Trump; he was also investigating the Russian government. He exonerated Trump but not Vladimir Putin. Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies on charges of conspiracy and identity theft. There was a conspiracy to influence the 2016 elections. Trump just wasnt a part of it.

With the collusion fallacy behind us, Republicans and Democrats should be working together to address that ongoing threat. But instead of focusing on countering those efforts, Democrats seem to want to continue spending their time on Trump. On Sunday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., stood by his claim that there is significant evidence of collusion and said he plans more hearings.

Those who continue to push the false collusion narrative are the ones inadvertently assisting Russia. The intelligence community report noted that Russias objectives in 2016 included undermining public faith in the US democratic process  faith in the US Government and fuel(ing) political protest. In this sense, it worked like a charm.

For the past two years, the Mueller probe has hung like a cloud over Trumps presidency. Instead of the presumption of innocence, Democrats and many in the media have presumed his guilt. Trump said over 200 times that there was no collusion. He was mocked. But it turns out he was right the whole time.

And if you dont think thats good news, you are part of the problem.

@marcthiessen
In a JB Media phone survey conducted in July, Texans were asked if the Cenotaph should be moved from its current location. An astounding 60 percent of people said that the Cenotaph should stay where it is on the battlefield where the Alamo defenders died for our freedom. Only 5 percent of those surveyed wanted the Cenotaph to be moved, with 35 percent not having enough information or having no opinion.

Most Texans agree that the Alamo and the Cenotaph should be preserved and protected. Unfortunately, agreements were signed and votes taken against the will of the people. Despite the many letters that I and other legislators submitted, our attendance and personally speaking out during City Council meetings and news conferences, the peoples will has been denied. This is unacceptable, and we will continue to stand firm that the battle remains the focus of the Alamo.
Russian claims last week that theyve been exonerated by Robert Muellers final report make my skin crawl. But they highlight the critical question of how the U.S. and Russia can begin to move back toward a saner relationship.

Frankly speaking (as Russians like to say), the first step is for Russia to stop pretending that it didnt meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The Kremlin got caught red-handed, one could say, and if it keeps claiming otherwise, the Russians obstruct the dialogue they say they want.

Moscow shouldnt misjudge the moment. The special counsels report affirmed the judgment of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia meddled in the 2016 race. Muellers strongest cases, in fact, were the indictments that detailed how 13 operatives from Russias Internet Research Agency manipulated social media and 12 GRU officers hacked Democratic Party information and passed stolen emails to WikiLeaks.

Russian commentators were nearly as jubilant as the White House after Attorney General William Barr released his summary of Muellers findings. Significant taxpayer resources went into disproving an obvious fake, crowed a Foreign Ministry statement. The agents of conspiracy have been discredited, tweeted Alexey Pushkov, a foreign-policy expert in Russias parliament.

President Donald Trump may enjoy the Kremlin fist pumps. But theyre the wrong way to restart a serious dialogue between Moscow and Washington.

Andrey Krutskikh, the Kremlins leading cyber expert, dropped a hankie in an article last week in the Moscow newspaper Kommersant. He proposed that the two nations resume depoliticized expert dialogue about cybersecurity, like the quiet conversations that took place during the Obama administration.

Russia has nothing to fear  nor do we have anything to conceal, Krutskikh said. He said the U.S. should agree to disclose the secret pre-election contacts between the U.S. and Russia in 2016 about U.S. concerns over the intrusion into its electronic infrastructure.

This sounds dubious; Russia was conducting a covert action against the U.S., which means that it was deniable. Moscows statements in 2016 would reinforce its claim that it didnt do what U.S. intelligence and Muellers indictments say it did.

Chris Painter, who was the Obama administrations top cyber diplomat, told me Wednesday that a resumption of working-level contacts about cyber would be fine. But he cautioned against any top-rank contacts about cyber issues now, because they might allow Russia to pretend the 2016 cyberattacks didnt happen.

If you resume high-level dialogue, that says everythings OK  no harm, no foul, Painter explains. This would be a mistake, he argues, because it would allow Moscow to whitewash what has happened.

What about a broader conversation between the U.S. and Russia  dealing with big, potentially explosive problems like Ukraine, Syria and nuclear arms control? As with cyber issues, the answer is that the two sides need to talk, but they need to build a solid foundation.

We should begin in a modest way, not with a full-up arms-control negotiation, but by starting an ongoing dialogue about strategic stability, argues Stephen Hadley, who was national security adviser for President George W. Bush. He suggests a range of confidence-building measures that might seek to avoid confrontations in outer space and cyberspace.

A warier view comes from Tom Donilon, who was national security adviser under Barack Obama. He thinks the U.S. shouldnt engage Russia until its own house is in better order  with full disclosure of the Mueller report on what the Russians did in 2016, better protection for U.S. election security, and repair of Americas damaged alliances in Europe.

Trump administration officials argue that their Russia policy is based on U.S. interest. Theyve imposed sanctions when necessary but also tried to keep open channels between Trump and Putin. If officials have plans for any major post-Mueller opening, they dont say so.

If Russia wants lasting improvement in its relations with America, it should stop its Trumpian gloating about the Mueller report and start rebuilding the basics of trust. Muellers apparent affirmation that there was no collusion creates some space for better relations, but if Trump supporters are Moscows only champions, any reset with Russia will blow a fuse.
At a time when we unfriend those we disagree with and were only interested in opinions that reaffirm what we believe, is it still possible to acknowledge the value of someone we dont particularly like? It is. Because it happened to me.

When I heard that special counsel Robert Mueller had finally submitted his report, the first person I thought of was Jeff Sessions.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson was also thinking about Sessions. After all, it was the then-attorney generals recusal from the Justice Department investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election that opened the door for Muellers appointment. No recusal, no Mueller. Many conservatives will never forgive Sessions for that decision.

On his television show on the day the report landed, Carlson argued that Sessions had been really hurt by all this and that his reputation had been completely destroyed because of the investigation.

Please. Sessions had to recuse himself because he had met with Russian officials as a surrogate for Donald Trumps presidential campaign. And while its true that Sessions has been really hurt by all this, the person who hurt him wasnt Mueller. It was Trump. You dont hire someone and then publicly humiliate him for months. Trump put Sessions on the spot and then put him in the cross hairs.

Thats what I was thinking of when I met Sessions recently at College of the Ozarks, a Christian institution in Southern Missouri where both of us were invited to speak.

After hearing him address the students and then engaging in some private small talk, I came away with a new appreciation for the man. And no one was more surprised by this epiphany than me.

Over the years, I must have written about a dozen columns about the Alabamian. Almost all of them were negative. When Sessions railed against affirmative action, I bashed him. When he helped Trump get elected, I bashed him again. And when, as attorney general, he targeted so-called sanctuary cities, well, you get the idea.

In the 1980s, when he was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, he was accused of being racist toward African-Americans. That narrative only got stronger when, as a U.S. senator, he took positions that were at odds with the best interests of people of color.

There is no surprise here. You go around claiming that white people are discriminated against, or that local police departments that are under consent decrees for violating peoples civil rights should no longer be monitored, or that we should limit legal immigration  most of which comes from Africa, Asia and Latin America  and, well, people are going to call you names.

But now that Ive met Sessions, I understand why so many Americans appreciate and admire the man. For folks who live south of the Mason-Dixon Line or in the Midwest, hes a hero for going as far as he did in life given his humble beginnings.

Born in 1946, Sessions was raised in the tiny town of Hybart, Ala., where his father owned a country store. Hes not a product of the Ivy League but of Huntingdon College in Montgomery and the University of Alabama School of Law. After becoming a lawyer, and then serving as U.S. attorney, he was nominated for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama  only to have his nomination scuttled amid accusations that he had made racially offensive remarks.

Sessions then ran for Alabama attorney general and won. Then he ran for a U.S. Senate seat and won that, too. Finally, in 2017, Sessions got the position he always wanted when he became attorney general. Unfortunately, the person who gave him his dream job turned out to be a nightmare.

Ive always had my beefs with Sessions, and I still do. Meeting him didnt change that.

However, I hail from a small farm town in Central California, where they grow everything  except high expectations for the people who live there. So Sessions journey resonates with me.

When we met, Sessions put out his hand and joked: Is this the famous Ruben Navarrette?

I smiled, and I thanked him for his service.

Well, he said. Weve had an interesting ride, havent we?

Yes, sir. We have.

Now that the Mueller investigation is done, the country is owed an explanation for how this debacle was possible. And Trump owes Sessions an apology for putting him in a position that was impossible.

ruben@rubennavarrette.com
San Antonio City Council just discriminated against Chick-fil-A.

By choosing to exclude the popular fast-food chain from the San Antonio International Airport, the council sought to make a values statement about supporting gay marriage and the LGBTQ community. But in slamming the door on Chick-fil-A, council showed its own intolerance for opposing views and beliefs.

It didnt reject Chick-fil-A because of its treatment of workers or customers or the quality of its food. There is no allegation of bias here. Council rejected the company because of a disagreement about values and what constitutes marriage. And that is a very slippery slope for a governing body to follow. Slippery enough to prompt an investigation by Attorney General Ken Paxton. We suspect that investigation is mostly motivated by politics, but this was an unforced error by council, and basic principles about fairness have been violated.

Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays because of its values. This might have been a practical consideration in the council decision to not allow the business into the airport. Businesses there might reasonably be excepted to be open every day.

But to exclude a company specifically for its views is something else entirely and is antithetical to the council values purported to be on display here.

We believe the Supreme Court got it right in its decision to uphold gay marriage. If two people love one another and want to make a lifelong commitment, we are all for it.

Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy sees it differently. His comments opposing gay marriage in 2012 set off a national firestorm, and many people still remember them.

Also, Chick-fil-As charitable foundation has supported groups antagonistic toward homosexuality.

These are all fair reasons for customers who support gay marriage to eat someplace else. But they are not good enough reasons to ban Chick-fil-A from the citys airport. The company does not discriminate against its customers or its employees. Its not refusing to provide chicken sandwiches, nuggets or strips to gay couples or not hire someone because of sexual orientation or gender. It is a popular restaurant. The city should judge the restaurant on its business merits, not the social and religious views of its executives.

In a sense, this is the other side of the coin of the Colorado baker who refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple. We believe that baker should provide equal service to all customers regardless of his personal views on gay marriage. The city should treat Chick-fil-A like any other business regardless of its legacy opposing gay marriage.

Whats the alternative? We wonder what a closer look at the political views of many of the executives whose firms are doing business with the city might reveal. Would the council then view them as ripe for exclusion, though many city residents likely share the same views?

There are, no doubt, thousands and thousands of businesses in this community whose owners have differing political, religious and social views. Some informed shoppers make choices based on these factors. But choosing not to support a business because of its labor practices or its owners political views is far different from a city banning a business from its airport.

San Antonio prides itself on its broad anti-discrimination ordinance  incorrectly in the crosshairs at the Legislature in yet another potential blow to local control  but how is this not discriminatory?

The Supreme Court has upheld gay marriage, and that should be honored. It is the law. But since when is it required that everyone be in personal agreement?

The City Council should rethink this one.
By now, its become clear property taxes and state spending on public education are linked.

The portion of the states funding for public education has fallen over the years, down from 46 percent in 2008 to about 36 percent in 2018, according to the Texas comptroller. In response, local districts have made up much of the difference, raising rates, or at least reaping the rewards of rising property values.

Hate your property tax bill? Look at that declining percentage of state support for what is inarguably one of the states chief functions  ensuring quality public education. And even if the Texas Supreme Court  in error, we believe  ruled that the way Texas funds public education is constitutional, it said so with a huge caveat. It said that it is an egregiously inadequate system. If you have trouble reconciling those two concepts, join the club.

But, put simply, since public schools are the principal drivers of property tax bills, there is no way to provide relief without the state increasing funding for public education. And a House proposal would do just that, dedicating more than $6 billion to public education and another $3 billion toward property tax relief.

Much of this $9 billion would come from the existing state budget. But to provide even more property tax relief, lawmakers are considering a tax swap. The idea is to raise sales taxes and then correspondingly reduce property taxes.

This is as bad an idea as a Texas court simultaneously noting how inadequate the school finance system is but deeming it constitutional.

We get the motivation for the sales tax. The property tax benefits from this bill would be modest  about $100 for a home valued at $250,000. The state sales tax is at 6.25 percent, and local governments can add another 2 percent. Adding a penny to the sales tax could generate billions a year, which could then be offset with even bigger property tax cuts. Maybe even big enough for property owners to notice?

The political benefits speak for themselves. But there are problems with this argument. First, its not really a savings, right? Taxpayers would still be paying the same amount in taxes, just with a shift to sales tax.

And this is problematic because sales tax is regressive and volatile. It hits lower-income Texans harder than wealthier Texans because everyone pays the same regardless of income level. Not only would lawmakers be swapping taxes, they would be placing greater financial strain on lower-income Texans, many of whom probably dont own property. Not good.

Sales tax is also prone to economic swings. When times are good, people buy stuff. But times arent always good, and when economic downturns hit, people shop less. This is an invitation to volatility.

There are other options to create more revenue for schools, and, in turn, lower property taxes. The Houston Chronicles recent investigation of the Texas Permanent School Fund found the endowment is shorting public education. If it paid out at a 5 percent rate, which is fairly normal, the return to public education would have been an additional $720 million in 2018, the Chronicle found.

Another idea? Disclosing sale prices for commercial properties to allow more accurate appraisals.

And if lawmakers are intent on making changes to the states sales tax, a more nuanced approach would be to close some tax loopholes for items such as ice cream or over-the-counter medicines.

But raising the sales tax to lower property taxes? That would be a foolish swap, even if it is politically expedient.
GREENWICH  A recent raid at an unlicensed massage parlor in the west end of Greenwich, and the felony arrest of a woman on charges of promoting prostitution, offer a glimpse into the illicit sex trade  and the difficulty authorities face in curtailing it.

When authorities last year shut down Backpage.com, a website described by a federal prosecutor as the worlds top online brothel, law-enforcement officials and advocates fighting sex trafficking hoped that would put a dent in the sex trade. But the commercial business in the sale of sex is a persistent one.

In the Greenwich area, the sex trade has had an ongoing presence  both online, at hotels and in a local neighborhood  in recent months.

Greenwich police say they will investigate reports of illegal activities at massage parlors and spas.

A small percentage of them are engaged in illegal activities, Greenwich police spokesman Lt. John Slusarz said. Its a good idea to report suspicious activity, if it seems unusual or out of the norm.

A police raid at 111 S. Water St. earlier this month was brought about, in part, by community complaints.

Greenwich police were tipped off to a business that was offering sexual services by an anonymous letter.

Did you know that Greenwich has a brothel? the letter said, according to the criminal affidavit filed in court. Went in for a massage and was offered all kinds of sexual services for a steep price. The girls on the couch didnt look very happy being there and it seemed to me they were being forced to supply service. Probably illegally in this country.

Another informant told police he went to the apartment on South Water Street to get a back massage, after seeing a listing for the business on the internet. When he arrived, the man saw a Hispanic male in the apartment with a gun, he told police, and a woman he met there said she was in the sex trade, according to the court papers.

An undercover police officer went to the South Water Street apartment, after first making contact with the business on Bedpage.com, an imitator of Backpage. The investigator spoke with a woman, later identified as Elizabeth Gonzalez, and discussed prices  $250 an hour or $300 for everything, according to the court papers. It was made clear to the officer that sexual services would be provided for cash, the affidavit stated.

The officer was offered edibles, which contained a cannabis extract, according to court papers, and he later left the premises after saying he was too nervous to continue.

After police raided the apartment, officers found condoms, sex toys, erectile dysfunction pills, hash brownies, marijuana, bondage collars and restraints and $684 in cash, according to the court papers.

The apartment is now vacant and unoccupied, filled with a strong odor of air freshener. A neighbor, who did not give his name, said he was glad an arrest was made and that the operation was closed.

Gonzalez, 40, who has a Pennsylvania identification card, apparently signed a lease for the apartment in November 2017. She is free from police custody after posting $50,000 bond on charges of promoting prostitution, a felony, and prostitution, a misdemeanor. Her next court date is April 15.

In June 2018, police in Stamford shut down an illegal massage parlor in a Summer Street apartment, seizing $2,532 in cash and a large amount of new condoms and used ones in the trash.

Online boards offering services that appear to be sexual in nature are also still in business.

The Bedpage listings say massage services can be obtained in Greenwich. A poster named Jennas sensual touch is offering sensual exotic touch and body rubz, the website reads, in the area of Greenwich and Rye Brook, N.Y.

Since Backpage was closed, a number of competitors have been taking its place by offering thinly veiled sexual services. Backpage was shut down in April 2018 after years of litigation, but sexual services can still be found online.

It converted over to the dark web and other sites, said Elizabeth Boolbol, a Greenwich resident who fights to end sexual trafficking. She said that sexual exploitation was hard to stop from a purely law-enforcement approach.

We need to have a place for survivors to go after theyve been trafficked, and we need to stem demand  there shouldnt even be a thing called commercial sex,  said Boolbol, founder of the Partnership to End Human Trafficking. But its so profitable, and when its that profitable, its hard to stop.

rmarchant@

greenwichtime.com
GREENWICH  Sexual tension, a stylish home thats just a little bit creepy and some major family secrets  those are just a few of the ingredients of a cinematic cocktail filmed in Greenwich that will be showing at area theaters.

Long Lost is the work of a young Connecticut native who found a perfect location to film what he calls an erotic thriller  a big house in the North Mianus section of town.

Director and screenwriter Erik Bloomquist said some movie-making magic created a sense of mystery in the Greenwich home, where he shot the film in September 2017.

Its sort of a character in its own right, shifting in the dynamics of the scene itself. You dont know where the boundaries are  its claustrophobic and boundless at the same time, and its constantly shifting, said Bloomquist, a native of Newington who studied at Trinity College.

The story plays out as a nail-biter among the three actors. Seth (played by Adam Weppler) is invited to spend a weekend at a Connecticut mansion of his long lost half-brother Richard (played by Middletown native and Yale alum Nicholas Tucci). Though Greenwich is not specifically named in the script, the film is clearly set in a fashionable suburb outside the city.

A live-in girlfriend, Abby (played by Catherine Corcoran), who favors skimpy bikinis while lounging around the capacious Greenwich home, provides a carnal frisson to the tale of sibling rivalry.

It evolves into one of the weirdest family reunions youve ever seen, Bloomquist jokes.

The writer-director said he hoped audiences find Long Lost entertaining, along with offering some interesting psychological questions.

More Information Screenings are scheduled at Riverview Cinemas in Southbury at 7 p.m. April 3; Wall Street Theater in Norwalk on April 4, doors open at 7 p.m., with the movie at 8 p.m.; Bank Street Theatre in New Milford at 7 p.m. April 4; the Garde Arts Center in New London at 6 p.m. April 7; Real Art Ways in Hartford at 7 p.m. April 8; and Bijou Theater in Bridgeport at 7:30 p.m. April 11. See More Collapse

I hope people have fun with it, like a 90s pulpy erotic thriller throwback. It is meant to function in that way. But we want to explore this idea of identity shifting  who we are, how that changes based on whos in the room, and what the objective truth is of who we are, Bloomquist said.

The young director, in his mid 20s, has already compiled a lengthy resume in the dramatic arts.

Ive always grown up telling stories from a really young age. And it turned into plays, musicals, television and directing. I found that each one makes me better at the other, he said.

Working in Connecticut, he said, also had its advantages.

I like thats in a little pocket where theres a strong workforce, but the community has a stake in it. I think it works, Bloomquist said.

The film is being released theatrically across the state and the country, and it will begin streaming on Amazon on April 10.

Some positive reviews have been generated as Long Lost makes the rounds of film festivals.

Writer-director Erik Bloomquist keeps the audience as unsettled as his hero with an intense atmosphere, read a short review in the Los Angeles Times, while pointing to some perceived shortcomings in the indie thriller. The review noted a good use of a single location and just three characters.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
GREENWICH  Drivers who use Lake Avenue to get to and from the Merritt Parkway may need to find a new route: A major bridge replacement project slated for this summer will cause a nearly 10-mile detour and traffic tie-ups.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation will oversee the project on the bridge, which carries vehicles over the parkway. Preliminary steps are expected to begin April 1, with the road closure and detour for that section of Lake Avenue starting in late June.

We will need to fully close the bridge itself and provide a detour around it, Elona Coppola, from the DOT, told the towns Board of Selectmen during a presentation on the project.

Construction work is expected to stretch into October as the DOT removes and replaces the beams and decks as well as the bridges parapets, she said.

Before the full detour goes into effect, there will be a period of alternating one-route traffic flow. That will happen again at the end of the project so the final work can be completed.

Construction will last for over four months, said Ryan Martin, who is designing the project for the DOT.

Because we need to take down the existing bridge and put in new steel and a new deck on, it will take the full 17 weeks to complete, Martin said. We looked at several options. ... We initially wanted to do staged construction. But with the layout of the bridge and the four steel members going across, it really just wasnt possible to do that safely.

Because of that, the project team settled on the detour as the best option, Martin said. When the DOT met with the town in October 2016 on the issue, both agreed the detour made the most sense.

The 8.5-mile detour will send drivers across the backcountry: from Lake Avenue to Lower Cross Road to North Street to Clapboard Ridge Road to Grahampton Lane and then back onto Lake Avenue, he said.

About 3,000 vehicles per day travel over the bridge, which was built in 1940. In 2017, Martin warned residents that part of the bridges concrete and some of its masonry was deteriorating.

On Thursday, the Board of Selectmen gave its unanimous approval for the bridge work and the detour.

The start of the detour is tied into when school ends. No official date is in the contract, but Coppola and Martin said that it will be on the last day of school in town, which is set for June 21. The closure will begin that day at 5 p.m., but the DOT can delay the start date if needed.

We wanted to give time for the buses to get home and the summer to start, Martin said.

However, with the school starting up again in late August and the detour lasting until October, there will be a disruption. Selectman Sandy Litvack asked about the impact on school bus routes, and First Selectman Peter Tesei urged the DOT to meet with the school district soon.

The buses will have to take an alternate way on Lake Avenue at that point, Martin said, adding, under questioning from Litvack, that he was not sure how much longer the bus trips would be.

Youre talking about an 8-mile detour, and Im concerned because these kids are sitting on a bus long enough as is, Litvack said.

A public hearing about the project was held in town in 2017, and notices have been sent to nearby homeowners. Martin said the project has been well received by the public. The town reviewed the plans for the detour, and more signs about the detours were suggested, Martin said.

The signs will be placed on Clapboard Ridge Road and Butternut Hollow Road. Additional notifications will be posted on the Merritt Parkway as well as in other areas that are north of North Street and south of Lake Avenue close to Round Hill Road.

Selectman John Toner asked about the historic value of the bridge. Martin told him that the Merritt Parkway Conservancy had been heavily involved in the design of the replacement.

It is a very unique bridge, and weve taken a lot of measures to maintain the historic look of the bridge, Martin said. We tried to replicate it as closely as possible. ... I think when construction is complete we will have succeeded, hopefully.

Wes Haynes, the conservancys executive director, confirmed Friday that the group was closely involved in the planning. The new bridge will even be painted the same color as the old one, as the group requested, Haynes said.

We are not looking forward to the traffic this is going to cause, but we are very much looking forward to this projects completion, he said.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
GREENWICH  Interim Superintendent Ralph Mayo announced he will be the interim headmaster of Greenwich High School in the 2019-20 school year.

It feels like coming home, Mayo said during the Board of Education meeting Thursday evening at Julian Curtiss School.

A lifelong resident of town and a GHS graduate, Mayo became a teachers aide there in 1976 and an English teacher in 1980. He has been an administrator in the towns schools for 26 years, including posts as the program administrator for special education and as Clark housemaster at Greenwich High.

He presided over Eastern Middle School as principal for 14 years before stepping up as interim superintendent last summer after Jill Gildea unexpectedly announced her departure just one year into her three-year contract.

Incoming superintendent Toni Jones can conduct a search for a permanent GHS headmaster for the 2020-21 school year, Mayo said.

Jones, who is currently superintendent with the Fairfield Public Schools, will join the Greenwich school district on July 1. Mayo will step into his role as headmaster also on July 1.

Many in the community were upset after Jones was named the new superintendent in January. Some residents took to social media to express their disappointment in the decision, their frustration with the board and their solidarity with Mayo, who they had supported for the job. The town teachers union also announced it would have preferred Mayo. Even First Selectman Peter Tesei said that as a parent, he called on the school board to reconsider its choice.

By February, Mayo thanked the community for its support, but said he respected the boards decision and was moving on. He advised his supporters to do the same.

A widespread search for a new leader of Greenwich High School began in December, and the district screened a strong pool of candidates when the application period closed in January, Mayo said.

After the interview process, however, the district was unable to identify a candidate who was the right fit for GHS, he said.

Interim headmaster Rick Piotrzkowski has decided to return to his preferred role of assistant headmaster. He became interim headmaster after Chris Winters announced last July that he was leaving the district to take on the new post as head of the Upper School at Greenwich Country Day School. The private school is adding the high school grades this fall as it completes a merger with the Stanwich School.

I want to thank Mr. Piotrzkowski for his leadership this year and I look forward to working closely with him again next year, Mayo said in a statement released after the announcement during the meeting. He is one of true stars of our school district.

It would have been simple to return to Eastern, his home for 14 years, Mayo said, but he believes it is time for new leadership to take that great middle school to the next level.

The district will initiate the search for the permanent principal immediately.

This story will be updated.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
GREENWICH  An incoming superintendent can learn a lot about a district from its buildings, board meetings and budget book; and while Toni Jones does not start in Greenwich until July 1, she is learning about her new district while leading Fairfield Public Schools through her last budget season there.

Jones has toured Greenwich High School, admired its Performing Arts Center, and received a behind-the-scenes look at the new New Lebanon School. She has met most of the staff based at the Havemeyer Building, and plans to meet as many people as she can in the district over the next few months.

But its the next several years that many in town are most concerned about. Greenwich Public Schools new leader will be stepping into a role that has turned over six times in the last 10 years, including interim leaders and so-called permanent superintendents. Greenwich is looking for stability after a prolonged period of rapid turnover.

Personally, I look forward to a long tenure in Greenwich, Jones said. I like to connect with people and I am looking forward to calling Greenwich home for a very long time.

Some have noted that Jones is coming to town after only serving two years in Fairfield, but she said the reason for that was to get her children settled where she and her husband want to raise their family. Prior to Fairfield, she was superintendent of one Virginia district for five-and-a-half years and an administrator in an Oklahoma district for 13 years.

Those are the kind of tenures that many experts say superintendents need to effect change. And former Greenwich superintendents have said district leaders need a minimum of three  but more like five to six  years to make changes in critical areas, such as closing the achievement gap between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

A tough decision

Jones comes to Greenwich under somewhat unusual circumstances. Many town residents and community leaders, including First Selectman Peter Tesei and Greenwich Education Association President Carol Sutton, publicly expressed sorrow over the school board choosing Jones for the job instead of Interim Superintendent Ralph Mayo. An often-voiced reason for supporting Mayo was the belief that the longtime veteran of Greenwich schools would bring stability to the system.

But someone with first-hand experience on the job, former state Education Commissioner Betty Sternberg, who served as Greenwichs superintendent for three years ending in 2008, said the choice for leader isnt always as clear as it might seem to some observers.

There is a delicate balance of reflecting community wants and supporting the school district, Sternberg said. Some of the most difficult decisions are around personnel ... every decision has many right answers, and the board chooses one.

Meredith Mountford, an associate professor at the Florida Atlantic University College of Education and former superintendent in Wisconsin, said a district with high turnover might need a leader with past experience to establish continuity.

Appointing someone who has never been superintendent before to lead a district with a history of turnover risks losing a valued administrator and a superintendent in one, she said.

Its a completely different skill set, said Mountford, who has studied and written extensively on school board and superintendent relationships.

The tenure question

Mountford said the average superintendent tenure is five to eight years, but while superintendents have to spend time building relationships to usher through policy, they are not like home-grown politicians.

We cant think about the superintendent as a community member, she said. They are not; they are visitors.

Recent studies of average superintendent tenures across the national differ considerably. But by any measure Greenwichs turnover rate has been high.

The American Association of School Administrators found in two surveys that average tenures ranged between five and 7.25 years, with superintendents in the largest 88 districts serving an average of 4.7 years.

The Council of the Great City Schools released data from its member districts in 2014, and current superintendents had an average tenure of 3.18 years, while immediate past superintendents had an average tenure of 4.5 years.

The Broad Center analyzed superintendent tenures between 2003 and 2017, finding that urban superintendents stay for 5.5 years, with those administering the largest 100 school districts staying for six years, on average.

Both Mountford and Sternberg said recent turnover in Greenwich is higher than averages in the state. Sternberg, who experienced tension with her board during the second half of her three-year contract, and Mountford both said a school boards relationship with the superintendent can become a source of conflict.

In 2016, after the announced departure of William McKersie  now three permanent superintendents (counting Jones) and two interims ago  Joseph Cirasuolo, a former superintendent and executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, said the recent turnovers could be due in part to the fact that superintendents have larger workloads, due to increases in state and federal government mandates and the impact of technology.

In Greenwich, advanced tech has put devices in the hands of every child, but also more emails in the inbox of the superintendent, he said. And with superintendents putting in 70-75 hours of work per week to advance their agenda, superintendents are prone to leave sooner.

In 2008, as Sternberg was preparing for her last year in Greenwich, town officials  including Tesei, then school board Vice Chair Leslie Moriarty and former Board of Estimate and Taxation Chair Steven Walko  offered their ideas to Greenwich Time on why superintendent turnover had increased in recent years. Sternberg at the time became the third consecutive schools chief to leave after one three-year term. The turnover rate has picked up since then.

They cited reasons including Greenwichs large municipal government that challenges superintendents accustomed to top-down leadership styles; the public nature of the job; and the high pressure in town to produce quick gains in student achievement.

We have fairly sophisticated parents who are more involved  and who have higher expectations for the effectiveness of their tax dollars, said Moriarty, now BET Budget Committee chair. That creates an intense work environment, where you have expectations for short-term results to long-term problems.

Former superintendents have weighed in before about challenges of the job.

John Whritner, who served as superintendent for seven years in the 1990s, said the job involves more politics than education.

Sometimes, as superintendent, you have to be the chief politician, as opposed to the chief educator, Whritener said in a 2008 interview. A lot of the job is public relations, and the superintendents who dont learn that are often the ones that struggle.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
STAMFORD  Three years after being found guilty by a Stamford jury of hiring one of his workers to kill the Greenwich boyfriend of his estranged wife, city millionaire businessman Miguel Juarez has used up every legal avenue to overturn his conviction and will be sent to prison next month.

The state Supreme Court has just issued an order denying Juarezs petition to review the Appellate Court decision in his case and as a result Juarez, 58, will be sent to prison for eight years on April 22.

We are disappointed with the result. We have exhausted all avenues of appeal and the sentence will commence in April, said attorney Robert Bello. It is difficult for my client but he has accepted the final decision and he understands there is no appeal from the final decision by the supreme court.

Bello said Judge Richard Comerford has allowed Juarez a months time to get his affairs in order before he has to turn himself over to the commissioner of corrections and be admitted into the prison system.

the prosecutor in the case James Bernardi said the court made the right decision.

This should send a message that violence is no way to solve marital issues and we are gratified to see the Supreme Court upheld the decision and shortly the defendant will report to court to see that justice is done, said Bernardi, who is now retired.

On Feb. 25, 2016 Juarez was sentenced to 20 years with his sentence to be suspended after spending eight years in prison. He is then required to go on probation for five years, during which time he could be made to serve all or part of his 12-year suspended sentence if he violates his probation.

But the sentence was suspended pending an appeal to the states Appellate Court, which upheld the conviction reached at the Stamford trial presided over by Comerford. Bello and attorney Martin Minella then filed a petition with the Supreme Court for certification for review of that decision, which has just been denied.

Juarez, a millionaire businessman who employs more than 120 people in his five businesses around Stamford, fled his native Guatemala after his father was murdered and came to Stamford while in his 20s. He was facing up to 40 years in jail after being convicted by a jury in April 2015 of conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. Juarez owns MJM Stamford Landscaping, MJM Stamford Hardware and MJM Stone Supply.

Bello and Minnella argued that the states star witness in the case, former Juarez employee German Zecena, was so untrustworthy that a jury could not have reasonably believed his testimony and the verdict should be set aside. But Comerford remained unconvinced and ruled that the jury would have the final word in the matter.

Zecena, who ended up spending four years in prison until he was released after testifying in the weeklong trial, was arrested in June 2010 after police learned he was looking for a hitman on behalf of Juarez. Stamford police steered Zecena to an undercover Greenwich police officer who pretended to be someone who promised he could make the hit.

Zecena said he would give the undercover officer $6,000 to kill William Forte and gave him an $80 downpayment along with a dagger to do the job, after showing him Fortes Greenwich home, according to testimony in the case. Police learned that Forte was dating Juarezs wife, Orfilda. Facing the same charges as Juarez, Zecena turned states evidence and told police Juarez ordered him to tail his wife for months and to find someone to kill her lover.

Senior Assistant States Attorney James Bernardi told Comerford that Juarez was driven by a jealous obsession that is old as the Bible and as old as the story of Cain and Abel. Bernardi said if the Stamford police had not acted so quickly, Forte would have been killed.

Bernardi also said Orfilda Juarez was the second victim in this case, because if the plan had gone through, she would have been forever terrorized, by her husband. The two have since divorced.

Comerford also noted at the time of his sentencing that Zecena spent four years in prison because of Juarezs actions.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
STAMFORD  New York state sued Thursday the owners of Purdue Pharma, becoming the third state to take legal action against Sackler family members, following litigation by Connecticut and Massachusetts .

Coming two days after Purdue reached a $270 million settlement with Oklahoma, the new action expands on a lawsuit filed by New York last year that alleges Purdue fueled the states opioid crisis by deceptively marketing opioids such as OxyContin. The amended complaint names as defendants the same eight Sacklers who were sued by Connecticut and Massachusetts and are believed to control the company: Mortimer D.A. Sackler, Kathe Sackler, Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, Theresa Sackler, Richard Sackler, Jonathan Sackler, David Sackler and Beverly Sackler.

As the Sackler family and the other defendants grew richer, New Yorkers health grew poorer, and our state was left to foot the bill, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. The manufacturers and distributors of opioids are to blame for this crisis, and it is past time they take responsibility.

A Sackler family spokesperson said, in a statement, that the Sackler defendants strongly deny the allegations.

Expanding this baseless lawsuit to include former directors of Purdue Pharma is a misguided attempt to place blame where it does not belong for a complex public health crisis, the statement said.

In its own statement, Purdue also rejected the allegations.

Such serious allegations demand clear evidence linking the conduct alleged to the harm described, the company statement said. But we believe the state fails to show such causation and offers little evidence to support its sweeping legal claims.

The updated lawsuit also names a number of other pharmaceutical firms including Janssen, Endo, Teva, Mallinckrodt, McKesson and Cardinal Health.

As part of the Oklahoma settlement, the Sacklers are contributing $75 million to help establish the National Center for Addiction Studies and Treatment at Oklahoma Sate Universitys campus in Tulsa. Purdue, as a company, is providing $122.5 million for the facility.

Last June, Massachusetts filed the first state lawsuit against the Sacklers, while also suing Purdue as a company. In December, Connecticut sued Purdue and the Sacklers.

Jonathan and Beverly Sackler own property in Greenwich, while Kathe Sackler also owns property in Connecticut. Theresa Sackler lives in London, with the rest of the named defendants residing in Manhattan.

The named defendants a re responsible, and theyll be held to account, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a recent interview. This is as serious as it can be, and the scale of the damages and liability is enormous.

The Connecticut and Massachusetts lawsuits are separate; they are, respectively, proceeding through their own states courts.

In addition, the Sacklers were sued in federal court last week by more than 500 cities and counties, from about two dozen states.

As the litigation mounts against Purdue and the Sacklers, a growing number of museums are distancing themselves from the family, which is also known for its prolific philanthropy.

In the past two weeks, New Yorks Guggenheim museum and Britains Tate galleries and National Portrait Gallery have said that they would turn down new donations from the Sacklers.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has a Sackler wing that houses the Temple of Dendur from ancient Egypt, is reviewing its gift-acceptance policy.

Connecticut-based beneficiaries of the Sacklers include the University of Connecticut, Yale University, Greenwich Hospital and the Palace Theatre in Stamford. So far, those institutions have not cut ties with the family.

Meanwhile, the Connecticut Democratic Party has denounced more than $100,000 in Sackler contributions that it received in recent years.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
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WALNUT CREEK, Ohio  Holmes County honored dairy producers during the Holmes County Dairy Service Units annual meeting March 25 at the Carlisle Inn in Walnut Creek.

Rod Hunsberger received the countys top Holstein herd award, for herds over 100 cows, for milk, fat, protein, energy corrected milk and low somatic cell count (SCC). His herd averaged 33,665 pounds milk, 1,241 pounds fat, 1,033 pounds protein, 34,976 pounds energy corrected milk, with a SCC of 115,000.

Su-Win Holsteins had the high Holstein herd in the county for milk, fat, protein and energy corrected milk among herds under 100 cows. The herd averaged 29,525 pounds of milk, 907 pounds of protein, 1,199 pounds of fat and 32,116 pounds of energy corrected milk.

RNR Swiss & Lake Point Dairy was recognized as the top colored breed herd, over 100 cows, for milk, fat, protein and energy corrected milk with 21,953 pounds milk, 890 pounds fat, 750 pounds protein and 24,440 pounds energy corrected milk.

Spring Valley Farm had the high herd in the colored breeds under 100 cows for milk, fat, protein and energy corrected milk. The herd averaged 18,264 pounds of milk, 1,063 pounds of fat, 707 pounds of protein and 25,144 pounds of energy corrected milk.

Spring Hill Farm had the low SCC for Holstein herds, under 100 cows, on test with 113,000.

Dean Wolboldt had the low SCC colored breed herd, over 100 cows, with 181,000, and Spring Hill Farm Guernseys had the low SCC colored breed herd, under 100 cows, with 88,000.

Among the cows recognized for individual lifetime milk production was a Brown Swiss owned by RNR Swiss & Lake Point Dairy, pouring out the production with 337,577 pounds milk, 13,558 pounds fat and 11,210 pounds protein to equal 366,676 pounds energy corrected milk in eight lactations.

Hunsberger had top Holstein aged cow for milk, fat, protein and energy corrected milk, with 49,341 pounds milk.

RNR Swiss & Lake Point Dairy had top aged cow in the colored breeds for milk, fat, protein and energy corrected milk, with 33,417 pounds energy corrected milk, 14,10 pounds fat and 1,001 pounds protein.

Will Moore, field representative for Smith Foods, recognized David and Mark Miller, John Christian Chupp and Henry Miller for making the list in Hoards Dairymans 2018 National Dairy Quality Awards program.

I work with some tremendous farms, said Moore, but when it comes to milk quality, these are the best the best.
DES MOINES, Iowa  The National Pork Board and Ripe Technology, Inc. entered an agreement to pilot blockchain technology use in the U.S. pork industry.

Through this partnership, ripe.io will enable an ecosystem that will allow pork producers to monitor, evaluate and continuously improve their sustainability practices based on the We CareSM framework  six defined ethical principles guiding the U.S. pork industry.

Launched in 2008, these principles provide industry standards in food safety and public health, animal well-being, protecting the environment, and improving the quality of life for the industrys people and communities.

The standards also serve as the pork industrys commitment to continuous improvement.

Working with ripe.io, the National Pork Board will demonstrate to its producers the value of having a responsible supply chain by consolidating sustainability data and activities gathered on the ripe.io platform.

This platform will highlight how pork producers create a sustainable pork production environment.

In addition, through a distributed permissioned ledger, this program data can be visible to partners in the ecosystem to ensure valid certifications.

The data remains anonymous in order to create a benchmark indicator for each ethical principle.

Over the last 50 years, Americas pig farmers have followed the We Care principles to produce a product that has become increasingly sustainable using 75 percent less land, 25 percent less water, and 7 percent less energy, said Dr. Brett Kaysen, assistant vice president of sustainability at the National Pork Board.

We look forward to working with ripe.io to use blockchain technology to record proof points through a system that can benchmark performance while increasing transparency of the entire pork value chain.

Learn more at ripe.io.
RESTON, Va.  Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative honored two farm families as producers of the year and two families as producer of the year finalists at its 99th annual meeting during the member recognition luncheons in Hickory, North Carolina, and York, Pennsylvania. The producer of the year award is a new recognition for the cooperative.

Steam Valley Farms

Producer of the Year Finalist for Federal Orders 1 and 33 is Steam Valley Farms, The Steel Family, Dover, Ohio. John and Paula Steel operate Steam Valley Farms. They are the third generation to till the land since Johns grandfather purchased the farm in 1939.

Today, John and Paula farm with their two adult sons, Nathan and Clinton. Nathan and Clinton are the fourth generation on the farm. Nathan and his wife Megan have three daughters and Clinton and his wife Kameron have two daughters.

There is nothing better than to get to work with your children and grandchildren. It makes it all worthwhile, Paula said.

The Steels milk 140 cows in a double seven parlor. They farm 450 acres of cropland on which they grow corn, soybeans, alfalfa and grass hay and some wheat for straw. Paula is the primary milker seven days a week. Nathan is the herdsman and oversees the herd health, vet checks and genetic work. Clinton handles the feeding, crop management and mechanical maintenance.

One of the things Im proud of is the improvements we made in cow comfort, said John.

The Steels took out the rubber mats and went to deep bedded sand and have found theyve improved production and cow health as a result from the cow bedding.

Farmers need to be transparent so that people who are consuming our products learn about what we do and why we do it, said John. We would like consumers to know we produce one of natures most healthy products and that we do a good job. We are caretakers of what we have been entrusted and we want to be good stewards, he added.

Red Sunset Farm

Producer of the Year for Federal Orders 1 and 33 is Red Sunset Farm, Dave and Marie Graybill, Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. The Graybills milk 58 cows and farm 400 acres, 375 acres of which are crop land and the rest is pasture.

Winding River Farms

Producer of the Year for Federal Orders 5 and 7 is Winding River Farms, Wes Kent, Weyers Cave, Virginia. Kent, who is a first-generation dairy farmer, started his operation in 2000. His diversified farm consists of 110 dairy cows that are milked by Lely robotic milkers. He also has two poultry houses and raises about 100,000 turkeys each year and an Angus cow-calf herd along with a small feedlot. He farms 650 acres of owned and rented ground of corn, alfalfa and hay.

North Point Farm

Producer of the Year Finalist for Federal Orders 5 and 7 is North Point Farm, The Phillips Family, Waynesboro, Virginia. North Point Farm consists of three dairies. Today, four generations are involved in the farm, which has been owned by the family since the 1800s.

The Phillips have milked cows for 75 years and have shipped milk to Maryland and Virginia for 55 of those years.

Go to Maryland & Virginias website at www.mdvamilk.com to view videos featuring these award-winning farms.
The British farming industry has paid tributes to former NFU President Sir David Naish who has died at the age of 78.

Born in Nottinghamshire, Sir David was President of the NFU between 1991 and 1998 and followed in the footsteps of his uncle, Lord Netherthorpe, who was NFU President from 1945 to 1960.

Sir David was also well respected internationally and was admired for his political skills, which he developed during his career in local politics as a councillor.

During his time as NFU President he also became president of COPA, the pan-EU farmer representative body, giving the NFU an influential position in Brussels.

He was also a relatively regular visitor to the United States and was highly respected by the US farming organisations and the US government.

He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1986 and held the office of Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire in 1991.

Sir David was knighted for services to agriculture in the 1994 Queens Birthday Honours.

'Highly respected'

NFU President Minette Batters said Sir David was 'well known and highly respected' for his 'knowledge, integrity and commitment' to British farming.

Those who worked with him during his time as NFU President have described him as a very kind and considerate giant in the farming industry, well respected, always credible, with a warm sense of humour who always had time to listen, she said.

In particular, British farmers owe a debt of gratitude to the leadership Sir David gave to the British farming industry in one of its most challenging eras of the BSE crisis.

Sir David led from the front and played a crucial role in supporting British farmers while working with the highest levels in Government to introduce measures to restore public confidence, including the Over Thirty Months scheme.

Mrs Batters added: While the scheme wasnt universally popular with farmers at the time, it played a crucial role in limiting the damage to the British beef industry at that time and is something the industry should be eternally grateful for.
Businesses and schools are now able to sponsor a 'wooden cow' for children to decorate in a bid to encourage food and farming education.

A local business or school can sponsor a wooden cow for 50 for their chosen class to decorate and to 'plant up' with whatever they want.

Launched at Ysgol Y Bannau primary school, Brecon, the Wooden Cow - Grow your Own competition comes from the Cows on Tour team.

The aim of the initiative is to encourage children to think about where their food comes from and to recognise farmers role in producing food.

The educational group, which is made up of Welsh farmers, has been running for five years.

Cows On Tour team member Abi Reader said: We would like schools to send us a photo collage of their decorated cow, which will have been planted up by the children, and up to 200 words on their idea and an explanation of their interpretation of Grow Your Own.

At the launch  the Cows on Tour team gave children in Brecon a whistle-stop lesson of what farmers do in terms of looking after animals and how food is produced.

They carried out butter making activities and smoothie making, tying in the nutritional benefit of milk for the development of healthy bones.

Mrs Kathryn Elias, a teacher at the school, said: The theme this term has been 'Small Zoo', so we have been learning about a variety of different animals and how they need to be looked after.

We are thrilled to be a part of the 'Cows on Tour' launch as it reminds the children of the importance of farming to our lives and to our local community, whilst teaching them also about where our food comes from.

The wooden cow for Ysgol Y Bannau primary school was donated by A C Phillips Contracting. The cows are 50 to sponsor and all proceeds raised from this initiative will go to the DPJ Foundation and farming charity RABI.

The winners of the competition will be announced at the Smallholding and Countryside Festival at the Royal Welsh Showground on 18/19 May 2019, where all the wooden cows will be displayed.

All entries must be submitted by Friday 10th May. The class who wins the competition will get one child ticket per class pupil to attend the Royal Welsh Show, with two further adult tickets for the teacher and teaching assistant of the winning class.
Comments by Michael Gove on the future of Britain's small abattoirs have been welcomed by campaigners as an 'encouraging indication' for their much-needed revival.

There are now only 56 small red meat abattoirs left in the UK, with a third having closed between 2007 and 2017 and a further seven closing in 2018.

Campaigners say local abattoirs ensure traceable meat production and multiple public goods associated with local food.

Defra Secretary Michael Gove told the EFRA Select Committee on Wednesday (27 March) on the future for small abattoirs that direct intervention to help small abattoirs is under 'active consideration'.

A number of people have made [a] strong and articulate case for the survival of smaller abattoirs and one of the things we are looking at is whether or not there should be direct intervention in order to help smaller abattoirs survive, that is something under active consideration at the moment, he said.

The Sustainable Food Trust (SFT) and National Craft Butchers (NCB), which jointly set up the Campaign for Local Abattoirs, have welcomed the comments.

Richard Young, SFT policy director, said: This is a very encouraging indication that the Secretary of State has been listening to our concerns and we hope the government will see this through before more small abattoirs have to close.

Every time another small abattoir is forced out of business it has major impacts for the farmers who used that abattoir.

Essential service

Many farmers, especially those in environmental stewardship and agri-environment schemes, depend on being able to market the meat from their animals locally.

For them, the availability of a local abattoir is seen as essential. Where these close, live animals and meat have to travel further, and it becomes uneconomical for some farmers to continue marketing their own meat.

John Mettrick, NCBs President, said: We have seen seven small abattoirs close within the last year and more closures will follow if help is not forthcoming. The amounts needed to save the industry are extremely small in comparison with the amounts made available to agriculture generally.

The current climate it is very difficult for them to make ends meet. Since it costs about 1 million to set up a small abattoir from scratch it will be far more cost-effective to save existing abattoirs than be forced to build new ones in future.

Earlier this year, campaigners called for local abattoirs to be recognised as a public good as they are the 'linchpins' of the UK's food systems.
Fruit and vegetables wrapped in plastic in Tesco will have their packaging dropped in a move to cut down on plastic use.

In a a month-long trial, the UK's largest retailer said it will remove plastic packaging from 45 fruit and vegetables, including onions, apples and mushrooms.

Tesco Extra in Watford and Swindon will participate in the trial. Sarah Bradbury, director of quality at Tesco, said: We hope this trial proves popular with customers. Well be keeping a close eye on the results, including any impact on food waste.

Marks & Spencer is also reducing the amount of plastic it. It launched a trial in January to drop plastic packaging from 90 lines of loose fruit and vegetables.

Meanwhile, the farming industry is also joining in on efforts to cut down on plastic waste

Cotteswold Dairy, based in Gloucestershire, is joining in the effort to crack down on plastic waste in its dairies, by using glass bottles for its milk.

The bottles can be rinsed and reused on an average of 50 trips. The dairy said milk stored in glass bottles 'tastes better', too.

Muller, Britains biggest producer of fresh milk, has confirmed its intention to acquire the capability to manufacture its own fresh milk packaging in the UK to reduce use of plastic.

Muller has also rolled out a new recyclable milk cap which uses 13% less plastic material.

And a Scottish dairy farmer successfully raised over 10,000 in stop the use of single-use plastics on his farm.
A new 1.6m centre for animal disease has opened in Scotland and it is expected the lab will analyse more than a million samples a year.

The opening of the centre for animal disease surveillance will create more reliable and efficient diagnoses of livestock diseases for Scotland.

It will help to protect and develop Scotland's valuable livestock sector and the contribution it makes to the rural economy.

Based near Edinburgh, the new Scotlands Rural College (SRUC) Veterinary and Analytical Laboratory expects to analyse more than a million samples a year.

Diagnosing disease faster has the potential to improve response times to potential outbreaks to safeguard both animal and human health and protect the food chain.

And thanks to investment in new equipment, more tests can be carried out. Longer tests, which involve culturing bacteria, can now be done in under two days rather than six.

The Scottish government has supported the creation of the new laboratory through a low-cost loan from the Scottish Funding Councils Financial Transactions Programme.

The laboratory is based at the Moredun Research Institute at the Pentlands Science Park in Midlothian.

The opening of the lab signals a closer working relationship between SRUC and the Moredun Research Institute to advance livestock health, welfare production, disease surveillance through joint research.
A recent survey of major milk buyers suggests there are currently around 8,850 dairy producers in Britain.

The AHDB estimate represents the number of dairy producers actively contributing to British milk production.

It is based on the number of active producers and temporary inactive producers from the milk buyers that contribute to the Daily Milk Deliveries survey.

This covers approximately 75% of volumes in Britain, and so the estimate has been adjusted accordingly. A figure based on Levy data has been used to account for direct suppliers.

However, the true number has been shrouded in uncertainty recently. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been the most used source to track producer numbers across England and Wales.

But this database is going through a cleansing process, resulting in the numbers falling dramatically over the last few months.

Defras dairy holdings number includes all farms with a dairy cow over 2 years old with offspring.

The latest data, for 2017, showed that Britain had 16,605 dairy holdings. However nearly 40% of these had fewer than 10 cows, making them more likely to be suckler herds than dairy farms.

Despite the ongoing decline in dairy producers, milk production is expected to be the highest in 29 years.

Other factors, including cow numbers and yields, have a larger bearing on production than the number of producers.
Thirteen farming organisations have written to MPs urging an 'orderly Brexit' by Wednesday 3 April as the industry becomes 'intensely frustrated' with the continuing impasse.

The UK Farming Roundtable, which represents farmers and growers from thirteen agricultural organisations across the UK, has written to MPs urging them to unite round a single Brexit option.

They have given Westminster a time frame up until Wednesday 3 April. Failing this, the organisations have urged the government to request a further extension to the Article 50 negotiations.

It comes as Prime Minister Theresa May put forward only half of her Brexit deal on Friday (29 March), the day the UK was originally meant to be leaving the European Union.

MPs rejected her Brexit deal for a third time, by 344 votes to 286.

Parliament has now been warned that a long extension that requires participation in European parliament elections could happen, or leaving the EU with no-deal on 12 April.

The UK Farming Roundtable's letter to MPs highlights how the industry is 'intensely frustrated' over this continued uncertainty.

The letter says: Government and parliament must ensure our departure from the EU is an orderly one. The farming sector is clear that leaving without a deal would cause huge economic damage to British farming.

Over recent months farming organisations, alongside individual farmers and growers, have consistently warned MPs of the severe consequences that no-deal would have, not only for our agricultural and horticultural sectors and the jobs they provide, but also for food supply in the UK and the high standards to which our food is produced and our farmed environment is managed.

The farming groups say that if parliament has failed to coalesce around a 'single and clear' option for an 'orderly departure' from the EU by the end of the day on Wednesday 3rd April, government must request an extension from the EU27 to the Article 50 negotiations.

This extension must be of sufficient length to allow government and MPs to agree a stable way forward out of the current impasse that ensures a stable operating environment for farm businesses, the letter adds.

A further extension of just a matter of weeks is not acceptable, given the damaging time and resource that has already been expended in managing the threat of a no-deal departure over recent weeks and months.

Continued uncertainty is already having an impact on British farming and food production, with investments being put on hold, jobs remaining unfilled and farm-gate prices facing increasing downward pressure.

For example, overseas customers interested in British meat are cancelling orders and buying their produce elsewhere due to the lack of clarity around Brexit.

The thirteen groups say that 'time is almost up', and MPs must consider concessions they will need to accommodate to bring to an end the 'enormous and damaging uncertainty' that is 'undermining' the farming industry.

The signatories of the letter include organisations such as the NFU, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru, National Sheep Association and Ulster Farmers' Union, among others.
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It is no surprise for movie lovers that an Akshay Kumar starrer is registering record-breaking collections at the box-office. Kesari is a tribute to the 21 Sikh soldiers of the British Indian army, who fought against an army of 6000-10000 Afghans in 1897. The film stars Akshay Kumar as the protagonist, narrating the events that lead to the Battle of Saragarhi.









Kesari started out with a bang at the box-office only a week ago and collected over Rs. 50 crore within three days. Breaking all records for the year till now, Kesari has garnered the biggest collection at the ticket counter within a week. It surpassed that of Gully Boy, which was Rs. 100.30 crore, and that of Total Dhamaal, which was Rs. 94.55 crore. It went on to collect Rs. 105.85 crore within just seven days.





With such a record- breaking earning and a plotline to get the audiences motivated, Kesari is only going to see a rise in its collection in the coming week.
critic's rating: 3.0/5 Junglee is a story about Raj Nair (Vidyut Jammwal) who is a vet by profession practicing in Mumbai. He's not on speaking terms with his father and blames him for his mother's death. His father runs an elephant sanctuary in Odisha and he returns to it after ten years for his mother's death anniversary. There, he observes that the number of helpers working with his father has dwindled and the sanctuary is facing hard days. He reunites with childhood friends female mahout Shanku (Pooja Sawant) and forest ranger Dev (Akshay Oberoi), as also elephants Didi and Bhola, who has become a big tusker now is the uncrowned king of the elephants. He's followed around everywhere by animal activist Meera (Asha Bhat), who has come to the jungle to make a film about his father and his conservation efforts. His guru Gaja (Makarand Deshpande), who taught him Kalaripayattu, has become a drunkard and warns Raj that the forest is riddled with poachers. However, no one takes him seriously. The warnings are quite real as big game hunter Keshav (Atul Kulkarni) slips into the jungle, kills Bhola and wants to sell his trunks to a foreign buyer. Now, it's upto Raj to try and stop him and avenge Bhola's death.



The film is shot in Thailand, with trained Thai elephants and the interaction with the elephants and humans seems seamless. The close up shots of elephants bring out their majesty and fill you with awe about the glorious creatures. The lush locales make you want to take a long jungle holiday. The film is an all out masala entertainer but still packs an important message about conservation. Poaching is an ugly truth, and elephant poaching in particular should be immediately stopped. The film makes a case that if we stop coveting ivory products, these killings wouldn't take place. It's also a fact that the authorities turn a blind eye to such illegal activities and we're in need of harsher methods to stem the rot. Junglee says all this and more.



Vidyut Jammwal, whose chiselled physique reminds one of Alexander Skarsgard's ripped bod from The Legend Of Tarzan (2016), is the perfect choice to play a vet who is a Kalaripayattu expert as well. The best scenes in the film has him practicing Kalari, as also animal moments, and will make you sign in for a gym class at the earliest. The actor has a reputation for performing his stunt scenes without a body double and does a wonderful job here as well. The scenes inside the police station, where he fights the corrupt police officials despite his hands being handcuffed or the climax scenes where he single-handedly takes care of an entire army of goons offer the most thrills. Pooja Sawant and Asha Bhat aren't cast in arm-candy roles but are shown to deeply care about nature and do their bit to fight the baddies. Atul Kulkarni exudes a subtle menace in the film and takes a break from doing positive roles by playing a hunter with a fetish for difficult shots.



All-in-all, Junglee is an action-packed adventure which also tells us that we share this planet with lots of different species, who have an equal right to it...



Trailer : Junglee

Junglee is a story about Raj Nair (Vidyut Jammwal) who is a vet by profession practicing in Mumbai. He's not on speaking terms with his father and blames him for his mother's death. His father runs an elephant sanctuary in Odisha and he returns to it after ten years for his mother's death anniversary. There, he observes that the number of helpers working with his father has dwindled and the sanctuary is facing hard days. He reunites with childhood friends female mahout Shanku (Pooja Sawant) and forest ranger Dev (Akshay Oberoi), as also elephants Didi and Bhola, who has become a big tusker now is the uncrowned king of the elephants. He's followed around everywhere by animal activist Meera (Asha Bhat), who has come to the jungle to make a film about his father and his conservation efforts. His guru Gaja (Makarand Deshpande), who taught him Kalaripayattu, has become a drunkard and warns Raj that the forest is riddled with poachers. However, no one takes him seriously. The warnings are quite real as big game hunter Keshav (Atul Kulkarni) slips into the jungle, kills Bhola and wants to sell his trunks to a foreign buyer. Now, it's upto Raj to try and stop him and avenge Bhola's death.The film is shot in Thailand, with trained Thai elephants and the interaction with the elephants and humans seems seamless. The close up shots of elephants bring out their majesty and fill you with awe about the glorious creatures. The lush locales make you want to take a long jungle holiday. The film is an all out masala entertainer but still packs an important message about conservation. Poaching is an ugly truth, and elephant poaching in particular should be immediately stopped. The film makes a case that if we stop coveting ivory products, these killings wouldn't take place. It's also a fact that the authorities turn a blind eye to such illegal activities and we're in need of harsher methods to stem the rot. Junglee says all this and more.Vidyut Jammwal, whose chiselled physique reminds one of Alexander Skarsgard's ripped bod from The Legend Of Tarzan (2016), is the perfect choice to play a vet who is a Kalaripayattu expert as well. The best scenes in the film has him practicing Kalari, as also animal moments, and will make you sign in for a gym class at the earliest. The actor has a reputation for performing his stunt scenes without a body double and does a wonderful job here as well. The scenes inside the police station, where he fights the corrupt police officials despite his hands being handcuffed or the climax scenes where he single-handedly takes care of an entire army of goons offer the most thrills. Pooja Sawant and Asha Bhat aren't cast in arm-candy roles but are shown to deeply care about nature and do their bit to fight the baddies. Atul Kulkarni exudes a subtle menace in the film and takes a break from doing positive roles by playing a hunter with a fetish for difficult shots.All-in-all, Junglee is an action-packed adventure which also tells us that we share this planet with lots of different species, who have an equal right to it...

Renuka Vyavahare, March 29, 2019, 10:11 PM IST critic's rating: 3.0/5 Lord of the jungle



Story: Raj Nayar (Vidyut Jammwal), a veterinary doctor from Mumbai, visits his father after a long gap of ten years in their Chandrika elephant sanctuary (Odisha). Soon after, a ghastly attack on the elephants by a bunch of poachers, led by (Atul Kulkarni), changes his life forever.

Review: Initially lured by the city life, Raj now decides to protect the gentle giants in the sanctuary, which has always been his fathers dream. After a series of unfortunate events that happen in the reserve, Meera (debutante Asha Bhat), a journalist from Mumbai and Shankara (debutante Pooja Sawant), a mahout based in the sanctuary, also join Rajs mission of punishing the illegal hunters, who kill elephants for ivory.



Protect animals, save the elephants is the primary message that Junglee sends across and it does so in an action-packed way. The film also reiterates that if we pledge to stop buying ivory products, it will prevent poachers from indulging in this illegal trade. True to its theme, the film transports you to the calm of a jungle, away from your city, cell phones and chaos (shot in the beautiful locales of an elephant reserve in Thailand).



Known for Hollywood blockbusters like The Mask, The Scorpion King and Eraser, American director Chuck Russell makes his Hindi cinema debut with this one. His fascination for mythology, Hindu mantras, our martial arts like Kalaripayattu and Lord Ganpati is evident, given the Indian essence and exoticism he brings to the story, from a Westerners perspective.



While the film scores higher on action than emotion, Russells attempt at blending the two with a social cause, stands out for a variety of reasons. Along with cinematographer Mark Irwin (known for RoboCop 2), the director manages to capture the enormous animals in their natural habitat. Thankfully, there is no cutesy, orchestrated acting that the elephants are made to do, and they are a sight to behold. All the actors exude effortless comfort around the elephants, which is rare for an Indian film that revolves around animals. The last Indian film that captured the man-elephant camaraderie was Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), starring Rajesh Khanna and Tanuja.



The films highlight, other than its fight against poachers who kill elephants for tusks, is Vidyut Jammwals brilliance as one of our finest action heroes. His action (without the help of a body double) is absolutely flawless and perhaps the best in the business. The jaw-dropping, lethal action scenes he portrays on screen and his mastery in martial arts puts him at par with the finest action heroes across the globe. A police station scene in particular, where a handcuffed Vidyut single-handedly dodges the cops, is spectacular. You see him fling himself on running vehicles, indulging in fist fights, and sliding through a tiny window and more. Its Chung Chi Li (who has worked with Jackie Chan in the Rush Hour franchise, and movies like Shanghai Noon and The Tuxedo, among others) and Parvez Shaikhs pulsating action that holds your attention and makes this film a paisa vasool entertainer, that is bound to attract families and children.



Though Asha and Pooja, in their small parts, make confident and decent debuts. Atul makes his presence felt as the antagonist, who looks at killing mighty animals as a challenge. Understated and genuine, Akshay Oberoi and Makarand Deshpande are impressive in their parts, too.



Watch Junglee for its spellbinding action, cute elephants and gorgeous jungles. Such an adventurous and brave attempt is rare in Hindi cinema.







 , March 28, 2019, 6:58 PM IST critic's rating: 3.5/5        ,                  ,            ,                                          



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Kunal Guha, March 28, 2019, 6:06 PM IST critic's rating: 3.5/5 They rhythmically fan their ears and raise their trunks as an instinctive response to danger. Theyre fiercely protective of their own and compassionate towards those who care for them. The gentle giants that feature in this film are much like humans. In fact, at several points, they seem more human than most. Chuck Russells Junglee captures the magnificent mammoths in their natural habitat in this simplistic story about a mans struggle to protect them from poachers.



The film introduces us to Mumbai-based veterinary doctor Raj (Vidyut Jammwal) who returns to his native place  a sanctuary for elephants managed by his father  for his mothers 10th death anniversary. Hes tailed by journalist Meera (Asha Bhat) who hopes to cover his conservationist fathers contributions. Apart from uniting with his childhood buddies, Shankara (Pooja Sawant) and forest ranger Dev (Akshay Oberoi), Rajs reunion with the two elephants (Didi and Bhola) that he grew up with, reveals the intimate bond they share. Picture Raj chasing the herd in slow-mo and even bathing with them in the local watering hole.

Commanding a gang of gunmen who rampage across the forest hunting for elephants with impressive tusks, is Kotian (Atul Kulkarni), a sharpshooter who caters to the illicit market for ivory. When his drone catches a glimpse of the impressive tuskers within the sanctuary, he cant help himself. At this critical point, masks are shed and the twist includes an unlikely source who has been tipping off the poachers on the whereabouts of elephants and patrols. Will Raj, who also happens to be a master in Kalaripayattu, manage to protect those close to him and his family-run sanctuary from imminent danger? Now, thats pretty much rhetoric.



The combustible mix of corruption, desperation and globalisation has forever fuelled poaching to meet the insatiable hunger for ivory. While this story that celebrates the bond between man and elephant may be a tad indulgent, it highlights this ruthless business and even sensitises one to their sufferings. Where the film falters, however, is in its elaborate fascination with depicting India through the eyes of a foreigner. The holographic representation of the elephant God, the shrine in the middle of the forest thats lit up by a torch and various other sequences seem to be retrofitted.



Jammwal could just be the next desi Stallone. With a poker face, he nails the high kicks and nimble leaps to inflict much ache on his onscreen assailants (action directors Chung Chi Li and Parvez Shaikh deserve credit). Jammwal may struggle to infuse his character with much emotional depth, but for an action film, its hardly a concern. Under his Indiana Jones hat, Kulkarnis Kotian is dutifully devilish and packs a menacing manner. Between the two debutantes, Sawant seems determined to make her contribution count, while Bhats exaggerated depiction of a journalist could be pinned on the writing. Cinematographer Mark Irwin (RoboCop 2, Scream) uses aerial shots excessively but manages to render the illusion of an enchanted forest.



For those who grew up watching Russells iconic films, this one may not size up. Be it the indie comedy Back to School, the stupendously imaginative The Mask or even the cult science-fiction horror The Blob, the filmmaker has forever realised his eccentric ideas with much flourish. Its obvious that his intentions here were to furnish the man-animal conflict and apprise one of the ramifications. But much seems to be lost in translation.


A national remembrance service was held Friday morning at Hagley Park to pays tribute to the victims of the Christchurch terror attacks.

Members of the Muslim community attend the National Remembrance Service at North Hagley Park in Christchurch on March 29, 2019. The remembrance ceremony was held in memory of the 50 lives that were lost in the March 15th mosque shootings in Christchurch. [Photo: AFP/Sanka Vidanagama]

The service was attended by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Governor-General Patsy Reddy, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and more than 100 International dignitaries.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel addressed the public by saying "Hate has no place here" after the mihi whakatau, the formal Maori speech of welcome.

Members of the Muslim community attend the National Remembrance Service at North Hagley Park in Christchurch on March 29, 2019. The remembrance ceremony was held in memory of the 50 lives that were lost in the March 15th mosque shootings in Christchurch. [Photo: AFP/Sanka Vidanagama]

Al Noor Mosque terror attack survivor Farid Ahmed received warm applause when he came onto the stage to speak. Ahmed said those killed two weeks ago are now dead but their soul is alive.

The names of the 50 victims who died at the terrorist attacks were read by members of the New Zealand Muslim community.

Governor-General Patsy Reddy said she was here to "convey love and messages of condolences and support from our Queen, from leaders of the nations around the world and from fellow New Zealanders."

Women react as the New Zealand national anthem is sung during a national remembrance service in Hagley Park for the victims of the March 15 mosque terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, March 29, 2019. [Photo: AP/Mark Baker]

"We are at such a point in our history," said Reddy, adding "The best weapons against the senseless and vile politics of hate are to be found within each and every one of us."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern received a loud round of applause when she delivered her speech.

"Violence and extremism in all its forms is not welcome here. Over the last two weeks, we have shown that. You have shown that," said Ardern. "The world has been stuck in a vicious cycle of extremism breeding extremism and it must end."

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern meets members of the Muslim community following a national remembrance service in Hagley Park for the victims of the March 15 mosques terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, March 29, 2019. [Photo: AP/Mark Baker]

The service is jointly led by the government, the city of Christchurch, Maori tribe Ngai Tahu and the Muslim community. It is live-broadcast across the country.

The service came along with some of the strictest security measures seen in New Zealand for a public event. Event organisers estimated the crowd size at around 20,000 to 25,000.
The Reason Why Janhvi Bagged This Film

Confirming the news, producer Dinesh Vijan told Mumbai Mirror, "Rajkummar and Varun are actors who excel in comedy and own the space. For the leading lady, we were looking for someone who had not experimented with the genre before and Janhvi fit the bill perfectly."

Janhvi In A Never-seen Before Avatar

"The script is young and wonderfully crazy and though we haven't seen Janhvi in this avatar yet, that's how she is in real life. I'm pretty sure she will pull off the contrasting personalities with effortless ease," added Vijan.

Is She Playing A Double Role In The Film?

A source told the daily, "She plays Roohi and Afza who are the polar opposites of each other. While one is chirpy, the other is subdued, both equally sweet. Janhvi will bring back memories of her mother Sridevi's twin turns, Anju and Manju in the 89' slapstick comedy, ChaalBaaz."

Mark The Date In Your Calendar

The film will go on floors in June in Uttar Pradesh. Roof Afza will hit the big screens on March 20, 2020.
Rating: 3.0 /5 Star Cast: Zaheer Iqbal, Pranutan Bahl, Muazzam Bhat Director: Nitin Kakkar

Notebook Movie Review: Salman Khan | Pranutan Bahl | Zaheer Iqbal | FilmiBeat

'A good destiny is when two people find each other without even looking', this thought was constantly running across my mind while I was watching Zaheer Iqbal- Pranutan Bahl's Notebook. Nitin Kakkar's latest directorial Notebook talks about finding love in the most unexpected places.

An Indian adaptation of the Thai film 'Teacher's Diary', Notebook revolves around Kabir (Zaheer Iqbal), an ex-army man who joins an isolated boat-school as a teacher in Kashmir. There he stumbles upon a notebook which the previous teacher Firdaus (Pranutan) used to pen down her emotions.

As Kabir begins reading the notebook, he finds himself slowly falling in love with Firdaus with her personal stories as a balm to heal his past. 'Woh bahut khoobsurat hai lekin maine usse kabhi dekha hi nahi...pyaar ho gaya hai mujhe usse, jisse main kabhi mila hi nahin.' Will Kabir & Firdaus ever meet in person? The rest of the film holds an answer to that.

With Notebook, Nitin Kakkar brings us a human story which is sweet, simple and full of warmth. Along with Kabir-Firdaus' love story, the filmmaker also weaves threads of other issues like Kashmiri Pandit exodus, extremist terrorism and lack of basic educational facilities into his narrative. However, there are punctures in Darab Farooqi, Payal Ashar and Sharib Hashmi's writing at places.

Having said that one must mention that the climax does leave a lasting impression.

Newbies Zaheer Iqbal and Pranutan bring in a certain freshness to the film. While they still have a long way to go, it's evident that they have given their cent per cent to the roles in their debut films. The kids bring in a certain sense of innocence and cuteness to the plot.

Manoj Kumar Khatoi's camera work beautifully captures Kashmir in a poetic manner. Sachindra Vats's editing could have been a little tauter.

Notebook has some pleasant music by Vishal Mishra. While Bhumro is a foot-tapping number, Nai Lagda and Laila is some comfort food for the soul.

If you are a sucker for old-school romance, then Zaheer Iqbal-Pranutan's Notebook is just for you. I am going with 3 stars.

Junglee Movie Review: Chuck Russell Delivers A Mammoth Disappointment With This Vidyut Jammwal Film
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - March 28, 2019) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former controller of a New York-based not-for-profit college with defrauding municipal securities investors by fraudulently concealing the college's deteriorating finances.

According to the SEC's complaint, in recent years, the College of New Rochelle came under considerable financial stress because of declining student enrollment and plummeting revenue from tuition. To hide the college's deteriorating financial condition from investors, the college's former controller, Keith Borge, created false financial records, didn't file payroll tax submissions, and didn't assess the collectability of pledged donations that were increasingly unlikely to be received as donors became more frustrated with the college's operations. Borge's misconduct resulted in the college's financial statements for its 2015 fiscal year falsely overstating net assets by almost $34 million. Borge also falsely certified the accuracy of the college's financial statements. The financial statements were published by Borge to an online repository in connection with the College's continuing disclosure obligations stemming from a 1999 bond issuance, and significantly influenced investors' decisions to invest in the bonds.

"Financial difficulties are no excuse for engaging in accounting misconduct and concealing critical information from investors," said LeeAnn Ghazil Gaunt, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division's Public Finance Abuse Unit.

"Municipal bond investors, including those in the secondary market, depend on the accuracy of financial statements, and the SEC will hold accountable those who take steps to mislead the investing public," said Marc P. Berger, Director of SEC's New York Regional Office.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, charges Borge with violating, and aiding and abetting violations of, the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Borge agreed to a partial settlement that would permanently enjoin him from future misconduct, with potential monetary sanctions to be determined at a later date. The partial settlement is subject to court approval.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York today announced criminal charges against Borge. Borge has pleaded guilty to those charges.

The SEC did not charge the College of New Rochelle after considering the institution's extensive cooperation and remediation. After discovering Borge's actions and conducting a preliminary review, the college publicly reported the financial issues, promptly engaged outside expertise to conduct a full internal investigation, and issued restated financial results. The college also promptly and extensively cooperated with the SEC in its investigation and proactively undertook wide-reaching remedial measures to enhance its internal controls and governance.

The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted by Jon Daniels and Wendy Tepperman of the New York Regional Office and Creighton Papier of the Public Finance Abuse Unit. The SEC's litigation will be led by Todd Brody and Mr. Daniels. The case is being supervised by Lara S. Mehraban, Mark R. Zehner, and Ms. Gaunt. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Nokia Corporation

Stock Exchange Release

March 29, 2019 at 9:30 (CET +1)





Notice of the Annual General Meeting of Nokia Corporation

Notice is given to the shareholders of Nokia Corporation (the "Company") of the Annual General Meeting to be held on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. at Helsinki Messukeskus, Messuaukio 1, Helsinki, Finland. The reception of persons who have registered for the Meeting will commence at 12:30 p.m.

A. Matters on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting

At the Annual General Meeting, the following matters will be considered:

1. Opening of the Meeting

2. Matters of order for the Meeting

3. Election of a person to confirm the minutes and a person to verify the counting of votes

4. Recording the legal convening of the Meeting and quorum

5. Recording the attendance at the Meeting and adoption of the list of votes

6. Presentation of the Annual Accounts, the review by the Board of Directors and the auditor's report for the year 2018

- Review by the President and CEO

7. Adoption of the Annual Accounts

8. Resolution on the use of the profit shown on the balance sheet and authorization to the Board of Directors to resolve on the distribution of distributable funds

The Board proposes that instead of a direct resolution on dividend payment, the Annual General Meeting authorize the Board to resolve in its discretion on the distribution of an aggregate maximum of EUR 0.20 per share as dividend from the retained earnings and/or as repayment of capital from the fund for invested unrestricted equity.

The authorization would be valid until the opening of the next Annual General Meeting. The authorization would be used to distribute funds in four instalments during the validity of the authorization, unless the Board decides otherwise for a justified reason. The Board would make separate resolutions on the amount and timing of each distribution with preliminary record and payment dates stated below. The Company will announce each Board resolution separately and confirm the relevant record and payment dates in such announcements.

Preliminary record date Preliminary payment date May 23, 2019 June 6, 2019 July 30, 2019 August 8, 2019 October 29, 2019 November 7, 2019 February 4, 2020 February 13, 2020



Each instalment would be paid to the shareholders that are registered in the Company's Register of Shareholders maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy on the record date of the relevant instalment.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend is distributed directly by a resolution of the Annual General Meeting based on the balance sheet to be adopted for the financial period ended on December 31, 2018.

9. Resolution on the discharge of the members of the Board of Directors and the President and CEO from liability

10. Resolution on the remuneration to the members of the Board of Directors

On the recommendation of the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the annual fee payable to the Board members elected at the same meeting for a term ending at the close of the next Annual General Meeting remains at current level: EUR 440 000 for the Chair of the Board, EUR 185 000 for the Vice Chair of the Board and EUR 160 000 for each Board member. In addition, it is proposed that the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Chair of the Personnel Committee will each receive an additional annual fee of EUR 30 000, Chair of the Technology Committee an additional annual fee of EUR 20 000 and other members of the Audit Committee an additional annual fee of EUR 15 000 each.

The Board also proposes that a meeting fee for Board and Committee meetings be paid to all the other Board members, except the Chair of the Board, based on travel required between the Board member's home location and the location of a meeting. The meeting fee would be paid for a maximum of seven meetings per term and remain on the following levels: EUR 5 000 per meeting requiring intercontinental travel and EUR 2 000 per meeting requiring continental travel.

Furthermore, the Board also proposes that members of the Board of Directors shall be compensated for travel and accommodation expenses as well as other costs directly related to Board and Committee work.

It is proposed that approximately 40% of the annual fee be paid in Nokia shares purchased from the market, or alternatively by using treasury shares held by the Company. The meeting fee, travel expenses and other expenses would be paid in cash.

11. Resolution on the number of members of the Board of Directors

On the recommendation of the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the number of Board members be ten (10).

12. Election of members of the Board of Directors

Louis R. Hughes has informed that he will no longer be available to serve on the Nokia Board of Directors after the Annual General Meeting. Accordingly, the Board, on the recommendation of the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee, proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the following current Nokia Board members be re-elected as members of the Board for a term ending at the close of the next Annual General Meeting: Sari Baldauf, Bruce Brown, Jeanette Horan, Edward Kozel, Elizabeth Nelson, Olivier Piou, Risto Siilasmaa, Carla Smits-Nusteling and Kari Stadigh. In addition, it is proposed that Sren Skou, CEO of A.P. Mller Mrsk A/S, be elected as a member of the Board of Directors for the same term.

All candidates for the Board of Directors are presented on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

13. Election of Auditor for the financial year 2019

On the recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy be re-elected as the auditor of the Company for the financial year 2019.

14. Election of Auditor for the financial year 2020

Nokia has an obligation to organize an audit firm selection procedure in accordance with the EU Audit Regulation concerning the audit for the financial year 2020 (mandatory auditor rotation). The practical requirements for arranging the selection procedure under the EU Audit Regulation and the obligation to include at least two candidates in the recommendation of the Audit Committee have caused the Board to re-evaluate of the timing of the election of the auditor. The election of an auditor for the financial year 2020 already in this Annual General Meeting would give the elected auditor time to prepare for the new audit engagement. At the same time, the shareholders of the Company would have an opportunity to elect the auditor already prior to the relevant financial year.

Based on the above and on the recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that Deloitte Oy be elected as the Company's auditor for the financial year 2020.

15. Resolution on the remuneration of the Auditor

On the recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the auditor to be elected for the financial year 2019 and 2020, respectively, be reimbursed based on the invoice of the auditor and in compliance with the purchase policy approved by the Audit Committee.

16. Authorization to the Board of Directors to resolve to repurchase the Company's own shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorize the Board to resolve to repurchase a maximum of 550 million shares, which corresponds to less than 10 per cent of the Company's total number of shares.

The repurchases under the authorization are proposed to be carried out by using funds in the unrestricted equity which means that the repurchases will reduce distributable funds of the Company.

The price paid for the shares under the authorization shall be based on the market price of Nokia shares on the securities markets on the date of the repurchase. Shares may be repurchased to be cancelled, held to be reissued, transferred further or for other purposes resolved by the Board. The Company may enter into derivative, share lending or other arrangements customary in capital market practice.

The shares may be repurchased otherwise than in proportion to the shares held by the shareholders (directed repurchase). The Board shall resolve on all other matters related to the repurchase of Nokia shares.

It is proposed that the authorization be effective until November 21, 2020 and terminate the authorization for repurchasing the Company's shares granted by the Annual General Meeting on May 30, 2018.

17. Authorization to the Board of Directors to resolve to issue shares and special rights entitling to shares

The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorize the Board to resolve to issue in total a maximum of 550 million shares through issuance of shares or special rights entitling to shares under Chapter 10, Section 1 of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act in one or more issues during the effective period of the authorization. The Board may issue either new shares or treasury shares held by the Company. The proposed maximum amount corresponds to less than 10 per cent of the Company's total number of shares as of the date of this proposal.

Shares and special rights entitling to shares may be issued in deviation from the shareholders' pre-emptive rights within the limits set by law. The authorization may be used to develop the Company's capital structure, diversify the shareholder base, finance or carry out acquisitions or other arrangements, to settle the Company's equity-based incentive plans or for other purposes resolved by the Board. The Board would resolve on all terms and conditions of the issuance of shares and special rights under Chapter 10, Section 1 of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act.

It is proposed that the authorization be effective until November 21, 2020 and terminate the authorization for issuance of shares and special rights entitling to shares resolved at the Annual General Meeting on May 30, 2018. The authorization does not terminate the authorization by the Extraordinary General Meeting held on December 2, 2015 granted to the Board for issuance of shares in order to implement the combination of Nokia and Alcatel Lucent.

18. Closing of the Meeting

B. Documents of the Annual General Meeting

The proposals of the Board of Directors relating to the agenda of the Annual General Meeting as well as this notice are available on the Company's website at www.nokia.com/agm. The "Nokia in 2018" annual report, which includes the Company's Annual Accounts, the review by the Board of Directors and the auditor's report, is available on the above-mentioned website. These documents will also be available at the Meeting and copies of these documents will be sent to shareholders upon request. The minutes of the Annual General Meeting will be available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm at the latest on June 4, 2019.

C. Instructions for the participants in the Annual General Meeting

1. The right to participate and registration

Each shareholder, who on May 9, 2019 is registered in the Register of Shareholders of the Company, has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting. A shareholder, whose shares are registered on his/her Finnish book-entry account, is automatically registered in the Register of Shareholders of the Company. If you do not have a Finnish book-entry account see section 4. Holders of Nominee registered shares or 5. Holders of American Depositary Receipts (ADR).

A shareholder, with a Finnish book-entry account, who wishes to participate in the Annual General Meeting, must register for the Meeting by giving prior notice of attendance no later than on May 14, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. (Finnish time) by which time the registration needs to be received by the Company. Such notice can be given:

a) through the Company's website at www.nokia.com/agm;

b) by telephone to +358 20 770 6870 from Monday to Friday at 09:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Finnish time); or

c) by letter to the Register of Shareholders, Nokia Corporation, P.O. Box 226, Fl-00045 NOKIA GROUP.

In connection with the registration, a shareholder is required to notify his/her name, personal identification number, address, telephone number, the name of a possible assistant and the name and the personal identification number of a possible proxy representative.

2. Advance voting service

A shareholder, who has a Finnish book-entry account, may vote in advance on certain items on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting through the Company's website from March 29, 2019 until 4:00 p.m. (Finnish time) on May 14, 2019. Unless a shareholder voting in advance will be present in person or by proxy in the Meeting, he/she may not be able to exercise his/her right under the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act to request information or a vote in the Meeting and if decision proposals regarding certain agenda item have changed after the beginning of the advance voting period, his/her possibility to vote on such item may be restricted. The conditions and other instructions relating to the electronic advance voting may be found on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

The Finnish book-entry account number of the shareholder is needed for voting in advance.

3. Proxy representatives and powers of attorney

A shareholder may participate in the Annual General Meeting and exercise his/her rights at the Meeting by proxy. A proxy representative shall produce a dated proxy document or otherwise in a reliable manner demonstrate his/her right to represent the shareholder at the Annual General Meeting. Should a shareholder participate in the Meeting by means of several proxy representatives representing the shareholder with shares in different book-entry accounts, the shares by which each proxy representative represents the shareholder shall be identified in connection with the registration for the Annual General Meeting. Powers of attorney should be delivered in original to Nokia's Register of Shareholders at the above- mentioned address or via email to agm@nokia.com before the last date for registration.

4. Holders of nominee registered shares

A holder of nominee registered shares has the right to participate in the general meeting by virtue of such shares, based on which he/she on the record date of the general meeting, i.e. on May 9, 2019, would be entitled to be registered in the shareholders' register of the company held by Euroclear Finland Oy. The right to participate in the general meeting requires, in addition, that the shareholder on the basis of such shares has been registered into the temporary shareholders' register held by Euroclear Finland Oy at the latest by May 16, 2019 by 4:00 p.m. (Finnish time). As regards nominee registered shares this constitutes due registration for the general meeting.

A holder of nominee-registered shares is advised to request without delay necessary instructions regarding the temporary registration in the shareholders' register of the company, the issuing of proxy documents and registration for the AGM from his/her custodian bank. The account management organization of the custodian bank will temporarily register a holder of nominee-registered shares, who wants to participate in the AGM, into the shareholders' register of the company at the latest by the time stated above. Further information on these matters can also be found on the company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

5. Holders of American Depositary Receipts (ADR)

Holders of American Depositary Shares (ADR) intending to vote at the Annual General Meeting shall without delay notify the Depositary Bank of Nokia, Citibank, N.A., of their intention and shall comply with the instructions provided by Citibank, N.A.

6. Other instructions and information

On the date of this notice of the Annual General Meeting the total number of shares in Nokia Corporation and votes represented by such shares is 5 635 968 159.

Doors of the meeting venue will open at 12:30 p.m. The shareholders, their representatives and possible assistants are required to prove their identity at the entrance. Coffee will be served before the Meeting. The Meeting will be conducted primarily in Finnish, and simultaneous translation will be available into Swedish and English, and as necessary, into Finnish.

Pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act, a shareholder who has given prior notice of attendance and is present at the Annual General Meeting has the right to request information with respect to the matters to be considered at the Meeting.

March 26, 2019

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. We develop and deliver the industry's only end-to-end portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing that is available globally. Our customers include communications service providers whose combined networks support 6.1 billion subscriptions, as well as enterprises in the private and public sector that use our network portfolio to increase productivity and enrich lives.



Through our research teams, including the world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs, we are leading the world to adopt end-to-end 5G networks that are faster, more secure and capable of revolutionizing lives, economies and societies. Nokia adheres to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. www.nokia.com (http://www.nokia.com/)



Media Enquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Tel. +358 (0) 10 448 4900

Email: press.services@nokia.com

Jon Peet, Vice President, Corporate Communications

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

It should be noted that Nokia and its businesses are exposed to various risks and uncertainties and certain statements herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect Nokia's current expectations and views of future developments and include statements regarding: A) expectations, plans or benefits related to our strategies and growth management; B) expectations, plans or benefits related to future performance of our businesses and any expected future dividends; C) expectations and targets regarding financial performance, results, operating expenses, taxes, currency exchange rates, hedging, cost savings and competitiveness, as well as results of operations including targeted synergies and those related to market share, prices, net sales, income and margins; D) expectations, plans or benefits related to changes in organizational and operational structure; E) expectations regarding market developments, general economic conditions and structural changes; F) our ability to integrate acquired businesses into our operations and achieve the targeted business plans and benefits, including targeted benefits, synergies, cost savings and efficiencies; G) expectations, plans or benefits related to any future collaboration or to business collaboration agreements or patent license agreements or arbitration awards, including income to be received under any collaboration or partnership, agreement or award; H) timing of the deliveries of our products and services, including our short term and longer term expectations around the rollout of 5G and our ability to capitalize on such rollout; and the overall readiness of the 5G ecosystem; I) expectations and targets regarding collaboration and partnering arrangements, joint ventures or the creation of joint ventures, and the related administrative, legal, regulatory and other conditions, as well as our expected customer reach; J) outcome of pending and threatened litigation, arbitration, disputes, regulatory proceedings or investigations by authorities; K) expectations regarding restructurings, investments, capital structure optimization efforts, uses of proceeds from transactions, acquisitions and divestments and our ability to achieve the financial and operational targets set in connection with any such restructurings, investments, capital structure optimization efforts, divestments and acquisitions, including our 2019-2020 cost savings program; L) expectations, plans or benefits related to future capital expenditures, temporary incremental expenditures or other R&D expenditures to develop or rollout new products, including 5G; and M) statements preceded by or including "believe", "expect", "expectations", "commit", "anticipate", "foresee", "see", "target", "estimate", "designed", "aim", "plan", "intend", "influence", "assumption", "focus", "continue", "project", "should", "is to", "will" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These statements are based on management's best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and views of future events and developments and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Factors, including risks and uncertainties that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: 1) our strategy is subject to various risks and uncertainties and we may be unable to successfully implement our strategic plans, sustain or improve the operational and financial performance of our business groups, correctly identify or successfully pursue business opportunities or otherwise grow our business; 2) general economic and market conditions and other developments in the economies where we operate, including the timeline for the deployment of 5G and our ability to successfully capitalize on that deployment; 3) competition and our ability to effectively and profitably invest in new competitive high-quality products, services, upgrades and technologies and bring them to market in a timely manner; 4) our dependence on the development of the industries in which we operate, including the cyclicality and variability of the information technology and telecommunications industries and our own R&D capabilities and investments; 5) our dependence on a limited number of customers and large multi-year agreements; 6) our ability to maintain our existing sources of intellectual property-related revenue through our intellectual property, including through licensing, establish new sources of revenue and protect our intellectual property from infringement; 7) our ability to manage and improve our financial and operating performance, cost savings, competitiveness and synergies generally and our ability to implement changes to our organizational and operational structure efficiently; 8) our global business and exposure to regulatory, political or other developments in various countries or regions, including emerging markets and the associated risks in relation to tax matters and exchange controls, among others; 9) our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits, synergies, cost savings and efficiencies of acquisitions, including the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent; 10) exchange rate fluctuations, as well as hedging activities; 11) our ability to successfully realize the expectations, plans or benefits related to any future collaboration or business collaboration agreements and patent license agreements or arbitration awards, including income to be received under any collaboration, partnership, agreement or arbitration award; 12) Nokia Technologies' ability to protect its IPR and to maintain and establish new sources of patent, brand and technology licensing income and IPR-related revenues, particularly in the smartphone market, which may not materialize as planned, 13) our dependence on IPR technologies, including those that we have developed and those that are licensed to us, and the risk of associated IPR-related legal claims, licensing costs and restrictions on use; 14) our exposure to direct and indirect regulation, including economic or trade policies, and the reliability of our governance, internal controls and compliance processes to prevent regulatory penalties in our business or in our joint ventures; 15) our reliance on third-party solutions for data storage and service distribution, which expose us to risks relating to security, regulation and cybersecurity breaches; 16) inefficiencies, breaches, malfunctions or disruptions of information technology systems; 17) our exposure to various legal frameworks regulating corruption, fraud, trade policies, and other risk areas, and the possibility of proceedings or investigations that result in fines, penalties or sanctions; 18) adverse developments with respect to customer financing or extended payment terms we provide to customers; 19) the potential complex tax issues, tax disputes and tax obligations we may face in various jurisdictions, including the risk of obligations to pay additional taxes; 20) our actual or anticipated performance, among other factors, which could reduce our ability to utilize deferred tax assets; 21) our ability to retain, motivate, develop and recruit appropriately skilled employees; 22) disruptions to our manufacturing, service creation, delivery, logistics and supply chain processes, and the risks related to our geographically-concentrated production sites; 23) the impact of litigation, arbitration, agreement-related disputes or product liability allegations associated with our business; 24) our ability to re-establish investment grade rating or maintain our credit ratings; 25) our ability to achieve targeted benefits from, or successfully implement planned transactions, as well as the liabilities related thereto; 26) our involvement in joint ventures and jointly-managed companies; 27) the carrying amount of our goodwill may not be recoverable; 28) uncertainty related to the amount of dividends and equity return we are able to distribute to shareholders for each financial period; 29) pension costs, employee fund-related costs, and healthcare costs; 30) our ability to successfully complete and capitalize on our order backlogs and continue converting our sales pipeline into net sales; and 31) risks related to undersea infrastructure, as well as the risk factors specified on pages 60 to 75 of our 2018 annual report on Form 20-F published on March 21, 2019 under "Operating and financial review and prospects-Risk factors" and in our other filings or documents furnished with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proven to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: NOKIA via Globenewswire


Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
AXA Property Trust Limited

(a closed-ended investment company incorporated with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registered number 43007)

LEI Number: 213800AF85VEZMDMF931

(The "Company")

CHANGE OF DIRECTORS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS

29 March 2019

Following the results of the Adjourned Extraordinary General Meeting held on 21 September 2018, where a Special Resolution to place the Company into voluntary liquidation did not receive the requisite 75% majority, the Annual General Meeting held on 28 December 2018, where the Ordinary Resolutions to re-appoint two Board Directors, Charles Hunter and Stephane Monier were not approved, and the subsequent Member requisitioned Extraordinary General Meeting held on 23 January 2019, where the Ordinary Resolution to appoint Blake Nixon to the Board was passed by 56.7% majority of those voting, the Board wishes to announce the following;

1.Gavin Farrell has tendered his resignation from the Board which will take effect from close of business in Guernsey on 28 March 2019

2.Stuart Lawson has tendered his resignation from the Board which will take effect from close of business in Guernsey on 28 March 2019

3.William Scott has been appointed to the Board which will take effect from close of business in Guernsey on 28 March 2019

4.Robert Burke has been appointed to the Board which will take effect from close of business in Guernsey on 28 March 2019

5. AXA Investment Managers UK Limited has indicated its intention to resign as Investment Manager of the Company should the Board take definitive steps towards convening an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company to consider a change to the Company's investment policy. The resignation would take effect immediately or at a later date by mutual agreement. AXA REIM Luxembourg S.A. has separately tendered its resignation as administrator of each of the Company's two Luxembourg subsidiaries, which will take effect following the expiration of the 3-month notice period or earlier if by mutual agreement.

6. Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited has tendered its resignation as Administrator and Secretary which will take effect following the expiration of the 90 day notice period or earlier if by mutual agreement.

7. Terms of appointment with replacement advisors for Northern Trust and AXA REIM Luxembourg S.A. are under discussion and a further announcement will be made in due course.

Rationale for Changes

The above changes have been made in recognition that certain Shareholders, in favour of outline proposals for a new investment policy proposed to the Company and announced on 7 December 2018, have prevented the Board from completing the existing wind-down strategy agreed by Special Resolution on 26 April 2013. Furthermore, they have indicated and evidenced their intention and capacity to convene a meeting and pass an Ordinary Resolution to remove those Board members who have continued to endorse the existing wind-down strategy and who oppose a change the investment policy from the current wind down strategy. Those Directors who are resigning maintain that a change of the Company's investment strategy should be approved by a Special Resolution.

In order to avoid the ongoing cost and delay in pursuing this course, the Board has agreed to expedite the above changes.

Future Plans

The new Board, consisting of William Scott (who will be acting Chairman), Robert Burke and Blake Nixon, will as a priority be reviewing the future direction of the Company, and in particular the proposed change of Investment Policy and plans for the Curno property, and an announcement in those regards will been made following this.

The new Board will take into account the interests of Shareholders as a whole. Any material change to the Investment Policy of the Company will require the prior approval of the FCA as well as the approval of Shareholders.

The Board also affirms that the audited annual report was published on 28 March 2019 and is submitting a request to the FCA to lift the suspension of listing of the Shares. The response to that request will be announced when it is received.

Enquiries:

Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited

The Company Secretary

Trafalgar Court, Les Banques

St Peter Port

Guernsey

GY1 3QL

Tel: 01481 745001
LONDON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CRU Group, the leading provider of analysis, prices, consulting and global events in the mining, metals and fertilizer industries, is delighted to announce the appointment of David Trafford as Chief Executive Officer.

"David brings real breadth of experience in the commodities that we specialise in, and understands the nature of roles at every level of the business. I am delighted to see him appointed this year, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary," said Robert Perlman, Chairman, CRU.

David is an international natural resources executive with over 30 years' experience in the mining, metals and investment banking sectors. Arriving in 2015, David joined as CEO of CRU Consulting to lead the global expansion of the business unit and to substantially increase sales. With his experience in transformational strategy and corporate development, David's leadership has established CRU Consulting as a world leader in providing informed and practical advice to meet the needs of customers and their stakeholders.

"It is an honour and a privilege to be asked to run CRU Group, a business with an unparalleled heritage and reputation in commodity research, built over 50 years by dedicated professionals and supported by loyal customers," said David Trafford, Chief Executive Officer, CRU

Read the full story: https://www.crugroup.com/about-cru/news/2019/cru-appoints-david-trafford-as-new-chief-executive-officer/

Read more about CRU: http://bit.ly/About_CRU

About CRU

CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events.

Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China.

CRU employs over 280 experts and has more than 11 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia - our office in Beijing opened in 2004 and Singapore in 2018.

When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response.

CRU - big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers.

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Regulatory News:

The shareholders of Gecina (the "Company") (Paris:GFC) are invited to attend the Ordinary General Meeting to be held on:

Wednesday April 17, 2019 from 3 pm,

at Pavillon Cambon, 46 rue Cambon, 75001 Paris, France.

The meeting notice, containing the agenda and proposed resolutions, was published in the French official gazette (BALO) no.25 on February 27, 2019.

The invitation to attend has been published in the French official gazette and the French legal announcements journal "Les Petites Affiches" on March 29, 2019.

The Company will be sending out the postal and proxy voting forms directly to all shareholders.

The preparatory documents for this General Meeting are made available to the Company's shareholders in accordance with the regulatory conditions and timeframes applicable.

All shareholders may ask the Company to send them these documents with written requests to be sent to the Company's registered office or faxed to +33 (0)1 40 40 64 81 up until the fifth day (inclusive) before the Ordinary General Meeting on April 17, 2019, i.e. April 12, 2019.

They may also be consulted at the Company's registered office.

The documents relating to this General Meeting covered under Article R.225-73-1 of the French commercial code are available on the Company's website at www.gecina.fr.

The Board of Directors

French limited company (societe anonyme) with a share capital of 571,991,190

Registered office: 14-16, rue des Capucines 75002 Paris France

Paris trade and companies register: 592 014 476

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005148/en/

Contacts:

Laurent Le Goff

Tel: +33 (0) 1 40 40 62 69
UK COMMERCIAL PROPERTY REIT LIMITED

LEI: 213800JN4FQ1A9G8EU25

29 MARCH 2019

NOTICE OF EGM

UK Commercial Property REIT Limited (the "Company") announces that it has today published a circular (the "Circular") convening an extraordinary general meeting to be held at 9.30 a.m. on 18 April 2019 (the "General Meeting").

Proposed changes to the investment policy

Following the Company's admission into the United Kingdom REIT regime on 1 July 2018, the Board and the Investment Manager have continued to discuss the investment strategy of the Company and investment opportunities within the commercial property sector. As part of these discussions the Board and the Investment Manager have recently undertaken a review of the Company's investment policy and, in particular, the scope of eligible investments to allow the Company to benefit from such opportunities. As a result of this review, the Board is proposing certain amendments to the Company's investment policy. As further explained in the Circular, this is to provide the Investment Manager with the flexibility to invest in a wider range of commercial property assets to help meet the Company's investment objective of providing Shareholders with an attractive level of income together with the potential for capital and income growth from investing in a diversified UK commercial property portfolio, which remains unchanged.

Rule 9 Waiver

As noted in the Company's interim report and accounts for the six months to 30 June 2018, Standard Life Aberdeen approved the sale of its insurance business to the Phoenix Group for a combination of cash and shares last year. This transaction completed on 31 August 2018 and resulted in the Phoenix Group, the largest Shareholder in the Company, and Standard Life Aberdeen, the parent company of the Company's Investment Manager, being deemed by the Takeover Panel to be acting in concert. As a consequence, without the approval of Independent Shareholders of the appropriate waiver from the Takeover Panel, the Company's ability to repurchase its own Shares is restricted in that it will not buy back its own shares in circumstances where to do so would trigger an obligation for a bid to be made for the Company under the Takeover Code.

If any shares were to be purchased by the Company pursuant to the Share Buy Back Authority granted at the annual general meeting held on 20 June 2018 (or any share buy back authority granted by Shareholders at the upcoming annual general meeting to be held in June 2019) and the entities comprising the Concert Party did not dispose of a proportionate amount of their holding, then, pursuant to Rule 37 of the Takeover Code, in the absence of a waiver from the Takeover Panel, the Concert Party would be required to make a general cash offer to all the remaining Shareholders of the Company to acquire their shares.

On 24 February 2016, the Phoenix Group notified the Company that, following the sale of Shares, the Phoenix Group's holding in the Company had fallen below 50 per cent. As at 27 March 2019, the aggregate number of Shares held by the Phoenix Group represented 44.77 per cent. of the Company's issued share capital and therefore the aggregate number of Shares held by the Concert Party represented 46.71 per cent. of the Company's issued share capital.

In order to give the Company flexibility to utilise the Share Buy Back Authority granted at the annual general meeting held on 20 June 2018 (and any share buy back authority granted by Shareholders at the annual general meeting to be held in June 2019) without triggering a mandatory bid obligation, the Company has consulted with the Takeover Panel and secured a waiver of the requirement for the Concert Party to make a general offer to all Shareholders under Rule 9 of the Takeover Code in circumstances where, following the purchase of shares by the Company in the market, the aggregate percentage holding of the Concert Party increases (the "Rule 9 Waiver"). This Takeover Panel waiver is subject to the approval by a vote of Independent Shareholders of the Company on a poll at the General Meeting. The Rule 9 Waiver, if approved, will expire at the conclusion of the AGM of the Company in 2020.

Shareholders are requested to complete the Form of Proxy in relation to the General Meeting and return it to the Company's Registrars as soon as possible, but in any event to be received no later than 9:30 a.m. on 16 April 2019.

Terms defined in the Circular have the same meanings in this announcement unless the context requires otherwise.

The Circular has also been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm.

For further information please contact:

Graeme McDonald, Aberdeen Standard Investments

Tel: 0131 245 3151

Douglas Armstrong, Dickson Minto W.S.

Tel: 020 7649 6823
ROCKVILLE, Maryland, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --According to the latest study by Fact.MR, global demand of EV traction motor is estimated to exceed US$ 6,000 Mn in 2019, up from US$ 5,391.9 Mn in 2018. Sales of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, upheld by a host of technological features and claims of optimal performance, are likely to boost growth of EV traction motor market in 2019 and beyond. In addition, increasing regulations and norms put in place for effective emission controls are working in favor of hybrid and electric vehicles, paving lucrative avenues for growth of EV traction motor market.

Governmental schemes to incentivize and subsidize owners of electric vehicles is a key aspect underpinning growth of EV traction motor market. Most of these incentives and subsidies include tax exemptions, tax credits, concessions, and additional benefits, which play a vital role in exerting positive influence on customer decision-making. The EV traction motor industry is likely to benefit from these incentives with regard to revenue generation, finds the report.

Request For Sample Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=336

Automakers Prefer EV Traction Motors with High Voltage Ratings

According to the research study, energy efficacy is emerging as one of the focal points of automakers, on account of its importance in reducing of greenhouse emissions. High voltages provide a healthy boost to the efficiency levels, which is a primary reason for automakers preferring motors of high voltage ratings over the ones with low voltage ratings. Both electric and hybrid electric vehicles are based on high voltage battery systems, which implies that high voltage levels would be required for generation of sufficient power to run the vehicles. Moreover, motors with high voltage ratings have wirings that are relatively uncomplicated and lighter, which continues to be a key benefit for the automakers. The global sales of high voltage EV traction motors are estimated to exceed US$ 3,700 Mn in 2019, estimates the Fact.MR study.

North America Continues to be Most Attractive Market for EV Traction Motor

As per the report, North America continues to be the largest market for EV traction motors, with sales estimated to exceed US$ 1,700 Mn in 2019. Increasing adoption of commercial as well as passenger cars is likely to support growth of North America EV traction motor market. Rising number of promotional initiatives by the governing authorities in this region is supporting adoption of electric and hybrid electric vehicles in this region, creating revenue-generating opportunities for companies operating in the EV traction motor market.

Browse Full Report on EV Traction Motor Market with In-depth TOC- https://www.factmr.com/report/336/ev-traction-motor-market

Manufacturers Focus on Value Proposition via Incorporation of Advanced Technologies

Manufacturers operating in the EV traction motor market, with an aim to edge out the competition, are adopting differential strategies, unveils the report. Leading companies operating in the EV traction motor market are collaborating with leading automakers planning electric vehicle rollouts to amplify their profitability. The EV traction motor industry is also focusing on reliability, which is a key selling point in the automotive space, as a crucial element to build up brand equity and control the warranty costs. Companies are enhancing the versatility of their offerings, which would help the EV traction motors deliver flawless performances under extreme conditions. Key considerations, such as hard-duty cycles, vibration, temperature, and others, are taken into account by the manufacturers to ensure best-quality products.

The Fact.MR report identifies key opportunities in the global EV traction motor market during the assessment period of 2017 to 2026. As per the report, the EV traction motor market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 13% during through 2026.

To Buy EV Traction Motor Market Report, Check- https://www.factmr.com/checkout/336/S

Popular Automotive Industry Market Reports from Fact.MR

Low Voltage Motors Market- In 2018, the global market of low voltage motors is likely to surpass a value of US$ 25 billion and expand at 8.8% in 2019 through 2018. Escalating need for cost efficient source of energy remains a primary factor influencing the use of low voltage motors in numerous industries.

Automotive Oil Filter Market- Europe retains its position of the largest market for automotive oil filter in 2019 and beyond. European emission standards, which define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions across the European countries, are likely to give a fillip to automotive oil filters adoption rate.

Small Motors Market- Sales of small motors close in on revenues worth US$ 8.8 Bn in 2018, and are expected to grow at a sluggish CAGR of just over 1.0% through 2026.

About Fact.MR

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Contact Us

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Clear Leisure plc (AIM: CLP) is an AIM listed investment company with a portfolio of companies primarily encompassing the leisure and real estate sectors in Italy. The focus of the current management continues to be the pursuit of the monetisation of all of the Company's existing assets, through selected realisations, court-led recoveries of misappropriated assets and substantial debt-recovery processes. The Company has recently realigned its strategic focus to technology related investments, with special regard to interactive media, blockchain and Artificial Intelligence sectors. For further information, please visit, www.clearleisure.co.uk

Eufingest is a substantial shareholder of the Company as defined by the AIM Rules for Companies. The extension of the Loans maturity is therefore a related party transaction pursuant to AIM Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies. The directors of Clear Leisure, having consulted with its nominated adviser, consider that the transaction is fair and reasonable insofar as its shareholders are concerned.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / Intellipharmaceutics International Inc. (OTCQB: ICPIF and TSX: IPCI) ("Intellipharmaceutics" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and manufacture of novel and generic controlled-release and targeted-release oral solid dosage drugs, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") has acknowledged receipt of its resubmission of the Oxycodone ER New Drug Application ("NDA") filed on February 28, 2019. The FDA has informed the Company that it considers the resubmission a complete response to the September 22, 2017 action letter it issued in respect of the NDA. The FDA has also assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date of August 28, 2019.

There can be no assurance that Intellipharmaceutics will not be required to conduct further studies for Oxycodone ER, that the FDA will approve any of the Company's requested abuse-deterrent label claims or that the FDA will meet its deadline for review and ultimately approve the NDA for the sale of Oxycodone ER in the U.S. market, or that it will ever be successfully commercialized.

About Intellipharmaceutics

Intellipharmaceutics International Inc. is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and manufacture of novel and generic controlled-release and targeted-release oral solid dosage drugs. The Company's patented Hypermatrix technology is a multidimensional controlled-release drug delivery platform that can be applied to a wide range of existing and new pharmaceuticals. Intellipharmaceutics has developed several drug delivery systems based on this technology platform, with a pipeline of products (some of which have received FDA approval) in various stages of development. The Company has ANDA and NDA 505(b)(2) drug product candidates in its development pipeline. These include the Company's abuse-deterrent oxycodone hydrochloride extended release formulation ("Oxycodone ER") based on its proprietary nPODDDS novel Point Of Divergence Drug Delivery System (for which an NDA has been filed with the FDA), and Regabatin XR (pregabalin extended-release capsules).

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this document constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and/or "forward-looking information" under the Securities Act (Ontario). These statements include, without limitation, statements expressed or implied regarding our expectations regarding our plans, goals and milestones, status of developments or expenditures relating to our business, plans to fund our current activities, and statements concerning our partnering activities, health regulatory submissions, strategy, future operations, future financial position, future sales, revenues and profitability, projected costs and market penetration and risks or uncertainties related to our ability to comply with OTCQB and TSX requirements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "appear", "unlikely", "target", "may", "will", "should", "expects", "plans", "plans to", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "confident", "prospects", "potential", "continue", "intends", "look forward", "could", "would", "projected", "goals", "set to", "seeking" or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. We made a number of assumptions in the preparation of our forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which are subject to a multitude of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, future circumstances or events to differmaterially from those stated in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties relating to us and our business can be found in the "Risk Factors" section of our latest annual information form, our latest Form 20-F, and our latest Form F-1 and Form F-3 registration statements (including any documents forming a part thereof or incorporated by reference therein), as amended, as well as in our reports, public disclosure documents and other filings with the securities commissions and other regulatory bodies in Canada and the U.S., which are available on www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on what we believe are reasonable assumptions as of the date of this document and we disclaim any intention and have no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Trademarks used herein are the property of their respective holders.

Unless the context otherwise requires, all references to "we," "us," "our," "Intellipharmaceutics," and the "Company" refer to Intellipharmaceutics International Inc. and its subsidiaries.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Company Contact:

Intellipharmaceutics International Inc.

Greg Powell

Chief Financial Officer

416.798.3001 ext. 106

investors@intellipharmaceutics.com

Investor Contact:

PCG Advisory

Kirin Smith

646.863.6519

ksmith@pcgadvisory.com

SOURCE: Intellipharmaceutics International Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540449/US-FDA-Acknowledges-Receipt-of-Intellipharmaceutics-Resubmission-of-Oxycodone-ER-New-Drug-Application-Deems-it-a-Complete-Response-and-Designates-August-28-2019-as-Goal-Date-for-Review
New York, New York and Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2019) - NexTech AR Solutions (OTCQB: NEXCF) (CSE: NTAR) (FSE: N29) (the "Company" or "NexTech") announced today that NexTech CEO Evan Gappelberg will present an overview of the Company's business in New York, at the Spring Investor Summit (https://microcapconf.com) on April 1, 2019 at the Essex House from 4:00-4:30 PM in Track 2. The conference will feature 200 presenting companies, 1,200 institutional and retail investors, 2,000 one-on-one meetings, expert speakers, and industry panels.

The Spring Investor Summit (formerly The MicroCap Conference) is an exclusive event dedicated to connecting small and micro-cap companies with high-level institutional and retail investors.

NexTech is bringing a next generation web-enabled augmented reality (AR) platform with artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics using an xAPI to the cannabis industry, eCommerce, education, training, healthcare and video conferencing. NexTech's "full funnel' end-to-end eCommerce solution for the AR industry includes offering 3D product capture, 3D ads for Facebook and Google as well as "Try it On' technology for online apparel, 3D and 360 degree product views and "one click buy.' The platform is affordable, scalable, customizable, and most importantly, easy to integrate within an existing web interface, making NexTech one of the leaders in the rapidly growing AR industry, estimated to hit $120 billion by 2022, according to Statista.

About NexTech AR Solutions Corp.

NexTech is bringing a next generation web enabled augmented reality (AR) platform with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and analytics to the Cannabis industry, eCommerce, education, training, healthcare and video conferencing. Having integrated with Shopify, Magento and Wordpress its technology offers eCommerce sites a universal 3D shopping solution. With just a few lines of embed code, the company's patent-pending platform offers the most technologically advanced 3D-AR, AI technology anywhere. Online retailers can subscribe to NexTech's state of the art, 3D-AR/AI solution for $79/mo. The company has created the AR industry's first end-to-end affordable, intelligent, frictionless, scalable platform. To learn more, please follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or visit our website: https://www.nextechar.com.

On behalf of the Board of NexTech AR Solutions Corp.

"Evan Gappelberg"

CEO and Director

For further information, please contact:

Evan Gappelberg

Chief Executive Officer

info@nextechar.com

Media contact:

Erin Hadden

FischTank Marketing and PR

ehadden@fischtankpr.com

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, "will be", "looking forward" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the Company increasing investors awareness are based on the Company's estimates and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of NexTech to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including capital expenditures and other costs. 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 and forward-looking information. NexTech will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43750
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2019) - Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: MGM) (OTCQB: MGMLF) (FSE: M3G) ("Maple Gold" or the "Company") has officially commenced drilling with Orbit Garant's first drill rig, currently at a depth of 125m downhole (see Fig 2 to view drill-core) at the first drill site in the Nika Zone. This first drill-hole, DO-19-255, is targeting the near-surface extension of last' year's best intercept in the Nika Zone (hole DO-18-218), which returned 50 metres averaging 1.77 g/t Au (see press release dated May 14, 2018). The second drill-hole will test the depth continuity of the same intercept, with additional holes planned in this area to test other nearby higher grade targets.





Fig 1: Instrument training/induction meeting at first drill-site; Orbit Garant at the Nika Zone

To view an enhanced version of Fig 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3077/43752_d80612c65470abb4_001full.jpg

Maple Gold's President and CEO, Matthew Hornor, commented: "The Nika Zone and surrounding NW Gap Area represents an important opportunity for the Company. The drill density in this area is relatively limited and last year's new discovery demonstrated the ability to define brand new zones within the greater resource area. Further drilling success in this area could lead to the definition of more near-surface mineralisation and help us link the Douay West, Porphyry and NW Zones."

An additional drill-hole approximately 250m to the west of DO-18-218 is planned to test the volume potential of a high-grade (21.1 g/t Au) intercept obtained from the final 1.5 metres of a historical drill-hole (DO-12-05), drilled back in 2012.

Forage Pikogan's first drill has also arrived and is set up at its first site in the Porphyry Zone, with drilling expected to begin tonight.





Fig. 2: Crackle brecciated and pyritic altered syenite in top of drill-hole DO-19-255

To view an enhanced version of Fig 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3077/43752_d80612c65470abb4_002full.jpg

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical data contained in this press release was reviewed and prepared under the supervision of Fred Speidel, M. Sc, P. Geo., Vice-President Exploration, of Maple Gold. Mr. Speidel is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Speidel has verified the data related to the exploration information disclosed in this news release through his direct participation in the work.

Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC)

Maple Gold implements strict Quality Assurance ("QA") and Quality Control ("QC") protocols at Douay covering the planning and placing of drill holes in the field; drilling and retrieving the NQ-sized drill core; drill-hole surveying; core transport to the Douay Camp; core logging by qualified personnel; sampling and bagging of core for analysis; transport of core from site to the analytical laboratory; sample preparation for assaying; and analysis, recording and final statistical vetting of results. For a complete description of protocols, please visit the Company's QA/QC page on the Company's website.

About Maple Gold

Maple Gold is an advanced gold exploration and development company focused on defining a district-scale gold project in one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions. The Company's ~392 km Douay Gold Project is located along the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone (55 km of strike) within the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt in northern Quebec, Canada. The Project benefits from excellent infrastructure and has an established gold resource3 that remains open in multiple directions. For more information please visit www.maplegoldmines.com.

ON BEHALF OF MAPLE GOLD MINES LTD.

"Matthew Hornor"

B. Matthew Hornor, President & CEO

For Further Information Please Contact:



Mr. Joness Lang

VP, Corporate Development

Cell: 778.686.6836

Email: jlang@maplegoldmines.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.

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation in Canada, including statements about the prospective mineral potential of the Porphyry Zone, the potential for significant mineralisation from other drilling in the referenced drill program and the completion of the drill program. Forward-looking statements are 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. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding timing and completion of the private placement. When used herein, words such as "anticipate", "will", "intend" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain estimates, expectations, analysis and opinions that management believed reasonable at the time they were made or in certain cases, on third party expert opinions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, and uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual events, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future events, results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such 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 Maple Gold Mines Ltd.'s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.maplegoldmines.com. 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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43752
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2019) - Ethos Gold Corp. (TSXV:ECC) ("Ethos" or the "Company") announces that it has received notice from the Province of British Columbia that the mineral tenures making up its Pine Pass vanadium project, located on the John Hart Highway between Mackenzie and Chetwynd, B.C., are included in an area under consideration for an immediate moratorium on development proposals and possible inclusion in an expanded environmental protected area. This notice was issued to Ethos in the context of negotiations between the B.C. Provincial Government, the Canadian Federal Government, Saulteau First Nations and West Moberly First Nations, that have resulted in a draft Intergovernmental Partnership Agreement relating to conservation and recovery efforts for the Central Group of Southern Mountain Caribou.(the "Partnership Agreement").

The Province has advised the Company that, "The draft Partnership Agreement proposes immediate interim habitat protection measures for critical areas, an expansion of the Twin Sisters (Klinse-za) Protected Area, additional habitat protection in core areas, and operational recovery and restoration measures." Furthermore, the Province has cautioned the Company that, if the Partnership Agreement comes into force, then the Company's mineral tenure, " may be impacted by the new land protection and regulatory measures that are under consideration". Additional details on the Partnership Agreement including on the related consultation process are available online at the Provincial Caribou Recovery Engagement Portal:

https://engage.gov.bc.ca/caribou/section11agreement/

The Company is preparing a submission to respond to the draft Partnership Agreement, conveying its significant concerns about the proposed measures and to recommend amendments to mitigate the impact on its Pine Pass vanadium project. Submissions are due by April 26, 2019.

The Company's Mines Act Permit application for its planned 2019 Pine Pass exploration program was submitted to provincial regulators on February 4th, 2019, and presently is pending. Based on recent discussions between the Company and its regulatory contacts, the Company understands that, for the time being, exploration permit applications are being processed in the ordinary course. Until the Company has more certainty about the impacts of the Partnership Agreement on its Pine Pass and Ursula vanadium projects, it will continue to maintain its projects in good standing. However, given the risk that the proposed Partnership Agreement, if instituted, will result in new land protection and regulatory measures that could prevent or materially impair those projects, the Company will curtail making any new material expenditures.

Commented Craig Roberts, P.Eng., President and CEO of Ethos: "Certainly, we are concerned about the proposed imposition of restrictions on our vanadium projects, and we intend to make a robust submission to the Province to defend the interests of Ethos and its shareholders. At the same time, until the uncertainty over these proposals is cleared up, we will be measured appropriately in our activities and expenditures on our Pine Pass and Ursula vanadium projects."

About Ethos Gold

Ethos Gold is exploring the La Purisima gold project in northwest Chihuahua State, Mexico, as well as the Pine Pass and Ursula vanadium projects located on Highway 97 in northern, British Columbia. La Purisima is a near surface, bulk tonnage oxide gold target. The Company is nearing completion of its trenching program at La Purisima, and a maiden drill program is planned to begin by shortly after the trench assay results are received.

The Company is well funded with a current net cash balance of approximately $7.0 million. Ethos is actively evaluating additional precious metals opportunities.

For additional information please contact Craig Roberts at 604-682-4750 or view the Company's website, www.ethosgold.com

Ethos Gold Corp.



Per: "Craig Roberts"

Craig Roberts P.Eng., President & CEO

Forward-Looking Statement Cautions:

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including: statements regarding the possible negative impacts of proposed land protection and regulatory measures on the Company's Pine Pass and Ursula vanadium projects in northeast B.C.; the Company's need to carefully manage expenditures on its vanadium projects in the context of new regulator concerns; a proposed Company submission to the B.C. government to address its concerns over the proposed land protection and regulatory measures; the expectations concerning the Company's application for a permit for 2019 an exploration program at Pine Pass; and the project timing for the signing of a Caribou Protection Plan that covers the Company's Pine Pass project area. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the risk of accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, or the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances, necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes in the jurisdictions where the Company carries on its business that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43757
News release from Vestas Asia Pacific

Singapore, 29 March 2019



Vestas has won its first V150-4.2 MW order in Southeast Asia for a project in Vietnam with an undisclosed foreigner investor. Featuring the V150-4.2 MW wind turbine, one of the highest producing low-wind turbines in the industry, this project delivers a very competitive cost of energy for the customer.

This 42 MW order includes supply and installation of 10 V150-4.2 MW wind turbines as well as a ten-year AOM 5000 energy-based service agreement, both of which contribute to an attractive cost of energy and a solid business case. This is Vestas' fifth project in Vietnam and the first that includes a supply and installation scope. By providing supply and installation to the customer, Vestas will be de-risking the project through eliminating the need for the customer to manage different installation suppliers and contractors.

Additionally, to reduce the overall project cost for the customer, the project team has customised slimmer 105-metre site-specific towers that require less steel. With its past project experience as well as deep understanding of the country, Vestas was able to develop an attractive transportation and logistics solution to deliver what will be the biggest turbines in Vietnam with its 73.7-meter-long blades.

"This important win showcases the potential of Vietnam as one of the key Southeast Asian countries to attract investors to grow its wind energy sector", said Clive Turton, President of Vestas Asia Pacific. "With our in-depth market knowledge, ability to provide customised solutions and our established local presence in Vietnam, Vestas is ready to support the nation's growing ambition to increase renewable energy sources".

With a coastline of more than 3,000 km and located in the monsoonal climate zone, Vietnam has one of the best wind potentials in Southeast Asia region. Turbine delivery is expected to commence around the last quarter of 2019.

For more information, please contact:

Stephanie Foo

Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications, Asia Pacific

Tel: +65 9645 4558

Mail: FOHKH@vestas.com

About Vestas

Vestas is the energy industry's global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines across the globe, and with 101 GW of wind turbines in 80 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and 86 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas' more than 24,600 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.

For updated Vestas photographs and videos, please visit our media images page on: https://www.vestas.com/en/media/images .

We invite you to learn more about Vestas by visiting our website at www.vestas.com and following us on our social media channels:

www.twitter.com/vestas (http://www.twitter.com/vestas)

(http://www.twitter.com/vestas) www.linkedin.com/company/vestas (http://www.linkedin.com/company/vestas)

(http://www.linkedin.com/company/vestas) www.facebook.com/vestas (http://www.facebook.com/vestas)

(http://www.facebook.com/vestas) www.instagram.com/vestas (http://www.instagram.com/vestas)

(http://www.instagram.com/vestas) www.youtube.com/vestas (http://www.youtube.com/vestas)

Attachment
Artificial Intelligence Companies Research 2019

41.35% of so called AI companies do not use AI at all. 10,861 public and private companies have been analysed worldwide. New AI Market Intelligence Platform helps Venture Capital firms, Private Equity companies, asset managers, analysts, family offices and financial institutions to identify investment opportunities.

LONDON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, AI-42 Market Intelligence Ltd., the leading Artificial Intelligence Market Intelligence provider, announced the results of its latest research about the AI competence levels and financial health of Artificial Intelligence related companies worldwide.

The staggering result: Only 5.45% of all AI companies analysed have a high degree of AI competence, 41.35% are totally lacking AI expertise. The average financial health of AI companies is low, only 4.59% are in strong financial condition.

To get an "x-ray" view of the market, 42 conducted its own research of the AI market: 10,861 companies have been evaluated by applying a proprietary quantitative & qualitative analytics approach, where metrics like market environment, financial health, customer-, partnership and social media momentum have been quantitatively analysed and expert scoring of metrics like AI competence, AI focus, AI growth potential or AI sector potential has been added. Data points like scientist employment growth rates, number of patent filings, publications and research papers of these companies have been taken into account.

Only 592 (5.45%) of all the AI companies analysed have an AI score of more than 500 (on a scale from 0-1,000, a weighted metric based on AI competence, AI focus, AI growth potential and revenue contribution). Only 6,371 (58.65%) of them have a score of more than 250, which is considered a minimal AI expertise. Also, the financial health of most of the companies is questionable. Only 499 (4.59%) are in strong financial condition.

Also, a recent survey from London venture capital firm MMC found that 40 percent of European start-ups that are classified as AI companies don't actually use Artificial Intelligence. They studied some 2,830 AI start-ups in 13 EU countries to come to its conclusion. On the flipside, have the artificial intelligence market forecasts been constantly revised upwards, Tractica currently assumes a growth from $5.4 billion in 2017 to $105.8 billion by 2025, a prediction which was $80 billion just a few months ago. This creates an environment of possibilities but also the challenge to identify the real pearls.

It is clearly confirmed that Artificial intelligence is one of the most misused terms in tech today, it has become a hyped technology. It is important to identify the real quality AI players in the market, which has become a more and more challenging task. Only by rigorously analysing massive data about these companies, combined with a high level of AI expertise, a sufficient opinion can be built.

42 is the leading AI Market Intelligence provider and maintains one of the largest databases of AI companies and related information, covering everyone from start-up, late stage, pre-unicorns, unicorns to public listed companies.

Access to the database is provided with the AI Analyst, an AI Market Intelligence Platform for Venture Capital firms, Private Equity companies, asset managers, analysts, family offices or financial institutions. This data, analytics and expert scoring is used by clients to identify, prioritize and nurture opportunities, to see fast-growing markets and industries before others to inform strategic decisions or to pinpoint fast-growing public companies to understand their strengths in AI, products and technology.

The basic version of the AI Analyst is available for free, signup at https://42.cx/analyst

About 42:

The AI Analyst, a AI market intelligence platform, is based on years of data collection from a multitude of data sources and allows customers to systematically scan the universe of AI companies for the best investment opportunities. A comprehensive network of experts - from AI scientists to financial market specialists - allows 42 to add human intelligence to the data. 42 is also the creator of the two main Artificial Intelligence indices, the AI-42 INDEX and the AI-42X INDEX, expressing the growth of public and private AI companies. 42 has offices in London and Linz and was incorporated in 2015.

Press contact:

Markus Rumler

press@42.cx

+43-664-263-1771

AI-42 Market Intelligence Ltd.

3rd Floor, 120 Baker Street,

London, W1U 6TU
Arch Insurance International and Arch MI today announced changes to their European operations as part of the Arch Brexit plan and other recent business initiatives. Notably, Arch Insurance (EU) dac (formerly Arch Mortgage Insurance dac), has received authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) to expand the classes of business it writes in the EU/EEA. With this authorisation, from 29 March 2019 Arch Insurance EU will commence underwriting P&C, Motor and other business lines in the EU/EEA in addition to its current mortgage insurance business.

Arch Insurance Company (Europe) Limited has also changed its name to Arch Insurance (UK) Limited. Arch Insurance UK, based in London, will continue to write a diverse portfolio of global specialty insurances in both the UK and other non-EU/EEA regions. The Arch UK Regional Division of Arch Insurance UK, which was formed in January 2019, will continue without change and focus on commercial property, casualty, motor, professional liability, personal accident and travel business through its extended office network across the UK. The Arch Lloyd's underwriting platform also remains unchanged.

Arch Insurance EU retains its headquarters in Dublin and adds branch offices in the UK, Italy and Denmark. The Motor insurance business and other specialty lines will be conducted through its newly formed Alwyn Europe division.

Going forward, Arch Insurance UK and the P&C insurance operations of Arch Insurance EU fall under the Arch Insurance International banner. Arch Insurance International includes Arch's insurance operations in Europe, Bermuda and Australia.

"The CBI authorisation enables Arch Insurance EU to provide a broad range of insurance products in Europe and to ensure a smooth Brexit transition," said Soren Scheuer, President and CEO of Arch Insurance EU.

"These important changes mean that our European clients and policyholders will continue to be well-served by Arch Insurance EU," added Hugh Sturgess, CEO of Arch Insurance International.

About Arch Insurance International and Arch Insurance (EU) dac

Arch Insurance International includes Arch's insurance operations in Europe, Bermuda and Australia. We provide specialized property and liability insurance programmes to a wide range of industrial and commercial companies and financial institutions. Business in the UK is written by Arch Insurance (UK) Limited, and business in the EU/EEA is written by Arch Insurance (EU) dac or via the Lloyd's Brussels platform.

Arch Insurance (EU) dac also provides innovative mortgage credit risk management and capital optimisation solutions to clients throughout Europe.

Arch Insurance (EU) dac (trading as Arch Insurance International, Arch Insurance, Arch Insurance EU, Arch MI, Arch Mortgage Insurance and Alwyn Europe) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, and Arch Insurance (UK) Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the UK.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. This release or any other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Arch Capital Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries may include forward-looking statements, which reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in or incorporated by reference in this release are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or their negative or variations or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements involve our current assessment of risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. A non-exclusive list of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements includes the following: adverse general economic and market conditions; increased competition; pricing and policy term trends; fluctuations in the actions of rating agencies and our ability to maintain and improve our ratings; investment performance; the loss of key personnel; the adequacy of our loss reserves, severity and/or frequency of losses, greater than expected loss ratios and adverse development on claim and/or claim expense liabilities; greater frequency or severity of unpredictable natural and man-made catastrophic events; the impact of acts of terrorism and acts of war; changes in regulations and/or tax laws in the United States or elsewhere; our ability to successfully integrate, establish and maintain operating procedures as well as integrate the businesses we have acquired or may acquire into the existing operations; changes in accounting principles or policies; material differences between actual and expected assessments for guaranty funds and mandatory pooling arrangements; availability and cost to us of reinsurance to manage our gross and net exposures; the failure of others to meet their obligations to us; and other factors identified in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The foregoing review of important factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with other cautionary statements that are included herein or elsewhere. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005244/en/

Contacts:

Arch Insurance (EU) dac

Soren Scheuer

sscheuer@archinsurance.eu

+353 1 669 9700



Arch Insurance (UK) Limited

Hugh Sturgess

hsturgess@archinsurance.co.uk

+44 20 7621 4500
Company Named a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality

VICTOR, N.Y., March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ and STZ.B), a leading beverage alcohol company, announced today that it received a top score of 100 points on the 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation's premier benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. Administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, Constellation was named a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality for its policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs, and public engagement with the LGBTQ community.



"We are proud to be named for the second consecutive year a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality by the HRC, a recognition that pays homage to one of our core values - People - which is centered around respecting each other and creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, heard and respected," said Kris Carey, senior vice president, human resources and chief diversity officer, Constellation Brands. "This recognition reaffirms our company's long-standing commitment to diversity, inclusion and a culture that empowers our people to bring their true selves to work every day so they can reach their highest potential personally, and collectively."



Constellation has taken steps to embed diversity and inclusion into everything the company does. From offering workshops and training that help its team members recognize unconscious bias, to the formalization of business resource groups (BRGs) such as Stellar Pride (LGBTQ) - Constellation's longest running affinity group, WISE for Women, Early Career Professionals and the Hispanic/Latinx BRG. Constellation is committed to ensuring the company attracts and retains employees that reflect the consumers we serve and communities in which the company operates.

"Diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity have been at the heart of who we are as a company for more than 70 years," said President and CEO Bill Newlands, Constellation Brands. "We know that having an employee base that reflects the diverse communities and consumers that we serve is not only the right thing to do, it will also have a positive impact on our business performance and create stronger connections with our consumers."



The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.



About Constellation Brands

Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ and STZ.B), a Fortune 500 company, is a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, Italy and Canada. Constellation is the No. 3 beer company in the U.S. with high-end, iconic imported brands such as Corona Extra, Corona Light, Modelo Especial, Modelo Negra and Pacifico. The company's beer portfolio also includes Ballast Point, one of the most awarded craft brewers in the U.S. In addition, Constellation is the world leader in premium wine, selling great brands that people love, including Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois, Kim Crawford, Meiomi, Mark West, Franciscan Estate, Ruffino and The Prisoner. The company's premium spirits brands include SVEDKA Vodka, Casa Noble Tequila and High West Whiskey.



Based in Victor, N.Y., the company believes that industry leadership involves a commitment to brand building, our trade partners, the environment, our investors and to consumers around the world who choose our products when celebrating big moments or enjoying quiet ones. Founded in 1945, Constellation has grown to become a significant player in the beverage alcohol industry with more than 100 brands in its portfolio; about 40 wineries, breweries and distilleries; and approximately 10,000 talented employees. We express our company vision: to elevate life with every glass raised.



To learn more, follow us on Twitter @cbrands and visit www.cbrands.com .

MEDIA CONTACTS INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS Mike McGrew (mailto:mike.mcgrew@cbrands.com) 773-251-4934 | Amy Martin (mailto:amy.martin@cbrands.com) 585-678-7141 Patty Yahn-Urlaub (mailto:patty.yahn-urlaub@cbrands.com) 585-678-7483 | Bob Czudak (mailto:bob.czudak@cbrands.com) 585-678-7170 Tom Conaway (mailto:thomas.conaway@cbrands.com) 585-678-7503

A downloadable PDF copy of this news release enhanced with multimedia links can be found here: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/160de488-4d5a-4eaf-8939-b6b9dcc908c2
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it has been positioned as a Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure Professional and Managed Services, Worldwide, 2019. The report authored by Craig Lowery, To Chee Eng, Scot MacLellan, Ross Winser, Brandon Medford was released on February 26, 2019.

This Magic Quadrant is focused on MSPs that have deep technical expertise with hyperscale providers, effective cloud management platforms (CMPs), and managed services that leverage automation, where possible.

According to Gartner,"By 2024, more than 50% of cloud service deals will include both application development services and cloud infrastructure professional and managed services, up from 10% in 2019." "Previous versions of this Magic Quadrant named this market the "Public Cloud Infrastructure Managed Service Providers. In the 2018 report, we noted the professional services market has become as important, if not more important, than the managed service market." "The MSPs must also possess the ability to deliver cloud-optimized solutions, regardless of whether a customer is deploying new cloud-native applications or migrating legacy workloads from an existing traditional data center. This depth of expertise and technical integration, including exploiting the API-enabled automation of hyperscale providers, distinguishes these MSPs from data center outsourcing (DCO) providers."

Ramesh Nagarajan, Senior Vice President Cloud Services, Wipro Limited said, "Wipro is excited to be named a Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure Professional and Managed Services, Worldwide. We continue to demonstrate our leadership in providing industrialized solutions to help our clients accelerate their cloud journey. Our 'business-first and cloud-first' strategy coupled with investments in vertical IPs positions us uniquely to enhance customer experience, drive business agility and generate data-driven insights for our customers. Our Cloud Studio supports the 'lift and shift' of applications to cloud, re-platforming using infrastructure-as-a-code principles, refactoring and cloud-native development using Wipro's IPs and partner tool sets."

Please click here to view the complete report.

Disclaimer: Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Wipro Limited

Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 175,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future.

Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005277/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact:

Prathibha Das

Wipro Limited

prathibha.das@wipro.com
Planetshakers Conference 2019

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / They come from places scattered across the globe. For more than 20 years, a generation of people has gathered to pour out their praise and worship at Planetshakers Conference, with life-changing results ranging from supernatural healing and salvation to the discovery of peace and purpose. At the heart of it all is the belief that the God's presence can create a shift in the atmosphere, bringing heaven to earth and releasing a rain of blessings that transforms lives around the world.

"We've been lifting up the name of Jesus for more than two decades," said Russell Evans, Senior Pastor of Planetshakers Church. "Over the years, our prayers, praise and worship have reached the heavens, and now we stand ready to receive an outpouring of God's goodness as even greater miracles rain down through this conference experience."

"With over 20,000 members, Planetshakers Church is influencing the global community in profound ways through a growing reach that spans nine campuses in Australia, Europe, Singapore, South Africa and the United States," said Joshua Brown of Planetshakers. "And with the widespread popularity of Planetshakers TV, annual conferences, and the worldwide music distribution of Planetshakers Band, millions are being impacted for eternity by the message of the Gospel."

Marking the fifth time that Planetshakers Conference is partnering with Daystar Television Network, this dynamic experience will be broadcast to the world April 11-13. This year, the network will share the event with over 5 billion people in the hope that countless lives are forever changed as God's presence is released through praise.

"Planetshakers Conference is an experience unlike any other, and I'm thrilled to once again have the privilege of bringing it to our viewers," said Marcus Lamb, Daystar's Founder and CEO. "By fully surrendering our hearts in praise and worship, I believe the Holy Spirit is going to meet desperate prayers with powerful answers from heaven as people everywhere tune in around the world!"

As this life-changing event approaches, global anticipation grows day by day. From renewed hope to radical healing, people are excited to experience a sudden shift in the atmosphere. And with a long-standing history of supernatural breakthrough, only God knows what awaits those who watch Planetshakers Conference on Daystar around the world, ready to receive the rain of heaven.

For more information on Planetshakers Conference 2019, you can visit Planetshakers.com. To watch the conference live on Daystar Television Network, go to Daystar.com or check your local listings.

About Daystar Television Network

Daystar Television Network is an award winning, faith-based network dedicated to spreading the Gospel 24 hours a day, seven days a week - all around the globe, through all media formats possible. Reaching over 109 million households in the United States and over 5 billion people worldwide, Daystar is the fastest growing faith-based television network in the world. To learn more, visit Daystar.com.

About Planetshakers

At its core, Planetshakers seeks first and foremost to pursue the presence of God. All expressions of Planetshakers, including Planetshakers Band, which is known for its international touring and worship favorites like " Like A Fire ," " Endless Praise ," " Nothing Is Impossible , " " This Is Our Time " and " The Anthem ," find their source in the local church. There are currently nine Planetshakers Church campuses across Australia, Europe, Singapore, South Africa and the United States. In the past 13 years, Planetshakers Church has grown to over 20,000 members and is led by Senior Pastors, Russell and Sam Evans. The husband and wife team also host Planetshakers TV, a 30-minute Christian television program broadcast in over 100 countries.

Planetshakers Church is further involved in numerous community and charitable causes, including prison ministry, school programs, refugee outreach, disaster relief and welfare assistance. It also partners with World Vision to assist in urgent humanitarian crises around the world, and runs Planetshakers College in Melbourne, which equips local and international students to impact their world for Christ.

For More information, please contact:

Tiffany Robertson - Communications Assistant, Daystar Television Network

tiffany.robertson@daystar.com

SOURCE: Daystar Television Network

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540518/Planetshakers-and-Daystar-Television-Network-Unite-to-Release-Gods-Rain
Capital for Colleagues plc / EPIC: CFCP / Market: NEX / Sector: Investment

29 March 2019

CAPITAL FOR COLLEAGUES PLC

('Capital for Colleagues' or the 'Company')

DIRECTORS' INTERESTS

Capital for Colleagues, the investment vehicle focused on opportunities in the Employee Owned Business ('EOB') sector, has been notified that Piccadilly SIP Trustee Limited has acquired 10,000 ordinary shares of 40p each in the Company ('Ordinary Shares') at a price of 50p per share pursuant to the Company's Share Incentive Plan.

John Eckersley and Alistair Currie, both of whom are Directors of the Company, are each interested in 5,000 of the 10,000 Ordinary Shares acquired for the Share Incentive Plan and their interests in the Company's issued share capital are now as follows:

Ordinary Shares % John Eckersley 509,348 3.30 Alistair Currie 383,850 2.49

The Directors of the Company are responsible for the contents of this announcement.

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit www.capitalforcolleagues.com or contact:



CAPITAL FOR COLLEAGUES PLC

Richard Bailey, Chairman

John Eckersley, Chief Executive

0161 464 3260 PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED

Mark Anwyl

Duncan Vasey 020 7469 0930

Capital for Colleagues

Capital for Colleagues is an investment company focused on the UK EOB sector. The Company has a proven management team, with a wide network of contacts and affiliates, as well as established access to investment opportunities, enabling the Company to execute its strategy and capitalise on EOB-focused investment opportunities.

The Company's joint venture, Castlefield Corporate Advisory Partners, educates and assists companies which are looking to launch employee ownership schemes, advising them, amongst other things, on how to secure investment and achieve their objectives.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them. 1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated a) Name John Eckersley 2 Reason for the notification a) Position/status Chief Executive of Capital for Colleagues plc b) Initial notification /Amendment

Initial 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name Capital for Colleagues plc b) LEI 213800K2JRG9LQKQTM98 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument

Identification code Ordinary Shares of 40p each











ISIN: GB00BGCZ2V99 b) Nature of the transaction Acquisition of Ordinary Shares by SIP Trustee c) Price(s) and volume(s) 5,000 Ordinary Shares at 50p per share d) Aggregated information

- Aggregated volume

- Price



n/a (single transaction) e) Date of the transaction 28 March 2019 f) Place of the transaction NEX Exchange Growth Market
News release from Vestas Asia Pacific

Singapore, 29 March 2019



Vestas has received an order from Foxwell Energy, a subsidiary of Foxlink Group, and TCC Green Energy, a subsidiary of TCC Group, for the 43 MW Changhua wind park in Taiwan. Working closely with the project owners to understand their requirements and the site constraints of the project, Vestas was able to customise a solution featuring site- and wind-turbine specific towers of 100m and a tailored service package. This solution will provide the wind park with optimal wind energy production and lower the cost of energy.

This win signifies Vestas' continuous commitment to Taiwan as it follows an 18 MW project received in 2018 that represented Vestas' comeback in the Taiwanese market.

The project includes the supply and supervision of 12 V105-3.6 MW wind turbines as well as two separate service contracts - a 20-year AOM 4000 service agreement and a 5-year AOM 4000 service agreement, both including Vestas Online Business SCADA solution. This is the first 20-year service contract that Vestas signed in Taiwan, which is a significant milestone for the service team.

"As a sustainable energy solutions providerthat works closely with our customers, we are able to customise our products and solutions to help them optimise the site challenges", said Clive Turton, President of Vestas Asia Pacific. "Vestas is proud to be partnering with established local project owners like FoxwellEnergy and TCC Green Energy who are eager to expand the renewable footprint in Taiwan".

"We are honoured to get full support from Vestas to execute this project efficiently", expressed Cindy Chen, CEO of Foxwell Energy, a subsidiary of Foxlink Group.

This Wind Power Plant Development will be located along the west coast of Taiwan where the country's largest wind energy capacity is found. Turbine installation is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2020.

For more information, please contact:

Stephanie Foo

Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications, Asia Pacific

Tel: +65 9645 4558

Mail: FOHKH@vestas.com

About Vestas

Vestas is the energy industry's global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines across the globe, and with 101 GW of wind turbines in 80 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and 86 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas' more than 24,600 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.

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SpendEdge, a leading provider of procurement market intelligence solutions, has announced the completion of their portfolio analysis engagement for a professional services company.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005359/en/

Portfolio analysis engagement for a professional services company. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Project background

The client wanted to provide a robust portfolio that can withstand downturns in different sectors while leveraging business opportunities. The total project engagement period for this specific requirement was eight months.

Objective 1: The company wanted to strategically allocate direct business resources to increase their profitability.

The company wanted to strategically allocate direct business resources to increase their profitability. Objective 2: They were also keen on identifying ways to reduce excess spend.

They were also keen on identifying ways to reduce excess spend. Want to obtain detailed insights? Request a free demo and know how our solutions can help you in strategic resource allocation.

"Portfolio analysis highlights the trade-off between the returns on an investment and the risks associated with that investment. This enables companies to improve their overall return by making prudent business decisions," says Srinivas R (Manager Procurement Services at SpendEdge)

Key findings and solutions offered

In a span of eight months, the client a leading professional services firm (PSF) - formulated potent business strategies and made a large-scale acquisition to increase their footprint outside of the United States. The services offered helped them to:

Re-profile their business and improve service offerings to rank in the top tier of the industry.

Identify regions where the potential for sustained growth was higher and make investments.

Increasing footprint in different countries requires is not as easy as it seems. Request a free proposal and access our complete portfolio of supply market intelligence solutions today!

SpendEdge's portfolio analysis solution helped the professional services company to strategize their direct business resources. Our analysis provided them with insights to improve their service offerings and increase profitability. The solution offered helped the client to improve their rankings by five positions in the international market.

To access the complete case study on portfolio analysis, contact our analyst team here!

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/20190329005359/en/

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

US: +1 630 984 7340

UK: +44 148 459 9299

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2019) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA (FMC) has agreed to pay more than $231 million to resolve parallel SEC and U.S. Department of Justice investigations related to its violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) across multiple countries for nearly a decade.

The SEC's order finds that FMC, a German-based worldwide provider of products and services for individuals with chronic kidney failure engaged in misconduct in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Angola, Turkey, Spain, China, Serbia, Bosnia, Mexico, and eight countries in the West African region against a backdrop where the company failed to have sufficient internal accounting controls. FMC made improper payments through a variety of schemes, including using sham consulting contracts, falsifying documents, and funneling bribes through a system of third party intermediaries. Despite known red flags of corruption since the early 2000s, FMC devoted insufficient resources to compliance. In some jurisdictions, Fresenius failed to take basic steps such as providing anti-corruption training or performing due diligence on its agents. In many instances, senior management actively engaged in corruption schemes and directed employees to destroy records of the misconduct. All told FMC paid nearly $30 million in bribes to government officials and others to procure business.

"Failure to address the corruption risks in its growing business allowed complicit managers to engage in bribery schemes that went undetected for more than a decade," said Charles Cain, Chief of the FCPA Unit. "As companies expand their business, their internal accounting controls and compliance programs must keep up."

"By engaging in widespread bribery schemes across multiple countries, the company prioritized profits over compliance in its dealings with foreign government officials," said Tracy Price, Deputy Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division's FCPA Unit.

FMC agreed to pay $147 million in disgorgement and interest to the SEC as well as a criminal fine of $84.7 million as part of a non-prosecution agreement announced today by the Justice Department. FMC must retain an independent compliance monitor for two years and self-report its FCPA compliance efforts for the year after the monitor expires.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Irene Gutierrez, M. Shahriar Masud, and Michelle L. Ramos. The case was supervised by Tracy L. Price. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division's Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
BOAO, China, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Media representatives from 20 Asian countries shared their perspectives on the media's role in global governance and Asian media's cooperation in the "omnimedia" era during one of the roundtable discussions at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019, which was initiated by the China Media Group and is now underway in Boao, south China'sHainan Province.

The Asia Media Cooperation Conference, which has been held annually over the past six year, shares the belief that in the omnimedia era, new technology promotes the transformation of the media industry, changes the traditional media ecology and influences the pattern of international communication.

Guo Weimin, vice minister of China's State Council Information Office, made a keynote speech at the conference on Friday. Guo said the emergence of new technologies such as AI and 5G has brought revolutionary changes to the media landscape.

He emphasized that the rise of digital media should not be seen as a threat to traditional media, but rather a boost for common prosperity.

Yan Xiaoming, vice president of China Media Group, said that in just one year's time, cutting-edge technologies like AI and 5G have turned from tools that that media reports about into tools that media use.

In this new era, there's an urgent need for Asian countries to improve their say on the world stage, to match their economic competence.

Other representatives echoed that Asian media should seize opportunities and work together to decide Asian media's say and development in the international community.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/843561/CHINA_GLOBAL_representatives.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/843560/CHINA_GLOBAL_guo_weimin.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/843559/CHINA_GLOBAL_yan_xiaoming.jpg
LONDON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In the latest analysis by proptech company Movebubble, they highlight that developers in the rental sector are missing out on higher income and capital returns for investors by not taking a data first approach to understanding supply/demand dynamics or forecasting renter behaviour. "It's 2019 but the sector is heavily under-utilising data to make decisions across the value chain," says Aidan Rushby, CEO.

Build-to-rent enjoyed 3.1bn of investment in 2018, up a third on 2017, and 33.8bn of institutional equity is thought to be targeting the sector over the next five years according to Property Investor Today. Sophisticated investors are seeking to address the supply/demand imbalance in the UK's private rented sector and capture a portion of the 1.5tn market, that generates 65bn in rental income.

The UK Government has set targets to build more than 3 million new homes by 2040. The company has learnt when speaking to developers that land is not being built on due to difficulties unlocking its value or planning, making it less viable. Movebubble's data shows that developers can pay a premium for land, yet still make higher returns.

Zero deposits, gyms and other amenities are built to entice renters, but the value placed on these amenities has not be quantified accurately. Movebubble's analysis shows that the demand in London for two beds is around 23%, whereas the supply in build-to-rent properties is 48%. Developers can expect a 5% higher return by simply optimising the mix of units.

The behavioural data Movebubble has collected, shows renters in this segment are planning their move on average two months in advance. The renting platform believes this can be used to accurately gauge the renter's moving stage and target them with properties at the right time, leading to marketing cost savings for built to rent operators.

Quintain, the forward-thinking investor and developer behind the new Wembley Park neighbourhood Tipi, recently took a 10% stake in Movebubble. "Such an innovative company joining us, validates our data driven approach," says Aidan Rushby, CEO.

There are nearly 73,000 build to rent homes completed under construction or planned in London, Manchester, Newcastle and many other UK cities, demonstrating huge investment. According to Movebubble's data, developers and investors are missing out on income and capital gains at every stage in the value chain. The company believes the upside of maximising data in this sector is massive and they are already working to disrupt the traditional approach.

About Movebubble:

Movebubble is a London based technology business, founded by Aidan Rushby in 2014. The company is a renter first solution that's focused on changing how people find homes to rent in London and Manchester by making it a simpler and more enjoyable experience.

Named as London's number one property app by the Evening Standard, over 300,000 renters have already downloaded the Movebubble app to find their perfect home.

Contact:
TORONTO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Professor Clive Ballard, Executive Dean of the University of Exeter Medical School, was presented with the 2019 Weston Brain Institute International Outstanding Achievement Award in Lisbon, Portugal. This 25,000 award recognizes an exceptional researcher who has made significant advances in accelerating the development of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases of aging through translational research, has demonstrated remarkable leadership, and has a record of impeccable citizenship in the research community. This year's prize was provided by the Selfridges Group and was open to researchers based in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

2019 International Outstanding Achievement Award: Professor Clive Ballard

Professor Clive Ballard is a world leader in dementia prevention and drug discovery, and an advocate for improved care for patients of neurodegenerative diseases of aging. Throughout his career, Professor Ballard has been the lead PI or co-PI on more than 30 clinical trials that evaluate various therapeutic interventions for neurodegenerative diseases of aging. His landmark clinical trials include the DART AD trial that highlighted the major long-term impact of using anti-psychotics on mortality in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, and the HTA-SADD trial for testing the use of sertraline and mirtazapine for the treatment of depression in AD patients.

In addition to drug development, Professor Ballard is also heavily involved in the study of prevention strategies and alternative treatment opportunities for AD. For example, along with colleagues, he developed PROTECT, an online-based project, now adopted by the Dementia Platform UK, that aims to understand why some people develop dementia by collecting participants' information on demographics, lifestyle, cognitive abilities, and DNA samples, year after year.

Clive Ballard comments "I am absolutely honoured and delighted to receive the extremely prestigious 2019 Weston Brain Institute International Outstanding Achievement Award. The dementia research field is at a pivotal point, and we look forward to turning research opportunities into benefits for people with dementia over the next 10 years."

Professor Ballard has published over 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and has been cited over 50,000 times. In the past 15 years, he has garnered more than 100 million in research funding. Professor Ballard also held leadership positions in a number of organizations, including Director of Research for Alzheimer's Society in the UK (2003-2013), where he guided national policy around dementia treatment and care. In 2015, Professor Ballard was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Professor Ballard is currently the Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean,

Professor of Age Related Diseases at the University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health.

"I'm delighted that Professor Ballard was named this year's recipient of the 2019 Weston Brain Institute International Outstanding Achievement award. Professor Ballard is a highly talented clinician who has developed important prevention strategies and alternative treatment opportunities for patients," said Alexandra Stewart, Executive Director of the Weston Brain Institute.

Professor Ballard is the fourth recipient of the annual Weston Brain Institute International Outstanding Achievement award. The 2016 winner was Dr. Peter St George-Hyslop (Professor, University of Toronto) for accomplishments that include developing mouse models of AD as tools for drug development. In 2017, The Selfridges Group Foundation named Professor Nicholas Fox (Professor, University College London) the winner for accomplishments that include developing neuroimaging methods for the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of progression in neurodegenerative diseases of aging. The 2018 winner was Dr. Anthony Lang (Professor, University of Toronto) for his leadership in clinical trials and development of alternative therapeutic interventions for PD. The 2020 award will be supported by The W. Garfield Weston Foundation and presented to a researcher based in Canada.

About the Weston Brain Institute

The Weston Brain Institute is Canada's largest privately funded national initiative aimed at accelerating breakthrough discoveries for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases of aging, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and frontotemporal dementia. The Institute directly supports Canada's world-class neuroscience research community and focuses on high-risk, high-reward projects, independent of commercial potential, that address the existing translational gap in neurodegenerative research using an innovative fast-track granting model. In Canada, the Institute is a program of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, and in Europe, the Weston Brain Institute is a program of the Selfridges Group Foundation. www.westonbrain.org; twitter: @westonbrain; Facebook: WestonBrainInstitute

About the Selfridges Group Foundation

The Selfridges Group Foundation was set up to coordinate charitable and philanthropic activities within Selfridges Group. Selfridges Group consists of Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, Holt Renfrew in Canada, de Bijenkorf in the Netherlands, and Selfridges in the UK. As part of its philanthropic work, the Selfridges Group Foundation supports medical research into treatments for brain disorders in Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

The Selfridges Group Foundation has most recently awarded four grants through its Rapid Response programme in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The exceptional scientists working on these projects are pursuing novel, high-risk, high-reward translational research in neurodegenerative diseases of aging.

The four recent grantees are:

Dr. Sahar El Aidy of University of Groningen, who is establishing a bacterial enzyme from the gut as a biomarker to predict the efficacy of levodopa treatment in patients with PD, to determine optimal dosing of levodopa and minimize side effects in PD patients.

of University of Groningen, who is establishing a bacterial enzyme from the gut as a biomarker to predict the efficacy of levodopa treatment in patients with PD, to determine optimal dosing of levodopa and minimize side effects in PD patients. Dr. Connie Jimenez of VU University Medical Center, who is developing and validating a panel of protein-based biomarkers from CSF for the diagnosis and prognosis of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease using mass spectrometry analysis.

of VU University Medical Center, who is developing and validating a panel of protein-based biomarkers from CSF for the diagnosis and prognosis of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease using mass spectrometry analysis. Dr. Laura Parkkinen of University of Oxford , who is developing a biomarker to diagnose early PD, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy by detecting the protein alpha synuclein in CSF. Additionally, assessing the feasibility of measuring the biomarker in saliva and peripheral tissues (nasal brushings) rather than the more difficult-to-obtain CSF.

of , who is developing a biomarker to diagnose early PD, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy by detecting the protein alpha synuclein in CSF. Additionally, assessing the feasibility of measuring the biomarker in saliva and peripheral tissues (nasal brushings) rather than the more difficult-to-obtain CSF. Dr. Eline Willemse of VU University Medical Center, who is measuring neurofilament light chain in CSF and blood of patients with Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies to develop curves of how this biomarker changes over time for different diseases, genders and ages. This will help with differential diagnosis, earlier diagnosis and predicting disease progression. If successful, the group aims to create an app for healthcare providers to use with patients.

For more information, please contact:

Annette Cremin

Annette.cremin@selfridges.co.uk

Georgia Frost

+44-(0)-7872-544-077

georgia.frost@selfridges.co.uk
BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / Urban renewal and revitalization is a trend that continues in locations positioned within close proximity to leading cities that often played a role in industries that have since died from their peak days. Once part of the state's mill and factory towns that drove much of the Massachusetts commercial development, the city of Worcester has over the last few decades been unable to avoid economic decline. The city's depreciating infrastructure that once attracted both businesses and residents, was ultimately unable to sustain the qualities required for a healthy urbanized area. However, the future is looking to be a different situation for the western Mass city as it works to rebuild itself, using a combination of its historical success and future development that will ultimately help position it for a comeback. Though the makings of a successful city revival are complicated with many contributing factors that cannot be forced and rather are in part created organically overtime.

Taking a look at the break down of what must happen and be in place for a location to revitalize its once vibrant and financially sustainable community, one of the first focuses is the residents in and around the area. This can be related back to how well connected the population is in its ability to sustain growth both for businesses and the overall city. This is a baseline that will on its own help to attract commercial entities to the area if they identify the city's workforce is well skilled and educated, has roots that will keep them centrally located and also can help forester the living aspects of a successfully run organization. Companies are also looking at the diversity of a particular area to make sure the talent pool not only has various skill levels but also different cultures that can help create a better overall business environment.

Businesses are also a key component that will help Worcester to build out its position in today's top industries and may be the most important factor to not only rebuild but sustain the growth they can stimulate. 'Development projects and new supply chains most always need to be in the works to highlight a future opportunity that businesses will want to take advantage of. The balance is one that needs to prompt commercial interest and a stream of investments to the city that can be paid back through creating a successful industry ecosystem in the area.' shares property developer Marcus Hiles who has targeted up-and-coming areas early on in his 30 years of experience as CEO of leading property firm Western Rim Properties. With new projects in the plans for the city's downtown area, companies may see the chance to be one of the early movers that will benefit from being at the heart of the city's renewal.

Further than the community's residents and business interest that will drive Worcester's future success, there are other key factors that help create a location's popularity and overall demand including affordability and accessibility. On the matter of accessibility, the city logistically has a key advantage with its position located at the cross-section of five major Massachusetts highways that can easily bring commuter residents in once its commercial foundation is reestablished. Not only setup to attract out-of-towners, the city itself offers an affordability that far outweighs locations like neighboring Boston, MA that has a cost of living over 20% higher than that of Worcester.

These key factors when combined with other public accommodations can help any city get back on its feet after what could be decades of economic downspin. As the rebuild gets started and other cities more crowded, it is a welcomed addition that residents and businesses will take advantage of to create future success.

To learn more about property investment news visit marcushiles-news.com .

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Media Contact:

Marcus Hiles

media@marcus-hiles.net

SOURCE: Marcus Hiles

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540585/Marcus-Hiles-The-City-of-Worcester-Massachusetts-Plans-to-Stage-its-Comeback
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / King's Bay Resources Corp. ("King's Bay" or the "Company") (TSXV: KBG) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an arm's length agreement dated March 29, 2019 with Mr. Joshua Stimmel and others to acquire all of the issued and outstanding equity of S&S Company, LLC ("S&S"), which owns and operates the licensed S&S California cannabis production and extraction lab, with immediate plans for expansion with high-capacity extraction and distillation under the brand name Elicit Labs.

The acquisition of S&S is being done in conjunction with a 5:1 consolidation of King's Bay share capital, a change of King's Bay name, a financing, and changes to King's Bay management (collectively, the "Proposed Transaction"). The parties have agreed to cooperate reasonably and in good faith in finalizing the structure of the Proposed Transaction for optimal tax treatment of the parties and for operational purposes. On completion of the Proposed Transaction, S&S will carry on its business as an indirect subsidiary of King's Bay.

Among other closing conditions, the Proposed Transaction is subject to the approval of King's Bay shareholders, which will be sought at a general meeting expected to be scheduled for a date in June 2019 (the "Meeting"). King's Bay shares will remain halted until the closing of the Proposed Transaction (the "Closing"). Further information respecting the Proposed Transaction will be contained in the management information circular to be prepared by the Company and delivered to its shareholders prior to the Meeting, a copy of which will be filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

About S&S

S&S Company LLC, under the brand name Elicit Labs is an innovative extraction and manufacturing private company doing business in California for over 4 years. Elicit Labs has established new, innovative methods to isolate cannabis compounds and to do so more efficiently, resulting in better, purer quality outputs. This proprietary product is marketed under the brand name "Absolute Crumble". These methods are at the core of the S&S vision of a complete, seed to consumer sales company that leverages its expertise in the development and manufacturing of concentrate products. The Elicit Labs team consists of many industry veterans, experienced executives, and operators. The financial results of S&S for the past 2 years are being audited and will be disclosed in a future news release.

S&S has received a temporary permit for a new 10,000 square foot facility located in Merced, California. The company has completed engineering plans, and construction permits including power upgrades. This new facility is projected to have the capacity to increase historical production capacity from 15,000 grams per month to a potential 150,000 grams per month to meet demand in the state of California and allow the company to expand its proprietary process into additional new concentrate products including; oil cartridges for reusable pens, live resin, wax and distillate, all under the Elicit Labs brand name. These expansion costs are estimated at USD$750,000 and plans are to start construction once financing is in place from the closing of the Proposed Transaction and the King's Bay Financing discussed below.

According in a report produced by BD Analytics and Arcview Research, "Concentrates is the fastest-growing big cannabis category, far outpacing flower, topicals, and edibles in terms of sales expansion". Further the report forecasts, "By 2022, U.S. concentrate product sales are estimated to hit $8.4 billion and nearly match the $8.5 billion in flower sales forecasted".

"We determined that focusing in on the concentrate category within the California market provided our shareholders the best growth opportunity within the cannabis industry. Elicit Labs is an established brand within this high growth category, building upon award winning success of their Absolute Crumble, and expanding their proprietary process into other recreational and medicinal concentrate products," stated Kevin Bottomley, President of King's Bay Resources.

"We have worked closely with King's Bay and their consultants over the last few months, and are pleased to provide an attractive investment opportunity to the public while bringing in the necessary capital to build and grow our business," stated Joshua Stimmel, Co-Founder and President of S&S.

Acquisition of S&S

The Proposed Transaction is a Change of Business and a Fundamental Acquisition under TSX Venture Exchange policies. The March 29th agreement between King's Bay and S&S includes the following terms:

In conjunction with a 5:1 consolidation of its share capital (the "King's Bay Consolidation"), King's Bay shall raise funds pursuant to a private placement offering (the "King's Bay Financing"), which on closing will be l invested through a King's Bay subsidiary in the S&S business.

King's Bay will reserve an aggregate of up to 23,000,000 common shares of King's Bay ("Consideration Shares") for issuance to the members of S&S upon the exercise of the Redemption-Exchange Right described below and in exchange for all the issued and outstanding securities of S&S. The value of the Consideration Shares for the purpose of the Proposed Transaction is $0.04 per share. The 23,000,000 shares are expected to represent 46.27% of the total issued and outstanding share capital of King's Bay after completion of the Proposed Transaction, including the King's Bay Financing discussed below.



In order to ensure that the S&S members don't have adverse tax consequences prior to taking possession of their Consideration Shares, King's Bay's wholly owned US subsidiary ("SubCo") which is purchasing S&S will create a new share class non- economic, non-voting Preferred Shares, each of which shares will be convertible into 1000 Consideration Shares.

Members of S&S shall purchase special voting shares in King's Bay for a nominal price, each of which shall entitle the holder to exercise 1000 voting rights as compared to a King's Bay common share. The number of these special voting shares are reduced in the same proportion as the Redemption-Exchange Right is exercised, so that 1000 Consideration Shares are issued whenever 1 SubCo Preferred Share and 1 special voting share are cancelled.

The Consideration Shares may be required to be escrowed pursuant to applicable stock exchange requirements. A finder's fee of 3,000,000 shares is payable in connection with the acquisition of S&S to an unrelated party.

The Proposed Transaction is expected to close in July, 2019 and is subject to the conditions set out in the purchase agreement between the Company and the S&S Members, including the completion of the King's Bay Financing (described below), it is also the intention of the parties that King's Bay delist its common shares from trading on TSX Venture Exchange and list on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE").

The King's Bay Financing

Prior to closing the acquisition of S&S, King's Bay will complete a financing (the "King's Bay Financing") to raise proceeds to fund the operation of the purchased business and its further growth and development, including the capitalization of SubCo and S&S. The King's Bay Financing shall be in an amount and at a price to be determined by the parties, acting reasonably and having regard to market conditions and the anticipated capital requirements of King's Bay and its business after Closing. The King's Bay Financing will be affected by the issuance of King's Bay common shares or shares and warrants. Finder's fees may be payable in connection with the King's Bay Financing.

The common shares of King's Bay issued pursuant to the King's Bay Financing will be subject to resale hold periods under applicable Canadian and United States securities laws.

New Management

On Closing, the existing board and management of King's Bay shall resign, and subject to their acceptability to the CSE, the board of directors of King's Bay shall include four of Joshua Stimmel, Joshua Hartsel, Tage Stimmel, David Hwang and other persons to be determined prior to Closing. Joshua Stimmel shall also serve as the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer. Current directors of King's Bay will be entitled to nominate one director to the board on behalf of current King's Bay shareholders.

Joshua Stimmel is the lead force behind the business development, strategic partnerships, team building, and organizational structure of S&S Company LLC, and Elicit Labs. He is a seasoned expert in organic land management and the commercial operation of sustainable outdoor and mixed light cultivation and retail dispensaries with a focus on original heritage strains alongside the newest, best-in-class genetics available and hemp cultivation. An experienced cultivator of twelve years, he has nurtured key industry relationships and assembled a powerful team capable of propelling it to be the most innovative, respected and competitive vertically integrated cannabis company in California.

Tage Stimmel is the Chief Operating Officer for S & S Company, LLC. She is a seasoned operation manager with 20 years in Food and Beverage Management. She has a BS in Business Administration with focus in Entrepreneurship and General Management from Sacramento State University. Tage also has over 18 years of cannabis experience including managing trimming employees for outdoor harvests and cultivating indoor cannabis. Starting in 2014 Tage worked as the Chief Executive Officer for Golden Hills Collective, the Prop 215 legal medical cannabis business which sold concentrate products under the brand 'Elicit Labs'.

Mr. David Hwang is classically trained as a physicist. Recruited by Bell Labs immediately after graduation, Mr. Hwang has had an eclectic career including- Hedge Fund Quant, Management Consultant, and Angel Investor. In 2013, Mr. Hwang set out to build his domain expertise in Cannabis and has now extensive experience assisting Cannabis business with business process optimization, demand planning and logistics. Mr. Hwang will assist the company in designing and building out best of breed information technology solutions that maximize yield and efficiency.

Joshua Hartsel is S & S's CEO and is the Co-Founder of Delta-9 Technologies & Blue Sky Processing. Dr. Joshua Hartsel has pioneered large scale extraction techniques for many leading companies in the space (Privateer Holdings, CV Sciences, Ananda Hemp, and Speakeasy) for the past decade. As a scientist, first and foremost, Dr. Hartsel is a leading authority on cannabis chemistry. As the Director of R&D at CV Sciences, his large-scale extraction expertise earned six High-Times Cannabis Cup awards for concentrates, pioneering the crystallization of CBD. Over his career he has co-authored several peer-reviewed journals, two book chapters on cannabinoids and terpenes (Nutraceuticals - Efficacy, Safety, and Toxicity as well as Cannabis in Veterinary Medicine), and served as an inventor on key patent applications.

Name Change

In conjunction with the King's Bay Consolidation, the Company intends to change its name from "King's Bay Resources Corp." to "Merced Holdings Corp." or such other name as may be selected by the King's Bay board of directors.

For further information please contact:

Kevin Bottomley

President and CEO

604-681-1568

kevin@kingsbayres.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward looking statements in this press release include that we can complete our acquisition of S&S; that S&S can become a complete, seed to consumer sales company that leverages its expertise in the development and manufacturing of concentrate products; that S&S's new facility is projected to increase historical production capacity from 15,000 grams per month to 150,000 grams per month and allow the company to expand its proprietary process into additional new concentrate products including; oil cartridges for reusable pens, live resin, wax and distillate; that these expansion costs will be USD$750,000; our intended timing to hold the Shareholders' Meeting and to close the S&S Transaction; that we can raise the King's Bay Financing; that King's Bay can list its shares on the CSE; and that we close the S&S Transaction and continue its business going forward. Forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual financial results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward looking statements and the forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. King's Bay's ability to complete the Proposed Transaction and successfully conduct the business currently conducted by the Purchased Companies is subject to a number of conditions, any of which are outside of King's Bay control; including that the King's Bay Financing is not attractive to investors for any reason; that regulators or other factors slow down our intended timing; that S&S can't increase production because of lack of facilities, lack of market, lack or funds or other reasons; expansion costs may increase dramatically or have been underestimated for the size and scope of the expansion; our proposed management may not be acceptable to regulators; and that we may not be accepted for listing on a stock exchange. A fuller description of the risks associated with King's Bay business on completion of the Proposed Transaction will be set out in the "Risk Factors" section of the management information circular to be delivered to King's Bay shareholders in connection with the Meeting, which circular will be posted under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. King's Bay disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE: King's Bay Resources Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540590/Kings-Bay-Resources-Corp-Agrees-to-Acquire-Cannabis-Industrys-Elicit-Labs-Announces-Change-of-Business-and-Financing
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / BTU METALS CORP. ("BTU" or the "Company") (BTU-TSX-V) is pleased to announce that further to its press release dated March 14th, 2019 the Company has closed the non-brokered private placement. The total raised in the financing issuing 9,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.10 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $900,000.00.

Each Unit is comprised of one common share (a "Share") and one half of one Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") of the Company. Each full Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Share (a "Warrant Share") at a price of $0.15 per Warrant Share for a 24 month period after the Closing Date. Finders' fees of $20,320.00 and 203,200 broker warrants were paid to arm's length parties. The shares and warrants comprising the units are subject to a 4 month hold period expiring July 30th, 2019.

Proceeds raised will be used for general corporate purposes and for advancing the Company's Dixie Halo Property in Red Lake, Ontario.

Michael England, President, Director

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Telephone: 1-604-683-3995

Toll Free: 1-888-945-4770

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: BTU Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540594/BTU-Closes-Financing
AVENTURA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / Orbital Tracking Corp. (OTCQB: TRKK) ('Orbital Tracking' or the 'Company') today reported financial results for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.

2018 Company Highlights

The Company experienced continued strong demand for its products in European markets, resulting in record sales in many areas. The Company's focus on e-commerce sales again contributed heavily towards total sales revenue.

Sales achieved from recurring revenue airtime contracts and prepaid airtime reached a record high, exceeding 40% of the Company's total revenue during the year. The Company also experienced strong growth in its highly profitable rental service, and from recently introduced product lines such as Personal Locator Beacons, which contributed to more than 10% of the Company's revenue during the year.

The Company was been recognized by its inclusion on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America.

Sales in North America declined as a result of exceptional sales during the previous year, and insufficient working capital to fund advertising, promotional activities and increase its sales presence in the region. This contributed to a small decline in the Company's total consolidated annual revenue for the year as compared to the previous year.

The Company raised $500,000 from existing investors through the issuance and sale of Series J and Series L Convertible Preferred Stock to support continued international expansion, additional product lines, increase inventory levels, and cover public company expenses while the Company moves closer to profitability.

Commenting on the Company's results, David Phipps, its Chief Executive Officer said, 'Although the Company continued to face many challenges during the year and was unable to fully implement the majority of its expansion plans due to insufficient working capital, we are pleased to have maintained upward momentum in some important areas, including recurring airtime revenue. The global demand for our products remains strong and we attracted thousands of new corporate, individual, reseller and government customers from around the world during 2018. We aim to successfully implement our growth plans during 2019, which include launching new products, expanding into new markets and opening additional storefronts and sales offices.'

2018 Financial Results

For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company's consolidated revenues decreased by 4.6% to approximately $5,726,572 from $6,004,955, as reported for the year ended December 31, 2017. This decrease in sales was attributable to significant one-time contracts and awards during 2017, totaling $476,439, which were not repeated during 2018, and extreme weather conditions during 2017, which resulted in a significant increase in sales during the 2017 hurricane season. For the 2017 hurricane season, sales were $1,635,834 for the three-month period, as compared to $1,329,549 for the same three-month period in 2018, a sales decrease of $306,285 or 18.7%.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, comparable sales by subsidiary are as follows; GTCL, the Company's UK-based subsidiary, decreased 1.7% or $69,582 to $3,921,378 from $3,990,960. The UK comparable sales in GBP, the home currency, decreased 2.4% or 72,892, from 3,098,112 to 3,025,220 for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to December 31, 2017. Orbital Satcom Corp., the Company's US-based subsidiary, decreased 10.4% or $208,801 to $1,805,194 from $2,013,995.

The net loss reported for 2018 was approximately $1,194,706, as compared to a net loss of approximately $3,939,309 for fiscal 2017. The factors contributing to the decrease in loss for the year ended December 2018, were primarily attributable to a decrease of $543,885, or 20.1%, in total operating expenses from $2,708,345, for the year ended December 31, 2017, to $2,164,460 for the year ended December 31, 2018, and the 2017 recording of $2,308,981 for non-cash expenses represented by Series J Preferred Stock issuances, which triggered price protection clauses for certain subscribers of the Company's Preferred Series F, Preferred Series G Stock and Preferred Series H Stock. The Company has no further obligations in regard to price protection for its Preferred Stock.

About Orbital Tracking Corp.

Orbital Tracking Corp., 'Orbital', provides satellite-based tracking, services as well as mobile voice and data communications services globally via satellite to the commercial and government users. Orbital specializes in services related to the Globalstar satellite constellation, including ground station construction, simplex tracking services and satellite telecommunications voice airtime. Orbital Tracking operates various e-commerce retail and tracking portals where users around the world can purchase satellite hardware and track assets in real-time on mobile devices or PCs. For more information regarding Orbital, please visit www.orbitaltracking.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release constitute forward-looking statements. These statements include the capabilities and success of the Company's business and any of its products, services or solutions. The words 'believe,' 'forecast,' 'project,' 'intend,' 'expect,' 'plan,' 'should,' 'would,' and similar expressions and all statements, which are not historical facts, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, any of which could cause the Company to not achieve some or all of its goals or the Company's previously reported actual results, performance (finance or operating) to change or differ from future results, performance (financing and operating) or achievements, including those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the Company's filings with the SEC, copies of which may be obtained from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no, and hereby disclaims any, obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

Contact:

Orbital Tracking Corp

info@orbitaltracking.com

SOURCE: Orbital Tracking Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540573/Orbital-Tracking-Corp-Announces-Full-Year-2018-Results
STOCKHOLM, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Moberg Pharma AB (publ) ("Moberg Pharma" or the "Company") has today completed the divestment of its OTC-business (over-the-counter) to RoundTable Healthcare Partners and Signet Healthcare Partners (the "Purchaser") for USD 155 million. After the divestment, Moberg Pharma's remaining business consists of the development and commercialisation of new pharmaceutical products. The transaction enables Moberg Pharma to further focus resources on the pipeline program (MOB-015 in particular) and distribute significant value to its shareholders. The Company intends to use the cash consideration to redeem its outstanding bonds and to distribute approximately SEK 43-45 per ordinary share to its shareholders. In addition, the Purchaser has provided financing to the Company's remaining business amounting to USD 5 million. The combined value of the transaction equals approximately SEK 78-80 per share, based upon the expected distribution and the Purchaser's subscription in the Company.

"We are excited about this opportunity - being able to offer our shareholders a significant distribution while retaining the considerable upside of the fully funded MOB-015 program. The transaction enables us to increase the focus on making MOB-015 the future market leader in onychomycosis. I would also like to thank the OTC team for their exceptional contributions to Moberg Pharma over the past years and wish them continued success", says Peter Wolpert, Moberg Pharma's CEO.

The transaction, announced on February 12th 2019, was carried out as a sale of all shares in MPJ OTC AB and all units in Moberg Pharma North America LLC - which together held Moberg Pharma's entire Global Consumer Health Business comprising both direct and distributor sales under the OTC brands Kerasal, Kerasal Nail, New Skin, Dermoplast, Domeboro, Emtrix and Zanmira, including all assets and liabilities related to such business (the "OTC-business").

The completion of the transaction was conditional upon inter alia the approval at a general meeting in Moberg Pharma and the waiting period under the HSR Act being terminated or having expired. All conditions for finalising the transaction have now been fulfilled and the transaction has today been completed.

The OTC-business was divested for a cash consideration of USD 155 million (equivalent of SEK 1.43 billion [1]) adjusted for working capital, resulting in a capital gain of approximately SEK 500 million and multiples of 3.3x sales, as well as 14.1x EBITDA and 11.6x EBITDA for commercial operations. The Company intends to use the cash consideration inter alia to redeem its outstanding bonds and to distribute approximately SEK 43-45 per ordinary share to its shareholders (the "OTC-dividend"). The MOB-015 phase 3 program is fully funded through retained cash and licensing revenues.

As part of the transaction, the Purchaser has subscribed and paid for 660,843 series B shares in the Company at a price of SEK 35.16 per share (without any right to the OTC-dividend), entailing an increase of the total number of shares in the Company from 17,703,762 to 18,364,605 shares in total after the issue has been completed. The Company has also issued 659,421 warrants without consideration, each of which gives the Purchaser a right to subscribe for one ordinary share in the Company at a subscription price of SEK 35.16 per share. Neither the newly issued series B shares nor the warrants or any shares subscribed for by exercising the warrants will entitle to the OTC-dividend and the warrants will not be exercisable until the OTC-dividend has been paid. After payment of the OTC-dividend, the series B shares will be converted into ordinary shares in the Company. Moreover, the Purchaser has provided a loan to the Company amounting to USD 2.5 million (equivalent of approximately SEK 23 million), for the purpose of financing the Company's remaining business.

The Extraordinary General Meeting, held on March 15th, 2019, elected Andrew B. Hochman as ordinary member of the Board of Directors until the end of the next Annual General Meeting, conditional on and with effect from closing of the transaction. As a result of the completed transaction, the election has entered into effect.

After the divestment of the OTC-business, the Company's remaining business consists of the development and commercialisation of new pharmaceutical products, including its late-stage clinical developments MOB-015 (onychomycosis) and BUPI (pain management in oral mucositis). As a consequence of the completed divestment of the OTC-business, Jeff Vernimb and Gunilla Wengstrom are as of today no longer members of the management team of Moberg Pharma.

References:

[1] Based on a USD/SEK exchange rate of 9.23, being the exchange rate applicable to the Company as a result of a hedging arrangement entered into by the Company at signing of the transaction.

For additional information, please contact:

Peter Wolpert, CEO, phone: Sweden: +46 707 35 7135, US: +1 908 432 2203, e-mail: peter.wolpert@mobergpharma.se

Anna Ljung, CFO, phone: +46 707 66 6030, e-mail: anna.ljung@mobergpharma.se

About this information

This information is information that Moberg Pharma AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the contact persons set out above, at 22.00 CET on March 29th, 2019.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/moberg-pharma/r/moberg-pharma-completes-the-divestment-of-the-otc-business-for-usd-155-million,c2776287

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SYCAMORE, IL / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / Braden Counseling Center in Sycamore, Illinois, has announced the hiring of two new employees. A representative for the counseling center states that the new employees will help the center in providing a variety of counseling services.

Brenda Butz, a representative for the center says, 'We are pleased to welcome Dwayne Thomas, CADC and Jane Gaitskill, LCSW to our team. We are also pleased to announce that Nicole Bowker and Nikki Myers are in the process of completing their certification for EMDR.'

Butz states that Gaitskill will be able to accept Medicare for services rendered. She adds that Thomas and Bowker will be working out of the company's Geneva location which is located at 322 W State St, Geneva, IL 60134, while Gaitskill and Myers will be working from the Rochelle and Sycamore locations.

'Our goal is to teach our clients the needed skills to manage their life on their own,' says Butz. 'We do this through a number of evaluations and resources, as well as through our highly skilled and professional employees.'

The counseling center provides outpatient services and programs for behavioral health. Since opening in 2002, the center has had thousands of clients who have entered and successfully exited their programs. They currently have offices in Sycamore, Geneva, Elgin, Bartlett, and Rochelle, Illinois. Butz adds that the center is licensed by the Illinois State Department of Human Services, through their Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. Through these licenses, they offer intensive outpatient programs for adults and adolescents.

Butz states that their clinical staff includes professionals from a number of disciplines, including licensed and certified counselors who are available to help treat a number of issues. The center has received numerous referrals from local hospitals and doctors, as well as other behavioral healthcare agencies in order to provide needed services to clients.

Butz continues that they are pleased to announce the addition of their new clinical staff members and states that these new employees will join a team of professionals that are dedicated to providing the utmost in care for those who suffer from alcoholism, drug addiction and a number of other mental incapacities. Those interested in learning more can view their Facebook page.

Butz states that the center is available to evaluate and consult with those who are in need of treatment and that they urge those who are suffering from any sort of addiction to contact them to discuss their treatment options. She adds that their new employees will work with others in the center to provide the best possible treatment options for those in need, and she adds that the center's website offers more information on the new employees, as well as existing staff members. The website also provides detailed information about the center and the services that they provide, as well as various resources that Illinois residents can use for their individual needs.

The counseling center provides flexible scheduling throughout the week and on weekends by appointment. Butz adds that they provide both counseling and medication services and that they offer a free initial consultation for all of their clients. Staff members are available to help potential clients to understand and verify their insurance benefits, including BCBS and Medicare, and the center accepts other payment options as well.

Those who are interested in learning more or who are in need of counseling services can contact the counseling center through their website, by phone or by email. Detailed driving instructions, as well as phone numbers for each of their Illinois locations, can also be viewed on the website. Butz adds that they offer same day DUI evaluations for those in need, as well as resources to help those who are addicted, including postings on their website with information about a number of available resources in the area. Families of those addicted can also visit the center or their website to learn more about how to help a loved one who is addicted.

For more information about Braden Counseling Center, contact the company here:

Braden Counseling Center

Brenda Butz

815-787-9000

bbutz@bradencenter.com

2600 DeKalb Ave Suite J Sycamore, IL. 60178

SOURCE: Braden Counseling Center



View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540595/Individual-and-Couples-Counseling-Center-Announces-New-Employees
By Allison Lampert NEW YORK (Reuters) - Supersonic jet developer Aerion Corp is designing its first plane to run completely on biofuels to reduce emissions, even as the company calls for new global standards for planes that can conquer the sound barrier, the company's chief executive said on Thursday.

By Allison Lampert

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Supersonic jet developer Aerion Corp is designing its first plane to run completely on biofuels to reduce emissions, even as the company calls for new global standards for planes that can conquer the sound barrier, the company's chief executive said on Thursday.

Aerion's business jet AS2, with a $120 million list price per jet, would be capable of running on synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) biofuel, CEO Tom Vice said at a Wings Club event in New York.

Existing subsonic aircraft use a blend of biofuels and conventional jet kerosene to ensure the quality of the fuel does not harm the engine. Aerion's plane would have an engine designed with seals that could handle the biofuel, he said.

"We believe that running biofuels will reduce our CO2 emissions by at least 40 percent," Vice said.

Aerion and fellow supersonic plane makers Spike Aerospace and Boom Supersonic are working to reintroduce ultra-fast passenger planes for the first time since the Anglo-French Concorde retired in 2003.

Aerion, which recently secured an undisclosed investment from U.S. planemaker Boeing Co, has said the AS2 would fly at speeds of up to Mach 1.4, or about 1,000 miles (1,610 km) per hour, 70 percent faster than conventional business jets.

Its first flight is slated for 2023.

Today's supersonic jets, while quieter and more fuel efficient than the Concorde, have difficulty meeting noise levels and carbon emissions standards for conventional planes due to engine constraints and higher fuel burn.

The United States has been pushing for the creation of new global rules on noise for supersonic jets, but faces opposition from Europe which wants these aircraft to meet the same standards as existing planes.

The United Nations' aviation agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which sets global standards that are usually adopted by its 192 member countries, has said it would study supersonic jets. It has not committed to creating new standards for the planes.

"We definitely want to see differences between subsonic and supersonic standards," Vice said. "There are differences between the airplanes."

Aerion's AS2 would meet noise levels for subsonic planes, but not the carbon standard for emissions.

"For CO2 they haven't set the standard for supersonic. So all we have is the subsonic standard. AS2 has a higher fuel burn so we won't meet that standard," he said.

Creating an engine capable of running on biofuels would lower emissions, although there is a limited supply of such fuel available, he said.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Electoral bonds scheme, which came into effect in January 2018, had clocked in over Rs 600 crore political funding by October 2018.

When electoral bonds were ushered in by the Finance Act, 2017, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely waxed eloquent over clean money bankrolling the funding needs of political parties. They are made available at the designated points of time in a year January, April, July and October  as well as a few months in the run up to the general elections  this time around in the months of March, April and May 2019 i.e., in three tranches.

State Bank of India (SBI) has been mandated with this role. It issues electoral bonds, a bearer instrument, in the form of a promissory note in the denominations of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore. That almost all bonds sold thus far have been of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore denominations has been cited by petitioners challenging the scheme before the Supreme Court as proof of the scheme being hijacked by corporates and thus making the government dance to their tunes. Be that as it may.

Within 15 days of their purchase through payment vide cheque or digital payment, they have to be donated to the designated account of political parties (only those which have secured at least 1 percent of the vote in Lok Sabha or state Assembly elections held recently and they have to choose one KYC-compliant bank account of theirs for this purpose) of the choice of the buyer. Indian citizens and companies incorporated in India are alone entitled to buy them.

A lot is set store by the KYC-compliant bank accounts. Yet experience shows that Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance alone does not exorcise the ghost of black money forming the bedrock of bank accounts. The government itself should know given the fact that it has frozen the bank accounts of as many as 2 lakh shell companies.

The Election Commission (EC) is entirely justified in its objections before the Supreme Court that lack of disclosure of donors by the political parties (thanks to amendment to Section 29C of the Representation of People Act, 1951) and donees by the donors in their annual accounts could be the undoing of these bonds.

The EC opposed the amendments made to various key statutes through the two consecutive Finance Acts of 2016 and 2017.

The poll panel in its affidavit before the apex court said these amendments would bring black money for political funding through shell companies and allow unchecked foreign funding of political parties in India which could lead to Indian politics being influenced by foreign companies.

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) had recently filed an application in the top court seeking stay on the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018 which was notified by the Centre in January last year. The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear on 2 April the petitions.

After all, government companies and foreign companies are barred from making political contributions in India. The EC rightly wonders how it would verify that the donations have not come from these two in the absence of mandatory disclosure of donors. How can the EC discharge its duties with its hands tied behind its back?

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) II opened the floodgates of foreign donations by saying that foreign firms holding majority stakes in Indian companies can make political donations. Furthermore, the cap of 7.5 percent of profits as the upper limit for political donations under the Companies Act, 2013 does not apply to electoral bonds.

In the event, even loss-making and shell companies can make political donations. The latter thus comes as handmaiden for political parties to help launder black money of the donors through shell companies.

The bottom line is electoral bonds would be cloaked in secrecy, with only the SBI knowing who the donors are. It remains a moot question if it would open itself to scrutiny by the tax sleuths in case it suspects that the donors, mainly shell companies, were laundering their black money in cahoots with political parties.

Either the SBI must be mandated to share all the details of the bond purchasers with the Income-Tax Department or the retrograde amendment to the Representation of People Act, 1951 providing cloak of secrecy to purchasers of electoral bonds must be reversed. The latter would be advisedly better.

Electoral bonds scheme, which came into effect in January 2018, had clocked in over Rs 600 crore political funding by October 2018.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been the biggest beneficiary of the scheme it launched earlier this year in a bid to infuse clean money into political funding. Of the electoral bonds worth Rs 222 crore that were purchased in March 2018, Rs 210 crore went to the BJP. This is one of the main charges of ADR which has gone to the Supreme Court challenging the electoral bonds.

(The writer is a senior columnist and tweets @smurlidharan)
By Jessica DiNapoli and Svea Herbst-Bayliss NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. healthcare plan and pharmacy benefits manager Magellan Health Inc. is nearing a settlement with Starboard Value LP to expand its board of directors by several seats, including with a Starboard representative, three sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

By Jessica DiNapoli and Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. healthcare plan and pharmacy benefits manager Magellan Health Inc. is nearing a settlement with Starboard Value LP to expand its board of directors by several seats, including with a Starboard representative, three sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Magellan did not respond to a request for comment. Starboard declined to comment.

(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York; editing by Grant McCool)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Naomi Tajitsu and Sam Nussey TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor and Hino Motors are joining a venture of SoftBank Corp and Toyota Motor that will develop self-driving car services in Japan, as alliances between automakers and tech firms broaden. Under an agreement, Honda and truck maker Hino, in which Toyota owns a majority stake, would each invest around 250 million yen ($2.27 million) in the joint venture, Monet Technologies, and take 10 percent stakes in the venture, Monet said on Thursday

By Naomi Tajitsu and Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor and Hino Motors are joining a venture of SoftBank Corp and Toyota Motor that will develop self-driving car services in Japan, as alliances between automakers and tech firms broaden.

Under an agreement, Honda and truck maker Hino, in which Toyota owns a majority stake, would each invest around 250 million yen ($2.27 million) in the joint venture, Monet Technologies, and take 10 percent stakes in the venture, Monet said on Thursday.

Tech conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp's domestic telco and Toyota formed the venture last year. It will foray in the ride-sharing sphere that is dominated by startups such as Uber, Didi Chuxing and Lyft.

Honda and Hino's participation in the venture highlights the challenges facing automakers in developing new transportation services as the rise of self-driving cars could threaten vehicle sales in the future with users seen opting for pay-per-use services over car ownership.

It is also the latest example in the growing trend of consolidation among automakers and technology and communications companies as they grapple with the massive investment and software expertise required to develop new services for which demand has yet to be tested.

"The more automakers we can get to join the partnership, the smarter we can make our platform," Junichi Miyakawa, chief executive of Monet and chief technology officer of SoftBank Corp said at an event to promote the venture.

The new investment from Honda and Hino would leave SoftBank with a 40.2 percent stake in Monet, down from just over 50 percent when the venture was formed. Toyota will hold a 39.8 percent stake.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda said that increased cooperation between automakers and companies in other sectors would help make the mobility services industry more transparent.

With the participation of Honda and Hino, "the auto world has taken a big step towards openness", he said at the event.

Honda's investment in Monet will be its latest in new mobility services after it invested $2.75 billion for a 5.7 percent stake in General Motors Co's Cruise self-driving vehicle unit last year.

The Japanese automaker, which has lagged many of its rivals in developing self-driving cars, is also an investor in Southeast Asian ride-hailing service Grab. SoftBank also invests in Cruise and Grab.

The latest investment in Monet values the venture at just $22.7 million, for now making it a miniscule player compared with Cruise, which is valued at around $15 billion, and Uber, which has been valued at around $120 billion ahead of its expected IPO.

For now the size of the venture is "insignificant compared with SoftBank Corp's enterprise value," said Dan Baker, analyst at Morningstar. The telco is looking to diversify beyond its core cash-generative wireless business amid pressure on carrier fees.

SoftBank Group and its $100 billion Vision Fund are already a major player in ride sharing. Founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son says his portfolio companies, which include Uber, Didi, Grab and Ola, control 90 percent of the industry.

SERVICES ON WHEELS

Monet plans to roll out on-demand bus and car services in Japan in the next year, and a platform to operate self-driving vehicles as early as 2023 based on Toyota's "e-palette", a boxy multi-purpose vehicle which can be used for on-demand mobile shops, offices and other services.

It plans to leverage data compiled from mobile phone users, including user location, and data on steering, braking and vehicle surroundings collected from Toyota cars to create a domestic platform to transport people and goods, along with mobile shops, restaurants and public facilities.

Monet also said it had formed a consortium of 88 Japanese companies including Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan, beverage maker Suntory Holdings Ltdand Yahoo Japan Corp to collaborate on projects, which could include product delivery or product-related services.

($1 = 110.0500 yen)

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Sam Nussey; Editing by Stephen Coates and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
CoC led by Corporation Bank informed the NCLAT that the second highest bidder Deccan Value Investors LP is also considering to submit a revised offer

New Delhi: Lenders of Amtek Auto Thursday sought permission from the NCLAT to conduct a second round of bidding for the debt-ridden auto component maker after the highest bidder UK-based Liberty House backed out.

The Committee of Creditors (CoC) led by Corporation Bank informed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that the second highest bidder Deccan Value Investors LP is also considering to submit a revised offer.

However, an NCLAT bench headed by Chairman Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya said it would like to hear Deccan Value Investors and Amtek Auto's former promoters on the matter.

NCLAT listed the matter for next hearing on 22 April and said: "CoC would not approve any other plan" in between.

It also said the Resolution Professional (RP) will continue to function and would "ensure that the company remains a going concern."

According to reports, Deccan Value Investors, which had emerged as the second highest resolution applicant for Amtek Auto, had placed a bid of Rs 3,150 crore.

Amtek Auto has a total debt of Rs 12,603 crore and the liquidation value of its assets was determined at Rs 4,119 crore.

Liberty House had offered Rs 4,025 crore, including an upfront payment of Rs 3,225 crore and a fresh infusion of Rs 500 crore for stabilising and improving operations.

However, Liberty House backed out of the process.

Earlier this month, NCLAT had allowed the withdrawal of Liberty House's bid for ARGL, an Amtek subsidiary.

Amtek is an integrated auto component manufacturer with operations across forging, iron and aluminium casting, machining and sub-assemblies.

In July 2017, NCLT had admitted insolvency proceedings initiated by a consortium of banks led by Corporation Bank.
By Elizabeth Dilts NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley President Colm Kelleher, who has worked for the firm for roughly 30 years, will retire at the end of June, the bank said on Thursday. Kelleher, 61, will stay on as senior adviser, according to a memo Chief Executive James Gorman sent to employees that was seen by Reuters

By Elizabeth Dilts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley President Colm Kelleher, who has worked for the firm for roughly 30 years, will retire at the end of June, the bank said on Thursday.

Kelleher, 61, will stay on as senior adviser, according to a memo Chief Executive James Gorman sent to employees that was seen by Reuters. Kelleher's replacement was not immediately named.

Kelleher was president of the firm since January 2016, and widely known to be Gorman's second-in-command.

KBW analyst Brian Kleinhanzl said Kelleher was thought of as a possible successor to the CEO if Gorman ever needed to step down suddenly.

Kelleher is older than Gorman, 60, and so was not thought of as a permanent successor, but his departure "raises some succession concerns near term" for the bank, Kleinhanzl said.

Kelleher served as chief financial officer and co-head of corporate strategy from October 2007 to December 2009. Gorman credited Kelleher's leadership during that "critical period" with "helping the firm navigate the depths of the financial crisis," according to the memo.

While Kelleher was CFO, the bank drastically shrank its balance sheet, became a bank holding company, which meant it could access funding from the Federal Reserve, and secured a $9 billion investment from Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

Kelleher went on to become co-president and then president of institutional securities, as well as the head of international for the bank.

"Every time I have faced an issue of real significance Colm has been the most important person I have sought advice from," Gorman wrote in the memo.

Kelleher joined the bank in 1989, initially working in the fixed income division. Reuters previously reported that Kelleher, a wine and classical music aficionado, was known by colleagues to care so deeply about the bank's traditions that he chastised employees if they rolled up their shirt-sleeves because it lowered the standards of the business dress code.

(Reporting By Elizabeth Dilts; Editing by Dan Grebler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Elizabeth Dilts NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley said Thursday that its president, Colm Kelleher, will retire at the end of June, according to an internal memo viewed by Reuters. Kelleher, 61, worked for the firm for roughly 30 years and will stay on as senior adviser to the firm, according to the memo from Chief Executive James Gorman

By Elizabeth Dilts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley said Thursday that its president, Colm Kelleher, will retire at the end of June, according to an internal memo viewed by Reuters.

Kelleher, 61, worked for the firm for roughly 30 years and will stay on as senior adviser to the firm, according to the memo from Chief Executive James Gorman. Kelleher's replacement was not immediately named.

"Every time I have faced an issue of real significance Colm has been the most important person I have sought advice from," Gorman wrote in the memo.

Kelleher joined the bank's fixed income division in 1989 and was named co-head of the European division in 2004.

From October 2007 to December 2009, Kelleher held the roles of chief financial officer and co-head of corporate strategy. Gorman called Kelleher's role during that period of the financial crisis "instrumental" in the memo.

Kelleher has served as president of the firm since January 2016.

(Reporting By Elizabeth Dilts; Editing by Dan Grebler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday asked the newly-appointed board of debt-ridden IL&FS to submit details of the group's dues

New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday asked the government and the debt-ridden IL&FS to submit details of assets and liabilities of 13 entities of the group.

A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya asked the IL&FS group to submit the details of four 'amber' entities -- Hazribagh Ranchi Expressway Ltd, Jharkhand Road Project Implementation Company Ltd, Moradabad Bareily Expressway Ltd and West Gujarat Expressway Ltd.

It also asked IL&FS to prepare a similar list for the rest nine 'amber' entities of the group.

Under its resolution plan, the government has categorised IL&FS group companies into green, amber and red categories based on their respective financial positions.

Companies classified as 'green' would continue to meet their payment obligations, while 'amber' category firms can meet only operational payment obligations to senior secured financial creditors.

Red category entities are those which cannot meet their payment obligations towards even senior secured financial creditors.

In its order Friday, the NCLAT bench said, "Union of India and ILFS Ltd are allowed to submit details of assets and liabilities of each of aforesaid four entities, including the amount payable to one or other financial creditor and operational creditor."

The matter with regard to these four amber entities will be taken up on the next date of hearing, which is 8 April.

"However, in the meantime, with regard to rest of the nine Amber entities, similar status report be prepared and kept ready for taking up their matter subsequently," the order said.

During the proceedings, the appellate tribunal also clarified that there was no stay on the government to proceed with the resolution plan for IL&FS companies.

The bench also said it would hear the banking regulator RBI on moratorium against IL&FS group companies at the next hearing.

During the proceedings, senior secured financial creditors of IL&FS asked the tribunal to direct the amber companies to discharge their debt liability.

Earlier, the corporate affairs ministry submitted the debt resolution plan for IL&FS.

The entire resolution process is based on the principles enunciated in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, as per the ministry.

During the previous hearing on 19 March, IL&FS had informed NCLAT that the number of 'green' companies has increased to 50 from 21.

The number of 'amber' companies also increased to 13 from 10.

IL&FS, which is facing a debt burden of over Rs 90,000 crore, is in the process of classification of the rest group companies.
By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday, pushed up by ongoing supply cuts led by producer club OPEC and U.S.

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday, pushed up by ongoing supply cuts led by producer club OPEC and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, which have given crude markets the biggest first quarter price push since 2009.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $59.54 per barrel at 0100 GMT, up 24 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last settlement.

Brent crude oil futures >LCOc1> had yet to trade.

Oil prices have been supported for much of 2019 by efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-affiliated allies like Russia, known as OPEC+, who have pledged to withhold around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of supply this year to prop up markets.

"Production cuts from the OPEC+ group of producers have been the main reason for the dramatic recovery since the 38 percent price slump seen during the final quarter of last year," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

"In fact, the recovery has been so strong and swift that WTI is currently heading towards its biggest quarterly gain  currently 32 percent  since Q2 2009, when the recovery from the global financial crisis saw it jump by more than 40 percent," he added.

The price surge triggered a call by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday for OPEC to boost production to lower prices.

"Very important that OPEC increase the flow of Oil. World Markets are fragile, price of Oil getting too high. Thank you!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

However, the OPEC+ cuts are not the only reason for rising oil prices this year, with analysts also pointing to U.S. sanctions on oil exporters and OPEC members Iran and Venezuela as reasons for the surge.

Saxo Bank's Hansen said "the biggest short-term risk to the oil market is likely to be driven by renewed stock market weakness."

Stock markets have been volatile this year amid signs of a sharp global economic slowdown.

"Business confidence has weakened in recent months ... (and) global manufacturing PMIs are about to move into contraction," Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note, although it added that "the services sector ... continues to expand unabated."

Given the OPEC+ cuts, however, Bank of America said it expected oil prices to rise in the short-term, with Brent prices forecast to average $74 per barrel in the second quarter.

Heading towards 2020, however, the bank warned of a recession.

"We are growing more concerned about the outlook for 2020. Manufacturing tends to lead consumer confidence ... A deeper dive into protectionism could eventually kill burgeoning global consumer sentiment and trigger a global recession," it said.

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; editing by Richard Pullin)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Rahul Gandhi also assured incentives and tax credits to entrepreneurs based on their ability to create jobs

New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said new ventures will not require any regulatory permissions for three years and will get easy access to bank credit if his party is voted to power.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, he also promised to remove the existing 'angel tax' imposed on start-ups. Angel tax is levied on investment in start-ups. Currently, angel tax is charged at a maximum rate of 30 percent.

He also assured incentives and tax credits to entrepreneurs based on their ability to create jobs.

Gandhi said promoting domestic industry will be a key priority for the Congress and it will ensure that all new businesses are freed from the clutches of red tape to give a boost to the economy. "For the first three years of setting up a new business, we are going to free you up from red tape. You will not need to ask for permission for anything," Gandhi said.

These proposals, Gandhi said, will be included in the Congress' manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections which will be released early next month.

"Don't bother about anything, there is no permission you need. Start your business, get to work," he said in a bid to woo the youth who intend to start their own businesses.

"We've said that we will remove the draconian and ill-conceived angel tax. Ive made that commitment and its going to be done," Gandhi said.

Gandhi said this 'powerful idea' came after he held discussions with several entrepreneurs, during which they stressed that their biggest problem was getting all kinds of permissions from different agencies before starting their enterprises.

The entrepreneurs said different agencies ask lots of questions and bribes, and hence "we said, we believe in you; we trust you, and so for the first three years of setting up a new business, we are going to free you up from the red tape".

The Congress president said another idea that came up during discussions with entrepreneurs was the opening of the banking system to young business-persons and providing them access.

"Why should only Nirav Modi get thousands of crores? How many jobs has he created in India? Why cant a youngster who wants to start a business, who wants to give India 2,000 jobs, get a bank loan," he asked.

"Solid incentives and tax credits will be given to new entrepreneurs based on how many jobs they create," the Congress chief said.

Gandhi said the party is putting together a manifesto after several rounds of discussions with stakeholders and voicing their suggestions in the party's manifesto, which will include many such things to promote business, farming, employment generation et al.

The party, sources said, will release its manifesto in the coming week.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram heads the party's manifesto committee that is giving final touches to the manifesto. The panel has held several rounds of consultations in at least 150 locations across the country in the last several months in the run-up to polls
The capital infusion will be by way of preferential allotment of equity shares of the bank during 2018-19, as government's investment, Bank of Baroda said

New Delhi: Five state-owned banks, including PNB, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank, Thursday received shareholders' approval for capital infusion to the tune of Rs 21,428 crore in lieu of preferential allotment of shares to the government.

This capital infusion is for the current fiscal ending 31 March, 2019.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) in a regulatory filing said that an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders was held on 28 March for obtaining shareholders' approval to issue and allot 80,20,63,535 equity shares at a premium of Rs 71.66 per share amounting up to Rs 5,908 crore on preferential basis to the government.

Bank of Baroda said the finance ministry informed about its decision to infuse capital of Rs 5,042 crore in the bank.

"The capital infusion will be by way of preferential allotment of equity shares (special securities/bonds) of the bank during 2018-19, as government's investment," Bank of Baroda said.

Union Bank said: "The Committee of Directors for Raising of Capital Funds (CDRCF) of the bank at its meeting held on Thursday considered and approved the allotment of 52,15,62,658 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 78.84 aggregating to Rs 4,111.99 to government in accordance with the applicable provisions."

The board of the Chennai-headquartered Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) in an extraordinary general meeting decided to allot preferential shares to the government to get capital infusion of Rs 3,806 crore.

"The Board for Issue of Equity Share Capital at its meeting held today has issued and allotted 269,54,67,422 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 14.12 per equity share (including premium of Rs 4.12 per equity share) to government by way of preferential allotment," IOB said.

With this allotment, the government holding has increased from 89.39 percent to 92.52 percent in the bank, it added.

"This capital infusion will help the bank to shore up its capital adequacy requirements and enable the bank to build a robust loan book," R Subramaniakumar, MD & CEO, Indian Overseas Bank told PTI.

He also said that various initiatives have been taken by the bank for turnaround and there was a visible improvement in the bank's performance as seen in the third quarter results.

Subramaniakumar hoped that the bank will be able to return to the black in the next fiscal year beginning 1 April, 2019.

Earlier, the bank raised Rs 261 crore to its share capital in January under Employee Stock Purchase Scheme (ESPS) in which as much as 92 percent of the employees participated which resulted into over-subscription of bank stock.

"With this capital infusion and taking into account the capital raised through ESPS as well as sale of non core assets, CRAR (capital to risky asset ratio) will improve considerably," he said.

Central Bank of India allotted 68,72,48,322 equity shares at Rs 37.25 aggregating upto Rs 2,560 crore.

With this allotment, the shareholding of government has increased from 89.40 percent to 91.20, Central Bank of India said.
The industry is in a wait-and-watch mood. It is election time, after all. Lets see what comes after the dust of the elections settle down and a government is voted to power, they said

The startup sector is happy that it has been acknowledged by political parties when Congress President Rahul Gandhi announced a slew of proposals for the industry in an interview on Thursday.

If the Congress party is voted to power, Gandhi promised to remove the existing 'angel tax' imposed on start-ups. Angel tax is levied on investment in start-ups. Currently, angel tax is charged at a maximum rate of 30 percent. Incidentally, it was introduced by UPA-II to curb black money. It has its origins in the Finance Act, 2012 piloted by the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Poll rhetoric on caste and class division are now seen as just that when political parties indulge in it on the eve of polls. Seen from this perspective, it is refreshing said some experts for the industry as a sector and start-ups, in particular, being noted and recognised by political parties.

That both the BJP and the Congress have spoken about the industry in their election speeches is welcome, experts said. We have seen startups and entrepreneurship getting attention and that is welcome. Political parties realise that real job creation will come from startups and not the old economy as it is heavily into automation, said Ganesh Krishnan, social entrepreneur and promoterconsumer internet, healthcare, education and tech companies.

There are blue collar jobs being created by new age industries like Swiggy, Ola; packaging and logistics jobs created by Big Basket; among others. During the period 2011-12 and 2017-18 unemployment among the educated increased sharply across males and females in both rural and urban areas, said Business Standard, quoting NSSO data. The ratio of unemployment more than doubled to 10.5 percent and 9.2 percent for males in rural and urban areas respectively and was at 17.3 percent and 19.8 percent for females respectively in rural and urban areas.

Gandhi said promoting domestic industry will be a key priority for the Congress and it will ensure that all new businesses are freed from the clutches of red tape to give a boost to the economy. The complaints of industry against a slew of measures brought in by the government are many. Think demonetisation, GST, angel tax among others.

In a bid to promote new businesses, Gandhi said, "For the first three years of setting up a new business, we are going to free you up from red tape. You will not need to ask for permission for anything.

Sanchit Gogia, chief analyst and CEO, Greyhound Research said while the intent is right, the execution of such schemes is the hard part. Businesses in India today need help with aspects like further simplification of the GST process - currently whether or not a business gets paid in time, it is expected to deposit GST within one month of raising the invoice, he said. This is a real struggle for smbs that are perennially stretched on cash flow. Like TDS, GST can also be collected at source so that small businesses are shielded from the burden of paying GST from their pockets and in advance, Gogia added.

Some were skeptical by Gandhis charter of proposals as they wondered if these could be effective when implemented. For instance, the Congress chief said: Don't bother about anything, there is no permission you need. Start your business, get to work.

Nowhere in the world can a business be started without government permissions. Arvind K Singhal, Chairman and Managing Director of Technopak Advisors, a management consulting firm, said the statement coming from the Congress showed that they were removed from reality. How can anyone start a company without government permissions, he asked.

Singhal said that registration is not a hassle at all. Instead, what is required, he said, are the many small things that encourage the sector like infrastructure, uninterrupted foreign capital, research and development laboratory, among other things like what California has done or even Shenzen in China, he said. Abolition of angel tax is not a requirement. Instead, making it discriminatory would help, Singhal pointed out.

All the promises made by Gandhi seem encouraging and noteworthy. But implementation is the key. Ease of doing business was good under the UPA and the present government was supposed to make it much better, but nothing much came of it, said Paul Mariwala, Founder/Co-President, Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs India MD, and director, Seedfund Advisors.

Mariwala said the fact that political parties are taking cognisance of industry ensures that they will work towards easing some of the issues that the industry faces. A lot of what is being said is electioneering and poll rhetoric, but there is hope something will be done, she said.

Regulatory challenges and poor access to the banking system is a big challenge for start-ups and young businesses. The current banking system is not favourable to start-ups. Angel tax is restricting the investment from alternative channels. Any initiatives towards addressing them without any conditions can be a big boost. Investment in start-ups will also propel job growth. Investment in start-ups can have multiplier impact as well as create comparatively more jobs, said Ganesh Rewanwar, co-founder, Freightbazaar.com, platform for facilitating truck hiring and improving transportation processes for small, medium and large enterprises.

The industry is in a wait-and-watch mood. It is election time, after all. Lets see what comes after the dust of the elections settle down and a government is voted to power, they said.
Giving startups more freedom will, without doubt, give entrepreneurship the boost that the economy sorely needs.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has promised to make life easier for startups. If his party comes to power, he has said, it will give new firms a three-year breather from the red tape that strangles all small and medium firms.

He also promised to abolish the angel tax that has caused much heartburn recently. This was a tax, lets not forget, levied by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and it is good that he is now promising to revisit it.

Scything red tape for startups is, however, a far more significant proposal. What this means is that startups will not have to get sundry prior permissions before starting a business for three years. In this article in Business Standard, head of the Congress research team Rajeev Gowda explained that new entrepreneurs will be exempt from all applicable laws and regulations (barring the Minimum Wages Act and tax laws) for three years from the day they start operations.

The proposal probably stems from an initiative of the Congress government in Rajasthan. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (Facilitation of Establishment & Operation) Ordinance, 2019 allows entrepreneurs in Rajasthan to start new businesses without having to seek permissions and approvals for three years. This doesnt mean that they are free to flout norms and laws but they can submit self-declarations. After three years, they will have to get all the required green signals within six months.

Giving startups more freedom will, without doubt, give entrepreneurship the boost that the economy sorely needs. The Narendra Modi governments Startup India programme did give a push, but the impact was limited because of the regulatory hurdles startups faced.

The programme allowed self-certification for quite a few regulations related to environmental norms (36 industries did not require environmental clearance under three laws), the Apprenticeship Act and Rules and six labour laws. However, these are central laws and startups did have to deal with a stifling permit-licence raj in states.

An enterprise survey of Indian states on ease of doing business by NITI Aayog and IDFC Institute in 2017 showed that the average time taken to start a business is 118 days against claims that companies can be incorporated in less than a week (the range was 63 days in Tamil Nadu, the best performing state, and over 200 days in Kerala and Assam). The average time to get land allotted is 156 days, construction permits 112 days and No Objection Certificates (NOCs) 75 days.

So, this is the first reality check that Gandhis promise will be subject to. If the Congress comes to power at the Centre, the laws and regulations for which it will allow relaxation will be limited because the bulk of permissions that entrepreneurs have to deal with are at the level of the state and local bodies.

And the Modi government has already given relaxations with regard to the regulations under the purview of the Centre. It will not be enough to have one Rajasthan passing such a law; Gandhi should persuade other Congress governments to follow suit.

The second reality check will be how state governments operationalise the new regulatory regime. The enterprise survey showed that 12 percent of businesses were not even aware of single window for clearances despite all states saying they had this system.

But the real question is why should relaxations be limited to new firms and for three years? The enterprise survey showed startups faced less regulatory hurdles than older firms. It is good that new firms are allowed to save their energies to build their businesses instead of dealing with sundry inspectors. Why not extend this to beyond three years? One of the many reasons why firms in India prefer to remain small is that they face the full force of regulations immediately they cross a certain size threshold.

Limiting the relaxations to three years assumes that companies will be better placed to deal with compliance burdens once they are more than three years old. There is a need to revisit this assumption.

The ease of doing business initiatives of the Modi government, especially the annual ranking of states, has led to healthy competition among them to cut red tape. However, it is more about taking processes on line or setting up single windows than a fundamental questioning of the need for many regulations. This needs to change. Perhaps Modi can outdo Gandhi by promising to this.

Well, the promise (like Gandhis) will have limited value since much of what needs to be done is in the realm of state governments. But at least the conversation can get going.

(The writer is a senior journalist and author. She tweets at @soorpanakha)
The proposed amalgamation will make Bank of Baroda the second largest public sector bank after State Bank of India

New Delhi: Clearing decks for the scheduled merger of three public sector lendersVijaya Bank, Dena Bank and Bank of Barodathe Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay the amalgamation.

The top court dismissed the applications filed by several bank officers' associations for staying the merger, effective 1 April.

The proposed amalgamation will make Bank of Baroda, which will merge the other two lenders with itself, the second largest public sector bank after State Bank of India in place of Punjab National Bank.

A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Vineet Sharan said, "All interlocutory applications seeking stay are dismissed".

At the outset, senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for bank officers associations, said that there were several flaws in the decision taken for merger of three banks as there was no effective consultation or concurrence with the Reserve Bank of India on the issue.

He said that even the board of directors of the banks were not adequately constituted to take a decision of merger like this.

"The Board of Directors should have been informed and given time to contemplate on the proposed merger of the banks but every thing happened on 2 January," Divan said.

He said that the board of directors passed a resolution on 2 January, cabinet approved the decision on the same date and even the gazette notification was issued on the same day.

The bench asked Divan as how is he affected by the decision of merger of the banks.

He said that employees will suffer due to the merger as there will be an aspect of redundancy.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Bank of Baroda, said the merger was done within the statutory framework and all requisite procedure was duly followed.

"All the banks in question are public sector banks and as far as employees are concerned, under the scheme their terms and conditions of employment will remain the same. They are not affected at all. It was a policy decision that two weaker banks join one stronger bank," he said.

He said that as far as effective consultation with RBI is concerned, the process had started way back in 17 September, 2018.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Union of India also opposed the plea of bank officers and said it was a purely an economic policy decision taken by the government for which detailed consultation has taken place.

He said three committees were constituted, Parliament was informed and the RBI was consulted after which in principle consent was given.

"Everything was done in a purely transparent manner and this is an economic policy decision taken by the government," he said.

The bench then said it is rejecting all the applications seeking immediate stay of the decision to merge the three banks.
(Reuters) - A U.S.

(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday supported a lower court's finding that Italian oil producer Eni SpA breached a contract with offshore drilling contractor Transocean Ltd, but voided a $160 million damages award.

A three-judge panel found the lower court miscalculated damages because it used a standby rate to determine what Eni would have paid Transocean to complete the contract. It sent the damages decision back to the District Court to recalculate damages based on what work the rig could have performed.

Transocean declined to comment on the ruling. Eni could not be reached for comment outside of normal business hours.

(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Leslie Adler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted two more months to the special investigation team to complete its probe into 186 cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted two more months to the special investigation team to complete its probe into 186 cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

A bench comprising Justices SA Bobde and S Abdul Nazeer extended the time after the SIT informed it that more than 50 percent of the work has been done and it wanted two more months to complete the investigation.

The apex court also issued notice to parties on a plea by petitioner S Gurlad Singh Kahlon, a member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, seeking inquiry into role of 62 policemen named in the riots.

The apex court had on 11 January last year constituted the SIT headed by former Delhi High Court judge Justice SN Dhingra and comprising retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular to supervise further probe into the 186 riots cases, in which closure reports had been filed earlier.

However, the SIT presently has only two members as Singh had declined to be a part of the team on "personal grounds". The top court had appointed the three-member SIT after the Ministry of Home Affairs and counsel for petitioner SGS Kahlon arrived at a consensus with regard to the persons who could be appointed in the fresh SIT.

Large-scale riots had broken out in the national capital following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security guards on 31 October, 1984. The violence had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone.

The court had said the previous SIT did not carry out further probe into the 186 cases and had directed setting up of a fresh SIT comprising a former high court judge and two police officers. Justice Dhingra, who had retired from the Delhi High Court, had dealt with several high-profile cases including the 2001 Parliament Attack case as a trial judge.

As the judge of the trial court, he had dealt with many of the 1984 riot cases, and his verdicts had resulted in conviction in 16 cases. On 16 August, 2017, the apex court had appointed a supervisory panel to examine the earlier SIT's decision to close 241 cases.

The Centre had said that out of 250 riots cases which were probed by that SIT, closure reports were filed in 241. It had said some cases were still being investigated by the SIT, and two by the CBI.

The earlier SIT was headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch, and comprised retired district and sessions judge Rakesh Kapoor and additional deputy commissioner of the Delhi Police Kumar Gyanesh. Kahlon had told the court that a total of 293 riot-related cases were taken up for scrutiny by the earlier SIT which later decided to close 199 of them.

Kahlon had sought the top court's direction for setting up another SIT to ensure speedy justice to the riot victims
The court decision comes as a setback to Hardik, who was hoping to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket.

The Gujarat High Court has refused to stay the conviction of Hardik Patel in a 2015 rioting case, according to several media reports.

The court decision comes as a setback to Hardik, who was hoping to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket. Hardik has moved the court to suspend his conviction in a 2015 rioting case Mehsana, ANI reported. Under the Representation of the People Act and a related Supreme Court ruling, a convicted person cannot stand for election unless the conviction is stayed.

On Wednesday, the Gujarat government on opposed Hardik's petition seeking a stay on his conviction in a rioting case. Public prosecutor Mitesh Amin argued before Justice A G Uraizee that Hardik was facing as many as 17 cases which reflected badly on his conduct. Amin claimed that Hardik, who led the Patidar quota agitation in 2015, had accepted that he was at the site of the riot at Visnagar in Mehsana district, which was also proved by photographs submitted in the high court.

Hardik had no respect for legal process, and he made "instigating and enraging utterances" during the agitation in 2015 and even later, the prosecutor argued. Hardik's lawyer IH Syed said if the conviction was not stayed, it will cause "irreparable damage" to his client as he intended to contest the Lok Sabha election. Nobody had seen Hardik Patel committing the alleged crime and the trial court did not examine any independent witnesses, advocate Syed said.

In July 2018, the sessions court at Visnagar sentenced Hardik to two years' imprisonment for rioting and arson in Visnagar town during the 2015 Patidar quota stir. The high court granted him bail and suspended his sentence in August 2018, but his conviction was not stayed. Under the Representation of the People Act and a related Supreme Court ruling, a convicted persons cannot stand for election unless the conviction is stayed.

Hardik joined the Congress on 12 March the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Justifying his decision to enter active politics ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Hardik said he could now work for the six crore people of Gujarat in a better way.

After joining the Congress at its rally near Adalaj village in Gandhinagar district, Hardik in his address asked the gathering if it was the right decision. To this, the people answered in "Yes". Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Hardik said when the Congress decided to postpone its rally, earlier scheduled for 28 February, following the terror attack in Pulwama on 14 February the prime minister was busy addressing gatherings across the country.

The 25-year-old Patidar leader praised Rahul, saying the Congress chief is "honest". "People ask me why I chose the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. I chose Rahul Gandhi because he is honest. He does not believe in working like a dictator," he said. On the BJP's charge of dynastic politics in the Congress, Hardik said there was nothing wrong if a politician's son wanted to be join the same field to serve people. He asked the Congress cadres to get their act together to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls scheduled in April.

With inputs from PTI
The BSEB is expected to declare the Bihar Class 12 Arts, Science and Commerce result will be declared at 1 pm. Candidates can check the results by visiting either of the official websites: biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in or bsebssresult.com.

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) is expected to release the Class 12 (Arts, Science and Commerce) Results 2019 on Saturday. Candidates can check the results by visiting either of the official websites: biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in or bsebssresult.com.

Hindustan Times reported that the result will be declared at 1 pm by BSEB chairman Anand Kishor and additional chief secretary of Bihar education department RK Mahajan at a press conference.

Over 13 lakh students registered to appear for the examination conducted between 6 and 16 February. The Indian Express reported that it was the first time that the BSEB will release the results in record 28 days. It quoted an official as saying that the evaluation process began on 2 March.

Candidates can follow these steps to get the result:

- Visit the official website: biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in or bsebssresult.com.

- Click on the link for Class 12 Result of the relevant stream from Arts, Commerce, and Science.

- Enter details like candidate seat number and submit details.

- Download the result and take a print copy for future reference.
A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna asked the Gujarat government to complete the disciplinary action within two weeks initiated against the erring officials in the Bilkis Bano case indicted by the Bombay High Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Gujarat government to take disciplinary action in two weeks against the erring police officials, including an IPS officer, convicted by the Bombay High Court in the sensational Bilkis Bano gang rape case during the 2002 riots in the state.

Besides, Bano in a plea before the top court sought exemplary compensation from the state government, refusing to accept its offer of Rs 5 lakh.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna asked the Gujarat government to complete the disciplinary action within two weeks initiated against the erring officials indicted by the Bombay High Court.

"On the statement made by the Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Gujarat, that the proceedings for disciplinary action against the erring officers will be completed within two weeks, we adjourn the matter for two weeks.

"On the next date, the orders passed in the disciplinary proceedings be placed before the Court," the bench said.

The top court, terming the Rs 5 lakh compensation offered by the Gujarat government 'interim', said the plea for exemplary compensation will be heard on 23 April. "Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General appearing for the State has offered an interim compensation of Rs 5 lakh, which counsel for the petitioner is reluctant to accept and instead prays for final disposal of the special leave petition. Let the special leave petition be listed on 23 April, 2019," it said.

At the outset, Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bano, said that no action has been taken by the state government against the erring officials, who were convicted by the high court.

She said that one IPS officer, currently serving in Gujarat is set to retire this year, while in case of four other officials who have retired no action has been taken against them like stopping of their pensions and retirement benefits.

The counsel further said that these police officers were convicted by the high court for botching up the investigation in the case. With regard to compensation, she contended that Bano has been leading almost a nomadic life after being subjected to gruesome crime and therefore exemplary compensation should be granted.

Gupta said she is not willing to accept the interim compensation of Rs 5 lakh offered by the state government.

Senior advocate Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government said that disciplinary proceedings are going on against the erring police officials.

He said that it will be completed soon but the top court asked him to complete the proceedings within two weeks.

On the compensation part, Mehta said that state government has a policy of granting Rs 5 lakh as compensation in such incidents.

Bilkis, five months pregnant at that time, was gang raped while six other members of her family managed to escape from the mob. The trial in the case initially began in Ahmedabad.

However, after Bano expressed apprehensions that the witnesses could be harmed and the CBI evidence tampered with, the apex court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.

The high court had on 4 May, 2017 convicted seven people  five policemen and two doctors  under sections 218 (not performing their duties) and section 201 (tampering of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The top court had on 10 July, 2017 dismissed the appeals of two doctors and four policemen, including an IPS officer R S Bhagora, challenging their conviction by the high court saying there was "clear-cut evidence" against them. One of the officers did not appeal.

A special court had on 21 January, 2008 convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment 11 men for raping Bano and murdering seven of her family members in the aftermath of the Godhra riots, while acquitting seven persons including the policemen and doctors.

The convicts had later approached the Bombay High Court challenging their conviction and sought quashing and setting aside of the trial court.

The CBI had also filed an appeal in the high court seeking harsher punishment of death for three of the convicted persons on the ground that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.

According to the prosecution, on 3 March, 2002 Bilkis Bano's family was attacked by a mob at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad.

The convicts had challenged the order on three main grounds that all evidence in the case was fabricated by CBI, that Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident, proving that she could not have been gang raped, and the failure to find the bodies of some of her family members which proved that they were not killed.
Cardinal of the Mumbai diocese and said to be in the running for the Popes position, Oswald Gracias is under a cloud for not cracking down on sexual predators

By all accounts, the speech given by Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai in Rome on February 22, the second of the four-day Vatican Summit on clerical sexual abuse, was oratory at its best.

Addressing fellow presidents of the National Bishops Conferences from all over the world, he was articulate, eloquent, fluent, inspiring, delivering both admonishment and encouragement, praise and blame even-handedly. He talked up accountability, deplored the culture of silence among bishops that had contributed to this horrendous evil, and said every bishop had to share responsibility and accountability.

More importantly, he asked the bishops to reflect upon three main themes: justice, healing and pilgrimage. Interestingly, he said that justice must come through cooperation with civil authorities.

The cardinal is accused by some within the 600,000-strong Catholic community of Mumbai, of failing on all three parameters, thus betraying the victims and further contributing to the culture of silence.

Even as the Summit got underway in Rome, a petition was being submitted in a court in Mumbai, seeking action against the cardinal under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The petitioner is the father of a boy alleged to have been sexually abused by a Catholic priest, Lawrence Johnson, who has been in jail since 2015, charged under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the POCSO Act.

An editorial in the diocesan mouthpiece, The Examiner, dated the week before his address at the Vatican Summit, declares that Cardinal Gracias himself takes the protection of minors very seriously. From July 2015, the Child Protection Policy has been implemented in the 150-odd schools run by the Archdiocesan Board of Education and in meetings with the clergy, he has firmly stated a zero tolerance policy regarding child abuse in any institution run by the church.

Ironically, in the very next issue celebrating the cardinals eloquent address, there is a statement by the spokesperson of the Archdiocese, Fr Nigel Barrett, detailing the chronology of the way this case was handled by him. Mishandled, say his detractors. The family, which was brought to the cardinal by a friend on November 30, say they met him for a short while as he prepared to leave for Rome the same night. They claim to have asked for medical help and were offered none, according to a BBC report. Unhappy with their treatment, they went to a doctor at first and from there to the police. The priest was arrested immediately.

Accusations of failing to act are strongly rebutted by Fr Barrett. On receiving the complaint, ecclesial (meaning church) action was immediately taken and the priest was stripped of his duties. Further to ecclesial action, the cardinal informed the bishop to start the inquiry into the allegations, and left for Rome. On reaching, he again spoke of the need to go to the police in the case. But the family had already informed them and now the law of the land prevails.

As one of the nine advisers to the Pope, and one of the four organisers of the summit, regarded by the world media as a high stakes event for the Pope, the cardinal tends to stand out. Add to the mix the fact that in 2013 he was tipped as a possibility in the race to replace Pope Benedict XIII (albeit with an outside chance), and the mix gets headier.

In fact, although the summit was announced in September 2018, the stories began surfacing only at the actual start of the event. One, run by BBC News on February 21 damningly headlined Indian Catholic Cardinal Oswald Gracias failed abuse victims, retold the story of the child, but dug further into the past, to 2009, when a woman had complained to him that her daughter was being sexually abused by a priest who conducted retreats. When no action was taken, in 2011, she approached a womans group that pressured the cardinal to set up an inquiry. Six months later, there was still no result and the priest continued to preside over activities in his parish. When he was finally removed, no reason was given and nothing was established, the report said.

And then there was the slow pace of action against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused by a nun of raping her repeatedly between 2014 and 2016. The nun from the Missionaries of Jesus Congregation in the Jalandhar diocese, is said to have complained to the Nuncio, the papal representative, months before he was actually removed from office. In September, he was interrogated by the police in Kerala, arrested and jailed for 25 days, before being given bail. The trial is yet to begin.

Everyone who has heard the cardinal speak or engages in conversation with him, says he is a man of rare charm, extremely likeable, easy to listen to.

Fr Anthony Charangat, long-time editor of The Examiner, has known the cardinal since they were in the seminary together, studying to be priests. Of him, he says, The cardinal is not just charming, he is also brilliant, with a sharp intellect and distinguished analytical and decision-making abilities. But his guiding principle is reconciliation and sometimes this makes him too conciliatory, too soft when handling recalcitrance, and this can lead to less than perfect decisions.

All this cuts little or no ice with groups like the Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC), which has, more often than not, been a thorn in his side with its aggressive stance on various issues.

Judith Monteiro, one of the earliest members who is known for not mincing words or muting criticism of the Church and its hierarchy, says about the declarations at the summit on processes and protocol: Being a good orator or good organiser should not be the only criterion for being part of the C9 (council of cardinals, which currently has six members after Pope Francis removed three last year). It is more important to be a good listener to Christs flock, of which he is the shepherd. His speeches (at the summit) would have been more effective if he had acted sooner upon complaints.

This sentiment is amplified by Charmaine Bocaro, lawyer for the family in the case of sexual abuse of a minor. Asked what she thought of the outcome of the summit, she said, Omission is as bad as commission and the cardinal is guilty of not doing enough to address the issue. I wasnt fooled by the summit. It was held just to silence critics of the Church, especially in America. To think that the cardinal was appointed one of the four organisers of the event when he has done nothing in the matter in his own country. I see us as being back at square one, on Ground Zero. The whole thing was a massive cover-up.

Meanwhile, in Rome, the Vatican is contending with the negative fallout of the founder and entire female editorial board of its own monthly publication, Women Church World, quitting on March 26. According to the editor, Lucetta Scaraffia, this is in protest against what they call a Vatican campaign to discredit them and put them under the direct control of men for some of their views on the role of women in the Church.

(Carol Andrade is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist)
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that the Congress should apologise to the society for propagating the 'Hindu terror' theory which has been categorically discarded by the Panchkula court in its judgment on the Samjhauta blast case.

New Delhi: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that the Congress should apologise to the society for propagating the 'Hindu terror' theory which has been categorically discarded by the Panchkula court in its judgment on the Samjhauta blast case. Addressing a media briefing on Friday, Jaitley attacked the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which was led by the Congress, for its stand on Samjhauta blast case.

Last week the Panchkula court gave the decision on the Samjhauta blast case of 2007. Since 2007, it was very clear that the state department of the United States would repeatedly provide us with information about the actual terrorists who were involved in that act. But apart from investigating on those lines, there was a theory of Hindu Terror and this slogan of Hindu Terrorism was given by Congress for a vote bank. They created this theory on fake evidence, Jaitley said.

Taking a swipe at Congress leaders visiting temples, Jaitley said: People who believed Hindus as terrorists are today busy showing their respect towards religion. People can never tolerate calling a whole section terrorist. He read out a few excerpts of the Panchkula courts decision and emphasised that the judge has said that this is a case of no evidence.

Yet for the first time in history, the whole Hindu society has been defamed by creating this theory of Hindu terror. Congress and UPA are responsible for this. Society will not forgive them for this. Innocent people lost their lives but real culprits were not probed, he added.

Accusing the Congress of defaming the Hindu society for electoral benefits, he said: It is our accusation that for the political benefit the Hindu society was defamed through a fake theory. This is why Congress is not even giving a statement on this decision. It is time for them to seek forgiveness from the society.

On Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's visit to Ayodhya, he said: "It is good they are going but should also accept that this is the real birthplace of Ram."

On 20 March, a special NIA court in Panchkula had acquitted the four suspects  Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary  in the Samjhauta blast case.

On 18 February, 2007, explosions hit the India-Pakistan trans-border Samjhauta Express in Panipat area of Haryana and 68 people died in the blast, including 44 Pakistanis. Out of the deceased, 33 were men, 19 women and 16 children. Later, two unexploded bombs were also found from the site, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) had said.
A Delhi court Friday pulled up the Delhi Police over non-appearance of a deputy commissioner of police who was asked to file report in the 2016 JNU sedition case.

New Delhi: A Delhi court Friday pulled up the Delhi Police over non-appearance of a deputy commissioner of police who was asked to file report in the 2016 JNU sedition case.

The Delhi Police had earlier told the court that authorities were yet to give requisite sanctions to prosecute former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the case, and it would take two to three months to procure the sanctions.

On 14 January, police had filed a charge sheet in the court against Kumar and others, saying he was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised in the JNU campus during an event on 9 February, 2016. The court had also sought a report from the deputy commissioner of police assigned to the case.
India faces a unique security situation that dictates strong and large armed forces.

Size matters. And it matters more when the context is the defence capabilities of a complex country like India. Argument favouring downsizing of armed forces based on the premise that manpower costs eat into capital acquisitions is not valid. Force composition and its organisational structure are dictated by its role, resources, doctrine, nature of adversaries, technology available and national aspirations. Unsatisfactory equipment profile of Indian armed forces and some critical deficiencies are an outcome of inadequate allocation of funds for acquisitions year after year, heavy import dependence for major weapon systems and painfully cumbersome bureaucratic processes. This is not to say that there is no scope for rationalisation of defence expenditure.

India faces a unique security situation that dictates strong and large armed forces. Some of the compulsions are unsettled land borders with its major adversaries; probability of a collusive military threat from China and Pakistan; continued threat of cross-border terrorism; Chinas attempts to encircle India through seas and land; increased threat to sea lanes of communications from hostile powers and non-state actors; need for securing its expanding economic interests along with its island territories and off-shore assets; problematic internal security situation necessitating involvement of its army to assist civil administration on a continuous basis; unstable periphery; and, rising national aspirations and expectations of other countries for India to be a net security provider for the region besides contributing troops for UN Peacekeeping Operations.

Avoidance of war, which is necessary for economic growth, requires India to create deterrence against its adversaries. That can only be done by maintaining forces large enough to be able to defend both in the north and the west. Due to different types of terrain, the forces are equipped differently and have certain organisational differences, making it difficult for them to adapt quickly to unfamiliar landscapes. Switching roles from defensive to offensive and from deserts to mountains takes time. Deterrence depends upon force composition, posturing and political will demonstrated through proper signalling.

India shares 15,106.7 kilometres of land boundary with its neighbours, some of it disputed, including 3,488 km with China and 3,323 km with Pakistan. There are security issues of different nature along these borders. India also has a coastline of 7,516.6 km, 1,197 offshore islands and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2.01 million square kilometre to protect. The case for large standing armed forces is, therefore, clear.

Indias border disputes with China and Pakistan have defied solution. Historical precedence of holders as keepers and round-the-clock media coverage of war limit operational flexibility in terms of trading space for time. This demands a strong defensive posture. Likelihood of a China-Pakistan collusive threat, clogged inner lines of communication and underdeveloped road infrastructure in the bordering areas hamper speedy mobilisation and inter-theatre switching of reserves besides impeding tactical mobility necessitating pre-positioning adequate troops near the sensitive borders.

As against 14,44,500 active duty personnel in India, China and Pakistan have 20,35,000 and 6,53,800 personnel respectively. Similarity of equipment and joint training make it possible for them to carry out simultaneous operations against India. With growing Chinese interest in the Indian Ocean Region, there is a greater need to increase the size and capabilities of the Indian Navy: principal surface platforms, submarines and support vessels that will need more manpower. Similarly, the Indian Air Force urgently needs additional aircraft, helicopters and maintenance facilities along with attendant manpower. Cyberwarfare capability also needs more resources.

Reorganisation is undoubtedly required. Some formations, such as those in mountains, do not have to be division sized but of independent brigade size to include all arms (combat, combat support and services). The manpower saved should then be utilised for making up the existing deficiencies in the combat elements of the three services. Technology can help in reducing manpower. But it is not a panacea as conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen would prove.

Induction of state-of-the-art equipment must precede, and not follow, force rationalisation, so that the military is not left vulnerable. Any exercise to rationalise its organisation must simultaneously address critical deficiencies. The right word would, therefore, be rightsizing the armed forces.

Rumel Dahiya is an Army veteran and an independent strategic analyst
Around 30 percent of the respondents said that they had no confidence at all in the government's capability in protecting their data

The draft e-commerce policy proposed by the government through the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) has sought inputs from the public. The deadline which was initially 9 March was extended to 29 March following industry request.

According to a recent five-point survey, around 74 percent of the businesses are opting for splitting the e-commerce policy into a business data policy and an e-commerce policy. The survey conducted by LocalCircles involved 6,000 startups and SMEs, 6,500 common citizens who gave around 15,000 responses to five questions. Some of the key insights of the survey also include reservations against government's data-sharing requirements.

Considering a large portion of the draft e-commerce policy applied to non-e-commerce businesses as well, around 74 percent respondents were of the opinion that the policy should be split into two: an e-commerce policy and a business data policy, while 14 percent were unsure about it. The respondents said that the business data policy should cover every business that possibly touches citizen data in any way. This means the inclusion of physical retailers, banks, telcos, automobile companies and so on. Industries that interface with consumers directly or indirectly ought to come under the business data policy felt the respondents.

On being asked about the government's demand for private businesses to share any aggregated data at any time, around 29 percent respondents felt that it wasn't appropriate whereas a large majority of around 53 percent felt that this was fine only in case of law and order or investigative situations. Around 14 percent respondents felt that this shouldn't be allowed at all.

"The draft e-commerce policy mandates that the government reserves the right to seek source code and algorithms from a business at any time. When asked if this was appropriate, 26 percent businesses said yes and 16 percent said no. 51 percent said it was okay only in case of an investigation or a law and order situation," said the report. A lot of the respondents felt that developing source code and algorithms was a resource-intensive task and something that gave companies a competitive advantage. The government asking for it was deemed unfair by many.

On the aspect of sharing aggregated data with overseas entities, around 53 percent respondents said that it would not be an issue for them whereas around 29 percent felt that it would affect their businesses. "Some startups have also shared a concern about this rule becoming a serious limitation when raising investment or an acquisition/merger by a foreign company," said the report.

Finally, a question was asked on the citizens' confidence levels in the government when it came to handling their data and protecting it from any compromise.

As expected, around 30 percent of the respondents said that they had no confidence at all in the government's capability in protecting their data and around 38 percent felt that they had limited confidence.

LocalCircles has shared these findings with the DPIIT.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech on 'Mission Shakti' did not violate the Model Code of Conduct, the EC announced on Friday, even as the Opposition had accused the prime minister of violations and 'publicity mongering'.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech on 'Mission Shakti' did not violate the Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission announced on Friday, even as the Opposition had accused the prime minister of violations and "publicity mongering".

The EC committee headed by Deputy Election Commissioner in charge of the MCC division Sandeep Saxena came to the conclusion that Modi's speech did not violate the guidelines because "he did not mention the BJP, nor did he appeal for votes" in the duration of his address. The MCC has been enforced since the EC announced the dates for Lok Sabha election 2019 on 10 March.

On Wednesday, the prime minister, in an address broadcast over television, radio and social media to the nation said that India has become the fourth nation in the world to achieve the feat of sending an anti-satellite missile to space, as part of its Mission Shakti. "India today occupied its place in the space power group. A little while ago, our scientists sent an anti-satellite weapon, A-SAT, into space and it has successfully targeted a live satellite on a low earth orbit," Modi said.

The committee was formed after protests from Opposition leaders like Congress president Rahul Gandhi and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee. They had accused him of indulging in theatrics and "playing politics" over scientists' achievements following his address. They accused the prime minister of violating the MCC saying that he "highlighted an achievement" of the government and also that the issue was not necessarily related to national security.

Ahead of the decision, Saxena was quoted by reports as saying, "The matter requires proper analysis. It has three aspects  law, media and the poll code. We have collected information and we are going into the entirely to see whether there was violation. By tomorrow (Friday), there will be a decision." Saxena had also said that the Prime Ministers Office had neither informed nor asked the EC for permission about the announcement.

However, sources in the poll panel had initially told PTI that issues related to national security and disaster management do not fall under the ambit of the model code. As part of its evaluation, the panel was to go through the video and the transcript of the address.

Saxena on Thursday also told a media briefing that the poll watchdog had sought details from Doordarshan and All India Radio about the source of feed of the prime minister's address. The two broadcasters responded and the EC is examining their response "in the light of what we want to know".

The Election Commission's MCC guidelines, among other things, prohibit the party in power from using public money to publicise achievements. It says, "Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously avoided."

With inputs from PTI
The Election Commission on Friday is likely to announce its decision regarding whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mission Shakti' speech violated the Model Code of Conduct that has been enforced since the dates of the Lok Sabha election were announced earlier in March.

The Election Commission is likely to announce its decision if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mission Shakti' speech violated the Model Code of Conduct. The Model Code of Conduct has been enforced since the Election Commission announced the dates for Lok Sabha election 2019 on 10 March. A spokesperson from the EC on Wednesday had said that the commission directed a committee of officers to "examine the matter immediately in the light of the model code of conduct".

The prime minister on Wednesday in an address broadcast over television, radio and social media to the nation said that India has become the fourth nation in the world to achieve the feat of sending an anti-satellite missile to space, as part of its Mission Shakti.

"India today occupied its place in the space power group. A little while ago, our scientists sent an anti-satellite weapon, A-SAT, into space and it has successfully targeted a live satellite on a low earth orbit," he said.

However, after clamour from the Opposition claiming a violation of the MCC, the EC formed a committee later on Wednesday to analyse the urgency of Modi's address. The poll commission also demanded the active transcript of the prime minister's address.

The committee, headed by Deputy Election Commissioner in charge of the MCC division Sandeep Saxena, was quoted by reports as saying, "The matter requires proper analysis. It has three aspects  law, media and the poll code. We have collected information and we are going into the entirely to see whether there was violation. By tomorrow (Friday), there will be a decision."

Saxena also said that the Prime Ministers Office had neither informed nor asked the EC for permission about the announcement.

However, sources in the poll panel told PTI that issues related to national security and disaster management do not fall under the ambit of the model code which came into force on 10 March when the Lok Sabha election schedule was announced.

The report also said that said the decision was taken after the Opposition claimed that Modi's address violated the model code as he highlighted an "achievement" of the government and the issue was not necessarily related to national security.

The panel would go through the video and the transcript of the address. Saxena on Thursday also told a media briefing that the poll watchdog had sought details from Doordarshan and All India Radio about the source of feed of the prime minister's address. The two broadcasters responded and the EC is examining their response "in the light of what we want to know".

The Election Commission's MCC guidelines, among other things, prohibit the party in power from using public money to publicise achievements. It says, "Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously avoided."

With inputs from agencies
In ten years, one in eight of us will be in sick bed, gasping for air even as overburdened hospitals begin to buckle under and medical bills spiral

For the last 35 years, asthma had been Suman Sharmas constant companion: painful, sometimes crippling, but manageable, none the less. Then, five years ago, something began to change. Her lungs began to rebel against her body, setting off terrifying paroxysms that seized her airways. From 2016 on, the hospital admissions began, twice or thrice a year. Shes changed doctors, treatments and made permanent fixes to her lifestyle, like dropping the morning walks she enjoyedbut theres no permanent cure in sight.

Every ten minutes or so, when things are bad, Sharma has to use a nebuliser, that injects a mist of drugs directly into her lungs.

The toxic grey smog that blankets New Delhi, and other cities across northern India, has now receded. The face-masks used by growing numbers of children and health-conscious adults have come off, and the screaming newspaper headlines about air pollution have disappeared.

But each breath well be taking will be killing us, just as surely as it was then.

The sunlight showering down on us reacts with vehicular pollution and toxic industrial emissions to form a lethal cocktail that spreads wide, at ground level, making its way into our lungs. We dont see it, says SK Chhabra, head of pulmonary and critical care medicine at New Delhis elite Primus Super Speciality Hospital, but that doesnt mean its not there.

Every eighth Indian, studies show, will die because they breathed. Air pollution is now a greater risk factor than even tobacco for a range of diseases, starting with lower respiratory infections and spanning the spectrum to chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, ischemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, lung cancer and even cataract.

Heart disease and diabetes alone make up a staggering 38 per cent of Indias disease burden due to air pollution.

EXPANDING CRISIS

SHARMA wont be stepping out of her home in the peak heat of the summer: dust and smoke set off her condition. There are times, though, when she just cant help it. The mother of two school-going children, there are responsibilities that cant be avoided. That means an expenditure of 3,000 a month on medicines and doctors fees, spiking to upwards of 100,000 each time she has to be admitted to hospital with severe breathing problems, usually for between four and seven days.

Perhaps most painful for her is the toll her terrifying symptoms take on her children. It disturbs the family so much, I cant even explain, says Sharma.

In the next few weeks, Chhabra is expecting hospitals to see a surge of patients, as the growing levels of ultraviolet light cause oxygen to break down into the inorganic molecule O3, a potent respiratory hazard, adding to the existing toxic load of vehicle and industrial pollution.

For most people, air that doesnt appear smoggy is cleanbut that just isnt a case. Even if the optical quality of the air is good, particulate matter levels are almost always way above the safe limits.

Indian standards mandate that air which has less than 40 micrograms (g) of particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres (m), or PM2.5, per cubic metre, is safe. The World Health Organisations safe limit safe is 10g per cubic metre. The air in Delhi and other cities across India only meets those standards when its raining 24x7.

Last year, Delhi had three such days, says Arvind Kumar, chairman of the chest medicine centre at Sir Ganga Ram hospital.

In 2013, a study involving 312,944 people in nine European countries revealed that for every increase of 10g per cubic metre of PM10 particles, the lung cancer rate rose 22 per cent. The smaller PM2.5 were even more deadly, with a 36 per cent increase in lung cancer per 10g/m3.

Fifteen of the 20 most polluted cities are in India, a study by non-profit Greenpeace and Swiss-based company IQAir AirVisual determined this year. Even more hard-hitting evidence came from the medical journal, The Lancet, in December, in a study with multiple partners, including the Government of India. It found that one in every eight deaths in India in 2017 was a consequence of air pollution.

Earlier, policy-makers questioned the strength of evidence of harmful effects of air pollution on health, says Lalit Dandona, distinguished research professor at the Public Health Foundation of India and a lead author of the paper. Theres no doubt now.

HOSPITAL WARRIORS

NOT long after he moved to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Kumar started noticing black spots on the lungs of his patients. The patients were mostly from Delhi, unlike his patient profile at AIIMS. It was a subtle but hard-hitting change, Kumar recalls. I felt that this information is serious with huge public health implications, he says. In 2018, he conducted an analysis 150 lung cancer patients who had undergone surgery at the hospital between 2012 and 2017 and compared them with his AIIMS patients of 1988.

To describe what he found, Kumar says, disturbing is too mild a word. It was shocking, he says. I knew that these black spots on lungs will ultimately lead to disaster.

Kumar found that while the smokers to non-smokers ratio was 90:10 in his earlier cases, in the new cases it had changed to 50:50a five-fold jump in lung cancer in non-smokers. These new patients were younger; eight per cent were below 40 years old, while in the old cases no patient was below the age of 60. Forty per cent of the new cases were women.

From the out-patient-departments and emergency rooms of the hospitals the doctors are issuing a warningfailure to improving air quality will impose horrific costs on Indians. In the next 10 years, we are going to see an explosion in the number of new lung cancer cases in India, says Kumar.

AIIMS found, in 2017, that the smokers to non-smokers ratio for lung cancer is now 60:40. The Tata Memorial hospital in Mumbai stated in 2016 that they are seeing lung cancer increasingly in non-smokers.

In AIIMS, the doctors say there is a jump across all cancers. Besides lungs, kidneys, bladder and blood cancers also have a strong correlation to air pollution. Even though studies to establish the links will take years, the cost in human lives for failing to act now will be staggering.

For years now, doctors have been warning of the building stormbut policy-makers havent been listening. In 1998, JN Pande, then working at AIIMS medicine department, found that whenever pollution went up, emergency room visits for asthma and other respiratory illnesses went up by 21 to 25 per cent.

Pandes study formed the foundation of the Supreme Court order which changed Delhis bus fleet to CNG, a cleaner fuel, from diesel. The impact was drastic. From 1997 to 2002, Suphur dioxide dropped by 39 per cent and carbon monoxide fell by 32 per cent. Levels of lead and benzene also dropped significantly.

But over time, pollution levels crept up againunchecked.

Karan Madan, assistant professor of pulmonary medicine and sleep disorders at AIIMS, has been studying admissions in emergency wards of five government hospitals in Delhi. On high air pollution days we see patients who have never had any respiratory illness in the past come in with symptoms like asthma, he says. 

In another first-of-its-kind study, he is enrolling asthmatic children and pregnant women for continuously monitoring their exposure to air through a sensor. The sensors are stationed at homes and schools and also worn as a belt which record air pollution exposure at that time at that place.

We will see how asthmatic childrens symptoms are changed according to change in pollution, says Madan. For the pregnant women, the study, which will take two years to complete, will show if pollution affects the birth weight of their babies.

Last summer, doctors at the AIIMS cancer centre organised Indias first-ever conference on the links between the environment and cancer. You cannot imagine how bad I felt writing on conference documents that this was the first discussion wed had on the issue, says Abhishek Shankar, assistant professor, department of preventive oncology, AIIMS.

This is a one-way journey, says Shankar. Once you have lung cancer, you will die. There is no cure.

The economic case to act for clean air now is beyond contest. In 2013, a World Bank report said that Indias labour loss due to air pollution was $55.39 billion and welfare losses were $505 billion, which is collectively more than 8.4 per cent of the countrys GDP. As air pollution brings more people into hospitals, they lose productive days at work. Families lose income and incur out-of-pocket expenses.

Air pollution is also imposing massive strains on an already-creaking healthcare system, say doctors. As the demand for services grows, the load will shift from government to private doctors; the costs on patients will be enormous.

At the AIIMS cancer centre, says GK Rath, the load on doctors is increasing sharply. AIIMS has had to create a new cancer centre at Jhajjar, but most experts concur that the demands on the medical system will overwhelm the available resources in coming years.

But the way to cease this inflow of patients due to totally preventable risk factors is by targeting individual polluting sectors. We should move on to talk about solutions, says Madan.

Even though the union government has moved to address some parts of the pollution crisisnotably by seeking to tamp down seasonal crop-burningthe initiatives arent nearly enough. There are a number of long-term plans in place to address vehicular pollution, but these will take yearseven decadesto have an impact. Industrial pollution, meanwhile, is growing.

Elections to choose Indias next Parliament should have had the air pollution crisis confronting our cities as a key issue. But not a single party has said exactly what it intends to do, and how this action will be funded. The silence shows how little our leaders care about our livesbut that wont change until we start to value those of our loved ones, and our own.
45 districts from Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in the country, make the cut for Mission Parivar Vikas.

I kept having children in short periods of time, says Mankunwar bashfully, explaining her reasons for having undergone a recent tubectomy. A native of Utiya village in the district of Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh, Mankunwar is a mother of three children and holds her youngest, an infant, in her arms during this interview.

In 2016, the Government of India identified 145 districts in seven states with high fertility rates to target for better family planning public initiatives. Termed Mission Parivar Vikas, it aims to reduce the total fertility rates (TFR) to 2.1 by 2025 of these seven states using information dissemination, easy access to free contraception like pills and condoms, and incentivising sterilisation methods.

Its unsurprising that 45 districts from UP, the most populous state in the country, make the cut for Mission Parivar Vikas. In fact, 11 of them have a TRF of four  which means that every woman in the population can or will have 4 children in her lifetime according to existing fertility norms.

Unfortunately, family planning is clouded in myths and taboo. Using any contraceptive is unnatural, insists Phoola, who lives in Utiya. Matadeen, another Utiya resident, has a bone to pick with sterilisation procedures, Neither men nor women should get sterilised because it is against the will of God.

But both the state and central government incentivise sterilization procedures to encourage participation. Women are offered a Rs 1,400 incentive while vasectomies, on the other hand, offer the male participants a Rs 3,000 incentive.

Despite the larger financial gain, men who are willing to undergo vasectomies are few and far in between. A National Health Mission (NHM) report published in 2018 found that out of the 14,73, 418 sterilisation procedures performed in the country between 2017-2018, only 6.8 percent were vasectomies. The reality of sterilisation is even more skewed in UP  NFHS IV found that a staggering 18.1 percent of all married rural women in UP had undergone sterilisation, accounting for nearly half of all family planning methods employed by the same demographic  a statistic particularly horrific when compared to the 0.1 percent of men who had undergone male sterilisation. In 2017-2018, there were 3,461 vasectomies conducted in UP, while there were 1,22,090 tubectomies performed.

Anil Kumari from Mahoba, local ANM worker, outlines the toll that pregnancy can take on a woman, Women carry the entire mental and physical burden of pregnancy alone. And shares the various methods that women feel burdened to take on, such as intrauterine devices (IUD), which act as contraceptives, They often come to me and say, Lets just get a copper T. But the men should come forward to take their share of responsibility. She adds, But they dont, and often its the wife who refuses to let her husband have it done. It all comes down to a lack of education.

Asha, another district health worker, says, two percent of all sterilisation procedures in the district are vasectomies, the rest are all tubectomies. She too speaks of wives resistance to vasectomies, They all think that their men will become weak and unable to work, a concern that stems from the fact that a majority of the employment available in the district is physical labour. Women consider it their own responsibility, she explains, They take on the burden and get tubectomies.

Sujaan Singh, a medical officer from Mahoba, tells us that they have been arranging counselling sessions regularly to increase awareness around vasectomies. Every week in CHCs and PHCs we invite ASHA workers and ANMs to raise awareness about the safety of vasectomies and dismiss the myths about them, he says, so that they can increase awareness in the community. The government has also been known to conduct annual Vasectomy Fortnights in high-focus districts like Mahoba to disseminate information about and encourage vasectomies. And even though their efforts have been constant, says Singh, We havent been able to get many results.

It has been noted, time and time again, that men refuse to use condoms  the National Family Health Survey IV found that only 7.9 percent of all married women in rural UP have sex where their partners use condoms. Being the most hassle-free and easiest option for contraception, willing participation in male sterilisation overall, seems like a far-away goal.

Khabar Lahariya is a women-only network of rural reporters from Bundelkhand.
In a stern response, the government also said that the Kartarpur corridor 'should not be used for anti-India activities' and that there cannot be any 'let up' in security

India on Friday rescheduled its 2 April meet on Kartarpur corridor with Pakistan at the Wagah border. New Delhi has sought clarification from Pakistan on some technical matters flagged during the last meeting held in Attari. The development comes only days after Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh said that he did not trust Pakistan's intent behind opening of the Kartarpur corridor, saying their agenda was "nefarious and political" and aimed at "exploiting" the sentiments of the Sikhs.

Ministry of External Affairs: In order to take forward the infrastructure development for corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting. https://t.co/WdHKSgRRc2  ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

Indian Officials have raised concerns over some controversial appointments made by Pakistan to a committee associated with the Kartarpur corridor; apparently the reference here was to pro-Khalistan separatist leader Gopal Singh Chawla, who has close ties with Hafiz Saeed, along with another Khalistan sympathiser Bishan Singh.

Chawla, who had earlier stopped Indian officials from visiting a Gurudwara in Lahore to meet Indian Sikh pilgrims, was seen shaking hands with Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in November, 2018.

In a stern response, the government also said that the corridor "should not be used for anti-India activities" and that there cannot be any "let up" in security.

Government Sources: India made it amply clear the #KartarpurCorridor should not be used for anti India activities including secessionist activities or propaganda. India wants pilgrims to travel safe and in a secure manner  ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

The government further added that India had made key proposals, including over 5,000 pilgrims daily and 15,000 on special days be allowed to visit the holy site. It also said that the corridor should be made available for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holders to which the neighbouring country did not agree. India had earlier asked for the corridor to be open on all seven days.
For months, Kanhaiya Kumar has been in the thick of things. From Bihar to JNU, from JNU to jail, from jail to JNU, he has come full circle to Bihar

With a black jacket draped over his shoulders, and two microphones clutched in his hands, Kanhaiya Kumar  on his return to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi from jail in March 2016  delivered a defiant speech, attacking the government that had slapped a case of sedition against him, turning him into a household name.

Three years later, Kanhaiya is back home in Bihars Begusarai, armed with a bitterly fought ticket from the Communist Party of India (CPI).

As he moves from village to village, the 32-year-old embodies at once the hopes of a beleaguered Left looking to restore its lost glory and the challenge of a student leader trying to negotiate the distance between the campus that nurtured his politics and his home.

This distance isnt one that can be expressed, or understood, purely in terms of the 1,170 kilometres that lie in between and Kumar is well aware of this. At the university, the issues revolve around ideas, he said, adding, But in national politics, things that you feel are unnecessary, have to be dealt with based on pragmatism which may clash with your ideals. An argument on religion and its rationale can take place within the confines of the university, but in mainstream politics, he said, people will react, rather than understand.

BREAKING NEWS

This isnt a new realisation for him. As early as the speech in JNU, that confirmed his status among supporters as the revolutionary voice they had been waiting for, and gave rise to the tukde tukde gang tag among his detractors, Kumar had articulated this very binary. I realised one thing in jail, he said. We the people of JNU speak in civilised voices, but we use heavy terminologies perhaps it doesnt reach the common man.

Through this campaign, Kumar is trying to bridge this gap between ideals and pragmatism. His social media presence is scarce and hed rather have it grow organically. But on March 3, while paying tribute to Pintu Kumar Singh, a CRPF inspector who died during the February Pulwama terrorist attack, Kumar dubbed Begusarai as having repeatedly sacrificed lives for the country in a Facebook post, alongside photographs of him saluting the fallen soldier.

Flipping the anti-national barb that has so often been aimed at him, he accused the BJP of hollow patriotism.

Soldiers are fighting at the border and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is busy making his booth stronger, he wrote.

He had taken on the BJPs nationalism plank earlier too, after returning to JNU. I am a patriot but not a nationalist. Nationalism is a European concept. India is a land of diversity  she has no one uniform identity, he said.

In January last year, during the Yuva Hunkar rally  a protest by young leaders against the Centre, in Delhi  Kumar alluded to Tulsidas and Ramayana to attack the BJP.

The RSS regards Tulsidas as a great poet, he said.

I want to ask the RSS: the same poet had also said that Ravan fought on a chariot while Ram took him on his bare feet. What was then (LK) Advani ji doing on a chariot?

This, his party colleagues and aides said, was something he did often. Not rejecting religion, but using the vocabulary of Hindu texts to attack the RSS and BJP. Like so many others in Bihar, he grew up with these tales and this allows him to make the political ideology of the Left more palatable to common people, said one AISF leader from JNU.

ALIENATED ALLIES

According to Kumar, the breakdown in talks between the RJD-Congress alliance and the CPI, isnt just because of RJD scion Tejahswi Yadavs alleged discomfort with him or caste considerations, but because RJD doesnt want to let go of a seat, where vote calculations show that the CPI can win, he said, adding, All allies said that Begusarai should be given to the CPI.

The CPI had pointed out to the RJD that in 2014, even at the height of the saffron wave, the party was able to get nearly two lakh votes on the seat that had once been referred to as the Leningrad of Bihar.

The RJD, that had finished second with 34 per cent of the votes, remained unmoved and nominated their 2014 candidate Tanveer Hassan.

The RJDs refusal to budge, many in the CPI argued, stemmed not just from future considerations but also the past. The Left party had, after all, been synonymous with the states politics in the decades after Independence.

From Karyanand Sharma who led the Sathi farm struggles in Champaran to Bhogendra Jha who led the fight against mahants and zamindars in Mithila, going on to win the parliamentary

elections seven times.

Kumars prime challenge though, he believes, will be the BJPs candidate: Union minister and controversial leader Giriraj Singh, who publicly expressed his unhappiness at not being given a ticket from his bastion at Nawada and accused the party of violating his trust. A triangular fight though, Kanhaiya said, was unlikely. There is no middle ground. The media has also made it into a presidential election, he said.

SON OF THE SOIL

For Kanhaiya, who claims to have covered 215 of the 257 panchayats in Begusarai, his political hopes rest on the son of the soil sentiment and perhaps his biggest challenge is what he, euphemistically, refers to as the Muslim issue.

Narrating how people in Begusari began a campaign  Neta nahi beta (Not a leader, but a son), he said. This election is all about pro-Modi and anti-Modi. But that said, in Begusarai, its less political and more emotional. They relate to me. That one of their own was jailed and on top was labelled an anti-national. They think their district was shamedthis is a very strong sentiment here, he said.

There remained, though, people who are unhappy with the government, but it isnt enough for them to vote against Modi, he said. But, their anger towards Muslims supersedes their anger towards the government. They are happy since they believe that Modi has come and fixed the Muslim problem. This is the sentiment and its shocking, he added.

For months, Kanhaiya Kumar has been in the thick of things. From Bihar to JNU, from JNU to jail, from jail to JNU, he has come full circle to Bihar. Here, among the people he grew up with and in the lanes he roamed as a young boy, the fledgling politician hopes that he can leave the world of student politics and chart a route to Parliament.
The HRD order is the second big blow over the past few months to fundamental research areas.

A University of Kerala Professor has resigned from the Board of Studies of English and Comparative Literature as of 20 March in protest against a perplexing new decision by the Union Human Resource & Development Ministry. The vice-chancellor of the Central University of Kerala (CUK) in Kasargod issued a circular on 13 March directing its faculty to build a bank of projects for doctoral (PhD) programs "in accordance with national priorities" without any exceptions.

The circular had asked vice-chancellors (V-Cs)of central universities to "discourage research in irrelevant areas" in a meeting December last year.

"When Fellows are being admitted for PhDs, the topics for the thesis should be in accordance with the national priorities. Allotting privilege topics to the PhD students should be dispensed with," the minutes of the meeting read, according to The New Indian Express.

Following the circular, CUK sent notices to all its Deans and Heads of Departments ordering them to make a "shelf of projects... considering national priorities". Incoming students to CUK's doctoral program can now only choose from among the topics in this new list.

So far, prospective PhD students have had to propose a topic for her/his thesis during a university interview after which they are grilled on the area and topic by a select interview panel including their potential thesis supervisor(s). Based on their responses, the panel either approves, rejects or amends the project. But at the end of it, doctoral students were given the freedom to pursue research in areas they wanted to on subjects they were interested in pursuing.

Prof Meena T Pillai at the University of Kerala (not the same as CUK), resigned from her post as an external member of the Board of Studies of English and Comparative Literature in protest of the universitys decision.

"Who decides what is relevant and irrelevant? To bring in specific classifications and categorisations in research is against the very spirit of higher education," Pillai told Express. "The moment you start deciding what areas of research one should limit oneself to, where is the academic freedom of the researcher?"

CUK issued a clarification to its earlier 13 March circular this week, saying that by "national priorities", the V-C meant research in economics, technology, food security and social issues that were useful to society. A 25-year-old student will not know what the country needs. So it is better to give him/her ideas, he told Express.

Dr K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific advisor to the government, told The Wire that the registrar's notice could have been worded slightly (!) better to capture the spirit and purpose on this matter.

"Todays young are sometimes in the straitjacket of the routine, doing an incremental advance on what their predecessors did," VijayRaghavan said. He suggests that "universities develop a list of broad challenges in each area. Scholars should be free to use these as possible areas from which specific questions can be developed... or develop completely new questions that they consider important."

The HRD Ministry's order, while still vague and ambiguous, curtails the freedom of researchers to critique, dissent and ask questions as they see best. Even more worrying than that is the fear that some students have expressed about what they think the real intent is behind the notice  curbing their voice, particularly students from marginalised communities.

"Even now, some departments have a certain level of dislike for students who are doing [studies] on Ambedkarism and Dalit issues, a PhD scholar at Kerala University told The News Minute. "Students from social sciences stream constantly question the university and their wrong-doings. As far as we can comprehend, through this circular, the authorities do not want to take any more students who voice against them," the student added.

The order is the second big blow over the past few months to fundamental research. The first one  the Prime Ministers Research Fellowship  awarded Fellowships to students from an arbitrary selection of universities to work on projects of their (the students') own interest. The trouble with that? 130 of the 135 awardees won the Fellowship in the applied (and not fundamental) sciences.
Hundreds of Keralites are returning home every month after losing jobs in the Gulf, but hopes of starting afresh in India are unravelling

Ending his three-and-a-half decades of pravasi life, Hamza Koya returned home last year, hoping to begin life again at the age of fifty-eight. He isnt the only one who has chosen to head back to Malappuram district, which, with 4.06 overseas Indians, has the biggest emigrant population in the Kerala. Neither there is life nor money, says Koya, crisply summing up the state of the labour market in the Arabian Gulf, once the dreamland of Keralites.

However, life back home hasnt been working out quite as hed imagined.

Hamza had returned with a plan to launch some business. However, an eatery he opened with his small savings at his hometown of Venniyoor failed to click. He was forced to close the outlet within three months and join another restaurant as a supplier.

The 500 I now get as daily wage is just not enough to sustain the family. I am adjusting as there is no other way I can make money, says Hamza, father of four children, including two girls who are still in the post-secondary stage of their education.

Though Hamza has two sons working in the Gulf, he says what they earn is not sufficient to meet even their needs. He is rather afraid that they too may have to return soon, making life further tough for the family.

SHATTERED DREAMS

This is the fate of thousands of Keralites, who have returned from West Asia with their Gulf dreams shattered. The scope for providing jobs to the returnees, who are mostly looking for white-collar work, is limited since Kerala is grappling with the highest rate of educated unemployment in the country.

Haneefa Munniyoor, general secretary of Pravasi League, a migrant wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), says the main problem with the returnees is their reluctance to do manual labour, which is currently being done by migrants from north and north-eastern states.

As per studies, there are about three million in-migrants in Kerala at this time. If they are ready to do the job now being done by these workers, all the returnees can be gainfully employed. Unfortunately, the emigrants who enjoyed a higher status in society are not ready to compromise. Most of them are, therefore, trying to venture into business, says Haneefa.

Hundreds of shops are being opened every month in the Gulf pockets with scant attention to feasibility of the business. And an equal number are getting closed every month as the crisis in West Asia and the devastation caused by the floods in August destroyed the local economy, which was mostly dependent on the foreign remittances.

Travel through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts shows shops along the state and national highways lying closed or deserted.

Business used to thrive during the boom days. As a result of migration, the erstwhile traditional economy was replaced by chains of shops with foreign goods, restaurants serving Arabian cuisines, furniture marts, fashion shops and so on. Most of them are either closed or on the verge of it.

The Gulf job crisis is the result of structural reforms undertaken by governments in West Asia, belt-tightening by companies to cope with the economic crisis fuelled by the steady fall in oil prices, Saudi-Qatar standoff and inclement global market conditions.

The Kerala Migration Survey (KIMS) 2018 by S Irudaya Rajan and KC Zacharia of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, shows that as many as 144,459 emigrants have returned from Gulf countries between 2013 and 2018. The total number of return emigrants estimated by the study is 12.95 lakh, which is about 60 per cent of the number of emigrants.

On the other hand, fresh migration has been showing a steady decline. The number has dropped from 20.7 lakh in 2013 to 18.93 lakh in 2018, a fall of 2.78 lakh.

SURVIVAL IS AT STAKE

While hundreds are returning every month after losing jobs, the plight of those who survive is often worse than those who got the marching orders. Salaries are not paid for months together and even when paid, they have to settle for deep cuts. And yet, for want of anything better, most people cling on.

Raju Thomas, a native of Kochi, for 10 months without salary at a construction firm in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. And then, he saw his wage cut by 40 per cent due to the ongoing economic rationalisation in the country. Unable to come to terms with his new situation, Raju returned and frantically searched for a job.

I went from company to company in Kochi but could not find any job commensurate with my experience. I could not remain jobless for long as the EMI of the loan I had taken for buying a flat in the city kept mounting. There was no way other than returning to Saudi and taking up a job at half the salary, he says.

Raju is lucky that he could find another job in Saudi, which was the favourite destination for Keralites until the 1990s. The scope of high savings was the biggest attraction. While Nitaqat or Saudisation, introduced by the government in 2011 to ensure jobs to its own nationals, hit the Keralites employment opportunities, new levies such as dependents fee and the Value Added Tax pushed up the cost of living. Hurt from both ends, many Gulf Keralites have been forced to send their families back.

SALARIES IN FREEFALL

At 5.2 lakh, Saudi had accounted for the largest number of Keralites (38 per cent) working abroad until 1998. The UAE, which was in second position with 4.1 lakh, has now overtaken Saudi with 8.3 lakh. The number of Keralites in the UAE kept swelling as those thrown out of employment in the other countries relocate to the comparatively less trouble prone emirate.

K Raveendran, former Business Editor of Khaleej Times, an English daily published from Dubai, says the displaced personnel destroyed the job market in the UAE by offering themselves at a fraction of their original pay packets. The availability of high skills at the lowest cost has encouraged companies to fire their high-earning staff and hire cheap local recruits.

With the mismatch between supply and demand mounting, companies have made it a policy to get rid of their high-paid staff and replace them with highly skilled and experienced hands willing to work for a pittance. This reduces the prospects for everyone, he says.

Satheesh Nair, who has been working as a senior executive in a market research company in Dubai, is a victim of this new syndrome. The 50-year-old Keralite from Ernakulam was given the pink slip in December 2018 but taken back a month later at 25 per cent less salary. Satheesh said the company had fired about 100 high-paid employees last year and replaced them with low-paid staff.

Raveendran says the future for expats is bleak as the world looks for alternatives to oil and companies in West Asia start adopting technological innovations to automate jobs. It is widely expected that all cars which currently run on hydrocarbons will be phased out within the next 10-20 years and this will rob the Gulf economies of all their clout.

Automation itself is predicted to affect millions of jobs. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, 20.8 million jobs will be wiped out if the six Gulf countries use their digital tools and resources for automation. This accounts for 40 to 45 per cent of jobs which are held mostly by expatriates. This figure is expected to reach 55 to 60 per cent by 2030.

Workers with low-to-medium levels of education and experience are vulnerable to the automation shock. Nearly 57 per cent workers in these countries have high-school education or less, with 22 per cent holding graduate degrees. It is these groups that will be impacted maximum by automation, says the McKinsey study.

Automation is likely to hit Kerala heavily since about 55 per cent of the Gulf migrants have education levels of higher secondary or below, according to KIMS 2018. This means more than 70 per cent of Keralites will have to return if they do not upgrade their skills. The transition is also likely to affect fresh emigration.

I dont agree with doomsayers that the oil-based Gulf economies are crumbling. The oil-producing countries have realised that they cannot survive merely by exporting crude. Most countries are going for massive value addition. This will throw up a lot of job opportunities in the coming years. Keralites can make use of these opportunities if they acquire the required skills since they enjoy goodwill of the rulers and employers, says KV Shamsudheen, chairman of Sharjah-based Pravasi Welfare Trust.

However, he agrees that life for the returned migrants will be tough as a majority of them are lower-income group workers who neither have any savings to sustain their families back home nor the skills to re-migrate to other countries.

Most of them have splurged their earnings on building posh houses and acquiring luxury without realising the fact that they will have to return home one day, he said.

PT Kunju Muhammed, a former legislator and chairman of the state-run Kerala Pravasi Welfare Fund Board, concurs with Shamsudheen. However, he argues that it will not be the end of migration from Kerala. He feels that the Gulf countries would not be able to sustain their economy without expatriates.

If the depression in West Asia continues, the enterprising Keralites will find other destinations. Many have already started exploring possibilities in the Far East and African countries. Africa has the potential to emerge as another Gulf for Keralites, says Kunju Mohammed, who has made a film on migration from the state.

DOLLAR-DEPENDENT

Kerala has traditionally been a migration-dependent state. The state saw different waves of migration since the beginning of the 20th century. The first- generation migrants were semi-skilled or quasi-professional workers to Ceylon, Malaya, Burma, Madras, Calcutta, Karachi and Bombay.

Then there was a second wave of migration between 1945 and 1960 to Singapore, Malaysia and different parts of India. Most of those who moved away were high-school-educated, semi-skilled workers.

The third wave, from 1960 to 1975, consisted of people with technical skills and professional training (technology professionals, nurses, clerks, technicians, etc). The fourth, from 1975, saw mass migrations to the Gulf, USA, Germany and other countries in Europe and elsewhere.

Foreign remittance accounts for 19.3 percent of Keralas domestic product and is largely responsible for the development of the state. In spite of the decline in emigration and steady increase in the number of return emigrants, remittances have not gone down. On the contrary, it has only gone up.

Irudaya Rajan, a co-author of KIMS 2018, says increase in the remittances is an indication of the rise of Kerala migrants in the social ladder. The new- generation migrants are highly educated and skilled professional who get higher wages compared to the unskilled and semi-skilled labourers that comprised the first generation of migrants.

Remittances play a significant role in Keralas economy and the living conditions of people. The KMS 2018 has estimated total annual remittance to Kerala from the migrants working abroad at 85,092 crore a year. This means, on an average, a per capita remittance of 24,000.

Somehow, Kerala will have to learn without.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday said the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was extremely upset and angry after the 2016 Uri terror attack that had claimed the lives of 17 jawans

Panaji: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday said the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was extremely upset and angry after the 2016 Uri terror attack that had claimed the lives of 17 jawans.

Singh, in Panaji to participate in a condolence meeting held in the memory of Parrikar, who died on 17 March, narrated his experience about working with his former Cabinet colleague and shared anecdotes.

"After the Uri terror attack (on September 18, 2016), we were called by PM. I was with Parrikar in that meeting. Parrikar was extremely upset and angry over the incident," Singh said.

On 29 September, 2016, the Indian Army had carried out surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in retaliation to the Uri attack.

"He had also played a major role in the air strike (surgical strikes). He monitored the operation throughout night," Singh said.

"He played an important role in two air strikes," the Union minister said, apparently referring to the surgical strikes across the LoC and also inside Myanmar. Paying glowing tributes to Parrikar, he said the late Goa Chief Minister had sensed the mood of the country before recommending Narendra Modi's name as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate during the party's National Executive meeting here in 2013.

"When the National Executive took place in 2013, I was president of the party (BJP). After receiving me at the airport in Goa, when we sat over tea, he told me that mood of the country was in favour of Narendra Modi becoming the next Prime Minister," Singh said.

Singh recalled Parrikar's contribution to the One Rank One Pension scheme, induction of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas in the Indian Air Force and getting on track the Rafale fighter jet deal with France.

"I still remember that Rafale was not coming to India. We were concerned that we didn't have next generation fighter plane. The PM gave him the responsibility. "In 2015, an agreement was signed with the French Defence Minister. Parrikar played a role in getting the Rafale deal back on track," Singh added.

Speaking on the occasion, Goa's Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai said running the BJP-led government in the state without Parrikar is going to be a challenge for the ruling coalition.

However, the ruling coalition will face this challenge together, said Sardesai, who heads the Goa Forward Party (GFP), a BJP ally in the state. Sardesai said his party had resolved to support the BJP in government formation after the 2017 Assembly polls only if Parrikar, then the Defence Minister, was made the chief minister.

"We have to try to create more Parrikars and to do so we need more foresight. He was the one who had foresight. He was the one who proposed the name of Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

Sardesai said giving a stable government to Goa will be a fitting tribute to Parrikar.

"I am sure the government has gone into another phase after the demise of Parrikar. It is not going to be easy without Parrikar.

"It is going to be a challenge and we are going to face it together. Giving a good and stable government is the biggest tribute we can give to Parrikar," he said. Sardesai said even before the 2017 elections, he had decided to support a BJP-led government only if it is headed by Parrikar.

"We had decided even before elections and had given him assurance that we will form the government if he returns to state politics and heads the coalition," Sardesai said. The BJP had won 13 assembly seats and it formed the government under Parrikar with support from the GFP, MGP and Independents.

Sardesai said he had given word to Parrikar to continue in the government. "I have kept my word," he added.

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha and senior RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi, among others, were present at the condolence meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Opposition for questioning the timing of the announcement of Mission Shakti being too close to the election dates.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Opposition for questioning the timing of the announcement of Mission Shakti being too close to the election dates.

Speaking to Republic TV, the prime minister said that the Congress party's stand was amateurish and lacked even a basic understanding of the issue.

"In Opposition, if a younger, inexperienced person commits such a mistake it is understandable. But Congress is the oldest party in India and it has a long list of very senior leaders. The party should have sought their opinion before deciding its official stand. The party's stand is lacking on even primary understanding about the subject matter."

The prime minister said that firstly, contrary to what the Opposition is alleging, these things cannot be made to coincide with a particular thing, because one has to seek out a time in coordination with the international community. It is important because we need to close our airspace and notify other countries so that no untoward incident happens by chance, Modi said.

He further argued that neither can such projects come to fruition in an instant. "This was going on for a long time and we can't pre-plan because we don't know when we are faced with any sort of problem. These things are done on an immediate basis as and when we find a window," Modi claimed.

Opposition parties have alleged that the prime minister announcing the success of Mission Shakti was a "violation" of the Model Code of Conduct.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Modi wishing him "happy World Theatre Day" even as he congratulated the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). "Well done DRDO, extremely proud of your work. I would also like to wish the PM a very happy World Theatre Day," he said on Twitter.

Other Congress leaders credited successive governments led by their party for the achievement.

"The UPA government had initiated the ASAT program which has reached fruition today. I congratulate our space scientists and the visionary leadership of Dr Manmohan Singh," senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel tweeted.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that Modi's announcement was "limitless drama and publicity mongering", amounting to "gross violation" of the Model Code of Conduct. She also accused the prime minister of making the announcement to "reap political benefits" and said her party will move the EC.

Speaking in the same vein, allies BSP and SP alleged it was a diversionary tactic while the CPM lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, terming the prime minister's action as a "violation" of the model code of conduct.

The Election Commission has, however, absolved Modi of the poll code violation because "he did not mention the BJP, nor did he appeal for votes" in the duration of his address. The MCC has been enforced since the EC announced the dates for Lok Sabha Election 2019 on 10 March.
The biggest flaw of New Zealand's Scarves in Solidarity movement is regarding women as active identity bearers of a community

Last week, New Zealands women, including prime minister Jacinda Ardern, wore headscarves to show solidarity with the Muslim community in the wake of terrorist attacks that targeted mosques. The act drew mixed reactions: while some praised New Zealand for the show of support, others questioned whether donning the hijab, a symbol of oppression in several Muslim majority countries, was necessary to express togetherness.

It is seminal here to consider the repercussions of Scarves in Solidaritynot only because the hijab has oppressive origins, but it is still used in several Muslim majority countries to control womens bodies. Furthermore, the idea that hijab signifies the Muslim community stereotypes Muslim women in particular and the community in general.

Yet, the biggest flaw of the Scarves in Solidarity movement is regarding women as active identity bearers of a community. The idea that women must bear the burden of a communitys identity, which is at the core of so much religious practice and belief, is one of the core dictates of patriarchy.

The hijabliterally, curtaindescended on Islam after the battle of Uhud in Arabia. The Prophet Muhammad drew the hijab as a partition to seclude his private life from his public life. Fatima Mernissi, a sociologist and feminist, describes how any man wishing to communicate with Muhammads wives was to do so on the other side of the curtain.

Furthermore, the defeat of the Muslim community in battle of Uhud created a crisis in Medina. Mernissi argues how women in the streets were being harassed by men and propositioned to commit taarrud (literally, obstructing a womans path and urging her to fornicate). Muhammad then mandated his wives to cover up with a jilbab, a piece of cloth used to cover the head and the chest of a woman, in order to separate themselves from the other women.

Hijab, thus, punished the women for the harassment meted out to them on the streets. It also sharpened class difference. The aristocratic women could wear jilbab (and not be harassed) but slave women were not to wear it (and could be harassed).

If hijab came in response to sexual aggression it also came as a support to it. It legitimized the street as a place to commit zina with the uncovered women. Hence, a womans body came to be considered in Islam as essentially naked/vulnerable without a jilbab. The difference became sharper with time. Legal scholars such as Ibn Abdun would in medieval times advise men to keep their women, a familys honour, out of sight of unrelated males.

The oppressive origins of hijab, have made it an active a tool to subjugate Muslim women. In countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia forced veiling is practiced that has led to scores of protests by women in these countries. The lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has only recently been sentenced to 38 years in prison, and 148 lashes, for representing women who defied Irans hijab laws.

As if the upholding of an oppressive symbol was not damaging enough, New Zealands Scarves in Solidarity movement also stereotypes Muslim women, many of whom do not wear the headscarf. It presupposes, in the most orientalist manner, that hijab-clad women are the norm in the Muslim community.

Considering the hijab as a synonym for the Muslims not only disadvantages women actively fighting against its enforcement but also has a deleterious effect on womanhood in general. It marginalizes women as merely a property of the community.

Proponents of New Zealands Scarves in Solidarity regards hijab as a neutral symbol of Muslim identity. Yet, if symbols of oppression could be purged of their exploitative histories in a day, feminism would have already triumphed. Associated with the hijab is centuries of suppression and body policing. Using it to show solidarity is to marginalize the women actively fighting against its enforcement and yearning to break free.

(Ruchika Sharma is a doctoral scholar in history at the Jawaharlal Nehru University)
The Congress problem is that it neither has the support base, nor the goodwill.

When Priyanka Gandhi Vadra landed in Ayodhya on Friday afternoon to play soft Hindutava ball and seek blessings of some of the deities, she may have wished that history does not repeat itself.

Priyanka is now the third member of Nehru-Gandhi family in the past 30 years, besides Rajiv and Rahul, to visit Ayodhya while kickstarting the election campaign for the Congress. One is not sure whether she is mindful of the fact on both previous occasions  after Rajiv visited Faizabad in 1989 with promise to herald 'Ram Rajya' on his return to power and after Rahul visited in September 2016 ahead of Uttar Pradesh assembly election  the Congress' fortunes took a downturn.

Rajiv's visit came in the aftermath of him unlocking Ramlala and laying the foundation of Ram Chabutara in Ayodhya, after he negated the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case through legislation and was accused of pandering to Muslim appeasement. To counter these charges made by the BJP (which was founded in 1980 after split in Janata Party and had only two members in Lok Sabha), Rajiv attempted to appease the forces of Hindutva. That was when Congress was ruling at the Centre, Rajiv was prime minister with highest ever majority of 404 seats in the Lok Sabha and it was ruling Uttar Pradesh with a substantive majority and with the towering Narayan Dutt Tiwari as chief minister. In that 1989 election, parliamentary and Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls were being held simultaneously.

The results shocked the Congress: It was conclusively defeated in both parliamentary polls and Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Since then, the party has been on the margins in the country's biggest electoral prize and a constant spiral. At the Centre, though Congress was in power for 15 years, it could never secure a majority on its own: It had to either lead a minority or a coalition government. That election also saw rise of the BJP from a negligible two seats in the Lok Sabha to 85 MPs.

In September 2016, in the run-up to Uttar Pradesh elections, Rahul, while trying to regain Hindu credentials for self and Congress visited Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya. He offered puja and sought blessings of seers and the deity. To ensure that his Ayodhya visit didnt send a wrong message among their support base in Muslim and Christian communities, he also visited mosques, dargah and churches.

The Congress claimed that Rahuls move put the party in the lead, but when the results came in, the grand old party was reduced to single digits: seven seats in the 402-member Assembly. Priyanka, general secretary in-charge of UP (East) is seeking to revive fortunes of Congress in the 2019 parliamentary elections. To ensure that her visit to Ayodhya is not misinterpreted she also visited a dargarh, Materva mazar, en-route from Ayodhya. Even as Priyanka and Rahul went to Ayodhya, they chose to avoid darshan of Ramlala statute at the disputed site. Rahul visited Hanuman Garhi and Priyanka did the same. Which is indicative of Congress indecisiveness on the Ayodhya issue.

Responding to a query on her visit to Ayodhya, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, Its good that they are going to Ayodhya, they should also accept that this was birthplace of Lord Ram. The Congress problem is that it neither has the support base, nor the goodwill. Priyankas visit to Ayodhya could be categorised as political symbolism. Such symbolism or tokenism works only if it is supported by sustained and substantive action. Unfortunately, she and her party are on the wrong side of history.
a circular issued by the Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Kerala made visible some of the fault lines that mark the future of academic freedom and dedicated research in our country. The circular contained problematic clauses which stated that research in the university needs to be done according to 'national priorities,' that research in 'irrelevant areas' need not be promoted any longer, and that the faculty will draw up a list of projects from which prospective research scholars will be asked to choose their topics of research

Research is an act of rigorous scholarly commitment  one that should be guided by the spirit of academic freedom, and one in which there should be no curb on the researchers right to ask pertinent questions that may unsettle the diverse power structures that mark our times.

UNESCOs Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel stated, in 1997, that institutions of higher education, particularly universities, are communities of scholars preserving, disseminating and expressing freely their opinions on traditional knowledge and culture, and pursuing new knowledge without constriction by prescribed doctrines. It is these very ideals of free speech, freedom of thought and freedom of expression that act as the cornerstones of committed research in any society.

Recently, a circular issued by the Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Kerala made visible some of the fault lines that mark the future of academic freedom and dedicated research in our country. The circular contained problematic clauses which stated that research in the university needs to be done according to "national priorities," that research in "irrelevant areas" need not be promoted any longer, and that the faculty will draw up a list of projects from which prospective research scholars will be asked to choose their topics of research.

Central University of Kerala Circular by Tech2 on Scribd

Why I resigned

Being a member of the Board of Studies in the same university, a circular like this, which is detrimental to the prospects of free and academic research appeared appalling to me, caused me to register my protest by resigning from the Board. I wanted to draw attention to the many dangers that are latent in rules like this, hoping that higher education would become a matter of public debate.

The decision from the part of the University to implement an order that limits prospective research to select areas which are in accordance with national priorities is highly inimical to the purpose of higher education in public universities. At a time when there is much debate on governmental attempts to restrict instances of free speech that articulate dissent of different forms, such a move should be understood with much caution.

Highly undemocratic and restrictive, the clauses in the circular remind a discerning reader of the kind of restrictions that are usually imposed in dictatorial regimes. This even feels like the groundwork for a shift into a disciplining regime of that kind, if such a shift has not already happened. It was equally a matter of alarm that there were very few voices responding to this, and that many did not seem to have a problem with it.

Who determines national priorities?

It can be said that the use of the term 'national priorities' itself is problematic within academics as it limits the autonomy of the researcher and compromises the ethics that should form the base of any academic endeavour. Many of us working within the University system of India, of late, have been alarmed by the structural and ideological changes that have been sweeping across academia. At various universities, there have been attempts to suppress acts of dissent, acts of free speech and protests of different kinds. In such a context, the very unproblematic acceptance of national priorities needs to be contested, especially by asking questions like who gets to decide the priorities of the nation.

The nation is constituted by hundreds of regions, ethnicities, and linguistic groups. The idea of the nation becomes further complicated given that we are living in a time when the nation, in a certain sense, is trying to create individuals who are anti-national by virtue of what they believe in, what they eat, and what they think. A circular which states that research can only be done according to national priorities needed to be countered and opposed for these multiple reasons.

The circular must be fiercely contested

While the proposed order claims to discourage research in 'irrelevant areas', in effect, the order will act as a ceiling that prevents highly valuable research on topics of critique and dissent from finding a voice within the academic portals of a university. The very notion of defining the relevance of research in terms of national interest is something that needs to be fiercely contested. Some of the exciting research from the University of Kerala, for instance, focuses on highly specific fields like the Kerala modernity or the sartorial politics in 19th century Travancore. Such works look into several pertinent aspects of Keralas past, such as the fact that the saree was never really the dress of Kerala, or that there were women who did not cover their upper bodies at one point in history.

Would such research, which explores the entire debate on gender and dress in early, modern Kerala, be relevant in the national context? Who gets to say if it is irrelevant? It was recently news that NCERT has removed a chapter on the breast cloth revolt in Kerala  a momentous instance in Keralas past where women marched for their right to cover their upper body. Whether they were uncomfortable with printing the word breast in the textbook, or whether they are ashamed of a past where women did not cover their breasts, such ridiculous reasons do not stand as an excuse to authorise an act that would eventually end up erasing the particular histories of gender in a region.

What is to be noted here is that the breast cloth revolt, or the Channar revolt, bears very crucial indicators of the histories of renaissance and modernity in Kerala, and is an indispensable chapter in the pasts of gender and caste in the region. When a national board takes it off, labelling it as irrelevant, it amounts to a conscious erasure of specific histories, alerting us to the question of who gets to decide what is relevant or irrelevant.

The freedom to choose is at stake

Academics should inculcate spaces that are democratic and inclusive, as opposed to instructing researchers to stoop before the eccentricities of regressive regimes. What often strikes me as a teacher is that each generation of students that I teach is more brilliant than the previous one. When a university places itself as the authority that can decide what is relevant and irrelevant in research, and when it tells students to conform to a predetermined notion of relevance, in a sense, they are trying to put the next generation into boxes, limiting their vision and hampering their right to choose. It resembles the revival of the feudal structures, where a few decided what everyone elses role in the society should be.

Students at IISER Pune. Image: Twitter

A university that comes up with such undemocratic assumptions of research is implying that boys and girls who are old enough to vote are not capable of critical thinking. They are questioning the values, logic and the very fundamental principles of democracy, making our academic institutions into the most exclusionary of spaces. Decisions like this run the danger of taking away the political edge of public universities, which have historically been the bastions of protest against authoritarian and fascist regimes.

A similarly detrimental logic was seen to be articulated by some of the commentators on the issue who maintained that if a students research is funded with the taxpayers money, then they should listen to the taxpayer. Nothing could be more regressive than this. Left to the taxpayer, Isaac Newton would never have sat dreaming under a tree and as a result discovered the theory of gravity. But then modern scientific theories do not seem to have much currency as far as taxpayers these days are concerned, many have brazenly argued that all the science India needed was there in the ancient Vedic texts.

The dangers of corporate interests trying to regulate research

It is equally a matter of concern that the spirit of higher education in our country is increasingly being subsumed to the interests of neo-liberalisation, privatisation and corporatisation. By and large, the market model has entered the sphere of education as well. In such a context, authoritarian attempts to define the contours of research could run the danger of corporate interests trying to regulate what goes into research and what does not. Such dictates can have serious consequences for research in all disciplines including the sciences, but it will affect arts, humanities, and the social sciences a lot more.

These disciplines give space to fields of enquiries that are subversive, the study of caste being the best instance. An academic take on the Dalit movement is also an attempt to register a particular narrative, a discourse, which is silenced in the course of history. In the University of Kerala, topics like Ambedkarism and Dalit politics are therefore part and parcel of the curricula, and there is vibrant research going on in issues related to caste. It was recently in the news that in other universities, protests were filed by students who have been denied the right to research on similar subjects. Such issues need to be treated with a lot of vigilance.

If opposing the right to free speech was political, I was political

My resignation was propelled by the fact that I did not want to be part of any structure of power that limits the freedom of thought, the right to ask questions, the right to dissent, the right for a young student to choose what to study instead of something that is predetermined. Many of these reasons were seen as "political" by commentators.

If opposing the right to free speech was political, I was political. If standing up for the right of a student to dissent and to critique is political, I was being political. By political, if they meant either of these things, I'm proud to be political.

Politicians like Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor have responded to the issue, clarifying their stand. The Chief Minister of Kerala also stated that he intended to convey that research needs to be useful to the common man and that it was not among his intentions to pass judgment on the relevance of research but on the necessity to have diverse kinds of research.

After a public debate was triggered on the issue of research, one of the national newspapers has reported that the HRD has denied having given such directions to universities. If that is true, then it is inevitable to inquire from where a circular of this kind originates. Now that the MHRD too has come out stating that they were not part of such a directive, it is high time such a circular got withdrawn. If that is done, it would be a great triumph for the spirit and values of democracy and free thought in India.
Village Kota Gunjapur, located within the Panna tiger reserve, does not have two basic amenities.

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

***

Panna: Village Kota Gunjapur, located within the Panna tiger reserve, does not have two basic amenities. An access road, and electricity. The roar of the tiger reverberates in the village often at night. Villagers have lost cattle from tiger attacks. But the small village, inhabited by 300 residents of 80 households, all Gond tribals, remains dark and isolated from its neighbouring villages Akola, Manji, Kataria, all of which have been electrified.

We decided to visit Kota Gunjapur village, about 20 kilometres from Panna district headquarters. The real struggle to reach the village begins after a 10 km ride into the tiger reserve, one of five tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh, spanning an area of 542 sq kms. A seven-kilometre bumpy ride took us to a nearby village. The next three kilometres were a veritable natural obstacle course of fields and jungle. We finally reached a broken fence, the only entrance to Kota Gunjapur. The forest department had apparently blocked access with fencing and rocks, but the villagers removed a part of it to create access.

After traversing a narrow pathway through the jungle, the village itself was quite a contrast to its surroundings. It has a primary school, concrete roads, about 30 pucca houses under the prime minister's housing scheme and some hand pumps. But no electricity.

Kota Gunjapur presents a very different reality compared to Prime Minister Narendra Modis claim that his government has achieved 100 percent electrification of all villages in India, with the last village of Leisang in Manipur being connected to the power grid. The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHGAYA) was launched in Madhya Pradesh on 22 December, 2017. About 45 lakh un-electrified households were to be included under this scheme. State government records claim that it has achieved 100 percent electrification with no village in Panna left in the dark. Why or how the unelectrified Kota Gunjapur does not figure in these records is not clear.

The village residents were celebrating Holi when we arrived, dancing to Bhojpuri songs. Some kids had managed to connect their amplifier to a solar plate provided by the village panchayat for street lights. "The village is classified a revenue village, which is why government schemes have been implemented here. We have everything except electricity, said Ram Vishal, a young villager. Officials say there is no legal issue in giving electricity to this village. Acting on our application, the electricity department sent 40 electricity poles in May 2017, said Ram Vishal. But they never came back to begin the work and now in March this year, they came to take the poles back. The villagers protested and saved 20 electricity poles which are still lying in the village."

The villagers' many applications to the district collector, electricity department and forest department and even a protest at the district headquarters last year got no response. Even approaching the chief minister has not helped. District collector Manoj Khatri would only say, "Let me check and then I'll take necessary action to provide electricity."

Yousuf Beg, a local activist, claims the administration is harassing the villagers to force them to leave the village. But the village panchayat has made it clear that they will not leave. The villagers have been living in the jungle for hundreds of years, said Yousef Beg. So the administration is trying to cut supply lines to the village."

Beg also alleged that the collectors direction to other departments to provide electricity has been ignored. We have been struggling for the basic rights of villagers for three years but no one has responded, added Beg. He also said another five to six villages in Panna district do not have electricity connections. The electricity board transmits electricity till the villages border but villagers are not able to use the connection, said Beg.

Assistant director of Panna Tiger Reserve RK Saxena said there is no legal problem in providing electricity in any village in the Panna Tiger Reserve. "Officers of Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board always blame the tiger reserve authority for lack of electricity, said Saxena. But we have made an online system where the board can easily get a No Objection Certificate. OP Soni, the electricity board engineer responsible for connections in the area, refused to comment on this issue.

Students in the village are the worst affected by lack of electricity as they are unable to study after sunset. "The village looks good in the day time but the real struggle begins at night, said Ruby Gond, an eighth class student. We cannot study during the night, so we have to finish our homework during the day. All the children gather in the evenings to play games, but we always fear being bitten by snakes or other deadly reptiles.

Sandhya, another student from the same class, said: "We light a dibbi (kerosene lamp) but the light is not sufficient for study. We face a real struggle as we have to do household work and study at the same time. Students move to Panna for higher studies due to non-availability of electricity."

Lack of electricity poses a different set of problems for their parents and other elderly residents. When the electricity department sent poles in our village, we started to imagine life with electricity, said Diya Bai, 62. "Every time before the elections, the politicians come and assure us that they will provide electricity in three days but forget everything after elections. I'm tired of casting my vote and may boycott voting until the village demand is fulfilled." Diya Bai also pointed to the lack of road connectivity. Even an ambulance cannot come to the village in case of emergency. Villagers have to walk three kilometres to find a vehicle.

Halki Bai, 85, who lives with her daughter-in-law as her son has moved to the city in search of a job, narrates a similar ordeal. "My son has purchased a solar panel which is a great help." But her solar panel was dysfunctional when we visited and Halki Bai was found sitting by the light of a lamp.

Without any light, danger lurks constantly. The Panna reserve is home to not just the tiger but other predators like wolves, bears, wild boars, foxes and hyenas, which at times enter the village and attack villagers. Dogs play an important role as they alert us in case of tiger movement, said Indrapal Adivasi. Electricity can solve this problem as tigers stay away from the light.

Another villager Chandrabhan Adivasi talked about lack of information and communication in the village. "We cannot watch television which is a big source of knowledge and information, said Chandrabhan. We have to take our mobile phones to Panna or a nearby village to charge its battery."

The village falls under Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency, currently held by BJPs Nagendra Singh, who was not available for comment. The Congress candidate Raja Pateria said Nagendra Singh has never visited the area. It is unfortunate that a revenue village is still struggling to get an electricity connection, said Pateria, promising that the new Congress government will resolve the problem soon.

(The author is a Bhopal-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.)
In a move in line with its attempt for 'clean politics', the Supreme Court on Friday issued a show cause notice of contempt to the EC over 'non-compliance' with its 2018 order for candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election to declare pending criminal cases against them 'in a prominent manner'.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a show-cause notice to the Centre and the EC on a plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings for alleged violation of the apex court's judgment directing all candidates to declare their criminal antecedents to the poll panel before contesting elections.

A bench headed by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman has sought a reply in a week from the three deputy election commissioners, law secretary and the cabinet secretary for not complying with its judgment, after which it will take up the matter in an urgent hearing, reports said. The Election Commission is expected to a categorical affidavit detailing the effort made in compliance with the Supreme Court's order in a week.

A contempt petition was filed against the EC by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, who said that the political parties had not complied with the apex court's order regarding MPs and MLAs who have pending criminal cases against them.

In September 2018, a five-judge bench headed by then-CJI Dipak Misra unanimously held that all candidates would have to declare their criminal antecedents to the Election Commission before contesting an election, saying that the criminalisation of politics of the largest democracy is "unsettling". The bench said that political parties are obligated to put all the information about their candidates on their websites.

The apex court favoured wider publicity, through print and electronic media about the antecedents of candidates affiliated to political parties. Reportedly, the apex court said that the information about pending criminal cases had to be declared "prominently" in widely circulated newspapers and on TV channels. Issuing the guidelines, the Supreme Court noted that "citizens have the right to be informed" about the "antecedents" of their candidates.

The directives include that candidates must fill out Election Commission forms with details of their criminal past and pending cases in bold letters; that antecedents be declared on the website of the party, and that Parliament must make laws to ensure candidates with criminal antecedents don't enter public life and take part in lawmaking.

The verdict was pronounced on a batch of pleas raising a question whether lawmakers facing criminal trial can be disqualified from contesting elections at the stage of framing of charges against them.

With inputs from agencies
Recently awarded Indias third-highest peacetime gallantry award, the Shaurya Chakra, 16-year-old Irfan Sheikh is in hiding, fearing revenge from jihadists

He was a hero  a teenager who took on jihadists and lived to tell the tale. On March 19, Indias third-highest peacetime gallantry award, Shaurya Chakra, was conferred on Irfan Sheikh by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Then, the 16-year-old disappeared  into hiding, in a house where the family has been living in fear of reprisal from the jihadists.

Irfans story is that of the hundreds of Kashmiris who have suffered in the 30-year conflict and continue to face indignities in silence, but still find ways to fight back.

In Kashmir, medals and honours earned in the service of the country are meant to be hidden, not shared. here if I get a medal, I have to hide it. It hardly has any value. Who in society would congratulate us, said a police officer from south Kashmir. On the other hand, in other parts of the country, the stereotype is that all Kashmiris are separatists, and pro-Pakistan.

MEDALS COUNT FOR LITTLE

Irfans father, Ramzan Sheikh, was a small-time contractor who would work for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when he wasnt building roads in rural south Kashmir. He survived an assassination bid in 2013 and nervously bided the unrest that followed the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

On the evening of October 16, 2017, Irfan, the eldest of Ramzans children, bravely but unsuccessfully wrestled three jihadists at their home in Shopians Homhuna village to save his father. When it all ended, jihadist Showkat Ahmad Kumar, from nearby Trenz village, too, lay dead. The following day, Ramzans family and that of his brother left everything, even their shoes, behind and ran for their lives as a mob of hundreds led by at least four jihadists marched towards their home. From a safe distance, the family watched their house go up in flames.

The Sheikh family has not returned to Homhuna and continues to live away from the public eye, somewhere in the state. The Shaurya Chakra has compounded their fears of a backlash from the jihadists.

It was on the instructions of party chief Mehbooba Mufti that Irfan again went into hiding, a PDP member said. They will never be able to go home, he said. Irfans family did not want it, but when he was named for the award, it could not have been refused.

Irfan is staying strong and preparing for the civil services, aiming for the Indian Police Service. But, for anyone identifying as pro-India in Kashmir, rewards are few and dangers real.

His gallantry award coincided with Kashmiris facing violence in some parts of the country in the aftermath of the February 14 suicide attack that left 40 CRPF men dead in Pulwama. The violence, seen as the manifestation of stereotyping of Kashmiris as pro- Pakistan, might have been criticised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but pro-India Kashmiris do not hesitate to say that in the national imagination, all Kashmiris are separatists.

The Kashmiri today has replaced the Pakistani as a whipping boy, said a Kashmiri journalist, requesting anonymity. Wherever we go, we are the Kashmiris of their perception: out to destroy India. There is no other Kashmiri.

In the early days of the Kashmir conflict, several hundred workers of the National Conference were killed by the jihadists, while the Kashmiris serving in the police force continue to face violence. So do sarpanches.

There are Kashmiri men who have crossed the Line of Control and worked in jihadist camps to gather valuable intelligence, only to return home to serve in lower ranks such as constables or personal security guards in the police force.

In 2008, Mukhtar Ahmed Sheikh, a Kashmiri man whose brother was killed by the jihadists, infiltrated the ranks of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. He led the agencies to the Lashkar men who attacked Mumbai in 2008 but was jailed following differences within the intelligence services.

THE CAST-OFFS

From jihadists-turned-counter insurgents of the 1990s to the mainstream politicians who braved bullets, all feel abandoned by India.

Far from the public and media gaze, Kashmiris who chose the Indian side have to deal with insidious assaults on them besides battling adversaries from within their community. Medals and uniform are just not enough.

A paramilitary officer posted in Srinagar narrated the following incident to illustrate the deep mistrust of Kashmiris. A senior paramilitary officer was severely injured in a gunfight in north Kashmirs Handwara.

Eyebrows were raised when a Kashmiri doctor, a recipient of more than a dozen police medals for high-risk evacuations of soldiers during gunfights, was involved in moving the injured to a safer place. Communal slurs were hurled at him.

There were others in uniform who said he would end up killing the injured officer, the Srinagar-based officer said. All because he was a Kashmiri Muslim. The injured officer recovered and returned to duty amid much fanfare.

Not just them, their friends and families, too, are at risk, Kashmiri police officers say. In the last few years, family members of several policemen have been killed or abducted and their

houses attacked by mobs.

Kashmiris have faced the brunt of militancy and yet we are called anti-national, said a police officer, feted with two gallantry medals for counterinsurgency operations. It makes people think that if we were on the other side, we would have at least been safe.

A resident of south Kashmir whose sibling was killed by jihadists, the officer has not been home for five years. Despite the slurs and sacrifices, he served out of conviction, to give our youngsters a chance and see a change, he said. For officers from outside the state, Kashmir is a ladder for success. Earn a few medals based on their kills and show those off back home. But here if I get a medal, I have to hide it. It hardly has any value. Who in the society would congratulate us?

The Machil fake encounter case was investigated and proved by police but it was still we who bore the brunt of it for the whole of the remaining year, he said. It is difficult to explain to our children why stones are always being thrown at us. Somewhere they also begin thinking if we are doing the wrong thing.

There was no ownership and no investment in the mainstream, he said. Police officers point to statements made by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti at public gatherings against the police, while members of the force guard her.

Whatever you do, it will never be enough, the officer said, adding the focus should be on reaching out to people. It has to be incentivised. The idea is to expand the people in our favour, normal policing has to be glorified and commended but that itself is just not happening.

In 2018 a paramilitary medical officer, Suneem Khan, was awarded a medal and citation by the home ministry for his rescue efforts during an attack on Amarnath yatra pilgrims. No political leader, including the chief minister, congratulated him. For reasons best known to her, Mehbooba Mufti also did not deem it right, Khan said.

MIND THE GAP

Lack of incentives and social acceptance of pro-India politics has gone unchallenged, even by politicians with similar leanings.

In May 2017, a 22-year-old Kashmiri army officer, Umer Fayyaz, was abducted from his cousins wedding in south Kashmirs Shopian district. His cousin, Rafia Nazir, said no one in the family knew that Fayyaz was in the army. Had it been known, we would not have let him in, she had then said.

The taboo on being Indian has to be broken, the police officer said. If you are not able to win people already on your side, how will you win over people on the other side?

For another police officer, who has four medals and citations, awards are not enough to boost morale. We need a radical policy shift to own Kashmiris who are Indians, he said. There was a use-and-throw system at play and governments invariable ended up appeasing the enemies at the cost of the pro-India element.

Instead of working on expanding the Indian constituency, they have been pampering those opposed to us. It has been a seven-decade failed experiment, the officer said.

Though the officer is content with his two decades of service, he plans to shift abroad for a better life. His medals wouldnt matter if he were to go to other states. They will notice my circumcision. In Kashmir, I am a policeman; there I am a Muslim, he said.

The officer had some strong words for powers-that-be in New Delhi, who, he said, were doing little for the mainstream. There is an army of people in New Delhi who think short term, create Pied Pipers to draw out stone pelters and separatists and then dont know what to do afterwards, he said.

Those who spoke of Pakistan were pampered, taken to shout in favour of Pakistan on scripted television debates and evoke anger against Kashmir and Kashmiris. The time has come for India to own Kashmirs nationalists. More non-combatants have died fighting against so-called azadi than for it. Pro-India Kashmiris have always been given a raw deal, he said.

The preconceived notions about Kashmiris were a big hurdle in promoting integration, a pro-India political activist in south Kashmir said. India would rather create a crop of fake nationalists and separatists to control the discourse rather than take affirmative action to effect a change on the ground, he said on condition of anonymity. If you take a clear stand, you suffer. Kashmiris who want to contribute to nation-building will never be heard.

He blamed the media as well. The people of India, irrespective of their ideologies, had a set idea of what a Kashmiri should be, and pandered to Kashmiris who fit that frame. No one in India values those who speak about ground reality, he said. When even the liberals in India give space to our opponents at our cost, how can we blame local elements for gagging us?

Kashmiris were afraid because anyone spreading the idea of India was at risk, but New Delhi, too, didnt want to empower Kashmiri Muslims, he felt. We want azadi from azadi so we can breathe and speak freely.
The incident dates back to the 1990s when Rajagopal wanted to marry Jeevajothi, the daughter of an assistant manager at the company's Chennai branch named Ramasamy

Eighteen years after the abduction and murder of a former employee, the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction and life term of P Rajagopal, owner of the Saravana Bhavan group of hotels. He has been asked to surrender by 7 July. Popularly called the 'dosa king' (in reference to his chain of hotels that sell South India vegeterian food), Rajagopal was convicted for abducting and murdering an employee, Prince Shantakumar, in October 2001, so that he could marry the latter's wife.

SC upholds conviction, life imprisonment of Saravana Bhavan founder in murder case Read @ANI Story| https://t.co/KZaaEhMMTW pic.twitter.com/ejTI4kR656  ANI Digital (@ani_digital) March 29, 2019

In 2004, a special court had awarded Rajagopal and five of his accomplices  Daniel, Karmegan, Hussain, Kasi Viswanathan and Patturangan  10-year rigorous imprisonment. Later, in 2009, the Madras High Court convicted him to life imprisonment after finding the case "a grave one done with a clear intention".

However, he had challenged the HC verdict and was subsequently granted bail the same year by a Supreme Court bench of Justices BN Agrawal and GS Singhvi . The HC had also imposed a fine of Rs 55 lakh on Rajagopal, including Rs 50 lakh as compensation to Jeevanjothi.

Saravana Bhavan has outlets in 20 countries including the US, the UK, France and Australia. There are 25 restaurants across India.

What is the case?

The incident dates back to the 1990s when Rajagopal wanted to marry Jeevajothi, daughter of Ramasamy, an assistant manager at the company's Chennai branch. Rajagopal already had two wives at that time and Jeevajothi objected to the marriage. She married Shantakumar in 1999, a former tuition teacher who had joined the company.

According to the prosecution, Rajagopal had threatened the couple to break off the marriage but the couple refused to pay heed. A police complaint was later filed on 1 October, 2001 by the couple who said they were abducted by Rajagopal's men and intimidated.

Days later, Shantakumar was abducted again taken to Kodaikanal. His body was found Perumalmalai in the Kodaikanal forests. A chargesheet was filed under section 302 (murder), 364 (abduction) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code. After the case became sensational, Rajagopal had surrendered on 23 November, 2001 but was granted bail on 15 July, 2003. He was also accused of attempting to bribe Jeevajothi with Rs six lakh.
Fenn Thompson, Hunter & Co, John Mayer and others once supplied customers across the Empire. Fenn is the only survivor of Trichys great British heritage

"Top secret, read the double-sealed envelope. Inside, there was a letter to the Madras Government from the CCA at the office of the Chief Secretary, asking politely for a promotion. To even the handful of top bureaucrats who had ever heard of it, the CCA was a figure shrouded in mystery  Chief Confidential Assistant  some believed, who engaged in things best for a smart bureaucrat not to make inquiries about. It wasnt until the 1960s, when the letter arrived that an investigation into the inscrutable job began, and the smokescreen around one of the Second World Wars great mysteries was fanned away.

In the early 1940s, Nazi Germanys submarine fleet began to savage convoys headed across the Atlantic Ocean, carrying weapons, ordnance, food and Prime Minister Winston Churchills beloved Havana cigars. Faced with the prospect of Great Britains wartime commander being lost to nicotine withdrawals, or so the story goes, the Madras Governor stepped in, using his special powers under the Defence of India Rules.

The CCA  Churchills Cigar Assistant, an English-speaking cigar taster  was tasked with discreetly obtaining the finest Trichinopoly cigars, and ensuring they made their way to 10 Downing Street.

Every great product is built with legends. The Tank de Cartier watch was inspired, so its claimed, by the Renault FT  the revolutionary French battle tank that helped the Allies slice through five German divisions at Amiens in 1918, and head on to the gates of victory. Moleskine may not have been around all that long, but the Italian company wants you to believe that every notebook you buy has a lineage dating back to Vincent van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway. For a certain kind of Cuban cigar aficionado, the myth that they are rolled on the thighs of virgin women has always been part of the allure.

Even though the rough-edged Trichy cigar has its critics  crime writer Dorothy Sayers detective Lord Wimsey sips on his port, while disparaging a fellow who polluted it with a Trichinopoly  there are few Indian products with the same mythic credentials. In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes provide Scotland Yard with this description of a suspect: He was more than six feet high, was in the prime of life, had small feet for his height, wore coarse, square-toed boots and smoked a Trichinopoly cigar.

Fenn Thompson & Co  along with Hunter & Co, John Mayer and others with names similarly redolent with Trichys great British heritage  once supplied customers across the Empire. The company is now the only surviving producer of the Trichy.

Founded in 1900 by Solai Thevar, Fenn Thompson was one of several cigar manufacturers founded in present-day Tiruchirappalli by enterprising Indians who understood the power of branding. All of them were run by Indians but since we catered to the British, we needed English names, says V Vasudevan, Fenn Thompsons proprietor.

Photographs and catalogues recording Fenn Thompsons story give some insight into the Trichys glory decades. A pre-Independence brochure, yellowed with age but carefully laminated, shows the company once offered the Light of India  a very mild smoke that was priced at a princely `0.50 per 1,000. There were the Havana-blend Major Coronas, the La Corona, and even Lady Love, at `0.8 per 100.

Vasudevan says the company was one of the few that would send cigars for Churchill, but there is no way of verifying this. There was a time when every second household here had a cigar connection. Today, the families have shut shop, but still live well off the fortune they made, he says, while grumbling about the GST.

The tobacco used in Fenn Thompsons cigars, sourced from nearby Dindigul, is fermented for a couple of years in distilled juices of fruits like apple, orange pineapple and grape, mixed with jaggery and honey.

Cigar-making is a labour-intensive process with much of the work being done by hand. Finding labourers willing to put in the 16-hour days needed to produce the cigars is hard. Fenn Thompson has only three labourers making cigars today, down from more than twenty at its peak.

Everyone aspires to a white-collar job today. There are hotels and malls where they prefer to work, says R Amin of 222 Beedi Factory in Tiruchirappalli. His family was never in the cigar business, but he too faces the same issues, as far as labour is concerned. There are, understandably, fears about the long-term sustainability of the business. I will continue this forward but I also like civil engineering. So I dont really know, says Vasudevans 20-year-old son V Rathnavel.

Vasudevan says Fenn Thompson is the only Indian cigar-making company  a claim that has some merit, but doesnt necessarily add the kind of cachet the countrys small cigar-smoking community craves.

In 2010, ITC launched Armenteros, a premium hand-rolled cigar brand. Armenteros advertising waxes eloquent about the crafting of the cigar with everything sourced from the best growing regions of the world, including tobaccos from Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru, etc. Suffice to say Vasudevans cigars are not quite in the same league. Today, Fenn Thompson has a variety of cigars on offer, though not as numerous as in the companys heyday. There is, of course, the Churchill Special, as well as Black Tiger which enjoys a certain level of popularity in the countrys cigar circles. The cigars now come in a teakwood box with a seal of the company. Sale is on order only.

We do not rely on the usage of fancy words to sell our product. We have customers who have been loyal to us for generations and now  thanks to the internet  a lot of orders are coming in, first out of curiosity and then because they like the flavour, says Vasudevan.
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd's autobiography, From a Shepherd Boy to an Intellectual: My Memoirs, provides the reader with a blueprint of his arguments and how they came into being.

If one has to talk about a breakthrough in non-fictional narratives on caste-system after Dr Ambedkar, then it must be agreed that Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd is an exceptional writer in that domain. His Why I Am Not a Hindu? fell on the literary world like a nuclear weapon. It changed the way Dalit bahujans perceived themselves. His autobiography From a Shepherd Boy to an Intellectual: My Memoirs, published by SAGE Samya Select in 2019, provides the reader with a blueprint of his arguments and how they came into being. In a conversation with Firstpost, Shepherd discusses the two books and the themes and subjects explored in them. Here are the edited excerpts from the same 

Q. In the preface of the book, you have indicated the significance of the link between Dalitbahujan intellectuals and their stories written by themselves. How important do you think it is for Dalitbahujan intellectuals to tell their stories by themselves, especially when in the recent time we have witnessed appropriation of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkars Annihilation of Caste by Arundhati Roy?

It is very important to tell the story by the Dalitbahujan and by the larger Shudra writers in their own words because nobody has written even their biographies in an authentic way. There is a huge gap between Brahmin/Bania intellectual knowledge and perception and the Dalitbahujan and Shudra knowledge and perception of what to write and what not to write. Since the caste system separated the life experience of productive communities and non-productive communities, a writers life shapes up his/her knowledge base.

The autobiography of a person from a caste/community in India becomes an autobiography of the caste/community itself. An autobiography alone captures the cultural nuances, what they eat, how they lead a life within the family as wife and husband, children and so on. The Indian educated society does not know the cultural differences between Dalit-bahujans/Shudras and Brahmin-Banias. It is not just the sensitivity of the writer alone that matters. It is a question of knowing the life of the different community itself. Arundhati Roy wrote a commentary on Ambedkars theoretical book  Annihilation of Caste. Since that is not a biography, there is no appropriation involved there. I do not know why Ambedkar did not write his autobiography. If he were to write one, Gandhis autobiography and Nehrus autobiography would not have dominated the literary market. His life story would have been more fascinating.

Q. In the book, you have mentioned If the OBCs, move away from Hinduism, like Dalits are doing now in many areas, the very structure of Indian society will change. So do you think that conversion of OBCs to other religions would bring change in the social psyche, especially in the context of atrocities against Dalits?

Religion is a very important component of community and individual life. As I said in Why I am Not a Hindu the Shudras of India (including the OBCs) have no properly organised religious life with a book to read, interpret, based on their experience. Only Brahmins have that right in Hinduism. The Banias and Kshatriyas go with Brahmins because they too have non-productive good life. Hence Hinduism is a very good religion for them. But to Dalits and Shudras, Hinduism never gave the right to priesthood and the right to interpret the scripture. Dalits understood this and they are going into Buddhism and Christianity. There they are getting spiritual rights and interpretative rights. This definitely changes their life over a period of time. But the Shudras are not challenging the Brahminism the way Dalits challenged it. This stagnated the Shudra/OBC life for centuries.

Q. You have mentioned shaping up your methodology in a fresh and creative way by using your experience as a framework. Can you briefly tell us what made you realise that for a Dalitbahujan his own experiences, which are essentially different from Brahmanical academicians, be the framework of research or to understand the subject in the discourse of the nation?

The Dalitbahujan/Shudra writing brings out their experience with productive fields, water bodies, animal grazing, fighting with nature on an everyday basis and so on. The Brahmin-Bania life experience does not have that. When the methodology of writing shifts to Experience as Framework a world view that never been written so far will come into reality. You can see in this autobiography of mine, how I lived a totally animal-friendly life in the fields with cattle in my childhood. The cattles sexual life, their problems with deliveries, how the young ones are cared and nurtured for is part of the Dalitbahujan/Shudra life. No Brahmin/Bania child knows anything about that life.

When you read the last chapter of the book What I ate, how I wrote and how I lived, it tells the story of different food culture, the story of cooking methods of different meats, fish and so on. Since my family was not cooking beef at home, I learnt eating beef at the Vellore Medical College Hospital, when my brother got operated in 1979. I then realised that the Shudras have lost or missed a great source of protein, beef, which is a cheap food item. The Brahmin-Bania life mostly revolves around vegetarianism. Their children naturally think that Indian food culture is only vegetarian. As of now, 60 percent of the food consumed in India is meatarian.

The way RSS/BJP adopted the Brahmin/Bania food culture as Indian nationalist food culture will result only in starving of the nation. Even then the Brahmin/Bania intellectuals go with it because they think that that is Indian nationalist food culture. Normally in writing of autobiography, the Brahmin/ Bania methodology is that they praise the vegetarian food as divine and pure food. But in all Shudra/Dalitbahujan families, meat food is considered to be pure and ritually correct. Unless we reject the Brahminic methodology of writing, we cannot write our autobiography with self-respect. Before my autobiography came out, Shudras/Dalitbahujans were ashamed of talking about their food culture as great and universal. The Brahmin/Bania/Jain food culture is not only non-universal, it is isolationist too. From Harappa days (the first city of the world) to present, meat, fish and beef were main food items of Indians. Since Jainism started as a vegetarian religion, much later the Brahmin/Banias adopted that food culture and called it pure food. That is ridiculous. Universally in all religions, all food items, including meat and fruit, are treated as pure. The Shudras/Dalitbahujans have that universal food culture. That is where my methodology of 'Experience as Framework' changed the social science and literary discourse in India.

Q. You seemed to have differentiated between productive castes and non-productive castes. Could you briefly tell us, citing an example, that who are these unproductive castes and are they or are they not capable of producing what is understood as knowledge?

In India, all Shudra (including all OBC), Dalits, Adivasis who are involved in agrarian and artisanal tasks are productive castes. They are known as Matti Manushulu (people of soil) in Telugu. The Brahmins, Banias and Kshatriyas are non-productive castes. The productive caste lives a life of Labour as Life the non-productive castes live a life of Leisure as Life. The tasks they are claiming are reading and writing, business or so-called running of the state could also be done by the productive castes. But the work of productive castes they refuse to do. This is what exactly Subramanian Swamy said, I am Brahmin I cannot take up Chowkidar job. But if you ask him to take up the land tilling job, he will say the same. He is right; they do not want to do any productive work but share the wealth with authority. That is the caste system. They think that God has given them that life.

Q. You have mentioned the philosophical connection between the consumption of food and the way the writer writes. Can you elaborate this in brief, especially in the context of literature produced by beef consuming population, and the population which stigmatise it?

As I said above, it is the childhood food culture that shapes our future food philosophy. Why all Shudras/Dalitbahujan are basically meat, fish eaters and all Brahmins/Banias/Jains are vegetarians (particularly in South India and Western India)? From childhood onwards, their children are fed with only that food. It gradually becomes their food philosophy. It is this philosophy of food that characterised vegetarianism as spiritually valid pure food among the Brahmin/Bania forces. But the Shudra/Dalitbahujan ritual philosophy is such that it accepts meat, fish and vegetables as spiritually pure and valid. This system of differentiated food philosophy has been there on caste lines in India. This makes inter-caste marriages also difficult. It makes cooking systems different. If at a very fundamental level of food culture we differ so much, then how can we say we all belong to the same religion. Any religion should have common food and bed culture. This is the key point I made in my autobiography.

Those who insult my food history that has been existed from the days of Harappa civilisation cannot claim we belong one religion and one nation. My nation, its productive culture, it's civilisational systems came 1,500 years before the Rigveda evolved. That is the reason why the Shudra/Dalitbahujan culture and civilisation are authentic Indian culture and civilisation. Brahminism has no authentic Indian civilisational roots. From Shepherd Boy to an Intellectual  My Memoirs established that point very authentically.
The anonymous #MeToo allegations on Instagram had suggested that Komu had made forcible and unwelcome advances on two occasions to which Komu had responded, also on Instagram with an apology for having caused hurt with his behaviour.

Four months after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against artist and co-founder of the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), Riyas Komu, the board of trustees have decided to drop all inquiry into the matter in the absence of a forthcoming complaint.

In October 2018, an anonymous accusation had been shared on the Instagram account @herdsceneand detailing the survivor's encounter with the artist. Following the #MeToo allegations, on 19 October 2018, Komu had stepped down from all managerial positions at the foundation that organises the Kochi-Muziris Biennale until such a time as the investigation by the Internal Complaints Committee was pending.

However, the KBF issued a statement on the last day of the fourth edition of the Biennale stating that the ICC, led by Lizzie Jacob, trustee and former Chief Secretary of Kerala, recommended dropping the investigation since no complaint of sexual harassment had come forth against the artist even as the matter had been pursued for several weeks. The statement read: Since no complaint was forthcoming after pursuing the matter for several weeks, the ICC recommended the dropping of the inquiry suggested by the Foundation. This recommendation has been examined and has been accepted by the board of trustees at its meeting today.

The statement issued by the board of trustees on 28 March, 2019 also said that the foundation looks forward to Komu 'resuming his roles at the Kochi Biennale Foundation.'

Earlier in March, Komu wrote in an email to the foundation that he had been deeply distressed with the way the foundation had chosen to handle the matter while he became the "target of a deliberate and calibrated attempt to wreck my career as an artist of global renown," an Indian Express report noted.

The anonymous allegations on Instagram had suggested that Komu had made forcible and unwelcome advances on two occasions to which Komu had responded, also on Instagram, with an apology for having caused hurt with his behaviour.

"In response to an allegation raised against me on an Instagram on 16 October 2018, I would like to state the following: Im deeply upset that this incident has been understood and presented in this manner," he had written. "However, as the person has expressed hurt, I would like here to offer my apologies and I am opening myself to the possibility of a conversation."
BJP is being pushed to the brink in one constituency even before the first join campaign rally is held in Mumbai.

Running a coalition government, either in the states or at the Centre is not easy. There are many an example of how they collapsed at the whim of a party. Over time, we are seeing how challenging it is for even larger nationwide parties to sew up alliances, especially when the smaller parties at the states try, and succeed, in calling the shots. In Maharashtra, where the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena have tied up with a 25-23 Lok Sabha seat-sharing arrangement, the alliance is not out of the woods yet. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis  the key point man for the BJP in the state  has now been forced to officially ask his cadre to help the ally Shiv Sena wherever BJP is not contesting.

The directive is more towards ensuring that the Shiv Sena softens up sufficiently to allow the BJP to field Kirit Somaiya from a Mumbai seat. The Sena is not only averse, but has set its face against his candidature because it nurses a grievance: Somaiya has been a battering ram against the Sena, especially in its handling of the Mumbai civic body. One does not yet know what the final choice of the BJP would be for the Mumbai North East seat, but it has been warned explicitly enough that the Sena would not countenance such a nomination. There are sufficient indications that the Sena may encourage a rebel from within its party should Kirit Somaiya be put on the ballot. BJP apparently sees a real risk if, somehow, Senas concurrence was obtained.

To massage the Sena into agreeing, the BJP even loaned a candidate of its own to the Sena for the Palghar seat which it was assigned to it, but had no candidate who could get past the post in polling. Yet, the matter has not been resolved to the liking of the BJP. Frankly, it is not the business of the Sena to pressurise an ally about its choice. A national party is being held hostage by a regional party.

This is an unusual situation. In coalition governments, the choice of who the minister should be is of the partner, not of the coalition. Sena withdrew Suresh Prabhu from the Union Cabinet for undisclosed reasons and the prime minister of the time, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had no choice. When Chhagan Bhujbal, deputy chief minister in the Sushilkumar Shinde cabinet had been asked to resign by the NCP, Shinde had to wait for the NCPs nominee  whoever it was  to fill the vacancy.

Likewise, once the seats are allocated after discussions, one party asks for a change on the perceptions it has about its electability and after assessing which party stood a better chance, it is agreed to. Even this is rare because seats are distributed after assessing each partys worth in the constituency.

Such marrying of a seat to a party, and then to a candidate, is not by lottery or done randomly. It is an interesting mental algorithm that political parties have because a list of hopefuls with best chances is on the shelf. A constant feel of the constituency and the dynamics of cast, class, issues, resources, go into working it out.

In Mumbai North East, the Sena has thrown this practice to the wind because it is extremely sensitive to the likely presence of Somaiya in the political arena. It has to be said, however, that Kirit Somaiya  a plain-speaking man with a smile amid his perceived abrasive attitude  is not likely to eat the humble pie, now or later. Expect him to hound the Sena.

Should he be benched at the whim and will of the Shiv Sena, it is because the BJP worked itself into a sense of insecurity about winning sufficient seats from Maharashtra and Amit Shah visited Uddhav Thackeray. Who comes calling for what is how the Senas top brass calculates its self-worth. Now, BJP is being pushed to the brink in one constituency even before the first join campaign rally is held in Mumbai.
At a time when both the AIADMK and DMK are at their weakest, the national parties are still struggling to be counted in the state due to poor ground presence, factionalism and the Tamil identity

There is no M Karunanidhi to work the crowd with his fiery rhetoric nor is there J Jayalalithaa, the indulgent Amma with her promise of freebies. This Lok Sabha election is the first in Tamil Nadu without a stalwart leading the two Dravidian parties that have dominated the states politics for 50 years.

This then should be the best chance for the Congress and the BJP to make their presence felt in Tamil Nadu as both the ruling All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) are adrift. But Fortress Tamil Nadu remains unbreached. The two national parties are struggling to be counted in the southern state, which sends 39 members to the Lok Sabha and will vote for them on April 18.

The reasons are as obvious as variedpoor ground presence, factionalism, and perhaps biggest of all, the Tamil identity. First, to the Congress, which ruled Tamil Nadu from almost two decades till 1967. Its decision to concentrate on the Lok Sabha, for which it had to ride piggyback on the AIADMK or the DMK, increased its dependence on the Dravidian parties. Over the decades, this has led to the disintegration of the organisational framework of the Congress, which was once well-entrenched in the state.

The final blow came in 1996, when GK Moopanar walked out to form the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC). He took with him whatever was left of the party network. Though a few years later, the TMC merged with the Congress, it was of no help. Factionalism, collapse of party apparatus and the erosion of votes reduced the Congress to the junior partner of the Dravidian parties. As part of a DMK-led alliance, the Congress is contesting 10 seats this time, which Dravidian party leaders still say is excessive. This is quite a comedown for a party which until 1991 would walk away with a major share of seats.

The BJP got a foothold in 1998, when Jayalalithaa joined hands with Atal Bihari Vajpayee. For the first time, there were BJP ministers from Tamil Nadu in the Union cabinet. A year later, Vajpayee was the prime minister again, but this time the partner was the atheist, anti-Aryan, anti-Hindi and largely anti-Hindu DMK. Again, BJP ministers from the state were part of Vajpayees ministerial team.

The BJP gained acceptance as a national player, but lost its way. It lacked the imagination and initiative to build the party in Tamil Nadu. Someone like Indira Gandhi would have expanded the party by hook or crook. Even the BJP would have done the same in any other state. But somehow, it has not been able to get it right in Tamil Nadu. The gains of 1998 and 1999 were squandered away. With no credible leadership or organisation, the BJP remains a non-player. The state of play can be gauged from the fact that the so-called Modi wave of 2014 didnt even cause a ripple here with just one winner who promptly made it to the Cabinet. In these five years, Tamil Nadu has provided a platform for anti-Modi, anti-BJP and anti-national propaganda. The BJP, which never lets such talk go unchallenged, did not protest.

The party also missed several opportunities to make a mark. In 2014, when Jayalalithaa was forced out as the chief minister after she was jailed in a corruption case was one such wasted chance. The BJP failed to react and its local leadership was so clueless that the by-election for the Srirangam seat, left vacant after Jayalalithaas conviction, was a cakewalk for the AIADMK.

When Jayalalithaa was ill, there was chaos, but the BJP didnt stir. The Centre, in fact, played ball with Sasikala & Co. Modi was inexplicably restrained when it came to Jayalalithaa. The Chennai floods were an act of criminal negligence by officials but his government praised Jayalalithaa. When she died in December 2016, one of Modis ministers planted himself next to her body till the funeralan odd show of indulgence by a party that is avowedly anti-corruption and is big on good governance.

For the last many years, contestants have been blatantly using cash to win support, but the clean BJP has chosen to look away. The BJPs alliance with the AIADMK has little credibility though it could be an effective poll move. A couple of AIADMK ministers have been raided with BJP leaders making accusations of corruption. Till a couple of weeks back, a BJP leader was going to town on Periyar. For all its bravado, the BJP has settled for just five seats, making the Congress look stronger, at least on paper. The demise of their charismatic leaders has left the AIADMK and the DMK weak, obvious from their decision to contests only 20 seats, leaving the rest for allies. Barring the PMK, all their other allies are weak.

The isolation of the two parties is not just political or a matter of arithmetic. They have no understanding of the unique issues that dog the Tamil psyche. The Sri Lankan Tamil issue is a case in point. People, particularly in southern Tamil Nadu, identify themselves more with Sri Lankan, Malaysian and other Tamil diaspora than with faraway Delhi. The academia and media here are strong proponents of the Tamil identity. Social media and a host of activists are using Tamil sentiment to build an anti-BJP opinion, projecting it as a Hindu and a Hindi party.

Leaders and their parties keep shifting allegiances. But the people and voters have disdain for northern netas, who make for good memes and little else. Modi invoking MGR sounds as hollow and comic as the Congress boast about the Kamaraj rule. Something as elementary as a greeting explains the distance between Tamil Nadu and Delhi. When two BJP or RSS workers whose mother tongue is Tamil meet, they greet each other with a Namaste ji. The ji sums up the issue. After all, Tamil Nadu is the land of annas.
Observers view the rising competition in the Muslim bastions as an indication of the changing face of the Muslim politics in Kerala

I was never approached by candidates or their party leaders for support ever since I started voting in 1977, said Abdul Rehman, an auto driver at Chemmad in Kerala's Malappuram district. But this time, leaders of the rival fronts met me and solicited my vote even before the candidates filed their nominations. Rehmans statement is an indication of the tough contest in the Muslim heartland, once monopolised by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second largest ally of the Congress-led opposition United Democratic Front (UDF).

The IUML never had to appeal for votes in any elections in the district before. It only needed to ask the people to give them a bigger lead. Those times are gone. The party is virtually sweating to retain the two Lok Sabha seats in the district. The party considered Malappuram (formerly Manjeri) and Ponnani seats in the district, where Muslims account for over 70 percent of the 41.12 lakh population, as its impregnable fortresses. The myth was demolished by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the 2004 elections when it wrested the seat by a margin of over 48,000 votes.

Observers view the rising competition in the Muslim bastions as an indication of the changing face of Muslim politics in Kerala. The league wielded unflinching dominance over the community by projecting itself as the sole representative of the Muslims in the state. The claim faced a challenge post-Babri Masjid demolition when the party chose to stick to its alliance with the Congress, both in the state and at the Centre, and disregarded the pan-Indian Muslim anger against the then V Narasimha Rao-led government over its failure to protect the mosque.

This led to the emergence of a number of political parties such as Indian National League (INL) under former IUML president Ibrahim Sulaiman Sait and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by firebrand cleric Abdul Nasser Madhani (now in jail for his alleged involvement in the Bangalore blasts of 2008), and many radical outfits like the National Development Front (NDF).

Though many of these political formations have made inroads into the IUML political space, none of them gained the political strength to defeat the party in either Assembly or Lok Sabha elections. However, the CPM made deft use of them, overtly and covertly, to enter the Muslim heartland. The support of the anti-IUML forces, including the INL and the PDP, saw the CPM winning the Malappuram seat for the first time in 2004 and making substantial gains in the subsequent civic body and Assembly elections in the district. The IUML faced its biggest jolt in the 2006 Assembly elections, when its tally of MLAs dropped from 16 in 2001 to just seven.

The emergence of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political avatar of the Popular Front of India (PFI), a radical outfit involved in several terror activities, and the Welfare Party of India (WPI) is the biggest challenge to the IUML in its fortress. The CPM decision to drop the intermediaries in the wake of the arrest of PDP chief Madhani in 2010 in connection with the Bengaluru blasts and its subsequent moves to approach the minority community directly by allowing believers to follow their faith and projecting itself as a bulwark against the Hindutva politics has also affected the position of the IUML among Muslims.

The CPM inducted the INL in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) headed by it as part of the new strategy. Party strategists believe that the induction of INL will trigger a realignment in the Muslim politics as it has been emerging as an alternative to the IUML. A senior INL leader claimed lots of youngsters who flocked into the SDPI and WPI in the absence of a credible alternative to the IUML started joining the party following its entry into the LDF. He is also expecting the disenchanted sections in the IUML to join the party in the coming days.

Though the CPM tasted victory in Malappuram, its focus this time is on Ponnani. The reason is the steady decline in the victory margin of the IUML candidates in the constituency. Ponnani is perhaps a glaring example of the changing face of Muslim politics in Malappuram district. Candidates never mattered for the voters in the constituency, who looked only at the party symbol. GM Banatwala, a native of Mumbai was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ponnani six times and Ibrahim Sulaiman Sait, a native of Bengaluru once. The victory margin in these elections was more than 1 lakh votes.

The majority in the constituency has been registering a steady decline since 1999. It came down from 1,29,478 votes to 1,02,759 in 2004. The majority plunged below one lakh in 2009, when the CPM took the seat from its ally-the Communist Party of India (CPI)-and experimented with an Independent candidate. The experiment helped the CPM in bringing down the IUML majority to 82,684 votes in 2004 and 25,410 in 2014.

The party pitted its independent MLA from Nilambur PV Anwar against sitting IUML MP ET Mohammed Basheer in Ponnani. The IUML is pinning its hopes on the strong stand Basheer took against the triple talaq bill for his victory in Ponnani. His voting against the bill in Parliament earned him the support of even some anti-IUML organisations.However, the party is not able to make full use of the issue since it is embarrassing for PK Kunhalikutty, the party candidate in the neighbouring Malappuram constituency, who was conspicuous by his absence in the Lok Sabha during voting on the bill.

Kunhalikutty, who has been the Legislature Party leader of IUML in Kerala, won the Malappuram seat in a by-election in 2017 by 1,71,038 votes. The partys attempt to strike a deal with SDPI in Malappuram this time is being interpreted by his rivals as his lack of confidence in retaining the seat. Kunhalikuttys opponent is VP Sanu, national president of Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPM. He derives his confidence in taking on a heavyweight like Kunhalikutty from the upset victories his predecessors Suresh Kurup and A Vijayraghavan secured at Kottayam and Kozhikode in 1984 and 1989 respectively.

Kunhalikutty and Basheer have not taken their rivals lightly. They have been virtually sweating it out in the scorching summer heat by undertaking road shows in all the nook and corners of their constituencies and meeting as many voters as possible. The going is not easy as the people are passing through a crisis with the August flood and a reverse exodus from West Asia crippling the local economy. The returned expatriates and their families, who constitute a large chunk of the electorate in Malappuram, are angry with both the rival fronts for their failure to take any steps for their rehabilitation.

How this will reflect in the voting is to be seen.
Digvijaya Singh, the Congress' choice for the prestigious Bhopal seat, on Wednesday tendered an apology to government employees for treating them shabbily during his tenure as chief minister (1993-2003). If Bhopal forgives Digvijaya's rudeness, it could mean huge electoral windfall for him. But that's a big if.

Digvijaya Singh, the Congress' choice for the prestigious Bhopal seat, on Wednesday tendered an apology to state government employees for treating them shabbily during his tenure as chief minister (1993-2003).

It was a big climb down for a leader perceived to be haughty, but will it be enough to placate the influential constituency? It has been nursing the hurt for more than 15 years now, and has ensured that the Congress does not gain from their votes. If they forgive Digvijaya's rudeness, it could mean huge electoral windfall for him. But that's a big if.

There were certain events that took place 15 years ago which distanced government employees from Divijaya, and  to some extent  the Congress.

Apathy towards government employees

There have always been allegations that Digvijaya was quite rude to the state government employees during his tenure, for which he had to pay a heavy price. He lost to the BJP, and the latter remained in power for the next 15 years.

During the end of his second term (1998-2003) as the Madhya Pradesh chief minister, the state government employees had asked Digvijaya to fulfill their long-standing demand of increasing dearness allowance and wages. In response, the former chief minister had remarked that elections were won by poll management, and not by appeasing government employees. This remark created massive uproar across the state and was a final nail in the coffin of the Congress government.

Digvijay Singh will get advantage from three Assembly constituencies in Bhopal from where Congress has won (in the 2018 Assembly election), as 70 percent of voters will vote in his favour. However, the large number of government employees with whom he doesnt share good rapport, wont vote for him. (This) is a fact, Bhopal-based veteran journalist LS Hardeniya told Firstpost.

Sacking of daily wage employees

At the end his tenure, Digvijaya ordered sacking of 28,000 daily-wage employees in his government, including teachers. He and his government had to face a massive protest for this action and he was given an anti-employee image. This was one of the major poll planks of the Opposition BJP.

After BJP came to power in 2003, it reintated all those employees, though not as regular ones. Digvijaya Singh had been extremely rude, not only to daily-wage employees, but also the regular government employees. He had to pay price for this arrogance. I dont think his seeking apology is anyway going to help him, remarked a senior Bhopal-based daily-wage employee.

Govt teachers made to double as liquor sellers

Another incident that the people on the streets of Bhopal still discuss was about a decision of Digvijaya as the chief minister that was strongly criticised.

Following a dispute over price and margin of profit, the liquor contractors decided not to participate in the governments tendering process of allocation of liquor shops and lifting of stocks. As a result, Digvijaya decided to do away with the system, and put school teachers on the job of running government liquor outlets during vacation. The teaching section still nurses that insult.

Bhopal is key, but also tough for Congress

For the last three decades, the Madhya Pradesh capital has been a strong BJP bastion. In 1989, Sushil Chandra Verma won the seat for the BJP and remained an MP for four consecutive terms. In 1999, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and present Union minister Uma Bharti won by defeating Congress leader Suresh Pachori. After that, former chief minister Kailash Joshi won twice  2004 and 2009.

The vote share of the saffron party has always been much higher than the Congress in Bhopal. While, incumbent MP Alok Sanjar got 63.19 percent votes in 2014, Congress candidate PC Sharma got only 30.39 percent votes.

In 2009 and 2004, the BJPs share was 50.95 percent and 65.41 percent respectively, in comparison to Congress 41.06 percent and 29.77 percent.

Bhopal Lok Sabha seat has witnessed stalwart leaders from both the Congress and the BJP as MPs, including former President of India, Shankar Dayal Sharma, who had won in 1971 and 1980.

Currently, the constituency has nearly two lakh government employees and pensioners, out of which there are about 50,000 employees in Bhopal Dakshin Paschim (South West) Assembly segment. In the entire state, there are about eight lakh government employees. The families of these government employees and pensioners also form the voter base.

For Digvijaya to win the Bhopal seat after three decades, almost all the government employees and pensioners need to forget the past incidents and forgive him. As the senior Congress leader urged the employees on Wednesday, 15 years have passed. If there has been any mistake, I may be pardoned.

Senior journalist Abhilash Khandekar, who closely followed central India politics for long, said, The decisions of Digvijaya caused anger amongst employees those days. But a large number of them have retired and many new issues have come up in 15 years, so this anger wont have much of an impact. But that doesnt (also) mean hes very popular now in Bhopal.
On 12 March, Patidar leader Hardik Patel joined the Congress in the presence of its president Rahul Gandhi and was all set for his electoral debut

On 12 March, Patidar leader Hardik Patel joined the Congress in the presence of its president Rahul Gandhi and was all set for his electoral debut. It was in July last year only that Patel became eligible to contest elections. He wanted to try his luck from the Jamnagar Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat. However, less than a year after becoming eligible, he has become ineligible, by the stroke of a court order.

The Gujarat High Court on Friday rejected Patel's plea seeking a stay on his conviction in the 2015 Mehsana rioting case. While the court order has belied the hopes of the young leader, the credit for scuttling his chances should also be given to Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Reason for Patel's disqualification

Section 147 of Indian Penal code that specifies the punishment for rioting, reads, "Whoever is guilty of rioting, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both." Patel was accused and faced trial under Section 146 of the IPC that states, "Whenever force or violence is used by an unlawful assembly, or by any member thereof, in prosecution of the common object of such assembly, every member of such assembly is guilty of the offence of rioting."

In July last year, a sessions court found Patel guilty under Section 146 of the IPC and apart from imposing a fine of Rs 50,000, sentenced him to jail for two years. Patel had filed an appeal in the Gujarat High Court against his conviction. Now with high court upholding the sentence, all hopes the Congress had of fielding Patel in the upcoming Lok Sabha election has ended. The high court, while rejecting the plea, had considered the past antecedents of Patel who shot to the limelight during the Patidar reservation agitation that took place in 2015. Seventeen FIRs have been registered against him in different criminal cases.

Supreme Court judgment of 2013

In 2013 the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment, struck down a provision in the electoral law that protects a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts.

Under Sec 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for no less than two years, shall be disqualified for that and a further six years after release. However, another section that protected the convicted politician was 8(4) that said that a lawmaker cannot be disqualified for three months from the conviction, if in that period, he or she files an appeal against its disposal by a higher court. This section was struck down by the apex court.

"The only question is about the vires of section 8(4) of the RPA and we hold that it is ultra vires and that the disqualification takes place from the date of conviction," the bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and SJ Mukhopadhaya observed while delivering the judgment.

Rahul Gandhi's role

The Ordinance that Rahul trashed would have insulated Patel from disqualification. It is worth recalling that following the apex court judgment, then UPA government decided to bring in the ordinance to nullify the apex court order. However, then Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in an extremely dramatic gesture, castigated the Ordinance and tore it apart at a press conference, while then prime minister Manmohan Singh was on a tour to Washington.

Now with the conviction, Patel has not only lost the chance to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, but also the next Lok Sabha and the next Gujarat Assembly elections. The reason for this is that under Section 8(3) of the RPA, a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified for that and a further six years after release.

So now if Patel goes on to compete his jail sentence, that is two years, unless the conviction is suspended by the apex court in due course as he files appeal, he will be out of jail only in 2021, And it is only six years after that, that is in 2027 that he will be allowed to contest elections. For any aspiring politicians who had just began his career, to lose eight years, looks like the end of the road. The only hope for Patel now is the Supreme Court. But that can only ensure his prospects in the next Gujarat Assembly elections and the 2024 General Election. For the upcoming Lok Sabha election, his fate is sealed.
Madhya Pradesh, the second largest state in India, has 29 Lok Sabha seats spread across six different regions.

The state of Madhya Pradesh will be electing its representatives in four phases, starting 29 April. In the first phase, six constituencies will be voting. On 6 May, seven constituencies will be electing their representatives. In the final two phases, which are on 12 and 19 May, eight constituencies each will go to vote.

Madhya Pradesh, the second largest state in India, has 29 Lok Sabha seats spread across six different regions. While Malwa-Nimar, a region which borders Gujarat and Maharashtra, has eight seats, Mahakoshal has six Lok Sabha seats. Vindhya, Bundelkhand and Chambal have four Lok Sabha seats each. The Madhya region only has three Lok Sabha seats but includes the state capital Bhopal.

The electoral fight in the state is between the BJP and the Congress. Last time, BJP swept the Lok Sabha elections, winning 27 out of the 29 seats. The only saving graces for Congress were Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath.

However, the political situation has changed in the state. After a 15-year-long exile, Congress came to power after the recently-concluded Assembly elections. Buoyed by the success, the Kamal Nath-led Congress is targeting to win at least 20 seats.

The BJP, on the other hand, will be going the extra mile to maintain its 2014 tally in the state.

Madhya Pradesh has a significant tribal population as well as numerically superior OBC communities. These two factors are likely to play a major role in determining the fate of the two parties. Here is a look at the constituencies in the state:

1. Morena Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 1

Total Electors: 17,02,492 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 9,38,466

Female Electors:

Assembly Constituencies: Vijaypur, Sheopur, Sabalgarh, Joura, Sumawali, Morena, Dimani, Ambah

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. It became a general seat. It was earlier a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Morena is considered a BJP safe seat. Former mayor of Morena, Ashok Argal, represented the constituency between 1996 and 2009. In the 2009 elections, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was elected MP. In the 2014 elections, Anoop Mishra, the nephew of AB Vajpayee, got elected from this seat.

Demography: The constituency covers the entire district of Morena and Sheopur. Once at the heart of Chambal dacoit menace, Morena continues to be an economic backwater. According to reports, caste has always played a major role during elections in this region. Dalits make up over 21 percent of Morena district and are also found in sizeable numbers in Sheopur district. Morena and Sheopur are part of the Chambal region, where OBC communities are the most dominant, followed by the upper castes (Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Banias).

2. Bhind Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 2

Total Electors: 15,98,169 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,90,851

Female Electors: 7,07,318

Assembly Constituencies: Ater, Bhind, Lahar, Mehgaon, Gohad, Sewda, Bhander, Datia

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Castes

Delimited: Yes. In 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: This seat has consistently elected BJP candidates since 1989. Between 1996 and 2009, Ram Lakhan Singh represented the constituency. In 2009 elections, Ashok Argal won the seat before being replaced by Bhagirath Prasad Singh, who currently represents Bhind in the Lok Sabha.

Demography: Bhind is situated in the Chambal region, which is one of the most fertile regions in India. The constituency covers the whole of Bhind and Datia district. The constituency has a significant number of Dalit voters as well as the influential upper castes like Thakur and Brahmins. Lodhis and Yadavs, both OBC communities, are also found in sizeable numbers in this constituency.

3. Gwalior Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency number: 3

Total Electors: 18,77,003 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 10,24,155

Female Electors: 8,52,848

Assembly Constituencies: Gwalior Rural, Gwalior, Gwalior East, Gwalior South, Bhitarwar, Dabra(SC), Karera (SC), Pohari

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Dabra constituency came into existence while Murar was renamed Gwalior rural.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 1999 elections, Jaibhan Singh Pavaiya won the seat on a BJP ticket. However, in 2004, he lost to Congress candidate Ramsevak Singh. In the 2007 by-poll, BJPs Yashodhara Raje Scindia defeated Congress candidate Ashok Singh to win the seat. She retained the seat in the 2009 polls. In the last elections, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar won the prestigious seat.

Demography: According to the 2011 Census, Gwalior district has a significant Dalit population, which stands at 22 percent. Moreover, Brahmins, Thakurs and OBCs also form a sizeable chunk of the electorate. Recently, Gwalior witnessed violence over the dilution of the SC/ST Act by the Supreme Court of India. This led to prolonged tensions between the Upper Castes and Dalits.

4. Guna Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 4

Total Electors: 16,05,619 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,57,328

Female Electors: 7,48,291

Assembly Constituencies: Shivpuri, Pichhore, Kolaras, Bamori, Guna, Ashok Nagar, Chanderi, Mungaoli

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Bimori, new Assembly segment came into existence.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Madhavrao Scindia, the erstwhile titular ruler of Gwalior, won the seat in the 1999 elections. After the senior Congress leaders death in 2001, his son Jyotiraditya Scindia has since been representing Guna in the Lok Sabha.

Demography: A traditional stronghold of the Scindia family, the seat was once represented by the Rajmata of the Gwalior Royal Family. The demographic make-up of Guna is similar to neighbouring constituencies with Upper Castes, OBCs and Dalits (especially Jatavs) forming the bulk of electorate. Among the OBCs, there is a sizeable population of Yadavs, Dhakads and Kirars in some segments of the constituency. The constituency also has a significant presence of Saharia tribals in at least two of the Assembly segments in Guna.

5. Sagar Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 5

Total Electors: 16,05,619 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,57,328

Female Electors: 7,48,291

Assembly Constituencies: Bina , Khurai, Surkhi, Naryoli, Sagar, Kurwai, Sironj, Shamshabad

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. It was earlier reserved for Scheduled Castes

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Virendra Kumar of the BJP won the seat four times between 1996 and 2004. In the 2009 elections, BJPs Bhoopendra Singh won the seat. In the last election, Laxmi Narayan Yadav retained the seat for the saffron party.

Demography: The Lok Sabha Constituency covers the district of Sagar. The district is well known for its religious significance for the Jain community. Moreover, Jains are an electorally significant community in the constituency, often punching above their weight. Sonis and Yadavs are also found in sizeable numbers in Sagar. Over 20 percent of the population belongs to the Scheduled Castes while around 10 percent of the population belong to the Scheduled Tribes category.

6. Tikamgarh Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 6

Total Electors: 15,29,003 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,20,908

Female Electors: 7,08,095

Assembly Constituencies: Tikamgarh, Jatara, Prithvipur, Niwari, Khargapur, Maharajpur, Chhatarpur, Bijawar

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Castes

Delimited: Yes. The constituency came into existence only in 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Union Minister Virendra Kumar is the sitting MP since 2009.

Demography: The constituency covers the whole of Tikamgarh and part of Chhatarpur district. The areas that are covered under the Lok Sabha constituency are one of the most economically backward regions in India. At least 77 percent of the population lives in rural areas. The Scheduled Castes form at least one-fourth of the total population in the Lok Sabha constituency.

7. Damoh Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 7

Total Electors: 16,51,106 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,82,506

Female Electors: 7,68,600

Assembly Constituencies: Deori, Rehli, Banda, Malhara, Pathariya, Damoh, Jabera, Hatta

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 1999 elections, BJPs Ramkrishna Kusumaria was elected for the fourth consecutive time. In the next election, Chandrabhan Bhaiyya of the BJP won the seat. In the 2009 elections, Shivraj Singh Lodhi was able to retain the seat as a BJP candidate. In the last election, former Union minister Prahlad Patel of the saffron party defeated Choudhary Mahendra Pratap Singh of the Congress by a margin of over 2 lakh votes.

Demography: The constituency covers parts of Damoh, Chhatarpur and Sagar districts. According to the caste calculations in the Lok Sabha constituency, political parties always prefer to nominate candidates belonging to the Backward Castes. This is because OBC electors are numerically significant in Damoh. Kurmis and Lodhis are the two major OBC communities in the constituency. They together constitute over 27 percent of the electorate. On the other hand, Scheduled Castes are about 15 percent of the population.

8. Khajuraho Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 8

Total Electors: 17,02,794 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 9,07,312

Female Electors: 7,95,482

Assembly Constituencies: Chandla, Rajnagar, Pawai, Gunnaor, Panna, Vijayraghavgarh, Murwara, Bahoriband

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. Parts of the constituency were merged with the newly created Tikamgarh Lok Sabha constituency.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Except for the period between 1999 and 2004, when senior Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi won the seat, Khajuraho has been the political citadel of the BJP. In 2004, Ramkrishna Kusumaria won the seat, while five years later, BJP candidate Jeetendra Singh Bundela retained the seat. In the last election, Nagendra Singh of the BJP won the seat.

Demography: Khajuraho, famous for its ancient architectural marvels, is situated in economically under-developed Bundelkhand region in Madhya Pradesh. Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency is considered the home turf of Union Minister Uma Bharti. The constituency, which covers the whole of Panna district and parts of Chattarpur and Katni districts, is dominated by castes categorised under the OBCs. The Kurmi and Lodhi community are the two significant communities in the constituency. Scheduled Castes constitute less than 20 percent of the population, while Panna district has a significant Scheduled Tribes electorate too.

9. Satna Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 9

Total Electors: 14,58,084 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,72,026

Female Electors: 686,058

Assembly Constituencies: Chitrakoot, Raigaon, Satna, Nagod, Maihar, Amarpatan, Rampur-Baghelan

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 1998 and 1999 elections, Ramanand Singh won the seat on a BJP ticket. Since 2004, the seat is held by BJPs Ganesh Singh.

Demography: Once known for being the bastion of former Union Minister Arjun Singh, Satna Lok Sabha constituency covers the whole of Satna district. The constituency is geographically a part of the Baghelkhand division of the Vindhya region. The constituency, like in other parts of the state, is dominated by voters belonging to the OBC community. Since Satna was home to many tiny princely states, the influence of the Thakur community is still felt. Satna also has a significant tribal population, with some estimates pegging them at around 20 percent of the total population.

10. Rewa Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 10

Total Electors: 15,44,719 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,21,800

Female Electors: 7,22,919

Assembly Constituencies: Sirmour, Semariya, Teonthar, Mauganj, Deotalab, Mangawan (SC), Rewa, Gurh

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 1999 elections, Sunderlal Tiwari of the Congress won the seat. In the 2004 elections, senior BJP leader Chandramani Tripathi won the seat. However, in the 2009 elections, BSP scored a surprised by wresting the seat from the BJP. In the 2014 polls, BSPs Deoraj Singh Patel lost to BJPs Janardhan Mishra by over 1.6 Lakh votes.

Demography: Unlike in many parts of the state where OBC voters are dominant, Rewa boasts of strong Brahmin and Thakur vote banks, which account for half of the electorate. This also explains the dominance of Brahmins and  to a lesser extent  Thakur candidates in the constituency. Among the OBCs, the Kurmi community is influential in the constituency.

11. Sidhi Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 11

Total Electors: 17,36,050 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 9,15,700

Female Electors: 8,20,350

Assembly Constituencies: Churhat, Sidhi, Sihawal, Chitrangi, Singrauli, Deosar, Dhauhani, Beohari

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. After the delimitation process, Sidhi became a general seat. Earlier it was reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 1999 and 2004 elections, Chandrapratap Singh of the BJP won the seat. However, he was expelled from the Parliament in the aftermath of the Cash-for-Vote scam. In the ensuing by-election, Manik Singh of the Congress won the seat. BJP has been winning the seat since 2009. In the last election, Riti Pathak won the seat after defeating the Congress candidate by over 1.08 Lakh votes.

Demography: Sidhi is one of the many tribal dominated Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. It covers the entire districts of Sidhi and Singrauli and one Assembly constituency in Shahdol district. As per the 2011 Census report, Scheduled Tribes form at least 27 percent of the population in Sidhi district, while they form one-third of the population in neighbouring Singrauli district.

12. Shahdol Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 12

Total Electors: 1,561,321 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,06,945

Female Electors: 7,54,376

Assembly Constituencies: Jaisingnagar, Jaitpur, Kotma, Anuppur, Pushprajgarh, Bandhavgarh, Manpur, Barwara

Reserved: Yes, For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes. In 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Dalpat Singh Paraste of the BJP served as the MP for three terms between 1999 and 2016, when he died of brain haemorrhage. Between 2009 and 2014, Rajesh Nandini Singh of the Congress won the seat. In the 2016 by-poll, Gyan Singh, who previously served as MP between 1996 and 1999, won the seat.

Demography: Shahdol is another tribal dominated Lok Sabha constituency. Spread across four major districts, covering nearly all of Shahdol, Umaria, Annupur districts and parts of Katni district, Shahdol Lok Sabha constituency has a tribal population of over 40 percent. Notably, this constituency also borders Chhattisgarh.

13. Jabalpur Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 13

Total Electors: 17,11,683 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,97,949

Female Electors: 8,13,734

Assembly Constituencies: Patan, Bargi, Jabalpur East, Jabalpur North-Central, Jabalpur Cantt., Jabalpur West, Panagar, Sihora

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. Before delimitation, Sihora was not reserved for the STs. Moreover, Jabalpur North-Central was called Jabalpur Central before 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the last 20 years, the BJP has been undefeated on this seat. In the 1999 elections, Jaishree Banerjee won the seat. Since 2004, Rakesh Singh is the sitting MP.

Demography: Known for hosting a military cantonment and being one of the first urban areas in India, Jabalpur is a largely urban Lok Sabha constituency. According to 2011 data, at least 60 percent of the population stays in urban areas. The constituency which covers the entire district of Jabalpur also has a significant Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population. Muslims are also found in sizeable numbers in urban areas.

14. Mandla Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 14

Total Electors: 18,24,424 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 9,25,971

Female Electors: 8,98,453

Assembly Constituencies: Shahpura, Dindori, Bichhiya, Niwas, Mandla, Keolari, Lakhnadon, Gotegaon

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes. In 2008

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Former Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste is the sitting MP, having been elected from this constituency five times in the last six elections. The only time he failed to get elected was in 2009, when Congress candidate Basori Singh Masram defeated him.

Demography: Mandla is a tribal dominated Lok Sabha constituency spread across four districts. It covers the entire tribal districts of Mandla and Dindori as well as parts of Seoni and Narsingpur district. It is to be noted that Mandla and Dindori are the most tribal-dominated districts of Madhya Pradesh. While nearly 54 percent of the population in Mandla is tribal, the figure shoots up to 64 percent in Dindori.

15. Balaghat Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 15

Total Electors: 16,29,769 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,22,667

Female Electors: 8,07,102

Assembly Constituencies: Baihar, Lanji, Paraswada, Balaghat, Waraseoni, Katangi, Barghat, Seoni

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes, in 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: The BJP has been winning this seat continuously since 1998 when Gauri Shankar Bisen won the seat. He repeated the feat in the 2004 elections too. In the 2009 elections, KD Deshmukh helped BJP register is four consecutive victories in Balaghat. He made way for Bodh Singh Bhagat, who is the sitting MP.

Demography: Balaghat, located in the southern part of Madhya Pradesh, has a significant chunk of the population that is categorised as Scheduled Tribes. According to the 2011 data, at least one-fourth of the population in the constituency belongs to the Scheduled Tribes. The constituency is also rural in nature, with just 15 percent of the population living in urban areas.

16. Chhindwara Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 16

Total Electors: 14,01,277 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,21,482

Female Electors: 6,79,795

Assembly Constituencies: Junnardeo, Amarwara, Churai, Saunsar, Chhindwara, Parasia, Pandhurna

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: The seat is synonymous with Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, who has been representing Chhindwara since 1980. The only time the veteran Congressman lost the seat was in 1997 when BJPs Sundarlal Patwa defeated him in a bypoll.

Demography: While it has never been reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the last 60 years, Chhindwara is essentially dominated by tribes. Over 30 percent of the population in the constituency belong to the Scheduled Tribes. While Chhindwara is largely rural, it has nevertheless reaped benefits of better infrastructure, which is often dubbed Chhindwara Model of development.

17. Hoshangabad Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 17

Total Electors: 15,68,127 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,35,492

Female Electors: 7,32,635

Assembly Constituencies: Narsingpur, Tendukheda, Gadarwara, Seoni-Malwa, Hoshangabad, Sohagpur, Pipariya, Udaipura

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. Itarsi was merged with Hoshangabad Assembly seat.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Hoshangabad has been a BJP bastion since 1989. This constituency has been represented by Sartaj Singh five times between 1989 and 2009. Former chief minister Sundarlal Patwa also represented the constituency in the 13th Lok Sabha. The seat is currently held by Uday Pratap Singh of the BJP.

Demography: Situated on the banks of the river Narmada, Hoshangabad city is a regional economic hub. The Lok Sabha constituency covers the whole of Hoshangabad and parts of Narsinghpur and Raisen districts. One-fourth of the population resides in urban areas. About 16 percent of the population belongs to the Scheduled Castes.

18. Vidisha Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 18

Total Electors: 16,34,370 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,72,410

Female Electors: 7,61,960

Assembly Constituencies: Bhojpur, Sanchi, Silwani, Vidisha, Basoda, Budhni, Ichhawar, Khategaon

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. Budhni and Icchawar Assembly segments were merged with Vidisha.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: The constituency was represented by former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan between 1991 and 2006. Since 2009, the seat is being held by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Demography: Vidisha is a BJP stronghold since 1989. The constituency, which is spread across the districts of Raisen, Vidisha, Sehore and Dewas, is also crucial since Chouhans Vidhan Sabha constituency also comes under it. When it comes to caste factors, OBCs such as Kirars play a decisive role in shaping the electoral destiny of the candidates. Meenas are also found in sizeable numbers in the constituency. Vidisha is part of Madhya region of the state, where upper castes are an influential vote bank.

19. Bhopal Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 19

Total Electors: 19,56,936 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 10,39,004

Female Electors: 9,17,932

Assembly Constituencies: Berasia, Bhopal Uttar, Narela, Bhopal Dakshin-Paschim, Bhopal Madhya, Govindpura, Huzur, Sehore

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes, three new seats created in Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: The Bhopal Lok Sabha seat has continuously been with the BJP since 1989. In 1999, Union Minister Uma Bharti won the election from Bhopal. Between 2004 and 2009, Kailash Joshi held the seat for the BJP. Alok Sanjhar is the incumbent MP.

Demography: This Lok Sabha constituency covers the entire Bhopal district. Bhopal is an urban constituency since 75 percent of the population lives in urban centres of the district. While Muslims are just over 6 percent of the population in Madhya Pradesh, they are a significant vote bank in Bhopal. At least two constituencies  Bhopal Uttar and Bhopal Central  have nearly 40 percent Muslim population.

20. Rajgarh Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 20

Total Electors: 15,78,748 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,27,001

Female Electors: 7,51,747

Assembly Constituencies: Chachoura, Raghogarh, Narsinghgarh, Biaora, Rajgarh, Khilchipur, Sarangpur, Susner

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Raghogarh and Chachoura were added to Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituencies.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Lakshman Singh, the brother of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, represented this constituency between 1994 and 2009. In 2009, Congress candidate Narayan Singh Amlabe won the seat. However, he lost to Rodmal Nagar in the 2014 elections by a margin of over 2 lakh votes.

Demography: This constituency is the stronghold of Digvijaya Singh and his family. The former chief minister was himself elected twice from Rajgarh. The Sondhiya Rajputs have a considerable influence in the constituency. The community is estimated to have around 3 Lakh voters in the constituency. Other castes that are found in sizeable numbers are Dangis, Mahajans, Yadavs and Gurjars.

21. Dewas Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 21

Total Electors: 16,17,215 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,43,555

Female Electors: 7,73,660

Assembly Constituencies: Ashta, Agar, Shajapur, Shujalpur, Kalapipal, Sonkatch, Dewas, Hatpipliya

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Castes

Delimited: Yes. The constituency came into existence only in 2008

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In 2009, Sajjan Singh Verma of the Congress won the seat. In the 2014 elections, Manohar Untwal of the BJP won the seat.

Demography: Situated in the Malwa-Neemar region of Madhya Pradesh, Dewas is a relatively prosperous district, where industries and cash crop farming provide people with income. At least one-fourth of the population in the constituency belong to the Scheduled Castes, making them a major vote bank for political parties.

22. Ujjain Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 22

Total Electors: 15,25,481 (2014 elections)

Male Electors: 7,90,889

Female Electors: 7,34,592

Assembly Constituencies: Nagada-Khachrod, Mahidpur, Tarana, Ghatiya, Ujjain Uttar, Ujjain Dakshin, Badnagar, Alot

Reserved: Yes, for Scheduled Castes

Delimited: Yes. Alot Assembly Constituency added to Ujjain Lok Sabha constituency.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: BJPs Satyanarayan Jatiya represented the constituency between 1989 and 2009. In the 2009 elections, Premchand Guddu of the Congress was finally able to breach the BJP bastion. However, in the 2014 elections, BJP made a comeback. BJP candidate Chintamani Malviya defeated Guddu by over 3 lakh votes.

Demography: Ujjain, which is renowned for the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva as well as the Kumbh Mela, is a BJP bastion since 1989. As per 2011 Census, nearly 35 percent of the population lives in urban centres, while rest live in rural areas. The Scheduled Caste population in the constituency stands at 26 percent. Muslims are found in sizeable numbers, especially in the main town where their population is estimated to be around 2 Lakhs.

23. Mandsaur Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 23

Total Electors: 16,26,571 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,38,076

Female Electors: 7,88,495

Assembly Constituencies: Jaora, Mandsaur, Malhargarh, Suwasra, Garoth, Manasa, Neemuch, Jawad

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes, in 2008

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: BJP leader Lakshminarayan Pandey was a long-serving MP from this constituency. He represented the constituency between 1989 and 2009. In 2009, Congress' Meenakshi Natarajan was elected from this constituency. In the last elections, Sudhir Gupta of BJP defeated Natarajan by over 3 lakh votes.

Demography: Mandsaur was the epicentre of the farmer protests in Madhya Pradesh. During the 2017 protests, five farmers were also killed in police firing, which led to widespread condemnation. A primarily agrarian area, Mandsaur is known for being the hub of legal opium farming.

24. Ratlam Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 24

Total Electors: 17,02,648 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,60,947

Female Electors: 8,41,701

Assembly Constituencies: Alirajpur, Jobat, Jhabua, Thandla, Petlawad, Ratlam Rural, Ratlam City, Sailana

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes. Earlier it was known as Jabua Lok Sabha constituency.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Former Union Minister Kantilal Bhuria is the sitting MP after winning the by-election in 2015. He had previously served as the MP between 1998 and 2014. In the 2014 elections, Bhuria was defeated by Dileep Singh Bhuria by over 1 lakh votes.

Demography: The constituency is a Congress stronghold since Independence. In fact, the Grand Old Party has lost the seat only twice  1977 and 2014. The constituency is overwhelmingly tribal, with over 85 percent of the population belonging to Scheduled Tribes. The two main districts that constitute the constituency  Jabua and Alirajpur  are also among the least literate in India.

25. Dhar Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 25

Total Electors: 16,68,441 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,58,093

Female Electors: 8,10,348

Assembly Constituencies: Sardarpur, Gandhwani, Kukshi, Manawar, Dharampuri, Dhar, Badnawar, Dr. Ambedkar Nagar-Mhow

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes. In 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi of the Congress represented the constituency three times between 1996 and 2014. In 2004, Chattar Singh Darbar won the election on a BJP ticket. In the 2014 elections, Savitri Thakur of the BJP won the seat.

Demography: The constituency covers the whole district of Dhar and a sole Assembly constituency from Indore. According to the 2011 Census, over 50 percent of the population in the district is tribal.

26. Indore Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 26

Total Electors: 21,15,303 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 11,06,461

Female Electors: 10,08,842

Assembly Constituencies: Depalpur, Indore-1, Indore-2, Indore-4, Indore-5Rau, Sanwer

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. Rau Assembly segment created after delimitation.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Sumitra Mahajan, the incumbent Speaker of the House since 2014, is the sitting MP.

Demography: Covering the most populous district in Madhya Pradesh, Indore Lok Sabha constituency is highly urban in nature. Nicknamed Little Mumbai, Indore is the commercial nerve-centre of Madhya Pradesh. Along with Bhopal, Indore has been BJPs impregnable fortress in Madhya Pradesh. In fact, if Sumitra Mahajan stands for elections this time and wins, she is likely to create a Parliamentary record of sorts.

27. Khargone Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 27

Total Electors: 17,03,271 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,66,897

Female Electors: 8,36,374

Assembly Constituencies: Maheshwar, Kasrawad, Khargone, Bhagwanpura, Sendhawa, Rajpur, Pansemal, Badwani

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Four Assembly constituencies from Barwani district were added to Khargone Lok Sabha constituency.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 1999 elections, Tarachand Patel of the Congress won the seat. In 2004 elections, BJP candidate Krishna Murari Moghe won the seat but he was disqualified in the office of profit issue. In the by-election, senior Congress leader Arun Yadav won the seat. The seat has been with the BJP since 2009. In the last election, Subhash Patel won the seat.

Demography: The constituency is largely tribal. Nearly 39 percent of the population in Khargone district belong to the Scheduled Tribes, while that figure reaches 70 percent in Barwani district.

28. Khandwa Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 28

Total Electors: 17,59,410 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 9,12,747

Female Electors: 8,46,663

Assembly Constituencies: Bagali, Mandhata, Khandwa, Pandhana, Nepanagar, Burhanpur, Bikhangaon, Badwah

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Except 2009 elections when Congress leader Arun Yadav was able to win the seat, it is BJPs Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan who has been representing the constituency since 1996.

Demography: The constituency covers Burhanpur district as well as parts of Khandwa Dewas and Khargone. While the Adivasi community is influential in tribal-dominated constituencies, Rajputs are dominant in Mandhata. Muslims are an influential electorate in Khandwa constituency, which covers the main town.

29. Betul Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 29

Total Electors: 16,07,822 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,36,835

Female Electors: 7,70,987

Assembly Constituencies: Multai, Amla, Betul, Ghoradongri, Bhainsdehi, Timarni, Harda, Harsud

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes. in 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: The BJP has been winning on this seat since 1996. Since 2009, Jyoti Dhurve is the sitting MP. In the 2014 elections, Dhurve defeated Congresss Ajay Shah Makrai by a margin of more than 3 lakh votes.

Demography: Over 40 percent of the population in Betul belong to the Scheduled Tribes. Being a constituency which borders Maharashtra, there is a sizable number of Marathi-speaking electorate too.
Lok Sabha Election 2019; Model Code of Conduct Watch: The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice to BJP's Chandigarh candidate Kirron Kher, seeking a reply after she shared a video on Twitter in which children were seen campaigning for her.

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However, Sharma deleted the post later, but said that he did not understand why was the poll body was so "allergic" to a person cheering the heroic act of its soldiers and rejoicing over an act of national honour. "The Election Commission is biased against nationalist leaders like me," he said.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to Delhi BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma for putting up two posters featuring him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Facebook. The Commission asked him to take down the post and give a reply by Thursday.

Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Pratapgarh Lok Sabha constituency in-charge Ashok Tripathi was among 68 booked for poll code violation on Wednesday. A case was registered against Tripathi, divisional president Ajay Pasi, Kamlesh Verma and 65 unnamed people at Lalganj Kotwali on Wednesday evening, police said. On Saturday, sector magistrate Pradip Kumar reached Verma Nagar crossing where an election meeting was going on without permission. The organisers failed to produce any document to establish they had permission for the meeting, the police said

According to UT administration, a complaint was received on the C-vigil app on Wednesday, following which the Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) took cognizance and thereafter issued notices for convening the election meetings at government properties Community Center in Sector 29, Ram Darbar in community centre at Sector 37, Chandigarh.

Show cause notices were issued to BJP's Chandigarh chief Sanjay Tandon , four BJP councillors, two nominated councillors and three officials of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh on Wednesday for violating the model code of conduct. The notice asked the officials to reply within 24 hours as to why disciplinary action may not be taken against them.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday asked the Election Commission to take action against Congress President Rahul Gandhi for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct by making unverified allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ANI reported . Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, We have requested the EC to take action against Rahul Gandhi for levelling unverified allegations against Narendra Modi on Wednesday in Ahmedabad, when the Model Code of Conduct is already in effect."

Congress registered it's first complaint MCC violation complaint with the Election Commission on Thursday. In Maharashtra, the party gave a written complaint to the chief electoral officer against government advertisements still displayed outside state transport buses, bus stops and petrol pumps. Congress general secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that despite the MCC coming into force, ST buses, bus stops and petrol pumps among other public places were displaying government advertisements. He said that the commission should ask the government about it and register a case of violation, and wrote a letter to the Maharashtra chief electoral officer (CEO) Ashwani Kumar for the same.

In a letter, the Goa NSUI president has said, The NSUI, Goa writes to you demanding: ban of the movie in theatres in states during the 'election silence' period that is two days prior to the day of voting and ban of the movie in the Lok Sabha Constituency where the prime minister would be contesting.

The NSUI demands a ban on the movie 48 hours prior to voting which is known as election silence where a party is not allowed to promote or campaign.

The National Students' Union of India  Goa, the Congress party's student wing, on Friday urged the Election Commission to ban the release of the Narendra Modi biopic, alleging that the movie was propaganda by the BJP to influence voters during the Lok Sabha elections.

Das's photographs allegedly appear on posters of schemes like the mid-day meal. The party also told the newspaper that tablets distributed to teachers under the Gyansetu initiative have Das's photograph on display and alleged that this too was a violation of the model code of conduct.

The Aam Aadmi Party's East Singhbhum wing) has written to the deputy commissioner of the Election Commission, alleging that posters of Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das were seen inside school campuses in the district, reported Times of India .

The notice also stated that comments on other political parties had been visible on boards put up along the sides of the e-rickshaw.

The notice issued to her states she had displayed her name in a poster on an e-rickshaw on which she travelled across city, on 14 March, reported ANI.

An assistant returning officer of Vidhan Sabha constituency 25, Jagdish Lal, has issued a notice for violation of the Model Code of Conduct on the mayor of Haridwar Municipal Corporation, Anita Sharma, reported Daily Pioneer.

It is the duty of the EC to conduct a fair election and protect democracy. The threatening by Delhi Police is still continuing even after MCC has come into force. The Delhi Police is acting like BJPs goons. We have asked that it should be stopped, he added. They (call centre) are not doing something proxy. AAP has hired them. AAP has an agreement with them, Sisodia clarified.

An AAP delegation lead by Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia met EC officials urging them to suspend three Delhi Police officials whom he accused of working on behalf of BJP As per BJPs directions, names of 24 lakh voters were stuck off voter list. We launched a campaign to get their name re-registered in the voter list. Delhi Police acting on behest of BJP has been raiding the call centre with whose help we did this campaign, Sisodia said. Delhi police is threatening the owner of the call centre that if you work for AAP, we will make you fall in line, Sisodia claimed.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday complained about the alleged harassment of the owner of a call centre by the Delhi Police on the "behest of BJP." The call centre was alleged to be hired by AAP to "help people whose names were allegedly stuck off the voters' list," ANI reported.

On 17 March, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera had told ANI: "Whenever farmers of this country and unemployed youths ask tough questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he hides behind terrorists and Pakistans intelligence agency ISI."

On 16 March, Khera had said that 'Modi' stood for 'Masood, Osama, Dawood and ISI' during a television debate, a comment which the Congress leader is facing flak for.

BJP has appealed to the Election Commission to take appropriate action under penal laws and election laws, for allegedly violating the MCC.

Calling it a blatant violation of the MCC, the BJP in its letter said: "Such speech amounts to a violation of the MCC. The MCC Manual 2019 under Chapter 4 Clause 4.4 prescribes no criticism of other parties or their workers on the basis of unverified allegations or on distortions."

The BJP in its letter to the Chief Electoral officer has asserted that 'comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with dreaded terrorists is not only unparliamentary but defamatory and deplorable.'

The BJP in its complaint has claimed that Khera, during a news channel's event, had stated that 'Modi stands for Masood Azhar, Osama, Dawood and ISI.'

Since the Model Code of Conduct came into effect on 10 March, the Delhi Police has also seized 82 unlicensed weapons, 2,113 live cartridges, 16,495 litres of illicit liquor and 94.337 kilograms of drugs.

Also, four FIRs have been registered against political parties , including two against AAP and one against the BJP, for violating the Model Code of Conduct.

Chief Electoral Office of Delhi Ranbir Singh said 90,937 posters, hoardings and banners had been removed from across the city on Monday. He added that 235 FIRs had been registered under the Excise Act and 242 people had been arrested for violating the Act.

"In order to secure votes, Chief Minister Rao has used illegal means and made statements against the Hindus of this country. He tried his level best to flare up religious tension and instigate the people of other religions against Hindus," claimed the VHP in its memorandum.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has approached Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar for action against Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct by "defaming" Hindus during a public meeting. The group has handed over a memorandum to Kumar, in which it has claimed that KCR had made many derogatory and defamatory statements against Hindus and tried to flare up "religious tension".

Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu on Monday accused Palladam AIADMK MLA A Natarajan of violating the Model Code of Conduct by inspecting a number of developmental projects in his constituency. They raised the issue at the all-party meeting organised by the district administration at the collectorate in Tirupur. CPM Tirupur district executive member N Gopalakrishnan also presented photos as evidence at the meeting. The District Revenue Office said it has yet to recieve a complaint.

The Ranchi district administration on Monday filed a poll code violation case against Union minister Jayant Sinha, who is an MP from Hazaribag. The case was filed on a complaint by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha that wrote to Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer L Khiangte, claiming that Sinha has used the convocation ceremony at IIM-Ranchi to publicise the BJP government's achievements, in gross violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

In order to put a check on the poll irregularities and other malfunctions ahead and during the Lok Sabha elections, a 24x7 control room was opened at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Bhubaneswar on Friday. The control room would monitor activities like poll irregularities, model code of conduct (MCC) violation, and other violations such as the distribution of illegal inducements, black money and hate speech. The CEO office has issued a number 0674-2395015 for this purpose. Based on these complaints, the control room will direct the concerned authorities which will then spring into action to check the violation, reports said.

However, state BJP president Jitu Vaghani dismissed the complaint and said that there was no violation of the code of conduct. "The chief minister has certain rights. Election campaigns are not allowed (from government buildings), but it is his residence. Chief Minister's security... everything has to be considered. We are meeting and having discussions at the CM residence. Campaign or speeches are not being done," he said, according to a DNA report .

"The CM's official residence is a government building. Political activities are not allowed there when the model code of conduct is in force. BJP's meetings of 17 and 18 March for selection of candidates (for Lok Sabha elections) at the chief minister's residence are a violation of the code of conduct," Balubhai Patel, chairman of Gujarat Congress' election coordination committee, said in a complaint to the state's Chief Electoral Officer S Murali Krishna. Following the complaint, the CEO office directed the Gandhinagar collector to look into the matter and to submit a report.

The Gujarat Congress on Monday complained to the election authorities that BJP had violated the model code of conduct by holding meetings of its parliamentary panels at the Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's official residence.

The highest number of 85 complaints were received from Pune, followed by Thane (61), Solapur (44), Mumbai suburban (40), Mumbai city (39) and Nagpur (26). Most of the complaints pertained to banners being put up without permission, the official said.

The Maharashtra Chief Electoral Office has received as many as 400 complaints of MCC violations through its cVIGIL app, an official said Wednesday. "The local team gets an alert once the complaint is lodged, and our people reach the spot and verify the details. If the complaint is valid, we record the details and initiate an inquiry," the official added.

"The very title of the book and its display on the election poster is an open declaration by the candidate that he is Hindu. This is a subtle attempt aimed at exploiting Hindu religious sentiments. This is a gross violation of election rules and the Model Code of Conduct. Significantly, the poster was published and publicised after the election notification," the BJP's complaint read.

The Kerala BJP on Tuesday complained to the Chief Electoral Officer in Thiruvananthapuram, claiming that the posters put up by the Congress related to MP Shashi Tharoor's book Why Am I A Hindu violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The saffron party claimed APP had burned the manifestos to attack the BJP on the issue of full statehood to Delhi. "AAP leaders violated the MCC by either not seeking permission for such events from the Election Commission, or they sought permission for election meetings from the EC and misused this permission to violate the MCC by burning BJP's manifesto," read the letter written by SN Verma, co-convener of Delhi BJP's legal department.

The Delhi BJP on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Office in the city, seeking action against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for allegedly "indulging in violent acts" and violating the MCC. The BJP claimed AAP leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, had burned copies of its 2014 manifesto on 13 March.

The BJP leader claimed he had not made the music video, and that media houses had covered it while he was recording of the song, WION reported.

West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Basu said, ''We are keeping a close watch on media and through the surveillance, we came to know of the election campaign song of Babul Supriyo... This is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. We have issued a showcause notice to Babul Supriyo. He has to reply to the notice within 48 hours."

The Election Commission on Tuesday issued a showcause notice to BJP leader and Union minister Babul Supriyo for violating the MCC. The notice is related to a campaign song, which Supriyo allegedly promoted on electronic media and social media sites without a media certification from the EC. The Trinamool Congress had also registered a complaint against the song with the EC

He said that they did so "by publicising materials in a bid to appeal to religious sentiments of voters."

Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday wrote to the chief electoral officer (CEO) or Kerala in order to "file a complaint in relation to the malicious attempt by BJP and the Sabarimala Karma Samithi to vitiate free and fair polls in Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency."

Earlier in March, a BJP delegation comprising Ravi Shankar Prasad, JP Nadda and others had urged the EC to declare Bengal as a super sensitive zone while expressing apprehensions that the ruling TMC government might not allow free and fair elections to be held in West Bengal.

A Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation comprising Derek O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, and Chandan Mitra approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday to lodge a complaint against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding an alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The TMC claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modis photo was being published on railway tickets as part of a government scheme, which, the party said, was in violation of the MCC. It urged the poll body to ensure that the pictures were taken off rail tickets.

The Cubbon Park police have booked Praveen, Abhilash and Raj under various sections of the Representation of People's Act and also under the Karnataka Police Act.

In a complaint to the police on 19 March, a flying squad official for the 163 Vidhana Sabha constituency, stated that actor-turned-politician Prakash Raj had used a mike and campaigned for elections at a public rally held at the Mahatma Gandhi Circle near MG Road on 12 March. The rally was organised by one Praveen K and Abhilash CS under the banner Media and Freedom of Expression and it was a non-political programme. Several writers, artists and activists attended the programme where Prakash Raj used the mike and began to canvass seeking votes, Murthy stated in his complaint. A whatsapp video footage as evidence of Raj speaking on the mike was handed over to police. However, by the time the flying squad reached the spot, the programme was over and people had dispersed. Permission was taken to conduct a non-political programme but Raj used it as a platform canvassing for the election. This amounts to violation of the model code of conduct, Murthy said in his complaint.

Twenty-nine FIRs have been registered against various political parties in Delhi so far, including three each against the AAP and the BJP, for violating the model code of conduct, Delhi's chief electoral officer said on Wednesday. Special CEO Satnam Singh said that the poll body has also removed more than 1.8 lakh hoardings, banners and posters since the enforcement of model code of conduct. Of the three FIRs registered against the AAP, one is related to using auto rickshaw for election campaign, Singh said. In most of the 29 cases, FIRs were registered against political parties for defacing public property, he said. Singh said 91 FIRs have been registered and 112 people arrested under the Arms Act since March 12 while police have seized 99 unlicensed weapons from them. As many as 296 FIRs have been registered and 302 violators arrested under the Excise Act, PTI reported.

21 March, Thursday | Three FIRs each against AAP, BJP so far for violating MCC in Delhi; 29 against all political parties

Mallikarjun Utture, the Expenditure Observer appointed by the Central Election Commission for the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary seat , said on Wednesday that government officers should immediately suo motu register a case if there was any violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Utture said that the officers should act in such cases without waiting for the public to lodge a complaint. The officers should maintain a tight vigil to see that there was no violation of the Model Code of Conduct during campaigning by political parties. The different teams and squads appointed for election purposes should ensure that there was no effort being made to induce or influence the voters.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday said that Congress president Rahul Gandhis interaction with students of a womens college in Chennai did not violate the model code of conduct (MCC), though it has sought a report on his speech. Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo said local election officials have reported that there was no violation in terms of permission obtained by Stella Maris College for Women to host the interaction on 13 March. He said the District Electoral Officer (DEO) had informed him that there was permission for Rahul's event. So, there is no violation of the MCC. However, Sahoo sought further information on Rahul's speech. Have sought further information on what kind of speech was given... have asked the DEO to give a report based on the speech content, he said.

Speaking to reporters after a Congress delegation met the Election Commission on Monday, Kapil Sibal said, "We represented to the EC that there is a film being made on Narendra Modi, to be released just a few days before election. It's purpose is political. Three producers and actor belong to BJP; the director is involved in 'Vibrant Gujarat' (investors' summit). This is violative of all norms."

Earlier Banerjee had filed a complaint against Supriyo on 20 March for the circulation of false, unverified and distorted news criticising his family members. On 24 March, Supriyo made another defamatory statement in public, Banerjee cited in the letter.

In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Banerjee said that Supriyo has maligned his image by levelling false and unverified allegations against him. Banerjee alleged that Supriyo on 24 March made a public statement against him which was "vindictive, libelous, and defamatory."

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to the Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Civil Aviation , asking them why the pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were not removed from rail tickets and Air India boarding passes even after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect. They've been asked to submit a reply within three days to the commission.

The Odisha Congress on Monday filed a complaint with Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the state against BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Puri Sambit Patra alleging violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The Odisha Pradesh Congress in its complaint said that Patra violated MCC by holding the idol of Lord Jagannath in his hand during an election rally.

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday sent a notice to four producers of the upcoming film ' PM Narendra Modi '. Congress and the CPM had complained to the commission about the film's release, saying it's being done with political intent. EC had earlier sent notices to two newspapers on 20 March over publishing 'PM Narendra Modi' film's poster for promotions

Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi and producer of film 'PM Narendra Modi', Sandeep Singh arrived at the Election Commission in Delhi on Thursday after complaints were filed over the release of the movie and ban of its trailer in light of the Model Code of Code (MCC) being in force ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

The EC committee headed by Deputy Election Commissioner in charge of the MCC division Sandeep Saxena came to the conclusion that Modi's speech did not violate the guidelines because "he did not mention the BJP, nor did he appeal for votes" in the duration of his address.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech on 'Mission Shakti' did not violate the Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission announced on Friday, even as the Opposition had accused the prime minister of violations and "publicity mongering".

Cups sporting Main Bhi Chowkidar ads, the prime minister's pet campaign unveiled just before elections, were spotted at a Shatapdi train today. Tea was served in these paper cups but these were later withdrawn after some passengers brought this to the notice of railway officials and pictures of it became viral on social media.

Ministry of Railways reacted to the controversy over tea being served in Shatabdi train in 'Main bhi Chowkidar' cups. The railway officials said that the incident happened today but the cups were immediately withdrawn. The ministry said that these are not procured from any political party and penal action will be taken against the contractor, and the railways supervisor.

The office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has shot off a letter to head of departments, saying the projects that actually started on the ground after obtaining all necessary permission, before the poll code came into force, can be continued.

The Delhi poll body has received several complaints about the AAP government departments and BJP-ruled MCDs starting work on projects before the model code of conduct came into force, but seeking formal approvals later.

He said as per the FIR, based on the complaint of Mansur Chak Block Development Officer-cum-flying squad magistrate Shatrughan Rajak, Kanhaiya had addressed a public meeting in a village on Thursday without obtaining prior permission for the same from the authorities.  PTI

The case was lodged at Mansur Chak police station of the district under relevant sections of the Representation of People Act, SHO Arvind Kumar said.

Former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar's Begusarai as a CPI candidate, was booked for violation of Model Code of Conduct.

"Jokes apart, Sanjaykaka Patil has done a good job here in Miraj by getting funds for development of roads, highways, railways and other infrastructure," he added. - PTI

When someone from the crowd asked what would he give them if they got Patil re-elected, he said, "You will get five lakh rupees or even more."

Addressing a joint gathering of the BJP, Shiv Sena and RPI (A) workers Wednesday, Deshmukh purportedly said it was not going to be easy to retain the Sangli Lok Sabha seat, where the BJP has fielded sitting MP Sanjaykaka Patil.

"After ascertaining the facts, a complaint was registered at Miraj and Bhilwadi police stations," the CEO's office said in a release.

The Election Commission had received a complaint about the comments made by Deshmukh in Miraj on 27 March, it said.

A case has been registered against Prithviraj Deshmukh, Sangli district unit chief of the BJP, for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct, the office of Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer said Saturday.

According to Babu, the chief minister has moved a civil suit in the high court in connection with the issue and has obtained an injunction against certain people from making such statements.- PTI

He alleged that Stalin and the DMK with an intention to cause disrepute, to defame, and damage the name and reputation of Chief Minister K Palaniswami has been circulating video clips, making allegations linking the chief minister to the Kodanad Estate murder and robbery case.

RM Babu Murugavel submitted that the code of conduct prohibits levelling false statements by any candidate or his agent or any other person in public domain.

A spokesperson of the ruling AIADMK has approached the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the State Chief Electoral Officer for taking action on a complaint against DMK chief M K Stalin for alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

This comes after the BJP leader (Choubey) was caught on camera while having a verbal altercation with Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) KK Upadhyay after the official had stopped his convoy for allegedly violating MCC. Giving clarifications over the incident, Choubey said, "I abide by the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), as I'm not the kind of guy who goes against the rules. But, I would like to mention that these people are stopping me from doing 'Chowkidari'. I will keep on raising my voice against them."

Following a verbal altercation between Union Minister Ashwini Choubey and a government official over alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct, an FIR has been lodged against 150 people including Choubey. The FIR also names BJP leader Rana Pratap Singh and various other leaders. The said 150 accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 'assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty'.

Singh courted controversy last week when he told reporters in Aligarh on 23 March that everyone wants Modi to win and that its necessary for the country. Hum sabhi log BJP ke karyakarta hai aur iss naatey se hum zaroor chahengey ke BJP vijai ho. Sab chahengey ek baar phir sey kendra mein Modiji pradhanmantri banein. Modiji ka pradhanmantri banna ye desh ke liye avashyak hai, samaaj ke liye avashyak hai (We are all BJP workers, so we will want the BJP to win. Everyone will want Modi to become PM again. Modi becoming PM is necessary for the nation and society), he had said.

The Election Commission has found Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singhs remark that Narendra Modi should be re-elected as the Prime Minister violative of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the commission will write to President Ram Nath Kovind to bring it to his notice, The Indian Express reported.

"Congress ke log aatankwadiyon ko biryani khilate they aur Modi ji ki sena aatankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai (Congress would feed biryani to terrorists, while Modi's army gives them bullets and bombs). This is the difference. The Congress people use 'ji' to refer to Masood Azhar to encourage terrorism," Adityanath had said at an election rally in Ghaziabad on Sunday.

The Election Commission on Monday took cognizance of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yodi Adityanath referring to the Indian Army as 'Modi ji ki sena'. The district magistrate of Ghaziabad has been asked to furnish a report in this regard, a functionary said. The report will be submitted to the office of chief electoral officer of Uttar Pradesh which has sought the details after taking cognizance of media reports in this regard.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) filed a Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation complaint against BJP accusing it of advertising on commercial taxis in the run-up to the general elections. AAP has alleged that some public service vehicles are being used for political advertisement by BJP and were spotted plying in Delhi. It also mentioned that such advertisement was in violation of the Delhi Transport Policy. Delhi Transport policy also forbids political advertisement through any vehicle which is being used for transporting passengers, the letter reads. In its letter, AAP has also given the number and image of a car which it claims was spotted on 2 April, carrying an advertisement of the BJP in Delhi.

Meanwhile, the producers of PM Narendra Modi, which is slated for release on Friday, have already replied to the poll panel's notice to them on the Oppositions' complaint against the film.

Earlier, Opposition parties had alleged "political intent" in the release of the Vivek Oberoi-starrer and had complained to the poll watchdog, claiming that 'PM Narendra Modi' would serve as an advertisement for the BJP. Till Tuesday, the Election Commission had been awaiting the BJP's reply to a plea by Opposition parties seeking to prevent its screening amid the ongoing poll process. Since the complaint to the commission had mentioned BJP in it, its copy was sent to the party for its reply.

The Election Commission has given its approval for the release of the biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reports said . News18 reported sources as saying that the Election Commission has asked the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to decide on whether to allow the release of 'PM Narendra Modi'.

CEO Krishna said he has directed collectors of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar to inquire into the matter. "I have received that complaint. I have directed collectors of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar districts to conduct an inquiry into the matter," he said.

On Saturday, Shah had addressed a gathering near Sardar Patel's statue in Naranpura area of Ahmedabad before participating in a 4 km-long road show from Naranpura to Ghatlodia. He then left for Gandhinagar to file his nomination papers. In its complaint, the Congress alleged that despite knowing that three big hospitals with emergency and trauma care are situated close to the Sardar Patel statue, loudspeakers were used during Shah's rally at the venue. Such use of the loud speakers near the hospitals is a clear violation of the model code of conduct, the party said.

The Gujarat Congress on Tuesday lodged a complaint of model code violation against BJP chief and party's Gandhinagar nominee Amit Shah's rally cum roadshow on 30 March alleging that loudspeakers were used near hospitals. In its complaint sent to Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S Murali Krishna through fax, the Opposition party demanded necessary action against Shah for "violating" the poll code.

The Election Commission had sought a response from the ministry on the 24-hour TV channel 'NaMo TV' based on a complaint filed by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

In its reply, the information and broadcasting ministry told the polling watchdog that NaMo TV is not a licensed channel but a direct-to-home (DTH) advertisement platform, reported India Today.

Hema, who is re-contesting elections from Mathura, held a public rally in the premises of a government school in Chaumuha on Tuesday.

Mathura DM SR Mishra told ANI that permission was granted to BJP MP Hema Malini to hold a public meeting but not at a govt school premises. He said that if a violation of model code of conduct is found, a FIR will be registered against the concerned persons and appropriate action will be taken.

4 April, Thursday | Hema Malini did not have permission to conduct public meeting at govt school, action will be taken: Mathura DM

The Congress had questioned the decision to run the address in full. EC had asked DD News for complete information on coverage of various political parties and prominent leaders to assess whether there was any truth in Congress allegations of preferential treatment to the ruling party.

In response to a notice from the Election Commission of India, DD News is learnt to have defended its decision to run Prime Minister Narendra Modis 1.24-hour public address  Main Bhi Chowkidar  in full on 31 March on the grounds of its high news value". According to The Economic Times' report , DD News, in its response, has said that that various other private TV channels also ran the address in its entirety due to the same reason.

When contacted for his reaction, Joshi said "it is for the Election Commission to decide on the matter."

He alleged that the report was deliberately released at this point of time just to benefit the ruling TRS.

In a complaint to the EC on 6 April, G Niranjan, Convener,Election Commission Coordination Committee of state Congress, said Chief Secretary S K Joshi and other officials released the report on 5 April, "just five days before the elections, which is against the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)."

The Congress in Telangana has requested the Election Commission to take action against the Chief Secretary and government officials for allegedly violating the model code of conduct for the 11 April Lok Sabha polls by releasing a report on the governments achievements.

Singh had filed his nomination earlier on Monday in the presence of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Jabalpur. The district administration also registered a First Information Report report against eight people in this regard.

Madhya Pradesh BJP chief and Jabalpur candidate Rakesh Singh has been issued a show-cause notice for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct. The notice was issued to Singh for allegedly taking more than five people to the returning officer's room while filing nomination.

Baghel, who also holds the post of state Congress president, reached the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Subrat Sahoo along with senior party leaders and handed over the written complaint.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel Monday lodged a complaint of alleged poll code violation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making statements about the Army and surgical strikes during his public meeting held in Balod district of the state on 6 April.

9 April | Addressing first-time voters, Narendra Modi invokes Pulwama attack, Balakot air strikes at Latur rally Prime Minister Narendra Modi violated the Model Code of Conduct on Tuesday, by appealing to first-time voters in Maharashtras Latur to vote for the BJP government for carrying out the Balakot air strikes against Pakistan reportedly as a response to Pulwama terror attack that killed over 40 CRPF soldiers in February. Addressing a rally in Latur, where he shared the stage with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Modi urged first-time voters to exercise their franchise carefully. You will remember you first vote for all of your life. Would you dedicate your first vote to the brave soldiers who conducted the Balakot air strikes in Pakistan? Would your first vote honour the CRPF soldiers who lost their lives in the Pulwama attack? Modi said. Through a notification dated 9 March, the Election Commission (EC) had asked political parties to not use the armed forces for political advertisements or campaigns. The Armed Forces of a nation are the guardian of its frontiers, security and political system. They are apolitical and neutral stakeholders in a modern democracy. It is therefore necessary that political parties and leaders exercise great caution while making any reference to the armed forces in their political campaigns. The Commission is of the view that photographs of Chief of Army Staff or any other Defence personnel and photographs of functions of Defence Forces should not be associated with or used in any manner in advertisement/propaganda/campaigning or in any other manner in connection with elections by political parties and candidates, the EC had said in the notification. The prime minister had allegedly violated the MCC last month as well while addressing the nation after the successful completion of the A-SAT test by the DRDO.

The Meerut District Magistrate is expected to file a report on the matter by 11 am on Wednesday.

The BJP leader said Dalit-Muslim unity is impossible, and in Bareilly, he accused Mayawati of hurting Dalit sentiments with her call to Muslim voters at a rally in Saharanpur's Deoband. "Agar Congress, SP (Samajwadi Party), BSP ko Ali par vishwaas hai, toh humein bhi Bajrangbali par vishwaas hai (If the Congress, the SP and the BSP have faith in Ali, then we too have faith in Bajrang Bali)," the BJP leader said at an election meeting in Meerut.

Attacking Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati for recently appealing to Muslims to vote for the Opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath said now the Hindus have no option but to vote for the BJP.

The Election Commission has taken cognisance of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's remarks at Meerut on Tuesday, with which he seemed to suggest that Hindu and Muslim voters were in an Ali-Bajrangbali contest.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday sent a notice to Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao for violation of Model Code of Conduct over his derogatory remark against Hindus at a public rally in Karimnagar on 17 March, PTI reported. The Commission has produced his remarks in Telugu but did not give English translation of the same. "... the Commission is, prima facie, of the opinion that by making the aforesaid statement which has the potential of disturbing the harmony and aggravating existing differences between social and religious communities, and appealing to communal feelings, you have violated the ... the Model Code of Conduct," the notice served Tuesday said.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is learned to have directed the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi to ensure that the contents of NaMo TV are pre-certified by the local media certification and monitoring committee. The EC has also asked the CEO to inform whether the political contents were at any time cleared by the certification committee. The commission has ruled that the channel which touted as BJPs purported advertising portal carried by DTH operators, should be subjected to content certification regime, like all other political advertisements during the poll code period.

The Election Commission of India on Wednesday stalled the release of PM Narendra Modi, a day before it was set to hit theatres. The election watchdog has ruled that no biopics can be released during elections as the political content in such movies "threaten level playing field".

District poll authorities issued her with a show cause notice. The Election Commission in Delhi is also examining the transcript of the minister's speech, which was condemned by the Congress.

In a controversial remark, Union minister Maneka Gandhi has told Muslims to vote for her as they will need her once the Lok Sabha elections are over. We are not Mahatma Gandhi's children that we keep giving and not get anything in return, she said in Sultanpur's Muslim-dominated Turabkhani area on Thursday.

A case registered against her under the 171-D and 171-F of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the Kopar Khairane police station. 58-year-old Mhatre had won the Belapur assembly seat on BJP ticket in the 2014 assembly election in Maharashtra.

A case was registered against BJP MLA Manda Mhatre for allegedly violating MCC. Mhatre was accused of flouting Election Commission's norms by requesting voters to cast their ballots twice in favour of Rajan Baburao Vichare, a sitting Member of Parliament (MP) from Thane Lok Sabha constituency, while campaigning for him on 13 April.

BJP also complained against Congress spokesperson Sunil Kauthankar for allegedly violating MCC "while addressing a press conference, wherein he has grossly misinterpreted the statement of BJP national president Amit Shah and has tried to spread lies."

Goa BJP complained to the Election Commission (EC) against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by propagating fear-mongering among Christian and Muslim community at a public meeting. Kejriwal was in Goa on 13 April to address a public meeting at Margao in south Goa. "Arvind Kejriwal has blatantly violated MCC by way of inciting religious sentiments in his speech," read the letter. "Arvind Kejriwal has been reported to have made utterances such as 'Mob lynching taking place in the country under the guise of cattle theft is actually organised murder," said the complaint. "He also tried to propagate fear-mongering among the Christian and Muslim community by his utterance that 'Christian and Muslim will be driven into the sea under the guise of infiltrators," it read.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath was seen visiting a temple on Tuesday morning, a day after the Election Commission  citing Article 324 of the Constitution  barred him from holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows and interviews, public utterances in media (electronic, print and social media) in connection with the ongoing Lok Sabha election. He was handed a 72-hour ban for delivering a communal or hate speech during one of his rallies. Though the BJP leader did not defy the ban by participating in a poll campaign, he did violate the spirit of election by making a public visit to the temple.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Gujarat Ramesh Katara on Tuesday reportedly told villagers at a rally in Dahod constituency that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has installed cameras in polling booths and he will come to know who votes for whom in the Lok Sabha elections. Katara has been served a show-cause notice by the Dahod collector and district election officer VL Kharadi for his remarks and also notice by the Election Commission (EC) for violation of MCC.

The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP has written to the Election Commission demanding an FIR against Ghulam Nabi Azad, Vikramaditya Singh and Waqar Rasool Wani for allegedly violating the model code of conduct, ANI reported.

The Election Commission has taken cognisance of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks that former Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, who died during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, met his untimely death due to bad karma, and ordered an enquiry into the same. Thakur on Friday had said that the former ATS met his unfortunate fate because he had "tortured" her during the investigation of the 2008 Malegaon blast case. A complaint was filed against the BJP candidate from Bhopal with the Madhya Pradesh EC hours after she made the controversial statement.

The poll panel pointed out that an FIR has already been lodged against him in Bihar's Kathiar under some sections of the penal code and section 123 of the Representation of the People Act.

The Punjab minister has been asked to respond within 24 hours, failing which the EC will take a decision without further reference to him.

The EC said prima facie he has violated provisions of the model code of conduct, election law and a Supreme Court direction asking politicians not to mix religion with political discourse while electioneering.

The Election Commission on Saturday issued a showcause notice to Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for his remarks in which he allegedly warned the Muslim community that efforts were on to divide their votes in Bihar.

Singhvi alleged the EC hesitates in taking action against one-two persons sitting on top posts. He said: "The EC listens to us. They act on our request. It is, however, unfortunate that the EC hesitates in taking action against one-two people sitting on tops posts of the country."

He also expressed his disappointment over the ECIs inaction on another complaint earlier submitted by the Congress against Modi for allegedly violating the MCC by citing the services at a rally in Maharashtra on 9 April. "It is very distressing and sad that the very credibility of an independent police force of the elections is at stake. We showed the EC a video of Modis campaigning. We have demanded a ban on him for 48 to 72 hours from campaigning, and also on Shah," he said.

A Congress delegation led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi met the Election Commission officials and sought action against Modi for holding a procession after casting his vote on Tuesday in Ahmedabad. They also requested the EC to act against Shah for repeatedly citing the services of armed forces in his election rallies. "The Prime Minister is violating the Model Code Conduct (MCC) shamelessly and advertently. He made political statements, held a procession after casting his votes today," Singhvi told reporters. The Congress spokesman said: "On Monday we had filed a written complaint to the EC that Modi would violate the Model Code of Conduct by holding a procession after casting his vote." Singhvi termed Modi as a "habitual, egregious and completely uncaring offender".

The Congress party on Tuesday sought to impose 48 to 72 hours ban on campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The party has requested the ECI and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jammu and Kashmir Shailendra Kumar to take appropriate action against the three leaders under the rules and regulations governing MCC and relevant provisions of Representation of the People Act, 1951. BJP has further requested the ECI to debar Azad from campaigning for Congress in the country.

The BJP, in a complaint filed on Thursday, accused Waqar Rasool Wani, who was campaigning for Congress' candidate from Udhampur-Doda parliamentary constituency Vikramaditya Singh, of violating MCC by campaigning on polling day and requesting voters of a particular religion to vote for their party. In the audio clip, a copy of which has been sent to the ECI, Wani could be heard saying that Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is currently campaigning in Kerala, called him up and directed him to appeal to the voters of the erstwhile Doda region belonging to particular community to cast their votes on communal lines, BJP claimed.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has moved the Election Commission of India (ECI) demanding FIR against Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Vikramaditya Singh and an ex-MLA of Banihal town for allegedly violating Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during the ongoing Lok Sabha polls in the state.

The Election Commission has taken cognisance of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks that former Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, who died during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, met his untimely death due to bad karma, and ordered an enquiry into the same. Thakur on Friday had said that the former ATS met his unfortunate fate because he had "tortured" her during the investigation of the 2008 Malegaon blast case. A complaint was filed against the BJP candidate from Bhopal with the Madhya Pradesh EC hours after she made the controversial statement.

The poll panel pointed out that an FIR has already been lodged against him in Bihar's Kathiar under some sections of the penal code and section 123 of the Representation of the People Act.

The Punjab minister has been asked to respond within 24 hours, failing which the EC will take a decision without further reference to him.

The EC said prima facie he has violated provisions of the model code of conduct, election law and a Supreme Court direction asking politicians not to mix religion with political discourse while electioneering.

The Election Commission on Saturday issued a showcause notice to Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for his remarks in which he allegedly warned the Muslim community that efforts were on to divide their votes in Bihar.

While addressing a rally in Jalna on Sunday, BJP leader Pankaja Munde said: "We did surgical strike after cowardly attack on our soldiers (by Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama). Some peole ask what was surgical strike and what's the evidence? I say we should've attached a bomb to Rahul Gandhi and should have sent him to another country. Then they would have understood."

The Election Commission found Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu guilty of violating model code of conduct for appealing for Muslim votes. It has banned him from campaigning for 72 hours.

Singhvi alleged the EC hesitates in taking action against one-two persons sitting on top posts. He said: "The EC listens to us. They act on our request. It is, however, unfortunate that the EC hesitates in taking action against one-two people sitting on tops posts of the country."

He also expressed his disappointment over the ECIs inaction on another complaint earlier submitted by the Congress against Modi for allegedly violating the MCC by citing the services at a rally in Maharashtra on 9 April. "It is very distressing and sad that the very credibility of an independent police force of the elections is at stake. We showed the EC a video of Modis campaigning. We have demanded a ban on him for 48 to 72 hours from campaigning, and also on Shah," he said.

A Congress delegation led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi met the Election Commission officials and sought action against Modi for holding a procession after casting his vote on Tuesday in Ahmedabad. They also requested the EC to act against Shah for repeatedly citing the services of armed forces in his election rallies. "The Prime Minister is violating the Model Code Conduct (MCC) shamelessly and advertently. He made political statements, held a procession after casting his votes today," Singhvi told reporters. The Congress spokesman said: "On Monday we had filed a written complaint to the EC that Modi would violate the Model Code of Conduct by holding a procession after casting his vote." Singhvi termed Modi as a "habitual, egregious and completely uncaring offender".

The Congress party on Tuesday sought to impose 48 to 72 hours ban on campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Taking a jibe at the poll panel, he said the Congress is saddened to say that it seems that from the second word of Election Commission, 'C' has been dropped, and it has become "Election Omission" for the Modi-Shah duo.

"We have a right to approach the courts seeking action over model code violations... we can exercise that option... the mega policeman has turned a blind eye," Singhvi said, adding that silence can be construed as approval.

The two leaders have "cheated" on the issue of level playing field for all parties during elections and questioned the "silence of mega policeman" Election Commission (EC), Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi alleged at a press conference.

Alleging that the Model Code of Conduct has become "Modi code of conduct", the Congress on Saturday questioned the EC's "silence" over poll code "violations" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, and said it may approach courts to seek action against the duo.

Satti said that the alleged speech was circulated on social and print media by the Congress party workers who intended to malign and rapture of his image.

In his reply to Mandi District Electoral Officer, he said, "I was not having any political vendetta or intention against any of the workers or leaders of any of the political party/opponents. I never made any false, derogatory or inciting remarks, as alleged in the notice under reply. Moreover, the wording of my speech was taken otherwise by press correspondents," he added.

"Our leaders are sitting on the dais. If anyone dares to raise their finger, we would chop their hands off. We are not nincompoops. We are not a group of stupid people," Satti had said addressing a rally in Mandi on Wednesday.

Himachal Pradesh BJP president Satpal Singh Satti on Saturday replied to the Election Commission's notice over his "will chop off hands of those who point fingers at BJP leaders" remark and denied making any false, inciting or derogatory remark.

Kejriwal said even Pakistan wants to divide India and accused BJP of fulfilling Pakistans agenda. "The BJP is fulfilling Pakistan's agenda of dividing India," he added.

"Can it be done, is it possible. At least 20-25 crore people come from these religions. So I want to ask Amit Shah what is your plan. Are you going to throw all these people, throw them in the Pacific Ocean or would they be mob lynched? What will be done with all these people," Kejriwal had asked.

Quoting Shah's tweet, Kejriwal said this means the BJP's plan is to remove all religions except Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs from the country.

"He has made the highly provocative speech which has the tone and tenor to aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred between different religious communities, and thus violative of provisions of MCC. That such statements that have the undertone and propensity to polarize the elections" the BJP's letter to the EC said.

"Arvind Kejriwal with the sole intention of creating panic and mutual hatred between the communities made a deliberate and false statement. Kejriwal is trying to mislead the people of India by saying that BJP considers Muslims, Christians, Jains, Parsis and other minorities in India as infiltrators..," read the complaint.

Shah had in his tweet had said: "We will remove every single infiltrator from the country except Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs".

The BJP has written to Election Commission of India (EC) alleging that Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal had violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) with his statement related to a tweet by BJP president Amit Shah.

Kher later said she has sent her reply to the EC.

The EC had subsequently instructed that it should be ensured by all political parties and election officials that children are not involved in any election-related activity, as per the notice.

In the notice, it was mentioned that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in January, 2017 had requested the EC to ensure that children are not involved in any form with election-related activities, by either election officials or political parties.

"You have shared a video on your Twitter account which shows that children are being used for election campaign in your favour through slogan 'Vote for Kirron Kher' and 'Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkar'," the notice issued on 3 May said.

However, in her reply, Kher said it was done "unintentionally", acknowledging that it was "wrong".

The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice to BJP's Chandigarh candidate Kirron Kher, seeking a reply after she shared a video on Twitter in which children were seen campaigning for her.

Lok Sabha Election 2019; Model Code of Conduct Watch: The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice to BJP's Chandigarh candidate Kirron Kher, seeking a reply after she shared a video on Twitter in which children were seen campaigning for her.

However, in her reply, Kher said it was done "unintentionally", acknowledging that it was "wrong". The poll panel had asked the actor-turned-politician to reply within 24 hours.

"You have shared a video on your Twitter account which shows that children are being used for election campaign in your favour through slogan 'Vote for Kirron Kher' and 'Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkar'," the notice issued on 3 May said.

Alleging that the Model Code of Conduct has become "Modi code of conduct", the Congress on Saturday questioned the EC's "silence" over poll code "violations" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, and said it may approach courts to seek action against the duo.

The two leaders have "cheated" on the issue of level playing field for all parties during elections and questioned the "silence of mega policeman" Election Commission (EC), Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi alleged at a press conference.

The Congress party on Tuesday sought to impose 48 to 72 hours ban on campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

A Congress delegation led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi met the Election Commission officials and sought action against Modi for holding a procession after casting his vote on Tuesday in Ahmedabad. They also requested the EC to act against Shah for repeatedly citing the services of armed forces in his election rallies.

The Election Commission found Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu guilty of violating model code of conduct for appealing for Muslim votes. It has banned him from campaigning for 72 hours from 10 am on Tuesday.

BJP leader Pankaja Munde said on Monday that a bomb should be tied around Congress president Rahul Gandhi and sent to the neighbouring country for questioning surgical strikes.

While addressing a rally in Jalna on Sunday, Munde said: "We did surgical strike after cowardly attack on our soldiers (by Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama). Some peole ask what was surgical strike and what's the evidence? I say we should've attached a bomb to Rahul Gandhi and should have sent him to another country. Then they would have understood."

The Election Commission on Saturday issued a showcause notice to Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for his remarks in which he allegedly warned the Muslim community that efforts were on to divide their votes in Bihar.

The Election Commission has taken cognisance of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks that former Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, who died during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, met his untimely death due to bad karma, and ordered an enquiry into the same. Thakur on Friday had said that the former ATS met his unfortunate fate because he had "tortured" her during the investigation of the 2008 Malegaon blast case

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has moved the Election Commission of India (ECI) demanding FIR against Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Vikramaditya Singh and an ex-MLA of Banihal town for allegedly violating Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during the ongoing Lok Sabha polls in the state.

The BJP, in a complaint filed on Thursday, accused Waqar Rasool Wani, who was campaigning for Congress' candidate from Udhampur-Doda parliamentary constituency Vikramaditya Singh, of violating MCC by campaigning on polling day and requesting voters of a particular religion to vote for their party.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Gujarat Ramesh Katara on Tuesday reportedly told villagers at a rally in Dahod constituency that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has installed cameras in polling booths and he will come to know who votes for whom in the Lok Sabha elections. Katara has been served a show-cause notice by the Dahod collector and district election officer VL Kharadi for his remarks and also notice by the Election Commission (EC) for violation of MCC.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath was seen visiting a temple on Tuesday morning, a day after the Election Commission  citing Article 324 of the Constitution  barred him from holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows and interviews, public utterances in media (electronic, print and social media) in connection with the ongoing Lok Sabha election. He was handed a 72-hour ban for delivering a communal or hate speech during one of his rallies. Though the BJP leader did not defy the ban by participating in a poll campaign, he did violate the spirit of election by making a public visit to the temple.

Goa BJP complained to the Election Commission (EC) against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by propagating fear-mongering among Christian and Muslim community at a public meeting. Kejriwal was in Goa on 13 April to address a public meeting at Margao in south Goa, where, BJP alleged, the AAP leader said that "Christian and Muslim will be driven into the sea under the guise of infiltrators".

The Goa Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) ordered an inquiry into an alleged hate speech given by a Christian priest against the BJP following a complaint from the party. A video of the priest from South Goa addressing some people inside a church had gone viral in which the priest, speaking in Konkani, is seen criticising the BJP, party president Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar.

A case was registered against BJP MLA Manda Mhatre for allegedly violating MCC. Mhatre was accused of flouting Election Commission's norms by requesting voters to cast their ballots twice in favour of Rajan Baburao Vichare, a sitting Member of Parliament (MP) from Thane Lok Sabha constituency, while campaigning for him on 13 April.

In a controversial remark, Union minister Maneka Gandhi has told Muslims to vote for her as they will need her once the Lok Sabha elections are over. We are not Mahatma Gandhi's children that we keep giving and not get anything in return, she said in Sultanpur's Muslim-dominated Turabkhani area on Thursday.

District poll authorities issued her with a show cause notice. The Election Commission in Delhi is also examining the transcript of the minister's speech, which was condemned by the Congress.

The Election Commission of India on Wednesday stalled the release of PM Narendra Modi, a day before it was set to hit theatres. The election watchdog has ruled that no biopics can be released during elections as the political content in such movies "threaten level playing field".

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh wrote to the Election Commission over the 'shockingly disgraceful' invocation of the Balakot air strikes and Pulwama terror attack during his speech in Maharashtra's Latur on 9 April.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is learned to have directed the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi to ensure that the contents of NaMo TV are pre-certified by the local media certification and monitoring committee. The EC has also asked the CEO to inform whether the political contents were at any time cleared by the certification committee. The commission has ruled that the channel which touted as BJPs purported advertising portal carried by DTH operators, should be subjected to content certification regime, like all other political advertisements during the poll code period.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday sent a notice to Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao for violation of Model Code of Conduct over his derogatory remark against Hindus at a public rally in Karimnagar on 17 March, ANI reported.

The commission also issued show cause notices to producers of two TV serials following allegations that the shows were violating the Model Code of Conduct by promoting various government schemes.

The Election Commission has taken cognizance of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's remarks at Meerut on Tuesday, with which he seemed to suggest that Hindu and Muslim voters were in an "Ali-Bajrangbali" contest. "If the Congress, the SP and the BSP have faith in Ali, then we too have faith in Bajrang Bali," the BJP leader said at an election meeting. The Meerut District Magistrate is expected to file a report on the matter by 11 am on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi violated the Model Code of Conduct on Tuesday, by appealing to first-time voters in Maharashtras Latur to vote for the BJP government for carrying out the Balakot air strikes against Pakistan reportedly as a response to Pulwama terror attack that killed over 40 CRPF soldiers.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel Monday lodged a complaint of alleged poll code violation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making statements about the Army and surgical strikes during his public meeting held in Balod district of the state on 6 April.

The Madhya Pradesh BJP chief and Jabalpur candidate Rakesh Singh has been issued a show cause notice for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The notice was for allegedly taking more than five people to the returning officer's room while filing his nomination.

The Tripura unit of the Congress has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission (EC), seeking the immediate arrest of Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb for allegedly spreading communal hatred in the state.

A case was registered against BSP leader Omar Ali Khan and his supporters for violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) as they carried out a procession on the road without permission and misbehaved with the SDM.

In response to a notice from the Election Commission of India, DD News is learnt to have defended its decision to run Prime Minister Narendra Modis 1.24-hour public address  Main Bhi Chowkidar  in full on 31 March on the grounds of its high news value".

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh chairperson and grandson of BR Ambedkar, Prakash Ambedkar, on Thursday threatened to take action against the Election Commission of India (ECI) if his party is voted to power. While addressing a public gathering at Yavatmal, Ambedkar called the Election Commission biased and slammed the organisation for directing political parties to not talk about the terror attack in Pulwama.

The Congress had questioned the decision to run the address in full. EC had asked DD News for complete information on coverage of various political parties and prominent leaders to assess whether there was any truth in Congress allegations of preferential treatment to the ruling party.

The District Magistrate of Mathura has said that BJP MP Hema Malini did not have permission to conduct a public meeting at a government school and appropriate action would be taken in the matter if MCC violation is found. Hema, who is re-contesting elections from Mathura, held a public rally in the premises of a government school in Chaumuha on Tuesday.

In its reply to the Election Commission, the information and broadcasting ministry told the polling watchdog that NaMo TV is not a licensed channel but a direct-to-home (DTH) advertisement platform, reported India Today. The Election Commission has sought a response from the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on the 24-hour TV channel 'NaMo TV' based on a complaint filed by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The Madhya Pradesh Election Commission has sent a notice to Congress for using the Rafale issue in poll advertisements as the matter is sub-judice. EC has ordered Congress to take down the six advertisements using Rafale issue as a campaign plank of the party, India Today reporte

The Gujarat Congress on Tuesday lodged a complaint of model code violation against BJP chief and party's Gandhinagar nominee Amit Shah's rally cum roadshow on 30 March alleging that loudspeakers were used near hospitals. In its complaint sent to Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S Murali Krishna through fax, the Opposition party demanded necessary action against Shah for "violating" the poll code.

The Election Commission (EC) has given its approval for the release of the biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reports said. News18 reported sources as saying that the Election Commission has asked the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to decide on whether to allow the release of 'PM Narendra Modi'.

Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday told the Election Commission that his comment son Congress' Nyay scheme were made in his personal capacity as an economist and should not be interpreted as Niti Aayogs stand on the Congress announcement. The Election Commission had pulled up Kumar for targeting Congress's minimum income guarantee scheme, NYAY during a media interview. Speaking to India Today, Kumar had said that the Congress has made the announcement only for the sake of winning the elections. "This is the worst kind of vote politics," he said.

BJP MP from Mathura Hema Malini, who is re-contesting elections from the seat, may face a case of MCC violation for holding a public rally in the premises of a government school in Chaumuha on Tuesday, The Times of India reported.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) filed a Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation complaint against BJP accusing it of advertising on commercial taxis in the run-up to the general elections. AAP alleged that some public service vehicles are being used for political advertisement by BJP and were spotted plying in Delhi.

The Election Commission took cognizance of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yodi Adityanath referring to the Indian Army as 'Modi ji ki sena'. The district magistrate of Ghaziabad has been asked to furnish a report in this regard, a functionary said. The report will be submitted to the office of the chief electoral officer of Uttar Pradesh which has sought the details after taking cognizance of media reports in this regard.

A case was registered against Samajwadi Party's Badaun candidate Dharmendra Yadav and three others for allegedly violating the model code of conduct. Yadav had apparently used a convoy of cars for campaigning. A video of the incident had also gone viral on social media. A case was registered and the matter is being investigated further.

The Election Commission found Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singhs remark that Narendra Modi should be re-elected as the Prime Minister violative of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The commission will write to President Ram Nath Kovind to bring it to his notice, The Indian Express reported. Singh had courted controversy last week when he told reporters in Aligarh that everyone wants Modi to win and that its necessary for the country that he is re-elected.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was also served a notice by the Election Commission on Monday for his editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana in which he made reference to tampering of EVMs in Begusarai. Raut has been asked to give a clarification by 3 April to the notice issued by Mumbai District Election Officer Shivaji Jondhale.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wrote to the Election Commission on Monday complaining against the recently-launched "NaMo TV", asking the poll panel if political parties having TV channels was in adherence to the Model Code of Conduct. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party asked the EC if the BJP had sought approval for the launch of the channel, which has Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photograph on its logo and runs all his speeches.

Following a verbal altercation between Union Minister Ashwini Choubey and a government official over alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct, an FIR has been lodged against 150 people including Choubey. The FIR also names BJP leader Rana Pratap Singh and various other leaders. The said 150 accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 'assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty'.

A video had surfaced on Sunday purportedly showing Choubey, on the front seat of a vehicle, furiously reacting to the official who attempted to apprise the Union minister about Election Commission's order.

Former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar's Begusarai as a CPI candidate, was booked for violation of Model Code of Conduct.

Ministry of Railways reacted to the controversy over tea being served in Shatabdi train in 'Main bhi Chowkidar' cups. The railway officials said that the incident happened today but the cups were immediately withdrawn. The ministry said that these are not procured from any political party and penal action will be taken against the contractor, and the railways supervisor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech on 'Mission Shakti' did not violate the Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission announced on Friday, even as the Opposition had accused the prime minister of violations and "publicity mongering".

Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi and producer of film 'PM Narendra Modi', Sandeep Singh arrived at the Election Commission in Delhi on Thursday after complaints were filed over the release of the movie and ban of its trailer in light of the Model Code of Code (MCC) being in force ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday sent a notice to four producers of the upcoming film 'PM Narendra Modi'. Congress and the CPM had complained to the commission about the film's release, saying it's being done with political intent. EC had earlier sent notices to two newspapers on 20 March over publishing 'PM Narendra Modi' film's poster for promotions.

The Odisha Congress on Monday filed a complaint with Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the state against BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Puri Sambit Patra alleging a violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The Odisha Pradesh Congress in its complaint said that Patra violated MCC by holding the idol of Lord Jagannath in his hand during an election rally.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to the Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Civil Aviation, asking them why the pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were not removed from rail tickets and Air India boarding passes even after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect. They've been asked to submit a reply within three days to the commission.

After a Congress delegation met the Election Commission on Monday, Kapil Sibal told reporters, "We represented to the Election Commission that there is a film being made on Narendra Modi, to be released just a few days before election. It's purpose is political. Three producers and actor belong to BJP; the director is involved in 'Vibrant Gujarat' (investors' summit). This is violative of all norms."

Karnataka Congress has asked the Election Commission to allow political parties to pre-view the biopic on Narendra Modi.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday said that Congress president Rahul Gandhis interaction with students of a womens college in Chennai did not violate the model code of conduct (MCC), though it has sought a report on his speech.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, led by Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against cabinet minister Vijay Inder Singla for allegedly influencing voters of Sangrur by misusing his official position. Cheema alleged Singla had violated the model code of conduct by trying to induce voters by sanctioning funds worth crores for the repair of government schools.

Actor-turned-politician Prakash Raj was booked by the Cubbon Park Police for violating the Model Code of Conduct as he was accused of using a mike and campaigning for elections at a public rally held at the Mahatma Gandhi Circle in Bangalore on 12 March.

A Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation comprising Derek O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, and Chandan Mitra approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday to lodge a complaint against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modis photo was being published on railway tickets as part of a government scheme, which, the party said, was in violation of the MCC.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday wrote to the chief electoral officer (CEO) or Kerala in order to "file a complaint in relation to the malicious attempt by BJP and the Sabarimala Karma Samithi to vitiate free and fair polls in Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency."

He said that they did so "by publicising materials in a bid to appeal to religious sentiments of voters."

The Delhi BJP on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Office in the city, seeking action against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for allegedly "indulging in violent acts" and violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The BJP claimed AAP leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, had burned copies of its 2014 manifesto on 13 March.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India issued a showcause notice to BJP leader and Union minister Babul Supriyo for violating the MCC. The notice is related to a campaign song, which Supriyo allegedly promoted on electronic media and social media sites without a media certification from the EC. The Trinamool Congress had also registered a complaint against the song with the EC.

In Kerala, the BJP complained to the Chief Electoral Officer in Thiruvananthapuram, claiming that the posters put up by the Congress related to MP Shashi Tharoor's book Why Am I A Hindu violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). Tharoor, however, claimed they were not election posters.

Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer S Murali Krishna has ordered an inquiry after the Congress, on Monday, filed a complaint alleging that the BJP had violated the MCC by holding a meeting of the party's state parliamentary board at Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's official residence. The Congress pointed out that the chief minister's official residence in Gandhinagar is a government property, and no political activity is permitted from a government premises when the poll code is in force.

meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Baramulla (Jammu and Kashmir) on Monday rescinded transfers ordered by the districts assistant commissioner in violation of the model code of conduct, after the state government questioned the reshuffle affected despite standing directions.

On the other hand, after last week's takedown notification to Facebook, the EC called all social media platforms including Google, Twitter, Whatsapp, ShareChat and Tiktok for a meet to discuss over their violative social media content, ad policy and response time over complaints on Tuesday. The meet comes in wake of confusion over ECs first takedown notice to Facebook regarding a Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation on 13 March.

A delegation led by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Election Commission Coordination Committee convenor G Niranjan complained to the CEO on MCC violation by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for inviting Congress leader and former home minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and her sons to his camp office on 13 March for deliberations and reportedly influencing them to joins TRS.

BJD accused BJP of violating the Model Code of Conduct by allegedly shifting the Railway Electrification Board unit from Bhubaneswar to Bengaluru on 13 March after the announcement of the Lok Sabha election dates. Whereas, in order to put a check on the poll irregularities and other malfunctions ahead and during the Lok Sabha elections, a 24x7 control room was opened at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Bhubaneswar on Friday.

BJPs Delhi unit wrote to the Election Commission to appoint special observers in mosques to prevent religion from influencing electoral outcomes. The BJP has squarely blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for polarising the voters on religious and caste lines and has stated that it is Arvind Kejriwal who has been delivering many inflammatory and baseless statements to polarise votes, especially in Muslim dominant areas.

The Ranchi district administration on Monday filed a case of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation against Union minister Jayant Sinha on a complaint by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. In its complaint to Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer L Khiangte, the party claimed that Sinha had used the convocation ceremony at IIM-Ranchi to publicise the BJP government's achievements, violating the poll code.

Meanwhile, the BJP on Monday filed a complaint against Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera for allegedly violating the MCC. In its complaint, the party claimed that Khera, during a news channel's event, had stated that 'Modi stands for Masood Azhar, Osama, Dawood and ISI.'

The Congress registered its first Model Code of Conduct violation complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday. In Maharashtra, the party gave a written complaint to the chief electoral officer against government advertisements still being displayed outside state transport buses, bus stops and petrol pumps.

Show cause notices were issued to BJP's Chandigarh chief Sanjay Tandon, four BJP councillors, two nominated councillors and three officials of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh on Wednesday for violating the model code of conduct. The notice asked the officials to reply within 24 hours as to why disciplinary action may not be taken against them.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Nirjuli police under the supervision of Capital Complex Superintendent of Police Tumme Amo on Tuesday night seized Rs 15.6 lakh from undisclosed people for violation of the model code of conduct.

Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Pratapgarh Lok Sabha constituency in-charge Ashok Tripathi was among 68 booked for poll code violation on Wednesday.

The ECI on Wednesday issued a notice to BJP's Jaipur MP Ramcharan Bohra and Rajasthan Congress' General Secretary Sunil Sharma for putting up posters in different locations across Jaipur depicting various operations done by the Indian Armed forces along with their own photos. It also asked both the politicians to file a reply within three days.

The Commission on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to Delhi BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma for putting up two posters featuring him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Facebook. The Commission asked him to take down the post and give a reply by Thursday.

The Election Commission has asked all political parties to refrain from making reference to the armed forces during their campaign.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, hoardings and banners containing the photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were removed from petrol pumps in New Delhi on Tuesday following the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct for Lok Sabha elections.

ECI on 10 March, 2019 announced the dates of the seven-phase upcoming Lok Sabha election scheduled to begin on 11 April. The results will be announced on 23 May. The last polling date is 19 May. With the announcement of the schedule, the Model Code of Conduct kicked in the very same day.

The ECI referred to its December 2013 letter in which it had "called upon all political parties to advise their candidates and leaders to desist from displaying photographs of defence personnel or photographs functions involving defence personnel in advertisements".

More than 820 million citizens will cast their votes across India this year. The number of eligible voters has gone up by more than five times since the first General Election. Voter turnout has also increased from 46 percent in 1951-52 to 66 percent in 2014. In the last election held in 2014, there were roughly 815 million, but just 550 million exercised their right to vote. Lok Sabha Election 2019 will see over 1.5 crore first-time voters. These voters in the age group of 18-19 years constitute 1.66 percent of the total electorate. Two-thirds of Indians are under 35 years of age.
While endowed with an abundance of natural resources, Odisha continues to suffer from resource curse.

Odisha, which has 21 Lok Sabha seats, goes to poll in four phases starting on 11 April. While four seats go to polls in the first phase, five seats will be voting on 18 April. In the final two phases, which take place on 23 and 29 April respectively, six seats each will be voting to elect their next representatives.

In the last Lok Sabha elections, Odisha returned 20 Biju Janata Dal MPs to Parliament. The lone Bharatiya Janata Party MP elected from Odisha was Tribal Affairs minister Jual Oram. The Congress drew a blank.

Odisha will also be electing members of its Legislative Assembly simultaneously. The Odisha Assembly consists of 147 members. In the last elections, the Biju Janata Dal registered an emphatic victory by winning 117 seats in the Assembly. The Congress won 16 seats while the BJP could only register a victory in 10 seats.

Odisha will be witnessing a three-cornered fight this election season. The Congress under state unit president Niranjan Patnaik and the BJP under the leadership of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan will face-off with Naveen Patnaik, who is running for the chief ministership for the fifth time in a row.

The Congress and the BJP are banking on anti-incumbency factor against the two-decade-old BJD regime. For BJP, Odisha provides an opportunity to improve its tally in the Parliament as well as strengthen its machinery in the state, where it intends to win 120 seats in the Assembly.

While endowed with an abundance of natural resources, Odisha continues to suffer from resource curse. Many of its districts continue to languish on socio-economic parameters. Nevertheless, Odisha is a unique polity where caste and religion do not act as a major electoral factor. This is in contrast to the other parts of India where caste and religion influence elections.

Here is a brief look at the Lok Sabha constituencies that go to polls in the coming weeks:

1. Bargarh Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 1

Total Electors: 11,23,301 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,51,140

Female Electors: 6,79,577

Assembly Constituencies: Padampur, Bijepur, Bargarh, Attabira, Bhatli, Brajarajnagar, Jharsuguda

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. The constituency came into existence only in 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 2009 elections, the constituency was won by Sanjay Bhoi of the Congress. In the last elections, Prabhas Kumar Singh of the BJD won the seat.

Demography: Part of the economically backward Western Odisha region, the Bargarh Lok Sabha constituency is largely rural in the landscape, with a significant number of tribal and Scheduled Caste population. As per reports, over one-fifth of the population belong to the Scheduled Castes. The major caste groups are Ganda, followed by Dewar and Dhoba. Among the Scheduled Tribes, Saora, Binjhal and Gond are the dominant communities.

2. Sundargarh Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 2

Total Electors: 14,10,532 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,18,689

Female Electors: 6,91,843

Assembly Constituencies: Sundargarh, Talsara, Rajgangpur, Biramitrapur, Rourkela, Raghunathpali, Bonai

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: No

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Union Tribal Affairs Jual Oram has represented the seat since 1998, except between 2009 and 2014, when two-time chief minister Hemananda Biswal represented it.

Demography: Tribals constitute half of the population in this reserved constituency. The district of Sundargarh covers the entire area of the Lok Sabha constituency. Bordering Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, Sundargarh is more urban in nature compared to other constituencies. However, it also is one of the 19 districts receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

3. Sambalpur Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 3

Total Electors: 12,97,098 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 6,69,036

Female Electors: 6,28,062

Assembly Constituencies: Kuchinda, Rengali, Sambalpur, Rairakhol, Deogarh, Chhendipada, Athmallik

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. Three constituencies of Sambhalpur went to Bargarh, while two constituencies from defunct Deogarh constituency became part of it.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In 1998, 1999 and 2004 elections, Prasanna Acharya of the BJD won the seat. In the 2009 polls, Amarnath Pradhan of the Congress won the seat only to lose it in the next election to BJDs Nagendra Pradhan.

Demography: Sambalpur is considered the political nerve-centre of Western Odisha, a region which is considered a traditional BJP bastion. The eponymous Lok Sabha constituency is spread across Anugul, Debagarh, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur districts. While not a reserved seat, the constituency has a sizeable number of tribal and Schedule Castes voters, who together form little less than 50 percent of the total electorate.

4. Keonjhar Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 4

Total Electors: 13,46,683 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 6,91,369

Female Electors: 6,55,314

Assembly Constituencies: Telkoi, Ghasipura, Anandpur, Patana, Keonjhar, Champua, Karanjia

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Karanjia Assembly constituency of Mayurbhanj district was added.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Ananta Nayak won two consecutive elections in 1999 and 2004. In the 2009 elections, Yashbant Narayan Singh Laguri of the BJD won the seat. His wife Sakuntala Laguri won the seat in 2014 polls.

Demography: Keonjhar constituency covers the whole district of Keonjhar as well as one constituency of Mayurbhanj district. The constituency is dominated by tribals who form nearly half of the electorate. Bathudi, Bhuyan, Bhumij, Gond, Ho, Juang, Kisan, Kora, Munda, Oraon, Santal and Sounti are the main tribes found in this area.

5. Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 5

Total Electors: 13,27,555 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 6,70,100

Female Electors: 6,57,455

Assembly Constituencies: Jashipur, Saraskana, Rairangpur, Bangriposi, Udala, Baripada, Morada

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes. Before 2008, there was also a constituency called Kuliana, which now ceased to exist.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 1999 elections, Salkhan Murmu of the BJP won from Mayurbhanj. In the next election, Sudam Marandi of the JMM won the seat. The BJD has been winning the seat since 2009. Rama Chandra Hansdah defeated BJPs Nepol Murmu by a margin of 1.2 Lakh votes in the 2014 elections.

Demography: Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha constituency is dominated by tribals, who constitute at least 57 percent of the total population. This makes Mayurbhanj the most tribal-dominated district in the state. Santhals, Kolha, Bathudi and Bhumija, Mankadia, Khadia, Bhuyan, Juangas and Lodh are some of the major tribes found in the political landscape of Mayurbhanj.

6. Balasore Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 6

Total Electors: 13,66,218 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,09,342

Female Electors: 6,56,876

Assembly Constituencies: Badasahi, Jaleswar, Bhograi, Basta, Balasore, Remuna, Nilagiri

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Kharabela Swain won the seat thrice in a row between 1998 and 2004, before losing to former Union minister Srikant Jena in the 2009 elections. In the 2014 elections, Jena lost to BJDs Rabindra Kumar Jena.

Demography: The constituency of Balasore roughly covers the district of Balasore, which lies on the northern end of the state and borders West Bengal. The district is largely rural, except for Balasore, which is the largest city in North Odisha.

7. Bhadrak Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 7

Total Electors: 14,69,498 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,74,566

Female Electors: 6,94,932

Assembly Constituencies: Soro, Simulia, Bhandaripokhari, Bhadrak, Basudevpur, Dhamnagar, Chandabali

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Castes

Delimited: Yes. In 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Arjun Charan Sethi of the BJD has been the sitting MP since 1998.

Demography: Bhadrak is one of the few constituencies in Odisha, where Muslims form a significant chunk of the population. In fact, Bhadrak city is estimated to have at least one-third Muslim population. The city was in the news a few years ago for incidents of communal violence. Additionally, Scheduled Castes comprise at least 20 percent of the population in Bhadrak.

8. Jajpur Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 8

Total Electors: 13,03,733 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 6,96,385

Female Electors: 6,07,348

Assembly Constituencies: Binjharpur, Bari, Barachana, Dharmasala, Jajpur, Korei, Sukinda

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Castes

Delimited: Yes. Until the 2008 delimitation, Bari Assembly segment was called Bari-Derabisi.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: The BJD has held this seat since 1999. While Jagannath Mullick won the seat in the 1999 polls, Mohan Jena retained the seat for the party in the 2004 and 2009 elections. In the last elections, Rita Tarai defeated her nearest Congress rival by over 3.2 Lakh votes.

Demography: The constituency has a significant chunk of Scheduled Castes, who comprise over 25 percent of the population. Over 92 percent of the population lives in rural areas, making it a predominantly rural constituency. According to local reports, farmer distress remains a major issue in this constituency, which will also determine the electoral fortunes of the candidates.

9. Dhenkanal Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 9

Total Electors: 13,63,467 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,22,328

Female Electors: 6,41,139

Assembly Constituencies: Dhenkanal, Parjanga, Kamakshyanagar, Hindol, Angul, Talcher, Pallahara

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Talcher and Pallahara Assembly seats of the erstwhile Deogarh Lok Sabha constituency were merged with Dhenkanal. On the other hand, Athmallick and Chhendipada Assembly seats, which were part of Dhenkanal Lok Sabha constituency were given to Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Barring the 1999 elections, when veteran Congressman and former Union minister KP Singh Deo won, the seat has remained with BJD leader Tathagata Satpathy.

Demography: A largely rural constituency, only about 16 percent of the population lives in urban areas, as per the 2011 Census. The district is inhabited by a number of castes, out of which Chasa, Khandayat, Karan, Brahmin, Gouda, Paika, and Kumbhar are important. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes together form over 30 percent of the population.

10. Bolangir Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 10

Total Electors: 15,63,025 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,14,968

Female Electors: 748,057

Assembly Constituencies: Birmaharajpur, Sonepur, Loisingha, Patnagarh, Balangir, Titlagarh, Kantabanji

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Saintala Vidhan Sabha seat ceased to exist while Birmaharajpur became part of Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo won thrice on a BJP ticket between 1998 and 2004, before losing twice in a row to Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo of the BJD.

Demography: Bolangir is known for being one of the political dens of the influential Singh Deo family. Bolangir is one of the most socio-economically backward constituencies in India. It is part of Western Odisha, which has been demanding a separate state called Koshal. There is a significant population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the constituency.

11. Kalahandi Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 11

Total Electors: 14,74,135 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,50,694

Female Electors: 7,23,441

Assembly Constituencies: Nuapada, Khariar, Lanjigarh (ST), Junagarh, Dharmgarh, Bhawanipatna (SC), Narla

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Bikram Keshari Deo won the seat thrice in a row between 1998 and 2004. In the 2009 elections, Bhakta Charan Das of the Congress won the seat. In the 2014 elections, he lost the seat to Arka Keshari Deo of the BJD by over 60,000 votes.

Demography: The constituency, which covers the district of Kalahandi, earned notoriety for the term Kalahandi syndrome. In fact, a 2008 report put this Lok Sabha constituency in the bottom five for socio-economic and infrastructural development. As per the 2011 Census, Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 18.2 percent while Schedule Tribe (ST) were 28.5 percent of total population in Kalahandi district.

12. Nabarangpur Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 12

Total Electors: 12,97,210 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 6,45,875

Female Electors: 6,51,335

Assembly Constituencies: Umerkote, Jharigam, Nabarangpur, Dabugam, Kotpad, Malkangiri, Chitrakonda

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Jharigam Vidhan Sabha seat came into the existence while Kodinga Assembly segment ceased to exist.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In 2014 elections, Balbhadra Majhi of the BJD won the seat. He defeated Pradeep Kumar Manjhi who had represented the seat between 2009 and 2014. Between 1999 and 2009, BJPs Parsuram Majhi held the seat.

Demography: Part of Southern Odisha, Telugu voters play a significant role in at least two of the seven constituencies in Nabarangpur. It is a tribally dominated constituency, with over half of the electorate belonging to over 10 tribes.

13. Kandhamal Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 13

Total Electors: 11,43,602 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 5,82,340

Female Electors: 5,61,262

Assembly Constituencies: Baliguda, G Udayagiri, Phulbani, Kantamal, Boudh, Daspalla, Bhanjanagar

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. The constituency came into existence after delimitation in 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: BJDs Rudramadhab Ray won the seat in the 2009 elections. In the 2014 elections, BJDs Hemendra Chandra Singh won the seat but died just three months into his term. In the ensuing by-poll, BJD candidate Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh won the seat.

Demography: The constituency came into the spotlight due to the riots that took place in the aftermath of the murder of a VHP leader in 2008, which ultimately led to the breakup between BJD and BJP. Kandhas, considered the original tribal inhabitants of the area, and the Panos, a Scheduled Caste community, are influential in the constituency.

14. Cuttack Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 14

Total Electors: 13,71,617 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,31,918

Female Electors: 6,39,699

Assembly Constituencies: Baramba, Banki, Athagarh, Barabati-Cuttack, Choudwar-Cuttack, Cuttack Sadar, Khandapada

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. After delimitation, Barabati-Cuttack Assembly segment came into existence. On the other hand, Choudwar Assembly segment was abolished and replaced by Choudwar-Cuttack.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJD is the sitting MP since 1998.

Demography: Cuttack is a BJD citadel, having won all elections here since 1998. At least three of the seven constituencies  Barabati-Cuttack, Choudwar-Cuttack, Cuttack Sadar  are considered urban in nature. The rest are dominated by rural voters.

15. Kendrapara Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 15

Total Electors: 15,55,444 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,28,491

Female Electors: 7,26,953

Assembly Constituencies: Salipur, Mahanga, Patkura, Kendrapara, Aul, Rajanagar, Mahakalapada

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Newly inducted BJP leader Jay Panda represented Kendrapara between 2009 and 2018. Before him, Archana Nayak and Prabhat Kumar Samantaray of the BJD represented the constituency in the 14th and 13th Lok Sabha respectively.

Demography: Located in the Central Plain Zone of Odisha, Kendrapara is primarily a rural constituency, with over 70 percent of the population dependent on agriculture and other primary sector jobs. At least 21 percent of the population in Kendrapara belong to the Scheduled Castes.

16. Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 16

Total Electors: 14,99,673 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,97,923

Female Electors: 7,01,750

Assembly Constituencies: Niali, Paradeep, Tirtol, Balikuda-Erasama, Jagatsinghpur, Kakatpur, Nimapara

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Castes

Delimited: Yes. Before the 2008 delimitation, this was an open seat.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: BJD has won the seat three times in the last four elections. Trilochan Kanungo won the seat in 1999 elections, while Brahmananda Panda won in the next election. In 2009 election, Bibhu Prasad Tarai of the CPI won the seat. But in 2014, Tarai as a Congress candidate lost to BJDs Kulamani Samal.

Demography: The constituency, situated across Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Cuttack districts, is rural in nature, with some estimates placing the rural population at 90 percent. A reserved constituency, nearly 22 percent of the population in Jagatsinghpur belongs to the Scheduled Castes, as per the 2011 Census estimates.

17. Puri Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 17

Total Electors: 14,04,581 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,42,939

Female Electors: 6,61,642

Assembly Constituencies: Puri, Brahmagiri, Satyabadi, Pipili, Chilika, Ranpur, Nayagarh

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Nayagarh Assembly segment added to Puri Lok Sabha constituency.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Pinaki Misra is the incumbent MP since 2009. Before him, BJDs Braja Kishore Tripathy won thrice in a row.

Demography: Famed for its Jagannath temple, Puri is a significant pilgrimage centre for Hindus. The constituency is overwhelmingly Hindu, with over 96 percent of the population belonging to the religion. The importance of the constituency could be gauged by the earlier speculations about Prime Minister Narendra Modi fighting elections from the temple town.

18. Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 18

Total Electors: 15,27,768 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 8,35,850

Female Electors: 6,91,918

Assembly Constituencies: Jayadev, Bhubaneswar Central (Madhya), Bhubaneswar North (Uttar), Ekamra-Bhubaneswar, Jatni, Begunia, Khurda

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. After delimitation, Bhubaneswar Assembly segment was divided into two new seats: Bhubaneswar Central and Bhubaneswar North.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Prasanna Kumar Patasani is the incumbent MP since 1998.

Demography: The constituency covers the state capital as well as the neighbouring Khorda district, which is considered the most urbanised region in Odisha. Areas under the state capital have an urban profile while Assembly segments like Jatni, Begunia, Jaydev and Khurda are largely rural in nature.

19. Aska Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 19

Total Electors: 14,08,780 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 7,50,999

Female Electors: 6,57,781

Assembly Constituencies: Polasara, Kabisuryanagar, Khallikote, Aska, Surada, Sanakhemundi, Hinjili

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. Polsara and Sanakhemundi were newly created Assembly segments after delimitation.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: This is a BJD bastion. Incumbent chief minister Naveen Patnaik won the seat in 1998 and 1999 elections. In the 2000 by-poll, Kumudini Patnaik won the seat. In the 2014 elections, Ladu Krishna Swain won the seat defeating his nearest Congress rival by 3.1 Lakh votes.

Demography: A pocket borough of the BJD, Aska hosts Hinjli, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaiks legislative constituency. Situated in the most populated district of Ganjam, one-fifth population belongs to the Scheduled Castes category. Bauri, Dhoba and Dewar are some of the major Scheduled Caste groups in the district.

20. Berhampur Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 20

Total Electors: 13,34,268 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 6,80,089

Female Electors: 6,54,179

Assembly Constituencies: Chatrapur, Gopalpur, Berhampur, Chikiti, Digapahandi, Mohana and Parlakhemundi.

Reserved: No

Delimited: Yes. In 2008. Chatrapur and Mohana became reserved constituencies after delimitation.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 1999 elections, Anadi Charan Sahu won the seat as a BJP candidate. In 2004, Chandra Sekhar Sahu of the Congress won the seat. Since 2009, the seat is held by BJDs Siddhanta Mahapatra, an actor-turned-politician.

Demography: Bordering Andhra Pradesh, Berhampur is the nerve-centre of Telugu community, which forms 30 to 40 percent of the electorate here. This is evident by the fact it has elected Telugu-speaking candidates in many elections, most notably in 1996, when it elected former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao.

21. Koraput Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency Number: 21

Total Electors: 13,00,437 (2014 estimates)

Male Electors: 6,29,268

Female Electors: 6,71,169

Assembly Constituencies: Gunupur, Bissam-Cuttack, Rayagada, Lakshmipur, Pottangi, Koraput, Jeypore

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: Yes, in 2008.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: Giridhar Gamang, the former chief minister, won multiple elections from this constituency. In the 1999 elections, his wife Hema Gamang won the seat as a Congress candidate. In 2009, the former chief minister lost to Jayaram Pangi of the BJD. In the last election, Jhina Hikaka of the BJD defeated Gamang by a margin of 19,000 votes.

Demography: Rich in mineral resources, Koraput is a tribal dominated constituency in Odisha. Over 50 percent of the population is tribal. However, it suffers from resource curse, evident by the fact that it is one of the 250 economically backward districts in India. It also has a literacy rate of only about 50 percent, as per the 2011 Census.
Photo: Pixabay

Life can be difficult and a local church wants to help people deal with anxiety.

Everyone faces anxiety to some level or another but for some the struggle seems constant and unforgiving.

From a student facing a tough workload or another test to a middle-aged couple dealing with financial troubles to care givers looking after loved ones, life can seem to be out of control at times.

The Vernon Church of Christ wants to help those who may be feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of life.

Minister Murray Ververda and Dave Allen will lead a workshop on how to gain a better understanding of anxiety and embracing hope rather than despair.

On Saturday, the church will be holding the workshop to develop a better understanding of anxiety and the treatment options, as well as, explore the positive impact of hope during times of difficulty.

Ververda, along with Allen, a Canadian certified counsellor, will be presenting the material using lecture, multimedia, group interaction and a workbook. The workshop will be a four-part, one-day workshop intended to give people perspective, information, a place to ask questions, and a time to gather specific information about anxiety and its treatments.

The workshop runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and costs $15 in advance or $20 at the door.

Call 250-545-6892 or email [email protected].
Four months ago, KCR swept the state Assembly elections. He wants to do an encore in next month's Lok Sabha polls

Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends And Influence People is old hat. The book that is waiting to be written is How To Influence People and Win Elections. There is already a walking copy of it. I's in the form of K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR, the Telangana chief minister.

Four months ago, KCR swept the state Assembly elections. He wants to do an encore in next month's Lok Sabha polls. He knows there is the danger of voters asking him or themselves why, since they have already installed him in power in the state, they can't vote for the Congress in the Lok Sabha. KCR also knows enough about India's electoral history to be aware that a Lok Sabha election result can differ from the voting trend in an Assembly election held either simultaneously or a few months earlier.

Not taking chances, he has come up with a new spin for the Lok Sabha poll. It came by way of a slogan delivered first through his son KT Rama Rao (KTR), who holds an MBA in marketing from the City University of New York and is KCR's heir apparent. The slogan is: Karu, Saru, Padaharu, Delhi lo mana sarkaru.

Karu refers to car, the election symbol of TRS. Saru is 'Sir', a reference to KCR. Padaharu is 16 in Telugu. Delhi lo mana sarkaru means: Our government in Delhi. With 16 seats in Telangana, KCR is dangling before voters the possibility of a "key role" for himself in the new government in Delhi and hence, more projects and progress for Telangana. The wily KCR can be depended upon not only to think up clever strategies but also to concoct snappy slogans to sell them to voters. He is sure this will deliver votes and seats, and it just might.

In the 7 December Assembly election, his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won 88 of the 119 seats. His ally, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), bagged seven. KCR was mighty upset because he lost the rest of the seats. But never mind that, he told himself. He got nearly a dozen of the newly-elected Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLAs to defect to his party. These defections helped him alter the Assembly tally  or settle the 'score'. They also helped him nearly decimate his rivals and, more importantly, strengthen his party in the only two Lok Sabha constituencies where it appears weak: Khammam and Mahabubabad.

The smile on the Telangana leader's face is now broader. He seems pretty sure of winning 16 of the state's 17 Lok Sabha seats. Before you allow yourself to be overawed by his magnanimity in conceding one seat to the Opposition, you must know that he wants his ally AIMIM to win that 17th seat.

100 percent strike rate?

You can't find another chief minister or party president who is sure  or even almost sure  of a 100 percent strike rate in the impending Lok Sabha election. Nobody likes to lose elections, yes. But there is nobody who hates losing more than KCR. Yet he knows that getting a dozen turncoats into the party alone won't get him what he wants.

He won the Assembly election for different reasons. The first masterstroke was to delink the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls and avoid a mix-up of the Narendra Modi factor with local issues. In the December campaign, he spoke of his achievements  of which there are many, besides a rash of populist schemes. What also helped him significantly was his lament about saving Telangana's "self respect" from Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu whose Telugu Desam Party contested the election in alliance with Congress.

But that was another election at another time, albeit only four months ago. Now he has found a new theme to hook voters. KCR is aware that for the voters of the two Telugu states a friendly government at the Centre is a key influencer. So he is adding it in good measure to the claims about his achievements.

But how real is the possibility of KCR having a role in Delhi? In the first place, how possible is it to have a non-BJP, non-Congress government at the Centre? That's a question the Congress must ask as part of its counter-narrative. But then KCR has made sure that there isn't much of the Congress left in Telangana to ask questions.

In KCR's calculation, the BJP won't get more than 150 Lok Sabha seats and the Congress will barely cross 110. He apparently believes that the burden of forming the next government would fall on parties excluding the BJP and Congress.

TRS leaders also drop a hint or two to claim that KCR could either become the prime minister or deputy prime minister, or the party, at the very least, will usurp "key" portfolios in a new government. What they don't talk about is the possibility of a government without at least the support from either Congress or BJP being very remote. Even in the unlikely case of that happening, why would KCR with 16 MPs, if he gets that number, become a top player when other regional parties can possibly muster more? Will his tally be impressive enough even if he takes into account the seats of the friendly YSR Congress Party of Andhra Pradesh?

Nobody in the TRS is in the mood to answer such questions. The only thing that continues to make logical sense is that KCR will prefer to back a government led by the BJP rather than Congress, his main rival in Telangana.

What KCR is selling to voters is a dream. And his supporters don't mind buying it  or so it seems.

The author tweets @sprasadindia
The least political parties can do ahead of the Lok Sabha polls is shed the pretense of being different.

To escape a major embarrassment, the Congress decided not to field former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi's daughter Tanushree in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections after announcing her candidature Thursday.

Amarmani Tripathi is serving a life sentence in a murder case, along with his wife who was a co-accused. On 28 March, Congress released the names of 31 candidates for Lok Sabha elections. Among the six candidates named from Uttar Pradesh, Tanushree's name figured in the list. Congress decided to field her from the Maharajganj Lok Sabha, a seat from where her father earlier contested.

However, according to sources, following a protest Tanushree's name was dropped at the direct intervention of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. While the decision to replace her with another candidate saved Congress from some embarrassment, the fact that her candidature was finalised and announced hints at the fact that political parties, most often than not, sidestep and overlook a lot of things to pick a candidate with 'winnability'.

In May 2003, the murder of 24-year-old Madhumita Shukla, a budding poetess from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, caused a political storm. The prime accused in the case was Amarmani Tripathi, who was the then minister in Uttar Pradesh government led by Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party. While BSP defended him, the Samajwadi Party, the main Opposition party in Uttar Pradesh called for his resignation. Several attempts were made to suppress the case initially, however, following a huge media uproar the case was transferred to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who arrested Tripathi after his DNA sample matched that of the foetus of Madhumita's Shukla unborn child. Shukla was pregnant at the time of her murder.

As the case progressed, Mayawati resigned after differences with coalition partner Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and in August 2003 Samajwadi Party formed the government with Mulayam Singh Yadav as chief minister. And this is where Tripathi, who joined Samajwadi Party after Mayawatis resignation, played an important role. Mulayam, who was looking for allies to form an alternative government, found Tripathi, who readily helped as he needed political patronage to insulate him from the probable arrest in the murder case.

After Tripathi was arrested in September that year, Mulayam showed sympathy and support when he made it clear that his party would take no action against him. However, SP's coalition partner Congress called Tripathi a blot on politics.

In October 2007, when a special court in Dehradun sentenced Tripathi, his wife Madhumani and two others to life imprisonment in the murder case, it seemed that this was the end of the man who thrived on muscle power and money. SP, however, later fielded Tripathi from the Maharajganj seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

His son Aman Mani Tripathi got a Samajwadi Party ticket in 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but lost. In 2016, before Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, former SP leader Shivpal announced his candidature from Nautanwa seat, a family stronghold. But with CBI charging Aman Mani for allegedly murdering his wife, he could not get the confidence of Akhilesh Yadav, who by then had taken over the reins of SP from his father. However, Aman Mani contested as an Independent and won.

Aman Mani also made efforts to join the BJP in April 2017 after sharing the stage with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Congress UP spokesperson Ashok Singh criticised Adityanath for the same. Now, two years later, the Congress decided to field Amarmani's daughter. Earlier, she was offered ticket by Shivpal from his newly-formed party.

The political trajectory of Amarmani Tripathi is not an isolated story. It is also not a simple telltale of criminalisation of politics, which is an open secret. Rather, it is a disturbing trend wherein political parties, cutting across ideologies, region, and leadership prize winnability in elections as the most important criteria for selecting candidates. While winnability is an obvious criteria, it becomes problematic for democracy when it overshadows all other criteria.

In Amarmani Tripathis case, all major political parties in the state chose to field, shelter, protect and promote a man and then his progeny, in spite of several allegations of crime and corruption. The fact that he was a minister in three different regimes speaks of his importance and the reason for this is simple and straightforward. They might draw a blank on the yardsticks of ethics, but successfully draw huge crowds and voters in elections.

This reveals three strands that have been brilliantly articulated by Milan Vaishnavs book When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics, which is a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon in Indian politics that the likes of Amarmani tend to represent. The first question: Why do criminals enter politics? The second question: Why do political parties field such candidates? The third question: Why do people vote for them?

As to why voters prefer such candidates, Vaishnav goes beyond the ignorant lot hypothesis and sees it as an attempt by the voters to secure an extra-legal avenue to protect their interests in the wake of weakening public institutions. On the other hand, why criminals enter politics does not require much analysis. It is amply clear that political patronage and power gives them a shield that insulates them, to a great extent, from the heat of the law.

The reason for parties choosing such candidates is most important strand and emanates from an interesting fact backed by sound research and facts in Viashanavs book. According to his research and analysis it is winnability that is the main reason.

Across the past three general elections, clean candidates had a win rate of six percent. The win rate for candidates facing a charge of any type, by contrast, was just above 17 percent, and those facing serious charges had an 18 percent chance of winning. While there is some variation in the prevalence of candidates with criminal cases across parties, this is not an issue facing any one political party or type of party: It is clear that criminality in politics is widespread, Vaishnav wrote.

Given this fact it becomes clear that winnability will always be the first concern of political parties, and they can hardly ignore those who fetch valuable votes. However, least they can do is to shed the pretense of being different.

There are several cases to cite and support this trend of candidates with tainted backgrounds and criminal records being preferred by political parties. In Uttar Pradesh, dreaded mafia don Mukhtar Ansari, who has several criminal cases registered against him, has been Member of the UP Legislative Assembly five times. He was the prime accused in the murder of another MLA from Uttar Pradesh named Krishnanand Rai. Ansari won his first election on BSP ticket.

Atique Ahmed, who was first accused in a murder case at the age of 17, is another example. There are more than 40 criminal cases registered against him and he was also accused of the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, who defeated Atique's brother Ashraf in the 2004 Uttar Pradesh state legislature elections. He contested elections from Samajwadi Party (SP) and Apna Dal.

Hari Shankar Tiwari is another name that resonates quite well with those aware of mafia-politics links in Uttar Pradesh. Tiwari was perhaps the first public figure in Indian political history to be elected to the legislature from prison. He has been a cabinet minister at the state Assembly in several governments, including the Kalyan Singh (Bharatiya Janata Party) government and Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) government.

In Bihar, the name of Pappu Yadav is synonymous with bahubali wielding political power. He won Lok Sabha elections in 1991, 1996, 1999, and in 2004 from several constituencies in Bihar as an Independent, Lok Janata Party and RJD candidate. He was convicted for murder of Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA Ajit Sarkar that took place in 1998 by the sessions court and spent over five years in jail as a life term convict before being acquitted by the Patna High court.

Mohammad Shahabuddin is yet another name that comes to mind. Shahabuddin was elected four times as a Member of Parliament from Siwan, Bihar, on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket. He was accused in several serious criminal cases and has been convicted in many. In March 2007, a Siwan court sentenced him to two years' imprisonment in an assault case. In May 2007, he was convicted in an abduction case. He was also accused in the murder of JNU student union leader Chandrashekar Prasad, which occurred in 1997.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who kickstarted his Lok Sabha election campaign from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, targeted Congress leadership by juxtaposing their 'failure' and his government's 'achievements'. Starting from Congress' minimum income scheme plan, Modi questioned Congress intent and ability to eradicate poverty during its decades-long rule.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who kickstarted his Lok Sabha election campaign from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, targeted Congress leadership by juxtaposing their 'failure' and his government's 'achievements'. Starting from Congress' minimum income scheme plan, Modi questioned Congress intent and ability to eradicate poverty during its decades-long rule.

The prime minister, who launched the BJP's campaign blitz from Meerut in 2014 too, said he will bring justice to all.

The contest this time will be between "dumdaar BJP and daagdaar opposition", he said, driving home his point that his party is strong but opposition parties are tainted. "In the days to come, I'll not only put forward NDA's report card, but also ask the Opposition why they had failed earlier. On the one hand, there is strong development. On the other, there is lack of vision," he said.

Modi told the gathering that he would give an account of the work done by his government and of what others had done, or didn't.

"When I sought your blessings five years ago, I had said I'll return it with interest and I will present a report card of my work. I also said I'll seek a report card of what work was done in the 60 years before that," Modi said.

Modis vision of New India: Key areas

The prime minister said three key areas would build the foundation of Naya Bharat: Safety and security; prosperity; and respect:

1) Safety and security: To ensure the safety of women, security of the citizens from terrorism, corruption, hooliganism, disease and from the enemies of the country.

2) Prosperity: To bring prosperity in the country through knowledge, science and technology, culture, and resources.

3) Respect: To respect workers and labourers, daughters of the nation, people in every category of the society and the nations honour and pride.

Without referring to his Wednesday address to the nation on testing of the anti-satellite missile, Modi said, This decisive government knows how to keep its promises... whether its on land or sky or in space, this chowkidars (Modi) government mustered the courage to take strong decisions like surgical strikes. He emphasised that his government aims at making agriculture a respectable and profitable proposition; position India among the developed nations in science and technology and rank the country among the top three economies in the world.

Even while campaigning during the Assembly elections and at various other platforms in 2018, the prime minister expressed his idea of a New India. He enumerated vikas ki panchdhara (five tenets of development) for a New India while addressing a media event in December. Addressing his booth and party workers, and the public, Modi in reminded the audience, The nation comprising 130 crore people has made up its mind in favour of this government.

Seemingly slamming the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its leadership in Uttar Pradesh, the PM talked about safety of women and the reign of terror due to hooliganism in Uttar Pradesh. One may recall that the state during the SP regime witnessed the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013 and the Kairana exodus between 2014 and 2016. The Supreme Court while hearing petitions in relation to the Muzaffarnagar riots held the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, prima facie guilty of negligence in preventing the violence and ordered it to immediately arrest all those accused irrespective of their political affiliation.

Similarly, there had been mass migration of families from Kairana due to threats of anti-social elements between 2014 and 2016. Comparing his government to the Opposition, Modi asserted, While the NDA government will present its works and achievements in the past five years, we would also take stock of the Opposition (hisaab loonga, hisaab doonga).

Why Meerut?

Explaining why he began his election campaign for 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Meerut, Modi said, "Indias first freedom struggle (also known as Indias first war of Independence) in 1857 began from Meerut. This place also reflects aspiration of Indians for a strong India," he reminded. Even during his Uttar Pradesh Assembly election rally, Modi mentioned the historical importance of Meerut in Indias freedom struggle and had exhorted the public to bring BJP to power.

Modi's final take

"Our vision of New India will be built on the foundation of our glorious past and a strong future, with a new identity focussing on safety and security, prosperity, and respect... So to reach Modi, you ought to press the button (on electronic voting machines) meant for your BJP candidate and vote," added Modi.

BJP versus The Others

Pointing out how under the BJP-led government crores of bank accounts were opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) which was not acknowledged by the Congress, who rather criticised the scheme, Modi said, "Jab main bank khaate khulwata tha tab yeh buddhimaan log bhashan dete the ki desh main bank nahi hain gareeb kya karenge. Yeh log jo sattar saal tak gareebo ka bank main khaata nahi khulwa paay wo ab kehte hain ki tumhare khaate main paisa daalenge. Koi bharosa karega kya? Jo khaata nahi khulwa sakta who khaate main paisa daalenge kya? (When I was getting the banks accounts opened these "intelligent" people said that there are no banks in the country, what will poor people do. These people who could not get poor people a bank account in 70 years are now saying that they will give money in these accounts. Will anyone believe them? Those who could not get the poor a bank account, how will they get them their money)."

On 25 March, Congress president Rahul Gandhi promised a minimum income guarantee scheme called Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) if voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Rahul said that if the Congress comes to power, the party will ensure that 20 percent of the poor families in India get Rs 72,000 annually. According to the Congress, the minimum income support scheme will be "rolled out in phases". Though Rahul claimed that this "is an extremely powerful, ground-breaking and well-thought idea", the BJP has dubbed it is being a 'populist' measure announced just before the elections to attract the voters.

Comparing NYAY with PMJDY, Modi said that the Central scheme is to ensure universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension facility. In addition, the beneficiaries would get RuPay Debit card having inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh.

PMJDY was launched in August 2014 which was a target oriented and time bound financial inclusion scheme aimed at opening 7.5 crore bank accounts initially. However, as on 26 December, 2018, 33.66 crore accounts were opened under the scheme. Out of these accounts, 28.16 crore PMJDY accounts are operative accounts.

Rahul's claim that Congress' 'minimum income scheme' is 'a final assault' on power was also slammed by the prime minister. Taking a swipe at former prime minister Indira Gandhi's 'Garibi Hatao' slogan, Modi said that he has been hearing this slogan since he was a child and "have come to the conclusion that only way to actually remove poverty is by removing Congress itself."

"When I was 8-10 years old, I used to hear the talks of eradicating poverty. When I was 20-22-years-old, Indira Gandhi used to say that she will remove poverty. After that next four generations said the same thing. They kept moving ahead but the poor were stuck in the same misery and remained poor. Congress, which has betrayed the poor, will be removed completely by them only. Congress failed in removing poverty. Remove Congress from every corner of India to remove poverty," said Modi.

Not sparing the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance in Uttar Pradesh Modi coined an acronym to attack them. He said, "The 'SA' of Samajwadi Party, the 'RA' of RLD and the 'B' of Bahujan Samaj Party together form 'SARAB' (alcohol) which is very bad for health".

Also reiterating his 'chowkidar' narrative, prime minister tweaked his 'saabka saath, saabka vikas' slogan, making it 'saabka saath, saabka hisaab' to stress that anyone involved in corruption will be dealt with.

'Saboot' versus 'Sapoot': Modi uses word play to suggest Opposition in the wrong for asking proof for Balakot air strike

In response to the Opposition's demand for 'proof' in the aftermath of the Balakot air strike on 26 February this year in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province across the Line of Control, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "Kya humein saboot chahiye ya sapoot chahiye? Mere desh ke sapoot hi mere desh ke sabse bada saboot hai. Jo saboot maangte hain woh sapoot ko lalkaarte hain".

PM Modi at a rally in Meerut, "Kya humein saboot chahiye ya sapoot chahiye? Mere desh ke sapoot hi mere desh ke sabse bada saboot hai. Jo saboot maangte hain woh sapoot ko lalkaarte hain." pic.twitter.com/7r7ltTk5jR  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 28, 2019

Addressing his first campaign rally for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Meerut, Modi offered a rhythmic rebuttal to the Congress party which has repeatedly been asking for proof of the damage caused to terror outfits across the border. The 'sapoots' or worthy sons of the Indian Armed Forces, according to the prime minister, are the ones who risked their lives to quell terror that threatens peace in the Kashmir Valley. By using the word 'sapoot', the prime minister drew an inference from the safe return of IAF pilot Abhinandan Vardhaman and the courageous men like him.

For Modi, those who are demanding proof of Balakot air strike are demanding proof of the valour and intent of the 'sapoots' of the armed forces. The Balakot air strike was India's response to the 14 February Pulwama terror attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed that killed at least 40 CRPF jawans. Pakistan didn't stick to its 2004 peace agreement where it committed to neutralise terror on its soil. In his own way, Modi said that the air strike has sent shivers down the spines of those operating terror outfits across the border. He also said had anything gone wrong in executing the air strike, the Opposition would have demanded his resignation and burnt his effigies.

"When the country needed to speak in one voice, 21 Opposition parties gathered in Delhi to adopt a resolution condemning us. They are demanding proof from the armed forces for their act of bravery," Modi had earlier said at BJP's Sankalp rally at Patna's Gandhi Maidan on 3 March. But this time around, with the use of homophones in his attention-grabbing oratory, he conveyed the same message again.

The BJP-led Centre's stand on Balakot has been that it was a pre-emptive, non-military strike and that the government had credible information that more such suicide terror attacks could happen in the future for which it was necessary to take a strong stand and guard its own borders and civilians.
The thrust on 'nation winning elections' indicates Priyanka's priorities and tells a story that she is willing to go to any length to prevent BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi returning to power with ease. Modi factor was a reason for Priyanka to over-rule herself on the issue of joining politics.

AICC general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is giving little or no hint whether she will be contesting the Lok Sabha election 2019. When Priyanka made a formal entry in politics in January 2019, she had ruled herself out of an electoral contest.

Two months later, she was heard telling local media at Rae Bareili, "If my party asks me to contest the polls, I will definitely do so. But my personal wish is to work organising the party as a lot of work needs to be done," and added, "I have told party workers that it is very important you campaign properly this election. You should go to each and every house, and tell people that this election is to save the nation. India should win this election, not Rahul Gandhi."

The thrust on "nation winning elections" indicates Priyanka's priorities and tells a story that she is willing to go to any length to prevent BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi returning to power with ease. Modi factor was a reason for Priyanka to over-rule herself on the issue of joining politics. Priyanka had told journalist Barkha Dutt in 2009, " I'm very clear I dont want to be in politics. Im very happy living my life the way I am. I think there are certain aspects of politics which Im just not suited to."

Ten years later, sources close to Priyanka have said that she is not averse to the idea of contesting from Varanasi if it means checking and engaging Modi in the temple town. The outcome of Varanasi will be keenly watched but in immediate sense, Priyankas presence may force Modi to spend a lot more time in his parliamentary constituency. With Modi as a star campaigner for the BJP for all over India, the Congress hopes to make some gains with his Varanasi pre-occupation. If the prime minister decides to contest from another parliamentary seat away from Uttar Pradesh, the move will bring some psychological advantage to an otherwise beleaguered Congress.

This is not to say that a final decision has been taken about fielding Priyanka from Varanasi where voting is scheduled on 19 May. Congress managers are keeping this issue hanging till the last moment. They are also monitoring how the election campaign will shape up in the next few weeks from now. Modi's blitz campaign has been a quite a hit, but Priyanka could be Congress' answer to it.

For Congress, Priyanka is a harbinger of hope and continuity. So far, barring the likes of Tom Vaddakan, there have not been major defections from the grand old party. In 2014, a number of senior party leaders, including Krishna Tirath, Choudhury Birender Singh, Satpal Maharaj and Rao Inderjit Singh, had switched sides.

Gandhis have led the Congress for 59 years since the independence. As a consequence, Congresspersons invariably look up to Gandhi family members as unquestionable leaders and in return, expect electoral success. It is worth noting that from Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira, Rajiv to Sonia, no member of the Gandhi family has failed or abruptly opted out of politics. Rahul and, now Priyanka, have to live with this illusion of grandeur and prove political instincts of Congressmen right.

As campaigning peaks, the Congress has unprecedented presence of three members of the family slugging it out in open. The realistic target is a three digit figure in Lok Sabha, up from 44 in 2014. The idea is to cross the 100-mark on its own as it gives the Congress a foothold in national politics, regardless of who rules Delhi. Sheer survival is at play and once the task is achieved, 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, 2024 Lok Sabha Election will be other important destinations. This prioritisation was evident when a cheeky camera recorded Priyankas conversation with a party worker in Amethi yesterday.

She was heard asking party workers in Amethi about poll preparations, "Is waale ki nahin, 2022 waale ki (not this one, for 2022)."

The momentum for 2022 will depend largely on Congress performance in 2019, a reality that Priyanka cannot escape. An electoral contest is her first agniparikasha that she can not escape, say a large number of partymen from Uttar Pradesh.
The energy Priyanka has brought to the Congress camp is evident and the novelty of her presence also seems to be charming the electorate wherever she has gone so far on her campaign

With Congress general secretary and in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on board, the party seems to be playing its cards carefully. And it seems to be getting its calculations right. At least so far.

By maintaining the mystery over the possibility of her contesting the Lok Sabha election, the party is furthering the confusion over her eventual status in the country's politics, keeping the rival BJP camp in a tizzy. By neither confirming nor denying if she will contest the Lok Sabha election, the Congress is creating psychological pressure on the BJP, which it began building by launching her in the field some time ago.

The energy Priyanka has brought to the Congress camp is evident and the novelty of her presence also seems to be charming the electorate wherever she has gone so far on her campaign. She clearly is the star campaigner for the party, who has taken some wind out of the BJP sails as far as garnering eyeballs is concerned.

"She has been given the responsibility of general secretary, eastern Uttar Pradesh by the Congress president and her focus is clearly to enthuse, energise and motivate the party cadre and field the best possible candidates. We have a structure in which all candidates are decided through the central committee and she in respect of it has stated the same," Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi told Firstpost when asked about Priyanka's ambivalent stand on contesting the Lok Sabha election, and the impact if she did.

She added, "Her entry has not just energised the party workers, but has also encouraged more women to participate in the political space of the nation. With her entry we see Congress rise as a challenger to BJP in the state and she is there for the long haul."

There is no doubt that Priyanka has oodles of the 'It' factor that her grandmother and father had aplenty. Whether she would make an effective political leader in the long run, or prove to be an effective administrator remains to be seen, but right now, she has electrified the Congress camp and the election jamboree with her presence.

It's undeniable that Priyanka possesses a magnetic personality, amplified by her rare public appearances, rendering a big chunk of the electorate awestruck. This is especially true of the Hindi hinterland, which for long remained the karmabhoomi of the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Her ease of mingling with the crowd, her issue-based talks, her decided restraint from hitting the ruling party below the belt, and her pleasant demeanour have added to the complete package that makes her the personality that Congress needed to counter Narendra Modi's BJP.

After all, democracies too are driven by strong personalities, and Congress too needs one to anchor it in these turbulent times.

The Congress president Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, has too often been caught on the wrong foot when pitted directly against Modi. But, is Priyanka equipped to be the wave that Congress needs? Is she a trophy leader, attractive as long as she remains untested in the trying waters of electoral politics? Or does she have it in her to rise above all the disadvantages that she is tethered to due to inexperience, and sweep it for the party?

What if Priyanka contests the elections?

That's a big question that can at best have a speculative answer now given the fact that she has not yet made it clear if she will eventually contest.

"Its true that Priyankaji has never contested any election. But, we're sure that once she contests, she will win by a huge margin. Within this short period we've witnessed the confidence with which she addresses her rallies and meetings, by taking up the right issues. She appears convincing to people. With Priyankaji joining the Congress as general secretary, and Rahulji as the president, the party has now become a two-pronged attack, and the BJP is well aware of it," a Congress party leader from Uttar Pradesh remarked.

Congress leaders and workers strongly believe that if she contests, she will make a mark as well.

A senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity said, "Its the same BJP that attacked UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi as 'Videshi Bahu' (daughter-in-law of foreign origin), now criticising Priyanka. But one shouldnt forget that Soniaji braved all criticism and it was her leadership that revived the party and the UPA government remained in power for 10 years. It's too premature to write off Priyanka. If she doesn't have the mettle, the public will reject her."
tech2 News Staff

You know how they say, do what you love, and success (and fortune) will follow? Well, here's 21-year-old Abdullah Khan proving just that.

Khan, who is studying in final year BE (computer science) from Shree LR Tiwari Engineering College in Mumbai, used to code for fun and participate in competitive programming challenges for the same reason.

Little did he know, that while he was programming for the kick of it, a Google employee was looking through his profile on one of these websites. Consequently, earlier this week, Khan landed a job with Google for a package of Rs 1.2 crore.

This was first reported by The Times of India, where it also suggests that in Mumbai, the average salary offered to graduates from a non-IIT engineering college is around Rs 4,00,000 per annum. A package of Rs 1cr plus is unprecedented for non-IITians in India.

Khan's monetary package reportedly comes down to a monthly six-figure amount, with the base salary at Rs 54,50,000 per annum, a 15 percent bonus, and a Rs 58,90,000 stock option over the next four years. He will be joining Google's London office in September this year.

Khan told the publication that he was not expecting such an offer when he participated in competitions on that site.

Generally, one associates such high packages with IIT graduates. Khan had also tried to get into IIT after his 12th boards. But his scores in JEE (Main) weren't enough to even be shortlisted for JEE (Advanced). That, however, didn't puncture his coding interests.

"I used to participate as it was fun. I did not even know that firms check programmers' profiles on such sites. I showed the email to my friend who knew someone who had received such an email in the past. I am looking forward to joining their team. It will be an amazing learning experience for me," he said.
Ameya Dalvi

Just a couple of years ago, buying a decent smart TV under Rs 20,000 was unimaginable. Cut to the present, and you have a tough time choosing the right one from the dozens of options available. There is no clear winner either, given the various factors people look forward to on a TV. Some prefer out and out picture quality, some want the largest screen available in their budget, some even give a high weightage to sound output, while others simply want tons of features and connectivity options. Keeping all these factors in mind, we have put together this list of the best TVs you can currently buy in this budget in India.

Best 32-inch Smart TVs under Rs 20,000

Mi LED Smart TV 4A PRO (32-inch): Rs 12,999

Lets start with Xiaomis latest addition to their 32-inch range, Mi TV 4A Pro. This is an Android certified TV and runs the stock version of Android Oreo 8.1 for TV. Unlike the previous generations of Mi TV, the Android launcher is the default launcher while the companys Patchwall UI is optional. It also has Chromecast built-in to cast videos from supported apps directly to the TV. It comes with a voice-enabled remote for voice search on Google apps.

The Mi TV 4A Pro is powered by an Amlogic 64-bit quad-core processor with 1 GB RAM and 8 GB of internal storage for installing more apps. Connectivity options are plenty here with 3x HDMI ports, 2x USB ports, a bunch of audio input/output ports to name a few. Sound output stands at 20 W RMS. One thing lacking here is support for Netflix. If you are majorly into Netflix, you will either need to skip this or plug in an Amazon Fire TV Stick. You would need that for watching Amazon Prime Videos too as none of the certified Android TVs have an app for it yet. Despite the shortcomings, the Mi TV 4A Pro offers excellent value for money.

iFFalcon 32F2A Certified Android 32-inch Smart TV: Rs 12,499

If you want all the goodness of the Mi TV 4A Pro along with support for Netflix out of the box, the iFFalcon 32F2A is the one you should strongly consider in this budget. This TV from TCLs sub-brand is by far the cheapest Google-certified Android TV in the Indian market currently. You get Android Oreo with stock user interface along with pre-installed Google apps. But most importantly, it is Netflix compliant. So much so that you have shortcuts on the bundled remote controls (one of which is voice enabled) to trigger the app.

This iFFalcon TV has a 32-inch HD panel with Direct LED backlighting. Connectivity options are fewer than the Xiaomi though. You get 2x HDMI ports, 1x USB port, 1x A/V in and a headphone out. Interestingly, the company has also provided an optical audio out, something you do not get in this budget. It is powered by a quad-core processor and comes with 1.5 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage. Sound output is rated at 16 W RMS but feels much louder than most TVs rated at 20 W RMS. You can read the in-depth review here.

Blaupunkt BLA32AS460 32-inch Smart TV: Rs 15,999

If the sound output is one of your top priorities, this Blaupunkt TV is by far the best option for you in this budget. The 30 W RMS built-in speakers do a decent job, but what steals the show is the bundled soundbar that takes the audio experience to an altogether different level. The 60 W RMS soundbar is not just loud but delivers a solid punch when it comes to bass and midrange too. And it does that without a subwoofer. The soundbar is also Bluetooth-enabled and can be used as a separate Bluetooth speaker without switching the TV on.

The Blaupunkt BLA32AS460 is powered by a Cortex-A53 quad-core processor clocked at 1.5 GHz with Mali-450 penta-core graphics chip running at 750 MHz. It has 1 GB RAM and 8 GB of internal storage for installing more apps. Though this is not an Android certified TV, the app support is pretty good on this one and it can run the big three online services  Netflix, Amazon, Hotstar, among others. No complaints about the connectivity options either with 3x HDMI and 2x USB ports taking care of most of your needs, along with a couple of A/V in ports and a bunch of audio out options.

All the 32-inch TVs listed above have a screen resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. If you are interested in a Full HD panel in this budget (and why wouldnt you be), here are your options.

Best 40-inch Smart TVs under Rs 20,000

iFFalcon 40F2A Certified Android 40-inch Smart TV: Rs 19,999

The iFFalcon 40F2A is a 40-inch variant of iFFalcon 32F2A TV listed above. This certified Android TV comes with a Full HD panel with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution and the audio output is rated at 20W RMS. Rest of the features and specifications are exactly the same as its 32-inch variant. I would have loved to see an extra HDMI and USB port here but you will have to make do with two and one respectively.

Thomson B9 Pro 40-inch Full HD Smart TV: Rs 18,999

Thomson re-entered the Indian market last year with their B9 series of TVs which were below par in my opinion. Then came their B9 Pro series which marked not just a change in UI but a huge improvement in terms of picture quality too, over its predecessor. The 40-inch Thomson B9 Pro is a good all-round Full HD TV in this budget. Based on an older version of Android OS, the TV offers a bunch of useful apps for media consumption and accessing the internet. You can download several more or even side-load them from APK files. The TV is quite friendly on that front.

The company claims to use a Samsung panel on this model. The Thomson B9 Pro comes with a generous sprinkling of connectivity options like 3x HDMI ports, 2x USB ports and a bunch of audio input/output ports. The TV can easily play 4K videos (scaled to Full HD) through the USB port along with most popular audio and video file formats and codecs.
Siddharth Parwatay

Before you start sharpening your pitchforks reading that headline, let me say at the outset that I am unequivocally in favour of reasonable restrictions being imposed on freedom of speech and expression, even when it comes to online platforms. Im not here to dispute the fact that certain kinds of content should be restricted. For instance, most of us already agree that content of a pedophilic nature should not be allowed free rein online, neither should direct calls to violence.

In the same vein, no one is saying  certainly not this opinion piece  that this new policy change by Facebook, where it clubs white nationalism and white separatism under white supremacy, is wrong. At an ideological level, it's perfectly fine and any rational person should welcome it.

However, as a free speech advocate, its implementation and resulting fallout are what Im most concerned about. Facebook is going to depend on AI algorithms and human moderation to implement this policy change. And because of the inherent problems that those methods entail, it seems like this policy might end up being more about the optics rather than actual effectiveness.

Before I explain exactly what those problems are, let us quickly recap these policy changes and understand why they are being implemented.

Facebooks revised policy on white supremacy

It is speculated that these changes come in the wake of the Christchurch massacre, as a reactionary measure to rein in online radicalisation on the right. As per the changes to its policy, Facebook will now treat white nationalism and separatism as indistinguishable ideologies from white supremacy. It is a part of Facebooks concerted effort to clamp down on hate speech. However, it is currently unclear exactly how Facebook plans to deal with plain vanilla nationalism and separatism on the global stage. Or for that matter, what the exact definition of hate speech is.

For its part, Facebooks blog post announcing its policy changes goes on to state that their policies have long prohibited hateful treatment of people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, or religion. The first two are immutable characteristics people have no control over and certainly should not be the basis of spewing negativity, but religion is essentially a set of ideas and shouldnt get a free pass from legitimate criticism. But thats a topic for another opinion piece, for now lets get back to how Facebook plans to police white nationalism and inherent flaws therein.

Algorithms miss out on the nuance...

Left up to algorithms, chances are the system will throw up way too many false positives. As per a Motherboard report, here is an example of a statement Facebook plans to censor: Immigration is tearing this country apart; white separatism is the only answer. The first part of the sentence by itself may not even reflect racial motives. Being anti-immigration on economic grounds is a perfectly valid opinion to hold and espouse.

If the algorithm flags content based on the first part alone it is a definite violation of free speech, and if it is looking for such explicit markers as the keywords found in the latter half, the algorithm will remain ineffectual in practice. Anyone who has lurked in extremist online communities (for research or curiosity) can easily tell you that serious discourse in those cesspools is never so explicit. Whether its the triple parentheses or literally using the word google to denote the N word, there are esoteric codes and almost an arcane shorthand of sorts to communicate. Besides, most experts who understand these systems will vouch for the fact that as advanced as they might be, ML and AI struggle to understand context and subtlety. In effect, well-meaning parody and humour will definitely be a casualty  some would say an acceptable one considering the mission at hand and the seriousness of the topic.

Who moderates the human moderators?

The next line of defence that Facebook plans to employ in its battle against hate is its army of human moderators. Humans bring in their own biases, both inherent and learned ones, such as those perpetuated by an organisations internal culture.

Its a well-known fact that tech giants have a strong liberal bias within their ranks. Incidents such as the James Damore memo (more appropriately called Google's Ideological Echo Chamber) are indicators of it. The phenomenon can also be called an anti-conservative bias as was the case while it was being investigated within Facebook itself. If somehow these moderators are able to overcome inherent and corporate culture, they might still be ill-equipped to appropriately judge alleged transgressions on account of the reported high-stress environment these moderators work under. This means an overworked moderator, sometimes sitting a few continents away, will have about 30 seconds to label you a Nazi and remove your post.

On a personal front, Ive experienced this overzealous polarisation based on sentiment many times on Facebook. As far removed as we Indians were from the Syrian refugee crisis, I was labeled a racist for merely suggesting that open borders were not a good idea for any country and that some nations cannot economically support unchecked immigration. Of course, those that made those allegations simply proceeded to block/unfriend me, but its not difficult to imagine what they wouldve done if they had moderator powers on the platform. It also makes you wonder what all this could mean for the future of legitimate political discussion, discourse, and debate online.

A war on hate speech might sound noble and virtuous, but what we don't realise is that most civilised societies already have laws in place which clearly define what hate speech exactly is. The general consensus on that front includes things like calls to violence, ethnic cleansing etc.

Consequently, are we ok with an entity with a track record like Facebook being the arbiter of what amounts to hate speech and what does not? Unpopular opinions and uncomfortable facts can easily be labelled as hate speech. Anyone can be called a Nazi, and be subjected to censorship.

Facebooks policy change leaves many questions unanswered. Unless Facebook is transparent about how it will go about deleting posts that spew hatred associated with white supremacy, which search terms would bring up a link to Life After Hate and what part will be handled by humans and what part by algorithms, the potential for false positives is still quite high.
Reuters

Chinas Huawei Technologies, the worlds third-biggest maker of smartphones, turned in a higher annual profit on record handset sales even as it continued to grapple with heightened global scrutiny amid allegations of espionage.

Huawei, which has risen quickly to become a dominant player in the smartphone industry, saw its consumer business sales hit a record 348.9 billion yuan ($52 billion) in 2018, driven by its premium device models such as the P series and Mate series.

This was in line with what the company flagged in January, when it also said it could become the worlds biggest-selling smartphone vendor this year.

But the outlook for Huawei is clouded by U.S. accusations that its telecoms network equipment could be used for spying by the Chinese government and calls to allies from Washington to ban Huawei from building next-generation mobile networks.

Huawei has repeatedly said Beijing has no influence over it.
Hypocrisy Continues at SPLC

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Liberty Counsel

March 29, 2019



MONTGOMERY, Ala., March 29, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- After the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) fired co-founder Morris Dees, and the president, Richard Cohen resigned, the board of directors appointed Michelle Obama's former chief of staff, Tina Tchen, to lead a review regarding the ongoing sexual harassment and racial discrimination inside the organization.

Ironically, Bryan Fair, chairman of the board of the SPLC, said Tchen will "hold a mirror" up to the organization and its leaders.

However, Tchen has garnered scrutiny after text messages traded with Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx regarding the alleged hoax linked to actor Jussie Smollett emerged. Tchen called Foxx as a friend of Jessie Smollet and the family, complaining about the media coverage and alleged leaks of the investigation. After the call, Foxx tried to get the FBI to take the case from the Chicago Police Department, and she called back Tchen to tell her that may happen. Shortly after Tchen called Foxx on behalf of Smollet, Smollet's family member began calling Foxx. Then Foxx recused herself from Smollett's prosecution because she had been in frequent contact with the family. Now it looks like Tchen was the person responsible for connecting the family to Foxx.

Public records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times showed that Tchen sent Foxx an early-morning text on Feb. 1 saying she "wanted to give you a call on behalf of Jussie Smollett and family who I know. They have concerns about the investigation." Three days earlier, Smollett had said two men attacked him on the way home. The text messages show Foxx told both Tchen and Smollett's relative that Foxx had reached out to Johnson personally about handing the investigation off to the FBI. The prosecutors have now dropped all charges against Smollett after he agreed to do volunteer service and to let the city keep his $10,000 in bail. Yet the Assistant State Attorney stated he believed Smollet was guilty.

So now, the SPLC will have the same Tchen who ran interference for Smollet investigate the SPLC. The SPLC maliciously labels Christian, pro-family and conservative nonviolent groups as "hate groups" while advancing its enormous fundraising efforts by misleading its donors into thinking it needs the funds in order to advance justice. Yet the Los Angeles Times and the Alabama Political Reporter recently reported that Dees' removal had come amid a staff revolt over racial and sexual harassment allegations of nonwhite and female staffers. The New Yorker recently published an essay from Bob Moser, a former writer with the SPLC who now writes for Rolling Stone. Moser stated "that a number of staffers subsequently signed onto two letters of protest to the center's leadership, alleging that multiple reports of sexual harassment by Dees through the years had been ignored or covered up, and sometimes resulted in retaliation against the women making the claims."

"The hypocrisy continues at the SPLC as the person they hired to investigate its ongoing immoral behavior appears to have engaged in her own efforts to protect Jesse Smollet from prosecution," said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. "Using Tina Tchen as an investigator reveals that the SPLC has no intention of correcting its wrongs."

Find more information that exposes the truth about the Southern Poverty Law Center here.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics. Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.



SOURCE Liberty Counsel



CONTACT: Mat Staver, 407-875-1776, Liberty@LC.org



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Photo: Colin Dacre

The City of Penticton has started rolling out $200,000 worth of strategic lighting throughout the community in an efforts to combat street criminal activity.

A new series of startlingly, possibly brighter than the sun, LED lights have gone up inside the breezeway on the 200 block of Main Street. The breezeway has long been plagued with issues related to loitering and drug use.

Another LED light has also been installed on the public restrooms behind Smartshoppers on Main Street  an area that frequently attracts drug use.

City council approved $200,000 for the new lighting as a part of the 2019 budget, a continuation of spending last year that saw similar lights installed at Nanaimo Square.
tech2 News Staff

The Apple vs Qualcomm court case involving disputes over patent licensing will be underway on 15 April in San Diego. Apple CEO Tim Cook will be testifying in the trial along with other top Apple executives.

According to a report in Bloomberg, Apple's Cook and Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf, along with a dozen engineers, executives are expected to take the witness stand in the Apple vs Qualcomm case. These details were obtained from a joint witness list filed by the US District Court for the Southern District of California.

The report states that Cook is expected to talk about Apple's business strategy, finances and agreements with other companies.

The 15 April trial is being speculated to be a decisive one, in the over two-year battle between the two tech giants. While Apple is challenging Qualcomm's patent licensing practices, Qualcomm is trying hard to prevent Apple from selling its devices, allegedly infringing on Qualcomm patents, in international markets.

Cook will be testifying alongside Apple COO Jeff William, Apple SVP worldwide marketing Phil Schiller, among others.

On the Qualcomm side, you have Mollenkopf along with Qualcomm co-founder and former chairman Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon, among others.

According to the filing, Jacobs is expected to testify about Qualcomm's founding and its contributions to cellular technology, business practices and more. Mollenkopf is expected to talk about Qualcomm's business practices, its 'no license, no chips' policy, incentives and rebates.

Qualcomm Inc sought to have imports of Apple iPhone 7, 8 and X models containing chips made by Intel banned. Because iPhones are made overseas, banning imports would choke Apple's sales of the phones in the United States.

The two American companies have been locked for two years in a sprawling legal dispute in which Apple has accused Qualcomm of unfair patent licensing practices. Qualcomm has, in turn, accused Apple of patent infringement.

"Qualcomm is using these cases to distract from having to answer for the real issues, their monopolistic business practices," Apple said in a statement.

Qualcomm has filed lawsuits in the United States, China, Germany and other countries alleging the iPhone uses its technology without authorisation.

Qualcomm has won sales bans against Apple in China and Germany, though the China ban has not been enforced and Apple resumed sales of phones in Germany by shipping phones with only Qualcomm chips.

But Apple has also racked up victories by having many of Qualcomm's patents invalidated, at least on a preliminary basis. And the chip supplier has been dealt setbacks in its FTC trial, where a pre-trial ruling forced it to license its technology to other chip firms.

With inputs from Reuters
tech2 News Staff

A random tweet by a user might seem ordinary but when a political figure puts content on the social platform it becomes a piece of public news even if its just a post about a food feast at the White House.

However, things might change on Twitter as the company is considering a new feature that will label tweets from politicians like Donald Trump when they violate the rules.

Twitters head of legal, policy and trust and safety Vijaya Gadde in a Washington Post-sponsored event said that the company is considering labeling tweets that violate its rules. While Twitter is trying to find a way to maintain its standard, Vijaya Gadde said that the company is exploring ways to annotate offensive tweets that violate its rules against offensive tweets, hate speech from public figures.

Although tweets from commoners that inject hate or defame ones identity likely get removed for violating Twitters rules, the company grants an exemption for public figures and tweets it considers newsworthy.

Gadde however, says that doesnt give them a complete dispensation and that it would draw a line on some content.

There is absolutely a line of a type of content, an example being a direct, violent threat against an individual that we wouldnt leave on the platform because of the danger it poses to that individual. But, there are other types of content that we believe is newsworthy or in the public interest that people may want to have a conversation around, Gadde told The Washington Post.

President Trump has long been using Twitter as a tool to insult people and rebuke his foes on the social media platform. His offensive tweets of calling Harry Hurt a dummy dope, a former staffer a dog was cited to be the actions of those akin to cyberbullying.

While politicians have been accused of misusing the platform with inflammatory rhetoric, Gadde was asked if Trumps getting total immunity with the companys current approach. The executive in response said that the social media platform wants to find a way to keep tweets up for their worthiness.

"One of the things were working really closely on with our product and engineering folks is, How can we label that? How can we put some context around it so people are aware that that content is actually a violation of our rules and it is serving a particular purpose in remaining on the platform?, The Hill quoting Gadde said.

Twitter has come under fire from critics for Trumps abusive posts and violation of the company rules. In 2017, Trump tweeted about North Korea that it wont be around much longer! if it fails to change its relationship with the US. While the tweet sparked controversy, Twitter in defiance kept the tweets up by claiming it newsworthiness.

While Twitter earlier this year noted that a blocking a world leader from the platform or removing their tweets may hide important information that people might see and debate, it remains to be how the company shall move forward with the labeling idea. Twitter hasnt shared any detail regarding how and to whom the new annotation standard would apply to.
By Ahmed Ali Amir MORONI (Reuters) - Comoros said its security forces killed at least three gunmen in a shootout at a military base in the capital on Thursday after renegade soldiers broke out of prison and the opposition announced a plan to unseat the president. Shooting could be heard for around an hour near the main military base in the capital Moroni, hours after opposition presidential candidates announced their plan to unseat President Azali Assoumani

By Ahmed Ali Amir

MORONI (Reuters) - Comoros said its security forces killed at least three gunmen in a shootout at a military base in the capital on Thursday after renegade soldiers broke out of prison and the opposition announced a plan to unseat the president.

Shooting could be heard for around an hour near the main military base in the capital Moroni, hours after opposition presidential candidates announced their plan to unseat President Azali Assoumani. He was re-elected earlier this week in a vote they reject as fraudulent.

Interior Minister Mohamed Daoudou said a group of renegade soldiers who had been jailed for plotting a coup last year had escaped from prison in the morning and had gone to the army base hoping to convince other troops to back them.

Their mastermind, Fayssoil Abdoussalam, an army major, was among three who were killed in the shootout, Daoudou said. Security and military sources had earlier said four gunmen were killed.

"Fayssoil tried to rally the troops to his cause but they didnt join him, Daoudou told reporters, adding that the situation was under control.

The unrest prompted Washington to order all U.S. government personnel out: "The Union of the Comoros is experiencing gunfire, political unrest, and infrastructure disruptions. U.S. Government personnel have been ordered to depart the country," the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security said.

Assoumani was declared the winner in Sunday's election with more than 60 percent of the vote, enough to avoid a second-round run-off. Observers from African monitoring missions have said the election lacked credibility.

Hours before Thursday's shooting, Assoumani's 12 opponents in the election announced they had set up a body to remove him. Their National Transition Council would be chaired by one of them, former armed forces chief of staff Mohamed Soilihi.

"The mission of the National Transitional Council is to resolve the post-election crisis, to ensure a peaceful transition, to preserve peace, stability and national cohesion in our country," said Soilihi in a statement broadcast on private-owned radio stations and social media platforms.

A diplomatic source said Soilihi was arrested after releasing the statement.

In Soilihi's statement, the opposition candidates set an April 3 deadline for the vote to be invalidated. Otherwise they called for civil disobedience and a general strike from April 4.

Observers from the African Union, the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa and the African Standby Forces of the East said Sunday's election was riddled with irregularities that led them to conclude it lacked credibility or transparency.

Assoumani said on Tuesday that anyone wishing to contest the results should do so only via legal means.

Authorities shut down a local newspaper, La Gazette, for publishing a story about the proposed transition council.

Assoumani triggered months of protests last year by extending term limits, allowing him to stand for another consecutive term.

His decision particularly angered natives of the island of Anjouan who argue that it is their turn to hold the presidency, traditionally rotated among leaders from the three main islands of the archipelago.

A former army officer who first came to power in a coup in 1999, Assoumani has since been in and out of office, serving as president for 10 of the past 20 years. He won elections in 2002 and 2016.

(Additional reporting by David Lewis in Nairobi; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Toby Chopra and Peter Graff)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada on Thursday took a notably tougher line with China over its ban on Canadian imports of canola seed, saying Beijing had provided no scientific evidence to justify the move and was hurting its own reputation. China, citing the discovery of pests, expanded its ban on canola seed imports on Tuesday to include shipments from a second major exporter, Viterra Inc.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada on Thursday took a notably tougher line with China over its ban on Canadian imports of canola seed, saying Beijing had provided no scientific evidence to justify the move and was hurting its own reputation.

China, citing the discovery of pests, expanded its ban on canola seed imports on Tuesday to include shipments from a second major exporter, Viterra Inc.

Canada and China have been locked in a trade and political dispute since the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was arrested in Vancouver last December on a U.S. extradition request.

"The restrictive measures imposed by China are said to be rooted in science. We have asked for the evidence," Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said in a statement.

"To date, none has been supplied. We will keep pushing as hard as we can on this vital point," added Goodale, who is from the western province of Saskatchewan, a major canola producer.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday he was concerned about the ban and could send a delegation to Beijing.

Goodale said "measures that defy science and contravene sound business and trading practices detract from the good reputation for reliability which all trading nations seek to maintain."

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese government's top diplomat has thanked Kazakhstan for its support for a controversial de-radicalisation programme in China's far western region of Xinjiang, and said others should follow China's example. Critics say China is operating internment camps for Uighurs and other Muslim peoples who live in Xinjiang, although the government calls them vocational training centres and says it has a genuine need to prevent extremist thinking and violence. Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi said after meeting Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing that China's de-radicalisation measures in Xinjiang had been very effective, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Thursday

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese government's top diplomat has thanked Kazakhstan for its support for a controversial de-radicalisation programme in China's far western region of Xinjiang, and said others should follow China's example.

Critics say China is operating internment camps for Uighurs and other Muslim peoples who live in Xinjiang, although the government calls them vocational training centres and says it has a genuine need to prevent extremist thinking and violence.

Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi said after meeting Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing that China's de-radicalisation measures in Xinjiang had been very effective, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.

The steps had "vigorously protected local security and stability and made an important contribution to promoting regional peace and stability", Wang said.

They also gave a "useful reference for the international community in cracking down on violent terror forces and banishing extremist thought", he said.

"We appreciated the Kazakh government's understanding and support for China's position, and we will never let any person or any force damage the friendship and mutual trust between China and Kazakhstan," Wang said.

The government of the Central Asian nation has avoided criticising China's Xinjiang policies but has negotiated the release of some two dozen people with dual Kazakh and Chinese citizenships detained in China.

Kazakh police this month detained a Chinese-born activist who has campaigned on behalf of ethnic Kazakhs in China.

Xinjiang is home to a sizeable Kazakh minority, some of whom have also ended up in the de-radicalisation facilities, rights groups say.

China has been stepping up a push to counter growing criticism in the West and among rights groups about the programme in Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia.

That has included inviting foreign diplomats and reporters to visit on well-chaperoned tours, including a Reuters reporter in January.

China has denied all accusations of rights abuses in Xinjiang and says it has a genuine need to ensure security there, where hundreds have been killed in unrest in recent years blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants and separatists.

Wang said China and Kazakhstan should strengthen their cooperation in the human rights field and ensure people do not try to "politicise" the issue, China's Foreign Ministry said.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
A massive fire engulfed a 22-storey building in Dhaka's posh Banani area on Thursday, killing at least 25 people, including a Sri Lankan national, and injuring 76 others, in the second major blaze to hit the Bangladeshi capital since last month

Dhaka: With the death of 19 more people, the toll from the deadly fire at a high-rise office building in Bangladesh's capital rose to 25, fire officials said. The massive blaze had engulfed a 22-storey building in Dhaka's posh Banani area on Thursday, killing several people, including a Sri Lankan national, and injuring 76 others, in the second major blaze to hit the Bangladeshi capital since last month.

The incident happened in a building that houses several garment shops and internet service providers, leaving several people trapped inside.

At least six of the killed, including the Sri Lankan national, had died after they jumped off from various floors of the high-rise building for safety.

"A Sri Lankan citizen identified as Niras Chandra, was declared dead at Kurmitola General Hospital. He fell off the building while trying to escape the fire," Kazi Shahan Haque, officer-in-charge (OC) of Cantonment police station, was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

Another person, who was yet to be identified by the authorities, was declared dead at Kurmitola General Hospital after he fell off the building while trying to escape the fire. "Similarly, three more male victims were declared dead on arrival by the doctors of United Hospital," officials were quoted as saying.

A 35-year-old student at Dhaka University died due to the effects of the blaze. A woman identified as Amina Yeasmin died of her injuries at Apollo Hospital.

Several other injured people were rushed to the nearby hospitals. "Over 30 people are being treated at different government and private health facilities, some of them with critical wounds caused by the blaze in the building," officials said.

Apart from 21 fire tenders, Bangladesh Air Force helicopters and Navy commandos teamed together to douse the blaze. The fire is now extinguished, a fire service official told reporters.

Fire officials said the blaze erupted on the eighth floor of the building and gradually went upward engulfing ninth, 10th and 11th floors, but could not immediately say what sparked the inferno.

Five military and air force helicopters were deployed to drop water on the blaze as flames and thick black smoke poured out of the windows.

Firefighters broke open the building's glass walls to free toxic gas while over a dozen were rescued or they managed get themselves out from the burning building.

A 20-member military team has entered the building with necessary equipment to salvage the trapped people, a military officer at the spot said.

On 20 February, at least 70 people were killed and over 50 injured when a fast-moving fire swept through an apartment buildings and chemical warehouses in Dhaka's congested Chawkbazar area.
Hindus in Pakistan's Sindh are convinced that minor girls from uneducated, poor backgrounds are being lured into marrying Muslim men from better economic backgrounds

The girls disappeared on Holi, vanishing, as it were, into the clouds of colour and music that had drenched the streets of a Hindu neighbourhood in Deherki. For a few hours, the family of teenagers Reena Meghwar and Raveena Meghwar tried to look for them. Their older brother, Shamman Meghwar, began the journey to the police station, harbouring no hope. These stories all have much the same script, one that Pakistans Hindus have learned by heart.

Less than 72 hours later, the Meghwar sisters appeared in a video released on social media, reciting the Kalimathe Islamic profession of faith. The girls appeared to be reading from a script, glancing repeatedly at someone behind the camera.

In another video, released by a Barelvi extremist group, the Sunni Tehreek, a cleric said two Muslim men had volunteer to marry these two sisters of ours who have joined the folds of Islam.

Theres no dearth of such stories. Since March 2, alone, I have documented the cases of Komal from Tando Allayar, Lakshmi and Sonia From Karachi, Parmeela Mehshwari from Tando Muhammad Khan, Mala Meghwar from Jam Khan Pitafi, Sonia Bheel from Hyderabad, Gaini Kohli from Golarchi Badin, Lachhmi and Gawaari from Tarai Badin, Champa from Budho Qambrani, Reena and Raveena from Ghotki, and Sonia Kumari from Mirpur Khas.

Families of eight other girls requested they not be named.

In each case, a Hindu girl who was kidnapped appeared, as if by miracle, in one of a clutch of shrines or seminaries with far-Right links. Religious conversion and marriage followed. From 2000 on, there have been several such cases.

Laws to wipe out child marriage in Sindh have made marriages below the age of 18 illegal and the age of consent, across Pakistan, is 16. That should, in theory, facilitate state action against the men who married the Meghwar sisters, and those who kidnapped them.

Its difficult for two reasons. There are no witnesses to the kidnapping, allowing those sympathetic to the perpetrators to argue that the women acted of their own free will. The fact that Pakistans poor rarely maintain legal birth records makes this argument even easier to sustain.

More important is the state hostility to the victims and their families. The Meghwars, and Hindu community leaders, told police in Deherki that the sisters may have been held in the Bharchundi Shareef shrine, infamous for forced conversions.

But Mian Mithu, the hereditary caretaker of the shrine, said neither he nor anyone else there knew about the teenagers, words enough for the police to look further.

Following the release of the videos, rights activists succeeded in bringing pressure on the authorities. This campaign, though, is an exception. Hindus have learned that there are costs associated with taking on perpetrators of such crimes.

The cleric Mian Javed Ahmed, who converted the sisters, is linked to the Sunni Tehreek, which is known to bring false blasphemy allegations against those opposed to it as well as inciting their murder .

Ahmed is a first cousin of Mian Mithu,who told media that the girls might have been taken to Punjab because there was no Child Marriage Act there.

The video of the child brides was made in Punjabs Khanpur bordering Sindhevidence either of Mian Mithus miraculous powers or complicity. The men the sisters are reported to have married are daily-wagers, unlikely to have the resources to travel to another province.

Hindus in Sindh are convinced that minor girls from uneducated, poor backgrounds are being lured into marrying Muslim men from better economic backgrounds, in the hope of imporving their lives. This idea that Hindus are converting voluntarily doesnt sit well with the facts, says an activist on condition of anonymity. The bottom line is 95% of the conversions involve under-age girls alone.

It is always better to have a converted young girl as bride because she doesnt cost you dowry and youre not expected to give your sister or daughter in return, said a Hindu woman working in a beauty parlour in Ghotki. She was referring to Vatta-Satta, a tradition in Sindh whereby you get a girl as bride only if you give away your daughter or sister as bride.

Such converted girls, having no support from parents, are the best bet as permanent slaves. Many a times, sex slaves, she added.

Kalpana Devi, Pakistans first Hindu woman assistant advocate general and former mukhiya of Hindu community, said she had witnessed many cases where such girls were handed down from man to man.

I cant forget 16 years old Sapna from Jaccobabad who was abducted and converted in the same manner, Kalpana Devi recalled.

She was given to a married man, whose first wife filed case for divorce. After few months, the man divorced Sapna instead, and gave her off to his brother. Who in turn gave her to another man from whom her parents had to buy her for Rs 150,000. There was an attempt to kill her because they suspected she has converted back to Hinduism, which is liable to death in their view. Her parents then sent her to India. No one knows where she is now.

Raj Kumar, the uncle of Rinkle Kumari, the young girl from Mirpur Mathelo who was converted and married in 2012, fears that Hindus are being pushed to the dark era when people used to kill their daughters immediately after their birth. Kumar was forced to migrate from Pakistan after he received threats from extremism when he raised voice against the abduction of his niece in 2012.

Leaving your homeland is like death but there is no country left for Pakistani Hindus, he said.

(Marvi Sirmed is a Pakistan-based political commentator)
Churned out by legal and illegal factories from Punjab to Gujarat, painkiller Tramadol has taken the conflict zones of the world by storm

Its a chill pill gone kill pill that rules conflict zones across Africa and West Asiaand its made in India. Churned out by many legal and illegal factories from Punjab to Gujarat, Tramadol, a synthetic painkiller, has been taking the battlegrounds of the world by storm.

Also known as Tramal Lite, Trammies, Ultras and even Tomatoes as in Cameroon, the generic painkiller is an opioid-based medication used to treat mild-to-very severe pain. In larger doses, tramadol hydrochloride makes users euphoric, bold and unmindful of consequences, and numb to pain and emotion. Such is the power of this drug that an aura of legend has grown around it. Users say it boosts libido, energy and that it is a standalone treatment for premature ejaculation. Some go so far to say a mouse on Tramadol can stand on a red hot surface.

These legends are what make Tramadol so alluring to insurgent and terror groups, including Boko Haram and Islamic State (IS). Boko Haram, notorious for its mindless violence, represents the IS in West Africa and operates mainly in northeastern Nigeria, from where it has spread to Chad, Niger and parts of Cameroon.

It really helps me fight Boko Haram when I go into the bush. Even the way I run and the way I walk is different. It gives me strength to fight the insurgents, says Mustafa, a volunteer fighting the Boko Haram, in a BBC interview. His opponents from the Boko Haram agree. They tell us, If you use it, you will be less afraid, says Umar, a former Boko Haram member, in the same interview.

It is quite likely that Tramadol is filling up the space left vacant by the original conflict zone drug Captagon. Originally produced in Bulgaria, Captagon makes users immune to pain, feelings and fatigue. It was produced in huge quantities in Syria before production dispersed to other countries. Incidentally, India and China were the worlds biggest suppliers of the precursor chemicals for Captagon.

Tramadol is mostly sourced from India, where it was sold freely over the counter until as late as April last year. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), most of the Tramadol seized worldwide in the five years to 2016 originated in India and, to a lesser extent, in China. Till very recently, the production and export of the painkiller was regulated by the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, making for lax government regulations. Now, it has been brought under the ambit of the much stricter Narcotic Drugs and

chotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. But the damage has already been done.

A report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for 2018 paints a deadly scenario. It says: In addition to widespread abuse of Tramadol in countries in West Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, the abuse of Tramadol is also of considerable concern in countries in South Asia. Significant quantities of Tramadol were seized in 2016, 2017 and 2018 throughout the region. In India, more than 66 million packaged tablets, 2.2 tonnes of loose tablets and a further 670 kg of Tramadol powder were seized, along with tableting equipment, in one operation in May 2018.

The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, brought out by the United States Department of State, says: Indian-sourced Tramadol is an ongoing threat in the Middle East and North Africa with reported connections to terrorist groups Tramadol was increasingly being abused in Nigeria, which was the largest importer of the painkiller from India.

Besides Nigeria, one of the main destinations for Indian Tramadol is Benin. From Benin, the cargo is transshipped to the Sahel region. Seizures of millions of Tramadol pills originating in India have been made in Asia, Africa, and Europe Based on leads passed from the DEA (US Drug Enforcement Agency), Indian drug authorities in Gujarat, Mumbai, and other cities in India, have made multiple seizures of millions of tablets of diverted controlled drugs... The report says that both restricted websitesthe dark weband India-based call centre operations continue to feed illicit global drug markets.

Indian authorities have their own problems. Says Rajiv Mehta, former director-general of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), While the drug may be sourced from India, where it goes after it leaves Indian shores becomes the importers responsibility. There are frequent reports that ships carrying Tramadol have been diverted elsewhere. At the same time, while the Middle East countries have been complaining, they have not been taking strong action.

The NCB is Indias main drug control agency with a mandate to prevent and combat the abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Another NCB chief BB Mishra speaks of his experience during the United Nations conference on drugs in Vienna in March 2014. The Egyptian delegation complained about Indian Tramadol flooding their country. There was not much we could have done then. I told them it was a business deal between the Egyptian importers and Indian exporters, he says.The modus operandi was to smuggle in opioids like Tramadol in the name of a legitimate drug. We could not have examined each and every packet that goes out.

In May 2017, more than 3.7 crore Indian-origin Tramadol tablets worth $75 million were seized by the Italian Police in three containers at Genoa port. The containers, marked as blankets and shampoo, were bound for an IS affiliate in Libya. In August 2017, Cameroonian customs seized more than 6 lakh Tramadol tablets that, according to official investigations, were meant for Boko Haram and originated in India. In September 2017, more than 30 lakh tablets were seized in Niger. Packed in boxes stamped with the UN logo, a pick-up truck was carrying them from Nigeria to Northern Mali. On February 16 last year, agents from the Nigerias National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in Adamawa seized more than 1,316 tonnes of 225 mg Tramadol tablets.

According to a report by UNODC, Tramadol seizures have increased from 300 kg in 2013 to more than 3 tonnes in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2017. The usual route, through the piracy hotspot of the Gulf of Guinea, is used by global crime syndicates to the Sahel region, which is partially controlled by organised crime groups and terrorist organisations. Tramadol is regularly found with suspects arrested for terrorism in Sahel or with those who have committed suicidal attacks, says the UNODC report.

Even more worrying is that Tramadol is creating waves closer home, and among schoolchildren too. In Herat, western Afghanistan, the Kabul-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting has reported that the painkiller being misused by schoolgirls as the tablets had become a popular way of relieving tension and worry and were available in pharmacies, shops and even on the street.

Says Herat-based journalist Pedram Qazizadeh, Tramadol is mainly used by young people in Afghanistan. Its usage is more in the northern and central regions of the country. Forbidden to be sold in the open market, it is smuggled into Afghanistan and then illegally sold. While there is no clear global strategy to tackle the Tramadol menace, international control has been lax. Moreover as no organic constituents are required for its preparation, no records are kept of production figures. In other words, it is the story of a drug scripted for creating havoc. And its far from being over.
MPs voted in the House of Commons against the terms of Britain's so-called divorce from the European Union (EU) by 344 to 286.

London: British lawmakers on Friday rejected the Brexit deal proposed by embattled Prime Minister Theresa May in Parliament for the third time, throwing the UK's divorce plans with the EU into further disarray. MPs voted in the House of Commons against the terms of Britain's so-called divorce from the European Union (EU) by 344 to 286. An approval would have given the British Parliament time until 22 May to get all the accompanying legislation passed.

The key vote took place on the day Britain was earlier scheduled to exit the bloc, until the EU leaders granted more time. According to the EU, the UK must present an alternative proposal to leave the bloc by 12 April. As the MPs rejected her deal again, the prime minister, who had offered to resign if her Brexit plan was passed, must set out a new plan by 12 April. Commenting on the outcome, May told MPs: "The implications of the house's decision are grave. I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this house. This government will continue to press for the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demands". She said that MPs would debate alternatives next week.

Meanwhile responding to the vote outcome, European Council president Donald Tusk tweeted: "In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April." In the past, the House of Commons rejected May's withdrawal plan twice, both times by overwhelming margins. May on Wednesday bowed to mounting pressure from within her own Conservative Party and offered to resign as the UK Prime Minister if her MPs agreed to back her twice-defeated Brexit divorce bill to get it over the line in a third parliamentary vote.

Hours before the vote, London mayor Sadiq Khan called on lawmakers to reject May's Brexit plan with the EU and negotiate a new one with better terms. The UK triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty following a referendum in favour of Brexit by nearly 52 percent to 48 percent in June 2016.
Stepping up the international pressure to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, the US, supported by France and the UK, has directly moved a draft resolution in the UN Security Council to blacklist the Pakistan-based terror group's chief.

United Nations: Stepping up the international pressure to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, the US, supported by France and the UK, has directly moved a draft resolution in the UN Security Council to blacklist the Pakistan-based terror group's chief.

Two weeks after China put a hold on a proposal to list Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council, the US on Wednesday circulated the draft resolution to the powerful 15-nation Council to blacklist the leader of the terror group and subject him to a travel ban, an assets freeze and an arms embargo.

UN sources told PTI that this is the "first time" the US, the UK and France have moved a draft resolution directly in the Security Council to designate Azhar. The previous have been listing proposals in the Sanctions Committee of the Security Council to designate the JeM chief. Unlike a listing proposal, which is generally under a 10-day no objection period, the draft resolution is not under any no-objection provision.

Reacting to Washington's move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang in Beijing said: "This is not in line with resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations. This has reduced the authority of the Committee as a main anti-terrorism body of the UNSC and this is not conducive to the solidarity and only complicates the issue".

"We urge the US to act cautiously and avoid forcefully moving forward this draft resolution," Geng said. Sources in New York said that the draft resolution will be discussed informally and then it goes to the Council.

However, it is not yet decided by when a vote would be held on the draft resolution, during when it could again face a veto by China, which has in the past blocked bids to blacklist Azhar. Sources said the draft resolution would condemn "in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly suicide bombing" on 14 February in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district that killed 40 CRPF personnel.

In New Delhi, sources said, they were aware that a draft has been initiated for consideration of Council members to list Azhar in the sanctions regime as part of international community's efforts to fight against terrorism. "It will not be appropriate for us to comment at this stage on a process which is entirely within the parameters of informal discussion of the Council and its members," a source said.

In Islamabad, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal regretted the US circulated the resolution in the Security Council when the matter was under consideration by the sanctions committee. He said such efforts to circumvent the established process will only weaken the sanctions regime and undermine its integrity.

"Pakistan is committed to fulfill its obligations under the UN sanctions regime," Faisal said. An annex to the draft resolution says Azhar is associated with the Islamic State terror group, Al-Qaida for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating" or "supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material" or supporting acts of the JeM.

It says that Azhar founded JeM after his release from prison in India in 1999 in exchange for 155 hostages held on an Indian Airlines flight that had been hijacked to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

It adds that Azhar was previously the leader of the terrorist group Harakat al Mujahadin, also known as Harakat ul-Ansar, and that most of these groups' members subsequently joined Jaish under Azhar's leadership. In 2008, JeM recruitment posters contained a call from Azhar for volunteers to join the fight in Afghanistan against Western forces.

The Sanctions Committee makes its decisions by consensus of its members. However, for a resolution in the Security Council to pass, it needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes from any of its five permanent members  China, Russia, the United States, France and the UK.

France, the UK and the US on 27 February moved a proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee. It was under the no-objection period and Committee members had a period of 10 working days to raise any objections to the proposal.

More than a dozen member states had co-sponsored the proposal. About an hour before the no-objection deadline was to expire on 13 March at 3 pm, China blocked the proposal by putting a hold on it.

India expressed disappointment by the outcome, saying in a statement "this has prevented action by the international community to designate the leader of JeM", a proscribed and active terrorist organisation which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Pulwama.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an apparent reference to China blocking the proposal when he said Wednesday that China abuses over a million Muslims at home, but "protects" violent Islamic terror groups from UN sanctions. The February proposal was the fourth such bid at the UN in the last 10 years to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

In 2009, India moved a proposal by itself to designate Azhar. In 2016 again India moved the proposal with the P3  the US, the UK and France in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee to ban Azhar, also the mastermind of the attack on the air base in Pathankot in January, 2016.

In 2017, the P3 nations moved a similar proposal again. However, on all occasions China blocked the proposals from being adopted by the Sanctions Committee. A UNSC designation will subject Azhar to an assets freeze, travel ban and an arms embargo.
Photo: Contributed

Those interested in solar energy or electric cars are invited to an expo next weekend at Olivers Burrowing Owl Estate Winery.

First Things First Okanagan is hosting the event from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 6 for those curious about going solar, driving an electric vehicle or cutting back on heating bills.

The organization is a local nonprofit dedicated to fighting climate change.

The world and the climate are changing so rapidly that we need to change with it, said FTFO chair Jim Beattie. As advocates for taking on climate change, weve begun to understand that people can take on climate change from an economic point of view. Here we have technologies that can help the pocketbook.

Solar energy and electric transportation are now accessible to the general public, the group says, adding energy conservation at home through projects like building retrofits are the most effective way to reduce a carbon footprint.

The expo will have industry experts and homeowners on hand to chat about the ins and outs of rooftop solar and electric vehicle transportation. An electric bike will be available for the public to try and the latest in electric cars, quads, and boats will be on display.

A series of presentations will also take place:
worth paying multiplex prices for

worth a look, but wait for DVD, unless your favorite actor is in it

give it a miss

my reaction under consideration

my reaction under gag order for now

not yet seen by me
Photo: Colin Dacre

The Osoyoos RCMP is disputing a recent social media report stating a popular street person in the community was assaulted for a third time in a week.

A post to the Osoyoos Loop Facebook group Wednesday said the well-known homeless man was attacked yet again by a person that threw ice water on him as he slept.

However, Cpl. Dave Smith told Castanet Wednesday that Facebook post, which has been shared close to 100 times, isn't entirely true.

There is an independent witness who observed the male, alone, stumble into the lake on his own accord. He was wet but otherwise unharmed and this was not a police matter. Rather, EHS transported the male to hospital for examination.

These situations can begin taking on a life of their own in the social media realm and are often plagued with erroneous information, he added

The Osoyoos RCMP have confirmed two previous alleged assaults involving the homeless man  one that saw water thrown on him as he slept on March 21 and another where he was punched by a man and bitten by his dog on March 24  but said there is no information at this point to suggest the two are connected.

Anyone that witnessed the first two incidents is asked to contact RCMP.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains is in Windsor today to offer support to workers facing layoffs at Fiat Chrysler.

The company announced Thursday it would cut the third shift at its Windsor plant at the end of September at a loss of about 1,500 jobs.

Bains says in a statement he is "very disappointed" by the news and is committed to fighting for their jobs.

Unifor Local 444 president Dave Cassidy said Thursday that the union would need all levels of government support going forward.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement that the provincial government will "fight tooth and nail" to protect auto worker jobs in Windsor.

FCA said it was cutting the shift at the minivan plant to better align production with global demand.
Photo: WFN

Westbank First Nation's decade-long path to self government won't leave it with massive debt.

WFN government members met with Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown Indigenous Relations, on Wednesday.

Among the discussion was the recent federal decision to forgive treaty loans First Nations across the country undertook during the negotiation process.

The leaders also talked about momentum behind development of a federal self-government implementation branch, and federal policy with respect to rights recognition.

We were in treaty discussions for well over 10 years, said WFN Coun. Christopher Derickson. We are happy to hear that we have the support of the Canadian government. We look forward to sharing this positive news with our membership.

The band council and Bennett agreed creation of an implementation branch would increase capacity for government-to-government relations, in particular regard to land exchanges.

Bennett praised the WFN's leadership on the self-government front, saying: "If it were not for communities like you, we would not be where we are in this country. I believe many of these issues can be corrected with the development of an appropriate implementation branch.

We are working nation to nation, and we do have your back. Now, we need to demonstrate that we have your back.

Bennett said infrastructure, data and assessment collection and governance have been identified as key priorities to close socio-economic gaps.

WFN Manager of Intergovernmental Affairs Raf De Guevara said there have been challenges.

There is still a large need for the land exchange policy to be completed that provides additional land to support much-needed community housing. Canada is a party to the (self-government agreement) and needs to take an active role in this conversation. We are working with the other three self-governed communities to chart out our needs of the implementation branch in order for it to be effective.
Most wildlife dies young, victim of numerous dangers, the greatest being a hunter armed with a gun. Traps also take a share of fur-bearing animals, including domestic dogs running free near trails.

We often hear of dogs lost during a walk with their human. How many trappers would contact the owner of a dog killed in one of their traps? It would be bad for business.

Animals in the wild spend all their time foraging or hunting to survive. Killers with guns have too much leisure time, so they kill time and wild animals.

A perennial excuse for taking the lives of wild creatures is that they kill ungulates such as deer or moose, which are also prey animals for humans.

Killers always find excuses to rationalize their addiction to destroying life. Killing gives them satisfaction nothing else can match.



In springtime, wild animals are more vulnerable, having lost weight through the hardship of winter and some have young to nurse. However, three hunting clubs in B.C., lacking any sense of fairness or morality, are offering prizes to encourage hunters to "whack" wolves, bears, coyotes and even raccoons.

Killing wildlife for fun is ugly, and if ever there was a barbaric cultural practice, whacking, or shooting down wildlife during nature's rebirth has to take the prize.

There is an article online called "5 Ways to Stop the Killing." Written by Hope Ferdowsian and posted in October 2015, the five steps make sense if you are appealing to a compassionate person with an ability to empathize with non-human animals. The five steps will not work to reform a person who is devoid of empathy, and imagination.

Only laws can help stop such a person (poaching ignores the law).

While students in Kelowna demonstrated their concern over climate change, hunters remain in a Stone-Age time warp, terrifying and killing animals with 21st century weapons. Unlike other animals, hunters are not an endangered life form. Guns protect them.

What most people don't realize is that wolves practise birth control when food is hard to find. Humans are not as smart as wolves in that respect. We continue to reproduce in the face of famine and we love to tinker with nature to bend it to our wants  gloating over the corpse of a trophy animal is one such want.

Governments have the power to end hunting. It would be the responsible thing to do, given that links between violence against people and animals is clear.

Helen Schiele, Kelowna
I am a retired auto/home/commercial insurance broker from Calgary, now living in West Kelowna.

I started my insurance career in 1973, when ICBC was just starting up. Some of my colleagues at the company I was with and who were working in Vancouver were told that ICBC was starting up and they would be working for the government.

All went smoothly, as they were being paid very well by ICBC. And after a few years they wanted nothing to do with auto insurance being handled by private insurers.

There was an intense lobby by the brokers association to leave it alone, as it was just fine making money, working for the government.

During the 1990s, I had a partner who bought a brokerage in Victoria and soon found out the remuneration for even doing simple transactions such as postal code corrections and address changes was quite good.

The provincial government also was restricting licences for new brokerage firms, which in turn made licences held by brokers worth a lot of money when they were ready to retire or sell outright. Some of these licences sold for more than $200,000, not to mention the extra money for their book of business.

Only public pressure and a willingness of the government will force any private companies to consider going back into B.C.

Ernie Verkade
If you or a loved one uses tobacco or nicotine (like vaping products) and wants to quit, theres help.

Through age 25, Bricker explained, the brain is still developing its capacity to weigh long-term consequences when making decisions. While that process is still underway, young people are more likely to decide to use tobacco if presented with the opportunity, and they are more likely to become addicted if they use it.

So, he said, Washington state is now giving young peoples brains three more years to grow before theyre presented with that critical decision: Should I pick up this vape pen or that cigarette?

After the law goes into effect, tobacco and vaping products will still be legally available within the borders of Washington in tribal lands. But in habit formation, Bricker explained, proximity is key. For most of Washingtons 18- to 20-year-olds, it will be an out-of-the-way drive to get to a store where they can legally buy these products.

The law also widens the social gap between young people who can legally get tobacco products and those who cant, Bricker said. The Academies report cites data that shows the majority of underage tobacco users get it from family and friends. This law takes legal tobacco and vaping products out of high schools and out of the social circles of most teens.

Bricker emphasized that the change also denormalizes use of these products for people in that age range. Illegality is a powerful social signal, Bricker explained, especially for the high-achieving, straight-and-narrow kids whom data show are much more likely to try e-cigarettes like Juul than traditional, tobacco-burning cigarettes.

In recent years, there has been an explosion in youth vaping, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And although research demonstrates that e-cigarettes contain drastically lower levels of cancer-causing substances than traditional cigarettes, they do pack a giant wallop of nicotine, the addictive drug in tobacco. One Juul vape pod has as much nicotine as at least 26 cigarettes, one recent study found. (For context, a single pod isnt vaped all at once like a cigarette is smoked; a pod often lasts users one or more days.)

A 2018 study, however, showed that most young people dont realize that these products have nicotine at all. And research shows that after getting hooked on nicotine via e-cigs, many young people eventually switch to cigarettes.

I think the harms have been underplayed. Theyre real, Bricker said. He noted that we dont yet have good data on the health effects of using e-cigarettes, or how vaping compares to evidence-based methods for helping people stop using traditional cigarettes.

Brickers research group is testing several different methods  such as smartphone apps, chatbots, and telephone counseling  to help people overcome nicotine addiction and other harmful habits. They employ a mindfulness-based method known as acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT, to help people cope with cravings. (Visit the HABIT groups website for more information about the studies and how to get involved.)

A growing momentum?

There have been numerous attempts to pass Tobacco 21 legislation in Washington state, with bills introduced in both chambers every legislative session since at least 2015.

The laws expected passage in the Evergreen state reflects a growing momentum across the country.

Two days before the Washington state legislature passed E.H.B. 1074, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed that states own Tobacco 21 law into effect. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed Arkansas' version on Thursday. Arkansas, Utah and Washington now join California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia and Hawaii, which passed the first statewide Tobacco 21 law in 2015. Now, New York and Illinois are considering their own. And Tobacco 21 laws have been passed in more than 450 cities, counties and other localities, including Boston, Chicago, San Antonio and Washington, D.C.

The Washington state legislature is now considering legislation that would tax vapor products, with the goals of reducing access by increasing price for consumers and of raising money for cancer research and public health efforts.

Its going to take a combination of policy efforts like these, joining forces with public health and research, to keep people from ever getting addicted to nicotine and to help those who use tobacco products to quit, Bricker said.

Its a marathon, Bricker said. For me, I hope that when I reach the end of this marathon, tobacco use will be near-zero. Maybe this is mile 13.
Events for Faith Focus should be submitted at least two weeks in advance. Rick Cousins can be reached at rick.cousins@galvnews.com.
Risk of Rain 2 launched out of nowhere today early on in Steams early access program and players are already searching frantically onto how to unlock various characters in-game.

The first Risk of Rain title locked most of its characters behind achievements and secret entrances in some of its levels, and this game is no exception. Currently, five characters can be unlocked in-game with four more currently in development. They are set to be released at a later date.

The first character to unlock is the Huntress, and she is quite easy to obtain.

To get her, you need to unlock the achievement Warrior which unlocks after reaching and completing the third teleporter event without dying. A hard task, but not an impossible one just be sure to scavenge for a lot of items, and you should be fine.

Once Huntress is unlocked, you will be able to pick her on your next playthrough. She is an agile fighter that can teleport using her Blink ability and lock onto enemies with her attacks, making her an ideal character for new players.

Her ultimate is also perfect when against hordes of enemies or standstill bosses, as she fires down a hail of arrows in a single spot that can deal a ton of damage.
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.
Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  The barkada is a Filipino essential. Due to Filipinos sociable nature, you might even find yourself with multiple groups of friends at some point in your life.

Especially with this generation, the concept of a barkada has evolved from merely being the motley crew you hang out with during class breaks into more nuanced groups. They can now depend on how you met, where you meet, and what you do together.

Regardless of various types of barkadas, what completes any hang out is the perfect drink with a balance of flavor, quality, and price. For these barkada moments, Ginebra San Miguel Inc. has reformulated a new and improved Primera Light Brandy  creating a drink with flavorful notes of vanilla and caramel courtesy of imported ingredients from Spain.

This light brandy drink has also bagged back-to-back-to-back awards by Monde Selections from 2016 to 2018; yet, even with its award-winning, international quality, this drink stays affordable and is conveniently sold in major supermarkets, convenience stores, to sari-sari stores.

The affordability of the brandy also allows patak-patak or ambagan  the classic chip-in system for drinking sessions  to happen without a fret. Light on the wallet and on the palette, its the perfect drinking accompaniment for a night of catching up with friends of all kinds.

Find out if you see yourself in any or all of these different types of barkadas below.

Illustration by MICH CERVANTES

Gig buddies

The gig scene in Metro Manila has never been so alive. You can always find a good lineup of artists on a Friday night, from your neighborhood bar in Katipunan Avenue to the holes-in-the-wall pubs in Poblacion.

Gigs also serve as a meeting place for people who share the same music taste as you do. Have a couple of drinks with them and those familiar faces can easily turn into people you can depend on for good company on a night of great music. Instead of keeping their phones up for during the artists performance, these music lovers are in the crowd singing and dancing their heart out.

Afterward, its mandatory to share a light drink like Primera Light Brandy with each other to spazz over the last artists set. Before the night even ends, your gig buddies are already talking about the next gig for the following week.

Illustration by MICH CERVANTES

Nomadic friends

The the Philippines never runs out of natural wonders to explore, from numerous surfing destinations like La Union, Zambales, and Siargao, to breathtaking mountain views in Rizal, Mountain Province, and Sagada. With the sheer amount of sights to discover, an out of town trip is on every barkadas checklist and is considered a true test of friendship.

But theres a specific group of people who treat traveling together like second nature. These seasoned nomads have an innate sense for piso fares and a skill for packing at the last minute to make any weekend getaway possible. Dont call them tourists as they like to blend with the locals to get the most authentic experience the destination has to offer. Be assured that their weekend social media posts are filled with mountain sunrises or beach sunsets.

A toast with Primera Light Brandy in any location is the perfect way to end an out of town trip with a price that easily fits a travel budget without skimping on quality.

Illustration by MICH CERVANTES

Office buddies

Your officemates are the people you spend most of your waking hours with. They could be quite the departure from the crowd that you stuck around with back in college  but this isnt entirely a bad thing. Your work barkada opens your eyes to new perspectives you never considered before, and they can be your go-to people for advice regarding any adulting question.

This is why its a surreal experience to go out and celebrate with your office buddies. Although the reasons for such an occasion vary from a promotion to splurging on your fresh paycheck, all work-talk is off the table to make room for good food, drinks, and laughs.

With classy drink like the new and improved Primera Light Brandy, the people whom you see crouched over their computer in their cubicles slowly let loose and transform into company you can relax with. Its especially a sight to witness seeing how much meat they can eat at a Korean BBQ restaurant or listening to them showcasing their vocal skills in the nearby karaoke room.

Illustration by MICH CERVANTES

Gaming barkada

The gaming barkada is one of the more indefinable types of groups. You might not be able to pinpoint the exact moment you joined this group. Its possible that a friend dragged you to be an extra for their groups campaign or these people could have been another set of familiar faces in the neighborhood computer shop willing to join you in an online match.

Eventually, you find a constant set of people who immediately respond to your invites to your favored RPG or FPS game at whatever time of the night or early morning. The sense of camaraderie formed through defeating your opponents and earning your spot as the last team standing in PUBG can transition to rare but lively nights of playing together in real life.

Drinks are a must but lighter drinks such as Primera Light Brandy are preferred to not get in the way of your hand-eye coordination as you clear off the perimeter of any more enemies.

Illustration by MICH CERVANTES

The nightlife crew

Manila has a variety of nightlife selections that cater to a myriad of tastes. There are the obvious choices such as the clubs of the downtown district for those itching to let loose on the dancefloor after a long day of work. Conversely, there are the more relaxed yet eclectic bars, from Timog to Katipunan Avenue, for those in the mood to just exchange stories.

The people you surround yourself for a night out depend on where youre going or vice versa. Wherever or whoever you decide on, the night doesnt always have to end where it started. The party can overflow into someones living room for another round of drinks along with your choice of take out.

Regardless of the people youre with, everyone appreciates a quality drink for an affordable price. A bottle of Primera Light Brandy served on the rocks can surely keep any party going.

Illustration by MICH CERVANTES

All-boys high school barkada

Barkadas come and go but the bond between high school friends from an all-boys school is unbreakable. These guys have had each others backs amidst family drama, crushes, exes, and mischievous adventures.

A high school barkada reunion is assured to happen as often as everyones work permits. Yet, no matter how long time has passed since the last one, its never awkward with the guys you grew up with.

These guys have experimented with any kind of liquor they could get their hands on back in the day as a rite of passage, from the cheaper liquors that get the job done to their dads special stash. Yet, get-togethers like these call for a special type of spirit.

Drinking Primera Light Brandy brings a bit more sophistication to the table of men reliving their days as boys. After hours of laughter, nostalgia, and heart-to-heart stories, you feel as if the weight of the world isnt as heavy and more like old self.

Yet, this list only shows a fraction of the multitude of barkadas a Filipino can have in their lifetime. But with Primera Light Brandy, choosing the right bottle to bring for your barkada of the night goes without a problem. With its affordability, convenience, and quality, its the spirit loved by all and to be shared with all for any occasion.

For more information, visit their Facebook page.
Realme 2 Pro, Realme 2, Realme C1 get March security update News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Realme has started pushing another update to some of its phones.

Select Realme smartphones including Realme 2 Pro, Realme 2 and Realme C1 have started receiving OTA updates. All users of these phones are expected to get the update in the coming days. As per the company, the new ColorOS update will bring the March security patch to these devices. And, the update is live in select markets such as India and Indonesia.

Realme has taken to its official website to announce the rollout of these new software updates. It has also published the update files for the manual installation process. As per the company, the Realme 2 Pro will carry the software build number RMX1801EX_11.A.17_0170_201903151409. Besides the March security patch, the ColorOS 6 update is also expected to bring other new features.

The Realme 2 update comes with the build number RMX1805EX_11.A.25_0250_201903192122. This one brings the March security patch, Expert mode and the ability to click photos by tapping on the fingerprint sensor while using the camera app. Talking about the Realme C1, the update to this device also has the same build number as that of the Realme 2. And, it will get the same of changes except for the ability to capture photos by tapping the fingerprint sensor.

Recent Realme updates

When it comes to the updates to the Realme smartphones, Realme U1 received the March security patch recently. After the current batch of phones, only the Realme 1 and Realme are yet to get the update. A few days back, the company was said to roll out the Nightscape mode feature to the Realme U1, Realme 2 Pro and Realme 1. This feature is preloaded in the Realme 3 and captures exceptional low-light photos.

Besides this, all the Realme smartphones launched till date will get the Android 9 Pie update topped with ColorOS 6 in the first half of this year, confirmed the company.

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Realme 3 with 13MP selfie camera going up for sale in India again on April 2 News oi-Sandeep Sarkar The sale will be hosted on Flipkart starting 12 noon.

Realme, Oppo's former subsidiary Realme launched its third iteration of the Realme 1 smartphone, the Realme 3 earlier this month in the Indian market. The latest affordable smartphone by the Chinese brand has been made available via various flash sales online in the country. The smartphone offers some good set of internals for the price tag it is selling for. Some of them include a tall display with waterdrop notch, dual rear camera setup, and a MediaTek Helio P70 processor. Now, the company has revealed the next sale date of the device in India.

The Realme 3 will be available for purchase in India on April 2. The sale will go live at 12 noon and will be hosted on the e-commerce platform Flipkart. The device will be available to choose from Dynamic Blue and Radiant Blue gradient options. The smartphone comes in dual RAM and storage configurations including a 3GB RAM with 32GB storage and a 4GB RAM variant which has 64GB of internal storage.

The 3GB RAM variant is retailing for Rs 8,999 and the 4GB RAM variant comes with a price label of Rs 10,999. Users will be able to avail an additional discount of 5 percent on the purchases made using Axis Bank Buzz credit card. Users will also be able to avail an exchange value of up to Rs 8,750 on the 3GB RAM variant of the Realme 3.

To recap, the Realme 3 is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P70 processor that clocks at 2.1GHz. The smartphone runs on Android Pie OS with Color OS 6.0 UI overlay. It flaunts a 6.2-inch HD+ display panel which has a screen resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels. For imaging, there is a dual rear camera setup with a 13MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. For selfies and video calls, the smartphone features a 13MP front camera. To keep everything in check, there is a 4,230mAh battery.

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Google and Facebook paid $122 million to Lithuanian man for fake invoices News oi-Karan Sharma Lithuanian man steals $122 million from Facebook and Google by providing a fake invoice. All you need to know.

Evaldas Rimasauskas a Lithuanian man has successfully managed to tick two of the most famous and secure website Google and Facebook by providing fake invoices which both the companies paid without any doubt. He managed to get $99 million from Facebook and $23 million from Google between the year 2013 and 2015. According to the report, he uses to send them fake invoices for products which do not even order. He uses to support all his claim by providing fake paperwork.

To make his claims more realistic Rimasauskas use to produce fake letters from company executives. He also went to Taiwanese hardware manufacturer called Quanta Computer and enrolled a company with a similar name in Latvia which helped him to increase the credibility.

Nobody from Google and Facebook thought about determining the status of his million-dollar claims. According to the Digit report, he has distributed the claims in different bank accounts in Lithuania, Slovakia, Cyprus, Hungary, and Latvia.

Finally, Google caught him last week, then the search giant filed a petition against Rimasauskas in which he is guilty of US Wire Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Money Laundering charges. He is also fined with $50 million for his crime.

On July 29 Rimasauskas will be sentenced and he will be facing up to 30 years of imprisonment for the fraud. "We detected this fraud and promptly alerted the authorities. We recouped the funds and we're pleased this matter is resolved," BoingBoing quoted Google as saying.

"As Evaldas Rimasauskas admitted today, he devised a blatant scheme to fleece U.S. companies out of over $100 million, and then siphoned those funds to bank accounts around the globe," stated Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman in the DoJ press release containing the unsealed indictment from March 21, 2017.

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Selected Guard units to increase OPTEMPO in FY20

By Joe LacdanMarch 27, 2019

FORT MEADE, Md. -- As threats from near-peer adversaries grow, the fiscal year 2020 budget will allow some National Guard units to bump up their operational tempo, Army senior leaders told lawmakers Tuesday.

Selected units within the 343,500-member Guard will need to mobilize and deploy faster in case conflicts with Russia or China arise, Secretary of the Army Mark T. Esper testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"I don't believe Russia and China will give us the time to build combat power in the future," he said.

Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Army's chief of staff, said training time for these selected units will increase and combat training center rotations will jump annually from two to four. Milley said the Guard will need to modestly raise its numbers in FY20. The Guard fell 8,000 members below its projected end strength in fiscal 2018.

"The Army is dependent upon the National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve to execute our wartime mission," Milley said. "It cannot be done without it."

Esper lauded the efforts of Guard members from Nebraska, Minnesota and other states who assisted rescue and relief efforts following catastrophic flooding in parts of the Midwest this past week. More than 340 Guard members have participated in search and rescue missions, delivering needed relief to stranded and displaced residents.

"Our hearts go out to the people of Nebraska and what they're going through right now," Esper said. "It sure is going to take some time and we really feel for them."

In recent years, the Guard has provided crucial aid to residents affected by Hurricanes Michael and Florence, as well as helping with relief efforts for California wildfire victims.

"The Guard is no longer a strategic reserve," Esper said. "It is an operational force and it's proved itself very well over the past many years."

Readiness and deployability will be crucial not only for the Guard, but across the service, Milley said, adding the Army expects to have 66 percent of its active-duty brigades and 33 percent of Guard brigades at "full states of readiness."

The Army has increased its number of fully-ready, brigade combat teams by 55 percent over the past two years. The Army expects to reach its highest levels of readiness by 2028, Milley said.

GROWING THREAT

In the race to meet the rising challenge of Russia and China, the Army's senior leaders asked lawmakers to approve its $182 billion FY20 budget proposal which will also provide more money for its modernization efforts to develop future capability.

"We intend to regain the competitive advantage," Milley said.

The Army has been developing the Extended Range Cannon Artillery, or ERCA, which has undergone testing at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Esper, who recently visited Yuma, said that Russian air defense has surpassed U.S. capabilities and the cannon will help U.S. Forces regain its edge.

Russia has been steadily undergoing its own modernization efforts, Esper said. Field testing for Russia's next-generation tank, the T-14 Armata, is currently underway, as well as development of advanced Russian air defense and artillery systems.

"Russia is still the only country on earth that is actually an existential threat to the United States of America," Milley said. "They are the only ones who have the capability to bring that level of destruction to our country. And they have been very aggressive in the last decade or so."

Milley said increasing the Army's capabilities in Europe will be crucial to defending the nation against the Russian threat and said additional funding in the budget proposal will go toward deterring Russian aggression.

"The Russians are modernizing their fighting vehicles," Esper said. "They are modernizing their air defense systems. Across the board they are doing things that we need to (do)."

Meanwhile, China continues to invest in cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, directed energy and hypersonic weapons. The U.S. Army continues to upgrade its capabilities, he said, most notably long-range precision fires, the service's top modernization priority.

When asked about the possibility of reducing the number of troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula, Milley said U.S. forces are currently in "good shape" in the Pacific to handle potential threats by North Korea.

The Army took bold steps toward reaching its future modernization goals with the establishment last summer of Army Futures Command in Austin, Texas, Milley said. This will hasten the acquisition process and get needed equipment and vehicles to units faster, he said

"In the last 17 years, our strategic competitors have eroded our military advantages," the general told senators. "With your help, starting two years ago, we began to restore our competitive advantage and our recent budgets have helped improve readiness and laid the groundwork for future modernization. And we ask with this budget, that you sustain these efforts."

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March 27, 2019

News Release

Press Operations

Release No. NR-073-19

Readout of Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan's Meeting With Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi

Acting Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Charles E. Summers Jr. provided the following readout:

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan met Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi at the Pentagon today to reaffirm the strategic security partnership between the U.S. and Iraq and the U.S. commitment to a sovereign, secure, and prosperous Iraq.

The secretary extended his condolences to the speaker for the tragic ferry accident in Mosul that killed more than a hundred civilians last week.

The leaders discussed the enduring value of the U.S.-Iraq security partnership and ways to better partner against the enduring threat ISIS poses to both nations and to the world. U.S. security assistance is specifically designed to empower Iraqi forces to defeat ISIS and prevent its resurgence.

The leaders agreed that the U.S.-Iraq security partnership makes us all saferIraqis, Americans, and regional allies alike. They also agreed on the value of the international Coalition to Defeat ISIS and the need for continued Coalition support to Iraq.

https://dod.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1797490/

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March 28, 2019

Transcript

Press Operations

Gaggle by Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan While En Route to Tampa, Fla.

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan

(Transcript begins in progress)

ACTING SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PATRICK SHANAHAN: Give you maybe a -- sometimes it's easier to give you  some, some summaries. Let me just maybe start with, you know, my visit that characterized the visits. The -- you know, when I was spending my time, it was first to meet a lot of Admiral Faller's staff and have them brief me in their perspective areas of responsibility.

And then we talked about Chinese influence and behavior in the region, so again, just a  a level setting, and that was really -- think of that as a tactical briefing really, by country. The bulk of our discussions were around the implementation of the National Defense Strategy, I want to just kind of describe to you the nature of those discussions.

It's too easy to spend all of your time just looking at information, that's -- that's not the role -- it's not what I'm driving with SOUTHCOM [U.S. Southern Command], it's how do we actually go about the execution. So the way I decompose this -- and this is the basis in which the conversations were occurring -- the major elements of the strategy are geography, capability and capacity.

So as we work through this, it really becomes about choices. What are the priorities geographically? What are the capabilities we have to develop, and then what's the capacity, whether it's a new capability or existing capabilities that we have?

The discussion is on this framework so that when SOUTHCOM can describe that, then we can go about integrating it with our local campaign for China. So the discussion we have is stop looking at this through a geographic lens but through a global lens, but then we balance based on his priorities, but the priorities have to be balanced within the region and then across the globe.

And this discussion was about how we set the priorities and then where I've been spending time with Admiral Faller, Admiral Davidson and others, including the services, that -- how do we do this integration exercise?

And traditionally in the department, it's been by geography or by region and then we're really shifting to OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense], the services, which have never traditionally played in that role, and then more broadly, the group of combatant commanders looking through the China lens.

Maybe -- so when you think about being able to do the -- we have a framework, the prioritization, the integration, now comes the exercise of resourcing, which a lot of you were talking about yesterday. How do you go about doing the resourcing?

Part of it becomes the integrated set of priorities, then it becomes how much do you actually want to dedicate and then how much is flexible? And that's really where this concept of dynamic force employment was put in place.

So our discussions really ended up with some resourcing conversations. This was as much about meeting the team and getting an understanding the operations down there, but more importantly, kind of setting the foundation for these other conversations that we're having.

I thought I would maybe -- I was thinking about your questions yesterday on the ASAT [anti-satellite] test and there are always very important details about what happened -- what does that mean if -- when I think about the test itself, it really speaks to why we need to stand up Space Command. Think about the importance now of rules of engagement, authorities, the tactics, techniques and procedures. So with Space Command, with the contested  with space being a contested environment, we've had a real shift. I mean, that was -- yesterday was -- or two days ago was evidence of that and how are they waking up every day thinking about what is operating and protecting in a contested environment look like.

The other thing that I was going to maybe kind of add to was, that people ask me about, you know, priorities. It's not about what really big -- what's more important is when you look from a department standpoint how to have the biggest impact, the fastest is Space Command can have the biggest impact fastest. The Space Development Agency is vital, because if you're not developing things that are inherently resilient, then you're living in the past. So the Space Development Agency represents the fundamental shift, to being, you know, stronger, more resilient, more redundant, more competitive in space.

The most critical piece from an enduring standpoint of growing space is the Space Force creating the advocacy and the planning and the organization that consistently sustains us over time. I mean, that's -- when I think of the Space Force and that test, that was really kind of what was running through my mind.

You've got -- how about some questions?

Q: Well, at least on the ASAT tests, I mean, the Indians are saying that they think this debris will come back -- will be gone, will come back into the atmosphere, burn up within 45 days. Is that consistent with what you understand?

SEC. SHANAHAN: Yeah, my understanding is I don't know about the particular timeframe there, but in terms of, you know, threats to other objects, that's consistent with what I've heard.

Q: That it will burn up in the atmosphere. So it won't be a lasting kind of China scenario.

SEC. SHANAHAN: That's my understanding.

Q: And then on the issue of Space Command, I mean, we're going to have General Hyten testifying at 10:00 and he's already started, or he will start soon. You know, what is the -- he would probably say that they were already looking at, you know -- that a lot of the issues from ASAT tests are things that they were already consumed with years ago, ever since that -- that big China test. Which is over a decade ago now.

SEC. SHANAHAN: Remember, the U.S. Space Command was already -- this isn't like a new structure. This is really returning back to where we were, really, in 2000, and I think the organization, you know, so many of the, you know, resourcing and skills are resident. This is really more about, now how do you adapt to the fact that it's no longer a sanctuary. This is really a change of mission that we will -- when you think of it now being contested, there's all that important doctrine work with respect those rules of engagement and the authority (inaudible). That's why having that stand alone, where every day you wake up and you address this, because that environment has changed so rapidly. You know, these things take so much time. We don't want anything to stand in the way of developing that kind of protective capability.

STAFF: (inaudible) we're at like 11 minutes here, we're getting ready to land. Let's get one from Aaron here.

Q: Just on Space Force, I mean, when are we going to get the name of the -- your choice of the leadership on Space Force?

(CROSSTALK)

SEC. SHANAHAN: We already have it.

Q: So are you considering a uniformed member of the Navy? Because people have said we don't want it to just be Air Force.

SEC. SHANAHAN: We have a good plan. We have a good plan.

Q: What's soon?

SEC. SHANAHAN: We have a good plan.

Q: Weeks? Weeks? Month? Five days, four days?

SEC. SHANAHAN: Weeks, not months.

Q: Okay. Thank you.

Q: (inaudible) SOUTHCOM

SEC. SHANAHAN: Yeah.

Q: The Russians are saying today that none of the troops they sent to Venezuela are going to be operational. I'm just wondering if -- if you have any thoughts on the Russian deployment to Venezuela and whether or not they -- they pose a security risk there.

SEC. SHANAHAN: Russia's always -- Not sure I always believe what they say.

Q: (inaudible) Thanks, fair enough.

https://dod.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1799405/

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North Atlantic Council decides to extend the Secretary General's mandate

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

27 Mar. 2019

Last updated: 28 Mar. 2019 16:19

NATO Allies agreed today to extend the mandate of Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg by a further two years, until 30 September 2022.

Allies expressed their support for the Secretary General's work to adapt and modernise NATO and ensure it remains fit for the future.

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USNS Fall River Arrives in Kuching for Pacific Partnership

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS190328-04

Release Date: 3/28/2019 10:12:00 AM

From CTF 73 Public Affairs

KUCHING, Malaysia (NNS) -- USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4), a Military Sealift Command expeditionary fast transport ship, arrived in Kuching, Malaysia as part of Pacific Partnership 2019, March 27.

Malaysia has participated each year since Pacific Partnership began in response to the December 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of South and Southeast Asia. The mission has evolved over the years from emphasis on direct care to an operation focused on enhancing partnerships through host nation subject matter expert and civil-military exchanges.

"A lot of hard work has gone into the planning process from both the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) and Pacific Partnership personnel," said U.S.

Navy Lt. j. g. Kate Constantakis, Pacific Partnership 2019 officer in charge of the Malaysia stop. "I look forward to watching execution unfold and seeing how we can learn from the MAF about disaster preparedness and response and build off of each other's strengths."

The mission in Kuching includes training with local medical professionals, participation in civil engineering projects, Humanitarian Assistance-Disaster Relief readiness drills, in addition to outreach and band performances.

"Working together with our host and partner nations provides an outstanding opportunity for us to learn from each other and grow stronger together,"

said Royal Australian Navy Capt. Brendon Zilko, Pacific Partnership 2019 chief of staff. "We look forward to strengthening our partnership with Malaysia and improving our collective and individual ability to respond to any crisis in the region."

Working at the invitation of each host nation, Pacific Partnership brings together military and civilian personnel partner nations from Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Pacific Partnership, now in its 14th iteration, is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Each year, the mission team works collectively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities; increase stability and security in the region; and foster new and enduring friendships across the Indo-Pacific.

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Venezuela bars opposition leader Guaido from holding office for 15 years

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019 11:14PM

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has stripped opposition leader Juan Guaido of the right to hold public office for 15 years.

The move was announced by Auditor General Elvis Amoroso on state television on Thursday.

Amoroso said his office decided to ban Guaido from "all elected public office for the maximum duration under the law."

Guaido, who is also the country's parliament speaker, has falsified information in his national sworn statement and committed irregularities in his financial records, Amoroso said.

The opposition leader has responded to the decree, saying he will continue his campaign to oust Maduro.

The announcement shows that the row is raging on between the government and the opposition, which has the backing of the United States and many other Western countries.

In January, the US took the lead in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela's president after the head of the opposition-ruled Congress named himself the country's interim chief executive.

Washington has been pressuring other countries into following suit and has not ruled out using the military option to oust the government of Maduro.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday met with Guaido's wife at the Oval Office of the White House.

In the meeting, Trump pointed the finger at Moscow, warning "Russia has to get out," of the crisis-hit Venezuela.

The president was referring to the arrival of two Russian planes in Venezuela in recent days. Russia has confirmed and defended sending military experts to Venezuela, saying the dispatch is based on a military-technical cooperation agreement signed by the two countries in 2001.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the roughly 100 servicemen Moscow sent to Venezuela on Saturday would remain in the Latin American country "for as long as needed."

"The presence of Russian specialists on Venezuelan territory is regulated by an agreement between the Russian and Venezuelan governments on military and technical cooperation that was signed in May 2001," Zakharova said, adding, "Neither Russia nor Venezuela are provinces of the United States."

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My firing by Trump was 'potentially obstruction of justice': Comey

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019 09:46PM

Former FBI Director James Comey has said that his 2017 firing by US President Donald Trump was "potentially obstruction of justice," after Trump claimed "complete and total exoneration" in the so-called Russia probe.

Comey made the remarks in an exclusive interview with NBC News when asked about his reaction to Trump telling a news anchor in May 2017 that he fired the FBI chief at least partly due to the probe of alleged collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia in the 2016 election.

"I thought that's potentially obstruction of justice and I hope somebody is gonna look at that," Comey said. "Again the president appears to be saying, I don't know what's in his head  which is why I can't reach the conclusion, what he appears to be saying is, I got rid of this guy to shut down an investigation that threatened me."

Comey was dismissed by Trump when he was leading the FBI's investigation of alleged links between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia. Many of the president's opponents had accused him of obstructing the probe when he fired Comey. The firing led to Robert Mueller's appointment as special counsel of the Russia investigation.

Attorney General William Barr, a Trump appointee, said in a four-page summary of the report released on Sunday that Mueller's team had concluded that no one in Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated with the Russian government."

However, Mueller's findings left unresolved the issue of whether Trump obstructed justice by undermining the investigations.

Comey said he was surprised that Mueller didn't reach a conclusion on obstruction of justice and left it to the attorney general, who was a political appointee.

"So the idea that a special counsel wouldn't reach the question and hand it to the political leadership doesn't make sense," he said.

Comey the Mueller report "establishes to all people I hope, no matter where they are in the spectrum, that the FBI is not corrupt, not a nest of vipers and spies, but an honest group of people trying to find out what is true."

He also said the probe "had to happen."

"It would have been irresponsible not to investigate. And we don't investigate, despite what the partisans say, to find a particular result. We investigate to find out what's true. And best I can tell, it looks like Bob Mueller was allowed to do that  and that's a great thing," Comey said.

Comey said it was a good thing Mueller was able to complete the investigation and conclude that "the Russia thing wasn't a hoax" and also that the Russians had "interfered in the election in a huge way."

Trump celebrated the summary of the Mueller report as a "complete and total exoneration" and vowed to strike back with investigations of his own against unnamed political enemies, whom he believes are guilty of "evil" and "treasonous things."

Mueller, a former FBI director, had been examining since May 2017 whether Trump's election campaign colluded with Moscow to try to influence the 2016 presidential election and whether the Republican president later unlawfully tried to obstruct his investigation.

US intelligence agencies claim Moscow meddled in the election with a campaign of email hacking and online propaganda aimed at sowing discord in the United States, hurting Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and helping Trump.

Both Trump and Russia have repeatedly denied the accusations. Trump has sought to discredit the investigation, calling it a "witch hunt" and accusing Mueller of conflicts of interest.

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Israel to wage 'broad military campaign' in Gaza if needed: PM

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019 09:03PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Tel Aviv is ready to wage a broad military campaign in Gaza if needed, after a two-day flareup of cross-border fighting which has left several people injured on both sides.

"All Israelis should know that if a comprehensive campaign is required, we will enter it strong and safe, and after we have exhausted all of the other possibilities," Netanyahu said after visiting the Gaza frontier, where he met some Israeli commanders.

His comments came after two consecutive nights of heavy Israeli bombardments, which wounded several Palestinians but were responded to with a rocket attack from the enclave. The attack wounded seven Israelis in Mishmeret, an agricultural town north of Tel Aviv, on Monday, and forced Netanyahu to cut short his visit to the US.

Palestinian resistance groups on Wednesday fired rockets into Israel in response to the regime's airstrikes on several areas, including the town of Khan Yunis and the Rafah border crossing south of Gaza City.

Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip say Israeli airstrikes on Rafah damaged residential homes and electricity network.

The rockets fired from Gaza have turned into a major security challenge for Netanyahu ahead of Israel's April 9 election. In power for a decade and beset by corruption allegations, he is facing his strongest electoral challenge from a centrist coalition led by a former general.

The Israeli military has deployed artillery and tank brigades along the so-called buffer zone with Gaza.

"The military will resort to a very strong hand against anyone trying to confront our troops," Israeli security cabinet minister Arye Deri told Army Radio.

The UN's special coordinator for the Middle East peace process expressed concerns Tuesday over the escalation of violence.

"I am concerned that we may, once again, be facing another very dangerous escalation of violence in Gaza, with potentially catastrophic consequences," Nickolay Mladenov told the UN Security Council.

"The last two days show how precariously close we came to the brink of war once again."

Gazans plan mass rallies

In Gaza, organizers have announced plans for a massive protest on Saturday along the border to mark the first anniversary of weekly demonstrations at which Israeli forces have already killed more than 260 Palestinians.

Over 26,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries ever since the anti-occupation protest rallies, known as the Great March of Return, began in the Gaza Strip on March 30, 2018.

The United Nations Human Rights Council said last week that Israeli troops may have committed war crimes by using excessive force against the protests.

The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14 last year, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided that year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.

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Israel killed 40 Palestinian children in year of Gaza fence protests: UNICEF

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019

The UN children's agency says around 40 children have been killed in one year of demonstrations along the fence that separates the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied territories.

According to UNICEF on Thursday, almost 3,000 others have been hospitalized with injuries since the start of the protests one year ago, many leading to life-long disabilities.

UNICEF's Middle East Director Geert Cappelaere voiced anger at the growing number of casualties, calling for an end to violence against children in Gaza and elsewhere across the occupied territories.

"UNICEF reiterates its outrage at the very high numbers of children who have been killed and injured as a result of armed conflict 2018," Cappelaere said

Last month, Cappelaere also expressed sorrow over the killing of Palestinian teenage boys by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops have shot and killed dozens of Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip in recent months.

Last October, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said the Israeli military was deliberately targeting and killing Palestinian children.

Renowned children rights NGO, Defense for Children International - Palestine, has called for the arrest of Israeli troops who kill or maim Palestinian children in clear violation of international law.

More than 260 Palestinians have been killed and about 26,000 others injured by Israeli forces ever since protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30, 2018.

New protests are planned for Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the demonstrations, which have raised fears of further Israeli aggression.

The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14 last year which coincided with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Gaza has been under the Israeli siege since June 2007, which has caused a decline in living standards.

Israel has launched three major wars against the enclave since 2008, killing thousands of Gazans and shattering the impoverished territory's already poor infrastructure.

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Car bomb attack claims lives of 15 people in Somali capital

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019 03:10PM

At least 15 people have been killed and several others injured in a car bomb blast on a busy street in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, officials and witnesses say.

The Thursday afternoon explosion on Mogadishu's Maka al-Mukarama road sent a huge cloud of smoke into the sky and destroyed two restaurants and cars parked in the area.

Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan, director of the Aamin Ambulance service, told AFP that 15 people had been killed, as well as several more wounded by the blast.

"The car bomb struck a restaurant along the road," said Abdulahi Osman, who was nearby to the explosion, adding, "This really was a disaster."

Some security officials and witnesses earlier reported bodies lying on the ground. "There was a heavy blast  presumably caused by a vehicle loaded with explosives," said Adan Abdikadir, a government security officer.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

The blast is the latest in a recent string of bombings in the capital, which has regularly been the target of attacks by al-Shabab terrorists.

On Saturday, two explosions and a gunfight between al-Shabab militants and security personnel claimed the lives of at least 15 people in central Mogadishu.

Earlier this month, a deadly car bomb explosion claimed by the Takfiri group hit near the presidential palace in the capital.

The militant outfit was forced out of Mogadishu with the help of African Union forces in 2011. However, it still wields control in large parts of the countryside, and every now and then carries out deadly attacks against government, military, and civilian targets in the capital as well as regional towns.

The terrorist group has fought successive Somali governments as well as neighboring governments in Kenya and Uganda.

Somalia has faced instability and violence since 1991, when the military government was overthrown.

In recent years, the Pentagon has also stepped up airstrikes against alleged positions of al-Shabab militants in the country in the wake of President Donald Trump's approval in 2017 of expanded military operations there.

Since April 2017, the US "has dramatically increased the number of airstrikes - from manned aircraft and unmanned drones - it has launched in Somalia, tripling the annual rate of attacks," according to the report published on Wednesday.

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Russia to keep forces in Venezuela 'as long as needed' despite US call for removal

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019

Russia says it will keep the roughly 100 servicemen it sent to Venezuela over the weekend, despite the US call for their removal.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the forces would remain in the Latin American country "for as long as needed."

A Russian Air Force Antonov-124 cargo plane and a smaller Ilyushin Il-62 passenger jet brought the troops to Venezuela's main airport outside the capital Caracas on Saturday.

"The presence of Russian specialists on Venezuelan territory is regulated by an agreement between the Russian and Venezuelan governments on military and technical cooperation that was signed in May 2001," Zakharova said, adding, "Neither Russia nor Venezuela are provinces of the United States."

In recent months, tensions have increased between Caracas and Washington with the US imposing sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as well as his government.

In January, the US took the lead in recognizing Juan Guaido as Venezuela's president after the head of the opposition-ruled Congress named himself the country's interim chief executive. Washington has been pressuring other countries into following suit and has not ruled out using the military option to oust the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

US President Donald Trump also recently received Guaido's wife at the White House.

Russia, China, and Cuba, however, back Maduro's government in the face of the US pressure.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Washington of trying to "organize a coup d'etat" in Venezuela.

Venezuela's military attache in Moscow was quoted by AFP as saying on Thursday that Russian troops were in the country under an agreement on military and technical cooperation and not to carry out a military operation.

"As for the presence of Russian specialists, we are talking about cooperation, military and technical cooperation," the attache, Jose Rafael Torrealba Perez said, adding, "We are absolutely not talking about Russia's military presence to carry out military operations."

On Tuesday, Zakharova confirmed and defended sending military experts to Venezuela, saying the dispatch is based on a military-technical cooperation agreement signed by the two countries in 2001.

Asked to comment on earlier reports about the arrival of two Russian planes in Venezuela, Zakharova said military experts had been dispatched to Venezuela under a bilateral agreement inked 18 years ago.

"The Russian Federation develops its cooperation with Venezuela in strict compliance with the constitution of this country and with full respect to its legislative norms. Russian [military] specialists' presence on the territory of Venezuela is regulated by the defense cooperation agreement that the Russian and the Venezuelan governments signed in May 2001," she said.

Russian troops 'no source of threat'

Elsewhere in her remarks, Zakharova also spurned allegations that the Russian military presence in Venezuela posed a threat to the region.

"Russia is not changing the balance of power in the region, Russia is not threatening anyone unlike citizens in Washington," she told reporters.

Referring to comments by Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who have respectively called for Russia to leave Venezuela, and vowed that Washington would try to end "Russian influence" in the Latin American country, Zakharova said, "Neither Russia nor Venezuela are provinces of the United States."

The Kremlin also said on Thursday that Washington should not "worry" about Moscow's relations with Venezuela, urging the United States to allow the crisis-stricken country to determine its own fate.

"We don't think that third countries should worry about our bilateral ties," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding, "We are not interfering in Venezuela's domestic affairs in any way and we expect third countries to follow our example and allow Venezuelans to decide their fate themselves."

Peskov added that Russian military specialists are in Venezuela to service pre-existing contracts for the supply of Russian arms.

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Pakistan Dismisses Indian Terror Dossier Handed Over After Kashmir Attack

March 28, 2019

Islamabad has dismissed a dossier handed over by New Delhi in the wake of a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last month that brought the neighbors to the brink of war, saying that the allegation Pakistan-based militants were involved was unsubstantiated.

India alleges that Islamabad had a hand in the February suicide bombing in which 40 paramilitary personnel were killed. Pakistan, long accused by India of using militant proxies in disputed Kashmir, denies playing any role.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on March 28 that India had provided Islamabad with a list of 90 individuals suspected of belonging to banned organizations with militant links and 22 locations of alleged militant training camps.

The ministry said that 54 individuals detained during an apparent crackdown against militant groups based on its soil were being investigated and that "no details linking them to [the attack] have been found so far."

"Similarly, the 22 pin locations shared by India have been examined. No such camps exist," it added.

Tensions between two nuclear-armed neighbors soared after the February 14 suicide bombing, which was claimed by the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

Both countries carried out aerial bombing missions on each other's soil and their warplanes also fought a brief dogfight over Kashmir's skies.

Tensions later cooled and Pakistan handed back a captured Indian pilot.

The two neighbors have a history of bitter relations since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

The rivals have fought three wars, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, where the two sides still regularly exchange fire.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-dismisses-indian- terror-dossier-kashmir-attack/29847405.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.

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Russia Says It's 'Not A Threat' After Troops Land In Venezuela

By RFE/RL March 28, 2019

Moscow says the arrival of Russian soldiers in Venezuela does not present a threat to anyone, after U.S. President Donald Trump called on Russia to withdraw its troops from the South American country and warned that "all options" were open to achieve that..

"Russia is not changing the balance of power in the region, Russia is not threatening anyone, unlike [officials] in Washington," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told journalists on March 28.

Zakharova said that the "Russian specialists" were sent to Venezuela under a military cooperation deal, adding they would remain in the country "for as long as needed."

Two Russian military planes landed outside Caracas on March 23, carrying nearly 100 Russian military personnel.

The move came amid a diplomatic confrontation between Washington and Moscow over a push by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to try to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro.

The United States and more than 50 other countries have recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim president.

Russia, which has made billions in investments in the Latin American country, has remained a staunch ally of Maduro.

"Russia has to get out," Trump told reporters at the White House on March 27.

Asked how he would make Russian forces leave, Trump said: "We'll see. All options are open."

Vice President Mike Pence called the arrival of the Russian military planes in Caracas an "unwelcome provocation."

The U.S. government believes the Russian troops include special forces and cybersecurity experts.

Venezuela's military attache in Moscow, Jose Rafael Torrealba Perez, said on March 28 that the Russians will not take part in military operations.

He also said that Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez is expected to visit Moscow next month as part of the cooperation between the two countries.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-says-not-a-threat -after-troops-land-in-venezuela/29847528.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.

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European Lawmakers Again Back Visa Liberalization For Kosovars

By Rikard Jozwiak March 28, 2019

BRUSSELS  The European Parliament has once again backed visa liberalization for citizens of Kosovo in an attempt to put pressure on reluctant EU member states.

A total of 331 lawmakers on March 28 voted in favor, 126 against, and 12 abstaining.

The chamber held a similar vote in September 2018, but the issue remains contentious in the European Council.

Sources in Brussels have told RFE/RL under condition of anonymity that France and the Netherlands are especially reluctant to grant the council a mandate to negotiate with parliament on visa liberalization for Kosovars.

The council is not expected to discuss the matter during Romania's EU presidency, which finishes at the end of June, they also said.

During a debate on the issue on March 27, the rapporteur on the file, Slovenian lawmaker Tanja Fajon, slammed the council for dragging its feet and asked: "Why didn't they put it on the agenda and when are they planning to put it on the agenda? We are losingcredibility."

Kosovo remains the only country in the Western Balkans whose citizens still need a visa to travel to the EU.

Visas were abolished for the citizens of Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia in 2009 and for Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2010.

Once the European Parliament and the European Council reach a deal on the visa waiver, Kosovar citizens will be able to enter the bloc without a visa for 90 days in any 180-day period if they hold a biometric passport.

The waiver applies to all EU countries apart from Britain and Ireland but includes non-EU states such as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/european-lawmakers-again-back-visa- liberalization-for-kosovars/29847835.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.

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Central Mali: Top UN genocide prevention official sounds alarm over recent ethnically-targeted killings

28 March 2019 - The United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, expressed on Thursday his deepest concern and strongly condemned recent attacks against villages in Mali, including mass-killings last weekend in the Mopti region, which left 160 dead, including some 50 children, according to the UN human rights office (OHCHR).

The assault on the villages of Ogossagou and Welingara, populated with people from the Peulh  or Fulani  ethnic group took place on Saturday 23 March. In addition to the killings, at least 70 were injured, allegedly by members of the Dogon ethnic group. It was the fourth major attack since the start of the year against villages populated by Peulhs/Fulanis. On 1 January, in Kolougon, at least 37 women, children and men were killed during the day.

The UN independent human rights expert mandated with monitoring the situation in Mali, Alioune Tine, said in a statement that he also received reports that, on 26 March, suspected Fulani armed elements two Dogon hamlets, Ouadou and Kere Kere, killing at least six people, abducting about 20 people, and burning several homes.

Mr. Tine noted that since January 2019 there had been reports of at least 22 incidents of human rights violations by community-based self-defense groups, which had resulted in the deaths of at least 230 people.

The UN prevention of genocide office confirmed "a serious upsurge in inter-communal violence as well as negative impact of counter-terrorism operations conducted by community-based armed groups on the civilian populations in the region".

The office further noted that "there is growing ethnicization of the conflict in central Mali, in which entire communities are being stigmatized as terrorists or as affiliates of armed groups".

The community-based armed groups and other armed actors have been carrying out targeted attacks against civilians in the context of the fight against terrorism, committing "serious violations and abuses of human rights including killings, destruction of property, arbitrary detention and de facto embargos on villages, restricting movement of civilian populations," the UN genocide prevention office stated.

The statement deplored that these developments and dynamics are "not sufficiently recognized neither by national authorities nor by the international community, who are focusing mostly on the peace process in the North and on the threat posed by jihadist movements".

"Over the recent months, violence has reached unprecedented level amid retaliatory attacks and serious violations of human rights in central Mali impacting on all communities," Special Advisor Dieng said. "Unless these concerns are immediately addressed, there is a high risk of further escalation of the situation in which atrocity crimes could be committed," he warned.

To prevent further escalation of violence, Mr. Dieng urged the Malian Government  with the support of the international community, and the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MINUSMA  to immediately address the current grave upsurge of violence in central Mali and to provide, with no further delay, protection as well as assistance to vulnerable population.

"I call on the Malian government to urgently investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the recent attacks as well as those responsible for serious violations and abuses of human rights." he said, adding that the authorities and all Malians should "prevent and refrain from stigmatizing entire communities".

The UN office on the prevention of genocide said it stands ready to provide support to local reconciliation and inter-communal dialogue processes, with the aim of promoting inclusivity, strengthening resilience and social cohesion.

Human rights expert Alioune Tine also called for "a thorough, prompt and impartial investigation and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. The protection of lives and the well-being of civilians is at stake."

"It is crucial that these inter-communal tensions, and this cycle of violence, are addressed urgently if the risk of crimes against humanity is to be averted," he insisted.

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10 Million Afghans Need Urgent Help After Floods, Drought

By Ayaz Gul March 28, 2019

An estimated 10 million people in Afghanistan, more than a quarter of its population, are facing "severe acute" food insecurity and are in need of urgent "life-saving" humanitarian assistance in the wake of recent floods and drought, warns an international relief agency.

Three years of drought have contributed to massive crop failure, economic hardship, hunger and loss of life, and forced 266,000 people from their homes, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in a statement issued Thursday.

In the outgoing month of March, it noted, extreme weather deepened extreme hardship, when above normal rain and snow fell on soil with limited vegetation or ability to soak up the water, bringing flash floods to nine provinces in Afghanistan. The calamity killed 63 people and displaced at least 281,000 to makeshift camps with inadequate services.

Rising temperatures due to climate change are increasing the hardship for Afghans because they are leading to changes in snowmelt, and rainfall is getting more erratic, with an increased risk of floods and droughts in a country where repeated disasters and ongoing conflict have eroded the people's capacity to cope, the agency said.

"The floods should be the wake-up call that triggers a massive investment to help people who at the moment are out of sight in an under-estimated, silent crisis with limited access by humanitarian agencies or media," said Ariel Kestens, IFRC country chief.

"They are out of reach because of conflict and out of scope because this is a large, slow-onset disaster, and because many people in need are displaced by disaster," Kestens added.

Aid workers note that across many parts of Afghanistan, people suffer from a lack of safe water, proper sanitation and healthcare, which contribute to catastrophic levels of malnutrition.

The United States this week also announced more than $61 million in additional humanitarian assistance for providing emergency food assistance, nutrition services, hygiene kits, safe drinking water, access to latrines and protection for people in the worst affected Afghan regions.

The U.S. has provided more than $293 million in financial relief to the crisis-hit country since the fiscal year 2018, making it the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance. Washington has recently also stepped up diplomatic efforts to seek a political settlement to the conflict with the Taliban.

Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of the 18-year-old war that continues to kill and injure record numbers of civilians and displace tens of thousands of families.

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Human Rights Watch Blasts Cameroon; Military Rejects 'Biased' Report

By Moki Edwin Kindzeka March 28, 2019

A new report from Human Rights Watch says Cameroon's military has killed scores of people and burned down hundreds of homes in its campaign against separatists in the country's Anglophone regions. Cameroon is rejecting the report as grossly biased.

Government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi read a communique on Cameroon state radio CRTV, saying troops fighting separatists in the country's northwest and southwest regions have remained professional in protecting its citizens.

The communique said although soldiers in the English-speaking regions have been victims of relentless attacks from separatist forces, they have not stopped protecting people and their property. It added that in no situation have the forces torched houses or indiscriminately shot at citizens.

The acts of bravery and patriotism exhibited by the soldiers is exemplary, the communique stated.

That message has been repeated over and over in reaction to the latest report from Humans Rights Watch, which accuses Cameroon's military of killing scores of civilians, using indiscriminate force, and torching hundreds of homes over the past six months.

The report said that in one case, Cameroonian security forces attacked the village of Abuh in the northwest region and burned an entire neighborhood to the ground. It included satellite images and photographs as evidence.

Separatist violence

The report also said armed separatists have assaulted and kidnapped dozens of people, executing at least two men amid intensifying violence and growing calls for secession of the northwest and southwest regions.

All kidnap victims were released, most after a ransom was paid, according to the report.

Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior central African researcher for Human Rights Watch, said since October, at least 170 civilians have been killed in more than 220 incidents in the two regions.

"We have accounts from victims with material evidence, including photographic and video evidence, satellite imagery, showing the destruction of homes and also medical records," she said. "Ahead of the publication of this report we have also shared our findings with the government. And we have sought its response which we have incorporated. Nevertheless we do maintain our independence and impartiality."

Allegrozzi said Cameroon government should respect human rights instead of complaining about the report.

"We understand that the government might not share all our findings," she added, "but we firmly stand by these findings and we stand by the victims of abuses we documented and whose rights we want to see protected."

Yvonne Mumah Bih, a civil society activist in Cameroon, also said the military is committing abuses.

"To tell you how deep this problem is," she said, "look at the number of youths that have lost their lives. Should we continue in that order? I say no. Why has it become a situation where civilians are killed? It is time we talked of humanizing the military."

Human Rights Watch is calling on both the government and the separatists to restore the rule of law and bring peace that has been absent from the English-speaking regions of Cameroon for three years.

The unrest began in 2016 when English-speaking teachers and lawyers demonstrated against the growing dominance of French in the officially bilingual country.

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12 Killed in Mogadishu Restaurant Blast

By Mohamed Olad Hassan March 28, 2019

At least 12 people were killed and more than 20 others injured when a car bomb exploded Thursday outside a restaurant in Somalia's capital.

Witnesses tell VOA's Somali service the blast occurred outside the front door of a restaurant along Maka Al-Mukarama road, Mogadishu's busiest street.

"An explosive-laden vehicle was parked in a line of vehicles in front of the Bilsan restaurant, which was busy and at lunch time" said a witness who asked for anonymity.

"The roof of the restaurant collapsed with many people inside, I am not sure what has happened there and how many people were inside, but I can confirm six dead bodies lying the front street," the witness said.

Authorities of Mogadishu's ambulance services said at least six other people injured in the blast died on their way to hospitals.

There was no immediately claim of responsibility, but the attack bore the hallmarks of militant group al-Shabab, which frequently attacks hotels and restaurants in Mogadishu.

On Saturday, Shabab fighters stormed a government building in the capital and killed at least 15 people.

A surge in Shabab attacks and reports of suspected attacks have put Mogadishu residents on edge. Some analysts attribute the anxiety to the fact that a large number of militants fleeing from U.S. airstrikes on their rural bases have fled to Mogadishu.

Earlier, the U.S. Embassy in Somalia's neighbor Djibouti reported a security incident at Camp Lemonnier, the U.S. military base in Djibouti.

A spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command tells VOA there was a report of a suspicious package outside the installation.

"Camp personnel responded and determined there was no threat," said Major Karl Wiest. "Normal operations have resumed."

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Somalia Not Ready for Massive Refugee Return, UN Warns

By Lisa Schlein March 28, 2019

The U.N. refugee agency has warned that a large-scale return of refugees from Kenya's Dadaab camp could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in parts of Somalia.

UNHCR said it was aware of Kenya's recently renewed call to close the Dadaab refugee camp, which houses 230,000 people. Dana Hughes, the agency's senior regional spokesperson for East Africa, noted that this had happened before.

As in the past, she said, the UNHCR continues to work with the Kenyan government to implement a long-term, sustainable solution for the refugees. These steps include resettlement in third countries, family reunification, and relocation of some refugees in other parts of the country.

She said returns could occur relatively safely in some areas of Somalia. But, speaking by phone from Uganda, she told VOA that in most cases, repatriation is too dangerous to consider now.

"Most of the areas that the refugees from Dadaab come from cannot be considered stable for any kind of large-scale returns, and in fact it could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis that exists in those parts of Somalia," Hughes said.

Some safe spots

Hughes said African Union and other forces had largely established peace in 12 areas in Somalia, and that UNHCR continued to assist people who voluntarily wanted to return there. She noted that more than 82,000 refugees from Dadaab had gone back since 2014.

But in general, she said, large parts of Somalia are not ready for the massive return of refugees.

"While Somalia has made some progress in development over the last few years, it still is a country that has had decades of war, which means decades of a lack of infrastructure, and still is rebuilding itself," Hughes said. "And so, of course, any large-scale returns would not aid the stability that Somalia is trying to build."

Hughes said the UNHCR was thankful to Kenya for its generosity in hosting the Somali refugees for decades despite the toll it has taken on the environment and other aspects of life. She said her agency was having discussions with Kenyan authorities about the possible closure of the Dadaab camp.

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Pakistan Seeks More Proof From India in Kashmir Attack Probe

By Ayaz Gul March 28, 2019

Pakistan said Wednesday it has sought more evidence from India to determine whether any Pakistani nationals had played a role in last month's deadly Kashmir bombing that pushed the nuclear-armed rival nations to the brink of war.

New Delhi submitted its dossier of evidence to Islamabad a month ago, linking the Pakistan-based outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant organization to the Feb. 14 suicide car bomb attack in the Pulwama district.

The blast killed more than 40 Indian security forces, making it the deadliest attack in the disputed Himalayan region, and dangerously escalating bilateral military tensions.

"The government of Pakistan has shared preliminary findings with the government of India after examining the Indian report on the Pulwama incident," said a Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement.

The information was shared with the Indian high commissioner, who was called to the ministry. The statement noted that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had offered cooperation in the investigation if India provided credible evidence.

"Pakistan has acted with a high sense of responsibility and extended full cooperation. We do so in the interest of regional peace and security. We have sought further information/evidence from India to take the process forward," it said. The ministry gave no further details, nor did it elaborate on the nature of information sought from India.

The Indian dossier contained names of the JeM chief, Maulana Masood Azhar, and several of his associates, along with "specific details of JeM's complicity in the Pulwama terror attack and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan," according to officials in New Delhi.

Sources privy to Pakistan's investigation into the dossier said it listed a "few telephone numbers and WhatsApp IDs," but those could not be linked to "the Pulwama incident."

India has long accused Pakistan of harboring militants who stage cross-border attacks and fuel a Muslim insurgency in Kashmir  charges Islamabad rejects.

Cross-border raid

Just days after the deadly Pulwama attack, New Delhi demanded Islamabad take action against the JeM leadership and vowed to punish the neighboring country.

On Feb. 26, Indian fighter planes carried out a cross-border raid deep inside Pakistan against what it alleged were JeM training camps. Islamabad rejected the assertions as baseless and condemned the violation of its airspace by India.

Pakistan undertook a retaliatory military action the following day, shooting down an Indian aircraft in a dogfight with Pakistani planes and capturing its pilot.

Islamabad sent the Indian pilot back two days later, though the militaries of both countries have since routinely clashed along the Line of Control, which separates the Indian and Pakistani portions of Kashmir.

The Pakistani response fueled fears that a wider conflict could erupt between the two countries, prompting major powers such as the United States, China, Russia and other regional countries to intervene and ease the tensions.

Pakistani crackdown

In recent days, Pakistan has intensified a crackdown against JeM and other militant groups outlawed by the United Nations and the United States. Pakistani authorities have seized hundreds of facilities, including education institutions and health care units run by militant groups, including JeM, that India blames for plotting cross-border attacks.

Islamabad, however, insists the crackdown is not the outcome of any external pressure but an ongoing process as part of efforts to fight terrorism and extremism in Pakistan.

More than a month after Indian planes carried out cross-border airstrikes, Pakistan's airspace remains blocked for flights to and from India. Pakistani officials cite the possibility of another "aggression" from the neighboring country for not opening the airspace.

Both countries claim the disputed territory in its entirety and have fought two of three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

The United States, Britain and France, together with India earlier this month, moved a resolution in the United Nations Security Council designating JeM chief Azhar a global terrorist.

But Pakistan's close ally, China, blocked the move, saying it had conducted a "comprehensive and thorough evaluation" but still needed more time to consider the proposal. Beijing has previously prevented Azhar's placement on the list of global terrorists.

Washington is said to have circulated Wednesday a new resolution, drafted with British and French support, to the 15-member UNSC to seek the blacklisting of Azhar.

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Maduro Government Bans Guaido From Holding Office for 15 Years

By Ken Bredemeier March 28, 2019

The Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro said Thursday that it had stripped opposition leader Juan Guaido of the right to hold public office for 15 years, a sharp escalation of the political unrest in the South American country.

But soon after the announcement on state television, Guaido said, "We're going to continue in the streets" to protest Maduro's hold on power.

Guaido, the leader of Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly, is recognized by the U.S. and 50 other countries as the nation's interim president, but Maduro has clung to power amid power blackouts, street demonstrations led by Guaido, widespread poverty and frequent condemnation of his rule from world leaders.

The political ban against Guaido was announced by Auditor General Elvis Amoroso. He said Guaido, who invoked the country's constitution in January to assume the interim presidency, had inconsistencies in his personal financial disclosures and was spending more than his income would seem to allow.

Guaido has said he expects continued efforts by Maduro to try to block him from assuming outright control of the government.

The United Nations has estimated that about a quarter of Venezuelans need humanitarian assistance, including food and basic services.

Maduro, who is backed by Russia, has said no crisis exists and blames U.S. sanctions for the country's moribund economy.

Russia sent about 100 military personnel to Venezuela last weekend and 35 tons of cargo in support of Maduro. Moscow has ignored U.S. demands that it send the servicemen back home.

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Yemen: Over 190 Saudis killed, injured in Saada

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 29, IRNA -- Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman announced Thursday that at least 190 Saudi forces have been killed or injured in Saada.

According to the Yemeni media 'Al-Masirah', Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the Yemeni forces foiled Saudi coalition attacks in Baqim District killing 90 forces and injuring at least 100 more.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni forces cleansed Naseh heights from the 100 Saudi coalition forces, he added.

He went on to say that in an operation in Dhale Province, at least 250 Saudis were killed or injured.

This is while, the Yemeni missile unit targeted Saudis' positions in Najran with Zelzal-1 missile.

The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2451 to support the Stockholm Agreement on deployment of a team in order to facilitate monitoring and implementing the Agreement and establishing truce in important Yemeni ports.

The resolution mainly focuses on sending essential commodities to the Yemeni people, supporting the Stockholm Agreement, assigning the Secretary-General of the United Nations to implement it and observing the ceasefire.

The fourth round of Yemen peace talks kicked off in Stockholm, Sweden on December 6 with the attendance of UN and the government representatives. It agreed to establish truce in Yemeni ports of al-Hudaydah, al-Salif and Ayn Issa.

Saudi Arabia and its regional allies attacked Yemen in March 2015 to bring back to power the deposed president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

Since then, the invaders have committed horrible war crimes against Yemeni civilians.

9376**1424

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Terrorist Financing Targeting Center Hosts Exercise on Disrupting Illicit Finance

March 27, 2019

Gulf Partners Focused on Countering Malign Iranian Activity, Building Capacity

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) this week convened a regional capacity-building workshop in Riyadh focused on Iranian illicit finance schemes and the risks Iran poses to the international financial system. The TFTC, launched in 2017, is a multilateral effort among the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman to counter terrorist financing.

During the exercise, member countries were presented with a series of case studies that highlight Iran-related illicit finance and sanctions evasion schemes. Iran deploys these tactics to skirt efforts to detect, deter, and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing in countries around the world. Participants worked through best practices and steps their governments have taken or could take to further disrupt the Iranian regime's malign activities.

TFTC member states also offered expert guidance for complying with United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) international standards. Discussions focused on key efforts to counter the financing of weapons of mass destruction proliferation, vulnerabilities of general trading companies, and strengthening financial transparency in the private sector through customer due diligence and other preventive measures. Participants also discussed the importance of effectively regulating and supervising digital asset financial activities and related digital currency providers for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).

The capacity-building workshop helps to advance the core TFTC mission of disrupting the flow of illicit funds to terrorists and terrorist organizations. Member states will take the lessons learned back to their countries to help identify ways they can strengthen their sanction regimes, close vulnerabilities, and work more efficiently together to fight terrorist financing.

####

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UNSC ratifies resolution to counter financing terrorism

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New York, March 28, IRNA -- The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday passed a resolution to counter financing terrorism.

The UNSC meeting was chaired by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian ad has gained 15 votes in favor.

The resolution reaffirms its resolution 1373 (2001) and in particular its decisions that all States shall prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts and refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, including by suppressing recruitment of members of terrorist groups and eliminating the supply of weapons to terrorists.

It also emphasizes its decision in resolution 1373 that all Member States shall criminalize the willful provision or collection, by any means, directly or indirectly, of funds by their nationals or in their territories with the intention that the funds should be used, or in the knowledge that they are to be used, in order to carry out terrorist acts; and its decision in resolution 2178 that all Member States shall establish serious criminal offenses regarding the travel, recruitment, and financing of foreign terrorist fighters.

Meanwhile the resolution strongly urges all States to implement the comprehensive international standards embodied in the revised Forty FATF Recommendations on Combating Money Laundering, and the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation and its interpretive notes.

The UNSC resolution stresses the need for robust implementation of the measures outlined in paragraph 1 of resolution 2368 (2017) and urges all States to participate actively in implementing and updating the ISIL (Daesh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions List and to consider including, when submitting new listing requests, individuals and entities involved in the financing of terrorism.

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Landmark terror finance resolution adopted by Security Council

28 March 2019 - The UN is hailing a new Security Council resolution adopted on Thursday as a landmark step in suppressing the funding of terror groups worldwide.

Speaking via video-link from Rome, where he has been meeting specialist Italian law enforcement officials to discuss building closer ties to tackle the problem; The UN's counter-terrorism chief, Vladimir Voronkov, said that the adoption comes at a "critical time," with recent attacks demonstrating that terror groups continue to have access to both legal and illegal sources of funding.

Underscoring the necessity for strong collaboration and targeted efforts, in order to achieve "concrete results" in the fight against terrorism and terrorist financing, Mr. Voronkov said that Resolution 2462 on Countering the Financing of Terrorism, pulls together previous resolutions to create a consolidated document that also covers several key emerging issues.

The resolution calls for the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)  set up in 2017 to strengthen the Organization's ability to implement s global counter-terrorism strategy  to play a leading role in identifying ways to suppress terrorist financing.

Mr. Voronkov identified three priorities. The first concerns expanding the focus of the UNOCT to cover intelligence sharing, risk assessments and public-private partnerships; the second points to system-wide awareness-raising and the development of a comprehensive approach to the problem.

The UNOCT's third priority is to work closely with the Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body which sets standards for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international finance system; and regional regulators.

Marshall Billingslea, President of the Financial Action Task Force, and Mercy Buku, an expert in the countering of terrorist financing, also briefed the Security Council on the subject. Mr. Billingslea welcomed the fact that the new resolution calls on States to do more to prevent ransom payments to terrorists, which, he said, incentivizes them to continue using kidnapping as an important revenue stream.

He also noted that, currently, two-thirds of States are not effectively prosecuting terrorist financing, which extends well beyond the banking and financing sectors, to include construction, drug trafficking and even the used car trade.

Ms. Buku, speaking via video-link from Nairobi, where, she said, the consequences of recent terror attacks are fresh in the minds of citizens, hailed the adoption of the resolution as "timely" in promoting the fight against terrorism, terrorist financing and money-laundering, but pointed out that the fight must not adversely affect financial inclusion initiatives, that enable access to banking services, and seek to reduce poverty and inequality.



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Pakistan, China Slam Fresh US Anti-Terror Move in UN

By Ayaz Gul March 28, 2019

China and Pakistan are criticizing the United States for bypassing established mechanisms and submitting a draft resolution directly in the United Nations Security Council to push for outlawing a Pakistani extremist leader.

Washington circulated the resolution to the 15-member council on Wednesday with the support of France and Britain to designate Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), a global terrorist.

The move came two weeks after Beijing blocked a similar U.S.-sponsored resolution at the U.N. anti-terrorism "1267 sanctions committee", which China insists is the authorized U.N. body to deal by consensus with the listing issues.

Chinese officials at the time defended their placement of a "technical hold" on the resolution to allow for further discussions and dialogue to settle the issue.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang while responding to the latest move at a news conference in Beijing urged Washington to "act cautiously and avoid "forcefully" moving forward the draft resolution.

"This is not in line with resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations. This has reduced the authority of the committee as a main anti-terrorism body of the UNSC and this is not conducive to the solidarity and only complicates the issue," said Geng.

China, a strong ally of Pakistan, had also prevented the committee from sanctioning Azhar in 2016 and 2017.

The anti-India JeM, already listed as a global terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for a February 14 suicide car bombing in Kashmir that killed more than 41 Indian paramilitary forces, making it the deadliest ever assault in the disputed region. The violence dangerously escalated military tensions and almost pushed nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of another war.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal told his weekly news conference in Islamabad that "we regret" the United States has circulated the resolution in the UNSC at time when the matter was already under consideration at the sanctions committee.

"Such efforts to circumvent the established machinery for this purpose will only weaken the 1267 regime... Any action outside the committee will undermine the integrity of the sanctions regime and must be avoided. Pakistan remains committed to fulfil its obligations under the U.N. sanctions committee," Faisal stressed.

The spokesman also said that Islamabad's own investigation based on a dossier of evidence handed over by New Delhi about the February 14 bombing in Kashmir's Pulwama district found no "linkage of Pakistan" with the attack.

Faisal also dismissed the Indian dossier as mostly compilation of "social media content", though he maintained that Pakistan was ready to carry forward the investigation process if it receives fresh evidence from India linking Pakistani elements with the Pulwama attack.

Islamabad has consistently denied playing any role in the violence or allowing anyone to use Pakistani soil for such actions. The bombing in the Indian part of disputed Kashmir prompted both countries to carry out aerial strikes on each other's soil and led to a brief dogfight between their warplanes, raising fears of a wider conflict in the region.

The tensions cooled down due to diplomatic interventions by major powers such as the United States, China, Russia and regional allies, particularly Saudi Arabia.

Authorities in Pakistan say a crackdown on militant groups, including JeM, in recent weeks has arrested scores of suspects and seized hundreds of facilities linked to proscribed organizations in the country. Islamabad rejects charges any outside pressure is behind the move.

But India, and even some critics at home, remain skeptical of Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts, saying some of the groups, including JeM, allegedly are backed by the country's military and previous pledges to dismantle these organizations did not produce the desired results.

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Don't Make A 'Mess' In Space, U.S. Warns Countries After Indian Test Launch

March 28, 2019

India says it has successfully test-fired an antisatellite weapon in a move that brought a warning from the United States that countries around the world should avoid making a "mess" in space from all the debris.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a live broadcast on March 27 that Indian scientists had destroyed one of the country's own satellites in low-Earth orbit with a missile, highlighting its position as a "space power" along with the United States, Russia, and China.

"Our scientists shot down a live satellite 300 kilometers away in space, in low-Earth orbit," Modi said.

"India has made an unprecedented achievement today. India registered its name as a space power."

Later, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan warned any nations contemplating such antisatellite weapons tests that they risked making a "mess" in space because of the debris fields they can leave behind.

"My message would be: We all live in space, let's not make it a mess. Space should be a place where we can conduct business.

"Space is a place where people should have the freedom to operate," Shanahan said.

Shanahan said the United States was still studying the effects of the Indian missile test.

Experts say that antisatellite weapons that blast apart targets can create a space hazard by the formation of a cloud of fragments that can collide with other objects in orbit.

India's Foreign Ministry played down the risk, saying impact occurred in low-Earth orbit and that the fragments would "decay and fall

back on to the Earth within weeks.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/don-t-make-a-mess- in-space-u-s-warns-countries-after- indian-test-launch/29846973.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.

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Ground Force tests proficiency of top officers

People's Daily Online

(China Daily) 17:02, March 28, 2019

Military expects exam will improve skills, increase combat readiness

More than 200 major generals of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force simultaneously took part in a recent examination held across the nation, marking the Ground Force's first large-scale test of its high-ranking commanders.

The examination was arranged by the Ground Force headquarters and was held earlier this month in seven locations - Beijing, Fuzhou, Nanning, Lanzhou, Jinan, Urumqi and Lhasa. The largest test site was at the Ground Force Academy of Armored Forces in Beijing with 52 examinees, according to a statement from the Ground Force.

Experts from PLA National Defense University and inspectors from the Ground Force's disciplinary committee supervised the examination.

Participants were mostly made up of major generals and some senior colonels - commanding officers from departments under the Ground Force headquarters, academies, schools, regional branches and training and test bases.

The examination was designed to check and hone the generals' capabilities in organizing training and commanding their troops. The results will be taken into consideration when it comes to promotion or commendation, the statement said. It added that the Ground Force wanted to use this examination to strengthen the notion that commanding officers must take the lead in combat readiness training.

Lu Chuangang, assistant to the Ground Force's chief of staff, said the examination's content included theory, strategy and command skills. Participants were given different tasks in different areas, and were told to analyze their respective situations, determine goals, make plans for troop deployment and develop combat schedules, according to Zhou Bingyi, director of the operations bureau of the Ground Force's staff department.

Zhou said participants had already taken part in tests on firearm usage and physical strength hosted by their own units before the examination.

"The capabilities of these commanding officers determine whether their troops will be well trained," Zhou said. "We hope such examinations will help improve the competence of commanders and consequently boost the combat capabilities and preparedness of their units."

Xie Zenggang, commander of the 83rd Group Army who took the examination, was quoted by China National Radio as saying that it had broadened his horizons and enabled him to gain a higher strategic perspective that can be used in planning future operations.

"It also reminded me of the necessity that as a commander, I not only need to take into consideration joint operations by various services in the PLA but also to think about joint campaigns with foreign militaries," he said.

In June, the Ground Force organized a test for commanders of its 13 group armies - its largest combat units. Since the start of this year, the Ground Force has conducted a wide range of examinations for almost all of its members to verify their professional knowledge and skills.

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US accusations of China's Xinjiang policies based on lies: FM

Global Times

Source:Global Times Published: 2019/3/28 22:03:41

Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that China will never accept the US' groundless accusations based on lies about China's Xinjiang affairs, as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China's policies on the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a routine press conference on Thursday that "Xinjiang affairs are an absolute China's domestic affairs."

Xinjiang's society is stable; Xinjiang's economic development is trending well; different ethnic groups in Xinjiang are living in harmony; the degree of satisfaction and sense of safety among Xinjiang's people has greatly improved, Geng remarked.

According to the Voice of America on Tuesday, Pompeo described China's policies on Xinjiang with the words "tragic" and "abhorrent" while answering a question after a meeting with a so-called "survivor and relatives" from "the detention camps" in Xinjiang.

"Building vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang is a preventive measure based on the need for counter-terrorism, and this is totally legitimate and has won the support from people of different ethnic groups," Geng said.

The facts have shown that vocational education and training centers are not "re-education camps" [or detention camps] claimed by the US and other Western countries, and US politicians' statements on Xinjiang are extremely ridiculous, which is a gross interference in China's internal affairs, Geng noted. "The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposes the US' accusation, and has already made solemn representations to the US."

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US Envoy to Iran: More Sanctions, No New Oil Waivers

By Nike Ching March 27, 2019

The United States will redraw government maps consistent with Washington's decision to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The move comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Monday officially granting U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

VOA's State Department correspondent Nike Ching sat down Wednesday with Brian Hook, the State Department's special representative for Iran, to discuss U.S. actions affecting Israel and Iran. The following are excerpts from the interview.

Ching: How will President Trump's executive order change the way the U.S. displays the Golan Heights on its official maps of Israel? What is the time frame that we can expect the maps to be updated?

Hook: The president did sign an executive order recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. We think that this reflects, it's a reflection of reality and the facts on the ground, and the need for Israel to have secure and defensible borders. As a consequence of the executive order, the State Department will be redrawing the official U.S. government maps to recognize this. And those will be released as soon as they are ready.

Ching: Last November, the U.S. issued sanction waivers to eight economies, including Iran's major oil buyers in Asia: China, Korea, India, Japan and Taiwan. The waivers expire in May. Is the U.S. considering extending them?

Hook: The policy of the United States is that we are not looking to grant any new oil waivers. We did have to grant eight oil waivers in order to avoid shocking the global oil markets and causing a dramatic increase in the price of oil. We have taken off roughly 1 million barrels of Iranian crude, and we have avoided a price increase in oil. And that's not an accident. We've done it very well and very carefully. 2019 is going to be a much better market for global oil supply, and the forecasters say that there will be more supply than demand. That gives us much better market conditions to accelerate our path to zero imports. But we have already taken off more than half of Iran's oil exports in just a very few months. The prior administration granted 20 oil waivers to 20 countries over three years. We are down to a handful of countries. There are 23 countries that used to be importing Iranian crude who are now at zero. So, Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo was very committed to that. We don't preview our decisions. The current oil waivers expire on May 2. And so the secretary, in consultation with the president, will make a final decision.

Ching: On Tuesday, the U.S. imposed new sanctions against networks supporting Iran's Revolutionary Guard. What are they, and how are they different from past sanctions?

Hook: You've got three organizations in Iran that are prohibited from accessing the U.S. financial system in order to get money, because these three organizations are engaged in weapons of mass destruction, proliferation and/or terrorism. So, these three organizations  the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, ANSAR bank and the Iran Ministry of Defense  have all been sanctioned.

What Iran did to try to get around our sanctions was they created four front companies. And over the last year and a half, they used these front companies to get $800 million, which then was spent on military vehicles for the Ministry of Defense, and the other money went to funding IRGC operations. Now, the lesson here for nations around the world is that the Iranian regime uses front companies to disguise their true identity. And that's very dangerous for corporations around the world who want to do business with Iran. When you do business with Iran, you never know if you're facilitating commerce, or terrorism, or WMD proliferation. We exposed this vast network of front companies, and now we've sanctioned all of these individuals. Twenty-four or 25 people and organizations were sanctioned.

Ching: There have been talks about why the U.S. does not revoke the visas of the children of Iranian authorities who are studying at U.S. universities or relative who simply live here and work. Is the U.S. prepared to revoke those types of visa as a form of punishment and deterrent to Iran taking dual nationals hostage? What has the State Department done in this regard?"

Hook: We do make exceptions for student visas and exchange visas. We are aware of the question that you talked about. And we are taking a look at our visa policy to figure out.

I mean, part of it is the first responsibility we have is to protect American people. And when you're the leading state sponsored terrorism in the world that has consequences on our visa policy, even though we make exceptions for it. And so there may be other people here who are here because they become American citizens. They married an American--there are a range of categories as to why people are here.

We have heard these concerns, we are taking a look at it. That's as much as I can say now.

Ching: With U.S. sanctions cutting off Iran economically, isn't that, in essence, punishing common people in Iran and creating more anger against the U.S.?

Hook: I get that question a lot from the press. I don't ever get it from the Iranian people. The Iranian people know where to place the blame on their economic troubles, and it's President [Hassan] Rouhani. They know President Rouhani has failed to deliver on his economic promises. It's also the case that for the 40-year history of this regime, they have prioritized their foreign policy over their domestic policy, and they have severely mismanaged their economy. When you look at the standard of living today, in many cases, it's lower than it was before the revolution. The Iranian people know that. They don't confuse us with the Iranian regime. They have run their economy into the ground. They've run their environment into the ground, because they care more about revolution abroad than their own people at home.

Adam Greenbaum contributed to this report.

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FM spox warns US against robbing Iranians' assets

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 28, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman says the US should know that it cannot rob Iranians from their assets by scattering lies.

Bahram Qasemi made the remarks Wednesday night in reaction to Luxemburg court act which rejects US anti-Iran claims over 9/11 incident.

"A Luxembourg court rejected a US request to compensate victims of the Twin Tower attacks by seizing assets from Iran, a country an American court has accused of involvement in the event that killed thousands," Luxembourg Times reported.

"The rule of the US court used to repeal the immunity of the defendants, namely the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Central Bank of Iran, is not compatible with international law," it added.

Speaking to reporters, Qasemi said after a complaint was filed by Central Bank of Iran (CBI) to this effect, Iranian Foreign Ministry and vice presidenct's office for legal affairs took huge efforts in international scales to safeguard Iranians' rights which led to this success.

Undoubtedly the era of US bullying, totalitarianism and attributing baseless allegations against other countries has come to end, he added.

The Luxemburg court's injunction indicates the fact that some courts with independent approaches will still be able to exist in the international community.

US which has spent a lot to provoke world public opinion against an independent country like Iran and has promoted falsifications to exonerate the major elements behind the 9/11 and to distract the public opinion should be aware of the fact that it is not able to rob Iranian's properties, he noted.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Qasemi urged the US President Donald Trump to know that the smart Iranian people are different from those who grant their countries' assets to US to win its support to gain security.

The US which has so far experienced various defeats in legal and political skirmishes against Iran, will face more failures and retreats against Iranians' determination, he noted.

Qasemi reiterated that Iranians will foil all US cruel plots by their intelligence and by the experience of the US repetitive pressures which were out of its hostility.

Earlier, the Governor of Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati said Iran achieved another victory against the US.

He added that in the wake of CBI's complaint and also the efforts made by Iranian Foreign Ministry, vice presidency for legal affairs and also Iranian lawyers, the Luxemburg court annulled the injunction.

The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

Tehran has simultaneously filed a lawsuit against US action with the International Court of Justice [ICJ] and asked for declaring the illegality of US demand and to oblige Washington to put an end to this process.

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Bishkek, Moscow Agree To Expand Russian Base In Kyrgyzstan

By RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service March 28, 2019

BISHKEK -- During Russian President Vladimir Putin's one-day visit to Kyrgyzstan, the sides have agreed to expand the territory of Russia's military base in the Central Asian country by 60 hectares, or 0.6 square kilometers.

According to a protocol placed on Russia's legal documents website, the annual rent for Russia's air base in the northern town of Kant will be increased from $4.5 million to $4.79 million.

Rules concerning the use of drones on the territory of the base will be introduced, the document said. The document did not specify the types of drones the rules refer to.

The the chief of the Kyrgyz armed forces' General Staff, Raiymberdi Duishenbiev, told reporters that the protocol will also allow for the modernization of runways at the military airport in Kant.

The agreement needs to be ratified by the two sides before it enters into force.

Russia's air base in Kant was opened in 2003 under the auspices of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan.

Kyrgyzstan is home to other Russian military facilities: a navy base on Lake Issyk-Kul, a seismology center in the southern town of Mailuu-Suu, and a communication center in the town of Chaldybar near the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border.

In 2012, all four facilities were united in one single entity called the Russian Joint Military Base.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan last month that Moscow was amenable to discussing the idea of opening a second military base in the Central Asian country if Bishkek was interested.

Lavrov's statement came just three days after the Kyrgyz ambassador to Russia, Alikbek Jekshenkulov, said that Kyrgyzstan does not rule out opening a second Russian military base in the south of the country.

Reports and rumors about the possibility that Russia could open a second military base have been circulating in Kyrgyzstan and Russia for months.

A day before Putin's visit, Bishkek police arrested a couple that staged a protest in front the Russian Embassy.

Human rights defender Rita Karasartova told RFE/RL that Nurlan Karymshakov and his wife, Gulnaz Imaeva, were arrested and charged with inciting ethnic hatred after they held posters saying, "Putin is an aggressor, a murderer, an occupant," and "No to Putin's torpedoes in Issyk-Kul! No to bombs!"

At the start of their meeting in Bishkek, Jeenbekov and Putin vowed to develop relations between what the two leaders called two "reliable allies and strategic partners."

Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Jenish Razakov said that 65 bilateral agreements worth of $12 billion are expected to be signed during Putin's visit.

Putin ended his visit by laying flowers at the Eternal Fire memorial in Bishkek honoring Soviet soldiers fallen during World War II.

Russian media reports said Jeenbekov gave Putin two gifts: a horse of the Oryol Trotter breed and a dog of the Kyrgyz breed known as the Taigan.

With reporting by KyrTAG, RIA Novosti, and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-military-base-in-kyrgyzstan-under- focus-at-putin-jeenbekov-talks/29847265.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.

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UN: Saudi Khashoggi investigation falls short of intl. standards

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019

The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Callamard, says Saudi Arabia's so-called investigation into the murder of prominent dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi falls short of international standards.

In November, the kingdom's Public Prosecutor indicted 11 unnamed suspects for the killing, which is believed to have been ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Khashoggi, a US-based Washington Post columnist, disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 last year. He never came out.

On Thursday, Callamard, who is leading an international inquiry into the murder, called on the kingdom to reveal the defendants' names and charges and the fate of 10 others initially arrested, denouncing what she called the lack of transparency of the kingdom's investigation and legal proceedings.

"The Government of Saudi Arabia is grievously mistaken if it believes that these proceedings, as currently constituted, will satisfy the international community, either in terms of procedural fairness under international standards or in terms of the validity of their conclusions," she said in a statement.

"The current proceedings contravene international human rights law according to which the right to a fair trial involves the right to a public hearing," she added.

Senior Saudi officials were "criminally responsible" if they failed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for killing the Washington Post columnist, Callamard noted.

In early January, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said it could not assess the fairness of a trial underway in Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi's murder.

In response to a question about the Saudi prosecutor's demand for the suspects' death penalty, the OHCHR Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the office calls for an independent investigation "with international involvement."

Last month, the UN-led probe concluded that Khashoggi had been the victim of a "brutal and premeditated killing" planned and perpetrated by the kingdom's officials."

Callamard said at that time that Saudi officials had "seriously undermined" and delayed Turkey's efforts to investigate the crime scene at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in October last year.

The UN official noted that they had access only to a part of "chilling and gruesome audio material" of the dissident journalist's death, obtained by the Turkish intelligence agency.

Also in February, Turkish presidential adviser Yasin Aktay told the Turkish NTV broadcaster that "the UN team considers the crown prince of Saudi Arabia the main person responsible for the killing of Khashoggi."

Riyadh, however, has spurned all the allegations linking the killing to bin Salman and instead claimed that the murder has been carried out by a "rogue" group.

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US approves secret sale of nuclear tech to Saudi Arabia

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019 05:40AM

The administration of US President Donald Trump has approved six authorizations that allow American companies to secretly provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear technology or technical assistance, an official document shows.

According to the document, issued by the Department of Energy and seen by Reuters on Wednesday, the firms had requested the US government to keep their approvals secret.

"In this case, each of the companies which received a specific authorization for (Saudi Arabia) have provided us written request that their authorization be withheld from public release," the department's National Nuclear Security Administration wrote in its document.

Meanwhile, a Department of Energy official stressed that the requests contained proprietary information and that the authorizations had gone through a multi-agency approval process.

According to Reuters, an informed source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said that the authorizations let companies do preliminary work on nuclear power ahead of any deal but not ship equipment that would go into a plant.

In a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Representative Brad Sherman urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to release the names of the companies that received the authorizations, accusing the Trump administration of attempting to evade Congress on sharing nuclear power with Riyadh.

"One thing that is in our interest is to prevent Saudi Arabia from getting a nuclear weapon," he said. "What I've seen in this administration recently... is an effort to evade Congress and to some extent evade your department and provide substantial nuclear technology and aid to Saudi Arabia while [Riyadh] refuses to abide by any of the controls we would like to see regarding reprocessing, enrichment."

Many US Congress members are concerned about the provision of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, a destabilizing force under the Salman clan.

Last month, a report by a congressional committee revealed that the Trump administration was trying to bypass Congress to transfer sensitive nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the time decried the US "hypocrisy" over the planned nuclear sale to the Saudi regime.

Last March, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the kingdom would be quick to develop nuclear weapons if Iran  which Riyadh views as its arch rival in the region  did so.

Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, and under a 2015 international deal, it has placed its entire nuclear program under enhanced 24/7 monitoring by the United Nations (UN)'s atomic watchdog. That organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has repeatedly confirmed the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.

With the secret nuclear support of the Trump administration  which is strongly opposed to Iran  reported by Reuters, it is unlikely that Saudi Arabia will allow any meaningful international monitoring of its nuclear work once it is in possession of the technology, augmenting concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation. The Israeli regime, another adversary of Iran, also has a nuclear weapons program not subject to any international monitoring at all mainly due to support from Washington. Under King Salman and his son, Mohammed, Saudi Arabia has been recently cozying up to the Tel Aviv regime.

The Reuters report said Russia and South Korea are competing with the US to secure a nuclear contract with Saudi Arabia.

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Khashoggi murder trials must public and meet international standards, UN expert urges

28 March 2019 - A United Nations human rights expert said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia's closed-door trials of those it accuses of assassinating the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, have fallen short of international standards, calling instead for public trials of the alleged killers.

Agnes Callamard, who is leading an independent human rights inquiry into the killing at the Saudi consulate last October, denounced the lack of transparency of Saudi Arabia's investigation and legal proceedings so far.

Calling the murder "an extrajudicial killing committed in a consulate office on foreign territory," the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions spelled out that "these are not internal, domestic matters".

The Saudi Government is "grievously mistaken", she stated, if it believes that the current proceedings will satisfy the international community "either in terms of procedural fairness under international standards or in terms of the validity of their conclusions".

Initially, Saudi Arabia detained 21 people during its investigation into Mr. Khashoggi's killing, 11 of whom are currently being tried, with five facing the death penalty if convicted.

"The investigation and subsequent prosecution should comply with international legal standards, and that demands the highest levels of transparency and impartiality", she maintained, adding that while the rights of the victim and his family are at stake, "so too are the rights of other States under international treaties and law".

Noting that the Saudi Government has invited representatives of Permanent Members of the Security Council to attend some of the hearings, Ms. Callamard expressed her misgivings that "they risk being participants in a potential miscarriage of justice" and "possibly complicit" should the trials be marred by violations of human rights law.

"They should review their cooperation and insist that the proceedings be made fully open to the public and expert international observers", stressed the Special Rapporteur.

She explained that a credible investigation before a court of law, requires adjudication of the disappearance and murder, based on international human rights law, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and customary law on the sanctity of sovereign territory.

"Thus far", Ms. Callamard observed, "the Saudi authorities have not even disclosed publicly the identities of the accused; their roles in relation to the government or the details of the charges they face, and have held the court proceedings behind closed doors".

The Special Rapporteur said that the Government would "demonstrate its good faith if it opens its efforts to international review."

She concluded by renewing her request for permission to visit that country as part of her "inquiry into the fate and whereabouts of Mr. Khashoggi, to which I would welcome a positive response."

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Trump's Golan move part of 'criminal project': Syria at UN

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 27, 2019 09:41PM

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations has lashed out at US President Donald Trump's recognition of "Israeli sovereignty" over the occupied Golan Heights, describing the move as part of a "criminal project" aimed at prolonging chaos and destruction in the region.

Bashar Jaafari made the remarks at a Wednesday UN Security Council meeting on the situation of Syria in the wake of Trump's Monday decision to recognize "Israeli sovereignty" over the Syrian territories of Golan Heights.

"This is a criminal project or plan for which the US government and its allies have used all tools at their disposal," Jaafari said, adding that the plan is aimed at guaranteeing chaos and destruction in the region, and dividing the people of the region on religious and ethnic basis in order to "build a new reality".

"From the first day of this terrorist war led by governments of certain known countries, we said that the main goal of this war was to ensure Israeli occupation of Arab territories and to ensure that the occupation can go on forever on the basis of the plan put forward by the United States," he said.

The US president's recent decision on the occupied Golan Heights "shows just how correct we were at the time," the Syrian envoy added.

Trump signed a decree recognizing Israeli "sovereignty" over the occupied Golan at the start of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Monday.

Since then, the US has become the subject of a new round of furor by world countries over Trump's controversial decision.

Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Russia, and the European Union were quick to reject Trump's move, which is in obvious contravention of international law.

In a declaration issued on Wednesday, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini's office announced that the bloc "does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights."

Security Council rejects Trump's decision

The Wednesday meeting of the Security Council turned into another stage for the isolation of the US, as other countries on the council opposed Trump's move on the occupied Golan Heights.

British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce told the council that the US decision was in contravention of that 1981 resolution, which declared "null and void and without international legal effect" the Israeli annexation of Golan in 1981.

Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said Washington had violated UN resolutions and warned it could fuel instability in the Middle East.

North Korea also issued a statement backing "the struggle of the Syrian government and people for taking back the occupied Golan Heights."

The European members of the council - France, Britain, Germany, Belgium and Poland - had earlier on Tuesday raised concerns about "broader consequences of recognizing illegal annexation and also about the broader regional consequences."

Back on Thursday, Trump tweeted that it was time to back Israeli "sovereignty" over the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Six-Day War.

"After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!" the US president wrote on Twitter.

In 1967, Israel waged a full-scale war against Arab territories during which it occupied a large swathe of Syria's Golan and annexed it four years later, a move never recognized by the international community.

Syria has repeatedly reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, saying the territory must be completely restored to its control.

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As Syria conflict enters ninth year, humanitarian crisis 'far from over', Security Council hears

27 March 2019 - Eight years ago this month, the Syria conflict began, leading to a humanitarian crisis that remains "far from over", the UN Security Council heard on Wednesday. 11.7 million need humanitarian assistance and protection, and more than 5.6 million Syrians are living as refugees across the region.

Although fighting in the country has diminished, a growing number of civilians have been killed or injured in recent weeks.

Rosemary DiCarlo, head of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, and Ramesh Rajasingham, a senior director at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), briefed Council members, highlighting the escalating violence in the last rebel-held enclave of Idlib, and the surrounding areas of north-west Syria.

Ms. DiCarlo described reports of artillery, mortar exchanges and airstrikes; as well as rocket attacks and raids which are putting a strain, she said, on a 2018 agreement between Russia and Turkey to limit military operations in the area, which created a buffer zone between opposition fighters and Syrian Government forces and their allies.

'Alarming spike in civilian casualties', displacement

Mr Rajasingham told the council that the region has seen an "alarming spike in civilian casualties: "last month alone, 90 people were killed, of whom nearly half were children. At least 86,000 people have also reportedly been displaced by this latest upsurge of violence. Health facilities, including a hospital in Saraqeb city, which had been deconflicted with the parties through established procedures, and schools, are reported to have been hit."

Regarding last week's capture  by Syrian Democratic Forces backed by a US-led coalition  of the last remaining territory held by the terror group ISIL, Ms. DiCarlo warned that ISIL still poses a threat, and that thousands of civilians fleeing military operations against the group have found their way to al Hol, a refugee camp in Hasakah province: more than 140 of them died on the way to the camp, or once they arrived there.

There are now 72,000 people living in al Hol, with thousands more on the way, and there is, said the Peacebuilding chief, a desperate need to maintain and ramp up the humanitarian response. However, she noted that the UN is still awaiting approval from the Syrian Government for humanitarian access for a third convoy of life-saving assistance.

Expanding on conditions in al Hol, Mr. Rajasingham said that many newcomers have arrived following gruelling journeys of hundreds of kilometres in open trucks, after prolonged exposure to intense hostilities, extreme deprivation and human rights abuses under ISIL rule. Many show signs of distress, and are suffering from trauma injuries, malnutrition and fatigue.

Mr. Rajasingham concluded with a call for continued international engagement to allow the UN to continue running "one of the largest and most complex aid operations ever implemented," whilst Ms. DiCarlo reminded Council members, "on this grim anniversary," that the UN Secretary-General has said that it is a "moral obligation and a political imperative for the international community to support Syrians to unite around a vision that addresses the root causes of the conflict and forges a negotiated political solution."

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Attempt to defy international law over Golan Heights sovereignty 'doomed to failure' Security Council hears

27 March 2019 - A majority of Security Council members on Wednesday stressed the importance of upholding international law regarding the occupied Golan Heights, in the face of the unilateral move by the United States to recognize Israel's sovereignty over them.

Israel took over the Golan Heights on its northern border with Syria, following the 1967 war, and annexed them in 1981, which the Security Council declared an illegal act.

The French deputy ambassador, Anne Guegen, told the meeting on Wednesday evening in New York that the European Union had affirmed earlier in the day that its Member States did not recognize Israel's sovereignty, and that any efforts to override Council resolutions over the land, were "doomed to failure".

However, the representative for the US, Rodney Hunter, assured the Council that the US decision on the Golan Heights, would not impact the safety or deployment of the UN peacekeeping force deployed to the Golan, known as UNDOF, which monitors the ceasefire between Israel and Syria.

He said UNDOF "continues to have a vital role to play in preserving stabilitymost importantly by ensuring that the Area of Separation is a buffer zone free from any military presence or activities". The diplomat noted that the Council should not accept any Syrian efforts to enter the separation zone.

UN Peacekeeping Operations chief, Jean Pierre Lacroix, told the meeting that the ceasefire monitored by UNDOF had held, despite numerous violations: "It is critical that the parties at all times respect the Disengagement of Forces Agreement to maintain stability on the Golan", he said.

"The importance of the parties maintaining their liaison with UNDOF in the first instance cannot be over-emphasized", he continued. "We count on Members of the Security Council to support efforts to sensitize both parties and regional stakeholders to the risks of escalation, and the need to preserve the long-standing ceasefire between Israel and Syria."

The UN's head of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, reiterated the view of the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, expressed earlier this week, that "the status of the Golan has not changed" in the light of the US decision.

"We hope that the recent developments will not be used as an excuse by anyone to pursue actions that could underimine the relative stability of the situation on Golan and beyond", said Ms. DiCarlo. "We will continue to closely monitor developments on the ground and will keep the Council informed, as appropriate."

For further coverage, including statements made on behalf of Israel, Syria and others, please visit our full UN Meetings Coverage report, here.

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Syria air defense intercepts Israeli missiles

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 28, IRNA -- The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) announced that Syria air defense system has intercepted Israeli jet fighters' attacks on Aleppo.

Nearly at 23.00 p.m. of Wednesday, March 23rd, 2019, the army air defenses intercepted an Israeli air aggression that targeted a number of industrial sites in Sheikh Najar industrial region to the north-eastern side of Aleppo and downed a number of the hostile missiles, SANA quoted a military source as saying.

The source added that the damages were restricted to materials only.

Earlier, a police source announced that 7 civilians were killed and 14 others wounded in a landmine explosion, left by terrorists, in Maragha village in Aleppo southern countryside.

Under the pretext of fighting the terrorist group Daesh (ISIS), US together with some allies have established a so-called international coalition out of the framework of the United Nations since August 2014.

The innocent Syrian civilians have so far been killed in Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Al-Hasakah and Aleppo.

The coalition has also destroyed Raqqa almost completely.

This is while, the United Nations Security Council has so far taken no firm action against such attacks.

Earlier, the US-led coalition in an air attack on Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria killed some civilians and injured a number of others who were escaping from ISIS enclaves.

9376**1424

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UN USG terms UNSC resolutions as base for Golan Sovereignty

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New York, March 28, IRNA -- The UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs described the related resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as the legal base for Golan Heights sovereignty.

Rosemary DiCarlo made the remarks while addressing the UNSC meeting on the US President Donald Trump's choice to recognize Israeli regime's sovereignty over Golan Heights.

"The Secretary-General's statement that the UN position on the Golan is known and clear. That position is reflected in the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, notably Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 497(1981)," she said.

Trump tweeted on Thursday that after 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

"During the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the Syrian Arab Army crossed the 1967 ceasefire-line on the Golan, known as the Purple Line, initially gaining territory," DiCarlo said.

She added "in a swift counter-attack, Israeli Defense Forces re-captured the lost ground and advanced further, crossing the 1967 ceasefire line and occupying a salient portion of Syrian territory. The conflict quickly reached an unstable stalemate with tensions remaining high for months."

"Following US-led diplomatic efforts, on 31 May 1974, Israel and Syria signed the Disengagement of Forces Agreement between Israel and Syria," she noted.

"On the same day, the Security Council welcomed the Disengagement of Forces Agreement and, through Security Council resolution 350 (1974), in accordance with the Protocol to the Disengagement Agreement, established UNDOF."

DiCarlo went on to say that "the situation in the Golan remained generally calm until 2011, when fighting between the Syrian aimed forces and armed opposition groups began."

"In 2018, the Syrian Government re-established full control of the area known as the Bravo Side, thus re-establishing a status quo ante. Throughout this period, Israel has periodically stressed the critical importance of the Golan to its security," she reiterated.

Referring to Trump's choice, DiCarlo said "the Secretary-General has taken note of this development, including Member States' reactions to the US decision."

"We hope that the recent developments will not be used as an excuse by anyone to pursue actions that could undermine the relative stability of the situation on Golan and beyond. We will continue to closely monitor developments on the ground and will keep the Council informed, as appropriate," she added.

Earlier, Spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Bahram Qasemi said that the impetuous personal decisions of US President Donald Trump is pushing the sensitive region of the Middle East toward consecutive crises.

He condemned occupying of lands in any form and added, 'The interventionist decision of the US president never changes the fact that the Golan Heights belong to Syria, rather it clearly shows the failure of compromising policies while proving the correctness of the path of resistance against the expansionist and aggressive conduct of the US and the Zionist regime.'

9376**1424

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President slams China for seeking to alter cross-strait status-quo

ROC Central News Agency

2019/03/28 15:50:45

Honolulu, March 27 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen () slammed China for seeking to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait during a video conference in which she participated in Honolulu Wednesday.

Despite Taiwan's efforts to pursue peaceful co-existence, China has "used every opportunity to alter the status quo" and undermine Taiwan's democratic institutions, heighten military tension and degrade the country's international space, Tsai said during the conference, which was presided over by Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James.

Beijing's schemes have led to growing distrust among the people of Taiwan, posing an underlying challenge to the future of cross-strait relations, Tsai said, adding that "China's actions have underscored the need for Taiwan to increase our self-defense and deterrence capabilities. To be clear, we seek peace, not hostility."

"We will continue to seek closer partnerships with like-minded countries so that we can fulfill the promise of the Indo-Pacific strategy," which seeks to make countries sovereign, without being subject to coercion, she said.

"It is rooted in our shared desire to sustain the rules-based framework that has been at the heart of this region's prosperity since the Second World War. We believe that any effort to change that framework would be a fundamental mistake."

"Taiwan is a force for good in the region. We are a democracy and the only democratic Chinese-speaking country in the world," she said.

Tsai said Taiwan takes pride in its freedom and human rights, which are the basis of the country's values, and is deeply committed to fostering a more peaceful, stable and prosperous regional environment.

"My administration has pledged to be much more forceful in defending Taiwan's hard-won freedoms and ensuring that our country continues to be a beacon of democracy in the Indo-Pacific," she said.

Amid mounting pressure from China to accept its version of "one country, two systems," she said that Taiwan is taking a much more aggressive approach to counteract the Chinese government's infiltration of Taiwan's society and economy, as well as its interference in Taiwan's domestic affairs.

"We are also stepping up our engagements in the Pacific islands, where China has engaged in a campaign to increase its influence in the region. We have noted growing awareness of China's efforts by the United States, Australia, New Zealand and other responsible stakeholders," she said.

Tsai thanked the U.S. for its support in helping Taiwan maintain its diplomatic alliances and said that "we remain committed to working with like-minded countries to protect the core values of good governance, accountability and sustainable development in the Pacific."

In the face of the monumental challenges from across the strait, Tsai said her administration "has not wavered in responding in a pragmatic and responsible manner that takes into account our shared interests in the region."

Following the video conference, Tsai attended a photo exhibition marking the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act at the East-West Center, a Honolulu-based think tank.

Later Wednesday, the president visited the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, a government disaster control body, and was given a tour by Arthur Logan -- an adjutant general for the state of Hawaii.

Tsai was making a transit stop in Hawaii Thursday on her way back to Taiwan following visits to Palau, Nauru and the Marshall Islands on her "Oceans of Democracy" trip to some of Taiwan's Pacific allies -- her sixth overseas trip since assuming the presidency in May 2016.

(By Wen Kuei-hsiang and Flor Wang)

Enditem/J

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U.S. state secretary hints at more high-level U.S.-Taiwan visits

ROC Central News Agency

2019/03/28 11:52:44

Washington, March 27 (CNA) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed Wednesday the importance of U.S. legislation that encourages high-level U.S. officials to visit Taiwan and vice versa.

Fielding questions during a hearing in Washington, D.C., Pompeo described the Taiwan Travel Act as a "very important piece of legislation."

"You have seen our administration do a great deal to implement that. I'm sure there is more to follow. But I don't want to get too far ahead of what we are doing," he said when asked by U.S. House Representative Steve Chabot to comment on the Taiwan Travel Act's implementation.

Citing the act, Chabot, who has long called for Pompeo to invite Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen () to a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, noted that Ambassador Sam Brownback, the U.S. top envoy for international religious freedom, concluded a trip to Taiwan last week.

"Can we, and the people of Taiwan, count on you to advocate for further implementation of the Taiwan Travel Act?" Chabot asked Pompeo.

Passed Feb. 28, 2018, the act was signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump March 16, 2018. As a follow-up to the Taiwan Relations Act, the bill allows high-level U.S. officials to visit Taiwan and vice versa.

Pompeo also said he understands perfectly the importance of U.S.-Taiwan relations.

"You have seen what we've done with respect to Taiwan. Just a few days ago we sailed through the (Taiwan) Strait," he said, referring to the passage of U.S. Navy destroyer Curtis Wilbur and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bertholf Sunday, the third such transit this year.

"And more importantly, we have taken a much fuller view than

previous administrations -- this is not partisan, this goes back to Republicans and Democrats alike -- of the concerns about the risk that China presents to American wealth creation and our continued democracy."

(By Rita Cheng and Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/J

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In US, Taiwan's Tsai says Washington to procure more arms

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019

Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen, who is in the United States, says Washington has agreed to Taipei's request for tanks and fighter jets to bolster its military, a move considered to be in open defiance of China, which views the self-ruled island as part of its territory.

Tsai announced the news speaking to Washington's Heritage Foundation think tank via videolink on Wednesday while on a stopover in Hawaii, a US archipelago state in the Central Pacific, at the end of a Pacific tour.

She said Taipei had submitted new requests to Washington for M-1 Abrams tanks and F-16V fighter jets, which "would greatly enhance our land and air capabilities, strengthen military morale and show to the world the US commitment to Taiwan's defense."

Neighboring China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, and almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty under a policy known as "One China."

The US, while formally recognizing Chinese sovereignty over the island, remains a close ally of Taipei, provides weapons to it, and maintains a de facto embassy in Taiwan, which anger Beijing.

Elsewhere in her remarks, Tsai claimed that mounting pressure from China on Taiwan to accept a "one country, two systems model" and Beijing's attempts to change the cross-strait status quo underscored the need for Taiwan to "increase our self defense and deterrence capabilities."

"Fortunately... Taiwan does not stand alone," she said. "The United States' commitment to Taiwan is stronger than ever."

Only a small number of countries recognize Taiwan as a "sovereign" state.

Tsai said she felt the process of US arms sales to Taiwan had become less politicized, adding, "We are able to have frank discussions with the US on the right equipment for Taiwan's defense and the US is responding positively to our request."

She said funding the costly defense items would be managed via a special budget and Taiwan's regular military budget would "increase based on challenges coming across the strait," in a clear reference to China.

China believes that Tsai and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party are after pushing for the island's formal independence, which is Beijing's red line. The Chinese government has constantly warned Washington against any kind of relations with Taipei, whose ties with Beijing have been deteriorating May 2016, when Tsai assumed power as "president" and began challenging the "One China" principle.

Taiwan and the mainland separated amid a civil war in 1949. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Back in January, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that Beijing reserved the right to forcefully bring the island under its control but would strive to achieve peaceful "reunification."

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UK PM May pledges to quit to save Brexit deal

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 28, 2019 04:56AM

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has offered to resign in a final effort to get Parliament to support her Brexit deal, as lawmakers failed in their own attempt to break the deadlock that has plunged Britain into crisis.

May dramatically announced on Wednesday that she would quit if members of Parliament finally backed her Brexit agreement.

"I know there is a desire for a new approach -- and new leadership -- in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations and I won't stand in the way of that," she told a packed meeting of her Conservative MPs.

"But we need to get the deal through and deliver Brexit. I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party," she added.

The embattled prime minister made the offer after running out of options and at risk of losing control of the process of leaving the EU.

The proposal came just hours before the House of Commons took part in an unprecedented series of votes intended to break the Brexit deadlock, which, in the end, only highlighted the divisions among MPs.

Not one of eight proposals put forward by MPs earned a majority, an outcome that Brexit minister Steve Barclay said "strengthens our view that the deal our government has negotiated is the best option".

Parliament has twice rejected May's Brexit deal, both times by large majorities, but she is still trying to convince them -- and on Wednesday made what is expected to be her final offer.

May agreed a deal with the EU last week to delay Brexit amid fears Britain was heading for a potentially catastrophic "no deal" exit on Friday.

If her deal is passed by MPs this week, Brexit will take place on May 22, otherwise she must return to Brussels before April 12 to explain to EU officials what happens next.

The British parliament is deeply divided over Brexit, reflecting splits in the country that voted 52 percent to 48 percent in 2016 to end its four-decade relationship with the EU.

MPs have so far only been able to agree that they dislike May's deal and that they do not want to leave with no deal at all.

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2.5m injection for drone swarms

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has awarded 2.5m to a consortium led by Blue Bear Systems Research Ltd to develop drone swarm technology.

28 March 2019

The 'Many Drones Make Light Work' project is the largest single contract awarded by DASA to date. The funding will steer the project for around 20 unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the final stage of development, which will ultimately be managed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

UAS are currently in widespread use around the world, but the ability to employ a swarm of these systems to operate collaboratively to achieve a common goal will be of great benefit to Defence. A swarm could support lower operating costs, greater system efficiency as well as increased resilience in the following areas:

- Situational awareness

- Medical assistance

- Logistics resupply

- Explosive ordnance detection and disposal

- Confusion and deception

Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said:

"The MOD continues to invest in pioneering technology that enhances capability, reduces risk to personnel and enables us to better perform our tasks. Drone swarm technology can revolutionise how we conduct intelligence gathering, humanitarian aid, disposal of explosives and supply our troops on the battlefield."

Head of DASA Lucy Mason said:

"I am delighted that defence funding has enabled the creation of a collaboration from across industry sectors that will evaluate the latest thinking in swarming drone systems. We are committed to driving innovation through creating partnerships and collaboration, harnessing the best ideas and innovative thinking for UK defence and security."

Blue Bear Systems Research Ltd, a world leader in autonomous system solutions, will act as the consortia lead and system integrator, with IQHQ, Plextex, Airbus and the University of Durham as part of the contracted team. Each organisation brings a crucial technology and skill set to the team in this 18-month 'integration concept evaluation' phase which will culminate in live flight demonstrations to the military.

Managing Director, Blue Bear Systems, Ian Williams-Wynn said:

"The ability to deploy a swarm of low cost autonomous systems delivers a new paradigm for battlefield operations. During this project we will deploy next generation autonomy, machine learning, and AI to reduce the number of operators required, the time it takes to train them, and the cognitive burden on any operator during active operations. This allows very complex swarm-based missions to be performed simultaneously against single or multiple targets in a time sensitive and highly effective manner."

Currently, operational systems require one or more operators to pilot the aircraft or to closely manage the flight mission. This is manpower intensive and consumes time and resource to train operators.

The UK Armed Forces are actively seeking robotic solutions to provide a 'Force-Multiplier' effect whereby a greater military capability is delivered by fewer people and equipment. The swarm system is one possible solution to this multiple domain requirement as it will cover larger areas of battlespace more quickly at lower cost and reduced man hours. It also removes the operator from potentially harmful situations.

The future project phase will seek to establish a more 'self-sufficient' UAS swarm, providing the military with the ability to operate in increasingly complex and contested environments. Effective Human Machine Teaming will remain at the core of this research to ensure that the human remains firmly in control of the system.

Dstl Project Technical Lead, Antony Grabham said:

"The Phase 3 competition requirements were deliberately very challenging, as we wanted to drive rapid innovation and encourage imaginative solutions. The winning consortium really highlights the best of UK Industry, showcasing how our world leading Small and Medium Enterprise Companies can be harnessed to deliver a transformation in military capability. Enabled by an open systems architecture approach, the industry team is focused on developing an underpinning command and control and information management architecture to maximise the swarm's ability to gather and share battle-winning information."

This announcement follows the recent allocation of 31m by the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson into new mini-drones. Money from the Transformation Fund will provide troops with an eye-in-the-sky to give them greater awareness to outmanoeuvre enemies on the battlefield.

The new 160m Transformation Fund will also develop swarm squadrons of network enabled drones capable of confusing and overwhelming enemy air defences. By working with our F35 and Typhoon combat aircraft, these swarms will allow our pilots to deliver precise, lethal combat power more effectively and safely.

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Pompeo Says He Hopes To Set New Measures Soon Against Russia Over Actions In Ukraine

By RFE/RL March 28, 2019

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he hopes to be able in the coming days to announce additional measures along with Western allies to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine.

"Next week I am hopeful, when our NATO colleagues are in town, we will be able to announce another series of actions that we will jointly take together to push back against what Russia is doing there in Crimea and the Sea of Azov and the region," Pompeo told a House of Representatives hearing on March 27.

NATO members are scheduled to be in Washington on April 4 to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Western military alliance.

Pompeo, who was not more specific about any potential measures, also said that "I don't know that we've done all that we can yet" to address Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

"We are constantly evaluating whether we're not only providing enough resources to Ukrainebut whether it's the right tools. Not only the tools you see -- munitions and arms -- but intelligence-sharingAll the things [for which] we have the capacity."

The United States and European Union have slapped a series of sanctions on Moscow for its activities in Ukraine in recent years, helping to send ties between Russia and the West plunging to post-Cold War lows.

'Illegal' Land Grab

In 2014, Moscow seized and annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in a move not recognized by the international community.

It has also been supporting separatists fighting Kyiv government forces in Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in a conflict that has killed some 13,000 people -- a quarter of them civilians -- and uprooted well over 1 million Ukrainian citizens.

With regard to Crimea, Pompeo said, "It belongs to Ukraine, and we want to see that fixed."

On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin marked the fifth anniversary of what Moscow considers the day Crimea became part of Russia by visiting Ukraine's Black Sea Peninsula, while NATO, the United States, and the European Union again condemned what they called the "illegal" land grab.

Pompeo's comments come just days before Ukraine's March 31 presidential election.

Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and comedian Volodomyr Zelenskyy are the front-runners.

Pompeo said that Washington continues to "push back against Russian efforts to interfere when elections are approaching, as we are in Ukraine today."

The Ukrainian government released a new study on what it called Russia's planned interference in the country's election process, which it said "envisages further provoking a comprehensive destabilization of the situation in Ukraine in order to facilitate the revenge of the pro-Russian forces in our country following the 2019 election results."

The interference will include "systematic and versatile measures for influencing the course of the election process and counting votes during the presidential and later parliamentary elections in Ukraine."

Russia has denied interfering in other countries' elections. It has said it did not meddle in the U.S. 2016 presidential election despite the conclusions of U.S. intelligence community that it did to help boost the campaign of Donald Trump.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pompeo-nato-measures -russia-ukraine-crimea/29846728.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.

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English French

United Kingdom: JCDecaux awarded second place in Sedex award for "Best Environmental Sustainability Programme"

Paris, March 28th, 2019 - JCDecaux S.A. (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, announces that its subsidiary JCDecaux UK has been awarded second place in the prestigious "Best Environmental Sustainability Programme" award in the supplier category, at the Sedex conference in London on March 26th.

Over 50,000 companies (buyers, suppliers and auditors) in 150 countries use Sedex to manage their performance in relation to labour law, health and safety, sustainability and business ethics. Sedex provides one of the world's largest collaborative platforms for sharing responsible sourcing data about supply chains. The Sedex conference is an annual event held to recognise responsible businesses, with award winners selected by a panel of experts. The conference brings together more than 700 business leaders, professionals and government representatives.

This award recognises JCDecaux's sustainable development strategy and extra-financial results in the United Kingdom. Thanks to JCDecaux's waste management programme, 98% of its UK waste is now sorted and recycled with the goal of bringing this to 100% by 2020. Since 2012, JCDecaux UK has reduced its vehicle carbon emissions by 31% and has generated energy savings of 65% across all its buildings and premises. In 2018, JCDecaux worked with partners including Heathrow Sustainability Partnership, TFL (Transport for London) and Network Rail on a range of initiatives to reduce its environmental footprint. As a result of the ongoing efforts of its teams, the environmental and energy management systems used by JCDecaux UK have received ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certification respectively.

Jean-Francois Decaux, Co-Chief Executive Officer of JCDecaux, said: "We are very proud of JCDecaux UK's recognition for "Best Environmental Sustainability Programme". This award recognises the long-term approach that we have taken to achieve development through a sustainable business model that respects the planet and its inhabitants. A core element of the company's strategy, sustainable development enables us to anticipate future changes and represents a significant driver of growth and innovation. As we currently implement a rigorous six-pronged Group-wide action plan to reduce our environmental footprint, this recognition reflects the expertise of our teams, notably in the United Kingdom, and will spur us on to increase our efforts to make JCDecaux an ever more responsible economic player."

Key Figures for JCDecaux

2018 revenue: 3,619m

JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris and is part of the Euronext 100 and Euronext Family Business indexes

JCDecaux is part of the FTSE4Good index

N1 worldwide in street furniture (528,660 advertising panels)

N1 worldwide in transport advertising with more than 210 airports and 277 contracts in metros, buses, trains and tramways (366,000 advertising panels)

N1 in Europe for billboards (137,020 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in Europe (648,570 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in Asia-Pacific (239,300 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in Latin America (72,880 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in Africa (24,170 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in the Middle East (16,450 advertising panels)

Leader in self-service bike rental scheme: pioneer in eco-friendly mobility

1,061,200 advertising panels in more than 80 countries

Present in 4,030 cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants

13,030 employees

For more information about JCDecaux, please visit jcdecaux.com. Join us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Communications Department: Agathe Albertini

+33 (0) 1 30 79 34 99 - agathe.albertini@jcdecaux.com

Investor Relations: Arnaud Courtial

+33 (0) 1 30 79 79 93 - arnaud.courtial@jcdecaux.com
English Lithuanian

On 25 April 2019 the General Meeting of Shareholders of Public limited liability company Novaturas, code 135567698, registered at A. Mickeviciaus st. 27, Kaunas, the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter, the Company), is being convened (hereinafter, the Meeting) upon the initiative and decision of Board of the Company.



The place of the Meeting  hotel Radisson BLU Lietuva, Konstitucijos ave. 20, Vilnius 09308, the Republic of Lithuania. The Meeting commences at 10 a.m. (registration starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 9.45 a.m.).

The Meetings accounting day  17 April 2019. The persons who are shareholders of the Company at the end of accounting day of the General Meeting of Shareholders or authorized persons by them, or the persons with whom shareholders concluded the agreements on the disposal of voting right, shall have the right to attend and vote at the Meeting.

The Board of the Company initiates and convenes the Meeting, which on 27 March 2019 approved the following agenda of the Meeting:

Agenda of the meeting:

Approval of the audited annual financial statements of 2018 (attached as Annex);

Draft decision proposed:

To approve the audited annual financial statements of 2018 (attached as Annex).

Approval of the Annual Report of 2018 (attached as Annex);

Draft decision proposed:

To approve the Annual Report of 2018 (attached as Annex).

Decision on profit (loss) distribution.

Draft decision proposed:

To distribute the Company's profit as follows:

1. Undistributed result  profit (loss) of the previous financial year at the end of the accounting financial year 5,127 2. Net profit (loss) of the accounting financial year 8,552 3. Dividends paid during year 2018 4,060 4. Total profit (loss) to be appropriated 9,611 5. Share of profit allocated: to mandatory reserves 0 to reserves of own shares 0 to other reserves 0 for payment of dividends 0 for other purposes (annual bonuses to Board members, etc.) 0 6. Undistributed profit (loss) as of the end of accounting financial year, carried forward into the following financial year 9,611 All amounts are in thousand EUR

As 75 percent of net profit earned in 2018 was paid out as dividends during the year 2018, no additional dividends are allocated.



Public limited liability company Novaturas notes that within 2019, taking into account the Company's financial results and competitive environment, it might be decided regarding the allocation of the dividends for a period shorter than a financial year.

The total number of the Companys shares of EUR 0.03 par value each and the number of shares granting voting rights during the general meeting of shareholders is the same and amounts to 7,807,000.



ISIN code of the Companys shares is LT0000131872.

A person attending the general meeting of shareholders and having a voting right must provide a persons identification document. A person who is not a shareholder must additionally provide a document confirming his/her right to vote at the general meeting of shareholders.

Each shareholder shall have a right in the manner established by the laws to authorise other (natural or legal) person to attend and vote at the general meeting of shareholders on his/her behalf. At the general meeting of shareholders an authorised person shall have the same rights as would be held by the shareholder represented by him/her, unless the authorized persons rights are limited by the power of attorney or by laws. The authorized person must provide a power of attorney certified in the manner established by laws. A power of attorney issued in a foreign state must be translated into Lithuanian and legalised in the manner established by laws.

The Company does not establish special form of power of attorney.

Shareholder shall have the right to authorize through electronic communication channels another person (natural or legal) to participate and vote in the meeting on shareholders behalf. Such authorization shall not be approved by the notary public. The power of attorney issued through electronic communication channels must be confirmed by the shareholder with a safe electronic signature developed by safe signature equipment and approved by a qualified certificate effective in the Republic of Lithuania. The shareholder shall inform the Company on the power of attorney issued through electronic communication channels by e-mail tomas.staskunas@novaturas.lt no later than until the last business day before the meeting at 12.00 a.m. The power of attorney and notification shall be issued in writing. The power of attorney and notification to the Company shall be signed with the electronic signature but not the letter sent via e-mail. By submitting the notification to the Company the shareholder shall include the internet address from which it would be possible to download free of charge software to verify an electronic signature of the shareholder.

A shareholder or a person authorised by him/her shall have a right to vote in writing in advance by filling in the general ballot paper. Upon a shareholders request, the Company, not later than 10 days before the general meeting, shall send the general ballot paper by registered mail free of charge. The general ballot paper is also provided on the Companys website at www.novaturasgroup.com on the menu item For investors. The filled-in general ballot paper and the document confirming the voting right (if any) must be submitted to the Company sending by registered mail or providing them against signature at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice and received by the Company not later than on the last business day until the meeting.

The Company is not providing the possibility to attend and vote at the general meeting of shareholders through electronic means of communication.

The shareholders holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes shall have the right of proposing to supplement the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders. Draft decisions on the proposed issues shall be submitted together with the proposal or, if the decisions do not need to be approved, explanations on each proposed issue of the general meeting of shareholders shall be presented. Proposal to supplement the agenda must be presented to the Company sending them by registered mail or providing it against signature at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice. The agenda will be supplemented if the proposal is received not later than 14 days before the general meeting of shareholders.

Each shareholder holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes at any time before the general meeting of shareholders or during the meeting shall have the right of proposing draft resolutions on the issues already included or to be included in the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders, as well as the additional candidates to the members of the Supervisory Council of the Company (if elected). The proposed draft decisions must be presented in writing sending them by registered mail or providing them against signature at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice.

The shareholders shall have the right to present questions related to the agenda issues of the general meeting of shareholders to the Company in advance in writing, by providing the shareholders personal identification number and consent to process personal data  personal identification number in the letter which should be sent to the Company by registered mail or delivered against signature. The Company undertakes to respond if the questions are received not later than 3 business days before the general meeting of shareholders. Responses of a general character shall be posted on the Companys website www.novaturasgroup.com on the menu item For investors. The Company will not respond personally to the shareholder if the respective information is posted on the Companys website.

The shareholders could get familiarised with the documents possessed by the Company related to the agenda of the meeting, including notification on convocation of the meeting, information about the total number of the Companys shares and the number of shares granting voting rights during the general meeting of shareholders, draft resolutions, and other documents to be submitted to the general meeting of shareholders as well as to get information regarding execution of the shareholders rights at limited liability company Novaturas, registered at A. Mickeviciaus st. 27, Kaunas, or on the Companys website at www.novaturasgroup.com on the menu item For investors.

Attached:

General voting ballot; Annual Report with Audited Annual Financial Statements and Corporate Governance Report.

Contacts:

Tomas Staskunas

CFO

Mob. +370 687 10426

E-mail: tomas.staskunas@novaturas.lt

Attachments
NEW ORLEANS, March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF) and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors with large financial interests that they have only until March 29, 2019 to file lead plaintiff applications in securities class action lawsuits against Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE). Investor losses must relate to purchases of the Companys securities between April 11, 2017, and January 28, 2019. These actions are pending in the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York.



What You May Do

If you purchased securities of Vale and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-vale/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action by overseeing lead counsel with the goal of obtaining a fair and just resolution, you must request this position by application to the Court by March 29, 2019.

About the Lawsuit

On November 5, 2015, Brazilian authorities reported that a mine co-owned by Vale had burst, killing dozens of people and devastating the local community. Then, on January 28, 2019, news sources reported that Brazilian authorities were pursuing criminal prosecutions and that Brazilian securities industry regulator CVM has opened a probe into miner Vale SAs filings, both relating to the disaster.

On this news, the price of Vales shares plummeted.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include the former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com .



Contact:
Lithuanian English





On the initiative and following the resolution of the Board of Panevezio statybos trestas AB, the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Panevezio statybos trestas AB (address of registered office P. Puzino Str. 1, Panevezys, company code 147732969) is convened on 29 April 2019.

The place of the meeting - the meeting room of Panevezio statybos trestas AB at P. Puzino Str. 1, Panevezys.

The beginning of the meeting  at 10:00 (registration shall start at 09:30).

The record day of the meeting shall be 19 April 2019 (only the persons who at the end of the record day of the General Meeting of Shareholders shall be on the shareholder list of the company, or the persons who are a proxy for them, or the persons with whom an agreement on the transfer of voting rights has been concluded, shall have the right to participate and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders).

The meeting agenda:

Audit opinion on the Financial Statements and Annual Report of the company for the year 2018. Annual Report of the company for the year 2018. Approval of a set of Financial Statements of the company for the year 2018. Appropriation of profit (loss) of the company for the year 2018. Election of members for the audit committee.

The company shall not provide possibilities to participate and vote at the meeting using any means of electronic communications.

Draft resolutions on the items of the agenda, any documents to be presented to the General Meeting of Shareholders and any information related to realisation of the shareholders rights shall be published on the website of the company at www.pst.lt under the menu item Investor Relations not later than 21 days before the meeting date. The shareholders shall also be granted access to the information thereof at the secretarys office at the registered office of the company (P. Puzino Str. 1, Panevezys) from 7:30 till 16:30. Telephone number for inquiries: (+370 45) 505 508.

The shareholders who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all votes may propose additional items to be included in the agenda and present a draft resolution of the General Meeting of Shareholders for each proposed additional agenda item or, in case no resolution is to be adopted, give an explanation. Any proposals for additional items of the agenda shall be submitted in writing or by e-mail.

The proposals in writing shall be delivered to the secretarys office or sent by registered mail to the following address: Panevezio statybos trestas AB, P. Puzino Str. 1, LT-35173, Panevezys. The proposals by e-mail shall be sent to the following e-mail address: pst@pst.lt.

Any proposals for additional items of the agenda shall be presented before 16:00 on 15 April 2019. In the event new items are added to the meeting agenda, not later than 10 days before the meeting date the company shall inform about the additions thereof using the same means as were used for convening the meeting.

The shareholders who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all votes may propose new draft resolutions on the items that are on or to be included in the agenda, additional candidates for the members of the company bodies and the audit company. The proposals thereof may be presented in writing or by e-mail.

The proposals in writing before 8:00 on 29 April 2019 may be delivered (on work days) to secretarys office or sent by registered mail to Panevezio statybos trestas AB, P. Puzino Str. 1, LT-35173, Panevezys. The proposals presented in writing shall be discussed during the meeting provided they have been received at the company before 8:00 on the meeting day (29 April 2019). Any proposals in writing may be presented during the meeting after the chairman of the meeting reads the agenda out but not later than the meeting starts working on the agenda items.

Any proposals to be delivered by e-mail are to be sent to pst@pst.lt. The proposals received to the e-mail address thereof before 8:00 on 29 April 2019 shall be discussed during the meeting.

The shareholders shall be entitled to present their questions related to the agenda items to the company in advance. The questions may be sent by the shareholders by e-mail to pst@pst.lt not later than 3 working days before the meeting date. The company shall answer the questions thereof by e-mail before the meeting. The company shall not deliver the answer to any question of the shareholders in person provided the relevant information is published on the website of the company at http://www.pst.lt.

When registering for participation at the meeting, the shareholders or their proxies shall present a document which is a proof of their personal identity. The proxies to the shareholders shall present their proxies certified following the prescribed procedure. The proxy issued by a legal person shall be certified by a Notary Public. The proxy issued in a foreign country shall be translated into Lithuanian and legalised following the procedure prescribed by law. The proxy may be given the authority by more than one shareholder and vote in a different manner based on the instructions given by each shareholder. The company has no special form for the proxy.

The shareholder may, using the means of electronic communications, authorize some other natural or legal person to participate and vote at the meeting on behalf of the shareholder. Such proxy shall require no certification by a Notary Public. The proxy issued by the means of electronic communications shall be certified by the electronic signature of the shareholder created using any safe electronic signature software and attested by the qualified certificate valid in the Republic of Lithuania. Both the proxy and the notification shall be in writing. The shareholder shall notify the company about the proxy issued by the means of electronic communications by e-mail to pst@pst.lt not later than 16:00 on the last working day before the meeting date. The electronic signature shall be affixed on the proxy and notification but not on the letter sent by e-mail. When sending the notification to the company, the shareholder shall refer to the internet address to be used for the purpose of free downloading of electronic signature verification software. In case the shares hold by the shareholder are kept on a few securities accounts, the shareholder may authorise a separate proxy to participate and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders in accordance with the rights carried by the shares kept in each securities account. In that case, any instructions given by the shareholder shall be valid only for one General Meeting of Shareholders.

The shareholder who holds the shares of the company acquired in his name, however for the interests of other persons, before voting at the General Meeting of Shareholders shall disclose to the company the identity of the end client, the number of voting shares and the content of given voting instructions or any other explanation related to participation and voting at the General Meeting of Shareholders agreed with the client. The shareholder may vote in a different manner using one part of his shares carrying votes and the other part of shares carrying votes.

A shareholder or his proxy may vote in advance in writing by filling in the general ballot paper. Not later than 21 days before the meeting date the form of the general ballot paper shall be published on the website of the company at http://www.pst.lt under the menu item Investor Relations. In case a shareholder submits a written request, not later than 10 days before the meeting date the company shall send a general ballot paper by registered mail or deliver it in person against signature of receipt. The filled in general ballot paper shall be signed by the shareholder or his proxy. In case the general ballot paper is signed by the proxy, the document validating the voting right shall be attached to it. The filled in general ballot paper with the attached documents (if required) shall be delivered by registered mail to the secretarys office at Panevezio statybos trestas AB, P. Puzino Str. 1, LT- 35173, Panevezys not later than the last working day before the meeting date.

The following information and documents shall be published on the website of the company at http://www.pst.lt under the menu item Investor Relations throughout the entire period starting not later than 21 days before the meeting date:

- notice of convening the meeting;

- total number of company shares and number of voting shares on the date of convening the meeting;

- draft resolutions on the items of the agenda and other documents to be presented to the meeting;

- form of general ballot paper.

Dalius Gesevicius

Managing Director

Phone: (+370 45) 505 503
English Finnish

St1 Nordic Oy

Purotie 1

00380 HELSINKI

Notice of St1 Nordic Oys Annual General Meeting

The shareholders of St1 Nordic Oy are invited to the Annual General Meeting, which will be held on 25 March 2019, from 13:00 hours in the premises of St1 at Purotie 1, 00380 Helsinki, Finland.

The following matters will be addressed at the General Meeting:

1. Opening of the meeting

2. Calling the meeting to order

3. Election of persons to scrutinise the minutes and supervise the counting of votes

4. Declaration of validity of the meeting

5. Recording the attendance and adoption of the list of votes

6. Presentation of the financial statements, the Report on Operations and the Auditors Report for 2018

7. Adoption of the financial statements

8. Appropriation of profit as shown on the balance sheet and resolution on the payment of dividends

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that EUR 0.31 per share of St1 Nordic Oy's distributable profits be paid as dividend, totalling EUR 12,008,506.58.

9. Discharging the members of the Board of Directors and the CEO from liability

10. Resolution on the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors

It is proposed to the Annual General Meeting that the members of the Board of Directors, excluding the chairman of the board, be reimbursed the following cash fee for the term expiring at the end of the following Annual General Meeting:

members of the Board of Directors, EUR 50,000 each

11. Resolution on the number of members of the Board of Directors

It is proposed to the Annual General Meeting that the number of members of the Board of Directors be set at three (3).

12. Election of the members of the Board of Directors

It is proposed to the Annual General Meeting that the following persons be re-elected as members of the Board of Directors for the term expiring at the end of the following Annual General Meeting:

Mika Anttonen,

Kim Wiio,

Mikko Koskimies

13. Resolution on the remuneration of the auditor

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the elected auditor be reimbursed as per a reasonable invoice.

14. Election of the auditor

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the audit firm Price Waterhouse Coopers Oy be re-elected as auditor for the term expiring at the end of the following Annual General Meeting. They have indicated that Janne Rajalahti, APA, would act as chief auditor.

15. Amending the Articles of Association

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the Articles of Association be amended so that the provisions on types of shares be removed and the company have only one type of shares in the future. As a result of this amendment, sections 4 and 11 of the Articles of Association are proposed to be removed, and the numbering of the Articles of Association is proposed to be amended accordingly. In addition, the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that sections 7, 8 and 10 of the Articles of Association be amended as follows:

Section 7. (new section 6) The company shall have one auditor and one deputy auditor. If an audit firm is elected as auditor, a deputy auditor need not be elected.

Section 8. (new section 7) Notice of a General Meeting shall be delivered no earlier than two months and no later than one week prior to the General Meeting to each shareholder whose address is known to the company. The notice may also be sent by email to the address informed to the company by the shareholder.

Section 10. (new section 9) If a company share is transferred to a third party from a shareholder other than the company itself, the company shall be entitled to redeem such a share. The provisions of the Limited Liability Companies Act shall apply to the redemption.

In other respects, the Articles of Association are proposed to remain unchanged.

16. Closing of the meeting

Annual General Meeting documents and participation



The proposals for decisions on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting are mainly included in the notice. The company's financial statements, Report of Operations and Auditor's Report are available at the company's website www.st1.eu. The proposals for decisions and the other documents mentioned above will also be available for viewing at the Annual General Meeting.

The shareholder, their agent or proxy representative shall, if necessary, be able to prove their identity and/or the right of representation. A shareholder may participate in the Annual General Meeting and exercise their rights there through a proxy representative. A proxy representative of a shareholder shall produce a dated power of attorney or otherwise, in a reliable manner, prove that they are entitled to represent the shareholder.

Helsinki 29 March 2019

St1 Nordic Oy

The Board of Directors
Dublin, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Trailer Manufacturing Industry in North America. 2018 Data, 2019-2023 Outlook" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This project is a rigorous investigation of the manufacture of 16 key types of trailers in the United States, Canada and Mexico, from commodity truck trailers to trailers for specialized applications. The report gives market size and competitor shares in units and dollars for each trailer type and sub-type.



Over 380,000 trailers were manufactured by approximately 250 companies in the USMCA (ex-NAFTA) market in 2018, for a combined annual output of $12.8 billion. While a significant part of the industry is accounted for by the top 25 companies, the rest of the industry is fragmented across several small, regional fabricators catering to regional and local demand. Of special note is the inclusion of Mexican manufacturers, with their significant share and growing influence in the North American market. Mexican manufacturers are producing trailers not only for domestic consumption but increasingly for exports into the United States and Latin American markets.



Trailer sales are forecast to continue to grow in 2019, albeit at rates lower than the torrid growth in 2018 and 2017. Several trailer manufacturers, especially van trailer manufacturers, are booked out until the third quarter of 2019. While all segments are expected to clock growth in 2019, platform trailers, tanker trailers and dry van trailers will be the better performing products. Refrigerated vans are beginning to see a cooling-off in the pace of new orders.



Specialized and niche trailer segments, such as belt trailers, hopper grain trailers and livestock trailers, move with trends in agricultural production and are expected to display low single-digit growth rates in 2019.



The dump trailer segment is highly fragmented with more than 100 manufacturers. Several dump trailer manufacturers also fabricate other types of trailers, such as platform, dry van or lowbed trailers. These product types are expected to grow at low single digit rates in the next two years, primarily driven by trends in the construction industry.



On the supply chain side, capacity constraints at the component manufacturer level are impacting delivery schedules and lead times. The import tariff regime imposed since 2017, particularly on steel and aluminum, is beginning to impact demand adversely as manufacturers pay additional tariffs for material imported from China.



Trailer Product Types Analyzed

1. Dry Freight & Moving Van Trailers

2. Refrigerated/Insulated Van Trailers

3. Lowbed/Heavy Haul Trailers

4. Platform Trailers

5. Liquid Tank Trailers

6. Dump Trailers

7. Hopper Bottom Grain Trailers

8. Pneumatic Dry Bulk Tank Trailers

9. 53-ft. Container Chassis

10. Transfer/Refuse Trailers

11. Belt (Live Floor) Trailers

12. Logging Trailers

13. Livestock Trailers

14. Vacuum Tank Trailers

15. Bulk Feed Tank Trailers

16. Chip Trailers



The report is provided in four parts:

Section 1 (94 pages): Industry Overview pulls together the 16 trailer segments examined in this report to provide consolidated market size and shares in units and dollars for all segments; market shares for the top 20 for the industry as a whole; outlook for all segments through 2023; production by region; and unit and dollar estimates by manufacturer for 252 North American manufacturers engaged in the fabrication of truck trailers.

Industry Overview pulls together the 16 trailer segments examined in this report to provide consolidated market size and shares in units and dollars for all segments; market shares for the top 20 for the industry as a whole; outlook for all segments through 2023; production by region; and unit and dollar estimates by manufacturer for 252 North American manufacturers engaged in the fabrication of truck trailers. Section 2 (289 pages): Analysis provides comprehensive quantification and market analysis for each of the 16 segments as self-contained reports, with breakouts of sub-types, and with commentary on materials, technology, market dynamics, production by region, and outlook to 2023.

Analysis provides comprehensive quantification and market analysis for each of the 16 segments as self-contained reports, with breakouts of sub-types, and with commentary on materials, technology, market dynamics, production by region, and outlook to 2023. Section 3 (305 pages): Company Profiles provides individual profiles of 252 manufacturers who have been identified as North American manufacturers/fabricators of the types of semi-trailers included in this project. Key information presented includes brief details of participants' product mix, new products, niches and specializations, acquisitions, closures, consolidations, diversification, and overall strategy; estimated units of the relevant products manufactured by the company in 2018; estimated employees and revenue of the company in 2018; and key company personnel contacts.

Company Profiles provides individual profiles of 252 manufacturers who have been identified as North American manufacturers/fabricators of the types of semi-trailers included in this project. Key information presented includes brief details of participants' product mix, new products, niches and specializations, acquisitions, closures, consolidations, diversification, and overall strategy; estimated units of the relevant products manufactured by the company in 2018; estimated employees and revenue of the company in 2018; and key company personnel contacts. Section 4 (22 Excel spreadsheets): Data Tables offers Excel spreadsheets for the various tables included in the report, including databases on all 252 companies, in units and dollars by segment, as well as by selected breakouts.

Key Topics Covered:



Table of Contents for Section 1: Industry Overview



1 Scope



2 Product Types



3 Market Size Estimates - Units & Dollars 2018

3.1 Market Size: by Segments - Rank Order - Units

3.2 Market Size: by Segments - Rank Order - Dollars

3.3 Market Size: By Country



4 Market Shares: Competitive Analysis in Units & Dollars

4.1 Manufacturers by Type

4.2 Manufacturers' Product Mix

4.3 Market Shares: All Products

4.3.1 Rank Order - Units

4.3.2 Rank Order - Dollars



5 Market Shares: By Trailer Type

5.1 Alphabetical Order - Units

5.2 Alphabetical Order - Dollars



6 Outlook 2019 - 2023

6.1 Outlook: All - By Country

6.2 Outlook: All - By Trailer Type

6.3 Outlook: United States

6.4 Outlook: Canada

6.5 Outlook: Mexico



7 Production by Region

7.1 By Region: Units

7.2 By Region: Dollars

7.3 By Region: Manufacturers



8 Key Manufacturer Data

8.1 Key Manufacturer Data: Alphabetical Order

8.2 Key Manufacturer Data: Rank Order



Each of the 16 segments in Section 2: Analysis is self-contained. Below is the standard Table of Contents for each segment (with minor variations within specific body types):

1 Product Types

2 Market Size Estimates - Units & Dollars 2018

2.1 Market Size Estimates: Historical - 2013 - 2017

3 Market Shares: Competitive Analysis in Units & Dollars

3.1 Manufacturers by Type

3.2 Manufacturers' Product Mix

3.3 Market Shares: All Products

3.4 Market Shares: By Type

4 Market Analysis

4.1 Average Price

4.2 Distribution Channels

5 Market Dynamics & Demand Factors

6 Production by Region

7 Outlook 2019 - 2023

8 Key Manufacturer Data

8.1 Key Manufacturer Data: Alphabetical Order

8.2 Key Manufacturer Data: Rank Order - Units



A list of the 252 companies profiled in Section 3: Company Profiles can be made available upon request for legitimate enquiries.



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/m30947





Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the Company or Wealth) - (TSXV: WML; OTCQX: WMLLF; SSE: WMLCL; Frankfurt: EJZN), announces that, subject to TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) acceptance, the Company has secured loans in the aggregate amount of $1.25 million (the Loans) with certain strategic arms length lenders.



Loan Details

The Loans have a term of one year and one day and bear interest at a rate of 8% per annum compounded annually, payable on the maturity date. Pursuant to the Loans, the Company has agreed to issue an aggregate of 3,125,000 non-transferable bonus common share purchase warrants (each, a Bonus Warrant) to the lenders, KF Business Ventures, LP and 0916445 B.C. Ltd. Each Bonus Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share in the capital of the Company at an exercise price of $0.40 per share for a period of two years. All securities issued pursuant to the Loans will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day in Canada from the date of issuance. The funds available from the Loans will be used to make property payments on the Companys Atacama lithium project.

None of the foregoing securities have been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act) or any applicable state securities laws 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 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Wealth Minerals Ltd.

Wealth is a mineral resource company with interests in Canada, Mexico, Peru and Chile. The Companys main focus is the acquisition and development of lithium projects in South America. To date, the Company has positioned itself to develop the Quisquiro salar in Chile (the Trinity project), as well as to work alongside existing producers in the prolific Atacama salar, where the Company has a substantial licenses package. The Company has also positioned itself to play a role in asset consolidation in Chile with various lithium properties throughout the country.

Lithium market dynamics and a rapidly increasing metal price are the result of profound structural issues with the industry meeting anticipated future demand. Wealth is positioning itself to be a major beneficiary of this future mismatch of supply and demand. The Company also maintains and continues to evaluate a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration-stage projects.

For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Companys website (www.wealthminerals.com) and its Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

WEALTH MINERALS LTD.

"Hendrik van Alphen"

Hendrik van Alphen

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact: Marla Ritchie Phone: 604-331-0096 Ext. 3886 or 604-638-3886 E-mail: info@wealthminerals.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, anticipated exploration program results from exploration activities, the Companys expectation that it will be able to enter into agreements to acquire interests in additional mineral properties, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the receipt and amount of the Loans, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of lithium, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, the fact that the Companys interests in its mineral properties are options only and there is no guarantee that the Companys interests in same, if earned, will be certain, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including acceptance by the TSXV, required for the Loans, the issuance of the Bonus Warrants and the acquisition of additional mineral properties, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Companys latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Companys Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Companys mineral properties.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.
SMITHFIELD, Va., March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield Foods, Inc. is pleased to announce that ProFood World selected the companys Kinston, North Carolina and Sioux City, Iowa facilities as winners of the 2018 Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards (SEMA). The annual awards program honors companies for exceptional sustainability achievements in food, beverage, and consumer products manufacturing.



The many members of our Smithfield Family play essential roles in the success of our industry-leading sustainability program, said Bill Gill, assistant vice president of sustainability for Smithfield Foods. Their innovative approach to sustainability generates unconventional projects at our facilities that propel our operations and lessen our environmental impact. We are honored to accept these awards and are proud of our Kinston and Sioux City facilities for delivering on our promise to produce good food in a responsible way.

Smithfields facility in Kinston, North Carolina, was honored for its liquid smoke reduction efforts. The Kinston facility took an innovative approach to modifying their hot dog production processes that resulted in the reduction of more than 5,000 gallons of liquid smoke per year and more than $129,000 in annual cost savings. The companys Sioux City, Iowa facility was recognized for its smoker box project, which utilizes a waterless smoker to reduce the facilitys water usage by one million gallons annually.

Smithfield continues to be recognized as an industry-leader with multiple awards at this years Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards program, said Joyce Fassl, editor-in-chief of ProFood World magazine and program director for ProFood Live. Smithfield has won more Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards than any other food or beverage company in the competitions history. The companys innovative approach to manufacturing and willingness to set ambitious goals within its robust sustainability program is a testament to Smithfields commitment to environmental stewardship.

The 2018 winners were honored at the ProFood Tech trade show on March 26, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The trade show is a three-day gathering for food and beverage industry leaders to address solutions in manufacturing, automation, and sustainability. Since ProFood Tech occurs biennially, the ProFood Live conference in 2020 will host the 2019 Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards ceremony.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathans Famous, Farmland, Armour, Farmer John, Kretschmar, John Morrell, Cooks, Gwaltney, Carando, Margherita, Curlys, Healthy Ones, Morliny, Krakus, and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental, and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com , and connect with us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn , and Instagram .

Contact:

Lisa Martin

Smithfield Foods, Inc.

(757) 365-1980

lvmartin@smithfield.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/26e4ceee-5fca-42df-94fa-a93668151402
Lithuanian English

General meeting of shareholders of PLLC Kauno Energija (code of enterprise 235014830, address Raudondvario av. 84, Kaunas) is convoked on 26 April 2019 by the decision No 2019-6-1 of 29 March 2019 of Companys Management Board.

The date of General meeting is 26 April 2019, Frday. Time  10 a.m. Place  Companys hall at Raudondvario av. 86A, Kaunas, Lithuania. Registration of shareholders starts at 9.30 a.m.

The agenda and the resolutions projects for the General meeting of shareholders:

1. Approval of Consolidated and Companys Financial statements of the year 2018, prepared according to the International Financial Reporting Standards accredited to use in European Union, presented together with Consolidated Annual Report and Conclusion of independent auditor.

Resolution project  to approve the audited PLLC Kauno Energija Consolidated and Companys Financial Statements of the year 2018, prepared according to the International Financial Reporting Standards accredited to use in European Union, presented together with Consolidated Annual Report and Conclusion of independent auditor (included).

2. Allocation of PLLC Kauno Energija profit (loss) of the year 2018.

Resolution project  to allocate PLLC Kauno Energija profit (loss) of the year 2018 in accordance to the profit (loss) allocation project provided to the General meeting of shareholders by the administration of PLLC Kauno Energija (included).

3. Election of audit company and determination of terms of reimbursement for audit services.

Resolution project:

1) To elect the group of providers LLC Auditas and LLC Nexia JK, for auditing of Consolidated and Company's Financial Statements for the years 2019 and 2020 of PLLC Kauno Energija activities (hereinafter - audit) and for the audit of expenses attributable to regulated activities, which are covered by the income of regulated activities.

2) To determine that the price for audit services of PLLC Kauno Energija Consolidated and Companys Financial Statements of the year 2019 amounts to EUR 20,860.00 plus VAT, and for the audit of the year 2020  to EUR 19,900.00 plus VAT. The term of payment is 30 calendar days from the date of receiving of VAT invoices.

3) To determine that the price for audit services of expenses attributable to regulated activities, which are covered by the income of regulated activities of PLLC Kauno Energija and its subsidiary LLC Petrasiunu Katiline for the year 2019 amounts to EUR 8,000.00 plus VAT, and for the audit of the year 2020  to EUR 7,800.00 plus VAT. The term of payment is 30 calendar days from the date of receiving of VAT invoices.

4) To determine that the price for audit services of Financial Statements of PLLC Kauno Energija subsidiaries LLC Kauno Energija NT and LLC Petrasiunu Katiline of the year 2019 amounts to EUR 9,000.00 plus VAT, and for the audit of the year 2020  to EUR 8,400.00 plus VAT. The term of payment is 30 calendar days from the date of receiving of VAT invoices.

4. Regarding the amendment of the Statutes of PLLC Kauno Energija, determining in them that the seal of the Company is not used, and the signed documents and transactions are valid without a stamp.

Resolution project  to amend the Statutes of PLLC Kauno Energija stating them in new edition and to authorize Director of Production Department, (and Interim Director General) Vaidas Sleivys sign the text of amended Statutes of PLLC Kauno Energija (included).

PLLC Kauno Energija shall not provide the possibility to participate and vote in the General meeting of shareholders through electronic communication channels.

The account date of General meeting of shareholders  18 April 2019. Persons, who will own the shares of PLLC Kauno Energija as at the end of the working day of 18 April 2019, are entitled to take part and to vote General meeting of shareholders.

Share capital of PLLC Kauno Energija is divided into 42,802,143 (forty-two million eight hundred and two thousand one hundred forty-three) ordinary registered shares. All these shares carry the right to vote with their shareholders.

The person participating in General meeting of Shareholders must submit an identity document. A person who is not a shareholder must also submit a document confirming the right to vote at the General meeting of shareholders along with this document. The authorized person shall have the same rights as it should represent by the shareholder at the General meeting of shareholders. Shareholder's right to attend the General meeting of shareholders also include the right to ask questions.

Please be informed that shareholders, who are entitled to participate at the General meeting of shareholders, carry the right to authorize physical or legal person to attend and vote on behalf of them at the General meeting of shareholders by electronic means. Power of attorney that is issued by the shareholder must be submitted by sending e-mail s.meskauskas@kaunoenergija.lt not later than until the end of working day of 25 April 2019 (4.30 p.m.).

Please be informed that issues which are included into agenda of the General meeting of shareholders can be voted in written by completing the general ballot paper. If the person who had completed the general ballot paper is not a shareholder, the completed general ballot paper must be accompanied by a document confirming the voting right. The duly completed general ballot paper (voting bulletin) should be sent by mail or delivered directly to the Company's office at Raudondvario av. 84, room 208, Kaunas till 26 April 2019 (10.00 a.m.). The Company reserves the right not to include in the shareholder vote early, if the general ballot paper does not meet the third and fourth parts of the 30 Article of Law on Companies requirements or the general ballot paper is written in a way that it is impossible to establish shareholders will on a separate issue.

The agenda of the General meeting of shareholders may be supplemented by initiative of shareholders who own shares no less than 1/20 of all the votes. Proposals to the agenda of the General meeting of shareholders may be submitted by mail or delivered to the Company's representative office at Raudondvario av. 84, room 208, Kaunas no later than 12 April 2019.

Please be informed that the resolution projects or explanations on each of the proposed issue if the resolutions shall not be adopted, must be submitted along with a proposal to supplement to the agenda of the General meeting of shareholders.

Please be informed that, shareholders who own shares with no less than 1/20 of all votes carry the right to propose new resolutions projects related to the issues included into agenda at any time before the General Meeting of Shareholders or during the meeting in written or by mail.

Shareholders have the right to submit the questions to the Company, concerning the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders of 26 April 2019. Questions may be submitted by e-mail s.meskauskas@kaunoenergija.lt or delivered directly to the Company's office at Raudondvario av. 84, room 208, Kaunas, not later than till the end of the working day of 17 April 2019 (4.30 p.m.).

The shareholders can get acquainted with Companys documents related to the agenda of shareholders meeting, with resolutions projects of the meeting and with the information related actualization of shareholders' rights starting from 1 April 2019 by coming to the Company at Raudondvario av. 84, Kaunas, room 208 or on the Companys website at (http://www.kaunoenergija.lt).

Loreta Miliauskiene, Head of the Economics Department, tel. +370 37 305 855

Attachments
English Lithuanian

As of 31 December 2018, INVL Technology's equity amounted to EUR 28 million or EUR 2.30 per share.

The net audited profit of the company in 2018 amounted to EUR 4.2 million.



Additional information:

INVL Technology, a company that invests in IT businesses, published its audited results for 2018. They show the companys equity at the end of 2018 was EUR 28 million, or EUR 2.3 per share, and increased 17.7 percent during the year. At the end of 2017, INVL Technology had equity of EUR 23.8 million, or EUR 1.96 per share.

The value of INVL Technology investments in the businesses it owns totalled EUR 24.2 million at the end of 2018 and grew 16.4 per cent during the year (from EUR 20.8 million at the end of 2017). The companys net profit for 2018, taking into account a revaluation of financial assets, was EUR 4.2 million or 3.2 percent larger than in 2017.

INVL Technology also published its net asset value as of the end of 2018, which was EUR 28 million, for a net asset value per share of EUR 2.3018.

INVL Technology has invested in the Norwegian company Norway Registers Development AS with a subsidiary in Lithuania, NRD Companies AS of Norway with subsidiaries NRD Systems UAB and Etronika UAB in Lithuania, Norway Registers Development East Africa Ltd in Tanzania, Norway Registers Development Rwanda Ltd in Rwanda and NRD Bangladesh Ltd in Bangladesh, and the associate company Infobank Uganda Ltd in Uganda. INVL Technologys portfolio of businesses also includes Novian UAB with subsidiaries BAIP UAB and Acena UAB as well as NRD CS UAB and Algoritmu Sistemos UAB, all in Lithuania, and Estonias Andmevara AS and Andmevara Services OU with subsidiary Andmevara SRL in Moldova.





The person authorized to provide additional information:

Kazimieras Tonkunas

INVL Technology Managing Partner

E-mail k.tonkunas@invltechnology.lt

Attachments
English Lithuanian

AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius (hereinafter  the Company or ESO), identification code 304151376, registered office placed at Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. The total number of registered ordinary shares issued by company is 894 630 333; ISIN code LT0000130023.

The Management Board of the Company convenes the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, to be held on 30 April 2019.

The Ordinary General Meeting of shareholders of the Company will take place at the premises of ESO (Aguonu str. 24, second floor, 207 hall, Vilnius).

The meeting will start at 10.00 a.m. on 30 April 2019.

Start of registration of shareholders at 9.30 a.m.

End of registration of shareholders at 9.55 a.m.

23 April 2019 is the day of identification of shareholders for the purposes of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company. Only those persons who are shareholders of the Company as of the end of the said identification date are entitled to attend and vote at the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company.

The agenda and the proposed draft resolution of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company:

Regarding the approval of the Annual Report of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius for the year 2018.

Approve the Annual Report of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius for the year 2018 (enclosed).

Regarding the approval of the audited Annual Financial Statements of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius for the year 2018.

Approve the audited Annual Financial Statements of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius for the year 2018 (enclosed).

Regarding the allocation of profit (loss) of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius for the year 2018.

To allocate the profit (loss) of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius for the year 2018 (enclosed).

Shareholders participating in the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO shall produce an identity document. Shareholders shall be granted pecuniary and non-pecuniary rights provided for by laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania. Shareholders entitled to participate in the aforementioned shareholder meeting shall have the right to authorize, in writing, a natural or legal person to participate and vote on their behalf at the General Meetings of Shareholders indicated in this notice. Such a written authorization shall be approved in accordance with the procedure laid down in legal acts and shall be delivered to Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius no later than by the end of shareholder registration for a relevant General Meeting. Shareholders entitled to participate in the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO shall also have the right to authorize, by electronic means of communication, a natural or legal person to participate and vote on their behalf at the General Meeting of Shareholders. An authorization issued by electronic means of communication shall be recognized as valid provided that the security of the information transferred is ensured and it is possible to identify the shareholder. Shareholders shall report the issuance of an authorization by electronic means of communication by sending it by e-mail to info@eso.lt not later than by the end of the working day on 29 April 2019 (16:30 p.m.). The authorized person shall have an identity document and shall enjoy the same rights at the General Meeting as the shareholder represented by him would enjoy (unless the issued authorization or laws provide for narrower rights of the authorized person). The shareholders right to participate in the General Meeting of Shareholders shall also include the right to ask. ESO has not approved any special authorization form of the abovementioned General Meeting of Shareholders.

The agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO may be supplemented on the initiative of shareholders of company whose shares held in company carry at least 1/20 of all votes at the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO. The proposal to supplement the agenda of the respective General Meeting of Shareholders shall be accompanied by draft decisions or, where no decisions have to be taken, by explanations on each proposed agenda item of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. The agenda shall be supplemented if the proposal is received no later than 14 before the respective General Meeting of Shareholders. Shareholders whose shares held in ESO carry at least 1/20 of all votes at the General Meeting of Shareholders of company shall have the right to propose, at any time before the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO, new draft decisions on issues that are included or will be included in the agendas of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO. Proposals on the supplementation of the respective agenda or relevant draft decisions shall be submitted in writing to ESO, Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, or by e-mail to info@eso.lt.

Shareholders of ESO shall have the right to present questions related to the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders of company. Questions may be presented by e-mail to info@eso.lt or delivered to ESO to Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, no later than 3 working days before the General Meeting of Shareholders.

Shareholders will be able to vote on the agenda items of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO in writing by filling in ballot papers. At the request of a shareholder, ESO shall send, free of charge, a ballot paper to the shareholder by registered post or deliver it by hand against signature no later than 10 days before the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO. A completed ballot paper shall be signed by the shareholder or a person authorized by the shareholder. Where a person authorized by the shareholder casts a vote, a document certifying the right to vote shall be attached to the completed ballot paper. Filled and signed general ballot paper and the document confirming the voting right can be sent to the company by registered mail or delivered at Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, no later before the General Meeting of Shareholders. The company retains the right not to recognize the advance vote of the shareholder or his/her authorized representative, if his/her submitted general ballot paper does not meet the requirements of Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 30 of the Law on Companies of the Republic of Lithuania, was received to late or is filled so that the true will of the shareholder on an individual matter cannot be determined. Electronic means of communication shall not be used for participation and voting at either of the abovementioned General Meeting of Shareholders.

Shareholders can familiarize themselves with documents related to the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO, draft decisions on the agenda, documents to be submitted to General Meeting of Shareholders and other information related to the implementation of the rights of shareholders specified in this notice on the website of ESO at www.eso.lt from the date of this notice as well as on the premises of ESO (Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius) during working hours (7.3011.30 a.m. and 12.154.30 p.m.; 7.3011.30 a.m. and 12.153.15 p.m. on Fridays).

Representative for Public Relations: Tomas Kavaliauskas, tomas.kavaliauskas@le.lt, tel. +370 617 51616

Attachments
Irvine, Calif., March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ST Math has been selected by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) as an approved blended learning program for the statewide Math Innovation Zones (MIZ) initiative. MIZ supports Texas school districts and open-enrollment charter schools in the expansion of blended learning instructional models in math.



244 schools in 42 districts across the state are currently using the ST Math program to build lifelong learners prepared for success in STEM fields. In fact, schools using ST Math in Texas outgrew similar schools in a statewide rank increase of 9.1 percentile points as defined by performance on the STAAR - the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness.



ST Math, created by MIND Research Institute, is a visual instructional program that builds deep conceptual understanding of math through rigorous and creative problem solving to engage, motivate, and challenge Pre-K-8 students toward higher achievement. The program incorporates the latest in neuroscience research, promoting mastery-based learning and mathematical understanding. ST Math currently reaches over 1.2 million students nationwide, including over 100,000 students in Texas.



ST Math prepares students for the future by growing their mathematical problem solving capabilities, said Brett Woudenberg, CEO of MIND Research Institute. Those skills contribute to, and will extend beyond, Algebra I readiness. They will give students the foundation needed for successful careers in a STEM workforce. Schools that have already adopted ST Math in Texas are seeing the evidence. We are excited about this opportunity through TEA to continue to expand the programs reach and impact on student test scores throughout Texas.



Math Innovation Zones schools that partner with ST Math from the list of approved vendors will receive a design-rich, blended learning experience. ST Math scaffolds and models math concepts through puzzles, helping students make connections to what theyre seeing and improve their number sense. Educators can use the program to follow up individual ST Math puzzles with group discussions, concept extensions, and/or to make explicit connections to curriculum.



ST Math is a great complement to schools looking for innovative ways to personalize math in the classroom, said Dashawn Glover, Instructional Specialist, Innovation & Redesign at Spring Branch ISD, part of the Math Innovation Zones Schools. The software allows for mastery of skills through scaffolded lessons, and teachers are able to sit with a group of students to help facilitate their learning. Our teachers use the program daily, and have aligned its curriculum to match our districts math scope and sequence. ST Math has provided a path for aligned math supplemental support that complements the instruction occurring in classrooms.



Recently, ST Math was the subject of the largest study of its kind to evaluate an edtech math program nationally by independent education research firm WestEd. The study looked at 150,000 students at 474 schools in 16 states, including Texas, that started using ST Math between 2013 and 2015. Researchers found that schools consistently using ST Math could boost their state test scores enough to, on average, jump by as much as 14 percentile points in their statewide math ranking.



To learn more about ST Math and its impact, visit stmath.com.



About MIND Research Institute



MIND Research Institute is a neuroscience and education social impact organization, dedicated to ensuring that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the worlds most challenging problems. MIND is the creator of ST Math, a Pre-K-8 visual instructional program that builds a deep conceptual understanding of math through rigorous learning and creative problem solving. MIND has also developed programs under MathMINDs to provide students, teachers and families dynamic ways to actively engage with math, and to close the experience gap for all learners. MathMINDs includes Family Game Nights, the national K-12 Game-a-thon and MathMINDs Games. For more information, visit mindresearch.org.

Attachment
English French

MONTREAL, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL: TSX and NYSE) announced today that, in connection with its previously announced normal course issuer bid to purchase for cancellation up to 10,337,017 common shares of the Company (the NCIB), it entered into an automatic share purchase plan (the ASPP) with a designated broker to allow for the purchase of common shares under the NCIB at times when the Company would ordinarily not be permitted to purchase its common shares due to regulatory restrictions or self-imposed blackout periods. In accordance with applicable securities laws, Gildan is entering into the ASPP without possession of any material non-public information regarding its business, operations or securities.



Pursuant to the ASPP, subject to any applicable blackout period or Gildan confirming that it is not in possession of any material non-public information, it may, but is not required to, instruct the designated broker to make purchases under the NCIB in accordance with the terms of the ASPP. Such purchases will be determined by the designated broker in its sole discretion based on parameters established by Gildan prior to the blackout period in accordance with the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange (the TSX), applicable securities laws and the terms of the ASPP. The ASPP has been pre-cleared by the TSX and will be implemented effective March 29, 2019.

Outside of blackout periods applicable to the Company, common shares may be purchased under the NCIB based on the discretion of the Companys management, in compliance with TSX rules and applicable securities laws. The NCIB commenced on February 27, 2019 and will terminate on February 26, 2020 (or such earlier date as the Company may complete its maximum purchases pursuant to the NCIB). All repurchases made under the ASPP will be included in computing the number of common shares purchased under the NCIB.

About Gildan

Gildan is a leading manufacturer of everyday basic apparel which markets its products in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, under a diversified portfolio of Company-owned brands, including Gildan, American Apparel, Comfort Colors, Gildan Hammer, Gold Toe, Anvil, Alstyle, Secret, Silks, Kushyfoot, Secret Silky, Therapy Plus, Peds and MediPeds, and under the Under Armour brand through a sock licensing agreement providing exclusive distribution rights in the United States and Canada. Our product offering includes activewear, underwear, socks, hosiery, and legwear products sold to a broad range of customers, including wholesale distributors, screenprinters or embellishers, as well as to retailers that sell to consumers through their physical stores and/or e-commerce platforms. In addition, we sell directly to consumers through our own direct-to-consumer platforms.

Gildan owns and operates vertically integrated, large-scale manufacturing facilities which are primarily located in Central America, the Caribbean Basin, North America, and Bangladesh. With over 50,000 employees worldwide Gildan operates with a strong commitment to industry-leading labour and environmental practices throughout its supply chain in accordance with its comprehensive Genuine Responsibility program embedded in the Company's long-term business strategy. More information about the Company and its corporate citizenship practices and initiatives can be found at www.gildancorp.com and www.genuineresponsibility.com, respectively.

Caution concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements included in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements relating to potential purchases of common shares under the NCIB, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities legislation and regulations. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of conditional or forward-looking terminology such as may, will, expect, intend, estimate, project, assume, anticipate, plan, foresee, believe or continue or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are based on assumptions, and are subject to important risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements cannot be relied upon due to, amongst other things, changing external events, market conditions and general uncertainties regarding the business. Actual results may differ materially from results indicated in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those identified in the companys filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the risks described under the Financial risk management, Critical accounting estimates and judgments, and Risks and uncertainties sections of our most recent Managements Discussion and Analysis for a discussion of the various factors that may affect the Companys future results. There can be no assurance that the expectations represented by our forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Unless otherwise stated, the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise unless required by applicable legislation or regulation. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Organic photovoltaics have achieved remarkably high efficiencies, but finding optimum combinations of materials for high-performance organic solar cells, which are also economically competitive, still presents a challenge. Researchers from the United States and China have now developed an innovative interlayer material to improve device stability and electrode performance. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, the authors describe their fullerene-spiked, readily processable ionene polymer, which boosts the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells.

In contrast to common silicon-based solar cells, organic photovoltaics (OPVs) involve organic molecules in solar power generation. Materials in OPVs are abundant and processable, cheap and lightweight, and the modules can be made flexible and with tunable properties. The major disadvantage of such materials is that achieving longevity and high performance requires elaborate settings and architectures. Optimized combinations of materials that match the electrodes remain elusive.

Silver or gold metals form air-stable, processable cathodes, but they also lower the device potential. To overcome this problem, Yao Lui at Beijing University of Chemical Technology (China), and Thomas Russell and Todd Emrick at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (USA), and their research groups, have developed a novel polymeric material to serve as an interlayer between the electrode and the active layer. This interlayer must be conductive and must lower the work function of the cathode by providing an interfacial dipole.

As an interlayer material, the researchers investigated a novel class of charged polymers, the ionene polymers. Ionene polymers are polycations in which the charged moieties are positioned within the polymer backbone rather than as pendant groups, the authors explain. This leads to a higher charge distribution than in conventional cationic polymers, and in addition, better tunability. Ionene polymers provide a useful interfacial dipole, but alone, they lack the required conductivity.

Therefore, the authors included fullerenes in the structural framework of the polymer layer. So-called bucky ballsfullerene spheres made solely from carbonare already used as common acceptor molecules in OPV devices. They are highly conductive and have many other favorable properties.

The scientists prepared the fullereneionene interlayer material by innovating on conventional step-growth polymerization chemistry with novel, functional monomers. They assembled the OPV devices and included an interlayer. The result was an impressive boost in power conversion efficiencyon average three-foldwhen compared to devices without the interlayer. Efficiencies of over 10% point to further applicability of these modular devices.

This work shows that a relatively simple modification to the composition of materials can improve the efficiency in organic electronics and can overcome intrinsic problems related to the combination of hard (electrodes) and soft (active-layered) materials.
/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES./

Subscription Receipts and Convertible Bridge Loan Converted into Common Shares

TORONTO, March 29, 2019 - Mandalay Resources Corp. ("Mandalay" or the "Company") (TSX: MND, OTCQB: MNDJF) is pleased to announce that shareholders of the Company have approved (i) the conversion of 359,400,000 subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts") into 359,400,000 common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares") and (ii) the conversion of an US$8 million convertible bridge loan (the "Bridge Loan") provided by an affiliate of CE Mining Fund III L.P. ("CE Mining") to the Company on February 20, 2019, into 99,362,963 Common Shares. The Subscription Receipts were issued pursuant to an overnight marketed public offering which closed on February 20, 2019 (the "Public Offering", and collectively with the Bridge Loan, the "Financing"). Shareholders also ratified the waiver of the application of the Company's amended and restated shareholder rights plan to the Financing (the "Rights Plan Waiver"). For further details regarding the Financing, please refer to the Company's press releases dated February 11, 12, and 20, 2019.

Dominic Duffy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mandalay commented, "We are pleased with the overwhelmingly positive result of the shareholder vote to approve the Financing. We appreciate the support and confidence of our shareholders  from those participating in the Financing, to those who voted to approve it. With this financing now complete, Mandalay is able to not only meet all of its liquidity requirements but now has the financial footing to grow both its production and exploration profiles. We are focused on putting these funds to work to improve on operations, to create value for all of our shareholders through exploration, and to lay the foundation for an exciting future which begins with a return to being a profitable, producing mining company by the end of 2019."

At the special meeting of shareholders held on March 29, 2019, the Minority Shareholders (as such term is defined in the management information circular dated March 1, 2019 (the "Circular")) of Mandalay voted 99% in favour of approving a resolution authorizing the conversion of the Subscription Receipts and the Bridge Loan into a total of 458,762,963 Common Shares, as well as the Rights Plan Waiver, all as more fully described in the Circular. A total of 79,329,853 Common Shares held by Minority Shareholders, representing 17.59% of the total number of outstanding Common Shares, were voted at the special meeting.

The Company and the underwriters of the Public Offering have provided notice to Computershare Trust Company of Canada, in its capacity as subscription receipt agent for the Subscription Receipts, that all escrow release conditions for the conversion of the Subscription Receipts have been satisfied and as a result, the 359,400,000 Subscription Receipts have been automatically converted (for no additional consideration) into Common Shares and the net proceeds from the sale of the Subscription Receipts (after paying the commission and expenses of the underwriters in connection with the Public Offering) of approximately CAD$40.8 million will be released to the Company. In addition, in accordance with the terms of the Bridge Loan, the full principal amount of the Bridge Loan has been automatically converted into 99,362,963 Common Shares, which remain subject to a four month hold period under applicable securities laws.

The net proceeds raised from the Financing are intended to fund working capital requirements (including capital development work at Costerfield, and tailings upgrade and capital development requirements at Bjorkdal), debt restructuring (including establishing cash reserves relating to the outstanding senior exchangeable gold bonds and the Company's revolving credit facilities); future planned exploration activities at high potential areas including at Costerfield, the Youle lode and deeper hole targets, and the emerging Aurora Zone at Bjorkdal; and for general corporate purposes.

After giving effect to the conversion of the Subscription Receipts and the Bridge Loan, there are a total of 910,358,840 Common Shares issued and outstanding. CE Mining is now the Company's largest shareholder, and owns 232,362,963 Common Shares or 25.52% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. Under the terms of the Bridge Loan, CE Mining now has the right to nominate an additional member of Mandalay's board of directors (the "Board"). Mandalay anticipates that this additional nominee will be included in the slate of directors proposed for election at its 2019 annual meeting of shareholders (the "AGM") and will join the Board at the conclusion of the AGM.

In its press release of March 14, 2019, the Company disclosed that it intended to discharge its obligation under the terms of the Bridge Loan to arrange for the sale of approximately 28.3 million Common Shares held by Bradford A. Mills, the Chairman of the Board, and Plinian Capital Limited ("Plinian"), an entity controlled by Mr. Mills, by repurchasing these Common Shares following the conversion of the Subscription Receipts. Subsequent to that announcement, Mr. Mills and Plinian sold all of these Common Shares to third parties, which satisfied Mandalay's obligations. Accordingly, the previously announced repurchase of the Common Shares is not necessary and will not be proceeding, and the funds that would have been required to complete the repurchase will be retained by Mandalay and are available to be deployed for the uses of proceeds noted above.

About Mandalay Resources Corporation:

Mandalay is a Canadian-based natural resource company with producing assets in Australia and Sweden, and care and maintenance and development projects in Chile. The Company is focused on growing production at its gold and antimony operation in Australia, and gold production from its operation in Sweden to generate near term cash flow.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. There can be no assurance that Mandalay will be able to continue to operate as a going concern even with the completion of the Financing and the satisfaction of the escrow release conditions. 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. The factors identified above are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Mandalay. A description of additional risks that could result in actual results and developments differing from those contemplated by forward-looking statements in this news release can be found under the heading "Risk Factors" in Mandalay's annual information form dated March 28, 2019, a copy of which is available under Mandalay's profile at www.sedar.com and in the prospectus supplement filed on February 12, 2019 by Mandalay pursuant to its (final) short form base shelf prospectus dated February 12, 2018 in connection with the Public Offering. Although Mandalay 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 Mandalay Resources Corp.
TORONTO, March 29, 2019 - First Cobalt Corp. (TSX-V: FCC; ASX: FCC; OTCQX: FTSSF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of the non-brokered private placement previously announced on March 4, 2019 (the "Private Placement") to raise gross proceeds of $1,604,385 by issuing 8,913,251 units (the "Units") of the Company at a price of $0.18 per Unit.

Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional Common Share at a price of $0.27 for a period of two years. The Warrants are subject to an acceleration clause such that, if the closing price of the Common Shares is equal to or greater than $0.37 per share for a period of ten consecutive trading days, the Company shall have the option to accelerate the expiration of the Warrants to 20 calendar days from the issuance of a notice of acceleration.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Private Placement to support ongoing work at the First Cobalt Refinery as well as general corporate purposes.

All securities issued pursuant to the above Private Placement will be subject to a statutory four month and one day hold period. The Private Placement is subject to all necessary regulatory and stock exchange approvals.

Insiders of the Company subscribed for an aggregate of 2,691,918 Units under the Private Placement. To facilitate these purchases, insiders sold, in pre-arranged trades, a number of Common Shares equal to the number of Units purchased by the insiders under the Private Placement. The issuances of Units to insiders pursuant to the Private Placement are considered related party transactions within the meaning of TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company relied on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 in respect of insider participation as, at the time the transaction was agreed to, neither the fair market value of, nor the fair market value of the consideration for, the transaction, insofar as it involves interested parties, exceeded 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The issuance of certain securities to insiders will be completed pending shareholder approval as required by Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX").

In connection with certain orders, finder's fees were paid, amounting to an aggregate of $34,419 in cash and 191,215 in warrants to finders.

The Company did not file a material change report in respect of the related party transactions at least 21 days prior to the closing of the Private Placement, as the Company deemed such delay reasonable in the circumstances so as to be able to avail itself of the proceeds of the Private Placement in an expeditious manner.

About First Cobalt

First Cobalt is a Canadian-based pure-play cobalt company and owner of the only permitted primary cobalt refinery in North America. The Company is exploring a restart of the First Cobalt Refinery in Ontario, Canada, which could produce 2,000 tonnes of cobalt sulfate or metallic cobalt per year. First Cobalt's main cobalt project is the Iron Creek Cobalt Project in Idaho, USA, which has Inferred mineral resources of 26.9 million tonnes grading 0.11% cobalt equivalent, or an alternative underground-only scenario of 4.4 million tonnes grading 0.3% cobalt equivalent.

On behalf of First Cobalt Corp.

Trent Mell

President & Chief Executive Officer

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Estimates of Resources

Readers are cautioned that mineral resources are not economic mineral reserves and that the economic viability of resources that are not mineral reserves has not been demonstrated. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by geology, environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues. The mineral resource estimate is classified in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum's "2014 CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves" incorporated by reference into NI 43-101. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies or economic studies except for Preliminary Economic Assessment as defined under NI 43-101. Readers are cautioned not to assume that further work on the stated resources will lead to mineral reserves that can be mined economically. An Inferred Mineral Resource as defined by the CIM Standing Committee is "that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. Geological evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify geological and grade or quality continuity. An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration."

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects', "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance and opportunities to differ materially from those implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements are set forth in the management discussion and analysis and other disclosures of risk factors for First Cobalt, filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although First Cobalt believes that the information and assumptions used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, First Cobalt disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE First Cobalt Corp.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  The country's top diplomat defended the Duterte administration's tough stance against illegal drugs, saying the country is determined in its fight.

Speaking at the opening of the Ministerial Segment of the 62nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna Thursday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin said, "With the war on drugs, the Philippines renews its commitment to the state responsibility to protect, first and foremost the law-abiding against the lawless by any means efficient, to achieve the defining purpose and expense of a state: defense of nation; extinction of threats to public welfare and safety. To that responsibility my President has made an iron, unwavering and total commitment."

Locsin stood up for the war on drugs, saying it was not pulled "out of thin air," but rather an enhanced version of the National Anti-Drug Plan of Action.

"We just gave it a sharper edge, a longer blade, and a wider swing," he said.

He also highlighted the "whole-of-nation approach" taken by the government, to which, in December 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte said the government was shifting.

Locsin said the country "throws everything" at the drug trade, but the approach is firmly anchored on UN drug conventions, the ASEAN Work Plan against Illicit Drugs, and the country's national development plan which he said "has no place above ground for the drug trade."

The Foreign Affairs secretary said the core of the war on drugs is to stem the "massive flow" of illegal drugs, and to reduce the demand for it by adopting community-based rehabilitation and "a strategy of enforcement, rehabilitation, and reintegration."

Withstanding criticism

Locsin also hit back against critics of the drug war, first calling out those who suggested the country legalize drugs.

"The Philippines would consider this option if it was the size of a sardine can with its small content," he said.

Locsin said this simply was not feasible as the Philippines has a population of 110 million and one of the longest coastlines in the world, along which anyone can drop a bag full of illicit drugs which can then be picked up by what he said were "complicit "local government units."

READ: Duterte tags politicians in 'somewhat validated' narco list

The country's location also, he said, put it "within spitting distance of major meth manufacturers in the Asian mainland."

He also talked about those who were waging an "international public relations war" against the war on drugs, adding it gives rise to a suspicion that there could be material motivation behind the attacks.

"Hand in hand with this vilification campaign, European NGOs fund another war - against our society and national security," he said.

Locsin emphasized while the country may stand alone in its fight against illegal drugs, it will not bow to critics.

"As always, the Philippines fights its battles alone; it needs no help, it fears no opposition from any quarter, but it would not mind a little understanding," he said.
On Friday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide.Allowing terminally ill and dying residents the dignity to make end-of-life decisions according to their own consciences is the right thing to do. I look forward to signing this legislation into law," he said in a statement after the legislature passed the bill last month.Seven other states and the District of Columbia allow patients to request a prescription for life-ending medication when theyre expected to live less than a year and are in pain.New Jersey's legislation will apply to people with a prognosis of six months or less. A patient must ask their doctor three times -- once orally and twice in writing. The written request has to be witnessed by two people, and one of them can't be a family member or a will beneficiary.Oregon was the first to legalize what's also known as "aid in dying" or "death with dignity," in 1997. In the two decades since, the policy has slowly gained support. But last month, a bill died in the Maryland state Senate, one vote shy of passage. Days before that, an aid-in-dying effort failed in Connecticut. In addition to New Jersey, New York could legalize death with dignity this year. A bill to do so is currently in committee.Connecticut state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, a Democrat, became interested in the policy when a constituent of his was indicted for helping his father die because he was in so much pain at the end of his life.It was an eye-opener. I had no idea of the magnitude of the problem. The world of palliative and hospice care has improved in the past couple of years, but there remains a percentage of people where this is simply insufficient, says Steinberg.If Steinberg's bill had reached Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont's desk, there is reason to believe he would have signed it. In Maryland, which has a significant Catholic population, the church lobbied against assisted suicide. In Connecticut, the biggest opposition came from disability advocates.Many of us with severe and obvious disabilities tend to be thought of, prematurely, by medical practitioners as having reached a final stage where death might be expected in the near future, said Cathy Ludlum, co-founder of Second Thoughts Connecticut, in a public hearing on the legislation.Connecticuts bill was modeled after the Oregon law, which Steinberg refers to as the gold standard. The legislation would have required a prognosis of less than six months, consent from two doctors and opportunities to rescind the request at any time. (Marylands also required a patient to be alone with their physician at the time of one of the requests.)In an interview with, Maryland state Del. Shane Pendergrass quoted a woman -- who has since passed away -- who once testified in support of aid in dying. She said '"were all one bad death away from supporting this.'"One of our delegates co-sponsored this legislation because when his mother passed away, he had to experience a bad death, said Pendergrass.While the Maryland legislation is dead, the governor's stance on assisted suicide appears to be evolving. Republican Larry Hogan spoke against aid in dying as a candidate in 2014, but more recently, he said he would consider it more closely and that the policy is one that I really wrestle with from a personal basis.Still, the movement faces court battles and legislative hurdles.Last May, a court overturned Californias End of Life Option Act, which was signed into law in 2016. The law was reinstated when an appeals court stayed the ruling, but the long-term future of the law is uncertain. And in 2018, 21 states introduced aid-in-dying bills, but only Hawaii signed one into law.
With the stroke of a pen Wednesday, Gov. Brian Kemp regained broad powers to determine the health care coverage for hundreds of thousands of Georgians. And how he wields that new authority will help define his first term as governor.Kemp signed legislation Wednesday that allows his administration to pursue two separate waivers with the federal government that could ease health care access for poor and middle-class Georgians and set a path toward limited Medicaid expansion, or that could advance conservative goals of reining in Medicaid's scope."By passing this legislation we have decided to abandon the status quo," Kemp said at a ceremony before he signed the bill. "We are rolling up our sleeves and it is time to get to work."It's no blank check: The new law gives him a limited timeline to fulfill the plan and forbade him from pursuing a full Medicaid expansion -- which he has promised to oppose in any case. And there's no guarantee the federal government will approve the waivers, despite Kemp's alliance with President Donald Trump.But it will allow Kemp's office discretion to seek vast changes that could reshape Georgia's health care system -- changes that could echo in the next two statewide elections.And it triggers a complicated, behind-the-scenes process that involves hiring a consultant to craft a plan, negotiate with health officials and politicians, mine statistical data and navigate the bureaucracy in Washington before it has a chance to become a part of the state's health care fabric.In interviews and public statements, Kemp has stressed that he understands the broad latitude he now has -- a power that was stripped from the governor's office in the teeth of the 2014 campaign. He has even more power than a governor would have had then, since even then a governor would have had to reach some kind of agreement with the Legislature on changing such a significant program. He's pledged not to be a "Lone Ranger" and to insist on transparency."I understand and greatly appreciate the trust that has been given to me and my administration by the Legislature with this action," Kemp said Wednesday, flanked by House Speaker David Ralston and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who also attended the signing. "This process will remain transparent, and we will do what is right even when no one is watching."He'll be under intense scrutiny from Democrats and health care advocates seething at the governor's new powers. They mock the state for putting aside $1 million for a consultant rather than embrace a full-on Medicaid expansion that would cover more people, possibly cost the state less money and, they say, spur more economic growth.And Kemp's critics say the waiver process is a betrayal of the legislative branch, which for the past four years had the final say on any attempt to expand the Medicaid program. State Rep. Bob Trammell, the top Democrat in the House, called it nothing short of an "abdication" of duties. His allies have seconded him."This bill removes any oversight from this deliberative body," said state Rep. Mary Robichaux, D-Roswell. "How will success be measured? I do not see any such parameters in this bill. ... The citizens of Georgia cannot wait for an experimental pilot or project."The broad leeway given to Kemp is nothing like the specific directions and plans laid out in laws such as Utah's. The waiver legislation, Senate Bill 106, would allow Kemp to implement any type of change allowed by Medicaid law as long as it's approved by the federal government.That could mean attempts at significant changes to Medicaid, said MaryBeth Musumeci, associate director of the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a research group.Up to now GOP leaders in Georgia and the Trump administration have expressed interest in several types of cutbacks or caps on Medicaid funding. One possibility, Musumeci said, is for Georgia to request something like that in return for the Trump administration agreeing to shoulder 90 percent of the financial burden of expanding Georgia's Medicaid population.In such a case, the plan could wind up in court, with federal judges deciding whether it's legal. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Washington ruled for the second time that work requirements in exchange for Medicaid are not legal because they do not advance the purpose of the Medicaid law. The rulings, concerning Kentucky's and Arkansas' programs, are likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.The governor has offered few specifics about the complicated waiver process, saying that he wants to assess all his options. The law sets a deadline of June 30, 2020, to apply for the Medicaid waiver.He, however, has dropped hints. His administration is likely to adopt elements of other waivers from other Republican-led states, such as an attempt at work requirements and a "high-risk pool" for Affordable Care Act insurance. He has signaled his interest in a waiver proposed by officials at Grady Memorial Hospital, which ran a pilot project to reduce inappropriate emergency room visits by "surrounding" such patients with lower-cost care, including social workers.In his remarks Kemp made it clear he intends to lower government spending on Medicaid."Our Medicaid program costs too much and fails to deliver like it should," he said. Listing industries in which Georgia is a national leader, he added: "We have the opportunity to lead in health care as well. Our state will reform a broken system with conservative solutions."Implementation of either the Medicaid changes or the Affordable Care Act insurance changes can begin after Jan. 1.Until recently, there was no indication from Washington that Kemp's plan to pursue waivers had any chance of winning federal approval. But that changed this month when the nation's top Medicaid official said she's reviewing the agency's policies to give states more flexibility in administering the program.The Trump administration is eager to head off the momentum for full Medicaid expansion by approving more limited waiver programs.Still, even Kemp's supporters caution that federal approval -- which the governor hopes to secure before next year's election -- is no sure thing.And if legislators really don't like whatever the governor comes up with, Ralston told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the ceremony, it's not the end of the world."The Legislature can always act on any proposal that the governor makes," Ralston said. "We meet every year. We'll be back next January. If we need to make some changes, we'll have an opportunity to do that."
A college student who worked alongside L. Douglas Wilder, the former Virginia governor, has accused him of kissing her without her consent and suggesting that she move in with him, a lawyer for the students family confirmed Thursday.According to allegations, first reported by The Washington Post, Sydney Black, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, said that Mr. Wilder, 88, took her out in February 2017 to celebrate her 20th birthday, ordering her martinis. Ms. Black told The Post that Mr. Wilder later took her to his condo in Richmond, where, she said, he touched her leg and kissed her on the lips.Ms. Black said she jerked away from Mr. Wilders advance and rebuked him. She told The Post that, months later, Mr. Wilder told her that there was no longer funding for her position as an office assistant at the universitys L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, where the former governor works as a distinguished professor. Ms. Black filed a complaint with the university in December, and its Title IX office is investigating the allegations, The Post reported, adding that she also reported the episode to the police.Mr. Wilder did not respond to requests for comment through email and phone calls to his assistant on Thursday. As the countrys first elected African-American governor, Mr. Wilder is a historic figure in American politics.The accusations against him come after a storm of political scandals in Virginia, where Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark R. Herring admitted to wearing blackface and Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax was accused of sexual assault by two women. (Mr. Fairfax has denied that he assaulted either woman.)Attempts to reach Ms. Black on Thursday were unsuccessful. Her mother, Margo Stokes, referred questions to the familys lawyer, Jason V. Wolfrey, who said The Post had accurately reported Ms. Blacks allegations.
Maryland's General Assembly took swift action Thursday to override Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of a bill that will gradually increase the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour.The override of the minimum wage bill was never in question and came by wide margins: 96-43 in the House of Delegates, followed by a 32-15 vote in the Senate. It takes 29 votes to override in the Senate and 85 in the House.Lawmakers also overrode a veto of a bill that strips State Comptroller Peter Franchot's alcohol and tobacco enforcement authority, moving it to a new commission. And they took a step toward overriding Hogan's veto of a bill that would overturn the governor's order that public schools must start the academic year after Labor Day.Under the minimum wage legislation, businesses with 15 or more employees will follow a schedule that reaches $15 in 2025, while smaller companies will have to pay $15 starting in 2026.In vetoing the bill Wednesday, Hogan said in a letter to legislative leaders that increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour will "cost us jobs, negatively impact our economic competitiveness and devastate our state's economy."The Republican governor had offered support for an increase to $12.10 instead."We are obviously disappointed that the legislature completely ignored the governor's reasonable compromise proposal to protect jobs and small businesses," Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci said in a statement. "So much for olive branches."Del. C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat, argued too many Marylanders are trying to live on poverty wages. As a business owner, Wilson said he understands Republicans' concerns about the legislation's impact on small businesses, but he argued it was the right thing to do to help low-wage workers."We have to do something," Wilson said. "Doing nothing is unacceptable."Hogan's proposal to increase the minimum wage to $12.10 also would have allowed further increases only if surrounding states raised wages, too. Pennsylvania and Virginia follow the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Delaware and West Virginia have a minimum wage of $8.75, with Delaware's scheduled to increase to $9.25 this fall.There's been a national push to increase the minimum wage. Many major employers have pledged to increase wages and several Democratic presidential hopefuls have put a $15 wage in their platforms.Twenty-nine states have minimum wages higher than the federal rate. California, Massachusetts, New York and the District of Columbia have passed laws that phase in increases to reach $15, according to nonpartisan analysts from the Maryland Department of Legislative Services.Republicans joined Hogan Thursday in opposition to the $15 an hour legislation, arguing it will hurt rural parts of the state. Lawmakers should instead focus on how to grow the economy, they argued."Areas of the state have begged us not to do this to them," said Del. Nic Kipke, the Anne Arundel Republican who is House minority leader. "I stand in support of our governor. I stand in opposition of this 'Fight for 15.' ... What helps is a roaring economy."As in the House, senators revisited their earlier debate themes on the issue. Supporters of the increased wage talked about how it will help families and does not spell doom for businesses, while opponents said minimum wage jobs are meant for entry-level workers and that $15 an hour salaries will devastate local businesses.Sen. Cory McCray, the bill's Senate sponsor, peppered his comments with the estimate that 573,000 workers will benefit from the increased wage."They don't want a hand out, they want a hand up," said McCray, a Baltimore Democrat. "And while there are those of us that can go to work every day and they can do everything right, the reality is that there were thoughtful leaders before us that put in protections to make sure that we lift all people, which is what we are doing today."Sen. Andrew Serafini, a Washington County Republican, warned against raising the wage at a time when another recession is in sight."When it happens," he said, "it's going to crush the small businesses that are living on tight margins."Other Republicans said education, job training or "motivation" is what's necessary to help workers to move up to better-paying jobs."That's how you will raise these people out of poverty, not just by putting this up to $15," said Sen. Bryan Simonaire, an Anne Arundel County Republican.With the veto overridden, the first increase is scheduled for Jan. 1. That will bring the minimum wage to $11 per hour.The override was cheered by supporters of increasing the wage and criticized by business groups.Ricarra Jones, leader of the state's "Fight for $15" coalition, said the governor's veto amounted to him "turning his back on hundreds of thousands of workers who can't survive on $400 a week" -- the amount of a week's full-time pay at $10.10 an hour.Mike O'Halloran, state director of National Federation of Independent Business, said his group was disappointed by the move, saying it will "send Maryland in the wrong direction.""The small business community has been clear throughout the debate that this legislation would be devastating to them," he said.Both the House and Senate voted to override Hogan's veto of the legislation to establish an Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. It would replace Franchot by July 2020 in overseeing his field enforcement division, which has about 60 staffers and investigates violations of state regulations pertaining to tobacco and alcohol sales, among other duties. The governor will appoint the members of the proposed commission. The House override vote was 98-39, followed by a 30-15 vote in the Senate.Franchot wasn't available Thursday for comment, but Deputy Comptroller Len Foxwell said the change was the result of corporate influence on the General Assembly's leaders."There is virtually nothing that rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers won't do when under orders from (state Senate President) Mike Miller and (House Speaker) Mike Busch, that we live in a state where powerful corporate lobbyists can literally handpick a new regulator if they don't like the one they already have, and that we have enough taxpayer money in the state's coffers to burn $50 million merely to settle a personal grudge," Foxwell wrote in a Facebook post.Franchot has said it will cost the state $50 million to create the commission. Nonpartisan analysts estimated it would cost the state $4 million in the first year to set up the commission.Democratic Del. Dereck Davis of Prince George's County argued the bill was good policy, not political payback against Franchot for his criticism of General Assembly leadership."The state of Maryland does not revolve around Peter V.R. Franchot," Davis said. "Can he be an irritant? Yes. But that doesn't mean the bill is about that. ... It's a bipartisan effort."The Senate also voted to override Hogan's veto of the bill that would return authority to decide when to begin the academic year to local school districts -- legislation that would undo the governor's 2016 executive order mandating a post-Labor Day start.Sen. Paul Pinsky termed the governor's order a "fiat written in stone" that was more focused on helping tourism than students."The word 'instruction' does not appear once in the executive order," said Pinsky, a Prince George's County Democrat. "That should tell you something."The House of Delegates is expected to vote Friday on that veto override.
Three of the rising stars in the State Legislature and the Democratic progressive movement called Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo hypocritical on Wednesday for holding a $25,000-a-plate fundraiser while saying he is fighting for campaign finance reform."I think it's hypocritical," said Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx). "It is impossible to say a $25,000 ticket is not influencing.""Talking the talk is one. Walking the walk is another," said Assemb. Yuh-Line Niou (D-Manhattan). "We're asking him to walk his talk.""Pay-to-play politics must end," said Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens). "Our concern is that the governor stick to his word."She acknowledged that she had a recent fundraiser, but in hindsight should have canceled it."These hypocrites should practice what they preach and take a look in the mirror," said Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi. "They and their colleagues hold fundraisers daily, a hop skip and jump from the Capitol. "The three legislators also said fundraising should be banned during the time the state budget is being crafted.The legislators held an impromptu news conference after they said they read tweets of a New York Times story about Cuomo's fundraiser headlined: "A Secretive Dinner Where $25,000 Buys Access to Cuomo."The state budget is due by midnight Sunday night and one of the issues being discussed is a proposal to use public funds to operate political campaigns. The long-proposed measure is favored by many good-government advocates as a way to reduce the influence of big-money donors through a 6:1 match of public funds to candidates who must raise contributions in smaller amounts, with the intent of attracting more donors.The system would be voluntary, but the legislators on Wednesday said a similar system in New York City has prompted more people to run for office who couldn't otherwise raise enough funding.
Texas had used about $18 million of $5 billion for administration and planning;

Florida had used about $1 million of $616 million for administration, planning and housing;

And Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands hadn't used any of the $1.5 billion and $243 million, respectively, that they were allocated.

In Other Public Finance News This Week:

In Nashville, Amazon Jobs Wont Pay as Much as Expected

Marijuana Banking Act Moves Forward

Historic flooding in the Midwest has left millions of acres under water in 10 states after a "bomb cyclone" storm brought heavy snow and drenching rains. And its far from over. Weather forecasters say more precipitation is on the way.The task list for the cleanup and recovery is already mounting. So far, the floods are affecting the safety of more than a million private water wells ; farms wont be able to plant crops this year; and Superfund waste sites are inaccessible And when it comes to getting the money to rebuild, states and localities in the Midwest likely have a long wait ahead of them.According to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), states and localities have still barely tapped the billions in federal funding for 2017s major hurricanes.As of January:The main reason for the sluggishness, the GAO found, is red tape. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has to customize its disaster funding grant requirements each time theres a new disaster. Thats a time-consuming process that has delayed the disbursement of funds, the report says.And, the report adds, the expected increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events will only make matters worse in the future.Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria caused an estimated $265 billion in damage in 2017, primarily in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Congress has provided more than $35 billion to HUD in the form of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds, which can be used for housing, infrastructure and economic revitalization. The money tends to be targeted toward lower-income areas with more limited resources.But HUDs reinventing-the-wheel approach to the funding creates all sorts of delays. States and localities first must wait for the department to write the rules that will outline what they need to do to be eligible for grants. It's no small task. The rules must address, for instance, how the money will be managed and what level of community involvement is required.It wasnt until a year after the 2017 hurricanes that states and territories signed grant agreements with HUD.Climate change, the report says, underscores the need for a permanent program to address unmet disaster needs.I think theres a growing recognition that everybody would benefit if there were clear, predictable rules, says Sarah Labowitz, the communications and policy director for Houston's housing department.She says the city is working toward having a permanent staff for managing disaster recovery and the ensuing grant process, but there's only so much they can do without the federal government changing its process.The issues with HUD pile on to an already convoluted disaster recovery process. Disaster funding distributed by FEMA has its own problems. Because FEMA tends to undercount the poor , many cities dont receive grants that reflect their actual costs. According to a study released this month, the federal government underestimated by nearly $2 billion the serious unmet needs after Hurricane Harvey.When the online retailer Amazon announced it would build an operations plant in Nashville as a runner-up prize in the companys HQ2 search, the expected 5,000 jobs, at an average $150,000 salary, were celebrated by many. Turns out, most jobs are likely to fall far under that mark, The Tennessean reports In reality, three out of five jobs will pay well below that amount (although still above the median income for similar jobs in Davidson County). The $150,000 average that the company quoted was actually the average -- which any mathematician can tell you is different from the median.Nevertheless, Nashville approved giving Amazon up to $17.5 million in job creation incentives. Tennessee is adding another $21.7 million in job tax credits over seven years.As the city and state eventually assess whether Amazon lives up to its job promises, officials have to be wary about the degree to which very high salaries at the top end -- and the relocation of executives to the area -- skew Amazons numbers.A federal fix to a problem that prevents banks from working with marijuana businesses is moving forward.This week, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act passed committee and now goes to the full U.S. House for consideration.There are reasons for people in the ever-growing cannabis industry to be hopeful. For starters, there are now a whopping 152 bipartisan cosponsors on the House bill. It started with 108. This bill also has more traction than its previous version two year ago, which lingered in committee.Because marijuana is still illegal under federal law, the act would provide a safe harbor to financial institutions doing business with cannabis companies.Medical marijuana is legal in 33 states and among those, one-third have approved full legalization.
The need for social services has reached an all-time high. This article takes a look at how the social good sector can learn from the private sectors adoption of technology and data to help serve the most critical needs of our communities.
The Best Way to Map Nations Broadband Speeds

Code for America Is Conducting Its First Brigade Congress

Digital Inclusion Week Is Now Set for the First Week of October

18F Highlights Four Favorite Projects from 2018

The MetroLab Network, which works to connect city-led innovation efforts with academia, has now added San Antonio and the University of Texas, San Antonio to its list of participants.The pair joins 44 cities, six counties and 60 universities from scross the country. In an announcement this week , organizers noted the citys Office of Innovation and the university would be working to overcome shared obstacles for residents. The intent is to also help build upon the ongoing smart city work taking place as part of SmartSA, which ultimately works to leverage tech and data to improve life for residents. SmartSAs involvement brings a wide assortment of local agencies, including CPS Energy, the San Antonio Water System, the San Antonio River Authority and VIA Metropolitan Transit.The city of San Antonio, in collaboration with our SmartSA partners, is driving forward a smart city 3.0 model that prioritizes community input regarding challenges that our constituency faces every day, said San Antonio CIO Brian Dillard, in a statement. We acknowledge that we cant tackle these issues alone, which is why we are excited about partnerships like the one we now have with UTSA via the MetroLab network. Their expertise and energy will help ensure we remain inclusive, forward-thinking, and even more impactful in this space of urban innovation.The announcement also notes that an upcoming project aims to address digital inclusion, following a report from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance that indicates the city has 37.5 percent of its residents lacking a household broadband Internet connection.Something many digital inclusion experts agree upon is that the country would benefit from a more accurate and comprehensive map of the nations broadband speeds.To that end, Ed Blayney  a civic technology manager in Louisville, Ky.  recently penned a blog on medium suggesting how America could do a better job of mapping broadband speeds. Blayney, who works on digital equity, led by essentially noting how important such data is to local policymakers and digital inclusion advocates. Currently, the FCC 477 data is the best available resource, he noted, but even that information does not provide a totally clear picture of availability or, perhaps most importantly, the service speeds customers are actually getting from broadband providers.Louisville, however, has built a tool that may offer a solution and its open-source, which makes for easy sharing. That tool is called SpeedUp, and its live now via SpeedUpLouisville.com . The platform was created by working with Louisvilles startup and civic tech communities. What it does is give users insights into the real speeds residents are getting, down to the Census tract level.Why this is significant for folks outside of Louisville is that it could soon go nationwide. In fact, Blayney notes in his piece that the civic tech group Tech Oregon is working to build a similar platform that encompasses the entire country.A similar platform has also been developed for San Jose, Calif., which can be found via SpeedUpSanJose.com Also, in other Louisville and digital inclusion news, the city will be hosting another Digital Inclusion Design Jam April 6, which essentially combines municipal digital equity efforts with expertise from local designers.Code for America, the national nonprofit and nonpartisan group that helps government use technology to better serve the population, is conducting its first ever Brigade Network Census The Code for America Brigade Network is essentially a collection of localized groups that conduct projects that speak to the larger groups mission, focusing of course on their individual communities. The census is a series of questions for brigade volunteers, and it seeks to find out more about who they are and what their work is like. Organizers have said they hope to learn about a wide range of topics, including gender inclusivity within the brigades, the sorts of day jobs that the members of the brigades hold and whether the racial and ethnic makeups of the brigades are reflective of the rest of the country.The information collected as part of the census is to be used to help leadership better organize the brigades as well as to get a more accurate sense of which voices we are currently bringing to the table, organizers wrote in a medium post. If you are a member of a Code for America brigade, the census can be filled out in roughly five minutes, and you can click here to begin. Organizers have moved Digital Inclusion Week to a new permanent home.Moving forward, the week of events and awareness will take place during the first week in October, with this years slate of activities scheduled for Oct. 7 - 11. The announcement was made via the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) blog. That group is perhaps most accurately credited as the creator and organizer of the week.In the announcement, the NDIA also noted that the week has grown in scope and participation since its inception in 2017 . In fact, last year the week had registered hosts from 20 states as well as from 68 organizations. So many participants held social media campaigns, that the week actually had its own Twitter Moment Other activities associated with Digital Inclusion Week include classes aimed at fostering improved digital literacy, special events and more.As noted last week, the federal tech consultancy 18F is in the midst of celebrating its fifth anniversary, and now part of that is sharing the groups four favorite projects of 2018. These projects include the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Electronic Advanced Planning Document, the FedRAMP Dashboard, the U.S. Marine Corps Logistics IT, and the U.S. Navy Naval Air Systems Command work. In addition to just listing the projects, a recent blog by the group has its staff members detailing why each is meaningful and what the positive outcomes of them have been to date.
Increase circuit capacity to support the needs of field offices; proactively monitor network performance to identify and mitigate potential outages. The report advises the DMV to configure its SolarWinds software to produce warning history reports and to analyze these reports weekly to enable timely identification of potential network performance issues.

Enhance the Incident Ticket process to consistently prioritize and promptly resolve field office IT issues.

Review the project prioritization process and follow scoring and ranking templates.

Resolve critical, serious and moderate defects before a project launches.

Complete all required tests before launching IT projects.

Document approval and completion of key project components.

Raise the priority of transitioning from legacy programming languages.

Raise the priority of succession and workforce planning.

Finalize and implement the Succession and Workforce Plan.

Use the states Request for Offer process to select a vendor to transform the DMV customer experience; in particular, as it relates to the implementation of Real ID;

Develop an enterprise-wide IT governance structure and project management system;

Improve network infrastructure and increase monitoring to to reduce outages;

Seek innovative ways to leverage technology including state partnerships to address infrastructure needs; and

Improve project management, testing and documentation practices.

The state Department of Finance issued a critical report Wednesday about the Department of Motor Vehicles  and the DMV agreed with the findings and recommended remedies.The report summarizes an audit of the troubled department that was ordered by then-Gov. Jerry Brown after a series of problems at the DMV  long lines, technological glitches, Motor Voter registration errors and serious concerns about the states ability to comply with the federal Real ID program by next years deadline. The purpose of the Department of Finance (DoF) audit was twofold: to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the DMVs current operations and make recommendations to improve its practices and enhance the field office customer experience; and to evaluate the DMVs IT system and its impact on the field office customer experience.The audit includes a lengthy section detailing the departments problems with technology, along with recommendations. (Some of these problems are not unique to the DMV; to those in the private sector, some are familiar.)Insufficient network system infrastructure and lack of monitoring processes contributed to field office outages, impacting customers ability to obtain DMV services.Project prioritization, management, testing and documentation practices need improvement.Legacy computer programming language contributes to succession planning risks.In the DMVs response to the audit, the departments new acting director, Kathleen Webb, acknowledges the shortcomings of the DMVs past business practices and notes that remedies are either planned or already in the works.Specifically in the area of IT, Webb said the agency has already undertaken or will undertake key steps of interest to the tech industry, including:DMV is working with DoF on a Spring Finance Letter that will request funding, where needed, to implement several of these recommendations, Webb writes in her response.Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, is still recruiting for a new DMV director Jean Shiomoto, the longtime chief , retired in December, and Webb is the third acting director since then.Newsom has assigned Secretary Marybel Batjer of the Government Operations Agency (GovOps) to head a DMV Strike Team to investigate, diagnose and recommend solutions to the department's problems.reported that Brian Annis, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency , said in a statement that hes confident that the DMV, which comes under his aegis, can turn things around."The Department of Motor Vehicles is at a period of transition, Annis wrote. Its my expectation that the department will fully implement the Department of Finance audit findings, continue work to streamline processes and improve the overall customer experience for all Californians.Techwire.net,Government Technology
The closing of Dominicks grocery stores across the city five years ago left several areas on the South Side without easy access to healthy food, and those voids have been difficult to fill. Its vacant store in the South Shore community will be the last site to be filled, by a Shop and Save that just last month finalized plans to buy the site and open its store later this year.
(TNS) - Middleton residents will be asked to triple their stormwater utility bill in a referendum Tuesday to fund repairs to parts of the city that were heavily damaged in last summers flash flooding.The Pheasant Branch Creek corridor, Tiedeman Pond and Stricker Pond were devastated by the downpour Aug. 20 that soaked much of western Dane County, and the city will have to pay millions of dollars to repair those areas as well as other stormwater management features, according to the referendum.The city estimated that the August flooding caused $6.5 million in damage to public properties, including about $5.3 million to stormwater management facilities.The annual stormwater utility charge for homeowners would jump from $15 to $45, but only through 2024.That increase would bring in about $2.8 million over the five years.Middleton officials are divided on whether the money is necessary at this stage.Mayor Gurdip Brar said the call for increased revenue is premature because the city does not yet know how much money it will take to fix damaged areas and facilities.Bill Burns, the citys finance director, told the City Council and mayor in February that its still unclear how much of the construction will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.The city should wait to ask for more money until a set dollar amount is determined, Brar said.At that stage, the city could go to referendum to ask the taxpayers for that amount of money, not an arbitrary value of raising the stormwater utility, Brar said.Owners with single-, two- or three-family properties are generally charged the base rate of $15, which would become $45 if the referendum passes.Larger residential properties and commercial properties, which have more impervious surfaces such as roofs and parking lots, are currently charged at a rate of $15 for every 15,000 square feet of impervious surface, with that number rounded up. That charge would also triple.City administrator Mike Davis said the referendum is necessary to repair the Pheasant Branch Creek corridor. Davis said FEMA will not pay for repairs to parts of the corridor that had not been engineered to withstand downpour conditions, which is about half of the creek corridor.FEMA will also only reimburse up to 87.5 percent of the repair costs, leaving the city to foot the rest of the bill.After prospective FEMA reimbursement and (state Department of Natural Resources) grants are applied, we estimate a range of the citys portion to finance would be $3.5 million on the high end and $1.5 million on the low end, Davis said.Davis said he believes the city would have to borrow money, delay other projects or both to complete the necessary repairs if the referendum fails.Brar said he disagrees. He said other funding can be sought from other agencies or used from reserve funds.2019 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)Visit The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) at www.wisconsinstatejournal.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS)  Police officers across Wayne County soon will be equipped to provide a quick response to major bleed events if they arrive first on the scene.The Wayne County Emergency Management Agency is securing funds to supply a Stop The Bleed Kit for each vehicle at every law enforcement agency in the county. The Wayne County commissioners authorized the EMA to apply for a grant from the George T. Dunlap Foundation in the amount of $20,859, enough for 130 kits.Each kit includes tourniquets, disposable gloves and quick clot wound packing material.The EMA previously applied for a $3,800 grant through Walmart for the same reason, but the agency has not heard back on the grant application. Director Joe Villegas hopes this grant and the Walmart grant will allow the county to purchase enough kits to place in every vehicle."Currently, we have to use makeshift dressings and direct compression while we wait for the EMS personnel to arrive," Rittman Police Chief Ray Arcuri said. "With the proper training, our officers will be able to render vital first aid to citizens, other officers and themselves."Stop the Bleed is intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives, according to BleedingControl.org.The national awareness campaign was launched in October 2015, two years after the Joint Committee to Create a National Policy to Enhance Survivability from Intentional Mass Casualty and Active Shooter Events was formed in Hartford, Connecticut in response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.Dalton Police Chief Ryan Pearson was skeptical of the Stop the Bleed concept until he watched a video of two officers in a shootout, one of whom was able to apply a tourniquet to his partner who was shot in the leg. Some of his officers already have tourniquets on their belts and First Aid bags equipped with more emergency type items."And it's not just putting new equipment in place but also training for a bad situation," Pearson said.Officers on the Wooster Police Department have carried tactical medical kits with the same materials as the Stop the Bleed Kits since 2013. The department also receives training from Eleven-Ten, the makers of the tourniquets, on how to properly utilize the equipment, pack major wounds, and tend to someone who has a traumatic injury."Each cruiser is equipped with a fully stocked medical kit to be used for everything from gunshot wounds to putting a Band-Aid on a child's knee," said Scott Rotolo, assistant chief for the Wooster Police Department.Contributions through the Wooster Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association and the Ohio Tactical Officers Association have allowed the department to issue a tourniquet for each officer that he or she can carry on their duty belt or vest for each shift worked.Sgt. Clint Bartolic earned the department's life-saving award in April 2018 for using his tourniquet on a woman who had cut her wrist. "The woman likely would have succumbed to her wounds" if not for Bartolic's actions, Wooster Police Chief Matt Fisher said at the time.The Stop the Bleed kits are "one more tool in the toolbox" to potentially save lives, according to Orrville Police Chief Matt Birkbeck, who compared the kits to the officers carrying AED defibrillators or Narcan, which have already saved lives.Tri-County Educational Service Center purchased the same kits last fall for all Wayne and Holmes county schools. Teachers and staff are being trained on how to use the equipment and possibly save the lives of their students or colleagues in an emergency.Although they have the equipment, an officer's first duty still remains to secure the scene in the event of a stabbing or an active shooter situation."We need to make sure the scene is secure when EMS personnel arrive on the scene," Apple Creek Police Chief Jason Woodruff said.Reporter Emily Morgan can be reached at 330-287-1632 or emorgan@the-daily-record.com.2019 The Daily Record, Wooster, OhioVisit The Daily Record, Wooster, Ohio at www.the-daily-record.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Problems with time estimates prompt downtime

Appointment system booking up fast

System part of a bigger picture

(TNS)  A system designed to save Michiganders time waiting in line at the Secretary of States office has been down for nearly a month, prompting frustration from those visiting the offices.Before, this used to be really fast, to come here, said Heather Rivera, who left the Capital Area SUPER!Center in Lansing on March 22 because she didnt have time to wait in a long line she was told could last two hours.In the past, Rivera and others with business to conduct at the Secretary of State were able to use MI-TIME, a tool that allowed people get in line virtually and then come into the branch office close to their turn. It was active in 43 Secretary of State branches.The Michigan Department of State pulled that part of the system down on Feb. 28 after noticing it was giving customers inaccurate wait times. Its one of a number of things the department is examining and improving as it works to fulfill a campaign promise from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson: a 30-minute guarantee for getting service at a branch office.The wait times had been inaccurate for a long time, said Winnie Liao, Chief Operations Officer at the Michigan Department of State. This year, customers experienced swings of up to 270 minutes between the estimate the system initially gave a customer to how long the customer ultimately had to wait.Before the system was pulled, Liao said, I think people kind of just suffered in silence.The department is no longer measuring wait times in the branches with down MI-TIME systems, Liao said, and cant say if the system being partially down is causing increased wait times.The department is working to improve the system before re-deploying it as part of an overall vision to improve the experience at branch offices.I just want it to be delightful, Liao said.In the meantime, people are getting service for in-person transactions the old-fashioned way  by pulling a paper number.The MI-TIME system is two-pronged: one component lets people get in line online and the other allows customers to make appointments. Its the first part, getting in line from afar, thats been pulled down.The state purchases the system through a vendor, a California-based company called QLess. And according to both Liao and QLess Founder and CEO Alex Backer, the problem isnt exactly that the system is broken.The incorrect wait time estimates came from a combination of factors, from what the system is predicting to how clerks were calling people earlier for some transactions.Its not necessarily the technology itself, Liao said.The department pulled it from circulation but has re-deployed it in four offices to try and get it right.I would just say that I think that theres a team now that is really intent on improving this, so its getting the attention it deserves, Backer said.The State has contracted with QLess since 2013, state records show. In September, the state extended the contract for a year, adding $853,989 to it and bringing the total contract to $4.3 million.There are always provisions in state contracts for holding companies accountable, said Caleb Buhs, a spokesperson for the Department of Technology Management and Budget that handles much of the states contracting.Buhs said he couldnt speak immediately to the specific contract, but said in general, the accountability can be in the form of financial penalties, termination or other provisions.But in this case, the Michigan Department of State is first seeking to work together with QLess to sort this out, Liao said.There are two ways to get service at Secretary of State branches now  by walking in, or by making an appointment using the portion of MI-TIME that is still functioning.The appointment system has seen increased use with the outage of the other part of the system, said Michigan Department of State Director of Communications Shawn Starkey.But increased use made those appointments harder to snag. At the Detroit New Center SUPER!Center branch, for example, the first available appointments arent until April 12  more than two weeks away. In the Southeast Macomb County PLUS branch in Eastpointe, the next available appointment is April 15.Its affected people like Ramon Garza, who went to the Capital Area SUPER!Center to get a replacement for a lost ID card last week.He lives 35 minutes away in Eaton County, but comes to this one specifically because its one of the locations with the MI-TIME system, which hes used before and had a good experience with.This time he noticed the getting in line function wasnt there anymore, and the next available appointment was weeks away.If they restored the function letting you get in line online, he said, it would be a lot more convenient.Even as the department works to fix the MI-TIME issues, its also focusing on bigger improvements to the overall experience at branch offices.Benson is making it a point to get to each of the 131 branch offices in the state during her first 100 days in office. Its part of an early, fact-finding phase, Liao said, and the department is taking deep dives into the data, as well.In terms of wait times specifically, the averages dont sound bad. In 2018, the average wait time for all services once somebody came into the office, including through online cueing or by making an appointment, was 36.03 minutes.But that number masks deeper issues; an average eight-minute wait at one office could be offset by an average of more than 100 minutes elsewhere.To get at the root of those wait times, which Liao calls unacceptable, the department is focusing on two things: optimization through things like human resources and improving processes, and increasing self-service options that mean fewer people need to come in to a branch office.Branch 2.0 is simply a better version of what we were before, Liao said.
(TNS)  Massachusetts' highest court has ruled that Marshfield police did not violate a suspect's constitutional rights by looking up data from a court-ordered GPS device he was allegedly wearing while breaking into several homes on the South Shore.The Supreme Judicial Court said Tuesday that a Plymouth County Superior Court judge was right to deny a request from 42-year-old Jamie B. Johnson seeking to bar evidence from the device, which Marshfield police had obtained without seeking a warrant. Johnson had argued in his appeal that the collection of the GPS data by police amounted to an unreasonable search and violated his constitutional and state rights.The case stems from several 2012 break-ins in Marshfield, Hanson and Pembroke that had gone unsolved for more than a year before Marshfield police learned about Johnson's GPS device, according to the decision. Randolph police had recommended that police in Marshfield look at the GPS data after they charged Johnson for breaking into a home in Randolph in September 2013 and learned that Johnson, who was on probation, had worn a GPS monitoring device during the time of the unsolved break-ins.A Marshfield Police detective used information from the device and determined that Johnson was at the scene of 10 break-ins in Plymouth County between May and September of 2012, according to Beth Stone, spokeswoman for Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz. Stone said that Johnson had stolen cash, jewelry, an iPod, a laptop computer and three handguns from the homes while the victims were at work or on vacation.Johnson had been ordered to wear the monitoring device for six months at an April 2012 probation violation hearing. The violation stemmed from prior convictions for receiving stolen property and violating his restraining order. The monitor tracked his whereabouts minute-by-minute."We conclude that although the original imposition of GPS monitoring as a condition of the defendant's probation was a search, it was reasonable in light of the defendant's extensive criminal history and willingness to recidivate while on probation," Chief Justice Scott Kafker, writing for the Supreme Judicial Court, said in Tuesday's decision. "We also conclude that once the GPS device was attached to the defendant, he did not possess a reasonable expectation of privacy in data targeted by police to determine his whereabouts at the times and locations of suspected criminal activity that occurred during the probationary period."Johnson was indicted in 2014 in connection with some of the burglaries. Plymouth County prosecutors used the GPS data to successfully convict Johnson in 2016 of two counts of breaking and entering in the daytime, one count of breaking and entering in the nighttime, two counts of larceny of more than $250, and one count of larceny of less than $250. He was sentenced to serve 10 to 13 years in state prison followed by three years of probation, Stone said.Johnson's lawyer, Timothy St. Lawrence, could not immediately be reached for comment.Cruz said that Johnson had initially asked for the GPS device to avoid jail time for violating probation."Mr. Johnson pleaded with a district court judge to be placed on GPS monitoring in lieu of being sent to jail on a violation, and then argued that the GPS device would prove he was not in violation of any future orders," Cruz said in a statement. "It was disingenuous for him to claim that he didn't realize he would be monitored during the subject time."
Their investment in the Sun Times marks a return to the company nearly two years after Wrapports LLC, an investment firm they were part of, sold the Sun-Times to a group led by the former Chicago Ald. Edwin Eisendrath and the Chicago Federation of Labor.
The company, which makes chat software that companies can use to interact with customers, was founded in 2014. CEO Matt Coughlin said in a news release that new hires will include software engineers and data scientists, among other employees.
STAMFORD  Purdue Pharma has settled its first case in the torrent of lawsuits filed against the company in recent years. More agreements could follow.

In its largest payout of the past decade, the OxyContin maker and its owners this week reached a $270 million settlement of Oklahomas claims against the company. While the accord is not universally acclaimed, it represents a milestone that could influence the resolution of hundreds of other complaints that allege the Stamford-based firm has exacerbated the opioid crisis with deceptive marketing of its pain drugs.

Oklahomas settlement moves the needle toward more settlements, said Robert Bird, a professor of business law at the University of Connecticut. Its a reference point that other states will look to in their own negotiations with Purdue.

Reaching a settlement

Oklahomas agreement was announced two months before the state would have taken its case against Purdue to trial. It is moving ahead with a planned May 28 start for a trial against several other pharmaceutical firms, the first such court proceedings in the current wave of lawsuits against opioid producers.

The settlement terms call for nearly $200 million to fund the establishment of the National Center for Addiction Studies and Treatment at Oklahoma State Universitys medical campus in Tulsa. Local governments would receive $12.5 million for opioid initiatives. In addition, Purdue would allot up to $60 million to cover litigation-related costs and fees.

We are out of time with regard to the responsibility we have to deal with this crisis, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said in a press conference Tuesday at the Tulsa campus. But the money from this settlement will provide significant and substantial funding to the Center for Wellness and Recovery here, allowing us to focus our attention on what should be our highest priority: Americans struggling with addiction.

Purdue, as a company, is providing $122.5 million for the new center. The Sackler family, who owns Purdue, is contributing $75 million to the facility.

Sackler members were not named as defendants in Oklahomas case, although eight of them were sued last year by Connecticut and Massachusetts and, this week, by New York.

Purdue denied Oklahomas allegations, but a number of experts still see the agreement as a tool for holding the company and its owners accountable.

The settlement is good for two reasons, said Angela Mattie, a professor in the schools of business and medicine at Quinnipiac University. It sends a message that were not going to tolerate false or misleading advertising. And it shows that Purdue needs to help pay for this significant public-health problem theyve contributed to.

But many of the activists involved in recent protests against Purdue object to the company not admitting any wrongdoing and argue that such settlements would embolden the company to continue controversial practices.

Their suspicion stems, in large part, from what they view as a lack of contrition by the company after a 2007 guilty plea in federal court to misbranding OxyContin that resulted in some $600 million in penalties  the companys largest-ever payout.

Criminal indictments will ensure accountability and send a clear message to other pharmaceutical companies that they will no longer get away with illegal activities, said Cheryl Juaire, who organized last August a protest outside Purdues downtown headquarters that was attended by several hundred people. To say we are disappointed would be an understatement, but we are not giving up hope that Purdue and the Sacklers will one day be held accountable.

Also in 2007, Purdue reached a nearly $20 million settlement with 26 states, including Connecticut, to resolve allegations of its promotion of off-label uses of OxyContin.

My hope is that similar cases to Oklahomas will also produce fair and just settlements, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who was state attorney general in 2007, said in an interview. But there also is a virtue in trials that publicly inform the nation and allow evidence to be made public. Not every lawsuit should necessarily be settled if the parties cant reach a fair and just settlement.

In 2004, the company settled with West Virginia for $10 million.

In the past decade, Purdue has made one other major settlement: a $24 million accord with Kentucky in 2015. Reached eight years after Kentucky sued, that deal sparked partisan acrimony in the state for its relatively small size.

Oklahoma received more than 10 times as much as Kentucky, in large part because its funds are allocated for a center that is intended to help tackle the opioid crisis on a national level.

Additional settlements would not necessarily be as large, as Purdue probably would not fund new institutions in every state that has sued. But the Oklahoma accord could be emulated in other ways.

Because there is earmarking of its funds for specific programs, I think we can say that the Oklahoma settlement has a better model than the tobacco settlements of the late 1990s or the Kentucky and West Virginia settlements with Purdue, said Richard Ausness, a professor of law at the University of Kentucky, who has extensively researched Purdues earlier settlements.

Ongoing litigation

The settlement does not resolve more than 1,000 other, similar cases against Purdue.

It changes nothing about Connecticuts case, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in an interview. Connecticut is going to pursue Purdue Pharma and the individual defendants, including members of the Sackler family. This doesnt change our strategy or how aggressive were going to be.

All options, including a prospective settlement with Purdue, are on the table, Tong said. He declined to comment on whether his office was negotiating with Purdue.

At the same time, about 1,600 cities and counties lawsuits against Purdue and other pharmaceutical firms are proceeding through consolidated multidistrict litigation, in federal court in Cleveland.

The MDL parties have been holding their own settlement talks, although they are yet to strike an agreement.

The focus with respect to the Oklahoma settlement was on providing resources for treatment and research, and thats consistent with the stated goals of the MDL judge, said a person familiar with the MDL discussions, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of Purdue. We hope that, to the extent that the MDL parties follow those core principles, it will facilitate the parties moving forward with even more serious settlement discussions.

Paul Hanly, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, has spoken of his desire to resolve the litigation without putting Purdue out of business.

This is not an act of vengeance, Hanly said in an interview last October. This is litigation to recover money that these government entities have spent and lost as a consequence of the defendants.

While it has engaged in settlement talks with many of the plaintiffs, Purdue has also sought to throw out a number of complaints. Earlier this month, it filed a motion to dismiss Massachusetts lawsuit.

Questions about companys future

In recent weeks, the prospect of a bankruptcy has hovered over the litigation. Earlier this month, Purdue CEO and President Craig Landau confirmed filing for bankruptcy was an option.

A bankruptcy could halt the pending litigation against Purdue and the Sacklers. Any subsequent moves would then have to be approved by the overseeing bankruptcy court  a framework that could help to contain the companys liability.

In contrast with a Chapter 7 filing, a Chapter 11 process would not liquidate the firm.

Hunter, the Oklahoma attorney general, cited a possible Purdue bankruptcy as a factor in his decision to settle. He described the agreement as bankruptcy-proof.

But the timing and size of the settlement suggest the company probably would not imminently start Chapter 11 proceedings.

We are full-steam ahead, Tong said. I believe Purdue Pharma is solvent and able to pay our claims.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
GREENWICH  It was a lesson in art, music, history and all that jazz for first-graders from Read School in Bridgeport who took a field trip Friday to the Greenwich Art Society.

Mary Newcomb of the GAS told the kids about the connection between jazz music and the artist Henri Matisse during a Mingled Arts program at the art societys studio.
GREENWICH  Celebrity pizza chef Bruno DiFabio doesnt need to be asked twice to geek out about the science of pizza.

He ferments his dough for 36 to 48 hours, which releases the carbon dioxide, creating a light, airy crust. The fermentation also cultivates a probiotic that breaks down the complex starches in the dough, making his pizza easy to digest.

He ages his flour for five months, allowing enzymes to create a simple sugar byproduct. That reduces the amount of added sugar that the active yeast needs to eat, lowering the carbohydrates in his crust.

But we dont sacrifice flavor, he quickly added.

Ten varieties of his flavorful, scientific pizza  which he boasts are obsessively authentic  are encased in a sparkling display at the back of a low-ceiling, brick shop, attracting a steady stream of passersby from nearby Greenwich Avenue, who duck inside for a slice, or a roll, for lunch.

The Food Network veteran and his nephew Nick Guerrero opened Lord of the Pies, an homage to his nickname, last week. But delivery requests along the Post Road have already picked up and hungry employees from the Apple store and Richards have made Greenwichs newest pizza place on Grigg Street their lunch stop.

Local businesses have been incredibly welcoming, DiFabio said.

DiFabio spent his adolescence in Greenwich, attending Western Junior Middle School and Greenwich High School, graduating in 1987. He also volunteered with the Greenwich Boys Club, now the Greenwich Boys & Girls Club.

Greenwich High School really prepared me for college, he said. The school cultivated his creative writing abilities, and he hopes to release a collection of short stories with culinary themes in the near future.

Guerrero owns the two Brasitas restaurants in Norwalk and Stamford. When the spot near the Avenue opened up, Guerrero went to see whether he could expand his pan-Latin restaurants to Greenwich. But his uncle DiFabio noted that the small space was ideal for take-out and delivery and said it screams pizza place.

Hopefully we catch people many times a month, he said. We want to be their new favorite destination.

Customers can opt for grandmas old-school New York pizza, or get a taste of Michigan with his classic Detroit pan pizza. Motor City pizza is known for its crust, which is covered in cheese that caramelizes against the hot pan.

DiFabio owns a chain of restaurants in Fairfield County, including Amore Cucina & Bar in Stamford and ReNapoli in Old Greenwich, as well as pizza places in New Canaan and Wilton and in Pound Ridge and Scarsdale, N.Y.

I like the challenge of designing restaurants and bringing my passion for food to the community and creating jobs, he said.

The opening comes six months after DiFabio pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to file false income tax returns and payroll tax returns. He failed to pay the IRS a total of $816,954 in income taxes and employment taxes for the 2013 through 2015 tax years.

DiFabio does not hide his past, but that experience has changed the way he operates his businesses.

Many establishments pay employees off-the-books, and some restaurant workers seek jobs from his businesses expecting that; but now, DiFabio said, all of his employees are on the payroll and he turns away people seeking the cash-only arrangement.

One Greenwich woman stopped in with her son and grandson, ordered pizza and congratulated the staff on the opening.

When Tesla goes out of business, what we need is a pizza place, she said.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
Bar Sotano (the name means basement) sits directly beneath Frontera Grill. You can access Sotano through Frontera, but the cool way to arrive is via the bars alley entrance, for a little speakeasy thrill. The host station is built into a working freight elevator (initial plans called for ferrying passengers via the elevator, but it proved unworkable), and if the place isnt packed (with only 50 seats and minimal reservations, it happens), you'll be escorted downstairs to the bar, a low-ceiling room with spotlit tables (an Instagrammer's dream), original brick walls painted gunmetal gray and a colorful Juan de la Mora mural along the west wall. A complimentary cocktail  two swallows worth  greets you when youre seated.
GREENWICH  Interim Superintendent Ralph Mayo will be returning to Greenwich High School, where he got his start at the age off 22, to lead it as the interim headmaster for the 2019-20 school year.

I am confident that I will bring the stability to the school community that is needed at this time, and that I will provide the leadership needed to begin the transformation necessary to position Greenwich High School for its next phase of excellence, Mayo said during the Board of Education meeting Thursday evening at Julian Curtiss School. I feel like Im returning home.

Based on initial feedback from parents, they are happy to hear that Mayo will be returning to GHS, said Maureen Bonanno and Anne Pfetsch, the GHS PTA co-presidents, in an email.

We feel that his appointment is a natural fit given his extensive district knowledge, the co-presidents said. He already knows the faculty, parents and many of the students which will ease the transition. We look forward to working closely with Mr. Mayo.

A lifelong resident of town and a GHS graduate, Mayo became a teachers aide there in 1976 and an English teacher in 1980. He has been an administrator in the towns schools for 26 years, including posts as the program administrator for special education and as Clark housemaster at Greenwich High.

He presided over Eastern Middle School as principal for 14 years before stepping up as interim superintendent last summer after Jill Gildea unexpectedly announced her departure just one year into her three-year contract.

Incoming superintendent Toni Jones can conduct a search for a permanent GHS headmaster for the 2020-21 school year, Mayo said.

Jones, who is currently superintendent with the Fairfield Public Schools, will join the Greenwich school district on July 1. Mayo will step into his role as headmaster also on July 1.

A widespread search for a new leader of GHS began in December, and by February, the district narrowed down its pool to five, and then three, candidates. After the interview process, however, the district was unable to identify a leader who was the right fit for GHS. Mayo and Jones decided that he would take over on an interim basis.

Rick Piotrzkowski will return to his preferred role of assistant headmaster. He stepped in as interim headmaster last July after Chris Winters announced his departure from the district to help create and lead the Upper School at Greenwich Country Day School. The private school is adding the high school grades this fall as it completes a merger with the Stanwich School.

Piotrzkowski said he and the GHS leadership team are excited to work with Mayo. He considers Mayo to be his mentor, after they overlapped at GHS when he was the sciences program administrator and Mayo was the Clark housemaster.

Any time you have someone in the district, was at GHS, they understand the culture, Piotrzkowski said. I believe it keeps stability within our building, it makes everyone feel very comfortable, that the transition is nice and smooth.

The district will initiate the search for a permanent principal at Eastern immediately. Jason Goldstein became the interim principal there last summer.

Coming home

Mayo admitted he has thought about returning to the place where he started. For me, it was a golden opportunity to go back to some place that I love, Mayo said of Greenwich High. Im not thinking beyond next year.

The move from superintendent to headmaster means adjusting to a different work style.

Im at my best working with teachers and kids, he said Friday. Is it going to be hard? Absolutely not. Thats probably where I belong.

Bonanno and Pfetsch, the GHS PTA co-presidents, said Piotrzkowski has been a strong leader.

He was handed a challenging issue of implementing Opportunity Block in a short amount of time, they said. He successfully worked with students and faculty to create and manage opportunities to maximize the 30-minute downtime. Throughout the year he listened to students needs and concerns and made appropriate adjustments.

First Selectman Peter Tesei is also pleased Mayo will continue to play an important role in the Greenwich community and school district.

Ralphs even-keeled approach will ensure the continuity that is needed at the districts leadership level, he said in a statement.

From interim to permanent

Board member Meghan Olsson choked up during Mayos announcement Thursday night.

Thank you for your time and service, she said. Im personally very excited to have you lead Greenwich High School.

Many in the community were upset after Jones was named the new superintendent in January. Some took to social media to express their disappointment in the decision, their frustration with the board and their solidarity with Mayo, whom they had supported for the job. The town teachers union also announced it would have preferred Mayo. Even Tesei, speaking as a parent, called on the school board to reconsider its choice.

By February, Mayo thanked the community for its support, but said he respected the boards decision and was moving on. He advised his supporters to do the same.

The news of Mayos new post left Greenwich parent Alexandra Delev with mixed feelings.

What a humble person Mr. Mayo is, she said. Im afraid it gives many of us false hope. The BOE needs to focus on consistency. The revolving door brings tremendous unease and stress to the students and parents.

Delev is thrilled by the decision, but, gauging interactions with the news on social media, people are not excited by the term interim.

Nobody wants to commit to Mr. Mayos appointment because weve all been played before and emotions are running high, she said.

Suzanne Sullivan, who circulated a petition earlier this year supporting Mayo, said she speaks for many when she says she would like to see him in a lasting position.

Mr. Mayos dedication to our district is unparalleled, she said. He jumps in wherever he is most needed as evidenced by this latest move ... With his years of experience in our district and intimate knowledge of our schools, he is an asset that we cannot afford to lose.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
Michael Cummo / Hearst Connecticut Media

STAMFORD  A former city high school student, who had sex with a girl four years younger than him, will have to serve a three-year jail sentence for the crime.

Manuel Francisco Condo, 21, was sentenced by Judge John Blawie at the Stamford courthouse late Friday morning. Blawie said Condo would probably be deported to his native Ecuador following his jail sentence.
WASHINGTON - Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are not bashful about enthusiastically promoting the fortunes of major Connecticut defense players like Sikorsky, Electric Boat and United Technologies.

But they like to wrap their boosterism in high-minded appeals for greater national security and the weaponry needed to preserve our democracy. Submarines, helicopters and jet engines are the states best-known products. Joining the list now are propellers for aging Vietnam-era C-130 military transport planes.

Blumenthals office on Tuesday issued a letter written by Blumenthal, Murphy and eight other senators to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, calling on her to hasten purchase and installation of new NP-2000 propeller blades. The high-tech blades can be inserted and extracted "on-wing" from shopworn C-130s as if they were replacement air filters or tires on your car.

The C-130 remains the go-to aircraft for the Air National Guard, including the 103rd Airlift Wing stationed at Bradley Airport in Hartford. Blumenthals letter takes note of a Marine Corps Reserve C-130 crash last year in Mississippi, which led to uncovering "systemic problems in propeller-blade depot-level maintenance." Although Congress has appropriated the money, "the Air National Guard has been unable to gain approval necessary from your office to allow a contract to be signed," the letter told Wilson. "Delays from your office on this matter are unacceptable considering the inherent safety and readiness risks surrounding this issue." But nowhere in the letter or the accompanying press release is it mentioned who makes the blades _ which defense contractor would benefit from the signing of that contract. A simple Google search showed the NP-2000 contractor is none other than Connecticuts own United Technologies Corporation and its subsidiary, Collins Aerospace. And assembly, maintenance and sales are done out of Collins Aerospaces facility in Windsor Locks, a company spokesman confirmed. "Collins Aerospace has more than 5,000 employees at sites across Connecticut, including several hundred that assist with propeller systems," the spokesman said.

So Bingo that! Nothing wrong here, no skullduggery. In fact, Blumenthals propeller push is a plus for Collins Aerospace workers and the defense-based portion of Connecticuts economy. But its always illuminating to dip behind the screen on Capitol Hill and see the sausage moving down the assembly line.

I saw Blumenthal at an unrelated meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and mentioned this to him, including omission of the Collins Aerospace connection. "You figured it out," he said to me, smiling, before moving on to another topic of conversation.

==========================

Linda McMahons departure from the Small Business Administration came as a bit of a surprise. She had been rumored as a replacement for Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross who, according to Politico, is out of favor with President Donald Trump.

But it appears the record can show than in a little over two years as administrator of SBA, McMahon was viewed benignly by the often-critical career staff that keeps the agencys wheels moving.

Washingtonian magazine, the glossy D.C. version of Connecticut magazine, ran a feature of anonymous career federal employees telling what its like to work in government departments under sharply ideological (or sometimes clueless) Trump political appointees.

Some of it is pretty harsh. At the Labor Department, We were forced to say the sky isnt blue and the grass isnt green. And at HUD, Secretary Ben Carson and his crew are some of the nicest people Ive ever worked with, but theyre totally incompetent.

But WWE-inspired Linda McMahon of Greenwich gets a relatively light dusting. Honestly, there has not been a whole lot of change for us, surprisingly, opined one career employee. Our administrator, Linda McMahon, is friendly with the Trump family and promotes their agenda  I know she meets with Ivanka  but other than that, I feel people who work in my office are not huge ideologues. It doesnt feel like Trumps people have taken over.

So if you were expecting body slams and other theatrically boorish forms of behavior at McMahons SBA, looks like they stayed parked at the WWE SmackDown.

=================

@danfreedma
On Friday, Huawei Technologies released its financial reports from 2018 to reveal a staggering revenue increase of 19.5% over 2017. The companys smartphone sales revenue has increased by 25.1% over the previous year. It reported a strong sales revenue of CNY 721.2 billion or $107.13 billion. This is the first time Huawei has ever surpassed over $100 billion in revenue.

It also reported great profit improvements over 2017. Huawei is reporting a 28% increase of net profits at $8.8 billion for 2018 versus only a 0.4% increase in 2017 over 2016s profits. Last year was a great one for the Chinese company.

Huawei Mate 10 and Huawei Mate 20

Despite the success, the company is currently under intense scrutiny over Chinese government security concerns. Specifically, many nations government bodies (especially the US) have outright banned Huaweis equipment from being used in their networking and data infrastructures: something that Huawei has been in the business of for years.

In early-March, Huawei held a public event, suing the United States government for singling out the companys technologies and damaging its reputation without proving that Huawei is indeed a security threat.

Back in 2016, Huawei ambitiously set a goal to become the number 1 global smartphone maker by the year 2021. As of July 2018, Huawei was in the number 2 position in both shipments and market share with Samsung at the top spot and Apple trailing behind. At this rate, we dont doubt that Huawei can become the top smartphone maker in the world. It seems all the political turbulence isnt going to stop Huawei from reaching its goal.

Source
This is no alternate Chicago where Cody Parkey kicks a field goal and the Bears won a Super Bowl. There is no Chicago where the Jussie Smollett case is simple. There is only a Chicago where no one but investors seem excited about a giant Lincoln Yards development on the North Side  but it feels inevitable anyway. Just as there is no alternate America where Hillary Clinton is president and the Mueller report found evidence of treason. There is only an America where the truth of climate change is presented by self-serving public officials as disputable. There are only lies reframed as truth  and that feeling that something is off.
Another day, another jab at Huaweis 5G business by Western governments. According to an annual report from the UKs National Cyber Security Centre, the Chinese manufacturer still couldnt fix multiple issues and vulnerabilities, raising the question if any of its future products can be risk-managed properly.

Although the UK watchdog did voice its concern, it stopped short of calling an outright 5G ban of Huawei's equipment across the United Kingdom.

The report by the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre said the oversight board currently has not seen anything to give it confidence in Huaweis ability to bring about change via its transformation programme and will require sustained evidence of better software engineering. Similar concerns were issued by UK telecoms, Financial Times reported.

According to the media, networks are already testing 5G technology on Huawei equipment, otherwise it would set back the country in the race for the gigabit speeds rollout and would cost the industry hundreds of millions of pounds to replace the existing infrastructure.

Getting deep into the report, you can see plenty of criticism that Huawei lacks end-to-end integrity of the products, the software component management system was called defective and there are several concerns about the security of equipment that connects radio network to customers smartphones.

David Wang, Huawei head of R&D said every suppliers equipment was bound to have vulnerabilities and the report does not suggest UK networks are more vulnerable than last year which is one way to say you havent improved anything at all in the past twelve months, but at least its not worse.

Source | Via
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Ocean Springs aldermen voted last month to tear down the small cottage next to city hall which until recently housed the human resources department, but former mayor Connie Moran is interested in acquiring the building.

The cottage, which dates back to at least the 1940s, was once the home of Morans parents, Duncan and Shannon Moran, during the early years of their marriage. She said they rented the home -- which at that time was located further west on Porter Avenue -- for several years in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

In February, with the HR department now located inside city hall, aldermen declared the building surplus and of no value to the City and received permission from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to tear it down. The asked, and were granted, assistance from the Jackson County Board of Supervisors in the demolition of the building. Their intent is to use the space to create more parking for city hall.

Earlier this month, Mayor Shea Dobson said he received a report on the building which indicated that, while it does contain some asbestos, it was of a small enough amount as to be safe to tear down without additional precautions.

But Moran is hoping to give the cottage a reprieve. Ideally, shed like to acquire the building from the City and move it to property she owns on Cleveland Avenue, fix it up and use it as a cottage.

Obviously, Ive been in it many times before and I know it does need some work," she said, but Id really like to have it. Id like to be able to save it.

She noted the sentimental value the cottage holds and -- although she was not born during her parents time living there -- remembers well a story her mother once told her.

My mother told me once that her little brother was looking at my daddys new hunting rifle and accidentally shot a hole in the floor," she said, laughing at the memory.

The cottage remained at its original location on Porter Avenue until 2007, when a developer was constructing condominiums in the area. Moran, who was at that time in her first term as mayor, said the developer planned to leave the cottage there, but she suggested it he donate it to the City.

We were busting at the seams at city hall, she said, and we really needed something more private for HR, somewhere they could meet with employees. So we worked that deal out. They lifted it up, moved it down the street and renovated it for us. It worked really well for HR.

Prior to that, it had been a lot of different things over the years, Moran continued. I know at one time it was a hair salon. Its definitely got some history.

Moran said she has not spoken with City officials about the cottage and had been unaware it was due for demolition until contacted by a Mississippi Press reporter.

I did talk to (HR director) Mindy (McDowell) about it, but I didnt know they had approved tearing it down, she said. "Id love to have it, but I dont know exactly how that would work. They would likely have to put it up for bids, open it up to other people.

Moran also noted shed have to get an estimate on the cost to move the cottage to her property, as well as permission from the Historic Preservation Commission to place it on the Cleveland Avenue site. But she did indicate she would call city officials to explore the possibility.




Haiti - FLASH : The Embassy of Haiti in Washington, denies the accusations of the American Congress





Recall that on March 20, 104 members of the US Congress (Democrats and Republicans), in a letter to Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State expressed their deep concern about the situation in Haiti, which they say is the subject of serious violations of human rights perpetrated by the National Police of Haiti (PNH), especially during the last demonstrations of February 2019 and asks the Secretary of State to investigate in particular "human rights violations" and "the extrajudicial executions" in Haiti.



"To protect the Haitian people, the United States must investigate the corruption and human rights violations committed by the Haitian Government [...] We can not let this perilous situation worsen further [...] ask you to work with your partners in Haiti to make the Haitian Government understand that it is important to invite the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to visit the country and to investigate acts of political violence," explains the US officials.



Reacting to this correspondence the Embassy of Haiti in Washington DC in a note, rejects these allegations of human rights violations by the US Congress



"The Embassy of the Republic of Haiti in the United States acknowledges the concerns expressed by members of the United States Congress regarding the social, economic and political climate of the Republic of Haiti.



It is clear that Haiti's young democracy faces various challenges that are not new and that it continues to address with the help of its partners. However, it would be inappropriate to talk about systematic violations of human rights in Haiti. On the contrary, the country has made enormous progress in the area of civil and political rights, as shown by the recent reports of international organizations. Also, the accusations made by members of the US Congress in their correspondence to the State Department, dated March 20, 2019, do not reflect the reality on the ground in Haiti.



The State of Haiti respects and encourages the divergent opinions of all its citizens, in accordance with the national and international laws that protect the dignity of all Haitians. As a democratic State, the protection of all human beings is our main priority.



Given the long history and close ties between our two countries, the Government of Haiti reiterates its desire to work more closely with the United States Government to address all concerns."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Security : Chile will strengthen its diplomatic security in Haiti





Following the attack by the Ambassador of Chile in Haiti, north-east of Port-au-Prince, https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27219-haiti-flash-haiti-has-no-more-government.html Roberto Ampuero, the Foreign Minister announced Thursday in a video published by the Chilean Chancellery, that the Chilean Government will enhance the security of its representatives diplomats in Haiti.



"We have taken steps to strengthen security in this country [Haiti] and we will continue to take other measures. We will send officials from the Chilean Police (Policia De Investigaciones - PDI) to reform the security of our representatives in this country."



Ampuero thanked the role played by Chilean security agents in repelling the attack with handguns and said that what they had done wa s"a truly heroic act".



Chancellor Ampuero expressed his solidarity with the people affected by this attack and declared that Chile "[...] will continue the collaboration and cooperation for development in Haiti in the areas of education, housing and institution building [ ...]"



Note that on Thursday morning the Haitian Chancellor Bocchit Edmond paid a courtesy visit to the Ambassador of Chile in Haiti, Patricio Utreras, to express the regrets of the Government of the Republic of Haiti, following the unfortunate incidents that occurred Wednesday in the area Boutin, located between Thomazeau and Croix-des-Bouquets.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27303-haiti-flash-the-procession-of-the-embassy-of-chile-attacked-with-weapon-of-war.html



SL/ HaitiLibre


















Born to a Greek father and French mother in Belgium, her family relocated to France during World War II, near the sea. Her feature filmmaking debut came in 1955 with La Pointe Courte, done with a largely non-professional cast. It preceded the French New Wave as we know it by several years. A Variety review served as a harbinger of the sort of patronizing sexism Varda had to work around her entire career, sniffing that the main aspect of this film is that it was made for $20,000 by a 25-year-old girl.




Haiti - Technology : The U.S. Embassy in Haiti is looking for young leaders





The United States Embassy in Haiti has announced that it is providing financial support for the organization of the Haiti Tech Summit 2019 to be held from June 20 to 22, 2019 https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-27285-icihaiti-technology-the-embassy-of-the-united-states-partner-of-haiti-tech-summit-2019.html



Alumni of the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) based in the Caribbean are encouraged to apply now through April 12, 2019 for full funding here : www.haititechsummit.com/haiti-tech-summit-announces-partnership-with-us-embassy-of-haiti-for-2019-and-launches-call-for-entrepreneurs/



As part of the Embassys on-going efforts to promote bi-lateral economic growth in part through entrepreneurship and in a broader effort to support the U.S. Caribbean 2020 strategy, the Embassy seeks representation from creators and innovators across the Caribbean to participate.



Participants will be able to meet over one hundred speakers from Google, Airbnb, LinkedIn, Uber, and many others. Haiti Tech Summit, a 13-year initiative of Meventum, which brings together hundreds of entrepreneurs, investors, digital marketers and creatives to Haiti to accelerate tech, innovation and economic development within the country, have just opened applications for the events second annual Startup Lab - a 1:1 mentorship opportunity with global experts.



Building on the first annual Pitch Competition of the 2017 Haiti Tech Summit, which engaged entrepreneurs from across the Caribbean for a chance to win a top prize of full coverage to Singularity Universitys GSP program at NASA Ames in Silicon Valley, the event is expanding its scope to support the growth of entrepreneurs during the Summit itself. The first annual Startup Lab featured 25 amazing U.S. Embassy sponsored entrepreneurs from across the nation of Haiti.



Come be a part of this innovative, inspiring networking opportunity.



For more information : info@haititechsummit.com.



Important Dates :



Opening of applications: March 25, 2019

Deadline 12 April 2019

Announcement of the finalist April 26

Technological Summit of Haiti 2019 20 to 22 June 2019.



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-27285-icihaiti-technology-the-embassy-of-the-united-states-partner-of-haiti-tech-summit-2019.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





PoliFront positive balance sheet

To date, members of the Border Police (PoliFront) have arrested 65 smugglers, have referred 509 vulnerable underage to the Ouanaminthe Border Resource Center and seized more than US$3 million in contraband, including drugs and fire arms. A positive balance that remains modest compared to the amount of contraband estimated at several hundred million dollars at the border each year...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27306-haiti-economy-usa-will-help-haiti-to-meet-the-challenges-of-cross-border-trade.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23277-haiti-security-start-of-operations-of-the-new-border-police.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26720-icihaiti-contraband-5-trucks-seized-3-dominicans-and-6-haitians-arrested.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26525-haiti-security-graduation-of-the-2nd-promotion-of-the-border-police.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25652-haiti-security-polifront-in-training-at-the-mexican-american-border.html



The Gourde threatened ?

"The deputies modified the law of 2009 fixing the minimum wage https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27310-haiti-politic-minimum-wage-the-lower-house-threatens-the-economy-of-haiti.html [...] The Deputies must know, that each time the minimum wage increases in Haiti, the Gourde depreciate..." affirms the economist Eddy N. Labossiere



15 trainees at the Ministry of the Interior

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Interior and Territorial Communities welcomed 15 trainees from various faculties of the State University of Haiti and private universities recognized by the Haitian state. Fednel Monchery, the Director General of the Ministry said that these trainees will complete a three-month internship in the institution and will receive a fee of 100,000 gourdes and a certificate at the end of the internship.



The School of Magistracy recruits 70 magistrate students

The School of Magistracy (EMA) has decided to recruit 70 student magistrates as part of its national competition launched in February 2019 in five juridictions of appeal courts in the country. According to Maggy Florestal, head of studies at the EMA, nearly 300 interested in Port-au-Prince have already submitted their application for this initial training session which will last 16 months. Registrations will end on April 5th. The School of Magistracy does not run any particular training program for candidates involved in the recruitment process, said Kesner Michel Thermezi, Director of the EMA



AUF : More than 5 million online resources

The University Agency of La Francophonie (AUF) offers access to students from its member institutions to more than 5 million online resources : online courses, books, scientific articles in all disciplines. To access these resources visit : https://bneuf.auf.org/



324 years of St. Marc

The month of April is coming and the city of Saint-Marc is preparing to take another step in his life. Culture, heritage, traditions, values that make the lion city the most hospitable city in the country. Saint-Marc : 324 years old... it's a party !



HL/ HaitiLibre


















By William Schwartz | Published on 2019/03/28

The April edition of The Star Magazine features Lee Joon-gi on the cover. The theme is called 'Lee Joon GI in THAILAND'. The promoted image is one of freedom, confidence, and swagger. This piece marks The Star's six year anniversary, and also features an interview.

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Written by William Schwartz
McKibben wrote "The End of Nature" 30 years ago, an early warning about climate change, and his new book is another, sobering call to arms. McKibben, whose 350.org aims to demonstrate what people around the world can do to protect Earth, reminds us that as we drain critical resources, we're also moving toward draining our own ties to the planet and to each other. Is there hope? Yes. Well, maybe. If we pay attention.
Montana's congressional delegation has had a successful first step in achieving recognition for a Montana tribe.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., to federally recognize the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians passed the House Tuesday 403-21.

"Today marks an important day for the Little Shell Tribe as they are one step closer to federal recognition," Gianforte said in a release. "I appreciate the dedication and determination of (Little Shell) Chairman (Gerald) Gray and the Little Shell people throughout this process. We look forward to seeing this bill pass through the Senate to President Trump."

The Little Shell Tribe has sought federal recognition for nearly four decades, and has been recognized by the State of Montana since 2000.

A bill recognizing the Little Shell was set to pass the Senate in the closing days of the 115th Congress, until Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, blocked the bill from receiving a Senate vote.

The bill sponsored last session by Gianforte to recognize the tribe already had passed the House, the first time such a bill had passed in that body.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. - whose first bill after being elected was a Little Recognition bill - praised the House passage.

"The Little Shell have fought too long to secure what is rightfully theirs, and today's passage of the Little Shell Recognition Act in the House is a step in the right direction," he said. "I'm going to keep fighting until we get this important bill through the Senate and make sure we do right by the Little Shell."

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., also said he would push to get the recognition through the Senate.

"I'm glad to see the Little Shell Tribe today get one step closer to receiving federal recognition with bill passage in the House under Congressman Gianforte's great leadership," Daines said. "Little Shell is an important part of our state's heritage, and I will keep fighting in the U.S. Senate to ensure they finally receive this long overdue recognition."

Tester and Daines this session reintroduced their Senate bill to recognize the tribe.

Native American Tribes must be recognized as sovereign nations by the federal government to exercise full self-governance. Under this nation-to-nation relationship, Tribes can access federal resources for economic development, health care and education resources, and regulate affairs on tribal lands on terms socially and culturally appropriate.

Federal recognition can be granted via Congressional legislation, a U.S. Court decision, or an administrative process through the U.S. Interior Department.

Tester first introduced legislation to federally recognize the Little Shell Tribe in 2007, the first bill he introduced as a U.S. senator.

The Little Shell, a tribe with 4,500 or more members concentrated in the Great Falls area but spread throughout central and northern Montana and across the nation, have been formally trying to gain federal recognition since at least the 1930s.

Montana's members of Congress have repeatedly sponsored bills to have Congress recognize the tribe.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.

The tribe has been without a recognized homeland since the late 1800s, when Chief Little Shell and his followers in North Dakota broke off treaty negotiations with the U.S. government. Tribe members later settled in Montana and southern Canada.

Tribal historians trace the tribe's other attempts to gain recognition back to the 1860s, when the Pembina Band of Chippewa signed a treaty with the U.S. government.

In 1978, the Little Shell petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs for recognition through the Bureau's Federal Acknowledgement Process. Despite a favorable report by the Department of the Interior in 2000 and recognition of the tribe by the Montana government that same year, the Bureau of Indian Affairs denied the tribe recognition in 2009 and again in 2013.
By Leia Larsen

Montana Free Press

Andrea Melles home sits high on a hill overlooking Havre. Forty-six steps lead from the sidewalk to her front door.

Inside, Melles son, 19-year-old Drew, unwinds from school with YouTube. Her daughter, 21-year-old Kerrie, curls up on a comfy chair and chats with a visiting reporter about her part-time job shelving books at the local library. Kerrie has always wanted to be a librarian, but shes unable to work more than a few hours at a time or live on her own. In the background, Drew compulsively grunts and yelps, his eyes still fixed on the computer screen.

Drew and Kerrie are Melles only children, and theyre both autistic. Melle, 51, cares for them full-time. That leaves her only enough time to work as a cleaner at her local church and bring home a meager monthly income.

For Melle, Medicaid expansion has been a source of solace.

Im going to be here as long as possible. I made a deal with God, she said with a laugh. You never know when something might happen, and if Im not healthy I cant take care of them.

Kerrie and Drew receive health coverage through Social Security due to their disabilities. Melle found out she qualified for Medicaid while going through a divorce in 2015.

I got onto the Obamacare website, and it said you qualify for your states Medicaid expansion, she said. It was a blessing. I was like, Oh, thank you Lord.

Melle had insurance under her ex-husbands plan, but she spent much of her adult life sacrificing her own health to take care of her family. She used to be 100 pounds overweight. She has a family history of glaucoma and diabetes, but she never went to the doctor unless it was an emergency.

Under Medicaid, Melle has become more proactive about her health. She schedules regular checkups at the clinic in Havre, which the program covers 100 percent.

Luckily, Melles home is paid off, too. She fought to keep the house during the divorce, and it provides stability for her children, who are highly sensitive and need a steady routine to thrive. Moving to a bigger city with more resources is out of the question.

Drew and Kerries father moved to Arizona last October. They have limited contact with him, Kerrie said. Child-support payments will end once Drew graduates from Havre High School in May, since Montana has no law requiring parents to support disabled kids beyond age 19.

It is what it is, Melle says.

Its a phrase she repeats often.

Despite the challenges of mothering and caretaking two disabled adults, Melle is gracious and gregarious. She laughs and jokes with her children. She decorates the walls with their artwork and family photos. She encourages Kerrie to play guitar and sing in the church choir. She occasionally splurges on Scooby Doo costumes for Drew.

But Melle worries, too.

Montanas Medicaid expansion law, the HELP Act, went into effect in late 2015. It provides health-care coverage to low-income Montana families and individuals who make less than 138 percent of the federal poverty rate. For a family of three like Melles, that limit is just over $29,000 a year.

The HELP Act is set to sunset this summer.

The Montana Legislature is currently embroiled in a debate about whether or how the states Medicaid expansion program should continue. Coverage for 96,000 Montanans like Melle hangs in the balance.

Three political factions

Republicans hold a majority in the Legislature, but any Medicaid expansion bill will require the Democratic governors signature to become law.

As of this week, only one bill could make it that far: House Bill 658, sponsored by Rep. Ed Buttrey, a Republican from Great Falls. The proposal made its way out of the House Human Services Committee, with multiple amendments, in a late-evening session Tuesday. That doesnt mean Buttreys bill is a sure thing.

HB 658 adds work requirements for Medicaid expansion enrollees, which Buttrey calls community engagement. He said that provision is the only way to guarantee Republican support.

I cant pass the bill without the community engagement, Buttrey said in an interview. Even if all 42 Democrats were to vote for it, I dont have enough Republicans to pass it.

Those requirements, however, could make the bill a tough sell to Democrats.

Eliza Wiley

Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, unveils her Keep Montana Healthy Act, a clean reauthorization of Montana Medicaid expansion that would have permanently lifted the sunset provision on the program. Her bill was tabled in committee and failed a blast motion attempt that would have moved it to the House floor.

Democrats initially supported House Bill 425, sponsored by Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena. That legislation would have left the existing Medicaid expansion program largely intact. Caferros bill drew nearly 100 supporters from around Montana during a committee hearing on March 16.

Once it came time for the committee to vote, however, Republicans modified the bill with amendments adding work requirements and another sunset date. Those changes transformed Caferros bill to the point that it became unpalatable to supporters. Democrats on the committee ended up voting to table their own bill.

[HB] 425 started out as a great bill. It was a pure form of Medicaid expansion that Montanans need, said Rep. Gordon Pierson, D-Deer Lodge, during last weeks hearing. I cant support it now, I really cant. It saddens me to say that.

In a twist, HB 658 made it out of committee only because Democrats reluctantly signed on. With Caferros bill likely dead  it also failed a blast motion on the House floor  Buttreys proposal appears to be the best hope for Medicaid expansion to continue.

But Buttrey cant seem to get the Republican support he needs, despite the work requirements. During the committee hearing, only three of eight Republicans, including Buttrey, voted to support HB 658.

Buttrey is part of a small group of GOP lawmakers who brand themselves the Solutions Caucus and occasionally deviate from the party line. At times, they compromise with Democrats to pass legislation. Such compromise is how Buttrey was able to pass the original HELP Act in 2015.

But more hardline Republicans, led by majority leader Brad Tschida, R-Missoula, want Medicaid expansion to sunset.

The issue really is, in my mind, the increase in taxes that are going to be required to continue Medicaid expansion under its present form, Tschida said in an interview. The main thing I heard when I was campaigning, especially in Missoula, is that taxes have just exploded. People, theyre not fatigued, theyre absolutely beaten down by taxes.

Tschida said last falls I-185 ballot initiative is a mandate from the Montana majority. The proposal would have made Medicaid expansion permanent and partially funded it with a tax on cigarettes.

I-185 failed with almost 53 percent of Montana voters saying no to the initiative.

Tschida noted that only 17 percent of Montanans smoke, and he takes that to mean voters rejected more than just a tax on tobacco.

A campaign led by tobacco lobbyists spent millions on a campaign that whipped up fears that additional taxes, on top of the proposed cigarette tax, would be required to fund Medicaid expansion.

Federal funds guarantee 90 percent coverage of the cost of Medicaid expansion, and Montana hospitals have agreed to cover part of the states share. Tschida said he has concerns about relying on the federal government money, too.

Its really utilizing the federal credit card rather than the state credit card, so it adds to our deficit, Tschida said.

The federal government spent $399 billion on Medicaid and the Childrens Health Insurance Program in 2018, according to the Tax Policy Center. At the end of 2017, U.S. debt was more than $20 trillion.

I have kids and grandkids. Im worried about the sustainability of a [Medicaid] program, Tschida said. When its no longer financially prudent, what do we do?

Thats where Solutions Caucus Republicans and what Tschida calls traditional Republicans tend to butt heads in Montana.

Those of us who believe government should be limited and taxes as low as possible have nothing to offer, really, Tschida said. Were not asking for anything in return but to be left alone by government.

Buttrey, however, said his bill is designed to make low-income Montanans less reliant on government money in the long run. Thats why he wants work requirements  so Medicaid enrollees can improve their financial situations and find jobs that offer private insurance.

When I wrote the original bill, the intent was to get people up and off of public subsidies and off Medicaid expansion  and thats still the goal, Buttrey said.

He also disagrees with Tschidas interpretation of I-185s failure.

I believe [voters] werent saying no to Medicaid expansion in general, they were saying no without a work requirement or some way to hold people accountable for utilization of the taxpayers money, Buttrey said.

Avoiding a veto

Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock ultimately carries the power of the veto. His office has made no secret about its opposition to Buttreys bill. A spokesman for Bullocks office testified against the bill during the March 16 hearing.

The Governors Office of Budget and Program Planning also released a stinging fiscal note that found Buttreys bill would kick about half of Montanas Medicaid expansion enrollees off the program.

The note cites a study commissioned by the Montana Healthcare Foundation and issued by George Washington University on Feb. 13. The study found that 31,000 to 43,000 of those enrollees could lose health coverage under the work requirements Buttrey proposes.

The Montana Healthcare Foundation is nonpartisan, but the organization supports the continuation of Medicaid expansion.

The foundations report estimates almost a third of Montanas adult beneficiaries could lose coverage because they live in rural areas with few work opportunities, and about a quarter of those under threat of losing their coverage have dependents with disabilities, the study found.

For Medicaid expansion enrollees that would remain, the fiscal note estimates costs to the state would nearly double per patient under Buttreys proposal.

The state would need to hire an additional 85 employees to track Medicaid enrollees and make sure they meet the community engagement mandate, according to the Office of Budget and Program Planning.

Buttreys bill requires 80 hours a month of work or volunteer service, although in some cases the requirement can be satisfied with work training, substance abuse treatment and educational credits.

The work requirements are also subject to certain exemptions, including full-time care-givers for young children and disabled adults. State staff would have to verify those exemptions.

Buttrey disagreed with the governors office findings and refused to sign the fiscal note.

Fiscal notes are political tools, Buttrey said. I dont think its accurate.

Nevertheless, Buttrey added numerous amendments to his bill to address the fiscal note during this weeks committee vote.

Those changes give more flexibility to the Department of Public Health and Human Services in administering the program and tracking work requirements. They also offer additional latitude to Medicaid enrollees who are unable to find work.

If the department notices more than 5 percent of enrollees losing their Medicaid coverage under Buttreys bill, the amendments trigger an audit to find out why.

Its not designed to cut a ton of people off the program, Buttrey said. By the time its fully implemented, well nearly be in the 2021 session, so if we do find there are unintended consequences, it will be very easy for the Legislature to act and fix this.

A revised fiscal note is pending. The bill now awaits a vote on the House floor. Representatives face an April 1 deadline to move the proposal for renewed debate and possible amendment in the Senate.

I really believe in the program. I think its helped a lot of people, it can be made better and Im going to fight for it, Buttrey said. Ideally Id like it to be bipartisan, where we can get a large number of votes on both sides. But it is what it is.

Realizing whats at stake

Melle has watched the debate over Medicaid expansion closely from Havre.

Im shocked at how many Republicans dont even want it, period. That was kind of appalling, she said. Health care is not a game to me, and they kind of act like its a game.

Melle hasnt participated in politics in the past, but advocating for her children has made her more engaged in public policies and processes.

I never used to be until the last couple years, but then I realized I have to be. I have to fight for myself and my kids future, she said. I realized how much was at stake.

Melle has begun to advocate for families in situations like hers. She regularly attends town halls with her representatives. She spoke about her situation with Rep. Caferro, who has since introduced House Bill 726, which would extend child support payments for families with disabled adults. It had its first hearing March 26.

Above all, Melle said, she has especially strong feelings about Medicaid expansion. Even if Buttreys bill passes and guarantees her coverage as a caregiver, she worries about others who could be left behind.

You dont know whats going on in our lives, youre not in our shoes, Melle says. We shouldnt have to worry about health care in America.



Montana Free Press reporting on health-care issues is funded in part by a grant from the Montana Healthcare Foundation.
Staff from the Bullhook Community Health Center are in Washington this week to advocate for the continuation of Community Health Center funding for all CHCs, Bullhook CEO Kyndra Hall said.

Long-term funding would allow Bullhook to plan for the future, recruit staff, expand services for patients and reduce the uncertainty caused by year-to-year renewals, Hall explained

Federally funded health centers are designed to help people who cant afford specialized health care, as well as serve the vulnerable populations, although they are open for everyone.

According to the National Association of Community Health Centers website, health centers add more than $54 billion in total economic activity each year and employ over 220,000 people nationally. Every federal dollar invested in health centers generates more than $5 in economic activity.

Despite their positive impact on the community, health centers face obstacles in providing services, partly because of insufficient funding.

Despite having access to health care, uninsured federally qualified health center patients still struggle to obtain specialty and mental health services that may not be offered at the clinics. Grant funding provides a means through which the health centers can address some of these obstacles.

Funding for CHCs comes from two sources: $1.63 billion in annual discretionary appropriations and $4 billion in the CHC Fund. The CHC Fund is set to expire Sept. 30 if not approved by Congress.

James Luisi, chief executive of NEW Health in Bostons North End and board chair for the National Association of Community Health Centers, said he wants Congress to approve the Community Health Investment, Modernization and Excellence Act, which would approve funding in five-year blocks.

We want that funding extended, hopefully for at least another five years, he said, so that we can have some stable funding and so that health centers will be able to access capital and meet their needs without worrying about going back and advocating for that funding to be extended again.
Havre Police Department

Marvin Dale Spotted Bird of Havre, 24, was arrested on a Justice or City court warrant served on 12th Avenue Thursday at 6:56 a.m. after a caller on Fourth Street reported at 6:39 a.m. that a man was being disruptive outside.

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Someone stopped at the police station Thursday at 8:59 a.m. to report a fraud.

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A white mountain bike was reported found Thursday at 10:09 a.m. by a First Avenue caller.

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A caller at Montana State University-Northern reported a broken lock on a door to the roof of a residence hall at 4:50 a.m. Thursday.

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A12th Avenue caller reported a water leak at 6:36 p.m. Thursday and the report was referred to another agency.

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Someone stopped at the police station Thursday at 10:43 p.m. to request a voucher.

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Thursday at 11:02 p.m., a caller at a First Street business reported a woman had fallen on the floor.

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A water break was reported on Lincoln Avenue at 12:32 a.m. today.

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Brandy Leian Stimson of Havre, 20, was issued a summons on charges of driving without a driver's license and violation of conditions of release, after an officer initiated investigation of suspicious activity on Second Street at 1:19 a.m. today.

Hill County Sheriff's Office

A Seventh Street East caller reported check fraud at 12:38 p.m. Thursday.

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Deputies investigated after a 12:48 p.m. Thursday caller on Rudyard's third Street Northwest asked for assistance.

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Ramona Lynn Abeita of Box Elder, 39, was issued a summons on a shoplifting charge after a caller at a U.S. Highway 2 West business reported a shoplifter.

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Deputies assisted Rocky Boy Police Department with a be-on-the-lookout alert at 11:45 p.m. Thursday.

Havre Fire Department

Emergency medical personnel responded to one call Thursday and one early this morning, and firefighters were called to the 10 Block of Third Street West at 1 a.m. today for what turned out to be an unintentional alarm caused by burnt toast.

Havre Animal Shelter

The Havre shelter this morning held four medium-hair cats, one long-hair 8-month-old kitten and a medium-hair 7-month-old kitten all of unknown gender, three medium-hair male cats, one short-hair female cat and four 10-week-old kittens, three females and one male. Another 19 cats were being held in the shelter and at a foster as part of the trap-spay/neuter-release program.

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The Havre shelter also held this morning three female mixed-breed dogs, female shepherd-Labrador retriever dog, a male mixed-breed 17-week-old puppy, a female Australian cattle dog-blue heeler-Australian shepherd dog, a male pit bull terrier dog and a female Australian cattle dog-blue heeler-border collie dog.
Jude Sheppard, who recently retired for her position as director of the Blaine County Museum, sits in her home Thursday in Chinook.

Last week, former Blaine County Museum Director Jude Sheppard, made her last goodbyes to a position she held for more than two decades.

"It's something that I truly enjoyed and always have," Sheppard said. "I've always liked history. It was a perfect job."

Last week, Sheppard handed the reins over to Havre High School graduate Samantha French.

Sheppard officially retired at the start of March, but had been coming in to help French get started in the position.

She said that she first started at the museum as the director in 1996. Before that she served on its board of directors for five years.

She always had a great interest in history, she said, and when the job became open she jumped at the opportunity. She said she had to quit the board as well as her job at Independence Bank before she could apply.

"I just hoped and prayed I was the one selected," Sheppard said. "If I hadn't been, I don't know what would have happened."

While serving as director, she said that one of her favorite things about the job was meeting with the public, providing tours and answering questions for people.

She said she gave tours to more than 1,000 children, adding that she wanted to ignite a spark for the love of history. On the tours she would have to match the tour to children's age and have to make the tour entertaining while she showed them exhibits and the history of the area.

"You try to take them through and teach them things, and with children it is hard to keep their interest," she said. "So you have to add in a little humor and you have to tell them things you think they would be interested in. Keep it going, you have to keep moving."

She said that last year when she told the teachers in Chinook that she was retiring the teachers didn't want to hear the news.

"They said, 'You can't quit,'" she said. "It felt good."

Sheppard said she was happy that she was able to make a positive impact on those teachers and their classes over the years.

"They always seemed to enjoy the tours," she said.

She said she remembers that the younger children's favorite exhibit was the paleontology room. During the tours, the children would tell her the history of the dinosaurs rather than the other way around. She added that it was always amazing to her how much the children knew and how excited they were.

The children also always liked to share their family stories with her during these tours, she said.

What has changed over the years

When she first started, there were at least 14 different exhibits, Sheppard said. Some of the exhibits were in the basement, but an audio and visual exhibit, the old west exhibit, the homestead shack, the Native American exhibit, the paleontology exhibit and the photo room were upstairs.

The photo room, she said, was something that she worked on when becoming on the board, before she was the director.

She said one of the things that changed was adding the Allison Photography Gallery, a collection of photographs by A.M. Allison. When she started, nothing was permanently in that space, which was used for a variety of different exhibits. She added that she also used to hang different paintings in the space as well as have a Sugar Beet Festival exhibit every year.

She said if she could find space, she would hire a cabinet maker to build a new display. One exhibit she built was of C. M. Russell letters and paintings, which were donated to the museum by a bank.

"They weren't on display and I knew they had to be," she said.

One of the exhibits that she didn't have to work with was the homestead shack, she said. One of the original directors did a great job putting it together, she said, and there was no need to change anything.

On the other hand, some other exhibits did need to be updated, she added. Sheppard said that she updated the paleontology exhibit as well as built some cases for the Native American exhibit. She said she was also very proud of the Native American culture room, with this updated look much different from its former state.

An exhibit she said she was happy the museum to acquire was the collection of artifacts from the Bear Paw Battlefield. Sheppard added that this exhibit was fun to work on.

The museum board hired an archaeologist to come and study the collection, she said, and visiting with him about the different pieces was very interesting.

Looking back, she said, it is a great asset to the museum in addition to the great audio visual presentation that is included. The audio and visual exhibit was something unique to the Blaine County Museum, she said. It is well-done and is pretty outstanding, she added. Not many places have something like that.

She said she was very proud of the upgrades she made to the Old West exhibit. She said she liked the way it turned out. She repainted the walls red, which made the room pop, she said, and made everything more visible to visitors.

"I'm proud of all those exhibits," she said. "... I like all the exhibits."

Sheppard added that the museum is also very lucky to have the Sweet Collection. One of the things that she changed as director was moving the Sweet Collection exhibit from the downstairs area to the upstairs area.

"The local people knew who he was, but the tourists didn't," she said, "so they would not look at that exhibit and it drove me crazy."

Lloyd Sweet was a Blaine County and Chinook resident who made his fortune in California as an investor and acted as a benefactor for Chinook, donating funds for many projects and organizations.

He originally donated his collection to the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, who have permanently loaned it to the museum for display.

Sheppard said she updated the exhibits regularly. She wanted to alternate the clothing on the mannequins, changing them every season. The museum has a great number of clothes and outfits, ranging from the late 1800s to the 1960s.

Things she learned

Sheppard said she also learned a great deal of things while she was the director.

She made it a point to go to the Museums Association of Montana conferences, she said. Different people from across the state would hold workshops at the conferences, where she learned about fabrics, how to take care of artifacts, different cleaning methods, how to put exhibits together and how to label displays.

Something she learned about the information panels was that she had to keep labels short so people don't get tired of reading and can move along, she said.

"I learned so much," Sheppard said, and picked up some great information at these conferences.

Something that she always appreciated were the comments she would get on the museum, she said. Many of the visitors were often very impressed with its quality.

"People are just amazed that a small town has the quality of our museum," she said.

Often people would tell her the Blaine County Museum was the best county museum they have been in, she said, and that always made her feel good.

Now she is leaving the position she is going to miss the friends that she has made over the years. The people who come and visit the museum, she said, would end up as friends.

"It is pretty special," she said.

Other friends she met through history conferences and through the Museums Association of Montana.

"It's nice to know people from across the state and consider them your friends," she said. "You run into people that you've met through the museum and have good memories of those people."

But, she said, what she will miss the most is meeting new people and working with the children.

Retirement: looking forward

Sheppard said that she is planning to stay in the area. She has two grandchildren who live in the Bear Paw Mountains who come to visit her after school. She added that she also wants to visit her other grandchildren who don't live in the area.

Havre Daily News/Ryan Berry

One of the biggest changes for her, she said, will be starting to travel. She would like to do a river cruise and go to Europe, places like France and Spain and Germany. She added that she has a friend in the Netherlands who she wants to visit, as well.

Traveling while she was director was difficult, Sheppard said, because it was hard for her to get help in the museum. Oftentimes she would have to rely on a specific few people to watch the museum so she could leave.

In addition to travel, Sheppard said, she also has many projects at home and looks forward to working in her yard. She also likes to paint.

She said she is an amateur artist, but has not picked up a paint brush for a long time due to her obligations at the museum.

"I need to do that, I need to start painting again," she said.
Montana State University Hill County hosted Extension Health in the Hi-Line Thursday, featuring Hill County Health Officer Jessica Sheehy, PA-C.

Sheehy, a physician assistant at Northern Montana Hospital, earned her undergraduate degree at Carroll College in Helena, and her medical degree as a physician assistant at the University of Saint Francis in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

"Growing up in small town Montana, I began to realize, everyone I knew were becoming PA's and nurse practitioners," said Sheehy, as she talked about the work it takes to become a physician assistant and what they really do in hospitals.

The application process usually begins June or July and lasts about a year which includes applying and plenty of interviews.

They want people who have undergraduate degrees but "they don't really care what the degree is in, as long as you have taken classes like biology, chemistry and other medical-related classes," Sheehy said

In the United States, 238 programs are running, with 1,200 applicants looking to fill a small number of positions. Sheehy said she chose St. Francis because it worked with Carroll many times. The average program at the school was two-and-a-half years, and it included one year of intense classroom work, as well as requiring hands on work. She spent time working at a children's hospital as well as working as a pharmacy tech.

Sheehy said that the government is working at dispelling the myths of what physician assistants do.

"Physician assistants provide services that include performing examinations, ordering tests, diagnosing injuries and illnesses, administering treatment, prescribing medicine and monitoring progress," she said.

She likes the independence that Northern Montana Family Medical Center provides.

"We're pretty independent if we want to be," she said.

"Montana is very liberal when it comes to what PA's can do," she added. "I'm able to write prescriptions among other things."

Sheehy said she also offers her time at the clinic at Montana State University-Northern. It's not a full fledged clinic, but it provides basic services like physicals and routine screenings. These services are free for students, as they pay a student health fee.

The Health in the Hi-Line event was funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Pacific Northwest Region. The goal of the event was to highlight traditional and non-traditional health care fields in the community, such as PA-'s.

"I'm very glad I attended this event," James Hoffa said, "to hear what these medical professionals do is admirable, and I thank them for their hard work. Everyone I've had to visit for medical needs has been courteous and professional."
From Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Hunter Education classroom course dates have been set for the Havre area for this year, and there are two more courses offered this spring.

The courses will be held at Montana State University-Northern in Cowan Hall Room 300, and are free of charge.

The course dates are:

Class 2:

April 4, 6-7 p.m.  Orientation

April 8-12  Classes

April 13  Field day/live shoot

Class 3:

May 9, 6-7 p.m. Orientation

May 13-17  Class

May 18  Field day/live shoot

For youth to be eligible to hunt and be fully certified...
3 John 11

Out our way, folks who spend much time on horseback can all tell stories of wrecks they have had. Everybody gets thrown from time to time, but some more than others. Especially the ones who refuse to learn from it. I recall a time when Doc lost his footing, I wasnt paying attention, and I ended up flying over his head. I was luck in that I only had a few sprained ribs  but I still went to the doctor and when he came in, my doctor, an experienced horseman himself, just laughed. This was not the first  nor the last  time Doc tossed me over the years. But he asked me what hap...
Montana youths have been invited to submit auditions to an event June 15 intended to highlight Montana talent.

The deadline to submit video auditions to Treasure State Talent 2019 is May 15.

The competition will be in Fergus High School Auditorium in Lewistown Saturday, June 15, at 7 p.m.

This will be, hopefully our first year of many years to come for the statewide promotion of our talented youth in Montana, a post on the events website said. The White Sulphur Springs High School Music Program Is a proud sponsor and the primary group responsible for the organization and pro...
Lab-grown olfactory stem cells will enable research into therapies for recovering sense of smell after injury or degeneration

BOSTON  A team of researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine developed a method to grow and maintain olfactory stem cells in culture, which can then be used to restore tissue in the nose. The discovery raises hope that future therapies could be developed to restore the sense of smell in individuals where it has been damaged by injury or degeneration.

The stem cells, called horizontal basal cells (HBCs), can repopulate all olfactory epithelium (OE) cell types, including sensory neurons, when transplanted into injured tissue. Published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports, the development paves the way for further research into stem cell transplantation therapies, or pharmacological approaches that stimulate stem cells within the nose to regenerate tissue.

The nerves that confer the sense of smell are unique when compared to the rest of the nervous system, in that they can trigger a robust and nearly complete regenerative response after injury. OE tissue contains two types of stem cells  globose basal cells (GBCs) and HBCs. The GBCs have been successfully cultured and appear to have a primary role in repopulating cells that have been lost to routine turnover. HBCs, however, remain dormant and are not activated until there is an injury. Unfortunately, studies on these cells have been limited by the fact that they could not be expanded and maintained in culture. In this study, the researchers determined the optimal conditions for expanding and maintaining healthy HBC stem cells in culture, borrowing methods and factors used to maintain respiratory stem cells.

Once we determined that we could grow HBCs in the lab, and that they expressed the same identifying molecular markers found in vivo, we sought to confirm whether they would work as well as the in vivo HBCs  can they regenerate tissue that has been injured  and they did! said James Schwob, M.D., Ph.D., professor of developmental molecular and chemical biology at Tufts University School of Medicine, and corresponding author for the study.

Despite a natural ability for regeneration, dysfunction in the sense of smell is still reported among 19.4 percent of the population (OLFACAT study, 2003), with 0.3 percent experiencing complete loss of smell. Causes range from aging, injury, smoking, and neurodegenerative diseases to certain medications.

Schwob and his team discovered that the lab-grown HBCs were able to fill in olfactory lesions, generating multiple cell types including Sus cells, basal cells and olfactory sensory neurons.

The HBCs in culture remained quiescent, pretty much as they do in vivo, but we were able to trigger them into an active state to start the process of differentiation into various olfactory epithelial cells just before engrafting them into injured tissue, said Jesse Peterson, Ph.D., first author of the study and currently a post-doctoral fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Peterson conducted the study as part of his doctoral dissertation at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts, advised by Schwob.

The trigger used was retinoic acid, which has the effect of lowering levels of the protein P63 in the cells, leading to stem cell activation. P63 functions as a master control switch and is known to decrease levels during injury, transitioning HBCs from dormancy to activation in vivo. A more thorough understanding of the role of P63 has been hampered by the slow pace of in vivo studies. With lab-grown HBCs, the mechanisms of activation can be examined more closely.

Now that we can create a reserve of dormant stem cells, we see this as a useful tool for exploring ways to guide cell differentiation toward specific cell types, and develop new stem cell therapies for tissue and sensory regeneration  using the patients own stem cells for culturing and transplantation, or pharmacological interventions to activate the patients own dormant stem cells within the nose, said Schwob.

Other authors contributing to this study are Brian Lin, Ph.D., Camila Barrios-Camacho, Daniel Herrick, M.D., Ph.D., and Julie Coleman, Ph.D., all graduates or students at Tufts, Woochan Jang, Ph.D., former research assistant professor at Tufts, and Eric Holbrook, M.D., of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Harvard Medical School.

This work was supported by awards from the National Institutes of Healths National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01DC002167, F31DC014637, F30DC013962, F31DC014398). This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Peterson, J., Lin, B., Barrios-Camacho, C.M., Herrick, D., Holbrook, E.H., Jang, W., Coleman, J.H. and Schwob, J.E., Activating a reserve neural stem cell population in vitro enables engraftment and multipotency after transplantation, Stem Cell Reports (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2019.02.014

###

About Tufts University School of Medicine

Tufts University School of Medicine is an international leader in medical and population health education and advanced research. It emphasizes rigorous fundamentals in a dynamic learning environment to educate physicians, scientists, and public health professionals to become leaders in their fields. The School of Medicine is renowned for excellence in education in general medicine, the biomedical sciences, and public health, as well as for research at the cellular, molecular, and population health level. It is affiliated with more than 20 teaching hospitals and health care facilities. Tufts University School of Medicine undertakes research that is consistently rated among the highest in the nation for its effect on the advancement of medical and prevention science.

Tufts University
Nielson isnt surprised. Its very common for someones rap lyrics to be used against them, he says, even in criminal cases. I have worked as an expert on 50 to 60 cases where lyrics are being used by prosecutors against defendants  even in death penalty cases. Politics, he says, is another arena in which old lyrics often come back to haunt former rappers. Many times the outrage strikes me as disingenuous. Even though there are all these signals that this is clearly artistic, the lyrics are taken literally and used to convict people or accuse people of all kinds of things, in ways we never do with other art forms. Nobody thinks that Johnny Cash shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. Were very good at understanding this, but we suspend that understanding when it comes to rap music.
A TEACHER was taken by surprise when he won 350 towards a new bicycle in a draw to promote this years On Your Bike event.

David Foley, the year 5 teacher at Sonning Common Primary School, wasnt even at the assembly when his name was pulled out of the hat.

He had to be fetched from another room and looked shocked when he entered the school hall to cheers and applause by the 200 children.

Mr Foley, who will be talking part in the ride at the weekend, said: I did not enter myself in the draw, I think my girlfriend entered me. That is why I looked so shocked when I came in.

He will receive the discount on the price of an adults bike at AW Cycles in Henley Road, Caversham, which sponsors the event.

Pupil Missy Simic, nine, won the helmet in the draw, which was open to anyone who signed up for the event before Mach 18. She said: I am going to go with my grandparents.

Geoff Bowen and his son Rob Bowen, who run the bike shop, made the draw at the school and also brought along a Raleigh Burner Balance and Giant ARX kids bikes to show the children.

This is the 13th year of On Your Bike, which will be held on Sunday, starting and finishing at the school in Grove Road. Riders should meet at 10am ready to be set off from 10.30am. Participants have a choice of a six-, 12- or 20-mile ride.

AW Cycles will have a gazebo in the playground where people can make last-minute purchases such as helmets and energy food. It will also carry out safety checks and help replace tyres. Riders should provide their own bike and helmet.

It costs 6 to enter the event in advance or 10 on the day.

Proceeds will go to the school, the Fish volunteer centre in the village and the Sonning Common first responders. Last years event raised 4,000.

To sign up, visit www.onyourbike

sonningcommon.co.uk
Hong Kong: HK-SZ meeting set

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung will lead a government delegation to Shenzhen on April 2 and co-chair the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Co-operation Meeting with Shenzhen Mayor Chen Rugui.

At the meeting, the two sides will discuss strengthening ties in various areas and sign co-operation pacts.

The delegation includes Secretary for Innovation & Technology Nicholas Yang, Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan, Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip, Acting Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Bernard Chan, Under Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Andy Chan, and Under Secretary for Transport & Housing Raymond So.

They will return to Hong Kong in the evening on the same day.

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has called on the world's economies to boost ties with China instead of looking at the Asian giant as a threat.

"China's effort in opening up has really been a boost for the economies of the world, especially the developing economies. The world should look at China's rise as an opportunity rather than a threat," Arroyo said as she discussed how the Philippines benefited from investments from China.

According to a statement released by her office on Friday, Arroyo made these statements in Hainan, China at the sidelines of the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) where she is a board member.

Arroyo sid China, for developing countries like the Philippines, "is a market, a donor and a provider of capital and technology."

The former president noted how China has become the Philippines' major trading partner. "Agricultural products for instance, if you eat a banana (in China), it's probably from the Philippines. So it's been a very big market for the Philippines," she said.

She said China has been a major donor for various development projects in the Philippines.

"For instance, China has built bridges in the Philippines, it is building a dam for a water system and irrigation, and it will be building a major railroad. Not just one but two major railroads," she said.

China is funding the multibillion-peso Kaliwa dam project, which the Duterte government wants fast-tracked due to the water shortage in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. China loans will also finance two massive railway projects: Subic-Clark Railway and Mindanao Railway.

The billions of pesos in loan deals with China are controversial amid concerns that the Philippines could fall into a debt trap. Manila and Beijing officials have assured this would not happen.

President Rodrigo Duterte has also been criticized for pursuing warmer ties with China despite the East Asian giant's rejection of a 2016 international tribunal ruling in favor of Manila in the South China Sea dispute. The President has said the Philippines could not afford to go to war with China but promised to bring the ruling up within his term.
More than 9 out of 10 doctors who've racked up five or more successful malpractice claims against them continue to see patients as usual, and they're in no particular rush to set up shop far away, said lead researcher David Studdert, a professor of medicine and law at Stanford Law School.
Two friends are facing trial accused of having more than 13,000 worth of cocaine in the west of the city.

Carley O'Connor (30) and Gemma Reilly (26) had their cases adjourned for the prep- aration of books of evidence when they appeared before Blanchardstown District Court.

Ms O'Connor, of Landen Road, Ballyfermot, and Ms Reilly, of Briarfield Grove, Kilbarrack, are both charged with possession of more than 13,000 worth of cocaine, with intent to sell or supply.

The are also charged with related counts of simple poss- ession and sale or supply of the drug.

The offences are all alleged to have happened at the Outer Ring Road, Clondalkin, on November 24, 2017.

A state solicitor told the court the DPP was directing trial on indictment in both cases and sought an adjournment for the preparation of a book of evidence.

Earnings

The case will be sent forward for trial to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Defence solicitor Simon Fleming applied for free legal aid for both accused, submitting statements of their financial means to the court.

He said they were both working, but their earnings came in under the threshold to qualify for legal aid.

Judge Murphy asked Gda Sgt Geraldine McManigan if she had seen the application.

She replied that she had and there was no garda objection. The judge then granted legal aid.

She extended the time for the preparation of the book of evidence and adjourned the cases to a date next month.

The accused were remanded on continuing bail.

They have not yet indicated how they intend to plead to the charges.
Three uninjured drinking pals sat waiting for firemen to cut them out of a taxi prang in a plot to claim 60,000 in damages, a judge said.

Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke ruled that Dean Masterson, Stephen Deane and Shane O'Leary wildly exaggerated their injuries when the cab was shunted and could have got out unaided.

They claimed they were seri- ously hurt when an untraced vehicle ran into the back of Brendan Spearing's taxi being driven by Oluramti Awogboro in East Road, Dublin, in January 2013.

Only Masterson and Deane went through with their claims.

Judge Groarke said Masterson (32), himself a taxi driver, of Dorset Street Flats, Dublin, had told the court he was "so overwhelmed" by the collision he could not extricate himself.

Deane (35), a painter, of Saint Mary's Place, Dorset Street, claimed he too could not get out because he was "in panic".

Judge Groarke said Mr O'Leary, "a sensible man who did not pursue his claim", had been "so overcome" that he also froze.

Deceit

The judge told barristers Helen McCarthy, for the taxi owner and driver, and Philip Fennel, for the Motor Insurance Bureau, it was obvious from pictures that there was no damage to the rear-ended taxi.

"The evidence from each of these two plaintiffs was of a rapidly reached agreement by all three passengers before gardai and firemen arrived that they would concoct serious injuries which left them incapable of getting out of the car," Judge Groarke said.

"This is as bad a story as I have ever heard concocted and really amounts to deceit and fraud.

"There is no question of these three men having been so badly injured that they were physically incapable. I don't believe it for one minute.

"To say they were exaggerating their evidence does not do the situation sufficient justice.

"They had suffered no injuries whatsoever and I dismiss their claims accordingly."

Judge Groarke told Ms McCarthy and Mr Fennel that their clients were entitled to recover costs.
A staff shortage led to 50 sex attack victims enduring lengthy journeys to be treated and forensically examined last year.

One woman had to travel in an unmarked garda car to the Mullingar sex assault unit because the 24/7 centre at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin was closed, a report has revealed.

"I went to the station at 4am and didn't get seen until 3pm in Mullingar. They said there were two other cases in Mullingar before my case," she said.

Patients who cannot access the service locally face a journey of several hours, having been unable to shower or eat and drink anything.

They can then spend three to five hours being treated and examined.

The harrowing accounts emerged in a Department of Health review of the six sexual assault treatment units that was published by Health Minister Simon Harris yesterday.

The extended journeys were found to have a "direct impact" on the level of trauma experienced by patients.

This is particularly the case for those who have not been referred by gardai.

Mr Harris said that among the immediate steps being introduced are an investment of 500,000 and the appointment of more nurses and doctors who are trained in forensic examination.

The report found that the units in Dublin, Galway, Mull- ingar, Cork, Letterkenny and Waterford treated nearly 1,000 patients last year.

Some former patients spoke of feeling "safe" in the unit and another said they "could not fault it".

However, others found the surroundings cold, clinical and unwelcome.

One said they were left on their own with nobody checking on them.

Complained

Current and former staff who were interviewed complained about levels of pay and allowances as well as being unsupported in their work, or feeling like the "poor relation of the hospital".

The report points to serious under-investment in the service.

A small number of staff are said to carry the weight of the "out of hours" support.

One in 10 patients are men and half are aged under 25.

A high proportion of victims tend to have an intellectual disability.

A significant number also comes from state settings such as prisons, residential care homes and nursing homes. Some are homeless.

Assaults tend to spike during university freshers' weeks, music festivals, conference events and gigs. Other cases happen at home or in a family.

The report warned that a lack of liaison between services including An Garda Siochana meant some patients needing follow-up support are falling through the cracks.

Mr Harris expressed his concern not only as a minister, but as a citizen.

He said there appeared to be a surge in sex assault cases during public events such as the Leaving Cert results' night.

At the launch of the report, Junior Education Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor expressed her concern about the "alarming" levels of sexual assault.

The high incidence emerged in a survey by the Union of Students in Ireland.
A Dublin woman has been spared jail after a malnourished dog was found chained to a bathtub in her home.

Nikita Somerville, of Peadar Kearney House, Railway Street, Dublin 1, claimed she had to bring her child to hospital just when she was about to give her dog a bath.

Judge Anthony Halpin said her story seemed "far-fetched" but held that she had been reckless and hadn't intended to neglect her dog Buster, who has since been rehomed.

While it was horrific, it was not the worst animal welfare case he had dealt with, he said.

He noted that Somerville had received hate mail and abuse on social media since the case came before the court.

Somerville pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to one count under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.

Food

Hazel Fannon BL told the court that on November 14, 2017, Garda Ciaran O'Neill called at Somerville's address and found Buster, a small brown Pomeranian, chained to the bathtub.

Counsel said the dog had no access to food or water. The garda contacted the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA), which brought Buster to a vet to be examined.

He was found to be under-weight, there had been muscle wastage and he was "effectively malnourished".

The dog was then placed in the DSPCA's care and regained weight. He has since been given a new home, DSPCA inspector Liam Kinsella told the court.

Photos of Buster chained to the bath were also handed in to the judge. A conviction on the charges can result in a fine of up to 3,000 as well as a sentence of up to six months.

In mitigation pleas for leniency, defence counsel Patrick Jackson BL provided the court with documentation to show his client had got Buster micro-chipped and vaccinated.

Photos of the dog taken a number of months before were also handed to the judge who remarked that Buster seemed very happy in those pictures.

Mr Jackson said single mother Somerville was from a good family and was supported in court by relatives. On the day Buster was found she had to bring her child to hospital and gardai entered the home on an unrelated matter at around the same time. Her intention had been to bathe the dog and for that reason he had been tied up.

After Buster was taken by gardai, Somerville went to Store Street Garda Station and agreed to surrender him. Mr Jackson asked the judge to note that the garda agreed the home was clean and there was dog food in the kitchen.

Somerville's first instinct was to fight the case because she believed she had done her best by her dog, the barrister said.

A conviction would make it difficult for her to obtain employment and the court heard she had done a number of courses to find work.

Mr Jackson said Somerville had not come before the courts previously and was undertaking not to own a pet for the next two years. He provided the court with samples of abusive correspondence she had received and added that "various threats were made to her".

Emaciated

Judge Halpin asked veterinary surgeon Lorna White to put the dog's condition at the time of rescue on a scale of one to 10, with one representing bad and 10 being "death's door". She placed it at number three.

But the court also heard she placed it at number four on the Tufts scale assessment in which five was equal to emaciated.

Judge Halpin said he did not think the dog was given enough food and it was a case of carelessness and recklessness.

Animals were no different from people and needed care, attention and food, he said.

He took into account the guilty plea and evidence of the care that Somerville had previously given the pet and said he would not give her a life ban.

He noted she was promising not to have a pet for two years and fined her 200. She was also ordered to pay 100 toward prosecution costs.
Donald Trump has called the Jussie Smollett incident an "embarrassment", days after all disorderly conduct charges were dropped against the actor.

Prosecutors had alleged the Empire star had lied to police about being subjected to a hate crime attack.

The US president tweeted: "FBI & DOJ (Department of Justice) to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago.

"It is an embarrassment to our Nation!"

Mr Trump's comment came after it was reported that the FBI would investigate the case against Smollett, who insists he is innocent.

Violate

Smollett's lawyer has accused authorities of "continuing their campaign" against him, despite the charges being dropped.

Patricia Holmes said "the case is closed" and "no public official has the right to violate" her client's "due process rights".

Ms Holmes said Smollett "is innocent until proven guilty in the court of law".

"We respectfully request all government agencies involved live up to the ethical tenets of their office.

"The case was dismissed. We should allow Mr Smollett to move on with his life as a free citizen."

Authorities still believe Smollett filed a false police report alleging he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago on January 29.

The 36-year-old actor alleged two men beat him up and put a noose around his neck.

Police accused him of making it up, and he was charged with 16 counts of disorderly conduct.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the dropping of charges "a whitewash of justice" and lashed out at Smollett for dragging the city's reputation "through the mud".

Prosecutor Joseph Magats told reporters that officials dropped the case after Smollett forfeited a $10,000 (8,900) bond payment and carried out community service.

The state alleged at the time that Smollett staged a false attack because he was unhappy with his salary on musical drama Empire and wanted to raise his profile.
I thought of all the other men around and behind us who couldnt help but see their behinds, White wrote. My sons know better than to ogle a womans body  certainly when Im around (and hopefully, also when Im not). They didnt stare, and they didnt comment afterwards. But you couldnt help but see those blackly naked rear ends. I didnt want to see them  but they were unavoidable. How much more difficult for young guys to ignore them.
The Hoxton got its start in 2006 some 4,000 miles away in London, where it cultivated its communal, hyper-local approach to lodging. Each property  Chicago is No. 7, with Los Angeles not far behind  has a distinct sense of place. The hotels aim to be welcoming to residents and travelers alike, open door spaces that encourage lounging and socializing without a whiff of stuffiness or velvet-rope exclusivity.
But Emanuel likes to talk big. He wants everybody to know that hes no pushover. He is going to make Smollett pay, one way or another. And the mayor doesnt care if he takes the city  or the entire nation for that matter  down in the process.
'So much we want the public to know': Meritus COVID cases surge again
Elgin police said they have an open investigation into financial matters at Harvest. In October, police received a complaint that one member of the staff who was not a pastor had stolen nearly $300,000. Police said no one has been arrested in connection with the case. Harvest, in an emailed response to questions about the case, said it contacted a lawyer and a forensic accountant to review the situation, and the internal review "confirmed that no one else on the Harvest staff was involved in the underlying fraud."
The Jewish Pavilion celebrated Purim in over 50 senior communities including Brookdale Dr. Phillips. All festivities included a Purim spiel, hamantashen and music. Special thanks to the Orlando Torah Center and the Orlando Torah Academy for bringing the cutest children ever to celebrate Purim with their elders at Brookdale Dr. Phillips. More than 20 children came in costume and sang and danced with their residents. The seniors especially enjoyed cooing over the babies and hugging the little ones.
The alert was issued after the boy was last seen with his babysitter in the 900 block of West Washington in the West Town neighborhood around 6:45 a.m. Thursday.
(JTA)Add Beto ORourke to the already crowded field of Democratic candidates hoping to unseat President Donald Trump. The El Paso native and former congressman hopes to build on the buzz that accompanied his unsuccessful but oh-so-close campaign against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in last years Texas Senate race.

ORourke, a Roman Catholic, has clashed at times with the local Jewish community, particularly his vote in 2014 against funding for Israels Iron Dome rocket defense system. He also has reportedly claimed to have some Jewish roots.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency rounded up and investigated some of the highlights from his Jewish record below.

1. He reportedly once said that he has Jewish roots.

Since were a Jewish news agency, we just had to start with this one. According to the Forward, ORourke spoke in 2014 about having some Jewish ancestry in a meeting with local pro-Israel activists after the Iron Dome vote. JTA was not able to find other accounts or confirm with his campaign. ORourke has Irish and Welsh ancestryhis family came from Ireland to the U.S. four generations ago. If we find a Jewish ancestor somewhere far back in his family tree, well let you know.

2. In 2014, ORourke was one of eight House members to vote against funding for Iron Dome.

His vote stood out because he was among a small group of lawmakers to oppose the $225 million aid to Israel, which was dealing with a barrage of rockets from Gaza amid a military operation. Meanwhile, 395 members of the House voted for the aid. ORourkes vote angered many in the local Jewish and pro-Israel community; some circulated letters expressing their dismay. ORourke explained that he did not oppose funding for the Iron Dome, but rather the fact that there had not been a debate about the spending. Eager to make amends, the congressman later met with local pro-Israel activists and Jewish community leaders.

3. The following year, he visited Israel.

ORourke was part of a delegation of Democratic lawmakers organized by the liberal Middle East policy group J Street. They met with Palestinians and Israelis, and visited Jerusalems Old City and Yad Vashem. ORourke talked about the trip at Congregation Bnai Zion, a Conservative synagogue in El Paso, saying it gave him hope for peace. He addressed the challenges faced by Israelis living under rocket fire.

I was looking at the border wall as though I was in Chihuahuita looking at Mexico and talking to people who lived in that village and what they experienced this last summer and learning from them how they literally watched rockets arching over their heads, northbound, he said, according to the El Paso Times. And not too long after, they would see missiles and fire coming right in the other direction over their heads.

But ORourke said he would not have voted differently on funding for the Iron Dome in 2014 because he believed the topic merited debate.

I think our unequivocal support at times has been damaging to Israel, he said, according to the Times.

4. Ted Cruz attacked him for his ties to J Street.

ORourkes Senate opponent called the policy group rabidly anti-Israel and claimed that ORourke had accepted money from its political action committee despite saying he did not accept money from PACs. It turned out that the J Street money came from individual donors who gave by way of the PAC, so ORourkes claim still held true.

The Federal Election Commission doesnt consider such conduit contributions PAC money, and campaign finance watchdogs consider such contributions more transparent than PAC donations.

Interestingly, Cruzs attack shed light on the fact that ORourke picked up plenty of such conduit contributions through J Street. In the 2018 election cycle, he received $182,000 distributed by the PAC, the third largest amount of any politician after Democrats Dan Kohl, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Wisconsin, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, also of Wisconsin, according to Open Secrets.

5. He has compared Central American migrants to Jewish refugees in World War II.

In expressing his support for immigration, ORourke has drawn parallels between the two groups. He repeatedly invoked the MS St. Louis, a ship carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany in 1939 that was turned away from the United States and Canada. Many of the passengers later died in concentration camps. ORourke has made the analogy in social media posts and in speeches.

He said this in a call-to-action published on Medium:

I know that every single one of us, to a person, if we were standing here in this Chamber in 1939 when this country was sending back the St. Louis, which had set sail on May 13, 1939, from Hamburg, Germany, with more than 900 German Jewish refugees, including children, that all of us, to a person, would like to say, if I were here, I would have made the case to accept the St. Louis and those 900 passengers and make sure that they could find refuge and asylum in this country.

The current migrant crisis, ORourke continued in urging the passage of a bill to end family separations at the border, is our moment of truth.
Syrian President Bashar Assad (r) with Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev. Russia has vested interests in what happens as part of the current quagmire in Syria.

(Research Institute for European and American Studies via JNS)-Nearly eight years into the civil war in Syria, the government forces led by Syrian President Bashar Assad-and supported by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah-have regained control of the majority of Syria. As the war appears to wind down, diplomatic efforts are being made by the Assad regime and Arab countries to normalize relations.

The victory of the Assad regime, Russian regional influence, the withdrawal of American forces from Syria, the Iranian threat and the weakness of the Arab Sunni alliance are reasons that have led Arab countries to improve relations with the Assad regime.

The visit of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Damascus in December 2018-the first Arab head of state to visit Damascus since the start of the Syrian conflict-coupled with the reopening of the UAE's embassy in Damascus on Dec. 27, the first Syrian passenger flight to Tunisia since 2011, and the opening of the border crossing between Syria and Jordan in October are part of the efforts to improve relations.

The Arab League is set to meet on March 31 in Tunisia.

Following Assad's deadly use of military force against the opposition in his country, the Arab world had sanctioned Damascus, expelled Syria from the Arab League, and most of the Arab countries backed opposition fighters in Syria. Eight years later, the majority of the Arab League's members want Syria to be readmitted into the Arab League. The next summit of the Arab League is to be held on March 31 in Tunis.

Sudan: Al-Bashir visited Assad in Damascus on Dec. 17, 2018, becoming the first Arab leader to the country since the conflict broke out in 2011. He hosted at the presidential palace, where the two heads of state reportedly discussed strengthening bilateral relations, and the latest developments in Syria and the region.

The UAE: The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus on Dec. 27, 2018. The UAE closed the embassy in the early stages of the Syria conflict, which started in 2011, and backed rebel groups against Assad's forces.

The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said that the UAE wanted to boost the "Arab role in supporting the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic. The UAE decision... came after a conviction that the next stage requires the Arab presence and communication in the Syrian file." He added that initiating communication with Damascus will not leave the region open to Iranian interference.

UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan told reporters on March 6 during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during his visit to the emirate that: "We have worked with our Russian brothers and others to discuss the containment of the crisis but to also contain Syria. When we say containment, we are talking about Syria being a part of the Arab region; being part of the Arab countries and efforts. Unfortunately, we are now seeing Syria far from that."

"We believe that we are still at the beginning of this march but this requires joint efforts from Damascus and Arab parties to work together. We are still far from this situation, but I believe there are an intention, and a desire, but it still requires much work from different parties," he said.

Egypt: The Syrian National Security chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk traveled to Egypt in December 2018, at the invitation of Egyptian intelligence chief. This was not Mamlouk's first public visit to Egypt. During another publicized trip in 2016, Mamlouk and Egyptian intelligence officers agreed to coordinate political positions and strengthen cooperation in fighting terrorism.

Russia's long-term strategy is to extend its influence over the whole region.

Syria has been expelled from the Arab League and boycotted by its neighbors since its civil war erupted in 2011. But Egypt has maintained security contacts with Assad's government throughout, negotiating limited conciliation deals between Syrian armed groups and the Syrian government.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said an in 2017 that he is prepared to help the Syrian army because it's a national one, as opposed to militias. And in contrast with Saudi Arabia's position, Egypt voted at the United Nations in favor of a Russian resolution proposal that ruled out condemning Syria. Egypt would prefer that Syria stay within the League. Expelling it did nothing to change Assad's policy, Iran grew stronger against the Arab coalition and Turkey became the proprietor of the northern part of the country.

Tunisia: A flight from Damascus landed in Tunisia's Habib Bourguiba Airport on Dec. 27, 2018, marking the first direct flight between the two countries since the outbreak of Syria's civil war eight years ago. Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, had supported the Syrian opposition when the war broke out after peaceful protests were brutally repressed by the regime. But relations have warmed as the fighting winds down, with the Syrian government once again in control of most of the country, thanks largely to Russian assistance.

Iraq: Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Alhakim said his country supports efforts to restore Syria's membership in the Arab League. Iraq has never cut ties with Assad's government after its crackdown against anti-government demonstrations in 2011 led to civil war.

Jordan: The Nassib border crossing between Jordan and Syria officially opened in October 2018 to civilians and trade for the first time since it was closed in 2015.

Oman: The Syrian premier praised Oman's decision to maintain ties with Damascus despite the conflict. The statement came as the Syrian and Omani foreign ministers met in the Syrian capital to discuss ideas for ending the seven-year war.

Bahrain: The Syrian foreign minister and his Bahraini counterpart had also turned heads in September 2018, after they greeted each other with a hug on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Syria, the Arab League and Arab Parliamentary Union

Syria was expelled from the League and other Arab institutions in 2011 following its brutal suppression of the uprising against the Assad regime. In 2018, several member states have called for it to be reinstated with Russia also backing the initiative.

Syria attended a meeting of Arab states on March 3 for the first time since its conflict broke out in 2011. Syria's parliament speaker, Hammouda Sabbagh, traveled to Amman to attend the 29th Conference of the Arab Parliamentary Union. His Jordanian counterpart, Atef al-Tarawneh, called in a speech for regional countries "to work toward a political settlement to the Syrian crisis... and for Syria to regain its place" in the Arab world.

Another event is an Arab League summit to be held in Tunis on March 31. The gathering, according to Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, can offer an opportunity to "strengthen Arab unity" and could also lead to Syria's return to the Arab League.

Russia has called on the Arab League to restore Syria's membership into the organization:

In February 2018, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that "leaving Damascus out of the Arab League is not helping the peace efforts." Lavrov added that the League would take a more important and more active role if Syria were a member.

In December 2018: Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev from Moscow's National Centre for Defense Management said that "the restoration of Syria's position on the global scene, in particular its membership in the League of Arab States, is an extremely important issue. It will serve as a convincing signal for the international community about the return of the country to peaceful life and the promotion of the process of the political settlement of the crisis, as well as push the refugees toward making positive decisions on the return to their homes."

Unlike other Arab countries, during a joint conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh on March 4, the Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said it is premature to determine the return of Syria to the Arab League. When asked about the Kingdom reopening its embassy in Damascus, al-Jubeir said that this was also too early to determine. Al-Jubeir stressed that both Riyadh and Moscow agree to Syria's sovereignty, as well as the need for a political solution to help Syria build a better future.

International sanctions on the Assad regime in Syria

The United States, the European Union, the United Nations and several other regulatory entities imposed sanctions on Assad regime in Syria in response to the Syrian government's support of international terrorism, and violations against democratic and human rights in the country. Since first being implemented, the sanctions have been strengthened several times due to escalating violence in the region.

Currently imposed sanctions include sanctions against persons and entities (travel bans and asset freezes on certain Syrian officials); sanctions in relation to Syrian crude oil, petroleum products and jet fuel; sanctions in relation to arms; sanctions in relations to certain chemicals and equipment used for internal repression; and a ban on Syrian investment by U.S. persons.

The European Union: Sanctions have been in force since Dec. 1, 2011, and are subjected to annual review. The sanctions include a blacklist of Syrian officials for their role in Assad's "violent repression" of civilians. Other bloc of sanctions including an embargo on Syrian oil, investment restrictions and a freeze on Syrian central bank assets within the European Union.

They also cover export restrictions on equipment and technology that Damascus could use to repress its people, as well as those that it could use to monitor or intercept Internet or telephone calls.

The E.U. countries on March 5 added Syria's interior minister and six other ministers to a sanctions blacklist. With the additions, there are 277 people under E.U. sanctions for their role in the "violent repression" of civilians in Syria and for their links to the Assad regime. The E.U. has also frozen the assets of some 72 entities.

Summary

As the war in Syria appears to wind down, diplomatic efforts are being made by the Assad regime, and Arab and Western delegations, to prepare for the reopening of diplomatic missions, marking a significant diplomatic boost for Assad.

Since 2018, Syria has been making steps towards the country's political reintegration into the region. In October, Assad said that Syria had reached a "major understanding" with Arab states after years of hostility.

The Arab League is set to meet on March 31 in Tunisia, with some member states calling for Syria's return to the Arab League, which suspended the country's membership in November 2011 as the death toll mounted in its war. The Arab League's secretary-general, veteran Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said in April 2018, that the decision to suspend Syria had been "hasty."

The re-integration of Syria into the Arab fold will support the Israeli interest.

During the war in Syria, Russia allied with the Assad regime, Iran and Hezbollah against the Syrian opposition that was backed by the Arab Sunni countries. Russia transitioned from leading and coordinating the Iranian, Hezbollah, Assad forces and its own forces in the war to diplomatic moves to stabilize the situation and restore Assad's status in the Arab world.

The Russian interest in bringing Syria back to the Arab League is based on the desire to achieve legitimacy-first Arab, then later international-for Assad's regime, in addition to recognition of Russia as a dominant military presence, and political regional and global power.

Russia's long-term strategic interest is to extend its influence over the whole region; the re-integration of Syria into the Arab fold will serve its goals. Russia is also interested in reduction of the Iranian and Turkish influence, and involvement in post-war Syria. The shift towards the Arab fold will meet this interest.

Amos Ben Gershom/GPO Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Russia's special representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, in Jerusalem on Jan. 29, 2019.

The alliance of Syria with Iran and Hezbollah predates the civil war; Assad considers Iran and Hezbollah as reliable allies. Therefore, it is unlikely that re-integration of Syria into the Arab fold will impact the Syrian relations with Iran and Hezbollah in the short time.

The United States has changed its stance on the Syrian regime and U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey said that Washington is not looking for a "regime change" in Syria, but rather a "different" government, contradicting previous statements that had called for the removal of Assad.

Israel has a strategic interest to contain the influence of Iran in Syria and Lebanon; moreover, the re-integration of Syria into the Arab fold will support the Israeli interest. The Syrian improved relations with the Arab world will not change the Israeli "red lines" policy in Syria.

Col. (res.) Dr. Shaul Shay, a former deputy head of the National Security Council of Israel, who today serves as director of research at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.
(JTA)-It wasn't so long ago that most major Israeli politicians supported establishing a Palestinian state.

Now it's not clear that any of them do, including the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu began his political career in the 1970s opposing a Palestinian state, an idea that once had been off the table but was gaining traction. Three decades later, in 2009, he gave a pivotal speech endorsing the idea in principle. In 2015, however, Netanyahu retreated from the idea on the eve of the last Israeli election.

Since then, he has made his position clearer: The prime minister opposes full Palestinian statehood, including Israeli withdrawal from any of the West Bank. In Netanyahu's meetings with his ally, President Donald Trump, both leaders have avoided committing to the idea of a two-state solution. Netanyahu's right-wing partners are even more opposed to Palestinian statehood, instead pushing Israeli annexation of the West Bank settlements-perhaps with an "upgrade" of Palestinian autonomy with borders and military affairs still controlled by Israel.

Netanyahu's rivals also haven't come out in support of a Palestinian state. Blue and White, the centrist coalition running against Netanyahu in the upcoming April elections, has not endorsed the idea. One of Blue and White's leaders is a longtime opponent of the two-state solution.

Here's a short explanation of how the solution that was once taboo, then seemed inevitable, has faded from Israeli politics.

Does Benjamin Netanyahu support a Palestinian state?

Netanyahu was against a Palestinian state. Then he was for it. Then he was against it again.

In 1978, as a 28-year-old private citizen, he argued against a Palestinian state in a debate on local Boston television.

"The real core of the conflict is the unfortunate Arab refusal to accept the State of Israel," he said, using the Americanized name Ben Nitay. "It is unjust to demand the creation of the 22nd Arab state and the second Palestinian state at the expense of the only Jewish state."

As Netanyahu shot up the ranks of Israel's right-wing Likud party over the next 15 years, his position did not change: He saw a Palestinian state as an unacceptable danger to Israel's security and territorial integrity.

"I fear for my home, for my land, I even fear for my son," he said in a speech to supporters following the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, which was meant to lead to permanent-status talks on the issues of borders, refugees and Jerusalem. "What is at issue here is the essence: The land of Israel is at issue, and we are all standing for the land of Israel."

That changed in 2009. He returned to office that year, and endorsed the idea of a Palestinian state under certain conditions.

"[I]f we get a guarantee of demilitarization, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, we are ready to agree to a real peace agreement, a demilitarized Palestinian state side-by-side with the Jewish state," he said in a landmark speech at Bar-Ilan University.

But actual negotiations toward a peace treaty went nowhere. A short round of talks in 2010 ended after a few weeks, and a longer nine-month negotiation in 2014 was just as fruitless. Then came the kidnapping of three Israeli teens and the 2014 Gaza War. Since then, there have been no negotiations.

All along, Israeli West Bank settlements have expanded. Even during a 10-month settlement freeze in 2009, Netanyahu said, "You might think we're going to dismantle the settlements, but you must understand that we're going in the exact opposite direction."

In 2015, Netanyahu was in a tough race to win another re-election. To rally his right-wing base one day before the election, he came out against a Palestinian state, again.

"Anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state today and withdraw from territory is giving territory to radical Islam to attack the State of Israel," he told the Israeli news site NRG. Asked whether that meant a Palestinian state wouldn't be established on his watch, he replied, "Indeed."

So what does he believe now?

Netanyahu says he wants Palestinians to have autonomy, but not a fully independent state.

In October, well before the current election campaign, he said he wanted a Palestinian "state-minus, autonomy-plus, autonomy plus-plus."

And that means?

"A potential solution is one in which the Palestinians have all the powers to govern themselves but none of the powers to threaten us," he said at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. "West of the Jordan"-that is, in the disputed areas where 2.5 million Palestinians and 623,000 settlers live-"Israel and Israel alone will be responsible for security."

Netanyahu added: "It's not just a question of hot pursuit. It's also having the ability to be there all the time."

That means Israel's military will stay in the West Bank, where a Palestinian state has been envisioned. Netanyahu has also said he will not uproot any Israeli settlements. Palestinians have long demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank as a condition of a peace treaty.

Many of Netanyahu's allies on the right want to go further. Education Minister Naftali Bennett for at least six years has supported formal Israeli annexation of all the settlements. Now plenty of politicians in Netanyahu's own Likud party also support annexation, which would make the settlements-but not Palestinian cities-officially part of Israel.

Do Netanyahu's opponents believe in Palestinian statehood?

That's unclear. Benny Gantz, the main rival to Netanyahu in next month's elections, wants a peace agreement with the Palestinians. But like Netanyahu, he has stopped short of endorsing a Palestinian state.

The Blue and White platform, in fact, sounds a lot like Netanyahu: promoting economic development, strengthening the large settlement blocs and a "security border" in the Jordan River Valley, which is on the eastern edge of the West Bank. The platform says the party will stay open to an agreement in the future, but also rules out a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank.

One of Blue and White's senior politicians, former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, explicitly opposes Palestinian statehood.

Does that mean Israelis don't want peace with the Palestinians anymore?

Israelis as a whole still want peace. But they don't believe it will happen anymore.

A majority of Israelis (57 percent) want negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which has civil administrative and security responsibility in parts of the West Bank. But only 23 percent believe those negotiations will go anywhere, according to a December survey by the Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank.

Support for the two-state solution has also fallen among both Israelis and Palestinians. As of last August, only 43 percent of both populations supports independent Palestinian and Israeli states existing side by side.

That's "the lowest in almost two decades of joint Palestinian-Israeli survey research," according to the groups that conducted the survey-Tel Aviv University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

So what should I expect after the Israeli election?

Israelis go to the polls on April 9. As of now, no one knows who will win. But no matter who the next Israeli prime minister is, he probably won't come into office explicitly supporting a Palestinian state.
(JNS)-Undergraduate students at Brown University are expected to vote on a referendum from March 19-21, calling on the school to divest from Israel.

"The #BrownDivest campaign is organized by a coalition of undergraduate students to identify and divest from companies that profit from Israeli violations of human rights," states the referendum. It accuses the university of doing business that "engage in human-rights violations," such as "Boeing, Caterpillar, G4S, Hewlett Packard Enterprise CO, Motorola Solutions Inc., Oaktree Capital Group LLC, Textron, Volvo and The Safariland Group."

The referendum was approved by the Undergraduate Council of Students on March 6 as part of an effort by the #BrownDivest campaign. The #BrownDivest group has had a history of promoting anti-Israel sentiment on campus, including holding events encouraging the divestment of Israel and erecting a mock "apartheid wall" on the main green on campus in February that insinuated that Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing.

Students have already spoken out ahead of the vote.

Members of Brown's chapter of the Beta Rho Pi fraternity called the upcoming referendum "a disheartening moment on our campus," according to a Facebook post shared by Brown Students for Israel.

"We are ultimately forced to believe that some students on this campus are so absorbed in their narratives that they feel justified in focusing on Israel alone," it stated. "Yet for us and many students who find this singular focus problematic, we can't help but notice that the world's only Jewish state is held to a higher standard than all others."

"As members of a Jewish organization, we feel obliged to speak out and describe our own discomfort with the proliferation of this sentiment at Brown," it continued. "This has been especially difficult with the rise of the Brown Divest campaign, including the construction of the 'Apartheid Wall' on the Main Green and a litany of inflammatory posts online aimed at the Jewish community. These posts have normalized rhetoric on camp is that makes us, and many members of Brown's Jewish community, feel deeply uncomfortable."

In The Brown Daily Herald, junior Kyle Price blasted the BDS movement for its anti-Semitic agenda that showcases political hypocrisy-for example, being "damningly silent on China, which has been accused of killing or imprisoning 1 million Uighur Muslims."

"BDS is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It masquerades as a noble display of support for oppressed people while concealing its intentions to demonize the Jewish state," wrote Price. "Like every other country in recorded history, Israel has imperfect policies. But unlike its neighbors, Israel has the democratic framework to continuously improve these policies."

Anuj Krishnamurthy, a senior and student council member, wrote in the student newspaper how the resolution would have a detrimental effect financially on Brown while it wouldn't have any on the companies the resolution calls on the university to divest from.

"When it comes to preserving the University's capacity to provide aid and fund academic and extracurricular programming, small differences in asset performance and portfolio diversification matter," he said. "The trade-off here is clear: Selling shares in profitable companies might make us feel better about ourselves and our moral footprint in the world, but it won't make a meaningful difference to the targets of our activism, and it will meaningfully hurt low-income students relying on sustained endowment returns for financial aid."

Members of the pro-Israel community nationally and locally condemned the referendum.

"It is deeply unfortunate that such a clearly biased referendum question was approved, shortly after the Columbia student government rejected a similar proposal," StandWithUs co-founder and CEO Roz Rothstein told JNS. "The language includes arguments in favor of voting yes, while excluding crucial context that might influence students to vote no. As such, this will not be a legitimate measure of student opinion regarding discriminatory boycotts against Israel."

"The Brown Divestment campaign is promoting another round of lies and distortions about Israel and the Palestinians, fueling misunderstanding," Andrea Levin, president and executive director of CAMERA, told JNS. "If BDS proponents are unhappy about Israel's presence in the West Bank and the lack of a Palestinian state, they should blame the Palestinian leadership, not Israel.

"The current [Palestinian] leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has followed the same path, repeatedly refusing a state," she said. "The BDS effort actually [impedes] the creation of a Palestinian state by taking the pressure off the very leaders who could make that happen."

AMCHA initiative director Tammi Rossman-Benjamin told JNS, "As many students at Brown have already correctly recognized, BDS campus resolutions carry no weight and result in no action by the university. Their only intention is to divide the campus, shut down genuine debate and discourse that could lead to progress, and inject hostility and hate."

Members of the Rhode Island Jewish community also have spoken out against the measure by signing a joint letter that includes the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel and Americans for Peace and Tolerance as signatories.

"We take note that the student government at Columbia U. has rejected the holding of a referendum on divestment because of its divisiveness to the community," stated the letter.

"Rhode Island's civil society depends on tolerance," it continued. "With partisan emotions running high both on and off campus, we believe that the referendum will only serve to heighten the rancor and divisiveness this issue generates."

The state was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, who was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs.

"For that reason," it noted, "we call on the Brown community to at least postpone this ill-advised vote until emotions have cooled."
Chabad of North Orlando will host a special event to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the voyage of the MS St. Louis.

The program will include the screening of the award winning documentary film Complicit and the presentation of the MS St. Louis Archival Exhibit. Robert Krakow, producer/writer, will lead the post film Q & A.

The MS St. Louis was a luxury liner that left Hamburg, Germany on May 13, 1939. The ship, carrying 937 mostly Jewish refugees, was bound for Havana, Cuba. The passengers were seeking to escape Nazi persecution and had landing permits that would grant them safe haven in Cuba. When the Cuban authorities turned them away, they sought sanctuary in the United States, Canada and other countries in Latin and Central America. Their desperate pleas were refused and the MS St. Louis was forced to return to Europe where many of the passengers perished in Auschwitz. The saga of the St. Louis became a symbol of the worlds indifference to the plight of the Jewish suffering at the hands of the Nazi regime.

The entire community is welcome on Sunday, March 31, at 7 p.m., at Nates Shul, 1701 Markham Woods Rd. Longwood, FL 32779.

Tickets are $14; Sponsors: $180 (Includes private dinner for two with the producer prior to the film).

For more information or to purchase tickets visit http://www.JewishNorthOrlando.com or call 407-636-5994.
In the article Is Americas head in the sand about Islam? (March 8 issue of the Heritage Florida Jewish News) Prof. Jonathan Matusitz caught three items that needed correction:

Every International terrorist organization today (that poses a threat to the global social order) is Muslim.

It was Dr. Bruce Lieske who discussed the book The Strange Death of Europe. (Matusitz stated he had never heard of that book before).

In regards to the sixth concentric circle of cultural Muslims, Matusitz said that many of them do not speak out (publicly or on TV) against Islamists or jihadists for various reasons.
(JNS)The Democratic Party has long been viewed by most Jewish Americans as its political home. Influenced by the Jewish peoples long history of persecution, urban lifestyle and generally liberal political outlook, American Jews are some of the most reliable Democratic voters with nearly three of out four Jews supporting Democratic presidential candidates in recent elections.

Recently, however, the Democratic Party has begun a demographic and political transformation as increasing numbers of minorities and progressive votersmany spurred on by their opposition to U.S. President Donald Trumphave joined the party ranks. While polls show that most American Jews oppose the president and identify with progressive causes, the politics of intersectionalityon display over anti-Semitism controversy among Womens March leaders, as well as anti-Semitism among new members of Congress, such as Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)may start to undermine the Jewish allegiance to the Democratic Party.

The tensions were on display last week as the House of Representatives passed a bill condemning anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry. Nevertheless, a number Jewish leaders, including some Democrats, felt that the House resolution did not go far enough in its condemnation of anti-Semitism or Omar.

Following a vote in the House last Thursday, Trump weighed in on the matter, saying that the Democratic Party has become anti-Israel and anti-Jewish.

The next day came new remarks from the president at Mar-a-Lago in Florida to Republican donors, saying the Democrats hate Jewish people.

On Tuesday, following a segment on Fox & Friends highlighting a new advocacy group called Jexodus that encourages Jewish millennials to leave the Democratic Party, Trump again rehashed his claims, saying on Twitter: We saw a lot of anti-Israel policies start under the Obama Administration, and it got worsts[sic] & worse. There is anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party. They dont care about Israel or the Jewish people.

Its a silly statementmost Jews are Democrats, and Democrats have a long history of supporting Israel, of being nice to the Jewish people and of fighting bigotry, presidential historian Gil Troy told JNS. But dont you just wish that last week had ended differently, with a clear, emphatic statement by Democrats singling out anti-Semitism as a pernicious hatred, rather than burying their statement in broad, politically correct brushstrokes, making them vulnerable to Trumps potshots?

However, he continued, I would also say that while no, its not true that Democrats hate Jewish people, Democrats showed that as a party, they dont hate the haters of Jewish people enough. They also showed last week that as a party, they love some of their people too much and will excuse them for hating Jewish peopleand that is inexcusable.

They need to take a strong stand now

Yet prominent Jewish Democrats did not mince their words criticizing Trump for attempting to drive a wedge between the Democratic Party and its Jewish supporters.

Is that the same person who said there were very fine people on both sides in Charlottesville? rhetorically asked Democratic strategist and former Clinton White House communications director Ann Lewis.

Democratic Majority for Israel CEO and president Mark Mellman echoed Lewis, who is a co-chair of the organization, saying that having defended neo-Nazis in Charlottesville and slurred Jews, Latinos, African-Americans, women and others, this president has simply forfeited all credibility in talking about hating Jews.

In a statement, Jewish Democratic Council of America executive director Halie Soifer said President Trump may think he can present the American people with alternative facts, but these are lies, plain and simple. There is no loss of support for Democrats among the Jewish community.

Republicans have lost support among Jewish voters since President Trump took office, she continued. According to exit polling, support for Trump among the Jewish electorate in 2016 was 24 percent, while support for Republicans among Jewish voters in 2018 fell to 17 percent.

However, 71 percent of Jews voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016, a two percent increase from those who voted for Barack Obama in 2012, though much less than the 78 percent who cast a ballot for Obama in 2008.

In 2012, Republican nominee Mitt Romney received 30 percent of the Jewish vote whereas John McCain received 21 percent in 2008.

While there is no clear indication that the recent issues over anti-Semitism among some Democrats will erode support in the short term, it could harm the Democrats in the long term if the issue of anti-Semitism is not fully handled. In the United Kingdome, for instance, the Labour Party has been dealing with widespread anti-Semitism that has divided the party and caused several parliament members to leave in protest.

Troy said this episode with Omar and Trump should affect Jewish support for the Democratic Party: With the real haters like Omar, with the cowardly sheep who went along and with the leadershipbut Trumpophobia is so widespread and intense among most Jews that Democrats understandmost Jews feel they have nowhere else to go... but could it be that the Democrats just lost Florida in 2020?

Trump won Florida, an electoral swing state where Jews comprise 3 percent of the state population, with 49.2 percent of the vote in the 2016 presidential election.

We have been warning for years that there is a virulent anti-Semitic element in the liberal base of the Democratic Party, Republican Jewish Coalition spokesperson Neil Strauss told JNS. Over the past couple months, the American people have seen clearly what we have been warning them about. Elements of the Democratic Party hate Jews, and worse, a larger subset of Democrats enable the anti-Semites in their party because they fear losing votes and support.

Rep. Ross Spano (R-Fla.) agreed with the RJCs sentiment.

I wouldnt say that the Democrats generally hate Israel, he told JNS. But I think there is a growing faction within the Democratic Party that does. And I think that if the Democrats are going to get ahead on this issue, they need to take a strong stand now.
(JNS)The decision last week by the U.S. State Department to change its designation of the Golan Heights from Israeli-occupied to Israeli-controlled in its annual human-rights report comes amid a push for the United States to officially recognize Israeli sovereignty of the Golan Heights, which it captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Additionally, the reports section on the West Bank and Gaza did not label those areas as being occupied or under occupation.

The current U.S. policy on who controls the West Bank and Gaza is that the final status is to be decided in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. But the description changes from Israel occupying the aforementioned areas to controlling them demonstrates a significant shift in semantics by U.S. officials.

However, Michael Kozak, head of the State Departments human-rights and democracy bureau, noted that the language in the report does not reflect any policy changes.

The policy on the status of the territories has not changed, he told reporters last week.

Nevertheless, the Middle East Forums Gregg Roman told JNS that the U.S. omission of the term occupied from both the West Bank and Golan Heights reflects regional reality on the ground. The U.S. recognizes Israel maintaining a hold on the Golan Heights, and the argument over the West Bank should be treated as disputed territories, not occupied.

Bnai Brith International CEO Dan Mariaschin echoed Romans reaction, saying the State Departments shift in language is a welcome response to the current reality in the region.

The term occupation has long been used as a weapon against Israel in spite of the fact that Israel acquired these lands in a defensive war, and has repeatedly offered its neighbors peace and diplomacy, he told JNS. The simple reference to these lands by their geographic names removes a biased political moniker that serves no purpose other than to vilify Israel and prejudge the outcome of future negotiations.

Endowment for Middle East Truth founder and president Sarah Stern told JNS that the change shows that the State Department has crossed a Rubicon.

It is extremely significant that the State Department, for the first time, has dropped the term occupied when referring to the Golan Heights, the West Bank (i.e., Judea and Samaria), and Gaza, she said. This seems to acknowledge that these lands were acquired through wars of self-defense and not through some sort of expansionist quest for territorial acquisition.

The softening of the language comes as the Trump administration has taken a harder line against the Palestinians, largely cutting off aid due to the Palestinian Authoritys refusal to negotiate with the United States, as well as its financial support for terrorists and their families.

At the same time, the administration is preparing to release its proposal to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Reports indicate that the Trump administration will likely release its Mideast peace plan following Israels elections on April 9.

Continued obstinacy is not an option

Washington-based geopolitical strategist and diplomacy consultant John Sitilides told JNS that the designation change reflects a bigger picture.

The Trump administration has been clear in its frustration with the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic failures of prior decades, he said. Beginning with the U.S. embassy consolidation move to Jerusalem, the White House has sought to refresh strategic thinking regarding the regions future.

Recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights is a red line to not be crossed, a dangerous precedent in resolving problems worldwide, he continued. The new term Israeli-controlled [works to] advance Israels security interests and warns Iran to pull back its cross-Syria ambitions, directly and through its proxies.

Moreover, Sitilides said that it also reassures Moscow that Syrias borders will only be redrawn through a grand framework. The new language regarding the West Bank and Gaza is a warning shot to the Fatah leadership that continued obstinacy is not an option. It also signals Palestinians that they must re-engage the diplomatic process, or their future will be written for them by their adversaries.

While the Zionist Organization of America applauded the language changes instituted by the State Department, it expressed disappointment over other areas of the report.

The report repeatedly mentions allegations from anti-Israel [George] Soros- and E.U.-funded NGOs, ZOA national president Mort Klein told JNS. These NGOs are notorious for defending and promoting terrorists, and inventing and propagating anti-Israel falsehoods, and should never be relied on in an official U.S. publication.

Examples of such NGOs include BTselem and the New Israel Fund, which both have received funding from Soross Open Societies Foundation.

During the year Israeli forces killed Palestinians in the West Bank who were attempting or allegedly attempting to attack Israelis, according to BTselem and media reports, states the report. According to media reports and BTselem, some of those killed did not pose a lethal threat to the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) or civilians at the time they were killed.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon has said that BTselem has proven time and again that it collaborates with Israels enemies.

However, the report includes organizations including Im Tirtzu that are ideologically opposite to groups such as BTselem.

Klein added that the State Department report also repeatedly uses the inaccurate term protestors to downplay the violent rioters and attempted mass infiltration of Israel from the Gaza border.

BTselem stated that 149 of the Palestinian protesters who were killed did not take part in hostilities, according to the report. The government stated that many of the victims were operatives of Hamas or encouraged by Hamas to protest near the border.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Dore Gold told JNS that the description changes reflect that recent events have crystalized what the real alternatives are for the Golan Heights such as Iran and its proxies in Syria taking control of it.
Jewish Academy of Orlando kindergarteners raised $367 for the Pearlman Food Pantry at Jewish Family Services by operating a healthy snack store. The annual program at JAO begins with a cross-curricular study of nutrition and money and incorporates tzedakah (righteous acts of giving). The multi-faceted curriculum includes the benefits of making healthy food choices and mathematics concepts such as counting money and making change. The program also incorporates basic entrepreneurial and promotional skills such as creating a commercial for the WJAO newscast, designing posters, and running the snack store. The children sold snacks to the school's community as well as to the pre-school students at the Roth Family Jewish Community Center's Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center. Using the information learned about coins, the students collected money for snack items and made change when necessary. To conclude the program, JAO kindergarteners presented Cherryl Faye, RIDE/Volunteer Coordinator of Jewish Family Services of Orlando, with a check for $367.

"It is so rewarding and inspiring to see kindergarteners working so hard to demonstrate tzedakah and raising money for the Pearlman Food Pantry. We are grateful for the donation to JFS. Because of gifts like these, we are able to provide food and other services to families in need. I look forward to seeing Jewish Academy of Orlando students each year and continue the tradition. I, as well as everyone associated with JFS and The Food Pantry, am so appreciative of all of the support that JAO has given the Food Pantry throughout the years," stated Faye.

"We are grateful for our partnership with JFS and the opportunity for learning it gives our students. The program not only brings to life the lessons in the classroom such as managing money and the benefits of healthy food, but also the importance of supporting those in need," said Alan Rusonik, head of school. "We are delighted to bring a program of this calibre that synthesizes academic lessons, health, tzedakah and even business concepts to our kindergarten students. As a school, we are committed to giving all of our students even more opportunities, lessons, and resources to change the world."

Jewish Academy of Orlando serves central Florida students of all faiths from grades kindergarten through fifth. The school delivers a whole-child education fostering academic excellence and character education rooted in Jewish values. Jewish Academy of Orlando is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools. Beginning in fall of 2019, the school will offer a transitional kindergarten.

To learn more about Jewish Academy of Orlando, please visit: jewishacademyorlando.org or follow the school on Facebook facebook.com/JewishAcademyOrlando.
Esther Voet is the editor in chief of the Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad.

AMSTERDAM (JTA)-The Netherlands' main Jewish weekly is the kingdom's oldest commercial magazine and one of its most reputable publications.

Which is why many Dutch were shocked to read a column Tuesday by its editor announcing that she is leaving for Israel because of rising anti-Semitism here.

"I am leaving for the only country where getting called a dirty Jew simply means I have to take a bath," wrote Esther Voet, the longtime editor in chief of the 155-year-old Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad. She cited "worrisome political developments" in the Netherlands, naming Denk and Bij1-new far-left populist movements embroiled in anti-Semitism scandals.

A witty and sometimes feisty journalist who divides her time between Amsterdam and Twitter, Voet allowed the column to make waves for a while before announcing that it was merely one of her paper's elaborate pranks for Purim-the Jewish holiday celebrating joviality and foolishness.

Her joke and the reaction to it, however, reflected deep concerns about the future of the Netherlands, where on Monday three people in Utrecht were killed by a Turkish immigrant in a suspected terrorist attack, and where anti-Semitic incidents grew to record numbers last year.

Among the people who fell for the prank was Paul Tang, the head of the Dutch Labor Party at the European Parliament.

"What a shame, for many reasons," he wrote on Twitter before wishing Voet "good luck and success in your new place."

Janine van Hulsteijn, a local politician for the ruling People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, wrote to Voet on Twitter: "I understand your reasons" and wished her good luck.

Another victim of Voet's prank was Gert-Jan Segers, a lawmaker and the leader of the Christian Union Party in the House of Representatives. He wished Voet the best of luck, adding that "I am unspeakably saddened that the atmosphere here is becoming increasingly dark."

Segers was a good sport after learning it was a prank. Signaling relief, he added: "Learned something new about Jewish holidays." Other interlocutors were less understanding, with Labor activist Frits de Kaart calling it a "disgusting joke."

Some mainstream media also were duped by the article (where the first letters of the first seven sentences spell out the Dutch-language word for Purim). The VillaMedia magazine, which covers the media, curiously omitted from its report Voet's references to anti-Semitism but quoted her intention to do more yoga in Israel.

As for Voet's many haters-she is a lightning rod for vitriol against Jews and Israel-they seemed overjoyed with what they took at face value. Some just tweeted "good riddance," others responded with misogynist memes, including one reading "bye bitch."

The fact that Voet's prank seemed plausible to so many of her compatriots (full disclosure: I was this close to reporting it as news) is a sign of the times, she suggested.

Earlier this month, the CIDI watchdog on anti-Semitism, which Voet used to head, reported a record 230 incidents last year. In one of them, a Syrian asylum seeker smashed the windows of a kosher restaurant while waving a Palestinian flag.

Last week, actress Miryanna van Reeden, 51, wrote on Facebook that she was told to "keep walking, you dirty Jewess" by a neatly dressed man her age as she was walking near the Jewish Historical Museum.

And on Sunday, anti-Israel activists turned their backs on the Dutch chief rabbi, Binyomin Jacobs, while he was delivering a public eulogy for the victims of the anti-Muslim massacre in New Zealand.

Jacobs, whose home has come under repeated attacks and whom police advised not to take some trains due to security concerns, had said already in 2014 that he and his wife, Bluma, would leave Holland if not for his duties to his congregants.

Explaining the Purim prank to non-Jewish Twitter followers, Voet wrote that the holiday is comparable to "Carnival or April 1. And the closer [the prank] comes to the truth, the harder it is to tell them apart."
Thats why herd immunity is so important, Tan said. These individuals cant get the vaccine so they rely on the individuals who can to do so to protect them. Being able to get it and choosing not to is very much a selfish viewpoint.
(JTA)Two student activists confronted Chelsea Clinton at a vigil for the 50 Muslims killed in an attack on a New Zealand mosque and accused her of being a cause of the massacre.

New York University students Leen Dweik, who is Muslim, and Rose Asaf, who is Jewish, approached Clinton at the vigil held at the school Friday night. According to The Washington Post, they took issue with Clintons recent tweet about Rep. Ilhan Omar, after the Minnesota congresswoman was accused of promoting anti-Semitic tropes in her own tweet.

Clinton had responded to a tweet by a Forward opinion editor, saying she co-signed it as an American. Dweik and Asaf took that as Clinton implying that she was more American than Omar, a Somali immigrant.

This right here is the result of a massacre stoked by people like you and the words that you put out into the world, Dweik said to Clinton. Asaf filmed the exchange.

The students met through the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, The Washington Post reported.

Im so sorry that you feel that way, certainly it was never my intention, I do believe words matter, Clinton responded, as seen on the video.

Clinton later thanked Omar for her apology and noted that she looked forward to meeting the congresswoman so that they could talk about both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

Clinton is not Jewish but her husband, Mark Mezvinsky, is Jewish. She has frequently called out anti-Semitism and other forms of hate.

She had tweeted earlier on Friday that she was Heartbroken and horrified by the New Zealand attack and called for a global response to the global threat of violent white nationalism.

The students published an essay about the encounter in Buzzfeed on Saturday.

We did a double take when we first noticed Chelsea Clinton was at the vigil. Just weeks before this tragedy, we bore witness to a bigoted, anti-Muslim mob coming after Rep. Ilhan Omar for speaking the truth about the massive influence of the Israel lobby in this country, they wrote, adding that they thought it was inappropriate for Clinton to show up at the vigil since she had not apologized to Omar for the public vilification against her.

Chelsea hurt our fight against white supremacy when she stood by the petty weaponizers of antisemitism, showing no regard for Rep. Omar and the hatred being directed at her, they also wrote.

Many public figures rose to Clintons defense, including New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Donald Trump Jr.

Dweik told The Washington Post that the confrontation was not planned, and that she waited until after the vigil to approach Clinton. Clinton had been invited to the vigil by the Of Many Institute, a multi-faith organization at NYU that she helped found, Clintons spokeswoman, Sara Horowitz, told the Post.

The Clinton confrontation also was the subject of hundreds of tweets and threats on Twitter. Asaf, who posted the exchange on Twitter, deleted her Twitter account by Saturday afternoon due to threats against her and Dweik, according to the Post.
Adam Milstein seen at The Jerusalem Post Conference in New York City, May 22, 2016. He said his views as expressed on Twitter had been "mischaracterized."

WASHINGTON (JTA)-Adam Milstein, a major pro-Israel funder, has withdrawn from speaking at the annual AIPAC policy conference following a series of tweets in which he accused two Muslim lawmakers of clashing with "American values."

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee distanced itself from Milstein.

Milstein, the chairman of the Israeli American Council, said his views as expressed on Twitter had been "mischaracterized."

"My social media postings represent my views-and my views alone," Milstein said in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "I have no interest in allowing this mischaracterization of me to distract from the important work of AIPAC. For this reason, I will not be moderating a panel at this year's AIPAC Policy Conference."

Milstein had been slated to moderate a panel on anti-Semitism at the conference next week.

AIPAC's spokesman, Marshall Wittmann, said Milstein's views were not those of the lobby.

"Mr. Milstein is not a representative of AIPAC and his views are not ours," Wittmann said in an email.

Milstein's family foundation has donated to AIPAC's affiliate, the American Israel Educational Foundation, as well as a number of pro-Israel and Jewish groups.

Milstein's tweets, highlighted among others by staffers for J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group, come after one of his targets, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was accused of invoking dual loyalty slanders in discussing the pro-Israel movement's influence.

In a flurry of tweets Monday, Milstein sought to connect Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., to the Muslim Brotherhood, citing little or no evidence.

"The Muslim Brotherhood is now part of Congress," one tweet said. "New Reps. like @IlhanMN @RashidaTlaib are known as #AntiSemitic and Anti #Israel. Moreover, they both are representatives of #CAIR and #MuslimBrotherhood and their values clash with American values."

The tweet linked to a site that did not offer any evidence Omar or Tlaib were allied with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group affiliated with Hamas, the terrorist group controlling the Gaza Strip.

https://twitter.com/AdamMilstein/status/1107662711964327936

Two tweets urge followers to sign a petition calling on Attorney General William Barr and Elan Carr, the State Department envoy monitoring anti-Semitism, to "investigate #Hamas affiliated #CAIR's Ties in U.S. Congress." Carr reports on anti-Semitism abroad and not in the United States, and has no investigatory powers.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has hosted events for Tlaib and Omar. The Anti-Defamation League, reporting on the group, says of CAIR that "much of its activity" is in exposing anti-Muslim bias, but this is undermined by an anti-Israel agenda. A founder of the group, Nihad Awad, in 1994 expressed support for Hamas, and a founder of its Dallas chapter was convicted in a scheme to fundraise for the terrorist group. For years the group has denied ties with Hamas and points out that Niwad and CAIR have condemned Hamas terrorist actions since 2006.

Both Tlaib and Omar have embraced the boycott Israel movement, to different degrees. Omar has caused tensions in the House Democratic caucus with statements perceived as invoking anti-Semitic slanders, including claiming that she felt pressured to pledge "allegiance" to Israel. She has apologized for some of the statements, and a congressional resolution overwhelmingly approved earlier this month condemned anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and particularly the invocation of dual loyalty.

Milstein retweeted a video claiming that Omar "admitted" to taking "terrorism classes." In the video, she is referring to classes on terrorism that she took at North Dakota State University when she obtained a political science degree.

In his statement, which he provided on the condition that JTA post it in full, Milstein insisted that his tweets did not target Muslims per se.

"My tweet today, which shared news articles and social media postings that others wrote about CAIR and Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, has been used to mischaracterize me and my views," he said.

"Let me be clear. I believe that America as a country is made stronger by our diversity and deep commitment to freedom of speech, tolerance and religious pluralism. Whether you are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or Hindu, I believe that Americans of all faiths should not have their loyalty questioned. I believe that our country is stronger when people of all backgrounds and faiths are represented in public life. It's specifically because of these beliefs that I continue to speak out against CAIR as an organization, and against Representatives Omar and Tlaib, who have long been associated with this extreme and patently intolerant group, which has a well-documented track record of spreading anti-Semitism and fundraising for the Hamas terrorist organization."
Enjoy a day of learning, spirituality, and kosher dining at Temple Israel's Shabbaton on April 13. This community event begins at 9:30 a.m. with a Latino Shabbat morning service, followed by a kosher Kiddush lunch. Guest Speaker Dr. Luis Fleischman will give a Dvar Torah on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. At 2 p.m., hear Dr. Fleischman speak on "The Influence of Iran in Latin America." A Mincha service follows at 3:30 p.m. End the day with a delicious kosher Shabbat dinner from Sage Catering.

Dr. Fleischman is a professor of sociology at Palm Beach State College and a senior adviser to the Menges Hemispheric Project at the Center for Security Policy based in Washington, D.C. He has worked in the Jewish Federation system for almost three decades in both the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, Florida, and Central New Jersey as vice-president and executive director for community and political relations. In that capacity, he has worked intensively on issues related to the Middle East and national security, serving as a liaison between these organizations and members of Congress, foreign consuls, the media, and the local community. He has dealt with issues related to the threat of a nuclear Iran, the security of Israel, and counterterrorism efforts. Within that role, he helped lead the effort to apply sanctions on Iran in the state of Florida, the first state to impose such sanctions.

Additionally, Dr. Fleischman organized programs and activities to combat anti-Israel boycotts and to educate people about the distortions of the BDS movement.

At the Center for Security Policy (CSP), focusing mostly on Latin America and its challenges to democracy, regional stability, and U.S. national security, Fleischman is the co-editor of the CSP publication The Americas Report. He is also the author of "Latin America in the Post Chavez Era: A Threat to U.S Security" (Potomac Books, 2013), a comprehensive analysis of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's revolution and its impact on the region's human rights and democracy. Likewise, he has focused on how the regime in Venezuela has created a security problem for the region and the United States.

Dr. Fleischman also writes regular opinion pieces, news articles, and academic essays published throughout the United States and Latin America. He has written congressional testimonies on Latin American affairs and regularly provides briefings to members of Congress and staffers. He is a frequent guest of TV and radio programs in English and Spanish in the U.S and Latin America.

Dr. Fleischman holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the New School for Social Research in New York City, an M.A. from the New School, and a B.A. in political science and labor studies from Tel Aviv University. He also served in the Israel Defense Forces and received the rank of Sergeant. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Hebrew. Dr. Fleischman has taught in a number of universities and colleges, including Florida Atlantic University Honors College and FAU Lifelong Learning Society, Barry University, and Kean University of New Jersey.

In 2012, he served as a member of the team of foreign policy advisors in the Romney for President campaign as part of the team that advised Governor Romney on Latin American Affairs and U.S. foreign policy in the region, occasionally providing advice on Middle Eastern affairs. Speaking topics include foreign policy in the U.S., Middle East, and Latin America, as well as modern anti-Semitism, security, and the BDS movement.

The cost is $18 for Temple Israel members and $25 nonmembers, with $60 max for family of 4 or more. Children under 3 are free, and sponsorships are available for $50. Babysitting is free for those who pre-register and $5 for same-day registrants. Please RSVP for dinner by Monday, April 8 to 407-647-3055 or administrator@tiflorida.org.

For more information and to RSVP for dinner, please call 407-647-3055 or email administrator@tiflorida.org.
The Jewish Pavilion welcomed Cantor Lance Rhodes as a new program director in early March. Cantor Rhodes is coordinating Pavilion programming at all of the south Orlando senior living facilities as Walter Goldstein, who has served as program director for several years, steps down to focus on his health.

As a longtime Central Floridian who grew up in Ormond Beach, Cantor Rhodes is very pleased to have a new roll in serving seniors in this community. Coming from a family that was steeped in Jewish life and very musical, becoming a cantor was a natural fit, and after earning a bachelor's degree in Music Business from University of Miami, he enrolled at the H. L. Miller Cantorial School at Jewish Theological Seminary, earning an M.A. in sacred music and investiture as a cantor. During and after his training, he has served as cantor and interim cantor at congregations in New Jersey, New York, Ormond Beach and Texas.

In his years of service as a cantor, Rhodes has developed a special interest in serving seniors. He has often performed concerts and directed and coordinated instrumental and choral ensembles at senior living centers as well as spent time with residents and provided them with pastoral care. Rhodes said he looks forward to continuing these kinds of experiences as a program director for the Jewish Pavilion.

Pavilion CEO Nancy Ludin said, "We are very fortunate to have Cantor Lance to delight our seniors with his beautiful singing and strong connection to Judaism. He will be a wonderful asset to the Jewish Pavilion as he carries on Walter's legacy of superb and uplifting programs. Everyone at the Jewish Pavilion wishes Walter all the best as he focuses on recovery, and we've heard the same from so many of the seniors, facility staff and volunteers whose lives he has touched."

In another staffing change, Jewish Pavilion program director Judy Appleton is retiring after 9 years of dedicated service. She came to the Pavilion at a time when the organization was refining its model of service, and Appleton was an integral part of that process. "The staff meetings of my first year-we were just making it happen," Appleton recalled. "We were creating it and molding it to what it needed to be."

A founding member and former board member of Temple Shir Shalom as well as religious school teacher, Girl Scout troop leader and room mom, Appleton approached the job with a spirit of service to the community. Her primary reward, she said, "was when I would see Jewish elders light up with excitement when they felt these connections to their Judaism."

One of Appleton's favorite memories is of a time when she invited a resident's daughter to a holiday program at a memory care facility. "Her mom had been uncommunicative for a while and the daughter hadn't heard her mother's voice for a very long time. And then her mother starts singing the songs-and the daughter starts crying, because she didn't think that she'd ever hear her mother's voice again." The daughter was even able to speak with her mother after the songs were finished, Appleton recalled.

"Judy has a special way with people that has made her an excellent program director," said Ludin. "She bonds with the seniors and makes sure she has one-on-one moments with each of them. Fortunately for us and for them, she will continue on as a volunteer."

Current Longwood, Lake Mary and Sanford program director Susan Bernstein will extend her hours to take on the northeast quadrant of Orlando that has been Appleton's purview. Bernstein is confident her years of experience as a Pavilion volunteer and program director will serve her well. "It's just a matter of extending the reach that I now have," she said. "I enjoy doing what I'm doing."

One of Bernstein's priorities will be finding new volunteers who would like to do a mitzvah and make meaningful connections with seniors as a room visitor. Anyone who is available to make occasional day or evening visits to Jewish seniors in facilities near their homes in Winter Park, Oviedo, Avalon Park and Winter Springs (or anywhere else in metro Orlando) should contact the Jewish Pavilion at 407-678-9363 or email NancyLudin@JewishPavilion.org.
(JNS)Israels Supreme Court banned Otzma Yehudit candidate Michael Ben-Ari from running in the upcoming national electionsthe first time Israels highest court has ever prevented a single individual from running in an Israeli electionin opposition to a decision by the Central Elections Committee.

In an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court voted in favor of a petition to disqualify Ben-Ari due to anti-Arab beliefs and incitement. The courts decision had been urged by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and represents the first time that the Supreme Court barred an individual, rather than a faction or party, from running.

Under Article 7A of the Basic Law: The Knesset, incitement to racism is one of three actions that disqualify a candidate from running for Knesset.

Ben-Ari has insisted that his remarks were taken intentionally out of context, and that he is not a racist.

Otzma blasted the decision, with Ben-Ari calling the Supreme Court a judicial junta that seeks to take over our lives.

Otzma issued a demand from the Jewish Home Party with which it is partnered, to assure that Otzma candidate Baruch Marzel receive a ministerial position, and that Itamar Ben-Gvir be posted to head the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee in the Knesset.

They also demanded that Ben-Gvir be moved from eighth to fifth position in the joint party list of the United Right Wing Parties list. Ben-Ari had been fifth on the list, and Ben-Gvir is expected to be pushed to the seventh slot, due to laws pertaining to shuffling the slates after formal submission of the lists to the Central Elections Committee.

Otzma said the demands were made in order to ensure that supporters would still see an incentive in voting for the joint list, despite the setback with Ben-Ari.

On Monday, National Union Chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich called a Knesset meeting about the situation.

We heard a lot of condemnations of the Supreme Courts decision yesterday, but words are not enough; its time to act, said Smotrich. For the first time in the State of Israels history, a council of wise men is deciding who Israels citizens are allowed to vote for, instead of the voters deciding.

The Supreme Court justices disqualified a candidate due to his views regarding Israels enemies, but approved parties which openly identify with Israels enemies. This distortion of justice must be corrected today, said Smotrich.

Smotrich also sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, coalition whip David Amsalem and coalition leaders, warning that the Supreme Court decision places Israel together with countries such as Iran, which have a council of wise men which is authorized to decide, instead of the voters, who may and may not be chosen for parliament.

In recent days, all of you expressed opposition to this outrageous decision, which is even more outrageous in light of the fact that it allows terror supporters who oppose Israels right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state to run for Knesset.

Words are not enough. The Knesset must bring back democracy, for its own sake and that of the nation. I call on you to gather for an urgent meeting, held despite the break. [This meeting] will continue for as long as necessary and quickly pass the attached bill, which cancels the Supreme Courts right to serve as a high council and will allow Dr. Ben-Ari to run in the upcoming elections.

Despite the importance of the Supreme Courts decision and the fact that it affects the constitutional right to vote and be elected, we have no right to appeal it. Therefore, we must see the Knesset as a body which can be appealed to, and which has the ability to cancel the courts distorted decision.
US Jewish communities support Muslim neighbors at prayer services and vigils

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)Jewish communities throughout the United States attended vigils and services at mosques in their communities to express support and concern in the wake of the murder by a white supremacist of at least 50 Muslim worshipers at two New Zealand mosques.

The Levine Center to End Hate and the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester organized members of the Jewish community to stand outside of the Islamic Center of Rochester on Sunday to show support and solidarity, including with messages on handmade signs.

Two Cleveland-area rabbis were scheduled to speak Sunday at an interfaith vigil for peace and understanding organized by the suburban Chagrin Valley Islamic Center.

The Islamic Center of Boulder, Colorado invited the Jewish community to attend a multi-faith vigil on Sunday to honor the victims, to pray for them and to call for peace.

In San Franciscos Bay Area, Jews attended prayers on Friday afternoon at several mosques, with Jewish groups encouraging their members to attend, including Peninsula JCC, Peninsula Temple Beth El, Peninsula Temple Shalom, Congregation Beth Jacob, the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation and the Jewish Community Relations Council, J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported.

In the South Bay area, Jews attended Friday services at the South Bay Islamic Association in San Jose.

The New York Jewish community joined hundreds of fellow New Yorkers who gathered at Washington Square Park for an interfaith prayer session and vigil. The event was moved to an earlier time to allow Sabbath-observant Jews to attend.

Following the New Zealand attack, a lawmaker from Britains Labour Party called for action against a neo-Nazi radio station called Radio Aryan, which broadcasts anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported.

Lawmaker Stephen Doughty has been working for months to put a stop to the pirate radio station that broadcasts on social media. The station, which broadcasts daily readings from Hitlers Mein Kampf, is transmitted from a secret location in Britain. The station has praised the manifesto of Brenton Tarrant, the man arrested for being the gunman in the New Zealand mosque shootings.

Man shouts Heil Hitler at Estonian chief rabbi and children on their way to synagogue

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA)Estonias chief rabbi and two of his children were accosted on the street on their way to synagogue by a man who shouted anti-Semitic insults at them.

Police on Sunday arrested the man, who is 27 and was not named in Estonian media, at a shopping mall in the capital Tallinn, the Estonian Public Broadcasting Service on Monday reported.

Rabbi Shmuel Kot said the man shouted Sieg Heil and Heil Hitler at him on Saturday while Kot was walking to synagogue with two children aged 7 and 12. Kot filed a complaint with police, who used security camera and other footage to identity a suspect and arrest him ahead of an indictment, Kot said. He added such incidents are very rare in Estonia, the northernmost Baltic state, situated just south of Finland.

The incident was the first time the two children had witnessed any such harassment, Kot said, but I were not too shaken, and frankly I think this whole incident was overblown in how it was covered in the media, he said.

Hamas arrests, beats seven journalists covering economic protests in Gaza

(JNS)Seven Palestinian reporters were in Hamass custody on Sunday, reported The Times of Israel, citing a source with the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, as they were covering protests over Gazas increasingly severe economic hardships and high cost of living.

They were due to be released in the coming hours, according to the outlet, as security forces have used violence to break up the demonstrations, and according to rights groups, dozens have been arrested, including journalists and human-rights workers.

The West Bank-based syndicate said that 17 journalists were arrested, 10 of them released and four undergoing hospital treatment.

The U.N. envoy to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Nickolay Mladenov, said in a statement: I strongly condemn the campaign of arrests and violence used by Hamas security forces against protesters, including women and children, in Gaza over the past three days.

I am particularly alarmed by the brutal beating of journalists and staff from the Independent Commission for Human Rights and the raiding of homes, he added.

Mladenov also noted that the long-suffering people of Gaza were protesting the dire economic situation and demanded an improvement in the quality of life in the Gaza Strip. It is their right to protest without fear of reprisal.

Israeli forensics team travels to Ethiopia to help identify plane-crash victims

(JNS)A forensics team from the Israel Police arrived on Monday in Ethiopia to assist local authorities in identifying the remains of two Israelis who were killed alongside the 155 other passengers onboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which crashed to the ground shortly after takeoff on March 10.

Reportedly, it may take half a year to identify the victims remains.

We are embarking on a national mission and joining the international effort and other delegations that will arrive in the field, said chief superintendent Ilan Peer, the leader of the delegation, reported The Jerusalem Post. Our goal is to identify the two Israelis who perished in the disaster.

The Israelis identified were Avraham Matzliah, 49, of Maale Adumim and Shimon Reem, 55, of Zichron Yaakov.

A ZAKA emergency response group sent volunteers to Ethiopia just hours after the crash to identify and repatriate the remains of Reem and Matzliah so they could be afforded a proper burial by their families back in Israel.

A family friend of the Matzliah family, Shimon Misha, told AFP that he flew to Ethiopia to help locate the remains of his friend, but was prevented by investigators. He was allowed, however, to conduct a search for Matzliahs tefillin.

Netanyahu pays condolence visit to home of rabbi killed in West Bank

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyuahu paid a condolence call to the family of Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, a father of 12 killed in a terror attack in the West Bank.

The shock is enormous. From what I have heard about Achiad, he was an amazing person, a man of valor with nobility of soul, the prime minister told family members on Tuesday at their home in the Eli settlement. The pain over your loss is immense; I understand how deep it is. But I want you to know that it is a shock to the heart of the entire people.

Family members reportedly called on Netanyahu to advance legislation to institute the death penalty for terrorists.

On Monday, Netanyahu visited the Ariel Junction in the northern West Bank where Ettinger reportedly managed to fire off four shots at the terrorist after being shot in the head and neck.

On Sunday morning Omar Abu Laila, 19, of the Az-Zawiya village allegedly stabbed and killed a 19-year-old Israeli soldier, Gal Keidan, and stole his gun, shooting at passing cars at the junction where he hit Ettinger, before getting in a car abandoned by a frightened driver. He headed to the next junction, where he shot at soldiers waiting at a bus stop.

Another 19-year-old soldier shot at the Gitai Junction was taken off a respirator on Tuesday and has regained consciousness.

9 in 10 French Jewish students report suffering campus anti-Semitism

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA)Nearly 90 percent of French Jewish students said they have experienced anti-Semitic abuse on campus, a poll found.

Nearly 20 percent of the 405 respondents in the Ifop survey said they have suffered an anti-Semitic physical assault at least once on campus. Of those, more than half reported suffering violence more than once.

More than half of the students who reported experiencing anti-Semitic incidents on campus said they did nothing about it. Only 8 percent complained to faculty. Nearly 20 percent said they did not report the incident or incidents for fear of reprisals, according to the report.

The results of the survey taken this month were published Tuesday by lExpress.

In October, the French media reported that students at Paris 13 University listed and ranked Jewish classmates according to their level of affiliation as part of a string of jokes online and on campus featuring anti-Semitic hate speech. Their initial target was a 19-year-old Jewish medical student.

The Ifopsurvey, which was commissioned by the Union of Jewish Students in France, or UEJF, came on the heels of an earlier Ifop poll conducted last month about anti-Semitism. That survey of 1,008 French adults showed a decrease in the prevalence of anti-Semitic sentiment compared to a similar poll with other respondents in 2016.

In the February poll, 27 percent of respondents said Jews were richer than the average French person compared to 31 percent in 2016. Whereas 32 percent said in 2016 that Jews abuse the Holocaust to promote their interests, only 20 percent said so last month.

Israeli spacecraft Beresheet conducts final major maneuver on way to moon

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)The Israeli spacecraft Beresheet successfully conducted its final major maneuver as it continues on its journey to the moon.

The spacecraft burned its engine for 60 seconds as it moved to an elliptical orbit around the earth that will intersect the moons orbit and be captured in it. The rendezvous is scheduled for April 4 at 251,655 miles from earth, SpaceIL said in a statement.

The lunar lander is expected to land on the moons surface on April 11.

The landing site has been identified as the northeastern part of Mare Serenitatis, or the Sea of Serenity, a flat area on the moons surface.

The spacecraft continues to communicate with the Israel Aerospace Industries and SpaceIL control room in Yehud in central Israel.

Stop doing balance tricks on tracks leading into the Auschwitz camp

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA)The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and museum in Poland urged visitors not to balance on the rails that were used to transport Jews to be murdered.

The museum at the former Nazi concentration and extermination camp made the plea on Twitter Wednesday, sharing several pictures of people balanced on the train rails like tightrope walkers.

When you come to @AuschwitzMuseum remember you are at the site where over 1 million people were killed. Respect their memory, the message read. There are better places to work on ones balance, it said, than the site which symbolizes deportation of hundreds of thousands to their deaths.

Holocaust denier picked as congressional candidate in Spain

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA)A far-right party in Spain has nominated a Holocaust denier as a congressional candidate.

Vox tapped Fernando Paz, an historian, this week to run in the city of Albacete, in the central part of the country, in the April 28 national elections for parliament, the Libertad Digital news site reported Wednesday.

Paz has said the facts concerning the Holocaust are far from having been established with accuracy and called the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals a farce.

In December, Vox became the first far-right party in decades to enter a regional parliament by winning 12 seats in Andalusia, far surpassing expectations.

On Wednesday, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain condemned the Paz nomination.

In any European country where justice was served in connection with this traumatic episode of history, it is unthinkable that such a person with such views would present himself for pubic office, the federations statement read.

Jewish soldier pranks family by coming home for Purim

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)A U.S. Army major played a major Purim prank on his family by showing up in an unexpected place: at home, for Purim.

Moses Scheinfeld, who has been deployed in Afghanistan for the past nine months, surprised his family by showing up at their Southern California Jewish day schools holiday party last week.

His return was announced at the Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy in Beverly Hills by its head of school, Rabbi Boruch Sufrin, as he delivered a dvar Torah to students and parents.

Scheinfeld, who is Orthodox, entered the school gym in uniform wearing a black suede kippah. His three children ran to hug him and were joined by their equally surprised mother, Rivka.

Scheinfeld, who serves with the 40th Infantry Division of the California Army National Guard in the south of Afghanistan, brought an American flag that flew at the Army base.

He told the students at the Orthodox school that despite 18-hour days at work, he studied Torah subjects including Psalms and Pirkei Avot, or Ethics of Our Fathers, every day.

Thats what gave me the energy to continue, he said.

Palestinian teen who killed 2 in West Bank attack dies in shootout with Israeli forces

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)The Palestinian teen who killed two Israelis in a terror attack in the northern West Bank was shot and killed during a shootout with Israeli forces.

Israeli soldiers on Tuesday night surrounded the building in the West Bank village of Abwein where Omar Abu Laila, 19, was hiding out, in an operation coordinated with the Israel Security Agency and the border guard, according to the IDF. Israeli forces had been searching for Laila for two days, since he evaded security forces on Sunday after abandoning a stolen car at the entrance to a nearby West Bank village.

Laila fired at the soldiers that surrounded the house, according to reports, and they fired back.

On Sunday morning Laila, of the Az-Zawiya village, allegedly stabbed and killed a 19-year-old Israeli soldier, Gal Keidan, and stole his gun, shooting at passing cars at the junction where he hit Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, before getting in a car abandoned by a frightened driver. He headed to the next junction, where he shot at soldiers waiting at a bus stop.

Ettinger, who managed to fire off four shots at his attacker despite gun shots to his head and neck, died on Monday morning.

Jewish vendor and son stabbed by Egyptian colleague in Amsterdam

By Cnaan Liphshiz

AMSTERDAM (JTA)A Jewish father and son were stabbed at an iconic street marketplace in Amsterdam by an Egypt-born seller whom they and others said was a radicalized Muslim.

Martin Colmans, the father, and son Sharon sustained light to moderate injuries in the attack Saturday at the Albert Cuyp market, where the Colmans family has been selling furniture for decades. Sharon Colmans, whose mother is from Israel, was injured in his back, chest and arm, and suffered serious blood loss. Both have been released from the hospital.

Known locally as Tarik, the alleged stabber has been selling hookahs and other smoking paraphernalia adjacent to the Colmans furniture shop since 2004. The stabber, who has not been named in the Dutch media, is under arrest awaiting an indictment.

Martin Colmans told De Telegraaf that the suspect had been away for several months, and that when he returned his behavior had changed. He said Tarik was reading the Koran a lot, stopped talking to us. Shaved his head. Prayed all the time. He also began giving us nasty looks.

Tarik had threatened a fellow seller, a Moroccan man who is not Jewish, with a knife recently, sellers told De Telegraaf.

Asked whether he believes the assault was an anti-Semitic incident, Colmans told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, I dont know, but he behaved very strangely to us in recent weeks. Colmans also said he was happy that we are alive because Tarik seemed determined to kill them.

Tarik used a large knife in a stabbing that was filmed by passers-by. Fellow sellers, two men from Morocco, prevented him from inflicting further injuries. Tarik went back into his store, where police took him into custody, according to De Telegraaf.

He had had several disputes with fellow sellers, including the Colmans, before the incident, according to De Telegraaf. Tarik and the Colmans made up with help from market bosses and were back on speaking terms when the attack happened, Colmans said.
The election may not decide anything.

The clusters of parties seem nearly tied in recent polls, with neither right nor center-left clearly able to amass the seats need to form a government. What comes next will be long and messy, and ultimately create a government. Or another election.

At the present, Bibi seems to be in charge of the right. But loosely.

It shouldnt take much to dislodge him, send him to a retirement, which itself will be a messy process that seems likely to end up behind bars.

Currently were hearing more support for Likud than for Bibi. For some time weve known that a majority of Israelis oppose a continuation of his rule.

Is all this a polite way to prepare dumping him? Well see.

Meanwhile he has moved closer to Feiglin with comments about the legalization of light drugs. Thats something that an ultra-Orthodox Knesset member describes as a minor issue. And Bibi has taken a firm stand on the Nationality Law. While Israel is a Jewish democracy with equality among its citizens, only the Jews can identify with the essence of the State. This puts him at odds with an artist who declared that Israel is the State of all its citizens, and with president who confirmed that statement.

If anyone out there can distinguish the nuances at issue, please try and educate me.

One is tempted to speculate about the post-election maneuvers. A lot may depend on the president.

After consulting with the heads of the parties, he will select the individual with the best chance of forming a government.

Could that be someone from Likud other than Netanyahu? If so, it could lead to a union of Likud and Blue-White, without Bibi.

Off to the court for whatll be the former prime minister. Or if Blue-White gets more seats than Likud, the nod can go to Gantz. Then leave to him to maneuver either with the Arabs or perhaps with Likud without Bibi.

An unknown element in all of this is the strength of Bibis ego, and his capacity to withstand pressures to step downeither after the election, or prior to the ending of his judicial process. Hes been prominent in key meetings with foreign leaders, and is likely to meet with his friend Donald prior to the election.

Among his supporters are religious Jews who cite sacred texts that recognize the actions of great leaders and their wealth.

Yet its been more than a couple of thousand years since those texts were drafted. Values have changed, including those of many Israelis.

Bibis theme is that its either Bibi or Tibi; that his opposition is both leftist and inclined to deal positively with the Arabs.

In reality, Blue-White is an amalgam of those to the left and right of center. What unites them is an opposition to Bibi.

To what extent will Bibis crowd believe him? Or believe the denials of Blue-White? Or be mixed on such things and vote against Bibi.

And theres been a major escalation of violence in the south. Rocket attacks against the center of Israel, now said to have been in error, and about 100 Israeli airforce attacks against Gaza.

Theres also been a wave of political protests in Gaza. Against Hamas? Or against Abbas? Who can be sure how this will continue? And will this play in our election?

In any case, its more simple than in the United States.

There the issue of impeachment pretty much protects the president from any judicial process.

Despite a growing list of key aides being sent to jail, and considerable justifications for suspicions about the President, his partys majority in the Senate pretty much protects him from demands of justice.

And while two candidates at an average age of 76.5 fight it out in the primary of Iowa, to be set against a President of similar age, theres a bunch of younger candidates active elsewhere. Most of them are to the left of center, which will leave Donald free to assert his identity with what he might call traditional Americanism.

Comments welcome. irashark@gmail.com

Ira Sharkansky (Emeritus), Department of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
By Jonathan S. Tobin

(JNS)The announcement from the J Street lobby that it plans to sponsor a free trip this summer for college-age students to compete with the popular Birthright Israel program provoked predictable outrage. Many in the pro-Israel community already despise J Street as a Trojan horse organization that seeks to undermine support for the Jewish state. The idea of it shepherding Jewish kids around the West Bank to meet with Arabs who will trash Israel infuriates and deepens the resolve of some to exclude the left-wing lobby from communal organizations.

But while any efforts to undermine support for Birthrightone of the most successful programs ever devised by the organized Jewish worldshould be opposed, those who are blowing their top over this can calm down. As J Street indicates, their trip has room for only 40 students, and those who want to go will have to compete to get their ticket. Compare that to the hundreds of thousands who have gone on Birthright during its history, and its clear that J Streets effort will be a drop in the bucket by comparison.

More to the point, rather than an effort to influence impressionable youths who might otherwise have emerged from a Birthright trip with their Jewish identity and connection to Israel strengthened, those who go on the J Street tour will probably be a self-selected group who are already radicalized.

But the key point to take away from this effort is that what J Street is doing, albeit in a backhanded way, is to affirm a basic Zionist principle that is undermining their efforts to compete with even more radical groups: the centrality of Israel to Jewish life.

As Stephen M. Flatow wrote for JNS, if their tour of the West Bank is comprehensive rather than merely a token effort to inculcate sympathy for Palestinians in their hearts of the visitors, they will not only see that Palestinians control their own local government, but that their political culture and national identity is inextricably linked to hatred of Israel and the glorification of terrorism aimed at spilling Jewish blood.

Birthright stays out of the West Bank. That means it doesnt take participants to visit Palestinian Arabs and also avoids seeing settlements. Despite J Streets moaning about Birthright subjecting young Jews to pro-Israel propaganda unleavened by dissent, most of those who go on the trips are far more likely to be familiar with critiques of Israel, which are routine fare in the U.S. media and liberal Jewish venues, than they are with the views of Israelis who will vote for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his right-wing allies next month.

Contrary to the complaints of its leftist critics, Birthright does offer lectures about the conflict with the Palestinians that show all sides of the issues. But it tries to avoid rooting the venture in politics because its purpose is to help young Jews understand that the country is much more than the setting for news stories about a conflict.

The verdict is still out on how much impact a few weeks of touring (which always seems to include some partying) will wind having on the future of North American Jewry. But we do know that Birthright is a positive and enjoyable experience for the overwhelming majority of those who participate. Will the alumni of J Streets trips be able to say the same about what will probably be a drearier politicized journey that also looks to be far less balanced in terms of content?

The irony is that they will still be reaffirming the same basic truth to which Birthright is dedicated: the importance of Zionism and the centrality of Israel in Jewish life.

The notion that the debate about Israel hinges on criticism of Netanyahu or settlementsthe whole point of J Streets existenceis outdated, in terms of both Israeli and American politics.

The entities that agree with J Streets positions on the conflict are already marginal, with polls showing that their already shrinking influence will be reduced even further after the voters have their say next month. Most Israelis no longer take J Streets land-for-peace mantra seriously because they understand how unrealistic such a policy is in the absence of a credible Palestinian peace partner.

But while the liberal Zionist faith in a two-state solution is still supported by most American Jews, the real debate about Israel isnt so much about where the Jewish states borders should be drawn, but whether there should be such a nation in the first place.

The recent disgraceful retreat by Democrats during the controversy over Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omars anti-Semitic rants illustrated the growing strength of left-wing opponents of Zionism. J Streets competition isnt so much the mainstream AIPAC pro-Israel lobby, which dwarfs the influence of the left-wing group, as it is far-left anti-Zionist groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow.

These two groups offer an attack on Israels existence that has a strong appeal among those who have been raised to view with suspicion any affection for parochial Jewish interests, such as the right of a Jewish state to exist and defend itself against foes determined to destroy it. J Street is losing ground to organizations that traffic in anti-Semitic invective and propaganda precisely becauseeven though it makes common cause with pro-BDS hate groups on many campusesJ Streets worldview still revolves around life in the Jewish state. In the context of the battle about BDS, even a critical trip to Israel puts J Street on the other side of the fence from its putative left-wing allies and the mindset that drives support for people like Omar.

Thats why its losing the battle for left-wing youth. Its mainstream critics should worry less about J Street and more about the real enemies of Jewish life that are fighting for BDS and Israels destruction.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNSJewish News Syndicate. Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.
(JNS)By the time America woke up on Friday, Mar. 15, Googles search engine was jammed with news of a mass shooting at another place of worship in the world. Counts of 49 dead and dozens wounded were being reported at the Al Noor Mosque in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Doubtless, many people were looking for the manifesto penned in advance of this atrocity, titled The Great Replacement, which the gunman had apparently issued. The text was easy to find and nauseating to read. To summarize its ideas and arguments at any length would endow it, and him, with a dignity that is unwarranted; suffice to say, this man believes that what he calls high fertility rates among Muslims are at the root of an Islamic war against Western civilization, and therefore justification for the mass murder of innocents worshipping at a mosque. I only wish I could have killed more invaders (Muslims) and more traitors (western converts to Islam) as well, he wrote chillingly.

Madman? Psychopath? Fool? All of those things are painfully obvious. Still, I would argue that as diseased as the perpetrators mind is, it is worth dwelling on the way that he depicts himself in his manifesto because it provides an important snapshot of the sorts of influences and obsessions that animate racist violence and terrorism today. The picture that emerges does not sit easily with any political worldviewa fact that might, ironically, help to bridge the many and real divides that presently exist between Jewish and Muslim communities living in the West.

In both the selection of the target and the justification for the shooting, there was an unmistakable parallel. Last October, white supremacist Robert Bowers chose to express his opposition to immigration by murdering 11 Jews worshipping at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa. Now, just months later, this latest gunman chose a mosque to level the same protest, fueled by conspiracy theories about invaders and an uncontrollable rage triggered by Islamist terror attacks in the West (in this case, the truck bomb attack in Stockholm that claimed five lives in April 2017.) Like Bowers, the New Zealand shooter sees himself as a member of a select group of alert white citizens who perceive a critical truth that everyone else is simply too brainwashed to recognize; and that is enough to justify an act of slaughter like that at the Al Noor Mosque.

But unlike Bowers, Jews do not lie at the center of this mans paranoid universe. Whereas Bowers, who now awaits trial, is a true believer in the Nazi caricature of a Jewthe source of all the injustice, decadence and race-mixing in the worldfor the New Zealand gunman, Jews are relatively incidental.

This isnt because he likes Jews. As with most anti-Semites these days on right and left, he says in his manifesto that he is not an anti-Semite, and then adds right afterwards that a jew (sic) living in israel (sic) is no enemy of mine, as long as they do not seek to subvert or harm my people. But subversion and harm, in the mind of the anti-Semite, is precisely what the Jews cannot stop themselves from doing! One can safely imagine that were our communitys fertility rates on the same scale as the worlds 1.6 billion Muslims, such contemptuous indifference would mushroom into outright hate.

There is also the matter of the political positions that this man identifies with. What it demonstrates is the strong degree of cross-fertilization between different, even contradictory, strands of extremism on both right and left that has been enabled by the Internet, particularly over the last decade. He tells us he is a fascist, and specifically an eco-fascist. His main political influence is Sir Oswald Moselythe British socialist leader who evolved into a black shirted, fascist anti-Semite during the 1930s. The New Zealand gunman doesnt object to being called a socialist; he can be, he says, both right-wing and left-wing depending on the context. The country he most identifies with is the Peoples Republic of China, but at the same time he quotes a cult slogan of Neo-Nazi groupsWe must secure the existence of our people and a future for white childrenas the basis of his worldview.

For someone who clearly exposed himself to a great deal of information about the world around him and yet properly understood almost none of it, this man underlines an awkward truth with this last aspect of his confession, albeit by accident.

It is this: the ideas, images, buzzwords and symbols of extremism in its present form are interchangeable. Thats why white identitarians have come to the fore, for whom Jewish power and influence are not the most pressing concern. But it is also why you have left-wing socialists, like several of the members of the British Labour Party, who conduct social-media campaigns against the Rothschilds, the Zionists and the other alleged instruments of Jewish supremacism. Similarly, it why two anti-Semites from France with far-right connections, Alain Soral and Dieudonne Mbala Mbala, were warmly welcomed last December in red flag-waving, Communist North Korea. These and countless similar examples explain why its inadvisable to assume that extremists believe what they believe with any consistency.

There is only one line from the latest gunmans manifesto that I will quote in full, so as to make my last point. There are no innocents in an invasion, all those who colonize other peoples lands share guilt, he writes. Those words convey the torrent of angry emotions that drove, in Fridays case, a white racist, but they can serve a Hamas suicide-bomber or an Iranian military commander just as well. It is an argument that many Islamists in the West, along with their non-Muslim fellow travelers, frequently advance to rationalize, justify and celebrate terrorist attacks against Israel or anti-Semitic violence against Jewish communities in the West.

What the massacre at the mosque in Christchurch shows is that this very same argument, based on similarly warped ideology, can be deployed to justify the murder of Muslims living in a Western city. The doctrine that there are no innocents is not so much a political red line, therefore, as a civilizational one.

In that sense, after the horrifying murders in New Zealand, Jews and Muslims find themselves on the same side of the line that separates civilization from barbarism. If we are to achieve greater understanding between our two minority communities, then that is as good a place as any from which to start.

Ben Cohen is a New York City-based journalist and author who writes a weekly column on Jewish and international affairs for JNS.
Since the first large wave of Jews arrived in the U.S., we have fought for human rights. It is in our own self-interest to do so. We believe in taking care of our fellow man, in equal rights, equal opportunity, etc. You know, the stuff that allowed us when we came to America to take advantage of the system. And, based on our heritage and our history, we have endeavored to pass it on to succeeding generations.

This has resulted in Jews having the reputation of being Liberals; Left Wing, etc. All this because we tend to take up the cause of the underdogagain, because we wereand in many cases, still are.

For generations, Jews were comfortable in the Democratic Party. Suresome Jews as a part of their assimilation became Republicans. They felt the philosophy of small government with a light hand was the way this new nation to which they now belonged should be governed. Many Jews who all but worshiped Roosevelt turned to Eisenhower to guide us in the 1950s.

Things change. A terrible Democratic leadership and a foolish Republican Party that allowed 17candidates to run for president which allowed a Trump to happen. In the confusion that followed an old Will Rogers quote rang true: I dont belong to any organized political partyIm a Democrat.

So today, we have a group of Democratic congressmen and congresswomen who are really different. I dont know what he would make of this present gaggle of freshmen and their odd ideas. Lets take a district in the Bronx. Joe Crowley had been the congressman from that district as long as anyone could remember.

So long that he didnt even bother to campaign during the Primary. Result? Only 12 percent of the electorate turned out to vote in the Primary and today we have AOC. She knows so much about the job that she didnt bother to open a District Office in the Bronx. She said she thought the people would rather have her in Washington fighting for basic rights rather than wasting time on the problems of the folks who elected her.

Then of course we have Ilhan Omar. She is an African from Somalia. She was raised in a middle class neighborhood of Minneapolis. She has decided to make the centerpiece of her role in the Congress constant attacks on Israel. She has never been there, has no historical knowledge of the countrybut considers herself an expert on the Jews and their relationship with their Native Land.

Does she know that even this correspondent has DNA that reaches back to that land? Does she know the story of the First and Second Commonwealths and the birth of the Third?

No.

Her anti-Israel platform barely masks a strong anti-Semitic bias that leaks into her rhetoric and tweets on an almost daily basis. She has dredged up the oldest and silliest tropes about Israel and then condemns Jews who support their native land.

The Jews. The easy target AND do not believe for a moment that Omar is alone in her rhetoric and her approach. She said its All About The Benjamins? Believe me, if you could follow the money (which you cant) youd see substantial Benjamins in her bank account from folks who are well grounded in the International conspiracy to delegitimize the Jewish State.

And how easily she slides into the age-old game of anti-Semitism. Old Tropes or new angles on anti-Semitism. She serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. Thank God they in truth have little to do with Foreign Policy.

After her first swipes, the Democrats had an opportunity to pass a strong condemnation of anti-Semitism in all its forms. They didnt. Instead there was a wishy-washy condemnation of all prejudicial speech; missing the target by a mile.

On the other hand, as Tevye would say... there are the Republicans. But, where are the Republicans? What we face daily is an increase in the number of White Nationalists, no desire by the head of the Party to disown them. Hate crimes are at the highest level in years, but the head of the Party has no desire to discuss it...

On the left there is Omar and AOC. On the right? Why are the good guys so silent? What is a Jew to do?
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  The first phase of decommissioning of fighters and weapons of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is now underway as the Bangsamoro autonomous region formally took off Friday.

The Bangsamoro interim parliament held its inaugural session in Cotabato City, where MILF Chairman Al Hajj Murad Ebrahim announced that his group has submitted the initial list of combatants and weapons up for decommissioning.

"Last Monday, the MILF already submitted the complete list of its combatants and weapons to the international decomissioning body for decommissioning representing the first phase of a process," Murad said during the region's historic inaugural ceremony held at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex

Twelve thousand combatants will be decommissioned during the first phase of the process. The group, however, has yet to release the exact figure for the firearms.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who led the inauguration rites, assured a "smooth" implementation of the process.

"We do this ensuring the smooth and effective implementation on the annex of normalization, which includes the decommissioning of former MILF combatants," the chief executive said.

The Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) composed of foreign and local experts, in a statement Friday, credited the rebel group as well as the Philippine government for the move.

"In the steadfast aspiration of enduring peace, the decommissioning will render possible the transition of MILF combatants, ensuring them the opportunity to pursue productive lives as civilians, in the peaceful communities of Bangsamoro," the statement read.

The body said it will be working with the Joint Normalization Committee and the Task Force for Decommissioned Combatants and their communities to ensure steady implementation of the process.

The rebel group's decommissioning is part of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro undertaken with the national government. Under the peace agreement, the first phase shall take place when the Bangsamoro government is set up.

CNN Philippines Correspondent David Santos contributed to this report.
When the city posts notices about cleanups, residents often worry that they will be evicted instead, according to Diane OConnell, an attorney with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless who was at the encampment Friday morning. Its hard to predict whether a cleaning will be just that, or if the entire camp will be cleared, because officials often take the same actions and only warn that a site will be cleaned, according to previous Tribune reporting.
Zionist Organization of America and its National President Morton A. Klein and Chairman Mark Levenson, Esq. condemn with all our hearts the horrific massacres in Nigeria of over 120 (which has now risen to over 280) innocent Christians since February, carried out by radical Muslim Fulani herdsman-terrorists. Militant Islamist Fulani herdsmen reportedly killed thousands of Christians last year, and more than 60,000 people since 2001.

Radical Muslim Fulani militants have slaughtered Christians during church services, at and after funerals, and in the middle of the night, and have also burned down churches and hundreds of Christian homes. The Fulani attacks are in addition to the slaughters perpetrated by the radical Islamist Boko Haram terrorist organization.

We send our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the murdered Christians. The vicious murderous Islamist terrorists who perpetrated this monstrous act are nothing less than evil scum that must be purged from the face of the earth.

Why is the world silent in the face of these ongoing massacres of Christians? Its not a one-time attack, its happening regularly.

The Jewish community is especially sensitive to such horrible religious hate crimes and murders, since almost 60 percent of all religious hate crimes in America are committed against Jews.

There has been little media coverage and condemnations of the radical Islamist slaughters of Christians. ZOA urges all American Jewish organizations, and all American organizations and media and political leaders and rabbis and imams and Christian leaders to join ZOA in condemning the horrific slaughters by radical Islamists of Christians in Nigeria and elsewhere and demand that everything be done to arrest these murderers and stop the carnage!
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The 42-year-old Iraqi, living in Vienna, Austria, is said to have twice stretched steel cables above and across tracks

SPECIAL forces troops have arrested a suspected ISIS supporter following a sickening plot to derail high-speed trains in Europe.

The 42-year-old Iraqi, living in Vienna, is said to have twice stretched steel cables above and across tracks in neighbouring Germany.

Austrian cops say in both cases an intruder had interfered with the tracks in a bid to cause a deadly and shocking derailment.

News of the alleged terror plot follows an al-Qaeda appeal urging its fanatical followers to derail vulnerable trains and comes days after ISIS was crushed in Syria.

Describing last years alleged plot, German cops said a steel cable had been stretched over tracks on a stretch of track between Nuremberg and Munich.

Concrete blocks were also placed on and near the rails two months later, although nobody was hurt.

On October 7, a high-speed Intercity-Express (ICE) train had driven over the obstacles, although amazingly it only suffered minor damage.

A threatening letter written in Arabic was found near the scene of the attack, as well as writings linked to ISIS.

Murder Charges

Two months later, Berlin cops reported a similar attack on a railway line in the suburb of Karlshorst.

They found damage to the overhead line equipment and similar writings in Arabic as well as an ISIS flag.

Local newspaper Kronen Zeitung reports the father-of- five served for 15 years in the Iraqi army and was living in Austria as a refugee while working for a security company.

The 42-year-old was arrested on Monday and prosecutors said he is suspected of carrying out terrorist attacks on railway lines in Germany in October and December 2018.

Prosecutors said then man in custody is suspected of attempted murder, causing serious damage to property, membership in a terrorist organisation and dangerous interference in railway traffic.

Bavarias Interior Minister, Joachim Herrmann, reportedly praised the excellent international co-operation in a press release, and said the investigation was going at full speed to establish the facts.

The arrest comes just days after German police arrested 10 people on suspicion of planning an Islamist attack.

Prosecutors said those suspects had plotted to kill as many non-believers as possible.

Germany has been on high alert following several jihadist attacks in recent years.

The most deadly was in December 2016 when a man drove a lorry into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

Anis Amri, the Tunisian behind the attack, was shot and killed in Italy four days later.

Source : The Sun
India successfully tested the use of an anti-satellite missile on Wednesday, becoming the fourth country to do so. India likely had much of this capability since 2012, and was able to successfully demonstrate its use by taking down a live satellite, likely Microsat-R, which was in orbit about 300km above the earth. The satellite was taken down by a kinetic strike by DRDOs Ballistic Missile Defence Interceptor, where the satellite was hit at high speed by an inert missile tip, disintegrating the satellite. This is an important defence achievement by India, and one that requires further discussion.

Mission Shaktis A-SAT technology is primarily offensive in nature, and its use in defence is by deterrence. India has demonstrated that it can take down satellites in Low Earth Orbits of less than 2000km above the surface. to This means that Indias current A-SAT technology cannot take down broadcast and communications satellites that are mostly at geostationary or geosynchronous orbits about 36,000km above the earth. Nor can the A-SAT tech take down Medium Earth Orbital satellites in the 2,000-20,000km range that are used in global positioning systems by most countries. Incidentally, Indian and Russian positioning systems occupy the higher geosynchronous orbits.

What Indias A-SAT tech can currently take down are largely earth imaging and remote-sensing satellites that occupy Low Earth Orbits. It is difficult to ascertain how effective this can be in war time, given how most countries have fleets of remote-sensing satellites, further enhanced today by a growing number of commercial imaging satellites. A-SATs ability to increase the fog of war is uncertain at best, at the current level of technology. Nor can A-SATs currently remove the ability of hostile armed forces to use satellite-based positioning systems. There is a small chance that China currently has the capability to take down higher orbital satellites using kinetic warheads. This means that India may need to continue developing anti-satellite missile technology for it to be sufficiently useful in warfare, and hence be an effective deterrent.

However, just like India has shown itself to be a responsible nuclear power, India can also be a responsible power in space. This successful A-SAT missile test also opens up the opportunity for much-needed discussions both in India and abroad on earth orbital safety and security. The worst-case scenario is captured well in the movie Gravity and is known as the Kessler syndrome. In this, orbital debris travelling at high speeds destroy other satellites, leading to a cascade where the Low Earth Orbit is covered in a large number of fast-moving debris in random directions, and ending satellite technology as we know it. Even without this nightmare scenario, space debris and the decreasing size of satellites with short lifespans can lead to risks for all.

India has shown responsibility and restraint by targeting a satellite at 300km altitude as opposed to China destroying a satellite at the height of 857km in 2007, which created a lot of risky debris. But even the Indian test has a small likelihood of creating some debris that get thrown into higher orbits.

Earth orbital safety in the 21st century is as vital as shipping lane security was in the 20th century. Orbital safety can easily suffer from the tragedy of the commons unless sovereign states take proactive measures. This starts from disclosure and sharing of orbital tracks of all satellites and known objects. Initiatives like Space-Track are vital, by being active, open repositories of satellite trajectories. The US Air Force took a positive step in December 2018 by disclosing more orbital data of its military satellites, and more can be done by all countries.

There are over 22,000 artificial objects currently in orbit that are being tracked by one government agency or another. The European Space Agency estimates that currently there are over 34,000 pieces of debris in orbit that are larger than 10cm in size, close to a million pieces between 1cm and 10cm, and 128 million pieces of debris less than a centimetre in size. With reducing satellite size and the increasing frequency of space launches, this is set to grow rapidly.

Orbital safety also needs the development of new global norms, rules and treaties. Treaties currently proposed by some countries are largely concerned with placing military weapons in orbit, but orbital safety concerns go well beyond that. Its also vital to develop technology to safely dispose defunct satellites and space junk, and this is best done by collaboration.

Without earth orbital safety, humans have a slim chance of reaching for the stars. India has a positive role to play in this, beyond the development of offensive capability.

Pavan Srinath is a public policy researcher and host of The Pragati Podcast and The Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast. He tweets at @zeusisdead

The views expressed are personal
Birds migrate at night in what used to be a dark landscape, but because urban areas are now excessively lit, Prince said, the birds get attracted to the light in buildings, which throws off their magnetic orientation. This causes birds to circle a building repeatedly until they die of either collision or exhaustion. Birds can also be attracted to the transparency from windows and collide with buildings.
In recent months, a series of shocking and hateful incidents in India have taken hold of both the public sentiment and political discourse at the national level. Fresh in our memories are the terrorist acts in Kashmir only a few weeks ago.

But perhaps most insidious and infuriating about the Kashmir attacks and events such as lynchings in the recent past, however, is the complicity of the American technology industry in enabling and spreading the political untruths and hatred. After the Kashmir attack, for instance, numerous threads pushed disinformation of all kinds  including implications that the terrorist who carried out the attacks had been in combat uniform, that the general secretary of the Congress party had laughed about the attacks, and even that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was personally connected to the extremists who had executed the attacks.

There is one and only one reason for this explosion of such information: an unerring lack of commitment on the part of the digital platforms that host it to do anything about the spread of disinformation.

The commercial regime that governs the operation of the consumer internet platforms  including Facebooks News Feed, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, as well as Googles Gmail, Maps, YouTube, and Search services  is in fact quite simple. First, these firms maximise the user engagement with their collective services by scaling their platforms as quickly as possible and pushing engaging content at the consumer to the extent that these platforms become addictive. Second, they collect users data on an uninhibited basis to create behavioural profiles of every user. And third, they develop sophisticated algorithms to curate the content we see on our screens, and target digital advertisements at us. And this business model constitutes a vicious feedback loop commercially designed to maximise the advertising dollars that go into the coffers of Silicon Valley internet firms.

But because of their strategic gearing toward profit maximisation  because their business model itself is managed by machines trained on this one payoff at the expense of any others  the publics interest is consistently ignored, being regarded as nothing more than a pesky afterthought by that machine. This puts the commercial interests of Facebook and the democratic interests of the Indian people in horrible contradiction to one another. If this is to change, then the Indian regulatory community and legislative apparatus must act as quickly as it can.

Industrys response  for example, Facebooks pivot to privacy or WhatsApps limit on forwarding messages  to these realities is not something that the platforms should boast about. These strategic postures in fact constituted the very least that the companys leadership could do in the face of widespread disinformation campaigns.

What should the remedy, then, be? I would argue that what consumers need is an earnest redefinition of the industrys regulatory standards. Indias economic progress, national security, and democratic integrity  and those of western democracies, too  have been placed at great risk by these platforms. What we now require is a reorientation of the profit motives for this industry, a reorientation that truly places the interests of the Indian citizen and the countrys democratic progress above the interests of a largely unregulated industry.

It is time for government to step in and cease the industrys breaches against the consumers interest. To push back against the three-pronged business model of these platforms, India needs a triumvirate of responsive economic regulations focused on promoting market competition, extending privacy rights to the individual, and forcing the industry to be more transparent about its practices  including the ways that its content curation and ad targeting algorithms work. Such economic regulations  in combination with the robust approach to content moderation already stipulated by the government  can begin to redistribute power from the digital platform companies back to the citizen. We need a new social contract; a compact that holds the digital sector accountable to the public.

Regulatory officials and politicians should not fear the overextension of their authorities. Some in the American media have pushed back on the Indian government for forcing progressive regulations on the internet companies that dominate Indias media and information ecosystem. I find this alarming; for a legitimate American news outlet, to presume knowledge and expertise in regard to the Indian interest  let alone to be incorrect in its conclusions  is both shocking and misplaced. These kinds of reservations should be disregarded by authorities as they look to design a future media universe that can truly benefit the citizen. If the Indian government does not act on behalf of its constituency, no one else will  and certainly not the industry by itself.

India has long been seen by the internet industry as a consumer base that should be regarded as more of an afterthought than as a constituency that deserves the same level of protection as those of other, more developed economies with established and stable political landscapes. That is a situation that should sadden us all deeply  and one that must trigger the government to act, should the leading internet companies wish to continue to serve the Indian consumer.

Dipayan Ghosh, PhD, is Shorenstein Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has served as privacy & public policy advisor at Facebook, and as technology & economic policy advisor in the Obama White House. He is on Twitter @ghoshd7

The views expressed are personal
Actor Dia Mirza is rarely seen on the silver screen with her small but notable role in Sanju being an exception. The actor is now making a comeback not in films but on the online medium. She will now be seen in Moghuls and Kaafir and is also producing a show, Mind The Malhotras. The former beauty queen spoke exclusively to Hindustan Times about what lies behind her absence from the film scene and why did she say yes to two web series. She also spoke about the MeToo movement and lent advice on how we can actively contribute in environment conservation. Excerpts:

We see you very rarely on screen. What is the reason?

I think its a combination of things. One, I have become very selective about the work that I do. I chose Sanju after a gap of almost three years. Its primarily because may be, I am at an age where I am too old to play parts opposite men my age and too young to play their mother. Its an unfortunate ageism stereotype we are battling in the industry that has existed for the longest time. But with the choices we make as individuals, especially as women and that starts with saying no, this will change.

If you get a lucrative offer, will you make a return for a lead role?

Of course, why not! Who wouldnt want to! It is important to make the best of what is available, its also very important to be able to create ones path. I am very excited that the digital platform has opened up opportunities for women my age. And I am not that old (laughs). Some very brilliant writing is happening and women characters with agency are being written in digital format. I am part of two such shows: Moghuls and Kaafir.

You have kept away from the silver screen for long. Why did you choose a web series for your return?

Its not about making a return but doing work that empowers you as an artist and gives you the opportunity to do what you care about and play the parts that have meaning. Its always the role and the story that draws the person and thats precisely why I am doing them.

Tell us more about Kaafir and Moghuls.

Kaafir is a show being made for Zee5. It is based on true events and is being written by Bhavani Iyer and directed by Sonam Nayar, again two very strong women collaborating to tell a very powerful story.

Moghuls is a historical; its based on a fascinating series of books that have been very well received. The writers of the show are Bhavani Iyer and Kausar Munir, fantastic writers, both women. It has been directed by Nikkhil Advani and even the others actors are par excellence and I also get to work with Shabana Azmi again.

Also read: Would Kangana Ranaut get her own child in the industry through nepotism? Heres what she said

You also have a production house which is making Mind The Malhotras.

Mind the Malhotras is a sitcom. We are very excited as its a format we really havent done often in India. It is a slice of life, fun and engaging and many of us will watch the show and chuckle and giggle.

Will you be making a cameo in it?

No

MeToo movement has taken the industry in a very big way. Do you have a system in place in your own company to prevent such situations?

It is a very important movement for women at the work place and to also give them the advantage and the opportunity to register complaints because for the longest time, too many women have suffered all kinds of harassment at the work place and have been able to talk about it. The movement frees woman and tells them that the shame doesnt lie with you. You need to take cognizance of the fact that you have every right to seek help and to ensure that the people who employ women make the work place safe for women.

As a female and as a producer, we follow the POSH rules and have a system in place that encourages every person who works with us to approach us. Thats essential as you need to be approachable to your team. Gender neutrality and gender balance at the work place makes a great difference. More females in the crew make women more comfortable.

Also read: Alia Bhatt reveals she is battling with anxiety bouts, says I feel like crying for no reason

You are also actively working towards environment conservation. Dont you think we are falling short of bringing about a change?

Yes we are. Its not just us, its the world. The way we have built our economy, the way we do business and the way have we built our industries! Human beings have made some seriously wrong choices. The fact is all of us collectively, at an individual level and at a global level, have to understand that if we dont change the way we live, the way we consume, the way we waste, we are only causing harm to ourselves.

A message to your fans.

Say no to single use plastics, carry your own water bottle and watch movies in theatres. Thank you for your love.

Author tweets @ruchik87

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Notebook

Cast: Zaheer Iqbal, Pranutan Bahl

Director: Nitin Kakkar

Rating: 2.5/5

There are perhaps only a few places on Earth that are as achingly beautiful as Kashmir -- the Dal Lake with boats snaking around, conifers calling out to the sky and a history that has blood splattered all over it. Set in the Valley, this is how Notebook begins as well -- with the death of an innocent, all seen through the haze of a dream.

Notebook has been directed by Nitin Kakkar.

The film establishes its ambitions early on -- it touches upon displacement and death, terror and a generation forced to live under the shadow of guns. However, it is in the execution that it falters; having touched on these important subjects, it rushes off to tie it all neatly into a romance. Notebook is just not the film that can carry it all off; it splutters and the effort becomes obvious.

Also read | Pahlaj Nihalani responds to Kangana Ranauts allegations: She should not play with me

Zaheer Iqbals Kabir Kaul is a displaced Kashmiri Pandit who returns to his roots, and to a school his father once established. A misfit anywhere but in Kashmir - his home, Kabir is a replacement for Pranutan Bahls Firdaus who left the post at the school a while back.

His guide and only friend at this school, set in the middle of nowhere, is a diary kept by Firdaus. As he deals with frogs in Sintex water tanks and a handful of apple-cheeked pupils who refuse to warm up to him, Firdaus story of finding herself runs parallel to his narrative.

He falls in love with Firdaus without ever meeting her - quite a departure from the millennial love stories Bollywood regularly churns out - only to find out that she is getting married in a few days. The two share hardly a few frames together as the notes exchanged through the diary are their only communication. A fundamentalist father who wants to push his academically brilliant son into militancy is how Kashmirs political situation is reflected in the film.

The films two leads being launched by Salman Khan hardly get any time together; the romance is unremarkable but a gorgeous Kashmir and a gaggle of children are used intelligently by director Nitin Kakkar. After last years Laila Majnu, Notebook has again been shot entirely in Kashmir and cinematographer Manoj Kumar Khatoi has ensured every frame is bursting with beauty. The visual portrayal will stay with you long after you forget the sub-par love story.

After Loveyatri and Hero, the best thing we can say about Salman Khans latest protege, Zaheer Iqbal is that he is not Aayush Sharma. He may have acquitted himself in a masala movie but the epistolary romance is beyond his ken. Pranutan offers a restrained performance but rough edges do creep in.

Inspired by the Thai film, My Teachers Diary, the film begins well but starts slackening in pace. A good idea, it is the execution that falters. The second half especially could have done with some editing and better narrative tools than convenient twists that you can see coming a mile off. Notebooks music - the soul of any romance that aims to launch newcomers -is its biggest letdown.

It is perhaps the sign of times that you begin by rooting for these lovers who still believe in pure love but want them to get on with it somewhere around interval. Yes, you found the diary. Yes, you have fallen in love. Now, find a computer, send her a Facebook request and meet at a Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) closest to you! Our patience is not what it used to be.

Author tweets @JSB17

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In the age of 24x7 news, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the master of political theatre, his every move designed to maximise eyeballs. Which is why when he tweeted on Wednesday morning that he would address the nation across media platforms at noon, it sent news channels into a frenzy. While some speculated that Dawood Ibrahim or Masood Azhar may have been eliminated, my Mumbai stockbroker friends were worried that the Rs 2000 note was being demonetised.

Which is why the eventual announcement of India having successfully tested the Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile was greeted mostly with a mix of relief, pride, and yes, controversy. Was it, after all, really the kind of dramatic moment that required a much-hyped televised prime ministerial address? Could the announcement have not been made by the Defence Research and Development Organisations team of scientists instead or, as Mr Modis critics suggest, has a certain pre-election desperation set in for the prime minister to seek political mileage at the cost of institutional integrity?

After all, Modis address to the nation comes within 48 hours of Rahul Gandhi doing his own little bit of political role-playing while announcing a minimum income guarantee scheme for the poor. Gandhi maybe attempting to galvanise a struggling opposition with his anti-poverty rhetoric but Modi has no reason to be as anxious. Every opinion poll shows the Modi-led NDA poised to return to power. Why, then, even as the model code of conduct has set in, did the prime minister feel the necessity to seek the arclights in the name of a strategic milestone? Was this the prime ministers way of reclaiming the headlines which, at least for the previous two days, had been dominated by Gandhis promise of Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY)?

After all, much like our soldiers, our scientists embody national pride. By almost co-opting a scientific achievement as his own, the prime minister is once again being accused of using independent institutions to place his nationalist credentials before the voters, the fist pumping Bharat Mata ki Jai chant at the end of his speech reminiscent of an election campaign sign off.

And yet, this isnt just about the optics of one speech. For the past five years, Modis imagemakers have relentlessly worked to cast their leader as a larger than life hero. From merchandise to movies, from social media to prime time television, Modi is being projected as the ultimate Superman who will conquer all before him. Then be it the Main Bhi Chowkidar (I, too, am a watchman) campaign or the Modi hai to Mumkin hai (Things are possible if Modi is there) tagline, the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) propaganda machine is designed to invest the prime minister with an aura of invincibility.

The cult of personality has often been a part of nearly every prime ministers tool kit. The India is Indira and Indira is India slogan will haunt the Congress forever as will the fact that Jawaharlal Nehru received the Bharat Ratna while in office. The number of schemes named after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family are further evidence of political hagiography. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister, his pictures would adorn vantage points along his pet Golden Quadrilateral project.

But Modi is setting new benchmarks. Then, be it petrol pumps billboards, Air India and railway tickets, or almost any government project, Modis image is always upfront. Certainly, no government in independent India has spent as much on advertising and marketing itself as the Modi government. An RTI (Right To Information) application last year revealed that the amount spent on propagating government schemes between mid-2014 and September 2018 was nearly Rs 5,000 crore. In the past six months, that amount has been scaled up, suggesting a near-total capture of the government machinery for political propaganda.

Omnipresent on the ground and across cyberspace, Modi has not only become the countrys foremost political leader but also dictated the national agenda. Which is perhaps why he was almost pushed by Gandhis pro-poor outreach to respond on TV with his own headline-grabbing moment. Which also suggests that the BJPs relentless Modicentric campaign is a double-edged sword: while it converts a parliamentary battle into a presidential-like contest, it also can put off the voter who instinctively dislikes excessive hubris. Which is why the BJPs political managers need to tread carefully when continuing to bombard the voter with their Modi Shining messaging. While Modi remains the BJPs prime asset in its 2019 re-election bid, he also runs the risk of allowing real issues like jobs and agrarian incomes to be lost in an at times jarring myth making machine centred solely on the individual.

Post-script: While Modi has been glorified in the past five years, no leader has been perhaps as demonised as Jawaharlal Nehru in this period. And yet, ironically it was Nehrus farsightedness that led to the setting up of the countrys space and defence research programme. Rather than politicise our science establishment by competitive credit-seeking , we should celebrate the continuum of a fine legacy that stretches back to Indias first prime minister and the many outstanding scientists this country has produced.

Rajdeep Sardesai is senior journalist and author

The views expressed are personal
Preet Bharara was livid at the hammering he was getting in the media. And he told us, a few reporters gathered around a wooden table in a windowless room inside the offices of the US attorney for the Southern District of New York. But it was off the record, couldnt be reported. He has since gone public with his sentiments in his just published autobiography.

Back in December 2013, at the height of an India-US row precipitated by the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York, a case prosecuted by his office, Bharara, also a celebrated Wall Street crime-fighter at the time, was a fallen hero in Indian eyes. He was called Uncle Tom, a pejorative for African Americans seen as too eager to please whites to win their approval, and some said he was working for his white masters.

Indians were outraged that an Indian American  one of us  had thrown an Indian diplomat into jail (Bharara hadnt; his office handled only the prosecution end of it, he has said). And so were a large number of fellow Indian origin immigrants in the US, who saw him as a serial offender, recalling all the Indian Americans he had thrown behind bars, including former McKinsey boss, Rajat Gupta.

They thought, Bharara writes in his autobiography, trying to make sense of an understandably tumultuous phase in his life, that even though this man hailed from India  he was born in Ferozepur  he seemed to be going out of his way to act American.

The thing is, Bharara writes, I am American.

Bobby Jindal, former Indian American governor of Louisiana who ran for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, faced a similar backlash, if not worse, for trying to mainstream himself with these words, in his launch address, on June 24, 2015: Im sick and tired of people dividing Americans. And Im done with all this talk about hyphenated Americans. We are not Indian-Americans, Irish- Americans, African- Americans, rich Americans, or poor Americans. We are all Americans.

He was savaged for it, starting the day after. A series of racially-charged jokes popped up online, all starting with the same five words: Bobby Jindal is so white  His long-shot run was turned into a joke overnight by outraged Indian Americans. Many of them saw him as a selfish opportunist who bailed on the community after using its equity to advance his career, with donations and volunteers.

A few weeks ago, Kamala Harris, the California senator who is seeking the Democratic presidential ticket for 2020, rattled the Indian American community, which is still trying to reconcile its enthusiasm for her run, as an Indian American, with a growing realisation that she doesnt see herself as one of them. Senator Harris is part Indian, from her mothers side, and part African American, on her fathers. Asked by a reporter how would she identify herself given her Indian American heritage, she said: as a proud American.

Clearly, all three  Bharara, Jindal and Harris  want the Indian American community to release them from their expectations and let them pursue their plans. After all, how wrong and insensitive can it be to want to be just American, which is who they are, essentially?

yashwant.raj@hindustantimes.com
When Lupoi Emil,40, was arrested on Wednesday while installing a data skimmer and keypad on an ATM, Delhi Police had a suspicion that Emil could be from Romania. For, he is the seventh person from that country to be arrested in Delhi for skimming data from ATMs and cloning cards over the last two months.

A senior police officer said the seven arrested Romanians have revealed that their network is spread across Romania, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Vijay Kumar said, When we asked Emil why they choose to operate in Delhi, he said debit cards and ATMs in our city are not tamperproof. Their security features are not as advanced as those in European countries and the US.

Another investigator said the accused disclosed that many from Dolj, a county of Romania on its border with Bulgaria, are trained in skimming and they visit India to commit the crime.

The seven Romanians revealed that their contacts in Birmingham and London provided them with skimming devices, miniature cameras and duplicate keypads.  A person based in Birmingham provided them the equipment while their contacts in London trained them, the officer said.

DCP (north) Nupur Prasad said each member has a specific task. The women search high footfall areas on the internet and identify unguarded ATM kiosks. They wear masks while installing the devices (so as escape CCTV cameras). They revisit the kiosks to remove the devices, she said.

HT sent an email on Friday evening to the Embassy of Romania in India asking if they were aware of Romanians arrested in Delhi for ATM skimming crimes. Till late Friday night, there was no response.

In 2013, Romanian police had busted 100-member strong skimming racket that had caused damages of more than 2 million euros around the world, including the US, the UK, the Dominican Republic,Germany, Japan, Jordan and Nepal.

Skimming has made headlines since at least the end of the Cold War and emergence of the eastern Europe bloc, particularly Romania and Bulgaria, as information technology powerhouses. Before the fall and execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, Romania excelled in education and mathematics. It is among the top 10 countries with the largest IT talent pools in the world.

But it is this talent coupled with a high poverty rate, as compared to the rest of the EU, that is being exploited by eastern European crime gangs, tempting Romanians to take the illegal and dangerous  but for them easy  route to making a quick buck, experts say.
A 54-year-old businessman from Uttar Pradeshs Lucknow has been arrested for allegedly stalking, sexually harassing, and threatening a Congress spokesperson by posting objectionable and abusive comments on social media, Delhi Police said on Thursday.

Police said the arrested businessman is not officially associated with any political party.

The businessman, Rajesh Shrivastava, a distributor of cosmetic items, was arrested on Wednesday from his Lucknow home following investigation into a case filed at the Tughlak Road police station on the Congress spokespersons complaint on Monday.

He has been brought to Delhi for further probe, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Madhur Verma said.

The case was registered under sections 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code and section 67 (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of Information Technology (IT) Act, Verma said.

The woman posted the suspects obscene and threatening messages on her social media account last week. She had tagged DCP Verma and Delhi Police in her post, asking for appropriate action against the suspect.

The complainant had been receiving such direct messages on her social media account for more than a fortnight from two separate unknown mobile phone numbers, police said.

Police said the suspect deleted his social media accounts and deactivated the SIM cards soon after the complainant posted the numbers on her social media account.

During investigation, a senior police officer associated with the case said, investigators found the suspect had created fake social media accounts and was using it to send objectionable messages regularly. The cellphone numbers he had used to create the profiles were obtained on forged documents, the officer said. We established the suspects identity through electronic surveillance and his whereabouts. Once his residential address in Lucknow was confirmed, we sent our team and caught Shrivastava from his home, the officer added.

According to the officer, Shrivastava told interrogators he was following the spokespersons updates on social media and did not like her comments on right-wing leaders.
In a first, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) will install open gyms for children in its 101 schools by the end of April this year. The civic body has already allocated a fund of 4.5 crore for the purpose.

According to senior officials of south civic body, the move was proposed by its education department in January this year with an aim to impart basic physical fitness training to its students.

SDMC education director JL Gupta said the gyms would have only light physical fitness equipments. He said it was necessary to instil the idea of basic fitness among the kids so the department has come up with such an innovative move.

In the first phase, we will set up open gyms for kids at 101 schools. Under this plan, one school from each ward will be selected. We hope

the facilities will be installed in the schools by the end of April so that students can benefit from the next academic session, he said.

He said in each ward, the schools would be finalised in consultation with the area councillor. There are 104 wards under SDMC out of which the civic body runs schools only in 101 wards.

We will assess the response and if required we will install more such facilities in remaining schools too. The students will be taught about benefits of fitness with the help of existing teachers of the subject in the physical education period, Gupta said.

The SDMC runs 581 primary schools at 430 sites under its jurisdiction. The SDMC in its budget proposals for the financial year 2019-20 has allocated 4.5 crore for the project.

Another senior SDMC official said the project has been approved so the work to install open gyms for kids would begin soon.

He said fitness is a key to healthy life so it was needed that basic exercise should be imparted to the students. Gyms for kids will have only light exercise equipments which would require only a small area to be set up.

There will be 10 basic fitness equipments in one gym. The gyms will not have weight-related equipments rather it will be for light physical training. The tenders for the project would be invited soon, he said.

The official said some SDMC schools have grounds for kids to play but some do not so the project would help the students of such schools where there is no playground.
A 40-year-old Romanian national was nabbed red-handed while installing card skimming device and duplicate keypad in an ATM machine in south Delhis Saidulajab on Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, the police said .

Police said the arrested Romanian national, identified as Lupoi Emil, was wearing a cap to hide his face from the CCTVs inside the YES bank ATM kiosk. One ATM card skimmer, two duplicate ATM keypads used for copying PIN numbers, five cloned plastic cards, a mobile phone and 18,220 in cash was recovered from Emils possession. Police are looking for Emils associate, who also belongs to Romania.

YES bank was not available for a comment. An email sent to the Romanian embassy remained unanswered .

Wednesdays arrest was the third instance of a Romanian citizen being nabbed for ATM skimming fraud in the national capital in less than two months. Emil has been booked on charges of attempted cheating, fraud, mischief and theft after being nabbed inside the ATM on Wednesday.

His arrest has prevented the compromise of ATM card data of a number of users, said Vijay Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (south).

DCP Kumar said that Emils arrest came following enquiry into various complaints that the police had been receiving regarding unauthorised withdrawal of money from ATMs across the city through cloned cards. The cyber cell team analysed CCTV footage of suspected ATM booths and began keeping a watch on them.

On Wednesday, the team members saw a man entering a YES bank ATM kiosk wearing a cap and found him tampering with the machine

During interrogation, a cyber cell officer said, Emil said that the data skimmer is installed in the mouth of the ATM machine where the card is inserted to clone debit card details. The duplicate keypad is placed on the original and is used to steal PIN numbers. The stolen data is then replicated on gift cards having metallic stripe using a software and card cloning device. The cloned cards are then used to withdraw money. We are interrogating Emil to know the source of the five cloned cards that we seized, said the officer. During interrogation, Emil told police that he used to visit India for making money by cloning ATM cards to support his familys luxurious lifestyle.
Students in Lucknow looked happy after writing their CBSE class 10 social science paper that according to them was simple. Students pointed out there was a printing error in question number 10 where 1930 was mentioned in question in place of 1830.

Students said questions were directly asked from NCERT book and most of the questions were straightforward. Geography questions included a little trick, they said

Vaishnavi of Delhi Public School, Saheed Path said the paper was easy but analytical. I didnt take much time to complete my paper. Hope to score above 90, she said. Yashwardhan said paper was easy but some twisted questions were there. Most of the questions were directly asked from NCERT, he said.

Shivam said level of paper was easy. Questions were mostly from NCERT, though it was bit lengthy for set 1. I am expecting good marks, said Shivam. Kartik Joshi said, I feel paper was not so difficult. It was easy. But 5 marks questions were somewhat tricky. Paper was absolutely based on NCERT. No out of course question was there. Map was very easy, said Kartik.

Subject teacher from DPS, Vineet Singh said the paper was easy and map was too easy.

Students of GD Goenka Public School, Lucknow, Saad and Aditya said After appearing for the Preboards this board question paper seemed easier. Utkarsh, Kashvi and Nandini of the same school found the questions direct and easy.

Jyotsana Yadav, students of Lucknow Public School said, The map work was easy and straightforward. Another student from same school, Ankit Sahu was satisfied with his performance and gave credit to Pre-board examinations that made him familiar with exam pattern.

At Lucknow Public School, South City, Social Science subject head Vishal Srivastava said, I found the paper moderate and balanced. Students who have read NCERT textbook thoroughly could easily score well. He also observed that board does not repeat previous year questions directly word to word but often ask same questions worded differently. Another senior teacher of same school Geetanjali Hasani said, The questions were asked along the expected line. It gave scoring opportunity to students who kept practising sample paper.

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In the video, Trybus stabs his finger at the woman and demands to know why she is wearing a shirt displaying the Puerto Rican flag. He also asks her whether she is an American citizen, even though Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and its residents are U.S. citizens.
The Hindustan Times Indias Most Stylish Awards 2019 are being held at the St.Regis in Mumbai tonight. This year, the awards celebrate their eight edition and will honour the most stylish personalities in the industry. Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, the ultimate power couple of Bollywood graced the HTs Most Stylish 2019 awards in matching all black ensembles. SRK chose a three piece suit with a small gold chain accessory on one collar. He kept it casual by ditching a tie and opting for a white pocket square. Gauri Khan chose a partially strapless black jumpsuit and accessorised it with a black leather belt, blow dried hair and a gold watch.

The couple won the HTs Most Stylish Couple award. The Zero actor was all about praises for her wife . He shared, Everything I know about style is because of Gauri. Im basic and boring and she brings in the beauty. Gauri Khan took it upon herself to make revelations saying , Everytime we step out, I am ready in 20 minutes but he takes 2-3 hours. Tonight, I put in a lot of effort and took 3 hours and he took 6.



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Us

Director - Jordan Peele

Cast - Lupita Nyongo, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex

Rating - 4.5/5

Curiously, despite being a more traditional horror picture, Us, writer-director Jordan Peeles follow-up to the genre-fluid Get Out is an even more challenging experience.

Neck-deep in dense symbolism and metaphor, Us requires multiple viewings to simply be ingested - understanding it would perhaps require multiple more. From an early shot of caged rabbits, to the sight of a masked child scurrying about on all fours, to the potent image of a black woman in handcuffs, Us is an ambiguously ambitious chiller upon which audiences can project their deepest fears. Nothing can be scarier.

Its part home invasion thriller, part body swap drama, part Ira Levin-esque psychological satire. Peeles second film is a bolder artistic statement than Get Out, and one of the finest examples of untethered (forgive the pun) studio filmmaking.

Watch the Us trailer here

The film opens with ominous titles informing the viewer that there are thousands of miles of tunnels beneath the continental US, and that many have no known purpose at all. As this information suggests, slavery is indeed invoked - and not just through the image of a chained Lupita Nyongo, but also through the ideas of divisionism and duality that Peele is playing with.

The opening scene is a flashback to 1986. A young girl strays away from her family during a nighttime beach outing, and runs into a doppelganger of herself. The experience rattles her, forcing her parents to seek professional help for the child, who has retreated into a shell.

Years later, in the present day, a now grown-up Adelaide Thomas (played by Lupita) is returning to the place of her childhood trauma, with her own family, including a daughter who is the same age as she was when she experienced the incident. Her husband, Gabe, is played by Winston Duke, and is a classic example of a black man caught between two worlds - his own cultured upbringing and the more nefarious reputation of his people, with whom he has no real connection other than a shared past.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Evan Alex, from left, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Lupita Nyong'o in a scene from Us, written, produced and directed by Jordan Peele. (AP)

This duality literally manifests itself when an entire family of doppelgangers arrives at the Thomas doorstep. They are led by Red, a now grown up version of the girl Adelaide encountered in her youth. She is also played by Lupita, in a horror movie performance that will sadly go unnoticed at the awards, just like Emily Blunts in A Quiet Place and Toni Collettes in Hereditary.

In one of the films finest scenes - which exemplifies Peeles command over tone, pacing and structure - Red, the only one among the family of doppelgangers who can speak, chillingly deadpans the answer to the question, Who are you people?

We are Americans, she says, and then pauses for effect. Suddenly, the films title makes sense. Its not only about us and them but also about the US, and how the Greatest Superpower in the World has deluded itself into believing that its problems are external.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows, from left, Evan Alex, Lupita Nyong'o and Shahadi Wright Joseph in a scene from Us, written, produced and directed by Jordan Peele. (AP)

Red explains to Adelaide, in a screechy, bone-chilling voice that sounds like nails across an old mirror - mirrors being the recurring motif here, visually, sonically and thematically - that she belongs to a population of doppelgangers called the Tethered. The Tethered, she says, were created by the government and have spent their entire lives living underground, mirroring - there you go again - the actions of the more privileged, surface-dwelling populace. This is a revolution.

That it happens during what was supposed to be a summer vacation is Peele once again stressing, as he did with the idyllic countryside setting of Get Out, that the concept of paradise is a lie. Its almost a coded message from the inside, to let us all know that the country that weve grown up admiring is broken.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Madison Curry in a scene from Us, written, produced and directed by Jordan Peele. (AP)

But this is merely one way to interpret Us. Besides a horrific musical cue that evokes memories of The Omens Ave Satani theme, there are also recurring references to the Bible, the most common being signs that read Jeremiah 11:11. After appreciating yet another mirror motif, I Googled it, only to discover what is possibly the scariest Bible passage ever. Here it goes: Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

This verse not only serves as foreshadowing of the uprising, but also paints Red as a Messiah figure of sorts. Us blurs the lines between villain and hero - perhaps another way in which Peele deconstructs the horror genre, while kneeling in its church at the same time. Characters often scarper off screen when they should be staying put, and they stay put when they should be scarpering off screen; Adelaide spends an excruciatingly long time trying to convince Gabe that the danger Red poses is real - all of this is classic horror movie stuff.

And Us is a classic horror movie - perhaps the best since Get Out. Its mythologically dense - you can tell - and has important things to say about religion, capitalism, greed, masculinity, cinema, race and more waiting to be discovered. Let us begin.

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The author tweets @RohanNaahar
Two militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammed were killed and four soldiers of the Indian Army injured in a gun battle in central Kashmirs Budgam district, police said on Friday.

The encounter between the militants and security forces started in Nowgam on the city outskirts in Budgam district and the cordon and search operation, which was launched in the morning, is still underway.

Officials said two rifles have also been recovered near the site of the encounter.

Authorities have suspended high-speed internet in Srinagar and Budgam districts.

On Thursday, four militants were killed in two separate gunfights with security forces in Kashmir. While three militants of a joint group of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed in south Kashmirs Shopian; the fourth militant Danish Ahmad Dar was killed in north Kashmirs Handwara in Kupwara district.

Thirty militants, including 20 from Jaish-e-Mohammed, have been killed in 14 encounters across the Kashmir valley since the February 14 Pulwama attack.

Fifty-nine militants and 57 security forces personnel  43 CRPF personnel including those in the Pulwama attack, eight army men and six police personnel  have been killed so far this year. As many as 12 civilians have also lost their lives in various incidents of violence.
After the successful technology demonstration of anti-satellite missile by India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tasked National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with preparing a draft space doctrine which sets protocols for operationalisation of the newly acquired capability. He heads the Ballistic Missile Defence program with DRDO and ISRO chiefs as members.

After talking to senior DRDO and ministry of external affairs officials dealing with missile program, Hindustan Times has learnt that India will have to create an authority on the lines of Nuclear Command Authority so that the threat that leads to activation of Indias A-SAT programme is defined with the counter response.

We have to lay down the defensive/offensive steps required in case Indian satellites are destroyed or degraded or there is access denial by an adversary through electro-magnetic radiation, said a senior official involved with the space programme who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Watch: Anti-Satellite missile capability explained: What it means for India

According to the officials, India will now need to convert this technological prowess into strategic capability and this involves addressing the question whether the country will stick to no first use or NFU as it has in its draft nuclear doctrine.

The other issue that experts need to consider is the setting up of the space command for management and operationalisation of the A-SAT missiles. As of now India has a separate strategic forces command and a cyber command under Integrated Headquarters.

Read more| To defend interests in outer space: Governments 10-Point FAQ on Mission Shakti

Before conducting the A-SAT test on Wednesday, the Modi government studied the first US space command in Colorado. Although this has since been merged with strategic forces command to form a joint command, India has studied the directives that lead to the formation of a space command.

The Indian A-SAT test demonstrated the killer vehicle capability to first search for the targeted satellite, then locate it and finally lock on to if before destroying it. The acquisition of A-SAT capability is a game changer for India as the country now has the technology to cripple the adversary purely using stand-off weapons. This capability allows India to target the adversarys economy, navigation, stock markets, military and weather collecting capabilities without even crossing the border.

 The deterrence effect of a A-SAT weapon will be felt in the bilateral relations with China as the competition now has military parity in terms of damage potential, said a Beijing watcher in India who asked not to be named.
Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had pulled out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) only because the chowkidar had started questioning him for the funds sanctioned by the Centre for various projects.

Naidu has institutionalised corruption in the state. He launched various projects not to develop the state but to swindle money, the Prime Minister said, addressing an election rally at Kurnool.

PM Modi pointed out that the Centre had declared Polavaram as a national project and released more than Rs 7,000 crore. It also granted huge funds for the construction of new capital of Amaravati. But, Naidu indulged in huge corruption in these projects. As a chowkidar of the country, when I started asking for details of expenditure, he took a U-turn and left the NDA, the PM alleged.

Accusing Naidu of institutionalising corruption in the state, Modi said the chief minister had ignored the development of the state but concentrated on only grooming his son as his successor. On April 11, when you cast your vote in favour of the BJP, two things will happen. One, Andhra Pradesh will emerge as a sunrise state in the next five years; and second, there will be son-set for Naidu, he said.

The Prime Minister lashed out at Naidu for joining hands with corrupt bail gadi politicians who were going around the country on bail. These leaders, including Naidu, are only trying to become heroes in Pakistan, he said.

He also accused the rival parties of promoting dynasty politics. The Congress, the TDP and the YSRCP...all are run by dynasty politics, he said.

The Prime Minister reminded the people that it was his government that established several premier central institutions such as IIT, IIM, NIT, AIMS and IIIT after the bifurcation in 2014. This way I have laid foundation for the future of the youth of the state, the PM said.

Earlier, addressing another rally at Bhootpur in Mahabubnagar district, Modi called upon the people to choose between damdar chowkidar (brave watchdog) and corrupt Congress.

Asking the people to compare his government in the last five years with that of the previous governments, Modi said in the last five years he had taken up several programmes, right from construction of toilets for millions of people to making the country proud by launching anti-satellite missile.

We had run a decisive government that uplift the living standards of farmers to safeguarding the country from enemies. You are going to vote not for one MP or one PM, but for the future of the country, a new India that fulfils every needs of the people, upholds self-respect and self-reliance of the nation, he said.

He reminded that before 2014, there used to be terrorist attacks in one corner or the other. But now, we have curtailed the terrorism, which is confined only to Kashmir. We have crossed the borders and taught a fitting lesson to our neighbor which is harbouring terrorists, he said and regretted that the Congress had demoralised our armed forces for raising suspicion over the surgical strikes.

The Prime Minister said that the BJP-led government at centre also put an end to reservation-based politics by extending reservation to the economically weaker sections from the forward castes.

Coming down heavily on Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao for relying on astrologers rather than his own performance, Modi alleged that the TRS president had gone in for early elections to assembly based on the advice of an astrologer, since he feared that stars were in favour of Modi and his party would be overshadowed by the BJPs glory, if simultaneous elections were held.

Even after coming to power, he kept the administration paralysed by not expanding the cabinet for three months. Perhaps, he followed the advice of astrologer in this case, too, he said.

He accused Naidu and KCR of hoodwinking the people.
The Andhra Pradesh high court on Friday refused to stay the orders of Election Commission transferring the state intelligence chief and two superintendents of police, stating it could not interfere in the poll bodys jurisdiction.

A division bench of the high court led by chief justice C Praveen Kumar dismissed the petition filed by the Andhra Pradesh government, saying it was not a case for interim relief.

The poll body had ordered the transfer of director general of police (intelligence) AB Venkateshwara Rao, Srikakulam SP Venkata Ratnam and Kadapa SP Rahul Dev Sharma on Tuesday night with immediate effect and attached them to the police headquarters.

The three policemen were directed to hand over their charge to the senior-most officials in their respective offices and barred from taking up any election-related work.

The EC acted on a complaint from YSR Congress party general secretary and MP V Vijay Sai Reddy on alleged illegal surveillance and tapping of phones of the opposition leaders.

The Telugu Desam Party government headed by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had objected to the ECs decision and wondered how the commission could act on a mere complaint from YSRC leaders, without verifying the facts.

In an unusual decision on Wednesday, the state government held back the transfer of the intelligence chief while attaching the two SPs to the headquarters. Simultaneously, it filed an urgent petition in the high court challenging the EC orders.

The high court bench heard the arguments of both the state government and EC.

While advocate general Dammlapati Srinivas, arguing for the government said the EC had not given any opportunity to the officials to defend themselves and present their version. The EC counsel, however, argued that the transfers were not a punishment and well within the rights of the commission.

As such, there is no need for issuing any notices or seeking their version, he said.

Venkateshwara Rao will have to follow the transfer orders and report to the headquarters after the high court dismissed the state governments petition.

The EC asked the government to send a panel of three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers from which it will select a senior officer to appoint as intelligence chief during the election period. The two SPs have already reported to the state police headquarters.
Following uncertainties over getting permission to use a ground in Siliguri on April 3, the Bharatiya Janata Party was forced to change Prime Minister Narendra Modis public rally venue in the state.

The new venue is a ground that belongs to the railways in New Jalpaiguri on the outskirts of Siliguri, the largest city in north Bengal, said Dipen Pramanik, BJPs co-convener for North Bengal.

The change was necessitated after Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) indicated that it cannot give the nod to use its land at Kawakhali in Siliguri town for which the BJP had sought permission.

The Prime Minister is supposed to address the rally in Siliguri around 1 pm. Post that, he is expected to reach Kolkata, where he is scheduled to address another rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in the city at 3 pm.

BJPs Darjeeling district president, Avijit Roy Chowdhury alleged that though they submitted a written application to SJDA on Wednesday seeking permission to use its its land at Kawakhali, the authorities kept them on tenterhooks and the denial was only verbal.

We cannot take any risk and, therefore, changed the venue, said Roy Chowdhury.

The SJDA chairman and Trinamool legislator from Alipurduars, Saurav Chakraborty, however, claimed that the authority was not in a position to give permission to use the land as some development work was going on there.

BJP leader and former Trinamool general secretary, Mukul Roy, has already claimed that the turnout in both Siliguri and Kolkata would surpass all previous records.

On Friday, while addressing a public meeting in Alipurduars, BJP president Amit Shah alleged that the Bengal government had earlier denied permission to senior party leaders such as Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Union home minister Rajnath Singh and himself.

They (Trinamool) will not be able to stop the BJPs progress in Bengal through such tactics, remarked Shah.
The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday asked the Election Commission of India (EC) to file a reply on Monday to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a stay on the April 5 release of the Narendra Modi biopic starring Viveck Oberoi.

The petition states that while the election code of conduct came into effect on March 17, the producer released the trailer of the film PM Narendra Modi on March 20, in violation of the code of conduct.

It states: As Modi will contest the elections as a candidate, by releasing it on 5th of April 2019, the respondent no. 9 (director of the film) will try to influence voters to vote in favour of a particular candidate, which may disturb the execution of free and healthy election process.

The petitioner, Satish Gaikwad, a social activist, through advocates Swapnil Girme and Tosif Shaikh, told a bench of chief justice Naresh Patil and justice NM Jamdar that the film trailer should also be removed from all social sites/platform/media. The petitioner said the movie, if permitted to be released for public viewing before the elections, would violate the model code of conduct imposed by the EC.
The Election Commission (EC) of India on Friday told the Supreme Court that any change in the present method of counting voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips at this stage may not be feasible.

Responding to a petition filed by 21 opposition leaders demanding 50% of VVPAT slip verification in each assembly segment of a Lok Sabha constituency, the poll panel said, Polling is to commence from April 11, 2019; to now seek to alter the system adopted by the Election Commission of India at this stage might not be feasible.

VVPAT, which is attached to an electronic voting machine ()EVM, allows a voter to audit whether the vote cast has gone to the candidate he/she intended to.

Currently, the EC counts VVPAT slips from a randomly-selected polling station per assembly segment in case of Lok Sabha polls.

The Supreme Court had earlier this week favoured the suggestion by various political leaders to increase the count of VVPAT slips and had asked the EC to give its view if the same can be done for the satisfaction of the electorate.

A bench led by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had said, No institution, including judiciary, can insulate itself from suggestion for improvement.

In the past, politicians and parties have approached high courts and the apex court on the issue of increasing VVPAT count, but the courts have not interfered with the poll bodys decision.

The poll panel in its affidavit filed on Friday said, On an average, it takes one hour for VVPAT slip count of one polling station. If the number is increased to 50% of the total assembly constituency, it would take at least 5 days, the EC said. The commission also argued that the present petition does not raise any new or different apprehension or grievance as was raised in the earlier cases, nor brings out any grave or serious reason requiring a revamping of the system that has been adopted by the Election Commission of India for the purpose of the conduct of the 2019 elections.

Election Commission of India is committed to ensuring a free and fair election..., the EC said. 

VVPATs have been used by the Election Commission of India, since 2013, in 1628 Assembly Constituencies and 21 Parliamentary Constituencies. During this period, only once has any complaint been made by a voter alleging that his/her vote did not go to the candidate he had pressed the button in favour of, said the poll panel.
Unveiling his economic agenda, Congress President Rahul Gandhi Thursday said if voted to power his party will cut red tape for businesses, exempt new enterprises from seeking any permission in first three years, make it easier to get bank loans and scrap angel tax on start-ups.

In an exclusive interview to PTI a fortnight ahead of the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls starting April 11, Gandhi said his governments focus will be on job creation and that entrepreneurs will get fiscal and tax incentives based on their ability to create jobs.

These will form part of Congress partys election manifesto that will be released next month, he said.

For the first three years of setting up a new business, we are going to free you up from red tape. You will not need to ask for permission for anything, Gandhi said. Dont bother about anything, there is no permission you need. Start your business, get to work. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often been accused of giving a jobless economic growth and Gandhis emphasis on cutting red tape and removing bureaucratic hurdles for starting business a is aimed at wooing youth wanting to start new ventures as well as create jobs.

Weve said that we will remove the draconian and ill-conceived angel tax. I have made that commitment and its going to be done, Gandhi said.

Since 2012, start-ups were conditioned to what is called angel tax on the premiums obtained over their fair market value. According to a new section introduced to the Income Tax Act in 2012, if a closely held company issues shares at a price more than its fair market value, the excess amount will be taxed at 30 per cent, as income from other sources. However, sometime last year, the Income Tax department started to send notices to various startups on investments received by them from angel investors. Since then this tax has been coined angel tax.

Last month, the government relaxed the angel tax norms by giving a blanket exemption for up to 25 crore of capital raised by DIPP registered startups from any sources. Capital beyond that will be taxed.

Gandhi said this powerful idea came after he held discussions with several entrepreneurs, during which they stressed that their biggest problem was getting all kinds of permissions from different agencies before starting their enterprises.

The entrepreneurs said different agencies ask lots of questions and bribes, and hence we said, we believe in you; we trust you, and so for the first three years of setting up a new business, we are going to free you up from the red tape.

The Congress president said another idea that came up during discussions with entrepreneurs was the opening of the banking system to young business-persons and providing them access.

Why should only Nirav Modi get thousands of crores? How many jobs has he created in India? Why cant a youngster who wants to start a business, who wants to give India 2,000 jobs, get a bank loan, he asked.

Solid incentives and tax credits will be given to new entrepreneurs based on how many jobs they create, the Congress chief said.

Gandhi said the party is putting together a manifesto after several rounds of discussions with stakeholders and reflecting their suggestions in the partys manifesto, which will include many such things to promote business, farming, employment generation etc.

The party, sources said, will release its manifesto in the coming week.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram heads the partys manifesto committee that is giving final touches to the manifesto. The panel has held several rounds of consultations in at least 150 locations across the country in the last several months in the run-up to polls.
Kokoraleis has two brothers who live in the northwest suburbs, but one of them told the Tribune this week that their landlord will not allow him to live with them. His other siblings live out of state. He also has two elderly relatives in Villa Park, where the Kokoraleis family lived when he was arrested in late November 1982. His parents are dead.
There is constitutional anarchy and complete lawlessness in the state of West Bengal, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta claimed in the Supreme Court on Friday, informing the court of a row between customs department officials and Kolkata police at Kolkata airport, during a hearing on the Saradha chit fund case.

Seeking the top courts intervention in the fight, Mehta said that central government officials in West Bengal were being threatened and intimidated.  A lady, who happens to be the wife of a Member of Parliament, was stopped at Kolkata international airport by the customs officials to check her luggage. She was suspected of carrying (gold) bangles . But she refused to cooperate and called Kolkata police, who came and prevented the customs officials from carrying out their duties, he added.

The woman referred to is the wife of Trinamool Congress lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee, chief minister Mamata Banerjees nephew. On March 22, the state police entered the airport and forced the customs officials to release the influential MPs wife who had flown in on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok.

The entire episode at the airport, captured on CCTV, provoked a sharp political slugfest in West Bengal after the state police reportedly refused to file a First Information Report, or FIR, on a complaint by customs officials. New Delhi and Kolkata have been sparring over several issues and on many fronts.

The Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are the main contenders in the state in the summers Lok Sabha elections. Mehta told the court that  the matter didnt just end there and that a few hours later a team of Kolkata police arrived at the airport to arrest officers who had apprehended the lady.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi told Mehta that rather than making oral submissions, the Centre should file an application. What are we supposed to do? You have to file an application. We cannot take it like this.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represents West Bengal, objected to the Centres assertion, saying this was not an issue before the court and the centre was merely using the Supreme Court as a platform to feed the press.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has initiated contempt proceedings in the Supreme Court against former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, West Bengals chief secretary, and the states director general of police. CBI has alleged that Kumar has not been cooperating with CBi in the Saradha chit fund case.

Trinamool Congress leaders refused to comment on the incident. Do not ask me any question on this matter. Neither me nor my party is involved with it, CM Banerjee said on March 27 at the state secretariat.
Cups sporting the Main bhi chowkidar (I too am a watchman) slogan popularised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has launched a campaign of the same name, and used to serve tea on the Kathgodam Shatabdi train, were withdrawn on Friday because they violate the model code of conduct.

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation also suspended the supervisor responsible for the catering and levied a fine of R 1 lakh on him. We have taken action against the Supervisor and have withdrawn these cups, said MP Mall, managing director of IRCTC. News reports that tea has been served in cups sporting the slogan Main bhi chowkidar have been investigated. This was without any prior approval of IRCTC. The cups have been withdrawn with immediate effect. ~1 lakh fine has been imposed on the service provider. A show-cause notice has also been served for this misconduct, said a spokesperson for Indian Railways. IRCTC does not allow political advertisements as per its contract with service providers. The matter has also been referred to the EC. How could they allow this to happen? I was travelling in Kathgodam Shatabdi when I noticed the cup with political message. I complained to the on-board staff also, said DN Mohanty, who retired as ADG from All India Radio.

Meanwhile, Air India, on Friday, again issued boarding passes with photographs of Narendra Modi and Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, despite saying it has withdrawn such boarding passes on March 25. AI issued notice on 25.03.19 to all domestic stations to discontinue usage of boarding cards with a Vibrant Gujarat advertisement on reverse with immediate effect. Todays incident is because of human error. A show-cause notice for this error has been issued to the airport manager of AI at Madurai, said AI Spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shahs Srinagar property in a terror financing case and imposed penalty on three people, allegedly involved in funding the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), the agency said on Friday.

The ED attached a property located in Effandi Bagh, Rawalpora, Srinagar, it said in a statement. The property was held in the name of Shahs wife and daughters. He has been involved in carrying out illicit activities along with his accomplice Mohd Aslam Wani, who is an activist of banned militant organisation JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammad). He was using Aslam Wani as a carrier for collecting hawala money sent by his Pakistan-based sympathisers through hawala operators to deliver the same in Srinagar, the agency said in the statement.

Shah has admitted to ED that he does not have any source of income and failed to explain any legitimate source of money for his expenses, the ED said.

Investigation also revealed that he was in touch with the global terrorist Hafeez Sayeed, chief of banned outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa based in Pakistan. Investigation has revealed that Shabir Ahmad Shah had been receiving money for carrying out separatist activities in J&K [Jammu and Kashmir] and has acquired various properties through a maze of dubious transactions, it said. Wani and Shah were arrested by ED in 2017 for the offence of money laundering.

In a separate hawala case related to terror funding of the banned outfit LeT, the ED imposed a penalty of ~15 lakh on three people and confiscated ~ 7 lakh in cash.
Former minister and senior BJP leader Brijmohan Agarwal on Friday accused the Congress government of shielding the Naxals in Chhattisgarh and alleged that some of them have even infiltrated the government.

Agarwal, while talking to the Media in Raipur, said that the BJP will demand a probe from the Election Commission about the role of Naxals in the Chhattisgarh government.

First, an important Naxal operative N Venkat Rao, who was arrested from Rajanandgaon, got bail because Chhattisgarh government was unable to submit the chargesheet against him; second, CM Bhupesh Baghel spoke against the detention of Jean Dreze, who is an important link of urban Naxals in Jharkhand; and third Chhattisgarh government has said that it will initiate peace talks with Naxals. This reflects that the Naxals have infiltrated the Congress government, said Agarwal, addressing a press conference on Friday evening.

In December 2018, the Rajnandgaon police arrested N Venkat Rao, an officer of the Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), who they said is working as a Naxal operative.

The police said that twenty-three detonators, naxal documents, Maoist literature, a laptop, a mobile phone and two chargers were recovered from his possession.

Agarwal further said that Maoists which are inside the government are having a deep impact on the working of the government. We demand a probe by the EC about the role of Naxals in the Chhattisgarh government, said the former minister.

The way the Congress has mocked the army and security in the same way Chhattisgarh government has also compromised with security and it seems that the whole Chhattisgarh has been left at the mercy of Naxals, said Agarwal.

As far as the bail of Rao is concerned, it is a matter of court. Second, Dreze is a reputed economist across the world and apart from the BJP everyone knows this and third, CM Bhupesh Baghel had said it earlier that he will talk to affected people of Bastar not the Naxals. The BJP is misguiding people, said RP Singh, senior leader of the Congress and its spokesperson.
The Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday denied bail to fugitive Indian diamantaire Nirav Modi for the second time after the prosecution raised the prospect of him fleeing the UK, influencing witnesses and destroying evidence in the high-profile case.

Toby Cadman, lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, acting on behalf of India, made several revelations about Modi while urging chief judge Emma Arbuthnot to deny him bail. He was first denied bail after his arrest on March 19.

Modi was returned to the Wandsworth jail, where he will remain until the next hearing on April 26.

The revelations included Modi applying for a citizenship-by-investment scheme in Vanuatu by seeking to invest $200,000 in 2017, which was rejected; Modi living in London since January 2018 in a central London flat on rent, and Modi allegedly threatening to kill witness Ashish Lad.

Watch: Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi again denied bail plea by UK Court

India has informed the court that Modi will be lodged in the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, if extradited.

It also highlighted the high value of fraud involved, up to $2 billion through 144 letters of understanding from the Mumbai branch of the Punjab National Bank.

The judge set April 26 as the next date of hearing in the extradition case, when Modi will appear by video-link from the Wandsworth jail. He was produced in court on Friday and sat impassively, following the proceedings, dressed in a white shirt and dark trousers, flanked by a policeman.

Arbuthnot, who heard and ruled in the extradition case of businessman Vijay Mallya, began the proceedings by asking the lawyers if they had a sense of deja vu. Last month, UK home secretary Sajid Javid signed an order to extradite Mallya, wanted in India to face charges of financial irregularities running into thousands of crores of rupees. The beleaguered liquor tycoon has filed an appeal against the decision.

Arbuthnot and Modis lawyer regretted the quality of indexing and numbering of the paperwork on the case provided by India.

The judge also set May 30 as the later date of hearing when the prosecution will be expected to produce more documents from the Central Bureau of Investigation. Officials from the CBI and Enforcement Directorate attended the hearing.

Calling Modi a man of significant wealth, possessing a business dealing with diamonds, gold and pearls of substantial value, Cadman said given his extensive travels and weak ties to the UK, there would be an overwhelming desire to flee.

According to the prosecution, Modi had not cooperated with authorities in any way. Now that extradition proceedings had begun, Cadman said there was a greater possibility of him fleeing the courts jurisdiction. He assured the court that the necessary paperwork will be in order by the next hearing.

Clare Montgomery, who represented Mallya and is now acting on Modis behalf, refuted the prosecutions allegations, and denied that there was any flight risk if granted bail. He had already agreed to surrender, she told the court, adding that he was a law-abiding person.

His case in India has acquired notoriety that is not justified, Montgomery said, adding that it had become a subject of massive national political debate even though it was improbable that he was behind a sophisticated fraud, as alleged by India.
Police Thursday raided a hospital run by Dr Puneet Gupta, son-in-law of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, in a case of alleged financial irregularities during Guptas tenure as superintendent of a state-run hospital.

Documents related to the case were recovered during the raid at GBG Kidney Care Hospital in Rajendra Nagar area here, said Raipur Superintendent of Police Arif Sheikh.

A notice was issued to Dr Gupta asking him to appear before police but he did not appear. We will serve him another notice Friday, the SP said.

On March 15, a case was registered against Dr Gupta for allegedly committing financial irregularities to the tune of 50 crore when he was superintendent of DKS Post Graduate Institute and Research Centre, Raipur.

Current superintendent of DKS hospital Dr Kamal Kishore Sahare had lodged a complaint in this regard.

Sahare said in the complaint that a probe committee had found that Gupta allegedly misused his position and committed a fraud of 50 crore.

Raman Singh, meanwhile, claimed that the polices action was politically motivated, and the case would not stand in the court.

They (the Congress government) are forming SITs and creating cases, but once the case reaches the court the truth will come out, Singh told reporters.
India has postponed the second meeting with Pakistan to discuss modalities for the Kartarpur Corridor, scheduled for April 2, over concerns about the inclusion of pro-Khalistan activists in a Pakistani committee to facilitate Sikh pilgrims, officials with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

The external affairs ministry summoned Pakistans deputy high commissioner Syed Haider Shah to convey concerns after the formation of the 10-member Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) and to seek clarifications, they said.

One of the officials, who asked not to be named, said the meeting, to be held at Wagah in Pakistan, had been rescheduled. A ministry statement said the next meeting on modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistans response.

According to the officials, even if Pakistan responds to Indias request for clarifications before April 2, a decision on the meeting will be made only after examining the response. Pakistans Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal expressed regret at Indias decision and said in a tweet the last minute postponement...is incomprehensible.

The corridor will connect Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistans Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak in Indias Gurdaspur district. New Delhi was irked after Islamabad announced on Wednesday the formation of the PSGPC, which includes pro-Khalistan activists such as Gopal Chawla, Bisan Singh and Kuljeet Singh. Pakistan said the panel will facilitate Sikh pilgrims.

Officials said Chawla is associated with internationally designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba. They said there will be no compromise on security concerns and India is open to taking forward discussions once the concerns are satisfactorily addressed by Pakistan.

Pakistans information minister announced the 10-member committee that includes Gopal Chawla, Tara Singh and Kuljeet Singh  all of whom have been actively associated with spreading disunity within and hate against India. How can these elements be allowed to be associated with the Kartarpur project? said a second official .
One month after an aging Indian Air Force jet was shot down in a dogfight with neighbouring Pakistan, New Delhi has demonstrated a new weapons capability aimed at another, more powerful geopolitical rival: China.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India had established itself as a space power by sending an indigenously designed ballistic-missile interceptor up 300 kilometers (190 miles) to destroy a satellite orbiting the Earth.

The move -- with political overtones just weeks ahead of a national election -- sends a stark message to Indias nuclear-armed rivals, China and Pakistan, and changes Asias strategic calculus by proving India has the ability to knock out enemy satellites.

Watch: Anti-Satellite missile capability explained: What it means for India

Read: After A-SAT testing, PM Modi asks NSA Ajit Doval to prepare draft space doctrine

The development suggests India, which has long struggled with a lethargic military-procurement process and outdated defense technology, is getting closer to sitting alongside China, Russia and the US as countries with the ability to disrupt enemy communications networks. The move comes weeks after India sparred with arch-foe Pakistan after terror attack in Kashmirs Pulwama that killed 40 soldiers..

Essentially, India is saying that we are a strong and capable military power -- its not specific to any one country, but it is a message to all of Indias adversaries, said Ajey Lele, a retired Indian Air Force group captain whos now a senior fellow at the Ministry of Defence-funded Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. If somebody wants to do something to our satellites, we have the capability to do this to your satellites.

Exclusive Group

Indias foreign ministry said in a statement that New Delhi wasnt engaging in an arms race, but asserted that with this test, India joins an exclusive group of space-faring nations consisting of USA, Russia and China. Beijings growing space capability -- conducting a similar anti-satellite test 12 years ago -- has helped drive US President Donald Trumps efforts to build a space force.

Read: Surgical strikes on land, sky and space, says PM Modi at Meerut rally

China is clearly part of the calculation, said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, head of the nuclear and space policy initiative at New Delhis Observer Research Foundation, adding that a similar test by China in 2007 served as a big wake-up call to India. It has a deterrence effect, and that is clearly a China-driven point that India wants to convey.

Indias relations with China, which have been strained by a series of long-simmering border disputes, have grown more tense as the two rising powers jockey for influence across the region. Beijing has forged ever-closer military and economic ties with Islamabad, spurring New Delhi to improve relations with Washington.

China enjoys a big lead over its less-developed neighbour, becoming in January the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon. Its space program is run by the military and Chinese President Xi Jinping established a Strategic Support Force in 2015 to develop greater capabilities.

Read| Opinion: No global heat on Indias ASAT missile test

John Blaxland, head of the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre at Australian National University, said the anti-satellite test nonetheless signalled that India was stepping up to the plate in space. Indias neighbours will have to think twice before upping the ante in any future space clash, particularly once this capability matures, Blaxland said.

The launch also delivers a message closer to home, especially after Indias recent flare-up with Pakistan, which included capture and release of an Indian pilot. Militarily, the move could be seen as demonstrating Indias ability to shoot down ballistic missiles from its rivals.

Politically, it showcases Indias industrial and military strength just weeks ahead a pivotal general election.

Also Watch| Mission Shakti: Watch visuals of launch of Indias anti-satellite missile
The second meeting between India and Pakistan scheduled for April 2 to discuss the Kartarpur Corridor details may be postponed over security concerns and gaps in position, said a senior officer who did not wish to be named.

India said it has shared concerns and sought clarifications after reports suggested that a pro-Khalistani leader was one of the members appointed by Pakistan to a committee to help Indian pilgrims to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.

Reports said that Pakistans minister for information Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had on Wednesday announced a ten-member committee that includes Khalistani leader Gopal Singh Chawla.

India has also shared concerns and sought clarifications on reports that controversial elements have been appointed by Pakistan to a committee to be associated with the Kartarpur Corridor. It has been conveyed that the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistans response, the ministry of external affairs said in a statement.

Sources said that Pakistans deputy high commissioner was called in by India to seek clarification from the neighbouring country on the issues raised. The next round of talks was scheduled to be held on April 2 at the Wagah border.

There wont be any meeting till clarifications are provided. The meeting is only for a substantive outcome and not optics, a source said.

We are keen on early resolution but cannot let up national security concerns, the source said.

Chawla is known as one of the main propagators of the Sikh movement seeking a separate homeland for the community. He is reported to be the general secretary of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

His name had cropped up in the investigations into the grenade attack on the Nirankari Bhawan in Amritsar in which three were killed in November last year. Chawla is also reported to have prevented Indian diplomats from visiting a gurdwara in Lahore.

The statement also said that India has sought clarifications from Pakistan on key proposals put forward by New Delhi at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Corridor.

Meanwhile, in order to take forward the infrastructure development for the Corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, it said.

Officials from Pakistan and India had held a meeting earlier in March to discuss the technical issues regarding the proposed corridor to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in no mans land on the border in Dera Baba Nanak.

India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Guru Nanak, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in November last year. Kartarpur is located in Pakistans Narowal district across the Ravi, about 4km from the Dera Baba Nanak.

The government of India remains committed to realise the long pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the Corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner, the statement said.
The passengers on board IndiGos recently launched Delhi-Istanbul flight are stuck in Kuwait after the aircraft, an A320 NEO, developed an engine issue.

IndiGos A320 fleet with NEO engines have been facing engine related issues and manufacturer Pratt and Whitney have addressed the problem in the past.

An A320 NEO en-route Delhi to Istanbul had to divert to Kuwait due to engine related technical reasons. The root cause is yet to be determined. The aircraft landed safely in Kuwait and IndiGo local representatives are currently taking care of the passengers and crew. Our endeavor is to use the next possible connecting flight out of Kuwait to Istanbul so that passengers reach their destination with minimum inconvenience. Customers in Istanbul who are booked on this flight back to Delhi will be accommodated with Turkish Airlines. We expect normal operations on Istanbul flights tomorrow, said a spokesperson for the airline.

IndiGo, Indias largest low-cost carrier, made its maiden flight to Istanbul on March 20.

The airline had announced Istanbul as its 16th international destination and was to operate two daily direct flights to the country.

A team of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is in touch with the airline to know the cause of snag.
Lightfoot offers plan: Lightfoot on Friday released a series of proposed policy changes to the citys ticketing, fines and fees program, saying the current system is unfair to the poor and people of color. Her proposal lacks specifics about how she plans to replace much-needed revenue at a time when Chicagos next mayor is facing a 2020 projected budget shortfall of $252 million on top of $276 million in required additional public pension payments. Lightfoots plan would ease restrictions on the sort of work that ticket scofflaws can do for the city, which bans them from working for Chicago, driving cabs or working in rideshare situations. Lightfoot also said she wants to conduct an audit of red light cameras to see where there are no longer safety issues and sunset those cameras that are only being used for revenue, not safety. The plan does not include details on how long that process would take. The plan also calls for looking at ways to limit the city from punishing people who havent paid fees by placing a Denver boot on their vehicle. Preckwinkle and Lightfoot agree the citys current approach to fines and fees is a problem. (Gregory Pratt)
Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, lodged in the Wandsworth prison, is likely to appear in the Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday via videolink to seek bail.

It will mark the beginning of case management hearings as part of extradition proceedings.

A team from Indias Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is expected to be present in the court on Friday.

Modi, 48, was denied bail on March 20 after being arrested the previous day on an arrest warrant issued by the court after home secretary Sajid Javid certified Indias request to extradite him to face charges of bank fraud amounting to over 14,000 crore.

Denying Modi bail is significant given the history of Indians sought to be extradited since the 1992 India-UK treaty.

Almost all of them were granted bail, including former Dawood Ibrahim aide Iqbal Mirchi, as well as others such as Vijay Mallya, Sanjeev Chawla and Ravi Shankaran.

Modi offered to pay 500,000 pounds security deposit for bail, but was denied due to what judge Marie Mallon called the high value of amount involved in the allegations and the likelihood of his escaping.

Extradition case of both Modi and Mallya relate to loans of around 9,000 crore secured from a consortium of banks that includes IDBI and SBI in the Mallya case , and a fraud of over 14,000 crore perpetrated on the Mumbai branch of the Punjab National Bank in Modis case.

However, there are key differences in the nature of charges of financial impropriety. Mallyas main contention was that there is no prima facie case against him, since the inability of his Kingfisher Airlines to return loans was due to a genuine business failure. After over a year of hearings, chief judge Emma Arbuthnot upheld Indias case.

In contrast, Modis case may be decided over a shorter time-frame, given seemingly clearer charges of fraud against him, his co-accused and uncle Mehul Choksi, his family and some PNB officials, as outlined in CBIs charge sheet filed in Indian courts. As in the Mallya case, Modis defence team is likely to raise issues in court to prevent his extradition such as risk to his human rights in Indian jails, political persecution and alleged infirmities in the Indian judicial system that prevent delivery of justice. India successfully countered such claims in the court with documentary and visual evidence in the Mallya case.
Two days after India announced the success of Mission Shakti, Russia has asked New Delhi to join international efforts to ensure that outer space is not weaponised. It has referred to a Russian-Chinese draft treaty that is aimed at preventing weaponisation of outer space while offering India to join the efforts of like-minded nations.

Russia intends to continue to make necessary effort to prevent an arms race in outer space, reads a statement issued by the country, as reported by news agency ANI, in response to successful test of anti-satellite missile by India on Wednesday.

The idea of developing a multilateral legally binding instrument for keeping outer space peaceful based on the Russian-Chinese draft treaty with support of a group of like-minded nations to prevent weaponization of outer space, the use or threat of force against space objects as well as multilateral initiative - political obligations not to be first to place weapons in space are becoming particularly important, Russia said in the statement, according to ANI.

We offer our Indian partners to actively join these joint efforts of the international community, Russian statement said.

On March 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has entered the elite club of nations to possess the capability to hit a target in space. India had shot down a live satellite in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), a reference to altitude less than 2,000 km. The other countries with such capability are the US, Russia and China.

Russia has blamed the destructive actions of the United States, ANI reported, for the architecture of international security and strategic stability situation that led to A-SAT test by India.

We have to state that this action of India has been largely the result of the substantially degraded situation in the field of arms control, the statement said.

According to ANI, Russia highlighted the nondirectedness of this test against any specific country declared by the Indian leadership, as well as the reassurance of the continuity of New Delhi foreign policy to prevent the deployment of weapons in outer space and thereby the development of an arms race in it.

Earlier, the US had expressed concern about space debris following the anti-satellite (A-SAT) test carried out by India and said it expected that it does not endanger others equipment.

Acting US Defence Secretary Shanahan on Wednesday said space should be a place to conduct business with freedom to operate.

China, on its part, expressed hope on Thursday that all countries can take real actions to maintain lasting peace and stability in the outer space.

Soon after the announcement made by PM Modi in a televised address to the nation, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, said India has no intention of entering into an arms race in outer space. The MEA statement asserted that space must be used only for peaceful purposes.
The National Investigation Agencys (NIA) heavy reliance on the retracted confession of accused Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand and disclosure statements of other accused to establish their guilt was a major reason behind the falling apart of the 2007 Samjhauta Express blasts case.

The order of special NIA court judge Jagdeep Singh said the investigative agency also depended on circumstantial evidence, but could not bring on record concrete oral, documentary or scientific evidence to connect the accused with the crime in question.

The judgment also brings out the sloppy investigation of the case by the NIA.

The entire prosecution case is found to have been built on inadmissible evidence in the shape of disclosure statements of the accused, without there being any discovery of new fact, recovery of material. Further, there is no credible and admissible evidence on record pertaining to any association, preparation, planning, execution by the accused with regard to carrying out explosion in Samjhauta Express, the court said.

Needs corroboration

The court said a retracted statement cannot be solely made the basis of conviction unless the same is corroborated. It would be sufficient if the general trend of the confession is substantiated by some evidence which would tally with what is contained in the confession, the court said.

The special court said that after marshalling the evidence on record, the retracted statement of Swami Aseemanand remained totally uncorroborated and even no general corroboration has been coming forthwith, what to talk of sufficient corroboration in material particulars by other evidence on record. None of the aspects and facts mentioned in the retracted confession has found any corroboration from any other evidence coming on record, the court said.

It said there is no evidence to make out the involvement of Lokesh Sharma. In his case, the prosecution has sought to place reliance on retracted confession of co-accused Swami Aseemanand in order to bring home guilt to this accused.

The confession of a co-accused cannot be elevated to the status of substantive evidence which can form basis of conviction of other co-accused. A retracted confession is a weak link against the maker and more so against a co-accused, the court said.

The court said the prosecution sought to lend credence to its version by submitting that there is extra-judicial confession of accused Kamal Chauhan before mediapersons and it be taken as corroborative piece of evidence.

The evidence nowhere makes out that accused Kamal Chauhan ever made any extra-judicial confession before the mediapersons with regard to his involvement in the crime. Thus, so far as any alleged extra-judicial confession of Chauhan is concerned, the case of the prosecution falls flat and has no legs to stand, the court said.

Sloppy probe

The court said the NIA chargesheet said that a thorough analysis of the call detail records of various mobile phones revealed that one of the accused, Sunil Joshi, was in Kothari market area at Indore on Feb 14, 2007 and call detail records of the telephone used by Pragya, Sunil Joshi, Sandeep Dange and Aseemanand showed inter-connectivity and links of suspects during February-March, 2007.

However, the prosecution/ NIA has not brought an iota of evidence on record to establish any such facts.

Neither any call detail records (CDRs) of any mobile phone nor any other evidence pertaining to ownership and possession of any mobile phone by the suspects has been brought on record. Neither dump data of tower of Kothari market area, Indore has proved on record nor any call details were furnished in the subscribers detail record and thus, again valuable piece of evidence remained untapped, the court said.

Likewise, there is no evidence pertaining to alleged meeting of suspects at Jaipur in October-November, 2005. Thus, there is not an iota of evidence to make out participation of accused persons in alleged meeting at Jaipur in October-November, 2005, the court said.

Fingerprints not matched

The court said it is nowhere made out from the evidence produced on record by the NIA that a report of the fingerprint expert was got matched or compared with the fingerprints of the suspects or the accused to get vital clue about the use of plastic bottles in the explosions carried out in Samjhauta Express.

Again a vital piece of evidence in the shape of scientific evidence has remained untapped, the court said.

A fingerprint expert, Bharat Singh, had visited the Panipat police post on February 24, 2007 and examined the plastic bottles recovered from the spot. Singh had also obtained the report of fingerprints from Ram Singh, inspector fingerprints, and deposited the report and case property with Malkhana.

NIA could not establish motive

The court said so far as motive to commit the crime is concerned, it is settled law that motive alone cannot be taken to base conviction of an accused, even though the same is relevant. In the present case, as per the version of prosecution, the accused were deeply angered by the spate of terrorist attacks committed by Jihadi terrorists on Hindu temples in India, it added.

The accused conspired and with the motive of avenging such attacks, carried out Samjhauta Express train blasts. First of all, the prosecution has failed to bring on record any evidence to make out any such motive on the part of accused facing the trial. Neither any oral nor any documentary evidence has come on record making out any such motive, the court said

No evidence on planting explosives

The court said there was no evidence regarding any agreement to commit the crime among the accused. There is no evidence regarding any meeting of minds between the accused to commit the crime. No concrete oral, documentary or scientific evidence has been brought on record to connect the accused, facing the trial, with the crime in question, the court said.

It added that there is not an iota of evidence to make out any motive on the part of the accused to indulge in the crime. There is no evidence on record to show as to how and from where raw materials for making of bombs were procured; as to who collected the material to prepare the explosives; as to who had assembled the bomb; as to how and from where technical know-how was obtained with regard to preparation of explosives; as to who planted the bombs in Samjhauta Express train.

The entire prosecution case is found to have been built on inadmissible evidence in the shape of disclosure statements of the accused, without there being any discovery of new fact, recovery of material. Further, there is no credible and admissible evidence on record pertaining to any association, preparation, planning, execution by the accused with regard to carrying out explosion in Samjhauta Express, the court said.

Circumstantial evidence

The court said the case was based on circumstantial evidence and it is a settled law that all circumstance must form a complete chain in order to rule out innocence of the accused persons or culpability of persons other than the accused.

Eight chargesheeted, only four tried by court

The NIA in its chargesheet had named eight persons as the accused in the case. But only four Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary  faced trial. The alleged mastermind of the attack Sunil Joshi was killed in December 2007. Three other accused Ramchandra Kalsangra Sandeep Dange and Amit are still absconding.
The Supreme Court on Friday confirmed the punishment of life sentence on P Rajagopal, the founder of chain of popular south Indian eatery, Saravana Bhavan for the murder of one Santhakumar.

P Rajagopal, currently out on bail, which was granted to him by the Supreme Court in 2009 on health grounds, has been directed by the court to surrender by July 7.

Delivering its verdict, a three judge bench of justices N.V. Ramana, Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Indira Banerjee held that, Having regard to the entire material on record and the totality of the facts and circumstances, we find that the evidence on record fully proves the case of the prosecution.

In 2001, P Rajagopala was accused of the abduction and murder of Shantakumar, husband of Jeevajyothi, with whom Rajagopal was obsession with and desperate to marry as his third wife.

Rajagopal was sentenced to 10 years in jail by the trial court for the offence of abduction and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

But in March 2009, Madras High Court enhanced the 10 year sentence imposed by the session court on Rajgopal and five others to life imprisonment on the ground that their offence fell under Section 302 IPC(murder) and not 304 Part-1 8 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

The prosecution case was that Rajagopal, conspired to finish off Santha Kumar and got him abducted in the presence of Jeevajyothi. He was taken to Kodaikanal hills where he was murdered and the body dumped in the jungles.

It was in 1994 that Rajagopal happened to meet Jeevajyothi, then a plus two student, at a get together of Saravana Bhavan employees in Chennai. From then on Annachi, as Rajagopal is to his employees and acquaintances, started stalking her.

At this juncture, an astrologer advised Rajagopal that a third marriage would brighten up his stars and help his business grow exponentially.

Unaware of Rajagopals machinations, Jeevajyothi fell in love with Santhakumar, a maths teacher who came for home tuition. She eloped with Santhakumar and got married in 1999.

When the couple returned to Chennai Rajagopal attempted to create a wedge between the young couple.

Rajagopal hired a supari team headed by one Daniel, and gave them ~5 lakh to eliminate Santhakumar. However, Daniel, who kidnapped Santhakumar, let him off by giving ~ 5000 and warning him to flee to Mumbai. Daniel and his team told Rajagopal that they had murdered and disposed off the body, reads the charge sheet filed in the case.
Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha on Friday came out in support of her father Shatrughan Sinha leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party and joining the Congress and said that he should have done it long ago.

Speaking at HT Indias Most Stylish 2009 awards, Sonakshi Sinha said, I think he should have done that long ago. He hadnt been getting the respect he deserved.

Lok Sabha MP Shatrughan Sinha had on Thursday ended all speculation about him joining the Congress after a meeting with the party president Rahul Gandhi at his residence in New Delhi.

Soon after his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Sinha had announced that he would join the Congress.

Joining will happen soon, we will give you a positive news during Navratri. I will join Congress now, he had said.

In a tweet, senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said that Sinha is scheduled to join on April 6.

Sinha, a two-time sitting BJP MP from the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat, has been critical of the Narendra Modi government for the past couple of years. His utterances both in public and on social media had led to him being sidelined within the party and being replaced as the partys candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will be contesting for the BJP from the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.

On Wednesday, in a four-part tweet, Sinha had come out in support of veteran BJP leader LK Advani and had criticised the BJP for not having fielded the veteran leader from his constituency Gandhinagar. BJP chief Amit Shah will be contesting from Gandhinagar, in his first outing in a Lok Sabha election.

In Bihar, the BJP is contesting the Lok Sabha election in alliance with the Janata Dal-United and the Lok Janshakti Party. The Congress on the other hand has tied up with the Rashtriya Janata Dal in the state. Bihar sends 40 members to the Lok Sabha.
India has called on the UN Security Council to ensure the implementation of counter-terror sanctions, saying apologists for terrorists or member-states that support them will continue to make excuses for their inaction.

No countries were named when Indias permanent representative Syed Akbaruddin made the appeal during an open debate at the Security Council on preventing the financing of terror, but he called out a serial offender for its support to terrorism  a thinly veiled reference to Pakistan.

Terrorists are going to be ever more creative in finding ways to violate the rulebook, he said. Also the unfortunate reality is that states who are apologists for terrorists will continue to provide alibis to justify their actions and inaction too, as was done by a serial offender earlier today.

Earlier, Pakistans envoy Maleeha Lodhi had said UN sanctions and other instruments and institutions for combating terror, such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which has grey-listed Pakistan, shouldnt be politicised.

She also brought up the Kashmir issue, as Pakistan always does at the UN.

Indias appeal for more robust enforcement of sanctions regimes came against the backdrop of a push by the US in the Security Council to blacklist Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, whose group claimed responsibility for the February 14 suicide car bombing in Pulwama that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers.

JeM was designated a terrorist group by UNs Islamic State and al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee in 2001 and Lashkar-e-Toiba in 2005.

Azhars listing by the Sanctions Committee was blocked by China, which put a technical hold on the latest and fourth attempt two weeks ago. The US, along with France and the UK, then decided to take the proposal to the Security Council and circulated a draft resolution on Wednesday, setting off informal discussions that can lead to an open debate and vote by the full council.

On Friday, China, defending its attempts to block Azhars listing, rebutted the US allegation that this action amounted to protecting terrorists from sanctions. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has denounced Chinas shameful hypocrisy toward Muslims, saying Beijing abuses more than a million Muslims at home but protects violent Islamic terror groups from UN sanctions.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the practice of placing a hold was in line with the rules of the Sanctions Committee. If a certain country accuses China of sheltering terrorists by putting technical hold, does that mean all the countries that put such holds are sheltering terrorists, he asked.

Chinas hold, he reiterated, is meant to allow an assessment and to make time for dialogue and consultations.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously adopted a French-drafted resolution that was the first stand-alone measure dedicated to countering terror financing. The resolution urged all states to ensure their domestic laws and regulations establish serious criminal offenses to prosecute those who collect funds or provide economic resources to terror groups or terrorists.

The binding resolution was drafted under chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which means it can be enforced with sanctions. UN counter-terror chief Vladimir Voronkov said the measure comes at a critical time as recent attacks had shown terror groups have access to financial flows through legal and illegal means.

The resolution urged countries to establish financial intelligence units to strengthen efforts to track terror financing and to share information. FATF president Marshall Billingslea said less than a fifth of countries are applying laws that prosecute suspected terror financiers. The resolution will also help FATF increase pressure on more than 50 countries to pass new legislation on terror financing.

India argued during Thursdays debate that while the resolution on terror financing was a milestone, efforts must be made to ensure its implementation. As the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in its eating, the utility of any council resolution will, therefore, be in its implementation, Akbaruddin said.

He said implementation reports on measures imposed by 1267 Sanctions Committee had not been updated for years and in some cases for more than a decade. India would also like to see better coordination between FATF and UN bodies.
Two minor Dalit girls were allegedly abducted and gang-raped by five youngsters in a village in Bamrauli area under the Dhumanganj police station on Tuesday night after they went to relieve themselves in the nearby fields, police said.

The girls, aged 15 and 14, were out on the field when five youths abducted them in a car and gang-raped them.

The victims, who later reached home, were admitted to the hospital. The condition of one of the girls is reported to be serious. Meanwhile, a relative of the girl blamed the police for the delay in filing the FIR. The relative alleged that a case was eventually registered against one known and four unidentified accused only on Thursday night after intervention from senior police officials.

Mohit Agarwal, inspector general, Prayagraj Range said, Medical examination of the girls has been carried out and their statements will be recorded soon. Teams have been constituted for the arrest of the culprits and an enquiry has been initiated to investigate the cause of delay in lodging the FIR .
A US-made M4 rifle used by Pakistani army has been seized by security forces after the early morning encounter with two top Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in Jammu and Kashmirs Budgam district on Friday, a top security official said.

Two key Jaish operatives, suspected to be Pakistani nationals, were killed in Fridays gun battle that erupted during a cordon and search operation by security forces.

The operation was part of the crackdown by the security establishment after the February 14 Pulwama bombing that killed 40 CRPF soldiers and was followed by the Indian Air Force air strike at a massive Jaish camp in Balakot across the border.

In the last 24 hours alone, 6 top terrorists have been killed and a seventh, arrested in Jammu and Kashmir. More than 30 operatives have been killed in operations after the Pulwama attack, most of them are linked to the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The seizure of the American rifle, the senior official cited above said, again establishes a link between the terror group and elements within the Pakistan Army and its Special Forces.

This is the second M4 carbine seized in the Kashmir valley in the last six months. Last year, security forces had found a similar American rifle on Usman Haider, Jaish chief Masood Azhars nephew. Haider, who was claimed by the terror group to have led sniper attacks in Kashmir, was among the three terrorists killed in the 31 October 2017 gunfight.

The first occasion when security forces found an M4 carbine from a terrorist in Kashmir was in September 2017 when security forces found the US-made firearm after the encounter involving another nephew of Masood Azhar, Talha Rashid.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will conduct a citizenship screening exercise in Bengal to identify and weed out infiltrators, party president Amit Shah said at a public rally in the north Bengal district of Alipurduars on Friday.

Will implement National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal to identify and throw out each and every infiltrator from the state. We want to assure each and every Hindu refugee that none has to leave the country. All of you will have a place to live in India with respect. The Citizenship Amendment Bill is our commitment, said Shah.

Polling will be held in two constituencies Alipurduars and Cooch Behar on April 11  the first phase of elections.

Shah also took a jibe at the Ma-Mati-Manush slogan of the Trinamool and said that they have gifted mati (land) to infiltrators (from bordering Bangladesh).

Fridays speech was Shahs first in the state since the date of elections were announced on March 10.

The BJP boss devoted almost the entire speech in criticising Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her politics of appeasement. He said that he had no problem with her decision to pay stipend to imams, but demanded he she should have also done the same for Hindu priests.

Incidentally, imams get the stipend from Wakf board.

There has to be a limit to appeasement. For madrasa education, she allotted 40 billion (4,000 crore) that exceeds the budget allocation for higher education. Elect Modi and he will flood the place with institutes for making doctors and engineers, said Shah.

He also alleged that the state government is trying to push Urdu in Bengali medium schools, and pointed out that two of BJPs workers Tapas Barman and Rajesh Sarkar fell to police bullets in Islampur (of North Dinajpur district) while agitating against recruitment of an Urdu teacher (in a local school) last year.

Shah also took on the Trinamool chief for questioning Indias air strikes against Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack in February.

Instead of questioning the role of Pakistan, Mamata is questioning the air strikes of India because of her politics of appeasement. She wants to please her vote bank. Mamata does not want that we answer Pakistan. But do not worry. No matter what Mamata and Akhilesh (Yadav) might wish, Modi will always pursue tit-for-tat policy, Shah said.

Only Modi can save Bengal from Mamatas misrule, the BJP president said.

Modi sent 4,349 billion (4,34,9 00 crore) in five years but it did not reach you because Trinamool goons appropriated it, alleged Shah.

Reacting to his comments, Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, We will never allow any NRC exercise in Bengal. They (BJP) want to divide the people on religious and communal lines. We will never allow that to happen. Chatterjee challenged Shah to win a single seat in the state in the general election.
Former chief minister and Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (JVM) president Babulal Marandi is confident that all differences in the opposition grand alliance in Jharkhand would be sorted out very soon.

Talking to media persons here on Thursday, Marandi said, In democracy, leaders of all political parties want to contest elections. Therefore some differences are bound to emerge. However, I am sure that JMM and Congress, which are main partners of the alliance in the state, would sort out the difference both with Rashtriya Janata Dal as well as Left parties. Talks with both RJD and Left are on and by the time of nomination comes, all opposition would join hands to defeat BJP and save democracy.

The former chief minister, who is expected to contest from Koderma, said the opposition alliance would wrest all seats in the state from the BJP. Presently, 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats are with the BJP while the rest two is represented by the JMM.

Marandi also underplayed former RJD state chief Annapurna Devi joining the BJP. This instead shows how desperate the BJP is for power.

Marandi, meanwhile, faces an uphill task from Koderma seat as he is like to face Annapurna Devi who will contest on BJP ticket. Further, legislator Raj Kumar Yadav is being fielded as candidate of CPI (ML) from the seat.

Marandi also praised Rahul Gandhi for his simplicity. On the issue of who would lead the country if the grand alliance comes to power, Marandi said in democracy its members of parliament select their leader. Once we come to power, we would select our leader, he added.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said in last five years Modi has weakened all institutions bodies including CBI, CVC and Election Commission of India.

Even judiciary was not spared, claimed Marandi. He gave example of press conference by four judges of the Supreme Court but refused to comment that one of the judges who had been in that press conference now happens to be the Chief Justice of India. I would not comment on this issue, said Marandi.

He also criticised the state government for its failure in maintaining the health and education systems in Jharkhand.

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Smollett, who is African-American and openly gay, has said he was walking from a Subway sandwich shop to his apartment in the 300 block of East North Water Street about 2 a.m. Jan. 29 when two men walked up, yelled racial and homophobic slurs, hit him and wrapped a noose around his neck. Smollett said they also poured a bleachlike substance on him and yelled, "This is MAGA country," in reference to Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again."
Amid consistent attacks on her family and party by the BJP, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said she, her family and party did not need any certificate from those who betrayed the nation and would not be browbeaten by them.

We do not need any certificate from those who worked against the interests of the country during the freedom struggle and wrote to the British government to be freed from jails. We have fought the freedom struggle and are not afraid of them. We are not going to be browbeaten by them, said Priyanka, while addressing Congress workers at a closed-door meeting here.

Though the Congress general secretary did not name any leader or party, her reference to the saffron brigade for arousing nationalist passions was obvious. Those who are talking about corruption are corrupt themselves, those who are talking of their work have not worked and those who are talking of religion indulge in irreligious acts. They are using martyrs for political purposes, she said

Priyanka, who is on her first visit to the family bastions after assuming office as Congress general secretary, held similar interactions with partymen in Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress president Rahul Gandhi till late Wednesday night.

She also held meetings with booth level workers of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhis Lok Sabha constituency, Rae Bareli till late Thursday evening. Priyanka will leave for Ayodhya for a day-long visit on Friday.

She told workers that she may not be able to give much time to the two constituencies and asked them to gear up for the 2019 elections.

Without naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Priyanka also referred to Modis 56 inch wide chest observations and how the Shiksha Mitras and others were beaten up by police while holding demonstrations to press for their demands. Those who held demonstrations were not only beaten up by police but NSA was also invoked against them. They (BJP) have adopted a policy of beating the demonstrators and invoking NSA against them. They have talked about 56 inch wide chest. But this shows their weakness. A strong government wants to hear the voice of the people. A democratic government wants the people to be aware of things. They (BJP) do not tolerate if anybody holds demonstration against them. In a democracy the government should be happy if any demonstrations are held, said Priyanka.

Priyanka also targeted the Modi government for demonetization and failure to create the promised number of jobs. Demonetization made the youth jobless in urban areas. In rural areas, too, most of the MNREGA work was being done through contractors, she said.

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Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh asked Thursday why the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was hostile to him, a Hindu.

Singh, who is the Congress candidate from Bhopal, said he was a disciple of Shankaracharya, but he did not show off his faith.

I have no dispute with the RSS. If the RSS is an organisation of Hindus, Digvijaya Singh too is a Hindu. Then why this hostility, he said, when asked by reporters why the BJP dubs him as anti-RSS and anti-Hindu.

I am an anointed disciple of Dwarka and Jyotish PeethShankaracharya Swami SwaroopanandaSaraswati since 1983.

Neither I tom-tom my faith from the rooftop nor do I exploit it during elections, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said.

Politics divides, it divides even families. Therefore religion should not be connected to politics, the Congress leader said.

To a question about BJPs slogan of Congress-Mukt Bharat (Congress-free India), he said, This was the mindset of Hitler...this mean no opposition. We are fighting this mindset. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised two crore jobs, but after note-ban, 27,000 jobs were lost every day, he claimed.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)
It is mid-morning on Thursday in Meeruts Sardhana town, shops are opening; groups of people are catching up over the news; and some have begun leaving for a ground near the toll plaza on the highway, 15km away, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is kicking off his Lok Sabha election campaign.

When asked about the chunaavi mahaul, the buzz around elections, Om Pal, who is sitting at a tea shop with four others, starts off by saying it is too early. But arent elections a mere fortnight away? Meerut votes on April 11. He smiles: But things change overnight. For now, advantage is with Modiji. Pal sells vegetables on a roadside cart and belongs to an Other Backward Class (OBC) group.

Omkar, sitting alongside, is more certain. Modiji will be back. He is making India a mahashakti, a superpower. When asked about his background, Omkar says he served in the army in multiple locations - Jabalpur, Jammu, Himachal and Punjab. Were the Balakot strikes a major turning point for him? Our policy should be simple. Dont kill. We wont kill. But if you kill, we will kill too. While impressed with Modis response to Pakistan, Omkar says the key reason for his support is actually the work done in rural areas. When asked about his caste, he replies, I am a Jatav. Jatavs, a scheduled caste subgrouping , have largely supported the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Watch: They couldnt even open your bank accounts: Modi mocks Cong income vow

A third person in the group, Vinod Kushwaha, also from an OBC group, introduces himself as a lawyer. With a tika on the forehead, he says, Our MLA is Sangeet Som. We have some problems with him. Our MP is Rajendra Agarwal. He has implemented government schemes well. But the reason we are voting for BJP is only one -- Narendra Modi.

There is a fourth person who has remained quiet so far. When asked about his choice, he is hesitant. Kamil is a Muslim, and when others encourage him to speak up, he says that he is with the Mahagatbandhan, the alliance of Samajwadi Party (SP) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD.

Some distance away, Mohammad Danish, who runs a small counter aiding people with filing paperwork, legal documents and getting Aadhar identity numbers, is far more vocal about his views.

We are fully with the alliance. The BJP regime is completely one-sided. Muslims have no voice. Earlier, they accused SP of goondagardi, hooliganism -- but the BJP practices the same. And they harass mostly Muslims. Danish adds that if Modi had actually practised Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (with everyone, and for everyones development, one of the partys campaign slogans in 2014), things would have been different.

It is these voices of support and discontent that describe the BJPs political prospects and challenges in the western Uttar Pradesh region. The party will be reassured by the solid support of OBC groups that Kushwaha and Pal represent; it will be heartened at the fact that it has even been able to break into the Jatav vote bank although Omkar could well be an exception; but Muslim opposition remains steadfast. And the party is confronting an alliance.

Modi was stepping into address his first official rally of the 2019 campaign in this backdrop -- with the aim of keeping his core vote enthused and intact; seeking to break into the votes of SP-BSP; and projecting a sense of inevitability of his victory and creating a hawa (atmosphere) to sway the fence sitters.

Back in the rally ground, crowds have slowly begun strolling. Supporters have gathered from four constituencies -- Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor. Many of the people HT spoke to have come specially for the rally, bussed in on vehicles organised by the party and local candidates. They are his supporters. And therefore, they represent only one broad political view. However , their comments illustrate their morale and their reasons for sticking to the party.

A group of OBC men from Muzaffarnagar admit that the contest in their seat will be tough, for incumbent Sanjeev Baliyan now faces RLD supremo Ajit Singh. But one of them, who wishes to remain unidentified since he is a BJP worker, says: Our margin will reduce drastically. Baliyan won by four lakh votes last time. This time, we will win by less than a lakh votes. Baghpat is also a close seat for us this time. There, RLDs Jayant Chaudhary is contesting against minister of state Satyapal Singh. The Jat vote will be important in both seats.

A little later, when Modi speaks, he pays tributes to Jat leader, the late Chaudhary Charan Singh (Ajit Singhs father) twice -- in a clear signal to Jats in the region that RLD is not their only option and they should consider sticking to BJP, which respects the former PMs legacy as deeply.

The rows at the back of the ground are still relatively empty at 11am, the scheduled time for Modis rally. UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath arrives. Preliminary speakers -- primarily MLAs from the region -- warm up the audience, their speeches revolving around Modis pro-poor governance and surgical strikes. People come in over the next half an hour, some with Modi T-shirts, others with Modi masks, and many with BJP flags.

Among them are Harendra Singh and Mahendra Singh. Both say they are Jatavs from Meeruts Kila Parikshit and joined the BJP in 2017, after Adityanaths election. They claim that it was primarily the work done by the government in their area -- providing housing and toilets, and most importantly for them, electrification -- which made them stick to BJP.

But what about unemployment? Mahendra Singh, the younger of the two, says: People are not able to manage their homes. Modi is managing the entire country. Things will take time. The UP government has started recruitment in a fair manner. Would Congress announcement of providing 6,000 per month sway the scheduled castes ? Singh says: People dont know much about it right now.

As Modi appears on the stage, the crowd stands up on chairs, waving, and responding most loudly to slogans like Phir ek baar, Modi sarkar (one more time; Modi government). The contrast is stark with the preliminary speakers, including the partys candidates, who drew limited response from the crowd. Modis attacks on Pakistan and the opposition draw most applause.

Strikingly though, about 15 minutes or so after Modi begins speaking, both Harendra and Mahendra Singh gradually make their way out, as do many others. This is unlike rallies in 2014 when there was a higher curiosity value about Modi, and people who made their way in usually stayed until the very end.

There is, however, no accurate way to judge how many people turned up in total. Organisers exaggerate figures; the Opposition downplays it; people came in and went out and it wasnt static; and independent assessments are difficult to get.

Modis first rally showcased the BJPs biggest brand to its constituents in west UP. Polls here are crucial because it is in the first phase -- and the party believes that this will set the mood for future phases. The rally revealed his continued popularity, while at the same time, showed that he will have to continue to reinvent his messaging to keep it fresh till May 19.
Early this month, the Aam Aadmi Party had picked up a popular track, Apna Time Aayega, from the Hindi movie Gully Boy and circulated it by replacing the original video with photos and video clips of the partys South Delhi candidate Raghav Chadha.

In April, the AAP will be using two more videos from the same movie for their election campaign in South Delhi. The two new Gully Boy tracks that have recently been edited for the AAPs campaign in South Delhi are Sher Aaya and Azadi, AAP functionaries said on Thursday.

The Ranveer Singh-Alia Bhatt starrer Gully Boy, released on February 14, 2019, is a movie based on a Muslim rap artist who resides in a Mumbai slum. While the track Aapna Time Aayega was originally performed by Singh himself, Sher Aaya was performed by Mumbai-based artiste Divine and Azadi was performed by artistes Divine and Dub Sharma together.

The Apna Time Aayega video did really good over Facebook and WhatsApp. It is still doing the rounds. Thats why we decided to go for two more Gully Boy videos, said Rahul T, a campaign consultant working with the AAPs South Delhi team.

Rahul had earlier worked as campaign designer for the Samajwadi Party ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in 2017. He had also campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014 general elections, he said.

The Sher Aya mix for the AAP, Rahul said, is largely based on an incident on October 31 when during the Run for Unity programme, BJP MP from South Delhi, Ramesh Bidhuri, had allegedly assaulted and misbehaved with a group of Poorvanchalis (people from eastern Uttar Pradesh)

Ramesh Bidhuri said that the incident was politicised by AAP. The AAP made it a regional issue by playing the Poorvanchali card. Poorvanchalis have elected me as MLA thrice (before he was elected an MP). Let them (AAP) use anything in their campaign, he said.

Rahul said the second song, Azadi, seeks freedom from communal politics, hooliganism, regionalism and discrimination.

The AAP has already circulated the Sher Aaya track in few closed WhatsApp groups, but Azadi is yet to be circulated in social media. We have to be careful in how we share this video as it can be misinterpreted and politicised, said Rahul.

While it was a team of three, which had created the Apna Time Aayega mix for the campaign in South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, the other two were produced by Rahul on his own, said people associated with Chadhas campaign team.
Watching PM Narendra Modis rally in Meerut on Thursday, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav appears amused. In an interview, he told Hindustan Times that Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which, together with an ally, won 73 of UPs 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, would lose a large number of them in the coming elections. Edited excerpts:

Q: Is your father and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav happy with your decision to ally with BSF chief Mayawati, with whom he had a political break-up about two decades ago?

A: Yes. He is certainly happy and is contesting election from Mainpuri. He also knows that this alliance has been forged to save the country from crisis and impending danger.

Q: You are planning a joint rally with Mayawati in Mainpuri. Why, and will he [Mulayam] share the dais?

We have planned a number of joint rallies across the state that includes Mainpuri too. He will share the dais.

Q: Has Mulayam spoken to Mayawati in the recent past?

No, not in recent days. But he did call her up to congratulate her on our victory in Lok Sabha by-elections in Gorakhpur and other constituencies.

Q: Dont you think Firozabad will cause political embarrassment with two family members  Ram Gopal Yadavs son Akshay Pratap Singh and Mulayams brother Shivpal Singh Yadav  contesting against each other? And will you and Mulayam campaign?

No, there will be no embarrassment. In fact we are going to win the seat with a huge margin. I will campaign, netaji [Mulayam] may also visit the constituency. He has already blessed Akshay.

Q: Is the BJP supporting Shivpal Singh Yadav (Akhileshs estranged uncle)?

I dont want to comment on that. But yes, when we were being evicted from our official residences, the Yogi [Adityanath] government had promptly given a chief ministers bungalow to him. We also know that some opposition leaders have been meeting the chief minister at his official bungalow late in the night.

Q: Dont you think BJP will gain from a triangular contest? Was it Mayawati who threw a spanner in the formation of a grand alliance between the three parties (SP, BSP and Congress) ?

No, she did not throw a spanner in it. It is the Congress and its arrogance that is responsible for it. In some ways, the BJP and the Congress are same in their behaviour with other parties. They dont know how to give [others] respect.

Q: Did Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra speak to you? Is there any possibility of a tactical understanding even now?

No comments. As of now, I can say that we will never be with Congress. They are more interested in rebuilding their party in the state than defeating/stopping BJP. I think our alliance is strong enough to take on the BJP, which is nervous, which is clearly reflected in their decision to renominate most of the sitting MPs. They have only dropped Dalit MPs.

Q: Many believe you are playing second fiddle to Mayawati. Is it correct?

This is BJPs propaganda. I met several national leaders who were of the view that SP-BSP should come together to stop BJPs victory march and save the country from a deep crisis. There is nothing senior or junior in politics. Alliances are built on mutual respect.

Q: You heard the PM described your alliance as SARAB (liquor), an acronym for Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party. Your comment?

Well, it is an alliance of farmers, and the poor. BJP is confused as it knows the party is not getting votes on development. That is why they are testing issues like nationalism, Hindutva, and communal polarisation.

Despite being the same partys government at the Centre and in UP, they have failed to provide jobs and a quota for Jats. They are silent on demonetisation as they failed to check black money. Mere slogans will not help as people want change as he [Modi] has betrayed them on promises that he made in 2014. Ours is an alliance of farmers and poor.

Our alliance represents the multicultural character of the country.

Q: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said his government has not discriminated in the implementation of welfare schemes. Whats your take?

I would want the BJP high command to tell the people how many governors, chief ministers and university vice-chancellors were picked from the backward classes.

Q: The CM said the BSP will end up with zero and even the SP will not make much headway.

He did not know about the fate of the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat that he had been representing for long, in the by-election, till they lost it.

Q: The common perception is that Yadav votes wont transfer to the BSP.

Its a misconception. The alliance is strong from top to ground level.

Q: You want to field a strong candidate in Lucknow. Why?

We are contesting this election on the slogan of development and my government did tremendous development work in Lucknow.

Q: The Opposition lacks a leader of the stature of Modi.

We have many leaders and will take a call as and when the time comes.
Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the Congress is confident of winning all the 10 Lok Sabha elections in the state like it did in the 2009 elections.

Addressing the media during the Congress parivartan yatra on Thursday, Hooda said, The party is already sure about six to seven candidates who will contest the elections. It is almost decided that Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ashok Tanwar will contest from the Sirsa seat.

On senior Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, who has been conspicuous by his absence in the party programmes, Hooda said, If he hasnt joined the yatra so far, he will be joining it soon. He will also be present during Congress president Rahul Gandhis rally at Yamunanagar on Friday.

When contacted, a close aide of Bishnoi confirmed that he will be present during Rahuls rally.

Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was accompanying Hooda, said, The BJP has so far failed to redress the problem of the common people. BJP had promised to bring back black money but it failed to do so? Recently, Indian scientists showed their best performance by launching satellite-killer missile into the space, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the entire credit. The government must give credit to the Indian scientists.
The alliance between the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar was saved from the brink of collapse on Thursday after the two parties agreed to swap some seats in a compromise deal, people familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity.

Both Congress and RJD wanted to contest the Darbangha and Supaul parliamentary seats in Bihar, the people said. The RJD argued that Darbhanga was one of its strongholds and its candidate Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi had lost to Kirti Azad in 2014, then with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and now with Congress, by a thin margin.

RJD contended that Fatmi has been winning Lok Sabha elections from Darbhanga since 1991, barring in 1999, 2009 and 2014

Under the new compromise deal, the RJD will contest the Darbhanga seat. Kirti Azad will be in the fray from Paschim Champaran.

This time, the RJD is likely to field senior leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui as its Darbhanga candidate.Also, the RJD agreed to leave Supaul for the Congress, whose candidate Ranjeet Ranjan is set to seek re-nomination from the seat.

The RJD was angered by Ranjans husband Rajesh Ranjan, better known as Pappu Yadav, filing his nomination as an independent from Madhepura against its nominee Sharad Yadav, who is expected to merge his Loktantrik Janata Dal with the RJD after the polls.

Pappu Yadav won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Madhepura on an RJD ticket but was later expelled from the party.

Bihar sends 40 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha. Overall, the seat-sharing distribution has remained unchanged, with the RJD contesting 20 seats, Congress nine, Upendra Kushwahas Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) five, Jitan Ram Manjhis Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and Mukesh Sahnis Vikasshil Insan Party (VIP) three seats each.

The hitch in the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) apparently also delayed the induction of rebel Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shatrughan Sinha in the Congress.

While he was set to be inducted into the Congress on Thursday, it was later announced that the event will now take place on April 6. Sinha, who met Congress president Rahul Gandhi, later told reporters that the announcement would be made on the auspicious occasion of Navratra.

The outspoken former union minister said he will fight from Patna Sahib, whatever be the situation. The BJP has already named Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad as its candidate from the seat.

At the time of his joining, Sinha wants both Congress and RJD leaders to be present to project a picture of unity. RJD leaders are also backing Sinha from Patna Sahib,

The seat-sharing agreement had caused some heartburn in the Congress with a section of leaders claiming that their party had been given a raw deal.

It is unfortunate that we have got no seat in Mithilanchal which used to be our bastion at one point of time. There is no effort to regain our traditional stronghold, senior Congress leader from Bihar Kishore Kumar Jha said.

The region has a strong presence of Maithili Brahmins, Muslims and backward classes.

We [Congress] have compromised a lot in this seat-sharing deal. We have clearly been given a raw deal, Jha added.

Another Congress leader said on condition of anonymity that Gandhi does not want the collapse of the alliance and was willing to accommodate the RJDs concerns for the larger goal of ousting the BJP from power in this summers Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi addresses gathering in Haryanas Karnal

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is currently addressing a gathering in Haryanas Karnal.

Up to Priyanka to decide if she wants to contest election or not: Rahul Gandhi

Referring to demands from party leaders that his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should contest, Gandhi told PTI in an interview that she will have to take a call on whether to fight the polls or not.

Speculation about the newly appointed Congress general secretary contesting grew after she asked people in Varanasi on Thursday whether she should fight the polls from the temple town, the constituency from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a re-election.

If the party tells me, I will fight from anywhere: Priyanka Gandhi

A day after hinting that she is not averse to contesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked him for ignoring his own Varanasi constituency.

On Thursday night, reacting to a suggestion from a party worker that she should fight the elections from her mother Sonia Gandhis Rae Bareli constituency, Priyanka Gandhi had quipped, Shouldnt I fight from Varanasi?She fuelled more speculation on this possibility on Friday by targeting Modi over the state of the constituency that sent him to Parliament in 2014.

But when reporters asked her a direct question, she said, If the party tells me, I will fight from anywhere.At a nukkad sabha  street corner meeting -- in Ayodhya, she lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, calling it pro-rich, anti-farmer and against the interests of the armed forces.

Referring to her own recent visit to Varanasi, Priyanka Gandhi said she was told about the road from the airport to the city when she asked about development in the area.

BJP releases 12th list

The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party has released the twelfth list of 11 candidates for the ensuing General Elections to the Parliamentary Constituency of different states.

U-turn babu is an expert in claiming Centres schemes as his own: PM Modi

And now, this U-turn babu has found such friends who move on bail-gadi, those who are out on bail. Now hes on a track where Pakistan is looking at him as its hero.

To satisfy his own ego, to hide his inabilities, the people running the govt in the state are telling all kinds of lies. The U-turn babu is an expert in telling lies and is also an expert in claiming centres schemes as his own. That is why people call him sticker babu, said PM Modi.

Andhra govt schemes are scams in themselves: PM Modi

In Andhra, people say that there are no scams in government schemes. Instead, those schemes themselves are the scam.

From new capital to different schemes, the people of Andhra know whose pockets are being lined.

When your chowkidar raised questions, the U-Turn babu took a u-turn from Andhras development and broke away from the NDA, said PM Modi.

Your vote will ensure the double-engined development: PM Modi

Your vote will ensure the double-engined development. Double engine meaning BJP government at Centre and in the state also, said PM Modi in Andhra Pradesh.

They spread hatred, we spread love: Rahul Gandhi

They spread hatred, we spread love, said Rahul Gandhi at a poll campaign rally in Haryanas Kurukshetra.

One day Andhra Pradeshs sunrise will take place: PM in Andhra

One day Andhra Pradeshs sunrise will take place and corruptions son-set will take place, said PM Modi in Andhra Pradesh.

No permission will be needed from any dept to open a new business: Rahul

Right, if the youth wants to start a new business, they need to go and take permission from various departments and agencies, and then corruption plays a role in those departments. However, if Congress is voted to power, no youth will have to take permission from any department. Instead, the govt will stand by their side in starting their business and also creating employment, said Rahul Gandhi in Kurukshetra.

Rahul Gandhi explains NYAY scheme

PM Modi promised 15 lakh to the poor. Im not going to lie, giving Rs. 15 lakh is not possible. However, the Congress has come up with the NYAY scheme for those who earn less 72,000 per year. We promise to give money to those who earn less than 12,000 per month, said Rahul Gandhi in Haryana.

Theres no shortage of money: Rahul Gandhi

Theres no shortage of money, which is why Congress has decided that if PM Modi doesnt give justice to the farmers, small businessmen, and the poor, we will serve justice to them,said Rahul Gandhi .

Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi over demonetisation, Rafale deal

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday renewed his attack on PM Narendra Modi over demonetisation, and Rafale deal.

Amit Shah addresses public meeting in Bihars Aurangabad

Amit Shah addresses public meeting at Gandhi Maidan, Aurangabad, Bihar.

CPI releases manifesto, announces assured pension of 9k per month

The CPI Friday announced that it would give a minimum pension of 9,000 per month, grant full statehood to Delhi and Puducherry and a one-time comprehensive loan waiver for farmers as part of its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls. The Communist Party of India (CPI) also proposed a law for agricultural workers and a separate budget for agriculture.

The party said it would increase the number of guaranteed employment days under the MNREGA scheme to 200 days per family and ensure wage payment within the period of guaranteed statute and at par with legal minimum wages for unskilled farm labour.

Odisha BJP candidate Bhagirathi Sethi joins BJD

Odisha BJP candidate from Anandpur assembly constituency, Bhagirathi Sethi joins BJD.

Cong manifesto extremely powerful document: Rahul Gandhi

Cong manifesto extremely powerful document, built through extensive consultations with range of stakeholders: Rahul Gandhi to PTI

BJPs Sambit Patra files his nomination

BJPs Sambit Patra files his nomination for Odishas Puri Lok Sabha Constituency, at District Collector and Magistrates office in Puri.

Centre alloted 1.50 crore pucca houses to the poor of this country: PM

We gave 1.50 crore pucca houses to the poor of this country but the govt here said they would allot them flats. How many did actually get the flats, asked PM Naredra Modi.

Centre could have done more work, but state didnt care: PM Modi

Whatever work we have done, we could have done more but the state government did not care. The situation is that the state government has the expertise in putting their label on the policies of the central government. That is okay but they should at least work, said PM Narendra Modi in Telanganas Mahbubnagar.

Election in April or May -- TRS would have lost its glory: PM Modi

KCR was responsible for wastage of so much money by going in for separate elections for assembly and Lok Sabha. Who is bearing this burden? Then, too, some astrologers might have advised him to go in for early polls. Because, you will be outshone in the glory of Modi. Election in April or May -- TRS would have lost its glory.: PM Modi

Was astrology behind delay in cabinet formation: PM Modi

In the last assembly elections, you gave the verdict. But what has happened? The hastiness shown in conducting the elections was not shown in expanding the cabinet. Three months to form government. Astrologers advised for early elections. Were same astrologers responsible for stalling the formation of cabinet?: PM Modi hits out at Telangana govt

You are not going to elect just one MP or one MP but a new India: PM Modi

From protecting the country to farmers welfare, I never left any field. On April 11, you are not going to elect just one MP or one MP but a new India to fulfil every needs of Telangana people. Entire world is acknowledging our progress, our commitment, self-reliance, self-respect. Next five years, this will sustain. New India will be heralded. We shall go together hand in hand: PM Modi

We have done wonders, ran a decisive govt, says PM Modi

You saw the previous governments of Congress and other parties. You have also seen five years of this Chowkidar. There are many programmes that I have taken up and are in progress. From Swarch Bharat; basic needs of people to testing of anti-satellite missile. This goverment has done. We have done wonders. I could run a decisive government: PM Modi

Toiled day and night to improve your living standards: PM Modi

I toiled day and night to improve your living standards.. braved all the attacks from my rivals.. I could succeed only because of your blessings.. I did not deviate my sankalp: PM Modi

With your blessings, I ran the government for five years: PM Modi

Your chowkidar has come to you to seek your blessings once again, PM Modi says Modi in Mahabubnagar.

With your blessings, your support, I ran the government for five years with commitment and dedication

Got idea of income guarantee from PM Modis 15 lakh speech: Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi says got idea of income guarantee from PM Modis 15 lakh speech.

I listened to Narendra Modis speech in which he promised to give 15 lakh to every Indian. He said it three-four times. I got the idea that money must go the bank accounts of the poor, Gandhi said at a public rally in Haryanas Yamunanagar.

Dont encourage politics based on lies : Priyanka Gandhi

Dont encourage politics based on lies . If you encourage politics based on lies, you are harming your own interests. My complaint that you have forgotten You have forgotten that the government is in your hands, not the political leaders. People should understand their power: Priyanka Gandhi

BJP govt doesnt have courage to listen to your voices, says Priyanka Gandhi

I dont think there has been a weaker government than the current one: Priyanka Gandhi

This govt doesnt have courage to hear your voice. It doesnt go to villages because it doesnt want to hear discordant voices Because this government has failed to deliver on its promises, she said. This politics that seeks to keep you disempowered, negates you, what should we call it: Priyanka Gandhi

PM Modi has ignored his own constituency: Priyanka Gandhi

PM Modi has ignored his own constituency: Priyanka Gandhi

BJP govt is anti-farmers, anti-forces: Priyanka Gandhi

BJP govt is anti-farmers, anti-force: Priyanka Gandhi in Faizabad

Indias farmers are drowning in debt: Priyanka Gandhi

Priyanka Gandhi during campaigning in Ayodhya

General Secretary UP-East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during her election campaign at Kumharganj district Ayodhya on the last day of her three days election campaign. (HT Photo/Deepak Gupta)

Samjhauta case used to push political theory of Hindu terror: Arun Jaitley on clean chit to accused

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday attacked the Congress-led UPA government blaming it for the clean chit given to all the accused in the 2007 Samjhauta blast case. Jaitley said the trial in court happened on the basis of evidence collected during the UPA regime.

He said the previous regime floated the theory of Hindu terror to gain political mileage and caught the wrong persons while letting the real culprits remain at large.

When India takes action against terrorists, some here ask for proof: PM

It has been one month, Pakistan is still counting the dead bodies and our rivals are seeking proof for Balakot strike, said PM Modi adding, When India takes action against terrorists, enters their home and kills them then some here ask for proof.

Shouldnt we teach a lesson to those who insult out army, scientists: PM Modi

Shouldnt we teach a lesson to those who insult out army, out scientists: PM Modi

India is capable of watching over space too: PM Modi

India is capable of watching over space too: PM Modi

Those people who think this achievement is small, India is watching over the words and actions of those peole too: PM Modi taunts opposition.

People deserve the credit for my govts success in five years: PM Modi

I could do whatever I could for Odisha because of your support....If there is someone who deserves the credit for my governments five years success, its the people: PM Modi

Country exists because of people like you: PM Modi

Because of people like you the country exists today, and because of hardworking people like you is the identity of the country: PM Mpdo

This chowkidar has come among you to seek your blessings: PM Modi

This chowkidar has come among you to seek your blessings : PM Modi at Koraput
Nitin Gadkari, who has earned praise from both his party BJP and the Opposition for his stint as the road transport and highways minister, is considered an undisputed leader in Maharashtras Vidarbha

Considered close to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the 62-year-old is said to be the nemesis for the Congress in the region, which was once a citadel of the grand old party.

In his nearly 40 years of political career Gadkari has been the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and held five important portfolios at the Centre -- road transport, shipping, water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation. He has claimed to have undertaken projects and works worth 17 lakh crore during his five-year stint at the Centre.

I love those who get things done, is the strong message plastered on the walls of his Nagpur office.

He is called a Vikas Purush for his tenure as Maharashtras public works department (PWD) minister in the 1990s when the state saw an unprecedented infrastructure development during his tenure. A total of 55 flyovers in Mumbai alone, an ambitious Mumbai-Pune Express Highway and a host of roads and flyover projects across the state changed the face of Maharashtra.

He used to tell the officers that never say no to any public interest project even if it is not in the rulebook. He wanted to know how it can be done instead, said a senior retired bureaucrat.

He has earned praise from opposition leaders like Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi even appreciated Gadkaris work in Parliament.

His passion for development, love for the uplift of the poor and ability to deliver despite odds appeals to the grassroots workers.

Politics must never come in the way of development. I entered politics to work for the welfare and uplift of the poor, downtrodden, exploited and wronged sections of the society, Gadkari has said.

Gadkari is also known as a successful entrepreneur amongst his colleagues and as someone who introduced the first bio-diesel pump in the country. Apart from this, he was the first one to facilitate solar fencing. The Software Technology Park in central India is also his initiative as is the sewage water for the Power Generation project.

Controversies

A string of controversies has clouded his prospects on several occasions.

Gadkari had to unceremoniously quit as the BJP national president due to the alleged corruption in his Purti Group, which has interests in sugar and power. He has denied all allegations of financial irregularities.

Congress president Rahul Gandhis praise of Gadkari as the only one in the BJP with some guts also created a row. The Union minister, however, had hit back at Rahul Gandhi, saying he did not need a certificate of courage from the Congress president.

Born in 1957 in a Brahmin family, Gadkari was groomed by his mother and a worker of RSS Rashtra Sevika Samiti Bhanutai Gadkari. He began his political career as an active member of RSS student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1977. He contested the assembly elections from West Nagpur in 1985 and lost. He was then elected to the state legislative council from the graduates constituency in 1989. Gadkari also served as the leader of the Opposition in the state legislative council and president of the state unit of the BJP and subsequently the national president of the party in December 2009.

Gadkari had defeated seven-time Lok Sabha member and former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar by a margin of around 300,000 votes in 2014, his first Lok Sabha election.

The BJP leader has been fielded from Nagpur Lok Sabha seat, which he has held since 2009.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sought vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party and hit out at the rival parties referring to the Balakot strike by the Indian Air Force last month and the recent success of Mission Shakti at a public rally in Odishas Koraput. (Click here for live updates)

PM Modi slammed the Opposition parties for raising questions over the IAF strike at a terror camp in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing.

Read: After A-SAT testing, PM Modi asks NSA Ajit Doval to prepare draft space doctrine

It has been one month, Pakistan is still counting the dead bodies and our rivals are seeking proof for Balakot strike, said PM Modi adding, When India takes action against terrorists, enters their home and kills them then some here ask for proof.

Also Watch: India can now be chowkidar in space too: PM Modi at Odisha rally

The prime minister also referred to the Mission Shakti, under which the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) shot down a satellite in space on Wednesday, entering a select group of nations having such a capability.

We are now chowkidar in space too, the prime minister told the election rally in Odisha, which is going to simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state assembly.

Its about time to give an apt answer to people who are insulting the capabilities of our scientists and the armed forces, the prime minister said.

The DRDO scientists had launched a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Interceptor missile in an Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile test at a target satellite orbiting in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in a Hit to Kill mode from Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha.

PM Modi alleged that the Opposition is fighting the BJP with the intention to form a majboor (weak) government at the Centre in the Lok Sabha election. He also targeted the BJD government of Naveen Patnaik for having kept Odisha backward for decades.

This is the right time to punish the Congress and BJD, who were given ample time in Odisha to develop the region. However, they have failed miserably, he said addressing his first rally in the state since the election dates were announced earlier this month.

The parliamentary polls will be held in seven phases between April 11 and May 19. Odisha votes for simultaneous polls in the first phase on April 11. Odisha has 147 assembly and 21 Lok Sabha seats. Votes will be counted on May 23.
"The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on 12 April  in just 14 days' time," she said. "This is not enough time to agree, legislate for and ratify a deal, and yet the House has been clear it will not permit leaving without a deal. And so we will have to agree an alternative way forward."
Arvind Sawant is the sitting Member of Parliament from the Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency. The Shiv Sena leader spoke to HT about his work and achievements during his five-year tenure.

What are your major achievements as an MP?

I have contributed to getting clearances for major infrastructure projects such as the coastal road. I managed to get a commitment from Union shipping minister Nitin Gadkari that all tenants from the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) area will be rehabilitated. I have been following up on the bad state of railway bridges since 2014. I helped my city from financial crisis when the goods and services tax (GST) was imposed by getting timely aid from the Centre for the civic body. I have worked towards making the suburban railways commuter-friendly by getting better amenities .

The tenants of MbPT are angry over possible eviction. They are holding the Centre responsible

for it.

My priority was to ensure in-situ resettlement of MbPT tenants. I got a commitment from the shipping minister. I focused on sustainable redevelopment of the remaining land. Our party chief Uddhav Thackeray had said that Mumbai needs more green lungs, a business hub, and an area that will attract tourism. Working towards that goal, the eastern waterfront is being developed sustainably, and in a way that will prove to be beneficial to the entire city.

Citizens are raising questions on what the elected representatives were doing when a portion of the Himalaya Bridge in Fort collapsed. The MP, MLA and corporators in this area are all from the Shiv Sena. Comment.

In this case, the authorities did their work. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) carried out a structural audit of the bridge in time. It was repaired in 2013. The people entrusted with the job of carrying out the audit did not do it properly.

Your opposition has accused you of failing to make an impressive case for our constituency.

Comment.

I would like to ask my opponent what has he given to Mumbai during his tenure as an MP. Just before the elections, my opponent has come out of his shell, and is making public appearances and meeting people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday resorted to puns even as he hit out at the Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at a public meeting in Kurnool.

Alleging that the Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, who he referred to throughout as U-Turn Babu, was only promoting his son and family and was not worried about the state, he said he wanted to see the sunrise of Andhra Pradesh.

The Centres schemes have given the youth of Andhra Pradesh employment and have promised a golden future. One day Andhra Pradeshs sunrise will take place and corruptions son-set will take place. We all want Andhras sunrise to take place. For this, should son-set take place or not, PM Modi said.

He said he wanted to do a lot for Andhra Pradesh, but was hindered by the state government.

I tried a lot. But those who are running the state government did not have the intention to see Andhra Pradeshs development, he said.

Calling on the people to vote for the BJP, he said this would ensure the states development.

Your vote will ensure the double-engined development of the state. Double engine meaning BJP government at Centre and in the state also, he said.

In Andhra Pradesh, they say there are no scams in government schemes. Instead, new schemes are launched for scams only. From a new capital to the many different schemes the state has launched, the people of Andhra Pradesh know whose pockets are being lined, PM Modi said.

He said that when he questioned the state CM Chandrababu Naidu, he broke away from the NDA.

When your chowkidar raised questions, the U-Turn Babu took another U-turn from Andhras development and broke away from the NDA. And now, the U-Turn Babu has found new friends who move on bail-gadi, those who are out on bail. Now hes on such a track that Pakistan looks at him as its hero, PM Modi said.

Accusing the chief minister of lying, PM Modi said that he was doing this only to slake his own ego.

To satisfy his own ego and to hide his inabilities, the people running the government in the state are telling all kinds of lies. The U-Turn Babu is an expert in telling lies and is also an expert in claiming Centres schemes as his own. That is why people call him sticker babu, PM Modi said.

Giving an example he said that when the Centre launched the PM-Kisan Yojana, under which 75,000 crore is distributed among farmers, including 82 lakh farmers in Andhra Pradesh, he said, The U-Turn Babu has put his own sticker on it and has claimed it as his own.

For decades, the TDP and Congress have ruled Andhra for decades. The U-Turn Babu has been the chief minister for a long time. The blessings of Tungbhadra and Krishna have been on the land, but the farmers are thirsty, the reason behind this is their bad intent, he said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the government led by him has taken away employment and tried to mask its failure with massive publicity.

At a public rally in Ayodhya, Priyanka Gandhi said the Congresss promise of providing 72,000 cash support to the poor is not a jumla.

She said, The Congress has promised NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) scheme under which every family will get 72,000No poor family would get less than 72,000. When this announcement was made, the BJP government said its an election jumla.

They had promised to give 15 lakh to every poor. They later called it a jumla, the Congress leader said.

Priyanka Gandhi, who was on a day-long visit in Ayodhya, said, The NDA governments focus is on making the rich, richer. It has money for businessmen, not the poor. The government wants to wind up MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme. It has deliberately not paid workers for six months.

She said that the Congresss idea behind MNREGA was that every family would get at least 100 days of employment. This government wants to take away that opportunity of employment from the people, the Congress general secretary said.

The Congress leader accused PM Modi of ignoring the interests of the farmers, the poor and also his own constituency. Priyanka Gandhi said PM Modi has travelled all parts of the world but found no time to visit a single village in Varanasi or meet a single family in his constituency.

Think who you voted for (in 2014), think will you trust them again, Priyanka Gandhi told the rally in Ayodhya.

This was the first public rally of Priyanka Gandhi in Ayodhya after being appointed the party general secretary in January and made in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East, a politically significant region of the state. This region has the constituencies of PM Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Ayodhya has been central to BJPs politics on account of its long campaign for a Ram temple at the Janmabhoomi. The BJP holds the Lok Sabha seat of Faizabad. Ayodhya is part of Faizabad parliamentary constituency.

Priyanka Gandhis Ayodhya visit is also significant in the view that five Lok Sabha constituency was with the Congress in 2009 general election that it lost to the BJP in 2014. The Congress had won Faizabad, Gonda, Bahraich, Barabanki and Sultanpur seats in 2009.

The Congress is hopeful of doing well in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls at these five seats. At Faizabad, the Congress has fielded Nirmal Khatri, who had won the seat in 2009 but lost in 2014. Similarly, the Sanjay Singh had won Sultanpur seat for the Congress in 2009 but lost it to BJPs Varun Gandhi in 2014.

At Barabanki, the Congress has fielded senior Congress leader PL Punias son Tanuj Punia. In 2009 polls, PL Punia had won the seat but lost it in 2014.

The sitting MP of Baharaich, Savitri Bai Phule had won the Lok Sabha seat by defeating Congress candidate in 2014. She has quit the BJP and is in the fray at Bahraich seat as a Congress candidate.

Gonda Lok Sabha constituency is among the seven seats that the Congress has left for the grand-alliance of the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hit out at Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao over the nearly three-month long delay in formation of his governments cabinet and said that it was possibly because of the chief ministers keen interest in astrology.

Addressing a rally in Mahbubnagar, he said that the people were watching what KCR was doing after he got the mandate to form the government in the state.

The PM said that KCR had not shown the same haste in forming his cabinet as he had while conducting the elections.

He took three months to form the government. Perhaps astrologers had advised him for early elections. Were the same astrologers also responsible for stalling the formation of the cabinet? the PM said at the rally.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, is said to have a strong belief in astrology and is known to offer prayers before all important events. It is believed that he waited for more than three weeks to let inauspicious period pass before naming his cabinets ministers.

In his address, Modi said KCRs move to hold early elections in the state had caused a lot of unnecessary expenditure. KCR was responsible for the wastage of so much money by going in for separate elections for Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Who is bearing this burden?, he said.

Modi said that the astrologers had advised KCR to conduct early elections in the state the astrologers had predicted that Modi will outshine him.

Tell us, who will decide Telanganas future, the people or the astrologers?, he asked.

Saying that no matter whether the elections were held in April on in May, PM Modi said, TRS would have lost.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday sent ripples across the political spectrum after her swift riposte Why not Varanasi? (the Lok Sabha seat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi) to the party workers request to contest elections from her mother Sonia Gandhis parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli.

Her remark came at an interactive meeting with party booth workers, block presidents, gram panchayat and nagar panchayat heads at a guest house here.

As Gandhi, the party in charge for eastern Uttar Pradesh, told the gathering that her mother was tense as she could not come among them, some workers asked her to contest from Rae Bareli instead.

At this, she smilingly said: Why not Varanasi?

Priyanka also said that she had told her mother not to worry as she would look at after the work of her constituency.

If the younger Gandhi sibling jumps into the fray against Modi, then it would be the most high-profile contest of the current Lok Sabha polls. But for now, it seems to be only a quick retort made by her.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janat Party (BJP) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will win more seats in the April-May general election than they did in 2014, and will improve their performance in areas where they have been traditionally weak.

Earlier, people asked who Modi is. Now they know what I have done for national security. They know my intent for welfare of poor. They are aware of all these. I believe the BJP will not only get full majority, but will get a greater majority than last time, Modi told Republic TV news channel in an interview broadcast on Friday.

Our allies (in the NDA) will also win more seats. People will also give us greater strength in areas where we have been weak.

In 2014, the BJP became the first party in 30 years to win an absolute majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha with 282 seats, riding a wave in favour of Modi that swept away the opposition including the Congress, which was beset by corruption scandals in the second term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that it led.

This time around, some pollsters have predicted that the BJP and the NDA may win fewer seats, but Modi claimed that the 2019 election would be a no-contest (between the BJP and the opposition) , and that people have already made up their minds that they would hand the next government a full majority.

India has seen 30 years of instability. People now want a stable government. They want that the major partner of any coalition should get full majority, and other allies also (to) get (a) good number of seats, Modi said.

Modi dismissed criticism over the February 26 strike conducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on a terrorist camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan, in reprisal for the February 14 suicide car bombing in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama that left at least 40 paramilitary troopers dead. Some opposition parties have raised questions about the death toll in the strike.

These people see statesmanship in the statement of Pakistan Prime Minister (Imran Khan) and they doubt their own Prime Minister. People will have to identify these people, Modi said.

It was a reference to the praise won by Khan from some quarters for releasing a captured Indian pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, and his offer of talks to India. Varthaman was captured on February 27 following a dogfight along the Line of Control in Kashmir .

When Abhinandan incident happened, all opposition parties should have spoken in own voice expressing honour that we had shot down a F-16, Modi said.

Modi noted that he had publicly announced after the Pulwama attack that he had given a free hand to all security- related institutions to respond to the attack. Modi defended his governments track record on economic offenders, and said the Centre has enacted laws to deal with the fugitives among such offenders. Wherever in the world they hide, their money can be confiscated, he said.

He attacked the Congress, saying previous governments led by the party had been mired in corruption in defence deals. In our country, defence deals have been like an ATM for previous governments. All previous Congress government have used these ATMs, said Modi, who has been attacked by the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi for alleged wrongdoing in the Rafale jet fighter deal. The Prime Minister also criticised the Congress new income scheme. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has just unveiled a minimum income guarantee scheme, promising the poorest of poor households at least Rs.12,000 a month. Modi said generations of the same family had spoken about eradicating poverty. Dynasty is dangerous for a democracy, he said.

Hitting back, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said, We have seen how Mr. Narendra has catered to the whims and fancies of his suited-booted friends and totally ignored the demand and the hopes that the rural villagers and people living in rural areas have had of him.
Can slogans and clever one-liners help win you an election? If that were the case, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is definitely ahead of the curve with suit boot ki sarkar and chowkidar chor hai. Elections, however, are serious business that need vision, political stamina, a process of give and take that culminates in alliances stitched up on time.

The first phase of the grand battle for the next Lok Sabha is less than a fortnight away and the Congress looks like a party in disarray. Gandhi announced what he called the final assault on poverty, while outlining a pledge to roll out a monthly income guarantee scheme for Indias poor, but are sops and populist schemes the Congresss answer to the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) election juggernaut?

The promise of a minimum of 12,000 per month for 50 million families is an important lure but the Congress ought to have, by now, rolled out an entire blue print on how it plans to handle the economy, joblessness, national security and rural distress, to name only a few of the important issues jogging the voters mind.

The party stayed focussed on the Rafale defence deal alone  after its wins in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in December last year  and believed the Narendra Modi governments end was near.

The attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy on February 14 and the governments air strikes in Balakot  that hit Jaish-e-Mohammed assets deep within Pakistan  sent the Congress on the back foot. It took weeks for it to come out of the deep freeze.

The silence exposed the chinks in the Congresss armour. It simply lacked a Chanakya that could keep the focus on the Modi governments chinks. A government that was left red-faced after most of the demonetised money came back to the banks and a government that had questions over why it sat on jobs data, seized the Balakot narrative and went for the jugular.

It went beyond, by blaming (Jawaharlal) Nehru for everything that went wrong, and hammering the outrageous and untrue point that most of what India has achieved has been achieved in the last five years.

Politics is hard work, made for those who are willing to sweat. How is the Congress  which was reduced to 44 MPs in 2014  going to take on the formidable Modi-Amit Shah duo? We do not know. What is their vision for the problems facing the country? We have not been told.

The arithmetic of alliances is the only way to counter Modis chemistry we were told, but even in that department, the Congress has not been able to tick the right boxes. An alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi still awaits Gandhis decision. Its not happening in West Bengal and the wrangling in Bihar has made more headlines than the deal itself.

Is the criticism of the Congress unfair? Is the party banking on a constituency-wise strategy that includes fielding upper castes in Uttar Pradesh, so it doesnt play spoiler in a state where the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party hope to keep their vote banks intact? The list of candidates is still to be announced and if that is indeed the partys strategy, it must be hoping that 2019 doesnt play out as a Presidential-style contest where Modis personality towers over the rest.

It must be hoping for more: that the real issues of joblessness and rural distress triumph over the nationalism narrative that the BJP has so arduously built.
Cambodia is one of the most remarkable and popular destinations among tourists not only for sightseeing but also for discovering its delicious local dishes.

Traditional Khmer cuisine consists of a variety of food that can be seen in the market. An umami seasoning Ajinomoto - produced by a leading food company - is contributing to the delicious cuisine in Cambodia.

Since Ajinomoto Cambodia was established in 2009, it has been producing pure, high-quality umami seasoning products all by themselves, cementing their place as the number one deliciousness for Cambodians everyday meals. The logistics base of Ajinomoto products is the Ajinomoto Cambodia Sales Depot here.

The products from the factory are carefully managed as all the employees work hard to deliver deliciousness to the families in Cambodia.

Delivery destinations of food seasoning products cover a wide range of places from small local retail shops to huge shopping centres. However, local markets are still the main places to get food seasoning in Cambodia.

I would like to try our best to ensure that all of our products exist in the outlets. And our customers can have the opportunity to see and buy our products, Khuon Sonsintha from Ajinomoto Cambodia said.

I often receive good feedback about Ajinomoto from our customers and they said that umami seasoning well-matched with Khmer cuisine, a retail shop owner here added.

Umami seasoning Ajinomoto is not only used in home cooking but also used widely by the food industry in Cambodia. Regardless of the generation, Ajinomoto products have been supporting various food industries by improving the taste and quality. It also promotes a healthier lifestyle among people. Using Ajinomoto seasoning in most of the dishes is one of the basic steps undertaken by many chefs.

I serve many kinds of dishes for customers such as soup, stir-fried, and grill. I hear feedback from our customers that all the dishes, such as soup, are full of umami, a restaurant owner said.

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Just as the growing population of Mumbai post-Independence resulted in the creation of a new satellite city, Navi Mumbai, in the 1970s, there is now a need for a new Navi Mumbai to decongest it further, said Pedro B Ortiz, senior urban planner and international consultant, on Thursday.

The creation of Navi Mumbai in the 1970s had helped decongest the city to some extend as people started living and working in the same belt. The ever-growing city of Mumbai with a population of 1.2 crore now needs a new Navi Mumbai, he said.

Ortiz, speaking at an event organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a city-based think tank, on the topic Re-imagining Mumbai as Indian Ocean Capital, said, Every year, close to 4,00,000 people come to Mumbai in search of a job. That is 1,00,000 families for which the city needs to create more houses. This is not possible in Mumbai. It has to expand further to provide quality of life.

The speaker was also a part of the Brainshop organised by the Maharashtra State government, Government of India and European Union where it was decided that Mumbai has to be the capital of the Indian Ocean.

The planner also proposed the idea of a Saraswati Valley in the new area that can host industries and create more jobs. The city is under a lot of pressure. Its problems have to be solved outside Mumbai, Ortiz said. He emphasised on Indias need to strengthen its metropolitan cities to become a leading world power.

According to Ortiz, Mumbai needs 14 sqkm of service land every year to meet its increasing growth and avoid slum encroachment. The city has a built-up area of 450 sqkm.

Ortiz also emphasised on the need for authorities to pay attention to the impact of climate change in the city. I have noticed that there is not much discussion on climate change in Mumbai, which can have a disastrous affect on the city. Mumbai is in a terrible situation and the impact of climate change has to be studied, he said.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, released in 2018, suggests that coastal megacities like Mumbai are particularly vulnerable to global warming.

Commenting on Ortizs proposals, an urban planner who attended the event said, The ideas are theoretically and academically good but difficult to achieve on-ground for cities like Mumbai.
"My March 24 letter was not, and did not purport to be, an exhaustive recounting of the Special Counsel's investigation or report," Barr wrote. "As my letter [Sunday] made clear, my notification to Congress and the public provided, pending release of the report, a summary of its "principal conclusions" - that is, its bottom line. The Special Counsel's report is nearly 400 pages long (exclusive of tables and appendices) and sets forth the Special Counsel's findings, his analysis, and the reasons for his conclusions . . . I do not believe it would be in the public's interest for me to attempt to summarize the full report or to release it in serial or piecemeal fashion."
The Indian governments anti-satellite missile test last week was a message to neighbourhood adversaries China and Pakistan about its new prowess in space and also an attempt to build a robust image domestically for the poll-bound regime.

Chinese state media and experts, however, say Indias space technology is at a stage where China was a decade ago, suggesting that New Delhi should be cautious before assuming that the new capability can counter Chinas space power and intimidate Pakistan.

Following the test, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said that New Delhi wasnt engaging in an arms race, but made the point that with this test, India joins an exclusive group of space-faring nations consisting of USA, Russia, and China.

An editorial published on Friday in the nationalistic tabloid Global Times was direct. Indian people believe China and Pakistan will be afraid as long as India achieves military progress as if the new deterrent should be immediately used in Indias relations with the two countries. Such an opinion is naive and dangerous. India should understand that it will trail China in military and comprehensive strength for a long time, the editorial said.

For retired PLA colony and military analyst, Yue Gang, India is at the level of a primary school in developing space technology while China is at university level. The capabilities India now possesses China had 12 years ago. Indian satellites were in low orbit of more than 300 kilometers but in 2007 our satellites were in middle orbit of about 800 kilometers. And in the 12-year-period, we have achieved more.

Zhang Baohui, director of the Centre for Asian-Pacific Studies at Hong Kongs Lingnan University, said Chinas capabilities in space are more advanced but India is rapidly improving its weapon technology. The test is an important Indian technological breakthrough, he said.
Even as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has refused to intervene in the removal of a reference to Sikh (Khalistani) terrorism in a public report released late last year, the pro-Khalistan activist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has threatened political consequences for the ruling Liberal Party if that section is not deleted.

While SFJs legal adviser Gurpatwant Pannun sent a letter in this regard to the Prime Ministers Office, the response indicated that Trudeau does not wish to influence the decision on whether or not to expunge the reference that has proved controversial within a section of the community in Canada.

In its answer to Pannun, the PMO said, While the Prime Minister appreciates being made aware of your concerns, he will leave the matter to be considered by Minister Goodale. That referred to Canadas minister of public safety and emergency preparedness Ralph Goodale who had released the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada in December last year.

While groups like SFJ have demanded removal of the entire reference, sources have told the Hindustan Times that Goodale has offered to remove only the Sikh reference while retaining that to Khalistani extremism.

This stand has riled the SFJ and it has warned the Trudeau government of a political fallout if the entire section is not removed. They will face the outcome in the elections. We will take this matter to the grassroots and build up public support in the next three months, Pannun told the Hindustan Times.

Federal elections in Canada are due in October and groups like SFJ want to make the reference a political issue prior to the polls, if their demand for deletion and a formal retraction are not met.The SFJ openly supports the secessionist Khalistan movement and is the prime mover behind the 2020 Referendum campaign for a separate nation carved out of India. Labelling Khalistanis as extremists and identifying them as a significant national security threat is deeply misleading and unfair to Canadian Sikhs, Pannun said.

In the letter to Trudeau, and a similar missive to Goodale, the group made its concerns clear. And now it is launching a campaign to apply more pressure on the Trudeau government, while sending similar letters to Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh.

It is also sending the letters to all members of the Public Safety Committee of Canadas Parliament, while it is asking supporters to fill in a form online that will generate a protest email to their respective MP.
A bipartisan duo of US lawmakers on Wednesday urged the Trump administration delay the termination of zero-tariff trade benefits for India till after election to make room for discussions.

My hope is that we can delay, the termination of these GSP preferences (Generalized system of preferences) until after the elections in India so that we can have a non-political conversation that is very focused on how we collectively can move forward together, Tulsi Gabbard, the Democratic House representative who is also running for the partys presidential ticket, said Wednesday at a Capitol Hill event hosted by the US-India Friendship Council.

George Holding, the other lawmaker who is the Republican co-chair of the House India caucus, said he has been in touch with the US trade representative Robert Lighthizer on GSP talks. His office said the congressman has written to the USTR formally on this issue as well.

The Trump administration has announced its intention to end GSP benefits citing Indias resistance to grant market access to US goods in the sectors of medical devices, dairy and IT.

Indian government is hopeful of arriving at an arrangement before the end of the 60-day notice period announced by the on March 4. India exported $5.7 billion worth of goods to the US under this scheme n 2017.
History has singled out certain countries as natural poison to any power with the hubris to invade them. Even if successfully overrun, such regions prove impossible to control, ultimately wearing down each invader until it throws up its hands and leaves. The United States was neither the first nor the last to learn that about Vietnam, much as the Soviet Union was neither the first nor the last to learn that about Afghanistan.

In the wake of a bloodless 1973 coup ousting Afghan King Mohammed Zahir Shah, President Mohammed Daoud Khan established a socialist-leaning republic. His tenure lasted until 1978, when a faction of the communist Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) overthrew Daoudexecuting him and his family for good measureand installed Nur Muhammad Taraki as president. In October 1979 Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin, a rival within the PDPA, overthrew and killed Taraki. That Christmas Eve the Soviets moved to restore stability with an invasion that quickly secured Kabul, killed Amin and installed the more pliable Barbrak Karmal as head of state. The Soviets tactical triumph turned into a strategic fiasco, as they spent the next decade battling Afghan mujahedeen. Faced with continuing instability, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev withdrew the last troops in February 1989. But the damage was done, as the Afghan debacle helped prompt the collapse of the Soviet Union itself.
Half Moon Bay, CA (94019)

Today

Periods of rain. Low 52F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Periods of rain. Low 52F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Higher wind gusts possible.
"I'm going to get, in honor of my friends, full funding of $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which you've been trying to get for over 30 years," he said. "It's time."



It was the second major reversal for the administration on Thursday: On his way to Michigan, facing bipartisan backlash over the budget plan to cut $18 million in funding for the Special Olympics, Trump said he would restore that funding after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spent several days being pilloried for the move.



Trump has also taken heat for a budget that cuts Medicare, a program the president had steadfastly promised not to touch.
It has little chance of being signed into law anytime soon, given that Republicans control the Senate and the White House and are expected to oppose the measure. Under current law, Puerto Rico does not elect voting members of Congress, or have a say in U.S. presidential elections (although they can vote in both major parties' presidential primaries). Congressional Democratic leadership this year has also backed making statehood for the District of Columbia a priority, an idea supported by more than 200 House Democrats.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  Facebook said it has taken down 200 pages, groups and accounts linked to a network organized by a person behind the social media campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte for engaging in "coordinated inauthentic behavior."

In a statement, Facebook said it took down 67 pages, 68 Facebook accounts, 40 groups and 25 Instagram accounts. It said there were 3.6 million users following one or more of the pages and about 1.8 million users in at least one of the groups.

Among the pages they took down are "Bong Go Supporters," "Duterte Warriors" and "Kuya Sonny Angara."

Go and Angara are running for senator and have been endorsed by Duterte.

"Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found that this activity was linked to a network organized by Nic Gabunada," Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook head of cybersecurity policy said Friday.

Gabunada managed the social media campaign of Duterte when he ran for president in 2016.

However, Gleicher clarified that they took down the pages based on their behavior and not because of the content they posted.

"What we can see from the platform is that there's a coordinated network of accounts, groups and pages that are being run surreptitiously together in order to look that they're independent. We can see that they are linked to this network that is run by Nic Gabunada. But we can't see intent, we can't see who might be behind it," Gleicher told CNN Philippines.

The accounts that were taken down frequently posted about local and political news, including the upcoming midterm polls, candidates, the alleged misconduct of political opponents and controversial events that supposedly happened in previous administrations.

From January 2014 to March 2019, this network of accounts has spent $59,000 in advertisements on Facebook, the social media network said.

Gabunada said in a report that they were only given a 10-million budget for the social media campaign of Duterte and largely relied on volunteers.

Gabunada now sits in the board of directors of the United Coconut Planters Bank. His LinkedIn profile also identifies him as the chief executive officer of Mandaluyong-based communications consulting agency LOUDERPH.

Last January, Facebook also took down 200 pages controlled by digital marketing company Twinmark Media Enterprises for repeatedly violating its misrepresentation and spam policies through "coordinated inauthentic behavior, the use of fake accounts, leading people to ad farms, and selling access to Facebook Pages to artificially increase distribution and generate profit."

Facebook also banned Twinmark from its platform.
Trump continued to state publicly that he would be glad to sit for an interview  he believed being seen as willing to talk with prosecutors showed "strength," according to a former administration official with direct knowledge of his thinking. But the president came to agree with his lawyers that doing so would be too risky, especially after former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017, current and former White House aides said.
In that case, Trump will be left with two unappetizing options. The first is to follow the Obama model  backing down from the demands and warnings he has issued to Putin and Maduro. That would mean the indignity of tolerating a neighboring enemy that, like Cuba, can revel in standing up to the Yankee imperialists, with help from Moscow.
Pipeline

29 March 2019

Design Hotels' first member hotel in Scotland, Market Street Hotel, is set to disrupt Edinburgh's traditional hotel scene with its unique brand of neo-brutalism meets Scots heritage. Set between the New Town's graciously elegant Georgian facades and the Baronial tenements of the Old Town, the 98-room hotel reflects both the architectural diversity of the forward-thinking capital and its rich cultural identityboth past and present. And with its spectacular rooftop Champagne lounge offering panoramic views across the Waverley Valley, the hotel is poised to offer guests an unparalleled insight into this most charming of cities.

A deep affinity with Edinburgh's visual identity and historic narrative was key to the overall design concept of Market Street Hotel. Starting with the facade itself, jmarchitects have conceived a fresh take on classic structural forms, clad in Scottish stone to both preserve and challenge the capital's architectural landscape. For the interiors, award-winning Dutch design studio FG Stijl have channeled an aesthetic of brutal beauty inspired by the location's character and history. The result is a contemporary pastiche of a traditional Scottish fortressthink cracked, earthen walls juxtaposed with the clean, minimalist lines of modern furnishings and unexpected bursts of traditional fabrics and tartans. Innovative reinterpretations of classic national motifs have been cleverly woven into the multi-layered design, culminating in a series of five floating copper fireplaces that together replicate the first notes of "The Flower of Scotland".

The hotel's pinnacle is the rooftop Champagne lounge, Nor' Loft, an architectural masterpiece that is the toast of the capital's UNESCO World Heritage skyline. Sitting under a folded roofscape in dark whinstone, the 7th floor terrace is a buzzing social hub by day, serving breakfast, afternoon tea and small plates to the local and international creative crowd. Centered around an elegant Champagne table boasting over 10 prestige labels and an impressive spirits list, the terrace transforms into a veritable urban retreat by nightwarmed by the open fireplace and soundtracked by the bustling streets below.
Pipeline

29 March 2019

Park Hotel Group has signed a management deal with Roxy-Pacific Holdings for a hotel in Melbourne, Australia.

Scheduled to open in 2022, the Park Hotel Melbourne increases the group's portfolio to nearly 20 hotels in operation or under development.

The 23-storey Park Hotel Melbourne will feature 319 guest rooms and suites, a lobby lounge, a concept restaurant and bar with alfresco terrace seating on the eighth floor as well as a fitness centre.

The new-build hotel will offer five versatile function rooms that can be combined into a ballroom to accommodate meetings and events ranging from 20 to 200 persons.
Appointment

29 March 2019

NOPSI Hotel, New Orleans, a luxury hotel and community gathering place located in the heart of the Central Business District, is pleased to announce the appointment of Neal Swidler as its new executive chef. In this role, Swidler will be responsible for overseeing the hotel's entire culinary operation, including all food and beverage outlets, in-room dining, catering and banquet offerings.A longtime New Orleans chef, Swidler draws from an impressive career spanning more than 20 years of executive-level experience at some of the most acclaimed kitchens in the area, including 10 years with Emeril Lagasse's New Orleans restaurants, serving as chef de cuisine at both NOLA and Emeril's Delmonico, as well as corporate chef and concept development at NHS Restaurant Consulting, followed by executive chef and owner of the award-winning pan-Asian restaurant, Lucky Rooster. Known for his bold flavor combinations that are unpretentious and approachable, Chef Neal specializes in building environments that utilize excellence and autonomy to enhance staff performance, with a proven track record of creative menu development and vast portfolio of personally designed cuisine.A dynamic leader with an adaptable style and hands-on approach to management, Chef Neal joins NOPSI Hotel from his most recent appointment at Broussard's Restaurant, where he functioned as executive chef. In this role, Swidler gave new life to the restaurant by modernizing the menu to revitalize interest in the original New Orleans Grand Dame, successfully achieving an increase of revenue by $2 million in the first year, while successfully coordinating and executing more than $1 million in banquet and private sales per year.A dean's list graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Chef Neal began his career with a six-month teaching fellowship - further refining his culinary skills while gaining top-notch perspective under the direction of his instructors, including the acclaimed James Beard award-winner Janos Wilder, a chef-proprietor in Tucson, Arizona.
Appointment

29 March 2019

Nopper brings more than 25 years of diverse hospitality experience and most recently served as general manager of Andaz West Hollywood, where he oversaw a $4 million renovation and continually improved guest satisfaction scores while increasing hotel occupancy and RevPAR index to the highest level in the history of these hotels. Previously, he served as corporate director of rooms for the Americas operations team at Hyatt's Chicago corporate office. During this time, Nopper coordinated and executed 40 openings and transitions of hotels and led all aspects of operations for the Americas region, including front desk, guest services, housekeeping, guest services, spa and security.

He has also held leadership positions at Grand Hyatt New York, Grand Hyatt Seattle, Hyatt at Olive 8, Hyatt Regency Bellevue, and more. Nopper graduated from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and has contributed to various industry committees, including the Board of Directors for the West Hollywood Travel and Tourism Board.
Appointment

29 March 2019

White Lodging is excited to announce Dana Orlando as Hotel Distil's general manager. Scheduled to open in fall of 2019, Hotel Distil, Autograph Collection, will present unique and inspired spaces in the heart of Downtown Louisville's most historic neighborhood, Whiskey Row.

Dana Orlando has more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry and driving performance for premier brands, including The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts. She spent the past year as the opening general manager for the Elliott Park Hotel, Autograph Collection, in Minneapolis, MN. Previously, she was general manager of Hotel Ivy, a Luxury Collection Hotel, also in Minneapolis. While leading Hotel Ivy, it was awarded 2017 Hotel of the Year for Marriott Distinctive Premium Brands.
Press Release

29 March 2019

Design has long been important to the hotel industry as a way to attract new guests and turn them into repeat visitors.

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In recent years, however, new brands to the market have raised the design standards to stand out from the crowd and win over a new generation of traveller looking for unique experiences. Faced with these new norms and higher guest expectations, long-standing establishments and big chains across France are rethinking how they use their space, as well as the look and feel of the hotel itself.

"The idea is to break with established design codes, to deconstruct old styles and reconstruct them in a modern way to create vibrant settings and enhance the atmosphere," says Gwenola Donet, director of Hotels & Hospitality at JLL France. "By refurbishing reception areas, as well as bedrooms and communal areas in a style that speaks to their target audience, hotels want to show guests that they can provide a personalised experience and meet their micro-needs."

Many Parisian hotels have recently been given a new lease of life such as the Grands Boulevards , part of the Experimental Group which dates from before the French Revolution, or the Bienvenue from Adrien Gloaguen with its speak-easy bar and modern design.

And whether they're a boutique offering or part of a revamped chain, their aim is the same; to become a place where people want to spend time rather than just providing a bed for the night. Lobbies and restaurants are therefore increasingly open to locals as well as guests, helping to create a buzz that people want to be part of.

"Communal spaces have become places to socialise where hotel guests and locals are welcomed especially during special events," says Donet. The Shangri-La Hotel in Paris, for example, has debuted a seasonal pop-up bar dedicated to the golden age of China's Song dynasty with specially created food and cocktails.

But refreshing a hotel isn't just about appearances. "Good design can leave a lasting impression but guests still want quality service and an experience that is unique and personalised," says Donet.

From luxury to budget

It's not only high-end hotel that are reassessing how they can create memorable experiences. Many of today's travellers heading to mid-range and lower price hotels also have high expectations but lower budgets.

"It's still necessary to add in new technology and create stylish spaces at lower price points," says Donet. "But the question is how."

Some hotels are opting for smaller bedrooms and bigger communal spaces, all artistically designed, creating more opportunities for guests to spend on food and drink.

"The idea is that hotel brands are not just selling the room alone but all areas used by the guests," says Donet. "By creating high-quality communal spaces, hotels can offer smaller private spaces - a trend we're seeing in the coworking and coliving sectors. This is driven by guests' changing expectations but also by a need for better use of space in high price city centre real estate. The end result is that guests get a better experience for their money and hotel owners get a better return on their investment."

With new design focused hotel brands joining the lower end of the French market, competition is heating up rapidly.

Mama Shelter, which combines open plan living and working areas with design-led bedrooms, has expanded its network into Toulouse. Motel One has also joined the mix in Paris with its individually-designed rooms aimed at budget travellers.

Big chains take note

The growing presence - and popularity - of ultra-modern hotels has led the bigger global chains to think about how their existing brands fit into the changing French market. Some are launching new brands to compete. Hilton, for example, is opening its first lifestyle hotels in France; the Canopy by Hilton Paris Trocadero will launch in mid-2020 and Canopy by Hilton Bordeaux Chartrons will welcome guests from early 2021 and are designed to reflect the local art, culture and cuisine.

"The success of new entrants will depend on how they use service and space, as well as their ability to create an experience and build a community to ensure rapid brand recognition," says Donet.

"Many big hotels chains have a somewhat outdated image, especially among younger consumers. By bringing fresh new brands to the French market, it's a chance to revitalise their image and attract new guests."

Indeed, as the French market evolves to meet the changing tastes of today's travellers, no brand can afford to stand still.
Press Release

29 March 2019

The Woodlands (Houston), Texas - BENCHMARK, a global hospitality company, and Scheid Family Wines of Monterey, California, have forged a new partnership to create Mo zaik, a premier collection of fine wines, made exclusively for Benchmark. Beginning in May, the new vintages will be available at all Benchmark properties in the United States, including those in the company's Benchmark Resorts & Hotels and Gemstone Collection. Scheid Family Wines is one of California's largest producers of wine and a leader in the development of Monterey's thriving wine industry.

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Benchmark's Vice President Food & Beverage Patrick Berwald and his team have been deeply involved in the creation of the Mo zaik brand including its name, which derives from the phonetic spelling of Benchmark's stylish Mosaic travel and lifestyle journal. "We are tremendously proud to partner with Scheid Family Wines to bring our guests a truly special product that is 100 percent estate grown and sustainably farmed and can meet the demands of individual customers, and our meeting and event clients." Mr. Berwald said. He notes that Scheid Family Wines was chosen for its nationally distributed portfolio of brands such as Scheid Vineyards, District 7, Metz Road, and Ryder Estate and for their expertise in creating a range of wines for private clients.

"Scheid Family Wines first planted vineyards in Monterey County in early 1972," said Heidi M. Scheid, Executive Vice President of Scheid Family Wines. "As winegrape growers at heart, we are extremely focused on sustainably farming our land for quality and being fully-integrated from grapes to glass. We are excited about the opportunity to produce Mo zaik and bring our estate grown wines to the clientele of Benchmark." Ms. Scheid continued with, "Our traditions of family, sustainability, outstanding value and world-class wines are a natural fit with Benchmark's goal of excellence in global hospitality."

The wines include two exceptional reds, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, and two whites, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. They will be available by the glass and bottle at all of Benchmark's domestic properties.

These fine wines are a rich mosaic of flavors, textures, aromas and experiences. They reflect the richness and distinctive grapes grown along the coastal region of Monterey County, California, that spans the area from the Carmel Valley to Salinas.

Benchmark's new signature Mo zaik wines:

Mo zaik Sauvignon Blanc - Fresh and vibrant, with juicy stone fruit, grapefruit tones and citrus flavors with a crisp, clean finish.

- Fresh and vibrant, with juicy stone fruit, grapefruit tones and citrus flavors with a crisp, clean finish. Mo zaik Pinot Noir - Graceful and balanced, with red cherry, plum and pomegranate with hints of toast and spice.

- Graceful and balanced, with red cherry, plum and pomegranate with hints of toast and spice. Mo zaik Chardonnay - Smooth and balanced, with pineapple, white peach and citrus flavors with subtle oak and a nuance of vanilla.

- Smooth and balanced, with pineapple, white peach and citrus flavors with subtle oak and a nuance of vanilla. Mo zaik Cabernet Sauvignon - Rich and complex, displaying blackberry, cassis and mocha flavors backed by soft, silky tannins.Mo zaik pays homage to Benchmark's award-winning and stylish lifestyle Mosaic travel journal and to the company's culture, each established byBenchmark's Founder Burt Cabanas. He titled Mosaic after a shimmering Greek mosaic of shining pieces in many colors, representing Benchmark's global view and unity of purpose, symbolic of the company's vision, innovation and commitment to excellence.

The Monterey Wine Country

The Scheid family stands in the vanguard of the development of the Monterey wine industry, from its early beginnings in the 1960s. Today, Monterey Wine Country comprises over 40,000 acres and is one of the largest premium wine grape growing regions in California. From the steep slopes of Carmel Valley to the rolling hills of Salinas Valley, the region is renowned for its ideal climate and rich soil that have created the remarkable grapes that produce highly distinctive Chardonnays and Cabernets. The region is famed for its Pinot Noirs and vintners have successfully created multiple clones.

"Monterey has a longer growing season thanks to the cooling air from Monterey Bay. The grapes are on the vine longer and develop a more intensive flavor," notes Patrick Berwald. "These are wines of remarkable taste, character and balance."

The wines will be available in May. Prior to the launch, Benchmark's Food & Beverage department will be conducting intensive training for team members at each property to ensure staff will be well-versed in the flavor profiles of the wines and food pairing recommendations. The staff will also be supported by a microsite.

About Scheid Family Wines

Scheid Family Wines has farmed wine grapes in Monterey County, California, since 1972. With 4,000 acres of sustainably-certified vineyards located along a 70-mile spread of the Salinas Valley and a state-of-the-art winery, Scheid Family Wines is fully-integrated to bring high quality estate-grown wines to the marketplace. The Scheid Family Wines nationally-distributed portfolio includes Scheid Vineyards, District 7, Metz Road, VDR, Stokes' Ghost, GIFFT, Ranch 32 and Ryder Estate. In addition, Scheid Family Wines produces over 20 regionally distributed brands for specific clients or distributors. www.scheidfamilywines.com
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The "Tinker" Air Jordan 3 will return to retailers this Saturday, March 30, in an all-new university red "Air Max 1" colorway.

The special edition sneakers, priced at $225, come equipped with four different velcro Nike Swoosh options, giving consumers the opportunity to customize their pair as they see fit.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvLKHNeFq5P



The latest Air Jordan 3 consists of a white leather upper accompanied by university red detailing about the midsole, Jumpman logo on the tongue and "Nike Air" branding on the heel. As the name suggests, the white and red design serves as a nod one of the original Nike Air Max 1s, a sneaker that was also created by Tinker Hatfield.

In addition to the elephant-printed Nike swoosh, the Air Jordan 3 Tinker "Air Max" 1 also comes packaged with white, red and reflective grey swooshes.

Check out each of the swoosh options, as well as some official images, below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvYme25pE3e



Air Jordan 3 Tinker "Air Max" 1/Nike

Air Jordan 3 Tinker "Air Max" 1/Nike

Air Jordan 3 Tinker "Air Max" 1/Nike

Air Jordan 3 Tinker "Air Max" 1/Nike

Air Jordan 3 Tinker "Air Max" 1/Nike
The next day, the day Trump signed the executive order, I met with members of the history club I participate in, all of whom had attended the lecture. I asked them their thoughts on taking down the monuments, and many agreed that some, such as a Nathan Bedford Forrest statue, should be uninstalled. A couple of students, however, argued that all of the monuments should be preserved in some capacity, such as in museums, perhaps. The consensus was to leave the monuments to the nameless soldiers alone. The notoriety of someone like Gen. Robert E. Lee made the hypothetical decision-making more challenging.
Nike has officially introduced their latest collaboration with Japanese-based brand Atmos, which takes shape in the form of a special edition Air Max2 Light.

The exclusive Air Max2 Light collab, as well as a matching collection of apparel, first released at Atmos locations in Japan on March 23, but they'll be up for grabs in the U.S. next Friday.

Atmos x Nike Air Max2 Light/@J23App

The colorful kicks take inspiration from Nike apparel in the 90s and the vibrant upper is a twist on the bright, bold gear synonymous with that era. A swoosh or NIKE AIR branding is printed or embroidered on every piece of patchwork, and each shoe features asymmetrical patterns.

The Atmos x Nike Air Max2 Light, priced at $160, is set to arrive on April 5.

Take a look at some additional on-foot images below.

Atmos x Nike Air Max2 Light/@Atmos_Tokyo

Atmos x Nike Air Max2 Light/@Atmos_Tokyo

Atmos x Nike Air Max2 Light/@Atmos_Tokyo

Atmos x Nike Air Max2 Light/@Atmos_Tokyo

Atmos x Nike Air Max2 Light/NoirFonce

Atmos x Nike Air Max2 Light/NoirFonce

Atmos x Nike Air Max2 Light/NoirFonce
Three months ago, just in time for the holiday season, Louisiana rapper Boosie Badazz released his Savage Holidays record, a Christmas-ish album with features that included YFN Lucci, Rich Homie Quan, Iviona Badazz, and more. Just in time for the Spring season, Bossie is back with another effort, this time dropping Badazz 3.5 a 15-track record that features his recent single, "Bonnie and Clyde."

On Badazz 3.5, Boosie keeps a steady aggressive cadence throughout, standing his own ground and only leaning on the talents of one other rapper, longtime friend and collaborator Webbie, on the track "Good Ol Days." Outside of the studio, Boosie is known to speak his mind, whether or not it paints him in a negative light. It's only fitting, then, that the Baton Rouge rapper is even more candid when he's behind the mic. Boosie drops off a solid effort that fans will enjoy as he sticks to a formula that his supporters have come to recognize and appreciate.

Tracklist

1. Ball

2. Bonnie and Clyde

3. Fuck the Night Away

4. Good Ol Days f. Webbie

5. Hoe

6. I Dont Give a Fuck

7. Insecure and Beautiful

8. Lucifer

9. Marijuana

10. Off the Flap

11. Real Gangsta

12. Southern Smoke

13. This World Fucked Up

14. Thug Life

15. We Aint Got Much
Birdman never asked to be included in the lyricist's lounge, his primary focus always on the business side of things, as it pertained to his Rich Gang, Cash Money holdings, one distinguishable from the other on the basis of time.

Current-day Birdman has adapted to become a "behind the scenes" figure for the most part. It could be argued that his lyrical output, when scrunched together, barely fits the criteria of a recording artist, in the modern sense of the world. But when he does put himself in that position, Baby rarely disappoints. On Just Another Gangsta, he and fellow Cash Money great Juvenile remind us of their essential purpose, with a project steeped in late 90s nostalgia.

To be fair, the feelings nostalgia imparted on the record are very much transmitted through Juvenile's winsome performances, made especially apparent on "Filthy Money," a song where they both successfully retrace their roots to their hometown from square one to the 9th Ward.

Quotable Lyrics:

Rule number one, no runnin'

Rule number two, keep gunnin', that's how I'm comin'

I be in the city up in all the Wards

Fuckin' 'round downtown, I done caught a charge

On Claiborne, right there by the bridge

They say this mailman winded up in the car.

- Juvenile
This past week has been a tumultuous week for the Ball family and their Big Baller Brand imprint. It was reported that family friend and BBB co-owner Alan Foster had stolen $1.5 Million from Los Angeles Lakers sophomore Lonzo Ball. This prompted Lonzo to cover of his Big Baller Brand tattoo all while hinting at a new endeavor with Nike, although the latter hasn't been confirmed. While reports suggest that Big Baller Brand is in shambles and that it will have to be disbanded, the family patriarch, Lavar, has other plans.

During an interview with radio station 98.5 KLUC in Las Vegas, Lavar spoke about the brand's latest setbacks, explaining that he doesn't plan on ending the brand any time soon. The following audio comes via TMZ Sports.





"I'm not gonna let one roodypoo guy come in here and do something bad and then be like the brand's not good," Ball said. "The brand is good. It's just somebody did something bad to it ... We had a snake up in the thing, but you gotta understand this -- I'm a snake charmer. When you're a snake charmer, you're gonna get bit."

Time will tell whether or not Lonzo and his two brothers LiAngelo and LaMelo decide to continue their allegiance to their dad's brand or leave him in the dust. This is surely some great drama for their Facebook reality show Ball In The Family.
Barack Obama may have some criticism towards masculinity in hip-hop but he's never shied away from the genre itself. He's arguably the one and only president to embrace rappers in the White House, hosting the likes of Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar during his presidency. The two artists have been included on his Spotify playlists from the past but it looks like he's also a big fan of French Montana, according to Questlove.



Cindy Ord/Getty Images

During the latest episode of Broken Record with Malcolm Gladwell and Rick Rubin, Questlove recounted the time he was DJ'ing at the White House. He likened the setting to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in terms of debauchery, saying, "they consider it the best night they had in their lives."

He was playing what you'd expect in that kind of setting: Donna Summers, old school hip-hop and jazz, but apparently that wasn't vibing with Obama's kids. The former president approached Questlove and had an unexpected song request.

[Obamas] coming up to me like, Do you have French Montana? And Im like, Sir! I dont have the clean versions of that, Questlove recounted. Hes like, Were all adults here. Play it! Im like, Sir, Im not gonna play Pop that pussy, bitch, what ya twerkin' wit."

Peep the latest episode of Malcolm Gladwell and Rick Rubin's Broken Record below.
It's only been hours since Yelawolf released him Trunk Muzik 3 effort and the response from fans has been overwhelmingly positive. The Alabama rapper's latest release will not only be his fifth studio album, but it's his final release with longtime label Shady Records. Yelawolf announced that he was parting way with SR at the end of summer in 2018, and while it's disappointing news, he ended things with a record to remember.

There are multiple stand out tracks on Trunk Muzik 3, but his collaboration with Machine Gun Kelly is a rapid-fire, high energy, hyped single that highlights both artists skills. Its intensity is palpable, the flow is quick, and the lyricism is transfixingall while keeping a catchy hook that was created to get people on their feet. Yelawolf's country roots are heard throughout and Southern rock influences are noticeable as well, but instead of being kitschy, it makes for a solid song.

Quotable Lyrics

Take a can of paint and vandalize your camper

L-A-M to the E, f**k the police

Bangin' inside the Chevy Caprice

N.W.A, I'm from the trap

Not from a little house on the prairie, yeah
Law firms in Texas are in a fierce battle to represent businesses, private equity funds and banks involved in mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, and the fight may get even more heated - and more expensive - this year.

A handful of Texas-based law firms - Vinson & Elkins, Baker Botts, Locke Lord and Akin Gump - are desperately competing against a group of deep-pocketed national legal practices - Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Sidley Austin and Gibson Dunn - to represent buyers and sellers in mega-M&A deals that result in more than $1 billion in revenues for lawyers in Texas.

New data from two separate services that track M&A activity in Texas shows that lawyers at Chicago-based Kirkland and Houston-headquartered V&E far and away led the most deals and the biggest deals involving Texas companies in 2018.

In fact, Kirkland and V&E were involved in about one in every six M&A deals in Texas last year - many times across the negotiating table from each other.

More Information Law Firm Rankings Representing Texas Businesses in M&A Deals in 2018 Kirkland & Ellis - 100 - $42B Vinson & Elkins - 73 - $133.7B Locke Lord - 46 - $11.8B Baker Botts - 42 - $53.2B Gibson Dunn - 42 - $44.4B Jones Day - 42 - $39B Latham & Watkins - 40 - $101.9B DLA Piper - 40 - $5.8B Source: Mergermarket/Texas Lawbook Texas Law Firms Leading 2018 Deals Valued at $500M or more Vinson & Elkins - 27 - $122.9B Sidley Austin - 17 - $29.6B Kirkland & Ellis - 15 - $17.7B Latham & Watkins - 12 - $74.4B Baker Botts - 12 - $32.2B Gibson Dunn - 11 - $25.2B Source: Texas Lawbook/Corporate Deal Tracker See More Collapse

Kirkland represented exactly 100 businesses or private equity firms involved in Texas dealmaking last year, while V&E advised 73 such entities, according to Mergermarket research provided exclusively to The Texas Lawbook.

V&Es M&A transactions, however, were considerably larger in dollars than any other law firm, Mergermarket reports. V&Es 73 transactions had a combined value of $133.7 billion - compared to a total deal value of $42 billion for Kirklands clients.

The bottom line is that two law firms - V&E and Kirkland - continue to fight for the top of the M&A leaderboard and the rest of the law firms are a good distance behind, says Chad Watt, an M&A analyst and senior writer for Mergermarket in Texas. Kirkland has been ranked No. 1 for three years in a row for deal count and V&E has been a solid second.

When it comes to doing the biggest deals, V&E remains No. 1, he says.

The Texas Lawbook reported recently that M&A activity - both in deal count and deal volume - set record highs in 2018.

In addition, The Texas Lawbooks Corporate Deal Tracker will report this week that lawyers at six corporate firms in Texas - V&E, Kirkland, Sidley Austin, Baker Botts, Akin Gump and Gibson Dunn - worked on a combined 308 M&A deals valued at $411 billion in 2018.

One-third of those transactions - although handled by Texas lawyers - involved businesses based outside of the state, according to the Corporate Deal Tracker.

V&E worked on 27 M&A deals in 2018 that each had a value of $500 million or more. Sidley handled 17, Kirkland advised on 15, Latham and Baker Botts each led 12 and Gibson Dunn represented 11 companies involved in transactions in which the sale price was $500 million or more, according to the Corporate Deal Tracker.

With 430 business lawyers in Houston, Dallas and Austin, V&E is the largest corporate law firm in Texas and has long been viewed as having one of the leading energy legal practices in the world, according to Watt.

Legal industry analysts say that V&E, which is 101 years old, has an historical advantage in Texas because the firm has placed scores of its former partners as general counsel at dozens of energy companies. Those V&E alumni tend to hire their old law firm for some of their legal work.

For example, V&E represented Energy Transfer Equity in its $60 billion restructuring and simplification and RSP Permian in its $9.5 billion sale to Concho Resources in 2018. The general counsel at ETE and RSP Permian are former lawyers at V&E.

Kirklands surge in the Texas legal market has been nothing short of extraordinary. The firm opened its first Texas office in Houston in April 2014. It now has more than 200 lawyers in the state - most of them stolen from V&E and other Texas competitors.

Watt and others point out that Kirkland has its own strategic advantage: The firm has more than 2,300 lawyers worldwide and revenues topping $3.7 billion. More than half of Texas M&A transactions handled by Kirkland in 2018 were led by lawyers for the firm based outside of Texas.

To be sure, the other Texas corporate law firms are not suffering. Dallas-based Locke Lord ranked third in the Mergermarket report with 46 Texas deals valued at $11.7 billion. Baker Botts, Gibson Dunn, Latham & Watkins, DLA Piper and Jones Day each acted as the lead legal advisors in more than 40 transactions involving Texas companies.

Twenty-two of the top 30 corporate law firms increased the number of Texas deals they handled during 2018.

Latham saw its M&A deal count decline from 55 transactions in 2017 to 40 last year, but the size of the deals Latham handled jumped 62 percent - to $101.8 billion.

Twenty-three of the top 30 law firms in the Texas M&A rankings are headquartered in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and other cities outside the state. Eighteen of those 23 non-Texas based firms , however, now have offices in Dallas, Houston or Austin.

Two national law firms that stood out in 2018, according to legal industry analysts, were Sidley and Gibson Dunn. Despite having significantly fewer lawyers in Texas than their counterparts at V&E and Kirkland, Sidley ranked second with 17 deals over $500 million and Gibson Dunn was sixth with 11 such transactions, according to the Corporate Deal Tracker.

For more coverage of Texas corporate law firms, please visit TexasLawbook.net.
MetroNational, the prolific west Houston developer behind Memorial City Mall, on Thursday announced development plans for 18 acres it owns on the northwest corner of Gessner and Interstate 10 that could include scores of new retail tenants, a hotel and additional office buildings.

The development is just across the Interstate from MetroNationals vast collection of office buildings, shopping centers, hotels and medical facilities.

MetroNational began developing the site north of I-10 a few years ago. In 2017, it completed 10100 Katy Freeway, a six-story, 240,000-square-foot building on the site. The largest tenant there is Mexican building materials company Cemex, which occupies 80,000 square feet.

MetroNational has signed deals with three popular restaurant and bar establishments for its next phase of development: Mias Table, a casual dining restaurant owned by Houston restarauteur Johnny Carrabba, Austin-based Torchys Tacos and Kirby Ice House.

LISTEN: How an old Sears building can launch an innovation district

Russ Morgan, a partner in Kirby Ice House, said the new bar will fill a void in the area, which has seen an influx of professionals and young people in recent years.

We really like the area and feel like there hasnt really been anything along I-10 to Katy in terms of a larger bar that offers what were going to offer, Morgan said. He said plans include 100 beers on tap, cocktails and a state-of-the-art television and audio package in the 7,000-square-foot space. Like its Upper Kirby location, the new location will have an expansive patio.

Construction on all three concepts is expected to start within a few months with openings scheduled next spring.

Privately-held MetroNational was formed in 1954 and its largest asset is Memorial City, a 265-acre complex with 9 million square feet, including office space, the shopping mall, apartments, a Memorial Hermann medical center and two hotels, including the new Hotel ZaZa.

RELATED: Newest downtown tenant: Life Time fitness center and coworking space

The property is part of a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone  an economic development tool where property taxes are used to make public improvements in an area  which was named along with the city in a 2016 lawsuit over flooding in the residential neighborhood around Memorial City.

A west Houston group called Residents Against Flooding filed the suit, alleging city officials had approved commercial development in the area without requiring adequate storm water mitigation, which resulted in increased flooding. The group sought to force the city to expedite drainage projects in residential areas and halt commercial building permits for projects on certain lots. Last May, a federal appellate court sided with with the city in the case.

MetroNational President Jason Johnson, answering questions via email, declined to explain the companys plans to detain storm water for the new phase.

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

twitter.com/nsarnoff
When Angel Williams went to pay $13 for two cones of vanilla ice cream the other day, she was surprised to find out her cash was no good at Cloud 10 Creamery in the Heights.

It was kind of strange, the 32-year-old Ohio resident visiting Houston said. If you dont have a credit card, then what?

Cashless businesses, once limited to online retailers and parking facilities, are becoming more commonplace nationwide as a growing number of consumers ditch paper bills for digital currency.

Cloud 10, which also has an ice cream shop in Midtown, only accepts debit and credit cards, as well as mobile payments such as Apple and Samsung Pay. Its not alone in Houston: Boheme, a Montrose bar and restaurant, only accepts debit and credit cards. Nationally, several chains such as Sweetgreen, Shake Shack and Starbucks are transitioning away from cash sales.

Were moving toward a digital and cashless future, said Venky Shankar, research director at Texas A&M Universitys Center for Retailing Studies. Its not surprising that some retailers and restaurants would totally do away with cash.

Proponents say going cashless eliminates the hassle of dealing with paper money and coins, saving employees and customers time while deterring robberies and theft. Despite having to pay credit card fees, businesses say they benefit from more precise accounting, since there is a digital record for every transaction.

Critics argue cash, as stated on bills, is legal tender for all debts public and private and worry that consumers with low credit scores or no bank account may be left out of a cashless economy. Thats of particular concern in Houston, which has one of the highest unbanked populations nationally, with more than 310,000 households, or 11.8 percent, lacking a checking or savings account. Nationally, 8.4 million households, or 6.5 percent, had no bank account in 2017, the most recent period for which data are available, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

To be sure, cash is still king for the vast majority of retailers and restaurants nationwide. The handful of businesses that have gone cashless tend to be fast-casual restaurants and trendy food trucks, whose patrons primarily use credit cards and whose business model relies on speedy transactions.

Yet, amid the backlash against cashless restaurants and shops, several cities and states have enacted or are considering mandates that businesses accept cash. Earlier this year, Philadelphia and New Jersey passed legislation requiring businesses to take cash. New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are debating similar bills. No such legislation has been introduced in Houston or Texas.

Freedom of choice

Stephanie Martz, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Retail Federation, said retailers are concerned about unbanked consumers being left behind in a cashless future. However, the retail association  whose members include department stores, independent and e-commerce sellers, chain restaurants and grocery stores  doesnt believe forcing retailers to accept cash is the right answer.

We feel like merchants should be able to work with their customer base to figure out the best way of accepting payment, Martz said. For the vast majority of merchants, its accepting cash and other forms of payments. But for merchants who decide going cashless is worth doing, we feel they should be able to experiment.

Emerging digital payment systems could help unbanked consumers pay for goods and services in a cashless society, Shankar said. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are gaining wider acceptance, and mobile payments are widely popular across Asia, Africa and parts of Europe.

In 2017, more than three-quarters of smartphone users in China made a mobile payment, compared to just a quarter in the U.S., according to marketing research firm eMarketer. China leads the world in mobile payments, posting $12.8 trillion in mobile payments between January and October 2017, far outpacing the U.S., which logged $49.3 billion.

However, consumers should be wary of the growing power of financial institutions, technology giants and telecommunications companies, said Christopher Peterson, the director of financial services for the Consumer Federation of America.

The consumer advocacy group, which supports legislation requiring businesses to accept cash, said that while it tries to keep an open mind about alternative payment options it is increasingly concerned about the growing power of banks, tech firms and mobile phone companies, especially in the wake of high-profile hacking and privacy cases. Some consumers  such as refugees seeking asylum and those wary of authoritarian regimes  are worried about handing over sensitive transaction data, Peterson said.

Consumers and merchants can be vulnerable to overcharging or deceptive and unfair practices if a payment system is manipulated, Peterson said. Cash is currently our public option. Its government-sponsored tender that is relatively safe, predictable and low cost.

Cash is costly

Houston restaurateurs and retailers who have gone cashless cite myriad reasons for doing so.

Cash is costly. Banks charge fees to handle deposits and coins. High-volume businesses also pay for armored car service to transport cash to and from the bank.

Cash also is cumbersome to deal with, slowing down checkout lanes and forcing managers and employees to spend hours each week counting money and making cash drops. Business owners say thats time better spent tending to customers.

Chris Balat, founder of Balcor Hospitality, which owns and operates Cloud 10 Creamery in Houston, said his companys cashless policy has saved his employees and customers more than an hour a day.

No one likes waiting in lines or staying late to count cash, he said. You can come in, get out and move on with your day.

Chief among retailers reasons to go cashless is safety. Cash attracts crime.

In 2015, Boheme owner Morgan Holleman said he was burglarized during a cash run for his Montrose bar and restaurant. After leaving the Wells Fargo bank on West Gray, Holleman stopped by a nearby cafe to grab a quick coffee, leaving his cash bag hidden inside his car. As soon as he got his order, Holleman heard his car alarm go off and rushed outside to find burglars had broken into his car, slashed his tires and were driving away with just under $2,000 in cash.

Two years later, Holleman turned Boheme into a cashless establishment. Since the switch, Boheme has not been robbed.

I didnt want the liability, Holleman said. What if one of my employees got hit over the head for a few thousand dollars? The thieves in the neighborhood are aware of the fact that I do not take cash, and they havent attempted again.

Excluding customers

Many mom-and-pop restaurants, bakeries and shops in Houstons Chinatown area have long been cash-only establishments, catering to first-generation Asian immigrants culturally accustomed to paying with cash.

Amid growing concerns about crime in the neighborhood, however, community leaders more than a decade ago began encouraging retailers to start taking digital payments, both to ward off robberies and to promote the shopping and dining district to outsiders used to paying with credit and debit cards. Today, the Chinese Community Center estimates about 15 percent of businesses in Chinatowns plaza shopping centers are cash only.

Still, Chi-Mei Lin, chief executive of the Chinese Community Center, said she believes businesses should still accept cash as a form of payment.

If you do cash only or no cash, either one, you are actually excluding certain customers, Lin said. Its discriminating to do business exclusively with one payment method. You have to take multiple options to be inclusive.

Thats a lesson Thomas Nguyen found out when he turned two of his five Peli Peli locations  a fast-casual concept near CityCentre and a fine dining restaurant in Katy  into cashless establishments in 2016. The South African-inspired chain put up signs explaining the policy and even comped cash customers who missed the signs.

Nguyen, Peli Pelis co-founder and chief marketing officer, thought his customers would appreciate the faster service because of its cashless policy, especially since more than 90 percent of patrons were already paying with plastic. However, he found the policy was a sticking point for customers who preferred greenbacks over credit cards.

Some customers walked out of Peli Peli, offended that their cash seemingly was not welcome there. Others left negative reviews online, put off by awkward interactions when staff declined their bills, Nguyen said.

Ultimately, he decided the benefits of going cashless werent worth the one or two bad reviews Peli Peli received each month, all stemming from its payment policy. Last year, Peli Peli reverted to accepting cash again.

We take great pride in making our customers happy, and if youre not making them happy, you have to make adjustments, Nguyen said. Im still happy we tried it, and my employees still prefer it. Maybe in five years, well look at it again.

Budgeting with cash

During a recent lunch rush at Peli Peli Kitchens Spring Branch location, dozens of patrons went through the cafeteria-style line, ordering South African style chicken wings, tacos and sandwiches. Although Peli Peli accepts cash, not one person paid with paper bills over the course of an hour.

Tina Mack said she thought about paying cash for her lunch. The 37-year-old Houston resident has credit cards, but said she prefers to pay with dollar bills at restaurants since she is trying to set a $15 budget for meals out. Macks chicken wings and sweet potato fries cost $16.70, but she only had $15 in her purse and so, she ultimately pulled out her credit card.

I like cash because Im trying to save money, Mack said. I dont know if well go cashless someday. It seems a little scary.
Commissioners with the Port of Corpus Christi Authority have approved a 50-year lease for a project that will support a crude oil export terminal capable of serving some of the largest tankers in the world.

During a special Thursday afternoon meeting, commissioners voted to approve a 50-year lease for Lone Star Ports LLC to develop a crude oil export terminal on Harbor Island near Port Aransas.

Headquartered in Corpus Christi, the company is owned by the Washington, D.C.-based private investment firm The Carlyle Group, the port's partner in developing a crude oil export terminal capable of support Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs.

Among the largest ships in the world, VLCCs can carry up to million barrels of crude oil in a single shipment. Lone Star Ports is expected to pay more than $2 billion dollars over the life of the lease, Port of Corpus Christi CEO Sean Strawbridge told the Houston Chronicle.

"This facility, in our opinion, is the best situated for safe loading of VLCCs," Strawbridge said. "We're very excited and well positioned as we become the preferred gateway for exporting crude oil to our allies and trading partners around the world."

Midstream Moves: $400M investment to help Corpus Christi become top U.S. crude oil exporter

Corpus Christi became an early leader of U.S. crude oil exporter after federal officials lifted a 40-year-old ban on such shipments in December 2015.

Since that time, the Port of Houston has become the top exporter but the Port of Corpus Christi is making hundreds of million of dollars of investments. The South Texas waterway plans to deepen the Corpus Christi Ship Channel to 54 feet deep and widen it to 520 feet wide.

But because a fully-loaded VLCC requires 75 feet of water, the Carlyle Group is providing $400 million to further deepen the waterway to 75 feet along a three-mile stretch from the mouth of the ship channel to Harbor Island.

Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox

The Harbor Island project requires a state permit but faces opposition from many Port Aransas residents citing safety and environmental concerns.

One opponent of the project filed a lawsuit and injunction to stop the Thursday vote but the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi issued a ruling on Monday allowing the commissioners meeting and vote to go forward.
We have grown accustomed to politicians of both parties, especially those not in power, drastically overselling what Barack Obama (channeling Martin Luther King Jr.) was fond of calling the fierce urgency of now  calls to action that need immediate attention  usually in the form of voting for the politician sounding the alarm. Republicans heading into the 2016 election breathed a manic new energy into the tradition, beginning with Trumps first rant about Mexican rapists, which set off a bidding war to see who could bring the most crazy to the visa policy debate. (My favorite came from first-generation Indian-American Bobby Jindal: Immigration without assimilation is an invasion.)
Onstage, backed by multiple hit singles, Beyonce and Jay-Z are the epitome of confidence and power.

But even superstars can get emotional.

Our Houston queen and her husband were honored Thursday night at the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles. Bey and Jay received the Vanguard Award, presented to "allies who have made a significant difference in promoting acceptance of LGBTQ people."

PREVIEW: Get our experts picks for concerts, kids' stuff, fine arts, movies and more each week

Beyonce dedicated the award to her late uncle, "the most fabulous gay man I've ever known, who helped raise me and my sister."

"He was brave and unapologetic at a time when this country wasn't as accepting, and witnessing his battle with HIV was one of the most painful experiences I've ever lived," she said through tears.

Bey also thanked her husband "for making incredible strides toward changing stigmas in the hip-hop community." Jay's video for "Family Feud" featured transgender activist and author Janet Mock and opens with a quote from gay writer James Baldwin.

Beyonce has regularly included LGBTQ people in her videos and performances. And she also made a joke that only the BeyHive would truly appreciate.

ICON RETURNS: Here we go again: Cher returning to Houston

"Who you make love to and take that ass to Red Lobster is your human right."

Jay-Z honored his mother, Gloria Carter, who last year accepted a GLAAD Award on behalf of her son for the song "Smile." The song features a monologue by Carter, who used it to come out publicly as a lesbian.

Now Playing: Beyonce and Jay-Z accept an award for their commitment to LGBT causes. Video: Joey Guerra, GLADD

"I get to follow in her footsteps of spreading love and acceptance," Jay said.

Texas was well-repped throughout the night. The ceremony included a performance by Lizzo, who grew up in Houston; and a Beyonce tribute by Paris (Texas, that is) native and "RuPaul's Drag Race" favorite Shangela, who earned a standing ovation from Queen B.

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Houston firefighters were quick to extinguish an excavator that caught fire at the new HEB construction site Thursday.

A Houston police officer passing by the site off Texas 288 and North MacGregor Way spotted the excavator engulfed in flames and radioed it in around 4:30 p.m., the officer told Chron.com on scene.
More than 20 years ago, Houston pastor Michael Lee Jones pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl who was supposed to be taking counseling sessions with him to get better grades and stay out of trouble.

Jones was required to register as a sex offender in Texas. But that didnt stop him from founding a new church, Cathedral of Faith. And it didnt prevent his church from joining the Southern Baptist Convention, the most influential coalition of Baptist churches in the United States.

Now Cathedral of Faith is no longer part of the SBC. And officials at the Aldine Independent School District, where the church conducts Sunday services at a public elementary school, said they were surprised by Jones status as a sex offender. They say they are examining their agreement with the church.

Jones did not return a voice message left with the church phone number and messages sent via email and Facebook.

Jones church voluntarily withdrew from the Baptist convention after the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News published Abuse of Faith, a series of stories that detailed how 700 people  most of them children  had been sexually abused by pastors, employees and volunteers at Southern Baptist churches across the U.S. since 1998.

The newspapers posted an online database of 220 Southern Baptist offenders who were convicted of criminal charges or took plea deals. Jones was among them.

Publication of the stories in February sparked a national outcry and calls for reform. SBC President J.D. Greear called for greater scrutiny of 10 churches mentioned in the series  including Cathedral of Faith. Greear said any SBC church that knowingly employed a sex offender cant be in good standing with the SBC.

Multiple assaults

Cathedral of Faith doesnt actually own a physical cathedral  its congregation conducts worship services in the cafeteria of Spence Elementary School in the Aldine Independent School District, where Jones used to be a teacher.

School board chairman Steve Mead said Friday he was unaware that Jones was a registered sex offender and said he wouldd look into the matter.

Were going to do what we think is right for our school district and for our kids, Mead said.

Court records show the 16-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by Jones had known him as a trusted pastor all her life.

The girl grew up listening to Jones sermons about the importance of living a moral life and abstaining from sex outside of marriage. Her family was close friends with Jones family, and her parents asked Jones in December 1997 to counsel the girl and encourage her to make good life choices.

From that point forward, Pastor Jones called me every day at about 3:00-3:15 p.m., after I got home from school, the girl stated in a sworn affidavit she wrote as part of a lawsuit her family filed against Jones and his former church, Progressive Missionary Baptist Church.

The Chronicle doesnt identify victims of sexual assault.

The daily conversations with Jones ranged from how the girls day went at school to her relationships with boys.

I trusted and confided in Pastor Jones about the most intimate matters about my relationship with these boys, the girl said.

The girl said she noticed Jones, who was 42 years old at the time, was becoming more affectionate with her. On March 3, 1998, he tried to kiss her on the lips, telling her I want a real kiss, according to the girls affidavit.

She pulled away from him and he walked out of the room. He later told her the devil had got hold of him and it wouldnt happen again. She said she felt confused and hurt.

On March 23, 1998, the girl received a message at school that her father had arrived to pick her up early. She was surprised to see Jones instead. Jones took her to the empty home of a church official, where the girl said he forced himself on her.

Pastor Jones took advantage of my trust and confidence in him as our congregations pastor to cause me to have sexual intercourse with him, the girl said in her affidavit.

Jones sexually assaulted the minor two more times, court records show. The Harris County Sheriffs Office later filed a felony charge of sexual assault of a child against Jones in July 1998. Jones pleaded guilty later that year and was sentenced to eight years of deferred adjudication, a type of probation.

Jones has been a registered sex offender in Texas since 1999.

The familys lawsuit against Jones and his other church was eventually settled but the terms werent disclosed, court records show.

Tremendously concerned

Southern Baptist churches can become members of local or state conventions in addition to the SBC. After the newspapers series was published last month, the Union Baptist Association in Houston conducted a board meeting on Feb. 14 where Jones case was discussed, and Cathedral of Faiths membership in the association was challenged.

I was tremendously concerned, said Josh Ellis, the associations executive director. Ellis said he later met in person with Jones. Ellis declined to discuss details of that meeting. But on March 6, he said, the association received a letter from Cathedral of Faith stating it was voluntarily withdrawing from the association and other Southern Baptist entities.

Ellis said the letter was forwarded to the SBC. Roger Sing Oldham, vice president of communications with the SBCs executive committee, said the SBC mailed a letter on Monday to Cathedral of Faith to confirm it is leaving the convention. But the church has already been removed from the official roster of SBC churches.

The core of Baptist faith is church autonomy. While the SBC can remove individual churches as members, SBC leaders say they have no authority to remove a sitting pastor from a church. Cathedral of Faith is still active as a church and Jones is still pastor  just not in the SBC.

Jones status as a registered sex offender is public information. In 2007, the Baptist General Convention of Texas had posted a list of Southern Baptist ministers on its website who had been convicted of sex crimes. Jones was on that list  yet his church was still allowed to be a member of the state Baptist convention.

A message with the state convention wasnt returned Friday. Ellis, the leader of the local Southern Baptist association in Houston, said he didnt know about Jones past criminal case until he read about it in the newspaper.

I obviously didnt know anything about it until the article came out, Ellis said. Once he learned about the case, Ellis said the association took action as quickly as possible.

john.tedesco@chron.com

Twitter.com: John_Tedesco
Lottie ONeill was accompanied by more than 1,000 women when she walked down a flag-draped aisle in the legislative chamber and took a seat in the fifth row on the third day of January in 1923. The gallery was packed with suffragists who, like ONeills escorts that day, had come to Springfield to witness a historic event: the swearing-in of Illinois first female state legislator.
Safiya Ravat and Mahad Qamar had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they got married in Houston 10 years ago.

They thought marriage would always embody the magical romance of a Disney movie, but they soon confronted the challenge of two separate people finding harmony.

The first two years we were drowning a lot, Ravat said. We had no resources to go to  we saw all of our issues as very unique and unsolvable.

The pair, now both 28, eventually found tranquility in their fusion. Years later, with bachelors degrees in fiqh and usul al fiqh (Islamic law and jurisprudence) from the International Islamic University of Malaysia tucked under their arms, they decided they wanted to give couples embarking on marriage the resources they never had to alleviate the difficulties they went through. With their expertise in fiqh and family counseling, Ravat and Qamar crafted a premarital training program that launched in October.

The Islamic Society of Greater Houston, the umbrella organization for more than 20 mosques in the Houston area, seized the opportunity to adopt the premarital training program for its members in January after seeing a rise in divorce in the Muslim community. ISGH is one of a few Muslim organizations to take such steps to address the nationwide trend. According to a 2017 Pew Research study, 13 percent of U.S.-born Muslim adults are divorced  more than the 10 percent of adults in the general U.S. public who are divorced. The trend, scholars and community members say, speaks to deeper-rooted problems the population faces from confusing cultural norms from their home countries with actual religious mandates, as well as general premarital restrictions in more conservative families.

Our job is just to try to take away cultural ideas and baggage that has been plaguing our community, and equip our community with the correct information that will help them with so many parts of our lives, Ravat said.

Self-discovery

Huda Adnan, 23, has a bright, bubbly personality. The Houstonian laughs and cracks jokes, loves to talk and has an infectious energy about her. Her fiance, Muhammad Mitha, is a little more serious and reserved. His energy is more tepid. He chooses his words carefully, and he loves deep, philosophical reflections on life. The pairs mutual adoration is hard to miss and often creeps up with side glances accompanied by a slight smile and softened eyes.

To them, being together just made sense.

From the beginning, it was so easy to talk to her, said Mitha, a 27-year-old entrepreneur. And we both have the exact same values.

While Adnans energy invigorates Mitha, Mithas support and thoughtfulness nurtures Adnan. He, an early bird, gives her, a night owl, morning wake up calls every day. He spent two months with back-and-forth edits on her essay for graduate school applications  she got accepted to Texas A&M University to study social work and education. And when her confidence falters, hes there with pep talks.

The couple had already experienced most of the challenges they could fathom since they started talking in 2015  namely some family issues. But despite their confidence in their relationship, they still wanted to do Ravat and Qamars program after getting engaged.

We did it as a precautionary measure and also to gain knowledge on how to talk about things when tensions rise, Adnan said.

Religious and cultural guidelines frown upon living together before marriage  Adnans parents are immigrants from India, and Mithas from Pakistan. The couple was cognizant that their cohabitation after marriage would likely bring about new tension and challenges.

But Mitha and Adnan count themselves lucky  they believe they know each other much better than other engaged Muslim couples theyre acquainted with, who may not typically spend as much time talking as they did.

We have restrictions on sharing affection, being seen together or talking  it would be taboo before getting married, Mitha said. So youre expected to be fully compatible just as a coincidence before you get married.

For that reason, they urge all of their friends to enroll in premarital counseling.

In a 2014 study on marriage and divorce among American Muslim couples, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a research organization, found that courtship before marriage usually lasted between three and six months, and wasnt often high-enough quality to truly get to know the significant other well.

This is why we argue that premarital education is important. It can facilitate conversations more thoroughly and delay the process before they rush off to get married, said Amal Killawi, one of the co-authors of the study and a researcher with the Family & Youth Institute, a research and education group.

Killawi added that premarital education is a great option for young couples to understand each other better in a way that also respects religious and family traditions.

Getting to know the other party is very encouraged, said Ayman Kabire, vice president of ISGH. This program really does that, it provides a framework to explore compatibility and foresee any potential issues.

Other studies found that the most common conflict American Muslim couples faced were in-laws, along with finances, compatibility and quality time.

Ravat and Qamars program aims to communicate and align expectations  figure out potential points of conflict before they happen. Some of the topics they address are typical of premarital programs  things like exploring peoples personalities, their individual and family goals, financial habits and advice on physical intimacy, communication and conflict resolution.

But their program also ropes in unique topics relevant to their target population, like spirituality and culture.

Separating culture and religion

The definition, concept and expectations of marriage have shifted with each generation, and thats especially true of American Muslims  many of whom may have grown up with immigrant parents, and hence have multiple cultural identities.

The unique thing about the Muslim American generation is theres a lot of expectations that come from our cultural backgrounds which seep into the marriage and cause a lot of issues, Ravat said.

Thats where religion comes into play.

Fiqh provides religiously ordained answers to any questions couples may have, on everything from gender roles to finances to dealing with in-laws. It essentially responds to the question, As a husband/wife, what am I Islamically obligated to do? Basically, fiqh helps draw the line between religion and culture.

Just seeking or participating in premarital counseling knocks down a major cultural barrier, as the concept of counseling or therapy is still largely stigmatized among immigrants from non-Western countries.

Killawi said premarital counseling was barely talked about in Muslim American communities a decade ago, and many African-American Muslims were the ones who pushed initiatives for such programs in the community.

The stigma existed in Houston, too. Ravat and Qamar were shocked when ISGH eagerly accepted their program proposal, saying they would have been met with more resistance 10 years ago.

Its a natural evolution of the progression and growth of the community, Kabire said, acknowledging the change Ravat and Qamar noticed. The challenges the community is facing today are such that the urgency is there to address those challenges and needs.

After jumping the cultural hurdle of engaging in counseling come more challenges.

The No. 1 conflict Muslim American couples say they face in their marriages are in-laws, according to multiple studies. A son or daughters obligation to his or her parents is a strong cultural and religious belief Ravat and Qamar tackle through an Islamic lens to alleviate stress from in-laws.

In our culture, family is in your business all the time, Mitha said.

Gender roles are another major cultural conflict couples face, experts and community members say.

Some cultures may expect the woman to be a stay-at-home mother and housewife. But Ravat said she shocks clients when she tells them thats not the case Islamically. Women have every right to work  and keep the money they earn to themselves  and house chores can be divided between the husband and wife however they please.

Its not divinely ordained that the wife must wash the dishes, she laughed.

By drawing a distinction between cultural and religious expectations, Ravat and Qamar hope to alleviate the stresses and confusion among individuals already torn between two cultures and equip them with the tools and information their immigrant parents may not have had for a successful marriage.

As Adnan and Mitha prepare for their April wedding, theyre focusing on a simple and warm concept of marriage.

Islamically, marriage is a union that promotes love and intimacy and kindness between two people, Adnan said. Thats what God made it for.
The number of criminal cases handled by embattled ex-Houston Police Officer Gerald Goines may be far more than the several hundred prosecutors are already reviewing, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of county data.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said last month her office had flagged about 1,400 of Goines cases for a closer look after a botched drug raid left two dead and five officers injured. But district clerk records show the since-retired lawman was the primary complainant in nearly 1,100 cases in just the last 20 years, a fraction of the time he spent with the Houston Police Department.

Its possible theres more  he was an officer for 35 years, said Nicole DeBorde, the defense attorney representing Goines. But the reality is that theres not going to be any way to go back and re-evaluate some of those cases. They dont maintain records that long; the labs dont keep drugs that long.

ATTORNEY: Gerald Goines, the HPD officer at the center of a botched drug raid, retires

On top of that, its unclear how far the district attorneys office is going back with their case reviews because prosecutors wont talk specifics or clarify the parameters, though officials did say they expect to find more cases handled by Goines and fellow officer Steven Bryant, who has also since retired under investigation.

We are reviewing approximately 2,200 cases at this point in which Officers Goines or Bryant have been identified as the arresting officer, a witness, or had some other role, spokesman Dane Schiller said. We expect that the number will increase as the investigation continues and more cases are identified.

The 54-year-old case agent came under scrutiny earlier this year after police accused him of lying on the search warrant affidavit used to justify the raid at 7815 Harding St. When officers burst in the home on Jan. 28 in search of a heroin dealer, they kicked off a shootout that left dead Navy veteran Dennis Tuttle and his wife Rhogena Nicholas.

Five officers were hurt, and Goines spent weeks in the hospital recovering after he was shot in the neck. But the raid only turned up marijuana and a small amount of cocaine, and the slain couples friends and family came forward to say they werent drug dealers.

Days later, police investigating the shooting realized they couldnt find the confidential informant behind the drug buy that sparked the raid. When asked about the snitch, Goines first named one informant and then another, but none of his known informants admitted having any role in the alleged buy on Harding Street, according to court filings.

CLEAR HER NAME: Mother of woman killed in botched Pecan Park drug raid speaks out in HoustonChronicle.com report

Those revelations prompted a police investigation and attracted the attention of the FBI, which last month launched its own civil rights probe into the matter. The swirl of concerns surrounding the squads handling of the raid and the warrant pushed the Harris County District Attorneys Office to undertake the massive case review, which led to more than 2,000 notices sent to defendants and their attorneys.

Initially, prosecutors said they planned to look back only at the cases Goines handled, but weeks later the case review expanded to include some 800 cases handled by Bryant, who was also allegedly involved in the supposed undercover buy.

Citing the ongoing investigation, officials declined to say whether they were drawing their case list from district clerk data, from district attorneys office data, from Houston police records, or from some combination of the three. Theyve also declined to say how far back their case list goes, though previously Ogg committed to seeing that justice is done in every case.

Currently, the district attorneys list of 1,400 cases includes those for which Goines was a witness, as well as those for which he was the arresting officer, while the 1,100 cases in district clerk data include only cases for which he was the primary complainant.

I would imagine that the number is much higher than that, said Nathan Hennigan, a former Harris County narcotics prosecutor now doing defense work. But its not something that would be easily ascertained.

The most likely method of identifying Goines cases, according to Hennigan, would be through Houston police offense reports. But if Goines helped out on a case and didnt write the main report or a supplement, there may not be any paper trail indicating he was there, Hennigan said. And, in the course of Goines career, both the district attorneys office and Houston police have switched computer systems, which could complicate records searches with either agency.

Earlier this month, prosecutors stymied a Chronicle records request for a full list of Goines cases and referred the matter to the attorney general for a ruling on whether they were legally required to release the information. Instead, the Chronicle relied on district clerk records to identify 1,100 cases.

Even if the number of identified cases grows, its not clear what remedies are practical for decades-old cases. At this point, there may be nothing left to investigate, and post-conviction drug defendants arent entitled to court-appointed attorneys.

The cases themselves in the first place were just his word, and the dopes all been destroyed, Hennigan said. When I was there (at the district attorneys office), if there were a bunch of cases called into question, theyd send a letter to the defendant and to their lawyer and just wash your hands and youre done.

So far, Oggs office has sent out hundreds of letters but its not yet clear what else the review process might entail.

keri.blakinger@chron.com

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Karen Warren/Staff photographer

April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month, and the Harris County Animal Shelter would like to introduce two of their dedicated Animal Cruelty Investigators, Officers Michael Allan, and Barb Downen.

Following the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the Harris County Animal Cruelty Taskforce was formed, with a goal of streamlining the process for citizens to report animal abuse, with a city and county-wide effort to combine investigative resources to help protect animals. Harris County, BARC animal control, Precinct 5 Constables, and the sheriffs department all now work together through the same website 927Paws.org. Anyone who witnesses animal abandonment or other forms of cruelty is asked to immediately file a report online at 927Paws.org (video or photos of the incident is strongly encouraged) or call 832-927-PAWS.
On a typical-looking stretch of southwest Houston  down the street from Kwik Kar Lube and Storage Choice, across from a privacy fence hiding cookie-cutter McMansions  a Zoroastrian fire temple opened last week: a brand-new, sparkling-white place where priests from one of the worlds oldest religions tend a holy flame.

When fully consecrated  the process can take years  the Bhandara Atash Kadeh temple at 8787 Airport will be the first temple in North America able to offer all of Zoroastrianisms highest rituals, including the boyhood ordination of its priests. Its a potent sign of the ancient faiths growing strength on this continent.

That strength is especially notable given that the number of Zoroastrians is plummeting worldwide. At Zoroastrianisms peak, a few hundred years before the birth of Christ, it was the worlds dominant religion.

The central tenets of the monotheistic religion, founded in what is now Iran, revolve around the opposition between the faiths supreme creator, Ahura Mazda, and the forces of evil. Zoroastrians believe fire represents Gods light.

Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

These days, only 190,000 Zoroastrians remain, and everyone agrees that their number is dropping fast. India, Zoroastrianisms stronghold, was home to 115,000 Zoroastrians in the 1940s. Now, it has only 60,000.

Over the same few decades, though, the U.S. population has grown substantially. Waves of immigration from India, Pakistan and Iran have brought the number of Zoroastrians here from nearly zero to more than 15,000. Of those, about 1,000 live in the Houston area.

Dinyar Patel, a University of South Carolina professor of South Asian history, is himself a Zoroastrian. The way the population is shifting, he said, in probably a few decades, there will be more Zoroastrians here in North America than in India.

Thats not to say that there will be many Zoroastrians in North America. Across the globe, for the past few generations, Zoroastrians have had very low birth rates: Its estimated in India that for every Zoroastrian born, four are dying. The faiths highly educated practitioners tend to marry late and have few children.

They also tend to marry people outside their faith. Even for those so inclined, there simply arent that many Zoroastrians to choose from. And among many Zoroastrian groups, customs make it difficult or impossible for a non-Zoroastrian spouse to convert, or for the couples children to be fully a part of the faith.

This Houston temple, though, will be open. We must adapt in America, Feroze Fred Bhandara, the donor behind the Atash Kadeh, told the crowd at its opening ceremony. Otherwise we risk losing our children to other faiths.

Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

His childrens happiness

My children are approaching their 40s, Bhandara, 66, said recently. My No. 1 priority is their happiness.

One of Bhandaras sons, Zubin, married a non-Zoroastrian, Eloisa, and their daughter Angela is very much on Bhandaras mind. What his ancient religion needs, he believes, is more American-style openness and tolerance.

Like many Zoroastrian immigrants, Bhandara and his family have thrived in the U.S. He was born in Lahore, Pakistan, to a Parsi family whose successful brewing business seemed likely to run afoul of an increasingly conservative Muslim government. He came to the U.S. to study engineering, worked as an aerospace engineer in Palo Alto, Calif., and invested in real estate on the side.

In the 1980s, while in Houston to visit his sister, novelist Bapsi Sidhwa, he realized that the oil bust had made the citys real estate an enormous bargain. He began shifting his investments, and in 1992, he and his family moved here full time.

They joined a growing Zoroastrian community. In 1975, when the Zoroastrian Association of Houston formed, it had only 15 members, but that number soon exploded, as immigrants from India, Pakistan and Iran settled here. Soon after Bhandara arrived, the association had amassed enough people and money to build a meeting hall with a small prayer room. Particularly for the Indian and Pakistani Zoroastrians, called Parsis, it was a place to socialize  a place to speak Gujarati and eat the foods they remembered from childhood.

They soon expanded the building to include Sunday school rooms. That was an accommodation to the U.S.: Zoroastrians dont traditionally gather on Sundays. They worship chiefly at home, gathering only for feasts a handful of times a year. But the immigrant parents wanted their children  who spoke no Gujarati and whose friends were U.S.-born  to get at least a weekly dose of their culture.

They worried that their culture, and in particular, their religion, might disappear. The U.S. Zoroastrian population has grown chiefly through immigration. As in India, Zoroastrians gravitate toward higher education and professional careers, with most putting off marriage and childbearing until later in life, and so having few children. One wonders, in two to three generations, how many will still practice the faith, Patel, the USC professor, said glumly.

Iranian Zoroastrians are generally open to converts, but in India, orthodox believers frown on them and outright prohibit them from participating in services. Bhandara has seen non-Zoroastrian spouses and children with only one Zoroastrian parent treated rudely at cultural gatherings.

Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Five years ago, the real-estate developer began thinking about donating money to build a proper fire temple in Houston. He wanted a temple where his granddaughter and her mother would feel embraced by their community. He felt that a majority of Houstons Zoroastrians would side with him. But he also knew that a minority would be strongly opposed.

Fearing rejection, he anonymously offered full funding  he wont say how much  to build a temple that would be open to anyone who wanted to come in, would welcome converts and might serve as a magnet to draw young Zoroastrian families to Houston.

In secret, he prepared a PowerPoint presentation laying out the case for a temple that would be open to everyone, American-style, and let people believe that the anonymous proposal came from overseas, maybe from Hong Kong. After it was presented, he waited nervously for the associations vote.

Eighty-seven percent voted to accept.

Fire catches peoples imagination

On a recent Friday morning, after staying up all night for the temples opening rites, Bhandara removed his shoes, then showed a couple of non-Zoroastrian visitors the ritual areas where men and women would wash their hands and faces, purifying themselves before they draw nearer to the fire.

Its a living faith, an agrarian faith  about nature, water, soil, he explained. Like other temples, this one includes an outdoor fountain, but its not called a water temple. Fire catches peoples imagination.

Aban Rustomji, the associations unofficial historian, noted that in practice, Zoroastrianism boils down to three things: good words, good thoughts, good deeds. So simple, so hard to adhere to.

Looking around proudly, she pointed out how serene the temple felt, simultaneously modern and traditional. Chicago architect Cyrus Rivetna, she noted, studied ancient fire temples in India and Iran before designing it.

Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

A young priest visiting from California tended one of the prayed-over, purified fires. Zerkxis Bhandara  no relation to Feroze  prodded a log that was burning in what looked like a giant silver trophy cup. Dressed all in white, he wore a mask over his nose and mouth. The mask wasnt to protect his lungs from the woodsmoke; it was to protect the fire from being polluted by his breath. (For the same reason, all visitors to the temple, both male and female, wore hats or scarves to cover their hair.)

Zerkxis, 24, is, as is customary for Zoroastrian priests, a son from a priestly family. When he was a kid in Orange County, Calif., older Zoroastrians would look at him hopefully and say things like, Youll be next. Still, when he was 11, his father, the most active priest in Southern California, offered him a choice: Did he want to be ordained?

Zerkxis did. Ordination required trips to India. He traveled with family members and two other boys his age who aimed to be ordained. There were two sets of 10-day ordination rituals, each of which included nine days of isolation from the world in a room at a temple. So that hed have no contact with the world, he wore gloves, but really, he says, the isolation wasnt severe: He was allowed to talk with family members. And during the first round, at the more relaxed of the two temples, his gloved friends even played Gameboys.

Zerkxis wasnt a Gameboy kid. In him, theres a streak of longing for the old Parsi ways. Hes the rare second-generation American who speaks Gujarati, and in college, he majored in religious studies. For his thesis, wrote an ethnography about Zoroastrian practices in the U.S. Hes currently applying to graduate schools in anthropology, where, ideally, hed be able to study Zoroastrians again.

At the Houston fire temple, Zerkxis accompanied Bhandara, Rustomji and the visitors to the seclusion rooms where someday young priests could stay as they seek ordination.

Everyone agrees that ordaining American priests would be a big deal. Arda Minocherhomjee, president of the North American Mobeds Council, said that though his own young sons went to India to be ordained, hes not sure that his grandchildren will. For the generations who dont speak Gujarati, its an intimidating trip. Houston would be far easier.

Zerkxis, though, wasnt as sure that initiating priests here would be a good idea. To his way of thinking, India is where the orthodoxy lies. Faced with a difficult question, he asks himself, what would they do in India?

Suddenly, outside the isolation rooms, Bhandara turned to him with one such difficult question  testing him, maybe, or showing the non-Zoroastrians how the conservative wing of the faith thinks. I have a son whos married to a non-Zoroastrian, Bhandara said. How do we get together as a family to meet our spiritual needs?

That depends, Zerkxis replied, unrattled. Do you pray at home daily?

Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Bhandara said that wasnt what he meant  that he wants his daughter-in-law and granddaughter to feel fully a part of the Zoroastrian community, both here at the temple and at the community center across the parking lot.

Im orthodox, Zerkxis said flatly  politely but pointedly not giving Bhandara the answer he wanted. No conversions: Thats what the priests in India would say.

For a long couple of seconds, the conservative young priest and the progressive old philanthropist looked at each other without saying a word. Then Bhandara shrugged and continued leading the tour.

This sparkling white temple, and its policy of openness, was his argument, the best he could do to see that his faith survives.

lisa.gray@chron.com
Property tax reform plans in the Texas Legislature showed their first flickers of life in more than a month, but that doesnt necessarily mean lawmakers have resolved major hurdles in their push to give homeowners a break from ever-increasing tax bills.

One complication came up just after 1:30 a.m. Thursday, when a Texas House committee completely rewrote a property tax relief plan, creating a wide divide between the House and Texas Senate.

Both the House and Senate plans still call for preventing cities and counties from increasing property tax revenues more than 2.5 percent per year without a vote of the people  a measure vehemently opposed by most cities and counties. Both plans also include measures for softening the impact on small municipalities and districts. But from there, the bills diverge. The Senate has wanted the limit to also apply to school districts, while the House bill now excludes them. Instead, the House wants to use a separate bill on school finance reform to send $2.7 billion to schools to reduce property tax bills but without the cap.

House leaders have argued that sending the $2.7 billion to schools to cut property taxes will save taxpayers more  about $80 a year on a $200,000 home  than the 2.5-percent cap on future property tax increases for schools.

"This actually provides real property tax relief," State Rep Dan Huberty, a Houston Republican who leads the House Public Education Committee, said in defending the House plan.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

The Senate on Thursday morning also indicated it is prepared to send $2.7 billion to schools to cut property taxes now, keep the 2.5 percent cap on future school tax increases. State Sen. Larry Taylor, a Friendswood Republican who leads the Senate Education Committee, said Thursday that other than that change, the Senate budget plan mirrors that of the House, with an additional $6.3 billion for increased school spending.

The flurry of activity on property taxes over 24 hours marked a dramatic change from the last month at the State Capitol. Since late February, neither the House nor Senate has touched the property tax reform discussion publicly.

Currently, cities and counties can raise taxes by as much as 8 percent before the public can petition for a an election to rollback those taxes. Since 2015 the Texas Senate has been pushing to cut that rollback rate to 4 percent, though the House has mostly refused to go that low. This year, at the behest of Gov. Greg Abbott, the chambers have both tried to push for an even more aggressive 2.5 percent cap even though proposals for caps that are less strict have failed to pass in previous years.

While setting a lower rollback rate doesnt reduce property tax bills, it does slow the escalation that homeowners in high growth communities have been having to deal with, said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican leading the Senates effort to reduce taxes.

He said hes still reviewing the newest House plan, but said taking schools out from the 2.5 percent rollback rate is huge in the debate over property taxes. Hes argued previously that including schools in the cap is a necessity given that schools represent a large portion of property tax bills  about 54 percent a year statewide, according to a 2018 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

The growth of school taxes has to be addressed in a meaningful way, Bettencourt said.

House and Senate leaders, plus Abbott have declared property tax reform a priority item in the Legislature this year. At the start of the session, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate, stressed how unified they were in working on the issue.

In order for a bill to become law, both chambers must agree to identical bills by May 27.

Reporter Andrea Zelinski contributed to this report.
People who live near the Lake County plants have the same worries about ethylene oxide as the residents of southeast DuPage County. They want to know whats in the air around them. They want to know its safe for their kids to walk to school, to play at a local park. And they want the same attention to the problem that residents in DuPage County received. Fridays report from the Illinois Department of Public Health about cancer levels near the Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook will only intensify the Lake County residents concerns
Its time for doctors and medical insurance companies in Texas to work out their differences so patients can stop being easy prey for high bills when they are treated outside their carriers network.

Surprise billing has become common in Texas, with its 215 free-standing emergency rooms, 52 of them in Houston. A survey by AARP Texas showed 77 percent of these stand-alone ERs that say they take or accept Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance arent actually in those carriers networks.

Some providers at an ER may be in-network while others arent. Patients treated by out-of-network doctors can be shocked when they get the bill. The emergency rooms dont always explain that they may be on the hook for more than co-pays and deductibles. Because the unexpected charges are typically less than $1,000, thousands of patients grumble but pay anyway.

Khrystyna Greene paid a $600 co-pay for treatment of her 1-year-old son after he fell and cut his temple last year. She later received a $1,200 bill from an out-of-network doctor who treated her child. I feel like we were tricked, Greene told Chronicle reporter Jenny Deam. They get you in by saying it is in-network and then the actual treatment is out-of-network.

Legislation passed in 2017 requires websites for emergency rooms to disclose their network status and advise potential patients that physicians may send a separate bill. Too often, though, the website warnings are vague and advise patients to contact their insurance carrier to settle a billing dispute.

The 2017 law didnt solve the problem, so state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-Fort Worth, and Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, filed new legislation this session that expressly prohibits out-of-network doctors from charging patients anything other than the co-pays and deductibles theyd owe if the doctor was in-network for their insurance. If the doctors feel theyre owed more, theyd have to work that out with the insurer.

That didnt sit well with the Texas Medical Association, which prefers legislation sponsored by state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Houston, that would improve the mediation process created in 2009 to resolve billing disputes.

The Texas Department of Insurance predicts mediation requests this year will nearly double the 4,500 requests made in 2018. That shows its time to remove patients from the process, but TMA President Douglas W. Curran contends doing that gives insurance companies unilateral control of billing disputes.

Curran blames insurance companies for creating the out-of-network problem. He says 41 percent of Texas physicians without a health plan contract told the TMA they tried to join a network but either got no response or received a take it or leave it offer. Thats a grievance also heard outside Texas.

Insurance carriers nationally have created narrow networks to reduce their costs. That way they can steer patients to lower-cost providers and negotiate lower fees for those providers services, according to health economics analyst Kate Baicker, dean of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Interviewed by the New England Journal of Medicine, Baicker said an insurance company may limit its networks to deny coverage to the sickest patients, who cost more to treat. She said a narrow network can shut out specialists and other high-quality providers while welcoming doctors who are willing to cut the lowest cost with their insurers.

Thats why state Rep. Hubert Vo, D-Houston, and state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, have introduced legislation requiring the state insurance commissioner to routinely examine the quality and adequacy of networks.

State Rep. Sarah Davis, R-Houston, and Sen. Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway, have introduced legislation requiring insurance carriers to keep their in-network lists up to date. A TMA survey showed 56 percent of physicians listed as being in a health plan network were not.

These measures addressing insurance networks could be passed without blocking the Hancock and Martinez Fischer bills that remove patients from expensive billing disputes they didnt cause. Its not patients fault when an emergency room isnt truthful about insurance coverage, or when insurers in-network lists are out of date.

Let the insurance company and provider decide which one should pay the difference between an in-network and out-of-network charge. Not only would that protect unsuspecting patients, it might discourage shady admissions practices at some medical facilities that cause billing disputes in the first place.

If the Texas Medical Association truly wants to act on patients behalf it should follow the same cardinal rule in its legislative lobbying that doctors do in the exam room: First, do no harm. Patients shouldnt be pawns in billing disputes between doctors and insurance companies.
The rise of the United States as the worlds largest producer and growing exporter of natural gas puts energy at the center of its trade negotiations. This month, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been urging Democrats to support the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement  a deal intended to lower the trade deficit between the U.S. and Mexico.

As CEO of San Antonio-based Howard Energy Partners, I have watched over the past eight years as the energy supply and demand dynamics that drive midstream companies business in Texas have become increasingly tied to locations along and across our southern border. This experience has taught me the importance of developing natural gas infrastructure along the border, and why its so important Washington update its policies to make future development easier.

My company, which has already partnered with Mexicos Grupo CLISA to build a 200-mile natural gas pipeline from South Texas to Monterrey, has approximately 700 miles of pipeline along the border, gathering production from the Eagle Ford, Escondido, Olmos and Pearsall formations, among others.

Before the Nueva Era Pipeline was built, we would indirectly transport gas to Mexico through gas markets at the Houston Ship Channel or Agua Dulce. Having pipeline assets close to the U.S.-Mexico border and being a San Antonio-based company, we were compelled to figure out how to leverage those assets. Crossing the border directly into Mexico to supply a growing need was the perfect solution. Now, the Nueva Era Pipeline provides a direct connection and a whole new market for natural gas.

The pipelines completion in June 2018 completely changed the flow of gas along a portion the U.S.-Mexico border by transporting over half a billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to Mexico. This is enough gas transported every day to generate electricity for over 12,000 homes for an entire year.

Mexicos natural gas production has been declining since 2010, and the country has become highly dependent on imports from Texas. Natural gas is cleaner, more reliable on an industrial scale and more affordable than the existing energy sources used in Mexico. Mexico imports over five billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the U.S., up from almost two billion cubic feet per day in 2012. With growing demand from new power plants and factories, that figure is expected to increase to nearly 10 billion cubic feet per day by 2028.

To meet this demand, Mexico has invested approximately $10 billion to install nearly 3,000 miles of natural gas pipelines since 2014, but many projects have faced long delays.

All this appetite for natural gas in Mexico, coupled with its increasing production in America, means people of both countries would greatly benefit from the support of a unique institution like the North American Development Bank. The bank, created under the auspices of NAFTA in 1994, can help fund important midstream infrastructure projects that will support more jobs and economic development on the northern side of the border and increase the supply of critical natural gas on the southern side of the border.

The bank, based in San Antonio, is jointly funded by the U.S. and Mexico to finance public and private infrastructure projects, such as water and sewage transportation and treatment, renewable energy generation and public transportation systems. Currently, NADB does not have explicit authority to fund natural gas-related projects. HR 132 filed by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) and SR 267 filed by U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) would change that, while also providing the first capital increase in the history of the bank.

The passage of these bills would authorize the financing of cross-border natural gas pipelines and natural gas-fired power plants, as well as projects that enhance cross-border energy distribution and energy security between the U.S. and Mexico.Expanding the scope of the NABDs mandate to include natural gas projects is a natural and logical evolution  with great potential to improve quality of life and benefit both sides of the border. Lets hope Washington uses common sense and makes this a reality.

Howard is CEO of Howard Energy Partners.
Forests are the answer to many of societys environmental and economic problems, but only if governments ensure industrial reforestation and halt deforestation driven by urban development.

The Houston Chronicle recently highlighted the importance of the forest products industry to East Texas. Indeed, no other country produces as much timber as the southeastern U.S., and new markets are emerging to continue that trend. Technological innovations now allow for 18-story wooden high-rises, and there are plans to construct such buildings in cities around the world. A six-story office building using so-called mass timber is rising in San Antonio.

This market benefits developers, workers, forest owners and even the environment, providing an incentive for landowners to replant and recapture harmful, climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. In fact, these buildings provide a triple climate mitigation dividend, since they also replace more carbon-intensive construction products like steel and concrete and store carbon in new structures for long periods of time.

The emergence of forest product markets in the early 20th century transformed the southeastern landscape from a deforested wasteland into the wood basket of the world. By 1900, southern states had exploited their forests almost out of existence, in what southern writer William Faulkner referred to as the slain wood. Georgia, for example, once contained only about 25 percent of its current forest cover. But pulp and paper markets, supported by sound state policies, drove southern reforestation, benefiting both local economies and the environment.

While the pulp and paper industry has increasingly moved overseas, other markets are filling the void, providing jobs for southerners and ensuring that forests remain intact. One example is the energy sector, where coal-fired boilers at electricity generation facilities abroad are being replaced by wood-pellet fired boilers  using pellets cultivated primarily from southern U.S. forests. While there is some controversy about the climate impacts of burning trees for energy, which still releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, current scientific and economic models ignore the potential loss of forest cover in the absence of such markets. Eighty-six percent of southern forests are privately owned, and without strong forest product markets these lands are at risk of conversion to other uses. Strong markets for forest product provide incentives for forest owners to maintain a forest carbon sink and to expand. For the climate, it may be better to burn a stand of trees for energy and start the growing cycle over again than to have no forest at all. Expanded forest cover helps fight climate change and boosts wildlife and biodiversity habitat. It also provides air pollution control, flood control and water purification, recreation and other benefits to ecosystems.

Whether for construction or energy markets, state governments must provide policy safety nets to ensure that forests are managed sustainably, that there is no net loss of forest cover over time and that other forest ecosystem services are not compromised.

Local governments also play an important role. It has been encouraging to see the expansion of the City of Houstons program for planting trees within the medians along the interstate, which will reduce the impacts of vehicle pollution by capturing airborne particulates from tailpipes, reduce the urban heat island effect and help control flooding.

At the same time, though, Houston is allowing unchecked development of far more of its forested areas. While a few hundred acres of medians along U.S. 59 are being reforested, developers are clearing thousands of acres of forests on adjacent lands.

My home in Kingwood  a community developed with forest preservation in mind  did not flood during Hurricane Harvey in part because the Creekwood Nature Area preserve retained much of the water flowing off the urban landscape and through the watershed. But the city is contemplating allowing a developer to clear bottomland forests and fill large portions of the 100-year floodplain in Kingwood to develop a high-rise marina-resort along the banks of the San Jacinto River. There have been six flood events in the area since Harvey, and residents are worried not only about increased traffic and flooding, but also about impacts on species like bald eagles. City planners should be concerned about urban deforestation and the failure to protect resources that help clean our air, filter our water, control flooding and protect our wildlife and ecosystems.

While forests provide a host of benefits, both economic and environmental, policy makers must ensure that forest product industries and developers engage in sustainable practices to preserve those benefits. That will require southern states to be more proactive on forest policy, and local governments, like Houston, to look beyond short-term economic interests toward long term economic and environmental well-being to see the forest and not just the trees.

Hudson is the A.L. OQuinn Chair in Environmental Law and Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center.
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Its unclear whether other aldermen or city officials will get ensnared in that compromising web of sexual favors and politics. We dont even know whether aldermen other than Solis were wearing wires in their conversations with one another. But Lightfoot has predicted more sweeping indictments. If that happens, voters will want a no-nonsense former federal prosecutor reporting to the fifth floor of City Hall and presiding over City Council. Lightfoot has vowed to push for the elimination of aldermanic privilege, which allows aldermen to tightly control development in their wards. Its why an alderman might be able to demand campaign donations and little blue pills from people who have big asks.
10 Guerrilla Marketing Strategies For Concert, Event Organizers

If you've got a major show or tour in the offing, you may be eager to think of new ideas for taking your marketing to the next level, and amplifying your exposure among potential ticket buyers. Here we look at ten great guerrilla marketing ideas for 2019.

____________________________

Guest post by Alyssa Torres of Eventbrite

If youre looking for a creative way to promote your event, a guerrilla marketing campaign is the ticket. This strategy can help you amplify your exposure with attendees.

Guerrilla marketing tactics are unexpected, experiential methods of advertising to build brand awareness. For example, guerrilla content marketing takes the form of publicity stunts, viral videos, or stencil graffiti.

This strategy is meant to infiltrate consumers daily life without them realizing it, providing a memorable experience  just like your event.

But unlike other channels of promotion, theres no room for even the tiniest error with guerrilla marketing. Execute your campaign poorly and the result could scare, annoy, or even anger your audience. So how do you get it right?

By having a thorough understanding of your brand, event, and attendees. And by creating the kinds of experiences that feel authentic and organic to your event. To help you get started, here are 10 guerrilla marketing ideas to inspire your own.

Guerrilla marketing idea #1: Pop-up events

Temporary and unexpected, a pop-up event is a perfect blank slate. It can be anything from a one-day free program to a week-long brick and mortar store for an online shop. Low-cost and low-risk, pop-ups can help you generate awareness and introduce your event to potential attendees in person.

Location is key to a successful pop-up, research your target audience to find the best spot that will gain the most foot traffic. (Also, check to make sure you dont need a permit before confirming the details.)

Guerrilla marketing idea #2: Temporary street art

Want to grab attention on the street? Partner with a local artist and create a wall mural or graffiti. With most guerrilla marketing ideas, timing and location are everything with temporary art. Your slice of concrete should be in a high traffic area where it will get seen by plenty of potential attendees.

Pro tip: If youre borrowing a building wall, sidewalk, or street, be sure to collaborate with your city or the business owner to avoid any fines.

Guerrilla marketing idea #3: Interactive ads

An interactive ad does something clever with the space available. For example, check out this two-page sun reflector from Hawaiian Tropics, or this billboard for Carlsberg featuring a built-in pump that dispenses free beer. These ads might cost a bit more than other ideas on this list, but the impact could be worth it.

Interactive ads engage the viewer beyond words and images, making it a unique way to get noticed. Aim to create something that goes viral, and stands out in a sea of words.

Guerrilla marketing idea #4: Flash mobs

A flash mob is an impromptu dance or song done by a large group of people in a very public space. This idea can come together fast and with a minimal budget, but it does needs precision planning.

Get enough people to make a flash mob work by recruiting your staff or coworkers from different departments, or put out the word on social media. A successful flash mob is creative and well-choreographed, so be sure to practice.

Guerrilla marketing idea #5: Activity vending machines

In the lead-up to the 2013 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Russian Olympic Committee installed a Moscow ticket machine that let subway riders pay their fare with 30 squats. It was a huge success, with high levels of engagement off- and online.

Getting people involved with your brand in an experiential way is fun for event-goers, and boosts your brand by helping your event stay top of mind.

Guerrilla marketing idea #6: Props

Planting thematic props into an appropriate landscape can create mystery and get people talking, especially on social media. For example, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Shark Week, The Discovery Channel left shark-bitten, branded surfboards on Australian beaches, which created plenty of buzz.

Guerrilla marketing idea #7: Skywriting

Skywriting is a gutsy way to get your brand in front of the right audience, allowing you to get your message in the sky  even at a competitors event, like Zoho CRM at Dreamforce 2016 in San Francisco.

Keep in mind that skywriting only lasts for a short period of time and your target audience must be outside to see it (although any social buzz will help spread the word).

Guerrilla marketing idea #8: Geofilters

Geofilters are illustrations or filters for Snapchat and Instagram photos that you can only use within specific geographies. Most cities have geofilters, and Snapchat also creates seasonal geofilters for cultural events. You can even create your own in support of your event.

Taco Bell used a custom, on-demand Geofilter to promote the launch of their Quesalupa. At the launch party, attendees were then able to use the custom geofilter to share their experience with their followers.

Guerrilla marketing idea #9: Stickers

Stickers are an inexpensive and easy way to get your brand out there. You can use them on store windows, public transportation, bus shelters, and inside elevators. You can use large stickers to surprise your intended audience, like these Folgers Coffee manhole covers in New York City.

Guerrilla marketing idea #10: Hands-on art installations

Interactive art installations are conversation starters, no doubt. They engage the viewer through an action of some kind, and make the experience personal and memorable. Interactive art installations helps you make deeper emotional connections with your target audience.

Absolut Vodka created a sculpture with their liquor bottles that fans could put their finger on, and would light up with the beat of their heart.

Building out the rest of your marketing strategy

Guerrilla marketing on its own isnt enough to sell out your event, but it helps. For more marketing techniques, check out this comprehensive guide to marketing and promotion for events.

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Montreal and Santa Maria, Cabo Verde, 28 March 2019  Bringing together African Ministers of Air Transport and Tourism for an inaugural Ministerial Conference hosted by Cabo Verde, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) stressed important messages to their distinguished guests on their sectors reciprocal socio-economic benefits.

In helping to open the high-level transport and tourism event, ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, and the Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Mr. Zurab Pololikasvili, complemented the points made by the President of the Republic of Cabo Verde, Mr. Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca, its Minister of Tourism and Transport and Maritime Economy, Dr. Jose Goncalves, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat.

Air transport and tourism are major and highly synergistic economic sectors which continue to deliver increasing contributions to global socio-economic prosperity, with a combined contribution to world GDP today of close to 14%, Dr. Aliu told the ministers of government and senior industry leaders in attendance.

However, in Africa today, the incredible economic potentials of air transport and tourism still remain largely untapped, he underscored.

In recent years, Africa has accounted for a mere 5% of global tourist arrivals and 3% of global tourism spending, even despite modest recent growth attributable to the revival of the tourism industry in Northern Africa, and improvements to African air connectivity more generally.

Dr. Aliu indicated a variety of associated constraints, including capacity crunches at many African airports, the related lack of finance and investment for infrastructure development and modernization, persisting skilled education and training capacity gaps, and in some jurisdictions ill-conceived market, taxation, and visa facilitation regulation.

While highlighting such existing challenges, the ICAO President reminded his audience that the African air transport market has the highest potential for growth out of all world regions. He underscored that a variety of avenues, tools, resources and agreements for undertaking the necessary reforms already exist, citing the Lome Declaration and its Plan of Action, the launch of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), the establishment of Africas Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), ICAOs Long-term Vision for Air Transport Liberalization, the Antananarivo Declaration and the Declaration and Framework for a Plan of Action for Development of Aviation Infrastructure in Africa.

He encouraged delegates to focus on developing pragmatic outcomes that will enhance air transport, increase air connectivity, and improve the investment climate, including through the realization of a dependable regulatory climate and the alignment of air transport and associated national development priorities.

I am sure that through the continued cooperation of ICAO, the UNWTO, the African Union, and all of our diverse development partners and member States, the required technical expertise, resources, and support to implement the outcome of this conference will be fully assured, Dr. Aliu remarked.

By working toward these objectives together, both here at this event and well into the future, we will be able to maximize the immense socio-economic benefits offered by air transport and tourism to the benefit of all Africans.

Dr. Aliu concluded his address with gratitude to the Government of Cabo Verde for the leadership it has illustrated toward these objectives through its hosting of the conference, and to the UNWTO for its cooperation toward the organization of the event.

The conference was declared open by the President of the Republic of Cabo Verde, Mr. Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca, with a total of 300 participants, including 21 Ministers of Air Transport and Tourism, from 34 States and 29 International organisations.

At the end of their deliberations the Ministers approved and adopted the Ministerial Declaration and Action Plan on Air Transport and Tourism Development in Africa. The Declaration calls for the bridging of air transport and tourism policies and the advancement of innovative and sustainable solutions to encourage air connectivity development as a means to deliver the sustainable development goals set forth under the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the United Nations (UN)s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through the Declaration, the Ministers also agreed to raise political willingness to the highest level to mainstream the priorities of the two sectors in the national, regional and global development agendas.

During his mission to Cabo Verde, the ICAO Council President met with the President, Prime Minister, and Minister of Tourism, Transport and Maritime Economy of the Republic of Cabo Verde, to discuss the States progress on the development of aviation infrastructure and services. The Head of State expressed appreciation for the work undertaken by ICAO and the organizations collaboration with Cabo Verde. He indicated the States deep commitment of to the maintenance of high aviation standards and to the development of the sector as a vital component of the economy. He emphasized efforts to strengthen regulatory autonomy and maintain good relations with ICAO, while developing Cabo Verde in to a strong and viable air transport hub.

Dr. Aliu commended Cabo Verde for the remarkable progress in the implementation of international aviation Standards and Recommended Practices and regional cooperation, recalling the efficient and effective management of the Oceanic airspace entrusted to Cabo Verde and its contribution to regional and international initiatives. The President thanked Cabo Verde for hosting the Banjul Accord Group Accident Investigation Agency (BAGAIA) and offered ICAO assistance, through its Regional office in Dakar, in areas such as Search and Rescue Organization, Performance Based Navigation, and the effort to establish an air transport hub. He called on the State to assist neighbouring States, in particular needy Portuguese-speaking countries.

The Council President also held bilateral meetings with heads of various organizations and institutions present, including the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union Commission (AUC); the Secretary General of UNWTO; and held bilateral discussions on assistance and capacity-building priorities with Tourism and Air Transport Ministers from Angola, the Gambia, Madagascar, Seychelles and Zambia, under the framework of ICAOs No Country Left Behind. Dr Aliu was accompanied by the Director of ICAOs Air Transport Bureau, Mr. Boubacar Djibo; the ICAO Regional Director for Western and Central Africa, Mr. Mam Sait Jallow; and several Representatives of the ICAO Council.



Resources for Editors

About ICAO

A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 192 Member States.

ICAO Eastern and Southern African (ESAF) Office

Western and Central African (WACAF) Office

ICAO's No Country Left Behind initiative

Aviation and the UN Sustainable Development Goals



Contacts



Anthony Philbin

Chief, Communications

aphilbin@icao.int

+1 514-954-8220

+1 438-402-8886 (mobile)

Twitter: @ICAO



William Raillant-Clark

Communications Officer

wraillantclark@icao.int

+1 514-954-6705

+1 514-409-0705 (mobile)

Twitter: @wraillantclark

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/raillantclark/
Foxxs office evidently still believes Smollett was guilty of staging an attack in which he was the purported victim. First Assistant States Attorney Joseph Magats has said no new discoveries have undercut the case that Chicago police built against Smollett, and that by no means does this deal exonerate him. So there must be some intervening variable  some other reason why prosecutors would present their case to the grand jury and now abandon it.
This is the second death of a trooper in less than 75 days, and this is the 15th trooper struck this year relating to a Scotts Law violation. And none of this had to happen, he said. These troopers are just doing their job trying to protect everyone. How many times does this have to happen? How many more have to be hurt or killed? When is enough enough? When are more people going to start giving a damn and just doing the right thing?
Chicagos voter turnout for municipal elections is typically higher than other large cities, including New York, Los Angeles or Miami, each of which had voter turnouts of less than 25 percent in 2017, according to numbers provided by Allen. In the suburbs, the turnout is usually between 13 and 23 percent, Allen said in the email.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) Local candidates vying for seats in the May elections began to campaign in their areas on Friday.

READ: Campaign season for local candidates begins

Former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim is again running for the top seat in the nation's capital as he began his campaign at the Sto. Nino de Tondo Parish.

Lim shrugged off concerns about his age and how he may not have the skills to run Manila with 1.2 million voters, backing this up with his stint as Manila mayor.

He is running against incumbent Mayor Joseph Estrada and former Vice Mayor Isko Moreno.

10 QC mayoral candidates

Meanwhile, Quezon City voters will choose among 10 candidates vying for mayor and seven for vice mayor.

The tandem of Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte and Councilor Gian Sotto is seen as the team to beat. They are running for mayor and vice mayor, respectively.

They began their campaign at a mass at the Santo Domingo Church which was attended by their parents, Senate President Tito Sotto and former Speaker Sonny Belmonte.

Among those running against the younger Belmomnte and Sotto are Representative Bingbong Crisologo and lawyer Jopet Sison of the administration PDP-Laban.

Cayetanos vying for Taguig seats

Over in Taguig City, three candidates from the same family are looking to win seats.

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and his wife, incumbent Mayor Lani Cayetano, are both running for representatives for the two districts.

They are up against Allan Cerafica and Che Che Gonzales in the first and second districts, respectively.

Meawhile, Lino Cayetano, the brother of the former Foreign Affairs secretary, is gunning for the mayoral post against Taguig 1st District Rep. Arnel Cerafica.

Guiani, Sema for Cotabato City mayor

Down South, two Moro women are running against each other for mayor of Cotabato City.

Incumbent Mayor Cynthia Guiani and Representatives Bai Sandra Sema are both from prominent families.

The families took opposite sides on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

Sema campaigned for the inclusion of Cotabato City in the new Muslim autonomous government, while Guiani was against it.

Comelec: Don't forget campaign rules

Meanwhile, James Jimenez, spokesperson of the Commission on Elections, reminded candidates what they should do during the campaign.

Speaking to CNN Philippines Friday, Jimenez said candidates should remember to put up posters only in designated common areas, and be mindful of the size limits.

Jimenez added candidates as well as private citizens should be mindful of rules when it comes to pushing campaign materials on social media.<<LINK: >>
As a woman of color whos faced discrimination, whos faced hardships because of the way in which my parents had to struggle to bring us together, I am committed to making sure we do everything possible to bring us together, Lightfoot said. Not focus on what divides us but what unites us as a city, the struggle of any neighborhood is our struggle. The challenges our children are facing are the challenges of all of us.
The IFJ-affiliated Gambia Press Union (GPU) has called on journalists not to comply with new rules imposed on journalists seeking to cover events in the Presidency.

The GPU confirmed that the Office of the Director of Press and Public Relations (DPPR) is requiring journalists to go through a selection process under the supervision of the State Intelligence Services (SIS) "as part of press accreditation procedures".

The IFJ and GPU have strongly condemned the procedure and called on the authorities to allow journalists to work freely and without any form of surveillance.

The SIS, formerly named the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) under the Jammeh regime, was a notorious and feared institution that intimidated, arrested, tortured and maimed journalists and civilians with impunity.

The President of the Gambia Press Union, Sheriff Bojang, said that the union has asked journalists not to comply with the selection process until talks are held with the Press Office of the Chamber of Deputies.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: Journalists should never go through a selection process to be allowed to report on public institutions, least of all controlled by intelligence agencies. We urge the authorities to drop this proceeding and allow journalists to cover public affairs without any kind of policing.

The President of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), Alsadig Ibrahim Alrizagi, said: Independent journalists will never be comfortable to go through a screening process by an institution that had previously inflicted pain and suffering on journalists. This screening process will breed self-censorship, as journalists will be afraid that being critical in their reports could lead to a cancellation of their accreditations.
As more and more evidence emerges about the gruesome nature of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the IFJ has called on the international community to stop appeasing the Saudi regime.

As more and more evidence emerges about the gruesome nature of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the IFJ has called on the international community to stop appeasing the Saudi regime.

Converging reports from Turkish and international media and video footage indicate that the journalist was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by Saudi hitmen, some with links to the government.

Furthermore, Turkish investigators announced that the search of the consulate on Monday has brought more evidence that Mr Khashoggi was killed there.

In a statement issued today the IFJ said:

"It is increasingly clear the Saudi government is engaged in weaving a carefully orchestrated tissue of lies to cover up their role in Jamals killing.

The idea that it takes days for the Saudi regime to find out what happened inside their own consulate is unbelievable  it is an embarrassing charade. The impunity with which the Saudis are acting is grotesque but it is in many ways matched by the sight of leading governments around the world displaying their willingness to aid and abet this gross cover-up to protect their own financial and political interests.

All over the world human rights advocates are speaking out, some companies have already imposed sanctions and boycotted events linked to the Saudi regime. Now governments must act  they have economic levers, diplomatic tools and international instruments to seek to bring the killers and those who ordered it to justice.

The EU and US have sanctioned Russia and Venezuela over claims of state sponsored killing. Why the lack of action on Saudi Arabia?".

In the coming days, IFJ affiliates across the world will call on their governments to halt cooperation with Saudi Arabia until its government tells the truth and arrests the perpetrators.

An IFJ delegation will meet with officials at the UN in New York early next week to press for further action against impunity and an independent international investigation on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Pakistani journalist Sohail Khan was shot and killed just days after filing a story about drug mafia on October 16, 2018. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) have condemned the brutal targeted murder.

Pakistani journalist Sohail Khan was shot and killed just days after filing a story about drug mafia on October 16, 2018. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) have condemned the brutal targeted murder.

Sohail had just left the District Police Office (DPO) in Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when he was shot at several times. He died at the scene. He was at the DPO filing an application for protection after receiving multiple death threats following his report on drug mafia in Pakistan.

According to PFUJ and local news, members of the drug mafia killed Sohail in retaliation for his reporting.

He is the third journalist killed in Pakistan this year.

PFUJ said: The PFUJ has joined hands with the local union of journalists and strongly condemned the brutal murder and demanded the government to arrest the killers and put them behind bars. The PFUJ President Rana M. Azeem expressed concerns over the difficult working conditions for the working journalists in Pakistan.

The PFUJ is following up on the case and gave condolences with Sohail Khans family.

IFJ general secretary, Anthony Bellanger said: We deplore the murder of Sohail Khan, a blatant attack on press freedom and an attempt to silence critical voices in Pakisant. Journalists must report without fear and intimidate, but are operating in one of the most brutal environments for media freedom. We call again on the Pakistan government and authorities to increase efforts to create a safe and secure environment for the media. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Pakistan and demand action to improve the safety for the media.
Jafar Eshtaieh, a member of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicates (PJS) board and an AFP photojournalist, was attacked on October 15 in Al Lubban Al Sharqi village by a teargas bomb that was shot directly at him hitting him in the head. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined the PJS in condemning the attack and the increase of targeted attacks on Palestinian journalists.

Jafar Eshtaieh, a member of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicates (PJS) board and an AFP photojournalist, was attacked on October 15 in Al Lubban Al Sharqi village by a teargas bomb that was shot directly at him hitting him in the head. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined the PJS in condemning the attack and the increase of targeted attacks on Palestinian journalists.

The IFJ has talked with Jafar, who is currently at the hospital, and confirms that medical tests show he is suffering from skull fractures and internal bleeding because of the attack.

The PJS has documented several targeted attacks against journalists in the last week. Yasser Tawil and Bader Najati were attacked two days ago by live ammunition in the Gaza Strip. Photographer Bilal Sabbagh was targeted by live ammunition that struck his feet while his colleague Yousef Sleih was hit by a bullet fragment on his feet.

In addition, the PJS reported the targeting of Al Aqsa Satellite channel media workers during the coverage of the al Awdeh demonstrations.

In its monthly report, the PJS has documented up to 93 attacks against journalists, including 78 carried out by Israeli occupation forces and 15 by Palestinian security forces. The PJS also documented an increase in attacks that are designed to cause as much damage as possible, especially the use of live ammunition and gas bombs that directly target journalists when they are working.

Among other attacks, the report mentions cases of preventing journalists from working, arbitrary detentions, unfair trials and beatings.

Most of these attacks against journalists go unpunished. For example, five Palestinian journalists, including Jafar Eshtaieh, were attacked by Israeli soldiers in July 2012 near Kufur Qadoum village, in the West Bank. The court that investigated the attacks sentenced some soldiers to disciplinary action, including denying them promotion. However, Haaretz newspaper reported last March that Roman Gofman, the battalion commander who ordered the attack, still serves in the IDF and has been promoted to colonel and is the commander of the 7th Battalion.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: The targeting of journalists and the muzzling of the press in the West Bank is unacceptable. We demand the responsible authorities and the international community urgently investigate all violations of press freedom in Palestine without delay.
People like you and others who accuse me of being disrespectful to families, who accuse me of being a murderer, Im deeply offended by that. Im a black woman in this city. Im at risk every single day that I walk down the streets, and if you people actually want to do good, you have to start with listening. Listen and be respectful, Lightfoot lectured the protesters as business leaders in the room applauded. It doesnt do anything but cause further division, and that is the thing that we do not need in this city.  We dont need stunts that are based on lies and absolutely no regard for the truth.
United States Condemns Attacks on Interim President Guaido and National Assembly Members

Washington, DC - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo: "The United States condemns the attacks on Interim President Juan Guaidos caravan and the harassment of National Assembly deputies and members of the media. We are monitoring reports of these and other acts of intimidation by Nicolas Maduros lawless, armed gangs, known as colectivos.

"It is the responsibility of the security forces to protect the democratically elected National Assembly. The security forces should be the guardians of peace and civility and quickly end the violence and intimidation of these irregular armed groups, which threaten the security and sovereignty of the people of Venezuela. These acts of intimidation will not succeed in delaying the inevitablethe peaceful restoration of democracy, stability, and prosperity to the people of Venezuela."
Appointment of Ambassador Yasar Halit Cevik as Chief Monitor of the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

Washington, DC - The United States welcomes the appointment of Ambassador Yasar Halit Cevik of Turkey as Chief Monitor of the OSCEs Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM). As the OSCE marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the SMM, we recognize the crucial visibility it provides into the Russia-instigated conflict in eastern Ukraine. The United States commends outgoing Chief Monitor Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan for his leadership in standing up the OSCEs largest mission and his commitment to improving its safety and efficacy.

We are grateful to the SMM monitors and staff for their valuable contributions to this mission and their dedicated service under difficult and, at times, dangerous conditions. Ambassador Ceviks extensive public service as a diplomat make him well-suited for this position.

The United States urges all OSCE participating States to reiterate support for the SMM. We call on Russia and the forces it arms, trains, leads, and fights alongside in Ukraine to allow the SMM full and unhindered access to the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
Ridley Scott has praised an American high school's elaborate stage adaptation of his science-fiction classic Alien.

Despite only seeing a snippet of the play, which went viral earlier this week, the director was moved enough to write a letter to the students of North Bergen High School, New Jersey.

"My hat comes off to all of you for your creativity, imagination and determination to produce an ambitious show," Scott wrote in a letter, obtained by Deadline.

"Limitations often produce the best results because imagination and determination can surpass any shortfalls and determine the way forward - always.

"Self-sufficiency is what this country was largely based upon with its immigrant population coming into a New World and working together."

37 horror films that are genuinely scary Show all 37 1 /37 37 horror films that are genuinely scary 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Funny Games (1997) Directed by: Michael Haneke. Funny Games places the horror in the familiar setting of home. It follows two young men who hold a family hostage and torture them with sadistic games. The result is far scarier than anything featuring ghosts, witches or demons. Concorde-Castle Rock/Turner 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Amityville Horror (1979) Directed by: Stuart Rosenberg. The Amityville Horror is based on the true story of the Lutzes, a family who were run out of their home after being terrorised by paranormal phenomena in 1975. Just one year before, Ronald DeFeo Jr shot and killed six members of his family in the same house. James Brolin and Margot Kidder lead this film, which became one of the biggest hits of 1979. American International Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Audition (1999) Directed by: Takashi Miike . Japanese horror Audition (1999) follows a widower who meets a woman named Ayoma after staging auditions to meet a potential new partner. Soon, though, her dark past begins to surface, which equates to a pretty disturbing climax. Omega Project 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Blair Witch Project (1999) Directed by: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez . Although parodied to death, The Blair Witch Project popularised the found-footage format to terrifying degrees in 1999. People genuinely believed they were watching real clips of three student filmmakers being terrorised by a Maryland legend known as the Blair Witch. Artisan Entertainment 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Directed by: Robert Wiene . Black-and-white silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) is considered the quintessential work of German Expressionism, but also one of the scariest films in cinema history. It follows a hypnotist (Werner Krauss) who uses a somnambulist to commit murders, and Wiene's shadowed sets and striking visual style combines to unsettle the viewer in ways most filmmakers only dream of managing. Decla-Bioscop 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Candyman (1992) Directed by: Bernard Rose. A contemporary classic of horror cinema, 1992 film Candyman  which spawned two sequels and has a Jordan Peele-produced remake in the works  follows a graduate student whose studies lead her to the legend of a ghost who appears when you say his name three times. TriStar Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Cannibal Holocaust (1980) Directed by: Ruggero Deodato. Extreme enough to warrant a ban in Italy and Australia, Cannibal Holocaust (1980) was one of the first films to embrace the found-footage format  so much so that Deodato found himself charged with multiple counts of murder due to rumours that several of the film's death scenes were real. He was later cleared. United Artists Europa 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Descent (2005) Directed by: Neil Marshall. Released in 2005, The Descent follows six women who, upon exploring a cave, battle to survive against the creatures they find inside. It's these creatures that earn this British horror film's placement on this list. Pathe Distribution 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Exorcist (1973) Directed by: William Friedkin. One of the most controversial films of all time, The Exorcist  which tells the story of the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl named Regan (Linda Blair)  became the first horror to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in 1974. Warner Bros 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Halloween (1978) Directed by: John Carpenter. Sure, it may be dated, but John Carpenter's original Halloween film  released in 1978  remains the daddy of all horrors. It re-defined the rule book and has been emulated in everything from Scream (1996) to Trick 'r Treat (2007). The tension, as babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) attempts to evade masked murderer Michael Myers, only heightens with every new watch. Compass International Pictures[ 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Hereditary (2018) Directed by: Ari Aster. Proving that horror is a force to be reckoned with, Hereditary became independent distributor A24's highest-grossing film around the world upon its release in 2018. It tells the story of a family who find themselves haunted after the death of their secretive grandmother and features a final act that left many of its viewers with sleepless nights. A24 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The House of the Devil (2009) Directed by: Ti West. The House of the Devil (2009) follows a student named Samantha who is hired to guard an isolated house with one rule: don't go upstairs. For most of the film's runtime, not much happens, which is what makes the action-packed final third so terrifying. Spoiler: she goes upstairs. MPI Media Group 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Innocents (1961) Directed by: Jack Clayton. Based upon Henry James' chiller The Turn of the Screw, the plot of 1961 psychological horror film The Innocents concerns a governess who watches over two children and comes to fear that their large estate is haunted by ghosts and that the youngsters are being possessed. 20th Century Fox 37 horror films that are genuinely scary It (1986) Directed by: Tommy Lee Wallace. Forget the effects-laden remake  this version of It, released as a miniseries in 1986, is the most terrifying adaptation of Stephen King's beloved novel to date. It follows a shapeshifting demon who takes the form of a sadistic child-killing clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry). Lorimar Productions 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) Directed by: Takashi Shimizu. Japanese horror maestro Takashi Shimizu  who also directed the pretty scary 2005 remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar  balances mystery with horror in Ju-On: The Grudge, a story based in a cursed house in Tokyo. Lions Gate Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Kill List (2011) Directed by: Ben Wheatley. To describe the horrors of Kill List is to ruin the film's surprises, but let's just say this: the final 20 minutes of Ben Wheatley's violent drama from 2011 features some of the most unsettling scenes in any film from this decade. Optimum Releasing 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Lake Mungo (2008) Directed by: Joel Anderson. Taking the form of a mockumentary, the little-seen Australian drama Lake Mungo may have received a limited release in 2008, but its story of a family attempting to come to terms with the drowning of their daughter stays with viewers long after. Arclight Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Martyrs (2008) Directed by: Pascal Laugier. The polarising 2008 film Martyrs, often associated with the New French Extremity movement, is the kind of horror that leaves you needing a shower once the credits roll. It follows a young woman's quest for revenge on the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child. Anchor Bay Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Night of the Living Dead (1968) Directed by: George A Romero. Younger viewers may be desensitised by the more extreme horror films to have been released in recent decades, but the scares featured in Romero's Night of the Living Dead  including the young girl zombie reveal  remain some of the most chilling committed to celluloid. Continental Distributing 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Nosferatu (1922) Directed by: FW Murnau. Alongside Cesare in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), the character of vampire Count Orlok in 1922 film Nosferatu  played by Mac Schreck  remains one of the most spine-tingling in cinema history. Film Arts Guild 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Orphanage (2007) Directed by: JA Bayona. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, this acclaimed 2007 chiller follows the disappearance of a young boy in an orphanage, which brings many of the building's terrifying secrets to the fore. Warner Bros Pictures de Espana 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Others (2001) Directed by: Alejandro Amenabar. The Others (2001) is a towering achievement for Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenabar who wrote, directed and scored this Nicole Kidman-fronted tale about a woman trying to protect her children from supernatural forces. It's perhaps the scariest 12-certificate film of all time. Warner Sogefilms 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Paranormal Activity (2009) Directed by: Oren Peli. Could Paranormal Activity be the scariest film of all time? It's certainly one of them. Just when you thought found-footage had had its day, Oren Peli's small-budgeted festival favourite became one of 2009's biggest hits. Audiences lapped up the story of a couple who capture supernatural presences on a camera in their own home. Paramount Pictures[ 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman. Paranormal Activity 3 earns its place on this list for its final 10 minutes. Set 18 years prior to the events of the first two films, we see the cause of the curse that follows characters Katie and Kristi for the rest of their lives  and it's down to a coven of witches led by their grandmother. Paramount Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary [REC] (2007) Directed by: Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza. Played out in real-time, the claustrophobic Spanish horror film [REC] is one of the better examples of found-footage cinema. Released in 2007, it follows a reporter and her cameraman who follow firefighters to a Barcelona building and soon find themselves locked inside with its occupants who are displaying murderous behaviour. Filmax International 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Ring (1998) Directed by: Hideo Nakata. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know the story of Ring by now: viewers of a cursed videotape die seven days after watching it. While the inevitable Hollywood remake in 2002 was better than it had any right to be, Nakata's original is as terrifying as horror films come. Toho 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Rosemary's Baby (1968) Directed by: Roman Polanski. Released in 1968, Rosemary's Baby follows a pregnant woman who suspects that an evil cult want to take her baby for use in their rituals. Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes and Ruth Gordon's performances tip this psychological chiller into classic status. Paramount Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Shining (1980) Directed by: Stanley Kubrick. Forget the iconic "Heeeeere's Johnny" or that bath scene  it's the smaller moments that make Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining a terrifying watch, notably the trippy final act that sees Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) lose his mind to the Overlook Hotel. Warner Bros 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Sinister (2012) Directed by: Scott Derrickson. Of all the Blumhouse horror films, 2012 release Sinister  which features the demonic character Bughuul  is the spookiest of them all. It stars Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer who discovers a box of home movies depicting grisly murders in the attic of his new house. Momentum Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Sleep Tight (2011) Directed by: Jaume Balaguero. This little-seen Spanish horror follows a concierge who, believing he was born without the ability to feel happiness, decides to make life hell for everyone around him. Filmax 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Directed by: Tobe Hooper. The fictional Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), marketed as a true story, follows a group of cannibals  including Leatherface  who relentlessly hunt down a group of friends. Vortex 37 horror films that are genuinely scary 28 Days Later (2002) Directed by: Danny Boyle. Many might not reflect upon 28 Days Later (2002) as one of the world's scariest horror films, but its desolate depiction of a viral outbreak seems more real than any other. When merged with the fast-paced infected and the usage of John Murphy's song "In the House  In A Heartbeat", it's hard to deny it such status. Fox Searchlight Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary V/H/S (2012) Directed by: Various. Directed by six filmmakers, including Adam Wingard and Ti West, 2012 anthology film V/H/S is grimy horror of the tallest order. Look no further than David Bruckner's section "Amateur Night" following three friends who meet a mysterious girl who says nothing other than three small words: "I like you." Magnet Releasing 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Wailing (2016) Directed by: Na Hong-jin. Twist-filled horror drama The Wailing follows a policeman who investigates a series of mysterious killings and illness in the mountains of South Korea. If the journey fails to scare you, its destination will leave you lying awake at night. 20th Century Fox Korea 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Wicker Man (1973) Directed by: Robin Hardy. The Wicker Man is deemed the best British horror film of all time for a reason. It tells the story of a Police Sergeant who travels to an isolated island in search of a missing girl, only to find its inhabitants practising a form of Celtic paganism. British Lion Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Witch (2015) Directed by: Robert Eggers. For the most part, it's not what you see in The Witch that terrifies, it's what you don't see. Eggers unsettlingly holds his camera a fraction too long in places as he retells the story of a Separatist family who encounter supernatural forces in the woods beyond their farm. A24 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Zero Day (2003) Directed by: Ben Coccio. The horrors are all too real in Zero Day, a film inspired by the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. The majority of the film is portrayed through the video diaries of two students who are planning to attack their high school. Avatar Films

The director continued: "Thanks for doing Alien, I felt very complimented... How about you next team production being Gladiator?"

Scott also said his production company, Scott Free, would be sending financial help to fund an encore performance of Alien.

Alien turned 40-years-old earlier this month. Read about the horror masterpiece here.
Snoop Dogg has revealed he played a prank on his Beach Bum co-star Matthew McConaughey where he swapped his prop weed for "Snoop weed", causing the actor to black out and "rap for 13 hours straight".

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the pair discussed making the film and made it clear they had a lot of fun while on set.

The incident apparently took place during their first day on set, where Snoop showed up to find a table of fake joints filled with oregano for the scene they were going to shoot.

37 horror films that are genuinely scary Show all 37 1 /37 37 horror films that are genuinely scary 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Funny Games (1997) Directed by: Michael Haneke. Funny Games places the horror in the familiar setting of home. It follows two young men who hold a family hostage and torture them with sadistic games. The result is far scarier than anything featuring ghosts, witches or demons. Concorde-Castle Rock/Turner 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Amityville Horror (1979) Directed by: Stuart Rosenberg. The Amityville Horror is based on the true story of the Lutzes, a family who were run out of their home after being terrorised by paranormal phenomena in 1975. Just one year before, Ronald DeFeo Jr shot and killed six members of his family in the same house. James Brolin and Margot Kidder lead this film, which became one of the biggest hits of 1979. American International Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Audition (1999) Directed by: Takashi Miike . Japanese horror Audition (1999) follows a widower who meets a woman named Ayoma after staging auditions to meet a potential new partner. Soon, though, her dark past begins to surface, which equates to a pretty disturbing climax. Omega Project 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Blair Witch Project (1999) Directed by: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez . Although parodied to death, The Blair Witch Project popularised the found-footage format to terrifying degrees in 1999. People genuinely believed they were watching real clips of three student filmmakers being terrorised by a Maryland legend known as the Blair Witch. Artisan Entertainment 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Directed by: Robert Wiene . Black-and-white silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) is considered the quintessential work of German Expressionism, but also one of the scariest films in cinema history. It follows a hypnotist (Werner Krauss) who uses a somnambulist to commit murders, and Wiene's shadowed sets and striking visual style combines to unsettle the viewer in ways most filmmakers only dream of managing. Decla-Bioscop 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Candyman (1992) Directed by: Bernard Rose. A contemporary classic of horror cinema, 1992 film Candyman  which spawned two sequels and has a Jordan Peele-produced remake in the works  follows a graduate student whose studies lead her to the legend of a ghost who appears when you say his name three times. TriStar Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Cannibal Holocaust (1980) Directed by: Ruggero Deodato. Extreme enough to warrant a ban in Italy and Australia, Cannibal Holocaust (1980) was one of the first films to embrace the found-footage format  so much so that Deodato found himself charged with multiple counts of murder due to rumours that several of the film's death scenes were real. He was later cleared. United Artists Europa 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Descent (2005) Directed by: Neil Marshall. Released in 2005, The Descent follows six women who, upon exploring a cave, battle to survive against the creatures they find inside. It's these creatures that earn this British horror film's placement on this list. Pathe Distribution 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Exorcist (1973) Directed by: William Friedkin. One of the most controversial films of all time, The Exorcist  which tells the story of the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl named Regan (Linda Blair)  became the first horror to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in 1974. Warner Bros 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Halloween (1978) Directed by: John Carpenter. Sure, it may be dated, but John Carpenter's original Halloween film  released in 1978  remains the daddy of all horrors. It re-defined the rule book and has been emulated in everything from Scream (1996) to Trick 'r Treat (2007). The tension, as babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) attempts to evade masked murderer Michael Myers, only heightens with every new watch. Compass International Pictures[ 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Hereditary (2018) Directed by: Ari Aster. Proving that horror is a force to be reckoned with, Hereditary became independent distributor A24's highest-grossing film around the world upon its release in 2018. It tells the story of a family who find themselves haunted after the death of their secretive grandmother and features a final act that left many of its viewers with sleepless nights. A24 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The House of the Devil (2009) Directed by: Ti West. The House of the Devil (2009) follows a student named Samantha who is hired to guard an isolated house with one rule: don't go upstairs. For most of the film's runtime, not much happens, which is what makes the action-packed final third so terrifying. Spoiler: she goes upstairs. MPI Media Group 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Innocents (1961) Directed by: Jack Clayton. Based upon Henry James' chiller The Turn of the Screw, the plot of 1961 psychological horror film The Innocents concerns a governess who watches over two children and comes to fear that their large estate is haunted by ghosts and that the youngsters are being possessed. 20th Century Fox 37 horror films that are genuinely scary It (1986) Directed by: Tommy Lee Wallace. Forget the effects-laden remake  this version of It, released as a miniseries in 1986, is the most terrifying adaptation of Stephen King's beloved novel to date. It follows a shapeshifting demon who takes the form of a sadistic child-killing clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry). Lorimar Productions 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) Directed by: Takashi Shimizu. Japanese horror maestro Takashi Shimizu  who also directed the pretty scary 2005 remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar  balances mystery with horror in Ju-On: The Grudge, a story based in a cursed house in Tokyo. Lions Gate Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Kill List (2011) Directed by: Ben Wheatley. To describe the horrors of Kill List is to ruin the film's surprises, but let's just say this: the final 20 minutes of Ben Wheatley's violent drama from 2011 features some of the most unsettling scenes in any film from this decade. Optimum Releasing 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Lake Mungo (2008) Directed by: Joel Anderson. Taking the form of a mockumentary, the little-seen Australian drama Lake Mungo may have received a limited release in 2008, but its story of a family attempting to come to terms with the drowning of their daughter stays with viewers long after. Arclight Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Martyrs (2008) Directed by: Pascal Laugier. The polarising 2008 film Martyrs, often associated with the New French Extremity movement, is the kind of horror that leaves you needing a shower once the credits roll. It follows a young woman's quest for revenge on the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child. Anchor Bay Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Night of the Living Dead (1968) Directed by: George A Romero. Younger viewers may be desensitised by the more extreme horror films to have been released in recent decades, but the scares featured in Romero's Night of the Living Dead  including the young girl zombie reveal  remain some of the most chilling committed to celluloid. Continental Distributing 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Nosferatu (1922) Directed by: FW Murnau. Alongside Cesare in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), the character of vampire Count Orlok in 1922 film Nosferatu  played by Mac Schreck  remains one of the most spine-tingling in cinema history. Film Arts Guild 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Orphanage (2007) Directed by: JA Bayona. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, this acclaimed 2007 chiller follows the disappearance of a young boy in an orphanage, which brings many of the building's terrifying secrets to the fore. Warner Bros Pictures de Espana 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Others (2001) Directed by: Alejandro Amenabar. The Others (2001) is a towering achievement for Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenabar who wrote, directed and scored this Nicole Kidman-fronted tale about a woman trying to protect her children from supernatural forces. It's perhaps the scariest 12-certificate film of all time. Warner Sogefilms 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Paranormal Activity (2009) Directed by: Oren Peli. Could Paranormal Activity be the scariest film of all time? It's certainly one of them. Just when you thought found-footage had had its day, Oren Peli's small-budgeted festival favourite became one of 2009's biggest hits. Audiences lapped up the story of a couple who capture supernatural presences on a camera in their own home. Paramount Pictures[ 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman. Paranormal Activity 3 earns its place on this list for its final 10 minutes. Set 18 years prior to the events of the first two films, we see the cause of the curse that follows characters Katie and Kristi for the rest of their lives  and it's down to a coven of witches led by their grandmother. Paramount Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary [REC] (2007) Directed by: Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza. Played out in real-time, the claustrophobic Spanish horror film [REC] is one of the better examples of found-footage cinema. Released in 2007, it follows a reporter and her cameraman who follow firefighters to a Barcelona building and soon find themselves locked inside with its occupants who are displaying murderous behaviour. Filmax International 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Ring (1998) Directed by: Hideo Nakata. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know the story of Ring by now: viewers of a cursed videotape die seven days after watching it. While the inevitable Hollywood remake in 2002 was better than it had any right to be, Nakata's original is as terrifying as horror films come. Toho 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Rosemary's Baby (1968) Directed by: Roman Polanski. Released in 1968, Rosemary's Baby follows a pregnant woman who suspects that an evil cult want to take her baby for use in their rituals. Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes and Ruth Gordon's performances tip this psychological chiller into classic status. Paramount Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Shining (1980) Directed by: Stanley Kubrick. Forget the iconic "Heeeeere's Johnny" or that bath scene  it's the smaller moments that make Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining a terrifying watch, notably the trippy final act that sees Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) lose his mind to the Overlook Hotel. Warner Bros 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Sinister (2012) Directed by: Scott Derrickson. Of all the Blumhouse horror films, 2012 release Sinister  which features the demonic character Bughuul  is the spookiest of them all. It stars Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer who discovers a box of home movies depicting grisly murders in the attic of his new house. Momentum Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Sleep Tight (2011) Directed by: Jaume Balaguero. This little-seen Spanish horror follows a concierge who, believing he was born without the ability to feel happiness, decides to make life hell for everyone around him. Filmax 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Directed by: Tobe Hooper. The fictional Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), marketed as a true story, follows a group of cannibals  including Leatherface  who relentlessly hunt down a group of friends. Vortex 37 horror films that are genuinely scary 28 Days Later (2002) Directed by: Danny Boyle. Many might not reflect upon 28 Days Later (2002) as one of the world's scariest horror films, but its desolate depiction of a viral outbreak seems more real than any other. When merged with the fast-paced infected and the usage of John Murphy's song "In the House  In A Heartbeat", it's hard to deny it such status. Fox Searchlight Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary V/H/S (2012) Directed by: Various. Directed by six filmmakers, including Adam Wingard and Ti West, 2012 anthology film V/H/S is grimy horror of the tallest order. Look no further than David Bruckner's section "Amateur Night" following three friends who meet a mysterious girl who says nothing other than three small words: "I like you." Magnet Releasing 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Wailing (2016) Directed by: Na Hong-jin. Twist-filled horror drama The Wailing follows a policeman who investigates a series of mysterious killings and illness in the mountains of South Korea. If the journey fails to scare you, its destination will leave you lying awake at night. 20th Century Fox Korea 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Wicker Man (1973) Directed by: Robin Hardy. The Wicker Man is deemed the best British horror film of all time for a reason. It tells the story of a Police Sergeant who travels to an isolated island in search of a missing girl, only to find its inhabitants practising a form of Celtic paganism. British Lion Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Witch (2015) Directed by: Robert Eggers. For the most part, it's not what you see in The Witch that terrifies, it's what you don't see. Eggers unsettlingly holds his camera a fraction too long in places as he retells the story of a Separatist family who encounter supernatural forces in the woods beyond their farm. A24 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Zero Day (2003) Directed by: Ben Coccio. The horrors are all too real in Zero Day, a film inspired by the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. The majority of the film is portrayed through the video diaries of two students who are planning to attack their high school. Avatar Films

"I'm like, who is that for, that's not for me!" Snoop joked, and McConaughey noted they were supposed to be for him.

When it came to shooting the scene, Snoop swapped the prop weed for his own and only told McConaughey after the scene was completed.

"I didn't say another word of English, really for the rest of the night," McConaughey said, turning to Snoop: "You said I rapped a lot."

"You rapped for 13 hours straight," Snoop replied.

McConaughey added that when he asked Snoop how the filming had gone the next day, Snoop replied: "Oh you was great, Moon Dogg, you hit four in the park home-runs."
More than 1,000 dolphins, many with their fins cut off, have washed up on France's Atlantic coast so far this year.

Scientists say 90 per cent of the fatalities result from the highly intelligent mammals being caught in industrial fishing nets.

But the 1,100 found since January is already higher than the entirety of 2018, which was itself the highest year in four decades. The reason for the spike remains a mystery.

Theres never been a number this high, said Willy Daubin, a member of La Rochelle Universitys National Center for Scientific Research.

The mass deaths have alarmed animal welfare groups and prompted Frances ecology minister to launch a national plan to protect them.

Tragic photos show beached whales Show all 15 1 /15 Tragic photos show beached whales Tragic photos show beached whales A dead sperm whale lies on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk on 5 February 2016 AFP/Getty Tragic photos show beached whales Volunteers pour buckets of water over the 80 remaining live pilot whales found stranded on remote Ocean Beach on New Zealand's southern-most Stewart island, 8 January 2003 AFP/Getty Tragic photos show beached whales Contractors clear away the body of one of the dead 48ft sperm whales that were washed-up on a beach near Gibraltar Point in Skegness, Lincolnshire in 2016 PA Tragic photos show beached whales People pass by a beached whale at the Pointe de la Torche, near Brest in France on 29 November 2011 AFP/Getty Tragic photos show beached whales A woman touches the tail of a large whale carcass on Wattamola Beach at the Royal National Park in Sydney on 25 September 2018 AFP/Getty Tragic photos show beached whales Beached humpback whale in California, 2015 AFP/Getty Tragic photos show beached whales Dead long fin pilot whales at Hamelin Bay on Australia's west coast on 23 March 2009 AFP/Getty Tragic photos show beached whales A 36ft sperm whale lies dead on the beach at Sutton Bridge, in The Wash, off the Lincolnshire coast, where it became stranded in 2004 PA Tragic photos show beached whales A female fin whale opens its mouth as it lies stranded and alive on the beach at Carlyon Bay, Cornwall on 13 August 2012 Getty Tragic photos show beached whales The lower jaw of a dead sperm whale that stranded itself on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk on 5 February 2016 Getty Tragic photos show beached whales One of the five sperm whales that were found washed ashore on beaches near Skegness, Lincolnshire over the weekend on 25 January 2016 Getty Tragic photos show beached whales Employees at work to skin the remains of a beached 60ft whale on 25 January 2013 AFP/Getty Tragic photos show beached whales Two long-finned pilot whales are stranded on a beach in the northern French city of Calais on 2 November 2015 AFP/Getty Tragic photos show beached whales A sperm whale lies dead after becoming stranded on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk on 5 February 2016 Getty Tragic photos show beached whales Crowds gather as a sperm whale lies dead after becoming stranded on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk on 5 February 2016 Getty

What fishing machinery or equipment is behind all these deaths? Mr Daubin asked.

Autopsies carried out on the dolphins this year by La Rochelle's research centre show extreme levels of mutilation.

Activists say it is common for fishermen to cut body parts off the suffocated dolphins after they are pulled up on the nets, to save the nets.

French ecology minister Francois de Rugy travelled to La Rochelle last week to work on strategies to lower the number of dolphins dying as a result of humans. He is under pressure, partly due to French president Emmanuel Macrons pro-ecology stance and oft-quoted slogan to Make the Planet Great Again".

Mr Rugy is considering bolstering research into existing acoustic repellent devices in place in 26 two-vessel trawlers off the Bay of Biscay, an industrial fishing hub in the Atlantic Ocean.

When activated, the devices send unpleasant signals to nearby dolphins that cause them to swim away.

But animal rights group Sea Shepherd said his measures do not go far enough, and has already decried the acoustic repellents as useless".

It claims many of the trawlers they watch in the region keep the repellent devices turned off, fearing they will scare off valuable fish as well, and only turn them on if they are being checked by fishing monitors.

 Footage shows Taiji drive dolphin hunts in Japan

It also said increasing the number of repellent devices is not a long-term solution, since that makes the oceans an uninhabitable drum of noise pollution for all mammals and fish.

The government needs to take responsibility and act  especially Macron, who said he wanted to protect ecology, said Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France.

She cited scientists who predict the current rates of fishing will likely drive the dolphin population to extinction.

The spotlight has been put on the trawlers that fish for sea bass ... which is a scandal. But they were not the only ones responsible, she said.

She suggested aggressive hake fishing, which was given the green light three years ago after a long ban, was a major factor. The spike in dolphin deaths also began three years ago.

Her group says the ecological crisis stems from unprecedented demand for low-cost fish.

Right now, the sea bass that is being caught by the trawlers that kill dolphins you can find on the French market for 8 euros per kilogram ($4 per pound), she said.

Global seafood consumption has more than doubled in the past 50 years, according to the European Commission, a rate that rights groups have branded unsustainable.

Additional reporting by AP
Spring is well and truly here, which means its time to dust off your dancing shoes in preparation for wedding season.

The spring and summer months are continually the most popular time for people to get married in England and Wales. And for good reason, because the balmy weather makes everything easier at a wedding, whether it means you can have a firework display or take photographs outside.

But finding the perfect outfit for a sun-soaked wedding can be tricky.

According to global fashion search platform Lyst, wedding guests are now spending 26 per cent more on their outfits compared to two years ago.

All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Show all 34 1 /34 All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Ricky Martin EPA All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Chelsy Davy REUTERS All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Jimmy Carr REUTERS All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Elliott Spencer and Stephen Fry EPA All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Tracey Emin REUTERS All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Kate Moss and Lila Grace Moss Hack REUTERS All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Emily Wansbrough and guest arrive for the wedding of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle REUTERS All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding The Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Gloucester arrive for the wedding of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. PA All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Meghan, Duchess of Sussex AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Philippa Matthews, sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, with her husband James Matthews AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in St George's Chapel AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Sarah, Duchess of York, and Princess Beatrice of York AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Robbie Williams arrives with his wife, actor Ayda Williams AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Cara Delevingne Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Princess Anne, Princess Royal AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Ellie Goulding AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Jamie Redknapp arrives at St George's Chapel Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Sofia Wellesley and James Blunt Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Naomi Campbell AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Eric Buterbaugh and Demi Moore Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Liv Tyler AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Emma Louise Connolly and Oliver Proudlock AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Sam Branson AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Poppy Delevingne and Charles Delevingne AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Dutch model Rianne Ten Haken AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Socialite Heather Kerzner AFP/Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Cressida Bonas (left) arrives at St George's Chapel with another wedding guest Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Nick Candy and Holly Candy Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Chelsy Davy (left) Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Karoline Copping and Jimmy Carr Getty Images All the guests at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Pixie Geldof and George Barnett Getty Images

As for what theyre buying? Long gone are the days of demure dresses that will ensure you blend into the background among a sea of dull pastels and obnoxious hats like an extra who drew the short straw in Four Weddings and a Funeral. No, no. This season, wedding guest trends are all about brash colours, bold tailoring and statement headwear, Lyst reports.

Think patterned blazers, statement headpieces and hot pink dresses in the style of Molly Goddards voluminous tutu made famous by Killing Eves Villanelle, all of which are styles that have surged in search on the platform over the last few months.

De La Vali Alementra dress: 575, Shrimps Buttercup faux-pearl embellished bag: 440, Aldo Aieviel sandals: 70, Simone Rocha floral crystal bead headband: 295, Urban Decay cream vice lipstick: 12.25

Dressing for weddings has become less formal over the years, explains milliner Jane Taylor, who specialises in headwear for special occasions. In the 1950s we wore hats and gloves every day. Now lots of people dont even wear them to weddings. People want to be a bit more individual with their outfits these days.

Hamish Shephard, founder of wedding planning app Bridebook, concurs, telling The Independent that long gone are the days when guests would feel obliged to conform to rigid dress codes. Millennial couples hate forcing their friends to splurge on smart outfits they wont ever wear again, the rules are much more relaxed now, which means people are getting experimental with their choices.

Recommended Best high street fashion buys in April to stay ahead of the curve

But with the majority of modern-day weddings starting in the afternoon, the key is to find an outfit that can easily take you from day to night and not look out of place in either setting.

Fashion stylist Anna Berkeley recommends following in the footsteps of transitional style pros like Victoria Beckham, whose slick and colourful ensembles are perfect examples of outfits that could work in a multitude of settings without compromising on playfulness.

Zara pleated jumpsuit with straps: 49.99, & Other Stories rectangular frame sunglasses, Castaner Carina 60 canvas & jute espadrille wedges: 80, Isabel Marant Malebo shell drop earrings: 75, Staud Gabbi check beaded drawstring pouch: 160

Try pairing a bright suit with a sculptural heel and a silky cami top, she tells The Independent. Or, if youre tall, Berkeley suggests trying a midi dress over loose-fitting trousers for a layered-up look. They look best in drapey fabrics that tone together but you could try a floral with a plain trouser or vice versa. Add a bow somewhere for extra flair.

Other great go-to looks for weddings this season that draw on spring/summer 2019 trends include satin slip skirts, which Berkeley says look best when paired with a linen knit or strappy metallic sandals.

Rhode Resort Valentina floral-print cotton wrap blouse: 190, Office mules: 39, Topshop satin full circle midi skirt: 39, Accessorize brushed disco collar necklace: 12, Muun mini caba straw bag: 120

If youre going to go all out in a look-at-me ensemble, which you absolutely can, she suggests offsetting the grandeur with minimal accessories.

Speaking of accessories, London-based fashion designer Lalage Beaumont tells The Independent that the desire for day-to-night looks might be why statement headbands and hair clips are on the rise among wedding guests, explaining that it can be a lifesaver for those choosing to wear hats during the ceremony, only to take them off to dance and reveal an unappealing halo of hat hair.

Ganni Cameron knotted floral-print satin maxi dress: 370, MAC matte lipstick in red rock: 17.50, Mango croc-effect bag: 29.99, Cult Gaia Alia leather mules: 265

The bottom line is that this seasons wedding guest trends offer you the chance to experiment, whether thats with colourways or fabrics. And dont be afraid to go the extra flamboyant mile. All the cool kids are doing it.
Nasa has successfully tested a helicopter that is now bound to fly on Mars, it has said.

Everything that has previously explored the red planet has done so from its surface. But engineers now hope the flying helicopter will able to soar over it, allowing for a new perspective on the Martian surface.

Remotely controlling a helicopter from hundreds of millions of miles away, on top of Mars's thin atmosphere and freezing temperatures as low as minus 90C (minus 130F) at night, make flying such a device an incredibly difficult technical feat.

The space agency has been putting the 4lb (1.8kg) helicopter through its paces in a vacuum chamber at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which swaps nitrogen, oxygen and other gases for carbon dioxide to mimic the atmosphere of the Red Planet, as well as a gravity offload system.

"Getting our helicopter into an extremely thin atmosphere is only part of the challenge," said Teddy Tzanetos, test conductor for the Mars Helicopter.

Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 1 /30 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013 Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa Celebrates 50 Years of Spacewalking For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Hubble Cosmic Couple The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427  more commonly known as WR 124  and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago Nasa's most stunning pictures of space The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launch The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. It also took caviar, ready for the satellite's inhabitants to celebrate the holidays Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth from the ISS From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Black Hole Friday Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead  sharing pictures of black holes Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space NuSTAR X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Cassiopeia A c A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Orion Capsule splashes down The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later  having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth Observations From Gemini IV in 1965 This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Frosty slopes of Mars This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Yellowstone from space NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Saturn This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Worlds Apart Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Mars Rover Spirit Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Morning Aurora From the Space Station Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station Nasa/Scott Kelly Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Launch of History - Making STS-41G Mission in 1984 The Space Shuttle Challenger launches from Florida at dawn. On this mission, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk and Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space. The crew of seven was the largest to fly on a spacecraft at that time, and STS-41G was the first flight to include two female astronauts Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Sees a Galactic Sunflower The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the Nasa Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Pluto image Four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with colour data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced colour global view of Pluto Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Fresh Crater Near Sirenum Fossae Region of Mars The HiRISE camera aboard Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a "fresh" (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Peers into the Most Crowded Place in the Milky Way This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way NASA & ESA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space An Astronaut's View from Space Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Giant Landform on Mars On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Expedition 39 Landing A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Chandra Observatory Sees a Heart in the Darkness This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region

"To truly simulate flying on Mars we have to take away two-thirds of Earth's gravity, because Mars's gravity is that much weaker."

Nasa is aiming to launch the helicopter with the Mars 2020 rover in July 2020, before it is expected to reach the planet in February 2021 and carry out flights a few months later.

"The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Mars Helicopter.

"Watching our helicopter go through its paces in the chamber, I couldn't help but think about the historic vehicles that have been in there in the past.

"The chamber hosted missions from the Ranger Moon probes to the Voyagers to Cassini, and every Mars rover ever flown. To see our helicopter in there reminded me we are on our way to making a little chunk of space history as well."

The news comes days after US Vice President Mike Pence told Nasa that he wants astronauts on the Moon again within five years, which he said "holds great scientific, economic and strategic value".

Additional reporting by Press Association
Frustration is continuing to grow with the UKs new porn blocks, which would ban anyone from watching porn until they publicly proved themselves to be an adult.

The controversial new ban has been worked on for more than a year but is continuing to be delayed as the government attempts to decide how exactly it should be implemented. Now those arguing both for and against the ban have said they are irritated with the continuing mystery surrounded their introduction.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport dismissed earlier reports the measures would come into force from April 1, saying a commencement date will be announced shortly.

Rumours had swirled in recent weeks that the blocks could be imminent, after a series of newspapers suggested that the ban would be introduced on 1 April. But that date had never been confirmed, and appears to have emerged amid complete confusion about when they would actually be introduced.

Under the rules, adults will have to prove they are of age to view the content, using one of a number of options, such as an over-the-counter card they can buy from a shop or uploading ID documents online.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

In 2018, Digital Minister Margot James said the UK could expect the age verification rules to be in force by Easter this year.

Age verification measures, urgently needed to help prevent children being exposed to harmful and inappropriate content, need to be brought in as soon as possible, said Javed Khan, chief executive of childrens charity Barnardos.

Accessing the internet in an age-appropriate way is important for children and young people, and can be a positive opportunity to learn, keep in touch with friends and have fun. But the risks of being exposed to age-sensitive and harmful content such as pornography needs to be acknowledged and addressed.

The complexity of the matter makes it less frustrating but not surprising, a representative for the UK Safer Internet Centre explained.

What they are actually proposing to do is quite a bit more difficult and a lot less simple than it has been reported as, said Carmel Glassbrook, manager of the organisations professionals online safety helpline.

Nobody at the Safer Internet Centre is expecting it be a smooth and fast process at all.

Meanwhile, opponents of the changes continue to argue their fears for privacy and freedoms online.

Theyve had over a year to get this right, said Myles Jackman, a UK lawyer who specialises in obscenity law and sexual freedoms.

 Tumblr to ban all adult content

It was supposed to come into effect in April 2018 and we have consistently flagged privacy and data security issues along with free speech concerns.

Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, added: The delays have been very much to do with the fact that privacy has been considered at the last minute and theyre having to try to find some way to make these services a bit safer.

We should know all of the details of what they are proposing.

Additional reporting by Press Association
You know when I first met Toni on the City Council, she was a little  overbearing. They want to talk about progressive now, well I can guarantee you it was progressive then, longtime Far South Side Ald. Carrie Austin, 34th, told a packed Bronzeville campaign rally last weekend. I used to say, Ms. Preckwinkle, how can you vote against everything? Cause its not for the people, she would say. Now we will have someone who will absolutely be for the people. We will not be left out.
Asperger syndrome is a developmental disorder that can make it harder for those affected to interact with others in a social environment.

The condition is an autism spectrum disorder, meaning that those with Asperger syndrome may exhibit different characteristics.

This year, World Autism Awareness Week is taking place from Monday 30 March until Sunday 5 April, while World Autism Awareness Week is being held on Thursday 2 April.

The aim of the week is to raise awareness of autism and to break down the stigmas that continue to surround the condition.

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg previously opened up about being diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, stating that being different is a superpower.

While appearing on Im A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2018, The Chase star Anne Hegerty spoke about how the condition affects her life.

Hegerty explained that she responds well to structure, and that being surrounded by a large group of people who talk all the time can be a source of stress.

So what is Asperger syndrome, what are the signs and how many people does it affect? Heres everything you need to know.

What is Asperger syndrome?

Asperger syndrome falls within the autism spectrum, Autism NI explains.

Those who have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome may not have the same learning disabilities that some people who have autism sometimes experience, such as difficulties or delays with speech.

However, some people with Asperger syndrome may still have some learning difficulties and can find it hard to comprehend or process language at times, the National Autistic Society (NAS) outlines.

Autism-friendly theatre that welcomes Curious Incidents in the Night-Time Show all 3 1 /3 Autism-friendly theatre that welcomes Curious Incidents in the Night-Time Autism-friendly theatre that welcomes Curious Incidents in the Night-Time cidn2.jpg The National Theatre Autism-friendly theatre that welcomes Curious Incidents in the Night-Time ARP160512_Shrek_Print44.jpg Autism-friendly theatre that welcomes Curious Incidents in the Night-Time ARP160512_Shrek_Print84.jpg

The charity also points out that Asperger syndrome shouldnt be perceived as an illness that can be cured, but as a condition that forms an integral component of an individuals identity.

Those who have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome are thought to have average or above average levels of intelligence.

Where does the term come from?

The term was named after an Austrian paediatrician called Hans Asperger, who wrote about children who exhibited signs of the condition in 1944.

However, some have argued that the name should be changed in light of the doctors recently reported affiliation with the Nazis during the Second World War.

What are the signs?

As Asperger syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder, diagnosing it can be tricky as characteristics can vary between individuals.

According to Autism Initiatives, a company that connects autism networks around the UK and Ireland, signs of Asperger syndrome may include finding it difficult to read body language, lacking signs of empathy, developing motor skills later than usual and being very sensitive.

These signs can often be recognised in childhood when children with the condition enter social situations that they havent experienced before.

Autistic boy receives 20,000 birthday cards after mother posts public plea Show all 5 1 /5 Autistic boy receives 20,000 birthday cards after mother posts public plea Autistic boy receives 20,000 birthday cards after mother posts public plea Ollie Jones told his mother he had written himself two cards to open on his own birthday Karen Jones Autistic boy receives 20,000 birthday cards after mother posts public plea Ollie, 15, receiving his birthday messages Karen Jones Autistic boy receives 20,000 birthday cards after mother posts public plea Ollie received an estimated 20,000 cards for his 15th birthday from strangers all over the world Karen Jones Autistic boy receives 20,000 birthday cards after mother posts public plea Karen Jones Autistic boy receives 20,000 birthday cards after mother posts public plea Karen Jones

Diagnosing Aspergers can take a team of health experts, the NAS states.

These professionals can include a speech and language therapist, a psychiatrist and a paediatrician.

The NHS recommends visiting your GP if you believe that your child is exhibiting signs of autism spectrum disorder.

Youll then be referred to a health professional who can diagnose the condition if needs be.

How many people are affected?

Around one in every 100 people in the world has autism.

Jane Harris, director of external affairs at NAS, explains that many with autism still face stigma with regards to the condition.

There are around 700,000 autistic people in the UK, but too many of their lives are limited by the public not understanding the challenges they face, Harris says.

In 2015, a report funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation stated that approximately 37.2 million people across the globe are affected by Asperger syndrome.

Why are diagnoses of autism more common among boys than girls?

The fact that diagnoses of autism are currently more common among boys than they are among girls is a topic thats been researched on multiple occasions over the years.

In 2015, a study conducted by the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore explored why girls are often diagnosed with autism later than boys by investigating an online registry of 50,000 people.

 World Autism Week: The National Autistic Society release video showing what it's like to sufferers to use public transport

They came to the conclusion that the way girls behave sometimes makes it harder to recognise signs of autism until later on in childhood or adolescence.

You can find more information about autism on the National Autistic Societys website.
The UKs ability to strike new trade deals has increasingly defined the Westminster Brexit discussion.

Whether these deals should be prioritised over a deep economic relationship with the EU, or indeed an all-UK approach to Northern Ireland, has been the central conundrum for a government still unwilling to nail its flag to the mast.

Instead it has attempted to square the circle via a Chequers proposal that would, if implemented, allow the UK to benefit from both new trade deals and continued integration with the EU in respect of goods and agri-food. Such notions of a halfway house that allows the UK to have the best of all worlds have been rejected by the EU. As such, it is difficult to predict with any great certainty what any future UK trade policy will look like.

Much of the Department of International Trades focus and capacity to date has been consumed by its colossal task: not only has it had to re-establish the UK as an independent actor at the WTO, create its own trade remedies regime and authority, and accede to the WTO government procurement agreement. It also is tasked with replacing the 40 trade agreements the UK is already party to by virtue of its EU membership.

While continuity agreements have been agreed with a small number of countries, including Switzerland, Israel and Chile, there is still much to be done. Larger economies, such as Japan and Canada, have already indicated that they will treat the replication as a fresh negotiation, and for others, such as Turkey, the question as to whether the UK can fully replicate what already exists is entirely dependent on the nature of the future UK-EU relationship.

Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Show all 15 1 /15 Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Pork There will be tariffs on pork in order to protect British farmers Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Cheese There will be tariffs in place on some cheeses including 22.10/100kg of cheddar, 19.10/100kg of processed cheese and 18.60/100kg on some blue cheeses Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Milk There will be no tariffs in place on milk Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Car Parts There will be no tariffs on car parts imported from Europe PA Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Cars However finished cars will face tariffs of 10.6% Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Alcoholic drinks There will be no tariffs on alcoholic drinks - except on some rums due to ingredients used in their distilling process Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Beef There will be tariffs on beef in order to protect British farmers Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Fish There will be no tariffs on many types of fish including cod, haddock, salmon and sea bass Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Fruit and vegetables There will be no tariffs on almost all fruit and vegetables Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Chocolate There will be no tariffs on chocolate or other cocoa products Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Poultry There will be tariffs on poultry in order to protect British farmers Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Ceramics There will be some tariffs in place on ceramis Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Steel There will be no tariffs on steel Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Coal There will be no tariffs on coal Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Lamb/Mutton There will be tariffs on the meat of sheep in order to protect British farmers Getty

This replication process will remain the UKs overriding trade priority well into the transition period and, perhaps, beyond.

During that transition, if it has one, the UK can also begin negotiations with potential new free trade agreement partners. It has already identified New Zealand, Australia, the US and accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Transpacific Partnership (CPTPPa plurilateral trade agreement made up of 11 countries) as a priority.

While Australia and New Zealand will be happy to begin negotiationsknowing that it will buy political goodwill with the UKnothing will be concluded until there is certainty over the UKs future relationship with the EU, particularly whether the UK will be in a customs union with the EU and, if so, for how long.

Negotiations with the US will prove trickier. Washington is unlikely to play the role of a disinterested observer, and a comprehensive trade deal with the US requires the UK not only gain control of its tariffs, but also fully extricate itself from the EUs regulatory orbit in areas such as food hygiene. While the US is also pressuring the EU to budge on the "chlorinated chicken" issue, it is unlikely to succeed.

This leaves the UK in the awkward position of having to choose between prioritising frictionless trade in products of animal origin with its most important trading partner (with implications for Northern Ireland) or reduced friction with the US. However, if and when the UK decides to accept additional friction between the UK and the EU, or it becomes unavoidable due to UK and EU red lines, Britain may decide that the additional marginal cost of further divergence from the EU in order to accommodate American demands is a price worth paying.

CPTPP will remain a long-term ambition. Putting aside jokes about whether the Pitcairn Islands qualify the UK as a Pacific power, the accession process is still unclear, and there are other more viable accession candidates such as Thailand and South Korea. Furthermore, there are differences in opinion between the UK and some existing members as to how much leeway the UK would have to negotiate opt-outs. Failure to accede to CPTPP in the short term is not in and of itself an issue for the UK.

 Donald Trump says UK will be 'substantially increased' by US trade deal post-Brexit

The gains of CPTPP are predominantly politicalthe UK will be replicating EU agreements or negotiating new ones with the main economic players of CPTPP anywayin that attempted accession is designed to signal the UKs continued commitment to the international rules-based order, something which has been placed in doubt by Brexit, and even merely placing ourselves in a queue partially achieves this.

Ultimately, the question of what role the UK will play in the global trading system cannot be fully settled until the UK clarifies the depth and scope of future relationship with the EU. And until and unless it does, Britains future trade policy will remain disjointed, and its global role ill-defined.

Sam Lowe is a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. This is from the UK in a Changing Europes report, 'Article 50 two years on'.
Huawei seems to have taken the poet George Herberts quote living well is the best revenge to heart.

Bullish growth in the face of adversity, is how the company described its 2018 results, which saw it reporting a 20 per cent rise in revenues and a 25 per cent increase in profits.

Thats probably not going to find its way into Wikiquotes database. Its certainly not going to make a hit song for a band like REM, as Herberts quote once did. But it says much the same thing.

The timing was coincidental, but you could almost see it as a riposte to the UKs National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which a day earlier had said it had found further significant technical issues in Huaweis engineering processes leading to new risks to UK telecommunications networks.

Most of the worries about Huawei have centred on whether or not its equipment is susceptible to hacking by the Chinese government. Theyve formed the centrepiece of the US led campaign against it.

The report, however, says the NCSC does not believe that the defects identified are a result of Chinese state interference.

Instead its concerns centre on basic engineering competence and cyber security hygiene that give rise to vulnerabilities that are capable of being exploited by a range of actors. It also takes aim at the action, or lack of it, taken to address them. Ouch.

Crucially, however, it doesnt recommend a ban on Huaweis involvement in UK 5G, despite US pressure and the moves that have been taken against the business by other Western nations such as Australia.

Huawei has a significant presence in the UK. Guo Ping, its rotating chairman, made much in his statement about its commitment to complying with relevant standards and building trustworthy and high-quality products.

He also noted archly that countries that choose to work with Huawei will gain an advantage for the next wave of growth in the digital economy. Could it be that an isolated UK facing a post Brexit chill might could end up needing Huawei more than Huawei needs the UK?

Americas efforts to stymie the company, meanwhile, dont yet appear to have had a signifiant impact on its bottom line. It is notable that sales of telecom equipment to carriers (think Vodafone etc) slipped by 1.3 per cent. The company, however, brushed this off as down to investment cycles in the global telecom industry. And a significant chunk of the world remains relaxed about doing business with it.

Then theres the consumer electronics unit. Huawei sold more than 200m of its highly rated smartphones, driving a 45 per cent rise in revenues at that part of the company.

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.

As a smartphone supplier, the Chinese outfit is still behind Apple and Samsung, but maybe not for long given its growth.

Huawei has issues it needs to address. The UK report contained some stinging criticism, and the pressure on the company is unlikely to let up anytime soon.

But for now, its living well in the face of it all.
Google will remove an app that promoted conversion therapy from its download store after pressure from LGBT+ rights groups.

An app from Texas-based religious organisation Living Hope Ministries (LHM) purports to offer advice on recovery from same-sex attraction.

The app accuses gay people of living destructive lifestyles and likens homosexuality to an addiction.

Google had resisted taking the app down from its Play Store but changed tack shortly after the largest LGBT+ rights group in the US said it was suspending its endorsement of the tech giant.

The Human Rights Campaign said: We have been urging Google to remove this app because it is life-threatening to LGBT+ youth and also clearly violates the companys own standards.

On Thursday Google responded, saying: After consulting with outside advocacy groups, reviewing our policies, and making sure we had a thorough understanding of the app and its relation to conversion therapy, weve decided to remove it from the Play Store, consistent with other app stores.

Microsoft, Amazon and Apple had already removed the app.

Googles decision came less than 24 hours after HRC said it was excluding Google from its Corporate Equality Index, an annual assessment of companies policies and practices in support of LGBT+ employees.

The company had previously scored a perfect 100 on the index.

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Google and other platforms that have pulled this app are taking an important step to protect LGBTQ youth, HRC president Chad Griffin said.

LHM has denied it is involved in so-called conversion therapy, a widely condemned treatment that some conservative and Christian groups have over the years sought to use to try and force people to change their sexuality.

Its website reads: Living Hope Ministries hosts the largest, world-wide online support groups for men and women impacted by same sex attraction. Our online forums provide a free, safe, and moderated opportunity for accountability, encouragement and support from people who understand your struggle.

In a recent newsletter, Mr Chelette criticised a decision by Microsoft and Apple to remove the app.

We are a ministry that for nearly thirty years has helped individuals resolve their feelings they deem incongruent with their faith. We help people deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, he wrote.
Taxpayer-funded ferry services intended to provide extra capacity to cope with a no-deal Brexit began running on Friday, even though the UK is still in the EU.

The first sailing left Portsmouth for Le Havre at 8am on Friday under a 46.6m contract agreed by transport secretary Chris Grayling with Brittany Ferries. The service is part of 108m of additional freight that is supposed to prevent chaos at Britains ports and secure the supply of vital goods such as medicines and organs for transplants.

The government has no use for the space for at least another two weeks because Brexit has been delayed. But Brittany Ferries said it was too late to cancel the 20 extra crossings it will be running each week so space is being sold on the open market.

Brittany Ferries altered the travel plans of more than 20,000 passengers with existing bookings when it changed its schedules in January.

As part of its contingency planning the Department for Transport also awarded a 14m contract to Seaborne Freight and a 43m contract to Danish shipping firm DFDS. The department terminated its agreement with Seaborne when it became clear that it could not provide the service required. The company had no ships and no financial track record.

Chris Grayling has faced calls to resign over his handling of Brexit contingency planning (PA)

The government also had to shell out an additional 33m to settle legal action brought by Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel over the DfTs secretive and flawed procurement process. A further 800,000 was spent on consultants who assessed the deals.

Brittany said it had incurred extra costs stemming from the contract, including more fuel and higher port fees.

Fifty additional Brittany Ferries port staff have been hired on both sides of the Channel to deal with more frequent port calls, a Brittany spokesperson said.

We have also spent the last three months training current onboard teams.

The reality is that we were committed as soon as we signed the contract and preparations began to deliver the dedicated NHS shipment channel. There is no turning back at this late stage because all the preparatory work is now in place for 29 March.

The Port of Ramsgate in Kent where Seaborne Freight was to have run its no-deal Brexit ferry service from (AFP/Getty)

Brittany said it was using its best endeavours to re-sell unused capacity to reduce costs to the taxpayer.

A government spokeswoman said it was only right that we push on with contingency measures.

She added: The governments freight capacity contracts run for six months and are a vital part of wider contingency planning. They provide capacity for critical goods, including vital medicines, to continue to enter the UK in a no-deal scenario.

Due to the agreed extension until 12 April, tickets for the first two weeks have been released for sale on the open market, which will minimise costs for the taxpayer.
Protests over lessons on same-sex relationships continued into their ninth day at a Birmingham primary school just hours after MPs voted in favour of a compulsory LGBT+ inclusive curriculum in schools.

Megaphone-wielding demonstrators at Anderton Park Primary School want classes teaching respect for LGBT+ relationships to be suspended until a resolution can be reached with parents who oppose the lessons.

Around 50 adults held placards and chanted our children, our choice outside the school gates as parents picked up pupils on Thursday afternoon. A group of children joined in with the demonstration.

The protest came after a large majority of MPs  538  voted on Wednesday evening in favour of new regulations to make relationships and sex education (RSE) compulsory in English schools from September 2020.

The curriculum guidance, which has been updated for the first time in nearly two decades, encourages primary schools to teach children about different families, including those with same-sex parents.

The Department for Education said it expected secondary schools to include LGBT content in their teaching, whereas at primary level there was no specific requirement to do so.

"No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Show all 10 1 /10 "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents, children and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Child protesters hold signs against the 'No Outsiders' programme Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching A sign outside the Parkfield Community School reads "we are a UNICEF gold rights respecting school" Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching A child protester holds a sign against the 'No Outsiders' programme Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents, children and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Child protesters hold a sign against the 'No Outsiders' programme Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where protests are being held against the 'No Outsiders' programme which teaches children about LGBT rights PA

But some Muslim parents at Anderton Park, who have been protesting daily outside the school since Monday last week, claim the children are too young to learn about LGBT+ issues.

A demonstrator accused the school of preaching not teaching and the organiser of the protest called on the headteacher to meet with parents collectively.

Shakeel Afsar, who has been leading the protests with a megaphone, said: The school has not co-operated and communicated with the parents, 98 per cent of whom are from a religious background.

Anderton Park is the second school in the city to face protests in recent weeks over diversity classes.

Parkfield Community School has suspended its inclusivity programme No Outsiders, which uses story books to teach pupils about same-sex families, while it consults with parents who carried out protests.

At least five other schools in Birmingham have made similar moves.

Anderton Park does not teach the No Outsiders programme, but some parents say not enough information has been given out by the school regarding its efforts to teach respect for minorities.

Kerry Jenkins, a local Labour councillor who has supported the school during the demonstrations, said the school was doing nothing wrong and was fulfilling its duties under the Equality Act.

Of the schools headteacher, she said: Her door has been open to all parents who have any concerns. She has met with over 40 parents and had discussions with them.

Ms Jenkins said the protests were doing nothing to help community cohesion. Children at this age do not understand what all the commotion is about, she said.

I find it really disappointing that children are being pulled into this protest.

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Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson, headteacher of Anderton Park, told Sky News earlier this week that she had written to education secretary Damian Hinds urging him to intervene as her school faced a backlash.

MPs took part in a debate earlier this year after a national petition calling for parents to have the right to opt their child out of RSE gathered more than 115,00 signatures.

Under the governments reforms, parents can only withdraw their children from sex education up to the age of 15 and families cannot take pupils out of relationship classes in primary school.
A father nicknamed "The Magician" who murdered a teenager at his home and then hid his body in the loft for eight months is facing life behind bars.

Gary Hopkins, 37, bludgeoned and stabbed 17-year-old Abdi Ali to death at the home he shared with his partner and their three children in Enfield, north London, on 21 December, 2017.

On the day of the murder, Mr Ali was asleep on the sofa at Hopkins home, where police say he often stayed because he was homeless and would sell drugs in return as a mutual arrangement.

Hopkins hit Mr Ali, who was linked to the Get Money Gang, over the head with a claw hammer and stabbed him in the heart with a 16cm knife.

He then wrapped his body in a duvet cover and black bags before hiding it in the loft with the murder weapons.

Abdi Ali murder: Body-in-loft killer Gary Hopkins found guilty Show all 6 1 /6 Abdi Ali murder: Body-in-loft killer Gary Hopkins found guilty Abdi Ali murder: Body-in-loft killer Gary Hopkins found guilty The hammer used by Gary Hopkins, 37, to murder 17-year-old Abdi Ali at his home in Enfield, north London, on 21 December 2017 before hiding his body in the loft. Metropolitan Police Abdi Ali murder: Body-in-loft killer Gary Hopkins found guilty Abdi Ali, 17, who was murdered by Gary Hopkins, 37, at his flat in Enfield, north London, on 21 December 2017. Metropolitan Police Abdi Ali murder: Body-in-loft killer Gary Hopkins found guilty The loft where Gary Hopkins, 37, hid the body of 17-year-old Abdi Ali after murdering him at his home in Enfield, north London, on 21 December 2017. Metropolitan Police Abdi Ali murder: Body-in-loft killer Gary Hopkins found guilty The knife used by Gary Hopkins, 37, to murder 17-year-old Abdi Ali at his home in Enfield, north London, on 21 December 2017 before hiding his body in the loft. Metropolitan Police Abdi Ali murder: Body-in-loft killer Gary Hopkins found guilty Gary Hopkins, 37, has been convicted of murdering 17-year-old Abdi Ali at his home in Enfield, north London, on 21 December 2017 and hiding his body in the loft. Metropolitan Police Abdi Ali murder: Body-in-loft killer Gary Hopkins found guilty Cable used by Gary Hopkins, 37, to murder 17-year-old Abdi Ali at his home in Enfield, north London, on 21 December 2017 before hiding his body in the loft. Metropolitan Police

Hopkins also stole 400 from the teenager to give his own family a good Christmas and took them to Leominster, in Herefordshire, to lay low.

Mr Ali was reported missing by his family on 31 December, 2017, after he was last seen by them at his sisters wedding on 11 December.

His body was eventually found in August 2018 after Hopkins let slip about what had happened to friends who visited the flat.

Hopkins, who was known for performing magic tricks and was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking in 1999, had threatened to kill another drug dealer saying: Ive done it before. Hes in the loft.

A jury at the Old Bailey heard how his partner Stacy Docherty, 28, wept as he got a ladder and encouraged the friends to look for themselves.

One friend later reported what had happened at a police station.

When officers searched the roof space, they found Mr Alis body wrapped in a black and red duvet cover with plastic bags over his head.

In her evidence, Ms Docherty said her controlling and aggressive partner had killed respectful Mr Ali, who used their flat to sell drugs.

Ms Docherty, whose previous convictions include assault and criminal damage, said she froze and was petrified when Hopkins told her he lost it and they had to leave.

Explaining why she helped Hopkins push the body into the loft, she said: He could have hurt me. He had just killed someone. Hes a loose cannon.

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Mr Ali was described by his sister Kowsar as a very respectful, helpful son who was particularly close to his late grandmother.

Speaking outside court on behalf of Mr Alis mother Iisha, she said: I am aware that Abdi had trouble with police before but as a family we were hoping that he would change since he was still very young. However, he does not have that opportunity now.

As a mother, to lose one of your children is the hardest thing ever and very painful.

It is also very painful when you are told that your sons body was found very close to your home address and you could not help him when he was being murdered, in the way he was, and when at the same time you used to look for him in that same area.

As a family we miss Abdi very much and I cannot understand why he [Hopkins] did what he did to Abdi.

Hopkins was found guilty of murder by a jury after 16 hours of deliberations.

He had also admitted perverting the course of justice and preventing the lawful burial of a body and will be sentenced on 26 April.

The jury cleared Ms Docherty of murder but was unable to reach verdicts on the two other charges.

The prosecution was given seven days to decide on whether to seek a retrial for Ms Docherty.
It is a beautiful day in Sheffield, South Yorkshire: the sky is blue, the sun is shining and a funfair has pitched up outside the town hall.

There is just one thing bothering a lot of people: me.

Im here in the city  my home city  on what should have been Brexit Day to ask how its residents feel about the fact the whole process of the UK leaving the EU remains, almost three years after the referendum, up in the air.

And, frankly, Ive never had a question met with so much eye-rolling.

Received wisdom may run that this issue has divided the country into two increasingly polar, increasingly divided, ideological camps.

But theres just a suggestion today that, in fact, it may also have united vast swathes of the population. That is to say, it may have united them in wishing they would never have to hear or talk about Brexit again.

I just want it over, mate, says Pardeep Sumal, owner of the Continental Foods outlet in the citys Moor Market. I just want to be able to put the radio on again and not have to listen about it.

Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA

He himself voted to remain but would have liked today  deal or no deal  to have closed this particular chapter of British history.

I knew the night of the vote it was going to go Leave, the 40-year-old says. Ive never seen such queues at polling stations. People dont turn out in those numbers to keep the status quo. I knew that night, and I accepted it. Itll probably make me a bit poorer as a trader but that was the decision. Que sera, sera, mate.

Is he worried about what will happen next, though? No, Im just worried its going to keep dragging on. This country ruled the world. Are you telling me it cant now leave a union without planes being grounded or whatever? Get on with it and give us some peace.

It is a view echoed by several traders and shoppers here.

Pardeep Sumal: Que sera, sera, mate (Colin Drury)

Im old enough to remember life before the EU, says Jonathan Youdan, 62, owner of S&Js delicatessen. You couldnt get strawberries except in summer. Fruit was entirely seasonal. Some years, it was so scare in winters, youd end up eating a carrot for a snack. Being part of the EU changed that. It created a golden age for this continent. And that has been thrown away in a referendum. But you have to do what the people say. If not, what? Best of three referendums? Best of five?

A customer looking at the cheese range shudders at the thought. One was enough, she says, and shuffles off.

It is probably worth listening to what Sheffield says.

It voted virtually the same as the country at large in 2016 with a cigarette paper split of 51-49 in favour of leaving the EU. It was the only one of the norths five great cities  Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle  that did not come out for Remain. Like Sunderland hours before it, Sheffield voting to walk was a sign that things were not going the way they were expected to.

I certainly did vote Leave, says Val Claxton, when I approach her in one of the city centres three Wetherspoon pubs.

Actually, thats not quite right. The first thing she says is: Dont talk to me about bloody Brexit unless you want to hear some swearing.

I tell her I can handle a little bit of blue. Then its a balls-up, the 72-year-old grandmother-of-four declares. Im sick of hearing about it. The country instructed politicians to take us out. Why havent they done it?

She voted to leave for several reasons, she says, but one was the price of fish. Its like buying a piece of steak these days, its so expensive  and thats because of European fishing rules. Theyre pricing me out of a piece of fish.

She looks around, as people often do in this city before they say the kind of thing she offers next: Mrs Thatcher would have gone there and got us a damn good deal.

My husband says he wont ever vote again. I didnt want to leave without a deal but theyve had three years to sort one out, and they havent managed it  I dont think Theresa May has got the support she needed  so enough is enough now. Lets get out and start looking to the future.

Not everyone, it should be said, was exactly looking to the future when they voted in 2016.

In 1975 I voted for us to join the common market, says Mary Hartley, while enjoying the pubs coffee. I did that because we were told, if we didnt, our mining and steel industries  the industries which employed my families  would be destroyed. They scared us into voting for Europe. And then our industries were destroyed anyway. Maybe that would have happened whatever, but it means I wasnt going to fall for the scaremongering this time.

She reckons that on day one after the initial vote, a national government should have been created.

Mary Hartley and Barbara Bower: Out today, no deal (Colin Drury)

Tories, Labour and Lib Dems, all around the table working in the national interest, the 71-year-old mother-of-one says. Farage too. But hes a coward, isnt he? Just the same as Cameron. A lot of people  not me but others  voted for this because of Nigel Farage; and then afterwards, didnt he say his work was done? It wasnt. It was just beginning.

What would her solution be now?

Out, today, no deal, she says, as cousin Barbara Bower, 70, nods along. Too many politicians have spent too long looking after their own ambitions instead of getting on with their job. And thats all theyll continue to do if they have more time, so lets get on with it.

Sat at the next table and tucking into a morning fry up, Nick Lonsdale, a 44-year-old telecoms engineer, agrees. Like a plaster, isnt it? he asks. Rip it off. Get it over and done with. Put us out of our misery.

He himself voted Remain. I wouldnt have minded a second referendum, he says. But I think its too far down the path now. Its a mess. Basically, as a country, weve embarrassed ourselves.

On a TV screen behind him, Norman Smith, the BBCs assistant political editor, is broadcasting live from the House of Commons. Later in the day hell have to explain to viewers that the third rejection of Theresa Mays divorce deal by MPs means, almost inevitably, a further delay to Brexit.

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Weve got this for years now, havent we? sighs Alex Allison, a 31-year-old care worker. This isnt ever going to go away, is it? Its here for our life.

At least students are making light of the situation.

Theres a bunch of Leaving parties tonight, says Hope Collinson, an English Literature student sat in the University of Sheffields union. I think theyre ironic more than serious  basically an excuse for a drink. Most students I know are pretty solid Remainers but its such a shambles  and its been going on for so long. Whats the point of doing anything but laughing about it and trying to find some light?
A large fish spotted eating ducks in a lake at an Essex shopping centre has been removed because it upset children.

The 11kg catfish had to be plucked out of the man-made water feature at the mall, Intu Lakeside in Thurrock, by the Environment Agency after complaints the whiskered creature had been seen consuming passing ducks and other wildfowl.

Its not great for kids to see these large fish eating the ducks, so we removed this large catfish, Ben Norrington, a fisheries officer with the agency, said.

The catfish, which is just one of many which call the shopping centres lake home, is an invasive species not native to Britain.

Environment Agency staff found a fully enclosed lake to relocate the aggressive fish to, where it could no longer cause consternation with its voracious appetite.

Underwater Photographer of the Year Show all 45 1 /45 Underwater Photographer of the Year Underwater Photographer of the Year South Fakarava, French Polynesia Winner: Behaviour and overall winner. "I worry that this image will refuel the public's imbalanced perception of sharks but as an image capturing behaviour it has drama, adrenaline, grace, beauty and finality. That's a very rare combination in one image." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Richard Barnden/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Reunion Island Winner: Wide Angle. "The first moment I viewed this image I knew it would be a strong contender. For me it's the symmetry of the Humpback and the balance between the diver and calf. Everything about it is in perfect alignment. The shape of the tail in relation to the four corners of the frame, not to mention the position of the free diver and calf. Superb imagery at its very best. Many congratulations Francois." - Martin Edge (Judge) Francois Baelen/UPY 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year Trieste Gulf, Italy Winner: Macro. "Fabios use of long exposure and panning has turned a classic portrait of a Sepiola into an unforgettable one. The sharp and ghosted images of the bobtail squid balance pleasingly in the frame and combined with the outstretched tentacles give the feeling of the cephalopod lunging for its prey. An innovative and most deserving category winner." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Fabio Iardino/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Azores Islands "It is hard to imagine what it must have been like to have experienced such a large scale natural spectacle as this but this image, perfectly composed and timed, gets close." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Mike Korostelev/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Scotland Winner: British Waters Macro. "A mantra of mine is 'It's not what it is. It's where it is' and this long clawed Squat lobster is in a perfect position to make a memorable image. The author, instead of 'blasting' it with light, has gone in the opposite direction by restricting the strobe into a snooted spotlight in order to illuminate just the features of the lobster and the dainty sea loch anemones. It's an example of 'Isolation lighting' at its very best. A great deal of uw photographers invest their time in what they want to illuminate. This is an example which in my opinion illustrates features that they do not want to illuminate, hence the punchy black background and the soft delicate hues of dark sand, facial features topped off by the sea loch anemones." - Martin Edge (Judge) Arthur Kingdon/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Tenerife, Canary Islands Winner: Marine Conservation. "The problems of plastic pollution and ghost fishing are both illustrated by this struggling loggerhead turtle. I am happy to learn this individual was lucky enough to survive this deathtrap thanks to the photographer" - Alex Mustard (Judge) Eduardo Acevedo/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Sado Island, Japan "What a chin, what a forehead, what a character. This picture has portrait written all over it, and such a fascinating species ideally suited to this close focus wide angle approach." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Fabrice Dudenhofer/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Stratoni, Greece Winner: Portrait. "Superb impact from the very first moment it was presented. Perfect composition within the image frame and the understated colours. To top it off the authors comments above say it all... a Smiling Happy Angel's Face. One of my favourites from the entire competition." - Martin Edge (Judge) Nicholas Samaras/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year South Fakarava, French Polynesia Winner: Up & Coming. "Beautiful split shot with both a perfect under and over split. A very strong favourite with all the judges and one of the best examples I have seen of this type of image for some time. Just Superb!" - Martin Edge (Judge) Taeyup Kim/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Isla Espiritu Santo, Mexico Winner: Black & White. "It must be 11 out of 10 for this groundbreaking image. Conception, interpretation and perseverance coupled with black and whites ability to concentrate on the key elements. It gets better with each viewing." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Henley Spiers/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Farne Islands, UK "Grey seals are a perennial favourite in UPY as one of the UK's star wildlife attractions. This upside-down portrait is quirky and cute and easily won the affections of the judging panel. Great to see an overseas photographer coming to the UK to show us how it's done!" - Alex Mustard (Judge) Greg Lecoeur/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Ambon, Indonesia Winner: Compact. "This image was a very popular choice between the panel. Ideal for a split rendition. What makes this a winner for me, not withstanding the double exposure is the sympathetic balance of light & colour connected between the top half and bottom of the image frame." - Martin Edge (Judge) Enrico Somogyi/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Farne Islands, UK Winner: British Waters Compact. "Does British diving get any better than a fun encounter with a grey seal pup? This youngsters relaxed and curious face is captured perfectly by Martin, making us all want to be there too." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Martin Edser/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year St. Ives Harbour, Cornwall Winner: British Waters Living Together. "Images tell stories but well thought out and executed ones speak volumes. This is such an example which feeds the eye with tales of the seaside on summer days, lively marine spectacles and excited human interaction." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Victoria Walker/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Isles of Scilly, UK Winner: British Waters Wide Angle. "Photographers often feel competition shots must be packed with new tricks to win. At UPY we always appreciate classic technique when it raises the bar of what has been done before. Rob's full technicolour wide angle scenic reveals the richness of UK seas with an elegant simplicity that is incredibly challenging to pull off in British conditions." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Robert Bailey/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Malin Head, Ireland Winner: Wrecks. "So simple yet so powerful; the additional lighting of the turret and the main diver perfectly positioned. This was a very strong category this year with a deserved winner and it's refreshing to read the acknowledgement to Leigh Bishop's pioneering work." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Rene B. Andersen/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Lembeh, Indonesia "The iconic silhouette of a seahorse is a graphically powerful picture. Here Zarina has raised that to another level with the addition of a red filter to her snooted strobe, reminiscent of a rim-lit animal at sunset." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Zarina Staller/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Muncar, Indonesia "All the judges found this to be probably the most distressing image to view but its uncompromising message must be seen by as many people as possible." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Joao Rodrigues/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Lembeh, Indonesia "As a subject we have seen our fair share of these colourful characters but this one shone through and the eggs almost look as if they have been individually lit!" - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Igor Bogachenko/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Nottinghamshire "Superb image with a perfect line across the split. Good exposure both above and below the water line and such an ideal subject to cap it all off. Excellent work." - Martin Edge (Judge) Jack Perks/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Belgium "This is an excellent example for this category. It takes a tried and trusted angle but completely lifts it by using the fabric. It becomes more than an image; a concept, a transition, a rebirth." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Martin Gerard/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Isles of Scilly, UK "This image stood out on many levels. Composition, colour vibrancy and contrast combined with an unusual angle kept us coming back to it and helped it rise in the rankings with each viewing." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Malcolm Nimmo/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Indonesia "Perfect control of angle, light and focus. This was always up there with all of the judges. A clear favourite just like Nick Parks genius creations." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) ManBD/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Lembeh, Indonesia "I've seen many images of eel and shrimp around Indonesia, however you have taken this two steps forward. 1) With your excellent idea to snoot the eye and 2) with your backlight on the shrimp. You can expect many photographers to practice your technique in the months to come. Congratulations for your vision. Very well thought out and executed." - Martin Edge (Judge) Fu Liang/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Bristol, UK "Its not what youve got, its what you do with it. The split may have been elusive but well worth the effort. This is a deceptively subtle excellent delivery." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Ian Michael Wade/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Vavau, Tonga "I have witnessed this behaviour from the surface with its high velocity 'testosterone and tonnage' and I remember thinking how happy I was to be in the boat. To have the presence of mind to time this shot whilst one's senses are being bombarded is heroic in my view." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Scott Portelli/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Fakarva, French Polynesia "What an amazing moment. From the expression on the face of the unicornfish fleeing for its life, to the hunting pack of sharks, especially the leader with its mouth snapping open that fan out diagonally across this composition. And that is without considering what a great challenge it is to shoot these images of split second action, in the dead of night, underwater." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Greg Lecoeur/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Red Sea, Egypt "There is so much energy in this image. If you look at it long enough you can begin to see just a hint of movement of all the fish around the coral. The colours are realistic and this top down shot works well." - Martin Edge (Judge) Emily Irving-Swift/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Moorea Lagoon, French Polynesia "A jaw-dropping wide angle scene with sharks, rays and mountains. A winning combination in the Up & Coming category." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Remuna Beca/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Loch Long, Argyll and Bute "This is a subtle image with light and detail that are a delight to explore. The sunset, trees and underwater scene combine to create a wonderful feeling of the place. We particularly like how the composition allows the line of the shore to be continued underwater by the seaweeds." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Mark Kirkland/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Stoney Cove, Leicestershire "Photographing pike underwater is one thing but finding your own underwater artistic stamp is quite another matter. With this particular image the author has done just that! By using a slow shutter speed of 1/8th sec and a panning technique from right to left gives the impression of movement whilst the pike is pin sharp." - Martin Edge (Judge) Nicholas More/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Scotland "Arthurs image scores with both its foreground and background. The deadmans fingers soft coral make an attractive foreground, enhanced by the crab sheltering within, and the striking sunbeams create beauty and atmosphere in the background. I also love the feeling of depth created by the legs of the jetty reaching up for the surface." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Arthur Kingdon/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Swange Pier, Dorset "In recent UPY competitions UK macro images have lacked their overseas counterpart's flair and imagination but this magnificent shot raises the bar for everyone else to follow. World class from the UK at last." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Paul Pettitt/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Island Solta, Croatia "Memorable photographs of people underwater are deceptively difficult and require both the photographer and model to be at the top of their game. The simplicity of the composition works to highlight the delicious details in the girl's pose." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Matej Bergoc/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Eden's Rock, Grand Cayman "This is a timeless scene that communicates a detailed story. The cavern, the silversides sheltering, the tarpon hunting and the diver kneeling reverentially, taking it all in. It is a fabulous use of black and white to tell this story of shadows and light." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Ken Kiefer/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Cabo Douglas, Galapagos Islands "Sometimes it is the small detail which contributes so much. The white of the eye and the row of teeth in what could be construed as a smile convey mischief and menace in equal measures." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Bruce Sudweeks/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Abu Nuhas, Egypt "Once again Tobias you have succeeded in capturing one of the most photographed wrecks in the Red Sea and photographing it in a completely different way. You push the boundaries of wreck photography and I congratulate you for your vision and forward thinking of new ideas." - Martin Edge (Judge) Tobias Friedrich/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Anilao, Phillippines "Perfect composition and framed against the stark black background. However it's the contrast of white on black which attracts the eye again and again every time this particular image popped up to greet us. The colour of the nudibranch was sufficiently bright enough to raise our senses again and again as it proceeded through the competition. The soft delicate treatment of the snooted flash is also very well managed." - Martin Edge (Judge) Flavio Vailati/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Pleneau Bay, Antarctica "This shot puts you right in the picture and records a special encounter in a very special place. Every element contributes and the lucky or intended curve of the split creates great spatial depth." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Jessica Farrer/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Farne Islands, UK "Symmetry, graphic simplicity and for once in UK waters a black background which contributes to a positive outer worldly delivery. A mould breaker." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Kirsty Andrews/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Adams River, Canada "I see and judge many images of the sockeye salmon but this is one of the best. The alignment of the two salmon not to mention the composition within the frame. The surgy peak of the action is in perfect symmetry with the window which provides the viewer with topside influences of the trees against a vivid blue sky. There is so much image depth in this example." - Martin Edge (Judge) Yung-Sen Wu/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Los Gigantes, Tenerife "Such a delicate image yet so full of emotion. There are times when there are no more words needed." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Acevedo/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Minamata, Japan "UPY loves seahorse photos! Especially when they capture a fleeting behaviour, such as this. But we hadn't realised during judging that this was a new species of seahorse, nor did with know the incredible backstory behind this picture, we just loved the moment." - Alex Mustard (Judge) K.Zhang/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Salento, Italy "Whether or not you like fashion photography underwater you would be hard pressed to see a more beautiful combination of complimentary colours and a very elegant pose. A very well executed image." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Virginia Salzedo/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Tulamben, Indonesia "A portrait must leave you in no doubt. Simple lighting, illuminating all that is needed, captures this character." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Fu Liang/UPY 2019

We will work with the [shopping centre] to manage the risk posed by the remaining catfish population, Mr Norrington said.

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Invasive species such as the catfish posed a serious threat to our native wildlife and cost the UK economy a massive 1.8bn a year, he added.

The Environment Agency is currently searching through waters where non-native fish could escape into rivers and natural lakes and endanger Britains indigenous wildlife.

Catfish, so called because of their spiny barbel protrusions which resembles a cats whiskers, range in size but can be as big as 2.5m long and weigh up to 100kg.

Staff from the Environment Agency moving the rogue catfish out of the Lakeside shopping centre (Environment Agency)

Although most catfish subsist on other fish, aquatic plants and even algae, some species are known to eat rodents, frogs and birds as well.

Some of the larger types are even thought to have attacked humans on rare occasions.

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The Environment Agency plans to hold fishing competitions to encourage anglers to catch catfish in Britain as part of a scheme to relocate the invasive species out of the wild.
Right-wing newspapers have joined Brexiteers in venting their fury that Britains departure from the EU is not happening today.

A fiery front-page editorial in the Daily Mail fumes Britain is no longer on track to become a proud sovereign nation once more at 11pm tonight.

It pleads with MPs to uphold democracy and back Theresa Mays Brexit deal during this afternoons crunch debate in the House of Commons.

The Daily Express dubs 29 March the darkest hour for democracy and said Britons belief in the democratic process had been rocked to its core.

Today at 11pm Britain was to be freed from the shackles of the EU, but after 1,009 days of deliberation MPs have failed to honour the referendum result, it said on its front page.

The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Show all 12 1 /12 The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day March 29 2019 - The original date for Britain's departure from the EU, what do the newspapers have to say about it? The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Daily Express The Daily Express focuses on the fact that today was the original day for Britain's departure from the EU The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Daily Mail The Daily Mail warns MPs that they have "one last chance" to back the Prime Minister's Brexit deal The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Independent The Independent Daily Edition reports that the Prime Minister is gambling as she holds a vote today on the withdrawal agreement The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Sun The Sun reports that the Prime Minister last night sought to convince DUP leader Arlene Foster to back her deal The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Guardian The Guardian reports that some ministers want the Prime Minister to step down now, while Michael Gove becomes the favourite at the bookies to replace her The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The i The i reports that Boris Johnson is preparing his leadership bid for when the Prime Minister resigns The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Times The Times reports that Brexit may be delayed for a further year The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Daily Telegraph The Daily Telegraph reports that the Prime Minister is making a "desperate final plea" to pass her Brexit deal through the house of commons The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Financial Times The Financial Times reports on the Brexit Betrayal march that will reach London today after setting off from Sunderland with the intention of reaching London on Brexit day The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Daily Mirror The Daily Mirror reports on the Prime Minister's difficulty passing her deal through the commons The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Daily Star The Daily Star calls on its readers to shut up about Brexit

In an editorial inside, the newspaper said instead of Brexit Day, the UK was instead experiencing chaos, fear and dunces running the show.

Leading Brexiteers have also lashed out at the supposed blockers of Brexit on the day the Article 50 process was supposed to have ended.

The international trade secretary Liam Fox said: We were meant to leave today, and we should have been leaving at 11 oclock tonight.

I fear for the consequences if Parliament chooses to utterly ignore a promise that they made directly to the voters.

Conservative backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was a great failure Brexit had been delayed from 11pm tonight.

We should have left without a deal at 11 oclock, thats what people expected," he said.

However, the ERG hardliner admitted that despite months of virulent opposition to Mrs Mays deal with the EU, he would vote for it later today.

 Brexit: What happens next?

Former Tory leader Michael Howard told LBC it was a sad day.

We were told we were going to leave today, I wanted to leave today and I expected to leave today so this is a very sad day," he said.

But despite large numbers of recalcitrant Brexiteers abandoning their resistance to the deal, most observers still expect it to be rejected by MPs for a third time, partly because the Democratic Unionist Party are refusing to budge from their opposition.

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As MPs prepare for meaningful vote 3, several pro-Brexit groups are descending on Westminster to demand the UK does still leave the EU.

Nigel Farages 200-mile March to Leave finally reaches parliament at 4pm, where the former Ukip leader will address the protesters.

Despite promoting the march, Mr Farage has only sporadically joined the actual walkers in their journey from Sunderland.

Ukip, which has taken a sharp turn to the far-right in recent years, will hold its own Make Brexit Happen Rally in Whitehall with Tommy Robinson at 4pm.
As the Burke scandal has hobbled her Chicago mayoral campaign, Preckwinkle has sought to minimize her ties. She has said she would return campaign contributions from Burkes political funds and a fundraiser held at his house, called on him to resign from the City Council, and removed him as chair of the county Democratic Party Judicial Slating Committee. Preckwinkle has said she is profoundly troubled by the case and had little contact and no relationship with the alderman.
Britain is veering towards a new general election after MPs voted down Theresa Mays Brexit deal for a third time on Friday.

She strongly hinted after the defeat that she will take the country to the polls if parliament does not pass a deal respecting the 2016 referendum result in the next 10 days.

Ministers told The Independent a new election was a clear possibility featuring in the prime ministers thinking, with her likely to have one final attempt to push her deal through next week.

As thousands of pro-Brexit protesters shouted outside parliament, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Scottish nationalists, who form the third biggest group in the House of Commons, also called for an election.

It comes as MPs will once again take control of the chambers schedule on Monday to hold indicative votes to see if a soft-Brexit compromise can achieve a majority.

Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA

Ms May lost the third vote on her deal by 286 votes to 344  a majority of 58  after the government scheduled it on the date Britain had earmarked for Brexit day.

The result saw dozens of Tories finally fall into line and back the PMs deal, but 34 still held out, as did the Northern Irish DUP and some Labour Leavers.

Asked whether an election was now becoming a clear possibility, one cabinet source told The Independent without hesitation: Yes. Absolutely. No question.

There had been speculation that the vote itself was set up for 29 March to make a show of Mr Corbyns party voting against Brexit ahead of a pending election campaign.

One cabinet minister later said: We would throw at them the question of what did your MP do on exit day?

We would throw at them the question of what did your MP do on exit day?. This is going to be difficult for a lot of individual Labour MPs in Leave areas Cabinet minister

This is going to be difficult for a lot of individual Labour MPs in Leave areas.

Speaking from the despatch box, the prime minister said it should be a matter of profound regret for every MP that the Commons had once again failed to approve Brexit.

In a hint that was widely interpreted as a tilt towards the ballot box, she said: I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this house.

This house has rejected no deal. It has rejected no Brexit. On Wednesday it rejected all the variations of the deal on the table. And today it has rejected approving the withdrawal agreement alone and continuing a process on the future.

This government will continue to press the case for the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demands.

Her aides later repeatedly failed to explicitly deny that the prime minister had meant that she was now seriously considering an election.

Hitting back, Mr Corbyn argued that the Commons had given Ms May a clear message that her deal in its current form is unacceptable and it should be radically altered.

The Labour leader said: If the prime minister cant accept that then she must go  not at an indeterminate date in the future but now, so that we can decide the future of this country through a general election.

The SNPs Westminster leader Ian Blackford also called for Brexit to be put back to the people, saying: I think there has to be a general election.

Speaking at an IndyMinds event in central London for subscribers of The Independent, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said he thought an election was likely.

He said: There is the very real possibility of an early election. It doesnt solve any problems but if you look back at historical precedent, when the constitutional system has collapsed, [an election is likely].

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Downing Street insiders said that while it was obviously disappointing the government had not won the vote on Friday, there was a clear movement towards the prime ministers position.

In a key moment, ex-Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, seen as a strong future leadership contender from the Eurosceptic wing of the Tories, said he would now back the deal.

At least eight Labour MPs indicated publicly that they might back the deal if Ms May was prepared to give greater guarantees on workers rights and parliaments ability to shape the future relations  something she pledged to do in the aftermath of the result.

On Monday MPs will again have the chance to vote on a range of Brexit alternatives after a previous process indicated a future arrangement relating to a customs union could carry a majority.

If MPs back one, Downing Street aides have said the Commons could be faced with a run-off between opting for Ms Mays deal or a customs union.

But the prime minister has strongly indicated that she could not countenance asking the EU for such an arrangement and could in that instance demand an election.

Equally, if MPs could find no other compromise but still refused her deal, then an election would become an equally likely prospect to break the Brexit impasse.
A no-deal Brexit will put the future of an endangered group of forest giraffes in jeopardy, conservation experts have warned.

Around 70 okapis, which are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and have a brown body and zebra-like striped legs, reside in zoos in the European Union where free movement rules support an inter-country breeding project.

Should Britain, which houses 15 okapis, crash out of the EU without a transition deal, it would probably be removed from the project.

Sander Hofman, general curator of Antwerp Zoo in Belgium, who coordinates okapi relocation for reproduction, said: Brexit is very bad news for conservation breeding.

Fifteen out of my 73 [okapis] are in the UK. You can imagine that if I need to remove these 15, it would be a big blow for my population but it would be even worse for the UK colleagues.

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. 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The okapi is considered an endangered species which has seen a loss of its habitat due to logging and human settlement. Extensive hunting and illegal mining have also led to population declines.

About 350 zoos are part of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), which allows transport of animals throughout the bloc for breeding purposes.

The UK has 40 member zoos, including Chester, one of the largest in Europe.

EAZA is now advising zoos to move animals that need to be shipped to or from Britain as fast as possible in case of a no-deal Brexit that would require arduous re-writing of rules to rejoin the breeding programme.

According to Ms Hofman, the rare forest giraffes in Britain are not the only animal affected by the Brexit woes.

Its very difficult to plan an elephant transport. You can imagine how difficult it will be if you dont even know what paperwork you have to deal with, or what port you have to go through, he said. I actually have no clue.

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Additional reporting by Reuters
A no-deal Brexit could leave hospitals across Europe without tens of thousands of essential drugs and other medical supplies, Germanys health minister has warned.

Jens Spahn warned on Thursday if Britain crashes out of the EU vital medical products produced and certified in the UK would overnight lose their legal access to the European market.

Currently UK experts validate and approve thousands of medical products on behalf of the whole EU.

Items especially vulnerable in a no-deal scenario include pacemakers, medical implants, and blood products used to test for HIV and other viruses.

Much of the fear surrounding a disorderly Brexit has focused on the NHS, which imports 37 million packages of drugs each month from the continent.

Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has ordered the stockpiling of large quantities of drugs in case supplies are temporarily cut off following a no-deal exit.

In October, Englands most senior health civil servant warned MPs it would be extremely difficult to guarantee the NHS would get the supplies it needs, despite ordering pharmaceutical firms to stockpile last summer.

But Mr Spahn cautioned the danger worked the other way as well. The EU imports 45 million packages of drugs from Britain each month and some of these would be difficult to replace in the short term.

In the event of a disorderly Brexit, it is reasonable to assume that tens of thousands of medical products would lose their formal market access in the EU-27, and would therefore no longer be available on the European market, Mr Spahn said.

I fear that the provision of blood products to patients in Germany could be at risk from the middle of April 2019.

According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, Mr Spahn also called for Brussels to co-ordinate a crisis plan to deal with the emergency.

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This could include a year-long relaxation of the rules which would treat a no-deal Britain as a third country, to allow UK-certified items to continue being distributed across the EU.

After MPs rejected Theresa Mays withdrawal deal at the third time of asking on Friday, the European Commission warned that a no-deal exit was likely in two weeks' time.
The UK is now "likely" to crash out of the European Union in two weeks' time after Theresa May's failure to win support from MPs for her withdrawal agreement, the EU Commission has said.

In dramatic scenes, MPs rejected Ms May's deal for the third time by 58 votes, as hundreds of protesters filled the streets of Westminster to demonstrate their fury at the delay to Brexit day.

The prime minister now has until April 12 to come up with a new plan to take to Brussels so she can secure a longer extension to the negotiations or crash out without a deal.

In a sternly-worded statement after the vote, a spokesperson for the EU Commission said it "regrets the negative vote" in the Commons and confirmed the date of Brexit was delayed until next month.

Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA

It said: "It will be for the UK to indicate the way forward before that date, for consideration by the European Council.

"A no-deal scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario. The EU has been preparing for this since December 2017 and is now fully prepared for a no-deal scenario at midnight on 12 April.

"The EU will remain united. The benefits of the withdrawal agreement, including a transition period, will in no circumstances be replicated in a no-deal scenario.

"Sectoral mini-deals are not an option."

European Council president Donald Tusk swiftly announced plans for an emergency summit on 10 April, ahead of the new Brexit date.

European Commission secretary general Martin Selmayr, a close ally of president Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted: "12 April is now the new 29 March."

A grim-faced Ms May said the result of the vote was a "matter of profound regret", and rebuked MPs, saying: "I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House."

She went on: "This House has rejected no deal. It has rejected no Brexit. On Wednesday it rejected all the variations of the deal on the table.

"And today it has rejected approving the withdrawal agreement alone and continuing a process on the future.

"This government will continue to press the case for the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demands."

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Division lists revealed that 34 Conservative MPs rebelled against the prime minister, while only five Labour MPs voted for her deal.

The number of Tory rebels was fewer than half the 75 who opposed second meaningful vote earlier this month but even the backing of Brexiteers such as Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg could not secure victory.
In late February, just as protests against a fifth term for Algerias President Abdelaziz Bouteflika were gathering momentum, the countrys prime minister warned ominously of a Syrian scenario. By this, he meant a peaceful protest movement turning into a civil war and destroying what had been a stable, placid nation.

Demonstrators offered roses to the policemen, Ahmed Ouyahia told lawmakers, speaking of the Algerian protesters who have been taking to the streets week after week. But we should remember Syria also began with roses.

The threat failed, even provoking Algerians to come out in even larger numbers to prove a point: that Algeria is not Syria, or Libya or Iraq.

Less than a month after his ill-fated speech, Mr Ouyahia was gone. He was forced to resign as part of a cabinet shakeup that Mr Bouteflika  or whoever is handling the affairs of the wheelchair-bound 82-year-old president  announced to assuage unrelenting anti-government protesters. On Friday, 42 million of them flooded the streets of the nation.

Its overwhelming, says Hacine Haroune, a former Algerian secret services official now living in the UK. I dont think anyone has expected this huge an uprising. You look in the streets  the protests are bringing the poor, the rich, the young, old, the men, the women, the disabled.

Mr Bouteflika too is all but gone, after the countrys powerful army chief of staff, General Ahmed Gaid Salah, called for him to step aside. The general invoked a constitutional article rendering the president unfit to perform his duties, compelling him to hand power to the upper chamber of parliament ahead of elections in a few months.

The presidents most powerful oligarchical ally, Ali Haddad, resigned as head of an influential business lobby on Friday, as the revolution that no one expected continues to surge.

Yetnaho gah! chant the protesters in the Algerian dialect of Arabic. It means, get rid of all them all.

Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Show all 14 1 /14 Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Protests against President Bouteflika in Algiers on March 15 Reuters Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Protesters march in Algiers to demand the resignation of President Bouteflika on March 15 Reuters Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Protesters carrying the national flag protest against President Boueflika on the Republique Plaza on March 17 AP Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Algerians march during a protest in Algiers on March 15 AP Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Students protest in Algiers on March 19 Reuters Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Protesters hang national flags atop a building in Algiers on March 15 Reuters Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Algerian doctors protest against President Bouteflika on March 19 in Algiers EPA Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Algerians demand the resignation of President Bouteflika in a protest on March 15 in Algiers AFP/Getty Algerians protest against President Bouteflika A woman holds a placard with the photo of President Bouteflika during a protest on March 15 in Algiers AP Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Algerians demand the resignation of President Bouteflika in a protest on March 15 in Algiers AFP/Getty Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Algerian doctors march against President Bouteflika on March 19 in Algiers EPA Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Algerians take part in a demonstration against President Bouteflika on March 19 in Algiers AFP/Getty Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Algerian doctors protest against President Bouteflika on March 19 in Algiers AFP/Getty Algerians protest against President Bouteflika Employees of the Algerian Ministry of Vocational Education and Training protest against President Bouteflika in Algiers on March 18 EPA

But Algeria has for decades been ruled by perhaps a dozen or so shadowy rival networks of military and intelligence officials, leaders of the dominating National Liberation Front (FLN) party, business people, and regional leaders. They are collectively known by Algerians and Algeria specialists as le pouvoir  the power.

You have the army, the old guard and theres the new guard, says Tarek Cherkaoui, a North Africa specialist at the TRT World Research Centre, a think tank associated with Turkeys public broadcaster.

Then you have the old FLN, and offshoot organisations, a lot of businesspeople. They marry each other. They have social relationships. They go to the same clubs, live in the same compounds.

Mr Bouteflika came to power as the country licked its wounds in the aftermath of its devastating 1990s civil war, triggered by generals who refused to allow Islamists to win elections.

Protesters at a mass demonstration against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algiers (AFP/Getty Images)

His skill was to deftly balance the rival centres of power within the establishment, serving as a kind of gatekeeper for distribution of the countrys hydrocarbon wealth. When oil prices were high, and there was plenty of cash to throw around, the system worked. Power centres were sated. And the public could be bought off or silenced with water cannons.

But Mr Bouteflikas debilitating stroke in 2013, combined with a decline in oil prices, began to demolish the delicate balance. For years, hes divided his time between Algiers and various hospitals and clinics in Switzerland and France where he seeks medical care.

Inside the halls of power, Algerias various factions are in deep discussions about what steps to take to keep peace within the regime and satisfy protesters demands for change.

The pouvoir dont want a completely independent figure. They want someone who can be influenced by them Keren Uziyel, a North Africa analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit

There are non-stop meetings in Algiers, says Francis Ghiles, an Algeria specialist at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, who speaks regularly with contacts in the country. The idea is to how to go forward. How you can build an interim presidency for six months which can hold clean and fair elections?

Within le pouvoir, discussions are focused on propping up a transitional figure, a former head of state or cabinet minister, who is enough of an outsider to calm protesters, but enough of an insider to remain credible to the establishment.

The pouvoir dont want a completely independent figure, says Keren Uziyel, a North Africa analyst of The Economists Intelligence Unit. They want someone who can be influenced by them.

Algeria, unlike other Arab authoritarian states, boasts a plethora of opposition political parties and outlets. A year of campaigning could yield open elections and a freely elected parliament that could assemble a cabinet.

But in addition to the entrenched power and interests of le pouvoir, historical trauma explains why authorities dont simply buckle to public demands and open the political space for real elections.

Algeria did open up such space after a late 1980s uprising, only to have hardline Islamists nearly take power. That experience weighs heavily on the minds and emotions of the septuagenarian and octogenarian politicians running the country. But not so much for the young protesters and the bulk of Algerians born during or after the 1990s.

The people going into the street are too young to remember, says Mr Haroune. They dont know fear.

Protesters have made paeans to the army and police, calling for solidarity. Algerian state news agencies on Friday insisted protesters were chanting slogans in support of the armed forces and in praise of General Salah.

Police use water cannons against protestors in Algiers (EPA)

But many Algerians benefit from what happened in Egypt, where a popular uprising was crushed in a military coup. Many of the protesters instinctively realise that the people and le pouvoir are facing off against each other, even though it was General Salah who called for Mr Bouteflikas departure this week. On social media, photos circulated showing protesters holding signs against General Salah.

Bouteflika you will leave, bring Gaid Salah with you! read one slogan.

People are determined to take to the streets until substantial results are reached, a journalist in Algiers tells The Independent. Some are happy, but most of the people are suspicious and not really confident about the application of the law and what will come after it.

Whats happening now is an Algerian regime in transformation, with everything in flux. For now, the people are the most influential players, but the generals are attempting to take control.

On Friday, security forces reportedly fired rubber bullets and water cannons on protesters in attempts to enforce a years-long ban on large gatherings. But it was to little avail. The protesters surged into main squares.

The public has the upper hand; all the others are trying to adapt and understand, says Mohammed Affan, an expert on Arab politics and North Africa.

But a new transitional change is emerging. During this phase, the public will lose part of its influence to more organised forces  the state forces and the opposition parties.

Mr Affan says the dangers for Algeria remain high. All the likely factors for a forceful response by the military are present in Algeria, including a past history of intervention in politics, a weak and divided civilian political scene, large numbers of officers involved in politics, and military officials with huge economic interests.

On the other hand, the failures and institutional rot over the last 20 years have so thoroughly disillusioned Algerians, including military officers and rank-and-file, that theres absolutely no guarantee theyd agree to follow orders to shoot on demonstrators, as they did in Egypt in 2013.

The protesters are up against the Bouteflika system, the oligarchs that have been created by Bouteflika, said Mr Haroune. The revenues since he came to power are more than a trillion dollars. But he didnt construct even a single hospital where he could treat himself.
A preliminary investigation to determine the cause of the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash has concluded that an anti-stall system of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was activated before the plane hit the ground, The Wall Street Journal reports.

All 157 passengers and crew were killed when the Ethiopian Flight 302 crashed on 10 March shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa. The disaster occurred five months after the Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia, killing 189 people.

The preliminary conclusion, based on information from the aircrafts data and voice recorders, shows that the malfunctioning automated system may be responsible for the deadly Ethiopian Flight crash, The Wall Street Journal reported. It also is a strong link to the fatal crash of the Lion Air Max jet, which had similar problems in October.

Both crashes are being investigated by teams of international experts led by the countries where the flights originated.

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Show all 9 1 /9 Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures This picture taken on March 11, 2019, shows debris of the crashed airplane of Ethiopia Airlines, near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. - An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on March 10 morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew believed to be on board, Ethiopian Airlines said. (Photo by Michael TEWELDE / AFP)MICHAEL TEWELDE/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Family members mourn the victims at the crash site of the Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, at Hama Quntushele village in the Oromia region, on March 13, 2019. - A Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019, killing all eight crew and 149 passengers on board, including tourists, business travellers, and "at least a dozen" UN staff. Families of the victims were taken to the remote site on March 13, 2019, where the plane smashed into a field with 157 passengers and crew from 35 countries, leaving a deep black crater and tiny scraps of debris. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP)TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A page of a Boeing flight crew operations manual is seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner REUTERS Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures epa07434278 Rescue workers search the site for pieces of the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STRINGER EPA Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 passenger plane of the Norwegian low-cost airline Norwegian is parked at the tarmac at Vantaa airport in Vantaa near Helsinki, Finland on March 13, 2019. - A number of countries have banned Boeing's 737 MAX 8 medium-haul workhorse jet from their airspace in response to the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board. (Photo by Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / AFP) / Finland OUTHEIKKI SAUKKOMAA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Rescue workers search the site for pieces of the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STRINGER EPA Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A heap of debris from the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are piled at the crash site near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STR EPA Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A crew working with an investigative team to clear the site after the Sunday crash of the Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, carry debris at Hama Quntushele village in the Oromia region, on March 13, 2019. - A Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, killing all eight crew and 149 passengers on board, including tourists, business travellers, and "at least a dozen" UN staff. Families of the victims were taken to the remote site on March 13, 2019, where the plane smashed into a field with 157 passengers and crew from 35 countries, leaving a deep black crater and tiny scraps of debris. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP)TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8, on a flight from Miami to New York City, comes in for landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York, U.S., March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo REUTERS

Boeing announced that a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the centre of safety concerns in a presentation to aviation experts from around the world on Wednesday.

A spokesperson told CNN: I would be very careful about indicting any part of that process until we know more from the specifics of these accidents.

Aviation authorities around the world grounded the 737 Max planes earlier this month, citing similarities between the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air disasters.

China has since confirmed it will buy 300 jets from competitor Airbus.

On Thursday, the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, filed a lawsuit against Boeing Co in US federal court. Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit.

The amount and quality of training that Boeing and airlines provided to 737 MAX pilots is one of the issues under scrutiny as investigators around the world try to determine the causes of two crashes.

Many pilots learned the new features of the Boeing Max on an iPad and many were not originally informed of the existence of the automated system, which can push the planes nose down if it is approaching a stall.

Additional reporting by agencies
The US Supreme Court has been criticised after it blocked the execution of a Buddhist prisoner who claimed he has been refused the support of a spiritual adviser, weeks after rejecting the same argument from a Muslim inmate.

Patrick Murphy, a member of the Texas 7 gang which killed a prison officer during an armed robbery two decades ago, was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Thursday evening.

But the execution of the 57-year-old, who converted to Buddhism 10 years ago, was dramatically halted two hours before he was due to die, after the Supreme Court accepted an argument that his constitutional right to freedom of religion had been violated because prison officials refused to let his spiritual adviser be present in the death chamber.

Among those who supported the arguments of Murphys lawyers was the courts newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, who was sworn in last autumn after a controversial confirmation process.

He said the Texas prison system permitted a Christian or Muslim inmate to have an adviser either present in the execution chamber or in the adjoining viewing room. In contrast, inmates of other religions were only allowed an adviser in the viewing room, not the execution chamber itself.

Death row in California's San Quentin prison Show all 8 1 /8 Death row in California's San Quentin prison Death row in California's San Quentin prison A condemned inmate exercises in a cage out in the yard of San Quentin prison Getty Death row in California's San Quentin prison San Quentin State Prison opened in 1852 and is California's oldest penitentiary. The facility houses the state's only death row for men that currently has 700 condemned inmates Getty Death row in California's San Quentin prison The lethal injection facility at San Quentin prison AP Death row in California's San Quentin prison A condemned inmate stands in a cell out in the yard of San Quentin prison Getty Death row in California's San Quentin prison An armrest in the interior of the lethal injection facility at San Quentin prison AP Death row in California's San Quentin prison A cell on death row in San Quentin Getty Death row in California's San Quentin prison A cage on death row in San Quentin Getty Death row in California's San Quentin prison A cell on death row in San Quentin Getty

As this court has repeatedly held, governmental discrimination against religion  in particular, discrimination against religious persons, religious organisations, and religious speech  violates the constitution, he wrote, according to the Associated Press.

The government may not discriminate against religion generally or against particular religious denominations.

The courts decision created confusion and some condemnation. Last month, it rejected an appeal from a Muslim death row inmate in Alabama to stop his execution because officials refused to allow him to have his Islamic spiritual adviser present in the execution chamber.

Dominique Ray also argued his religious rights were violated because Alabama allowed a Christian chaplain employed by the prison to be in the execution chamber. The court rejected his appeal, citing the fact it had only been lodged the previous month, and the 42-year-olds execution went ahead.

This is good news, but we cant forget this is the same court that denied a Muslim man the same right just last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said on Twitter. The only real difference between Domineque Rays and Patrick Murphys requests to have clergy members of their own faiths at their executions is that Ray is a Muslim and Murphy is not. The Supreme Courts divergent rulings once again suggest that Muslims are not treated equally.

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Murphy was among a group of inmates who escaped from a Texas prison in 2000 and proceeded to commit numerous robberies, including the one in which they shot and killed a 29-year-old police officer, Aubrey Hawkins.

The escaped inmates were arrested a month later in Colorado, ending a six-week manhunt. One killed himself as officers closed in, and the six others were convicted of killing the police officer and sentenced to death.

Murphy would have been the fifth to be executed. The sixth inmate, Randy Halprin, has not been given an execution date.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel said the state would review the ruling to determine how to proceed. He said Murphy would be returned from the Huntsville unit prison, where executions are carried out, to the Polunsky unit, about 72km (45 miles) to the east, where death row inmates are imprisoned.

Speaking from the holding cell on Thursday night after he had been informed of the top courts ruling, Murphy smiled and said: I knew there was a thin thread of possibility.
The Cayman Islands has legalised same-sex marriage after a judge ruled prohibitions on such relationships was unconstitutional.

The decision marked a personal victory - and the end of a tough legal battle - for Chantelle Day and Vickie Bodden, who had last year applied to get married in the islands but were turned down.

But activists say Fridays ruling could also have implications for LGBT+ rights on other British overseas territories, which have their own legal systems.

Around 80 people were present in the court in George Town on Grand Cayman, the largest of the three islands making up the territory, to hear the ruling by chief justice Anthony Smellie.

After the decision, Ms Day, a lawyer, told The Independent: Were feeling pretty good, pretty relieved, that we got the judgment.

"No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Show all 10 1 /10 "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents, children and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Child protesters hold signs against the 'No Outsiders' programme Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching A sign outside the Parkfield Community School reads "we are a UNICEF gold rights respecting school" Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching A child protester holds a sign against the 'No Outsiders' programme Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parents, children and protesters outside of the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where the 'No Outsiders' programme teaches children about LGBT rights Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Child protesters hold a sign against the 'No Outsiders' programme Getty "No to No Outsiders" - protests against LGBT rights teaching Parkfield Community School in Birmingham where protests are being held against the 'No Outsiders' programme which teaches children about LGBT rights PA

Jonathan Cooper, one of a team of British barristers who represented the women, said the ruling had widespread implications, not just for LGBT+ rights in other overseas territories, especially in the Caribbean, but also in Britain.

He said it was outrageous the couple had been forced to fight a legal battle with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which had in effect opposed the couples application to marry.

The governor of the Cayman Islands is appointed by the FCO and two in succession opposed proposals to change the law. The islands' current governor, Martin Roper, had declined to intervene in the islands' government's decision to oppose the marriage application even though he last year told local media: My view is that everybody is equal and everyone should have the same rights."

As it was, the couple were forced to fight a civil case in the Cayman Islands, where Ms Day, who is a Caymanian, was born on the island, Ms Bodden, a British citizen since 2010, travelled to the islands from the UK on a work permit, which is required for British citizens. It was there that they met.

When The Independent wrote about their case last year, it noted the couple could have married in the UK but it would not have been be recognised back in the Cayman Islands.

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Chantelle and Vickie should not have been forced to litigate in order to have their relationship recognised in law, said Mr Cooper. Its a scandal that the FCO made them do this. When will this government put its money where its mouth is and mainstream LGBT equality across the board?

In his ruling, Mr Smellie ordered that section 2 of the Marriage Law be changed to state that marriage means the union between two people as one anothers spouses.

According to the Cayman Compass he added: This court is bound not to allow the violation of the petitioners rights to continue without redress. The constitution, in its mandatory requirement that the law be brought into conformity, must prevail. The petitioners and their daughter are entitled to the indignities to which they have been subjected being put to an immediate end by the court.

Fridays ruling means of the 20 jurisdictions over which the UK has a legal relationship, 15 now permit same-sex marriage. Northern Ireland permits civil partnerships, while four overseas territories in the Caribbean - British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands and Anguilla - permit neither marriage or civil partnership. Bermuda supreme court legalised same-sex marriage last year.

Barrister Peter Laverack, another member of the legal team, was in Grand Cayman on Friday for the ruling.

Chantelle's and Vickie's relationship finally has been recognised. For too long they and their daughter were denied what loving couples and ordinary families take for granted, he said.

Ms Day said she thought it deeply wrong that in 2019 she and her Ms Bodden had been forced to fight for the right to marry in court. She said they had tried to persuade the island to change its law without going to court.

We did not want to put ourselves through this, she said. She said the couple were celebrating with friends and family. They have not yet set a date for their wedding.
A driver threatened Donald Trump after being caught speeding towards the White House with a firearm, bullets and gunpowder, police have said.

Eric Leonardo Charron of Kansas City, Missouri, appeared in court on Thursday charged with reckless driving and being a prohibited person in possession of a gun.

West Virginia state police said the 42-year-old was speeding at 130mph (209kph) on Interstate 68 when he was pulled over near Bruceton Mills on Wednesday.

An officer said in a criminal complaint that Mr Charron claimed to be running late to a dinner with the president and also wanted to meet with the leader of the Army to return a phone.

Police found a handgun, 300 rounds of ammunition and gunpowder after searching his car.

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. 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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. 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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

Asked why his vehicle's remote key would not open the boot, Mr Charron told police he had tampered with the fuses in an effort to "keep the CIA from listening to him through the radio."

Police said Mr Charron appeared confused and made concerning comments, including threats to kill Mr Trump and blow up the Pentagon, according to local TV network WCHS.

Sniffers dogs indicated the presence of explosives in his car, but none were found during the search.

Interstate 68 was closed for about four hours officers investigated. The FBI and the Secret Service were also notified.

Mr Charron admitted using methamphetamine recently and his pupils were dilated despite bright conditions outside, police said.

He had driven through the night from his hometown but did not have any luggage, according to authorities.

The court ordered to be remanded in custody to await the next hearing on $10,000 (7,670) cash bond, unless Mr Trump personally signs him out.

Associated Press contributed to this report
The initial reaction to news that reputed Gambino family crime boss Frank Cali had been fatally shot outside his home on Staten Island was to wonder whether New York City might be back on the brink of a mob turf war. There is a pattern to these things that, while dormant, is familiar: A crew whacks a gangster, and his crew retaliates. They go to the mattresses. They hunker down at the Bada Bing.

It soon became clear that this incident was not like the ones we see in movies. Shortly after Cali's death, a 24-year-old named Anthony Comello was arrested in connection with the crime. Mr Comello did not have the resume of a Mafia button man. In fact, it was reported that police believe he killed Cali because the crime boss would not let Mr Comello date his niece.

When Mr Comello appeared in court in New Jersey for an extradition hearing that would send him back to New York, he suddenly displayed a hand covered in scribbled text.

"United we stand," he had written, along with "MAGA forever" - a reference to President Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America great again."

Drawn with thick lines at the centre of his hand was a large "Q."

'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range Show all 6 1 /6 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The mug 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The tee 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The tee 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The can cooler 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The tee 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The can cooler

Last summer, there was a flurry of reporting on "QAnon," when adherents began popping up at Trump rallies. It is a sweeping, bizarre theory that Mr Trump's presidency was secretly predicated on uprooting child molestation rings and in which an anonymous figure named Q revealed secret messages from within the White House about Mr Trump's hidden agenda. A president who had based his election on the idea that he was battling a nefarious establishment cabal had transformed, in the eyes of thousands of supporters, into a president battling an even more dangerous and toxic group, leaking The Truth out to a select few through this anonymous account.

That Mr Comello was sporting a "Q" on his hand in court, though, was not an ironic statement or a wink at the broader conspiracy theory. In a phone call with The Post on Thursday, his attorney, Robert Gottlieb, argued that the QAnon theory was central to the incident on Staten Island.

"The evidence that I refer to, the QAnon, the other hate words and messages emanating from other extreme right-wing conspiracy websites, as well as statements made by the president, without any question will be critical and central to explaining what happened in this case," Mr Gottlieb said.

The lawyer did not explicitly state that Mr Comello had committed the crime, but he added, "What I can say unequivocally is: Whatever happened here is connected to those hate messages and websites."

After Mr Comello was arrested, the government seized his computer, and Mr Gottlieb indicated that he had not seen the specific online material Mr Comello had reviewed. But he did indicate that Mr Comello participated in the QAnon world, either passively or actively, a fact he learned from speaking to Mr Comello's family and friends. They apparently indicated to Mr Gottlieb that, in recent months, they had noticed a change in Mr Comello's behaviour that they attributed to his online activity and involvement with the unnamed sites.

Obviously, there is a potential benefit to Mr Gottlieb's client in presenting him as having psychiatric problems. Mr Gottlieb did not shy away from that suggestion.

"This is a very complicated psychological and psychiatric issue," he said. "The hate messages, the venom that is spewed on the Internet doesn't necessarily affect everybody. It certainly has a greater chance of having a devastating impact on someone who may be suffering from psychiatric problems."

 Sarah Sanders asked about QAnon during White House Press Briefing

"It has a real impact on the most vulnerable people, who, if touched and affected by the hate, can do things which if they were not suffering from the mental illness they would have never done," Mr Gottlieb added.

This would not be the first time that someone appears to have been inspired by right-wing online conspiracy theories and Mr Trump's rhetoric to take violent action.

One week ago, Cesar Sayoc pleaded guilty to charges that he had sent explosive devices to newsrooms and Democratic politicians across the country last fall. An armed man who blocked traffic near the Hoover Dam last year cited QAnon slogans in letters he later wrote. After several violent threats in September, Reddit banned some QAnon discussion groups.

Mr Gottlieb was careful in how he described what happened on Staten Island and its relationship to his client. He was much less worried about linking what his client read online to the possibility that it affected how Mr Comello behaved.

"Over the past few years, people have been talking about the danger of this garbage that's on the Internet," Mr Gottlieb said. "This could very well be the case that reflects that words really do matter."

The Washington Post
The governor of Puerto Rico signed an executive order on Wednesday banning so-called conversion therapy for gay or transgender minors on the island.

The decision came after Puerto Ricos House of Representatives refused to vote on a bill that would have prohibited conversion therapy, a discredited practice that proponents claim can change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity. The measure passed the Senate this month.

I firmly believe that the idea that there are people in our society who need treatment because of their gender identity or whom they love is not only absurd, it is harmful to so many children and young adults who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, governor Ricardo Rossello said in a statement last week announcing his plans.

The original bill, introduced by senators Eduardo Bhatia and Zoe Laboy Alvarado last spring, sought to ban conversion therapy among licensed medical professionals and in religious institutions that receive state funding.

The House refused to vote on the bill or hold public hearings for survivors of conversion therapy. House speaker Gabriel Rodriguez Aguilo said this week that there was little evidence the practice was widely used in Puerto Rico. Members of the House also felt that the definition of conversion therapy was too broad and could potentially include other types of rehabilitation therapy, such as for drug addiction, he said.

LGBT+ rights around the globe Show all 9 1 /9 LGBT+ rights around the globe LGBT+ rights around the globe Russia Russias antipathy towards homosexuality has been well established following the efforts of human rights campaigners. However, while it is legal to be homosexual, LGBT couples are offered no protections from discrimination. They are also actively discriminated against by a 2013 law criminalising LGBT propaganda allowing the arrest of numerous Russian LGBT activists. AFP/Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Brunei Brunei recently introduced a law to make sodomy punishable by stoning to death. It was already illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison AFP/Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Mauritania Men who are found having sex with other men face stoning, while lesbians can be imprisoned, under Sharia law. However, the state has reportedly not executed anyone for this crime since 1987 Alamy LGBT+ rights around the globe Sudan Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal under Sudanese law. Men can be executed on their third offence, women on their fourth Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Saudi Arabia Homosexuality and gender realignment is illegal and punishable by death, imprisonment, whipping and chemical castration Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Yemen The official position within the country is that there are no gays. LGBT inviduals, if discovered by the government, are likely to face intense pressure. Punishments range from flogging to the death penalty Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Nigeria Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal and in some northern states punishable with death by stoning. This is not a policy enacted across the entire country, although there is a prevalent anti-LGBT agenda pushed by the government. In 2007 a Pew survey established that 97% of the population felt that homosexuality should not be accepted. It is punishable by 14 years in prison Reuters LGBT+ rights around the globe Somalia Homosexuality was established as a crime in 1888 and under new Somali Penal Code established in 1973 homosexual sex can be punishable by three years in prison. A person can be put to death for being a homosexual Reuters LGBT+ rights around the globe Iraq Although same-sex relationships have been decriminalised, much of the population still suffer from intense discrimination. Additionally, in some of the country over-run by the extremist organisation Isis, LGBT individuals can face death by stoning Getty

Mr Rodriguez Aguilo insisted the decision had nothing to do with discrimination against the LGBT+ community. This is purely about a legislation that lacks information, that doesnt have statistics, and we want to act based on the information that can be offered, he said.

Ms Laboy Alvarado said the Houses decision was erroneous, wrong, and causes harm to our youth.

She added, The reality is that even if only one young person was put through it, thats enough because of the harm that were causing them and our responsibility to protect minors.

Alejandro Santos Calderon, an activist who said he was forced to undergo conversion therapy in Puerto Rico, interpreted the Houses actions as an attempt to silence gay rights activists.

The LGBT community is tired, ignored, feels invalidated, he said.

Mr Santos Calderon works with a number of organisations, including the transgender task force of Coordinadora Paz Para Las Mujeres, a womens rights organisation. He grew up in an evangelical Christian household, but he left the church because officials continually tried to help him rid himself of the demon of homosexuality, he said.

In Puerto Rico, there is no space where I can practice my spirituality, Mr Santos Calderon said. Almost 90 per cent of the country identifies as either Catholic or Protestant, according to a 2014 Pew Centre study.

The executive order requires all institutions seeking a licence to practice medicine to certify that they will not offer conversion therapy, according to a news release from Mr Rossello's office.

The push to ban gay conversion therapy has accelerated across the United States in recent years. The practice has been banned in 15 states and in Washington, DC, so far. The Colorado Senate this week passed a bill to prohibit the practice as well, and governor Jared Polis has said he will sign it.

Conversion therapy, which is based on the idea that homosexuality is a mental disorder that can be treated or cured, has been widely condemned by rights groups and discredited by mental health professionals for the serious potential harm it can cause, according to a report issued by the American Psychological Association and 12 other organisations.

Today we take a step forward to raise awareness among the people about this type of practice that causes pain and suffering, Mr Rossello said on Wednesday.

The New York Times
A tourist from Hong Kong has fallen to his death while taking pictures at the Grand Canyon.

According to officials at the tourist attraction in the US state of Arizona, the man was taking pictures at the Canyon when he stumbled over the edge and fell.

David Leibowitz, a spokesperson for the Eagle Point observation area, said a helicopter recovered the body of the victim from 1,000ft below the rim. An investigation has been launched.

The man, in his late 50s, was part of a tour group visiting Grand Canyon West, Mr Leibowitz added.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

It is the second fatality at the Grand Canyon this week.

On Tuesday, a visitor died near the South Rim. The body was found in a wooded area.

The cause of death is not yet clear but the National Park Service and the Coconino County medical examiner are conducting an investigation.

The persons relatives had not yet been notified, park spokesperson Vanessa Ceja-Cervantes said.

With nearly 6.4 million visitors last year, the Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in America.

Grand Canyon West is an area of the site owned and operated by the Hualapai Indian tribe and gets about 1 million visitors annually.
A Playboy model has been charged with the murder of a childrens psychiatrist after he was found dead in the desert just outside Las Vegas.

Kelsey Turner, 25, was arrested on 21 March by FBI agents and Las Vegas police in Stockton, California in connection with the killing of Dr Thomas Burchard.

The 71-year-olds body was discovered by police after they responded to a call about an abandoned vehicle near the Lake Mead National Recreation Area entrance, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

When they opened the boot of the car, they found Dr Burchard's body inside. It was later determined that he had died from blunt force trauma to the head and his death was ruled a homicide.

The Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement: "The investigation conducted by LVMPD Homicide Detectives determined 25-year-old Kelsey Turner was involved in the incident." It hasnt been made clear how authorities identified Turner as a suspect.

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

Turner posed for Playboy in May 2017. In an interview with the mens magazine, she described herself as impulsive, adding: I love emotions and fun, I live my life fully aware that it is the only one I have.

Turners mother, Samantha, told KSBW that Burchard and Turner had known each other for years. Ms Turner said that Burchard paid the rent on the home in Salinas, California, where Turner lived with her mother and children.

Turner was being held in the San Joaquin County Jail without bail as she awaits extradition to Clark County in Nevada.

Burchard had worked near Salinas with Monterey-based Montage Health Foundations for nearly 40 years in the medical nonprofits behavioural health programme.

Montage Health spokesperson Mary Barker described his murder as a "very sad situation", adding that the facility was providing staff with grief counselling.
A Virginia judge has declared a mistrial in a murder case in which the defendant claims he thought his victim was a werewolf.

Pankaj Bhasin, 34, killed 65-year-old Bradford Jackson, who managed Window Universe in Old Town Alexandria on 13 July 2018.

After entering the victim's store, Bhasin broke the man's neck and stabbed him 53 times with a box cutter, WRC-TV reported.

Jurors were dismissed after three days of deliberations at Alexandria Circuit Court ended in a deadlock. They were unable to come to a unanimous decision by reason of insanity.

Bhasin, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, told doctors he believed Jackson began turning into a werewolf at the time of the attack

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

According to police records, he told officers there was still time to save 99 per cent of the moon and planets, following his arrest.

Prosecutors and defence attorneys agreed Bhasin was mentally ill.

Bhasins lawyers said their client was suffering delusions at the time of the attack after checking out of a psychiatric hospital near his New Jersey home just days earlier but prosecutor David Lord said the defendant exaggerated his symptoms to justify the killing.

Defence lawyer Peter Greenspun said: We will continue to pursue a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity allowing him to get the help he so clearly needs in a secure state mental health facility.

However, Bennett Moore, a close friend of the victim called Bhasin's story "bogus".

He told Fox 5 DC: "That is just unbelievable to me. I cant even fathom that. That sounds like a completely bogus defence. You know the brutality of this is just, you know, off the charts. I mean I cant imagine that that could hold up. That doesnt hold water to me."
A man has shot and killed his pet zebra after it escaped from his ranch in Callahan, a town in Florida.

The animal, reportedly named Shadow, broke free from Cottonwood Ranch and ran down a main road, chased by several vehicles.

Witnesses said the zebra was eventually cornered in a cul-de-sac around two miles from the ranch, where the owner shot and killed it.

Bill Leeper, the local sheriff, said he understood that Shadow was injured during the escape and that the owner chose to euthanise the zebra while police officers were at the scene.

Witnesses told WJXT-TV that the animal did not appear injured but the decision was made to kill it so that it could not hurt anyone.

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

I had to stop and think a minute, Jenee Watkins told the news outlet.

Its not every day you see a zebra trotting through your neighbourhood.

Officials have confirmed that the owner did not have a valid license to keep a zebra on his ranch.

A state permit is required to own and keep a zebra in Florida.

It is unclear whether he will face charges over the lack of permit.

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Officials said the investigation into the animals escape and death was ongoing.
Residents of an affluent San Francisco area have launched a crowdfunding appeal in a bid to block a homeless shelter being built in their area.

Donors have raised more than $60,000 (46,000) to fund a legal battle over plans for the 200-bed centre in a city gripped by a housing crisis.

Their efforts have prompted an angry response from San Franciscos mayor, who called the campaign incredibly frustrating and disappointing.

The residents launched an appeal on crowdfunding website GoFundMe  more typically used to raise money for charity or disaster relief  last week.

The page says the funds will be used for for legal and related costs to oppose mayor London Breeds proposals for a homeless shelter in a vacant plot of land in Embarcadero, the citys eastern waterfront.

The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Show all 10 1 /10 The Stats: Homelessness in the UK The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Sleeping rough up 165% from 2010 The total number of people counted or estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2018 was 4,677, up 2,909 people or 165% from the 2010 total of 1,768 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK London rough sleepers up 13% The number of people sleeping rough increased by 146 or 13% in London since 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK London accounted for 27% of people sleeping rough in England London accounted for 27% of the total number of people sleeping rough in England. This is up from 24% of the England total in 2017 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 64% of rough sleeps UK nationals 64% were UK nationals, compared to 71% in 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 14% of rough sleepers are women 14% of the people recorded sleeping rough were women, the same as in 2017 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 6% were aged 25 years or under, compared to 8% in 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Thousands of families staying in temporary housing Almost 79,000 families were staying in temporary housing in the last three months of 2017 because they didn't have a permanent home, compared with 48,010 in the same period eight years before Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Reduction in families living in temporary housing before Coalition government There had been a significant reduction in families living in such conditions before the Coalition government came into power, with the number having fallen by 52 per cent between 2004 and 2010 under the Labour government AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Families staying in temporary has risen since But the figure has crept up in each of the past seven years, from 69,140 in the last quarter of 2015, to 75,740 in the same period in 2016 and 78,930 at the end of last year Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Nearly 58,000 families accepted as homeless (2018) Nearly 58,000 families have been accepted as homeless by their local council in the past year (as of March 2018), equating to an increase of 8 per cent over the last five years Getty

The coalition of residents from surrounding neighbourhoods claims the plans would make the area less safe.

They have set a crowdfunding target of $100,000 (76,000) and have received more than 135 donations, including from hedge fund managers, company executives and academics.

More than 7,000 in the San Francisco Bay area are homeless, according to recent estimates.

The average house in South Beach, the area where the shelter is proposed to be built, costs $1.2m.

People want us to address the challenges on our streets and help our unsheltered residents into housing, and I am committed to doing the hard work to make that happen, Ms Breed said.

But its incredibly frustrating and disappointing that as soon as we put forward a solution to build a new shelter, people begin to threaten legal action.

I understand that people have questions about the site, and we are happy to demonstrate how these sites work and the positive impacts they have had in other neighbourhoods, but cant afford unnecessary delays.

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A rival crowdfunding page was set up this week to counter efforts to block the shelter and raised more than $33,000 (25,000) in a day.

Theyre [trying to stop] a shelter in the neighbourhood, and these are the same people who complain about homelessness all the time, the pages founder, William Fitzgerald, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

I care about homeless people. I believe they deserve safe and humane shelter, he wrote on his GoFundMe appeal, which is raising money for the Coalition Against Homelessness.
A man faces decades behind bars after pleading guilty to 51 charges after instigating a swatting prank in 2017 that resulted in the death of a father of two.

Barriss, 26, from California, directed police forces to the Kansas home of Andrew Finch, 28, over a $1.50 bet regarding popular online game Call of Duty, WWII.

Barriss, claiming to be Finch, told officers he had shot his father in the head and was holding two others, his mother and younger sibling, hostage in the family home. Finch was fatally shot by a Wichita police officer during the altercation after failing to follow police directions to keep his hands above his head.

The police did not find any one else in Finchs home.

This case drew national media attention to the concept of swatting, a tactic popularised in the gaming community that falsely directs an emergency response team, generally SWAT, to another persons home with threats of a shooting, bombing, or other violent emergency situation.

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

Celebrities and activists like Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and David Hogg have been victimised in swatting attacks. Local, state, and federal forces have deemed swatting a public safety issue, to the point of publishing comprehensive information on the practice.

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Barris, who had previously plead not guilty is to be sentenced in federal court in Wichita, Kansas on Friday. Barris was an organised swatter, working for hire, in which he had targeted schools and a convention center.

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As part of a plea deal involving other numerous other false reports and threatening calls, including a bomb threat to a local news agency in 2015, Barris plead guilty to 51 charges. Charges include, but are not limited to, making a false report resulting in a death, cyberstalking, and conspiracy. The plea deal recommends a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.
A teacher received death threats after asking students to review an essay which appeared to criticise Donald Trump.

The group of seventh grade (Year 8) pupils at a school near Houston, in Texas, were asked to read 10 essays written by students and determine what information could be inferred.

An excerpt from one of the essays, titled "Trump Against American Values", claimed some of the US presidents policies have gone against what Americans value most, like freedom of opportunity and that we have witnessed insensitive remarks towards other racial and cultural groups.

An image of the worksheet posted on Facebook by Texas Republican Briscoe Cain showed students were given multiple-choice questions to answer about the text.

The first asked Which of the following conclusions would the author most likely agree with?

Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Show all 20 1 /20 Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The prototypes for President Trumps border wall are being demolished. AP Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The US Customs and Border protection had built the eight 30-foot tall steel and concrete models near San Diego on the US-Mexico border. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office found that the construction challenges presented by the four concrete models would be extensive and those presented by two of the other models would be substantial. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California It was intended that Mr Trump would choose his favourite of the designs after testing had been completed. AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The President is yet to comment. AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Each prototype cost $300,000 to $500,000 to build and they are being knocked down in order to make way for the San Diego Secondary Wall project which will see up to 14 miles of barrier being built to support the existing steel border fence. AP Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The new barrier will not employ the design of any of the prototypes, instead being built of the favoured steel bollards which make up the current section of the wall at San Diego. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The new secondary barrier being built near San Diego. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The rubble of one of the demolished prototypes. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A steel wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A wall prototype made from a mix of steel and concrete AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A wall prototype made from a mix of steel and concrete AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A steel wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A digger approaches the prototype wall AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Aerial view of the wall prototypes at the US-Mexico border after they were torn down AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California An aerial view showing Tijuana, Mexico on the left and the demolished wall prototypes on the right AFP/Getty

To which one response was Donald Trump should not be president.

Mr Cain, who was shown the assignment by a parent, wrote: This individual has violated the sacred trust that every parent has with the State of Texas when they send their child into a public school.

No teacher should attempt to indoctrinate a child to their ideology, no matter who is in the White House.

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The parent is quoted by Mr Cain as saying: This type of non-factual rhetoric has no place in our schools regardless of who the president is.

My children have experienced great teachers in the classroom, but I have also had to put up with those who see their roles as indoctrinators, not educators.

The Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District said it fielded numerous calls, including death threats, after the excerpt was shared by Mr Cain.

Many of those calls were deeply disturbing and threatening in nature, it said in a statement.

While we all agree that the particular passage should not have been used, the teacher made a simple error in judgment. Like all of us, teachers are human and make mistakes from time to time.

It said that the matter had been settled but did not specify if any disciplinary action was taken against the teacher, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Lucy Flores, a former member of Bernie Sanders political group Our Revolution and Nevada assemblywoman, has accused Joe Biden of inappropriate contact during a campaign event in 2014.

Ms Flores was running for lieutenant governor in Nevada at the time when the former vice presidents team arranged an event in which he would endorse her Democratic candidacy.

In an article published in The Cut on Friday afternoon, Ms Flores said Mr Biden inhaled her hair and kissed the back of her head just before she went on stage.

I felt him get closer to me from behind, she wrote. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, I didnt wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual fuck? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair?

Ms Flores did not immediately respond to calls from The Independent about her views on Mr Biden possibly joining the 2020 race for the White House.

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

Mr Biden has previously faced backlash over seemingly awkward or inappropriate contacts with women in public settings.

In 2015, the Washington Posts humour writer Alexandra Petri wrote an article titled What are we going to do about Creepy Uncle Joe Biden? which derided his physical contact with women during swearing-in ceremonies for lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

The Creepy Uncle Joe Biden moniker has often been used to describe Mr Bidens interactions with women by his critics and conservative opponents online.

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Ms Flores addressed the nickname in her article, writing, that in and of itself implied a certain level of acceptance.

After all, how many families just tolerate or keep their young children away from the creepy uncle without ever acknowledging that there should be zero tolerance for a man who persistently invades others personal space and makes people feel uneasy and gross? she wrote.

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In this case, it shows a lack of empathy for the women and young girls whose space he is invading, and ignores the power imbalance that exists between Biden and the women he chooses to get cozy with, Ms Flores added.

The former vice president has never been publicly accused of sexual assault or misconduct. A contact for Mr Biden did not immediately respond to enquiries.
William Barr has announced he will release Special Counsel Robert Muellers report on Russian interference in the 2016 election by mid-April  and possibly even sooner.

The attorney general  appointed by Donald Trump earlier this year  previously released a four-page summary of the special counsels findings in a letter to congressional committees still probing the presidents financial dealings and Russian connections.

It was not immediately clear whether the full report would be released or if certain components would face major redactions from the Justice Department or White House.

However, in his statement announcing the imminent release of the special counsels report, Mr Barr said the Department of Justice was identifying and redacting information that would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties."

Mr Barr also said he would not be providing the report to the White House prior to its release. He said the Justice Department will also redact any relevant information pertaining to ongoing investigations, so as not to jeopardise those probes.

As we have discussed, I share your desire to ensure that Congress and the public have the opportunity to read the Special Counsels report, Mr Barr wrote in his letter to the chairman of both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. We are preparing the report for release, making the redactions that are required.

Mueller investigation: The key figures Show all 12 1 /12 Mueller investigation: The key figures Mueller investigation: The key figures Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS Mueller investigation: The key figures Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA Mueller investigation: The key figures Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes  in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS

The Special Counsel is assisting us in this process, the attorney general added. Our progress is such that I anticipate we will be in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner.

Mr Barr also denounced media reports calling his four-page letter to lawmakers a summary, though he notes what he sent was  in his words  a summary of its principal conclusions  that is, its bottom line.

Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own, he continued. I do not believe it would be in the publics interest for me to attempt to summarise the full report or to release it in serial or piecemeal fashion.

Mr Barr's summary of the report said it didnt find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Mr Trumps campaign to swing the 2016 presidential election.

The special counsel reached no conclusion about whether Mr Trump sought to obstruct the investigation. But Mr Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined there was insufficient evidence to conclude the president obstructed justice.

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The attorney general also offered multiple dates he was available to testify before Congress about the report.

Additional reporting by AP
It was March 2018, nearly 10 months into his Russia investigation, when special counsel Robert Mueller III, a man of few words, raised the stakes dramatically in a meeting with Donald Trump's lawyers: If the president did not sit down voluntarily for an interview, he could face a subpoena.

In the months that followed, Mr Mueller never explicitly threatened to issue a subpoena as his office pursued a presidential interview, a sit-down for which the special counsel was pushing as late as December.

But with that prospect hanging over them, Mr Trump's legal team conducted a quiet, multi-pronged pressure campaign to avert such an action and keep the president from coming face-to-face with federal investigators - fearful he would perjure himself.

At one point last summer, when a lull in talks had the president's attorneys worried that Mr Mueller was seriously contemplating a subpoena, White House lawyer Emmet Flood wrote a memo laying out the legal arguments for protecting the president's executive privilege. He sent the document to Mr Mueller's office and to the deputy for top Justice Department official Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw the probe, according to two people familiar with Mr Flood's outreach.

Meanwhile, the Trump lawyers sent a steady stream of documents and witnesses to the special counsel, chipping away at Mr Mueller's justification for needing an interview with the president.

Mueller investigation: The key figures Show all 12 1 /12 Mueller investigation: The key figures Mueller investigation: The key figures Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS Mueller investigation: The key figures Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA Mueller investigation: The key figures Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes  in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS

In the end, the decision not to subpoena the president is one of the lingering mysteries of Mr Mueller's 22-month investigation, which concluded last week when he filed a report numbering more than 300 pages.

The special counsel did not find a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but - in an unusual move - failed to come to a decision about whether Mr Trump obstructed justice, according to a summary of the Mueller report released by attorney general William Barr. An interview with the president would have been pivotal to helping assess whether the president had corrupt intent, a key element of such a charge, legal experts said.

It is an open question whether a subpoena would have survived the court challenge Mr Trump's lawyers say they would have waged. The Supreme Court has never issued definitive guidance on issuing a subpoena to a president, but had Mr Mueller pursued one, the courts could have established a precedent for future presidents.

In assessing whether to pursue such a high-stakes move, the special counsel was not operating with complete autonomy. That was a contrast with predecessors such as Kenneth Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton and had broad leeway under the now-expired independent counsel statute.

But Mr Mueller was supervised by Mr Rosenstein, a Trump appointee. The special counsel, Mr Rosenstein noted in one letter to a Republican senator, "remains accountable like every other subordinate."

Mr Rosenstein himself was under intense political pressure: Mr Trump mused about firing the one-time George W Bush appointee and former US attorney for Maryland, whom he derided at one point as "the Democrat from Baltimore." And House conservatives threatened to impeach Mr Rosenstein, accusing him of withholding information about the Russia probe.

Internal Justice Department discussions about whether to subpoena the president - including Mr Rosenstein's views on such an action - remain tightly held.

In the final months of the probe, there was upheaval in the department's leadership. Mr Trump ousted attorney general Jeff Sessions, who had recused himself from the investigation. He was replaced temporarily by his former chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who was publicly critical of the special counsel before joining the department.

A month before Mr Mueller submitted his report, Mr Barr was confirmed as attorney general. He had questioned Mr Mueller's obstruction-of-justice inquiry in a June 2018 memo to Mr Rosenstein months before his appointment, writing that "Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the President submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction."

If Mr Mueller wanted to push for a subpoena, he did not force the issue with Justice Department leaders. Mr Barr told lawmakers last week that no decision the special counsel wanted to take was vetoed during the investigation.

The Justice Department and the special counsel's office declined to comment.

More answers could be revealed in Mr Mueller's full report, which House Democrats are pushing Mr Barr to release.

What is known is that the president's lawyers now believe keeping their client from sitting down with investigators was their greatest victory.

"The president would not have helped his case had he gone in," said Mark Corallo, a former spokesperson for Mr Trump's legal team. "No lawyer worth his salt would let that happen."

 Trump on Mueller Decision: People Have Done Evil, Treasonous Things

The president was initially inclined to sit for an interview with Mr Mueller. He thought he could deliver a convincing performance and put a swift end to the probe.

Negotiations between the sides began around Thanksgiving 2017, and an interview was scheduled for January 2018, according to a person close to the legal team and a former senior administration official.

But John Dowd, then the president's lead attorney, cancelled the session. He had argued against it because he feared Mr Trump could misspeak or even lie. And a practice session with the president further convinced Mr Dowd that the president could be a problematic interviewee, these people said.

White House officials declined to comment.

Over the next 12 months, Mr Mueller tried repeatedly to reschedule the interview, to no avail.

Mr Trump continued to state publicly that he would be glad to sit for an interview - he believed being seen as willing to talk with prosecutors showed "strength," according to a former administration official with direct knowledge of his thinking. But the president came to agree with his lawyers that doing so would be too risky, especially after former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017, current and former White House aides said.

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said that some of what Mr Trump's legal advisers were hearing from Mr Mueller "raised our suspicion that this is a trap, rather than a search for more information."

As the standoff continued, Mr Mueller's team discussed at length the idea of issuing a subpoena, if necessary, to compel Mr Trump to sit for an interview, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.

The discussions - which included Mr Mueller, his top deputy James Quarles, and prosecutors Michael Dreeben and Aaron Zebley - centred both on whether a subpoena was legally feasible and what the costs of such a move might be to the overall investigation, the person said.

A fight over a presidential subpoena would have been likely to set legal precedent.

Under President Richard Nixon, the US Supreme Court ruled that investigators could subpoena evidence from a sitting president and ordered Nixon to turn over materials including secret recordings made in the Oval Office. That ruling did not, however, address testimony by the president.

When Mr Starr was independent counsel, he issued a subpoena to Mr Clinton ordering the president to testify before a grand jury about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Mr Clinton's team considered challenging the subpoena in court but instead decided that it would be politically damaging to be seen as fighting the investigation. Mr Clinton's lawyers agreed that he would voluntarily sit for an interview, and Mr Starr withdrew the subpoena - leaving open the question of whether a president can be compelled to give testimony.

Robert Ray, a former independent counsel now in private practice at Thompson & Knight, said Mr Mueller's team would have had to weigh whether a subpoena could survive the court challenge that was all but certain to come from the Trump White House.

Criminals who worked for Trump Show all 5 1 /5 Criminals who worked for Trump Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Cohen Former lawyer for Donald Trump was sentenced to three years in prison on counts involving evading income tax, false disclosure of the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and another hush money charge Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Paul Manafort Former campaign manager for Trump Manafort was found guilty in February 2018 of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The crimes occurred prior to his appointment in Trump's campaign Getty Criminals who worked for Trump George Papadopoulos Former Trump campaign adviser Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in October 2017. He had lied about making contact with a professor who claimed that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton. He was sentenced to 14 days in jail Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Flynn Former White House National Security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017. He had lied about conversations that he had with the Russian ambassador to the US during Trump's Presidential campaign. He was not given prison time due to his "significant assistance" to the Mueller investigation Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Rick Gates Deputy chairman of Trump's presidential campaign Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in February 2018 AFP/Getty

The Supreme Court has never issued definitive guidance on the question, but in a previous independent counsel investigation, of Mike Espy, an agriculture secretary in the Clinton administration, an appellate court offered some clarity on the bounds of how the White House could fight a subpoena by citing presidential privilege.

On the basis of the precedent from that case - which was focused on documents, rather than an interview  Mr Mueller would have had to demonstrate both a need to subpoena Mr Trump to advance his investigation and show that he could not get the information he sought in any other way, Mr Ray said.

Another major factor was time: Mr Mueller had to consider the likelihood that such a move would bog the investigation down in a lengthy legal battle.

"That's a major fight, and you have to decide whether, in the country's best interests, it's worth it," Mr Ray said.

Mr Mueller broached the topic during a tense meeting on 5 March 2018, at the special counsel offices in Southwest Washington, as Mr Trump's attorneys maintained that the president had no obligation to talk to investigators.

The special counsel noted there was an option if Mr Trump declined: He could be subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, as The Washington Post previously reported.

Mr Dowd erupted angrily.

"You're screwing with the work of the president of the United States," he told Mr Mueller, according to two people briefed on the discussion.

After that meeting, the special counsel team changed its approach: trying to coax Mr Trump to sit for an interview voluntarily.

Prosecutors hoped the president would agree to meet, mindful that they could not explicitly threaten a subpoena unless they were prepared to issue one, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Still, Mr Trump's legal advisers felt after the March meeting that a subpoena threat hung over the president.

"The whole exercise was premised on the idea that that was a legal option they could pursue, and we were never absolutely sure until the end that they would not," said one Trump adviser familiar with the legal negotiations.

That threat governed the president's legal strategy in the months that would follow.

 House intelligence committee chair Adam Schiff on Trump-Russia collusion evidence: 'You might think it's ok'

Mr Trump's lawyers left the distinct public impression that they were not an equal match for Mr Mueller, a venerated former FBI director. Mr Dowd and Ty Cobb, another legal adviser to Mr Trump, were overheard by a reporter discussing over lunch at a popular Washington steakhouse how much they would cooperate with Mr Mueller. Mr Giuliani developed a habit of misspeaking in meandering television interviews.

But behind the scenes, Mr Trump's legal advisers had a quiet weapon: a husband-and-wife pair of criminal lawyers, Jane and Martin Raskin, who brought rigor and regimen to the team when they came aboard in April 2018.

While Mr Giuliani and attorney Jay Sekulow managed the public relations strategy, the Raskins did most of the lawyering from a temporary office they set up in Washington. They declined to comment.

Mr Giuliani said that roughly 80 per cent of the Trump team's interactions with the special counsel's office were handled by Jane Raskin, who has known both Mr Mueller and Mr Quarles for years. She knew Mr Mueller from her time as a federal prosecutor in Boston, while her husband had worked with Mr Quarles.

She communicated mostly by email, developing a written record that Mr Trump's attorneys intended to use as evidence of their cooperation and responsiveness if they ended up in court fighting a subpoena.

Martin Raskin, meanwhile, did a great deal of the writing and editing of legal arguments, including a "counter report" defending the president that Mr Giuliani said has been prepared but may never be released.

Central to the Trump strategy - developed first by Mr Cobb and Mr Dowd and later carried out by Mr Giuliani, Mr Sekulow and the Raskins, as well as Mr Flood, who from his White House perch represented the office of the presidency - was to cooperate fully with every request for documents and witnesses from Mr Mueller, including Mr Trump's written answers to some questions.

Their goal: to satisfy Mr Mueller's hunt for information to the extent that the special counsel would not have legal standing to subpoena the president's oral testimony.

"We allowed them to question everybody, and they turned over every document they were asked for: 1.4 million documents," Mr Giuliani said. "We had what you would call unprecedented cooperation."

Mr Trump's lawyers, citing the independent counsel investigation of Mr Espy, argued that to justify a subpoena of Mr Trump, Mr Mueller needed to prove he could not get the information in any way other than by asking the president.

"No matter what question they would say they wanted to ask, I felt confident we could turn it over and say, 'You already have the answer to it,'" Mr Giuliani said. "If they said, 'Why did you fire Comey?' I'd give them five interviews, and particularly the Lester Holt tape, where he goes into great detail as to his reasons."

Mr Giuliani was referring to Mr Trump's May 2017 interview with the NBC Nightly News anchor in which the president said he was thinking about "this Russia thing" when he fired James Comey as FBI director, one of the actions Mr Mueller was investigating as possible obstruction of justice.

All the while, Mr Giuliani said, the legal team was not convinced that it would have prevailed in court. "Honestly, I don't know who would have won," he said. "I think our argument got better as time went on. But I don't know if we would have won."

 Stephen Colbert compares Mueller report on Trump to the 'Lost' finale

As Mr Mueller's lawyers quietly laboured, a political storm was raging around them.

Mr Trump, his lawyers and his allies in Congress routinely attacked Mr Mueller and his investigators as compromised and corrupt. The president repeatedly urged an end to the probe, which he condemned as a "witch hunt," a "fraud" and a "hoax" that was wasting taxpayer money.

Mr Rosenstein urged lawmakers to respect the confidential work of the special counsel, saying in a June 2018 letter to senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, then the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the probe would comply with all laws and Justice Department policies.

But Mr Rosenstein also noted that Mr Mueller was not an entirely independent actor - and that his work was being closely supervised.

"Under the terms of his appointment, both by statute and by regulation, special counsel Mueller remains accountable like every other subordinate Department official," Mr Rosenstein wrote.

A few months later, Mr Flood sent his memo on the scope of executive privilege. While it made broad arguments, the document could have been construed to pertain to Mr Mueller's push to interview the president, according to someone with knowledge of the contents.

Notably, Mr Flood sent the memo not just to Mr Mueller's office, but also to Mr Rosenstein by way of his top deputy, Edward O'Callaghan.

Mr Flood declined to comment.

As each month passed without a subpoena, the president's attorneys increasingly doubted that Mr Mueller would seek to obtain one, according to people with knowledge of internal discussions.

Mr Mueller's team kept insisting it needed to interview the president - but never followed through with an actual demand.

Mr Mueller and Mr Quarles would stress that they needed to know Mr Trump's intentions when he fired Mr Comey and took other actions that could have thwarted the Russia investigation. Jane Raskin would respond by pressing them for a legal justification for seeking to interview the president, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The president's team asked, "What evidence have you obtained that justifies you interviewing the president?" according the person, who added that Mr Mueller's office was "never able to articulate a compelling case. They never gave up asking, but they had no good answer for that question."

In the absence of an interview, Mr Trump's attorneys offered Mr Mueller a substitute: The president would provide answers to a set of questions about Russia and the campaign, submitted in writing. But, citing executive privilege, they refused to provide answers to questions pertaining to the president's time in office - questions that went to the heart of the special counsel's inquiry into possible obstruction of justice.

However, the process of compiling answers dragged. Mr Trump's lawyers found it difficult to get the president to focus on drafting the submission, according to people familiar with the sessions. Mr Trump's meetings with his lawyers were frequently interrupted by phone calls and other White House business.

Finally, in late November 2018, the lawyers sent Mr Trump's answers to Mr Mueller.

In December, Mr Mueller's team made one more request for an interview with the president.

And in January, the special counsel's office contacted Mr Trump's lawyers to ask some follow-up questions, according to people familiar with the request.

But Mr Trump's lawyers again declined. They neither agreed to an interview nor answered the additional questions.

Two months later, Mr Mueller submitted his report without having spoken to the president. The investigation was over.

The Washington Post
 Close Trump claims to 'know a lot about wind' in bizarre rant about Hillary Clinton at rally

Donald Trump has claimed he may close the border with Mexico next week - the latest threat from an a newly emboldened president following the completion of the Mueller report.

Speaking to reporters at his estate in Florida, the president said he would take the step - potentially disrupting millions of legal border crossings and billions of dollars in trade - if Mexico did not stop immigrants reaching the United States. His words were an indication his mind is fixed firmly on the re-election battle he will soon be embroiled in, and the need to energise his base ahead of what will be a bitter fight.

Theres a very good likelihood that Ill be closing the border next week, and that will be just fine with me, he said.

Reuters pointed out the president has repeatedly said he would close the US border with Mexico during his two years in office, and has not followed through. However, his latest threat comes as the government says it is struggling to deal with a surge of asylum seekers from countries in Central America who travel through Mexico.

Department of Homeland Security officials warned that traffic with Mexico could slow as the agency shifts 750 border personnel from ports of entry to help process asylum seekers who are turning up between official crossing points, the news agency said.

Some of those delays were already being felt on both sides of the international border. Reports said that on Friday afternoon, the wait was longer than usual on the Mexican side of the crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas, with long lines of freight trucks carrying goods from Mexican factories into the United States.

Mr Trumps threat was just the latest indication he is feeling newly empowered since the completion of the Mueller report. The report found his campaign did not collude with Russia, and while Mr Mueller pointedly did not reach a conclusion as to whether or not he obstructed justice, attorney general William Barr said he and his deputy, had decided there was insufficient evidence of a crime.

Robert Mueller was a Hero to the Radical Left Democrats, until he ruled that there was No Collusion with Russia (so ridiculous to even say!). After more than two years since the insurance policy statement was made by a dirty cop, I got the answers I wanted, the Truth, Mr Trump tweeted on Friday evening.

On Thursday evening, Mr Trump delivered a wild address to supporters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, branding the Mueller investigation the single greatest political hoax in the history of our country and accusing House Democrats of defrauding the public with ridiculous bulls***.

The president also thanked his friends at Fox News for their support, attacked renewable energy and asylum seekers and, bizarrely, applauded the nearby Great Lakes for their record deepness.

His son, Donald Trump Jr, smirked as the crowd chanted AOC sucks!, in reference to Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on the same day that details of the presidents dodging an interview with the FBI special counsel during the 22-month probe began to emerge.

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Donald Trump has launched an emotional attack on his critics, accusing them of hurting the country by pursuing the Mueller investigation, in a raucous speech in front of supporters in Michigan.

In his first rally since Robert Mueller completed his probe and the president learned it had apparently cleared him of colluding with Russia, Mr Trump basked in constant applause as he lashed out at the media, Democratic politicians and the deep state.

This has been an incredible couple of weeks for America, he said, adding that Isis had been defeated and that the economy was growing.

Referring to the completion of Mr Muellers report, he said: The collusion delusion is over. The Russia hoax is finally dead. ... This was nothing more than a sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people.

Describing Democrat Adam Schiffs claims that there may indeed have been collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, the president said: Sick! Sick! These are sick people.

Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Show all 20 1 /20 Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Supporters yell as protesters are removed at Trump rally in Texas on February 11 Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen A supporter dressed as a border wall before the rally Reuters Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen A man is restrained after assaulting members of the media including a BBC cameraman at the rally AP Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen President Trump arrives for a rally in El Paso AFP/Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Trump supporters react as a couple are escorted from their seats Reuters Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen A supporter shows off a Trump doll while waiting for the rally Reuters Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Linda Padilla Dewiler, originally from Mexico, poses with a sign as Trump supporters gather to attend his rally AFP/Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen A supporter sports political badges on his cap Reuters Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Supporters hold signs, one holds an Israel flag, as they cheer for the president AFP/Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen President Trump addresses the rally AP Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen President Trump addresses the rally in front of a large "FINISH THE WALL" banner AP Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen President Trump addresses the rally as supporters hold pro-border wall signs Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen President Trump addresses the rally as supporters hold pro-border wall signs AP Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Supporters cheer at the rally AFP/Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Supporters cheer during the rally AP Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Supporters cheer at the rally AFP/Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Supporters cheer at the rally AFP/Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Supporters cheer the president AFP/Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Supporters cheer the president AFP/Getty Trump Texas rally: Lies, executing babies and attacks on BBC cameramen Supporters wait for the president to arrive at the rally Getty

In a fired-up appearance in the city of Grand Rapids, the location of his final appearance during the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr Trump indicated how he intended to campaign for 2020  by attacking his critics, making grandiose and often false claims, and energising supporters by seizing on issues such as immigration.

During the course of the 90-minute speech, he claimed his election win over Hillary Clinton had been possibly the greatest in history, and that a wall on the Mexican border would be built.

The wall is being built. We had to go down a somewhat different path, he said to shrieks of delight. It does not matter  national emergency.

Robert Mueller was a god to Democrats, he was a god to them. Now they dont like him much.

The Democrats now have to decide if they want to keep defrauding the public with ridiculous bull**** and partisan investigations, or whether they will apologise to the American people and join us.

Reports said that many of those packed into the Van Andel Arena had started lining up the night before, with some camping out.

Saundra Kiczenski, who was among the first in line, told the Associated Press she had never felt the same kind of enthusiasm from the crowd as she awaited her 25th Trump rally. She said he expected the president would take a chance to revel in the fact the Mueller investigation was over.

Hes just going to be on fire, she said.

Last weekend, attorney general William Barr sent to Congress a four-page summary of Mr Muellers investigation into Moscows alleged interference and accusations it had been assisted by members of the Trump campaign.

The summary claimed that in his report, Mr Mueller said he had not found a direct link between Moscows efforts and the Trump campaign. On the issue of whether the president had obstructed efforts to investigate possible collusion, he set out the case for and against in regard to several incidents.

In turn, Mr Barr and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, decided the presidents actions did not constitute a crime.

Before Mr Trump launched his attack against those he claimed had pushed for an investigation because they could not accept his 2016 victory, the crowd was warmed up by the presidents eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

This weeks vindication of my father, of me, of our family: its not just our vindication, its your vindication, said Mr Trump Jr, who is likely to play a leading role in his fathers re-election campaign next year.

You own that with us. Because you stuck by us. You knew it was nonsense. You knew my father was fighting for all of you.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Among those whom the president attacked on Thursday evening was Democratic congressman Mr Schiff. On Thursday, Republicans on the House of Representatives intelligence committee called for his resignation, saying he had pushed a demonstrably false narrative by continuing to investigate the presidents ties to Russia.

Mr Schiff said: My colleagues may think its okay that the Russians offered dirt on a Democratic candidate for president as part of what was described as part of the Russian governments effort to help the Trump campaign. ... You might say thats just what you need to do to win. But I dont think its okay.
A British fugitive accused of trying to flee Australia on a jet ski armed with a crossbow is to be extradited.

David Jackson, 57, wanted by police over alleged drug-related offences in Western Australia, was arrested a few miles from Papua New Guinea on Wednesday.

He is alleged to have travelled almost 90 miles across the Torres Strait after launching the jet ski from the Cape York peninsula, in the northern-most part of Queensland.

Police at the time said he was possibly armed with a crossbow and carrying additional fuel and supplies.

An extradition application was granted at Cairns Magistrates Court in Queensland on Friday.

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. 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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. 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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

Western Australia Police said Mr Jackson would be extradited to Perth, where he will appear at Perth Magistrates Court on Monday.

Commander Jo Crooks, of the Australian Border Force northern command, said the arrest was the result of a joint operation between border force, Australian Federal Police, and Queensland Police.

She added: We have the ability to detect a range of border threats, including suspicious movements through the region.
A man who claimed his former supervisor at work repeatedly broke wind at him has lost his multimillion dollar compensation claim for bullying.

David Hingst had demanded his former employer, Construction Engineering, pay him $1.8m (Australian dollars  about 980,000) in damages.

He accused his former supervisor Greg Short of repeatedly breaking wind inside his small, windowless office, which he said amounted to bullying.

But the Court of Appeal in the Australian state of Victoria has dismissed Mr Hingsts case, and ruled even if his allegations of malicious flatulence were true it would not necessarily mean he had been bullied.

The 56-year-old testified he had moved out of a communal office space at the engineering firms building to try to escape Mr Shorts constant farting.

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. 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But Mr Short allegedly then began coming into Mr Hingsts new private office and continued to break wind several times a day.

He would fart behind me and walk away. He would do this five or six times a day, Mr Hingst said outside court.

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He thrusted his bum at me while he was at work.

In retaliation he said he would spray his supervisor with deodorant and call him Mr Stinky.

Mr Short told the court he did not remember ever farting inside Mr Hingsts office, but admitted he could have done it once or twice.

The appeal judges found Mr Hingst put the issue of Mr Shorts flatulence to the forefront of his bullying case, arguing that flatulence constituted assaults.

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But the court found Mr Short did not bully or harass his subordinate. Neither had Construction Engineering been negligent, judges ruled.

Mr Hingst claimed his former employer had bullied him by firing him in 2009 but the firm argued his job had been ended because of a downturn in the construction industry.

The former engineer has said he will appeal the judgement in Australias High Court.
Germany has extended its ban on exporting arms to Saudi Arabia for another six months.

The government imposed the ban after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and over human rights concerns about the conflict in Yemen, where the Saudi-backed government is battling the Iranian-backed Houthis.

It has been criticised by its European allies since it put billions of euros of military orders on hold, including a 10bn deal to sell 48 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Riyadh that would be led by Britains BAE systems.

The ban will be extended for a further six months to 30 September, said government spokesman Steffen Seibert. Over this period no new export applications will be approved.

The move strained ties with fellow European arms exporters with which German companies have joint programmes.

The children wounded in Yemen's war Show all 15 1 /15 The children wounded in Yemen's war The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Ali Ashwal / Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Save the Children The children wounded in Yemen's war Save the Children

However, in an attempt to assuage the concerns of Berlins British and French partners, the government agreed to extend export licences that had already been granted for nine months, provided the companies do not deliver any finished weapons systems until the end of the year.

The provision frees companies from the obligation to enter the costly and time-consuming process of applying for a new licence.

The government also called on Britain and France to ensure any weapons systems delivered to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates would not be deployed in the Yemen conflict.

It comes after Germany refused to bow to pressure from Britain to resume its arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Germanys foreign minister Heiko Mass said it would stick to its freeze on weapons exports after Jeremy Hunt, the British foreign secretary, wrote to Berlin to ask the government to soften its stance.

Mr Hunt said it was imperative Germany exempt big defence projects from its arms sales pause or face damage to its commercial credibility.

He claimed Berlins decision was delaying the delivery of Eurofighter Typhoon, Tornado and Hawk warplanes.

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However, after meeting Mr Hunt in Berlin, Mr Maas said the German government would make future decisions depending on how the Yemen conflict develops and whether what has been agreed in the peace talks in Stockholm is being implemented.

The freeze has also pitted German chancellor Angela Merkels conservatives against their Social Democrat coalition partners, who are keen to woo traditional voters sceptical about arms sales and worried about Saudi investment in Yemens war.

Additional reporting by agencies
The Boeing 737 Max is likely to go back into service in the US before the rest of the world  which could mean British Airways flight code is applied to a type of plane that UK safety regulators have grounded.

The newest variant of a long-established aircraft was grounded after two crashes in five months, which cost the lives of 346 passengers and crew.

In October 2018, a Lion Air plane plunged into the sea shortly after take-off from Jakarta airport in Indonesia. This month, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max crashed soon after departing Addis Ababa.

In both fatal accidents, new anti-stall software has been implicated. If the angle between the wing and the airflow is deemed too steep, the MCAS system automatically tilts the nose of the aircraft down without intervention from the pilots.

The planemaker is working on new software and additional training before passenger flights are permitted again.

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Show all 9 1 /9 Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures This picture taken on March 11, 2019, shows debris of the crashed airplane of Ethiopia Airlines, near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. - An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on March 10 morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew believed to be on board, Ethiopian Airlines said. (Photo by Michael TEWELDE / AFP)MICHAEL TEWELDE/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Family members mourn the victims at the crash site of the Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, at Hama Quntushele village in the Oromia region, on March 13, 2019. - A Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019, killing all eight crew and 149 passengers on board, including tourists, business travellers, and "at least a dozen" UN staff. Families of the victims were taken to the remote site on March 13, 2019, where the plane smashed into a field with 157 passengers and crew from 35 countries, leaving a deep black crater and tiny scraps of debris. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP)TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A page of a Boeing flight crew operations manual is seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner REUTERS Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures epa07434278 Rescue workers search the site for pieces of the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STRINGER EPA Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 passenger plane of the Norwegian low-cost airline Norwegian is parked at the tarmac at Vantaa airport in Vantaa near Helsinki, Finland on March 13, 2019. - A number of countries have banned Boeing's 737 MAX 8 medium-haul workhorse jet from their airspace in response to the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board. (Photo by Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / AFP) / Finland OUTHEIKKI SAUKKOMAA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Rescue workers search the site for pieces of the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STRINGER EPA Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A heap of debris from the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are piled at the crash site near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STR EPA Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A crew working with an investigative team to clear the site after the Sunday crash of the Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, carry debris at Hama Quntushele village in the Oromia region, on March 13, 2019. - A Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, killing all eight crew and 149 passengers on board, including tourists, business travellers, and "at least a dozen" UN staff. Families of the victims were taken to the remote site on March 13, 2019, where the plane smashed into a field with 157 passengers and crew from 35 countries, leaving a deep black crater and tiny scraps of debris. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP)TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8, on a flight from Miami to New York City, comes in for landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York, U.S., March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo REUTERS

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to approve the changes and allow flights to re-commence domestically within weeks.



But the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and other regulators have lost confidence in the FAA over the issue and will insist on conducting their own tests before the Boeing 737 Max is allowed to operate in their airspace.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) grounded the plane on 12 March, ahead of the FAA, citing insufficient information from the flight data recorder involved in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

British Airways has no Boeing 737 Max jets in its fleet, nor any on order. But it is in a joint venture with American Airlines (AA), which has 24 of the planes.

BA sells many tickets on a codeshare basis  applying BA codes to AA flights.

For example, the first leg of a trip booked through BA from Denver via Miami to Heathrow on 1 July involves BA2399 which is actually AA flight 2793.

Before the grounding this segment was operated with a 737 Max. At present no aircraft type is shown for the departure on American Airlines schedules.

The US carrier has amended its flying programme to assume the 737 will stay on the ground until at least 24 April.

AA has flown more than 2.5 million passengers on nearly 18,000 flights on its Boeing 737 Max fleet since the first one was delivered in September 2017. It says: Once the FAA lifts the order, we will work as quickly as we can to get all aircraft back into our fleet, but the timing is unknown at this point."

BA is not commenting on the Boeing 737 Max while the aircraft remains grounded.

The airline promotes the codeshare with AA by offering mixing and matching flights to suit your schedule and smoother connections for onward flights.

Aircraft types on any route can be changed at short notice.
Britains biggest holiday company has lost one-10th of its stock market value after revealing the expected cost of the grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

Tui updated its profit guidance to reflect the additional costs of covering for the 15 new Boeing jets in its fleet. They are grounded along with all others of the type following two fatal crashes, which cost the lives of 346 passengers and crew.

In October 2018, a Lion Air plane plunged into the sea shortly after take-off from Jakarta airport in Indonesia. This month, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max crashed soon after departing Addis Ababa.

In both fatal accidents, new anti-stall software has been implicated. The planemaker is working on new software and additional training before passenger flights are permitted again.

European regulators have said they will conduct their own tests before the plane is allowed to operate.

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Show all 9 1 /9 Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures This picture taken on March 11, 2019, shows debris of the crashed airplane of Ethiopia Airlines, near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. - An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on March 10 morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew believed to be on board, Ethiopian Airlines said. (Photo by Michael TEWELDE / AFP)MICHAEL TEWELDE/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Family members mourn the victims at the crash site of the Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, at Hama Quntushele village in the Oromia region, on March 13, 2019. - A Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019, killing all eight crew and 149 passengers on board, including tourists, business travellers, and "at least a dozen" UN staff. Families of the victims were taken to the remote site on March 13, 2019, where the plane smashed into a field with 157 passengers and crew from 35 countries, leaving a deep black crater and tiny scraps of debris. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP)TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A page of a Boeing flight crew operations manual is seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner REUTERS Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures epa07434278 Rescue workers search the site for pieces of the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STRINGER EPA Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 passenger plane of the Norwegian low-cost airline Norwegian is parked at the tarmac at Vantaa airport in Vantaa near Helsinki, Finland on March 13, 2019. - A number of countries have banned Boeing's 737 MAX 8 medium-haul workhorse jet from their airspace in response to the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board. (Photo by Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / AFP) / Finland OUTHEIKKI SAUKKOMAA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures Rescue workers search the site for pieces of the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STRINGER EPA Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A heap of debris from the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are piled at the crash site near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STR EPA Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures A crew working with an investigative team to clear the site after the Sunday crash of the Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, carry debris at Hama Quntushele village in the Oromia region, on March 13, 2019. - A Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, killing all eight crew and 149 passengers on board, including tourists, business travellers, and "at least a dozen" UN staff. Families of the victims were taken to the remote site on March 13, 2019, where the plane smashed into a field with 157 passengers and crew from 35 countries, leaving a deep black crater and tiny scraps of debris. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP)TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8, on a flight from Miami to New York City, comes in for landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York, U.S., March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo REUTERS

With the Easter holidays about to begin, and the main summer season starting in May, airlines are having to pay for additional capacity chartered in at high cost.

Tui says it is utilising spare aircraft of its fleet, extending expiring leases for aircraft that were supposed to be replaced by 737 Max aircraft.

As well as the 15 aircraft deployed in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden, a further eight Boeing 737 Max jets are scheduled for delivery by the end of May.

Citing considerable uncertainty around when the 737 Max will return to service, Tui has arranged cover until mid-July.

Assuming the aircraft resumes service by then, Tui estimates a drop in profits by 200m (170m).

This impact is especially attributable to costs related to the replacement of aircraft, higher fuel costs, other disruption costs, and the anticipated impact on trading, the company said.

Should it not become clear within the coming weeks that flying the 737 Max will resume by mid-July, TUI will need to extend the abovementioned measures until the end of the summer season. The current assumption for this additional one-off impact until 30 September 2019 is up to 100m (85m).
Seismically speaking, Iceland is always lively thanks to the shifting Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

The earth moved particularly excitingly in April 2010, when airborne ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano grounded flights across northern Europe.

Breakfast time on Thursday was lively in Iceland, with flights grounded once again. But the shockwave this time involved Wow Air.

At 6am, the Icelandic carrier announced its flights just for that day were cancelled, while it finalised equity raise with a group of investors. Passengers booked on the grounded departures could get a full refund or switch to the next available Wow Air flight.

Optimism prevailed at 7am, when Wow Air was still selling tickets.

Airlines that went bust Show all 12 1 /12 Airlines that went bust Airlines that went bust Air Berlin Air Berlin, which operated flights to and from Berlin Tegel, went bankrupt in 2017 Getty Airlines that went bust Small Planet Lithuanian airline Small Planet filed for insolvency at the end of 2018 Igor Dvurekov Airlines that went bust Monarch Airlines The airline ceased operations in October 2017 AFP/Getty Airlines that went bust VLM Antwerp-based VLM went bankrupt in September 2018 Flo Weiss Airlines that went bust Germania German airline Germania filed for insolvency in February 2019 Getty Airlines that went bust Kingfisher Founded in 2005 ceased flying in October 2012 AFP/Getty Airlines that went bust Cobalt Cobalt, based in Larnaca, Cyprus, stopped flying in October 2018 Steve Lynes Airlines that went bust Mexicana An airline that had been in operation since 1921, went bust in August 2010. It was Mexico's largest airline AFP/Getty Airlines that went bust WOW Air Icelandic Wow Air ceased operation in March 2019 Getty Airlines that went bust Primera Primera, known for its cheap transatlantic fares, went bust in October 2018 Getty Airlines that went bust Transaero A privately-owened airline founded in Russia, 1990 lasted until October 2015 Getty Airlines that went bust Malev After 66 years, Hungary's national airline went stopped flying in 2012 AFP/Getty

By 8am, though, the next available Wow Air flight ceased to exist, along with the immediate plans of thousands of passengers: Europeans in North America, US and Canadian citizens in Europe and a fair few British travellers stuck in Iceland.

The airline, say many people, should not have been allowed to sell tickets while it was in dire financial straits. The idea of a levy on every airline ticket to fund an airlift and refunds when airlines go bust  as a dozen European carriers have done since the collapse of Monarch 18 months ago  will gather support.

But I am against a ban on struggling airlines selling flights, and believe a levy on all tickets is against the wider interests of passengers. And this is why.

Airlines sell promises. I have a host of them: from a trip this weekend on Flybes last-ever departure from Gatwick (to Newquay) to a long-haul adventure on Emirates via Dubai to Tokyo in October.

Almost always, those promises come true. The vast majority of flights booked by UK travellers are on rock-solid airlines. It is as certain as anything can be in aviation that British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic will flourish over the next year  the most distant horizon for scheduled flights.

It would be absurd for those of us booked on these carriers to pay, say, a 1 insolvency levy on their tickets as a form of insurance: the risk of failure is vanishingly small.

Were I to book on a weaker airline, I might consider scheduled airline failure insurance. But not for very long, because the aviation industry is adept at organising rescue flights which help those who are stranded by collapses.

After an airline fails, suddenly thousands of passengers are seeking seats on a dwindling number of alternative flights. When demand for alternative flights spikes after an airline failure, market forces would cause fares to soar. But instead rival carriers offer spare seats at below the going rate.

The Wow Air failure set a record for the speed with which they were offered: easyJet and Norwegian rushed out cut-price offers to customers of the Icelandic airline within an hour of the failure.

Future travellers are (almost always) assured of getting their money back, and those who have shelled out for scheduled airline failure insurance can expect the extra cost of replacement flights to be covered.

The passengers who are seriously out of pocket are those with outstanding claims against the airline  whether for compensation for past disruption, or costs incurred by paying for replacement flights and accommodation after Wow Air promised reimbursement.

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Those lost causes could run to thousands of pounds. But responsibility rests firmly with the enforcement bodies who are supposed to police the European air passengers rights rules: they should have ensured that payments were made in a timely manner, rather than passengers finding themselves hanging on for cash that would never materialise.

And selling tickets even as the shutters come down on another doomed airline? I honestly cant see a way that the authorities could prevent that. Its not over until the last, mournful tweet from a failing airline.

Wow Air swore there was someone waiting with a big bag of cash to bail out the airline. That turned out to be wishful thinking. But in the late 1980s a small, struggling Irish airline had one final roll of the dice to stem its losses. And now Ryanair seems to be doing quite well.

Flybe, which is taking me from Sussex to Cornwall, also went into this dismal winter in terrible financial shape  and has been rescued with the help of tens of millions of pounds from Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Air.

I sympathise with every Wow Air passenger for the distress and expense they have suffered, and of course with the airlines staff.

But while Wow Air is broke, the system is not. And it doesnt need fixing.
It was comical, farcical, droll. An actors dream if you were going to put the drama on stage or screen  but the three principal characters were actors themselves. The lead player, as usual in Egypt, was His Excellency Field Marshal President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and the theme of this theatrical production was an old and familiar one: the power of trade unions and the fear of real revolution.

But well start with the latest act, virtually ignored in the west where freedom of speech, workers rights and liberty are precious, sacrosanct, close to our hearts. This week, two prominent Egyptian actors, Amr Waked and Khaled Abol Naga, were expelled from the government-controlled Egyptian actors union for treachery. They were condemned for betraying the nation and working for the agenda of conspirators against Egypts security and stability. The head of the union told AFP that the two men will no longer be allowed to act in Egypt.

Although Waked won the best actor award at the Dubai film festival five years ago and starred in 2005 film Syriana with George Clooney, the starring performance of both men came last Monday when they used the platform of a US congressional hearing to condemn the worsening human rights situation in Egypt and the extraordinary legislation which may allow Sisi to stay in power until 2034.

Film actor Amr Wake is also accused of treason by Egypt (AP)

Naga, a star of many Egyptian movies, described a country whose people were either imprisoned or lived in fear of arrest. Waked said that the regime run by Sisi, who staged a military coup against the first elected Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi in 2013, had developed an allergy to the truth, a claim which contained its own painful irony. For both Waked and Naga  like dozens of novelists, artists, journalists and other Egyptian literati  were among those who originally and naively supported the bloody coup which brought Sisi to power. Waked, whose criticism of the government earned him, this month, a sentence of eight years in an Egyptian prison (in absentia, of course, because he lives in Europe) pointed out that the unions prohibition on his acting hardly mattered. If I go back to Egypt, I wont even have time to act, he has said  because hed be locked up at once.

Black sarcophagus found in Egypt is finally opened Show all 4 1 /4 Black sarcophagus found in Egypt is finally opened Black sarcophagus found in Egypt is finally opened Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities Black sarcophagus found in Egypt is finally opened Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities Black sarcophagus found in Egypt is finally opened Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities Black sarcophagus found in Egypt is finally opened Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities

But now we enter a more serious drama: Sisis crushing of all dissent within Egypts traditionally powerful trade union movements, which have historically fought the British colonial power as well as the Nasser and Sadat regimes, and which played a powerful but tragically disregarded role in the revolution which destroyed the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak.

Just over a year ago, the Egyptian authorities excluded independent trade syndicates from participating in the first trade union elections to be held in 12 years. Amnesty has complained about the Egyptian governments punitive campaign against workers and trade unionists to deter and punish them from mobilising or going on strike.

Romantics like to portray Egypts independence struggle as a battle for freedom by a nationalist, anti-colonial people who demanded democracy, free elections and dignity after years of oppression under a succession of dictatorships financed by Britain, Russia and then by the United States. But this is only partly true. It was also a religious struggle (hence the brief Morsi interlude after Mubaraks overthrow) and, less well publicised, it was also a workers demand for freedom and a living wage.

Egypts great cotton industry in the Delta north of Cairo has been the centre of this often forgotten revolution, an export centre whose workers have great industrial power  if and when they are permitted to exercise it. They struck under British rule and they staged successive rebellions under Mubarak. The most important of these occurred in 2006 when women cotton workers led their menfolk in an uprising against the regime in the big industrial city of Mahalla. They used social media to bring tens of thousands of workers from the countryside into the central square of the city  it was, in fact, also called Tahrir Square  and set up tent encampments under fire from police tear gas.

They even called for the overthrow of Mubarak  a demand typically ignored by most of us journalists, who were only interested in Islamist opposition to Egyptian government rule  but it impressed the dictatorship of the time, which immediately gave the citizens of Mahalla pay rises, improved conditions, new workers canteens and shorter hours. And, although we reporters did not identify this when it happened, the cotton workers of Mahallah were among the first industrial groups to arrive in Cairos far bigger Tahrir Square when the uprising really got under way in January of 2011.

The Egyptian army, which stage-managed the aftermath of the revolution, realised very shrewdly that working class solidarity could be just as dangerous as Islamic unity. The Muslim Brotherhood, which was not a terrorist organisation  despite Sisis present-day accusations  was poorly led, politically unorganised and internally divided. The independent trade union of Egyptian workers who had now thrown off the official union movement of government stooges, was a quite different creature. For it, too, was an army; and every bit as much a child of the Egyptian people as the soldiers who were entrusted to guide the future of the post-2011 revolution.

Official realisation of this was all too clear by 2015 when the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court decided that the right to strike goes against Islamic teachings and the purposes of Islamic Sharia law. This ruling came only a day after Sisi had attended a labour day celebration alongside the regimes own General Federation of Egypt Trade Unions, whose president, Gebali Al-Maraghi, described Sisi  who would win the supposed presidential election last year with 97.08 per cent of the votes  as a hero and Egypts saviour.

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In case the workers masses had missed the point, trade unionist Maraghi said that Sisi had restored Egypts dignity, a claim which even Sisi found deeply embarrassing. This is not proper, he said, insisting that millions of people had saved Egypt. But then Maraghi handed Sisi a code of honour of his Egyptian workers whose second article rejected strikes and committed the union to dialogue with the government and business owners.

Even more shocking, Maraghi gave a newspaper interview in which he said that our task is to carry out all the demands made by the president in his meeting with workers, increasing production and fighting terrorism. From then on, all talk of independent unions was over; workers representatives were imprisoned or threatened with arrest.

It took a petition for the UK to complain about Italian Giulio Regenis death

In case anyone should underestimate the regimes fear of union power, let us remember the case of Giulio Regeni, the 28-year-old Italian student who, in 2016, was studying the very same independent trade unions which frightened Sisi. A few weeks before his death, Regeni had written that the [Egyptian] unions defiance of the state of emergency and the regimes appeal for stability and social order  justified by the war on terror  signifiesa bold questioning of the underlying rhetoric the regime uses to justify its own existence and its repression of civil society.

The student held meetings with some of these union representatives, in Mahalla as well as in other Delta cities and in Cairo, and then was found by the side of a Cairo suburban ring-road, his face and body hideously disfigured by the torture under which he died. Sisis cops waffled about gang murders and evil people, and even suggested poor Regeni was killed in a lovers argument. He was not. The Italian government concluded he had been murdered by the regimes state security police because his enquiries  innocent enough, in the context of his University of Cambridge thesis  brought him too close to the men running the workers committees which so terrified the regime.

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He had indeed met these men: some of them took videotapes of Regeni asking them questions and, in return, being asked for foreign support for their syndicates. And so the police picked up Regeni and he was never seen again.

The British Foreign Office only bothered to complain about the murder after it had received 10,000 signatures of protest from within the UK; and we all know right now  today  how much signatures count for British governments. But the Italian government exploded in anger. Regenis mother would not release photographs of her son after death because his wounds were too terrible. Western embassies in Cairo, including the British, did nothing  even though they were given the name of the senior police officer in charge of Regenis torture and murder.

So the little fandango over two Egyptian actors this week had far darker historical and murderous roots than we might have thought. They stretched back into history and they still exist beneath the carapace of Egypts present government authority. The Egyptian actors union may be a farce but the power of workers is an ever-present danger to Middle East regimes.

One day, Regenis successors will complete his PhD work and write their own theses on the Arab awakening of 2011; and it will likely be a different story to the one we wrote eight years ago from Tahrir Square. Meanwhile, it would indeed probably be a good idea if messrs Waked and Naga stayed abroad.
With European elections potentially around the corner, are you really happy with the existing offer from the main political parties? Is the choice between Corbynism and europhobia really the best Britain can do?

If youre fed up with Brexit, take a moment to consider how Britains politics got into this mess.

The nationalists in the Conservative Party turned their backs on their one nation tradition, forcing David Cameron into a corner with a manifesto commitment to hold a referendum. In turn, Labours defeat saw hard-left activists hijack a once centre-left party and install at its head Jeremy Corbyn, who takes the world view that international organisations like Nato and the European Union are part of a capitalist conspiracy. As a consequence, the Remain campaign was undermined by a reluctant Labour leadership, which tipped the result into a 52 per cent leave result.

It is a story of the dysfunction of our two old political parties, taken over by loud voices on the fringes of the political spectrum.

Mainstream Britain  the small businesses, the workforce in manufacturing and service sectors, those who want to improve the quality of our public services  have been left behind and forgotten. MPs meanwhile are too frightened of deselection and losing their seats to stand up to these populist forces dragging their policies to the hard left and hard right. The Liberal Democrats havent recovered from their time in coalition with Cameron. So a vacuum has been created in the centre ground.

Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Show all 12 1 /12 Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Change UK Details on the individual MPs are in the following photos Reuters Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Heidi Allen Anti-Brexit MP for South Cambridgeshire resigned from the Conservative party on February 20 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Chuka Umunna MP for Streatham since 2010 and prominent People's Vote supporter PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Anna Soubry The prominent anti-Brexit MP for Broxtowe resigned from the Conservative party on February 20 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Luciana Berger MP for Liverpool Wavertree since 2010, resigned from the Labour Party over bullying and anti-semitism PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Sarah Wollaston Anti-Brexit MP for Totnes resigned from the Conservative party on February 20 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Joan Ryan MP for Enfield North resigned from the Labour party on February 19 citing its tolerance of a "culture of anti-Jewish racism" PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Ann Coffey MP for Stockport since 1992 Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Gavin Shuker MP for Luton South since 2010 Getty Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Chris Leslie MP for Nottingham East since 2010 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Mike Gapes MP for Ilford South since 1992 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Angela Smith MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge since 2010

Its crucial to understand that the corner weve painted our country into on Europe is rooted in the same cause as the failure to reform schools and hospitals, to revive our parliamentary democracy and to tackle so many of the unfair vested interests that are still all too powerful.

Solutions will never be found if you are obsessed by an ideology that insists on command-and-control statism on the one hand, or laissez-faire free market dogma on the other. Most people know that we organise our society best in a strong, regulated market economy, in turn generating resources to improve our public services.

Recommended Independent Group applies to be political party for EU elections

It shouldnt be rocket science  but its a point lost now on too many in our main political parties.

Along with 10 other MPs I concluded that enough was enough in February when we came together to form the Independent Group in parliament.

Many have said this will mean the end of our time in politics. But in all conscience I couldnt pretend that Jeremy Corbyn was the right person to be prime minister and my former Conservative colleagues could no longer stand by while the Tories sacrificed the prospects of future generations on the altar of euroscepticism.

In recent years those on the centre-left and in the liberal and one nation traditions have felt political homeless. No longer.

Yesterday we lodged our application with the Electoral Commission in the hope of registering as a new political party to be called Change UK  The Independent Group.

The amazing Heidi Allen has agreed to be our interim leader. Heidis background in small business and her compassion for the vulnerable and those most in need make her the right person to take us through to our inaugural conference in the autumn when a permanent leader will be chosen.

We decided not to walk away from politics when we left our parties, but to roll our sleeves up and create a force in the centre ground vacated by the old party cartel. Our values, set out on our website, www.theindependent.group, explain our approach on national security, supporting aspiration, providing decent services and tackling inequalities.

In recent years those on the centre-left and in the liberal and one nation traditions have felt politically homeless. No longer. We cant afford to take for granted the rule of law, our free media, our parliamentary democracy and international rules-based institutions.

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So, Change UK will take a long term, evidence-based approach to policy making, focusing not just on giving the public the choice to remain in the EU but on neglected priorities including climate change, skills and social care.

Weve taken this step and  subject to Electoral Commission approval  we hope to give people a fresh choice in the centre ground, campaigning for a Peoples Vote on Brexit and new solutions for our broken politics too. Never has it been truer to say  its time for change.

Chris Leslie is the The Independent Group MP for Nottingham East
Whatever your thoughts on ride-sharing companies, the tech sector in general or, indeed, the broader economy, you cant accuse Uber rival Lyft of being short on ambition.

This morning the company celebrated its stock market debut in New York, having successfully flogged shares to delighted investors who had been starved of the opportunity to buy into a tech-flavoured stock market newbie for some time.

The sale values Lyft  which many outside of North America have never even heard of  at over $24 billion. In fact, the initial public offering was the largest in the sector since the mammoth bourse debut of Alibaba back in 2014, and the fifth largest since the financial crisis.

Tech is lit. And all the better if its helping us save the planet. Lyft is growing at an impressive rate. Its revenue more than doubled between 2017 and 2018, and more than 18 million people hitched at least one ride with the company during the last quarter of last year, which was up from just over 6.5 million during the same period in 2016.

Depending on who you believe, Lyft has between a 30 and 40 per cent share of the US ride-sharing market, which is respectable when you consider Uber's dominance, but this is where we start to run into problems already, and even the company itself doesn't seem to be trying hard to reassure us.

We believe that much of the growth in our rider base and the number of drivers on our platform is attributable to our paid marketing initiatives. To my mind, this means: we're spending a shedload of cash to make us look good.

Speaking of a shedload of cash, that's approximately how much Lyft is still losing on an annual basis. In 2018 the number was $911m, to be precise, up from $688m the year before.

And yet, somehow, none of that seems to matter. When the company went on an investor roadshow to drum up support for its IPO, it didn't seem to have to do much drumming at all. In several meetings there was standing room only and one financial analyst publicly recommended buying shares in Lyft weeks before they were even available to buy.

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All the while, a considerable number of highly educated individuals were reminding us that Lyft has no clear strategy on how it intends to ever make any money. The company's been accused of poor governance and championing a corporate structure that deprives shareholders of voting rights. Basic business management textbooks teach us that these are two factors that should send investors running for the hills, but theory seems to have been rendered irrelevant some time ago.

Back in the 1990s, shortly before the dot-com bust, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan used the phrase "irrational exuberance" to warn that the stock market, and more specifically tech companies, might be perilously overvalued. I'd be keen to ask Alan what his thoughts are now.

And it's not only Lyft. Analysts are expecting its stock market debut to kick off a whole host of other public tech listings, most notably Uber, but also Pinterest, Slack and possibly Airbnb. One common denominator is that all of these businesses were founded within the last decade. Another is that none has ever made a profit.

A record-breaking 83 per cent of all companies that listed in the US during the first nine months of 2018 were loss-making in the year immediately prior to going public. And yet investment by US venture capitalists reached an all-time high of $130 billion in 2018.

The market is buying little more than an optimistic forecast based on the prospect of all the stars aligning and the bull market surviving far beyond the decade it's already clocked up. Oh, and do you know when the last record was set for money-losing IPOs? 2000. And we all know what happened next.

Perhaps our generation's short-attention span and a millennial propensity to be attracted to shiny new things is to blame. Maybe an appetite for what in some cases may prove little more than hot air and numbers on a page is being spurred by a fawning financial press.

Either way, we're in for a hard landing.

Its my belief that many of these companies have completely unsubstantiated business models  and I can't help but think of the firms in the late 90s and early 00s that went from IPO to bankruptcy in a matter of a few painful years, if not less.

We're overdue a recession and we're on the hunt for an excuse to sell. Lyft isn't systemic enough to break the camel's back but together with a herd of its unicorn peers it could certainly do a fair bit of damage. Even if Alan's not repeating himself just yet, history famously always does.
It has never been about the will of the people. Not really.

The Brexit disaster began because the Conservative Party was divided over Europe and anxious about votes leaching away to Ukip. To prevent a potential electoral disaster, David Cameron  against his better judgement, or at least the judgement of his betters  agreed to hold a referendum on Europe if he was returned to office in 2015. And so it came to pass.

So too came the fateful decision to leave, as millions of Britons were taken in by the heady if unlikely visions offered up by the likes of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom and the other Eurosceptic Tories who positioned themselves against Cameron et al. The subsequent battle to land the dual prize of Conservative Party leader and prime minister saw such a scrappy and bitter display that the emergence of Theresa May felt like something of a relief, given the alternatives.

She would, she said, fulfil the peoples wishes when it came to Brexit and would also tackle other important issues facing the country. For a few short months a faint sense of harmony reigned. When America elected Donald Trump in November 2016, it seemed we were the lucky ones.

Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Show all 24 1 /24 Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent Put It To The People march: Best of The Independents pictures Angela Christofilou/The Independent

But then the prime minister remembered that she was first and foremost a Tory, and that it would be better for her party if she bagged a bigger parliamentary majority so that she and her pals could do as they pleased  on Brexit and whatever else.

And yet, like Cameron before her, pandering to notions of "party first" produced a comeuppance. The 2017 election (fought, as it happens, not really on Brexit at all) not only left May in a perilous position in the Commons, it also highlighted how weak her grip was on her colleagues, who were left stunned by her ineptitude on the campaign trail.

Divisions in the Conservative ranks, briefly hidden, re-emerged with a vengeance. At every twist and turn of the prime ministers Brexit negotiation with the EU, one wing of the party or the other would provide a running commentary about how unsatisfactory it all was. Never mind the people, the deal wasnt what the ERG wanted, or wasnt what the cabinet wanted, or wasnt what the (relative) Europhiles wanted.

The fact that Labour provided toothless opposition for much of the time was irrelevant; there were critics galore in the benches directly behind the PM.

And so we now find ourselves in the extraordinary position where, three years after a referendum called by a man who didnt really want one, there is no deal which can command the support of a majority in parliament.

The deal agreed by the prime minister (who, let us remember, campaigned in 2016, albeit half-heartedly, against Brexit) is so bad that it has already been roundly defeated twice. And since theres no chance of it changing, surely that means it would be defeated if MPs were asked yet again. After all, they presumably voted against it before because they already knew it to be a bad deal.

Ah but hang on: what if some ambitious Tories were given the sniff of a prize beyond Brexit? What if Theresa May were to promise to step down once the deal got through, offering the chance to fulfil not necessarily the will of the people (who surely wouldnt have voted for this dud deal if theyd been asked to) but the will of Boris, or Michael, or Andrea, or Jacob Rees-Mogg? All of a sudden, the deal seems a tad more attractive to would-be future prime ministers.

And if May does get her deal through and does step down? Well, then the country will be at the mercy of the 120,000 or so Conservative party members who will decide on her successor  and thus on the person who actually seeks to negotiate the meat of the UKs future relationship with the EU.

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This whole Brexit fandango has never been about the people, but about a political party that has been hung up on  and frequently divided by  the issue of Europe for decades. In their desperate attempts to maintain party unity, successive Tory leaders have given in to views that represent a minority of those on the backbenches, let alone of the public at large.

The idea of Brexit being about "democracy" or about the "will of the people" has always been a charade. Draw back the curtain and it has been about no more than the Conservative Partys will to survive and its unquenchable desire for power.

The rest of us can be damned.
Tenant Aimee O'Riordan (26) was one of many tenants issued with a notice to quit in 2017

A MAJOR apartment complex in Cork has been purchased by Cork City Council and a housing association to tackle the city's spiraling social housing crisis.

The purchase, which is understood to be worth more than 19m, will see the 78 unit Leeside Apartments in Cork city centre used by both Cork City Council and Cluid Housing Association tenants.

Over the past two years the complex has been at the centre of a protest over attempts to evict 29 long-term tenants at the complex.

The investment firm involved had insisted the evictions were required so that vacant possession would allow major upgrades at the apartment complex including vital fire safety work.

However, 29 tenants had been engaged in a long-running battle to avoid eviction.

Many claimed that, once they left the apartments, they would be unable to return because of significantly increased rents.

Now, Cork City Council confirmed the acquisition of the large apartment complex under the Rebuilding Ireland programme.

Almost 50 units at the complex will be available for almost immediate occupation.

The majority of the units will be used to tackle the social housing waiting list - but a number will be for the private sector.

"The riverside scheme, which has been acquired by Cluid, comprises 72 homes that are available to applicants eligible for social housing supports. The scheme has been developed to an extremely high standard and contains a range of housing unit types and sizes," a council spokesperson confirmed.

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An additional six housing units have been purchased by Cluid Housing Association and will be rented to the private sector.

Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Mick Finn, said it was a major attempt to address Cork's social housing problem.

These homes and the hundreds of others either under construction, purchased or leased are a tangible example of what the City Council and approved housing bodies can do when funding becomes available, he said.

I am sure its a relief for existing tenants also. We need more of this and more reconfiguring of commercial buildings in the absence of large estate builds."

Ireland's homeless figures have dramatically increased over recent months.

In Cork, the number of adults in emergency accommodation soared above 400 for the first time.

That represented an alarming 30pc hike in the space of just one year.

Property experts said the deal was a win-win for everyone involved.

City Council officials insisted that it represented value for money and would be a huge boost to tackling social housing issues in Cork.

Director of Housing Services, Brian Geaney, said it represented a pioneering role for the authority.

"This project is another example of the council taking a pioneering role in relation to the delivery of social housing and its willingness to take a multi-faceted approach to finding solutions to housing challenges in the city, he said.

City council officials said they were delighted with the involvement of Cluid in the project.

Mr Geaney paid tribute to Cluid Housing Association " for its professionalism, agility and commitment which were all necessary for the efficient delivery of a residential scheme of this scale in a city centre location."

While James OHalloran, New Business Manager at Cluid, said that the purchase represents a major milestone for the association.

These units are finished to the highest standard and will provide people in Cork City with long-term, secure homes.

Cluid has worked with Cork City Council to deliver these units in a matter of months and we hope to begin the process of filling the units next week.

This project shows what can been achieved when stakeholders who are committed to housing delivery work together.

"This purchase will help us in our aim of delivering 2,500 homes over three years."
Investigators looking into a Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia that killed 157 people have reached a preliminary conclusion that an anti-stall system was activated before the plane hit the ground, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people briefed on the matter.

US safety investigators have reviewed data from the "black boxes" that were aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, four people briefed on the investigation told Reuters on Thursday. A preliminary report is expected as early as next week, the U.S. officials said.

The plane crashed on March 10 shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa.

Investigators of a deadly 737 MAX crash in Indonesia in October have also focused on the new anti-stall system, called MCAS. Boeing on Wednesday said a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the centre of safety concerns.

Boeing's fastest-selling 737 MAX jet, with orders worth more than $500 billion at list prices, has been grounded globally by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulators, although airlines are still allowed to fly them without passengers to move planes to other airports.

The manufacturer said it had developed a training package that 737 MAX pilots are required to take before the worldwide ban can be lifted, proposing as it did before two deadly crashes that those pilots do not need time on flight simulators to safely operate the aircraft.

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On Thursday, a lawsuit against Boeing was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda, who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The lawsuit alleges that Boeing had defectively designed the automated flight control system. Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit.

The amount and quality of training that Boeing and airlines provided to 737 MAX pilots is one of the issues under scrutiny as investigators around the world try to determine the causes of two 737 MAX crashes within five months.

The US Department of Justice is investigating Boeing's development process and what Boeing disclosed about MCAS.

The US Transportation Department said on Monday that a new blue ribbon commission will review how the Federal Aviation Administration certifies new aircraft.

US and European regulators knew at least two years before the Indonesian crash that the usual method for controlling the 737 MAX's nose angle might not work in conditions similar to those in two recent disasters, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a document.

The European Aviation and Space Agency (EASA) certified the plane as safe in part because it said additional procedures and training would "clearly explain" to pilots the "unusual" situations in which they would need to manipulate a rarely used manual wheel to control, or "trim," the plane's angle.

Those situations, however, were not listed in the flight manual, according to a copy from American Airlines seen by Reuters. Boeing declined to comment on the EASA document.
Softening position: Boris Johnson is followed by media after leaving the cabinet office in Westminster. Photo: PA

Boris Johnson has indicated he will back Theresa Mays Withdrawal Agreement in Fridays House of Commons vote, writing on Twitter: It is very painful to vote for this deal. But I hope we can now work together to remedy its defects, avoid the backstop trap and strive to deliver the Brexit people voted for.

Britain's parliament will not discuss and vote upon any amendments during Friday's debate on Brexit, Speaker John Bercow said.

Lawmakers had submitted three possible amendments, which could have changed the meaning or outcome of Friday's debate. However, with none of those selected, the government's withdrawal agreement on leaving the European Union will be put to a vote at 2.30pm today.

Former UK Brexit Minister Dominic Raab says he will also reluctantly back the deal, adding: "I cannot countenance an even longer extension to Article 50".

Britain was supposed to have left the European Union today but Brussels let London delay its departure while May battles to try to get a consensus on how and when to leave the bloc.

The UK Parliament will vote on a stripped-down version of May's twice-defeated divorce deal agreed with Brussels on Friday. Even if May wins, another vote will be required for Britain to legally exit the EU and the uncertainty is dismaying investors.

Meanwhile, Democratic Unionist Party lawmaker Sammy Wilson said on Friday he, and the rest of his party, would oppose the government's attempt to get approval for its European Union Withdrawal Agreement at a vote later and on future occasions.

"Whatever means there are available to us should this agreement go through, we will continue to oppose it," Wilson told parliament, ahead of a vote due at 1430 GMT.

"We will not allow Northern Ireland's position within the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland's economy and the will of the people of the United Kingdom as a whole to become the plaything in the hands of bureaucrats from Brussels.
British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks in the House of Commons during a Brexit debate. Photo: House of Commons/PA Wire

THE European Commission reacted to the Westminster vote saying that the EU is now "fully prepared" for a "likely" no-deal scenario at midnight on April 12.

The UK Parliament was this afternoon voting on a stripped-down version of Mrs May's twice-defeated divorce deal agreed with Brussels.

But it was defeated by 58 votes - a major improvement on previous defeats for Mrs May, but still a significant defeat.

The British Prime Minister said the implications of the vote were grave adding: I fear we are reaching the limits of the process in this House.

It is widely believed that the result may now result in the British government going back to the European Union and asking for a further - much longer - extension to Article 50.

Britain was supposed to have left the EU today but was allowed delay its departure while Mrs May battles to try to get a consensus on how and when to leave.

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That seems as far away as ever, but her withdrawal agreement is almost certainly now dead in the water.

The European Commission reacted to the Westminster vote saying that the EU is now "fully prepared" for a "likely" no-deal senario at midnight on April 12.

A statement said: "The Commission regrets the negative vote in the House of Commons today."

It noted that Article 50 had been extended to April 12 and said: "It will be for the UK to indicate the way forward before that date, for consideration by the European Council."

The statement said: "A no-deal scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario.

"The EU has been preparing for this since December 2017 and is now fully prepared for a no-deal scenario at midnight on 12 April."

It insisted that "The EU will remain united."

The Commission also warned that the benefits of the Withdrawal Agreement, including a transition period, will "in no circumstances be replicated in a no-deal scenario".

It also said: "Sectoral mini-deals are not an option".

EU leaders are set to meet at an emergency summit on two days before Britain's new departure date.

European Council president Donald Tusk responded to the Westminster vote saying on Twitter: "In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April".

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned that it's up to the UK to say how it will avoid a no-deal Brexit which he said is a "growing possibility".

Mr Varadkar said: "It is now up to the UK to indicate how it plans to proceed in order to avoid a No Deal scenario.

The European Council has agreed unanimously that the Withdrawal Agreement will not be re-opened."

He said that Ireland has been "preparing intensively for a No Deal scenario" but added: "no one should under-estimate the difficulties that a No Deal will present, for all of us, including the UK."

Mr Varadkar said: "It is not clear that the UK has fully understood that No Deal is not off the agenda. Rather, its a growing possibility."

He welcomed the decision of European Council President Donald Tusk to call an emergency meeting of EU leaders on April 10, two days before the UK could crash out without a deal.

Mr Varadkar noted that he himself will meet French President Emmanual Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week and will speaker to other heads of government by phone.

He said: "It is now incumbent on the UK to chart a realistic way forward for consideration at that Council meeting."

Mr Varadkar also said: I believe we must be open to a long extension should the United Kingdom decide to fundamentally reconsider its approach to Brexit and put back on the table options previously ruled out.

"I believe that will result in a generous and understanding response from the 27 [remaining member states].

Mrs May, speaking after the defeat, said: "I think it should be a matter of profound regret to every member of this House that once again we have been unable to support leaving the European Union in an orderly fashion.

"The implications of the House's decision are grave.

"The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on 12 April - in just 14 days' time.

"This is not enough time to agree, legislate for and ratify a deal, and yet the House has been clear it will not permit leaving without a deal.

"And so we will have to agree an alternative way forward."

Mrs May went on: "The European Union has been clear that any further extension will need to have a clear purpose and will need to be agreed unanimously by the heads of the other 27 member states ahead of April 12.

"It is also almost certain to involve the UK being required to hold European parliamentary elections.

"On Monday, this House will continue the process to see if there is a stable majority for a particular alternative version of our future relationship with the EU. Of course, all of the options will require the Withdrawal Agreement.

"I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House. This House has rejected no-deal. It has rejected no Brexit. On Wednesday it rejected all the variations of the deal on the table, and today it has rejected approving the Withdrawal Agreement alone and continuing a process on the future.

"This Government will continue to press the case for the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demands."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for a general election unless the Prime Minister was willing to find an alternative deal.

Mr Corbyn told MPs: "The House has been clear this deal now has to change, there has to be an alternative found.

"And if the Prime Minister can't accept that then she must go - not at an indeterminate date in the future but now, so that we can decide the future of this country through a general election."

The deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Tory Eurosceptics, Steve Baker, called on Mrs May to step down immediately.

Declaring that this should be "the final defeat" for the PM's deal - already rejected by 230 votes in January and 149 in March - Mr Baker said: "I regret to say it is time for Theresa May to follow through on her words and make way so that a new leader can deliver a Withdrawal Agreement which will be passed by Parliament."
European officials have begun 'war gaming' how to react in the event the UK crashes out of the EU.

Ambassadors from the remaining 27 countries have discussed what it would take to begin a fresh round of EU-UK negotiations after a disorderly Brexit.

They expect a period of economic chaos in Britain which will lead the UK government back to Brussels within weeks.

The UK should be leaving the EU today but instead MPs will be voting to delay their exit until May 22.

EU diplomats and officials concluded yesterday that despite Prime Minister Theresa May's offer to resign, Britain is more likely than ever to crash out.

Sources in Dublin also pointed out the contingency plans already released by the UK suggest they will need some form of new deal to cope with the consequences of crashing out.

EU chiefs have compiled a provisional list of demands that will have to be fulfilled in order for negotiations to restart.

Top of the list is a commitment to protect the Good Friday Agreement, which essentially means the EU will continue to insist on the UK maintaining regulatory alignment between Northern Ireland and the Republic. This will ensure the Irish Border remains open.

The EU will also seek a speedy repayment of the UK's outstanding financial contributions to the union.

The EU is gearing up for a potential emergency summit of EU leaders to deal with a disorderly Brexit, probably on April 10.

"There is increasing awareness that a no-deal is more and more likely," said a senior EU diplomat.

"An extraordinary Brexit summit looks exceedingly likely. It will be either to discuss no deal and how to take it forward, or to agree another extension," said another senior EU diplomat.

The EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said: "We are working, we are prepared."

Meanwhile, former UK Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt warned that Brexit has caused international concern about stability in the UK.

Mr Burt, who quit his ministerial post this week so that he could vote against the government on EU withdrawal, said overseas observers want to see the situation resolved.

He said Brexit had made an impact on the view of the UK from abroad, telling 'The House' magazine: "The exposure of our processes has made some people think very carefully about where British politics is going. They're concerned about stability. They want to see this resolved."
Irish farmers will "absolutely" use Northern Ireland as a back door into Britain if no-deal Brexit plans are implemented, the Irish Farmers' Association president has said.

Joe Healy dismissed the UK no-deal contingency plans as "crazy" and said farmers would take advantage of the Border loophole.

Speaking to Independent.ie's 'Floating Voter' podcast, Mr Healy said: "I was wondering if I was misreading it the first time I read it, because I said 'this is crazy stuff'. If it wasn't Brexit, you would say it was a joke, but because it is Brexit, you think 'this could be serious'."

Prime Minister Theresa May suggested she would not introduce tariffs on trade going from the Republic into Northern Ireland in the event of a disorderly Brexit. However, she said she would charge tariffs on goods coming into ports and airports on mainland Britain.

"Something from Wexford, if it went out through Rosslare it would pay a tariff, (but) if it drove up through Northern Ireland, it could find its way on to mainland UK without paying a tariff," Mr Healy said.

He said it would not be long until the "penny dropped" for farmers, who would begin using Northern Ireland to access Britain.

Mr Healy also weighed into the debate over the photograph he appeared in alongside EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tanaiste Simon Coveney and president of the French farmers' union Christiane Lambert before the Ireland v France Six Nations rugby match in Dublin.

Fianna Fail Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers criticised the "strident walk" of those pictured and said the photograph was "choreographed".

Mr Healy insisted he was there to speak to Mr Barnier about the threat facing farmers. "We can meet the Taoiseach or the Tanaiste at any time - on that walk I was more interested in talking to Michel Barnier," he said.
ITS been 1,009 days since the Brexit referendum. The UK was supposed to leave the EU today but thats now been delayed. Here are 10 of the maddest moments in the whole chaotic saga.

1 The Brexit Vote Itself

Most pundits were flabbergasted by the result of the Brexit referendum itself. The first result in was Gibraltar that tiny piece of British territory on the Southern tip of Spain. It voted 96pc to Remain in the EU but it was very much a freak result. The writing was on the wall when it was announced Sunderland voted to Leave by 61pc and the other constituencies started to roll in. Despite Northern Ireland, Scotland and London voting to Remain, UK was on the path to leave the EU.

2 The Tory Leadership Race

David Camerons resignation as prime minister sparked a bad-tempered Conservative Leadership contest. The favourite to succeed him, Boris Johnson ultimately didnt run. Michael Gove who had supported Mr Johnson announced his own bid but was eliminated in the second round of voting. He later denied stabbing Mr Johnson in the back. It came down to Andrea Leadsom and Theresa May. Ms Leadsom withdrew leaving Mrs Mays as the last contender standing.

3 'Brexit means Brexit' and setting red lines

Mrs May had promised that Brexit means Brexit and she set out her vision on how it would play out in her January 2017 Lancaster House speech. She set out red lines that that have restricted her ability to negotiate since announcing that Britain would leave the Single Market and Customs Union. Allowing more wriggle room may have helped here later.

4 The disastrous UK general election

Mrs May lost her majority in the House of Commons in June 2017 after her disastrous decision to hold a snap general election. It left her relying on the support of the DUP to stay in power which has made passing the Brexit deal all the more difficult.

5 The bulletproof backstop

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the UK governments commitment to avoid a hard border in Ireland as politically bulletproof in December 2017. He may have jumped the gun on that with the so-called backstop  which hardline Brexiteers and the DUP oppose - causing much of the misery in the process of reaching a deal since.

6 Trump's pro-Brexit interventions

Donald Trump was supportive of Brexit while he was still running for President in 2016. He said the UK would be better off outside the EU and has since indicated he wants an early trade deal with the UK. Brexiteer Nigel Farage has made much of his friendship with the US President. Mr Trump has been openly critical of Mrs Mays approach to the Brexit talks, most recently during Taoiseach Leo Varadkars Oval Office meeting in March.

7 Coveney, Ross and the border

In January this year the Irish Independent revealed how Tanaiste Simon Coveney warned Transport Minister Shane Ross not to discuss the possibility of border checks in Ireland in public for fear "that all of a sudden we'll be the Government that reintroduced a physical border on the island of Ireland". It came after Mr Ross bungled a question and their subsequent private conversation was caught on tape.

8 Special Place in Hell

In February European Council President Donald Tusk questioned if there is a special place in hell for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who was with him at a Brussels press conference at the time noted Mr Tusk would get in terrible trouble with the British press for the intervention. He wasnt wrong.

9 Theresa Mays bizarre conference appearances

At the Conservative Party conference in 2017 she suffered the indignity of being handed a P45 by a prankster and coughed and spluttered through most of her speech. Last year she danced on stage to the tune of Abbas Dancing Queen, poking fun at her own awkward dance moves during a trip to Africa.

10 Westminister Chaos

Mrs May cancelled a vote on her Withdrawal Agreement at the last minute in December. It subsequently failed to pass two House of Commons votes as the clock ticks down towards Brexit. There have also been failures to pass indicative votes that there would be a second referendum; that Britain would stay in the Customs Union; or that there UK would leave the EU without a deal. There was another vote on the withdrawal agreement today and again it failed to pass. Last night Newsnights political editor Nicholas Watt asked one UK Cabinet minister why the vote was being held if it wont pass and the response was: f**k knows. Im past caring, its like the living dead in here.
Facing vote: Theresa May brings a fresh Brexit motion to the House of Commons on the day the UK was due to leave the EU. Photo: PA

British Prime Minister Theresa May will today find out if her withdrawal deal has any hope of survival despite accusations she is leading Britain towards a "blind Brexit".

On the day Britain was meant to leave the EU, 1,009 days after the referendum, her Brexit vision will stand or fall on a plan put together over the course of eight frantic hours yesterday.

She will bring a fresh Brexit motion to the House of Commons as part of her bid to get approval for the Withdrawal Agreement.

Commons Speaker John Bercow cleared the motion for debate, ruling that it complies with parliamentary conventions which bar ministers from asking MPs to vote repeatedly on the same proposals.

If passed by MPs today, the vote would qualify the UK to be granted an automatic delay to May 22 of the formal date of Brexit.

However, the vote is likely to fail as the DUP continues to oppose the agreement on the basis that it includes the Irish backstop.

Labour has already declared it will not back the Government today, warning that it risked "the blindest of all blind Brexits".

Mrs May must convince around 50 Tory rebels to change their minds to stand any chance of winning. Boris Johnson, one of the former rebels, now says he will back the deal - but has told friends the deal is "dead anyway".

Amid further wrangling in London, the vote is not actually a so-called 'meaningful vote' but should either open the door to Mrs May ultimately getting her deal approved or kill it completely.

House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said the motion was about giving parliament "the opportunity" to secure a Brexit extension until May 22, "giving people and businesses the certainty they need".

Labour's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said the motion being tabled, which omits the political declaration on the next stage of the negotiations, leaves the format for a future trade relationship in the hands of May's successor. That is very likely to be someone from the hard-line pro-Brexit wing of the Conservative Party.

Mr Starmer said it would amount to "leaving the EU with absolutely no idea where we're heading".

The British government's move will allow Mrs May to present it as a choice between a short delay to Brexit and the potential for a much longer postponement which would mean taking part in European elections.

But it would not allow parliament to go ahead and ratify the withdrawal deal.

Brexit legislation allows this only after the passage of a 'meaningful vote' on both the Withdrawal Agreement and a Political Declaration on the future relationship.

Downing Street has said that Mrs May will not move to a third meaningful vote - known in Westminster as MV3 - unless she believes she has a realistic chance of success, having seen it defeated by 230 votes in January and 149 in March.

But it is understood that Number 10 believes that passing the Withdrawal Agreement alone would allow the UK to guarantee its departure date and avoid the need for Britain to take part in European Parliament elections on May 23-26.

This would buy time to seek wider agreement among MPs on the shape of the UK's future relationship with the EU, in the hope of passing MV3 in April and leaving with a deal on May 22.

Significant doubts remain over whether Mrs May can secure a majority for the Withdrawal Agreement alone in today's vote.

The agreement includes the controversial "backstop" customs arrangements for the Border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

This continues to represent the biggest obstacle to support from the DUP and Brexit-backing Tories in the European Research Group.

While keen to avoid any Border checks, the DUP has made clear this must not come at the price of erecting new barriers in the Irish Sea.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke to Mrs May by telephone for 20 minutes about the situation yesterday, and said his MPs would not back the Government move.

If the motion fails, the UK will have until April 12 to ask for a further extension to Brexit negotiations - or leave the EU without a deal.
Prime Minister Theresa May speaks in the House of Commons during the Brexit debate (Commons/PA)

The pound fell almost half a percent on Friday after Prime Minister Theresa Mays third attempt to win support for her Brexit deal fell through in the House of Commons.

The British currency fell to 86.36 pence to the euro and to $1.2996 after the vote and as the European Union warned that a no deal exit was now the most likely option.

The rejection of Mays Brexit deal by 58 votes means with two weeks and eight hours to go until the UK is due to leave the EU there is still no clear path for Brexit itself, the economy and the financial markets, said Paul Dales, Chief UK Economist at Capital Economics.

Aside from a no deal, Prime Minister May could seek an extension of the process.

Irish shares shrugged off the political turmoil in London and CRH rose almost 3pc while the ISEQ All-Share Index gained 1.1 percent.
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar will meet French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week as the massive uncertainty over Brexit continues.

The main focus of the talks will be the latest Brexit developments and no-deal planning will also be on the agenda given the continuing chaos in Westminster.

British Prime Minister will make a renewed bid to get her Withdrawal Agreement through the House of Commons today but this is widely expected to fail.

Mr Varadkar will travel to Paris on Tuesday to meet Mr Macron.

Mrs Merkel will visit Dublin on Thursday.

A government statement said: "These two meetings reflect the deep and warm relations Ireland enjoys with both France and Germany, including the support shown to Ireland during the Brexit negotiations."

Mr Varadkar said: "Both leaders have been strong and consistent allies of Ireland in responding to the unique challenges we face from Brexit.

"I will again express the Governments gratitude for their continuing solidarity.

"We will take stock of the latest developments on Brexit when we meet, efforts to secure ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement and No Deal planning."

He added:

"We will also take the opportunity to consider the Future of Europe agenda. Important discussions lie ahead, with an informal Summit on the Unions strategic agenda due in early May in Sibiu, Romania, and negotiations on the EU budget for the period after 2020 due to be finalised by the end of this year."

Mr Varadkar said that while he regularly meets both leaders in Brussels, the these bilateral engagements "are an important opportunity for an in-depth and one-to-one exchange on how to further strengthen our relations away from the bustle of the European Council."

He said: "Our bilateral relations with both Germany and France are better than ever - and will become even more important as we move to a European Union of 27 members.

Meanwhile, former President Mary McAleese has said Brexit provides an opportunity for a re-calibration of the Irish unity debate.

Dr McAleese paid tribute to former Taoiseach Enda Kennys securing of an agreement among European leaders post-Brexit that dictates should partition end Northern Ireland will be able to be seamlessly re-enveloped into the European Union.

That was a gift and a resource to be built on she told a DCU Brexit event.

Now what you are offering people is not - as some people fear - absorption into the Republic where people will be preening themselves because now past injustices have been righted - but rather what you will be offering people is the prospect of this wonderful new democracy within the European Union fresh and different and reconciling of all identities - something really qualitatively different, she said.

Its where we have always wanted to get to. Its what many of us have always wanted to construct but actually Brexit has given us a tool that we never really expected to have - and I think we should use that very, very wisely, she continued.

Im not going to say its a gift but it is certainly an opportunity and i think its a very important opportunity to be used with great wisdom now that we have it.

A referendum on Irish unity was on a horizon but the when of it is not known, she told attendees amid warnings that the groundwork must be laid so that any vote on ending partition does not have the same divisive consequences as the Brexit referendum did for the UK.

There would be a need for issues to be tackled by scholars and by civic society in order to lay the bedrock for a referendum she said.

In Northern Ireland there is a feeling that the debate has been nudged onto a new trajectory and away from the wrap the green flag around me trajectory and into a much, much healthier space with a focus on what a shared future might look like, Dr McAleese said.

Amid the ongoing turmoil in London stalemate the former president gave a pithy assessment of the current state of play when she said the title of her speech was havent a clue, which she commented was roughly where were at.

Brexit was the political equivalent of necrotising fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria) she said.

But while politics has been in the way of securing a Brexit deal Dr McAleese said the process is not yet at the moment of closure when reality breaks through the bluster.

She also described the efforts of the Irish government and the EU as showing a laudable farsightedness and a clear-sightedness.

Reflecting on both the genesis of Europe, of Irelands membership and the decision of the UK to leave Dr McAleese pointed out that Ireland knows of the centuries long shelf life of immensely disruptive decisions, citing plantation and partition.

Westminster has watched in surprise as those two overlooked hens have come home to roost very lively on the perches at Westminster, she said.

Both decisions now deeply implicated in the Withdrawal Agreement, she said, adding that it was worth remembering this as Brexit itself is a deeply destructive decision thats going to cast a long shadow.

She was also very critical of the ignorance displayed by some in the UK about Ireland and the issues relating to Northern Ireland, which she said has been worsened by the absence of nationalist voices in Westminster.
Pictured at Castleisland Livestock mart inspecting weanlings bought for export to Turkey were from left to right: Eddie Punch (General Secretary ICSA), Roddy Tyrell, Cors and Bea Heemskerk of Heemskerk Ltd who have the contract, and Dermot Kelleher, ICSA Munster vice president

Dutch buyers are currently sourcing 3,500 weanlings destined for the Turkish market.

The ICSA's Dermot Kelleher welcomed it as a boost to the beef trade.

Dutch Livestock Company Heemskerk are seeking R grade continental bulls weighing from 250kg to 330kg to fulfil the contract.

John Humphreys from Castleisland Mart said they were currently sourcing 1,500 for the buyers. "It's a good price but payment levels depend on the quality of the animal," he said, urging those with animals that might fit the bill to contact the mart. "It has been a big help to the trade, they'll be entering quarantine shortly for 21 days and are due to sail at the end of April."

Mr Kelleher said the buyers were active at several marts around the country. "I'm very pleased that Heemskerk have secured an outlet for some 3,500 weanlings to be filled in the next month to fulfil a contract they secured in Turkey before the import restrictions were imposed," he said.

"I am hopeful that the trade restrictions will be lifted by the Turkish government in the coming months in time for the busy autumn trade.

"The Heemskerk company are a very reputable outfit having being involved in the live export trade for many years and they have close ties with Irish farming."

Meanwhile, a shipment of bulls consigned by Purcell Brothers is also due to travel to Libya.
The tide has been turning on the nation's health for many years. We've seen the McDonald's food chain embrace salads and politicians introduce a sugar tax to help cut obesity rates.

So is it a surprise Coca-Cola is diversifying from sugary drinks towards protein-packed milk? No. In fact, it's already made the move on the North American market. It is understood representatives from Coca-Cola have visited Ireland several times in the last two years, considering options from milk R&D to processing here.

Is it unusual a major multinational company would look towards the Irish dairy scene? For many, it's unsurprising.

There's a buzz about Ireland's research and development scheme, between cutting-edge work under way in the country's universities, and the innovations coming out of the Teagasc Moorepark centre in the heart of dairy land near Fermoy, Co Cork.

Many Irish companies are leading the way, and seeing it on their balance sheets as they extrapolate the proteins out of the 'white gold' and look for new functions for them.

Yet perhaps the real reason that a company with as strong a brand as Coca-Cola is looking towards the Irish dairy scene is down to many of the same reasons as the likes of infant milk powder producers, such as Danone, now have a strong base in Ireland.

One industry insider, who has been aware of Coca-Cola's interest in Ireland and involvement with the IDA for several years, stressed it was the story behind the Irish dairy scene.

It's the image of grass-fed cows, the integrity of the product, safety and what is viewed as a low-risk dairy scene that is attractive to the multi-national firms.

"If Coca-Cola choose Ireland, it is a good boost for the Irish dairy processors' reputation," he pointed out.

In the US, Coca-Cola's milk brand is called Fairlife and it costs more than that of organic milk and double conventional prices for a pint of the white stuff.

In fact, it has broken milk down into its constituent parts and redesigned it to deliver multiple versions of high-protein, low-sugar and lactose-free formulas.

Trends and dietary requirements are changing with increasing interests in sports, combined with an ageing Western population that has different needs.

It's understood interest has grown in the R&D and milk 'mining' that is under way in Ireland and interests would lie in manufacturing a branded functional food beverage with an edge to it.

Already, Pepsi has an R&D team in Cork focusing on dairy, beverages, fruit and vegetables.

"Coca-Cola is looking at milk for the whole reasons of functional food, and it sees the tide turning in that direction," said another dairy insider.

"Ireland has the potential to produce quite a lot more milk."

Since the removal of the quotas, the shackles are off. The milk pool climbed to a massive 7.5 billion litres.

Many beef farmers are being enticed to cross over by the incomes in the dairy scene.

For the foreseeable future, unless emissions take a toll, the milk pool and profits look set to continue to climb.
Storm Powell visited the Longford/Westmeath Farmers' Mart in Ballymahon to talk to farmers about the suckler sector and spring's grass growth surge.

Sean Powell

Ardagh, Co Longford

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Sean Powell is a suckler-to-beef farmer on 180ac. He is also a meat wholesaler. "The government needs to introduce a special aid package to support the suckler sector," says Sean. "It's a loss-making venture at the moment. Suckler farmers need a 200 subsidy per cow. Irrespective of Brexit, sucklers will disappear if aid is not provided. Farming is totally dominated by dairy farmers at present and the quality of beef will drop if the suckler farmer is not looked after."

Whereas Sean welcomes the early grass growth this spring, the wet conditions are preventing him letting the cattle out and he doesn't know when he will be able to spread fertiliser. "Any surplus fodder will be used up as a result of the wet spring," says Sean who hopes for an early first cut at the end of May.

If Sean was Minister for Agriculture for one day, he would re-examine the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) as he does not feel that it is sufficiently improving the quality of the suckler herd.

Vincent Connolly

Mullingar, Co Westmeath

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"Without further support, the suckler cow will disappear and, as a result, the beef trade will fall asunder as good quality animals won't be produced," says Vincent who farms 170ac, sucklers and sheep, in Ballynacargy and also works full time as yard foreman in Ballymahon Mart.

"We need a further subsidy of up to 400 on cows if we are to produce a good quality calf," he says.

Vincent spread over 90 tonnes of lime over the winter months. "Grass growth has been very good and we hope to get our first cut of silage in June. I've never had such comfort," he says.

If Vincent was wearing Minister Creed's hat for one day, he would endeavour to rein in the factories. "Meat factories have the monopoly and are controlling prices. As farmers, we are at their mercy."

John O'Hanlon

Ballymahon, Co Longford

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Manager of Ballymahon Mart John O'Hanlon also farms 100ac "sucklers-to-weanlings and sucklers-to-stores" just outside the town in Tipper.

John suggests a more targeted approach to suckler subsidies. Some farms, particularly in the West, are only suited to suckler farming. "Whereas 200 per cow is a good target, it may not be realistic. Could the payment be made to farmers whose land size and usage doesn't support alternative methods of farming? Schemes need to evolve and improve. The data required for these schemes can act as a barrier to applying," he says.

Most of John's land was stripped all winter, "but it's a bit wet at the moment", he says. "Grass growth has been good. I hope to cut silage in the first week in June. We are waiting for land to dry and not for grass to grow."

As Minister, John would explore the possibility of increasing live exports to Northern Ireland. "There is an opportunity to re-launch the live export trade to the UK via Northern Ireland. Post-Brexit, there is no reason why the current EU labelling regulations would still stand north of the Border. The UK authorities can then change the regulations, reverting back to the age-old system of slaughtering 'Irish born - British finished' beef."

John O'Rourke

Robertstown, Co Kildare

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John, a cattle buyer, farms in Blackwood with his son John Paul. "When costs and labour are counted, the 40 subsidy is too low. We need 200 a head. People are getting out of sucklers all the time, some are setting the land and young family members are leaving the farm. Something needs to be done urgently.

"This has been a very easy winter compared to other winters. Let's hope it stays dry as this might help offset some of the expenses. We are planning to cut both hay and silage in June."

As Agriculture Minister, John would look at improving income for farmers. "I would consider their living expenses, increase subsidies, look at tax incentives and find ways of getting more cash into the farmer's pocket," says John.

Tom Slevin

Athlone, Co Westmeath

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"Income from sucklers is not adequate and we are only breaking even," says Tom who farms 40 sucklers on 80ac in Glasson and also works full time off-farm.

Tom suggests a straight subsidy of 150-200 per cow for up to 30 cows on any one farm with certain requirements in terms of quality, health and welfare and environmental issues. "This would cover a lot of suckler farms," says Tom who adds that the uncertainty of Brexit is having an impact. "Farmers are holding back on decision-making."

He adds: "Our cows are being let out on grass as they calf. Grass growth has been excellent. We hope to do our first cut of silage in late May/early June."

If Tom was Minister for a day, he would focus on EU grants and other available aid. "I would not give financial support based on acreage but would rather calculate the activity and productivity of individual producers."

Josh Wall

Drumree, Co Meath

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Twenty-two-year-old Josh farms with his grandfather Peter Macken in Baltrasna. "We buy in Continental type stores and fatten them," he says. He is also in fourth year, UCD, studying Agricultural Science.

Though neither of his parents are actively involved in farming, Josh developed an interest from a very young age. "I bought my first bullock with my Communion money."

Of the suckler schemes, Josh says: "40 per cow is not enough. Additional aid is vital."

Josh adds: "Grass growth is up on other years. This will cut costs of wintering cattle, save labour and ensure healthier cattle." Josh and his grandfather are hoping to cut their first cut of silage around May 25.

If appointed Minister for a day, Josh would open up ports and get dairy beef calves out of the country. "This would make it easier to sell good Continental cattle."

In the short term, Josh would like to work in some aspect of the agricultural industry and continue to farm part-time. In the long run, he sees himself as a full-time farmer and will "stay in beef if there is a future in it".
THE Labour Court has found that Aer Lingus caused 'gratuitous distress' to a cabin crew member in how it dealt with an allegation by her concerning remarks made by an Aer Lingus captain.

In the case, Labour Court deputy chairman, Tom Geraghty admonished Aer Lingus on a number of fronts on how it handled the cabin crew member's grievance.

She had alleged that in disputed remarks by the airline captain to the woman, he threatened physical violence against her husband to her.

An internal investigation found that the captain did not make the remarks as alleged.

After the staff member made a complaint over the incident, the airline sent her a letter in which she was advised that she could be liable for 'investigation up to and including dismissal'.

The airline apologised verbally to the cabin crew member stating that the letter was issued as a result of "a clerical oversight".

Mr Geraghty said he welcomed an Aer Lingus commitment to overhaul their procedures for handling grievances.

The Labour Court didn't uphold the woman's grievance relating to the alleged remarks, however.
Tony Cummins, an ESB volunteer on Business in the Community Irelands Time to Read literacy volunteering programme, partnered with Amber and Rhianna Skerritt from St. Marys school in Fairview, Co Dublin.

SOME 60 companies in Ireland contributed more than 30m and 264,700 hours to charities last year.

This is according to research from Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI), a business network that advises Irish companies on corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

Over 13m was given in cash donations, while 11.7m was contributed through in-kind donations.

Just over 5.5m was raised through employee fundraising.

"Employees want to work for companies that encourage volunteering as part of everyday business and, crucially, want to work where their values align with their employer," said Tomas Sercovich, BITCI chief executive.

The areas of health, social inclusion, education, and children were those most supported by the charity work and fundraising.

Pictured above are Tony Cummins, an ESB volunteer on Business in the Community Ireland's 'Time to Read' literacy volunteering programme, partnered with Amber and Rhianna Skerritt from St. Mary's school in Fairview, Co Dublin.
None of the loans in a portfolio of Bank of Ireland mortgages classified as non-performing by regulators is more than two months in arrears, and the average loan-to value ratio is over 80pc, the Irish Independent has learned.

Under intense pressure from regulators to cut its stock of non-performing loan exposures, Bank of Ireland is planning to bundle up around 375m of mostly restructured buy-to-let mortgages into a so-called securitisation structure to be marketed to financial investors.

Investec's equity analyst Owen Callan said Bank of Ireland's own statements have made clear it would not have looked to offload such mortgages without a push from regulators, who have made it unattractive for the bank to hold onto its restructured mortgages by demanding greater levels of capital beheld against mortgages regarded as high-risk.

Ironically, in this case it means mortgages that have been restructured by the bank's internal team more profitable for funds than for the regulated lender itself.

"The capital levels (required of banks) means that it if you are a non-bank lender it is more beneficial to have these mortgages," Mr Callan said.

The mortgages in the Bank of Ireland pool are regarded as non-performing under European Banking Authority (EBA) and European Central Bank (ECB) guidelines because they have previously been restructured.

As a result, Bank of Ireland must hold high levels of capital against the loans which it cannot use for new lending or to pay dividends.

The bank has mandated Lloyds Bank and Morgan Stanley to run an investor roadshow in London, Paris, and the Netherlands for the deal - dubbed Mulcair Securities DAC - on April 1 and 2.

The aggregate balance of the 1,727 mortgages in the pool is 377,293,144, meaning an average loan size of 218,467. The average time remaining on the loans is 14 years - most were taken out before the financial crisis.

The arrears status of the mortgages is striking. Investors have been told that 97.51pc of borrowings are current with their monthly payments, less than 2.5pc are in arrears of two months at most.

Even so they are classed as non-performing and the proposed transaction is expected to result in a reduction in Bank of Ireland's non-performing exposure (NPE) ratio from 6.3pc at the end of December to around 5.8pc.

Along with other Irish banks, Bank of Ireland, is under pressure from regulators to cut its stock of bad loans to the euro area average - around 3.4pc and falling.

In a statement, Bank of Ireland said borrowers will not be affected by the deal.

Existing restructuring terms will continue to be honoured by the lender, and customers will not have to take any action, the bank said.

"There will be no change to the protections currently afforded to customers under the relevant Central Bank of Ireland statutory codes of conduct, including the Consumer Protection Code," the bank said.

"Furthermore, there is no transfer of servicing or legal title currently planned in respect of the portfolio and Bank of Ireland expects to continue to service these mortgage accounts."

Bank of Ireland will remain the contact point for customers in all queries regarding their loan, as is the case today."

Customers do not need to take any action but any borrower seeking more information can contact a dedicated customer phone line, the bank said.
Dublin-listed Scisys has said the benefits of its re-domicile from the UK to Ireland ahead of Brexit are "already being reflected".

Scisys provides IT and software services to sectors including space and defence. As a UK company it risked being cut off from EU contracts as a result of Brexit, including ongoing business in EU-funded European satellite navigation programmes, Galileo and Egnos.

A Brexit contingency plan that kicked in last November included a move to be listed in Ireland. The group became the first London-listed firm to seek entry to the Irish Stock Exchange after the June 2016 Brexit vote. It incurred an exceptional charge of 700,000 (820,700) as part of the move.

Yesterday Scisys said subsequent Galileo contract wins by its Space division were approaching 20m in value, and that adding this to an earlier 3.9m Egnos order "fully justified" the establishment of a new Irish group holding company.

"I have little doubt that we would not be reporting such a positive picture in respect of revenue growth and future prospects had we not moved early and established a robust strategy to address the political uncertainties that were a serious threat to our space business," said chairman Mike Love.

Announcing 2018 results yesterday, Mr Love added that while the re-domicile process was a "complex and expensive" exercise, "the benefits are already being reflected in our record opening order book and our optimism across all divisions for 2019 and beyond."

"All of this is underpinned by healthy operational cash flows that have resulted in a substantial reduction in net debt and an uplift in the recommended final dividend," he added.

Shares were up 0.5pc yesterday in Dublin, after the group reported adjusted operating profit of 5.1m (6m) in the 12 months to December 31, 2018, up 16pc on the prior year.
Independent News & Media (INM) has announced profits of 24.1m for 2018, ahead of market expectations.

However, the results also show a number of one-off costs including 3.5m of legal bills associated with investigations by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) and the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC).

Financial results for 2018 published this morning show INM recorded a profit before tax of 24.1 for the twelve months to the end of December 2018.

That beat expectations but is still down 15.4pc compared to 2017.

INM is the biggest private sector media business on the island of Ireland, with titles including Independent.ie, the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Sunday World, Belfast Telegraph and Kerryman.

The results show a charge of 3.5m in exceptional legal costs, primarily associated with the high profile investigations currently underway into INM by the ODCE and DPC.

The investigations followed whistle-blower allegations about corporate governance at board level in INM and alleged data leaks.

The company is co-operating with the inspectors and the DPC in their respective investigations, the financial results state.

The legal bills relate to costs from an ODCE application to the High Court for the appointment of inspectors to look into the affairs if INM; costs in relation to a judicial review application made by INM in relation to the ODCEs case; as well as costs in complying with a statutory obligations towards certain individuals seeking information in relation to a 2014 data security incident, the company said.

INMs total revenues last year were 191m, down 2.1pc on the prior year. The business has a cash pile of 81.7m at the end of December.

The fall in overall sales was primarily driven by a decline in total print and online advertising revenues of 8.8pc, a decline in circulation revenues of 6.3pc and a decline in commercial printing revenues of 6.2pc, the results show.

However, distribution revenue increased by 26.5pc, boosted by bolt-on acquisitions completed during 2018.

While digital revenues decreased as a result of the consolidation within online advertising by the likes of Google and Facebook, INM clocked up better revenues in its classified businesses, led by CarsIreland.ie where revenues grew by 18.2pc.

Earlier this year INM told staff that it expected to make 30 redundancies across the business, as management unveiled a new strategic three-year plan.

Commenting on the latest figures, INM chairman Murdoch MacLennan said the business had made progress during 2018 in implementing the new strategy  dubbed INM@21 - with the full support of the board and new senior executive team.

We have recorded a financial performance for 2018 ahead of market expectations and I can assure you that despite the challenges facing the industry the board and senior executive team of your group are both determined and confident that we are heading in the right direction to build a sustainable business for the future and to create shareholder value, he said.

Group chief executive officer Michael Doorly said the results showed the pace of change in the media industry and the significant and unique challenges facing the group.

While change is happening right across our sector, which is facing the challenges of digital disruption, changing consumer behaviours and economic shifts, I am pleased to report that we are moving forward in reshaping our business to better meet the needs of our print and online readers and customers. Producing quality content remains essential to the future of our business and to that end the calibre of our editorial team is unmatched in the Irish market. I would like to thank all of my colleagues in INM for their continued commitment and resolve in delivering to date on our new strategy, he said.
The top civil servant associated with the National Broadband Plan has confirmed the rural scheme would cost "multiples" of an initial 500m estimate.

Communications Department secretary general Mark Griffin said the reason for the higher cost was the initial cost projection was based on basic plans that were now "not fit for purpose".

He added that it would be "inappropriate" to reveal the exact projected cost of the plan to serve 540,000 rural homes until the Taoiseach made a call on whether to proceed with the scheme.

Asked whether he thought it would go ahead, Mr Griffin said: "I'm confident that the project as presented will deliver on a lot of the Government's objectives. But whether to proceed or not is a Government decision."

Mr Griffin was addressing the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee.

Asked by Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy if the process was at risk of delivering poor value from only having one remaining bidder, Mr Griffin said that although it was "not ideal", it was also not unusual.

"If you look at the UK equivalent of the National Broadband Plan, there was only one final bidder, BT, after Fujitsu pulled out," he said.

Ms Murphy asked whether there were any parallels with the National Children's Hospital from a cost analysis.

"The fundamental difference between this and the National Children's Hospital is in how we reached a situation where a cost estimate was very different from what we thought at the start.

"The Children's Hospital is an issue around how cost escalated when construction had commenced," she said.

Mr Griffin said the basic speed of a National Broadband Plan service would be 150 megabits per second, with 1,000 megabits for schools and businesses.

Mr Griffin said his officials would "finalise the evaluation work and bring a memorandum to Government" within three weeks.
Sweden's minister in charge of bank laws has criticised the country's biggest lender, Swedbank for its handling of money-laundering allegations and said the government is now willing to consider tougher legislation.

Per Bolund, Sweden's financial markets minister, said in an interview yesterday that the Swedbank scandal has left him "really angry". He spoke not long after the bank fired CEO Birgitte Bonnesen, amid concerns she misled the public about the scope of the laundering case.

The bank is now being investigated in Sweden, Estonia and the US. On Wednesday, its headquarters were raided by Sweden's Economic Crime Authority, which is also probing the bank for potential fraud.

The suspicious amounts that Swedbank allegedly handled may have been as high as $23bn a year between 2010 and 2016. "On point after point, they have chosen the wrong path," Mr Bolund said.

The scandal has rocked Sweden, a society usually associated with low levels of corruption and high standards when it comes to transparency. Swedbank is the country's oldest lender and the nation's biggest provider of mortgages, and at the heart of the Swedish financial system. The case also reinforces concerns that laundering is a much bigger issue than first assumed, with many of Europe's biggest banks recently implicated.

As recently as January, Ms Bonnesen adamantly denied any wrongdoing, and rejected suggestions that her bank might in any way be linked to the $230bn Danske Bank Estonian laundering scandal. She was backed by her board and shareholders. But as allegations piled up this week, shareholders had had enough.

The bank's market value has plunged by about a third since the scandal first broke on February 20, representing about 7.5bn in lost market value. Ms Bonnesen has told Swedish local media that she thinks she acted honestly.

Shareholders seem to disagree. At yesterday's AGM, they voted not to free her of liability for 2018. That clears the way for potential lawsuits against her.

Mr Bolund said that the "best thing" now for the bank is to "meet criticism with transparency." "If you don't handle the work against money laundering properly you undermine confidence among customers but also in the outside world and that also has a price tag in today's society," he said. Swedbank "obviously hasn't tried" to be transparent, he said.

Among measures Mr Bolund said his ministry would consider are cracking down on so-called revolving doors, so that it's harder for bankers and regulators to switch jobs.

He also said the government was "of course" willing to look into raising fines for money laundering.

Bloomberg
Film-maker Agnes Varda, a central figure of the French New Wave and feminist activist who later won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, has died at the age of 90.

Her production company Cine Tamaris confirmed her death from cancer after French media reported the news.

Vardas rich filmography includes movies such as Cleo From 5 to 7, Sans Toit Ni Loi  for which she won the Golden Lion in 1985  Jacquot De Nantes and Les Glaneurs Et La Glaneuse.

Nicknamed the Grandmother of the New Wave, Varda was a fixture for years at the Cannes Film Festival, where she presented more than a dozen films from 1958 to 2018.

Immense sadness. For almost 65 years, Agnes Vardas eyes and voice embodied cinema with endless inventiveness. The place she occupied is irreplaceable. Agnes loved images, words and people. Shes one of those whose youth will never fade. pic.twitter.com/cpquJXJtwK  Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) March 29, 2019

She took part in two Cannes juries, and the festival gave her an honorary Palme dOr in 2015 for her lifes work.

She was the first woman to receive such an honour, and regularly sought more recognition for women in the industry.

At last years Cannes festival, she joined jury president Cate Blanchett for a bilingual speech against sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Women are not a minority in the world, and yet our industry says the opposite. The stairs of our industry must be accessible to all. Lets climb, she said.

Expand Close Agnes Varda holds the honorary Palme dOr (Thibault Camus/AP) / Facebook

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The Cannes Festival tweeted that Vardas death was a cause for immense sadness.

For almost 65 years, Agnes Vardas eyes and voice embodied cinema with endless inventiveness. The place she occupied is irreplaceable. Agnes loved images, words and people. Shes one of those whose youth will never fade, the tweet continued.

With her distinctive half-red, half-grey hairstyle, Varda was instantly recognisable on the European film circuit, where she was often one of the few female directors in the crowd.

She was honoured last month at the Berlin Film Festival with the Berlinale Camera award for lifetime achievement. The festival had its highest number of women directors yet, some of whom named Varda as an inspiration.

Only a few weeks ago we had the honor to award her with the #BerlinaleCamera at #Berlinale2019. Today, we're deeply saddened by her loss: #AgnesVarda, one of the most significant filmmakers of French cinema, passed away at the age of 90. https://t.co/28MvQ6PlpO

 Gerhard Kassner pic.twitter.com/AmeZlnudtL  Berlinale (@berlinale) March 29, 2019

Her 2017 documentary with street artist JR  Faces Places  was nominated for an Oscar, making Varda, then 89, the oldest woman ever nominated  and won best documentary at the Independent Film Spirit Awards.

There is nothing to be proud of, but happy, Varda said after the Oscar nomination. I love my own work and Ive done it for so many years, so I didnt do it for honour or money. My films never made money.

When she could not attend the Oscar nominees luncheon, JR took a life-sized cardboard cutout of her on to the red carpet with him.

Born in Brussels on May 30 1928, Varda started as a photographer after studying literature and arts. In 1951, she was appointed official photographer of the Theatre National Populaire, and remained in that position for the next decade.

In 1954, well before Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut became the emblematic figures of the New Wave, Vardas first movie, La Pointe Courte, followed a couple going through a crisis in the small port of Sete on the Mediterranean coast.

She made several documentary shorts, but inadequate funds prevented Varda from making her next feature, Cleo From 5 to 7, until 1961. She came to prominence with that film, a real-time movie about a young woman who may have cancer.

Backed by French businessman Georges de Beauregard, who had supported Jean-Luc Godards Breathless, the film studied Cleos evolvolution from a shallow pop star to an authentic human being capable of understanding pain in herself and others.

Cleo was again praised by critics and was a commercial success as well, building anticipation for Happiness, which won the Silver Bear award at the 1965 Berlin Festival.

Varda continued to explore themes of illness and life as a couple later in her career. Her biggest success came in 1985 with Vagabond, starring Sandrine Bonnaire, who plays the tragic role of young marginal wandering to her death.

Varda was married to French director Jacques Demy, who died in 1990. She is survived by her two children, Mathieu Demy and Rosalie Varda, who are both involved in French film-making.
The new space, remodeled from two outfield sections, includes 326 seats and features a number of new amenities not typically found in ballpark bleachers. In addition to field-level views and individual seating, the first few rows will feature cushioned leather seats, armrests and cup holders, as well charging ports, TV monitors and shelves. The Island also has an area designated for group parties and a few standing-room rows near the concourse.
Senator Ronan Mullen has suggested individuals should have the option of engaging in conversion therapy unless it is proved to be harmful.

Conversion therapy involves trying to change an individual's sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual using psychological or spiritual interventions. It has been widely dismissed and criticised by politicians and the LGBT community.

Mr Mullen said it was "an area where many people fear to wade" but "the highest value comes from what people want, provided it does not do harm".

He said: "I do not know enough about it at this stage but if it can be demonstrated that this is harmful to people, there is a very good case to make it unlawful.

"If it cannot be shown to be harmful to people, we are back into the realm of individual choice."

He was responding to a contribution from Sinn Fein Senator Fintan Warfield who had spoken about "the cruelty of so-called conversion therapy".

"It is a vile practice designed to suppress, change or eliminate a person's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

"The practice has been condemned and discredited by the UN Committee Against Torture, European Parliament and Irish Council of Psychotherapy," he said.

He said it leads to depression, anxiety, homelessness and suicide.

Mr Mullen also raised concerns about the "difficult area of transgender persons' rights and needs". The senator said politicians should "look honestly at the current evidence".

"Many parents who I know are quite concerned about what is taught now in schools in the name of equality with respect to transgender issues, and they question whether children's best interests are being served by what is now often proposed," he said.
The family of murdered Jason Corbett expressed outrage at claims levelled on behalf of his killers, Tom and Molly Martens, over why they settled a wrongful death lawsuit.

Mr Corbett's sister, Tracey Corbett-Lynch, said it was "absolutely laughable" to suggest Molly (35) did not know about a 500,000 US life insurance policy on her husband, or that the 160,000 wrongful death lawsuit settlement was to provide funds for his two orphaned children.

The Limerick woman, who waged a brave campaign to bring her brother's killers to justice, said the claims were "monstrous".

Tom Martens (68), a former FBI agent, and his daughter, Molly, are now serving 25 years in North Carolina prisons for Mr Corbett's second-degree murder.

The Corbett family believe the murder was triggered by the businessman's refusal to allow Molly to adopt his children by his late first wife amid concerns over her mental health.

Molly was dismissed as a lawsuit party - but agreed to void her right to the insurance policy.

The 160,000 settlement by Tom Martens and his wife Sharon was without liability.

"If Molly is so concerned about Jason's children I would publicly ask whether she is now willing to hand over her 150,000 proceeds from the sale of Jason's North Carolina home to their trust fund," Ms Corbett-Lynch said.

Mr Corbett's lifelong friend, Lynn Shanahan, described as "totally untrue" suggestions Molly did not know about her husband's US life insurance policy.

"In Jason's files there were life insurance reports. The first year, the policy was 100pc for the children.

"The following year, it was 50pc to Molly and 25pc to each child - I have seen the forms signed by Molly.

"The fourth-year changes were made online with a password giving Molly 100pc."

A Martens family spokesperson insisted Tom, Sharon and Molly did not know about the 500,000 policy before Mr Corbett's death.
Ann Keane and Patrick Halpin, owners of Aberdeen Lodge in Dublin 4 speak to officials from Grant Thornton Photo; Damien Eagers / INM

A US bank is trying to take possession of a property that is both a Dublin couple's home and their business over debts of more than 25m.

Receivers appointed by Goldman Sachs are attempting to take control of Aberdeen Lodge, Park Avenue, Dublin 4.

The owners, Patrick Halpin and Ann Keane, have been in a long-running legal battle with the major global financial institution after falling behind on bank repayments.

The couple, who have two children, have refused to leave. A receiver appointed by the US multinational attempted to carry out a repossession order of the property, which is run as a B&B.

"The debts in this case are over 25m and the property, worth at least 3m, was pledged as security for those debts," a statement from Goldman Sachs said.

"We have extensive experience in working with borrowers in a range of circumstances and every effort has been made over a number of years to find a resolution to this matter.

"We review these matters carefully and have robust processes to ensure our action is appropriate to the circumstances in each individual case."

They have argued the property cannot be seized over a 20m debt from a loan during the boom for a failed hotel project.

The family have offered to pay 1.25m in debt secured on the property but they said Goldman Sachs had refused to deal with them to remedy the situation.

Yesterday, a man and woman arrived to carry out a possession order on behalf of receiver Paul McCann, of Grant Thornton.

However, the family refused to leave, with Mr Halpin saying the ongoing fight for their home and business has nearly put him in the grave.

Patrick Halpin, who said he has ongoing heart issues, told agents acting on behalf of the receiver that the family have no option.

"We have nowhere to go, just to confirm we are paying our mortgage every month. I am in and out of hospital.

"This has nearly brought me into the grave, We have done nothing wrong. We never borrowed a shilling from Goldman Sachs," he said.
A HAIRDRESSER who "betrayed" a seriously ill elderly customer by using her bank card to steal from her has been given community service instead of a jail sentence.

Elaine Long (47) heartlessly took the card to make cash withdrawals and book flights for herself as 88-year-old Bernie Clarkes condition deteriorated.

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A court heard how Mrs Clarke, who had lost the power of speech to a progressive brain disorder and communicated by writing, loved to see the accused call to her home do her hair, which was her weekly treat to herself.

After the betrayal was revealed, she lost trust in people and has since passed away.

Judge Geraldine Carthy ordered Long to carry out 240 hours of community service instead of five months in prison.

Speaking after court, Mrs Clarke's daughter Marian Murray said the family had been "devastated" by the crimes and she felt Long should have been jailed.

Long, a mother-of-two from Blackhorse Grove, North Circular Road, pleaded guilty to five counts of theft, with a total of 924 "proven" to have been stolen.

Garda Padraic Walsh told Dublin District Court in June 2017, Mrs Murray reported to him the compromised use of her mothers AIB bank card in a cash withdrawal.

She attended the shop where the withdrawal was made and was horrified to identify Long.

Gardai established the accused had used the card to withdraw 500 from an ATM at Spar, Ashtown, Navan Road on June 4, and another 100 from a Maxol Service Station also on the Navan Road on June 14, 2017.

It was also used to pay for a 133 Dublin to Liverpool Ryanair flight in Longs name on June 5, and another similar flight for 131 on June 9.

Long used the card to make a payment on her own Virgin Media account on May 30, 2017.

When questioned and shown evidence, Long denied using Mrs Clarkes card and did not "show any remorse, the garda said.

Mrs Clarke had sadly passed away last year, the court heard.

Mrs Murray said in a victim impact statement her mother had had progressive supranuclear palsy, which was akin to muscular dystrophy and could not speak.

Her mother began getting hair treatments at home from Elaine Long when she became sick in 2015 and was provided with a key to the family home, "such was the trust we had developed with her.

Elaine and mum had described each other as each others adopted mother/ daughter," Mrs Murray said. "Mum loved to see Elaine coming to do her hair. As mum became more immobile with her illness she also lost the power of speech and had to communicate with writing which left her very vulnerable. It was at this point that Elaine Long took advantage of the trust that been placed in her and honesty expected of her by the family and we are devastated by this betrayal of our mother.

I was speechless when I saw it was Elaine Long on the CCTV footage using our mums bank card. I had dinner on occasions with Elaine and could not believe that she would breach the trust our family and Mum herself had placed in her. We feel manipulated by Elaine Long. Mum lost her trust in people at a time in her later life when she actually really needed to be able to trust people."

Long had no prior convictions and at the time of the offences, her sister was in Liverpool undergoing cancer treatment, defence solicitor Amanda Connolly said.

The accused had been under financial pressure. The accused acknowledged that she had abused a position of trust, was deeply ashamed and remorseful and regretted the hurt she had caused, Ms Connolly said.

Long had compensation in court and Mrs Clarke's family wanted that to go to charity.

Judge Carthy praised Mrs Murray for her "eloquently delivered" victim impact statement.

She said the breach of trust had had a significant impact and nothing she could do would bring Mrs Clarke back. It was appropriate that the accused would "give back to society" rather than being sent to prison, she said,

Outside court, Mrs Murray said she did not think community service was enough becaue her mother was "very very vulnerable and it was a betrayal of her trust."

"I would have liked to have seen her serve time in prison," she said.
A former general manager of Lillie's Bordello, who claimed he had been accused of sexually assaulting a waitress and whistleblowing on the snorting of cocaine in the club, has settled a breach of contract case against his old employer.

James Doran, counsel for Peter Carmody, of Annfield Crescent, Castleknock, Dublin, told the Circuit Civil Court his client had been sacked by Lillie's and was seeking compensation for unfair and wrongful dismissal.

Barrister Tom Mallon said Mr Carmody had been dismissed without notice for what the club's owner, Noyfield Limited, considered was gross misconduct, including sexual harassment through the use of revolting language to a female member of staff, sexual assault and drinking on the job. He said a full defence to Mr Carmody's claim had been entered.

Mr Doran agreed that Mr Carmody had sought legal advice shortly after his June 2014 dismissal and had mounted an Employment Appeals Tribunal challenge, which he had later withdrawn.

He had come to court to clear his name and obtain compensation after having been accused of gross misconduct which he denied.

Mr Carmody claimed that on March 29, 2014, it had been brought to his attention a waitress was serving a man who appeared to be openly snorting cocaine in The Lounge. He told security to remove him, but the waitress had said she knew him as a good customer and would ask him to leave.

Mr Carmody alleged that the waitress had instead brought him to a private room to facilitate his drug use.

He had reported the incident to management and a fortnight later found that the waitress claimed he had been verbally and sexually abusive towards her, assaulted her by grabbing her breasts, drank in work and gave drinks to employees. Management had then probed her allegations.

Mr Carmody had been suspended on pay, the investigation found him guilty of gross misconduct and, following a meeting with company director Lee Sim, he had been dismissed.

After a break yesterday, Mr Doran said the proceedings could be struck out with no order as to costs. No detailed outcome of the talks was divulged to the court.
Mary Lowry has told the Tipperary murder trial how she "did not give permission" for the recording of a conversation between her and her boyfriend that was discovered on a hard drive seized from the house of Patrick Quirke.

Ms Lowry said she was "100pc certain" the voices on the recording were her own and that of Flor Cantillon, whom she began dating in March 2012.

And she also denied a claim she had become "angry" when told by gardai she could not sit in on the interview of her sons, aged 14 and 12 at the time.

Ms Lowry told the court: "I must protect my children."

Detective Sergeant John Keane told the trial he played the audio to Ms Lowry and Mr Cantillon in January this year.

Asked where the recording had originated from, he said it was found on a hard drive seized from Mr Quirke's home on May 17, 2013.

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Patrick Quirke (50), from 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.

The recording was twice played for the jury yesterday - once when Mr Cantillon was in the witness box and again when Ms Lowry was giving evidence.

Laughing

Though largely inaudible, the recording was that of Ms Lowry laughing as she read from the problem page of a newspaper in which a woman expresses concerns that her husband has been wearing her underwear.

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Mr Cantillon can then be heard asking her to read the answer to the query and a discussion takes place between the two.

Flor Cantillon told the court he met the gardai on January 12 last and they played the tape of the recording.

Asked by Michael Bowman SC for the prosecution what was on it, he said: "She was reading a problem out of the problem page," later explaining that he meant Mary Lowry.

Asked whether he heard anything else at the end, Mr Cantillon said: "I think she asked me a question. I asked what was the verdict of the problem," he said.

Mr Bowman asked Mr Cantillon whether he knew this recording had been made, and he replied: "No."

Asked whether he had given anyone permission to make it, he again said: "No."

Under cross-examination, Bernard Condon SC for the defence asked Mr Cantillon whether he had expressed some doubt it was his voice on the tape.

Mr Cantillon told the trial he could hear Ms Lowry's voice very clearly on the tape and could hear his own voice. He said he was not sure at first if it was his voice, but when he heard more of the tape he identified his own voice.

Dt Sgt John Keane told the court the purpose of playing the tape for Mary Lowry on January 11 last was to see whether she recognised the voices on the recording.

He had played the audio in its entirety and taken a statement in the course of playing it, he said.

Ms Lowry then took the stand, saying she had identified the voices as being "100pc" her own and Flor Cantillon.

Put to her that she was in a relationship with him at that time, she agreed. It had begun on Patrick's weekend 2012, she said.

The audio was then played for Ms Lowry in court.

It was put to her that she did not record it, nor did she give permission for it to be recorded, and Ms Lowry replied: "Correct."

Cross-questioning, Bernard Condon SC for the defence, put it to Ms Lowry that a garda document stated she had no issue with her three children being interviewed in July 2013 but that she wished to be present during it.

Mr Condon put it to her that it was explained to her that this was "not possible" and that she had become "angry" as a result.

Ms Lowry told the court this was "a misunderstanding because the boys were underage". She said that she wished to be in the house.

Asked again whether she had become angry, Ms Lowry said: "I don't know if you'd call it angry. I was concerned, I suppose."

Again put to her that she had wished to be present, Ms Lowry said that was not correct.

"The facts are I was with my children in my house," she said.

"The guards came to interview them. I thought I could be in the interview with them but that wasn't possible.

Intimidated

"They were 12 and 14 - I must protect my children," she said.

Ms Lowry told Mr Condon she was feeling "a bit intimidated". He replied: "It's not by me - I'm saying what the guards wrote."

"Well, I'm dealing with the facts," Ms Lowry told him.

"I did not get angry. I protect my children. They are 12 and 14 - anyone in the room here would want to protect their children."

Mr Condon put it to her she had wanted to "complain to Garda management". Ms Lowry said she could not recall.

Mr Bowman asked Ms Lowry whether her youngest son Michael, who was born in 2003, had also been interviewed by the gardai. She said she could not recall.

Mr Bowman asked whether she had ever made a complaint to garda management, and Ms Lowry replied that she had not.

The trial continues.
A woman who stole almost 12,000 from the Dublin city centre pub where she worked as general manager has walked free from court with a suspended sentence.

Donna McGarry (38) pleaded guilty to two counts of theft at Four Dame Lane carried out on dates between October 4 and November 6, 2017.

At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today, Judge Melanie Greally sentenced McGarry to two and a half years in prison, but suspended it in full.

The judge set a headline sentence of three years but gave McGarry credit for her early guilty plea, her good work history and the excellent testimonial from her current employer.

Judge Greally said McGarry was someone of otherwise good character who had held a responsible position within the Odeon Group where she had access to cash flow and bank accounts.

The Odeon Group owns the pub Four Dame Lane in Dublin city centre.

The judge said McGarry had succumbed to the temptation of using her employers money to tackle her own particularly difficult financial situation.

She said McGarry had no previous convictions and had fully repaid the money stolen, which amounted to 11,900.

The court heard previously that McGarry, of Griffith Hall, Griffith Avenue, Dublin, had been under severe financial pressure at the time of the offences and had suffered a miscarriage.

Ian Woodland BL, defending, told the court that McGarry was currently employed full-time in the hospitality sector, in a position where she is responsible for cash flow.

In the agony of the moment when the sheriff was knocking on her door, she forgot what was right, said Mr Woodland. She also had the trauma of being 13 weeks pregnant and losing that child, he added.

Garda Eimear Fagan told Antonia Boyle BL, prosecuting, that the thefts were reported by a representative of the Odeon Group, which owns the pub Four Dame Lane.

Paul Hopkins, operations manager of the Odeon Group, told gardai he had noticed shortages in the daily cash balance of Four Dame Lane for six different dates in 2017.

He said that at the time, McGarry was general manager and responsible for managing the payroll, among other duties. She was also a keyholder for the premises.

The court heard that on days when McGarry had sole responsibility for balancing cash at the end of the day, there were discrepancies between the till reports and the cash float, with shortfalls of varying amounts of money.

The largest sum to go missing was noticed on November 7, 2017, when Mr Hopkins and a colleague went to check the safe.

There was a shortage of 7,224 missing from the cash float balance and a number of cash lodgement bags were also missing.

Mr Hopkins told gardai that he met McGarry, who made full admissions and undertook to repay all the money.

On arrest, McGarry cooperated fully and told gardai she was in extreme financial difficulties with mounting medical bills and the sheriff knocking at her door.

I was way over my head, the sheriff was threatening to repossess my apartment, I panicked. Theres no other way of putting it, McGarry told gardai, adding that she meant to pay back the money within a short period.

I had rung everyone, Id applied for loans, but there was no way, my credit rating was non-existent, she added.

The court heard McGarry had been supporting her mother who lived with her and was out of work due to injury. She also owed mortgage payments on her apartment and associated management fees.

McGarry said she only took cash on two occasions but that because of varying lodgement dates, it looked like there had been six different occasions.

The court heard McGarry had worked at the pub for over seven years and had ten staff under her. She apologised to all parties and was truly remorseful, the court heard.

Mr Woodland handed in a positive reference from McGarrys current employer, which he said emphasised that this offence was totally out-of-character for her.

Mr Hopkins had prepared a Victim Impact Statement on behalf of the Odeon Group, but once he heard that the monies were being repaid in full, he indicated that he was happy not to read out his statement.

Judge Greally ordered McGarry to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for the duration of the suspended sentence.
Education Minister Joe McHugh is heading to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) within months to talk to Irish teachers about coming home.

As primary and post-primary schools struggle to fill vacancies, it is estimated at least 6,000 Irish teachers are working abroad, with significant numbers in the UAE and the neighbouring states of Oman and Qatar.

Mr McHugh believes many Irish teachers want to come back, and said he needed to understand what had to be done to smooth their return.

The minister said he met Irish teachers working in Hong Kong and Beijing during a recent trip to China and he acknowledged pay inequality was raised as an issue.

Mr McHugh announced his UAE mission, which he hopes to make before the end of July, while speaking to the Irish Independent after his address at the annual convention of the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS).

The teacher shortage is one of the main topics of discussion at the convention and ACCS president Paul Fiorentini said schools needed measures which would make a difference on the ground.

He acknowledges initiatives to address the schools recruitment crisis, but said they would only help in the medium to long term.

The shortage often results in second-level schools failing to get any applications for a vacancy and many opened last September without their full complement of teachers.

Worst hit are Irish, foreign languages, home economics, maths and other Stem subjects, and the problem is being most severely felt in the greater Dublin area.

Mr Fiorentini said the shortage remained "among the most worrying and frustrating issues that must be managed week in, week out," and said the problem persisted despite "extreme efforts" by school managements.

The difficulties have been highlighted for a number of years and the Department of Education has set up a Teacher Supply Working Group and announced an action plan to address the issue.

Among the initiatives are extra teacher-training places for key subjects, but it will take some years for those graduates to materialise.

Recently, Mr McHugh asked schools to collaborate in filling posts and, between them, to employ the teacher on a full-time basis.

The ACCS represents 96 schools and Mr Fiorentini told the Irish Independent members were floating a range of ideas they would like explored to tackle the problem in the short term.

Their suggestions include paying teachers to work overtime and allowing retired teachers to take short-term contracts for about six to eight hours a week to deliver, for instance, higher level maths classes for Leaving Cert pupils.

Other suggestions from ACCS members include allowing second-year postgraduate teaching students to teach and paying a cost of living allowance for working in Dublin, although Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe recently ruled out the latter.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  Malacanang on Friday issued a warning to the 31 celebrities on the government drug watchlist.

In a media briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo urged the personalities to stop their involvement in illegal drugs and to "rehabilitate" themselves.

"The message (to the celebrities) is of course you cannot be involved. You have to rehabilitate yourselves. You cannot be doing that because you're destroying your own selves," Panelo told reporters.

"If they will not warn themselves of their involvement, certainly, it will be destructive of their own health, destructive of their own family. Certainly, they'll be losing their adoring fans," he added.

The spokesman, however, said the administration will offer help should the celebrities seek rehabilitation.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) earlier this week urged these celebrities to stop using or selling illegal drugs immediately.

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said the personalties were famous icons on television and movies, with most of them using cocaine, marijuana, shabu, and party drugs.

The agency had earlier refused to name the celebrities, since their links to the illegal drug trade have yet to be validated.

Gov't to release names?

Panelo said it is up to President Rodrigo Duterte if the latter will publicly release the said list.

"All factors will be considered by the President, so we'll just have to wait for his decision on the matter," the spokesman said. "He will be weighing all considerations."

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, on the other hand, said he was in favor of releasing the list-- given the information provided is validated.

"Take note that the term celebrities refer to not only showbiz people but also basketball players and other public figures. The irony is that the bosses of these persons know who they are and are not doing anything about it," Sotto said.

Duterte on March 14 named dozens of politicians allegedly linked to the drug trade ahead of the May polls. The chief executive called the narco list "medyo (somehow) validated."

The Interior Department has filed administrative raps against the local officials.
Toy shopping has transformed over the past 100 years, whether because of advancements in the products themselves or the marketplace. Using national toy archives and data curated by The Strong , from 1920 to today, Stacker searched for products that caught hold of the public zeitgeist through novelty, innovation, kitsch, quirk, or simply great timing, and then rocketed to success. Here are the top holiday toys from the year you were born, counting up from 1920 to today. May they fill your heartand stockings!with joy. Visit thestacker.com for similar lists and stories.
Paul Higgins with son Zac, who is now being treated in Temple Street Hospital, where he is described as serious but stable

The father of a three-year-old "little warrior" left seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver has described the four hours when doctors battled to stabilise the toddler's condition as the longest of his life.

Paul Higgins also condemned the "heartless" occupants of the blue Mazda car who fled the scene after the accident in a Cork housing estate at 4pm on Monday.

Gardai last night arrested a man over the hit and run.

He was taken to the Bridewell garda station for questioning.

The man, who is understood to be from Cork's southside, was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be questioned for an initial period of 12 hours.

Mr Higgins said his son, Zac, was now making a steady recovery in Temple Street Hospital in Dublin, to which he had been transferred, though he remains in a serious but stable condition.

Mr Higgins posted a Facebook message to thank everyone who had sent messages of support to his family after the horrific accident off Cork's Skehard Road.

"I would like to thank everyone who sent well-wishes," he posted.

"After the longest four hours in the Cork University Hospital, our little warrior hit the road to Dublin by ambulance.

"He will love that when he wakes up to hear it. He arrived at Temple Street Hospital straight for a CT scan which showed good results so far.

"To see your child that way is the worst feeling I ever had in my life."

Mr Higgins posted a special message to the driver and car occupants whom gardai are now hunting in Cork.

"To the rotten bastards that left him [my son] there I hope the four of ye in the car rot in hell, ye heartless bastards.

"But special thanks to all our friends in Castle Meadows who went above and beyond."

Gardai are now examining a car to determine whether it was the vehicle involved in the hit and run.

Detectives are hopeful forensic tests will yield a vital breakthrough in the case.

The youngster was apparently knocked down by a car in the Castle Meadows area just off the Skehard Road in the Mahon-Blackrock area as he was playing at 4pm on Monday.

A blue Mazda saloon car was later found by gardai abandoned less than 2km away.

Former lord mayor of Cork Councillor Chris O'Leary, a friend of the little boy's family, appealed for anyone with information to come forward and help gardai.

"What happened with this young toddler was horrific and my deepest sympathy goes to his family, who I know personally. I would ask people to come forward."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Anglesea Street garda station on (021) 4522000 or the Garda Confidential Line (1800) 666111.
An external review is to be held into the death of mother-of-three Marie Downey (36) who died alongside her newborn baby boy in a freak tragedy in Cork University Maternity Hospital.

Ms Downey will be buried with her infant son Darragh in her beloved Limerick.

Health Minister Simon Harris confirmed that procedures introduced last year meant all maternal deaths were subject to outside review.

A spokeswoman for the minister said the review team would include necessary external expertise.

The South-South West Hospital Group had already ordered a health review into the tragedy last Monday morning.

Ms Downey's rosary was held last night at the home of her heartbroken parents, Jim and Helen Cullinane, in Ballyagran in Limerick.

She will lay in repose at her home in Knockanevin, Kildorrery, Co Cork, this evening before being removed to St Michael's Church in Ballyagran for 1pm requiem Mass tomorrow. Hundreds are expected to attend.

Ms Downey will be buried with her infant son cradled in her arms at Castletown Cemetery.

She suffered from epilepsy and it is feared she suffered some form of medical incident as she was breastfeeding. One theory is she attempted to get out of bed to raise the alarm or reach the bathroom.

It appears she lapsed into unconsciousness and fell, partially trapping Darragh.
Short-staffed sexual assault units led to 50 victims having to endure a gruelling journey to be treated and forensically examined last year.

One woman endured an 11-hour wait as she had to travel in an unmarked Garda car to the Mullingar unit because the Dublin centre in the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, was closed, a review report revealed.

"I went to the station at 4am and didn't get seen until 3pm in Mullingar. They said there were two other cases in Mullingar before my case," the woman said.

Patients who cannot access the service locally can endure several hours' journey. They may not be able to shower, eat or drink after their ordeal because it can destroy evidence.

They can then spend three to five hours being treated and examined.

The harrowing accounts emerged in a Department of Health review of the six sexual assault treatment units published by Health Minister Simon Harris yesterday.

The extended journey had a "direct impact" on the level of trauma endured by patients and particularly affects those who have not been referred by gardai.

Nurses

Mr Harris said an investment of 500,000 and the appointment of more nurses and doctors who are trained in forensic examination would be made. They include 'first responder' examiners who can travel to units.

The report found the units located in Dublin, Galway, Mullingar, Cork, Letterkenny and Waterford treated nearly 1,000 patients last year.

Noeline Blackwell, head of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, said the added travel it can lead to more unnecessary hurt and stress.

"They are already deeply upset," she pointed out.

Rape victim Dominique Meehan from Donegal, who had to travel from Dublin to Mullingar nearly four years ago, welcomed the extra staff and but also called for more centres around the country.

Some former patients interviewed for the report spoke of feeling safe in the unit and another said they could not fault it.

But others found the surrounds cold, clinical and unwelcome. Another said they were left on their own with nobody checking on them.

Current and former staff who were interviewed complained about pay and allowances as well as being unsupported in the work or feeling like the "poor relation of the hospital".

There has been serious under-investment in the "Cinderella" service.

A small number of staff carry the weight of the out of hours delivery.

One in 10 of the patients are men and half are under 25 years of age.

Many come from prisons, residential care homes and nursing homes. Others were in direction provision or homeless.

Assaults happen during university freshers' week, leaving cert results night, music festivals, conferences and gigs.

Others report an attack happening at home or within a family.

There can be a "spike" in cases in university freshers' week and during other festivals.

Mr Harris said there appears to be a "spike" in assault cases in freshers' week, and during other festivals and occasions such as Leaving Cert results night. This was echoed by Junior Education Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor.
Challenged: Simon Coveney was urged to fess up and say his plans had failed. Photo: Brian Lougheed

A whole generation of children is suffering from shame and insecurity as a result of homelessness as their number soars to nearly 4,000, a charity has warned.

Barnardos has hit out at the "alarming" number of youngsters now in homeless accommodation as figures yesterday revealed 3,784 youngsters, of 10,264 people in total, were in that position.

"No child should be forced to spend any time without a home and it is simply not right that in our society thousands of children are spending months, even years, without a home," said its CEO Suzanne Connolly yesterday.

She said boredom, insecurity and feelings of loss or shame were common in children in homeless accommodation.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney was yesterday challenged to "fess up" and admit the Rebuilding Ireland plan he launched as housing minister isn't working.

And minister Katherine Zappone came under fire as the figure for children in emergency accommodation continues to rise.

Fianna Fail deputy leader Dara Calleary told the Dail there is "sadness and anger" at the latest statistics.

The Government was also heavily criticised by Sinn Fein, and People Before Profit TD, Richard Boyd Barrett, who said the Government should be "ashamed of themselves".

Mr Coveney, hit back and arguing progress is being made and that it's "important to deal with the facts as well as the emotion."

Mr Calleary told Mr Coveney that "despite the spin" the homeless numbers have increased "under your watch".

In July 2016 - when Rebuilding Ireland was launched - there were 6,500 homeless but this was now above 10,000.

Mr Calleary said: "It was your plan, it is your Government's plan and, as with everything your Government does, it was it was based and founded on spin and no substance."

The Fianna Fail Mayo TD asked Mr Coveney to "finally fess up" that the Rebuilding Ireland plan is not working.

Mr Coveney said there are more family hubs being provided - though these were a temporary solution and families needed home.

"We are trying to fix a fundamentally broken market that collapsed during a property and banking crisis," the Tanaiste said.

He also insisted the number of people being taken out of homeless is "higher than ever before".

The Government had given more power to the Residential Tenancies Board and increased the number of "rent pressure zones", he said.

Earlier, Solidarity TD Mick Barry said the Government didn't deserve to be in power due to the rise in child homelessness.

He put it to Children's Minister Ms Zappone that 18 month ago when there were around 2,400 children in emergency accommodation

Ms Zappone said it "should be a wake-up call".
An escaped murderer has been extradited from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland on Friday morning.

Paul Johnston (37) absconded from Maghaberry Prison on April 27 2017 while on temporary release.

He was serving a life sentence for the murder of Sean May in west Belfast in December 1999.

Johnston was sentenced to a minimum of 19 years imprisonment in March 2002.

He was extradited following a ruling at Dublin High Court earlier this month for being unlawfully at large while serving a sentence.

Johnston was arrested in the Republic of Ireland on May 13 2017 under a European Arrest Warrant sought by the PSNI.

He is due to appear before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Friday afternoon.
A man whose dangerous driving due to inattention and tiredness caused the death of an elderly woman has been jailed for 14 months.

James Dingle (42) struck Maureen Creaner (92) with his jeep as she crossed the road to buy a paper at 8.15am on a Sunday morning, causing her catastrophic injuries which led to her death.

A garda at the scene noticed a smell of alcohol from Dingle and a test found him to be barely over the drink-driving limit. He told gardai he had taken alcohol while socialising the night before.

Dingle had had a row with his partner the previous night and was driving to her house at the time of the crash.

Garda collision experts concluded that Dingle had been driving at 64kmph in a 50 kmph zone.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Dingle's phone activity was analysed and his usage in the early hours of the morning showed there was a severe lack of sleep on his part.

Expand Close Maureen Creaner (92) was described as a lovely lady who had wonderful positivity / Facebook

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Whatsapp Maureen Creaner (92) was described as a lovely lady who had wonderful positivity

The prosecution told the court it could not be definitively said Dingle was on the phone at the time of the accident but that he was using the phone very close to the time of the incident.

Dingle, of Drumcliffe Road, Cabra, Dublin pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Mrs Creaner at Navan Road, Cabra on September 4, 2016.

David Creaner, Maureen's son, paid tribute to his mother in the family's victim impact statement.

He said Maureen had been a loving mother who provided a loving, friendly and safe home which was always open to family and friends.

He said his mother had lived through interesting times and had 92 years of stories which they had just started recording the week prior to her death. He said they missed her for lots of reasons, including her good advice and inspiring attitude to life.

He said they wished to thank the emergency services and nurses at the Mater hospital who were with their mother in the moments before she died when they could not be there.

Mr Creaner said it was the familys hope that as the lengthy legal process reaches a close, they could begin to remember Maureen not as a victim but as our wonderful mother.

Judge Martin Nolan said it seemed Dingle did not see Mrs Creaner or at least not see her in time.

He said most people who drive can be capable of inattention and the court had to assess Dingle's level of moral culpability in deciding if a custodial sentence was required.

Judge Nolan said Dingle knew he had drink taken the night before, knew he was tired and drove at a certain speed.

These are things he had control over, made decisions about and must take responsibility for, said Judge Nolan. His inattention was contributed to by these factors.

He noted in mitigation that Dingle had remained at the scene, co-operated with gardai and made full admissions. He said testimonials handed into court on Dingle's behalf were impressive and it must be taken into account that he was a productive man.

Judge Nolan imposed 14 months imprisonment and disqualified Dingle from driving for four years.

Judge Nolan extended his condolences to the Creaner family, noting Maureen had lived a full and productive life and was sorely missed by her family.

It is a tragedy for Maureen Creaner's family that they lost her in this way, said Judge Nolan.

She was entitled to die with dignity and did not die with the dignity she deserved.

He told Dingle: You are responsible for that, you made decisions on the morning and you should not have driven.
Shane Ross was forced to seek Fianna Fail's support on a vital Dail vote, after Fine Gael TDs left the chamber to attend the Ireland v Georgia football match.

The furious Transport Minister approached senior Fianna Fail TDs and asked them to vote down an Opposition amendment to the Aircraft Noise Bill on Tuesday.

However, Fianna Fail's Darragh O'Brien and Robert Troy said that their party had decided to abstain from the vote and would not change their position.

"Ross said the Fine Gaelers have gone to Aviva for the match and he needed Fianna Fail's votes, but the Government was told earlier in the day that Fianna Fail would be abstaining," a source said. Only 29 Government-supporting TDs were present for the vote, which was lost by 34 to 29 votes. There are 49 Fine Gael TDs.

The Opposition amendment significantly reduces the permitted sound decibel levels for aeroplanes landing at airports, and could potentially cause serious problems at Dublin Airport.

It is understood the Government will seek to reverse the vote when the legislation goes before the Seanad.

On Wednesday night at the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar reprimanded his Fine Gael TDs for losing votes. The Taoiseach warned that TDs should get ready to go to the country if they keep losing votes.
Victoria Page with her three-month-old son Alexander at her home in Glenageary, Dublin. Picture: Caroline Quinn

A mother was left very upset after a member of staff at the Department of Foreign Affairs told her to move to another room when she was breastfeeding her baby earlier this week.

Victoria Page (37) was breastfeeding her three-month-old baby Alexander on Wednesday in the waiting room of the passport office when a member of staff approached her.

"My son woke up and I was feeding him, and a man comes over and says 'you can't do...' But he didnt finish his sentence and then he said 'I'm going to show you somewhere that you'd be more comfortable."

"I said I really don't mind feeding him here. My baby was happy, he was comfortable, and you don't stop feeding a three-month old baby without them losing their minds."

Victoria said that before the staff member approached her she had sought out the seating in the passport office because the waiting area of the consular services office was closed. It was here, to this empty waiting area, that the staff member ushered her to.

"I thought he was going to show me to a mum and baby room, but no."

"The manner I felt wasn't just that he was uncomfortable. He just didn't want me feeding there.

Victoria had arrived 35 minutes early at the consular services office, but she felt that other members of the public who arrived later were allowed take their ticket for an appointment ahead of her while she was breastfeeding.

The Equal Status Act (2000) protects mothers from being discriminated against or harassed because they are breastfeeding. Mothers are entitled to breastfeed in public places and dont have to ask anyone for permission because of this act, the HSE says.

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I was very upset but if anything it'll make me breastfeed basically everywhere, Victoria said.

I've never had an issue anywhere, you always get funny looks, but I wasn't expecting this from someone in a public office. This is the Department of Foreign Affairs which is full of diplomats.

You can't have someone like that without training, if he can't deal with that situation

She added: If he wanted to help, he could have brought me a glass of water, that's how you help a breastfeeding mother.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs told Independent.ie that it apologised and the situation has been resolved.

The Department contacted the individual concerned and the issue has been resolved. The Departments approach to breastfeeding is to support and welcome members of the public and staff in this regard, the spokesperson said.

But Victoria, who works in multilingual tech support, described the apology as tepid.

I didn't receive anything from the department saying we'll speak to this person or he'll receive training, and that's what would have made the apology believable.

They said he didn't mean anything by it, and we want everyone to feel welcome at the department.

La Leche leader and breastfeeding counsellor Jan Cormie described the encounter as very unfortunate.

Its one thing to offer a woman who is breastfeeding another room but shes entitled to be where she wants to be.

Theres a lack of understanding and given that Department of Health recommends that mothers breastfeed exclusively for six months, and then alongside complementary foods for two years as does the World Health Organisation, its an awful pity that another government department is [not leading by example].

Far from asking her to move, he should have been asking her is there anything she needed.

Meanwhile, Irish Aid, which is the Irish Government's official aid programme and is a division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade states that it is committed to the goal of promoting breastfeeding in partner countries such as Vietnam, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Mozambique.
For weeks before Mother's Day, the shops are full of schmaltzy cards, floral baskets and teddy bears - an ever-present reminder that Sunday is a day of celebration. Restaurants will be packed with families out to mark a joyful occasion and pay tribute to the mums who reared us and nurtured us.

But not everyone will be celebrating on Sunday. For those who have lost their mothers or perhaps endured abusive or neglectful relationships, the day itself, and the lead-up to it, can be extremely difficult and can revive painful or troubling memories.

It acts as a reminder of the mother who is no longer with them or, indeed, the one they wished they had, and watching other people celebrate their mums when they aren't in a position to do so is challenging.

So sensitive is the topic that it was brought up in the House of Commons this week when British MP Matt Warman said advertising companies should bear in mind those for whom the day is not happy - as despite being 53, Mothering Sunday still evokes memories of the mother he lost a decade ago.

Hester McKenna understands this feeling. She had such a good relationship with her mother that she cannot bear going through it without her.

"My mother and I have always had the most fantastic relationship," she says. "I'm the only girl and we were so close throughout my entire life. She was my best friend and my soulmate and we never had a cross word. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016 despite never having smoked in her life and to say I was devastated would be an understatement.

"I couldn't bear the thought that she would only have a few more years left, but further tests showed that the cancer was stage four and all of a sudden I had to get used to the fact she might not even last a year. As it happens, she died just 25 days after diagnosis and nothing could have prepared me for the shock and the grief that followed."

This is the third Mother's Day that the Louth woman will be without her mum May - and she still finds it as hard as the first.

"All through the years, Mother's Day was our special day," says Hester. "Before I had children of my own, I would spoil her on that day and when I had my own four and then the grandchildren, we would get pampered together by everyone.

"My Dad died 13 years ago, so Mammy would come to my house and all the children and grandchildren would come too. My husband would cook for us and we would have cards and little gifts from everyone. Then the pair of us would go to the pub for a drink. It was lovely.

"It's coming up to the third Mother's Day without her and I still can't bear to see all the cards in the shops. I keep finding things that I would like to buy her. I feel her death as deeply as if it just happened."

Although she really misses her mother and the day will be sad, there are also many things to be grateful for.

"My mother was taken away from us too quickly, but she knew how much she was loved and I was by her side throughout the whole process," says Hester. "I am so blessed with my children and grandchildren, and am so lucky to be spending the day with them. Mammy doted on all of my children first and then the grandchildren, who she idolised, so we will all be thinking of her on the day - she might not be with us, but she certainly won't be forgotten."

42-year-old Dublin woman Mairead finds Mother's Day hard too - but for very different reasons. For her, the "bombardment of tat on this Hallmark day" brings back thoughts of her childhood she would rather forget.

"I never had an easy relationship with my mother," she says. "She was very cold, rarely smiled and certainly never gave me a hug or told me she loved me. I can't remember ever doing anything nice with her - no bedtime stories or baking sessions, and when I became a teenager, she seemed openly hostile towards me - almost as if she was jealous of the fact that I had a future ahead of me.

"I had a fantastic relationship with my dad, who was warm, kind and funny, and made up for all the negativity with my mother. But as an only child, I always felt a deep feeling of sadness that she didn't seem to love me at all."

Mairead, who has three children of her own, says while her father made excuses and tried to make up for his wife's lack of affection, she has had no contact with her mother since her beloved dad passed away and, every March, she is reminded of that fact.

"Dad told me that my mum was raised in a very unloving household so didn't know how to show affection," she says. "He also said she had wanted to go to college, but her parents forbade it and that's why she resented me going, But I didn't buy that as whenever I visited with my own kids (for the sake of my dad), she was all over them, showering them with hugs and kisses and all the time she didn't have for me.

"I know I shouldn't resent my children having a relationship with their granny, but seeing how loving she was with them, hurt even more. When my dad died in 2015, I was utterly devastated and my mother then started to become more demanding of my time and expected me to visit with the kids more often - even though she usually ignored me. So we had words and I let her know how she had made me feel throughout my life. She was raging and told me to leave and never come back, so I haven't.

"My kids wondered why we didn't visit Granny so much, but I won't pretend to a woman who has never shown me an ounce of affection. I didn't like Mother's Day when I was young as I always tried so hard to win her approval and now that she isn't talking to me, it's a reminder of the fact that, as far as I am concerned, I never had a mother at all."

Psychologist Peadar Maxwell says many people like Hester and Mairead find Mother's Day uncomfortable and painful for a host of reasons.

"Sons and daughters may feel ambivalent or even angry about a day that means something different to their friends, colleagues and maybe even their siblings," he says.

"Try to acknowledge the mixture of feelings you might experience - anger, sadness, love or a longing for a better relationship," he advises. "It's alright and normal to hold strong but conflicting feelings towards one person, but don't allow the glare of Mother's Day to trap you into being negative about other people's relationships with their mothers.

"Your siblings, friends, or partner have a right to have a different understanding of their relationships. Bitterness can cause hurtfulness, so move on and try to enjoy a day unrelated to the commercial theme of imaginary perfect relationships. And if you are bereaved, be kind and gentle to yourself, try to have good company and allow yourself to celebrate in some small way to commemorate your deceased mother."
Lynsey Bennett was supposed to travel to Iceland with Wow Air.

A mum of two recovering from cancer was devastated to discover a "bucket list" trip to Iceland had been cancelled when Wow Air collapsed.

Lynsey Bennett (30), from Enybegs, Co Longford, said she was really looking forward to the holiday with a friend after treatment for cervical cancer.

"It was supposed to be so special. It was supposed to be the trip celebrating that I had the all-clear," she said.

Ms Bennett, a beauty therapist, said she was "really disappointed" with the news.

"In January 2017, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer even though I had a smear the previous year which said I was fine.

"About nine months later I had different operations including a hysterectomy. Then doctors said my cancer was gone, but by September 2017, I wasn't feeling well again. It took until March last year that the biopsy showed it was back again."

Expand Close Jennifer Shreve, from Maryland, US, who is trying to get home. Photo: Caroline Quinn / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jennifer Shreve, from Maryland, US, who is trying to get home. Photo: Caroline Quinn

Ms Bennett said she received chemotherapy and radiotherapy and she finally got the all-clear from doctors two weeks ago. She and a friend had booked a holiday to Iceland with Wow Air to take their minds off the tumultuous year and to celebrate the good news.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Shreve from Annapolis, Maryland, in the United States, was in tears yesterday morning over the airline collapse.

She found out about her flight being cancelled by email at 6am and travelled to Dublin Airport to try to find out what was happening.

"It's awful. I have been to Thailand, China, Japan, Canada. I have been all over the world. I have never in my wildest dreams come up with the scenario that my airline disappeared in the middle of my travels," she said.

Expand Close Ursula Collins and Jim OBrien, from Ballincollig, Co Cork, were booked on a trip to Iceland. Photo: Caroline Quinn / Facebook

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Whatsapp Ursula Collins and Jim OBrien, from Ballincollig, Co Cork, were booked on a trip to Iceland. Photo: Caroline Quinn

She had been due to fly to Iceland, before catching a connecting flight to the States. "I have been in tears after I realised that I have no way home."

Also at the airport, Ursula Collins and Jim O'Brien, from Cork, had been due to fly with Wow Air to Reykjavik.

Their travel agent was trying to sort out another booking. "Hopefully we can get something sorted," Ms Collins said.
What flights have been affected?

All of them. Wow has stopped operating as an airline, so anybody travelling now, or booked to travel with the airline, faces disruption. Wow is offering advice on its website, wowair.ie.

What can I do if my flight is cancelled?

Normally, when flights are cancelled, airlines must offer you the choice between re-routing or a full refund. However, the situation differs when an airline collapses.

On its website, Wow has advised passengers to "check available flights with other airlines". It adds: "Some airlines may offer flights at a reduced rate - so-called rescue fares - in light of the circumstances."

What are 'rescue fares'?

"Rescue" or repatriation fares are voluntarily provided by airlines when a carrier goes bust - they are aimed at helping a situation, so should be reasonably priced.

Aer Lingus will offer rescue fares from Ireland to the US or Canada for customers booked to fly with Wow up to April 11 - those wishing to avail should call 1890 800 600.

Norwegian also said it would offer "repatriation fares" from tomorrow, set at a 25pc discount off net economy fares. The fares will be available to April 8 to customers who can show a valid Wow Air booking on certain routes. Icelandair is also worth watching, as is easyJet.

Can I get my money back?

If you booked flights using a debit or credit card, your first step should be to contact the card provider - chargeback options may exist to allow you to reverse a transaction if there is a problem.

If you booked your flights through a travel agent or tour operator, you should contact them directly now.

Can I claim compensation?

That is unclear at this time.

Will my travel insurance help?

If you have "scheduled airline failure" cover on your policy, you will be able to claim, but not all policies offer this as standard.

It's best practice in situations like this to call your insurer off the bat, keep a note of details, and keep hold of receipts.
Good news: the UK was supposed to leave the EU today, but its calamitous no-deal exit has been put back for at least a fortnight. Lesser good news: we'll be listening to this for quite a while yet.

But let's also keep looking for positives. Let's note that the most sluggish game on this continent of Europe for 33 months has finally begun to move. It's going somewhere, though we know not entirely where just yet.

Anyone for a very quick stock-take? Try this.

UK MPs are back at it today, trying to fix a further delay in this Brexit process until May 22, the eve of the country's mandatory European Parliament elections. The outer April 12 deadline, just a fortnight from now, is related to a UK and EU legal obligation to promulgate the holding of European Parliament elections in the UK on May 23.

The UK government might split out the two elements of the draft EU-UK divorce deal, done on November 25 at a leaders' summit in Brussels. Today, MPs may be asked to vote for only the 565-page less popular part, which sets out the EU-UK divorce terms, including the Border backstop, designed to keep the 1998 Good Friday Agreement alive.

It's a point where things go deeply technical and we wonder how many more years of life we have left. It remains unlikely that the embattled PM, Theresa May, can win - but if she did, it would mean the Brexit process could be delayed until May 22, the eve of the date by which the UK should, by law, hold elections for the European Parliament.

To overturn the last epic 147-MP defeat of the Withdrawal Agreement, Mrs May needs 75 MPs - mostly from her own party, some from Labour, and 10 Democratic Unionist Party members - to change their minds.

All of that is most unlikely to happen. But what will happen next?

Well, the focus is back to next Monday on the slow march towards some semblance of sense about a way forward. Over the weekend, key MPs across all parties are expected to work together on re-drafting something acceptable from the eight Brexit motions which were all rejected on Wednesday night in the Westminster parliament.

The focus will be on the three most positive outcomes of eight negative results: 1. A resounding rejection of a no-deal Brexit; 2. A very narrow defeat for the idea of staying inside the EU customs union, something which would be helpful to Ireland; 3. A narrow defeat for the idea of a second Brexit referendum.

Parallel to that comes the ramped-up British Conservative Party leadership contest, with Mrs May's stronger declarations that she will herself exit sooner rather than later. So, enter one Boris Johnson, who wrote as recently as Monday that Mrs May's deal was "rotten", an "utter humiliation" and a "democratic disaster".

Suddenly, he can somehow back that same deal - but apparently has told friends the deal is "dead anyway". Amazing what a whiff of a big job can do to change perspective.
It is a simple fact, and yet apparently it bears repeating: in Ireland, you are legally entitled to breastfeed anywhere you want.

That means on the bus, at the theatre, in a public waiting room, at a restaurant, in the library - wherever. And your right to do so is enshrined in law, specifically the Equal Status Act (2000), which protects people, including breastfeeding mums, from discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment.

Yet few people are aware of this, even in places where you might reasonably expect them to be - for instance, at the Department of Foreign Affairs, where nursing mum Victoria Page was asked to remove herself and her three-month-old baby to another room "for her comfort".

Hmm. Did the department really have Victoria's comfort to the front of its minds when it treated her like this? Or was it trying to make itself more comfortable? Or was it thinking of other members of the public, who might be troubled by the perfectly ordinary sight of a mum feeding her hungry baby?

My heart goes out to Victoria: how humiliated she must have felt, being asked to move from a public space like that. And how her blood must have boiled, when she came to her senses and realised what had happened. How bitterly she must regret not refusing to leave.

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I breastfed my own two babies in public locations on hundreds of occasions, everywhere from the pub to the playground, and bizarrely, the only place I was ever asked "to move to somewhere more comfortable" was in Crumlin Children's Hospital, when a nurse moved me from a busy public corridor and into a quieter waiting room. Even when I protested I was quite happy in the corridor, she insisted that I must relocate.

It's entirely likely that she was trying to be helpful. And it's also likely that the employee who asked Victoria Page to move simply thought he was doing the right thing, and had no idea of how upsetting the experience might be for a new mum.

But every time a breastfeeding mum is asked to move somewhere else - no matter how politely - it reinforces the notion that breastfeeding is in some way shameful, and needs to be hidden away.

If we want fewer mothers to breastfeed, this is an excellent way to go about it. But official Government policy is exactly the opposite: it wants more mums to do it, for all the obvious health benefits it brings.

So it would be nice to see it take a more decisive lead on the issue - starting by making its own offices a genuinely welcoming place for nursing mums.
When I look at Theresa May, I feel a terrible sense of a wasted premiership.

Brexit was, of course, always going to dominate it, and she knew it - and in the end it has proved her downfall, although still now we don't know the precise timings, despite her statement to the 1922 Committee.

Even so, she seemed sincere when she stood outside 10 Downing Street on Wednesday, July 13, 2016, and spoke about other priorities - the "burning injustices" she wanted to put right. Not three years ago, yet she looks a decade younger, before the strains of managing her party and country through a virtually perpetual crisis took their toll.

It is apt now to recall her words, which sounded fresh and inspiring, as if she wanted to embark on a mission to heal a nation divided about far more than just membership of the European Union.

It was certainly unexpected to hear a Conservative prime minister speak in such terms: "... That means fighting against the burning injustice that, if you're born poor, you will die on average nine years earlier than others.

"If you're black, you're treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than if you're white.

"If you're a white, working-class boy, you're less likely than anybody else in Britain to go to university.

"If you're at a state school, you're less likely to reach the top professions than if you're educated privately.

"If you're a woman, you will earn less than a man. If you suffer from mental health problems, there's not enough help to hand.

"If you're young, you'll find it harder than ever before to own your own home.

"If you're one of those families, if you're just managing, I want to address you directly. I know you're working around the clock, I know you're doing your best, and I know that sometimes life can be a struggle. The government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few, but by yours."

Well, rather than continuing the revolution in social justice and equality that started under Tony Blair and was extended under David Cameron (against much opposition in his own ranks), all Mrs May has to show for her efforts are the twin shames of the Grenfell fire and the Windrush affair, the latter dating back to her time as home secretary and the imposition of the infamous "hostile environment" regime on migrants.

Indeed, she showed a remarkably steely resolve to prevent child refugees from Syria, for example, from finding sanctuary in this country.

The "just-about-managing" families of 2016 are scarcely managing much better today, their wages rarely keeping up with the rises in the cost of living. It is true that there are more jobs around than there were three years ago, but that genuine achievement has to be balanced against the conditions that so many workers have to put up with to make ends meet.

There is also no great sense that the housing crisis has been taken seriously enough, nor that the disadvantages of race and class have been much addressed. The gender pay gap persists. State school teachers attest to the critical state of education - blighting the life chances of so many young people.

For those unlucky enough to find themselves at the sharp end of the universal credit welfare reforms, life has never been worse.

Only in the important task of improving mental health care can Mrs May claim to have had left much of an abiding legacy, and her critics dispute the adequacy of the extra funding she has secured for mental health services and the NHS more broadly.

The "burning injustices" thus remain, and, like the just-about-managing families, references to these famous phrases have disappeared from the prime minister's statements and those of her ministers - out of sheer embarrassment.

I'm sure she regrets that her time in office has been such a disappointment on so many levels. Yet, even with Brexit dissipating so much of her energy, it was not inevitable that so little should have been done on the domestic agenda.

Mrs May has the entire machinery of government at her disposal, and the officials were not all busy organising pretend traffic jams on the M20, commissioning blue passports or stockpiling medicines.

She did, even making due allowances, neglect vital public services, and that served her badly in the 2017 election. She will be remembered for Brexit, but also for leaving those injustices burning as intensely as ever.

Still, it is also true that her harshest critics and most dangerous enemies were within her own party - and often in her own cabinet - and they made her job harder than it needed to be across the field.

When she was party chair under William Hague, back in 2002 she famously used the phrase "nasty party" about the Conservatives. It is often misquoted - her point was that they knew they weren't "nasty", but the public perceived them that way.

However, that was before so many of them started being so very nasty to her during her premiership.

I wonder what words she would use about her colleagues today?
George Clooney has called for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei (Ian West/PA Wire)

George Clooney has called for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by Brunei after the tiny oil-rich nation announced new laws making homosexual acts and adultery punishable by death.

From April 3 in Brunei, a south-east Asian country with a population of about 430,000, anyone found guilty of homosexuality or cheating on their spouse could be whipped or stoned.

The laws, as part of the countrys interpretation of Sharia Law, also introduce amputation of the hands or feet as punishment for robbery, according to an announcement by the countrys attorney general.

Expand Close George Clooney has called for a boycott of Brunei-owned hotels (Andrew Milligan/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp George Clooney has called for a boycott of Brunei-owned hotels (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Brunei, which gained independence from the UK in 1984, is headed by the Sultan of Brunei and through its investment agency owns nine exclusive hotels, three of which are in the UK.

Hollywood star Clooney has called for a boycott.

Writing in Deadline, he said: Every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery.

Brunei is a Monarchy and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws. But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations?

Are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations?George Clooney

Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens? Ive learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you cant shame them. But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.

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The Brunei Investment Agency, through the Dorchester Collection, owns Londons The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane as well as Coworth Park in Berkshire.

Two of Hollywoods best-known hotels, The Bel-Air and The Beverly Hills, are also under its control.

Clooney admitted he had stayed at some of the hotels recently, saying he was unaware of their ownership.

It is not the first time Hollywood has attempted to boycott the hotels for Bruneis treatment of the LGBT community.

In 2014, when the country announced it was implementing Shariah Law, activists demanded stars stop attending Brunei-owned hotels and Clooney said a fundraising event usually held at the Beverly Hills Hotel was cancelled.

However, Clooney said the boycott lost steam.

Like all good intentions when the white heat of outrage moves on to the hundred other reasons to be outraged, the focus dies down and slowly these hotels get back to the business of business, he said.

The Dorchester Collection has been contacted for comment.
Looking forward: Fashion designer Helen Cody, with models Eabha ODonoghue (left) and Hillary Mohr (right), wearing items from her spring/summer 2019 collection at the ARC Fashion Show at the RDS. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Fashion Designer Helen Cody with models Eabha ODonoghue and Hillary Mohr (right) wearing some of her creations at the ARC Designer Fashion Show at the RDS last night. Picture: Steve Humphreys

Fashion Designer Helen Cody with models Eabha ODonoghue and Hillary Mohr (right) wearing some of her creations at the ARC Designer Fashion Show at the RDS last night. Picture: Steve Humphreys

Designer Helen Cody had every good reason to feel emotional after her new SS19 eveningwear collection provided the triumphant opener for the ARC Fashion Show in the RDS.

"This day last year I thought I was going to die but the power of the amazing people in St Vincent's Hospital saved me," said Helen who underwent six hours of life saving surgery after being diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer.

Over the last year, during which Helen had six rounds of chemotherapy, the designer continued to work away at her home and last night at the annual fundraiser in aim of ARC Cancer Support, she revealed her latest couture masterpieces.

There was hushed silence among the 850 guests in the library at the RDS, many of them cancer survivors too, as Helen showed six looks lovingly handcrafted using luxurious layers of cream silk ottoman, intricately plaited grosgrain ribbon top over pearl embellished tulle and hand loomed Calais lace fashioned into a corseted top and romantic full skirt with pockets.

Expand Close Fashion Designer Helen Cody with models Eabha ODonoghue and Hillary Mohr (right) wearing some of her creations at the ARC Designer Fashion Show at the RDS last night. Picture: Steve Humphreys / Facebook

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Whatsapp Fashion Designer Helen Cody with models Eabha ODonoghue and Hillary Mohr (right) wearing some of her creations at the ARC Designer Fashion Show at the RDS last night. Picture: Steve Humphreys

The stunning surface work was inspired by an antique Belleek bowl that had pride of place in Helen's mother's living room. "It always fascinated me how they created such tiny, perfectly ceramic pieces," said Helen.

"This collection is a reflection on the fragility of human nature so I looked at things that are fragmented, translucent, transparent and can disintegrate. I thought of my mother teaching me to sow as a child and it has all come from that and my mum's Belleek bowl is never out of my head." said Helen.

Most stunning of all was the 3D surface work on a cream tailored ottoman jacket with delicate, hand cut petals with pearls and the look, Helen explained.

It has been a tough year for the designer who, between diagnosis and surgery, married her architect husband, Rory Murphy, with her terrier dogs, Harry and Joe, who she calls "the boys," walking her up the aisle at City Hall.

The couple honeymooned in St Vincent's hospital after Helen's surgery and they are just back from a romantic holiday Venice where they celebrated their first wedding anniversary on March 20.

"I saw my oncologist for my six month examination and she gave me a gold star and said I don't have to come back to her for a year," said a beaming Helen last night.

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Recalling the night a year ago when she work up after surgery, Helen said "I woke up at 10.30pm going, 'Legs OK, arms OK, chest very sore', I was high as kite but Oh my God I can't believe I'm alive! and I have probably been gliding on that for a year - literally - that feeling of being alive. They cut out the cancer. They got it and I felt that the chemo was an insurance policy."

The award-winning designer has dressed everyone from Ali Hewson and Amy Huberman to Oscar nominees and who can forget what happened after she dressed Irish soccer player Stephanie Roche in a feathered dress for Ballon d'Or in January 2015 and the images went viral. Working from her studio in Harold's Cross, Helen especially loves the special relationship that comes from creating bespoke dresses and wedding gowns for Irish customers. For her own wedding, she wore one of her own embellished full skirts and a cashmere cardigan from Suzie Monaghan. For last night's show, she introduced hats from FAO Millinery run by Freya Oatway.

Expand Close Perfect match... Helen Cody and Rory Murphy who were married in Dublin last week. Photo: Doreen Kilfeather / Facebook

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Whatsapp Perfect match... Helen Cody and Rory Murphy who were married in Dublin last week. Photo: Doreen Kilfeather

The ARC show is Ireland's biggest and involved a dramatic 40 runway, 30 designers, 12 models, four 'ArcAngel' guest models who have used the ARC support network and the sell out extravaganza produced by Eddie Shanahan was watched by over 850 guests.
A fire in a 22-storey commercial building in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka yesterday killed at least 19 people, injured 70 and trapped many more.

Searches went on late into the day as some of the trapped waved frantically from the windows and roof of the building in the Banani area, while others tried to jump to safety.

Firefighters perched on cranes smashed windows in an attempt to reach those inside, witnesses said.

Officials carried charred bodies out as hundreds of people gathered in the street below. One man fell while trying to escape by coming down a rope, a witness said.

By evening there were still some pockets of fire in the building, though it had largely been doused, officials said.

More than 100 people had been rescued from the building with helicopters and ladders, said Julfikar Rahman, director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence. "Our firefighters are searching for bodies on every floor," Mr Rahman said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

A girl sobbing outside the building said her father worked in an office inside but was not answering his phone.

"I don't know where he is," she said.

The blaze comes a month after an inferno killed 71 people in an old neighbourhood of the city.

Critics at the time blamed poor enforcement of safety regulations in one of the world's most densely packed cities.

Helicopters joined 22 firefighting units that worked with the army, navy, air force and police to battle yesterday's blaze as smoke billowed into the sky.
The Italian parliament has made it harder for judges to hand down tough sentences on people who shoot robbers on their premises.

THE Italian parliament has made it harder for judges to hand down tough sentences on people who shoot robbers on their premises.

The so-called "legitimate defence" law was a victory for Matteo Salvini, leader of the hard-right League party which is in coalition with the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement.

Violent crime in Italy has declined in recent years, according to interior ministry data, with murders down 16.3pc year-on-year in the 12 months to August 2018, and armed robbery down 12.3pc.

However, Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Salvini has offered his public support to people prosecuted for shooting robbers.

"This is a wonderful day for Italians," he said.

"Finally we are definitively guaranteeing the sacrosanct principle of legitimate defence for people who are attacked in their homes, their shops or their bars."

It affirms defence is always legitimate when people feel threatened by would-be robbers on their property.

Homeowners can no longer be accused of excessive violence if they can show that they shot burglars "in a state of grave confusion due to the situation of danger".

Opponents have argued people will believe they can shoot intruders with impunity.
A small tanker hijacked by migrants off Libya docked in Malta's port of Valletta yesterday after Maltese special forces took control of the vessel, witnesses said.

Cargo ship Elhiblu 1 had picked up 108 migrants stranded at sea on Wednesday, some of whom then hijacked the vessel when it became clear that it planned to take them back to Libya.

Police awaiting the vessel at the port arrested five men and disembarked the remainder of the migrants, including at least 19 women and 12 children, on to buses, a reporter at the scene said.

The migrants, whose nationalities are not known, looked exhausted and some of the younger children were carried off the boat by police officers.

Malta's armed forces said a special operations team backed by fast interceptors craft and a helicopter had taken control of the ship and that it was headed for Valletta.

"The captain repeatedly stated that he was not in control of the vessel and that he and his crew were being forced and threatened by a number of migrants to proceed to Malta," the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) said.

"We do not shirk responsibility, despite our size. We will now follow all international rules accordingly," said Joseph Muscat, Malta's prime minister. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the hardline deputy prime minister of Italy, had called the migrants "pirates" and vowed that they would not be allowed to land on Italian soil.

"Immigration is managed by criminals and should be blocked by any legal means necessary," he said.

EU states have been at loggerheads over migration since a spike in Mediterranean arrivals caught the bloc by surprise in 2015, stretching social and security services and fuelling support for far-right, nationalist and populist groups.

Sea arrivals have fallen from more than a million in the peak year to some 140,000 people last year, according to UN data. But political tensions around migration run high in the EU, especially ahead of European Parliament elections in May.

Under the influence of hardline Mr Salvini, Italy has moved to shut its ports to people saved in the sea by EU ships patrolling the Mediterranean for migrants, demanding that other EU states also host the new arrivals. Otherwise, Rome has threatened to pull the plug on the operation in the Mediterranean, where the United Nations says nearly 2,300 people died last year trying to reach Europe.

The EU agreed this week to extend its Mediterranean naval mission for six months beyond the end of March - but only for air patrols and training of the Libyan coast guard.
Home care: Ninoska Blanco sits with her sick mother Alexandrian Blanco in Caracas during one of the many power blackouts that have hit Venezuela. Photo: AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko

Russia yesterday said it had sent "specialists" to Venezuela under a military co-operation deal but insisted they posed no threat to regional stability, brushing aside a call from US President Donald Trump to remove all military personnel from the country.

Mr Trump said on Wednesday "all options" were open to make Russia pull troops out of Venezuela after two air force planes landed outside Caracas on Saturday carrying nearly 100 Russian troops.

As Venezuela has descended into political turmoil, Russia has emerged as a staunch backer of President Nicolas Maduro, while the United States backs the country's opposition and has imposed sanctions.

Venezuela's military attache in Moscow said Russia had sent "servicemen", but they would not take part in military operations, Interfax news agency reported.

"The presence of Russian servicemen in Venezuela is linked to the discussion of co-operation in the military-technical sphere," Jose Rafael Torrealba Perez said.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the arrivals only as "specialists".

"Russia is not changing the balance of power in the region, Russia is not threatening anyone, unlike [officials] in Washington," she said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the specialists were in Venezuela to service pre-existing contracts for the supply of Russian arms.

He said Russia was not interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs and the Kremlin hoped other countries would also allow Venezuelans to decide their own fate.

Russia and China have backed Mr Maduro, while the United States and most other Western countries support opposition leader Juan Guaido.

In January, Mr Guaido invoked the constitution to assume Venezuela's interim presidency, arguing Mr Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate.

Mr Maduro, who retains control of the country's military, has said his opponent is a puppet of the United States.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has estimated a quarter of Venezuelans are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to an internal UN report that paints a dire picture of millions of people lacking food and basic services.

The report's findings contrast with comments from Mr Maduro, who has said there is no crisis and no need for humanitarian aid, blaming US sanctions for the country's economic problems.

The UN has found itself caught in the middle of the country's political struggle.

"Much more action is required to meet the growing needs of the Venezuelan people," reads the reads the 45-page UN 'Overview of Priority Humanitarian Needs' in Venezuela. It estimates 94pc of the 28.8 million people live in poverty, while some 3.4 million people have fled, with a further 1.9 million expected to follow this year.

"Due to an increasingly contracted economy and political unrest, the Venezuelan population is facing unprecedented challenges in accessing essential services, including protection, healthcare, medicines, vaccinations, water, electricity, education and access to food," the report said.

There are an estimated 2.8 million people in need when it comes to healthcare, including some 300,000 people whose lives are at risk because they have been unable to access medicines or treatment for diseases like cancer, diabetes and HIV for more than a year.

"Preventable diseases such as tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles and malaria have resurfaced and are on the rise, as is hepatitis A, due to the lack of access to safe drinking water," the report said.
Jab: Children in US with no vaccinations has quadrupled. Photo: AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Police in Arizona forced their way into a home with guns drawn to remove an unvaccinated toddler with a high fever, amid mounting concern over falling immunisation rates in the US.

Officers in Chandler, south-east of Phoenix, broke down the door of the family home after Sarah Beck and Brooks Bryce, the child's parents, refused to let police and a child safety official enter. The couple's three children have since been taken into care.

The couple said they took their feverish two-year-old son Heber to a naturopath clinic and were told he had a temperature of 105F (40.5C).

Doctors directed the parents to take the toddler, who has not been vaccinated, to hospital but Ms Beck decided not to because the child's fever later fell 102F (38C).

However, when the clinic learned the child never went to the hospital it alerted the authorities, fearing he had a life-threatening illness.

It comes as public health officials call for tighter regulations around vaccines, warning the number of US children who have not had any vaccines has quadrupled since 2001. Five states have reported outbreaks of measles this year.

An investigator spoke to the doctor and contacted officers, according to the police report. The police said officers arrived at the family home but were refused entry.

Mr Bryce told a local TV station: "They said 'Brooks, you have to come out of your house right now... We have to check on them' and I said 'He's doing fine, his temperature is 100. He's safe, he's asleep, could you please just leave us alone'."

Mr Bryce's surveillance footage, shared with US media, showed the officers - who had a warrant - proceeded to break down the door.

"Guns drawn, flashlights shining on me... they saw me and asked me to put my hands up," said Mr Bryce, who was handcuffed while police searched the home.

When officers entered the house, the report continued, they found more that two more children, aged four and six, were suffering from similar symptoms.
US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to close the US border with Mexico next week, or at least large sections of the frontier, if Mexico "doesn't immediately stop all illegal immigration coming into the United States" from the region.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to close the U.S. border with Mexico in the past. The latest threats came in a series of Twitter posts amid reports that a surge of migrants in El Paso, Texas, threatened to overwhelm border protection officials there.

"CONGRESS MUST CHANGE OUR WEAK IMMIGRATION LAWS NOW, & Mexico must stop illegals from entering the U.S. through their country and our Southern Border," Trump said.

"Mexico has for many years made a fortune off of the U.S., far greater than Border Costs. If Mexico doesnt immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week."

Democratic and Republican legislators have fought over whether there is a "crisis" at the border, particularly amid Mr Trump's push for a border wall, which he claims will solve immigration problems.

The president called on Congress to immediately change what he said were weak US immigration laws, which he blamed on Democrats.

Arrests along the southern border have rocketed in recent months. Border agents are on track to make 100,000 arrests and denials of entry this month, more than half of them families with children.

To manage the crush, US Customs and Border Protection is reassigning 750 border inspectors from their usual duties at the ports of entry to help Border Patrol keep pace with arrivals in between ports of entry.

The head of the agency held a press conference in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday to say the breaking point had arrived.

In February, Mr Trump declared a national emergency in a bid to fund his promised wall at the US-Mexico border.

He threatened to close the border last December unless his wall funds were agreed.
Democrats in the US have intensified their demands for Robert Muellers full report to be released after learning the special counsels findings from his Trump-Russia investigation run to more than 300 pages.

The demands came as President Donald Trump boasted of total exoneration based on a four-page summary by his attorney general.

House judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler was told by attorney general William Barr that there is no intention of giving the confidential report to Congress immediately as he redacts grand jury testimony and other elements.

Democrats say they may subpoena the report if it is not forthcoming by their Tuesday deadline, which Mr Barr has said will not be met.

Through the day, tempers were rising on Capitol Hill.

Shaking her fist for emphasis, house speaker Nancy Pelosi said Mr Barrs summary, which cleared Mr Trump of campaign collusion with Russia and criminal obstruction of Mr Muellers federal probe, was condescending and arrogant.

She said: Mr attorney general, show us the report and well come to our own conclusions.

She asked what Mr Trump and the Republicans were afraid of and mocked them as scaredy-cats.

Mr Trump himself headed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a campaign rally, where he deemed the probe the greatest hoax in the history of our country and warned that those behind it would be held accountable.

After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is dead, Mr Trump told a packed house of roaring supporters.

This was nothing more than a sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people.

The length of Mr Muellers still-confidential report makes clear that there are substantially more details that he and his team have documented in their investigation than Mr Barr disclosed to Congress and the public.

The attorney general has been going through the report amid Democratic concerns that what has been made public so far was tilted in Mr Trumps favour.

It is unclear whether whatever Mr Barr might release next will be Mr Muellers own words or another summary.

Mr Barr has said he will provide Congress with at least a partial version in April and told Mr Nadler he would agree to testify before his committee.
A Nebraska tribal leader said he is pleased with a federal judges decision this week to require a federal agency to reconsider its approval of his tribes casino in neighboring Iowa.

Larry Wright Jr., chairman of the Ponca Tribe , said Thursday that Judge Stephanie M. Roses ruling that the National Indian Gaming Commission must take another look at the process used to approve the Prairie Flower Casino was mostly positive for the tribe.

The Ponca Tribe is pleased with the courts examination of the facts and overall conclusion, he said. We believe it essentially rejected the principle legal arguments the plaintiffs raised in opposition to our right to game on our sovereign land in Carter Lake.

The Prairie Flower Casino is located on tribal trust land in Carter Lake, Iowa. It is named for a daughter of Chief Standing Bear who died when her people were forced to leave their homelands by the federal government in 1877.

Indianz.Com Video by Kevin Abourezk: Ponca Tribe Celebrates Opening of New Casino

Thanks to the advocacy of Chief Standing Bear , the Ponca were allowed to return home only to see their federal status terminated by the United States a century later. The tribe's recognition was restored in 1990, which the NIGC considered when it determined, first in 2007 and again in 2017 , that the casino could open on "restored" lands in Carter Lake.

The tribe's land in Carter Lake was placed in trust in 2003. Generally, land acquired after the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988 cannot be used for gaming.

But Section 20 of the law contains exceptions to that general rule. According to the NIGC, the "restored lands" exception applies to the Poncas.

Prairie Flower is being litigated by the state of Iowa and the city of Council Bluffs, where non-Indian gaming facilities are located. The state of Nebraska also intervened, citing impacts on its interests -- the city of Omaha, the most populous in the region, is next door to Carter Lake.

The casino opened last October following the NIGC's favorable review.

A drum group performs a Ponca honoring song during a grand opening ceremony at the Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake, Iowa, on October 31, 2018. Photo by Kevin Abourezk

Rose's decision does not require the facility to close, and Wright said he doesnt expect a different ruling from the NIGC when it reconsiders its earlier decision.

Obviously, we would have liked to have it all cleared up, but we believe were still in the strong position that we were when we decided to move forward, he said.

The state of Iowa claims the Ponca Tribe agreed in 2002 not to use its land in Carter Lake for a casino when it first sought to put that land into federal trust. But in its 2017 decision, the NIGC ruled that agreement wasn't valid and couldn't be used to stop the tribe from gaming.

In Roses decision, she reaffirmed the federal agencys decision that the agreement wasnt properly authorized by the tribe and should not prohibit the tribe from seeking restored lands status for its Carter Lake land.

The judges ruling requires the NIGC to reconsider whether the 2002 agreement affects the status of the tribes land as restored lands that are eligible for gaming.

The tribe said it is confident that the agreement doesnt impact the status of its Carter Lake land. The tribe also said the judges ruling doesnt vacate the NIGCs underlying ruling.

We just believe the courts decision offered some clear victories for us, Wright said.

He said Prairie Flower has generated revenue well beyond the tribes projections since opening and the tribe still plans to expand the casino.

Wright said the casino has already begun benefiting his people and has helped fund cultural events. However, its primary impact has come through the nearly 100 people  mostly Natives  that it employs, he said.

That economic development and growth for the metro area is as important as the revenue, he said.

National Indian Gaming Commission Documents

8th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision

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Quick-to-See-Smith lecture, panel on Native art set for April 2 at MSU

MSU News Service

Noted artist Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith will lecture about contemporary Native American art at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in Montana State Universitys Inspiration Hall in Norm Asbjornson Hall as part of the MSU College of Arts and Architecture s 2019 Presidents Fine Arts Series.

Smith will share a survey of her own activist work and painting as well as images of the some of the latest Native American art, much of which deals with technology, video, installation and ephemeral art. Her lecture is free and open to the public. It will be followed by a panel with several Native American artists including her son, Neal Ambrose-Smith; printmaker and MSU graduate Corwin Corky Clairmont; Linda King; and Susan Stuart.

Smith is internationally known as an artist, curator, lecturer, printmaker and professor. She uses humor and satire to examine myths, stereotypes and the paradox of American Indian life in contrast to the consumerism of American society. She has said her work is philosophically centered by her strong traditional beliefs and political activism.

The celebrated Montana-born artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith will lecture about contemporary Native art, and participate in a panel discussion with other artists on April 2. She will also conduct master classes for MSU art students the week of April 1. Her visit is part of the College of Arts and Architectures 2019 Presidents Fine Arts Series scheduled throughout April. Photo courtesy of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

Smith was born at St. Ignatius Mission and is an enrolled Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai. Her work is in collections at the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum , the Walker, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Among her awards are a Montana Governors Arts Award in 2018, the New Mexico Governors Arts Award, the Moore College Visionary Woman Award for 2011 and the 2011 ArtTable Artist Award. She has received a grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation to archive her work and was inducted into the National Academy of Design in 2011. New Mexicos Georgia OKeeffe Museum named her a Living Artist of Distinction in 2012.

In addition to her lecture and panel discussion, Quick-to-See-Smith will work with MSU students in their classrooms April 2-5.

Dean Adams, associate dean of the MSU College of Arts and Architecture, said his college was honored to have an artist of Smiths caliber visit campus as part of MSUs annual Presidents Fine Arts Series.

Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith is a world-renowned powerful maker who fully embraces what it means to be a contemporary artist, Adams said. Smiths work expresses a much needed voice and important lived experience relevant to our times. She cares deeply for the environment and her work serves as a critique of our material culture and the accumulation of pollution and toxins resulting from our lives.

The President's Fine Arts Series is sponsored by the Office of the President and the College of Arts and Architecture. For a full schedule and more information, go to the colleges online event calendar

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Arizona lawmakers, House split in vote against transgender military ban

Cronkite News

WASHINGTON  Two days after courts removed the last hurdle to a Trump administration ban on transgender military service , the House voted 238-185 Thursday to condemn the ban  but not block it.

Arizona lawmakers split along party lines, like most of the House, with Democrats supporting the resolution and Republicans backing the ban, which can take effect in as little as two weeks.

That leaves advocates like Capt. Jennifer Peace rushing to get other transgender service members diagnosed before April 12 to be grandfathered in under the current policy, which has allowed them to serve openly since 2016.

After the Supreme Court stepped in and decided (in January) to allow the ban to go forward, we knew the last injunction would fall at some point, Peace said of the Maryland injunction on the ban that was lifted Tuesday.

So weve just been encouraging our members, if theyre currently serving, to come out, to get a diagnosis, to get grandfathered in and continue serving, said Peace, who had to hide her gender dysphoria when she was posted to Fort Huachuca in 2009.

Im grateful for her familys tradition of military service and her courage to share this deeply personal story. It inspires me every day to keep working hard, because every single person matters. pic.twitter.com/qiuNjBgDU0  Rep. Deb Haaland (@RepDebHaaland) March 28, 2019

Arizonas five Democratic House members were among the 217 co-sponsors on Thursdays resolution, which had only one Republicans sponsor. In the final vote , five Republicans  none from Arizona  joined all voting Democrats in support of the measure.

The resolution H..Res.124 ) says transgender members of the Armed Forces have fought in defense of our freedoms with honor and distinction since our Nations founding and have been bestowed with such commendations and awards as the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for their courage and sacrifices.

The resolution does not block the ban, it just condemns it. Bill to protect and retain transgender service members are pending in the House and Senate but nave not yet been voted on.

When it announced plans last year to reinstate the ban on transgender service , the Pentagon said it was making the move to improve military readiness and cohesion of military units.

But Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, said Thursday that the ban is nothing more than a cruel and shameful attack on the transgender community.

Todays resolution rejects Trumps discrimination and the bogus arguments this ban was based on, and reaffirms to the transgender community that their lives, rights, and futures matter, he said in a statement after the vote.

The discriminatory transgender military ban demeans the service of thousands of brave trans service members, hurts our military readiness, and doesnt reflect our values as a nation.



Today I voted to reject this shameful ban and #ProtectTransTroops. pic.twitter.com/6XkhK9sa9f  Rep. Sharice Davids (@RepDavids) March 28, 2019

President Donald Trump announced in a 2017 tweet that he would reinstate the ban that was lifted under President Barack Obama. Trumps tweet was followed months of policymaking by the Pentagon, which announced its plan last year. That immediately sparked a number of legal challenges, the last of which was lifted Tuesday.

In testimony to the House Armed Services Committee in February, Acting Defense Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness James N. Stewart objected to calling the new policy a ban against transgender service members, as it only applies to those who undergo gender reassignment surgery.

This policy is not about transgender individuals, Stewart said then. This is about a diagnosis. This about gender dysphoria. We have members out there that are transgenders that are serving in their biological sex, meeting the standards as they are.

Transgender individuals will not be able to enlist, and anyone serving now who is diagnosed after April 12 will not be able to continue serving if they undergo gender transition or are considered unstable.

The Palm Center, which studies sexual minorities in the military, estimates that there are more than 14,000 transgender service members currently, but only 6 percent of them are being treated. That leaves thousands who could be forced out of the military when the new policy takes effect.

Peace said the military should not be forcing out people who are serving honorably.

This is actively blocking people who are qualified, capable and willing to serve from joining the military today, she said. There are people who have been talking to their recruiters for days, weeks, months, trying to join the military and so this is weakening our military and our national security.

She said a ban affects more than just military readiness. The previous ban was still in place during her deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, forcing Peaces wife and kids back home to distance themselves from the Family Readiness Groups that are meant to support families during deployments.

You have a group of people to rely on when your spouse is deployed, when your kid got sick or you were feeling lonely, Peace said. But her wife and my kids were used to using female pronouns for me. So we kind of quit participating in anything with the FRGs.

The family avoided other ceremonies because Peace was worried my kids are going to call me mom and then thatll create a disruption.

The military isnt just a job, its a family, she said. So all of a sudden youre having to hide who you are from all your coworkers and your command, you may not even be able to comfortably live on the military installation.

Peace said that after the ban was lifted in 2016, she was more open and friendly with her command and her colleagues, as she was finally able to wear her hair longer, seek treatment and fully integrate her family into her military life. She worries a new ban will take all that away.

That inherently feels un-American to discriminate against people based on anything other than their performance and their potential at their jobs, she said.

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

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On Race

Native Sun News Today Columnist

Most of Americas discussion concerning Race in the last century has been about black people, i.e., Race Matters by Cornel West, The Autobiography of Frederick Douglas , etc.

Even Howard Zinn, the major radical historian of our time, goes there when he writes about disobedience and democracy, with little reference to the First People and the First Nations, i.e., Indians. It seems his thrust toward disobedience, though, is worth considering.

It seems that much of the catastrophe that polarizes all of us these days as it concerns Race in our part of the country, starts with history, i.e., the frontier as symbol of the traditions western Americans want to embrace, or, on the other hand, the frontier as an ugly metaphor of domination and exploitation of those first peoples in America.

The frontier is what the Republican Party/Trump WALL to keep out Mexicans is about. White invaders? Black slaves? Brown indigenes? Well, maybe it is not the frontier..maybe it is the modern obsession bout which we are now calling people of COLOR.

Whatever the case, a fortress against what is outside has always been the struggle of the west. Even Indians can tell you that story, about which there is much ambiguity.

Elizabeth Cook-Lynn. Courtesy photo

Steps taken early on in Americas history seemed to be steps taken in the right direction. After all, the American invaders of Mexico signed many treaties after the Spanish left the continent, i.e, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and other agreements.

Didnt the U.S. sign with The Great Sioux Nation the Peace Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868 after 30 years of conflict?

Historians often ask about what happened next. The 19th century was oppressive to anyone who was not white and male. Hidalgo, though, by some miracle stopped America, ever the aggressor in the need of land and power and Christianity, from annexing ALL of Mexico. And that was a good thing. The Fort Laramie agreement stopped America from completing its drive toward genocide of an entire people and it slowed its attempt to curtail the occupation of everything in sight, still making beggars of their neighbors through racist laws.

What happened next is Ulysses S. Grant who destroyed the Creeks and wanted to send black people to the Dominican Republic, and Teddy Roosevelt, who ran around North Dakota in buckskins and invaded Panama and Cuba. And now, what is happening is: Trump.

But, even before all of this, there was no room for American Indians and other people of color to live and thrive here. Even Thomas Jefferson promoted his early theory that as the U. S. Sovereignty increased, Indigenous Sovereignty decreased so that a policy of dispossession and land acquisition could follow.

That theory is not dead, but it leaves a resentment that we all contend with in our time as we witness the rise of State Government power across the land. Some of us remember the 20th century State Jurisdiction laws in this state passed to accompany federal mandates. State power is again on the rise through Americas awful need for religiosity in Government.

NATIVE SUN NEWS TODAY Support Native media! Read the rest of the story on Native Sun News Today: On Race

Contact Elizabeth Cook-Lynn at ecooklynn@gmail.com

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By Acee Agoyo

The House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States will take up three bills, including a bipartisan measure to ensure that all tribes can restore their homelands , at a hearing next week.

In a decision known as Carcieri v. Salazar , the U.S. Supreme Court held that the land-into-trust process can only benefit tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934. That was the year the Indian Reorganization Act became law.

Though the justices did not explain what "under federal jurisdiction" means, opponents have used the February 2009 decision to inject uncertainty into the land-into-trust process. Non-Indian interests, as well as state and local governments, have argued that recently recognized tribes cannot restore their homelands because their status may have not been clear in 1934.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation , is hoping to resolve that uncertainty once and for all. His bill, H.R.375 , clarifies that "any federally recognized Indian tribe" can follow the land-into-trust process.

"The federal governments policy for tribal lands needs to put the interests of tribal nations first  and no one elses," National Congress of American Indians President Jefferson Keel said in his State of Indian Nations address last month.

Tribal citizens take part in a #StandWithMashpee rally in support of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe at the U.S. Capitol on November 14, 2018. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Passage of the so-called Carcieri fix would benefit the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe , whose federal recognition wasn't finalized until 2007. The Trump administration has concluded that the People of the First Light cannot restore their homelands, paving the way for their reservation in Massachusetts to be taken out of trust, something that hasn't happened since the disastrous termination era

But getting a Carcieri fix through Congress has proved a nearly impossible task over the last decade due to opposition from non-Indian interests, state and local governments and even some tribes who don't want to see their fellow Indian nations gain any lands. That explains the existence of a second bill that will be considered at the hearing next Wednesday.

H.R.312 , the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, is a Carcieri fix, but only for one tribe. It confirms that the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's reservation is in trust and can't be challenged in court.

Congress has embraced the exact same approach in the past. The Supreme Court, in a case known as Patchak v. Zinke , even confirmed that such legislation is constitutional , rebuking the arguments advanced by non-Indian interests.

But H.R.312 is just as controversial as a Carcieri fix. Opponents in Massachusetts, along with Democrats in neighboring Rhode Island , are vowing to stop the legislation even though it enjoys bipartisan support. The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe , whose federal status was finalized in 1987, also has raised concerns about the impact on its rights.

Despite the hurdles, Cole remains optimistic. In remarks to NCAI last month, he said the divided nature of the 116th Congress -- Democrats control the House while the Senate remains in Republican hands -- might benefit tribal interests.

"I think we may well have an opportunity on a lot of Native American issues that have been working their way through the Natural Resources Committee, to speed them up," Cole told tribal leaders on February 13 as they met for NCAI's executive council winter session in Washington, D.C.

The House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States is part of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Cole said the panel's chairman, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), is a "good friend and strong advocate for Indian Country."

"So perhaps something like Carcieri can happen," he said.

In addition to H.R.375 and H.R.312, lawmakers also will take testimony on a draft discussion version of the Requirements, Expectations, and Standard Procedures for Executive Consultation with Tribes Act , also known as the RESPECT Act . The bill -- prior versions of which have been introduced by Grijalva and have been supported by Indian Country -- requires federal agencies to develop "meaningful" tribal consultation policies.

The hearing takes place at 2pm on April 3 in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building. A witness list hasn't been posted online yet.

House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Notice

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It's going to take community engagement, Ploger said. There's not going to be a place where there is a comfortable soft landing. One of the great parts of this process is the education for people delivering and receiving  it's been a two-way street. As an educator that's what I am drawn to. That's the silver lining.
Trisheena Kills Pretty Enemy steps up for her family and her culture

Trisheena Kills Pretty Enemy still remembers the ambulances parked in front of her house, the long trips to Denver for treatment and the doctor's announcement on Christmas Eve.

"There's nothing more we can do for him," the doctor said about Kills Pretty Enemy's father, who had diabetes, heart attacks and then an infection he couldn't overcome. Losing her father her first semester at Montana State University was the hardest thing she has ever experienced, Kills Pretty Enemy said 4 1/2 years later.

Her father strongly encouraged education, and his death strengthened Kills Pretty Enemy's resolve to stay in school and earn her bachelor's degree in microbiology. A Crow and Hunkpapa Lakota Indian, she grew up on the Crow Indian Reservation. Her parents, Dale and Jolene Kills Pretty Enemy, met while attending Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, but her father always wished he had gone further.

When he overheard her telling one of his nurses about MSU and her plans, "The pride and happiness on his face lit up the whole room," Kills Pretty Enemy said. "I'm doing what I'm supposed to do."

Now an MSU senior and a 29-year-old single mother of two sons, Kills Pretty Enemy will graduate in May. She will leave her graduation tassel at her father's grave in Pryor.

Planning next to pursue a master's degree or doctorate, she wants to become a medical doctor or researcher who can help others with some of the same health problems her father had, Kills Pretty Enemy said. She also dreams of returning to MSU as a microbiology professor as encouraging to her students as her mentors were to her.

"Trisheena is a strong, resilient indigenous woman who takes pride in her education and tribal way of life," said one of those mentors, Lisa Perry , MSU director of American Indian/Alaska Native Student Success in the Department of Native American Studies . "She has a bright future ahead of her both academically and professionally. Her goal is to provide a solid foundation for her children, and she continues to work hard daily to provide that."

"While her background was not in microbiology per se, she was quick to learn the techniques we use to study microbes and developed a great understanding of the problem that C. diff creates in hospitals all over the country," Walk said. "The qualities that make Trisheena stand out are her rich perspective on life and motivation to help others, which no doubt reflects her upbringing and cultural heritage."

Kills Pretty Enemy said the first of many MSU mentors came into her life shortly after her father's funeral. Because they believed in her, she applied to and was selected for a Native American Research Internship in Salt Lake City, as well as a research internship last summer at Harvard University.

Along the way, she was selected for the McNair Scholarship Program. She became vice president for MSU's chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and was featured on the cover of the groups national magazine. She coordinates the Peer Mentoring Program in the College of Engineering's Empower Program. She recently spoke at MSU's Museum of the Rockies about her life and the Native experience at MSU.

"You never know who you are going to reach," Kills Pretty Enemy said. "It's difficult, though. The best you can do is tell students of the resources and the help they can get."

For those and other activities, Kills Pretty Enemy will receive the Daniel Voyich Award for Indigenous Community Involvement during the 44th annual American Indian Council Powwow to be held Friday and Saturday, March 29-30, at MSU's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

Kills Pretty Enemy will also dance at the powwow. She performed for the first time around age 5 at the Crow Fair after her aunt made her a jingle dress. Growing up, she saw women in their elk tooth dresses and was impressed by how proud and beautiful they looked. Two years ago, she was Head Woman Dancer at the American Indian Council's powwow at MSU, dancing in traditional Crow style.

"We dance for the people who can no longer dance," Kills Pretty Enemy said. "I think about all the great women in my family, the great men who passed on."

The 2019 American Indian Council Powwow at MSU will be held March 29-30 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. The American Indian Council Powwow is one of the largest powwows held in Montana. The event is free and open to all.MSU Photo by Jackson Harris

Dancing, like her life at MSU, demonstrates the importance of community, Kills Pretty Enemy said. When she was Head Woman Dancer, several family members came from Pryor to dance with her. After losing a family member every semester after her father died, she felt the support of both her MSU and tribal communities. Individuals and organizations have helped her adjust to the culture shock she felt when she transferred to MSU from Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency.

She earned her associates degree in biology at the tribal college, where most of her classmates were Native Americans, Kills Pretty Enemy said. When she started at MSU, one of her classes had 800 students, and most of them were white.

"Am I worthy to do this?" Kills Pretty Enemy asked herself. "Can I do this? Am I good enough to do this thing?"

Kills Pretty Enemy predicts that the new American Indian Hall to be built on the east side of campus will do much to support community for MSU's Native American students. A ceremony to bless the grounds will be held at 3 p.m. March 29.

"When I think about that community, it's so essential for Native Americans to thrive here at MSU," Kills Pretty Enemy said. "This building is really important and a special thing."

MSU News Service shares stories about Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, and the accomplishments of its students, faculty, alumni and staff. Follow on Facebook and Twitter

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Most of us love horror movies because of the adrenaline rush they give us and the out-of-box story lines that take us away from the real world only to transport us to a paranormal world. A well-made horror movie can actually give viewers goosebumps and also, a heavy dose of nightmares. A good horror story is just like a piece of art that stays with you even after youre done watching the movie. However, over the years, there have been enough creepy events that take place on movie sets of horror films. These incidents are actually more spooky than the films themselves because theyre real-life incidents.

We looked into the spooky things that have happened during the filming of some our favourite horror movies and these incidents are enough to give you just as many chills as the movies did:

1. The Conjuring

The movie, apparently based on true events experienced by a family at their house of residence, went on to become a big hit. However, shooting it was also a creepy experience in itself. For instance, when members of the family affected were visiting the set, a strong wind seemed to surround them. However, the crew couldnt see any trees moving as youd expect. The mother of the family believed that the spirit wasnt done with her family just yet.

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2. The Exorcist

A favourite for many horror movie lovers, the instances that took place during the shooting of it are just about as famous as the movie. During the shooting, the whole set caught fire and burnt down. No one was able to figure out the reason for this fire. Moreover, actor Jack MacGowran passed away quite unexpectedly. After his death a security guard and FX worker also passed away. If all this wasnt enough, many viewers died of heart attacks while watching the film.

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3. The Possession

A movie about a cursed ancient box, this film saw light bulbs exploding randomly while the filming was going on. The place where all the props were kept also caught fire and got destroyed. The box which was shown to contain the spirit was also destroyed.

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4. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

A film about ghostly possessions, shooting this one was quite an experience for the cast. Initially, Jennifer Carpenter, the lead actress, noticed that her radio alarm clock would switch on and go off on its own whenever shed be shooting. If this wasnt enough, the alarm clock only played one song which was Alive by Pearl Jam. Other cast members complained about the same thing happening and the same song played for all of them as well.

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5. Poltergeist

Most horror movie fans love this movie but the events surrounding the people who worked on the movie are pretty spooky. The protagonist, Heather ORourke died aged just twelve due to a sudden, unexpected cardiac arrest. The actress playing her older sister was murdered by an ex-boyfriend only a day after the movie released. Eventually, the producer of the film also passed away during a surgical operation.

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6. Annabelle

Annabelle, as a movie, got mixed reviews from the audience. However, that isnt to say that what the cast went through was any less horrific. The director, John Leonetti, revealed that he saw a three-fingered claw mark on a dusty window when he was on the set. The demon in the script also had a three-fingered claw. In the movie, the demon kills the handyman in a hallway. When they were shooting, in the same hallway, the actor who played the handyman actually died in a freak accident when a light fixture fell on his head.

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7. Rosemary's Baby

Directed by Roman Polanski, this 1968 movie got the approval of many horror genre fans for managing the spook out the audience, a task that it isnt easy when one is making a horror film. Interestingly, the producer of the movie William Castle is reported to have gotten an anonymous letter "slowly rot during a long and painful illness. He actually did fall pretty sick and even went through surgery for treatment. However, nothing really worked and his illness would always return. Another producer who was driving home after getting done with filming, he had a stroke and died.

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8. Insidious

From the makers of horror movies like Paranormal Activity and Annabelle 2, this movie was received pretty well and its because it is a pretty creepy movie. However, one of the production designers Jennifer Spence gave some rather horrid details of what happened on the set. She said, "When we were set dressing in the basement for Insidious, there was this room full of crazy old patient records from the 1940s and 1950s. We were moving them around to do our set dressing, and everybody in the room started feeling sick and weird and heavy. We had to take a break because everyone felt overwhelmingly unwell. On the second or third floor, the buzzer to one of the rooms would go off all the time when nobody was up there. There were no patients, but the buzzer at the end of this hallway would go off all the time and freak us all out. Wed go in groups, like nobodys going down there by ourselves." Sounds like a pretty spooky workplace.

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9. The Innkeepers

The film is based on two employees of a hotel which was flourishing once but is now closing operations. Obviously, a whole lot could go wrong and it does, making it a movie which gives you the chills. However, enough creepy things happened during the filming and Director Ti West revealed that a whole lot of instances happened that spooked out the whole cast. "Ive definitely seen doors close by themselves, Ive seen a TV turn off and on by itself, lights would always burn out in my room. Sara Paxton, who played one of the main characters, would wake up in the middle of the night thinking someone was in the room with her. Sounds like a horrible experience.

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10. The Omen

Released in 1976, the film was loved by the audience and also went on to win a lot of awards. However, it seems like the spookiness they showed on camera was nothing in comparison to what happened behind the scenes. Theres a scene where a character loses his head during a car accident. On Friday the 13th, the same happened to the wife of special effects artist who set up the scene and almost in an identical manner. And to creep you out a little more, it is reported that all this happened next to a road sign that showed this special effects artist to be "66.6" kilometers from the Netherlands city of "Ommen."

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11. Twilight Zone

The story is full of supernatural twists and was quite loved by the audience. However, Vic Morrow who was one of the lead actors was killed during the filming. Strangely, Morrow had revealed that he felt something bad was going to happen to him during the shooting of one of his films. Before joining the film, he got himself a $5 million of life insurance. His fears turned out to be true when, during the filming, a helicopter crashed and Morrow was killed.

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The filming of these movies is just as spooky as the movies!
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution calling upon Member States to step up efforts to combat and criminalise the financing of terrorists and their activities.

In a veiled reference to Pakistan, India said countries that are "apologists for terrorists" will continue to provide "alibis" justifying their actions and inaction, as it called on the Security Council to ensure crucial sanctions measures against the UN proscribed terrorists and entities are strictly enforced.

New milestone adopted by @UN to Counter Terrorist Financing.

Unfortunately, States who are apologists for terrorists will continue to provide alibis to justify their actions & inaction too - @IndiaUNNewYork

https://t.co/OeupspHS38#zerotoleranceforTerror#NoMoneyforTerror pic.twitter.com/vRNHdi86ku  Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) March 29, 2019

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, participating in the Security Council open debate on 'Preventing and Combating the Financing of Terrorism', said New Delhi specifically welcomes the recognition in the resolution of the essential role of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in setting global standards, especially in the context of preventing and combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

Akbaruddin, however, asserted that the Council "can and needs" to do a better job of overseeing the implementation of its resolutions relating to terrorist financing and of the various sanctions measures under the 1267 Al- Qaida and 1988 sanctions regimes.

reuters/representational image

India warned that "non-compliance of crucial sanctions measures in case of the UN proscribed terrorists and entities renders all of us, Member States, at a high risk of facing challenges from these terrorist organisations who are well funded and armed despite international measures."

"As the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in its eating, the utility of any council resolution will, therefore, be in its implementation," he said.

"Also, the unfortunate reality is that States who are apologists for terrorists will continue to provide alibis to justify their actions and inaction too, as was done by a serial offender earlier today," he said, a veiled reference to Pakistan.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi, in her statement during that debate, said that it is important that the FATF and the 1267 sanctions regimes are "not used as political tools by some to advance their geo-political objectives." She also made a reference to Jammu and Kashmir in her statement.

reuters/representational image

Akbaruddin asserted that the international community needs to be determined to "continue evolving our tool box and go by our rule book, rather than be distracted and stray from our determination. Our tool box consisting of effective implementation of UN sanctions measures could assist in curtailing these activities in some measure."

He pointed out that the report of the 1267 sanctions Monitoring team dated January 15, 2019 notes that Member States have reported to the Monitoring Team, on an ad hoc basis and a comprehensive review of frozen assets has not been undertaken. He expressed hope that there will action on this front by member states.

reuters/representational image

"We welcome the Council and its various bodies taking note and rectifying instances of non-implementation to enhance awareness and effective implementation of the various council resolutions on Counter Terrorism. We believe that this work could be strengthened with more cooperation between the FATF and the various UN entities"

"Bodies such as the FATF have listed risks posed by Da'esh, Al- Qaeda, ?Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation?, ?Lashkar-e-Taiba?, ?Jaish-e-Mohammed?, Haqqani Network, and persons affiliated with the Taliban," he added.

(With PTI Inputs)
Fugitive diamond businessman Nirav Modi will continue to be in jail after the Westminster Magistrate Court in London rejected his plea on Friday. "I find that there are substantial grounds to fear failure to surrender," magistrate Emma Arbuthnot said in a Westminster court, adding that the fact Modi had in 2017 applied for a visa to the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu exacerbated those concerns.

A witness has alleged that Modi threatened to kill him and also offered around 2 million Indian rupees ($28,918.45) as a bribe not to testify, Toby Cadman, a lawyer representing the Indian government, told the court.

Earlier, opposing the plea, Toby Cadman, representing crown prosecution on behalf of Indian authorities,in final submission at London's Westminster Magistrates Court that Modi isn't cooperating with the investigation and there is risk that he will fly out.

The prosecution also claimed that he threatened to kill an eyewitness Ashish Lad, and tried to bribe another to evade arrest.

Modi was arrested by the authorities in London on Wednesday from a metro station Holborn, central London on the extradition request by India, where he is the main accused in the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.

He was arrested by the Scotland Yard on the extradition plea filed by India, where he is facing multiple cases of financial fraud. India has been pressing for his extraction from the UK, amid reports that he was trying to get a new citizenship or permanent residence in Singapore.

Following the arrest, Modi was produced in the London court a day later, where his bail plea was rejected.

Modi has been evading the law for over a year now ever since the PNB scam surfaced.

The jeweler who along with his family fled the country had been keeping a low profile and living in London.

Earlier this week, as many as 57 artworks owned by the scamster were put at Saffronart Spring Live Auction in Mumbai and it fetched Rs 54.84 Crore for the Government of India.

The artworks were among the valuables recovered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from Modi.

BCCL

Prior to that, the district authorities in Maharashtra's Alibaug had razed to ground a beach-view bungalow owned by Modi after it was found that the mansion estimated to be worth Rs 100 crore was in violation of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms and the state's regulations as well.
Jean Dreze, an esteemed economist, who has made notable contribution to developmental economics in India was detained by Jharkhand police on March 28 for organising a public meeting.

The Hindu reported that the Belgian-born economics scholar was detained for organising the meeting without the permission of authorities in the state. He was detained for organizing a meeting on issues like right to food.

The activists alleged that the police initially said a case would be filed against them for breaking the law. Two other activists were also detained though, they were all released a while later after furnishing some personal bonds.

Photo: BCCL/Jean Dreze

Another social activist who was detained was Vivek Kumar at the Bishunpur police station in Garhwa district. Mr Dreze told NDTV that he was invited to a meeting for right to food and pension, organised by a local non-profit in the district.

He even told the media house that the organisers had sought permission from the authorities around ten days ago but since they didnt receive any response from them, they decided to go ahead with the meeting.

"If people are not even allowed to hold peaceful non-political meetings about issues like the right to food at election time, then democracy has no meaning," he was quoted as saying.

Reportedly, the activists were also made to sign a bond that said they had no complaints against the government. Speaking to the Wire, Dreze said that he had refused to sign the bond.

After being released, Dreze informed mediapersons that they were told not to organize any public meetings under Bishunpur police station limits without permission from authorities.

The ridiculous insecurities of the govt - in arresting the architect of MNREGA, Jean Dreze - are leading to some serious criminal and unconstitutional excesses. That they were triggered by a right to food meeting, is even more telling. https://t.co/N1Qjole5Yq  Karuna Nundy (@karunanundy) March 28, 2019

People expressed fury and anger at his arrest. They questioned what freedom of speech and expression meant in a democracy like India. More so, everybody questioned since when did people start getting arrested for fighting hunger? Farm activist and National President of Swaraj India Yogendra Yadav tweeted,

Shocking beyond words!

Jean Dreze is a saint-economist, a potential Nobel awardee who lived in slums, written and done more for the poor than any economist, shunned all power and glory, took up Indian citizenship, is a pacifist.

Nothing can be more shameful than arresting him.

India arrests a Belgium-born economist and activist, Jean Dreze, apparently for organizing a meeting on the right to food. You read that correctly - Arrested for fighting hunger. https://t.co/KammeB8svP #JeanDreze  Audrey Truschke (@AudreyTruschke) March 28, 2019

Assistant professor of South Asian history at Rutgers University, Audrey Truschke also condemned his arrest by saying that a notable man like him had been arrested for fighting hunger.

Economist #JeanDreze and others detained and later released without charge. He along with two others were detained in Garhwa ( #Jharkhand) earlier today for organising a meeting on Right To Food.

Officers must refrain themselves to become stooges of ruling party.  Aftab Ahmad (@aftabd) March 28, 2019

Dreze played a central role in the conception of the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme; helped draft the NREGA, and continues to monitor its implementation. He also contributed to the Right to Information Act and the National Food Security Act of the Government of India.

He has previously taught at the London School of Economics as well as the Delhi School of Economics.

Shocking to know that economists like Jean Dreze are a threat to the nation and need to be arrested. I hope sanity prevails soon and he and others are released. He was only busy organizing a meeting on right to food. How can fight against hunger be a crime?  S lrfan Habib (@irfhabib) March 28, 2019

Now we're arresting economists? For organising a meeting on the right to food? I can only hope that Jean Dreze, Vivek and others will be released immediately. https://t.co/6zaCAsqbhE  Nilanjana Roy (@nilanjanaroy) March 28, 2019

Renowned economist& Co-author of several books with Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, Jean Dreze is arrested with 2 other activists in Jharkhand for organizing a meeting on Right to Food! This while goons who beat up Muslim family in Gurgaon roam free& PM tomtoms 2012 DRDO achievement! https://t.co/aCVMcQOUK9  Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) March 28, 2019

Renowned economist Jean Dreze has been arrested in India for organising a meeting on right to food. Dreze has worked extensively on hunger.

I dont understand India anymore.  Mirza Waheed (@MirzaWaheed) March 28, 2019

Drezes took pride in teaching less privileged students and working in the poorer parts of India.
He is not just the oldest voter in India, Shyam Saran Negi (102-years-old) also happens to be the first voter of Independent India. Negi exercised his voting rights in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh in 1951 and became the first Indian to do so.

Ever since that day, Negi has lived on to vote in all elections. He firmly advocates the principles of democracy and urges everybody to cast their vote. Age is just a number and Negi who is set to turn 103-years-old this July is all pumped up to vote in the Lok Sabha elections 2019.

Photo: Twitter/Shyam Saran Negi

Shyam remained just another elderly voter until July 2007 when the Election Commission of India tracked the countrys first voter. Hindustan Times reported that Indian Administrative Service officer Manisha Nanda, now additional chief secretary (public works department) in Himachal Pradesh first learnt about Negi from the photo electoral roll.

Speaking to the newspaper, Nanda said that he was going through the photo electoral roll which had voters more than 90-years-old. Negi who was 92-years-old at that time caught Nandas attention and he asked election department officials to visit his house.

Considering harsh winters and early snowfall during the first parliamentary elections, it was decided that elections will be held in Kinnaur earlier on October 25, 1951 whereas, elections in other parts of the country were held in January and February 1952.

Photo: Twitter

A 2003 batch IAS officer then posted as Kinnaur deputy commissioner M Sudha Devi went to meet Negi who was well-known among the villagers at Kalpa. Born on July 1, 1917, Negi worked as a teacher in a government school and was drafted for poll duty in the first election.

53-year-old Chander Prakash told HT that his father Shyam had requested the polling party to allow him to cast his vote and then move to the polling station where he was assigned duty. The concerned officer agreed and he became the country's first voter.

Nanda compared his experience of looking for the first voter with that of doing Ph.D. We searched records and files for four months. The election commission also searched for records at its headquarters in New Delhi, he said.

Photo: Twitter

Negi has also been appointed as the brand ambassador of Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) campaign by the Election Commission. Negi enjoys listening to the radio and still possesses a good vision.

In 2010, then Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla visited Shyam Saran Negi's village to honour him as part of the Election Commission's diamond jubilee celebrations.

The election department has a video of Mr Negi casting his vote in 2007, 2012 and 2017 Assembly and the 2009 and 2014 parliamentary elections.

Kalpa village is part of the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, which includes Kullu and Mandi and parts of Chamba and Shimla districts besides the tribal-dominated Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts.
He is not just the oldest voter in India, Shyam Saran Negi (102-years-old) also happens to be the first voter of Independent India. Negi exercised his voting rights in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh in 1951 and became the first Indian to do so.

Ever since that day, Negi has lived on to vote in all elections. He firmly advocates the principles of democracy and urges everybody to cast their vote. Age is just a number and Negi who is set to turn 103-years-old this July is all pumped up to vote in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. Read More.

Here's More Top News For The Day:

1) It Happens Only In India! Gangster Gets 6 Cops Drunk In Hotel, Then Flees From Police Custody

The Uttar Pradesh Police was left embarrassed after it emerged that gangster Badan Singh aka Baddo escaped custody while he was being taken to a court in Ghaziabad for a hearing. The 50-year-old who was serving a life sentence for the murder of a lawyer in 1996 escaped from a hotel after tricking the cops who escorted him.



What is even more embarrassing for the police is that there were six cops including an inspector were accompanying Baddo to the court. Read More.

2) Nizamabad Constituency In Telanana Will Vote Through Paper Ballots. Reason, EVM's Can't Accommodate 185 Candidates

Nizamabad In Telangana has become an exemption this year. The Election Commission has been 'forced to' go back to paper ballots in Nizamabad because there are more candidates in the fray than what can be accommodated on the EVMs.

Nizamabad, where TRS MP K Kavitha, daughter of state Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, is seeking re-election has a total of 185 valid candidates in the fray. Read More.

3) India Makes Veiled Reference To Pakistan As UN Security Council Moves Against Terror Funding

In a veiled reference to Pakistan, India said countries that are "apologists for terrorists" will continue to provide "alibis" justifying their actions and inaction, as it called on the Security Council to ensure crucial sanctions measures against the UN proscribed terrorists and entities are strictly enforced. Read More.

4) Only 35 Lok Sabha MPs Utilised Their Allocated Funds And It's A Worrying Trend Ahead Of General Elections

The MPs get Rs 5 crore a year which comes to Rs 25 crore in five years provided the MP utilises the amount allocated in the last instalment. The amount of Rs 5 crore in a year is issued on half yearly basis with Rs 2.5 crore given in each half of the year with a special clause that amounts released in the previous instalment needs to be utilised.

But in last five years, only 35 MPs out of 543 MPs have been released Rs 25 crore which also means the except these 24 MPs, the other 519 MPs didnt utilise their fund since the release of fund instalment is subjected to the utilisation of the previous instalment (As on 10.12.2018). Read More.

5) Ahead Of Upcoming Lok Sabha Polls, Here Are 25 Interesting Facts About The Indian Elections

The upcoming general elections in India is the largest of its kind, not just in India, but anywhere in the world. With over 900 million eligible voters the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections will be the world's largest democratic exercise. Here are some interesting facts that will help you understand it better. Read More.
OpenSignal frequently analyses the state of Internet connectivity around the world. Recently, they surveyed India once more to determine just how accessible 4G is.

As it turns out, it's not so bad. But it's the winners of this study that will likely make you raise an eyebrow.

Dhanbad in Jharkand, called India's coal capital, actually won out in 4G availability, scoring 95.3 percent. It was one of only two cities of 50 that passed the 95 percent mark. The other was second place winner Ranchi, with 95 percent.

In third, strangely enough, was remote Srinagar, with a close score of 94.9 percent. Raipur and Patna rounded up the top five with 94.8 percent and 94.5 percent respectively.

Overall, the top 50 cities scored an average of 87.4 percent 4G availability. However, there's a clarification to make. In this case, OpenSignal wasn't measuring the combined coverage area of all telcos across these cities. Instead, they measured for how much time a user had 4G connectivity on their phone, therefore giving a more realistic idea of the users experience.

To that end, Bangalore sits about midway down the list with an availability score of 92.3 percent. Delhi and Mumbai meanwhile are near the bottom, probably due to the sheer congestion of networks in these cities.

From another of the group's recent reports, it seems Jio is actually doing a better job than its competitors when it comes to providing 4G connectivity at all times. It's availability score stood at 96.7 percent, more than 20 percentage points over the others.

"All of India's key operators continue to aggressively invest, while the merger of Vodafone and Idea is set to create India's largest operator, further disrupting the market," Opensignal said.
Do you find yourself feeling lazy very often? Taking naps during the workday? Looking forward to your bed at night?

Congratulations, because you're eligible to work with NASA. You won't be designing rockets, but you'll get paid to lie down on the job!

NASA

The US space agency has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) to conduct a study on sleeping in artificial gravity. It's the first time that scientists will study how artificial gravity could help astronauts better cope with the rigors of space.

For the experiment, NASA is looking for 12 men and 12 women between the ages of 24 and 55 to basically lie in bed for two months. And for their trouble, they'll be paid a hefty $18500, or approximately Rs 12.81 lakh.

The AGBRESA (Artificial Gravity Bed Rest Study) will take place at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in Cologne, at their envihab medical research facility. And not just sleep, but all activities like experiments, tests, meals, and leisure will happen with the subjects lying in bed.

During the study, the volunteers will also not be allowed to exert themselves. They will also be subjected to various tests of their cognition, muscle strength, balance, and cardiovascular function throughout the duration. Additionally, half the participants will be subjected to the effects of an anti-gravity chamber.

Scientists hope to compare the physical deterioration of the two at the end of the study and uncover data that this technique could help astronauts in space.

"Although the effects of weightlessness are primarily investigated on the International Space Station, analogues such as :envihab are helpful when studying certain research topics under controlled conditions on Earth," says Leticia Vega, Associate Chief Scientist for International Collaborations for NASA's Human Research Program.

DLR

The thing is, when in space for a long time, astronauts have a load of physical consequences to deal with. Because of the weightlessness, their muscles can atrophy, which is why they have to work out up there more than they would have on Earth. There's also a considerable loss in bone density, that can lead to easier breaks. And that's on top of the cosmic radiation, stress of isolation, and mental trauma from being cooped up in a tiny box with the same people for months or years.

If this study proves fruitful, it means NASA could actually spend money on developing antigravity devices for the ISS, and especially for spacecraft to distant places like Mars. At the very least then, those astronauts will be physically healthier.
NASA is set to send a spacecraft to Mars, one that will launch in 2020, with a new rover to explore.

NASA's also plans to send an autonomous helicopter with the new high-tech rover, one designed to fly in the thin atmosphere, and they just successfully tested it.

The aircraft that will cruise over the red planet just had its maiden flight, and its engineers are incredibly excited with the results.

"The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," said MiMi Aung, the project manager JPL, in a news release.

The current model has about an hour of flight time, but the engineers are satisfied they don't need to run any more tests until the chopper reaches Mars.

"Watching our helicopter go through its paces in the chamber, I couldn't help but think about the historic vehicles that have been in there in the past," Aung said. "The chamber hosted missions from the Ranger Moon probes to the Voyagers to Cassini, and every Mars rover ever flown. To see our helicopter in there reminded me we are on our way to making a little chunk of space history as well."

For those of you confused as to why they needed tests, a helicopter meant to fly on Mars needs a bit of tweaking. Mars has about one-third the gravity of Earth, but it also has about 99 percent less air. That means the engineers at JPL have had to work hard to balance the helicopter's weight and shape to give it the best chance of staying airborne.

The highest a helicopter has flown on Earth is about 40,000. But on Mars, the chopper will be flying in an atmosphere equivalent to at 100,000 feet above the Earth's surface. In order to keep it airborne in this, the engineers have made the drone just 1.8kg and about the size of a small melon. Additionally, its rotors also move 10 times faster than normal.

When the spacecraft lands on Mars, the helicopter will only detach from the rover after a few months. Immediately, it will perform a few test flights of up to 90 seconds. After that, it will mostly operate autonomously, given that it would take half an hour to send it commands.

The helicopter has batteries and solar cells to recharge, as well as tiny landing struts. It will gradually attempt flight further and further away from the drone each day over a 30-day period, flying at a height of about three metres. The engineers believe it will eventually end up hundreds of metres away from the rover, allowing them to explore a much wider area.
That crossing has always been a concern, not just when her now-grown kids were small but even as teenagers crossing the street to get to their jobs at Plum Landing Retirement Community. And yes, while its always a nightmare on the Fourth of July, when residents cross Lake Street to get to the events at McCullough Park, Otte insists shes more worried about the everyday attempts by kids on bikes or on foot.
Turns out India is not the only country that's worried about its cows. Belarus, too, wants to protect its cows.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was seen scolding the managers and also the governor in a video aired by state television. He also decided to fire three officials including a governor as he found the cows living in miserable conditions at a local farm during his visit in the northern Mogilev region on Tuesday.

Associated Press/Washington Post

The Belarusian president reportedly said that the cows were barely alive and the officials were sick for not noticing that.

The cows were walking in the manure with mud caked on their bodies. The officials were not in a position to even move when the president made them see the loopholes.

Do you think its okay? Are you sick? Lukashenko asked them.

Natalia Fedosenko/Pool via Reuters

The chief of the staff was later instructed to look at the farm and the situation more closely. He also told him to fire the rest responsible for deteriorating condition of the cows.

The president has ruled the former Soviet nation for 24 years and has been often seen digging potatoes and hand-scything before, inviting journalists and dignitaries to his farm before.

Lukashenko sacked a lot of ministers earlier in August in another regional visit, accusing them of a happy-go-lucky attitude at work.
Every after year, there are scores of students who dream of landing a job at big IT companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft. It takes a lot of toil, hard work and dedication.

But sometimes there's luck and it only favours a few. Like this Mumbai boy named Abdullah Khan, who took an online contest to kill time and ended up with a whopping Rs 1.2 crore package at Google's London office.

TOI/Reuters

A TOI report states that Khan, a student of Shree LR Tiwari Engineering College, Mira Road, was called for an interview by Google on the basis of his profile and performance in online programming contests.

He went through a few rounds of online interviews after which he was asked to appear for the final screening at Google's office in London.

Khan cracked the interview and all set for the job said that he never expected it. "I used to participate as it was fun. I did not even know that firms check programmers' profiles on such sites," TOI quoted him as saying.

Reuters/Google London

Khan who is passionate about coding moved to Mumbai after finishing his schooling in Saudi Arabia.

Khan is the second lucky student to land this unexpected offer from Google, in 2018 the company offered Rs 1.2 crore pay package to Sneha Reddy, a student of IIT at Hyderabad. He will join Google's site reliability engineering team in September.
For the first time in the university's history and despite roadblocks, Women's College Students' Union of the Aligarh Muslim University hosted the Women Leadership Summit. On the panel on the second day of the event was Arundhati Roy who read passages from her Man Booker prize-longlisted book The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.

During the discussion there was a power cut, but that didn't change anything as the students in the auditorium held up their phones and shone light to help Roy continue her speech.

Power Cut in Aligarh as ARUNDHATI ROY speaks at a Womens College yesterday. The students use their phones to light the hall. Arundhati silhouetted at front.#UtmostHappiness pic.twitter.com/t1cSMXOXXO  Simon Prosser (@HamishH1931) 28 March 2019

The picture was posted on Twitter yesterday by Simon Prosser, Publishing Director: Hamish Hamilton & Penguin Books. He wrote, "Power Cut in Aligarh as ARUNDHATI ROY speaks at a Womens College yesterday. The students use their phones to light the hall. Arundhati silhouetted at front."

The picture (in the tweet) soon went viral with more than 1,000 likes and 400 retweets. Here's what people had to say:

#1

Power cut means darkness, but this is a celestial light house....  Mahmood Arif (@ArifMah48958702) 28 March 2019

#2

What a beautiful sight. Shadow of light before hope.  Ahmad Rajwana (@ahmadrajwana) 28 March 2019

#3

What an event ..

Tremendous event management   shashi kant baranga (@Baranga104) 29 March 2019

#4

This is a piece of art.  Nidhi Mahajan   (@NidhiMahajn) 28 March 2019

Roy's book The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness is the second novel by Indian writer Arundhati Roy, published in 2017, 20 years after her debut The God Of Small Things. The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness collates stories of people from the most violent periods in Indian history.

Arjumand Ara, who translated Roy's book from English to Urdu, with the title of Bepanah Shaadmani Ki Mumlikat was the other panelist at the event.

According to this report, this was the first time that an event at AMU was organized without any corporate funding and pulled of by the undergraduate female students of the university.

The three-day-long event from March 26 to 28, was held in the university's iconic Kennedy Complex, with other prominent figures like Vrinda Grover, Teesta Setalvad and Najeeb Ahmed's mother Fatima Nafis making an appearance.
We mostly associate flying powers with witches or superheroes. From Harry Potter to Superman, its always been a visual treat to see some of our favourite characters fly away. However, what happens when you see a man flying for real? It can be a scary reminder that there's nothing to beat nature's fury.



Recently, people at a wholesale market hall in the Turkish city of Osmaniye saw something like this when tough winds started blowing. A group of men tried to make sure an umbrella didnt fly away with the strong winds. But while attempting to do that, a security camera caught one of them being blown away himself. The winds were so strong, the man eventually flies out of the frame!

screen grabs

Identified as Sadik Kocadalli, the man was apparently not heavy enough to hold down the patio umbrella that eventually flew off with him on it.



According to one report, the footage was shared by a local grocery man, Ismet Icoz, and it's now going viral.

BLOWN AWAY: Surveillance footage captures moment strong winds lift man into the air as he tries to stop a patio umbrella from falling over in gusty conditions. https://t.co/zaR5d70Mqa pic.twitter.com/T3jGnXZfWe  ABC News (@ABC) March 28, 2019



In an interview with Reuters, Icoz said that Kocadalli jumped off the umbrella's base after being lifted three to four metres into the air. He managed to make it out alive sustaining a minor ankle injury. One bystander is said to have been knocked unconscious after the patio umbrella landed on him and was rushed to a local hospital.

Here's how people reacted online:

#1

He gone with the wind   EM Coffey (@THE_EMC_) March 28, 2019

#2

 TJ Hawkins (@HawkinsTJ) March 28, 2019

#3

#4

I cant deal   Ale (@aleshewolf) March 28, 2019

The world can be a pretty bizarre place!
There's apparently no limit to how low man can fall. There's a special Hell for lowlifes who rape and assault innocent animals that cannot speak.

In a sickening incident, a man in Chennai has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting four newborn puppies. The 30-year-old man identified as Bhaskar, a Madhavaram resident, was caught on CCTV performing the unspeakable act in an empty ground at Mathur near Madhavaram on March 14.

Sai Vignesh, an animal rights activist told Deccan Chronicle that Bhaskar is a repeat offender.

He was seen sexually abusing pups at the second cross street in MMDA colony last month, said Vignesh adding that passersby lashed out. Bhaskar was again seen sexually abusing puppies at the empty ground near Madhavaram.

At the time of Vigneshs' initial complaint, a senior inspector with the Chennai police had told The New Indian Express that the nature of the crime is unclear and even the CCTV footage didn't seem to be a substantial proof!

Following this heinous canine brutality, animal rights activist Sai Vignesh's police complaint led to his arrest on March 27, nearly two weeks after the report.

Bhaskar has been booked under section 294 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which corresponds to charges of performing obscene acts in public. As per the latest reports, Bhaskar has been remanded to prison awaiting further inquiry.
Trump haters threat to our country: Hey, you Trump haters. Why dont you try to be fair to the guy? Do you really think for one minute if Hillary was president ISIS would almost be eradicated? Hes brought back jobs. The economy and unemployment are the best in decades. No Russian collusion proven. Now you want to change the Electoral College and Supreme Court. You even want illegals to vote. You are a stain on our country and a threat to our American way of life. Vote Trump 2020 to save our nation.
Kashmiri villagers stand next to the remains of a house destroyed during a deadly gun battle between militants and Indian government forces in the Pinglish area of Tral, in Pulwama district south of Srinagar, on March 11. (Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images)
Microsofts Visual Studio Code has become one of the most popular developer tools around. Built using GitHubs cross-platform Electron framework, Visual Studio Code is a full-featured, extensible, open source code editor that supports a wide selection of programming languages and frameworks, from the familiar C, C++, and C# to modern languages like Go, Rust, and Node.js. And Visual Studio Code is avalable for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

Where to download Visual Studio Code

To download the editor for Windows, MacOS, and Linux, go to Microsofts Visual Code Studio website.

Whats new in Visual Studio Code 1.50

Published on October 8, 2020, Visual Studio Code 1.50 features the following:
Corn (ZC) Daily MACD Trying to Positively Cross Tradable Patterns - Sun Dec 12, 10:27PM CST Corn (ZCH22) is consolidating to start the week, continuing a digestion since early November of the break above triangle resistance (on the weekly chart). Significantly, ZC remains near the November... ZCH22 : 588-4 (-0.25%) CORN : 21.60 (-0.16%)

Thousands protest in Prague against COVID vaccine mandate AP - Sun Dec 12, 11:20AM CST PRAGUE (AP)  Several thousand people marched through the Czech capital on Sunday, protesting a vaccination mandate for certain groups including people age 60 and over. $SPX : 4,712.02 (+0.95%) $DOWI : 35,970.99 (+0.60%) $IUXX : 16,331.98 (+1.13%)
Former Chubb veteran Richard Grant has been brought in to head the new location, joining the SALT team as marine manager of cargo.

As an experienced and highly regarded marine underwriter, Richard will be able to significantly expand SALTs involvement and service capability in the cargo space, said Andrew Black, SALTs head of marine for Australia.

The expansion comes just weeks after SALT opened a Perth office in late January, headed by marine manager and former Trident underwriter, Marie Nugent.

Speaking to Insurance Business, Black said the firm had been quick to open another location as the Perth office had been so well received by brokers.

Its certainly coming off the back of the opening of the office in Perth and now its indicative of the increasing and growing support that were receiving from the broking community, he said.

As a specialist in the marine space, Black said SALT is meeting the needs of brokers who are struggling to find support elsewhere.

There seems to be a shortage of experienced underwriters willing to assist brokers on some of the more complex marine risks  and thats not to say we only write those type of risks  but theres certainly a void or a gap there, said Black.

Our product offering seems to resonate so brokers are coming to us  it just means weve got to resource it more, he added.

While Black declined to comment on whether SALT would be moving into any other locations soon, he did say further growth was highly likely for the firm. He also said that, while expansion is a probability, SALTs main goals are to continue offering a valuable and reliable service to brokers.

Its about having representation and engaging solid, experienced, respected underwriters, he told Insurance Business. We purely operate in the broker market so were there to do what we can to respond professionally and quickly and provide them with a good underwriting and claims service.
The president and CEO of a Taunton, Mass., insurance agency has been indicted in connection with an alleged embezzlement scheme that left client companies uninsured.

David Pietro of Sandwich, Mass., and his company, DGP Miles Insurance Agency of Taunton, were indicted yesterday by a statewide grand jury on charges of larceny over $250  five counts each. He will be arraigned in Bristol Superior Court at a later date.

The Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office alleges Pietro, a licensed insurance broker, collected insurance premiums from clients through DGP and failed to remit the premiums payments to their insurance carriers.

As a result of the alleged embezzlement of these premiums, his client companies had various commercial insurance policies cancelled and were left uninsured.

In total, the AGs Office alleges Pietro stole $270,423.65 in premiums from client companies.

Source: Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office

Topics Fraud Abuse Molestation Massachusetts
Chubb Bermuda has named Richard Porter as senior vice president, head of Financial Lines. In this role, Porter is responsible for leading Chubb Bermudas Financial Lines division, which includes directors and officers liability, cyber, transactional risk, errors and omissions, and employment practices liability.

Based in Bermuda, he reports to Judy Gonsalves, vice president of Chubb Group and division president, Chubb Bermuda.

Porter has more than two decades of U.S. and international industry experience. Before this appointment, he served as general counsel for Chubb Bermuda, where he oversaw legal and compliance matters for the company and served as counsel to the underwriting teams in financial lines, excess liability, and property.

Porter joined the company as associate general counsel in 2011 and was promoted in 2016 to general counsel of Chubb Bermuda, where he also provided legal oversight for its affiliates in Dublin and London.

Before joining Chubb Bermuda, Porter was partner with Wilson Elser in New York City where he worked for 10 years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and earned his Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School.

Chubbs Financial Lines Division in Bermuda has been handling underwriting and claims in the excess marketplace for nearly three decades.

Source: Chubb Bermuda

Topics Chubb
Long before Cyclone Idai roared in and tore apart Mozambiques seaside city of Beira, the mayor dreamed of protecting his people from climate change.

It would be a huge challenge. Large parts of the city of 500,000 residents are below sea level on a coastline that experts warn is one of the worlds most vulnerable to global warmings rising waters.

With the World Banks support, a $120 million project was approved in 2012 to help spare the citys fading Art Deco center and makeshift slums from rising waters. An 11-kilometer (seven-mile) system of drainage canals and water retention basins now snakes from the beach deep into boggy neighborhoods.

It meant the end of suffering of a whole population, Mayor Daviz Simango declared as the projects first phase was completed last year.

But the cyclone that struck on March 14 brought a whole new level of pain to Beira, with images of destruction to chill any seaside nation already fearing for its survival.

We were really well prepared for disasters like flooding, Simango told The Associated Press, pausing from his work directing the disaster response in one of the citys poorest neighborhoods, Munhava.

The new system worked perfectly when there was flooding two months ago, said the mayor, a civil engineer who at times personally oversaw its construction. Residents told him they no longer needed to sleep on their tables.

Then God changed his plan and brought a cyclone, Simango said. Packing winds of some 240 kilometers (150 miles) an hour, the storm ripped apart structures built to withstand less than half that intensity. This cyclone destroyed everything we built for more than 100 years.

It was painful watching the cyclone veer toward Beira, said World Bank staffers involved in the project who kept in touch with people on the ground until the storm severed power and communications.

With Idai, suddenly we have a cyclone category 4 hitting, and its very vulnerable, Michel Matera, a senior urban specialist with the World Bank, told the AP. Yes, we were doing the right thing, but it was not enough.

Long and narrow with a 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) Indian Ocean coastline, Mozambique is on the frontline of fighting climate change in Africa, where most nations have little infrastructure and funding to cope. Rapidly growing coastal cities like Beira are especially at risk.

The mayor called it unjust that African nations face some of the toughest challenges while contributing little to global warming. People in rich, industrialized nations produce much of the carbon dioxide and other gases that are warming the planet by burning the most coal, diesel, gasoline and jet fuel.

But while Simango believes the international community should help African nations, he stressed the continents leaders must do their part to fight graft and not pocket the aid.

Sometimes we get money, resources but the corruption kills us, he said. We must be more prepared as leaders, doing our best to use every cent to save lives.

Ordinary Mozambicans may not be familiar with the science behind climate change. But the Beira residents who pick their way through inundated streets, and the longtime fishermen who keenly watch the sea and sky, have noticed changes.

They note that local temperatures that once topped out at around 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) now reach a sweltering 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). That warming air can hold more moisture, experts say, meaning the potential for heavier rains.

For fisherman Nueve Savimbi, who stood with a bamboo fishing pole where Beiras new concrete drainage system meets the sea, it took the raging storm to open his eyes.

Ive heard about climate change but didnt believe it until I saw the cyclone, he said. Without this (drainage system), there would be flooding here. But there is still work to do. Channels like this should be built elsewhere.

Without extensive study, scientists cannot directly link a single weather event like Cyclone Idai to the changing climate, but global warming is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme weather events, as well as droughts, floods and fires.

Mozambique ranks third among African nations in vulnerability to weather-related disasters, behind Somalia and Madagascar, and studies say climate change will make those threats more intense and unpredictable , according to the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, a World Bank-managed grant-funding partnership.

For residents recovering from the cyclone and those watching with alarm from afar  the storm hit as Africa Climate week unfolded across the continent in Ghana, another vulnerable coastal nation  the time has come to treat climate change as an emergency.

Cyclone Idai was an uncommonly fierce and prolonged storm, yet another alarm bell about the dangers of climate change, especially in vulnerable, at-risk countries, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday [March 26]. Such events are becoming more frequent, more severe and devastating and more widespread, and this will only get worse if we do not act now.

The world must deliver on the $100 billion pledged as part of the Paris climate agreement to help Mozambique and other developing nations build climate resilience, Guterres said. Countries around the world, rich and poor, had more than $2.2 trillion in economic losses from climate-related disasters between 1998 and 2017, the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said in October.

In Beira, it is too early to calculate the cyclones toll, whether in economic losses or even in lives.

Some residents say they believe an exodus will begin, with people leaving the port city for higher, safer places. Others argue that eventually, there will be nowhere else to go.

Other districts have flooding, said Julia Castigo, who stood on the beach watching survivors arrive by boat from the badly hit district of Buzi. The flooding will find us.

Another onlooker, Paolo Fernando Machata said a major flood nearly two decades ago didnt reach his village, but this one swallowed it. He spent three days stranded in flood waters, he said, pointing to his bandaged, swollen feet.

Id never heard about climate change, he said. What I know is, things are changing. If cyclones like this keep happening, we will lose this town and the people in it, and our society.

Still, that society has already shown flashes of resilience amid the destruction. Beiras seaside bars have reopened, pulsing with generator-powered music. Muddy markets bustle again, and shop owners have cleared away broken glass and reopened. Some classes have resumed as children in bright uniforms now share school buildings with displaced people.

From the international relief operations base at Beiras airport, Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, deputy director of the United Nations humanitarian operation, was frank. I think the world realizes we havent done enough about climate change, he told journalists. Disasters are getting worse around the world. All of us must be prepared.

For Beiras mayor, the time to take climate change seriously has come. Standing in a still-sodden neighborhood, he urged U.S. President Donald Trump to come to Mozambique and see for himself.

I think he is living in another world, Simango said of Trumps expressions of doubt about global warming. Ive seen by my own eyes the rising of the sea level. Ive seen by my own eyes people suffering. Ive seen flooding. Climate change is a reality. Climate change is bringing us trouble.

Related:

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Flood Climate Change
A House committee has advanced a bill to protect financial institutions from criminal prosecution for providing services to legal marijuana businesses.

The House Financial Services Committee voted 45 to 15 in favor of the SAFE Banking Act, which promises to improve access to banking and other financial services for legal marijuana-related businesses.

The bill includes a provision introduced by Rep. Steve Stivers, (R-Ohio), clarifying that the safe harbor from prosecution extends to the insurance industry.

Voters in 47 states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of adult recreational and medical marijuana. However, cannabis is still considered an illegal substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act. As a result, financial institutions fear they could face federal criminal prosecution for providing banking, insurance and other financial services to state-licensed marijuana businesses.

Also, since state and federal laws are not aligned on the issue, some legal marijuana businesses operate on a cash-only basis. Advocates for the legislation argue that this situation creates a public safety risk, as well as an opportunity for tax evasion, money laundering and other white-collar crimes.

The bipartisan measure H.R. 1595, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2019was authored by U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) and Denny Heck (D-Wash.) and co-sponsored by Reps. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) and Stivers.

The bill now goes to the full House for consideration. The measure has 152 co-sponsors. A Senate bill is expected to be introduced in the coming weeks. Congress has failed to act on similar legislation that has been introduced since 2013.

Regardless of our views of marijuana use, the voters have decided in states all over this country that they want recreational and medicinal markets. To continue to do nothing to protect public safety would be negligence, said Heck.

Stivers said the committee allowed for input from both sides of the aisle, including his own amendment to give safe harbor to insurers. This isnt a bill about condoning marijuana use, its about ensuring businesses are not forced to operate in cash and open themselves up to risk, and I believe the improvements made today reflect that goal, he said.

Some of the Republicans on the committee who voted no sought to delay the vote so that the broader issue of the legality of marijuana could be debated. Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) suggested a better approach would be to change the federal law that makes marijuana an illegal substance.

Backers framed the measure as a public safety initiative. The SAFE Banking Act is about public safety, accountability and respecting states rights. Our federal banking laws were designed to prevent illicit activity and help law enforcement do their jobs, said Perlmutter. These laws need to be applied to legitimate marijuana businesses and employees in order to improve transparency and accountability and help root out illegal transactions.

The insurance industry generally supports the bill but would prefer if the federal law were changed so that cannabis is no longer considered an illegal substance.

Wes McClelland, vice president of federal government relations at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), called the bill a good first step to giving insurers clarity. While the bill does not address all the potential transactions that our industry is compelled by states to provide to individuals and businesses, we hope to continue working with the bill sponsors and supporters to address the larger set of issues that insurers face as more states look to legalize marijuana, he added.

The bill also has the support of the cannabis industry, banks, credit unions and real estate developers.

Topics Carriers Cannabis
A commercial truck hauling a chemical commonly used as fertilizer exploded Wednesday on a highway in Arkansas, killing the driver and creating a massive crater in the road, authorities said.

The explosion happened west of the city of Camden, or about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Little Rock. According to Arkansas State Police, the driver had called 911 early Wednesday to report that his brakes had caught fire.

The driver, 63-year-old Randall McDougal, attempted to extinguish the blaze but was killed when the truck exploded, authorities said.

It looks like a bomb went off, Camden Fire Chief Robert Medford told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Theres a big hole in the ground on where the truck was at.

State police said that McDougal was employed by Blann Trucking Co. and was hauling ammonium nitrate from El Dorado to Texarkana in south Arkansas.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation said crews would begin repairing the 15-foot (4.5-meter) crater once the wreckage from the accident was cleared. The affected road is a low-volume road that carries about 1,300 vehicles per day, department spokesman Danny Straessle said.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Auto
The chief executive of a Houston-area petrochemical storage company has apologized more than a week after a fire erupted, causing school closures, an order for residents to stay indoors and the partial closure of a critical commercial waterway.

Intercontinental Terminals Company CEO Bernt Netland said in a brief video posted Wednesday to YouTube that hes very sorry for the fires effect on the area southeast of Houston.

Also Wednesday, Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia called Netland and other senior ITC executives cowardly for not being more visible and transparent in the aftermath of the dayslong fire that began March 17. Garcias district includes the tank farm in Deer Park.

All of the Houston Ship Channel was reopened to daytime traffic Wednesday after flammable chemicals seeped into the busy channel.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Texas
A former licensed insurance agency owner was arrested in Florida after allegedly stealing more than $620,000 in insurance premiums, according to a statement from Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis.

Orestes Valentin Rodriguez, owner of Blue Guard Insurance Group Inc., is accused of pocketing insurance premiums from a property management company representing a Miami homeowners association and never paying the associations insurance.

The charges came as a result of an investigation by CFO Patronis fraud detectives and Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services, in partnership with the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office Division of Economic Crimes.

In all, Rodriguez allegedly:

Used a premium finance company to finance over $100,700 to pay for a $110,000 policy, keeping the money and never paying off the policy.

Collected down payments of more than $9,200 with customers paying $74,600 to the finance company for policies Rodriguez never purchased on their behalf.

Applied for nearly a million dollars in additional premium financing, allegedly generating 21 fraudulent premium finance contracts, and ultimately obtaining more than $430,000 from this premium financing.

Stole more than $2,900 in premium money from a home policy and a business liability policy.

In total, Rodriguez allegedly stole more than $620,000 in this fraud scheme. His insurance license has been revoked and he has been permanently barred from the insurance business in Florida, Patronis said.

Rodriguez was arrested March 20 and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Rodriguez faces one count of first degree grand theft, 21 counts of uttering a forged instrument, 12 counts of second degree grand theft, seven counts of third degree grand theft and one count of first degree organized fraud. If convicted, Rodriguez could face up to 25 years in prison

Florida currently ranks first in fraud and fourth in identity theft nationwide and insurance fraud schemes like these drive up those rates. I launched my new Fraud Free Florida initiative to bring law enforcement agencies together to tackle Floridas mounting fraud epidemic and bring these scam artists to justice because these alarming statistics are not acceptable. If you commit fraud in Florida, you will be caught and held accountable, Patronis said.

Source: Florida Department of Financial Services

Topics Agencies Florida Fraud
Duke University will pay $112 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit after federal prosecutors said a research technicians fake data landed millions of dollars in federal grants, the school and the government said Monday.

The private university in Durham submitted claims for dozens of research grants that contained falsified or fabricated information that unjustly drained taxpayer money from the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies, the U.S. Justice Department said. The school said it is repaying grant money and related penalties.

Taxpayers expect and deserve that federal grant dollars will be used efficiently and honestly, local U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin said in a statement. May this serve as a lesson that the use of false or fabricated data in grant applications or reports is completely unacceptable.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2015 by whistleblower and former Duke employee Joseph Thomas. The Justice Department took it over afterward. The suit claims the faked research was conducted by former research technician Erin Potts-Kant, who was supervised by pulmonary medicine researcher William Michael Foster. Fosters lab experimented with mice, seeking to determine the effects of inhaling diesel exhaust, among other tests. Several research papers by Fosters team were later retracted.

We expect Duke researchers to adhere always to the highest standards of integrity, and virtually all of them do that with great dedication, university President Vincent Price said in a statement. When individuals fail to uphold those standards, and those who are aware of possible wrongdoing fail to report it, as happened in this case, we must accept responsibility, acknowledge that our processes for identifying and preventing misconduct did not work, and take steps to improve.

The settlement was announced on the same day that U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles had scheduled a hearing on why the deal supposedly struck in November hadnt been finalized by the Justice Department.

The government alleged that between 2006 and 2018 Duke knowingly submitted faked data to federal agencies in 30 grants. The university had warning signs that some of the research was fraudulent but didnt act until discovering in 2013 that Potts-Kant had siphoned off money for spending on clothes and other items, the lawsuit said.

Duke University said the technician pleaded guilty to two counts of forgery in state court and paid the school restitution. Foster retired in 2015, university spokesman Michael Schoenfeld said.

Thomas, the whistleblower, will get $33.75 million from the settlement, the government said.

Duke is still dealing with a different research scandal dating back more than a decade. Duke medical professor Dr. Anil Potti engaged in misconduct while researching treatments in human cancer patients, U.S. Health and Human Services Department investigators said in 2015. Pottis studies were published in top medical journals including the New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet Oncology between 2006 and 2009.

In a settlement reached with the federal health agency, Potti did not acknowledge liability but agreed to have all his research supervised until 2020. Potti left Duke in 2010. Duke settled lawsuits brought by patients and estates of patients who participated in those medical trials.

As a result of both cases, the National Institutes of Health last year required Duke University researchers to increase their reporting of how federal grant money was being spent.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits USA Education Pollution Universities
A series of hail storms in central Florida dinged up car windshields and blew off pool screens in an unusual sight for the Sunshine State.

In tiny Trenton, the streets were covered in so much hail that it resembled a snow covering Wednesday morning. Workers from the public safety department in the city west of Gainesville posted photos to Facebook showing a backhoe cleaning up the icy mess.

Florida Today reports that pool enclosures were shredded, and windows were broken along the Space Coast.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Florida Windstorm
The Los Angeles City Council has agreed to pay $12 million to a woman who spent 17 years in prison on a murder conviction before a judge declared her innocent.

Susan Mellen was convicted of the 1997 beating death of a homeless man. After being exonerated and released in 2014, she sued former LA Police Department detective Marcella Winn. The lawsuit contended the detective had been told a witness against Mellen was a habitual liar, but failed to disclose that to the defense.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously last August that the suit against Winn should go to trial.

Winn and Mellen could not be immediately reached for comment about this weeks settlement.

The Los Angeles Times says Wednesday that the LAPD declined to comment.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
March 29, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) A Mackie Research Capital Corp. report reviewed what a newly acquired oil resource in Alberta brings to this Canadian company.

In a March 14 research note, analyst Bill Newman reported that Point Loma Resources Ltd. (PLX:TSX) has "multibagger return potential" given the future aggregate production outlook from its three plays: Duvernay, Banff and Rex, which was recently acquired.

Newman indicated that in 2018, Point Loma increased its Proven and Probable (2P) oil reserves 19% year over year. The new total, 5.3 million barrels of oil equivalent, has a before-tax estimated net present value discounted at 10% (NPV10) of CA$38.4 million, or CA$0.54 per share.

Accounting for 92% of that 2P oil reserves increase is Point Loma's high-impact, horizontal Rex discovery well, 16-17-48-27W4, in the Upper Mannville oil play in west central Alberta, explained Newman. That well has an estimated 105,000 barrels net (105 Mbbl) of 2P nonproducing reserves plus an assigned 420 Mbbl from three Proven undeveloped and one Probable location. These reserves take the 2P total for the Rex discovery to 525 Mbbl, with an NPV10 of CA$8.8 million, or CA$0.12 per share.

This value compares to Point Loma's current market cap of CA$12 million, and indicates the stock is trading at 32% of its reserves value, excluding the company's Banff and Duvernay plays, Newman highlighted. Point Loma "should be trading significantly higher than the current trading price," which is currently at CA$0.20 per share. Mackie's target price on the company is CA$1 per share.

Once the oil and gas exploration and development firm has regulatory approval, it intends to build production facilities for the Rex well and place it online in Q2/19. In the future, the company expects to drill in 14 more spots on its 3,385 acres at Rex.

The "potential prize" with Rex, Newman pointed out, is that the Rex pool "has the potential to hold 60 million barrels of original oil in place." Its potential net recoverable resource is about 4.2 million barrels, which Mackie estimated using a 10% recovery factor for primary production only. "Valuing [that] at a conservative $5 per barrel results in an unrisked value of CA$21 million, or CA$0.29 per share," he added.

Looking forward, Newman wrote, Mackie expects that with output from the Rex discovery well alone, Point Loma will double its Q2/19 oil production to more than 350 barrels per day, with additional drilling this year potentially driving up the production rate even more.

Mackie has a Buy rating on Point Loma.

Disclosure:

1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. 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.

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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.

Disclosures from Mackie Research, Point Loma Resources Ltd., Update, March 14, 2019

RELEVANT DISCLOSURES APPLICABLE TO COMPANIES UNDER COVERAGE

Relevant disclosures required under Rule 3400 applicable to companies under coverage discussed in this research report are available on our web site at www.mackieresearch.com.

ANALYST CERTIFICATION

Each analyst of Mackie Research Capital Corporation whose name appears in this report hereby certifies that (i) the recommendations and opinions expressed in this research report accurately reflect the analyst's personal views and (ii) no part of the research analyst's compensation was or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific conclusions or recommendations expressed in this research report.

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Vancouver, British Columbia - March 29, 2019 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Miramont Resources Corp. (CSE: MONT) (OTCQB: MRRMF) (FRA: 6MR) ("Miramont" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has now completed 3,679 meters in nine diamond drill holes. The Company has received assay results for six of the nine holes. Although drilling has confirmed the basic geologic model that Miramont had developed for this district, significant mineralized drill intercepts thus far appear intermittent and discontinuous.

Drilling was planned to test three principal targets of the five targets currently identified. The existence of a deep-rooted hydrothermal system was determined, as was the presence of a buried intrusion as surmised from geophysical studies. The location of the nine drill holes is shown on the accompanying map.

Bill Pincus, Miramont's President and CEO said: "We are satisfied that we have confirmed our basic deposit model. Our understanding of the three-dimensional nature of this mineralized system has expanded with this program, but thus far, mineralized intercepts have proven to be discontinuous. Once we have received the results for all nine drill holes, we plan to evaluate data to develop a better understanding of hydrothermal fluid flow vectors. We will model all new data so as to best determine the controls on economic mineralization, where to best find it and how Miramont will best go forward."

The table below highlights selected high grade intervals. Values as high as 14.75 ppm Au and 110 ppm Ag were found. Significant base metal values were also encountered.

Analytic Protocols and QA/QC

Assays were completed first by SGS and then by ALS Laboratories in Peru. Future samples will be analyzed by ALS as primary laboratory. Miramont follows rigorous sampling and analytical protocols that meet industry standards. Core samples are stored in a secured area until transport in batches to either SGS or ALS prep labs in Arequipa, Peru. Sample batches include certified reference materials, blanks, and duplicate samples are then processed under the control of ALS or SGS. ALS samples are analyzed using the ME-ICP61 (a technique that provides a comprehensive multi-element overview of the rock geochemistry), while gold is analyzed by AA24 and GRA22 when values exceed 10 g/t. Over limit silver, copper, lead and zinc are analyzed using the OG-62 procedure. SGS samples are analyzed using the ICP 40B method while gold is analyzed by FAA515. Over limit silver, copper, lead and zinc are analyzed using the AAS41B procedure.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. William Pincus, CPG, President and CEO of Miramont and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Miramont Resources Corp.

Miramont is a Canadian based exploration company with a focus on acquiring and developing mineral prospects within world-class belts of South America. Miramont's two key projects are Cerro Hermoso and Lukkacha, both located in southern Peru. Cerro Hermoso is a diatreme-hosted copper dominant polymetallic prospect. Lukkacha is a classic copper-porphyry prospect.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

MIRAMONT RESOURCES CORP.

"William Pincus"

William Pincus, President and CEO

For more information, please contact the Company at:

Telephone: (604) 398-4493

info@miramontresources.com

www.miramontresources.com

Reader Advisory

This news release may contain statements which constitute "forward-looking information", including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Map 1

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March 29, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The meaning and implications of recent positive assays for this Nevada company are explained in this ROTH Capital Partners report.

In a March 25 research note, analyst Joe Reagor reported ROTH Capital Partners raised its target price on Corvus Gold Inc. (KOR:TSX) to CA$5 per share from CA$4.50, versus CA$2.06, the current share price.

The raise came after the gold explorer and developer released additional strong results from its Mother Lode deposit in Nevada, the succession of positive assays suggesting the company could be "outlining the beginning of an underground high-grade extension," Reagor wrote. "We also believe continued drilling can lead to further resource expansion."

The most recent Mother Lode findings were from three holes, the analyst explained. One, ML19-104, intersected 126.49m of 1.85 g/t gold and, also, near its bottom, hit three intervals of mineralization with a thickness of greater than 10m and a gold grade higher than 4 g/t.

Reagor highlighted that Corvus keeps expanding Mother Lode to the northwest and as such, "is poised to demonstrate a significant resource estimate increase."

"We also believe that a significant resource expansion should drive significant improvements in project economics," Reagor added.

ROTH reiterated its Buy rating on Corvus Gold.

Disclosure:

1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. 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.

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.

Disclosures from ROTH Capital Partners, Corvus Gold Corp., Company Note, March 25, 2019

Regulation Analyst Certification ("Reg AC"): The research analyst primarily responsible for the content of this report certifies the following under Reg AC: I hereby certify that all views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject company or companies and its or their securities. I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report.

Shares of Corvus Gold Corp. (OTC: CORVF) may not be eligible for sale in one or more states.

Shares of Corvus Gold Corp. (OTC: CORVF) may be subject to the Securities and Exchange Commission's Penny Stock Rules, which may set forth sales practice requirements for certain low-priced securities.

Within the last twelve months, ROTH has received compensation for non-investment banking securities-related services from Corvus Gold Corp. (OTC: CORVF).

ROTH Capital Partners, LLC expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking or other business relationships with the covered companies mentioned in this report in the next three months.

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March 29, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Clive Maund sees some rough waters with gold and discusses how to play it.

Note: This article was published on CliveMaund.com on March 27.

I have not been happy about the pattern that has been forming in gold since it plunged rather rudely and sharply around the end of February. The concern that was engendered by that plunge and the accompanying momentum breakdown, that we can see on gold's latest 8-month chart below, were allayed by its managing to stabilize above its parabolic uptrend line and then rise off it. However, the rally this month has been hesitant and unconvincing, and it is now becoming clearer that it may be a B-wave bear Flag to be followed by a C-wave breakdown through the parabolic uptrend support line that would lead to a sharp drop probably towards or to the support shown in the $1240 area, where it would stabilize before later reversing to the upside again. If this is the scenario that is set to unfold, it is likely to happen soon, as the bear Flag looks about complete.

Obviously a near-term $70 or so drop by gold will inflict some pretty heavy damage on many precious metals stocks. We therefore require a strategy or strategies to deal with it. Basically the choice is to set close stops that take you out of most precious metals sector investments if gold breaches the parabolic uptrend, or alternatively, if you want to stay long, the losses can be cancelled out by hedging using Puts, using perhaps a mix of Puts in gold proxy GLD (SPDR Gold Trust) and in the gold miners 3X leveraged bull ETF NUGT (Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares), where it should be noted that spreads are considerably wider than with GLD, and there are other possibilities.

If you get taken out of your positions due to such a drop, you then aim to buy them back at a better price as gold arrives at the support shown on our chart. Note that what is set out here overrides most comments made on individual stocks, which is because they are like sheep and tend to all move together during bigger sector moves. Finally, if you agree with what is set out here, you don't need to wait to take this evasive action, and sell at lower prices by being taken out by stops, and also pay higher prices for Puts, you can take evasive action immediately. The scenario set out here would only start to be negated by a gold breakout above the top line of its bear Flag.

Posted at 7.40 am EDT on 27th March 2019 on CliveMaund.com.

Clive Maund has been president of www.clivemaund.com, a successful resource sector website, since its inception in 2003. He has 30 years' experience in technical analysis and has worked for banks, commodity brokers and stockbrokers in the City of London. He holds a Diploma in Technical Analysis from the UK Society of Technical Analysts.

Disclosure:

1) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of Clive Maund and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. Clive Maund is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. Streetwise Reports was not involved in the content preparation. Clive Maund was not paid by Streetwise Reports LLC for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article.

2) 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.

3) 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.

Charts provided by the author.

CliveMaund.com Disclosure:

The above represents the opinion and analysis of Mr Maund, based on data available to him, at the time of writing. Mr. Maund's opinions are his own, and are not a recommendation or an offer to buy or sell securities. Mr. Maund is an independent analyst who receives no compensation of any kind from any groups, individuals or corporations mentioned in his reports. As trading and investing in any financial markets may involve serious risk of loss, Mr. Maund recommends that you consult with a qualified investment advisor, one licensed by appropriate regulatory agencies in your legal jurisdiction and do your own due diligence and research when making any kind of a transaction with financial ramifications. Although a qualified and experienced stock market analyst, Clive Maund is not a Registered Securities Advisor. Therefore Mr. Maund's opinions on the market and stocks can only be construed as a solicitation to buy and sell securities when they are subject to the prior approval and endorsement of a Registered Securities Advisor operating in accordance with the appropriate regulations in your area of jurisdiction.

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So thats nearly Friday wrapped up. Heres some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

TO INFORM

Brexit: In a tumultuous Brexit week, British MPs took control of the parliamentary timetable and then rejected Theresa Mays Withdrawal Agreement for a third time, despite an offer from the British Prime Minister to stand down if it was approved.

Brexit - what next? Following Theresa May's defeat, what happens next with Brexit?

Carbon taxes: Carbon tax to hit lowest earners hardest, says Social Justice Ireland.

Central Criminal Court: Patrick Quirke called Mary Lowry a 'right bitch' and warned her not to attend son's month's mind.

Lotto win: Family syndicate collects Lotto cheque of over 10 million.

TO ENGAGE

Climate change: We must grasp opportunity now to tackle climate disruption.

Smoking ban: We have all been breathing easily since smoking ban was introduced.

TO ENTERTAIN

Reaction to Brexit: British Minister on Brexit: 'F**k knows. Im past caring.'

Burnout: Why we all suffer burnout and tips on how to overcome it.

MOST READ STORY

Fine for slapping daughter: Father who slapped daughter, 2, at Cork supermarket is fined 700.
Niall Gleeson has been appointed as managing director and deputy CEO of Ervia, appointed by Irish Water and effective from August 6. Mr Gleeson is currently based in Hong Kong, where he works as a senior director with Shanahan Engineering, which provides electrical, mechanical, civil and building engineering services to companies in the power, utilities and transportation sectors. Prior to this role, he was managing director of Veolia Ireland which built and currently operates 30 water and wastewater treatment plants on behalf of Irish Water and other clients. He has also previously been managing director of Alstom Ltd.

Didier Clavero Perez

Didier Clavero Perez has been appointed as chief technology officer with Vodafone Ireland. He will lead the rollout of 5G and will oversee Vodafone Irelands business and IT transformation project. He brings 23 years experience with Vodafone Spain, having held senior technology roles since 1996. He managed Vodafones integrations with Cable & Wireless and ONO in Spain. As head of Data Core, he led the transformation and expansion of Vodafone Group data core networks across Europe. He holds a PhD in Telecomms Engineering by the Polytechnic University of Zaragoza, and has completed his academic background with a MBA by EOI in Madrid.

Eleanor Farrell

Eleanor Farrell has been appointed as chief commercial officer of Bus Eireann. She joins from Google, where she was global head of operations and strategy, customer onboarding. She has also held senior roles previously with Vodafone Ireland and with McKinsey & Company, where she led critical strategy and change programs. She holds an MBA from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business College and an MSc in Computing. She is also chair of Samaritans Ireland and a board member of the Samaritans UK. She said: I am proud to join Bus Eireann and be part of a team that is connecting people all over Ireland with ambitious plans for future growth.

Sean Loughman

Sean Loughman has been appointed as chief information officer with Bus Eireann. Over a wide-ranging career at eir, he has held director roles in technology transformation and product development, most recently as director of IT strategy, architecture and solutions. He has also held senior roles with Swedish company Ericsson both in Ireland and overseas. Sean holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from University College Dublin. He said: I am delighted to be joining Bus Eireann at this juncture in its evolution and together with the senior team, I am looking forward to making a significant contribution in the development of the company.

Neal Davies

Neal Davies, CEO of creative advertising agency BBDO Dublin, will serve as European jury chair of the 2019 Global Effie Awards, the global authority on marketing effectiveness. As chair of the European judging panel, he will lead the Global Effie jury choosing the most effective multinational marketing efforts that have driven business success over the past year. The judging panel will convene on April 9 in London. Similar judging events will take place in New York, Sao Paulo and Singapore, with the final round of global judging to take place in New York on April 16. The winners will be celebrated at the 50th annual Effie Awards Gala on May 30 in New York.

Suzanne Meade

Suzanne Meade has joined Fuzion Communications as PR and social media account executive, working on a varied portfolio of national and regional client campaigns. Prior to joining Fuzions Cork office, Suzanne previously worked in in-flight services with Dubai airline Emirates for four years. She has also acted as a brand ambassador for Emirates and was also part of its business promotions events team, attending sponsorship events. A Cork native, she holds a BSc in Food Marketing and Entrepreneurship from University College Cork, and a diploma in Digital Marketing from the Digital Marketing Institute. Fuzion has offices in Cork and Dublin.

Bill Gleeson

Bill Gleeson has been appointed as sales manager at technology services company Singlepoint with responsibility for delivering sales of Singlepoints digital accelerator platform, DAPx. Prior to taking up this position, Bill was director at Scapa Technologies for 17 years and has held a number of roles within the company but his core activity has always been in sales and presales. Before Scapa Technologies, he was an account manager at Webmetering for three years. He holds a B Comm from UCD and several business and technical certifications. He has over 20 years experience in IT working across many industries.

Matthew Thomas

Matthew Thomas, currently CEO of Shannon Group, is to leave the company in June to take up the position of CEO of the Ports of Jersey, the air and sea transport authority. Mary Considine, who is currently Shannon Groups deputy CEO, will take on the role of acting CEO in June. Mr Thomas led the development of Shannon Airport and its Aviation Services Centre, and its extensive land and property holdings and the operation of Irelands largest portfolio of tourist attractions. He has also held CEO roles with Vantage Airport Group in Vancouver, Larnaca and Liverpool airports. He has also worked with Macquarie Airports in Newcastle and Copenhagen.
Sterling fell slightly as Theresa May lost a vote for the third time for her EU withdrawal deal, which could bring a UK general election closer.

Since the UK voted in a referendum in the summer of 2016 to leave the EU, the pound has been a reliable gauge of investors fears over a crash-out or hard Brexit.

It is also highly important for Irish firms selling into the UK, as well as prices in Irish supermarkets, as so many grocery items are exported from Britain; and for many stockmarket-listed companies exposed to sterling because a large slice of their sales are generated in the UK.

Fears of the UK leaving without a deal have nonetheless declined as the Commons rejected a crash-out outcome in recent weeks, but other factors may likely be influencing the currency, such as the possibility of an early general election in the UK.

After the Commons voted by a majority of 58 to reject Ms Mays deal, sterling traded at 86.10 pence against the euro, slightly lower on the day.

Lee Evans, head of foreign exchange trading at Bank of Ireland Global Markets, said the 58 votes margin means Ms May has plenty of work to be done to get the deal approved.

Sterling immediately fell on the announcement of the result. Although the chances of a long extension have risen, markets have reflected an increased chance of a UK general election in the value of the pound, Mr Evans said.

Investors are now focusing on the next round of indicative votes in the Commons next week.

If they cannot form a consensus Monday about an alternative I would begin to worry, Rabobank strategist Jane Foley said.

Monday is extremely important. [Friday was] a necessity, that deal has to be declared dead for MPs to move on and find something fresh, she said.

Alan McQuaid, economist at Investec Ireland, said that sterling would continue to reflect uncertainty about UK politics and Brexit for some time.

However, he said his personal view was that the UK currency could rally towards 80 pence if the uncertainty were to lift. A strong pound tends to favour Irish exporters selling into Britain.

After Ms Mays latest defeat, Chambers Ireland said that a long delay and prolonged Brexit talks were now needed.

We now call on the UK government to put a multi-year extension in place as a matter of urgency and remove the threat of a no-deal exit. Its time to end the brinkmanship and put the economy, and the needs of the business community ahead of the political dealing.

"Brexit can wait for another day, said its chief executive Ian Talbot.

Capital Economics in London said it was not inconceivable Ms May would attempt for a fourth time to bring her deal to a vote next week.

We had anticipated a shift to just one scenario for the economy and markets by [Friday], the original Brexit date. In the event, we will have to wait at least two weeks more, it said.

Meanwhile, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online broker IG, said stock markets had been boosted by hopes of progress in the China-US trade talks.

This is another long- running issue, but one that might see a resolution before the end of 2019, in stark contrast to Brexit, he said.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg.
Teeling Whiskey have won a top award for their 24 Years Old Vintage Reserve at the World Whiskies Awards 2019.

The spirit was named the World's Best Single Malt at this year's prestigious awards.

It is the first time an Irish whiskey has been named as the worlds best single malt.

Teeling Whiskey beat off competition from industry leaders from Scotland and Japan to earn the title at the ceremony which was held in London last night.

Thrilled to announce that our 24 Year Old Single Malt has won World's Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards, making it the first Irish Whiskey to win the award!

Read all about it on #TeelingTimes!https://t.co/gJIxMuXJyl pic.twitter.com/5Z2FtWDn33  Teeling Whiskey (@TeelingWhiskey) March 29, 2019

"To be honoured as the Worlds Best Single Malt and in the process become the first Irish whiskey to ever have achieved such world-wide acclaim is very humbling and reflects the global resurgence and revival of both Teeling and Irish whiskey," Jack Teeling, Founder and Managing Director of Teeling Whiskey said.

"We are also extremely proud of the team we have created, and this award is testament to the creativity, hard-work and dedication of our staff both here in Ireland and around the world, and I would like to thank them all for helping us achieve this ambition."

Teeling also picked up an award for the Best Irish Grain for their Single Grain whiskey.

The Irish Whiskey Association (IWA) congratulated Teeling Whiskey saying it is an "incredible achievement".

"It is testament to the quality and excellence of its whiskey range and the hard work and dedication of the team involved to produce this world-class Single Malt," said William Lavelle, Head of the IWA.

Irish Whiskey is leading on the world stage. This month, the CSO published final export data for 2018 showing that 654 million worth of Irish whiskey products (distillery-gate prices, not final retail price) were exported from the Republic of Ireland last year.

"This marked an increase of 13%, which confirms that the Irish whiskey renaissance shows no signs of abating."

Overall, five Irish whiskeys received honours at the awards.
Some might call it a ewe-turn  an 85-year-old sheep farmer who was found guilty of allowing her sheep to wander from commonage in West Cork has had the case dismissed under the Probation Act.

Mary OSullivan, of Hilltop House in Dreenapappara near Ardgroom, Co Cork, was asked in February to consider putting up four large warning signs after her sheep were found wandering on a public road in contravention of a law dating back to 1851.

However, Judge James McNulty said a month-long adjournment gave him some mature reflection and time to weigh up proper concern for public safety with due respect for ancient rights and the way of life of a woman of great age and admirable energy.

The judge said that sometimes modernity must bend to tradition.

A beaming Ms OSullivan, accompanied by her son, Gearoid, offered her sincerest thanks to the judge.

She has been farming sheep since she was six years old and her solicitor, Flor Murphy, said she has done everything possible to keep her animals from straying onto the road next to the 1,140-acre Kilcatherine commonage, of which she is one of the 74 shareholders.

Her neighbour, Lotte Vox, complained about the sheep on the public road and Judge McNulty had suggested the erection of three or four tasteful and large signs, to be maintained for three years, that could warn motorists.

At Bantry District Court yesterday, Mr Murphy said his client had looked into the possibility but had been told by the area engineer in Castletownbere that any such signs would require planning permission.

The letter from the engineer, read in court, suggested that the 8ft by 5ft size proposed would mean the signs would not be exempt from planning.

Mr Murphy also said that any signage would need to be agreed by all shareholders of the commonage, which he said was practically impossible.

Judge McNulty quoted Patrick Kavanaghs poem Epic: Till Homers ghost came whispering to my mind./ He said I made the Iliad from such/ A local row. Gods make their own importance.He also quoted journalist,

Vincent Browne: The lower the status of the judge the greater the sense of self-importance.He said the one-month adjournment allowed time to consider the matter and that Ms OSullivan is conducting modest farming activity in her native place.

He said St Patrick, and his own grandfather, had done the same.

The question is if traditional farming practices must yield to modernity or whether modernity should yield to tradition, he said.

The judge said the area is sparsely populated and one of natural beauty - its a special place in a special place - and that the court has now concluded that it is a matter for tourists and road users to look out for themselves.

As for Mary OSullivan, if ever there was a case where Section 1 (1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1997 may apply, this is it, said Judge McNulty.

This allows for a case to be proven but dismissed on grounds including the trivial nature of the offence or grounds of age and health, among other factors.
Facebook is to introduce rules to protect the integrity of the European Parliament elections in May. These will include a requirement that advertisers prove they live in the country where their ads will be targeting users of the social media network.

Facebook is also introducing a new tool, called Ad Library, to make it easier for people to find out about political or issue-based ads on the social network.

Second, ahead of the EU Parliamentary Elections in May, anyone running ads related to politics or issues will need to confirm that their identity and location match the country where the ads will run. These ads will also include a Paid for by disclosure https://t.co/qFYsG7RzVt  Meta (@Meta) March 28, 2019

Richard Allan, vice-president for Global Policy Solutions at Facebook, said: We want to make sure that we capture the broad range of ads that are intended to influence the outcome of the election. This means including not only ads that advocate voting for particular candidates or parties, but also issue ads which dont explicitly back one candidate or political party, but which focus on highly politicised topics, such as immigration.

Facebook says that from mid-April it will block political or issue ads that have not been properly registered.

Mr Allan said:

These changes will not prevent abuse entirely. Were up against smart, creative, and well-funded adversaries, who change their tactics as we spot abuse. But we believe that they will help prevent future interference in elections on Facebook. And that is why they are so important.

The move was welcomed by James Lawless, Fianna Fail spokesman on science, technology, research, and development, who has introduced a bill on social media advertising.

Having met with officials from Facebook on various occasions, I conveyed to them my concerns that social media could be manipulated by those with sinister motives, said Mr Lawless.

I would like to see the Government progress my bill with greater urgency and ahead of the EU elections in May. While Facebook has now taken steps to protect the integrity of the electoral process across the EU, we must take responsibility in Ireland for our own system.
A new record of 10,264 homeless people is triggering calls for the upcoming local elections to be treated by voters as a referendum on the Governments failed housing policies.

Stinging attacks on the Fine Gael-led Government saw it accused of wrecking the lives of almost 4,000 children who are among those living in emergency accommodation.

Fianna Fails Dara Calleary led the charges in the Dail, noting there are almost 4,000 more homeless people now than when the Government launched its 2016 Rebuilding Ireland plans.

There are 6,480 adults and 3,784 children in emergency accommodation. Those figures, as we know, do not tell the full story. They have been massaged and managed to try to keep them as low as possible, he said.

Mr Callleary noted that the United Nations had hammered Irelands housing policies  that local authorities still have no discretion to build small or medium estates and that people have to be evicted into homelessness before they can access housing payments. Rebuilding Ireland is not working, he said.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney defended the Governments record, insisting that 50,000 new social homes will still be built by 2021 under Rebuilding Ireland.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy will also bring more plans to Cabinet next week to protect tenants, the Dail also heard.

Mr Coveney insisted that more social and private housing is being built but that the problem is that these numbers are not overtaking the pace at which people are coming into homelessness.

It is important to deal with the facts as well as the emotion, he told angry TDs.

Mr Calleary said that Dublin City Council only built 72 houses last year and vulture funds are buying apartments en bloc before they are released to the market, renting them out and driving up rental prices.

He added: In July 2016, under this Governments watch 6,500 people were homeless. That figure has increased to over 10,000.

Sinn Feins Pearse Doherty said that the new figures are an absolute and utter disgrace and that they represent a national scandal.

Maybe there is not enough emotion in this debate, were talking about real people, added the Donegal TD.

Those childrens lives have been wrecked even before they had begun, he told Mr Coveney.

Solidarity-PBP TD Richard Boyd Barrett called for tenants, those on housing lists, people with mortgage problems and in emergency accommodation to join a national demonstration on housing on May 18.

He also called for people to voice their opinions in Mays local and European elections:

We will appeal to everyone who is in mortgage distress to come out on to the streets and ensure the coming election is a referendum on the failed housing policies of the Government.

Mr Coveney pledged that the Government will fix the broken rental market but he said the Government can not overnight freeze all rents as this would fundamentally undermine the capacity to increase supply in many parts of the country.

Meanwhile, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has faced equally robust criticism over the new housing figures for February.

Homeless campaigner, Fr Peter McVerry, said that figures for the homeless are closer to 15,000, but that the actual figure is irrelevant because the trend is going up and up and up.

He said that a recent report from Dublin City Council predicts the figures are going to continue to increase for the next three years.

Thats not providing accommodation or building houses, thats just getting people into beds for the night in hotels, bed and breakfasts or emergency accommodation, he told RTE.

Were in this mess because councils stopped building and pushed people into the private sector with HAP, he said.

He repeated his call for a moratorium on evictions, saying: Just for three years until we get a grip on the situation. The alternative is putting thousands of families through the trauma of homelessness.

He also warned that coming down the road are 40,000 people in mortgage arrears. If half of these are repossessed, as is predicted, this country wont be able to cope with the homeless crisis.

Focus Ireland said that landlords evicting families so they can sell a property is the biggest single cause of family homelessness.

Mr Murphy, speaking to RTE, said the Government cannot force a private homeowner who wants to sell their house to keep tenants in situ.

He said the increase in homeless numbers is very disappointing and that a number of people are at the very blunt end of the housing difficulties. He reiterated that the root of the problem lies in the need to build and create new homes.

Labours housing spokeswoman, Jan OSullivan, said the Government needs to admit that ReBuilding Ireland is failing.

She called on the Government to ensure that people can stay in their homes as well as meeting targets to build social and affordable housing.
Ireland and other EU states must support a long extension of the Brexit deadline if the UK significantly shifts its approach to leaving the EU, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has insisted.

Europe, he said, must be open to a long extension of Article 50 if the UK decides to fundamentally reconsider its approach to Brexit.

However, he said it is up to the UK to indicate how it plans to proceed in order to avoid the UK crashing out of the EU. His comments came after the withdrawal agreement was defeated for a third time in the House of Commons yesterday.

Mr Varadkar said: The Government notes the decision of the House of Commons to reject the indicative withdrawal agreement.

It is now up to the UK to indicate how it plans to proceed in order to avoid a no-deal scenario. The European Council has agreed unanimously that the withdrawal agreement will not be reopened.

He also insisted Ireland has been preparing intensively for a no-deal scenario but nobody should underestimate the difficulties it would present for all countries, including the UK.

It is not clear that the UK has fully understood that no-deal is not off the agenda. Rather, its a growing possibility, he said.

Mr Varadkar welcomed the decision of EU Council president Donald Tusk to call a council meeting on April 10.

It is now incumbent on the UK to chart a realistic way forward for consideration at that council meeting, he said.

I believe we must be open to a long extension should the United Kingdom decide to fundamentally reconsider its approach to Brexit and put back on the table options previously ruled out. I believe that will result in a generous and understanding response from the 27.

Mr Varadkar will meet French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel next week, but emphasised Ireland should back a long Brexit extension if the UK alters its position.

His comments came in the wake of a further humiliating defeat for British prime minister Theresa May. MPs voted 344 to 286 against the latest proposed deal.

Last night, there were signs of changing positions, with DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds saying he would stay in the EU and remain rather than risk Northern Irelands position.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said the best option for Ireland now is a soft Brexit and an extension, while Sinn Feins Mary Lou McDonald said that, amid the disarray in Britain, the interests of Irish citizens, the economy, and the peace process are in the balance.
The day got off to a predictable start for Garda Donal Daly and Garda Deirdre Hayes at the regional communications centre, Anglesea Street Garda Station, Cork.

By mid-morning, they were knee deep in a major incident after an incoherent civilian theyd arrested and taken to hospital for treatment turned out to have a potentially lethal biohazard in his possession.

As his colleague was overcome by toxic fumes, and the only attending nurse in the resuscitation room collapsed, Gda Daly found himself dealing with a rapidly deteriorating situation. The only help at hand was the emergency medicine consultant, whose principal concern was saving the patient, while the gardas focus was on implementing a crime scene and maintaining radio contact with colleagues as he waited for backup.

He did so while carrying out CPR on his arrestee; while talking to his ailing colleague in an effort to establish what condition she was in; and ultimately, while trying to stop the doctor damaging the crime scene as she tended to her patient.

Photography by Gerard McCarthy

Finally, garda colleagues from the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives team (CBRNe) arrived in full biohazard/gasmask kit and the resus room was sealed off to the outside world.

Phew. All in a days work at the Assert Centre at University College Cork (UCC), where we saw firsthand the wonders of applying the science of simulation to training for the unexpected. This was a red letter for Assert, the first time the centre joined forces with gardai to collaborate on a serious incident escalation simulation project. It worked a treat.

The simulation took place in two acts. The first took place in a simulated emergency department where patients/actors played rowdy individuals, concerned parents of a sick baby and a seriously ill man.

Inspector Finbarr OSullivan arrived into this volatile mix with the incoherent male, later played by an interactive dummy in resus. Tensions were high. Back-up was called.

Act two was in the resus room where Gda Daly was essentially left to run the show. He left the other actors for dead (literally), even though he had no idea, prior to being tasked to UCC at 9.30am yesterday, that he was being put to the test.

He was thrown straight in while senior members of various emergency services looked on  fire chiefs, EM doctors, Defence Forces, Irish Coast Guard, airport personnel, ambulance personnel, prison service, civil defence.

The object of the exercise was to watch how different services response in a crisis and to see what was done well and what could be improved on in a real-life situation.

A couple of themes emerged. Firstly, it was clear that people had different priorities: To save the patient or to preserve a crime scene? The question was  how to reconcile these priorities to best effect?

The second was the importance of good communication. Use of medical jargon by the doctor and garda-speak by the garda did not help. The point was made by attendees that often in emergency situations, people work in silos, when they need to be more aware of whats going on around them.

We can all develop tunnel vision in a situation like that, Tony Lynch said in a debriefing session afterwards.

Dr Lynch, Assert clinical lead for the First Response Simulation Unit, spent four months planning the simulation with Assert colleagues. They hope to generate more interest among other first responders to take part in similarly tailored simulations.

The gardai are enthusiastic, especially Sgt Peter Murphy and Insp Finbarr OSullivan, responsible for co-ordinating the CBRNe response in Cork.

Yesterdays event took place on foot of a chance meeting between Insp OSullivan and consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist Barry OReilly, one of the driving forces behind the development of Assert, which also contains hi-fidelity suites for surgical training, and a virtual reality room which can simulate everything from a cockpit to a nightclub.

Patrick Henn, director of education and research at Assert, says it will eventually be an augmented reality suite (think 2002 Tom Cruise film Minority Report). Barry McPolin, chief superintendent, Cork city, believes what Assert has to offer is invaluable.

Its an excellent learning experience, its an excellent means of testing our preparedness and our capacity to respond to a situation like this, he said. Theres a huge volume of learning to be gained from it and I look forward to working with them in the future.

For Gda Daly and Gda Hayes, it was back to the regional communications centre. Enough excitement for one day.
Gardai have found a cannabis 'grow-house' in Dundalk.

Dundalk Drugs Unit, local detectives and uniform Garda members carried out a search of a house on the outskirts of the town earlier today and discovered what they're calling 'a sophisticated cannabis growing operation'.

They've seized 130 cannabis plants and a quantity of cannabis herb, with an estimated street value of 150,000.

A man in his forties was arrested at the scene and is currently being questioned at Dundalk Garda Station.

Investigations are ongoing.
Im always going to be here for this community because my heart is here no matter what an alderman says about it, that the police dont care about this community, King said. I had to sit here and listen to that stuff and bite my tongue. Theres no reason for me to bite my tongue now Alderman Carr. You were wrong from the beginning and youre wrong now.
Former President Mary McAleese says Northern Ireland is changing towards having a nationalist majority.

On the day the UK was supposed to leave the EU, Professor McAleese said the Brexit process is driving a constitutional change both North and South.

Prof. McAleese said the backstop is not the most important element of protection for the Good Friday Agreement in the Brexit process.

Following the result of the Brexit referendum, then Taoiseach Enda Kenny secured an agreement with the EU that Northern Ireland would seamlessly re-join the bloc if the North and South were to reunite.

Prof. McAleese said it has always been known that the issue would come onto the agenda.

She said: "The issue of the ending of partition would come onto the agenda driven by demographics, the demographics in Northern Ireland are changing rapidly towards a Catholic/Nationalist majority.

"That's a reality that has to be taken into account, but Brexit put a different spin on things."

The former President does not believe the Good Friday Agreement would have been agreed if it had ever been envisioned that the UK would leave the EU.

She added that we need to learn from the Brexit process and iron everything out, including the softer issues, before going to the polls.

Prof. McAleese supported suggestions that a cross-border citizens assembly could be used to open up the debate on the future of the island of Ireland.
Tenants who had been facing mass eviction from a Cork city apartment block by a vulture fund have been saved from possible homelessness thanks to a multi-million social housing property deal.

The pioneering deal on the Leeside apartment complex, which is understood to be worth well over 15m, came following months of confidential negotiations, led by Cork City Council in collaboration with Cluid Housing Association, with Lugus Capital.

Lugus, which bought the four-block complex in late 2017, was effectively acting as local agent on behalf of the international vulture fund Bain Capital.

The Irish Examiner has learned that Cluid now owns the entire Bachelors Quay complex, overlooking the north channel of the river Lee. It is in turnkey condition.

Some 13 households issued with eviction notices by Lugus in 2017 will continue to live in the complex. A further 59 apartments will be offered to people on the citys social housing list and six will be offered to rent in the private market.

With emergency shelter figures breaking the 10,000 mark for the first time, the deal was hailed last night as a landmark victory for the housing movement.

Solidarity councillor Fiona Ryan, who has been supporting the tenants in their campaign against eviction, said the deal should serve as a template for other local authorities to follow.

Huge congratulations are due to the Leeside residents, said Ms Ryan.

Evictions can be defeated by people power  that is the message that needs to go out now far and wide.

It shows that public housing and public ownership are key to tackling this housing crisis. Where mass evictions are threatened by big landlords or vulture funds, the Government should take the proporties into public ownership without compensation, halt the evictions and convert them to public housing.

"With 10,000 in emergency accommodation, this would mean we could not only save homes but where possible, as in this case, actually provide new ones.

Within weeks of acquiring the building, Lugus issued eviction notices to tenants to facilitate a 3m refurbishment of the entire building to address a range of fire safety issues.

Tenants fought the evictions and despite losing an RTB case last year, they continued their campaign. They eventually forced Lugus to concede on the evictions issue last summer which meant they could stay in the apartment complex, but relocate to other units while the refurb continued.

They agreed a non-disclosure agreement which effectively gagged them from commenting publicly on their campaign  until yesterday.

Cluid spokesman James OHalloran said the deal represents a major milestone for the association.

These units are finished to the highest standard and will provide people in Cork city with long-term, secure homes, he said.

Cluid has worked with Cork City Council to deliver these units in a matter of months and we hope to begin the process of filling the units next week. This project shows what can been achieved when stakeholders who are committed to housing delivery work together.

The city councils director of housing, Brian Geaney, said the deal is another example of the council taking a pioneering role in relation to the delivery of social housing. It also demonstrates the citys ability to take a multi-faceted approach to finding solutions to housing challenges, said Mr Geaney.

News of the deal emerged as the Government was accused of presiding over a national scandal as the homeless figures exceeded 10,000 for the first time  6,480 adults and 3,784 children.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said he is disappointed with the figures but added that the Government is working on a complex response to the issue.

He also rejected calls to prevent evictions by landlords, insisting that the Government has to strike a balance in addressing the housing crisis.
Update: The residents who fought mass eviction and won say they hope their story gives hope to others at risk of homelessness.

The core group of residents of the Leeside apartments in Cork city, who spearheaded a two-year campaign against their eviction, also said they felt abandoned by the government at the height of their campaign.

They were speaking this morning as they celebrated the 20m multi-million social housing property deal which secures their tenancy and provides a further 59 social housing units for the city.

The deal was led by Cork City Council in collaboration with Cluid Housing Association, and follows months of confidential negotiations with Lugus Capital, the vulture fund which bought the four-block complex in late 2017.

Lugus, which was effectively acting as local agent on behalf of the international vulture fund Bain Capital, had served eviction notices on several tenants before it started work on a complete 3m fire safety and structural upgrade of the entire building.

Several tenants moved out but a core group of just over 20 residents remained and resisted.

Following the negotiations, Cluid now owns the completely renovated 78-unit apartment block in on the citys Bachelors Quay.

Resident Aimee ORiordan said confirmation of the deal has lifted a weight off her shoulders.

Its just such a relief. Its a happy day. To be able to tell my son this is your home, its just amazing, she said.

We got no help from the government. We were on our own, essentially.

Our letter to the housing minister was met with silence. We had to explore alternative routes.

But we did it. We did it for all the residents, and for the people who are in the midst of homelessness now. That could have been us.

I hope it gives the incentive to the government and the city to tackle the homeless crisis.

Dorota Okon, who needs to be close to the Mercy University Hospital for medical treatment, said she feared becoming homeless almost every day over the last two years.

My feeling now is I have an apartment and we dont have to move or worry. And we wont be facing another letter about rent going up. The uncertainty is gone. Its great, she said.

Her neighbour, Andre Manuel, urged other tenants in a similar situation to unite.

Dont give up. I know people feel hopeless because they dont know where to go, they dont know where to start fighting, but there is hope. We did it, he said.

Earlier: 'This is a victory for social housing' - Agency hopes to begin filling Leeside Apartments next week

By Vivienne Clarke

The housing agency, Cluid, has described the purchase of the 78-unit Leeside Apartments complex in Cork city as a "major milestone".

The apartments were bought by the agency, in conjunction with Cork City Council, from an investment company for 20m and they will be used for social housing and for rent to the private sector.

The agencys new business manager James OHalloran told RTE radios Morning Ireland that to build the complex would have cost 25m to 26m, so the purchase represented very good value.

The Leeside Apartments complex at Bachelor's Quay in Cork contains 78 units in a mix of two-bed, three-bed and four-bed units, he explained.

At present, there are six HAP tenants in situ and a further six private tenants who will remain as clients of Cluid.

The deal removes the threat of eviction from existing tenants, while around 50 vacant units will be made available for social housing which will be filled from the social housing list.

Mr O'Halloran said that the purchase represents a major milestone for the agency.

"These units are finished to the highest standard and will provide people in Cork City with long-term, secure homes.

"Cluid has worked with Cork City Council to deliver these units in a matter of months and we hope to begin the process of filling the units next week.

"This project shows what can be achieved when stakeholders who are committed to housing delivery work together.

He added that, at present, Cluid is awaiting planning permission for 112 units in Blackpool on the city's northside and is working with Cork City Council and developers to identify additional sites.

"This purchase will help us in our aim of delivering 2,500 homes over three years."

The Leeside Apartments complex brings to 6,800 the number of properties operated by Cluid. Mr O'Halloran said. That is 17,000 tenants paying affordable rents. We dont sell, those units will always be available.

This is a victory for social housing.

Cluid is financing the development of the Leeside units through a combination of a Capital Advance and Availability Payment from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and a loan facility with the Housing Finance Agency (HFA). Cork City Council will act as a conduit for the departmental funding.

The rent on the units will be based on Cork City Council's rent policy and the council will retain full nomination rights on the properties.
Post-natal care for mothers in the countrys maternity hospitals is not up to standard because of staff shortages, a maternity care expert has said .

Staffing concerns have been raised in the wake of the death of mother of three Marie Downey and her four-day-year-old son, Darragh at Cork University Maternity Hospital this week.

It was reported yesterday that three nurses were caring for 31 patients on Ms Downeys ward when she was found lying over her son on the floor of her single room on Monday. Her baby died the following day.

Ms Downey was originally from Ballyagran, Co Limerick, but lived in Knockanevin, Kildorrery, Co Cork. Health Minister Simon Harris said an independent review into what happened would take place in addition to the hospitals investigation.

Krysia Lynch, maternity care expert and chair of AIMS Ireland, said staffing issues in maternity care had been an issue for a long time.

AIMS Ireland is an organisation formed in 2007 by women following their experience in the Irish maternity system. Ms Lynch said post-natal care always emerged as the most problematic in surveys conducted by AIMS.

Women would report that most of the focus of care is on their baby and making sure that their baby is OK. There is very little focus on them  how they are feeling and how things are working out for them, she said.

And second and third-time mothers would say that whatever about the care if you had a normal delivery you are less likely to receive the same level of attention as a first-time mum.

Post-natal care was at the bottom of the ladder as most of the available resources went into ante-natal care and the delivery suite.

The need for more midwives was identified in the National Maternity Strategy 2016-2026.

More midwives have been employed but the gap continues to be greater than what it should be, said Ms Lynch.

She also said the breastfeeding reference in Ms Downeys case was unusual because it did not contribute to her situation.

Mothers have to get and out of bed all the time to look after their babies.

A spokesperson for the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said it could not comment on individual patient cases.

Meanwhile, health services are expected to be hit by further work stoppages next month as more than 7,000 Siptu members employed as support staff in major hospitals are to ballot for strike action.

This follows a decision by the unions support sector committee to take action in response to an ongoing dispute about pay awards granted under agreed job evaluation processes.

Around 500 ambulance personnel who are members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association will hold two further strike days on Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 10 in their continuing campaign for their right to join and be represented by the PNA.

An INMO spokesperson said the Labour Court was expected to issue its recommendation on a draft contract for nurses and midwives next week.
Some might call it a ewe-turn - an 85-year-old sheep farmer who was found guilty of allowing her sheep to wander from commonage in west Cork has had the case dismissed under the Probation Act.

Mary O'Sullivan of Hilltop House in Dreenapappara near Ardgroom in County Cork was asked in February to consider putting up four large warning signs - to be maintained for three years - after her sheep were found wandering on a public road in contravention of a law dating back to 1851.

However, Judge James McNulty said that a month-long adjournment gave him some 'mature reflection' and time to weigh up proper concern for public safety with "due respect for ancient rights and the way of life of a woman of great age and admirable energy".

The judge said that sometimes modernity must bend to tradition. A beaming Mary O'Sullivan, accompanied by her son, Gearoid, offered her "sincerest thanks" to the judge.

Mary OSullivan leaving the courthouse in Bantry, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

She has been farming sheep since she was six years old and her solicitor, Flor Murphy, said she has done everything possible to keep her animals from straying onto the road adjacent to the 1,140-acre Kilcatherine commonage, of which she is one of the 74 shareholders. Her neighbour, Lotte Vox, had complained about the sheep on the public road and Judge McNulty had suggested the erection of three or four "tasteful" and large signs that could warn motorists.

Yesterday at Bantry District Court Flor Murphy said his client had looked into the possibility but had been told by the area engineer in Castletownbere that any such signs would require planning permission.

The letter from the engineer, read in court, suggested that the 8ft x 5ft size proposed would mean the signs would not be exempt from planning. Mr Murphy also said that any signage would need to be agreed by all shareholders of the commonage, which he said was "practically impossible".

File image.

Judge McNulty quoted Patrick Kavanagh's poem Epic: "Till Homer's ghost came whispering to my mind./ He said I made the Iliad from such/ A local row. Gods make their own importance."

He also quoted journalist, Vincent Browne: "The lower the status of the judge the greater the sense of self-importance."

The judge said the one-month adjournment allowed time to consider the matter and that Ms O'Sullivan is conducting modest farming activity in her native place. He said St Patrick, and his own grandfather, had done the same - referencing a time when his ancestor was a servant boy in south Antrim tending to sheep in the early 1900s.

He said:

"The question is if traditional farming practices must yield to modernity or whether modernity should yield to tradition."

The Judge said the area is sparsely populated and one of natural beauty - "it's a special place in a special place" - and that the court has now concluded that it is a matter for tourists and road users to look out for themselves.

"As for Mary O'Sullivan, if ever there was a case where Section 1 (1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1997 may apply, this is it," Judge McNulty said.

This allows for a case to be proven but dismissed on grounds including the trivial nature of the offence or grounds of age and health, among other factors. Other courts do not have the same option.
In 2004, Ireland went further than any other country and banned smoking in the workplace. Publicans led the outrage, but ultimately it was seen as a success. Now, however, there are more challenges  and Ireland is lagging, reports Caroline ODoherty.

Fifteen years ago this week Ireland became a world leader overnight when the first workplace smoking ban was introduced.

No other country had gone so far in tackling cigarette addiction and there were doubts that Ireland would make it across the line either.

Publicans had been up in arms over the impending ban for the previous two years, predicting that driving out smokers would decimate their trade.

Employers were nervous, fearing factory-floor rebellions and onerous inspection regimes; the tourism industry was worried that visitors would feel unwelcome, smokers were claiming civil liberties abuses, and others with no real axe to grind were decrying the nanny state.

Padraic McGann, owner of McGanns pub in Monivea, Co Galway, and currently president of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), was one of those who faced the countdown to the ban with trepidation. None of us dreamed it would ever happen, he says, recalling the alternating feelings of disbelief and foreboding in the industry at the time.

But it just sailed in. Everybody co-operated and that was it. People knew they couldnt smoke, end of story. It was very definite.

Martina Blake, head of the HSEs Tobacco Free Ireland programme, agrees the ban came in smoothly despite the rows that preceded it.

In the months and years after it was introduced, numerous awards were bestowed on Ireland and the Department of Health for taking the initiative and making the ban work.

It has driven a tobacco control agenda internationally. We are seen as world leaders, says Ms Blake, who worries, however, that we may have spent too much time preening the same feathers in our cap.

There are still some 830,000 smokers in the country, some 680,000 of whom light up daily, and with the biggest proportion consistently in the 25-35 age category, it shows that new smokers are coming on board all the time.

We still have a lot of work to do. People think weve been so successful with strong legislation, that weve it covered, weve it done, but thats really not the case, she says. We still need to work hard.

The following are some of the areas where work remains to be done.

ENFORCEMENT

In the early days of the ban, some publicans vowed to defy it on the grounds of principle or practicality but if they thought their actions would spark mass disobedience and render the ban unworkable, they were to be disappointed.

The owner of Fibber Magees on Galways Eyre Square and several other pubs was very public about his protest, ordering the ashtrays out of storage after enduring three months of prohibition.

Ronan Lawless complained at the time that business had fallen off dramatically and he was effectively being legislated out of existence. He declared an upstairs lounge a haven for smokers and a crowd turned up to take refuge there.

It was a short-lived rebellion. A few days later, faced with the threat of a High Court court injunction, he backed down.

It was too big a risk to let people smoke, says Padraic McGann.

Your licence was at stake. It was a shock to the system but when it started, that was it. We all accepted it and we helped our customers out as much as we could but couldnt risk your licence.

So the majority in the pub trade fell in line quickly and consistently, undoubtedly assisted by the fact that pubs are open to the public and any transgressions are highly visible.

Still, a 2014 Eurobarometer report for the European Commission found that in Ireland, 5% of people had been exposed to smoking the last time they were in a pub [no more than six months prior to questioning] while 4% said the same about their last visit to a restaurant, so a lingering resistance was evident.

There were, and are, other workplaces where there is no admission to the public and where it is easier to get away with flouting the law.

The same survey found that 87% of people were never or almost never exposed to smoking in their workplace which means that 13% were exposed regularly or occasionally.

If that figure is accurate, it is higher than the overall level of compliance with smoking legislation which, according to the State of Tobacco Control in Ireland report published last year, stands at 80%.

That figure is based on inspections carried out by the HSEs environmental health service, not just of licenced premises and other workplaces but also of retailers.

In all, 15,064 inspections were carried out in 2017, the most recent year for which figures are available, with 12,108 recording a satisfactory outcome.

The most common contraventions found were non-compliant outdoor smoking shelters, the absence of no smoking signs in workplaces  mainly licenced premises  and, in the case of retailers and other outlets that sell cigarettes, failure to register on the National Tobacco Register or selling to U18s.

Members of the public can report contraventions to a lo-call compliance line  162 did so in 2017. Their main complaints were about smoking where it was illegal to do so, non-compliant outdoor shelters, and, for the first time, e-cigarettes and vaping liquids.

Outdoor shelters for smokers can be a contentious issue. The specifications for their construction are clear  they can be enclosed but roofless or roofed but only partially enclosed with precise limits on the extent of any walls, fencing, windows, or other barriers erected.

But with so many different forms of shelter  some ad hoc, some tailor-made, some bought as a readymade package  and all the various types of furniture and decor used, its not always immediately clear if any given shelter is compliant.

Its tricky, says Ms Blake.

The regulations are very clear but while pubs and clubs are making spaces that are technically compliant, theyre designed to be very attractive spaces so you get a lot of people gathering in them and a lot of smoke in what can become quite a confined area. And then you have to have a lot of staff there too so they are being exposed to that smoke.

It can be hard to tell too is this area an outdoor or an indoor area because of how theyre designed. Wed always say, if youre unsure, report it, and then we can investigate it.

Convictions for breaking the smoking laws are rare  just 13 in the first eight months of last year and only 17 for the whole of 2017. That was down from 33 in 2014, 28 in 2015, 31 in 2016, and an average of 25 per year from 2004 to 2013.

Given that there were 15,064 inspections carried out last year and breaches were recorded in 2,966 of them, the proportion resulting in prosecution and conviction is tiny.

The most severe penalty recorded last year was a 2,500 fine with 3,700 costs imposed on the Copper Room wine bar in Limerick for breach of section 47 of the Public Health (Tobacco) Act which is the main section prohibiting smoking in workplaces.

In another case, a 2,000 fine and 2,500 in costs was imposed on the Skeffington Arms Hotel in Galway for breach of the same section. In that case the judge also ordered a seven-day removal from the register  a

temporary ban on selling cigarettes.

Another case, against the Imperial Hotel in Cavan, resulted in a three-month removal from the register as well as fines and costs totalling 3,300.

Its not clear how much of a penance removal from the register is for a pub. Mr McGann says his vending machines attract scant attention these days.

We used to sell a fair bit of cigarettes but theres very little sold now compared to 15 years ago.

Undoubtedly, removal is of greater significance to shops but of the six convictions recorded against retailers last year  all for selling cigarettes to children  the longest prohibition was two days, the shortest 12 hours, and the most common one day.

Going back to 2016, there were a string of similar convictions where the removal was for just one hour.

Ms Blake admits it doesnt send out a very powerful deterrent message.

Its really disappointing for our staff and for the environmental health service when theyve gone through the process of bringing together a case and the court agrees its a clear case of non-compliance and then theres a very lenient sentence coming through, she says.

EXEMPTIONS

While the workplace smoking ban is often understood to be all-encompassing, there were exemptions built in at the time.

Fifteen years later, the question is being asked as to whether they are still justified.

Prisons, mental health facilities, nursing homes, other residential care settings, and even hotel rooms were given wriggle room for exclusion, although in the case of hotels and residential care providers, a no-smoking policy became the norm.

Designating separate smoking and non-smoking rooms was too difficult in most cases and it made more sense to have one clear-cut rule rather than face the perpetual question of when does a room occupied by a smoker but serviced by a staff member switch from being a private space to a workplace?

Some hotels still do allow smoking in accommodation blocks but generally only in larger suites with designated smoking balconies.

Nursing homes too have generally gone the non-smoking route apart from in strictly designated communal and/or outdoor areas. Even though it could be argued that a residents room is their home and therefore a private space, if the interior is tended to by staff or the resident is cared for within its confines, it is equally arguable that it is a workplace.

That approach has, however, not been taken in prisons where an inmates cell is regarded as their home and the freedom to smoke there is considered the same as in any private house. A reluctance to add to the tensions that already exist in prisons is a factor.

Smoking is banned in training and most recreation areas but is generally permitted outdoors or in designated smoking areas.

Jim Mitchell, deputy general secretary of the Prison Officers Association (POA), says the reasons for the exemption were understood and accepted at the time.

"This is where prisoners live and youre entitled to be able to smoke where you live, he says. Also, I think the view has been that there were enough problems in prisons without making an issue of smoking.

But, he says, attitudes around smoking have changed in society since the ban came in and prisons are now falling far behind.

From our position, we believe prisons should be a smoke-free environment for us and everybody else.

Problems arise, he says, where cells are shared and a non-smoker could be assigned a room with a smoker. Its also an issue for the prison officers and welfare staff who are in and out of the cells.

While smoking is restricted to cells and other areas, it does have an impact on air quality throughout the prison campus where other employees  administration, teaching, catering staff  also spend their working days.

The POA wants a commitment to making prisons smoke-free within a given period of time to allow for gradual adaptation and the development of bespoke solutions to particular problems, with much greater emphasis on smoking cessation programmes for prisoners in the meantime.

The Prison Service was before the public accounts committee [in January] talking about the high level of sick leave among prison officers. They said it was unacceptable. But meanwhile they have prison officers working in a smoking environment which is one of the contributory factors, says Mr Mitchell.

You could have a claim against the State as a worker forced to work in a smoking environment. A prisoner could make a claim for being a non-smoker forced to live in a smoking environment.

We understand there are certain difficulties unique to the prison system but for 15 years we have been understanding the difficulties and thats more than enough patience for everybody.

Ms Blake sympathises with the POAs view and says it is time to review the exemption for both prisons and mental health facilities.

The legislation, in an ideal world, would be strengthened. It would apply across the board and we wouldnt have grades of staff that are still being exposed [to second-hand smoke] It isnt on the legislative schedule but ideally it would be, she says.

In the meantime, the HSE has gone over and above the legislation by adopting tobacco-free campus policies  extending the indoor smoking ban to the outdoors as well.

Mental health facilities are included in the aims of the policy and where a mental health service is contained within a general hospital, it is subject to the rules.

But where the service is in a standalone facility, it stands apart from policy too. And when people are struggling with mental health difficulties, it can seem cruel to insist they give up smoking and whatever comfort or crutch it provides them.

We are struggling at times to try and bring about changes in those services because we have patient advocates that object and patients themselves that object, says Ms Blake.

However, in the last year we have seen a bit of change with staff and patients kind of seeing a bit more clearly the benefit of a tobacco-free environment.

A lot of the time mental health service users havent even been asked would you like to quit and told theres support available for them if they do.

Its just been assumed that they are a smoker and will always be a smoker but sometimes the very act of asking them to quit and offering them appropriate medication to manage withdrawal and behavioural support can be a positive thing.

We have seen really good examples where patients have quit and achieved lots of other things in their lives because one positive change can lead to others  the feeling that if I can do this, then I can achieve other things.

GENDER AND CLASS

Smoking rates among the Irish population have fallen over the past 20 years  from 33% in 1998 to 27% in 2002 when plans for the workplace smoking ban were announced.

Against expectations, the rate rose to 29% in 2007, but it has continued to fall since then and is now at 20%  17% smoking daily and 3% occasionally.

Under the Tobacco Free Ireland programme, the aim is to reduce smoking to below 5% by 2025 which is beginning to look overly ambitious.

Educational campaigns and other deterrents are working  just not everywhere or for everyone. Most of the reduction seen in recent years has been down to women quitting smoking.

And its not just a gender thing. The prevalence of smoking has come down but the reduction hasnt been equal for those who are disadvantaged economically, explains Ms Blake.

The smoking rates among those living in disadvantaged areas is 26% compared to 16% for those living in more affluent areas.

Working out why men, those on the lowest incomes, and, in particular, men on the lowest incomes smoke the most opens up a wide and complex area of discourse, much of which is beyond Ms Blakes remit.

But she says it does force her and her staff to find ways of targeting their message in a way that will be heard and heeded by the most resistant smoking groups.

We really need to have targeted approaches to specific population groups that are being left behind. There are various reasons why they are being left behind. With the lowest socioeconomic group, there can be lots of issues going on in their lives and quitting smoking is probably seen as the least of their worries when its actually costing them an awful lot in terms of their health, money, their general wellbeing.

Women smokers come under pressure to quit when they start having children and caring duties bring them into contact with health services more often so its not surprising that the quit message gets through to them more easily.

They are still targeted for support through a dedicated We Can Quit programme run in conjunction with the Irish Cancer Society.

The 12-week programme of women helping women involves free, weekly sessions with trained facilitators who meet groups in community centres and other local venues, offering face-to-face support, free nicotine replacement treatment, and the all-important encouragement and camaraderie in the difficult early days of quitting.

The results are good so the search is on for a similar way of engaging men. We are doing focus groups with men because were planning a new campaign by the end of this year. To look at how best we target that campaign, well be testing the message with smokers to see how they respond and make sure its effective, says Ms Blake.

Gender differences are not evident with young smokers and boys and girls are equally likely to experiment in their teens and to carry on until the mid-twenties when the divide between men and women emerges.

But as long as there are new smokers coming on stream all the time  and the evidence is that there are  reducing the 20% figure to under 5% is going to remain a formidable challenge.

We think that initiation is happening at a later stage now.

We are seeing a reduction in school-age children picking up smoking. But we still have a high prevalence at the 25-35 age group so theyre starting to smoke perhaps in college or when they start work.

There may also be a trend for young people to begin smoking cannabis and to move on to cigarettes when the reverse may have been true in the past.

Among young people as with adults, however, class plays a part.

We know that disadvantaged children who drop out of school have a much higher prevalence of smoking and that stands to reason.

"Everybody around them smokes, its part and parcel of their community. So while were targeting individual approaches for different groups, we have to think of every group that will influence the child and young person.

VAPING

E-cigarettes have created one big cloud of confusion for those in the business of tobacco control.

One argument goes that vaping is the greatest ever aid to smoking cessation and should be encouraged.

Another goes that its just a way of prolonging and even widening the pool of nicotine addicts in society and needs to be strictly controlled.

Some health experts are evangelists for vaping and some look at the big tobacco companies that are behind many of the major vaping brands and fear another public health disaster.

Others are treading a fine line between sceptical and hopeful while eagerly awaiting the results of studies into the health and other effects of vaping.

The Department of Health is adopting a wait and see attitude with regard to promoting e-cigarettes as an aid to quitting smoking.

Health Minister Simon Harris, replying to a parliamentary question in January, said the department was actively monitoring publications by authoritative bodies internationally and that analysis of emerging research would inform any future decisions on the issue.

There is currently a lack of evidence to recommend their use as a smoking cessation aid, he said.

The safety of e-cigarettes is an evolving area of research. While potentially safer than smoking, evidence on its long-term safety has yet to be established.

While sitting on the fence on this issue, the department has allowed vaping quite a free run to establish itself as an increasingly common activity here.

Regulations do govern the amount of nicotine that can be in vaping liquids sold here and there are requirements that labels warn of the addictive nature of nicotine. Nicotine-containing liquids are treated as tobacco products and can not be sold to under-18s.

Vaping liquids that dont contain nicotine can currently be sold to children and they are often designed to appeal to a younger market.

While the vaping industry argues the value of their product as a smoking cessation aid  and the Healthy Ireland 2018 survey shows that many smokers attempting or succeeding at quitting use or have used e cigarettes  that is not generally the theme of the industrys advertising which tends to promote vaping as a pleasurable activity in its own right.

Also, the candy- and fruit-flavoured non-nicotine vaping liquids with their brightly coloured, flower festooned, or cartoon-decorated labels that are much promoted by the industry are not a likely purchase by your average male, manual labourer looking for a smoking alternative.

So who are they aimed at? The Healthy Ireland survey shows 2% of people in Ireland who never smoked have used e-cigarettes in the past while just under 1% currently do, so whether there is a market for vaping among non-smokers is unclear.

Some online shops attached to physical stores sell non-nicotine liquids with a link to nicotine shots to add to them. That could provide a gateway for a non-smoker trying out vaping to add a little nicotine which will be the ingredient that will keep them coming back.

The Department of Health said a draft scheme of legislation to prohibit the sale of any vaping liquids, including non-nicotine varieties, to under-18s is currently under development.

Ms Blake would like to see it published and passed as soon as possible. She, like many others, questions why a product such as a bubble gum-flavoured vaping liquid even exists if not to be attractive to young people.

Were examining the studies that are looking at vaping and whether or not it has a role in smoking cessation or in tobacco control or not, she says.

A balance needs to be struck. The studies so far have shown that e-cigarettes may be useful in helping to quit smoking and that they are less harmful than tobacco but certainly not harm-free.

So theres a decision to be made about whether or not we put policies in place to promote them, and what other effects that might have in terms of bringing about another generation of children that may become addicted to nicotine just through a different delivery method than traditional cigarettes.

Vaping is not prohibited in public places or workplaces by law because it does not produce the second-hand smoke that the law seeks to provide protection against, but the majority of organisations and venues adopt a no-vaping policy all the same.

Ireland may have led the way on the smoking ban but other countries have firmly taken the lead on vaping. It is outlawed completely in a number of countries, mainly in Asia, but even Australia has banned liquids containing nicotine unless they are licenced as smoking cessation aids.

Mr Harris has said he has no plans to introduce legislation prohibiting the use of e-cigarettes in public places. The introduction of the workplace smoking ban was based on clear and unequivocal evidence that second hand smoke is harmful to non-smokers.

"That evidence base does not exist for the aerosol generated from e-cigarettes, he said.

The HSE is circumspect. Ms Blake says: We have the precautionary principle at the moment where we dont allow e-cigarettes on our HSE campuses.
Tallaght Stadium

New Ireland call-up Jack Byrne scored twice as leaders Shamrock Rovers left it late to overcome a spirited UCD side at Tallaght Stadium.

The midfielder was impressive enough in his goalscoring performance against Sligo Rovers two weeks ago that he earned a place in the squad to face Gibraltar and Georgia.

He didnt make it on the field in either victory, but he terrorised a UCD side who easily could have sunk under the pressure and conceded four or five.

That they didnt was testament more to the woeful state of Rovers finishing as Aaron Greene spurned a hat-trick of certain goals. Yoyo Mahdy had cancelled out Byrnes opener just before half-time and the Students rode their luck throughout.

It was Byrne who made the telling contribution in the end, driving home a low shot seven minutes from time, before Aaron McEneff ran the ball into an empty net in injury time.

The home side found the top of the UCD net twice within the first ten minutes, as Byrne curled his free kick just over before Dylan Watts did the same from open play.

They should have taken the lead when the livewire Byrne slipped a perfect through-ball for Aaron Greene, but the striker shot poorly when he had just Conor Kearns to beat.

They took the lead on 19 minutes when Greg Bolger intercepted a poor pass from Mahdy and fed Finn on the left.

He passed back inside for Byrne, who dropped a shoulder for a shot that Kearns still should have saved, but the netminder allowed the ball squirm through his fingers.

It should have been two when a poor Kearns kick was volleyed into the box by Watts and, after spinning the defender, Aaron McEneff shot tamely at the keeper.

Kearns redeemed his early error on the half-hour as Byrne hunted down his second, a beautiful shot into the top corner met with an even more impressive save from the UCD stopper.

The Students made Rovers pay for their profligacy seven minutes from the break when Mahdy held the ball up despite the attention of three defenders.

He fed Neil Farrugia, who set up a goal here for Stephen Kennys under-21s on Sunday, who slalomed into the box before teeing up Mahdy for an easy finish.

Rovers should have regained the lead before the break but woeful finishing beset Stephen Bradleys side once more as Greene and Finn both missed gilt-edged chances.

Sean Kavanaghs centre should have been tapped into an empty net by Greene before Kavanagh set up Finn for a header he turned into the ground from six yards.

The Rovers pressure finally told on tiring UCD legs as Byrne smashed home his second before McEneff finished the job.

Shamrock Rovers:

Mannus; Bone (Clarke 71), Lopes, Grace, Kavanagh; Bolger, McEneff, Finn; Byrne, Watts (Coustrain 59), Greene (Vohic 78).

UCD:

Kearns; Tobin, Scales, Collins, Dignam; ONeill, OFarrell, Molloy; McClelland, Farrugia, Mahdy (McDonald 84).

Referee: John McLoughlin.
Chinas Belt and Road Initiative could undermine efforts to combat climate change as countries involved could account for over half of CO2 emissions by 2050, write Ma Jun and Simon Zadek.

Discussions about climate action nowadays often focus on the largest past and current emitters.

But, if one looks to the future, the biggest climate risks and opportunities lie in the more than 60 countries that have signed up to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The BRI, which China launched in 2013, is focused primarily on mobilising capital for infrastructure investments and improving connectivity among participating economies, most of which are still relatively low-income developing countries.

But while it is hoped that the BRI will spur a sharp acceleration in GDP growth and development across these economies, infrastructure and other investments associated with the initiative could also have profound environmental and climate consequences.

As it stands, Belt and Road countries, not including China, account for about 18% of global GDP and 26% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In the coming two decades, however, BRI countries GDP average growth rate is expected to be twice that of the OECD, and investments in BRI countries are likely to comprise more than half of total investment worldwide.

In the worst-case scenario, the BRI countries could account for over half of global CO2 emissions by 2050.

That possibility  set out in a forthcoming study that we co-authored  assumes that BRI economies stick to their current carbon-intensity trajectory, while the rest of the world reduces its emissions in line with the Paris climate agreement.

In other words, if not managed in a climate-conscious way, development in the BRI countries would undercut efforts to meet the worlds climate goals.

This is a risk that needs to be taken seriously. Though many global investors are becoming more sensitized to climate risks, and thus less attracted to carbon-intensive assets overall, BRI infrastructure projects are likely to be largely exempt from these pressures.

After all, most BRI countries lack carbon-related obligations or incentives, including carbon-pricing systems that would show investors the shadow price of carbon-intensive assets. Moreover, these countries hold many of their carbon-intensive assets on public balance sheets, which are less likely to become stranded assets.

In order to ensure that development in the BRI countries does not undermine the global climate agenda, meaningful steps must be taken to reduce substantially the carbon footprint of new investments in these economies.

The window for action is narrow: investment decisions made in the coming few years will determine the carbon intensity of critical infrastructure and major real-estate assets that will operate for decades.

By linking policy, finance, and the international communitys expertise and technological resources, it is possible to lay the groundwork for low-carbon development in the BRI economies. To that end, three focused and interconnected actions should be pursued.

First, global investors must be convinced to adopt green principles for investments in the BRI region.

Such an effort could include promoting the Green Investment Principles for the Belt and Road, introduced by Chinas Green Finance Committee and the City of London last November, in cities like London, Hong Kong, New York, and Singapore  the worlds principle sources of capital.

Requiring investors to disclose the carbon footprint of BRI infrastructure projects, rather than just the risk climate change poses to investments, would also make a difference.

Second, China could take more aggressive action to promote low-carbon investments in BRI countries, in line with the governments high-level commitments to advance sustainable development and its international climate leadership.

For example, China could require all BRI investments by Chinese financial institutions and non-financial corporations to adhere visibly to specific green standards.

This could be complemented by the creation of a low-carbon compact that includes leading Chinese and international companies carrying out BRI projects and providing green technologies to participating countries.

Finally, international organisations should increase their support to BRI countries for greening infrastructure development. Beyond environmental governance, such organizations should help to advance frameworks for green finance policy and increase their capacity for green public procurement.

After all, while most BRI infrastructure investments still rely on international financing, over time, larger BRI countries financial systems will increasingly shape the carbon intensity of domestic investments.

The BRI has the potential to invigorate developing economies and raise incomes for many millions of people. But we need to make sure that the benefits are not offset by unmitigated climate change.

Now is the moment for China and the international community to work together to take concrete action to ensure that BRI investments are climate friendly.

Ma Jun, a former chief economist of the Peoples Bank of China, is Director of the Centre for Finance and Development at Tsinghua University and Chairman of Chinas Green Finance Committee.

Simon Zadek is Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Finance and Development at Tsinghua University.
Creating a price for carbon will mean that the polluter will pay for the cost of environmental damage, says Richard Bruton.

The greenhouse gases created from burning fossil fuel are inflicting invisible, but profound, damage globally. This damage is escalating and we have seen the impact, both at home and across the globe, in

increased flooding and unprecedented weather events.

Climate disruption can no longer be ignored. We must respond.

The issue is that, at the moment, the polluter does not pay the full price of the damage they are causing. Greenhouse gases, although they come at a huge cost to the environment, are not paid for by those creating them. There is, therefore, no incentive to avoid locking oneself into a pattern with an inefficient heating system, or a high carbon vehicle, for years ahead.

Creating a price for carbon, the most prevalent greenhouse gas, will mean that the cost of the damage will be paid for by the person who is polluting.

Being aware that the price to be paid will escalate from 20 to 80 per tonne over the next decade can have a significant impact on whether people choose to insulate their homes, to switch to heat pumps, or to buy an electric car. We need more than a million people to make those decisions over the coming decade to achieve our target.

Some politicians argue that it is too soon to act in this way. They want to wait until the new public transport networks we are planning are fully built, or the Government has funded the completion of housing upgrades.

To them I say this  the answer came loud and clear from our students last week. We must act now. The window of opportunity to stem the tide of climate disruption is fast closing and we do not have time to wait.

However, we must make clear that the purpose of the carbon price is not to raise money for the Government.

We are committing to refund most or all of the money collected back to people which means that only the people who have very carbon intensive patterns of living will lose out. Some of the revenue can also be made available to support the sort of changes people need to make.

Already people can get a 30% grant for improving the heating of their home, with 100% of the cost covered for low-income families, while 10,000 is available for those switching to an electric vehicle.

The Government will publish a clear roadmap in the coming weeks to show how we can meet our climate obligations. However, the Government cant get the job done on its own. It can take the lead and help with incentives and nudges. However, it is only through widescale buy-in by citizens taking up the challenge thrown down by our children that we can actually deliver.

The Government also has a responsibility to help people who may be acutely affected by the transition which we need to achieve. We shall stand ready to help those on low incomes or those isolated in old or remote buildings. Communities are already being mobilised to act together and protect those who are vulnerable.

For Ireland to say it is too soon to pay for the damage we do is unsustainable, especially when you realise that poorer countries who have never had a chance for development are shouldering their responsibility.

The compelling message coming from 90-year-old David Attenborough and 16-year-old Greta Thunberg is clear: We must act now before its too late.
Somewhere in the bowls of Government Buildings, this week or next, a committee made up of second-tier bureaucrats, maybe a theatre consultant too, will meet to update preparations for the events scheduled to mark this Republics looming foundation centenaries.

These meetings will occasionally be visited by, say, decision-makers from the Department of the Taoiseach or the Department of Heritage and Culture to prod or curb as required. It is unlikely that this committee, no matter how inspired, might suggest a re-enactment of the burning of Cork or, say, the Ballyseedy Massacre or even the Sack of Balbriggan. That would be too close to the bone, too contentious. Too real.

It is certain, too, that mention cannot be made of the great social changes, the great escape from poverty, and unprecedented creation of opportunity driven by the courageous and barely affordable social housing projects that, during the early decades of the States existence, did so much to lay the groundwork for todays well-educated and affluent Ireland.

That would be far too real, far too challenging.

This weeks appalling figures on homelessness make such didnt-we-do-well cheerleading impossible.

It would be interesting, however, to hear what those who did so much to get our forefathers out of urban tenements might say about our situation today  we were never richer but we never had so many homeless people. Those pioneers would be appalled.

This weeks Government figures show that more than 10,000 people are homeless, though Fr Peter McVerry suggested the figure is closer to 15,000. The mercurial, evasive performance of Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy on RTE yesterday morning gives credence to Fr McVerrys view.

Mr Murphy was at best Jesuitical, at worst dispiritingly over-whelmed. He repeatedly batted questions away, describing them as ideologically-driven. Blind to the mote in his own eye, and his Governments, he did not recognise his own ideological commitment to the principles that have caused and sustain the crisis. It was as if he went out of his way to confirm Fr McVerrys assertion from some months ago that this Government is ideologically incapable of resolving the crisis.

This catastrophe has been with us for so long that it has conventions of its own. Einsteins phrase:

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results is invoked.

So too in the Kenny Report from all those years ago. Kenny laid out a roadmap that was, and would be today, radical but justifiably radical. No government in the decades since it was published has found the courage to implement it.

This weeks figures, whether it is 10,000 or 15,000 show that this is no longer just a housing crisis. It is a crisis of political capacity and relevance, a crisis centre-right politicians all around the world have failed to tame. Brexit is one symptom, Frances gilets jaunes another  as is the Trump presidency.

Unless Taoiseach Varadkars administration, in the short time it has left, shakes off the shackles of conservatism and puts people before property the chaos that might follow will make the housing crisis seem a thing of nothing.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  Rappler CEO and journalist Maria Ressa was released on Friday after posting bail over charges of violating the anti-dummy law.

The arrest warrant issued by the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 265 was served the moment Ressa arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Friday morning from San Francisco, U.S.A.

Ressa was brought to the Pasig City Police headquarters where she underwent booking procedure. She then headed to the Pasig RTC to post a 90,000 bail.

She is facing a total of 11 complaints and cases, saying this is her seventh time to post bail. She called the mounting cases in a span of one year three months as "forum shopping" in the part of the government. Other former and incumbent executives of Rappler have also posted bail for the same criminal case.

"Sad day for me. Apparently the Philippine government isn't satisfied with arresting just me... They're not criminals, neither am I. The fact that the government tries to label us as criminals is itself criminal. This is the weaponization of the law," she said in a chance interview after posting bail.

She said this is proof of the intimidation of the media.

"This shows you how hard it is to be a journalist today," she told CNN Philippines.

Malacanang said that instead of complaining, Ressa should focus her energy on defending herself in the court - insisting the cases filed against the Rappler CEO has nothing to do with press freedom.

"She's charged with a crime and there is a determination of probable cause hence, a warrant of arrest is issued... How can it be a violation of the bill of rights? When she was charged, there was a preliminary investigation on that and then probable cause was determined," he said in a media briefing.

Prosecutor Randy Esteban said Rappler's executives were being charged for allowing a foreign company to intervene in the management and operation of Rappler Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corp. in violation of the Anti-Dummy Law. Only Filipino citizens can own media entities in the country.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier revoked Rappler's certificate of incorporation, or its license to do business. The SEC said Rappler violated constitutional limitations on ownership and control of mass media entities because of funds coming from its foreign investor Omidyar Network.

Owned by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, the Omidyar Network has since donated its $1.5-million (around 78 million) investment to Rappler's 14 Filipino managers in a bid to resolve foreign ownership issues.

Rappler has maintained that its foreign investors have no control over the media outfit's operations. It has decried the legal challenges as harassment and a clampdown on the free press.

Francis Lim, Ressa's lawyer, said the move of the Duterte administration to control the press is unsurprising. But he said they will continue to hold the line.

"Let it be crystal clear that these acts of harassment will not deter our clients from doing their duty as journalists. We believe in the rule of law and it is our fervent hope that we will prevail in the end," he said.

Ressa is out on a 100,000 bail after being arrested for a cyber libel case involving a story published on its online news platform May 2012, months before the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 was passed. The news agency's chief earlier posted bail for her tax evasion charges.

This is a developing story.
At the Plan Commission meeting in February 2016, shortly after the Daily Southtown article was published, Vandenberg said key information about the project was kept from trustees and alleged back-door maneuvering to push through the project, according to a Southtown article. Under development guidelines in place at the time, The Reserve would not have needed to go to the Village Board for approval if the Plan Commission deemed the project in compliance, according to articles published at the time.
British prime minister Theresa May has lost her bid to get parliamentary support for the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. The vote announced in Westminster saw her latest effort defeated by 344 votes to 286 - a majority of 58.

The result means that Ms May has lost a third attempt to pass her deal in the parliament.

Mrs May said she had profound regret that the vote was not carried. It is likely now that Britain will seek an extension to the latest Brexit deadline and that it will also have to contest the European elections. The legal default Brexit date of April 12 will remain in place until the next step is decided, Mrs May said.

Mrs May said Westminster had reached its limits, after rejecting her deal a third time and after opposing other variations of Brexit earlier this week.

Responding to the vote, British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said a new deal was now needed and Britain's future should be decided through a general election. This was agreed with by other Opposition speakers.

It is now expected that Mrs May will have to appeal to Brussels for a long Brexit extension.

However, it is unclear how EU members will respond to this. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will meet French and German leaders later this week. Furthermore, a emergency EU summit will be held on April 10 after the latest Brexit vote.
Asia Deal for New Sri Lanka Oil Refinery Will Take at Least a Year to FinalizeInvestor

A man walks past a project plan board of the $3.85 billion oil refinery project during the groundbreaking ceremony in the village of Mirijjawila in Hambantota, Sri Lanka on March 24, 2019. / Reuters

NEW DELHI/COLOMBOAn agreement to build a proposed $3.85 billion oil refinery in Sri Lanka will take at least a year to be finalized as its main investor, Indias Accord Group, says it is yet to recruit partners and conduct an assessment of the plans viability.

The comments add to confusion about the project, which was announced last week by the Sri Lankan government as the nations largest single foreign direct investment ever, but has since been the subject of conflicting statements by various parties.

Accords Chairman S Jagatrakshakan, a former Indian government minister, said he has submitted a preliminary proposal to the Sri Lankan government to invest in the project but has not finalized any terms of the deal.

The project assessment and financial viability assessment will take at least a year. We have not sorted out any of the equity partners for the projects, but are in talks with investors from many countries, he told Reuters over the phone from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The 68-year old politician is campaigning in Tamil Nadu for a seat in the current general election. He was an MP and minister in the last Congress-led government in 2009-2014.

China-India struggle

When the Sri Lankan government made the announcement on March 19, it said the oil refinery would be a joint venture between Omans oil ministry and Accord and cost $3.85 billion.

A day later, Omani officials denied involvement in the project, but the middle eastern countrys oil minister arrived in Sri Lanka three days later and said he was excited to inaugurate the project though there was no indication of a firm deal in place.

Indian and China have been vying for political influence in Sri Lanka in recent years, with investment a key part of the battleground.

The refinerys proposed site is 585 acres of land near the site of the new Humbantota International port and a related industrial zoneboth run by Chinese entitieson Sri Lankas southern coast.

A Sri Lankan government document seen by Reuters showed the previously proposed deal would have a debt to equity ratio of 51:49, and said the Accord Groups Singapore entity, Silver Park International Pte. Ltd., would fund 70 percent of the equity, with Oman funding the rest.

However, Jagatrakshakan said he expected 70 percent of the project to be bankrolled by debt from financial institutions, adding that Silver Park would get more investors to fund the equity stake.

We are looking at getting 20-30 investors on board for the 30 percent equity investment in the project. We expect 70 percent of the project to be bankrolled by debt from financial institutions, he said.

Potential risk

A senior official at Sri Lankas Strategic Development and International Trade ministry, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he was confident of the terms of the deal as originally announced by the government.

He said Jagatrakshakans son Sandeep was also present when the deal was signed. Sandeep Jagatrakshakan did not respond to repeated calls seeking comment.

China is the biggest buyer of Omani oil, importing about 80 percent of the Middle Eastern nations overall crude exports in January, according to Oman government data.
Asia The Philippine Journalists Taking the Rap in Duterte's Latest War

Rappler CEO and Executive Editor Maria Ressa speaks at an event attended by law students at the University of the Philippines College of Law in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on March 12. / Reuters

MANILA  When Filipino journalist Pia Ranada fell into a ditch and injured her leg on election day, May 9, 2016, the presidential candidate she was reporting on drove her to hospital and sat with her as she was treated.

Less than two years later, that same man, by then in the midst of a bloody crackdown on drugs in which around 5,000 suspects were killed by police, attacked her during a national broadcast.

You are a Filipino who was allowed to abuse our country  in the name of the holy grail of press freedom, President Rodrigo Duterte said in a speech in January 2018, addressing Ranada directly. You are not only throwing toilet paper, you are throwing shit at us.

It was an explosive moment during a period of simmering tension between Ranadas news outlet, Rappler, and Dutertes administration, part of a chain of events that has drawn global concern for one of Southeast Asias few remaining corners of relatively free and open press.

Now facing multiple criminal charges against the site and its staff  the latest of which led to the arrest of its chief, Maria Ressa, on Friday  Rapplers management say they will not bow to what they see as government intimidation.

Dutertes office says it has no grudge against Rappler and the government is not behind any of the cases against the news site and its staff.

Reuters also has no evidence that Duterte was directly involved. Instead, interviews with Philippine officials and journalists show that close allies of Duterte coordinated the investigations against Rappler, and that Duterte was deeply angered by some of its reporting.

A spokesman for Dutertes office said accusations his government was abusing or harassing Rappler were unreasonable.

Making waves

Rappler Executive Editor Ressa, who previously held senior positions at U.S. broadcaster CNN, started Rappler with some associates on Facebook in 2011, and it became a news website in 2012. The name comes from combining rap and ripple, meaning to discuss and to make a wave.

Ressa told Reuters she had found Duterte utterly refreshing when she interviewed him in the run-up to the 2016 election.

Ressa added that her sites extensive coverage of Dutertes campaign allowed the septuagenarian to tap into a young, social media-savvy voter base that helped a provincial city mayor secure an unlikely triumph over challengers from Manilas political establishment.

Yet Dutertes victory was also founded on a pledge to eliminate crime and drugs, and allegations the crackdown that ensued involved widespread extrajudicial executions by police quickly became a focus of Rapplers and other media outlets reporting on his presidency.

Ressa said she believes their hard-hitting drug war reports, as well as stories accusing the administration of creating a social media ecosystem where bloggers and internet trolls attack Dutertes opponents, quickly put them on a collision course with the president.

The tide turned on Rappler in late 2016, when the governments top lawyer, Solicitor-General Jose Calida, requested the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission investigate the firm over alleged ownership violations.

Calida is seen as a close ally of Duterte and helped manage his election campaign before being appointed solicitor-general in June 2016.

But a source close to Duterte, who wished to remain anonymous, said Calida was not acting under orders from the president.

Duterte doesnt really care about stories about the war on drugs, the source recounted. It was really Calida trying to gain brownie points.

A spokesman for Calidas office said via email it is a serious misconception he was focused on the presidents opponents. The Office of the Solicitor-General declined to comment on Rappler citing ongoing legal proceedings.

Ressa said attacks by the government which started in 2016 led to board members leaving, a 45 percent drop in advertising revenue and a hefty pay cut for key management. Rappler now operates pending a review after its license was revoked for violating rules against foreigners owning stakes in media.

Too close

Throughout 2017, Duterte stepped up criticism of certain press outlets, singling out Rappler as fake news and foreign-owned in public speeches.

But Ranada  the Rappler reporter assigned to cover the president  said on a personal level their relationship was at a very good point during the same period.

Indeed, Duterte and Ranada spent so much time together at a media Christmas party at the presidential palace in December 2017, her peers started to worry she was getting exclusive material, journalists and officials present said.

That was just weeks before Dutertes expletive-laden rant about Ranada.

What prompted that outburst, and changed the nature of Dutertes relationship with Rappler forever, according to the source close to the president, was a story about his closest aide, Christopher Go. The article alleged Go had intervened in a military procurement deal by asking the navy to look at a proposal by a South Korean firm. Go denied wrongdoing.

The source said Duterte lost it over that story because it was too close to him, it was almost alleging that he was corrupt.

In response to Reuters questions, a spokesman for Dutertes office, Martin Andanar, said: We do not have any personal issues with any reporter However, any form of deliberate attempt to misinform the public is an attack to the efforts of the administration to deliver what is due to the Filipino people.

Go declined to comment on the procurement deal, saying it had been investigated by the Philippine Senate and was case closed. He told Reuters he thought Rappler was very biased against me and the president.

A day after Dutertes verbal attack, the justice minister at the time, Vitaliano Aguirre  a staunch loyalist and former university classmate of the president  issued a blanket order to the Philippines equivalent of the FBI, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to probe Rappler over possible violation of the constitution and laws.

Rappler said the order, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, was a fishing expedition.

Aguirre, who resigned in April 2018, denied this.

Asked about his experience of Rappler during his time in office, Aguirre said in a text message: My experience with RAPPLER?it is engaged in bias reporting against the Duterte administrationIt would slant news reports every chance it gets and it is not above reporting fake news.

In the weeks that followed, a years-old libel case was resurrected against Rappler, a tax evasion probe was launched and both Ranada and Ressa were banned from the palace at the presidents order.

Andanar, from Dutertes office, said the cases against Ressa and Rappler were bereft of any government participation and that it was unreasonable to conclude that the administration is in any form harassing them or abusing its power.

Dangerous message

Ressa was among a group of journalists named Time Magazines Person of the Year in December 2018 for defending free expression and the pursuit of truth and facts.

Last month, she was served an arrest warrant live on television at her office over a libel case and had to spend a night at NBIs headquarters before she was released on bail.

Ressa was arrested again on Friday, minutes after arriving at Manila airport from an overseas trip, on charges she and other Rappler executives violated foreign ownership rules.

The Philippines has for a long time been a standard bearer in the region for press freedom, said Shawn Crispin, Southeast Asia representative for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. If Duterte is able to get away with effectively silencing what has been one of his most prominent and credible media critics, that could send a message to the wider region that this is an attack you can get away with.

Despite all the legal cases, verbal and online attacks, and financial troubles, Ressa remains defiant.

This is largely intimidation and this is part of the reason we are refusing to be intimidated, said Ressa. We will fight and I do think we can win.
Burma Army Troops Shoot Dead 2 Civilians in Their Homes in Mrauk-U Village

Wounded villager Ma Pauk Sa is transported to the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe, on March 29, 2019. / Min Aung Khine / The Irrawaddy

YANGONAt least two civilians were shot dead and several were wounded by Myanmar Army troops in a village in northern Rakhine States Mrauk-U Township on Friday morning.

The two fatalities were identified as Authar Kan village residents Ma Sabei, who was pregnant, and U Phoe Khine, aged 60. Both were killed by Army soldiers in their homes.

Ma Sabei and another woman, Ma Pauk Sa, were shot multiple times. Ma Sabei died on the spot while Ma Pauk Sa suffered wounds to her head and other parts of her body. Ma Pauk Sa was taken by ambulance to Mrauk-U General Hospital at about 9 a.m.

Ma Pauk Sa was conscious and able to answer questions before entering the operating theater. She said that she and three other people were sitting at home at about 6 a.m. when soldiers entered Authar Kan village and fired indiscriminately at homes. She said some bullets passed through her home, which is situated on the outskirts of the village. According to the Mrauk-U Youth Association, villagers were not allowed to transport Ma Sabeis body to Mrauk-U Hospital until noon.

Regional lawmaker U Tun Tha Sein, who represents of Mrauk-U constituency in the Rakhine State Parliament, helped attend to wounded villagers and bring out the bodies of those killed from the morning. He confirmed to The Irrawaddy over the phone that two dead bodies and one wounded patient had been taken to Mrauk-U hospital, while another injured person was receiving treatment at the Tein Nyo rural clinic.

He said Army soldiers arrested at least six villagers. Some locals told The Irrawaddy that prior to the attack there had been no exchange of fire between the military and the Arakan Army (AA), and the armed group had done nothing to provoke the government troops on Friday.

In the morning, about 100 soldiers from Light Infantry Division No. 55 entered the village and started shooting at homes without any reason, the local residents said. As the shooting targeted civilians in Authar Kan, several hundred residents fled neighboring Tein Nyo village in the afternoon.

A villager from Tein Nyo told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity that more than 100 troops from LID N0. 55 spent a night in the village, where a military supply and transport unit is based. The following morning, the LID No. 55 troops entered neighboring Authar Kan village and deliberately opened fire, the villager said.

Military spokesman Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment on Friday afternoon.

According to the Tein Nyo villager, all of the more than 1,000 people who live in Authar Kan fled to different locations. Last week, five civilians from Rathedaung Townships Say Taung village were brutally shot dead by Army soldiers during a raid: four of the victims were hiding in a bomb shelter at the time. The fifth victim was an elderly person who was shot in their home.

At a press conference held by the Tatmadaw Information Team last week, Major General Tun Tun Nyi told reporters that the Army could not carry out its operations without causing some civilian causalities. Another officer, Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun, accused AA rebels of wearing black tracksuits and mingling with ordinary people in villages.

Lawmakers and civil society groups have expressed concern that civilians are being intentionally targeted.

The Geneva Conventions stipulate five principles that armed actors must abide by: not to target civilians in conflict zones; not to target medical workers or structures; to refrain from torture; to allow civilians safe passage; and to grant access to humanitarian assistance to those in need.
Burma Divining the Military's Guest List

Generals attend a statue unveiling ceremony in Naypyitaw on Tuesday. / Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services / Facebook

NAYPYITAW  Two events involving the Myanmar military were held recently in Naypyitaw: the unveiling of new statues at the Memorial for Fallen Heroes on Tuesday, and Armed Forces Day on Wednesday.

As usual, most former military officers were present on both occasions. But ex-generals U Shwe Mann and U Khin Nyunt were conspicuously absent.

On Tuesday, a flock of former senior military officials, mostly from the previous administration, including former General and ex-President U Thein Sein, gathered at a statue unveiling ceremony in Naypyitaw. All were in their military uniforms, some for the first time in nine years.

The ceremony was held to honor the six people who hold the prestigious military title of Aung San Thuriya and was joined by the current military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and other serving officials.

All of them attended at the invitation of the military, said a spokesman for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

U Shwe Mann, who was considered the third-most-powerful man in the military regime that ruled the country from 1998 to 2010, was not among them.

He was not invited for political reasons. Those who have a desire for, and work for, a democratic transition are labelled traitors and turncoats [by the military]. So he was not invited, an ex-general close to U Shwe Mann told The Irrawaddy.

U Shwe Mann was purged from the USDPs top position in August 2015 during a power struggle with U Thein Sein. USDP supporters branded him a turncoat due to political maneuverings that led him to ally with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the rival National League for Democracy (NLD), ahead of the 2015 general election.

Though he lost his race to an NLD candidate that year, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appointed U Shwe Mann to head Parliaments Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission in 2016.

According to military tradition, all former military officers  except those who were expelled or punished for criminal activity  should be invited to military-related event, the ex-general said.

We were also labelled that way. We joined the commission for the sake of Parliament and the country, said the ex-general, who was on the now-defunct assessment commission with U Shwe Mann.

They labelled us for working under the NLD. In fact we are not members of the NLD or the NLD government, he added.

Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, of the militarys True News Information Unit, said the military chose its guest list in line with its policies but declined to explain what they were.

According to sources close to U Shwe Mann, some generals who were forced to retire in 1997 as well as those who served as regional chief ministers under U Thein Seins administration and were asked by the new government to return missing development funds were present at Tuesdays event.

Ex-General U Khin Nyunt was not invited, as per policy, according to sources close to the military.

U Khin Nyunt, a former head of the militarys powerful intelligence unit and Prime Minister of the military regime, was purged in a power struggle with military strongman U Than Shwe. In July 2005, he was sentenced to 44 years of house arrest for alleged corruption.

Two top leaders, Than Shwe and former Vice-Senior General Maung Aung, have not appeared in public for a long time, while U Maung Aye is reportedly in poor health.

Political analyst U Yan Myo Thein would prefer that all civilian, ethnic and military leaders attend Armed Forces Day in the hope that they might hold informal talks and come to better understand each other.

If that were to happen, he said, the event would be more important politically.

Many more formal and informal meetings with all stakeholders focusing on national reconciliation and trust should be held, he added.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing could not attend this years Armed Forces Day because he twisted his ankle the day before. Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice Senior General Soe Win attended on his behalf.

There are three parts to Armed Forces Day: a military parade in the morning, paying respects to senior military officers in the afternoon, and a dinner. U Shwe Mann was not invited to any of them.

One of the events on the agenda of Armed Forces Day is saluting the army chief.

All the attendees have to stand up and salute the military chief. So those who are higher in rank according to protocol would not attend even if they were invitation, said an ex-military officer who asked to remain anonymous.

According to that protocol, the president, state counselor, vice-presidents and the speakers of the two houses of Parliament are all higher in rank than the army chief.

In February, before his commission was terminated, U Shwe Mann formed a new political party called the Union Betterment Party.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Burma Govt Says 12 Civilians Killed in Fighting Between Military, AA Since Jan

An ancient temple in Mrauk-U. The former capital of the Arakanese kingdom now has more than 3,500 IDPs due to fighting between the AA and the Myanmar military. / Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy

YANGONTwelve civilians have been killed in fighting between government troops and the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State in the past three months, according to a Myanmar government spokesperson.

Presidents Office spokesman U Zaw Htay said that as of Thursday, there had been 103 clashes between the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and the AA since January.

The Arakanese rebels, who are seeking greater autonomy in western Myanmar, have been warring with the central government since 2015. Since the groups attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine on Jan. 4, the fighting between the two armies has escalated, resulting in an increase in casualties on both sides, including civilians.

During a media briefing on Friday, the spokesperson said that in addition to the civilian deaths, 58 AA soldiers and 27 policemen had been killed. He declined to provide a figure for casualties among government troops, saying those would be released by the Army.

He added that 26 police and 20 civilians had been wounded.

The majority of those affected are local people, he said.

But the civilian death toll continued to rise even as the spokesperson was speaking. Two local people in Mrauk-U were reportedly shot dead by the Army on Friday morning. Since mid-March, the Army has faced accusations of opening fire on civilians in the ancient town, but the Army claims that during the incidents it was responding to AA troops who had mingled with local people.

Military spokesmen earlier this week reiterated their stance that the fighting was unavoidable in Rakhine State in February and March, as AA troops disguised as civilians were shooting at Tatmadaw units both in the field and at bases.

The spokesperson revealed on Friday that as of March 24, the total number of people displaced by the fighting in seven townships in northern Rakhine State had reached more than 17,300. Kyauktaw Township ranked first with more than 3,800 refugees, while Mrauk-U followed with over 3,500.

The presidential spokesmans figures on the displaced matched UNOCHA data released on Thursday, with a total of 17,354.

However, the total number of civilian casualties is expected to be higher and may contradict the government data, according to the Arakan National Party.

The ANP formed a nine-member investigation commission to record civilian loses in five townshipsKyauktaw, Rathaetaung, Ponnakyun, Buthaetaung and Mrauk Uand would submit its findings to the Union government, said U Tun Aung Kyaw, the general secretary of the ANP.

The ANP investigation commission started their outreach to communities in Mrauk U on March 26. U Tun Aung Kyaw said that in Mrauk U Township alone it found that a total of 52 people were dead, injured or missing. The commission does not yet have precise figures on fatalities and injuries as data collected from villages was still in raw form.

Separately, three people were killed in Rathaetaung and at least four were injured, while Buthaetaung saw four people killed during those months, said Daw Khin Saw Wai, an ANP lawmaker who is also on the investigation team.

They are fleeing their homes, not only from gunfights [between the AA and the military] but also from artillery shelling of their villages, said the lawmaker.

Party spokesman U Tun Aung Kyaw, who is in Rathaetaung helping displaced people, said on Friday that the fighting was intense in the township, hindering its ability to collect data on losses. He estimated the number of displaced people in Rathaetaung at about 6,000 in some eight IDP camps.
Burma Kachin Activists Sentence Reduced

Nang Pu participates in the 16 days of activism event for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women at Putao in Kachin State in November 2018. / Nang Pu / Facebook.

The Kachin State Court reduced the prison sentence of Nang Puwho was charged with defamation of the Myanmar military in Decemberfrom six to four months on Friday.

The Myitkyina Township Court sentenced Nang Pu and two other peaceful protesters, Lum Zawng and Zau Jat, to six months imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 kyats under Article 500 of Myanmars Penal Code on Dec. 7 last.

The trio were accused by Lt-Col Myo Min Oo from the militarys Northern Command who filed criminal defamation complaints under Article 500 on May 8, 2018 for their participation in protests a month earlier. The protests were held in Mytikyina, the Kachin capital, to urge the government to help locals trapped in the Tanai area of Kachin State who fled from fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar military.

All three appealed to the Kachin State Court, but the judge on Friday accepted only the appeal of Nang Pu, rejecting both of the men.

The lawyer representing Nang Pu, Doi Bu, said her clients sentence was reduced in consideration of the condition of her being a woman who needs regular medical attention for her health.

Nang Pu is the director of the Htoi Gender and Development Foundation and founder of the Kachin State Womens Network. She advocates for the internally displaced, gender equality and peace in Kachin State.

Her lawyer said that as the sentence has been reduced to four months, Nang Pu only has one week left to serve and that she should be freed by no later than April 7.

The lawyer said Nang Pu could be freed earlier than April 7 depending on the decision of the prison authorities.

There has been an outpouring of happiness at the outcome of Nang Pus appeal across social media from her friends and colleagues who say they are excited to see her again.

Last month, Nang Pu was honored with a 2019 Schuman Award, together with two other human rights advocates from Myanmar, for helping some of the most marginalized members of the conflict-affected communities in Kachin State.

Lawyer Doi Bu said that the remaining two activists, Lum Zawng and Zau Jat, could go on to seek appeals at the High Court in Naypyidaw and that with their content, she would be help them.
We do have some concern about the proposed legislation in that we do not have a clear understanding of the fiscal implications of the proposed actions, Walsh and Winfrey wrote. We are asking you to hold this legislation until further information can be collected from the impacted township clerks and the Will County clerk.
Burma Monument to Late Colonel, Fallen Soldiers Demolished in Shan State

Heavy machinery demolishes a monument to Col. Ba Htoo in Aungban in southern Shan State. / Zaw Win / Facebook

YANGON  A monument to the late Col. Ba Htoo and fallen soldiers was demolished earlier this week in the town of Aungban in southern Shan State in order to widen the Asian Highway.

It is not that we have destroyed it. Some parts [of town] need to be removed in order to modernize transportation. Because it is acceptable to the majority, the Shan State government approved it and proceeded with it, Sai Hseng Tip Long, the state governments finance minister and spokesman, told The Irrawaddy.

Work crews have been widening the roadway, known locally as the Union Highway, into four lanes since last year and are expected to finish next month.

In addition to the monument, some residential homes, banks and other buildings have also been removed to make way for the extra lanes.

Col. Ba Htoo, a senior member of the Burma Independence Army, is best known for his lead role in the fight against Japanese forces in Upper Myanmar while Gen. Aung San commanded the resistance in Lower Myanmar.

When Col. Ba Htoo declared war against Japanese forces on March 8, 1945, he successfully distracted their attention away from Gen. Aung San, who launched the military campaign against the occupation as planned on March 27, a date that has come to be celebrated annually as Armed Forces Day.

Col. Ba Htoo died of malaria in a small village in Aungban three months later.

According to locals, the column demolished last week had been built over the original monument, which was erected before independence in 1948.

We feel sad about losing a piece of history. But the homes of local residents also had to be removed. More homes would have had to be removed if the monument were not removed. It was removed with the agreement of community elders, said Daw Nilar, a Ward 4 resident who lived near the monument.

Another local resident, Sai Maung Tint, said he was also sorry to see the monument demolished.

Besides the monument, the clock tower, which is 100 years old, will also be removed. We didnt know about it in advance. We only knew about it when it was demolished, he said.

Shan State lawmaker U Than Htike, who represents Kalaw Township, said a committee consisting of state government officials, lawmakers, party representatives and community elders from Aungban was formed to oversee the roadwork and approved the monuments demolition by consensus.

Criticism is normal. Because it was historic, we consulted with senior citizens before we decided to remove it. If we hadnt touched it, more houses on the other side [of the road] would had to have been removed. We had to consider various perspectives. We took systematic action through the committee, he said.

The committee decided that the urn holding the colonels ashes would be spared and placed inside a new monument to be built in his honor. But the urn has not been located, so the committee will meet again to prepare for more digging to find it.

The highway is an important border trade route, one section of which connects with China and Thailand through Tachileik, Kengtung, Mongla, Taunggyi and Meiktila townships. Another section connects with India through Meiktila, Mandalay and Tamu.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Burma TNLA Accuses Military of Helping RCSS Gain Bases in N. Shan

A joint TNLA-SSPP meeting takes place at a base in 2018 in Namtu Township, northern Shan State. / PSLF-TNLA / Facebook

An officer of the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has complained that whenever the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) risks losing control of one of their bases in Namtu or Lashio townships of northern Shan State, troops from the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, step in to help them.

Renewed fighting has been ongoing in the Namtu and Lashio areas for almost three weeks, according to the TNLAs Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw. In joint operations, the TNLA and the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) have been carrying out attacks on RCSS bases with the intention of forcing them to leave the area.

The RCSS nearly lost all bases in Namtu and Lashio. They cannot stay in those areas anymore if they lose their base nearby in Mongmu Village. But then the Myanmar Army came in to help. They use air strikes and 105 millimeter shells, said Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw.

There has been strong fighting for two consecutive days in Mongmu Village between the Myanmar military and the joint forces of the TNLA and the SSPP. The Myanmar military uses three battalions on the ground to attack the joint force.

For our side, we have a strong armed force as the SSPP have joined us. When we have fighting [with] the Burmese (Myanmar military), it is very big fighting. Therefore, they have to use air strikes to fight back at us, said Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw.

This is not first time the TNLA and the SSPP launched a joint military offensive in order to fight the RCSS, according to the TNLA. On four occasions, in similar situations when they had almost successfully forced the RCSS to retreat from their area, the Myanmar military has stepped into the area.

They do not want the RCSS to leave from those areas. They took [control of] the areas from us, then gave it to the RCSS. They tried to make more confusion in these areas, said Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw.

Lt-Col Sai Oo, a spokesperson for the RCSS denied the TNLAs accusations.

Some local aid workers who went to help internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mongmu Village found RCSS troops were staying inside a Buddhist monastery in the village, while the Myanmar military troops stayed outside the monastery.

[It is] very strange that they stayed nearby each other. This was first time I have seen them, said a local aid worker who requested anonymity.

Fighting first broke out between the RCSS and the joint forces of the TNLA and the SSPP on March 22 and an elderly man from a nearby village was killed amid the clashes. Over one hundred people fled Mongmu and stayed at a Buddhist monastery in another village called Mong San.

About 2,000 locals are regularly forced to leave their villages in Hsipaw and Namtu as a result of rival ethnic armed groups clashing in their area.

The TNLA and the SSPP accused the RCSS of occupying areas they used to control in Namtu, Hsipaw, Lashio and Kyaukme townships after the RCSS signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015. The RCSS are traditionally based in southern Shan State, but they have been acquiring more bases in northern Shan recently.

On March 27, fighting broke out between the Myanmar military and joint forces of the TNLA and the SSPP in Mongmu Village and two houses were burned down when artillery shell fell on them. It is unknown, however, which group was responsible for the shelling which caused the damage.
On This Day Revered Burma Research Society Founded 109 Years Ago

Left: The emblem of the Burma Research Society. Right: U Me Oung, one of the society's founders.

Today marks the 109th anniversary of the founding of the Burma Research Society, whose goals were to investigate and encourage art, science and literature in Myanmar and neighboring countries.

The society was launched on March 29, 1910, by foreign scholars such as Eales J.S. Furnivall, J.A. Stewart and C. Duroiselle and Myanmar scholars such as U Me Oung  who later became Home Affairs Minister  and lexicographer U Tun Nyein at a meeting chaired by the vice governor of Myanmar, Sir Herbert T. White.

The Journal of the Burma Research Society, an academic journal covering Myanmar studies published by the association between 1911 and 1980, was famous among international scholars and researchers.

The journal analyzed a wide range of topics on Myanmar culture and history and published ethnographic studies, translations and reviews of Myanmar literature, folklore, music, theology and fauna as well as archaeology and geography reports, historical essays and cultural and scientific studies of neighboring countries.

It was published twice a year in both Myanmar and English and most of the contributors were foreigners. Later on, Myanmar scholars including U Pe Maung Tin, U Me Oung, U Shwe Zan Aung and Sir U Khin wrote articles for the journal as well.

Over its nearly seven-decade run, the journal published 61 volumes and 144 issues.

At the 70th anniversary of the Burma Research Society at the Yangon Institute of Economics in 1980, Gen. Ne Win spoke against the group because it was established by the British. He said he could not accept associations in a socialist country that were formed by a minority.

The society was finally abolished on Dec. 29, 1980. Renowned Myanmar historian U Than Tun accused Gen. Ne Win of destroying it.

Despite ongoing calls to re-establish the society, there has been little progress.
Giraldo said the recognition is not only based on a districts music offerings but what is available outside of school. In the Elgin area, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Music on the Fox, private lesson opportunities, music courses at Elgin Community College are among the options families have in generating and nurturing musical interests for their children, she said.
The use of Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse and Autonomous Transaction Processing is claimed to have saved about 50% of National Pharmacies' IT budget.

National Pharmacies collects lots of data from its 350,000 members and 600,000 other customers, and is putting it to work in various ways.

CFO and innovation manager Ryan Klose said the use of ADW's machine learning features reduced the company's working capital requirements by $7 million as a result of doing a better job of stocking the right products at each of its 100 pharmacies. Getting the original deliveries right also helps reduce the hundreds of thousands of dollars the company has been spending on transferring stock between stores.

Part of this process involves identifying short-term trends  for example, National Pharmacies can see flu spreading around suburbs from purchasing patterns, and this can be used to adjust stock levels of relevant products at individual pharmacies ahead of spikes in demand.

Klose pointed out that National Pharmacies didn't need to use data scientists to take advantage of the ML features in Oracle's software as the input from the company's pharmacists and supply chain specialists was sufficient.

The company also wanted in-store staff to be able to see customer history in order to personalise the shopping experience, and ADW delivered the speed required to make this possible. Pharmacists are trained to adapt the conversation to suit the individual they are speaking to, and this capability needs to be reflected in digital channels, he observed.

There is also a desire to "surprise and delight" non-pharmaceutical customers such as those buying cosmetics. In order to achieve that, National Pharmacies is using machine learning to profile customers in such terms as whether they purchase for themselves or others, or whether they celebrate birthdays or religious holidays.

Being able to rapidly scale ADW from one to 20 CPUs in response to varying loads means that tasks that would previously have taken hours can now be done in seconds.

Speed also comes into play when moving data from the transaction processing systems into the data warehouse. For example, it can be important to know that a customer has just visited another of the company's pharmacies.

The efficiency of Oracle's autonomous products has reduced National Pharmacies' licence costs by 40%, he said, and the use of Oracle Cloud also helped Klose control costs associated with database administrators and infrastructure people.

Demands on BI are growing, Oracle APAC vice-president of technology Valery Lanovenko told iTWire. It was once something that's nice to have to become a common business requirement. Organisations realise they need to use the data they collect, and the combination of BI and AI is a route to the future.

Oracle Autonomous Database is largely about the ability to analyse data, he said. It provides better performance through automated tuning and monitoring, and its automated security features reduce the need for skilled labour. These considerations mean line of business groups are more able to work independently of the IT department, but the latter also benefits from automated provisioning, which allows technical staff to be redeployed to more productive and innovative areas.

Achieving less than 2.5 minutes a month of scheduled and unscheduled downtime is unprecedented, said Lanovenko. This is totally a breakthrough for mission-critical applications.

"Our database is now fully self-driving," said Oracle EMEA and APJ president Loic Le Guisquet. Self-patching is particularly important, he said, as more than 80% of breaches would have been avoided if systems had been patched promptly and security features activated.

National Pharmacies is a major sponsor of Adelaide's Christmas Pageant, said Klose, and is planning bring IT to bear with an augmented reality game. The idea is that Rudolph will steal Santa's sleigh and lose the presents, which players will be able to find in pharmacies by using an app  somewhat like Pokemon Go.

In addition, Santa's elves at the pageant will be labelled with QR codes for kids to scan in order to collect tokens and unlock prizes that will be claimable at National Pharmacies stores.

Klose said the company is looking to set up a "shared data room" that would be made available where appropriate to fire, police and other organisations. This will be based on the same instance of ADW, and no extra hardware will be required.

Other plans for 2019 include a move away from using tablets in store due to occupational health and safety issues, and replacing them with voice interfaces. Further ahead, Klose expects to introduce more-intelligent bots so customers can interact directly with the systems, without necessarily involving sales staff.

An important part of Klose's strategy is the use of Oracle middleware, which he sees as a 10 year investment. Since all access is via the middleware, even major changes to core systems are largely invisible to users. For example, when an older ERP system was replaced with JD Edwards, National Pharmacies avoided $800,000 in training costs because the tablet app used by employees remained unchanged. Similarly, introducing a voice interface won't affect the core systems.

Klose pointed out that each technology iteration requires new skills, but they tend to be hard to find and expensive. Fortunately, Oracle provides more prebuilt integrations and functionality, reducing the need to buy-in new skills. For example, only two IT staff are needed to deliver information stored in Oracle systems to 350,000 people.

And he tells National Pharmacies' IT staff that they need to realise they are back in their first year every year  their expertise is still valued, but they need to learn new things.

National Pharmacies received Oracle Australia's 2019 award for excellence in retail.

Disclosure: The writer attended Oracle OpenWorld Asia as a guest of the company.
Fernando Serto says new centre will add to Akamai's ability to serve its clientele.

Global cloud security and content delivery network provider Akamai will set up a "scrubbing centre" in Melbourne later this year, to handle the increasing load of customers and also serve as a back-up for the existing centre in Sydney.

Fernando Serto, the head of Security Technology and Strategy for Akamai in the Asia-Pacific, told iTWire that a scrubbing centre was a place where malicious Web traffic was removed.

He said the new centre would help to fight DDoS attacks against Australian customers, pointing out that while it was easy to combat an attack from outside the country  one could block at the country-level  it was more difficult to combat malicious traffic within a country.

The new Prolexic DDoS mitigation scrubbing centre will add to Akamais existing centres  Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Osaka and Singapore  and extend the resiliency of the Prolexic Platform in Australia.

Serto said the Sydney centre had been in operation for about 2-1/2 years and many of the company's financial services and government clients had been asking when a second centre would be set up.

Last year, there were about 10,000 DDoS attacks globally, Serto said, adding that about 65% of these would be handled more or less immediately with automated solutions.

But the remainder often proved more of a headache and because of that the Melbourne centre would be manually staffed to offer 24-hour support to local customers.

These staff would be able to craft new rules to block malicious traffic as the need arose, depending on the source of the attack.

Serto was reluctant to offer a figure when asked how many staff would be hired locally, merely saying that it would be a mix of new hires and experienced Akamai hands.
Ride-sharing platform Shebah has landed a $1 million investment from a new investor, taking its crowdfunding equity raising to a total just short of $2.4 million.

Closing in on its $3 million maximum target, the Australian so-called women-friendly rideshare companys founder and chief executive George McEncroe says she is confident the target is achievable.

Given the feedback weve received from investors, media, our community and womens groups from all over the country, I believe well hit three million, or come very, very close to it. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and Im thrilled with where we are at," McEnroe said.

Now that we have bypassed two million, we can really start to make a difference to how we grow and put our plans into action. There is a long list of plans, from technology advancements, to improving the driver onboarding process and expanding internationally, so the focus is on implementing these and putting the right team structure in place to see them through.

According to Shebah, its current pool of 1352 investors is a diverse group, and includes politicians, experienced investors of both sexes, as well as mothers who have become shareholders for the first time.

McEncroe says Jude Munro, and advocate for women in sport, Danielle Warby, are two public figures who have recently bought shares in the company.

"I want to make a contribution to a world in which women and children are safe. Where they can travel around our cities safely. My day job involves planning for cities and I believe Shebah is a practical solution to ensure safe and easy travel. It also creates work for women," McEncroe said.

Warby said: "I decided to invest in Shebah because not only do I think they have a really good business idea but I think they're going to change the way business is done. It's important to put women and girls front and centre and this isn't something that a lot of businesses consider. Our needs are different, especially around safety and community.

"When I heard George talk about how so many male venture capitalists couldn't even see the value in her idea because the things that are of importance to us are not even on their radar, I knew I'd made the right decision. When women support women, amazing things happen."

Our current investors are feeling incredibly positive and proud that they have backed us. Many well-regarded female investors are also sharing the reasons why they have supported Shebah within their own networks, which is improving our word of mouth marketing and helping us reach our goal, so we're very grateful for that, McEncroe said.

We're also seeing a trend of many investors coming back for a second bite of the cherry, which is hugely encouraging and means every day, we're getting closer to the three million becoming a reality.

According to Shebah, the Australian rideshare industry is worth $290 million and the taxi industry is valued at $6 billion, with the market growing at 14% year-on-year.

We offer a service within the Australian market that doesn't already exist, and there is a huge and growing demand for it. No other rideshare service guarantees women the opportunity to travel with fellow women drivers, and to travel safely with their children. Shebah is the only solution locally, and we are looking forward to seeing our influence spread," McEncroe said.

Shebah has announced plans to launch in the New Zealand market on the back of the fund raising campaign.
Food delivery company Deliveroo is set to have 200 "virtual brands" across Australia, with virtual restaurants it says will allows existing restaurants to increase revenue and customers by offering new or complementary cuisines from their current kitchen.

According to Deliveroo, restaurants which launched virtual brands in other markets had seen more than a 70% increase in revenue.

Deliveroo says creating virtual restaurants allows existing restaurants to increase revenue and customers by offering new or complementary cuisines from their current kitchen, but under new branding.

And, it says restaurants use existing kitchen staff and chefs, but are able to save on food costs and cut wastage, a significant challenge in the restaurant industry.

A virtual brand appears as a separate restaurant on Deliveroo with a new identity driven by a new cuisine or menu offering. It means BBQ joints launching Mexican menus, greek restaurants offering healthy protein bowls and your favourite pizza joint delivering gourmet wraps, Deliveroo says.

The announcement comes as Deliveroo hits 10,000 restaurants across Australia and has rolled out a host of measures to support restaurant partners.

Claiming thousands of virtual brands worldwide, Deliveroo says at a time when restaurants have faced increasing economic pressures, virtual brands kitchens provide the ideal environment for a restaurant to test new food brands with minimal costs or risk.

Deliveroo says it works as brand consultants every step of the way, offering restaurants access to data, research of food trends, details of local culinary gaps, and supports the brand with marketing support, testing and rapid consumer feedback.

And, the company partners with restaurants to create menus which it says will appeal to local audiences with pricing that will be attractive to consumers, and uses in-house expertise to create branding and packaging optimised for the newly created dishes.

Deliveroo says Bondi Relish, a local favourite burger joint created their virtual brand specialising in breakfast wraps, Hangover Doctor, in 2017, and since launching on Deliveroo have seen an increase in revenue by 86%.

Sudeep Banstola, owner of Bondi Relish and Hangover Doctor, said: Operating our virtual brand Hangover Doctor with Deliveroo has been really invaluable to our business model. Not only has it allowed us to reduce our food costs by minimising wastage, weve been able to really make the most of our kitchen equipment and staff. On top of this, weve also seen an 86% growth in sales."

Virtual restaurant brands are just one example of how at Deliveroo were using data and technology to support our 10,000 restaurants across Australia, said Levi Aron, country manager, Deliveroo Australia.

Were committed to working with our partners to provide new concepts and innovations, helping to support their growth and to provide customers with even greater choice. We know people want access to new and exciting foods, and this is exactly what virtual brands will help bring to neighbourhoods across Australia.
Interfaith Summit Aims for Common Ground

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.  Illinois Wesleyan Universitys 2019 Interfaith Summit, titled Common Ground: An IWU Interfaith Summit, will feature humanist and interfaith activist Chris Stedman as keynote speaker and workshop leader for the second-annual event.

The summit will take place Friday, March 29 from 7 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. in the Hansen Student Center and Saturday, March 30 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Memorial Center. The event is free and open to the public, but participants must register ahead of time. To register, please visit www.iwu.edu/chaplain.

Stedman is a humanist community organizer and writer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Humanism as a belief system attaches prime importance to humanity, emphasizing common human needs and seeking solely rational ways of solving problems.

The author of Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious, Stedman explores his own journey with faith and encourages his readers to let go of the certainty of their beliefs in favor of common ground in pursuit of a better world for all.

Fridays keynote address is titled Faitheist: Building Bridges Between Believers, Non Believers, and Everyone In Between. Friday nights activities will also include a Q&A session and book signing with Stedman, as well as a free dessert reception.

Saturdays plenary workshop is titled Finding Our Common Humanity. Saturdays program will also include interactive workshops led by IWU students, faculty, staff and alumni, a service project and Multifaith Sending Service, and a free lunch.



The summit is sponsored by Evelyn Chapel and the Multifaith Ambassador Program, IWU Interfaith, Pride Alliance and Secular Student Association.

By Megan Baker 21
Humanities Fellows Delve Into the Culture of Chicago

Humanities Fellows visited the Art Institute of Chicago.

March 29, 2019

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.  A cohort of first-year Illinois Wesleyan Humanities Fellows experienced firsthand the art, poetry, history and culture of Chicago during the programs second annual Spring Break Immersion Trip.

Over the course of four days, students visited the Art Institute of Chicago, the Newberry Library, the Chicago Cultural Center and other iconic locations in order to understand the importance of the humanities in modern-day society.

Students weren't sitting in a class and listening to a lecture; rather, they were living the Humanities 24/7, explained Byron S. Tucci Professor of Hispanic Studies Carolyn Nadeau, who co-teaches the Humanities Fellows First-Year Experience (FYE) with Associate Professor and Chair of English Joanne Diaz.

During their time in Chicago, the Humanities Fellows engaged in discussions at museums, attended live poetry readings, met with theatre directors and actors, ate cuisine from various cultures and conducted their own archival work at the Newberry Library.

The Humanities Fellows pause for a group photo during a Chicago architecture tour.

In addition to site visits, the students also had the opportunity to sit down with MacArthur genius and Illinois Wesleyan alum Juan Salgado 91. In 2015, Salgado received the MacArthur grant, a highly selective award acknowledging creative and innovative individuals in a wide range of fields, for his work as founder and leader of the Instituto del Progreso Latino. Salgados education program has provided low-income Latinx immigrants in Chicago with the vocational training and English-language skills needed to obtain higher-paying employment in sectors looking to build diverse, multilingual workforces. Salgado is currently the Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, a group of seven city colleges which serve more than 80,000 students.

Students had the opportunity to network with curators, librarians, theatre directors and other professionals in their areas of interest, in addition to making connections with each other.

We learned a lot about each other and ourselves, said Nadeau. Spending all day and night as a group has its benefits as well as its challenges, as several students noted when we returned to campus. But, I know as a faculty member, Ive returned to campus and feel a special connection with this group precisely because we now have these shared experiences.

I am hopeful that this humanities immersion excursion has instilled in this wonderful group of students a continued curiosity to explore, make connections, and think creatively and critically about the world.

By Rachel McCarthy 21
However, In this instance, 19 members of the public signed-up on the citizen participation sheet that was circulated at the beginning of the Dec. 3, 2018 meeting. The chair of the Committee reviewed the sheet and determined that, because more than 15 speakers had signed-up to speak, the amount of public comment time to be allotted would be one minute per speaker, Hartman wrote. A total of 16 speakers chose to address the Committee, and the public comment portion of the meeting lasted less than 23 minutes. The Committee chair informed several speakers that their one minute of public comment time had expired and requested that those speakers cease their speech.
DARLENE ZSCHECH RELEASES NEW SONG, FOREVER MY KING, RECORDED AT ANNUAL HOPEUC WORSHIP GATHERING

FEATURES GUESTS LEELAND, DUSTIN SMITH AND CHARDON LEWIS

March 29, 2019

NASHVILLE, TENN. (MARCH 29, 2019) Integrity Music has released the new song, Forever My King, from world-renowned Australian worship leader Darlene Zschech and her New South Wales church, Hope Unlimited (HopeUC). The live-recorded song was captured during the annual HopeUC Worship Gathering last year and features guests Leeland, Dustin Smith and Chardon Lewis. Integrity Music has released the new song, Forever My King, from world-renowned Australian worship leaderand her New South Wales church, Hope Unlimited (HopeUC). The live-recorded song was captured during the annual HopeUC Worship Gathering last year and features guests Leeland, Dustin Smith and Chardon Lewis. Click here to download or stream the new song. "My pursuit of Christ and making Him known is my greatest joy and honour," shares Darlene Zschech about the new song. "I pray that this song would help gather your heart heavenward as you join with us in declaring Holy is the Lord.'" Each year at the HopeUC Worship Gathering, people from all over the world gather to spend time in Gods presence. The focus is to have intentional time where people gather for community, soak in His presence, grow in ones gifting and lead others to know God. It is an intimate conference where attendees get to know each other and sit around the table together each night fostering relationships. HopeUC will host the conference at 2 locations this year  the Hope Unlimited Church in Australia (August 26-28, 2019) and for the first time in United States, in Monrovia, California (September 26-28, 2019). Click here for details and registration. About Darlene Zschech: Darlene Zschech is an Australian worship leader, pastor, songwriter, speaker and author who has led millions of Christians in worship. Darlene has written over 100 songs, including Victors Crown, In Jesus Name, Worthy Is The Lamb, At The Cross and the global anthem Shout To The Lord, which is sung by an estimated 30 million churchgoers every week. Her most current albums are Revealing Jesus, Here I Am Send Me and The Table: A Christmas Worship Gathering while her books include Worship Changes Everything, Extravagant Worship, The Art of Mentoring and The Golden Thread. Following a treasured season of involvement with the worship team at Sydneys Hillsong Church, Darlene and her husband, Mark, now serve as Senior Pastors for Hope Unlimited Church (HopeUC) on the Central Coast of New South Wales. For more information, visit Darlene Zschech is an Australian worship leader, pastor, songwriter, speaker and author who has led millions of Christians in worship. Darlene has written over 100 songs, including Victors Crown, In Jesus Name, Worthy Is The Lamb, At The Cross and the global anthem Shout To The Lord, which is sung by an estimated 30 million churchgoers every week. Her most current albums are Revealing Jesus, Here I Am Send Me and The Table: A Christmas Worship Gathering while her books include Worship Changes Everything, Extravagant Worship, The Art of Mentoring and The Golden Thread. Following a treasured season of involvement with the worship team at Sydneys Hillsong Church, Darlene and her husband, Mark, now serve as Senior Pastors for Hope Unlimited Church (HopeUC) on the Central Coast of New South Wales. For more information, visit DarleneZschech.com and follow Darlene on Twitter and Instagram @DarleneZschech. Integrity Music is part of the David C Cook family, a nonprofit global resource provider serving the Church with life-transforming materials. With offices in Nashville, Tennessee (US) and Eastbourne, East Sussex (UK), Integrity is committed to taking songs of substance to the local church and its leaders around the world. Integrity publishes many of the top songs in the Church, including Great Are You Lord, Revelation Song, Open The Eyes Of My Heart, In Christ Alone, 10,000 Reasons, Here I Am To Worship, The Lion And The Lamb, Great I Am, and We Believe, among others. Additional information is available at www.integritymusic.com



###

For more info on Darlene Zschech, visit the JFH Artists Database.


The park district human resources department has been in contact with the Park District Risk Management Agency and notified all staff and the board, Ziolkowski said. Park district staff have been asked to refer any resident with questions to the Cook County Department of Public Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she said.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES

OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sabina Gold & Silver Corp (the Company) (SBB  TSX) is pleased to announce that it has arranged a non-brokered private placement (the Financing) pursuant to which it will sell 3,162,419 million flow through common shares (the Flow-Through Common Shares) at a price of $1.55 per share to raise gross proceeds of $4,901,750. The proceeds from the sale of the Flow-Through Common Shares will be used for exploration on the Companys Back River project.

This financing enables us to use flow-through dollars for exploration rather than dollars allocated for continued development activities at Back River, said Bruce McLeod, President & CEO. This financing will fund an 8,000 meter drill program at Back River this spring to follow up on successes from 2018. Crews are currently mobilizing and camp is opening in preparation for the start of drilling.

The Financing is scheduled to close on or about April 4, 2019 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The total gross proceeds from the Financing must be used to incur Canadian exploration expenditures as defined by the Income Tax Act (Canada) by December 31, 2020.

SABINA GOLD & SILVER CORP.

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. is well-financed and is an emerging precious metals company with district scale, advanced, high grade gold assets in one of the worlds newest, politically stable mining jurisdictions: Nunavut, Canada.

Sabina released a Feasibility Study on its 100% owned Back River Gold Project which presents a project that has been designed on a fit-for purpose basis, with the potential to produce ~200,000 ounces a year for ~11 years with a rapid payback of 2.9 years (see Technical Report for the Initial Project Feasibility Study on the Back River Gold Property, Nunavut, Canada dated October 28, 2015).

The Project received its final Project Certificate on December 19, 2017. The Project received its Type A Water License on November 14, 2018 and is now in receipt of all major authorizations for construction and operations.

In addition to Back River, Sabina also owns a significant silver royalty on Glencores Hackett River Project. The silver royalty on Hackett Rivers silver production is comprised of 22.5% of the first 190 million ounces produced and 12.5% of all silver produced thereafter.

The Company had approximately C$50.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as at December 31, 2018.

For further information please contact: Nicole Hoeller, Vice-President, Communications: 1 888 648-4218 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

1800-555 Burrard Street, Two Bentall Centre

Vancouver, BC V7X 1M9

Tel 604 998-4175 Fax 604 998-1051

http://www.sabinagoldsilver.com
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S.

TORONTO, March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sandy Lake Gold Inc. (Sandy Lake or the Corporation) (TSX-V:SLAU) is pleased to announce that it has closed the third and final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement financing, pursuant to which it has issued an aggregate of 6,609,000 units (the Units) at a price of $0.10 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $660,900 (the Final Tranche Closing). Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Corporation (a Share) and one-half of one (1/2) share purchase warrant. Each whole share purchase warrant is exercisable to purchase one additional Share at a price of $0.20 for a period of 24 months from the Final Tranche Closing, provided that if at any time after July 29, 2019, the closing price of the Shares on the principal market on which such Shares trade is at least $0.30 for more than 20 consecutive trading days, the expiry date will be accelerated to the date which is 30 days following the dissemination by the Corporation of a press release announcing such acceleration.

All securities issued and issuable in connection with the Final Tranche Closing are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on July 29, 2019. The Offering remains subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Sandy Lake Gold Inc.

Sandy Lake Gold Inc. is a Toronto based mineral exploration company focused on the exploration and development of the Sandy Lake Gold project in Canada and proposed to acquire the Aremu Oko and Peters Mine properties in Guyana.

For further information please contact:

Patrick Sheridan

Executive Chairman & CEO

(416) 628-5904

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words expect, anticipate, continue, estimate, may, might, will, project, should, believe, plans, intends and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information and/or statements. Forward-looking statements and/or information are based on a number of material factors, expectations and/or assumptions of Sandy Lake which have been used to develop such statements and/or information but which may prove to be incorrect. Although Sandy Lake believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements as Sandy Lake can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In addition to other factors and assumptions which may be identified herein, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals; availability of financing; and the timely receipt of any required regulatory approvals. The forward-looking information and statements included in this news release are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. Such information and/or statements, including the assumptions made in respect thereof, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and/or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information and/or statements including, without limitation: risks associated with the uncertainty of obtaining all applicable regulatory approvals, the availability of financing, and/or certain other risks detailed from time-to-time in Sandy Lakes public disclosure documents (including, without limitation, those risks identified in this news release and Sandy Lakes current managements discussion and analysis). Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Corporation does not undertake any obligations to publicly update and/or revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of additional information, future events and/or otherwise, except as may be 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 and / or accuracy of this release
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 27, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Balmoral Resources Ltd. (Balmoral or the Company) (TSX: BAR; OTCQX: BALMF) announced that drilling aimed at expanding the Companys recent high grade nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE sulphide discoveries within the central portion of the Grasset Ultramafic Complex (GUC) in Quebec has commenced. The new high grade nickel sulphide discoveries are located 7 kilometres northwest of, and along strike from, Balmorals Grasset multi-million tonne nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum-palladium deposit (Figure 1).

Drilling in late 2018 resulted in the discovery of a number of new nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE occurrences within the ultramafic volcanic facies of the GUC (Figure 2). Results were highlighted by an intercept of 7.58 metres grading 1.05% nickel, 0.31% copper, 0.05% cobalt, 0.20 g/t platinum and 0.48 g/t palladium, including a massive sulphide intercept which graded 4.14% nickel, 0.26% copper, 0.18% cobalt, 0.81 g/t platinum and 1.93 g/t palladium over 0.65 metres, from one of four new discoveries, each of which returned greater than 1% nickel (see NR19-01, Jan. 17, 2019).

Follow-up geophysical work indicated a number of nearby EM anomalies interpreted to represent continuations of the massive sulphide intervals intersected. At least two of these geophysical anomalies will be targeted during the current round of testing.

We are excited to begin the process of evaluating the recent nickel sulphide discoveries made by the team within the GUC and by the potential they hint at for the balance of the belt going forward said Darin Wagner, President and CEO of Balmoral Resources. The goal of this program is to determine the controls on the new discoveries so we can quickly expand them and move to target additional nickel sulphide mineralization of this type throughout the belt.

Approximately 1,500 metres of drilling is planned in the Central GUC area during the current program. A decision of future drill plans and geophysical work in this area will be made following the completion of this phase of testing.

The Company also advises that it has now filed its 2019 Annual Information Form on SEDAR  www.sedar.com.

Summary

Balmoral has commenced a 1,500 metre drill program to follow up on new high-grade nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE discoveries in an area seven kilometres northwest, and along strike, from the Companys Grasset deposit.



Balmoral has now filed its 2019 Annual Information Form

Qualified Persons

Mr. Michael Tucker (P. Geo. B.C., Ont. and Temporary Permit, Que.), Project Geologist for the Company, is the non-independent qualified person for the technical disclosure concerning the Fenelon property in this release. Mr. Tucker supervised the fall 2018 drill program and will supervise the program discussed above. He has worked on the Grasset and Fenelon properties since 2014. Mr. Tucker has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.

About Balmoral Resources Ltd.  www.balmoralresources.com

Balmoral is a multi-award winning Canadian-focused exploration company actively exploring a portfolio of gold and base metal properties located within the prolific Abitibi greenstone belt. The Companys flagship, 1,000 km2 Detour Gold Trend Project hosts the resource stage Bug and Martiniere West gold deposits and the Grasset nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE deposit. Employing an aggressive, drill focused exploration style in one of the worlds preeminent mining jurisdictions, Balmoral is following an established formula with a goal of maximizing shareholder value through the discovery and definition of high-grade, Canadian gold and base metal assets.

On behalf of the board of directors of

BALMORAL RESOURCES LTD.

Darin Wagner

President and CEO

For further information contact: John Foulkes, Vice-President, Corporate Development

Tel: +1 (604) 638-5815 / Toll Free: +1 (877) 838-3664

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements regarding the nature and potential of certain zones of mineralization, the utility and usefulness of certain geophysical surveys, the correlation of geophysical anomalies to mineralization of interest to the Company, the assay results from sulphide or other mineralization intersected in on-going drilling and anticipated results and timing of the Companys exploration programs in general are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believes, expects, anticipates, intends, estimate, postulate and similar expressions or are those which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from the Companys expectations include those related to the mineral tenor of mineralization intersected on the properties, the success or failure of the geophysical contractors to survey individual drill holes and interpret the results from the surveys, factors relating to weather, staffing and costs which may be beyond the control of the Company, metal prices and economic considerations related to mining and exploration, access to financing to continue the Companys exploration activities and the financial stability of the other companies mentioned and the market fluctuations in prices for securities of exploration and mining stage companies. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Companys public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the latest technical reports filed with respect to the Companys mineral properties.

This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA / March 29, 2019 / JMN Wire / AngloGold Ashanti Australia Ltd (70% and manager) and Independence Group NL (30%) have approved development of the Boston Shaker Underground Project at the Tropicana Gold Mine in Western Australia.

A Feasibility Study has confirmed that underground mining is technically and financially viable, demonstrating robust economics with an anticipated IRR of 39% for a capital investment of $79.3 million (100%). See Table 1 for breakdown.

Boston Shaker will contribute higher grade mill feed, resulting in an improved gold production profile and enhanced cash flow. Importantly the underground mine will provide improved cash flow during 2021-2023 when the mine plan includes periods of higher waste stripping in the Havana open pit.

Ore from the underground mine will enable Tropicana gold production to be maintained at between 450,000-500,000 ounces per annum (100%) over the next five years, lifting the average to 480,000 oz. per annum over the five year period.

The project will commence in the June quarter 2019 and first gold is scheduled for the September quarter in 2020.

Underground mining at Boston Shaker will leverage further value from this high performing operation, achieving pay-back in just over three years, said Ludwig Eybers, AngloGold Ashantis Chief Operating Officer International.

An ongoing focus on Operational Excellence has enabled Tropicana to consistently exceed expectations, and I am sure this world class performance will extend into the underground operation.

The expanded ore production from the mine will capitalise on investments made in the Tropicana processing plant, which includes the second ball mill, commissioned in November 2018, increasing throughput capacity to 8.1 Mtpa.

The Boston Shaker ore body remains open at depth and the JV partners will continue to test high grade extensions to the Mineral Resource beneath the Tropicana and Havana pits to assess the opportunity for further underground mining operations (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Tropicana Underground Opportunities



Project Details

A maiden underground Ore Reserve has been declared at Tropicana, based on an Ore Reserve gold price of $1,100/oz The Boston Shaker (100%) Ore Reserve is estimated at 2.8 million tonnes grading 3.84 g/t for 317,000 oz of contained gold  see Table 2.

The Boston Shaker underground Mineral Resource estimate is 12.5 Mt at 4.2 g/t for 1.7 Moz  see Table 3.

The Feasibility Study was based on the mining of 6.58 million tonnes, grading 3.84 g/t, assuming the systematic conversion of Mineral Resources to Ore Reserves over the life of the mine.

The average underground mining rate will be approximately 1.1 Mtpa (including development) over an eight year mine life to 2026 to produce a total of 732,000 oz. Mining methods will comprise conventional mechanised mining and underhand sublevel open stoping.

The proposed mining fleet comprises: two jumbos, two production drills, three remotecapable loaders and four trucks.

An underground mining contract has been awarded to Macmahon Holdings Ltd (Macmahon), the mining alliance partner at Tropicana since commencement of open pit mining in 2012. As Macmahon will operate both the open pit and underground mines significant operational and management synergies will be delivered.

The underground operation adds an additional year to Tropicanas overall mine life, taking it to 2029 based on the current Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 136.2 Mt at 1.76 g/t for a contained 7.7 Moz.

Decline development is expected to commence in Q2 2019 with mining of the first stope scheduled to begin in August 2020. The portal will be located in the completed Tropicana Pit, to minimise interaction between the open pit fleet working in the Boston Shaker pit and underground equipment (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Boston Shaker Decline Location and Stope Design



Average underground mining costs, including geology, are anticipated to be between $55$60/tonne.

Metallurgical test work based on current processing plant conditions indicate a recovery rate of 89.9% from the underground ore. Underground ore will be blended with open pit ore and no changes are anticipated in the plant operating expenditure.

The capital cost (100%) is estimated at $79.3 million (A$105.7 million)  see Table 1 for breakdown.

Table 1: Boston Shaker Underground Project Capital Cost.

Description Total US$ million 2019 US$ million 2020 US$ million (100%,

Nominal) (100%,

Nominal) (100%,

Nominal) Mining (ORD) 46.6 18.7 27.9 Infrastructure and Indirects 32.7 18.9 13.7 Total Capex 79.3 37.7 41.6

Table 2: Boston Shaker Underground Ore Reserve (100%) as at 31 December, 2018.

Category Mt g/t Moz Proved - - - Probable 2.8 3.65 0.317 Total 2.8 3.65 0.317

Table 3: Boston Shaker Underground Mineral Resource (100%) as at 31 December 2018.

Open Pit Underground Total Classification Mt g/t Moz Mt g/t Moz Mt g/t Moz Measured

Indicated

Inferred 0.6 6.6

0.0 1.66 1.92

0.60 0.03

0.41

0.00 -

5.1

7.5 -

4.08

4.35 -

0.67

1.04 0.6

11.7

7.5 1.66

2.86

4.35 0.03

1.07

1.04 Total 7.2 1.90 0.44 12.5 4.24 1.71 19.8 3.38 2.15

Table 4: Key Boston Shaker Underground Project Metrics

Unit 100% 70% Capital Investment $A

million 105.7 74 $US

million 79.3 55 Financial Metrics IRR % 39 Payback period years 3.3 Gold price assumption USD 1240 AUD 1654 Production Metrics Life of mine (underground) years 8 Life of mine ore production Mt 6.58 Life of mine underground gold production oz 732,000 512,400 Average annual underground ore production Mtpa 1.1 Average underground gold grade g/t 3.84 Average annual gold production from project area (Boston Shaker Underground oz 105,000 73,000

JORC Code Competent Persons Statements

The information that relates to the Tropicana Mineral Resources is based on, and fairly represents information and supporting documentation compiled by Mr Damon Elder, a full-time employee and security holder of AngloGold Ashanti Australia Limited, who is a member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Elder has sufficient experience relevant to the type and style of mineral deposits under consideration, and to the activity which has been undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the JORC Code. Mr Elder consented to the inclusion in this report of the Tropicana Mineral Resource estimate, based on the information in the form and context in which it appears.

The information that relates to the Tropicana Open Pit Ore Reserves is based on, and fairly represents information and supporting documentation compiled by Mr Steven Hulme, a full-time employee and security holder of AngloGold Ashanti Australia Limited, who is a member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Hulme has sufficient experience relevant to the type and style of mineral deposit under consideration, and to the activity which has been undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the JORC Code. Mr Hulme consented to the inclusion in this report of the Tropicana Open Pit Ore Reserve estimate, based on the information, in the form and context in which it appears.

The information that relates to the Tropicana Underground Ore Reserves is based on, and fairly represents information and supporting documentation compiled by Mr Jeff Dang, a full-time employee and security holder of AngloGold Ashanti Australia Limited, who is a member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Dang has sufficient experience relevant to the type and style of mineral deposit under consideration, and to the activity which has been undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the JORC Code. Mr Dang consented to the inclusion in this report of the Tropicana Underground Ore Reserve estimate, based on the information, in the form and context in which it appears.
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2019) - Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: MGM) (OTCQB: MGMLF) (FSE: M3G) ("Maple Gold" or the "Company") has officially commenced drilling with Orbit Garant's first drill rig, currently at a depth of 125m downhole (see Fig 2 to view drill-core) at the first drill site in the Nika Zone. This first drill-hole, DO-19-255, is targeting the near-surface extension of last' year's best intercept in the Nika Zone (hole DO-18-218), which returned 50 metres averaging 1.77 g/t Au (see press release dated May 14, 2018). The second drill-hole will test the depth continuity of the same intercept, with additional holes planned in this area to test other nearby higher grade targets.



Fig 1: Instrument training/induction meeting at first drill-site; Orbit Garant at the Nika Zone

Maple Gold's President and CEO, Matthew Hornor, commented: "The Nika Zone and surrounding NW Gap Area represents an important opportunity for the Company. The drill density in this area is relatively limited and last year's new discovery demonstrated the ability to define brand new zones within the greater resource area. Further drilling success in this area could lead to the definition of more near-surface mineralisation and help us link the Douay West, Porphyry and NW Zones."

An additional drill-hole approximately 250m to the west of DO-18-218 is planned to test the volume potential of a high-grade (21.1 g/t Au) intercept obtained from the final 1.5 metres of a historical drill-hole (DO-12-05), drilled back in 2012.

Forage Pikogan's first drill has also arrived and is set up at its first site in the Porphyry Zone, with drilling expected to begin tonight.



Fig. 2: Crackle brecciated and pyritic altered syenite in top of drill-hole DO-19-255

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical data contained in this press release was reviewed and prepared under the supervision of Fred Speidel, M. Sc, P. Geo., Vice-President Exploration, of Maple Gold. Mr. Speidel is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Speidel has verified the data related to the exploration information disclosed in this news release through his direct participation in the work.

Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC)

Maple Gold implements strict Quality Assurance ("QA") and Quality Control ("QC") protocols at Douay covering the planning and placing of drill holes in the field; drilling and retrieving the NQ-sized drill core; drill-hole surveying; core transport to the Douay Camp; core logging by qualified personnel; sampling and bagging of core for analysis; transport of core from site to the analytical laboratory; sample preparation for assaying; and analysis, recording and final statistical vetting of results. For a complete description of protocols, please visit the Company's QA/QC page on the Company's website.

About Maple Gold

Maple Gold is an advanced gold exploration and development company focused on defining a district-scale gold project in one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions. The Company's ~392 km Douay Gold Project is located along the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone (55 km of strike) within the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt in northern Quebec, Canada. The Project benefits from excellent infrastructure and has an established gold resource3 that remains open in multiple directions. For more information please visit www.maplegoldmines.com.

ON BEHALF OF MAPLE GOLD MINES LTD.

"Matthew Hornor"

B. Matthew Hornor, President & CEO

For Further Information Please Contact:



Mr. Joness Lang

VP, Corporate Development

Cell: 778.686.6836

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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.

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation in Canada, including statements about the prospective mineral potential of the Porphyry Zone, the potential for significant mineralisation from other drilling in the referenced drill program and the completion of the drill program. Forward-looking statements are 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. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding timing and completion of the private placement. When used herein, words such as "anticipate", "will", "intend" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain estimates, expectations, analysis and opinions that management believed reasonable at the time they were made or in certain cases, on third party expert opinions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, and uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual events, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future events, results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such 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 Maple Gold Mines Ltd.'s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.maplegoldmines.com. 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.
In an effort to reduce personnel costs, the village reduced the number of full-time employees from 116 in 2009 to a low of 91 in 2014, according to village officials. The number has gradually grown to 96 in 2017 and 2018. For the next fiscal year, the staff recommends 98 full-time employees, due to the difficulty in retaining part-time employees.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

TORONTO, March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trigon Metals Inc. (TSX-V: TM) (Trigon or the Company) has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement financing (the Offering). The Company issued 15,200,414 common shares (the Shares) at a price of $0.10 per Share for gross proceeds of $1,520,041.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to advance its project finance transaction with Shandong Xinhai Mining Technology & Equipment Inc. and other interested parties, property maintenance and security for the Kombat Project, and for general corporate purposes.

Closing of the Offering remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Shares issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a four month and one day statutory hold period expiring on July 29, 2019. The Company did not pay any finders fees in connection with the Offering.

Certain directors and officers of the Company have subscribed for Shares pursuant to the Offering (the Insider Participation). The Insider Participation will be considered to be a related party transaction as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 (MI 61-101). The Insider Participation is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101.

Cost Cutting Initiatives

Management of Trigon is currently focused on ensuring the majority of the capital is used to advance the development of the Kombat Project. Monthly corporate overhead expenses have been reduced by approximately $60,000, in ways that should not impact our ability to advance the project on the ground.

Closing of the Offering introduces Silvercorp Metals Inc. (Silvercorp) as a strategic investor into Trigon.

Jed Richardson, President of Trigon, commented: We are pleased to welcome Silvercorp on board as a new strategic partner to Trigon, a strong financial and technical partner that shares my commitment to seeing this mine back in production, with strong returns for our shareholders and the community where we work. We are also pleased with the progress made on our cost cutting initiatives and reiterate our focus on bringing the Kombat mine back into production.

Silvercorp is a low-cost silver-producing Canadian mining company with multiple mines in China. Silvercorp, which is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: SVM) and on NYSE American (NYSE: SVM), is Chinas premier silver producer, as well as a producer of lead, zinc and gold. Silvercorps vision is to deliver shareholder value by focusing on the acquisition of under developed projects with resource potential and the ability to grow organically.

Board and Management Appointments

The Company also announces the resignation of Mr. Mark Eaton from the board of directors of the Company to make way for the appointment of Mr. Gordon Neal to the board, Silvercorps appointee to the Companys board of directors.

Mr. Neal is currently the President of New Pacific Metals Corp. He was previously Vice President of Corporate Development for Silvercorp, and prior to that, Vice President of Corporate Development for MAG Silver Corp. Mr. Neal has more than 30 years experience in governance, corporate finance and capital markets. He has served on the boards of Falco Resources, Balmoral Resources, Americas Petrogas, Rockgate Capital, and Xiana Mining. Mr. Neal graduated from Dalhousie University with a B.Sc. in Biochemistry. He has also served as a member of the Dalhousie University Senate and Board of Governors.

Trigons board of directors would like to thank Mr. Eaton for his contributions to Trigon and welcomes Mr. Neal to the Company.

Trigon Metals Inc.

Trigon is a publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core business focused on copper operations in Namibia, one of the worlds most prospective copper regions, where it has substantial assets in place. The Company continues to hold an 80% interest in five mining licenses in the Otavi Mountain lands, an area of Namibia widely recognized for its high-grade copper deposits. Within these licenses are three past producing mines including the Companys flagship property, the Kombat Mine.

For further information, contact:

Jed Richardson

+1 416 861 5893

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.trigonmetals.com

Cautionary Notes

This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding the Offering, the expected use of proceeds of the Offering, the impact of board appointments, cost cutting initiatives, the Companys future plans and objectives, the Companys ability to restart the Kombat mine, and the Companys strategies and abilities to execute such strategies. 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.

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.
Philippine journalist Maria Ressa was arrested Friday, her second detention in what press freedom advocates have said is retaliation for her news sites criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Ressa and her website Rappler have been hit with a string of criminal charges that have sent shockwaves through the Philippine media scene, prompting allegations they are being targeted for their work.

The veteran reporter, named a Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2018, was taken into custody by authorities in Manila, said Rappler co-founder Beth Frondoso.

They got her at the airport, Frondoso told AFP. We will be filing bail.

Bail for Ressa, who holds Philippine and American passports, is normally automatic in this case and she was to go before a judge on Friday morning.

She was taken into custody on a charge that she allowed her name to be used to circumvent a Philippine law against foreign ownership of media properties, a charge that stems from a 2015 investment into Rappler.

Under the constitution, the media is an economic sector which is reserved for Filipinos or Filipino-controlled entities.

 Unprecedented 

Philippine authorities arrested Ressa in February on an internet libel charge, which sparked international condemnation and allegations that she was being targeted for Rapplers critical stance on Duterte.

This case against Ressa is unprecedented and speaks volumes of the Duterte administrations determination to shut the website down for its credible and consistent reporting on the government, said Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch.

Rappler has reported extensively, and unflatteringly, on Dutertes deadly anti-drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives and which rights groups say may be a crime against humanity.

The narcotics crackdown is Dutertes signature initiative and he fiercely defends it against criticism.

High-profile critics have wound up in jail or been pushed out of their jobs in government, including the nations first female chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Ressa insists the site is not anti-Duterte, saying it is just doing its job to hold the government to account.

This latest case comes after she as well as current and former associates of Rappler have been bit by government prosecutors with tax and securities fraud charges.

The countrys corporate regulator revoked Rapplers business licence last year over the bond sale, but the site continued operating as it appealed the case in the courts.

Last month, Ressa spent a night in detention but eventually posted bail for allegedly libelling a businessman in a news article written in 2012.

Ressas legal team said this latest case would not stop Rappler from doing its work.

Let it be clear that these acts of harassment will not deter our clients from doing their duty as journalists, legal counsel Francis Lim said in a statement. We believe in the rule of law.
Burundi on Friday released the first 142 prisoners from a promised 3,000 detainees to promote reconciliation, the justice minister said, but critics said it was only to ease pressure on crowded jails.

Justice minister Aimee-Laurentine Kanyana attended a release ceremony in the prison at Gitega, the new official political capital of the small east African nation, for the first batch of released prisoners.

President Pierre Nkurunziza promised the prisoner releases in December 2018, the third time he has granted mass pardons to prisoners since the country spiralled into crisis in 2015, sparking mass arrests.

The government has said the releases are to promote national reconciliation. But opposition and civil society groups in exile say no political prisoners are to be released and that the move is just to free up more space in jail.

Prisons are massively overcrowded. Burundi has 11 prisons with a capacity for some 4,000 prisoners, but are currently housing more than 11,000 people, according to the rights group Aprodeh.

Those earmarked for release are serving sentences for relatively petty crimes.

This decree unfortunately excludes some 4,000 political prisoners who languish in Burundian prisons, said Aprodeh director Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa.

Burundi has been in turmoil since Nkurunziza sought in April 2015 a fiercely-contested third term in office.

The violence has claimed at least 1,200 lives and displaced more than 400,000 people between April 2015 and May 2017, according to estimates by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has opened an investigation.
Detectives with the sheriffs office spoke with Weiss and corroborated information they had learned from other inmates about the assault on March 9. Weiss was found by a corrections officer, who thought he was having a medical emergency. The inmate was having labored breathing and had stroke like symptoms. He was transported by Waukegan Fire Department ambulance to Vista East Hospital in Waukegan and then transferred to Rush University Medical Center.
She said such figures would not be an accurate measure of compliance because destruction of a bump stock by the gun owner is one of the easiest legal alternatives, and notification to the ATF is not required for such an action. People may also be turning them in to locations such as police stations, she said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  A police officer was wounded in a clash between police and communist rebels in Mountain Province on Friday.

Mountain Province police reported that a patrolman was wounded in the morning encounter in Malabagan, Bagnen proper, Bauko town.

The New People's Army (NPA) said in a statement it launched the attack in response to the call of its National Operations Command to intensify offensives as part of the NPA's 50th anniversary. The group is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

On Thursday, three NPA members were killed and one was captured after the rebels attacked a police station in Victoria, Northern Samar. Two policemen and four civilians were injured.

CNN Philippines' Pia Hontiveros and Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.
We will have to drop from five people per shift to four people, he said. Right now there are five people manning two fire stations, one west of the Canadian Pacific Railroad tracks near Russell where they have easy access to the tollway and Route 41, and the other on the east side of the tracks in downtown Wadsworth.
An Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigation last December found a Waukegan woman needed to relinquish her three-month-old daughter to the agency because there was no capable family member to take the child. Instead the mother allegedly fled with the child until this week, according to Sgt. Christopher Covelli of the Lake County Sheriffs Office.
MEDFORD, Ore.  A controversial plan to build a natural gas pipeline across Southern Oregon received a restrained nod from federal regulators on Friday, paving the way for the pipeline construction plan to move forward in the approval process.

In a draft environmental impact statement on the Jordan Cove Energy Project, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ultimately said that the project could work to lessen its environmental impacts  provided that the project's advocates follow the Commission's recommendations.

Tens of thousands of people have voiced their opposition to #JordanCove over the last year, and will continue to do so throughout this FERC process. What our communities need is a faster transition to clean energy, not steps that take us backwards. #noLNG https://t.co/AXo9uTcDaE  Rogue Climate (@RogueClimate) March 29, 2019

Credit: Jordan Cove LNG Credit: Jordan Cove LNG

"Based on our review . . . we conclude that constructing and operating the Project would result in temporary, long-term, and permanent impacts on the environment and a number of significant environmental impacts," the FERC said in the conclusion to its report.

"However, a majority of impacts would be less than significant due to the implementation of proposed and recommended impact avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures," the Commission continued. "As part of our review we developed measures that would appropriately and reasonably further avoid, minimize, or mitigate environmental impacts resulting from construction and operation of the proposed Project.

"Therefore, we recommend that these measures be attached as conditions to any authorizations issued by the Commission."

CLICK HERE for NewsWatch 12's recent story on the proposed pipeline  and what those for and against it have to say.

Opponents of the project were quick to fire back.

This project threatens our watersheds, forests, culture, ancestral homelands, burial sites and future. We have been here since time immemorial and will not let our home be violated for a fossil fuel corporations short term profit, said 16-year old Ashia Wilson of the Klamath Tribes Youth Council. FERC and Governor Brown need to listen to my generation and my Tribes call to stop the project now.

Rogue Climate, an activist group that has long opposed the LNG project, argued that the project had been denied before by the FERC, and should be turned away again. The organization alleges that a pipeline would contribute to climate change, pollute waterways, and disenfranchise landowners along a proposed path that stretches across Coos, Douglas, Jackson, and Klamath counties.

FERC already denied this project because of the harm it would cause to me and other landowners impacted by eminent domain for this private corporation, said Russ Lyon, a landowner in Douglas County who says he would be impacted by the project. We are still here. FERC needs to reject permits again and end this nightmare.

Pembina, owners of the Jordan Cove project, lauded the review as another step toward a huge investment in the Southern Oregon economy, and indicative of its commitment to the local environment.

"Publication of the DEIS and start of the public comment is further evidence of the continuing momentum behind Pembinas proposal for a $10 billion investment in Jordan Cove and Southern Oregon," the company said in a statement.

"Pembina is carefully reviewing the extensive document received today," it continued. "We can, though, reconfirm three important things: Pembinas commitment to protecting the environment and meeting all state and federal requirements, working with landowners and communities on issues important to them, and that we are confident that our application will successfully meet FERCs strict approval criteria when they make a final decision in January 2020."

With the draft environmental review completed, the project now enters a public comment period until July 5. Those who wish to comment can either submit statements online, send a paper copy to the FERC offices in Washington, D.C. (reference Project docket numbers CP17-494-000 and CP17-495-000) , or attend public comment sessions that have yet to be announced.

The video below from Jordan Cove LNG explains what liquefied natural gas is:
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. -- The Jordan Cove Project had people rallying outside its doors Thursday.

Protesters joined others in Salem as part of the 'No LNG Statewide Lobby Day.' The group wasn't the only one outside of the Pembina office, which is the project's parent company. The proposed pipeline route would go through Coos, Douglas, Jackson, and Klamath Counties.

Tasha Cadotte, Manager of Media and Community Affairs for the Jordan Cove Project, said as soon as the company heard a rally was planned, it planned to have a group of people outside too. Six members of the company were there to answer questions and address concerns.

Brittney Johansen, Chair of the Solid Waste Action Committee, said many people in the community are concerned about the dangers the pipeline could bring, specifically the risk for wildfires.

"Natural gas pipelines are prone to accidents, which result in fires and we're basically standing on piles of kindling out here in the Northwest," Johansen said.

Cadotte said the company has years of experience working in similar environments.

"We operate in many areas where there is a risk of fires. The pipeline will be buried very deep underground, and there will be an area of perimeter that will be protected from any sort of natural disaster," Cadotte said.

Another topic of debate during the rally was how many jobs the project will create.

The project promises about 8,500 jobs in sectors like hospitality, tourism, retail and healthcare.

Cadotte said on top of that, the project will create more than 6,000 jobs during peak construction. Those jobs will include construction jobs like truck drivers and welders.

Cadotte said the Jordan Cove project is committed to give at least 70 percent of those jobs to southern Oregonians.

Of those 6,000 jobs, Cadotte said about 250 will turn into permanent, family-waged jobs for workers to keep when the pipeline is up and running. Those jobs will include monitoring it 24/7.

Johansen said she and other protesters believes there are better alternatives to the massive project.

"We already have a lot invested in solar energy and I think that our community needs to push toward something closer to that," Johansen said.

Johansen said she believes the project brings a danger that isn't worth the risk.

Cadotte said that's not the case.

"The truth is there is 18,000 miles of pipeline, natural gas pipeline, right here in Oregon that have been operating safely for decades," Cadotte said.

Cadotte said the company feels good after Thursday's rally and getting the chance to speak with many people face to face.

"60 years from now when we're operating we will always be here to answer questions," Cadotte said.
UMATILLA, Ore.  A Josephine County man convicted of child sexual abuse in 2010 has died in prison at the age of 75, according to a statement from the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC).

Willian went to prison in July of 2010 after pleading guilty to five counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. His earliest possible release date was set for June 8 of this year  but Willian did not live to seek parole.

According to the DOC, Willian was incarcerated at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla and died in the infirmary while on hospice care.

"DOC takes all in-custody deaths seriously," the agency said. "While crime information is public record, DOC elects to disclose only upon request out of respect for any family or victims."

News reports from the time of Willian's trial said that he had been living near Cave Junction at the time of his arrest. Deputies took Willian into custody on suspicion of sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl in 2002. Willian was reportedly living near an elementary school prior to the arrest, and law enforcement suspected that he may have victimized others.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  A flurry of bills introduced by U.S. Senator from Oregon Jeff Merkley aim to radically reform voting in the United States, including the abolition of the Electoral College.

The idea of democracy is simple and obvious even to young kids on a playground  whoever gets the most votes should win. But way too often, thats not how our system of government is working. And we see the results all around us  the privileged and powerful taking care of themselves while most people work longer hours for the same pay at best, while costs keep going up, Merkley said.

The Electoral College According to the U.S. government archives, the Electoral College was originally established as a compromise of sorts between electing the President through a vote in Congress (more typical of a republic) and electing the President through a popular vote (typical of a traditional democracy). Rather than voting directly for a presidential candidate, voters actually cast their votes to decide the disposition of 538 "electors" across the country, with 270 required for a candidate to win. These numbers are derived from the number of members in each state's Congressional delegation  one for each member of the House and one for each of the state's two U.S. Senators. The allotment of U.S. Representatives per state are based on the latest Census numbers. Different states have differing numbers of electors  with some states even differing in the method used for allotting votes. While most states follow a "winner-take-all" system, a few use "proportional representation," which doesn't fully discount dissenting votes in a given district. Currently, Maine and Nebraska are the only states without the winner-take-all system.

In legislation introduced today, Merkley called for an amendment to the constitution that would "abolish the Electoral College and elect the President of the United States by direct popular vote."

"The Electoral College does not fit our 'We the People' model of government; it is profoundly unfair. In just two decades, we have now seen two elections where the majority of voters supported a candidate who did not become the President, due to the Electoral College. Now is the time to introduce an amendment to the Constitution to elect the President of the United States by direct popular vote," Merkley's office said in a statement.

Another bill proposed by Merkley include giving proportional representation to American citizens in Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands  together representing about four million Americans, according to Merkley's office.

Subsequent bills include one that would prevent states from removing voters from voting rolls except in cases of ineligibility, establishing universal early voting, eliminating "dark money" by requiring greater transparency in political donations, and requiring that states develop plans to eliminate "unreasonable wait times" at polling places.

All of these bills introduced by Merkley on Friday represent parts of a larger plan to overhaul and shore up the American voting system  one the lawmaker is calling "A Blueprint for Our 'We the People' Democracy."

We need real, equal representation if we want a government that responds to the big issues impacting working families lives, like health care, housing, education, living-wage jobs, and climate chaos. Its time to end the undemocratic electoral college, and to ensure a pathway to full voting representation for all American citizens, regardless of whether they live in Portland or Puerto Rico, Merkley said.

Having just been introduced to a Senate that remains in Republican control, it's unclear how Merkley's bills will fare in the days ahead.
GRANTS PASS, Ore.  An unrelated call from a person reporting a "suspicious vehicle" led police officers to the man believed responsible for shooting downtown businesses with a BB gun, according to the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety (GPDPS).

Just after 5 a.m. on Friday morning, a "concerned citizen" called police to report the suspicious vehicle, reportedly parked in the 1400-block of Sun Glo Drive. Officers arrived to find a gray Honda Accord which matched the description of the vehicle seen "in several recent BB gun criminal mischief investigations."

Officers did not find anyone around or inside the vehicle when they arrived, so detectives staked out the scene to see if someone would return.

CLICK HERE for NewsWatch 12's recent story local businesses that had their windows shattered in these vandalism cases.

"A couple hours later, two individuals were seen walking in the area, and one approached the involved vehicle, where he was contacted by Detectives," GPDPS said.

The investigation then led detectives and officers to a house at 1484 Blake Court, where "numerous subjects were located." However, investigators eventually discovered that 31-year-old Robert Correa was the car owner  and the suspect they had been looking for in the BB gun case.

Correa was arrested on two counts of Criminal Mischief 1, four counts of Criminal Mischief 2, Possession of Meth, and "additional charges to follow." Five other people at the house were arrested on other charges and warrants.

"This case is still under investigation and further charges against Correa are anticipated," GPDPS said.
Police reports said witnesses saw the immediate aftermath of the crash, with reports saying they saw someone matching Beaudoins description pick up something from the road and put it in the back seat of his car, then begin walking away.
A total of 14 high school students were awarded 18 gold medals in the competition, also known as ACT-SO, on March 17. Theyll now advance to the final round of students from around the nation competing in the categories of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), humanities, and visual and performing arts.
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1. Cover your patients

It was my first year of practice. One day I saw a new patient, a 25-year-old man with hemorrhoidal pain. My nurse told him to disrobe and put on a lap sheet. When I entered the room, I was surprised to see that the young man was sitting on the exam table, naked from the waist down. The lap sheet sat neatly folded on the table behind him. I was so unnerved, I dared not look below his neck. I completed the history and physical exam, wrote a prescription, answered his questions, then fled the room.

I have since figured out what to do in this situation. I grab the sheet, unfurl it and place it across the patients lap while saying something like, Here you go! You forgot this! or Lets get you covered up! Then the visit can proceed without great psychic discomfort for the doctor.

You might think me a bit dense for not thinking of this solution earlier, but it had never happened to me before. At any rate, this situation is easily defused with a simple gesture.

2. Never guess who the other person in the room is

I did learn this in medical school, but no one ever warned me about it. I was a third-year student assigned to do an admission on a young-appearing man. His companion was a gray-haired elderly woman. I introduced myself and then asked the woman if she was the mans mother. He just about split his gut laughing while the woman glared at me and tersely announced that she was his wife. Whoops. I apologized profusely but the damage was done, and she hated me from then on.

The solution is simple. Even if you think you know who that person is sitting next to your patient, never, ever take a stab at it. My stock phrase which never causes me trouble is Are you family? or Are you related?

Sometimes I hear an indignant I am his wife, of course! when I might have guessed daughter or sister or mother. Better to be seen as dim rather than insulting.

3. The attendings you thought were old and out of touch were (mostly) not

When I was a senior resident, I am embarrassed to say that we made fun of some of the older attendings. We considered ourselves very knowledgeable and thought that some of those old goats were practicing medicine from the last century. We even had a famous story of one doctor who was about 60 at the time. One of his patients coded and Dr. B ran into the room after the residents had started the resuscitation. The following conversation ensued:

Dr. B: Whats going on?

Resident: He arrested and is in EMD.

Dr. B: Whats EMD?

Resident: Electromechanical disassociation.

Dr. B: Whats that?

Resident: When there is a rhythm but no pulse.

Dr. B: Oh.

Dr. B then left the room. We residents chortled about that one forever. How did Dr. B not know about EMD? (EMD is now known as PEA  pulseless electrical activity.)

In retrospect, as I have advanced to about the age that Dr. B was when we were finding fault with him, I think he was actually a fine doctor who just didnt run codes. Those older physicians from my residency days had a lot of knowledge and expertise to offer their patients.

4. Acknowledge your patients death

When I was in training, some of my patients died. When that happened, I felt bad, but I never contacted surviving family members. Then in my second year of practice, my father died. Our family received an outpouring of support. I took great comfort in knowing how many people loved and respected my dad and how they took the time to show it.

I was suddenly horrified to realize that I had not done anything when my patients died. Shortly after my fathers funeral, I called an elderly patient whose husband had died a month earlier. I told her how sorry I was about her husband, who was also my patient. She replied, I have been waiting for you to call me! I cringed and apologized. She forgave me and continued as my patient until her death a few years later.

What I have done since then is to call the surviving family member, attend the funeral, or send a condolence card. I let the family know that it was a privilege for me to serve as their loved ones physician.

5. Do not let patients coerce you into practicing bad medicine

This goes for inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics, opioids, and benzodiazepenes, and ordering unnecessary MRIs and other tests. It is hard not to please a patient when they are pushing for something that is clearly not indicated. But remember it is just bad medicine.

6. Rules of residency

a. Never pass a bathroom. (If you hold your urine too long, you will suffer acute urinary retention when you someday have surgery.)

b. Never run when you can walk. (You will arrive breathless to the code and will be no good to anyone, especially the patient.)

c. Never stand when you can sit. (You have to conserve your energy when you are working long hours.)

d. Never skip a meal. (I started missing meals as a resident and was rewarded with killer migraine headaches. Its not worth it.)

e. Always sleep at the first opportunity. (You never know when you might have another chance!)

f. Piss and pus must come out. Corollary: Never let the sun set on an undrained abscess. These are my surgery attendings rules of surgery. Never forget these.

g. The only reason not to do a rectal exam is if the patient doesnt have a rectum or the doctor doesnt have a finger. Corollary: If you dont put your finger in it, you will put your foot in it!

Annette Chavez is a family physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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If you think you are the only one being threatened by the chief medical officer (CMO) and/or the medical executive committee (MEC) think again.

If youre thinking it is going to get better or that they have your best interests in mind, also think again.

You are in an unfortunate and common situation happening throughout the country. If you have been called into an abrupt and unannounced meeting and been told to resign or else, dont be afraid to say no. It is a proven fact that most doctors, because of the horrors of residency, suffer from battered adult syndrome. Meaning all the fear and intimidation, statistically, doctors felt for his or her attending physician in residency, gets assigned to the administrators of the hospital. Doctors have become literally terrified of management, but they do not have to be.

If you are ever in this situation, remember, you have an employment contract. There are terms in that employment contract that dictate the circumstance and procedures for terminating your employment or privileges. In other words, a doctor cannot be forced to sign a resignation agreement or terminated on the spot. The grounds for termination are more than likely laid out in the employment contract. At the very least, read the employment contract before you sign an unprompted resignation letter. Hire an attorney to help you decipher your contract if need be. Whatever you do, dont sign a resignation document you did not see coming.

By signing a document of resignation, you have increased the difficulty of pursing many legal actions against the employer  because in the eyes of the law you resigned. The reality is if management has pulled you aside in this way, it is probably time to seek new employment  but seek it on your terms, not theirs. Also, when you do decide to formally give notice, it would be wise to get a separation agreement on your way out. Doctors on average complete 12 credentialing applications a year. The last thing you need is your former employer disparaging you when your next employer makes inquiries to them about you and your performance. An attorney can assist you with this as well.

Doctors have the power to protect themselves against the whims of management; they should not be afraid to exercise those powers. Without medical professionals, a hospital is just a building filled with sick people. Doctors provide one of the most important functions in our society, curing our ailments. Its time for doctors to put their foot down to hospital administration.

Shari Covington is an attorney, Physicians Advocates.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
ARCHBOLD, Ohio (WFFT) - No one is seriously hurt after a semi slams into the back of a school bus dropping off students Wednesday night, and it was caught on camera.

The Archbold area school bus was dropping off two students on U.S. 6 Wednesday afternoon. This home security video shows a semi crash into the back the bus, shoving the bus several feet forward as the students run toward the house.

Those two kids were the last stop. The school says bus driver wasn't physically hurt.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- A mother who triggered an Amber Alert last week told police she was planning to inject bleach into herself and her child to rid themselves of parasites.

Court documents say 41-year-old Brooke A. Helmandollar has been charged with criminal mistreatment of her 10-year-old daughter, and may have mental health issues.

The Spokesman-Review says police found bleach in a Nampa, Idaho, motel where the mother and daughter were staying.

The child was placed in Child Protective Services custody following her mother's arrest in Cheney, Washington.

Brooke Helmandollar pulled her daughter out of school March 12, and told a school staff member they would be staying in a hotel because their house was infected with parasites and insects.
VIDA, Ore. -- A pedestrian died after being hit by a vehicle on Highway 126E near milepost 31 on Thursday, Oregon State Police said.

Michael Juden, 28, of Vida was walking in the roadway just before midnight when he was hit, and Juden died from his injuries.

The driver is cooperating with the investigation, police said.

Central Lane Fire Department and Oregon Department of Transportation assisted OSP.
Children all across Ireland will receive milk, fruit and vegetables under the EU's School Scheme in 2019/2020. This programme reached over 20 million children across the EU during the school year 2017/2018.

In Ireland 2.2 million is being made available in the EU Budget for fruit and vegetables and over 1 million for milk. More than 62,000 children across all schools took part in the scheme in 2017/18 - which is the latest evaluation report available. Educational activity in Ireland included farm visits and lesson plans.

The national budget allocations for the EU school fruit, vegetable and milk schemes for the 2019/2020 school year was adopted at European level. 145 million is set aside for fruit and vegetables, and 105 million for milk and other dairy products across the EU. The distribution programme is complemented by educational measures that teach children about agriculture and promotes healthy eating.

Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune said: This is a great scheme from the EU which not only provides healthy food to young people but also teaches them about the importance of healthy eating. They will learn about where our food comes from and it will go a long way to establishing healthy eating habits from a young age.

In Ireland more than 3 million is being made available for the scheme which will provide fruit, veg and milk to school children all across the country.

The Commission said that for the 2017/2018 school year, around 159,000 schools participated in the EU School Scheme around Europe. During that time, a total of 255,500 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables and 178 million litres of milk were distributed to European children thanks to more than 182 million from the EU budget.

Ireland can decide on the way to implement the scheme, including what agricultural products children will receive or the themes of the educational measures rolled out. They also have the option to top up EU funds with national funds to finance the scheme.

The choice of products distributed is based on health and environmental considerations, seasonality, variety and availability. Member States may encourage local or regional purchasing, organic products, short supply chains, environmental benefits, agricultural quality schemes.
One of the pieces that we are doing is a brand-new work by Kevin McKee. Weve done some of his work before. This one is called Iron Horse. As far as in this area, this will be the first time that a brass quintet will have performed this particular work, Crouch said.
Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China has made proposals in talks with the United States on a range of issues that go further than it has before, including on forced technology transfer, as the two sides work to overcome obstacles to a deal to end their protracted trade war, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports last year in a move to force China to change the way it does business with the rest of the world and to pry open more of Chinas economy to U.S. companies.

Among Trumps demands are for Beijing to end practices that Washington alleges result in the systematic theft of U.S. intellectual property and the forced transfer of American technology to Chinese companies.

U.S. companies say they are often pressured into handing over the technological know-how behind their products to Chinese joint venture partners, local officials or Chinese regulators as a condition for doing business in China. The U.S. government says that technology is often subsequently transferred to and used by Chinese competitors.

The issue has proved a tough one for negotiators as U.S. officials say China has previously refused to acknowledge the problem exists to the extent alleged by the United States, making discussing a resolution difficult.

China says it has no technology transfer requirements enshrined in its laws and any such transfers are a result of legitimate transactions.

China has put proposals on the table in the talks that went further than any in the past, including on technology transfer, said one of four senior U.S. administration officials who spoke to Reuters.

Theyre talking about forced technology transfer in a way that theyve never wanted to talk about before - both in terms of scope and specifics, he said, referring to Chinese negotiators. He declined to give further detail.

Negotiators have made progress on the details of the written agreements that have been hashed out to address U.S. concerns, he said.

Reuters reported previously that the two sides were working on written agreements in six areas: forced technology transfer and cyber theft, intellectual property rights, services, currency, agriculture and non-tariff barriers to trade.

If you looked at the texts a month ago compared to today, we have moved forward in all areas. We arent yet where we want to be, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin arrive in Beijing on Thursday for a new round of talks with Chinese officials to work on a deal that would end a months-long trade war that has cost both sides billions of dollars and hurt global economic growth.

The in-person talks, which will be followed by a round in Washington next week, are the first face-to-face meetings the two sides have held in weeks after missing an initial end-of-March goal for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign a pact.

Talks would continue as long as progress is being made on the core issues, the official said.

It could go to May, June, no one knows. It could happen in April, we dont know, another administration official said.

The two sides still have differences over intellectual property and how to enforce a deal, he said.

SOME TARIFFS WILL STAY

China wants the United States to lift its tariffs as part of a deal. Washington, which is cognizant that the tariffs give it leverage to ensure Beijing follows through on any commitments it makes, is wary of lifting them right away.

Trump said last week the United States may leave tariffs on Chinese goods for a substantial period to ensure compliance.

Some tariffs will stay, the second official said. Theres going to be some give on that, but were not going to get rid of all the tariffs. We cant.

The topic will be addressed in upcoming talks.

Obviously that is an issue that we need to resolve ... and will be an important part of a final deal, the first official said. He said there was some agreement on enforcement on what he termed the backend once a deal was in place: a structure in which both sides could raise grievances and implement tariffs if there were violations to the agreement.

Since July 2018, the United States has imposed duties on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports, including $50 billion in technology and industrial goods at 25 percent and $200 billion in other products including furniture and construction materials, at 10 percent.

China has hit back with tariffs on about $110 billion worth of U.S. goods, including soybeans and other commodities.

The first official said the focus of talks had shifted from Chinese purchases of U.S. goods to the trickier structural issues, which he said Trump wanted as part of a great deal.

Bipartisan support at home for his tough stance on China as well as from the business community have emboldened Trump as he pushes for a deal that addresses long-standing complaints on trade, the source said.

Some officials have expressed concern that Trump would accept a deal involving big-ticket Chinese purchases of U.S. goods and falling short on structural issues.

Who would he be pleasing by .. selling out? the source said.

He expressed optimism that a deal would be reached.

Im still confident, but it takes time, he said.

Until any deal is finalized, it can always go either way. And the president has made clear, both in word and in action, that hes going to walk away from deals if theyre not good deals.

Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Peter Cooney, Simon Webb, Shri Navaratnam and Nick Zieminski
KRASNOYARSK, Russia, March 29 (Reuters) - Russian aluminium giant Rusal has launched new production at its Boguchansk aluminium smelter in Siberia on Friday, doubling its capacity to 298,000 tonnes a year.

The new line, part of a larger project, is being started two months after Rusal was removed from a U.S. sanctions list. The world's largest aluminium producer outside China is now seeking to restore sales contracts to pre-sanctions levels. "This is a complex big project that has a difficult and very long history," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told a ceremony in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

"It is very important that the Boguchansk aluminium smelter - one of the flagships of the aluminium industry - is being launched today," he said.

The smelter, which first started in 2015, previously had capacity of 150,000 tonnes a year.

Rusal produces about 3.8 million tonnes of aluminium a year and plans to keep its output flat in 2019. When the smelter project began 13 years ago, Rusal and its partner, Russian power company Rushydro , planned to raise Boguchansk's capacity to 600,000 tonnes a year, requiring $2.6 billion in investment.

The firms said on Friday they had invested a total of $1.6 billion to achieve capacity of 298,000 tonnes a year.

(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova Writing by Polina Devitt Editing by Edmund Blair)
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday amid OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, putting crude markets on track for their biggest quarterly rise since 2009.

Brent crude oil futures were up 67 cents at $68.49 a barrel by 1039 GMT, set for a gain of more than 27 percent in the first quarter.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $60 per barrel, up 70 cents, and on track for a rise of more than 32 percent over the January-March period.

For the two futures contracts, January-March 2019 is the best-performing quarter since the second quarter of 2009, when both gained about 40 percent.

Oil prices have been supported for much of this year by an agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia to cut output by around 1.2 million barrels per day.

Production cuts from the OPEC+ group of producers have been the main reason for the dramatic recovery since the 38 percent price slump seen during the final quarter of last year, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Barclays bank said on Friday oil prices are likely to move still higher in Q2 and average $73 per barrel ($65 WTI), and $70 for the year.

Prices shrugged off a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday calling for OPEC to boost crude production.

While OPEC, and above all Saudi Arabia, appeared in November to be obeying U.S. President Trumps repeated demands to increase oil production, his tweets now are more likely to fall on deaf ears, Commerzbank said in a note.

This time, OPEC will probably be more concerned about a fragile balance on the oil market, for the supportive factors that are still responsible for stability could soon turn negative.

OPEC and its allies are scheduled to meet in June to set policy, but some cracks in the union are emerging.

OPECs de facto leader Saudi Arabia favors cuts for the full year while Russia, which joined the agreement reluctantly, is seen as less keen to restrict supply beyond September.

U.S. sanctions on OPEC members Iran and Venezuela are also buoying prices.

Washington is exerting further pressure on oil traders to cut oil dealing with Venezuela or face sanctions themselves.

GRAPHIC: Russia, Saudi & rest of OPEC crude oil production - tmsnrt.rs/2CHr9lJ

Bank of America said it expected oil prices to rise in the short term, with Brent forecast to average $74 per barrel in the second quarter.

Heading towards 2020, however, the bank warned of a recession.
Specialties: The most popular pierogi is potato and cheddar cheese because it goes over well with anybody. Kids like it. Obviously people that dont eat meat can eat those. Older people like them so it goes over well with anybody. Picky eaters like it too, Keith-Barber said.
Paula Cooper was 16 when she was sentenced to death for the crime in 1986. Three years later, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled it was illegal to sentence someone under 16 to death and commuted her sentence to 60 years.
The SUV went to Park West Apartments, where Galloways group blocked the SUV in, according to the affidavit. One of the people from Galloways vehicle went to the rear passenger side door of the SUV and tried to fire, but the firearm malfunctioned, the affidavit states. Another person, who Galloway identified as Williams, went to the drivers side door of the SUV, according to the affidavit.
(CNN)  U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

"At your request I am submitting my resignation," Sessions wrote in a letter to White House chief of staff John Kelly.

READ: Jeff Sessions' resignation letter

Matthew Whitaker will take over as acting attorney general, the President said.

Whitaker is expected to take charge of the Russia investigation and special counsel Robert Mueller from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Whitaker has been openly critical of Mueller and the investigation and Democrats immediately called on him to recuse himself, just as Sessions had.

"We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well ...We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date," Trump tweeted.

The move is an abrupt end to what had been a tumultuous tenure for Sessions, originally one of Trump's earliest and most loyal surrogates as an Alabama Republican senator. He was a key figure in implementing Trump's vision for America and significantly rolled back Obama-era policies on immigration, police reform and civil rights.

Sessions was an enforcer of much of the Trump administration's hardline approach on immigration and regularly praised the President's tough words on crime. But even as he continued to carry out the Trump agenda, his relationship with the President remained strained and fraught for months due to the ongoing Mueller investigation.

Sessions received the request to resign from Kelly, not the President, on Wednesday morning, an administration official said. It is not clear whether Mueller was told ahead of time.

Trump constantly criticized Sessions

Sessions' ouster came a day after the midterm elections saw Republicans hold onto control of the Senate  which would confirm Trump's eventual permanent choice to head the Justice Department  and just weeks after Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to multiple counts of campaign finance violations, tax fraud and bank fraud and Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight charges including tax fraud and bank fraud.

Sessions was aware that Cohen was facing bank fraud and tax violations but had been walled off from the campaign finance aspects of the investigation into Trump's former lawyer, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN.

Trump's distaste for Sessions was well known  and publicly reinforced by the President himself on a regular basis  after the attorney general recused himself from all matters related to the 2016 campaign early in Trump's term.

RELATED: Trump calls Attorney General Jeff Sessions 'scared stiff and Missing in Action'

The President mocked Sessions in August as "scared stiff and Missing in Action." Later the same month as Trump continued to rail against him, Sessions issued a statement firing back at Trump and declaring, "While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action."

RELATED: Sessions hits back at Trump: DOJ won't be 'improperly influenced'

Just days later, Trump knocked the Sessions-led Justice Department for indicting two Trump-supporting Republican congressmen ahead of the midterm elections. Both lawmakers won their re-election bids Tuesday.

But Sessions hung on, and although there was no formal reconciliation, the President allowed him to stay, even despite the unwillingness of White House spokespeople to publicly confirm, for days, that Trump had confidence in the attorney general.

In early August, Trump tweeted that Sessions "should stop" Mueller's investigation, raising questions as to whether the President was attempting to obstruct justice. Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani told CNN's Dana Bash that Trump was merely "expressing his opinion on his favorite medium."

Sessions, for his part, consistently maintained that his recusal decision was made in consultation with career ethics officials at the Justice Department and was in the works from the time he was sworn in.

Democrats demand continued independence for Mueller

Top Democrats immediately called for Mueller's investigation to be allowed to proceed.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the new acting attorney general to recuse himself from oversight of the Mueller probe.

"Given his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation, Mr. Whitaker should recuse himself from its oversight for the duration of his time as acting attorney general," Schumer said.

Former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder declared interference with the special counsel "a red line."

"Anyone who attempts to interfere with or obstruct the Mueller inquiry must be held accountable. This is a red line. We are a nation of laws and norms not subject to the self interested actions of one man," Holder tweeted.

New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler tweeted a vow for accountability. Nadler is poised to chair the House Judiciary Committee next year.

"Americans must have answers immediately as to the reasoning behind @realDonaldTrump removing Jeff Sessions from @TheJusticeDept. Why is the President making this change and who has authority over Special Counsel Mueller's investigation? We will be holding people accountable," Nadler tweeted.

Immigration bonded him with Trump from the start

Sessions' campaign loyalty to Trump earned him a plumb spot in the administration as attorney general, and Sessions' former aides and allies, including prominent Trump adviser Stephen Miller, spread throughout the administration in key posts across multiple agencies.

Under Sessions, the Justice Department has been aggressive in trying to cut off funds to and punish sanctuary cities  though the courts have repeatedly admonished many of those efforts  and was the primary agency that justified the ending of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, a program that protected young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

Sessions moved to push the limits of his authority over the nation's immigration system and reinterpreted asylum law as he clashed with immigration judges. He has been the voice of many of the administration's most aggressive immigration priorities, and was a staunch defender of the administration's policies last summer that led to the separation of immigrant families and led to widespread outcry.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Jeff Sessions out as attorney general"
Estawani said, We know we care about others in our hearts, but sometimes an act like this wakes us up and makes us realize, no, let me go that extra mile and let people know how we feel.
People want their caregivers to be able to relate to them, she said. We need more men to think about a nursing career. Its a great profession and youve got so much ability to move within the profession.
Business Professionals of America is the organization hosting the competition in Anaheim May 1-5. Thousands of students from around the country will showcase their skills and develop their portfolios as they have to film and edit a new video in three hours. Kanaya and Bentkowski also will show the video news package that won first place in Indianapolis earlier this month.
John McCain does not stop being an American hero just because it suits Trumps purpose. He was a prisoner of war for five years, do you understand what that means? He was not a coward or a turncoat. Just because he stood strong and did not buckle under like the rest of the spineless idiots, does not make him less of a man or legislator, but more of one.
With all of todays plastics and other synthetic building materials, firefighters are at a much higher risk of exposure to inhaling these types of toxins than the generations who came before us, Wozney said. I always go back to the old adage, if you smell it, youre in it, so firefighters truly need to protect themselves as much as possible.
Singapore has filed its nomination to the United Nations in hopes of inscribing its hawker culture on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage, according to a statement released here Thursday.

The nomination was jointly submitted Wednesday by the National Heritage Board (NHB), the National Environment Agency (NEA), and The Federation of Merchants' Associations, Singapore (FMAS), said the statement jointly issued by the three sides.

The nomination documents submitted to UNESCO will be available for viewing on UNESCO's website and the websites of the three organizations by July 2019.

Besides the official nomination, they also comprise letters and videos showing community support, a set of photographs that include contributions by Singaporeans through social media and entries to a photography contest themed with the Hawker Culture as well as a 10-minute video.

These documents were carefully chosen with the suggestions and inputs of a Nomination Committee, whose members include hawker representatives, academics, community partners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other government agencies.

Statistics show that over 80 percent of the Singaporeans visit the hawker centers at least once a week, making the latter "community dining rooms" for people of all backgrounds who gather together and bond over their shared love for affordable and good quality hawker fare, said the statement.

So far, over 850,000 pledges of support and over 31,000 messages supportive of the nomination have been registered across various platforms. The Singaporeans are encouraged to continue to show their support until the final results would be known by end 2020.
Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday met a delegation from the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, led by its honorary chairman Vincent Siew, in Boao, Hainan Province.

Li praised the foundation for its efforts in promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and pushing forward pragmatic cooperation between the two sides.

"It is in line with the fundamental wellbeing of people on both sides of the Strait to uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, oppose 'Taiwan independence,' work for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and advance the process of the peaceful reunification of the motherland," Li said.

Li lauded the significant contributions made by Taiwan entrepreneurs and Taiwan-funded enterprises to the economic development of the mainland and said Taiwan entrepreneurs are welcome to continue investing on the mainland.

"The existing preferential policies will remain and the legitimate rights and interests of Taiwan entrepreneurs and Taiwan-funded enterprises will be protected by the law," Li said, adding that new preferential policies would also be offered.

Taiwan-funded enterprises could refer to provisions of the newly-adopted foreign investment law and enjoy the same treatment as mainland enterprises, Li said, adding that they would benefit from the mainland's tax and fee cuts.

"We are willing to expand imports of farm produce and aquatic products from Taiwan and provide more conveniences and favorable conditions," Li said.

Li also pointed out that the mainland hopes to increase cross-Strait exchanges in economy and culture, promote the integrated development of the two sides and let compatriots from Taiwan be the first to share opportunities brought by the development of the mainland.

"We will also listen to Taiwan compatriots' opinions and roll out more policies and measures to offer equal treatment to compatriots of Taiwan coming to the mainland for travel, study, living and work," Li said. "We will do our best to benefit compatriots of Taiwan."

Siew said people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese descendants and should support each other, adding the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation is willing to work with the Chinese mainland to promote integrated development of both sides of the Strait and consolidate the foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.
You are here: Business

China's leading liquor maker Kweichow Moutai said Thursday that its net profit saw a 30-percent rise in 2018.



The company's net profit attributable to its equity holders reached 35.2 billion yuan (about 5.2 billion U.S. dollars) last year, thanks to supply-side improvements, according to its financial report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Over the same period, the Guizhou-based company saw its revenue grow 26.49 percent year on year to 73.6 billion yuan. Its output reached 70,200 tonnes, an annual growth of 10.08 percent.

Moutai is a sorghum-based spirit produced by Kweichow Moutai and is China's top brand of baijiu (white alcohol). The liquor, often served on official occasions and at state banquets, is considered a luxury item and has long been a popular gift.

Despite its high price, domestic demand for Moutai has always exceeded supply.
A U.S. district court in San Francisco on Wednesday ordered agribusiness giant Bayer AG-owned Monsanto to pay more than 80 million U.S. dollars to a California man who was diagnosed with cancer for allegedly using Monsanto's weedkiller.

The six-person jury of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said that there was a credible connection between the cancer of the California man Edwin Hardeman and Monsanto-produced glyphosate-based herbicides.

Bayer bought Monsanto and its glyphosate-based products for more than 60 billion dollars in 2018.

Hardeman claimed that he had developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for prolonged exposure to Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller containing the chemical glyphosate. The 70-year-old Hardeman said he had used Roundup on his 56-acre (226,624 square meters) property for more than two decades.

The San Francisco district court ordered Monsanto to pay 75 million dollars in punitive damages and about 5 million dollars in compensatory damages, in addition to 200,000 dollars in medical costs.

Hardeman's victory in the lawsuit against Monsanto represents a major setback for the company, which is facing thousands of similar cases in the United States that centered around health risks from Monsanto's glyphosate-based products.

However, Bayer vowed to appeal the case in a statement issued Wednesday after the San Francisco jury awarded the verdict.

"We are disappointed with the jury's decision, but this verdict does not change the weight of over four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides and that they are not carcinogenic," Bayer said in the statement.

Monsanto insisted that Roundup products and their active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe and have been used worldwide for more than 40 years.

Last year, Monsanto lost a legal battle after a state jury in California ordered the company to pay 78 million dollars to a Californian groundskeeper for developing cancer by frequent use of Roundup.
A 7th grader at College Station Middle School has won the Southeast Regional Spelling Bee and is heading to the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. next month.

Sankalp Gautam won his latest spelling bee with a word he had never heard before

Uletic. U-L-E-T-I-C., says Gautam.

His Mother, Srivi Ramasubramanian, of College Station says she has always had confidence in her sons' spelling.

"I had this gut feeling that he was going to get it, says Ramasubramanian.

And now, it's time for Sankalp to prepare for the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Sankalp's family has become his spelling "team", using a consolidated word list to quiz him

"We just look through that and just drill every day take a portion of our day and just do that. It has a lot to do with setting goals and keeping a routine, says Gautam.

He never planned to participate in spelling bee's but his mother says shes not surprised.

"He was only 7 months when he started talking. He spoke his first word and he spoke his first word while I was massaging him as a baby, and it was "mom" which was Ama in my language.

The same night he also said Upa which is also the word for father.

Ramasubramanian says it was a team effort from the beginning, and that she read to him all the time as a child, and now, she practices words with him every single night.

"I learn a lot from him as much as he learns from me. Sometimes I don't know who's the parent or the child, Ramasubramanian says.

"My parents have really encouraged me to do the spelling bee and study and keep like looking at different words and just they've been really encouraging and helpful, says Gautam.

Gautam looks forward to visiting Washington D.C. for the first time for the national spelling bee, kicking off on May 26.

The nationally televised event will begin May 29th on ESPN.
(CNN)  A 12-year-old girl has been caught in the Chinese city of Shenzen while trying to smuggle dozens of blood samples from pregnant women into neighboring Hong Kong, apparently for sex testing, state media reported.

The girl was detained at Shenzhen's Luohu port, according to the People's Daily. The incident occurred on February 23, but it only became widely known after it was reported in local media Thursday.

Sex verification is illegal for pregnant women in mainland China unless it's required for medical purposes. The traditional desire for a male heir prompted abortions and even infanticide under the nation's previous one-child policy.

The girl said someone had offered to pay her to bring the samples across the border.

"Cross-border students basically don't bring anything other than books, stationery and snacks, so their schoolbags usually look lean. But we saw that hers looked so full that it might burst, so we scanned her bag," said a Luohu port staff member quoted by the People's Daily.

Shenzhen's immigration and customs department declined to comment on the case.

The People's Daily said it was the second case of its kind this year. Authorities say the use of underage people to transport cross-border blood samples is become increasingly common.

The cases could raise concerns that traditional families are going to extreme lengths to ensure they have boys, as they did during the one-child policy.

The one-child policy was introduced in 1979 due to concerns by the Communist Party leadership that the population would soon spiral out of control.

Though it was axed in 2015, the country's birth rate has not risen as officials hoped. China currently faces a massive gender imbalance, a shrinking pool of young people left to support their aging parents and grandparents, and a contracting workforce.

China has tried to combat its demographic challenge by loosening centrally controlled family planning policies and encouraging citizens to have more children. So far, it does not appear to have worked.

Population growth slowed in 2018 with 15.23 million live births, a decline of 2 million from the year before, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Many middle-class families say cost is one of the main reasons they do not plan on having more children.
China commemorated the 60th anniversary of democratic reform in Tibet Thursday, celebrating the region's fast economic growth, stable society, favorable natural environment and progress in other sectors.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has made arrangements for social stability, border development, ecological protection and ethnic unity in Tibet and opened a new chapter of improving governance, stability and people's wellbeing there.

The following is a timeline of some key moments of Xi's engagement in promoting the development of Tibet as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

-- On March 9, 2013, when joining the delegation from Tibet in a panel discussion at the first session of the 12th National People's Congress, Xi said, "To govern the country well we must first govern the frontiers well, and to govern the frontiers well we must first ensure stability in Tibet."

-- In August 2014, Xi called for improvements to transport infrastructure in Tibet to boost the region's development, when marking the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Sichuan-Tibet and Qinghai-Tibet highways.

-- On April 25, 2015, a devastating earthquake in neighboring Nepal caused serious damage in several parts of Tibet. Xi called for all-out efforts to rescue the wounded, accommodate the quake-affected people and carry out the reconstruction by restoring the damaged infrastructure in a timely manner.

-- On July 30, 2015, Xi presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which discussed economic and social development in Tibet and how to ensure the autonomous region achieve prolonged stability.

-- Xi delivered a key speech at the Sixth National Symposium on Work in Tibet held on Aug. 24 and 25, 2015, defining guiding principles, objectives, and tasks in Tibet in the new era.

-- In September 2015, when the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region, a delegation from the central government presented Tibetan authorities with a plaque inscribed with Xi's words: "Enhancing ethnic unity, building a beautiful Tibet."

-- On Oct. 28, 2017, in a reply to a letter from a herding family in Lhunze County, near the Himalayas in Tibet, Xi encouraged them to set down roots in the border area, safeguard the Chinese territory and develop their hometown.

-- On Oct. 15, 2018, Xi congratulated Xizang Minzu University on the 60th anniversary of its founding in a letter and urged the university to fully implement the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, promote core socialist values, and improve education quality.
The civil aviation industry of Tibet Autonomous Region has operated safely for 54 consecutive years since the first route between Beijing and Lhasa was opened in March 1965.

"This is a miracle in the history of aviation, given the peculiar geological and climate features in Tibet," said Wen Bin, Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of the Tibetan Branch of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

"It is an unprecedented achievement that a large group of airports built at high altitude have safely operated for such a long time," Wen said in an interview on Tuesday.

Currently, there are five airports in Tibet, Lhasa Kongga International Airport, Qamdo Bangda Airport, Nyingchi Mainling Airport, Nagri Gunsa Airport and Shigatse Peace Airport.

Wen said that Tibet, with its extreme climate and average altitude of more than 4,000 meters, was considered as "prohibited airspace". However, the past few decades have witnessed remarkable progress in Tibet's civil aviation.

According to figures released by the branch, there are 92 international and domestic routes operating in Tibet. Last year, Tibet's airports served a total of 5.3 million passengers, a 17 percent increase from the previous year; while cargo throughput reached 39,945 tons, an increase of 12.9 percent.

Wen said that Tibet will continue to increase its air capacity by building three new airports in Shannan, Dingri and Burang. "The airports are expected to start construction within the year and be put into service in 2022."
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a document formally recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, an area which was occupied and controlled by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967. This signing took place during Benjamin Netanyahu's recent visit to the U.S. in late March. Trump's move has already sparked a new round of protests in the Middle East against the U.S., and will have long-term negative implications for the world.



The Golan Heights, an area of about 1,800 square kilometers, had historically belonged to Syria. In the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel occupied approximately 1,300 square kilometers of the Golan Heights near its border, which amounted to two thirds of the whole area. Though Israel now controls this part of the Golan Heights, it is widely accepted that the area belongs to Syria, and its administration should be returned to Syria. Trump's new policy is a flagrant violation of the international principle of non-acquisition of territory by force, and of the international consensus that recognizes Syria's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Firstly, Trump's move will seriously undermine the fundamental principles of the international order. There are many important principles protecting global stability and peace, and the principle of respecting the territorial integrity of a nation state should be one of the most important. International laws, including the UN Charter, are also clearly against the acquisition of territories by force. Without this principle, the world order would be seriously undermined since nation states with substantial military might would not be disincentivized to take other states' territories by force.

It is true that the U.S. recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights does not mean a change in its legal status. Regardless of its importance and power, the U.S. is only one member of the UN and no evidence indicates that other major UN members are ready to follow in the footsteps of the U.S. The five European countries in the UN Security Council even jointly counter-stated on March 26, 2019 that they do not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Nevertheless, the U.S. is still the single most important country in the world, and its position will seriously undermine the principle of non-acquisition of territories by force.



Secondly, this move will undermine the international image of the U.S. itself. The U.S. has often claimed to abide by international rules and be a leader of the international community. However, the U.S. has been undermining its own global image by withdrawing from the climate change agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, and withdrawing from UNESCO. Trump's recent move to recognize Israel's claim to the Golan Heights will further undermine its international image. Though it is widely known that the U.S. has a pro-Israel policy, the previous administrations had refrained from taking actions that openly oppose international laws. None of them had ever gone so far as to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to recognize Israel's sovereignty over occupied and disputed lands. The U.S., through this move, is undermining its own international status.

Trump's recent move will also undermine the joint strategy of the U.S. and Israel in the Middle East. Since taking office, Trump has accepted Israel's view that Iran is a major threat to regional security. This view is also shared by some Arab states including Saudi Arabia. In the last couple of years, the U.S. has been talking about forming a Middle East version of NATO against Iran, about a rapprochement between Israel and Arab States, and about winning the support of Arab states for the so-called deal of the century. It is even expected that a new round of improvements of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab states is just around the corner. Trump's pro-Israel behavior will create a new obstacle to the improvement of relations between Israel and Arab states. While some Arab states may be dissatisfied with Bashar Assad's alliance with Iran, they still do think the Golan Heights is Arab land.

Trump's recognition of Israel's claim to the Golan Heights will also undermine Israel's long-term interests, which lie in peacefully co-existing with its Arab neighbors. The occupation of its neighbors' lands will, undoubtedly, be an obstacle toward building a peaceful relationship. In addition to Syria, other Arab states including Palestine, Jordan and Egypt will now have reasons to be suspicious of Israel's intentions and ambitions to occupy more territories.



All in all, Trump's latest move reflects his very strong personal style of making decisions without careful policy debate as was practiced by his predecessors. This move will produce negative implications on the regional political and security environment, and on some fundamental principles of international order.

Dr. Jin Liangxiang is Senior Research Fellow with the Center for West Asian and African Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/jinliangxiang.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

A new Marvel-themed attraction is set to open to the public on March 31 at Hong Kong Disneyland, the theme park said on Thursday.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle is the first attraction to feature characters of Ant-Man and The Wasp, and also the first-ever Marvel attraction in a Disney Park to feature a female super hero as a title character.

Combined with high tech and high energy, this attraction invites tourists to experience a critical mission to defend Hong Kong. In the ride, tourists will be shrunk down to the size of an ant as 150 targets shown in various shapes and sizes provide different levels of shooting challenge.

Marvel stories attract tourists from all around the world, and Hong Kong markets especially resonate with these stories, said Stephanie Young, managing director of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.

Young added that more popular Disney characters and stories are arriving in HKDL under the multi-year expansion plan.
Malian authorities at the site of the Fulani village which was burned to the ground by gunmen | (Photo Credits: Twitter, PresidenceMali)

Toronto, March 27: Gunmen dressed as traditional hunters have killed 160 people, including women and children, in an attack on a village in the North African country of Mali. The armed attackers targeted the villagers who belonged to the Fulani ethnic community.

The village of Ogossagou in the Mopti region was home to the Fulani community. According to reports, the village was first surrounded by the gunmen who were wearing the garb of another hunting community - the Dogon and the men then entered the homes of the villagers, killing entire families as they slept. After the killing, the attackers burned all the huts in the village to the ground.

The mayor of the neighbouring village of Ouenkoro, described the attack as a "massacre".

The armed men are being accused of belonging to the Dogon Hunters tribe, which has links to the countrys military while the Fulanis have been accused of having ties to jihadists and the Al-Qaeda.

Mali has remained a footnote when it comes to the spread of jihadist ideology and the consequent fight against it but the country has been in turmoil since 2012. France had sent in troops in 2013 to fight along with Malis military against jihadists who had taken control of some parts of the country.

After the cold-blooded killing of the villagers, the United Nations has sent in a team of investigators to the Mopti region to ascertain whether this massacre was a matter of the historic enmity between the two communities or in relation to jihadist attacks. "We are in direct contact with the authorities," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN rights office. She added that the UN had offered to help to "bring the perpetrators to justice in order to break the circle of impunity".

Shamdasani condemned the attacks, saying the "horrific attacks" marked a "significant" surge in "violence across communal lines and by so-called 'self-defence groups' apparently attempting to root out violent extremist groups".

In the Mopti region alone, attacks had led to "some 600 deaths of women, children and men, as well as thousands of displaced persons" since March 2018, she told reporters.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2019 02:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Fred Segal, the historic West Hollywood boutique name-dropped on shows like Beverly Hills 90120, has a new owner that wants to take its leather sandals and big acetate sunglasses to a broader audience.

Global Icons, a brand licensing firm that has worked to promote names like Vespa scooters and Fireball Whisky, is acquiring Fred Segal LLC for an undisclosed sum. Evolution Media, an investment firm created by Creative Artists Agency and TPG Capital, will maintain a minority stake.

Weve been brand stewards for a long time, but Ive always wanted to be a brand owner, said Jeff Lotman, chief executive officer of Global Icons, while downplaying concerns about retails demise in the age of Amazon. Its not that retail is dying. Boring retail is dying.

Fred Segal started in 1961 under its eponymous founder, who sold high-end jeans and chambray shirts out of a tiny store in West Hollywood. Now, it carries everything from $70 cotton tank tops to $1,100 gold necklaces in its stores and online. Its shops are meant to exude California lifestyle, with a product array that includes bikinis, botanical tinctures and denim shorts.

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Over the years, it earned a place in pop culture for being a fashion hot spot in Los Angeles, also earning appearances or mentions on shows like The O.C. and Dawsons Creek.

The retailer plans to use the investment to expand its Fred Segal fashion collection, extend its licensing business to segments such as home decor and accessories and open around 20 new shops in major cities in the next five years. It will also debut a new Malibu store in April, the ninth in its fleet. Stores are currently spread across California, Switzerland, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur.

The company, which hopes to license its products in China and South Korea, is betting its California vibes will play better internationally. Theres so much more interest in L.A. around the world, rather than the U.S., Lotman said.

Beyond the expansion, the label wont be repositioned or fundamentally changed under the new ownership, according to Allison Samek, Fred Segals chief executive officer. Management will weigh any new product categories  as long as theres a California connection.

Fred Segal seeks to capitalize on a resurgence of the so-called West Coast style, characterized by breezy, casual apparel. The look is also being pushed by trendy labels such as Reformation and Revolve.

Representatives for Fred Segal declined to share revenue numbers. Ownership of the company has bounced around in recent years. Sandow Media, which bought the rights to the Fred Segal brand in 2012, is no longer involved in the company. Evolution became majority stakeholder in 2016, and remains a minority partner following the deal.
As a confirmed Boglehead (Ill explain later), my heart starts beating like a rabbit if I even think about buying a stock the first day it hits the open market.

I cant help it. Breathlessly jumping into the frenzy for the next Snap, Google or Facebook goes against my instinct for patience and being a measured investor.

So here comes Lyft, which went public Friday and immediately jumped more than 20% on its first morning of trading. (It closed the day up 8.7%, at $78.29.) Uber, Slack, Airbinb, Pinterest and Palantir Technologies also are teeing themselves up for the open market. WeWork, SpaceX, Flipkart, Stripe are also in the conversation.

My father-in-law warned me a couple of decades ago against buying a stock on its first day of sales  known as its initial public offering, or IPO. Or even the first week. Or the first six months.

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Wait it out, he said. See how the company performs as a business, follow the stock, then make an informed judgment.

Better yet, he said, stick with mutual funds.

Wise advice, said Kathy Smith, who manages IPO ETFs at Renaissance Capital. You dont want to get caught up in that emotional vortex.

I own a handful of individual stocks. So, by definition, I buy some shares  sooner or later. Just not on the day of the IPO. And I hardly ever sell. Most of our investments are in mutual funds.

I called around and asked some people whether its a good idea to avoid IPOs.

One investor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investors firm works with companies to take them public, said if you are fortunate enough to work with a brokerage (or underwriter) that will sell you shares before the IPO, you should get in on it. These early birds can make a profit on the first-day bounce.

They are the flippers, Smith said. Those who managed to get the shares before the IPO, and if there is a first-day run-up, they dump. They say to themselves, I gotta get out of here. I got to take a quick profit.

Some hold on for a long time and make a lot of money. Some lose when the company doesnt work out.

There was a time during the dot-com boom when it seemed as though every stock offering sold like crazy. Remember Broadcast.com? Pets.com? Yahoo?

Success in IPOs means you get the cycle right, Washington investor Michael Farr said. There are cycles when everything that goes public goes up. In the mid- and the late 90s, everything that went public in tech and the dot-com space went up. Its much more about the appetite for the latest hot thing than it is the merit for the latest hot thing.

For most of us average Joes, its better to wait. You dont know how these companies are going to perform.

S&P Global Market Intelligence examined companies that went public at a value above $500 million since 2009. Of 94 companies it was able to examine, 65% showed a positive change in the stock price after six months from the IPO. At the end of a year, 62% showed a positive change in the equity price.

Take Facebook  a massive roller coaster ride, said Nicole Tanenbaum, chief investment strategist at Chequers Financial Management. The social-media giant IPOd in 2012 at a $38 share price. It has been a rocky  albeit rewarding  ride. A year later, Facebook shares were $25.76, a loss of 32% compared with the IPO price. Facebook shares today sell for about $165.

Snap, on the other hand, hit the open market two years ago at $17 a share. Shares surged 44% the first day. A year later, the shares were up 6%. Snap was recently selling for about $10 a share  a significant drop.

Buying an IPO means you have to invest without having seen a real earnings history, Farr said. While short-term hot money can be made by those who want to flip IPOs, this is not a game for Fred and Ethel looking for long-term value.

The average investor cant get in on the best deals anyway.

They tend to get snapped up by institutional investors, said Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research. Think the big mutual funds, big brokerage houses, banks etc. Especially the hot deals. Its great to hear about some of these companies coming public and having a double-digit gain during the first day of trading. But very few individual investors can buy enough of the deal to make it worthwhile.

So-called unicorns, such as ride-hailing services Lyft and Uber, have been around for years and grown revenue  if not profits  as private companies.

Lyft stock IPOd at $72 per share. That would value the company at well over $20 billion. Its rival, Uber Technologies, which also has filed paperwork for an IPO, could hit the market at a $75-billion valuation or even $100 billion-plus, according to some reports.

Amazon, one of the most valuable companies in the world at nearly $900 billion, went public in 1997 at a market value of nearly $500 million.

Neither Lyft nor Uber has made a profit, but some private investors have made a ton. Some early private investors in Uber who had the resources and contacts  and a stomach for risk  have been selling their shares in the 10-year-old company. Its founder cashed out $1.4 billion of his private stock about a year ago.

Companies about to go on the open market or the underwriters can impose lockup requirements that prevent insiders  management, employees, board members  from selling shares for a period of time after the IPO.

Still, I worry that when insiders sell, they know something I dont.

I asked Peter Fitzgerald, a former U.S. senator and now chairman of Chain Bridge Bank, what he thought of buying freshly minted stocks. Fitzgerald is a Boglehead, which means he subscribes to the view of the late John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, who changed the course of investing by advocating low-cost index mutual funds.

The average investor shouldnt speculate in IPOs, Fitzgerald told me. By buying broad-based, total-market index funds, the investor gets proportionate exposure to new issues. Outsize exposure to new issues or IPOs is inappropriate for long-term investors.

Thomas Heath writes a column for the Washington Post.
Like father, like son? That appears to be the case in Beverly Hills, where a corporate entity connected to Harry Morton has paid about $25.46 million for the old Elvis Presley estate, records show.

The gated compound, once home to Elvis Presley and wife Priscilla, was previously owned by Mortons father, Hard Rock Cafe and Hotels co-founder Peter Morton, for about two years. The elder Morton sold the property in 2014 for $14.5 million.

The 5,367-square-foot house is on a cul-de-sac in Trousdale Estates and has an attached guesthouse, a four-car motor court and a swimming pool.

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Built in 1958 and recently renovated, the house features coffered ceilings, hardwood floors and floor-to-ceiling windows that bring in the views. Four bedrooms, five bathrooms, an updated kitchen and a breakfast room are among living spaces. There are three fireplaces, including one in the living room.

The house sits on more than an acre of grounds and has ample patio space, lawn and a fire pit. City and mountain views are on display in seemingly every direction.

The property was last publicly offered in 2016 for $30 million. The recent sale occurred outside the Multiple Listing Service.

Morton is the founder of the Pink Taco restaurant chain and a former owner of the Viper Room nightclub in West Hollywood. He is also an investor in Beachers Madhouse, the racy vaudevillian show frequented by celebrities and socialites in Vegas and at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.

On the real estate side, Morton previously owned properties in the Bird Streets neighborhood and the Sierra Towers in West Hollywood. Three years ago, he sold a Bel-Air home to Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz for $9.1 million.

neal.leitereg@latimes.com | Twitter: @LATHotProperty
A Mid-Wilshire home where John F. Dockweiler, who served three terms in the U.S. Congress in the 1930s before becoming the district attorney of L.A. County, is on the market for $1.989 million.

The Spanish-style residence was built in 1927 and designed by John Byers, the architect known for the Spanish Colonial Revival style.

Tucked behind tall privacy hedges, the two-story home opens to a vaulted-ceiling living room with a fireplace. Arched doorways, custom built-ins and original hardwood floors are among details of note. The kitchen features a wealth of counter space.

1 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 2 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 3 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 4 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 5 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 6 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 7 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 8 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 9 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 10 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 11 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 12 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 13 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 14 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 15 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 16 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 17 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 18 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 19 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant) 20 / 20 Onetime home of DA John F. Dockweiler | Hot Property (Joe Bryant)

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Upstairs, the master suite has multiple closets, beamed ceilings and a view of the backyard. A total of three bedrooms and three bathrooms are within the 2,352-square-foot floor plan.

The house sits on a roughly 8,000-square-foot lot and has a swimming pool. Patios, lawn and professional landscaping fill out the grounds. Theres also an outdoor shower hidden among the hedges.

The property last sold seven years ago for $760,000, real estate records show.

Chris Jacobs of Keller Williams Realty Beverly Hills holds the listing.

Dockweiler served as L.A. Countys district attorney from 1940 to 1943. The prosecution of mobster Benjamin Bugsy Siegel for murder and actor Errol Flynn for statutory rape were among his high-profile cases.

neal.leitereg@latimes.com | Twitter: @LATHotProperty
When Swiss architect Peter Zumthor presented his proposed redesign for the campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2013, his plan for a charcoal-colored cement structure that, from overhead, resembled a sinuous black pool  a finger of which cantilevered dramatically over one of the La Brea tar pits  immediately generated a multitude of nicknames.

Many called it the Black Flower or the Inkblot. I once likened the building, meant to replace four structures that date to the 1960s, to the sleek Cylon Basestars of Battlestar Galactica. In other words, super cool.

Fast-forward six years to the handful of renderings of Zumthors ever-evolving design released late last week, and the comparisons arent quite so favorable. A schematic showing a sand-colored structure straddling Wilshire Boulevard drew irreverent pokes on Twitter, where the building was immediately likened to a coffee table. New York magazine architecture critic Justin Davidson compared it to the Autogrill chain of Italian highway restaurants whose visual trademark is a structure that bridges a road.

LACMA, the biggest encyclopedic museum west of the Mississippi, and the city want to erect something to be proud of. Yet three new renderings released when the county of Los Angeles final environmental impact report was made public last Friday show a structure that has shrunk from its original ambitions  both in scale and form.

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Where once we had sci-fi, now we have an agreeable cream-colored concrete structure that in at least one schematic (the northward-facing view from Wilshire) bears the profile of a small-city airport terminal.

Of course, its hard to know what to make of the renderings. They were released without explanation and feature only fragments of the building  which makes analyzing the design about as easy as examining an elephant with a microscope. (LACMA director Michael Govan was not available for comment.)

Peter Zumthor's latest version of LACMA (left) looks awfully familiar pic.twitter.com/kCYTlSS8Ll  Justin Davidson (@JDavidsonNYC) March 27, 2019

Still, the new plans raise the very basic question of aesthetics.

Ecological considerations around the tar pits led to Zumthors building losing its artsy inkblot form. Museum and designer retreated from the idea of cantilevering a wing over the principal tar pool. Instead, a 2014 design proposal extended the building south, across Wilshire Boulevard, into a parking lot at South Spaulding Avenue.

The buildings outline has never quite recovered, resembling at first an amoeba  The Blob that Ate Wilshire Boulevard read a headline in Architectural Record in 2014  and later a boomerang.

Now it has evolved yet again, looking like an antler belonging to Bullwinkle J. Moose, the cartoon ungulate from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. The pronged structure that begins on LACMAs main campus claws south, across Wilshire, into the Spaulding Avenue parking lot. If once the building had taken its elegant form from the primordial ooze that bubbles up from the tar pits, it has since seemed to bend over backward to occupy LACMAs available real estate.

There is also the projects reduced size.

The environmental impact report, a necessary step for the project to receive county funding and building permits, shows that the building has shrunk considerably since its last iteration  by more than 10%, or some 40,000 square feet. The report lists the projects original proposed square footage at 387,500 square feet; it now stands at 347,500. Projected gallery space has shrunk as well  from 121,000 square feet to 110,000 square feet, roughly the size of one exhibition hall.

Also slimmed down is the museums planned theater space, which would accommodate only 300 seats, half of whats available at LACMAs Bing Theater, which is regularly used for film screenings and high-profile artist talks.

How space will be allotted within the new structure is also unknown; no detailed plans of the buildings interiors have been released.

ALSO: LACMA clears key hurdle, but rising costs force new museum to shrink in size 

A rendering shows the proposed LACMA building on the right, looking north from Wilshire. The new schematic is smaller than the buildings it would replace. (Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner / The Boundary)

For almost two decades, LACMA has been working on plans to raze and replace four of the older buildings on its polyglot campus: the three original pavilions from the 1960s by the firm of L.A. architect William Pereira and a later addition from the 1980s, by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, a generally unloved structure that looks as if someone planted a Postmodern Mesopotamian gateway on Wilshire.

The revamp is supposed to contend with a number of problems: first and foremost, the decrepit state of Pereiras original buildings, some of which leak. But also to provide a larger, more hospitable space for the display of art. The Pereira buildings have never been suited to their purposes, resembling boxy department stores more than a museum. At the Ahmanson Building, which houses many of LACMAs permanent collection galleries, exhibitions occupy literal hallways.

In addition, some of the museums more remarkable, hard-to-exhibit objects have no place for regular display. This includes the Ardabil carpet, a famed 16th century Iranian textile almost 24 feet long and 13 feet wide, and the sumptuous Damascus room, a rare, intact example of a reception room from an 18th century Syrian home  complete with fountain and inlaid floors  that has never been shown at the museum. (It is on view at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Saudi Arabia.)

But the shrinking nature of LACMAs Zumthor building raises questions about what exactly the new space will be able to accommodate. When the Zumthor design was unveiled in 2013, it was reported that the new building would have 170,000 to 200,000 square feet of exhibition space  at least 45,000 square feet more than the buildings they would replace.

By the time the design had been refined, the gallery space had shrunk to 121,000 square feet, right around the estimated 120,000 square feet contained in the four buildings to be razed. Now that number has shrunk even further, to 110,000 square feet  raising questions about how exactly the new space will accommodate the museums expansive permanent collection. (Not to mention the urgent question of what this display will look like thematically, as Times art critic Christopher Knight noted earlier this month.)

Whether the plans newly reduced size is due to neighborhood environmental concerns or fundraising issues  last year, the museum missed a year-end fundraising target  is also unclear.

ALSO: LACMA isnt worried about missing a year-end fundraising target for its new museum. But challenges remain 

A rendering shows an exterior view of the proposed LACMA redesign looking to Renzo Pianos BCAM building to the northwest. (Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner / The Boundary)

The design gymnastics have occurred partly to fulfill Govans desire that the museum occupy only one floor. Im a big believer in horizontal museums, he said at a talk he hosted with Zumthor in 2013. All the great museums for me are horizontal.

The rationale is that single-story museums are more accessible and eliminate hierarchy. But in a Los Angeles that is growing increasingly dense  growing up instead of out  the conceit also seems like a throwback to 50s-era sprawl.

Moreover, the buildings interior design, perhaps its most important facet (this is, after all, a container for art), has yet to be fully articulated to the public, even as LACMA charges ahead with a construction timeline that has shovel hitting earth as soon as next year. In fact, the museum has already begun packing up objects, and about half its permanent collection galleries have been closed.

ALSO: Troublesome signs in LACMAs risky reorganization plan 

Without a doubt, the eastern side of LACMAs campus  once likened to a homely, humped creature by my former colleague Mike Boehm  is in desperate need of an overhaul. But surely one of L.A.s most important museums deserves a building that will carry out its functions with both distinction and grace, not to mention enough room.

This is a $650 million investment for Los Angeles  for the city, for the county, for patrons and for the taxpayers who will ultimately foot $125 million of the bill. What exactly are we building? What purpose will it serve? How long will it last? Well need more than a few partial renderings to begin to answer those questions.

+++

A short visual history of LACMAs evolving design:

LACMA 2013: A scale model displayed at LACMA in 2013 shows the proposed buildings overhead profile as it was originally conceived  an inkblot design contained north of Wilshire. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

LACMA 2014: By Peter Zumthors design had taken on a blob-like shape and straddled Wilshire Blvd. (Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner)

LACMA 2015: A year later, the blob was refined into a more angular boomerang shape with scattered double-height galleries  rendered here as white squares. (Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner)

LACMA 2019: This month, the museum released a revised image of the buildings footprint, which returns to a biomorphic shape that continues to straddle Wilshire. (Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner / The Boundary)

carolina.miranda@latimes.com | Twitter: @cmonstah
Community is at the heart of several plays on the 99-Seat Beat, our weekly look at Los Angeles stages. Folks support one another through daily challenges in 1968 Boyle Heights, work shoulder to shoulder to make things better on todays skid row, meld minds in mid-19th century England or  the opposite  devolve into a backstabbing mob in ancient Rome.

The Mother of Henry by Latino Theater Company

The essentials: Lifelong Angeleno Evelina Fernandez looks back at 1968 to ponder how that wrenching year would have been experienced by a single mom, much like her own, with a son in Vietnam. By day, the protagonist of The Mother of Henry works at the Sears distribution center in Boyle Heights, caught up in the camaraderie of colleagues, but when that distraction melts away, she faces nights of worry about her son, with only the Virgin of Guadalupe to console her.

Why this? The 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy robbed Latinos of a progressive champion, and frustration over the disproportionate number of men of color being sent to fight in Vietnam built toward the Chicano Moratorium march in 1970. It was an iconic year for the country, Fernandez says. Everything was changing. The country was really polarized; either you were for the war or against the war. I remember my mother thinking that the country was never going to be the same again. But we got through it. Patriotism and faith propel the story, as does the difficult process of change, which can tear a community apart or compel people to find common ground. Fernandezs husband, Jose Luis Valenzuela, directs this production for the Latino Theater Company, of which they are founders.

Details: Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., downtown L.A. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays; ends April 14. $20-$50. (866) 811-4111, thelatc.org

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I Fly! by Los Angeles Poverty Department

The essentials: Public safety is taken for granted, but not by homeless people, who often have to create it for themselves. I Fly!  which grew out of Los Angeles Poverty Departments performance workshops  aims to make life on L.A.s skid row visible to the rest of the city, illustrating dangers and celebrating successes.

Why this? Los Angeles Poverty Department was founded in 1985 to create a sense of community on skid row, using theater, music and other arts to fire residents imaginations as well as their hopes. A key program that emerged is an annual Festival for All Skid Row Artists. The action in I Fly! pops in and out of one such festival. Everyones co-responsible for the safety of the community, says John Malpede, the groups founder and the shows co-director (with Henriette Brouwers). He hopes the piece will demonstrate the sophistication of the community  of people who are skid row-engaged, who live on skid row, who care about the community. And he predicts fun, especially from the pieces music: a cappella, soul, funk, rock, rap and more.

Details: REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. 8:30 p.m. Thursday and April 5 and 6 only. $14-$20. (213) 237-2800, redcat.org

Los Angeles Poverty Department aims to create a sense of community with its annual Festival for All Skid Row Artists. Ricky Jammz performs at 2018s edition. (Reva Santo / Los Angeles Poverty Department)

Ada and the Engine by Theatre Unleashed

The essentials: The tech wizards of Silicon Beach owe their careers to a couple of thinkers in 19th century England: Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace. He proposed a general-purpose computer, called the Analytical Engine, and she was the first to write an algorithm for it. Skilled in music as well as mathematics, Lovelace had creativity in her genes: Her father was Lord Byron. Her friendship with Babbage and her instinctive fusion of the arts and science are subjects of Lauren Gundersons 2016 play Ada and the Engine.

Why this? Gunderson is one of the most produced playwrights in America, known for reanimating such historical figures as astronomer Henrietta Leavitt (Silent Sky) and the Shakespeare pals who compiled the First Folio (The Book of Will). Heidi Powers, who directs this production for Theatre Unleashed, calls the plays treatment of Babbage and Lovelaces friendship one of the best relationships Ive seen explored on stage. Although married to others, they had such a meeting of minds and souls, Powers, says  shown here as like a chemical reaction, volatile and vulnerable. Powers, co-creator of the toothsome Bronies: The Musical (about adult male fans of My Little Pony), infuses the script with Lovelaces artistic side by expanding its use of music and incorporating dance.

Details: Studio/Stage, 520 N. Western Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Friday and April 5, 2 and 8 p.m. this Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday and April 7; ends April 7. $20. theatreunleashed.org

Jessie Sherman portrays Ada Lovelace and Alex Knox is Charles Babbage in Ada and the Engine. (Matt Kamimura)

Julius Caesar by Independent Shakespeare Company

The essentials: In the 1st century BC, a group of Romans works itself into a frenzy of indignation over an arrogant military and political leader who is popular with the lesser-privileged. Once the conspirators have killed him off, however, they dont have a clear plan about what to do next and find themselves in the midst of a civil war.

Why this? Shakespeares Julius Caesar is one of dramas foremost cautionary tales about moral tenuousness and mob behavior. Public addresses, intended to sway a crowd, are key moments in the play. The shows co-directors, Melissa Chalsma and David Melville, make theatergoers complicit in what happens. Electronic screens prompt everyone to chant along. Its about how one manipulates the public, says Melville, who also portrays arrogant Caesar. If you want to be a successful dictator, then you have to find a way of bringing the public on your side. Chalsma adds: What has been so surprising to me is how quickly the audience is willing to give up what its just said and to say the opposite. Shakespeare is asking us: What are your core values, and are you able to live those core values despite public sentiment around you?

Details: ISC Studio Theatre, 3191 Casitas Ave., Suite 130, Atwater Village. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends May 11. $15-$35. (818) 710-6306, iscla.org

Julius Caesars Cassius (Paul Turbiak), foreground left, and Brutus (Faqir Hassan). (Grettel Cortes)

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.
Even the grandest stories, full of epic adventures, are built of everyday experiences. Mary Zimmerman creates theater magic in much the same way, bringing the worlds foundational tales alive with little more than the evocative power of the human voice and simple but imaginative stage tricks.

The Chicago writer-director is not on hand to stage her Argonautika  the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts  at A Noise Within in Pasadena. But as envisioned by the theaters co-artistic director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, the show generates the eye-widening, gasp-inducing excitement that is characteristic of Zimmermans work.

Zimmermans best-known piece, Metamorphoses, shapes Ovids Greco-Roman tales into a storytelling session that she staged in and around a pool of life-giving, transforming water. The piece wowed Los Angeles when presented at the Mark Taper Forum in 2000.

Water is key to the Argonauts perilous adventures too, evoked in sea-like billows of cloth or clusters of toy boats.

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A winged, golden ram, a sea monster and a fearsome dragon materialize via puppets and masks. They  and the enchanted places they inhabit  are built of items available at any home-improvement or craft store. Who needs CGI when youve got this, plus the occasional song and a smattering of aerial acrobatics?

As of opening weekend, the complex production felt a bit hasty and perfunctory, but these flaws should disappear with repetition.

THE 99-SEAT BEAT: Our weekly column on the L.A. theater scene 

The sprawling story focuses on Jason, son of a usurped king, whose fearful, power-grabbing uncle sends him on a suicide mission to steal the Golden Fleece. (See: the golden ram mentioned above.) Jason rounds up the great heroes of his day and sets off on a perilous sea voyage aboard a ship called the Argo.

In the midst of heart-pounding dangers, the storytelling lingers over two love stories. One involves Jason (resolute Ty Mayberry) and the nascent sorceress Medea (poignant Angela Gulner). Medeas feelings for Jason spur her to unimaginable achievements but also overwhelm her better judgment. Once Eros arrow lodges in her heart, the wound gradually turns her white gown crimson. The other bond exists between inseparable hunks Hercules (Frederick Stuart, giving the hero a thickheaded but warmhearted spin) and Hylas (Richy Storrs). When Hercules devotion is put to a test, still more water, in the form of tears, drenches the story.

Argonautika also celebrates strong women. They are among the Argo adventurers, and Medea secures Jasons key victories. The goddesses Hera (imperious Veralyn Jones) and Athena (commanding Trisha Miller) guide the action, with Athena also the principal narrator.

Many in the cast of 17 cycle through multiple roles, keeping the stage teeming with characters.

The Argonauts head to sea in A Noise Withins presentation. (Craig Schwartz)

The floor of Frederica Nascimentos multipurpose set is littered with trap doors, useful as a pool for an unwary Argonaut to tumble into or as a field from which skeleton soldiers spring forth. Ken Booths lights lend mystery and enchantment.

Jenny Foldenauer costumes the men in simple skirts and capes, the women in tunics, subtly underscoring the idea of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances by malicious rulers and capricious gods. Only the goddesses are given sparkles or fearsome armor.

Zimmermans adaptation, introduced in 2006, is lively, funny and easy to follow, spoken in conversational, present-day language.

We see in this timeless tale our own challenges, temptations, fears and transforming loves. Awake, arise, and be brave in the face of lifes adversity, an Argonaut urges, having learned the hard way. Good advice, that.

         

Argonautika

Where: A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena

When: In repertory various Thursdays through Sundays; ends May 5

Tickets: $25-$91

Info: (626) 356-3121, anoisewithin.org

Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

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See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts.
Imagine youre holding a bar of Wonkas Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight. The name alone promises deliciousness.

A names a powerful thing, especially if it has delivered satisfaction before, and, surely, Roald Dahls Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has done that, whether in the original 1964 novel or the 1971 film adaptation  the 2005 movie maybe not so much.

For a stage musical that arrived on Londons West End in 2013, then on Broadway in 2017, a few more goodness-promising names were added to the wrapper: Hairspray composer-lyricist Marc Shaiman and co-lyricist Scott Wittman (also recent Oscar nominees for Mary Poppins Returns). For New York, another Hairspray talent joined the project: director Jack OBrien, replacing Londons Sam Mendes.

How disappointing, then, to open the shiny packaging of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on tour  now at the Hollywood Pantages for three weeks and headed to Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa later this spring  to discover that the product inside is neither terrific nor terrible, merely bland.

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We had warning, of course. Although the London production ran for more than 3 years, the extensively reworked New York version ran barely nine months and received not a single Tony nomination.

Video technology and cool special effects bring to life the fantastical world inside secretive Willy Wonkas candy factory, opened to five lucky children whove found a golden ticket inside a Wonka product.

The novel teaches a powerful lesson about haves and have-nots. The central character, Charlie Bucket, is from a family so desperately poor that they are on the brink of starvation when the boy discovers one of the tickets. But the household is loving and dependable, and it has instilled in Charlie a pure soul and a lively imagination, whereas the other four children are spoiled dolts.

Charlies heart and mind enable him to thrive during the tour of Wonkas factory; the others gluttony leads them to violent demises.

The message barely registers, however, in a show more intent on providing each child a big production number, then staging a factory tour in which each scene out-dazzles the last. For all the lip service that David Greigs script gives to the minds superior powers of creativity, the show delivers just the opposite, leaving little to the imagination in a pile-on of technology.

The set is outfitted with a giant video panel framed by more video panels, enabling visuals  designed by Jeff Sugg  as subtle as falling snow or as flashy as music-video-like backgrounds for the kids introductory numbers. Once inside the factory, the panels convey its lavish but disorienting environment. Gadgetry enables bubble-gum-addicted Violet to inflate before our eyes and a doll-size version of video-game-obsessed Mike to be retrieved, twitching and gesticulating, from inside a television screen.

The shows unqualified hit is its way of rendering the Oompa-Loompas, Wonkas diminutive factory workers. The performers are dressed in puppeteer all-black, so that only their faces are visible beneath bright orange wigs. Kneeling, they use their black-gloved hands to manipulate the short arms and legs of tiny puppet bodies. The puppetry was devised by 2015 MacArthur fellow Basil Twist, the Oompa-Loompas jaunty choreography by Joshua Bergasse.

The Shaiman-Wittman songs never do catch on, whether infused with operetta, pop, hip-hop or metal. The shows American version incorporates four Leslie Bricusse-Anthony Newley songs from the 1971 film, and those  especially The Candy Man and Ive Got a Golden Ticket  are what theatergoers go about humming during intermission.

Charlie Bucket, the storys young hero, has grown up in a desperately poor but loving family. Foreground right are Amanda Rose as Charlies mother, James Young as Grandpa Joe and Rueby Wood as Charlie. (Joan Marcus)

Except for Charlie, adult actors portray the children. If nothing else, this makes the youngster portraying our young hero seem more genuine. At Wednesdays opening, the role was winningly handled by Rueby Wood (one of three alternating actors), who is irresistibly enthusiastic and sounds sweet and pure in song.

James Young is feisty as tall-tale-telling Grandpa Joe, who serves as Charlies guardian during the tour, and Amanda Rose contributes a lovely mezzo singing voice and a gentle, nurturing demeanor to Charlies mother.

As Wonka, Noah Weisberg is compelled to rein himself in during the first half, while masquerading as proprietor of a neighborhood chocolate shop. Once hes leading the tour in the second act, he gets to let loose his wacky, rubber-limbed side, but as talented as he is, he mostly comes across like a late-night talk-show host whos consumed too much caffeine.

Despite the productions fumbles, the source material  and memories of it in other versions  seem to keep much of the audience happy, and lots of theatergoers bring kids.

Maybe the sight of all those sweets is bliss enough. The shows truest line is Wonkas declaration that chocolate is quite simply, the greatest invention in the entire history of the world.

         

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Where: Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays; ends April 14

Tickets: $49-$175

Info: (800) 982-2787, HollywoodPantages.com

Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes

Also: Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. May 28-June 9. $29-$119. (714) 556-2787, SCFTA.org

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.
In Reality

Director, co-writer and star Ann Lupos In Reality may not reinvent the romantic comedy, but its a sweet, imaginative and insightful little film about the search for love and what happens when you find it  or, rather, when you think you find it.

Lupo engages as an unlikely leading lady in a peppy story that follows a budding, self-effacing Brooklyn filmmaker  also (remarkably!) named Ann Lupo  trying to fathom how she landed in the friend zone with the adorable John (Miles G. Jackson) after several hot dates and what seemed like an undeniable emotional and romantic connection. Think When Harry Met Sally in reverse.

But thats just the spine of the amusing script, which Lupo penned with co-directors Esteban Pedraza and Aaron Pryka. The film is fleshed out with fun fantasy sequences (including the zippy musical number In Reality), black-and-white interview bits with Ann recounting her tale, and such enjoyable supporting characters as Anns engaged co-workers, Miguel (Pedraza) and Adrienne (Olivia Washington); her BFF, Lallie (Kimiko Glenn); and forthright aunt, Doreen (Jill Eikenberry).

Although this cleverly shot and edited picture (it began as a short, grew into a digital miniseries and was then expanded into a feature) doesnt shy away from its eccentric side, it remains a convincing, relatable look at one womans inner workings and the vicissitudes of love and friendship.

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Gary Goldstein

In Reality

Not rated.

Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes

Playing: Starts March 29, Arena Cinelounge Sunset, Hollywood; on VOD April 2

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Long Lost

Adam Weppler in the movie Long Lost. (Indie Rights)

Shortly after Seth (Adam Weppler) arrives at a remote mansion, its clear something is off in the indie thriller Long Lost. The owner Richard (Nicholas Tucci) knows far too much about him, and Richards girlfriend, Abby (Catherine Corcoran), is far too friendly with the new guest.

For his debut feature, writer-director Erik Bloomquist keeps the audience as unsettled as his hero with an intense atmosphere that turns even a game of Chubby Bunny into something sinister. With its good use of a single location and just three characters, Long Lost almost works, though its fun twist would have felt fresher a decade ago.

Kimber Myers

Long Lost

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Playing: Starts March 29, Arena Cinelounge, Hollywood

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Making Babies

Steve Howey and Eliza Coupe in the movie Making Babies. (Huber Bros. Productions)

Writer-director Josh F. Huber puts a lightly humorous spin on the many trials and tribulations of infertility with his directorial debut Making Babies. Eliza Coupe and Steve Howey star as married couple Katie and John, who dream of having a family but soon realize that will be much more complicated and challenging than they had thought.

Coupe and Howey have the looks of Barbie and Ken and are talented physical comedians with a flair for the absurd. But a dramedy of this nature both muzzles their natural eccentricities and renders the more serious moments silly. Everyone in the supporting cast overacts with wild characterizations, forcing Coupe and Howey to be the straight men, which doesnt serve their innate talents.

The material is breezy and amusing with a few piercing moments of emotional truth, but the tone never quite feels right for the issue at hand. Theres a tendency to rely on incredibly hacky material, like extended bits about the complexities of sperm collection and well-trodden jokes about alternative healers.

Its not entirely fair to compare two films while evaluating one, but while watching Making Babies, which relies on predictability, one cant help but think of Tamara Jenkins impeccable 2018 film Private Life, which made more nuanced and surprising choices while grappling with the same topic. Making Babies offers exactly what you might expect for a light dramedy on the issue of infertility and IVF, and that isnt necessarily a good thing.

 Katie Walsh

Making Babies

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 26 minutes

Playing: Starts March 29, Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica

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Unplanned

Brooks Ryan, left, and Ashley Bratcher in the movie Unplanned. (Michael Kubeisy / Pure Flix)

Based on an abortion rights advocates conversion experience, the drama Unplanned wastes little time in getting to the graphic depiction of the procedure that earned the Christian film an R-rating from the MPAA.

When Planned Parenthood clinical director Abby Johnson (Ashley Bratcher) is unexpectedly asked to assist with an abortion in the movies early moments, the sight of the fetus on the ultrasound shocks her into reconsidering her career.

With its solid production values, Unplanned has all the appearances of being a real film, but viewers in favor of abortion rights will find it to be pure propaganda. Writer-directors Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon spend more time making their talking points than developing their characters, who exist merely to make their arguments. As the lead, even Abby lacks agency, influenced by men who always know better than she does.

Kimber Myers

Unplanned

Rated: R, for some disturbing/bloody images

Running time: 1 hour, 46 minutes

Playing: In general release

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The Legend of Cocaine Island

Rodney Hyden in the documentary The Legend of Cocaine Island. (Netflix)

Your Netflix homepage should have a category bar along the lines of Youve Seen Everything Else. Its a spot where The Legend of Cocaine Island would rest comfortably, awaiting the conclusion of your umpteenth Breaking Bad re-watch or exhaustive perusal of the narco kingpin genre.

Theo Loves documentary is a valiant effort to make the case of Florida construction businessman Rodney Hydens ill-advised flirtation with treasure-hunting and drug trafficking into a rollicking ruh-roh of a yarn, but mostly its a test of your tolerance for puffed-up re-creations as atmospheric window dressing. The story has all the earmarks of a crime-doesnt-pay narrative Carl Hiassen would appreciate.

A family man casualty of the financial crisis, Hyden believed enough in a local acquaintances tantalizing tale of once discovering and burying a washed-up parcel of cartel cocaine, that Hyden partnered with some shady characters to fly to Puerto Rico and dig up this potential financial windfall himself.

The problem is that for all the ways this story is entertaining as a magazine article or Dateline segment, its an awkwardly bloated bore when Love makes the affable, naive Hyden not just his key interviewee but also his reenactment star. The details get repetitive, the turnabout you can see a mile away, and soon youre wondering, If this is about buried treasure and twists of fate, why am I watching an inside-the-refrigerator shot of this guy grabbing a beer?

Robert Abele

The Legend of Cocaine Island

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

Playing: Available March 29 on Netflix

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The Sex Trip

Marc Crumpton, left, and Louis Mandylor in the movie The Sex Trip. (Ammo Content)

In The Sex Trip, an icky, unfunny comedy, an 80s body swap movie meets a fairy tale, keeping all the retro gender politics of both still intact. Dating guru Eddie Greenlead (Marc Crumpton) turns from a ladies man into an actual lady after he shuns a homeless person. As Edna (Jade Ramsey), has to deal with all the sexism he doled out as Eddie, as well as his randy best friend, Steve (Louis Mandylor).

Sex Trip tries to tell its audience that whats inside is what matters, but this comedy is rotten at its core and sure to offend most people unlucky enough to watch it. Director Anthony G. Cohen and his co-writer Marc Prey have created a film with the emotional intelligence of a 13-year-old  and the maturity to match.

Kimber Myers

The Sex Trip

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 21 minutes

Playing: Starts March 30, Arena Cinelounge, Hollywood

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing Thursday, vowing to promote cooperation in various fields.

Calling Kazakhstan a good neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of China, Wang said that under the leadership of the first President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has made well-recognized achievements in national building and is playing an increasingly important role in international and regional affairs.

"China speaks highly of Nazarbayev's outstanding contribution to promoting China-Kazakhstan friendship. The new President (Kassym-Jomart) Tokayev has also been an old friend of Chinese people," Wang said, adding China has every confidence in the future of bilateral relations.

Noting the two sides should maintain close high-level exchanges and enhance political mutual trust, Wang said China welcomes the first President Nazarbayev to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Wang called on both parties to renew their efforts and work together in promoting the construction of the Belt and Road.

Both parties should deepen security cooperation, jointly safeguard the security and stability of the two countries and the region and maintain close cooperation in international and regional affairs, he added.

Atamkulov, for his part, stressed that Kazakhstan will continue to implement the important consensus reached by the first President Nazarbayev and President Xi Jinping and continuously strengthen and deepen the strategic cooperation between Kazakhstan and China.

Emphasizing that President Tokayev attaches great importance to the development of relations with China, the foreign minister said that Kazakhstan is willing to work with China to promote the construction of the Belt and Road and strengthen cooperation in various fields.

Atamkulov said Kazakhstan understands and supports the measures taken in Xinjiang to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism and to ensure regional security and stability.
Six years after Spring Breakers, Harmony Korine is back with a new film, The Beach Bum, out now in theaters. The wildly creative filmmaker and fine artist is a teller of modern-day tall tales, something of a cross between a burnout Mark Twain and an Andy Warhol of the Florida Keys. Korine talks with L.A. Times film writer Mark Olsen (@IndieFocus) about how hes skirting autobiography in his work, the casting choices he made for The Beach Bum  like Matthew McConaughey, Martin Lawrence, Snoop Dogg and Jimmy Buffett  and how he feels about being a perennial Hollywood outsider.

READ MORE: Review: Matthew McConaughey gives Harmony Korines The Beach Bum its boozy, woozy pleasures 

Matthew McConaughey in a scene from The Beach Bum. (Atsushi Nishijima / Neon / Vice)

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But first, The Times Yvonne Villarreal (@villarrealy) spoke with the showrunners of the recently canceled Netflix show, One Day at a Time.

Emotions  and opinions  were strong. Is diversity and inclusiveness really happening in Hollywood? Does the cancellation signal that the American Latinx experience is close to being erased from the airwaves?

READ MORE: Netflix cancels One Day at a Time, prompting immediate calls to save it 

What happens when a show is more than just a show?
Its nearly lunchtime on a Friday in downtown Manhattan, but Ruth Wilson is just sitting down to breakfast. Her meal schedule is all out of whack because shes starring every night in a 3 1/2-hour production of King Lear, currently in previews at Broadways Cort Theatre: Youve got to work out how to eat, she says cheekily, or youll be farting everywhere.

Wilson, who plays doomed Cordelia and The Fool in Lear, has also depicted a psychopathic genius in the BBC series Luther, a woman clouded by grief in Showtimes The Affair, a 19th-century governess who falls for her brooding master in the BBCs Jane Eyre, and a submissive wife torn between her brutish husband and neurotic sister in a London production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Yet none of these intense, enigmatic roles prepared the actress for her trickiest job to date: portraying her paternal grandmother, Alison, in Mrs. Wilson, a Masterpiece miniseries premiering Sunday on PBS, which she also executive produced.

It was the most stressful thing I have done in my life, says Wilson, laughing with bemusement as she explains how she wound up with a thyroid issue because of all the pressure. I need a week in a Zen monastery.

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Alison was a fixture in Wilsons childhood, living around the corner from her family in the London suburbs, coming over for lunch on Sundays and often picking up Wilson and her three older brothers from school. But she was also emotionally distant, introverted and devout  not the warm granny who gave you a hug, Wilson recalls. You never felt that comfortable around her.

Her grandfather, who died years before she was born, was even more of a mystery. Dad never spoke of his dad. I had three grandparents and that was kind of it. I found a picture of him when I was about 10 and rooting through my dads cabinet, and I said, Who is this? Thats my dad. No more discussion.

When she was 16 or 17, Wilson began to understand her grandmothers detachment. Thats when Alison shared a private memoir with her family that revealed a secret shed kept hidden for decades: Her late husband, Alexander, a spy novelist and intelligence agent 25 years her senior, was a bigamist who had never actually divorced his first wife. Theyd met during World War II, when Alison was a secretary at MI6.

Alison discovered the truth following his sudden death in 1963, but chose to keep it from her two sons until they were middle-aged men with families of their own, and relied on her faith to cope.

And there were more revelations to come.

After Alison died in 2005, the family learned that Alexander (known as Alec) actually had two more wives and seven children in total, meaning Wilson had dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins shed never met. Even his career at MI6 has been cast into doubt. The Wilsons remain unsure whether he was a chronic fabulist who was fired from the intelligence agency, leaving Alison and their sons destitute, or, as he claimed, a secret agent committed to an especially elaborate cover.

The story kept unraveling, says Wilson, and it keeps unraveling.

Ruth Wilson as her grandmother, Alison, in the opening episode of Mrs. Wilson for Masterpiece. (Steffan Hill / BBC / WP Films Ltd.)

ALSO: The Affair star Ruth Wilson is a risk-taker whos ready to lighten up 

Discovering her grandfathers secrets, Wilson says, has made sense of things that never made sense before, especially her acting career, which once seemed like a weird and obtuse choice in a family of jocks. Then I find out my grandfather was a writer who wrote 27 books and set up acting troupes with two of the families. His attachment to creativity and language and storytelling  that was what connected the dots for me and made me feel like not such a weirdo.

Shortly after graduating from the London Academy of Dramatic Arts, Wilson scored the lead in the BBCs 2006 miniseries version of Jane Eyre, adapted from Charlotte Brontes Gothic classic. She soon made an impression in Luther as charismatic killer Alice Morgan.

Her major American breakthrough came with The Affair, which told the Rashomon-style story of an extramarital relationship from multiple perspectives. She won a Golden Globe for her performance as (another) Alison, a Montauk waitress mourning the loss of a child when she gets involved with a struggling Brooklyn writer (Dominic West). Wilson abruptly left The Affair last year, and firmly but politely declines to discuss her departure. But later in the conversation, she says shes wary of committing to another ongoing series because storytelling is hard over a long period, with an open end.

Ruth Wilson as Alison and Dominic West as Noah in The Affair. (Showtime)

ALSO: Dominic West and Ruth Wilson of The Affair lighten up for a chat 

Bringing her family saga to the screen was another thorny process. Any time she told people in the industry about it, the response would be the same: You should tell this story. But she found that everyone in L.A. wanted to focus on her grandfather  the kind of charming, enigmatic con man that Hollywood, and especially prestige TV, finds endlessly fascinating.

Wilson, however, was determined to focus on her grandmothers dramatic journey. The women, she says, are as deeply interesting in their connection to him and their capacity to survive throughout that and maintain a family.

As Alison described in her memoir, about two weeks after Alecs death, Jesus came to her in a vision. She felt this warmth literally come up through her. I mean, to me, it reads literally almost orgasmic, Wilson says. She converted to Catholicism, her late husbands religion, took vows of poverty and chastity and essentially lived as a secular nun.

People will interpret it as a breakdown, Wilson says. Whatever. It was a form of survival for her.

Eventually, the BBC gave a greenlight to Mrs. Wilson, which aired in the U.K. in November and costars Iain Glen (Game of Thrones) as Alec and Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard) as his second wife, Dorothy. The three-hour miniseries is a detective story told through Alisons eyes as she attempts to uncover the truth.

While Mrs. Wilson takes some license with the story, blending details from Alisons memoir with revelations that came after her death, in her role as an executive producer Wilson didnt shy away from the more unsavory details of her family history. She insisted on showing how her naive grandmother was complicit in Alecs deception. You must have some amazing capacity not to see things, or to refuse to see things, in order to be duped so dramatically, she says.

She basically said to me, Anna, dont sanitize it, says screenwriter Anna Symon. There are some people who wouldnt be comfortable with this story out in the world. She was very, very keen that the story was told in the boldest way, warts and all.

Once the project was a go, Wilson faced the formidable task of portraying someone she knew but whose voice and gestures she could only dimly recall.

It was a bit inhibiting at first, says Wilson, who doesnt particularly resemble Alison (she gets her distinctive eyebrows from her other grandmother). The production schedule also jumped around, meaning she might be playing the youthful, optimistic Alison of the 1940s in the morning and the intense, pious Alison of the 1960s right after lunch. Then came the deeply weird experience of giving birth to her own father on screen.

You just go, Where am I? What am I doing? Every time the clapper board goes Mrs. Wilson, its like, oh God, were actually doing this.

Wilson has approached her dual roles as Cordelia and The Fool in King Lear, with similar gusto. The gender-blind production, which opens April 4, features the ever-formidable Glenda Jackson in the title role and Jayne Houdyshell as Gloucester.

I dont think daunted is something I would put in the vocabulary of Ruth Wilson, says Lear director Sam Gold, whose recent off-Broadway stagings of Othello and Hamlet earned raves. He made the unusual choice to pair The Fool and Cordelia because they both speak truth to power, he says, and that is something I know Ruth has in her  the glimmer of rebellious energy and strength and power and dexterity.

At rehearsal for King Lear days earlier, Wilson seemed unfazed by her surroundings: a golden-throne room that looked like a Trumpian fever dream. As a string quartet played a discordant score by Philip Glass, Wilson, wearing sweats and sneakers, stood on a chair and put a noose around her neck  an idea she and Gold were trying out but ultimately deemed too complicated. Between setups, she laughed readily with costar Pedro Pascal.

Im really drawn to actors that I consider co-directors, says Gold.

Ruth Wilson, left, and Glenda Jackson in King Lear on Broadway. (Brigitte Lacombe)

REVIEW: The Little Stranger, a 1940s ghost story starring Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Wilson 

Wilson, who earned a Tony nomination for her work in Constellations in 2015, has found it exciting to unleash her idiot self on stage. (She also sings, but since shes playing The fool, I can be a bit crap, she says.)

King Lear is Wilsons first professional turn at Shakespeare, and she talks about the Bard with a tone that, for a classically trained British actor, borders on blasphemy.

Everyones like, You must do some Shakespeare. Why? Its done so often in our country and treated with such reverence. And often its done so badly. Im always a bit averse. If I have to go see a Shakespeare, Im often like , she groans.

The humorous mini-diatribe is typical of Wilson, who is not timid about sharing her opinion on a wide array of subjects, including her accidental habit of playing characters called Alice or Alison (I hate the name), Brexit (Everyones completely insane at the moment), streaming network algorithms (mob rule), and her grandfathers novels (a bit racist).

This self-assurance has been crucial during a period of growth and transition in her career. In addition to reprising her role in Luther in June, she will be seen in the much-anticipated fantasy series His Dark Materials for HBO later this year, and is working on a podcast she cant say much about at this point.

If somethings too familiar, she says, I feel a bit bored.

Ruth Wilson at the Langham Huntington in Pasadena on Feb. 1. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Mrs. Wilson

Where: KOCE

When: 9 p.m. Sunday

Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

meredith.blake@latimes.com

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Last June, Bottega Veneta made a change that shocked much of the fashion world. The Italian luxury brand abruptly parted ways with Tomas Maier, its creative director of 17 years, and a mere two days later announced Daniel Lee as his successor.

Few people had heard of the 32-year-old Lee, who had been director of ready-to-wear at the French label Celine since 2012. But almost everyone had heard of his former boss  longtime Celine creative director Phoebe Philo  and that was exactly the point, especially as the news release announcing Lees hire made that connection explicit.

For good reason. Philo, who had announced her departure from Celine just six months previously, was a zeitgeist-defining designer who built a zealous following  and impressive profits to match  during her decade-long tenure at Celine. Consumers adored her sumptuous and idiosyncratic designs, and when she mysteriously called it quits, her most devoted patrons, sometimes called Philophiles, were disheartened at best and unconsolable at worst. Where, oh where, would they shop now?

Where Celine devotees saw a wardrobe-shattering loss, competing brands smelled an opportunity. Since Philos departure (and her decision not to take a job at another fashion house) theyve cherry-picked through her design team to build their own ranks. In these fashion-post-Phoebe times, the hottest name to have on ones resume is hers.

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Looks from Bottega Venetas fall 2019 collection, the first designed by new creative director Daniel Lee, presented during Milan Fashion Week in February. (Andreas Solaro / AFP)

Lee is certainly the most high-profile announcement, but not the only one. Maison Kitsune, a contemporary label, publicized the fact that its new creative director, Yuni Ahn, had come from the Celine design studio; she also debuted her collection for the fall/winter 2019 season. Rok Hwang, of the label Rokh, is already stocked at Net-a-Porter and on Farfetch and staged one of the most highly anticipated shows of the fall 2019 season. (WWD called it a confident collection that should delight retailers.) New York-based Peter Do had his first collection picked up by Net-a-Porter, a rarity for a new designer. For its first season, the labels revenue was over $500,000, and it has already doubled market appointments for Autumn/Winter 2019, reported Business of Fashion.

During the Phoebe era, we were often asked about the key players, said Lewis Alexander, owner of an eponymous consulting firm that specializes in job placements within the luxury fashion sector. (He should know; he helped Philo build and maintain her team.) Because the brand was so successful and it carved out a very big market in ready-to-wear  and most brands do their business in leather goods  it made everyone on the team very desirable.

Alexander noted that the ransacking started even before Philo left. In 2015, Mulberry tapped as its new creative director Johnny Coca, who was then Celines design director for leather goods, shoes and hard accessories. I think what people gained was the exposure to her and the design process from inspiration and concept and taking that to product, Alexander said, hypothesizing on why those who worked under Philo are in such high demand.

Of course, Philo isnt the first designer to spawn a much-in-demand farm team.

Some designers are particularly good at cultivating talent, such as Ralph Lauren, who has trained Todd Snyder, Vera Wang, John Varvatos, Tory Burch and Thom Browne, to name a few. In Paris, Natacha Ramsay-Levi of Chloe and Julien Dossena of Paco Rabanne are creative offspring of Nicolas Ghesquiere, the critically acclaimed designer at Louis Vuitton (and former Balenciaga maestro).

But, right now, Philo is a subject of intense fascination, and hiring one of her acolytes can give a brand immediate buzz. I dont know that over the last 10 years people have been saying, Well, whats Bottega going to do? said Emily Levine, vice president of Career Group Companies, a high-end recruitment firm. Now they are. With Celine on your resume, she said, potential employers are immediately interested. Anybody would want somebody who received training from Phoebe Philo, she said. Why wouldnt they?

Peter Do had his first collection picked up by the online luxury retailer Net-a-Porter, a rarity for a new designer. (Montis Songsombat)

For newer names on the design team, this experience can be a priceless endorsement. Hwang launched his line in 2016 and went on to win the LVMH Prize last year, which includes a 150,000 euro grant and a year of mentoring from the conglomerate. We were seduced by Hwangs designs, by his feminine, sensuous and empowering creations and by his command of complex pattern-making, said Delphine Arnault, executive vice president of Louis Vuitton and founder of the LVMH Prize.

If designers end up having experience working at Celine under Phoebe, it is certainly a plus, said Elizabeth von der Goltz, global buying director at Net-a-Porter, an early supporter of both Rokh and Do. But [it] doesnt necessarily make or break our decision to bring them on board.

She and her team cant put too much weight on a designers Celine credentials because they cant assume that customers will necessarily know their background, especially new names or at labels like Bottega Veneta, which have relied on the power of the brand name, not the designer behind it. (Von der Goltz did say that a spring assortment of leather pouches from Bottega is already performing extremely well.) After all, tying too much to a single designer can have its risks, especially in todays environment, where creative directors churn through brands at an alarming rate. Or, like Philo, they might one day just, poof, disappear.

Today different brands tell us they have a Celine alum on their design team, and when we hear this we are intrigued to see what the brand is going to be presenting, Von der Goltz said. It certainly piques our interest and for some it can be used as a stamp of approval.

Another fashion executive intrigued by Lees appointment is Ramya Giangola, owner of the luxury consultancy firm Gogoluxe. I was excited to hear about Daniels appointment at Bottega Veneta, of course, like most people, Giangola said. It did help to see the brand in a new way, although I had a lot of respect for Tomas Maier and the world he created as well. I havent bought anything yet, but I do believe it can become a brand that I can wear. Im excited to see what Daniel has in store.

Giangola is also keeping tabs on Rokh and Do. They are both super strong young designers, she said.

Phoebe Philo in 2003, when she was the designer at Chloe, and just beginning to make a name for herself in the fashion world. (Michel Euler / AP)

Like any industry, where youve worked before is part of what can capture a potential employers attention. But in fashion, where the alchemical ingredients of success can be hard to define  the marriage of creativity and commercialism  spending time with a designer of Philos caliber is especially enticing. Alexander says that people who found success as a team member at Celine had certain characteristics and skill sets in common.

A lot of people on Phoebes team bring an unduplicated point of- view, he said. They have a deep and intellectual appreciation of design and interpreting that to a different brand that theyre working for.

Lees first runway collection debuted last month  quilted biker leathers, chunky boots, quirky knitwear and clunky yet alluring silhouettes  which intrigued store buyers and consumers (Vogue Business said buyers from Matches Fashion, Ssense, and Harrods would be picking up the line). Like what Daniel put on the runway or not, it got peoples attention and started a conversation there, Alexander said. Thats very difficult to do because the market is so crowded.

I think Bottega is that next a-ha brand that now people are going to be chasing, Levine said. People are watching it more closely now. Thus the bet on Lee is already working. That has sort of sparked a revival of the brand in its own right, and then people wanting to work there.
California is home to about one out of every five charter schools in the United States, but state oversight of them is far from a national model.

Since the Charter Schools Act of 1992 was passed more than a quarter-century ago, a political standoff in Sacramento has made it almost impossible to repair even the parts of the charter law that no one disputes are broken.

Even though Democrats have a firm grip on the Legislature, they are not united on charter schools. Torn between allegiances to pro-charter philanthropists and the powerful teachers union, lawmakers have for years begun each legislative session by introducing a handful of bills favorable to one side or the other. Many have died in committee. Those that have made it to a governors desk often have been vetoed.

With the arrival of Gov. Gavin Newsom, there are signs that the gridlock is ending.

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Part 1: How a couple worked charter school regulations to make millions

Part 2: Small districts reap big profits by approving charter schools with little oversight

Shortly after he was sworn in, Newsom instructed lawmakers to fast-track charter legislation that politicians had been arguing over for years. The law he signed earlier this month makes charter schools subject to the same public records, open meeting and conflict-of-interest laws that apply to traditional public schools.

Leadership matters. Who is at the top matters, said state Sen. Connie Leyva (D- Chino), who chairs the Senate Education Committee. We have a new governor who is interested in transparency, hes interested in these issues and he wanted to make it happen.

How far Newsom will go to tighten regulation of charters remains to be seen, however  and theres reason to be cautious in predicting legislative support.

For 27 years, the teachers union and pro-charter advocates have been fighting a custody battle over Californias public schoolchildren and the state funding that follows them.

Although the California Teachers Assn. and the California Charter Schools Assn. insist that they are willing to negotiate with each other, there has been scant evidence of cooperation. Both organizations have spent millions to sway public opinion far beyond Sacramento. In charter-packed L.A. and Oakland, school board elections have become proxy wars.

The result mostly has been policy paralysis. With the exception of a few tweaks around the edges, charters regulatory framework has remained frozen in amber  a reflection of ideas that made sense more than two decades ago, when the schools were new and rare.

The two sides have rejected even each others most modest suggestions for change. At times, each has pushed aggressive measures wholly unacceptable to the other when compromise might have been possible.

Neither has fought for the kind of change that experts say could be most meaningful  stronger regulations that are already in place in many other states.

Theres been almost no political action to think about how we can do this better, said UCLA education professor John Rogers.

Of the 44 states that have charter school laws on the books, at least half have enacted quality control measures that dont exist in California, according to a recent analysis by Harvard University researchers.

Many states hold authorizers to a set of performance standards. Some sanction authorizers or dont let them approve new schools if they are negligent, sponsor charters with poor track records or try to block every applicant.

Six states and Washington, D.C., have created independent chartering boards on the theory that forcing state education agencies to act as authorizers distracts them from their main jobs and often leads to weak oversight.

The good news, and frustrating news, is we know how to do this. You can go to places and see good authorizing. Its not like were trying to put a person on Saturn, said Greg Richmond, president and CEO of the National Assn. of Charter School Authorizers, citing New York, Washington and Boston as examples of success.

As the founder of a nonprofit that helps launch new charter schools, Dirk Tillotson knows the problems with Californias charter law.

Tillotson has spent more than 20 years bouncing between Oakland and New York City, where he helped open 17 charter schools. Both cities have experienced astonishing charter booms, which have been followed by backlashes led by progressives alarmed by the influence of ultra-wealthy charter school backers.

Dirk Tillotson, founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit Great Schools Choices, has helped open charter schools in Oakland and New York City. He says New York has a stable system for authorizing schools whereas the politics in California are unpredictable. (Mason Trinca / For The Times)

New York, Tillotson said, is a far better place to open a charter school, and not just because state funding is more generous.

Rather than deputizing every school district to approve, deny and supervise charters, New York reserves that job primarily for the State Board of Regents and the State University of New York Board of Trustees. Though neither of the institutions can claim to be completely impervious to shifting political winds, they have developed expertise, consistent methods and scale.

New York is much better than here because theres predictability, Tillotson said. Theres a set of standards that are relatively equally applied across the board.... But in California, the politics of it make it a crapshoot. Here, its the Wild West.

Over the years, study after study has come to a similar conclusion  that Californias system of charter authorizers needs an overhaul.

Fifteen years ago, in 2004, the Legislative Analysts Office called for the Legislature to build checks and balances into the process by creating basic criteria for authorizers and empowering the state to bar those that failed to meet those standards from future charter supervision.

In 2010, the nonpartisan Little Hoover Commission called the system dysfunctional and urged lawmakers to assign charter-oversight duties to an independent state commission.

In 2016, the National Assn. of Charter School Authorizers, in a report on Californias law, said that the state allowed far too many authorizing bodies.

There are some advantages to local oversight, including direct familiarity with student needs and relationships with social services, the association said. But the current policy has produced a crazy quilt of charter oversight characterized by extreme variances in authorizing attitudes, practices, and quality from one district to the next.

Neither the states labor unions nor charter proponents have been eager to embrace  and push legislators to embrace  the prescriptions for how to solve these well-documented problems.

Teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School district rally during their strike in January. Attempts to change California charter school policy often fall into a debate between teachers unions and wealthy charter school benefactors. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The problem is that making changes requires those who have certain powers and freedoms to be willing to give them up.

The California Teachers Assn. has opposed the rapid expansion of charter schools, which are mostly not unionized. But if those schools keep multiplying, then the union would prefer keeping regulatory authority at the local level, where the association has been able to forge relationships with and help elect school board leaders.

As a result, the teachers union has become a defender of local control, arguing that school districts are the best gatekeepers of charter schools and that they need more power to make decisions, not less.

We believe that charter schools should be authorized by local school boards. Those are the ones accountable to the voters, said California Teachers Assn. President Eric Heins. To those who argue that local control leads to inconsistent regulation, Heins says: Its like saying democracy is chaotic. Well yeah, but democracy is the best system we have.

The argument for local control resonates in districts like Oakland, where about 26% of the 50,000 students enrolled in charter schools last year, and Inglewood, where 29% did. Students leaving their local schools for charters have helped push those already financially struggling districts to the brink of fiscal crisis, and have led to calls for a moratorium on new charters. Without such a step, supporters say, the districts will never recover financially or academically.

Lawmakers aligned with the union have repeatedly proposed legislation to allow districts to reject charters if they pose a financial hardship to traditional public schools. They also have argued for reducing appeals, giving districts final say on most charter petitions.

Many charter supporters, however, say that a system that allows school districts to authorize charter schools is like putting the taxi industry in charge of regulating Uber and Lyft. Because school districts view charter schools as competition, they argue, they have an inherent conflict of interest.

There was supposed to be a dynamic tension, and a certain amount of it is healthy and good, said Myrna Castrejon, president and CEO of the California Charter Schools Assn. But often in a highly politicized environment, without clear guardrails, it can really easily devolve.

Some in the pro-charter movement suggest that it would be better to create a system that left charter authorization decisions to county boards, which are not direct competitors. But others counter that charter school proponents would then just try to stack the county boards of education with pro-charter people.

Former state Sen. Gary Hart, the author of the original charter school law, said in an interview that after the 1992 law passed, he quickly realized that it was wrong to assume that school board members would have the time and inclination to monitor charter schools properly. He still believes that districts should play a role but now tends to think that California needs authorizers insulated from day-to-day politics.

If I had to do it all over again, Im not sure granting chartering authority to school boards makes a lot of sense, he said. It was a little bit of a pipe dream.

Hundreds of charter supporters turn out to protest as Los Angeles Unified School District board members consider a resolution in January calling on state officials to support a moratorium on new charter schools in Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Newsom was not many charter advocates favorite candidate for governor.

Though he was supportive of charter schools as mayor of San Francisco, he did not share Gov. Browns personal connection as a former charter school founder. On the campaign trail, Newsom was endorsed by the California Teachers Assn. and called for a moratorium on new charters. Also, charter supporters spent $23 million in the gubernatorial primary to try to elect former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

But Newsoms election isnt the only reason those who want to change the charter law now see opportunity.

Hed been in office just about a week when L.A. teachers staged their first strike in 30 years.

In the national spotlight, they called for higher pay, smaller class sizes, more funding for public education. They also spoke out forcefully about charters  schooling the public about the financial consequences when charter schools woo away traditional public school students and the funding that goes with them.

The teachers union asked for a cap on new charters. It asked for tougher regulation.

After the strike ended, the L.A. school board voted to call for a temporary moratorium on new charter schools in the district while it studies their effects on traditional schools.

The next month, striking Oakland teachers won a pledge from their district to put opening new charters on pause.

Even if Newsoms preference might have been to push off charter school issues in favor of other projects, Rogers said, he doesnt have the luxury of not attending to it because of the political dynamics.

Charter advocates know theyre on shaky ground. They have tried to ally themselves with striking teachers calls for more public school funding, while rejecting the premise that charters contribute to district schools money woes.

Meanwhile, a package of union-friendly bills that would cap charter school growth, restrict charters right to appeal and allow districts more latitude to reject their petitions has been introduced in the statehouse. Other proposed legislation would bar charters from opening schools outside their authorizing districts.

These combined proposals would have the effect of concentrating power in the hands of school districts. Castrejon claimed they would force the closure of the majority of charter schools within five years. To me, that seems like their end goal, she said.

California lawmakers could, of course, remain paralyzed, trapped between opposing sides, fearful of incurring either the unions or the charter backers wrath.

The system could default to doing what it has done in the past: addressing peripheral issues and leaving the core problems in the charter law unresolved.

Last summer, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson convened a panel of experts to consider ways to improve the law. The group disbanded without agreeing on a set of recommendations.

Newsom has requested a new task force to study the fiscal impact of charter schools on school districts. Its supposed to report back in July.

anna.phillips@latimes.com

Twitter: @annamphillips
A 92-year-old retired attorney who fatally shot his sleeping son last year after suffering what his lawyer called extreme psychological abuse was placed on probation Thursday.

Richard Landis Peck, a former San Diego deputy city attorney, was ordered into home detention, with a GPS ankle bracelet, as a term of his three-year probation.

He originally was charged with murder but pleaded guilty in February to voluntary manslaughter for killing his son, Robert Robbie Peck, 51, at the Old Town home they shared.

Voluntary manslaughter is defined legally as taking the life of another person in the heat of passion, without malice.

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San Diego County Superior Court Judge Kathleen M. Lewis said she agreed to accept the plea bargain and dismiss the murder charge because of Pecks age, frail health and what he suffered at his sons hands.

The victim was psychologically and emotionally abusive to the defendant over a period of months, Lewis said, adding that Robbie Peck was an extreme alcoholic who threatened his father, kept him isolated from other family members, terrified the housekeeper and neighbors and tried to scare his father into having a second heart attack.

She noted that after his death, Robbie Pecks blood-alcohol level was 0.39%, more than three times the limit at which California drivers are presumed intoxicated.

Richard Peck worked in the San Diego city attorneys office and as a civil litigator at the law firm then known as Procopio Price. It is now called Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch.

Defense attorney Douglas Gilliland said at previous court proceedings that on the evening of the Nov. 14, 2018, shooting, the younger Peck smashed his mostly homebound fathers phone and threatened youll see me again before going to bed.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Shim described the fathers next action as an execution when he walked into his sons bedroom with a shotgun and shot him in the head.

The elder Peck then walked outside and shouted for help, saying hed just shot his son. San Diego police arrested him at his home on Juan Street near Sunset Road.

Outside the proceedings, Shim said the shooting was not self-defense because the elder Peck had other options, including obtaining a restraining order against his son.

Robbie Pecks wife had begun divorce proceedings and locked him out of the house early last year. His father took him in, hoping he would go into alcohol rehab, his lawyer said.

Gilliland said the wife, Annette Peck, filed a civil wrongful-death lawsuit in January against Richard Peck on behalf of herself and her son, seeking tens of millions of dollars for the loss of her husbands love, society and companionship.

Richard Pecks daughter, Marilyn Peck Hall of Georgia, attended her fathers court hearings and said she believes that her father acted in self-defense.

I always thought if you defend your life, you wouldnt go down as a criminal, and thats what theyve done to my dad. Hes a felon, Hall said out of court.

She said that by the night of the shooting, her brother had tormented their father by keeping him awake for three nights in a row. She also said that her father had called authorities several times to report his sons abuse but that police declined to get involved in what they termed a family problem.

I feel like law enforcement really let us down, Hall said. She said that she is trying to get in-home help for her father and that he will be looking at moving into an assisted-living facility.

Repard writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
An Irvine police officer pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he beat a man at his girlfriends Torrance home last summer, authorities said.

Paul Gebert, 33, was charged with one felony count each of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury and of battery with serious bodily injury, the Los Angeles County district attorneys office said.

Gebert was off-duty on July 8 when he showed up at his girlfriends home, saw a friend of hers on a couch and started beating the man, prosecutors said.

The man suffered serious injuries, prosecutors said.

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Gebert faces up to seven years in state prison if he is convicted of all charges.

The Irvine Police Department put Gebert on leave July 10, and he has been under personnel investigation since then, spokeswoman Kim Mohr said.

javier.panzar@latimes.com

@jpanzar
As lawyers for Jennifer Francis began building their retaliation case against the Los Angeles Police Department, the first person they wanted to depose was the department psychologist who had evaluated their clients mental health.

They were told by the city in late 2015 that Dorothy Tucker was dead.

But she wasnt.

The attorneys learned  by chance, about a year later  that Tucker was still alive. Francis had stumbled upon an obituary in which Tucker was listed as a surviving relative.

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They hid the witness from us, said John Taylor, an attorney representing Francis. Its crazy. Because whats the inference? That the persons got that much damaging information.

The city declined to comment Thursday on why it said Tucker was dead, but its attorneys argued in court papers that she would have been too ill to testify anyway.

The tangle was revealed in the lead-up to the civil trial, which is now underway, with the judge ruling that the back-and-forth between attorneys about Tuckers whereabouts would not be allowed in as evidence. Tucker eventually died at 79 of Alzheimers and other health problems in late 2017, about two years after Francis attorneys first tried to reach her.

Francis, a criminalist who helped solve a brutal 1986 murder carried out by an LAPD cop, alleged that after she raised concerns of a cover-up, she faced retaliation that included being forced into sessions with Tucker on a bogus claim that she slept with a gun under her pillow.

Taylor said Tuckers account would have strengthened Francis testimony about why she was ordered into the sessions and raised questions about the credibility of her supervisors who have said they did not report that she slept while armed.

It wouldve been devastating to the city if she were to come into court and say, This woman came to me and there was absolutely nothing that required her to come and see me, Taylor said.

The city has argued that the mental health referral didnt hurt Francis career  she was not demoted or denied pay, but in fact was recognized for her work.

Francis involvement in the murder case dates back to 2004, when she was a new DNA analyst in the LAPDs crime lab. She discovered early the next year that DNA from a bite mark on the victims arm belonged to a woman and questioned the theory that the brutal slaying was the work of a two male burglars.

Francis said the cold case investigator at the time shut her down, insisting it was a male-female burglary team. The case stalled for four years until it wound up on the desk of a homicide investigator in Van Nuys who found out the killer was an LAPD detective.

After Det. Stephanie Lazarus arrest, Francis raised concerns about why the case wasnt solved earlier. She said the cold case investigator knew the detective was a former girlfriend of the victims husband.

Lazarus was convicted of first-degree murder in 2012 and sentenced to 27 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Francis filed her lawsuit in 2013, and about two years later, her attorneys began setting up depositions with city employees. Thats when they were told by email that Tucker was dead.

So, that deposition cant go forward, Deputy City Atty. Daniel Aguilera wrote in December 2015.

Aguilera declined to comment Wednesday when reached by phone.

After Francis came across the obituary of Tuckers sibling, her attorneys hired a private investigator to find the psychologist.

With a subpoena, the investigator showed up at her home in February 2017  her husband said she was out shopping for the day. The private investigator returned the next day, when another man answered the door and said Tucker was ill.

Then he heard a womans voice from inside: Tell him I talked to Tim Lye at Legal Affairs and he said he would have the subpoena pulled back and I dont have to take it, the voice said, the investigator wrote in a sworn statement.

In May, city attorneys turned over a doctors note that was dated more than a year earlier in which a Kaiser physician said Tucker had Alzheimers disease. She is cognitively impaired and not able to be deposed, the doctor wrote in March 2017.

The citys attorneys said in court papers it was simply not reasonable to assume that Tucker would have been competent enough to sit for a deposition in January 2016.

The simple sad fact is that Dr. Tucker was not well, they wrote. Rather, she was seriously ill with the Alzheimers disease that would ultimately claim her life.

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek
Two years ago the city of Oroville stood in awe as millions of gallons of water eroded the main spillway of the nations largest dam, sending a deluge of water cascading down a hillside and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate.

Now that the bulk of the repairs on Oroville Dam have been completed, its concrete spillway could face its first major test as early as next week. Officials predict they might need to open the gates to move water that accumulated during the wet winter season from the reservoir down into the Feather River.

The reservoir, a key stockpile of Californias water supply, has risen significantly following several storms in the past month and is currently at 845 feet. That is still more than 50 feet below the top of the lake, but it is near the level where some water should be released to maintain capacity for future runoff from storms and, eventually, melting snow from the Sierra Nevada.

You want to keep the lake rising slowly, said Erin Mellon, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Water Resources. What youre balancing is water supply with flood protection. What you dont want to do is have the lake totally full and then have a really wet system come through. Californias weather is so variable and so unpredictable that we have to plan for all of these different scenarios.

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With a rainstorm set to arrive in Butte County on Thursday thats expected to drop up to an inch of precipitation, and another storm on the horizon, officials predict water releases could begin as early as next week. Mellon said the agency will give the public at least a days notice before using the spillway.

The area surrounding the reservoir has received nearly 37 inches of rain since October, pushing the region to 150% of normal for the water year, according to the National Weather Service. The water year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

To prepare for the spillways use, water officials are removing construction equipment from the area and taking out a temporary road below the spillway. They also plan to install temporary cameras and lights along the spillway for observation when water begins to flow down the chute.

Officials are confident the newly reinforced infrastructure will work as intended when the time comes.

Weve used all the best available science and data and engineering practices of the day, Mellon said.

The massive spillway reconstruction effort, which cost more than $1 billion, required pouring more than 1.2 million cubic yards of concrete  enough to fill 372 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The main spillway alone contains enough concrete to build a sidewalk from Oroville to Amarillo, Texas.

Amy Rechenmacher, an associate professor of engineering practice at USC, said the spillways use is going to be a big test for the agency and engineers who worked on the project.

Hopefully they did a good job with the redesign and itll work and everybody will be happy, she said. If it doesnt, I think that will be a wake-up call and everybody will review their spillways to see what needs to be done.

The reconstructed spillway can handle water flowing at a rate of 270,000 cubic feet per second, which Mellon said is much greater than the amount officials would ever expect to release at a time.

Water was flowing at a rate of 50,000 cubic feet per second when the spillway began disintegrating on Feb. 7, 2017, after a deluge in the Feather River watershed filled the 50-year-old reservoir and forced operators to open the spillway gates.

When the main spillway failed, an adjacent emergency spillway that at the time was nothing more than an earthen hill was used. The hillside quickly eroded, which forced 188,000 people downriver in Butte County to flee out of concern the concrete lip of the dam would fail and send a 30-foot wall of water down the Feather River into the community.

An analysis of the cause behind the main spillways failure pointed to a series of questionable decisions during construction, including relying on relatively thin layers of concrete around vital joints, poor drainage for water that seeped into the chute and weak reinforcements.

The investigation found that the rock base under the spillway was less stable than designers thought, which was made clear when the water scoured deep bowls into the hillside after the concrete was washed away.

A report released in January 2018 by an independent forensic team organized by the Assn. of State Dam Safety Officials contended that the dams owner, the Department of Water Resources, was significantly overconfident and complacent about the integrity of its State Water Project civil infrastructure, including dams.

The report found that periodic inspections of the spillway failed to identify the original design flaws and the subsequent deterioration of the spillways integrity.

Butte County Dist. Atty. Mike Ramsey, whose office is suing the Department of Water Resources over alleged damage to the river stemming from the 2017 incident, said the community feels a modicum of comfort in the fact the spillway has been reconstructed.

Theres still some concern in the back of everyones minds after all thats come out in the last couple of years, Ramsey said.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @Hannahnfry
Investigators reviewing the case of Caren Carl Mandoyan, the Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy fired for misconduct only to be reinstated recently by Sheriff Alex Villanueva, learned that he was a member of a secret society of deputies known as the Reapers, according to documents reviewed by The Times.

A woman who accused Mandoyan of abuse told investigators she saw the groups tattoo on Mandoyans inner left ankle: a Grim Reaper holding a scythe next to the name of his Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department station, branded with the number 98.

She said he warned her that because of his membership with the Reapers, he had influential friends who could ruin careers in the department.

Mandoyan has become the focus of an intense legal battle between the county Board of Supervisors and Villanueva, who recently reinstated Mandoyan two years after the deputy was fired in connection with the womans claims of domestic abuse, stalking and harassment.

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The details are included in thousands of pages of documents from Mandoyans case obtained by The Times under a landmark police transparency law. The records include videos that showed Mandoyan attempting to break into the womans home, which on Thursday sparked outrage from Los Angeles County supervisors who said the sheriff should rescind the decision.

The files do not indicate that Mandoyans admission about the tattoo factored into his firing.

Mandoyans attorney, Greg Smith, said any claims his client was involved in violence are absolute rubbish and that the deputy hasnt been a member of the Reapers for years. Smith has also said his client did not abuse the woman, a former deputy with whom Mandoyan was previously in a romantic relationship.

The new details of Mandoyans Reaper tattoo have merged two of the Sheriffs Departments most heated controversies: Watchdogs and members of the countys governing board have lambasted Villanueva over reinstating Mandoyan while heightening calls to root out the agencys subculture of tattooed deputy cliques that have long been accused of severe hazing, fights and violence against the communities they serve.

Mandoyan admitted to having a Reaper tattoo associated with the South L.A. station, according to his July 14, 2016, internal affairs interview contained in 2,000 pages of documents that were released Wednesday by the county Civil Service Commission.

The revelation comes days after Villanueva was grilled by members of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission over his handling of members of tattooed deputy groups who engage in misconduct.

Villanueva told commissioners on Tuesday that he replaced the captain of the East Los Angeles station and transferred several others in response to an off-duty fight that broke out involving members of the Banditos deputy clique in September.

Earlier this month, several deputies filed a claim against the county tied to that incident, alleging harassment and beatings by some of the Banditos.

Villanueva and his newly appointed undersheriff, Tim Murakami, also said Tuesday that department officials are actively discouraging new deputies from getting station-related tattoos because of their negative associations over the years. A Times review found more than $7 million in county payouts over the last decade in lawsuits claiming excessive force by deputies known to have matching tattoos as well as to settle a case alleging harassment by an inked deputy gang.

But some watchdogs say news of Mandoyans association with the Reapers deepens their concerns about the departments attitude toward secret societies and its commitment to investigating them.

I am troubled by the fact that Mandoyan identified the fact that he has a Reaper tattoo on his ankle and seemed to make light of the fact that it is merely a station tattoo for South L.A., said Lael Rubin, a member of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission who is part of the groups ad hoc committee on secretive cliques.

We all know historically, the Reapers were and are part of a subset of secret groups that have created havoc among themselves and out in the community, though thats not to indict all of them, said Rubin, a former prosecutor. She said the idea of Mandoyans tattoo raises the specter of what his behavior was like.

Several members of deputy cliques have said they promote morale, not violence, and that some rogue officers have maligned the purpose of the groups.

Sean Kennedy, a Loyola Law School professor and member of the oversight commission, said Mandoyans reported comments that being a Reaper made him influential suggest a link between deputy gang tattoos and threats of violence or other inappropriate conduct.

How does a skull dressed as the Grim Reaper reflect high morale or pride in ones work? The tattoos are menacing for a reason. They are meant to intimidate everybody outside the deputy gang, Kennedy said.

The Sheriffs Department, in conjunction with the offices of inspector general and county counsel, has been in the process of putting together a study of deputy cliques for two years. The review has still not begun because the county has not yet hired an independent contractor to conduct the probe, Elizabeth Miller of the county counsels office said at the oversight commission meeting Tuesday.

But when commissioners pressed Villanueva about whether he is investigating tattoos and clique affiliation among members of his own command staff, he said it would be entirely inappropriate to do so because its a private matter.

I am wholly confident that anyone whos in my staff right now, whether they have the tattoo or not, has not done anything to indicate theres any type of behavior associated with it that would be detrimental to the organization or the community, Villanueva said.

The Sheriffs Department did not directly respond to questions about Mandoyans clique affiliation Thursday. A statement sent by department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said that the Mandoyan matter will be decided in court and that the sheriff is focused on running the agency and promoting public safety.

In an application for a temporary restraining order and in statements she made to law enforcement officials, Mandoyans ex-girlfriend said he grabbed her by the back of her neck and squeezed it for as long as 30 seconds. She tried to hide from Mandoyan in her bathroom but he kicked in the door and broke it, she claimed.

Videos released Wednesday show Mandoyan using a metal tool to try to pry open the womans sliding glass door. In another instance, he is seen opening her bathroom window from the outside. The Sheriffs Department determined Mandoyan repeatedly lied to internal affairs investigators by claiming he never tried to break into the womans home  statements that were contradicted by the video footage.

I was saddened to see the video, which was a disturbing representation of what domestic violence survivors experience, Supervisor Hilda Solis said. In order to build trust with those who have lived through domestic violence, it is my hope that the sheriff reconsiders his decision to reinstate the deputy in question.

Smith, Mandoyans attorney, said the pair lived together and that his clients behavior on the patio was to get the womans attention because she locked him out of the apartment.

Mandoyans case has become a major issue for Villanueva since The Times revealed that the sheriff reinstated the deputy shortly after taking office. The move set off an unprecedented legal battle between the sheriff and the Board of Supervisors, which went to court to try to stop Villanueva from reinstating Mandoyan.

Mandoyan served as a volunteer on Villanuevas election campaign, though the sheriff denies engaging in a quid pro quo with the deputy.
The federal government Thursday added to the pile of lawsuits challenging new state requirements to boost river flows in order to help struggling fish populations.

The U.S. Department of the Interior, which manages Californias largest irrigation supply project, argues that the flow standards will interfere with its operation of the New Melones Dam and reservoir on the Stanislaus River.

The federal complaint, filed in both state and federal court, is the 11th lawsuit launched against the State Water Resources Control Board since it voted in December to require greater flows in the Stanislaus and two other tributaries of the San Joaquin River.

Like the other lawsuits, the new Interior complaint argues that the board did not adequately analyze effects of the new rules under the California Environmental Quality Act.

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The environmental analysis by the California State Water Resources Control Board hid the true impacts of their plan and could put substantial operational constraints on the Department of the Interiors ability to effectively operate the New Melones Dam, which plays a critical role in flood control, irrigation, and power generation in the Sacramento region, Assistant U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeffrey Bossert Clark said in a statement.

State water board attorneys said they could not comment on the litigation.

How California is defying Trumps environmental rollbacks 

Nearly a dozen lawsuits have been filed by groups on all sides. Conservation groups argue that the standards arent strong enough, while users of river water say they will force draconian cuts to their supplies.

The litigation was expected because the new state standards represent an unprecedented move to reduce river use by San Francisco and some of the oldest farm irrigation districts in California.

Indeed, opponents argued last year that if the board adopted stronger flow requirements, it would start a years-long legal war.

To avert that, state officials are trying to negotiate settlements that would relax the flow requirements if water users agree to significant habitat restoration that would increase salmon populations.

The Interior lawsuit marks another skirmish in the ongoing battle between California and the Trump administration over environmental regulations.

In a separate matter, the water board is expected to vote next week on rules that would strengthen state protections for wetlands and seasonal streams that will lose federal protections under a rollback of the Clean Water Act.

bettina.boxall@latimes.com

Twitter: @boxall
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Guo Shengkun, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Nikolay Snopkov, deputy director of the Belarusian presidential office, in Beijing on Thursday.

The China-Belarus comprehensive strategic partnership featuring mutual trust and win-win cooperation has yielded fruitful outcomes under the guidance of the heads of state of the two countries, said Guo, who is also head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese chairman of the China-Belarus Intergovernmental Committee of Cooperation.

The two sides should maintain the efficient operation of the intergovernmental committee of cooperation and advance cooperation in various areas including trade, science and technology, people-to-people and cultural exchanges and law enforcement, within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Guo noted.

Snopkov, also Belarusian chairman of the intergovernmental committee, echoed Guo by saying Belarus will spare no effort in pushing forward bilateral cooperation.
A French pilot remembered as a hero for his actions in the hijacking of an Air France plane to Ugandas Entebbe airport in 1976 died Tuesday at 95.

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said in a statement that Michel Bacos died in the southern French city.

Bacos was awarded the Legion of Honor, Frances highest decoration, for refusing to leave the planes passengers after the plane was hijacked and grounded.

By refusing with bravery to quit in the face of anti-Semitism and barbary, he honored France, Estrosi said.

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The Tel Aviv-Paris flight was hijacked on June 27, 1976, by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a German radical group. The hijackers released 148 non-Israeli passengers after the plane landed in Uganda. Bacos remained with the hostages despite offers of release.

The seven pro-Palestinian hijackers held some 110 Jewish and Israeli hostages in the airport terminal for nearly a week before Israeli commandos led by Yonatan Netanyahu, the older brother of Israels current prime minister, freed them.

The commandos flew over 2,500 miles from Israel to Uganda to attempt the daring operation. Yonatan Netanyahu was the sole Israeli military casualty in the raid on Entebbe. Three Israeli hostages were killed along with all seven of the hijackers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Bacos as the hero captain of the hijacked Air France flight on Twitter: I bow my head in his memory and salute Michels heroism.

Benny Davidson, one of the former Israeli hostages, remembered Bacos as a dear man and a great hero.

Davidson, who was 13 at the time of the hijacking, wrote on Facebook that Bacos taught us a lesson in leadership, responsibility and exemplarity.
As far as Yoav Levy is concerned, the Golan Heights are Israeli and forever shall be. But that doesnt mean Levy is applauding President Trumps decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the land seized from Syria 52 years ago.

This will wake up the bear, said Levy, a vintner who produces $40 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon on his Golan collective farm, Moshav Kidmat Zvi. And for what?

It is provocative, agreed his companion Yael Pudik.

Many of the estimated 25,000 Israeli Jews who settled in the Golan Heights  as well as some of the roughly same number of Druze Arabs living there  concur that the lush hills, tented date farms and sizable agricultural production here are better off in Israeli hands.

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For one, who would the land be returned to? A Syria devastated and reeling from civil war? Syrian President Bashar Assad, a pariah in much of the world?

What makes them nervous, however, was Trumps announcement, first on Twitter and then at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, declaring the Golan Heights to be Israeli.

Levy and Pudik noted that the 100-mile border between northeast Israel and southwest Syria has remained remarkably peaceful, despite the official rancor between the two nations. And for several years, the Israeli army has helped Syrian refugees by trucking in food and building and staffing a hospital in the demilitarized no-mans zone between the two countries.

Why spoil that? asked Levy, 61, an Israeli-born son of Syrian immigrants. His Bazelet HaGolan winery produces 85,000 bottles a year that win favorable reviews.

Yoav Levy, left, and Yael Pudik at the Bazelet HaGolan winery in the Golan Heights. Levy wants the Golan to remain in Israeli hands. (Tracy Wilkinson / Los Angeles Times)

Trump and Netanyahu said declaring Israeli sovereignty, which is illegal under international law and not recognized by most of the world, would make the Golan Heights a more secure bulwark against Lebanese militants who have made inroads into Syria, with Irans help.

Many Israelis, along with former U.S. diplomats, believe the real reason is the April 9 Israeli election. Netanyahu, who faces possible indictment on corruption charges, is fighting one of the toughest reelection battles of his long political career. Photo ops and smiling declarations with Trump are an asset in Israel.

Apart from a handful of U.S. members of Congress, however, there had been little pressure to weigh in on the issue of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Because settling land captured by an act of war is considered illegal under the Geneva Convention, the U.S. declaration was condemned by Russia and most of Europe, among others.

Israel views the region  often used as a launching pad for rockets  as vital to its security. That said, past Israeli governments have negotiated to give it back in return for security assurances or normalization of relations with Syria.

But after several attempts at Israeli-Syrian negotiations fell apart, Israelis began to feel increasingly entrenched in a land of yellow mustard flowers and snow-capped mountains.

Its like living in Napa, said another vintner, Los Angeles-born Tal Pelter, who was raised in Israel and settled in the Golan about 15 years ago.

In addition to serving as a security buffer against Syria, it has become the breadbasket of the nation. Abutting the Sea of Galilee, Israels largest supply of fresh water, the Golan is encrusted in volcanic basalt rock that helps make the soil rich enough for vintners to curate dozens of wineries producing world-class wine. Apple orchards, banana plants, dairy cows, mineral springs and kibbutzim dot the fertile plateau.

The Golans Druze residents were living in Syria when Israel seized controlof the region during the 1967 Six-Day War, driving thousands to flee. (Israel in effect annexed the territory in 1981.) The Syrian Druze now living under occupation appear divided over whatto do about the Golan Heights, with some differences falling along generational lines.

Older Druze, including many of the religious elders referred to as sheikhs, retain nostalgia for their homeland and want Syria to takecontrol. Several hundred staged a protest rally in the Druze city of Majdal Shams after the Trump announcement.

The Golan is Syrian, and not because of anything Trump says, said Sheikh Ramez Rabah, who tends honeybees but complains Israel has restricted his ability to build. I love my country, even when difficult.

Younger Druze, who have known nothing but life under Israeli occupation, do not necessarily long for a return to Syria.

Dolan Abu Saleh, the twice-elected mayor of Majdal Shams, said Syrias civil war and the destruction that followed eliminated the option of going back to the ancestral homeland.

No doubt that Druze and Israelis in the Golan enjoy a level of safety and security that cant be compared to life on the other side, Abu Saleh, 41, said. Each night at dinner, he says he reminds his children that while they are well fed, there are children in Syria with nothing to eat.

Local elections only recently became a feature in the Golan, and many people refused to participate because they see it as an Israeli imposition.

At another boutique winery, this one at the Ein Zivan moshav 3,300 feet above sea level and scarcely a mile from Syria, Pelter, the vintner who made the Napa comparison, runs a cafe serving  what else?  Golan wine he has produced and cheese from his goat flock.

International law would beg to differ, but Pelter said he sees Israeli sovereignty over the Golan as unlike the West Bank, Jerusalem or the Gaza Strip, lands captured by Israel and claimed by Palestinians.

Giving away the Golan would be like giving away Tel Aviv, he said.

Customer Edi Segal, a resident of Herzliya, outside Tel Aviv, chimed in: It would be like [the U.S.] giving Texas or California back to Mexico. I wouldnt give California back.

Levy, the other vintner at Kidmat Zvi, used a similar argument. And he makes no bones about what he sees as his mission in life.

I am a pioneer. I am a Zionist, he said. I cannot separate the two.

When Netanyahu was at the White House for the Golan declaration, he presented as a gift a case of Levys Cabernet Sauvignon.

Trumps Golan decision could have unintended consequences.

Critics say it will leave other Arab states more reluctant to deal with the Trump administration, notably in its pursuit of a peace agreement for Israel and the Palestinians. And the decision is a gift for Assad, a new issue around which to rally his bedraggled nation.

For decades, the Syrian governments routinely strident rhetoric about taking back the Golan belied the stale peace in the area. Before the Syrian civil war, Syrian troops had rarely fired into the Golan Heights in 40 years.

By 2012, when Western-backed Syrian rebels had captured major territory in southern Syria, they became the focus of Israeli overtures, despite Israels official position of staying out of the civil war, receiving supplies and possibly training.

In response, Syrian state media last year began beaming images of what it said were munitions, food and medicine packages labeled in Hebrew; they were shown as proof of the rebels collusion with the Zionist enemy.

Those images were often followed by Assad-ordered interviews of Druze on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, reaffirming their fealty to Assad and the Syrian government.

Times staff writer Nabih Bulos in Beirut and special correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky in the Golan Heights contributed to this report.

Twitter: @TracyKWilkinson
More than a year after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the apparent suicides of two teens who survived the Parkland, Fla., shooting has put the spotlight on the aftermath of trauma, and on how to help those at risk of taking their own lives.

Mental health experts caution that suicides are often the result of a mixture of factors. But the deaths, and that of the father of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., have spurred conversations about trauma, suicide warning signs and prevention.

Dr. David Schonfeld, a pediatrician and director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at USC, says theres a misconception that people who have experienced trauma may only need services for a finite period of time.

That isnt the case, he said. We should hold up the expectation for recovery  and most people do recover  but we have to recognize that everyone would benefit from support and additional services, including clinical interventions.

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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: (800) 273-TALK (8255) 

What can schools do?

Schools need to focus on fostering a welcoming environment where students are not afraid to talk about mental health, experts say. Staff members  not just teachers, but all who might interact with students  should be trained to identify and reach out to those who may be at risk for suicide or depression, they say.

Scott Poland, a professor at Nova Southeastern University in Florida who studies suicide prevention, recommends that staff in all schools, not just the sites of mass shootings, receive an hour of training a year on the warning signs of youth suicide and how to report them within the school system.

Warning signs for suicide can include aggressive or impulsive behavior, increased alcohol use, social withdrawal, dramatic mood swings, reckless behavior, and threats or comments about killing oneself, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Schools should establish ways to anonymously report suicidal statements, add anger management to the curriculum, and create a school safety task force that receives input from mental health experts, Poland said.

Stop saying youll get over it.



You dont get over something that never should have happened because those that die from gun violence are stolen from us not naturally lost.



Trauma and loss dont just go away, you have to learn to live with it through getting support.  David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 24, 2019

Schools across the country should improve their approach to suicide prevention by tightening relationships between teachers and students, said Ron Avi Astor of USC, an expert on school violence.

Its not just the Parkland kids, he said. This is a much larger national issue that we can do better on.

Suicide was the second-leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 34 in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

School staff members should look out for students who may already be vulnerable, such as homeless, LGBTQ, foster or gang-affiliated children, said Astor.

He has studied schools worldwide that are located in high-risk areas but somehow are like oases for students who need mental health support. These schools, he said, have made themselves caring, warm and supportive, so that students know they can receive help.

Its available all the time. Its visible; its around, Astor said. Theres no stigma.

After the Parkland attack

After the shooting at Stoneman Douglas, the school district brought in therapy dogs and counselors for students, said Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa, was killed in the shooting.

Two portable classrooms were set up where students can receive mental health services, said Alhadeff, who now serves on the Broward County School Board. The district also promoted a county resiliency center in Parkland.

But she said school officials and the community could have done a better job of promoting suicide prevention education. Its complicated, she added. Services were available, but we cant force people to get help.

After the recent deaths, a wellness center for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas community opened ahead of schedule. The goal of the center, Eagles Haven, is to help individuals create a plan for managing their lives after traumatic incidents, said Sarah Franco, executive director of Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options, which runs the wellness center.

It could be therapy for someone, a yoga class for someone else, running for someone else, healthy eating, Franco said. We just want to have conversations with people about how to make that happen.

What can parents do?

Polands advice for parents in Parkland: Dont be afraid to talk to your children.

Bring up the fact that there have been suicides, he said. Ask them how they can help themselves or their friend when someone is suicidal. Ask if they know the national crisis helpline number or text number.

In Parkland, after word spread of the second teenagers death last week, parents  including some who lost their children during the massacre  gathered Sunday with community leaders and school officials to discuss what they could do to help students with trauma.

Parents are very upset, very concerned and wanting to seek help for their children, said Alhadeff.

School and community leaders are urging parents to talk with their children each day and are promoting the Columbia Protocol, Alhadeff said. The set of questions created by a Columbia University psychiatry professor aims to help recognize when someone who may be at risk for suicide needs immediate help.

The questions range from Have you wished you were dead or wished you could go to sleep and not wake up? to Have you taken any steps toward making a suicide attempt or preparing to kill yourself (such as collecting pills, getting a gun, giving valuables away, or writing a suicide note)?

Parents need to have conversations as often as necessary, Alhadeff said. Its really engaging your child and making sure theyre not suffering in silence.

Conversations, she said, do not have to take the form of interrogating kids about suicide. Its not just asking those six questions about suicide, but communicating with your child and knowing whats going on in their life.

Some Parkland parents said in interviews that they didnt want to ask their teens questions about suicide for fear of turning them off. Others said they feared they would be putting ideas about suicide into their childrens heads.

But the National Institute of Mental Health says studies have shown that asking people about suicidal thinking does not bring about such thoughts or actions.

A shared purpose

The activism of many of the Parkland students, who rallied massive crowds at the White House and have continued to press for stricter gun laws, may have helped them cope, said Astor, of USC.

Some of them have gotten very active politically for the memory of their friends, Astor said. Having a social mission and a social purpose and a group that you work with together could be helpful, very helpful, with that survivors guilt issue.

Anything that brings them together, he said, for the memory of the people that were lost.

Times staff writer Jenny Jarvie contributed to this report.
One of President Trumps healthcare initiatives intended as a cheaper alternative to Obamacare suffered a crucial defeat in Washington after a judge ruled the policy violates the Affordable Care Act.

U.S. District Judge John Bates on Thursday blocked new rules governing so-called association health plans, which let businesses and individuals band together to create group plans that offer less expensive coverage than the Affordable Care Act  but without some of its protections.

The ruling is a victory for nearly a dozen Democratic state attorneys general who sued to block the policy last year. The judges findings come as the Trump administration is renewing its effort to unwind Obamacare by declining to defend it in court.

The final rule is clearly an end-run around the ACA, Bates, a 2001 appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, said in the ruling. Indeed, as the president directed, and the secretary of Labor confirmed, the final rule was designed to expand access to AHPs in order to avoid the most stringent requirements of the ACA.

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The final rules governing association health plans were created by the Labor Department to comply with an executive order issued by Trump in October 2017. The agency has been phasing them in since August.

Some plans are already on the market, with offerings from UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Anthem Inc. either available now or on the way.

Bates cited the absurdity of the Labor Departments interpretation of a rule forming the basis of the initiative.

The attorneys general  led by New York and including California as well as the District of Columbia  argued that the new rules violate Affordable Care Act provisions as well as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, commonly known as ERISA.
Californias largest internal body of water is steadily drying up, exposing a lake bed that threatens to trigger toxic dust storms and exacerbate already high levels of asthma and other respiratory diseases in Southern California.

Yet there is something about the Salton Sea that leads many lawmakers to ignore the urgency and put off remediation programs. Its just so far south  off the mental map of officials who represent more densely populated urban areas to the north, like Los Angeles. It is hydrologically unconnected to the Bay Area and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which supplies water for so much of the states agricultural and residential use. It is a disaster in the making, yet it is an afterthought.

That attitude is understandably galling to residents of the adjacent Imperial Valley, who are (for now) the ones most affected by the increasing dust and who have witnessed firsthand the degrading ecological conditions. They have heard officials promise repeatedly to fix this catastrophe by creating wetlands that moisten the exposed bed and sustain an ecosystem that continues to support migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway. They have repeatedly seen those promises broken.

The dimensions of the failure were for many years merely theoretical, but they became real in the winter just past. As the rain and snow washed away drought and at least temporarily diminished environmental problems in the rest of the state, the contraction of the Salton Sea accelerated. Increasing salinity kept the lake from sustaining even the salt-hardy tilapia. The birds failed to appear.

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The Salton Sea is not going away, even if it goes away.

Until recently, lake levels had been sustained by Colorado River water under a 2003 agreement between the Imperial Irrigation District and the San Diego County Water Authority. It was an innovative and responsible arrangement. San Diego would pay for projects (lining earthen canals, for example) to help the Imperial Valley use water more efficiently. The water no longer needed in the valley would be exported to San Diego for residential use. Without excess water flushing through valley farmland, however, the runoff that formerly fed the Salton Sea would taper off, so for 15 years the Imperial Irrigation District would use some of its river water to counter evaporation at the lake. That would buy enough time for the state to develop and fund plans for the wetlands and other measures to keep the dust from blowing.

Or at least, that was the theory. The 15-year program of supplying mitigation water to the lake ended a little more than a year ago, but the state has so far failed to meet its benchmarks for developing wetlands.

This month, as the California Water Resources Board met at the Salton Sea lakeshore to discuss the remediation programs progress, members had to acknowledge that there hasnt been any. None of the promised projects have been completed. The Newsom administration has vowed a new focus on the Salton Sea, and there is reason for hope  but the lake is shrinking rapidly and action must now be accelerated to prevent a public health and environmental disaster.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Irrigation District tried but failed to leverage its massive Colorado River water rights into federal funding for Salton Sea projects.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

A 19-year drought in the Colorado River Basin has been drying up lakes farther upstream that are crucial to the Southern California water supply, including massive Lake Mead. To prevent the water there from dropping too low to operate Hoover Dams hydroelectric generators, California and six other states entered into talks over a drought contingency agreement to cut back their use of river water. The Imperial Irrigation District is the largest holder of river water rights and held out in the hope of winning a $200-million federal commitment for the Salton Sea.

But the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California wanted to move things along and covered Imperials portion, so the drought agreement is proceeding without any funding for the Salton Sea. The Imperial Irrigation District asked members of Congress this week to not allow the drought contingency plan to move forward unless the district is included, and to ensure that federal funding legislation provides money for the Salton Sea, but the district has lost much of its leverage.

That leaves a shrinking lake, lots of broken promises and a looming disaster. Both California and the feds have to do better than this  especially if they want to encourage agreements such as the one that makes Imperial Valley farmers more water-wise while keeping San Diego residents from deep rationing. The Salton Sea is not going away, even if it goes away. It can become a wetland and wildlife preserve, or it can become  if we let it  a health and ecological catastrophe.

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Just a few weeks after horribly bungling a 1st Amendment issue raised by a death penalty case out of Alabama, the Supreme Court made the right call Thursday night in an almost identical case out of Texas.

At issue in both cases were state laws providing for the presence of a religious figure in the death chamber, ostensibly to comfort the condemned (and possibly the executioners as well). In each state, the clerics provided didnt match the religion of the man condemned to death, and the state refused to allow an appropriate member of the clergy into the highly secure chamber. But the justices allowed Alabama to go ahead with its planned execution of Dominique Ray, while halting Texas planned execution of Patrick Henry Murphy.

Whats the difference between the two? The most obvious is the different religions involved  Ray sought to have a Muslim cleric in Alabamas death chamber; Murphy sought the presence of a Buddhist priest in Texas. But I doubt that the justices were the least bit swayed by the flavor of faith involved. Nor do I think the justices, whod been spanked in a blistering dissent by Justice Elena Kagan, were trying to make up for the mistake theyd made in Ray (although George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin makes a good argument on that point).

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

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Instead, I agree with attorneys at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who supported Murphys appeal to the Supreme Court. According to Eric Rassbach (on Twitter) and Luke Goodrich, one distinction that mattered to the justices is the way the two cases were argued. Specifically, Ray emphasized the part of the 1st Amendment that bars the government from making laws respecting an establishment of religion; Murphy stressed the next part, which bars the government from prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

Apparently, the justices are not swayed by the argument (as Kagan eloquently articulated it) that picking clergy of a particular faith (Christian, in Alabamas case) to be present at an inmates last moments, regardless of the inmates beliefs, amounts to an unconstitutional endorsement of a specific religion. But they are moved by Murphys argument that not allowing a Buddhist to have a Buddhist cleric in the death chamber, when Christian and Muslim inmates have that option, prohibits an inmates free exercise of religion. As Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh put it in his concurring opinion, In my view, the Constitution prohibits such denominational discrimination.

In an interview, Goodrich noted that opponents of President Trumps travel ban had also based their challenge on the Establishment clause, only to lose at the Supreme Court. The justices have been much more sympathetic to claims that rely on the Free Exercise clause and the federal statutes that give it teeth, such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.

I am not a lawyer (insert your joke here about my claim to be a journalist), so perhaps I am missing something important here. And as Goodrich noted, The court often is limited by the options presented to it by the parties. But it bothers me that the justices would come to different conclusions on nearly identical facts simply because the attorneys involved emphasized different parts of a sentence in the Bill of Rights.

Alabama has since altered its approach to clergy in the death chamber, so there may no longer be a problem. Yet the fact remains that the justices overturned the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a technicality (allegedly late filing) that they waved off in the Texas case, untroubled by the states decision to pick which faith tradition would be represented in the execution room. It was only when a Texas inmate complained about discriminatory treatment in his religious practice that the justices sat up and took notice.
Seventy years ago next week, President Harry Truman led the United States and 11 other nations in establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a defensive alliance to protect Western Europe against Soviet aggression. Since 1949, NATO has grown to include 29 member countries, becoming the worlds largest peacetime military alliance  and historys most successful, preserving peace in Europe and deterring conflict. For decades, support for NATO has been among the most bipartisan of issues, a unifying force at home and abroad.

But today the alliance faces worrisome challenges.

Earlier this year, I attended the annual Munich Security Conference as part of a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Congress. Although I have attended many such conferences, this years was different. There was palpable concern among key European leaders over two issues facing NATO: the decline of liberal democracy in some European countries and our president, Donald Trump.

The first trend predates Trumps election. Over the past five years, there has been troubling backsliding among some of the younger democracies in the NATO alliance. Hungary is now ruled by the populist autocrat Viktor Orban, who has built increasingly close ties to Vladimir Putins Russia. Poland, too, has taken a concerning turn toward authoritarianism. In Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed ever more expansive powers for himself, while taking the previously unimaginable step of purchasing Russian missile defense systems, which could endanger American pilots.

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The rise of authoritarianism in Europe is exacerbated by the views and actions of President Trump, who seems to cheer democratic backsliding by strong-men.

The combined military might of its members, though formidable, does not alone account for NATOs enduring success. The heart of the alliance  known as Article 5  is the readiness to come to the aid of any member state if it is attacked. The credibility of that deterrent is only as strong as our mutual ties. Shared democratic values  what Truman described as a common heritage of democracy, individual liberty, and rule of law  have bound NATO allies together since the groups founding. But with the spread of autocracy, there is a danger those ties will wither.

The rise of authoritarianism in Europe is exacerbated by the views and actions of President Trump, who seems to cheer democratic backsliding by strong-man leaders, while savagely criticizing our staunchest European allies and the NATO alliance as a whole.

For decades, NATO support has been a unifying force across political lines. But as a candidate and now as president, Trump has reserved some of his most bitter rhetoric for the alliance, calling it obsolete and ridiculously unfair to the U.S., and demanding that delinquent member countries pay up.

The presidents attacks on NATO have been resisted by both parties in Congress, and even within his own administration. Last December, Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis wrote in his resignation letter that our countrys strength is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances. The late Republican Sen, John McCain said that by questioning our obligations under NATO, the president is playing right into Putins hand.

Yet the presidents views on NATO seem unchanged. President Trump is considering demanding that countries pay cost plus 50% for hosting U.S. forces, treating our allies as if they were delinquent borrowers. These attacks take a collective toll. Increasingly, our European allies are concerned there could come a time when the support of the United States could not be assured in the face of an emboldened Russia.

NATO serves as a crucial counterweight to Russia, which in recent years has invaded Crimea and Ukraine and worked to destabilize Western democracies. Trumps searing attacks on the alliance serve Putins strategic interests, since Russia benefits from any division between the U.S. and Europe, real or perceived. His comments undermine our collective security and strengthen our adversaries.

Read More: Republicans use the Mueller report to target California Rep. Adam Schiff 

Absent presidential leadership, Congress is working hard to shore up the most successful alliance in history. In January, the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan NATO Support Act to bar the president from withdrawing the United States from NATO. I was proud to join a recent delegation to NATO and the European Union to reaffirm support for our allies. And perhaps most importantly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invited NATOs secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, to address a joint session of Congress in honor of NATOs 70th anniversary..

If President Trump does not yet understand that NATO is the most successful security alliance in history, Congress does, and we will not allow the president to jeopardize our national security and abandon our democratic allies.

As McCain said, Americans, and their Congress, still believe in the transatlantic alliance, and it is clear that our allies still believe in us as well. The United States, together with our NATO allies, must carry the torch of democracy and human rights at a time when both are increasingly at risk.

Adam Schiff represents Californias 28th Congressional District in the House of Representatives, where he serves as chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Twice in the past half-century, in 1976 and again in 2000, Americans have sought a Redeemer President, someone whose election promised to expunge the sins of his predecessor. Next years election is shaping up as another such.

By the mid-1970s, Americans had grown weary of misrepresentations emanating from the White House. Lyndon B. Johnson had lied to us about Vietnam, and Richard Nixon had lied about, well, pretty much everything. In hindsight, its probably no accident that the electorate turned to a one-term former governor of Georgia who wasnt shy about touting his resume as a Southern Baptist deacon and Sunday school teacher. In the 1976 presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter promised he would never knowingly lie to the American people, a pledge so starkly in contrast to Nixons endless prevarications that it catapulted Carter to the presidency.

In 2000, Americans once again sought a president who could atone for the transgressions of his predecessor, in this case Bill Clinton and the tawdriness of the Monica Lewinsky affair and the shame it brought on the presidency and the nation. Al Gore, the Democratic nominee and Clintons vice president, sought in vain to distance himself from Clintons indiscretions (not least by naming Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Clinton critic and observant Jew, as his running mate). Albeit by a slim  and contested  margin, Americans turned this time to a United Methodist who, like Carter, wore his born again status proudly. George W. Bush, again like Carter, was a family man, and his transformation from too much drinking to the straight and narrow appealed to the electorate.

So far, the two candidates who seem most comfortable employing a moral vocabulary on the campaign trail are Pete Buttigieg and Cory Booker.

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Now, once again, Americans have every reason to look for a leader who can demonstrate that he or she has a moral compass. Donald Trump exemplifies the worst of both previous examples: a documented history of philandering, and lying at a rate that would make even Nixon blush  an average somewhere in the neighborhood of six a day, according to independent sources.

In searching for a Redeemer President, we should remember that religious affiliation is an imperfect proxy for morality; many atheists are paragons of virtue. But religion is typically the shorthand for judging someones moral and ethical fiber, so Im astonished that so few of the many candidates running for the Democratic nomination have made their faith a calling card, thereby offering themselves as the redeemer option this time around.

Yes, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders make a right-versus-wrong argument for economic fairness. They are on the side of goodness, but do we have any indication that there is a personal moral core informing their policies other than their own humble origins?

Warren responded admirably to a question about faith at a CNN town hall, quoting Jesus about caring for the least of these, but declarations like this rarely come up unprompted on the campaign trail. Kamala Harris apparently has fungible views on the death penalty as does Kristen Gillibrand on gun safety. That in itself is no impediment; any intelligent being changes his or her opinions over time. But why arent they talking about the foundational principles that prompted those reconsiderations?

So far, the two candidates who seem most comfortable employing a moral vocabulary on the campaign trail are Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., and Cory Booker, U.S. senator from New Jersey. Bookers apparent coziness with Wall Street and Big Pharma doesnt immediately suggest deep principles  I expect hell have to justify those alliances more than once on the campaign trail  but his grounding in the black church leavens his rhetoric and sets him apart from a field whose language typically veers toward pugilism.

Love means that I see you, I see your worth, I see your dignity, Booker told a rally in Des Moines. There are some days we may not like each other that much, but love says, I see you.

Buttigieg is a gay man and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He is also a person unafraid to talk about faith.

During a recent interview on MSNBCs Morning Joe, Buttigieg declared that he was an active Episcopalian and noted that he and his husband were married at the Cathedral of St. James, an urban faith community in South Bend. Buttigieg said it was time to reclaim faith from the prism of the religious right.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

When host Joe Scarborough interrupted with a question about whether Buttigieg, like Barack Obama, had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior, Buttigieg quickly responded, Yes, but theres so much more to it than litmus-test questions. When God comes among us, he said, you see service, you see humbling, you see foot-washing. Its about servant leadership, he said.

The lesson of Booker and Buttigieg is especially germane to the Democratic Party, which for too long has been allergic to expressions of faith. I think the time has come for more of a religious left to emerge in our country, Buttigieg declared. Too often, he said, religious voices talk about exclusion.

While affirming his strong belief in the 1st Amendment and the separation of church and state, Buttigieg said, I do think its important for candidates to at least have the option to talk about our faith.

Other Democratic candidates might want to avail themselves of that opportunity.

Randall Balmer, a professor at Dartmouth College and an Episcopal priest, is the author of Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter and God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush.

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When President Trump drew international criticism for recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said, We are simply recognizing facts on the ground. After all, Israel has controlled the territory since it was captured from Syria in the 1967 war, annexed it in 1981 and despite the lack of international recognition until now, is unlikely to give it up for security reasons. Trump has applied a similar logic to his recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital: For many years, we failed to acknowledge the obvious, the plain reality that Israels capital is Jerusalem. Israel controls these territories, this logic goes. Why pretend otherwise?

If only it were that simple. To start with, reality has not been the standard this administration has used in crafting its foreign policy positions, and Im not just talking about its frequent lies and distortions. Since late January, the Trump administration has taken the diplomatic position that Juan Guaido is the president of Venezuela, when that is plainly not the case. Nicolas Maduro is a corrupt dictator with no democratic legitimacy, but he is the man in control of Venezuelas government and military, whether or not wed like that to be true.

The Trump administrations approach to questions of sovereignty isnt about facts. Though enforcing U.S. borders has been the defining issue of his presidency, he and his advisors frequently act as if other countries borders are fungible, and Trump has the power to unilaterally redraw them.

Trump has signaled that as far as the U.S. is concerned, the map of the world is open to adjustment and the result is unlikely to be a more stable world.

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Roughly since the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the world has been living through a peaceful quarter-century of what I call cartographical stasis, in which the creation of new countries and changes to existing borders have been relatively rare, along with, not coincidentally, territorial wars. There are a variety of reasons for the stasis, but a crucial one is an international norm that came into effect after World War II: Nations respect each others sovereignty; one country does not annex or claim anothers territory, at least not with impunity.

The United Nations Charter underlines this most directly in Article 2: All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. But the norm is broader than the use of force. Even peaceful succession movements and plans to negotiate the swap of territory are generally frowned upon. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently put it: There are perhaps attempts to talk about borders and we cant do that.

The United States has generally acted as an enforcer of the sovereignty norm. While it has certainly used force against foreign countries on numerous occasions, it has more often been to preserve current national borders  against Iraqi annexation in 1991 or the emergence of Islamic State starting in 2014  than to change them. (The U.S. intervention in the Kosovo war and eventual recognition of that countrys independence is a notable exception.)

The U.S. stance was defined in a 2014 speech by President Obama who, though famously opposed to the 2003 Iraq war, argued that it was more legitimate than Russias annexation of Crimea because, We did not claim or annex Iraqs territory. We did not grab its resources for our own gain.

President Trump, who said throughout his campaign that the U.S. shouldve kept the oil in Iraq, obviously sees things differently. Before his inauguration, Trump suggested he might alter the longstanding One China policy formally recognizing Beijings sovereignty over Taiwan. He later backed down, and then went to the opposite extreme, telling an interviewer Taiwan actually used to be a part of China, a historically dubious claim.

According to the Guardian, former Trump foreign policy advisor Sebastian Gorka once advocated partitioning Libya into three areas based on Ottoman provinces, drawing his proposed new map on a napkin in front of an apoplectic European diplomat.

National security advisor John Bolton has declared the U.S. open to a controversial plan that would see Kosovo and Serbia swap land to resolve their long-running political dispute, going against the recommendations of both Kosovos president and European leaders like Germanys Merkel.

While the U.S. has maintained its non-recognition of Russias claim to Crimea, Trump is at least ambivalent in the matter, telling G7 leaders, according to a report in Buzzfeed, that Crimea is Russian because the majority of its population speaks Russian.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

Jared Kushners much anticipated Middle East peace plan at one point reportedly involved Jordan giving land to the Palestinians and receiving land in exchange from Saudi Arabia, as if these Arab parcels were interchangeable. And now Trump has twice recognized Israeli claims to contested territory, undermining the international consensus that such disputes should be resolved as part of a larger negotiation.

The reason to be concerned about the administrations actions is not that the worlds national borders are ideal. In many regions, boundaries were drawn by colonial powers and contribute to ongoing conflict and instability. But annexations and partitions rarely end in peace. Tragic examples like the breakup of Yugoslavia or carving Pakistan out of India are sadly more common.

It now seems quite plausible that the Russian government, which rarely misses a chance to point out Western hypocrisy, could use Trumps facts on the ground logic to bolster its invasion of Crimea and its occupation of Georgias breakaway regions. China could cite the administrations actions as precedent for its disputed territorial claims over the South China Sea. Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan could be emboldened in their clash over Kashmir.

More broadly, Trump has signaled that as far as the U.S. is concerned, the map of the world is open to adjustment and the result is unlikely to be a more stable world.

Joshua Keating is a senior editor at Slate and the author of Invisible Countries: Journeys to the Edge of Nationhood.

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Internet companies were once the darlings of Capitol Hill, celebrated by lawmakers as examples of American innovation. Its safe to say the honeymoon is over.

Online platforms have been too easily weaponized by cybercriminals, terrorists, harassers, revenge pornographers and foreign adversaries in recent years, and many in Congress have rightly concluded that tech companies have not taken such threats seriously enough.

As a result, Congress is reportedly considering the elimination or scaling back of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which states that, unless one of a few narrow exceptions apply, websites are not legally responsible for user-generated content.

The most important part of Section 230 is only 26 words long, but the law arguably created the internet we know today. An all-out repeal of the provision would have sweeping social consequences.

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Repealing Section 230 would be an overcorrection, one that would fundamentally alter the internet for the worse.

Section 230 was enacted in 1996, but its origins can be traced back to a 1959 U.S. Supreme Court case and, of all things, a Los Angeles bookstore. In 1956, Eleazar Smith, the 72-year-old proprietor of a bookstore that was located on Main Street a few doors down from where the Nickel Diner currently sits, was arrested after a clerk at the store sold a copy of the pulp novel Sweeter Than Life by Mark Tryon, considered obscene under city and state law, to a Los Angeles police officer.

At trial, Smith testified that it took him months to read a single book, and therefore that there was no way he could personally review each of the thousands of books in his store. A local judge disagreed and sentenced Smith to 30 days in jail.

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed Smiths conviction, concluding that California law violated the 1st Amendment because the statute penalized Smith even if he had no reason to know of the obscene book. Smith vs. California resulted in 1st Amendment protections for bookstores, newsstands and other content distributors.

For decades, these protections were not terribly difficult to apply  until the early 1990s, when companies such as CompuServe and Prodigy began connecting their customers computers to the internet.

CompuServe faced a defamation lawsuit over an article it distributed in a newsletter. A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed the suit, holding that CompuServe receives the same 1st Amendment protections as Smith.

A few years later, a financial executive, angry about anonymous posts on an online bulletin board, filed a defamation lawsuit against Prodigy. A New York state court judge on Long Island denied Prodigy the protection that Smith and CompuServe received, reasoning that Prodigy had moderated its user content. Because Prodigy attempted to block defamation, smut and hate speech from its services, it was deemed liable for every word that its users wrote.

Congress recognized that this outcome was untenable, and Section 230 was included in the Communications Decency Act. Its key words are: No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

Without the certainty provided by Section 230, Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Google and many other platforms simply wouldnt exist in their current forms. Saddled with the legal responsibilities of traditional publishers, no company could afford to defend the accuracy of every tweet, post or video created by its users.

Moreover, Section 230 is what allows people to have a voice online. Without the provision, the #MeToo movement would not have grown as quickly as it did, and viral videos of people engaging in racist behavior would not raise awareness among millions of people.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

But the internet that Section 230 created is far from a utopia, as one of the provisions authors acknowledged last year. Ive written laws to keep the old rules off your back, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon told tech companies at a content-moderation conference at Santa Clara University. And I did it under the idea that it was possible for technology leaders to do better. Im concerned that your employers are now proving me wrong, and time is running out.

We dont need to choose between the status quo and an all-out repeal of Section 230, however. Instead, platforms should immediately revamp their content moderation policies and procedures, as some are now starting to do, beginning with more moderators and better automated technology.

No moderation system will be perfect enough to catch all illegal and harmful content, but there is significant room for improvement. Repealing Section 230 would be an overcorrection, one that would fundamentally alter the internet for the worse.

Congress provided Section 230s extraordinary immunity because it thought that technology companies could responsibly oversee the use of their services. Many platforms have failed to live up to their end of the bargain. They should do so now, or risk losing the free speech that undergirds the modern internet.

Jeff Kosseff, who will appear at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 13, is the author of The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet, a forthcoming history of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. He is an assistant professor in the cyber science department of the U.S. Naval Academy. The views expressed here do not represent the Naval Academy, Department of the Navy or the U.S. Defense Department.

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Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang on Thursday refuted recent U.S. accusations and attacks against the Chinese government and China's Xinjiang policy, once again urging the U.S. side to stop interfering in China's internal affairs by using Xinjiang-related issues.

Geng made the demand at a press briefing when commenting on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent moves and tweets related to Xinjiang issues.

Geng reiterated that the affairs of Xinjiang are China's internal affairs, noting that at present in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the overall social situation is stable, with sound economic development momentum, people of the various ethnic groups living in harmony, and people's improved sense of security and their enhanced satisfaction with social stability.

Based on the fabricated lies, the U.S. side has made unwarranted accusations and attacks against the Chinese government and China's Xinjiang policy, which the Chinese side will never accept, he said, adding that the Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed to U.S. relevant remarks and moves, and has already made solemn representations to the U.S. side.

"The vocational and educational training centers are set up in Xinjiang as a preventive counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measure, which is carried out in line with the law and is fully supported by people of all ethnic groups. And good results have been achieved," said Geng.

Facts have proven that the vocational and educational training centers are not the so-called "reeducation camps" claimed by the western sides including the U.S., he said.

Geng again asked the U.S. side to respect the facts, abandon prejudice, be cautious with words and actions, and to do more things that are conducive to mutual trust and cooperation between China and the United States.
To the editor: As a scientist with an environmental organization, Im not just concerned that Gov. Gavin Newsoms emergency wildfire declaration exempts forest-thinning projects from environmental review. Im concerned that these projects wont keep communities safe and that theyll divert resources away from effective fire safety strategies.

Under Californias logging- and thinning-focused approach, the state has suffered unprecedented wildfire deaths and property loss. Thats because forest thinning is hopeless against the wind-driven fires of recent years.

Furthermore, many of the most at-risk areas in California arent in forests, but are instead in chaparral, grasslands and oak savanna ecosystems.

We know what does keep people safe from fires, and thats retrofitting homes and pruning vegetation in the 100 feet around them. Thats where the money and attention should go.

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Shaye Wolf, Oakland

The writer is a climate scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity.

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To the editor: I strongly commend Newsom for declaring a wildfire safety emergency. Living in Mandeville Canyon for the past 25 years, fire has been one of my prime concerns.

Modern standards require that hillside construction has two ingress and egress roads, but we are on a five-mile-long, dead-end street. We have been pushing for alternative escape routes since the fire in Paradise, Calif., and have identified five potential exits.

However, the Los Angeles Fire Department has expressed concern that people will panic in the event of wildfire and use the fire roads during an emergency, blocking the road or driving into the fire itself. These roads are currently in bad shape and need to be repaired.

Consider that this would be a far worse outcome than if we plan ahead and create passable routes out of here and install an effective communication system (cell service is spotty to nonexistent in our canyon).

Gov. Newsom, we have high-density population at great risk. Please add us to your list.

Teri Redman Kahn, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Harold Meyerson characterizes Donald Trump as the most dangerous president ever and spills much ink making accusations about the president inciting his followers to violence.

Before he goes too far with that, perhaps Meyerson can tell me where he was when Democratic politicians were condoning the harassment of conservative figures in restaurants and other public places. What can he say about rabble-rousing demagogues, hiding behind titles like reverend, spewing hatred against conservatives?

A different standard applies, I suppose.

So far as being dangerous is concerned, the truly dangerous president is the weak, posturing poseur drawing his lines in the sand and then retreating frantically at the first confrontation. Can anyone remember having one of those?

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James French, Laguna Hills

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To the editor: Whether you are a Trump fan or not, you cannot have escaped the stress and negativity that he has brought into our everyday lives in the last few years. He has created major schisms in institutions, families and among friends.

I cannot imagine anyone who could have escaped the turmoil and angst of his chaotic leadership based on negativity, bigotry and nihilistic tendencies. I cannot read about him, hear about him or see him on television without feeling agitated.

We can lament the depravity of his individual actions and how they are affecting our democracy and credibility in the world, but what will have the most negative and lingering effect of the Trump presidency is the divisiveness that he has brought to our country  and for that he should be held accountable.

Lynn Lorenz, Newport Beach

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To the editor: Meyerson can blame Fox News all he wants for Trumps victory in 2016. But one needs to acknowledge that a major reason Hillary Clinton, with most other news outlets in her corner, did not win was because she was an unlikable candidate.

Edward S. Reisman, Santa Monica

..

To the editor: Meyerson writes that Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and other Republicans were more genteel about their racism than Trump. For the record, as genial and charming as he was, Reagan wasnt that genteel.

Shortly after formally becoming the Republican Partys presidential nominee in 1980, Reagan declared in a speech, I believe in states rights. Where did he do this? On his home turf in Sacramento or Los Angeles?

No. Reagan gave this speech at a fair in rural Neshoba County, Miss., the same county where, only 16 years before, three civil rights workers were brutally killed.

Bob Wieting, Simi Valley

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
The backlash from Atty. Gen. William Barrs release of his summary of Robert S. Mueller IIIs report dominated much of the news this week, but sometimes its the smaller stories that illuminate bigger themes.

Thats the case with the fight over money for the Special Olympics, which highlighted three problems for President Trump:

Hes surrounded by subordinates eager to drag him into their ideological battles; two years in, his thinly staffed White House still stumbles over the basics; and the public is now primed to accept certain types of negative information about his administration, which can spread rapidly as a result.

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A GOLD MEDAL FOR POLITICAL CLUMSINESS

The administrations annual budget contains thousands of line items  the summary alone runs 148 pages  and, as Noah Bierman wrote when Trump released it, the document mostly elicits shrugs.

Its Congress that allocates money for federal agencies, not the White House, and lawmakers have shown little interest in Trumps budget proposals, in part because the president has seldom fought for any of them, other than his border wall.

Precisely because no one take it very seriously, however, the annual spending plan has become something of a playpen for the small-government ideologues surrounding Mick Mulvaney, the former budget director and now Trumps acting chief of staff.

Hence the annual proposals for dramatic cuts in food stamps, an end to federal support for the arts, fee increases at national parks and other ideas that have created political pain for the administration but which never stood a chance even when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress.

That dynamic also explains the proposal to zero out the federal governments $17.6-million support for the Special Olympics.

The administrations proposal to cut the money wasnt new  it was proposed and rejected by Congress last year too. What was unexpected was the way a proposal that no one in the administration seemed to take seriously blew up on them.

The unraveling began when Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) questioned Education Secretary Betsy DeVos about the budget cut at a hearing on Tuesday. The video of their exchange took off on social media. The sight of a billionaire Cabinet member defending a budget cut that affects disabled children immediately connected with negative impressions that large numbers of voters already hold about Trump and his circle.

By Wednesday, when the questioning moved to a Senate hearing, with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois pushing DeVos on the plan, the administration was fully on the defensive. White House officials seemed caught by surprise.

On Thursday, Trump, who has better political instincts than his hapless Education secretary, reversed the administrations position, saying, Ive overridden my people.

By then, however, the political damage was done. Dont be surprised if you see a Democratic campaign ad one day proclaiming, They even tried to wipe out the Special Olympics.

SWAGGERING INTO DIFFICULTY

The Special Olympics fight was just one example of the administrations inability to keep focus this week as Trump celebrated what he sees as a liberating victory in the Mueller investigation.

As Bierman and Eli Stokols wrote, Trump also gave Democrats a political gift by deciding to fully embrace a court case brought by Republican state attorneys general that seeks to overturn the Affordable Care Act.

Democrats made that case a centerpiece of several of their campaigns in Novembers midterm elections. Republicans, they accurately said, had gone to court seeking to eliminate protections for people with preexisting health conditions.

In December, the federal judge in Texas who was considering the case issued his ruling, saying that the entire healthcare law should be declared unconstitutional. The case is now on appeal.

Until this week, the administration had kept the case at partial arms length  taking the position in the lower court that only part of the law should be invalidated.

But on Monday, the administration switched, notifying the appeals court that it would side with Texas and other Republican-controlled states in seeking to have the law thrown out in full.

In taking that position, Trump once again sided with Mulvaney. He overrode objections from both Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Barr, as well as administration lawyers who believe the lower court decision is poorly reasoned and unlikely to survive appeal.

Trump reinforced the decision Tuesday when he visited Capitol Hill and urged Republican senators to reopen the healthcare debate, much to the consternation of Republicans and the delight of Democrats, as Bierman, Jennifer Haberkorn and Noam Levey wrote.

Healthcare continues to divide Republicans and unite Democrats, who credit the issue for many of their House victories in 2018. GOP lawmakers have no plan for replacing the Obama-era healthcare law if the courts were to invalidate it, and the chance of the Democratic-majority House approving a bill that Republican senators would find acceptable is almost zero.

Late last year, Mulvaney was one of the administration officials counseling Trump to precipitate a government shutdown to get money for the border wall. Despite how that turned out, his influence in the White House appears to have increased.

WAITING FOR MUELLER  PART TWO

The end of Muellers investigation has unquestionably been good for Trump. The headline conclusion in Barrs summary  that Trumps campaign hadnt actively participated in or conspired with Russias efforts to influence the election  backed up the presidents oft-repeated slogan of no collusion.

As Bierman and Haberkorn wrote, Trump and his allies quickly went on the offensive as Democrats tried to decide how to respond.

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have been using Barrs conclusions to attack the committee chair, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank).

Democratic committee chairs noted that Barrs four-page summary quoted only two sentences of Muellers text. They demanded that Barr release the full report, which runs more than 300 pages, by Tuesday.

Justice Department officials say Barr wont meet that deadline but does expect to release much of the report within weeks, not months. Some parts of the report might include classified material. Others might include material covered by grand jury secrecy, they note.

Whenever the text does come out, however, Democrats are betting that it wont look as good for Trump as Barrs summary did. At minimum, they note, Barr said that Mueller included evidence on both sides on the issue of whether Trump obstructed justice. The details of that evidence likely wont be to the presidents liking.

Meantime, as Megerian wrote, while the Russia investigation is over, Russian meddling in elections isnt. The U.S. still remains seriously under-prepared for election interference by Russia and other adversaries, experts say.

AVENATTI IN THE DOCK

Michael Avenattis life of luxury threatens to come crashing down now that prosecutors have brought charges against him in both New York and Los Angeles, as Mark Barabak and Michael Finnegan write.

The California charges allege years of tax fraud, which could put Avenatti behind bars if he were convicted and potentially cost him millions.

As the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, Avenatti delighted in tormenting Trump. Now, the tables are turned and the president is jabbing back: MAGA this week means Michael Avenatti got arrested, he and his allies have gleefully proclaimed.

LESS SUBSTANCE

Whats behind all those executive orders Trump loves to sign? Not much, Bierman reports.

Bierman analyzed Trumps first 101 executive orders  all of the ones published through the start of this week. Many ordered studies, created review panels or set out broad themes. Few made any substantive change in federal law or policy.

Trump loves executive orders, however, because they create the impression of action, even if nothing really happens.

CROWDS FLOCKING TO DEMOCRATIC FIELD

With so many Democrats running for the nomination, one might expect the lesser-known candidates to have trouble gaining attention.

Not so, Stokols wrote from New Hampshire, where voters seemed eager to see long-shot candidates as well as the better known.

Two of the better known candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke, are each appealing to the same voter bloc, Janet Hook reported. Their emerging rivalry will test who truly appeals to younger voters and whether that appeal is based more on left-wing ideology  Sanders approach  or a vaguer sense of generational affinity.

Candidates have less affinity, however, with the tech industry. Theyre still happy to take money from people who work in the industry but theyre keeping it low-key. Silicon Valley has become a minefield for the Democrats, Evan Halper reported.

Halper also looked at the San Diego-based psychologist whose research into how Google search results can influence voters has become the centerpiece for conservative claims of victimization.

GERRYMANDERING COMES TO COURT  AGAIN

The Supreme Court has looked several times at the issue of political gerrymandering and has yet to figure out a clear position.

At least four conservative justices, led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., say that the court should simply stay out of the issue. The Constitution leaves such political questions to legislatures, they say.

Four liberal justices have taken the position that the Constitution should be interpreted to put some limits on the power of a political majority to perpetuate its power by using its control over drawing district lines.

Former Justice Anthony M. Kennedy held the swing vote on the issue for several years and didnt finally decide. Now, as David Savage wrote, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh seems to hold the swing vote, and he seemed conflicted when the court heard arguments on the latest gerrymandering case this week.

DRILLING FOR A NEW SECRETARY

Senators moved toward confirming David Bernhardt, Trumps choice to be Interior secretary, but not before pressing him on the issue of offshore drilling. The previous secretary, Ryan Zinke, had moved to open more coastal areas to drilling, but Bernhardt seemed to suggest he was in no hurry to dive into that politically difficult issue.

MIXED SIGNALS IN ASIA

About an hour south of Seoul, out of range of most North Korean rockets and artillery, the South Koreans have spent billions building a huge, modern base  for the U.S. Army, David Cloud reported.

We have created a new city, the newest, most modern facility in the United States Army, said Paul Stuart, the deputy to the garrison commander at the base.

But even as the base takes shape, Trump has moved to demand more money from South Korea, a demand that has strained ties with a key ally.

The administration is anxious to counter Chinas influence. As part of that, officials have urged major U.S. research universities to cut ties with Huawei, the giant Chinese technology company. As Don Lee reports, several major universities have taken steps in that direction.

The U.S. has a problem in Saudi Arabia, and its still not being fixed, Doyle McManus writes. Thats because the problem is the administrations favored ally  crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

HINCKLEY FOUR DECADES LATER

Thirty-eight years ago, he tried to assassinate President Reagan. Today, John W. Hinckley Jr. lives with his mother and brother and is conducting a relatively normal, happy life. Del Wilber reports used new psychological analyses released by a federal court to paint this portrait of a would-be assassin now moving into a quiet middle age.

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.

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David.lauter@latimes.com

@davidlauter
The Supreme Court has taken a new and stronger stand against religious discrimination with liberals and most conservatives agreeing to halt a Texas execution.

By a 7-2 vote, the court granted an emergency stay for Patrick Murphy and ruled prison authorities may not proceed unless the state permits Murphys Buddhist spiritual advisor or another Buddhist reverend of the states choosing to accompany Murphy in the execution chamber during the execution.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh noted that Texas would have allowed a Christian or Muslim inmate to have a state-employed Christian or Muslim religious advisor present in the execution room.

In my view, the Constitution prohibits such denominational discrimination, Kavanaugh wrote. The state may choose to keep all clerics and religious advisors from entering the execution chamber, he said.

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But Kavanaugh added, What the state may not do, in my view, is allow Christian or Muslim inmates but not Buddhist inmates to have a religious advisor of their religion in the execution room.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented from the order without explanation.

Thursday evenings order in Murphy vs. Collier represents a partial reversal from the courts handling of a similar case from Alabama in early February. Then, the court by a 5-4 vote refused to block the execution of a Muslim inmate who said his spiritual advisor was prevented from accompanying him to the execution.

Justice Elena Kagan called this profoundly wrong because it reflected government discrimination based on religion. Alabama authorities had argued that only state prison employees were allowed inside the small execution room. They also said the inmate had been waited too late to present his claim.

The Texas emergency appeal came as the court has been debating the role of religion in a case involving the prominent public display of a cross. In a Maryland case, the justices will decide whether the government has gone too far to favor the Christian religion. In her dissenting opinion, Kagan had argued the Constitution does not allow the government to favor one faith over another.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty welcomed the courts decision in the Texas case.

Religious liberty won today. The Supreme Court made it clear that the 1st Amendment applies to every American, no matter their faith, said Eric Rassbach, a senior counsel at Becket. As we said in our brief to the court, you cant give fewer rights to Buddhists than you give to Christians or Muslims. In his last moments, a condemned man can receive both comfort from a minister of his own faith, and equal treatment under the law.

Murphy was sentenced to death after he had escaped from prison and shot and killed a police officer.

In the future, the state prison authorities have two options when carrying out an execution, Kavanaugh wrote. They may allow all inmates to have a religious adviser of their religion in the execution room; or) allow inmates to have a religious adviser, including any state-employed chaplain, only in the viewing room, not the execution room. Things can go wrong and sometimes do go wrong in executions, as they can go wrong and sometimes do go wrong in medical procedures. States therefore have a strong interest in tightly controlling access to an execution room in order to ensure that the execution occurs without any complications, distractions, or disruptions.

The latest from Washington 

More stories from David G. Savage 
Business Life magazine honored another group of dedicated women during the publications 29th annual Women Achievers luncheon.

Hundreds of community members and leaders gathered at the Castaway restaurant in Burbank on Monday to recognize 28 women for their contributions to their professions and community.

This years Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Lynn White-Shelby for her over 50 years of community involvement, which includes the PTA at Balboa Elementary School in Glendale and Hoover High School Booster Club in Glendale, as well as the Glendale National Charity League.

White-Shelby, who has been previously recognized by Business Life, currently serves on the Burbank Senior Citizen Board and the La Providencia Guild of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

You need the support of your family first, then your friends  the people who you want to be with and want to be with you, she said, describing what it takes to be successful. Probably the most important thing is that you need happiness in your heart. For success, you need to find happiness, and I found my happiness in volunteering through all these years.

Another past honoree, Glendale Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive Judee Kendall, was recognized during the event and named as this years Leadership Honoree.

Kendall, who for many years was the publisher of the Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press and what was then the Foothill Leader, said women are strong individuals who need to be recognized for their work, no matter what type of work that may be.

Being a woman, I know what were capable of and it should be accepted, she said. Every single woman has achievements every day no matter what theyre doing. Theyre taking care of families, working and serving organizations and nonprofits. Its wonderful to see them recognized and honored by the community.

Gloria Salas, president of the Zonta Club of Burbank Area, was also an honoree. She said that any time a woman is able to have an impact on her community, such as provide scholarships for younger girls or leading a march for or against something, she is acting as a role model for future generations.

Its showing them that we have a voice and the abilities to go forward and achieve what we want, that we shouldnt just sit back and let somebody else do it, Salas said.

Another honoree, Maria Maldonado, owner of Providence Realty Co. and the Filipino American Business Assn. of Glendale, said it is important for women from all backgrounds to stay determined.

Being independent and having self-determination makes us stronger and successful, she said.

Sona Ashjian, a microbiologist for the Armenia Bone Marrow Donor Registry and the medical focus program coordinator at Providence High School in Burbank, was also one of the local women honored. She has helped bring awareness about the registry, which has more than 29,000 donors from 29 countries, according to her biography in the event program.

Business Life also honored Jennifer Schultz-Bertolet, president of the property management organization David N. Schultz Inc. Her father, who the business is named after, was her mentor and taught her to put the clients best interests first, her biography stated.

Irene Bourdon, president of the Adventist Health Glendale Foundation, was also recognized during the event. She said her goal is to advance the hospitals mission of providing excellent quality of care.

Deborah Simpkins Bright, vice president and co-owner of Arnol Salon & Spa in Glendale, was also honored by Business Life. She volunteers her time to several organizations, including the Adventist Health Founders Guild Board, the Play to Learn Center in Eagle Rock, Operation Gratitude in Chatsworth and the board of the Campbell Center in Glendale, according to her biography.

A Burbank honoree, Renee Johnson, property manager of the Burbank Senior Apartments for the Cusumano Real Estate Group, was also honored this year. She said her goal is to help her tenants to thrive and live independently.

Taleen Khatchadourian, board president of the Armenian Autism Outreach Project and board adviser to the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, was honored for her work to help build up the donor registry, according to the program biographies.

Burbank Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman Gema Sanchez was another local honoree, who was recognized for her work with the organization and helping businesses grow.

Pamela Spiszman, founder, president and chief executive of Pegasus Home Health Care Inc., was honored for her work in the community, by developing a business that aims to treat patients with dignity, according to her biography.

Burbank Vice Mayor Sharon Springer was also an honoree this year. She was recognized for contributions on the Sustainable Burbank Commission, the Burbank Water and Power board and Burbank Farmers Market board.

Charlene Tabet, a member of the Burbank Unified school board, was honored by Business Life for her contributions to the school district.

Sandra Thompson, president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Womens Clubs Inc., was recognized for the work that the organizations local chapter has done, which includes helping pass legislation that benefits women, her biography states.

Glendale honoree Kathryn Van Houten, president of Soroptimist International of Glendale, was honored for her organizations goal of providing education and opportunities for women.

Jane A. Viar, a member of the Glendale Library Foundation and Glendale Police Foundation, was recognized for helping others find access to future educational and employment opportunities, according to her biography.

Lara Yeretsian, a criminal defense attorney and founder of Yeretsian Law in Glendale, was honored for her contributions in the legal field.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
There was a time, less than a year ago, when Woodbury University graduate Justin Yap says he was somewhat lost.

The 29-year-old felt disconnected from his obligation to service, guided by his strong Christian faith, and seemed disinterested in being a Bay Area architect.

Many of the projects in which Yap had participated or led hadnt produced the results he desired.

I was previously working in healthcare, senior-living type of work, he said in a phone interview. They ended up being 10-, 15-year projects, and it was really discouraging because the work never finished.

While contemplating a potential switch to the ministry, Yap asked for help.

Actually, I was kind of praying about it a lot, he said. I asked [God], Where do you want me to go? Am I really going to be designing for the rich or am I going to be kind of putting myself out there and serving the Lord with it?

It wasnt long before Yap received a message in a bottle or, rather, a 24-foot-long shipping container.

The architecture graduate was invited through a recruiter to participate in the 82nd Street Development in south Los Angeles, which is building homes out of modular structures for some of the citys neediest residents.

It is low-income housing to help people get out and back into the normal daily routine, Yap said. It was basically an answer to my prayers.

A side benefit of the job was the use of modulars, or prefabricated homes or buildings constructed off-site.

Yap already employed designs for modular buildings in previous work and felt a perfect fit for the south Los Angeles venture.

His ability to quickly jump into a new project did not surprise Yaps former instructor, Woodbury architecture adjunct faculty member Mark Owen.

He was a very good student, very creative and worked very hard, Owen said of Yap. He cared a lot about his work, and he was fun to be around, very creative and explored lots of ideas. He did a lot of high-quality work.

An organization called FlyawayHomes, which had already successfully housed 32 homeless people in a separate project on West Colden Avenue last fall, is in charge of the 82nd Street Development with shipping containers being manufactured by Kuvella Modular, based in New Mexico.

Were basically taking off of that Colden template right now of how the units are situated, but trying to make it better, Yap said.

The 9,301-square-foot 82nd Street Development site is expected to consist of 16 two-bedroom units, one restroom and small living area per unit, and a shared community room.

The development is expected to house 32 residents and a manager.

Yap said he isnt sure when the development will be completed, but he has been impressed with the works progress.

Yap joined the project in September and, since then, the schematic designs have been completed, while Flyaway has zipped through the permitting process.

Were on a really, really tight schedule, and its amazing to see how fast this has gone, Yap said.

Though the aim of the project is to save families from the streets, the 82nd Street Developments first beneficiary may be Yap.

This has been a blessing for me, Yap said.

andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter @campadresports
Prescription drug prices have skyrocketed in recent years because there have been few, if any, restraints on the cozy relationship between drug companies, insurance conglomerates and corporate medical clinics, to the detriment of patients.

Im now fully recovered from advanced prostate cancer, which included surgery, radiation treatments, and two years of Lupron injections, which Im told should prevent cancer cells from returning.

I was disappointed at being told by my insurance company that I could no longer be seen by the doctor who had been treating me and instead needed to finish the second year of my injections and regular checkups at a large corporate clinic with 47 offices in California that had given them the lowest bid for all of its oncology patient business.

The new clinic increased the cost of my injections from $135 to $1,350 per every 90-day treatment. This is not a drug I could stop taking or purchase anywhere but at this clinic. When I complained to my insurance company I was told that my only recourse was to make a formal complaint in writing and request a hearing.

Rather than face me at an open hearing with my lawyer, however, the clinic offered to provide my injection for only $50 each in exchange for dropping the case, which I accepted in order to complete the treatments.

I can only wonder how many other vulnerable cancer patients are being price gouged by the powerful forces who control their treatment?

Doug Weiskopf

Burbank

***

The people of Burbank should be so proud of their representative in Congress, Adam Schiff. While President Trump has been engaged in putting Americans back to work and creating jobs  leading to a 3.8% unemployment rate  and negotiating better trade deals for Americans, Schiff has been pushing a lie and conspiracy theories on national TV regularly for the last 18 months. Yes, the rest of the country has been seeing your representative on CNN and other news outlets pushing what may be the biggest lie in politics for some time  that the Trump administration colluded with Russia. Schiff told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in February that there was ample evidence of collusion of the campaign and its very much in the public record. I lived in Burbank for many years and my wife was born and raised there. I am so embarrassed that instead of helping to improve the lives of all, Schiff has made it his mission take down the president.

One can only hope that the people of your district will now demand that Schiff begin focusing on promoting policies that will help improve your daily quality of life. In the event he doesnt, one would hope that you would find a candidate in the next election that will.

Chuck Hawley

Tampa, Fla.
The partners behind A Restaurant and A Market in Newport Beach are starting a new endeavor down the highway in Corona del Mar.

Theyre calling the place CdM, a common abbreviation for the coastal neighborhood, as well as the local high school, and its slated to open in March.

Jonathan Blackford, also of A Restaurant, is designing the menu, which draws its influence from Americas melting pot of cuisine.

That means steak, fish, pizza baked in a wood stone oven, and pasta made in unique shapes. Add to that an in-house, dry curing cabinet for custom charcuterie.

Its accessible and delicious, partner Joseph McGinty Nichol said in a recent interview at CdM, then still under construction.

A salt-baked whole branzino (a Mediterranean fish) with Parisian potatoes and soft herbs, accompanied by piccata, tomato and olive, and salsa verde sauces. (Photo courtesy of CdM)

Nichol, who goes by McG, is a Newport native, Corona del Mar High graduate and Hollywood veteran whose directorial credits include Terminator Salvation and Charlies Angels.

CdM will feature a ground-floor restaurant and bar. A small speakeasy-style barroom with a 1940s vintage photo booth is planned for the space below. A once-functioning apartment above the restaurant may be transformed into a private space themed after The Apartment, Billy Wilders 1960 romantic comedy.

During a walkthrough, McG noted how CdM will feature a host of custom details, such as a 150-year-old floor, which once lined a Chicago factory, and light fixtures from salvage shipyards. The partners are also selecting unique chairs for each table.

A welder puts the finishing touches to a brass rail in the new CdM Restaurant in Corona del Mar. (Photo by Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

CdM will ensure no set of vintage salt and pepper shakers are alike, according to a press release.

Were always looking for things that are interesting, McG said. We want something handmade, bespoke, odd ... we always want to add oddness and quirk.

McG and his partner, Jordan Otterbein, noted how CdMs building at 2325 E. Coast Hwy. most recently housed the Crow Bar and Kitchen, but before that, it was Matteos Italian Restaurant, one of John Waynes hangouts.

Matteos closed in 1993 after a 23-year run. Somewhere at CdM, youll find one of Waynes Scotch glasses, they promised me.

For more information about CdM, you can follow them on Instagram @CdMrestaurant.
Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach has opened two new brain and spine operating room suites.

The 820-square-foot facilities have new equipment designed to enhance surgical communications and efficiencies, according to a news release.

Hoag is the first California hospital to use CollaboratOR technology, an 84-inch touch-screen system. It enables Hoag surgeons, nurses and surgical assistants to simultaneously view, monitor and analyze an array of information to assist in brain and spinal surgeries  delicate procedures that require pinpoint accuracy, close collaboration and specialized surgical and monitoring equipment, the company said.

Irvine Co. corporate president announces retirement

Ray Wirta, corporate president of the Newport Beach-based Irvine Co., has announced his retirement from the post after nine years.

This has been the business experience of my life, he said in a statement. I was given the opportunity to serve with the finest real estate talent in the world and guided by a chairman with a vision and energy to execute the master plan that this company created over 60 years ago. The company is in great condition with a bright future ahead.

Company Chairman Donald Bren said Wirta has provided steady and strategic guidance to the company during a tremendous period of growth. I thank him for his dedication and his friendship and I wish him well in his retirement from the company.

Arc owners open new concept in Cannery Village

Marin Howarth and Noah Von Blom, owners of Arc, Arc Pizza House and the Guild Club in Costa Mesa, are opening a new concept in Newport Beach on Friday.

Arc Butcher & Baker is at 417 30th St. in Cannery Village. It will serve sandwiches, salads, fried chicken, pasta and more. It also will feature takeout dinners that feed up to four.

For more information, visit arcbutcherbaker.com.

New Flame Broiler comes to Surf City

Flame Broiler is opening a new location in Huntington Beach.

The restaurant will have its grand opening Monday at 7251 Warner Ave. The opening will include a $5 special for any bowl and drink through April 14.

Costa Mesa chamber presents nonprofit breakfast

The Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce will present a free community nonprofit breakfast from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. Wednesday.

It will take place at IKEA, 1475 South Coast Drive, and feature information on how nonprofits can connect to the business community.

New microbrewery opens in Costa Mesa

Costa Mesas newest microbrewery has officially opened.

Brewing Reserve of California at 2930 College Ave. has an assortment of beers on tap, including Hoppy Poppy Pale Ale, BelYum Belgian and Good 4 All Saisons, according to its website, brcbeer.com.

Brewing Reserve is the citys fifth microbrewery, joining Barley Forge Brewing Co., Gunwhale Ales and Bootleggers Brewery  all on Randolph Avenue  and Karl Strauss Brewing Co. on South Coast Drive. A sixth, Salty Bear Brewing Co., is on track to open soon on Randolph.

New chef comes to H.B.s Pasea Hotel

Pasea Hotel & Spa in Huntington Beach has hired a new executive chef, Prabeen Prathapan.

He previously was executive sous chef at the Montage Laguna Beach resort and has worked at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas.

New bar opens in Costa Mesa

Landers Liquor Bar is now open in Costa Mesa.

The bar, which sells beer, wine, cocktails and entrees, replaces Taco Brat at 2101 Harbor Blvd., a site that has housed restaurants since 1958.

Landers says it is inspired by Californias high deserts and coastal lifestyle.

Fitness facility opens in Costa Mesa

Fitness classes are now being offered at Fitwall in Costa Mesa.

The spot is in the Costa Mesa Square shopping center, anchored by Target, at 3030 Harbor Blvd.

Costa Mesa center bought for $24.5 million

The Back Bay Center, a Costa Mesa retail and office property, has been acquired for $24.5 million, according to a news release.

Irvine-based Space Investment Properties plans to renovate the property at 2651-2675 Irvine Ave. It contains 58,000 square feet of space and was built in 1980.

Casa Barilla has new menu at South Coast Plaza

Casa Barilla in Costa Mesas South Coast Plaza has reopened with a new menu.

The Italian restaurant now focuses on seasonal ingredients and sustainability, according to a news release. It serves lunch and dinner.
Two months after the release of an audit showing that a former OC Fair & Event Center employee received about $74,000 in wages and benefits after she had stopped working, the organizations board of directors moved to prevent such payments without its say-so.

Fair Board members voted unanimously Thursday to bar staff at the Costa Mesa fairgrounds from entering separation agreements with employees  such as the arrangement criticized in the audit from the California Department of Food and Agriculture  without both their approval and authorization from the California Department of Human Resources.

I think we need to articulate that, on a go-forward basis, all settlement agreements relative to employee matters will be reviewed and approved by the board, and thats our responsibility, said board member Doug La Belle.

Earlier in the meeting, Chairman Robert Ruiz announced creation of an audit committee consisting of board members Andreas Meyer and Natalie Rubalcava-Garcia, and the board agreed to further review the Fair & Event Centers contracting practices to see whether it should revise or expand its role in vetting those kinds of agreements.

The audit in question, which was publicly released in January, reported internal control weaknesses in contracting policies and procedures.

This is a governmental entity and this is not our money and its not our land, said board member Ashleigh Aitken. And while I have complete faith in our staff and the job that our staff does  at the end of the day ... were going to take the hit. This is actually something that is in our best interest.

Some members of the public, though, questioned whether the boards actions were sufficient given the gravity of the issues outlined in the audit  particularly the separation agreement, which included, among other things, $44,468 in wages and $4,474 in accrued leave hours paid after the employees departure. The payments were made from July 2016 to February 2017.

The audit concluded that the Fair & Event Center overpaid the employee for work that was not performed and therefore may be considered a gift of public funds and cited an opinion from the Department of Human Resources legal division that the settlement agreement is likely an illegal contract because it violates provisions of the state Government Code and Code of Regulations.

Fairgrounds officials said in January that the agreement was one of about a dozen similar arrangements the organization has entered with former employees since 2004 and that the practice has been discontinued.

This is reprehensible what happened and unacceptable and we just cant go through this anymore, said fairgrounds activist Reggie Mundekis. This is public money that [OC Fair & Event Center] CEO [Kathy] Kramer put at risk, public facilities. If the board wants to be really responsible, theyd  ask the district attorney to open an investigation to determine if CEO Kramer committed a felony  with this potential gift of public funds.

Costa Mesa resident Anna Vrska told the board that she has very little confidence in Kramer because of what Ive seen happen over the last few years in terms of cutting corners, employing questionable practices  if not outright illegal practices  trying to bury things, trying to limit public participation.

Adam Carleton, the Fair & Event Centers vice president of finance and administration, has been on involuntary paid administrative time off since Dec. 11 and alleges Kramer did so wrongfully as part of an effort to conceal the payments detailed in the audit.

Some of the things Ive heard today are absolutely right, he told the board. I think all your suspicions are absolutely right and this audit is just the tip of the iceberg.

Kramer has denied that Carletons leave is related to the audit and said Thursday that no one takes this more serious than I do.

I welcome some of these policy changes because I really want to do the right thing, she said.
(CNN)  US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, are set to meet for a summit next month amid uncertainty over the future of nuclear negotiations with North Korea.

Moon and Trump are scheduled to meet April 11 in Washington, where the two "will discuss the latest developments regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as well as bilateral matters," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

Their face-to-face will take place a little more than a month after Trump held his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The talks fell apart over disagreements on exchanging sanctions relief for steps toward the dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Though the summit ended abruptly, the White House has maintained things were left on good terms.

"There's obviously a long ways to go. There's more work to do. Chairman Kim hasn't yet demonstrated that he is prepared to fulfill the commitment that he made. But I continue to believe that hard work and diplomatic effort may well get us there," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday.

Top diplomats from Pyongyang, however, have been less optimistic about the future of talks. Choe Son Hui, one of North Korea's top diplomats, told reporters on a recent trip to Russia that her country was considering suspending talks.

Moon and Trump's summit provides both leaders with an opportunity to take a fresh look at their game plan when it comes to North Korea.

The South Korean President has essentially positioned himself as the middle man between Washington and Pyongyang since the two countries began exploring diplomatic negotiations last year.
 Flash

Maria Butina, the Russian woman who pleaded guilty last year to working as a clandestine agent in the United States, will be sentenced in late April, a U.S. federal judge said Thursday.

Judge Tanya Chutkan, of the U.S. district court in Washington, D.C., set sentencing on April 26 for Butina, who was charged last year with acting as an agent of Moscow to infiltrate and influence U.S. politics.

Butina, 30, accepted a deal with prosecutors in December, pleading guilty to conspiring with an alleged Russian government official and an American to infiltrate GOP political groups like the National Rifle Association and take advantage of those connections to interfere with the nation's political system.

Butina, who faces up to five years in prison, agreed to cooperate with federal investigations, as part of the deal.

The charges against Butina were brought by the U.S. attorney's office in D.C., not the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, who wrapped up last week his nearly two-year investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

According to a brief summary of Mueller's findings made public by Attorney General William Barr, there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Russia has denied any meddling.

Mueller's team briefly questioned Butina in January, but she did not appear to be central to the investigation, according to CNN.
Allen Lund, known in the Foothills as a gentle giant who built a highly successful transportation brokerage with offices across the nation and gave generously to further the education of others, has died, according to a brief statement released by his company Saturday afternoon.

Just recently diagnosed with a very rare and fast moving cancer, Allen was surrounded by family and friends as he said his good byes, stated the news release issued by the La Canada Flintridge-based corporate office of the Allen Lund Co. The exact date of Lunds passing was not given, but it was announced that a funeral mass has been set for 5 p.m on Saturday, April 14 at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.

Although his given name was David Allen Lund, he went by his middle name and chose it when naming his eponymous firm. According to voter registration records, he turned 77 last September.

It was as a small boy of 6 or 7, Lund recalled in a 2016 interview with the La Canada Valley Sun, that he became enamored of big-rig trucks, as his father drove an 18-wheeler across the country for a living. That early look at the industry, first from the passengers seat, intrigued him.

I loved it, he told the Sun during that interview, on the occasion of his companys 40th anniversary. I wanted to be the best at the earth-moving business and trucking. I wanted to be the best machine operator.

In 2010, while speaking before a gathering of the La Canada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce, Lund explained that the bulk of the goods his firm brokers transportation for is agricultural. Among the clients Allen Lund Co. served, he said at the time, were Costco, Pepsi Cola and Nestle. He said improved infrastructure and safety measures had resulted in a steady decline in truck accidents nationwide.

Equipment, tires, engine, brakes, better braking materials, better technology  a truck nowadays is cleaner and safer. Its the nut behind the wheel you have to worry about, Lund told the crowd gathered for the meeting.

Devoted to his family and his Catholic faith, Lund held seats on the boards at St. Francis High School, the University of Portland and Homeboy Industries, and had served on the finance committee of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

His firm has been involved in  and a supporter of  the Corporate Work Study program of Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles, offering corporate internships at the Allen Lund Co. headquarters on Angeles Crest Highway. The school honored the company at its March 2017 gala for its support.

I envision [the interns] becoming model citizens, they are educated young men who know a tough part of life and have risen above it. They can become the very best and most talented people we have in society, Lund said, according to a Verbum Dei announcement of the award.

In 2010, on the day Lund addressed the LCF Chamber of Commerce, Pat Anderson, its president and chief executive, described him as a gentle giant who had grown into an icon in La Canada. She had a close-up look at his contributions, as the chamber rents its office space in the Allen Lund Co. building and the firm sponsors the fireworks show every Memorial Day weekend as part of La Canadas Fiesta Days celebration.

He does so much for the schools, both public and parochial, and he contributes substantially to the community, Anderson said at the time.

This is an incredible man who has taken a business and built it from the ground upand he treats all of his employees like they [are] family, Anderson said in that interview.

carol.cormaci@latimes.com

Twitter: @CarolCormaci
Though the Los Angeles County Public Works Department continues to move forward with its multiyear Devils Gate Dam sediment removal project, its April 15 start has been pushed back to May 7, due to weather-related delays.

In a March 28 meeting of the Joint Use Committee, which considers properties and holdings shared by La Canada Unified School District and the city of La Canada Flintridge, LCUSD Supt. Wendy Sinnette said county officials confirmed the delay at a March 27 meeting in Pasadena.

Engineers have estimated that during the projects four years, the area could see as many as 425 round-trip daily truck trips on Oak Grove Drive, Berkshire Avenue and Altadenas Windsor Avenue as haulers access the Foothill (210) Freeway.

READ MORE: County crews clear recent debris from Devils Gate, assure Big Dig still on track for April 

La Canada Public Works Director Pat DeChellis told Joint Use Committee members the county and city of Pasadena plan to install a protected left turn light at Oak Grove and Berkshire to accommodate northbound trucks.

That will have an impact on the southbound traffic, but the impact has been determined to be less than if they didnt [install anything], he said, describing haulers competing with southbound traffic turning right onto Berkshire.

The signals installation could take from six months to one year to complete. In the meantime, the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department plans to send deputies to the intersection one hour every afternoon during peak traffic times.

READ MORE: LCUSD, parents vow to combat impact of Devils Gate sediment removal with citizen science 

Sinnette asked city officials if they might also discuss adding a crossing guard to assist pedestrians on Oak Grove attempting to cross Berkshire.

The superintendent said the district aims to improve air filtration systems at La Canada High School during the project and is collaborating with neighbors to create an air quality monitoring plan. Officials and parents are also requesting truck emissions be measured.

We dont want to stop the project, we know that it has to be done, she said. But we really feel like a concrete monitoring plan is essential.

For more, visit dpw.lacounty.gov/swe/devilsgate or call (626) 458-2507.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
On a recent Friday afternoon Jet Propulsion Laboratorys von Karman Auditorium opened its doors to a throng of high school students whose casual attire belied the seriousness of the high-level work they would conduct in the two months ahead.

About 40 high school seniors, mostly from La Canada High School, were there as enrollees in the JPL Space Academy, a program that lets students design and build rocket launchers in virtual tech startup companies they must promote and sell to stockholders. Another 10 student alumni will play consultant roles.

The program is the brain-child of Art Chmielewski, a JPL project manager for an international team that in 2004 helped launch the European Space Agencys Rosetta spacecraft toward the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet in hopes of placing tiny lander Philae on its craggy, uncertain surface.

When the lander became lost and couldnt provide a communication signal, scientists worked for more than a year before the application of basic physics principles helped them pinpoint its location. Chmielewski shared the misadventure in a subsequent university lecture, and interested students built models to recreate the scenario.

Chmielewski began to imagine bringing physics lessons to life for high school students through a hands-on learning experience. LCHS physics teacher Nate Fulmer, who works as a consultant at JPL, was eventually enlisted to help with the curriculum and weekly lessons.

Kids study a physics book  they can memorize it, do 15 homework problems and get an A on the test, but still they dont know what it means, Chmielewski said. Here, every week they come out and present on a NASA stage.

Started in 2013, the academy has grown. Chmielewski received 140 applications from interested students at and beyond La Canada High School, so selected seniors for the honor. This year, each projectile will house its own payload, an electronic sensor that can record the maximum height of each elastic or gravitational launch.

And thanks to the involvement of the La Canada Flintridge Sister Cities Assn., participants this year will share their work with students of Villanueva de la Canada, Spain, home of its own European Space Astronomy Centre.

After a brief introduction Friday, students broke into small teams and were immediately tasked with forming a small company. With markers in hand, they brainstormed what their launchers might look like.

Your goal is to get this thing as high up in the air as possible and land safely with your entire payload intact, Fulmer explained. The most important rule out of all this is to have fun  pick up a few new skills, learn a thing or two and enjoy yourselves.

In less than an hour, eight teams were presenting their company names and having their designs and communication skills critiqued by Chmielewski and his cohort of consultants.

Ren Enterprises  comprising LCHS seniors Solenn Matsuka, Rajvi Kumar, Naiara Munich and Emily Truong  explained how their trebuchet design would launch a spherical projectile from a pouch fastened with stretchy exercise bands.

LCHS senior Kevin Oghalai, of company Up Chuck, admitted his teams cube- and triangle-shaped launcher was still a work in progress.

Were not exactly sure what our project is going to look like, he said. If it looks like its going to break were going to add more wood. If it looks like its not going high enough, well add more rubber.

In future classes, students will build launchers, pitch their companies to investors, wire circuits for the onboard sensors and make predictions based on physics. In late October, theyll take their rockets to JPLs Mars Yard and test their predictions in the first of several launches.

The class concludes with a simulated press conference, where students will be grilled on their products and companies in a Q&A session.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
Once a year, visitors have a chance to experience Hawaiis most intimate Polynesian traditions through food, dance, music, crafts and ceremonial events. The Celebration of the Arts held every Easter weekend on Maui gives travelers the rare opportunity to participate in native culture events.

Nearly all of the April 19 and 20 activities are free and open to the public at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. This is not a crafts fair. This is not a swap meet. What this is, is a path to engagement, said Clifford Naeole, the resorts cultural advisor.

In Hawaiian culture, a conch shell is blown to summon sacred spirits. The practice is observed during the April arts festival on Maui. (Kai Markell)

The celebration begins at 5:45 a.m. April 19 with a dip in the ocean. Guided by traditional chants from cultural practitioners, visitors can rejuvenate body and soul with a sunrise swim.

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The dawn ritual is followed by an awa ceremony from 8 to 8:45 a.m. in which native Hawaiians and hotel executives come together on a sacred mat to sip the bitter drink made from plant roots. The gathering symbolizes a common pledge to sustain local culture. (No photos or videos allowed at these events.)

The pahu, a Hawaiian drum, is beaten during the Celebration of the Arts in Maui. (Ritz-Carlton Kapalua)

Hands-on demonstrations with artists and craftsmen will be held throughout the hotel both days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

One of the most popular events involves people from the island of Niihau, who will showcase and sell their jewelry made from the gem-like pupu shells found only on their islands beaches.

Necklaces, made from pupu shells found only on the island of Niihau, will be on sale during the Easter weekend arts festival. (Kai Markell)

The private and westernmost inhabited island in Hawaii is off-limits to visitors, giving it the nickname the Forbidden Isle. Its 200 residents speak an ancient tongue and earn a living farming and crafting shell necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

[Guests] can sit down with a whole family of Niihau people, Naeole said. The Niihau people will speak in the language of Hawaii. The guest doesnt understand a word theyre saying, but theyre laughing, theyre having fun.

Other highlights include:

The Roots of Ulu, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. April 19. This is a screening of a film about the physical and spiritual values of breadfruit (ulu in Hawaiian), which is making a culinary comeback.

Ulana, to Weave, 12:30-1:30 p.m. April 19. Three practitioners who have mastered various types of weaving will share their skills  and the traditions behind them.

The New Age of Looking Backward, 2:30-3:30 p.m. April 20. Two men whose Hawaiian roots go back seven generations will share their visions of how the past can help shape the islands future.

The Celebration of the Arts, which turns 27 this year, attracts authentic artisans and other native Hawaiians. Weve established a sense of trust among the practitioners, Naeole said. They know were not exploiting them. What were doing is exposing them so they can speak.

Info: Celebration of the Arts

travel@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimestravel
If youre planning a trip to Bali, Philippine Airlines has a $660 round-trip fare from LAX that means you can bliss out at various times of year.

Here are the details on the fare to this Indonesian island:

Fare: From LAX, $660 round trip, including all taxes and fees, to Bali on Philippine Airlines.

Restrictions: Subject to availability. You must buy your ticket by April 7. For travel now through May 20, then Aug. 16-Nov. 30, and Dec. 30 and 31.

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Info: Philippine Airlines, (800) 435-9725

Source: Airfarewatchdog

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravel
In 1987, buses and cars with at least three occupants in the San Bernardino Freeway diamond lane were able to zip past traffic. Drivers short of passengers found a ready supply at nearby bus stops.

Bob Baker explained in a Nov. 13, 1987, Los Angeles Times article:

Darlene McCain and Ginger Klein were in trouble. They had less than an hour to get to work downtown from their homes in the eastern San Gabriel Valley and it was sure to take longer. The San Bernardino Freeway is molasses in the morning.

Normally the women take the freeway's diamond lane, which is reserved for buses and cars carrying three or more people. But today one of their carpool members was sick and the other had an appointment.

But McCain knew what to do. She stopped in Covina and drove up to a bus stop near the freeway, where commuters line up for a popular downtown-bound express bus.

Anybody want a ride downtown? Klein called from the passenger window. Soon a young man in a suit stepped forward and got into the back seat. It was a match made in heaven. He was going to save the $2.60 fare and McCain and Klein were going to be at their desks with time to spare. 

See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here
The Turkish government deems Abdulkadir Yapcan too dangerous to attend his own extradition proceedings here.

So instead he appears in court by video link from the detention center where he has been held for three years while he fights efforts to send him to China to face charges that he is a terrorist.

During a hearing last month, he watched in silence until a witness referred to Xinjiang, the region in western China where members of the countrys oppressed Uighur minority are concentrated.

East Turkestan, Yapcan interjected, using the name for the independent homeland that he and others envision.

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He and his many supporters say that he has never supported violence and that he is being targeted for his political activism.

His case has become a focal point in international condemnation of China for its brutal crackdown on the Uighurs, whose Islamic faith and Turkic cultural heritage is viewed with suspicion by the government.

The United Nations says that more than 1 million Uighurs and other Turkic minorities are being detained in internment camps in China, a practice that U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo this week called abhorrent and demanded be stopped immediately.

But the crackdown also extends abroad, with China seeking to extradite members of the Uighur diaspora it maintains are responsible for numerous terrorist attacks  even as human rights advocates and Western governments say that the evidence is often flimsy.

Yapcan is No. 1 on Chinas wanted list, a witness who met him in a Chinese prison in 1993 testified at last months extradition hearing. If they could, they would execute him a thousand times.

The witness said that in China he endured pulled fingernails, electrocution and solitary confinement  and that the same treatment awaited Yapcan.

He and four other witnesses told the crowded court the accusations against Yapcan  that he founded and supported a Uighur terrorist organization with ties to Al Qaeda  were false and that if returned to China he would be swiftly tried and executed.

Outside the courtroom, hundreds of Yapcans supporters waved blue and white East Turkestan flags and held placards that said Dont be fooled, Turkey.

Despite the favorable testimony and public support, and a 2016 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that he not be sent to China, the court decided to keep Yapcan in detention while it continues to consider the evidence.

A demonstrator wears a mask painted with the colors of the East Turkestan flag and a hand bearing the colors of the Chinese flag at a July protest at the Chinese consulate in Istanbul. (Ozan Kose / AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey, which has cultural and historic ties to Uighurs, has usually been supportive of them and has never extradited one. But like many countries, it has stepped up efforts to court Chinese investment.

The next hearing is scheduled for May, though a backlog in the Turkish court system means that a decision could still be months or even years away.

Chinas critics dont dispute that hundreds of Uighurs belong to an Al Qaeda-linked organization in Syria and that they have called for attacks against Beijing.

But human rights groups say Chinese courts cannot be trusted to sort out who poses a genuine security threat and who is only advocating for Uighur rights.

Theres a vast difference between going to fight a jihad in Syria, and being angry about what is happening to the Uighur population in China, said Raffaello Pantucci, director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London.

The evidence presented [by Chinese authorities] is often not detailed, so we never quite know if you are dealing with a person who has been sent to launch an attack by an organization, or you have people who are being inspired to do so, he said.

Germany and Sweden have banned deportations of Uighurs, but hundreds have been sent back to China from Pakistan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Egypt and Thailand.

We have said for a long time that governments need to be very careful in considering Uighur asylum cases, said Sophie Richardson, the China director at Human Rights Watch. Because often, they are just sent back and they disappear into a black hole in China, and that is true now more than ever.

In February, after reports that a Uighur folk musician with a popular following in Turkey had died in detention in China, the Turkish government called Chinas systematic assimilation against the Uighur Turks a great shame for humanity.

Chinas ambassador threatened that if such criticism continued, it will be reflected in commercial and economic relations.

Yapcan left China in 1997 using a false passport and traveled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, where he joined a small but active group of Uighur dissidents. He moved to Turkey in 2002 and lived freely there until the government, responding to pressure from China, detained him in August 2016.

Chinese authorities say he helped found the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a group calling for an armed struggle against Beijing. Yapcan denies membership in the group.

He was, however, a regular guest on Istiqlal TV, an Istanbul-based Uighur internet television channel, where his interviews often extended into hours-long emotional tirades against China.

He had no connection to any terrorists, but he was definitely working on the social level, he was talking in the press, on TV, at conferences against the oppression in China, said Seyit Tumturk, who heads the National Assembly of East Turkestan, an international umbrella group of Uighurs in exile. What Yapcan did, I was also doing, all that he did, all that he said, I also did, I also said, and it is not a crime.

In 2003, China issued a list of 11 wanted Uighurs, including Yapcan. Some went on to win asylum in Western countries.

International forces captured 22 Uighurs in Afghanistan and Pakistan after 2001 and sent them to the detention camp run by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

By 2013, all had been released after the Pentagon determined they had no apparent organization or desire to harm the U.S. Wary of the treatment they might receive in China, Washington spent years negotiating their settlement in third countries.

With the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011, Uighur militants found a new place to operate. Fighting alongside Al Qaeda and others, they set up a fledgling community in the rebel-held province of Idlib.

Pompeo met this week with a group Uighurs in Washington to draw attention to their plight.

We are working to convince the Chinese that this practice is abhorrent and ought to be stopped, he told reporters.

Sam Brownback, ambassador at large for international for religious freedom, condemned the Chinese government for wholesale abuse of religious minorities.

China is at war with faith, but it is a war they will not win, he said Thursday.

Brownback said that on a recent trip to China he raised the issue of massive detentions of Muslim Uighurs with Chinese authorities, but they repeated claims the prisons were just vocational training compounds.

China has long maintained that the camps are meant to combat extremism, separatism and terrorism, but the scope of the detentions has raised alarms in many Western governments.

Brownback said he was advocating for a strong U.S. response, possibly including economic sanctions.

Farooq is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report.
In a hit TV sitcom, he plays a schoolteacher who gets elected president almost by accident. But in real life, Volodymyr Zelenskys run for the presidency is no accident, though his campaign is plenty unconventional.

Instead of traditional campaigning, Zelensky, an entertainer by trade, has been crisscrossing Ukraine with his variety show, Kvartal 95. Zelenskys act doesnt directly appeal for votes, but it mocks todays politicians and hints at a candidate intent on doing things differently than the league of politicians who are the butt of most of his jokes.

Zelenskys vague but anti-establishment candidacy has appealed to Ukrainians frustrated with the status quo and eager for change. In the most recent Kiev International Institute of Sociology poll, he ranks several percentage points ahead of two political veterans, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, the firebrand former prime minister now making her third presidential bid.

With Zelensky polling at roughly 18%, and a majority of the vote needed for victory in Sundays balloting, a runoff appears all but inevitable. Pollsters predict the second round would probably pit the comedian against one of the two longtime political leaders.

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Why not give him a chance? asked Julie Zaichenko, 26, a teacher in the southeastern city of Dnipro, formerly known as Dnipropetrovsk. She and two friends stood in line for almost two hours to get a place close to the stage for a free performance of Kvartal 95. We are ready for change, because we cant go on the way we have been. Our country cannot survive the way it is.

Five years after sustained street protests ousted a Kremlin-favored president and oriented the country westward, Ukraine is still struggling to realize all the goals of the 2014 revolution, also known as the Maidan Revolution. Ongoing fighting with Russia-backed separatists in the east has resulted in 13,000 deaths and handicapped the economy by cutting off its industrial eastern powerhouse. Also in 2014, Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula, long a part of Ukraine. In Kiev, the nations capital, reforms have been slow going; fighting corruption has been marred by more corruption and lack of political will.

Audience members in Dnipro, Ukraine, at the March 26, 2019, performance of the variety show created and hosted by Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky. (Brendan Hoffman / For The Times)

But Zelenskys surprising surge in the polls may be a positive albeit unusual sign that the country is emerging out of political crisis, some analysts say. With 39 candidates on the ballot, it is the most competitive election in Ukraines modern history, said Leo Litra, a senior researcher at the New Europe Center, a think tank in Kiev.

If Ukraine manages to have a peaceful transition of power through free and fair elections in times of war, then this is a very important element that will show that Ukraine is advancing quite fast in its democracy, Litra said.

For the first time in Ukraines 28 years of independence, voters are not choosing between a pro-Western and a pro-Russian candidate, a direct result of Moscows annexation of Crimea and backing of the separatist warfare in eastern Ukraine, Litra said. It also is an election in which voters can democratically choose among a wide range of candidates, all but one of which lean heavily toward integrating with Europe.

This campaign is proof that Ukraine doesnt have a black-and-white election, like in Russia, where people are choosing from one candidate and thats it, said Alex Ryabchyn, a deputy in the Ukrainian parliament, or Rada. Im proud of my country that we have a democracy in which we dont know who the winner is before the election.

Four years after Russia annexed Crimea, the peninsula remains in limbo 

Much is at stake for the nation of 43 million. The next president will have to take on Russian President Vladimir Putin in attempting to resolve the conflict in the east, where the Kremlin has backed separatist militias and supported the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk peoples republics. The so-called Minsk peace talks have collapsed, and daily fighting continues.

Poroshenko, who won with 55% of the vote after the 2014 revolution, has since struggled to gain the countrys confidence. Last month, his ratings took another hit when he became ensnarled in a corruption scandal involving defense procurement.

Poroshenko, 53, has tried to capitalize on his presidencys establishment of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church separate from the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church. Now sanctioned by the Orthodox patriarch, Ukraines own church was seen as an important step toward a complete exit from Moscows orbit.

Ukraine has only once reelected a sitting president in its post-Soviet history. Poroshenkos best chance at becoming the second incumbent to win the vote lies in his ability to convince voters that even if they dont like him personally, at least they know they are getting a strong pro-Western voice by reelecting him.

If the polls are correct, Poroshenko is running neck and neck with political rival Tymoshenko for the second spot in a runoff.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko greets supporters during a campaign rally in the western city of Lviv on March 28, 2019. (Yuri Dyachyshyn / AFP/Getty Images)

Tymoshenko, 58, has twice served as prime minister and has also served time behind bars on charges of abuse of power, accusations she says were politically motivated by her rivals.

During the 2004 Orange Revolution, she stepped on stage in Kiev with her long, blond hair wrapped in a halo of thick braids. The traditional Ukrainian peasant womans hairstyle stuck, and she became instantly recognizable in the West as Ukraines firebrand who could whip up a crowd with her populist rhetoric.

But her ability to maneuver within Ukraines lucrative energy sector led many Ukrainians, who dubbed her the Gas Princess, to distrust her. Putin has said she is a Ukrainian candidate the Kremlin knows and can deal with, drawing more distrust from Ukrainians weary of Russian aggression against their country, a former Soviet republic.

Tymoshenko has based her campaign on populist promises of lowering gas prices and increasing pensions and salaries. At a recent campaign rally on the outskirts of Kiev, she said she would bring Ukraine to Polands economic level within the next five years.

Candidate Yulia Tymoshenkos image appears on a campaign booth in Dnipro. (Brendan Hoffman / For The Times)

When Zelensky announced his candidacy on New Years Eve, his weekly television show on a non-state channel, Servant of the People, was already a nationwide hit. Zelensky plays Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko, a high school history teacher who wins the presidency after a video of him ranting to a colleague about Ukraines inept and corrupt politicians goes viral. The show focuses on the trials and tribulations of the unlikely peoples president going up against the political establishment.

In that sense, Zelenskys rise in todays campaign mimics his shows plot. Zelensky is accused of having close ties to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, one of the countrys richest men and a rival of Poroshenko. Kolomoisky owns the television station 1+1, which broadcasts Zelenskys sitcom, but denies he is financing the comedians campaign.

But many Ukrainians fear a vote for Zelensky could be a disaster for the country if the comedian, with no political experience and no clearly articulated platform, were to win.

Zelensky has given few interviews to the press and has not participated in debates with other leading candidates. Critics say he lacks a clear plan for ending the war in eastern Ukraine, a major concern for the country.

Zelensky says that we should just stop shooting, said Oleksander Broslavets, 37, who was drafted in 2015 to fight in the Ukrainian military. As a person who has been on the front line, I understand that if we stop shooting, the other side will not.

Broslavets tends bar at Veteranos Pizza, a restaurant owned and operated by veterans of Ukraines fighting against the pro-Russia militias in the east. The restaurant has several franchises across the country, employing veterans as a way of assisting their reintegration after returning from the front.

Im not saying that Poroshenko is 100% my president or that I like him, he said. He has made a lot of mistakes and had five years for making sufficient reforms within the country. But Poroshenko is fighting to bring back our territories in Donetsk, Crimea, Luhansk, and thats the most important thing right now.

Zelensky is leading in polls ahead of Sundays presidential election. (Brendan Hoffman / For The Times)

Zelensky and his troupe were scheduled to perform up until two days before Sundays vote. At the first of two variety shows in Dnipro this week, a crowd of about 8,000 people laughed and sang along at the two-hour free performance.

You guys have been so warm. This has been a great evening, he said in his trademark raspy voice before closing the show. I think if Petro Oleksiyovych [Poroshenko] were here, he would also vote for me.

Zelensky, who grew up in the industrial central city of Krivoy Rog, speaks mostly Russian, splintered with a local dialect known as surzhyk, a mixture Ukrainian and Russian languages common throughout the bilingual country. He told the crowd that no matter what, they should go out and vote on March 31.

ZELENSKY! echoed through the stadium and spilled onto the chilly night streets of Dnipro.

Guys, now I cant let you down, he said before launching into the shows final act, a song about the need to shake up the countrys corrupt political system and change it for the future generation of Ukrainians.

Ayres is a special correspondent.
British lawmakers on Friday rejected the governments divorce deal with the European Union for a third time, leaving the date and terms of the nations departure from the bloc uncertain.

The House of Commons voted 344 to 286 against the withdrawal agreement struck between Prime Minister Theresa May and the EU.

The vote follows defeats by even wider margins in January and March, and leaves the governments blueprint for exiting the EU in tatters.

Britain now has until April 12 to tell the EU what it plans to do next. It must either cancel Brexit, seek a longer delay or crash out of the bloc without a deal. U.K. lawmakers plan to hold a series of votes Monday in an attempt to find a new plan.

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Almost three years after Britain voted in June 2016 to leave the EU, the countrys politicians remain deeply gridlocked over Brexit. May had urged divided legislators to support the deal and finally break an impasse that has left Britons uncertain when, or even if, the country will leave the EU.

She had asked the lawmakers to put aside self and party  [and] accept the responsibility given to us by the British people.

But the deal still was voted down, even after May sacrificed her job for her deal, promising to quit if lawmakers approved the Brexit agreement and let the country leave the EU in May. Numerous members of Parliament have criticized her handling of the Brexit process and called for her to step down and let someone else handle the next phase of negotiations.

Some previously resistant Brexit backers had moved to support the deal. Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson  a likely contender to replace May as Conservative Party leader  tweeted that rejecting it risked being forced to accept an even worse version of Brexit or losing Brexit altogether.

The Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, a pivotal part of Mays coalition government with 10 seats in the House of Commons, has refused to back the agreement because it treats Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the United Kingdom.

Parliament actually only voted on the legally binding, 585-page withdrawal agreement that May agreed upon with the EU late last year, and did not deal with a declaration on future ties, which is also part of the agreed-upon divorce deal. The withdrawal agreement just sets out the terms of Britains departure  including its financial divorce settlement with the EU and the rights of EU and U.K. citizens after Brexit.

The EU confirmed Friday that a British Parliament vote to pass the withdrawal agreement alone was necessary and sufficient to secure the U.K.s orderly departure on May 22.

Removing the political declaration from the Brexit vote altered the deal enough to overcome House of Commons Speaker John Bercows invocation of a parliamentary ban against asking lawmakers the same question over and over again.

May also hoped severing the link between the two parts of the deal would blunt opposition  although there was little sign of that.

Labor Party Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said removing the political declaration from the vote made Brexit blind, because you dont know where you are going, now the prime minister has said she is stepping down.

So, the political declaration, the future relationship, is going now to be determined in a Tory leadership exercise, he said.

Two years ago, Britain triggered a two-year countdown to Brexit, with the departure date set for March 29, 2019.

hat date arrived, the U.K. remained at an impasse that has frustrated EU politicians trying to negotiate an exit agreement, and surprised observers around the world who had viewed Britains 1,000-year-old parliamentary system as a model of stability.

But with British politicians deadlocked over whether to approve a divorce deal, the EU last week granted an extension. Under its terms, if the withdrawal agreement were approved by 11 p.m. Friday British time, Britain would leave the 28-nation bloc on May 22.

Now that its rejected, Britain has until April 12 to announce a new plan  possibly holding a new Brexit vote or an early general election  or leave the EU without a deal, risking severe disruption for people and businesses.

Stefaan De Rynck, a senior advisor to EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, said a no-deal Brexit is a likely scenario.

We need to conclude this process now in a way that avoids a no-deal, he said at a news conference in London.
Darkness had fallen, but few in this cramped outdoor detention camp would sleep.

Most of the migrants huddled in the cold desert air had nothing but thin blankets of insulated plastic to protect them from the wind. Rows of families, including small children and babies, lay directly on the dirt floor. Some had been living like this, exposed to the elements under an El Paso bridge, for four days, held there by U.S. border authorities.

The hastily erected holding pen, U.S. officials say, is an extreme but necessary response to a recent increase in Central American families crossing illegally into the country to ask for asylum. A Customs and Border Protection spokesman on Friday called the pen a temporary transitional shelter and said it was established last month.

Migrant advocates call it the latest in a string of inhumane practices targeting asylum seekers. They say that exposing families and young children to unsanitary conditions and chilly desert nights puts them in danger.

In December, two migrant children died in the agencys custody. On Friday, the El Paso medical examiner released an autopsy that found that one of the children, 7-year-old Jakelin Caal of Guatemala, died of strep-induced sepsis.

We are doing everything we can to simply avoid a tragedy in a CBP facility, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said this week, adding that many migrants are ill when they arrive. But with these numbers, with the types of illnesses we're seeing ... I fear that it's just a matter of time. Jakelins family has disputed that she was ill before she and her father were taken into custody.

Hundreds of migrants seeking asylum are held in a temporary "transitional" shelter. Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times

The scores of families shivering each night under the bridge in El Paso highlight a seismic shift in the type of migrants seeking to reach the U.S. in recent years  as well as the failures of U.S. policy to adapt to those changes.

A decade ago, the vast majority of people apprehended at the border were single adult men who had been caught trying to sneak into the U.S. But in recent weeks, nearly two-thirds of those detained by U.S. agents have been families who turned themselves in to officials and asked for asylum.

Families have increasingly been crossing illegally to turn themselves in; at official ports of entry, the Trump administration has dramatically limited the number of migrants allowed to present asylum claims.

Customs and Border Protection hit a breaking point and has run out of space in which to process asylum seekers, McAleenan said at a news conference in El Paso. An uptick in family arrivals has pushed the overall number of migrants detained at the border to numbers not seen in more than a decade, with an especially large increase here on the far western edge of Texas, he said.

Advocates for immigrants criticize the shelter conditions as inhumane. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Advocates for immigrants criticize the shelter conditions as inhumane. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Advocates for immigrants criticize the shelter conditions as inhumane. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

President Trump has repeatedly threatened to shut down official border crossings with Mexico. He said on Twitter on Friday he would do so next week if Mexico failed to stop migrants from reaching the U.S.

But closing border crossings would do little to stop families from exercising their right to seek asylum, since most are crossing between points of entry. Nor would a border wall help; a winding river separates much of the border where Trump wants construction, so a barrier would need to be built several feet north of the actual border, up on a sturdy levee.

Each day here, large groups of asylum seekers have been walking across the shallow river and then waiting on the narrow strip of U.S. territory north of the Rio Grande and south of a newly constructed section of wall. Sooner or later, khaki-clad Border Patrol agents pull up in vans and pick them up.

Los Angeles Times

U.S. officials and immigration experts say the countrys border infrastructure simply isnt equipped to deal with this new wave of asylum seekers. The Border Patrols mission is to detect people seeking to illegally enter the United States, not house and process thousands of asylum seekers each day.

Similarly, the countrys overburdened immigration judges arent equipped to quickly try the hundreds of thousands of asylum cases the U.S. expects to see this year. More than 855,000 immigration cases await adjudication, according to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse; asylum applicants wait on average more than 700 days to see a judge.

Migrants seeking asylum turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents on the El Paso side of the Rio Grande bordering Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Merlin Genoveva Avila Amador, of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with children Leonel Moya Avila, 8, left, and Jonathan Moya Avila, 11, at the Casa del Migrante shelter in Ciudad Juarez. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Migrants are fed lunch at the Casa del Migrante shelter in Ciudad Juarez. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Top, migrants seeking asylum turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents on the El Paso side of the Rio Grande bordering Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Left, Merlin Genoveva Avila Amador of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with children Leonel Moya Avila, 8, left, and Jonathan Moya Avila, 11, at the Casa del Migrante shelter in Ciudad Juarez. Right, migrants get lunch at the shelter. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Since Trump reversed his policy of separating parents and children at the border last year, families seeking asylum have been processed by immigration officials and then released inside the U.S. with a court date years in the future.

The recent quick release of such families appears to be contributing to increased migration from Central America, with an estimated 1% of the entire population of Honduras and Guatemala on track to be apprehended at the border this fiscal year, according to Adam Isacson, a researcher at the think tank Washington Office on Latin America.

There is a message that if you think you need to leave, now is the time, he said.

What is needed, Isacson said, is not more border fencing but more aid to Central American countries to address the root causes of migration, and a mass hiring of new immigration judges to cut case backlogs.

The U.S. has been seeing an uptick of asylum-seeking families and unaccompanied children over the last five years, he said, and U.S. policy must adjust to that.

This is the new normal, he said.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the recent crush of asylum seekers, painting them as economic migrants who use the asylum process as a back door into the U.S. At a rally in Michigan on Thursday, the president mocked those who request asylum, including those who say their lives are in danger, calling their efforts to win protection in the U.S. a big fat con job.

This is absolutely an unconscionable way to treat people. You dont let children sleep under underpasses. Taylor Levy, legal coordinator at Annunciation House

Jobita Medina, of Honduras, is one of more than 400 migrants live at the Casa Del Migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Right, a child waits at the shelter in Ciudad Juarez. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Left, Jobita Medina of Honduras is one of more than 400 migrants at the Casa del Migrante shelter in Ciudad Juarez. Right, a child waits at the shelter in Ciudad Juarez. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Migrant advocates insist that many of those crossing have legitimate fears of returning to their home countries in Central America  politically volatile places that have some of the highest homicide rates in the world.

The advocates say the outdoor holding center under the El Paso bridge is evidence that the U.S. is not treating migrants humanely.

This is absolutely an unconscionable way to treat people, said Taylor Levy, legal coordinator at Annunciation House, a migrant shelter in El Paso. You dont let children sleep under underpasses.

She said her organization had spoken with many migrants who stayed at the makeshift shelter. They complained of not having enough food to eat and of not receiving adequate medical attention, she said. Other migrant advocates in El Paso said they heard similar accounts.

The story of one Guatemalan father who crossed the border into El Paso on March 21 with his 9-year-old son and asked for asylum underscores the complexity of the issue.

Elmer, 32, who gave only his first name because he said he fears persecution back home and from U.S. immigration authorities, promised to pay a smuggler $6,000 to ferry him to the U.S. border.

The smuggler told him to bring his son on the journey, because although single adults who seek asylum are typically detained for months under U.S. policy, families requesting asylum are quickly released.

Elmer said eight of his relatives and 10 of his sons grade-school classmates had left in a similar fashion in recent months, thanks to rising crime in the city where they live and the falling price of coffee beans, which have hurt farmers like Elmer. In Guatemala, he earned less than $10 a day.

The pairs long trek north with a series of smugglers was long and often frightening, Elmer said. As they crossed Mexico packed on hot buses, he worried he and his son might be kidnapped by criminal groups known to prey on migrants.

Hundreds of migrants seeking asylum are being held in a temporary transition area under the Paso del Norte bridge in El Paso.

But the worst moment came once they crossed into the U.S. and were corralled into the small outdoor holding pen in El Paso, surrounded by razor wire. There was a tent set up, but it housed only a small portion of the migrants who were there. Border officials say the area is meant as a transitional shelter, but Elmer and his son slept outside on the dirt for four days, surrounded mostly by young mothers and fathers with children. Sick people coughed loudly and babies wailed all night.

We were hungry and cold, he said. Those were some of the hardest days of my life.

The pair were finally processed for asylum and released to a local migrant shelter two days ago. On Thursday afternoon, they sat holding hands in the El Paso Greyhound station, waiting to board the first of several buses that would take them to Alabama, where two of Elmers sisters live.

The station was crowded with dozens of migrants who had just been released from federal custody, some of whom, like Elmer, wore bulky ankle monitors over their pants.

As soon as they reached Alabama, Elmer said, he planned to phone his wife, who was home in Guatemala with their younger son.

First, he said, he would tell her he was safe. Then he would urge her not to make the long journey to join him.

The nights outside under the bridge in El Paso had been too difficult, he said. I dont want them to run that risk.

kate.linthicum@latimes.com

Twitter: @katelinthicum
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The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Philippine ruling PDP-Laban party have expressed their willingness to enhance their cooperation and achieve "even better" relations between the two countries.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, also chairman of the PDP-Laban party, said in his meeting with Song Tao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, on Wednesday that he was satisfied with the current bilateral relations.

"The Philippines and China are good partners and the cooperation in various fields has yielded remarkable results, and I am happy with that," he said, adding that the Philippines is willing to increase the exchanges between the two parties and promote regional peace and prosperity.

For his part, Song said the CPC was willing to implement the consensus reached by the top leaders of the two countries with its Philippine counterpart to boost the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, push forward the bilateral relations and safeguard regional peace and prosperity.

Song also met with Vicente Sotto III, president of the Senate, during his three-day visit to the Philippines.




- Herdsmen residing in the Mariga local government area of Niger have cried to the federal government that they are tired of roaming about

- The herdsmen said that they are ready to support any policy by the federal government to help them establish their businesses in a particular place

- Responding to their plea, the minister of agriculture and rural development, Audu Ogbeh, said that there are plans by the federal government to attend to their plight

Herdsmen of Bobii village in the Mariga local government area of Niger state have called on the federal government to establish a ranching system of livestock production.

The herdsmen made the call on Thursday, March 28, to the minister of agriculture, and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, during his inspection visit in the area. They said that they are tired of roaming from place to place with their livestock, Leadership reports.

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Malam Abu Mairiga, representing the herdsmen, the Fulani community leader of the village, said that they have vowed to throw their weight behind any policy that would make it possible for them to establish their businesses in a particular place.

In reply to their plea, the minister said that the federal government is serious with its plans to resettle herdsmen and end farmers/herders unrest.

Ogbeh said: Our desire is to end this crisis. We dont want a single life lost and, like you heard the farmers saying, they, too, want to settle down and live a decent life, send their children to school and live like every other Nigerian in comfort and make some money from their cattle and their milk and their hide; that is the whole idea.

The herdsmen are farmers. The way we support maize farmers, rice farmers, beans farmers, cassava farmers, (the same way) we have to support them to settle down and then there will be peace in the country, he said, even as he revealed that government had already approved funds for ranching.

The president approved money, one money went through Federal Executive Council recently; another one will go through Council in two weeks time. We will be here implementing the programme, including the rural settlements we are going to build in these places for people to live in.

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I am highly impressed with this, and I will take the report to the council, to tell them what weve done and I am asking the states that are willing, I emphasise (to go with providing ranching facilities); we are not forcing any state to do this.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that as part of efforts to address clashes between herdsmen and farmers, a 10-year National Livestock Transformation Plan had been initiated by the federal government.

The government's plan was expected to gulp about N91bn in investments and will yield a two trillion naira profit over the 10-year period.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

Nigeria News 2018: Osinbajo Oighlights Reasons for Incessant Herdsmen Troubles | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
- Nollywood actress, Oge Okoye, recently made the news after a video where she visited resurrection pastor, Alph Lukau, surfaced

- The film star received a lot of knocks on social media for visiting the controversial pastor

- Media personality, Bolanle Olukanni, has taken to social media to defend the actress from critics

In recent times a number of people have become very dissatisfied with some African pastors seeing as some of their acts have been termed as fake.

A South African pastor, Alph Lukau, recently made the news after he claimed to resurrect a man from the dead in what looked like a drama presentation. This earned him the pseudonym Resurrection Pastor.

In a video that recently went viral, Nollywood actress, Oge Okoye, was spotted at the church with the controversial preacher and a number of Nigerians on social media reacted to the clip.

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Pastor Lukau/Oge Okoye miracle: TV host Bolanle Olukanni defends actress against critics

Source: UGC

Some people insinuated that the film star was recruited by the pastor to perform his miracles while others felt she visited him for genuine reasons.

Nigerian TV host, Bolanle Olukanni took to her Twitter page to defend Oge Okoye against critics. According to her, she prays others are not in a situation where they need empathy but get mocked instead.

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See her tweets below:

The actress has also not kept mute on the issue and she made sure to reply people trolling her on social media.

Despite the trolling and social media embarrassment, the actress appears to be unbothered and from her latest post on Instagram, she is standing proud of what she described as her love for God. Sharing series of photos, she wrote: "Feeling abundant and aligned AF....like I want to live life on my own terms...Well, I am not lazy..I am on energy saving mode. #ILoveGOD#Proudtosaythat"

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HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better.

TOP-5 African pastor miracles | Legit TV

Source: Legit Newspaper
- Nigerian scholars in other countries have condemned the report by the US Department of State on Corruption and Human Rights violation in Nigeria

- The scholars said the report is apparently aimed at legitimizing criminal activities of terrorists and extremists in Nigeria

- According to the scholars, report was a covert disguise for putting ammunition in the hands of the opposition

Some Nigerian scholars living abroad have faulted the recent report by the US Department of State on Corruption and Human Rights violation under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

The scholars under the aegis of Association of Nigerian Scholars in Diaspora (ANDS) the report is apparently aimed at legitimizing criminal activities of terrorists and extremists in Nigeria.

ANDS in in a communique issued at the end of a meeting to review the country reports on human rights practices for 2018 rejected the report in its entirety.

The group also called on other professional bodies of Nigerian origin to do the same while mandating the federal government to communicate the rejection of the report in writing to the United States through its embassy in Nigeria.

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The communique which was signed by the president and secretary general of ANDS, Bitrus Gamwa and Pita Agbese said the report was a covert disguise for putting ammunition in the hands of the opposition.

The communique said: "The questionable support for criminals as itemized in (3) above is the excuse under which the United States issued the report and similar reports that undermine the Armed Forces of Nigeria for the benefit of terrorists like Boko Haram, ISWAP, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and militants in the Niger-Delta."

"These groups that qualify as terrorists by internationally accepted definitions are apparently being supported by the United States.

"The support for the opposition and terrorists extends beyond tactical backing with reports like the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018 include indirect arming of these groups with weapons that are first supplied to third party countries like Syria from where they will find their way into the hands of these US lackeys in Nigeria.

"The incursion of the US into Venezuela is a model that the opposition in Nigeria continued to use as blackmail against the government as they vowed to repeat something similar.

"The US report made another attempt at delegitimizing the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2014 by presenting it as repressive, an inference that ignored the legislative process adopted by elected Federal Lawmakers to arrive at the legislation," the communique said.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a report by the United States has revealed that there is corruption at all levels of government in Nigeria.

The report notes that the president, vice president, governors and deputy governors are given immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.

Legit.ng gathers that the report focused on the number of convictions the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have secured.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

Buhari is the General Overseer of corruption | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
The minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has received Joe Ghartey, his Ghanaian counterpart in charge of railways development, who is on a visit to Nigeria to inspect the federal government's construction works.

Amaechi, the former Rivers state governor, is expected to take Legit.ng correspondent alongside other journalists across the railway construction sites in Lagos to show the level of progress made by the transport ministry.

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And Ghartey, who arrived Nigeria on Friday, March 29, will also participate in this inspection as his ministry in Ghana is also reportedly carrying out construction works similar to what is obtainable in Nigeria.

The Ghanaian minister arrives the airport in Nigeria

Source: UGC

One of the ministers close associates told our correspondent: the Ghanaian minister is here to check out what weve done so far, and compare it with theirs.

Not only is he coming to compare it with theirs, but to see if there are a few things they can add to their construction works which they recently embarked on.

The Ghanaian minister is expected to inspect railway projects in Nigeria

Source: UGC

As at the time of filing this report, the Ghanaian minister alongside Nigerian host were on their way to the Nigeria Railway Corporation complex in Ebute-Metta area of Lagos, where the inspection exercise will kick off.

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According to the itinerary of the minister made available to Legit.ng, the inspection train shall move from Ebute-Metta to Iju, and make stops at Agbado Station, Papalanto, Abeokuta before heading to Ibadan.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the governor of Ogun state, Ibikunle Amosun, tested the newly constructed Standard Guage rail line from Lagos to Abeokuta today, Friday, February 8.

The governor was accompanied by the minister of transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, Nobel Laureate, Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, and other dignitaries on the historical journey.

The train ride started from Iju, Lagos state on Friday, February 8 and arrived in Abeokuta within an hour.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

Angry Nigerian says he needs Atiku to become president and sell the country| Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
Recently, photos of Oge Okoye visiting Alph Lukau's church in South Africa got out and this has caused quite a stir amongst Nigerians. It would be recalled that the pastor of this particular ministry has been involved in a lot of scandals. It is for this reason that Oge's visit to his church has been tagged as nearly inappropriate by a lot of her fans.

After suffering the backlash fans meted to her because of this one visit, she took to her page to reveal the reason why she actually visited the church.

The actress who was clearly happy about the thrashing she received from Nigerians said she had actually gone to the church at the behest of her mother. Her mom who was in Spain had seen the pastor minister and she got taken by him.

She wanted the opportunity to meet with the man of God so that she could pray for her sister who was bedridden. To save her mother the stress of such a tedious journey, Oge decided to make the trip to the church, taking her aunt's photo as a souvenir.

READ ALSO: Pastor Lukau/Oge Okoye miracle: TV host Bolanle Olukanmi defends actress against critics

That Nigerians interpreted the visit to be something else pissed the actress off and caused her to vent out her frustration at them. Read her post below:

"Good morning Glam FAMILY.........I try to be calm about everything and anything especially when Negativity screams out so loud. I don't try to Calm the Storm,but will only Calm my mind and the Storm will Pass..though i owe no one any explanation as regards to my personal heavenly race but I feel like addressing THIS wild fire.

"I Travelled to see my mum as usual and she told me how she came across the youtube channel of AMI church and that she's been following them ever since because of what God is doing in the church through Pastor Alphalukau. So my mum wanted to visit the church because of her younger sister(My aunt)who is a cancer patient,wheelchair bound and is bedridden.

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"Due to Mum's age,I didn't want her making that long journey from Spain to South Africa so I requested for my aunt's pictures and promised her that I would visit the church so I can stand in for her as a point of contact. That was how i visited AMI on the Sunday, 14th of October 2018,last year.

"Go on youtube and see for yourselves. Please Nigerians,Is anything wrong in seeking the face of God or standing in the gap for my sick aunty? How Gullible can people be?Why fabricate stories? Meanwhile how much do you think I will be paid to do the unimaginable?

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"God forbid. Whoever said that..May they be visited with the same bitter pill to swallow IJN. Amen. Thank you Lord for all the blessings."

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In the meanwhile, Alph Lukau, the pastor in the middle of this controversy, was recently involved in yet another scandal after a HIV patient he claimed to have healed died!

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better.

Uche Jombo interview at Star Chat: Nollywood Should Be Taxed Less | Legit TV

Source: Legit
- A Nigerian man identified as Monday Ali Onaivi is said to be on the run after allegedly killing his wife

- Reports claim Onaivi set his wife ablaze during a heated argument over upkeep money

- His late wife, 33, is said to have birthed two lovely girls before her untimely death

Reports reaching Legit.ng claim that a young man identified as Monday Ali Onaivi has killed his wife and is currently on the run with the help of his mother.

A Facebook user identified as Ejiroghene Ezaga shared photos of Onaivi and his late wife, Esther, who he allegedly set ablaze during a heated argument over upkeep money.

It was reported that the incident happened in Edo, Benin city in mid March, 2019. As gathered, Ali, refused to give his wife upkeep money when she demanded and it led to an argument.

READ ALSO: Tiwa Savage accused of subbing Wizkid in new song, she denies

During the course of the argument, the angered husband allegedly set his 33-year-old wife, Esther, ablaze and she it got ugly.

An injured Esther was immediately rushed to the hospital where she eventually died of severe burns.

The husband, Ali, is said to have taken to heels and is currently no where to be found. Esther left behind two daughters and help is currently being sought.

See post below:

READ ALSO: 15 Signs That Show Your Love Will Withstand Anything

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Meanwhile, a Nigerian man identified as Bob-Manuel Don-Christian on Facebook has accused his wife of cheating. The obviously angered man took to social media to bash his wife and accused her of bringing home another man's child.

Bob and his wife have been married for 12 years and reports claim that his source of infidelity news is his girlfriend who has been with lately.

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Who cheats more in a relationship, the man or the woman? on Legit TV:

Source: Legit.ng
Since she became of working age, Jodi Evans has held almost every job there is in the citys recreation bureau.

Jodi Evans grew up across the street from Bethlehems Friendship Park, where she spent much of her childhood participating in parks and rec programs before she started running them. Shes been a lifeguard, pool assistant manager and park leader.

As an adult, she transitioned into volunteer roles, rec commission member and parade organizer to name a few. She used her job as a teacher to help recruit students for Bethlehems summer rec jobs to keep programs running.

Now, at age 50, Jodi Evans is about to add a new title to her resume: city recreation director, a job being vacated by Jane Persa, who is retiring after 40 years with the bureau.

Jodi Evans will be a familiar face to anyone involved in the citys recreational offerings or City Line Little League or at the Bethlehem YMCA, where shes been a camp counselor and swim instructor.

Shes also got a familiar last name because shes married to Bethlehems business administrator Eric Evans, a former veteran city councilman.

But Mayor Bob Donchez emphasized this is not a case of nepotism. Jodi Evans rose to the top as the best choice for the job following a competitive hiring process and was strongly recommended by a panel of three city employees, who conducted the interviews, Donchez said Wednesday.

Jodi Evans is a lifelong resident of Bethlehem, who has unmatched enthusiasm and passion for recreation and the citys youth, said Persa, who was on the hiring committee and has worked closely with her over the years.

Eric Evans notified the mayor that his wife was interested in the job being vacated by Persa and proactively removed himself from the hiring process, Donchez said. In January, Persa announced her planned retirement sometime this spring.

Realizing her last name is Evans, I felt it was very important that Eric would not be involved in the process, the mayor said. He was proactive and did the right thing and removed himself.

Persas strong recommendation of Jodi Evans paired with her volunteerism and work with city recreation helped her rise to the top, Director of Public Works Michael Alkhal said. Alkhal, who sat on the hiring committee, will supervise Jodi Evans.

She displayed an almost overwhelming enthusiasm for the opportunity to make a difference and get further involved in recreation in the city, Alkhal said.

Eric Evans said after nearly 30 years of teaching, his wife saw the job as a rare chance to start the next chapter of her life. He immediately informed the mayor she planned to apply and met with the city legal bureau.

Because of Jodis level of passion and excitement, I didnt think it was fair to tell her she couldnt apply, Eric Evans said Thursday. I didnt want to deny her the opportunity (just because she was married to me)."

Jodi Evans first day on the job is slated for Monday, April 8. On Monday evening, the Bethlehem Area School Board voted to accept her resignation from her job teaching math at Freedom High School effective March 29.

She was hired at a salary of $65,000. Thats a pay cut from her teaching job where she made $80,854 last year.

Shes been involved in our recreation system for over 30 years, the mayor said.

Jodi Evans has served on the city recreation commission for a decade, has spent summers working at city pools and playgrounds and is involved with the Halloween parade as well, Donchez said. She was a member of the focus group for the citys parks and pool study, which recommended turning Memorial Pool into a destination.

The hire does not require the approval of Bethlehem City Council.

Following a departmental reorganization, the position of recreation director falls under the public works department and reports directly to Alkhal. Recreation is a three-person bureau now, including Persas supervisory position.

When the city began advertising for the position, Donchez formed a committee to vet the applicants consisting of Alkhal, Persa and Director of Human Resources Michelle Cichocki.

The city received about 100 applicants, which was narrowed down to a field of 10 applicants who were brought in for interviews, four finalists -- one who dropped out -- and then two final candidates who were brought to Donchez, the mayor and Alkhal explained.

All three committee members wrote a strong letter of recommendation for Jodi Evans, Donchez said.

After meeting with the committee and discussing Jodi Evans strengths and weaknesses, Donchez said he decided to follow their recommendation. The mayor emphasized he only gets involved in interviews for department head positions, otherwise leaving those selections up to his staff.

I have the utmost respect in their integrity and their reputation. Since I dont involve myself in interviews other than supervisors/department heads, I rely on them, the mayor said. They have a great reputation and I think they have done a great job for me.

Donchez noted hes known Persa for more than 40 years and he has great faith in her judgment.

Im really sad to see Jane leave, he said. Shes been a great worker for the city of Bethlehem.

Jodi Evans has a bachelors degree in secondary education from Bloomsburg University and a masters degree in education from DeSales Univeristy.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A resident in a behavioral health home in Bethlehem is accused of stalking an employee and threatening her with a knife.

Mark Savary, a resident of Salisbury House at 2025 Stefko Blvd. in the city, was arrested Wednesday and charged with stalking, making terroristic threats and harassment.

The 47-year-old Savary was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The employee went to police on Tuesday to report three incidents over the past two weeks, and that she was fearful for her safety.

The woman reported she was working in the office when Savary held a pocket knife in his hand, waived it around and told her, Better be careful with me before I (expletive) cut you, according to police.

The following week, on March 21, the woman was again working in the office when Savary allegedly threatened someone would slash her neck and damage her car.

Then on Monday, Savary reportedly told the woman he had taken a picture of her license plate and said, Im going to find out where you live and youre going to see what happens ... try me.

The woman said she feared Savary will find out where she lives and attack her, and that staff members were added to her shifts at work.

Savary was paroled in December for threatening to blow up the former Broadway Social nightclub in Bethlehem.

Savary suffers from severe bipolar disorder, but was kicked out mental health court for using cocaine. He is also now being detained in that case.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
New Orleans hosted a crowd of stiff competition at their third annual National Bourbon Festival on March 20-23. The region was proudly represented by Silverback Distillery -- the countrys only mother-daughter distilling team.

The New Orleans National Bourbon Festival (NOBF for short) invites the finest Bourbon distilleries and restaurants in the country to compete for medals in a wide variety of categories.

Silverback Distillery currently has two locations: Afton, Virginia and East Stroudsburg, Monroe County. Silverback has been distilling in Virginia since 2014, serving eight spirits including Strange Monkey Gin, Blackback Straight Bourbon, Route 151 Proof Moonshine, Christine Riggleman Reserve and Blackback Honey Rye Whiskey. (Fun fact: The Christine Riggleman Reserve is the first bourbon to be named after a female master distiller since prohibition.) In 2018, Silverback opened their production facility and tasting room in East Stroudsburg in the heart of the Poconos.

Silverback Distillery Christine Riggleman Bourbon

At NOBF, The Christine Riggleman Reserve Bourbon won gold in the Best Cask Strength Bourbon category. But thats not all. The distillery also won silver in the Best Single Barrel Bourbon category and walked away with another gold for its Blackback Honey Rye Whiskey in the Best American Whiskey Under 4 Years category.

"I am so proud of my team from production to the tasting rooms; everyone plays an important role at the distillery, Riggleman, the master distiller, said in a news release.

Its an unbelievable honor and a testament to my familys hard work and determination to win these medals two years in a row, added Assistant Distiller Lauren Riggleman in the same press release.

Silverback Distillery wins three medals at New Orleans National Bourbon Festival

Stop in at The Silverback Distillery to try their award winning drinks. They are open every Thursday-Monday.
The five family members, including three children, who were horrifically killed and piled in a bedroom in their Morrisville, Pennsylvania apartment last month, died by asphyxiation and strangulation, authorities announced Friday.

Two relatives, Shana Decree, 42, and Dominique Decree, 19, have been charged in the slayings. They, too, lived in the home.

Four of the victims, including the 9-year-old twins Imani and Erika Allen, NaaIrah Smith, 25, and Damon Decree, Jr., 13, all died by asphyxiation, according to the Bucks County District Attorneys Office. Jamilla Campbell, the 42-year-old mother of the twins and sister of Shana Decree, died from strangulation.

Each death has been ruled a homicide. The family had past ties to Trenton.

The investigation into these murders continues with one goal: justice for five people killed in Bucks County. We are committed to seeking justice for Erika, Imani, Damon, NaaIrah and Jamilla, Deputy District Attorney Christopher W. Rees, said in a statement.

Shana Decree, the mother of co-defendant Dominique Decree, was also the mother of Damon Decree, Jr. and Smith.

The two told investigators a gruesome tale leading to their arrests last month, saying first three men had arrived at the apartment and begun attacking everyone. They later amended their story, saying everyone there, even the children, had spoken of wanting to die.

Shana Decree allegedly told police she killed one of the children, and then her sister, Campbell, killed another, and then killed Smith. Then Shana and Dominique Decree killed another child, and Dominique Decree killed Campbell, according to a criminal complaint.

But Dominique Decree provided another story, saying her mother had killed two of the children and Smith, before Campbell strangled the third child, police said. Dominique Decree said she then strangled Campbell herself, police said.

Another relative said the women had begun to isolate themselves, and had been talking about demons.

Shana Decree and Dominique Decree each face five counts of criminal homicide and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, according to the district attorneys office.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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A California woman thinks she deserves more than a barely half-full box of candy.

In fact, she thinks everyone deserves more Mike & Ike candies per box.

On Monday, a judge let her take her lawsuit to the next level.

U.S. District Court Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. ruled Stephanie Escobar may proceed with a class-action lawsuit against Bethlehem-based Just Born, makers of Mike & Ike and Hot Tamales candies.

Escobar claims in federal court papers that she bought a 5-ounce box of Mike & Ikes for $4 at a Los Angeles movie theater in 2016. She said the box was only 46 percent full. Her lawsuit claims theres no purpose behind having that much empty space and the size of the box deceives customers into thinking theyre getting more candy than they receive. She believes Just Born violated California consumer protection laws based on the quantity of candy in the box.

The ruling by Hatter opens the door to a class action lawsuit. Anyone who bought a box of Mike & Ikes or Hot Tamales in California after Feb. 6, 2013, can join the lawsuit.

Just Born Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Matt Pye said the company is disappointed with the ruling.

This lawsuit represents just the latest in an increasing number of recent, similar litigation being filed against candy and food manufacturers, he said. Our products and labels comply with all FDA regulations and provide consumers with the information they need to make informed purchase decisions. We stand behind our products and intend to vigorously defend ourselves.

The judge hasnt set a trial date yet, although several pre-trial deadline and hearing dates are set through November 2019.

The lawsuit was moved from state court to federal court in 2017.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter@RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
A woman who plotted the rape, torture and murder of her own teenage daughter pleaded guilty on Friday and was sentenced to life in prison for a crime so barbaric that prosecutors and the judge strained for superlatives to describe it.

One day after her co-conspirator boyfriend was sentenced to death, Sara Packer, 44, appeared in a suburban Philadelphia courthouse and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and 16 other offenses in the 2016 slaying of 14-year-old Grace Packer.

Evil attracts evil. Evil recognizes evil. And in Jacob Sullivan, you found one of your own, Bucks County Judge Diane Gibbons, her voice dripping with contempt, told Packer in sentencing her to the maximum term.

"You like rape. You like murder. That's a fact," said Gibbons, decrying the "rot" and "warped depravity" on display in the case.

Packer, whose crimes were not eligible for Pennsylvania's death penalty, did not make a statement.

Prosecutors said Packer and her boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan, shared a rape-murder fantasy and spent months plotting Grace's slaying in a vacant house about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Philadelphia.

Sara Packer testified that the couple took her adoptive daughter to a sweltering attic and gave her what they intended to be a lethal overdose of medicine. Sullivan sexually assaulted her as Sara Packer watched. They bound her hands and feet with zip ties, stuffed a ball gag in her mouth and left her to die.

Grace eventually managed to escape some of her bindings. But she was unable to make it out of the house before Sullivan and Sara Packer returned overnight  some 12 hours later  and Sullivan strangled her while Sara Packer held her hand and watched her die.

Sara Packer and Sullivan stored Grace's body in cat litter for months, then dismembered it and dumped the remains in a remote, wooded area of northeastern Pennsylvania where hunters found it in October 2016.

Bucks County prosecutor Jennifer Schorn said in court Friday that Sara Packer  a former county adoptions supervisor who had fostered dozens of children over the years  saw Grace Packer as a source of government benefits and nothing more.

Schorn and the judge marveled at how someone who professed to be a mother could have been so cruel.

"It defies nature, what she did," Schorn said.

Sullivan, who pleaded guilty to first degree murder, was sentenced to death by a jury Thursday. Packer admitted in court during Sullivan's sentencing hearing that she hated Grace and "wanted her to go away."

Sara Packer lost her job at Northampton County's children and youth department in 2010 after her husband at the time, David Packer, was sent to prison for sexually assaulting Grace and another foster child. But child welfare authorities did not remove Grace from the home, despite evidence of abuse.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services launched an investigation after Grace's murder. Its report was sealed while Packer and Sullivan were being prosecuted, but is expected to be made public on Monday.

After the sentencing, District Attorney Matt Weintraub called on lawmakers to pass a child protection law called "Grace's Law."

Graces memory will no longer be bound to that of these two predators. She is free, Weintraub said.

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The lawyer defending a woman charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing of a Pennsylvania jewelry store owner said in court Thursday (March 28) his client did not set out to harm the man police found dead Feb. 28 in a Treme hotel room.

Magen Hall, 25, has been booked with second-degree murder in the death of 62-year-old Patrick Murphy from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Murphy died of stab wounds. He was found on a bed at the Empress Hotel in the 1300 block of Ursulines Avenue, officials say.

Halls attorney John Fuller noted that Hall gave the hotel proprietor her real name and a Tennessee identification card upon checking in, and that surveillance video and witnesses interviewed by police did not indicate any tension existed between the two before they entered the hotel room.

My client did not go to the hotel with any intent whatsoever of harming the deceased in this case, Fuller told Orleans Magistrate Commissioner Jonathan Friedman.

Orleans Parish Assistant District Attorney Inga Petrovich argued the existence of three stab wounds, including to Murphys neck and chest, showed Halls intent to kill.

Hall did not make a statement to police, Petrovich said, and after the stabbing left the victim alone to die in the hotel room.

A housekeeper alerted the owner to the mans body in the hotel room about eight hours after police said surveillance video showed Hall quickly walking out of the room at 3:42 a.m., Homicide Detective Patrick Guidry, the cases lead investigator, testified.

The lawyers argued and the homicide detective testified at Halls preliminary hearing, which is intended to establish probable cause. During the hearing, Hall sat at the edge of the seat of a large leather armchair, next to Fuller and her other attorney Marcus DeLarge. Wearing a maroon jail uniform, she appeared alert, following along with the proceedings, sometimes biting the inside of her cheek.

Friedman ruled there was probable cause to hold Hall on a murder charge, noting second-degree murder does not require planning, or any type of motive. Second-degree murder, he said, can be developed in a moment, something a jury will ultimately have to decide.

Before Friedman ruled, Fuller asked the commissioner to consider a bond more in line with a manslaughter charge, adding, me asking is not a concession. He told reporters he believed manslaughter applied to the allegations facing his client, based on the states evidence.

Orleans Parish Coroner's Office identified Patrick Murphy as the man found dead in a room of The Empress Hotel on the 1300 block of Ursulines Avenue Thursday afternoon (Feb. 28).THE MORNING CALL

An affidavit for Halls arrest warrant states two people who were staying in another room at the hotel told police that they heard a male and female arguing very loudly inside the room that Hall and Murphy had checked into, at about 3:30 a.m. They heard a struggle, and the woman yelled Get in the bathroom, the witnesses said. The struggle only lasted about two minutes before they ceased to hear commotion from the room, the document states.

Fuller said the bathroom was located on the opposite end of the hotel room as the rooms only door. By telling Murphy to get in the bathroom, he said, she was essentially instructing him to back up. The discovery of Murphys body on the bed, he said, suggests he did not back up, as she told him to do. The stab wounds in the front of his body also suggest the two were facing each other, he said.

Petrovich said the case lacked any indication of self-defense: no testimony, statement, evidence during the hearing. She also noted Guidrys answer to one of Fullers questions, that Murphy was 5-foot-7 and 160 pounds, and pointed out that he and the defendant were similarly sized.

Just because its a man and female, doesnt mean the male can necessarily overpower the female, she said.

Correction: An initial version of this story incorrectly identified the neighborhood where the hotel is located.
A 32-year-old Slatington man faces numerous charges after an investigation revealed he was high on methamphetamine and driving at an unsafe speed in the wrong lane when he caused a head-on crash in December that hurt four people on Route 145 in North Whitehall Township, the Lehigh County district attorney reports.

Nicholas Strohl, of the 200 block of Cherry Street, was behind the wheel of a southbound Honda Accord when he crossed into the opposing lane of traffic at 4:41 p.m. Dec. 2 and slammed into a northbound Honda Ridgeline driven by Charles Karanink, 57, of the 700 block of South Street in Jim Thorpe, near Mauser Road, District Attorney Jim Martin said in a news release.

Strohls car then rear-ended a Volkswagen Jetta driven by Timothy Pitts, 55, of Danielsville, Martin said.

Nicholas Strohl, 32, of Slatington. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)Courtesy photo | For lehighvalle

Strohl and Karanink had to be freed from their vehicles and were take to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, authorities said. Karanink had multiple fractures and underwent numerous surgeries, Martin said. Pitts and Cassidy Pitts, 18, suffered minor injuries, but Cassidy Pitts is still undergoing physical therapy for neck injuries, Martin said.

Strolh, who is in Northampton County Prison awaiting trial on drug charges from August, will be arraigned later by video on Lehigh County charges of aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence of methamphetamine, accidents involving death or personal injury while not properly licensed (his license was suspended), three counts of recklessly endangering another person, one count of possession of methamphetamine and two counts of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, Martin said. He also faces two summary counts involving the suspended license as well as six vehicular counts tied to the wreck, including driving at an unsafe speed and traveling in the wrong lane.

The driver of a Honda Ridgeline is trapped in his vehicle after being hit head-on around dusk Dec. 2, 2018, on Route 145 in the Laurys Station of North Whitehall Township.

Court papers dont list an attorney for Strohl.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter@TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Three cousins who committed an assault against a fellow prisoner of the Midlands Prison have been given until the end of the current sitting of Portlaoise Circuit Court to pay compensation in order to avoid a prison sentence.

At Portlaoise Circuit Court, Charlie Lynch, 27, of 179 Castlecurragh Vale, Dublin; Michael Lynch, 24, of Bestfield Halting Site, Athy Road, Carlow; and Christy Lynch, 25, of 81 St Marys Park, Carlow, were all charged with assault causing harm, at the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, on November 26, 2016. The three men are cousins.

When the case first came before the court last December,

Detective Garda Barry McPaul gave evidence that on that date, an inmate, Christopher OBrien had just been transferred onto the prison landing when he was approached by the three accused.

He was punched and knocked to the ground, where he was kicked and knocked unconscious. Prison officers intervened and one of the accused, Michael Lynch, had to be pulled away while the other two walked away.

State barrister, Mr Will Fennelly told the court that there was a family feud in the background of this offence.

Det McPaul confirmed that there was a feud in the Kildare-Offaly area between the Lynch and OBrien families and he believed the assault was caused by the injured partys family name.

In interview, Michael Lynch said he became involved in the assault after joining the other two men.

Christopher Lynch admitted throwing the first punch.

The court heard that the injured party did not hit anyone.

Michael Lynch had 25 previous convictions; Christopher Lynch had 48 previous convictions; and Charlie Lynch had 46 previous convictions.

The injured party sustaining injuries including swelling to the head, a stitch to the eye and concussion. There was also a suggestion that there had been swelling to his brain.

He was spitting up blood and suffered with memory impairment.

He remained in the emergency department overnight and had to be brought back later as he was confused and unsteady.

The injured party was transferred to Portlaoise Prison for his own protection, where he served out the rest of his sentence.

The court heard that the injured party failed to meet with the gardai and failed to cooperate with the investigation.

All three accused lost their privileges in prison after the incident.

Adjourning the case last December, Judge Keenan Johnson bound the accused to the peace, directed them to engage with the probation services, and told them to pay 1,000 compensation each.

Judge Johnson said he would then ask probation to address their suitability for community service, recommending 240 hours in lieu of two years in prison.

When the case returned to the circuit court last week, defence for Charlie Lynch said he had 350 in court, while Christy Lynch had 800.

Defence said that if given time the accused would have more. They are not people of much means, said defence, adding they would hopefully have as much as possible on the next date. Defence for Michael Lynch, Ms Louise Troy said that her client had 850.

Judge Keenan Johnson adjourned the matter to April 9, saying he expected the balance to be paid then.
A group of Laois children performing a powerful song in sign language at the Portlaoise St Patrick's Day parade, had their video muted by Facebook.

The Midlands ISL Learners Choir warmed the hearts and won cheers for their performance of This Is Me on stage.

The volunteer group teaches Irish Sign Language to schools and the wider public to help deaf people to communicate more freely in their communities. Their young choir formed after their first performance at a family wedding got huge reaction, and now does regular special performances on request.

Founder of Midlands ISL Learners is Karen Chadwick.

"Our choir was asked to take part in the St Patricks Day event, after the parade on Sunday to do a few songs in ISL. We jumped at the opportunity to show the community the songs the Learners have learned in the amazing language that is Irish Sign Language. The parade and event were a great success and the choir was received with huge cheers and a round of applause after each song they performed," she said.

She posted an amateur video of the performance to the Midlands ISL Facebook page, but was shocked when it was muted. The reason was the song is copyright of Warner Music Group Rights Management.

"It was muted by Facebook because Warner Music claimed rights to the song This is Me from The Greatest Showman. I received a notification from Facebook telling me this. We were gutted. It is such a great and powerful song and really is iconic as an anthem for all of those who feel they are different but no less than others. It celebrates the differences in everyone. Which is exactly what Midlands ISL Learners is all about," she said.

There was an option to appeal Facebook's decision and she did so.

"I did as I was very disappointed for the choir who had worked so hard to perform this song. I replied saying simply that I felt the song should not be muted as it was not for commercial purposes at all, and that it was simply an opportunity for the children in Midlands ISL Learners Choir to create awareness of Irish Sign Language and to showcase the beauty of the language in song. The children in the choir are determined to bring music to those with hearing loss," Ms Chadwick said.

A week later, she received a notification from Facebook to say that her argument was successful, and Warner Music had released its claim on the video. So I reposted the video on Social Media to show the song, in all its glory to everyone," Ms Chadwick said.

The choir began as one emotional wedding performance for the mother of a young member of Midlands ISL Learners.

"After the amazing reaction they got and the video of the wedding went viral, the kids thought it would be a great idea to continue with it. All of the children in the choir are in the children ISL classes with us on Saturday morning. They, each and every one of them, are a truly inspiring bunch of kids. Our future is in great hands with the likes of them. The are determined to make the world a better place for everyone.

"Each have their own reasons for wanting to learn ISL. Some hearing loss of their own, some have siblings who are deaf, others a friend or neighbour, and some simply believe that ISL should be a language that everyone should know, just to bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing worlds. But all are learners. It is important to not that the choir is NOT a deaf choir, but an ISL Learners choir," said Ms Chadwick.

The choir has taken part in a number of charity events around the country including Busking for Cuisle, Choirs for Cancer, RARE Ireland and also been asked to be in some videos for local musicians such as Joe S and RARE Ireland.

They have even been booked in for a couple of weddings in 2019 and 2020. The members are Hannah Malone, Lexi Nelson, Saoirse Fox, Bridget Reidy Dundon, Leah Murray, Ben Twomey, Kayla O Neill, Riona O Neill, Matthew McGree and Sean Devereux.

Warner Music Ireland has declined to comment.

Below: Choir members with Laois world champion boxer TJ Doheny on St Patrick's Day in Portlaoise.
Bord na Mona is pushing forward with plans to develop a major renewable gas facility in Portlaoise that will use up to 80,000 tonnes of waste to create gas for power generation.

The proposed development for an anaerobic digestion plant could treat up to 80,000 tonnes of non-hazardous, biodegradable, organic materials per year.

The company is progressing plans by holding two community information sessions in Portlaoise Rugby Club in April to inform the public about the proposed development.

The site of the proposed development is located approximately 3 km north-west of the Bord na Mona Cuil na Mona near Junction 17 beside the busy Dublin to Cork M7 motorway.

Continue reading below picture

The company announced the plans for this gas facility in its annual report in July 2018.

The anaerobic digestion plant could take in a combination of commercial food waste, brown bin waste, animal slurries and purpose-grown crops, amongst others.

It is proposed to use anaerobic digestion to convert the organic materials into biogas.

This would then be injected into the national gas grid, for supply through the existing gas network, to homes and commercial businesses providing gas equivalent to the heating of 5,500 homes.

According to Bord na Mona, the proposed project will bring significant environmental benefits through the sustainable treatment and conversion of non-hazardous, biodegradable, organic waste materials into renewable biogas.

The process will also produce a by-product (bio-fertiliser) which the company claims will be suitable for spreading on agricultural land.

This is similar to a plan refused in 2007, when Advanced Environmental Solutions (AES) waste management service, which is now owned by Bord na Mona, applied for planning permission for a plant to treat biodegradable waste by anaerobic digestion at Kyletalesha.

After two oral hearings and a number of appeals, planning permission was not granted for the Portlaoise plant.

The plan was refused for a number of reasons including failure to align with waste management, planning and renewable energy policy, the location of the site with no advantage for sustainable transport and environmental impact among other issues.

Historically, the firm has been Irelands main peat supplier using it to fuel three power stations. But it is now moving more into renewables development, biomass production and waste management. It will phase out peat harvesting for energy from 2030.

All are welcome to attend the community information session in Portlaoise on Wednesday, April 10 and Thursday, April 11 from 3 pm to 9pm.

MORE: First look at the planned new Glanbia cheese factory in Laois.
The clocks change this weekend to 'summer time' and the government says more time is needed before a decision is made on the practice of change times in twice a year.

As Minister for Justice and Equality, it is up to Laois TD Charlie Flanagan to confirm to the public that summer time will commence at 1 am Greenwich Mean Time this Sunday, March 31. Clocks and watches should be put forward one hour at that time.

Minister Flanagan took the opportunity to provide an update on Irelands response to the EU proposal to end the practice of changing clocks. The original EU proposal published in September 2018 referenced final changes in April 2019. However, a compromise proposal, which was published in October 2018, deferred implementation to April 2021.

Discussions with Member States on the EU proposal are still ongoing via the Transport Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council. Ireland is one of a large number of Member States which has said that more time is needed to consider the proposal in order that Member States can allow for co-ordination with neighbouring countries.

"It is important to acknowledge that if the UK were to adopt a different position, this would present particular challenges for the island of Ireland. Any position adopted by Ireland will be informed by this important consideration, he said

The Department of Justice and Equality said it ran a public consultation process on the future of the twice-yearly clock change in October and November 2018. It said this consultation comprised a public survey (which received over 16,000 responses) and general submissions from individuals and stakeholders (receiving 171 responses). In addition, the Department said it commissioned an Amarach Research opinion poll of a sample of 1,000 respondents aligned with the national population.

Minister Flanagan's Department said a report on the consultation exercise is being prepared and will be considered by an interdepartmental steering group for submission to Government.

Once the group has reported to Government, more details concerning the consultation process and its outcome will be published on the Department of Justice and Equalitys website.

Summer time is governed in Ireland by the Standard Time Act 1968, which was amended by the Standard Time (Amendment) Act 1971 to provide for Winter time. SI 506/2001 is the most recent amendment to this legislation, standardising the time of the clock change at 1am GMT in line with EU Directive 2000/84/EC.
Monasterevin native and Fine Gael local election candidate Kevin Duffy is on a mission to give back to his home town if he wins a council seat this May.

Kevin, who returned home after ten years in Australia just two years ago, said his parents Louis and Sadie instilled a sense of community in him. They both have lived and worked in the town for over 45 years and have been active in the community over the years.

Growing up in the town, I attend both primary and

secondary school in Monasterevin before attending University at Waterford Institute of Technology, said Kevin who completed a degree in Architectural Technology and a Masters of Construction Project

Management.

Following my studies, I travelled to Sydney, Australia where I worked in the Australian property and construction industry for ten years. In 2016, I and my wife Lisa-Marie and our young family Hamish, 5, and Edith, 2, relocated back to Monasterevin.

They purchased and restored Hiberian house, formerly the Bank of Ireland on Main street and only a few doors up from where Kevin grew up.

We are pleased to back living in Monasterevin close to our families and in a community that has so much to offer,he added.

It has often been the subject of discussion that Monasterevin is a tight-knit community with significant potential but has suffered due to the lack of local representation in the county council.

Kevin believes Monasterevin has been disadvantaged on the political arena for some time now and cites issues with the long delays for the new secondary school as one example.

I want to contribute back to the town, he said, I was fortunate enough to grow up here and get a good education and now it is my turn to give back.

He adds that he is highly motivated and excited about the opportunity to represent and serve the community if chosen in the local elections.

I am hoping to be able to draw on the experience of local members and community groups to ensure that Monasterevin receives correct representation at the local level, he said.
A new Kilcock housing estate Ledwill Park, which is now under construction, has attracted controversy from some locals who are unaware of any link between the area and the name.

But historian Seamus Cullen contacted the Leinster Leader to explain that the builders consulted with him late last year on the name.

Read also: Kildare resident charged with threatening to kill refuses court proceedings

The new estate is named after Captain Ledwill who was attached to the military barracks which was situated on the fringe of the Fair Green in the town in 1795.

It was near the site of the new housing estate.

During a period of civil strife and militancy in north Kildare in 1795 a number of activists from the Newtown area were executed in Naas.

Two of the activists were held, following their arrest, in the military barracks in Kilcock and a demonstration was held at the barracks calling for their release.

Historian Seamus Cullen



The military in the barracks were on high alert. Trouble was expected following the executions and a new officer, Major Cook, was appointed to deal with the disturbance.

However, at 1am on Tuesday, August 18, 1795 the major had become intoxicated and mobilised the entire garrison ordering them to proceed into Kilcock with orders to shoot to kill.

He instructed his second-in-comman, Captain Ledwill, to enforce the order.

However, the courageous captain disobeyed and the entire garrison sided with him.

This brave mini-mutiny averted a massacre in Kilcock.

The (chastened and hungover) major left the barracks the following day.

Ironically, Mr Cullen explained, the most famous mutiny in Irish history, the Curragh Mutiny of March 1914, also occurred in County Kildare.

In referring to this event, British military historians prefer to use the term Curragh Incident.

The Kilcock affair in 1795, however, did not come to public notice because embarrassed Crown authorities would prefer it was quietly forgotten, Mr Cullen explained.

The historian said he wanted to compliment both Kildare County Council and the builders Glenveigh Homes for their interest in naming new housing estates from heritage-related connections including individuals from both sides in the various conflicts in history.

The bi-centenary of 1798 was commemorated in 1998 and in Kilcock and Newtown both sides in the conflict were remembered, Mr Cullen noted.

We are all too aware of the events of Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972 which is in the news recently but almost two centuries previous a Bloody Tuesday in Kilcock was averted due to the chivalry of Captain Ledwill who put his career on the line, Mr Cullen noted.
The names put forward for new residential developments should be examined more closely.

According to the Kildare County Development Plan names of new developments should help conserve the countys cultural heritage - by references to the geography, history or culture of the areas or by using Irish.

But Cllr Reada Cronin said this policy needs to be strengthened - although a move to allow the municipal districts (local councils) have a say on the issue didnt succeed because of the existing regulation which stipulates that Kildare County Council itself must decide.

The Sinn Fein politician criticised the planned naming of a development in Kilcock after a British soldier who tried to put down the first Irish uprising.

Cllr Suzanne Doyle pointed to confusion in Melitta Road, Kildare town because there are three areas using Coolaghknock as part of the name. She also said there are a number of addresses in the town using Drumcree.

Cllr Ide Cussen said there are several areas in Celbridge using Oakleigh while Cllr Brendan Young said Castletown is relatively prevalent in Leixlip.

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This man unfortunately represents a trend of urban raiders coming down from Dublin to steal and that is going to stop, said Judge Kevin P Kilrane having heard evidence against Brian Darcy at last weeks sitting of Carrick-on-Shannon District Court.

Sgt Michael Gallagher gave evidence against Mr Darcy, 20 Alyward Green, Cappagh Road, Finglas saying between 8.50pm and 9pm on March 26, 2018 there was an incident of theft of gas cylinders from Kennedys filling station, Carrick-on-Shannon.

Gardai were notified and Sgt Mooney subsequently stopped the defendant on the Dromod bypass.

Sgt Gallagher added: similar offences came to light afterwards.

Defending solicitor Martin Burke said the defendant is 18-years-old and was 17 at the time of the offence adding: He wasnt alone but is the only person charged.

He added: He is happy to carry out a period of community service in lieu of a custodial sentence.

Mr Darcy also appeared charged with the theft of three gas cylinders from Lunney's filling station on March 11, 2018 and the theft of 60 worth of diesel from Topaz N4 eastbound, Mullingar on the same date.

Adjourning matters until November 19 Judge Kilrane said: If he does not turn up on that occasion he is going to prison.

Judge Kilrane instructed Mr Darcy to stay out of counties Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon and Donegal except for court business.
A case of no insurance against Vlad Onofrei, 7 O'Connell Terrace, Arklow, Co Wicklow was adjourned until the May 21 sitting of Carrick-on-Shannon District Court with Judge Kilrane saying: I am not happy with the insurance certificate.

Last weeks sitting of Carrick-on-Shannon District Court heard on June 12, 2018 the defendant made off without payment of fuel to the value of 20 from Lunneys filling station, Cortober, Carrick-on-Shannon.

Giving evidence Sgt Michael Gallagher said Garda Mary Burke was called to attend the scene.

Sgt Gallagher said Mr Onofrei placed 20 worth of fuel in his vehicle but was unable to pay for the fuel by pin and said he would return later that day with payment.

He also gave an undertaking to produce his driving documents within 10 days but failed to do so.

Defending solicitor Martin Burke said: He clearly got agitated when things werent going the way he wanted them to work.

He accepts it shouldnt have happened and he lost the run of himself.

Addressing the court the defendant said: I wanted to pay but I was advised not to go back.

Mr Burke added: He acknowledges his wrong doing. His convictions are in other states, none in Ireland.

He needs his car to travel to work. It appears and he maintains that he was covered.

Adjourning matters until May 21 so it can be clarified whether or not the defendant was insured on the date in question Judge Kilrane said: Im not happy with the insurance certificate.

It was issued by some company in Gibraltar.
In the Dail this week, Sinn Fein Rural Affairs spokesperson Martin Kenny TD raised the issue of lack of wheelchair access to the Bus Eireann bus route 480, which runs from Donegal to Sligo, with stops in Laghey, Ballintra, Ballyshannon, Finner, Bundoran, Tullaghan Cross, Cliffoney, Grange, Drumcliffe, and Rathcormac.

Deputy Kenny said: This has been raised particularly by a lady living in Ballyshannon, Victoria Matthews, who has protested and campaigned very hard on this. She is a wheelchair user. She intends to do a course in the Institute of Technology in Sligo and there is no public transport to bring her there because there is no wheelchair accessibility on the bus serving that route.

Deputy Kenny went on to explain that the need is for a low access bus on these short routes, from which a small ramp unfolds to allow wheelchairs and walking aids along with buggies and prams to get on the bus easily.

That is the model we need to see in most places. Bus Eireann in Sligo tells me it has several buses doing that, but they are not allocated to that route and it says it does not allocate the buses to the routes, that is done by the National Transport Authority, NTA.

That is a disconnect that needs to be resolved. I am sure the Minister for Transport, Tourism, and Sport has a written reply telling me about all the places where there is public transport that is accessible to all.

There are many routes in rural Ireland like this one, where people in wheelchairs and people who have difficulties and disabilities want to access public transport, not just from an equality point of view but also because it would enhance their lives and give them a sense of a future by doing courses in college, as this lady wants to do, or employment opportunities they may want to take up but that they do not even consider because travel to those places is closed off as there is not proper access on the bus routes.

Vicky Matthews is starting this course at the end of next September. We need to see fully wheelchair-accessible transport in place between Donegal town and Sligo IT, and Sligo town on Route 480 before then. I appeal to the Minister to make that happen.

Also read: Prisoner of the Moon: Leitrim based drama documentary turns moon landing on its head
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FINE Gael local election candidate, Leo Walsh believes the lack of attention on animal welfare, both at local and national level, is extremely worrying. And he has come up with a novel suggestion to cut back on the high and increasing instances of animal cruelty: animal welfare exams similar to a driving licence test.

His suggestion comes in the aftermath of the death of the dog named Hope, which was highlighted in the Limerick Leader. Unfortunately, said Mr Walsh, such acts of animal cruelty are all too common nowadays.

However, its not just dogs that are affected, continued Mr Walsh, a former councillor and president of the Limerick Show Society.  In 2018, over 120 horses were seized by Limerick City & County Council due to unfit living conditions. Its estimated that almost 90% of these horses were euthanised which puts significant financial pressure on local authorities.

We need to start asking ourselves why is this number so high and how can we reduce the number of animal seizures whilst also ensuring animal safety, he added, expressing his belief that organisations such as Horse Sport Ireland should be engaged to help solve the epidemic.

Horse Sport Ireland has detailed guidelines on care of horses, Mr Walsh said but how many horse owners actually read this? Maybe its time we look at including animal welfare exams for all horse license owners, similar to the exam you face when applying for your drivers license, he suggested.

There is a need for more collaboration between animal owners, the council and all the voluntary animal welfare organisations, Mr Walsh said, and more public funding for voluntary organisations.

He has called for a policy to be developed on animal abuse.

There needs to be a clear and concise process in place whereby members of the public can report cases of abuse directly to the local council, he said.
AN ANGUISHED mother has criticised the HSE for excluding her from the treatment of her son, who died by drowning one day after he was presented to mental health services in crisis.

Derek Cosgrove, 30, of Coolraine Heights, Clareview, was pronounced dead on January 9, 2017 after he was seen entering the River Shannon on December 16, 2016, an inquest into his death has heard.

The hearing at Limerick Coroners Court, which lasted more than five hours, heard that the father-of-one had been a frequent user of mental health services since 2013.

Retired consultant psychiatrist, Dr Patrick Doyle said that Derek had suffered from drug-induced psychosis, major depression and was hearing voices.

The inquest heard that Derek smoked cannabis occasionally.

Reading her garda deposition last Thursday, Ms Cosgrove said that she and Derek attended Tevere House, a day hospital on Shelbourne Road, on December 15. She said she felt he was in crisis and was told at Tevere House that he was unwell as a result of side effects of new medication he was taking since December 7.

The inquest heard that Derek was prescribed Provigil for concentration issues on December 6, but stopped taking the drug after three days.

Dr Noreen Moloney, who met with Derek on December 15, described him as a courteous, polite gentleman who spoke in a low, monotone voice.

She said that he had been suffering from a depressive episode and that he denied suicide ideation and expressed hope for the future.

She said it was reasonable that he was treated on an outpatient basis after Ms Cosgrove queried the need for admission.

The inquest heard that Derek had been suffering from a lack of sleep.

Ms Cosgrove said: Derek was told if he did not sleep that night to come back the following day.

The inquest heard that Ms Cosgrove said that her son was experiencing auditory hallucinations. Dr Moloney said that when she asked him if he was experiencing this, he replied that he wasnt.

It was heard that Derek, at one time, was on four different types of medication, including lithium and ativan.

Mr DArcy said Dereks condition had vacillated. On March 10, 2016, his mood was stable and had no thoughts of self-harm.

On March 18, he was feeling suicidal. Dr Doyle said Dereks condition would have depended on his compliance of medication and use of cannabis. He added that Derek was seen cheeking medication.

That is news to me, Mr DArcy replied. Ms Watret said the spitting out of medication was in the medical records.

On March 25, his condition was described as stable. In May 2016, Derek was prescribed ativan, which is used for anxiety relief, the inquest heard.

Derek, who started on lithium in January 2016, had the prescription increased that May, the inquest was told. Mr DArcy asked why lithium was increased following a period of two months when his treatment was going well. Dr Doyle said that this was in order to reach therapeutic levels.

On June 3, 2016, his ativan was decreased after he was sleeping poorly.

He had been on a high dose of ativan, and we didnt want him to be dependant on it, Dr Doyle said. It reduced again on June 17.

In October 2016, it appeared that life was beginning to stabilise for him. However, Derek complained of a lack of feeling on lithium and that he didnt want anything from the periodic table, the inquest heard.

Dr Doyle said that Derek was warned of the risk of completely coming off lithium, and that the doctor was tailing it off.

Mr DArcy asked Dr Doyle what it means when someone doesnt want anything from the periodic table. Dr Doyle replied: I am not sure, really, what it means. It means, to me, that he has a lack of insight into his illness.

The retired psychiatrist added: What was happening here, Derek was feeling well. And when people feel well, they want to stop the medication. They think that they are cured.

In November 2016, Dereks condition was described as stable.

Dr Doyle said that he was happy with Dereks mental state at the time after December 6.

According to Ms Cosgroves garda deposition, Derek was tormented for most of the day on December 15.

He came into me at 4am and asked for a sleeping tablet and I gave him one of my own. Derek said he felt a little better and would get some sleep, she said.

At around 9.30am on December 16, Derek said he was going for a walk to clear his head. It was a beautiful morning and when he left, everything seemed normal.

She said she started to get worried after a while and that she had no way of ringing Derek.

I heard then in the news soon after that a man had jumped in the Shannon River during the morning.

She said she was contacted by gardai on January 9 after his body was located.

Just to confirm, when Derek came into my room at 4am, I told him we need to go back to Tevere House in the morning. He then said: No mum, I feel a bit better and that he had got some sleep.

Gda Conor Cronin said that Derek was pronounced dead by Dr Seamus Kilby at 3.25pm on January 9, 2017.

Pathologist Dr Terezia Laslo said the cause of death was drowning.

Coroner John McNamara described Ms Cosgroves speech as anguished and heartfelt. Sitting next to the framed picture of her son after all the evidence was delivered, she said: This was my beautiful Derek.

I will never see my beautiful son again. He was a gentle soul who never raised his voice. He was a chef, an entertainer, and intellectually-gifted.

He was proud of his family and friends. He was loved and nurtured. He didnt want to die. He just wanted to sleep.

Addressing Dr Doyle, she said: I remember you talking to me, Dr Doyle, and you said: I will get Derek back. And I think we did.

She said he celebrated his 30th birthday in May 2016. It was a big one because he was trying to change his life, adding that in October, he had started dating.

Ms Cosgrove said that during her meeting with Dr Moloney on December 15, she claimed she was never looked at while she took notes.

Ms Watret said Dr Moloney refutes that she was rude or dismissive. The coroner noted that there was a conflict of evidence.

Speaking about leaving Tevere House, she said: I dont know what happened. I keep trying to work out the what-ifs. Every time I went, in crisis, he was admitted. This was different.

She claimed that she not aware of the medications being changed and that she was not aware of the side-effects.

Derek never excluded me. Ye excluded me, she said.

Concluding, she said: There is a culture of never owning up to our mistakes in society. Atrocities are happening here in Ireland at the moment...Limerick city has the highest rate of suicide in Ireland. In 20 years, when we look back, where will we place the blame?

Ms Watret said: You have heard Dr Moloneys evidence. I just want to say that Mr Cosgrove was a frequent user of the mental health services on an inpatient, outpatient and crisis basis.

She said that an appropriate plan was put in place by Dr Moloney.

On behalf of the HSE, I would like to express my condolences to the family of their beautiful son, Derek.

Mr McNamara asked what the position is with clinicians discussing patient care with extended family members.

An HSE official replied: Its quite tied up in legislation and human rights. If you are an adult with capacity, you are entitled to your privacy.

The coroner said that Dr Moloney made a judgement call and put a plan in place, and that there was no indication of a risk of suicide ideation.

Recording an open verdict, he said he was not confident to record Dereks death as suicide and that he certainly seemed to be on the right path in 2016.

I appreciate how difficult it is for you, Majella. You would have to be made of stone to not be affected by your words.
A Nigerian mum identified as Rebecca Okoko Onoja has shared an extremely sad story of how her 6-months old baby died in daycare at Britmax International School, Abuja and the alleged conspiracy to cover it up.

Below is her story as shared on Facebook....

Michelle onoja was a 6months old baby and the second child of Mr and Mrs Onoja before her gruesome murder on the 11th January 2019 by staffs of Britmax international School Lokogoma Abuja. She was registered in the daycare facility of britmax international school which is located at Jubilation bethel estate,lokogoma Abuja a stone throw from their residence within the same estate.

In the morning on the 11th January 2019, at about 8am, baby Michelle Enenu onoja was dropped at the daycare facility (creche) in britmax international school and left for her place of work. At the time of dropping her, there was nothing wrong with her as she was hale and hearty. At about 2:18pm, the mother called the nanny taking over from the first caregiver of the kids at school to know their welfare so she can go and pick them, she didn't pick the call. The mother then received a call at 2:19 pm from the school secretary's number which is a woman but was called and heard the voice of a man telling her to come to the school. She immediately got to the school which is less than a minute drive from her house, 3houses away from her house in the estate. When she got there, she saw about 5 women and 2 praying over michelle in the bed and asked what the matter was but nobody was giving her any response.

When Mummy Michelle carried her, she noticed blood stains on her nose and food particles around her hair and nostrils. She became seriously agitated and wondered what could have resulted to the blood stains on her daughters body but She tried sucking out whatever was the blockage but realized that the best thing was to rush her to the hospital. At the point of entering the car, one of the persons around whom she later understood was the school accountant made a remark that is it not hospital they just returned from, she was shocked and asked him what did you say  and he refused to speak further, on hearing this it dawned on the mother that the school had earlier taken her daughter to the hospital without her knowledge or information.yet none of the other people around could tell her anything, she even asked the nanny what happened, she didn't say a word and was told not to say anything to the mother. When asked about the teacher, they replied that had already left the school to the police station, even before the mother knew her child was dead.

On getting to federal medical centre jabi abuja, Baby Michelle was immediately received at the emergency unit and the doctors attended to her immediately but to no avail. He remarked that the baby would have been saved if brought in earlier.

Following the circumstances surrounding her death, she lodged a complaint at the divisional police station Apo, and the IPO Mr Arome was detailed to investigate the matter. Based on the blood stains the mom advised the police to demand for a preview of the CCTV to enable the police unravel the circumstances surrounding the mysterious of her daughter. To our greatest surprise, when Mr arome demanded for the CCTV on 12th January 2019 he was told that the camera has been wiped out. This information further increased the parents suspicion that their daughter may have been killed by the school without justification. The parents sought to know if the school had any medical personnel in its employment only to be told there is none.not even first aid kits was available at the time this incidence occurred.

Since the ipo could not acces the cctv the patents decided an autopsy be conducted on michelle to unravel the true cause of her death.

Which the IPO and parents proceeded to FMC jabi and paid 250,000 for autopsy test. Before the test result came out on the 23rd of January 2019, the parents were informed that some officials of the school had made some attempts to compromise the result of the autopsy but it was resisted by the hospital.

Consequently, when the result came out,it was discovered that both blood and feeds were oozing out of the mouth and nose of Michelle. The result also indicated that baby Michelle died as a result of asphyxiation.

Alarmed by this result, the parents demanded a full scale investigation from the police with a view to bringing any culprit who is connected to the gruesome murder of baby Michelle to justice. Rather than commence full and proper investigation into the matter, Mr arome suddenly lost interest in the matter and has since then been pleading that we forgive and forget about this matter.

when the parents insisted on pursuing the matter to a logical conclusion, Mr arome started feigning been busy and not giving attention to the matter.

The parents are seriously traumatized by the sudden turn of events in relation to the murder of their daughter.

Observations and concerns are as follows:

1. What led to the blood stains on Michelles nostrils and hair.

2. Why as baby Michelle kept all alone in a classroom by herself without supervision, no body in the class.

3. Why was the parents not contacted by the school before their daughter was taken to the hospital even when the distance between the school and house is less than a minute drive, why was the mother not called.

4. The circumstances surrounding the sudden disappearance of the CCTV footage for 11th January, 2019.

5. The identities of the school staff that made attempts to compromise the autopsy result.

6. The sudden lack of interest and will to properly investigate this matter by the police and why the plea for forgiveness/settlement

7. Over 24hours, the proprietress of the school did not call the mother or return calls after several missed calls to her and the secretary till this day.

8. As at 6th of February 2019, 25days after the passing of baby Michelle, she still received a text messages twice from britmax international school to come and pay for child resources for IDPs. Why?

9. Where is the evidence that baby Michelle was taken to the hospital in the first place or just dumped in her cot and I got to know 2:30 hours after her death.

10. Why is the proprietress resisting detention.

It is our hope that if this matter is properly investigated and possibly prosecuted, it will save the lives of other children within the same school and other schools in Nigeria.

#JUSTICEFORBABYMICHELLE#

I am a mother and I lost my baby. Other children should not have to die like mine.

Mrs Onoja.




Justice Nnamdi Dimg alt='NIS Recruitment Scam: Court adjourns Abba Moro?s trial to May 30' class='img-responsive text-center' style='margin: auto;'ba of a Federal High Court, Abuja has adjourned the trial of a former Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, to May 30 and 31, 2019 following logistics constraints experienced by the prosecutions twelfth witness, PW12 slated to testify in court.

Moro is being prosecuted by EFCC, along with a former Permanent Secretary in the Interior Ministry, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia; an ex-director in the Ministry, Felix Alayebami and a firm, Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited, for an alleged procurement fraud and money laundering, involving the ill-fated recruitment exercise into the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS.

At the last sitting on February 28, 2019, the trial judge had adjourned to today, March 28, 2019 for the prosecution to present the PW12.

However, when the matter was called for hearing at about 3.17pm, counsel for the EFCC, Aliyu M. Yusuf, informed that the witness, who was earlier in court and was set to testify, had to leave in order to catch a pre-scheduled 5pm flight to Benin, Edo State, for an urgent official assignment.

We will be requesting for an adjournment in order to accommodate the development, he said. No objections were raised by the defence team. Consequently, Justice Dimg alt='NIS Recruitment Scam: Court adjourns Abba Moro?s trial to May 30' class='img-responsive text-center' style='margin: auto;'ba adjourned for continuation of trial.




Police are searching for two individuals suspected of being involved in the killing of a 24-year-old female priest, identified only as MZ, in Air Sugihan district, Ogan Komering Ilir regency, South Sumatra, Indonesia.

Ogan Komering Ilir Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Doni Eka Saputra said the reverend was murdered after reportedly being raped in an oil palm plantation.

He said the crime apparently occurred one day before the body was found by locals on Tuesday morning.

MZ was allegedly raped before she was killed. She was found by the locals with no pants and shirt open, Doni told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said that MZ, a pastoral candidate at the Indonesian Evangelical Christian Church (GKII), went shopping with a 9-year-old girl, identified as NP, at a local market, departing from the church by motorcycle on Monday. On the ride back to the church in the afternoon, they were allegedly intercepted by two individuals who had covered their faces with masks and sarongs.

Doni said both MZ and NP were taken to the plantation area, where they were tied up with tire rubber and strangled. NP survived the incident apparently because she had fainted and was thrown into bushes.

Arisman Manai, another pastoral candidate at the GKII church, said that he and other members of the church tried to discover MZ and NP's whereabouts after they grew worried when the woman and the girl did not come back from the market by nightfall.

Arisman said the people later found out what had happened when NP returned to the church on Monday night alone in blind panic and fear, revealing that they had been kidnapped by strangers.

The people immediately looked for MZ at the location the girl indicated, where they found that the woman had already died.

After undergoing a post-mortem examination at the local police hospital, the victim's remains were sent back to her hometown in Nias, North Sumatra.

We hope the police would investigate this case thoroughly. We are now taking care of NP as she is in trauma following the incident, Arisman said. (das)




Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, on Thursday hailed farmers living along the fringes of river Niger in Koko/Besse and Bagudo Local Government Areas for safeguarding the lives of two stray elephants.



The governor made the commendation when he visited the areas on a fact-finding tour where he had a glance of the two wandering elephants.

He expressed appreciation to the farmers for not harming the elephants and providing them with feeds from their farms.

I urge all communities in the state to continue to provide information and support until the animals return to their rightful location, he said.

The governor also warned the public against illegal killing of wild animals, adding that whoever inflicted injury on animals would face the full wrath of the law.

The elephants were first sighed at Zaria Kala-Kala village on August 28,2018, and local officials had prevented the residents from harming or killing them.
When a woman in Bangladesh gave birth to her first child in February, everything seemed pretty normal. But she shocked her doctors when she went into labor again only about a month later, this time giving birth to twins, according to news reports.

How is this possible? The woman had two uteruses, a condition called uterus didelphys, and she was carrying babies in both wombs.

The 20-year-old woman first gave birth to a baby boy in late February, and was released from the hospital after a normal delivery, according to CNN.

But 26 days later, she started having lower abnormal pain, and went to a different hospital. That's when doctors performed an ultrasound and saw that she had two uteruses, and was carrying twins in one of them. The doctors performed an emergency cesarean section to deliver the twins. [Wonder Woman: 10 Interesting Facts About the Female Body]

"We were very shocked and surprised. I have never observed something like this before," Dr. Sheila Poddar, a gynecologist at Ad-din Hospital in Bangladesh who helped deliver the twins, told the BBC.

The woman hadn't received an ultrasound prior to her treatment at Ad-din Hospital, and didn't know she was carrying twins in addition to her first baby.

Having a double uterus is relatively rare, occurring in about 1 in 2,000 women, according to Scientific American. During female fetal development, the uterus normally starts out as two tubes that fuse to create the uterus. But in some women, the tubes fail to join, and instead form two separate uteruses, according to the Mayo Clinic.

This isn't the first case of a woman with the condition becoming pregnant in both uteruses. In 2011, it was reported that a woman in Florida gave birth two two babies from two separate uteruses. At that time, doctors said the chances of this happening was one in five million.

In the Bangladeshi woman's case, it's likely that her ovaries released three eggs at once, which were fertilized at the same time, Dr. Christopher Ng, of the GynaeMD Clinic in Singapore, told the BBC. This would mean that the first child was 26 days more premature than the twins. Doctors have also reported that, in cases like these, the two uteruses can have independent contractions.

Originally published on Live Science.
Judas Iscariot is famous for being a disciple of Jesus who betrayed him in exchange for money.

Of the 12 disciples of Jesus, "only Peter gets more lines of coverage from the Gospel writers than does Judas," wrote William Klassen in his book "Judas: Betrayer or Friend of Jesus?" (Fortress Press, 1996). Klassen was a research professor at Ecole Biblique et Archeologique in Jerusalem.

Despite his biblical fame, little is known about Judas. His story is so unclear that while many scholars believe he did exist, some scholars think Judas is fictional.

"No one has succeeded in locating any sources of Judas independent of retellings of the New Testament narratives, which is why reputable thinkers can continue disbelieving in his historical reality," wrote Susan Gubar, a professor emeritus of English at Indiana University, in her book "Judas" (W.W. Norton & Company, 2009).

Biblical Stories

Accounts of Judas are preserved in the bible in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, as well as in the Acts of the Apostles (also called the "Book of Acts").

The biblical stories do not say where or when Judas was born, and describe different versions of how he died. The stories say that Judas was a disciple of Jesus and that he betrayed his leader, agreeing to turn him over to a crowd led by the chief priests in exchange for money  30 pieces of silver, according to the Gospel of Matthew.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all specify that Judas pointed out Jesus by kissing him when the crowd approached. The crowd then brought Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Jesus was subsequently tried and crucified.

A recently translated, 1,200 year-old text written in Coptic  an Egyptian language that uses the Greek alphabet  claims that Judas used a kiss to betray his leader because Jesus had the ability to change his appearance. Judas' kiss would clearly identify Jesus to the crowd. The four gospels, on the other hand, don't attempt to explain why a kiss was used to identify Jesus.

All the gospels indicate that Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed when he had supper with his disciples shortly before his arrest. The Gospel of John states that Jesus confronted Judas at the last supper, telling him, "What you are about to do, do quickly."

The Gospels of Luke and John both say that Satan "entered" Judas at certain times and may have influenced his decision to betray Jesus.

The Gospel of John describes Judas as an untrustworthy person. It claims that Judas was the treasurer for Jesus and his 12 disciples, carrying the money bag the group shared and sometimes stealing from it. When a woman put perfume on Jesus shortly before the last supper, Judas objected, the Gospel of John says.

"'Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.' He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it." John 12:4-6.

Death of Judas

The bible has two different accounts explaining how Judas died.

The Gospel of Matthew says that Judas regretted betraying Jesus, and tried to return the 30 pieces of silver that he had been paid.

In Matthew 27:3-5, Judas tells the chief priests and elders, "'I have sinned,' he said, 'for I have betrayed innocent blood.' 'What is that to us?' they replied. 'That's your responsibility.' So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself."

The 30 pieces of silver were then used to buy a plot of land that became a burial ground for foreigners  a place called the Field of Blood.

The Acts of the Apostles depicts a more dramatic ending for Judas, claiming that he used the 30 pieces of silver to buy a field, where he gruesomely died. "With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood." Acts 1:18-19.

A man named Matthias replaced Judas as one of the 12 disciples, the Acts of the Apostles says.

Gospel of Judas

In 2006, National Geographic published the "Gospel of Judas," a late third century text that may depict Judas in a better light. The work is what scholars call an "apocryphal" text, one that was never included in the bible. Numerous apocryphal texts discussing Jesus and his life were written throughout the ancient world.

Like some other ancient texts, the Gospel of Judas is written in Coptic. The text was translated by a team of scholars working with National Geographic. The translation suggests that Jesus asked Judas to betray him so that his execution could take place.

According to the translation, Jesus told Judas "Step away from the others [the other disciples] and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may again come to completion with their god."

However, the team's translation and interpretation of the text has been criticized by other scholars. April DeConick, chair of the department of religion at Rice University in Houston, wrote on her website that there are a number of errors in the translation and that the Gospel of Judas is actually a "parody about a 'demon' Judas written by a particular group of Gnostic Christians we call the Sethians."

A new translation and study of the Gospel of Judas is scheduled to be published in April, 2019, by Oxford University Press.

Additional resources:
Heres the rundown: Customers now can get Taco Cabana delivered to their homes, and two attractions downtown are weeks away from opening.

Taco Cabana is partnering with DoorDash to offer home delivery. Customers can order food through either companys website or app and track it in real-time.

Theres no delivery fee for orders over $10 through March 31, a reduced fee of $2.99 through April 8 and a $4.99 fee after those deals end.

A trendy cocktail lounge downtown opens Monday, Staff Writer Paul Stephen notes. Jet-Setter is at 229 E. Houston St., the former home of the Last Word.

Sip Brew Bar and Market, Smoke Shack, Local Coffee, a Spurs store, Adinas Market, The Luxury, Boss Bagels and SIP all are headed to San Antonio International Airport, Staff Writer Dylan McGuinness reports. However, a Chik-fil-A restaurant isnt among the newcomers.

The vendors, which will open in about a year, are replacing InMotion/Stars of San Antonio, Brookstone, Natalies, Raising Canes, Simply Books/Starbucks, Gervins and Blimpies at the airport.

On ExpressNews.com: Coming to San Antonios airport: Smoke Shack, Local Coffee and a Spurs store  but not Chick-fil-A and Gervins bar is out

River Street Sweets - Savannahs Candy Kitchen is hosting a grand opening for its new San Antonio franchise location Thursday, according to tweets posted by the business. The treat spot is located at the Shops at Rivercenter mall.

Two other attractions at the mall are close to opening. The LEGOLAND Discovery Center is set to open April 12, followed by the nearby SEA LIFE Aquarium in May.

The center features play zones, rides, a cinema and a big LEGO display with replicas of San Antonios landmarks. The San Antonio Express-News got a sneak peek this week, which readers can see online at ExpressNews.com.

A new coffee shop could be opening at Travis Park Plaza. Construction for Lola Coffee Shop at 711 Navarro St. is expected to start in May and finish in August, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).

Shotgun House Coffee Roasters second location now is open, per posts on the businesss Instagram account. The shop at 1010 S. Flores St. in Southtown is the second location for the business, which opened its first store on the West Side in April 2018.

A Chicos Off the Rack store may be coming to the Alamo Ranch shopping center in August, a TDLR filing indicates.

Shaved ice company Bahama Bucks is eyeing a new store location at 7022 S. New Braunfels Ave., according to another TDLR filing. The shop would be finished in September.

A barbecue and Cajun restaurant is headed to the Northeast Side, Staff Writer Chuck Blount reports. The spot, 225 Urban Smoke, is expected to open June 1.

madison.iszler@express-news.net
"Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up!"

Cult-classic and camp darling Bruce Campbell will be visiting San Antonio on October 25 for a special screening of "Army of Darkness," and a Q&A conversation with fans at the Aztec Theater.

Tickets are now on sale starting at $29.50 through the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.

The 1992 Sam Raimi movie has a huge underground following with both film buffs and horror flick aficionados.

RELATED: Bravo announces new San Antonio reality series set in S.A.

The movie caps the cult-classic trilogy that began with "Evil Dead," and "Evil Dead II." And as any fan will tell you, the series is a treasure trove of one liners and off the wall dialogue made ready to spice up any conversation.

Most of those memorable lines were delivered by Campbell as the exemplary character, Ash.

You can keep up with the latest on this event through its Facebook page, here.
As a prison reporter, I get some weird things in the mail: dead cockroaches, paint samples, black mold. But this month I got something a lot darker - ashes. Of an inmate I liked. It left me with a lot of questions.

In this episode of Behind the Walls, I delved into that before switching topics for an interview with Philly reporter Lisa Gartner. Last month, Lisa published a stunning expose of a troubled reform school in Pennsylvania.
The person who stabbed and bludgeoned Sondra Better to death 20 years ago seemed to vanish without a trace.

Better was working alone at Lu Shay's Consignment Shop in Delray Beach, Florida, on Aug. 24, 1998, when a man came into the store and killed her.

Although a witness saw him and the killer left behind a trail of his own blood and fingerprints, police weren't able to catch a suspect -- until he applied for a job last December.

"We had the physical evidence ... but the person responsible for this heinous case seemed to just disappear," Delray Beach Police Chief Javaro Sims said at a Wednesday press conference.

Police entered the fingerprints, which were lifted off a decorative ball from the crime scene, into the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) database.

Two decades passed without any matches. DNA samples from 36 men came up empty.

Police finally got a hit when Todd Barket, 51, of Brandon, Florida, submitted his fingerprints in December 2018 as part an application for a nursing assistant job.

"Todd Barket almost got away with murder," the Delray Beach Police tweeted Thursday.

Barket lived about 8 miles from the consignment shop at the time of the 1998 killing. His fingerprints and blood matched the samples found at the crime scene, and he fit the description that an eyewitness provided, authorities said.

Barket was arrested at his home on Wednesday morning and is being held in Hillsborough County Jail without bond until he's extradited to Palm Beach County, according to police. Barket faces first-degree murder charges.

CNN could not determine Thursday whether Barket has retained an attorney.

Better was 68 when she was killed. She was about to retire from her job at the consignment shop before heading to New York with her husband to renew their vows.

"She was violently killed by an unknown assailant," Sims said. "She was stabbed, she was bludgeoned and no one deserves to die in that manner."

Her family and a detective finally get closure

The lead detective assigned to the case, Robert Stevens, retired in 2007. But he said the cold case, which he worked on for 10 years, stayed with him.

"Anybody that works homicides ... will attest that once you get a case where there's a true innocent victim, it's hard to let it go," Stevens said.

After his wife's death, Better's husband Seymour volunteered for the Delray Beach Police Department for almost 15 years.

Although Seymour Better has since died, other family members are "very happy" that the case has been solved, Stevens said.

"Twenty years is a long time to want and ask for justice," Sims said.
CHICAGO - At Manny's, a Jewish deli in the South Loop, the beef tastes far better to diners than the beef they have with the city's criminal justice system over this week's whipsaw news that actor Jussie Smollett no longer faces charges for what police say was a staged hate crime.

The bizarre circumstances around Smollett are dominating daily life here - from conversations at deli counters to televised mayoral debates leading up to next week's election. But the consensus among many is that the saga shows how justice keeps getting served two ways in Chicago. There's one way for those with clout, another for those without.

Over a towering corned beef sandwich, Eric Bennett said Friday that he knew "the fix was in and someone made a phone call" the minute he heard that the charges against Smollett had been dropped.

"It goes all the way back to the days of Al Capone," said Bennett, a club owner on the South Side. "Justice here will always be shady. It's according to not what you know but who you know."

Across the table at Manny's, his lunchtime companion put the case in personal terms: "If it had been one of us," Clarence Davis said, "we'd already be in jail."

Such cynicism is directly connected to reports that Kim Foxx, the Cook County state's attorney, received emails and texts from Tina Tchen, an attorney friend of the Smollett family who was chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama. Tchen expressed "concerns about the investigation." In addition, Foxx exchanged emails with a family member.

Then there is her office's decision to seal Smollett's case file, giving the public no clue as to why he was released Tuesday, and her acknowledgment that the deal with him was only verbal. The "Empire" actor, first thought to be victim rather than collaborator, agreed to do two days of community service and forfeit $10,000 in bond money.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, D, immediately blasted Foxx, calling the deal a "whitewash." Police officials say the department's two-month investigation of Smollett's claims that he had been attacked cost $130,000.

From Rogers Park on the North Side to Roseland on the South Side, the outrage is atypically uniform.

"People feel there is something unscrupulous going on," Al Pickett said in between servicing clients at his barber shop in Bronzeville, and they're stung by the international attention the case has thrust upon Chicago. "Saying we're a city capable of a hate crime like that, we didn't need that," Pickett said.

Chicago is still bruised from a police department crisis marked by the fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald by Officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014. The killing reverberated throughout all levels of government and brought a federal consent decree requiring the department to adopt dozens of changes.

Jeff Neslund, an attorney who represents the McDonald family, said Foxx's actions on the charges against Smollett further damage the system. "You know this is a heated case that everyone around the country is watching, so to sweep it under the rug and say we're going to dismiss it because he spent two days in community service? The optics are all wrong," he said.

On the street, police officers are frustrated. Many feel unjustly blamed for Chicago's escalating violence and for officers like Van Dyke. The Smollett investigation should be celebrated for delivering results, they say, but the decision by the state's attorney ruined that.

"What difference am I going to make if I chase after somebody with a gun and know the state's attorney is going to let them go?" said a longtime officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak for the department.

The Fraternal Order of Police is planning a protest outside Foxx's office Monday and demanding that she resign. "We've all taken cases into court and for one reason or another we didn't get what we wanted, and we understand that," the organization's president, Kevin Graham, said Thursday. "But to have everything dropped when it was a rock-solid case is unfair to everyone. Our detectives knocked themselves out for nothing."

Further straining emotions are Smollett's public statements that he is innocent of faking any crime and his attorney's latest comment that his team might sue the police.

The case is dominating the final sprint in Tuesday's mayoral election between former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Just hours after news broke about Smollett's charges, both candidates stood on a debate stage answering questions about the situation.

Lightfoot said she supported the police department's work on the case and said "the public has to have answers" as to why the charges were dismissed. Preckwinkle demurred, saying she didn't have the legal expertise to weigh in.

For most Chicagoans, all the attention on Smollett is overshadowing the greater challenges the city faces. The anger and tears that Emanuel showed at his news conference were appreciated in some quarters. Other residents felt they were misplaced.

"The disproportionality of his response to this incident compared to the regular drumbeat of police misconduct and injustice that happened under his watch is glaring," said Illinois state Rep. Will Guzzardi, a Democrat whose district encompasses the Northwest Side. "I hope the next mayor's focus is on rebuilding communities, not on false outrage over celebrity gossip."

In the Kenwood neighborhood, Rosemary Jarrett feels similarly. She is a yellow-vested school crossing guard whose post is near the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the civil rights organization where Smollett performed his community service stuffing envelopes.

The 63-year-old said she is resigned to a core fact about human nature. "People lie all the time," she said.

She paused to guide three children across the street, her umbrella hovering above their tiny heads on a rainy Thursday. "There are more important things the police should be concerned about, starting with Laquan McDonald," she said. She hopes the Smollett case is truly over. "Move on."
The city government said Thursday that it is concerned about the potential negative impact the reassignment of CBP officers will have on trade and tourism in Laredo.

Kevin McAleenan, U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said Wednesday he would transfer 750 officers from ports of entry across the border to help with the influx of families. He acknowledged the move would slow daily trade and tourism traffic, especially in the lead-up to the busy Easter weekend.

Its unclear how many officers from the Laredo area will be transferred.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has informed us that 750 agents from various sectors, including the Laredo Sector, will be temporarily reassigned to help U.S. Border Patrol as they work hand-in-hand to protect our nations borders, the City of Laredo said in a statement. The temporary reduction in federal agents at our ports of entry will increase wait times for both travelers and commercial trucks as they come into Laredo from Mexico.

As the nations largest inland port, and with some of the busiest international bridges in the country, we are concerned that an increase in wait times means a delay in goods and services to businesses and consumers across the United States, as well as a decrease in sales from Mexican shoppers. Our local economy is dependent on our ports and so we ask the federal government to find solutions that dont affect the livelihoods of border communities.

The city added that it asks the public and businesses to be patient during this time. It encourages the public to also download the CBP Border Wait Times app and plan ahead when traveling back to the United States from Mexico.

The City of Laredo continues to be in communication with CBP about all issues affecting our international bridges and ports of entry, the city said.

McAleenan urged lawmakers Wednesday to allocate more resources and make legislative changes to address a crisis that he said has reached a breaking point. Authorities, he said, are having to release migrants en masse from overcrowded temporary processing facilities.

The federal government has freed more than 108,000 immigrants mostly Central American families and children  in the past 90 days, overwhelming nonprofits, faith groups, and officials from McAllen to El Paso and Tucson as they scramble to house them. The release of as many as 1,300 migrants in a single area a day comes as the number of families and unaccompanied children illegally crossing the border reached a record high of about 43,000 in February, with more than 55,000 on track to arrive in March.

Though overall border apprehensions dropped to near-record lows of almost 397,000 last year, families with children now make up more than 60 percent and it is far more difficult to detain and quickly deport them.

More than 100,000 migrants are expected at the border this month with more than 90,000 crossing illegally as CBP officials have drastically curtailed how many are allowed to legally request asylum at ports of entry.

That breaking point has arrived this week at our border, McAleenan said. CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our southwest border.

The Houston Chronicle contributed to this report.
Georgia state legislators on Friday passed one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bills, which would prohibit the termination of a pregnancy after a fetal heartbeat is detected - as early as six weeks, before many women know they're pregnant.

The vote came shortly after state Rep. Ed Setzler, a Republican, who sponsored the legislation, called it an effort to establish full legal protections for fetuses and said it was an attempt to outlaw abortion "in the highest courts of the land."

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who released a statement praising lawmakers for "their undeniable courage" in passing the legislation, is expected to sign the bill into law. The American Civil Liberties Union promised legal action if he does.

"Governor Kemp, if you sign this abortion ban into law, we will sue and see you in court to fight this blatant attack on the rights and dignity of Georgia women and families," the organization said in a statement.

The bill attracted national attention and prompted fierce protests from abortion rights advocates, as Setzler called for Republicans to pass the measure so that Kemp can "recruit the best legal team in the nation" to gut the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide.

The legislation narrowly made it through the Georgia House on Friday, receiving 92 votes, one more than it needed to pass. Seventy-eight representatives, including some Republican lawmakers, opposed the measure.

The Georgia Senate passed the bill earlier this month on a party-line vote.

Setzler said "common-sense Georgians" had prevailed.

"This bill recognizes the fundamental life of the child in the womb is worthy of legal protection," he said.

Activists rallied at the statehouse to protest the legislation, chanting "shame" and "dissent" while clad in the red cloaks and white bonnets of characters in "The Handmaid's Tale," a book and TV series that depicts a dystopian future where women are enslaved to rear children. The protesters have been an almost daily presence, along with heavy security.

On the other side, some opponents of abortion have said the bill is not strict enough. The executive director of Georgia Right To Life, Zemmie Fleck, sent a letter to the group's supporters Tuesday asking them to urge lawmakers to oppose the measure, arguing that the bill's exceptions for medical emergencies, rape and incest, when reported to police, are discriminatory toward the unborn.

"We are saddened that the bill discriminates against classes of innocent human beings," Fleck wrote.

The day before the vote, U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., who was part of the historic wave of Democratic women elected to Congress in 2018, encouraged state leaders to oppose the legislation.

Other prominent advocates - including Stacey Abrams, a rising star on the left who unsuccessfully ran for Georgia governor in 2018, and Hollywood activists such as Alyssa Milano - used social media throughout the week to ask legislators to reject the restrictions in Georgia. Labor organizer Ai-jen Poo - along with executives from Coca-Cola, Amazon and 90 other Georgia business leaders - signed a letter saying the measure would "take the state in the wrong direction." (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

After the vote, more cries of "shame" echoed in the chamber.

"This is an all-out assault on the reproductive health and safety of Georgia women," said Laura Simmons, the Georgia director for the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America. "This cruel, unconstitutional bill is part of an extreme GOP agenda to strip freedoms from women and could not be further from the values that most Georgians hold."

Those looking to expand access to abortions said they were alarmed that Setzler was also pushing to establish "personhood" for fetuses, granting full legal protection to fetuses and, critics say, putting those rights before the rights of women. The bill includes a provision allowing people to claim fetuses as dependents on state tax returns after a heartbeat is detected, which further boosts assertions of personhood.

Georgia is one of at least 11 states, including Texas and Florida, to introduce "heartbeat bills" this year.

Conservative and religious groups have said they hope a flood of state-led legislation - largely from the South and Midwest - will push the Supreme Court to reconsider the ruling in Roe v. Wade. Many are optimistic about their chances since President Donald Trump's nominees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined the Supreme Court.

But lower courts have quickly struck down the measures. This month, Kentucky's governor signed a similar bill that a federal judge swiftly blocked. In January, an Iowa state court did the same to a 2018 law.

In North Carolina on Tuesday, another federal judge overturned a state law prohibiting abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy - which is Georgia's current law - calling the ban unconstitutional.

Also this week, in Mississippi, the latest state to enact a fetal heartbeat law, abortion rights supporters filed a lawsuit challenging the ban. The Center for Reproductive Rights asked a federal court to block the law before it takes effect July 1.

"Let's call this law what it is - a near total ban on abortion," Nancy Northup, the group's president and CEO, told The Washington Post. "We will keep taking them to court until they get the message."

Georgia state Sen. Nikema Williams, chair of the state Democratic Party, said women of color and low-income women will "carry the disproportionate burden" of the abortion restrictions.

"I trust women to make the decision that's right for them and their families," she said. "I vow to stand with the people of Georgia in fighting this bill."
Jim Moody, a onetime college professor who served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin and sponsored a bill in 1991 to establish single-payer universal health care coverage, died March 22 at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. He was 83.

The cause was a nontraumatic intracranial hemorrhage, said his wife, Janice Boettcher Moody.

Early in his career, Moody lived overseas while working an international humanitarian organization and the Peace Corps. He later became a professor economics at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

He served in both houses of the Wisconsin state legislature before he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1982. As a Democrat representing the 5th District in Milwaukee and its suburbs, he walked door to door during his first campaign. Estimates of the number of houses he visited ranged from 13,000 to 40,000.

In Congress, Dr. Moody served on the Ways and Means Committee and had a reliably liberal voting record, except on the issue of federal debt. He was a longtime supporter of a constitutional amendment to require Congress to balance the budget.

He was among a handful of congressmen who opposed the Persian Gulf War during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, maintaining that the country could go to war only after a declaration by Congress.

"This is about constitutional process," he said in 1990, shortly before U.S. troops entered battle in the Persian Gulf. "Clearly offensive actions should not take place in the absence of either debate in Congress or a formal declaration of war."

Moody was progressive on many social issues and, as early as the 1980s, voiced support for gay rights and the legalization of marijuana. He was also an advocate of universal health insurance for Americans, an idea that had been proposed since the early 20th century.

In a 1991 bill co-sponsored by Reps. Marty Russo, D-Ill., Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Thomas Downey, D-N.Y., Moody called for a federally funded single-payer form of universal health insurance, similar to a plan in use in Canada since the 1960s. He noted that 37 million Americans at the time lacked insurance, including 550,000 in Wisconsin.

Moody said the proposal would be financed by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy and would, in the long run, save billions of dollars a year in administrative costs. The bill died in committee.

In 1992, Moody mounted a campaign for the Senate, only to lose in the Democratic primary to Russ Feingold, who ultimately won the general election. Moody then retired from politics.

James Powers Moody Jr. was born Sept. 2, 1935, in Richlands, Virginia. His father was an official with the American Red Cross, and his mother worked in relief efforts for refugees.

Moody spent much of childhood abroad, attending school in Shanghai before graduating from an English-language high school in Athens.

After graduating in 1957 from Haverford College in Pennsylvania, Moody joined CARE, an international humanitarian organization, and worked Yugoslavia and Iran. He joined the Peace Corps soon after it was formed in the early 1960s and helped set up programs in Pakistan and Bangladesh. He spoke several languages, including Greek, Farsi, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish and French.

He later became a Peace Corps official in Washington, then worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He received a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1967 and a doctorate in economics from the University of California at Berekley in 1973. He was teaching at the University of Wisconsin's Milwaukee campus when he entered electoral politics, winning a seat in the state assembly in 1976.

Moody's mother was his campaign manager during his successful run for Congress in 1982.

His first marriage, to Eleanor Briggs, ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife of 28 years, Janice Boettcher Moody of Rockville, Maryland; two children from his second marriage, Sarah Moody of Rockville and Brad Moody of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; a brother; and a sister.

After his 10 years in the House of Representatives, Moody taught at the Medical College of Wisconsin and the University of Maryland. In 1995, he became the chief financial officer of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, an agency of the United Nations. He later was president of InterAction, a Washington-based group of nonprofit organizations. In more recent years, Moody worked as a financial adviser at several investment and financial management firms.

During the 1980s, Moody helped found what is now the National Security Archive, which seeks to reduce government secrecy by declassifying federal documents.
WASHINGTON - Ever since she reclaimed the gavel in January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has been her party's unquestioned leader.

That perch has been bolstered this week as she has asserted herself as Democrats' seasoned and pragmatic strategist, following the conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation.

From reassuring and reining in Democrats furious with Attorney General William Barr for only issuing a summary of the special counsel's findings to rallying her colleagues to fight the Trump administration's efforts to gut President Barack Obama's health-care law, Pelosi has taken charge.

She is providing a steadying hand as the large Democratic presidential primary field still takes shape but lacks a front-runner to serve as its pacesetter.

"Be calm. Take a deep breath," Pelosi told House Democrats during a closed-door meeting Tuesday, according to attendees. "We have to handle this professionally, officially, patriotically, strategically."

Speaking Thursday to reporters, Pelosi tried to deflect questions about the Mueller report and highlighted the Democratic agenda on health care and the environment.

"We are focused on meeting the needs of the American people in their lives," she said.

Pelosi's call for calm began hours after Mueller's report was issued to the Justice Department last Friday, when she attended her granddaughter Bella's birthday party at a bowling alley in San Francisco.

She ended up corralling not only the exuberant children, but Democrats uncertain and on edge about Mueller's finish.

Pelosi - donning a pink plastic lei to play along with Bella and sitting near the clacking lanes - called up committee chairmen and other allies.

Pelosi's message: Stay cool and concentrate on the need for transparency, oversight and a full public release of Mueller's findings - and not on the frenzied speculation on social media and elsewhere, according to three people briefed on the exchanges who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Later that night, Pelosi delivered the same message to those attending former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown's 85th birthday bash at the city's historic Fairmont Hotel, the people said, reminding friends who were grousing about Mueller's decision to issue no further indictments that House Democrats were not bystanders and would continue to probe President Trump.

Pelosi's deliberate approach has been forged over decades, from a childhood steeped in the rough-and-tumble politics of Baltimore - where her father and brother served as mayor - to her years in the House, where she has watched as generations of zealous Republicans have pursued Democratic presidents and then suffered as they have been accused of overreach.

But it is a tricky balancing act. Pelosi is showing solidarity with rank-and-file Democrats furious about Barr's decision to declare there was insufficient evidence to make an obstruction case against the president - even though Mueller failed to draw a conclusion on that matter. She is also trying to temper that fury so that it does not erupt and spark an impeachment push.

"In a delicate situation like this, I'm glad she's our leader," Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said. "In all things, she is smart, sensible, calm, but tough. She remembers that the 2018 elections were about health care and the Republican tax cuts that skewed toward the rich, not about Russia."

Pelosi retains a tight grip over her committee chairs, several of whom sent a letter to Barr this week demanding the full Mueller report by April 2. But her control will be tested in the coming months as Democratic voters stew and the committees plow forward.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., whose panel has jurisdiction over impeachment, has vowed to keep investigating Trump and, if necessary, subpoena Barr to testify. One of Pelosi's key allies, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said in an interview this week that he would not back away from Russia-related matters.

"We will continue to investigate the counterintelligence issues. That is, is the president or people around him compromised in any way by a hostile foreign power?" Schiff insisted.

Some Republicans who have known Pelosi for years say she is a shrewd strategist, but they are uncertain if she can hold Democrats together, describing her political capital as unmatched yet facing stiff competition from the 2020 presidential field and activists who may not want to move on.

"She's certainly not bringing the party to the center," former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R) said, but keeping the Democratic Party "from going totally crazy."

"My guess is she'll fail, but she's at least attempting to keep them away from a bad political position," Gingrich said.

So far, Pelosi has mostly been able to keep her colleagues with her, pressing Barr to release Mueller's report while keeping her agenda fixed on legislative items that she believes have wide appeal and could help Democrats win back the White House and hold the House majority, particularly defending Obama's health-care law from Republican "sabotage."

"We do not need your interpretation. Show us the report," Pelosi said Thursday.

Since she flew back to Washington from the weekend flurry of phone calls and bowling, Pelosi has been determined to not have her party swept into a riptide of grievance over Barr's summary.

At a leadership meeting Monday, Pelosi said it was time for Democrats to stop talking about Trump's possible conspiracy with Russia, according to three people in the meeting or familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the conversations.

That evening, Pelosi was given a boost by one of the party's most popular figures: Obama.

Pelosi attended a private gathering with the former president and freshman House Democrats. Speaking to the assembled lawmakers, Obama praised Pelosi's "toughness" and told the group to think hard about the costs and "nitty-gritty" of their "big, bold ideas," which he did not specify, attendees said.

Then at Tuesday morning's caucus meeting, Pelosi underscored her emphasis on "lower health-care costs, bigger paychecks and cleaner government," rather than anything related to the Russia investigation.

Railing against the Justice Department's court filing, arguing that Obama's health-care law should be thrown out in its entirety - including provisions protecting millions of Americans with preexisting health conditions and allowing young adults to stay on their parents' health-care plans - has quickly become a priority.

Many Democratic presidential contenders are following her lead, increasingly turning their attention this week to kitchen-table issues even as they, too, call on Barr to release Mueller's full report.

"The investigations of Trump in New York will unfold on their own," veteran Democratic campaign strategist Bob Shrum said. "She recognizes that - and she knows that voters are asking these presidential candidates more and more about economic issues that matter and climate change."

Shrum added, "She knew that last year and the Democrats won the House. She knew it earlier this year when she made sure to stop the impeachment talk."

Still, a vocal group of Democrats - and several members of the House class of 2018, which has an independent streak and a faction of liberal stars - are not embracing Pelosi's stay-cool strategy.

Freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., has been asking her colleagues in a letter to investigate Trump for "impeachable offenses" and to pursue impeachment "if the facts support those findings."

The response to Tlaib and others moving toward impeachment has been muted - and echoed Pelosi's perspective.

"We're taking a look at it," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Tuesday when asked about Tlaib's letter. "What's tough is, impeachment in principle is something that I openly support. But it's also just the reality of having the votes in the Senate to pursue that."

Pelosi's friendly rapport with Ocasio-Cortez is reflective of how she has engaged her party's left wing as speaker: cultivating them and keeping them close, but never letting them pull her off course. On Wednesday, Pelosi unveiled her own environmental plan that calls for the U.S. to remain in the Paris climate accord and forces Trump to take steps to reduce pollution. The speaker's proposal is not as far-reaching as Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal.

The party has stood by her and her legions of boosters online - who celebrated an image of her adjusting her sunglasses outside the White House in December that went viral - have not fallen away.

When Pelosi turned 79 on Tuesday, her Democratic colleagues - and some Republicans - surprised her when they stood up on the House floor to sing "Happy Birthday," led by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.

Pelosi smiled and waved along like an orchestra's conductor - briefly playing along with the fun, as she did with Bella.

Then it was back to work, back to the message.

"No, no, no, no - no singing," she told them.

- - -

The Washington Post's Rachael Bade and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
Prosecutors sentenced a California man to 20 years in prison on Friday for phoning a false hostage threat to police in Wichita, Kansas, resulting in the death of an innocent man.

Tyler Rai Barriss, 26, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in November to 51 charges filed by prosecutors in Los Angeles, Kansas and the District of Columbia, according to the U.S. attorney's office in the Central District of California. He will serve 20 to 25 years in federal prison as part of a plea agreement.

Prosecutors say police responded to the home of 28-year-old Andrew Finch on Dec. 28, 2017, after a caller falsely claimed to be inside with hostages and a gun - a style of prank known as "swatting." Finch, unaware of the false report, answered the door and was fatally shot on his porch by officers who had surrounded his home.

That call was later determined to have originated from Barriss, who was arrested several hours later in connection with Finch's death. He told authorities he had made the call at the request of 19-year-old gamer Casey Viner, who had gotten into a feud with Shane Gaskill, 20, while the two were playing "Call of Duty" online.

According to prosecutors, Viner, of Ohio, contacted Barriss and asked him to "swat" Gaskill, who lived in Wichita. But when Gaskill learned he was being targeted, he dared Barriss to "swat" him and tricked the man into calling authorities to a two-story house on McCormick Street - an old address where Gaskill no longer lived, prosecutors say.

Barriss reportedly called Wichita City Hall and ended up speaking with a 911 dispatcher. He claimed he had accidentally shot his father in the head during an argument and was now pointing a handgun at his mother and brother at the address on McCormick Street, which now belonged to Finch.

Finch, who was at home with his mother and at least two other people when police arrived, was shot dead when an officer thought he saw him reach for a weapon. Police soon learned Finch was not carrying a weapon and there were no hostages in the house.

"I had seen the red and blue light flashing in my window," Finch's mother, Lisa Finch, told the Wichita Eagle at the time. "I heard my son scream, I got up and then I heard a shot. . . . They didn't call the ambulance until he was dead."

At a news conference following Finch's death, police said the officer who fired his gun had been placed on paid leave. The deputy police chief blamed Finch's death on "the actions of a prankster."

Gaskill and Viner are awaiting trial, according to prosecutors, who wrote in a news release Friday that "swatting is no prank." The practice usually makes the news when police are tricked into raiding the home of a celebrity - such as Justin Bieber in 2012 or Lil Wayne in 2015. But it has also become a way for people to escalate online disputes into the real world - punishing a rival with a surprise visit from a SWAT team.

"Sending police and emergency responders rushing to anyone's home based on utterly false information as some kind of joke shows an incredible disregard for the safety of other people," U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said. "I hope that this prosecution and lengthy sentence sends a strong message that will put an end to the juvenile and reckless practice of 'swatting' within the gaming community, as well as in any other context."

In the Wichita case, Barriss was charged with one count of making a false report resulting in a death, one count of cyberstalking and one count of conspiracy. He was also charged in Washington, D.C., and California, where prosecutors say he was also the mastermind behind "dozens" of other swatting incidents and false reports that didn't result in injuries. His 20-year sentence is believed to be the longest sentence imposed for "swatting" or hoaxes, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Washington

The still-secret report on Russian interference in the 2016 election submitted last week by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, was more than 300 pages long, the Justice Department acknowledged Thursday.

Barr wrote to Congress on Sunday offering what he called the "principal conclusions" of the report  including that Mueller had not found that the Trump campaign had taken part in a conspiracy to undermine the election. But he had notably declined to publicly disclose its length.

The total of 300-plus pages suggests that Mueller went well beyond the kind of bare-bones summary required by the Justice Department regulation governing his appointment and detailed his conclusions at length. And it raises questions about what Barr might have left out of the four dense pages he sent Congress.

Answering those questions is likely to prove difficult for lawmakers and the public. Barr has indicated to two congressional chairmen it will likely take weeks to redact the report for classified and grand jury information the department deems unfit for public consumption.

But Justice Department officials, including some from the attorney general's office, also plan to examine the report before sending any documents to Congress for possible material the president could claim as privileged, according to a department official. The practice is not unusual, but it would likely create another tranche of material from Mueller's investigation to be withheld from Congress and kick off a fight between lawmakers and the administration that would further delay a resolution.

If the Justice Department were to deem certain aspects of Mueller's report to be subject to executive privilege, Democrats in Congress would almost certainly contest the assertion and force Trump to actually claim the privilege  and risk a court challenge  or not.

It was not clear whether Barr would personally be involved in an executive privilege review.

Democrats, who like all other lawmakers have not seen the report, have already all but accused Barr of covering up damaging information it contains. They have specifically focused on an apparent difference between the views of Barr and Mueller on whether Trump obstructed justice. Democrats have demanded the attorney general make the full report and evidence public.

"For Mr. Barr to quickly issue a four-page report in his attempt to try to exonerate Trump, and now the delay in the release of an over 300-page report written by Mueller so the American people and we senators and congressman can see what was written, has too much of the odor of political expediency to help the man who appointed him, President Trump," Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said in a speech on the chamber floor.

Republicans have adopted a more trusting stance of Barr, indicating they believe he will make appropriate judgments about what should and should not be shared.

The new ballpark page length came about a week after a senior Justice Department official told reporters that the report was "comprehensive."

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, added the description "very substantial" after talking to Barr on Wednesday, although neither he nor any other member of Congress has seen it and Barr declined to give a page count. Andrew Napolitano, a legal analyst for Fox News and a favorite of Trump, caused a stir Wednesday when he said multiple times on the air that the report was 700 pages.

Kerri Kupec, a Justice Department spokeswoman, confirmed the length of the document after The New York Times reported it, citing U.S. officials who spoke anonymously.

Barr had told Nadler on their Wednesday call that the report was more than 300 pages long, Kupec said. Other blockbuster government reports in recent decades have been lengthy. At 445 pages, independent counsel Kenneth Starr's report on President Bill Clinton had to be trucked to Capitol Hill in 1998.
Viewers of Thursday's confirmation hearing of acting interior secretary David Bernhardt were met with a surprise: a green, unblinking swamp creature was watching attentively from the second row, visible just over Bernhardt's right shoulder.

The creature was one of several scattered throughout the hearing room - and, after some discussion by Capitol Police officers, eventually removed - in protest of Bernhardt's nomination.

Activists from the Clean Water Fund, Environment America and Public Citizen staged the demonstration to draw attention to Bernhardt's "long list of conflicts of interest with the oil & gas industry, and highlighting his historic anti-environmental past," the groups said in a statement.

The environmental group Greenpeace also took part in the protest, calling Bernhardt "a former oil and gas lobbyist who previously worked to help corporate polluters get their hands on public lands."

As the hearing got underway, some protesters donned masks resembling the "Creature from the Black Lagoon." Others were clad in green, swamp-inspired couture and wore masks of Bernhardt's face.

According to video of the hearing, the protesters were apparently not escorted out of the room until nearly two hours into the hearing.

Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki confirmed that protesters were removed from the hearing but declined to comment further on the incident.

Bernhardt was nominated by President Donald Trump in February to lead the department. He has helmed Interior as acting secretary since Jan. 2, when Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple ethics probes.

He has drawn criticism for his background as a veteran lobbyist who has helped orchestrate the push at the Interior Department to expand oil and gas drilling. Twenty-nine environmental groups sent a letter to the panel's members Wednesday opposing Bernhardt's nomination.

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The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report.
This year, the Rio Grande International Study Centers annual Earth Day Festival will join forces with the community of Laredo in celebrating a Day of Action, as part of Yo-Yo Mas Bach Project from 2-7 p.m. April 13 at Tres Laredos Park.

A world famous cellist and classical musician, Yo-Yo Ma is also a humanitarian. Last year, he began the Bach Project, a 36-city world tour. Each stop involves two elements - a performance of Bachs six suites and a Day of Action.
Hong Kong: CE attends Boao session

Chief Executive Carrie Lam attended the ASEAN-China Governors/Mayors' Dialogue session at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019 in Hainan today.

Mrs Lam told participants about the pivotal role Hong Kong can play in strengthening ties between Mainland China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"ASEAN members are important Belt & Road economies, and are well positioned to reap the benefits brought by the visionary initiative. In this connection, Hong Kong has a world-class financial and professional services sector, which includes bankers and lawyers, accountants, risk managers, marketing and communications specialists and many more. They can bring expertise to bear in everything from project design and planning to construction, operation and management.

"In short, Hong Kong will be the perfect partner for ASEAN on Belt & Road projects," she added.

Mrs Lam then visited the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone where she toured the exhibition centre, the traditional Chinese medicine clinic and the hospital.

Given the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area includes creating an environment favourable for Hong Kong and Macau residents to retire in Guangdong and promoting integration of medical and elderly care in the bay area, Mrs Lam said the pilot zones development model has considerable reference value.

Mrs Lam also met CPC Hainan Provincial Committee Secretary Liu Cigui.

She said Hong Kong and Hainan have close ties with frequent exchanges of people, goods and capital.

She added the two sides are actively exploring more collaboration in various aspects including tourism, economic and trade affairs, and youth exchanges to further strengthening ties.

Before returning to Hong Kong, Mrs Lam met Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob.

She welcomed Thailand enterprises to leverage Hong Kong's capital raising platform and encouraged Thailand firms to make use of the city's financial services.

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Midland Crime Stoppers and the Midland Police Department need help in identifying a suspect involved in a vehicle burglary.

A Hispanic male broke into a vehicle at about 7:30 a.m. March 20 in the 1300 block of North Big Spring Street. The man took a purse and then went around town using the stolen credit card. The suspect appears to be a Hispanic male in his 30s or 40s and was last seen driving a newer model white Dodge pickup. The subject in question is also a suspect in another vehicle burglary on the east side of Midland.
The Plainview City Council received a presentation of the comprehensive annual financial report during its Tuesday night meeting.

Jeromy Stephens, CPA with EideBailly presented the findings of the audit. Stephens reported the city's assets have increased to $65 million and the audit was clean. One issue was reported in the audit, but was due to the late filing of a quarterly report.

The financial report was accepted on a 7-0 vote. District Three representative Norma Juarez was absent.

The council also approved on a 7-0 vote an agreement to extend a prior ground lease agreement between the city and Med-Trans Corporation

The extension is for an additional 12 months as they continue to work out design plans for the new facility, city manager Jeffrey Snyder told the council.

The council also approved an ordinance on the second reading for reaffirming the juvenile curfew.

The current curfew makes it unlawful for kids 16 years-old and under to be out between the hours of 12:01 and 6 a.m. daily.

During a previous City Council meeting, Police Chief Ken Coughlin said the state requires cities to vote on curfew laws every three years.

A second reading of an ordinance that restricts activities including operating remote-controlled and unmanned boats, and aircrafts at the Travis Trussell Park was also approved.

The ordinance was first presented at the last City Council meeting in early March.

At that meeting Tim Crosswhite, director of parks and recreation, mentioned there are already restrictions in place prohibiting aircraft in Plainview parks. The floatation device restriction would only apply to Travis Trussell Park as a way to protect the waterfowl.

The park was meant to be a sanctuary for those birds and for people to birdwatch, he said.

Both ordinances were approved on a 7-0 vote.
A Bexar County Sheriffs Office jailer fired in 2017 was indicted Thursday, accused of allowing access to an inmate to be beaten by other inmates.

Former Detention Officer Raul Maciel Gonzales, 31, was indicted on four counts: official oppression, violation of civil rights, aggravated assault, and engaging in organized crime, according to the District Attorneys office.

Sheriff Javier Salazar said he and other deputies placed Gonzales in custody on a warrant for official oppression at 7:17 p.m. Thursday.

Related: Gonzales among deputies suspended, fired during turbulent time

The alleged incidents occurred in April 2017, when Raul Gonzales used his position, power, and authority as a Bexar County Sheriff Detention Officer to subject an inmate to assault by other inmates housed in the same unit, District Attorney Joe Gonzales said.

The inmate assaulted was taken to University Hospital for treatment, officials said.

I remain committed to holding Public Servants accountable when they decide to abuse their power, Salazar said in a statement released after the arrest.

Raul Gonzales was terminated from the Bexar County Sheriffs Office after an investigation was conducted into the assault, the DA said.

I am proud to have a strong working relationship with the Bexar County District Attorneys Office, Salazar said. I applaud the work of the District Attorneys Office in this matter.

Neither the District Attorneys Office nor the Sheriffs Office identified the inmate who was injured in the April incident.

On ExpressNews.com: Lawsuit alleges Bexar jail guards organized fight club with inmates

A federal civil rights lawsuit filed on March 18 by former inmate Rodolfo Carrazco alleges that he was forced to fight by jail guards in April 2017 when he was in the county jail and that jailers bet on the outcome of the fights. The lawsuit did not identify the jail guards.

Carrazco, who is now serving time in state prison on a burglary charge, was beaten so badly in April 2017 that he suffered a broken jaw and lost the gold grille in his teeth, according to the lawsuit.

Staff Writer Guillermo Contreras contributed to this report. | jbeltran@express-news.net
The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall wantand I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23

Into the arms of our heavenly Father and in the presence of all the saints in glory, we commend the spirit of our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, Raquel G. Ramirez, 54. She fought an arduous and courageous battle against cancer, with her family steadfast at her side. It was a conflict in which she was not defeated, but rather gained eternal reward that is given to all who believe in Christ and follow Him in His ways. She is loved beyond measure and her legacy will continue on in the hearts and minds of those who knew her.
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

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The Garda chief who headed up a 40 strong team of officers involved in the successful prosecution of a drug dealer for the murder of a Polish father-of-two outside Longford Shopping Centre in 2016, has hailed the 'very professional' manner in which the case was handled.

Supt Jim Delaney was speaking in the wake of an eight day trial at Dublin's Central Criminal Court which saw 26-year-old Rihards Lavickis sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Akadiusz Arik Czajkowski (31) on November 1, 2016.

I would like to extend my deepest appreciation and acknowledgement to the members of Longford District for their commitment and the very professional way in which the investigation was handled under very high public scrutiny.

Murder is the most serious offence on our Statute books and we, as an organisation, are acutely aware of the effect that such an incident occurring at the time if did in broad daylight can have.

Supt Delaney was only in the post a matter of months when Longford and its surrounding environs was thrust onto the national stage.

Within a short space of time, however, an arrest was made, something the experienced garda boss said could not have happened without the support of the local community.

Community and public safety is a priority for us as is community engagement.

This was obviously an engagement of different kind but it I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the assistance and cooperation we received from the community and especially to those people who gave evidence at both trials.

Supt Delaney said such backing, allied to the inter agency support he and his team of officers received throughout went a long way towards bringing about the investgation's successful conclusion.

Setting those assertions aside, Supt Delaney was keen to stress the more sobering aspects to the case.

We have to remember that there is a victim in all of this and a family has suffered as a result of the actions of one man.

Although they are not resident in this country I would hope it will provide some level of assurance and closure.

He is some mothers son after all and there are people who are grieving his loss.
Organ Donor Awareness week is due to kick off on Saturday March 30, running up until Saturday, April 6.

The focus of this years week-long event, which is organised by the Irish Kidney Association (IKA), is to remind individuals to talk to their families about their organ donation wishes before it is too late. It is also hoped the event will encourage people to start carrying either an organ donation card or permitting Code 115 to be included on their drivers licence.



There are currently in excess of 4,000 people living healthy lives in Ireland thanks to an organ donation, whilst there are still 550 people in Ireland awaiting a life-saving transplant. The Irish public have been urged to show their support to what is a life-changing cause, by someone who appreciates the work of the IKA more than most.

Grainne Wyse, a resident of Lanesborough in Co Longford, was living with her mother and 37-year-old brother, Ruairi, when her brother suffered an aneurysm in 2015.

Although Ruairis passing was an undoubted tragedy for the Wyse family, his memory still lives on thanks to the donation of his organs and his sister paid tribute to his character.

Grainne said, He loved his concerts, festivals and heading away on holidays. He was a lovely lad and always had a smile on his face. He never fought or fell out with anybody as he had such a lovely personality.

Prior to his untimely death, Ruairi had made his organ donation wishes clear to his family and this ultimately saved the lives of five people, which is now of great comfort to Ruairis family. They have urged others to follow Ruairis lead and make their organ donor wishes clear.

Grainne said, When the hospital rang and said five people would be saved, my mother said it was like winning the lotto. To us, it was brilliant to know that he didnt die in vain and his wishes of donating his organs were respected.

It was just a fantastic feeling. We were so happy to help people and it really did help with the grief. People out there are alive because of his passing.

Grainne conceded it is a very difficult decision for anyone to make.

It is a hard decision and it is understandable if people say no. But, in four or five months, you will be happy you made the decision.

It just makes you feel so good to be able to help someone. It is just a fantastic thing for people to do.

Organ Donor Awareness week runs from March 30 to April 6, with IKA volunteers fundraising throughout the course of the week in shops all over the country by selling forget me not flower emblems, brooches, pens and shopping trolley discs.

Visit www.ika.ie/card to learn how to become an organ donor.
A judge has warned a man he faces getting a kick up the buttocks if he ever drinks again.

Adam Krupa (42), Aughantragh, Killashee, Co Longford pleaded guilty at last weeks sitting of Longford District Court to driving without insurance and of having no licence at Creenagh, Drumlish, Co Longford on February 13 2019.

Defence solicitor Frank Gearty admitted the case was a very serious one in the context that his client had been disqualified for driving for a period of six years and handed a two month prison sentence following a similar no insurance charge in February last year.

After learning of that previous incident, Judge Hughes was told Mr Krupa, who was flanked by his daughter, had served six weeks of that prison term.

It was a meaningful sentence, said Mr Gearty.

He asked Judge Hughes to consider adjourning the case for a period of time to allow Mr Krupa time to amass a sum of compensation to offer to the court.

I would ask if he be given the chance to put aside money he would otherwise be paying for drink and for him to return and give you an absolute undertaking (not to drink again), said Mr Gearty.

Judge Hughes seemed reluctant to bow to those requests however, in view of Mr Krupas past history.

This man was one year into a six year disqualification and went back out driving, he said.

Notwithstanding that, he served six weeks in prison.

What have I to do to get it into his head that he cant drive on Irish roads?

In response, Mr Gearty said there were reasons behind Mr Krupas awful decision to take to the road on the day in question while knowing that he was banned from driving.

It was an anniversary and he went in the car to buy a wood sculpture for his wife, said Mr Gearty.

He was stopped at a checkpoint and detected.

Mr Gearty said Mr Krupas wife was not in the best of health either and suffered from a heart condition while his own client continued to receive his own treatment for what he described as chronic alcoholism.

In terming the situation befalling his client as nothing short of a catastrophe, Mr Gearty again asked for a stay on any possible sentence being imposed.

All I am asking is to consider delaying the sentence before you to see if he is absolutely serious about changing his life because in my office he was absolutely adamant he will never drive whilst disqualified, Mr Gearty told Judge Hughes.

The local solicitor went on to detail how Mr Krupa had already gone to considerable lengths to curb his penchant for alcohol by getting an anti booze implant inserted during a recent procedure undertaken in Poland.

On that basis, Judge Hughes said he would be willing to afford Mr Krupa the chance to collect compensation money and return before the court at a later juncture.

Before doing so though, he asked Mr Gearty what part of Mr Krupas body had the implant been inserted in.

In the buttocks, responded Mr Gearty, something Judge Hughes joking said he could live to regret if he attempted to go back to his old habits.

He might get a kick up the buttocks if he drinks again, said Judge Hughes, to much amusement in the public gallery below.

Mr Krupa was remanded on bail to a sitting of Longford District Court on September 17 2019 by Judge Hughes, who warned:

Next time, it will be 12 months in prison. He is on his last chance.
The Complete Natural is delighted to be back as title sponsors of this years Tour de Picnic. International rugby player Rob Kearney officially launched the eleventh Tour de Picnic this week alongside Irish rising star, Soule  novice cyclist and regular performer at Electric Picnic. Electric Picnic 2019 sold out in record time, so this is your last chance to get to see your favourite acts in Stradbally.

Dairy is the perfect partner for training and sport and milk stops will help to keep the cyclists well hydrated on their way to the picnic. Zoe Kavanagh CEO of the National Dairy Council said We are really excited to announce our title sponsorship of Tour de Picnic for the second year running. Dairy is such a great food to support exercise and training, the perfect post-performance recovery drink. Milk is rich in protein  an important nutrient for muscle growth and maintenance  and provides a natural carbohydrate source to help refuel energy stores. We are also delighted to be supporting the three great charities for this years Tour - LauraLynn Childrens Hospice, Ronald McDonald House and ISPCC Childline

Although the 17km run has already sold out, theres still plenty of time to train for the 80km cycle! The stunning cycle route will take you along a Greenway and a Blueway. To boost you up before you depart, The Complete Natural Tour de Picnic will begin with The Complete Natural Breakfast Party in Tallaght Stadium with a special Tour de Dairy Menu to keep you energised throughout the journey. After departing Tallaght Stadium, the cyclists will ascend towards the Blessington Greenway and will continue on meandering through some of Irelands biggest dairy farms and the picturesque village of Brannockstown. The last hurdle will embark along the prospective Barrow Blueway before reaching Stradbally. There will be some much-needed sustenance along the way in the form of dairy treats and milk fuelling stops!

Tour de Picnickers will enjoy beautiful scenery and surroundings while raising funds for a charity of their choice: LauraLynn Childrens Hospice, Ronald McDonald House and ISPCC Childline. The initial deposit is 60 which secures your ticket as well as your place in the 80km cycle, provided you reach the fundraising target (this deposit contributes towards your fundraising total). Each individual must raise a minimum of 395.

If youre quite the philanthropist, why not take part in the VIP Challenge? There are still places on the sold-out 17km run for those completing the VIP Challenge or you can choose to do the 80km VIP cycle. The fundraising target for the VIP Challenge is 1000 which will be shared across the three worthy causes. For your efforts you will get exclusive guest area access, guest toilets & showers and space to pitch your tent in the guest camping area. There will also be special Bell Tent camping available for an additional 500.

This year we are introducing The Complete Natural Tour de Picnic Corporate Challenge! Get a team of your office buddies together, raise a minimum of 500 each through some fun fundraising activities and get your company to match the amount raised. This is a fantastic way to get the whole office involved in your Corporate Social Responsibility activity! Each team member that takes part in the run or cycle will get to camp in the exclusive guest camping area with access to Electric Picnic guest area, including guest toilets and showers.

Those who take part in Tour de Picnic will be well looked after with official Tour de Picnic jerseys, refreshments throughout the cycle or run, great food and beer on arrival, baggage transfer, return bus ticket, return bike transfer and a full support team along the route. At the finish line youll be brought into the incredible The Tour de Picnic Welcome Area in Stradbally. With DJs, The Irish Dairy Cocktail Bar, hot tubs, massages, endless refuel food and recovery chats from Irish Dairy ambassadors, it will have everything youll need to get ready for the incredible weekend you have ahead!

"We're very excited to bring Tour de Picnic to the next level for its eleventh year. The event has grown every year, in 2019 over one thousand people will be taking part. Irish Dairy, The Complete Natural will be offering nutrition tips and training plans to participants this year along. The rest stops along the route have been upgraded and the Tour de Picnic Welcome Area at Electric Picnic will get everyone in the party vibe. The Electric Picnic Lineup for 2019 is exceptional. I'm delighted to welcome LauraLynn Childrens Hospice, ISPCC Childline and Ronald McDonald House Charity as our 2019 charity partners. We're offering VIP and Corporate packages into the mix this year to bring fundraising to new heights for these three worthy causes. I would like to thank Festival Republic and all our partners for helping us make this event happen every year." Brian McDermott - Organiser
Arts & Culture, Travel & Local Attractions

By Meg Parisi Published: March 29 2019

Discover Long Island takes us on a tour of some of Long Islands quirkiest roadside attractions

The Big Duck

If there is one roadside attraction on Long Island that you dont want to miss, its the Big Duck. This great example of roadside novelty architecture on Long Island was built in 1931 by a Riverhead duck farmer named Martin Maurer. Standing 20 feet tall and 30 feet long with red glowing eyes made from a Model T Ford. Today, The Big Duck is a national historic site and is used as a souvenir spot and tourism information center where rubber ducks and duck shaped candies can be purchased. Then see another spectacular site known as The Star Gazer in Manorville, NY, a 70 foot steel sculpture of a red deer gazing up at the sky as he eats a branch. The Stargazer is the connection of the above to the below. This is definitely a roadside site to see; recommended at sunset.

Big Chief Lewis

The Chief has a totem pole, buffalo, and a pink and white horse, but no eyes. At 12 feet tall, this statue of a Native American is in full head gear. One hand is raised in greeting. Have lunch in Massapequa Village and take an afternoon visit to the American Airpower Museum, Farmingdale, NY. See vintage aircraft and climb the 1940s Air Traffic Control Tower.

Smithtown Bull

This 14-foot statue of Whisper the Bull was erected to honor the bull-riding founder of Smithtown. Displayed at the convergence of Route 25 and 25A, residents say that the boundaries of Smithtown were set when Richard (Bull) Smith rode his bull to form the perimeter. Have lunch in Smithtown. Stop in at Whisper Vineyard for wine tasting. Nearby is the 30-foot tall Wicks Farm Witch, St. James (year-round). Winni is known for her sinister looks, frightening kids for decades.

Hercules Statue

This figurehead is from the U.S.S. Ohio, the first ship launched from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1820. Before it was demolished, the figurehead, carved from a single piece of cedar, was saved. Across the street is the Stony Brook Post Office. Atop is a mechanical eagle perched high on a pediment that flaps its wings on the hour (8:00 am  8:00 pm). The eagle has a 20-foot wingspan. Nearby visit the Long Island Museum of Art, History and Carriages (largest collection of horse-drawn carriages). Then press the button to hear the roar at the Grumman Memorial F-14, Calverton. This real F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine two seat fighter aircraft. Built by, it is probably one of the best known fighter planes in history (think Top Gun).

Riverhead Raceway

If youre here on a Saturday summer night, catch a race and greet the 12-foot tall Riverhead Raceway Indian who has been standing watch over the quarter-mile oval race track for more than 30 years. Some may recognize him from an episode of the Sopranos. Spend the day in Riverhead. Visit the aquarium, Splish Splash Water Park or Tanger Outlet Center. Take wetlands cruise along the Peconic Bay with the Atlantis Tour Boat. Catch a show at the Suffolk Theater in Riverhead and try some local food, brews and wines in town.
Alaa al-Aswany is one of the most renowned writers in the Arab world, in large part due to the success of his international bestselling novel The Yacoubian Building, published in 2002. He has also been a critical commentator on Egyptian affairs, an increasingly dangerous position since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power in 2014 and ushered in a new era of repression.

Now, al-Aswany is under attack for articles he wrote in the Arabic language version of the German news outlet Deutsche Welle. In particular, a column titled Why dont we understand what the whole world understands?, which criticizes the nomination of military officers for civil political positions, has drawn the ire of the state. His latest novel, I ran to the Nile, published in 2018, which looks back on the 2011 revolution that deposed former President Hosni Mubarak and the abuses committed by the government and the army, has also put him in hot water.

Al-Aswany now lives in New York, and recently spoke to LOrient-Le Jour (OLJ) about the current situation in Egypt and why authorities in the country consider him a threat.





The international success of your books and your popularity beyond the Arab world provided you with some kind of immunity from the Egyptian authorities, but ever since the arrival of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, you do not benefit from this protection anymore. Why are they after you today?

I have been banned from writing for the past five years, since Sisi came to power. I was not allowed to appear on television nor to write in Egyptian newspapers. Then, the authorities stopped the cultural seminars I had been organizing for twenty years. But with what has just happened, we are in the worst of situations since its a military tribunal which is accusing me.





Would it be impossible for you to return to Egypt because of these lawsuits?

When they forbade me to write, I started accepting offers to go teach in universities abroad. So for four years, I would spend a few months out of the country then get back  not without difficulties, since each time I arrived I would be held up at the airport and given a hard time. This time it is different as I have to follow the advice of my lawyers.





How can a writer be a threat to a regime?

This is typical to any dictatorship, regardless of the country. A writer is independent and has the right to disagree, and these are unacceptable things in a dictatorship which doesnt even tolerate the idea of free expression. Either you agree, which means you love your country, because the dictator considers himself the country, or you are in disagreement, which according to them, makes you a traitor or an agent of some foreign country.





You draw a parallel between the control of the media by Nassers regime, and the one of today. How is it possible in the actual context to silence all the dissonant opinions?

The Egyptian authorities banned my French novel, I ran to the Nile (Actes Sud, 2018). It is quite incredible to do this in the 21st century knowing that my novel is available on the internet. Dictatorship is a way of thinking and an outdated vision of the world.





Do you think that the current situation in Egypt is worse than it was under the regime of Hosni Mubarak?

It is worse than ever. It is even worse than under Nasser. To give you an example: Khaled Loutfi, a young librarian, who isnt mentioned enough in the press, was tried last February by a military court and sentenced to five years imprisonment for having sold one copy of a banned book by an Israeli researcher Uri Bar Joseph, The Angel: The Egyptian spy who saved Israel.





What is your view of your country today after all that it has gone through since 2011? Do you have any grounds for hope? And can we expect a resurgence of the popular revolution?

I am definitely optimistic simply because I know history, and this situation follows the classical pattern of all the precedent revolutions. The French Revolution is a great example: after the fall of Louis XVI, the Terror followed then later Napoleon arrived, and the Old Regime resurfaced. But in the end, the revolution transcends all barriers since its fueled by human change. This human change will continue in Egypt.





In an interview with LOrient Litteraire in 2006, you said that the main uneasiness of the Arab world is the dictatorship and the absence of real democracy. Thirteen years after this statement, this disease is still spreading. How do you explain it?

I can only have the same opinion today, especially that I am originally a doctor. In medicine, we should not mistake the symptoms with the real sickness. We must look for the disease; in this case the disease being the dictatorship. Terrorism, corruption, hypocrisy, be it religious or not, are all symptoms. But I remain optimistic. We often hear that the Arab Spring is over, but look at what is happening in Sudan and in Algeria. There is a whole generation that has a dream, that is determined to see its country change. So it will continue.





But there is also the return of the strong man, and not only in the Arab world

Yes, but this has always been a battle between the revolution and the old regime, and it is not a fair battle. The revolutionaries have only two means at their disposal: dreams and courage. Whereas, the old regime has really everything: the army, the police, the media and the businessmen. So, he is starting as the winner, but at some point it is impossible for the counterrevolution to go on for the very simple reason, which is the age of the revolutionaries, who are between 20 and 30 years old, and that of the opposing camp, which varies between 60 and 70. In ten or fifteen years, the latter will be gone.

(This interview was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 22nd of March)








One morning about three weeks ago, at 5:45 a.m., the robocallers came for me. My cellphone rang. And rang. It hasnt stopped.

The calls claim to come from all over the world. Sometimes they ring once, and stop. Sometimes twice. Rarely more than that. If I answer, I am sometimes told I owe money to the Internal Revenue Service but, more often, I hear gibberish, noises that sound vaguely French  but also sound like what a 10-year-old says when they are trying to pretend they are speaking French. Sometimes the calls are from Belarus. Or Slovenia. Or Uganda. Last week, an unknown caller got me twice while I was on another line talking to experts on robocalls. The next day, 14 calls by 10 a.m.  this time from Morocco.

A query on Facebook showed I wasnt alone. Minsk and Bosnia, wrote a high school friend within seconds of my initial post. Always Chinese ones for me, a sometime editor chimed in. My younger son receives urgent calls from someone claiming to be the Social Security Administration  which he doesnt take seriously, since hes only 15.

When I told my hairdresser about all this, she told me about a client who received 45 robocalls between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. one day last week. YouMail, a voice-mail provider that also offers a blocking service, says Americans will receive somewhere between 60 billion and 75 billion such calls this year  double the amount we received just two years ago.

The Do Not Call Registry of blessed memory was supposed to solve such problems. And it did  for a time. But within less than 10 years of the laws passage in 2003, technological advances that allowed scammers to place thousands upon thousands of calls from abroad for mere pennies (if that), rendering the list, well, not quite obsolete, but certainly less than helpful. Sure, the list still exists and the federal government issues fines to violators  the few they can catch, that is. But how do you fine someone who sets up shop in Burundi  if thats even where they really set up shop? Its possible thats a spoofed number, too.

And theres another problem, as well. Its the calls that are legal  calls that are separate from spam calls. Debt collectors, in particular, like to place automated calls to people they believe owe them money. As Margot Saunders, a senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center puts it, The industry really wants to make these calls. When the Federal Communications Commission issued a rule during the Obama administration that put further restraints on its ability to do that, the ACA International  the lobbying arm of the debt-collection industry  took them to court, and got it overturned last year.

The Trump-era FCC doesnt appear to be in a hurry to issue new regulations such as one demanding that telecommunications companies implement more robust anti-spoofing technology, which could help alleviate the spam calls. Instead, the FCC is simply asking the phone companies to help consumers out, pretty please.

This leaves consumers in a not-great position. (Saunders, for example, is tortured by one robocaller claiming her son skipped out on his student loan. He didnt. Someone else with the same name apparently did, but the loan servicer in question refuses to back down.) It also brings me back to those calls from abroad. What are they? Good question! My own company, Verizon, told me when I asked about the problem, We have not seen an uptick in calls from overseas, which might explain why their robocall technology, for which I am paying $2.99 a month, isnt helping much with my problem. (Verizon will also begin to offer a free version of the call-blocking technology by the end of this month.)

Experts they tell me these calls were receiving are a combination of different scams, and they might not all be coming from outside the country. There are out and out criminals, trying to scare you into thinking you owe the IRS money, or convince you that youve won some incredible prize as long as you wire money from your bank account right now!!!

My faux-French call? Alex Quilici, the chief executive of YouMail, tells me that these calls sound like something called the wangiri scam. They are designed to make us call the number back  and that number is a premium one, one that the caller will be charged a high cost for doing. Quilici says a lot of people habitually call back missed calls without thinking. Belarus may not be good for you, but somebody who lives in Coney Island who is from there or Russia may go, Oh, somethings up. Im gonna call them, he said, adding that the calls are so cheap to make, it doesnt take many people falling for the trick for the phone miscreants to make money.

So now you are wondering  why cant Congress step in? Surely, we cant let something as ridiculous as robocalls defeat us. Well, there is legislation. In the House, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., reintroduced his Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, while in the Senate, there is a bipartisan bill from Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and John Thune, R-S.D. The bills are different in their particulars, but they both require phone companies to authenticate the origins of the calls they put through to us. That technology is in existence  at least in part.

But bills dont just need to be introduced. They needs to be passed. In the meantime, phone companies need to be pressured to respond more urgently. As for ACA International, the debt-collection lobby, it says it has serious problems with Pallones bill and isnt taking a position on the Senate initiative except to say that it has urged the Senators to make distinctions between illegal actors and legitimate callers.

So maybe something will happen. Or maybe not. But for now, my phone and yours will keep ringing. And ringing. And ringing 
The Amtrak truck that hit a pedestrian in Bostons Seaport was stolen from a worksite in the city before the crash Friday morning, officials said.

An Amtrak vehicle was stolen from a worksite in Boston on Friday, March 29. After leaving the worksite, the suspect struck a light pole, a parked vehicle and also struck and injured a person, Amtrak said in a statement. The individual did not sustain life-threatening injuries and the suspect fled the scene. Amtrak is working with the Boston Police Department to apprehend the suspect.

A woman was taken to the hospital with injuries after being hit by the truck on Northern Avenue and Pier 4 Boulevard, Boston police said.

Massachusetts State Police and Boston police continue to search for the man driving the vehicle, who fled the scene after allegedly hitting the pedestrian, state police said.
A woman was rushed to the hospital with injuries after being hit by an Amtrak truck in Bostons Seaport neighborhood Friday morning, Boston police said.

Police said they were called to Northern Avenue and Fan Pier in the Seaport at 11:48 a.m. Police are still on the scene. At least one pedestrian was hit by the truck, police said.

It is not clear whether the driver of the truck stayed at the scene, police said.

We are still actively investigating, a Boston police spokesman said.
A 10-year-old girl in Framingham getting death threats.

A family hearing screams of behead them all as they enter a Wayland mosque.

A 72-year-old woman nearly falling to the ground in Braintree as someone grabs her hijab.

These are some of the incidents that targeted Muslims in Massachusetts over the past year, according to a report released this week by the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Massachusetts.

CAIR-MA had 194 requests for legal assistance in matters such as hate crimes, travel abuses, housing problems and other matters affecting Muslims. Thats a 2.5 percent increase from 2017 when the organization received 189 requests for assistance.

Some of the most egregious cases were hate crimes, ranging from verbal slurs to physical attacks.

Barbara Dougan, civil rights director at CAIR-MA, said that while the numbers may not reflect a dramatic increase, the complaints show a disturbing level of hate against Muslims.

Each incident reflects a human being who has been victimized traumatized or harmed, she said. No one person is a statistic.

The great-grandmother, whose name was not included, was attacked while her family was in a Braintree park. A white female shouted slurs and obscenities before grabbing her hijab, nearly knocking her to the ground, according to the report. The report states the woman was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison.

The family that was entering a Wayland mosque was observing Eid Al-Adha, the holiday honoring the prophet Ibrahim, when a white woman drove by screaming, Behead them all!

CAIR-MA spoke with family members about their legal options.

Perhaps the most high-profile incident was when a Muslim fifth-grader received a written death threat at her school in Framingham. A week earlier, she found a note calling her a terrorist.

The girls uncle, Jamaal Siddiqui, told reporters in November the notes were alarming.

Its sad to see that kids at this age are dwelling in racism when they dont really know what it is and how it affects the other kids around them, he said.

CAIR-MA said the person behind the threat was never identified, but the organization launched a campaign that led to more than 1,000 letters of support for the girl.

A North Reading man was convicted in February of assault, battery and civil rights violations after attacking 63-year-old Malika Touirtou. She was speaking Arabic on the phone with her brother while on the Orange Line when Sean Devlin, 36, told her to go back to your own country, prosecutors said. He claimed that Touirtou had a bomb in her bag and struck the train window glass near her heard, breaking it, according to the Associated Press.

Muslims across the state have reported a variety of other issues ranging from disputes with landlords to FBI surveillance, according to the report.

Overall, CAIR-MA received 232 requests for legal assistance in 2018, slightly less than the 247 the organization received in 2017. But at least some of the calls in both years were requests for help on immigration cases, which the organization doesnt handle.

So much stuff isnt reported, Dougan said. These are the ones we know about because weve been called.

The report also listed several measures used to educate teachers, law enforcement and others. CAIR-MA hosted a workshop on Islamophobia, which members of the Boston Police Department attended. The organization also organized bystander intervention training, led by Quabbin Mediation. The training is designed to offer people tips on how to properly intervene in harassment or hate crimes.

CAIR-MA created a program called Muslim Student Inclusion, which educates teachers how to better understand Islam and religious-based discrimination.

Weve been trying to do a lot of outreach and education around Muslims legal rights and protections and the remedies that are available, Dougan said.
Police are searching for James Bennett-Werra, the man accused of driving through a stop sign earlier this week, leading to a crash that killed one person and left a second person critically injured, officials said.

Bennett-Werra is believed to have been driving a Chevy Malibu on Wednesday. Authorities said the car did not stop for police in Fairhaven, continued into New Bedford and ran a stop sign, before crashing into a Toyota Corolla at the intersection of Ashley Boulevard and Tallman Street.

The crash killed 68-year-old Janet Murphy of New Bedford, according to the office of Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn III. Murphy was driving the Corolla and had one passenger.

Bennett-Werra ran off after the crash and is being sought by police, Quinns office announced Thursday night. Additionally, Bennett-Werra has a Superior Court probation warrant and a parole violation warrant.

A second person in the car with Janet Murphy was taken to the hospital in critical condition after the crash. Quinns office has identified that person as 28-year-old Kyle Murphy of New Bedford.

Kyle Murphy remains in critical condition, Quinns office wrote in a statement. Officials did not specify the relationship between the two victims.

Authorities believe there were two people inside the Chevy Malibu at the time of the collision. One of those people remained at the scene following the crash.

The investigation is ongoing.
As problem gambling awareness month draws to a close, a longtime responsible gaming advisor who works with the Gaming Commission said Massachusettss efforts to educate players are working and having an influence on the casino industry.

Amy Gabrilla, a senior advisor with the commission's GameSense program, told regulators Thursday that a recent interaction with an executive host -- whose job is to cater to high-rollers and to cultivate regular players -- from MGM Springfield moved her to tears.

She said she recently led a "grueling" training session on responsible gaming and the resources GameSense makes available to all players with MGM Springfield officials, including this particular executive host. Shortly after the session, the executive host referred a client -- "definitely a top-tier player," Gabrilla said -- to Gabrilla for assistance with potentially problematic gambling.

"Honestly, I cried," Gabrilla told the Gaming Commission. "Never in my 22 years in this business would I have ever believed that an executive host -- a guy who lives off getting people to play, that's his business -- was willing to drop off one of his best accounts to me because he felt it was the right thing to do."

The commission adopted GameSense as its "comprehensive responsible gaming strategy" and the program includes information centers in each of the state's gaming facilities and advisors like Gabrilla whose interventions range from casual conversations about things like betting odds to more in-depth assistance.

Gabrilla said the state's efforts to promote responsible gaming have rubbed off on staff at MGM Springfield, which opened in August. She said 10 of the last 15 people who have added themselves to the state's voluntary gaming exclusion list did so after an MGM Springfield staff member referred them to GameSense.

The fact is that we are now in this space where were changing the narrative of responsible gambling in the industry from the inside out, Gabrilla said. She added, It blows my mind ... Its something I never thought would happen.
EAST LONGMEADOW  Prolific Hatfield author Jane Yolen  known for young adult books like Sister Light, Sister Dark, Snow in Summer and The Devils Arithmetic  likes to speak at conferences at which different kinds of work are discussed. Thats because its something difference from her usual presentations at childrens book conferences; yet about a quarter of her work consists of poetry and novels and nonfiction for adults.

Yolen will be a speaker at Bay Path Universitys 18th Writers Day on Sunday, April 14; check-in begins at noon.

I am going to begin with some advice for writers of all types, then talk about the history of children's books in the United States and then discuss the variety of books for young readers and talk about some mentor texts and the rewards of such a career, she said.

Her presentation, Writing for Younger Readers, takes place from 3:10 to 4:15 p.m.

Also presenting will be C. Flanagan Flynn, former managing editor of Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers and Brain, Teen: The Magazine for Thinking Parents, on Writing and Publishing in Literary Magazines and Journals from 12:30 to 1:35 p.m. and Shahnaz Habib, a writer, teacher and editor, on Writing Home from 1:50 to 2:55 p.m.

Were thrilled to have Jane back to speak. Shes an international literary superstar, a great example of getting the work done each and every day, a very generous speaker and reader, and simply a nice, nice person, said Suzanne Strempek Shea, writer in residence at Bay Path who helps plan literary events. Many of our previous attendees have requested that we offer speakers on writing for children and young adults, and Jane writes for those age groups, plus adults  so anyone who attends will go away with some golden information and advice. Considering how she literally is all over the world doing events, we were just delighted when she said shed come back to Bay Path. Its an honor for us.

The new location for this event is The Philip H. Ryan Center, Bay Path University, 1 Denslow Road, East Longmeadow.

Since her first two books came out in 1963, Yolen has seen her young audience change. There is a hunger for darker stuff, but that trend disturbs me, she said. However, the youngest ones still have a delight in picture books. My sweet spot are poetry collections for young readers.

She likes writing for this audience because, she said, I can actually make a difference in their lives. They will carry some of my stories or poems in their hearts forever. And I adore the letters I get from them singly and in classes. One was even signed, Your friend.

Yolen, who is finishing a picture book called When I Was a Giant, offered advice for aspiring writers of the young adult genre: Read widely within the subgenres that interest you. Keep as current as you can. Sit down and write.

You'd be surprised how few people follow through to write something every day. I think they are waiting for the time fairy to drop a discrete bundle of time on their front step, she said. Not going to happen. The only one who makes that time happen is the writer herself.

Strempek Shea said the Writers Day would provide information and inspiration for writers at any level. If, say, youre just starting out in publishing your work, youll get a great primer. If youve been at it a while and want an editors take on how the industry is doing these days, C. Flanagan Flynn will be a font of knowledge, she commented. Maybe home is a central point in the book youre writing, or is a sticking point when you approach it on the page. Then Shahnaz will be ready to help. And the opportunity to hear the legendary luminary Jane Yolen speak on, well, anything related to writing and stories, should not be missed.

Each Writers Day offers a different slate of topics that takes into consideration what previous attendees have requested.

The cost for one Writers Day workshop is $30; two workshops $55; and three workshops $75.

Registration is required.

Limited copies of the authors books will be available at the event for purchase and signing.

For more information, go online to baypath.edu/events or call 413-565-1371.

If you go

What: Bay Path Universitys 18th Writers Day

When: Sunda, April 14; check-in begins at noon

Where: The Philip H. Ryan Center, Bay Path University, 1 Denslow Road, East Longmeadow

Cost: One workshop $30; two workshops $55; three workshops $75

For more info: Online at baypath.edu/events or by phone at 413-565-1371
SPRINGFIELD  Local businessman David Mech told residents on Thursday that his proposal for a marijuana facility at the former Macys store on Boston Road would bring new life to Eastfield Mall, new jobs and strong security.

Mech, president of Cannaworld Inc., is proposing a recreational marijuana retail store on the first floor and a marijuana cultivation/manufacturing business on the second floor. The proposal has the support of Mountain Development Corp., which owns the mall.

Approximately 75 residents attended the community outreach meeting at the mall, including several who raised questions regarding if it could contribute to crime, and if there would be any fire hazard. Mall officials, in response to questions, said that entrances to the Macys site for the proposed marijuana business are not yet finalized.

Mech and Charles Breidenbach, managing director for MDC Retail Properties Group, said the new business would bring a great deal more foot traffic to the mall as malls across the nation struggle with keeping anchor stores.

Ward 8 City Councilor Orlando Ramos, who attended the meeting along with Ward 7 Councilor Timothy Allen, said there is a big difference between retail and cultivation, which is why the council is requiring cultivation to be in industrial zones.

"Retail belongs in commercial areas; cultivation belongs in industrial areas," Ramos said. "There are some nuisances that come with marijuana cultivation including odor. This area is not zoned appropriately for cultivation."

Mech said his group is exploring the possibility of seeking a zone change to allow for that component of the project.

Regarding safety, Mech said that marijuana facilities must comply with very strong state regulations for safety and security including an extensive video camera system both inside and outside the mall.

He and Breidenbach said there is existing security at the mall, with Cannaworld bringing in its own security to make the mall even safer. Regarding fire safety, Bridenbach said the mall has an advanced sprinkler system.

"It seemed people were receptive once we explained what we were doing," Mech said after the meeting. "A lot of fears were allayed."

While some people might question having marijuana sales inside a mall, it presents an ideal location when considering such factors as ample parking, a full traffic light system, and the ability to shop for other goods before and after going to the marijuana store.

Bringing children to the mall is not a problem, but the marijuana facility is highly regulated to prevent anyone under 21 to enter, Mech said. Mall officials said the marijuana facility fits in with its long-range redevelopment plan that includes mixed-used space with offices as well as retail and dining.

A resident asked if there could be crime expanded to the nearby residential area, and Mech responded that studies have shown in other states that crime goes down when a marijuana store opens. He said he would expect property values to go up.

A resident asked if that could be promised in writing, triggering laughter from some residents.

The retail operation will create at least 20 full-time jobs, and the full operation with cultivation and manufacturing would bring more than 120 jobs.

Cannaworld will be applying for city and state approvals soon, including submitting its retail store proposal in early April to a city review committee, Mech said. The City Council is allowing up to 15 retail marijuana stores in the city, and will be ranking proposals.

In response to another question Thursday, Breidenbach said he wants a weekend marketplace at the Macys site to continue operations, possibly relocated in the mall.

The proposed Cannaworld business will include a customer education program regarding the various products and services offered, Mech said in a handout at the meeting. There will be free access to materials providing information on marijuana use, holistic healing, research, legality issues and advocacy/activism; the differing strengths of marijuana strains and products; and potential drug-to-drug interactions, the handout stated in part.
SPRINGFIELD  Nearly 20 years ago, Bay Path University alumnae Ruby Bean and Heather Hynes met Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner Rita Moreno when she spoke at Bay Paths annual Womens Leadership Conference.

On Friday, during the 24th annual conference, at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, they met Moreno again and recreated the photo they took with her in 2001.

We were starstruck then and we still are, said Hynes. Both women, who were involved in theater and dance as teenagers and in college, have undergraduate and masters degrees from Bay Path. We were honored to be in her presence.

Knowing she was a trailblazer, this incredibly talented Hispanic woman who made a name for herself in West Side Story. It was incredible, Bean said.

Bay Path President Carol Leary said Moreno is the only woman invited to speak twice at the event, which this year had about 1,700 attendees and exhibitors.

She is an extraordinary role model for women of all ages and stages, Leary said. She has excelled in her career and her life and I believe she has the value that we as women espouse to each other, but she has lived them for 87 years.

Leary said as the Latino population grows in the nation, in Massachusetts and at Bay Path, she understands the importance of having Moreno in Springfield.

Our own students and our staff who are from Puerto Rico have said they cannot express enough how much it means to have Rita Moreno here, because she is a role model," Leary said. Knowing what she has done with her Netflix series, one of the only EGOT winners and one of the few women. We had to bring her back.

Moreno said she was thrilled to be back in Springfield for Bay Paths event.

Its been 18 years and its a beautiful thing to see this new generation of women, she said as she prepared for her speech and posed for pictures with fans.

Most recently Moreno starred in the remake of the Norman Lear classic sitcom One Day at a Time on Netflix, a show that tackled everything from immigration to gender equality, family dynamics and life after 60. She has guest starred in prime time TV series including Greys Anatomy, Grace and Frankie and Jane the Virgin.

When she danced her way across the stage to the theme music of her Netflix series, the entire room erupted in applause.

Netflix has canceled One Day at A Time after three seasons, but they cant cancel me, she said to cheers from the crowd. If you are not happy about the cancellation, networks need to hear that. They do listen to you.

Moreno spent the next hour sharing the story of her rise to stardom, starting with quitting secretarial school after two days and traveling with her mother from Puerto Rico to New York.

She recalled getting an MGM contract and seeing Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Ricardo Montalban and Elizabeth Taylor in the studio.

It was a magical place and time, she said.

She talked about her relationship with Marlon Brando, her love of Elizabeth Taylor and the lack of role models for a Latina actress in the 1950s. She even sang a bit of one of her favorite songs by The Pied Pipers, Dream.

Moreno answered audience questions including who her current role models are  fellow Puerto Ricans Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

How ever you may feel about her she is a ball of fire, and she doesnt talk out of ignorance, she speaks out of experience and knowledge, Moreno said of Ocasio-Cortez.

Moreno also said she is excited for the Steven Spielberg remake of West Side Story, the 1961 movie that launched her career and earned her an Oscar for the supporting role of Anita.

Can you believe it? I damn near peed my pants, she said, laughing. Talk about coming full circle. ... Im 87 and Im still working, aint that something?

The event also featured workshops with themes including developing leadership skills, adjusting to change in the workplace, finding your voice in a male-dominated industry and more.

We want every woman to leave here and put into action what she has learned so she can take it to her family, to her workplace and take it to her community, Leary said. Every topic has been carefully selected to give these women an opportunity to individually learn, but also to use what they are learning outside of this event in their daily lives.

Along with many other alumnae, Bean and Hynes have attended 21 of the 24 womens conferences.

We still love coming here every year and being inspired by other women," Bean said. We leave here feeling empowered and thats an amazing thing.

You learn a lot about yourself and you take things away that you can bring back to your company and even your family, Hynes said.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants Empire star Jussie Smollett to pay back $130,000 for an investigation into what police and prosecutors say was a staged attack orchestrated by the actor.

The police are right now finalizing the cost that was used, police resources to come to the understanding this was a hoax and not a real hate crime, Emanuel said on WGN Radio, according to The Chicago Tribune. It is a small way of both acknowledging, one, guilt, two, that we spent these resources and the taxpayers deserve, at minimum  because I think theres a whole other level of ethical costs, because hes still walking around, Hey, Im innocent, everything I said from day one is true  that actually were going to get the resources back. But come with those resources is, implicitly, if you pay it, that the city spent money to uncover what the grand jury discovered.'

Officials are still assembling the costs of the investigation  estimated by police at $130,000  that began shortly after Smollett reported to police on Jan. 29 that he was the victim of a hate crime by assailants who yelled racial and homophobic slurs as they beat him.

City lawyers will send Smollett a letter calling on him to pay the full amount, Emanuel said.

A grand jury had indicted the Empire actor earlier this month on 16 felony counts for allegedly staging a hate-crime attack two months ago. However, prosecutors decided to drop all charges Tuesday, citing community service performed by the actor since his arrest and his agreement to forfeit his $10,000 bond.

In dropping the charges, Joe Magats, first assistant states attorney in Cook County, told The Washington Post that his office took into account Smolletts lack of a violent criminal background and the facts and circumstances of the case.

Emanuel, former White House Chief of Staff under President Barack Obama, also called on President Donald Trump to just sit this one out, after Trump tweeted he would tell the FBI to investigate how Smolletts charges were dropped.

I take umbrage that you have a person sitting in the Oval Office who drew a moral equivalency in Virginia between those who were fighting bigotry and those who were perpetuating bigotry, Emanuel said of Trump and his reaction to a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.
Four Massachusetts State Police troopers suspended last year on suspicion of overtime abuse won their jobs back Thursday, after the state Civil Service Commission ruled they had been wrongly suspended without pay.

But the department is pushing back, saying that the Commission erred in its ruling. The department is considering its appeal options and has not issued any orders revoking the suspensions, State Police spokesman David Procopio told MassLive.

Jeffrey Reger, Daniel Crespi, John F. Adams and Jeffrey J. Russell, all members of the now-disbanded State Police Troop E, were suspended on August 15, 2018 after a State Police audit found that they had been paid for overtime hours they had not worked.

Neither Reger, Crespi, Adams nor Russell have been criminally charged in the investigation. Eight other troopers have already pleaded guilty to federal charges of abusing overtime. Three troopers also face state-level charges in the overtime investigation.

Following a duty status hearing, Reger, Crespi Adams and Russell were summarily suspended without pay and had their firearm licenses suspended, according to the Civil Service Commission decision. Each of them appealed their suspensions to the Commission, arguing that the department had failed to follow proper procedure.

The department argued that the Commission did not have jurisdiction to overturn the charges because the troopers had not technically been disciplined -- rather, they had been suspended under the State Police Colonels broad administrative powers to suspend personnel without pay.

The Civil Service Commission did not buy that argument.

As the Department has violated the Appellants procedural rights to a hearing prior to imposing the suspensions, and has chosen to present no evidence at the full hearing, the Appellants are entitled to be reinstated to their positions, the Commission wrote in its ruling. Nothing in this Decision precludes the Department from initiating appropriate disciplinary proceedings to investigate, charge, and after a Trial Board hearing, convict, one or more of the Appellants, for the misconduct which has been established, subject to the Appellants further appeal, if necessary, for a de novo review by the Commission.

Procopio disputed the Commissions findings in a statement.

We strongly disagree with the decision of the Civil Service Commission and maintain that the Civil Service Commission is not the proper venue for review of the Colonels authority to order the suspension of Troopers for alleged misconduct, Procopio wrote. We believe these troopers should remain suspended without pay.

According to criminal complaints filed by federal prosecutors, troopers in Troop E skipped overtime shifts or cut out early while still claiming full pay, using fabricated or falsely dated tickets to claim that they had in fact worked those hours.

Troop E, which was disbanded as part of a slate of reforms responding to the scandal, was known as particularly lucrative posting for troopers, some of whom made over $200,000 per year. Because Troop E was responsible for patrolling the Massachusetts Turnpike and Boston tunnels, its troopers had access to abundant traffic enforcement overtime shifts.
LUDLOW - A woman who is believed to have abandoned 21 cats in her home, leaving the animals to fend for themselves in deplorable conditions for months, was arrested Thursday.

Carrie A. Douthwright, 42, of Ludlow, was arrested at about 4:45 p.m. on a warrant issued from Palmer District Court charging her with animal cruelty. She was at her parents home when police apprehended her, Lt. Daniel Valadas said.

The arrest came after police responding to a neighbors complaint entered her home at 237 West St. Saturday and found 21 cats in the home. The house was unlivable with floors and other surfaces covered with cat urine and feces, he said.

The first officers to arrive found a back door open and entered the home to verify no one was injured or deceased in the home. They then secured the house for about 28 hours until they could get a warrant to search the property and remove the cats, Valadas said.

Police photo of the interior of 237 West St. where 21 cats were found living in deplorable conditions. The resident of the home, Carrie A. Douthwright, has been charged with animal cruelty

"She abandoned the house and left the cats there," Valadas said. "It was very cruel to see that."

Police believe the cats survived because the rear door was open a little and they could go in and out of the house.

On Sunday, police returned to search the house. With the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Dakin Humane Society they removed the cats, Valadas said.

The smell and the conditions were so bad officers had to wear protective suits with foot coverings and air masks to enter the home. They also gave suits to employees from the animal shelters, he said.

None of the cats are in good health. The most seriously ill was found behind the dryer and trapped in a tangle of cords and had to be rescued, he said.

It was pretty grim, said Lee Chambers, public relations director of the Dakin Humane Society. Dakin staff assisted in capturing the cats but the MSPCA took custody of the animals.

Neighbors told police that they had not seen anyone at the house since last fall when the lawn was mowed. Police do not know where the homeowner had been living, Valadas said.

The house, a single-family ranch surrounded by a white picket fence, has been condemned by the Board of Health, Valadas said.
The Massachusetts Senate passed a bill Thursday banning conversion therapy for minors, over the objections of Senate Republicans who worried that the bill was unconstitutional.

Were saying that this dangerous, abusive behavior will not be tolerated, said Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill.

Conversion therapy tries to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill would prohibit conversion therapy performed by licensed state therapists on minors. It would not affect pastoral counseling by religious leaders.

The bill passed the Senate 34-0 with five abstentions.

Sen. Patrick OConnor, R-Weymouth, was the only Republican to vote for the bill. The other five Republicans voted present.

The bill already passed the House, so it will go to Gov. Charlie Baker after final procedural votes.

Baker has not committed to whether he will sign this particular version of the bill, although he has said he is inclined to support a ban on conversion therapy in theory.

Most professional medical organizations say conversion therapy is not a legitimate medical treatment.

Sen. Vinny deMacedo, R-Plymouth, said Senate Republicans do not support conversion therapy or aversive therapy, when a therapist causes someone pain when a person has a sexual reaction to someone of the same sex. If there were any evidence these therapies were being done in Massachusetts, Wed support banning them, deMacedo said.

But deMacedo said Republicans are concerned that the legislation unconstitutionally infringes on the right of mental health counselors to provide talk therapy to minors regarding their sexual orientation.

The vague wording leaves too much room for interpretation in an area that requires caution and precision from government, deMacedo said. We hope to register our concerns while making crystal clear we do not support coercive therapies.

On the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, introduced an order to ask the Supreme Judicial Court to weigh in on the bills constitutionality. The order questioned whether the ban infringes on the free speech rights of mental health professionals, infringes on the right of parents to control their children, and infringes on patients rights to privacy and confidentiality.

Tarr said any practice that involves coercion, physical discomfort, or mental discomfort to children to change their sexual identity should be banned. But he worried about a legal challenge to the bill.

We could forge ahead and ignore what are obvious question thatwill likely be asked in the courts of the commonwealth, and we could risk the potential that the children that we care about might be exposed to these offensive practices while those questions are resolved, Tarr said.

The Massachusetts Family Institute, a socially conservative organization, has been lobbying hard against the bill, arguing that it could result in classifying talk therapy as child abuse.

Sen. Joan Lovely, D-Salem, chair of the Senate Rules Committee, said Democrats are confident the bill is constitutional. It relies on the well-established authority of the state to regulate professional conduct, Lovely said.

Tarrs motion to ask for the SJCs opinion was voted down 6-32, along party lines.

Arline Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, said while it is tremendous that every Senate Democrat voted for the bill, she is disappointed that only one Republican did. This bill does not in any way abrogate constitutional protections. In fact, it is carefully crafted to avoid doing that, Isaacson said. Its sole purpose is to protect kids from harmful and discredited treatment.
HOLYOKE  A figure well known across this citys diverse population is being honored for turning 80 this month.

Sister of Providence Margaret McCleary, founder of what today is known as the Providence Ministries Network, will be celebrated for her work with a birthday party on Friday, March 29, at 6:30 p.m. at the Delaney House, 3 Country Club Road.

Mayor Alex Morse is among the speakers scheduled to pay tribute along with others including Sister of Providence Mary Caritas Geary, vice-president of the congregation and former president of Mercy Medical Center, as well as the Rev. Marisa Egerstrom, priest-in-charge of St. Pauls Episcopal Church.

The ministry McCleary established includes Kates Kitchen, Holyokes first soup kitchen that she opened in 1980; Loreto House, a transitional housing for homeless men that she opened in 1987, and the single-room occupancy Broderick House that dates to the same time.

A graduate of Springfields former Cathedral High School who celebrated 60 years with her community of women religious in 2017, McCleary entered the Sisters of Providence from Springfields Sacred Heart Parish.

She served as administrator for 10 years of Providence Ministries for the Needy. When she left that position in 1989, she told a Republican reporter that every day is Thanksgiving Day for the people who eat at Kates Kitchen.

These are tough times and we are seeing more elderly, more working people who can just about pay their rent. Its between paying their rent and putting food on their table. They usually have just enough for rent and they come here for a meal, said McCleary of the soup kitchen that continues to serve about 150 meals daily.

A graduate of the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York, McCleary was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in 1988 by the trustees of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley.

The Sisters of Providence of Holyokes origins date back to 1873 when two Sisters of Charity came from Canada to the city. This led other pioneering women from that order to come here and become involved with caring for orphans and the sick.

The health system founded by the Sisters of Providence is now part of Trinity Health Of New England.

For more information on the March 29 event, contact Rory Casey at (413) 885-3980.
This story was updated at 8:15 p.m. to add details about the crash.

HUNTINGTON -- A school bus transporting 12 elementary students from the Littleville Elementary School went off the road, leaving one child and the driver with minor injuries.

The crash occurred at about 3:40 p.m., Thursday, on Rt. 20 in Russell, Massachusetts State Police Lt. Tom Ryan said.

The one student, who is believed to have suffered minor injures, was brought to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield as a precaution and for further evaluation, said Wendy Long, spokeswoman for Gateway Regional School District.

The driver was brought to Baystate Noble Hospital, in Westfield, for treatment, Ryan said.

The remaining students were brought to Littleville Elementary School where they were screened by responding emergency medical technicians as a precaution. The children were later released to their parents, Long said.

Principal Megan Coburn went to the scene of the accident to help the children. School and district staff notified parents as soon as possible, Long said.

The bus driver was heading east on Route 20 when he crossed over into the westbound lane and clipped a utility pole, Ryan said.

The crash forced the road to be closed for several hours due to downed electrical wires. One lane was re-opened at about 6 p.m., he said.

Massachusetts State Police and Huntington and Russell police all responded to the crash with emergency medical officials. Eversource and other utility crews also responded to repair the pole and replace downed wires, he said.

No citations have been issued and the crash is under investigation, Ryan said.
BOSTON  The Massachusetts Senate voted 37-1 on Thursday to lift a cap on benefits for children born once a family is receiving welfare.

Sen. Don Humason, R-Westfield, was the lone dissenting vote.

Humason, who is running for Westfield mayor, said he has heard from constituents who are having trouble making ends meet but who do not qualify for public benefits. Some of them decide not to have more children because of cost.

I hear from constituents who limited the number of children in their family because they cant afford additional children, Humason said, speaking from the Senate floor after the vote. I think its unfair to ask the constituents back home to pay for a benefit for others that they dont get themselves.

Were asking people receiving state assistance to be responsible like those who are not, Humason continued. If they want to have children, theyre very welcome to have children, but dont expect the rest of the taxpayers to foot that bill. Its not fair.

Welfare benefits are based on family size. Many states instituted caps around the time of federal welfare reform in 1996 to discourage women on welfare from having more children. Advocates for repealing the cap say women do not decide whether to have a child based on a $100 monthly addition to their welfare check, and the entire family suffers with less money.

There is no evidence that welfare recipients have additional children to get a small increase in their families grants. Its only harmed children and caused entire families to suffer, said Sen. Sal DiDomenico, D-Everett, who has led the Senates efforts to repeal the family cap.

For example, a family of three would get $578 a month based on family size  but only $478 if a child were excluded by the cap.

There are an estimated 8,700 Massachusetts children who were born to families receiving welfare payments, so their families benefits do not reflect their birth. Lawmakers want to lift the cap retroactive to Jan. 1.

The Legislature last session voted to lift the family cap, but Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, refused the sign the bill unless lawmakers approved a change he proposed to welfare eligibility. Baker wanted to count an adults Supplemental Security Income, a payment given to disabled adults, when determining if a family is eligible for welfare. Baker said this would bring the welfare program in line with similar programs like veterans benefits.

Bakers proposal would make an estimated 5,200 children ineligible for welfare benefits and decrease the amount of benefits for another 2,100 children.

Lawmakers took the policy up too late last session to override Bakers veto.

On Thursday, Senate Republicans introduced an amendment that would adopt Bakers proposal. But it was voted down along party lines.

The House passed an almost identical bill, so after final procedural votes, it will go to Bakers desk.

Baker has not said if he will sign it this time, or veto it again, which would likely result in a vote to override his veto. Both the House and the Senate passed the bill with veto-proof majorities.

Todays vote means we are one step closer to Lifting the Cap on Kids, making a difference and better supporting 8,700 vulnerable children in need, said a statement from the Coalition to Lift the Cap on Kids, a group of advocates who have been pushing for the policy change. We look forward to the Baker-Polito administrations speedy implementation of this law to bring much needed relief to these children and families who have suffered for too long.
The war of words between Springfield City Council President Justin Hurst and the Hampden District Attorneys Office escalated Friday, with Hurst calling for DA Anthony Gulluni to resign over his handling of the 2015 police beating allegations that have now led to indictments against 14 current and former city police officers.

Gulluni initially declined to press charges in 2017 in the alleged assault of four men by off-duty officers following an argument at Nathan Bills Bar and Restaurant. Gulluni released a report concluding that while the men were victims of an assault, their identifications of their attackers were not clear enough to support criminal charges.

But a separate probe by the FBI and Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office has now led to indictments on assault, false statements and perjury charges, after investigators obtained additional video evidence and the testimony of an unknown number of witnesses during a year-long statewide grand jury.

District Attorney Gulluni needs to resign. Im calling on Mayor Sarno, elected officials, citizens, community leaders and community organizations to demand that he resign and do so immediately, Hurst said in a statement. The District Attorney can no longer be trusted to adequately perform the duties entrusted in him when he was sworn in as Hampden County District Attorney. His actions, or lack thereof, in the most recent incident where he failed to investigate and ultimately press charges against 14 police officers illustrate that he is either incapable of doing his job or he is purposely choosing not to do it. In either case, he has helped perpetuate a culture of impunity in the Police Department that continues to victimize the very citizens that he supposed to be helping.

The DAs office pushed back on criticism from Hurst yesterday, after the Council President said the DA had engaged in a dereliction of duties by failing to convene a grand jury in the case. The DAs office said that Gulluni had referred the case to the FBI and AG back in October of 2016 because those agencies had sufficient resources to investigate the matter, which dates back to a fight on April 8, 2015.

Once again Councilman Hurst has demonstrated his lack of understanding of the events and actions of this office. The District Attorney found the victims to be credible and to have suffered serious injury, DA spokesman Jim Leydon said Thursday. The facts known at the time as relayed by the victims themselves did not offer clarity as to who perpetrated the attacks and therefore charges could not be brought. This office then referred the case to both the U.S. Attorneys Office and the Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office in October of 2016 for a review of the larger circumstances of the incident. These agencies have the scope and available resources to investigate a matter of this kind and, in fact, subsequently discovered evidence with which the Hampden District Attorneys Office was not furnished and now forms the basis of the indictments issued [Wednesday.]

Leydon declined to comment further on Friday, but said that Gulluni has no plans to resign.

MassLive reached out to several Springfield City Councilors and Mayor Domenic Sarno to ask if they agree that Gulluni should resign.

Councilor Tim Ryan, the only one to respond prior to publication, said he does not agree with Hursts position, and that Gulluni appears to have acted properly in declining to charge without clear identifications and referring the case to state and federal authorities.

I have great respect and admiration for my colleague City Council President Justin Hurst, but I strongly disagree with the suggestion that District Attorney Anthony Gulluni should resign as a result of the Nathan Bills investigation conducted by his office, Ryan wrote in an email. As I understand the facts the District Attorney acted based on the facts and information available to his office, and his referrals for further action and investigation were both intelligent and appropriate.

In an interview, State Rep. Angelo Puppolo (D-Springfield) said he thinks Gulluni should remain in office, citing his work on narcotics prosecutions and the solving of the Lisa Ziegert cold case homicide.

I stand by District Attorney Gulluni. I think hes doing a great job. I understand the situation but I feel the DAs doing a great job and its apples and oranges calling for his resignation," Puppolo said. To spotlight one thing is really politically motivated and I dont think it does the process any good at all.

Six off-duty Springfield police officers and bar co-owner John Sullivan were indicted Wednesday on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery causing serious injury and conspiracy for allegedly following Paul Cumby, Jackie Ligon, Jozelle Ligon and Michael Cintron to a nearby parking lot and attacking them.

Each has already pleaded not guilty to related in charges in Springfield District Court, and the attorney for Officer Daniel Billingsley has said the alleged victims were actually the aggressors in the fight.

Others, including current officers, a retired sergeant and a former Springfield officer who is now a State Trooper assigned to Gullunis office, were indicted on allegations of covering up the assault. No arraignment dates have been set.

All of the indicted Springfield Police officers have been suspended without pay.

The incident was first investigated by the Springfield Police Departments Major Crimes Unit and Internal Investigations Unit after Cumby filed a complaint in 2015. Gulluni relied on the departments investigations and interviews with the alleged victims in making his decision not to charge and did not conduct his own fact-finding inquiry, he said in 2017.

After the FBI and AGs Office took over the inquiry, they obtained additional angles of security video from a Bank of America adjacent to the bar that internal investigators had not received during their initial investigation. That footage is believed to show the movements of people within the Nathan Bills parking lot but not the fight itself, which took place down the street.

A source familiar with the Springfield Police Departments criminal investigation said investigators did not realize they did not have all the relevant footage during their inquiry. Bill Andrew, a retired Springfield Police Sgt. who led the internal investigation into the matter, told MassLive on Thursday that he only learned more footage existed during an interview with the FBI in late 2017.

Springfield cannot have a District Attorney who spends endless resources enforcing the law against our citizens, but at the same time closes the purse strings when it comes to protecting citizens against rogue police officers. And to blame it on lack of resources is even more disturbing. How much could it possibly cost to ask a bank for all of their video footage, Hurst said in his statement. Finally, if the only evidence that the District Attorney is going to rely on to prosecute rogue officers, is that which is given to him by the very people he should be investigating, then the District is wasting everybodys time and resources. The likelihood that the police department will produce evidence that incriminates their own is unrealistic and District Attorney Gulluni should know this by now. It is baffling that the District Attorney does not conduct his own independent investigation when a complaint of this magnitude is filed against the police department.

The Springfield Police Department and the DAs Office have filed charges against local officers before, most recently against Officer Daniel Cintron, who has been on unpaid leave for more than a year amid criminal allegations of robbery, assault and battery and child rape. Acting Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood said earlier this month that she has begun the process of firing Cintron.

In other controversies -- the Nathan Bills case and the alleged kicking and abusive interrogation of juvenile suspects by former officer Steven Vigneault and Det. Gregg Bigda -- charges were not filed until federal or state authorities stepped in.

And the DAs Office recently assigned its attached State Police unit to investigate two use of force and false reporting complaints -- one involving a student at Springfields High School of Commerce, and the other involving a man who was grabbed by a desk officer during a dispute in the Springfield Police headquarters lobby.
"There is always room for improvement."

This is what the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has said in response to a petition started on change.org this week by clergy sexual abuse survivor Olan Horne asking it to adopt a reporting system of transparency and accountability for victims of sexual crimes in the diocese.

Horne, who was among the 40 victims of the late Boston priest Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham who died in 1989 and part of the archdiocesan settlement there in 2003 , moved to Western Massachusetts a number of years ago and has long been active on behalf of survivors, including one with allegations against a Springfield Diocese priest who has been removed from public ministry and whose name has been added recently to the list of priests with credible allegations them here.

Horne is seeking 100 signatures in petitioning Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, who was installed here in 2014, to promise and commit to engage the deficiencies we heard these past weeks at the dioceses listening sessions.

Rozanski has held four sessions in diocesan parishes since mid-February to respond to questions about how the diocese has handled reports of sexual abuse allegations against clergy and its procedures for how allegations are reported.

The diocese is also holding a Prayer Service for Healing to show solidarity with victims of clergy sex abuse Sunday, April 7, at 2 p.m at St. Michaels Cathedral as well as at the same time at St. Joseph Church in Pittsfield.

A diocesan report was also published in February showing that to date the Springfield Diocese has paid out nearly $15 million in settling 147 claims since 1992.

It shows the diocese has paid $2.25 million for therapy and counseling for victims of abuse with more than $150,000 paid in 2018.

In an email to a reporter Horne said his petition was started to address exactly what was heard at the listening session he attended, that all the prayers will not result in solidarity" and that the session lacked testimony of adequate services and outreach.

In an earlier interview about the sessions, Rozanski said he had feedback from one of the session that it focused on the settlements and counseling fees and not enough concern for individual victims.

Hornes petition requests that the diocese fund an independent clergy abuse reporting hotline, appoint a new legal team to resolve all abuse complaints exclusively, establish an independent reporting system for allegations against bishops, similar to one adopted recently in the Boston archdiocese, and the adoption of a restorative process, apart from lawsuits, where survivors would communicate in a supportive, empowering and transparent setting complaints and testimonies in conjunction with the bishop, review board and their advocate.

Bishop has pledged to take all recommendations, especially those which were offered during the recently completed listening sessions, under consideration, said diocesan spokesman Mark Dupont in responding to the petition.

Certainly, there is always room for improvement, that has been the case since the diocese created the first review board and introduced an 800-number phone line for reporting abuse more than 25 years ago.

He added, One of the important elements that has been part of our review process since it was introduced by the late Bishop John Marshall in December 1992, is the presence of state mandated reporters on the review board.

This was done by design for the additional assurance that all complaints would be handled forthrightly, Dupont said.

As for creating a system to report on bishops, Bishop Rozanski is open and supportive of this objective, and he looks forward to the discussion on how this might be best achieved when the bishops gather in June for their meeting.

In 2008, in a meeting arranged by Cardinal Sean OMalley of Boston, Horne and four other survivors had a private meeting with now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and, last year, with help from OMalleys office, Horne had letters delivered to the Vatican from area survivors and their families as well as his own requesting Rozanski be temporarily removed as bishop and investigated for covering up abuse.

During the recent Vatican summit on its ongoing global clergy sexual abuse crisis, Horne had gone on hunger strike for a week, seeking a Vatican response to the letter, but ended it when Hampden Country District Attorney Anthony Gulluni established a hotline to report sexual abuse by members of clergy in Hampden County.

Hornes story about being abused starting at the age of 12 by Birmingham, who died in 1989, is among the stories told in the 2005 Showtime movie, Our Fathers, that stars Ted Danson.
A former Springfield Police officer has been suspended without pay from his current job with the Massachusetts State Police, following his indictment this week for allegedly helping to cover up a 2015 assault by other off-duty officers.

Trooper Nathan Perez, 27, of West Springfield, was suspended following a duty status hearing on Friday, State Police spokesman David Procopio told MassLive.

Prior to his suspension he was assigned to the state police unit attached to Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gullunis Office.

Six Springfield police officers and Nathan Bills Bar and Restaurant co-owner John Sullivan were indicted Wednesday on assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy charges. They are accused of allegedly attacking a group of four men in a nearby parking lot after an argument in the bar in April of 2015.

Perez was among several officers and bar personnel not accused of participating in the attack but charged with lying to cover it up. He is being charged with perjury and misleading an investigator.

Perez left the Springfield Police Department in October of 2015 and graduated from the Massachusetts State Police academy in April 2016. He was first assigned to Troop B and then was assigned to the Hampden DAs office in December of 2017, according to state police.

Gulluni declined to press charges in the alleged beating in February of 2017, saying that while he believed the four black victims were credible they could not clearly identify their alleged attackers.

In recent weeks, the DAs state police unit has been tasked with investigating two allegations of Springfield police misconduct involving allegations of false police reports. A spokesman for the DA told MassLive that Perez did not personally work on either of those investigations.

The FBI and Attorney Generals Office took up the investigation, and a statewide grand jury issued 16 indictments on Wednesday. The accused include 14 current and former Springfield police officers, the bars co-owner and the bar manager on duty the night of the altercation.
Note: By Friday afternoon, the charge had been reduced from attempted murder to threatening to commit a crime. The original story has been changed to reflect this.

SPRINGFIELD - A 17-year-old Springfield teen is facing an attempted arson charge after he was accused of threatening to set his mother on fire, officials said.

The teen, whose name was not released to the press because of his age, was arrested Friday at 69 Grenada Terrace in the citys Forest Park neighborhood.

He is charged with attempted arson and threatening to commit a crime.

The city Arson and Bomb Squad and Springfield police were dispatched to Grenada Terrace just after 8:30 a.m., said Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Bernard J. Calvi.

A woman at that address told police that her son poured a flammable liquid around her in the kitchen and threatened to ignite it. The fire was never lit, and the woman was able to call police, he said.
FITCHBURG -- When police pulled over a driver who they say rolled through a stop sign, they found what they suspect was a much bigger crime.

At about 8:35 p.m., Wednesday, Massachusetts State Police troopers assigned to the Troop C Community Action Team stopped the driver of a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee on Blossom Street when he allegedly failed to use a turn signal and drove through a stop sign, police said.

Upon further investigation, troopers determined that the man was in possession of a substance believed to be heroin. Troopers subsequently located a stolen Glock handgun with a loaded high capacity magazine in his vehicle, police said in writing.

Police said they also found Suboxone and cocaine in the suspect's possession.

Luis Rivera, 26, of Fitchburg, was arrested on charges of carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm in commission of a felony, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of ammunition without a permit, possession of a large capacity weapon, improper storage of a firearm, receiving stolen property, possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of Suboxone and on motor vehicle charges.

He was held overnight at the State Police Barracks in Leominster on $10,000 bail, police said.
SPRINGFIELD  A Springfield man faces up to 30 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to several charges in connection with a 2018 armed robbery of a West Springfield convenience store.

Emilio Rivera, 30, was charged in U.S. District Court in Springfield with interference with commerce by robbery, using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Prosecutors said Rivera, along with an accomplice, robbed the store Nov. 14. When they executed a search warrant on his home, police found two guns along with ammunition. As a convicted felon Rivera was prohibited from possessing firearms.

According to federal authorities, the charges of interference with commerce by robbery and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, while the charge of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon could add 10 years. Rivera could be subject a $500,000 fine and up to six years of supervised release.

Riveras alleged accomplice, Alfredo Aldeco, 32, of Holyoke, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is awaiting trial.

Judge Mark G. Mastroianni set sentencing for July 9.
SOMERS, Connecticut - One person was killed and two firefighters injured in a two-alarm house fire Thursday night in a residential neighborhood not far from the East Longmeadow line.

According to the Somers Fire Department, an occupant of the home at 60 Juniper Hill Drive was trapped inside by the flames and unable to make it outside as the fire spread through the house.

Officials are not releasing the persons name to the press pending notification of family.

Other occupants of the house were able to escape safely with the help of neighbors, according to the fire department.

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries during overhaul operations after the fire had been knocked down. They required treatment at the hospital.

According to the fire department, the home was fully involved with flame upon their arrival. Firefighters began conducting a search of areas of the home that were still accessible, but they were driven back as the flames spread quickly.

All firefighters were ordered out, and the department switched to an exterior attack.

In addition to Somers, other fire departments assisting through mutual aid were Hazardville Fire District, West Stafford and Crystal Lake, Ellington, Shaker Pines, Tolland, Broadbrook, and the East Longmeadow Fire Department.
The White House reversed course in the 11th hour on its decision to end temporary protections for Liberian immigrants living in the United States.

Liberians who have Deferred Enforced Departure, a form of temporary legal status granted by the president, were days away from losing those protections. The Trump administration decided a year earlier that it would terminate the program on March 31, arguing that conditions had improved in the West African nation.

Upon further reflection and review, I have decided that it is in the foreign policy interest in the United States to extend the wind-down period for an additional 12 months, the White House wrote in a memorandum published Thursday afternoon. DED status is now scheduled to end March 30, 2020.

The decision came hours before government attorneys were expected to appear in federal court in Boston for an emergency hearing. Civil rights lawyers who are suing the government on behalf of the Liberians were requesting an extension of the program while the lawsuit progressed in court.

We were confident in our case, but this outcome was a surprise, said Oren Nimni, a staff attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights.

BREAKING: We just secured a BIG victory for our clients. Following our lawsuit, the Trump administration is reversing course and extending #DED relief for thousands of #Liberian immigrants who faced deportation on March 31st. @LawyersComm @UndocuBlack @AfricansUS @LCRBOSTON https://t.co/sLcMw4vQ8m  Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) March 28, 2019

The lawsuit continues as civil rights attorneys challenge the Trump administrations decision to terminate DED status for Liberians, whose country was founded by freed American slaves. The extension buys some time for the plaintiffs.

Its an amazing thing for a small immigrant community of black and African immigrants to band together and put pressure on the whole federal government and the Trump administration, Nimni said.

Immigrants from DED have no direct path to permanent legal status. Previous DED recipients from China, El Salvador, Haiti and other countries were able to secure legal permanent residency after Congress passed laws granting those groups permission to apply for green cards, according to the lawsuit.

The Liberians would receive permanent protections under the American Dream and Promise Act introduced by House Democrats. The bill also proposes extending protections for recipients of Temporary Protected Status and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

The White House announcement suggested that the wind-down will give Congress time to pass laws that could create a path for permanent legal status for this group of Liberians.

The memorandum status, extending the wind-down period will preserve the status quo while Congress considers remedial legislation.

What is Deferred Enforced Departure?

DED is one of the lesser-known humanitarian programs that offer temporary protections for immigrants. Similar to TPS, DED protects immigrants whose native countries are marred by war, civil unrest, natural disasters or public health crises. However, it is up to the president to use his foreign policy authority to grant DED status.

Since 1991, Liberians have either had TPS or DED because of armed conflict, instability in their native country and most recently the Ebola epidemic. Every few years, the fate of these immigrants in the U.S. came into question.

Libera is currently the only country whose citizens have a DED order.

It is unclear exactly how many Liberians in the U.S. have protections DED. About 839 Liberians had approved work permits under the DED directive as of March 14, 2018, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service, citing federal data. The report noted that the number doesnt reflect all Liberians who might be covered under this DED announcement, but rather notes who applied for and received work permits.

According to the lawsuit, DED could protect an estimated 4,000 Liberians in the U.S.

Massachusetts is home to 2,750 people who were born in Liberia, according to an amici brief. About 600 people of Liberian ancestry report that they are not U.S. citizens, but that doesnt mean they all have DED.

The group is smaller than the population of TPS holders and DACA recipients, but attorneys representing the Liberians argued the end of the DED program is part of the Trump administrations strategy to weed out black and brown immigrants.

Why are Liberians suing?

The lawsuit, led by advocacy groups African Communities Together and the UndocuBlack Network, was filed earlier this month. The plaintiffs include three Liberians from Worcester and their U.S.-citizen children, as well as one from Los Angeles, one from Minnesota and a family from Maryland.

The lawsuit challenges the Trump administrations decision to end DED status for Liberians, arguing the West African nation is struggling to recover from armed conflict and the Ebola epidemic.

Attorneys say that ending DED status means Liberians would have to choose between living in the shadows or returning to a country where theyre not safe, leaving behind their U.S.-citizen children.

The lawsuit also argues that the Trump administration moved to end DED status because it is trying to root out black and brown immigrants and attract immigrants from predominantly white countries such as Norway. The lawsuit cites a 2018 Washington Post report on a meeting stating that Donald Trump had called African nations, Haiti and El Salvador s---hole countries while discussing a bipartisan immigration deal.

My take is that they bowed to the pressures of litigation and didnt want to roll the dice and risk a bad decision, Nimni said.
SBA Administrator Linda McMahon is reportedly planning to leave her post with the Trump administration and return to the private sector.

Politico reported that McMahon, a co-founder and former chief executive officer of WWE, could announce her departure as soon as Friday.

Although McMahons plans remain unclear, a source told the news outlet that she intends to help fundraise for President Donald Trumps 2020 re-election bid.

Politico further noted that McMahon is expected to visit the president in Florida this weekend.

McMahon joined Trumps team during his presidential transition, with officials announcing in December 2016 that she had been chosen to lead the Small Business Administration, which provides loans and other assistance to small businesses.

Trump in announcing his intent to nominate McMahon offered that she is widely recognized as one of the countrys top female executives advising businesses around the globe.

She helped grow WWE from a modest 13-person operation to a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees in offices worldwide, he said at the time. Linda is going to be a phenomenal leader and champion for small businesses and unleash Americas entrepreneurial spirit all across the country.

Prior to joining the Trump administration, McMahon, who unsuccessfully waged a Republican bid for a Connecticut U.S. Senate seat in 2012, advised global businesses as part of APCO Worldwides International Advisory Council.

She also served on the Connecticut Board of Education in 2009 as an appointee of Gov. M. Jodi Rell and sat on the boards of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut; the Close Up Foundation; and American Corporate Partners, among others.

Her husband, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, meanwhile, has appeared with Trump in Wrestlemania events.
SEATTLE -- Red Sox manager Alex Cora provided updates on two injured infielders before the teams Opening Day game at T-Mobile Park Thursday afternoon:

* First baseman Steve Pearce will get at-bats in a minor-league game in Fort Myers Friday, Cora said. Pearce is dealing with a left calf strain he suffered late in spring training.

Pearces injured list stint was backdated to March 25, meaning hes eligible to return next Thursday in Oakland. Cora said its too early to know if hell be ready at that point.

* Second baseman Dustin Pedroia was 1-for-4 as the designated hitter in a minor-league game at Fenway South Thursday. His flight back to Fort Myers from Arizona was delayed, so he didnt have enough time to get ready to play second base in his first game back.

Cora isnt sure if Pedroia, who is rehabbing his left knee, will require an affiliated rehab assignment before joining the Red Sox. The manager hopes to see Pedroia bounce back effectively after appearing in games.

Back-to-backs, seeing how he reacts. With him, (how he feels the day after playing) is important," Cora said. Ive been saying that all along. To see how he reacts to the daily grind and we go from there.
SPRINGFIELD  Otoniel Bermudez was sentenced Thursday to seven to nine years in state prison after he admitted having heroin for sale in Holyoke as a subsequent offender.

In a separate case he admitted conspiring with his brother to try to smuggle Suboxone into the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow. For that crime he got a four- to five-year state prison sentence, but it will be served concurrently with the longer drug sales sentence.

Hampden Superior Court Judge Karen Goodwin, at the request of defense lawyer Nora Allard, agreed to recommend that Bermudez serve his state prison sentence at the Franklin County Correctional Center, where he is presently held.

Goodwin said it is unusual to have someone serve such a long state prison sentence at a county jail, but Allard said it is possible. Goodwin said it is ultimately up to the state Department of Corrections.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel H. Hespeler said on June 16, 2017, Holyoke police were doing surveillance. They saw Bermudez holding a trash receptacle and picking up small trash. Police saw five drug transactions with Bermudez taking money and giving the person an item. When Bermudez was arrested he had 25 bags of heroin in the trash receptacle, Hespeler said.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas F. Prendergast said Bermudez was in the Holyoke District Court lockup for a court appearance on May 24, 2018, when his brother gave a defense lawyer a business card to give Bermudez. The lawyer took the card to police, who found it was two cards sealed together containing Suboxone strips.

Prendergast said the Hampden County Sheriffs Department reviewed calls between Jose Bermudez, Otoniel Bermudez and another inmate and found the three were working together to get drugs into the jail through the business card scheme.

Jose Bermudez was sentenced earlier this month to six to eight years in state prison after admitting that he fired a gun on a street in broad daylight, and a concurrent sentence for the plot to smuggle Suboxone into the jail.
SPRINGFIELD  A 67-year-old Chicopee man has been indicted for rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery involving a fellow patient at Holyoke Medical Center.

John Zawada also faces a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. He denied the charges in December in Holyoke District Court. The indictments this week move the case to Hampden Superior Court.

Zawada was initially charged after allegedly assaulting an unconscious woman in the hospitals emergency room on Nov. 25.

The incident, which was captured on video, began when Zawada approached the womans bed, pulled down her pants and began groping her, according to the arrest report. The woman eventually sat up and attempted to push Zawadas hand away, but he guided her back down to the bed and continued to assault her, a police report said.

A nurse eventually heard the victim yelp, saw Zawada on a video monitoring screen and ran into the room, the report said.

Following his arrest, Zawada was committed to Bridgewater State Hospital to be evaluated for criminal responsibility and competency to stand trial. In February a judge deemed him too dangerous to be released under any conditions and order him held without right to bail for four months.

The indictment for failure to register said Zawada is a Level 1 sex offender, the category deemed least likely to reoffend.

He pleaded guilty in 2014 to a Chicopee District Court case alleging possession of child pornography and got six months probation.
SPRINGFIELD  A 21-year-old Southwick man on Thursday in Hampden Superior Court denied five charges in connection with allegedly shooting his roommate in the hip on Dec. 18.

Joseph Munroe denied charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, assault and battery with a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, and assault and battery on a family or household member.

He will remain free on the $5,000 bail he posted after his Westfield District Court arraignment previously. He must have no contact with the victim, live with his uncle and have no drugs or alcohol as conditions of his pretrial release.

Southwick Police Chief Kevin A. Bishop said an investigation showed Munroe, of Sheep Pasture Road, started fighting with his roommate at the home.

A relative drove the injured person to Baystate Noble Hospital in Westfield. Personnel there reported to police that a man suffering from a gunshot wound had come in for help at about 3:22 a.m., he said.
SPRINGFIELD  Acting Police Commissioner Cheryl C. Clapprood on Friday announced the promotion of five patrol officers to the rank of sergeant.

The five officers, who have a combined 115 years of service with the department, are Derek Cook, Rafael Vega, Edward Kalish, Jaime Bruno, and Pablo Feliciano.

This is an incredibly diverse group of officers who have served and will continue to serve the city of Springfield in the highest capacity, Clapprood said. As the average age of a Springfield police officer continues to be younger and younger, the more than a century of experiences these sergeants have shared will be indispensable.

In the weeks since she was named acting commissioner following the sudden retirement of John R. Barbieri, Clapprood has spoken of staffing shortages throughout the ranks due to retirements, and the need to fill vacancies in the sergeant and lieutenant ranks.

She has said having a strong cast of supervisors is essential for maintaining discipline and for restoring the departments reputation that has been damaged by a series of scandals in recent years.

The promotion of Cook is likely to raise a few eyebrows among those with long memories.

In 2008, he was arrested following the on-duty pummeling of two supervisors inside the station. Lt. Robert Moynihan was knocked out and suffered a concussion. Sgt. Dennis M. OConnor suffered a fractured tailbone when he was flung across the room as he tried to restrain Cook.

Cook would pleaded guilty in 2011 to reduced charges of misdemeanor assault. He was fined $675 and suspended 90 days, but avoided jail time as part of a plea deal.

Moynihan and OConnor have since retired.

Clapproods announcement of Cooks promotion did not mention this incident.

Instead, she cited his long service to the department  he became an officer in 1992  and a commendation he received for his work with the Behind the Walls program, where he has mentored more than 2,000 children in fifth through eighth grades.

The promotions announced Friday came from a Civil Service list that generated controversy last year when The Republican / MassLive reported that several of the officers had somewhat checkered pasts. Five promotions were made from the list in July.

The next Civil Service exam, which will produce a new list of prospective sergeants, is not scheduled until September.

The state Civil Service Commission establishes lists for promotions based on scores on the statewide exam. The local department has some latitude in who gets promoted, but has to make selections from the list.

Cook was ranked seventh on the list when it came out in February 2018. After the first round of promotions, he jumped jump to number 2, just behind officer Gregg A. Bigda.

Bigda is currently suspended without pay, as he is under federal indictment for civil rights violations. The charges are the result of the disclosure of videos recorded at the Palmer police station showing Bigda interrogating and threatening two teenagers suspected of stealing an unmarked police car.

Tied with Cook on the list was officer Angel Marrero, who was passed over for the promotion.

Marrero is the officer involved in a recent incident at Commerce High School in which he is seen on video grabbing a student and slamming him against the wall. He has been accused of filing a report on the incident that appears to be contradicted by the footage. The Hampden District Attorneys Office has also opened a criminal review of the case.

Third on the list is Anthony Bedinelli, who until recently was considered inactive because he was fired for misconduct. An arbitrator overturned his firing in late February.

In his 18 year career, Bedinelli has been the subject of 18 separate internal affairs investigations ranging from being verbally abusive to the public to leaving his post without permission to go to his home after his two dogs escaped and attacked a neighborhood girl. He was also fired in 2008, but an arbitrator ruled he should be given his job back.

Photos of the newest sergeants in the Springfield Police after promotions were announced Friday. In the top row from left are Edward Kalish and Rafael Vega. In the bottom row was Jaime Bruno and Pablo Feliciano.

Clapprood also lauded the service and qualifications of each of the others who were promoted.
It doesnt need recalibrating often.

The Aktiia optical blood pressure monitor was tested in six healthy volunteers and agreed with a traditional inflating-cuff blood pressure monitor (Omron M6) two months after the initial calibration. The experimental data of this initial study showed error figures within 1  7 mmHg, which are smaller than the threshold of 5  8 mmHg typically accepted in clinical investigations. Aktiia will reveal the full results of their study at the 41st IEEE International Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference in Berlin, Germany at the end of July. They have now initiated a clinical trial for 30 ICU patients to compare readings with those obtained from invasive arterial lines (NCT03837769).

The Aktiia Blood Pressure Monitor is a wrist worn bracelet that analyzes pulse wave velocities and reflections to measure blood pressures. The device is initially calibrated once to readings from a traditional inflating-cuff blood pressure monitor, then optically measures blood pressures of the wearer at regular intervals. It could greatly improve the comfort and frequency of monitoring patients with high blood pressures.

We checked in with Josep Sola, CTO and co-founder of the company, and Elisa Olivero, Product Manager at Aktiia, to learn more about their developments.

Ben Ouyang, Medgadget: What has been done with Aktiia and Blood Pressure Monitor since we spoke in September last year?

Josep Sola, Aktiia CTO: When we last discussed, Mattia and myself (Aktiia co-founders) were at the point of leaving a Swiss research institute called CSEM (www.csem.ch) in which we had been working for more than 15 years carrying research in the field of cuffles blood pressure. We had explored a large range of solutions, and we failed for a lot of them. However, one particular solution had appeared to be adequate for the complete monitoring of blood pressure day and night. We had called this technology OBPM  for Optical Blood Pressure Monitoring, and we wanted to push it to the market with Aktiia.

On July 2018 we started the company being the 2 only employees. Today, 8 months later, Aktiia counts a team of 13 highly-qualified people going from algorithm, electronics, mechanics engineers, software engineers, and business developers, and we are located in Switzerland, Serbia and the US.

Our work of these last 8 months has been exclusively focused on preparing our first product: the Aktiia Blood Pressure Monitor. We like defining our product as the first Complete Blood Pressure monitor: a groundbreaking way to monitor blood pressure through a cuffless bracelet that people will love to wear. The Aktiia Blood Pressure Monitor will let you monitor your blood pressure 24/7 without ever having to stop what you are doing to take a measurement. Our breakthrough method uses the sensors in existing wearables for heart rate monitoring, and reads information from vessels under the skin of your wrist. The data will be turned into a precise record of your blood pressure, day and night.

After these intense 8 months of works, we are now collecting the first results:

we have now functional prototypes of the bracelet that we are already using day and night in our lifes,

we have Swissmedic-approved prototypes that we are putting in clinical trials in Intensive Care Units,

and we have already deployed a backend server that is gathering optical and physiological data from beta-testers of our prototypes around the globe

In addition to that, during these last 8 months we have also spent countless nights in enlarging our patent portfolio, and on preparing the manufacturing of the Aktiia Blood Pressure Monitor.

Medgadget: Whats the first patient population you envision your product being used for?

Elisa Olivero, Product Manager: The Aktiia Blood Pressure Monitor has been designed for all individuals willing to monitor their blood pressure closely. This population is composed of both people who suffer from hypertension and want to monitor it closely and people who havent been diagnosed but are very health-conscious and want to track their vitals to make sure they are within the recommended range. What people in these two groups have in common is their willingness to take action to live a healthier life, and data collection is the first necessary step in achieving this goal.

We believe Aktiia will help people to better understand their blood pressure variations and the factors that have the highest impact on it (i.e. stress at work, salty food, lack of exercise) so that they can take action to lower their values and track their progress towards their goal.

We believe this will work because it solves a real need  on one side by providing more actionable data and lighting the burden of blood pressure measurement for the users and on the other side by providing more reliable data to the doctors as the bias introduced by how people measure their BP (i.e. are they measuring only when stressed, are they waiting the recommended 5 minutes before taking the readings etc) is overcome.

Accuracy is our number one priority but I think it is important to note that we are also putting a lot of effort in understanding our future customers and including them in the design process to have a product that can really solve their needs. We should also specify that the product is not a smartwatch  it does not have a screen. We designed it to be inconspicuous and slick so that it can easily blend into peoples life without dragging too much attention.

Medgadget: What questions will you answer in your upcoming clinical trial?

Sola: In a very formal answer, we are assessing the performance of the Aktiia Blood Pressure Monitor in terms of measurement errors in mmHg as compared against reference measurements performed by an invasive radial arterial line. In addition to that, the goal of this additional clinical trial in an ICU environment is to collect high quality optical signals and invasive reference values that will better feed Aktiias algorithms.

Medgadget: Could you describe more specifically the patient population you intend to measure in the ICUs? I see your inclusion/exclusion criteria in the clinical trial webpage, but could you describe them in your own words?

Sola: The info we released these last days is two-fold:

On the one side, Aktiia has been invited to present in a Cuffless Blood Pressure symposium that will be held during the next edition of the IEEE EMBC conference, in Berlin in July 2019. During this symposium, well present the results of a trial we performed internally in Aktiia between December 2018 and January 2019. This trial involved volunteers wearing Aktiias bracelet for more than two months, while reference readings of blood pressure were performed at the arm. The results that we collected demonstrate that the blood pressure measurements generated from signals recorded at the wrist by the Aktiia Blood Pressure monitor remain stable still two months after a calibration was performed. This is an outstanding result, overcoming the known state of the art, and that demonstrates the potential of the technology being developed by Aktiia. On the other side, in February 2019 Aktiia has initiated an additional clinical trial, now at the Intensive Care Unit of the HNE-Hospital of Neuchatel. Under the medical direction of Dr. Pellaton, this study evaluates the performances of the Aktiia Blood Pressure Monitor when compared to invasive measurements of blood pressure. The goal of this trial is not to address a particular ICU patient population, but to collect high quality optical signals and invasive reference values that will better feed Aktiias algorithms. Any future user of the Aktiia Blood Pressure Monitor (most probably belonging to other population profiles than ICU patients) will also profit of more robust Aktiia algorithms fed with this ICU clinical trial data. And of course, we have several other clinical trials in the pipeline but well communicate about these on the right time. It is important here to highlight the clinical validation is a top priority of Aktiia, and that our mission is to deploy a technology that prevents hypertension saves lives, and reduces healthcare costs worldwide, and is not simply another wearable device.

We at Medgadget are closely following Aktiia to see their developments. Having an optical, non-invasive, and cuffless blood pressure monitoring technology would improve the lives of many patients.

Flashback: Interview with Tobias Pforr of aktiia, an Optical Blood Pressure Monitoring Company

Link: Aktiia

Update April 3, 2019: The initial article said that the Blood Pressure Monitor fit within the 58 mmHg AAMI guidelines. However, since the AAMI guidelines only apply for specific criteria, this was misleading and was reworded for 58 mmHg as typically accepted in clinical investigations.
The increasing cases of genitourinary disorders, the surge in a number of people who have cancer, increasing prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, and rise in a number of drugs in the pipeline are the major factors driving the growth of the Global Genitourinary Drugs Market.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 2.3 million Americans were diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases in 2017. The most common sexually transmitted diseases in the American region are chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Moreover, the increase in strategic collaborations and aggressive strategies adopted by major players in the market are also responsible for the growth of the market.

The increasing appearance of drug counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical industry, intense competition from generic manufacturers, and drug patent expirations are likely to hinder market growth during the forecast period.

Genitourinary Drugs Market  Key Players

Some of the key players in the Global Genitourinary Drugs Market are Bayer AG, AstraZeneca, Abbott, Astellas Pharma Inc., Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Genentech, Inc., Immunex Corp. GlaxoSmithKline plc., Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Antares Pharma, and Novartis AG.

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Genitourinary Drugs Market  Segmentation

The Global Genitourinary Drugs Market has been segmented on the basis of disease, product, and end user.

The market, by disease, has been classified as urinary tract infections, erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence and overactive bladder, kidney/renal cancer, genitourinary cancer, bladder cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, interstitial cystitis, hematuria, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer.

On the basis of product, the market has been segregated into urological, hormonal therapy, gynecological, and anti-infectives.

The end user segment has been divided into, hospitals, clinics, super specialty centers, and others.

Genitourinary Drugs Market  Regional Analysis

The market in the Americas is expected to dominate the Global Genitourinary Drugs Market during the forecast period owing to the rising prevalence of genitourinary disorders, increasing number of cancer patients in the region, the rise in healthcare expenditure, and the presence of a well-established healthcare system. The European market is expected to be the second-largest due to government initiatives for the development of the healthcare sector, increasing research and development activities in the region, and the rise in a number of chronic disorders. Moreover, the market in Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period owing to the increasing geriatric population, rising investments in the healthcare sector, and favorable government policies. The market in the Middle East and Africa is likely to account for the smallest share of the global genitourinary drugs market. The market growth in this region can be attributed to increasing healthcare expenditure and growing medical tourism.

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Stem cell banking is the extraction, processing, and storage of stem cells, so that they may be used for treatment in the future when required. Stem Cells have the amazing power to transform into any tissue or organ in the human body. Stem cells have a unique characteristic & the potential to treat over 80 life-threatening diseases and offers numerous benefits to the baby, its siblings and the family.

Advance Market Analytics published a new research publication on Global Stem Cell Banking Market Insights, to 2025 with 155 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 Stem Cell Banking market is mainly driven by the increasing R&D spending across the world. Some of the key players profiled in the study are Cord Blood Registry Systems (United States), Cordlife (Singapore), Cryo-Cell International (United States), Cryo-Save AG (A Subsidiary of Esperite N.V) (Netherlands), LifeCell International (India), StemCyte (United States), ViaCord (A Subsidiary of Perkinelmer) (United States), Global Cord Blood (China), Smart Cells International Ltd. (United Kingdom) and Vita 34 International (Germany).

According to Market Analyst at AMA, the Global Stem Cell Banking market may see a growth rate of 20.5%.

Scope of the Report of Stem Cell Banking

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Market Drivers

Growing Awareness of the Therapeutic Potential of Stem Cells

Market Trend

Rapid Advancements in Biotechnology Field

Restraints

High Operational Costs of Stem Cell Banking

Opportunities

Rising Global Burden of Major Diseases

Challenges

Socio-Ethical Concerns Related to Embryonic Stem Cells

The Stem Cell Banking 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 Stem Cell Banking 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.

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The titled segments and sub-section of the market are illuminated below:

The Study Explore the Product Types of Stem Cell Banking Market: Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell, Embryonic Stem Cell, Adult Stem Cell, Others

Key Applications/end-users of Global Stem Cell Banking Market: Personalized Banking Applications, Research Applications {Disease Treatment Studies, Life Science Research, Drug Discovery}, Clinical Applications {HematopOIEtic Disorders, Autoimmune Disorders, Other Diseases}

Service: Sample Preservation and Storage, Sample Analysis, Sample Processing, Sample Collection and Transportation

Source: Placental Stem Cells (PSCs), Human Embryo-derived Stem Cells (hESCs), Bone Marrow-derived Stem Cells (BMSCs), Adipose Tissue-derived Stem Cells (ADSCs), Dental Pulp-derived Stem Cells (DPSCs), Other Stem Cell Sources

Top Players in the Market are: Cord Blood Registry Systems (United States), Cordlife (Singapore), Cryo-Cell International (United States), Cryo-Save AG (A Subsidiary of Esperite N.V) (Netherlands), LifeCell International (India), StemCyte (United States), ViaCord (A Subsidiary of Perkinelmer) (United States), Global Cord Blood (China), Smart Cells International Ltd. (United Kingdom) and Vita 34 International (Germany)

List of players also available in Coverage: CryoHoldco (Mexico) , Korea Stem Cell Bank Co., Ltd. (South Korea) , UK Stem Cell Bank (United Kingdom)

Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/reports/20849-global-stem-cell-banking-market

Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Stem Cell Banking Market:

Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product Objective of Study and Research Scope the Stem Cell Banking market

Chapter 2: Exclusive Summary  the basic information of the Stem Cell Banking Market.

Chapter 3: Displaying the Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges of the Stem Cell Banking

Chapter 4: Presenting the Stem Cell Banking 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 Stem Cell Banking 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, Stem Cell Banking Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies.

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Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.

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The study covers a detailed analysis segmented by key business segments i.e. by type (Transdermal Patches and Transdermal Semisolids) , by application (Pain Management, Neurological Disorders, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Transdermal Estrogen Therapy, Cardiovascular Diseases and Others) and major geographies. Research Analyst at AMA predicts that United States Players will contribute to the maximum growth of Global Transdermal Drug Delivery System market throughout the predicted period.

Transdermal Drug Delivery System Market explores effective study on varied sections of Industry like opportunities, size, growth, technology, demand and trend of high leading players. It also provides market key statistics on the status of manufacturers, a valuable source of guidance, direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.

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Major Key Players in This Report Include,

Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. (Japan), Novartis AG (Switzerland), Mylan N.V. (United States), Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. (United States), UCB S.A. (Belgium), Endo International, Inc. (Ireland), GlaxoSmithKline PLC (United Kingdom), Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH (Germany), Acrux Limited (Australia), Luye Pharma Group (China)

In December 2018 Novartis AG, a multinational company based in Switzerland has acquired Endocyte, Inc., a US-based biopharmaceutical company developing radioligand and CAR-T therapies for cancer treatment. This acquisition will strengthen Novartis AG leadership in nuclear medicine and radiological therapy for treating cancer.

This research is categorized differently considering the various aspects of this market. It also evaluates the current situation and the future of the market by using the forecast horizon. The forecast is analyzed based on the volume and revenue of this market. The tools used for analyzing the Global Transdermal Drug Delivery System Market research report include SWOT analysis.

The regional analysis of Global Transdermal Drug Delivery System Market is considered for the key regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and Rest of the World. North America is the leading region across the world. Whereas, owing to rising no. of research activities in countries such as China, India, and Japan, Asia Pacific region is also expected to exhibit higher growth rate the forecast period 2019-2025.

The Global Transdermal Drug Delivery System Market in terms of investment potential in various segments of the market and illustrate the feasibility of explaining the feasibility of a new project to be successful in the near future. The core segmentation of the global market is based on product types, SMEs and large corporations. The report also collects data for each major player in the market based on current company profiles, gross margins, sales prices, sales revenue, sales volume, photos, product specifications and up-to-date contact information.

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Table of Content

Global Transdermal Drug Delivery System Market Research Report

Chapter 1 Global Transdermal Drug Delivery System Market Overview

Chapter 2 Global Economic Impact on Industry

Chapter 3 Global Market Competition by Manufacturers

Chapter 4 Global Productions, Revenue (Value) by Region

Chapter 5 Global Supplies (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions

Chapter 6 Global Productions, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

Chapter 7 Global Market Analysis by Application

Chapter 8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis

Chapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

Chapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

Chapter 11 Market Effect Factors Analysis

Chapter 12 Global Transdermal Drug Delivery System Market Forecast
by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, March 28, 2019

A federal appellate court has sided with dating app Grindr, ruling that the company isn't responsible for activity by its users.

The high profile dispute dates to October of 2016, when a former boyfriend of New York resident Matthew Herrick began impersonating him on Grindr. The ex-boyfriend allegedly posted Herrick's photo and a fake profile of him. Over the next five months, more than 1,100 men appeared at his home or workplace, according to his lawsuit.

All these individuals were selected and directed to Mr. Herrick by the Grindr app and its geolocation sorting functions, Herrick alleged in court papers claiming that Grindr was negligent, and that its app is dangerous. The stalking was facilitated by the Grindr App's lack of easily implemented safety features to screen and block abusive and dangerous users.

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He said he went to the police on 14 occasions, and asked Grindr for help around 50 times. Each time Grindr ignored him, his court papers read.

Last year, a federal district court judge in New York dismissed Herrick's lawsuit on the grounds that Grindr is protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which broadly immunizes online platforms for material created by users.

Herrick then appealed to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, where he argued that Grindr should be responsible based on its app's design, which he says facilitated the harassment.

This week, the 2nd Circuit rejected that argument. The appellate judges ruled that Grindr was immune from liability for failing to police users' content, and that Herrick's claim regarding the app's design boiled down to a complaint about how the company handled content created by users.

The battle drew the attention of numerous outside observers. The Electronic Privacy Information Center weighed in on Herrick's side, arguing that online platforms should be obligated to prevent harassment.

In the physical world, potential liability and injunctive actions require businesses and individuals to prevent abusive behavior, EPIC wrote in a friend-of-the-court brief. There is no justification for treating online platforms differently.

But the civil rights groups Electronic Frontier Foundation and Center for Democracy and Technology argued that online platforms might not be able to exist at all if they had to police users' posts.

Placing liability on Grindr in this case would not only conflict with the plain text and purpose of Section 230, but it would also severely undercut the essential role online platforms play in fostering our modern political and social discourse, the organizations wrote in their friend-of-the-court brief.

Online intermediaries would limit who can use their service, screen all content created by those users, and cautiously censor and remove more speech than ever before, the groups wrote. And smaller platforms that cannot afford to take these steps to avoid liability would simply cease to exist.
by Melynda Fuller , March 29, 2019

Newspaper conglomerate GateHouse Media announced it would be working with Google as part of its Google News Initiative, launching a digital subscriptions lab.

The project will take place over six months with the intention of creating a sustainable digital subscriptions business model. GateHouse is anticipated to spend a sizeable amount of time and resources on the initiative.

GateHouse owns 145 daily news outlets and operates in 580 local markets across 37 states. Its publications reach 22 million people weekly.

GateHouse CEO Kirk Davis stated that the project allows the company to advance our expertise in applying data, content, technology, and marketing strategies to optimize our digital subscription path.

Dais continued: Developing a thriving digital model to showcase the amazing work being done by our journalists across the United States is essential to preserving the vitality and viability of our local journalism.

The project will focus on The Columbus Dispatch, which boasts the largest digital subscription base among GateHouses sites. The strategies and lessons learned during development will be applied to GateHouses portfolio of hundreds of websites.

Columbus Dispatch publisher Brad Harmon noted that this project will empower our teams and newspapers across the nation.

A few months ago, GateHouse acquired 20 more local newspapers and publications when it closed a $30 million deal with Schurz Communications.

Earlier this week, McClatchy said it would join the Google News Initiative to create three local news projects across the U.S.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 29, 2019

Facebook isn't the only tech company facing governmental scrutiny over potentially illegal ads. Google and Twitter are also under investigation over their ad platforms, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development confirmed.

HUD hasn't yet disclosed details of its investigations of Google and Twitter, other than to say that the agency has reached out to both companies in hopes of gaining a better understanding of their ad practices.

Twitter and Google both say they don't allow discriminatory ads.

Someone using Twitter to advertise agrees to comply with the law and not use our services for illegal activities, a Twitter spokesperson says. Discrimination in housing and employment is against the law and against our rules.



A Google spokesperson adds that the company prohibits targeting people based on categories including race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, disability status and negative financial standing.

advertisement advertisement

On Thursday, HUD charged Facebook with violating civil rights laws by displaying ads that discriminate based on illegal factors such as race and gender.

HUD's complaint against Facebook contains allegations that the company allows advertisers to prevent their ads from being shown to people based on factors like race and gender. The agency also alleges that Facebook's ad-delivery tool discriminates even when advertisers would prefer to be inclusive.

Even if an advertiser tries to target an audience that broadly spans protected class groups, Respondents ad delivery system will not show the ad to a diverse audience if the system considers users with particular characteristics most likely to engage with the ad, the complaint alleges.

Industry observers, including government officials, have raised concerns for years that personalized ads can be discriminatory. The White House flagged that concern in a 2014 report on big data.

The fusion of many different kinds of data, processed in real time, has the power to deliver exactly the right message, product or service to consumers before they even ask, the report said. Unfortunately, 'perfect personalization' also leaves room for subtle and not-so-subtle forms of discrimination in pricing, services and opportunities.

Last month, 44 watchdogs -- including Public Knowledge, the ACLU, Center for Democracy & Technology and Electronic Privacy Information Center -- urged federal lawmakers to include anti-discrimination provisions in any new privacy laws. The organizations should Congress should require companies to anticipate and protect against discriminatory uses and disparate impacts of big data.

Facebook recently settled civil rights lawsuits brought by the ACLU, National Fair Housing Alliance and other organizations by agreeing to prohibit advertisers of housing, employment or credit offers from targeting ads based on age, gender, ZIP code and ethnic affinity -- often used as a proxy for race. The deal also requires Facebook to pay around $5 million, and create a tool that will allow people to search for all housing ads in the U.S.
by Sara Guaglione , March 29, 2019

The Marshall Project, the nonprofit covering criminal justice in America, has launched a print publication about incarcerated lives" for distribution in prisons and jails.

Called News Inside,the publication is available in 30 jails and prisons in 19 states. The first issue is 22 pages, with no ads.

It was inspired by a Marshall Project series called Life Inside, featuring first-person essays from those who work or live in the criminal-justice system.

Lawrence Bartley was one of the inmates whose essay was published by The Marshall Project as part of the series. He detailed his experience leaving prison after being locked up for 27 years. He is now the producer of the News Inside initiative.

"I wanted to share our rich articles with my information-poor former community, particularly those who believe study is a chance for redemption, who sacrifice sleep and risk a misbehavior report to pore over textbooks under shaded lamps after lights-out, who struggle to find resources to expand their minds, Bartley wrote in a post on The Marshall Projects website announcing the new publication.

Stories in News Inside range from interviews with inmates in New Yorks Sing Sing prison performing Shakespeare to the challenges of evidence laws for defendants.

Bartley described News Inside as a means of providing "credible information about the world of criminal justice - free of charge and free of hassles." Prisoners are not allowed access to the internet or daily newspapers from corrections officers, Bartley writes, and library selections are sparse and access can be difficult.

Bartley said he has carefully curated a selection of articles I hope will inspire thought and discussion without disturbing the peace. (Prison administrators prohibit material "they believe could be inflammatory or stir unrest," he noted.)

The goal, according to Bartley, is for News Inside "to be distributed throughout all 50 states.

The Marshall Project is fundraising to expand the program.

Over the years, I watched many friends go home. I always felt a surge of jealousy, followed by a wave of guilt, accompanied by a hope that the departing friends would not forget me. Maybe they would send a letter, photos, food packages or something to make us smile, to show they cared," Bartley wrote. "Now that I have been released, News Inside is my way of not forgetting.

Earlier this week, The Marshall Project announced Susan Chira would serve as its new editor-in-chief, succeeding founding editor Bill Keller. Both Chira and Keller came from The New York Times; Chira spent four decades there, most recently as senior correspondent and editor focusing on gender issues.
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Practicing meditation or mindfulness techniques is, at least anecdotally, supposed to smooth your way to a happier, more healthful life. But what does science say about these practices? Share on Pinterest What does research say about the effects of meditation and mindfulness? We investigate. Meditation keeps our minds and hearts calm, peaceful, and loving, i.e., in the right place, a casual practicant of mindfulness and meditation told Medical News Today. Indeed, most people who become interested in meditation are drawn to it thanks to the widespread notion that it will help them feel calmer, more balanced, and less exposed to the effects of daily stress. Meditation is by no means a new practice. In fact, it has been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years and a part of diverse cultures. Originally, meditation had strong ties with religion  not just Buddhism, with which people usually associate it  but also with Christian practices. Indeed, many people today with different religious beliefs like to incorporate meditation as a spiritual practice. One person even told us that, for her, meditation amounts to a combination of focused thought and conversation with God, while also providing a set [t]ime to listen for the still, small voice of calm. Mostly, however, and especially in Western countries, meditation has moved away from its spiritual and devotional roots, becoming more of a straightforward practice for mental health and general well-being. There are many types, including loving-kindness meditation, mindfulness meditation, and transcendental meditation. Mindfulness has also branched out as a series of practices involving focusing on small details in the present moment. The aim is to help a person stay rooted in the here and now and de-escalate unwelcome feelings or moods, such as episodes of anxiety. People who engage with mindfulness techniques and meditation often allege that these practices allow them to boost or maintain various aspects of their well-being. But what has research found about the effects of meditation on the mind and the body, and are there any potential harms involved? In this Spotlight feature, we investigate.

1. Resilience to stress One of the top reasons that people cite when claiming that meditation is beneficial is that it allows them to get rid of the stress that accumulates on a daily basis due to job or family pressures. Share on Pinterest Meditation can make you more resilient in the face of daily stress. A study that researchers associated with the Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education in San Francisco, CA, conducted last year confirms that people who practice transcendental meditation reported feeling less stressed at work than peers who did not meditate. During transcendental meditation, typically, a person focuses on and repeats a mantra  a special word, sound, or phrase  which is meant to help the mind settle down. But why would meditation have a positive effect on our minds and bodies reactions to stress? A previous study, published in 2017, reveals that meditation  alongside other mind-body interventions  is associated with lower levels of the molecule nuclear factor kappa B, which influences the regulation of gene expression. The team who conducted that research explains that our bodies typically produce that molecule in response to stress and that it, in turn, activates a series of molecules called cytokines, some of which are pro- and some of which are anti-inflammatory. High cytokine activity contributes to many physical and mental health problems, including abnormal inflammation, cancer, and depression. Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of mind-body interventions like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps dont realize is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business, says the studys lead researcher, Ivana Buric, from Coventry University in the United Kingdom. Mindfulness shows promise in reducing pain and distress Other evidence, also uncovered in 2017, indicates that meditation, alongside yoga, promotes stress resilience by increasing levels of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein that protects nerve cell health and helps regulate metabolic processes. Similarly, recent research  published in Evidence-Based Mental Health, a BMJ journal  shows that mindfulness is about as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in relieving the symptoms of chronic pain associated with conditions such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. While CBT is considered to be the preferred psychological intervention of [chronic pain], not all patients with [this type of pain] experience a clinically significant treatment response, the research authors write, recommending that: [A]n additional solution may be to offer patients mindfulness-based stress reduction [therapy], since it shows promise in improving pain severity and reducing pain interference and psychological distress.

2. Improved self-control Meditation and mindfulness seem to improve, not just a persons resilience to stress factors, but also their overall mental health. Share on Pinterest Mindful eating can be a useful weight management strategy. For instance, one study looked at the effects of mindfulness on women who experienced depression, anxiety, and mood swings following menopause. The authors found that this practice helped the participants minimize the effects of these emotional and psychological symptoms. The goal during mindful moments is not to empty the mind but to become an observer of the minds activity while being kind to oneself, says the studys lead author, Dr. Richa Sood. The second step, she goes on, is to create a pause. Take a deep breath and observe ones own space, thoughts, and emotions nonjudgmentally. The resulting calm helps lower stress. Robert Wright, an author and former visiting lecturer at Princeton University in New Jersey, argues that there is a clear reason why mindfulness and meditation practices allow a person to fight anxiety and other mood disorders. In his most recent book, Why Buddhism Is True, Wright writes that human beings have evolved to do certain things that helped our ancestors get their genes into the next generation  things like eating, having sex, earning the esteem of other people, and outdoing rivals. For this, our brains have developed a reward system, which makes us want to seek experiences that we find pleasurable  eating, drinking, and having sex. A weapon against addiction In itself, this mechanism is meant to help us not only survive but thrive. However, it can also lead to addiction if, for instance, the brain gets stuck in an unhelpful feedback loop with a pleasurable stimulus. Research shows that meditation and mindfulness techniques can help a person fight back against those unhelpful impulses and gain more self-control. Thus, a study from 2015 found that people who smoked were able to cut down on their smoking after taking up mindfulness training. Similarly, research published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology in 2017 showed that people who usually engaged in heavy drinking consumed 9.3 fewer units of alcohol, which is the equivalent of around 3 pints of beer, in the week that followed brief mindfulness training. Mindfulness, research suggests, also helps people who want to lose weight. Mindful eating, as it is called, teaches people to become aware of their eating-related impulses in the moment and to truly become aware of the sensation of every bite. A study from last year confirmed that participants who attended three or four mindfulness sessions were able to lose about 6.6 pounds (3 kilograms), on average, over 6 months, while peers who attended fewer sessions only lost around 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms), on average.

3. A healthier brain Meditation, when practiced regularly, can rewire the neural pathways in the brain, Dr. Sanam Hafeez, a licensed psychologist based in New York, told MNT. Share on Pinterest Meditation can help keep the brain young. Studies indicate that meditating even 20 minutes per day for a few weeks was already enough to start experiencing the benefits, she explained. Indeed, numerous studies have found that meditation can also help maintain brain health and neuroplasticity  the capacity of brain cells to form new connections. In one study, researchers followed 60 individuals, who were experienced meditators, for 7 years. The investigators found that the participants not only saw improved stress resilience but also better attention. These benefits, the researchers say, lasted for a long time, and the people who meditated most frequently did not present the attention problems that come with age. Research published in 2017, in the journal Mindfulness, also found that mindfulness meditation, alongside a type of yoga practice, was associated with better executive functioning and improved vigor. And these practices may actually reduce the risk of dementia, according to a study from the Journal of Alzheimers Disease. Its senior author, Dr. Helen Lavretsky, even goes so far as to suggest that regular practice of yoga and meditation could be a simple, safe, and low-cost solution to improving your brain fitness.
TORONTO

March 29, 2019

Clive Ballard

Lisbon, Portugal

Ireland

the Netherlands

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Clive Ballard

Clive Ballard

Clive Ballard

Exeter

Alexandra Stewart

Peter St George-Hyslop

University of Toronto

Nicholas Fox

Anthony Lang

University of Toronto

Canada

Canada's

Canada's

Canada

Europe

Ireland

Canada

the Netherlands

Ireland

the Netherlands

United Kingdom

Ireland

the Netherlands

United Kingdom

Dr. Sahar El Aidy of University of Groningen, who is establishing a bacterial enzyme from the gut as a biomarker to predict the efficacy of levodopa treatment in patients with PD, to determine optimal dosing of levodopa and minimize side effects in PD patients.

of University of Groningen, who is establishing a bacterial enzyme from the gut as a biomarker to predict the efficacy of levodopa treatment in patients with PD, to determine optimal dosing of levodopa and minimize side effects in PD patients. Dr. Connie Jimenez of VU University Medical Center, who is developing and validating a panel of protein-based biomarkers from CSF for the diagnosis and prognosis of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease using mass spectrometry analysis.

of VU University Medical Center, who is developing and validating a panel of protein-based biomarkers from CSF for the diagnosis and prognosis of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease using mass spectrometry analysis. Dr. Laura Parkkinen of University of Oxford , who is developing a biomarker to diagnose early PD, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy by detecting the protein alpha synuclein in CSF. Additionally, assessing the feasibility of measuring the biomarker in saliva and peripheral tissues (nasal brushings) rather than the more difficult-to-obtain CSF.

of , who is developing a biomarker to diagnose early PD, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy by detecting the protein alpha synuclein in CSF. Additionally, assessing the feasibility of measuring the biomarker in saliva and peripheral tissues (nasal brushings) rather than the more difficult-to-obtain CSF. Dr. Eline Willemse of VU University Medical Center, who is measuring neurofilament light chain in CSF and blood of patients with Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies to develop curves of how this biomarker changes over time for different diseases, genders and ages. This will help with differential diagnosis, earlier diagnosis and predicting disease progression. If successful, the group aims to create an app for healthcare providers to use with patients.

Annette Cremin

Georgia Frost

/PRNewswire/ -- Professor, Executive Dean of the University of Exeter Medical School, was presented with the 2019 Weston Brain Institute International Outstanding Achievement Award in. This 25,000 award recognizes an exceptional researcher who has made significant advances in accelerating the development of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases of aging through translational research, has demonstrated remarkable leadership, and has a record of impeccable citizenship in the research community. This year's prize was provided by the Selfridges Group and was open to researchers based in, and theProfessoris a world leader in dementia prevention and drug discovery, and an advocate for improved care for patients of neurodegenerative diseases of aging. Throughout his career, Professor Ballard has been the lead PI or co-PI on more than 30 clinical trials that evaluate various therapeutic interventions for neurodegenerative diseases of aging. His landmark clinical trials include the DART AD trial that highlighted the major long-term impact of using anti-psychotics on mortality in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, and the HTA-SADD trial for testing the use of sertraline and mirtazapine for the treatment of depression in AD patients.In addition to drug development, Professor Ballard is also heavily involved in the study of prevention strategies and alternative treatment opportunities for AD. For example, along with colleagues, he developed PROTECT, an online-based project, now adopted by the Dementia Platform UK, that aims to understand why some people develop dementia by collecting participants' information on demographics, lifestyle, cognitive abilities, and DNA samples, year after year.Professor Ballard has published over 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and has been cited over 50,000 times. In the past 15 years, he has garnered more than 100 million in research funding. Professor Ballard also held leadership positions in a number of organizations, including Director of Research for Alzheimer's Society in the UK (2003-2013), where he guided national policy around dementia treatment and care. In 2015, Professor Ballard was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Professor Ballard is currently the Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean,Professor of Age Related Diseases at the University ofCollege of Medicine and Health.The Weston Brain Institute islargest privately funded national initiative aimed at accelerating breakthrough discoveries for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases of aging, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and frontotemporal dementia. The Institute directly supportsworld-class neuroscience research community and focuses on high-risk, high-reward projects, independent of commercial potential, that address the existing translational gap in neurodegenerative research using an innovative fast-track granting model. In, the Institute is a program of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, and in, the Weston Brain Institute is a program of the Selfridges Group Foundation. www.westonbrain.org; twitter: @westonbrain; Facebook: WestonBrainInstituteThe Selfridges Group Foundation was set up to coordinate charitable and philanthropic activities within Selfridges Group. Selfridges Group consists of Brown Thomas and Arnotts in, Holt Renfrew in, de Bijenkorf in, and Selfridges in the UK. As part of its philanthropic work, the Selfridges Group Foundation supports medical research into treatments for brain disorders inand theThe Selfridges Group Foundation has most recently awarded four grants through its Rapid Response programme in, and the. The exceptional scientists working on these projects are pursuing novel, high-risk, high-reward translational research in neurodegenerative diseases of aging.The four recent grantees are:Annette.cremin@selfridges.co.uk+44-(0)-7872-544-077georgia.frost@selfridges.co.uk

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/professor-clive-ballard-wins-2019-international-outstanding-achievement-award-300821152.html



SOURCE Selfridges Group




Salman Khan is something like a Godfather to not so starry star-kids and aspiring actors in Bollywood. Over the years Salman has presented the Hindi film industry with numerous newbies by launching them, and by his own admission, he has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

As 'Notebook' hits the theatres today, it also marks the debut film of yesteryear actress Nutan's granddaughter and actor Mohnish Bahl's daughter Pranutan, as well as Salman's friend Iqbal's son, Zaheer.

Now as per latest reports, Salman is all set to launch yet another face and that is Salman's bodyguard Shera's son, Tiger. Talking about launching fresh faces in the industry, Salman told Bombay Times, Shera's son Tiger is being groomed right now and he's already being considered by so many producers and directors. Shera feels I will be the best judge of a script for his son, so I am now sifting through scripts. I am yet to find something worthy.

Reportedly, Tiger has previously worked as an assistant director on Salman's film 'Sultan' in 2016. He admits that he will continue to launch newcomers in the industry for as long as he can because, I was also launched at some point and I think the industry can do with some more fresh talent, he said.

 Pintrest

Well, we can see where that motivation is coming from, and sure enough if these aspiring actors get the boost they need, and prove their mettle, they might actually add great flavour to the industry's growing young brigade. However, only their talent will prove their worth in the longer run.

Let's see what is in store for Tiger.
In his much-hyped and anticipated address to the nation a couple of days back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India is now a space-power, as DRDO successfully destroyed a low earth orbit satellite in space using a missile.

While the government claims that the ASAT test has provided 'credible deterrence' against the threats to the country's space-based assets, a former ISRO Satellite Communication Engineer thinks that this won't be effective at all. First of all, in case you don't know what the announcement was all about then here's PM Modi's address to the nation -

Now, let's see what N Kalyan Raman, former ISRO Satellite Communication Engineer, who has worked with ISRO for over two decades thinks.

According to him, India won't be able to knock out the satellites that are in the higher orbit with its missile. Most of the countries' satellites are in the higher orbit, and even with this India won't be able to knock out those satellites, he said.

Kalyan noted that Mission Shakti doesn't quite add up in a war-like situation. In fact, he says there are a lot of other ways through which one can keep an eye on the enemies. He said, In a war like situation, if a country wants to spy on its enemies there are various ways to do it-- for example, Google Earth. All you need is good resolution photos. Why do we even need this?

 ISRO

Raman firmly believes that India's anti-satellite test was more a demonstration of its ballistic missile defence system, rather than its ability to challenge its adversaries in space.

On the same lines, even Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at MIT, told the WIRED that India needs to balance things out if it's interested in getting into the anti-satellite deterrence game. He added that China can knock out all of India's satellites, but India can't really do the same.
Abdoulaye Magassouba told delegates to Fastmarkets 25th annual bauxite and alumina conference in Miami, on Tuesday March 26, that a key driver for his government was to ensure the integration of as much as possible of the mining sector into the general economy.Our main goal is to use mining to develop and diversify the rest of the economy, so that, in 10-20 years time, Guinea has a much larger gross domestic product [GDP] due to the contribution of the mining sector, he said.Magassouba referred to agriculture, transportation and technology as areas of the countrys economy that the government was seeking to develop.

Guineas GDP rose on average by 10% in 2016 and 2017, compared with...
Jews throughout the world just celebrated the Festival of Purim. Unlike Passover or the High Holy Days, Purim is relaxed, in the sense that it often involves costumes, spoofs, festive music and hamentaschen pastries.

With its exuberance and innocence, it is a holy day without sermons or scolding, without suits or ties.

It is so associated with masquerade, carnivals, candy and even drinking, that it is easy to forget how truly foreboding the tone of the Purim readings can be. The Megillah (the scroll from the Book of Writings in the Bible) is read in its entirety at Purim. Like much of contemporary Jewish life, the themes of Purim, which come through in the reading of the Megillah, are ancient, haunted, and, tragically, still current.

The Megillah is a reminder that hatred of Jews is older than even the word anti-Semitism (coined centuries later), and is sanitized compared to the threat of total annihilation that Haman, the villain of the story, posed to the Jewish people. He would have perpetrated a murder of innocent Jews throughout the 127 lands from Persia to Ethiopia.

The Jews back in Hamans time were looking at state-sponsored annihilation, not unlike the Holocaust that occurred in Europe just 75 years ago. And it is still in the political language of Iran at this very moment. As with all anti-Semitism there is no reason, no logic, no justification, for its existence.

For all of our concern with rising anti-Semitism here at home now - from the far right, the far left, and even from members of Congress - it is still important to maintain a sense of historical context. There are even reasons to feel encouraged.

For instance, Jews once feared the Church. Now no one is more fervent or supportive of Israel than Evangelical Christians. Just a generation ago, Russian Jews, who taught the Alef-Bet (the Hebrew alphabet), were sent to prison camps in Siberia; today, Russian President Vladimir Putin, for all his dangers, allows yeshivot (religious schools) and Jewish institutions to exist, if not to flourish, throughout the former Soviet Union.

In our own town of Danbury, I am proud to call Muslims in our community my brothers and sisters, and we work together at the Association of Religious Communities (ARC) in common purpose and friendship, and we mourned together recently the horrible tragedy in New Zealand.

Not long ago, Jews were kept out of universities, hotels, social clubs and neighborhoods. Seldom, if not rarely, is that ever experienced today. And yet, anti-Semitism seems to never, ever, go away. Anti-Semitic crimes top the FBI hate crime chart every year of the 21st century, under every President. And in Europe, anti-Semitism is often violent and dangerous, and it is on the rise.

The Megillah can be interpreted as espousing the use of deep diplomacy to ward off destruction. The two Jewish heroes, Mordechai and Esther, dont take up the sword; they use their wits to defeat Haman. But, at the end of the story - the part that we often find difficult to read - they did take up arms to defend themselves and kill those who rose up against them.

Today, in Israel, I applaud the decision of our President to add his voice to the annexation of the Golan Heights. I lived in the City of Tiberias, near the Sea of Galillee, where Syrian snipers from 1948 until June 1967 fired incessantly at Jewish settlements, towns and individuals. Only now, under Jewish control, is that area free of terrorism.

In addition, thousands and thousands of Muslim victims of the Syrian Civil War have been treated by Israeli physicians there, in the City of Kuneitra on the border of the Golan Heights. Jews then, and Jews now, never forget our humanity. The Esthers and Mordechais among us today are still taking professional and political risks.

I think the Megillah, promising a happy ending to a difficult story, offers humanity a remedy - unity, spirituality, grace to the poor, to each other, gratitude to Jews for their incredible contributions to the betterment of the world, and the promise that God and goodness are still among us, even if sometimes unseen. The lesson of Purim is for all of us, even now.

Rabbi Jon Haddon is Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Shearith Israel in Ridgefield and a member of the Board of Directors of ARC.
NEWTOWN  A new book by the trauma team leader who guided the Sandy Hook response says every town needs a mental health recovery plan like the one built here in the upheaval of grief.

Its a road map that outlines the lessons we learned with the takeaway that in the wake of so many tragedies, Sandy Hook gives us a better understanding of whats important to focus on, said Melissa Glaser, a psychotherapist whose new book, Healing a Community, recounts the 21 months that she directed the federally funded Newtown Recovery and Resiliency Team.

The book, which identifies the complications and institutional barriers that set back recovery and multiplied Newtowns trauma over the slaying of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook School, comes at a time of heightened awareness about the deep reaches of mass shootings on communities.

The high-profile suicide of a Sandy Hook father who lost his daughter in the 2012 massacre, and the suicides of two teenagers who attended the Florida high school where 17 students and staff were killed in 2018, made national headlines last week.

The suicide of Jeremy Richman ended the story of a man who had turned his grief into good by advancing research about the roots of violence in the brain. His wife, Jennifer Hensel, said he succumbed to a grief he could not escape.

Glasers book, which is written for clinicians, also comes at a time when local leaders are assessing the recovery effort in Newtown, where a four-person center for townwide health and wellness was established after federal funding ran out for Glasers trauma team in 2016.

Nelba Marquez-Greene, whose daughter was among the children murdered at Sandy Hook School, said last week that well-meaning people still dont understand the depth of grief families of loss suffer in Sandy Hook.

Everyone wants so desperately for you to be okay  that you can never, ever say youre not, Marquez-Greene tweeted. This culture is grief averse and our victim support service structure sucks.

Newtowns top elected leader said a community wellness survey is being conducted to gauge where mental health services are working and where more resources are needed.

The town also is interviewing candidates for a new administrator, whose duties will include overseeing the Newtown Center for Support and Wellness, which replaced the federal trauma team.

Newtowns wellness

The successor agency we have now took some of the lessons we learned from the recovery and resiliency team, said Dan Rosenthal, Newtowns First Selectman. But we are always in the business of constant improvement because people change, and because if we ever said there was nothing more we could do, that would be frightening.

Glasers book, which came out in mid-February, treats the lessons learned here as cautionary tales in the hope that other communities confronting a tragedy can anticipate the obstacles and maximize recovery.

Among the biggest obstacles Glaser discusses are complications caused by media scrutiny, the young age of the victims, the brutality of the crime, the polarity of the political debate about guns, and conspiracy extremists.

Glaser also revisits the pain, anger and despair that the massacre brought to Newtown, while documenting the healing, compassion and hope families embraced, in part because of the six-member trauma team.

In doing so, Glaser had to balance the need to obscure certain details to preserve confidentiality with the need to reveal as much detail as possible to be a useful case study that other communities could duplicate.

We were very careful not to expose anybody, Glaser said of the risk she took by writing the book. We knew there was a lot of valuable information that was important to share.

Pat Llodra, the former First Selectman, who led the towns recovery before, during and after the trauma teams work in Newtown, said she had only read excerpts from Glasers book.

This was unchartered territory and trauma with deep emotional pain, Llodra said last week. Mrs. Glaser brought skills and professionalism to the work of the recovery and resiliency team, and I will be forever grateful to her for the efforts she put forth for our town.

A case study

Glasers book devotes nearly a whole chapter to describing the effect local politics had on the trauma teams effort to reach as many of Newtowns 28,000 people as possible with the message that help was available.

Glaser did so, she said, not to point fingers and even less to suggest that political leaders were willfully resisting professional help. Rather, Glaser said, her intent was to prevent leaders in other communities unfortunate enough to be in a situation such as Newtowns from needlessly setting back treatment efforts by setting unreasonable timetables for recovery.

Leaders need to build trauma recovery plans that last 10 to 15 years, Glaser said. Leaders also need to understand what recovery looks like, she said.

Recovery from a complicated trauma such as Sandy Hook is not a return to normal, Glaser writes, but a return to life that is not dominated by post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Glaser notes school administrators in Newtown were slow to recognize the need teachers had for more recovery services than they were being offered.

Mary Ann Jacob, who was an assistant librarian the day the gunman shot his way into Sandy Hook School, agreed with Glasers assessment.

Services were blocked for us by people who were not in the building that day, Jacob said. (Administrators) had an obligation to engage the people in the building and find out our needs, and they dropped the ball.

Teachers did eventually receive extra services, at the urging of Glaser.

Llodra said Newtowns administration put great heart in trying to respond to the many challenges and issues that arose through the trauma.

One benefit of retrospective vision is acknowledging that some other decisions and choices could have been made which might have better served the recovery process, Llodra said.

Glasers book follows similar efforts by leaders in town to distill lessons from the Sandy Hook massacre to make classrooms safer and to manage post-traumatic stress in police departments after mass shootings.

Former schools Superintendent Joe Erardi delivered a report to the state in 2016, for example, that called for better early identification of students with mental illness and for social and emotional learning curriculum.

Similarly, former police Chief Michael Kehoe contributed to a 2016 U.S. Department of Justice manual about lessons from the Sandy Hook massacre called Preparing for the Unimaginable.

Glaser said she hopes no one in charge of recovery after a community tragedy has to face her dilemma again.

I didnt have a roadmap, she said. There was nothing to help me.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
HADDAM  The Relay For Life of Haddam Killingworth will be held Saturday, June 29, 12-10 p.m. at the HKHS track. Relay for Life is a non-competitive community event involving walking with survivors, caregivers, and many teams of all ages to join in the fight against cancer. Walkers from all Middlesex County- Chester, Deep River, Essex, Old Saybrook, Clinton, Durham, Westbrook are welcome to join the Haddam and Killingworth communities.

The event begins with a soft opening at 12 op.m. and the start of walking. Survivors and caregivers are welcome to the Survivor/Caregiver Ceremony/buffet at 5 p.m. At dusk, a luminaria ceremony will take place, followed by the closing ceremony at 10 p.m.

Monthly information meetings are scheduled for Monday, April 8, Thursday, April 25, Monday May 6 Thursday, May 23 and Monday, June 3. Bank night is June 20. All meetings begin at 7 p.m. and are held in HKHS Room C112, 95 Little City Rd, Higganum. Those who are able to attend one meeting a month are welcome.

Go to www.RelayforLife.org/hkct to get more event information or to register as a survivor, team or participant. Registration is free. Volunteers are always needed and welcome. For more information email Ed Yantosh, Elaine Jackson at www.rflofhk@gmail.com or, Survivors may contact Elaine at 860-345-7755. Teams are forming.

Vocal Chords to give cocnert

PORTLAND  "A Musical Celebration" will be performed by the Middlesex Hospital Vocal Chords on Saturday, May 11, at 7 p.m. at Portland High School, 95 High St.

Fifteen from the pen of Lennon-McCartney combine to feature a medley extravaganza that hints at the influence the BEATLES have had world-wide over our contemporary music scene. Pieces from "Aladdin", "Chicago", "Pocahontas", "Shrek" and "Frozen" are sure to please our younger concert goers. Music from Irving Berlin, Neil Sedaka and John Fogerty will round out the program.

Tickets are $20; call 860-347-2787 or 860-342-3120 to reserve. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door. Visit http://www.vocalchords20.org for a glimpse into our 29 year history.

MARC to hold annual tasting event

MIDDLETOWN MARC Community Resources, LTD a non-profit agency in Middletown, CT will be hosting its 8th Annual Tasting Event May 4. An agency that focuses on the empowerment of persons with intellectual developmental disabilities, MARCs theme for the event is Getting Down & Derby for disABILITIES; a clever play on the day which coincides with the Kentucky Derby.

The tasting will be held at Glastonbury Riverfront Community Center, on 300 Welles St. in Glastonbury, 5-8 p.m. Guests can sample a unique variety of wine, beer and spirits from a plethora of distributors, coordinated by Buy Rite Liquors in Wethersfield. Attendees will also watch the Kentucky Derby live projected on a big screen. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door, and $15 for designated drivers.

In keeping with Kentucky Derby tradition, there will be a contest for Best Derby Fashion with male and female categories. Also, a silent auction will be held throughout the event, with online bidding at https://www.32auctions.com/marcauction2019. Bidding has already begun. All proceeds from the event will benefit services at MARC Community Resources, LTD not funded through traditional sources.

MARC Community Resources, LTD is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering those with living with physical and intellectual developmental disabilities-through housing employment, community involvement and advocacy. If you would like to buy tickets or learn more about MARC or the 8th Annual Tasting Event, please visit us at https://www.marccommunityresources.org/2019-tasting-event.

Shad museum to open for season

The Haddam Shad Museum, 212 Saybrook Road, Haddam, behind the Fuel gas station, is open on Sundays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. from April 7 until June 16. The museum, a one-of-a-kind, displays the history of shad on the COnnecticut River since colonial times. Groups and individuals who cant visit on Sundays can call for an appointment to visit at 860-267-0388. There is no admission charge.

Actors invited to audition for summer show

EAST HADDAM  Non-Equity auditions for the East Haddam Stage Companys summer show, The Professor, at Gillette Castle State Park will be held on Saturday April 13 from 1:30-4 p.m. at the visitors center at Gillette Castle State Park, 67 River Rd, East Haddam.

EHSCO is looking for 2 men and 2 women for a 30-minute adaptation of the 1890 Victorian farce The Professor, written by William Gillette (not published)

Comedic roles range in age from 20 to 60.

Synopsis and character breakdown is on the website www.EHSCO.org (Attached is a jpeg of the complete audition flyer)

Rehearsals begin in June, run during the week. Shows perform for 6 weekends only July 6-August 11th

Call 860-873-3521 or write info@ehsco.org for an audition slot

Watercolor artist to lead workshop

DEEP RIVER  Award winning watercolor artist Alan James will hold a one-day workshop at the Deep River Public Library, designed for those who want to learn the process of how to capture the essence of a scene, April 15, 5:30-7:45 p.m.

James will share all of the secrets of what he calls "Capturing the Essence" which is the process of simplifying the subject by eliminating superficial details. Through step-by-step demonstrations and one-on-one guidance, he will show how to take initial inspiration through his process in creating an expressive painting that is strong in both composition and content.

Registration is required for this program. Register on our website calendar or find the link on our Facebook Events page. The class is free, but participants must provide their own art supplies. A list of materials needed are on Alan James website.

For more information, go to website at http://deepriverlibrary.accountsupport.comand, click on the monthly calendar, or call the library at 860-526-6039.
HARTFORD  Even as Gov. Ned Lamont and top Democrats in the legislature trumpet the need for tolls, passage is by no means certain.

A vote on tolls in the House is likely to be close because some House Democrats oppose or have serious concerns. With House Republicans promising to vote as a bloc against tolls, House Democrats can only afford 16 no votes from their party to pass tolls.

Four House Democrats told Hearst Connecticut Media this week they will vote against all toll legislation. Two others said they will vote no on the bill as currently written. Several others would not commit to a no vote, but said they had serious questions that must be addressed in the final draft of the bill.

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Meanwhile, Lamonts administration said it believed toll legislation would pass this session. Lamont has traveled the state speaking about the need to use revenue from tolling passenger cars to invest in the states transportation infrastructure, although on the campaign trail he said he only supported tolling trucks.

Im confident that we will be able to win the argument at the end of the day, said Ryan Drajewicz, chief of staff to Lamont, who was in D.C. Wednesday and Thursday, where he met with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

House Democrats discussed tolls as a caucus for the first time Wednesday, but did not take a vote count.

Im not even asking for the votes yet, said Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin. We dont know what the tolling system is going to be. We dont know where its going to raise money. We dont know what the negotiations will look like.

The Danbury delegation forms the core of the Democratic opposition in the House. Democratic State Reps. Bob Godfrey, David Arconti, Raghib Allie-Brennan and Ken Gucker all told Hearst Connecticut Media they will vote against any toll proposal put before them.

My position has not changed since I first ran for the seat in 2012, said Arconti. While I understand the transportation needs of the state for the future economic health of our state, I do not believe tolls are the answer.

Allie-Brennan said he wished the legislature would have a more robust discussion about tolling alternatives, other than bonding transportation costs, which Republicans champion.

Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, confirmed she will vote no with the rest of her delegation, but Democrats appear to have stronger support for tolls in that chamber.

Their opposition stems from their constituents, although several of the representatives said their constituents continue to believe false information that tolls will be placed on the Connecticut border, even though that is not permitted by a federal transportation agreement.

Rep. David Michel, D-Stamford, said he opposes the current toll proposal because he wants low-income residents who receive federal food assistance or housing vouchers to receive an 80 percent discount.

I could not be in favor of a bill if it is not written if we dont protect the ones that are the most needy, said Michel. Im not going to be a part of it.

Rep. Chris Rosario, D-Bridgeport, voice similar worries about low-income residents at a Transportation Committee meeting last week, in which the committee voted to advance three toll bills. The legislation did not include additional discounts for low-income drivers.

Lamonts toll proposal includes an estimated 30 percent discount for Connecticut residents and an additional 20 percent discount for commuters. The proposal does not know include specific discounts for low-income residents, but those will be evaluated in the future, said Maribel La Luz, a spokesperson for the governors office.

The alternatives to tolls really are either jacking up the gas tax, which would fall directly on Connecticut residents, including low-income residents, and the other alternative is whatever supposed plan the Republicans have which would borrow a ton of money, again falling solely on Connecticut paying debt service on that borrowing, said Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, who firmly supports tolls. Those to me are much more regressive than tolls would be... also a lot of my constituents who are low-income, the ones that live in good swaths of my district, they use public transit.

For Rep. Tom Arnone, D-Enfield, tolls are okay on Interstate 95, but he will vote against a toll proposal that includes gantries on his area of I-91.

Our concerns in Enfield are we have a lot of commerce coming in from Massachusetts to use our malls and our plazas and shops, said Arnone. Most people feel (the toll plan) is too ambitious. Theyve never driven though a state where every highway is tolled.

Lamonts toll proposal includes 53 gantries on I-84, 91, 95 and Route 15.

State Rep. Liz Linehan, D-Chesire, said she is on the fence because she cant get all the answers she wants about discounts for Connecticut residents before the federal government gives feedback and that feedback must come after a toll plan is passed by the legislature.

Other Democrats have also raised concerns about the oversight of a proposed transportation authority and how much concern the legislature would retain over tolls.

Democrats including Reps. Matt Blumenthal and Caroline Simmons of Stamford insist they are withholding judgment until they see the bills final language.

Blumenthal wanted more details on the discounts and where gantries would be located. He has concerns too many will be placed in Fairfield County.

We need to fill in some of the blanks, said Blumenthal. Is the tolling burden in the state going to be shared equitably by the state? ...I dont want my constituents paying an undue share, an unfair share.

Simmons criticized the Stamford Board of Representatives for passing a toothless resolution voicing their opposition to tolls.

The same group is also upset about the fact that we have one of the highest gas taxes in New England, so you know, if it can be coupled with a reduction in the gas tax and discounts for Connecticut residents, said Simmons. This is also the same group that complains that we need more business growth in the state and this is one of the top priorities business is looking at.

None of the Democrats supported a Republican plan to use bonding to pay for transportation improvements.

Ken Dixon contributed this report.

emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
Airmen Have Five Days to Get Immunized After Vaccine Exemption Is Denied or They Face Punishment, Air Force Says

The service required all active-duty troops to become fully vaccinated by Nov. 2 after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in...
STUTTGART, Germany -- The infantrymen of the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment were in the middle of gunnery exercises in El Paso, Texas, on March 11 when the call came in from division headquarters: deploy to Poland.

"We got zero notice," said Col. Chad Chalfont, commander of the 2nd Armored Brigade, 1st Armored Division, the battalion's higher headquarters located on Cold War Road at Fort Bliss.

A week later, 1,500 brigade soldiers were bound for training grounds in western Poland in a deployment reminiscent of the Cold War, when no-notice mobilizations were a main feature of the military's strategy for countering the old Soviet Union.

Now, the Army is relearning the art of snap deployments as it adapts to a new Pentagon strategy -- known as Dynamic Force Employment -- that calls upon the military as a whole to keep adversaries off balance with more unpredictable troop movements.

"We are going to see this on a regular basis," said Maj. Gen. John Gronski, deputy commanding general for the Army National Guard at U.S. Army Europe. "For any of our adversaries anywhere, it is going to be unpredictable for them. And that is good for our national security. This is all about deterrence and readiness."

But for USAREUR, the arrival of Fort Bliss infantrymen also was something of a culminating event in what has been a five-year effort to rebuild a force that was largely defanged after a long post-Cold War drawdown.

In Europe, the Army has been building up since Russia's 2014 military intervention in Ukraine set off alarms among allies and sparked a push to reinforce NATO's eastern flank. The Army has led most of those efforts, with U.S.-based armored brigades now on continuous rotational deployments.

"The last (U.S. Army) tank left Europe in 2013, the next rotational forces were back with tanks about a year later because of the way the security environment changed over here," Gronski said.

Prepositioned weapons stocks have been set at strategic locations, which troops would pull from in a crisis.

But until now the various troop rotations into Europe were planned long in advance, which means the rapid deployment of Fort Bliss soldiers this month is testing the Army's ability to do everything faster.

"I think that just shows the realism of this exercise. No matter what they were doing and where they were at, they got this notice," Gronski said.

The bulk of the soldiers landed in Europe on March 19 and will be in Poland until around mid-April, conducting live-fire exercises with equipment pulled from one of the Army's prepositioned stocks in the Netherlands.

"It's almost like we simply picked up where we left off," said Chalfont, whose soldiers were back on the range days after their arrival -- this time at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland rather than Fort Bliss.

But while the exercise marks a step forward for USAREUR, questions remain about the Army's ability to respond en masse to a major crisis in Europe.

"We are kind of in a crawl, walk, run process here. I see this as a first step. A baby step to be honest," said U.S. Army War College professor John R. Deni. "The next step is to deploy a much larger force with equipment."

A deterrence strategy that depends on prepositioned equipment is a concern, Deni said. Prepositioned stocks played a large role for the Army during the Cold War, but that was before the advent of advanced precision guided weapons that could easily eliminate such storage sites.

"We know the Russians have made significant advances," Deni said. "In the worst case scenario, one of the first things the Russian's would hit are these prepositioned munition sites."

Since the Army lacks sufficient missile defense capabilities to defend its garrisons in Europe, let alone its storage warehouses, the service needs to demonstrate the ability to not only move troops across the ocean on short notice, but also up to division's worth of gear, Deni said.

"Moving a division is what I really think would send a strong deterrent signal," he said.

Army leaders, however, say they are prepared.

"We are very happy with our level of readiness now to face any adversary," Gronski said.

Still, as more snap mobilizations are carried out, deployment times could get faster than the week it took to bring in the Fort Bliss unit. Gronski said there will be lessons learned as the Army dissects the deployment.

"I think anything could be improved upon and I think the more we do this throughout the globe the better we will get at it," Gronski said.

At the unit level, Chalfont said his soldiers have taken the sudden deployment to Poland in stride. For months, the brigade has prioritized its combat readiness, he said, making sure soldiers are qualified on weapons and medically fit to deploy.

"We know we can get the call at any time," Chalfont said. "I suppose it's not that much of an adjustment for the mindset of our soldiers."
The Marine Corps' first-ever mixed-gender training battalion will graduate from boot camp Friday, and it could serve as a model for more co-ed training companies moving forward.

Fifty new female Marines completed their training with the typically all-male 3rd Recruit Training Battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, this week. Having women train alongside men for the past 13 weeks was historic for the Marine Corps -- the only military service that still separates male and female enlisted recruits during entry-level training.

The new Marines trained with 3rd Recruit Training Battalion's India Company, which included the female platoon and five male platoons. The recruits lived in different squad bays but otherwise completed much of their training together.

Now, Marine leaders will review the company's performance as the service assesses whether to duplicate the model in the future.

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"Combining platoons into a single company this training cycle offered an initial opportunity to assess some opportunities, challenges, outcomes and achievements in training, logistics and resources," said Jessica Hanley, a spokeswoman with Marine Corps Combat Development Command. "Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island will assess the results of India Company's training and future opportunities that may permit this company training model."

Aside from the company including men and women, all other aspects of the recruits' 13-week boot camp experience remained the same as recruits at Parris Island typically face, Hanley said.

And so far, she added, "no major performance indicators have emerged between India Company and other companies that have recently graduated" that show the Marines performed better or worse than companies that trained separately.

Female recruits at Parris Island typically train exclusively with 4th Recruit Training Battalion. Rather than waiting for enough female recruits to fill out the battalion later this year, Marine officials decided to integrate them into 3rd Recruit Training Battalion.

The Marine Corps has struggled with the perception of gender bias and cultural problems, even as women have moved into the infantry and other fields that were previously closed to female service members. The Marine Corps was the only service to request an exemption from the decision to allow women to serve in those roles, but it was ultimately overruled.

The service also faced a high-profile scandal in 2017 when news broke that male Marines were sharing nude photos of their female colleagues online without their permission. The incident led to the creation of a task force, which was designed to identify areas in which women face mistreatment or bias in the Marine Corps.

Lt. Col. Misty Posey, 4th Recruit Training Battalion's commanding officer, told ABC News that having men and women train together at Parris Island sets the Marines up to see each other as equals throughout their careers.

"We carry the same pack, the same weight, so when they see us sharing that experience, that hardship, together, it creates bonds that are formed here at the very beginning, and then they carry it with them throughout the rest of their training," she said.

The new Marines will now leave Parris Island for the next phase of their combat training with the School of Infantry in North Carolina.

If Parris Island does decide to create more co-ed recruit training companies, Hanley said it won't happen until at least October.

"During this fiscal year, up to September 2019, there are no opportunities where the conditions permit repeating the single company structure," she said. "As we assess India Company's training cycle, we will examine future opportunities that may permit this company training model."

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
This article by Haley Britzky originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publication dedicated to military and veterans issues.

Thom Tillis was angry.

During a March 7 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the Republican senator from North Carolina told each of the military service chiefs and secretaries that he'd learned of private military housing providers asking tenants to sign non-disclosure agreements in exchange for "some sort of a bonus."

"I don't know if y'all are aware of this," Tillis said, waving what appeared to be a copy of an NDA. "But here's what I'd like to find out if we can do immediately: Rescind every damn one of these that have been signed. Because it looks to me -- and I don't mean to be cynical -- but this is a practice by the housing providers, they better come up with a damn good reason for having someone sign onto this, because I've been a landlord before. It would have never occurred to me to say, 'I want you to sign away your right to say you're living in inadequate conditions.'"

After thanking Tillis for bringing to light "additional revelations" such as the NDA issues, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) then asked the witnesses whether they had ever heard of this, to which each service secretary said no.

The secretaries' answers about housing companies asking tenants to sign NDAs in exchange for a bonus were truthful, but the Navy, Army, and Air Force are aware of NDAs being offered to service members and their families under other conditions. And in at least one case with the Navy, the service suggested it.

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Beth Davidson was 23 weeks pregnant with her second son when she was told she might lose her baby.

In the summer of 2016, Davidson -- who is being identified with a pseudonym in this story to respect her family's privacy, as her husband still serves -- was experiencing complications with her pregnancy. She went to her obstetrician, who expressed concern that her baby might not make it.

"I was in shock," she told Task & Purpose. "I called my friend and just cried."

Her doctor ordered blood work, which showed that her white blood cell count was much higher than it should have been. Was she working around chemicals, he asked her. She wasn't. She wasn't working at all; Davidson was a stay-at-home mom with her first son, while her husband worked as a Marine captain.

"He asked me if I was working with chemicals. I said, 'No,'" Davidson told Task & Purpose. "And then I pulled out my phone and said, 'But look at this. Could this be it?' And I showed him a picture of the inside of our [air] ducts, and he said, 'Well, absolutely.'"

This followed months of fighting with the private military housing provider that managed her family's housing in New Orleans, Patrician Management, over what she said was mold in her air ducts. A Patrician manager even came to do a walk-through of the house to check a variety of potential issues, and assured Davidson that what she was concerned about wasn't mold because if it were, it would be everywhere.

"I mean it comes through the walls; it's not going to just stay there. You would see mold already growing," the manager said, according to what Davidson described as an audio recording of the walk-through, which was provided to Task & Purpose.

The manager that Davidson said came to her house, Brenda Davis, along with another manager that Davidson said she dealt with, Mark Wesley, did not respond to repeated requests for comment from Task & Purpose. Patrician Management also did not respond to requests for comment.

Davidson provided Task & Purpose with a number of emails, recordings, and photos documenting her family's experience with Patrician from May 2015 to September 2017. She successfully gave birth to her son, now two years old, though she says he's developed respiratory problems. Her oldest son, now five, was diagnosed with autism while living in the Patrician-managed home, and has since had to see a number of specialists for behavioral issues, an iron deficiency, and other medical problems. Davidson believes her housing conditions contributed to her children's health issues.

After consulting with her in 2016, Davidson's doctor ended up writing a note to Patrician, which was provided to Task & Purpose, saying, "It is medically necessary at this time for the patient [sic] landlord to have all of the air ducts cleaned and checked for mold. If this is not done, it will be a hazard to patient's health and pregnancy."

Davidson told Task & Purpose she delivered it to an assistant manager, who then scheduled the air duct cleaning. But the day before it was supposed to happen, the same manager who did a walk-through canceled it, telling Davidson in an email that Patrician "is not responsible for remedying personal health issues of any resident" and "has made multiple inspections of your unit and deemed the unit safe for occupancy."

Months later, Patrician offered to split the cost of the cleaning, despite still claiming it to be unnecessary.

In a 2016 email to other Navy officials -- which was later sent to Davidson -- Thomas McKelvey, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast (NAVFAC SE)'s business agreements manager, said that Patrician would require the Davidsons to stay quiet about their housing problems to neighbors and beyond, in exchange for assistance paying for the air duct cleaning.

All parties would sign an agreement stating that Patrician would not "be held responsible for any adverse conditions ... and they [sic] won't be any mention of the duct cleaning on social media or discussions with other residents," read the email.

The Davidsons ultimately declined the offer, paying just over $1,550 for an air duct cleaning themselves, according to an invoice provided to Task & Purpose.

When asked by Task & Purpose about its involvement in the housing company-tenant settlement process and if it suggests NDAs, the Navy's initial responses were inconsistent.

McKelvey, of NAVFAC SE, told Task & Purpose in an email that the Navy suggested the agreement to Patrician when trying to settle the Davidson case. But that same day, Steve Clutter, a spokesman for Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), told Task & Purpose in an email that "NDAs are not something that the Navy encourages or suggests the partners to do."

Andrew Thomas, a spokesman for Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, originally told Task & Purpose when asked for comment about the Davidsons' case that "[a]s the Navy has made no offer of a non-disclosure agreement, it wouldn't be appropriate to speak to that topic." Three days later, he corrected himself, saying he had "since found that there very well may have been an offer of an NDA from the Navy."

* * * * *

In August 2017, about a month after the Davidsons paid to have the mold removed, they were served a notice of non-renewal of their lease by Patrician. Davidson claims she was evicted, and her lawyer, Mike Cardoza -- a consumer financial protection attorney working on other similar military housing cases -- agrees. He told Task & Purpose the notice of non-renewal was retaliatory.

"They're going to say prove it," Cardoza said. "And I'm going to say, 'Yes, let's do that, let's let 12 people decide if you retaliated against her.'"

Cardoza is currently investigating the Davidsons' case, but has not yet filed a lawsuit.

Scott Forrest, assistant commander for Asset Management of NAVFAC, told Task & Purpose that while the Navy "continues to improve" on its oversight and monitoring of the privatized housing companies, it will advocate "the maximum extent allowed by the Government's business arrangement" with the housing providers.

But from partially redacted emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request made by Davidson that were provided to Task & Purpose, it appears the Navy has little jurisdiction over what housing providers actually do.

In more than one instance, various Navy offices involved in Davidson's situation said they advised Patrician to conduct the air duct cleaning, but the company resisted their recommendations.

In a March 2017 email, officials with Command Navy Region Southeast (CNRSE) and NAVFAC "recommended to Patrician to 'clean the ducts,' but Patrician [was] reluctant to do so."

The next day, a CNIC official said cleaning the air ducts "is not an unreasonable request."

The same email said that the Navy Marine Corps Public Health Center "advised Patrician that a certified mold inspector (not a Patrician employee) should revisit the duct issue and perform an inspection. Patrician was not receptive."

Despite these repeatedly ignored recommendations, one CNRSE official painted Mrs. Davidson as unreasonable in August 2017, writing, "I doubt she will ever be satisfied. She seems to look for new people to complain to about the same issue."

When asked about this remark, Forrest told Task & Purpose that comment was "really not appropriate."

A CNIC official also said in March 2017 that because the Davidsons didn't "accept offers for another house, they must not feel there is a great danger to health and safety at the current unit." Yet the day before, a CNRSE official acknowledged in an email to CNIC that the Davidsons didn't want to move because it would be logistically difficult.

The Davidsons "revealed that their 3-year old son was recently diagnosed with Autism," the email reads. "The [Davidsons] also have a newborn and Mr. [Davidson] ... stated that, given his schedule and the age of the children, it would be too difficult for them to move and all they want is the ducts cleaned."

Financial help to move was also essentially out of the question.

Forrest said that the Davidsons "did not meet the requirements of the Navy's policy on intra-station moves ... thus a decision to financially assist with a move would have been" up to Patrician. Forrest also told Task & Purpose that the decision to serve the Davidsons a notice of non-renewal was made by Patrician, despite a CNIC email asserting that this should "be a last resort."

When asked whether the Navy could confidently say that the Davidsons' lease non-renewal was actually a last resort, Forrest referred back to a previous answer that said the Navy "attempted to fulfill" its obligations to the Davidsons, and that the final decision was made by Patrician.

* * * * *

The military's issues with privatized housing companies are no secret -- they've been the topic of congressional hearings for months, following a bombshell Reuters investigation at the end of 2018 found families living with lead poisoning, mold- and mice-ridden homes, dilapidated construction, and other issues some have described as "horrors."

When asked whether service members and their families are asked to sign NDAs for housing issues, officials with the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps confirmed they have been used in some circumstances.

The Coast Guard did not respond by the time of publication.

Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Joseph Butterfield referred Task & Purpose to NAVFAC, as the Navy oversees all Marine Corps housing business agreements. But he added that NDAs between tenants and the housing providers "sometimes take place" -- though the Marine Corps is not involved unless the tenant asks it to be -- and that the housing office can help review the NDA proposals if the tenant requests it.

Mark Kinkade, Air Force Installation and Mission Support spokesman, told Task & Purpose that the Air Force found that three of its 10 housing providers "had used non-disclosure agreements under certain conditions. The Air Force has since sent a memorandum to all 10 project owners requesting them to stop using these agreements with military residents."

Army spokeswoman Heather Hagan told Task & Purpose that soldiers are not required to sign NDAs when moving into private military housing. "In some cases, however," Hagan said, "non-disclosure agreements have been used as part of the settlement of a dispute between a soldier and a privatized housing company."

NAVFAC's Scott Forrest told Task & Purpose in a statement that the Navy "does not condone the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDA) for standard maintenance actions," but has "not taken an official position on the propriety of the LLC Managing Member's use of Non-Disclosure Agreement" in the event of a settlement in a landlord-tenant dispute, though the service did suggest on at least one occasion -- Patrician, in the Davidson's case -- that it include a confidentiality agreement in a settlement with a resident.

Task & Purpose has also obtained a copy of an NDA agreement that was offered to a resident by Lincoln Military Housing at Camp Pendleton, California, in exchange for the company wiping clean the debt Lincoln said the family owed for "damages to the home." It's unclear the extent, if any, of the Navy's involvement in this case.

Cardoza, the Davidson's lawyer, told Task & Purpose that the use of NDAs at all is a big deal, and asking tenants to sign one is "attempting to silence the issue and keep others from coming forward."

"Through this systemic asymmetry of power, the housing companies have kept the military away from the housing issues," he said. "And they've kept the victims down by saying, 'Hey look, either you shut up and get with the program, or you're going to owe a lot of money.'"

* * * * *

During the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in March, Tillis demanded the NDAs be rescinded by the following month.

"If they're not rescinded," the senator said, "I want to know what housing company wants to come before me and tell me why it makes sense." (Tillis' office would not clarify whether his demand applied to all NDAs.)

But Janna Driver, a former Air Force spouse and spokeswoman for military family advocacy group Military Matters, told Task & Purpose that she's not sure Congress -- or the Pentagon, for that matter -- has much control over what the companies do.

"It sounds good, but the DoD doesn't have the authority to retract those. Those are between the housing companies and the families," Driver said. "If they even tried to retract them, the response would be 'You can't make us.' They don't have to do anything."

At the end of the day, Davidson said she just wants answers: answers for the health and behavioral specialists her son now has to see, with hopes that they can better understand how to treat his symptoms; answers to validate her concerns; and answers to ensure that other families won't have to go through what hers has.

"I want testing done on the house we moved from. ... This is something I have been asking for and would be helpful for our son's many specialists to know what he had been exposed to in that house," Davidson told Task & Purpose. "I have the utmost respect for the Marine Corps, and want to thank them for their continued support. ... I want this company investigated for fraud, and the 50-year contract they have revoked. I don't want this to happen to anyone else. Ever."

-- This article originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter.

More articles from Task & Purpose:
Brace your ears: You're about to hear Devil Dogs in all keys singing about the halls of Montezuma and the shores of Tripoli the next time the "Marines' Hymn" is played in public.

The commandant of the Marine Corps reportedly wants to hear more leathernecks proudly belting out the lyrics to their hymn. That's according to a new report from Marine Corps Times about upcoming changes to the service's drills and ceremonies manual, which will include a new directive about the beloved and highly recognized hymn.

"It is now directed that Marines, present and who have served honorably, who are not in formation or part of an actual ceremony, or marching in a parade or review, who when they hear the playing of the Marines Hymn will stand at attention, face the music and sing the words to the Hymn," the updated drill and ceremonies manual will read, according to Marine Corps Times.

Lt. Col. Stuart Fugler, a spokesman for Marine Corps Combat Development Command, which will oversee the release of the new manual, confirmed that an updated version is expected to be released in April. None of the changes are final, he said, until the head of his command signs off on them.

Leathernecks typically quietly stand at attention when the "Marines' Hymn" is played. That's out of respect for the song, whose lyrics are said to date back to the 1800s, according to Headquarters Marine Corps. Marines should still show that gesture of respect, according to the changes outlined by Marine Corps Times, but they'll now face the music and sing.

The new manual, which is awaiting approval from Lt. Gen. David Berger, head of MCCDC who was nominated to be the next commandant, includes changes to Marine Corps birthday ball, retirement and change-of-command ceremonies, along with a section on why drill is important to the Marine Corps, Fugler said. If Berger approves the changes, theyll go into effect immediately, he said.

It has been about 13 years since the last drill manual update, Fugler added, which was initiated in 2003 and changed in 2006.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
On Friday, a Vietnam veterans' weekly therapy group and their Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatrist were at the iconic wall that is their memorial to mark National Vietnam War Veterans Day in honor of their buddies and tens of thousands of others who didn't come home.

For former Air Force Sgt. Tony Mustifa, the special name etched on the memorial's black granite wall, along with more than 58,300 others, is that of his friend, Airman 1st Class Tony Curtis Foster, who was 21 years old when he was killed on Dec. 4, 1969.

Mustifa, 69, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, served with military police providing air base security. He said he came to the ceremonial wreath laying at the wall to "honor my buddies, my comrades. It's uplifting to be here."

He is part of a group that meets every Wednesday at the Washington, D.C., VA Medical Center with Dr. Maria Llorente, a psychiatrist with the VA for 24 years, who deals with the invisible wounds of war that never completely heal.

"I've been a geriatric psychiatrist for 24 years," working with World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans to develop coping mechanisms for the stress they feel, she said.

"You have to understand that combat is a life-changing event. The things that you experience stay with you for a lifetime. The more exposure [to combat], the greater the likelihood" of after-effects, she said.

The group sessions with veterans are one way to begin to deal with complex issues, she said. "It's veterans helping other veterans."

Earlier, Kim Joiner, acting principal deputy assistant for public affairs at the Defense Department, and Gary Tallman, Veterans Affairs executive director in the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, placed a wreath at the base of the wall. It read: "Service Valor Sacrifice -- A Grateful Nation Honors You."

"Publicly and individually presenting a Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pin to the men and women representing all who served during this challenging time in our nation's history will be the privilege of a lifetime," Joiner said in a statement.

The free lapel pins are available at Army and Air Force Exchange Service stores, some commissary locations, and at commemoration events.

In a brief interview, retired Army Maj. Gen. James T. Jackson, director of the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration program, said, "The country made a major mistake 50 years ago" in failing to honor Vietnam veterans for duty done.

"We're giving the country an opportunity to fix that" through a series of events nationwide leading to March 29, 2025, to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1975 official ending of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war, he added.

In remarks to the veterans and Gold Star families, Jackson said the ceremony at the wall was one of 1,600 events Friday nationwide. "It's a day of remembrance," he said.

He noted that the average age of those who served in Vietnam was 23.

"What we remember is that war takes its toll on young people," he said.

Jackson said about nine million were in the service during the official Vietnam War period of Nov. 1, 1955, to May 15, 1975. Of that total, the best estimate is that about 6.5 million are still living.

Of those still living, about three million served in-country in Vietnam, Jackson said, and the commemoration program has thus far distributed about 2.3 million lapel pins.

The Vietnam War Commemoration programs were launched in 2012 under the administration of President Barack Obama.

In 2017, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation, declaring, "Throughout this Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, and every March 29 thereafter, we will honor all those who answered our nation's call to duty."

"We vow to never again confuse personal disapproval of war with prejudice against those who honorably wear the uniform of our Armed Forces. With conviction, our nation pledges our enduring respect, our continuing care, and our everlasting commitment to all Vietnam veterans," Trump said.

On Twitter early Friday, Trump said, "On this Vietnam War Veterans Day, we celebrate the brave Vietnam Veterans and all of America's veterans. Thank you for your service to our great Nation!"

Following the ceremony, former Army Sgt. Bill Gray, 72, of Silver Spring, Maryland, went to a section of the wall he has visited many times.

Gray, who suffered a leg wound from shrapnel while serving with Bravo Co., 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, in Vietnam's Central Highlands, pointed to the names of three friends: Spc. 4 John Montgomery, platoon Sgt. Gene White, and Pfc. Edward Morrow.

Gray said he was on patrol on April 3, 1969, while his friends stayed behind with another squad. He returned to find that a mortar round had killed all three.

His eyes welled up. "I was one of the lucky ones," he said.

Veterans who need help finding a Vietnam commemoration event where they can receive their pin can call the commemoration office at 877-387-9951 or email whs.vnwar50th@mail.mil.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
An undisclosed number of RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft have returned to Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, after floodwaters submerged part of the base this month.

"Some of our aircraft have returned and have begun training," Drew Nystrom, spokesman for the 55th Wing, said Friday.

For operational security reasons, he could not say how many aircraft had returned, but added that onlookers will see RC-135s conducting routine training.

There are normally 10 to 15 RC-135s stationed at Offutt.

Offutt officials flew a number of aircraft to other bases as levees from the Missouri River and Papillion Creek broke March 15. Eight RC-135 Rivet Joints were relocated, half to Nebraska's Lincoln Air National Guard Base, and the rest to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

One of Global Strike Command's E-4B Nightwatch aircraft, more commonly known as the "Doomsday" plane, was also relocated during the flood. Citing OpSec, Global Strike has not revealed where the aircraft -- which operates as the National Airborne Operations Center -- was sent or whether it has returned to Offutt. Aircraft spotters observed three different E4-Bs flying between Texas and Ohio this week; the Air Force has four in its inventory.

Related content:

In recent days, engineers and emergency crews gave Offutt's flight line a "clean bill of health," Nystrom said. Roughly 3,000 feet of the runway had been submerged during the flood.

"It's safe to operate from," he said.

Structure assessment and repair continues and, while there is still some standing water in the southeastern part of the base, it's minimal compared to the six to eight feet of water in some buildings at the height of the flood, Nystrom said.

More than 3,000 airmen and civilians "were displaced from their work centers and 1.2 million square feet of office space was under water," according to a recent news release.

The 55th Wing and "all tenant units have remained fully mission capable even as we were dispersed," Nystrom said.

On Wednesday, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright visited the base to speak with leaders and airmen about the recovery process.

"I am so proud of the members of Team Offutt who worked tirelessly for days to protect as many assets as possible. I would be remiss if I didn't also thank the local community. It is those strong partnerships that made all of this possible," Goldfein said in the release.

"Our folks continue to deliver our capabilities downrange, and we didn't miss one single tasking" overseas, Nystrom said. There are 46 aircraft assigned to the wing, including those that are geographically separated from Offutt.

"We flew missions for five different combatant commanders [the same] weekend while we were dealing with this," he said. "We continued to deliver as we were battling this disaster at home. We're used to  the expeditionary mindset" with the RC-135 mission.

This week, Air Force officials said they estimate the service will need $1.2 billion in fiscal 2019 and another $3.7 billion spread over fiscal 2020 and 2021 to make repairs at Offutt and Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, which sustained major damages during Hurricane Michael last year.

Without that funding, adjustments will have to be made, some of which pose a risk to readiness recovery, the service said in a press release.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
How to use the mindat.org media viewer

Click/touch this help panel to close it.

Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image)

Controls - all media types

Zoom in and out of media using your mousewheel or with a two-finger 'resize' action on a touch device.

Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen.

< and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys.

< and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys.

> in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys.

? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key.

Other keyboard shortcuts:

1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons

Scalebar

If the field of view (FOV) is specified for the photo, the scalebar appears in the left bottom corner of the viewer. The scalebar is draggable and resizeable. Drag the right edge to resize it. Double click will reset the scalebar to it's default size and position. If the scalebar is in default position, double click will make it circular.

Controls - Video

Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key.

Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation)

Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys.

The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types.

The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control.

Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images

If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways:

- without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method

- with stereoscope

- with anaglyph glasses.

- on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system)

For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D

To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them.

Controls - photo comparison mode

If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu.

Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder.

Summary of all keyboard shortcuts
Guided by Southeast Alaska First People traditional values, land strategy focuses on current benefits, future opportunities North of 60 Mining News  April 1, 2019

Greens Creek is one of two large mines located in Southeast Alaska, the traditional home of Sealaska shareholders.

Seeking economic and cultural prosperity for its more than 22,000 Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian shareholders while also looking to provide even greater benefits for future generations, Sealaska takes a balanced approach to developing the resources growing above and stored beneath its lands in Southeast Alaska.

This does not mean the Southeast Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporation shuns mining or other resource development in its region, a nearly 600-mile stretch of coastal Alaska rich in timber and minerals. Its economy, after all, has been rooted in forestry for the past 47 years.

"Natural resources will always be a core of what we do, being the largest private landowner is Southeast Alaska," Sealaska President and CEO Anthony Mallott told a crowd gathered for a March 7 breakfast hosted by the Alaska Resource Development Council.

What it does mean is that Sealaska believes "strong stewardship allows for current economic benefit, while maintaining opportunities for future generations."

Guided by tradition

Sealaska's land management strategy is guided by the traditional values of Southeast Alaska First People. Applying these values that have been developed over more than 10,000 years to a corporate setting is something the Southeast Alaska corporation spent nearly a decade working on.

Haa Aani, which means our land, is one such Southeast Alaska value that speaks directly to Sealaska's land management strategy.

"Land itself is not a value, it is how we fit into the environment, how we work within the environment that is the value," Mallott explained during his March 7 presentation.

As such, Haa Aani is the foundation for the collective identity and culture of Sealaska and its tenets include:

 Utilizing the land while protecting it for future generations;

 having a sustainable relationship with Sealaska lands; and

 providing sustainable community economies in Southeast Alaska.

Haa Shuka, which means our past, present and future, is another value that influences how Sealaska utilizes it lands.

Understanding that the collective identity of Southeast Alaska people span generations, Haa Shuka guides Sealaska to:

 Honor the sanctity of ancestral cultural and sacred sites and heritage;

 provide social and financial benefits for current and future generations; and

 maintain social and environmental responsibility for sustainable operations.

"Take the strengths of the past, use them for current benefits, but make sure you are passing on as much strength and value to future generations," Mallott summarized Haa Shuka.

Haa Latseen, which means our strength and leadership, focuses on the collective strength of Sealaska and its shareholders.

"Our strength is our values; our strength is our land base, which is part of our values that we operate within our land," Mallott said.

The values of Haa Latseen include:

 Discipline, resilience, perseverance and adaptability;

 education and training; and

 healthy families and communities.

"We really focused on the underlying themes of strength  it is training; it is continual improvement; it is a mindset that utilize your strengths in the best manner possible towards the best of the company," the Sealaska CEO explained.

Wooch.Yax, which means balance, reciprocity and respect, guides Sealaska's partnerships with other organizations and how it works with its shareholders.

One of the main values under Wooch.Yax is Wooch.een, which translates to people, tribes and organizations working together.

"That is one of the biggest cultural changes that we took on at Sealaska, just listening," Mallott said.

And Sealaska management listening to current shareholders through dialogue; ancestors through the values passed down; and future shareholders though sustainable prosperity guides the ANCSA corporation's balanced approach to land management.

Making the most of the land

While Sealaska is the largest private landholder in Southeast Alaska, its holdings are relatively small due to the Tongass Forest that covers much of their region and are under federal control, either as a national forest or national parks.

"Southeast Alaska is 96 percent federally owned," Mallott said.

Sealaska, on the other hand, only has title to 3 percent of the land within its shareholders' traditional territory, or about 630,000 acres. This means that the corporation has the smallest property base of any of the 12 land-holding ANCSA corporations.

"Land ownership in Southeast is tough," the Sealaska CEO added.

Guided by Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian values, the Southeast Alaska ANCSA corporation is making the most of the lands it owns.

For most of Sealaska's 47 years, this has been focused on harvesting the rich timber resource growing from the 360,000 acres of surface and subsurface lands owned by the regional corporation, the balance of ANCSA lands in Southeast Alaska are surface rights owned by the village corporations.

This logging has drawn fire from conservation groups claiming Southeast Alaska Native corporation is clear-cutting the Tongass.

Mallott said the math of these claims does not add up, considering Sealaska only owns about 3 percent of the land in Southeast Alaska and only logged about a third of the forested lands it owns.

"40 years of harvesting and we have clear-cut less than 35 percent of our 360,000 acres. We regrow every acre of that  we replant 100 acres annually," he said.

Sealaska has found an innovative and sustainable way to turn a profit from the old growth on the remaining 65 percent of its forest lands  selling carbon credits.

Known as the carbon-offset project, this involves selling credits, in the form of carbon stored in Sealaksa's old growth forests, to offset carbon released in California under that state's cap-and-trade program.

For Sealaska, this means that roughly 165,000 acres of forest will not be commercially harvested for a century but can be used for other purposes.

Sealaska received a one-time payment for the carbon credits and is eligible for further payments if forest management results in a net gain of carbon stored there.

While the exact dollar figure has not been released, indications are the 9.3 million credits sold fetched a healthy sum.

"The proceeds from selling these credits in 2018 will contribute significantly to one of our strongest net income years to date," Mallott informed Sealaska shareholders earlier this year.

He said the carbon credit proceeds will be invested back into Sealaska shareholders, businesses and communities for generations to come.

Mineral-rich stretch of Alaska

The Sealaska region, which stretches from the heavy mineral sands near Yakutat on the north end to the rare earth elements-rich Prince of Wales Island to the south hosts a large number of base, industrial and precious metals deposits.

In fact, two of Alaska's six large-scale mines  Hecla Mining Company's Greens Creek and Coeur Mining Inc.'s Kensington  are located in this region, though not on Sealaska-owned lands.

In addition to these underground silver and gold mines, exploration companies are actively investigating the region for a wide variety of minerals and metals.

Constantine Metal Resources Ltd.'s Palmer copper-zinc-silver-gold-barite project near Haines is among the most advanced of these projects.

Constantine, working with its partner Dowa Metals & Mining Co., has advanced Palmer to the point to begin investigating the potential of developing an underground mine there.

Toward the southern end of the Southeast Alaska Panhandle, Ucore Rare Metal Inc. has outlined a deposit of the highly prized rare earth elements at its Bokan Mountain project on Prince of Wales Island.

While preliminary economic and engineering studies for developing a mine at Bokan have been completed, Ucore is currently focused on establishing a rare earth processing facility at Ketchikan, a port town about 30 miles northeast of Bokan Mountain.

While this facility, known as the Strategic Metals Complex, may eventually process rare earths mined from Bokan Mountain, it is being built to initially separate REEs from feedstock sourced from outside of Alaska.

Other current mineral exploration projects along the panhandle include:

 Helm Bay, a historical high-grade gold property a few miles north of Ketchikan being explored by Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.;

 Herbert Gold, a high-grade gold property north of Juneau being explored by Grande Portage Resources Ltd.;

 Frenchie, a large gold- and silver-rich VMS prospect near Wrangell being explored by Zarembo Minerals Company;

 Snettisham, a vanadium-titanium-iron project recently staked by Northern Cobalt Ltd .; and

 Icy Cape, a heavy minerals sands project on Alaska Mental Health Trust lands near Yakutat that is being explored for a number of minerals and metals, including titanium, zirconium, gold and garnets.

Sealaska mineral potential

With Sealaska selecting its relatively small parcel of Southeast Alaska based largely on timber potential and traditional uses, none of the current mines or advanced mineral exploration project are on its lands.

Some of the acreage held by the ANCSA corporation, however, does "have the potential to support small-scale mines."

Given the jobs and income potential from mining, Sealaska has recently taken a closer look at the mineral resources on its lands and how a minerals program would best benefit shareholders and the region.

"Previous minerals mapping on Sealaska lands has indicated the potential for several types of mineral deposits including gold, silver, zinc, copper, iron and rare earth elements," Sealaska penned on the minerals page of its website.

Mallott said Sealaska is looking at market opportunities for the mineral potential on Sealaska lands.

"We talked with Constantine most closely," the Sealaska CEO said. "They have offered to look at some of our lands."

Constantine, who has been exploring a copper-zinc-gold-silver-barite project near Haines, is familiar with both the people and geology of Southeast Alaska.

Whatever future mining is carried out on Sealaska lands would need to fit within the traditional values that guide the Southeast Alaska corporation.

"As a Native enterprise with deep roots to Haa Aani, our land, this obligation to proceed responsibly will be at the heart of Sealaska's minerals program," the company said.

Wooch.een, or working with its shareholders, is another value that must be honored to explore and mine on Sealaska lands.

The Southeast Alaska corporation said it "can only move its minerals program forward alongside community voices and input. This collaboration can have a positive economic impact for the region."

This is common theme for working on ANCSA lands across Alaska and Mallott said Sealaska shareholders generally support resource development if it is done right.

"Our communities support responsible resource activity and we work with them very closely to maintain that support," the Sealaska CEO told the resource crowd gathered to hear his breakfast presentation.

Jim Nista; Creative Commons 3.0 Ketchikan could benefit from nearby mining projects and a rare earth elements processing facility being considered for this port town at the southern end of the

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sealaska  balanced resource development is the third article in a 13-part series that investigates what the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act means for Alaska's mining sector and its future. The remaining 10 articles will dig deeper into each of the land-holding Regional corporations; the mining lands that they own; and the services they offer to the mining sector. As a life-long Alaskan that has written about mining here for more than a decade, it is my hope that this series will provide a better understanding of ANCSA and serve as a guide to mining companies seeking to do business in The Last Frontier. For further information on ANCSA see An Alaska Native claims primer for miners published in the February edition of North of 60 Mining News.
John Sturgeon's case forces the bureaucracy to recognize that state in-holdings may not be subject to NPS regulation

After two trips to the Supreme Court, John Sturgeon prevailed in his suit against the U.S. National Park Service, a case that confirms that lands underlying navigable waters within Alaska's national park units belongs to the state.

I don't really know how much it has cost John Sturgeon to go to the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) twice in order to vindicate his right to use a hovercraft to go hunting on the Nation River, nor do I really care; but it must have been scratching on the underside of a million dollars, if not a great deal more. Lots of people made individual contributions, and there has been tremendous moral support for him in his decade-long interface with the American system of justice.

Getting any case before SCOTUS requires overcoming long odds, and to do it twice is nothing short of a miracle, especially when the matter is truly Alaska-specific.

Yet Sturgeon did that and got unanimous decisions both times. This time, Justice Kagan prepared the March 26 decision of the court, with Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg concurring.

Most Alaskans know the story of how Sturgeon was fixing the steering cable on his boat while on the Nation River within the Yukon  Charley National Preserve on the way to a legal moose hunt when three officious National Park Service rangers required him to cease using his vessel inside a National Park Unit. They wouldn't even let him drive it out.

The rangers explained that the use of hovercraft inside a unit of the National Park System violated nationwide Park Service regulations.

Sturgeon complied with the ranger's directions and then sued the NPS, losing at the Federal District Court level and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals before having the matter considered by SCOTUS.

SCOTUS ruled that the Ninth Circuit was wrong, famously reminding the NPS that Alaska is different. The Ninth Circuit nonetheless reaffirmed that the NPS had jurisdiction to regulate navigable waters within Park System units.

In a carefully-worded decision that left nothing to chance, Justice Kagan walked readers through every conceivable argument that the NPS could make, formulating a point-by-point reason catalogue of why the NPS's interpretation was legally wrong.

First, the Justice Kagan made it perfectly clear that lands underlying navigable waters within Alaska's National Park units are not the property of the Park Service. She pointed out that the State of Alaska owns the riverbed and has the exclusive jurisdiction to regulate and police those waters at least with regard to Park Service specific regulations.

Next, she parsed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) section 103(c) comprehensively proving that the Park Service could only achieve its goal of blocking Sturgeon's use of the waterway was if the statute was read in a totally meaningless way.

The take-away from Justice Kagan's analysis is that navigable waters in Alaska, even though they flow through units of the National Park System are not necessarily federal lands and except in very limited circumstances, Park Service regulations do not apply.

This decision is a major victory for all Alaskans, because it underscores once again that Alaska is different; however, the hero of this story remains John Sturgeon. Mr. Sturgeon had both the will and the opportunity to initiate a challenge and the resources to see it through.

Sturgeon was not the first Alaskan to be stopped by the Park Service for participating in lawful activity on navigable waters inside a Park unit; nor is he likely to be the last. Many of us for a very long time have advocated the right of the State to manage its waters, especially when it comes to conflicts with the managers of Conservation System units.

Unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court is a very long way away from the Nation River, not only in terms of the tricky path through the court system but also in terms of time and money. In many instances, the Ninth Circuit has constituted an insurmountable intervening barrier.

In the ANILCA, Congress crafted a huge compromise intended to balance the preservation of Alaska's many scenic wonders against the need to develop its ample resources in an environmentally sound and safe manner. Yet the Ninth Circuit has, time and time again, disregarded the pro-development provisions of ANILCA in favor of the preservationist parts of the Act.

While Congress, on the one hand, and SCOTUS, on the other, have teamed up to support a land management vision that is consistent with Alaska's Constitution, the federal Executive Branch through its agencies has bullied the people of the state unmercifully.

Perhaps now that we have a Secretary of the Interior (and perhaps a Secretary of Agriculture) who is willing to defend the laws affecting Alaska by interpreting their obligation in terms of statutory intent instead of activist petitions from non-governmental organizations, Alaska will be able to draw a breath, before proceeding along the pathway laid out in the Statehood Act.

Our hat is off to John Sturgeon, a true Alaskan hero.
With the recent slew of players being designated for assignment, several have cleared waivers. Well keep track of todays outrighted players here

The Cubs announced that lefty Brian Duensing has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Iowa. He has enough service time to reject the assignment and still retain the entirety of this years $3.5MM salary, but theres no indication yet whether hell choose to do so. The 36-year-old Duensing had a strong year with the 2017 Cubs but was clobbered for a 7.65 ERA in 37 2/3 innings last season after signing a two-year, $7MM contract to remain in Chicago. His second season with the Cubs saw him walk more batters (29) than he struck out (24), and his struggles continued into Spring Training, where he yielded eight runs in seven innings of work.

announced that lefty has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Iowa. He has enough service time to reject the assignment and still retain the entirety of this years $3.5MM salary, but theres no indication yet whether hell choose to do so. The 36-year-old Duensing had a strong year with the 2017 Cubs but was clobbered for a 7.65 ERA in 37 2/3 innings last season after signing a two-year, $7MM contract to remain in Chicago. His second season with the Cubs saw him walk more batters (29) than he struck out (24), and his struggles continued into Spring Training, where he yielded eight runs in seven innings of work. Infielder Stevie Wilkerson was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk after clearing waivers, per an announcement from the Orioles . The 27-year-old made his big league debut a year ago and hit .174/.224/.239 in 49 trips to the plate with the Os. The versatile Wilkerson has experience at every position other than catcher and center field. Hes a career .266/.342/.368 hitter in parts of five minor league seasons.

was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk after clearing waivers, per an announcement from the . The 27-year-old made his big league debut a year ago and hit .174/.224/.239 in 49 trips to the plate with the Os. The versatile Wilkerson has experience at every position other than catcher and center field. Hes a career .266/.342/.368 hitter in parts of five minor league seasons. The Giants announced Thursday that left-handed reliever Steven Okert has been outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento after clearing waivers. Okert, 27, has spent time in the Giants bullpen in each of the past three seasons and compiled a career 4.28 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 48 1/3 innings as a Major League reliever. Hell remain with the organization as a depth option should the club need to call upon some additional left-handed bullpen help at some point in the 2019 season.
PARADISE, MI  An armed, suicidal man forced authorities to close Tahquamenon Falls State Park for a few hours Friday before the subject was taken into custody without incident.

The ordeal began around 9:45 a.m. Friday when Chippewa County dispatch received a 911 call from a 24-year-old male subject who said he was at the popular state park, armed with a firearm and contemplating suicide.

Upper Peninsula authorities, including the Michigan State Police, Luce County Sheriffs Department, Chippewa County Sheriffs Department, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Border Patrol responded to the scene.

Serious situation forces lockdown at Tahquamenon Falls State Park

Sections of M-123 near the Upper Falls were closed and employees at the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery and Pub were secured inside the establishment until the incident was resolved.

Authorities contacted the subject, who eventually agreed to turn himself in after hours of negotiations. A firearm was found in his vehicle and seized, according to police.

The man was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. The incident remains under investigation
LANSING  Chronic wasting disease has been confirmed in a 2-year-old female deer from a Montcalm County deer farm.

The findings were announced this week by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural and Development, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

In this deers case, carcass samples were submitted for routine testing under a surveillance program for deer raised on farms, according to the Associated Press.

So far, 83 CWD-positive deer have been identified in Montcalm County, which is part of an active CWD Management Zone.

An investigation will be conducted to rule out exposure to any other farmed deer. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose

The test results and age of the deer indicate that this deer was recently infected, emphasizing the importance of early detection through surveillance, said State Veterinarian Dr. Nora Wineland.

MDARD and DNR work together, in partnership with the states deer farmers, to ensure the protection of all of Michigans deer.

Chronic wasting disease found in two new counties, bringing total to 9

With a disease like CWD, everyones actions matter, said DNR state wildlife veterinarian Dr. Kelly Straka.Whether you are a deer producer submitting samples for surveillance or a hunter practicing safe carcass disposal, we all have a role to play in minimizing the risk of disease spread.

Since May 2015, when the first free-ranging white-tailed CWD-positive deer was found in Michigan, CWD has been confirmed in free-ranging white-tailed deer in the Lower Peninsula from Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Ionia, Ingham, Jackson, Kent, and Montcalm counties.

Additionally, a CWD-positive deer was found in the Upper Peninsula in Dickinson County in October of last year.

To date, there have been no reported cases of CWD infection in humans.

However, as a precaution, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend that infected animals not be consumed as food by either humans or domestic animals.
Enbridge officials are surprised and disappointed" in Attorney General Dana Nessels opinion that the state law outlining plans to build a tunnel for the Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac is unconstitutional.

In a release issued Thursday night, the company said it intends to seek clarification from the administration on a path forward, and that Line 5 will continue to operate.

Enbridge worked in good faith with the Michigan government on the tunnel project, Enbridge Chief Legal Officer Bob Rooney said in a statement. We disagree with the Attorney Generals opinion and continue to believe in the benefits of the tunnel.

Enbridges statement comes after Nessel issued a formal opinion that the plan signed into law late last year tasking a new authority with determining how best to encase the pipeline in a tunnel is unconstitutional because its provisions go beyond the scope of the acts title.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who had initially requested the opinion, signed an executive directive ordering state departments and agencies to halt work on anything to do with the law.

I agree with the conclusion reached by Attorney General Nessel, Whitmer said in a Thursday statement. The Great Lakes are our most precious resource in Michigan, and because of their significance, Ive instructed state departments and agencies to halt any actions in furtherance of this law.

Outgoing Gov. Rick Snyder took action on the pipeline in the final days of his administration, signing into law a plan that created the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority to take ownership of a utility tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac to house a replacement for the current Line 5 oil and gas pipeline, which has garnered controversy due to its age and sensitive location.

Legislative Republicans who supported the laws passage were critical of the Attorney Generals opinion.

Approving the new tunnel in northern Michigan is the right thing to do for our state, our waterways, and for our future," House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, said in a Thursday night statement. Hundreds of thousands of people rely on the line to heat their homes and survive, and we all rely on the Great Lakes for our economy and our way of life. It is well past time to put aside political talking points and campaign rhetoric and just do the right thing.

Environmental groups approved of Nessel and Whitmers actions on the matter.

Jim Olsen, founder and president of the group For Love of Water, said in a Thursday statement the opinion should be followed by an immediate and full review of the Snyder administrations handling of Line 5 and the potential risks of the existing pipeline on the Straits of Mackinac and surrounding communities. For Love of Water also called on Whitmer to begin the process of decommissioning the existing Line 5 pipeline.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  President Donald Trump at a Grand Rapids rally played to Michigans love of cars, putting his support for the automobile industry -- and the jobs it brings states like Michigan -- on full display.

Before I took the oath of office the United States automobile industry was decimated, it was going down, he said, noting the auto industry should be particularly important to Michiganders.

His first meeting, he said, was with car executives.

We took historic and dramatic action to save the American auto industry and to defend American auto workers right here in Michigan, he said.

He pointed to his rollback of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards along with his work on trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Thats why one of my very first acts in office was to withdraw our country from that horrible, potentially disastrous trade deal and stop the offshoring of Michigan jobs, he said of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

He decried the shipping of auto jobs to Mexico and other countries, pointing to plants in Michigan and Ohio and said, get the damn plants open.

GM announced a series of planned plant closures late last year, including in Michigan and Ohio.

In Michigan, Trump ran heavily on repealing NAFTA, something hes moved toward during this time in office.

He said a number of auto companies had made big investments in the United States and called specifically on General Motors to do the same.

They went to China, they spent a lot of money building stuff, they went to Mexico... thats not helping us much. So, we think theyre going to come around, Trump said.

He spoke to a packed crowd in Grand Rapids on Thursday, his first Michigan visit of the 2020 campaign cycle.
ROCKFORD, MI  Drinking water contamination in Kent County caused by Wolverine World Wide tannery waste dumping is the focus a new half-hour public television documentary.

Detroit Public Television debuted it special, The Forever Chemicals, on Thursday, March 29. The documentary explored how PFAS pollution in drinking water has impacted the lives of several residents living near Wolverines House Street dump in Belmont.

The program was produced under Detroit Public Televisions Great Lakes Now initiative in partnership with MLive Media Group, which contributed interviews and footage.

The special is airing on PBS stations across the Great Lakes region.

Upcoming air dates include Sunday, April 7 at 5 p.m. at WNED-TV in Buffalo, N.Y., and Saturday, May 18 at 4 p.m. on WGVU-TV in Grand Rapids, Mich.

In addition to the Wolverine-focused special, Detroit Public Television also featured PFAS contamination in the Huron River in a segment on the One Detroit show, which examined the problem of PFAS in Ann Arbor drinking water and Huron River fish.

With the financial assistance of the Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, MLive and Great Lakes Now partnered to do interviews, research, publish, and broadcast stories about PFAS  per- and polyfluoroalkyls  which are appearing in residential water supplies throughout Michigan and around the nation.

As part of that effort, MLive published several stories on how PFAS contamination is affecting local budgets and resources around Michigan.
A judge is blocking yet another attempt by state officials to shut down unlicensed medical marijuana provisioning centers.

About 50 unlicensed shops were about to be shut down Monday, April 1, by regulators. Now, they can keep their doors open for at least another two weeks.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Stephen Borrello signed a temporary restraining order Thursday, March 28, that prevents state regulators from enforcing the March 31 licensing deadline, court documents show.

Until further order of the court, BMR (Bureau of Marijuana Regulation) will maintain the status quo and not enforce the March 31 deadline with respect to both temporary operating facilities and caregiver products, the state bureau said in a statement issued Friday afternoon.

Medical marijuana provisioning centers had been stocking up on untested marijuana from caregivers in the past several weeks, as March 31 also marked the deadline for them to switch to buying products from licensed growers. The bureau indicated in its statement Friday that will no longer be enforced.

Officials with the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation have allowed unlicensed dispensaries to sell marijuana to card-carrying patients for the past year as theyve added regulations to the industry.

State officials have tried to impose a deadline for licensure since September 2018 -- but its been pushed back multiple times due to legal challenges and official intervention.

This week, the state has been hammered by lawsuits from at least six unlicensed provisioning centers challenging the deadline. So far, two of them have been successful.

The order was issued in a case filed this week by Green Genie, an unlicensed medical marijuana provisioning center in Detroit. The attorneys for Green Genie declined to comment for this story.

Green Genie has operated without a license in Detroit since July 2017, and serves about 20,000 patients, according to the lawsuit filing. The business medical marijuana license application was denied by a licensing board due to a state error that inaccurately claimed it owed money on its taxes, court documents show. Green Genie has appealed the licensing boards decision to deny their license application -- which is still pending.

Borrellos order prevents officials from shutting down any unlicensed medical marijuana shops until the court deems it appropriate. The judge set a hearing for 2 p.m., April 9, on the case.

Borrello also signed a temporary restraining order Thursday in a similar case filed by Top Dollar Holdings, a Detroit company that owns two provisioning centers and a grow facility, according to court documents. Its applications for licensure were filed a year before they were considered by the states licensing board -- and then denied for invalid reasons, court documents show.

The order requires the state to let the provisioning center operate until their applications are reconsidered under the appeals process.

Its an arbitrary date that does not allow the system that was set up under the facilities act to work its way through, said Byron Pitts, the lawyer representing Top Dollar Holdings, regarding the March 31 licensing deadline.

The March 31 deadline for licensure was recommended by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and approved by the licensing board in a January resolution.

The launch of the licensed, regulated medical marijuana market in Michigan has been tumultuous and will continue to change, as Whitmer is abolishing the licensing board and giving full control to state staff.

Andrew Brisbo, the current head of the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation, has been appointed by Whitmer to lead her iteration of that department -- the Marijuana Regulatory Agency -- as of April 30.

-- Amy Biolchini is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact her with questions, tips or comments at abiolch1@mlive.com. Read more from MLive about medical marijuana.
DETROIT  Detroit police Chief James Craig said hes disappointed and troubled that a man arrested with enough narcotics to earn a life sentence could flee to Mexico after a Detroit-area judge required him to pay a bond of just $200.

Speaking with the media on Friday, Craig asked why Mexican national Jose Antonio Lopez, who he described as a mid-to-high level drug dealer, was treated by a Romulus magistrate as if he were someone who stole a Hersey candy bar a third time.

Lopezs bond was set by a visiting weekend judge on March 2.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy told the Associated Press that her office typically doesn't have an assistant prosecutor at weekend arraignments but said a high bond in Lopez' case was a "no-brainer."

Craig conceded that he too could have had a detective at the arraignment, and didnt, but added that the magistrate should have recognized that Lopez was a flight risk based on his officers report.

He was arrested with 1000 grams of heroin and 1000 grams of cocaine, Craig said. How could the judge not realize hes a flight risk? That is a problem for me. its a problem for this community. We have a Mexican national who is here illegally, and we give him a $200 bond. Hes probably going to leave the country.

Craig added that its more of a public safety issue than anything. He also noted that letting drug dealers like this walk sends the wrong message to those thinking about bringing drugs into the community.

Lopez didnt appear in court on March 12. Defense attorney William Winters says he hasnt heard from Lopez, according to the Associated Press.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  President Donald Trump was completely vindicated by a U.S. Special Counsel investigation that cleared him of collusion with the Russian government, he told a packed crowd at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on Thursday night.

Total exoneration. Complete vindication, Trump said toward the beginning of his speech, going on to call accusations surrounding Russia the single greatest political hoax in the countrys political history.

For more than two years, the president railed against U.S. Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into whether his campaign coordinated with Russian government interference in the 2016 election.

A summary of the reports findings sent to Congress by U.S. Attorney General William Barr indicated the investigation did not establish Trump or any of his aides coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 election. Mueller punted on whether Trump obstructed justice, leaving Barr to determine that the presidents conduct was not criminal.

When people first started asking him about Russia, Trump said, I say Russia? What the hell does Russia have to do with my campaign?

He said the Russia Hoax hurt not just people he cared about, but also the country.

This group of major losers did not just ruthlessly attack me, my family, and everyone who questioned their lies. They tried to divide our country, to poison the national debate and to tear up the fabric of our great democracy, Trump said.

He blamed Democrats, media and television pundits for perpetuating what he called a hoax, saying they had to be held accountable.

His remarks met with an enthusiastic crowd comprised of thousands of people. Trump was back for his first Michigan visit for his 2020 campaign.

Scott Barnhard, of North Muskegon, considered himself a Democrat with independent and moderate leanings until recently, and didnt vote for Trump or Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. He followed the Mueller investigation with interest.

I really, honestly thought that there was some real problem there, he said.

When a summary of the findings indicated there wasnt, he was turned off by what he described as Democrats back-peddling. Now, he plans to vote for Trump in 2020, because from his perspective the president has done what he said he would do.

Hes done an outstanding job so far, Barnhard said.
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump said Thursday evening he was no longer going to support a plan that called for cuts of $17 million in federal funding for the Special Olympics, according to the Associated Press. While speaking to reporters at the White House prior to leaving for a rally in Michigan, Trump said hes been to Special Olympic events and its an incredible organization.

I heard about (the cuts) this morning, he said. I have overridden my people. Were funding the Special Olympics.

Trumps comments came after Education Secretary and West Michigan native Betsy DeVos spent several days defending the proposed cuts to members of Congress, including tense exchanges with lawmakers.

DeVos was also the target of significant criticism from celebrities, athletes, philanthropists and others who have close relationships with Special Olympics.

However, DeVos said in a statement she was actually defending the organization and worked to stop their funding from being cut as part of the budget proposal.

I am pleased and grateful the President and I see eye to eye on this issue and that he has decided to fund our Special Olympics grant," DeVos said in a statement. "This is funding I have fought for behind the scenes over the last several years.

Earlier in the day, DeVos told Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. she was not personally involved the decision to cut the funding, but also said tough choices had to be made as $7 billion in total cuts needed to be made by her department.

The $17 million in federal funding is roughly 10 percent of the total revenue for Special Olympics. The organization also raises money through private and public donations and fund raising drives.
ANN ARBOR, MI - With the University of Michigan in the process of designing and building nearly half a billion dollars in new construction and renovation projects, alum Jan Culbertson wants the university to adopt more environmentally friendly building construction standards.

She was one of several speakers at a UM Board of Regents meeting Thursday, March 28 seeking more urgency from the university in its path to achieving carbon neutrality.

We as design professionals and building owners have not made adequate progress, and in your case, a delay in immediately raising standards misses the opportunity to impact nearly $437 million in building projects currently in design - buildings that will be with us far beyond 2050, Culbertson said.

As a nation, we need to accelerate our progress, and locally, we need the university as a leadership partner.

Activists spoke at Thursdays meeting a couple of weeks after students and community members were detained during a sit-in protest March 15 inside the UM Fleming Administration Building, which followed a Climate Strike protest earlier that afternoon.

UM police issued trespass warnings to a few of the approximately 50 people still at the administration building after 8 p.m. Ultimately, 10 people were arrested, including six who were affiliated with UM as students or staff.

The protesters wanted to set a date for a public Q&A with President Mark Schlissel to talk about what the university is doing to address climate change, with their sights set on holding the university accountable for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.

Schlissel was away from campus during the protests and he had recently met with some of the protesters during his regular office hours.

The UM president has made reducing the universitys carbon footprint a priority in recent months, announcing the formation of a Presidents Commission on Carbon Neutrality. Both Schlissel and the commissions Co-Chair Jennifer Haverkamp have noted recently that the university may be close to an agreement to purchase renewable energy that could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emission totals.

There has been one public town hall meeting with the Presidents Commission on Carbon Neutrality, Fitzgerald said, and theres another session scheduled for April 3. Another public session on the subject is scheduled for April 9, featuring Schlissel that will be moderated by Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability Dean.

UM graduate student Matthew Haugen on Thursday described what happened during the sit-in as a troubling display of force," but said activists will continue to demonstrate because the future of humanity and life on earth is at stake.

We are literally in the fight of our lives and we feel it viscerally, he said. Going to class and preparing for life after graduation often feels ridiculous. How can we think about our futures or go about our normal lives like this isnt happening?

In 2011, UM President Mary Sue Coleman set what was considered an ambitious goal of reducing Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 25 percent on its campus by 2025. Progress toward that goal has been hard to come by, though, as the university approaches the midway point to its target date with just 7 percent emission reductions since its 2006 baseline.

UM has instituted some measures that will help it approach that goal, including approving an $80 million expansion of its Central Power Plant in hopes of reducing GHG emissions by 80,000 metric tons per year. That would put it approximately half way to its emissions reduction goal when the project is expected to be completed in 2021.

The university explored biofuel as a fuel source for the power plant, but that option was dropped from consideration early on due to the lack of availability at the required scale and technological limitations, UM Director of the Office of Campus Sustainability Andy Berki said.

Schlissel said a green energy source for all of its heat and electricity isnt possible on such a large scale. UM needs reliable heat and electricity to support its educational mission, he said, while running a large health system.

In the near term, there is no viable alternative to fossil fuels at a scale that would not threaten our ability to operate a major research university and regional medical center, he said during the Thursday board meeting.

He also addressed the makeup of the commission, which has been criticized for some for including members of energy companies, including DTE energy.

Schlissel said it is critical for the energy industry to be a part of the commission because of their overall role in providing energy throughout the region and state.

"They have each made commitments to convert their current generating capacity from fossil fuels to renewables and are engaged in strategy development that will be useful to our own efforts, Schlissel said.
PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - An Ann Arbor man has been charged in the stabbing death of his ex-wifes husband.

Travorez Adams, 35, was arraigned on one count of open murder Friday, March 29, in Washtenaw Countys 14A-1 District Court in the death of 29-year-old Kevin A. Hughbanks.

Adams was picking up one of his children when the stabbing took place Thursday, March 28 in Scio Township, Washtenaw County Sheriffs Detective Sharon Saydak said during the arraignment.

"Mr. Adams went to a location to pick up his daughter for a lunch date, got into a verbal argument which turned physical at which time the victim, Kevin Hughbanks, was stabbed," Saydak said.

Police were called about 1:15 p.m. to a fight between two men at Hughbank's home in the 300 block of Sedgewood Lane, Sheriff's Lt. Lisa King previously said.

After the stabbing, Hughbanks and Adams both fled, she said. Adams was arrested at a traffic stop. Hughbanks drove away, but eventually stopped and went into the Edward Jones financial advising business at 6113 Jackson Road for help.

Hughbanks was taken to the University of Michigan hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Adams is the ex-husband of Hughbanks wife, King confirmed. The motive for the stabbing was under investigation.

Adams previously served time in prison for a 2002 armed robbery in Washtenaw County, court records show.

He also has out of state convictions, Saydak said.

Clad in orange, Adams spoke little, except to clarify the year of his Washtenaw County conviction. He told Magistrate James Cameron that hes a father of two minor children, but not employed and not paying rent.

Based on the information, Cameron assigned Adams a public defender to represent him.

Adams is being held without bond. Hes now scheduled for a probable cause conference April 9 and a preliminary examination on April 16.
ANN ARBOR, MI - With a history of collaboration dating back 20 years, Michigan Medicine and Lansing-based Sparrow Health System have signed an affiliation agreement that will ensure collaboration continues well into the future.

The joint agreement was announced during the University of Michigan Board of Regents meeting Thursday, March 28. It will first be implemented with Michigan Medicine providing some of its pediatric services through Sparrow childrens Center in Lansing. The joint venture is expected to launch in early May.

Under the agreement, Michigan Medicine acquires a 50-percent contractual interest in Sparrows pediatric service line. That means both parties have a 50-50 stake in decisions involving things like where to invest and what incremental services are needed, while splitting any returns down the middle.

Its a privilege to partner with Sparrow to provide care for children and families in the communities of mid-Michigan, C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital Interim Executive Director Chris Dickinson said. Our commitment is always to keep care close to home for families, and this relationship will help us do that.

Like other joint affiliation agreements Michigan Medicine has signed in the past, University of Michigan Health System President David Spahlinger said a needs assessment was conducted to determine what services were in demand at Sparrow and how soon they are needed.

Spahlinger stressed the agreement will allow Sparrow to expand its pediatric services, but will not have an impact on Sparrows existing relationship with MSUs College of Human Medicine.

The goal is to meet the needs of the greater Lansing area for pediatric services, Spahlinger said. You cant have everybody travel to Ann Arbor. Even with the (C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital) we put up in (2011), theres 90 percent occupancy already. Theres no way we could hospitalize everybody there. We have to look at wheres the right place for kids to be treated and provide those services in a more convenient way."

Michigan Medicine and Sparrow Health System engaged in affiliation discussions in 2017 to explore the formation of a master affiliation agreement between the two health systems. The two health systems also explored a joint venture regarding Sparrows pediatric services.

A second phase of the affiliation agreement will involve Michigan Medicine acquiring 25 percent membership interest in a new holding company that includes Sparrows health plan, Physicians Health Plan, and its related health insurance businesses.

Michigan Medicine will appoint one-third of the members of a holding company board for Physicians Health Plan. Certain major actions of the company, including changes to its strategic plan and acquisitions, must be approved unanimously by Michigan Medicines appointees on the board.

Both organizations plan to appoint representatives to an oversight committee that will approve all proposed cooperative agreements and work together on future proposals.

Our organizations are coming together to mutually serve our pediatric patients," Sparrow Health System Chief Medical and Quality Officer Karen Kent VanGorder said. Sparrow physicians, and the children we care for, will have expanded access to the latest pediatric expertise and clinical care resources.

The investment is expected to be completed within the next three to six months, Spahlinger said, pending required state insurance commission approval.

Sparrow Health System owns and operates two Lansing-based hospital campuses and several community hospitals: Sparrow Clinto Memorial Hospital in St. Johns, Sparrow Ionia Hospital in Ionia and Carson City Hospital.

Michigan Medicine has signed affiliation agreements with other state health systems in recent years, including one with Metro Health in 2016, and Saint Joseph Mercy Health, when it established a joint venture for the 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea hospital in 2018.
FLINT, MI  Lead in Flint water flowed into a congressional hearing this week as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, lashed back at critics who called her Green New Deal elitist.

During a House Financial Service Committee meeting on March 26, U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wisconsin, mocked Ocasio-Cortezs plan, drawing comparisons to exclusiveness.

This is not an elitist issue, this is a quality-of-life issue, Ocasio-Cortez said. You want to tell people that their concern for clean air and clean water is elitist? Tell that to the kids in the South Bronx which are suffering from the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country. Tell that to the families in Flint, whose kids, have their blood, is ascending in lead levels. Their brains are damaged for the rest of their lives. Call them elitist.

Also in Michigan this week, Ocasio-Cortez, who has been a vocal critic of the President Donald J. Trump and the Trump administration, became the subject of a Trump Rally in Grand Rapids.

The president and his team stopped in Grand Rapids for a rally on Thursday, March 29. During the rally, The presidents son Donald Trump Jr. criticized Ocasio-Cortez.

"Think about the fact that every mainstream, leading Democratic contender is taking the advice of a freshman congresswoman who three weeks ago didnt know the three branches of government, Trump Jr. said. I dont know about you guys, but thats pretty scary."

Donald Trump Jr. blasts Ocasio-Cortez: "Think about the fact that every mainstream, leading Democratic contender is taking the advice of a freshman congresswoman who three weeks ago didnt know the three branches of government...thats pretty scary"



Crowd chants: "AOC sucks!" pic.twitter.com/Qh4TmyVSFi  Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) March 29, 2019

Trump Jr. was referring to Ocasio-Cortez, also known by her initials  AOC.

The crowd responded by chanting, AOC sucks!

You guys, youre not very nice, Trump Jr. said. And neither is what that policy would do to this country.
Update: The highway reopened shortly before 1 p.m. Friday.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A stretch of southbound U.S. 131 in Grand Rapids was temporarily closed Friday morning, March 29, following a vehicle crash that sent one driver to the hospital.

Michigan State Police troopers were dispatched to the rollover crash shortly before 10:30 a.m. Friday on the highway near Hall Street, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Mark Noorman, battalion chief with the Grand Rapids Fire Department, said two vehicles were involved in the rear-end crash. The collision resulted in one vehicle rolling over on its side.

The driver of the rolled vehicle was partially ejected," according to Noorman. She was transported to an area hospital via ambulance, and her condition was not immediately known.

There were no injuries reported in the second vehicle, Noorman said.

All lanes in the area were closed while police worked to investigate and clear the scene.

The crash remains under investigation by Michigan State Police. Grand Rapids police assisted with rerouting traffic around the crash scene.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Matt Ogas said he was hesitant to speak at, or even attend, one of Thursdays two three-hour fact-finding hearings put on by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights in an effort to determine if theres a discrimination case to be pursued against the Grand Rapids Police Department.

The Grand Rapids man left at one point during the afternoon hearing to collect himself before returning to tell the panel of state department representatives his story. He alleged that an officer forcibly arrested him because the officer felt disrespected by him while he was moving his vehicle in an effort to allow a passing driver through the crowded street.

I have only lived here two years and this is not my first problem with the Grand Rapids Police Department, Ogas said Thursday. And these people who have been here longer have had to deal with it countless times  This has to stop.

Hours of allegations of police intimidation, disrespect and racial-profiling were shared Thursday, most often followed by rounds of applause as more than 130 community members gathered for the first of two MDCR fact-finding hearings.

A second three-hour session was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Greater Grand Rapids NAACP office at 1530 Madison Ave. SE.

At least 30 community members shared their stories with the panel Thursday afternoon. Others submitted a written statement during the event, and the MDCR said it will accept submissions by mail or email for seven days following the hearing.

Agustin Arbulu, executive director of MDCR, said the hearing was a listening session to determine if there had been any violations of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in Michigan.

It was apparent his office needed to step in, he previously said, after two videos emerged this month, one of a city officer punching a black man in the thigh up to 30 times to force his compliance and another of officers holding two Latino teens at gunpoint after they repeatedly refused to show their hands when demanded.

Were beginning the fact-finding phase, Arbulu said. We dont know what well do yet but were going to hear you out  The next step is we could initiate a formal investigation into the Grand Rapids Police Department.

Arbulu gave each speaker five minutes and urged them to speak truthfully and without exaggeration. He said anyone who feels theyre retaliated against as a result of sharing their story should contact the MDCR.

Elaine Lewis, a legal fellow for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said incidents of racial-profiling and racial bias by officers in the department have left her feeling unsafe and unwelcome in my own home.

People have asked me about Grand Rapids and Ive told them its a great place to live, but its less great if youre not white, Lewis said.

Edgar Davis, a lifelong Grand Rapids resident, said he was discouraged by reports of two Latino teens who were stopped by police for walking in the street earlier this month, and later detained at gunpoint when the teens failed to cooperate in giving police their names.

Davis said he regularly sees school track teams run in the street without being stopped by police.

Just do your job fairly, Davis said. Treat black kids the way you treat white kids. I always see the white kids walking in the street. But Ive never seen a police car getting them out of the street. Thats the major problem with this community.

A woman said she didnt feel safe calling the police even when she needs their help.

Others who spoke Thursday shared allegations from officer intimidation and aggression, to racial profiling and wrongful convictions. Many who shared their stories said they felt they were treated differently because of the color of their skin.

One woman, who owned a small retail business in West Grand Rapids for nearly 10 years, said she regularly encountered officers and never saw any incidents of disrespect from officers toward those who had committed crimes at her store. She was the lone voice who spoke in defense of the police department.

Representatives from the state Department of Civil Rights will review resident submissions before determining whether or not to open a formal investigation into the police department. No uniformed officers were in attendance at Thursdays first session.
JACKSON, MI -- Passionate.

Thats how close friend Kim Conant describes Monte Long -- known as Jacksons music man.

For nearly 30 years, Long filled the Jackson community with music and theater.

He taught voice privately and at Spring Arbor University, accompanied the Northwest High School choir, directed the South Jackson Community Church choir, was talent coordinator for the Rosequeen Pageant, was assistant music director of the Jackson Chorale and acted in and directed shows for nearly every community theater group in Jackson.

He never basked in the glory of a moment, but if he knew how many lives he touched and could read the sentiments, hear the stories people told and how they remember him -- hed be surprised, but so humbled, said Conant, who taught with Long at his studio, "The Lesson Connection, which closed in 2008.

Long died Feb. 9 after a short illness. He was 66 years old.

His life will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 31, at Jacksons historic Michigan Theatre, 124 N. Mechanic St. O Come All Ye Faithful will be sung to celebrate the annual Christmas show Long put on, which was his baby, Conant said.

People who knew Long, including Mike and the Mellow Men, Center Stage Jackson and Gary Minix also will perform.

Long was born in 1952 in Dixon, Ill. and moved to Jackson in 1977 while teaching voice lessons at Spring Arbor University and Lansing Community College. Jackson was a convenient spot between the two, he said.

Long didnt plan to stay in Jackson. It was just meant to be a hiatus because he had the capability to go anywhere, Conant said. But he stayed because he knew Jackson was a place he could make a difference.

"This to me seems like what life should be like," Long said previously. "Here, people seem to appreciate what I do. They care when I work hard. That's not something I was getting while living on either coast."

When Long acted, he put his entire soul into it, and when producing, hed fully step into the role, Conant said.

He studied music at Interlochen Arts Academy and Michigan State University, taking time off to tour with the Norman Luboff Choir.

He was passionate about teaching, music and church choir, Conant said. He was just passionate about life.

Conant and Long met in 1978 when she was 15 years old and he was 25. She was in the Sweet Adelines choir that he taught, she said, adding it was surreal to be taught by him.

"He had a way of bringing out the best in you and wasnt above pushing you to get there, she said.

Conant recently released a new CD and inside the cover she thanks Long because, Every time I said I couldnt, Long said I can and will, she said.

He saw Jackson as a place he could grow and share his talent and make things better, Conant said. I think he made a difference. The theater wouldnt be the same without him.

Long left Jackson in 2009 to manage a large, private music school in Delaware. He accepted the job, saying it was the chance to branch out and be an administrator instead of the working bee.

(Jackson) has been home for a long time, he said then. My students and their families are like family to me now.

Long is survived by his mother, two brothers, two nephews and one niece. He was preceded in death by his father.
EATON RAPIDS TWP., MI  The discovery a decomposed body Wednesday evening in the woods north of Eaton Rapids is now being investigated as a homicide, police say.

Police received a 911 call at 6:41 p.m. March 27, from a person who found what appeared to be human remains near the intersection of Wilber Highway and Spruce Road in northern Eaton Rapids Township, according to an Eaton County Sheriffs Office statement.

The body, believed to be that of a woman, was found in an advanced state of decomposition, police said.

The identity of the deceased woman is still unknown, police said. They are not releasing any additional details at this time.

Detectives and evidence technicians assisted by the Michigan State Police Crime Lab and Michigan State University Anthropology Department processed the scene and recovered the remains which were turned over to the Medical Examiners Office for evaluation, police said.

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information that may assist is asked to call Eaton County Det. Rick Buxton at 517-323-8484.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- President Donald Trump has returned to the city that ended his 2016 campaign, while thousands of eager supporters wait in downtown Grand Rapids for his first Michigan event of the 2020 campaign cycle.

Trump landed in Air Force One at Gerald R. Ford International Airport shortly after 6:20 p.m. Thursday. The president was greeted by Michigan Republicans before departing to his campaign rally at Van Andel Arena set to start at 7 p.m.

Air Force One Arrival in Grand Rapids President Donald J. Trump arrives in Air Force One ahead of Grand Rapids campaign rally Posted by MLive.com on Thursday, March 28, 2019

U.S. Reps. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, John Moolenar, R-Midland, Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, state Rep. Matt Hall, R-Emmet Township, and former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette met Trump on the runway after Air Force One landed. The president greeted them and waved to the media, then entered his motorcade.

Trump held several campaign stops in West Michigan and Southeast Michigan during the last election cycle, which helped him narrowly win the state in 2016. Several counties Trump won went to Democratic candidates in last years midterm elections, setting up Michigan to be a competitive battleground in 2020.

Trump is expected to rally his base in West Michigan in his first campaign rally after the U.S. Special Counsel investigation cleared Trump of coordinating with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. In a Thursday morning tweet, the president teased topics for the evening rally which include auto manufacturing - a key part of his 2016 messaging in Michigan.

On my way to Grand Rapids, Michigan right now. See you all very soon! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/JjGAijXlRT  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019

Ahead of Trumps visit, U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, criticized the president for not living up to his many broken promises to hardworking families in Michigan."

In a Thursday statement, Kildee said the president has failed to prevent auto manufacturers from closing plants and laying off workers in the Midwest and will negatively affect residents with a budget proposal that cuts funding for Social Security and Medicare.

The Michigan Democratic Party is holding a protest near the rally venue. Richard Ojeda, who gave up his West Virginia State Senate seat to launch a short-lived presidential campaign will join Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack and other activists at Rosa Parks Circle.

Others, including a group with a Baby Trump balloon, and a West Michigan branch of the Socialist Alternative, also held protests outside Van Andel Arena.

Campaign National Press Secretary Kayleigh McEneny said Thursday that Trump will highlight the investigations conclusion during the 2020 election.

Its really important to point out that for two years Democrats lied, she said. Not that there was just collusion but that they had evidence of it. Those were lies and they were exposed. Now every 2020 contender needs to answer for it.

At the start of the week, Attorney General William Barrs delivered his summary on the long-awaited U.S. Special Counsel investigation. Barr said the investigation did find Russian efforts to interfere with the election, but did not find sufficient evidence of collusion with the Trump campaign.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice while the investigation was ongoing, another allegation trumpeted by the presidents political rivals. Barr was left to determine whether the president committed a crime and determined that Trumps actions did not constitute obstruction of justice.

Still, Mueller stopped short of entirely exonerating Trump of obstruction of justice. Barrs summary is also only four pages long, while the full Mueller report could contain details that cast the president in a negative light.

Bipartisan lawmakers, including those in Michigans congressional delegation, have called for the full report to be released to the public.

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, introduced a resolution Wednesday directing the House Judiciary Committee to begin investigating whether Trump committed any actions constituting impeachable offenses since his inauguration. Part of the investigation would include whether Trump obstructed justice.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- President Donald Trump promised to fully fund the $300 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative after previously proposing massive cuts to the program in his 2020 budget proposal.

Trumps first three budget proposals as president sought to cut funds by 90 percent, reducing the program to $30 million, but Congress fully funded the initiative through the Environmental Protection Agency. The cuts attracted bipartisan opposition from Michigan lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, who traveled with Trump to a March 28 rally in Grand Rapids.

The funds are used to target threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem, including cleaning up toxic substances, blocking invasive species, restoring habitats and reducing the causes of harmful algal blooms. At a packed Van Andel Arena, Trump said he agreed with Michigan lawmakers that funding for should be protected.

Theyre beautiful, Trump said of the Great Lakes. Theyre big very deep. Record deep. And Im going to get in honor of my friends full funding of $300 million dollars for the Great Lakes restoration.

Trump said the time is right to fund the program.

Huizenga, co-chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force, previously said the GLRI is a critical program that helps clean pollution, restore habitats and prevent the spread of invasive species.

U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, and Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, also released statements criticizing the proposed cuts. Stabenow, co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, was a Senate co-sponsor of the bill to establish the initiative when it was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama in 2009.

The GLRI initially committed $475 million but funding dropped to just under $300 million in 2011 and has stayed there since.

The 2020 cut was not highlighted in Trumps budget outline this year, instead reflected as a line item in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys 2020 budget brief. The 2018 presidential budget proposal included an explanation for the cut, stating that the move allows EPA to focus on its highest national priorities.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- President Donald Trump said a 2020 victory in Michigan should be much easier than the tight contest he came out on the winning end of in the last election.

During a high-energy campaign rally in Grand Rapids on Thursday evening, Trump promised he would fight for Michiganders, their jobs and communities. The president noted that Michigan helped propel him to the White House and pledged his loyalty to voters who rejected the failed political establishment" in 2016.

Kent County helped Trump narrowly win Michigan by 10,704 votes. Several counties Trump won went to Democratic candidates in last years midterm elections, setting up Michigan to be a competitive battleground in 2020.

The president arrived in Grand Rapids slightly off schedule, landing in Air Force One at Gerald R. Ford International Airport shortly after 6:20 p.m. Trump was greeted by U.S. Reps. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, John Moolenar, R-Midland, Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, state Rep. Matt Hall, R-Emmet Township, and former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

Inside a packed Van Andel Arena, Trump reflected on his Grand Rapids rally on the eve of Election Day in 2016, which continued into the early morning. Trump, who focused on Michigan heavily in his 2016 campaign, told the crowd, you were with me. I wont forget it, and you will be very proud, looking back, that you did it.

Thousands of supporters filled the arena on March 28, with hundreds more spilling out into the streets showed their support. Trump blamed Democrats and 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton for taking Michigan for granted in 2016.

With us you will never, ever be forgotten again," he said.

The president kept a focus on auto manufacturing, saying he would protect blue collar jobs and penalize companies who move facilities out of the United States. Before he took office, the American automobile industry was decimated, Trump said.

The president said he quickly took dramatic action to save the American auto industry and to defend Michigan auto workers. He pointed to his rollback of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards along with his work on trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Thats why one of my very first acts in office was to withdraw our country from that horrible, potentially disastrous trade deal and stop the offshoring of Michigan jobs, he said of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

He decried the shipping of auto jobs to Mexico and other countries, pointing to plants in Michigan and Ohio and said, get the damn plants open.

Trump said the Green New Deal, an expansive set of economic reforms to combat climate change, is bad for Michigan auto makers.

We want a lot of cars per family," Trump said. "We want people to keep making them.

Before the rally, National Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the campaign considers Michigan a key battleground in 2020. McEnany said Michigan is Trump state," not Republican state, because the president hammered home an economic message that resonated with residents.

President Trump uniquely connects with people in Michigan, McEnany told MLive outside Van Andel Arena. President Trump was the first Republican president who was willing to tackle issues other Republican presidents had ignored, trade being the optimal issue here in Michigan to talk about."

In another effort to connect with Michigan voters, Trump promised to fully fund the $300 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Trumps first three budget proposals as president sought to cut funds by 90 percent, reducing the program to $30 million, but Congress fully funded the initiative through the Environmental Protection Agency. The cuts attracted bipartisan opposition from Michigan lawmakers, including Huizenga and Bergman, who traveled with Trump to the venue.

The funds are used to target threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem, including cleaning up toxic substances, blocking invasive species, restoring habitats and reducing the causes of harmful algal blooms. Trump said he agreed with Michigan lawmakers that funding for should be protected.

Theyre beautiful, Trump said of the Great Lakes. Theyre big very deep. Record deep. And Im going to get in honor of my friends full funding of $300 million dollars for the Great Lakes restoration.

Experience gained and accomplishments earned during his first term should make a re-election bid more assured, Trump said.

"When I campaign, remember, its going to be so much easier the second time, Trump said. Im one-for-one.

Russia hoax

Trump spent a significant amount of time at the start of the speech railing against Democrats, the news media and deep state for pushing a fake narrative that he colluded with the Russian government.

A recently concluded but long-running U.S. Special Counsel investigation clearing Trump of allegations of coordinating election interference left the president feeling completely vindicated. He went on to call accusations surrounding Russia the single greatest political hoax in the countrys history.

Trump went on to say the Russian collusion story is not just an attack on him, but an attack on American democracy. Democrats and losers schemed to overturn the results of the 2016 election, he told the Grand Rapids crowd, and must be held accountable.

Trump said the credibility of those who pushed this hoax is forever broken."

The Grand Rapids event was Trumps first campaign rally since Attorney General William Barr submitted his summary of the U.S. Special Counsel investigation on March 24. Barr concluded the report clears Trump of coordinating with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election.

Barr said the investigation found two notable Russian efforts to interfere with the election, but did not find sufficient evidence of collusion with the Trump campaign.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice while the investigation was ongoing, leaving it for Barr to determine that Trumps actions did not commit a crime.

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, introduced a resolution Wednesday directing the House Judiciary Committee to begin investigating whether Trump committed any actions constituting impeachable offenses since his inauguration. Part of the investigation would include whether Trump obstructed justice.

Ahead of Trumps visit, U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, criticized the president for not living up to his many broken promises to hardworking families in Michigan."

Kildee and Tlaib are among other members of Michigans congressional delegation who called for the full Mueller report to be released.

Tough on immigration

Trump said it may be necessary to shut down the southern U.S. border with Mexico to stop an invasion of migrants pouring into the country.

Trump criticized Democrats for being soft on immigration. The president said his political opponents want to set violent offenders free," while he is trying to build a wall to keep communities safe.

Before the rally Thursday, Trump campaign National Press Secretary Kayleigh McEneny said border security, affects all states across the country, including Michigan.

Everyone is affected by a porous border, she said.

Trump said the country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans, not for criminal aliens. To that end, Trump deployed 4,000 troops to install wire barriers and monitor the southern border.

Trump said the border is a source of a lot of problems," including drug and human trafficking. Hundreds of Americans die every day from potent illegal drugs like heroin and fentanyl.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70,237 people died of drug overdoses in 2017. Opioids were involved in nearly 68 percent of those deaths.

The president defended the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which has faced calls to be abolished or reformed from some Democrats. Trump said ICE agents like apprehending criminals and are good at it, comparing agents to Michiganders who like making cars right.

The Republican Party will always stand with the heroes of ICE, Trump said.

The U.S. House failed to override Trumps veto of legislation to block his national emergency declaration to secure funds for the southern border.

Trump said he was proud to veto the reckless resolution, which gathered support from Republicans in the House and Senate.

The fight over border wall funding is expected to be resolved in court, but for now the emergency declarations fate is uncertain. However, Trump was adamant that the southern border wall would be built, saying he would be meeting with contractors in the next few weeks.

At the end of the night, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to bring prosperity to Michigan families.

Reflecting on the thing that stood out most from Trump's speech tonight, Jay Hanselman, of Trenton, said "for me, it's probably trying to secure the border."

Hes heard talk about Michigan being possibly the swing state for the whole election in 2020. It may be, he said, and hes excited about the possibility.
Journalists of all races are demanding answers after a Savannah, Georgia political strategy meeting  held in an effort to unite the citys black community behind a mayoral candidate  barred all white press from entry.

A sign on the door of Bolton Street Baptist Church clearly read Black Press Only! before the Wednesday night meeting, organized by Rev. Clarence Teddy Williams. He refused to discuss the entry policy with media, several of whom were left on the wrong side of the door when the meeting began.

Van Johnson, one of the two mayoral candidates who attended the event, told WTOC that he had been invited to speak to a gathering of African American community leaders, but was not made aware of the blacks-only press policy, which he called unfortunate. Like most of the American South, Savannah was legally segregated until 1963  a policy no one seems interested in reviving.

READ MORE: Facebook bans all praise of white nationalism & white separatism

Three black candidates have entered their names in Novembers mayoral race in the hope of unseating Eddie DeLoach  Savannahs first white mayor in two decades. Because the mayoral election is nonpartisan, all qualifying candidates appear on the ballot, meaning the black candidates could potentially split the vote, handing DeLoach another term.

Also on rt.com 'Pick my cotton, n****r': University of Georgia frat suspended over racist VIDEO

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DUP wont support Brexit deal Friday or in future  MP Wilson

DUP wont support Brexit deal Friday or in future  MP Wilson

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Sammy Wilson said on Friday that he, and the rest of his party, would oppose the governments attempt to get approval for its EU Withdrawal Agreement at a vote later in the day and on future occasions, Reuters reports. Whatever means there are available to us should this agreement go through, we will continue to oppose it, Wilson told parliament, ahead of a vote due at 1430 GMT. We will not allow Northern Irelands position within the United Kingdom, Northern Irelands economy and the will of the people of the UK as a whole to become the plaything in the hands of bureaucrats from Brussels. DUP votes are crucial for the UK government to get its deal with the EU passed.Source : RT - Daily news
A lawsuit was filed against Boeing in a US federal court on Thursday in what appears to be the first litigation over the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash which killed 157 people.

The lawsuit was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda. It alleges that Boeing, which manufactures the 737 MAX, had defectively designed the automated flight control system. It follows earlier suits against the US company over the October Indonesia crash.

The subject accident occurred because, among other things, Boeing defectively designed a new flight control system for the Boeing 737 MAX 8 that automatically and erroneously pushes the aircrafts nose down, and because Boeing failed to warn of the defect, the complaint said.

Also on rt.com Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash: Questions that remain unanswered

Steven Marks, the lawyer who filed the complaint, has criticized the certification process for the 737 Max 8, saying it amounted to an amendment of a 50-year-old model rather than a more rigorous approval process for a new aircraft.

Boeing and the FAA knew about the dangers and they failed to ground the fleet, said Marks, who also is suing over the Lion Air crash which happened in Indonesia. He said the similarities between the two accidents are very clear.

Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit. According to the companys spokesperson, who was cited by the Guardian, it ... is working with the authorities to evaluate new information as it becomes available. All inquiries about the ongoing accident investigation must be directed to the investigating authorities, the spokesperson said.

Also on rt.com Airlines lining up for Boeing compensation over grounded jets

The US aerospace giant is under intense scrutiny after two crashes, less than six months apart, killed 346 people. It is facing a criminal probe and questions from lawmakers over whether it has too cozy a relationship with its US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration.

The company will have to make substantial payouts to the families of passengers if its found responsible for both the Indonesia and Ethiopia crashes. Experts say the second accident could prove even more damaging for the company because plaintiffs will argue the manufacturer was put on notice by the earlier tragedy.

Also on rt.com Boeings latest crashes pose serious risk to global AI development  analysts

The worlds biggest aircraft manufacturer Boeing lost billions of dollars in market value in the days after the Ethiopia crash as regulators grounded all MAX 8s across the globe.

The company is now preparing to submit final paperwork to US regulators for a software upgrade to an anti-stall countermeasure on the 737 MAX which investigators said, in a preliminary report, repeatedly pushed the nose down on the MAX operated by Lion Air.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
A former cop is seeking damages after watching an episode of a crime thriller, which he claims slanders the entire Russian law enforcement. The hot and steamy scene involves a police investigator using his sidearm as a sex toy.

As a patriot and a former officer, I am offended, the plaintiff told RIA Novosti. This scene depicts a policeman as a pervert who lacks professionalism and treats his sidearm with total disregard.

He asked a court in St. Petersburg to award him about $775 in compensation for his moral suffering. It was not immediately clear if the lawsuit, which some would call frivolous, would be actually considered by justice.

Also on rt.com Porn actress says Im with you and plans to run for governor in Russia

The series the ex-cop targeted is touted as a Russian counterpart for True Detective  a moody crime thriller with elements of mysticism unfolding against the backdrop of Arctic Gothics. Creative sex scenes are one of its strong points, according to some reviews.

Considering that its only available through online distribution, the plaintiff must have made some effort to obtain the footage, which he found so offensive. And if his intention was to punish the distributor, he has done the opposite  his lawsuit has garnered media attention, giving the series some free publicity.

Producers of the thriller said they didnt mean to hurt anyone with their work of fiction. The distributor said it has added a disclaimer before each episode, which says particularly impressionable viewers are discouraged from watching.

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George Clooney has called for a boycott of nine luxury hotels in the US, UK, Italy and France which are owned by the Sultan of Brunei, who recently announced the introduction of the death penalty for homosexuality in the kingdom.

The actor has called for a boycott of assets owned by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who has held the throne since 1967, and boasts a personal fortune of $20 billion.

In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism, this stands alone, Clooney wrote in an opinion piece for Deadline in which he referred to the sultan as the Big Kahuna, adding that Brunei isnt a significant country.

The move comes in response to the kingdoms recent announcement of the imposition of Sharia law, which includes stoning or whipping to death for any citizen caught engaging in adulterous or homosexual sex. Theft will now be punishable by amputation when the law takes effect on April 3.

Also on rt.com Bruneis law mandating STONING TO DEATH of gays & adulterers to come into force next week

Every single time we stay at, or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery, Clooney argued. Are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations?

Brunei is a tiny kingdom with a population of just 450,000 located on the island of Borneo, neighboring the Islamic nations of Indonesia and Malaysia. It does, however, have significant oil reserves and was ranked by Forbes as the worlds fifth-richest nation.

The nine hotels (including the Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, and the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles) are operated by the Dorchester Collection luxury chain, which itself is owned by the Brunei Investment Agency.

Clooney did, however, concede that similar efforts in the past eventually were only effective to a point as the outrage that fueled the initial boycott eventually subsided and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws.

The Kingdom of Brunei first announced its intention to introduce Sharia law back in 2013 but only recently confirmed the death penalty for homosexuality and adultery, which will take effect from April 3.

Clooney received many plaudits for his activism online.

However, some criticized the Hollywood star and activist for attacking the results but not the reason for the decision.

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Germany will retain its ban on the export of weapons to Saudi Arabia until at least October, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. Berlin has faced mounting pressure from allies over the move.

The ban will be extended for a further six months to September 30. Over this period, no new export applications will be approved, Angela Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement on Thursday.

The decision on whether to extend the ban was a contentious one. Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU) wanted to soften the stance on Saudi Arabia, while its coalition ally, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), stood firmly behind the current ban, Deutsche Weller reported.

Also on rt.com Useless to make arms together if you wont let us export them to Saudis, France moans to Germany

Berlin introduced a ban on arms sales to the kingdom last November in response to the brutal killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Turkey. The journalist, who was a prominent critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was allegedly suffocated by a Saudi hit squad, who then disposed of his body by cutting it into pieces with a saw.

Amid the fallout from the murder and concerns over the Saudi role in the Yemen bombing campaign, Germany imposed an embargo on future arms deals with the Gulf kingdom, halting existing weapons deliveries.

The embargo was initially supposed to expire on March 9, but was extended up until the end of the month. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stated in early March that the decision was made in connection to developments in Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition has caused mass civilian casualties and has faced accusations of carrying out indiscriminate bombings that amount to war crimes.

It was reported in December that the death toll from the Yemeni bloodshed had surpassed 60,000 people. Due to the Saudi-imposed blockade, Yemenis are suffering from a lack of food, medicine and basic supplies. The campaign brought the war-ravaged country to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe and famine, making it prone to outbreaks of infectious diseases like measles, diphtheria and cholera.

Also on rt.com Think of the billions! UKs Hunt urges Germany to drop Saudi arms sales ban

Apart from causing internal strife, the embargo has also strained relations between Berlin and two other European powerhouses, the UK and France. Both London and Paris admonished the German government for not lifting the ban, since it precludes the sales of their own weapons to Riyadh that are manufactured using German-made components covered by the Berlin ban.

While the US, which is Saudi Arabias biggest arms supplier, France and the UK decided to proceed with the sales, Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland joined the ban, suspending their export licenses for the oil-rich kingdom.

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In a scene that could have come right out of Top Gun, India seems to have knocked its own helicopter out of the sky with a missile aimed at intruding Pakistani jets, according to media reports.

A little over a month after Indian authorities claimed that 25 Pakistani fighter jets were detected attempting to breach Indian airspace, sources say a defensive missile fired during the incident may have seriously missed its mark.

Indias Economic Times (ET) reports that the missile was fired shortly before an Mi-17 V5 helicopter on a routine mission crashed, leading to speculation that India accidently destroyed its own aircraft. Six air force personnel were killed in the crash, along with one civilian who was hit by the debris.

The final moments preceding the crash, including if the IFF (Identity, Friend or Foe) systems were switched on or not, are being carefully looked at to determine what went wrong, ET reported. Their sources say that it is well within the realm of possibility that a malfunction could have resulted in the targeting systems mistaking the helicopter for a low-flying unmanned attack vehicle. Eyewitnesses also heard a loud explosion in the air at the time the chopper went down.

The sturdy $17 million Mi-17 V5 helicopter has not been prone to any serious technical failures. The equipment is also fairly new, the first of the choppers entered into service in 2012.

Aside from looking into possible technical malfunctions with the Israeli-made missile, highly placed sources among the air force told ET they are also investigating if any personnel may have been responsible, threatening a possible court martial over the fatal mishap.

The alleged cross-border aerial assault took place a day after an Indian air raid on suspected terrorist infrastructure in Pakistani territory. India has long accused Pakistan of harboring militants from the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), who they blame for a car-bombing which killed 44 members of the Central Reserve Police Force earlier in the year.

Islamabad denies that JeM has any infrastructure set up in the areas New Delhi has indicated as possible terrorist training-camp locations, even offering to allow Indian officials to inspect suspected sites themselves.

Also on rt.com Pakistan claims no terror camps or detainee connections to Pulwama attack

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A new alarming report claims American Christian conservative groups funneled millions to fund shocking meddling in European politics. Seems like a big scoop, or just a ploy to sway European Parliament elections?

The report released by the UK-based political website openDemocracy this week spares no black paint to produce a picture of gross interference in European affairs. The perpetrators are conservative Christian charities, which, the records show, pumped at least $50 million into European countries.

All the right names that can scare a left-leaning reader are duly mentioned. Donald Trump? Check. Vladimir Putin? Check. Steve Bannon? Check, three times. Also listed are billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, the DeVos family, including Blackwater founder Erik Prince, and the evangelical preacher Billy Graham  who notably travelled to Russia earlier this month, the report stressed for some arcane reason.

Of course the US public records over the past decade, which openDemocracy used as the source for the figure, dont identify the recipients. But the readers may well assume that they had the most nefarious goals in mind.

The scale of this meddling by US extremists is shocking, but sadly no surprise to us. Every day European societies face concerted attacks by outside forces seeking to impose reproductive coercion, commented Caroline Hickson, regional director of the International Planned Parenthood Federations European Network. This is utterly at odds with the European values of democracy and human rights.

The authors make no secret that they compiled their work ahead of the European Parliament elections, which will be held throughout EU member states in late May. Right-wing and Eurosceptic parties are widely expected to score big wins at the ballot. Some 40 incumbent MEPs penned a letter calling for action to investigate US Christian fundamentalists and their influence on Europe.

Pot calling kettle black, just like with Russia

The report seems to be an exercise in scaremongering, painting private donations made by a conservative foundation as something untoward, John Laughland, British conservative author and historian, told RT.

Some of the organizations that they mention I personally know. This is just ridiculous. There are MEPs and European political parties that receive money from American sources, including liberals, he said.

Also on rt.com Brussels cries conspiracy over Hungarys ads showing smiling Soros behind EU immigration agenda

The notion of dark money being used to interfere in European affairs has been around in some political circles for quite some time. The only difference with this report is that the parties accused of interfering are private charities rather than a foreign nation like Russia, the most popular target for such accusations in the past few years.

Perceiving dark money behind political opponents is a kind of conspiratorial thinking that some people in the left-wing camp demonstrate, Laughland added. They think that any kind of movement or current of ideas that is not their current of ideas is either because people are stupid or because they are paid, he said.

The complaints about Russian election interference made by the EU and the US, which have a long record of their own meddling in foreign nations, looks like a vivid example of pot calling kettle black, he said. The left complaining about the right receiving foreign money while receiving foreign money themselves would look similarly hypocritical.

Dont turn this into a Bannon v Soros culture war

British Journalist Neil Clark, pointed out that while $50 million may seem like a large sum of money even spent over ten years, it dwarfs compared to the billions and billions floating around in European politics. A significant portion of that money goes to liberal causes funded by wealthy sponsors like Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, the best-known person of that ilk.

The impact that his Open Society Foundations made on Europe, especially in the eastern part during post-Soviet transition, is undeniable. Incidentally, the foundation is one of the primary sponsors of openDemocracy itself, alongside US-based groups like National Endowment for Democracy, and the Ford Foundation.

Also on rt.com Eurosceptic parties set to double seats in EU Parliament after May elections  poll

Clark warned against piling up a dozen Christian conservative groups into one vaguely neo-Nazi-shaped boogeyman, which is what the report seems to have done. More so, if the goal was to turn it into a campaigning point for the May elections.

The issue that the left should be fighting on is economic. Employment, rising poverty in Europe, austerity  these are the issues they should be focusing on, and not culture wars, he told RT. And this report to me seems as if it wants to encourage culture wars Basically, Steve Bannon versus George Soros.

If left parties do go down that path, it may backfire, Clark said. There are plenty of Christians living in Europe, who vote left. Starting a war with American Christian conservatives would not win votes in Europe.

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Philippines journalist and Duterte critic freed on bail after new arrest

Philippines journalist and Duterte critic freed on bail after new arrest

The head of a Philippines news website known for critical reports about President Rodrigo Duterte was freed on bail hours after she was re-arrested at a Manila airport on Friday. You cannot harass and intimidate journalists to silence. Well stand up and fight against it, Maria Ressa, the award-winning head of news platform Rappler, said after posting bail of 90,000 pesos ($1,707). Rappler and its officials are now facing 11 cases, said Ressa, who posted bail for the seventh time. The journalist was served an arrest warrant over a libel case live on television last month and spent a night in detention before she was released, Reuters reports. She was arrested again on Friday minutes after arriving from the United States on charges she had violated foreign ownership rules.Source : RT - Daily news
Russian ships are keeping a close eye on NATO, whose three frigates recently crossed into the Black Sea, preparing to sail near Crimea and conduct a joint naval drill with Ukraine and Georgia.

The large patrol ship Vasily Bykov, along with surveillance ship Ivan Khurs, both of Russias Black Sea Fleet, are closely tracking the movement of NATO vessels in the area, the Defense Ministry said.

The photos and videos from Turkey had earlier showed three NATO frigates passing through the Bosporus Strait and entering the Black Sea on Thursday. The ships  Canadian HMCS Toronto, Spains Santa Maria, and Dutch HNLMS Evertsen  are set to visit the Ukrainian port of Odessa, near Russias Crimea. They are later scheduled to participate in the Sea Shield 19 naval drill, together with ships from Ukraine and Georgia.

NATO has stepped up its posturing in the Black Sea in recent years. In January, Washington dispatched destroyer USS Donald Cook to spend more than a week in the region, training with the Georgian Navy. A month later, the ship paid a visit to Ukraine, docking in Odessa.

Also on rt.com US Navy landing ship arrives to Black Sea to advance security and stability in Europe

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Trump, Moon to discuss N. Korea in Washington in April  Seoul

Trump, Moon to discuss N. Korea in Washington in April  Seoul

US President Donald Trump will host his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in next month, Seoul said Friday. The meeting comes after the latest summit between Washington and Pyongyang ended in deadlock. Moon will visit Washington on April 11, according to the Souths presidential Blue House. The two leaders will have in-depth talks to coordinate their stance on setting up a peace regime on the Korean peninsula through complete denuclearization, said Yoon Do-han, the senior presidential press secretary. The White House confirmed the visit and the planned talks on North Korea. In Seoul, Moon has been under criticism from the countrys right-wing politicians for his dovish approach following the no-deal outcome from the Hanoi summit, AFP reported.Source : RT - Daily news
Turkey will honor deal to purchase Russias S-400s  FM Cavusoglu

Turkey will honor deal to purchase Russias S-400s  FM Cavusoglu

Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said the deal to purchase S-400 defense systems from Russia will be honored, and that Ankara has met its obligations to be part of the US F-35 fighter aircraft program. Speaking in Antalya at a news conference with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Cavusoglu also said Turkey had no intention of selling the S-400s to another country. Turkey and Russia are discussing delivery times, the minister said According to him, the US is making contradictory statements over the F-35 program. Four US senators on Thursday introduced a bill to prohibit the transfer of F-35s to Turkey until the US government certifies that Ankara will not take delivery of a the S-400 system, Reuters reported.Source : RT - Daily news
Washington has demanded non-US oil trading houses and refiners cut operations with Venezuela beyond the already imposed sanctions or face sanctions themselves, according to a Reuters report.

The US State Department told foreign firms that the already existing restrictions on the South American nation are actually wider than on paper, the agency said on Thursday, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The demands reportedly covered any direct, indirect or barter oil trade with Caracas and those who refuse to comply with the demands may face sanctions themselves.

Also on rt.com Venezuela electricity crisis may challenge global oil market  IEA

While some companies, including ones from European states, Russia and India, continue to deal with Caracas, an official said that the firms should be aware of the possible risks they face by conducting business with sanctions-hit Venezuelan state-run oil major PDVSA.

This is how the United States operates these days. They have written rules, and then they call you to explain that there are also unwritten rules that they want you to follow, Reuters cited one of its sources as saying.

The Trump administration slapped Venezuelas oil industry with sanctions in January, as US-supported opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president. In particular, the US froze $7 billion of assets belonging to PDVSA and its US subsidiary Citgo.

The US now wants to cut supplies of gasoline and oil products used to dilute heavy Venezuelan crude to make it suitable for export. Diesel and jet fuel are exempted from the measures due to humanitarian reasons, according to a Reuters source.

The oil sector is crucial for Venezuelas economy as it accounts for most of the countrys revenues. US sanctions have already taken a toll on the countrys crude oil and fuel exports. February crude shipments sank 40 percent to 920,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to data from PDVSA and Refinitiv Eikon.

Earlier this month, Venezuelas oil minister and president of state-run oil company PDVSA, Manuel Quevedo, said that Caracas may divert oil originally bound for the US to Russia and China.

Quevedo is set to meet with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak next week. During the meeting, the ministers will discuss ways to increase Venezuelan oil exports to Russia among other issues, Novak told journalists on Friday.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
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Oil prices rose on Friday amid OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, putting crude markets on track for their biggest quarterly rise since 2009.

Brent crude oil futures were up 75 cents at $68.57 a barrel by 1150 GMT, set for a gain of more than 27 percent in the first quarter.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $60.15 per barrel, up 85 cents, and on track for a rise of more than 32 percent over the January-March period.

For the two futures contracts, January-March 2019 is the best-performing quarter since the second quarter of 2009, when both gained about 40 percent.

Oil prices have been supported for much of this year by an agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia to cut output by around 1.2 million barrels per day.

"Production cuts from the OPEC+ group of producers have been the main reason for the dramatic recovery since the 38 percent price slump seen during the final quarter of last year," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Barclays bank said on Friday oil prices "are likely to move still higher in Q2 and average $73 per barrel ($65 WTI), and $70 for the year".

Prices shrugged off a tweet from US President Donald Trump on Thursday calling for OPEC to boost crude production.

"While OPEC, and above all Saudi Arabia, appeared in November to be obeying US President Trump's repeated demands to increase oil production, his tweets now are more likely to fall on deaf ears," Commerzbank said in a note.

OPEC and its allies are scheduled to meet in June to set policy, but some cracks in the union are emerging.

OPEC's de facto leader Saudi Arabia favours cuts for the full year while Russia, which joined the agreement reluctantly, is seen as less keen to restrict supply beyond September.

US sanctions on OPEC members Iran and Venezuela are also buoying prices.

Washington is exerting further pressure on oil traders to cut oil dealing with Venezuela or face sanctions themselves.

Bank of America said it expected oil to rise in the short term, with Brent forecast to average $74 per barrel in the second quarter.

Heading towards 2020, however, the bank warned of a recession.

A monthly Reuters survey of economists and analysts forecast Brent would average $67.12 a barrel in 2019, about 1 percent higher than the previous poll's $66.44.
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Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on March 29 announced a new strategic initiative called L&T-Nxt, focusing on areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, geospatial solutions and cyber security.

As part of L&T-Nxt initiative, the management of India's largest construction and engineering firm will focus on incubating and scaling business verticals, mapping the landscape, formulating the road ahead and achieving the stated goal with go to market solutions.

L&T through its current engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and manufacturing businesses has been deploying IoT, analytics and AI in the industrial sector by digitalising most operational matters such as finance, human resources, labour, plant and material.

"Having reached a critical juncture in its developmental cycle, L&T is training its sights towards accelerating topline and bottomline growth. At the same time, it is expanding its potential for value creation by adopting a fresh mindset and building a new structure ground up," the company said in a statement.

L&T is trying to transform itself on lines of some of its larger global peers such as Siemens, Hitachi, ABB and General Electric that are powering fourth industrial revolution called as Industry 4.0, with focus on providing digitalisation and automation solutions to reduce costs, improve efficiency and help industries to comply with rising expectations of quality, environmental and safety regulations.

Disruption has become the new order and as we embrace new and frontier technologies. Our businesses are leapfrogging into entirely new realms powered by the tremendous benefits of digitalisation and analytics, said SN Subrahmanyan, Chief Executive Office and Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro, referring to the sustained and concerted efforts of the company to embrace digitalisation.

We are committing significant investments and talent into this strategic effort and are confident that this will be an enabler for business, he added.

JD Patil, Senior Executive Vice President (Defence Business) and member of the board, sees new technology businesses and sunrise enterprises as prime constituents, with the latent upside for rapid and substantial value creation. "The era of cyber-physical systems is just beginning. With the lines between the physical and digital blurring, he added.
Investors of National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) have approached the Prime Ministers Office and Ministry of Corporate Affairs minister PP Chaudhary highlighting the delay in the case and recovery of their dues.

Investors wrote to the PM, and Chaudhary, raising 10 questions with respect to allegations against 63 Moons (the erstwhile FTIL).

The letter also spoke in support of Ramesh Abhishek - the former Chairman of FMC and current Secretary of DIPP  who took action against 63 Moons and its promoters. The investors association wrote an email a week ahead of the implementation of the model code of conduct.

NSEL investors received only Rs 65 crore of the recovery amount in the six years since the scam broke out on July 31, 2013. The total claim is for Rs 5,600 crore.

As the affected group of investors, we have always been reaching out to officers of the State and Central Government to highlight the delays in the recovery process caused by both the Government, and its arms and agencies, said the investors, part of NSEL Aggrieved and Recovery Association.

Investors pointed out in their email that even after six years there was no clarity about the Settlement Guarantee Fund that was to help them get their dues.

The investors association raised questions such as, where did Rs 800 crore plus of Settlement Guarantee Fund of NSEL disappear just before the scam was exposed in July 2013? Who had hired NSEL management and kept them in charge since 2009 despite continuing and multiple irregularities, defaults and violations? Who appointed Mr Shankarlal Guru as the Chairman of NSEL, when his son-in-law Nilesh Patel was one of the largest defaulters on NSE?

They also questioned why ex-director and Jignesh Shahs close confidante, Joseph Massey was running away from the police.

Investors also expressed their annoyance over transfer of Rs 31 crore received from NAFED to 63 Moons. Why did NSEL clandestinely transfer Rs 31 crore that it received from NAFED to FTIL instead of distributing it to investors? FTIL later tendered an unequivocal and unconditional apology to Bombay High Court for taking this money.

The investor association said, The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is not pursuing the matters sincerely. The merger of NSEL with its parent company FTIL has been confirmed by the Hon'ble Bombay High Court in December 2017, the writ petition was filed in November 2014. Against the order of the High Court, FTIL has filed SLP in Supreme Court since February 2018. But the matter is not being heard even now and the ASG representing the Union of India has been allowing adjournments to FTIL.

The association praised the decision of the former chairman of Forward Market Commission Ramesh Abhishek and said, All the decisions of FMC were justiciable and could be and were challenged in the High Court and even the Supreme Court. No relief was granted to FTIL, clearly demonstrating that courts did not find anything wrong with the Not Fit and Proper order of FMC. If there was any bias or any prejudice, the courts would have clearly seen through.

Responding to a query sent by Moneycontrol, 63 Moons said, We have done whatever needs to be done as per the legal rights given to us under the Constitution of India. All the above points of your query are pertaining to 2013-14 and have already been raised in the past. Facts of these are a matter of investigation and part of court affidavits.

Any citizen, having respect for judiciary would like to have a trial held in the court, unlike your view of doing a proxy trial by you (individually) using the Moneycontrol platform without their consent and knowledge, we think.
(Image: Reuters)

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In an unexpected turn of events that could exacerbate circumstances around Jet Airways, its pilots may go on a strike from April 1, because of no salary payments. The airline's engineers also may join the strike, sources told Moneycontrol.

Pilots are yet to get their January and February salaries, and a large part of their December salary. There were expectations that they would get their arrears cleared by March-end, after Jet Airways' lenders agreed to infuse Rs 1,500 crore into the company. But that hasn't happened.

"A part of the expected interim funding from State Bank of India (SBI) was supposed to be actioned on March 29. Unfortunately, the fund transfer has not taken place, hence no update on salary payment from the management," said a communication to the pilots from its union, the National Aviators Guild.

"The collective decision of pilots taken at the Mumbai and Delhi open house effective April 1 prevails," it added.

On March 19, the NAG had decided that pilots won't report to work unless a letter of intent was signed for pending dues. The situation seemed to have improved later, when on March 25, Jet Airways' Chairman Naresh Goyal stepped down, paving the way for lenders to take over the airline.

"It looks like some paperwork has not been done, because of which the banks haven't transferred the money," said an executive from the industry.

A crisis could still be averted, if the pilots are assured that their dues will be cleared.
Within the next three months, a new government will gather the reins of power. Once again, government officials will try and resume work on economic issues that have been put on the backburner. Unfortunately, elections tend to have this impact. Overall, the tamasha is so compelling that innocent bystanders are sucked in to watch the acrobatics, all the while trying to make sense of the events being played out.

Three issues will immediately grip the attention of policymakers. The first will be jobs. India needs them urgently.

The second will be the worsening financial situation  especially when it comes to banks. They have been buffeted by loan waivers on one hand, while on the other they have been pressured to give away imprudent loans. Despite war cries against corruption, there is enough evidence that suggests the old corrupt ways continue. Bank managements continue to be arm-twisted to bail out airlines and favour industrialists.

The third challenge will be to find out ways in which the worsening balance of payments (BoP) situation can be remedied.

This article is an attempt to suggest how the third objective can be achieved, and in doing so, how the first objective could be addressed.

But a caveat is needed here. There are many ways to cope with the looming BoP problem. There are short-term solutions, long-term, and more sustainable solutions. But if a solution can meet the short-term requirement and unleashes long-term benefits, that would be wonderful. That is what this article explores.

Let's take a look at the country's balance of payments. The author has deliberately opted to look at data offered by the last Economic Survey for two reasons. The rupee figures given by the government and RBI recently could be misleading, because the rupee has depreciated significantly since then. It is better to stick to dollar-denominated numbers instead.

The second reason is that the numbers show how imports have now begun growing faster than exports. And this trend is likely to continue in the coming years. There is a global economic slowdown that is beginning to take firmer roots than ever before.

Moreover, trade barriers are being raised by countries to which India had conventionally exported substantial quantities. This includes the US, and the EU. India will have to refocus its attention on countries in Africa, South East Asia, or even Russia and China.

This is because the latter two countries could enjoy synergies with India that the rest of the world may not offer. Singapore may have a role to play here. But more on that another time.

It is these three countries that could be primarily responsible for actually causing the centre of gravity for global trade to shift to the East.

However, India will have to adopt other strategies as well. At a time when export growth cannot be pushed up easily, the country will have to find ways to reduce its import bills, without sacrificing growth. And this is where the author has been constantly pushing the case for boosting rooftop solar and converting waste to energy.

There's money in waste

Waste to energy alone has the potential of generating methane (which is similar to LNG or PNG as cooking or vehicle fuel). Just human and animal waste being converted into methane has the potential to generate around Rs 18 lakh crore worth of methane. Agro-waste has the potential to generate two or three times this amount.

One needs to look at the work Swedish commercial vehicles manufacturer Scania has done in Karnataka. It has set up small digestors in a few villages and has trained villagers to operate and maintain them. They are encouraged to sell rotten vegetables to the digestor at Re 1 per kg. The volumes collected produce enough methane to offer free cooking gas to households in the village on a daily basis. This way, farmers get money for vegetables as well, which could not be marketed earlier. And households can cook food without breathing in noxious fumes from burning cool can cause respiratory ailments.

If one goes by the Economic Survey of 2016-17 (Vol 2, para 5.22, the "negative impact on the respiratory system, cardiovascular diseases, neurological effects, etc" by just coal is tremendous.

Moreover, the report said, "The annual number of deaths linked to coal-based power plants pollution is estimated to be around 115,000 and the total monetary cost is around $4.6 billion." Multiply this by a factor of 10 because of the widespread nature of burning firewood, and the economic cost to India can be appreciated.

Now take a third of the potential for methane generation that India has through agro-waste and human and animal waste, and you then begin to realise that India can reduce its fuel import bills almost entirely. It could generate revenues of over a quarter trillion dollars. Surplus methane can be compressed, bottled and sold to other South East Asian and African countries. The savings on healthcare costs is a big bonus.

The sun is a healer

Nothing is a better antiseptic than sunlight - that is what most people often say. For India, the sun could improve its economic health. As pointed out in a recently-published column, there is no better solution for transforming India into rooftop solar.

What is interesting is that adopting the rooftop solar power strategy could create almost 80 million jobs within a few years. In fact, it has sometimes taken chief ministers to actually lobby with the Union power minister to let them adopt rooftop solar power in their respective states.

Now look at the other table. It is about the country's principal imports. Watch the number for petroleum, oil and lubricants. This number is easily the biggest import bill that India has to pay.

What is amazing is that both waste to energy or methane generation and solar power can help India reduce this bill significantly. Moreover, the scale of operations that rooftop solar will involve would easily allow India to master technologies relating to smart micro-grids and solar power management. These are skills that much of South East Asia and almost all of the African continent will be looking for. India could begin positioning itself as an exporter of such technology besides exporting methane.

That would take care of two of the biggest headaches the new government will have to confront  employment and balance of payment.

But what about the poor finances of banks and the financial system. Unfortunately, that has less do with strategy and more to do with the venality of India's policymakers. If only there were a short cut solution to integrity, and transparency.

The author is consulting editor with Moneycontrol.com.
Representative image

Private power producers have urged the government to consider extending the trade receivables discounting system (TReDS) applicable for MSMEs to them to help resolve their payment woes, which are to the tune Rs 41,240 crore.

In a letter to power secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the Association of Power Producers on Friday said delay in recovery of receivables, especially regulatory receivables, has created stress on their finances as it impacts their ability to service debt and severely restricts working capital liquidity.

According to the letter, as of end January 2019, the amount of receivables due from discoms is to the tune of Rs 41,240 crore, of which dues from sale of power are around Rs 17,246 crore, while dues stuck in litigation are worth Rs 17,128 crore and nearly Rs 6,865 crore of receivables are pending despite adjudication.

"We urge the Union power ministry to take expeditious action on this issue to help avoid create more NPAs and to ensure the availability of adequate power during the summer which is also the election season," APP director-general Ashok Khurana said in the letter.

He further said since the government has taken measures to address the receivables situation for MSMEs through the TReDS, extending the same to them will be of immense help. Moreover, the RBI has also issued guidelines for implementing the system.

"We believe a similar system would greatly ease current stress on private power producers and we request the ministry to consider implementing the same for us as well," Khurana said.

It may be recalled that the power ministry had suggested a similar system to the empowered committee, which had proposed formulation of a proposal for tri-partite agreement for discounting bills of power producers.

A senior official at a private producer said if the discoms are unable to make timely payments, it will severely impact the sector in the long-run.

"Nearly 25,000-mw capacity has receivables of over Rs 41,000 crore. Also, nearly Rs 3 lakh crore of bank funds are stuck in these projects.

"On top of it, discoms, due to mostly political reasons, have not been able to raise tariffs or improve recoveries. Unless the government takes prompt steps, there will be a situation when there will be no power as generators will not be able to produce due to liquidity crisis," he said.

He said IPPs have to make advance payments for to Coal India for fuel as well as to the Railways for shipment.

"Coal India's production has increased significantly this month, but if we don't have money how will we procure coal and if we dont procure coal, how will we run our plants? So it is important that payments are on time," he added.

The Reserve Bank has identified as many as 34 financially stressed power projects with loans of over Rs 1.8 lakh crore at risk of becoming NPAs. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
A day after the SBI-led bankers consortium raised Rs 1,008 crore by selling 7.4 million pledged shares of United Breweries, their bid to recover more money by liquidating shares of United Spirits faced opposition from HDFC Bank which moved the special PMLA court here against it.

The special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court did not take up the petition and fixed April 2 for the next date of hearing.

At Thursday's closing price of Rs 532.20 on the BSE, these 6.6 million shares could fetch the banks over Rs 350 crore.

Banks are seeking court permission to liquidate 65.85 lakh shares of United Spirits which were pledged by two Vijay Mallya companies -- United Breweries Holdings (UBHL) and Kingfisher Finvest, the holding company of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines -- as collateral for loans from HDFC Bank.

The banks are trying to part-recover the Rs 6,203.35 crore of dues along with annualized interest of 11.5 per cent payable since 2013, by liquidating the confiscated assets of Mallya, who is awaiting an extradition case at the London High Court now.

In its application moved before MS Azmi, the judge of the PMLA court, HDFC Bank said as part of its business operations it's been extending loans to United Breweries since 1980. Similarly, in 2010 various loans were given and these were secured by shares and various immovable properties.

United Spirits (USL) is majority owned by British spirits major Diageo since 2013 after Mallya sold controlling stake in the country's largest spirits maker.

Under the share pledge agreement for the loan from HDFC Bank, UBHL and Kingfisher Finvest had pledged a total of 65.85 lakh shares of United Spirits in favour of HDFC Bank, the application noted.

HDFC Bank further claimed that the exclusive charge over the attached shares, especially USL shares, was disclosed in the 2011-12 annual report of UBHL.

The application states that it is not the case of consortium of banks that UBHL or Kingfisher Finvest had created a pledge in their favour, prior to creation of pledge in favour HDFC Bank.

The contention that dues of HDFC Bank are not adjudicated and hence they cannot claim right over the pledged share of USL is 'baseless' and 'unfounded', the HDFC Bank said.

Earlier, a 12-bank consortium led by State Bank had moved the PMLA court seeking release of Mallya's assets that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had attached.

The banks claimed "legitimate interests" in all the properties belonging to Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines, UBHL and Kingfisher Finvest including movable and immovable properties.

The ED told the special court that it had no objection to allowing banks to sell Mallya properties provided they gave an undertaking that they would return the money later. But this was opposed by the official liquidator appointed by the Karnataka High Court.

Later in January this year, Mallya, who owes over Rs 9,900 crore to banks, was declared as an fugitive economic offender under the provisions of the new Fugitive Economic Offenders Act which came into existence last August. This facilitated the PMLA court to allow banks to sell the stocks.

It can be noted that the official liquidator of the Bengaluru Debt Recovery Tribunal had Wednesday sold 74 million pledged shares of United Breweries, currently owned by beer major Heineken, for Rs 1,008 crore on behalf of the ED.

The proceeds would go to the banks. This is among the big recovery action taken by the authorities since Mallya left the country in March 2016.

These shares, which were pledged with Yes Bank, were attached by the ED in connection with money laundering probe involving Mallya and debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines.

The sale could go on after the PMLA court had last month directed Yes Bank to surrender these in favour of the recovery officer in Bengaluru within three weeks.

Mallya personally held 7.91 per cent in UBHL as of December 2016, while total promoter holdings stood at 52 per cent. UBHL is now facing liquidation. The ED attachment included 41.3 million UB shares or almost 15 per cent held by Mallya and his group companies.

Currently Heineken holds about 44 per cent in UB, once controlled by Mallya, while 23 per cent with UB promoters and promoter groups are pledged.

So far, the ED has attached assets of Mallya worth Rs 9,700 crore in connection with an alleged IDBI Bank loan fraud case registered by the CBI.
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What a day for Indian markets! Blockbuster day and a blockbuster March series for Nifty which suggests that record highs on Indian markets are just around the corner.

The Nifty not just reclaimed 11,550 on Thursday but also registered a fresh 6-month closing high while Sensex rallied by over 400 points on March 28.

The Bank Nifty rose 3,631 points in March series, biggest ever gain in a series, and Nifty rallied 7.2 percent or 777 points in the same period to register its biggest gains since January 2015.

Markets look upbeat ahead of the earnings season as well as elections which is a positive sign. Apart from the banking and financial, experts feel that IT and auto pack Could also lead the rally in April series.

Despite global headwinds, participants took note of the latest monsoon update wherein the IMD shared the possibility of strong monsoon provided no El Nino surprise.

Besides, hopes of rate cut in the upcoming RBIs policy review meet further boosted the sentiment, say, experts.

It wasnt a great day for the currency. The rupee slumped 42 paise to end at 69.30 against the US dollar on Thursday, its second straight session of decline, in line with other Asian currencies amid strengthening of the greenback.

On the institutional front, FPIs were net buyers in Indian markets for Rs 3594 crore while DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2080 crore, provisional data showed.

Big News:

The Nifty rallied 7.2 percent or 777 points in the same period to register its biggest gains since January 2015.

The Bank Nifty rose 3,631 points in March series, biggest ever gain in a series. Rollovers in Nifty Bank stood at 71 percent for April series compared to 75 percent see for March series, data showed.

Nifty Fut rollover for April series stood at nearly 67 percent which was higher than March series rollover of 60 percent, and 3-month average which comes around 65 percent.

Long Buildup: 9 stocks saw long buildup which includes names like Reliance Power, IRB Infra, HPCL, Muthoot Finance, IDBI, Allahabad Bank, Torrent Pharma, Strides Pharma, and DLF.

Short Buildup: 4 stocks saw short buildup which includes names like EIL, Godrej Industries, Ramco Cement, and Wockhardt Pharma.

Short covering: Over 100 stocks massive short coverings which include names like L&T, RBL Bank, ITC, IOC, Coal India, PVR, JustDial, Canara Bank, etc. among others.

Technical View:

Nifty formed a bullish candle on the daily charts

Once the index manages a firm close above 11,580 then it can easily head to test its life-time high around 11,760.

Experts advise short term traders to maintain long positions with a stop below 11,450 on a closing basis and look for new lifetime highs.

Three levels: 11452, 11588, 11600

Technical Recommendations:

We spoke to IIFL and heres what they have to recommend:

Syndicate Bank: Buy| Target: Rs 47| Stop Loss: Rs 41.5| Upside 9%

InterGlobe Aviation: Buy| Target: Rs 1540| Stop Loss: Rs 1397| Upside 7%

Dish TV: Buy| Target: Rs 44| Stop Loss: Rs 36.5| Upside 12%

: 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.
Bulls made a stunning comeback in March as Nifty50 rallied 7.7 percent snapping three consecutive months of losing streak. The index rallied 831 points in March to record its highest level since August 2018.

The final tally on D-Street  the S&P BSE Sensex rallied 127 points to close at 38,672 while the Nifty50 rose 53 points to end at 11,623 on March 29. The Nifty50 closed at 11,680 on August 31, 2018.

Strong liquidity flows from foreign institutional investors, hopes of a stable government at the Center, rally in banking stocks and recovery in broader market contributed to the rise in Indian equities in March.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equity markets for over Rs 32,000 crores as of March 28 while domestic institutional investors were net sellers to the tune of nearly Rs 16,000 crore in the same period, provisional data showed.

The rollover data for April series suggests that bulls are here to stay and 12,000 level or at least record highs is not far off. Nifty recorded a life-high of 11,768 on August 28, 2018, and the index is just 145 points away or 1.2 percent from those levels.

In FY19, Sensex and Nifty50 post their biggest ever gains in absolute terms since FY10. Nifty rallied 1,510 points in FY19, the 2nd highest ever in a fiscal, CNBC-TV18 data showed.

S&P BSE Sensex gained 5,704 points in FY19, the 2nd highest ever in a fiscal. The Nifty bank posted its biggest ever gain in absolute terms in FY19, up 6,163 points.

FY20 looks promising for investors but volatility due to election outcome and fears of global economic slowdown could act as a headwind for Indian markets.

The near term uncertainty will be elections and global slowdown which one has to keep an eye on in FY20 but surely once we touch the second half of the year the focus will shift to corporate earnings, Shailendra Kumar, Chief Investment Officer at Narnolia Financial Advisors told Moneycontrol.

In terms of stocks, opportunities are available in corporate facing banks such as SBI, ICIC Bank; cement stocks are also looking good such as ACC; defense stocks are also looking attractive such as Bharat Electronics, etc. he said.

Stocks in the news:

SBI Life Insurance Company shares fell 6 percent after BNP Paribas offloaded major shareholding in the company through the open market transaction.

Wabco India surged nearly 5 in spite of the parent company, WABCO Holdings, entering into a definitive merger agreement with ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

Indiabulls Integrated Services gained 5 percent after the redemption of preference shares and the appointment of a new Independent Director.

Federal Bank gained 3 percent after the private bank entered into a partnership with blockchain supported global remittance company Ripple Inc for cross-border remittance through its network.

Shares of Adani Enterprises surged more than 6 percent after Adani Defence Systems and Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, incorporated a new entity namely Adani Rave Gears India.

Global Updates:

European markets are trading higher on Friday as market participants are hopeful about a positive outcome from the US-China trade talks.

Asian markets are ended higher as trade negotiations continued between the US and China. Shanghai Composite rose 3.20 percent at 3,090.76 and Hang Seng was up 0.94 percent at 29,051.36.

Nikkei added 0.82 percent to end at 21,205.81 and Kospi rose 0.59 percent at 2,140.67.
The Nifty50 is likely to open flat-to-lower on Friday tracking mixed trend seen in other Asian markets. The index closed 124 points higher at 11,570 on Thursday.

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India, a fall of 29 points or 0.25 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 11,641-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

US stocks climbed on Thursday as Treasury yields rose off 15-month lows, with investors optimistic about the latest round of US-China trade talks, said a Reuters report.

Asian shares posted narrow gains on Friday on revived hopes of progress in US-China trade talks, while global bond yields moved higher after a prolonged slide on worries about the economic outlook, it said.

The rupee slumped 42 paise to end at 69.30 against the US dollar on Thursday, its second straight session of decline, in line with other Asian currencies amid strengthening of the greenback.

Stocks in news:

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, a part of the Adani Group, may be eyeing GMR's Kakinada Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Andhra Pradesh, according to sources who told Moneycontrol.

Public sector Indian Overseas Bank on Thursday said its shareholders have approved the special resolution to issue equity shares towards capital infusion of Rs 3,806 crore from the Government of India.

State-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC) on Thursday completed acquisition of majority stake in REC Ltd by transferring Rs 14,500 crore to the government and is hopeful of merger of the two firms in 2019-20.

Technical Recommendations:

We spoke to IIFL and heres what they have to recommend:

Syndicate Bank: Buy| Target: Rs 47| Stop Loss: Rs 41.5| Upside 9%

InterGlobe Aviation: Buy| Target: Rs 1540| Stop Loss: Rs 1397| Upside 7%

Dish TV: Buy| Target: Rs 44| Stop Loss: Rs 36.5| Upside 12%
Ravi Krishnan

Cash: Rs 143.47 croreLiquor: Rs 89. 64 croreDrugs: Rs 131.75 crorePrecious metals: Rs 162.93 crore

Miscellaneous illegitimate stuff: Rs 12.2 crore.

Thats close to Rs 550 crore worth of freebies seized by the Election Commission of India within 15 days of implementing the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls. Its commendable, but it is a drop in the ocean compared to the Rs 50,000 crore expected spend on these elections estimated by the Centre for Media Studies.

Dirty money and politics

Since everybody knows about the huge amounts of illicit money that go into elections, it also illustrates the Election Commissions uphill struggle to stem this tide. The ECs hands are tied because the campaign finance overhaul that has happened through amendments to the law over the past few years is a joke. Electoral bonds, for example, have not only added to the opacity of sources of funds, they have made it easier for foreign entities to fund and influence Indian elections and for shell companies to be set up for the purpose of funding political parties.

It is easy to blame the current government for this inept treatment of campaign finance reforms, but protesting voices from the opposition have been equally rare. Indeed, it has been left to civil society and organisations such as the Association for Democratic Reforms to challenge the recent amendments.

Read also: FCRA & electoral bonds issue: Supreme Court upholds fair play principles once again

While dirty money and politics have been intertwined since the birth of democracy, current trends make stemming the flow of dirty money into politics all the more important. Devesh Kapur and Milan Vaishnav in their book, Costs of Democracy: Political Finance in India, point to three important trends. One, political parties are increasingly dependent on external sources of finance. Two, growing wealth and income inequality is drawing attention to the imbalances in concentration of power. Three, political polarisation is increasing in many democracies. Moreover, anonymous sources of money may well be slush funds, an implicit bargain for future favours from the government.

These factors mean that money will have a disproportionate say in the selection of candidates, impact on public policy and so on. It is therefore imperative to know the source of the money received by political parties.

Currently, much of it is a black box. Data collated by the Association for Democratic Reforms shows that in fiscal 2017-18, 53 percent of income for national political parties [except the Communist Party of India (Marxist)] was from unknown sources. It is part of a continuing trend; in the years since financial year 2004-05, national parties collected Rs 8721.14 crore from unknown sources, more than half of their total income. Naturally, they have an incentive not to disturb this arrangement.

Electoral bonds are the rogue elephant in the room

The recent attempts at reforms are akin to putting lipstick on a pig. It has the fundamental flaw of conflating cash with black money, as Vaishnav has pointed out on several occasions, including here.

First, the government imposed an arbitrary ceiling of Rs 2000 donation in cash (compared to Rs 20,000 earlier). That is a missed opportunity to eliminate cash donation in totality and prevent political parties in being conduits for money laundering.

Second, the biggest reform being touted is the introduction of electoral bonds. Instead of increasing transparency, it only adds to the opacity. Under the scheme, political parties will not know the identity of the donor, only the bank where the donor buys the bond will know her identity. This move is to ostensibly allow people, especially corporate entities, to donate without fear of harassment. But surely everyone can survive without necessarily contributing to political parties anonymously.

The move has perverse effects. Now, even government companies and foreign firms which are not allowed to donate to political parties can do so through these bonds and the EC would be none the wiser. The commission said as much in a letter to the law ministry.

Third, the government has done away with the 7.5 percent-of-net-profits ceiling on corporate donations. Firms need not also declare donations in their income statements.

Fourth, most egregiously, the government amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, retrospectively from 1976, to allow subsidiaries of foreign companies to donate to political parties. This will lead to unchecked foreign funding of political parties in India and Indian policies being influenced by foreign companies, the Election Commission has said in an affidavit to the Supreme Court.

For politicians, Swachh Bharat should begin at home

In sum, the attempted reforms have been a farce. The ideal way forward would be to stop cash donations entirely, make all donations transparent, and allow independent scrutiny of political parties books of accounts.

It is all very well for political leaders to talk about the fight on black money and corruption but reforms should begin at home. Who will bell the cat? Perhaps, the apex court will show the way when it hears the challenges to the purported reforms on 2 April.
Here are stocks that are in the news today:

Listing: MSTC to list on exchanges

IPO: Rail Vikas Nigam IPO opens today.

NRB Industrial Bearings: Board approved the allotment of 17,50,000 cumulative, redeemable, non-convertible preference shares of Rs 10 each aggregating to Rs 1.75 crore of the company on private placement basis to Devesh Singh Sahney, Chairman, Managing Director and Promoter of the company.

Britannia Industries will replace Hindustan Petroleum Corporation in the Nifty50

PFC acquired govt stake in REC and became the holding company and also a promoter of REC

TCPL Packaging: Commercial production of company's new unit situated in Kundaim, Goa has commenced.

Andhra Bank approved the issuance of 114,56,72,061 equity shares to Government of India on preferential allotment basis at Rs 28.42 per equity share

Bharat Financial Inclusion: Company assigned a pool of receivables of an aggregate value of Rs 837.40 crore to one of the largest private sector banks on a Direct Assignment basis. With this transaction, the company has completed Direct Assignment transactions worth Rs 9,032.47 crore in FY19.

Indian Overseas Bank allotted 269 crore shares to Govt of India at Rs 14.12 per share

Kotak Mahindra Bank approves allotment of NCD worth Rs 150 crore

Lupin: Company launches Fluocinonide Ointment USP in the US. The drug is indicated for the relief of the inflammatory and pruritic manifestations of corticosteroidresponsive dermatoses.

Sheela Foam: SBI MF buys 3.63 percent stake in the company on March 27.

Indiabulls Integrated Services: IRDA approves R1/first level approval for Indiabulls Integrated General Insurance business - CNBC-TV18 Sources.

Adani Enterprises: Adani Defence Systems and Technologies Limited - a wholly owned subsidiary of the company has incorporated a company namely Adani Rave Gears India Limited.

HT Media: NCLT approved a Scheme of Arrangement between the company and Digicontent Limited and their respective shareholders.

Wipro: Company and IIT Kharagpur partner for advanced research in 5G and AI.

Abhishek Finlease: Company appointed Mahendra M Shah as Chief Flnancial Officer.

Apcotex Industries: Board appointed Suraj Badale as the Chief Financial Officer.

Lincoln Pharmaceuticals: Board appointed Darshit Ashvinkumar Shah as a Chief Financial Officer.

Adhunik Industries: Board approved appointment of Ajay Bhuwania as Chief Financial Officer.

Jet Airways: Repayment of the external commercial borrowing, availed by the company for working capital purposes, falling due on March 28, has been delayed owing to temporary liquidity constraints and the company has engaged with the lender in relation to the same.

Tata Metaliks: Tata Steel acquired 27,97,000 equity shares, aggregating to Rs 1,79,56,74,000, and 34,92,500 convertible warrants, aggregating to Rs 2,24,21,85,000 of company on preferential basis. Tata Steel holding in company stands increased from 50.09 percent to 55.06 percent.

Federal Bank: Bank has entered into a partnership with Ripple Inc, a blockchain supported global remittance company, for cross border remittance through its network.

Adani Ports: Subsidiary Adani Logistics approved the proposal for acquisition upto 100 percent equity shares of Innovative 828 Logistics Solutions Pvt. Ltd. out of which 97.03 percent of shares will be acquired upon closing from True North and its affiliates and balance shares consisting upto 2.97 percent held by other shareholders within 60 days of the closing.

Tata Power: Company signed the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking, for 676.69 MW of power supplied from its Trombay Thermal and hydro plants, for a period of five years.

HUDCO: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs accorded its approval for extension of tenure of M Ravi Kanth, as Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), HUDCO for a period of six months, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

IL&FS Transportation Networks: Delhi High Court had dismissed the petition filed by NHAI and has affirmed the arbitral award passed in favour of Pune Sholapur Road Development Company Limited (PSRDCL), a subsidiary of company.

Apunka Invest Commercial: Company invested Rs 99,84,000 in Panorama Studios Private Limited, increasing shareholding in same to 53.73 percent.

Wabco India: WABCO Holdings Inc. entered into a definitive merger agreement with ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

Visagar Polytex: Board approved resignation tendered by Sagar Tilokchand Kothari from the position of Chief Financial Officer of the company.

HIL Limited: Parador (Shanghai) Flooring Trading Co., Ltd, China [JV of Parador GmbH, Germany (step down subsidiary of HIL International GmbH, Germany)] has opened its first showroom in Shanghai.

DB Corp: Stitex Global Limited, one of the promoter group companies of DB Corp, amalgamated with DB Consolidated Private Limited (another promoter group company.

Trent: Board passed an enabling resolution for raising of funds through issue of Commercial Paper upto an amount not exceeding Rs 100 crore, in one or more tranches.

Gateway Distriparks: Company allotted 5,500 rated, listed, secured, redeemable non-convertible debentures having face value of Rs 10,00,000 each, with coupon rate of 11.25% - 11.50%, for cash aggregating Rs 550 crore, to identified investors on private placement basis.

Bulk Deals on March 28

(For more bulk deals, click here)

Analyst or Board Meet/Briefings

Eicher Motors: Company's officials will meet Banyan Tree Advisors Pvt Ltd on March 29.

Manappuram Finance: Company's officials will meet Fidelity Management & Research on March 29.

Garware Polyester: Board meeting is scheduled on April 5 to consider the appointment of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company: Board meeting is scheduled on April 18 to consider the Audited Financial Results for the quarter and financial year ending on March 31, 2019 and to consider recommendation of dividend, if any, for the financial year ending on March 31, 2019.

Kolte-Patil Developers: Board meeting will be held on March 31 to consider declaration of interim dividend for the financial year 2018-19.

: Board meeting is scheduled on April 2 to consider issue equity shares/other convertible securities on preferential basis.
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Nifty50 has rallied about 13 percent so far in FY19 and if experts are to be believed, it is on track to hit fresh record highs in FY20. The optimism in market lately has been on the back of hopes of a stable government post elections, strong buying by foreign investors, rate cut by Reserve Bank of India and stability in rupee-dollar pair.

Historically, we have seen a decent rally in the market before and after the general elections. This year also, Nifty has formed a new base in the 10,600  11,000 zone and has been witnessing pre-election rally in the last few weeks.

If the momentum in market continues, Nifty could touch 12,000 and hit a target around 12,400-12,700 in the next 12 months, according to experts.

If we go by the principle of history repeats itself; then this general election year (FY20) can be a good year for investors as we may see a good rally in the coming few months. FIIs are aggressively putting money into the Indian market and cumulatively bought equities worth Rs 41,900 crore in last 23 sessions, Jay Kumar Purohit, Technical & Derivatives Analyst at Centrum Broking told Moneycontrol.

Looking at the chart structure of Nifty and its heavyweight constituents, we are expecting the Nifty to rally towards 12,400  12,700 levels in the coming months. Thus, we advise long-term traders to use any decline towards 11,000 as a buying opportunity, he said.

Investors should invest funds in tranches as it is going to be a volatile year for Indian equities.

Here is a list of 15 stocks that could give 14-70% return in the next 12 months based on technical chart patterns.

The returns are calculated based on the closing price as of March 27:

Analyst: Prakash Pandey, Head- Research, Fairwealth Securities

ICICI Bank: Buy| LTP: Rs 393| Target: Rs 490| Stop Loss: Rs 343| Upside 24%

The stock is trading well above all the crucial moving averages (EMA-21, 63, 200) days. It gave a buy signal on the daily/weekly/monthly time frame charts.

In the last few weeks, we have seen big delivery buying by FIIs which will protect this stock from any major downside. It formed a very decent base around Rs. 340-345 zone which will act as crucial support for the index.

In the last few quarters, ICICI Bank has made significant progress on the NPA recovery front and Gross NPA for the bank has improved significantly.

ICICI bank is trading at a Price/Book of 2.5 times, which is quite attractive if we compare the same with other industry peers like Kotak Mahindra Bank or HDFC for that matter.

Sun Pharma: Buy| LTP: Rs 464| Target: Rs 640| Stop Loss: Rs 405| Upside 38%

Sun Pharma saw a big correction from its recent 52-week high. It fell more than 35 percent from its 52-week high. But, as per the daily and weekly charts, the stock has formed a decent bottom around Rs 410-415 zone.

The stock price action from the last two weeks is showing serious sign on revival and the stock has given a buy signal on the weekly charts on our parameters.

It is trading well above EMA (21, 63) days, indicating the stock is ready for an up move. Last quarter result from Sun Pharma also signaled hope for the long-term investors which makes it a good buy at current level.

Godrej Properties: Buy| LTP: Rs 853| Target: Rs 1080| Stop Loss: Rs 690| Upside 26%

Godrej Properties has given a big breakout on the daily as well as weekly charts last week. The stock has given a clear breakout above Rs. 770 levels. It is now trading well above EMA (21,63,200) days.

The momentum oscillators are also suggesting a big upside in the stock. From the last few weeks, serious delivery buying was seen in the stock with positive price action which indicates big upside for a long-term point of view.

Godrej Properties is one of the finest real estate company in India. It has a very strong balance sheet, unlike other real estate players in the country.

ITC: Buy| LTP: Rs 293| Target: Rs 360| Stop Loss: Rs 264| Upside 23%

The stock after a long consolidation gave a breakout on the daily as well on the weekly charts. The stock is now trading well above all the crucial medium to long-term moving averages.

ITC formed a decent base around Rs 265-275 zones, so this zone will now act as a big support area for the stock. Once the stock close above Rs 305 on a weekly basis, we can see a swift move towards our target price of Rs 360.

In terms of fundamentals, the stock is also trading at a very attractive valuation, if we compare this stock with Hindustan Unilever. ITC is due for serious P/E re-rating.

Kajaria Ceramics: Buy| LTP: Rs 567| Target: Rs 720| Stop Loss: Rs 488| Upside 27%

Kajaria has given a clear breakout on the weekly as well as monthly charts, after its multi-month downtrend. The stock is trading well above its EMA-21, EMA-63 & EMA -200, indicating a strong positive trend for the stock.

From the last few days, the stock is recording a delivery percentage of more than 70 percent which is a very positive sign from long term point of view.

Analyst: Jay Kumar Purohit, Technical & Derivatives Analyst at Centrum Broking

Nestle India: Buy| LTP: Rs 10,853| Target: Rs 12400| Stop Loss: Rs 9998| Upside 14%

The stock is moving in a strong uptrend by making higher highs as well as higher lows on the weekly chart. Recently, the stock has corrected by around 15 percent from its 52 weeks high of Rs 11751.

However, it took support around the 200 EMA on the daily chart, which also acted as strong support in recent past too. The price is consolidating in a sideways direction from the last few days and formed an Inverse Head & Shoulder pattern on the daily chart.

We expect the uptrend to continue and advise our clients to buy the stock for the target of Rs 12,200  12,400. The stop-loss of the trade set-up should be kept at Rs 9,998.

State Bank of India: Buy| LTP: Rs 308| Target: Rs 365| Stop Loss: Rs 280| Upside 18%

The stock is moving in a sideways direction and is making Lower Highs and Higher Lows on the weekly time scale. The consolidation phase of the last few months has resulted into a formation of a Symmetrical Triangle pattern on the weekly chart.

Currently, the stock is on the verge of giving a breakout from the mentioned pattern. The confirmation of a breakout shall come on a weekly close above Rs 310 level.

However, looking at the trendline breakout in momentum oscillator RSI on the weekly chart, we are anticipating the breakout in the stock. We advise traders to accumulate the stock for the target of Rs 350  365, and a stop-loss of Rs 280.

Page Industries: Buy| LTP: Rs 24498| Target: Rs 30,000| Stop Loss: Rs 21,800| Upside 22%

The stock has seen a decent selling pressure from the start of September 2018 and corrected towards 61.8 percent retracement level of the previous rally from Rs 12,121 to Rs 35,977.

The stock gave a false breakdown from the Rising Trendline and formed the Hammer candle on the weekly chart. The mentioned candlestick pattern was followed by positive momentum, which is a good sign for the market.

The stock breached the sequence of making a lower high and lower low on the monthly chart after six consecutive month and forming a Bullish Engulfing pattern in the ongoing month.

Considering the current chart structure, we are expecting the stock to rally towards Rs 29,000  30,000 levels in coming months. Thus, one can buy the stock in the range of Rs 23,500  24,000 with a stop-loss of Rs 21,800.

Pidilite Industries: Buy| LTP: Rs 1225| Target: Rs 1500| Stop Loss: Rs 1108| Upside 22%

The stock is moving in a strong uptrend and is trading around its all-time highs. Currently, we are witnessing a breakout from the continuous Inverse Head & Shoulder pattern on the weekly chart, which is a positive sign for the stock.

The momentum oscillator RSI also gave trendline breakout and moved above 60 mark on the weekly time scale, showing strength in the counter.

The current chart structure clearly indicates that the stock is heading towards Rs 1430  1500 levels in coming months. Hence, investors can accumulate the stock in the zone of Rs 1180  1230 with a stop-loss of Rs 1108.

DCB Bank: Buy| LTP: Rs 203| Target: Rs 260| Stop Loss: Rs 170| Upside 28%

Recently, the stock gave a breakout from the Falling Trendline on the weekly chart and is sustaining above the same. Also, we witnessed a breakout from Inverse Head & Shoulder pattern on the daily time scale which is a positive sign for the stock.

The momentum oscillator RSI is also moving northwards in both weekly as well as monthly chart and thus showing strength in the counter.

At the current juncture, we advise investors to buy the stock in the zone of Rs 190  200 for the target of Rs 245  260 in the coming few months. The stop-loss for the mentioned trade should be placed at Rs 170 level.

MT Educare: Buy| LTP: Rs 65.30| Target: Rs 110| Stop Loss: Rs 40| Upside 70%

This low volume stock has corrected sharply in the last two years and took support around Rs 113 percent retracement level of the previous rally, which is placed around Rs 44.55 level.

The stock made a Double Bottom pattern on the weekly chart and formed a Bullish Engulfing candlestick pattern at the recent bottom.

We are also witnessing the formation of Higher Highs Higher Lows on a weekly scale after many months, which is a positive sign as per Dow Theory.

At the current juncture, the strong hurdle for the stock is placed around Rs 73 levels and a close above the same may lead to a rally towards Rs 98 levels.

However, looking at the reversal bullish candlestick pattern (at the bottom) and the positive divergence of RSI on the monthly chart, we are anticipating a breakout in the stock.

Thus, we advise investors to buy some quantity of the stock at the current level and add more on a close above Rs 73 for a target of Rs 98 and Rs 110. Currently, stop-loss should be placed at Rs 40 level, which can be a trail to Rs 56 level once stock closes above Rs 73 mark.

Analyst: Aditya Agarwala, Senior Manager, Technical Analysis, YES Securities

Aurobindo Pharma: Buy| LTP: Rs 776| Target: Rs 1000| Stop Loss: Rs 695| Upside 28%

On the weekly chart, Aurobindo Pharma is on the verge of a breakout from a sideways consolidation channel pattern.

The neckline of the pattern is placed at Rs 825, and a sustained trade above Rs 825 with healthy volumes will trigger a bullish breakout extending the bull trend to levels of Rs 900-1000.

On the monthly chart, RSI has taken support at the 50-level during this sideways consolidation affirming that the uptrend is still intact in the stock suggesting a bullish breakout on cards in the coming trading sessions.

Further, MACD is also on the verge of making a bullish crossover confirming the bullishness. The stock can be bought in the range of Rs 760-790 for the target of Rs 900-1000, keeping a stop loss below Rs 695.

Mahanagar Gas: Buy| LTP: Rs 1020| Target: Rs 1160| Stop Loss: Rs 940| Upside 14%

On the weekly chart, Mahanagar Gas has broken out from an Ascending Triangle pattern triggering a fresh bull trend. Further, volumes have been healthy in this breakout confirming the bullishness.

The stock is also trading comfortably above its previous peak of Rs 965 forming a higher high which a sign of bullishness.

RSI is also above 60 level after taking support at the 50-level suggesting higher levels in the coming trading sessions. The stock can be bought in the range of Rs 980-1010 for targets of Rs 1100-1160, and keep a stop loss below Rs 940.

Tata Motors: Buy| LTP: Rs 169| Target: Rs 280| Stop Loss: Rs 130| Upside 65%

On the monthly chart, Tata Motors has turned upwards after forming a hammer candlestick pattern on the monthly time frame at its previous bottom formed in September 2011.

Currently, however, it is facing resistance at the Rs 200 mark a sustained trade above this level will take the stock higher to levels of Rs 250-280.

Moreover, RSI is placed at an extremely oversold zone on the monthly time frame indicating a short covering rally may be in the offing. The stock can be bought in the range of Rs 170-175 for targets of Rs 250-280, keeping a stop loss below Rs 130.

Voltas: Buy| LTP: Rs 623| Target: Rs 710| Stop Loss: Rs 575| Upside 14%

On the weekly chart, Volta has broken out of a Symmetrical triangle pattern triggering a fresh bull trend.

On the daily time frame, however, it is facing minor resistance from a downtrend line placed at Rs 630 a sustained trade beyond this trendline will resume the uptrend.

RSI has taken support at the 60 levels in the recent correction suggesting that the bulls have an upper hand in the stock. The stock can be bought in the range of Rs 610-615 for targets of Rs 670-710, and keep a stop loss below Rs 575.

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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Indias largest telecom Vodafone Idea player has announced a rights issue and its huge.

The telecom company said in its BSE filing that it is planning to raise Rs 25,000 crore via a rights issue.

Vodafone Idea has proposed to issue 2000 crore new share in a rights issue. (They only have about 870 crore shares now, so its a massive dilution)

The ratio of the rights issue is at 87:38, meaning for every 38 shares held you have the right to buy 87 shares. The issue price is at Rs 12.5  a massive discount of 56 percent from the current price of Rs 28.50.

The record date for the same is April 2, 2019. Effectively you will need to buy at least 38 shares on or before 28 March 2019 to be eligible for the rights issue. The bidding for rights issue is between 10-24 April 2019.

Why Rights Issue  A Bit Of Background

Considering the dominant position of Reliance Jio in the market, Idea is finding it tough to compete. Debt on Idea's books has piled up to Rs 1,23,660 crore at the end of Dec 2018.

Idea has paid roughly Rs 7,750 crore as finance cost in the last four quarters. Also, the 5G spectrum auction is round the corner. Idea has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 10,700 crore in last four quarters itself.

Idea plans to pay a part of its debt via rights issue. Post payment of 25,000 crore towards debt settlement, its outstanding debt will be still at an astounding number of Rs 98,500 crore.

Furthermore, Idea will have nearly Rs 20,000 crore debt maturing before FY21. So chances are it needs more rounds of funding.

The rights issue needs a massive subscription and the idea of a rights issue is to ensure that promoters participate and a low enough price is offered.

In any case, if you are willing to apply for the rights issue, below is how you calculate your effective price of buying post allotment of rights.

How To Calculate Effective Buy Price



You bought 38 shares for a sum of Rs 1,083 (Rs 28.50 being buy price) before the record date. You will be eligible for 87 shares under the rights issue. The rights issue buy value will be at 87*12.5, which is Rs 1087.50



Your total investment will be 1083 (old shares) + 1087.5 (value of rights issue) = Rs 2170.50



You will be holding 125 (38 + 87) shares post rights issue, hence each share will cost you approximately 17.364. If the stock price goes below that post record date, then you will be making a loss.



Assume you have bought 38 shares at March 28 price of Rs 28.50. Then your effective buy price can be calculated as below.

Even if Idea isnt a great investment (it might be, but doesnt look like it) there could be an immediate opportunity in the structuring.

Is There Some Kind of Arbitrage?

There is a small window of opportunity. There is a high likelihood that the issue doesnt get fully subscribed.

Of the 25,000 crore the promoters (Birla and Vodafone) will put in about 18,250 crore but the remaining 6,750 crore has to come from other investors. Thats likely to be undersubscribed.

You can bid for more than your quota too. If there is an undersubscription, youll get a higher allocation of shares at the Rs. 12.50 price than your share ratio entitles you for.



Buy 38 shares at the current price of 28.50 for a total price of Rs 1,083.



Once you are eligible for the rights issue, you can bid rights for how much ever quantity you wish for. Lets say, we bid for 1,000 shares. Youll have to mark a lien of Rs. 12,500 on your bank account.



Assume we get 500 shares (due to undersubscription by others) allotted at Rs 12.50, with a buy value of Rs 6,250.



Now our effective buy value is 1083 (old shares) + 6250 (value of rights issue) = Rs 7,333.



You will be holding 538 shares post rights issue. Thus your effective buy price will be at Rs 13.63.



Assume the price on the record date is Rs 28.5o, post record date price will adjust to Rs 17.35, if the issue gets fully subscribed.



Your effective price being 13.63, you will make a neat Rs 2000. A return of 27.30 percent on your investment!



To be eligible for the rights issue, you need to own at least 38 shares.

This is not risk free, of course, and involves some faith in Ideas stock price. If theres undersubscription, the price can fall dramatically.

You could attempt to hedge out some of this risk by shorting a future, but do remember that means you should apply for at least 20,000 shares of Idea (that will be around the new lot size).

Risks Involved.

You Dont Get Allotted More Shares

Assume you get only 87 shares (which is guaranteed, if you hold 38 shares). Then post record date, the price adjusts accordingly. Even if it share price falls to Rs 10 (a 42 percent fall!), at maximum you will be losing Rs 920.

Price Falls More Than 30 percent Post Record Date.

Assume you get allotted and post record date, price falls to say Rs 10, then in all you will be making a loss of Rs 1,950. Thats a 26 percent loss for a fall in the price of 43 percent. A risk you have to analyse for yourself.

The bet here is on two things viz. you get more shares then allotted and the price doesnt fall drastically. An interesting bet will be to buy only 38 shares and bid for a lot more shares, even 20,000 shares, hoping to get an average price closer to Rs 13, which provides a cushion.

Too many people are playing it already

You could hedge against a price fall by shorting, say, May futures. May futures trade about 10 percent below the current market price, and therefore at least that much of a fall is expected in the spot price. This fall in the price could also state that people expect the stock to fall dramatically afterwards.

And We Conclude

Even Bharti Airtel is planning to raise Rs 25,000 crore capital via rights issue. Bharti Airtel is offering a discount of 30 percent on its current market price. Ideas is at a 56 percent discount.

Theres no reason to assume Idea will suddenly start performing  just paying off debt is one thing, but to gain revenues or earnings is another. Therefore any bet cant be longer term.

However there is a potential arbitrage for people to buy a very small quantity in the market, and then use that to buy the rights shares. You can bid for more shares, and you should bid for as many as you like.

However, there is a risk  of the price falling steeply post the rights issue. (And the rights shares could take time to be credited, about a couple of weeks after).

However it goes, you have to apply to the rights issue even if you dont want to apply for more. Because the dilution will happen across the board.

The market cap of Idea is about 28,000 crore and the new cash will add Rs 25,000 crore to it  taking it to a 53,000 crore market cap, over 2870 crore shares, with nearly 100,000 crore of debt.

Unless theres a strong recovery in earning, the Vodafone Idea combine will still need more cash to go through the next few years. If theres an Idea worth exploring, then its only in the rights issue undersubscription arbitrage.

(The author is a Market Analyst at capitalmind.com)

Capital Mind Disclosure: The authors at Capital Mind have positions in the market and some of them may support or contradict the material given above, or may involve a direction derived from independent analysis.

The article first appeared on Capitalmind. It has been reproduced with permission. You can read the original article here

:

Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.
Highlights

- Contribution of branded products to revenue is increasing- Capex intensity is likely to moderate from H2 FY20- Utilisation rates and product mix will determine margins- Overdependence on US markets remains a key risk

- The stock trades at reasonable valuations

--------------------------------------------------

Himatsingka Seide (HSL), one of Indias largest home textile majors and exporters, draws our attention on account of improving business fundamentals. Conclusion of capex cycle by H1 FY20, higher contribution from branded products, an uptick in utilisation rates and undemanding valuations make us bullish on the stock.

Q3 review

- Sales grew on the back of higher contribution from branded products (84 percent of Q3 sales)

- Gross and operating margins expanded noticeably because of a good product mix and full benefits of captive consumption (ie. yarn being utilised to manufacture bed sheets)

Negatives

- Forex losses resulted in other income declining sharply year-on-year (YoY)

- Depreciation and interest costs rose significantly YoY due to investments in the terry towel plant

- Tax rate increased marginally YoY

- The above factors led to a marginal reduction in PAT (profit after tax) margins

Why consider investing ?

Capex intensity is waning

By September 2019, HSLs terry towel facility is likely to be set up. Post this, barring regular maintenance capital expenditure, there is no big expansion plan.

Depreciation and financing charges, that rose noticeably in the past 4 quarters due to investments in the terry towel project, are likely to reduce from H2 FY20 onwards. This is because impetus will be laid on debt repayment. Consequently, bottom-line margins, working capital cycle and cash flows should improve.

Utilisation rates are likely to go up

In Q3 FY17, HSL expanded its bed sheet manufacturing capacity from 23 mmpa (million metres per annum) to 46 mmpa. Utilisation levels in respect of both (ie. original and new capacity) are stable at the moment. As the companys order book (particularly for branded products) grows, there will be a corresponding uptick in manufacturing activities. This, in turn, should help achieve operating leverage.

Debottlenecking of bed sheet manufacturing capacity has been concluded in Q3 FY19, thereby resulting in an increase in capacity to the tune of 15 mmpa. This new capacity will be utilised for manufacturing products that yield lower realisations, implying that sales growth, to this extent, will be volume-driven.

Once the terry towel facility becomes operational, utilisation levels should start moving up too.

Sale of branded products on an uptrend

In 9M FY19, brands constituted about 85.6 percent of the top-line as against 71 percent in FY18. HSLs own brands are making their presence felt in the financials.

HSL will complete integration of manufacturing processes of the Tommy Hilfiger brand by Q4 FY19-end.

Rights to sell Calvin Klein Home products globally have been acquired. Previously, HSL could sell products only in North America.

Since branded products, especially own brands and fashion bedding variants, command better realisations vis-a-vis their unbranded counterparts, HSLs margins should start moving up gradually.

Risks

To mitigate risks associated with regional concentration, HSL is exploring markets in Europe and Asia. Nevertheless, at the moment, the US market alone comprises nearly 85-90 percent of HSLs annual top-line. Therefore, Trumps actions of withdrawing the preferential trade treatment granted to Indian exporters may affect the companys future revenue visibility.

Indian Rupees appreciation vis-a-vis the US dollar would impact product realisations to the extent of unhedged cash flows. Raw material (cotton) costs are not showing any signs of moderation as of now.

Competitive pressure from nations such as Pakistan, Vietnam and Bangladesh continues to persist.

Signs of consumption slowdown in international markets can hit the order book.

Outlook

HSLs stock price has been on a downward spiral during the course of the last 12 months. This is primarily on account of market volatility and YoY dip in PAT (profit after tax) margins since the last 3 quarters.

After a sharp 47 percent correction from its 52-week high, the stock trades at an undemanding 6.7 times its FY21 projected earnings. This makes it a good value buy.

However, it is pertinent to note that any meaningful re-rating in HSLs valuation multiples may be seen only from H2 FY20.

Follow @krishnakarwa152

For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page

Moneycontrol Research analysts do not hold positions in the companies discussed here)
Shares of Indian Overseas Bank rallied more than 2 percent intraday on March 29 after the public sector bank allotted stake worth Rs 3,806 crore to the government.

The Chennai-based bank in a BSE release said that 269 crore shares at Rs 14.12 per share were allotted to the Indian government on preferential basis.

The share touched its 52-week high of Rs 18.60 and 52-week low of Rs 11.05 on 2 May 2018 and 8 October 2018, respectively.

At 12:38 hrs, Indian Overseas Bank was quoting at Rs 14.54, up 2.39 percent on the BSE.
Shares of Tata Metaliks (TML) rallied more than 6 percent intraday on March 29 after the company allotted equity shares and convertible warrants worth Rs 403.79 crore to parent company Tata Steel.

Meanwhile, Tata Steel rose nearly 8 percent intraday.

The company in its BSE release said that Tata Steel has acquired 27.97 lakh equity shares at a price of Rs 642 per share aggregating to Rs 179.57 crore and 34,92,500 convertible warrants at a price of Rs 642 a piece aggregating to Rs 224.22 crore.

Tata Steel's holding in TML now increases from 50.09 percent to 55.06 percent.

At 0926 hrs, Tata Metaliks was quoting Rs 667, up 6.06 percent on the BSE.

At 1027 hrs, Tata Steel was quoting Rs 62.95, up 7.88 percent on the BSE.
Gaurav Choudhury

It is not always that questions are raised about a countrys central bank over its boundaries of authority. Of late, a barrage of questions has been directed at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), particularly by Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB), which has spared no punches raising pointed posers on the issues of the regulators power.

This is unusual, for the RBI has had a reputation of being a no-nonsense watchdog, with an orthodox approach. That is now under question with the higher judiciary called upon to adjudicate matters.

How often has one seen a bank calling a RBI decision ultra vires (acting beyond legal power and authority)? How many times has any bank dared to accuse the RBI of using carte blanche powers to push through a decision?

How often has a bank charged the RBI with seeking to belittle a private lender? How many times has a bank accused the central bank of indulging in insinuations, which it described as mischievous, incorrect and baseless?

Seldom, one would reckon.

The gloves are off, or so it appears, in the ongoing dispute over promoter shareholding between KMB and RBI in the Bombay High Court.

KMB has termed the RBI direction to cut promoter shareholding in the bank to 20 percent as ultra vires, violating the norms and principles of the Banking Regulation (BR) Act.

The petition seeks to challenge the actions of the RBI as being ultra vires the BR Act and the Constitution of India, the bank said in a reply to the central banks contention that lender has sought relief that could erode RBIs autonomy.

The RBI regulates all banks under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, which has been amended over the years.

RBI had asked the bank to cut promoter shareholding to 20 percent of paid up capital by December 31, 2018 and 15 percent by March 31, 2020.

As on December 31, 2018, Uday Kotak, the banks vice chairman and managing director, held 29.72 per cent stake in the bank. The bank in August 2018 had proposed issuing perpetual non-cumulative preference shares (PNCPS) to cut promoter holding to 19.70 percent, which the RBI rejected.

The bank has challenged the RBIs contention in the Bombay High Court, which is hearing the matter.

The RBI has told the Bombay High Court that the banks petition smacks of ulterior motives, and aims at the defeat of statutory powers and duties conferred upon/vested in the RBI.

In response, the bank has said that the RBIs contention is not only unreasonable and incorrect, but amounts to the RBI contending that it is entitled to carte blanche powers irrespective of the provisions of the BR Act.

The RBI is a statutory body whose exercise of powers must conform to the provisions of the BR Act and the principles enshrined in the Constitution. The petition only seeks to uphold the principles of law and is not seeking to challenge the autonomy of the RBI in any manner, the bank said in its response.

The RBIs bank licensing rules mandate that a private banks promoter will need to pare its holding to 40 percent within three years, 20 percent within 10 years and to 15 percent within 15 years.

The RBI has argued that the lowering promoter shareholding is to prevent concentration of control and make private banks more democratic.

The bank, however, responded that Section 12 of the BR Act reveals the Parliamentary intent to treat voting right beyond 26 percent as giving rise to concentration of control.

Voting rights ceiling is specified under Section 12(2) of the Banking Regulation Act. The voting rights cap, fixed at 26 percent, is aimed to add an extra layer of safety net to ensure that promoters with large shareholding cannot push through decisions in boards.

The RBI has told the Bombay High Court that it is the bank, and not the promoters of the bank, which has petitioned the court.

They (the promoters) have no issue with holding being regulated in the manner provided for by the RBI, the banking regulator had told the Bombay High Court in response to Kotak Mahindra Banks petition challenging RBIs direction to trim promoter shareholding.

The RBI has also stated that the since the bank, not the promoters, have approached the court, it shows first hand, the need to make private banks more independent, and reflective not of the interests of one individual or family, but all stakeholders, whose voices must be heard in their (the banks) running.

KMB has termed these as insinuations and said that it also belittles the impact of the RBIs unreasonable and arbitrary position.

Until the Courts ruling, the blows will likely continue.

For more Opinion pieces, click here
The AAP on Friday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that his reference to the Armed Forces in a recent interview was in violation of the model code of conduct ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

In a letter to the Election Commission, the AAP legal cell alleged that the Prime Minister talked about Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan, during the interview to obtain political gains.

The AAP said that the EC has given specific instructions for not using photographs of defence personnel and also asked parties not to make any reference to the Armed Forces during the political campaign, doing which would be seen as a violation of the poll code.

"Using his (Abhinandan) name in an interview with an intention to obtain political gain is a complete violation of the model code of conduct," the AAP alleged in the letter.

Abhinandan was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets during an aerial combat. He downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan before his plane was hit.

The AAP urged the Election Commission to take cognisance of the said violation of the poll code by the highest public functionary of the country - the prime minister himself and take appropriate action as per laws, the letter said.

The party also quoted the official Twitter handle of the BJP which posted Modi's quotes related to the Armed Forces.

Reacting to this, Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashok Goel said, "BJP thinks national security should be an issue in the elections and no violation of model code of conduct is involved in lauding the bravery of our soldiers."
Arvind Kejriwal: The Chief Minister of New Delhi tweeted: Delhi cabinet decides to make rain water harvesting mandatory for all its govt buildings. HoDs directed to install systems in buildings which don't have it & existing systems to be cleaned & kept ready before Monsoon rains. (Image: PTI)

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said his party needs an alliance with the Congress in Haryana, but not in Delhi, for the Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to a TV channel on the sidelines of an election rally in Vijaywada, Kejriwal said the party is capable of winning all seven seats in Delhi on its own.

"It is in Haryana that we need the support of the Congress. I don't understand why they are not forming an alliance with us in Haryana," Kejriwal told NDTV.

He also held a meeting with Punjab party workers in Delhi and asked them to dispel any rumours related to alliance with the Congress.

According to sources, the AAP wanted to contest on three seats in Punjab, two in Haryana and five in Delhi.

But due to looming uncertainty, the AAP announced all seven candidates in Delhi, eight in Punjab and is waiting for a response from the Congress over an alliance in Haryana.

On March 13, the Delhi chief minister had appealed to the Congress to join the proposed alliance between his party and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) but his offer was snubbed by his Haryana-ally, which said it can "never have any truck" with the Congress.

Kejriwal had said that an alliance between the AAP, the Congress and the Jannayak Janata Party would defeat the BJP in the state.
Air India Friday was again found to be using boarding passes carrying photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, days after the national carrier decided to roll back such passes amid criticism over alleged poll code violation.

On Friday evening, a passenger who took an Air India flight from Madurai tweeted a picture of his boarding pass having photos of Modi and Rupani in an advertisement for the Vibrant Gujarat summit held in January.

"Air India had issued notice on March 25 to all domestic stations to discontinue usage of boarding cards with Vibrant Gujarat Advertisement on reverse with immediate effect. Today's incident is apparently a human error. A show cause notice for this error has been issued to the airport manager of AI at Madurai," an airline spokesman said.

"Today AI management has reiterated its earlier instructions and asked for confirmation from all stations regarding discontinuation of these boarding cards," he said.

On Monday, a picture of Air India boarding pass - which had photos of Modi and Rupani on it - was tweeted by a passenger, triggering a major controversy. Consequently, the national carrier issued a statement that it "has decided to roll back" these boarding passes.

On Wednesday, the Election Commission issued a show cause notice to the Railways and Civil Aviation ministries over the use of pictures of PM on rail tickets and Air India boarding passes as prima facie it violated the model code of conduct.

On March 20, tickets with photos of the prime minister were withdrawn by the railways after the TMC raised the issue with the poll body.

The Railways had said it was a third-party advertisement and leftover from a pack of tickets printed a year earlier was used. The national transporter also instructed its zones to withdraw the tickets.

Last month, the Civil Aviation Ministry "requested" airlines flying on domestic routes to give their passengers a letter written by Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu that enlisted various "achievements and initiatives" of the Modi government in the aviation sector.
On March 11, the Supreme Court once again battled for the very principles that ensure fair play is both protected and respected. A few days ago, it also took up issues related to electoral bonds and amendments to the FCRA (Foreign Contributions Regulations Act).

In a stinging judgement relating to M/S Icomm Tele vs Punjab State Water Supply & Sewerage Board [Civil Appeal No 2713 of 2019 arising out of SLP (Civil) No 3307 of 2018], the apex court held as arbitrary and unconstitutional, an arbitration clause mandating a contractor of a States Water Supply and Sewerage Board (the state board) to furnish a pre-deposit of 10 percent of the amount of its claim in arbitration at the time of invocation of arbitration. A paper published by the law firm Nishith Desai Associates analyses this quite well.

In doing so, the apex court re-affirmed the primary purpose of arbitration as de-clogging the court system. The court held that such a pre-deposit clause was itself a clog on entering the arbitral process and would render the same impermissibly ineffective and expensive.

In fact, such a demand is highly iniquitous. It is this unfair rule that has blocked huge funds in the road construction sector. Any dispute with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) eventually goes the arbitration way. That is when the NHAI requires the private party to put up 10 percent of the disputed amount into an escrow account as part of the developers agreement with NHAI.

Look at the unfairness, says a highways developer. A company is already broke and near bankruptcy because it was not paid its dues by NHAI. Banks refuse to lend it any more money. And NHAI wants the party to put up another 10 percent of the money before seeking to claim the amount from the public sector undertaking (PSU). Such rules make the state an oppressor and renders the oppressed even more vulnerable than ever before.

It is quite possible that this judgement will have far-reaching implications, especially in tax related matters as well. Tax authorities want disputants to pay 20 percent of the amount before the first stage of appeal. Worse, the tax department pays only six percent interest on such amounts, while it demands 12 percent from assesses for delayed payments. Such arbitrary rules, which hurt the common man and make the government an oppressive agent, may now undergo a review in view of the latest judgement from the apex court.

A few days ago, the Supreme Court also began hearing the challenge to the amendments made to FCRA and electoral bonds. It may be recalled that in February last year, the government  even in the midst of pandemonium in Parliament  passed a slew of amendments without any discussion or even opposition from any of the legislators.

One such amendment related to the FCRA which shielded political parties from disclosing the source of income from other countries. Worse the amendments shielded political parties from disclosing the source of their foreign income retrospectively for 42 years. The amendments made a mockery of existing laws. Already, the government had sent a notice asking why political parties had not disclosed the source of their contributions.

This was both unfortunate and bizarre because a political party, which claimed to be nationalistic, had in fact passed amendments that would expose the countrys electoral system to foreign influence  through undisclosed funds flows. Predictably, some NGOs  including the one run by EAS Sarma, former Economic Affairs Secretary and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)  challenged this in the Supreme Court.

At the same time, another challenge against the electoral bonds also compelled the apex court to seek the views of the Election Commission (EC). In startling disclosures before the apex court, the EC admitted that the amendments will have 'serious repercussions' on transparency.

The EC stated that the changes in the FCRA 2010 will allow unchecked foreign funding of political parties, which could lead to Indian policies being influenced by foreign companies. It also stated that it had written the Ministry of Law and Justice on May 26, 2017 that such amendments would be against the endeavour to have transparency in funding to political parties.

The reply was filed in petitions challenging the issuance of electoral bonds by the government.

Clearly, the above moves will further challenge the governments arbitrary attempts to pass laws that are not just against transparency but also unfair to people because as the Law Commission itself observed, the government is itself a 'compulsive litigant'.

This was observed by none else but the Supreme Court which stated, Mindful of the phenomenon of the docket explosion and the rising litigation in the country, the Union of India in order to ensure the conduct of responsible litigation framed what is today known as the National Litigation Policy (NLP), to bring down the pendency of cases and get meaningful issues decided from the judicial forums rather than multiple tiers of scrutiny just for the sake of it. The Government, being a litigant in well over 50 per cent of the cases, has to take a lead in not being a compulsive litigant.

The judgement drew its conclusions from the observations of the NLP which stated in 2010 that the government must cease to be a compulsive litigant. The philosophy that matters should be left to the courts for ultimate decision has to be discarded. The easy approach, let the court decide, must be eschewed and condemned. As a result, almost 50 percent of the three crore cases pending in the courts across the country are because of the government. Despite the Supreme Courts observation and those of the NLP, the situation has not improved.

The recent judgement about the 10 percent deposit and hearings on both the electoral bonds and the FCRA amendments should lay down clear legal precedents that legislators will now have to uphold, protect and even cherish.
Fugitive billionaire diamantaire Nirav Modi was denied bail on March 29 by the Westminster Magistrate's Court for the second time. The next hearing has been scheduled for April 26.

Nirav, the main accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank scam case, was arrested from London's Holborn Tube metro station on March 19.

At the next hearing on 26 April, Nirav Modi will be produced through video conferencing. He will be kept in police custody until then.

During the hearing today, Nirav's attorney Claire Montgomery offered a million pounds as security. However, the judge rejected the plea, taking into account the inconsistency in the statements of witnesses, allegations of destruction of evidence, the scale of the alleged fraud, and Nirav's keenness to move to the South-Pacific.

Also Read: Nirav Modi made death threats to witnesses, UK court told

The magistrate has given the Indian government six weeks to get the papers in order.

Three Indian officials  two from CBI and one from ED  had reached London for the extradition hearing of Nirav Modi, CNN News18 reported. The news channel also suggested that Indian authorities will be looking at his deportation.

Also Read: What does Nirav Modi's future hold?

Nirav was produced before a judge at the Westminster Magistrate's Court for the first time on March 20, where he had rejected extradition and offered 500,000 pounds as security for his bail. The judge had denied him bail on grounds of the high value of funds embezzled and high access of escape.

Nirav was sent to HM Prison Wandsworth after his bail plea was rejected and was kept in custody till March 29.
Representative image

Pakistan said no decision has been taken so far on the opening of the Sharda temple corridor for Hindu pilgrims from India in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and asserted that there should be "a positive atmosphere" for taking such steps.

Earlier in the week, quoting sources in Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Express Tribune reported that the Pakistani government has approved a proposal to establish a corridor that will allow Hindu pilgrims from India to visit the ancient Hindu temple and cultural site.

Addressing a weekly press briefing here, Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal rejected the report, saying, "To the best of my knowledge, no decision has been taken so far (on opening the Sharda temple corridor)."

"A positive environment is required to move forward on all such issues," he added.

In its report, the Express Tribune had also quoted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member of the National Assembly (MNA) Ramesh Kumar as saying, "Pakistan has decided to open the Sharda temple. Work on the project will start from the current year after which Hindus in Pakistan will also be able to visit the site."

Established in 237 B.C. during the reign of Emperor Ashoka, the 5,000-year-old Sharada Peeth is an abandoned temple and ancient centre of learning dedicated to the Hindu goddess of learning. Between the 6th and 12th centuries C.E, Sharada Peeth was one of the foremost temple universities of the Indian subcontinent.

It is also one of the three famous holy sites for Kashmiri Pandits, the other two being the Martand Sun Temple in Anantnag and the Amarnath temple.

Kashmiri Pandit organisations have been demanding opening of the Sharda Peeth corridor for many years.
Some of the members of the health delegation took a group photo with one of the six babies born at Lolowai Hospital just after the hospitals reopening
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday launched a blistering attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and erstwhile ally N Chandrababu Naidu, calling him 'u-turn Babu', whose "intent" was not on state's development.

Addressing a well-attended election rally here, he sought to reject Naidu's repeated attacks that his government neglected the state.

Andhra Pradesh goes to siumultaneous elections to the 175-member assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in the first phase on April 11 with the BJP contesting them alone.

Listing various initiatives taken by the NDA government for Andhra Pradesh, Modi said it was during his regime that the Vizag-Chennai industrial corridor was flagged off and approval for the first National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) given. It was also the 'chowkidar' who cleared the first Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) besides approving the greenfield petrochemical complex for the state, he said.

"Five years ago, your one vote made me PM. Your Pradhan sewak worked selflessly day and night for the people of the country. Chowkidar kept the interest of the state in mind," he said.

Modi also recalled that the NDA government sanctioned first central university in Anantpur.

He accused Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party supremo, of pasting state government 'stickers' on the Central schemes.

"For sure, I could have done more work. I just required the cooperation of the state government. I made all efforts from my side, but the person who is running the government (Naidu), his intention is not Andhra Pradesh's development," Modi said.

Levelling charges of corruption and dynasty politics against Naidu, he said the election date of April 11 will usher in the "double engine" of the state's growth -- a BJP government both at the Centre and the state.

There was debate going on in AP that there were 'schemes for corruption,' ranging from the creation of the new capital Amravati, the Prime Minister charged.

"The people of Andhra Pradhesh know whose coffers are being filled.. when this chowkidar sought accounts, u-turn Babu took a u-turn from AP's growth and walked out from NDA," Modi lashed out.

Naidu had snapped ties with the NDA in March last year, accusing the Centre of not honouring the "promised" special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Hitting out at the TDP supremo for getting close to the Congress, Modi said Naidu has "found friends who are on bail," apparently referring to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi who are on bail in the National Herald case.

Modi, who had in the past hit out at Naidu for alleged family politics, said the election should also see the "son set", and called for a new "sun rise."

He deliberately stressed on the "son" part to drive home his point on dynasty politics targeting the AP chief minister and his son and state minister Nara Lokesh.

Without elaborating, Modi mocked that Pakistan has now accepted Naidu's "friends" as "hero."
Noted economist and social activist Jean Dreze was detained along with two others by police in Jharkhand's Garhwa district for organising a gathering about Right to Food without permission from authorities.

Authorities called the public meeting a violation of the 'Model Code of Conduct'. Dreze submitted a personal bond and was released later in the day.

Dreze's detainment sparked a wave of outrage from many political figures and economists who condemned the act on social media.

Politician Yogendra Yadav took to Twitter and said Dreze "had done more for the country than any other economist" and dubbed his arrest as shameful.

The official Twitter handle of Congress condemned the arrest as well.

Belgium-born Dreze is a well-known economist and has worked with the Indian government over numerous programmes since the 1990s.

Dreze: The academic

Dreze gained popularity in India due to his work in fields of hunger, gender inequality, child health and education. He has lived in India since 1979 and became an Indian citizen in 2002. In the 1980s, Dreze finished studying Mathematical Economics at the University of Essex and got his doctorate.

He was a teacher at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics in the 1980s. He was visiting faculty in GB Pant Social Science Institute in Allahabad.

He is an Honourary Chair Professor of the 'Planning and Development Unit', which was created through an endowment by the Planning Commission, Government of India in University of Allahabad's department of economics.

Dreze has co-authored a book with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen about famine, one book with British economist Nicholas Stern about policy reforms in the markets, and another with Nobel laureate Angus Deaton.

Dreze: The economist and activist

He played a major role in drafting the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA), and he still monitors its implementation. He was consulted for other flagship government initiatives including the Right to Information Act (RTI) and the National Food Security Act in India.

Dreze's passion for social justice made his life experiences very unique. During his PhD studies, he lived with homeless people in London and helped them organise a movement in 1988. He refused luxury in life both in India and the UK and penned down a book called No. 1 Clapham Road: the diary of a squat. He still lives in a slum with his wife, Bela Bhatia in Jharkhand.

He was at the forefront of the RTI campaign before drafting of the act. He joined a peace camp station on the Iraq-Kuwait border during the 1990-1991 Iraq war in a bid to promote his peace movement. He wrote 'Hunger and Poverty in Iraq, 1991', which was one of the first pieces of work about the country's economy after the Gulf war.

Dreze has written many columns, a collection of which has been published as a book called 'Sense and Solidarity'. The essays cover topics like food security, healthcare and rights of children.

After being released, Dreze stressed upon the importance of public discourse before elections, he said that the understanding of democracy in India is shrinking.
BJP president Amit Shah on March 29 lashed out at the Opposition parties for questioning the Narendra Modi government over air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and advocating talks with Islamabad to resolve various issues. The Narendra Modi government has given befitting replies to China and Pakistan, he said, adding "we are fighting to secure our country".

Kicking off the BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign in West Bengal from Alipurduar, Shah said, "We have given befitting replies to China on the Dokalam issue and to Pakistan for its use of terror elements against India. If Pakistan fires a single bullet, we will answer with artillery fire."

He hit out at the Opposition parties, saying "when the government is fighting against terrorists to protect the nation, they are questioning it."

The electorate this time will choose between "strong and decisive" Narendra Modi on the one hand and "thugbandhan leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav on the other", he said in a veiled reference to the 'mahagathbandhan' or grand alliance of the opposition parties to dislodge the BJP.

Shah mocked Congress president Rahul Gandhi for seeking answers on the Modi government's performance. "We don't need to answer you. First you should tell us what the UPA government did in 10 years."

The Congress-led UPA-I and UPA-II governments under Manmohan Singh had been in power from 2004 to 2014.
The Congress is blinded by its "anti-Modi approach" and has stopped thinking in the nation's interest, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here Thursday, raising issues of national security and terrorism and questioning the party's statements following the Balakot strike.

Addressing a rally in Akhnoor on the outskirts of Jammu, his first in the state after national elections were announced on March 10, Modi claimed the speeches of Congress leaders receive applause in Pakistan.

The prime minister began his speech by greeting people in the local Dogri language and went to exhort them to vote for his party's Jammu-Poonch candidate Jugal Kishore.

Modi said he was surprised at the Congress' reaction to his government's endeavour to teach a lesson to the enemies of the country.

"What has happened to the Congress party....the anti-Modi approach adopted by them has blinded them to the extent that they have stopped thinking in the interest of the nation," Modi said.

When India conducted the air strike in Balakot on February 27, Congress leaders came out with statements which were not in favour of the country, he said.

"Is it the same Sardar Patel's Congress who spent day and night for the unity and integrity of the country? I fail to understand if this is the Congress party of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who saw the dream of an independent India," the PM said. "My soul is saying it is not."

"What do you think?" he asked the people, who replied saying they agreed with the PM's view.

"The entire country and its citizen are speaking in one voice but the Congressmen are speaking a different language," Modi said.

The prime minister also questioned the Congress' silence on National Conference's Baramulla candidate Akbar Lone's reported remarks purportedly in favour of Pakistan.

"I am surprised that they are aligning with such people who are against the interests of the nation," Modi told the gathering.

He told them if they press the 'lotus' (BJP's poll symbol) button on the EVM on April 11, it will not only unnerve terrorists and their sympathisers within the country, but its bang would be heard across the border as well.

He also asked people of the state to remain vigilant against the policies of the National Conference and the PDP, a former ally of the BJP, for their alleged pro-separatist agendas.

"We imposed ban on groups involved in secession of the state from India, but these political parties opposed it," the prime minister said.

Referring to the strike on a JeM camp in Balakot, the prime minister said the nation has shown its resolve to fight terrorism. "Those running terrorist factory across the border are afraid and are living under a constant fear. This has happened for the first time that terrorists are forced to think 100 times before intruding into this side," he told the rally at the border town.

He also said terrorists and their supporters in Pakistan are praying to get rid of him by losing these elections, but warned them against any misadventure against India.

"Terrorists and their supporters sitting across the border (in Pakistan) should know that any step against interests and security of India will prove them costly, Modi said.

"Pakistan is praying the 'chowkidar' somehow loses the elections so that this mixture of sorts (Opposition alliance) comes to power in Delhi," he said.

Modi expressed concerns over difficulties being faced by border residents due to Pakistan shelling.

"I am concerned about it. Due to utter frustration, they are targeting our villages, our civilian population and their cattle. Please be assured that this will not continue for long," he said.

Modi appealed people to turn up at polling booths in large numbers.
The Congress on Friday nominated actress Urmila Matondkar and former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar from Mumbai North and Bihar's Sasaram parliamentary constituencies respectively.

The party renominated its sitting MP Ranjet Ranjan from Supaul in Bihar, as it released a list of another 12 candidates for the general elections. With this list, the Congress has so far nominated 305 Lok Sabha candidates.

It also changed its candidate in Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj by now fielding Supriya Shrinate in place of Tanushree Tripathi, the daughter of jailed politician Amarmani Tripathi, after facing widespread criticism.

"The Congress central election committee has approved the candidature of Urmila Matondkar as party candidate to contest the ensuing general elections from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra," a party statement said.

Matondkar had joined the Congress after meeting Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday and had later said that she was "here to stay".

Meira Kumar have been contesting from her Sasaram parliamentary constituency for many years but had lost in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Apart from Supriya Shrinate, in the list of 12 candidates released by the party, four are from Bihar and seven from Odisha. The Congress also released a list of 20 candidates for Odisha Assembly election.
Former Assam chief minister and vetran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi

The opposition's anti-BJP 'grand alliance' failed to take the desired shape as Congress president Rahul Gandhi chose not to "override" the sentiments of state leaders who did not favour the move, party veteran and thrice Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said.

Gogoi, a six-term former MP and union minister, also rubbished the BJP's allegation of the Congress being a "dynastic" party, insisting it was the "most democratic" in the country.

He said despite the opposition alliance being nebulous because of lack of formal tie-ups, the anti-BJP parties were united in their intent of defeating the saffron party and its allies.

"Rahul Gandhi was keen on alliance most of the time. But the local party leaders said no. Our party gives importance to regional leadership. That is why we have not been able to form alliances in many places," Gogoi told PTI in an interview.

"Though the Congress is often dubbed as a dynastic party, it is the most democratic party. Rahul Gandhi does not override the sentiments of local leaders who are heard and given due importance," he said.

Gogoi, when asked if a pre-poll pact between potential partners of the proposed grand alliance could have got them more seats, said nobody can predict that with any amount of certainty.

The Assam leader also appeared to favour the largest party in a winning coalition deciding which direction the government would take.

"Even in case of alliance, the largest party can administer and rule the country. That is also needed. The single largest party must have sufficient strength so that it is not dependent on alliance all the time. Otherwise, the alliance (its smaller constituents) will dictate. And that is not a good for the country," he said.

Referring to the seat sharing agreement between the Congress and CPI(M) for the West Bengal assembly elections in 2016, he said it was not beneficial as "sometimes alliances do not help and go against our own interest".

The Congress leader conceded that uniting all opposition parties on one platform is not an easy task as ideological differences and reluctance to cede political space to each other often come in the way.

"Yes, votes get divided because of this. But who will make the sacrifice? Nobody will sacrifice. Why should we leave our seat when the other party doesn't? Yes, is will be better if things are done in the spirit of give and take, but that is not possible because of divergence and differences among us," he said.

Gogoi was responding to a question about division of secular votes in 2014 that helped BJP secure a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own, the strongest public mandate secured by any party since 1984 when the Congress had won a landslide.

"How much vote did they (BJP) get last time? Only 31 per cent. He (Modi) only gave an impression that he is the most popular prime minister. Probably, he is the only one to become the prime minister with lowest percentage of votes," Gogoi said.

When asked about Congress's failure to clinch an electoral pact with the CPI(M) in West Bengal, the former chief minister said it was because the two were on the rival side of the political divide in Kerala.

"If we praise them here, how will we criticise them there?"

He, however, insisted all opposition parties were unanimous in their view that they must fight the Narendra Modi government's "dictatorial and pro-rich" policies.

The Congress veteran leader claimed the Centre's assertions on development were "sheer propaganda".

"Farm distress, job loss, slowdown in construction and manufacturing, failure to check price rise, fall in exports and decline in GDP....overall the the Indian economy is in a bad shape. Indications are that the country is on decline. It is not moving up, but going down," he claimed.

Gogoi was, however, optimistic about the Congress's prospects in the elections despite the opposition alliance failing to take off the way it should have.

"The Congress's prospects this time are very good. I think it will get around 200 seats. Indian people are intelligent. They would sometimes punish and then reward," he said, apparently the party's lowest ever tally of 44 seats in 2014 LS polls weighing on his mind.

He also maintained the BJP's tally in states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where it had scored impressive victories like never before, will go down.
Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora said that the city unit of the party has requested the high command to give a Lok Sabha ticket to actor Urmila Matondkar.

Matondkar joined the Congress Wednesday after meeting party president Rahul Gandhi.

It is likely that she would be nominated from Mumbai North, as the party has already announced candidates from other four seats in Mumbai which it would be contesting.

Deora, who took charge as the new Mumbai Congress chief, replacing Sanjay Nirupam, said, "We have requested party chief Rahul Gandhi to nominate Matondkar as a candidate."

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also said that Matondkar's candidature will be declared soon.

Speaking to reporters later, Matondkar said she wanted the politics of hatred which has grown by "leaps and bounds" in the last five years, to end.

The money spent on "trolling and hatred" should have gone into development, she added.
The BJP faces a tough challenge in retaining its lone seat in Telangana after a dismal performance in the recent assembly polls, but the saffron party has pinned its hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma and its leaders say they are confident of pulling off victory.

The Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, where the BJP had 33.62 per cent vote share in 2014, has become a crucial battleground for all three main parties -- the BJP, the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Trying to ensure that each vote counts, the prime minister and the BJP president Amit Shah will both be holding rallies from Friday onwards to bolster the party's prospects in a state it was hoping will be its gateway to South India.

Leaving nothing to chance, the BJP has dropped former Union minister and sitting MP Bandaru Dattatreya and replaced him with G Kishan Reddy -- former BJP state president and three time MLA -- in a bid to retain the treasured seat at all cost.

Dattatreya has been contesting from the constituency since 1991 but faced consecutive defeats in the 2004 and 2009 elections. In 2014, he won with a massive majority of 2,54,735 votes against rival Congress. He was given the portfolio of Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment but was removed as minister in September 2017.

Kishan Reddy -- considered an outsider in this constituency -- was defeated from the Amberpet assembly segment in 2018 by a TRS candidate by a small margin.

Admitting that he is under pressure to win the lone BJP seat, Reddy exuded confidence that the BJP's gambit will pay off.

"I am a three-time MLA. I am ready to take this challenge. People are looking at this election differently from the 2018 Vidhan Sabha polls. This election is not to elect a chief minister but a PM of this country. If TRS wins, it will not benefit as the PM will not be made from a regional party," Reddy told PTI in the midst of his busy rally.

He added that Modi's rallies will bring in voter confidence and improve the party's winning prospects.

Unwilling to let the BJP's plan succeed, the TRS, which won six of seven assembly segments in the Lok Sabha constituency in 2018, has fielded the state's youngest candidate.

State minister T Srinivas Yadav's son Sai Kiran Yadav is just 32 years old and is ready to take on the BJP and the Congress with the help of friendly party AIMIM that won the seventh assembly seat in this Parliamentary constituency.

Claiming that Modi's charisma is on the wane, Sai Kiran Yadav is appealing to people in the constituency to vote for a regional party that can play a key role in forming a non-BJP, non-Congress government at the Centre

Ask why should people vote for TRS, he said, "We were insulted by the Union government that sacked outgoing MP Dattatreya as a central minister. It shows BJP does not want any representation from the state. People want to take revenge this time and vote for the TRS."

The Congress has fielded M Anjan Kumar Yadav again this time to take on the BJP candidate.

Dismissing any electoral threats from TRS candidate, Yadav -- who won twice in 2004 and 2009 was later defeated by Dattatreya in 2014 -- accused the BJP and the TRS of winning elections with malpractices.

"This election fight is between BJP and Congress and TRS is nowhere in the picture," he said.

Secunderabad -- which is named after Sikander Jah, the third Nizam of Asaf Jahi Dynasty -- was established in 1806 as a British Cantonment and was ruled by the British till 1948 despite it being part of Hyderabad state ruled by the Nizams.

The Secunderabad parliamentary constituency, created in 1952, has been won by either the Congress (12 times) or the BJP (four times) with the former having a slight upper hand till 1998.

In the 2018 assembly poll, the saffron party could win only one seat out of 119.

Political analysts are of the opinion the TRS appears to have a clear edge this time, buoyed by its landslide victory in the recent assembly elections and with opposition parties looking demoralised.

Suffering setbacks due to defection of its MLAs to TRS, the Congress is struggling to put up a strong fight against the regional party, while the BJP's prospects too look remote.

According to the Election Commission, there were 19,54,813 electors in Secunderabad constituency as on February 22, up from 18,90,075 in 2014.

Elections to 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana will be held on April 11, 2019. The state will see a single phase election and the counting of ballots for the entire country will be held on May 23.
With the BJP denying tickets to 12 MPs in Uttar Pradesh, the Opposition is planning to cash in on the clout of these disgruntled parliamentarians in the upcoming general elections.

In its list of 61 candidates, the saffron party has refused tickets to 12 MPs, two of whom have already switched sides and joined the rival parties--Samajwadi Party and Congress.

BJP Allahabad MP Shayama Charan Gupta and Bahraich MP Savitri Bai Phule are now official candidates of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress from Banda and Bahraich, respectively.

Another BJP MP Anshul Verma from Hardoi also joined the SP ahead of the polls, terming the ruling party "anti-Dalits".

Although Verma claimed that he joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led party "without any condition", the Samajwadi Party is planning to utilise his support base among the Dalits, especially in Hardoi area.

Asked about giving preference to BJP turncoats this election, SP MLC Rajpal Kashyap said such a strategy is only aimed at "exposing misdeeds of the ruling party" in the state.

"They are the ones who were on the ground for five years. They can very well tell the electorate what the BJP is and expose their misdeeds," he said.

"Our alliance with the BSP and RLD is very powerful and that is why these leaders have faith in us," Kashyap said.

The SP has tied up with Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Chaudhary Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for the Lok Sabha elections.

BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule, who resigned before the Lok Sabha polls were declared, is now a vocal critic of the saffron party.

"The BJP did nothing for Dalits and backwards. Its government functions in an unconstitutional manner and is conspiring to end reservation. I will ensure defeat of the BJP in my constituency and am ready to campaign wherever my party sends me," she said.

BJP Ballia MP Bharat Singh had recently written an open letter to the people of his constituency.

"What is my fault? Why was I denied ticket? I have always taken up issues related to the constituency. The candidate announced from Ballia has no connect with the people here," he wrote.

Singh, however, did not talk about his future course of action.

BJP's Fatehpur Sikri MP Chowdhury Babulal has also openly shown his resentment after being denied ticket.

In Kushinagar, supporters of BJP MP Rajesh Pandey protested against the denial of ticket to their leader and demanded the leadership to re-consider the decision.

Other prominent BJP leaders who are missing from the party's list of candidates this time are Murli Manohar Joshi (Kanpur), Prikanka Rawat (Barabanki), Union minister Krishna Raj (Shahjahanpur-SC), Anju Bala (Misrikh-SC), Satypal Saini (Sambhal) and Ashok Kumar Dohre (Etawah).

Commenting on the trend of leaders switching allegiance over denial of tickets, BJP spokesman Shalabh Mani Tripathi said, "This happens during election time when leaders look for opportunities.

"Our cadre is intact and people have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. There will be no impact of these leaders going to other parties," he added.

Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats, the highest in the country.
June 02, 2019 / 09:01 AM IST

Welcome to the Lok Sabha election 2019 coverage. This blog tracks the latest developments from the general election.

The BJP reacted with jubilation at the exit polls, which forecast a return of the NDA government, saying that they show a huge positive vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but opposition parties rejected the forecast.

Narendra Modi is returning to power with a bang,
The 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) in Bihar on Friday announced the seats to be contested by each of the alliance partners -- the RJD, Congress, RLSP, HAM and VIP -- in phases three to seven of the general elections.

Out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, polling would be held in 31 constituencies in phases three to seven between April 23 and May 19.

Announcing the seat-sharing arrangement at a press conference here, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also declared the name of his party's candidates and said that no nominee would be fielded by the alliance in Ara to help the CPI(ML) Liberation. He said the candidate for Sheohar seat "will be decided in two-three days".

Senior leaders of the Congress were conspicuous by their absence at the press conference.

Yadav also said his party would contest the Darbhanga seat, which has emerged as a bone of contention between the RJD and the Congress with the latter insisting on having the seat as it wanted to field sitting MP Kirti Azad, who had recently joined the party after quitting the BJP.

Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui would fight from Darbhanga.

Among the other prominent RJD candidates, Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti would contest from Pataliputra, which she had lost to her father's former loyalist-turned-BJP leader Ram Kripal Yadav in 2014. Chandrika Rai the father of Tej Pratap Yadav's estranged wife Aishwarya, will be fight from Saran.

Tejashwi also claimed that the Congress, which was represented at the press conference by former MLC Narendra Kumar Singh, had cleared the names of some of its candidates which included sitting MP from Supaul Ranjeet Ranjan and former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar who would try her luck from Sasaram.

Meira Kumar have been contesting from her Sasaram parliamentary constituency for many years but had lost in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of playing the religion card and using Lord Ram's name to win elections, though it failed to build the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said she never used religion to win polls but respects all irrespective of their faith or caste.

"You (the BJP) use religion for elections. You contest elections using the name of (Lord) Ram but could not build one Ram Mandir in five years," she said while addressing a programme organised by the Marwari community here.

"We do not use religion to win elections. We are with everybody - Ram or Rahim, Sikh or Christian," Banerjee said.

Referring to the Income Tax notices sent to about 40 big-budget Durga Puja committees in the city, she said no community was obstructed in holding religions celebrations in West Bengal.

The chief minister claimed that people from other states like UP or Bihar feel "safer" in West Bengal compared to their home states.

She said the GST would be reviewed and demonetisation would be probed if the opposition alliance comes to power after the general elections.

"They made a GST that destroyed businesses of all sorts. We will review it and surely initiate an enquiry into demonetisation," Banerjee said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was extremely upset and angry after the 2016 Uri terror attack that had claimed the lives of 17 jawans.

Singh, here to participate in a condolence meeting held in the memory of Parrikar, who died on March 17, narrated his experience about working with his former Cabinet colleague and shared anecdotes.

"After the Uri terror attack (on September 18, 2016), we were called by PM. I was with Parrikar in that meeting. Parrikar was extremely upset and angry over the incident," Singh said.

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army had carried out surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in retaliation to the Uri attack.

"He had also played a major role in the air strike (surgical strikes). He monitored the operation throughout night," Singh said.

"He played an important role in two air strikes," the Union minister said, apparently referring to the surgical strikes across the LoC and also inside Myanmar.

Paying glowing tributes to Parrikar, he said the late Goa Chief Minister had sensed the mood of the country before recommending Narendra Modi's name as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate during the party's National Executive meeting here in 2013.

"When the National Executive took place in 2013, I was president of the party (BJP). After receiving me at the airport in Goa, when we sat over tea, he told me that mood of the country was in favour of Narendra Modi becoming the next Prime Minister," Singh said.

Singh recalled Parrikar's contribution to the One Rank One Pension scheme, induction of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas in the Indian Air Force and getting on track the Rafale fighter jet deal with France.

"I still remember that Rafale was not coming to India. We were concerned that we didn't have next generation fighter plane. The PM gave him the responsibility.

"In 2015, an agreement was signed with the French Defence Minister. Parrikar played a role in getting the Rafale deal back on track," Singh added.

Speaking on the occasion, Goa's Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai said running the BJP-led government in the state without Parrikar is going to be a challenge for the ruling coalition.

However, the ruling coalition will face this challenge together, said Sardesai, who heads the Goa Forward Party (GFP), a BJP ally in the state.

Sardesai said his party had resolved to support the BJP in government formation after the 2017 Assembly polls only if Parrikar, then the Defence Minister, was made the chief minister.

"We have to try to create more Parrikars and to do so we need more foresight. He was the one who had foresight. He was the one who proposed the name of Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

Sardesai said giving a stable government to Goa will be a fitting tribute to Parrikar.

"I am sure the government has gone into another phase after the demise of Parrikar. It is not going to be easy without Parrikar.

"It is going to be a challenge and we are going to face it together. Giving a good and stable government is the biggest tribute we can give to Parrikar," he said.

Sardesai said even before the 2017 elections, he had decided to support a BJP-led government only if it is headed by Parrikar.

"We had decided even before elections and had given him assurance that we will form the government if he returns to state politics and heads the coalition," Sardesai said.

The BJP had won 13 assembly seats and it formed the government under Parrikar with support from the GFP, MGP and Independents.

Sardesai said he had given word to Parrikar to continue in the government. "I have kept my word," he added.

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha and senior RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi, among others, were present at the condolence meeting.
File image

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on the successful test-firing of an anti-satellite missile did not violate the model code of conduct, the Election Commission said Friday night. The EC took the decision based on the report of a committee of officers which found that the prime minister did not violate the provision of 'party in power' in the poll code.

"The committee has, therefore, reached the conclusion that the MCC provision regarding misuse of official mass media...is not attracted in the instant case," the commission said, citing the report of the committee constituted to look into the case.

Model Code of Conduct is in place for the April-May parliamentary election and some state polls.

India shot down one of its satellites in space on Wednesday with an anti-satellite missile to demonstrate this complex capability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced, making it only the fourth country to have used such a weapon.

Declaring India has established itself as a global space power after the success of the operation 'Mission Shakti', Modi said the missile hit a live satellite flying in a Low Earth Orbit after it traversed a distance of almost 300 km from earth within three minutes of its launch.

The announcement was made by the prime minister in a broadcast to the nation on television, radio and social media.

Several opposition parties had complained to the Election Commission alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
West Bengal CPI(M) secretary Surya Kanta Mishra has described Mamata Banerjee's TMC as the "Trojan horse of BJP" in the opposition camp and urged the people to vote for the strongest Congress or Left Front candidates to defeat the TMC and the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections in Bengal.

He conceded that it would have been better if the seat sharing deal between the CPI(M) and the Congress in the state was clinched as it would have ensured maximum pooling of anti-BJP and anti-TMC votes.

The CPI-M veteran said the last five years of the BJP government has been a "complete disaster" for the country and the people. "The very future of the secular democratic republic as enshrined in our Constitution is at stake under the Modi government".

Mishra, also CPI-M Politburo member, told PTI in an interview, "We wanted to ensure maximum pooling of anti-BJP and anti-TMC votes in the state. That is why we had tried for seat sharing and a no mutual contest in six Lok Sabha seats which the Congress and the CPI(M) had won last time. But it did not happen.

"I don't want to enter into a blame game with the Congress. It is for people to decide why it (seat sharing) did not happen," he said.

His comments come in the backdrop of the falling through of the proposed seat sharing deal between the Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front after the former accused the LF major of not following the 'alliance dharma' and being more keen on a short term seat sharing in the state.

The CPI(M) had, on the other hand, accused the Congress of not being serious about the deal.

"The purpose is to defeat the BJP and the TMC and maximize anti-BJP and anti-TMC votes. Let us (CPI-M and Congress) not find fault with each other. The call is very clear - if you see that a Congress candidate can defeat the TMC and the BJP nominees in your constituency, then you vote for the Congress.

But if you feel that the Left can defeat the TMC and the BJP candidates (in a certain seat), then vote for the Left," he said. Both the parties are now contesting in 40 seats each. The state has a total 42 seats, elections to which will be held in seven phases.

The CPI(M) and the Congress had entered into a seat sharing deal in 2016 assembly poll against the TMC but failed to dislodge it from power. Asked about the reason behind the failure of the Congress-CPI(M) seat sharing deal this time, Mishra declined to blame anyone and said his party does not consider Congress to be its "political enemy" as it is neither in power in the state nor at the Centre.

Stating that the CPI(M) was never in favour of an alliance with the Congress and was only interested in having a seat sharing deal, the Left party leader said it is for the people to decide and judge who is stronger and who is in a better position to defeat the TMC and the BJP in respective seats.

Asked whether the CPI(M) will support a Congress-led alliance at the Centre to keep the BJP at bay as it did in 2004, Mishra said "We want an alternative secular government at the Centre. If the alternative secular government has to depend on our support to stop the BJP from coming to power, then we will of course have to support it".

He brushed aside the TMC's claims on efforts to cobble up an anti-BJP opposition alliance and said it can never be trusted in the fight against the saffron party, given its political track record. "The so called efforts by Mamata Banerjee for opposition unity is nothing but a ploy to help the BJP.

She and her party is the Trojan horse of BJP in the opposition camp. She always keeps her options open. She did the same thing in 2014 and this time too, she is doing the same thing," he said.

"Both the TMC and the BJP have an understanding in at least 10-12 seats in Bengal. In those seats, the TMC will help the BJP," Mishra alleged. Continuing his criticism of Banerjee, the Left party leader said it was she who had broken away from the Congress to forge an alliance with the BJP and has never worked for any secular alliance.

"These (efforts by TMC) are all attempts to fool the masses. Whatever will happen (in the alliance) will happen after the polls". Banerjee, a prime mover behind the efforts to stitch together an anti-BJP alliance, had organised a rally of opposition parties in the city on January 19 this year.

Mishra said there can never be a common minimum programme ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. It can only be drawn up after the results are announced and all the parties in the government sit together to discuss various policies.

Recalling the drawing up of the common minmum programme in 2004 after the UPA-1 government was formed with support of the Left parties, he said it was due to them that the 100 days work scheme was implemented and privatisation of banks stopped.

Mishra denied that the BJP is eating into the opposition space in Bengal by outsmarting the Left parties and said that the LF is still ahead of the TMC and the BJP in terms of mass mobilization.

The Left, he claimed, would improve its tally in Bengal this time.

"How can you say we are falling behind? The elections that have taken place in Bengal can never be a benchmark as they were neither free nor fair. In terms of mobilizing people, we are still ahead of the TMC and the BJP and the Left Front's February Brigade grounds rally (in Kolkata) is an example of it," the CPI-M leader said.

"The people are with us and they understand what is right and wrong. We are confident that we will improve our tally in Bengal this time," he added.

Claiming that the fight between the BJP and the TMC is "just to fool the masses", Mishra said had the saffron party been serious it would not have taken five years for CBI to question former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the chit fund scam.

Had the BJP been serious then, there would have been some progress in Narada case which is lying with the Lok Sabha ethics committee, he said. The CPI(M) presently has only two Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, its lowest ever tally in he state in the last four decades.

On the rectification drive in the party to weed out "rotten and inactive" members, he said it is a continuous process but unlike the right wing parties it is not used to settle scores with leaders within the party.
Image Credit: Android Central

After the release of a 20W wireless charger, Xiaomi is now gearing up for the next-generation of fast charging. The Chinese tech giant recently teased a video with a 100W super-fast charger.

Xiaomis new flash charging technology will surpass the likes of OnePlus Dash Charge and Oppo's VOOC Charging. Xiaomi is calling their new technology, Super Charge Turbo. While Xiaomi is yet to provide specifics of their new charging technology, company Co-founder and President Bin Lin shared a demonstration of the tech through a video on Chinese social media site, Weibo.

In the video, Xiaomi pitted their 100W Super Charge Turbo against Oppos 50W Super VOOC technology. Xiaomis charger powered a handset with a 4,000 mAh capacity, while the Oppo VOOC charger powered a smartphone with a 3,700 mAh battery. Xiaomis new fast-charger easily left Oppos VOOC technology behind.

The Oppo device, with a 3,700 mAh battery capacity, was charged to 65-percent and in the same time the Xiaomi charger amped up the phone to 100-per cent battery life.

Xiaomis super-fast charger took the 4000 mAh handset from 0 to 50-percent in just seven minutes, while getting the device to a full charge in 17 minutes. The 55W SuperCharge technology that Huawei utilises to charge the Mate X offers a 0 to 85-percent charge in 30 minutes.

Xiaomi hasnt provided details on how the technology would work as the current Mi 9 flagship only supports up to 27W of wired charging, while the phone itself ships with an 18W charger. Existing Type-C connector may support 100W of power but delivering that level of power to a handset could result in overheating issues.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has also confirmed that their new charging technology will move past the prototype phase and into commercial application sometime in the future.
File Pic: Om Prakash Chautala

The Chautala family of Haryana has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The clan has split wide open and, as is the case with all political families, everyone from grandfather to grandson and nephews have indulged in public slander.

This isn't the first time, however, that a family feud has broken out within the Chautalas, arguably the most prominent family in Haryana politics.

Om Prakash's ascent to power

Devi Lal, the former Deputy Prime Minister of India, was the founder and patriarch of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the party of the Chautalas. While the party name kept on changing until 1987, when INLD was fixed, Devi Lal remained the unquestioned leader and a Jat patriarch in Haryana.

Devi Lal was involved in the Quit India movement, and post-Independence, in organising farmers' agitation in the state. He also reportedly played an active role in the formation of Haryana state.

In 1988, a feud broke out between Devi Lal's sons, Om Prakash Chautala and Ranjit Singh. Singh was a minister in the state cabinet, being headed by Devi Lal, who was the Chief Minister then. Om Prakash was the chief of INLD.

The spark for the battle was when a bureaucrat in the state government accused the then home minister of Haryana, Sampath Singh, of corruption. The bureaucrat was close to Ranjit, while Sampath was close to Om Prakash.

Also Read: Know Your Leader | Mallikarjun Kharge: Understated, undefeated and Congress' go-to man

The allegations triggered alarm bells for Om Prakash, who figured that it was an attempt to weaken his position in the battle for succession of the Chautala legacy. A tug-of-war emerged, which led to Om Prakash being given the CM's post after Devi Lal assumed position as Deputy PM.

Ranjit Singh eventually left the party and the clan to join Congress, and is reportedly close to former Haryana CM and Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Om Prakash went on to repeat his term as the CM of Haryana, and is now serving a 10-year jail term along with one of his sons, Ajay Chautala, for involvement in the JBT teacher recruitment scam.

History repeats itself

The fact that Ajay is in jail along with Om Prakash, according to observers, provided Abhay, the younger son, the chance to plunge into politics.

This was reportedly unacceptable to Ajay, who wanted his son Dushyant Chautala to be the face of INLD, and thus the party's CM candidate for Haryana assembly elections, scheduled for later this year. Dushyant is the youngest Member of Parliament (MP) in the history of Lok Sabha, having been elected from Hisar in 2014 at 26.

Ajay reportedly feared that with Abhay at the helm, the latter would look after his own son, Karan Chautala, gearing up for his political plunge in the coming elections instead of the nephews.

For Live Updates | Lok Sabha poll tracker LIVE

In November last year, the simmering feud within the party came out in the open. In a statement, Om Prakash stated that he had expelled Dushyant and his brother Digvijay from the party on charges of indiscipline and hooliganism. This was followed by Ajay, their father, being expelled for "anti-party" activities.

Ajay had likened the feud within his party with the Mahabharata, and had toured the entire state while on two-week parole to drum up support for his sons before he was expelled.

Dushyant launched the Jannanayak Janata Party (JJP) in December, and over six lakh people attended his first rally in Jind. The rally was considered to be one of the largest in Haryana's political history. The party contested the Jind bypoll, where it secured the second position, trumping even the Congress' Randeep Surjewala. Meanwhile, the INLD candidate lost his security deposit, signaling at least a moral victory for Dushyant.

Key figures of Chautala clan:

Devi Lal: The founder, patriarch and former Deputy Prime Minister.

Om Prakash Chautala: The man who succeeded Devi Lal and shaped INLD's success in Haryana. He is currently serving a jail term with son, Ajay.

Ajay Chautala: Om Prakash's elder son and an MP.

Abhay Chautala: Om Prakash's younger son and INLD's CM face. Under his watch, INLD's seats in Haryana assembly grew from nine in 2005 to 31 in 2010.

: Ajay's son and the youngest Lok Sabha MP. He formed the JJP after being expelled from INLD, and will look to repeat his Jind bypoll performance in the assembly elections.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has announced it will cut some 1,500 jobs at its factory in Windsor, Canada, around a quarter of its local workforce.

The Italian-American automaker took the decision, effective from the end of September, to "better align production with global demand," it said in comments reported in local media on Thursday.

Retirement packages will be offered to eligible employees while the company will also attempt to place laid off hourly employees in open full-time positions as they become available based on seniority.

The announcement represents a fresh blow for the province of Ontario following the axing of more than 2,500 jobs announced for the end of 2019 at the General Motors plant in Oshawa, near Toronto.

The president of the Unifor union, Jerry Dias, tweeted: "I am deeply concerned about the 1,500 plus families, the community of Windsor & the Cdn auto industry - all affected by FCA Canada's decision to end the 3rd shift at Windsor Assembly Plant."

He added the union was demanding an urgent meeting with FCA.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, likewise promised to "fight tooth and nail to protect the jobs of the auto-workers in Windsor."

The Chrysler plant in Windsor employs some 6,100 workers and builds the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.

Fiat Chrysler announced in late February the construction of a new auto plant in Detroit, the first for 27 years in "Motor City," as part of a USD 4.5 billion investment plan to create 6,500 jobs in the United States.
Lawmakers rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for a third time on Friday, sounding its probable death knell and leaving Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in turmoil on the very day it was supposed to leave the bloc.

The decision to reject a stripped-down version of May's divorce deal has left it totally unclear how, when or even whether Britain will leave the EU, and plunges the three-year Brexit crisis to a deeper level of uncertainty.

After a special sitting of parliament, lawmakers voted 344-286 against May's 585-page EU Withdrawal Agreement, agreed after two years of tortuous negotiations with the bloc.

Within minutes of the vote, European Council President and summit chair Donald Tusk said EU leaders would meet on April 10 to discuss Britain's departure from the bloc.

The EU executive, the Commission, said that "a 'no-deal' scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario",

May had told parliament the vote was the last opportunity to ensure Brexit would take place. She cautioned that if the deal failed, then any further delay to Brexit would probably be a long one beyond April 12.

"I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House," May told parliament after the defeat. "The implications of the Houses decision are grave."

"The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on 12th April," she said.

The British pound, which has been buoyed in recent weeks by hopes that the likelihood of an abrupt 'no-deal' Brexit is receding, fell half a percent after May lost, to as low as $1.2977.

THIRD FAILURE

It was a third failure for May, who had offered on Wednesday to resign if the deal passed, in a bid to win over eurosceptic rebels in her Conservative Party who support a more decisive break with the EU than the divorce her deal offers.

It leaves May's Brexit strategy in tatters. With no majority in parliament for any Brexit option so far, it is unclear what May will now do. Options include asking the EU for a long delay, parliament forcing an election, or a "no-deal" exit.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking as parliament voted, said the EU needed to accelerate no-deal planning.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters: "One of the two routes to an orderly Brexit seems now to be closed. This leaves only the other route, which is for the British to make clear what they want before April 12."

"The risk of a no-deal Brexit is very real," he said.

May's deal had twice been rejected by huge margins this year and, although she was able to win over many Conservative rebels, a hard core of eurosceptics and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which props up her minority government, refused to back it.

Next Monday, lawmakers who have tried to grab control of the process will attempt to agree on an alternative Brexit plan that could command majority cross-party support in parliament, something largely unheard-of in Britain's political system.

NEXT DEADLINE LOOMS

The defeat means Britain now has under two weeks to convince the 27 capitals of the EU that it has an alternative path out of the impasse, or see itself cast out of the bloc from that date with no deal on post-Brexit ties with its largest trading ally.

Many eurosceptics see this as their preferred option but businesses say it would cause huge damage not only to the world's fifth-biggest economy, but also to that of neighbouring Ireland.

However, any further extension would not only require Britain to take part in European Parliament elections in May, but also bring months of fresh uncertainty.

A second referendum could then be in play, although many lawmakers believe the most likely outcome and only way to solve the crisis will be a snap election.

The 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU revealed a United Kingdom divided over many more issues, and has provoked impassioned debate about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and what it means to be British.

Meanwhile the uncertainty around Brexit, the United Kingdom's most significant political and economic move since World War Two, has left allies and investors aghast.

Opponents fear Brexit will make Britain poorer and divide the West as it grapples with both the unconventional U.S. presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China.

Supporters say that, while the divorce might bring some short-term instability, in the longer term it will allow the United Kingdom to thrive if cut free from what they cast as a doomed attempt to forge European unity.
North Korea has almost completed rebuilding a long-range rocket site it had promised to close, Seoul lawmakers told reporters on Friday after a closed-door meeting with South Korean intelligence officials.

The claim comes a month after a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February ended without an agreement, deepening a gap between the two on how to achieve "complete denuclearisation".

Shortly after the end of the Hanoi summit, a series of satellite images emerged suggesting increased activity at the North's Sohae rocket site, triggering international alarm that the nuclear-armed state might be preparing a long-range or space launch.

"The North began rebuilding the centre, which was partly dismantled last July, before the North-US summit in February," lawmaker Kim Min-ki told reporters after the closed-door briefing by the National Intlligence Service.

"The work is almost complete with some maintenance activity being underway," he said.

North Korea has been banned by the UN Security Council from carrying out space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

But earlier this month the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said there was "deliberate and purposeful" activity going on at the Sohae rocket site.

Friday's latest assessment by Seoul could suggest a reversal in policy by Kim, who agreed to shut the Sohae site at a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang last year.

Experts have warned a launch of any kind would send the stuttering talks on denuclearisation into disarray.

Moon Chung-in, the presidential special advisor on national security, said the outcome would be "catastrophic".

The nuclear-armed state is also "operating uranium enrichment facilities" at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, the lawmaker added.

In the aftermath of the Hanoi summit, Pyongyang and Washington have both sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock.

Pyongyang said it had proposed dismantling the Yongbyon complex -- a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities -- in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions that have strangled and isolated the North.

But US officials have said it was not clear exactly which facilities at the Yongbyon complex the North was willing to give up, while Trump has said that "the weapons themselves need to be on the table".
The World Trade Organisation confirmed that Washington failed to fully comply with a 2012 order to halt subsidies to Boeing, marking a partial victory for rival aircraft maker Airbus and the EU.

The ruling from the WTO appeals body was the latest blow in the decade-long clash between the titans of the civil aircraft industry, which has seen both Airbus and Boeing score points along the way.

The WTO ruled in March 2012 that billions of dollars of subsidies to Boeing were illegal and notified the United States to bring them to an end.

But just a few months later, the European Union filed a new complaint with the global trade body, alleging that Washington was not complying with that order.

In a ruling published in June 2017, the WTO said the US had brought 28 of 29 programmes into compliance, but agreed with Brussels that Washington had not taken "appropriate steps to remove the adverse effects or... withdraw the subsidy" in the case of Washington State.

Both the EU and the US appealed that finding to the WTO Appellate Body, which on Thursday basically toed the same line as the 2017 panel, although it appeared to take a harsher line against the American-side.

It found there were other subsidy programmes, including in South Carolina, which did not conform with the 2012 ruling, but in several of them it said it had been unable to complete the legal analysis to determine if the subsidies had an adverse effect on competitors' sales.

Both the EU and the US claimed victory after the ruling landed.

In its own statement, Airbus described the ruling as a "major win" and warned that if without a settlement, the US "will face billions in countermeasures."

Boeing, meanwhile, maintained that the WTO appeals body had "rejected every allegation of unlawful subsidies to Boeing with the single exception of one measure," referring to Washington State.

"Boeing will support the United States and Washington State as they take steps necessary to fully comply with today's ruling," the company said.

"We trust that our example will prompt Airbus and the European Union to immediately bring themselves into full compliance with the substantial rulings against these parties by the WTO," it added.

The EU has also been reprimanded by the WTO during the tit-for-tat conflict between Airbus and Boeing, and the US aircraft maker suggested last year that billions in sanctions might also be applied against the bloc.

The WTO, which aims to create a level playing field in global trade, does not have the ability to force compliance with its rulings, but can approve retaliatory measures which in theory can pressure trade manipulators to fall into line.
This week, the government seems to have nudged public sector banks (PSBs) to bail out the bankrupt Jet Airways, yet again. Was this a good idea? No; but there was no alternative either.

Jet Airways needed a quick solution to get the planes back in service. Air travel is no longer restricted to the affluent; it is now an important component of public transport. A giant airline which, for a while, was Indias biggest domestic carrier, going belly-up would mean punishing ordinary citizens for the follies of banks and the government. People need to travel for work or pleasure and many had done bookings for the summer holidays months in advance.

Also, in a tightly regulated sector that restricts open competition and limits the number of players, the government has a responsibility to ensure adequate air transport in a fast-growing economy like ours. Also, finding a buyer is always easier when the airline is in operation because its staff, pilots and aircraft are the main assets.

Lets not forget that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would also have been affected in a big way during election time. While top leaders may charter flights or heli-drop to their rallies, large teams of party workers have to zip around on commercial flights to arrange their mega-rallies. So, a bailout of this sort wouldnt have happened without political support. But is this the best that the bankers could have done? Lets take a look at the deal.

The Bailout Deal

The lenders did well to force Jet Airways to convert a debt of one rupee into 11.4 crore shares giving them a 50.5% stake in the capital; but a lot of other issues remain unclear. Banks will provide fresh funds of Rs1,500 crore to restore some normalcy in the airlines operations. This is supposed to be against security of assets; but this is mainly the value of the 50.5% equity that the lenders have extracted. If no buyer materialises in two months, then the share price, which shot up after the bailout, will fizzle out equally fast and lenders will be left with worthless paper and the prospect of liquidation.

A corporate announcement says that the money will be used to clear dues owed to vendors, creditors, lessors, pay salaries to Jets 22,000 employees and get more aircraft off the ground again. A committee of experts, along with management consultants and an audit firm, will handle the revival of the airline and, probably, find a buyer.

The official announcement says that founder Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita will step down from the board of directors but omits many important details that were revealed in media interviews by Rajnish Kumar, chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI).

In an interview to The Economic Times, the SBI chairman spoke of a binding agreement with Mr Goyal the details of which have not been informed to the Exchanges . The announcement makes no mention of the fact that Naresh Goyal will continue to hold 25.5% of the equity and it is a big mystery why lenders continue to be so generous to him. The stake of Etihad Airways also halves to 12%. With Etihad, or any other institutional shareholder, Mr Goyal can still block special resolutions, although the SBI chairman has said that it is not possible.

Mr Kumar told The Economic Times, If any new investor wants that his (Mr Goyals) shareholding should come below 10%, then he will have to abide by that. Both Etihad and (Mr) Goyal will have to sell their stakes as desired by the new investors. He then adds a surprising detail, He has to sell his stake or bring in an investor willing to back him. This means that Mr Goyal is very much in the picture even after the bailout. Why hasnt the binding agreement with Mr Goyal and Etihad been disclosed to the stock exchanges? Does it have any more surprises?

It is also unclear from the interview whether Mr Goyal can retain a minimum of 10% or will have to sell out fully, because Mr Kumar seems to hold out both possibilities. And, if Mr Goyal does sell, will he be walking away with a nice nest egg? The biggest mystery is: Why isnt anyone holding him responsible for repaying the massive Rs8,000 crore that the airline owes banks?

It is almost as though this is a national burden and Mr Goyal has nothing to do it. Instead, we were treated to the fake optics of Mr Goyal sending out an emotional farewell letter, broadcast to all customers, in which he says, No sacrifice is too big for me to safeguard the interest of Jet Airways

This is hugely ironical when you consider that Vijay Mallya, whose Kingfisher Airlines owes Rs9,000 crore (with interest) to lenders is having all his assets liquidated and faces untold humiliation. Is the difference in treatment explained by the fact that Mr Mallya chose to run away to the UK when it seemed likely that he would be arrested?

It is important to remember that Naresh Goyals business dealings are far more controversial than those of Vijay Mallya; but he was sensible enough to maintain a low profile and adopt a humble demeanour.

In 2001, Arun Shourie, then a minister in the NDA government, had revealed details of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report , which raised serious questions about Mr Goyals funding and some dangerous links to the underworld. While Mr Goyal vehemently denied it, the report was buried with the active support of key BJP stalwarts and every successive government thereafter.

On the contrary, Jet was allowed to fly abroad; got the choicest destinations; was allowed to buy Sahara Airlines in what was probably an ego trip to retain market leadership (for a short while) and also wangle a great deal for Etihad Airways, to persuade it to come in as a strategic partner.

There are many things that lenders should have done over the years to rein in the airline, but failed to do so and allowed its debt to balloon. Aviation expert, Jitender Bhargava, and others raise some pertinent questions that need answers. For instance:

1. Why didnt the lenders demand a board position earlier? They will now nominate two directors on the board.

2. Jet Airways, which had two former civil aviation secretariesAshok Chawla and Nisim Zaidion its board of directors, couldnt come up with a plan to stay afloat. Will an interim committee with just two months of fresh funding do any better?

3. Wasnt it obvious to the board that running a full-service airline, when its ticket prices were a bit more than the budget airline and market leader Indigo, was unsustainable? The interim management will need to come up with a plan very quickly.

4. Interestingly, stand of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Singapore-based Wilmar Internationals acquisition of Renuka Sugars, seems to rule out a bid for control by Etihad Airways, until that issue is resolved. In that case, Business Standard reports that RBI has refused to recognise a change in ownership. Wilmar, which pumped in nearly Rs4,000 crore, increased its stake from 37.6% to 58% and issued loan guarantees, would be considered a related party and the outstanding loans will remain bad loans. Wilmar plans take the issue to court.

Jitender Bhargava, whose book, Descent of Air India , has boldly exposed the political machinations that led to the fall of Air India, says, If Naresh Goyal was to pen the salvage plan, would it have been any different? Jet Airways would need a buyer with deep pockets, political savvy and ability to deal with Mr Goyal, who presence still looms large inside the airline with 25.5% of the equity. Will Mr Goyal himself succeed in finding another financial backer this time? We will know, soon enough.

The SBI chairman has led the restructuring effort and even put his reputation on the line. He told a journalist, If my transaction is successful, after May 31, I will write a book on it. If he succeeds, he certainly deserves every accolade; but what if his gamble fails and the airline ends up in a bigger mess, like Air India? Will he be held accountable or will he be allowed to shrug it off and put the airline into liquidation?

Remember, SBI has made a virtue of ripping off small account-holders who do not have the resources to maintain a minimum monthly balance and collecting thousands of crores from them.
Financially troubled Jet Airways on Thursday said that the repayment of the External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) availed by the company for working capital purposes has been delayed.

In a regulatory filing to the BSE, Jet Airways said: "This is to inform you that the repayment of the External Commercial Borrowing, availed by the company for working capital purposes, falling due on 28 March 2019, has been delayed owing to temporary liquidity constraints..."

The airline said it has engaged with lender in relation to the issue.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
The major iron ore miners have had a good day today. At time of writing the share price of BHP Group Ltd [ASX:BHP] is up 1.1%, while Fortescue Metals Group Ltd [ASX:FMG] is up 2.97% and Rio Tinto Ltd [ASX:RIO] is up 1.71%.

The gains can be attributed to two events in two countries  China and Brazil.

Get research on our Top 10 Mining Stocks for 2019. Download here (free).

Iron ore miners benefit from Vale production forecast

On Thursday, it was revealed that the mammoth Brazilian mining company Vale SA would, in a worst case scenario, have production lowered by 75 million tonnes.

This has flow on effects as the diminished global supply is expected to push prices further up in the short-term.

Business Insider quotes one analyst as saying:

The price implications from Vales guidance and commentary are significant  given the physical nature of iron ore markets, the impending physical tightness to face iron ore markets strengthens our conviction that iron ore prices will rise above $90 a tonne in the short term.

Following a major mining disaster in Brazil, Vale SA has been forced into closing a number of its mines.

Chinese Premier comments also a factor

Demand for iron ore is largely dependent on the strength of the Chinese economy.

In a speech given on Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was bullish about Chinese growth prospects.

He revealed that March had seen rapid growth in imports, exports and freight volumes.

His remarks may have buoyed iron ore markets, but they must be taken with a grain of salt.

Industrial profits in January and February fell by 14%, the worst fall in 10 years.

Included in the industrial profits number, is steel mill margins  a major factor in the choice of grades as well as spot price.

Should you invest in iron ore miners?

I believe that iron ore may see a peak shortly and then get locked in a slide for the rest of the year.

The Brazilian production cuts account for between 56% of the seaborne market and I think the market has overreacted to the cuts.

Of BHP, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto, Rio Tinto has the most attractive price to earnings ratio (P/E) of 8.6 and a dividend yield of around 4.3%.

That being said, it may also be wise to cast your net wider.

Champion Iron Ltd [ASX:CIA] looks attractive with an 82% return over the year, net revenues of CA$147.5 million and cash on hand of CA$185.4 million.

It operates out of Quebec.

Regards,

Lachlann Tierney,

For Money Morning

PS: If you want the inside scoop on 10 mining companies that could be set for a bumper year, download this free report to learn more.
Could a bet change your life?

And Im not talking about playing lotteries or backing horses

I mean, could a challenge between two people seriously impact the way you trade?

Well, the answer is: yes.

Im going to tell you an inspiring story this week. Its about a group of everyday people who made $175 million in the markets. And the best bit is, its a true story.

Most of the people youll hear about began with no experience. They came from all walks of liferegular people with regular jobs. But with the right mentor, they made fortunes.

Ill tell you how they did it in a minute.

But first, I have a challenge for you

In this just released report, Matt Hibbard shows you his top five dividend picks for 2019. Click here to claim your copy today.

Hollywood make-believe

OK, see if you can recognise these lines:

We took a perfectly useless psychopath like Valentine, and turned him into a successful futures trader. And during the same time, we turned an honest, hard-working man into a violently, deranged, would-be killer!

These were the words of Randolph Duke in the 1983 move Trading Places.

Now, Randolph and his brother Mortimer were commodity brokers. And just for fun, the Dukes had a bet to see if they could change the course of a persons life.

You see, Randolph thought success or failure was largely due to luckhe thought anyone could do wellit was all to do with being in the right place at the right time.

His brother, on the other hand, said a person is born to either rise or fall.

Well, it turned out that Randolph was rightit was all down to chance.

The Dukes were able to turn a down-and-out street hustler into a successful futures trader. At the same time, the brothers took a high-flying executive and ruined his career.

Now, Trading Places isnt based on a true story  its pure Hollywood make-believe. But the film does lightly touch on the question of nature versus nurture.

So are successful traders born, or can anyone learn to excel?

Ill come back to this in a moment (the answer might surprise you).

But first, let me tell you about a real life version of the Dukes experiment

Its nurture, not nature

The year was 1994, and I was now a fully-fledged trader. My boss at the time was a man called Carlosa senior trader whod been at Bankers Trust for many years.

Ill always remember Carlos comment one morning. As I arrived for work, he said:

Jason, were going to become turtles.

I had no idea what Carlos was talking about. I could only guess it was a joke. Maybe it was a funny way of saying volatility was picking up and we should hunker down.

But I wasnt even close!

Carlos was saying we were going to learn about the Turtles  a secretive group of traders.

You see, the Turtles were the result of an experiment. It began in 1983 following a discussion by two legendary traders  Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt.

The men were discussing factors that make a top trader. Dennis view was that he could teach almost anyone to trade profitably, while Eckhardt said trading skill was a special gift.

And just like in Trading Places, the men had a bet to test who was right.

The name Turtles comes from the turtle farms Dennis had seen in Singapore. He thought he could produce traders in the same efficient way the farms were breeding turtles.

Dennis placed an ad for traders in the Wall Street Journalno experience required. Over 1,000 replies came flooding back. Of these, just 14 made it into the projects initial intake.

The group was an eclectic mix of characters

There was a blackjack player, a security guard, a Dungeon & Dragons expert, an actor, a linguistic PhD, a state chess champion, an accountant and several with trading backgrounds.

The common theme was that they all enjoyed games of chance and strategy.

Dennis view was that successful trading involves following a set of rules. He thought just about anyone could learn these rules and make money from the markets.

Another name for a set of rules is a system  a consistent process that removes uncertainty from decision making. A systems buy and sell orders are made according to the rules.

You see, systems have no room for emotion, gut feel, or second guessing. The key is to have the discipline to follow the rules. Ignoring the system was a deal breaker for Dennis.

The Turtles were told it was OK to lose money, as long as they followed the rules. But if they broke the rules, then they were out of the group  even if the outcome was profitable.

It was a case of follow the system without question.

The Turtles began with two weeks of intensive training. Dennis then gave each of them $2 million of his own money, and let them loose on the markets.

Now, you may be thinking this all sounds pretty simple. Using a set of rules to trade with someone elses money doesnt seem like a difficult task  all they had to do was follow the system.

But some people couldnt do this

You see, a few of the turtles regularly bent or ignored the rules. These people didnt have the self-control to be successful. And they often lost money as a result.

So does this mean Dennis lost the bet?

Not at all. The overall experiment was a success.

A former trainee says the Turtles made over $175 million in five years. And more than 30% of the 14 original Turtles went onto hugely successful trading careers.

Its been said that one of the Turtles  Jerry Parker  has a net worth exceeding $1 billion. His success is largely the result of being able to follow trading rules.

Now, I cant promise you a one in 14 shot at becoming a billionaire. Thats a big ask!

But I can teach you about the strategies and tactics that contribute to success. Thats what these weekly articles are all about. I want you to become a more skilful and confident trader.

The Turtle experiment shows that everyday people can become successful traders. The key is to find the right process, and then have the discipline to stick to the rules.

Theres no doubt about it, amazing things are possible when you know what to do.

Until next week,

Jason McIntosh,

Editor, Quant Trader

PS: In this free report, Kris Sayce reveals his five-step booster system you can use to potentially super-charge your retirement pot in 2019 and beyond. Click here to download your free report.
March 29, 2019

Regulators Knew Of 737 MAX Trim Problems - Certification Demanded Training That Boeing Failed To Deliver

A recently discovered document proves that Boeing ignored requirements international regulators made when they certified Boeing's 737 MAX airplane.

After the recent Boeing 737 MAX incident in Ethiopia we explained why it happened. Even before the plane type was grounded by the FAA we wrote:

Boeing, The FAA, And Why Two 737 MAX Planes Crashed

Our early take was confirmed by the reporting of other media which we also discussed:

Flawed Safety Analysis, Failed Oversight - Why Two 737 MAX Planes Crashed

The basic problem:

For commercial reasons Boeing wanted the new 737 version to handle like the old ones. But changes in the new version required an additional system to handle certain flight situations. The development of that system and the safety analysis of its implications were rushed through. Pilots were not informed of it and not trained to counter its failure.

The added 'maneuver characteristics augmentation system' (MCAS) depended on only one sensor. When the sensor provided false data MCAS engaged and pointed the planes towards the ground. Manual trim using the plane's trim wheel was required to regain flight stability. The pilots were not aware of that. The regulators who certified the plane as safe were unaware of the extend of the problem:

The MCAS system is poorly engineered and the design should never have been certified in the first place. But the issue is even worse. The certification that was given relied on false data. The first MCAS design, on which the safety analysis and certification was based, allowed for a maximum trim movement by MCAS of 0.6 degree of a maximum of 5 degree. Flight tests proved that to be too little to achieve the desired effects and the maximum movement was changed to 2.5 degree.

No safety analysis for the much greater movement was conducted. The FAA and foreign regulators were not informed of it. Their certification of the 737 MAX was based on misleading data.

But even those certifications were only conditional. They required from Boeing to include relevant training material that explained the MCAS trim system and its potential problems to the pilots.

The original certification for the 737 MAX was issued by the U.S. regulator FAA. The European regulator EASA based its certification on the one the FAA provided but it added several of its own requirements. There is now documentary evidence that Boeing neglected to fulfill at least one of those requirements.

The one page document, first described by Reuters, is included in the Explanatory Note Issue 10 (pdf) to the EASA Boeing 737 type certification which was issued in February 2016.

Page 15 of the Explanatory Note discusses "Longitudinal trim at Vmo". Vmo is the maximum operational speed. The trim sets the nose of the plane up or down, independent of other pilot input. Too high up and the plane with lose lift and stall, too low down and the plane will hit terrain.

A failure of the MCAS system could trim the nose down. As a countermeasure the pilots would have to switch the trim system off. They would then manually trim the plane back into a level flight. This was a concern. The EASA note says:

Subsequent to flight testing, the FAA-TAD expressed concern with compliance to the reference regulation based on an interpretation of the intent behind trim. The main issue being that longitudinal trim cannot be achieved throughout the flight envelope using thumb switch trim only.

EASA considered the need to use manual trim "unusual". But it allowed it to pass because the required training material would "clearly explain" the issue:

The need to use the trim wheel is considered unusual, as it is only required for manual flight in those corners of the envelope. The increased safety provided by the Boeing design limits on the thumb switches (for out-of-trim dive characteristics) provides a compensating factor for the inability to use the thumb switches throughout the entire flight envelope. Furthermore, the additional crew procedures and training material will clearly explain to pilots the situations where use of the trim wheel may be needed due to lack of trim authority with the wheel mounted switches.

While the EASA was convinced (by Boeing?) that those situations would be discussed in "additional crew procedures and training material", Boeing did not include it in the training materials for the airlines that bought the planes:

Those situations, however, were not listed in the flight manual, according to a copy from American Airlines seen by Reuters.

Without the additional procedures and training material the 737 MAX would not have been certified. By providing the plane without the required training material Boeing essentially handed incomplete planes to its customers.

The FAA is as regulator far too cozy with lobbyists and aircraft manufacturers. It outsources too much of the certification testing to the manufacturers. It should not have allowed Boeing to install a MCAS that depended on a sole sensor.

But the bigger culprit here is clearly Boeing. The plane was developed in a rush. Even its own engineers doubted that it was safe:

Rick Ludtke, a former Boeing engineer who worked on designing the interfaces on the MAXs flight deck, said managers mandated that any differences from the previous 737 had to be small enough that they wouldnt trigger the need for pilots to undergo new simulator training. That left the team working on an old architecture and layers of different design philosophies that had piled on over the years, all to serve an international pilot community that was increasingly expecting automation. Its become such a kludge, that we started to speculate and wonder whether it was safe to do the MAX, Ludtke said.

MCAS was not the only change that made the 737 MAX a 'kludge'. The design errors were inexcusable. Boeing did not inform the regulators when it quadrupled the maximum effect the MCAS system could have. These changes had side effects that were not properly analyzed. Failure of the system was hazardous and extremely difficult to handle. Indicators lights showing that the system may have failed, a safety feature, were sold as extras.

And today we learned that Boeing did not even provide its customers with the "clear explanations" the certifications required it to deliver.

These were not 'mistakes' by some lowly technicians. These were breaches of legal requirements and of trust.

It will take quite long to certify the changes Boeing announced for the 737 MAX. Lawsuits were filed against the company. Orders were canceled. The company is under criminal investigation. The commercial damage to Boeing will likely be larger than currently estimated. It comes on top of a recent WTO ruling that Boeing illegally received billions of dollars in subsidies and will need to compensate its competition.

All these are consequences of bad management decisions.

The development and production of the 787 Dreamliner, announced in 2003, was outsourced all over the world. That led to years of delays and billions in development cost overruns. In 2010 Airbus announced the A-320 NEO as a better alternative to the 737 NG. Boeing was still busy to get the 787 into the air. It had neither the engineering capacity nor the money to counter the NEO with a brand new plane. It hastily revamped the 737, a design from the 1960s, into the 737 MAX. It promised to airlines that the new plane would not require to retrain their pilots. MCAS was specifically designed to allow for that. It was a huge mistake.

Boeing once was an engineering company with an attached sales department. It 2001, when it moved its headquarter to Chicago, it became a dealership with an attached engineering wing. The philosophical difference is profound. It is time for the company to find back to its roots.

Posted by b on March 29, 2019 at 13:29 UTC | Permalink

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A woman in Bangladesh gave birth twice nearly a month apart due to an undiagnosed condition that left her with two uteruses.

The woman gave birth to a boy in late February, and twins in March Dr Sheila Poddar, a gynaecologist at Ad-Din hospital in Dhaka told CNN.

Dr Poddar said the woman's first birth went as normal, with no abnormalities noticed. But she was admitted to hospital again less than four weeks later complaining of lower abdominal pain.

It was then doctors realised she had a second uterus and was pregnant with twins. Dr Poddar performed a C-section and the twins were born healthy.

A second uterus, known as uterus didelphys is a rare condition, and the occurrence of a twin gestation has the odds of one in a million.

Twin gestation going unnoticed until birth is uncommon, but not unheard of.

"From rural areas, people don't know what is wrong with them. They don't know how many children they are pregnant with and sometimes whether they are pregnant also," Dr SN Basu, from Max Healthcare hospital in New Delhi told CNN.

The mother did not have an ultrasound before her first delivery, which is why it was missed, Dr Poddar said.

Newshub.
FRC's Peter Sprigg in Italy to Address the World Congress of Families

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Family Research Council

March 29, 2019



WASHINGTON, March 29, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies, will be in Verona, Italy March 29 - 31 to speak at the World Congress of Families XIII. The World Congress of Families XIII will gather advocates of pro-family policies and allied organizations from around the globe to discuss marriage, family, growth and demographic decline, women's dignity and health, defense of life and family, and policies promoting birth rates and families. On Friday, March 29, Peter will discuss the findings of his latest paper, "Evidence Shows Sexual Orientation Can Change: Debunking the Myth of 'Immutability.'"

Sprigg made the following comments on his upcoming trip to Italy:

"I'm excited to be able to speak at this year's World Congress of Families in Verona. This opportunity for pro-family, pro-freedom policy makers to gather from around the world enables us to better work together to positively impact society in our various countries. "I look forward to contributing to this discussion by highlighting the evidence regarding sexual orientation that prompts us to 'abandon the immutability argument once and for all,' as one scholar put it. This paper showcases the type of work that Family Research Council is doing to advance our values in the United States - where we are working with the Trump administration and other allies," concluded Sprigg.

To arrange an interview with Peter Sprigg, please call 202-624-3025 or email jla@frc.org.

Peter Sprigg's latest publication, "Evidence Shows Sexual Orientation Can Change: Debunking the Myth of 'Immutability,'" is available for download here.

To request media credentials for the event, visit this page.



SOURCE Family Research Council

CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Joshua Arnold, 866-FRC-NEWS, 866-372-6397

Related Links

www.frc.org


A Common Practice

First and foremost, most investment researchers seek positive (or negative) conclusions. Confirming the null hypothesis does no good at all. The aim is either to be published or to arrive at a new investment scheme. Neither goal is achieved by learning that the factors are unrelated. What matters are results!

No surprise, then, that investment analysts are adept at discovering "anomalies"--investment oddities that can be discussed in a paper, used as an exchange-traded-fund strategy, or both. (If such anomalies did not exist, one might say, it would be necessary to invent them.) Analysts scour for data that support their views, but they tend to be much less diligent with disconfirming evidence.
A lot of lenders on the residential side have door policies, Hugo Dos Reis, a partner at Vine Group, said of limits placed on residential investment properties. Lenders dont want to loan to holding companies, and if they do they charge a premium. Even the big banks are getting away from that as well, but what weve found is that a lot of people are looking at multi-residential commercial properties instead of buying, say, a triplex.

The lending now is on the asset and the most important part of the deal: the cash flow. The clients exposure in other properties is an advantage because we can articulate in our business case that we have an experienced real estate investor whos invested in small to mid-sized commercial properties. As regulation gets tighter on the residential sidebecause residential financing isnt designed for large portfoliosthe banks are still lending, only its on the commercial side.

Chartered banks arent the only lenders partial to lending on commercial properties; alternative and private lenders, too, are capitalizing on voracious appetite for commercial assets. According to Liam Sauro, associate vice president of Capital Markets Group, B-20 is to thank.

In the short-term, the private lending market on both residential and commercial is growing as a result because people require more equity, or leverage, than a bank is willing to offer them, and thats led to growth in institutional Tier 2 lending, he said. Its also led to tertiary lender growth, and I dont think its slowing down any time soon, especially so long as those rules are in place.

In juxtaposing Canadian and American banking mentalities, Sauro believes strict residential lending criteri will persist.
Alternative lender Cashco has launched an awareness campaign on social media to raise the issue of those Albertans who cannot access credit.

The #needmilkmoney campaign has surveyed 3,000 Albertans and says that across Canada it estimates more than 5 million people are underbanked  they have a bank account but cannot access other services due to high costs.

"We want politicians to know that there is a portion of our population that is not being served by mainstream financial institutions," says Courtney Johnston-Naumann, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Cashco Financial. "The stories of families in our communities who struggle between paycheques is real. They are hardworking people who sometimes need a hand up, not a hand out, to be able to pay regular or unexpected bills in moments they need it the most. They should be able to access the credit they need without the many constraints currently in place that make it more difficult to pay back."
Fannie Mae has announced that victims of the Missouri River flooding are eligible for available mortgage assistance options.

The GSE said that affected homeowners can apply for payment forbearance of up to 12 months. During this temporary payment break, they will not acquire late fees nor will they have delinquencies reported to the credit bureaus.

Fannie Mae also authorized servicers to suspend or reduce a homeowners mortgage payments immediately for up to 90 days. If the servicer believes the disaster has impacted the homeowner, he could do so even without any contact with the homeowner. Payment forbearance of up to 12 months is available in multiple circumstances.
In a statement, the White House said that both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have swelled in size and scope yet faced no competition from the private sector. It also noted that HUD programs are exposed to high levels of risk and rely on outdated business processes and systems.

The Trump administration said that it will also work with the Congress on a comprehensive plan to reform the housing finance system.

As early as last year, administration officials were already giving hints that President Trump would move to reform the federal housing finance system. According to HousingWire, Craig Phillips, a top housing advisor to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, told the crowd at the Mortgage Bankers Association 2018 Annual Conference that the Trump administration is working to end the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The administration advocates ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and returning them to private ownership, said Phillips. Their charters should be removed from statute and their operations should be overseen by the primary regulator that has the authority to approve additional guarantors to introduce competition into the secondary mortgage market.
Youve got to figure out how to delegate because if you dont delegate you cant prospect, you cant market, you cant spend time doing the business building-type stuff, Brasil said. Introduce your team, make the client aware of the fact that youre going to be speaking to other team members throughout the process, who are going to be helping me get you from locked to closing. Delegating became a huge part of being able to get to the next level of production. Luckily for me, I have Roger, my brother and business partner who knows his products/guidelines better than most underwriters, which allows me to get out of the office two to three days a week.

While face time and delegation are evergreen, many other aspects of origination have changed over the past 17 years. Brasil still goes to broker open houses, for example, but not for the same reasons he did at the beginningand he gets a bit of a different reception as well.

The way I used to market 10-15 years ago is totally different than the way we market now. Honestly, Ill do a broker open house just to post pictures and a video from the broker open, and I wont even care if anyone shows up to eat a sandwich or a cookie. If five people come, great, but Im going to get 500-1,000 views on my video, Brasil said. The marketing piece has really changed how we prospect, how we engage with clients and realtors a lot, so really embracing that has allowed us to position ourselves where we can get greater exposure and greater interest from the real estate community.

A competitive market creates more separation between originators who simply do the job and those who are good at the job. This not only comes from knowing product guidelines, but also being able to interpret the information on an application and convey that to partners.

Being able to say yes, well get you approved, no issues, or were going to have to work on that and position you accordingly, or youre going to have to put more money down, thats huge now. I think realtors, industry professionals, attorneys, theyre not going to give you much leeway to make mistakes in a competitive market like Boston.
Oklahoma-based Magellan Midstream Partners is scraping plans for its proposed Permian Gulf Coast Pipeline  amid ongoing discussions to combine the project with another crude oil pipeline.

The 600-mile Permian Basin to Gulf Coast pipeline project is unlikely to proceed as originally announced, Magellan Vice President Suzanne Costin reported in a Monday afternoon filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Magellan announced the pipeline project in September as a joint venture with Energy Transfer LP, Delek US and MPLX LP. The proposed 30-inch pipeline would have moved 1 million barrels of crude oil per day from the West Texas shale play to Magellan's terminal in Houston and Energy Transfer's terminal in Nederland.

"There were conditions that needed to be met in order to proceed with the project that weren't satisfied," Magellan Vice President Bruce Heine said in a statement.

Midstream Moves: Magellan extends open season on Cushing-to-Houston pipeline

In her SEC filing, Costin reported that Magellan is decreasing its 2019 capital expenditure budget accordingly. The company now estimates that it will spend $1.1 billion on active expansion projects in 2019 and another $150 million in 2020.

"The partnership continues to actively develop a crude oil pipeline project in the Permian Basin, but the probability of success is unknown at this time," Costin said in her filing.

However, the company remains in discussions to combine the project with another proposed Permian Basin to Gulf Coast crude oil pipeline, recent filings and earnings calls show.

Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox

During a Jan. 31 investors call, Magellan CEO Mike Mears said the company was in the process of acquiring right of way for the Permian Gulf Coast Pipeline but was also interesting in combining the project with another crude oil pipeline proposed by Exxon Mobil, Plains All American Pipeline and Lotus Midstream.

The three companies formed a joint venture named Wink to Webster Pipeline LLC in January to move 1 million barrels of crude oil per day from along a 650-mile pipeline to the Houston area.

During a Feb. 21 investors call, Energy Transfer Chief Financial Officer Tom Long reported that his company was also in talks to join the Wink to Webster Pipeline project.

"We will continue to go down parallel paths in order to evaluate and achieve the most efficient and accretive project for our partnership," Long said.

A March 4 presentation by Magellan Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Aaron Milford at the Raymond James investors conference in Orlando shows that those discussions remain alive.

"There's other pipes that basically had similar capabilities and followed a similar route," Milford said at the conference. "If we can find a way to put them together, we think that that's really a very efficient solution for everybody. But those conversations are occurring, as we speak. So, I really don't want to say much further."
Jacob Ford, MBI / Associated Press

The number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the U.S. dropped by 10 last week, led by losses in Texas and Colorado.

Texas, which is home to the most oil rigs in the nation at 491, led the decline for the second week, according to weekly data compiled by the services firm Baker Hughes, a GE company. Texas lost six oil and gas rigs. Colorado lost four. Meanwhile, Louisiana and North Dakota each added three.
U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of OPEC, saying the cartel should increase production because prices are getting too high.

Its the second time this year the president has taken to Twitter to urge the cartel to backtrack on its current policy of cutting production. Unlike last year, when Trumps attacks triggered a swift U-turn in Saudi oil policy, the group has so far ignored his calls.

Oil prices showed limited reaction on Thursday morning, briefly dipping about 35 cents before ultimately rising above yesterdays close alongside U.S. equity markets. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, has climbed 30 percent since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia began another round of production cuts at the start of the year. Average American gasoline prices are at a four-month high, heightening concerns about the impact of the cartels policy on the nations consumers.

PRICES: Oil set for best quarter in almost a decade on OPEC+ supply cuts

"The tweets seem to have diminishing returns these days, said Derek Brower, a director at RS Energy Group. Everything Saudi Arabia is doing right now suggests it will not be bounced into prematurely ending its cuts this year."

As the potency of Trumps interventions has diminished, his language has also softened. After commanding the group to REDUCE PRICES NOW in July, his tweets this year have included the phrases please and thank you.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia led the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies to reaffirm their commitment to output cuts, but conceded they should defer until June the decision on whether to extend the curbs.

HOT SEAT: Trump's Interior pick grilled on ties to oil and gas

Trumps desire for low fuel prices cuts both ways since the shale boom turned the U.S. into the worlds largest crude producer. The countrys output has exceeded 12 million barrels a day since mid-February, yet there are already signs that growth is slowing. The number of operational drilling rigs has fallen for five straight weeks to the lowest since April, according to data from Baker Hughes.

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
The Texas House of Representatives on Wednesday passed an amendment to HB 1, the House appropriations bill, which could provide $500,000 to the Department of Public Safety for differential pay for hard-to-fill positions.

The amendment was proposed by Reps. Tom Craddick of Midland and Brooks Landgraf of Odessa.

It will now go before the Texas Senate.

If ratified by the Senate, the amendment could have a huge impact on the Midland-Odessa Regional DPS Mega Center, said James Beauchamp, president of the Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance.

The $500,000 could provide higher salaries to those working at the Mega Center, which could lead to more people working there, he said.

If you talk to DPS, the areas where theyre having the most trouble filling positions are here, he said. My guess is, 60 percent [of the $500,000] comes to the Permian Basin.

The differential pay essentially would be a cost of living adjustment, Beauchamp said.

If an employee at the drivers license center is making $15 an hour, instead of $15, it could be $17 or $18, he said.

He said that the cost of housing in Midland is $57,000 above the state average.

Beauchamp said when Midland and Odessa each had drivers license offices, Midland had five lines open and Odessa had six. When the offices were first consolidated into one center, there were supposed to be 18 lines open at the new center, he said.

However, a recent survey by his office found only six lines were being used. The survey also showed average wait times of two to 2 1/2 hours, he said.

So, theres less lanes available now than there were before the center opened, Beauchamp said. We know today were really short on DPS troopers, and theres a dramatic shortage at the drivers license office.

The amendment states that the $500,000 would be spread out over the next two years, until August 2021.

It also states that if an employee transfers to a position that is not designated as hard-to-fill, the employee would no longer be eligible for the differential pay rate.

The amendment and the rest of HB 1 was expected to be discussed by the Senates Finance Committee on Thursday.
When I drive through the oil and gas fields of West Texas, I am filled with both pride and anxiety. I am proud that an unprecedented drilling boom is funding roads, schools and other essential services across the state, as well as providing a livelihood to thousands of Texans who either work in the industry or benefit by their proximity to it. But I can't help but worry about the forces outside of our control that might bring these operations to a standstill. A looming infrastructure bottleneck is one potential pitfall.

U.S. oil production recently rose more than 10 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time since the 1970s. This milestone was achieved largely thanks to the Permian Basin, where more than 4 million bpd are currently produced. Energy industry analyst IHS Markit anticipates that this figure will exceed 5 million bpd by 2023, when the Permian will be producing more oil than every OPEC country except Saudi Arabia.

This transformation is the result of the hardworking producers in Texas and across the country as well as Congress' foresight three years ago to lift the ban on crude oil exports. As most U.S. refineries are designed to process heavy, high sulfur crude oil, and those that process the light crude oil produced in the Permian are operating at capacity, much of the oil produced in West Texas is destined for export markets.

According to a report from Wayfinder Analytics, the U.S. is projected to export more than 6 million bpd of crude by 2023. Exporting our energy resources has benefited Texans greatly, and continued success will depend on building the infrastructure critical to maintaining not only today's export capacity, but tomorrow's as well. Remember, in only a few short years the Permian will be overtaking Kuwait, Nigeria and Venezuela in crude oil production. That success should not be taken for granted.

Today, Very Large Crude Carriers and other supertankers  the most efficient and competitive for exporting crude oil  require deeper water depths and wider berths than those found at most U.S. ports in order to safely load. The per-barrel cost for transporting crude oil on these vessels is much lower than the smaller alternatives that can dock at our ports. The larger the ships, the more profit flows back to producers in Texas. This is why most oil-exporting countries have built networks of offshore terminals to accommodate Very Large Crude Carriers. Several more have been proposed along the Texas Gulf Coast.

As president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, I know that hundreds of our member companies are working tirelessly to support the energy economy in our region. And they are concerned that the infrastructure that we need to export this quantity of crude oil is not keeping pace with production in West Texas, resulting in a bottleneck. Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton summed up these concerns at our 56th annual meeting in October, asking the audience: "What will we do when production rises above domestic demand and export capacity is not up to speed?"

Without the ability to export crude, under such circumstances market forces would necessitate a decrease in production. That would mean a loss of jobs, a loss of tax revenues and reduced support for roads, health care and schools across Texas. With the ability to export domestic crude internationally, such an outcome is avoidable, as long as the infrastructure exists allowing that production to reach the international market.

Beginning with the first offshore oil export facility in Texas proposed by Texas Gulf Terminals currently under review by federal and state regulators, Texas would be wise to partner with the private sector to build new projects in deep water that can handle the "stunning" (in the words of IHS Markit) Permian production expected to come online in the near future. Aligning U.S. export infrastructure with that of other advanced oil producers will increase avenues and options for future crude exports, increasing our country's share of global energy markets and generating economic growth in our state.

The oil export bottleneck is real ,and unless we take actions today to avoid it, the economic impact will not be confined to the Permian Basin. Revenues earned by those in the Permian Basin and taxes collected by local, state and federal governments from operations here, not only support road projects, schools, and health care funding in areas across the state, these revenues also support economic prosperity across the state. If production in our region is restrained by obstacles that could otherwise be overcome, that restraint will be felt by us all.

Wishing away our infrastructure deficiencies will only impede the new era of American energy dominance. Instead, Texas should lead the country in embracing opportunities that enhance and bolster our energy dominance.

Ben Shepperd is president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association.
Michigan Tech's thought leaders share their ideas to prepare students and the University for a rapidly changing future. Dean of Students Bonnie Gorman explains why its critical to integrate personal development into the educational experience.

As part of the Tech Forward initiative, members of the campus community were asked what skills and qualities students will need to be prepared to work and, ultimately, be leaders in a world of unrelenting innovation and rapid change. The final list contained 16 items:

Communication

Critical Thinking

Networking

Teaming

Confident

Hands-on/Can-do Approach

Self-motivated

Willing to Take Responsible Risks

Computational Thinking

Leadership

Systems Thinking

Adaptable

Good Community/Global Citizen

Resilient/Tenacious

Self-aware

Comfortable with Ambiguity

Students develop many aspects of these skills and qualities in activities outside the classroom. We also know that when classroom learning and co-curricular activities reinforce each other, student development occurs more holistically.

Recognizing this, it is useful to consider the development of the whole student as part of the educational experience. Richard Keeling, in Learning Reconsidered: A Campus-Wide Focus on the Student Experience, explains that effective pedagogy depends on the essential integration of personal development with learning; it reflects the diverse ways through which students may engage, as whole people, with multiple dimensions and unique personal histories, with the tasks and content of learning.

"Giving students the opportunity to wrestle with and apply what they learn at their own pace and in contexts of their choosing is essential. Toward this end, we need to be more intentional in facilitating programs that help students develop the skills and characteristics we identify as valuable." Bonnie Gorman, Dean of Students

Heres an example of this type of development in action. A few weeks ago, Michigan Techs Undergraduate Student Government (USG) failed to follow the procedures outlined in its constitution when appointing a new vice president due to an unexpected vacancy. Someone then challenged the appointment on those grounds. Instead of explaining away the mistake and moving on, the members of USG walked back their decision and started over.

On display at the lengthy meeting where they took corrective action was confidence, risk-taking, flexibility, discomfort, integrity, respectful (but a little heated) communication and a series of decision flow charts. Also on display were students testing their sense of self  what they believe, how strongly they believe it and whether they are committed or brave enough to take action. A strong sense of self, and the ability to work with others for a larger purpose, is foundational. It is in settings like the USG meeting  and in many other co-curricular activities  that students practice important skills, apply the knowledge they learn in the classroom and grow.

Going forward, a challenge we face is that students today are different from previous generations of students. This is the first generation that has been "connected" through technology since birth. It is also a generation that reports higher levels of loneliness and anxiety.

The research on Gen Z notes that this group of students tends not to have had the same kinds of life experiences as their predecessors. Examples include dating less, lower rates of experimenting with drugs and alcohol, driving less (or not even getting a license at all) and limited physical activity. They have grown up in a world of terrorism and mass shootings, and function with an underlying level of fear. They saw their parents struggle after the financial collapse of 2008 and, in an age of rising tuition, they are more concerned about the cost of college than ever. When they arrive on campus, todays students bring with them increased needs and higher expectations.

In order for these students to thrive, it will be more important than ever to provide an environment that fosters a safe and inclusive sense of belonging.

"As a university, we already embrace the notion of community as an institutional value and provide opportunities for students to connect in myriad ways, from a simple expression of concern to campus employment, involvement in student organizations and the celebration of traditions."

Students who are involved on campus often talk about Tech being their home. Still, in the 2018 Student Satisfaction Survey, 20 percent of students report not being involved in any activities on campus. We need to be better at linking these students to both people and experiences that foster their growth and development.

If we want this generation of Michigan Tech students to acquire the skills they will need to succeed professionally and become community leaders, we will also need to be more responsive to their social development and, in general, their health and well-being. These students may be less sexually active and using substances less in high school, but that just makes the college environment ripe for exploration. They will need more information about risky behaviors, healthy relationships, the meaning of consent and even the importance of sleep and exercise.

Moreover, we need to provide avenues for students to practice self-care and protect their mental health. Programs like the Wellness Environment at the University of Vermont that connects neuroscience with the development of healthy brains and bodies in a supportive community has seen significant results.

"We need to pursue an institutional strategy to promote health and overall well-being, not as an afterthought, but as an integral part of the educational experience, as with other out-of-the-classroom experiences."

Finally, as we commit to the goal of preparing leaders for a rapidly changing world, we need to remember that many students care more about making a difference in the world and less about position and job title. According to Cory Seemiller, author of Generation Z Goes to College, these students are passionate about addressing significant social issues like climate change and internet security. This blend of work and passion, Seemiller writes, will likely provide them with enriching and fulfilling career experiences and redefine the concept of work for them.

Whether we work with students inside or outside the classroom, our goal should be to provide them tools and space to learn, practice and grow.

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.
Passavant Area Hospital CEO Harry Schmidt will step down June 30, the hospital announced Thursday.

Schmidt has led the Jacksonville hospital, a Memorial Health System partner, since January 2017.

My family and I have decided that this is the best time for me to step down from this position so that I can focus on being the husband and father that my family needs at this time, Schmidt said through a Memorial spokesman.

Schmidt and his wife, Lisa, have two sons.

Before becoming CEO, Schmidt was vice president of Memorial Health Systems facilities management division. He joined Memorial in 2007 in its information services department.

(Schmidt) has provided stable, effective leadership for Passavant, Ed Curtis, president and CEO of Memorial Health System, said in a statement. We are grateful for the dedicated service he has provided to Passavant and to the entire organization during his 12 years at Memorial Health System.

During Schmidts time at Passavant, he oversaw the expansion of its Center for Pain Management, weight-loss and wellness services, and radiation services; the establishment of the Womens Health Center and partnership with SIU Medicine; and the renovation of 35 patient rooms and the hospitals front entrance.

Schmidt also led the development of a community health partnership, Healthy Jacksonville.

The hospitals nursing program also received its third consecutive Magnet designation during Schmidts time at the helm. Only 3 percent of hospitals have earned the recognition in three consecutive years, according to Memorial.

Healthcare is a team sport. It has been an honor and privilege to serve beside the remarkable team at Passavant, Schmidt said in a statement. I am proud to call myself a member of this team. I have every confidence in Passavants dedicated employees and the leadership team for continued success in the future as they improve the health of the people and communities we serve.

In recent years, staffing shortages have caused two Passavant programs to close or limit services.

Earlier this year, Passavant temporarily closed its in-patient and partial hospitalization behavioral health programs because of a staffing shortage. The hospitals 50-year-old ambulance service ended in 2018 after a staffing shortage led to the program losing its certification from the Illinois Department of Health.
Getty Images

National Vietnam War Veterans Day officially is observed March 29, which is the date in 1973 when the last of American combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam.

The quiz below, from the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio, provides an opportunity for you to test your knowledge of the era in which the Vietnam conflict took place.
In central and west-central Illinois, many of our communities sit along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, which allow our farmers to export their products around the globe and make our state the largest agricultural exporter in the Midwest.

Free trade is vital to the 18th District, but in the last two years, exports moving to market along our rivers have slowed significantly in part due to the ongoing trade dispute with China.

China accounts for 25 percent of all Illinois agriculture exports, making them our largest export partner. With 30 percent of our soybeans and 93 percent of our sorghum going to China, alleviating the burden retaliatory tariffs put on agriculture producers across our state is critical.

As trade negotiations between China and the U.S. continue, I led a bipartisan Congressional delegation trip to China last week to give our producers in the 18th District a seat at the table in ongoing trade discussions.

And I made it abundantly clear, the time for a trade deal is now.

As two of the leading global economies, we have a responsibility to engage in substantive dialogue to enhance areas of trade cooperation. I traveled to Beijing and Hangzhou to raise concerns with high-level Chinese officials and U.S. businesses operating in the country and address issues I have seen impacting our communities here at home.

China continues to expand its influence around the globe, and as they do, its imperative they abide by international norms and laws. During my travel in China, I reiterated the need for structural reforms in their trading practices, which is a sticking point in these negotiations and something President Trump has been working to change.

I appreciate these efforts made by the President to go after the Chinese for their unfair trading practices. For far too long, they have been stealing our intellectual property, engaging in forced technology transfers, unfairly targeting U.S. business, and subsidizing state-owned Chinese enterprise. Changing this behavior is important and needs to be addressed in any agreement, but we must ensure our agriculture community isnt left behind and I emphasized this to both the Chinese and U.S. officials.

As negotiations continue, I remain in contact with the Administration and specifically with U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer to stress the importance of agriculture in ongoing discussions.

With planting season upon us again, our farmers are putting seed in the ground and are already thinking about how they are going to sell their product come fall. Without an open Chinese market, our farmers will lose significant customers and market share.

Fighting for our communities is something I take pride in, and I was proud to give them a voice in the ongoing trade talks with China on this trip.

Reaching an enforceable trade agreement that mitigates the negative effects of tariffs will reinvigorate the agriculture economy in central and west-central Illinois.

And there is no better time for this than now.

Congressman Darin LaHood represents the 18th District of Illinois.
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RCRC 2018 Rural County Photo Contest winning picture Sunset Over New Melones Reservoir with Springtime Flowers on Table Mountain by Peggy Sells View Photos

Sonora, CA  The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of the Interior have filed civil actions, in both federal and state court, against the California State Water Resources Control Board over its plan to seek increased unimpaired flows for the benefit of fish species.

The Feds announced the move Thursday. As reported here, it was back in December when the Water Board approved and adopted amendments to its Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/SacramentoSan Joaquin Delta Estuary and Substitute Environmental Document. The move was criticized by water suppliers and others as a massive water grab.

According to the complaint, the Amended Plan fails to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and, once implemented, will impair the Department of the Interiors ability to operate New Melones Dam consistent with Congressional directives.

As reported here, the Water Board is already facing multiple lawsuits over its action, including one filed in Tuolumne County Superior Court by multiple entities that include Tri-Dam Project Partners the Oakdale (OID) and South Jan Joaquin (SSJIR) water districts that developed and maintain senior water rights at New Melones.

Commenting on the latest suit, voluntary settlement agreements in progress among water suppliers and his districts own filing against the Water Board, OID General Manager Steve Knell shares, With the Federal suit filed we anticipate all State actions for the implementation of the WQCP to likely come to a halt. VSA negotiations will also likely be sidelined. The Federal suit against the State puts into question the validity of the findings contained in the WQCP, hence the outcome of the suit could result in significant changes to the document. Because of that probability, there is no sense in continuing to negotiate if you dont know how the endpoints might be changed.

The Feds further explain their position in the below excerpt from their announcement about the filing:

The environmental analysis by the California State Water Resources Control Board hid the true impacts of their plan and could put substantial operational constraints on the Department of the Interiors ability to effectively operate the New Melones Dam, which plays a critical role in flood control, irrigation, and power generation in the Sacramento region, said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark for the Department of Justices Environment and Natural Resources Division. The Department of Justice will continue to advocate on behalf of our federal partners, especially when it comes to the proper application of federal and state environmental laws.

As stated in our letter to the Board on July 27, 2018, todays lawsuit affirms the Bureau of Reclamations continued opposition to the State Water Board plan. The plan poses an unacceptable risk to Reclamations water storage and power generation capabilities at the New Melones Project in California and to local recreational opportunities, said Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman. We pledge our commitment to environmentally and economically sound water management for Californias farms, families, business, and natural resources, and the American public as a whole.

CEQA is a California statute which requires state and local agencies to identify the significant environmental impacts of their actions and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if feasible. The lawsuits filed today allege that in approving the amended plan and final SED, the Board failed to comply with the requirements of CEQA in a number of ways:

The Board failed to provide an accurate, stable and finite project description, because the Board analyzed a project materially different from the project described in the project description;

The Board improperly masked potential environmental impacts of the amended plan by including carryover storage targets and other reservoir controls  mitigation measures  in its impacts analysis and by not analyzing the impacts of the amended plan on the environment without reservoir controls; and

The Board failed to adequately analyze the impacts of the amended plan, including with respect to water temperature and related water quality conditions, and water supply.

As alleged in the lawsuits, the United States will be directly and substantially impacted by the Boards actions, which impacts include, but are not limited to, operational constraints on the New Melones Project, loss of available surface water supplies for New Melones Project purposes, including Central Valley Project (CVP) water service contracts, and involuntary dedication of federal reservoir space for Board purposes.

The New Melones Dam is a federally owned Reclamation facility and a component of the federal CVP. The Dam stores water under permits issued by the State of California, and delivers water from storage to irrigation and water districts under contracts entered into under federal reclamation law. The lawsuits further allege that the new flow objectives will significantly reduce the amount of water available in New Melones reservoir for meeting congressionally authorized purposes of the New Melones Project, including irrigation, municipal and industrial purposes, power generation, and recreational opportunities at New Melones. The reduced water available for New Melones Project purposes would also impair Reclamations delivery of water under contracts it presently holds with irrigation and water districts.

The United States is represented in this action by Assistant Attorney General Clark and United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott; with lead counsel Stephen M. Macfarlane, Romney Philpott, Erika Norman of the Natural Resources Section; and Kelli L. Taylor of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of California.
Tuolumne County Superior Court, Old Courthouse cupola in the background View Photos

Sonora, CA  A temporary restraining order is the latest development in a contested sale lawsuit pitting Wildcat Ranch supporters against those who want to see it become a community park.

As reported here, last month the Tuolumne County Farm Bureau filed suit against Sonora Union High School District (SUHSD) to block the partial sale of the districts Wildcat Ranch property to the nonprofit Park Foundation, citing Brown Act and other violations.

It also accused the outgoing board of district trustees who approved the sale last December of short-shifting agricultural education for cash flow. Located at Tuolumne and Wards Ferry roads, the property, owned by the district since the mid-1980s, houses the schools ag ed program and cross-country track.

With escrow set to close at the end of the month, well ahead of the first court date for the lawsuit in June, the Farm Bureau filed for relief, seeking an injunction, as reported here. Ahead of issuing the restraining order on Thursday afternoon, Judge Kevin Seibert pointed out that the district has yet to provide adequate evidence to the court that it legally fulfilled all the requirements for conducting official noticing about the sale. He explained, We expect to see the best evidenceit should not have been hard to get.

He added that the restraining order would maintain the status quo until the district supplies the missing documents and emphasized that it was in no way a decision about the sale itself or the districts right to sell the property by statute as long as it meets all the related requirements. The judge reminded the involved parties that if an injunction is granted to the petitioners that a hefty bond would be required.

SUHSD Superintendent Dr. Mark Miller spoke to Clarke Broadcasting following the hearing. Miller comments, Obviously we are disappointed. We were hoping it would go our way. Given that, we are going to meet with counsel and discuss what the judge ruled and we will figure out the next steps from there. Park Foundation officials declined to comment.

Farm Bureau spokesperson Shaun Crook acknowledges, We are pleased with the progress today in court. Opining, he adds, For whatever reason, the previous school board was in such a rush to sell the property to the Park Foundation, that they violated the law and the public trust on multiple occasions. This was eloquently laid out and made apparent in court today.

The judge set the next hearing on the matter for April 12 at 11 a.m.
Sacramento, CA  After getting a sneak peek of those on the list for seats on Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Corporations board, Governor Gavin Newsom showed his disdain in a letter to the utility.

In the letter sent by Newsom on Thursday, he blasted the utility for planning to stack its board of directors with hedge fund financiers and people who have little experience in utility operations and safety. He went on to urge the utilitys leader to change course.

With this move, PG&E would send a clear message that it is prioritizing quick profits for Wall Street over public safety and reliable and affordable energy service, stated Newsom.

The governors office is not releasing the names on the list. Previously, PG&E had announced plans to replace most of its board by its annual shareholder meeting on May 12th. The company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy stating that it cannot afford billions of dollars in liability related to deadly California wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo told the Associated Press via email that the utility understands the serious concerns expressed by the governor and his urgency. She went on to explain, We recognize the importance of adding perspectives to the Board that will bring about the right changes in safety, as well as help address the serious operational and financial challenges the business faces now and in the future.

Shareholders will elect a new board at the annual meeting in May. The average term is more than seven years.

A consumer advocacy group has come out in support of the Governor serving notice to the utility that replacing the board with the same old profits before safety interests as done in the past is not going to solve the problem.

View Newsoms entire letter to PG&E below:

March 28, 2019

John Simon

Interim CEO, Pacific Gas & Electric

77 Beale Street

San Francisco, CA 94105

Mr. Simon,

I am troubled to learn that PG&E is primed to reconstitute its board with hedge fund financiers, out-of-state executives and others with little or no experience in California and inadequate expertise in utility operations, regulation and safety.

With this move, PG&E would send a clear message that it is prioritizing quick profits for Wall Street over public safety and reliable and affordable energy service.

Time and again, PG&E has broken the public trust and its responsibilities to ratepayers, wildfire victims, and employees. This board appears to be more of the same. It raises serious doubts about the companys commitment to make changes needed to deliver safe, reliable and affordable power to Californians.

California deserves better. I strongly urge you to reconsider and appoint board members who understand the imperative for change and the need to prioritize the interests of the people of California. PG&Es board should be comprised by a majority of Californians who have experience as regulators, safety experts and clean energy leaders. Any new board member should be resolved to change the culture of the company, understand the concerns of ratepayers and demonstrate a commitment to the fair treatment of wildfire victims and employees.

Sincerely,

California Governor Gavin Newsom 
Mother Lode Congressman Tom McClintock View Photos

Earlier this week, Congressman Tom McClintock took to the US House Floor to voice his opposition to override President Trumps veto of a declared national emergency regarding the US Mexican border.

Here are the words of Congressman McClintock.

Mr. Speaker:

For 43 years, the President of the United States has had the statutory authority granted by Congress to declare a national emergency and to re-program unobligated military construction funds to meet that emergency. Fifty-eight times, previous presidents have invoked this authority to address such matters as civil unrest in Sierra Leone and Burma.

Only when THIS President invoked his authority for the 59th time to address the most serious national security risk our country has faced in our lifetimes  the collapse of our southern border  do we hear protests from the left and its fellow travelers.

Under our Constitution, the Congress appropriates money but cannot spend it and the President spends money but cannot appropriate it. He spends it according to laws given him by Congress. In this case, Congress appropriated funds, and delegated to the President precisely the authority to spend those funds that he is now exercising. Whether Congress should have delegated this authority is a separate question that no one has raised in 43 years. But while that authority exists, the President has both a right and a duty to use it to defend our country.

We also hear protests that the Presidents act will divert money from other military projects. Listen to what these people are saying: they care more about defending the Iraqi border than defending our own. Such people should not be entrusted with the defense of our country.

I stand with the President who is acting within our Constitution to preserve, protect and defend it, and against the radical left in this house that would dissolve our borders entirely if given the chance.

History warns us that nations that cannot or will not defend their borders arent around very long. Let that not be the epitaph of the American republic or the Constitution that created it.

After a 19-year drought, the seven Colorado River Basin states (including California) have come together to address water shortages with the new Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan. The Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife heard from these states on Thursday as they presented the plan and explained how water will be shared.

An opening statement was given by House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Tom McClintock who is on the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife. Here are his words:

The Subcommittee meets today to consider the Colorado Drought Contingency Plan, agreed to by all of the states that draw from the Colorado River Basin.

The dams on the Colorado have been the foundation of the prosperity of the Western states that rely on them to store water from wet years to assure abundance in dry ones. Forty million people and 5  million acres of productive farmland now depend on the water stored behind these dams and 4,000 megawatts of hydroelectricity their turbines generate.

Both natural and man-made developments have brought us to this juncture.

The first is the continuing drought in the American Southwest. Precipitation in most of the continental United States has increased considerably since the turn of the last century  almost 2/10ths of an inch per decade. The exception is the Southwest, which has seen a decrease in precipitation in the same period as weather patterns have shifted.

In addition, the original allocations of Colorado River water were set back in 1922, during a period of unusually high precipitation, thus building into the system an overestimate of available system-wide supply.

As Yogi Berra famously observed, Its tough to make predictions, especially about the future. The good news is that the Upper Colorado Snowpack is currently 128 percent of normal for the year. February precipitation was well above the 30-year median, double in most places, and this month is likely the be the wettest March on record in the Colorado Basin.

But one good year is no guarantee the 19-year drought is over, and prudence and experience both warn us of the need to be prepared. Droughts have plagued this region from time immemorial  over the last 1,200 years there have been five periods with droughts equal or greater than this one. Indeed, in the mid-1100s, the region experienced a 25-year drought. History is desperately warning us to be prepared.

And one thing is absolutely certain about the future of the Colorado River Basin: demand for water will continue to increase with population, while the supply of water will continue to fluctuate. That is the fine point of the matter and an inescapable reality we cannot ignore.

It is a remarkable development that seven of the most politically diverse states in the nation could find agreement on something as controversial as reduced water allocations, but that miracle is before us today. I think we would be well-advised to show a little humility and defer to the judgment of the states that directly depend on the water allocations set forth in this contingency plan.

During the miracle at Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin observed that the principle difference between the Catholic and Protestant religions was that the Catholics believed their church is infallible while the Protestants believed that their church is never wrong. His advice to them that day  which I believe is entirely applicable here  is that we should each doubt a little of our own infallibility and in this case, approve this compact.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
Stolen Saddle Returns To Tuolumne County View Photos

Sonora, CA  Tuolumne County Sheriffs officials helped a local family reclaim a saddle that was stolen back in 2003.

The sheriffs office reports that Sgt. Jeff Hunt received a call from the Engler family who had spotted their grandfathers saddle for sale online via an auction house in Idaho. The saddle had been stolen from the familys barn in 2003.

The sheriffs office reports that the company offering the saddle for sale was unaware that it was stolen, and was very helpful in returning it to the family, now 16 years later. The grandfather had since passed away, so the family was very thankful to find the long lost treasure. It is very unique and was branded and engraved with the familys insignia.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 28)  The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is urging TV networks to conduct surprise, mandatory drug tests on their actors and actresses.

"Sana itong mga artista magkaroon rin ng internal cleansing rin. For example, 'yung Channel 2, Channel 7, Channel 5, kung ano mang channel, mga artista 'yan, dapat gumawa sila ng initiative na 'yung mga artista nila, ipa-drug test nila," PDEA chief Dir. Gen. Aaron Aquino told CNN Philippines' The Source on Thursday.

[Translation: Hopefully these artists should continue their internal cleansing. For example, Channel 2, Channel 7, Channel 5, whatever channel, their artists, they should have an initiative to have their artists tested for drugs.]

Aquino made this call amid a revelation from the drug agency that there are 31 celebrities on their drug watchlist.

He said among these celebrities, 11 are actresses and 20 are actors. He said most are in their 20s and 30s, while some are in their 40s and 50s.

However, Aquino said these are still unverified reports. "It means kailangan pa nilang dumaan sa isang proseso ng [these need to undergo another round of] validation to confirm reports," he said.

He also said that there could be up to a hundred celebrities who are into drugs as the PDEA list does not yet include information from the Philippine National Police, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

He added that the PDEA will not release the list of celebrities who are allegedly into drugs.

"Pero huhulihin namin sila [But we will catch them.] Time will come, we'll catch up on you," Aquino said.

The government had previously released two drug lists: One ahead of the barangay polls and another one ahead of the midterm elections in May.

Authorities admitted that there is not enough basis to file criminal charges against people on the lists.
This article, Scientists suggest Mars still has an active underground water system, originally appeared on CNET.com.

First we learned that Mars may be hiding a lake under its southern ice cap. Now a new study points to an active groundwater system that may be lurking deep below the planet's equatorial regions, feeding a mysterious phenomenon on the Martian surface.

If the study holds water, it would be a huge paradigm shift for the dusty, barren planet. And it could open up new avenues of exploration.

Two researchers at the University of Southern California, Abotalib Z. Abotalib and Essam Heggy, posit that "recurring slope lineae" (RSL), dark streaks that periodically appear on the side of Martian craters, are being created by an active, deep reservoir of salty water.

The study, published Thursday in Nature Geoscience, used images provided by HiRISE, a high-resolution camera aboard the NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter circling the red planet, to analyze distinct surface features.

The duo examined images of Palikir crater, which has previously been shown to harbor RSL and is a prime location for present-day water flows, to come up with their new hypothesis. They discovered that RSL most commonly emanate from fractures and cracks in Palikir's surface.

"Mars is not hydrologically dead," says Heggy. "There is an active groundwater system on Mars that is causing the recurring slope lineae."

In the past scientists, have hypothesized a number of reasons the RSL appear on the side of Martian craters, including the idea that they may just be sand flows rather than a phenomenon caused by water. Other groups have suggested they're caused by seeping salt water that originates from just below the surface. However, radar experiments imaging the Martian surface have not been able to identify any shallow pools of groundwater.

Heggy and Abotalib's background, studying aquifers and groundwater flow in Earth's desert environments, prompted them to look at the Mars RSL hypothesis from another angle -- and they began to see similarities with our planet's deserts. Their proposal suggests that the water originates from about half a mile below the surface (approximately 750 meters) and that high pressure forces the liquid up through the soil and eventually through cracks and fractures on the surface -- resulting in the RSL.

"We have seen the same mechanisms in the North African Sahara and in the Arabian Peninsula, and it helped us explore the same mechanism on Mars," says Abotalib.

An important feature of the Mars' RSL is seasonality. Typically, they appear during the Mars summer and disappear in the fall. Heggy suggests that in the fall, when it's cooler, the water freezes over the fractures, preventing the RSL from forming. In summer, warm weather allows the pressurized water to flow up and out through the cracks, seeping down the slopes.

But with all this high-resolution imaging, why haven't we spotted the liquid flows before?

"They last for a very short amount of time due to the condition of the surface and pressure on Mars," explains Heggy. "We don't have sufficient temporal coverage on Mars to witness that happen in real time."

The tantalizing prospect of water on Mars has long been discussed and researched because of the opportunities it presents to discover life or provide a means for colonization. But for Heggy, this study is less about proving Mars is somewhere humans may one day set up shop and more about our own planet.

"Water on Mars is very important, not to colonize Mars, but to understand how our own planet is evolving," he says. "The importance of groundwater is never about using it as a sustainable resource for humans on Mars."

The mystery of the Mars' RSL now has another viable theoretical candidate, but there's still work to be done. NASA Mars rover Curiosity has been exploring regions close to where the RSL form but has not studied them, and direct evidence of an active groundwater system still eludes areologists. Heggy and Abotalib will focus on rectifying that.

"We're going to be trying to see what are the best ways to find direct evidence or map these groundwater systems, potentially using future probing experiments," he says.

It's been a bumper year for Mars water discoveries. In February, researchers at the University of Utrecht suggested they'd discovered evidence that a deep groundwater system had once existed on Mars, given the features they'd observed in craters. On Wednesday, scientists from the University of Chicago suggested that rivers still raged less than 1 billion years ago.

With NASA and the European Space Agency sending rovers to Mars in 2020 -- and researchers scouring the planet for signs of groundwater -- it might not be long before we have definitive evidence that Mars isn't as dry as we once thought.

Originally published 9 a.m. PT

Updated 2:10 p.m. PT: Adds Nature Geoscience paper
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 28)  The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said sacked cop Eduardo Acierto  who surfaced from hiding with charges that a former aide of President Rodrigo Duterte is deep into the drug trade  has no credibility, but despite this, a probe on his claims continue.

PDEA chief Dir. Gen. Aaron Aquino told CNN Philippines' The Source that he doubts the credibility of the former drug operative, who went into hiding at the height of an 11-billion methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) smuggling scandal that he was implicated in.

TIMELINE: 11B-worth of shabu slips past PH customs days after 4.3B worth of shabu was intercepted

"Na-dismiss siya sa PNP (Philippine National Police) because of 'yung 1,000 pieces ng AK-47 na naibenta sa NPA (New People's Army) ... Tapos nagkaroon siya ng issue sa ... mga firearms licenses. Ngayon nagkaroon siya ng issue dito, na-involve siya sa illegal drugs sa magnetic lifters," Aquino said Thursday.

[Translation: He was dismissed from the PNP because of the 1,000 pieces of AK-47 that he sold to the NPA  Then he had this issue  on firearms licenses. Now, he had an issue with this, he was involved in illegal drugs on magnetic lifters.]

"So in terms of credibility, kayo na siguro mag-iisip kung credible siya o hindi [you decide if he is credible or not,]" Aquino continued.

He suspects that Acierto is only out to "discredit" the President and is being backed by certain individuals, whom he refused to name.

But despite this, Aquino said he is continuing to investigate Acierto's claims, having contacted the directors of the regional offices of the PDEA in Region I and Region XI, and having sent the former cop's 10-page intelligence report to Malacanang.

Acierto has come forward accusing Michael Yang  a Chinese businessman who was Duterte's former economic adviser until his contract expired in December  of involvement in the drug trade.

He said Yang was involved in a clandestine shabu laboratory in Dumoy, Davao City which he and other law enforcement authorities raided in 2004.

Acierto said he submitted his report to authorities and to Malacanang, but this fell on deaf ears.

However, Aquino said a Michael Yang had never been the target of their 2004 operation on that drug laboratory.

"Ni-review ko 'yung [case operation] plan namin, never did I see the name Michael Yang. Mayron kaming target doon, 13 ang aming target, iba-iba ang mga pangalan, mga Chinese, mga Filipinos, and yet wala akong nabasang Michael Yang," said Aquino, who said he was part of the team that raided the drug lab.

[Translation: I reviewed our case operation plan, never did I see the name Michael Yang. We have targets there, we had 13 targets, they had different names, some are Chinese, some are Filipinos, and yet I never saw any Michael Yang.]

Many Michael Yangs, none an ex-Duterte aide

Aquino said he began verifying Acierto's report when it was first given to him in the third quarter of last year.

In the course of the PDEA's investigation, Aquino said several individuals named Michael Yang and Hong Ming Yang, the Chinese name of the former Duterte aide, turned up  but none were the same Michael Yang with close ties to the President and his longtime aide, Christopher "Bong" Go.

He said a Michael Yang, an alleged drug pusher, from Sual, Pangasinan appeared in the PDEA's drug list in 2004, but this "appears" to be a different person from the former aide of the President.

"Ang problema, hindi na niya (PDEA Region XI director) makuha dahil ang tagal-tagal na nga. 'Yung mga neighbors, tinanong na niya. Chineck na rin niya sa DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and everything. Mukhang ibang Michael Yang ito," Aquino said.

[Translation: The problem, he can't get it anymore because it's been so long. He asked his neighbors. He also checked with the DTI and everything. It appears that this is a different Michael Yang.]

Another Michael Yang that turned up is a businessman from Bulacan involved in transportation, while a mining operator from Samar named Hong Ming Yang and a teacher from Caloocan City with the same name also turned up in the PDEA's search.

Yang owns the Davao City Los Amigos shopping center. He was once Duterte's economic adviser, after being tapped by the President as his "consultant" under a contract that only paid him 1 a year.

Go, Duterte's former special assistant who is now gunning for a Senate seat, admitted that he and the President have known the Chinese businessman for a long time.

"Matagal na naming kilala ni then Mayor Duterte sa Davao 'yan. May negosyo po siya doon (sa Davao). May mall po siya at alam po namin na legal ang kanyang negosyo," Go said in a statement.

[Translation: Then Mayor Duterte have known him for a long time in Davao. He has a business in Davao. He has a mall and we know that his business is legal.]

Go said Duterte would not associate himself with anyone who is into the drug trade. Acierto came out with photos showing Yang, Duterte and Go together. In their defense, Go said many people come to take pictures with them.

Duterte had also lashed out at Acierto, saying in a speech that the former cop should not be believed and implicated him in kidnapping Chinese citizens, killing a Korean national in Camp Crame and selling firearms to rebels.

The President also asked the police and the military why Acierto is still alive. The former drug operative has said that a 15 million bounty is on his head.

The PDEA, the PNP and Malacanang have cleared Yang of involvement in the drug trade.

Despite this, senators and candidates have called on authorities to probe Acierto's allegations.
History was supposed to be made Friday with the first all-female spacewalk at the International Space Station. On Monday, NASA announced it was scrapping that plan because it didn't have enough space suits designed for smaller frames that typically characterize the female body.

To be clear, the number of medium-size spacesuits needed was two. NASA clarified that it had two on board, but only one was in a "readily usable configuration." It is easier to swap out astronauts than to configure spacesuits, NASA said, so that's the decision that was made - ignoring how excited land-dwellers may have been about the spacewalk's significance.

As this Women's History Month wanes, a 2018 tweet from the NASA History Office has reorbited, indicating that the agency has historically had some other issues with the whole women-in-space thing.

Kathryn Sullivan became the first female astronaut to go on a spacewalk, on Oct. 11, 1984.

NASA

In 1981, someone asked Sullivan how she reacted to the news that she would be trained to become an astronaut. Her response: "I was in the middle of writing a Ph.D. thesis."

Quantities appear to be a recurring issue when it comes to women in space. In addition to too few suits, NASA officials wanted to send Sally Ride to space with too many tampons. In a profile of Ride in The American Prospect, Ann Friedman wrote:

"Tampons were packed with their strings connecting them, like a strip of sausages, so they wouldn't float away. Engineers asked Ride, 'Is 100 the right number?' She would be in space for a week. 'That would not be the right number,' she told them."

Women generally use about 20 tampons per menstrual cycle.

And when Ride disembarked with the rest of her crew after her first space flight, the NASA protocol office presented her with a bouquet of flowers. She refused to accept them.

The media also treated female astronauts differently than their male counterparts. The Globe referred to the six women in the astronaut class of 1978 as "the Glamornauts" and "eye-popping space gals." Astronaut Shannon Lucid was repeatedly asked how her children were coping with her decision to go into space, and Ride was asked whether she would cry, according to historian Amy Foster in her book "Integrating Women Into the Astronaut Corps: Politics and Logistics at NASA."

Male astronauts can thank women for joining them in space for at least one particular reason. It meant the installation of the first toilets onboard spacecraft. Previously, men relieved themselves into plastic bags. "The Shuttle contractors made it a priority to design a toilet that would work well for all astronauts," Foster wrote.

Would that it were the same for "readily usable" spacesuits.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said Friday that next week he would close the southern border, or at least large sections of it, if Mexico does not halt illegal immigration into the United States, repeating a threat he has made before but never with a specific timetable.

In a series of tweets and later during appearances before reporters, Trump did not spell out exactly what a border closing would entail but said it could involve halting "all trade" between the two countries - a prospect that would have profound ramifications for the U.S. economy.

Trump blamed Mexico for a growing flow of "illegals" entering the United States and cited two large migrant caravans making their way toward the U.S. border.

"If they don't stop them, we're closing the border," Trump said at an event in Florida. "We'll close it. And we'll keep it closed for a long time. I'm not playing games. Mexico has to stop it."

In another afternoon appearance, he said, "there's a very good likelihood" that he'll close the border next week.

Mexico's new government, under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has actually been a willing partner with the Trump administration on migration issues.

Earlier this year, it allowed the implementation and expansion of a new U.S. policy that forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico as their cases are processed, in spite of criticism from human rights organizations.

Mexican immigration agents have also worked directly with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to keep asylum seekers off U.S. soil. At several major international bridges, Mexican agents now vet people before they reach the U.S. side of the bridge.

Before he became president, Lopez Obrador was a frequent critic of Trump, even publishing a book, titled "Listen, Trump," which detailed his anger toward the White House. But he has tempered that critique to a previously unimaginable degree since taking office, in an effort to maintain a positive relationship with Trump.

On Friday, in the wake of Trump's tweet about the possible border closure, Lopez Obrador reiterated that approach.

"We are going to help, to collaborate. We want to have a good relationship with the government of the United States. We are not going to argue about these issues," he said at a news conference, in response to a question about Trump's criticism of Mexican migration policies.

Lopez Obrador has emphasized the idea that, with more development funding, Central Americans could find shelter and jobs in southern Mexico, rather than migrating to the United States. His administration has asked the U.S. government to support that plan. But Trump has offered little in the way of such funding.

Tonatiuh Guillen, the head of Mexico's immigration agency, at an event on Thursday, said the Mexico was caught in the middle of U.S. immigration policies he described as "bipolar."

He added, "There are factors of attraction and rejection, and we're in the sandwich right now."

Trump's warning in the afternoon echoed tweets earlier in the day in which the president threatened that he would be "CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border," if the situation did not improve.

Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's foreign minister, responded to Trump on Twitter, writing: "Mexico does not act on the basis of threats. We are a great neighbor."

Andres Rozental Gutman, the former Mexican undersecretary for foreign relations, said the current Mexican government "wants to take care of the relationship with President Trump for as long as it can. It does not want to aggravate that relationship, and does not want to enter into controversy in the media and with tweets."

He added: "Is that the correct policy? I do not think so. I think Trump respects strength and not weakness."

Trump's comments came two days after the United States's top border official warned that the U.S. immigration enforcement system along the nation's southern boundary is at "the breaking point" and said authorities are having to release migrants into the country after background checks because of a crush of asylum-seeking families with children.

Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that for the first time in more than a decade, his agency is "reluctantly" performing direct releases of migrants, meaning they are not turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they are not detained, they are not given ankle bracelets to track their movements, and they are allowed to leave with just a notice to appear in court at a later date.

A move to close the border would come with numerous complications, including impeding U.S. citizens seeking to reenter the country from Mexico.

Closing off access to foreigners with travel visas would invite the same kind of legal scrutiny as Trump's ban on people coming into the United States from certain Muslim-majority countries.

And if Trump were to shut down commerce between Mexico and the United States, he would draw the ire of American manufacturers who depend on Mexican-made goods.

Trump made a similar threat Thursday morning about closing the border, saying Mexico was "all talk and no action," but did not make it sound as though action were imminent. "May close the Southern Border!" he wrote then.

At a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Thursday night, Trump returned to the subject, saying if Mexico does not stop migrants from trying to enter the United States, "we will close the damn border."

Trump alleged Mexico was stealing the state's automobile business and told the crowd that if he closes the border, then "it means you're going to make more cars right here in the good old USA."

Trump has threatened to close the border before but did not follow through.

In November, in the heat of a battle with Congress over funding for his long-promised border wall, Trump wrote on Twitter "we will close the Border permanently if need be."

Trump has since declared a national emergency at the border as a way to spend more on barriers than Congress has authorized.

In his tweets Friday, Trump also took aim at Democrats in Congress, saying they "have given us the weakest immigration laws anywhere in the World."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., campaigning for president in Marshalltown, Iowa, said Trump's threats are "not in line with our values as a country."

"When a mama picks up her baby and sees violence and death threats the United States listens," she said. "That's part of what we do. It's part of who we are."

- - -

Wagner and Itkowitz reported from Washington. Sieff reported from Mexico City. The Washington Post's Gabriela Martinez in Mexico City, Annie Linskey in Marshalltown, Iowa and Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti in Washington contributed to this report.
A San Antonio retail store employee was arrested Thursday after he bought several stolen cell phones from an undercover officer, police said.

Falgun Patel, 33, was charged with organized retail theft, jail records showed.

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Police received information that "a business known as Bags N More was purchasing stolen cell phones," according to Patel's arrest affidavit.

In March, police sent an undercover detective to sell reportedly stolen phones. The detective would sell the phones to Patel for half of its retail value, according to the arrest affidavit.

"We conducted multiple transactions on different dates selling (Patel) and another male cell phones and tablets purported to them as stolen," police wrote in the affidavit.

Patel would even make requests for specific models that would make the undercover detective more money, according to the affidavit. He would then sell the stolen phones for a profit.

The second man who is mentioned in the affidavit was not identified.

Patel's bail was set at $5,000, according to jail records.

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | fsabawi@mysa.com|@FaresInSA
A man was shot to death by a San Antonio police officer late Thursday in Guadalupe County after a high-speed chase that began on the South Side, according to police.

San Antonio street crimes investigators were tracking the suspect, who has not been identified, on Thursday and encountered him at about 10 p.m. in an Acura that had been reported stolen, police said.

They tried to conduct a traffic stop, but the man fled, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said. He led officers onto eastbound Interstate 10 and reached speeds of more than 100 mph.

A helicopter unit followed him overhead, and Texas Department of Safety troopers and Guadalupe County deputies joined in the chase once he crossed the county line.

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Authorities were eventually able to puncture his tires.

"That slowed him down a bit, but he kept on driving," McManus said.

His tires were punctured again, and the suspect crashed into a Guadalupe County deputy's squad car. DPS troopers used a stun gun on the man, but it was ineffective, McManus said.

"I believe he was Tased twice, and twice he pulled the prongs out," McManus said.

The man then reached for a handgun, at which point a San Antonio police officer opened fire, striking him once in the chest, McManus said. Paramedics took the suspect to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The officer who shot the suspect has been with San Antonio police for six years. He has not been identified. He will be placed on routine administrative duty until the District Attorney's Office reviews the case.

The San Antonio Police Department's homicide unit is investigating the shooting. It's the seventh time this year a San Antonio police officer has shot and killed a suspect.

On March 20, Sgt. David Perry, a 23-year veteran, fatally shot Hannah Westall, 26, after she pointed a fake Uzi at him in the parking lot of the Huebner Commons Shopping Center.

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
Luis Arroyo briefly escaped from the Bexar County Jail, where he was being held on a capital murder charge, on March 2, 2018.

For that hour of freedom Arroyo was sentenced to 99 years in prison on Friday, according to the Bexar County District Attorney's Office.

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Although escaping from a correctional facility is typically a third-degree felony, the charge was upgraded because Arroyo was found to be a habitual offender, according to a district attorney's office spokesperson.

Arroyo, allegedly along with Jacob Brownson and Eric Trevino, escaped from the jail by climbing 20 feet up the jail's recreation area, cutting a hole in mesh wiring and climbing down onto a roof using bedsheets.

The three were aided by Arroyo's mother, a close friend of Trevino and Trevino's ex-girlfriend, authorities said. Those three were also charged in connection to the escape attempt.

READ MORE: Affidavit: Getaway driver for escaped Bexar County inmates picked them up with child in car

Arroyo, Brownson and Trevino were brought back into custody about an hour after their escape when they were discovered at a Sonic restaurant, officials said.

Brownson and Trevino, who were also being held on capital murder charges, have not yet been tried for the escape attempt, court records showed.

Shortly after the escape, Arroyo was tried for capital murder, but the case resulted in a mistrial in July 2018 after the jury deadlocked.

Prosecutors plan to retry Arroyo on the murder charge, a district attorney spokesperson said Friday.

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
Peet's Coffee

5 overall rating

1 Ratings | 1 Reviews

Peets Coffee Explorer Series is a monthly coffee subscription box that sends a different limited release coffee roast. Each of these limited release coffees is made from single-origin beans and are roasted to order, ground (or not) to your preference, and shipped within 24 hours.

This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

About This Subscription Box from Peets Coffee

The Subscription Box: Peets Coffee Explorer Series

The Cost: $18 for one pound/month, $35 for two pounds/month, or $49 for three pounds/month. Free ground shipping.

ACTIVE DEAL: Limited Time Only! 35% off your first subscription shipment

CODE: PEETSMSA35

The Products: Each month features a different single-origin, limited-release coffee that is shipped within 24 hours of being roasted to order.

Ships to: US (free shipping) & International (the cost of ground shipping is credited towards your shipping preference of 2nd-day air, next day air, or international shipping)

Peets Coffee Peru Chirinos Organic Review

Peru Chirinos Organic, 16 oz. Estimated Value $19.95

This months featured limited release coffee roast is made from beans that are freshly harvested from the highlands of Peru with an altitude of over 20,000 ft above sea level. The tasting notes are minimal and only found on the label; this roast is described as fresh and floral with apricot sweetness. I really enjoy this roast! I normally add some cream, sometimes flavored, but I always try it black before doing anything to it. This brew was so good that I just liked it black! The flavor and subtle sweetness were just right for me the way it was.

Peets Coffee roasts your beans to order, within 24 hours of them shipping to you. Its fantastic and I can really tell from the second I open the bag and get the first inhale of the glorious coffee aroma. The beans stay fresh within 90 days of roasting.

Of course, they include tips and instructions for brewing the best cup of this coffee possible. Its key to use fresh beans and fresh, cold, filtered water. Their recipe for brewing this roast is 2 tablespoons for every 6 ounces of water.

When you sign up you submit your preferences for how many pounds per month you want in your subscription and also how you want them: whole bean, ground for drip, ground for espresso, ground for press pot & percolator, or ground for a commercial brewer.

Verdict: Im really happy with my experience with Peets Coffee Explorer Series subscription. I think its a great idea to feature a different single-origin roast and Im excited to try different brews that feel special and have a new destination to explore each month. Theyve announced the next roast: Rwanda Ejo Heza, produced by a Rwandan womens cooperative and described as rich, red fruits and smooth butterscotch.

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you will receive Marchs Ejo Heza limited release coffee.

ACTIVE DEAL: Limited Time Only! 35% off your first subscription shipment

CODE: PEETSMSA35

Value Breakdown: Peets Coffees sell for $19.95/lb, so at $18/month youre receiving a discount of about 10% plus free shipping.

Check out all of our Peets Coffee reviews and the best coffee subscription boxes of 2019!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

What do you think of Peets Coffee Explorer Series?
A 53-year-old Chivhu war veteran Shadreck Chimbare a member of Johanne Marange Apostolic Church has raised eyebrows after revealing he fathered 111 children with 28 wives.

He claims that he shares a bed with four of the 28 wives each night.

I visit each of my wives bedroom at least once every week. Thats good enough for them not to miss me, he added boastfully.

He insisted that he loves his wives and enjoys their company, but nonetheless, he refused to have a picture taken with some of them. Handina nguva yekutambisa (I dont have time to waste), he declined.

During an interview with the Mirror, Chimbare, who is popularly known as Comrade Scorpion, said he could not waste his virility when he is capable of taking care of his brood.

At the heart of the Morrison Farm about three kilometres east of Chivhu is a small village where many kitchen huts sprout on a hill top.

Inside each of the huts is a young woman, either pregnant or with a baby strapped to her back and busy with household chores.

It is in this village that 53-year-old war veteran Shadreck Chimbare a member of Johanne Marange Apostolic Church has fathered 111 children with 28 wives.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Mirror, Chimbare, who is popularly known as Comrade Scorpion, his war pseudonym, said he could not waste his virility when he is capable of taking care of his brood.

He says that his wives are not sexually starved. He sleeps with four every night and by so doing ensures that he provides conjugal rights to each one of them at least once every week. Scorpion considers that enough for a woman.

I will take another wife very soon. I have a strong affection for my children and all their mothers. I know all of my children by name and can identify them without the assistance of their mothers, said the war veteran.

Fifty-eight of his children are male. He took his first wife in 1992. His eldest child, a member of the Zimbabwe National Army now 26 years old, will perhaps take after him since he has already taken three wives.

The youngest of Comrade Scorpions children are twins who are just two weeks old. In 2019 alone, he has already welcomed nine children and seven of his wives are expecting.

He rubbished the possibility that some of his children might not know each other.

Johanne Marange Church is an apostolic sect well known for its doctrines which promote polygamy in line with the African tradition and the biblical Jewish cultural tradition.

Comrade Scorpion, a church elder with a Rabaoma (Prophet) title in the church, was born in Buhera in Chimbare Village under Chief Nyashanus area. His father, also of the Johanne Marange church, is a village head and polygamous. Comrade Scorpion left his home in 1975 to join the liberation struggle.

He said he cherishes his big family but admitted that it was a mammoth task to fend and provide enough for every child and wife.

The war veteran said contrary to the common beliefs that men of the Johanne Marange Church are taken care of by their wives, he works hard to make sure that his family does not starve.

The Zanu PF party stalwart gave up his elected post as a councillor for Ward 16 in Buhera and settled down for farming in the fertile soils of Morrison Farm. He even closed his T-brush company in Chitungwiza, a small enterprise for making brushes in preference of farming.

This year, I am expecting a harvest of about 80 tonnes of maize produce. Last year I harvested more than 100 tonnes and I sold surplus to the GMB. However, there were good rains last season as compared to the erratic rainfall patterns of this current one, so the harvest will be slightly lower than that of the previous season, he said.

He has ventured into cash crops such as soya beans, peas, cotton and tobacco. It is against his church doctrine to grow tobacco so he hired workmen to do the farming on his behalf. He gets enough money to send his children to school and buy basic necessities for the family.

Because he has always had surplus food in his stocks, Comrade Scorpion said he still has the urge to sire more childrenwho would feed on his sweat and toil.

Scorpion claims that his wives are well fed and properly taken care of and has proved to be a good husband such that some of his in-laws have offered him more than two daughters for marriage.

He has five pairs of biological sisters as wives.

All my wives are like sisters to each other. I have never had any fights or quarrels amongst them because I treat them fairly. Whether there are some who are jealousy towards each other, I dont care because, I am very fair, he stressed.

He claims that he shares a bed with four of the 28 wives each night.

I visit each of my wives bedroom at least once every week. Thats good enough for them not to miss me, he added boastfully.

He insisted that he loves his wives and enjoys their company, but nonetheless, he refused to have a picture taken with some of them. Handina nguva yekutambisa (I dont have time to waste), he declined.

 Mirror

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Yves here. Even though this post links to all three presentations made at the G20 on how bank regulation continues to fail, the one embedded at the end of the post, by Ed Kane, is short, cogent, and devastating. It includes a list of major banks with market value lower than the book value of their equity, with Deutsche Bank the bottom of the list. Kane points out that the market value reflects both their franchise value, which presumably is positive, offset by unrealized losses, which in these cases, Mr. Market clearly thinks are large.

By Thomas Ferguson, Director of Research for the Institute of New Economic Thinking; Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Originally published at the Institute of New Economic Thinking website

Talk about signal and noise: the outpouring of commentary that marked last falls tenth anniversary of the Lehman disaster sounded mostly like any other establishment celebration of itself. Current and former policy makers joined with political leaders and prominent bankers to tout how swift, decisive action by central banks and finance ministers had saved the world, while offering reassurance that financial markets were now much safer thanks to reforms overseen by vigilant regulators.

Just as in the run up to the original catastrophe, the press mostly played along. Its stories all but unanimously credited authorities claims to heroic status while sidestepping questions about how those same policymakers had allowed the situation to spiral so far out of control in the first place or why single payer insurance was OK for the financial sector but not anyone else.

Running in the background, though, was a new, darker theme: That the post-2008 reforms had gone too far in restricting policymakers discretion in crises. The trio most responsible for making the post-Lehman bailout revolutionBen Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, and Henry Paulsonexpressed their misgivings in a joint op-ed:

But in its post-crisis reforms, Congress also took away some of the most powerful tools used by the FDIC, the Fed and the Treasurythe FDIC can no longer issue blanket guarantees of bank debt as it did in the crisis, the Feds emergency lending powers have been constrained, and the Treasury would not be able to repeat its guarantee of the money market funds. These powers were critical in stopping the 2008 panicThe paradox of any financial crisis is that the policies necessary to stop it are always politically unpopular. But if that unpopularity delays or prevents a strong response, the costs to the economy become greater. We need to make sure that future generations of financial firefighters have the emergency powers they need to prevent the next fire from becoming a conflagration.

Sotto voce fears of this sort go back to the earliest reform discussions. But the question surfaced dramatically in Timothy Geithners 2016 Per Jacobsson Lecture, Are We Safer? The Case for Strengthening the Bagehot Arsenal. More recently, the Group of Thirty has advanced similar suggestionsnot too surprisingly, since Geithner was co-project manager of the report, along with Guillermo Ortiz, the former Governor of the Mexican Central Bank, who introduced the former Treasury Secretary at the Per Jacobson lecture.

Aside from the financial collapse itself, probably nothing has so shaken public confidence in democratic institutions as the wave of bailouts in the aftermath of the collapse. The redistribution of wealth and opportunity that the bailouts wrought surely helped fuel the populist surges that have swept over Europe and the United States in the last decade. The spectacle of policymakers rubber stamping literally unlimited sums for financial institutions while preaching the importance of austerity for everyone else has been unbearable to millions of people.

Especially in money-driven political systems, affording policymakers unlimited discretion also plainly courts serious risks. Put simply, too big to fail banks enjoy a uniquely splendid situation of heads I win, tails you lose when they take risks. Scholars whose research INET has supported, notably Edward Kane, have shown how the certainty of government bailouts advantages large financial institutions, directly affecting prices of their bonds and stocks.

For these reasons INET convened a panel at a G20 preparatory meeting in Berlin on Moral Hazard Issues in Extended Financial Safety Nets. The Power Point presentations of the three panelists are presented in the order in which they gave them, since the latter ones sometimes comment on Edward Kanes analysis of the European banks. Kane, who coined the term zombie bank and who famously raised early alarms about American savings and loans, analyzed European banks and how regulators, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, backstop them. Peter Bofinger, Professor of International and Monetary Economics at the University of Wurzburg and an outgoing member of the German Economic Council, followed with a discussion of how the system has changed since 2008. Helene Schuberth, Head of the Foreign Research Division of the Austrian National Bank, analyzed changes in the global financial governance system since the collapse.

The panel took place as public discussion of a proposed merger between two giant German banks, the Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, reached fever pitch. The panelists explored issues directly relevant to such fusions, without necessarily agreeing among themselves or with anyone at INET.

But the point Robert Johnson, INETs President, and I made some years back, amid an earlier wave of talk about using public money to bail out European banks, remains on target:

We are only interested observers of the arm wrestling between the various EU countries over the costs of bank rescues, state expenditures, and such. But we do think there is a clear lesson from the long history of how governments have dealt with bank failures. [If] the European Union needs to step in to save banks, there is no reason why they have to do it for free best practice in banking rescues is to save banks, but not bankers. That is, prevent the system from melting down with all the many years of broad economic losses that would bring, but force out those responsible and make sure the public gets paid back for rescuing the financial system.

The simplest way to do that is to have the state take equity in the banks it rescues and write down the equity of bank shareholders in proportion. This can be done in several waysdirect equity as a condition for bailout, requiring warrants that can be exercised later, etc. The key points are for the state to take over the banks, get the bad loans rapidly out of those and into a bad bank, and hold the junk for a decent interval so the rest of the market does not crater. When the banks come back to profitability, you can cash in the warrants and sell the stock if you dont like state ownership. That way the public gets its money back.at times states have even made a profit.

In 2019, another question, alas, is also piercing. In country after country, Social Democratic center-left parties have shrunk, in many instances almost to nothingness. In Germany the SPD gives every sign of following the French Socialist Party into oblivion. Would a government coalition in which the SPD holds the Finance Ministry even consider anything but guaranteeing the public a huge piece of any upside if they rescue two failing institutions?
Boeing is breaking the rules of crisis management and making what may well prove to be a bad bet the company wager.

The gold standard, as most readers know well, is Johnson & Johnsons response to 1982 tampering with its product, Tylenol. Seven people died in Chicago due to Tylenol containers having been put on the shelves with cyanide pills inside. A few more people died in what were believed to have been copycat incidents.

Tylenol was Johnson & Johnsons most important product and then the nations leading OTC painkiller. Johnson & Johnson immediate issued warnings, telling consumers not to use any Tylenol until the company had ascertained how big the tampering problem was. It recalled all Tylenol nationwide, cooperated with the police, and set up an 800 number for consumers.

Johnson & Johnson re-introduced Tylenol with triple-safety packing that has become an industry norm. Even though its market share plunged during the crisis, it rebounded to an even higher level a year later.

As one account of the Johnson & Johnson crisis response stressed, the company put safety first:

Johnson & Johnson chairman, James Burke, reacted to the negative media coverage by forming a seven-member strategy team. The teams strategy guidance from Burke was first, How do we protect the people? and second How do we save this product?

It isnt hard to infer that this is not how Boeing is setting its priorities. It is important to recognize that the global grounding of the 737 Max is the result of trying to compensate for questionable, profit-driven engineering choices by adding a safety feature (the MCAS software system) and then going cheap on that, in terms of selling planes not kitted out fully and acting as if it was perfectly fine to install software that could take control of the plane and barely tell pilots about it. Two paragraphs more than 700 pages into a manual does not qualify as anything approaching adequate disclosure.

Boeing is taking steps that look designed to appear adequate, when given the damage done to the 737 Max and its brand generally, this isnt adequate. No one has any reason to give Boeing the benefit of the doubt. The scale of this failure is so large that its called the adequacy of FAA certifications into question. Until this fiasco, aviation regulators deferred to the judgment of regulator in the country where the manufacturer was headquartered. But with China embarrassing the FAA by (correctly) being the first to ground the 737 Max, foreign regulators will make their own checks of Boeings 737 Max fixes.and that practice may continue with other US-origin planes unless Boeing and the FAA both look to have learned a big lesson. So far, Boeings behavior says not.

One does not have to do much in the way of review to see that Boeing has lost the plot.

Boeing compromised on sound engineering with the 737 Max. Recall the origins of the problem: Boeing was at risk of losing big orders to a more fuel-efficient Airbus model. Rather than sacrifice market share, Boeing put more fuel-efficeint, larger engines on the existing 737 frames. The placement of the engine created a new safety risk, that under some circumstances, the plane could nose up at such a steep angle as to put it in a stall. The solution was to install software called MCAS which would force the nose down if the angle of attack became too acute.

Before getting to todays updates, experts have deemed the 737 Max design to be unsound. For

The word kludge keeps coming up when pilots and engineers discuss Boeings 737 Max, from Quartz:

Again and again, in discussions of what has gone wrong with Boeings 737 Max planein two deadly crashes within five months, an unusual word keeps coming up: kludge. Merriam-Webster defines kludgesometimes spelled klugeas a haphazard or makeshift solution to a problem and especially to a computer or programmingproblem. Oxford defines it as, in computing, A machine, system, or program that has been badly put together, especially a clumsy but temporarily effective solution to a particular fault or problem. In the case of the 737 Max, its the combination of how two separate problems interacteda plane whose design introduced aerodynamics issues and what now appears to have been a poorly designed anti-stall systemthat seems to be drawing many to turn to Granholms term. The problems were compoundedin many ways, including by the fact that pilots were not told of or trained for the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) before the Lion Air crash, which killed all 189 on board. My concern is that Boeing may have developed the MCAS software as a profit-driven kludge to mitigate the Max 8s degraded flight characteristics due to the engine relocation required to maintain ground clearance, commented Philip Wheelock on a New York Times story about the planes certification process this week. Not convinced that software is an acceptable solution for an older design that has been pushed to its inherent aeronautical design limits. Indeed, it seems the 737 MAX was a kludge to an existing design, and that MCAS was a kludge on top of that, said a commenter on Hackaday.

Lambert found more damning takes, which he featured in Water Cooler yesterday. First from the Seattle Times:

Boeing has long embraced the power of redundancy to protect its jets and their passengers from a range of potential disruptions, from electrical faults to lightning strikes. The company typically uses two or even three separate components as fail-safes for crucial tasks to reduce the possibility of a disastrous failure. So even some of the people who have worked on Boeings new 737 MAX airplane were baffled to learn that the company had designed an automated safety system that abandoned the principles of component redundancy, ultimately entrusting the automated decision-making to just one sensor  a type of sensor that was known to fail. Boeings rival, Airbus, has typically depended on three such sensors. A single point of failure is an absolute no-no, said one former Boeing engineer who worked on the MAX, who requested anonymity to speak frankly about the program in an interview with The Seattle Times. That is just a huge system engineering oversight. To just have missed it, I cant imagine how.

And the second, from software developer Greg Traviswho happens also to be a pilot and aircraft owner:

That no one who wrote the MCAS software for the 737 MAX seems to have even raised the issue of using multiple inputs, including the opposite angle of attack sensor, in the computers determination of an impending stall is mind-blowing. As a lifetime member of the software development fraternity, I dont know what toxic combination of inexperience, hubris, or lack of cultural understanding led to this. But I do know that its indicative of a much deeper and much more troubling problem. The people who wrote the code for the original MCAS system were obviously terribly far out of their league and did not know it. How can we possibly think they can implement a software fix, much less give us any comfort whatsoever that the rest of the flight management software, which is ultimately in ultimate control of the aircraft, has any fidelity at all?

Ouch.

And were giving short shrift to how Boeing compounded the problem, for instance, by making it an upcharge to have the 737 Max have a light showing that its angle of attack sensors disagreed (the planes did have two, but bizarrely, only one would be giving data to the MCAS system on any day), or hiding the fact that there was a new safety automated safety system in two paragraphs after page 700 in the flight manual. As Wall Street Journal reader Erich Greenbaum said in comments on an older article, How Boeings 737 MAX Failed:

No  this isnt about planes that fly by themselves. Its about an airplane manufacturer that put engines on an airframe they werent designed for, having to add a flight control override to guard against said airplanes new tendency to nose up, and then adding insult to injury by driving that system with a single sensor when two are available. Oh  and charging airlines extra for the privilege of their pilots being told when one of those sensors is providing bad data.

The 737 Max has gotten a bad namenot just for itself but also for the airlines that were big buyers. Southwest had taken the most 737 Max deliveries, and American was second. I happened to be looking at American for flights last night. This is what I got when I went to aa.com:

I came back to the page later to make sure I hadnt hit the 737 Max message randomly, by loading the page just when that image came up in a cycle.and that doesnt appear to be the case. I landed on the 737 Max splash a second time.

This result suggests that American has gotten so many customer queries about the 737 Max that it felt it had to make providing information about it a priority. If you click through, the next page explains how all 737 Max planes have been grounded, that American is using other equipment to fly on routes previously scheduled for those planes, but it has still had to cancel 90 flights a day.

Evidence is mounting that the MCAS system was responsible for the Ethopian Air crash in addition to the Lion Air tragedy. From the Wall Street Journal this evening:

Officials investigating the fatal crash of a Boeing Co. BA 0.06% 737 MAX in Ethiopia have reached a preliminary conclusion that a suspect flight-control feature automatically activated before the plane nose-dived into the ground, according to people briefed on the matter, the first findings based on data retrieved from the flights black boxes. The emerging consensus among investigators, one of these people said, was relayed during a high-level briefing at the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday, and is the strongest indication yet that the same automated system, called MCAS, misfired in both the Ethiopian Airlines flight earlier this month and a Lion Air flight in Indonesia, which crashed less than five months earlier. The two crashes claimed 346 lives.

Boeing is doubling down on its mistakes. The lesson of the Tylenol poisoning is that if a company has a safety problem, even if it isnt its fault, it needs to do everything it can to rectify the defects and protect customers. If there is any doubt, the company needs to err of the side of safety.

Here, unlike with Johnson & Johnson, the failings that led to 737 Max groundings all originated with Boeing. Yet rather than own the problems and go overboard on fixing them to restore confidence in the plane and in Boeing, Boeing is acting as if all it has to put in place are merely adequate measures.

Reuters, which has a bias towards understatement, has an atypically pointed discussion of Boeings refusal to recommend pilot simulator training for the MCAS:

Boeing Co said it will submit by the end of this week a training package that 737 MAX pilots are required to take before a worldwide ban can be lifted, proposing as it did before two deadly crashes that those pilots do not need time on flight simulators to safely operate the aircraft. In making that assessment, the worlds largest planemaker is doubling down on a strategy it promoted to American Airlines Group Inc and other customers years ago. Boeing told airlines their pilots could switch from the older 737NG to the new MAX without costly flight simulator training and without compromising on safety, three former Boeing employees said.

Specifically, the Wall Street Journal reported that Southwest, which is the biggest buyer of the 737 Max, got Boeing to agree to a financial penalty if the new plane required additional simulator training:

The company had promised Southwest Airlines Co. , the planes biggest customer, to keep pilot training to a minimum so the new jet could seamlessly slot into the carriers fleet of older 737s, according to regulators and industry officials. [Former Boeing engineer Mr. [Rick] Ludtke [who worked on 737 MAX cockpit features] recalled midlevel managers telling subordinates that Boeing had committed to pay the airline $1 million per plane if its design ended up requiring pilots to spend additional simulator time. We had never, ever seen commitments like that before, he said.

Ive never flown Southwest and now I will make sure never to use them.

I hope the pilots in our readership speak up, but as a mere mortal, Ive very uncomfortable with pilots being put in a position of overriding a system in emergency conditions when they havent even test driven it. When I learn software, reading a manual is useless save for learning what the programs capabilities are. In order to be able to use it, I have to spend time with it, hands on. Computer professionals tell me the same thing. It doesnt seem likely that pilots are all that different.

In other words, Boeings refusal to recommend simulator training looks to be influenced by avoiding triggering a $31 million penalty payment to Southwest. This is an insane back-assward sense of priorities. Boeing had over $10 billion in profits in 2018. A $31 million payment isnt material and would almost certainly be lower after tax.

Boeing does not seem to comprehend that it is gambling with its future. What if international flight regulators use the Max 737 as a bloody flag and refuse to accept FAA certifications of Boeing planes, or US origin equipment generally? Do you think for a nanosecond that the European and Chinese regulators wouldnt use disregarding the FAA as a way to advance their interests? Europe would clearly give preference to Airbus, and the Chinese could use Boeing to punish the US for going after Huawei.

Boeings comeuppance is long overdue. The companys decision to break its union, outsource, and move to Chicago as a device for shedding seasoned employees was a clear statement of its plan to compromise engineering in the name of profit. Something like the Max 737 train wreck was bound to happen.
Like yesterday, the English language press is preoccupied with a drama that is not likely to drive the outcome of Brexit, and paying less attention to a bigger story. And in keeping, the UK is obsessed with its own politics, and again ignoring clear messages from the EU.

The show today is the last-ditch vote on Mays Withdrawal Agreement. Today is what was to have been Brexit day, so it seems fitting that this will also be the day on which Mays pact either gets approved or dies.

The smart money expects it to die. Some of the ERG is wobbling (more on them shortly) but the DUP is still against it and Labour is also whipping hard in opposition. Via Richard Smith:

Ill skip over bits that were sources of much tooth-gnashing yesterday, such as how the Government decided to get past the John Bercow No voting twice! problem by parsing out the Withdrawal Agreement and adding some other bits. Its not clear that this ruse works under Article 50 and it also pissed MPs off. But May is so low in Parliaments estimation that she doesnt appear to have much to lose.

Upddate 8:10 AM EDT: Richard Smith sent this rant in the form of a tweetstorm from Ian Dunt on what the Government is trying to pull off. Epic.

OK, debate begins on May's third-meaningful-vote-it's-not-a-meaningful-vote-but-actually-it-is-she's-a-desperate-liar.  Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) March 29, 2019

Back to the original post:

One odd but telling part of this contest is the rationalization of supposed do-or-die ERG figures of their switch to support Mays deal. After decrying it as relegating the UK to being a vassal state, theyve now decided that what theyd have before called a Brexit In Name Only is better than none. For instance, from Jonathan Isby, editor of BrexitCentral (and who will soon need to make an honest living):

Leaving without a deal  a clean break from the EU  is what I would prefer to the bad deal that has been presented to us by the Government  a view that I know is shared by many BrexitCentral readers. But Im afraid I have come to the conclusion that No Deal is simply not an option on offer, given the political reality and parliamentary arithmetic of a House of Commons which two days ago rejected the idea of No Deal by a majority of 240.

Most Naked Capitalism readers can see the flaw in the reasoning. Parliament is not driving the Brexit bus. Parliament said no to no deal, but it also said no to everything, and also still has unicorns on its menu of things it thinks it might get. No deal is still the default, even though the EU graciously allowed the UK a bit more time to attempt to sort itself out and settle on something is achievable (in Barniers ladder terms). Really really objecting to no deal is not sufficient to prevent that from happening.

But the BrexitCentral/Ultra view illustrates how, still, after 1000+ days, most of the UKs political classes still have not gotten it through their thick heads that the EU always had more leverage, and has even more now. If Mays final push for her agreement fails, as expected, the best the UK can hope for is that it is able to make a coherent enough pitch for an extension before April 12 to win the EUs approval.

The EU has gone into no deal overdrive. Barnier has said for some time that no deal looked like the most likely outcome. The EU is now engaging in intensive preparation, not just to deal with the immediate impact of a crash out, but also how to take advantage of the UKs stupidity without going into Versailles Treaty territory.

The number and level of the players involved suggests that this is not posturing to send a signal to the UK, but that the EU expects a crash out. They may have had some hope of an Article 50 revocation based on the tremendous response to the online petition calling for it. However, the magnitude of defeat on a revocation motion yesterday, 184 versus 293, put paid to that idea. From the Guardian:

The EU has moved into full crisis mode, with officials now setting the terms the UK will have to meet for Brussels to open talks on avoiding an economic meltdown in the weeks after a no-deal Brexit It was agreed among the member states that for there to be any talks after the UK has crashed out, the blocs 27 capitals will expect Downing Street to agree to signal by 18 April that it will pay the 39bn Brexit bill despite the failure of the Commons to ratify the withdrawal agreement. The terms of the Irish backstop, keeping Northern Ireland in large parts of single market legislation and the EUs customs territory in order to protect the Good Friday agreement, would remain as the blocs solution for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. The residence rights of citizens and coordination on social security laid out in the withdrawal agreement would also need to be respected. Ambassadors agreed they would expect the UK to come back to the negotiating table pretty soon with an ask to ensure the vital lines and procedures needed for the UK economy to survive. The EU is now already discussing what their price is for entering those discussions, one diplomat said.

The EU denying an extension even if the UK asks for a non-unicorn is higher odds than most pundits think. If one were to summarize what appears to be the non-so-secret views of many, and potentially most, EU diplomats and leaders, Brexit has become a huge energy drain and they do not want the UK to continue to be an albatross around their necks. There appears to be an increasingly hardline view that of all the bad options, a crash out may not be so terrible. It will help businesses who say theyd rather have a no deal than more uncertainty. It would simplify negotiations with the UK. It might also force its pols out of their stupor.

The reason this line of thought might not be as mad as it sound is that the option that now looks like it has the best odds of getting approved by Parliament is a customs union. But as Richard North explained yesterday, that does not solve the Irish border problem and in many respects is barely better than a crash out. And recall that Sir Ivan Rogers said that it would take the UK five to ten years to be able to trade with Europe on a mere free trade agreement basis, which again is roughly where a mere customs agreement would wind up.

So does the EU really want to give the UK a what, one year extension, go through all the brain damage of negotiating a new deal (and even, say a transition period too), only to have what amounts to a crash out at the end of all that because the UK didnt understand how much runway it needed? While EU officials normally like kick the cans approaches, this one comes at a very large cost, would make businesses unhappy and would keep the UK in the European Parliament. So this isnt at all a kick the can approach. It is more like Pay now and still pay later.

Reader Mirdif is party to rumors that are consistent with our reading:

Apparently, a discussion has been taking place in Brussels as to if the cost of a long extension is more than no deal. A growing opinion is that no deal is less costly and will unblock the process definitively. I tend to think this is overly confident and quite reckless but its the kind of call you can make with more confidence if youre in the drivers seat so-to-speak. Also, the EU Commission is taking its hardline stance from the EU27 leaders especially Macron, Merkel and surprisingly Mark Rutte and Xavier Bettel. The UK is dealing with people who are sympathetic and yet will act ruthlessly so what of other forces in the world especially where there are axes to grind both of the colonialist variety and having bombs dropped on your head under cover of international law variety.

Reader Ataraxite also pointed out that the prospect of replacing the known-even-though-problematic May with an unknown during an extension is another negative for the EU:

May has thrown a spanner into the extension works with her promise to resign, although she doesnt realise it. It means the EU will now be even more wary of extending any trust to the UK for a longer extension, as they now realise its ever more likely that they wont be dealing with the useless-but-sane May, but possible one of the rabid Ultras. A long extension, in addition to the problems in the European Parliament, grants Britain leverage in future negotiations. This has been flagged by them, but the succession of the UK PM puts the risk into far starker relief.

Its obvious the EU is playing a good cop/bad cop routine  Tusk is the good cop, making noises to remainers, and keeping the path clear for a reasonably rapid (say within 5-10 years) return of the UK to the EU if it does leave. The bad cop will likely be Macron, who represents that significant strand of thinking in the EU27 that the UK is for now, far more trouble than its worth.

I dont think the risk of a new Prime Minister is a big consideration but it strikes me as likely that any decision on an extension will be hard fought, so considerations that would normally be marginal could tip the balance

And remember it only takes one no vote to bar an extension (although in reality, its hard to think one county would go it alone; theyd want a little company). Macron is still not happy with the idea of keeping Brexit in play. From The Sun:

EMMANUEL Macrons top advisor on Europe has said Britain shouldnt hold a second referendum and signalled France could block a long Brexit delay And she warned against the political chaos gripping the UK being allowed to infect Europe, insisting the time was right for us to leave the bloc. She said: There is chaos, there is confusion. Im against a new referendum because it would be a denial of democracy. Britain must leave. Mr Macron opposes a long extension and has lobbied other EU leaders hard to keep any delay to Brexit as short as possible.

The UK may be about to create new unicorns. One troublesome element is that the normally astute Michel Barnier seems not to grasp that a mere customs union solves almost nothing; he is reported as having supported Corbyns latching onto it and also made hopeful remarks about how that option only lost by eight votes in the round of indicative votes. Richard North revisits the topic today and says that MPs may be about to create a new Frankenstein option:

However, this [second round of indicative votes]could prove distinctly problematical as the top two slots are taken respectively by Kenneth Clarkes custom union and by a referendum on any plan agreed by MPs. Just to confuse the situation still further, there is talk of splicing the absurd customs union option with the equally absurd Kinnock/Boles Common Market 2.0 plan, to produce a hybrid option, the like of which no mortal person has ever seen before But there is no possible way that a customs union in any shape of form could satisfy the UKs trading needs or form the basis of a relationship with the EU. Anyone with the remotest idea of the history of the EU, and the progression from the custom union to the Single Market, will understand this to be the case. Even with the EUs customs union fully in place, by the early 1980s there were still delays averaging 80 minutes for lorries at the EECs internal borders. In any event, the current outline written into the political declaration allows for a tariff and quota-free agreements, while adoption of the EUs WTO tariff schedules gives us the effect of a common external tariff without the need to commit to a customs union. Further, tariffs have very little impact on border management as they are largely paid electronically, and even the much-hyped rules of origin are managed beyond the border. Delays at borders are more likely to arise through non-tariff barriers, requiring the adoption of Single Market systems and other measures to ensure frictionless trade.

May could still throw a spanner by accident or design. May has said shes not necessarily going to be Parliaments messenger boy. She wont present proposals she is sure the EU will reject and shes said shes not keen about an extension beyond May 22.

Moreover, May being reasonable or faux reasonable could run up against deadlines. We warned that even if Parliament agrees on something, and even if that something is kinda-sorta-maybe something the EU would consider, who firms it up into a real proposal? What if May goes passive aggressive and tells Parliament to flesh it out? What if she delivers an end product that is so sketchy that the odds are high the EU wont accept it?

Even more so than usual, whether the UK gets an extension (charitably assuming Parliament gets out of its own underwear), is likely to depend on human considerations: how the request is framed and whether the UK looks as if it is attempting to solve its problem or looks to be again dumping its internal conflicts on the EUs lap. EU officials are tired of Brexit. EU businesses are tired of Brexit. Even if it might be rational for some of them to be patient, the UK has been hugely vexing and shows no willingness or ability to shape up.

However, as much as emotional and even a lot of rational considerations (such as the risk to the EU project of having the UK continue in the the European Parliament), the EU has a curious and large constraint: they need to feel they are being fair. The UK is still a member. The European Union has survived as long as it has, despite the damage done by the bad design features of the Eurozone, because a genuine effort has been made to appear to be evenhanded. Everyone knows that is not completely true; big countries often get breaks that the smaller countries dont. But not trampling smaller countries, and not being arbitrary and capricious is extremely important. Any decision on an extension will be highly visible and therefore also held to high standards due to its obvious importance.

Thus even though the EU has repeatedly insisted that the UK needs to give a clear reason for seeking an extension, which has meant giving a coherent explanation as to how it will put a process in place to arrive at a different Brexit, that has been an effort to shift the burden off the EU (that it must justify a no to an extension) to the UK (to make it justify why the EU should grant a yes).

Logically, the structure of Article 50 means that any extension is a gift that the country who triggered it has no reason to expect. But the EU seems to have needed to convince itself of that. To put it another way, the UK, by asking for an extension, has put the at least some EU members in the position of worrying that they will be seen as throwing the UK out of their house. But even that feeling can lead to resentment as opposed to guilt.

In other words, my sense is that there are sensibilities at play that are important and are unlikely to be articulated explicitly, but will be bundled into arguments and will weigh on the participants. And that means how the UK approaches the EU is likely to have disproportionate impact.
Dogs demonstrate the existence of an epileptic seizure odour in humans Scientific Reports. n = 5.

The Green New Deal and the case against incremental climate policy Vox (LD).

Seven Midwestern Superfund Sites Have Dealt With Flooding Since the Bomb Cyclone, But EPA Says Everythings Fine Gizmodo

The fragility of the Mozambican state in the face of climate change Africa is a Country

News you can use:

The Houses of Parliament is an anagram of loonies far up the Thames. pic.twitter.com/vVXC2UIh3G  Haggard Hawks  (@HaggardHawks) March 27, 2019

Brexit

Devons largest ever fatberg successfully removed Sky News. So, optimism!

Syraqistan

North Korea

China

Malaysia to begin delayed graft trial of former PM Najib next week Reuters

India

Venezuela

IMF enhancing efforts in Latin America OMFIF

Trump Transition

RussiaGate

International Relations Theory Doesnt Understand Culture Foreign Policy

Health Care

Judge strikes down association health plan rule as ACA runaround Modern Healthcare

Gunz

Panic buttons for mass shootings go on sale in the US Guardian

Imperial Collapse Watch

Is this the end of the American century? Adam Tooze, LRB This New Generation of Weapons Could Mean More Covert Airstrikes Around the World NYT. One of the most stressful aspects of the Western Front in World War I was that, at any moment, you could be killed instantly and without warning by a shell falling from the sky, even if you were nowhere near the front lines. Now the United States has extended this principle to the entire world.

Guillotine Watch

New York Sues Sackler Family Members and Drug Distributors NYT

Goals and Rewards Redraw the Brains Map of the World Quanta

Political change can feel elusive, until the dam bursts FT. First slowly, then all at once

Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus antidote:

Today I learned that Tigers cannot purr. To show happiness, tigers squint or close their eyes. This is because losing vision lowers defense, so tigers only purposefully do so when they feel comfortable and safe pic.twitter.com/EBEP1iw8jn  Icarus (@Peacharu_) March 21, 2019

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Yves here. On the one hand, those of us who have some appreciation of the damage done by the Obama presidency, like no fault bank bailouts while the US had nine million largely preventable foreclosures, the idea of Michelle Obama president is firmly in Kill me now territory.

The big reason Im not unduly worried? Barack is too much of a narcissist to be happy being First Husband.

By Thomas Neuburger. Originally published at DownWithTyranny!

Its no secret that the Democratic Party establishment wants nothing more than to eliminate the possibility of a rebel (change) candidate getting into the general election under its banner. That means, no one like Bernie Sanders  not Sanders himself, nor Elizabeth Warren, nor anyone else who would actually implement policies of broad, real, Sanders-like change  will be allowed to represent the Party in 2020.

Faux-Change candidates, yes. No-Change candidates, yes. But no actual rebels. The history of the 2016 primary, plus the histories of any number of races interfered with by the DCCC, the DSCC and the DNC, attest to this fact. We could expand on that, and will, but not here.

Which means that the current leaders and controllers of the Democratic Party have a problem, a Sanders (or Sanders-like) problem, since Sanders-like policies are extremely popular with actual voters.

So how could these leaders defeat the Sanders-like candidate? There can only be two ways: A) find a corporate-friendly Faux-Change or No-Change candidate who can acquire more delegates than any of the rebel candidates, then let the superdelegates confirm her on the second ballot; or B) prevent a front-running rebel candidate from winning enough delegates to win on the first ballot, then let the superdelegates select a compromise none-of-the-above candidate and confirm her.

 With the current field of candidates, its hard to imagine the first option occurring. Look at the polling below.

If Biden enters the race then falls below Sanders, he wont be able to recover. People now think as well of Biden as they will ever think. As soon as the truth about Biden starts getting splashed in peoples faces and they start really paying attention, theyll turn away. None of that truth is good.

Who among the rest of the candidates can overtake Sanders, or Warren should she surge? Top cop Kamala Harris, lingering well below the leaders, the hardnosed California prosecutor who proudly and coolly bragged about smoking dope, then jailed anyone else who did the same? How does that play to millennials? Cory Dont be mean to Bain Booker? The fast-rising Mayor of South Bend, Indiana? Robert Francis ORourke, the fossil-fuel-friendly, corporate candidate in JFK clothing? Amy Clean my comb Klobuchar? Shes tied for seventh tied Someone Else and the needle for her isnt rising at all.

 Which leaves option B: Keep the Sanders-like candidates delegate count below 50%, then introduce a compromise candidate, someone acceptable to both corporate Democrats and the voting public, to take the nomination (reluctantly of course) on the second, third, or fourth ballot.

Yet who has enough popularity, and clean enough hands, to pull that off? Certainly no one on the list above.

Enter (reluctantly, of course) Michelle Obama.

Michelle Obama would be tied with Biden as frontrunner if she ran in 2020, poll shows Former first lady Michelle Obama tied with former Vice President Joe Biden as the top choice among Democratic voters when asked who should be the partys nominee in 2020. A Hill-HarrisX poll released Tuesday [February 19] found that 25 percent of Democrats said they would back Obama in the party primary over nine other declared or potential candidates, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and former Rep. Beto ORourke (D-Texas). Obama has said she is not running[.]

And there, I think, is the knight in neoliberal armor, someone widely popular with the Democratic voting public, acceptable to return-to-the-status-quo independents, and more than acceptable to pro-corporate Party leaders. No other surprise, waiting-in-the wings candidate has this combination of qualities, not one, and Ive looked at the whole list, from Oprah to Stacy Abrams to Tammy Baldwin.

The only question, of course, is how to manage the switch without leaving the country in shock and filling change voters with rage. That will be the subject of a longer piece. Stay tuned.
The NATO Military Committee and its Chairman, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach were in Tbilisi, Georgia on 27 and 28 March 2019. The NATO Military Representatives held a special Military Committee meeting in the NATO-Georgia format, visited the Vaziani Military Base and attended the joint NATO-Georgia Exercise.

While in Georgia, the NATO Military Committee held a meeting in the NATO-Georgia format led by the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Peach and the Georgian Minister of Defence, Mr Levan Izoria. During his opening remarks, Air Chief Marshal Peach reiterated NATOs support to Georgia and urged Russia to release its hold on the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The chairman added that Russia must withdraw its troops from Georgia's occupied regions and must learn to respect Georgias sovereignty, territory and internationally recognised borders.

During the meeting, the NATO Military Committee received an overview of the regional security situation, including the occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the Black Sea. The NATO Military Representatives were then briefed on the ongoing implementation of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, the ongoing Georgian Reforms as well as the ongoing Georgian contributions to NATO operations and exercises. For over two decades, Georgia and NATO have mutually benefitted from this enduring partnership. NATO has demonstrated its continued support to Georgia through numerous programmes and initiatives, such as the Joint Training and Evaluation Centre. And in return, Georgia has continuously supported NATO. Today, Georgia is the largest non-NATO contributor to our Resolute Support Mission. This demonstrates a linked-minded approach to peace and security. The Chairman also commended the Georgian Defence Forces for their renowned professionalism and dedication.

On the 28th of March, the NATO Military Committee headed to the Vaziani Military Base to receive a briefing from the Combat Training Centre and visit the Georgia Defence Readiness Programme, a bilateral programme designed, by the US, to improve Georgian troops combat readiness and develop a self-sustaining institutional capacity to man, train and equip their national missions.

The NATO Military Committee then proceeded to the Joint Training and Evaluation Centre to observe the NATO-Georgia Exercise 2019. This joint multinational brigade-level, Command Post exercise brought together 350 personnel from 24 NATO and Partner Nations. This drill aims to further develop the interoperability of Georgian, Allied and Partner Forces, as well as Georgian command and control capabilities. Our Georgian colleagues are leading this multinational crisis response exercise. Thanks to exercises like this one and military cooperation Georgian forces are more interoperable than ever before with NATO troops. This underlines the mutual commitment to strong defence, interoperability and shared approach to international security, highlighted Air Chief Marshal Peach.
(Natural News) In yet another example of medical tyranny gone insane in the USA, a heavily armed SWAT team operating as part of the Chandler, Arizona Police Department smashed down the door with guns drawn in order to medically kidnap a child who a doctor claimed had a fever.

The child, media reports say, is unvaccinated, which of course now justifies all the insane violence and gunplay demonstrated by police. The police also kidnapped another child from the same home and have not yet returned the children to the parents.

This violent raid that destroyed the front door of the home and subjected the entire family to being psychologically terrorized by police follows in the footsteps of Rockland County, New York declaring medical martial law a few days ago, threatening all unvaccinated children and teens with arrest and six months in prison if they dared step foot on a public sidewalk or even go to school or church.

In New York, the insane medical fascists demand you remain a prisoner in your own home, while in Chandler, Arizona, they raid your home and break in your front door, justifying it all with some absurd claim that an infant has a fever.

Hey SWAT goons: Watch out for those full-auto infant diapers!

The question remains: Have SWAT team members of Chandler law enforcement been properly trained to defend themselves against six-month old infants whose weapons include flinging full-auto diapers and waging a suckling attack on exposed fingers and toes? Some infants are packing only semi-auto diapers, but other babies have full-auto diapers with extra magazines that could obviously place police officers in grave danger. A few infants are even sporting silencers and can deploy silent turdwave attacks that take police officers completely by surprise.

No doubt the heavily armed police officers of Chandler, Arizona felt the need to deploy multiple firearms and battering-ram break-in techniques because they have not yet been properly trained how to dodge infant turds  dangerous projectiles which follow their own ballistic trajectory and can inflict severe blunt force trauma upon the egos of roided-up police officers. We need to call upon the Chandler Police Department to add a new training regimen to the police academy, called baby turd dodge ball, wherein naked police officers must traverse a gauntlet of random barriers while angry white privileged moms fling turd-filled diapers at them from opposite sides, creating a gastronomical scatalogical crossfire that SWAT officers must traverse blindfolded. (Also known as Operation Fast and Furious.)

We also wonder if infants with fevers pose a threat to Arizona that justifies the same level of mass hysteria that seems to go along with every media report about measles, vaccines and influenza. It seems only a matter of time before fever raid squads start carrying rifle-mounted grenade launchers and flamethrowers in order to flame out the fever before it can spread and become what the World Health Organization deems a public health threat. In effect, police officers are now treating infants with fevers the way U.S. Marines in World War II rooted out Japanese soldier holdouts hunkered into pillboxes at Iwo Jima. (Will injured police officers receive Purple Hearts for their brave assault on Diaper Hill?)

There is no justice in a society where a hate crime hoaxer goes free while a mother with a child having a fever is raided at gunpoint

In a society where hate crime hoaxer Jussie Smollett has all charges against him dropped; where Barack Obama goes free after waging an international money laundering scheme to funnel nuclear weapons capabilities to Iran; where Hillary Clinton commits treason against America by destroying top secret evidence and accepting hundreds of million of dollars in bribes from wealthy international oligarchs; the only danger that can be identified by the police in Chandler, Arizona is a toddler with a fever.

Under the medical police state that now threatens health freedom across this entire nation, authorities in Arizona just flat-out kidnapped these children after staging an armed raid on the home of the mother. [A]uthorities have yet to return the children to their parents, reports Breitbart News.

No doubt by the time the children are returned, they will have been forcibly vaccinated at gunpoint by the lawless State. If they are then made autistic by the toxic vaccine ingredients, state authorities will blame it all on the mother, telling her, Its your genes that caused it.

Personally, I hope this mother  Sarah Beck  sues the Chandler police, the doctor and Child Protective Services for a billion dollars for being terrorized at gunpoint by armed vaccine enforcer goons. (See VaccineWars.com for more stories from the front lines of the armed medical police state carrying out a vaccine holocaust across America.)

I also offer this warning to police across America: As much as I support local law enforcement in general, this sort of nonsense is exactly whats going to get you shot and killed by homeowners in self-defense. How will that look on your grave, by the way? Here lies Sgt. Know-It-All. Shot and killed by the father of a toddler who had a fever.

Maybe you should save your armed raids for the people who actually deserve it, such as the treasonous traitors in the deep state who worked for Sen. John McCain and ferreted the Trump dossier to the intelligence goons in Washington as part of an attempted political coup. Arent there real criminals in Arizona who deserve to have their doors kicked in and might be above the age of one?

Doctors, Child Protective Services and corrupt government bureaucrats are all running a child kidnapping racket

The real story here is one you probably dont even want to know. It is well known across the realm of independent media investigators that Child Protective Services is actually a child kidnapping and child trafficking front. In Arizona and elsewhere, these children are kidnapped by bureaucrats, then raped, molested and sometimes sold off to pedophile buyers who hold them captive, to be used as sex toys.

C.P.S. offices are the front for the child kidnapping / trafficking rings throughout Arizona and across the USA. Trafficking is heavy near the open U.S. border, too, where Central and South American children are kidnapped, then trafficked into the USA to be auctioned off to wealth Left-wing pedophiles and perverts who abuse the children for years before having them snuffed out.

If you have a hard time believing any of this, consider the revelation of John of God, the so-called healing guru from Brazil who was recently arrested and charged with multiple felony sexual assaults. According to witnesses and police, John of God  who was heavily promoted by Oprah, by the way  ran a child sex slave factory operation where he would kidnap women, rape them, force them to have babies, then auction off the babies for profit, then have the mothers murdered after they produced a sufficient number of babies for sale.

Maybe instead of denying the sickening reality of whats going on in the world, you should open your eyes and face the truth: Human trafficking is rampant in the Southern U.S., and Democrats hope to keep it going because the open border is their pathway for recruiting new left-wing illegal voters. So they look the other way on child trafficking, drug trafficking and human trafficking just to make sure they can stack the next election with illegal votes.

Thats who Democrats really are. They dont care how many children are kidnapped, raped, murdered or killed as long as they can beat Trump.

Seriously, they are that f##king sick.

Stay informed. Read more truth about all this at MedicalTyranny.com.
(Natural News) If you want to know what tyranny looks like in a democracy, turn your gaze towards New Zealand, where liberal tolerance and acceptance has been replaced by anti-gun zealotry and authoritarianism, thanks to a single act of violence by a man who wasnt even born on the island.

Following Brenton Tarrants terrorist attack on a pair of mosques earlier this month, the New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, and her government wasted no time in declaring that an entire class of firearms that were previously legal to own were suddenly illegal to own.

Assault weapons of the type used by Tarrant during his attack have no place in a civil society, you see, even if 99.999 percent of them are owned by law-abiding people and used responsibly.

As such, they must all be confiscated because getting rid of them will also stop future acts of violence and terrorism. Or so New Zealanders have been told.

But what if the act of getting rid of these guns actually causes more violence and death?

The Truth About Guns is reporting that, according to the countrys biggest firearms forum, Kiwi cops are now going door-to-door to gun owners places of business, their homes, and even gun ranges in an attempt to gather information and get gun owners to relinquish their firearms.

Pay attention, Americans  because even if you dont own a gun, these are tactics tyrannical Left-wing Democrats will employ to force us all to live a certain way if they are ever empowered enough.

According to screenshots of the firearms forum, one gun owner is already dead.

One poster noted:

Got suggested I pop this up but whilst at work this morning, I hear a voice ask for me by name. I turn around and theres 2 police officers.

Needless to say workmates were shocked too [sic] see me taken into a room for a chat and these guys were quite nice about it but wanted to know what [guns] my partner and I have.

Police were tipped off

The poster went on to note that a gun safe in their residence was installed and floor plated as per the recommendations (So stored legally in an odd stock of luck), and that they hadnt used any of their guns because theyre not allowed at the moment.

I didnt put any paperwork or forms in yet so was a little shocked to see [the police] come out of nowhere. Anyone else get this yet? the poster noted.

The Truth About Guns noted further that according to Stuff, a site that appears to be the New Zealand equivalent of The Patch, a former Russian soldier who was concerned about going back to prison tried to call his son before dying of a suspected suicide following a three-hour standoff with police.

The report noted that family members of 54-year-old Troy Dubovskiy told the news outlet that police began looking for him after they searched his St. Martins property in the suburbs of Christchurch earlier in the week. (Related: Government authorities begin prosecuting Internet users who shared the New Zealand mosque attack video.)

Police acted on information from the public, Stuff reported, adding:

Dubovskiys 16-year-old son, who Stuff has decided not to name, said police searched the homes of his father, mother and grandparents after someone reported a photo the teen made his profile picture on Facebook five days ago.

The photo, which he first posted to Facebook several years ago, shows the teen holding a replica rifle and wearing a Russian helmet. The teen used the equipment along with his father while playing Airsoft, a team sport where people shoot each other with pellets using replica guns.

During a search of the home, police found a blank pistol, an airsoft rifle, and an SKS carbine; the latter is now illegal under the new assault rifle ban.

If this doesnt persuade you to shun Leftists, nothing will.

Sources include:

TheTruthAboutGuns.com

Stuff.co.nz

NewsTarget.com
(Natural News) As celebratory of an occasion as it is to have President Trump completely vindicated of all alleged wrongdoing with regards to the Russian collusion conspiracy theory propagated by Lying Leftist Democrats, theres more to this sordid story that deserves attention: Mainly the fact that Robert Mueller and his Special Counsel knew full well before the 2018 midterm elections that Trump was completely innocent, but intentionally kept their ruse going for the purpose of installing more Leftist Democrats into Congress.

A high-ranking official from the Department of Justice (DoJ) recently came forward to explain that the most important portions of the investigation were concluded all the way back in August 2018  months before the midterms. This same official says that Rod Rosenstein had already been briefed at this point, and that it was common gossip and well-known that Trump was not guilty, and that the investigation was in the process of coming to a close.

This was well known by late summer, another higher Justice Department official is reported to have said about Muellers investigation, which needlessly dragged on for years in order to shroud Trumps presidency in suspicion and distrust among the public. (Andrew) Weissmann was frustrated there wasnt anything substantive to use against Trump so he wanted to put his son (Trump Jr.) under the microscope.

Five months later, and Mueller announced to the world what the vast majority of conservatives and other cognitive humans knew all along: That there was no collusion, and that this Democrat-led witch hunt against our sitting president was purely political, and entirely fraudulent.

Mueller sat on his teams intelligence that cleared Trump of any and all allegations involving Russia and colluding or working with Russia to facilitate the defeat of Hillary Clinton, reveals True Pundit. And likewise, Rosenstein and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions also did not push for Mueller to release the results of his teams probe.

For more related news about Democratic treason against the United States, be sure to check out Corruption.news.

Lying Leftist Democrats knew ALL ALONG that Trump was innocent, used witch hunt as distraction from their own crimes

Further commenting on what is now perhaps the biggest political hoax in American history, Andrew C. McCarthy, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute and contributing editor for the National Review, wrote in a piece for Fox News about how Mueller et al. likely knew that President Trump was innocent from the very beginning, long before the 2018 midterms.

When Special Counsel Mueller closed his investigation last week, he almost certainly knew for about a year and a half that there was no collusion case, writes McCarthy. Indeed, the indictments that he did bring appeared to preclude the possibility that the Trump campaign conspired with the Kremlin.

In other words, the whole thing was a treasonous fraud from the start, a gross abuse of our nations justice system, and a shameful waste of precious taxpayer dollars. Its no secret that Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) runs deep among the Left, fueling an endless hatefest against the President and his supporters. But the Russian collusion conspiracy theory takes the cake, truly embodying the Constitutional concept of enemies both foreign and domestic.

The Justice Department and the special counsel made no announcement, no interim finding of collusion, as Trump detractors continued to claim that a sitting American president might be a tool of the Putin regime, McCarthy adds. For month after month, the president was forced to govern under a cloud of suspicion  Why?

Dont forget that not only was Hillary Clintons camp involved with this treasonous hoax, but so was Obamas  hence the need for a second Special Counsel to investigate the treasonous collusion of the first one.

Sources for this article include:

TruePundit.com

FoxNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) In what obviously came as a shock to many, the Senate recently voted on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs (AOC) so-called Green New Deal, and wouldnt you know it  not a single member of Congress, including Democrats, voted in favor of it.

With a final vote of 0-57, with all 43 Democrats simply voting present, the cow fart-banning, fossil fuel-eradicating, economy-destroying socialist mess was finally put to rest  much to the chagrin of AOC, who almost immediately chastised all of her colleagues for not supporting her pipe dream legislation.

The non-binding resolution quite obviously failed to reach the 60 votes that would have been necessary for actual debates to begin, revealing the utter ridiculousness of the proposal right out of the gate. Its also now obvious that AOC and her ideas exist on the absolute fringe, garnering total bipartisan opposition.

Even avowed socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who technically identifies as an independent, voted present on the Green New Deal, suggesting that he, too, thinks its just plain crazy and will never work.

The vote had been teed up by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a bid to make Democratic senators  including several 2020 presidential candidates  go on the record about the measure, Fox News reported.

McConnell had called the proposal a radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy.'

For more news like this, be sure to check out Stupid.news.

Even Democrat Senator Ed Markey, who co-authored the Green New Deal, didnt vote in favor of it

Hilariously, even AOCs partner in crime, Democrat Senator and Green New Deal co-author Ed Markey, reportedly gave a present vote rather than support his own bill, leaving AOC all alone in her quest to stop the world from allegedly ending in 12 years due to cow farts.

The American people will see, McConnell stated confidently before he put the Green New Deal up for a vote. Theyll see which senators are so fully committed to radical left-wing ideology that they cant even vote no on self-inflicted economic ruin that would take a sledgehammer to Americas middle class.

Even more hilarious was AOCs post-vote claim that she somehow encouraged her colleagues to vote present rather than in favor of the Green New Deal  offering no explanation as to why she would do this  only to proceed into a typical rant about climate change.

McConnell tried to rush the #GreenNewDeal straight to the floor without a hearing, AOC whined on Twitter. The real question we should be asking: Why does the Senate GOP refuse to hold any major hearings on climate change?

And leave it to Leftist Democrats still in favor of the Green New Deal to double down on their support for it, even going so far as to claim that its still very popular and that people just love it.

Sean McElwee, writing for the failing New York Times, actually published an article entitled, People Actually Like the Green New Deal, that tries to whitewash the rejection of the Green New Deal by both aisles of Congress, insisting that the plan somehow has bipartisan support.

McElwees finding is that people love greenie-weenie schemes if you emphasize the benefits and promise that the costs will be minimal and paid for by someone else, writes Kevin D. Williamson for National Review. One wonders whether McElwee ever has met a conservative.

For a more in-depth analysis of how the Green New Deal would not only bankrupt our country but also starve people to death, check out this analysis by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger.

You can also learn the truth about our climate at ClimateScienceNews.com.

Sources for this article include:

TheGatewayPundit.com

FoxNews.com

DailyWire.com

NaturalNews.com

NationalReview.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Welcome to America, the land of the free unless you happen to voice an opinion the tech giants dont agree with, in which case youre as good as dead. They might not physically place your body in the firing line, but their censorship and de-platforming is effectively killing those who dare to share an opposing point of view  and its a problem that is poised to get even worse.

In a recent opinion piece for The Hill, Donald Trump Jr. drew attention to the growing problem of Big Techs censorship of conservatives. Listing problems like shadow bans on Twitter and Facebook, pulled ads for Republican candidates and the demonetization of videos on YouTube, he wrote: Our right to freely engage in public discourse through speech is under sustained attack, necessitating a vigorous defense against the major social media and internet platforms.

He points to how Facebook has tailored its algorithm to single out the style and syntax often used by conservatives  looking out for terms like SJW (social justice worker) and mainstream media  and using that to de-boost those users content.

Social media and financial blacklisting on the rise

Consider what happened to controversial talk show host Alex Jones, who was booted off all social media platforms last August at once after the various platforms ganged up against him. Conservative activist Laura Loomer had already been banned from Twitter and PayPal when she discovered that Chase Bank had also banned her and she was blocked from accessing her bank account using their app.

Shes not the only one; half a dozen other conservatives say that Chase Banks online banking platform has given them the boot, including Trump-supporting Army combat veteran Joe Biggs. Mastercard and Discover, meanwhile, blacklisted the conservative Islam critic Robert Spencer while Mastercard and Visa cut off service to David Horowitz. Financial blacklisting is on the rise, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation warning via Breitbart News last summer that payment processors and banks were turning into de facto internet censors.

Its easy to see where this is headed. Deplatforming and censorship is almost like being executed  perhaps not in a literal sense but in terms of being essentially de-personed. This isnt just a problem that the Alex Joneses of the world, whose livelihoods arguably depend on reaching a wide enough audience, have to worry about  every single one of us stands to lose  and lose big  if we find ourselves on the wrong side of Big Tech.

Facebook and Apples social credit scores not unlike communist China

Facebook has already admitted that it ranks users on a trustworthiness scale. While we dont know everything this reputation score is used for, we do know that the scores are used to decide whether the posts a user flags as false should be reviewed by fact checkers or ignored. Facebook has access to a significant amount of very personal data about more than 2 billion people, and its just a matter of time before this ranking system is eyed by other companies and perhaps even the government.

Apple, meanwhile, is quietly monitoring your calls and emails to create a trust score if you use an iPhone, although youd only know that if you were able to read between the lines in the fine print of a recent iOS update. The ratings are supposed to help prevent fraud, they say, although its unclear how monitoring peoples communications is going to do that.

What these U.S. tech giants are doing isnt that different from the social credit scoring system that is used in China. The Chinese state monitors its populations behavior and then rates them in a mandatory scheme that they cant opt out of, with those who get low scores being punished in demeaning ways and essentially prevented from living their daily lives. Some of the acts that could earn you a low score include posting fake news online, posting on social media, spending money on frivolous purchases, buying too many books or video games, and driving badly.

What are those with low social credit scores banned from doing in China? Theyre not allowed to buy tickets for domestic flights or take the faster trains in the country. Their kids cant get into good schools, and they cant buy property. Some telecommunications companies even assign them a special ring tone so those around them will know they are in the company of a discredited individual.

Donald Trump Jr. is right: All of this is headed in a very scary direction. Chinas system might seem outrageous to us, but the truth is that were already on our way there. Its time for something to be done about the power over free speech these tech monopolies have before they take away everything from those they dont agree with.

Sources for this article include:

SCMP.com

Breitbart.com

TheHill.com
(Natural News) A family in Arizona is having to endure the wrath of the medical police state after a doctor decided to call the Department of Child Safety (DCS) on them for not vaccinating their children  resulting in an armed SWAT team raiding the familys home and violently seizing their three children, all of whom were placed in temporary foster homes.

It all started when one of the children, a two-year-old, developed a fever that exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit, prompting the childs mother to take him to see the doctor in question. Because the child hadnt been vaccinated, the doctor assumed out of nowhere that he probably had meningitis and needed to be taken to the emergency room right away.

While the mother initially agreed to the doctors extreme and unusual recommendation, her childs fever broke not long after leaving the doctors office, having stated that he was laughing and playing with his siblings like normal. After taking the boys temperature and seeing that it was now normal, the mother called the doctor and said she would no longer be taking him to the emergency room, to which the doctor responded that she should still go anyway.

The mother verbally agreed to this, though she didnt end up going to the emergency room after all. But because the doctor had previously notified the hospital, for some unknown reason, that a mother would be coming in with her child, she later received a call from said hospital explaining that mother and child never actually arrived  and thats when the insanity began.

Unless parents fight back, the state will continue to assume custody over as many children as it can get its hands on

Upset that the mother didnt follow the doctors recommendation, the doctor immediately called DCS, which then called local police to have them check on the family  which is similar to what happened to a Michigan mother who refused to give her daughter antipsychotic medications based on doctor recommendations. Two police officers arrived at the home and claim they knocked on the familys door and received no response.

Officers further claimed they heard someone coughing inside, before being approached by a neighbor who, after being told what was going on, responded to say that the person they were looking for was a good mother.

The officers asked the neighbor to call the mother, which she did, and during this time a DCS case worker arrived, who updated the police on the status of the child, which no longer had a fever. One of the officers then called the doctor, who once again repeated her recommendation that the mother take the child to hospital.

At this point in time, the case worker reportedly informed officers that DCS was planning to obtain a temporary custody notice from a judge to remove the child in question from the home for emergency medical aid.

A court order was later issued, and the police officers decided that, if the family didnt respond to their knocking, which was after midnight at this point, then they were going to engage in forced entry of the premises. At around 1 am, officers busted down the familys door, one with a shield in hand and the other outfit in lethal coverage, and proceeded to remove all of the children from their parents custody.

The children were quickly placed in separate foster homes, and 10 days later the case went to court  and all the while DCS was doing everything it possibly could to make the situation as difficult as possible for the family.

Despite arguments from the familys lawyer that they did what they believed to be the best thing for the child who had the fever, the judge ultimately sided with the state and DCS, telling the parents that they needed to remember that the state had a family-reunification plan in place, whatever that means.

The childrens grandparents are undergoing a DCS review, and hope to be permitted to temporarily shelter the kids once thats approved, writes Lenore Skenazy for Metro Voice News about the case. But theres no telling how long it will be before the kids can just go home to mom and dad.

For more related news, check out Evil.news.

Sources for this article include:

MetroVoiceNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Its simply not enough to utilize anti-trust laws and break apart the giant tech monopolies  Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Yes, these entities have exploited human psychology and now control 90 percent of the flow of information online, but its their manipulative censorship practices that should be brought to light, their executives brought to justice. The CEOs of these tech companies should be arrested and indicted because they were all complicit in the Russia collusion hoax and the manipulative censorship of independent media that was implemented in cooperation with this Russia collusion narrative. These social media giants have used the Russian collusion hoax to come up with algorithms that weed out Russian bots and all the conservative and dissenting ideas that spread on social media. By shadow banning, demonetizing, and banning opposing viewpoints, these social media giants have used censorship tactics to pollute American democracy and manipulate future elections.

Tech giants use the Russian collusion hoax to censor conservatives and promote liberal agendas on social media

In 2016, with almost every poll showing Clinton winning the election, with the liberal media pundits fawning in anticipation for the coronation of the Clinton as President-elect, Donald J. Trump walked away with the landslide victory. As soon as Americas silent majority had spoken up with their vote, a coordinated effort began to de-legitimize the victory and accuse the Trump campaign and any independent media supporters of conspiring with Russia to alter the outcome of the election.

The blame game became public when a shadowy site called PropOrNot published a list of alternative media companies that criticized Clinton. The list was then publicized by The Washington Post and it accused those alternative media companies of promoting Russian propaganda to help Trump achieve an illegal traitorous victory. After Trumps victory, it was apparent that more Americans were reading about candidates online rather than accepting corporate media narratives. Independent media had real influence, and because of that, it would be targeted and come under attack.

Since the election, the liberal media spun the Russian collusion hoax for over two years as Facebook, Twitter, Google, and YouTube began filtering out content that supported the Trump Presidency. Any information skeptical of Hillary Clinton or the liberal agenda was labeled as Russian propaganda that should be demoted and buried in social media feeds.

This Russian collusion hoax has allowed Google to get away with manipulation of search results. Twitter now shadow bans conservative ideas, and Facebook manipulates users news feeds. None of these entities respect free speech. All have become political operatives to silence dissent and stop the influence of independent media. While the corporate media operates in broad daylight, Big Tech is manipulating in complete secrecy, with zero public oversight or transparency. Their algorithms are operated in secrecy and shadow banning can be used to target anyone whose message is deemed dangerous. When someone is shadow banned on Twitter, when corporate media is prioritized throughout social media, when someones content is buried in Facebook newsfeeds, there is no judicial oversight, no reparations for those who are banned, and no way of holding these companies accountable for removing people from public conversation, debate, and democracy. Big Tech is an enemy of democracy and there is no judicial process holding these companies accountable to the republic.

Not only is Big Tech censoring independent media and the skeptics of the status quo, two essential elements of democracy, but they are also selling data and ads to groups who seek to manipulate public opinion. The data that is collected can also be provided to specific organizations to compile dossiers to target those who do not go along with their agenda.

By diverting traffic away from independent media and limiting their outreach, Big Tech strips their competition of income and takes away their ability to dissent or speak freely. As Mark Zuckerburg pretends to protect American democracy from foreign influence, he allows for widespread censorship of Americans. So called free speech is controlled by these for-profit monopolies, not preserved.

Because of all this, its time to indict the CEOs and the engineers of these companies, and bring their censorship algorithms, filters, shadow banning practices, and so called hate speech policies to light. Only then can we begin to address this atrocious attack on free speech and liberty to reverse the damage that these Big Tech manipulators have imparted on so many great people of this Nation.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Avocados are one of the best and most popular superfoods out there. But like any other food, they could become contaminated. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed that one-fifth of the avocados they examined were contaminated with harmful bacteria.

The FDA tested more than 1,600 imported and domestic avocados between 2014 and 2016 for bacterial contamination. Seventeen percent of these were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes on the skin, and about one percent tested positive for Listeria inside the avocado. In addition, less than one percent of the avocados exhibited signs of Salmonella contamination.

L. monocytogenes are bacteria that cause listeria infection, known as listeriosis. Listeriosis is especially dangerous to pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. This infection may cause aches and pains, diarrhea, fever, headache, and tiredness. The symptoms of listeriosis start to manifest one to four weeks after eating contaminated food. These symptoms can lead to more serious problems, such as brain infection and blood poisoning. It can also result in miscarriage or stillbirth in pregnant women, and loss of balance and convulsions in high-risk individuals.

What should you do?

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to prevent foodborne illnesses. Here are some tips:

Choose wisely. You can protect yourself and your family from food poisoning by making wise buying decisions. When buying avocados, or any produce, avoid those that are damaged or bruised. You may also want to think twice before buying pre-washed produce. A team of researchers at the University of Cagliari in Italy recently found that pre-washed vegetables may contain contaminants called trihalomethanes (THMs). These are toxic byproducts of water sanitation. Pre-packed produce is also not necessarily clean because they have been handled and processed more, increasing the risk of contamination.

Wash and sanitize the skin of avocados. The classic way to prevent foodborne illnesses from avocados  and other fruits  is to wash them thoroughly. Wash avocados with a produce brush, then dry them with a clean cloth or paper towel. This method can also be applied to other fruits with hard skin, such as melons and oranges. It is important to wash and sanitize the outer part of avocados because you can contaminate the inside when you cut the skin. With that said, it is also important to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water before and after preparing avocados and other food.

Avoid putting food in various temperatures: Proper storage affects the quality and safety of avocados and other produce. Its best to keep your refrigerator set at 40 F or below. It is also important to avoid temperature abuse when preparing and handling food, including avocados. You should store your produce in the refrigerator to keep it fresh and reduce the growth of bacteria or other pathogens. Some foods, such as guacamole and potato salad, need to be refrigerated until they are ready to be consumed.

Avoid cross-contamination between foods: This starts when you buy food at the grocery. When buying, put fresh fruits and vegetables in a separate bag from raw meat, poultry, and seafood products. You can also avoid cross-contamination between fruits and vegetables, and raw meat, poultry, or seafood by using separate kitchen utensils and storage containers for your produce. In addition, wash cutting boards, utensils, dishes, and countertops with hot water and soap after using them to prepare raw meat, poultry, and seafood.

Read more news stories on food safety by going to CleanFoodWatch.com.

Sources include:

Healthline.com

BetterHealth.vic.gov.au

EatThis.com

FoodSafety.gov
(Natural News) Government officials exploiting disease outbreaks to scare people into getting profitable vaccines is nothing new, but it has taken on a very concerning twist in New York this week. Rockland County has just declared a state of emergency, taking the opportunity to ban unvaccinated children from going to public places as a measles outbreak there enters its 26th week.

As of midnight on Wednesday, anyone under the age of 18 who hasnt been vaccinated against measles will not be allowed in public places. The ban, which will expire in 30 days, wont apply to those who have documented medical reasons for not getting the vaccine. Parents have said they were given just 12 hours notice before the ban went in to effect, leaving very little time for planning their response.

Previously, officials had told unvaccinated students to stay home from school. The parents of 44 students at Green Meadow Waldorf School sued Rockland county earlier this month to challenge an order barring unvaccinated kids from attending school; a judge denied their temporary injunction request.

The outbreak, which has mostly impacted observant Jewish neighborhoods, reportedly began when a person visiting Israel became infected and returned with the disease.

Its not very clear how it will be enforced, but a Rockland County representative says that when investigating where and when an infected person was exposed, people identified as being unvaccinated in public places will be referred to the district attorney.

Essentially, those who dont wish to subject their children to the risks of vaccines are now going to be prisoners in their own homes. Violating the ban could lead to a fine of $500 and/or six months in jail, a steep price to pay for protecting your childs health.

This is about as close to forced vaccination as you can get. Public places have been defined in this case as anywhere that more than 10 people are intended to congregate. These people will not be able to go to school, use public transport, go shopping, or eat in restaurants. Its just a matter of time before the ban extends to adults, who wouldnt be allowed to go to work. Of course, polling places are also public spaces, so those who dont vaccinate would have a harder time voting as well.

Measles hype overblown

If the vaccine is so effective, why is there so much fear among the vaccinated of being around people who havent gotten it and arent infected with measles? In fact, the nonvaccinated should be afraid to be around those who have responded to this madness by getting the shot as they can shed the virus for weeks or even months afterward.

Of course, thats assuming measles is really something that warrants all this fear. Apart from immune-compromised people  who should be very careful about public places in any case  measles is not nearly as dangerous as its made out to be for most people in first-world countries. Yes, its highly contagious, but it was once just a rite of passage like getting chicken pox, as anyone who grew up in the 1960s will tell you; the pop culture of that era shows just how lightly it was taken.

Not only is this move by Rockland County concerning on its own, but its also scary to wonder what will happen next. Will people have to start carrying documentation around to prove theyve been vaccinated? Will they be banned from public spaces if they dont get other types of vaccines as well or take certain medications? Cutting people off from society because they dont want to get risky vaccines sets an extremely dangerous precedent.

Sources for this article include:

NBCNewYork.com

LoHud.com

NaturalNews.com

CNBC.com
A new international study is the first to determine the comprehensive global impact of the deadly fungal disease chytridiomycosis--and the news is not good. The disease, which eats away at the skin of amphibians such as frogs, toads and salamanders, has caused dramatic population declines in more than 500 amphibian species--including 90 extinctions--within the past 50 years, according to the findings.

The study, led by researchers from the Australian National University with contributions from University of Maryland Biology Professor Karen Lips, concluded that chytridiomycosis is singlehandedly responsible for the greatest loss of biodiversity due to a disease. The team published its findings in the March 29, 2019, issue of the journal Science.

"What's new here is the worldwide picture of the numbers. For the first time, we're able to look at the global scale and say how many species have been affected, how many have gone extinct and how many may have potential for recovery," Lips said. "I've done detailed work in Panama, for example, while others have focused elsewhere. But this is the first study to pull all these findings together in a coordinated, methodical way."

The researchers integrated data from a number of sources, including published and unpublished data from amphibian experts around the world and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The team found that chytridiomycosis is present in more than 60 countries, with the most extensive losses concentrated in Australia, Central America and South America.

"Highly virulent wildlife diseases, including chytridiomycosis, are contributing to the Earth's sixth mass extinction," said Ben Scheele, a postdoctoral researcher at the Australian National University and the lead author of the research paper. "We've lost some really amazing species. Knowing what species are at risk can help target future research to develop conservation actions to prevent extinctions."

Chytridiomycosis is caused by one of two fungal species. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, first discovered in 1998, has been documented primarily in frogs and toads, while Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, discovered in 2013, preferentially infects newts and salamanders. Of the 501 amphibian species found to be in decline, only one was directly attributable to B. salamandrivorans. The remaining 500 species declines and extinctions are linked directly to B. dendrobatidis--placing that fungal species on par with rats and cats in terms of the danger they present to other species worldwide.

The research team concluded that, although species declines peaked in the 1980s, 39 percent of the species identified in the study are still experiencing losses today. The results offer some hope, however, suggesting that 12 percent of declined species have shown some signs of recovery. This is consistent with recent work by Lips and her colleagues, which showed that some species in El Cope, Panama, had developed the ability to coexist with chytrid fungus.

"Ben and his team at the Australian National University came up with some rules of thumb to put hard numbers on estimated declines due to chytridiomycosis. They applied this method to Australia first, then got lots of researchers from around the world to help round out the global picture," Lips said, noting that more than 40 researchers contributed to the study. "This fills in some crucial gaps, especially since the IUCN has not done a global amphibian assessment since 2004. Even then, IUCN looked at declines from a more general perspective. This method allowed us to quantify the global threat of chytrid fungus specifically."

According to Scheele, more than 40 Australian frog species have declined in the past 30 years--including seven species that have gone extinct. Despite these losses, Scheele credited conservation programs in Australia for preventing further extinctions, in part by developing effective new reintroduction techniques. To prevent further extinctions around the world, Scheele called for improved biosecurity and wildlife trade regulation at the global scale.

"Globalization and wildlife trade are the main causes of this global pandemic and are enabling the spread of disease to continue," Scheele said. "Humans are moving plants and animals around the world at an increasingly rapid rate, introducing pathogens into new areas. We've got to do everything possible to stop future pandemics, by having better control over wildlife trade around the world."
A routine flight home turned into painful allegations of human trafficking for a Bay Area woman last year. She is now asking American Airlines to apologize for ruining her flight.

The Hayward woman said she was racially profiled, while the flight attendants counter by saying they were doing their jobs.

The incident started at Los Angeles International Airport, where Mina Khorasani boarded a flight to Sacramento with her niece and two cousins.

"Shortly after that, I see that they take my younger cousin to the front of the plane," Khorasani said.

Khorasani, who had taken her relatives to Universal Studios, went to follow and said an American Airlines agent blocked her in the aisle "and doesn't let me go."

But American Airlines said flight attendants were worried about the girls' welfare because she was sick and appeared to be in distress. The airline contends Khorasani was violent with the flight attendants who were trying to help out.

Khorasani and her relatives were escorted off the plane and were told American Airlines had called police. When she asked responding officers why they had been called, police said "they're accusing you of human trafficking because you don't look like your family."

Khorasani's attorney said police intervened and quickly determined they were all related, and reunited the family. She is now asking American Airlines for an apology.

"The response was basically 'human trafficking is an important concern, and we train our staff and they followed procedures,'" Khorasani said.

American Airlines eventually re-booked Khorasani and her family on another flight, and comped their hotel room. But months later, Khorasani said she is still shaken by what happened and has filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation.

"I just thought it was very bizarre," Khorasani said. "I think they definitely racially profiled me."
Blended families come together in all sorts of ways. The most often, of course, being the result of divorce and marriage. For Jennifer and Rick Fuller and Julie Logan Brooks, though, their two families are forever joined though death and life.

That death came 21 years ago, when Jennifer Fuller's son, Deon, died suddenly from meningitis at the age of four.

"(The doctor) said, 'I am so sorry but there is nothing else we can do. Your son is brain dead,'" Fuller said.

Deon's heart, though, went on to save the life of a two-year-old Modesto girl, Malysa Logan, Logan Brooks' daughter.

The connection of the two families, though, was just beginning.

While the identities of donors are not typically shared with recipients, and vice versa, both Fuller and Logan Brooks had gleaned clues as to who each other were. Fuller had relatives in Modesto who sent her a local newspaper story about Malysa receiving a heart not long after Deon's death. Logan Brooks, meanwhile, had glimpsed Deon's name on a medical form she was not supposed to see.

So, one year after the transplant, when both women found themselves at a celebration for donors and recipients, Logan Brooks approached Fuller.

"I remember kind of grabbing a hold of her arm and said, 'Can I talk to you?'" Logan Brooks said. "She said, 'Yes.' And I just said, 'My daughter has your son's heart.'"

"Then she said the most amazing words," Fuller said. "She said, 'Would you like to meet her? She's in the lobby.'"

It was the beginning of a 20-year love story. The Fullers and the Logans grew ever closer. The Fullers were there for birthdays, graduations, and transplant anniversary. They reveled in the fact that Deon's heart made it all possible.

But Deon's heart can't do it anymore. It is failing and Malysa has been told she will soon need another transplant.

"I really don't know how long until that call is made," Malysa said.

When the call is made to go on the transplant list, the Logans say they have insurance to cover the medical costs. However, the family estimates they will need $100,000 for care and living expenses after the transplant.

It is money Logan Brooks says her family does not have.

"We were told right away we needed to fundraise," Logan Brooks said.

She won't have to, because, once again, in Malysa's time of need the Fullers are there.

"So we called Julie, Malysa's mom, and said, 'Would you be OK if we spearhead this project?'" Rick Fuller said.

The Fullers are attempting to raise the $100K for Malysa on their own.

Just because they saved Malysa's life once, the Fullers believe, is no reason not to do it again.

"I can't even imagine life without them," Logan Brooks said. "They are absolutely amazing."

"I think it's just pure, unconditional love," Malysa said.

If all goes well, one day the biological link between these two families will be gone but their bond will be stronger than ever.
An East Bay community is rallying behind a longtime business owner and family man after the father of three was detained by ICE agents.

Brentwood resident Ramzan Chaudhry entered the United States illegally from Pakistan when he was just 15. Now, his final deportation order is up, and his wife and children fear the worst as they plead for his release.

"I have all As, and I cant focus, and I dont want my grades to go down," daughter Kinza Chaudhry said. "All I do is think about my dad. I just want him back now right now."

Kinza, 14, and her siblings say theyre lost without their father. Ramzan Chaudhry, who immigrated to the U.S. illegally, was called in for an interview by Immigration and Customs Enforcement seven weeks ago. Hes been detained ever since and faces deportation back to Pakistan.

"It was the day before my birthday he got to the detention center," son Majid Chaudhry, said. "I didnt see him on my 13th birthday."

Ramzan Chaudhry and his wife own a gas station in Brentwood. Asia Chaudhry is doing her best to run the business on her own, but shes barely hanging on. She says her husband is a hard-working man who has never even had a parking ticket.

"Weve never broken any laws, never done anything wrong," she said. "This is so unfair."

The community is rallying behind the Chaudhrys, hundreds of signing a petition pleading for his release.

"Theres no reason for him to go through this," customer Shaudra Rodriguez said. "Shes a citizen, the kids are citizens."

Chaudhrys wife and three children say they fear for his safety if hes deported to Pakistan. They cant imagine life here without him.

"I miss him so much," Majid said. "Every time I see him at the detention center, every Sunday, I try to stay strong for him, but its hard. I just wish he was back."

Kinza added: "Hes always been so supportive, and I love him so much."
The real estate sales in Massachusetts have increased over last year.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors said Wednesday that closed sales for single-family homes and condominiums this past February increased over last February's totals. Home sales rose about 9 percent while condo sales rose about 7 percent.

The association also reported that the median price for a single-family home increased in February over last year but the median price for condominiums declined.

The median home price in Massachusetts rose nearly 8 percent to $377,000 while the median condo price dropped 3 percent to $349,000.
A Massachusetts paper products manufacturer is closing down, costing the state dozens of jobs.

A company official says South Hadley-based Canson Inc.'s owners  an Italian conglomerate  purchased Wisconsin's Pacon Corp. last year, and Pacon makes many of the same products. The work done in Massachusetts will be moved to Wisconsin.

The Republican reports that a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the state says the move will cost 67 jobs.

Workers are being laid off through the end of March.

Over the years Canson produced sketch pads, note cards, scrapbooks, journals and distributed artist paints.
Police are trying to confirm whether a 3-year-old boy who was abducted Thursday from West Town has been dropped off with his father.

Police were notified Friday morning that 3-year-old Ashby Moore may have been returned to his father, Chicago police said. A detective is on the way to confirm that the boy is safe.

Ashby Moore was last seen at 6:48 a.m. Thursday with his babysitter Nicole Carver, 36, in the 900 block of West Washington, police said in an alert. Carver is suspected of abducting the boy.

Carver may be driving a 2015 Chevy Sonic with Illinois License Plate AZ9784, and likes to visit Rogers Park, Austin and Lawndale, police said. She is a 5-foot-9 white woman that weighs 145 pounds with brown eyes, and brown hair.

She was last seen wearing black leggings with white gym shoes and a black down jacket, police said. She has a tattoo of a dagger on the right side of her face.

Moore is a 3-foot-1 black boy and weighs 40 pounds with black hair, brown eyes and a medium complexion, police said. He was last seen wearing white gym shoes, black sweatpants with green stripes, a grey t-shirt with a tiger on the front, a grey hooded sweatshirt and a black jacket with green stripes.

Anyone with information should call Area North detectives at 312-744-8266.
A Chicago man pleaded guilty in Phoenix to a federal retaliation charge for leaving a threatening voice mail for a U.S. senator from Arizona during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings.

The plea deal made Tuesday calls for 58-year-old James Dean Blevins Jr. to serve a sentence of probation for his acknowledged threat to an official identified only as "United States Senator J.F." Authorities have declined to provide the victim's name, but then-Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona was the only senator with those initials.

Prosecutor Robert Brooks said Blevins made the call from Illinois to the U.S. senator's office within Arizona.

In his plea deal, Blevins acknowledged that he left the threatening voicemail from his landline in Chicago on Sept. 17, saying, "I am tired of him interrupting our president, and I am coming down there to take him and his family out."

Asked by U.S. Magistrate John Boyle if he agreed with those facts, Blevins answered, "Yes, yes."

Flake had said in late September that his family received death threats after he asked a Senate committee to hear testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who accused the then-Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault.

"One man somewhere in the country called my office in Arizona and left a message saying that he was tired of me interrupting my president," Flake said. "And for that offense of allowing Dr. Ford to be heard, for this offense, me and my family would be taken out."

Kavanaugh was confirmed following contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearings over her claims that he had sexually assaulted her while the two were teenagers living in Maryland. Flake, who voted for the nomination, played a key role during the hearings when he requested an FBI investigation of the claims.

Blevins is scheduled to be sentenced on July 8 for his felony conviction.

This wasn't the first case filed against someone who's accused of threatening a senator during Kavanaugh's confirmation process.

Ronald Derisi of Smithtown, New York, pleaded guilty in late February to a charge of retaliation by threats against two unnamed U.S. senators who supported Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Sentencing for Derisi is scheduled for May 2.
A Lake County jail detainee died Friday, nearly three weeks after he was attacked by another man who was being held at the jail.

On March 9, a corrections officer found 60-year-old Jeffrey R. Weiss on the floor of his cell suffering from labored breathing, according to the Lake County sheriffs office.

Prior to the attack, Weiss was arguing with 36-year-old Timothy R. Adams, another jail detainee, the sheriffs office said. While a corrections officer was making rounds, Adams had choked Weiss and then punched a 40-year-old man who was also being held in custody.

Weiss, of Deerfield, was initially rushed to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan and was later transferred to Rush University Medical Center with stroke-like symptoms, the sheriffs office said.

The day after the attack, Weiss spoke wth detectives and corroborated information they had learned from other detainees, the sheriffs office said. Later that day, he had a procedure to remove a blockage in one of his arteries.

On March 11, he had another surgery to reduce swelling on his brain and he was placed in an induced coma with a ventilator, the sheriffs office said.

Ten days later, Weiss was removed from the coma and the ventilator, the sheriffs office said. At that point, his family made the decision not to continue with his medical care if he was unable to continue living without using a ventilator.

He eventually went into medical distress on Friday and was not resuscitated, the sheriffs office said.

The Cook County medical examiners office will conduct an autopsy to rule on the cause and manner of Weiss death and determine whether the March 9 battery was a factor, the sheriffs office said.

Adams has already been charged with a felony count of aggravated battery and a misdemeanor count of battery in connection with the attack, the sheriffs office said. After the autopsy is conducted, the sheriffs office and the Lake County states attorneys office will determine whether additional charges will be filed against Adams.

We will seek prosecution for any inmate who makes the unwise decision to engage in a physical fight, according to Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg. We will absolutely not tolerate inmates fighting with other inmates, fighting with our staff, or violating jail rules.

Adams, of North Chicago, is currently being held at the jail on $500,000 bail that stems from a list of other charges, including aggravated vehicular hijacking and aggravated unlawful restraint, among others, the sheriffs office said. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Thursday.
A 20-year-old man accused of opening fire at a northern Illinois high school has been found unfit to stand trial.

Sauk Valley Media reported Tuesday that Matthew A. Milby Jr. of Dixon was re-evaluated after he was hospitalized for an eating disorder. The order was filed Friday following months of Milby refusing to eat or take medical treatment while in jail. His attorney, Thomas D. Murray of Dixon, asked for Milby's fitness for trial to be reconsidered.

The Illinois Department of Human Services will determine where Milby will be treated. His fitness for trial will be re-evaluated about every three months.

Milby has pleaded not guilty. He is accused of taking a semi-automatic rifle to Dixon High School on May 16 during graduation practice and opening fire. A school resource officer shot Milby. No one else was injured.
An Illinois State Police trooper was killed Thursday afternoon in a crash on Route 20 near Freeport, the department said.

According to authorities, Trooper Brooke Jones-Story was inspecting a commercial motor vehicle on U.S. 20 westbound just before 12:30 p.m. when she was struck by a semi-trailer. Jones-Story's vehicle and the truck that she was inspecting were also struck in the collision.

"Today is a dark day for the Illinois State Police family," Acting Director Brendan F. Kelly said in a statement. "Trooper Brooke Jones-Story has made the ultimate sacrifice for people of this state."

Jones-Story was a 12-year veteran of the force, according to the press release.

The crash is at least the 15th this year involving a roadside crash with an Illinois State Police trooper. Earlier this month Governor J.B. Pritzker joined with state police in urging motorists to observe the "Move Over Law" when approaching vehicles on the side of the road.

The law requires motorists approaching vehicles along the roadside to slow down and change lanes to provide more space. It's also known as Scott's Law in memory of Chicago Fire Lt. Scott Gillen. Gillen was assisting at a crash scene in 2000 when he was struck and killed.

Just two days before Thursday's crash, state police in District 16 participated in a report with WREX about the need for motorists to move over for stopped police vehicles:

Motorists are being encouraged to avoid the area.

Stay tuned to NBC Chicago for more on this developing story.
The federal government sued California on Thursday over a water policy it said violates the state's environmental protection law.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit in Sacramento federal court to block a contentious plan approved in December to increase river flows in the San Joaquin River and three tributaries to help revive dwindling salmon populations.

It was part of a larger effort to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which state officials called an "ecosystem in crisis." The delta supplies water for the majority of California's people and farms.

Once-thriving fish in the delta, which flows out to San Francisco Bay, have plunged from some 70,000 adult Chinook salmon returning to the San Joaquin basin in the fall of 1984 to just 10,000 in 2017.

Some environmental groups supported the plan, while other conservation groups and fishing groups said it fell short in providing enough water for habitat.

Farmers opposed to the plan because it would divert less water for irrigation protested last summer outside the state Capitol.

The U.S. lawsuit said the plan was arbitrary and the state failed to analyze impacts on the environment and would reduce water coming out of the New Melones reservoir for farms, businesses and hydroelectric operations.

The environmental analysis "hid the true impacts of their plan and could put substantial operational constraints on the Department of the Interior's ability to effectively operate the New Melones Dam, which plays a critical role in flood control, irrigation, and power generation in the Sacramento region," said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark said in a statement.

The federal government's lawsuit follows a suit filed last month in state court by the California Farm Bureau Federation to block the plan.

George Kostyrko, a spokesman for the water board, said the agency looks forward to defending the plan that involved years of analysis and public input.

The lawsuit was an unusual turn of events with the state of California as a defendant in a lawsuit with the federal government. The state's attorney general has sued the Trump administration more 47 times.

Attorney Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council said it was ironic that the U.S. government was citing state law to sue California in federal court.

"The Trump administration has shown its flagrant disregard for state laws for some time, so it's not surprising in that regard," Obegi said. "I can't for the life of me see how a federal court lawsuit against a state agency for a claimed violation of state law doesn't get tossed out immediately for violating the U.S. Constitution."

The NRDC said the December decision was a step forward, but it wouldn't do enough to reach the goal to double the salmon population.

John McManus, president of the Golden Gate Salmon Association, said the plan approved in December had "re-balanced a badly out of balance water diversion scheme" and the suit was a "frivolous attempt to see more water diverted and more salmon industry jobs and families destroyed."
What to Know A standoff at a hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire is over after nearly 15 hours.

Two people were found dead inside the barricaded hotel room.

Officials say Stephen Marshall, 51, was holding a gun and engaged with authorities when he was fatally shot on Wednesday night.

Two people were found dead inside a hotel room after a nearly 15-hourslong barricade situation in Manchester that started with the fatal police-involved shooting of another man, according to the New Hampshire attorney general's office.

The barricade started Wednesday evening at the Quality Inn Manchester Airport hotel and lasted until just after 10 a.m. Thursday, after a man was fatally shot by authorities when he allegedly opened fire on them. SWAT teams worked through the night to get two remaining people to come out of the hotel room, including using chemical agents, as at least one individual repeatedly shot at law enforcement agents for more than nine hours.

The Nashua police SWAT team were assisting Manchester police, and shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday they entered the first-floor hotel room and found a man and woman, dead, according to New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald. They have not been publicly identified.

The man who was killed on Wednesday has been identified as 51-year-old Manchester resident Stephen Marshall, officials said in a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

"At the same general time that the police approached the first-floor room in the hotel where Stephen Marshall and the other male were staying, Marshall exited the hotel room via a west facing window," said MacDonald. "Once outside, Mr. Marshall engaged two U.S. drug enforcement administration agents and one Manchester police officer."

MacDonald said Marshall had a silver, semi-automatic handgun in his hand when a Manchester police officer and a Drug Enforcement Administration agent opened fire near the back of the John E. Devine Drive hotel at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"Mr. Marshall was struck by gunfire, taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead," said MacDonald.

An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday, according to officials.

Authorities did not release the names of the officer and DEA agent involved in the shooting pending the investigation but did say the officer was placed on administrative leave until further notice.

Crisis negotiators were initially successful in communicating with the barricade suspects several times, but the communication stopped around midnight.

Police first received a call of shots fired in the hotel at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"We heard six to eight gunshots," said Chris Jones. "Within, I don't know, a minute, minute and a half, we saw about 15 Manchester PD (cruisers) come flying in."

All hotel guests and employees vacated the hotel by 10:15 p.m., according to police.

"I opened up the door to a surprise to have officers in front of me and they just said, 'we need to get you out of here,'" explained John Ridgley who was staying at the hotel.

By 10:45 p.m., police said an individual had fired multiple rounds toward officers who were positioned outside of a room.

"I came down, there was a SWAT team. I've been up in my room two or three times, and the last time, they said I couldn't go back in my room," James LaCroix, a guest, said.

At approximately 3 a.m., the subjects opened fire for about 20 minutes as SWAT team members deployed a chemical agent into a hotel room, according to police.

The Manchester Police SWAT Team, state police and the Manchester Fire Department have been assisting police with the standoff.

"We cannot and will not tolerate when we have officers being shot at in an investigation like this," Manchester Police Chief Carlo Capano said.

No law enforcement agents involved in the barricade were injured, authorities said.

The area was closed to traffic, with closures on John E. Devine Drive, South Willow Street and March Avenue.

Marshall had an extensive criminal history, with most of the charges involving drugs, according to records obtained by the New Hampshire attorney general's office.

The investigation into the hourslong standoff is ongoing, and authorities say investigators will be at the Quality Inn for several days.
One person is dead after a house fire in Somers on Thursday night and the fire marshal is investigating what caused the fire.

Five people, including a child, were able to get out of the fire and are OK, thanks to a neighbor who ran to help after fire broke out around 6:30 p.m. on Juniper Hill Drive.

Bob Garlick, a neighbor, was grilling on his deck when he heard a loud bang Thursday night and saw a ball of flames.

He called to his wife to call 911.

Then he saw more explosions and ran to help.

Pounded on the door. I opened up the door and I told people they had to get out.  Theres a fire. Get out, get, Garlick said.

As he got people out, he asked if anyone was out.

Someone was still in the basement, the residents told Garlick, and went into the unfamiliar home to look for the person, but there was too much smoke and fire.

Mutual aid was called in and firefighters said they tried to do a search and rescue.

While putting out the flames, firefighters found remains on the first floor.

The name of the victim has not been released. State police said they are notifying family and the medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.

Neighbors are calling Garlick a hero and said the tragic fire could have been much worse if he had not gone to help, but he does not think of himself as one.

Just a good neighbor. Im no hero. I mean, if my house is on fire I would hope someone would help me out too and I think my neighbors would, Garlick said.

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were taken to the hospital.

The state fire marshal is working to determine how and where the fire started.
Hartford police say a 6-week-old baby was left on a sidewalk, but a good Samaritan acted to keep that child safe.

"[The mom] was like, 'Just take my daughter and I'll find you,'" said Ebony Williams.

That's how Williams said she found herself watching over a baby girl, wondering if and when her parents would return.

Hartford police charged 22-year-old Kenya Anderson and 55-year-old Eddie Stevens with breach of peace, risk of injury, reckless endangerment, and child abandonment. Investigators say the parents got into a fight Friday evening on Maple Avenue near Super Clean Laundromat, which is where Williams was working.

"What made me really intervene was when they were pulling on the carrier. One is snatching it one way, one is snatching it the other way. You can see an extremely tiny baby in there, so I'm thinking the baby is going to fall out," said Williams.

She says she brought pepper spray as a precaution and tried to calm everyone down while working to get the baby out of harm's way. She says Stevens eventually put the car seat down and ran off, with the baby's mom chasing after him. At the time, police say it was 34 degrees outside.

"It's a good thing I was already there," said Williams.

Williams brought the baby into the laundromat and waited. She said Anderson returned about 30 minutes later and appeared extremely distraught. A police report reveals that the mom told Williams "to keep ownership of the baby because she did not want to catch another case with .... DCF."

Officers reported that Anderson admitted to being intoxicated and that it appeared Stevens was as well. The police report also states When asked why did [Anderson] leave the baby alone and unattended  Kenya Anderson stated she did not. Kenya Anderson stated she left the baby with Ebony Williams. Anderson and Kenya did not know each other prior to the incident.

Despite the chaos of the night, Williams says she's not going to judge anyone. She says she's just glad the baby is safe.

"I hope that baby gets all the love that it deserves. I hope the mother gets the help that she needs," said Williams. "I hope both of them end up in a win-win situation."

Police say the baby did not appear to be harmed and that DCF took custody.

Williams says she just did what anyone would do. She says she tells her own sons that it's important to act because you never regret helping someone.
Its been 10 months since Sofia McKenna disappeared after boating off the coast of Groton last Memorial Day weekend and she still hasnt been found.

Now as the weather is getting warmer, McKennas mom is pleading for people to keep their eyes out for her daughter.

Im just not going to stop looking for her. I hope that we find her, bring her home, Michelle McKenna said about her daughter.

The then 21-year-old and her friend Spencer Mugford were last seen off the coast of Avery Point in Groton on Snapchat around 2 a.m. on Sunday, May 27, 2018. They were near New London Ledge Lighthouse, according to Connecticut State Police.

McKenna said she also had seven missed calls from Sofia, made from Spencers phone, around that time.

She didnt leave a message. She didnt try to call 911. It haunts me. It haunts me every day. McKenna said.

Mugfords body was found on June 8 near Avery Point.

State Police posted on Facebook this week asking for help finding McKenna.

Thats the hardest  not having closure. Not knowing where she really is. McKenna said.

As the weather warms up and more people get out on to the water, Lt. Alaina Fagan, public affairs officer for the Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound, warns them to take a personal flotation device, especially since the water can be deceptively cold.

When you have cold water temperatures, that really decreases you functional and survival time in the water, Fagan said.

Its also hard to put a life jacket on when in the water, Fagan added.

Thats the one thing Sofia and Spencer didnt do  wear their life vests, McKenna said, heeding the same warning.

Shes also praying for someone to find her daughter.

Im not going to give up hope and my prayers are that no one else does either, McKenna said.
New London firefighters were hauled up by a complex rope system as part of a high angle rope rescue training Friday to make sure theyre prepared for whatever emergency comes their way.

Were surrounded by water. We have large cargo ships that are coming in, we have smaller ships that are coming in, we have trains that are coming through the city, Battalion Chief Mark Waters, listing potential uses for the technical ropes training.

Then theres the Gold Star Memorial Bridge on I-95.

Construction on the northbound side is set to begin in 2020. The southbound side has undergone structural steel repairs, concrete deck patching and re-paving.

Fire Chief Tom Curcio said the work is something theyre specifically focusing on.

So we have already had a couple of incidents where people gotten trapped on one of the articulating booms under the bridge and when that happened we were actually lucky to be able to reach them with our tower ladder at that time, Curcio said.

Firefighters considered putting a firefighter over the side of the bridge for that rescue, Curcio said.

Thats where this training comes in handy. Waters said firefighters built a tension highline on Friday, which described as having similarities to a zip line.

We can move people, and equipment, and dogs and other resources across an area. For example, if there was a large ship that we needed to rescue somebody from down inside, there would be a chance we would have to build a tension highline to get all of our equipment from the dock onto the ship, Waters said.

The 56-hour training is made possible by a federal grant and the city matched 10 percent. Waters said it includes new equipment and instructors from the Connecticut Fire Academy.

Firefighters are divided into four groups and training is spread out over seven days for each group. When firefighters complete the course, they take a practical and written assessment and can become certified.
There was revealing testimony Thursday in a high-profile patient abuse case at Connecticuts maximum security mental health hospital.

For years we have been hearing about the alleged abuse of longtime patient Bill Shehadi at the Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown.

Under oath, a former Whiting staffer told a jury what he witnessed.

Former forensic treatment specialist Lance Camby worked alongside former forensic nurse Mark Cusson on a shift in the winter of 2017, when he witnessed what investigators concluded was abuse of patient Bill Shehadi.

In the incident involving Cusson, caught on surveillance video in 2017, Camby described how Shehadi was abused by Cusson using a foam mattress.

On one occasion I witnessed Mr. Cusson fold Mr. Shehadi in his mattress and then press down on top of him, Camby said.

Cussons attorney Norm Pattis grilled Camby about how he agreed to testify against Cusson in exchange for a lighter sentence for the abuse charges Camby faces in connection with Shehadis treatment.

Pattis then began his defense of Cusson with a series of character witnesses, who worked with his client at Whiting, none of them though for extensive periods of time.

Tom Przybylowicz recounted one time when he saw Cusson talking with Shehadi, and Shehadi smiling back.

I would watch him actually develop a relationship with these patients, in particular the patient that we're discussing.

Pryzbylowicz said he retired from Whiting in 2015, two years before Cusson allegedly abused Shehadi.

Cussons defense team will continue presenting witnesses when the trial resumes.
Police continue to investigate the discovery of an infant's body inside a flower pot at a cemetery in Carrollton. A caretaker at Perry Cemetery found the six pound girl with the umbilical cord still attached on March 3. As of Thursday, police were still working to identify the child.

While the medical examiner works to determine if the child was born alive, the case serves as a reminder of the state's Safe Haven law, also known as the Baby Moses Law, and the options for families who can't care for an infant.

"It's something that's a very caring step to take, something you can do without any questions being asked, without any risk of criminal prosecution or anything coming back on you," said Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesperson Marissa Gonzales.

The law allows families to legally surrender a baby 60 days old or younger if the unharmed baby is given to a staff member at any hospital, freestanding emergency medical care facility, fire or EMS station.

Children surrendered are then fast-tracked for adoption.

"If you feel like you're not ready to take care of that baby for whatever reason, you can hand them over to someone who can take care of their immediate needs - knowing their future is going to be bright because they'll be able to be with a family that has already been waiting for them," said Gonzales.

Texas DFPS reports 218 illegal abandonment cases of children in 2018 with 56 of those cases reported in the North Texas district.

The statistics don't detail how many of the children were alive or their ages.

DFPS said over the last five years, 59 babies were safely surrendered under the Safe Haven law. Sixteen of those infants were in the North Texas district.

"There have been 59 babies who have been safely surrendered under the Safe Haven law and if you think about what the alternative could be, those lives could have been lost," Gonzales said.

In Carrollton, the cemetery where the infant girl was abandoned is a mile from Fire Station 1.

If the infant was born alive, Carrollton Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Debbie Carpenter said the child would have received care without any questions asked.

"We understand the fear you're going through, we understand you are scared, you might not be able to care for this baby," said Carpenter. "We realize that and are giving you the hope that someone will care for your infant."

Texas adopted the Safe Haven law in 1999. Since then, Carpenter said awareness may have dropped but cases like the most recent in Carrollton should serve as a reminder that there are options for parents.

"It's an absolute tragedy, most of our members in our department have children of their own," Carpenter said. "To not have the opportunity to help somebody, as we weren't given in this case, is particularly heavy upon all of our minds."

There is a hotline to call for more information.

The Texas Baby Moses hotline: 1-877-904-SAVE.

Anyone with information about the baby left at Perry Cemetery, should call Detective Jennifer Cackler at 972-466-3324.
Imagine lying in bed for weeks on end, eating and sleeping without getting up  and being paid handsomely for your trouble.

What sounds like a dream job to some is actually the setup of a new experiment being conducted by NASA and the European Space Agency, NBC News reported. The study, which kicked off Monday in Cologne, Germany, aims to assess the health effects of long-duration spaceflight by limiting participants' movements for two months.

Called Agbresa (for Artificial Gravity Bed RestEuropean Space Agency), the study will also explore the potential benefits of artificial gravity in helping to keep astronauts healthy on missions to Mars and other far-flung destinations. Its the first such collaboration between the space agencies, and the first to use a space-age human centrifuge to create artificial gravity.

The study offers space researchers from all over Europe and the U.S.A. the opportunity to work together and jointly acquire as much scientific knowledge about human physiology as possible, Hansjorg Dittus, a board member at the German Aerospace Center, said in a statement.
What to Know State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, Republican lawmaker from north-central Pennsylvania, upset fellow lawmakers with a fervent Christian prayer.

Pennsylvania's first Muslim woman elected to state office described Borowicz's prayer as "blatant" Islamophobia.

Borowicz said she was simply praying as she always does.

The Pennsylvania lawmaker who delivered a controversial prayer before a legislative session Monday that sparked backlash for its numerous references to Jesus, Israel and political leaders said she won't apologize.

"There was definitely some pushback to my prayer," Rep. Stephanie Borowicz said on a radio program of the American Pastors Network on Thursday. "But again, I stand by it. I don't apologize. And it was a privilege."

In her prayer, the Republican from north-central Pennsylvania went on for nearly two minutes  talking about Jesus, Israel, Gov. Tom Wolf, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln  before another lawmaker yelled something from the audience. The House Speaker then tapped her on the shoulder, and Borowicz finished the prayer.

The Christian invocation came the same day Pennsylvania's first Muslim woman was sworn into state elected office. Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, a Democrat from Philadelphia, officially took office shortly after the Borowicz's prayer. About 50 friends and family members, many who are also Muslim, were in the audience.

"It blatantly represented the Islamophobia that exists among some leaders  leaders that are supposed to represent the people, Johnson-Harrell told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star news site.

A fellow Philadelphia lawmaker, Rep. Jordan Harris, said Borowicz's prayer "weaponized" religion.

On Thursday, Rep. Kevin Boyle introduced a resolution "urging members of the House of Representatives who have the opportunity to offer a prayer in the course of a legislative session to craft a prayer respectful of all religious beliefs."

The Democrat who represents parts of Northeast Philadelphia and Montgomery County said "at bare minimum, anyone who does lead a prayer in the Statehouse should be respectful and inclusive."

"I walked out, probably halfway into it," Boyle, a Catholic, said. "I thought it became so highly over-the-top. Not just over-the-top about Christianity, it became quite political also."

Boyle, who has been in the legislature since 2011, said he's heard many prayers delivered before the start of House sessions in his eight years.

"There is not a prayer that comes anywhere close to this prayer, in terms of in-your-face Christianity," he said.

The tradition of a prayer at the beginning of House sessions dates back to before the Civil War. In fact, from 1865 until 1994, the House had a full-time chaplain. Later, a part-time chaplain gave opening invocations. In recent years, guest religious leaders gave the opening prayer. Now, the ritual is done by lawmakers themselves.

There are no official guidelines for the prayer in the House's "General Operating Rules." The only reference to it comes under Rule 17: Order of Business.

A spokeswoman for House Speaker Mike Turzai told NBC10 in an email that "any Member of the House may volunteer to offer the opening prayer and Members who volunteer are scheduled, based only on availability of session days."

"Previously, we had given guidelines to invited guest chaplains, encouraging them to offer an inter-faith prayer and to also refrain from making any political statements," the spokeswoman, Christine Goldbeck, said. "The Members who volunteer to offer the opening prayer are advised of the same."

Turzai reiterated that message to lawmakers following Borowicz's prayer, Goldbeck said.

Last year, a federal judge rejected Turzai's practice of refusing non-believers the chance to give the opening invocation before House sessions. House Republicans, who control the chamber, said they would appeal the ruling.

Borowicz told radio host Sam Rohrer, who is president of the American Pastors Network, that the prayer she gave in the State Capitol is one she says every day of her life.

"To have the privilege, no matter who was standing out in the crowd, Christians, Muslims, I dont  like (Christian evangelist) Franklin Graham said today  we dont change who we are standing in front of different groups," Borowicz said. "I prayed as I always did."

Rohrer, who represented parts of Berks and Lancaster counties for 18 years in the state House of Representatives, said in an interview with NBC10 after the radio show that Borowicz's prayer was in line with Judeo-Christian world views.

"While most people are looking and saying whats wrong with that prayer, we turn it around and say whats right with the prayer," Rohrer said. "I think when we see the kind of opposition to that, thats very recent. You go back a few years, maybe, and no one would have a problem with that prayer. So the question is: Whats changed, the prayer or our culture?"

Borowicz said she has prayed to Jesus with such passion since she was a little girl. The lawmaker's husband, Jason Borowicz, is an associate pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.

Calls to the church and emails to church leaders were not returned.

"My sister calls me everyday and we try to pray together every day after I read the Bible," Rep. Borowicz said on the radio program. "We pray for our nation. We pray for our president. We pray for our leaders. The same thing. We pray for Israel. The same things that I prayed for on stage. I had no idea it would cause controversy. It wasnt directed at anyone."
The Los Angeles Police Department has moved to cancel most of the few remaining concealed weapons permits in civilian hands, according to new filings in a decades-old legal case.

Chief Michel Moore said in a sworn declaration he did not believe a group of people who obtained so-called CCWs as the result of a 1994 lawsuit were still entitled to the permits, because it was unlikely the individuals still faced extraordinary physical danger to their lives.

"I do not believe the continued wholesale allowance for each to possess a CCW license based on circumstances that may have existed 24 years ago is in the best interest of the public," Moore said.

Permits to carry a concealed firearm are allowed under California law but its up to local police chiefs and sheriffs to decide if an applicant has a valid reason to obtain one. The plaintiffs in the 1994 case, called Assenza, et al. v. City of Los Angeles, et al., sued because the LAPD had a long-standing practice of simply denying every applicant.

The City settled and promised in 1995 the LAPD would issue permits to the 30 plaintiffs, according to court records.

"The City should keep its word," said attorney Burt Jacobson, a former federal prosecutor and one of the plaintiffs in the case. "They wanted a settlement, and they wrote the settlement! Jacobson said hes faced recent threats as a result of court cases that ended many years ago.

The City and Moore have asked a judge to vacate, or undo, the settlement, arguing that the document the City agreed to decades ago is now restricting Moores ability to exercise his discretion in deciding who is entitled to a CCW license. Additionally, Moore said the crime rate is down and there are more police officers on the streets, so the level of danger to an average person has been reduced.

"Technology has improved tremendously in the last 24 years which has enabled individuals to instantly communicate with law enforcement via cellphones from anywhere and at any time should they feel threatened," Moore said.

The plaintiffs attorneys said the permit holders were individuals who, because of extraordinary life circumstances, could be in peril with no other reasonable means of self-defense. They said state law allows the permits for that exact reason.

"If they [the City] prevail, and permits are denied to the people who really, really need them, there is a danger not just to the applicant but to the general public, explained attorney David Pourshalimi, who also represents the permit-holders. Reneging on this deal, that creates a hazard to the public.

The LA City Attorneys Office filed the request but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chief Moore has issued at least two other CCW permits, according to his declaration. They were given to brothers who operate a law enforcement weapons business and routinely transport machine guns and other firearms unavailable to the general public.

Moore said he placed restrictions on those permits so the men would not be allowed to carry a gun for protection unless they were transporting weapons.

A hearing is set for Friday.
The maker of OxyContin and the company's controlling family agreed Tuesday to pay a groundbreaking $270 million to Oklahoma to settle allegations they helped create the nation's deadly opioid crisis with their aggressive marketing of the powerful painkiller.

It is the first settlement to come out of the recent coast-to-coast wave of nearly 2,000 lawsuits against Purdue Pharma that threaten to push the company into bankruptcy and have stained the name of the Sackler family, whose members rank among the world's foremost philanthropists.

"The addiction crisis facing our state and nation is a clear and present danger, but we're doing something about it today," Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said.

Nearly $200 million will go toward establishing a National Center for Addiction Studies and Treatment at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa, while local governments will get $12.5 million. The Sacklers are responsible for $75 million of the settlement.

In settling, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company denied any wrongdoing in connection with what Hunter called "this nightmarish epidemic" and "the worst public health crisis in our state and nation we've ever seen."

The deal comes two months before Oklahoma's 2017 lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and other drug companies was set to become the first one in the recent barrage of litigation to go to trial. The remaining defendants still face trial May 28.

Opioids, including heroin and prescription drugs like OxyContin, were a factor in a record 48,000 deaths across the U.S. in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oklahoma recorded about 400 opioid deaths that year. State officials have said that since 2009, more Oklahomans have died from opioids than in vehicle crashes.

Other states have suffered far worse, including West Virginia, with the nation's highest opioid death rate. It had over 1,000 deaths in 2017.

In a statement, Purdue Pharma said the money that will go toward addiction studies and treatment in Oklahoma will help people across the country. CEO Craig Landau said the company is committed to "help drive solutions to the opioid addiction crisis."

Plaintiffs' attorney Paul Hanly, who is not involved in the Oklahoma case but is representing scores of other governments, welcomed the deal, saying: "That suggests that Purdue is serious about trying to deal with the problem. Hopefully, this is the first of many."

But some activists were furious, saying they were denied the chance to hold Purdue Pharma fully accountable in public, in front of a jury.

"This decision is a kick in the gut to our community," said Ryan Hampton, of Los Angeles, who is recovering from opioid addiction. "We deserve to have our day in court with Purdue. The parents, the families, the survivors deserve at least that. And Oklahoma stripped that from us today."

Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin in the 1990s and marketed it hard to doctors, making tens of billions of dollars from the drug. But the company has been hit with lawsuits from state and local governments trying to hold it responsible for the scourge of addiction.

The lawsuits accuse the company of downplaying the addiction risks and pushing doctors to increase dosages even as the dangers became known. According to a court filing, Richard Sackler, then senior vice president responsible for sales, proudly told the audience at a launch party for OxyContin in 1996 that it would create a "blizzard of prescriptions that will bury the competition."

Earlier this month, Purdue Pharma officials acknowledged that they are considering bankruptcy . But Oklahoma's attorney general said the company gave assurances it will not take such a step in the near term. And he said the settlement money is "bankruptcy proof"  that is, "it's not at risk in the event Purdue declares bankruptcy."

Lance Lang, a 36-year-old recovering user from Oklahoma City, said he is glad some of the settlement will go toward helping those still suffering from addiction.

"My heart breaks for those that we've already lost. I've buried several myself," said Lang, who now helps recovering users find housing. "But I also know we have waiting lists of dozens and dozens for our facilities, and the state has waiting lists of hundreds and hundreds of people who need help right now."

But Cheryl Juaire, whose 23-year-old son Corey died of an overdose in 2011, said she was devastated to hear about the settlement.

Jauire, who lives in Marlborough, Massachusetts, had been organizing a group of hundreds of mothers to go to the first day of the trial and stand outside with photos of their dead children. She said a complete airing of the facts is the only way to fully hold Purdue to account.

A settlement is "a huge disservice to the tens of thousands of families here in the United States who buried a child," she said. "That's blood money from our children."

Members of the Sackler family are defendants in some of the lawsuits but were not actually parties to the Oklahoma case. The company said the family nevertheless voluntarily contributed to the settlement. "We have profound compassion for those who are affected by addiction," the family said in a statement.

The Sacklers are major donors to cultural institutions, and the family name is emblazoned on the walls at many of the world's great museums and universities. In the past few weeks, as the accusations have mounted, the Tate museums in London and the Guggenheim Museum in New York have cut ties with the family, and other institutions have come under pressure to turn down donations or remove the Sackler name.

A Massachusetts court filing made public earlier this year found that Sackler family members were paid at least $4 billion from 2007 until last year.

Purdue Pharma has settled other lawsuits over the years, and three executives pleaded guilty to criminal charges in 2007. But this is the first settlement to come out of the surge of litigation in the past few years that focuses largely on the company's more recent conduct.

More than 1,400 federal lawsuits over the opioid crisis have been consolidated in front of a single judge in Cleveland who is pushing the drug makers and distributors to reach a nationwide settlement.
What to Know Anyone with information on the case was urged to call Transit Watch at (888) 950-SAFE.

Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.

LAPD detectives at (323) 561-3328.

Investigators released a new photo Thursday of a man they said punched, choked and raped a woman in the emergency exit stairwell of a Metro Red Line station.

Police told NBC4 a "person of interest" in the March 14 East Hollywood attack was detained at the station early Friday. Police later determined that the man was wanted in connection with an unrelated investigation.

Authorities did not immediately confirm details about the investigation.

The victim asked the man for directions about 6 p.m. on March 14 at the Vermont/Sunset Station in the 1500 block of North Vermont Avenue, and he lured her to the location where he attacked her, according to Metro and the Los Angeles Police Department.

"The incident occurred in the station's emergency exit stairwell that is required to remain open for public safety," Metro said in a statement.

"The stairwell is patrolled regularly by security personnel."

Metro and LAPD investigators reviewed video surveillance footage and released a photo and sketch of the suspect.

"Metro extends sincere condolences to the victim in this case,"Metro said.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault on the Metro system, and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure the suspect is arrested for this crime."

The suspect, who police said frequents the Metro stations from Compton to Santa Monica, was described as a black man with brown eyes, between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, between 165 and 180 pounds, with a shaved head, an earring on his right ear and a 2- to 3-inch scar on his left forearm. He wore all dark clothing.

Anyone with information on the case was urged to call Transit Watch at (888) 950-SAFE; Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS; or LAPD detectives at(323) 561-3328.
A former Irvine police officer pleaded no contest Friday to an off-duty assault in Torrance two summers ago.

Paul George Gebert, 34, was immediately sentenced to 30 days of Caltrans work, six months of anger management counseling and three years of probation following his plea to a felony count of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.



Gebert -- who at the time was an off-duty officer with the Irvine Police Department -- went to his girlfriend's home in Torrance while off-duty on July 8, 2018, saw the victim on her couch and began beating him, according to the District Attorney's Office.

The man, who suffered serious injuries, was a friend of Gebert's girlfriend, according to Deputy District Attorney William Chung.
What to Know A new mastodon species was discovered in SoCal.

The discovery helps scientists understand how mastodons evolved.

The fossils can be seen on display at the Western Science Center in Riverside.

Scientists in Riverside County announced the discovery of a new species of an ice age era mastodon during a news conference Wednesday.

Researchers from the Western Science Center in Hemet say the discovery of the Pacific mastodon (Mammut pacificus) challenges how they study California's ecosystems and raises questions as to how mastodons evolved and migrated across the country. Their findings were published on the PeerJ scholarly journal website.

The 10,000 year old fossil, named "Max," is the largest mastodon species found in California, researchers said. A new species of mastodon in North America has not been named in over 50 years.

"We really didn't expect this," Dr. Alton Dooley, the center's executive director and lead author of the study, said.

The ice age is so heavily studied, Dooley added, that he thought there wasn't a species left to discover. Most scientists have that preconceived notion, including his team of researchers, he said.

"The perception going into it was, 'There pretty much is not any big ones left to discover,' so, finding a large mammoth was a shock to us," he said. "We were pulling, kicking and screaming against the idea that this was a new species."

Max's fossils were collected during excavations at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet during the early 1990s.

In 2014, Dooley was working with the fossils to update a display panel about the more common American mastodon. At the time, it was believed Max was part of that species.

Dooley said he noticed that Max had narrower teeth, a thicker femur bone and other inconstancies when compared to the American mastodon. These differences raised questions, and prompted his team to further analyze the fossils.

In 2015, Dooley and the other researchers shared their findings with colleagues who suggested that they might be on to something big.

After years of revisions to the report, a final 58-page study was published earlier this year.

The announcement of Max already has scientists buzzing about the findings, Dooley said. He has been replying to emails and phone calls all Thursday morning from paleontologists from around the world wanting to know more about Max.

"I'm really excited to see what comes next," Dooley said.

The new discovery is on display for the public to see at the Western Science Center in Hemet. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
What to Know San Bernardino deputies responded to a burglary call of a liquor store and recovered a rack of stolen lottery tickets.

Authorities recognized the liquor store burglar from a previous altercation and located the suspect.

Deputies recovered dozens of stolen lottery tickets Thursday after authorities recognized the suspected thief from a previous encounter, the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department said.

Emilio Javier Hernandez, 47, was arrested Thursday for multiple felony charges.

Authorities responded to a call about an "unwanted" person at a residence where the suspect, Hernandez, was arguing with his girlfriend. Hernandez grew angry with his girlfriend, who was injured in an altercation with him two days earlier, and drove away in her car without her permission, police said.

The next day, deputies searching for Hernandez hit the jackpot.

After responding to a burglary alarm at Hals Liquor on California Street in Yucaipa, deputies found that the store's front window had been kicked out and a rack of lottery tickets was stolen. Deputies said they recognized the suspect as Hernandez and identified his girlfriends stolen vehicle after reviewing the liquor stores security video.

Police returned to his girlfriends residence, arrested Hernandez and recovered the lottery tickets.
After a nearly monthlong hiatus prompted by a spate of horse deaths, racing resumed at Santa Anita Park Friday, one day after the California Horse Racing Board approved restrictions on certain medications administered to the animals.

The CHRB also adopted a restriction that would mostly ban jockeys' use of whips -- or riding crops -- during races. But that regulation, which bans the use of whips except in circumstance when they are necessary to ensure safety, will not take immediate effect. The rule is still subject to a 45-day public comment period and will have to return to the board for a final vote.

In the meantime, the existing rule will prevail, allowing a jockey to administer the whip three times in succession, followed by a pause allowing time for the horse to respond.

The overall result of the board's Thursday meeting, however, was to ensure Friday's resumption of racing at Santa Anita for the first time since March 5, when races were suspended indefinitely. A total of 22 horses have died at the track since Dec. 26, leading to extensive inspections of the track's racing surface.

The CHRB approved previously announced proposals to strictly limit the use of anti-inflammatory medications on horses. It also approved a much-discussed 50 percent reduction in the allowable amount of Lasix, a diuretic that helps prevent horses from hemorrhaging. Santa Anita officials had initially proposed a ban on Lasix, but struck a compromise with the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Trainers calling for a 50 percent reduction in allowable dosage.

Santa Anita officials previously announced a series of other measures being implemented to help bolster safety of the horses, including:

Complete transparency of all veterinary records;

Trainers must apply for permission to work a horse (a timed, high-

speed training exercise) at least 48 hours in advance;

No therapeutic medications of treatments will be allowed without a qualified veterinary diagnosis from a state licensed veterinarian;

Significant and strict out-of-competition testing;

Increasing the time required for horses to be on-site prior to a race; and

A substantial investment by The Stronach Group in diagnostic equipment to aid in the early detection of pre-existing conditions.

Those measures, however, will not prevent animal-advocacy groups from protesting the resumption of racing at Santa Anita. Members of Last Chance for Animals and their supporters staged a protest outside the track beginning at 10:30 a.m. The first race was set for 1 p.m.

The hiatus on racing at the track was prompted by the spate of 22 horse deaths. Between December and February of the previous year, 10 horses died at Santa Anita, compared with eight in 2016-17 and 14 in 2015-16. The track averaged about 50 deaths per year from 2008-18, according to data from the CHRB.

The unusually large amount of rain that has fallen over the Southland this winter has been mentioned as a possible factor in explaining the surge in deaths.

Former track superintendent Dennis Moore and Mick Peterson of Racing Services Testing Lab were brought in to conduct a thorough analysis of the main track, and officials repeatedly said they found no problems.

With racing resuming, Santa Anita will have a busy schedule ahead. The Grade 2 $200,000 San Luis Rey Stakes will headline proceedings Friday. The 82nd running of the Grade 1 $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap, which was originally scheduled for March 9, will now be run April 6, when the $1 million Santa Anita Derby headlines a day that will also offer a third Grade 1 stakes, the $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks.

Also on April 6, the Grade 2 $200,000 Royal Heroine and the Grade 3 $150,000 Providencia will be complemented by two additional stakes, the $200,000 Evening Jewel and the $200,000 Echo Eddie.

Along with the Santa Anita Handicap, two other graded stakes originally scheduled for March 9 have been rescheduled and will now be run Saturday: the Grade 1 $400,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile and the Grade 2 $200,000 San Carlos will also be joined by the Grade 1 $400,000 Beholder Mile, which was originally scheduled for March 16, and the Grade 3 $100,000 Santa Ana Stakes.

The Grade 3 $100,000 San Simeon, which was originally scheduled for March 16 and then set for Saturday, is now set for Sunday.
A Pennsylvania man who killed and dismembered his girlfriend's 14-year-old daughter as part of a rape-murder fantasy he shared with the teenager's mother was sentenced Thursday to death.

Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to the July 2016 torture of his girlfriend's daughter. Grace's adoptive mother, Sara Packer, pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

Her sentencing could come as early Thursday.

Sullivan had no reaction as the verdict was read. Pennsylvania has a moratorium on the death penalty, but juries can still impose the sentence.

"The butchery in this case was beyond my ability to describe," Bucks County Judge Diane Gibbons told jurors, thanking them for their service. Imposing the jury's sentence on Sullivan, she declared: "You have no soul."

District Attorney Matthew Weintraub had asked the jury to send Sullivan to death row, reminding them that Grace's life "ended in a house of horrors that became a hell on Earth."

The defense asked for a life sentence, insisting that Grace's mother, Sara Packer, masterminded the gruesome plot and controlled Sullivan. Sara Packer, who testified last week and admitted to jurors she wanted her daughter dead and took part in the plot, is due to plead guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for a life sentence.

Pennsylvania last carried out an execution in 1999, and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf declared a moratorium on capital punishment in 2015. There are 142 inmates on the state's death row.

Warning: The details of this story are extremely graphic and could be disturbing to some readers.

Earlier this month, family members of a 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl who was gagged, raped and murdered said in court Wednesday that they remain haunted by her torture and excruciating death.

They described for jurors their unrelenting pain at a hearing that will determine whether Grace Packer's killer will face life in prison or the death penalty.

"It sickens me to know that Grace was abused, tortured and literally thrown away like she was a piece of trash," her cousin, Karie Heisserer, with whom Grace lived for a time in 2015, said in court. "Grace is in a better place now, free from evil and pain."

Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to the July 2016 rape, murder and dismemberment of his girlfriend's daughter. Grace's adoptive mother, Sara Packer, pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

Prosecutors painted a nightmare scenario inside the family's Quakerstown home. They said Sara Packer hated Grace, shared a rape-murder fantasy with Sullivan, watched as he sexually assaulted and strangled her in a hot attic outside Philadelphia, and helped hack up her body and dispose of it months later.

Sara Packer took the stand Wednesday and said Grace had a tendency to be a "very difficult child.

Grace had become, for lack of a better word, a non-entity, Packer said. She didnt exist anymore. I wanted her to go away.

Sara Packer, who wore a red prison jumpsuit, also said she has a degree in psychology and an IQ over 140.

Earlier in the week, Amy Adam, Grace's guidance counselor, said the teen got excellent grades but required emotional support. She said that a few months before Grace's death, Sara Packer had threatened to send her to foster care or to a residential center. That prompted Grace to write a "good-bye letter" to her family, Adam said.

The letter was displayed for the jury.

"I know that you guys are at your breaking point and I understand," Grace wrote. "I love you guys I always have and I always will."

Jurors saw photos of the bubbly but troubled teen in happier times: Sitting in the cab of her uncle's big rig, frolicking in the sand at her first trip to the beach, delighting in birthday cake at a pool party. But all of that happened with relatives, not with Sara Packer, a former county adoptions supervisor who, prosecutors said, spent years physically and mentally abusing the little girl she fostered and then adopted.

Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub told the jury that he agreed to a life sentence for Sara in exchange for her confession and guilty plea because the physical evidence against her was weak, because it was Sullivan who raped and killed Grace, and because her crimes did not qualify for the death penalty.

In a confession to police, Sullivan said he and Sara Packer plotted Grace's death. Sullivan admitted he punched and raped Grace as Sara Packer watched, bound her hands and feet with zip ties and stuffed a ball gag in her mouth.

I got wrapped up in Jakes fantasy, she said. I didnt think I could tell him no without losing him.

Prosecutors said Sullivan and Packer also gave the teen what they intended to be a lethal dose of over-the-counter medication and left her to die in a sweltering attic.

Grace eventually managed to escape some of her bindings and spit the gag out, but was unable to make it out of the house before Sullivan and Packer returned overnight  some 12 hours later  and Sullivan strangled her as Sara Packer watched.

The couple stored her body in cat litter for months, then hacked it up and dumped it in a remote area where hunters found it in October 2016, prosecutors said.

Sullivan told police he wanted the torture and death "to be fun" for the teen.

Grace's younger brother, Josh Packer, now 14, told jurors the only way he can bear his loss is if adults know her story and then act to prevent child abuse.

He said in a statement read by a detective that if his big sister was told she could save other kids' lives by giving her own, she would ask, "What do I have to do?"

"Watch out for all the kids so that a loss like Grace's loss never happens again," Josh wrote. "Do your best to help kids who can't help themselves."

That's not what happened in Grace's case.

Sara Packer and her husband at the time, David Packer, adopted Grace and Josh in 2007. Their biological parents lost custody of the children because they could not provide a safe home for them due to mental illness and her husband's intellectual challenges, The Morning Call reported.

The Packers, meanwhile, cared for dozens of children before David Packer was sent to prison for sexually assaulting Grace and a 15-year-old foster daughter at their Allentown home.

Sara Packer lost her job as a Northampton County adoptions supervisor in 2010 and was barred from taking in any more foster children. But child welfare authorities did not remove Grace from the home, despite evidence of abuse.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services launched an investigation after Grace's murder. Its findings have not been made public.

Both Sara Packer and Sullivan survived suicide attempts in the months following the murder.
A 43-year-old Texas man is dead after a fight with an employee of a Missouri fast-food restaurant.

Gregory Stanley of Vidor, Texas, died Wednesday, three days after he was injured in a fight at a Hardee's restaurant in the northeast Missouri town of Hannibal.

Police were called to the restaurant Sunday afternoon.

Witnesses told officers that Stanley was verbally abusive to employees and patrons of the business, leading to a fight between Stanley and employees.

Police say surveillance video showed 33-year-old Damien Fugate striking Stanley, including twice after Stanley fell to the floor.

Fugate is charged with second-degree assault and it isn't immediately clear if prosecutors will upgrade the charge now that Stanley has died. Fugate does not have a listed attorney.
A man who was stabbed in the face at a Pembroke Pines sandwich shop earlier this month is alleging the attack was racially motivated and wants charges against the attacker increased.

Harold Williams, who was visiting from the Bahamas, was running medical errands on March 16 when he stopped at Pines Market on Pines Boulevard to go to the restroom. He walked out with his face slashed.

"I have flashbacks of the young man," Williams said in a news conference Thursday. "I see his face when I sleep. I see the knife."

A police report said Williams asked an employee, identified as 24-year-old Fawaz Hassan, if he could use their restroom. Hassan gave him permission but attacked him seconds later with a kitchen knife and slashed his cheek.

As Williams was backing away and exiting the restaurant, another employee threw his cellphone out the door and told him "Don't come back."

Williams said he does not know the motive of his attacker, but he and his attorneys believe race may have been a factor.

"I don't know what motivated him to attack me, but I watch the news in the United States and I see how black and brown people are treated, and I cant help but wonder if he stabbed me in the face because of the color of my skin," Williams said in a statement.

Hassan was ultimately charged with aggravated battery, but Williams' attorneys want the charges increased to attempted manslaughter or attempted murder.

"A reasonable person doesn't stab somebody in the head and think that they're not taking a chance at killing that person," said attorney Jasmine Rand.

Williams' second attorney, Benjamin Crump, said in a statement that they are seeking answers as to why the second employee has not been charged.

"We consistently see criminals undercharged when the victim is black," Crump said.

NBC 6 has reached out to Hassan's lawyers but have not heard back.
Mexico is bracing for the possible arrival of the "mother of all caravans," even as doubts arise over whether the group of Central American migrants will be all that big.

Mexico Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero has said a caravan of migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala could be forming.

"We have information that a new caravan is forming in Honduras, that they're calling 'the mother of all caravans,' and they are thinking it could have more than 20,000 people," Sanchez Cordero said Wednesday.

But a WhatsApp group calling for people to gather Saturday in El Salvador to set off for Guatemala only has about 206 members.

Activist Irineo Mujica, who has accompanied several caravans in Mexico, said reports about "the mother of all caravans" were false, claiming "this is information that (U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen) Nielsen is using to create fear."

His group, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said in a statement there was no evidence the new caravan would be that large, noting "there has never been a caravan of the size that Sanchez Cordero mentioned." Indeed, past caravans hit very serious logistical hurdles at 7,000-strong.

He and others suspect the administration of President Donald Trump may be trying to fan fears of a big caravan to turn the U.S. national agenda back to the immigration issue.

Honduran activist Bartolo Fuentes, who accompanied a large caravan last year, dismissed the new reports as "part of the U.S. government's plans, something made up to justify their actions."

Later Thursday, Honduras' deputy foreign minister, Nelly Jerez, denied that a "mother of all caravans" was forming in her country.

"There is no indication of such a caravan," Jerez said. "This type of information promotes that people leave the country."

A caravan of about 2,500 Central Americans and Cubans is currently making its way through Mexico's southern state of Chiapas. The largest of last year's caravans in Mexico contained about 7,000 people at its peak, though some estimates ran as high as 10,000 at some points.

Mexico appears to be both tiring of the caravans and eager not to anger the United States. It has stopped granting migrants humanitarian visas at the border, and towns along the well-traveled route to Mexico City sometimes no longer allow caravans to spend the night.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday that Mexico is doing its part to fight immigrant smuggling.

"We are going to do everything we can to help. We don't in any way want a confrontation with the U.S. government," he said. "It is legitimate that they are displeased and they voice these concerns."

Sanchez Cordero has pledged to form a police line of "containment" around Mexico's narrow Tehuantepec Isthmus to stop migrants from continuing north to the U.S. border.

The containment belt would consist of federal police and immigration agents, but such highway blockades and checkpoints have not stopped large and determined groups of migrants in the past.
What to Know Authorities say a 1-year-old Bronx boy who died in December had ingested heroin and fentanyl

Officers found the baby unconscious in a cab outside 1880 University Place in the Bronx on the morning of Dec. 17

Police say large quantities of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl were found in the child's home

Authorities say a 1-year-old Bronx boy who died in December had ingested heroin and fentanyl.

Officers found Darwin Gonzalez-Santana unconscious in a cab outside 1880 University Place in the Bronx on the morning of Dec. 17, police said.

CPR was administered and the boy was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The boy had no obvious signs of trauma. On Wednesday, police deemed his death a homicide after the medical examiner found traces of the narcotics in the boy's system.

Police say large quantities of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl were found in the child's home.

Police told the New York Post that the boy's mother is in custody on an unrelated drug offense.
The adoptive mother of a teenage girl who was raped and killed as part of a sick fantasy in one of Pennsylvania's most gruesome murders in recent history was sentenced to life in prison plus as much as another century in prison.

Sara Packer was sentenced one day after her live-in boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan, received the death penalty from a jury. The judge gave Packer life plus 52-102 years in state prison.

Both Sara Packer and Jacob Sullivan pleaded guilty to the July 2016 torture and murder of Grace, 14.

"There is no cure for people like you," Common Pleas Judge Diane Gibbons told Sara Packer at her sentencing. "Evil attracts evil. In Jacob Sullivan, you found one of your own."

The previous day, Sullivan had no reaction as the verdict was read. Pennsylvania has a moratorium on the death penalty, but juries can still impose the sentence.

"The butchery in this case was beyond my ability to describe," Gibbons told jurors, thanking them for their service. Imposing the jury's sentence on Sullivan, she declared: "You have no soul."

District Attorney Matthew Weintraub had asked the jury to send Sullivan to death row, reminding them that Grace's life "ended in a house of horrors that became a hell on Earth."

The defense asked for a life sentence, insisting that Grace's mother, Sara Packer, masterminded the gruesome plot and controlled Sullivan. Sara Packer, who testified last week and admitted to jurors she wanted her daughter dead and took part in the plot, is due to plead guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for a life sentence.

Pennsylvania last carried out an execution in 1999, and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf declared a moratorium on capital punishment in 2015. There are 142 inmates on the state's death row.

Warning: The details of this story are extremely graphic and could be disturbing to some readers.

Earlier this month, family members of a 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl who was gagged, raped and murdered said in court Wednesday that they remain haunted by her torture and excruciating death.

They described for jurors their unrelenting pain at a hearing that will determine whether Grace Packer's killer will face life in prison or the death penalty.

"It sickens me to know that Grace was abused, tortured and literally thrown away like she was a piece of trash," her cousin, Karie Heisserer, with whom Grace lived for a time in 2015, said in court. "Grace is in a better place now, free from evil and pain."

Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to the July 2016 rape, murder and dismemberment of his girlfriend's daughter. Grace's adoptive mother, Sara Packer, pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

Prosecutors painted a nightmare scenario inside the family's Quakerstown home. They said Sara Packer hated Grace, shared a rape-murder fantasy with Sullivan, watched as he sexually assaulted and strangled her in a hot attic outside Philadelphia, and helped hack up her body and dispose of it months later.

Sara Packer took the stand Wednesday and said Grace had a tendency to be a "very difficult child.

Grace had become, for lack of a better word, a non-entity, Packer said. She didnt exist anymore. I wanted her to go away.

Sara Packer, who wore a red prison jumpsuit, also said she has a degree in psychology and an IQ over 140.

Earlier in the week, Amy Adam, Grace's guidance counselor, said the teen got excellent grades but required emotional support. She said that a few months before Grace's death, Sara Packer had threatened to send her to foster care or to a residential center. That prompted Grace to write a "good-bye letter" to her family, Adam said.

The letter was displayed for the jury.

"I know that you guys are at your breaking point and I understand," Grace wrote. "I love you guys I always have and I always will."

Jurors saw photos of the bubbly but troubled teen in happier times: Sitting in the cab of her uncle's big rig, frolicking in the sand at her first trip to the beach, delighting in birthday cake at a pool party. But all of that happened with relatives, not with Sara Packer, a former county adoptions supervisor who, prosecutors said, spent years physically and mentally abusing the little girl she fostered and then adopted.

Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub told the jury that he agreed to a life sentence for Sara in exchange for her confession and guilty plea because the physical evidence against her was weak, because it was Sullivan who raped and killed Grace, and because her crimes did not qualify for the death penalty.

In a confession to police, Sullivan said he and Sara Packer plotted Grace's death. Sullivan admitted he punched and raped Grace as Sara Packer watched, bound her hands and feet with zip ties and stuffed a ball gag in her mouth.

I got wrapped up in Jakes fantasy, she said. I didnt think I could tell him no without losing him.

Prosecutors said Sullivan and Packer also gave the teen what they intended to be a lethal dose of over-the-counter medication and left her to die in a sweltering attic.

Grace eventually managed to escape some of her bindings and spit the gag out, but was unable to make it out of the house before Sullivan and Packer returned overnight  some 12 hours later  and Sullivan strangled her as Sara Packer watched.

The couple stored her body in cat litter for months, then hacked it up and dumped it in a remote area where hunters found it in October 2016, prosecutors said.

Sullivan told police he wanted the torture and death "to be fun" for the teen.

Grace's younger brother, Josh Packer, now 14, told jurors the only way he can bear his loss is if adults know her story and then act to prevent child abuse.

He said in a statement read by a detective that if his big sister was told she could save other kids' lives by giving her own, she would ask, "What do I have to do?"

"Watch out for all the kids so that a loss like Grace's loss never happens again," Josh wrote. "Do your best to help kids who can't help themselves."

That's not what happened in Grace's case.

Sara Packer and her husband at the time, David Packer, adopted Grace and Josh in 2007. Their biological parents lost custody of the children because they could not provide a safe home for them due to mental illness and her husband's intellectual challenges, The Morning Call reported.

The Packers, meanwhile, cared for dozens of children before David Packer was sent to prison for sexually assaulting Grace and a 15-year-old foster daughter at their Allentown home.

Sara Packer lost her job as a Northampton County adoptions supervisor in 2010 and was barred from taking in any more foster children. But child welfare authorities did not remove Grace from the home, despite evidence of abuse.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services launched an investigation after Grace's murder. Its findings have not been made public.

Both Sara Packer and Sullivan survived suicide attempts in the months following the murder.
What to Know Brian Kennedy, 34, faces charges of killing his ex-wife inside a Delaware County Wawa store during a scheduled custody exchange.

Police say he gunned down the 37-year-old victim with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle as other people shopped at the store.

The victim had previously been granted a protective order against Kennedy.

Three years after threatening to kill her, a father followed through and used a military-style rifle to gun down his ex-wife during a scheduled custody exchange inside a popular store in Delaware County, officials said.

Brian Kennedy, 34, faces first and third-degree murder, criminal homicide and related charges after he walked into a Radnor Township Wawa store and used an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle to kill his 37-year-old ex-wife while others were inside, Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland said. Police initially said the victim was in her 20s.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, the victim was Stephanie Miller; Kennedy shot her "at point blank range" in the head and stomach.

"With an ArmaLite 15, he brutally murdered the mother of his child in a public place in cold blood, placing numerous others at risk. He then cowardly fled the area," Copeland said.

In 2016, Kennedy was arrested by Radnor Township Police after threatening to kill Miller at the same Wawa store in which the fatal shooting took place, the affidavit said.

Miller had previously been granted a protective order against her ex-husband, but it expired in September of last year, the district attorney said. Kennedy was scheduled to exchange the couple's child at the store, but he apparently arrived alone, Copeland said.

A witness flagged down a Radnor Township Police officer around 8:20 p.m. Thursday and reported that shots were fired inside the Wawa on 151 Sugartown Road. At the same time, police received multiple calls reporting a woman had been shot at least twice inside the store by a man armed with a rifle.

A cashier at the store told police that when Kennedy arrived, he appeared "agitated," had a "stern" look on his face and "said nothing," according to the affidavit.

Officers entered the store and found Miller's body.

"This is a classic case of what can happen in situations regarding domestic abuse and violence and the use of firearms," Copeland said.

Several witnesses were inside the store at the time of the shooting. They told police a gunman in black clothing ran out of the store and fled the scene in a black BMW.

Multiple agencies searched for Kennedy and the road was closed off near the scene of the shooting. A SWAT Team and Pennsylvania State Police troopers eventually found him in Thornbury Park in Glen Mills, investigators said.

He was taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center for what police determined to be a drug overdose, according to the affidavit. He was not shot by police, Radnor Twp. Police Superintendent Christopher Flanagan said.

"It is very important for the community to know, although we did have a tragedy, that it is over," Radnor Twp. Police Superintendent Christopher Flanagan said. "It is safe and the subject is in custody."

They also say they found his weapon.

"We have video that makes it appear to be an AR-15 style rifle," Superintendent Flanagan said. "We have it in custody. We're going to be doing evidence. They're on the scene right now with it so I don't want to confirm the model but it was absolutely a rifle."

Police are currently going through surveillance video and interviewing witnesses.
President Donald Trump's pick for the Justice Department's No. 3 position has withdrawn her name from consideration after encountering opposition on the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee because of her past membership in a lawyers' group that has supported abortion rights.

Jessie Liu will instead stay on in her current position as the United States attorney for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department said Thursday.

A person familiar with the process said Liu's selection was jeopardized by her involvement more than a decade ago in a legal group, the National Association of Women Lawyers, that filed legal briefs in support of abortion rights and that opposed the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito, a conservative justice.

Though Liu was a senior official of the lawyers' group at the time of Alito's nomination, she did not sign onto the letter opposing Alito's nomination and instead signed a separate Yale Law School alumni letter in support of him, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the process. Liu said in an interview with the National Review published this month that she "was then and am now a huge admirer of Justice Alito" and that she ultimately resigned from the group as it took left-leaning positions.

Still, Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican who once clerked for Alito on a federal appeals court, made clear his opposition to Liu's nomination, according to the person and the senator's office. Other Republicans on the committee likely would have raised similar concerns, denying her the necessary votes for confirmation.

The associate attorney general position is the third-highest ranking Justice Department job in Washington, responsible for overseeing issues including civil litigation, civil rights, antitrust and environmental matters. Her withdrawal could delay Attorney General William Barr's efforts to assemble a new leadership team around him as he begins implementing his agenda.

"Jessie Liu is one of the finest, most impressive people serving in the Department of Justice," Barr said in a statement. "She has been an outstanding United States Attorney and would have made an outstanding Associate Attorney General. I have zero doubt she would have faithfully executed my priorities and advanced my rule-of-law agenda."

He appointed Liu to serve as chairwoman of a committee of U.S. attorneys that advises him.

As top federal prosecutor in the nation's capital, Liu will continue overseeing some of the matters referred to her office by special counsel Robert Mueller during his recently concluded investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Those include a subpoena issued to an unidentified company owned by a foreign government. The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from the company, which for months has refused to turn over documents demanded by Mueller's team.

The first associate attorney general in the Trump administration, Rachel Brand, left her position after less than a year.
A San Diego judge sentenced a former Yuma police officer to 20 years in prison Friday for sexually assaulting a woman in San Diego.

Jared Elkins, 33, was convicted of forcible rape, two counts of forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by use of force in connection with an incident that happened in Kensington on Sept. 14, 2017.

Elkins was once employed as an officer with the Yuma Police Department in Yuma, California.

The 7-year veteran officer was off-duty at the time of the sexual assault, Yuma police told NBC 7.
The husband of a woman found dead in her City Heights apartment earlier this month was arrested in Panama in connection with her death, police said Friday.

Abdiaziz Kerow, 45, was returned to the United States on Thursday and was charged with murder in the death of his wife, Muna Salad Kuri, 36, the San Diego Police Department said.

Kuri was found dead by her sister, Amiina Salad, in her home on Van Dyke Avenue near Polk Avenue on the morning of March 4, two days after the last time family had heard from her.

Salad said she came to check on her after Kuri didn't show up to the daycare center where she worked.

Police said the woman had traumatic injuries to her head.

Her husband, Kerow, was nowhere to be found and a day after her death, SDPD said Kerow was wanted as a person of interest. An arrest warrant was later issued, SDPD confirmed.

Then on March 20, Kerow was located and arrested in Panama before being returned to San Diego where he was booked into county jail, SDPD said.

Kuri, a Somali, came to the United States from Kenya in 2000 and married her husband in 2014.

Several members of the local Somali community were seen gathered outside of Kuris home while police investigated her death, many in disbelief.

Her death was mourned by San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez who said Kuri was an active member of the Somali community and a caretaker to many.
The number of migrant families and children entering the U.S. from Mexico is so high that Border Patrol is immediately releasing them instead of transferring them to the agency responsible for their release, forcing local governments to help coordinate their housing, meals and travel.

"We need to work toward a clean sweep," Border Patrol Deputy Chief of Operations Richard Hudson said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press sent to sector chiefs Thursday. "This should be our daily battle rhythm."

Agents are still doing medical screenings and criminal checks, but the decision means thousands of families will be released without first going through U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, which manages their deportation cases.

The Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley sectors in Texas and the Yuma, Arizona, sector earlier announced that agents would begin to release families on their own recognizance. A Border Patrol official not authorized to speak on the matter said Wednesday that El Paso and San Diego planned on doing the same. Some sectors were not part of the change, including Tucson, Arizona and El Centro, California.

Families are typically released with notices to appear in immigration court due to legal restrictions on detaining them and lack of holding space. Until now, Customs and Border Protection has detained them briefly before turning them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, generally within 72 hours, to be released pending the outcome of their immigration cases.

The move came as Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen wrote to Congress asking for emergency funding for humanitarian and operational needs, and the ability to detain families together as long as necessary to deport people faster.

"The volume of 'vulnerable populations' is unsustainable. Our system has been able to cope with high numbers in the past, but the composition of today's flows makes them virtually unmanageable," she wrote.

Arrests all along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months. Border agents are on track to make 100,000 arrests and denials of entry at the southern border this month, over half of which are families with children. To manage the crush, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reassigning 750 border inspectors from their usual duties at the ports of entry to help Border Patrol keep pace with arrivals in between ports of entry. The head of the agency held a press conference in El Paso on Wednesday to say the breaking point had arrived.

But federal lawmakers have fought over whether there is a "crisis" at the border, particularly amid President Donald Trump's push for a border wall that he claimed will solve all the immigration problems. Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said Thursday the evidence shows the immigration system is cracking under the strain.

"The sad reality is that we now have a virtual open border for any migrant who crosses with a minor, and our border security enforcement has been reduced to a mere speed bump for migrants on their path to long-term occupancy in the United States," he said, adding border officers are being asked to perform an impossible task with no help from Congress.

And along the border, officials were working to manage the families that had been suddenly released. Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls said was city is working with various non-governmental organizations to make sure families released by the Border Patrol have temporary housing, food, medical care and help with traveling to their intended destinations.

Most immigrant families coming to the U.S. don't plan on staying in the border towns they cross through, but rather to meet up with family throughout the country.

"Focusing on the humanitarian effort is the most important focus for the city, Nicholls.

The Yuma Sector has over the last two years seen an extraordinary spike in the number of immigrant families who turn themselves in. Yuma Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Carl E. Landrum said Thursday that agents have arrested 30,000 people in the relatively small sector since October 1.

The facility in Yuma has the capacity to temporarily hold 410 people. Until Thursday, ICE had been picking all of these families up and taking them to Phoenix and Tucson to be processed. But the numbers have swelled so much now that ICE doesn't have enough resources to pick everybody up, so Border Patrol agents themselves are releasing families in Yuma.

"It is overwhelming us locally, as well as overwhelming the system nationally," Landrum said.

"The sheer volume of family units crossing the border has overwhelmed ICE's limited transportation resources; combined with a requirement to detain these individuals for no more than 20 days, the agency has no option but to expeditiously arrange for their release," ICE spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez said in a statement.

The agency makes "every attempt to coordinate the release of these individuals with NGOs that provide assistance with basic needs, but the heavy influx in recent months has inundated these organizations as well," Rodriguez said.

Associated Press reporter Elliot Spagat contributed.
What to Know Reports say Pope Francis has asked Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta to serve as the next Archbishop of Washington

Gregory, 71, has served as Archbishop of Atlanta for 14 years

The Vatican is looking to replace former Archbishop Donald Wuerl, who resigned amid a child sex abuse scandal

The Catholic News Agency (CNA) reports that Pope Francis is expected to appoint Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta to serve as the next Archbishop of Washington, citing multiple sources.

Neither the Archdiocese of Washington nor the Vatican have confirmed the report.

We are awaiting an announcement from the Holy See and will have no further comment," the Archdiocese of Washington said in a statement.

"The new archbishop has incredible challenges ahead of him," said Catholic University Professor Chad Pecknold. "He has, of course, a Church in Washington which has a pastoral ministry to the political community. Who has a ministry to those who have themselves been harmed by the abuse."

Former Archbishop Cardinal Donald Wuerl resigned in October after a Pennsylvania grand jury report was released alleging the Wuerl  who was then Bishop of Pittsburgh  did little to stop predator priests. The Cardinal and many of his supporters vehemently deny that accusation. The controversy still makes it a difficult time to inherit the seat in Washington. "To those who have lost trust in the Church in Washington, he must rebuild trust. To those who have in a sense said, 'See ya later' to the Church, he must win them back," Pecknold said.

Archbishop Gregory was appointed to Atlanta in 2004, but he is no stranger to Washington. From 2001 to 2004 he served as President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

During his tenure in office, the crisis of sex abuse by Catholic clergy escalated and the bishops implemented the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" under Gregory's leadership.

Under his leadership, the bishops implemented the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

Sources in Rome tell the CNA that Gregory was informed of the appointment earlier this week. NBC Washington has not yet confirmed that Gregory was asked, and it's not clear if he would accept the appointment.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory is a Chicago native and has been in the priesthood for almost half a century.

The 71-year-old has served as Archbishop of Atlanta for the past 14 years.

If he were to accept the Pope's appointment, he would become the seventh Archbishop of Washington and the first African-American Archbishop in our area.

It's important to note that the five most recent archbishops in Washington were all created cardinals. No African-American person has been made a Cardinal in the history of the Catholic church.
A Virginia student who worked with the nation's first elected African-American governor is accusing him of sexually harassing her by kissing her without consent.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Sydney Black, 22, says L. Douglas Wilder, 88, offered to take her on trips and pay for law school and suggested she live at his house in 2017. Black reported the conduct to police and Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was working as an office assistant at the school's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. Wilder is a distinguished professor at the school.

Citing privacy concerns, VCU declined to answer questions, but the newspaper reports the university notified Black in a January letter that its Title IX office intended to investigate. Wilder didn't respond to the newspaper's repeated requests for comment over several weeks.

The report comes nearly two months after revelations that Virginia's current governor and attorney general had worn blackface in the 1980s. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, meanwhile, has vehemently denied sexual assault allegations from two women. Wilder called for Gov. Ralph Northam's resignation after he admitted wearing blackface, but didn't comment publicly about allegations against Fairfax.

Black, who is African-American, said she struggled with making a report that could tarnish Wilder's legacy and attract negative attention.

"I had to choose being a woman over being black," she said.

In February 2017, Black said that Wilder took her to dinner on her 20th birthday, gave her alcohol and invited her back to his Richmond condo, where he kissed her. Wilder told her he could help her get accepted at the Howard University School of Law, where he is a board member, she said. When she asked what he wanted in return, he said, "As long as you stick with me, you should be fine."

They went to his condo, where he poured them both champagne, and as they talked, Black said he put his hand on her leg and then kissed her. She said she "immediately jerked away" asking why he "felt comfortable doing that" and he responded that he "shouldn't have."

Three months later, Wilder told Black that funding for her position lapsed, Black said. She withdrew from college 2018 and re-enrolled this semester.

"I was deceived," she said. "I thought he was a different sort of person."

Black reported the alleged incident to the university in December and was directed to speak with Richmond Police Detective Eric Livengood, who confirmed he spoke to Black, but didn't answer questions. A redacted Jan. 3 report says a 20-year-old woman reported that a Feb. 16, 2017, assault in a residence in the same block where Wilder owns a condo.

After Black contacted VCU, she received a letter that said VCU's Title IX office determined that the conduct Black reported "could possibly" meet the definitions of sexual assault or sex- or gender-based discrimination outlined in VCU policies. Last month, the deputy Title IX coordinator for students at VCU, Tammi Slovinsky, told Black in an email that an "external attorney-investigator with specialized training and experience" had been assigned to her case.

Black's mother, Margo Stokes, and grandmother, Pauline Carver of Wytheville, said Black called them independently in the days after the alleged incident and told them Wilder gave her alcohol and tried to kiss her.

"He just took a lot from Sydney when he did this because she really admired him, and so did I," Carver said.

A spokesperson for VCU gave the following statement to News4:

"VCU seeks to protect the privacy of students and employees, in accordance with state and federal law. Likewise, VCU does not disclose information about university investigations including whether or not an investigation is underway."
What to Know Tufts University is facing backlash from students, faculty and community members for accepting money from the Sackler family.

The Sackler family founded Purdue Pharmaceuticals, which has been accused of misleading others about the addictive nature of OxyContin.

Purdue Pharmaceuticals is facing nearly 2,000 lawsuits nationwide alleging the company aggressively marketed the opioid, downplayed risk.

Tufts University President Anthony Monaco responded Monday to mounting pressure from the Tufts community to cut ties with Purdue Pharmaceuticals and the Sackler family, the makers of OxyContin accused of drug pushing and jumpstarting the opioid epidemic.

Monaco announced in an email to the Tufts community that Donald K. Stern, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, would lead a previously announced investigation into Tufts involvement with Purdue and the Sackler family.

"The review will determine if we adhered to our policies and if our policies adopted best practices with respect to academic and research integrity and conflicts of interest in accepting those funds," Monaco wrote. "Attorney Stern will present his findings with a team of academic leaders. Together they will develop recommendations for the future which will be shared with our community."

Currently, Tufts University has a graduate biomedical school and building named after Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond Sackler. Raymond's son, Richard Sackler, is one of the key people implicated in Purdues promotion of OxyContin in the 1990s.

While the building and school were named in the early 1980s, before the introduction of OxyContin, since that time, Tufts has accepted monetary gifts and grants from the Sacklers, as well as Purdue Pharma.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based company is currently facing over 2,000 lawsuits nationwide that allege the company marketed OxyContin to doctors aggressively, downplaying the risk of addiction and encouraging higher doses. It reached a historic settlement Tuesday with the state of Oklahoma worth $270 million.

Cheryl Juaire lost her 23-year-old son to a drug overdose years ago. She's now taking on the drug company and the Sacklers.

"To say that our lives have been shattered is an understatement," said Juaire. "They need to be held accountable. The country needs to see what theyve done."

With the Sackler name gracing world renowned museums and local colleges like Tufts and Harvard, Juane is writing them to ask the name be removed.

"They need to be held accountable. The country needs to see what they've done," she said.

Cheryl Juaire lost her 23-year-old son to a drug overdose years ago. She's now taking on the drug company and the Sacklers.

"To say that our lives have been shattered is an understatement," said Juaire. "They need to be held accountable. The country needs to see what theyve done."

With the Sackler name gracing world renowned museums and local colleges like Tufts and Harvard, Juane is writing them to ask the name be removed.

"They need to be held accountable. The country needs to see what they've done," she said.

"Since its founding in 1852, Tufts has sought to advance a mission of academic excellence and integrity," Monaco wrote. "I am committed to those principles and will implement any changes that are necessary to ensure our adherence to them going forward."

Monacos email responds to a university-wide initiative by Tufts community members to hold the university accountable for its involvement with the Sackler family.

This coordinated effort by students, faculty, alumni and other community members began in January with the publishing of two op-eds, one in the Sackler School newsletter and one in the student newspaper, in response to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Healeys lawsuit against Purdue.

Both articles detailed the schools troubling history with the Sackler family and Purdue, helping raise awareness in the Tufts community about the issue.

Some of the most concerning allegations regard Purdues involvement with Tufts masters degree program in Pain Research, Education and Policy, a program the company gave the university the money to establish. The articles allege that the company used the program and the university to legitimize and promote OxyContin by placing unlabeled curriculum materials in Sackler School courses, having employees regularly teach courses on opioids and working with people at Tufts to create pro-opioid patient materials.

Tufts involvement with Purdue continued in recent years, even after the company pleaded guilty in 2007 to misleading regulators, doctors, and patients about OxyContins potential addictiveness, according to The New York Times.

In response to the Attorney Generals report, Tufts announced it would investigate its ties to Purdue. Patrick Collins, Tufts' spokesperson, released a statement in January saying in part, "The information raised in the Attorney Generals lawsuit against Purdue Pharmaceuticals and other defendants is deeply troubling. We will be undertaking a review of Tufts connection with Purdue to ensure that we were provided accurate information, that we followed our conflict of interest guidelines and that we adhered to our principles of academic and research integrity. Based on this review, we will determine if any changes need to be made moving forward."

Noticeably absent from this response and Monacos recent email is whether the university plans on releasing the findings of the investigation. Tufts community members are concerned the findings will not be released.

"The response from Tufts has not been encouraging," Nathan Foster, a 2018 graduate of Tufts University and author of one of the op-eds, said. "They just put out a bland PR statement and nothing else. Theyre not being transparent about this."

In February, Foster, along with other community members on Tuftss Boston campus, formed an activist group called "Sack Sackler" to pressure the university to take action. The groups first action has been to create a petition that calls on the university to divest from the Sackler family and ensure such a conflict of interest never develops again.

Besides releasing the investigation's results, the group asked the university to create a community oversight plan for current and future donors, rescind any Purdue-sponsored curriculum, publicly recognize any research conducted with a conflict of interest, change the name of all institutions named after the Sacklers, donate money to opioid treatment programs and revoke Raymond Sackler's honorary degree, in addition to other awards and acknowledgments given to the Sackler family.

The petition, which has been circulated across the university through Facebook, newsletters, flyers, word-of mouth, has about 240 signatures from students, alumni, faculty and other community members. Foster said that the initiative has garnered wide support from the Tufts community.

"The Tufts community is clear on this," said Foster. "We want our medical research to be used to help people, not wealth donors."

For those involved with Sack Sackler, the issue is one of academic integrity and ethics.

"Purdue didnt have patient best interest in mind, all they cared about was profits and sales," said Daniel Fritz, a graduate student in the Sackler School and leader in the Sack Sackler group. "As a medical institution, a tie to an organization like that is untenable."

Nafis Hasan, a graduate student at the Sackler School involved with Sack Sackler, said the consequences of Tufts relationship with Purdue are bigger than just Tufts.

"This is so harmful when theres so much anti-science sentiment out there and our credibility is already threatened because of the anti-vaccine movement and climate change deniers," said Hasan.

Beyond the issue of Tuftss involvement with Purdue, those involved in Sack Sackler are adamant that the university needs to be more open about who it takes donations from and how that money is used.

"The lack of transparency with donors is very concerning," Fritz said. "We need a more democratic, community oriented system for deciding who to take money from."

At this time, Tufts does not release any information on its donors to the public.

"We dont know if they still receive money from the Sacklers or Purdue, said Foster. But we do know their money isnt worth compromising our values.

In addition to increased openness with donors, the Sack Sackler group also wants transparency with the pending investigation.

We want this investigation to happen," said Hasan. "We hope they [the administration] are doing the right thing and we want to be involved in the process."

Other sections of the Tufts community have also stepped up to voice their opposition to the universitys involvement with Purdue Pharma.

Earlier this month, a group of medical students presented a letter to Monaco signed by over 220 students calling for many of the same demands as Sack Sackler, with the notable addition of the elimination of the masters in pain research program and a re-evaluation of the universitys conflict of interest policies.

"I want to be able to tell the patients I will be treating for opioid use disorder that the institution I trained at had no connection to the opioid crisis," said Nathaniel Meyer, a medical student at Tufts.

The Tufts Community Union senate, a representative undergraduate governing body, unanimously passed a resolution this month demanding the administration release any information regarding potential complicity of the administration in letting Purdue unduly influence the School of Medicines curriculum, according to The Tufts Daily.

Similarly, the Tufts University Faculty Senate approved a resolution this month calling on the university to release all information regarding its relationship to the Sackler family and any associated businesses.

According to The Boston Globe, even the mayor of Somerville has called on Tufts to consider removing the name of Sackler from their schools and buildings,

Despite these calls for action, the administration at Tufts has been adamant that no action will be taken until the investigation is complete, which will likely be months from now.

In response to Monacos email, Sack Sackler said in a statement that while they are encouraged that the investigation will be independent, they strongly disagree with the decision to delay action until the investigation is complete.

"More than enough information is publicly available to justify the removal of the Sackler name from Tufts buildings and programs and the revocation of Arthur and Raymond Sacklers honorary degrees," the statement reads. "Anything less is a betrayal of the countless members of the Tufts community impacted by the opioid crisis."

Foster said that Tufts will face escalating pressure from the community if it continues to take no action. An artist-activist group called The Opioid Spoon Project announced Monday that Tufts has been selected as the first recipient of their "opioid spoon," a symbolic measure meant to pressure Tufts to eliminate its relationship with Purdue.

Other institutions, such as Harvard University, are also facing calls to separate from the Sacklers, according to the Harvard Crimson.

While the leaders of Sack Sackler acknowledge that there may be legal and financial barriers to breaking away from the Sacklers, they see more downsides to remaining tied to them.

"Most of us are of the mind that regardless of legal issues, financial issues, the ethical question here is too important," said Fritz.

In the meantime, Sack Sackler is focusing on increasing awareness of this issue amongst the Tufts community and letting the public know about the universitys ties to Purdue.

"We want Tufts to live up to all that it can be," said Foster. "And that means holding them accountable."

Tufts University declined to comment on this article.
Authorities in New Hampshire have identified a man and a woman found dead inside a Manchester hotel room Thursday morning after a nearly 15-hour standoff with police.

The attorney general's office said 26-year-old Christian St. Cyr and 21-year-old Brandie Tarantino were the individuals found dead inside the Quality Inn Manchester Airport hotel. Autopsies were completed on Friday but the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the cause and manner of both their deaths were pending while she awaits results of toxicology testing.

Court documents showed the two had criminal records and warrants were out for their arrests on drug charges.

The standoff started Wednesday around 7:30 p.m. when authorities said they went to the hotel to serve a warrant on 51-year-old Stephen Marshall, of Manchester, and another man.

When police and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents made their way inside the first-floor of the hotel, Marshall jumped out of a window.

"Once outside, Mr. Marshall engaged two U.S. drug enforcement administration agents and one Manchester police officer," said New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald on Thursday. "Mr. Marshall was struck by gunfire, taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead."

An autopsy determined that the cause of Marshall's death was multiple gunshot wounds to the trunk of his body and his extremities.

Authorities did not release the names of the officer and DEA agent involved in the shooting pending the investigation but did say the officer was placed on administrative leave until further notice.

Crisis negotiators were initially successful in communicating with St. Cyr and Tarantino several times, but that communication stopped around midnight.

All hotel guests and employees were evacuated from the hotel by 10:15 p.m., according to police.

At approximately 3 a.m., St. Cyr and Tarantino opened fire for about 20 minutes as SWAT team members deployed a chemical agent into a hotel room, according to police.

St. Cyr and Tarantino were found inside the hotel room at 10 a.m. Thursday.

While the investigation continues, NBC10 Boston has learned Marshall was arrested at a Nashua gas station over the winter for possession of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine. Based on court records, he was released on personal recognizance. When he failed to return to court on March 7, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Marshall also had a long criminal record in the Granite State. In 2010, he was found guilty of drug charges and sentenced to not more than 4 years behind bars.

More recently, there were at least two outstanding warrants for him, both related to drugs.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld continues to meet with voters in New Hampshire as he considers challenging President Donald Trump in the 2020 Republican presidential primary.

While working the crowd Thursday at the Roundabout Diner and Lounge in Portsmouth, many people recognized Weld from the 1990s when he was a popular Republican governor from the neighboring state to the south.

As he decides if he will take on Trump in a Republican primary, Weld is spending most of his time stumping in the Granite State.

NBC10 Boston asked why New Hampshire is a good fit for him politically and he provided a non-political answer.

"Well, among other things, I'm an authentic outdoorsman. Not a fake outdoorsman who has to go to Cabelas and buy all his stuff the day before he shows his face in New Hampshire," said Weld.

Welds real challenge is convincing the state's Republican primary voters, two-thirds of whom support Trump, to vote for him. Welds said he's confident in his pitch to Trump supporters.

"I've always been a Republican. Mr. Trump has been a New York City, liberal Democrat most of his life. And on the issues, if people care at all about someone being an economic conservative, that's me," said Weld.

Weld spent seven years in the Reagan Justice Department. In the 90s, he was ranked the country's most fiscally conservative Governor. He knows that reeling in the state's large number of independent voters may be his best shot.

Weld says he'll take a leave of absence from his law firm if and when he makes his decision final in April.

"I won't have done my job unless I get to start not Monday, but at some point at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave," he said.

After making a number of stops in New Hampshire this week, Weld is scheduled to make at least one other stop March 31 in Dover for a house party at the home of former GOP chairman Fergus Cullen.
A group of Maine mayors is pushing state lawmakers to allow them to implement a local sales tax.

Maine is among a handful of states nationwide where state law forbids a sales tax issued by a municipality.

Various efforts have been tried over the past few decades, but some mayors believe the latest one may have a better chance of success because Maine Gov. Janet Mills is a Democrat, and both chambers of the legislature are controlled by Democrats.

The idea to allow local sales taxes, formally submitted to lawmakers as draft legislation on Wednesday has bipartisan support and opposition.

Auburn Mayor, Jason Levesque is a Republican who wants lawmakers to approve the measure.

He doesn't necessarily want to implement a local sales tax in his city, but he thinks Maine's local governments should be able to if they decide it's necessary.

"It's an additional tool in a toolbox," he said.

Other mayors in cities like South Portland and Portland are in complete support, saying extra revenue would generate millions of dollars for schools and roads that have been underfunded since Maine's state government ended revenue sharing with cities and towns.

The Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) is a left-leaning lobbying group that urged lawmakers to vote no on allowing local sales taxes at a hearing in Augusta on Wednesday.

"To be super blunt, poor people will be paying the highest proportion of funds that will be raised in this way," said Sarah Austin, a policy analyst with MECEP.

The organization thinks raising the income tax on high earners would accomplish the same goal as allowing a municipal sales tax without cutting into the already tight budgets of low-income families.

"One thing that's critical when it comes to paying for things: We all need is making sure its done in a fair way," she said.

The proposal to allow a municipal sales tax is still a few legislative steps away from becoming law.

The full state legislature would need to vote on it and then it would need to be signed into law by Mills.
A 12-year-old Malden, Massachusetts boy who went missing was found safe.

Police were searching for Jhanzel Lara, who disappeared after his parents dropped him off at school Thursday morning. He was reported missing in the evening.

Malden police announced the boy's safe recovery on Friday morning.
A New Hampshire man was charged in Massachusetts with animal cruelty after he allegedly threw a dog in a dumpster because he was "tired" and that the pet would not "stop bothering him," according to authorities.

Police in Wareham say 28-year-old James Balboni of Dover, New Hampshire, was staying with another man in town when he threw the pooch in a commercial dumpster.

Authorities received an animal cruelty call on Sunday and responded to a home on 3030 Cranberry Highway. There, they saw a man described as "visibly upset" removing a small black and white dog from the dumpster.

An officer determined that man was the dogs owner and was told that the pup was thrown by Balboni. A witness also told the officer that a man was seen leaving the dog owners home and throwing the pooch over his head.

Wareham police said an investigation revealed Balboni heaved the animal into the dumpster because "he was tired, had not slept and the dog would not stop bothering him."

Balboni was charged with cruelty to animals and is expected to be arraigned at a later date.

The dog did not suffer any injuries and is in custody of its owner.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will travel to the United States in two weeks for a summit with President Donald Trump on stalemated North Korean nuclear diplomacy.

It would be their first meeting since Trump's second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi last month collapsed due to disputes on U.S.-led sanctions. The breakdown of that summit put Moon, a liberal who has shuttled between Washington and Pyongyang, in a difficult position on how to further engage North Korea and facilitate the nuclear diplomacy.

Moon's office said Moon will visit the United States on April 10-11 to discuss how to strengthen their countries' alliance and achieve North Korea's complete denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The White House said Trump and first lady Melania Trump will welcome Moon and his wife Kim Jung-sook to the White House on April 11. It said in a statement the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea "remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region."

Earlier this month, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui threatened to pull out of the nuclear negotiations with the United States citing a lack of its corresponding steps to match some disarmament measures North Korea took last year. She said Kim would soon decide whether to continue the talks and his moratorium on nuclear and missile tests.

South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers in a private briefing Friday that North Korea has nearly completed its work to restore a long-range rocket launch facility that it had partially dismantled last year at the beginning of the nuclear diplomacy, according to Kim Min-ki, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.

The lawmaker also cited the National Intelligence Service as saying the North's uranium-enrichment facility at its main nuclear complex remains operational. The NIS said it doesn't comment on intelligence assessments provided to lawmakers.

Citing analyses of commercial satellite imagery, many civilian experts in the U.S. have previously given similar assessments on the North's Tongchang-ri launch facility and the Yongbyon nuclear complex. But there have been no reports that North Korea is preparing for a long-range rocket launch or a nuclear test anytime soon.

Before their summit, Kim Jong Un sent a letter to Trump heaping praise on him and making clear that he only wanted to negotiate with the president, current and former U.S. officials told NBC News. Officials across the U.S. government and in allied governments worked to stop Trump from giving up too much in negotiations, they said.

"A huge amount of energy was devoted to avoiding disaster," one former U.S. official said.

Moon's push to expand ties with North Korea and resume dormant inter-Korean economic projects is in doubt as U.S. officials maintain that sanctions on North Korea would stay in place unless the country takes significant denuclearization steps.

North Korea recently withdrew its entire staff at a frontline liaison office with South Korea before sending some of them back to the office. Seoul's Defense Ministry said Friday that North Korea hasn't responded to its offer 11 days ago to hold military talks to discuss planned joint searches for Korean War dead at their border area.

Also Friday, South Korea received the first two of the 40 F-35A fighter jets that it has agreed to buy from Lockheed Martin by 2021. The F-35A jets that arrived at an airport in southern South Korea have become the country's first stealth fighter jets. North Korea has previously called the introduction of F-35A aircraft a plot by Seoul to attack North Korea.

Some experts say North Korea still hopes to keep diplomacy with the United States alive because it is desperate to win sanctions relief to revive its trouble economy.

In a possible reflection of its resolve to press ahead with its engagement policy on North Korea, South Korea's Unification Ministry on Friday reiterated its position that it will push to hold a regular summit with North Korea and realize Kim's promise to travel to Seoul.
NWN Best in Business Awards 2019 is officially launched today

Category sponsors gather for the launch of this year's Best in Business Awards

This years NWN Best is Business Awards enjoyed its official launch today (Friday).

Business leaders from across the district gathered at the newly opened Cobbs at Englefield this morning for the breakfast launch of the 2019 awards, which recognises commercial excellence throughout West Berkshire.

The awards, now in its third year under the guidance of the Newbury Weekly News, welcomes entrants from a variety of sectors and business sizes, with the winners announced at a gala dinner at Newbury Racecourse in November.

Sir John Madejski, who was one of a number of speakers at the launch, said: Now in its third year it goes from strength to strength. I love these events because it is a win/win situation for everyone. Businesses are the life blood of the country and West Berkshire is such a vibrant place.

He paid tribute to the work done by the Newbury Weekly News in organising such a good event every year.

God bless the Newbury Weekly News, he added. It is one of the only independent newspapers in the country, established in 1867 and still going strong today.

Last year the awards was a sell out and I am sure this year will be even better.

Representatives from this years category sponsors  Jones Robinson, The HR Dept, PBA, Parkway Shopping, Greenham Common Trust, HSBC UK, Generate UK, Tigers Day Nursery, Cobbs Farm and Newbury Racecourse  were also at the launch event.

There will be eight categories for businesses to enter, including Independent Retailer, Best Employer, Small Business, Regional Event, Charity/Community, Innovation, Best use of Marketing Technology, Training and Support and Customer Service.

The headline sponsor, Cobbs Farm, will then award the overall Best in Business 2019 prize.

David Bruce, chairman of last years headline sponsors West Berkshire Brewery and of this years new sponsors, Cobbs Farm, welcomed everyone to the newly renovated Cobbs at Englefield, which opened just four weeks ago after a six year battle with pregnant bats and planning applications.

He joked that the only way to stop his enterprises winning the awards was to get them to sponsor the ceremony instead, before thanking event organiser John Hampson for all his hard work.

Now, John will be waving his magic wand throughout the year until we all meet again at the awards ceremony, he added.

Concluding the speeches, NWN editor, Andy Murrill, assured everyone: We like to have fun, so its just a great night out.

Keep an eye on Newburytoday and the Newbury Weekly News over the coming weeks for more details on the awards or visit www.bestinbusinessawards.co.uk
Community joins Friday prayers in wake of Christchurch shootings

PEOPLE came together at Newbury Central Mosque last week in a show of solidarity against the shootings in Christchurch.

Fifty people were killed and at least 50 more were injured when a gunman opened fire during Friday prayers at two mosques in the New Zealand city on March 15.

A 28-year-old Australian man, who posted far-right material before the shootings, has been charged with murder.

People joined Friday prayers at the Newbury Central Mosque and held a minutes silence.

Some held signs saying Well watch while you pray and others said that they wanted to show heartfelt solidarity with our Muslim friends.

The prayers were led by Imam Mobasshir Mushtaq, who said: We are really thankful to all of you who came and joined us.

We really appreciate you coming here and showing solidarity at this time of sorrow.

For more see this week's Newbury Weekly News.
Sometimes when animals are abused and neglected, the case is taken to court and worked out through the judicial process.

Just this month, that process took place for a pair of malnourished horses in Chester Township. Now, the horses McKinney and Beaumont are living at a barn in Geauga County where Rescue Village staff are restoring their health and ensuring that they are care for properly. (For the sake of privacy for the animals and staff, the barns location is undisclosed.)

However, not all animal neglect cases go through the judicial process. But many of them are still handled by the Geauga Humane Society.

Humane Agent Christian Courtwright said that he handles cruelty cases when the courts are not involved. Sometimes owners will surrender their animals voluntarily, he added.

Starved horses that are brought into the rehabilitation program are initially seen by a veterinarian within 24 hours, said Barn Program Manager Adrianne Johnson. The horses are then put onto a re-feeding regimen and are closely monitored. In some cases, animals will have to visit a hospital first.

Their main issue was starvation, Johnson said, when talking about McKinney and Beaumont. Their body conditions were very very poor. Were looking at, on the scale of one to nine  thats the body condition scoring  one was at a one and one was a two; zero being dead. So very very thin (and) covered in dermatitis essentially fungal infection on their whole bodies. And one of them had quite a bit of hoof pain he was dealing with, abscesses, things like that.

Johnson added that the two horses skin was too sensitive to be bathed or brushed when they were first brought into the rehab program. In the past, she said that she has slept in the barn in order to monitor horses in recovery. In the case of McKinney and Beaumont, they were kept with a foster owner who had cameras in the barn to keep an eye on them all day.

So for that first month, it was about making sure they got exactly one pound of food, six times a day, Johnson said. Then we slowly built up upon that. At that time, the horses werent allowed to exercise. They had to stay in their stalls because they couldve potentially been carriers of diseases that could be passed to other horses.

She added that the process is basically broken down into three areas: quarantine, re-feeding and observation.

Once they got kind of over that hump and we neared the two-week, three-week period, we were able to really start bumping up the food, Johnson said. And again, the vet was checking the horses  at first  every other day, then every couple days, just to really check their vitals and check their manure; make sure systems are all a go.

After about one month, McKinney and Beaumont were able to leave the foster barn and come to the rehab facility where they could slowly start exercising, working and spending time with other horses.

Johnson added that it takes about 90 days for a starved horse to have their health restored, when everything is done right and there are no metabolic issues. To compare, it would only take about one month for a dog to achieve the same result.

Healthy horses that go through the program can be put up for adoption. Johnson said that last year, the program adopted out 10 horses, which was a record number.

Every year weve just been ending up with more humane cases, unfortunately, she said.

There are currently eight horses in the program, five of which are available for adoption. Johnson said that the program gains valuable information about the horses, including what works for them in recovery and what challenges they still face, which can be useful for those who adopt them.

We even have some horses that are seen by a chiropractor and acupuncturist to kind of deal with this body pain and recovery and its shown to be really really helpful, Johnson added.

Geauga Humane Society Executive Director Hope Brustein said that the program relies entirely on donations and grants for funding. They have also served animals from elsewhere in Northeast Ohio, not just in Geauga County.

Whats most remarkable is the number of animals that were able to help every year, Brustein said.

We live in an overwhelmingly animal-loving community, she said about Geauga County. People really care not only about their own animals, but theyre very concerned when they see things that they suspect may involve cruelty or neglect.
The world's first kidney transplant from a living HIV-positive donor to another HIV-positive person was successfully performed Monday by doctors at a Johns Hopkins University hospital.

By not having to rely solely on organs from the deceased, doctors may now have a larger number of kidneys available for transplant. Access to HIV-positive organs became possible in 2013, and surgeries have been limited to kidneys and livers.

"It's important to people who aren't HIV-positive because every time somebody else gets a transplant and gets an organ and gets off the list, your chances get just a little bit better," said Dr. Sander Florman, director of the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai in New York.

Nina Martinez, 35, is the living donor. She donated her kidney to an anonymous recipient after the friend she had hoped to give it to died last fall. Martinez acquired HIV when she was 6 weeks old through a blood transfusion and was diagnosed at age 8.

Johns Hopkins Medicine confirmed that both Martinez and the recipient are in stable condition and recovering well. A news conference about the surgery was scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday.

Since 1988, doctors have transplanted at least 1,788 kidneys and 507 livers  both HIV-positive and HIV-negative organs  to patients with HIV, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, a private nonprofit that manages the nation's organ transplant waiting list. All the HIV-positive organs came from recently deceased people.

Johns Hopkins Medicine was the first to perform the initial HIV-to-HIV transplant from a deceased donor in the U.S. in 2016.

People living with HIV have faced challenges participating in organ transplants as recipients and donors. Organ transplant centers initially hesitated to give these patients organs for fear of inadvertently infecting them with the virus or accelerating the onset of AIDS in the recipient. Physicians thought the medicines given to prevent organ rejection  which suppress the immune system  could allow HIV to attack more of the body's cells, unchecked.

Yet, some centers assumed the risks and performed these procedures. There were no rules," Florman said. "That was the wild west.

Transplants slowly increased as more evidence proved liver and kidney recipients with HIV survived at rates similar to patients without the virus. But by the 2000s, the medical community and advocates wanted more. Prospective donors with HIV could not donate their organs, as Congress had banned the practice.

The push for change resulted in the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, known as the HOPE Act, in 2013. This federal law allowed organ transplants between people with HIV in clinical trials. The legislation drastically cuts the waiting time for recipients with HIV who are willing to accept an organ from a person with the virus from years to months, Florman said. Only patients with HIV are allowed to accept these organs.

Kidney and liver transplants began under the HOPE Act three years after the legislation passed. As of March 24, 116 HOPE Act kidney and liver transplants have taken place.

UNOS does not track HIV status information for transplant candidates on its waiting list. But, as of March 8, 221 registrants have indicated they would be willing to accept a kidney or liver from a donor who has HIV.

Under the HOPE Act, recipients and living donors must meet requirements like undetectable levels of HIV, a normal CD4 count  an important type of white blood cell  and no opportunistic infections. Deceased donors are highly scrutinized to make sure they do not have a strain of HIV that is difficult to manage or treat, Florman said.

Researchers are seeking to expand the HOPE Act protocol to other organs. Dr. David Klassen, the chief medical officer for UNOS, said the Johns Hopkins living donor transplant opens up a promising new avenue for both organ recipients and donors living with HIV.

"As we accumulate more safety data, I think it is possible that the HOPE Act could become a standard of care possibly in the next couple of years," said Klassen. "At some point, I think this will move into the mainstream."

Some view the legislation not only as an avenue to advance medicine, but also to challenge how people perceive HIV. The ability to donate an organ implies a certain level of health that was once thought impossible in people living with HIV, said Peter Stock, professor of surgery at the University of California-San Francisco and one of the pioneering surgeons in HIV organ transplants.

It used to be a death sentence," he said of HIV. "And now were transplanting them.

Dr. Christine Durand, another Johns Hopkins surgeon involved in the organ transplant, encouraged those living with HIV to sign their organ donor cards and contact their local transplant center if theyre interested in living donation.

I am hoping this leads to a ripple effect, said Durand. And many people with HIV will be inspired to sign up as an organ donor as a result.

[Update: This was story was updated at 3 p.m. ET following a news conference with the kidney donor and Johns Hopkins surgeons.]
For the first time, a person living with HIV has donated a kidney to a transplant recipient also living with HIV. A multidisciplinary team from Johns Hopkins Medicine completed the living donor HIV-to-HIV kidney transplant on Mar. 25. The doctors say both the donor and the recipient are doing well.

Donor Nina Martinez (left) with transplant surgeon Dorry Segev. Credit: Johns Hopkins Medicine

This is the first time someone living with HIV has been allowed to donate a kidney, ever, in the world, and that's huge. A disease that was a death sentence in the 1980s has become one so well-controlled that those living with HIV can now save lives with kidney donation--that's incredible." Dorry Segev, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

People living with HIV haven't been able to donate kidneys until now, because there were worries that HIV was too much of a risk factor for kidney disease in the donor. However, Segev and colleagues' recent research on over 40,000 people living with HIV showed that the new antiretroviral drugs are safe for the kidney, and that those with well-controlled HIV have basically the same risks as those without HIV and are healthy enough to donate kidneys.

What's meaningful about the first living kidney donor--who is also living with HIV--is that this advances medicine while defeating stigma, too. It challenges providers and the public to see HIV differently. As patients waiting for a transplant see that we're working with as many donors as possible to save as many lives as possible, we're giving them hope. Every successful transplant shortens the waitlist for all patients, no matter their HIV status." Christine Durand, M.D., Associate professor of medicine and oncology and member of the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center

Durand and Segev are leading HOPE in Action, an effort that encompasses multiple national studies exploring the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of HIV-to-HIV transplantation. This innovation was made possible by Segev's conception of and advocacy for the 2013 federal HIV Organ Policy Equity Act (the HOPE Act). In addition to leading the team that performed the first deceased donor HOPE transplants in the United States in 2016, they are leading two NIH-funded trials of HIV-to-HIV kidney and liver transplants. This first-ever living kidney donor transplant is the next major milestone in HOPE.

"Don't call me a hero, call me the first. I want to see who comes next."

Nina Martinez, the 35-year-old kidney donor living with HIV, first learned of the HOPE Act at the time of its passage in 2013. Yet, until she saw a storyline on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy a few months later, she didn't realize where her own life would intersect with kidney donation. The writers on Grey's Anatomy created a storyline about the first living kidney donor with HIV, and Martinez saw what her future might hold.

"I was also inspired by a friend and neighbor who herself became a living kidney donor," says Martinez. "Participating in clinical research is, for me, extremely important. I bore witness to my friend providing a lifesaving transplant, and in watching her I knew that if there was a way for me to help someone else, I had to do it. Doing so under a research protocol was very comfortable for me."

Martinez lives in Atlanta and is a public health consultant, clinical research volunteer and policy advocate dedicated to eliminating the stigma still surrounding HIV.

"Some people believe that people living with HIV are 'sick,' or look unwell," says Martinez. "For me, I knew I was in good health. HIV was no longer a legal barrier to organ donation, and I never considered HIV to be a medical barrier either. As a policy advocate, I want people to change what they believe they know about HIV. I don't want to be anyone's hero. I want to be someone's example, someone's reason to consider donating."

In July 2018, Martinez read on Facebook that a friend who also happened to have HIV needed a kidney transplant. Martinez felt compelled to look for a way to bring HOPE to her friend. Familiar with the medical research process and public health policy, she contacted Johns Hopkins.

After corresponding with Segev about the possibility of donating, Martinez traveled to Baltimore in October 2018 to undergo an evaluation for potential kidney donation at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The tests required multiple trips for analysis to be certain that she was healthy enough to donate, which is standard in evaluating potential living kidney donors.

But, before she was cleared, her friend passed away. She attended the funeral and considered her options. Martinez, while grieving her friend, decided she was still willing to donate, now to a person she would not know--an anonymous recipient.

"Despite losing my friend to kidney disease, I wanted to move forward with donation as a way to honor them," says Martinez. "I could do this for someone else, not because I'm special but because I'm strong. Other people living with HIV before me participated in clinical research so that I could not just survive but thrive. It was my turn to do this, for both my friend that I cared about and all people waiting on a transplant."

During their evaluation, the surgical team confirmed Martinez had healthy kidneys and a low viral load, which met criteria required by the HOPE federal safeguards. Once cleared, she successfully donated a kidney to a recipient who wishes to remain anonymous.

The science behind the donation

In a 2018 American Journal of Transplant article, surgeons studied the factors that can identify candidates healthy enough to donate a kidney. Those with well-controlled HIV, who don't have a history of diabetes, uncontrolled high blood pressure or protein in their urine could be healthy enough to donate.

The physicians will continue to closely monitor the recipient and the donor. In light of the new prediction factors and the highly effective antiretroviral therapy options available, the team says they're optimistic that long-term HIV control and kidney function will be excellent.

The state of HIV organ donation today

About 113,000 people are on the transplant waiting list in the United States as of March 2019, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Approximately 20 Americans die each day waiting for transplants; the longest transplant waitlist is for a kidney. People living with HIV who volunteer to be living donors could potentially save the lives of thousands of people living with HIV in need of transplants each year.

Since Johns Hopkins' breakthrough transplant in 2016, there have been more than 50 deceased donors under the HOPE Act and over 100 transplant recipients under a HOPE protocol in the U.S.

Other doctors involved in the transplant:

Fawaz Al Ammary, M.B.B.Ch., medical director of the Live Kidney Donor Program and assistant professor of medicine

Daniel Brennan, M.D., medical director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Niraj Desai, M.D., surgical director of Pediatric Kidney Transplant and assistant professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Source: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/first-ever-living-donor-hiv-to-hiv-kidney-transplant
A microscopic aquatic fungus is responsible for the heaviest biodiversity loss ever found to be due to a single pathogen, according to an article published in the journal Science on March 28.

The microorganism causes chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease that affects amphibians worldwide. In the past 50 years, it has caused a decline in the populations of at least 501 species of amphibians. In some cases, they have dwindled to less than 10% of their original distribution, and 91 species are believed to have become completely extinct.

"We consider this quantification conservative. The pathogen has probably caused the decline of many other species unknown to science. This phenomenon may be particularly relevant in the Neotropical region [all of mainland South America, Central America and the Caribbean as well as part of Mexico and the United States], where there are many undescribed species," Benjamin Scheele, first author of the article, told. Scheele is a postdoctoral fellow at Australian National University in Canberra.

The researchers estimate that at least 6.5% of known amphibian species have undergone a decline caused by the fungus.

"It's a very large number. We have records of pathogens since the time of the dinosaurs, and without question, this is the deadliest disease that has ever struck wildlife in all time," said Luis Felipe Toledo, a professor at the University of Campinas's Biology Institute (IB-UNICAMP) in Brazil and coauthor of the study.

Toledo and his PhD student Tamilie Carvalho are the only Brazilians in the group of researchers from 16 countries who conducted the study, which was supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP.

The findings presented in the article are based on a comprehensive survey of the literature, queries submitted to experts, and consultation of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

"In the global survey outlined by the article, Brazil is the negative standout: at least 50 species or populations have been affected, 12 have become extinct, and 38 have undergone decline. Some populations are showing signs of a recovery, but others have disappeared for good," Toledo said.

The Atlantic Rainforest is the most affected biome in Brazil, he added. Most of the extinction records relate to the region from Espirito Santo to Parana. "There are some places where we know many species have disappeared, such as Boraceia [on the coast of Sao Paulo state], Serra dos Orgaos [in Rio de Janeiro state], Itatiaia [on the border between Rio de Janeiro state and Minas Gerais state] and Caparao [on the border between Minas Gerais state and Espirito Santo state]. But this doesn't mean other regions haven't been affected. We simply lack as good a sample as we obtained in the Atlantic Rainforest biome," he said.

Deadly disease

Chytridiomycosis is caused by two fungi, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, which affects only salamanders and has never been recorded in Brazil, and B. dendrobatidis, which is found on all continents and affects all three amphibian groups: anurans (frogs and toads), newts and salamanders, and caecilians.

The pathogen's spores penetrate the skin of adult hosts, which become unable to breathe and die from cardiac arrest. In tadpoles, the fungus parasitizes the region of the beak and denticles, hindering feeding and growth.

According to the survey published in Science, the worst-hit group is the anurans, which account for 89% of all amphibian species and have suffered the largest proportion of severe declines (93%) because they are so abundant. The tropical regions of Australia and Central and South America are the most affected, while the number of declines in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America is "remarkably low".

The main victims are the species with a limited geographic distribution, large bodies, habitats in waterlogged areas, and perennial aquatic habits. This is because Batrachochytrium releases its spores in water, and the spores are able to swim until they infect a host.

According to Toledo, some anuran genera are especially susceptible to infection. An example is Atelopus, with species occurring in Central and South America from Costa Rica to the Brazilian Amazon.

"The declines peaked in the 1980s, as we showed in a previous study, but the disease was discovered only in 1998, making our research more difficult because when we noticed the declines or extinctions, we had no idea of the cause," Toledo said.

The hypothesis defended by most experts and published in Science in 2018 is that a virulent strain of the fungus originating in Asia arrived in Central America in the last century and spread to South America. The process is thought to have been facilitated by the transportation of amphibians for human consumption or for sale as pets.

"In Mesoamerica, where we believe amphibians had no prior contact with the fungus, many species have been wiped out. In Brazil, where the disease has occurred since at least the nineteenth century, some animals have developed resistance, and the impact appears not to have been so catastrophic," Toledo said.

In their latest article, the scientists write that "the unprecedented lethality of a single disease affecting an entire class of vertebrates underscores the danger of the spread of new pathogens in a globalized world". For the authors, effective biosafety policies and an immediate reduction in wildlife commerce are "urgently needed" to prevent the spread of new pathogens.

"Given that the possibility of mitigating chytridiomycosis in the wild remains uncertain, new research and intensive monitoring with emerging technologies are necessary to identify mechanisms of species recovery and develop new mitigation actions for species in decline", Scheele said.
With heroin abuse on the rise in the United States, related surgical complications are also increasing, including severe infections and complications related to heroin injection. A firsthand perspective on how acute care surgeons can best help reduce heroin-related morbidity and mortality is presented in an article published in Surgical Infections, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers.

In "The Heroin Epidemic in America: A Surgeon's Perspective," Gary Vercruysse, MD, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and coauthors from University of Nebraska (Omaha), University of Arizona (Tucson), and University of Maryland Medical Center (Baltimore) discuss the changing demographics of heroin abuse in the U.S., including growing numbers of women and white Americans. They focus on the main complications of heroin injection, including skin and soft tissue infections, septic thrombophlebitis, and mycotic pseudoaneurysms. Necrotizing soft tissue infection and other types of problems such as bacteremia can also occur. Rapid recognition and management of these complications may be life-saving.

"Infections following the self-administration of heroin and other injectable agents have increased in frequency and severity. These infections are being identified across all cultures and ethnic groups and can no longer be viewed as a problem of minorities and indigent patients," says Surgical Infections Editor-in-Chief Donald E. Fry, MD, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Executive Vice-President MPA Healthcare Solutions, Chicago, IL.
Queens University Belfast and Domainex are pleased to announce that their joint project team has successfully identified novel first-in-class small molecule inhibitors of the anti-apoptotic protein FLIP. The team has generated data suggesting multiple therapeutic opportunities for a FLIP inhibitor in both the single agent and combination settings and is now seeking a commercial partner for further development of the novel inhibitors.

The team is presenting the FLIP inhibitor programme at the AACR annual meeting in Atlanta on 31 March 2019 (New Molecular Targets poster session, poster 382 /14). The poster showcases the on-target effects of the inhibitors, their drug-like properties, their potency against B Cell Lymphomas, triple negative breast cancer and KRAS and EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer, and their potential for combination with chemotherapy, immune oncology agents and EGFR-targeted therapeutics.

The next phase of the programme will comprise selection of a pre-clinical development candidate and completion of pre-clinical activities. Profs Dan Longley (Biology lead) and Tim Harrison (Med Chem lead) are attending the AACR meeting and will be actively engaging in discussions with potential partners at the meeting.

This FLIP programme has been funded by the Wellcome Trust and has focussed on the identification and optimization of novel first-in-class small molecule FLIP-FADD protein-protein interaction inhibitors. FLIP is a non-redundant inhibitor of Caspase 8 and functional FLIP allows tumor cells to evade cell death and promotes tumor growth and therapy resistance. The novel FLIP inhibitors activate Caspase 8 and have shown efficacy in a number of pre-clinical models including clinically challenging KRAS and EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer.

To arrange to meet the team at AACR please contact Enda Gribbon: ([email protected])

Trevor Perrior, Chief Executive Officer of Domainex, commented:

Our medicinal chemists have been delighted to work on this exciting target and enable Prof. Dan Longley and his team to identify and optimize the FLIP inhibitors. There were several challenges that we had to solve in order to identify hits and develop a series of potential drug compounds that are potent and selective. We look forward to at least one of these compounds progressing towards the clinic for the benefit of patients. The funding secured from the Wellcome Trust is a clear endorsement of the strength of the integrated drug discovery platform of Domainex to deliver molecules with disease-modifying potential and we remain deeply committed to supporting academic translational research.

Prof. Dan Longley from the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB) at Queens University Belfast, added:
Researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have developed a strategy to treat two of the most common inherited blood diseases -- sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia -- applying CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to patients' own blood stem cells. Described this week in Nature Medicine and in a January report in the journal Blood, their approach overcomes prior technical challenges, editing blood stem cells more efficiently than in the past.

The two studies show that the gene-edited cells generate genetically corrected red blood cells producing functional hemoglobin.

"We think our work defines a strategy that could lead to the cure of common hemoglobin disorders," says Daniel Bauer, MD, PhD, an attending physician with Dana-Farber/Boston Children's and a senior author on both papers. "Combining gene editing with an autologous stem-cell transplant could be a therapy for sickle-cell disease, beta-thalassemia and other blood disorders."

Together, sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia affect 332,000 conceptions or births worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. Both diseases involve mutations in the gene for beta globin protein. In beta-thalassemia, the mutations prevent red blood cells from producing enough of the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin molecule, leading to anemia. In sickle cell disease, the mutation causes hemoglobin to change shape, distorting red blood cells into stiff "sickle" shapes that block up blood vessels.

More efficient editing

The Nature Medicine study used CRISPR-Cas9 technology, in particular a Cas9 protein modified by a team led by Scot Wolfe, PhD at UMass Medical School, to optimize gene editing. In previous attempts to edit the genomes of human blood stem and progenitor cells, the efficiency, specificity and long-term stability of the edits once the cells engraft in the bone marrow have varied. The new technique improves the targeting and durability of the edits.

"Efficient editing of the blood stem cell population -- ideally at rates approaching 100 percent -- is critical to achieve a durable therapeutic effect for patients," says Wolfe, a professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology at UMass Medical School. "Progress toward this goal has been advancing through the contributions of multiple laboratories in the scientific community. My research team, in collaboration with the Bauer laboratory, focused on improving the efficiency of delivery and nuclear entry of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology to achieve nearly complete therapeutic editing of the entire blood stem cell population."

Bauer's team used the strategy to make a highly targeted edit. Previous work at Boston Children's had showed that inactivating a gene called BCL11A allows red blood cells to keep producing a fetal form of hemoglobin even after birth. Fetal hemoglobin doesn't sickle and can stand in for defective "adult" hemoglobin. More recently, Bauer found a safer target: a genetic enhancer of BCL11A that is active only in red blood cells.

"With our new very efficient protocol, we can edit the BCL11A enhancer in nearly all blood stem cells we collect, overcoming some of the technical challenges of editing these cells," says Bauer. "In our experiments, more than 95 percent of copies of the enhancer sequence were changed in a way we expect would be therapeutic."

The strategy enabled mice carrying blood stem cells from patients with sickle cell disease to produce red blood cells with enough fetal hemoglobin to prevent cell sickling. The team showed that the gene-edited cells, infused back into the bloodstream, engrafted in the bone marrow and produced genetically corrected red blood cells. Later, when blood stem cells were isolated from these mice and transplanted into other mice, the cells engrafted again, still carrying the therapeutic gene changes.

Applied to blood stem cells from patients with beta-thalassemia, the same strategy restored the normal balance of the globin chains that make up hemoglobin.

The other study, published in Blood, used a similar gene editing protocol to target forms of beta-thalassemia that involve splicing mutations -- errors in bits of DNA near the beta-globin gene that change how the gene is read out to assemble beta-globin protein. In this study, nine patients with beta thalassemia donated their cells, which were manipulated in a dish. For some patients, the UMass team produced a different enzyme, Cas12a, to more effectively target their mutations. The CRISPR system efficiently made edits and restored normal splicing of the beta-globin protein in blood cells from each of the patients.

Setting the stage for a clinical trial

The investigators are taking steps to take their BCL11A enhancer editing strategy to the clinic. They are developing a clinical-grade, scaled up protocol for cell product manufacturing, and performing safety studies necessary for regulatory approval from the FDA. They plan to seek funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Cure Sickle Cell initiative to launch a clinical trial in patients.

Dana-Farber/Boston Children's has already begun a clinical trial of gene therapy for sickle cell disease. That approach increases fetal hemoglobin production by exposing patients' blood stem cells to a lentivirus carrying instructions to knock down the BCL11A gene in red-blood-cell precursors.

Bauer believes it's important to keep pursuing both approaches. "These conditions are very common inherited diseases and occur especially often in parts of the world where resources are quite limited," he says. "So we need a broad set of therapeutic options to make treatment available to as many patients as possible."

Yuxuan Wu and Jing Zeng of Dana-Farber/Boston Children's are co-first authors on the Nature Medicine paper; Bauer is corresponding author. Shuqian Xu of Dana Farber/Boston Children's is first author on the Blood paper; Bauer and Wolfe are co-corresponding authors.

The work was supported by the Translational Research Program at Boston Children's Hospital, the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI, NHGRI, NIAID, NIGMS, NIDDK), bluebird bio, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Collaborative Research Consortium, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the American Society of Hematology and the Doris Duke Charitable, Charles H. Hood and Cooley's Anemia Foundations.

Boston Children's Hospital is an equity holder in bluebird bio, and several authors have applied for patents related to therapeutic gene editing.

Boston Children's Hospital may gain financial benefits if the technology being studied proves to be of benefit. As in all research studies, the Hospital has taken, and will continue to take, all necessary steps to ensure research subject safety, and the validity and integrity of the information obtained by this research.
A team led by Feng Zhao, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Michigan Technological University, recently published two new papers on best practices in engineering prevascularized tissues.

The team's research paper, published in Theranostics, focuses on developing a stem cell cardiac patch made with tissue engineered with tiny blood vessels to be like real heart muscled. Their review paper published in Acta Biomaterialia, examines the pros and cons of six innovative strategies for aligning the microvessels in engineered tissues.

The vascular system brings nutrients and oxygen to tissues; important ingredients for successful healing following an organ transplant, heart surgery or skin graft. Microvascular structures, which are capillary-like microvessels, are particularly important and, in order to be effective, must be highly aligned, dense and mature. Engineering biomaterials with such a robust vascular system is difficult and depends on the framework -- the scaffold --to grow the cells.

"The significance of microvessel organization in 3D scaffolds has largely been ignored," Zhao explained. "Microvessels are not the same as cells; people have done a lot of work looking at the alignment of cells but this work on microvessels is still new. Understanding the mechanisms behind microvessel alignment in biomaterials will help us and other biomedical engineers to create better, more refined implants and devices."

To get there, Zhao and her team reviewed the advantages and disadvantages of six different methods used to align vessels: electromechanical stimulation, surface topography, micro-scaffolding and microfluidics, surface patterning and 3D printing.

The advantages vary quite a bit and focus on the ease or controllability of a method. Electromechanical stimulation is simply stretching; micro-scaffolding and microfluidics make medical testing easier; 3D printing is customizable. However, the disadvantages center on one major challenge: Engineered microvessels tend to be too big --they're much larger than the real capillaries in heart tissues -- and often they're not dense and mature enough to properly supply nutrients and blood.

Aligning microvessels is a bit like plumbing and mismatched sizes don't bode well for turning the water on. For some hands-on problem solving, Zhao's team focused in on biomimicking the microvessel alignment, density and dimension of heart muscle.

To date, the engineering process to create the ideal biomaterial for a prevascularized cardiac patch has not made it to clinical trials. Zhao and her team hope to change that.

"Myocardial infarction is a big problem and currently there is no good treatment for it," she said. A cardiac patch could help following a heart attack. "The cardiac patch is completely biological, comprised of stem cells with vasculature that mimics real tissue, that could help repair a heart."

The Theranostics paper delves into the role of microvessels in that process and how an engineered tissue can follow the lead of natural ones. Lead author Zichen Qian, a doctoral graduate from Michigan Tech and now a research scientist at Merck, has worked extensively with Zhao on prevascularized tissues. The University recognized Zhao's and Qian's efforts last year with the Bhakta Rath award. After Qian graduated, PhD candidates Dhavan Sharma and Wenkai Jia continued this research. The team says heart muscle is one of the trickiest tissues to work with.

"In the heart muscle, the cells are highly aligned for electromechanical signal transaction and the microvessels are also highly aligned and dense," Zhao said, explaining that microvessels in the patch can connect to native vasculature, bringing nutrients and oxygen. Without this, the engineered cardiac patch might die. "But all tissues have this microstructure. It's everywhere. This technology could be used for skeletal muscles, burn and chronic wound healing and nerve regeneration."

Zhao and her team have shown the potential of biomimicry to grow microvessels in tissues suitable for a cardiac patch. The next steps will be animal trials and refining medical technology for implants and devices. With the help of tiny, dense, neatly aligned blood vessels, engineered tissues could help hearts, skin, bones and muscles regenerate naturally.
Staten Island residents have another reason to apply insect repellent and obsessively check for ticks this spring and summer: the population of a new, potentially dangerous invasive pest known as the Asian longhorned tick has grown dramatically across the borough, according to Columbia University researchers. And the tick--which unlike other local species can clone itself in large numbers--is likely to continue its conquest in the months ahead.

"The concern with this tick is that it could transmit human pathogens and make people sick," explains researcher Maria Diuk-Wasser, an associate professor in the Columbia University Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, who studies ticks and human disease risk.

In a new study appearing in the April issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, Diuk-Wasser and colleagues provide the most exhaustive local census of the new species to date--and suggest the Staten Island infestation is far more advanced than previously known.

The researchers found the species Haemaphysalis longicornis in 7 of 13 parks surveyed in 2017 and in 16 of 32 in 2018. In one park, the density of the ticks per 1000 square meters rose almost 1,698 percent between 2017 and 2018, with the number of ticks picked up in the sample area rising from 85 to 1,529. They also found the ticks on anesthetized deer from the area.

The news comes less than a year after the New York City Department of Health announced the discovery of the first member of the species in the city--a single tick--found on southern Staten Island last August.

The tick, native to Asia and Australia, had been identified in the months prior to the Staten Island sighting in New Jersey, West Virginia, North Carolina and Arkansas and just a few weeks earlier in Westchester County. The Westchester sighting prompted a number of state senators to send a letter urging state health officials to act aggressively to stop the spread of the new species.

Public health officials are particularly concerned because the longhorned tick is notorious for its ability to quickly replicate itself. Unlike deer ticks, the common local variety known for carrying Lyme disease, the female Asian longhorned can copy itself through asexual reproduction in certain environmental conditions, or reproduce sexually, laying 1,000-2,000 eggs at a time. They are typically found in grass in addition to the forested habitats that deer ticks prefer, adding a new complication to public health messaging. The Columbia analysis suggests that the public warnings may have come too late.

"The fact that longhorned tick populations are so high in southern Staten Island will make control of this species extremely difficult," says Meredith VanAcker, a member of Diuk-Wasser's lab who collected the data as part of her Ph.D. thesis. "And because females don't need to find male mates for reproduction, it is easier for the population to spread."

The threat these new arrivals pose to human health is still unknown. In Asia, there have been reports of ticks passing on a virus that can cause a number of diseases, including hemorrhagic fever and ehrlichiosis, a bacterial illness that can cause flu-like symptoms and lead to serious complications if not treated.

The arrival of the species on Staten Island adds another unwelcome dimension to the region's tick woes, which have grown dramatically in recent years. Thanks to an expanding deer population, Lyme disease spread through deer ticks has reached epidemic proportions in some areas of the Northeast. Deer ticks (also called black-legged ticks) are capable of disseminating six other human pathogens.

The first Asian long-horned tick in the U.S. was identified in New Jersey in 2013. A large population was later found on sheep in Mercer County, New Jersey. Diuk-Wasser became aware of the potential danger when a doctor at a Westchester clinic removed a tick from a patient and sent it in for identification. The discovery of the first human bite prompted widespread alarm.

By then, the Columbia team was already in the midst of an extensive "tick census" on Staten Island to determine how the landscape connectivity between urban parks influenced the spread of disease.

The Asian longhorned is easy to miss because it resembles a rare native species of rabbit tick. VanAcker spent months combing areas of Staten Island for ticks, dragging a square-meter corduroy cloth over leaf litter and examining it every 10 to 20 meters Diuk-Wasser, post-doctoral student Danielle Tufts and other members of the Diuk-Wasser lab found huge numbers of them on the bodies of unconscious deer that had been captured and anesthetized by wildlife authorities.

VanAcker found her collections were overflowing with the new species, leading to publication of the current study in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Her work on landscape connectivity, slated to appear in the June issue of the same journal, drives home the difficult decisions facing policymakers as they attempt to arrest the spread of the new species and others like it.

"The easier it is for deer to maneuver through urban landscapes between parks, the more likely the ticks are to spread to new areas," Diuk-Wasser says. "This suggests that the emphasis on urban wildlife corridors has a previously unappreciated downside for human health."
The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) today announced that, for the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided formal regulatory agreement for use of an animal model to support development of a drug candidate, remdesivir, for treating deadly Ebola virus (EBOV) infections. This agreement was made possible through a 2018 Natural History Study (NHS) of Ebola virus conducted by USAMRIID in close collaboration with Gilead Sciences, Inc., the sponsor of remdesivir development, and The Geneva Foundation (Geneva), and funded by the Joint Project Manager for Medical Countermeasure Systems (JPM-MCS), a component of the U.S. Department of Defense's Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense.

Specifically, FDA agreed that the rhesus macaque, infected by intramuscular (IM) injection, is a relevant and adequately characterized model of Ebola virus disease to support filing under the FDA Animal Rule. In addition, the agency agreed that the rhesus IM/EBOV disease model is sufficient as a single animal model for therapeutic product development. Notably, FDA also agreed that a specific delayed time-to-treat approach is appropriate for future nonclinical studies aimed at characterizing the efficacy of remdesivir.

Sponsors must demonstrate efficacy before a medical product can be approved by the FDA; however, for certain products, when obtaining efficacy data from human patients is not ethical or feasible, the FDA may grant approval under the Animal Rule. Such approval would be based on efficacy data from well-controlled studies in adequately characterized animal model(s), when the results of those studies establish that the drug candidate is reasonably likely to produce clinical benefit in humans. The sponsor must still demonstrate the product's safety in humans.

"For years, development of Ebola virus medical countermeasures has been subject to regulatory uncertainties regarding which models, if any, would be acceptable to the FDA as a foundation for evaluating efficacy under the Animal Rule," said COL Gary Wheeler, USAMRIID commander. "The study design and data-quality posture USAMRIID adopted for the Ebola virus NHS sets a precedent that has the potential to be useful for medical countermeasure development efforts targeting other similar human pathogens, such as Marburg or Sudan viruses."

USAMRIID and Gilead Sciences, Inc. worked in close partnership to develop the study plan for conducting the IM/EBOV NHS in rhesus monkeys, analyze the study outcome and submit data to the FDA. A team of over 100 USAMRIID and Geneva personnel, representing the divisions of Molecular and Translational Sciences, Virology, Telemetry, Pathology, Veterinary Medicine, Advanced Research Studies and Quality Assurance participated in the study, which was conducted in a Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory under maximum containment conditions. Importantly, this project was the first-ever study to be completed in compliance with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards in a BSL-4 laboratory. In January 2019, FDA auditors visited USAMRIID to conduct a data quality and integrity inspection of USAMRIID's GLP facilities and processes. The results of the audit were reported as "No Action Indicated," a classification that occurs when no objectionable conditions or practices were found during the inspection.

"To date, there are no FDA-approved therapeutics for treatment of Ebola virus disease. Both the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak, the largest in history, highlight the urgent need for antiviral therapy to combat this deadly disease. We are committed to developing our investigational antiviral agent, remdesivir, for the treatment of Ebola virus infection using the Animal Rule or other appropriate regulatory pathway based on feedback from FDA," said John McHutchison, AO, MD, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research and Development, Gilead Sciences, Inc. Remdesivir is an investigational agent and is not approved by any regulatory agency globally. Its safety and efficacy have not been established.

"This project is a testament to the efficiency of public-private partnership to accelerate the development of critically needed medical countermeasures," said COL David Hammer, Joint Project Manager for Medical Countermeasure Systems. "We can advance products more quickly when we work together to leverage the skills of multiple organizations."

The NHS was conducted as part of the overall remdesivir development plan, and product-independent qualification of the rhesus IM/EBOV model through the FDA Animal Model Qualification Program has not been sought or obtained.
University of Alabama at Birmingham aging expert -- and once-upon-a-time lion trainer -- Steven Austad, Ph.D., and UAB postdoctoral fellow in longevity research Jessica Hoffman, Ph.D., have won the George C. Williams prize from the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, or ISEMPH.

The prize includes a $5,000 honorarium and an expense-paid trip to the ISEMPH Fifth Annual Meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, this summer.

"She gets the paid trip," Austad said of his postdoc Hoffman. "I told her she can have the money if I can have the plaque."

The prize recognizes the best paper published in the journal Evolution, Medicine and Public Health in 2018. It commemorates noted evolutionary biologist George Williams, who wrote perhaps the most influential paper in the evolutionary biology of aging in the 20th century, "Pleiotropy, Natural Selection, and the Evolution of Senescence."

In Williams' 1957 paper, he proposed that antagonistic pleiotropy undergirded the evolution of senescence. The words antagonistic pleiotropy may sound daunting, but they explain a simple concept -- a change in one gene that differentially affects two traits of an organism, one for the better and one for the worse. In aging, antagonistic pleiotropy refers to healthful effects of a gene early in life but harmful effects in later life.

In their prize-winning paper last year, Austad and Hoffman described the genetic evidence that has accumulated since Williams' mid-century hypothesis. Trade-offs between early life fitness and late life mortality are common, they say, and perhaps ubiquitous.

They showed examples from fieldwork where wild animals show a negative relationship between reproduction rates early in life and extended lifespan. Although the genetic bases of these examples in vertebrates have not been determined, the longer lifespan comes at the cost of lower fecundity early in life, and that means being dealt a losing card in the contest of evolution.

For lab organisms, many mutations are known that extend lifespan. Those also examined for antagonistic pleiotropy commonly show a diminished early life fitness that makes them unable to compete -- on the evolutionary scale -- with wild-type organisms.

For example, a particular mutation in the nematode C. elegans that doubles lifespan also decreases reproduction by one-fifth. When worms with this mutation compete with wild-type worms, they become extinct within a handful of generations.

Austad and Hoffman listed similar examples in their paper for fruit flies and mice.

"From current evidence," they wrote, "antagonistic pleiotropy is somewhere between very common or ubiquitous throughout the animal world. Whenever an allele or new mutation is discovered to extend life, some detrimental effect on early life fitness is almost always observed. This explains why longevity alleles are not favored in wild populations."

But that contrasts with the current field of aging research in humans. Here, the desire is to remain healthy and reach a longer lifespan, which antagonistic pleiotropy suggests are mutually exclusive. This research is on the verge of major advances to extend longevity, they say; but the medical interventions used to prolong human health would likely be made later in life. "Thus, evolutionary biology," they said, "does not preclude the possibility of medical interventions in the aging process."

As well as interesting research, Austad and Hoffman have interesting backgrounds.

Austad graduated with a degree in English literature and worked as a reporter, taxi driver and wild animal trainer. Training lions for movies awakened his interest in earning a Ph.D. degree in biology. He turned to the biology of aging only after extensive fieldwork in the United States, South America, Africa and islands of the west Pacific. His 1997 book, "Why We Age," was translated into eight languages.

Hoffman graduated summa cum laude from Clemson University, where she wrote her honors thesis on the predator-prey relationship between the northern striped dogwinkle sea snail and acorn barnacles. Her current research interests include the different metabolic pathways associated with age.

Austad is distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Biology in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences. He also directs of the UAB Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging.
Current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) fail to detect half of the patients in need of treatment in Ethiopia, report scientists in the Journal of Hepatology, published by Elsevier. They propose revision of the guidelines to consider local data from sub-Saharan Africa in order to help reach the WHO goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030.

Globally, an estimated 257 million people are living with CHB virus infection. Without timely treatment, one fifth of these individuals will die due to liver damage or liver cancer. In 2015, the WHO issued guidelines for management of CHB, which recommend starting treatment in patients who fulfil certain criteria. Antiviral therapy prevents disease progression and death in patients with CHB, but identification of patients in need of treatment is challenging in low- and middle-income countries. These guidelines are based on data from Europe, America, and Asia. Almost half of the world's population resides in areas of high hepatitis B occurrence, with the highest prevalence in Africa and East Asia. It has not been established whether the WHO criteria are suitable in sub-Saharan Africa.

"The number of hepatitis B-related deaths has increased steadily over the past 25 years, and it is now estimated to kill nearly 900,000 people every year," explained lead investigator Asgeir Johannessen, MD, PhD, Regional Centre for Imported and Tropical Diseases, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. "In 2016, the WHO set an ambitious goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a major global public health threat by 2030, and many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are developing national hepatitis B care and treatment plans. To achieve WHO's elimination goal it is vital to develop more precise tools to identify the patients in this region who need treatment."

To test the effectiveness of the WHO criteria in Africa, investigators from Norway and Ethiopia assessed a large cohort of around 1,200 patients with CHB in Ethiopia - a low-income country in east Africa and one of the most populous nations on the continent with approximately 100 million inhabitants. Based on different clinical studies, the overall prevalence of CHB is estimated at 7.4 percent.

Treatment-naive adults who attended a public CHB clinic in Addis Ababa were included in this analysis. All patients underwent standardized evaluation at recruitment, including blood tests and transient elastography using Fibroscan. A Fibroscan result of 7.9 kPa or more was used to define significant fibrosis and 9.9 kPa or more to define cirrhosis. Treatment eligibility was assessed using the most recent guidelines from the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) as the "gold standard."

The consequence of using the WHO treatment criteria in sub-Saharan Africa is that many patients with significant liver disease never receive life-saving therapy.

Out of 1190 patients with CHB, 300 (25.2 percent) were eligible for treatment based on the EASL 2017 guidelines and 182 (15.3 percent) based on the WHO 2015 guidelines. Of concern, only half of those in need of treatment were identified using the WHO criteria. After excluding patients in obvious need of therapy (i.e., individuals with visible signs of advanced liver disease), only one quarter of the remaining patients were detected using the WHO criteria. Most patients (94 of 182; 51.6 percent) who met the WHO criteria had decompensated cirrhosis indicating the possibility of a dismal prognosis even with therapy.

"Our results clearly show that the WHO treatment criteria lack precision in sub-Saharan Africa," said Dr. Johannessen. "If the current WHO guidelines are applied, millions of Africans living with CHB will be excluded from life-saving treatment. A revision of the WHO guidelines clearly needs to consider local data from sub-Saharan Africa."

In an accompanying editorial, Geoffrey Dusheiko, MD, MB, BCh, FRCP, Kings College Hospital and University College London Medical School, London, UK, and Maud Lemoine, MD, MSc, PhD, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Liver Unit, St Mary's Hospital, Imperial College London, UK, question whether it is judicious for low-income African countries to prioritize hepatitis B virus (HBV) antiviral treatment for individuals with advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis, as in the WHO criteria. They argue that patients on the African continent who test positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) should have more widespread access to measurement of serum HBV DNA and serum aminotransferases, outside of urban centers, in order to match eligibility for treatment applicable in other regions of the world.

"We should no longer hold to the tenet that such a disadvantageous ranking, specifying treatment mainly for those with ominous advanced hepatic fibrosis or hepatocellular failure, should inevitably apply in resource-limited sub-Saharan Africa," commented Dr. Dusheiko. "Guidelines in African countries should encompass criteria that would steer treatment toward obviating the development of cirrhosis, thus preventing the onset of decompensated cirrhosis, and, based on evidence in other studies, reduce the risk of liver cancer to that of HBsAg-positive patients without cirrhosis."

"To increase treatment coverage to 80 percent of those requiring treatment of CHB by 2030 as requested by the WHO, it is likely that African countries will have to adapt screening and treatment strategies," added Dr. Lemoine. "People living in both urban and rural areas will need access to simplified, workable but more accurate diagnostic and monitoring algorithms."

This Ethiopian study combined with other recent studies from West Africa represents an important opportunity for the WHO and African countries to formulate appropriate guidelines for the management and treatment of hepatitis B in Africans.
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Wonder Woman "Trial of the Amazons" crossover to elevate Themiscyra to Gotham City and Metropolis status

Three of the masterminds behind DC's upcoming Woman Woman Trial of the Amazons crossover open up about what to expect
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Tokyo:

Japanese automakers Honda and Hino are joining a partnership between SoftBank and Toyota for mobility service innovation such as self-driving cars. Japanese Technology Company SoftBank Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., the nation's top automaker, announced late last year a joint venture for mobility services, in what they called a "united Japan" effort to face global competition.

Honda Motor Co., Toyota's rival, and Hino Motors, Toyota's truck division, said Thursday each company will acquire a 9.9 per cent stake in the USD 20 million Toyota-SoftBank venture Monet Technologies Corp. Each company invests USD 2.3 million, according to the companies. Toyota and SoftBank also announced Thursday a Monet Consortium, which includes partnerships with 88 other companies, including Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan and East Japan Railway Co., to enhance mobility services.

Philips Japan, a health technology company, developer Mitsubishi Estate, and Yahoo Japan Corp. have also agreed to join the consortium. Technology experts say advances in artificial intelligence and sensors are opening up the potential for autonomous driving and other mobility services, although safety concerns remain a major hurdle.

Honda President Takahiro Hachigo said collaborating with Monet will include efforts to realize regulatory changes. "Honda wants to contribute to the revitalization of the mobility service industry in Japan and solve traffic-related problems facing Japanese society," he said.

Yoshio Shimo, Hino president, said the move was part of the truckmaker's ongoing efforts to transport goods and people. "Through this partnership, we will strive to achieve our vision of creating a world where people and goods move freely, safely and efficiently," said Shimo.

SoftBank owns 40.2 percent in Monet Technologies; Toyota owns 39.8 percent. In announcing the partnership in October, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said the move reflected the company's desire to change and keep up with global competition in autonomous vehicles and other technology.

Toyota is widely seen as a traditional Japan Inc. company, while SoftBank, led by Masayoshi Son, has a reputation for aggressively investing in less traditional brands, such as car-sharing companies Uber, Didi and Grab, as well as Arm, a leader in the internet of things, or IoT.
New Delhi:

Crisis-hit Jet Airways, where lenders are set to take control under a debt resolution plan, Thursday said it has delayed repayment of overseas borrowing due to "temporary liquidity constraints". This is at least the fourth time that the airline has defaulted on debt repayment in recent months. After weeks of speculations and uncertainties over the future course of Jet Airways, which has grounded over 80 planes due to financial woes, the airline's board Monday approved a resolution plan formulated by SBI-led domestic lenders.

"... the the repayment of the External Commercial Borrowing (ECB), availed by the company for working capital purposes, falling due on March 28, 2019, has been delayed owing to temporary liquidity constraints," the airline said in a filing to the BSE.

The company has engaged with the lender in relation to the same, it added.

As part of the resolution plan, on Monday, Naresh Goyal quit as chairman of the embattled airline and the board also approved lenders taking control as well as immediate fund infusion of Rs 1,500 crore.

Struggling to stay afloat amid a debt burden of over Rs 8,000 crore, the board of the country's first private full-service carrier also approved the conversion of banks' debt into equity and induction of nominee directors of the lenders, who would become majority stakeholders.

In an emotionally-charged letter to the 22,000-strong employees, Naresh Goyal also said the approval of the debt-recast plan will put the carrier on a "sounder and sustainable" financial footing.

Heres the full letter:

My dear Colleagues,

For the past 25 years, Jet Airways has been a way of life for Anita and me. Very few people are fortunate enough to live their dreams and we have been truly blessed to be one among those few.

My dream started out as the simple yearning of a simple man, a desire to bring the joy of flying to every Indian. Two and a half decades later, what we have built together, far exceeds anything I dared to imagine back then.

I have watched with pride as our airline has grown from a fleet of just 4 aircraft flying to 12 destinations in our first year, to a peak fleet of 124 aircraft connecting our guests to over 550 destinations worldwide. We connected the length and breadth of India at a time when flying was still considered a luxury in our country, growing to become Indias premiere full-service airline and a true flag-bearer of warm Indian hospitality around the world.

This has all been possible because of the tireless, unrelenting efforts of each and every one of you, tight-knit members of our Jet Airways family, setting guest-service benchmarks to the envy of our competitors, helping us collectively realise our dream of our Jet Airways emerging as a global gold standard of warm Indian hospitality. It has truly been a labour of love that Anita and I, together with all of you have built collectively with our blood, toil and tears. Looking back I would not want to change a thing. Not the triumphs, nor the trials and tribulations, challenges nor sweat equity.

But, today, as I ponder on the past and look to the future, I do realise that there must come a day when the torch that we have carried all this while, will need to be passed on. Today, I would like to take a moment to appreciate and acknowledge the beautiful people in my life: the ones I have laughed with and cried with, the ones I have shared my deepest thoughts with, as well as the ones that have recently appeared full of kindness and compassion, and I know, without a doubt that I have been blessed beyond words. I would also like to take this moment, to acknowledge the contribution of my wife, confidant and partner Anita without whom this journey would just not have been possible.

And now I would like to humbly and with immense love and gratitude, inform you that both Anita and myself are stepping down from the Board of Directors of Jet Airways with immediate effect. Our airline stands poised to turn the page, ready to fly out from the turbulence of recent months and soar forth into a bright new future. Our shareholders have approved the Bank-led Resolution Plan (BLRP), which marks a definitive step in our efforts to guide Jet Airways onto a sounder and sustainable financial footing. There is light at the end of the tunnel and that is why I feel the time is now right for us to hand over the reins of our beloved airline to a new generation of leaders that I am certain will take Jet Airways to even greater heights.

I would be lying, if I said this was not an emotional moment for us. Jet Airways, its employees both past and present, shareholders, partners, regulators, and most importantly our dear guests, are our family and there is no sacrifice both Anita and I would not make to ensure the best interests of our Jet Airways family are safely secured. We have not come to this decision lightly but this is not the end of the journey, rather it is the start of a brand new chapter. I am stepping down as the Chairman of the Board, but both Anita and I remain committed to seeing Jet Airways embark on a dynamic new chapter.

In a different capacity, we shall remain just as devoted to cementing Jet Airways place as the gold standard of service excellence in Indian skies. And we look forward to sharing the next chapter in our airlines journey with you as it soars ahead into a new dawn, filled with hope for a future of growth, prosperity and success.

Lastly, both Anita and I would simply like to thank you all for the dedication, commitment and service over the past twenty-five years.

Most sincerely,

Naresh Goyal

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Friday confirmed Saravana Bhavan owner P Rajagopal's conviction and life imprisonment for the abduction and murder of Prince Santhakumar in 2001 - one of the most high-profile crime cases in recent years. In 2009, the Madras High Court had awarded life imprisonment to Rajagopal and five others for the murder of Santhakumar, husband of a Saravana Bhavan employee's daughter, whom the disgraced hotelier wanted to marry.

The case pertains to the murder of Santhakumar in 2001. On the advice of an astrologer who predicted a lifetime of riches for him, Santakumar wanted to marry Jeevajothi - the daughter of one of his hotel employees. The hotel chain owner, who already had two wife at that time wanted to marry Jeevajothi, in her 20s at the time of incident.

However, he failed to convince her and she later married to Prince Santhakumar, a teacher by profession. After trying for years to unbindher from her husband, Rajagopal asked his henchmen to killer Santhakumar in October 2001.

This is a breaking news story. More details will be added soon. Please refresh the page for the updated version.

For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

BSEB Result 2019: The wait of Bihar Board students for their BSEB Inter Result 2019 finally ended as the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has announced the Bihar Board Inter Results for all the three streams i.e. Arts, Science, and Commerce on March. The Bihar Board candidates who have appeared for the examination are asked to keep all the details ready for the fast and easy access of the BSEB Inter Results 2019. The students now visit the official website of the board i.e. bsebssresult.com, biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in.

Bihar Board result 2019: Direct link to check your BSEB Inter Result:

Here are the official websites to check:

bsebinteredu.in, bsebssresult.com/bseb, and biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in/inter-result

This is the first time, the Bihar Board is releasing the results in a record number of 28 days. The evaluation process was started on March 2, and the board is going to declare the results on March 30, 2019, said the official.

How to check BSEB Class 12 result 2019?

For the convenience of the students, we have mentioned the steps through which the candidates can download the results once they are officially announced:

Step 1: Visit the official website of the board - biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in

Step 2: Enter your roll number, date of birth and other details.



Step 3: Click on the 'submit' button.



Step 4: Check your BSEB Class 12 Result 2019.

Step 5: Download soft copy / take a printout for future use.

Last year, a total of 12.07 lakh students had appeared for the Intermediate exams. In the Inter science exam, 45 per cent passed while in the commerce 82 per cent students have passed. Similarly, in the arts stream, 42 per cent students have passed.

About Bihar Board

Popularly known as the BSEB Board, the Bihar School Examination Board is the apex body when it comes to secondary and higher secondary education in the state. As the name suggests, the BSEB manages and conducts the annual board exams for matriculation and intermediate level school students. The Board Exams for class 10 and class 12 students are generally conducted in the month of February and March. Apart from this, the BSEB also conducts others centralized exams like Diploma in Physical Education, Certificate in Physical Education and Teachers Training Examination on such terms and condition as laid down by the State Government.
New Delhi:

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will tour the northern belt of Haryana in the run-up to the Lok Sabha on Friday and join the Congress Parivartan Yatra. He will hold a public meeting at Jagadhri in the Yamunanagar district. He will also hold a roadshow in Radaur in Yamunanagar, a public meeting in Ladwa in Kurukshetra district, a roadshow in Indri and a public meeting and a road show in Karnal, which is the constituency of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The Congress kicked off its six-day 'parivartan yatra' in Haryana on Tuesday, with senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Hooda asking the people to vote out the Modi and Khattar governments. The bus yatra covered Narnaul, Mahendergarh, Charkhi Dadri, Bhiwani and Hisar districts on the second day on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, which was the second day of the yatra, state Congress leaders attacked the Bharatiya Janata Parrty (BJP) with former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda claiming that he BJP government had distressed all sections of society and people of the state were awaiting the polls to teach them a lesson.

Talking about the development work undertaken by the then Congress government in the southern belt of Haryana, Hooda said the area was added in the national capital region, a Central University was set up in Mahendragarh, Chaudhary Bansi Lal University and a medical college was set up in Bhiwani.

"The BJP government may have declared Dadri to be a district but the entire infrastructure was developed by the Congress. We created the mini-secretariat, 100-bed hospital, Kisan Model School, two overbridges, Polytechnic, Industrial Training Institute, water treatment plant, new 'anaj' Mandi and 'sabji' Mandi," he said.

The former chief minister accused the BJP government of acquiring farmers' lands at cheaper rates.

Congress general secretary in-charge of Haryana Ghulam Nabi Azad, speaking during the 'yatra' in Charkhi Dadri, praised the farming community and said hardworking peasants have not only made India self-sufficient, but also a food exporter.

Azad said the 'parivartan yatra' would change the political landscape of the state and the party will teach a befitting lesson to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections "which is seeking to divide our people along communal and caste lines".

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi:

In her first ever visit to politically-sensitive Ayodhya, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I asked people if PM visits villages in Varanasi, I got reply 'he does not visit'. I was surprised because his publicity is such that I thought he must have been doing something. He visited whole world and hugged everyone, but didn't hug his own people, Priyanka said. The Congress General Secretary also slammed the BJP government for host of issues such as women safety, economic development among others. NDA government's focus is on making the rich, richer. It has money for businessmen, not the poor, Priyanka said.

Ayodhya goes to poll on May 6 in the fifth phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. The stakes are high for the Congress as all eyes are on Priyanka and her impact on the party supporters in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East) interacted with locals during a 'chaupal' in Kumarganj ahead of her Ayodhya rally. In the temple town, Priyanka raised the MNREGA issue. The government wants to shut down MGNREGA scheme, workers not paid for six months, she said.

On Thursday, Priyanka said that her party doesnt need any certificate on nationalism from those who betrayed the country during the freedom struggle by pleading before the Britishers. Not taking names of any leader of party, Priyanka, while addressing party workers in a closed-door meeting in Rae Bareli, said, We do not need any certificate from those who worked against the interests of the country during the freedom struggle and wrote to the British government to be freed from jails. We have fought the freedom struggle and are not afraid of them. We are not going to be browbeaten by them.

Launching a scathing attack on saffron brigade for instigating nationalism and religion to swing votes in their favour, the Congress leader said that they were using martyrs for political gains. Those who are talking about corruption are corrupt themselves, those who are talking of their work have not worked and those who are talking of religion indulge in irreligious acts. They are using martyrs for political purposes, The Hindustan Times quoted Priyanka as saying.

The politically-sensitive state which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha  will go to polls in seven phases starting April 11, the Election Commission announced on Sunday. Voting in Uttar Pradesh will be held on April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

When it comes to vote-sharing, the News Nation opinion poll predicts that the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) could again do better than the BJP-AD alliance. While the parties of Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati and Jayant Sinha may win 39 per cent of the votes, Amit Shah-Anupriya Patel alliance may end up with 36 per cent of the total votes. Whereas the Congress may bag only 13 per cent.
New Delhi:

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to visit Ayodhya today, to hold roadshow. She will also address students. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick-start the BJPs campaign from Telanganas Mahabubnagar with a huge public rally. From Mahabubnagar, the Prime Minister will fly to Andhra Pradeshs Kurnool where he will address another public rally.

23:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Raipur: Nitin Bhansali who had recently quit Janta Congress Chhattisgarh, joins Congress in presence of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

22:10 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Election Commission says PM Modi's "Mission Shakti" speech didn't violate Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

22:09 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress releases list of three candidates for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Tushar Chaudhary, Ashrey Sharma and Dhani Ram Shandil have been fielded from Gujarat's Bardoli, Himachal Pradesh's Mandi and Shimla Lok Sabha constituencies respectively.

21:40 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog had sought time to give reply to Election Commission till April 5 on account of him being out of country.

21:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Nishad Party breaks alliance with SP-BSP-RLD 'mahagathbandhan', likely to join hands with BJP.

19:57 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP President Amit Shah to file nomination for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 from Gandhinagar, Gujarat, tomorrow.

18:21 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a roadshow in Ayodhya.



Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a roadshow in Ayodhya pic.twitter.com/h7orve7iDU

 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 29, 2019



17:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In It's their bad intentions that have kept the farmers of the state thirsty. Polavaram dam is a symbol of their same intention. The centre has relased Rs 7,000 crore. They keep on increasing its cost. This has led to shortage of water and lack of establishment of industries: PM Narendra Modi.



It's their bad intentions that have kept the farmers of the state thirsty. Polavaram dam is a symbol of their same intention. The centre has relased Rs 7,000 crore. They keep on increasing its cost. This has led to shortage of water and lack of establishment of industries: PM pic.twitter.com/MpfUB1FQpJ

 BJP (@BJP4India) March 29, 2019



17:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In U-turn babu has pasted his sticker on PM Kisan scheme. This scheme is set to benefit 82 lakh farmers of Andhra Pradesh, says Modi.

17:18 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Two big things are going to happen with your one vote. On 11 April, when the state will go to polls, sun rise of development and son-set of corruption in Andhra Pradesh: PM Modi.

17:18 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In When we raised question on the corruption, the U-turn babu snapped ties with NDA. Now this babu has allied with people who ride 'bail' gaadi: PM Modi.

17:17 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In People of Andhra know whose safes are being stashed with the ill gotten money from these scams, the prime minister said.

17:17 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In It's said here there no scams in the schemes, the schemes are made to commit corruption: PM Modi.

17:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Two big things are going to happen with your one vote. on 11 April, when the state will go to polls, sun of Andhra Pradesh will rise and 'son'set of corruption: Modi.

17:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Possibly, I could've done much for Andhra Pradesh. However, the state govt didn't cooperate and it appears that they have no intention for the development of the state: PM Modi at Kurnool.

16:58 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Who built the HQ of south coast Railway? Who sanctioned first IIT, NIIT, IIM, AIIMS for Andhra Pradesh?: PM Modi.

16:58 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In the very first Cabinet, who gave nod to the Polavaram ordinance? Who sanctioned first central university in Anantpur in Andra Pradesh? It was your Chowkidaar who did all this, says Modi.

16:57 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Five years ago, your one vote made me PM. Your Pradhan sewak worked selflessly day and night for the people of the country. Chowkidar kept the interest of the state in mind: PM Modi.

16:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Odisha: BJP's Sambit Patra files his nomination from Puri Lok Sabha Constituency, at District Collector and Magistrate's office in Puri.

16:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh: Mutyala Papa, former MLA from Narsipatnam, joins TDP along with her husband Peda Babu & her followers, in presence of TDP president and Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu.

16:15 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar begins her election campaign. She had joined Congress party recently and will contest from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency.

16:15 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Tamil Nadu government approaches Madras High Court to issue a gag order, restraining DMK chief MK Stalin from speaking about Kodanad Estate heist during election campaign.

16:15 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Gujarat High court rejects Congress leader Hardik Patel's plea seeking suspension of his conviction in a rioting case of 2015 in Mehsana.

15:43 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Haryana: Congress President Rahul Gandhi meets people during his road show in Yamunanagar. He is on his way to Karnal.



#WATCH Haryana: Congress President Rahul Gandhi meets people during his road show in Yamunanagar. He is on his way to Karnal. pic.twitter.com/wRYANbgkNh

 ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019



15:40 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Reservation created divide in the society and country. Without interfering with the current reservation, we provided 10% reservation to the economically weaker section of the society: PM Modi in Telangana.

15:38 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Youth who aspire to be entrepreneurs will be exempted from seeking permission for the first 3 years: Rahul Gandhi.



Youth who aspire to be entrepreneurs will be exempted from seeking permission for the first 3 years: Congress President @RahulGandhi #ParivartanBusYatra pic.twitter.com/r3eO8cHtiz

 Congress (@INCIndia) March 29, 2019



15:38 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In 2009, we had promised to waive off Rs 72,000 crore worth farm loans in the country and fulfilled that promise. Similarly, 20% of India's poorest families will receive Rs 72,000 as promised: Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Telangana.



In 2009, we had promised to waive off a72,000Cr worth farm loans in the country and fulfilled that promise. Similarly, 20% of India's poorest families will receive a72,000 as promised : Congress President @RahulGandhi #ParivartanBusYatra pic.twitter.com/3tokP999e1

 Congress (@INCIndia) March 29, 2019



15:35 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Without interfering with the current reservation, we provided 10% reservation to the economically weaker section of the society: PM Modi.

15:35 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Before 2014, around 40% of the population of the country didn't have access to toilets. Now, around every house has a toilet which has provided dignity to the mothers and sisters: Narendra Modi.

15:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Ayushman yojana is providing free healthcare services to the poor of the country. However, the state govt isn't allowing it to reach to the people of this state, says Modi.

15:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The current Telangana government sticks their own label on the welfare schemes of the Centre: PM Narendra Modi.

15:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Modi asks Telangana electorate to vote for 'Naya Bharat' in which people of the state will also benefit.

15:11 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Terrorism is now confined to J&K. You no longer hear of news of bomb explosions as it was five years ago. Terrorism was spread across the country. Everyone feels safe now. It's because the Chowkidaar is alert: PM Modi

15:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The noose has been tightened on the supporters of the terrorists. We go across the border and annihilate the hotbeds of terrorists. This new identity of India gives energy to New India: PM Modi

15:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In As many as 82 FIRs and DD entries registered against various political parties: Delhi CEO

15:03 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In the elections, you aren't going to elect an MP, you are going to vote for a New India: PM Modi in Telanganas Mahabubnagar

15:02 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In For five years, I've worked honestly and religiously to ease life of common people: PM Modi in Telanganas Mahabubnagar



For five years, I've worked honestly and religiously to ease life of common people: PM Shri @narendramodi, dial 9345014501 to listen live. #ModiSpeaksToBharat pic.twitter.com/7OcNozRv7Y

 BJP (@BJP4India) March 29, 2019



15:00 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Tripura has accused the ruling BJP of attacking its Lok Sabha candidate from West Tripura constituency, Subal Bhowmik, when he was on his way to Agartala from Sipahijala, a charge denied by the ruling saffron party.

15:00 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In A section of BJP workers and leaders in the district have opposed the candidature of Rajendra Gavit, who recently quit the party to join the Shiv Sena that nominated him for the Palghar Lok Sabha seat.

Gavit, a tribal leader, had joined the BJP last year after quitting the Congress and won the Palghar Lok Sabha seat in a bypoll. On Tuesday, he quit the BJP and joined ally Shiv Sena, which nominated him from the same constituency.

14:58 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress party files complaint with Election Commission against Tejasvi Surya (in file pic), BJP candidate from Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency over his earlier statement, 'If you are not with Modi, you are anti-India'.



.@INCIndia party files complaint with Election Commission against Tejasvi Surya (in file pic), BJP candidate from Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency over his earlier statement, 'If you are not with Modi, you are anti-India'.



(ANI)https://t.co/t6ACcwkuFf pic.twitter.com/0sOsi1dWIS

 News Nation (@NewsNationTV) March 29, 2019



14:50 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "Farmers work entire day but when they ask PM for farm loan waiver, Arun Jaitley ji says 'we won't do it, that isn't our policy.' When they make an insurance policy they take out money from your account without asking you&it goes into companies of Ambani-Adani," says Rahul Gandhi.

14:36 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In A case has been lodged against the Samajwadi Party's (SP) district unit president Firoz Khan for allegedly making sexist remarks against actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada. According to media reports, Khan allegedly said that Jaya Prada would "enthral the people of Rampur with her ghungaroos and thumkas". In a video that went viral on social and electronic media, Khan, seemingly referring to Jaya Prada, is heard saying, "Rampur ki shaamein rangeen ho jaayengi ab jab chunavi mahual chalega (Rampur's evenings will turn colourful this election season)."

14:35 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In TMC stands for three T's -- Trinamool, Toll, Tax; it's running the government to help syndicates flourish in Bengal: Amit Shah

14:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In On one hand, you have Narendra Modi and on other 'Thugbandhan' leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav: Amit Shah

14:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We will bring NRC in Bengal and throw out all illegal immigrants: Amit Shah.



14:27 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Ayodhya: I asked people if PM visits villages in Varanasi, I got the reply 'he does not visit'. I was surprised because his publicity is such that I thought he must have been doing something. He visited the whole world and hugged everyone, but didn't hug his own people.



.@INCIndia General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East) @priyankagandhi meets supporters in Amethi. She is on her way to Ayodhya, reports ANI.



Follow LIVE updates on #LoksabhaElections2019: https://t.co/t6ACcwkuFf pic.twitter.com/UEG5J0Nt9V

 News Nation (@NewsNationTV) March 29, 2019



14:21 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra interacts with locals during a 'chaupal' in Kumarganj. She is on her way to Ayodhya.

14:18 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Gone are the days when Trinamool and Communists prevented people from voting. BJP party workers will ensure that people are able to exercise their right to vote, says Amit Shah.

14:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress releases the list of 5 candidates (4 Assam & 1 Uttar Pradesh) for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2019. Ashok Dohare who joined the party earlier today, to contest from Etawah parliamentary constituency.



Congress releases list of 5 candidates (4 Assam & 1 Uttar Pradesh) for the upcoming #LokSabhaElections2019 Ashok Dohare who joined the party earlier today, to contest from Etawah parliamentary constituency. pic.twitter.com/p4pzHx2ecv

 ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019



14:15 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In This election is very important for this nation. But for West Bengal, it is important for its identity, says Amit Shah.





This election is very important for this nation but for WB it's important for its identity. It decide if there'll be democracy here. The manner in which Mamata didi governed this state, they only worked towards destroying the culture of Bengal: @AmitShah in Alipurduar, WB pic.twitter.com/u04jk7IHTK

 News Nation (@NewsNationTV) March 29, 2019



13:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In EC opposes in SC a plea filed by 21 opposition parties seeking direction that 50% EVM results are matched & crosschecked with VVPATs before declaration of results in upcoming General Elections. EC in its affidavit says there's no need to increase VVPAT count to match it with EVM.

13:50 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP releases 12th list of 11 candidates in Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Rajasthan.

Here are the names:

Jammu and Kashmir:



Jamyang Tsering Namgyal: Ladakh



Karnataka:



Anna Saheb Jolle: Chikkodi



Raja Amresh Nayak: Raichur



Sanganna Karadi: Koppal



Madhya Pradesh:



Dhal Singh Bisen: Balaghat



Rodmal Nagar: Rajgarh



Gajendra Patel: Khargone



Maharashtra:



Ranjeet Singh Hindurao Naik Nimbalkar: Madha



Rajasthan:



Rahul Kaswan: Churu



Balak Nath: Alwar



Kanakmal Katara: Banswara





13:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP candidate from Darjeeling Raju Bista campaigned in his constituency today.

13:12 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress MP from Karnataka's Tumkur, Muddahanumegowda on JDS to contest from Tumkur: I've no plans to take back my nomination. Rahul ji and other leaders spoke to me and asked me to reconsider this decision but if my workers insist that I should contest then I should act as per them.

12:45 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, who had spearheaded a Dalit movement in his state a couple of years ago, Thursday campaigned for former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, the CPI candidate from Begusarai Lok Sabha seat in Bihar.

12:43 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena on his brother Sunil saying if BJP fields Kirit Somaiya from Mumbai-North East seat, Sunil may contest as independent: This isn't matter of Sunil Raut but the feeling of many SS workers, has been conveyed to Uddhav ji. This shouldn't be linked to politics.

12:42 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Delhi poll body has received several complaints about the AAP government departments and BJP-ruled MCDs starting work on projects before the model code of conduct came into force, but seeking formal approvals later, an official said.

12:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Election Commission tells the Supreme Court that there is no need to increase the VVPAT count. Opposing the joint petition put forth by 21 opposition parties the poll body says that the current system is full proof and requires no changes.

12:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In Ayodhya, Congress in-charge for UP East, Priyanka Gandhi is meeting madrasa teachers.

12:38 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP MP from Etawa Ashok Dohre joins Congress after meeting Rahul Gandhi.



12:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Yadav family crisis seems to be coming to a head with Tej Pratap announcing that he will be contesting as an independent candidate against his father-in-law Chandrika Roy, RJD's candidate from Saran. Tej Pratap resigned the party on Thursday over differences with his brother, Tejashwi Yadav.

12:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Tejashwi Yadav announces seat distribution for 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar. Misa Bharti to contest Lok Sabha elections from Patliputra in Bihar.



12:01 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meets supporters in Amethi. She is on her way to Ayodhya.



Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meets supporters in Amethi. She is on her way to Ayodhya. pic.twitter.com/hFK0PDqIvI

 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 29, 2019



12:00 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress decides to drop Amarmani Tripathi's daughter Tanushree Tripathi and choses to field journalist Supriya Shrinate from the Uttar Pradesh Maharajganj seat.

12:02 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress Releases new list of 12 Lok The list includes candidates from Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. This takes the total number of candidates declared to 304. Pappu Yadav's wife Ranjeet Ranjan and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar have been fielded Supaul and Sasaram, respectively.

11:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress Election Committee confirms that actor-turned-politician will contest from the Mumbai North parliamentary constituency. Matondkar had officially joined the party on Wednesday.

11:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi's announcement did not violate Model Code of Conduct, which is in force for the Lok Sabha polls, as there was no mention of the Prime Minister's party or an appeal to the voters. The poll body is likely to bring out a final report by the end of today, as reported by News18.

11:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Kisan Yojana is providing financial assistance to the farmers. However, Odisha govt hasn't provided us with the list of eligible farmers: PM Modi.

11:56 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Odisha government has taken the people of state for granted: PM Modi.

11:55 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In This Odisha government should be ousted out, says PM Modi.

11:54 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In India, 1.5 lakh wellness centres are being built, mothers and infants are being vaccinated. However, people of Odisha aren't able to make the most of them: PM Modi.

11:52 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Odisha government cares the least about the poor people of the state, says PM Modi.

11:51 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Odisha is rich in natural resources but people are poor. This situation proves that Congress and BJD have failed to develop Odisha: PM Modi.

11:51 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Odisha government is not ready to join with Ayushman Bharat Yojana: PM Modi.

11:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The whole world is talking about Ayushman Bharat: PM Modi.

11:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress and BJD have given nothing to the people of Odisha: PM Modi.

11:46 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In This is the right time to punish Congress and BJD who were given ample time in Odisha to develop the region. However, they have failed miserably: PM Modi

11:43 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Can people who are marred with corruption charges be able to make Odisha strong? Asks PM Modi.

11:41 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas is our only agenda, says PM Modi.

11:41 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In This election is all about building new India, says PM Modi.

11:40 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In People of India want Mazboot sarkar, not Majboor Sarkar, says PM Modi.

11:44 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Its been a month(since airstrike) and Pakistan is still counting bodies. When India takes action against terrorists, enters their home and kills them then some here ask for proof: PM Modi.

11:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The opposition parties have no trust in our forces, It's about time to give an apt answer to people who are insulting the capabilities of our scientists and the armed forces: PM Modi.

11:35 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The whole country is with the forces, says PM Modi.

11:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 5 years ago, MSP was available for only 10 forest produces. It's been now increased to 50: PM Modi.

11:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I once again congratulate the scientists for their achievements, says PM Modi.

11:32 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In It's because of the unflinching support of people that I was able to carry out welfare work for the people of the country: PM Modi.

11:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I have tried my best to serve the people of Odisha, says PM Modi.

11:29 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In As a Pradhan Sewak, I've left no stone unturned in serving the people of the country: PM Narendra Modi.

11:28 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi lists his government's policies in Jeypore in Odisha's Koraput district.

11:26 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I have received immense love and blessings from the people of Odisha for the last 5 years: PM Modi.

11:22 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses rally in Odisha.

11:00 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi meets RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav at the latter's residence in Patna, Bihar.

10:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP chief Amit Shah has invited Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to Gandhinagar for his nomination filing on Saturday. Thackeray has accepted the invite.

10:11 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP chief Amit Shah will address a public rally at Alipurduar in West Bengal at 1 pm today. He will then proceed towards neighbouring Bihar where he will hold a public meeting in Aurangabad at 4 pm.

10:09 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending campaign meetings in Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Modi is expected to attend a rally at Odisha's Koraput at 11 am, Telangana's Mahbubnagat at 2 pm and Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool 4.20 pm.

10:09 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Priyanka Gandhi will meet transgender workers. She will be stopping at nine locations. Nukkad Sabhas would be at three places. She will reach Ayodhya's Hanuman Garhi around 4:30 pm. It is believed that before visiting Lord Ram, climbing 76 stairs to Lord Hanuman's temple in Ayodhya helps in fulfilling wishes.

09:00 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Madhya Pradesh: BJP MLA from Neemuch, Dilip Singh Parihar was arrested on charges of violation of Model Code of Conduct on Thursday.



Madhya Pradesh: BJP MLA from Neemuch, Dilip Singh Parihar was arrested yesterday, on charges of violation of Model Code of Conduct. pic.twitter.com/JTnrIkGiku

 ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019



08:58 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's road show to begin from Kumarganj in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh at 11 am.

08:44 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The oppositions anti-BJP grand alliance failed to take the desired shape as Congress president Rahul Gandhi chose not to override the sentiments of state leaders who did not favour the move, party veteran and thrice Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said.

08:36 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Telangana Chief Electoral Officer: There are 185 contestants in the fray in Nizamabad so we will be conducting the elections using ballot papers. Ballot papers have been used in the state in 1996 and 2010 and also the in the recent Gram Panchayat elections held in January 2019.

08:26 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Tamil Nadu: TTV Dhinakarans Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) gets 'Gift Pack' as common symbol for the upcoming Lok Sabha Election 2019 and state assembly bye-elections.



Tamil Nadu: TTV Dhinakarans Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) gets 'Gift Pack' as common symbol for the upcoming #LokSabhaElection2019 and state assembly bye-elections. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/zdkVKQGR7T

 ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019



08:25 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Ram Shankar Katheria,BJP Etawah candidate: Mayawati imposed many cases on me, but I kept fighting and she was never able to put me in jail. Today our Govt is in the state and centre, so now if anyone raises a finger at us, that finger will be broken.



Ram Shankar Katheria,BJP Etawah candidate: Mayawati imposed many cases on me, but I kept fighting and she was never able to put me in jail. Today our Govt is in the state and centre, so now if anyone raises a finger at us, that finger will be broken. (28.3.19) pic.twitter.com/dBulXfI66z

 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 29, 2019



07:12 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Pragya Deb Burman, Congress candidate for East Tripura (ST) Lok Sabha seat, launched her election campaign in Agartala on Thursday; says, "I believe Congress is going to come to power. It's going to be a win-win situation for us. My primary agenda is Citizen Amendment Bill. It should be scrapped."



Pragya Deb Burman,Congress candidate for East Tripura(ST) LS seat,launched her election campaign y'day in Agartala; says,"I believe Congress is going to come to power. It's going to be a win-win situation for us. My primary agenda is Citizen Amendment Bill. It should be scrapped" pic.twitter.com/CnFz2WXuWA

 ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019


New Delhi:

Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi violate poll code with his Mission Shakti announcement? The Election Commission is likely to announce its verdict over the address row on Friday evening. Though there was a strong buzz over the poll panel giving clean-chit to the Prime Minister, no official statement has been made so far. In fact, the Deccan Herald has reported about the Election Commissions clarification that no decision has been taken so far. The poll body is still analysing the broadcast.

According to The Hindu, the special panel constituted by the Election Commission was examining the responses received from Doordarshan and All India Radio on PM Modis address to the nation. At a press conference, Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena said the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) had neither informed, nor sought any permission from the ECI for broadcast of his address.

The decision was taken after the Opposition complained that the PM's address violated the model code as he highlighted an "achievement" of the government and the issue was not necessarily related to national security.

"The matter related to the address of the Prime Minister to the Nation on electronic media today afternoon has been brought to the notice of the Election Commission of India. The Commission has directed a Committee of Officers to examine the matter immediately in the light of Model Code of Conduct," the EC spokesperson tweeted Wednesday night.

There is no great urgency in conducting and announcing the mission now by a government past its expiry date. It seems a desperate oxygen to save the imminent sinking of the BJP boat. We are lodging a complaint with the Election Commission, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Twitter. Todays announcement is yet another limitless drama and publicity mongering by Modi desperately trying to reap political benefits at the time of election. This is a gross violation of Model Code of Conduct, she said in another tweet.

Giving key details about the mission, PM Modi announced Indias anti-satellite missile system with a successful test against a low earth orbit satellite. India is only the 4th country to acquire such a specialised & modern capability. Entire effort is indigenous. India stands tall as a space power! It will make India stronger, even more secure and will further peace and harmony, PM Modi said on Twitter after the national address.

The Prime Minister had advertised his address to the nation on Twitter, calling it an important message. Do watch the address on television, radio or social media, he said, setting off speculation across the country on what the topic was likely to be. Earlier in the day, the Cabinet Committee on Security had met at the Prime Ministers residence.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi:

In a blistering attack on the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi protects the rich while the Congress bats for the poor, the weaker sections and the farmers of the society. Addressing a poll campaign in Haryana's Yamuananagar, the Congress chief further accused Modi of making several false promises in the last five years.

"During the past five years, Modi has made several promises to the people of this country. Wherever he goes, he spreads hatred," Gandhi was quoted as saying at Yamunanagar.

"He promised putting Rs 15 lakh into every Indian's bank account. Did anyone get anything??" the Gandhi scion said at the public meeting in Yamunanagar district's Jagadhri town this afternoon.

The Congress president also claimed that the prime minister waived loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore of 15 industrialists, adding that "Modi protects the rich". Last but not the least, Gandhi stated thatA unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress keeps its promises andA works for the farmers, the weaker sections and the poor.

"In 2009, we had promised to waive off Rs 72,000 crore worth farm loans in the country and fulfilled that promise. Similarly, 20 per cent of India's poorest families will receive Rs 72,000 as promised," Gandhi said.

The 2019 polls are a fight between two ideologies. On one hand are the BJP, the RSS and Narendra Modi and on the other is the Congress," he added.

Gandhi is on a day's visit to Haryana to be part of Congress state unit's ongoing "Parivartan Yatra". Besides, he is also scheduled to address a series of meetings in the state ahead of next month's crucial Lok Sabha Elections 2019.

Seven-phase Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to take place between April 11 and May 19 while the counting of votes will be taken up on May 23.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his partys campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with three rallies Thursday  in Meerut, Rudrapur and Jammu. PM Modi is scheduled to visit and address rallies in three other places today  Koraput in Odisha, Mahabubnagar in Telangana and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. At 8 am today, the prime ministers first interview of the poll season will be aired on Republic Bharat. This comes three months after Modis last interview to news agency Asian News International. Modi told ANI editor Smita Prakash in January that the upcoming elections would be a faceoff between the junta and the gathbandhan. Following the interview, he was at the receiving end of mixed responses from political leaders, with Opposition front runner Rahul Gandhi alleging it was a staged interview.

Here are the LIVE updates:

09:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In West Bengal CPI(M) secretary Surya Kanta Mishra has described Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress as the Trojan horse of BJP in the opposition camp and urged the people to vote for the strongest Congress or Left Front candidates to defeat the TMC and the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections in Bengal.

09:12 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi appeals to the citizens of the country to cast their votes in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019.

09:11 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Nehru ji spoke about poverty, so di Indiraji and Rajiv ji and also did Sonia Gandhi. And now even the 5th generation talks about the same. It is their ideology that they keep repeating whether in 2004, then again in 2009. Look at their tactic; it is about repeating the same agenda over and over again, says PM.

09:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In On Modi vs Who?

There could be a possibility that I have a strong rival in 2024, but in 2019, the country has made up its mind to bring us in power: PM Modi.

09:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In If you harm me it is OK. But if you harm the nation, you have to pay heavily: PM Modi.

09:04 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Have I given electricity to rich businessmen's house? Have I made toilets in Mukesh Ambani's houses, says PM Modi.

09:02 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I am not trying to control the judiciary and Parliament. Who ordered Emergency? Who jailed political leaders? Who stabbed their own father in law?: PM.

08:55 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In On Kamdaar vs Naamdar:

Dynastic politics is dangerous for democracy, says PM Modi. I am against political parties being led by a single family like a personal company.

08:52 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In Bengal, the issue is not bitterness. It is about the state government's attitude: PM Modi

09:00 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Elections are sweet and sour, says PM Modi. As a prime minister for the past 5 years, I would say I want to work with whoever becomes victorious. In politics, everyone must work together. The people of this country suffered for 30 years but enjoyed in the past 5 years which makes me confident of the upcoming polls, he adds.

08:51 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In People of the country not against alliances, but they want a stable government. NDA will get 300+ seats this election: PM Modi.

08:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In If we had to take the political route, we could have but we cannot and we have to ensure we follow the judicial system and it will the investigation is working at the right pace, says PM Modi.

08:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "In India, there is a proper system of law. Congress has received a number of notices from the court, but they take their own sweet time to respond," PM Modi.

08:38 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Previous governments have used defence deals as ATMs: PM Modi.

08:38 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "I had a public meeting that day which could mean the 0 was wrong, or 5 was wrong or 2 was wrong. Even if their accusations are wrong, I want to accept it. I've heard your relatives and you have earned Rs 250 crore and now the public can make your choice if they want Rs 250 crore leader or a leader who owns 250 pair of clothing," says PM Modi.

08:36 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We have brought rich tycoons to the streets, says PM Modi.

08:41 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We will confiscate the assets and properties of any and all fugitives, says PM Modi. "The Opposition is slamming us on the basis of these fugitives but it is because of our strict actions that they have had to flee. But do you realise, we have come down severely on their assets, and they have had to run because of our actions. During Opposition rule, you would not have even known the names of such fugitives, leave alone know what happened to them and what action was taken against them."

08:37 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Chowkidar doesn't only mean cap, whistle or stick. Chowkidar is a spirit, says PM Modi. I've been the longest serving Chief Minister of Gujarat. Yes, I'm a chaiwala and my past was never spoken about during my tenure as chief minister. But when I was elected as the Prime Minister, they started raising these issues and I proudly said that I was a chaiwala. As far as Chowkidar is concerned, it is a word I used for myself during 2011-2012 poll campaign too. Mahatma Gandhi also during his time had qualities of being a Chowkidar, not literally but in the spirit to ensure safety and security of the country.

08:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In My message to Pakistan is 'end terrorism', says PM Modi. "Pakistan has constantly tried to assure that they will take action, but we hardly see anything happening from their end. So I've stopped responding to their assurances. It's good that PM Khan is doing good things for his citizens, but what is necessary right now is for Pakistan to come out of terrorism," says PM.

08:25 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We don't have anything against the citizens of Pakistan. We are fighting terrorism: PM

08:23 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi says I don't want to fall in Pakistan's trap.

08:32 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The interviewer asks PM Modi that is it true that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tried to call him in the recent past but PM Modi doesn't take his call.

It is unfortunate that when Abhinandan Varthaman was detained in Pakistan, the Opposition started questioning the Balakot air strike and regarding his return. It was their plan and they were going to bring out a 'candlelight march' for it."

08:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In No one can challenge me for all the work I have done in the past five years: PM Modi. "We can debate on the gas connections provided, house built and bank accounts opened with the Opposition. When I speak on progress, they change the topic and pick other issues. We are the government that works 24 hours and these are issues that matter to us but they keep talking about the same thing over and over again."

08:17 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Politics over terrorism is dirty. The Opposition is involved in dangerous and dirty politics: PM Modi.

08:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In No person in the country can doubt Narendra Modi's patriotism. My life says that. We don't need to prove this, says PM Modi.

"No one can question my patriotism for my country. Everyone was aware of how big the attack was, but you should question the Opposition regarding such personal attacks. If they are sure of what they are blaming us for, they can go ahead with this as their agenda for the polls."

08:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I believe this time the BJP will come to power with a bigger majority than 2014, says PM Modi. "Whatever we have been able to successfully execute in the past 5 years, it is because of the trust Indians place in us. We came into power with a sweeping majority, which shows the consent of the people and as of what I understand of politics, people have understood what Modi can do for them, what are the changes our government can bring in, how BJP can help the country progress. There are some spheres where India feels we lack, but we are sure that Indians won't let us down," says PM Modi.

08:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi says there is nothing to do with timing as being projected by the Opposition. He also said that the Opposition cannot keep the country safe as it lacks primary knowledge.

08:07 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi says space missions have to be planned by taking the global community into confidence. Time is allotted to nations. this doesn't see elections or Model Code of Conduct. He says the Opposition lacks elementary knowledge regarding these missions.

08:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The interviewer tells the Pm that his announcement of "Mission Shakti" was seen as a poll gimmick by the Opposition. To this, the PM says, "People make mistakes" taking a dig at the Opposition.

08:11 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Interviewer: But this election is personality-based and it is about PM Modi. To this PM Modi says, ""After 5 years of being in power, it is usual for the people to make the election campaigns synonymous with a personality and I've been constantly among the masses."

08:02 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi says the voters should be the only centre point, focus point of any election.

08:02 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The interviewer asks PM Modi "How's the Josh?" alluding to the hit Vicky Kaushal-starrer Uri: The Surgical Strike.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed Opposition parties and expressed hopes that of getting a full majority in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. In an interview to Republic TV, the prime minister took a jab on Opposition, saying that they change the topic whenever he speaks on the progress. Modi rejected the Opposition charge that unemployment was on the rise during his tenure and claimed that four crore jobs were generated by his "Jan Dhan" scheme alone. Below are the top quotes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intereview:
New Delhi :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on the successful test-firing of an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile did not break the Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission said on Friday.

"Committee has reached to a conclusion that Model Code of Conduct (MCC) provision regarding misuse of official mass media as contained in Para (IV) of Part VII of MCC isn't attracted in the case," the poll panel said.



India shot down one of its satellites in space on Wednesday with an anti-satellite missile to demonstrate this complex capability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced, making it only the fourth country to have used such a weapon.

While all the opposition parties accused PM Modi of making the announcement to "reap political benefits", the Communist Party of India (Marxist) lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, terming his action as a "violation" of the model code of conduct.

In the complaint to the EC, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury wrote to the Election Commission, asking it why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was allowed to "politically colour" the achievements of Indian scientists in the midst of polls.

"Such a mission should normally be announced to the nation and to the world by the relevant scientific authorities like the DRDO. Instead, the Indian Prime Minister has taken the route of an address to the nation in making this announcement," Yechury said.

The Model Code of Conduct is in place from March 10 for the April-May parliamentary election and some state polls.

Launching a counter-attack, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley accused the erstwhile UPA government of not granting scientists permission to build the country's own anti-satellite missile, saying it lacked "capability and clarity".

BJP chief Amit Shah too hit back at the opposition parties saying "the Anti-Satellite (ASAT) Missile was successfully tested in space but it seems a few people on Earth have also got hurt" and alleged that the "UPA did not have the courage to back its institutions and people", while the "NDA under PM Modi has shown the conviction to do so".
New Delhi:

Congress general secretary incharge of Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday said that her party doesnt need any certificate on nationalism from those who betrayed the country during the freedom struggle by pleading before the Britishers. Not taking names of any leader of party, Priyanka, while addressing party workers in a closed-door meeting in Rae Bareli, said, We do not need any certificate from those who worked against the interests of the country during the freedom struggle and wrote to the British government to be freed from jails. We have fought the freedom struggle and are not afraid of them. We are not going to be browbeaten by them.

Launching a scathing attack on saffron brigade for instigating nationalism and religion to swing votes in their favour, the Congress leader said that they were using martyrs for political gains.

Those who are talking about corruption are corrupt themselves, those who are talking of their work have not worked and those who are talking of religion indulge in irreligious acts. They are using martyrs for political purposes, The Hindustan Times quoted Priyanka as saying.

In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, besides everything else, nationalism is a dominating issue used by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to target the Opposition. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to BJP president Amit Shah, many BJP leaders have questioned the patriotism of Opposition parties and accused them of being sympathisers of Pakistan  a neighbouring country dubbed as enemy by many ruling party leaders.

The Congress leader also triggered speculations of a mega showdown with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when party workers asked her to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Rae Bareli  constituency of her mother Sonia Gandhi.

"Why not Varanasi," Priyanka quipped amid loud cheers while meeting Congress workers in Rae Bareli. Varanasi is the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Wednesday, the Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East, had said that although she wishes to work for the partys organisation, she will fight elections if asked to do so. "If my party asks me to contest the polls, I will definitely do so. But my personal wish is to work for the partys organisation as a lot of work needs to be done," the Congress leader told reporters.
New Delhi :

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has been fielded by the party from Amethi, has not ruled out contesting the Lok Sabha election from another constituency. Gandhi said that many party leaders have fought elections from more than one seat in the past and asserted that a decision on the issue will be taken by the party.

Referring to demands from party leaders that his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should contest, Gandhi told PTI in an interview that she will have to take a call on whether to fight the polls or not.

Speculation about the newly appointed Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (east) contesting grew after she asked people in Varanasi on Thursday whether she should fight the polls from the temple town, the constituency from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a re-election.

Amethi is his "karmabhoomi" (place where you are destined to work) and will remain so, Rahul Gandhi said, keeping his options open on fighting the election from a second seat amid demands from party units in Kerala and Karnataka that he should be fielded from their states.

"Amethi is my 'karmabhoomi' and shall always remain so. I am deeply grateful for the love, affection and the sentiments expressed by our party workers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala who have asked me to contest a second seat from their states," the Congress chief told PTI in response to a question on the speculation over him contesting from Wayanad in Kerala.

"In the past, too, many leaders from the Congress and other parties, including Mr Modi himself, have contested elections from more than one seat. The Congress party will take a decision on this issue at the earliest," he said.

In 2014, Rahul Gandhi defeated BJP's Smriti Irani by a margin of over one lakh votes. Both are pitted against each other again from Amethi. Asked about Priyanka Gandhi contesting the election, the Congress chief said candidate selection is an ongoing process and the party has announced over 300 candidates so far.

"As far as Priyanka is concerned, it is up to her to decide if she wants to contest the election or not," he said.

On whether party veterans will be fielded by the Congress to put up a strong fight, Gandhi said the party has a system of identifying candidates and it goes through various processes.

"I have looked at young as well as experienced candidates equally because I have believed that Congress party needs both. Seniors are fighting elections. We also have many new faces who will be fighting their first election," he said.

There has been a clamour among Congress leaders from the south for Rahul Gandhi to contest from Kerala as well as Karnataka and the state units have already passed resolutions on the issue.

His mother, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, earlier contested from the Bellary Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka while his grandmother, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, had contested from Chikamangalur in Karnataka.

The process of nominations in Kerala, which goes to the polls on April 23, started on Thursday and will end on April 4.

With PTI Inputs
New Delhi:

Newly inducted into the Congress fold, Bollywood actor Urmila Matondkar will contest from the Mumbai North constituency in Maharashtra, Mukul Wasnik, the general secretary in charge of the Central Election Committee said on Friday. A day after joining the Congress, Matondkar lashed out at Narendra Modi-led government saying that there has been a rise of hatred and extreme intolerance during its five-year term.

"Under the current regime, there has been a rise of hatred and extreme intolerance towards everything and everyone in the last five years. It has grown by leaps and bounds. What is happening now is unacceptable, Matondkar had said on Thursday.

Mumbai's six Lok Sabha constituencies will vote on April 29 along with 17 others in the state's fourth phase of polling. If nominated, Matondkar's formidable rival would be BJP incumbent MP Gopal Shetty in the constituency that was once regarded a saffron party bastion.

Matondkar began her career as a child star aged seven in a Marathi film, Zaakol (1980). She stepped into Bollywood with her role in the Shashi Kapoor-Rekha-starrer Kalyug (1981).

It was the highly-acclaimed Shekhar Kapur-directed film, Masoom (1983) that catapulted her to fame as a child actress and significantly boosted her film career.

Later, she worked with some of the biggest actors in major films like Dacait, Bade Ghar Ki Beti, Narasimha, Chamatkar, Aa Gale Lag Jaa (paired opposite Jugal Hansraj, the child co-star of Masoom), Rangeela, Indian, Judaai, Daud, Satya, Kaun, Mast, Dillagi, Khoobsurat, Jungle, Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, Ek Hasina Thi, Om Jai Jagadeesh, Bhoot, Pinjar, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara and Speed.

Besides, she has acted in Marathi and South Indian language films and several television serials.




Jeypore, Odisha:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said his government had taken measures to set up a 'chowkidar' in space and asked people to vote for a government that can take concrete decisions and not just raise slogans. Launching his campaign in eastern India with a rally in Jeypore area of Odisha's Koraput district, the prime minister said the NDA government wouldn't have been able to do any development work in the country without the support of the people.

He sought blessings from his supporters for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and asserted that the NDA government has left no stone unturned to bring about development in the state.

"The NDA government has been working hard to develop road and rail infrastructure in the state. There is no dearth of funds when it comes to development work in the country.

"In the last five years, the government has been able to build homes for eight lakh families, light up 3,000 houses and provide gas connections to 40 lakh homes," Modi stated.

Referring to Mission Shakti, when India demonstrated anti-satellite (ASAT) missile capability by shooting down a live satellite, he said the government has taken measures to set up a 'chowkidar' (watchman ) in space. He came down heavily on opposition parties who he said "belittled" the space achievement.

"Those that are criticising the anti-satellite technology will be given a befitting reply in the elections," he claimed, urging people to vote for a government that can take concrete decisions, not the one that only raises slogans.

He also attacked those seeking proof of the Balakot air strikes. It has been one month, Pakistan is still counting the dead bodies and our rivals are seeking proof for Balakot strike, said PM Modi adding, When India takes action against terrorists, enters their home and kills them then some here ask for proof.

India had handed over the dossier to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi on February 27 with specific details of JeM's complicity in the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel on February 14 and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan.
New Delhi:

Speaking on governments action post-Pulwama attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he personally told the armed forces to make a plan to attack terrorist camps in Pakistan. I told the armed forces to make a plan, enough is enough. I had given them complete freedom, PM Modi said in an exclusive interview to Republic Bharat. He further added that he was fully involved during the Balakot airstrike.

Slamming the opposition parties for casting aspersions on Balakot attack, PM Modi said, they see statesmanship in Pakistan PM's statements and they doubt their own PM. The people should recognise these people.

When asked about Pakistan PMs charge that he doesnt take his calls, PM Modi said that Pakistan has always assured that they will take decisive action, but they didn't and therefore he now doesnt want to fall into their (Pakistan's) traps anymore.

Our fight is not with the people of Pakistan, our fight is with terrorism, PM Modi added.

The Indian Air Force struck at Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest terrorist training camp at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, using 12 Mirage 2000 aircraft supported by a fleet of Sukhoi 30 jets, a mid-air refueller and two Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), official sources said.

They said all the bases of the IAF have been put on maximum alert to deal with any possible retaliation by Islamabad to the strike, the first by the IAF inside Pakistan after the 1971 war.

The sources said the IAF jets used a number of laser-guided bombs, each weighing over 1,000 kg, to destroy the the JeM training facility in Balakot, around 80 KM from the Line of Control. The operation began around 3:45 AM and concluded by 4:05 AM while the actual strike lasted for less than two minutes. The aircraft took off from a number of bases, they said.
New Delhi:

Malaika Arora has taken some time off from her hectic schedule and is chilling in Maldives. According to reports, the actor and reality TV judge is all set to tie the knot with Arjun Kapoor in a Christian wedding on April 19. It is also being speculated that Malaika's vacation with friends is her bachelorette.Malaika took to her Instagram account to share smoking hot pictures from her beach vacation.



She captioned the post saying, ''When time stands still.a While many fans commented on the picture, it is the comment by Arjun which grabbed the eyeballs. He simply wrote ''Hmm.'' Commenting on a February picture of Arjun, Malaika too had written ''Hmmaa.A

Boney Kapoor recently cleared the air surrounding his sonas marriage to Malaika. Speaking to Amar Ujala, he reportedly said that there was no truth to such rumours.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 Times 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 donat feel comfortable talking about my personal life. And whatever my life has been, everyone is aware of it. I donat need to be talking about it. I am just enjoying my life - itas beautiful and precious.''





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New Delhi:

In one of the most sensational report that can change the perception about aerial dogfight over the Line of Control, a latest report by the Economic Times reveals that the Indian Air Force may have downed its own Mi-17 V5 over Budgam on February 27 last month. The report says that the fresh evidences point to a startling lapse of Identity, Friend or Foe protocol that could have led to the shooting down of the sturdy chopper. Seven people including a civilian were killed in the crash that took place in Garend Kalan village of Budgam at around 10.40 am on the fateful day.

It should be noted that the crash coincides with airspace violation by Pakistani fighter jets. As many as 24 Pakistani combat jets intruded into the India airspace on February 27 to take the revenge of the pre-dawn Balakot air strike. According to the Economic Times report, on that day, when the Indian Air Force intercepted the Pakistani intrusion, an air defence alert was sounded. The report says that a probe ahs been launched to determine the sequence of the events and how that stringent safeguards were overlooked. The report says that the top air force officials have indicated that court martial proceedings will be initiated against the person responsible for such a lapse.

According to the Economic Times report, an Israeli missile was activated after the air defence alert. It is yet to be established whether this missile downed the Mi17 chopper, which is generally described as a case of friendly fire in defence parlance. The report says that the chopper could have been mistaken for UAV sent by the enemy. Earlier, officials in Srinagar had described the downed aircraft as a jet. They said the aircraft broke into two and caught fire immediately. Interestingly, Pakistan had denied shooting down the chopper.

This is the same day when Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman had downed the Pakistani F-16 in the aerial dogfight that lasted for about 90 seconds. The events after the airspace invasion centred around Abhinandans captivity.

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New Delhi:

As many as two terrorists have been killed in an encounter with security forces in Sutsu village of Budgam district on Friday. There was heavy firing from both sides and four security personnel were injured.

On Thursday, one terrorist was killed in an encounter in Handwara area of north Kashmirs Kupwara district. The Jammu and Kashmir Police, Indian Armys 30 RR and CRPF are carrying out the joint operation. Earlier in the day, three terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Keller area of Jammu and Kashmirs Shopian district. CRPF, Army and Jammu and Kashmir police had launched a joint operation in the area. On Wednesday, terrorists shot dead a civilian in Kachdoora village of Jammu and Kashmirs Shopian district. He was identified as Tanveer Ahmed (24) from Bemnipora, Shopian. Police have registered case has been registered and an investigation has been started. Security forces have cordoned the area to nab the attacker.

On Monday, a terrorist hideout was busted in Jammu and Kashmirs Shermal Shopian. Incriminating material and other items have been recovered from the site, an official said. Hideout has been blasted so that terrorist can't use the hideout in future, he said. Jammu and Kashmir police has filed an FIR has and further investigation is going on, he added.



Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Sunday arrested three terrorists affiliated to the proscribed terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) near a check-point at Narabal on the Srinagar-Baramulla Highway based on a credible input. Incriminating material, including ammunition and live rounds, were recovered. The police have registered a case.

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New Delhi:

India on Friday backed the United Nations brand new French-drafted resolution that calls on nations to "ensure that their domestic laws and regulations establish serious criminal offenses" to prosecute those who collect funds or provide economic resources to terror organizations or terrorists. However, without taking Pakistanas name, India slammed its neighbour for backing terror outfits. Syed Akbaruddin, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, said that though New Delhi more than welcomes the resolution, more must be done about those backing terror outfits.

A

New milestone adopted by @UN to Counter Terrorist Financing.



Unfortunately, States who are apologists for terrorists will continue to provide alibis to justify their actions & inaction too - @IndiaUNNewYork

https://t.co/OeupspHS38#zerotoleranceforTerror#NoMoneyforTerror pic.twitter.com/vRNHdi86ku a Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) March 29, 2019

"Terrorists are going to be ever more creative in finding ways to violate the rulebook. Also, the unfortunate reality is that States who are apologists for terrorists will continue to provide alibis to justify their actions and inaction too, as was done by a serial offender earlier today," Akbaruddin said. "The proof of the pudding is in its eating, the utility of any council resolution will, therefore, be in its implementation...The Council can and needs to do a better job of overseeing the implementation of its resolutions relating to terrorist financing," he added.

The statement came after Pakistan on Thursday told its aall-weather frienda China to lift the technical hold on the United Nations listing of Masood Azhar - chief of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed - as a global terrorist only if India agrees to carry out a military de-escalation on the Line of Control (LoC), reports Hindustan Times. The other condition set by it is that Delhi should resume bilateral dialogue with Islamabad on all outstanding issues including Kashmir.

The development comes as China has indicated that it won't support the unilateral draft resolution circulated by the US to the UN Security Council (UNSC) to declare Jaish as an international terrorist.

Slamming Washington for its move, Beijing also accused it of abypassinga the UN 1267 Committee and eroding its authority.

The development comes two weeks after China put a hold on a proposal to list Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council, the US on Wednesday circulated the draft resolution to the powerful 15-nation Council to blacklist the leader of the Pakistan-based terror group and subject him to a travel ban, an assets freeze and an arms embargo.

UN sources told PTI that this is the "first time" the US, the UK and France have moved a draft resolution directly in the Security Council to designate Azhar. The previous have been listing proposals in the Sanctions Committee of the Council to designate Azhar.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi:

In a scathing attack at the grand alliance of opposition parties, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the 'mahagathbandhan', which is a 'non-bandhan', political circus and a recipe for chaos, exhausted the country over the last few months. Several political parties, mostly traditional BJP opponents, have come together to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the ensuing Lok Sabha Elections 2019 scheduled to be held between April 11 and May 19.

In a hard-hitting blog post titled A Political Circus Called 'Mahagathbandhan' on Facebook, Jaitley said the one thing which was rationale about the "mahagathbandhan" was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP were very strong and could not be challenged by individual party.

Stressing that Indians judge politicians by their merit and capacity and no longer by any traditional loyalty, the finance minister said, "We were promised a 'coalition of rivals' because India had to be saved. We were promised a common minimum agenda. Each leader amongst the aspirant Prime Ministers wanted to become a 'sutradhar' (anchor) of the alliance. He/she would periodically organise shows in his/her State and invite the entire bandwagon".

The blog, which is divided into into sub-heads, also accused the grand alliance over "The leadership tussle", saying, "The past track record of such governments in terms of policy, longevity and growth has to be borne in mind.

Read | Arun Jaitley terms Article 35A constitutionally vulnerable, says law hampering development in J-K

In opposition camp, Jaitley said there is a tussle for leadership as already multiple candidates have made their desire clear to take over the mantle of the leadership. According to him, each one of them is interested to see the strength of the other party's contender depleting and also have high hopes in a chaotic and highly hung Parliament.

"He/she believes that only in a chaotic situation he/she has a chance," said Jaitley, who is heading the BJP's publicity division of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.

In its last stanza captioned as Federalism and coalitions, the blog gave a remembrance of successful BJP-led alliances under late BJP patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that the size of the party and clarity on leadership in the last coalition was the reason behind a successful government under Prime Minister Modi.

Read | Congress dubs Arun Jaitley as 'blog minister', says Modi government uses his posts to hide failures

"Today you have no 'gathbandhan' let alone 'mahagathbandhan'. It is a 'non-bandhan'. You have no leader, no programme, no meeting of minds, Jaitley said, adding that "Stability, which is paramount, is a major casualty. The only thing in common is negative agenda 'remove one man'. It is a recipe for chaos".

The nominations for the first two phases of polling are over and those for the third phase are about to happen. The counting of votes for all the phases will be taken up on May 23.

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New Delhi :

In a big development, Westminster Court on Friday rejected fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's bail plea.A This is the second time when his bail plea has been rejected by the court. He will remain behind bars as London's Westminster Magistrate court has fixed April 26 as the next date of hearing.A In the next hearing, he will be produced through video conferencing.A

Indian agency officers were seen showing thumbs up and shaking each otheras hands after the judge refused Modi's bail plea, reports ANI.A A

While refusing plea of 48-year-old Modi, who faces the possibility of extradition to India, Westminster Magistrates Court Chief Magistrate Emma ArbuthnotA said 'no sufficient ground for giving conditional bail'.A

In the next hearing at London's Westminster Magistrates' court on 26 April, Nirav Modi will be produced through video conferencing. His bail application has been rejected by the Court today. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/XdM4Rg1Ehh a ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2019

"Nirav Modi's attempt to try and seek citizenship of Vanuatu shows he was trying to move away from India at an important time," said the judge.

Arbuthnot is the same judge who had ordered the extradition of former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya last December.

Earlier, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) - on behalf of Indian authorities a told the court that Modi threatened to kill an eyewitness and tried to bribe another Rs 20 lakh to evade arrest. The CPS also submitted the additional file of evidence in court.A A

Looking more dishevelled and dressed in a similar white shirt as his first court appearance last week, Modi was brought to the dock to be produced before Arbuthnot and sat behind a glass enclosure as the hearing got underway.

CPS barrister Toby Cadman told Judge Arbuthnot that there was a "substantial risk" that the prime accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud to the "amount of between USD 1 and 2 billion", would flee and attempt to interfere with witnesses and evidence.

"Given the nature and seriousness of charges and the resources available to him? there will be an overwhelming desire to flee the jurisdiction and interfere with the administration of justice," said Cadman.

Giving details of Modi's attempt to interfere with witnesses, the CPS barrister made specific reference to one such witness, Ashish Lad, who Modi "threatened to kill in a phone call" and also offered him an incentive of Rs 2 million to provide a false statement.

Nilesh Mistry and three other witnesses were similarly targeted by Modi and mobile phones and a server holding "material critical to the fraud" were destroyed at request of Modi, raising fears of further "destroying of evidence" if bail was granted, the court was told.

"Due to the nature of his business he has at his disposal diamonds, gold and pearls," added Cadman.

The court was also told about Modi's attempt to attain citizenship in jurisdictions less likely to be willing to extradite him to India, including Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean at the end of 2017 on the basis of a USD 200,000 investment. However, Vanuatu citizenship request was declined as a result of the ongoing Indian criminal investigation.

Modi's defence team, led by barrister Clare Motgomery, who was also the barrister for former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya in his extradition case - opposed the CPS claims of Modi being a flight risk and stressed that in fact Modi sees UK as a "haven where his case will be fairly considered".

With PTI Inputs

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Bengaluru :

A 29-year-old woman and her 8-year-old daughter died on the spot after a cylinder explosion during a film shoot in Bengaluru.A According to reports, the incident happened while shooting of the film 'Ranam' directed by renowned Tollywood director V Samudra.

The shooting was going on at the IT park near Bagalur police station.

Another minor also got severely injured in the blast and was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital.A

#Video | Exclusive visuals from the accident site in Baglur area of Bengaluru where a cylinder blast at a movie set killed two, including an 8-year-old. Watch video



Read full story: https://t.co/5Bd3HNoLhb pic.twitter.com/u7N5zDIyXf a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) March 29, 2019

"A cylinder exploded near Bagaluru police station limits earlier today, when shooting for a movie was underway at the spot," reports ANI.

The police, who rushed to the spot, two cars were supposed to collide in the shooting scene. However, it went wrong and two persons were killed.A

"The impact of the blast is very high as the bodies of the women were blown into pieces. Their identities are yet to be ascertained," a police official was quoted as saying by New Indian Express.

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New Delhi:

Surprise, surprise, the glower, cringe or uncomfortableness on your face when seeing someone eat mucus out of their nose might actually be doing their health some good. Call it unhygienic or a very nasty habit, one scientist adds that consuming the green gunk up your nostrils might be good for us. In case you havent tasted it, it somewhat tastes sweet according to the scientist who credits the sweetness of the mucus to be edible. So, the next time we see our kid plucking the junk of hideousness from their nose and shoving it into their throat, we might want to take a step back before we say stop.

According to the Huffington Post, biochemist Professor Scott Napper, from the University of Saskatchewan concludes that bogeys taste sweet so that people are encouraged to eat the by-product of the human body. Ive got two beautiful daughters and they spend an amazing amount of time with their fingers up their nose, he told CBC. From an evolutionary perspective, we evolved under very dirty conditions and maybe this desire to keep our environment and our behaviours sterile isnt actually working to our advantage.

Dr. Meg Lemon, a US dermatologist specialising in allergies and autoimmune disorders, also added her own theory substantiating to Professor Nappers hypothesis that bogeys are healthy. Talking to the New York Times this month, she said, You should not only pick your nose, you should eat it. Our immune system needs a job, we evolved over millions of years to have our immune systems under constant assault. Now they dont have anything to do.

Well, does that explain the nasty habit of eating bogeys because it is innately made to be eaten? You be the judge!
New Delhi:

Abdullah Khan, a 21-year-old engineering student from Mumbai will soon be making an annual package of Rs 1.2 crore at Googles London office come September. Khan, who resides in Mira Road is in his final year of BE in Computer Science at the Shree LR Tiwari Engineering College, Mumbai.

Speaking to TOI, Khan shared that the call was unexpected as he had not even applied for Googles jobs. He was, in fact, called by the company for an interview after they spotted his profile on a site that hosts competitive programming challenges. Khan, used to participate in such online programming competitions for the fun of it, I used to participate as it was fun. I did not even know that firms check programmers' profiles on such sites. I showed the email to my friend who knew someone who had received such an email in the past. I am looking forward to joining their team. It will be an amazing learning experience for me", he tells the daily.

The BE student is reported to have received an email from Google in November last year from the tech giant stating that they had seen Khan's profile on the programming site and are looking for eligible candidates for various locations across Europe. Khan underwent a few online interviews, and then he was called for the final screening in London in March 2019. He will now be flying to join Googles reliability engineering team in London this September.

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Beijing:

Defending its repeated attempts to block the listing of JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN, China on Friday refuted US allegation that its action amounted to protecting violent Islamic groups from sanctions. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday denounced China of its "shameful hypocrisy" toward Muslims, saying China abuses more than a million Muslims at home, but on the other it protects violent Islamic terrorist groups from sanctions at the UN."

Pompeo had said it in apparent reference to China's move to block India's proposal at the United Nations to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Azhar as a global terrorist. Reacting to this, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here on Friday that if that is so, the country that had put most technical holds in the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Security Council should have been sheltering more terrorists.

At the UN Sanctions committee, the practice of putting technical hold is in line with the rules of the Committee, he asserted.

Without directly referring to the US, Geng said, "If a certain country accuses China of sheltering terrorists by putting technical hold, does that mean all the countries that put such holds are sheltering terrorists? If this makes sense then shall we say the country that put most hold is the biggest shelter of terrorists??"

China has so far blocked the move four times in recent years. It recently blocked a US, UK and France resolution in the counter terrorism 1267 committee with "technical hold" saying that it provides time and space for the relevant parties to hold talks after the Pulwama terrorist attack.

Following this, the US has directly moved a resolution in the UN Security Council on Thursday to blacklist Azhar which China said amounted to undermining the 1267 committee.

Defending China's move to block Azhar's listing, Geng said, "China put forward a technical hold with a purpose of conducting in-depth assessment so as to give enough time and space for the dialogue and consultation between parties. China is in communication with all parties to seek a settlement through dialogue. We hope this will be a common goal of all the members of the UNSC".

Asked about Pakistan rejecting the evidence put forward by India on the Pulwama terrorist attack, he said, "The 1267 committee has detailed and clear stipulation and requirements on the listing issue".

"What China has done is in line with the requirement of the UNSC and rules and procedures of the committee. We are always working in a constructive manner and stay in communication with the relevant parties and seek a proper solution". "It is improper to reveal to you the detailed discussions," he said.

To another question whether China is preparing to defend its stand in the UNSC when the latest US resolution would come up for discussion, Geng said, China stayed in close communication with all parties on the listing issue. We will act in a responsible and a constructive manner to participate in the discussion at the committee. We also hope to work with various parties to seek a proper settlement to the issue, he said.

China on Thursday asked the US not to complicate the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by "forcefully moving" a resolution directly in the UNSC, undermining the authority of the UN's anti-terrorism committee.

"This is not in line with resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations. This has reduced the authority of the Committee as a main anti-terrorism body of the UNSC and this is not conducive to the solidarity and only complicates the issue.

"We urge the US to act cautiously and avoid forcefully moving forward this draft resolution," Geng said.

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Washington:

Chinese infrastructure and connectivity projects around the world have an element of "national security" and are less of an economic offer for host countries, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said as Beijing is gearing to host the second Belt and Road Forum. The One Belt One Road OBOR, also called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is a multi-billion-dollar project focused on improving connectivity and cooperation among countries in Asia, Africa, China and Europe. Pompeo Thursday told a Washington audience that China poses security threat to the US, its friends and allies.

Theyre moving into the South China Sea is not because they want freedom of navigation. Their efforts to build ports around the world arent because they want to be good shipbuilders and stewards of waterways, but rather they have a state national security element to each and every one of them, Pompeo said in conversation with Rich Lowry at the National Review Institutes 2019 Ideas Summit. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is no different, he asserted.

Weve said this every place weve gone, if you talk to any of our ambassadors or our charges, they will tell you we are happy to compete on a fair, transparent basis under rule of law with the Chinese anywhere in the world. Well win more than our fair share, but well lose some to them too, he said.

But when youre showing up with a non-economic offer, whether thats through state-facilitated, below-market pricing or handing someone something knowing that you can foreclose on their nation shortly, so predatory lending practices, thats not straight and we are working diligently to make sure everyone in the world understands that threat, Pompeo said.

India has been raising concern over the BRIs China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it is being built through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The 3,000-km CPEC is aimed at connecting China and Pakistan with rail, road, pipelines and optical fibre cable networks. India too cautioned specially the neighbouring countries about debt traps.

Apprehensions over the huge loans grew after China acquired Sri Lankas strategic Hambantota port on a 99-year lease as a debt swap. The world is waking up to this threat, the US secretary of State said.

I think Asia and Southeast Asia in particular are waking up to this risk, and I hope the State Department can continue to be a part of making sure that they see that, identify it, and that it becomes more difficult for the Chinese to engage in these practices, Pompeo said.

Pompeos comments came as China is getting ready to hold the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) next month. India boycotted the first BRF meet held in 2017 as Beijing went ahead with the CPEC with Pakistan.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told an annual media briefing here this month that the BRF meeting to be held in April would be bigger that that in 2017 with more international participation. Wang refuted the criticism from the US, India and several other countries that the BRI is driving smaller countries in debt traps. The BRI is not a debt trap that some countries may fall into but an economic pie that benefits local population, Wang claimed.

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Russia said yesterday its troops will stay in Venezuela for as long as needed, rejecting US President Donald Trumps demand that Russia remove its military from the crisis-stricken country. Russias weekend deployment of troops and equipment to bolster President Nicolas Maduro has ratcheted up already high international tensions over Venezuela where the Trump administration is pushing for regime change.

The Russian foreign ministry insisted yesterday the presence of its troops there did not pose a threat to anyone. They are involved in the implementation of agreements in the sphere of military and technical cooperation, said ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, adding they would remain in the country for as long as needed. Russia is not changing the balance of power in the region, Russia is not threatening anyone unlike citizens in Washington whom I have just quoted, she told reporters.

She was referring to Trumps comments that Russia has to get out of Venezuela as well as to statements by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Washington does not plan to negotiate with Maduro and wants to end Russia and Cubas influence on Caracas. The United States and more than 50 other countries recognise Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president while Russia, along with China, backs Maduro.

Neither Russia nor Venezuela are provinces of the United States, Zakharova said. Venezuelas military attache in Moscow also said Thursday that Russian troops were in the country under an agreement on military and technical cooperation and not to carry out a military operation.
Cubas love affair with 1950s-era American cars is still intact, but the communist-run island also has a lingering attachment to a stalwart of Soviet-era leftovers, the motorcycle sidecar. Ranging from rusting relics to the pampered and the pristine, hundreds of old motorcycle sidecars rattle through the streets of Havana. The retro appeal gets a lot of attention from tourists but here its common, normal, says Enrique Oropesa Valdez.

Valdez should know. The 59- year old makes a living as an instructor teaching people how to handle the sidecar in Havanas traffic, where riders seem able to squeeze the machines through the narrowest of gaps. And theyve built up an intense loyalty among the mendand-make do Cubans.

Theyre very practical, according to Alejandro Prohenza Hernandez, a restaurateur who says his pampered red 30-yearold Jawa 350 is like a second child. Cheaper and more practical than the gas-guzzling, sharkfinned US behemoths, the bikes are used for anything from the family runabout to trucking goods and workers materials. A lot of foreigners really like to take photos of it, says Hernandez. I dont know, I think they see it as something from another time.

Different world

Cuba lags several decades behind the rest of the world due to a crippling US embargo, so the makers badges on the ubiquitous sidecars speak of a bygone world. Names like Jawa from the former Czechoslovakia and MZ from the former East Germany, as well as antiquated Russian Urals, Dniepers and Jupiters. Havanas military acquired them from big brother Moscow at the height of the Cold War in the 1960s and 70s, for use by state factories and farms. Over the years, they gradually filtered down to the general public.

Thats how Jose Antonio Ceoane Nunez, 46, found his bright red Jupiter 3. When the Cuban government bought sidecars from the Russians in 1981, it was for stateowned companies, he told AFP. Later, the companies sold them on to the most deserving employees, he said. His father, who worked for a state body, passed the bike on to him. Even if the sidecar gets old. Ill never sell it because its what I use to move around. Its my means of transport in Cuba, and there arent many other options, said Nunez. Valdez himself has a cherished green 1977 Ural.

I like it alot, firstly because its the means of transport for my family, and secondly because its a source of income. And it costs less than a car, still out of reach of many Cubans. Settled on the island with his Cuban wife, 38-year-old Frenchman Philippe Ruiz didnt realize at first how ubiquitous the motorcycle sidecar was. When I began to be interested, I suddenly realized that I was seeing 50 to 100 a day!

Renovating a house at the time, he saw that many sidecars were being used to transport building equipment. Through an advert on the internet, he bought a blue 1979 Ural a few months ago for 6,500 euros. Its a year older than me and in worse shape, he said. Soon he had to strip the bike down and start repairing everything. With few spare parts available in Cuba, people have to bring them in from abroad, which slows down repairs. But he has no regrets.

An experienced motorcyclist, hes discovered a whole new side to his passion by riding the Russian machine. Its very funny, its a big change from the bike because we cannot turn the same way, we cant lean, so you have to relearn everything but its nice. Its especially nice with the family because you can put a child in the sidecar, my wife behind, and suitcases, he said.

In future he hopes to take advantage of the interest in the old bikes to rent it out. I think it will be a bit of a change from all the convertibles here.
Alexander De Croo is not a partner at BCG, a top global consulting firm. His wife is. Yet almost every time he accompanies her to a big BCG event, at least one person approaches the couple and asks De Croo which division he heads at the company. They generally ignore his wife - the actual BCG partner.

Even in 2019, De Croo says, the bias remainsthat men are leaders and women are not.

"A lot of people in western Europe and the U.S. think the battle is won and we have equal rights for women and men," he said. "But there are so many biases that push women down."

De Croo, Belgium's deputy prime minister, has spent significant time in developing countries in recent years asking leaders, "Where are all the women?" Research and history show nations that educate girls and have more women in the workforce do better economically, he says.

But he's asking the same question in Europe and the United States: Where are the women?

There are only 24 female chief executives among the 500 biggest publicly traded U.S. companies, up from 15 a decade ago. The political realm is a tad better: The European Parliament is 37 percent female, while women make up 24 percent of representatives and senators in the U.S. Congress.

De Croo says already slow progress is in danger of stalling. To address the inequity, he is turning to a controversial idea. He is calling on governments around the world to set quotas that require a certain percent of leadership roles to be filled by women.

"I agree we should take the best. We should stop thinking the best are only men," De Croo said in an interview with The Washington Post, shortly before his appearance at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, where he pitched his message that feminism is good for the economy, for women and for men. It's one he draws from his book "The Age of Women: Why Feminism Also Liberates Men," which is soon to be released in English.

His quota proposal has received blowback, from conservatives in Europe who argue there aren't enough qualified women in some fields and from free-market Americans who recoil at the idea of government interfering in hiring decisions, especially for private companies.

"Quotas are really difficult to justify in a competitive marketplace," said Donna Ginther, an economics professor at the University of Kansas. "We typically do not tell private-sector companies how to do their business. As long as they are not breaking the law and they are producing goods for market, we leave them alone."

Some also worry his plan to elevate women will backfire.

"Under gender quotas, women start to get regarded as less qualified," said Olga Shurchkov, an associate professor of economics at Wellesley College. "Having a gender quota could undermine the legitimacy of women who are trying to fight their way up the ladder."

De Croo is clear that even he, a socially liberal European politician, is calling for a quota only for government roles.

Belgium put a gender quota in place for its 1994 elections and expanded it in 2002 to require political parties to put equal numbers of men and women on the ballot. When the quota was introduced, 16 percent of Belgium's seats in parliament were held by women. Today it is more than 40 percent.

Eighty countries have a similar quota to Belgium's or outright reserved seats for women in the nation's legislature, according to the Gender Quotas Database project, a joint collaboration of International IDEA, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Stockholm University.

To De Croo's thinking, government should reflect the people, and half the population is female. Too often he says he's seen underqualified men selected for top posts while overqualified women either don't put themselves forward or get pushed to the side. He thinks quotas are needed - at least for a while - to force political leaders to recognize talented women who have been systematically overlooked.

A growing body of economic research supports De Croo's assertionthat prejudices - both deliberate and unconscious - play a role in stopping women from being promoted or selected for prime roles as often as men, even when they have similar qualifications.

"It's impossible for anyone to claim they are not biased," said Diane Lim, principal of District Economics Group and a former economist at The Conference Board, where she studied corporate diversity issues. "Humans have a tendency to see more value in a person and give them more opportunities when they remind you of a younger version of yourself."

The No. 1 pushback De Croo gets is from men who argue a quota would lower the bar and allow incompetent people to get government jobs or seats in parliament.

"Each time, I cannot believe my ears. Do you really think that there are not enough skilled women to be found?" he said. "Quotas have nothing to do with putting women in a situation where they don't belong. The value of the quota is to say to men, 'Try harder.' Talented women are there, but you need to do the additional work to identify them."

De Croo's message to Americans is if they don't want an explicit quota, vote for presidential candidates in 2020 who pledge to have equal representation in the Cabinet, a reference to the more than 20 posts like treasury secretary and defense secretary that are considered "Cabinet level" because of pay and significant responsibility.

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is mulling an independent presidential run, pledged this month that his Cabinet would "truly" represent America with "a greater share of women than any previous president."

Schultz is seen as a long shot candidate, but he could pressure others to make a similar vow, especially as a record number of women run for president.

President Donald Trump has five women at the Cabinet level. Barack Obama topped out at eight in his second term. George W. Bush's maximum was five, according to an analysis by the Center for American Women and Politics.

In Belgium, three of its 12 top "minister level" positions are held by women, similar to Trump's ratio. De Croo sees it as another sign of the enduring glass ceiling, even in a country with a growing number of female politicians in parliament.

"Only three Belgian ministers are women. That to me is undefendable," De Croo said. "I cannot imagine the next government won't have parity in male and female ministers - or something close to parity."

De Croo's call for a gender quota in the public sector but not the private sector is backed by a growing body of research, many economists said.

In 1993, Sweden's Social Democratic Party implemented a quota that required local branches of the party to alternate between male and female candidates on the ballot. In 2017, a group of economists from the London School of Economics, Uppsala University and Stockholm University published an explosive study showing what happened before and after the quota. The extensive analysis concluded that government improved because the quota caused highly skilled women to enter government and displace "mediocre male leaders."

While some fear a quota could encourage less competent women to get through, the evidence suggests the opposite happened. Experts who study gender dynamics in the office aren't surprised.

"We have ample research showing that generally men have to meet a lower bar than women to be assumed competent or to be promoted," said Jill Yavorsky, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who specializes in gender research. "Perhaps we should be asking how many unqualified men are making it to the top in our current system."

Several European countries have also enacted quotas requiring publicly traded companies to have women make up at least 30 to 40 percent of board members. (California recently passed a similar measure requiring publicly traded companies headquartered in California to have at least one female board member by the end of 2019.)

Studies of board quotas in Norway and Italy found that while more women joined, it did little to change the culture at the company overall or to help promote more women throughout the company's ranks.

"It's not like anything bad happened in Norway. Companies found qualified women to serve on boards, but nothing trickled down beyond that. Gender quotas on boards don't solve the whole problem," said Marianne Bertrand, an economics professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and lead author of the study on Norway.

Bertrand said that most European countries wanted to have quotas requiring close to gender parity at the management ranks of large companies but that the lobbying from the business community against it was so strong that governments backed down.

Most scholars interviewed for this article said that while they think there is a case to be made for quotas, they felt the U.S. government and American companies could start with less controversial policies to help level the playing field for women.

Nearly all agreed the United States needs paid parental leave and more affordable child care to alleviate some of the strain on working women. There are also many calls for mentoring programs, ending the gender pay gap and a cultural shift in which men share more of the work at home.

Lim said one of the most effective policies she has seen is when businesses force senior men to mentor younger women or minorities because it helps older white males see talent that doesn't look like them.

Yavorsky advocates for managers to be evaluated on whether they meet specific "goals" for mentoring and promoting women and minorities, putting real financial hits on those who fail to identify diverse talent.

"There's remarkable evidence that earnings for men and women move in sync up until the birth of a couple's first child. This is when women lose and they never recover," Bertrand said. "We have to make the 'penalty' of motherhood not so large."

De Croo says he wrote his book because his own thinking has evolved greatly on these issues and he believes men need to realize that advocating for better policies for women helps them and their organizations, too.

But he knows he hasn't won everyone over on his quota proposal. His wife, Annik, says he is "not a big fan" of mandates and favors goals instead.

"I don't agree with everything in the book but I'm incredibly proud he wrote it," she said. "Some people believe because he's a politician in Belgium I should live in his shadow. But we have made it clear that is not the case."
BROOKFIELD  For years, town officials and realtors had to convince developers the intersection known as the Four Corners could become a destination.

But nowthanks to new housing, shops and sidewalkssupporters no longer have to tell developers about the downtowns potential.

They can show them.

Brookfield Village, a mixed-use development that offers housing on the second and third floors and businesses like an ice cream shop on the first floor, has been open for almost a year. An Italian restaurant is coming soon, and two more Brookfield Village buildings are expected to attract more food, a salon and other businesses.

Three other mixed-use developments and a medical building have already been approved on Federal Road, with a supermarket and senior living facility also in the works.

When a new business comes in, it supports the existing ones and makes the area more appealing to potential developers, said George Walker, realtor for Brookfield Village and a longtime resident.

They all seem to feed off each other, he said.

He expects the area to become even more popular once the streetscape is extended. The town installed sidewalks and other amenities almost two years ago at the intersection of Federal and Station roads, but plans to extend this streetscape this summer to the Still River Greenway, a nearby paved path that saw nearly 198,000 users in 2017.

Its going to look like a real downtown, said Hal Kurfehs, a longtime resident and realtor working with a few of the developers. Maybe five years from now, maybe even less, itll start looking better. It looks better already.

On the way

A Food Emporium and possibly a Starbucks could be coming to the Brookfield Town Center, the official name for the area colloquially known as the Four Corners.

The businesses would go across from Brookfield Urgent Care and offer some municipal parking, which is needed downtown.

The Food Emporium is awaiting approval from the state for a curb cut before it can move forward, said Kurfehs, who is involved. Town officials have talked to the supermarket developers, but an application has not gone before commissions yet.

A handful of mixed-use developments are also on the way, but the town would like to see more on Federal Road.

The need for rental units is far outpacing the supply right now, First Selectman Dunn said. There is a lot of opportunity for mixed-use (developments).

Developments such as the 181-apartment The Enclave and the 120-apartment Renaissance were approved for Federal Road in 2016, but have yet to be built. Both buildings will have commercial space on the first floor and housing on the upper floors.

Builders behind The Enclave are still working on buying the land, but Kurfehs said he hopes this will happen soon.

The town also approved The Muse, a 112-apartment complex at 468 Federal Road, but developers need approval from the state traffic administration before they build, Kurfehs said.

The new developments show how the town is adapting to the changing times, Walker said. Across the country, young people, especially, are attracted to apartments, rather than buying homes, he said.

The Four Corners area is developing very much in line with whats going on, Walker said. We are a microcosm of whats going on in the United States.

The state is also planning a $6 million project to alleviate the bottlenecks on lower Federal Road, where popular spots like ShopRite and Chik-fil-A are.

A senior living facility has also been proposed on Federal Road, while a medical building will soon be constructed at the Schmidt Corn Field.

Branson Ultrasonics, a manufacturing company, is also building its $53 million headquarters in Berkshire Corporate Park. The company is expected to eventually bring $1.2 million in tax revenue to the town.

That is a huge home run for the town, said Jim Fisher, chair of the Economic Development Commission.

Town boards approved the Branson project in rapid time, which Dunn attributed to the new zoning regulations, which simplified the process. He expects these new regulations will attract developers.

Developers will see in Brookfield: We go there and very quickly we can get a yes or no and not spend a ton of money and build projects, Dunn said.

A true downtown

Town officials had long envisioned turning the drab-looking Four Corners area into what they called a true downtown, with sidewalks and New England-style buildings.

One of the first people to buy into the concept was Alan Rothman, developer of Brookfield Village.

The idea of making a downtown is fantastic, so we loved that idea, he said.

Two of Brookfield Villages buildings were completed around the time the streetscape was installed, with two more mixed-used buildings coming on Federal Road. Rothman also plans to build more housing behind one of the existing buildings.

Bobbi Jo Beers was one of the first retailers to move into Brookfield Village last June. Her Traveling Chic Boutique sells clothes, jewelry, gift items and more, often made by locals.

I knew Brookfield was kind of itching to support the downtown, she said. You really cant beat the location.

A couple of retail spaces are still available in the existing buildings, and Walker is talking to business owners who are interested in the upcoming spaces. He expects the outdoor patios to attract restaurateurs.

Those restaurants will be a boon to Mark DePaolis, who owns Rich Farm Ice Cream, one of the first businesses to open in Brookfield Village. His ice cream shop is already busy, but he anticipates it will become more popular once people can eat dinner and then come to his place for dessert.

People are going to keep walking as soon as theres more things to see and do, he said.

That has been a goal of this revitalizationto create a place where people walk around, dine and shop.

This is already starting to happen thanks to the sidewalks and the Still River Greenway, which opened in 2016 and has become more popular than the town expected.

For Kurfehs, who has lived in Brookfield for 42 years, these improvements are a source of pride.

With the downtown development, its giving us a more of a sense of place, he said. If you happen to live in a town that has no identifiable center, but then it starts to develop that, that gives you a better feeling for the town, a warmer feeling for the town.
Redding Elementary Schools International Festival returns this Saturday.

The event will run from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Redding Elementary School, at 33 Lonetown Road. It is run by the schools parent teacher association.

This years theme is One Town, Many Stories and features tables that share food and facts for particular countries. Each table is manned by parents and students.

There will be four new cultural performances this year, including Ginga Brasiliera performing dances of Brazil, Kahana Hulu will demonstrate Hawaiian dance, Li Liu will showcase interactive Chinese acrobatics and Sirius Coyote will play traditional and folk music of Las Americas.

The students will also sing in Spanish.

This is the first year the festival has offered so many performances, and its been made possible through the support, in both fundraising and membership, of the Redding Elementary School community, according to the news release.
NEW MILFORD  Mayor Pete Bass focused on bringing new businesses to New Milford in his second annual State of the Town address Thursday.

Never in my wildest dreams could I have predicted the collection of new businesses that now call or will call New Milford home, Bass told the 70 people in the audience  a mix of town employees, residents and local business owners.

He said reforming the Economic Development Corporation has helped expand the tax base and the new economic development director will continue to build on this success. He said the grant writing position has found other revenue sources.

Today, our town is making progress as our economy flourishes, Bass said.

Bass said the town has accomplished many of the goals set out in last years address.

In the past year, committees have looked at the condition of towns buildings, properties and fields and how they are used. Bass said the facilities use committee has forwarded 16 recommendations that will be reviewed. Creating a permanent municipal buildings committee is in the works. It will oversee large construction or renovation projects and ensure they stay on time and on budget.

We are developing a plan for facilities utilization that protects our investments in the short term and the long term, he said.

Residents adopted revisions to the charter in November. Many of these changes focused on aspects of the towns finances. The charter was last revised in 2006, though it is required to be done every five years.

The revised charter provides checks and balances, respects the will of the people and improves the structure of government, Bass said.

Fixing the roads was a priority last year, and Bass said it is the top priority this year. A permanent roads committee was created and residents approved $6 million for roadwork this year. Another big road plan is nearing completion.

This was great, but it wasnt everything, he said, of the roads completed with the first round of borrowed money.

Bass said they will build on these priorities, as well as address blighted properties, clean up the code of ordinances by removing obsolete ones and continue working with the Board of Education.

He said the town is wrapping up the 2020 Plan of Conservation and Development and the library project will move forward after voters approved it in the November referendum.

The town will work invest more in health care needs and public safety, including upgrading ambulance equipment and more patrol officers.

Bass said the town employees and volunteers rose to challenges  from the weather with last years tough winter and the macroburst in May, as well as from the state with funding cuts. He said they will continue to do so next year using innovation and optimism.

Ive never felt more strongly that New Milfords greatest days lie ahead of us, he said. Were a strong community with a powerful volunteer force tat is guided by a common faith in New Milford.

The full speech is available on the towns YouTube channel.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345
NEW FAIRFIELD  Starting Monday, Saw Mill Road will be closed for most of the year so the bridge over Ball Pond Brook can be replaced.

Built in 1929, the bridge was identified as functionally obsolete in 2013 by the state and federal transportation departments, requiring the town to replace it. The bridge has been under observation since 2005, according to the towns website.

Now, the plans and approvals are done and the $3 million project can begin, said First Selectwoman Pat Del Monaco. It generally takes that amount of time, she said. It wasnt an immediate safety issue. The bridge wasnt in danger of collapsing.

Construction is expected to last through mid-November.

The federal and state government are covering 80 percent of the project and the town is responsible for the remaining 20 percent. New Fairfield is covering its $608,000 share with the long-term capital plan funding.

The bridge has to be replaced because its not wide enough. The foundation is too shallow and insufficient for the velocity of Ball Pond Brook and the water flow has removed sediment around the bridges footings, Del Monaco said.

The bridge and the approaches to the bridge are too narrow for the high volume of traffic that crosses the bridge daily, resulting in an unacceptable number of motor vehicle accidents on or near the bridge, she said.

Del Monaco said the accidents were highlighted in the bridge report but didnt have the exact number. She said she didnt believe they were serious accidents.

Among the work planned is the addition of steel piles into the ledge to better protect the bridges footings from water flow. The footings, abutments and roadbed will be made of concrete.

During that time, traffic will be redirected through the center of town. The road will be closed from Pembroke Road to Route 39 or Wood Creek Road. Del Monaco said people will still be able to get to their homes on Saw Mill Road and to the businesses on Dunham Drive.

The fire departments dry hydrant next to the bridge will be removed during construction and reassembled after the work is done.

This is the latest bridge replacement in the area. Ridgefield replaced a few recently and New Milford is considering how to replace one of its worst bridges.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345
Norm Cummings / Norm Cummings

The Corporation for New Milford Economic Development has presented two more facade grants, this time to the New Milford Historical Society and Hello Studio.

The museum, at 6 Aspetuck Ave., received $2,500 for lighting at the entrance and for the flagpole.
Cathy Zuraw / Cathy Zuraw

Western Connecticut State University will host a forum, Scholars in Action: Acts of Violence, Acts of Grace, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Six faculty members will discuss their recent scholarly work.
The federal Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency has gotten overzealous in Connecticut, to the detriment of order and stability.

In recent days ICE began deporting a 34-year-old Hartford woman who has lived here since she was a child, is married to a U.S. citizen, and has a 15-year-old daughter born in this country. This is not the picture of someone who poses a threat to the security of our country.

Wayzaro Walton was detained by ICE agents and sent to Massachusetts for deportation because of her convictions for two non-violent offenses, the latest occurring seven years ago. But  and this is a crucial distinction  she was pardoned by the state of Connecticut. Her record ought to be clean.

In a clear overreach, though, ICE is not recognizing the full pardons because they came from the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles, not the governor. That is how pardons are done, by law, in Connecticut and we like it that way. The decision to grant a pardon is in the hands of a board that meets 12 times a year, not a single elected official.

The pardon board considers many factors, such as rehabilitation of the offender, severity of the offense, work history, character references, community service and consideration of the victim, if there is one. The States Attorneys opinion is weighed.

Yet ICE is not recognizing this involved process because it does not align with the narrow code that pardons must be executive, not legislative as in Connecticuts system.

Gov. Ned Lamont is standing up for his state. He wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Thursday saying: Failure by ICE to acknowledge the pardoning authority of the State of Connecticut creates an unfair and unjust result for the citizens of our state.

An individual granted a pardon in Connecticut should be considered the same as someone granted a pardon by a governor in another state. We urge you to give Connecticut pardons the respect they are due, Lamont wrote.

ICE is deporting a mother who has no criminal record in Connecticut. That is morally wrong.

We have no quarrel with federal agents deporting serious criminals, such as convicted murders, human traffickers or high-level drug dealers. Those offenders should be their priorities.

But in the past two years ICE has cultivated an atmosphere of fear by targeting people who may be in this country illegally for years, but otherwise are contributing to local communities. People have sought refuge in churches as ICE threatens to break up families.

Walton will be returned to England, the land she left with her parents long ago. While that is not a dangerous place, of course she would rather remain with her spouse and daughter.

Reason and recognition of state laws should prevail with ICE operations. Our country is not any safer by tearing apart this family.
We each have memories of past life events. The more meaningful or traumatic the event, the more likely were apt to remember it in exacting details. But what about those ordinary commonplace experiences we savor and wish we could hold onto how we felt, what we thought. Sadly, with time those ordinary experiences can fade away never again to be recalled or reflected upon.

The funeral we went to this past January was not a traumatic event, but it proved particularly meaningful. The day after one of my two daughters said to me, I know this sounds odd about yesterday, it was sad, but I had fun. The following day my other daughter said the same thing. My wife and I agreed.

What gave us each so much pleasure about saying goodbye to my wifes first cousin? With no fanfare Ponnie had given of herself endlessly to her family and, over the last 30 years, to the children and staff at the school where she worked. That was so noted in the eulogy and in the reception that followed.

But there was more to why my wife and two daughters felt so special about that last day with Ponnie. It took me more than a week to realize why we felt collectively the way we did. We had re-bonded as a family.

Of course, there have been other memorable occasions over the years. In the late 1980s we took a trip to Europe, even though plane hijacking was a common occurrence. I was confident we would be safe. And with lower fares to Europe and a discount from my employer, an international hotel chain, we decided to go.

I will always remember our Rome underground garage escape, a somewhat traumatic event. Unable to find the exit my family was becoming anxious. So, I gunned our rental cars gas pedal and screeched out through the entrance before the parking arm came crushing down on us.

Later, as we got off a tour bus, a New York Times correspondent asked to interview us. Because people fear flying, vacations to Europe had decreased substantially. The reporter wanted to know why we had made the trip. The following weekend she wrote an article, Americans in Italy Few but Happy. Its in the Times achieves online.

One is unlikely to forget about being trapped underground in a foreign country or the New York Times writing about ones vacation abroad. No more than one might forget particularly meaningful or traumatic incidents. We typically remember each of them vividly, detail by detail.

But how about those moments we want to savor where nothing unusual has taken place? It could be as simple as a family dinner. Or a childs innocent observation. With time, memories of the ordinary fade.

So how does one recall events in ones life worth remembering? I can speak only for myself.

Once, as a 15-year-old, I built a scooter. I nailed a wooden milk crate onto a block of wood and screwed roller skates under the 2-by-4.

Everyone in our neighborhood had one. And so, on a hot day on May 5, I decided to make a mental image of mine. The image of the month, day and year is as clear to me now as if it were yesterday with me racing down the street on my home-made scooter.

At that same time, I pledged to remember future specific instances. Perhaps a psychologist or a brain scientist can explain what prompted me as a teenager to begin snapping mental images. Or why my intentional recalling stopped at Camp Drum, N.Y., during two weeks of Army Reserve training decades ago. I have no rational explanation for either.

In retrospect, I wish I had continued taking those snapshots. Sometimes we let go of the best lessons weve learned in our earlier years.

A few weeks ago, the Westport Long Lots elementary school put on the play Annie. As we left the theater to go to our cars, my 11-year-old grandson, Jay, said to me, Could you walk me home Grandpa?

It was the most pleasant three quarters of a mile walk I have ever taken. The chance of my forgetting that is remote. But to be sure, I recorded our stroll in my collection of mental images.

Juan A. Negroni, a Weston resident, is a consultant, bilingual speaker and writer. He is the chairman and CEO of the Institute of Management Consultants. Email him at juannegroni12@gmail.com
Personal Injury Firm Diamond and Diamond represents victims in class action lawsuit

TORONTO, March 27, 2019 /CNW/ - Diamond & Diamond Lawyers LLP today announced the filing of a class action lawsuit against Natural Health Services Ltd. and parent company Sunniva Inc., as a result of a data breach of sensitive, personal and confidential patient information.

Natural Health Service acts as a conduit between physicians and patients seeking medical cannabis for treating various ailments. The organization's parent company, Sunniva, operates various cannabis subsidiaries in both the United States and Canada.

The data breach, which according to the defendant occurred "between December 4, 2018 and January 7, 2019", was only notified to affected Plaintiffs within the last calendar week.

"What is more integral than the preservation of our health information?" said Jeremy Diamond, Manager Partner at Diamond and Diamond Lawyers. "All individuals that filled out these online forms could be affected by this egregious breach."

The defendant acknowledges the following patient information was disclosed within the breach:

Diagnostic results

Health care numbers

Medical information including diagnostic results, medical conditions, allergies, encounter notes with clinics and doctors, referrals, forms and completed questionnaires

Specific identifying information connected to the above, including name, age, gender, address, phone number

The Representative Plaintiff for the class, Adele Worley-Burns, stated, "I was informed by my lawyer that this kind of a breach could possibly impact my insurance rates, ability to travel, and subject me to possible fraud. I feel violated on a variety of levels."

Diamond and Diamond Lawyers LLP believes that thousands of people may have been impacted by this breach and are potentially entitled to seek compensation. Any individual who has provided any personal information to Natural Health Services is encouraged to contact the firm immediately by calling 1-800-567-HURT (4878) or visiting www.diamondlaw.ca

About Diamond and Diamond:

Family owned firm has grown from 1 office in Toronto to 20 locations in a mere 5 years

to 20 locations in a mere 5 years Winner of 7 readers choice awards, 3 Year Winner of Consumer's Choice Award

Featured legal commentators on 30+ radio and television stations and print media

Sponsorships with Canada's biggest sporting franchises (Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Marlies, BC Lions, Calgary Flames, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Rock as well as OHL teams across Ontario )

biggest sporting franchises (Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Marlies, BC Lions, Calgary Flames, Senators, Toronto Rock as well as OHL teams across ) 2016 Leger Polling shows evidence of unparalleled brand awareness. Nearly 70% of GTA residents are aware of the firm with only 3% able to name a competitor

SOURCE Diamond and Diamond Lawyers LLP

For further information: or to request an interview please contact: Jordan Whelan at [email protected]
In 2016, the Independent Electricity System Operator awarded a contract to OPG and its partners to build Nanticoke Solar. OPG has a proud history of working in partnership with First Nations. This is our fourth First Nation partnership and it will further the legacy of producing more clean and renewable power for the province. PCL Construction was awarded the construction contract for the Nanticoke Solar Project on March 13, 2018. It was also awarded the supply contract for the project's photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and racking system.

Located near Port Dover on the shores of Lake Erie, the former Nanticoke Generating Station was first brought into service in 1972 and had a peak capacity of approximately 4,000 megawatts of power. The station burned its last piece of coal on Dec. 31, 2013. The following year, Ontario became the first jurisdiction in North America to eliminate coal as a source of electricity production. Demolition of the Station's powerhouse is scheduled for September 2019 and will be followed by site restoration in 2020.

OPG is one of the most diverse electricity generators in North America. It produces about half of the electricity Ontarians rely on every day, and its clean, safe, power costs an average of 40% less than other generators.

QUOTES:

"We've partnered with the Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, on this important initiative," said OPG's Mike Martelli, President of Renewable Generation. "Building and sustaining a clean, low cost electricity system is fundamental to a healthy environment and a strong, low-carbon economy. Nanticoke Solar is a continuation of OPG's rich legacy of generating electricity in this community."

"Investment opportunities, such as the Nanticoke Solar Project, are direct contributors to the Six Nations Economic Development Trust which provides critical funding used to address our Community's needs and priorities," said Chief Ava Hill of the Six Nations of the Grand River.

"We are committed to investing in sustainable partnerships that deliver not only economic benefits but also employment & training opportunities to our beneficiary  the Six Nations Community," said Hilary Visheau, Chair of Six Nations Grand River Development Corporation's Advisory Committee.

"The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation hail this partnership as an important economic development," Chief Stacey Laforme said. "This is a very positive development for MCFN. Gone are the days when our First Nation suffered the burdens of the development of our territory without sharing in the benefits. This project, along with others, sets the stage for future mutually-beneficial partnerships with OPG and others about developments across our territory. We look forward to working with OPG as partners in this project as it moves ahead."

"Our company takes pride in all of the projects we build, and the Nanticoke Solar Facility is one of many exciting PCL-built projects in the rapidly growing sustainable energy sector," said Andrew Moles, PCL Construction's Director of Solar. "Through the expertise of our solar energy team, and the relationships fostered with top suppliers and consultants, we were able to construct, generate and store reliable, renewable power quickly and efficiently, while ensuring the highest standard of quality for OPG, First Nations and the local community."

BACKGROUNDER: NANTICOKE SOLAR PROJECT

Nanticoke Solar Project:

In 2016, OPG and its partners were selected by the Independent Electricity System Operator to develop a 44-megawatt (MW) solar facility on lands near, and on OPG's Nanticoke Site.

Construction of the solar facility is now complete and opened on March 29, 2019 .

. Nanticoke Solar is OPG's fourth partnership with Ontario's First Nations. The Lac Seul GS (in partnership with Lac Seul First Nation), the Lower Mattagami River Project (in partnership with Moose Cree First Nation), and the recently completed Peter Sutherland Senior GS (in partnership with Taykwa Tagamou Nation) have all helped to produce more clean, renewable power for the province.

First Nations. The Lac Seul GS (in partnership with Lac Seul First Nation), the Lower Mattagami River Project (in partnership with Moose Cree First Nation), and the recently completed Peter Sutherland Senior GS (in partnership with Taykwa Tagamou Nation) have all helped to produce more clean, renewable power for the province. PCL Construction was awarded the contract to design, engineer and construct the Nanticoke Solar Project on March 13 , 2018. It was also awarded the supply contract for the project's photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and racking system.

, 2018. It was also awarded the supply contract for the project's photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and racking system. 192,431 solar panels span 260 acres on the shore of Lake Erie .

Nanticoke Generating Station:

Nanticoke Generating Station (GS) stopped using coal as fuel in 2013, having served Ontario for more than 40 years, providing reliable electricity when the system needed it.

for more than 40 years, providing reliable electricity when the system needed it. In April of 2014, OPG burned its last piece of coal to generate electricity in Ontario . This move away from coal was North America's single largest climate change initiative and the equivalent of taking seven million cars off the road. It also made Ontario the first jurisdiction in North America to eliminate coal as a source of generation.

. This move away from coal was single largest climate change initiative and the equivalent of taking seven million cars off the road. It also made the first jurisdiction in to eliminate coal as a source of generation. In July 2015 , the Nanticoke Generating site was safely closed while the switchyards at Nanticoke , operated by Hydro One Networks Inc., remain in operation as a significant hub for the electricity grid in southwestern Ontario .

, the Nanticoke Generating site was safely closed while the switchyards at , operated by Hydro One Networks Inc., remain in operation as a significant hub for the electricity grid in southwestern . OPG is in the process of removing buildings and structures from the Nanticoke site and remediating the former coal yard area. Site remediation work will be completed by the end of 2020.

site and remediating the former coal yard area. Site remediation work will be completed by the end of 2020. Demolition of the stacks occurred on February 28, 2018 .

. Demolition of the Powerhouse is slated for September 2019 .

SOURCE Ontario Power Generation Inc.

For further information: Ontario Power Generation. 416-592-4008 or 1-877-592-4008, Follow us @opg

Related Links

http://www.opg.com


MONTREAL, March 28, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Since 2012, Quebec has spent more than $220 million in subsidies to "encourage" the purchase of electric vehicles. This spending will continue, since the government has extended this program for two more years. Yet as the MEI has been saying for some time, not only is such a public policy very expensive, it also has very little impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Indeed, even if Quebec were to achieve its objective of having a million fully electric vehicles on its roads by 2030which is twenty times more than it has nowthis would only reduce our GHG emissions by 3.6% compared to the current level.

"It's a pure waste!" argues Germain Belzile, Senior Associate Researcher at the MEI. "And that's not including the $300 million in purchase subsidies that the federal government just announced, plus the hundreds of millions that Quebec and Ottawa are going to spend to develop the network of charging stations. All of this for a minimal result in terms of emission reductions."

Up until now, the $8,600 subsidy granted by Quebec cost taxpayers a little under $300 per tonne of GHGs not emitted. With the new $5,000 federal subsidy, the cost per tonne of GHGs not emitted jumps to over $450, namely 23 times the carbon market price or the federal tax amount.

"The cost of the subsidy is very high when you consider that in Quebec, with the carbon market, the cost to avoid emitting one tonne of GHGs is actually around $20," explains Mr. Belzile. "Think about it: You can choose between a cost of $450 or $20, for two policies that have the same objective."

Moreover, it must be noted that these funds largely benefit people who would have bought an electric car even without subsidies, and that these same buyers are part of the richest one fifth of society. Also, a non-negligible portion of subsidies are captured by automobile manufacturers in the form of higher prices, as shown in the United States by Tesla's recent price cut following the reduction of the federal credit.

All of these public expenditures are a pure loss: Studies predict that the prices of electric cars will be competitive with those of gas-powered cars as of 2024without subsidiesand that they will then continue to decrease, achieving parity before the end of the decade, with the cost of batteries continuing to fall.

"Our governments should eliminate the subsidy programs without delay, since Quebec and Canada have already set a price for carbon. And as argued by the latest economist to win the Nobel Prize, William Nordhaus, such a price mechanism should replace all subsidies that have the same goal. It's just common sense," concludes Mr. Belize.

The MEI is an independent public policy think tank. Through its publications and media appearances, the MEI stimulates debate on public policies in Quebec and across Canada by proposing reforms based on market principles and entrepreneurship.

SOURCE Montreal Economic Institute

For further information: Interview requests: Pascale Dery, Vice President, Communications and Development, MEI. Tel.: 514-273-0969 ext. 2233 / Cell: 514-502-6757 / Email: [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.iedm.org


Update: The National Womens Hall of Fame has responded to the Town of Seneca Falls threat to pull funding.

********

Seneca Falls is threatening to pull funding from the National Womens Hall of Fame over recently announced inductee Jane Fonda.

WHAM-TV reports Seneca Falls Town Supervisor Greg Lazzaro released a resolution this week to end the towns partnership with the Womens Hall of Fame. The 50-year-old hall was created in 1969 in Seneca Falls, N.Y., where the 1848 womens rights convention was held, and honors advocates for womens rights every year.

Jane Fondas actions of bringing medical supplies to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, deriding our POWs, and posing, and posing for pictures atop missile-launchers designed to shoot down American planes brought divisiveness to our country and to this day to our Vietnam Veterans and it is viewed by virtually all Veterans as treason to this country, Lazzaro wrote in the resolution.

Out of respect for the Towns many veterans who proudly served our nation any support for this outrageous induction choice should be vehemently opposed.

According to WHEC, the town of Seneca Falls says it has given $278,750 to the National Womens Hall of Fame since 2010 and has secured a $420,000 grant. If approved at a board meeting on Tuesday, the resolution will end any financial donations, cooperation and in kind services during all events associated with the National Womens Hall of Fame immediately.

Its unclear how much funding the hall relies on from the town.

Fonda was announced earlier this month as among the 2019 inductees in the Womens Hall of Fame, along with late Rep. Louise Slaughter, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, attorney Gloria Allred, civil rights activist Angela Davis, composer Laurie Spiegel, AIDS researcher Flossie Wong-Staal, and others. An induction ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 14 at the del Lago Resort & Casino in Tyre, near Seneca Falls.

Fonda, whose father was actor Henry Fonda, is an Oscar-winning and Emmy-winning actress known for roles in 9 to 5, Barbarella, Grace and Frankie, Monster-in-Law and The Newsroom. She also has Upstate New York ties, attending the Emma Willard School in Troy and Vassar College in Poughkeepsie; her mother, Frances Ford Seymour, is buried in Ogdensburg Cemetery.

But its her political activism that remains controversial, decades after she was nicknamed Hanoi Jane for sitting on an anti-aircraft gun in 1972 to protest the Vietnam War. While promoting her 2018 documentary, Jane Fonda in Five Acts, she apologized for her actions.

I am just so sorry that I was thoughtless enough to sit down on that gun at that time. The message that sends to the guys that were there and their families, its horrible for me to think about that, she said last year. Sometimes I think, Oh I wish I could do it over because there are things I would say differently now.
Senior Scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Yi Fuxian makes the case that Chinas nominal GDP will peak at 84% of the US GDP in 2033. He is the author of Big Country with an Empty Nest and claims that Chinas aging population will not be able or willing to innovate.

Nextbigfuture disagrees and believes that the will of Chinas leadership and population to adopt innovation and to make whatever changes are needed to cities and business will not diminish. I do not see how the aging of the next few years affects Chinas urbanization and the economic boost that will come from integrating into megacity regions. There is a related Nextbigfuture article about the ongoing process of integrating cities into megacities.

Chinas median age is forecast to increase to 47 by 2033 and 56 in 2050. In the US, the median age will be 41 in 2033 and 44 in 2050.

Nextbigfuture sees this aging population prediction playing out mainly over the next ten years. Will Chinas population that is heads to an average of six years older than the US have one percent per year slower catch up by 2030? I do not think there is a 1% per year innovation adoption difference with a population aging to 47 in 2033 versus one going to 41 in 2033.

China ended 2018 with 90.03 trillion yuan in GDP. The end of 2018 exchange rate was 6.8755 yuan to 1 US dollar but is now 6.7 yuan to 1 US dollar. China probably had 1 to 1.5% GDP growth in the first quarter. This means China has a GDP of $13.5 trillion and it is $14 trillion including Hong Kong and Macau. US GDP is at $21.0 at the end of the first quarter of 2019. China is at 66% of the US economy now. Pre-trade war Chinas currency was at 6.3 to the US dollar. If Chinas currency heads back to that level after a trade deal then China (with HK and Macau) could be ending 2019 with about $16 trillion in GDP and the US with about $22 trillion.

China Has the Will to Totally Change to Get Economic Growth

Chinas leadership and society is willing to do more things to achieve faster economic growth. China is willing and funding the integration of large cities into megacity regions. This is providing an extra 10-25% of GDP per capita boost. The US has this advantage over Europe. The US has been willing to do more than Europe to tear apart the old to make way for the new. China is willing to do more than the US to make way for the new and more productive.

Nextbigfuture believes effective antiaging technology will be emerging over the next few years. Even moderately effective antiaging will make people in the 65-80 year range much healthier and more productive. Japan, China, Europe and other aging populations will see a massive economic benefit from

Yi Fuxian Makes the Aging China Case

In 2010, China replaced Japan as the worlds second-largest economy. Many economists believe China will surpass the US as the largest economy before 2030.

The nominal per capita gross domestic product of China was just a sixth of Americas in 2018  a level similar to Japan in 1960, Taiwan in 1978 and South Korea in 1986. Japan, Taiwan and South Korea achieved annual growth rates of between 7 percent and 8 percent in over the two decades catching up from the one-sixth per capita GDP. Economists including Justin Lin Yifu, the former World Bank chief economist, have argued that China would go through a similar trajectory and the nation would be able to achieve a 6 percent annual growth rate from now until the 2030s.

The younger an economys population structure, the stronger its vitality for economic innovation. As the median age rises and the proportion of the population aged 65 and over increases then Yi is expecting Chinas economic growth rate might plummet.
Photo by Stacy Zarin Goldberg for The Washington Post

Natural wines, like any category, cover a spectrum. They can aggressively challenge our preconceptions of what wine should be, mostly in a reaction against modernity. Such wines are often cloudy and funky, "natural" in the way someone claims to be who refuses to bathe. Others are electric and compelling, demonstrating how a minimalist but meticulous approach to winemaking can give us exciting wine that expresses character and terroir.

Here are four wines that show that excitement. Our Greatest Value this week is a lithe, agile and vibrant cabernet franc from the Loire Valley in France. We also have a trendy trousseau gris from California, an even trendier petillant-naturel from Italy, and a skin-fermented chardonnay from the Jura in France, a region beloved of the natural wine movement for its oxidative style of winemaking.
WESTPORT  A Shelton man who formerly worked at Honda of Westport was arrested on numerous charges, including pocketing down payments, keeping an insurance check and even obtaining a car loan using his deployed sons information.

The defendant, Ryan Riggs, 40, of Perry Avenue, Shelton was released on $15,000 bond after appearing in Norwalk Superior Court this week. He is due back there on May 1.

Police said Riggs was arrested Thursday on a complaint filed Jan. 14, 2019 by the dealership accusing him of pocketing a $5,000 cash down payment on a car. Police also believe he cashed another check for more than $1,000 that another customer had given him also as a down payment.

They charged him with third-degree larceny.

While police were investigating this case they learned that Riggs was involved in a car accident in Ansonia on Dec. 4, 2018. At that time the car he was driving was owned by Honda of Westport and rear-ended.

Riggs told police he owned the car and gave them his personal information. The other drivers insurance company then sent Riggs a check for $4,353.55 which he cashed on Dec. 26, 2018 and kept the funds.

As a result he was charged again with third-degree larceny.

Police in Ohio also informed Westport authorities that Riggs son filed a complaint claiming his father defrauded him. The son said he learned on his credit report that his father obtained a car loan in November 2017 using the sons name and personal information.

As a result, Westport police added a second-degree forgery charge and third-degree identity theft charge to the pending cases.

Riggs is the second Honda of Westport employee to be accused of stealing from the dealership in the past year. Ivo Ivanov, 46, of Greenwich, was charged last August with two counts of third-degree larceny. Ivanov was accused of stealing more than $15,000 worth of customers down payments.
NEW HAVEN  A three-judge panel Friday found East Haven mother LeRoya Moore guilty on two counts of murder in the May 2015 deaths of her two children.

In a 30-page opinion, the judges rejected the claims by Moores defense team that at the time of the killings she was in a psychotic state and so lacked the capacity to understand the wrongfulness of her conduct and the ability to control herself.

The evidence clearly demonstrates that the defendants conduct in killing her children was intentional, calculated and the product of an organized and deliberate thought process, the judges said in their ruling.

Moore, 39, had acknowledged to psychiatrists hired by the state and the defense team that she killed her daughter, 6-year-old Aleisha Moore, and her son, 7-year-old Daaron Moore, four years ago in their house on Strong Street.

Moore told the defense-hired psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Amble, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, that she believed it was Gods plan for her she kill herself and her children in order to join God in Heaven.

Amble testified he had diagnosed Moore as suffering from schizoaffective disorder. He said she was in a psychotic state when she killed her children.

But Dr. Catherine Lewis, a professor of psychiatry at the UConn Health Center who was hired by the state to evaluate Moore, testified she concluded Moore has an antisocial personality disorder but was not psychotic when she killed the children.

The presiding judge for the trial, Superior Court Judge Elpedio N. Vitale, read a brief summary of the ruling during the hearing. The two other Superior Court judges on the panel, Brian T. Fischer and Jon C. Blue, said they agreed with the conclusion Vitale read.

Moores sentencing was scheduled for June 27. She faces a maximum of 120 years in prison  60 years for each murder count. The mandatory minimum sentence is 25 years.

Since being arrested June 10, 2015, eight days after the childrens decomposing bodies were found by East Haven police, Moore has been held in lieu of $2 million bail at York Correctional Institution. She was attired Friday in a white sweater, gray sweatpants and sneakers. She had remained stoic throughout the trial and showed no reaction to the verdict.

According to Dr. Gregory Vincent of the office of the states chief medical examiner, Aleisha died from acute intoxication of diphenhydramine, which has the brand name Benadryl, mixed with alcohol. Vincent said Daaron died from acute intoxication of diphenhydramine.

The judges said in their ruling they did not believe Moores claim she had drowned her children in a bathtub as a baptism so they could get to Heaven.

There were no drownings, the judges wrote. Both children were deliberately poisoned to death. These were cold and calculated acts.

Poisoning someone is not consistent with baptism, the judges wrote. Citing evidence Moore had researched on the Internet how much medication is necessary to kill a child, the judges wrote: It is inconsistent to claim you are baptizing the children while also spending hours researching how to kill them with medication.

They said the research demonstrates organized thought and the ability to engage in a multi-step process at the time shes alleged to be psychotic and in the midst of a religious delusion.

The judges also rejected Moores assertion she had heard the voice of God commanding her to kill herself and her children. The judges noted she never said this during the three years after the slayings and waited until the eve of the trial to make the claim. The judges also noted that none of Moores friends, family members or co-workers noticed any delusions on her part in the days before the children died. One friend described Moore as somewhat of a party girl who drank a lot.

Rather, there is explicit evidence that the defendant was angry at (her ex-husband) Michael Moore, the judges wrote. They cited what was meant to be a suicide note she left at the feet of her children, blaming Moore for abandoning her and their children.

The judges paid particular attention to a phrase in that note: Im numb and if I burn for eternity, at least Ill know why I deserve it. The judges wrote: This singular expression succinctly demonstrates the obvious appreciation by the defendant of the wrongfulness of her conduct.

The judges cited Lewis conclusion that Moore is smart, educated and hard-working; she worked two jobs and had purchased a house. The judges recalled Lewis saying this is not consistent with a person suffering from hallucinations and delusions.

The judges also noted Lewis finding that previous social workers and psychiatrists who had evaluated Moore before the killings did not find she was psychotic. But they did find she lashes out when she gets angry.

The judges noted a pattern of deceptions and falsehoods engaged in by the defendant at many times of her life.

Although there were no emotional outbursts in the crowded courtroom when the verdict was announced, Michael Moore gave other family members and Senior Assistant States Attorney Stacey Miranda big hugs afterward in the hallway.

There is some sense of relief, Moore said. Im starting to heal just a little. Its been a long four years.

He recalled happy times spent with Daaron and Aleisha, saying, They knew they were going to have a nice time with him.

Moore said of their deaths, It was such an unnatural act.

Marlon Graham, the father of LeRoya Moores elder son, now 21, said after the verdict: She did the deed; she cant get off scot-free. She should take responsibility for it. My biggest concern is my son, not having a brother, sister and mother. Hes hurting. Im just grateful I still have my son.

Senior Assistant Public Defender Scott M. Jones, who defended Moore along with Supervisory Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Bourn, said an appeal of the verdict is more than likely. But he said he and Bourn will need time to study the judges decision.

Clearly the defense is disappointed with the verdict, Jones said. We truly believed in our evidence and the expert testimony.

Asked how Moore was handling the verdict, Jones replied: She wants privacy for herself and her family.

New Haven States Attorney Patrick Griffin, who prosecuted the case with Miranda, said, Its a horrific case; were glad its over. Were preparing for sentencing. Our thoughts are with the two childrens family today.

randall.beach@hearstmediact.com
HAMDEN  The town has four weeks to find somewhere to house its abandoned animals.

In early March, North Haven gave Hamden notice that the town needs to move its animal control unit to another facility by May 1. So Hamden needs to find another partner or come us with the money to establish its own.

The local nonprofit Gimme Shelter has organized a monthlong restaurant fundraiser to raise money and awareness for a town-operated animal shelter as the move-out date looms.

Participating restaurants include JaSa Asian Cuisine, Le Petit Gourmet, The Playwright, Cafe Ibiza Tapas & Wine Bar, Aunt Chiladas Mexican Restaurant and Cafe Amici Italian Ristorante.

To support the fundraiser, patrons need to make a reservation at the restaurant on the participating day and present the Gimme Shelter restaurant fundraiser flyer with their bill. The restaurant will then donate 20 percent of the pre-taxed bill to Hamdens Animal Shelter Gift Fund. Flyers can be downloaded at abandonedanimals.org.

Its a Hamden event and we try to support everything local and community here, Playwright owner Eamonn Ryan said. Ryan said the dog park is not far away from his restaurant, which has been in the community for 20 years, and a shelter is something the community needs. Its a Hamden event and Im happy to be part of it.

Gimme Shelter founder Leonard Young said 100 percent of the money raised will go into the gift fund. Through similar fundraisers, Gimme Shelter has donated more than $8,000 in addition to having donated 50 Animal Shelter Gift Fund tee-shirts to the mayors office last July to be sold at $20 each.

We want to put a spotlight on this because animals have no voice, he said. Nobody can speak up for abandoned animals.

The spark to establish Gimme Shelter happened when Young learned of an incident across the street from his house where a man had abandoned 16 cats in his third-floor apartment on Augur Street in 2016. And in another incident, two dogs were found left in cages in the woods.

Its not so much about raising money than it is awareness, Gimme Shelter member Lisa Brank said The town being the size it is and lacking an animal shelter, showing support and getting this to come to fruition is really important.

A couple years ago, Branks son found two abandoned pitbulls but when they called Hamden Animal Control, the officer told them there wasnt space at the shelter and to leave the dogs there, Brank said, so her son took them in temporarily.

By putting on these fundraisers it gets us in the spotlight and hopefully gets the administration thinking about what were going to do, Brank said. I dont want to see it going to a quick fix, because thats what what happened in North Haven.

Hamden has never operated its own facility so for more than a decade, the town has run its animal control unit out of North Havens shelter.

The town rents seven cages at the North Haven facility and when Hamden exceeds that amount, roaming, unclaimed canines are brought to various shelters, including West Haven, Cheshire, Woodbridge and Wallingford. That takes animal control officers time away from responding to animal needs in town because theyre busy driving around, Young said.

Things are spiraling in the wrong direction, he said. A facility with only seven cages isnt adequate for Hamden so getting its own shelter is long overdue, he said.

Once the town has a location, building plans and a price, Young said Gimme Shelter has someone to write grants to support the building cost. Additionally, once Hamden has a shelter

Theres a big gap but failure is not an option, Young said. Every administration will do something symbolic that inevitably gets passed on. Were at a moment when the buck stops here.

Young said Gimme Shelters efforts arent about him or any individual volunteer, but about giving the project a voice.

This has had groundswell of support, he said.

People can also donate any amount made out to the Town of Hadmen  Animal Shelter Gift Fund and delivered to the Hamden Police Department at 2900 Dixwell Ave.

Fundraising nights

Wednesday April 3 - JaSa Asian Cuisine, 4 p.m. to close

Sunday April 7 - Le Petit Gourmet, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Legal Grounds, a local dog-friendly coffee shop next to Le Petit Gourmet will donate 10 percent of its proceeds that day to the gift fund.

Thursday April 11 - The Playwright, 4 p.m. to close. Ralph Santoro will be performing on acoustic guitar at the restaurant that night.

Tuesday Aprill 23 - Cafe Ibiza Tapas & Wine Bar, 4 p.m. to close.

Thursday April 25 - Aunt Chiladas Mexican Restaurant, 4 p.m. to close. Jon & Don from Creamery Station, will be performing on the deck overlooking Sleeping Giant that night.

Monday April 29 - Cafe Amici Italian Ristorante, 4 p.m. to close.

These other businesses will also be holding their own promotions to support the Animal Shelter Gift Fund in April.

Mount Carmel Veterinary Hospital, dog boarding and daycare The Barking Lot, affordable custom framing business Framed, Merryfield Veterinary Hospital, Books & Company, Spring Glen Veterinary Clinic, MiKro Beer Bar & Restaurant and canine training center Paws N Effect.

mdignan@hearstmediact.com
When Sarah Tigrett first saw objects moving on their own inside her popular Berlin restaurant, Ramen-Ya, she thought she was going a little crazy.

But after reaching out to a paranormal investigation team recently, Tigrett learned her mind wasnt playing tricks on her, but rather, she has a friendly ghost haunting the place named Ben.

Tigrett opened the Japanese restaurant at 1128 Farmington Ave. in Berlin in January 2017. Not long after opening, Tigrett noticed some unusual things, often between 1 and 4 a.m., and caught on surveillance cameras.

First, there were heavy bags of flour seemingly moving on their own. Then a mallet flew across the dining room and a pair of tongs rotated in the air and fell to the ground. Another time, doors were seen closing by themselves. But Tigett really became concerned when she saw what appeared to be a mans legs, wearing work boots and standing behind some boxes, after closing up one night. She was convinced an intruder had gotten inside the building, but after searching the area, she realized the doors were still locked, and nobody could have gotten in.

Thats when Tigrett decided to enlist the help of CT Spirit Investigators & Researchers, who conducted a paranormal investigation at Ramen-Ya last month.

At first I thought that maybe I was going crazy, Tigretti said, noting the towns fire marshal suggested she contact a paranormal team, after reviewing her videos. I looked for a team that had a lot of experience and would also not try to make the spirit go away since hes my friend.

Rose Porto, founder and head investigator at CT Spirit, and her team spent the night at Ramen-Ya on Feb. 23 and when all the mist, shadowy figures and orbs cleared, determined the restaurant definitely is haunted.

The owner, Sarah, contacted me, and she wanted confirmation her restaurant was haunted and wanted to know about who the ghost was, said Porto.

Porto, whos been investigating paranormal activity for more than 20 years, founded CT Spirit in 2003 to help people find answers and get help for unusual happenings in their homes or businesses, in an effort to educate and alleviate fears.

In the case of Ramen-Ya, Tigretts suspicions that shes not alone, especially after hours, were confirmed by Portos team.

During the investigation my team and I had numerous experiences, Porto said We saw a mans shadow in the kitchen area, on several occasions; we caught flying energy balls of light, on our night video cameras; we got intelligent responses from (our ghost box) giving us the name Ben and confirming that he was a worker from the area.

Porto said historical data shows at one time the area was alive with blacksmiths, farms and mills, where Ramen-Ya is situated. According to town records, the building was built in 1963 and several other businesses occupied the space, including a European deli.

The spirit told us through our devices that he liked Sarah and was there to help her work, Porto added. We had asked the spirit to make our Rem-Pod (a ghost detecting device that radiates its own electromagnetic ring) to go off. At one point it was beeping for a full six minutes.

Tigrett spent the night with the team, and couldnt believe the amount of activity that occurred.

Aside from the crazy amount of orbs that we were picking up on the cameras, we could actually see a mist manifest and block out a grid light system that was set up to see if anything materialized, said Tigrett. We also heard (Bens) voice. The part that made me think it was all real was when they used the spirit box and he was answering every question and stated that his name was the nickname we gave him in the restaurant, Ghost-Kun.

Tigrett said Ben actually has been good for business, with a lot of regular customers inquiring about new sightings or events. Several customers have claimed to have witnessed weird things at Ramen-Ya, including a music box playing, feeling of being watched and a mans figure. And since CT Spirits investigation, Tigrett no longer is fearful of the shadowy man hanging around.

I personally like having him around and think hes good luck, she said.

Porto said she knows people can be skeptical about the paranormal, and she agrees that the unexplained should be left alone.

But when people are being terrorized in their own homes, by something they cannot see, and children and pets are being physically hurt by unseen forces, they need people like us who will go into these places, and figure out how to help them take control and take back their lives and homes.  Not all hauntings are friendly, some are truly evil, Porto said.

Portos team has investigated numerous homes, businesses and historical sites in Connecticut and along the East coast.

The team is planning a second investigation at Ramen-Ya on April 6.

A video taken by the team of a bag of flour appearing to move on its own at Ramen-Ya can be viewed at https://bit.ly/2UnfHFy.

jean.sos@snet.net
NEW HAVEN  Two days after he went through a tough confirmation process, David Lehman was in New Haven comparing the city to San Francisco with its drawing power for startups and biotech companies, but at a fraction of the cost.

He sees the state forming a partnership with the cities and the private sector to keep this kind of growth increasing. He said he plans to market Connecticut along these lines, particularly around its educated workforce.

When I think of priorities from my perspective ... the cities are crucial. Having a long-term plan whether that is 20 to 25 years for our cities to grow, to make sure they are places where people want to live, work and play, is crucial, Lehman said on week six of his tenure as the head of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

Lehman addressed representatives from area companies, including Yale New Haven Hospital, and city officials at an impromptu news conference after a whirlwind tour of The District, the co-working and startup space on James Street that is filled less than a year after it opened.

He said The District represents the future with its amenities, a range of work spaces for new and old companies and an atmosphere where ideas are shared among entrepreneurs, young and established.

I think it is important for Connecticut to compete in these kinds of environments, Lehman said. This is definitely the future, he said as the tour passed groups of people at a regularly scheduled hack-athon at The District in a tour lead by David Salinas, its co-founder and CEO.

Lehman promised to help with infill development, including brownfield remediation and planning money for the cities.

It is incredible how vibrant New Haven is right now, but I think we want to continue to build on that, Lehman said.

He said cities are his No. 1 priority. Cities are economic growth engines, the new commissioner said, mentioning Bridgeport and Hartford, as well as New Haven  a theme pushed by Gov. Ned Lamont in his run-up to the election in November.

Lehman toured New Haven neighborhoods with Mayor Toni Harp and representatives of her administration before coming to The District, where he also said he wants to see continued growth where New Haven already has a competitive advantage, such as in the life sciences.

The commissioner said he wants to make sure the businesses that come out of Yale University and New Haven want to stay here and grow indefinitely, rather than leaving for New York and Boston.

One thing the businesses always mention is a more robust Tweed New Haven Regional Airport and Lehman joined that chorus.

He also referred to Lamonts plan for Metro-North Railroad to work efficiently and effectively.

Shortly after this, the governors office put out a release on the loss of a major transformer Thursday night that is forcing the commuter rail line to operate at 50 percent of its normal electrical powers. The loss is expected to cause delays over an extended period of time until the made-to-order replacement equipment is in place.

Lamont said the failure is emblematic of why the state needs to take proactive steps to modernize Connecticuts aging infrastructure. It comes as lawmakers are in the middle of discussions on tolls and transportation funds to fix its crowded roads and deteriorating bridges.

Lehman said transportation and continuing to attract talent in STEM fields is important, as is finding trainers such as the Holberton School, where software education is peer-to-peer with a job promise at the end of course. Holbertons first class currently is in place at The District.

Harp and her development staff were taking Lehman to Union Station to pitch their vision of development there, rather than a garage it feels will be obsolete in the not-too-distant future.

The mayor said Lehman promised city officials he would arrange for a meeting between them and the new head of the state Department of Transportation on the issue.

We hope to encourage him to view it in the way we do. ... We will sit down and we will make sure that transportation and economic development are working together, Harp said.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577
A 55-year-old Florida man accused of installing a hidden camera in a family friends home and watching them on his phone was arrested and charged Wednesday.



Terry Sumner plugged the camera into a wall outlet in the living room of the home sometime last year, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office.
NEW HAVEN  Firefighters Gerard Bellamy and Joe Sullo were promoted Friday, stepping into the Board of Fire Commissioners conference room to swear the oath, then out into the packed hallway where they were greeted with hearty handshakes, smiles and congratulations from fellow firefighters.

Bellamy rose to the rank of captain, succeeding the recently retired Seamus Bohan. Sullo was promoted to lieutenant. Both are city natives, they said.

Bellamy, 48, said he joined the Fire Department in 2008 after serving in the Marine Corps. He said the honor in it  the chance to take care of the community  attracted him to the profession.

Its the best job in the world, said Bellamy. When you go to people(s) homes and youre out there helping people, its a great feeling, its a humbling feeling. Its something that, once you get a taste of, its something you dont want to stop.

Sullo, 33, said he has been a firefighter for approximately five years. The chance to get out in the city, have a job of which he could be proud and help people drew him to the work, he said.

He has roots in New Haven, he said  his parents and grandparents are from New Haven; he grew up here through most of his life.

I feel very good about the whole situation. Im looking forward to serving the city in a new role, and embracing it  and working with the men and women of the New Haven Fire Department, said Sullo. Once you do it and get involved in (this profession), its the greatest career in the world.

Frank Ricci, president of New Haven Fire Union Local 825, said both Bellamy and Sullo had distinguished themselves with their commitment to the community and fellow firefighters.

Ricci said he had the honor of training both men as firefighters.

Capt. Bellamy was a United States Marine who went through the academy a little bit later, but distinguished himself as a quiet professional. Hes a great firefighter, and he touches the community on every call that he goes on, said Ricci. (Sullo) has demonstrated a commitment to the community and distinguished himself on the truck company in the Fair Haven section of the city, truck three. ... Its a proud day to see both of them promoted.

In their new roles, both Bellamy and Sullo will take on additional management responsibilities, Fire Chief John Alston Jr. said.

Alston said going from a firefighter to a first-line supervisor, as Sullo is now doing as he rises to lieutenant, takes you from buddy to boss, as you oversee firefighters on an apparatus.

Captains, responsible for houses or an apparatus within each of the citys two battalions, do similar work to lieutenants, he said, but with a more administrative focus, overseeing more people with a greater level of responsibility.

Alston described both Sullo and Bellamy as fantastic members of the department.

The promotions represent the departments commitment to a succession plan, he said, allowing firefighters to rise through the ranks as retirements occur.

We have a succession plan in the city of New Haven, and we are ensuring through the testing process and observation process that we are getting qualified members to replace (retirees), said Alston.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
I have worked with young people in Connecticut my entire adult life as a high school history teacher, director of marine biology, archaeology/native culture and bird identification camps at the Milford Marine Institute, Inc., and most importantly, as a parent and grandparent.

I care about the teens and preteens of Connecticut. Today, I am very distressed as I see my own party, the Democratic Party, pushing the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. My common sense tells me that this is terribly wrong for many reasons. Our current Democratic governor and a few mostly young Democratic politicians from the New Haven and Hamden area are pushing this issue at a time when Connecticut is facing an opioid, heroin, alcohol, and vaping crisis.

Now why are they doing this? Though they claim it is for past inequities, Connecticut taxpayers know it is being promoted for one reason and one reason only and that is money. The politicians claim that it will bring in even more revenue than a group such as S.A.M (Smart Approaches To Marijuana) estimates at $113 million. Others have calculated that the costs in increased auto accidents, work place production declines, absentee employees, school suspensions, and increased number of addicted individuals at some $216 million (Smart Approaches To Marijuana).

In September, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Bob Troyer, wrote in the Denver Post that Colorados youth use marijuana at a rate 85% percent higher than the national average. Marijuana related traffic fatalities are up by 151% according to Troyer and he states Colorados black market has actually exploded after commercialization.

We know that these few Connecticut politicians have proposed excise taxes on marijuana anywhere from 10 percent to as much as 23 percent, which with our normal tax rate of 6.35 percent will bring the rate to 16.35 or 29.35 percent. It is common sense to imagine that a black market will evolve as it has in Colorado because of the high cost of the product. Troyer has stated that Mexican cartel growers have polluted Colorados water and soil with nerve -agent pesticides. (Denver Post, Sept. 28, 2018)

It has been widely reported in the major media that emergency room visits, hospitalizations, overdoses and even suicides have risen in Colorado since legalization. (Center for Arizona Policy, Dec. 13, 2017)

Why would Connecticut legalize marijuana for recreational use when the Connecticut Association of Police Chiefs have opposed legalization and American Auto Association representative Amy Permenter has testified repeatedly that there is no way to determine recent marijuana use from actual impairment. Police officers around the state agree and have testified so.

Physicians have spoken repeatedly about the harm to developing brains from marijuana use. Others have testified to harmful impacts on other organs and respiratory, endocrine, and reproductive systems. The book, The Real Marijuana Danger by Malcolm E. Smith documents hundreds of impacts both physically and mentally from marijuana use. One example: Dr. Robert C. Peterson of the National Institute on Drug Abuse quoted a study that found smoking four joints per week decreased vital capacity (amount of air the lungs can exhale following a deep breath) as much as smoking nearly a pack of cigarettes a day. (Peterson of the National Institute on Drug Abuse quoted on page 89 of the Real Marijuana Danger by Malcolm E. Smith)

Think about the insidious nature of putting marijuana in cookies, candies, and all kinds of other products such has been done in Colorado. Do we really think that the Connecticut politicians can keep lobbyists (some national) from promoting these products and being able to keep laced treats out of the hands of our Connecticut kids? Why would we gamble with the lives of kids not even born yet? Guilford teens spoke on January 23 of this year and were very clear. Legalization they said would sanction drug use for those kids who reason that if adults legalize marijuana, then how bad could it be? They will experiment where today they do not. A percentage will become addicted, according to experts.

My wife tells me the fix is in and nothing that I or the many mayors such as Wallingfords or North Havens, state representatives, coalitions, such as the Coalition For A Better Wallingford can do about it. If this is true, that is enough of a reason to oppose this experiment. Why would anyone gamble with the health of our citizens? To do so is immoral. Shame on the few politicians, mostly Democratic, pushing this new scourge on the good people of Connecticut. Connecticut, the Provision and Constitution State, has the opportunity to become the Health State and become the firewall to those determined to copy the ways of Pleasure states such as Colorado. Colorado has shown us exactly what not to do to our young people. Democracy as we all know requires a vigilant populace  not a pleasure seeking one.

Timothy P. Chaucer is director, Milford Marine Institute, Inc. and a retired American history teacher.
Newsfrom Japan

Tokyo, March 28 (Jiji Press)--Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin on Thursday expressed Moscow's concern over the U.S. military presence in the Asian country.

U.S. forces in Japan would remain a threat to Russia's national security interests no matter which part of Japan they are deployed, Galuzin told a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.

Russia is apparently concerned that if northwestern Pacific islands at the center of a longstanding territorial row between Tokyo and Moscow are handed over to Japan as a result of bilateral talks on the islands and the conclusion of a peace treaty, the U.S. military would move to deploy its troops on the islands, located off the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido.

Galuzin's remarks suggested that Russia is also worried about the presence of all U.S. troops stationed in Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been reported to have told Russian President Vladimir Putin that there will be no possibility of U.S. forces being deployed on any of the islands even if they are returned to Japan, sources familiar with the matter said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
A Cape May-Lewes Ferry vessel carrying 143 people across the Delaware Bay was stranded Friday afternoon, leaving potential passengers to look for other ways to travel across the body of water.

According to Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) spokesman Jim Salmon, the MV New Jersey, which left Cape May at 1 p.m., suffered an engine malfunction to its starboard (right) engine while crossing the Delaware Bay.

Salmon said the New Jersey captain turned the boat around to go back to Cape May. However, because one of the engines was malfunctioning, it affected the ships ability to maneuver the boat around the docks. The crew and passengers waited for a tugboat from Northstar Marine to assist the vessel. The ship was able to return to the dock around 3:15 p.m.

Travel Advisory: Due to a mechanical issue, this afternoon's 2:45pm Lewes departure will be consolidated into the 4:15pm... Posted by Cape May - Lewes Ferry on Friday, March 29, 2019

While waiting to be towed back to Cape May, the 143 passengers onboard received free refreshments, and all customers received a voucher for a future trip on the ferry.

We worked to accommodate as many as we could for the 6 p.m. departure leaving Cape May, Salmon stated. Some people decided to take a trip another time. For those, who needed to get across, we accommodated those individuals.

DRBA marine mechanics are working on the boat. Salmon says the DRBA is hoping to have the New Jersey repaired in time to be in operation tomorrow. The DRBA is recommending anyone looking to travel tomorrow to call the Cape May-Lewes Ferry reservation office to verify that the ship is operating.

Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips
The father of a man killed when he crashed his car following a police chase claims in a lawsuit that authorities pursued his son out of anger because of previous incidents.

Devonte Brooks, 21, of Millville, died Jan. 13. 2017, when his Lincoln Continental slammed into a utility pole on Route 49 in Bridgeton.

Troy D. Brooks is suing the New Jersey State Police and the City of Bridgeton over his sons death, claiming that they should have broken off the pursuit in which he says speeds exceeded 100 mph.

Bridgeton Police had issued a bulletin earlier that evening indicating that a Continental had struck a police officer and fled. The officer was treated for minor injuries.

A state trooper spotted a car matching that description and tried to pull it over, according to previous reports. After a short pursuit, the trooper broke off the chase when he lost site of the car, police said at the time.

Bridgeton Police reported to state police a short time later that the car had crashed.

Brooks says in his suit that his son had also eluded police when he was pulled over for a traffic stop a week or two before the crash and that these encounters led police to act recklessly on the night his son died.

The father describes officers as hostile when he arrived at the crash scene, saying a trooper spit at Plaintiffs feet and told him that his son should have just stopped. When the father asked another trooper why they didnt break off the high-speed chase, he says he was told, We dont have to call nothing off.

Brooks calls the pursuit retaliation for the earlier incidents.

Defendants pursued decedent and drove him to his death by initiating, continuing, and/or by not terminating a dangerous high-speed chase, the suit alleges.

Brooks claims his son was subjected to excessive and deadly force by the pursuing officers and that his constitutional rights were violated.

The Cumberland County Prosecutors Office reviewed the crash, according to the suit, and told the state police in April 2017 that it was closing the case and that no additional investigation was necessary.

County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae referred questions about the case to the state police on Thursday.

Brooks and his attorney were provided only with a crash investigation report when they requested materials relating to the investigation from the state police. They had also sought radio transmissions and video footage, according to the suit, but those have not been turned over.

One reason given for the denial was that the case was still pending, the suit states.

State police officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips.

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The man in these surveillance photos is wanted as a person of interest in connection with the murder of an 18-year-old earlier this month.

The Essex County Prosecutors Office said Friday theyre looking for the man in the investigation of the murder of Deante Barr, who was killed around 10 p.m. March 17 at No. 1 Chinese Restaurant in Newark.

Police said a man fired several shots and the outer window of the store on South Orange Avenue was struck with six bullets. Barr was taken to University Hospital and pronounced dead at 10:57 p.m.

Its not clear if Barr was the shooters intended target or what led to the shooting. No one else was injured.

Anyone who can help identify the man in the photos should contact the prosecutors office tips line at 1-877-847-7432. All callers are kept anonymous.

-This story contains information from The Associated Press.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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A killer who shot his victim multiple times as the man crawled under a car in an attempt to escape the heinous attack in West Orange was sentenced Friday to life in prison.

An Essex County jury in February convicted Zaki Jones of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and weapons offenses following a month-long trial for the Dec. 17, 2015 slaying of Naji Everett, 26, of Orange.

Jones was on parole at the time of the Joyce Street murder after serving a 14-year term for carjacking, officials said. Citing his lengthy rap sheet and the brutal crime, Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab asked the judge to impose an extended prison term on the 36-year-old.

This defendant has had chance after chance to change his ways. He has continued to escalate the number of crimes he committed, and the level of violence associated with those crimes, until he got to murder, said Edwab, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor Sam Hanna.

This sentence will hopefully give the Everett family some form of closure and give the citizens of West Orange relief that Zaki Jones can no longer commit a violent act while out in the community, Edwab added in a statement.

Superior Court Judge Verna Leath granted the states request for an extended term of imprisonment, the prosecutors office said. Leath noted Jones attitude during a police interview when investigators showed him a photo of the victim.

People die all the time, the murderer was quoted as saying in response.

Under New Jersey law, Jones, of Newark, must serve at least 63 years in prison before he is eligible for parole, according to the prosecutors office. He has 19 prior arrests as an adult.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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A Jersey City natives artwork made it all the way to Hong Kong this month, and it was definitely hard to miss.

The artist KAWS, Brian Donnelly, created a giant inflatable art piece to reside in Victoria Harbour as part of the citys annual Hong Kong Arts Month during March.

The 121-foot-long piece, titled KAWS: Holiday, features the artists signature character Companion in a relaxed, reclined position, making it Donnellys largest reclined sculpture, Business Wire reported.

I wanted to create a work that was really about just relaxing -- taking time for yourself and just laying down and looking up, Donnelly told CNN.

But it seems like Mother Nature thinks Companions chill time is up.

While the sculpture was intended to be displayed March 22-31, its swim was curtailed by two days on Thursday due expected bad weather that could harm the structure of the art piece, announced Lam Shu-kam, creative director of AllRightsReserved, the Hong Kong-based curator of the art project.

In view of the upcoming unstable weather over weekend forecasted by Hong Kong Observatory, its time for KAWS: Holiday to say goodbye to all (March 29), to avoid any unnecessary circumstances of KAWS: Holiday, as well as to ensure the safety of marine staff, Shu-kam wrote in a Facebook post.

The sculpture will be towed back to the shipyard on an island in Hong Kong until it travels to its next destination on tour of Asian cities, South China Morning Post reported.

Donnelly grew up in Jersey City, attending St. Anthony High School before going on to Saint Peters College to study art. He continued his education at New Yorks School of Visual Arts.

He began his career as a graffiti artist in the streets of Jersey City, painting on walls, trains and even billboards, Complex reports. In 2010, he was honored with his first solo museum exhibition, at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. His work ranges from paintings, murals and large-scale sculptures to street art and graphic and product design.

Donnelly, who now lives in Brooklyn, told CNN that while the giant floating sculpture seemed like a simple project, stabilizing is it was key.

But just with the choppiness of Hong Kongs water ... it had to be produced in a way that would sort of exist in the water, and not just be thrown about, or take off, he said.

The grey Mickey Mouse-like figure was perceived in different ways in Hong Kong.

While one person described it as a cute, dead body others likened it to Hello Kitty or a floating robot, CNN reported.

Thats really the beauty of public art, Donnelly told CNN, referring to peoples various reactions.

"You get people from all different backgrounds coming in and encountering it (and) taking from it what they will. I dont try to say exactly what they need to feel when they see a work. Its just what it is to them, what their history is and their associations.

Aya Elamroussi may be reached at aelamroussi@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @aya_elamroussi. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
JERSEY CITY  Hudson Countys Democratic Party wants to unseat a pro-Trump committeewoman who is up for re-election in June.

Elda Pinchinat angered local Democrats when she appeared at this years Conservative Political Action Conference and posted photos of herself wearing a bedazzled American flag pin bearing President Trumps name.

The Hudson County Democratic Organization has now lined up someone to run against Pinchinat in the committee race on Junes primary ballot (petitions to get on the ballot are due Monday). Pinchinat is one of two Democratic committee people in Jersey Citys Ward B, district 18, located near Lincoln Park. Shes held the position since at least 2013.

These races  there is one in every voting district in the county  dont attract a lot of voters. When Pinchinat was elected last in 2017, she ran unopposed with HCDO support and won with a total of 65 votes. Her district has about 300 registered voters.

Reached by phone, Pinchinat said, "Whoever started that story, who gave you my number and who gave this information out is gay. Tell him to take care of himself so he doesn't catch AIDS."

Asked to respond, HCDO Chair Amy DeGise called Pinchinats comments disgusting.

I was hopeful this would be a learning experience for her to understand how CPAC represents some very degrading and undemocratic policies, DeGise said. Based on her comment I shouldnt have been hopeful. Its unacceptable.

Judging by her Facebook page, Pinchinat supports local Democrats like County Executive Tom DeGise and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and campaigned in Iowa for Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign but has a soft spot for Trump. In 2016 she gave $425 to the New Jersey Republican State Committee.

When New Jersey Globe wrote about her CPAC attendance in March, she posted the story on Facebook and commented, Conservative is not Republican. Mr. Trump himself was a Democrat who changed to Republican to get elected. Yes, I got friends who are working at the White House & who are friends with President Trump.

She then appeared to refer to her critics, saying, I bet they are gay & bored."

Trump is deeply unpopular in heavily Democratic Jersey City, where he won 14 percent of the vote against Clinton in 2016.

Pinchinat also sits on the Jersey City Rent Leveling Board.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
JERSEY CITY  The shocking murder of a jogger whose body was found in the lake in Lincoln Park has frightened the community, jolted county officials to increase surveillance and triggered an increase in patrols by law enforcement.

Im worried  oh my God, said a woman who gave her name only as Marina, as she shopped in a West Side Avenue bodega near the home of the victim, Carolina Cano, 45, of Gautier Avenue.

Marina, 67, also lives blocks from the park. She said It scares me. It seems like theres no place in the world that is safe.

Investigators believe Cano, who is from Peru, was attacked while jogging early Sunday. She was unclothed from the waist down, but it has not yet been determined if Cano was sexually assaulted during the fatal attack, a Prosecutors Office representative told Hudson County freeholders Thursday night.

Law enforcement sources said Cano also had marks on her neck suggesting she had been strangled.

Hudson County Freeholder Bill ODea said Friday that it was also revealed at the freeholders public safety meeting that Cano had suffered internal injuries. The state Regional Medical Examiners Office is conducting further investigation.

The freeholder said there are many closed-circuit TV cameras in the park, but none are trained on the lake. He said that at the next freehold meeting a vote is expected on placing five more security cameras in the park, dedicated to surveillance of the lake and area around it. It is expected to pass.

A spokesman for the Hudson County Sheriffs Office said patrols in the county park are being stepped up to the levels the department usually reserves for the summer months when the park is much more crowded.

Jersey City Police Chief Mike Kelly said his department also increased patrols in park.

Law enforcement vehicles were conspicuous in the park Friday, but there are also civilians in the park who have had some security training and act as the eyes and ears of the sheriffs office by reporting suspicious activity. Its expected that more will be added.

ODea said Lincoln Park is generally very safe.

For something like that to happen, you are kind of at a loss for words," said the freeholder, whose South Hudson Civic Association hosts a number of events in the park every year. "You dont expect things like that to happen in that park.

While walking in the park Friday afternoon, Jamal Shariff said of the murder that Its sad and it makes me worry. I run here in the summer. My sisters come here too. I come here at night in the summer and sometimes it worries me a little, but theres always cops around.

An informal group has scheduled a meeting in the park at 5:30 p.m. Friday to allow people to express their sadness, anger and other feelings. Those attending are asked to meet at the Casino in the Park building.

Megan Carolan, who said she will attend, said the event will include a silent walk around the lake.

Carolan said that if someone who knew Cano attends, others would love to hear about Canos life. She said participants were also to discuss what to do as a community to ensure Canos memory lives on in her neighborhood.

The homicide has spurred ODea, Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez and Jersey City Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey to hold a community meeting in the parks Gallo Center Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. A captain from the Jersey City Police Department will also attend.

The meeting is aimed at providing the most up-to-date information on Sundays homicide, Prinz-Arey said Friday. She said residents will be able to ask questions and make comments and the councilwoman hopes it will give residents some comfort.

Some safety tips for park-goers include not wearing ear buds in both ears, because it will prevent you from hearing what is happening around you, or realizing that someone may be approaching you. Park-goers should also avoid dark areas of the park and avoid being alone in the park when its dark.
JERSEY CITY  When Tishanda Page won some money on a scratch-off ticket, she couldve gotten her hair or nails done.

Instead, she decided to feed the needy.

Page stood at the fountain at the Journal Square Path Plaza Friday at lunchtime and, with some help from co-workers, handed out more than 100 sandwiches from McDonalds to the homeless population that congregates in the area.

"Its just something I did out of the kindness of my heart, said Page, who is a back office employee at the Jersey City Municipal Court. The best part (was) seeing peoples faces light up.

Page, 47, said she won $100 on Monday from a NJ Lottery Loose Change scratch-off ticket. The next day, she spoke to a manager at the McDonalds in Journal Square and coordinated with him to pick up 100 sandwiches on Friday at noon.

The manager, Edmundo Vasconez, said he even threw in some extra sandwiches, on the house.

It was a pleasure to do something that can help the community, he said on Friday, adding the employees were excited to fill the order when they learned where it was going. I think its great ... It gives like a good feeling from people like that.

One of the recipients was enjoying her McChicken sandwich Friday when she expressed her gratitude for Pages random act of kindness.

She was very generous. And I was thankful that somebody cared enough, the woman said, adding that doesnt happen often.

Page said Mondays $100 win was her biggest one yet from the Loose Change scratch-off, which has a top prize of $500.

I never won a scratch-off that much ... I was like oh my goodness,' she noted. And thats what I did with it ... I made a difference, and it feels amazing.

Aya Elamroussi may be reached at aelamroussi@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @aya_elamroussi. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
A Union City school district teachers aide has been charged with groping a student in a classroom, authorities said.

Oscar Acebo-Solis, 56, was charged with aggravated criminal sexual contact an endangering the welfare of a child after an incident in the Emerson Middle School on March 8, the criminal complaint said.

The girl, who is described as between 13 and 16 years old, told police that Acebo-Solis grabbed her buttocks multiple times, making her feel extremely uncomfortable, the criminal complaint said.

Based on the criminal complaint, it appears that Acebo-Solis was arrested the same day. The Union City school district did not provide more information on the incident and Acebo-Solis job status.

The Union City man has worked for the school district since 2014, according to public records.
The 10 superhero kids who brightened a 5-year-olds birthday by singing to him, teaching him how to skate and including them in their fun were reunited Thursday at a New Jersey skate park and will get a pizza party to reward their act of kindness toward the boy, who has high-functioning autism and ADHD.

The middle schoolers came forward Thursday after police in South Brunswick put out word on social media that they were trying to locate the kids and thank them for how they celebrated 5-year-old Carter Braconi when they encountered him at the park earlier this week.

Were working out the details now, but well be throwing them a pizza party next week, said police Lt. Gene Rickle.

Police identified the superheroes as: Gavin Mabes, David Lakatos, Aaron Perna, Luis Velazquez, Damon Andon, Jiya Salman, Jessica George, Lauren Mazur, Samantha Schwab and Om Patel.

The children who helped make a five-year-old's birthday one to remember in a South Brunswick skate park. (South Brunswick Police Department)

Carters mother, Kristen Braconi, said she brought her son to the skate park behind the police station on Tuesday to celebrate his birthday. They had the park to themselves for about a half hour before a group of middle-schooler students showed up.

Braconi, a registered nurse, said her son doesnt always do well with large groups.

He was like, Oh no, I guess Im going to have to leave, Braconi said. But these kids came up to him, started being super nice and playing and showing him things.

Braconi took video of the children playing with Carter and posted it to Facebook. That caught the attention of South Brunswick police who asked for to help find the group.

On Friday, South Brunswick police said they were happy the kids had been identified.

Thank you to all the media and TV stations for helping us to find our #superheroes, the police department tweeted.

South Brunswick Police Lt. Gene Rickle with some of the children who helped make Carter Branconi's fifth birthday a success. (South Brunswick Police Department)

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Two New Jersey families are set to file a lawsuit against former Fox & Friends co-host Clayton Morris and his real estate investment company after he sold them Indiana rental properties with the promise to rehab and rent them, yet allegedly failing to do so.

Jihua Liu and Lin Wang, and Michael and Victor DeJesus are expected to file the lawsuit within the next two weeks against Morris and Morris Invest, attorney Lisa Bouckenooghe said.

Bouckenooghe said she could not disclose the contents of the lawsuit because it has not been filed, but it is very similar to a six-count lawsuit filed in an Indiana federal court that includes allegations of fraud and breach of contract. The two families were involved in the original lawsuit, but they were taken off the suit for jurisdictional reasons because they as well as Morris are based in New Jersey. Liu, Wang and the Dejesuses have decided to continue to pursue legal action against Morris in a New Jersey court.

The lawsuit alleges that Morris and his company persuaded people from around the country to invest in their program in which Morris Invest sold them rental properties with the promise to rehab and rent the units. All the investors had to was collect rent from the property provided by Morris Invest, according to the lawsuit.

In a phone interview Thursday, Liu said he manages a few properties in New Jersey, but he was looking to add to his portfolio by buying cheaper property that he would not need to manage day-to-day.

While he said he was not familiar with Morris work on Fox, he said Morris was convincing and knowledgeable in the videos and podcasts he posted online. Liu invested $50,000 in a property.

Months after wiring the money, a property management company showed up to the home and informed Liu that no work had been done.

It was nowhere near what they advertised or promised, he said.

When asked if he thought Morris stole from him, Liu answered, You could say that, yeah.

Michael and Victor DeJesus could not be reached for comment.

The Indianapolis Star and New York Times reported earlier this week on Morris allegedly defrauding investors.

The IndyStars investigation found that Morris has been involved in the sales of hundreds of homes to investors influenced by his celebrity and personable online sales pitches. In one instance, according to the IndyStar, a man paid $52,500 to invest in a property that he later learned had burned down four days prior to his investment.

According to the New York Times, Morris Invest helped sell at least 1,000 properties over the past two years and took in more than $5 million in referral fees and profits.

Morris is the target of at least five lawsuits filed by out-of-state investors, and there are eight open complaints against him with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, according to the IndyStar. NJ Advance Media filed a public records request to have those complaints released earlier this week. The request has not been returned.

Morris denied the IndyStar investigation through his attorney, putting the blame on his business partner, Bert Whalen, a longtime Indianapolis real estate investor, who operates Oceanpointe, a company involved in the alleged fraud. Neither Whalen nor Oceanpointe is listed as a defendant in the Indiana lawsuit.

Clayton Morris and Morris Invest identify with the many investors who lost money through home-renovation, property-management, and other failures by Oceanpointe and its various corporate entities and employees," David Hensel, Morris attorney, said in the emailed statement to the IndyStar. "Clayton Morris and his family purchased properties and were similarly damaged by Oceanpointes misconduct. The Morris family and Morris Invest have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Clayton and Morris Invest deny all allegations of wrongdoing.

A Fox News spokeswoman said Wednesday the cable news network had absolutely no knowledge of the fraud accusations against Morris.

While all this has been going, Morris has been trying to sell his 6,500-square-foot Florham Park home. The home was first put on the market in November 2018 and is currently listed for $1.45 million, according to its Zillow listing.

Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Follow on Twitter @monavage. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis on Friday issued sweeping new sex abuse legislation for Vatican personnel and Holy See diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of abuse allegations to Vatican prosecutors, a policy shift aimed at being a model for the Catholic Church worldwide.

The mandatory reporting provision marks the first time the Vatican has put into law requirements for Catholic officials to report allegations of sex crimes to police or face fines and possible jail time.

Francis also issued child protection guidelines for Vatican City State and its youth seminary, acting after the global sex abuse scandal exploded anew last year and The Associated Press reported that the headquarters of the Catholic Church had no policy to protect children from predator priests.

The law for the first time provides an explicit Vatican definition for vulnerable people who are entitled to the same protections as minors under church law. The Vatican amended its canon law covering sex abuse to include vulnerable adults several years ago, but never defined it.

According to the new Vatican definition, a vulnerable person is anyone who is sick or suffering from a physical or psychiatric deficiency, isnt able to exercise personal freedom even on occasion and has a limited capacity to understand or resist the crime.

The issue of whether adult seminarians, religious sisters or other adults who are emotionally or financially dependent on clergy can be considered vulnerable people has come to the fore in the wake of the scandal over ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a once high-ranking American cleric accused of molesting seminarians, and revelations of priests and bishops sexually preying on nuns.

The new law covers all personnel who live and work in the Vatican, 110-acre) city state in the center of Rome, as well as the Holy Sees vast diplomatic corps in embassies around the world.

The Vaticans ambassadors have figured in some of the most scandalous cases of sex abuse in recent years, with papal representatives accused of groping, distributing child pornography and sexually abusing minors in their far-flung posts.

The law now requires any Vatican public official who learns of an allegation of abuse to report it to Vatican prosecutors without delay. Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to 5,000 euros ($5,615) or, in the case of a Vatican gendarme, up to six months of prison.

The legislation requires that victims be welcomed, listened to and provided with medical, psychological and legal assistance, and sets the statute of limitations at 20 years past the victims 18th birthday.

Victims and their families are to be protected from any retaliation, the law says, answering longstanding problem faced by victims, including one who reported sexual abuse at the Vaticans own seminary only to be kicked out the following year.

Mimicking some provisions in place in the U.S. church, the provisions require background checks for staff and volunteers working with minors and calls for safe environment training for all Vatican personnel.

The accused is to be removed from their job pending the investigation, and be allowed to defend themselves.

In a statement accompanying the new law, the Vaticans editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, said while very few children actually live in the Vatican City State, Francis decided to make the legislation and accompanying guidelines a model.

Last year, AP reported that Vatican City had no policy to protect children or require suspected abuse to be reported to police, even though the Holy See required such policies in Catholic dioceses around the globe and had told the U.N. in 2013 that such a policy was in the works.

The absence of clear-cut policy became evident following revelations that a teenage seminarian in the Vaticans youth seminary had, in 2012, accused one of the older boys of sexually molesting his roommate.

Nothing came of it. Vatican police, who have jurisdiction over the territory, werent called in to investigate. A series of bishops  including Cardinal Angelo Comastri, Francis vicar for Rome and the archpriest of St. Peters Basilica  said they investigated, but no one ever interviewed the alleged victim.

The student who lodged the complaint, Kamil Jarzembowski, was promptly kicked out of the seminary while the accused seminarian was ordained as a priest.

On Friday, Jarzembowski told the Associated Press the law was a positive step forward, particularly its explicit recognition that the pre-seminary falls under its jurisdiction.

Before there was a situation where a group of kids were there, in the Vatican City State, but they were seemingly in a legal limbo, he said.

He praised the mandatory reporting requirement, noting that all survivor advocacy groups the first thing that they do is say there must be the obligation to report to public authorities.

I see this as something positive, he said.
By Elizabeth Bruenig

Over the weekend, Barbra Streisand got herself into trouble with a series of disparaging remarks about the adults who have accused the late Michael Jackson of sexually molesting them as children. In a wide-ranging interview the Times of London published Friday,

Streisand said of Jackson's accusers: "You can say 'molested,' but those children, as you heard say, they were thrilled to be there." Streisand went on: "They both married and they both have children, so it didn't kill them." The reading public, perhaps reeling from what it learned from the recent documentary film "Leaving Neverland," was not thrilled with Streisand's commentary; she has since apologized at length.

Streisands comments were alarming in part because children are understood to represent a special class of sexual abuse victim, deserving of the strongest protection and redress. Children are credulous, children cant defend themselves, and there is not even a possibility of a child rendering consent - all legitimate reasons to understand child sex crimes as a distinct category of offense.

But we are entering a period in which we are going to hear more reports of childhood sexual abuse - not necessarily from children themselves but from now grown-up adults who are prepared to come forward about their pasts. Conditions are better, in terms of submitting these allegations for legal and public review, than they have been before, thanks in part to the #MeToo movement and the revival of legal scrutiny regarding the Catholic Churchs handling of its sexual abuse crisis.

How we greet and treat these victims and their claims matters. Yet, as we hear more from adult victims of childhood sex abuse - R. Kellys accusers, for example, or Jeffrey Epsteins, or any of the hundreds of victims of sex abuse in the church - its already clear that the special status reserved for child victims of sex crimes is eroding.

Defenders of R. Kelly have blamed his accusers for being fast. Epsteins victims have been called liars and fame-seekers in light of their coming forward. Some victims of abuse by Catholic priests and Protestant pastors have been cast as gold diggers. Kids who report their abuse while still young may be protected by the special respect set aside for children, but it increasingly appears that as adults, suspicions about experience, motives and culpability will be aired and lodged. In that sense, adult victims of childhood sexual abuse can expect to be treated a lot like victims of sexual offenses who were adults at the time of their abuse.

We should know this by now: The unique dispositions of individual adults have never been a good reason to doubt otherwise credible reports of sexual abuse. Nor should they constitute a reason to doubt adults who come forward about incidents that occurred when they were children.

I have interviewed dozens of adult victims of childhood sexual abuse in my work for The Washington Post. In those conversations, I have found these survivors to be just as varied and unique in their motives, attitudes and intentions as anyone else. Some of them are angry about what happened to them and absolutely want to see their abusers exposed and punished; some are shy and frightened of public scrutiny, and just want to forget what happened to them. Some want money - which is fair, not only because we use money as a universal means of settling accounts in civil law but also because survivors of sexual abuse are oftentimes in need of money to cover ongoing health expenses, therapy and other costs associated with lifelong trauma. Some of them dont mind the fame that comes with highly publicized accounts of abuse, which can be refreshing after many years of secrecy and shame; others want nothing to do with the media, or are only comfortable participating in stories if their names and faces are not used.

And none of those motives and explanations has any bearing on whether their allegations are credible. In the coming years, as further investigations and independent probes of individuals and institutions provide new opportunities for adult victims of childhood sexual assaults to come forward, we have a chance to redress old wrongs and build a public and legal culture that is, overall, more capable of rendering justice. Whether that promise pans out will have a great deal to do with whether we can reverse the attitudes that have made reporting these crimes difficult from the beginning.

We might as well start now.

Elizabeth Bruenig is an opinion columnist at The Washington Post.

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The saddest thing about that 1,100-pound whale who washed ashore in the Philippines two weeks ago  dead from bowel obstruction, after ingesting 88 pounds of plastic  is that this portrait of depraved indifference toward wildlife is no longer surprising.

We tolerate this destruction for human convenience, and the math is filthy: Each year, between 8 and 12 metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into the sea. Thats the equivalent of a garbage truck full of plastic being dumped into the ocean every minute.

If we want to stop killing marine life  or poisoning birds, choking storm drains, contaminating food chains, and jeopardizing human health its time to follow the example set by New York State Thursday, when its Legislature agreed on a bill that bans plastic bags.

Our last bill related to plastic was vetoed by Gov. Murphy, for good reason: It applied a five-cent fee on single-use bags, which wouldnt be much of a deterrent.

An updated bill from Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex, goes further. It bans plastic film bags entirely  specifically, no store or food business can provide single-use bags to customers. It also bans plastic straws, other than for the disabled at restaurants, upon requests. And polystyrene foam is history.

But Smith, after consulting with Senate President Steve Sweeney, wants to take it beyond the New York model:

We want to ban paper bags as well, he says. If you allow paper, youre just creating a whole new waste stream. So bring your own. Or if you show up at the market without a bag, buy a reusable one. We think we should have a whole new approach.

It is certainly worth a debate during the Budget Committee hearings that Smith expects in May. Either way, its time we joined New York and California as the only states to ban the ubiquitous scourge.

This is our 14th whack at the problem since 2007, and we can get it right. Lets move the bill.

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Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we intend to prove it. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends throughout. Here, they discuss the weeks events, with prompts from Tom Moran, editorial page editor of The Star-Ledger.

Q. Trump-haters are burning their Robert Mueller T-shirts after his report found no proof of collusion with Russia and punted on the question of whether the president obstructed justice. What are your takeaways?

Roginsky: It's premature to have any takeaways, because we have yet to see the Mueller report. I find it interesting that the president's appointee, Attorney General Barr, distilled a 300-page report into a "nothing to see here" four-page memo. I hope that the full report is released sooner, rather than later, so that we can draw our own conclusions. Maybe it's all the years in college and grad school where my professors repeatedly instilled in me the necessity of reviewing the primary source material, but I prefer to have my analysis unfiltered by the political considerations of others, including William Barr.

DuHaime: Theres no proof of collusion, never was. The campaign was successful because of Trumps brand and straight-talk combined with the malpractice of the Clinton campaign and FBI Director Comeys inability to stay out of the way at the end of the campaign. Russia tried to interfere; thats clear, but it doesnt mean the campaign colluded, and that seems to be what Mueller found. I said all along the Trump team should be eager for Mueller to conclude his work because his integrity is unimpeachable.

Roginsky: I would like to understand Muellers reasoning on collusion. There is a legal standard to be met and an ethical standard to be met. There is no doubt about the fact that Jared Kushner wanted to open up a secret channel to the Russians during transition. There is no doubt that Michael Flynn discussed overturning sanctions during transitions. There is no doubt that Donald Trump, Jr., Kushner and others were asking for the Russians to provide the campaign with dirt on Hillary Clinton. And, of course, the president told former FBI Director Comey to drop the Russia investigation. Why? If he had nothing to hide, what was he so scared of?

Q. Instead of basking in this win, Trump changed the subject and joined a lawsuit seeking to repeal Obamacare without any plan to replace it. Is that political malpractice?

Roginsky: If you look up political malpractice in the dictionary, that would be it. In 2018, Obamacare was the number-one issue for voters and those who considered it their top issue overwhelmingly voted Democratic. I, for one, would much prefer for our candidates in 2020 to focus on issues like protecting the Affordable Care Act, because that actually affects people in a very real way every single day. The Russia investigation has been a particularly obsessive narrative for the pundit class and the Beltway media, but real people are more concerned about ensuring that they dont lose their healthcare coverage because of pre-existing conditions. So, all Democrats owe Donald Trump a very big thank you for refocusing attention on the issues that motivate Americans to go to the polls and vote Democratic.

DuHaime: Most voters like their health care and get scared when someone tries to change it. Democrats were punished for trying to change the status quo in 2010, and Republicans were punished, at least partially, due to the idea we would change it back. Voters dont like when politicians try to change something that is working for you.

Q. In Trenton, the effort to legalize recreational marijuana collapsed, despite support from Gov. Phil Murphy and Democratic legislative leaders. If you were advising them on next steps, what would you say?

Roginsky: I would say that there is no shame in transactional politics.

DuHaime: Lets face it. There is no real groundswell for legal marijuana. The governor made this an issue, but it is important to realize that it was not some massive political force that carried him to victory. Frankly, it seems to me that the Legislature doesnt really care one way or the other if this gets done, because the voters dont really care either.

Q. The Catholic Church lost two big fights last week, as the legislature voted to legalize assisted suicide, and to make it much easier for victims of sexual abuse to sue the church. With 34 percent of our population Catholic, we rank #3 in the country. But has the church lost its political punch in Trenton?

Roginsky: I dont view the passage of either of these bills as a slap at the Catholic Church. The governor, the Senate President and the Speaker are all practicing Catholics. But there are secular considerations that are difficult to overlook: Abusing children is immoral and ensuring that those children get justice, even if it takes decades, is the right thing to do. And knowing that each of us can end our lives with dignity is one of the pillars of social justice. Life, for many of us, is about quality, not quantity, and many of us prefer to end our lives if living becomes exclusively about suffering and physical pain. The Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act is a landmark piece of legislation and I am so grateful to Senator Nick Scutari and Assemblyman John Burzichelli, its sponsors, for giving my parents and me the peace of mind of knowing that it is the law in New Jersey, should we ever need it.

DuHaime: I do not think you should conflate these two issues. As a Catholic, I know it is long past time for the Catholic Church to stop protecting criminal sex abusers who were disguised as priests. There is fervor among lay Catholics to do the right thing and start having civil accountability. The assisted suicide bill is very different. There is fervent belief among many Catholics to always protect life, not to end it. However, there are so many compelling and heartbreaking stories regarding suffering that give people pause and can change minds. There are honest disagreements on assisted suicide. There are no such honest disagreements with protecting child abusers.

Roginsky: Mercifully, we don't live in a theocracy. If your religious beliefs preclude you from ending your life, don't end it. The rest of us would like the option of ending our suffering if it becomes too unbearable.

Q. The state Legislature also voted to force disclosure of donations to political groups that operate in secrecy today. Whats the political fallout?

Roginsky: I am not sure there is any fallout. We already disclose donations to political campaigns. This just takes the disclosure one step further.

DuHaime: People and companies will need to withstand the slings and arrows that come with making donations to support causes they believe in. More importantly, public office holders will need to publicly stand with their friends, not just take their money. And what it really means is more dark money will just go elsewhere, further away from accountability. Campaign finance reform was well-intentioned but ill-advised and completely stupid legislation. It has driven money away from political parties and candidates who are accountable to voters to outside groups who are not.
Robert Mueller spent 22 months investigating and compiling a report on the presidents campaign. The report has thus far resulted in 34 indictments and six guilty pleas including the presidents national security advisor, campaign chairman and personal attorney. Muellers report, weighing in at 300 pages plus, was delivered to the Justice Department last Friday.

Newly minted Attorney General William Barr, who submitted an unsolicited op-ed to the U.S. Justice Department stating the president could not be indicted as a job application, took the weekend to skim the report and distill it down to its primary conclusions, adding some of his own conclusions along the way. His letter to congress is four pages long. That is some cut throat editing.

According to Barr, he was joined in his task by deputy AG Rod Rosenstein. Thats the same Rod Rosenstein who drafted a memo at the behest of the president justifying the firing of FBI director James Comey on the grounds that he was unfair to Hillary Clinton. Seems legit. The meeting of these two legal giants resulted in a four-page letter concluding that the president did not collude with Russia and that there was not enough evidence to charge him with obstruction of justice.

We may never know what evidence there is because Barr has refused to say if, when and how much of the Mueller report he will release. Im gonna go out on a limb, but I would bet that the 300-plus page report has some fairly interesting things to say.

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By Andrew Zwicker and Laura Overdeck

March in New Jersey is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Month, a time to celebrate progress in both our history and our ongoing work to foster our Innovation Economy. The reason to celebrate is clear: the Bloomberg U.S. Innovation Index consistently ranks New Jersey in its top five, and for good reason.

Between 2017 and 2027, the number of STEM jobs in New Jersey will grow 9 percent and STEM workers earn about 26 percent more than their non-STEM counterparts. While these data points indicate there is vast opportunity within STEM in New Jersey, its also important to acknowledge our STEM student achievement lags. Lets look at the realities behind this and propose some bolder solutions.

Weve all heard the statistics on our lackluster national performance in math relative to other developed countries. The shortfall is painfully obvious for underrepresented populations. We can trace this to pervasive forces in all three buckets of a childs day: school, after-school programs and home environment. The real opportunity is to use the time outside school to reinforce what happens in the classrooms. Of the 8,800 hours children live in a year, they spend about 1,200 in school and about 5,000 waking hours outside of school. That time out of school is a powerful lever to reinforce what kids learn in school and to secure their place in the STEM pipeline.

Tackling this problem will take an economy of scale where the successful STEM programs are rapidly expanded to connect with a much larger group of students. For example, the New Jersey STEM Pathways Network is serving as a convener for hundreds of STEM community leaders by identifying bright spots of success in education and workforce development initiatives and then scaling these initiatives so that learning outcomes improve for all. Currently, there are four thriving STEM Learning Ecosystems in New Jersey under the STEM Network: Delran, Newark, Liberty in Hudson County, and South Jersey in Camden, Cumberland and Salem Counties.

The Delran STEM Ecosystem presents its work at the New Jersey STEM Showcase at the State House for STEM Month.

Another example is at Princeton University where, every year for the last 18, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory has brought nearly 800 middle school and high school girls together from all backgrounds to meet and network with successful female scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. The demand for this program is enormous and limited only by the available space.

The home environment is also an undeniable influence. People rightfully fret over the correlation of SAT scores with wealth, and attribute it to rich families ability to buy test prep. This shows a real misunderstanding of the forces at work. Theres a 260-point gap between the lowest and highest income brackets, while test prep programs boost scores about 30 points on average. That remaining 230-point gap is due to 16 years of living entirely different childhoods. It includes factors such as eating breakfast, the number of books a child has access to, and how a child spends his or her summer. Over the summer, wealthy kids are traveling abroad, visiting museums and gaining knowledge, while low-income kids lose between three and six months of learning.

Until we give low-income parents the resources, childcare and other support they need, we will never close this gap. Thankfully, there are opportunities to increase awareness of and access to low-cost resources that can stoke achievement. Online content like Khan Academys vast library of videos enables children to catch up on topics they havent yet mastered in school. Then, theres the Bedtime Math app, which serves up a playful short story for parents to read to their kids followed by math riddles. University of Chicago researchers have found that this dual numeracy/literacy activity gives students an extra three months of math skills in just one school year.

We encourage more stakeholders to engage in student STEM learning outcomes, and to be a part of your local ecosystem. Whether its businesses partnering with non-profits to fund more quality STEM learning programs, K-12 schools providing more STEM teacher professional development opportunities, or parents taking advantage of weekend STEM learning opportunities for their children, its going to take the entire community to make sure our future workforce is ready, willing, and able.

Its time to stop pretending were serious about attracting math and science talent from among underrepresented groups, and actually go do it. We have to tackle these difficult, pervasive challenges head-on  and one doesnt have to be a math whiz to see why.

Andrew Zwicker is a physicist and science educator chairman at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He also represents the 16th Legislative District. Laura Overdeck is the founder of Bedtime Math app and chairwoman of the Overdeck Family Foundation.

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WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. Cory Booker often speaks of justice.

He helped enact a law last December overhauling the criminal justice system and offering alternatives to incarceration for certain nonviolent offenders. His bill to remove the federal ban on marijuana is framed in terms of providing justice to minorities who are disproportionately arrested for drug possession. His environmental justice bill would require federal officials to address problems in low-income communities.

Now he plans to kick off a two-week nationwide Justice for All Tour to focus on those and other issues.

The only way to beat hate is not bringing more hate, Booker, D-N.J., said Wednesday at a CNN town hall meeting. Its by bringing love and hope and uniting people to solve the persistent injustices in our country. Im going to do that, and thats actually how we are going to win.

The tour is scheduled to begin April 13 with a big kickoff rally at Military Park in Newark, the city Booker ran as mayor before being elected to the U.S. Senate and where he has set up his presidential campaign headquarters.

Booker helped secure funding to renovate the park In 2006. The work took three years and cost $3 million.

The six-acre park was a gathering site for New Jersey soldiers in the Civil War and earlier served as an encampment for Gen. George Washingtons troops.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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Female inmates from the Sussex County jail are being transferred to the jail in Morris County, about 36 miles away, starting Monday.

Freeholders in both counties approved Wednesday night a three-year contract in which Morris will be paid at least $191,656 annually, according to a statement from Morris County Sheriff James Gannon.

Conditions at the 41-year-old Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Facility in Newton have drawn scrutiny in recent years.

Gannons statement noted that Sussex County Sheriff Mike Strada has described the jail as antiquated, and in need of additional work to comply with building codes and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The amount paid by Sussex could rise significantly, depending on several factors. The base agreement is calculated on the Morris jail housing a minimum of five adult female inmates per day from Sussex, at a daily rate of $105 per inmate.

There were 13 female inmates in the Sussex jail on Thursday morning, in addition to 60 men, according to the jail.

Moreover, while Morris will provide routine medical services, Sussex will pick up the tab for all off-site medical care, emergency care, hospital care and extraordinary or non-routine medical care, according to Gannons statement.

Sussex County will provide a judge for hearings, and also will be responsible for transportation costs. Officers from the Sussex sheriffs office will transport inmates from Newton to the jail in Morris Township, formally known as the Morris County Correctional Facility, and bring them back upon their release.

Both counties signed off on the deal just 15 days after Gannon told NJ Advance Media that Morris was considering a shared-services agreement with the Sussex jail.

Strada, contacted Thursday, said it is possible that by years end some male inmates will also be sent to Morris, in addition to the women, but emphasized there is no consideration of closing the Sussex jail.

Were never going to close the Sussex County jail, as far as Im concerned. Thats not on the horizon, Strada said.

Gannon said he negotiated the agreement with Strada, with guidance from lawyers in both counties.

We have a sophisticated operation at our correctional facility and this gives us an opportunity to cut our operating costs with the additional revenue from Sussex County, Gannon said.

The agreement was approved by the Morris freeholder board, 7-0, and in a 4-1 vote by the Sussex County freeholder board.

Sussex Freeholder George Graham, who cast the lone dissenting vote, on Thursday disputed Stradaa assertion that the deal would reduce operating costs.

Graham said he was given no financial analysis before the vote and that the agreement does not call for reducing the number of sheriffs officers in Sussex.

I dont see how theyre saving any money. I dont see how sending out just the women is saving money, Graham said.

Strada, asked for his response, said a prior jail study commissioned by the freeholder board estimated the daily housing cost to Sussex at $192 per inmate. Transferring the female inmates will enable him to close a floor at the jail.

We have a declining inmate population. This is the right move to make, at the right time, Strada said.

New Jerseys bail reform law has dramatically decreased the number of inmates at county jails throughout the state since taking effect in January 2017.

Gannon said the six-story Morris jail, built to hold up to 524 inmates when it opened in 2000, currently has a daily population of about 200. It averages a daily female population of 26 and there were 18 female inmates on Thursday morning.

The Sussex jail averages between 70 and 80 inmates per day, down from 146 in 2016.

Strada said that, three years ago, there were 82 sheriffs officers in Sussex. As of April 1, when the deal with Morris takes effect, there will be 64 officers.

At the Morris jail, inmates from Sussex will have full access to services, such as educational and substance abuse programs.

In 2017, the Morris jail opened a drug/alcohol recovery unit amid a rise in opioid overdoses in the region.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Drivers using the MTAs bridges and tunnels will be in for the kind of sticker shock on Sunday that can only come from a toll increase. And E-ZPass wont save you from paying the highest toll rate.

Starting on March 31, tolls go up at the MTA bridges and tunnels under an increase approved on Feb. 27.

The most expensive toll on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge goes up from $17 to $19. Tolls on the Bronx-Whitestone, Throgs Neck, Robert F. Kennedy bridges and the Hugh Carey and Queens-Midtown Tunnels increase from $8.50 to $9.50 for tolls paid by mail.

Even if you pay with E-Z Pass, the surprise will be in your monthly statement, since Jersey drivers dont get a discount on MTA bridges and tunnels if they use an E-Z Pass tag issued in New Jersey. That means you get charged the higher rate -- the same as a driver with no E-ZPass who pays a bill by mail.

MTA bridge and tunnels have cashless tolling.

The toll road border war escalated in 2011, when the New Jersey Turnpike Authority ended E-Z Pass discounts for drivers with out-of-state accounts. Turnpike officials took the action after neighboring states stopped extending the discounts to New Jersey E-ZPass account holders.

The last New York bridge discount fell in 2016 when the Tappen Zee bridge no longer gave discounts to drivers with a New Jersey E-ZPass. Short of carrying two tags, some drivers who live in New Jersey and travel to New York have been forced to choose an E-Z Pass from the state that gave them the deepest discount.

There have some efforts to reinstate discounts for E-ZPass customer regardless of which side of the Hudson River their tag was issued. The state assembly passed a resolution calling on the MTA to extend the discount. The effort went no further than that.

Fares on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North also increase on April 21, however fares on Metro Norths west of the Hudson River service, which is run by NJ Transit, will not increase.

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Its no secret that New Jersey takes high school theatre seriously  either youve lived that experience as a drama kid or as a parent. Theres a lot of talent, both on stage and behind, as the students at North Bergen showed in the innovative production of Alien that took the internet by storm.

But if youre looking to be wowed by a Broadway musical, look no further than Rahway High Schools magical performance of Pippin.

In February, Rahway High School won NJ Advance Medias competition to find some of the most talented high school students in New Jersey. And, as a reward for winning the competition, we promised to cover the musical when it happens.

Rahways Youth Theatre Group transported me to the medieval world of Pippin, son of Charles, the king of the Holy Roman Empire, on Monday night.

Pippin, played by Brandon Grajales, is a young prince looking for adventure and a sense of purpose in life, but every time he tries a new experience, he feels vacant and empty when its over.

He goes to war and feels unfulfilled as a soldier, then kills his father to take the throne during a revolution, and quickly becomes overwhelmed by the duty of being king too. Eventually, a lost and confused Pippin meets Caroline, a widow, and falls in love. And even then, he struggles with the temptation to join a group of circus performers in pursuit of a great adventure beyond his routine life.

Its a timeless story of looking for something greater, music director Robert Van Wyk said. Its a coming of age story, where theres always something better down the road but then Pippin realizes hes already surrounded by whats most important. Its a simple story in many ways, but its told with lots of magic and love.

Elizabeth 'Lil' Jones as Berthe (left) and Brandon Grajales as Pippin (right) in Rahway High School's production of 'Pippin.' (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Director and choreographer Alison Dooley added, I think kids can relate to that. They understand the message, so then its easier for them to convey that to the audience than some other musicals.

This years production follows years where Rahway was among the first schools in New Jersey to debut Mary Poppins, Big Fish the Musical and a new high school edition of A Chorus Line, according to Van Wyk.

Before I got to catch the musical, we were already impressed by Rahway students superb singing and choreography, as well as the original, inspiring song Anyone But Me, written by Rahway musical theatre teacher Jensyn Modero, that they used in the video along with clips from their rehearsals.

Senior Matt Mulligan, a featured player in the musical, who produced the video, said, When we first made the video, we just wanted to show people that were doing good work, and then it started to get a lot of hits.

Chris Smith as Charles during a dress rehearsal of Rahway High School's production of 'Pippin.' (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Its a great experience to build me up, for the future, added Grajales, who wants to pursue a career in musical theatre. All this will help me grow. Ive made new friends, and I can look back in the future and say, Wow, I did this.

So if you see these students at a diner late at night after the show, give them a warm congratulations. Theyve earned it.

This is not your average high school production. Just a few minutes into the show, I was stunned by the singing, dancing, acting and the personality they added to the characters. The cast of Rahways Pippin brought a high level of professionalism, and the orchestra, led by Van Wyk was powerful, but balanced, with the singing just right.

Hailee Ross plays Fastrada in Rahway High School's production of 'Pippin.' (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Its also no surprise at a high school where performing arts are a significant part of the school day  students are offered classes in musical theater, dance (in place of gym, nonetheless), advanced drama, piano and music theory. But most students dont study privately or start performing at early ages, Van Wyk said. The school was recognized as one of the best communities in the nation for music education in 2019.

As the show opens, the cast sets the scene for a production full of color, enhanced by costumes made by Rahways own Audrey Angrisani and Tina Campagna. If only knights in the Middle Ages could be so lucky to have such glamorous armor.

As Pippin, Grajales channels a character who is lost, insecure and just trying to make his family proud. As the royal family is introduced, the personality of each character shows, revealing that Pippins family often ignores and dismisses him.

Students Hailee Ross and Emery Myers capture the essence of Pippins self-centered stepmother Fastrada and half brother Lewis. The story and characters are all introduced from the perspective of the leading player, Jason Myers, whose strong singing and dance skills lead the narrative.

Rahway High School students run through a dress rehearsal of 'Pippin' on March 25, 2019. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Among the show-stealers to look out for are Elizabeth Lil Jones, who brings a quirky charm to Pippins grandmother Berthe, and Chris Smith, who brings animation and fun into the despotic, self-aggrandizing King Charles.

At one point in the musical, a banner with sheet music painted on it drops during Berthes song No Time At All, and Jones encourages the audience to sing along with her  but only on the choruses, because the verses are all mine, she insists.

Perhaps one of the most endearing parts of the musical was the appearance of Grajales younger brother Ethan as Theo, the son of Pippins love interest Caroline (Rowena Songcuan). In Act Two, Songcuan and Ethan Grajales deliver compelling, emotional performances as they take Pippin in and he contemplates whether to stay with them or continue pursuing something greater.

Caroline, a widow, urges Pippin to be productive, get out of bed, work on her farm and be a father figure to Theo, all of which he does reluctantly, but their love grows stronger as he continues to live with Caroline and Theo.

Pictured (from left) are Rowena Songcuan as the widow Catherine, Ethan Grajales as her son, Theo, and Brandon Grajales as Pippin.(Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

As the show closes, the charismatic lead player (Jason Myers), who spends the whole show trying to control the narrative and scolds other characters for breaking it, urges the audience to look inside themselves.

As he entices audience members to join the circus and take a chance at jumping into a pit of fire, he begs you to consider: Will you live a life of chasing temporary highs, or accept that everything you need to make you happy is already right in front of you?

Our community is so supportive of the arts, and we were excited to see our greater family vote in huge numbers for this competition, Van Wyk said. Were so grateful to represent all the great high school shows put on across the state.

Rahways Pippin opens Friday night and runs through Sunday. See the full photo gallery from Pippin here.

Gianluca DElia may be reached at gdelia@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @gianluca_delia. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Hamilton the musical is, more or less, a big, giant alternative book report on Ron Chernows Alexander Hamilton biography.

It makes sense, then, that the incredibly popular rap and hip-hop musical by Lin Manuel Miranda encourages high school students to create their own lessons and interpretations. The program, officially titled EduHam, culminated with performances at the the Saenger Theatre Friday (March 29) by 31 students from 16 high schools in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

More than 2,600 high school students from a total of 41 schools watched the hour-long student show, which was followed by a Q&A with members of the Hamilton cast. Students then watched a matinee of the musical, available to them through the program at a discounted price of $10 thanks to Hamilton producers and donations from local sponsors. Thats much cheaper than what most New Orleanians have paid to see the touring company, which wraps up a nearly three-week run in New Orleans on Sunday (March 31).

Nik Walker (Aaron Burr) and New Orleans-native Holli Campbell, company manager for the Broadway production, hosted the show, which began shortly after 10 a.m.

We know when Hamilton tickets go on sale, but youll need luck getting one

Daaang, OK, Walker said after the first performance. Melony Rayford from New Orleans Abramson Sci Academy confidently performed a spoken word titled Alexander Hamilton. I didnt know, were not playing today, Walker said. We got some really talented people!

Walker was technically on vacation, he told the audience, so they wouldnt see him performing in the matinee, but he couldnt turn down the chance to participate in an EduHam performance in one of his favorite cities. The 15 acts that followed were a mix of lighthearted and serious.

The performances were organized alphabetically by school, making a spoken word by Hancock High Schools Malique Johnson fifth in the lineup.

I was promised freedom, began the 18-year-old.

Prior performances elicited woos and cheers from an involved and supportive audience. As Johnson continued, his voice, speaking from the perspective of a black soldier in the Revolutionary War, was the only one to be heard.

I was promised freedom, but it seems as if my own life is a nightmare, and it cannot be escaped, Johnson said. His favorite line, the fourth from last, continued with: God, I was promised freedom, but it seems as if the freedom I speak of is an abomination to others.

As Johnson turned to the wings to exit the stage, Walker stopped him.

I had no idea you had that inside you, bro, thats incredible, he said.

Walker said Johnson had been pretty quiet backstage while many of the other students were chatting with one another.

He comes out with that grand slam of a poem, Walker said in an interview after the student performances. It just goes to show you that all anybody needs is the opportunity.

Following performances included three musical interpretations of the Boston Tea Party, including crowd-favorite raps from trios at Peabody Magnet High School in Alexandria and Warren Easton Charter High School in Mid-City. A duo of young women vocalists interpreted the event as a song with a slide whistle and ukulele; it included the refrain men are so immature.

A review of Hamilton, playing at the Saenger: Is it worth the hype?

Others sang gospel and performed scenes about the famous figures from the Revolutionary War era. Six of the 16 performances came from New Orleans schools: Abramson Sci Academy, Edna Karr High School, Livingston Collegiate Academy, St. Augustine High School, The NET Charter High School and Warren Easton Charter High School.

None were quite as bold as NaJaeh Sterlings rap, which was about Alexander Hamiltons infamous affair with Maria Reynolds. Sterling, an 18-year-old student at The NET Charter High School, hadnt heard about Hamilton until his school told students about EduHam. But they told him he could rap.

And when I heard that, it just sparked a thought in my head, Sterling said, so he began researching.

He told the story, which some historians say ended Hamiltons chances of becoming president, in a rap of three verses, each one from the perspective of Hamilton, Reynolds and her husband, James.

In conversation, Sterling speaks quietly, but on stage, he never stumbled: And by the way, he (Hamilton) never became president, and I hope yall enjoyed the rap, he said, ending the performance, which was set to the instrumental version of the Hamilton track Cabinet Battle #1.

Watching the students perform in New Orleans reminded Walker of how much art surges within the city. The students were creative and smart, he said, and also had a sense of musicality, speaking to both who they are and who their city is.

Its not surprising, Walker said of the caliber of the performances. Its still moving, but its not surprising at all.

Was your school involved in EduHam? Check out the list below. Schools with an asterisk had student performers:

. . . . . . .

Laura Testino writes entertainment and home and garden stories for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, where she is the life and culture reporting fellow. Call 504.717.6584 or email LTestino@nola.com.
As a Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office narcotics detective lay in a New Orleans hospital Thursday (March 28), recuperating from a gunshot wound believed to be the result of friendly fire, authorities continued their investigation into the drug bust that also left two suspects dead following a barrage of gunfire in a Terrytown IHOP parking lot.

Coroners office names 2 men shot, killed by JPSO detectives in Terrytown drug sting

The Jefferson Parish coroners office identified the deceased as Chris Joseph, 38, and Daviri BeBop Robertson, 39, both of New Orleans. Grieving relatives tried to reconcile the details surrounding their deaths with the men they knew and love.

He was nothing like what they say, Robertsons brother, David Robertson, said Thursday afternoon. He was an excellent father. He has five children that depended on him for their survival.

Other relatives still want answers from the department about the detectives lethal use of force.

They did not have to kill him at all. They did not have to shoot him. He was not armed. He did not have no gun or anything, Chris Josephs sister, Donna Joseph, told WVUE Fox 8.

Bullets fly

The shootings occurred within view of diners eating in the IHOP at 151 West Bank Expressway, near Oakwood Shopping Center, according to Sheriff Joseph Lopinto. IHOP shares the parking lot with a La Quinta Inn.

Narcotics detective conducting an undercover investigation arranged to buy drugs from a dealer at the location, Lopinto said. The suspect vehicle, a silver Dodge, pulled into the parking lot about 10:20 p.m. with Joseph behind the wheel and Robertson in the passenger seat.

The plainclothes detectives boxed in the car with two pickup trucks, a blue Dodge Ram 4x4 and a black Ford F-150. Four detectives got out of the trucks and approached the car to arrest the suspects, prompting Joseph to put the vehicle in reverse, hitting an officer, Lopinto said.

Thats when two detectives shot into the vehicle, striking Joseph and Robertson. One of the bullets traveled through the car windows and hit another detective in the abdomen, Lopinto said.

The wounded detective, who had been standing on the passenger side of the car, was driven to University Medical Center where he was in stable condition following surgery.

Kimberly Van Diepen, of Pensacola, Fla., said she heard about 15 gunshots from her room at the La Quinta.

Cell phone video taken by a person inside the IHOP shows the moments after the shooting as the detectives, some with guns still trained on the silver Dodge, try to break out the cars windows to access the slumped-over occupants.

Joseph was pronounced dead at the scene while Robertson died after he was taken to the hospital, according to the coroners office.

The Sheriffs Office declined to comment Thursday on whether any drugs or guns were recovered from the car. Authorities also havent said whether the detectives identified themselves as law enforcement during the encounter.

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Joseph and Robertson both have criminal records. Joseph has convictions for aggravated flight from an officer, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft possession of crack cocaine and access device fraud.

Robertson has pleaded guilty to aggravated battery, possession of crack cocaine, illegally carrying a weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records.

He was scheduled to appear in Orleans Parish Criminal Court in April on charges of simple battery, possession of a firearm by a felon and aggravated assault with a firearm.

Longtime friend Kendra Mason said Robertson and Joseph grew up together in the 9th Ward.

They were stuck like glue. You would have thought they were real brothers, they were together so much, she said. Everyone in the 9th Ward is hurting. They were loved by all.

Joseph had four children with girlfriend Darrelyn Smith, she told WVUE Fox 8.

I dont know what happened, but we want justice. We want justice, thats it, Smith said.

Force policy

Wednesday nights shooting bears similarities to another drug bust that started just next door to the Terrytown IHOP and also ended in gunfire. Ryan Jackson, 29, was shot four times in his shoulder and arm when JPSO detectives fired into his vehicle at a Shell station, 101 West Bank Expressway, on April 4, 2017.

As with Joseph and Robertson, Jackson and his passenger, Lance Stevens, were the targets of an undercover drug investigation. Detectives who had been conducting surveillance on Jacksons car said they shot at the vehicle when Jackson accelerated towards them as they approached, according to court records.

The wounded Jackson led deputies on a brief car chase before crashing into the bank of a drainage canal at Wright and Cedarwood avenues in Terrytown. Jackson was arrested and later charged with attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, aggravated assault of a police officer with a motor vehicle and drug possession.

Jackson filed a $5 million federal lawsuit accusing the detectives of using excessive and unnecessary force. The suit is on hold until the resolution of the criminal case, which is scheduled to head to trial Monday, according to court records. Neither Jacksons criminal nor his civil attorney returned a request for comment.

The two cases highlight differences in the use-of-force policies used by JPSO and New Orleans police. NOPD officers are barred from shooting at a moving vehicle when the only deadly threat is a vehicle moving toward an officer. Officers cant fire unless there is a secondary threatening act such as someone in the vehicle pointing or firing a gun.

The policy in Jefferson Parish doesnt requires a second layer of aggression. Deputies are allowed to shoot at a moving vehicle if doing so is necessary for self-defense against deadly force from the cars occupants.

Though Lopinto did not comment about the policy on Thursday, sheriffs officials, including his predecessors, have long held that a vehicle is a deadly weapon.

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune staff reporters Laura McKnight and Rich Webster contributed to this story.

Michelle Hunter covers crime and courts in Jefferson Parish. Got an issue? Contact her at mhunter@nola.com.
A 40-year-old corrections officer at Louisiana State Penitentiary was arrested Thursday (March 28) after detectives found drugs inside a gift wrapped coffee bag in her car, authorities said.

Crystal Jenkins of Mississippi admitted she intended to distribute the drugs inside the prison and had done so in the past, according to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Jenkins was booked on three counts of distribution of ecstasy, marijuana and synthetic marijuana, one count of distribution of heroin, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of bringing contraband into a prison, according to Ken Pastorick, a spokesman for the department.

Deputies arrested Jenkins during a 5 a.m. shift change at the prison, according to a news release. Detectives found 14 grams of heroin, 1 ounce of heroin powder, 11.8 ounces of marijuana, 3.4 ounces of synthetic marijuana and 4 ounces of methamphetamine inside her car, the release said. The drugs and a digital scale were found inside a coffee bag and gift wrapped in rainbow, emoji-printed gift wrap.

Jenkins had been an employee at Angola prison since August 13, the release stated. During an interview with authorities, she admitted to the charges and resigned, it said.
A man who pleaded guilty last week in the hit-and-run death of a cyclist in 2016, six armed robberies and 20 other crimes was sentenced Friday (March 29) to 33 years in prison.

Alvin Berfect, 29, pleaded guilty at Fridays hearing to being a multiple offender, admitting he was convicted of armed robbery in 2009. Berfects sentencing range was enhanced because he pleaded guilty to being a two-time offender.

Berfect was accused of robbing six people at gunpoint in late 2016 in separate incidents across the city.

He was charged with manslaughter in the Nov. 7, 2016, hit-and-run death of Eddie Ray King, a sous chef at the French Quarter steakhouse Doris Metropolitan. King, 51, was biking home from work after midnight when he was struck by a car and killed near North Claiborne and St. Phillip Street in Treme.

Authorities said Berfect was driving the car that hit King, and alleged the car was stolen.

Berfects defense attorney, Kevin Kelly, said after his client's plea hearing that Berfect did not intend to kill or injure King.

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Kings brother, Shawn, said in a victim impact statement Berfect took something from my family that can never be replaced. King did not attend the hearing, but Assistant District Attorney Tiffany Tucker read his statement in court.

King said Berfect deserves to pay for his crimes, but wished no ill will on the man who took his brother's life.

Other offenses Berfect was sentenced for Friday include being a felon in possession of a firearm, second-degree battery, possessing contraband in jail, seven misdemeanor counts of illegal possession of stolen things, among other crimes.

Tucker said she spoke to victims in all of the cases and all approved Berfect's plea and sentence.

Per his plea agreement, Criminal District Judge Franz Zibilich sentenced Berfect on each of the 27 counts, and said each would run consecutive to one another. He gave Berfect credit for time served.
A man accused in a Metairie homicide has been charged with threatening a witness in the case, according to Jefferson Parish court records.

1 arrested, 2nd suspect sought in Jefferson, St. Charles Parish store robberies

Carlos Osorio-Frias, 30, of Waggaman, was arrested and booked Nov. 20 in the shooting death of Shackner Lanza, 26.

Lanzas body was discovered two days earlier inside an apartment in the 100 block of Raspberry Lane in Metairie. He died of multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said.

Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office detectives suspect Osorio-Frias shot Lanza during an argument that turned into a fight.

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Osorio-Frias has not been formally charged in the murder case. But the Jefferson Parish district attorneys office filed a bill of information charging him with intimidation of a witness on March 13, court records said.

Osorio-Frias is accused of making a movement as if he was armed with a gun and gesturing for a witness to stay quiet as he left the homicide scene, according to authorities. He pleaded not guilty, court records said.

While he awaits a charging decision in the murder case, Osorio Frias is also facing a number of charges related to alleged attacks against officers at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna. He is also charged with self-mutilation by a prisoner, after authorities said he pierced his hand with a toothbrush while at the facility.

Court-appointed doctors found Osorio-Frias mentally competent to stand trial in January. He returns to court for a pre-trial conference on April 15.
New Orleans police have released a description of a suspect who reportedly robbed and shot a man who denied him a dollar in New Orleans East Tuesday night (March 26).

Two men, ages 20 and 19, were walking in the 6500 block of Morrison Road at about 11:24 p.m. Tuesday when four people in a silver Nissan SUV asked them if they wanted to buy drugs. The duo declined, but the SUV continued to follow them, according to a NOPD news release.

One of the passengers exited the vehicle and asked the 20-year-old for a dollar. He declined, prompting another passenger to exit the SUV and shoot him in the lower back, according to an initial NOPD report.

The 19-year-old fled and hid in a bush until the SUV left.

Paramedics later transported the shooting victim to an area hospital for treatment.

Police described the shooter as a male believed to be about 17, 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 7 inches tall with a thin build and a short tapered hairstyle with a busy twist top. He was riding in a silver Nissan SUV.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact NOPD Seventh District detectives at (504) 658-6070, or to call anonymously, contact CrimeStoppers at (504) 822-1111.
Top-level leaders in the New Orleans police department have been shuffled around, marking the most meaningful personnel changes made since NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson took over as chief in mid-January.

In a noteworthy lack of change, Ferguson announced Friday (March 29) he is keeping Deputy Chief Paul Noel in the departments No. 2 role. Noel served as deputy chief over the field operations bureau under former Superintendent Michael Harrison, a role seen as second-in-command to the police chief. Noel was promoted from deputy chief over the field operations bureau to Chief Deputy Superintendent, a position that has not been filled since Marlon Defillo retired while under investigation in 2011, under then chief Ronal Serpas.

A news release from NOPD said the promotion solidified his role as the second in command of the New Orleans Police Department. Noel served in his previous role for three years, after Harrison promoted him from his old job as commander of the 2nd District, which polices parts of Uptown, Broadmoor, and the Carrollton, Freret, and Leonidas neighborhoods. Ferguson was assistant commander of the 2nd District under Noel, and observers have said the two were close, with Noel at the time serving as a mentor to Ferguson. Noel has been lauded by monitors reporting to a federal judge on NOPDs progress with their consent decree for his embrace of technology and what the department often refers to as 21st century policing.

We must continue to move our department and our city forward, Ferguson said of the announced changes, in a statement. These new appointments will assist us in doing just that, and continuing the significant progress weve made as a department to earn the reputation of being the model of police reform in America.

Former Deputy Chief of Compliance Danny Murphys and former Deputy Chief of Staff Eric Melancon had their last day at NOPD on Friday. Both civilian employees were recruited by Harrison to the Baltimore Police Department, where Harrison was recently hired as police commissioner. Murphy was the first person to serve in that role, one created to oversee implementation of constitutional policing reforms mandated by the ongoing 2013 consent decree.

We wish Deputy Chief Murphy and Deputy Chief of Staff Melancon the best in Baltimore, Ferguson said. We thank them for their commitment and service to the citizens of New Orleans and our Department.

Replacing Murphy as chief of compliance is Otha Sandifer, a commissioned officer and 26-year veteran who previously served as commander of the compliance bureau. Sandifers former job was the No. 2 role in the unit he now leads. Sandifers previous roles were as leaders in the academy and NOPDs First District, which polices the Bayou St. John, Mid-City, Treme neighborhoods.

The name of the Compliance Bureau, which was created during Harrisons tenure to help manage implementation of the federal consent decree, has been changed to the Professional Standards and Accountability Bureau, NOPD announced Friday. Lt. Sandra Contreras, a 19-year NOPD veteran, was promoted to take over Sandifers former role as the bureaus commander. Contreras previously served as second-in-command in NOPDs 3rd District.

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Commander Regina Williams, formerly in the Public Integrity Bureau, is replacing Doug Eckert in his role overseeing the Criminal Investigations Division. The division oversees the homicide unit, SWAT team and sex crimes and special victims unit. Eckert will become commander of the 2nd District, which polices Broadmoor and most of Uptown.

Sabrina Richardson, most recently the commander of the special victims section, is taking over Williams old role as commander of PIB.

Nicholas Gernon was moved from a visible role as commander of the 8th District, which polices the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny and Central Business District, to a less public-facing role as commander of the NOPD Crime Lab and Central Evidence Property. The news release states Gernon, a 16-year veteran who previously led the homicide unit, takes on the new role as NOPD prepares to open its own new cutting edge crime lab, positioning the department to modernize its evidence analysis and maintenance operation. The NOPD currently sends most evidence to the Louisiana State Police crime lab in Baton Rouge.

Lt. Octavio Baldassaro, who has received the medal of merrit and medal of commendation, will move into Gernons role in the 8th District. A 21-year veteran, he previously served as second-in-command in the First District.

Darryl Albert, who previously was commander over the crime lab, was returned to his lower rank of Captain and will lead NOPDs Support Services Section, which oversees the Cainine and Mounted units.

Two sergeants were promoted to lieutenant to become assistant commander in the 1st and 3rd districts: Sheila Celious in the 3rd District, which polices Gentilly and Lakeview; and Melvin Bush, in the 1st District.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell posted a tweet after the promotions ceremony, which she attended, saying leaders were chosen intentionally within the department, lauding the force as having the most capable officers in the country.

For new NOPD chief, policing went from a steady paycheck to my heart, my passion
A 16-year-old girl police said was raped, trafficked and locked inside her captors Central City bedroom had marks on her arm and bruises on her leg where she says the man burned her with cigarettes and punched her when she refused to perform sex acts, arrest records show. At one point, the teen told police, her captor strangled her until she blacked out.

Melvin Davis, 42, was arrested Tuesday (March 26) in connection the teens captivity, and faces charges including trafficking of children for sexual purposes, rape, felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile and false imprisonment, court records said. He was represented in Orleans Parish Magistrate Court on Thursday by private attorney Tanzanika Ruffin, who could not be immediately reached on Friday.

An affidavit for Davis arrest warrant signed by a detective from the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations Special Victims Unit reveals new details about the teens captivity, which lasted somewhere between four and 10 days. Authorities made contact with her after a hospital nurse called the agency on Monday, after she had escaped Davis home in the 3100 block of Second Street near Taylor Park in Central Citys Hoffman Triangle neighborhood.

The teen said she had been living at a foster home in West Monroe, when a friend of hers told her on March 15 that his uncle in New Orleans could pick her up in West Monroe and take her to New Orleans to see her family, according to the affidavit. The teen said she agreed, and Davis picked her up at some point in a gray Dodge Challenger.

When the teen arrived at Davis home on Second Street she told police, Davis told her there was going to be a change of plans, the affidavit states.

She stated he told her he wanted her to start having sex with different men for money so he could have money to pay his phone bill, the affidavit states.

New Orleans man accused of sex-trafficking after 16-year-old girl escapes captivity: state police

The teen told police she refused, and that, if he even tried to that, she would tell them that she is 16 years old, according to the affidavit. Davis told her she couldnt leave the house, and over the next three weeks was locked in a bedroom in his home, the affidavit said.

The second night there, she told police, Davis blindfolded and raped her, which she said occurred on at least two separate occasions.

Davis took the teen to a Bourbon Street daquiri shop every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night while she was with him in New Orleans. He would buy her alcohol there that she drank, the teen told police.

After the teen refused on March 22 to perform oral sex on Davis, the affidavit said, he got angry and punched her in the left thigh. The investigator wrote that she saw a large purple bruise on the teens leg. At some point, the teen said, Davis burned her left arm with a cigarette.

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She showed me a small circular mark on her left arm, as well as some other bruises and scratch marks she stated he put on her arm, the affidavit said.

At one point, Davis had gotten so angry, that he strangled her until he blacked out, the detective wrote, citing the teen. Davis told her after she regained consciousness that she once again could not leave the house, according to the affidavit.

The morning the teen escaped, she told police, Davis had left his bedroom door unlocked for the first time since shes been staying with him. The teen said she broke a window in the back of the house to get out.

The teen told state troopers Davis sold marijuana and had a large black suitcase in his room containing a large amount of marijuana. Davis locked her in his bedroom, which he entered with a key, the affidavit said. The teen had not seen Davis with a gun at any point, but told troopers she assumed he had one because he sold marijuana.

Investigators identified Davis by doing a search of the phone number the teen provided for him, the detective wrote in the affidavit. The address that matched up to his name was in the block where she said he lived and she had been held. The teen positively identified Davis in a six-person photographic lineup, the affidavit states.

The day after State Police interviewed the teen, that agency, along with U.S. Marshals Service and New Orleans Police Department, went to Davis house to arrest him and execute a search warrant. In Davis bedroom, police found a Smith and Wesson handgun, large plastic bag containing many individual packaged bags of what they believed was marijuana, more than one digital scale, a grinder and more than $600 in cash, according to a summary of the warrant executions filed in court and sworn by NOPD Detective Omar Rodriguez. A preliminary test on the vegetable matter tested positive as marijuana, Rodriguez wrote.

Davis admitted he was in possession of the marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a handgun, the detective wrote. His home was less than 2,000 feet from an early childhood education center, the summary said.

Orleans Parish Commissioner Robert Blackburn on Thursday set Davis bond at a total of $877,500, and ordered Davis to sign a non-domestic stay away order. His attorney made an oral request for a bond hearing and a preliminary hearing. The preliminary hearing, which is used to establish probable cause and allows defense attorneys and prosecutors to call witnesses, was scheduled for May 1.

In addition to the other charges, Davis also was booked on possession of a firearm while in possession of illegal drugs, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with the intent to distribute illegal drugs within 2,000 feet of a school and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Resources for sexual assault survivors in the New Orleans area

The National Human Trafficking Hotline is a national anti-trafficking hotline serving victims and survivors of human trafficking and the anti-trafficking community. The hotline can be reached by emailing help@humantraffickinghotline.org, submitting a tip through the online tip reporting form and visiting the website at www.humantraffickinghotline.org. You can also call 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733.
New Orleans police are searching for a man accused of trying to rob a woman at gunpoint outside of her Treme home last month.

The attempted armed robbery occurred about 9:45 p.m. on Feb. 20 in the 2400 block of Governor Nicholls Street. NOPD detectives identified the suspect as 21-year-old Eric Banks.

Police said Banks was the driver of a blue Saturn Ion that he and an unidentified accomplice used during the incident.

According to an initial NOPD report, an armed stranger approached a 21-year-old woman who was standing next to her car and demanded her property. The womans father came outside during the incident, which startled the stranger and caused him to flee in the blue Saturn.

Its unclear if the suspects got away with any of the womans belongings.

Banks is described as a black male, 6-feet tall and weighing about 165 pounds.

Anyone with information on this incident or the whereabouts of Eric Banks or his unidentified accomplice is asked to contact the First District Investigative Unit at (504) 658-6010 or call Crimestoppers anonymously at (504) 822-1111 and toll-free at 1-877-903-7867.
A woman charged with vehicular homicide in a 2016 New Orleans East car crash that killed her passenger pleaded guilty last week and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Vickie Pryor, who also goes by Vicki Pryor Irias-Duran, had cocaine in her system when she crashed head-on into a telephone pole in the 7200 block of Chef Menteur Highway the afternoon of Aug. 10, 2016, according to police. Pryor was injured, and the front-seat passenger in her 1998 Toyota Corolla, Carl Larosa, 59, was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to a warrant for Pryors arrest, the crash happened around 1:20 p.m. Pryors Corolla sideswiped a pole at a high rate of speed, then traveled 80 feet off the roadway and struck a second pole head-on, investigators said.

A toxicology report from the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab showed Pryor had cocaine and the cocaine metabolites benzoylechonine and ecgonine methyl ester in her system at the time of the crash, according to District Attorney Leon Cannizzaros office. Pryor was arrested in July 2017 after the toxicology report was completed.

Criminal District Judge Robin Pittman sentenced Pryor March 22, the same day she pleaded guilty.

The 10-year sentence was imposed per a plea agreement approved by the victims family, according to Cannizzaros office.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Danon prosecuted the case.

Emily Lane contributed to this report.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, of Alto, and Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone didnt espouse major policy differences at a rare joint appearance Thursday (March 28), but the Republican men had different styles of campaigning on display.

While Abraham was subdued and laid back, Rispone came out of the gate champing at the bit during the Pelican Institute Solutions Summit held in Baton Rouge. The crowd was a predominantly conservative, friendly audience filled with Republican legislators and right-leaning lobbyists.

The two GOP candidates are running for governor against incumbent Democrat John Bel Edwards, who didnt attend the forum. All three men will appear on the Oct. 12 gubernatorial primary ballot. If none gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will go to a Nov. 16 runoff election.

Heres some of what the GOP candidates had to say:

Louisiana governors race: Where Republicans Eddie Rispone, Ralph Abraham differ

1. Neither Republican wants to raise taxes, except maybe the gas tax

During the Pelican Institute event, the two candidates were interviewed separately, and therefore didnt get to respond directly to each others comments, but both men went out of their way to say they didnt support tax increases, mostly.

Abraham said he would be willing to look at a gas tax, which is given over to road and bridge construction and maintenance, but then said he wouldnt be in favor of raising taxes in general. He said Louisianas severance, sales and corporate taxes were already higher than they are in some neighboring states.

Im not one for raising any taxes, Abraham said.

Rispone went even further, saying he would push policies that would make it harder to raise taxes at all. He said he would advocate for altering the state constitution so that tax hikes had to go to a vote of the general public through a ballot initiative. This would add an extra step to the current process for getting a tax increase approved.

Were not going to raise taxes, Rispone said.

Edwards and the Republican-controlled Legislature have raised a few types of taxes, most significantly the sales tax rate, since taking office four years ago. The sales tax rate went from 4 percent to 5 percent in 2016, and then down to 4.45 percent in 2018.

Taxes on alcohol and cigarettes have also gone up. The governor and Republican-controlled Legislature voted to raise taxes because they didnt feel there was enough money available to fund higher education and health care otherwise.

2. Abraham is critical of Medicaid, but hasnt said he would undo its expansion

Abraham was much more critical of the states Medicaid program than he had been in a previous event, but he stopped short of saying he would undo the Medicaid expansion Edwards adopted when he took office in 2016.

Employers have dropped private insurance options for their employees who qualify for Medicaid, Abraham said, and people have been forced onto Medicaid as a result. Abraham did not elaborate why he thought this was the case. The Louisiana Department of Health, overseen by Edwards, has not provided information that would support this theory, despite being pressed by some Republican lawmakers to do so.

The congressman said people on Medicaid should be offered health saving accounts and incentives for engaging in healthy behavior. He also expressed concern over recent audits and information provided by the Louisiana Department of Health that suggests people who dont meet the income requirements for Medicaid are nevertheless enrolled in the program.

Abraham said money spent on people enrolled in the Medicaid program who shouldnt be could be used for other needs, such as teachers salaries. In fact, Medcaid money is mostly federal funding and could not be used for teacher salaries or other state programs.

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Rispone wasnt asked as directly about Medicaid during Thursdays event but suggested he was also critical of Edwards decision to adopt Medicaid expansion. Im not going to go around bragging that I have 500,000 people on Medicaid expansion, he said.

Louisiana Medicaid audit deeply troubling to federal agency

3. Rispone, one of Louisianas wealthiest residents, is running as someone who doesnt need a job

During the event, Rispone mentioned more than once that he wasnt running for governor because he needed to do so.

He is one of the founders of ISC Construction, which he said does $360 million worth of business every year and has 3,300 employees. Rispones company is one of the biggest construction firms on the Gulf Coast, and he was indirectly highlighting that hes one of the wealthiest people in Louisiana and doesnt need to work.

Its going to take someone that doesnt need this job to make the hard decisions the governor has to make, Rispone said.

Rispone also suggested his enormous wealth means he wont owe campaign donors favors. He has committed to spending $5 million of his personal money on his campaign.

Im not beholden to any special interest group," he said.

Rispone has been a major political contributor in the past. He has donated more than $1 million to political causes in Louisiana over the past four years. Hes also been active in the Associated Builders and Contractors, a lobbying group for the construction industry, for decades. He served as the head of the national organization and Louisiana chapter of ABC at different points.

4. Abraham, lagging in campaign cash, touts his recent fundraising ability

One of Abrahams perceived weaknesses is that he cant raise the money to compete in a statewide race. The congressmans campaign attempted to counter that narrative by sending out a press release Thursday evening saying Abraham had raised more than $1 million in the first 100 days of his campaign.

Raising $1 million so far still puts Abraham far behind Rispone and Edwards. The governor closed out 2018 with $8.4 million in the bank for his reelection bid. Rispone ended last year with $5.5 million for his campaign, including $5 million of his personal money.

Abraham entered the race later than Rispone and Edwards and is playing catch-up with fundraising to a certain extent. He didnt declare himself a candidate until mid-December, which put him at a campaign cash disadvantage. Hes also not wealthy enough to self-finance a campaign.

Louisiana governors race scrambled after John Kennedy opts out

5. Rispone thinks tax dollars should support Christian, charter and home schools

Rispone, who has long been active in the school choice movement in Louisiana, said he thought tax dollars should be used to let parents send their children to Christian schools, charter schools or for home schooling if they want.

Rispone, who grew up in a working class household in north Baton Rouge, is worried that families who are middle class and poor are unable to afford to send their children to private schools like his parents did with him. Over the past four years, hes spent more than $600,000 on political action committees and candidates who support school choice policies, including public charter schools and the taxpayer-funded school voucher program, which allows low-income students to attend private schools. Hes also made private donations to scholarship programs, particularly in the Baton Rouge area.
Cher is coming to New Orleans on Dec. 13 at the Smoothie King Center as part of her "Here We Go Again Tour'' in North America, a press release said. "The legendary multi-award winning entertainer has added 14 major dates'' to her tour, the release said.

Nile Rodgers and Chic will open for Cher. The tour, Chers first across the United States in more than five years, has seen sold-out crowds at every stop since early January, the release said. Shell sing her biggest hits plus songs from her recent Dancing Queen album  a tribute to the music of ABBA.

Tickets for the New Orleans concert will go on sale to the general public Friday, April 5, at 10 a.m. at LiveNation.com. Citi credit card members will have access to pre-sale tickets beginning Tuesday, April 2, at 10 a.m. through April 4 at 10 p.m. through Citis Private Pass program. Visit www.citiprivatepass.com.
Human trafficking victims were more frequently identified in Orleans, Caddo and East Baton Rouge Parish last year than anywhere else in Louisiana, according to an annual report on human trafficking from the Department of Children and Family Services.

A total of 83 juvenile victims and 34 adult victims were reported in Orleans Parish last year, following a statewide trend, which saw a nearly 20 percent increase in the number of juvenile trafficking victims in 2018 compared to adult victims (17 percent). There were 92 juveniles and 16 adult victims identified in Caddo Parish last year and 59 adults and 47 juveniles identified in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transporting, or harboring of people to force them in to some form of labor  sexual or otherwise.

The annual report, now in its fifth year, compiled data from 35 agencies that provide support for human trafficking victims in Louisiana. The number of service providers reporting trafficking data to DCFS has grown over the last five years. However the majority of sexual assault centers and refugee/ migration service agencies in the state do not participate, limiting the information available on adult sexual abuse and labor trafficking, according to DCFS.

How to help trafficking victims in New Orleans

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Last year a total of 744 confirmed and high-risk human trafficking victims were identified in Louisiana  an increase of 9 percent from the year before. The overwhelming majority were victims of sexual trafficking (710 victims) and female (678 victims), according to the report.

Juveniles accounted for 428 (57.5 percent) of the reported victims, an increase of about 20 percent from the year before when service providers reported 356 juvenile victims. A total of 42 victims were age 12 or younger.

DCFS also found that while the vast majority were sexual trafficking victims (95.4 percent), 0.9 percent were labor trafficking victims, and 2.4 percent were victims of both.

Of the victims, 44 (6 percent) were male, 13 (1.7 percent) identified as transgender, and 9 (1 percent) did not identify their gender. About 366 (49 percent) of the victims identified as African American, and about 233 (31 percent) identified as white, according to DCSF.

The full 2019 report can be seen here and provides information broken down by parish.
The all-important job of ensuring children have a safe environment in the Archdiocese of New Orleans is the responsibility of a home grown religious educator whose calm demeanor seems to belie her drive to protect minors from child abuse and to show that women must play an important role in the future of the church.

In an interview for the archdioceses Women in Witness video series, Sister Mary Ellen Wheelahan said part of her job as the Safe Environment coordinator brings her in direct contact with local seminarians who are subject to lessons on strict boundaries that have been put in place to combat the child abuse crisis that has rocked the Catholic church.

Im not here to be their enemy, Wheelahan, a Carmelite nun, said in the archdiocese video. Im here to protect them as well as protect the children. I think people are starting to understand that.

The Safe Environment program, which includes a background check and a class that teaches adults how to appropriately interact with children, is mandated for anyone who has contact with minors at any Catholic church or school event. That includes seminarians, clergy, teachers and those who volunteer in church programs geared toward children. Over the past year, more than 16,000 adults in the metro area have participated in the program.

Another component of the program is aimed at youngsters, teaching them what to do if they are touched inappropriately by an adult and how to recognize efforts on the part of predators to groom them for sexual abuse. Over the past year, 43,550 children received the training, archdiocese officials said.

The Safe Environment program was established in dioceses across the country by the U.S. Conference of Bishops in 2002, soon after the Boston Globe published an investigation about widespread sexual abuse. The investigation led to the criminal prosecutions of five Roman Catholic priests and brought the issue of abuse by clergy and a coverup by church hierarchy under a national spotlight.

Archdiocese of New Orleans Safe Environment program

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Although a number of similar reports have surfaced since then, church leaders say most of those cases occurred before 2002. They credit the Safe Environment program and other efforts for reducing instances of abuse.

While Wheelahan has a difficult job, archdiocese communications Director Sarah McDonald said she does it with grace and diplomacy.

Sr. Mary Ellen is one of the kindest, most compassionate people I have ever had the privilege to work with, McDonald said. She is truly an example of someone who uses her God-given gifts and talents in service to the people of God, and in particular to make not only our church but the world a safer place for children and those that are vulnerable.

Wheelahan, a 1972 graduate of Cabrini High School who was named the schools 2013 Alumna of the Year, said she seeks to instill hope in those she comes in contact with in her work. She often uses a quote from Parker Palmers book On the Brink of Everything to guide her: When we feel certain that the human soul is no longer at work in the world, its time to make sure ours is visible to someone, somewhere.

I believe in my heart that this is the responsibility and the task of the Safe Environment coordinators today, said Wheelahan, who grew up in Lakeview. Its also the task of women in the church.

See the video from the archdiocese website here.
The 81st District is one of the more venerable seats in the Louisiana House of Representatives. And its a good example of whats about to happen when legislators sit down in February for the political task of redrawing the lines of districts from
The New Orleans Saints struck a deal with tight end Jared Cook last week, and the details of the contract are finally available.

The 31-year-old Cook had a career year with the Oakland Raiders in 2019, but his new deal doesnt break the bank as it ranks eighth among current tight ends in terms of average annual value, according to numbers from Spotrac.

Cooks contract with the Saints is effectively for two years and $15 million with $8 million guaranteed, making it worth $7.5 million per year. All of the guaranteed money comes in the first year of the deal.

On paper, the contract is technically a three-year, $24.1 million deal with the third year being voidable, though thats not explicitly stated in the contract. Instead of an automatically voiding final year like some other Saints deal, this one is set to void before Cook has an $8.04 million roster bonus due on the second day of the 2021 league year.

The Saints add voiding years to contracts to spread out the salary cap hit from the signing bonus, which is prorated over the length of the deal. The third year for Cook allows the Saints to make his $6 million signing bonus a $2 million cap hit in 2019, 2020 and 2021 as opposed to it counting $3 million in 2019 and 2020.

Here are the other details from Cooks new contract, though any performance-related incentives are not currently available:

Signing bonus: $6 million

Total guarantee: $8 million

2019

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Base salary: $2 million (guaranteed)

2020

Base salary: $5 million

Roster bonus $2 million (due fifth day of league year)

2021*

Base salary: $1.06 million

Roster bonus: $8.04 million

*Both of these figures will void sometime before the roster bonus is due on the second day of the 2021 league year.

Jared Cook a perfect fit for New Orleans Saints
Thank you for reading The Cascadia Advocate, the Northwest Progressive Institutes journal of world, national, and local politics.

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The two most recent times I saw my friend Makoto Fujimura, he put a Kintsugi bowl in my hands. These ceramic bowls were 300 to 400 years old. But what made them special was that somewhere along the way they had broken into shards and were glued back together with a 15th-century technique using Japanese lacquer and gold.

They look like they have golden veins running through them, making them more beautiful and more valuable than they were in their original condition.

Theres a dimension of depth to them. You sense the original life they had, the rupture and then the way they were so beautifully healed. And of course they stand as a metaphor for the people, families and societies we all know who have endured their own ruptures and come back beautiful, vulnerable and whole in their broken places.

I dont know about you, but I feel a great hunger right now for timeless pieces like these. The internet has accelerated our experience of time, and Donald Trump has upped the pace of events to permanent frenetic.
FRONT PAGE

Because of an editing error, an article on Wednesday about the decision by the Cook County States Attorneys Office to drop charges against the actor Jussie Smollett paraphrased inaccurately part of a prosecutors explanation for dropping the charges. The prosecutor, Joe Magats, said that Mr. Smollett had no previous criminal record of violence or felonies; he did not say that Mr. Smollett had no criminal record. (In 2007, Mr. Smollett pleaded no contest to driving under the influence, driving without a license and providing false information to a police officer, giving his brother Jakes name as his own, according to the Los Angeles City Attorneys Office.)

INTERNATIONAL

An article on Wednesday about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus comments on the implications of President Trump recognizing Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights misstated the West Banks Palestinian population. It is 2.8 million, not 1.8 million.

NATIONAL

An article on Thursday about a judge blocking Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky misstated the surname of the Arkansas governor. He is Asa Hutchinson, not Asa Huckabee.



An article on Thursday about religious exemptions to vaccines misidentified an organization that has made the elimination of nonmedical vaccination exemptions a priority. It is the American Academy of Pediatrics, not the American Association of Pediatrics.
Huawei, which was also charged, this month pleaded not guilty to the accusations, which also include obstructing a criminal investigation into the company. It has said it would never spy on customers, even if asked to do so by Beijing, and has said it is unaware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng.

In the first two months of 2019, even as the company faced heightened scrutiny around the world, Huaweis revenue grew by more than 30 percent from a year earlier, Mr. Guo said on Friday.

Because of external pressure, we are more closely united internally, so we can face together these pressures imposed on us by the outside world, Mr. Guo said. This will make us even stronger.

Mr. Guo said that Huawei spent nearly $15 billion last year, or 14 percent of its sales, on research and development. But it is unclear whether Huawei will be able to capitalize fully on its investments in equipment using the next generation of wireless technology, or 5G. Washington has pressed allied governments to bar cellular companies from using the companys 5G gear over espionage concerns.

A review led by Britains top cybersecurity agency, released on Thursday, found underlying defects in Huaweis software engineering and security processes, although it stopped short of calling for a ban on the companys products.

The chief executive of Vodafone, the British carrier, has warned that a full Huawei ban would delay the construction of 5G networks. Few industry observers believe, however, that carriers that are blocked from using Huaweis 5G gear would be put at a major technological disadvantage as they rolled out new data services.

Were talking about an industry with standards, meaning that by and large, everybodys equipment operates in a similar way, said Richard Kramer, a founder of the technology research firm Arete. I think its an overstatement to say that the rest of the world wont be able to build 5G networks without Huawei.
A Shakespeare play is like a Hallmark card. There is one for every occasion. When you have an audience embroiled in problems of governance  and since no one has thought to release the Mueller report in iambic pentameter  might as well pluck Julius Caesar off the shelf.

A political nail-gnawer about a self-absorbed populist and the men who conspire to impeach him one knife wound at a time, Julius Caesar is practically bespoke for 2019 America. Surely someone has already fantasy-cast it with Democratic hopefuls. Elizabeth Warren as Metellus Cimber? Discuss. But Shana Coopers revival at Theater for a New Audience  busy and butch  is so deep in conversation with itself and its dance battles that it nearly forgets to speak to us today.

Ms. Coopers production originated at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2017, just before the Public Theaters Breitbart-baiting staging, which featured a cigar-puffing combed-over Gregg Henry as Caesar. Here, the analogues are fuzzier, nearly opaque. We dont seem to be in Rome, or necessarily in America either, but in some half-made city-state of the mind. The set, by Sibyl Wickersheimer, is a loose scaffold of plastic sheeting, plywood pallets and splintered Sheetrock. (Has anyone ever blamed Romes decline and fall on bad contractors?) This is a house already divided against itself. Anyone in the first few rows should probably be issued a hard hat.

The play, here titled The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, begins with a crew of plebes dressed in gray masks, white dreads and jean shorts. Apparently, theyre celebrating Lupercalia, though their frolic looks a lot more like heavy metal night on the Westside piers. (Despite the casting of women in a few small male roles, this is a homosocial world and potentially a homoerotic one  a lot of the pants are too tight.) A ceiling cradle spills confetti, and here comes Caesar (Rocco Sisto), smug and smiling, cruising through the crowd like some conquering schooner. Already a hero, Caesar, we are told, wants to be a king, a tyrant, maybe even a god. For the Roman Republic to live, and because obstruction charges arent really an option, Caesar has to die.
A college student who worked alongside L. Douglas Wilder, the former Virginia governor, has accused him of kissing her without her consent and suggesting that she move in with him, a lawyer for the students family confirmed Thursday.

According to allegations, first reported by The Washington Post, Sydney Black, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, said that Mr. Wilder, 88, took her out in February 2017 to celebrate her 20th birthday, ordering her martinis. Ms. Black told The Post that Mr. Wilder later took her to his condo in Richmond, where, she said, he touched her leg and kissed her on the lips.

Ms. Black said she jerked away from Mr. Wilders advance and rebuked him. She told The Post that, months later, Mr. Wilder told her that there was no longer funding for her position as an office assistant at the universitys L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, where the former governor works as a distinguished professor. Ms. Black filed a complaint with the university in December, and its Title IX office is investigating the allegations, The Post reported, adding that she also reported the episode to the police.

Mr. Wilder did not respond to requests for comment through email and phone calls to his assistant on Thursday. As the countrys first elected African-American governor, Mr. Wilder is a historic figure in American politics.
WASHINGTON  Senate Democrats next week may block legislation proposed by their Republican counterparts that would allocate billions of dollars for disaster recovery across the country, citing opposition from House Democrats and a push to add more aid to Puerto Ricos slow efforts to recover from a pair of devastating hurricanes more than a year ago.

Democrats in the Senate have said they would support companion disaster aid legislation passed by House Democrats this year, but on Thursday lawmakers left Washington for the weekend with the issue of money for Puerto Rico still unresolved.

The impasse ahead of votes early next week has revived both a renewed legislative push to grant the island statehood  lawmakers introduced a measure on Thursday that would make Puerto Rico the 51st state  and criticism over President Trumps stingy approach to the islands recovery efforts.

Ive taken better care of Puerto Rico than any man ever, Mr. Trump told reporters on Thursday.

Mr. Trump has offered his support for the Senate disaster relief package in individual conversations with senators, Republican aides say, but he has long castigated the island and its officials for their handling of the recovery efforts.
On Thursday, Mr. Wolosky wrote to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy, asking him to reject a request by Iran for assistance in turning back the victim families request that Iranian assets in Italy be frozen. The letter cited a 2014 Italian constitutional court ruling that the doctrine of sovereign immunity does not protect violators of human rights from lawsuits.

The case is raising an important test of the legislative spree that Congress went on after the Sept. 11 attacks to carve out a terrorism exception to sovereign immunity, said Harold Hongju Koh, a Yale Law School professor of international law who served as the State Departments top lawyer in the Obama administration. Other countries did not follow suit, either in law and practice.

Everyone knew a case would come along that exposes the divergence between a more limited set of restrictions on sovereign immunity held globally and the United States emerging position on non-immunity for various kinds of terrorist acts, he said. This case has exposed that seam.

The case in Luxembourg has been closely watched not only by other victims of terrorist attacks holding similar default judgments, but by diplomats and security officials as well. Critics have raised concerns that if it succeeds, it would undermine the nuclear deal by making it harder for Iran to reintegrate into the world economy, strengthening the hand of hard-liners in Tehran who want to abandon the accord.

The ruling, if it holds, could help persuade Iran to adhere to the nuclear deal despite the Trump administrations reimposition of sanctions, said Payam Mohseni, the director of the Iran Project at Harvard Kennedy Schools Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Through the Luxembourg court ruling, the Iranians will be gauging how viable continued engagement with the West will be in the future, particularly with the Europeans, he said. If Iranian assets are threatened in Europe, the value of staying in the nuclear agreement is significantly diminished for Iran.

But the Luxembourg ruling is also a setback to efforts to make it easier for victims of terrorist attacks to win compensation that have been more successful inside the United States.
WASHINGTON  Jessie K. Liu has withdrawn herself from consideration for the No. 3 spot at the Justice Department, the department said on Thursday.

Earlier this month, President Trump planned to nominate Ms. Liu, who currently is the United States attorney for the District of Columbia, as associate attorney general, who is the departments third-ranking official and oversees the civil division.

The job would have given Ms. Liu broad oversight over civil rights, antitrust and environmental matters, and she would have supervised the Justice Department division that acts as the governments law firm in civil matters.

Ms. Liu dropped from the running because the Senate Judiciary Committee objected to her nomination, said a department spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the execution of a Buddhist inmate in Texas whose request that his spiritual adviser be present in the execution chamber had been denied.

In a brief, unsigned order, the court said that Texas may not execute the inmate, Patrick H. Murphy, unless the state permits Murphys Buddhist spiritual adviser or another Buddhist reverend of the states choosing to accompany Murphy in the execution chamber during the execution.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch said they would have allowed the execution to proceed.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote that the states policy of allowing only Christian and Muslim chaplains to attend executions amounted to unconstitutional religious discrimination. The government may not discriminate against religion generally or against particular religious denominations, he wrote.

In this case, he wrote, the relevant Texas policy allows a Christian or Muslim inmate to have a state-employed Christian or Muslim religious adviser present either in the execution room or in the adjacent viewing room. But inmates of other religious denominations  for example, Buddhist inmates such as Murphy  who want their religious adviser to be present can have the religious adviser present only in the viewing room and not in the execution room itself for their executions.
WASHINGTON  A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Trump administration rule that allows small businesses to band together and set up health insurance plans that skirt requirements of the Affordable Care Act.

The rule is clearly an end-run around the A.C.A., said the judge, John D. Bates, of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia.

The ruling was the second big defeat this week for President Trump on a top-priority item on his health care agenda as he has sought to use the courts to obliterate his predecessors signature achievement. Another judge on Wednesday blocked Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky.

Mr. Trump promoted the small-business health plans as a way to save people from the nightmare of Obamacare. He told small-business owners in June that youre going to save massive amounts of money and have much better health care.
The wife of the missing Chinese former head of Interpol on Thursday dismissed allegations by authorities in China accusing her husband of graft and said his arrest was politically motivated.

China will prosecute former Interpol chief, Meng Hongwei, for graft after an investigation found he spent lavish amounts of state funds, abused his power and refused to follow Communist Party decisions, Beijings anti-corruption watchdog said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr. Mengs wife, Grace Meng, said in a statement sent to Reuters on Thursday by her lawyers, The press release openly reveals the political nature of Mr. Mengs case, without addressing the issues concerning our familys fundamental human rights.

Interpol, the global police coordination agency based in France, said last October that Mr. Meng had resigned as its president, days after his wife reported him missing while he was on a trip to China.
This is our 100th Australia Letter. Thanks for reading and subscribing!

For our next 100, well be drawing in new writers and new approaches. Sign up to get it by email and tell us what you think: nytaustralia@nytimes.com.

___

In 2015, Al-Jazeeras Investigative Unit had a question: what did the National Rifle Association say about mass shootings behind closed doors?

To answer it, they planned a lengthy undercover investigation, in which a reporter posed as an Australian gun lobbyist to infiltrate meetings with the NRA and with One Nation, a far-right, anti-immigration party.

The result, released in a two part documentary that aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is  at the very least  compelling.
A previously unknown photograph of Harriet Tubman, the abolitionist leader known as the Moses of her people, is on display for the first time in Washington.

The photograph, on view at the Smithsonians National Museum of African American History and Culture, is significant because it shows a young Tubman casually seated in a chair wearing an elegant dress with an elaborate bodice and full skirt. Other surviving photographs of Tubman show her looking stern or pensive and, in her later years, frail and wan.

What this photograph does is humanize Harriet Tubman, said Lonnie G. Bunch III, the founding director of the museum. The photograph shows her stylish and in the vibrancy of her youth.

Tubman, whose original name was Araminta Ross, was born into slavery in Dorchester County, Md., in the early 1820s. She would later come to be known for her work guiding enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad, a loosely connected network of abolitionists who monitored safe houses where fugitives were sheltered on their journey north to free states.
But enough about Wagner (for now). Elsewhere this week, I attended the latest edition of the New York Philharmonics Nightcap series. These little concerts are meant to provide an intimate introduction to living composers  John Adams, in this case. The program Mr. Adams curated, however, was generous and illuminating, featuring only two of his works (I Still Play and First Quartet) to make room for ones by his younger colleagues.

So Mr. Adams presented music by people like Timo Andres  he also played the evenings solo piano pieces  and Nico Muhly, as well as Gabriella Smith, who I hope will be heard at the Philharmonic again soon. Enjoy an excerpt from her Carrot Revolution, a sonically intrepid piece that has the impression of an image coming in and out of focus, joyously performed at Nightcap by the Attacca Quartet.
The more you dig in, you do start seeing things that dont add up with good detective work. And then you wonder why. The students I spoke to told me that the police detectives told them that [Syeds] DNA and his fingerprints were in the car, and thats not true. Little things like that are really manipulative, so the questions become more like, What was the agenda?

I did find the dramatizations of the audio-taped police interrogations with Jay to be pushing an idea of what happened that cant be verified. Do you see yourself more as an advocate than a journalist?

I mean, I view myself as a storyteller, and this is a really interesting story that has a lot of different viewpoints. When you listen to those tapes, Jays voice and the way he has discussions is definitely different when he has to recite details and facts versus his personal accounting of things. His evolving story creates a lot of problems. I mean, how can you not remember the spot where you saw a dead body in the trunk? It doesnt make sense.

So, yeah, its tough. But I apply the ethics of journalism in my fact-checking. And I am telling a story for a wide audience, and you have to find ways to dramatize certain things in order to make people understand them better.

Your documentary West of Memphis revisited another murder case that had been the subject of a well-known series. Do you feel a sense of duty to show people: Hey, this isnt just about the buzz; these are real peoples lives, and the story is still continuing for them?

I think that this film can, by illustrating the story visually, give a greater understanding of it. But also, we take up our investigation where Serial left off, and a lot has happened in the case since 2016. When you mention his name to somebody, people just assume hes already out of prison because he was granted a new trial two years ago. And the truth is that he may never get out of prison.
A hip cocks. A shoulder jerks. The fingers fan like a Swiss Army knife thats nothing but blades. To see a body like this  a congregation of angles kinked in opposition  is to recognize Bob Fosses slinky specter. Fosse died in 1987, but he still haunts Broadway, where he won a record eight Tonys for choreography, plus one for direction. He also brought home an Oscar, for Cabaret, and three Emmys, for Liza with a Z.

I dont think its possible to do a musical that has dance in it and not have the influence of Fosse, Thomas Kail said.

Kail, who directed Hamilton, is an executive producer on Fosse/Verdon, a limited series that debuts on FX April 9. Though based on Fosse, Sam Wassons exhaustive 2013 biography, the series, as the name implies, twines Fosses story with that of Gwen Verdon, his third wife and longtime muse. Sam Rockwell plays Fosse, Michelle Williams is Verdon.

Why the slash? Verdon, a knockout dancer and an unimprovable musical comedian who won four Tonys in six years, was no slouch. (Watch her in Damn Yankees. Her slouch is electric.) Fosse often shaped his choreography on her body, which means that she shaped it, too, and she taught it to dancers in turn, even after she and Fosse separated. Her inclusion also suggests a narrative informed by the #MeToo movement, a way to reframe the myth of the lone male auteur, of the man who behaves badly, but still, my God, those steps. If Fosse/Verdon succeeds, it could inform how we now tell stories about men like Fosse. Assuming we should tell these stories at all.
Shulman, who appears to have read everything ever written by or about them, aims to change that fact, arguing that the familys story held within it Spains story across the breadth of the 20th century  from fascism to democracy, from repression to openness.

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Leopoldo Panero was a 27-year-old Marxist poet and aspiring diplomat when Francisco Francos fascist rebellion set off the Spanish Civil War. Imprisoned by the rebels and fearful that hed be executed (as his friend Lorca had been) for his political beliefs, Panero became someone else entirely: a fascist, a Nationalist soldier and, finally, after the Nationalist victory, an arts czar for the fascist regime. His poetry  elegant, introspective  won Spains National Literature Prize in 1953, but soon began to seem old-fashioned and apologistic because, Shulman believes, Panero had confused national emotions with personal ones, patriotism with propaganda.

Felicidad performed the same chameleon act in reverse. The daughter of a conservative Madrid surgeon, she volunteered during the war as a nurse at her fathers hospital, developing new ideas about what a woman could contribute to society. When she married Panero, after the war, it was in part because she loved the idea of being his muse. But before long her husband was conforming to the reactionary cliches of Franquist machismo: neglecting her for his drinking companions and indulging in casual affairs. She made a brief bid for fulfillment as a writer of short stories, but seemingly lost courage, retreating to the roles of wife and mother to her three sons  the last born at home when Panero couldnt be disturbed from his writing to take her to the hospital.

Leopoldo died suddenly of a heart attack at 52, and his hometown had barely erected a monument to him when his family began indulging in Oedipal revenge. Felicidad went clubbing with her eldest son, Juan Luis, describing him as my new husband. Both Juan Luis and Leopoldo Maria pursued careers as poets, though only the latter, a nihilistic, drug-using iconoclast, enjoyed real success  marred only (or maybe enhanced) by his frequent stays in the mental hospitals to which Felicidad committed him.

Michi, the youngest brother, a drinker, womanizer and scenester, largely stayed away from literature. But he masterminded a project whose impact exceeded anything his brothers, or, arguably, his father, achieved. This was El Desencanto: a Walpurgisnacht of memory, confession and blame that appeared just as Spain was making the transition to democracy in the wake of Francos death. In such a context, the film seemed to attack the political idea of the national family, and it turned the surviving Paneros into symbols of Francoist excess, even as they aged and died.
AMERICAS JEWISH WOMEN

A History From Colonial Times to Today

By Pamela S. Nadell

Considering that the very definition of Judaism and what it means to be a Jew has changed so much over the last three centuries of American history, its a near impossible endeavor  yeomans work  to capture succinctly the role of Jewish women over that long span. But that is the task that Pamela S. Nadell has set for herself in Americas Jewish Women: summarizing what cannot really be summarized. Shes mostly successful.

Nadell is clearly aware of the magnitude of the job. In her prologue, she sets the stage for her analysis by introducing Grace Mendes Seixas Nathan and her great-granddaughter, the famed author of The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus. Nadell does so in order to make a point: While both were Jewish American women, they lived in dramatically different eras, self-actualizing and contributing differently as a result. They were constrained by the mores of their times and sought to redefine the roles handed down to them, just as Jewish women have done throughout American history, Nadell argues.

The book proceeds chronologically and is stronger in some time periods than others. Nadells recounting of the colonial era, for example, is fuzzy. She muses about the life of Rachel Hendricks Samuel, widow to New Yorks Judah Samuel as of 1702, wondering if the woman could read a prayer book. That is doubtful, she concludes. But perhaps in her short life  she was probably 42 when she died  she had prayed over candles kindled in her two brass candlesticks, as commanded of Jewish women on Sabbaths and holiday eves. Much of this section is replete with similar conjecture, which makes sense. After all, at this point, Jewish women tended to spend most of their adult lives being pregnant, nursing, caring for children or some combination thereof. None of these pastimes lend themselves particularly well to quiet contemplation, or to crafting long written musings. Unresolved elements of the history, like the absence of a Jewish ritual bath, or mikvah, in New York until 1730 and in Philadelphia until 1786 are raised, but not adequately addressed.

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The subject matter comes into sharper focus, and the book gains in speed and strength, in the next century. In 1840 there were 15,000 Jews living in America, Nadell writes, but by 1880 there were 250,000  and at the turn of the century, approximately 2.5 million Jews came to America, nearly half of them women. Nadell hits her stride in her examination of Jewish women from 1840 to 1940, where she clearly and compellingly lays out the impact they had on American workers rights, education and political protest.
PUTINS WORLD

Russia Against the West and With the Rest

By Angela E. Stent

Russia has always been important to American diplomats, but rarely has it troubled civilians as much as it does now. The precise extent of the Kremlins intervention in the 2016 presidential election remains disputed, but few would deny that its foreign policy has more influence on domestic American affairs than ever before, or that understanding that policy is an urgent priority.

Angela E. Stent has written Putins World to meet that need. Stent is a director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and a professor at Georgetown University, and she has sought to put President Vladimir Putins difficulties with Western countries into perspective. Her subtitle  Russia Against the West and With the Rest  reflects the fact that many nations do not share the Americans distaste for Russias approach.

The book is divided into sections analyzing Russias relations with its major partners and adversaries  Germany, NATO, the former Soviet countries, China, Japan, the various Middle East regimes and the United States  all within a broader framing that examines Russian foreign policy from imperial times up to now. Stents key concept is that Russian policy has been consistent for centuries.

There is a very interesting discussion to be had about the differences between the United States and Russian approaches to foreign policy in various parts of the world, particularly insofar as they highlight the shortcomings of each. As Stent points out, there are surprisingly few stakeholders in the bilateral relationship, since trade between the two nuclear superpowers is low. This means that the personal ties between the rulers of the Kremlin and the officials in the White House are unusually significant, for good or ill. President Barack Obama sent an outspoken supporter of democratic transformation to Moscow as ambassador, something its hard to imagine any president doing with China or Saudi Arabia. Similarly, Putin regularly taunts Washington in a way he doesnt with more economically significant partners.
A WOMAN IS NO MAN

By Etaf Rum

In a hushed bedroom, a woman smears foundation over the bruises on her daughter-in-laws face, layer after silencing layer. There are things in this life no one should see, she tells the young woman her son has beaten. When I was your age, I never let anyone see my shame.

Etaf Rums debut novel is a dauntless exploration of the pathology of silence, an attempt to unsnarl the dark knot of history, culture, fear and trauma that can render conservative Arab-American women so visibly invisible. Where I come from, her narrator begins, we keep these stories to ourselves. To tell them to the outside world is unheard-of, dangerous, the ultimate shame. But you have seen us.

From a refugee camp near Ramallah to a Brooklyn rowhouse, A Woman Is No Man follows three generations of Palestinian women as they confront the claustrophobic expectations that continue to shape their lives. In the spring of 1990, Isra Hadid accepts a marriage proposal that will take her to America, her heart full of fairy-tale hopes. Eighteen years later, her eldest daughter, Deya Raad, longs for college but reluctantly considers potential husbands at the urging of her grandmother Fareeda. When an anonymous note lures Deya to a Manhattan bookshop, the story she knows about her family is violently rewritten.

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The daughter of Palestinian immigrants, born and raised in Brooklyn, Rum is keenly aware of the risks of exposing her community to the scrutiny of narrative. Its a devils bargain: Speak and add inadvertent fuel to the ever-smoldering fire of anti-Arabism  or dont speak and add another layer of silence. I knew that as long as I stayed away from controversial topics like arranged marriages and domestic abuse, no one would criticize me or call me a traitor. No one would shun me. No one would try to hurt me, Rum has explained. Perhaps these fears are why there arent many Arab-American women on bookshelves; why, whenever I search for our stories in bookstores and libraries, I cannot find them.
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Preet Bharara, the former United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, gained national attention when President Trump abruptly fired him from that job in March 2017. Since then he has been a vocal critic of the president  but his first book, Doing Justice, avoids the subject in favor of a broader look at the American judicial system. I have Twitter to talk about the president and his daily machinations, Bharara tells Pamela Paul on this weeks podcast. But if I was going to sit down and write a full volume about justice and what Ive been doing for much of my adult life, I wanted it not to be just about Trump, Trump Trump Trump, because I think we do that too much sometimes. Its important to take a step back and talk about first principles. What makes justice work, what makes justice happen, what makes justice not work? What does truth mean, as opposed to truth not being truth? What are real facts as opposed to alternative facts? And then you compare what the right way of doing things is to how far weve fallen, I think, from the ideal.

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Doug Jones, the Democratic senator from Alabama, visits us this week to discuss his new memoir, Bending Toward Justice. The book unites Alabama's past and present by recalling the 1963 Birmingham church bombing and describing Joness 2017 race for the Senate.

Also on this weeks episode, Alexandra Alter has news from the publishing world; and Dwight Garner, Parul Sehgal and Jennifer Szalai talk about the books theyve recently reviewed. Pamela Paul is the host.
1. Everyone will soon be able to read it.

That was Attorney General William Barr, who said he planned to publicly release a redacted version of the 400-page Mueller report by mid-April, if not sooner. In his letter to the chairmen of the congressional judiciary committees, above, Mr. Barr added that the White House would not see the document before he sent it to Congress.

He plans to testify on Capitol Hill in early May, shortly after the report is released, to discuss it with lawmakers.
The suit contends that the famous Poland Spring in Maine, which the company claims is a source of the water, effectively ran dry nearly 50 years ago.

It claims that the company built and maintained six phony, man-made springs to comply with the law. It also alleges that one or more of the companys wells are near a present or former human waste dump, landfill or other similar site.

Put another way, those famous Poland Spring images of water on a verdant hillside are misleading and deceptive, the lawsuit said.

Water is going to be one of the most important issues in the world, said Steve Williams, a lawyer for the 12 plaintiffs from various northeastern states. Its vitally important to consumers to be told the truth.

In its own court documents, Nestle Waters said that various state regulators had already determined that Poland Spring water complies with the Food and Drug Administrations so-called identity standard and has authorized the labeling and sale of the water as spring water. On those grounds, the company asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, or at least dismiss it in deference to the F.D.A.

The brands sales in the United States were approximately $400 million in 2007 and have been between $300 million and $900 million annually for each of the past 11 years, the class-action lawsuit said. At least 13 million consumers nationwide buy Poland Spring water, it added.

Nestle Waters has faced other allegations of false advertising related to Poland Spring water. In recent years, the company has faced scrutiny as it sought to continue taking millions of gallons of water for its Arrowhead brand from a national forest in California, even as the state recovered from a prolonged drought.
Wanted: New chief executive to clean up radioactive mess. Hazmat suit not provided.

Wells Fargo is searching for a new leader after its chief executive, Timothy J. Sloan, abruptly resigned on Thursday, having been hounded by politicians, regulators, customers and employees about the halting efforts to overhaul the scandal-tarred bank.

Wells Fargo, the countrys fourth-largest bank, is starting its chief executive search from scratch. The chairwoman, Betsy Duke, said on Thursday that the board would try to recruit an executive from outside, someone without the baggage of being a Wells Fargo veteran.

Identifying a qualified candidate  a person with extensive banking and management experience, the credibility to pacify regulators and the skill to shepherd a company with 260,000 restive employees  will be a challenge. Persuading that person to take the job is likely to be even harder.

While Wells Fargos finances are fundamentally sound, the bank faces a daunting list of problems: litigation, with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line; more than a dozen restrictions imposed by federal regulators; a largely demoralized work force that is chafing under the banks leadership; and rigorous scrutiny of the banks next leader from high-profile members of Congress.
The patient moved into a large assisted living facility in Raleigh, N.C., in 2003. She was younger than most residents, just 73, but her daughter thought it a safer option than remaining in her own home.

The woman had been falling so frequently that she was ending up in the emergency room almost every month, said Dr. Shohreh Taavoni, the internist who became her primary care physician.

She didnt know why she was falling. She didnt feel dizzy  shed just find herself on the floor. At least in a facility, her daughter told Dr. Taavoni, people would be around to help.

As the falls continued, two more in her first three months in assisted living, administrators followed the policy most such communities use: The staff called an ambulance to take the resident to the emergency room.
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.

More than 100 security forces and 28 civilians were killed in the past week, including two American service members who were killed in Kunduz Province during a joint operation. The Afghan military suffered its worst loss of the year in southern Afghanistan, where an estimated 65 security forces were killed in coordinated attacks by the Taliban late Friday night and early Saturday in Helmand Province. The government is trying to keep it secret, but this is what has happened in just a single attack in Sangin District, a local official told The Times. Few details of the assault have been made available.

[Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.]

March 28 Samangan Province: seven pro-government militia members killed

The Taliban attacked the village of Tikhonak in Aybak City, the provincial capital, killing seven pro-government militia members and wounding 11 others. Local authorities claimed that four Taliban fighters were also killed in the clashes and that their attack was pushed back by security forces.

March 28 Zabul Province: seven police officers killed

The Taliban attacked police outposts in the Seuri area of Shinky District, killing seven police officers and wounding eight others. Three outposts were captured by the Taliban in several hours of battle.
The administrations manufactured talking points fell apart. On Oct. 22, 2015, Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler died fighting alongside Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. He would be the first of 14 American troops who were killed in combat during the campaign in Iraq, Syria and Jordan. On April 29, 2017, the Armys First Lt. Weston Lee was killed on a routine patrol in Mosul when he stepped on a roadside bomb unearthed by construction equipment. And on Jan. 16, 2019, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer and Chief Cryptologic Technician Shannon M. Kent, respectively of the Army and the Navy, as well as a civilian Defense Department employee named Scott A. Wirtz and an interpreter named Ghadir Taher, were killed in a suicide-bomb blast in Manbij, Syria.

Everything in 2017 looked almost the same as it did in 2007, only with a smaller number of American troops deployed to Iraq (roughly 5,200) and Syria (around 2,000) and a greater reliance on Iraqi troops and Syrian fighters to do most of the killing and dying. Fight and die they did, by the thousands. Many more civilians died, and millions were displaced. In Syria, a conglomerate of Kurdish and Arab fighters called the Syrian Democratic Forces took back Islamic State territory one mile at a time, fighting doggedly into Raqqa, the extremist groups capital. In Mosul, the Iraqi military pushed into a city fortified with booby traps, moats, snipers and dump trucks packed with explosives.

In May 2017, I met 19-year-old Pvt. Mohammed Ali al-Shwele. He drove a bulldozer for the Iraqi Army. Each day, as his comrades pushed deeper into Mosul, he would take his bulldozer and drive into the next Islamic State-held street. The only weapon he had was the vehicles front plow. There can be no liberation without the bulldozer, Shwele told me. In reality, there was no liberation without him and people like him. Less than a week later, his bulldozer was hit and destroyed by a rocket. The flames covered most of his body in third-degree burns.

With the expulsion of the extremist group from its self-proclaimed caliphate, it has aptly shifted back to its insurgent roots, attacking the same people who fled their once-besieged cities in Iraq and Syria. In Afghanistan, an Islamic State offshoot continues to grow, and in the Philippines, disenfranchised youth in the countrys south are turning to the Islamic States black flag in increasing numbers. This week, the main Islamic State branch finally claimed credit for the Oct. 4, 2017, ambush in Niger that left four American soldiers dead.
John Hustons Beat the Devil, the Humphrey Bogart vehicle once advertised as a decade ahead of its time, is now an official senior citizen, having opened in New York 65 years ago this month.

One of the first Hollywood productions to be hailed as a cult film, this parodic thriller about a bumbling scheme to loot Africas uranium mines was an outlier in the successful Huston-Bogart collaborations. With Huston directing from a script doctored by Truman Capote, the film was initially promoted as a romantic adventure in the tradition of Casablanca. On its release in 1954, however, Beat the Devil baffled audiences, who didnt get the in-jokes and plot twists and turns.

Bogart stars as a middle-aged fixer hired by a ragtag group of crooks who become entangled with a seemingly innocent British couple (Jennifer Jones and Edward Underdown). Given the movies shaggy-dog quest, Huston evidently imagined Beat the Devil as another Maltese Falcon, his first film, even casting Peter Lorre, a featured player in Maltese Falcon, for good luck, with the portly Robert Morley standing in for Sydney Greenstreet, a seeker of the falcon. Visiting the town of Ravello on Italys Amalfi Coast, where Beat the Devil was being filmed, a New York Times reporter noted that Huston was harking back to another one of his Bogart triumphs, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

The gale of laughter that ends Beat the Devil does recall Sierra Madre, but this time the joke was on Huston. A potential treat emerged as a wet firecracker in some sixty-eight neighborhood theaters yesterday where United Artists unveiled its singularly unorthodox Beat the Devil, the Times review said, comparing the movie unfavorably to its source, a potboiler of a novel pseudonymously written by the left-wing journalist Claud Cockburn.
During the few years I was the newspapers picture editor, and after, I was lucky enough to be a witness to some of the gradual but potent change they brought. I saw firsthand the difference a more diverse staff made in coverage, saw how the definition of news widened, how tired themes were refreshed and viewpoints shifted, how people who might once have been overlooked became the subjects of compelling photographs.

Each woman contributed in her way, drawing on her background, experiences and interests, which were sometimes akin to those of the other women and sometimes vastly different. So the pictures they produced are as individual as they are.

Because the work of these and other talented women has now been published over the course of many years, its easy to forget that there was a time when their styles and choices were startling for the pages of The Times, when pictures were chosen more to illustrate than to expand understanding. Now is our chance to remind ourselves, or to discover, how Times photojournalism changed when women added their strengths. Welcome back to the revolution.

 Carolyn Lee

Carolyn Lee worked at The New York Times for 25 years. She was the first woman to run the papers photo department and later the first woman on the news masthead. She retired in 2003.
Finally, the board announced a reprieve of sorts. Mr. Caballero could stay until July, rather than leaving in April.

As articles about the conflict came out in the Daily News and Gothamist, the board members kept silent. Their underlying story  of criminal activity among some now-former maintenance men  was too inflammatory, bad for both community peace of mind and co-op reputation, Mr. Lipping said.

The one neighbor to whom Mr. Lipping had confided, Michael Grinthal, had rejected it as reason to evict Mr. Caballero.

Mr. Grinthal, 45, a housing lawyer, said he had sensed that something shady had been going on. I knew there were things I didnt know, he said. This felt like, Ah, this is what that all was.

But he added, I dont think that should be brought to bear on the question of whether Hector, who didnt have anything to do with it  why is that being raised to color this decision?

Mr. Lipping said he hoped the furor would die down as people got on with their lives. In the meantime, the board hired a publicist to help tell its side of the story.

I want to make sure this gets done right, Mr. Lipping said. Its my home, too. If people dont like me, whatever. But its important for me that we do this right. In the beginning we made some missteps, misjudging the reaction. But were not professionals. Were just volunteers.
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For many in New York, the inequities in the cash bail system were crystallized when a Bronx teenager named Kalief Browder spent three years on Rikers Island because his family could not raise $3,000, only to have a robbery charge dropped for lack of evidence. He later took his own life.

Since his death, the movement to abolish cash bail has grown stronger, especially among the states urban politicians. On Friday, leaders in the state Legislature were poised to move forward with a plan to eliminate cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes while keeping monetary requirements or other conditions for violent felonies.

The tentative deal would draw New York a step closer to a eliminating cash bail altogether, as California did last year. New Jersey has also all but eliminated cash bail, while New Mexico has minimized its use.

Details still were being negotiated as part of the state budget, which is due Monday, but legislative leaders seemed confident they would pass major changes to the bail law, as well as measures to ensure speedy trials for the states enormous incarcerated population and to improve the handing over of evidence to defendants.
An unfounded fear of vaccines has spread around the world in recent years, with childhood vaccination rates reportedly declining in several countries as a result. Nothing in the belief system of Orthodox Jews makes them any more likely to oppose vaccines, and several Orthodox rabbinical organizations have called on parents to vaccinate their children. But Hasidic Jews are prey to the same misinformation that has affected others, and some ultra-Orthodox rabbis have come out against vaccines.

Mr. Wieder, who said he first learned about the order in news reports, felt that the exclusion of the Hasidim from the decision-making process was emblematic of the divisions in the county and would only sow more mistrust. When you have people who are true haters, he said, they will take advantage of this type of situation and it just pours fuel on the fire.

Steve Gold, the chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council for the Jewish Federation of Rockland , shared Mr. Wieders concerns, saying the move by county officials risked exacerbating the anti-Semitism that already existed in the area before the measles crisis. He pointed to a number of anti-Semitic episodes, including swastikas spray-painted on trees.

I think it just opened up the door for everybody to say whatever they wanted to say, Mr. Gold said. And theyre putting, the way it looks right now, 100 percent blame on the Orthodox community. 

The anxiety over the outbreak has spread from the aisles at the kosher supermarkets where women in head-coverings pushed shopping carts laden with babies and goods for the coming Passover holiday, to the ritual bathhouses or mikvahs. In childrens clothing shops, mothers buying Sabbath finery traded stories about friends with sickened children.

Near a strip mall that sold religious candelabra and fur hats, a group of teenage boys tugged at the prayer threads that hung at their waists, discussing whether they would hang out with unvaccinated friends.

Robin Goldstein, a Hasidic mother and a social worker, said that some in the community viewed the county orders as governmental overreach into their decisions not to vaccinate, which has left them no choice but to comply.
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ALBANY  When state leaders rallied this month behind a proposal to tax luxury second homes in New York City, it seemed to encapsulate the goals of the Capitols new Democratic leadership: The bill would simultaneously help pay for public transit, vex real estate developers and target the uberwealthy.

The sudden momentum for the tax surprised even supporters of the proposal, which for years failed to gain traction. But it was especially unexpected to the real estate industry, which had not been consulted on the idea, had not expected it to go anywhere, and had not mobilized against it.

The industry wasted little time.

Developers hired well-connected lobbyists and presented legislators with printouts of economic analyses. They wrote opinion pieces and warned that the high-end market, already weakened, would collapse under the weight of a recurring surcharge.

By Friday, the proposal was dead. In its place, lawmakers were discussing a one-time fee on all real estate transactions over $3 million, although that threshold was still fluid.
On any given day, you can walk into the dance division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and request to see the ballet slippers of the early-20th-century ballerina Anna Pavlova, or a silk flower garland that adorned the modern-dance pioneer Isadora Duncan, or countless other items in a vast repository of materials on dance.

Contemplating these artifacts or peering at a wealth of historical dance footage are now a natural extension of the citys vast cultural offerings. Just as important, the materials helped preserve a fragile art forms legacy.

It would not have been possible without the work of one woman, Genevieve Oswald. Ms. Oswald was the founder and, for its first 43 years, the curator and tireless champion of the librarys dance collection.

She died at 97 on March 19 at her home in Santa Clarita, Calif., her daughter, Anne Johnston, said.

In 1944, armed with a fresh undergraduate degree in music, Ms. Oswald went to New York to study singing. At first she supported herself with a job selling train tickets at the old Penn Station, but before long she was working at the New York Public Library.
TEL AVIV  Lets talk Fascism, the perfume I mean.

Israel has an election on April 9. The right-wing justice minister, Ayelet Shaked, who has sought to curb the powers of the Supreme Court and portray it as a kind of liberal-elite supergovernment, has a campaign ad. Its an interesting exercise in branding and the unbearable lightness of our times.

A piano tinkles. A flacon of Fascism appears. Shaked looks sultry, running a hand through her hair, affixing an earring, draping a white jacket on her shoulders, caressing a banister as she descends the stairs. The narration in Hebrew runs through her judiciary revolution, her reducing activism and her restraining of the Supreme Court in a tone of soft sensuality.

At last, she grabs her Fascism, sprays the perfume, and in a good no-nonsense gravelly Israeli tone that breaks with what has preceded it, proclaims: Smells like democracy to me.

O.K., Im writing about this, so its effective marketing. People talk about the ad, and that could benefit her New Right party. Her point, I think, is this: You Israeli liberals label me a fascist, but theres nothing undemocratic about lambasting the Supreme Courts powers, vowing to dismantle its oversight of the Knesset or accusing it of a coup against democracy.
To the Editor:

Re Wheres Your Climate Plan, Mr. McConnell?, by Michelle Cottle (Editorial Observer, March 27):

When Senator Mitch McConnell called for a sham vote on the Green New Deal, he ignored the stark reality of climate change. The flooded residents of Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, who lack access to food, medicine and drinking water, dont think climate change is a hoax. Nor do farmers in Nebraska, whose governor pronounced recent floods the most widespread destruction we have ever seen in our states history .

What would Mr. McConnell say to residents of Paradise, Calif., whose entire community burned to the ground? Or to people in Puerto Rico, North Carolina, Houston or the Florida Panhandle, still recovering from devastating hurricanes?

Perhaps he prefers to fiddle like the infamous Nero  but now its more than a single city on fire. Instead, its our fragile planet, the only one weve got.

Liza Ketchum

Watertown, Mass.

To the Editor:

Re Green New Deal Is Mocked, and Blocked, by the Senate (news article, March 27):

This week Republicans stuck their tongues out at leaders who are trying to work out a plan to limit the catastrophic warming of the planet. Several of these politicians then proceeded to a $500-a-plate fund-raiser held at the chief lobbying group for the coal industry .
Alexey Pushkov, a former diplomat and a political analyst, tweeted to his 360,000 followers on Tuesday, following the release of Attorney General William Barrs summary of the report: The results of Muellers investigations are a disgrace to the U.S. and their political elite. Its now confirmed that all their allegations have been plucked out of thin air. The media have played a shameful role of lie-mongers in a campaign built on lies. The adherents of this conspiracy theory are discredited. Only an idiot can believe them now.

To the Kremlin and its supporters, Russia is the aggrieved party here, and the governments consistent denials of interfering in Americas internal affairs have been fully vindicated. Appearing on the Russian talk show 60 Minutes, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, said the ministry was preparing a report to name and shame the brigade of propagandists  pointing at, among others, Fareed Zakaria  who tried to tie Mr. Trump to Russia. She added that apologies are expected.

These commentaries conveniently focused on the portions of Mr. Barrs summary of the report that ruled out the Trump teams coordination with Russian operatives, and they disregarded the fact that the full report has not been released. Other important portions of the report, which reached the unequivocal conclusion  also supported by independent investigations, including in Russian media  that there were, indeed, Russian efforts to influence the 2016 American election, went completely ignored.

But while government officials and state media tell one-sided stories and revel in I-told-you-sos, liberal Russians like myself and many of the people I know are less joyous. Online and in private conversations, it becomes clear that whatever the outcome of the Mueller investigation, our relationship with America has changed.

Weve seen anti-Russian xenophobia spread into the American mainstream. Etched in our minds are comments like the one James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, made in an interview when he said that Russians are almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor, whatever.
Ive learned from conversations with lawmakers and M.T.A. officials that Mr. Cuomo has appointed board members who take directions from him and his staff. He has influenced the selection of senior M.T.A. managers. M.T.A. officials have said to me that they report to the governor on many issues. The lines are often blurred among the governor, his staff and senior M.T.A. leadership.

This is not entirely new  other governors have had influence over the board, especially with the members they appointed. But it has become more pervasive in recent years, according to M.T.A. officers Ive spoken with. No other governor in my memory has exercised such direct control over the M.T.A. board.

The members of the board, even those not appointed by the governor, have mostly looked the other way . The state agency charged with enforcing the laws that govern M.T.A. independence has not done its job.

As a consequence of Mr. Cuomos interference, M.T.A. managers often do not know whom they report to on any particular issue. They even disagree among themselves on whom they should take direction from.

No manager, no matter how skilled, can work effectively in this environment.

Mr. Cuomo recently proposed some management reforms to the M.T.A. that will be considered by state lawmakers along with the congestion pricing plan. But his idea to create an expert panel to set congestion pricing rates and approve M.T.A.s finances is exactly the opposite of what the M.T.A. needs.

Some observers and lawmakers have proposed that New York City take back the subway and bus system, returning to something resembling the organization that failed more than 50 years ago. This proposal ignores the regional nature of our transportation system and would put in grave jeopardy the Legislatures responsibility of enacting regional taxes to fund the system. A city-run subway would inevitably become a city-funded subway, with some limited federal contribution for capital costs, and be subject to the complex rules that frustrate effective management of other city agencies.

Lets be clear: The problem is not with the governance structure created by the original laws. The problem is that this governor is interfering where he shouldnt.
This article is part of David Leonhardts newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it each weekday.

Some Americans suffering from chronic pain have recently lost access to medicines that helped them live normal lives. Other patients have had to turn to invasive and dangerous treatments, like spinal injections.

Consequently, patients have endured not only unnecessary suffering, but some have turned to suicide or illicit substance use, more than 300 medical experts, including three former White House drug czars, wrote in a letter this month. Others have experienced preventable hospitalizations or medical deterioration. The experts sent the letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urging officials there to take action.

Whats going on? The C.D.C.s crackdown on the overuse of opioids  though overdue and necessary  is also too uniform. It has ignored the fact that many people receive huge benefits from opioids and use them safely. The crackdown, which began with new guidelines for doctors issued in 2016, is denying medications to people who need them.
Cleared of collusion and flush with victory, President Trump is a man unleashed, ready to tackle everything thats evaded him over the last two years. His first target is health care. Were going to get rid of Obamacare, Trump said at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Thursday. And I said the other day, the Republican Party will become the party of great health care. Its good. Its important.

To that end, Trump had directed the Justice Department on Monday to seek the invalidation of the entire law, backing a federal district judge in Texas who declared it unconstitutional late last year.

Unraveling the Affordable Care Act would deal a catastrophic blow to the safety net. The health exchanges and new insurance regulations? Gone. Medicaid expansion, which even in its truncated form has reached people in 36 states? Gone. The host of protections for people who get health care through jobs and private insurers? Gone. Republican elites might cheer this destruction, but soon enough they would face millions of voters who pulled levers in 2016 believing that Trump and the Republican Party would protect them.

Remember, Trump did not run for president as an orthodox conservative Republican. He embraced social programs and so-called entitlements, rejecting the partys boilerplate on government and the economy. Im not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican, and Im not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid, he said during the campaign. Elaborating on health care, he told CBS News that everybodys got to be covered, which he called an un-Republican thing to say. I am going to take care of everybody, he added. I dont care if it costs me votes or not.
Thailands election last Sunday  the first in eight years and since the military deposed a democratically elected government in 2014  was expected to be a tough fight. But the high-stakes contest has also turned out to be exceptionally fraught and dramatic, and the fallout promises to be as well.

On Sunday night, after the polls had closed, the election commission first released inconsistent results  before it stopped releasing results altogether. Then it repeatedly delayed making a further announcement. Based on partial, preliminary returns, the juntas proxy party claims to have won the most votes. But Pheu Thai, the leading pro-democracy party, says it has won the most seats in the 500-member House of Representatives.

Yet the real winner of the election  in terms of both immediate surprise and long-term significance  is the brand-new, youth-oriented Future Forward, which cast itself as the party of liberal values and political dissent. It appears to have come in third. And perhaps for just that reason, it may soon be in trouble.

On March 17, in a leafy corner of a university campus close to the royal palace in Bangkok, a tall and skinny 40-year-old man with short, spiky hair was surrounded by fans clamoring for selfies and autographs. This was no Korean pop star; it was Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a billionaire claiming to stand for the 99 percent, who has become Thailands first social-media celebrity politician  a combination of heartthrob and giant-slaying hero.
Out in the way beyond, the open land on the far side of the Mueller report and cable news obsessives, is a vast kingdom now being used to hasten the demise of the planet.

You may know this area, more than 500 million acres of empty vales and thick forests, high plains and diamond-cut peaks, as something you saw on a screen saver, or marked as a distant bucket list destination. Its your American public land endowment, your birthright at citizenship.

What you may not know is that while you were sleeping through the white noise from the White House, your public servants were put under the control of the oil and gas industry. They have been busy giving away drilling rights on your land for next to nothing. More precisely  per acre, for even less than the cost of a Bacon McDouble, which of course you should eat only in moderation.

And theyre doing this in the face of considerable evidence that the rush into industrial plunder of these lands is a huge source of planet-convulsing carbon emissions.
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On any given day, dozens of Times reporters venture into the world, conduct an interview for a story and record it  on their iPhone, a digital voice recorder or an old-fashioned tape recorder.

They record it, above all, for fact-checking purposes, to ensure that every word they quote from an interview is accurate.

But the fate of those recordings, after a story is published, is usually tragic: They sit unheard, as nameless files, waiting to be deleted with a swipe of the thumb.

Then came The Daily. From the moment we created the show, we knew these recordings would be a treasure trove. An army of colleagues was already creating hours of memorable and exclusive audio. We just needed them to send it to us.
As plumes of ash rise from a volcano, volcanic lightning sometimes erupts within its clouds. As it pierces through the billowing darkness, resembling a supernatural rage, the lightnings incandescent flashes warn volcanologists far away that a potentially dangerous tower of ash is skyward.

In order to get lightning, the plume must be electrified. Generally, its assumed that ash particles jostling within the volcanic tempest build up huge electrical imbalances that can only be neutralized by supercharged bolts. But something else may contribute to the electrification of volcanic plumes.

By sending balloon-lofted electricity-detecting instruments over Sicilys hyperactive Stromboli volcano, scientists discovered that even volcanic clouds that lack ash contain substantial amounts of charge. The source of this phantom electrification could be the decay of volcanic radon, an odorless and colorless radioactive compound.

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A similar process may occur above radon-emitting volcanoes around the world, said Karen Aplin, a physicist at the University of Bristols Department of Aerospace Engineering and a co-author of the study published this month in Geophysical Research Letters. If radon-driven electrification influences the behavior and lifetime of volcanic ash plumes  the very same that can down planes, bury cities and suffocate farms  then understanding the gass role could help people downwind from an eruption be better prepared.
O.K., let me just get to it. I think I broke up with my last girlfriend because shes white. Actually, no, I definitely broke up with her because shes white.

First, some history: When I was a child, watching my pops get ready to go out was something to behold. He would spend hours preparing his mask every morning for whatever crowd, person or community he faced. A fresh shave followed by a ton of cologne (hes Dominican, and its important to him that people know hes coming, and know hes there), and then blow-drying his hair to get that perfect coif.

Even years later, my pops still took longer to get ready than my mother and sister combined, delicately taking a black Sharpie to any stray grays that might pop up in his goatee.

Id ask him: Why? Whats it all for?

My pops would explain that as a young man in the Dominican Republic, you had to work so hard perfecting yourself, preparing your mask, so that when a young European or American woman came through, she might choose you, as he would put it, might take you home with her, like that was your only way out .
The increased attention on this problem has been attributed to a couple of factors.

One, that such violations have been on the rise because predators are exploiting increasingly cramped airplanes and dark cabins on night flights, Sara Nelson, who leads the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union, has said. Another, that more women have been emboldened to share their stories amid #MeToo  and earlier, since 2016, when a woman came forward to say that Donald Trump had groped her against her will on a flight in the 1980s. A claim hes denied .

Definitive figures about sexual assaults on flights are elusive because no clearinghouse for data exists, experts say. But what seems certain is that women like Chiu are increasingly determined to speak up.

In the incident this week, she said, it took the intervention of female bystanders to stop the behavior.

Adult women passengers on the plane were paying attention and taking action while trying not to embarrass the teen, she wrote.

On Twitter, she encouraged men to do the same, compelling many of them to respond with surprise. They werent aware that airplane harassment was so common, she wrote. They promised to be vigilant, too.

On Tuesday, I asked you how gender has affected your comfort level when traveling solo. Now Im wondering if youve ever been harassed or seen someone harassed on a flight. Tell me your story at dearmaya@nytimes.com or join the conversation on our Instagram here.

______

What else is happening

Here are five articles from The Times you might have missed.
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The surge in Central Americans seeking asylum in the United States is straining facilities across the Southwest border, with Border Patrol processing facilities this week handling thousands of people in excess of the systems capacity. President Trump threatened to close the border next week if Mexico did not halt all illegal immigration into the United States.

El Paso, the Texas border city where the president held a rally in February calling for his wall with Mexico, is emerging as a flash point. Border Patrol agents in the city have begun holding migrant families in an area under a bridge, surrounded by fencing and razor wire.

Photos of the conditions drew attention this week on social media and in news reports. Heres a look at where the migrants came from, and how they came to be detained under the bridge.
Good morning.

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In case you havent noticed, the field of Democratic candidates for president next year has gotten a little crowded.

According to this handy Times candidate tracker, 16 Democrats have jumped into the race already, and three more, including Joe Biden, are likely to join.

Thats a lot of candidates to keep track of  and since Californias presidential primary is now on March 3 instead of in June, the 14 million people eligible to vote in the Democratic primary here have an even louder voice than theyve had in years.

I checked in with Karen Skelton, a Democratic consultant based in Sacramento, to see how she thought things were shaking out so far.
Mark Bankston: Infowars has frequently used 4chan as a source. Weve reported on things being reported at 4chan. As a source, right? Thats what a source is, isnt it? Yes. O.K. I mean, somebody emailing you, you could say technically is a source, even if you never even open it. Any piece of information that youre going to report secondhand is a source, right? Yes. Theres a source of that information. Yeah, like somebody draws on the bathroom wall could be a source. Mr. Halbig has been a considerable source of information for you, youll admit that, correct? Yes. Now these Sandy Hook investigators, these people were so crazy that you had to realize at some point that what theyre saying isnt true and that Sandy Hook wasnt fake, right? Joness lawyer: Objection as to form. I found out some of what they were saying was not accurate. Mark Bankston: And he sent you something in the neighborhood of 10, four  4,000 emails? Its a lot. Yeah. And looking at those emails, taking a look at them, you wouldnt agree with me that that man is a raving lunatic? He, he seemed very credible and put together earlier on. But I cant remember the exact numbers. He seemed to get agitated about four years ago  three years ago. And just, theres been a lot of experts Ive talked to, including retired F.B.I. agents and other people, and people high up in the Central Intelligence Agency, have told me that there is a cover-up of Sandy Hook. Sealing the death certificates, the fact that they were sealed, something you and Mr. Dew both said, how did you confirm that? Joness lawyer: Objection as to form. I dont want to answer these things incorrectly. So my memory is  I remember that they were saying it was the most sealed case ever. And that was in the news. That there were all these lawsuits about them sealing things. And that the records and the redacted police reports  I mean, this report you gave me is almost all blacked out. This is what people were talking about. And so, I cant accurately answer off of edited tapes. Ive never seen anything like that. So, Im trying to answer your questions. Mark Bankston: Did you ever try to order a death certificate? Theyre $20. Anybody can get any one of them. Did you ever try? As Ive told you, we went off news reports and other people that were investigating. We did not ourselves investigate Sandy Hook.
[Read Mr. Barrs letter.]

Mr. Barr, who was sworn in as attorney general last month, has committed since his confirmation hearing to making public as much of the highly anticipated report as possible. But his declaration on Sunday, two days after the report was delivered to him, that Mr. Trump had not illegally obstructed justice drew swift condemnation from Democrats. They accused him of stepping in where Mr. Mueller had declined to make a prosecutorial decision.

Mr. Barr said that Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, concurred with his finding on the obstruction question but noted that Mr. Mueller, while he declined to make a judgment on the issue, also stopped short of explicitly exonerating the president.

The House passed a resolution this month, 420 to 0, demanding that the full report be released. Democrats have called for the Justice Department to send them the underlying investigative files as well.

Congress requires the full and complete Mueller report, without redactions, as well as access to the underlying evidence, Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement in response to Mr. Barrs letter.

Mr. Trump has already seized on Mr. Barrs findings as vindication, declaring during a rally with supporters on Thursday night in Grand Rapids, Mich., that the cloud hanging over his presidency had finally cleared.
Yet more than a month into his second presidential bid, his response underscored, once again, his willingness to stand apart from a party he has not joined but hopes to helm.

[Make sense of the people, issues and ideas shaping American politics with our newsletter.]

His reply on Ms. Pelosis bill also afforded him momentary distance from ideologically similar rivals, including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who on Wednesday tweeted out her own support for the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Sanderss unflinching position is a reminder to voters that he is unabashedly left-wing and unlikely to worry about working within the confines of the existing system anytime soon. It also reflects a schism within the Democratic Party over the best way to recapture power in Washington: Should Democrats project big, bold policy ideas that could fundamentally alter the political structure but face long odds in a hyperpartisan Congress? Or should they present incremental measures that are more likely to appeal to the center and could succeed sooner?

Some candidates, including Ms. Warren, are hoping they can bridge the gap and do both. Others are betting that there is a following for within-the-system politics. Candidates like Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Beto ORourke, the former congressman from Texas, have spent the early days of their campaigns highlighting their common-ground legislation with Republican colleagues, and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., expected to enter the race next month, wears his bipartisanship like a badge of honor.

It is a debate that has raged within the party since before the midterm elections last year, with some strategists suggesting that bold, disruptive ideas like the ones championed by Mr. Sanders electrify voters and spur them to the polls.
Even before announcing a candidacy, Mr. Biden has started trying to rebut those concerns, telling party officials in Delaware this month that he has the most progressive record of anyone running for president.

But the issue of abortion poses particularly challenging terrain for Mr. Biden. Efforts to restrict access to abortion by the Trump administration, and the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court, have heightened concerns among many Democrats that federal protections of abortion rights could be chipped away or eventually overturned  and that the next president needs to be a dependable ally on abortion issues.

Anxiety is super high among women across the country, said Ilyse Hogue, president of the abortion rights organization Naral Pro-Choice America. Joe Biden is trying to carve out a space for himself as the middle, moderate candidate, and hes going to have to really get with the times and understand that standing with abortion rights is the middle, moderate position.

She added, I cant tell you if hes there or not.

Mr. Biden is already facing criticism from some womens rights activists over his aggressive questioning of Anita Hill during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Clarence Thomas in 1991. Mr. Bidens comment Tuesday that he wished he could have done something to give Ms. Hills claims of sexual harassment a more respectful hearing drew fierce backlash from critics, who pointed out that Mr. Biden was chairman of the Senate committee that questioned Ms. Hill. Some womens rights leaders say Mr. Biden must offer a stronger and more personal apology to Ms. Hill, as well as clarify his views on a broad range of issues including sexual assault, harassment and Republicans efforts to limit abortion access. (Mr. Biden has spoken warmly about some Republicans and bipartisanship in recent months.)

[Read Michelle Goldbergs column about how the abortion divide is getting deeper in states.]

Mr. Biden declined to be interviewed for this article. His spokesman, Bill Russo, said the former vice president is a supporter of the Roe decision who fought to protect abortion rights by mounting a fierce opposition to the nomination of a conservative judge, Robert H. Bork, to the Supreme Court in 1987.

Because of that, Roe and its progeny have been preserved for 30 years. But for that effort, Roe v. Wade would not be the law of the land today, Mr. Russo said.
[Heres what you need to know about the measles outbreak.]

Under Arizona law, parents may decline vaccinations for their child based on personal, religious or medical exemptions. But that law is in opposition to the parens patriae theory, a centuries-old principle that empowers the state to look after the interests of children and others unable to care for themselves.

Its a pretty high standard to meet, said Douglas S. Diekema, who has been a practicing emergency room doctor for 30 years at Seattle Childrens Hospital. I dont know that Ive ever called Child Protective Services, though Ive thought about it a couple of times.

Police records show that on Feb. 25, Ms. Beck had taken her 2-year-old boy to a clinic, where his temperature was recorded at above 100 degrees.

The childs doctor became concerned that he could have meningitis, after learning that he was lethargic and had not been vaccinated. Ms. Beck was told to take him to an emergency room.

I called the doctor back and said Hey, Im not sure how you got this 105 reading, my sons acting fine, Ms. Beck told a local TV station. This doesnt really seem like a medical emergency.

The childs doctor, after learning that Ms. Beck had ignored the recommendation to take the child to the hospital and having follow-up phone calls to the family go unanswered, then contacted the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

Asked to do a welfare check, the police officers later arrived at the familys door, but were not allowed in. The body camera footage released Thursday shows the police twice knocking and trying to enter, before an officer reaches Mr. Bryce by telephone just before midnight, and tells him that he needs to verify that their youngest child is improving.
PARIS  Tens of thousands of protesters in Algeria turned out Friday to demonstrate against the governments latest attempt to pull the country out of its political impasse, clearly signaling popular rejection of a compromise offer by the Army this week.

The demonstration, the sixth in a row, appeared to reinforce the deadlock: protesters have dismissed the proposal from the countrys most powerful figure, Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah, the army chief of staff, to sideline the ailing president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, install as interim president the head of the Senate, and hold elections.

What happens next is unclear, but some opposition figures said it was now up to the government to make what one called a more serious offer. The crowds in the streets, increasingly pressing in their demands, want the wholesale removal of what they call the System  everyone associated with Mr. Bouteflikas 20-year reign. So far the government has given no sign of conceding.

In proposing Mr. Bouteflikas removal, General Gaid Salah, who had been the presidents staunchest ally, went beyond what many had expected. But by invoking Article 102, of the Algerian constitution, a section that calls for the removal of the president if he is found unfit, the general left the rest of the ruling System in place  unacceptable in the eyes of many Algerians.
We believe that any interreligious dialogue and any fight against extremism can succeed only on the basis of a total frankness on the issue of religious freedom for Moroccan citizens, including Christian Moroccans, said a statement by the Coordination of Moroccan Christians, a local advocacy group. We hope that the visit of the Holy Father will be a historic opportunity to move our country forward in this direction.

The group that meets behind curtains in Meknes wants not only to worship in broad daylight, but to do so in the places of their choosing.

I want to name my daughter Easter and my son Joshua, said Zouhair H., 37, a Casablanca resident and the son of an imam who stole his older brothers Bible when he was a teenager and eventually converted. We have our own Moroccan rites. I have no interest in praying in another language or other programs. In my own country, I dont want to be a guest in a church run by foreigners.

Zouhair, who has no children yet, would give only his first name for fear of harassment.

Aomar Boum, an anthropologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said there were virtually no Moroccan Christians until a century ago  around 100 in 1933, among 106,000 or so European Catholic settlers.

Churches built all over the country during the French Protectorate, from 1912 to 1956, fell into disuse after Moroccos independence. In recent years, these houses of worship have been revived by Christian immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, with Moroccan converts still confined to their homes.
BRASILIA  President Jair Bolsonaro this week called on the armed forces to commemorate the 55th anniversary of a coup that installed a brutal military dictatorship in Brazil, igniting fierce debate over the legacy of that repressive era.

Mr. Bolsonaro, a former Army captain who ran on a far-right platform, has long been an apologist of Brazils military rulers, and has called the coup that ousted a leftist president on March 31, 1964, a triumphant strike against Communism.

Until recently, his was a fringe voice. The military regime that followed the coup used censorship and a repressive security apparatus to maintain control for 21 years, torturing and killing hundreds of suspected dissidents. Three of Brazils presidents since the country returned to democracy in the mid-1980s had opposed the military, and were themselves either exiled, jailed or tortured for it.

But the presidency has given Mr. Bolsonaro a powerful platform to thrust a revisionist version of that era into the mainstream.
Since the breakdown of the talks in Hanoi, Vietnams capital, many analysts, including Mr. Moons conservative critics at home, have voiced concern over the future of the U.S.-South Korean alliance. Mr. Moon has alarmed conservatives by declaring that he would push for joint North-South Korean economic projects, even though the United States insists that this is not the time to ease economic pressure on the North.

A day after the Hanoi summit collapsed, Mr. Moon said he would discuss with Washington the possibility of reopening of a joint inter-Korean factory park in the North Korean city of Kaesong, as well as resuming South Korean tours of Diamond Mountain, a resort area in the North. He later told his government to look for ways to help advance the dialogue between Washington and the North through improving South-North Korean relations.

But Washington fears such projects will weaken the enforcement of United Nations sanctions against the North. In Hanoi, Mr. Trump made clear the United States expects complete denuclearization before sanctions relief, said Robert Palladino, deputy spokesman for the State Department in Washington.

Mr. Trumps decision to halt the Hanoi summit without a deal shocked Mr. Moon as much as Mr. Kim, who had taken a 65-hour train ride to Vietnam expecting sanctions relief.

Mr. Moon is now desperate to help restart dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington to prevent them from returning to missile and nuclear tests and threats of war, which would destroy the rapprochement Mr. Moon has helped build on the peninsula in the past year.
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand  Lamenting that the world has been stuck in a vicious cycle of extremism breeding extremism, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand said at a national memorial service for the Christchurch attack victims on Friday that the dangerous cycle must end.

Ms. Arderns call for a collective global response to violence and terrorism  based in our humanity  came two weeks after a gunman killed 50 worshipers in attacks on two mosques in the city.

Her speech reflected questions that New Zealanders have been wrestling with as the shock of the attack has begun to fade: namely, how deeply extremist sentiments have taken root in the country, and how to prevent such violence from happening again.

The ugliest of viruses can exist in places they are not welcome, Ms. Ardern said, adding that racism, violence, extremism and assaults on freedom of worship were not welcome here.
GHAZNI, Afghanistan  At least nine police officers, including a local police chief, were killed in a Taliban attack in the southeastern provincial capital of Ghazni on Friday, according to Afghan officials.

It was one of the worst attacks in Ghazni since the Taliban tried to take the city in August, an assault that Afghan forces beat back with the help of American Special Operations troops and heavy airstrikes.

In the attack on Friday, which began before dawn and lasted three hours, the insurgents overran two security outposts in Ghaznis third police district, killing the district chief and eight other police officers, according to Mohammed Arif Noori, the spokesman for the governor of Ghazni Province.

Mr. Noori said that a police officer was missing, and that officials suspected he was a Taliban infiltrator and had facilitated the attack.
Myriam Cote, a computer scientist who has worked with Dr. Bengio for more than a decade, described him as an iconoclast and freethinker who would feel stymied by the strictures of Silicon Valley. A communitarian at heart, she said, he shuns hierarchy and is known for sharing the profits from his own projects with younger, less established colleagues.

He wants to create in freedom, she said. Citing the credo of student rebels in 1968 in Paris, where Dr. Bengio was born, she said his philosophy was: It is forbidden to forbid.

That, in turn, has informed his approach to A.I.

Even as Stephen Hawking, the celebrated Cambridge physicist, warned that A.I. could be the worst event in the history of our civilization, and the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has cautioned it could create an immortal dictator, Dr. Bengio has remained more upbeat.

We need to pursue scientific knowledge, or all we will do is run against a wall, he said. But we need to do it wisely. Referring to the use of algebra to compute the angles of missiles, he added: You cant blame the inventor of algebra for war.

Nevertheless, at a time when Facebook algorithms have come under criticism for their influence in the 2016 United States election and fears are growing that robots could use A.I. to target humans without human oversight, Dr. Bengio is acutely aware that his innovations risk becoming Frankensteins monsters. As a result, he said, he supports regulating A.I., including an international treaty banning killer robots or lethal autonomous weapons.

But he dismissed the Terminator scenario in which a machine, endowed with human emotions, turns on its creator. Machines, he stressed, do not have egos and human sentiments, and are not slaves who want to be freed. We imagine our creations turning against us because we are projecting our psychology into the machines, he said, calling it ridiculous.

The son of Sephardic Jews from Casablanca, Morocco, who emigrated to Paris in the 1960s, Dr. Bengio traced his interest in A.I. to his childhood, when he hungrily devoured the science fiction books of Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke.
OTTAWA  Canadas former justice minister repeatedly warned the countrys top public servant about possible political fallout if she intervened in a criminal case involving a major Canadian corporation, according to a recording of their conversation released on Friday.

Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was also the former attorney general, gave the recording to a parliamentary committee that had been looking into her accusations that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his top aides had improperly pressured her over how to handle the case.

She also provided the committee, where she testified last month, with emails, texts and a statement.

Her accusations led to a political crisis for Mr. Trudeau that has dominated news coverage in Canada for the last two months and badly tarnished his image as a feminist who had pledged to bring clean ways to politics.
michael barbaro

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today, after months of trying and failing to put forward a deal for how the U.K. could leave the European Union, Theresa May had one final thing to offer: herself. Its Monday, April 1.

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Hello?

michael barbaro

Oh, hello. How are you, Ellen?

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It wouldnt be The Daily if we didnt have a little technical difficulty. O.K., so here we go, Ellen. Tell me when you are ready.

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michael barbaro

O.K. Ellen Barry is a Times correspondent in London.

ellen barry

So last Wednesday, in the middle of the day, Theresa May called her party members to Committee Room 14, which is a big committee room somewhere in the bowels of Westminster Palace. It was quite unclear what this was about. There was loads of speculation that she would perhaps fire her chief negotiator for Brexit, who is widely despised by right-wingers in her party.

archived recording The worlds cameras are trained on the British Parliament, waiting for a Brexit breakthrough. For many, the workings of this House appear increasingly mystifying. But after months of Brexit paralysis, could things be starting to move?

ellen barry

So at five oclock, Conservative lawmakers began crowding into this room. And it was, by all accounts, stifling and completely packed. The minister for international development couldnt even get in there and was watching through the keyhole. And it is traditional in these gatherings that when the prime minister comes in, people bang on the tables with their hands. Its kind of like a tribal drumbeat. And so then, the room went silent. The door closed. The room went silent. And what was said in there was said only to each other. But meetings like this leak like sieves. And 

archived recording In a closed meeting with conservative M.P.s, Theresa May said shes prepared to make the ultimate move.

ellen barry

Gradually, the outside world came to know that the thing that she was prepared to offer in exchange for their votes was herself.

archived recording She concluded by asking everyone in the room to back her deal to allow for a smooth and orderly Brexit.

ellen barry

She basically said, Ill make you a deal. If you vote for this, if you vote for the withdrawal agreement and get it through, then I will step down as prime minister.

michael barbaro

Brexit for my head.

ellen barry

Basically.

michael barbaro

Ellen, how did all of this happen? How did Theresa may end up being at the center of Brexit?

ellen barry

So the funny thing is that Brexit was never Theresa Mays issue. She kind of kept her head down, but she was a Remainer. She voted to stay inside the European Union and really just stayed out of the whole public debate over Brexit, to a great extent. And it was really somewhat by accident that she became prime minister.

archived recording David Cameron is back in Downing Street, a happy man after a surprise election victory. Against most predictions, his party has won a slim but outright majority.

ellen barry

It started with David Cameron, who was basically hoping to stop a hemorrhage of M.P.s from switching sides and going to UKIP, which was the Brexit party.

archived recording (david cameron) We will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice.

ellen barry

And he made a gamble.

archived recording (david cameron) To stay in the European Union on these new terms or to come out altogether. It is time for the British people to have their say. It is time for us to settle this question about Britain and Europe.

ellen barry

It was essentially to kind of assuage the hard right of his party. He thought he could essentially throw them a bone and get them onside. And he did so expecting that the country would vote to remain. And it just came as a staggering surprise on June 23rd of 2016 when the results came out. And it was 52 to 48 percent for leaving the European Union.

archived recording (david cameron) The British people have voted to leave the European Union. And their will must be respected.

ellen barry

And because David Cameron had been squarely opposed to leaving the European Union, he then announced that he was going to step down as prime minister, rather than lead the country through the process of leaving.

archived recording (david cameron) I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction. I will do everything I can as prime minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months. But I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.

michael barbaro

So why does Theresa May end up taking his place, if she had been a Remainer  if shed been opposed to Brexit?

ellen barry

So Theresa May ended up taking his place because the men who were the obvious front-runners to be his successors took each other out in the political fistfight that followed. And I suppose she was appealing in a sense that she was quite different from all of those top Tory men. Theres a phrase they use at Balliol College, which is the tranquil assurance of effortless superiority.

archived recording (theresa may) Some people would say, sometimes, life as a vicars daughter isnt  it can have its ups and downs.

ellen barry

Theresa May is nothing like that  I mean, not on any level.

archived recording (theresa may) But I feel hugely privileged, actually, in the childhood that I had.

ellen barry

She was the daughter of a small-town vicar, and the granddaughter of two ladys maids, and the great-granddaughter of a butler. So she came from a family with a really long sense of public service and duty.

archived recording Whats the naughtiest thing you ever did? archived recording (theresa may) Oh, goodness me. Well, I suppose, gosh. Do you know? Im not quite sure. archived recording There must have been a moment. archived recording (theresa may) Well, nobodys ever perfectly behaved, are they? I have to confess when me and my friends used to run through the fields of wheat, the farmers werent too pleased about that.

ellen barry

So she seemed like one of the grown-ups in the room, at the time. Someone who could potentially bring the country back together after an incredibly difficult and divisive referendum campaign.

michael barbaro

So the men who create Brexit essentially self-immolate. And the party turns to Theresa May.

ellen barry

Yes. She cast herself as someone who was trying to do the least damage. I mean, instead of projecting enthusiasm about the mission of Brexit, she tended to express a sense of duty that she had taken on the job. She was going to finish the job.

archived recording (theresa may) We are living through an important moment in our countrys history. Following the referendum, we face a time of great national change. And I know, because we are Great Britain, that we will rise to the challenge.

ellen barry

But it didnt take long for her to start making serious blunders around Brexit, because it turned out that she is one of the worst retail politicians that Britain has ever seen.

archived recording (theresa may) I know that the public sector has had to carry a heavy burden. The private sector has played its part, too. But with government, businesses and the public sector working together, we have bounced back.

ellen barry

She is wooden. She is unable to speak off-script. She cannot generate warmth. She seems congenitally unable to generate warmth.

archived recording (theresa may) Brexit means Brexit. And we are going to make a success of it.

ellen barry

She went out on the stump and repeated, kind of robotically 

archived recording (theresa may) Brexit means Brexit.

ellen barry

 a set of phrases that she had been briefed on.

archived recording (theresa may) Because Brexit means Brexit.

ellen barry

And she earned the nickname the Maybot, because she was seemingly unable to come up with different answers, even when the same question was asked her repeatedly.

archived recording (theresa may) Well, the reason Ive been saying Brexit means Brexit is precisely because it does. And to be very clear  archived recording This is what history looks like. The official letter formally starting the process of Britain leaving the European Union is delivered.

ellen barry

So she made a series of very significant blunders that year. One of them, maybe the most important one, is that she triggered Article 50.

archived recording (theresa may) The Article 50 process is now underway. And in accordance with the wishes of the British people, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union.

ellen barry

Which started the clock ticking towards an end date  an exit date of March 29.

archived recording (theresa may) This is an historic moment, from which there can be no turning back. Britain is leaving the European Union. We are going to make our own decisions and our own laws.

ellen barry

As soon as she started that, the E.U. had an enormous advantage in the negotiations.

archived recording (theresa may) This is a decisive step, which enables us to move on and finalize the deal in the days ahead. These decisions were not taken lightly. But I believe it is a decision that is firmly in the national interest.

ellen barry

She also, as a general matter, played her cards incredibly close to her vest throughout the negotiation. So the country really didnt know where she was going with this process until quite late last year, when she shared her withdrawal agreement with the country.

archived recording (theresa may) When you strip away the detail, the choice before us is clear: this deal, which delivers on the vote of the referendum, which brings about control of our money, laws and borders, ends free movement, protects jobs, security and our union, or leave with no deal, or no Brexit at all.

ellen barry

And it went over like a lead balloon.

michael barbaro

And why was that?

ellen barry

Well, she laid out a series of red lines that were, in fact, very hard Brexit red lines. No one knew, up until that point, that she was planning to exit the customs union and the single market.

archived recording (theresa may) And because we will no longer be members of the single market, we will not be required to contribute huge sums to the E.U. budget. The days of Britain making vast contributions to the European Union every year will end.

michael barbaro

And why is that, ultimately, a blunder?

ellen barry

Well, they had no solution for what would turn out to be the fatal problem with that plan, which is Britain is not an island. There is a land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. And you cannot just walk away from the customs union without creating some kind of a border. And of course, that open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic had been the subject of a 30-year armed struggle and a hard-fought peace agreement. So to gloss over it was not looking at the problem, which was going to block this thing at the end.

archived recording (theresa may) The choices before us were difficult, particularly in relation to the Northern Ireland backstop.

ellen barry

But the way she squared the circle with the Irish border is to create something called the backstop. And what the backstop means is that the entire of the U.K. would remain in the customs union until such a time that there is a solution to the border problem, which could easily be never. And this is why she lost her Brexiteers. Because they said, well, this is just a way for us to stay in the European Union, subject to their regulations, indefinitely, because there is no provision for the United Kingdom leaving the backstop unilaterally. So they just saw themselves as being stuck at the mercy of Europe indefinitely.

michael barbaro

Wow, thats the first time I understood the backstop. Thank you.

archived recording 1 The fact is that her deal isnt really a deal. Because what it actually does is postpone everything. It doesnt settle anything. It actually guarantees more uncertainty, which is terrible for business. And its not even Brexit. archived recording 2 It is not Brexit at all. And theyre pretending that it is.

ellen barry

So what she begins to do is try to persuade the country to compromise. But it is extremely late in the game. And she hasnt laid the groundwork for a compromise. Much of her energy went to keeping the hardliners onside. And as soon as she published her withdrawal agreement, she lost them.

archived recording Theresa May still believes theres a battle to be won in Brussels. A growing number of British M.P.s dont. The view from Europe is of a nation increasingly at odds with itself.

michael barbaro

And how does may respond to all these condemnations and men who are essentially beating her up?

ellen barry

This is such an irritating, maddening group of people that  I dont know. A lot of Britons, during this period, their heart went out to her. Because any normal person would just throw their hands up and walk away from this nightmare of a job. But shed just wake up in the morning and dust herself off and set aside her personal feelings and say 

archived recording (theresa may) I believe with every fiber of my being that the course I have set out is the right one for our country and all our people.

ellen barry

 again and again 

archived recording (theresa may) From the very beginning, I have known what I wanted to deliver for the British people to honor their vote in the referendum.

ellen barry

 I have committed to delivering Brexit to the British people.

archived recording (theresa may) The British people just want us to get on with it. They are looking to the Conservative Party to deliver  to deliver a Brexit that works for the whole U.K.

ellen barry

And thats what Im going to do.

archived recording (theresa may) Im going to do my job of getting the best deal for Britain. Im going to do my job of getting a deal that is in the national interest.

ellen barry

She stuck with it, and she stuck with it. And she seemed unwilling to give up.

archived recording (theresa may) And am I going to see this through? Yes.

[music]

ellen barry

Until last week.

michael barbaro

Well be right back. So bring us back to this Committee Room number 14. What do we know about what Theresa May said as she offered her own head to members of the Conservative Party as this final gesture?

ellen barry

This was the way it was described by George Freeman, who was her former policy adviser. She, with tears not far from her eyes, said, I promised I would deliver the Brexit agreement. She said, Ive made many mistakes. Im only human. I beg you, colleagues, vote for the withdrawal agreement. And I will go. He said there was silence in the room. And it was incredibly sad.

[music]

ellen barry

After she finished speaking in this committee room, there were several M.P.s who were hardline, holdout Brexiteers who got up and said, publicly, that they were now going to back her deal.

michael barbaro

Wow, so this seems to be working?

ellen barry

Yes. For the next 45 minutes to an hour, journalists were on Twitter just counting the number of Brexiteers that were changing sides. And you had people like Boris Johnson, who  I think he had compared her deal to a suicide vest at one point. This is what he said to The Daily Telegraph: I feel very, very sorry. And though it fills me with pain, Im going to have to support this thing. So he flipped sides. Jacob Rees-Mogg, another Brexiteer bannerman, tweeted out that half a loaf is better than no bread. In other words, he was willing to give up some of his Brexiteer credibility to get behind Theresa May and give her his vote. And you just began to see this happening again and again. They were flipping. And I think it got up to something like 30 or 40 people were indicating that they were changing sides. And it looked, somehow, that at this last moment, in this last Hail Mary pass that she had thrown by offering her resignation, she might have just gotten it over the line.

archived recording (john bercow) Order. Order.

ellen barry

But sometime after 3 oclock on Friday, March 29 

archived recording (john bercow) The ayes to the right, 286. The noes to the left, 344. So the noes have it. The noes have it.

ellen barry

Parliament rejected her withdrawal agreement for the third time by a vote of 344 to 286.

michael barbaro

So she just fell short?

ellen barry

Yeah, she fell short.

archived recording (john bercow) Point of order. The prime minister. archived recording (theresa may) Point of order, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it should be a matter of profound regret to every member of this House that, once again, we have been unable to support leaving the European Union in orderly fashion. The implications of the Houses decision are grave.

michael barbaro

So this offer to give up her own prime ministership in exchange for Brexit  essentially, Parliament said to her, not even that is enough.

ellen barry

It wasnt enough.

archived recording Good evening from Westminster. If the prime minister had had her way, the United Kingdom would be leaving the E.U. in one hours time. Today should have been Brexit Day. Thats what Theresa May had promised. But instead, she 

ellen barry

And this is the absurd trap that weve all been in  that here is an impossible task that doesnt get done and doesnt get done. And yet nothing changes. Theres no off-ramp. And so Brexit still isnt done. And Theresa Mays still the person in charge of it. You imagine that she was ready to walk away. And you could see it on her face. She looked like a different person. She looked younger. She looked  I dont know. She just didnt look strained anymore. But actually, shes not free. Its not done. And shes going to have to start all over again, in the morning.

michael barbaro

Ellen, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

ellen barry

Thank you.

[music]

michael barbaro

Heres what else you need to know, today.

archived recording (donald trump) Ive ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras and to El Salvador. No money goes there anymore.

michael barbaro

Over the weekend, the Trump Administration said it would drastically cut financial aid to three Central American countries in retaliation for what he said was their failure to stop the flow of migrants to the U.S. border.

archived recording (donald trump) We were paying them tremendous amounts of money. And were not paying them anymore. Because they havent done a thing for us.

michael barbaro

The $500 million in aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras was originally designed to address the root cause of migration  violence, lack of jobs and poverty. And its elimination could ultimately backfire, triggering even more migration to the U.S. And New York will become the first city in the country to charge drivers for using its streets, in an attempt to reduce congestion and raise money to repair its subway system.

archived recording (andrew cuomo) You have to get fewer cars driving into Manhattan. The traffic is so bad. I cant tell you how many days, myself, I just get out of the car and walk. Because its so much faster.

michael barbaro

Under a plan adopted by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature on Sunday, drivers will be charged a fee of at least $10 to drive below 60th Street in Manhattan.

archived recording (andrew cuomo) Buses in Manhattan, I think the average is now down to, like, four miles per hour.

michael barbaro

The fees, known as congestion pricing, are already in use in London, Stockholm and Singapore, where they have cut both traffic and air pollution. In New York, they are expected to raise $1 billion a year for the citys subway system.

archived recording (andrew cuomo) And its a little bit of a chicken and an egg. You need a viable, functioning mass transit system so people get out of their cars and feel comfortable taking the mass transit system. And thats the point behind congestion pricing.

[music]

michael barbaro
LONDON  By day, Jon Worth works as a communications consultant for European politicians. By rest-of-his-day he makes Brexit flowcharts  27 versions since January, to be exact.

Brexit has become a tangled, confusing web of decisions and possible outcomes that change almost daily. It is both the perfect candidate for diagraming what happens next and a Sisyphean task of trying to outline every possibility.

Heres just a portion of his latest:
============================================= LUKE: An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scottishman walk into a bar. The Englishman wants to leave, so everyone has to leave TOUTS: music This paranoia ,... TITLE: DISPATCH FROM NORTHERN IRELAND TOUTS: Singing KASSIE: How was Northern Ireland considered when this was - MATTHEW CROSSAN / LUKE MCLAUGHLIN - I dont think it was considered at all. JASON FEENAN: Brexit is the exit of the United Kingdom based on the wishes of Great Britain. MATTHEW: (When Article 50 was actually triggered) The exact words that Theresa May used was that because of the wishes- THERESA MAY file: Under accordance with the wishes of the British people, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union MATTHEW: Great Britain consists of Scotland, England and Wales. And the United Kingdom consists of Scotland, England and Wales and Northern Ireland. (MAP) So even in her language it shows that definitely when it first happened there wasnt much thought. MATTHEW: I am struggling to see any positives for the North of Ireland. But that didnt last long. The question of Northern Ireland and its border has frustrated negotiations over Brexit. We came here to find out why. And to understand the consequences for people who live here. For the last century, Northern Ireland has had to wrestle with its identity- torn between Protestants who consider themselves British Unionists and Catholics who mostly identify as Irish Nationalists. The divide has brought years of conflict. In 1968 the Catholic minority rose up against Unionist and British control, spurring 30 years of brutal sectarian violence known here as The Troubles. In 1998 both sides came together under the Good Friday Agreement, It created a somewhat unique reality here. Northern Ireland would continue to be a part of the UK, but also, open its border completely with the rest of Ireland. But the history of The Troubles is inescapable. Murals are everywhere. And Neighborhoods are color coded along sectarian lines. Here in Londonderry, or Derry, depending on whom you ask, there are walls that separate Protestants from Catholics. And the gates are locked every night. For punk band Touts, this us and them mentality, has informed more than just their music. LUKE: Ive lived here 22 years - me whole life, basically and theres places in Derry Ive never been, or Ive never walked to. I think thats crazy. MIRIAM WHYTE: Well its kind of rough,cause theres the Bogside - the mostly Catholic area then theres here, which is clearly the more Protestant area, but very divided, even though theres trying to do more what is it called when they like - integration or something. People told us those divisions have deepened since the Brexit vote. Under Brexit, Northern Ireland would leave with the UK, and the Republic of Ireland would remain in the EU. An idea that appears to overlook the reality on the ground here. We headed east, thinking we could drive along the border - but it wasnt so simple. In part because the border is mostly invisible. To get from one town in Northern Ireland to another, we crossed into the Republic of Ireland multiple times - without even realizing it. The roads continuously zigzag across international lines. Nat sound Kassie: Oh! We just crossed. Speaker: Ah good morning everyone, my name is Florence and welcome to our cross-border conference, Brexit and Young People, Can You Hear Us? These high school students live in border communities. Many commute seamlessly from one side to the other to attend school. SPEAKER: The project recruits young people from both Protestant and Catholic communities on both sides of border. LARRY: Now does anyone have some strong views on that like how would you see yourselves different than someone in the north? GIRL: If you have an Irish passport, in my mind youre Irish, doesnt matter where youre parents are from, doesnt matter what background you have, if you carry an Irish passport, youre Irish. Its part of the Good Friday agreement: residents of Northern Ireland can choose a British or Irish passport. Or both. DOIRE FINN: People living in Northern Ireland are allowed to have a British passport and an Irish passport and I think I identify as Irish but I mean I hold a British passport so really, for my identity isnt ever something that in my family was a massive issue. My parents kind of said, You identify as how you feel and I think that that was a really nice way to bring us up. DOIRE: The census that was happening here you could either say you were Irish or British my mum wanted to identify as European and they were like, Well, youre not allowed and she was like, No, Im identifying myself as European. And they were like You have to pick. By aiming to separate the UK from the EU, Brexit could interrupt the free flow of people and goods - and violate the Good Friday Agreement. ALAN (walking with Kassie) - I hope, I hope when youve got photographs my cows now, that we finish up getting a better price for these cows. Alan Mc Farland raises cattle and sheep a few miles north of the border. But he gets his feed from a distributor in the South. Its a transaction that happens regularly, without border checks, customs duties or tariffs. ALAN McFARLAND: No one knows what the final result is yet going to be - we just approach our business each and every day having made an assumption that post-Brexit we will be trading with the same people on the same terms. KASSIE: Did you feel strongly about staying or leaving? ALAN: I was actually undecided in the matter, to the extent that I didnt vote at all. But having that said in Northern Ireland the majority of the vote was remaining in the E.U. **GRAPHIC of vote breakdown** ALAN: But one thing I would say you always have the right to change is to change your mind - I would be in favor of a second referendum, to do away with the ambiguity. Thats because many people here remember the border as a source of hostility and violence. And a whole generation since then has grown up without one. HARD BORDER MONTAGE FARMER: NO HARD BORDER GIRL: HARD BORDER LEAD TO TROUBLE SOMEONE ELSE: IT JUST MAKES THINGS HARDER But when Prime Minister Theresa May tried to introduce a provision.. MONTAGE: BACKSTOP BACKSTOP ..that would guarantee an exit without a hard border in Northern Ireland, hardline Brexiters rejected it...arguing an open border would essentially keep the UK tethered to the EU. So no hard border, no deal, and so far no Brexit. ... Also, no sense of where all this could lead. ALAN: I think there should be a second referendum FR. McVEIGH (287_2358.MFX 09:08): I want to see Ireland reunified. Because I think its the only hope for this island. Economically, culturally. ANGLICAN: We need to stay with England for their money And while everyone saidsays they didntdont want a return to violence, the uncertainty seems to be threatening what is already a fragile peace. //testing the countrys fragile peace. (i think that can cover the pessimists and optimists) Police are investigating a recent bombing outside the courthouse in Londonderry reminder that the past is not far behind. ANGLICAN: We were in the sun and now Brexit destroyed the sun SIOBHAN: If there is a hard Brexit I think there will be damaged but we will have to be OK at the end of it. And weve been through harder times than this before. FIRST NAME, LAST NAME Siobhan is a mental health expert who studieds? the effects of the countrys history on mental health. SIOBHAN: Well, weve got to adopt a trauma-informed approach and think about everything from the perspective of those whove been a victim of violence. We have no way of describing it. We have no common narrative. And its going to take a while for us to generate those materials. TOUTS: This paranoia, when will it end, Ive heard it all before and Im hearing it again. DAOIRE: I think Im just really scared about the future of Northern Ireland. I love living here and I think its a lovely place to be. The craics really good and everyones really friendly and I dont want that to be dragged backwards into a past that was really, really dark for so many people. And I think, you know, theres so many good things about Northern Ireland and I just dont want those to go away. (credits with funny tag of Farmer asking about our Mexican border) Producer Kassie Bracken Cinematography Souki Mehdaoui Editor Shane ONeill Senior Producer Mona El-Naggar Graphics Aaron Byrd Nicole Fineman Dave Horn Archival Research Dahlia Kozlowsky Archival Footage Tktktk Tktktk Tktktk Aerial Cinematography Adithya Sambamurthy Executive Producer Marcelle Hopkins SIOBHAN: In 2008 we studied the Northern Ireland population and we asked people whether they had witnessed violent events that were related to the troubles such as bombings and shootings and we found that 39% of the population had. Theres some evidence that biological changes that happen in response to trauma, that thats passed to the next generation and in effect its programming the next generation to be able to respond more quickly and rapidly if theres a bombing or a shooting or whatever. But of course when a child has that it increases the risk of mental illness. Um, thereve been more deaths by suicide since the signing of the Good Friday agreement than there were through the whole of the troubles through violence. END!!!******* BENCHWARMERS SIOBHAN ONEILL: I mean the hard border is very symbolic I think if that happened theres a place to attack theres a place to focus that anger. Siobhan ONeill is a leading mental health researcher who has studied the legacy of the Troubles SIOBHAN: Part of the GFA was that British forces that were there that that would no longer be the case and that there would be free movement. Anth the remove of the border was an amazing think and now if you pass through the border theres absolutely no evidence of it. You would maybe see that the signs that the speed limits were miles and then kilometeres and that would really be it. Or Its called bomb scare We grow up with it, not as bad as it used to be Match shots of Northern Ireland today Match shots of The Undertones with the Touts <But I also think things can regressyou get a groundswell and everything moves forward 10 or 15 years and then one thing kicks in and it backslides Kassie: is that Brexit?> OPEN BEAT ONE - INTRO TOUTS An afterthought during the Brexit referendum in 2016, Northern Ireland and how do deal with its Southern Border if and when it leaves the EU has been the main issue threatening the entire deal. (MAYBE A MAP HERE THAT SHOWS REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (E.U) and NORTHERN IRELAND (U.K) But to understand why this remains unresolved two years later, and whats at stake in the decision you need to know a bit about recent history in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland was created in 1922. But since its creation its been characterized by conflict between two groups, each claiming the In 1968 hostilities intensified during the period known as the troubles An afterthought during the Brexit referendum in 2016, Northern Ireland and the unresolved issue of how do deal with its Southern Border when it leaves the EU now threaten the deals collapse. (MAYBE A MAP HERE THAT SHOWS REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (E.U) and NORTHERN IRELAND (U.K) But to understand why this remains unresolved two years later, and whats at stake-you need to know a bit about the history of Northern Ireland and the border itself. In Derry, The Touts singer and drummer werent old enough to vote in the referendum, but they live in the country many expect to be most impacted by the deal. We drove The singer and drummer werent old enough to vote in the referendum, but they live in the country many expect to be most impacted by the deal. Theirs is the generation that grew up after the good Friday agreement that ended decades of sectarian violence has only known relative peace in the region. ASSEMBLY 031019 - KASSIE NOTES Notes - I think we need in the narration a sense that, despite the fact this generation is defined by growing up in peace, there are still deep divides and conflict. Brexit has already impacted this by exacerbating polarization and creating economic uncertainty and anxiety that violence could return. I would love to try to use the Touts/kids in park/Derry to establish the us v them nature of Northern Ireland - I agree the piece is not about sectarianism per se, but it sets up and personalizes the visual sense of place - the dispatchy-ness - peace walls and murals, and also then might have more impact when we see that it seems most young people are united in the feeling like they werent considered. Also, Brexit was prompted in large part by the us v them mentality in England, but in NI, as compared to the rest of UK, they already have their own us v them which continues today. **** Its here in Derry where many say The Troubles began, in 1968, - when the predominantly Catholic community protested against housing and employment discrimination. A civil rights march was brutally shut down by police/army. It led to roughly 30 years of sectarian violence between the predominantly Catholic Nationalists who consider themselves Irish, and the Unionists, who consider themselves British, the majority, Protestant. BEAT TWO: THE BREXIT Generation in Northern Ireland - Youth/Derry/Recent History - fear of retriggering violence felt most acutely by people nearest the border BEAT THREE: YOUNG PEOPLES CONFERENCE Challenging Identity, Good Friday - which allowed people to claim Irish or British citizenships - the idea that the fluidity of movement will be stopped BEAT FOUR: along the actual border between the countries, it is much more complicated - interwoven - FARMER BEAT FIVE: The members of Touts call Derry their home. Many say its here where the period known as the The Troubles began, in 1968, - when the predominantly Catholic community protested against housing and employment discrimination and unfair voting policies under British rule. But some claimed it to be a cover for paramilitary actors, and a peaceful civil rights march was halted by police in a brutal crackdown. 30 years of deadly sectarian violence followed between the predominantly Catholic Nationalists who consider themselves Irish, and the Unionists, who identify as British - the majority, Protestant. Sound up on Touts Touts may have grown up in the comparatively peaceful era marked by the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. But their city, called Derry by nationalists and Londonderry by unionists remains fractured. The tensions never way and in fact many say Brexit has exacerbated it TOUTS: Line about divisions still there Schools are still mostly segregated along sectarian lines. As are neighborhoods. A TKTK fence/wall helps secure the border between a Catholic community and a Protestant community. Every night, it is locked for protection. TOUTS Line about impact of Brexit already? Or line about Brexit? Just 100 feet away from the wall, in the mostly Protestant community The Fountain, we spoke with a group of teenagers about TKTK MIRIAM: Nearly everyone I spoke with mentioned/agreed the same worst case scenario HARD BORDER MONTAGE To impose a hard border, with check points and official crossings would cause headaches both practically and symbolically. And thats where the Irish backstop comes in. THERESA MAY: The Irish backstop was the UKs provision to ensure that Brexit would not Sounds good, but The problem is, Northern Ireland is in a customs union that requires a customs border PROTESTANT PRIEST: WE had a number of years that we thought we were seeing the sunshine, and now with Brexit its as if the sun has gone behind the clouds. GIRL: Its going to become again a situation of us and them. LARRY: Who is them and us? GIRL: LIke Catholics and Protestants or Irish people and people from Northern Ireland, were not going to see each other as the same country LARRY youre saying were both live in the same country, in my mind thats true, but yet I live under a British jurisdiction, Kassie: they have a lot to be fucked about Cut to: kids workshop Yeah, these kids are confused because this shit is confusing. Brexit, and Northern Ireland itself. 45 second history lesson of Northern Ireland And this is the legacy theyve inherited. NOW made worse by Brexit! Borders are usually about keeping people in or keeping people out, In this case, But its about something more nuanced and complicated, like the border itself DRONE SHOT OF MEANDERING BORDER And Ireland, with its taste for storytelling and humor has a singular relationship with its own border People wandering in and out, funny smuggling stories. LOYALISTS EQUANIMOUS STATEMENT ABOUT BREXIT (maybe from mental health professor) CONCLUSION: AT THE BAR IN DERRY WITH THE TOUTS (with compelling TOUT SOT) One of the other key stipulations of the Good Friday agreement was a free border with the south. Now, Brexit is threatening this. Its the thing people I spoke with said worried them most. HARD BORDER Montage. Before I got here Id planned to drive along the border - it wasnt so simple. Heres the border. On my TKTK mile journey from TK to TK, I crossed international lines/crossed TKTK times. THIS SECTION TBA BASED ON GRAPHIC I often didnt even realize Id crossed. Thirty years ago, this crossing would have looked more like this: FR. McVEIGH (287_2356.MXF 03:23)): The hardline Brexit people are determined to leave without a deal if necessary, or with a deal without a backstop - (thats the only thing thats going to satisfy them, and the DUP who are propping up the London government) 04:50 The Brexiteers in London dont care all that much. Father Joe McVeigh grew up along the border and remembers the checkpoints as violent hotspots. Sound up: Fr. McVeigh shows Kassie photos of the border But this bridge at the border in Belleek shows none of the vestiges of Thats help spur a new momentum for a united Ireland. 13:35 If the Brexit people want to continue their line, they have to consider whats going to happen to us. We needed to be treated separately and differently. The fear of a hard border, with all of the economic and practical implications has given rise to another potential outcome. FR. McVEIGH (287_2358.MFX 09:08): I want to see Ireland reunified. Because I think its the only hope for this island. Economically, culturally. (08:54 It has to happen, it just has to happen 09:45 Partition has run out of road. ) FARMER: Voted to remain in the EU. So leaving the EU would go against the voting majority of Northern Ireland. But leaving the UK altogether would go against the wishes of some of Northern Irelands Protestant majority. ANGLICAN: Protestant people would certainly be nervous of any changes. Theres a huge amount of money that comes from Westminster and London. Ironically, the hardline Brexit position has revived some calls for a United Ireland FR. McVEIGH : I want to see Ireland reunified. Because I think its the only hope for this island. But positions like Friar McVeighs arent very popular, especially among Protestants in Northern Irelands 6 counties, who would become a minority overnight if they joined Irelands 26 as one country. So maybe they could have a political border that remains somewhat relaxed. Thats called a Soft Border or an Irish Backstop. Theresa May: Irish Backstop montage But no one really knows how that would work or what it would look like, which is why its been such a bee in the bonnet of the Brexit process. Some hardline Brexiters are calling for the re-establishment of a hard border, a fringe position that proved very unpopular with most of the people I met while I was here: HARD BORDER MONTAGE The hard border was both inconvenient and psychologically fraught. TO SIOBHAN Leaving the United Kingdom altogether would mean losing money from England. The DUP advocates it effectively mean keeping the And thats why the Irish backstop came up and failed?. THERESA MAY: BACKSTOP MONTAGE. When May tried to introduce a deal that said no hard border, hard brexiteers, including forcing Britain to play by the rules of a single European market even after it separates from the EU, it wouldnt pass. It was meant to guarantee that there would be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after the UK separates from the EU. But then, how and where would goods undergo checks as they travel between the UK and the EU. Theres no easy answer? The backstop provision says Britain should continue to play by the rules of a single European market until politicians can agree on how and where goods will undergo checks as they travel between the UK and the EU. But how can the UK leave without violating the terms of the peace treaty that calls for an open border here? Which is, in part, why politicians do not agree on the terms of the backstop, and its unclear if they ever will. They didnt want to feel tethered to the EU. It leaves the question of Brexit unsolved and opens up new questions for Northern Ireland. It all leads to this renewed interest among some people for a united ireland. Of leaving the UK altogether. Siobhan ONeill is a leading mental health researcher who has studied the legacy of the Troubles, And the border debate has, somewhat ironically, revived an old argument (for reuniting the north with the south) Is FR. McVEIGH (287_2358.MFX 09:08): I want to see Ireland reunified. Because I think its the only hope for this island. Economically, culturally. The present is more closely tied to the past here than Theres been a fragile peace here for 20 years but Brexit Well, weve got to adopt a trauma-informed approach and think about everything from the perspective of those whove been a victim of violence. We have no way of describing it. We have no common narrative. And its going to take a while for us to generate those materials. But despite 20 years of fragile peace And Brexit has also had a real psychological impact on the citizens of Northern Ireland For a country that is only a generation away from one of the most bitter conflicts in modern history the tumult How will Northern Ireland SIOBHAN: LINE ABOUT HOW BREXIT HAS ALREADY HAD AN IMPACT
LONDON  For three decades it was a mystery that seemed to defy belief.

Bright orange plastic novelty phones shaped like the grumpy cartoon cat Garfield kept washing up on the rocky Atlantic shoreline of Brittany, in western France.

Over the years, locals have picked up hundreds of pieces of the phones, including paws, headset cables and even Garfield heads, forever fixed in his familiar smirk. But nobody knew exactly where they came from.

Last week, volunteers cleaning the beaches solved the puzzle: The source of the Garfield phones was a long-lost shipping container, nestled in a rocky sea cave.

This waste is over 30 years old, and we are still finding bits, Fabien Boileau, the director of the Iroise Marine Natural Park, told the news site FranceInfo, citing it as an example of plastic debris that never fully breaks down and contributes to ocean pollution.
ROME  Pope Francis has issued a highly anticipated law for Vatican City officials and diplomats overseas to tackle sexual abuse, setting up what is intended to be a model for the Roman Catholic Church worldwide by requiring, for the first time, that accusations be immediately reported to Vatican prosecutors.

The Vatican characterized the law  and accompanying pastoral guidelines  as a reflection of the most advanced thinking on preventing and addressing sexual abuse in the church. The law, dated March 26, calls on church authorities to listen immediately to people who say they are victims and to report any credible allegations to prosecutors.

Those who fail to report could be subjected to financial penalties and jail time.

Protection of minors and vulnerable people is an essential part of the evangelical message that the church and all of its members are called to spread across the world. the pope wrote in a personal edict enacting the law. Francis said he wanted to strengthen the institutional and regulatory framework to prevent and tackle abuses against minors and vulnerable people.

In a statement on Friday, Alessandro Gisotti, the Vaticans spokesman, said that Pope Francis had hoped that though the measures applied to the Vatican City State and its administration, everyone might develop in their awareness that the church must always be ever increasingly a safe home for children and vulnerable persons.
BUCHAREST, Romania  A leading candidate to run a new European public prosecutors office was barred from leaving her native Romania and accused of several crimes on Friday, a development that is likely to cause consternation in Brussels and raise fresh questions about Romanias commitment to the rule of law.

Laura Codruta Kovesi, the former head of the countrys anticorruption agency, was questioned for more than six hours on Thursday by the Special Section for the Investigation of Crimes Committed by Magistrates, a controversial agency set up in 2018 with responsibility for investigating prosecutors and judges.

On Friday, the agency announced in a statement that it had started criminal proceedings against Ms. Kovesi, who is accused of bribery, abuse of office and false witness. Placed under a status called judicial control, Ms. Kovesi is unable to leave Romania without the consent of prosecutors for 60 days, and is also barred from carrying out activities as a prosecutor or talking to the news media about the case.

Widely praised in Brussels for her anticorruption record, Ms. Kovesi made powerful enemies at home in her time running Romanias National Anticorruption Directorate, which successfully prosecuted thousands of government officials, lawmakers and business leaders. Among those convicted was Liviu Dragnea, the leader of Romanias governing Social Democratic Party, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for abuse of office last June. Mr. Dragnea is appealing the verdict.
One of Egypts most renowned political activists and bloggers, Alaa Abd El Fattah, was released from prison early Friday after serving five years for taking part in an unauthorized protest of military trials for civilians and related charges.

Mr. Abd El Fattah became one of the best-known figures of Egypts 2011 uprising and a vocal critic of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisis use of military trials for civilians to crack down on dissent. He was arrested in 2014 for taking part in a demonstration months earlier against those trials, and sentenced in 2015 to five years in prison for protesting without a permit, rioting and assaulting public servants.

The military trials for civilians have continued broadly, allowed by the terms of Egypts 2014 Constitution.

Mr. Abd El Fattahs lawyer, Taher Aboul Nasr, said that the procedures for the activists release were concluded on Wednesday. In front of the Qasr Al-Nil police station in central Cairo, Mr. Abd El Fattahs family and friends were waiting for him to set foot outside.
WASHINGTON  Now that the Islamic State has been driven from its last sliver of territory in Syria, hundreds of American troops  not just their equipment  are leaving the war zone, just as President Trump ordered in December.

But in the latest twist to the on-again, off-again American withdrawal, the Pentagon plans to cut its combat force in northeastern Syria roughly in half by early May, or to about 1,000 troops, and then pause, American officials said on Friday.

[To follow the withdrawal of American troops in Syria, sign up for the weekly At War newsletter.]

The military will then assess conditions on the ground and reduce the number of forces every six months or so, until it reaches the 400 troops in Syria that Mr. Trump approved in February. They will include 200 in a multinational force in the northeast and another 200 at a small outpost in southeastern Syria, where they will seek to counter Irans influence throughout the country.

The pause is another important shift from Mr. Trumps initial order to pull out all 2,000 American troops from Syria immediately, and has not been previously reported.
Shoppers routinely use the internet to compare prices, whether for appliances, cars or hotel rooms. But online pricing remains scant for funeral services, putting bereaved and vulnerable people at a financial disadvantage because theyre unlikely to haggle over costs.

Consumer advocates are hoping that may finally change because federal regulators are scheduled to take a fresh look this year at a rule that governs how funeral homes share information with the public. Advocates are encouraging an update to bring the rule into the digital age, by requiring funeral homes to post detailed prices online.

We are building a consumer coalition to promote the change, said Steve Brobeck, senior fellow with the Consumer Federation of America.

The federation and allies like the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit group that promotes price transparency, argue that the current rule is woefully inadequate for the internet era. The Federal Trade Commissions Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to provide prices to consumers seeking them over the phone and to give an itemized price list to anyone requesting one in person. But the rule, which first took effect in 1984, when the internet was in its infancy, does not require online disclosure of prices.
This weekend at the Affordable Art Fair in Chelsea, where prices begin at $100, seasoned buyers and novices look for new pieces for their collections  or just immerse themselves in creativity.
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The special counsel, Robert Mueller, submitted a long-awaited report to the Justice Department about his investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election.

Attorney General William Barr released a summary of Mr. Muellers report that said it found no evidence that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia. Mr. Barrs summary also said that the special counsel investigated President Trumps actions and did not draw a conclusion  one way or the other  as to whether the examined conduct constituted .
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Nutritional psychiatrists are interested in the interactions between what we eat and how we feel. For someone with mild depression, they might "prescribe" this food, rich in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids:
Boulder resident Kate Lacroix was among those who spoke out and helped get a celebrity chef accused of committing domestic violence off the table at Denvers Avanti Food & Beverage.

Lacroix, the former owner of First Bite, got word Monday that Austin, Texas-based restaurateur Paul Qui had signed a deal for a spot at Avanti.

By Tuesday, I was on it, said Lacroix, also a public relations professional for the food industry, who reached out to Patrick ONeill, one of two owners of Avanti, about her concerns. Avanti later this year plans to open a food hall in Boulder at the site of the former Cheesecake Factory space at 1401 Pearl St.

I work with chefs all over the country. I knew about Paul, Lacroix said.

Qui, a James Beard Award recipient, a Top Chef winner and the chef behind restaurants such as Qui and East Side King in Austin was arrested in March 2016 for assaulting his girlfriend. The charges were later dropped.

Lacroix said, I didnt like the way the story was being told. A lot of times cases are dropped because of paperwork and intimidation.

The Denver Post on Monday reported that Qui in May was slated to open East Side King at Avanti Food & Beverage in Denver, his first out-of-state restaurant, since charges against him of assault were dropped last April. The Post story quoted ONeill, who said, Of course we looked into this and, knowing all charges were dismissed, (there is) not much more to discuss. ONeill also called Quis concept a great fit for Avanti.

On Tuesday, after community pushback, including from Lacroix, Avanti rescinded the deal. A company representative also issued a statement: We apologize to our guests, our tenants, and our team for misjudging the severity of the situation surrounding Chef Qui. At Avanti we pride ourselves on offering a safe, all welcoming environment. We want our actions to speak louder than words and therefore have cut all ties with Aqui Hospitality and East Side King. Our priority is to listen to our community and continue to support Denvers culinary scene and aspiring restaurateurs.

That Avanti is set to open a food hall in Boulder later this year added to her worries, Lacroix said. I care greatly not only about the food community, but the Boulder community in general.

She was ready to fight Avantis move into Boulder until it dropped Qui, Lacroix said.

She personally is not acquainted with Qui, but she said he shouldnt be allowed to profit from his former stature as a celebrity. I wanted to bring this out in open. Put a little light on this.

ONeill reached out to Lacroix and assured her new policies are being implemented to ensure such a slip doesnt happen again, she said. This makes her comfortable with the companys Boulder project, she said.

Patrick was sorry. He has ensured me a much more strict vetting process will occur moving forward, Lacroix said. He wont let someone with a reputation like Pauls pass through.

Pratik Joshi: 303-684-5310, pjoshi@dailycamera.com
New York Universitys Asian/Pacific/American Institute will host events in April that include a Carnegie Hall Migrations Festival panel focusing on migration and music (April 12), a roundtable discussion on fashion and beauty in the current Asian Century (April 17), and a walking tour of 19th-century Chinese American activism in Greenwich Village (April 24).

The events are free and open to the public; registration is required at apa.nyu.edu/events or by calling 212.992.9653.

Fri., April 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.-4:00 a.m.

Diasporic Sound: Migration, Resilience, and Remix

NYUs Silver Center for Arts and Science, 31 Washington Place (at Washington Square East), 1st Floor

After-Party: No Borders

Cmon Everybody, 325 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn

Activist, DJ, and A/P/A Institute at NYU Artist-in-Residence Ushka (Thanushka Yakupitiyage) curates a conversation on the impact that migrations from South Asia, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean have had on the creation of diasporic, border-traversing sounds. Panelists discuss the role of globalization and digital culture in expanding the reach of diasporic music at the same time that many nation states tighten their borders and restrict the flow of migrants. Featuring Ana C. Calle / LaPhDj (University of Texas, Austin), Rekha Malhotra/DJ Rekha (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Suzanne Persard (Emory University), and Boima Tucker/Chief Boima (Africa is a Country / INTLBLK).

No Borders, an after-party and fundraiser featuring DJs sets by Ushka, Oscar Nn, Riobamba, Chief Boima, and DJ Rekha and a performance by Lua Preta, follows. All proceeds will go to the Immigrant Defense Project, Families for Freedom, and New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC. $8 in advance at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/no-borders-tickets-53542854118; $10 at the door.

Presented by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU. A Carnegie Hall Migrations: The Making of America Festival Program.

Subways to NYU Silver Center: R, W (8th St.); 6 (Astor Pl.); A, C, E, B, D, F, M (West 4th St.)

Subways to Cmon Everybody: A, C (Franklin St.); G (Classon Ave.)

Wed., April 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Fashion and Beauty in the Time of Asia

NYUs Silver Center for Arts and Science, 31 Washington Place (at Washington Square East), 1st Floor

Edited by S. Heijin Lee (NYU Department of Social & Cultural Analysis), Christina H. Moon (Parsons School of Design), and Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu (NYU Department of Social & Cultural Analysis), Fashion and Beauty in the Time of Asia (NYU Press, 2019) considers the role of bodily aesthetics in the shaping of Asian modernities and the formation of the so-called Asian Century. The editors participate in a roundtable discussion with contributors Jessamyn Hatcher (NYU Liberal Studies), Minh-Ha T. Pham (Pratt Institute), and Denise Cruz (Columbia University).

Presented by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU. Co-sponsored by the School of Art and Design History and Theory, Parsons School of Design; Asian American Feminist Collective; and the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program in the NYU Department of Social & Cultural Analysis.

Subways: R, W (8th Street); 6 Astor Place; A, C, E, B, D, F, M (West 4th)

Wed., April 24 and Thurs., April 25, 4:00-7:00 p.m.

Fighting Anti-Asian Discrimination in Nineteenth Century Greenwich Village: A Guided Tour

8 Washington Mews, between University Pl. and 5th Ave.

Following the passage of the 1882 Exclusion Acts, thousands of Chinese Americans moved to New York City to escape the increase of racist violence sweeping the nation. Once here, they formed new organizations to defend their rights and assert their interests. While most of this took place in what would become Chinatown, Greenwich Village was also a center for Chinese-American organizing in the late 1800s. Join A/P/A Institute and NYU Visiting Scholar Dylan Yeats for a one-hour, guided tour of sites between Washington Square and Cooper Square, where Chinese-American immigrant-rights activists lived and worked 130 years ago and learn how their victories and defeats continue to resonate today.

A program celebrating the Greenwich Village Historic District 50th Anniversary with the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

Subways: R, W (8th Street); 6 Astor Place; A, C, E, B, D, F, M (West 4th)
Social media is widely touted as a valuablealbeit accessible and inexpensiveway for companies to promote their business and interact with audiences, but its a marketing tool many small businesses still choose not to use, according to recent findings released by portfolio website Visual Object.

Visual Objects survey, which sought to gauge how small businesses are using social media today, discovered that while a majority (63 percent) of small businesses currently have some form of social media presence, more than a third (38 percent) forgo creating any social media pages for their business.

Nearly a quarter of small businesses without a social media presence (22 percent) said they plan to invest in social media at some point. However, 16 percent said theyre unlikely to ever use social media for their business in the future.



How small businesses manage their social media pages.

When it comes to the type of content small businesses are most likely to share, images or infographics are most popular (29 percent), followed by offers/promotions (22 percent) and video (16 percent).

Nearly a third of small businesses (30 percent) admitted sharing content multiple times a day, though nearly the same amount (29 percent) post multiple times a week, and 16 percent post once a day.

The survey also discovered that a majority of small businesses (56 percent) manage their social media accounts in-house, although more than a third (37 percent) hire freelancers and more than a quarter (28 percent) rely on an outside agency. Only 25 percent rely on the use of influencers.

Finally, the survey found that fewer than a quarter of small businesses (24 percent) track social engagement via likes, shares or comments. However, more than a third (37 percent) use some form of social media management software like Hootsuite or Buffer to oversee their social media presence.

The Visual Objects survey polled nearly 530 U.S. business owners and managers stationed at companies with 500 or fewer employees. Research was conducted at the end of 2018 using brand intelligence research company Survata.


Seema Verma

Porter Novelli administers a $2.25M contract for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that has subcontracted with Republican media advisors to buff the image of the agency's administrator Seema Verma, according to a report in Politico.

"Verma, a close ally of Vice President Mike Pence, has become a lightning rod for pushing work requirements in Medicaid and spearheading the Trump administrations efforts to unilaterally unwind pieces of Obamacare," Politico reported

The subcontracted consultants performed a range of duties usually performed by CMS communications staff, such as handling media calls, joining Verma on promotional trips and writing her speeches.

Some of the work has gone to GOP media advisors Pam Stevens and Marcus Barlow, who Verma had considered hiring as a CMS communications official before the White House blocked his appointment. Politico reported that both Stevens and Barlow are being paid between $185 and $200 per hour.

Verma has also approved a contract with Nahigian Strategies, run by Keith and Ken Nahigian, both of who have extensive GOP connections. The agencys staff have provided her with assistance on messaging strategy for close to two years. A source told Politico that Nahigian has been paid at least $2 million for its work with CMS.

CMS already has an in-house communications staff of approximately 200 people. Tom Corry, who joined the agency on March 4 from consulting firm Healthcare Data Insights & Analytics, said the outside contracts were due to lack of in-house staff.

Critics of the PR arrangement told Politico there are ethical and contractual problems with steering contracts to political allies, and possibly a violation of the ban on personal services.

"Contracts are supposed to be above reproach, with complete impartiality, and without preferential treatment, and the HHS Inspector General should review this [Porter Novelli] contract and the activities under it to ensure they are proper," said Scott Amey, general counsel of the Project on Government Oversight.

Frank Pallone, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today called for a Health and Human Services inspector general probe into CMS' PR spending, calling it a highly questionable use of taxpayer dollars.
Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan has urged all farmers in Laois-Offaly to make immediate applications for solar panel funding under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II).

Deputy Nolan was speaking after she questioned the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, on the number of farmers that have currently availed of solar grants in counties Laois and Offaly in respect of installing solar panels on outhouses and buildings other than domestic dwellings:

I was surprised to find in the Ministers reply that there has not been a single application for this funding from either Laois or Offaly."

"What this tells me is not that there is no interest for this funding among our farming community, but that more needs to be done by the Department to highlight the availability and accessibility of the Scheme."

"It is pointless to have funding opportunities like this without a parallel and robust system of advertising measures being put in place."

"The message must be brought to the farmers who are already over-worked and underpaid in so many instances."

"As I understand it, the new grants will be available for farmers from the next tranche of TAMS opening on April 5," Nolan said.

"Under the terms of the Scheme, Solar PV Installation grant aid in the initial pilot phase will be up to 9,300 or up to 60% of the overall cost which will be available to fund a 6kWp solar system.

"So I would encourage every farmer who even thinks they may be eligible to apply, especially in light of the fact that TAMS II is only set to run until December 2020, making the window of opportunity very tight."

"The Minister in his reply indicated that the grants would be also available to our Pig, Poultry and Egg producing farmers. This is absolutely vital In a post-Brexit scenario," the Offaly deputy added.

"Only recently we had the IFA informing us that in the event of a hard Brexit, factories in the North of Ireland may be in no position to buy pigs from the south, with the additional concern that Ireland will not be able to process the extra pig numbers that will automatically arise."

"This highlights the stark nature of the threat to the sector, which in turn makes it even more important that cost reduction measures like these be availed of in Laois-Offaly, concluded Deputy Nolan.
The High Court has been urged to return to the UK a convicted murderer, who was having his life sentence reviewed "when he made the conscious decision to become a fugitive."

He had spent 31 years in prison for the crime he committed at 16, when he absconded to Ireland in 2003.

Ronan Kennedy BL was yesterday addressing Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly on behalf of the Minister for Justice & Equality during the 64-year-olds extradition hearing.

Roy Norman Kenyon absconded while serving his sentence for the murder of Margaret Potts, an elderly shopkeeper, whom he beat to death with a poker in 1971. Having lived in Tullamore under an alias for 15 years, he is now facing the prospect of returning to the UK to continue serving his life sentence.

Mr Kennedy previously told the court that Kenyon had been "consuming alcohol at a public house" on the night of his crime, when he left to purchase more alcohol from Mrs Potts. However, he soon got into an argument with her, before hitting her "two times in the head with a poker, while she sat in an armchair."

The court heard that Kenyon had lived in Tullamore under the alias of Alan McPherson, before being arrested in the village of Eyeries in Cork on May 2, 2018.

Mr Kennedy said yesterday that Kenyon was in the process of having his sentence reviewed when he absconded.

There was a review ongoing in 2003 when he makes a conscious decision to become a fugitive, he said. If the court is to order his surrender, the respondent is placed in precisely the same position he was in when he made a conscious decision to abscond from the UK, in that his sentence will be reviewed.

However, Kenyons barrister, Sean Guerin SC, said that his client had been deemed suitable for release back in 1985, when he had completed the punitive portion of his sentence. However, he had absconded then too and didnt get the chance for release again for another five years. He again absconded and this pattern continued.

Every time he absconds, he loses five years of his life into the prison system, he said.

Just because he couldnt confine himself to the demands of compliance with open conditions, he has repeatedly lost chunks of his life, he said, quoting from reports describing Kenyon as institutionalised. He has never been able to cross the final hurdle.

Mr Guerin also said that his client had never committed another offence since the murder, either at liberty or in custody.

He will continue his submissions when the hearing continues next month.
Last November, Mary Consolata Namagambe, a law student and human rights activist from Denmark, was chosen to take part in the UN Human Rights Fellowship Programme for People of African Descent.

She wanted to hear the experiences of the other Fellows in the programme and learn how to reinforce her activism by learning how to use the different mechanisms of the UN Human Rights system.

Her weeks in the programme gave her greater insight about her own struggle. "I know that it's not just me being sensitive because there are mechanism in the UN, in the human rights conventions, that do protect people who look like me.

Namagambe left her native Uganda at the age of nine to move to Denmark with her parents. Early on, she noticed her difference. At first, the attention she received from her classmates made her feel special.

"I was the first brown African kid in the class so everybody was excited about me. They wanted to touch my skin, to touch my hair So I felt I was different but in a good way, she says. "But the more I began understanding the language and I began noticing things that other kids would call me.

Soon, Namagambe heard the racial slur she was called. She did not understand what it meant at first, but she instinctively knew it was demeaning. Neger a word in Danish most commonly translated to negro, but in its worst usage is equivalent to n****r.

"It was really hard for me to grow up in Denmark understanding what my color meant and learning how to love myself. Nobody on TV looked like me and when I opened newspapers nobody looked like me, she says.

Namagambe also felt excluded from the political space where campaign messages never featured people of African descent. She recalls her parents frustration when they would come home from a days work, talking about the marginalisation and discrimination they felt from Danes.

Young activism

"When I developed my voice I claimed the fact that I too am a part of those Danes and because of that I was not going to have this conversation within [my familys] home. I was going to have this conversation broadly, all over Denmark. I was going to tell Danes how it feels to be an Afro-Dane, she says.

"That's how my activism began. I told myself that I live here, I love this country and I want to teach the people I live with how to treat me and how to talk to me, so we all can be together, she adds.

At 24, Namagambe wanted to create a platform where people of African descent could talk about what it meant to them to be called n****r, and to reflect on the experiences they had when that happened. She created an organization called The N-word Hurts.

"It was a very sensitive project because I could see myself in it. I could see being young and being bullied. It was really important for me to create a space where we could have a voice, have a conversation and also teach our fellow Danes what this word does to us, she says.

She also created the platform Udlndinge vejleder udlndinge, Foreigners Guiding Foreigners in English, a peer-to-peer guidance-counselling programme for newly arrived foreign students who had difficulty navigating the Danish education system.

Later, Namagambe wanted to help young women and girls in her country of origin. Like in many parts of the world, a number of young women and girls in Uganda are forced to stay home for several days a month because of their periods. The prohibitive cost of sanitary protection prevents them from buying pads every month; as a result, they cannot go to school or to go work during their periods.

Namagambe founded She for She, a company that locally produce reusable sanitary pads in several African countries. It was a way for her to empower women and girls in Uganda; her company has now expanded to other countries in Africa.

She reflects on how her activism started.

"When I began it was mainly because I didn't want to just sit and listen. I didn't want to just sit and be mad. I wanted to be a part of the conversation, she says. "If you see that something in your community is not right, if you can feel in your bones that what is happening is unfair, stand up!

"Because your voice is valid. If at first when you stand up and you wonder, "Are they listening to me? Do I matter?" you should just keep on speaking.
Questlove Says Barack Obama Once Asked Him to Play a French Montana Song at a White House Party Dimas Sanfiorenzo Dimas Sanfiorenzo is the Managing Editor for Okayplayer. He specializes

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Questlove Gomez (@questlove) on Mar 16, 2019 at 5:31pm PDT



Do you think it was Pop That?

Questlove was the latest guest on Malcolm Gladwell, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlams podcast Broken Record.

READ: Questlove Curated an Epic Soundtrack for Michelle Obamas Book Tour

During the interview, Questlove told a hilarious story about DJing a party at the White House in 2016. During the party, President Barack Obama went up to him to let him know he was doing a good job. Then he proceeded to critique him.

Quest said Obama told him he loved the music he was playing (which was mostly old school hip-hop and jazz.) But that he was worried the kids werent having a good time. Look at them, they wanna have fun too! Questlove said Obama told him.

And then, Obama made an odd song request. He asked Questlove if he had any French Montana he could play. in the podcast, Quest said:

[Obamas] coming up to me like, Do you have French Montana? And Im like, Sir, I dont have the clean versions of that. Hes like, Were all adults here. Play it! Im like, Sir, Im not gonna play Pop that pussy, bitch, what ya twerkin wit.'

READ: Questlove Recounts The Blackest White House Party Ever With President Obama

Last year, Quest talked a little bit about that party while on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In that interview, Quest talked about the set (which he said forced him into retirement for six months.)

Listen to the podcast below.



H/T: Complex
Connecticut Man Released From Prison 13 Years Ago May Be Headed Back Over Paperwork Mistake Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When

Demetrius Anderson may face an additional 16 months in prison over a clerical error beyond his control.

A Connecticut man was freed back in 2006 after serving time for crimes he committed in Philadelphia. Now, he may have to return and serve an additional 16 months because of an apparent clerical error.

Demetrius Anderson said that eight U.S. marshals came to his apartment in Connecticut and insisted he go with them to court because he still had a 16-month federal sentence to serve, according to CNN. Anderson had been charged with both state and federal sentences and believed them to be concurrent. But during an internal audit, federal marshals reportedly discovered Anderson never served time for the federal sentence.

However, Anderson said that when he got out of his prison sentence early for his state charge, there were no federal officials to transfer him to another facility.

I certainly think it is cruel and unusual punishment, Michael Dolan, Andersons lawyer, said. I cant speak to why they went back that far or why this wasnt caught earlier.

This is all stems from when crimes Anderson committed in 2001 and 2003. As philly.com reported:

Anderson twice tried to use someone elses identity in September 2001 to submit credit applications to buy cars. When police were about to arrest him at a Mazda dealership, he sensed a problem and drove away, striking a police officer who was there to arrest him. He later was sentenced to five to 23 months in prison for simple assault. In September 2003, Anderson twice tried to use counterfeit bills worth a total of about $4,000, the documents say.

He pleaded guilty in 2005 and was sentenced up to 16 months in prison in Connecticut. But before that in 2004, he was sent to Philadelphia and held there while awaiting his federal trial on charges involving counterfeit money. And although Dolan told CNN that the judge at the time said Andersons sentences would run concurrently, philly.com reported that defense attorneys at the time acknowledged that any federal sentence would begin after he served time in Connecticut.

philly.com also noted how an apparent paperwork mistake incited Andersons possible return to prison.

The Marshals Service places detainers on inmates in state prisons awaiting federal sentences so that they can be held until a transfer is ready. However, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Correction said that the agency has no record of someone making a detainer against Anderson, which resulted in his release in 2006.

But James Burke, the U.S. Marshals chief deputy in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said Its our belief the detainer was issued at the time and [Anderson] was mistakenly released.

Source: CNN
AAP to release manifesto by end of next month

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 29: The Aam Aadmi Party plans to release its manifesto by the end of next month with a focus on issues related to women safety, health and education, senior party leader Gopal Rai said.

The national capital votes on May 12 to elect seven MPs. Stepping up its campaign for full statehood for the Union Territory, the Aam Aadmi Party has set up a "war room" at its headquarters, which has been connected with the "war rooms" in all seven Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi.

Rai said the focus of the manifesto would be on the issues related to women safety, health and education. A member of the manifesto team said they have been asked to come up within a week with the core issues related to the three topics. Rai said the preparations for the polls are in full swing and the party was trying to establish direct contact with the people at the grassroots level.

[AAP- Congress alliance in offing]

On the AAP's central "war room", the party's Delhi convenor Rai said one of the foremost tasks of the team at the Central office is to seek daily progress reports from all seven constituencies. This work is monitored round the clock by a 20-member core team which keeps an eye on the volunteers given functional responsibilities in shifts in this central room.

The core team includes members from different units, who have to provide daily feedback from their units and collate reports on their units' performances. The overall incharge of the Central Control Room is senior party volunteer Suresh Kathait, who handles internal party coordination and communication.

Important units include media, social media, technical support, frontal organisations reporting, public meetings of party's star campaigners, relevant election commission permissions, manifesto preparation, daily research issues, daily reports from observers in all 70 constituencies, nukkad sabhas and exposing the the "lies of opponents", Rai said.

All the above mentioned units submit their daily reports to the party leadership by 10 PM. For seamless coordination, the party has appointed coordinators from the Central War Room for each Lok Sabha constituency and these seven coordinators communicate with 10 observers each. In the next phase, the party is in the process of taking the coordination to all 70 assembly constituencies and eventually to all wards of Delhi.

PTI
Advance notice will be given before we act against Kejriwal: EC

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 29: The Election Commission (EC) gave an undertaking in the Delhi High Court that an advance notice will be given to Arvind Kejriwal before taking any action, including de-recognition of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), for his alleged bribery remarks during Goa Assembly election campaign in 2017.

Justice Yogesh Khanna took on record the statement by the poll panel and disposed of Kejriwal's application seeking directions to the EC not to take any action against him or his party based on its January 21, 2017 censure order.

In its January 2017 order, the EC had said that if he, in future, repeated such remarks, it would take action against him and his party.

'No party name, no appeal for votes': EC gives clean chit to Modi's Mission Shakti speech

On Thursday, the EC's lawyer said a notice would be sent in advance to the AAP convenor before taking any action against the party under para 16A of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order.

Under the Symbols order, the EC has the power to suspend or withdraw recognition of a recognised political party for its failure to observe the Model Code of Conduct or follow lawful directions and instructions of the poll panel.

The court made it clear the order for advance notice was applicable to any action in connection with the utterances made during the January 2017 poll campaign in Goa and not with regard to any remarks made in future.

The poll panel, during the proceedings, has taken the stand that the Model Code of Conduct was violated by Kejriwal when he made the remarks and hence, an order of censure and later a direction for lodging an FIR was issued against him in January 2017.

Kejriwal, in his plea, has contended that the EC's order amounts to "curtailing" his freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution of India.

The application was moved in his main petition seeking quashing of the poll panel's decisions and which will be heard on April 26.

The poll panel had earlier orally told the high court that only a complaint case against Kejriwal was pending in a Goa court for his alleged bribery remarks at election rallies in the state on January 7-8, 2017 and no FIR was lodged as directed by the EC.

During a series of rallies in Goa on January 7-8, 2017, Kejriwal had asked voters to "accept money from the Congress and BJP candidates but vote for the AAP".

Appoint election commissioners through collegium system: Former CEC

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had filed two complaints against the AAP supremo, seeking his prosecution under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for asking voters to accept money. The Congress too had condemned the Delhi Chief Minister's statement.

The poll panel had, thereafter, directed that a complaint be lodged against Kejriwal under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act dealing with bribing voters and the relevant sections of the IPC.
'There is no UPA now': Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at Cong, calls for unity of regional parties against BJP

Cong accuses Mamata Banerjee of 'political opportunism' after her 'no UPA' jibe; Prashant Kishor says Cong leadership not divine right of individual

Constitutional anarchy in Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal, SC told

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 29: The Centre on Friday claimed before the Supreme Court there is "constitutional anarchy" in West Bengal as the state police in yet another instance intimidated custom officials when they intercepted wife of sitting TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata airport.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta claimed that the central agencies were in a perpetual state of fear and were being hounded for performing their duties. "There is a constitutional anarchy in West Bengal if I may say it succinctly," Mehta contended.

"What do you want us to do," a bench presided over by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked Mehta.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Congress releases list of 26 candidates in Maharashtra, West Bengal

He said he wanted to bring this incident to the notice of the highest court in the country to show how rule of law is completely broken in the State of West Bengal.

In response, Senior Counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued on behalf of the state government that the SG should abstain from feeding the media under the garb of making submissions.

Earlier, the central investigative agency had moved the apex court alleging destruction of material evidence in connection with the Saradha Chit Fund Scam on the part of the erstwhile Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar.
EC says PM Modis speech on Mission Shakti didnt violate model code of conduct

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Mar 29: The Election Commission on Friday said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's televised address on Mission Shakti did not violate model code of conduct.

The commission, which had asked five officers to look into a complaint by CPM's Sitaram Yechury, said it concurred with the findings of the committee that there had been no violation of the model code of conduct.

['No party name, no appeal for votes': EC gives clean chit to Modi's Mission Shakti speech]

"The committee has reached the conclusion that the MCC provision regarding misuse of official mass media as contained in Para (IV) of Part VII of Model Code of Conduct, quoted above, is not attracted in the instant case," a statement by the Election Commission said.

In his speech to the nation, PM Modi had announced the successful test-firing of India's anti-satellite (ASAT) missile, Mission Shakti, and highlighted the government's efforts to strengthen national security. The opposition alleged the Prime Minister's speech violated the election code - in place since the polls were announced earlier this month - as it could influence voters in the middle of the campaign.
Arrest of Hizbul terrorist: ATS looking for two suspected accomplices

How this de-radicalisation programme by ATS is changing those who came under ISIS influence

Eight Iranian heroin smugglers sent to ATS custody

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

Ahmedabad, Mar 29: A court in Porbandar in Gujarat remanded eight of the nine Iranian nationals, held from a boat in mid-sea while carrying 100 kg of heroin, in a fourteen-day police custody.

The ninth accused was hospitalised, so the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) did not seek his remand.

The ATS told chief judicial magistrate C R Patel that it needed to interrogate the accused to find out if they were part of any terrorist group or the international drug mafia.

Crackdown on drugs: Vietnam arrests Chinese man with 300 kg of heroin

It also wanted to probe the source of the consignment, estimated to be worth a whopping Rs 500 crore, seized from the boat.

The crew members were also needed to be interrogated so that two other accused in the case, Mohammad from Delhi and Badruddin Sheikh from Mumbai, could be apprehended, the ATS told the court.

The nine men were arrested on Wednesday in a joint operation by the ATS, Coast Guard and Marine Task Force when they tried to set the vessel afire and destroy the drugs.

As per the ATS, the Iranian boat was loaded off the Gwadar port in Pakistan.

Preliminary questioning revealed that a Pakistani national named Hamid Malek had dispatched the consignment.
HC refuses to stall transfer of 2 IPS officers, Naidu dubs EC order as "hasty, biased"

India

pti-PTI

Amaravati, Mar 29: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday refused to stall the Election Commission of India's order, transferring two IPS officers, including the Director General of Intelligence and a non-cadre officer in the state government, and keeping them away from election duties.

The Chandrababu Naidu government was keen on retaining the controversial DG, Intelligence, A B Venkateswara Rao, whom the opposition YSR Congress has been accusing of "working like a TDP cadre".

A division bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Praveen Kumar and Justice Satyanarayana Murthy, ruled that there was 'no case for interim relief' in the matter and said the state government should comply with the EC order. It rejected the government's contentions on the issue, particularly that the DG had nothing to do with the conduct of elections and that the EC had no jurisdiction over him.

The EC had late on Tuesday night issued an order to Chief Secretary Anil Chandra Punetha, directing that the DG, Intelligence, and Superintendents of Police of Kadapa and Srikakulam districts be transferred forthwith and attached to the state police headquarters. It said no election-related work should be assigned to the three officers till the completion of the polls.

[Chandrababu Naidu should be "ashamed": TRS on voters' data 'theft']

Around midnight on Tuesday, Punetha issued an order transferring the three officers in line with the directive. The scene, however, changed on Wednesday as the Chief Secretary issued a fresh order that afternoon, cancelling his earlier one and retained the Intelligence DG to the same post while shifting the two SPs. The EC subsequently appointed Grewal Navdeep Singh and Abhishek Mohanty as SPs of Srikakulam and Kadapa districts.

The chief secretary also got a writ petition filed in the High Court, challenging the ECI order even as Chief Minister Naidu shot off a seven-page letter to the poll panel, protesting the transfers, particularly that of the DG, Intelligence.

Naidu alleged that the election commission's action was 'prima facie hasty, biased, undemocratic and suffers from the principles of natural justice".

He claimed the EC's conduct has become "questionable" due to this "coloured decision", which is deliberately aimed at benefitting the YSR Congress "under the influence of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, aided by (Telangana Chief Minister) K Chandrasekhar Rao". The government issued a separate order on Wednesday, designating certain police officers from the DGP to the rank of a constable for law and order duties in connection with the April 11 elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assembly. The DG of Intelligence has been kept away from election duties.

[Piyush Goyal challenges Chandrababu Naidu for debate on NDA govt's aid for Andhra Pradesh]

"The ECI cannot engage in unchecked, arbitrary and uncanalised exercise of power. The ECI order suffers from the vice of lack of jurisdiction, suffers from being a colourable exercise of power and is based on alien purposes or oblique motives which have nothing to do with the conduct of polling duties," state Political Secretary (General Administration Department) N Srikant said in the petition, filed on behalf of the chief secretary.

The High Court heard arguments in the case on Thursday. The YSR Congress also impleaded in the case. Advocate General D Srinivas contented that the ECI has no jurisdiction to transfer an officer not under its purview. Former AG Prakash Reddy, counsel for the ECI, pointed out that the Intelligence DG was very much on election-related duties under Section 28-A of the Representation of People Act and that the state government issued an order in this regard.

The AG claimed the said government order was issued erroneously. "How could the police department function without the intelligence wing?" the ECI advocate countered. The High Court delivered its verdict on the petition on Friday, refusing to grant any relief to the state government.

PTI
Hospital run by Raman Singhs son-in-law raided

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

Raipur, Mar 29: The police have raided a hospital run by Dr Puneet Gupta, son-in-law of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, in a case of alleged financial irregularities during Gupta's tenure as superintendent of a state-run hospital.

Documents related to the case were recovered during the raid at GBG Kidney Care Hospital in Rajendra Nagar area here, said Raipur Superintendent of Police Arif Sheikh.

"A notice was issued to Dr Gupta asking him to appear before police but he did not appear. We will serve him another notice Friday," the SP said.

After forces kill four naxals, their chief appeals for justice

On March 15, a case was registered against Dr Gupta for allegedly committing financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 50 crore when he was superintendent of DKS Post Graduate Institute and Research Centre, Raipur.

Current superintendent of DKS hospital Dr Kamal Kishore Sahare had lodged a complaint in this regard.

Sahare said in the complaint that a probe committee had found that Gupta allegedly misused his position and committed a fraud of Rs 50 crore.

Raman Singh, meanwhile, claimed that the police's action was politically motivated, and the case would not stand in the court.

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Cong goes all guns blazing in Chhattisgarh

"They (the Congress government) are forming SITs and creating cases, but once the case reaches the court the truth will come out," Singh told reporters.
I share a 'divine connection' with Mathura, says Hema Malini

India

pti-PTI

Mathura, March 29: Dubbed an "outsider" by the Opposition, BJP MP Hema Malini has said she has a "divine connection" with Mathura, the city of Lord Krishna, and has no intention of becoming a minister.

The actor-turned-politician, who has been fielded once again by the BJP from the Mathura constituency, filed her nomination papers for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections earlier this week.

The 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal has said that Mathura will witness an "outsider vs Brijwasi" battle as Hema Malini lives in Mumbai.

"Yes, I have a house in Mumbai. What is the problem with that? I have a house here also and I am a Virndavanwasi," Hema Malini told PTI in an exclusive interview. "I am so involved with the city and I feel some divine connection with this city. I have been playing Radha and Meera throughout my life and I was in a temple only when my candidature was announced," she said.

[Hema Malini a billionaire, discloses her affidavit to poll panel]

The BJP MP said she also has to fulfil her professional commitments as an actor and a danseuse. "In the last five years I have come here more than 250 times. People should understand that I am not just an MP and I have to use my talent as an actor and a danseuse as well. There is no need for me to be here 24 hours. I come and get things done in 10 days," Hema Malini said.

"I know that I can't satisfy the entire city, which is so huge, but I have done my work with utmost sincerity and will continue to do so in future as well," she said. Hema Malini said it pained her when people questioned her work in the last five years. "I really feel hurt when someone asks 'apne kya kaam kiya?' (what work did you do). The first two years were difficult as I could not communicate (with the people). But in the last two years I was able to get things done with the support of the Centre and the state government," she said.

"Many projects have been sanctioned under Brij Teerth Vikas Parishad and I am working to revive the old heritage of Brij Mandal," she said, adding that she needed another five years for that. "This is why I have decided to stay back," she said. Despite being a star campaigner of the ruling BJP, the BJP MP said she was not eyeing a ministerial berth at the Centre and wants to focus on Mathura only. "I am not a hardcore politician and I want to limit myself to Mathura only. I am asked many times if I want to become a minister and it sounds so strange. Being a minister is a full-time responsibility," Hema Malini said.

"Women ministers in Modiji's cabinet have done extremely well and I am proud of them, but this is not a competition," she said. Rejecting speculation about differences in the BJP's local unit, Hema Malini said everyone is working together to ensure a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"There is no infighting and my party workers have a lot of love and respect for me. They are supporting me in a big way and I am 100 per cent sure of winning with a bigger margin this time," she said.

Asked about her announcement, which she made after filing her nomination papers, that this election will be her last, Hema Malini said as of now, she was focussing on making the most of the next five years. "We will talk about the future after five years. Let's see how much energy I will have left by then," she said.

Asked about the possibility of her family members campaigning for her, she said, "I can't say yet whether Dharamji will come. I wanted Esha to come but she is expecting a baby," she said.

Hema Malini had defeated RLD's sitting MP Jayant Chaudhary in 2014 by a huge margin of 3,30,743 votes in 2014. This year, she is pitted against RLD's Kunwar Narendra Singh. Voting will be held in Mathura in the second round of seven-phase Lok Sabha polls on April 18. Results will be announced on May 23.

PTI
JKSSB SI Recruitment 2021: Last date to apply for 800 Sub Inspector posts, direct link here

J&K: 2 terrorists killed, 4 jawans injured in Budgam encounter

India

oi-Deepika S

Srinagar, Mar 29: Two terrorists were killed and four jawans injured in an ongoing encounter between terrorists and security forces in Sutsu village of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district. The security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area.

The bodies of the two terrorists have been recovered along with an assault rifle a US-made M16 rifle.

The slain terrorists are believed to be affiliated to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). This is the third such encounter in the past 24 hours.

Earlier, four militants were killed on Thursday in two encounters with security forces in Shopian and Kupwara districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Security forces launched an anti-militancy operation in Yawran forests in Shopian following information about the presence of militants there, a police spokesman said.
Agree with Indian govt on need to safeguard citizens' privacy: WhatsApp

State vs national issues: Key lessons for the BJP to learn in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana

Kerala Congress leader laments groupism in party

India

oi-PTI

Kochi, Mar 29: Denied party ticket for the Lok Sabha polls, senior Congress leader and five-time MP K V Thomas Thursday lamented "excess group activities" in the state unit and said it was not good for the party.

However, he said groupism was not the reason for denial of ticket to him for contesting from Ernakulam seat, which he had represented five times.

"I agree with senior leader P C Chacko who had said there were excess group considerations in the Congress party in the state. Giving considerations to group is reflected on many things... even in selecting booth-level presidents of the party," he said.

This was not good for the party, the former union minister said responding to a query at a Meet-the-Press programme organised by the Ernakulam Press Club here.

Things should be seen beyond all group considerations.

Good party workers should be given adequate considerations in the party, he said.

Thomas claimed he had informed the party leadership six months ago that he was ready to pave the way for the younger generation."But there was no reply from the party leadership," he said.

Thomas said he had taken all necessary steps for facing the elections.

Referring to his earlier remarks that he was shocked and pained over denial of ticket, the Congress leader said he had reacted emotionally when he heard from media that barring him all other sitting MPs had been renominated.

Thomas was miffed at being denied a ticket, but top Congress leaders pacified him.

The MP said he was not retiring from politics.

"I am not a retiring from politics. I am very active in politics," the 72-year-old former union minister said.

Thomas also said he would work for ensuring victory of Hibi Eden nominated by party from the Ernakulam seat.

The senior party leader has held several key portfolios in the Congress-led government and till some time ago was the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Thomas has also been a member of the state assembly twice.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 29, 2019, 19:41 [IST]
NCP-Congress alliance talks fail in Gujarat again

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

Ahmedabad, Mar 29: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar, which is in an alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra has decided to fight the polls alone in Gujarat.

The NCP will go ahead and announce candidates for all the 26 seats in the next two to three days, its state chief, Jayant Patel said. The move may translate into a straight division in the anti-BJP votes.

The NCP had sought Porbandar, Panchmahal and Gandhinagar seats as part of the seat sharing formula. Both parties have however indicated that there is still scope for an alliance as the last day to file the nominations is April 4.

Cong releases candidates list; Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav to contest from Jodhpur

While the Congress and NCP have been natural allies at the national level, they have failed to stitch up an alliance in Gujarat. In the 2004 and 2014 polls, the parties had a pre-poll alliance. In the 2004 polls, the Congress had left the Rajkot and Porbandar seats for the NCP, but the party failed to win.

In the 2017 assembly elections, talks between the two parties failed and the NCP had fielded 58 candidates in the assembly segments. The party managed to win just the Kutiyana seat.
Days after tie-up, Nishad Party quits 'Mahagathbandhan' in UP; may switch over to BJP

India

pti-PTI

Gorakhpur/Lucknow, Mar 29: Barely three days after joining the SP-BSP-RLD 'Mahagathbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh, the Nishad Party Friday sprang a surprise by parting ways with the fledgling anti-BJP alliance and meeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

There was no immediate word from either side as to what transpired at the meeting between the Nishad Party leaders including its President Sanjay Nishad with Adityanath in Lucknow. "The Nishad Party is no more in alliance with the Samajwadi Party," Nikky Nishad alias Riteash Nishad, media in-charge, Nishad Party, told PTI in Gorakhpur.

"There was conflict between the two parties on Maharajganj seat as Nishad Party wanted to contest with its own party symbol where as Samajwadi Party was not ready for it," he added. The party workers were not willing to contest on the SP symbol and many of them began quitting, he said. "So, our national president Sanjay Nishad ji went to Lucknow and on late Thursday it was confirmed that the Nishad Party is no more a part of the alliance," he added. When asked whether Pravin Nishad, MP, will also quit Samajwadi Party, he said, "I don't know about it."

The Nishad Party is headed by Sanjay Nishad, the father of Pravin Nishad who had won the Gorakhpur parliamentary seat on an SP ticket in the 2018 by-polls. The win had been remarkable, as Gorakhpur was considered a bastion of Adityanath, who had represented the parliamentary constituency several times before. A Nishad Party insider accused SP chief Akhilesh Yadav of backtracking on his promises.

[Nishad Party, Janvadi Party (S) join BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh]

"They did not put our name on the posters/letters or anything. Our party workers, authorities, core committee were upset," he said. "So, the Nishad Party has taken a decision today that we are not with the 'gathbandhan', we are free, can fight elections independently and can look for other options as well. The party is free now," he added.

When contacted, SP national spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury told PTI that he had no information of the decision taken by the Nishad Party. Just three days ago on Tuesday, the Nishad (Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal) Party in a press conference in Lucknow had announced that it was joining the grand opposition alliance in the state.

On the day of the announcement, Sanjay Nishad had addressed a press conference in which he had attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him a 'jumlebaz' as well as Adityanath. "Our constitution, youth and farmers' futures are in grave danger. People voted for a 'jumlebaz' party cause of their false promises," he had said.

"Modi and Yogi promised many things for Nishad community but nothing was done. The Nishad community will now give full support to the SP-BSP alliance in all the state," he added. The Nishad Party, sources said, is in talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for some seats including Gorakhpur.

PTI
Azhar is not missing: India to call out Pakistan at FATF

Why killing of Masood Azhars nephew Fauji Bhai is a major shot in the arm

Pak puts more curbs on Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood to avoid FATF blacklisting

No mention of Azhar-Pulwama link in Indian dossier says Pak

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 29: There is no mention of any connection between Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar with the Pulwama attack in the dossier submitted by India to Islamabad after the terror strike, Pakistan claimed.

Addressing a weekly briefing here, Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said that soon after receiving the dossier, Pakistan constituted a 10-member investigation team comprising officials of Federal Investigation Agency to probe the attack.

However, "no linkage of Pakistan was found with the Pulwama incident".

MEA says India is disappointed at Pakistan's response over Pulwama dossier

"The Indian dossier does not claim any linkage of Masood Azhar with the Pulwama incident," he added.

India handed over the dossier to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi on February 27 with specific details of Pakistan-based terror group JeM's complicity in the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel on February 14 and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan.

The FO spokesperson said the Indian dossier contains 91 pages and six parts, out of which only part two and three pertain to the Pulwama attack. Other parts were "mostly general allegations".

Pakistan first denies having terror camps, then shuts down a few

Pakistan concentrated on those parts which relate to Pulwama incident, he said.

Asserting that Pakistan was willing to cooperate with India, the spokesperson said, "We have informed India that we are ready to cooperate if they provide actionable intelligence and evidence that will sustain the threshold of Pakistani courts, we are ready to work on that."

He said Pakistan repeatedly offered dialogue to India for resolution of all disputes but the Indian side did not reciprocate.
Our film has nothing to do with Modi, BJP says producers of biopic

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 29: The producers of PM Narendra Modi have told the Election Commission that film has nothing to do with Modi or the BJP.

Further in their reply they said that they had put in their personal money to make the film.

Hitesh Jain, lawyer for the producers - Anand K Pandit, Sandeep Singh, Manish Acharya and Suresh Oberoi said, "the allegations made linking our client's movie with a political party merely on a few public events, Facebook posts and tweets are not only false but have no basis in either fact and/or law."

'PM Narendra Modi' biopic trailer out with Vivek Oberoi dressed as PM Modi

They also said that any order to ban or delay the release of the film would adversely affect the democracy and rule of law. Freedom of expression cannot be held to ransom by anyone especially a rival political party, they also said.

The EC had sought an explanation from the film's producers following a complaint by the Congress. The Congress had asked the poll panel to delay the release of the film. The producers however termed the allegations as baseless and asked the EC to let the film be released on April 5.
Our manifesto will reflect people's voice, not one man's: Rahul Gandhi

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 29: As he braces for a mega electoral battle, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi says his party's soon-to-be released manifesto will reflect the people's voice and not just one man's view, a clear reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, Gandhi also said the manifesto will lay major thrust on jobs creation, addressing agrarian distress and strengthening the education and health sectors besides charting a roadmap to boost economic growth.

The 48-year-old Congress president said the Congress-led UPA is storming back to power as people have rejected Modi's politics of "false promises".

"We want India's voice and aspirations to prosper. We don't believe in one man's voice. We believe in everyone's voice and choices. It requires tremendous discipline and hard work to do, but it works," he said.

The Congress chief said the party's manifesto is the result of extensive nationwide consultations and is a very "powerful" document aimed at redressing key challenges facing the nation. Congress is set to release its manifesto next week, ahead of the first phase of polling on April 11. Without divulging specific details of the manifesto, Gandhi said it will have a well-thought out "strategic plan" for creation of jobs on a "huge scale" and a roadmap for transformation of the agriculture sector as well as ways to boost small businesses and the economy at large. Besides promoting entrepreneurship and industry, the Congress will also free businesses from the onslaught of "tax terrorism" and ensure fairness to small and medium traders, he said.

The Congress chief also said his party intends to significantly increase public investment in the education and health sectors which will help provide better facilities for the common person. "Our manifesto has a commitment to increasing the expenditure on education and creating a high quality public education system. There is a tremendous amount of work that has gone into preparing our manifesto," he said. "All this is ground breaking stuff. So yes, while the BJP's failures and Modiji's false promises and incompetence are certainly election issues, we have more than enough to share when it comes to our plans and our vision for India," he said.

[3 year blanket pass to new ventures says Rahul Gandhi]

Reflecting on his party's poor performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll when it just got 44 seats, Gandhi said it was an "aberration", asserting that the Congress is storming back to power. "The Congress at one level is an organisation, but at another level, the Congress is a conversation." "It is allowing people to speak. It is allowing multiple viewpoints. It is allowing our institutions to have their own independence. It is not imposing unwitting ideas, like demonetisation on the nation," he said.

He said the Congress party had got down to brass tacks after 2014 - to rework, rebuild and resurrect the organisation as a whole. This was initiated by decentralising power. The party, through effective state leadership, reconnected with workers down to the booth level, he said, adding that it has been a priority and it has been successful as evidenced in the outcome of the recent state elections. Gandhi said the Congress across India is naturally building up and strengthening, because the "more the RSS-BJP try to suppress the conversation, the more India wants to converse, think and grow".

Taking a dig at Modi's 'Congress Mukt Bharat' slogan, he alleged that what the PM actually meant was that nobody should be allowed to speak or think. "Nobody should be allowed to express themselves," Gandhi said.

"The Congress builds and grows in India when the conversation builds," he asserted. Accusing Modi and the BJP/RSS of "imposing" their views on people, he said the Congress is not in the business of imposing ideas as it wants to listen and work together with all the stakeholders of this country. "The RSS-BJP will say only one person speaks for India. It's impossible. As Congress president, I say with great humility that Congress will grow even more when it permits multiple different voices," he said.

Referring to the ambitious 'Nyay (Nyuntam Aay Yojna)' announced by him earlier this week, Gandhi claimed it threw the BJP into disarray. "It's not my scheme; it's a scheme that has been created after listening to lakhs of people in our manifesto conversations," he said.

Gandhi said answers would come by talking to people on the street, as "we're just replicating their voice". The Congress chief said a lot of farmers came to the party and asked for building infrastructure to help them put up a factory right near their farm, put food processing plants near agricultural areas and link those food processing units to the rest of the country.

"It's a great idea. They gave it to us, and we will implement it," he said. "From my perspective, it is not only about farmers or Nyay or the youth or our women. It's also about industry, it's also about tax terrorism, it's also about fairness to small and medium businesses, it's also about entrepreneurship," he said.

PTI
PM tours world, no time to visit villages in Varanasi: Priyanka Gandhi

India

oi-Deepika S

Faizabad, Mar 29: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not fulfilling his 2014 poll promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of people.

Priyanka, who was addressing a rally in Faizabad said the BJP called NYAY a poll gimmick when it was announced as it could waive off loans for industrialists but "they don't have money for the poor".

"They had promised to give Rs 15 lakh to every poor. They later called it a jumla," the Congress leader said.

Should I contest from Varanasi, Priyanka Gandhi asks

She called the BJP-led government "janata-virodhi (anti-people) and kisan-virodhi (anti-farmer)" and said it was time for voters to think who they wanted to vote for.

"I was stunned to hear from people in Varanasi that in five years, the PM didn't get time to go to a single village, visit even one family in his constituency," Priyanka said, attacking the Prime Minister.

"He went to America, Japan, China, the entire world. But he didn't have the time to meet his own constituents. He has done nothing for the people in his own constituency, let alone the people across the rest of the country. It is no small thing, it is a big issue. It shows this government's intention. It is focused on making the rich richer but not helping the poor."

Priyanka Gandhi is visiting Ayodhya and Faizabad on the last day of her three-day campaign which began with a tour of Amethi and Raebareli.

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Story first published: Friday, March 29, 2019, 16:58 [IST]
Police raid hospital run by Raman Singh's kin

India

oi-PTI

Raipur, Mar 29: Police on Thursday raided a hospital run by Dr Puneet Gupta, son-in-law of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, in a case of alleged financial irregularities during Gupta's tenure as superintendent of a state-run hospital.

Documents related to the case were recovered during the raid at GBG Kidney Care Hospital in Rajendra Nagar area here, said Raipur Superintendent of Police Arif Sheikh.

"A notice was issued to Dr Gupta asking him to appear before police but he did not appear. We will serve him another notice on Friday," the SP said.

On March 15, a case was registered against Dr Gupta for allegedly committing financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 50 crore when he was superintendent of DKS Post Graduate Institute and Research Centre, Raipur.

Current superintendent of DKS hospital Dr Kamal Kishore Sahare had lodged a complaint in this regard.

Sahare said in the complaint that a probe committee had found that Gupta allegedly misused his position and committed a fraud of Rs 50 crore.

Raman Singh, meanwhile, claimed that the police's action was politically motivated, and the case would not stand in the court.

"They (the Congress government) are forming SITs and creating cases, but once the case reaches the court the truth will come out," Singh told reporters.
Till when does a father have to take responsibility of his child: SC clarifies

Air Pollution: You want to ban industries in Pakistan? Court asks UP govt

SC confirms life term for Saravana Bhavan owner in 2001 murder case

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 29: The Supreme Court on Friday confirmed the conviction of Saravana Bhavan owner P Rajagopal's conviction and life imprisonment for the abduction and murder of Prince Santhakumar in 2001.

The judgment was pronounced by a Bench presided by Justice N V Ramana.

Rajagopal along with five others had been accused of murdering one of his employees in order to marry the employee's wife.

The body of Santhakumar was found by forest officials at Perumalmalai in Kodaikanal range in October 2001. It was buried in the Kodaikanal municipal burial ground. Later, the body was identified to be that of Santhakumar and a chargesheet filed for offences under section 302(murder) 364 (abduction) and 201 (destruction of evidence) IPC, following which the alleged conspiracy came to light.

On March 20, the Madras High Court convicted Rajagopal, proprietor of the Saravana Bhavan hotels, under section 302 IPC (punishment for murder) and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment along with the five others who were granted bail by the apex on Wednesday.

The high court had enhanced the sentence from 10 years to life imprisonment on an appeal filed by the state government after the sessions court held them guilty under IPC Section 304 Part-I (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and imposed a sentence for 10 years.
Schools, colleges will have to pay Rs 5 lakh fine says NGT

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 29: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has refused to review its order slapping a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on schools and colleges which have failed to install rainwater harvesting systems on their premises.

A bench headed by Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore said the execution of the order of the tribunal had not been made by the parties during the entire 2018.

"Therefore, a detail order was passed by the tribunal on January 30 after taking into consideration all the facts and circumstances. By the said order, directions were issued to all the educational institutions in NCT Delhi, including South Delhi Municipal Corporation who were also party in the original application. Thereafter, another order was passed on February 22," it noted.

NGT slaps Rs 500 crore penalty on Volkswagen for cheating emission tests

The green panel said that despite the specific order passed by the larger bench of the tribunal on November 16 with the specific time frame, the same was not implemented within the period of two months.

It said that a review plea cannot be accepted for the reason that had the parties started the work in execution of the order since November, 2017, the work would have been completed much earlier.

It is only after passing of the order in the execution application that the respondent authorities have come into action, it said.

"In this execution application the tribunal has only imposed the environmental compensation which was ordered on November 16, 2017. In fact the defaulting persons are liable for further compensation/cost for not completing the rainwater harvesting system within the time schedule.

During the intervening period one monsoon season has already lapsed," the tribunal said.

"In the aforesaid facts and circumstances and the specific order passed on November 16 as well as the fact that in case of default environmental compensation was already fixed by the tribunal in its order while deciding the original application, we do not find any error apparent on the face of the record in the orders dated January 30 and February 22."

The tribunal had earlier directed the Ministry of Human Resource Development to inform it within a week about the status of installation of rainwater harvesting systems in Kendriya and Navodaya Vidyalayas here.

The NGT had earlier imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh each on educational institutions in the national capital for failing to install rainwater harvesting systems.

The tribunal's direction had come on a plea filed by city resident Mahesh Chandra Saxena.
Should I contest from Varanasi, Priyanka Gandhi asks

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 29: Should I contest from Varanasi? This was a question posed by Priyanka Gandhi at Rae Bareli, while interacting with party workers.

The comment came at a Congress workers' meeting at Rae Bareli, where Sonia Gandhi is set to contest the elections. One group had insisted that Priyanka Gandhi fight the elections from this seat.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: 'Will contest If Cong asks me', says Priyanka Gandhi

The workers were in for a surprise, when Priyanka shot back with a question asking them whether she should contest from Varanasi. Ever since she took the political plunge, there has been speculation that she may contest the elections.

It may be recalled that even in the 2014 elections, there was speculation that the Congress may field her from Varanasi to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Story first published: Friday, March 29, 2019, 5:47 [IST]
Chhattisgarh's horrific accident: Nobody will be spared, justice will be done: CM Baghel

Story of Bhupesh Baghel's father's wish to contest against Modi

India

oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi

New Delhi, March 29: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's father is hell-bent on contesting Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It is notable that Modi is once again set to contest general election from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, the seat from which he won in 2014 polls.

Bhupesh 's father Nand Kumar Baghel hit headlines on Monday when he told reporters that he would like to contest election against Modi, and if Congress gives him a ticket, he would defeat "dictator" Modi and make Rahul Gandhi the next Prime Minister of India.

He has also announced that he would contest as an independent candidate against Modi if the Congress denies him a ticket.

[Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Cong goes all guns blazing in Chhattisgarh]

Nand Kumar Baghel has also released a short video in which he is heard saying that if Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat replaces Modi with Lal Krishna Advani or Murli Manohar Joshi then he would take back his decision.

Interestingly, Nand Kumar Baghel is not a member of any political party and has no political ground.

"The whole episode is to gain the attention of Gandhi family. Bhupesh, who in the past had shown displeasure over his father 's statements, has surprisingly not reacted on this childish move," a source tells One India.

"Moreover, the whole episode, which has no news value, is deliberately highlighted. The video is shared by a journalist of NDTV on Twitter. It is a scripted ploy as Nand Kumar Baghel could be seen taking help for remembering the name of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat in the video," adds the source.

Nand Kumar Baghel and Controversies

Nand Kumar Baghel is known for making controversial statements.

Bhupesh, as Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee President, had issued a letter in July 2018 to the Congress workers and warned them that his father is not a member of the Congress and if someone is found indulging in any of his activities then disciplinary action would be taken against him.

Bhupesh had to issue warning after his father had stoked controversy by saying that Rajasthani Brahmin leaders like Satyanarayan Sharma and Arun Vora should not be given Congress tickets in Chhattisgarh Assembly polls. He had also opposed the move by T.S Singh Deo to field members of royal families in the assembly elections.

Deo, who is a Cabinet Minister in Chhattisgarh, is also the current titular Maharaja of Surguja and known as Modern Day Maharaja.

Nand Kumar had also released a video in April 2018 wherein he was purportedly seen claiming that Congress President Rahul Gandhi is his younger son and Bhupesh is the elder son.

According to reports, he had also accepted that some Congress ticket aspirants for the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls were contacting him and he would recommend their names to PCC Chief (his son) and Tamradhwaj Sahu.

Bhupesh 's father has also on record alleged that former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi was responsible for the killing of senior Chhattisgarh Congress leaders in 2013 Darbha Valley Naxal attack.

It is notable that Jogi and Bhupesh are political betes noires of Chhattisgarh politics.

Interestingly, Bhupesh's political opponents also allege that he has been using his father as and when required to say what he couldn't say on the record.
I have been assaulted by Rabri Devi, driven out of her house: Tej Pratap's wife Aishwarya Rai

Tej Pratap may contest as Independent, to take on father in law Chandrika Rai from Saran

India

oi-Deepika S

Patna, Mar 29: The Yadav family crisis seems to be coming to a head with Tej Pratap announcing that he will be contesting as an independent candidate against his father-in-law Chandrika Rai, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)'s candidate from Saran.

Tensions in the Yadav family have been brewing for quite a some time now. While Tejashwi Yadav has taken the charge of the party affairs in Lalu's absence the role or the responsibility of the elder brother is still not clear.

Bihar Mahagathbandhan: Congress gets Patna Saheb, Sharad Yadav to contest from Madhepura

His resignation is set to hit the party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier, Tej Pratap had expressed his anger over being sidelined in the party. He further claimed that few leaders from within the party were creating division and dispute between him and his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav.
Unusual reunion: Teacher finds her old student flying her plane to Chicago, 30 years later

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

New Delhi, March 29: The relationship between the student and teacher is always special. Even long gap in time doesn't fade this strong bonding between a teacher and his or her pupil. Recently, one such instance of the special relationship came to the fore when a teacher got to meet her student after a gap of 30 years and neither of them had earth underneath their feet at the moment. For they were flying 30,000 feet into the air at the time!

Sudha Satyan, a school teacher by profession, was flying to Chicago from India. After she settled down in her seat, the in-flight announcement by the pilot revealed that the plane was being flown by Captain Rohan Bhasin, a former student of Sudha.

Passengers find pilot & co-pilot of their flight to be mother-daughter duo; delighted

The veteran teacher at once remembered that when he was three, his student Rohan used to address himself as 'Captain Rohan Bhasin'. Out of curiosity, Sudha approached the cabin crew of the flight and then met the pilot and was pleased to see that he was indeed her old student.

Captain Bhasin's mother Nivedita Bhasin later shared the precious reunion of the student with his teacher on Twitter and also put another picture showing them from an earlier time.

#WarmsTheCocklesOfMyHeart....



During Playschool admission, the teacher asked my son his name.



Nonchalantly he answered, "Capt Rohan Bhasin".

And he was just 3.



And today, the same teacher was enroute to Chicago.

And he was indeed the Captain. #StudentTeacherReunion pic.twitter.com/nGAqZSKUnF  Nivedita Bhasin (@nivedita_bhasin) March 24, 2019

"During Playschool admission, the teacher asked my son his name. Nonchalantly he answered, "Capt Rohan Bhasin". And he was just 3. And today, the same teacher was en route to Chicago. And he was indeed the Captain," Bhasin's proud mother wrote on Twitter.

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Story first published: Friday, March 29, 2019, 15:34 [IST]
Weather forecast for March 30: Kolkata to witness thundershowers, lightning in next 24 hours

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Mar 29: Let us have a look at the weather forecast for Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Punjab and Haryana on March 30.

Bengaluru:

As per Skymet weather, during the next 24 hours, scattered rain and thundershowers may occur over Himachal Pradesh and northeastern states, Sub Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, while isolated over Uttarakhand, Punjab, Kerala and Karnataka. However, no significant weather activity is expected. Bengaluru will remain dry with temperatures being on the higher side even at night, settling at around 36 degrees Celsius. Sky will be clear, with patchy clouds and humidity will be on the lesser side. Meanwhile, Bengalureans may not get respite from the heat anytime soon, as the temperatures will persist this week.

Delhi:

March day temperature in Delhi-NCR soared to the highest level yesterday to settle at 35.5C at the Safdarjung Observatory (Base Observatory for records). As per Skymet weather, with dry northwesterly winds blowing over the region, a dry and bright sunny day is being forecast for Delhi NCR today. A thin cloud cover might be seen over the city during the later half of the day. Some relief in terms of drop in temperatures will come during the weekend due to forecast of rain in the city.

Kolkata:

Gangetic West Bengal is the only meteorological division in the country to record rainfall excess of 60% this pre-monsoon season (March to May). As per Skymet weather, light to moderate rains would commence once again over Sub Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim March 30 onward and might continue until April 2. While, the central and southern districts of the state might receive light to moderate rain with one or two heavy spells on April 1 and 2.

Punjab and Haryana:

A trough will extend from this Cyclonic Circulation up to western parts of Uttar Pradesh. In the wake of these weather systems, we expect isolated light rains to commence over Punjab by tonight. As per Skymet, by tomorrow morning we expect isolated rain and thundershower activities to commence over parts of Haryana as well. On March 31, the intensity of rain is expected to reduce over entire Haryana and Punjab while shifting its axis towards Uttar Pradesh. So, this episode of rain will be meagre. But as the weather conditions have been dry in Punjab and Haryana for the last few days, these rains will definitely come as a relief from rising temperatures. Maximums will subside by two to three degrees Celsius in parts of Punjab and Haryana.

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Story first published: Friday, March 29, 2019, 18:07 [IST]
Will bring NRC in West Bengal, throw out infiltrators, says Amit Shah

India

pti-PTI

Alipurduar (WB), Mar 29: BJP president Amit Shah on Friday said his party will replicate the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in West Bengal on coming to power at the Centre to "throw out" infiltrators. He, however, made it clear that Hindu refugees will not be touched.

Kicking off the BJP poll campaign in the state, Shah took a swipe at the ruling TMC accusing it of trying to impose Urdu in schools and on Hindu population of the state and urged the people to vote for his party. "We will also bring in NRC in Bengal and throw out all infiltrators. We will also ensure that the Hindu refugees are not touched. They are very much a part of our country and they will live in this country," Shah said.

The NRC is a document containing names of all genuine Indian citizens in Assam. It, however, became a hugely contentious issue after the complete draft, released last year, omitted the names of around 40 lakh people who have been residing in the state for several decades.

The BJP president also said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls are all about restoring democracy in the TMC-ruled West Bengal. "The TMC stands for three Ts -Trinamool, toll and tax. Under the TMC government, syndicates (groups of extortionists) are flourishing in Bengal," he claimed. In local parlance, 'tolabaji' is roughly understood as an act of organised extortion, he said. Shah's sharp criticism of Mamata Banerjee is seen as an attempt by the BJP to expand its base in the state.

[Amit Shah to file nomination from Gandhinagar tomorrow; Rajnath, Thackeray and Badal to accompany]

The BJP currently has only two of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats, and it has set an ambitious target to win 23 seats this time. Lashing out at the opposition parties for questioning the Narendra Modi government over air strikes on terror camps in Balakot in Pakistan and advocating talks to Islamabad to resolve various issues, Shah asserted that this election will hinge on ensuring the safety and security of the country.

"Mamata, Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav are all talking about holding a dialogue (with Pakistan). She is trying to appease her vote bank. The terrorists from Pakistan attacked and killed 40 of our brave jawans. Shouldn't the terrorists and Pakistan be given a befitting reply?" he asked. The Narendra Modi government has given befitting replies to China and Pakistan, he said, adding that "we are fighting to secure our country".

"It is India's right to defend itself. And I can assure you that the Modi government will not spare the terrorists. We will reply to Pakistan's bullets with bombs," he said. Hitting out at Banerjee for questioning the timing of Balakot air strike, the BJP president said the TMC chief is "angry" as she is wary that her vote bank in the state might get affected. Lambasting the TMC for its opposition to the NRC and charging it with abetting infiltration for its vote bank, Shah said, "Mamata-di should stop misleading people on NRC. She is thinking that only infiltrators will help her to win polls."

Shah's statement drew a sharp reaction from the TMC, which said it would never allow NRC to happen in the state. "We will never allow NRC to happen in Bengal. The BJP will not a win a single seat in Bengal nor form the government at the Centre," TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said.

Shah urged people to vote for the BJP as under the TMC rule "the mother, mother land and the people are suffering". The mother, mother land and the people are translations of TMC's slogan 'Ma Mati Manush'. "The love and affection is gone from mothers, infiltrators have taken away the land and people are being killed and brutalised. TMC stands for Trinamool Tolabaji Tax. If you go to schools you need to pay this tax to TMC. You need to pay this tax to get jobs too," he said.

Shah criticized Banerjee for questioning the timing of 'Mission Shakti' announcement and said the "missile" of Bengal's voters will wipe her out of the state. "Recently, India's missile destroyed a live satellite in space. With this India became the fourth country in the world to do this. Are you people happy or not? But Mamata Banerjee is saying it should have been done later." he said.

Shah referred to the firing at Darivit High School in North Dinajpur district in September last year, which had led to the killing of two students during protests against the alleged appointment of an Urdu teacher. He accused Banerjee of trying to "impose" Urdu on the Bengali-speaking people of the state. "She is trying to impose Urdu on the Bengalis in the state. We have no problem on the TMC government giving allowances to Muslim clerics, but why is the government indifferent towards Hindu priests in the state?" he asked. Only Modi can save Bengal from the TMC and its "reign of terror", the BJP chief claimed.

He mocked at Banerjee's announcement that if the TMC is voted to power at the Centre the flagship employment scheme of 100-day work provision under MNREGA for the rural poor will be extended to 200 days a year and the wages will be doubled.

"She has announced that she will double the MNREGA scheme, but what about the budget for Bengal's higher education? Why has the state allotted such a paltry sum for it?" he said. The electorate this time will choose between "strong and decisive" Narendra Modi on the one hand and "thugbandhan leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav on the other", he said in a veiled reference to the 'mahagathbandhan' or grand alliance of the opposition parties to dislodge the BJP.

PTI
SP and JD (U) looking for more electoral space beyond their pocket-borough

Will the BJP be able to capture Mizoram the last citadel of the Congress in North-East?

Upendra Kushwaha likely to resign from the Union government led by Narendra Modi

Will Gadkari get support of DMK in Nagpur?

India

oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi

New Delhi, March 29: Union Minister and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari is contesting from Nagpur Lok Sabha.

Gadkari is the sitting MP from Nagpur, which will vote on April 11. He is pitted against the Congress' Nana Patole, a former BJP MP. There is a lot of pressure on Gadkari to retain the seat, which he won in 2014 by a margin of over 2.5 lakh votes in his debut election. He had defeated four-time MP from Nagpur, Vilas Muttemwar.

Political analysts say that the Union Minister will need the support of Dalit, Muslim, Kunbi (DMK) voters to win the seat that has been more or less a Congress bastion.

Have Congress workers support, says Nitin Gadkari ahead of polls

The Nagpur constituency consists of six assembly segments -- Nagpur South West, Nagpur South, Nagpur East, Nagpur Central, Nagpur West and Nagpur North. Nagpur North is reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

There are a total of 21,26,574 voters, including 10,45,934 women, in Nagpur.

More than 50 per cent voters in the Nagpur constituency are Other Backward Classes (OBCs), mainly comprising Kunbi and Teli communities.

Of the rest, around 15-20 per cent voters are Dalits, both Hindus, and Buddhists, while Muslims account for around 12 per cent.

Nagpur has around 4.5 lakh Dalit voters.

The caste combination of the voters in Nagpur makes it an interesting Lok Sabha seat and that is why 'Brahmin' Gadkari's win in 2014 surprised many political pundits because Brahmin voters in Nagpur are in minority.

Maharashtra: Dalits, OBCs hold key in Nagpur Lok Sabha seat

The political analysts attribute his win to the 2014 Narendra Modi wave, but insiders also say that Gadkari had also got the advantage because there were factions within the Congress that wanted to defeat Vilas Muttemwar.

Factionalism in the Congress is still evident in Nagpur and Gadkari will use it for his advantage, says a source.

It is notable that Gadkari on Wednesday also claimed that he is getting phone calls from Congress workers pledging support to him.

it is notable that the unique selling proposition (USP) of Gadkari is that he is easily approachable and even has good relations with leaders of the opposition parties.

Though he is saying that he would seek votes in the name of development work done in the last five years, sources tell OneIndia that he is also using other tactics, including dummy candidates, to win the election.

"Gadkari knows that not only getting the Dalit, Muslim, and OBC votes; their split will make his task easy, but this time the presence of Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) is a worrisome development for the Union Minister, " says the source.

Ambedkar has claimed that Gadkari will not win the election even if he spends 200 crore rupees.

The VBA is expected to consolidate OBCs, Nomadic Tribes and SCs votes, which is likely to impact the BJP and Shiv Sena, alliance partners in Maharashtra.

The other achievement of the VBA is that it has made the Muslim vote politically valuable again. Ambedkar has built an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi's party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM).

Another worry of Gadkari is that the Congress candidate Patole may get an advantage in getting OBC votes for being an OBC.

Recently, the Union Minister is believed to have angered Separate Vidarbha Movement supporters, which may go against him in the elections.

BJP workers hit the ground in Nagpur as Gadkari readies for electoral battle

On March 7, Gadkari lashed out at the pro-Vidarbha activists who were raising slogans when he was addressing a rally in Nagpur in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He first asked them to keep quiet, and when they continued sloganeering then he said: "If they continue to make noise again, spank them, and throw them out. Take them all out."

A source also tells OneIndia that there are some leaders in the BJP itself who would be happy if Gadkari loses the election.

"Gadkari is a blue-eyed boy of the RSS, which has planned to project him as the Prime Minister if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) falls short of the majority in 2019. This plan is not being liked by a section within the BJP," says the source.

It will be interesting to watch the Nagpur Lok Sabha result.
Nothing much EC can do on one nation one poll: Arora

Bihar assembly elections 2020: Heres how you can cast your vote using the EVM and VVPAT

With 185 candidates in fray for Nizamabad LS seat, EC shuns EVMs

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Hyderabad, Mar 29: Electronic Voting Machines will not be used for the first time in the elections to be held at Telangana's Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat. The constituency polls on April 11.

The decision not to use the EVM was taken owing to the large number of candidates contesting from this seat. The constituency is currently represented by K Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Chief Minister, K Chandrashekhar Rao.

Telangana's Chief Electoral Officer, Rajat Kumar said that there are as many as 185 candidates contesting from this seat. The number remained the same at 4 pm on Thursday, which was the last date to withdraw nominations.

Lok Sabha polls 2019: TDP will not contest in Telangana

As many as 200 nominations were filed of which 11 were rejected during scrutiny. 4 candidates withdrew from the race and the number stood at 185.

The top candidates in the fray are Kavitha, Madhu Yashki Goud of the Congress and Dharmapuri Aravind of the BJP.

Interestingly 178 turmeric and red jowar cultivating farmers filed their nominations as independents. They said that they wanted to highlight the plight of the farmers. Initially the plan was to field 1,000 farmers from the constituency, but many of them pulled out.

LS polls 2019: Uttam Kumar Reddy to contest from Nalgonda seat

The EC said that it had decided to go for the ballot paper form of voting as it would not be possible to use the EVMs duet to the large number of candidates.

Each EVM can record only 16 names and the control unit can record the voting of only four such EVMs linked together. This means that each control unit can register a maximum of 64 candidates. Nizamabad in all has 1.5 million voters.

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Story first published: Friday, March 29, 2019, 10:08 [IST]
UNSC resolution demands Afghanistan territory not be used to attack countries, shelter or train terrorists

India welcomes UN resolution against terror financing, calls Pakistan serial offender

International

oi-Deepika S

United Nations, Mar 29: The United Nations Security Council on Thursday unanimously passed a French resolution making terrorism financing a serious crime.

Although the topic of terror financing has been addressed in a number of resolutions since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Thursday's measure is the first comprehensive terror financing resolution the body has ever passed.

The resolution demands that individual countries "ensure that their domestic laws and regulations establish [terror financing as] serious criminal offenses."Vladimir Voronkov, the UN's counter terrorism chief, said the resolution "comes at a critical time" as it is clear to all that terrorists are funded through both illegal and legal channels.

After FATF, APG may also Grey-list Pakistan over terror funding: Report

India, which has been pushing for action against countries that support terror in its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan, welcomed the move but stressed on effective implementation.

India's permanent representative at the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin has said 'serial offenders' will continue to support terrorism, in a veiled reference to Pakistan.

"Terrorists are going to be more creative in finding ways to violate the rule book also the unfortunate reality is the states which are apologists will continue to provide alibis to justify their actions and inactions to as was done by a serial offender earlier today,"Akbaruddin said .

"We welcome the recognition in the resolution of the essential role of FATF as a saying goes the proof of the pudding is in its eating, the utility of any resolution will, therefore, be in its implementation," he noted.

Terror groups increasingly funding religious activity to set up sleeper cells

FATF has put Pakistan in the dock for terror financing and after review, there is a possibility of sanctions to be imposed and Pakistan to be put in greylist.

The resolution came just after a new push at the UNSC for action against Masood Azhar, the chief of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, by the US, Britain and France.

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Story first published: Friday, March 29, 2019, 10:36 [IST]
We cannot wait longer now: SC to hear Vijay Mallyas contempt case in January for final disposal

Mallyas extradition moves forward, Nirav Modi set for court hearing today

International

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

London, Mar 29: The stage is set for a busy period of Indian extradition-related activity in the UK courts as liquor baron Vijay Mallya's High Court appeal moves forward for a judge's verdict on paperwork and fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi returns to Westminster Magistrates' Court here for a second bail hearing on Friday.

"All the papers have been received and are now awaiting allocation to a single judge who will decide, on the basis of those papers, if permission is given to go to a full hearing," said a spokesperson for the UK judiciary, in reference to Mallya's application seeking an appeal against his extradition ordered by the magistrates' court and then signed off by UK home secretary Sajid Javid last month.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't: Vijay Mallya's latest attack on banks

While there is no set timescale for the judge to pronounce a decision on whether Mallya will be granted an appeal in the UK High Court, a decision is likely within the next few weeks.

The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss, wanted in India on alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to about Rs 9,000 crore, took to social media yet again to claim unfair treatment in the context of struggling Indian airlines Jet Airways being thrown a lifeline by public sector banks.

In her ruling at the end of his extradition trial in December last year, Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot had concluded that Mallya has a case to answer in the Indian courts over substantial "misrepresentations" of his financial dealings.

"There is clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of the loan funds and I find a prima facie case that Dr Mallya was involved in a conspiracy to launder money," she noted.

Now, the same judge is expected to preside over the next major Indian extradition trial to come before the Westminster Magistrates' Court, that of diamantaire Modi wanted for alleged "high value and sophisticated" fraud and money laundering amounting to USD 2 billion.

"He is expected to be produced before the court for a second bail application hearing on March 29," a court official said.

Meanwhile, the 48-year-old has been lodged in HMP Wandsworth prison in south-west London since last Wednesday, when a judge had declined his request for bail on the grounds that he posed a flight risk.

Describing him as the "opposite of a flight risk" during the first bail application hearing last week, Modi's defence team had offered 500,000 pounds as security and also submitted to any stringent conditions that may be imposed upon their client.

It remains to be seen how they would further bolster that offer in order to convince the judge to grant bail during the second hearing, following which the case will proceed to a series of case management hearings and setting of a trial date.

Modi was arrested by the Scotland Yard officers from a bank in central London as he attempted to open a new bank account on March 19.

During his first court appearance a day after, it emerged that the diamantaire accused of defrauding India's state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) via fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) had been in possession of multiple passports, since revoked by the Indian authorities.

While one passport is now in possession of the Metropolitan Police, a second expired passport is lying with the UK Home Office and a third with the UK's Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) for a driver's licence.

Besides the passports, Modi also possesses multiple residency cards, some of them expired, but covering countries such as the UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Take my money, save Jet Airways: Vijay Mallya urges banks

His defence team tried to establish his very "visible" and "lawful" residence at his luxury Centre Point apartment in London's West End, paying his local council tax and also using a National Insurance number, allocated to legal UK residents for purposes of work.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian authorities, had challenged all claims to counter the first bail plea and pointed out that Modi had "deliberately evaded justice" and not returned to India despite a series of criminal summons issued by Indian courts.

The CPS will now be joined by a joint Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) team that has arrived from India to assist with Modi's extradition case.

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Story first published: Friday, March 29, 2019, 9:56 [IST]
Venus, Mars and the Science around it

International

oi-Deepika S

By Ekta Kumar

Which is the better half - men or women? Contrary to what most stand up comics have to say, when it comes to the intellect, they are both equal. On an individual basis, some have a little more, and some much less, but it would be unfair to say that the faculty to reason objectively and understand things depends on the sex - for that we have the Y chromosome. So why is it that we don't have enough women in science? It's not just India, the numbers are low across the world. Which is why when a lady called Karen Uhlenbeck won the 'Nobel prize for Mathematics' (it's called the Abel Prize) a few days ago, it made headlines.

She is certainly not the first woman to excel in mathematics. History has scattered references to brilliant women who left their mark through the ages. Way back in the early 5th century Alexandria, was Hypatia - a woman much admired, and equally hated for being a leading thinker and a mathematician. A few centuries later we have our own Lilavati, who as legend goes was taught science and maths by her famous mathematician father Bhaskaracharya. Florence Nightingale the nurse with the lamp, was also a pioneering statistician who used numbers and graphs to reduce mortality rates. We've heard of the mathematical prodigy Shakuntala Devi, Madame Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, Ade Lovelace, who wrote the world's first computer programme, physicist Lise Meitner and so on. Yes, there are inspiring examples, but there are not enough of them. And how can there be, when women are mostly missing from the world of science.

As per the World Economic Forum, 72% of the world's researchers are men. There are many hurdles - social, economic and cultural that explain the abysmally low number of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). Some of which begin very early in life. Stereotypes are hard to fight. The computer geek is mostly represented as a young guy in a hoodie. Many years ago the very popular 'Teen Barbie' famously mouthed the lines 'maths class is tough!' - imagine a young girl holding that doll. Forever 21 sold t-shirts to young teenagers that read 'Allergic to Algebra'. Even the well meaning phrase 'girls are as good as boys in maths' by a reveals an inherent bias. We set up barriers before the children can even think for themselves. It doesn't get easier when the girls grow up. Academic and research institutions tend to be dominated by men, and can exhibit gender biases which include lack of support during critical phases of a womans' life like childbirth. The dearth of informal networks and mentors makes it tougher. Women tend to drop out. There are hardly any female representation in top positions.

NASA scraps all-women space walk for lack of well-fitting suits

Of the over 800 Nobel Prizes given so far, only 52 have been given to women. Madame Curie is the only woman to win it twice, and not that she had it easy. Her membership application to the prestigious French Academy of Sciences was rejected, for being 'female'. Things have not changed enough since then.

NASA, recently cancelled a historic all women spacewalk due to lack of enough spacesuits that could fit women. Ironically the event was to supposed to be a milestone in women's achievement in science and technology, and yet clearly their equipment was mostly designed for men. It does point to a certain systemic sexism that exists even in a world class American organisation like NASA. Budget pressures forced them to limit sizes, but it was the women who paid the price for it. In 2003, 8 out of the 25 women astronauts could not fit into the available spacesuits and thus could not be assigned to spacewalk. All the men however could find a good fit and had the chance to go.

Back home, a few years ago a photograph of smiling women scientists at ISRO, cheering the successful launch of the Mangalayan spacecraft into the Mars orbit, was widely applauded. It was symbolic, of women in science being successful. However it is interesting to note, that ISRO till date, has never been headed by a women.

As per the All India Survey on Higher Education, over 70% of students opting for Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) and Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in 2014-15, were men. As per Nasscom, the technology sector is the second largest employer of women. They almost equal men at the entry level, but that number rapidly falls in leadership positions. We need to understand and ask why do the participation rates vary, both in the academic sphere and in the workplace. Removing unconscious biases that exist around opportunities, roles and choices for women and encouraging STEM education is just the beginning. Once they choose STEM, there has to be a robust system in place so that women are actively recruited and then retained.

As per a McKinsey report, including women can add $700 billion to India GDP by 2025. We especially need them in technical fields, given in increasing integration of technology into our lives. The absence of women in the science workforce is a huge lost opportunity in terms of their possible contributions to understanding our world and making it better and safer. There are enough studies which stress on the importance of diversity in teams that are leading scientific research. Individuals from different backgrounds and genders bring different perspectives. We've learnt this the hard way. Till a few years ago car manufacturers were using crash dummies that were made on the basis of an average male body thus making women more susceptible to injuries in car crashes. Medicines are less safe for women too, it was only in 1993 that it was discovered that aspirin reacts differently in men and women. Tools are made for big man hands, and there are enough examples of gender bias creeping into artificial intelligence. The list is long. Which is why we need more women in research labs and workshops across the world, so that they can participate in decisions that will ultimately envision, design and construct our future.

Exploration of asteroid Bennu: NASA spacecraft discovers evidence of water-bearing minerals

It is not really necessary to fight over who is the better half. Under-representation of women in science is a big loss. There is no doubt, we need to include both halves.

(Ekta is a columnist and a writer. She represents India on multiple forums in the European Union on human right campaigns, gender related issues and is working closely with the EU to strengthen ties between the two countries. She is also a Chartered Accountant and an MBA from IIM Calcutta)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

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Story first published: Friday, March 29, 2019, 11:42 [IST]
Is China the reason why Pakistan opted to skip Summit for Democracy hosted by Biden?

US using democracy as 'weapon of mass destruction' to stoke confrontation: China slams Summit for Democracy

Xinjiang crackdown: China thanks Kazakhstan for 'support'

International

pti-PTI

Beijing, Mar 29: China has thanked Kazakhstan for supporting its crackdown on the restive far west region of Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of rights abuses against minority groups, including ethnic Kazakhs.

China is holding one million ethnic Uighurs and other mostly Muslim groups in internment camps in the heavily policed region, according to estimates cited by a UN panel.

Beijing has rejected the accusations and says it runs education training centres as part of its fight against Islamist extremism and separatism in Xinjiang.

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Kazakhstan counterpart Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing. According to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry, Atamkulov said his country "understands and supports the measures taken by China's Xinjiang region" to rein in terrorism, separatism and extremism.

"We appreciate the Kazakhstan government's understanding and support for China's position," said Wang, according to the statement. "We will never allow anyone, any force, to undermine China-Kazakhstan friendship and mutual trust," he added.

The Kazakhstan foreign ministry did not mention Xinjiang in its own statement on Atamkulov's visit to China. But it said the two top diplomats discussed the "issue of the situation with ethnic Kazakhs living in" China.

The two sides "stressed a mutual interest in resolving emerging issues through working contacts" between the foreign ministries and an agreement was reached "on the revitalisation of consular services", the statement added.

[China's Uighur Muslim headache and the connection to the Azhar ban]

Oil-rich Kazakhstan, which shares a border with the Xinjiang region, has been treading a diplomatic tightrope since major trading partner China began to forcibly send ethnic Kazakhs to internment camps under its anti-extremism policy. One former detainee, a Kazakh national who was born in Xinjiang, told AFP that the camps only had one objective -- to strip detainees of their religious belief.

Omir Bekali, who was arrested in 2017 after he returned to Xinjiang on a business trip for his Kazakh travel agency, said camp inmates were forbidden to pray or grow a beard, and forced to eat pork on Fridays, which is a holy day for Muslims.

Earlier this month, Xinjiang rights activist Serikjan Bilash, who has led an awareness drive centred on ethnic Kazakh victims of China's crackdown in the region, was arrested in Kazakhstan.

He was charged with inciting inter-ethnic hatred, but later released from detention and handed two months of house arrest. In October, an escaped Chinese national whose court testimony described a secretive network of re-education camps was denied political asylum in Kazakhstan, where her family lives.

PTI
Noida airport in depth: India to get first net zero emission airport

8 dead, 30 injured after tourist bus rams truck on Yamuna Expressway

Noida

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 29: 8 people have been killed and 30 injured after a bus rammed into a truck on Greater Noida's Yamuna Expressway. Rescue operations are underway.

The bus was returning from Agra when it met with the accident around 5 am. Initial reports suggest brake fail as the cause of the road accident.

All the injured have been rushed to the hospital while the dead bodies have been sent for post mortem.

Officials in Lucknow said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed Gautam Buddh Nagar police and administration chiefs to expedite assistance to the victims.

"The bus was on its way to Noida from Agra. The incident took place under Rabupura police station limits around 5 am. The bus belongs to Auraiya depot. Eight people were killed and 20 injured in the incident," police said in a statement.

Police personnel were present at the site of the accident and the victims were rushed to the nearby Kailash Hospital in Jewar, it said.
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Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York for New Managers:

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Intravesical Bacillus Calmette Market: Competitive Dynamics & Global Outlook 2024 Top Key players like Top Key players like Merck,GSBPL,China National Biotec,Inc.

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Explore Why Smart Textiles Market Is Thriving Worldwide: Clothing Plus, Textronics, Google, AIQ Smart Clothing, etc

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What's driving the Structural Insulation Panels Market trends? Top Key Players Kingspan Group, ACME PANEL, Eagle Panel Systems, Inc., Foam Laminates, Foard Panel Inc., Insulspan Inc., ICS Eco-SIPs, Isopan

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Household renovations have observed a strong demand in the past and are anticipated to witness significant gains over the forecast timespan. Affordable housing schemes along with the expansion of zero-energy homes supported by regional authorities are expected to provide a profitable opportunity for manufacturers.Increasing consumer awareness pertaining to rising electricity bills and the necessity for energy-efficient building techniques have stimulated the product demand across residential as well as commercial buildings. The necessity for effective energy conservation due to the rising energy demand along with growing concerns regarding resource scarcity will propel the SIP market. The implementation of several programs such as LEED, Energy Star building certification, and ICC?s Model Energy Codes is likely to influence industry dynamics over the forecast period.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:OSB one side skin type is estimated to witness a growth of over 7% up to 2024. They are widely used and applied on the roofing, siding, and wall structures of residential buildings. It provides excellent insulation from heat, moisture, and humid conditions and offers outstanding benefits over its counterparts owing to its compatibility with fixed structures. These benefits have increased the adoption in building construction fueling the industry share.Glass wool is expected to witness significant growth owing to increasing demand for thermal and acoustic insulation. Strong applications scope for reducing the energy consumption of buildings, offering a conducive environment and reducing fuel utilization will positively support product penetration over the forecast timeline. It is widely used in attics, critical opening spaces, and wall cavities. Amplified growth of new housing developments and overall building construction expenditure will drive industry gains.Wall panels dominated the overall industry and is expected to witness highest growth over the forecast period. Substantial reduction in the construction time of wall and labor cost are key factors supplementing product penetration. The factory-built SIPs eliminate the need to cut the material on job site which eliminates delays and enables quick interior finishing. Substantial reduction in the construction time of wall and labor cost are key factors supplementing product penetration.The global structural insulation panel minerals market is highly competitive owing to the presence of a few dominating companies including Kingspan, Romakowski GmbH & Co. KG, Lattonedil Spa Milano, and Isopan. Their prime initiatives to improve the market share include new product launches, geographical expansions, R&D investments, and mergers & acquisitions. This helps them explore the untapped market potential. Companies are also focusing on implementing forward and backward integrations across the value chain.Table of content:Chapter 1 Methodology & Scope1.1 Research methodology1.1.1 Initial data exploration1.1.2 Statistical model and forecast1.1.3 Industry insights and validation1.1.4 Definitions1.1.5 Assumption, scope & forecast parameters1.2 Data sources1.2.1 Secondary Sources1.2.2 Primary SourcesChapter 2 Executive Summary2.1 Structural insulation panels industry 360 degree synopsis, 2013 - 20242.1.1 Business trends2.1.2 Product trends2.1.3 Skin type trends2.1.4 Application trends2.1.5 End use trends2.1.6 Regional trendsChapter 3 Structural Insulation Panels Industry Insights3.1 Industry segmentation3.2 Industry landscape, 2013- 20243.3 Industry ecosystem analysis3.3.1 Raw Material3.3.2 Manufacturers3.3.3 Distribution Channel3.3.3.1 Direct distribution3.3.3.2 Online sales channel3.3.3.3 Resellers3.3.3.4 Wholesale3.3.3.5 Retail3.3.4 Profit margin trends3.3.5 Vendor matrix3.4 Technology landscape3.4.1 Production process3.4.1.1 With polystyrene core3.4.1.2 With polyurethane core3.4.1.2.1 Polymer reactions3.4.1.2.2 Processing3.4.2 Upcoming production process trends3.4.2.1 Manufacturing of composite structural insulated panels (CSIPs)3.5 Raw material trends3.5.1 Glass3.5.2 Stone3.5.3 Polystyrene3.5.4 Polyurethane3.5.5 Phenols3.5.6 Polyisocyanurate3.6 Global construction industry outlook, 20173.6.1 Rise in construction spending3.7 Current trend of green building3.7.1 Energy efficiency of buildings with SIP3.7.2 Comparative analysis SIP vs conventional construction methods3.7.3 Environmental concerns & BioSIPs3.7.4 Cost analysis SIP vs stick frame3.7.4.1 Walls3.7.4.2 Electrical3.7.4.3 Roof and Dormers3.8 Regulatory landscape3.8.1 North America3.8.1.1 Method A (Perspective Component Method)3.8.1.2 Method B (Empirical Full-Scale Test Method)3.8.2 Europe3.8.2.1 European union3.8.3 Asia Pacific3.8.3.1 China3.8.4 Latin America3.8.4.1 Brazil3.8.4.2 Mexico3.8.5 Middle East & Africa3.8.5.1 UAE3.9 Consumer buying behavior3.9.1 Unmet needs3.9.2 Social & cultural impact forces3.9.3 Information search3.9.4 Evaluation of alternatives3.9.5 Purchase decision3.9.6 Post purchase behaviour3.10 Pricing analysis, 2013 - 20243.10.1 Regional pricing3.10.1.1 North America3.10.1.2 Europe3.10.1.3 Asia Pacific3.10.1.4 Latin America3.10.1.5 Middle East and Africa3.10.2 Cost structure analysis3.10.2.1 Material cost3.10.2.2 Labour & manufacturing cost3.10.2.3 Technology cost3.10.2.4 R&D3.10.2.5 Miscellaneous3.11 Industry impact forces3.11.1 Growth drivers3.11.1.1 Favorable governments regulations & programs supporting the construction of green buildings3.11.1.2 Growing thermal insulation materials market3.11.2 Industry pitfalls & challenges3.11.2.1 Higher product costs along with stringent regulations on raw materials3.12 Innovation, sustainability, & new product launches3.13 Growth potential analysis, 20173.14 Competitive landscape, 20173.14.1 Market share analysis, 20163.14.2 Top players overview3.14.3 Key stakeholders3.14.4 Strategy dashboard3.15 Porter's analysis3.16 PESTEL analysisChapter 4 Structural Insulation Panels Market, By Product4.1 Global structural insulation panels market share by product, 2017 & 2024For more information on this report at:Related Report:Smart Elevator Market Application Development Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017 - 2024Smart elevator market has garnered significant momentum over the last few years attributed to the growing use of wireless technology, increasing popularity of energy efficient devices, urbanization, and mounting safety concerns. Smart elevators are gaining ground because they offer crowd management by plummeting the waiting duration and effectively employing automation. An escalation in the adoption of elevator systems in advanced economies like France, Canada, U.S., and the UK has potentially contributed towards the enhancement of the smart elevator market size.About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report LLC4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:
Optic Nerve Disorders Drugs Market Projected to Discern Stable Expansion During 2018 to 2026(Ischemic Optic Neuropathies Optic Neuritis and Perineuritis Papilledema)

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The optic nerve consists of more than one million nerve fibers and its function is to carry visual messages to the brain. Optic nerve disorders cause damage to the nerve due to factors ranging from infection to trauma. Damage to an optic nerve can cause vision loss, reduction in visual acuity, loss or reduction in color vision, pupil response abnormality and others. Optic nerve disorders drugs are used for the treatment and mitigation of optic nerve disorders.Optic Nerve Disorders Drugs Market: DynamicsThe growing incidences of optic nerve disorders are the demand drivers of the optic nerve disorders drugs market. Optic neuritis affects adults between the ages of 25 to 45 years. The incidence rate of optic neuritis is 5 out of 100000 each year. Almost 3 million Americans suffer from glaucoma resulting in more than 120,000 blind patients and accounting for 9% to 12% of all cases of blindness. According to the World Health Organization, Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world after cataracts. The large economic burden of optic nerve disorders is another driver of the optic nerve disorders drugs market. Glaucoma alone accounts for over 10 million physicians visits each year in the U.S. and costs over $1.5 billion annually in terms of lost income social security benefits,, and health care expenditures.The growing risk factors such as autoimmune diseases, diabetes and bacterial infection are the driving factors of optic nerve disorders. Growing screening rates and the advent of magnetic resonance spectroscopy and healthcare penetration is another driver of the optic nerve disorders drugs market. Exposure to toxins and drugs such as, Ethambutol, Amiodarone, Tobacco, Ethylene glycol, and others, is driving the optic nerve disorders drugs market.Factors restraining the optic nerve disorders drugs market include poor efficacy and efficiency, high cost and lack of ophthalmology hospitals in developing nations. Lack of awareness and the low efficacy and efficiency of drugs coupled with the lack of curative treatment for some optic nerve disorders such as glaucoma is restraining the optic nerve disorders drugs market.Request Free Sample Report@Optic Nerve Disorders Drugs Market: SegmentationThe optic nerve disorders drugs market is segmented on the basis of indication, drug class, end user and region.Based on indication, the global optic nerve disorders drugs market is segmented into:Ischemic Optic NeuropathiesOptic Neuritis and PerineuritisPapilledemaCompressive Optic NeuropathiesIntrinsic NeoplasmsHereditary Optic NeuropathiesInflammatory Optic NeuropathiesInfectious Optic NeuropathiesToxic and Nutritional Optic NeuropathiesTraumatic Optic NeuropathyGlaucomaOptic Disc DrusenAnomalous Optic NeuropathyBased on drug class, the global optic nerve disorders drugs market is segmented into:SteroidsNerve Tonics and MultivitaminAnalgesicsAnti-infectiveHyperosmotic AgentsParasympathomimeticsCarbonic Anhydrase InhibitorsBeta-blockers and Alpha-adrenergic AgonistsOthersBased on end user, the global optic nerve disorders drugs market is segmented into:HospitalsClinicsHome SettingsRequest/View TOC@Optic Nerve Disorders Drugs Market: OverviewBased on regions, the global optic nerve disorders drugs market is classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, CIS & Russia, Japan, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). North America is expected to account for the largest share in the global optic nerve disorders drugs market owing to large incomes and excellent reimbursements. The excellent support of the US government programs such as Prescription assistance programs, Resources for macular degeneration and glaucoma, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and others is driving a large optic nerve disorders market.China and India are expected to drive the lions share in the optic nerve disorders drugs market in the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region. The inclusion of glaucoma in national health programs in developing countries is driving a large market for optic nerve disorders.The European optic nerve disorders drugs market is expected to be led by Germany, France and the UK. The Middle Eastern and African optic nerve disorders drugs market is anticipated to be dominated by the Gulf nations of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar. The poor per capita income of African countries is likely to restrict the growth of the optic nerve disorders drugs market in this region.Optic Nerve Disorders Drugs Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players in the global optic nerve disorders drugs market are SANTHERA PHARMACEUTICALS, Quark, Novartis AG, Allergan plc, Merck & Co., Stealth BioTherapeutics Inc., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, and others.This market study is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, and inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The study provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The study also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.The market study covers exhaustive analysis on:Market SegmentsMarket DynamicsMarket SizeSupply & DemandCurrent Trends/Issues/ChallengesCompetition & Companies involvedTechnologyValue ChainRegional analysis includes:North AmericaUSCanadaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoArgentinaChilePeruRest of LATAMEuropeEU  4 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain)UKBENELUX (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg)NORDIC (Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden)Eastern Europe (Poland, Ukraine, Czech Rep., etc.)Rest of EuropeCIS & RussiaJapanAPEJGreater ChinaIndiaKoreaASEAN CountriesRest of APEJMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesTurkeyIranIsraelSouth AfricaRest of MEAHighlights:Detailed overview of parent marketChanging market dynamics in the industryIn-depth market segmentationHistorical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and valueRecent industry trends and developmentsCompetitive landscapeStrategies of key players and products offeredPotential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growthA neutral perspective on market performanceMust-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint.Report Analysis@About USFact.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; thats why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsRohit BhiseyFact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Blog:Read Industry News at -
Proximity Sensor Market 2019 Demands with Major Vendors: GENERAL ELECTRIC, EATON CORPORATION PLC, ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, INC., OMRON CORPORATION, PANASONIC CORPORATION, NXP SEMICONDUCTORS N.V.

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The global proximity sensor market was valued at USD 4.35 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach a value of USD 6.52 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 7.00% over the forecast period of 2018u20132023. The scope of the report includes technology, like inductive, capacitive, photoelectric, magnetic and is limited to end-user industries, like aerospace & defense, industrial, automotive, and marine. While the region considered in the scope of the report include North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America.Detailed Sample Copy of Updated Analysis @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try copy pasting it in other browsers.Key Developments in the Market August 2017: Honeywell announced the launch of Proximity Sensors for Aircraft. Honeywell has launched a new series of self-diagnosing sensors designed to improve the performance of aircraft systems and reduce maintenance costs by helping to eliminate false readings. Its integral health monitoring (IHM) proximity sensors, which detect when a sensor has been damaged or otherwise affected, can be integrated into an aircrafts thrust reverser actuation system, flight controls, doors, and landing gear, among others. May 2017: Turck announced its new range of 8 mm barrel inductive proximity sensors. The technology of the ferrite core sensors has evolved, increasing the sensing range by up to 50%. As a result, flush mounted solutions can now be offered with an extended sensing range of 3 mm, as well as, with the conventional sensing range of 2 mm. The non-flush sensors are likewise available with a 3 or 5 mm sensing range. Turck is also, now producing devices with an ultra-short 15 mm design.The major players includes - GENERAL ELECTRIC, EATON CORPORATION PLC, ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, INC., OMRON CORPORATION, PANASONIC CORPORATION, NXP SEMICONDUCTORS N.V., BALLUFF GMBH, HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC., TURCK, INC., amongst others.Request Discount on this report @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try copy pasting it in other browsers.The industrial automation segment has been emerging to be a relatively more attractive space for investment by organizations across the globe. The dependence on robots in the industrial controller mechanisms is an established trend, paving the way for larger and wider adoption of the industrial control and automation equipment. However, limitations in sensing capabilities and availability of other sensors at a lower cost might hinder the growth of the proximity sensor market.Automotive Industry to have Highest Market ShareDue to the increasing purchasing power of the millennial population, there is a continuous demand for passenger cars. According to OICA, the global passenger was estimated to be 72.10 million units in 2016 and the demand is expected to continue during the forecast period.For an average consumer, trucks are reliable options, as they have better fuel efficiency and safety features. These factors drive the growth of heavyweight vehicles. Premium vehicles and utilities continue to drive the sales of light vehicles, which cumulatively contribute to an increase in the demand for proximity sensors market during the forecast period.Inductive Proximity has a Major Market ShareInductive proximity sensors are used majorly in the industrial and automotive segments and are set to witness an increased growth rate as they are cheaper and efficient, for industries, like the automotive industry, to match the growing consumer demand. In the industrial segment, with harsh environmental resistance, robust nature, and extreme reliability, are expected to witness an increased adoption rate for many applications.Enquiry Before Buying @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try copy pasting it in other browsers.About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMark Pvt Ltd,Thane - 421501India.Contact No: +1 973 241 5193Email: sales@marketprognosis.com
Intrinsically Safe Equipment Market Demands with Major Vendors: PEPPERL+FUCHS, R. Stahl, Fluke, Omega, Rae Systems, Eaton and Cordex Instruments The medical sensors market was valued at USD 10.37 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach a value of USD 17.43 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 9.04% over the forecast period (2018 - 2023). The scope of the report includes insights on the solutions offered by major players providing hardware and associated professional services. The regions considered in the report include North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. The medical sensors market report has been segmented into temperature, pressure, motion, etc., based its type and as diagnostic, monitoring, imaging, etc., based on its application.



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Key Developments in the Market

 October 2017 - Murata Manufacturing Co, Ltd, announced the completion of the acquisition of Vios Medical, Inc. (Headquarters: St. Paul, MN, USA; Vios). This acquisition represents a major foothold for Muratas entry into the global healthcare and medical fields. Murata will effectively utilize Vioss technologies, expertise, and a network of overseas hospitals to work towards further business expansion. Vios a healthcare IT startup developed a chest sensor that can measure heart & respiratory rates and run electrocardiograms, etc. It also develops and provides software, cloud services, etc. to monitor them. Vital-signs data obtained through the sensor can be monitored in real time, and the data can even be analyzed in quasi-real time by low-cost commercial devices. With the use of a wireless network, patients in a hospital can be continuously monitored regardless of their movements.

 August 2017 - Murata Manufacturing Co, Ltd successfully developed an ultra-small rotary encoder with the switch, the micro ES, which is now the worlds smallest encoder switch. This product is primarily intended for smartwatches, bluetooth supporting headsets, and smart glasses.

 March 2017 - Murata introduced Piezo Vibe for a wearable device. Murata Manufacturing Co, Ltd has announced the PJFV series of low power consumption (6 mW, A3 VDC) miniature (10.5 mm x 3.8 mm x 2 mm) vibrators employing piezoelectric ceramics.



The major players include 

DENSO CORPORATION, INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES, BOSCH, TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, SENSATA TECHNOLOGIES, DELPHI AUTOMOTIVE, CTS CORPORATION, MAXIM INTEGRATED, FREESCALE, ANALOG DEVICES, AND STMICROELECTRONICS N.V., amongst others



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Opportunities and Drivers for Medical Sensors Market

The medical sensors market has undergone a significant change in the evolution of sensor technology. With the invention of digital medical monitoring devices, sensors have become the core of medical monitoring devices market. They allow monitoring of the health condition of patients, elderly, etc. The wearable sensing instruments have also been of important in driving the market for medical sensors. With the increased use of fitness band, health & heart monitor, etc., wearable medical sensor market has seen an upward market trend. The interconnectivity of devices and the ability to transfer the information in real-time has made this segment very popular. Medical sensors are now able to sync to a variety of devices and are not limited to work on only one platform. This has allowed the market to explore unchartered domains in the recent years. The latest technological advancements have also made these sensors accurate, miniature in size in order to allow the benefit to be passed to the end user, as well as become affordable devices. The development in the field of lithium polymer and battery technology in these devices has helped these sensors capture a significant market share in the portable devices domain.

Medical sensors are not limited to this use, they find application in various forms, like checking/monitoring alcohol level in blood, biomechanics, blood analysis, blood flow, blood pressure, body temperature, breath analysis, eye parameters, eye pressure, fingerprint, heart rate, human identification, human motion capture, ocular movement, people counting, pulsation, and many others. The use of sensors is becoming popular as there is no scope for human error, which can prove fatal in some conditions. The medical institutions use a sophisticated set of sensors to create a monitoring system and have a higher significance value. The miniaturization and easy dependability make these sensors an attractive deal for the medical segment. The use of sensors is not limited to patient care, it is also used in tracking the movement of pharmaceutical and other test materials related to patients.



Monitoring is an Important Use of Medical Sensors

Sensors for monitoring are used in defibrillators & heart pacemakers, blood pressure monitors, patient monitoring equipment, and other integrated health monitoring equipment. Accelerometers are the core of these sensors. In medical applications, they are witnessing a significant growth rate owing to advancements in MEMS technology, which has enabled a wide range of new applications.



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Healthcare Satellite Connectivity Market Outlook 2019 Global Overview by Top Brands - AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, EXPEDITION COMMUNICATIONS, X2NSAT, INMARSAT PLC, GLOBALSTAR

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In rural communities, technology-enabled healthcare applications, coupled with satellite connectivity can help counter the lack of healthcare infrastructure, support an under-skilled workforce, control the spread of communicable diseases and record the increase of manageable conditions such as diabetes. eHealth solutions can also enable a more equitable treatment for girls and women, by empowering them through access to health information to improve their lives, especially during pre and post-natal care. The Global Healthcare Satellite Connectivity market is expected to register a CAGR of 7.0% during the forecast period (2018 u2013 2023).Detailed Sample Copy of with Updated Analysis @Rising Adoption of eHealth & Other ServicesVarious countries are working toward improving their basic healthcare facilities and providing improved basic medical facilities in rural areas. Their key focus is to improve the connectivity infrastructure in healthcare and provision of enhanced care services. Some of the players in satellite connectivity are also undertaking projects in order to enhance healthcare provisions in underserved regions.Growing usage of technology platforms by hospitals & medical providers, increasing pressure on medical facilities, increase in ageing population, rising number of patients with chronic conditions, lack of proper infrastructure in rural areas are some of the other factors contributing to the growth of the market.Major players:AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, EXPEDITION COMMUNICATIONS, X2NSAT, INMARSAT PLC, GLOBALSTAR among othersRequest Discount on this report @Insufficient Penetration of Internet Services in Remote AreasAccording to the Federal Communications Commission, rural areas had very less access to broadband services as compared to urban areas. This may hamper the market severely and needs immediate attention.Additionally, bandwidth problems and lack of trained professionals handling the technology are also restraining the Healthcare Satellite Connectivity market growth.North America to Dominate the MarketThe global healthcare satellite connectivity market is segmented by applications, end-users, connectivity and geography. By geography, it is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa and South America.North America dominates the market due to the growing adoption of internet infrastructure & connectivity, along with the rising number of internet users is leading to the growth of the satellite connectivity in the region.Enquiry Before Buying @About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMark Pvt Ltd,Thane - 421501India.Contact No: +1 973 241 5193Email: sales@marketprognosis.com
Top key Players Impacting the Growth of the Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride Market: Akzonobel, K+S, Cargill, Hebei Huachen, Swiss Saltworks and more

Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride Market

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Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride Market: Sodium chloride (NaCl) is the chemical name for salt. Sodium chloride occurs naturally as the mineral halite. Commercially, it is obtained by the solar evaporation of salt water, or by mining. It is a component of sodium chloride injections USP, and has production uses in pharmaceutical processing.Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride market research report provides the details about Industry Chain structure, Market Competition (Akzonobel, K+S, Cargill, Hebei Huachen, Swiss Saltworks AND MORE), Market Size & Share, SWOT Analysis, Technology, Cost, Raw Materials, Consumer Preference, Development & Trends, Regional Forecast, Company & Profile and Product & Service.Request a Sample of Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride Market Research Report with 73 pages and Analysis of 10 Top Key Players atPharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride market research report also gives information on the Trade Overview, Policy, Regional Market, Production Development, Sales, Regional Trade, Business Operation Data, Market Features, Investment Opportunity, Investment Calculation and other important aspect of the industry.Report ScopeThe Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride market has been segmented based on different types and application. In order to provide a holistic view on the market current and future market demand has been included in the report.Major players covered in this Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride market report are Akzonobel, K+S, Cargill, Hebei Huachen, Swiss Saltworks, Sudsalz Gmbh, Tata Chemicals, Cheetham Salt, Salinen, Dominion Salt., US Salt etc.Different types in Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride Market are API-NaCl, HD-NaCl.Different Applications in Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride Market are Injections, Hemodialysis, Oral Rehydration Salts, Osmotic Agent, OthersFurther Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride market research report provides regional market analysis with production, sales, trade & regional forecast. It also provides market investment plan like product features, price trend analysis, channel features, purchasing features, regional & industry investment opportunity, cost & revenue calculation, economic performance evaluation etc.The Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride Market development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions offered.Get Special Discount Up To 50% at,The main objectives of the research report elaborate the overall market overview on Pharmaceutical Grade Sodium Chloride market dynamics, historic volume and value, robust market methodology, current & future trends, Porters Five Forces Analysis, upstream and downstream industry chain, new technological development, cost structure, government policies & regulations, etc. Major companies, company overview, financial data, products and services, strategy analysis, key developments market competition, industry competition structure analysis, SWOT Analysis, etc.Owning our reports and subscribing our eco-system will help you solve the following issues: - Uncertainty about the future Our research and insights help our clients to foresee upcoming revenue pockets and growth areas. This help our client to invest or divest their resources. Understanding market sentiments It is extremely crucial to have a fair understanding of market sentiments for a strategy. Our insights help to have a hawk-eye view on a market sentiment. We keep this surveillance by engaging with Key Opinion Leaders of a value chain of each industry we track. Understanding the most reliable investment centers Our research ranks investments centers of market by considering their future demands, returns and profit margins. Our clients can focus on most prominent investment centers by procuring our market research. Evaluating potential business partners Our research and insights help our clients in identifying compatible business partners.View Complete Market Report along with Top Business Players:About 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 a client 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 way for a more simplified and relevant research.Contact Person: RohanEmail: sales@inforgrowth.comUS: +1-909-329-2808UK: +44 (203) 743 1890Address: 6400 Village Pkwy suite # 104, Dublin, CA 94568, USA
First-confirmed occurrence of a lambeosaurine dinosaur found on Alaska's North Slope

HOKKAIDO, JAPAN (March 29, 2019) - Paleontologists from Hokkaido University in Japan, in cooperation with paleontologists from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas, have discovered the first-confirmed occurrence of a lambeosaurine (crested 'duck-billed' dinosaur) from the Arctic - part of the skull of a lambeosaurine dinosaur from the Liscomb Bonebed (71-68 Ma) found on Alaska's North Slope. The bonebed was previously known to be rich in hadrosaurine hadrosaurids (non-crested 'duck-billed' dinosaurs).

The discovery proves for the first time that lambeosaurines inhabited the Arctic during the Late Cretaceous. In addition, the numeric abundance of hadrosaurine fossils compared to the lambeosaurine fossils in the marine-influenced environment of the Liscomb Bonebed suggests the possibility that hadrosaurines and lambeosaurines had different habitat preferences.

The paleontologists' findings were published today in Scientific Reports, an open-access, multi-disciplinary journal from Nature Research dedicated to constructive, inclusive and rigorous peer review. The paper - entitled "The first definite lambeosaurine bone from the Liscomb Bonebed of the Upper Cretaceous Prince Creek Formation, Alaska, United States" - is co-authored by Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Ph.D., and Ryuji Takasaki, of Hokkaido University, in cooperation with Anthony R. Fiorillo, Ph.D., of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Other authors are Ronald Tykoski, Ph.D. of the Perot Museum and Paul McCarthy, Ph.D., of the University of Alaska.

The paper can be read in Scientific Reports here.

"This new discovery illustrates the geographic link between lambeosaurines of North America and the Far East," said Takasaki. "Hopefully, further work in Alaska will reveal how closely the dinosaurs of Asia and North America are connected."

The newly discovered fossil, which is housed in the collections of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, is a supraoccipital, one of the bones that forms the braincase. The new supraoccipital differs from those of hadrosaurines by the presence of large supraoccipital bosses and it's short, front-to-back length. Since these features are commonly seen in other members of Lambeosaurinae, the newly discovered supraoccipital was assigned to that group.

"This first definitive evidence of a crested hadrosaur in the Cretaceous Arctic tells us that we still have much to learn about the biodiversity and the biologically productive environments of the ancient north, and that the story these fossils tell us is continually evolving," adds Dr. Fiorillo.

Background. The Arctic is an extreme environment that is low in temperature, lacks sunlight during winters, and has seasonally limited food resources. Though it was warmer during the Late Cretaceous, the Arctic was surely one of the most challenging places to live for large vertebrates at the time. The Prince Creek Formation on the North Slope of Alaska is a world-famous rock unit for studying dinosaurs of the ancient Arctic. Because the dinosaurs found there lived in the ancient Arctic, rather than tropical or sub-tropical conditions, these dinosaurs challenge much of what we think we know about dinosaurs. The Liscomb Bonebed (71-68 Ma), which was deposited near the ancient Arctic shoreline, is especially rich in dinosaur bones, with more than 6,000 bones collected from it thus far.

More than 99% of dinosaur fossils known from the Liscomb Bonebed are hadrosaurs, a group of large, duck-billed herbivorous dinosaurs who lived during the Late Cretaceous and were found throughout much of the northern hemisphere. All of the hadrosaur fossils from the Liscomb Bonebed were long considered to belong to a hadrosaurine duck-billed dinosaur called Edmontosaurus. Up until now, all of the hadrosaurids known from across the Arctic, including those from the Liscomb Bonebed, were considered to belong to crest-less hadrosaurines.

The discovery of a fossil from a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid in the Liscomb Bonebed is historically important for Japanese paleontologists. The first "Japanese" dinosaur, Nipponosaurus, is a lambeosaurine hadrosaur. Based on the new discovery, Hokkaido University and the Perot Museum together used this discovery to further investigate the ecology of the Arctic hadrosaurids.

Significance

1. The first Arctic lambeosaurine. The new discovery indicates Arctic inhabitance and adaptation of lambeosaurines for the first time. In addition, the fossil's morphological similarities to the same bone in the skull of southern Canadian lambeosaurines suggest faunal interactions between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes.

2. Implication on habitat preferences. While the Liscomb Bonebed is known for numerous hadrosaurine fossils, the newly discovered bone represents the only definite lambeosaurine fossil from the site. The same trend is also known in mid-latitude localities of North America and eastern Asia, which were also deposited in near-shore environments. On the other hand, more lambeosaurine fossils are found in deposits laid down in inland environments. Therefore, we hypothesize that lambeosaurines favored inland environments, while hadrosaurines preferred coastal environments, a trend likely to have been independent of latitude. Different habitat preferences might have been a strategy to avoid excessive competition between the two groups of 'duck-billed' dinosaurs.

Future plans. Although the new discovery reveals Arctic inhabitance by lambeosaurines, more specific taxonomic status and potential functional adaptations to the severe Arctic environment remain unknown due to incompleteness of the specimen. Additional excavation and further research will help answer these questions.

###

For images, go to perotmuseum.org/press

About the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The top cultural attraction in Dallas/Fort Worth and a Michelin Green Guide three-star destination, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a nonprofit educational organization located in Victory Park in the heart of Dallas, Texas. With a mission to inspire minds through nature and science, the Perot Museum delivers exciting, engaging and innovative visitor and outreach experiences through its education, exhibition, and research and collections programming for children, students, teachers, families and life-long learners. The 180,000-square-foot facility in Victory Park opened in December 2012 and is now recognized as the symbolic gateway to the Dallas Arts District. Future scientists, mathematicians and engineers will find inspiration and enlightenment through 11 permanent exhibit halls on five floors of public space; a children's museum; a state-of-the art traveling exhibition hall; and The Hoglund Foundation Theater, a National Geographic Experience. Designed by 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and his firm Morphosis Architects, the Victory Park museum has been lauded for its artistry and sustainability. To learn more, please visit perotmuseum.org.

About Hokkaido University and Hokkaido University Museum. Hokkaido University is home to some 4 million specimens and documents that have been gathered, preserved and studied since the Sapporo Agricultural College began more than 130 years ago. Amongst these are more than 10,000 precious "type specimens" that form the basis for the discovery and certification of new species. Opened in the spring of 1999, the Hokkaido University Museum conveys the diverse range of research carried out at Hokkaido University while also using various original materials and visual media to introduce the university's cutting-edge research. The Hokkaido University Museum offers exhibits and diversified information equal to those of any museum, facilitating conversation and creating an atmosphere that encompasses both past and future. Visitors to the museum can shift their attention at will, examining what intrigues them most and gathering information behind the individual exhibits, thus expanding their universe.

CONTACTS:

Becky Mayad

Perot Museum of Nature and Science

work: 214-352-1881

cell: 214-697-7745

becky@mayadpr.com

Dr. Yoshitsugu Kobayashi

Hokkaido University Museum

011-706-4730

ykobayashi@museum.hokudai.ac.jp

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Advanced Wound Care Market to 2025 - Smith & Nephew, Acelity L.P., Braun Melsungen, Integra Lifesciences Corporation, ConvaTec, 3M, MiMedx, Molnlycke Health Care, Paul Hartmann AG

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The global advanced wound care market accounted to US$ 8,181.9 Mn in 2017 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period 2018  2025, to account to US$ 11,564.6 Mn by 2025.Asia Pacific is the fastest geographic market and it is expected to be the fastest revenue contributor throughout the forecast period. Asia Pacific market is driven by the factors such as to huge patient population, increases in the number of surgical procedures and rising number of wound care admit to hospitals and ambulatory care centers.Exhibit: Lucrative Regional MarketsMarket InsightsIncreasing Prevalence of Diabetes & Related Chronic WoundsDiabetes is one of the largest global health emergencies of the 21st century. Each year more and more people live with this condition, which can result in life-changing complications. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), in 2017, number of people with diabetes in North America was approximately 46 million which is expected to grow at 62 million in 2045. The increase in the disease prevalence is around 35% during the forecast period. Type 2 diabetes is the most prevalent form of diabetes and has increased alongside cultural and societal changes. In high-income countries up to 91% of adults with the disease have type 2 diabetes. As per the report of IDF, one in 11 adults have diabetes in 2015, and it will decrease to one in 10 adults till 2040.Get Sample Copy of this Report atTechnological Advancement in Advanced Wound Care ProductsAdvanced wound care products are ideally preferred for the post-surgery wound treatment. In October 2017, Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation launched the Revize / Revize-X Collagen Matrix, for plastic and reconstructive surgery. The matrix is an expandable matrix which is offering up to double the initial coverage area once hydrated and fully expanded. Likewise, Acelity innovated the V.A.C.ULTA Therapy System in the U.S. in April 2017, The V.A.C.ULTA Therapy System, is latest generation negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) system, which improve clinicians experiences by leveraging first-to-market connectivity technology.Product InsightsThe global advanced wound care market by product was led by dressing segment. In 2017, the dressing segment held a largest market share of 46.8% of the advanced wound care market, by product. The dressing segment is expected to dominate the market in 2025 owing to the rising incidences of the people experiencing small and minute wounds due to the several physical activities. This segment is anticipated to witness the fastest growth rate during the forecast period, 2018 to 2025.Wound Type InsightsThe advanced wound care market by wound type is segmented into ulcers, burns, trauma, surgical, and diabetic foot. The surgical segment held the largest share of the market, by wound type. In addition, the surgical wound is also expected to grow at the fastest rate during the coming years owing to factors such as, rising number of surgical procedures, and increasing wounds due to the surgical procedures.End User InsightsThe advanced wound care market by end user is segmented into hospitals & clinics, ambulatory care centers, wound care centers, and others. The hospitals & clinics segment is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period. The segment is expected to drive market due to the advanced treatments offered by the hospitals and clinics are the first aid providers to the patients.Inquire Before Buying@Exhibit: Advanced Wound Care Market, by Wound TypeStrategic InsightsApprovals and agreements were observed as the most adopted strategy in global advanced wound care industry. Few of the recent product launch and collaboration and others are listed below:2018: In April, 2018, Kerecis proposed the study results in Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Spring meeting to be held April 25 to 28. Kerecis is exhibiting at booth 230 at the Charlotte Convention Center.2017: In October, 2017, Integra LifeSciences Launches Integra SurgiMend PRS Meshed Collagen Matrix For Breast Reconstruction In Europe.2016: In April 2016, Integra LifeSciences Announces Agreement With Vomaris Wound Care, Inc. To Commercialize VolTAC Antimicrobial Wound Dressing.ADVANCED WOUND CARE  MARKET SEGMENTATIONBy ProductDressingsFilm DressingsHydrogel DressingsFoam DressingsHydrocolloid DressingsOther DressingsDevicesElectrical StimulationPressure Relief DevicesHyperbaric Oxygen EquipmentNegative Pressure Wound Therapy SystemsOthersBioactivesAutograftsAllografts and XenograftsTopical AgentsOthersBuy this Report now atBy Wound TypeSurgicalTraumaBurnsUlcersDiabetic FootOthersCompany ProfilesSmith & NephewAcelity L.P.Braun Melsungen AGIntegra Lifesciences CorporationConvaTec3MMiMedxMolnlycke Health CarePaul Hartmann AGCardinal HealthAbout us: -The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.Contact us: -Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com
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The Burnside Bridge will close to all traffic 11 p.m. Friday, March 29 through as late as 5 a.m. Monday, April 1 to allow contractors to set up a work zone on the north side of the bridge. According to a release from Multnomah County, this is the final phase of the maintenance project that began in 2017.

When the bridge reopens on Monday drivers will use one westbound and two eastbound lanes. The shared-use paths for pedestrians and bicyclists will be open on both sides of the bridge, but the north path will be separated from vehicle traffic by a barrier.

Traffic patterns will change beginning Monday, April 1, 2019

The westbound TriMet bus stop on the bridge above Northwest Naito Parkway will temporarily move to West Burnside Street between Northwest Second and Third avenues.

This traffic plan will remain until December as the contractor repairs pavement, deck joints, sidewalks and railings, paints areas below the deck, and makes other repairs.

For this weekends Burnside closure, bridge users may want to choose the Morrison or Steel bridges.

***

LAKE OSWEGO 7:43 a.m.: Crash on OR 43 near Foothills Road.

Update 7:55 a.m.: Cleared.

***

U.S. 30 - 7:15 a.m.: Police activity on Northwest Logie Trail Road just south of U.S. 30 has as many as 12 units responding. Avoid the area.

***

Eastbank Esplanade opens today:

Oregon City's Arch Bridge will be closed for electrical maintenance to the lighting system from 7-11 a.m., Saturday, March 30. Variable message signs have been posted to alert travelers of the closure. Detour signs will be set up to guide travelers to the Interstate 205 (Abernethy) Bridge.

Oregon City Arch Bridge. Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian file photoLC- The Oregonian

March 31 is the last legal day in Oregon and Washington to drive with studded tires on a vehicle. Read more about Oregons studded tire law here: TripCheck.com

Check back throughout the morning for the latest commuting updates and follow us on Twitter: @trafficportland
A Portland police sergeant who last year received a city award recognizing her fight against sexism now intends to sue the city alleging discrimination and retaliation, according to a tort claim.

Liani Reyna alleges in the notice that she continues to experience an on-going pattern and practice severe and pervasive discrimination.

The claim lists nearly four pages of alleged incidents, the most recent in December when Reyna said she was notified she didnt pass the lieutenants test. Reyna said the denial of the promotion was due to her reporting and multiple complaints of discrimination.

Oregon law requires a claim notice before someone can file a lawsuit against a public agency.

Reyna in 1999 was the first woman and openly gay member to join the Portland Police Bureaus Special Emergency Reaction Team. Her selection caused acrimony because she was picked over two men who ranked higher than her on eligibility tests. She resigned from the team in November 2000.

Reyna reported inappropriate and sexually degrading initiation rites by the team in a complaint that led to discipline in 2002 against 20 current or former members of the team. Reyna said her complaint caused her to be passed up for promotions, shunned by fellow officers and exposed to complaints from colleagues.

Reyna eventually was promoted to sergeant in October 2005 and most recently has led and developed the bureaus Emergency Management Unit.

She and others were disciplined for actions during a fatal police shooting of Aaron Campbell, an unarmed black man, in January 2010.

--Tom Hallman Jr.

thallman@oregonian.com; 503 221-8224

@thallmanjr
A 37-year-old Garabaldi woman died Thursday morning when her car crossed the centerline on Highway 101 near Coos Bay and slammed into a pickup truck, Oregon State Police reported.

Jessie Fisher was southbound on when she hit a truck driven by Brandon Blair, 40, of Spokane, Wash., troopers said.

Fisher was transported to Bay Area Hospital where she was pronounced deceased. Blair was transported to Bay Area Hospital with injuries.

--Tom Hallman Jr.

thallman@oregonian.com; 503 221-8224

@thallmanjr
CHICAGO (AP)  President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that the FBI and Department of Justice will review the outrageous case of actor Jussie Smollett in Chicago, calling it an embarrassment to the country.

Prosecutors infuriated Chicago's police chief and mayor this week when they abruptly dropped 16 felony counts against the "Empire" actor that were related to making a false police report. Prosecutors offered little explanation and sealed the case  yet still insisted the actor faked a racist, anti-gay attack on himself in January.

FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019

Prosecutors offered no additional information during a court hearing Thursday with media attorneys who argued that the public had a right to know what happened. Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted: "FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!"

Police said investigators believe Smollett, who is black and gay, hired two brothers to stage the early-morning Jan. 29 attack in downtown Chicago, and that Smollett hoped it would gain attention and help advance his career. Police also allege that before the attack, Smollett sent a letter threatening himself to the Chicago television studio where "Empire" is shot.

The FBI, which is investigating that letter, has declined to comment.

Smollett attorney Tina Glandian said the two brothers, who claim they worked with Smollett to stage the attack, are lying. She said Smollett had hired one brother as a personal trainer but had no idea who attacked him along a Chicago street until the brothers were later identified by police.

Smollett has repeatedly insisted the attack was real, saying two masked men used racial and homophobic slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck and poured an "unknown substance" on him. Police said Smollett also told detectives the attackers yelled he was in "MAGA country," an apparent reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan.

Prosecutors initially charged Smollett with one felony count, in February. A grand jury indicted him on 15 more counts earlier this month. But in a stunning reversal Tuesday, the Cook County state's attorney's office abruptly dropped all charges against him, just five weeks after the allegations were filed.

In return, prosecutors said, the actor agreed to let the city keep his $10,000 in bail.

The dismissal drew a backlash and raised the question of why Smollett was not forced to admit any wrongdoing.

During Thursday's court hearing, prosecutors promised to notify media outlets if Smollett's lawyers tried to expunge his record. But lawyers for major news outlets, including The Associated Press, told the judge the case hasn't been transparent.

"The public is entitled to know what happened and what's happening in this proceeding," media attorney Natalie Spears argued.

Judge LeRoy Martin said court proceedings in the case have followed the law, adding: "There's no nefariousness."

Also among those sure to keep pressing for answers is Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He appeared blindsided by prosecutors decision to drop the charges and visibly angry during a Tuesday press conference, calling the decision a whitewash of justice.
If youve noticed cameras, lights, big trucks and thick cables around town, you might have caught a glimpse of Stumptown, the pilot for a proposed ABC series thats been filming in Portland this week.

As weve previously reported, Stumptown is inspired by graphic novels written by Greg Rucka, and published by Portland-based Oni Press. Cobie Smulders (known for Avengers movies, and How I Met Your Mother) stars in Stumptown as Dex Parios, a military intelligence veteran-turned-private investigator.

Set in Portland, the Stumptown pilot has also cast Michael Ealy, Mark Webber, Adam Martinez and Camryn Manheim. Local filming is expected to wrap up this week.

In other news -- or rumors -- a Twitter user has posted that crew members wearing T-shirts that say Hobbs & Shaw are filming in Old Town. A spinoff from the Fast & Furious" franchise, the Hobbs & Shaw movie stars Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba and Vanessa Kirby. The movie is scheduled to open in August.

If youre wondering if theyre shooting Fast and the Furious in old town today, the answer is yes.  Ira LaFontaine (@jailblazin) March 28, 2019

When asked whether Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw was filming in Portland, Tim Williams, executive director of Oregon Film, replied in an email that if a production associated with Fast & Furious is shooting here, they have not been in touch with us.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
SEATTLE (AP)  Longtime schoolteacher Deborah Judd has grown accustomed to active-shooter drills in her second-grade classroom. She was less prepared to see a gunman in the street on her way home.

She became the first to be shot by a man as he opened fire on cars in a Seattle neighborhood, apparently at random, leaving two people dead and wounding a bus driver who was praised for getting the passengers to safety.

"He walked straight out in the middle of the road and he shot me, then he shot me again," Judd, 56, told reporters from her hospital bed Thursday. "I guess I always thought something like that would happen in school because we talk so much about school shootings.

"But I never thought I'd be driving home in my car and someone would step out in the street and shoot me," she said.

Judd was headed home to suburban Snohomish on Wednesday after a meeting at Laurelhurst Elementary School, "zipping along, I think I was eating Cheez-Its," she said.

Then she saw the gunman. He fired into her windshield as she got close and fired again after the car came to a stop on a road that follows a ridge above Lake Washington in residential northeast Seattle.

Bullets lodged in her arm, shoulder and lung. Judd said she slumped over the emergency brake of her car and stayed still  wondering why no one was helping her  until the shooting stopped.

The gunman next fired into a King County Metro bus, striking the driver, and approached a car that had slowed down and shot again, killing the 50-year-old man behind the wheel and fleeing in his car as officers arrived, authorities said.

Police say suspect Tad Michael Norman, 33, then crashed head-on into another vehicle, killing the 70-year-old man driving. Norman was taken into custody after a brief standoff, police said.

Investigators offered no information about a potential motive. Norman, who lives near the shooting scene, was jailed on suspicion of homicide, assault and robbery. He was expected to make his first court appearance Friday, and it was not clear if he had obtained a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

Norman did not appear to have any significant criminal history in Washington state. He was a vendor with Microsoft and his contract ended last year, a company representative said.

The bus driver, Eric Stark, 53, was shot in the torso but still managed to drive his passengers to safety, authorities said. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said he "saved lives and took action even after being harmed."

Stark, recovering in a hospital Thursday, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that "it's what any other driver would be able to do if they were physically able."

"I ducked down really quick for some cover, did like a two-second assessment of my injuries and figured, 'Well, I can breathe, I can think, I can see, and I can talk,'" Stark said. "So for me, that was enough to go, 'OK, we're getting out of here. I've gotta get these people out of here.'"

None of the passengers aboard the bus got hurt, King County Metro said.

John Barrett told Seattle news station KOMO-TV that he was in his garage when he heard what sounded like firecrackers. Barrett went outside and saw a man pointing a gun at people as he walked down a street, "firing at anything just without any regard."

Judd wept as she recounted hearing the shot that killed the 50-year-old and wondered if he had stopped to help her. She said she decided to speak with reporters so her students could see that she was all right.

I want to make sure the kids know Im OK and that Ill be back soon and I love them, she said. Youre 7 years old and you have to process your teacher being shot. Its not OK. Its not OK. Thatll be something that sticks in their lives forever.

-- The Associated Press
Bev Clarno, 83, an influential state legislator in the 1990s, has been appointed Oregons new secretary of state.

Gov. Kate Brown made the appointment after a search that lasted nearly a month. Brown said she wanted someone who would focus on the offices day-to-day operations -- not on running for office in 2020.

Brown made the announcement Friday afternoon.

Clarno, of Redmond, served as Speaker of the House and Senate Republican Leader in the Oregon Legislature. She was also appointed by President George W. Bush as Director for Region 10 of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Bevs career is marked by her trailblazing spirit, focus on fiscal responsibility, and a commitment to Oregonians, Brown said. Bevs experience as a legislator and as a manager of a large government organization is key to the success of the programs and employees the Secretary of State oversees."

Clarno replaces Dennis Richardson, who died Feb. 26.

Im confident that Bev will continue the legacy of accountability and integrity that Secretary Richardson left on the office, Brown said.

Clarno had been a hog farmer and cattle rancher, real estate broker and appraiser among other occupations before her election in 1988 to the Oregon House of Representatives. She was re-elected three times, and served as Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1997.

She was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 2000, and served as Senate Republican Leader in the 2003 session.

Im honored by the confidence that Governor Brown has placed in me and pledge to be a good steward of the office," Clarno said. I know there is not a Republican way or a Democrat way to oversee electionsthere is only a fair and honest way. There is not a Republican way or a Democrat way to audit state agencies, there is only a fair, thorough, and honest way.

Under state law, Brown was obligated to 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.

Still, the Oregon Republican Party had offered up five potential candidates, including former State Rep. Katie Eyre of Hillsboro; former State Sen. Bill Kennemer of Canby; Lynn Snodgrass, a former lawmaker who served as House Speaker and ran unsuccessfully for Secretary of State in 2000; former State Rep. Gene Whisnant of Sunriver; and Debra Royal, who served as Richardsons chief of staff and communications director and continues in those roles.

Former Republican lawmaker Rich Vial and Brad Hicks, president and CEO of the Medford Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, were serious candidates. Both said they were interviewed by the Governor or her staff four times.

The Oregon Republican Party was happy with the pick. Bev Clarno is a person with a distinguished background, said Kevin Hoar, communications director for the party. Were optimistic about the opportunity of working with Secretary Clarno. Were very hopeful that she will continue the excellent groundbreaking work of Dennis Richardson and his very talented staff.

I think we knew the governor was not aiming to choose somebody who would be pursuing a lengthy political career, Hoar continued. We acknowledge the nature of the pick and we also think that Bev Clarno is a good person.
A former night shift employee of a mental health treatment center in unincorporated Washington County was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of sexually abusing a patient last year.

Christopher Zeisler, who worked as a mental health technician at Cedar Hills Hospital, remained held Thursday at the Washington County Jail on suspicion of first-degree sexual abuse.

Prosecutors allege in court documents that Zeisler, 28, sexually abused the woman in December 2018, two months after he began working at the Cedar Hills-based facility. The county sheriffs office said Zeisler was no longer an employee there by the time he was arrested.

The woman was under Zeislers care when she said she was abused, the sheriffs office said. Hospital surveillance video showed Zeisler spending an unusual amount of time in the womans room at the time, according to the law agency.

The sheriffs office asks if anyone has information on other possible victims to call detectives at 503-846-2500.

-- 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.
Beaverton city officials are rejecting a request to support the airport in nearby Gladwin.

"The city does not have an interest," said Beaverton City Manager Heath Kaplan, referring to requests to help pay for the airport.

Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport Director Mike Hargrave could not be reached for comment. He attended a Beaverton City Council meeting last Friday, where he was questioned about airport functions and costs.

Gladwin County Commission Chair Sharron Smith said, per Hargrave, half the business coming through the airport is for Beaverton -- going to places such as Saint-Gobain and Kember Flooring Inc. However, there was no data immediately available to prove it.

"I would have to justify this to the city taxpayers that there is a public benefit," Kaplan said. "I would have a hard time justifying this to the council and the taxpayers. ... It would be a tough sell."

Kaplan said Hargrave isn't asking for a set price for the airport. He is just asking Beaverton to chip in.

The city manager added that for it to be a selling point, he and city officials are going to have to see hard data showing Beaverton's use of the airport. He added that a handful of Beaverton business executives do use the airport to fly in. Still, he said there is nothing to support that the city's business would dry up without the airport's presence.

"I support the airport," Kaplan said. "But I have yet to see hard data showing definitive economic data. The hard data I'm looking for is if the airport wasn't there, businesses would not be here.

"I don't think we are getting a free ride," Kaplan said. "If they want us to pay, show that we are using it."

Kaplan suspects there is an urgency for funding because the county hasn't made payments to the airport for at least a year.

For many years, the county has subsidized the airport's funding. Currently, Hargrave is asking the county for $25,000.

"We are going to pay them $12,500," Smith said Thursday.

Smith said she believes there is an agreement saying the county will help pay for the airport. She didn't have the agreement in hand and does not know if there is a specified amount.

She said that often the airport board doesn't meet due to lack of a quorum. Yet, Smith said county commissioner Ron Taylor, will be joining her on the airport committee. Thus, they will examine airport issues further.

Previous county commissioners say they hoped the airport, which is now making money, would be self-sustaining.

Since taking over as airport director, Hargrave is credited for bringing in more traffic and offering family activities. In addition, he has increased rental hangars and added a fueling area, which has been popular among pilots.
Due to extremely dry conditions, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources issued a no-burning order on Thursday for all of Midland County, including the city of Midland.

During this time, open debris burning is not permitted anywhere in Midland County. This ban is in effect until further notice.
Maritz, a top provider of marketing services, has partnered with Northwood University to help develop the next generation of leaders in the automotive industry.

The announcement was made at the Future of Automotive Retail (FAR) 2.0 summit, held in Naples, Florida, and hosted by Maritz. More than a hundred leaders, including executives from a dozen manufacturers, dealers, academics and industry professionals, gathered to focus on the importance of human capital in retail automotive.

In today's tight job market, the automotive industry is realizing the importance of attracting and developing individuals who can build careers in a field that often struggles with employee retention. As part of its partnership with Northwood, which offers a dedicated Automotive Marketing and Management major, Maritz will offer internship positions to acquaint Northwood students with the business and connect with Maritz clients. The Maritz automotive team also will participate in a series of guest lectures to share its industry experience, as well as learn from the students. In addition, Maritz is creating a scholarship to assist Northwood University students.

"Maritz is a people company, and we help our automotive clients improve their business results by applying our expertise in behavioral science to drive performance. We do that within a strategic framework that focuses on attracting, engaging and retaining both employees and consumers. It just makes sense that we understand how the next generation of automotive professionals are preparing for their careers. It's important to listen to, talk and work with the students who have decided that the automotive business is where they want to be," said Terry Erwin, vice president of Maritz Auto.

"Northwood has over 60 years of history working with the automotive industry, with more than 8,400 graduates employed in that industry sector. Ninety-two percent of our program graduates gain employment in the automotive industry, in large part to the participation of companies like Maritz that help provide a deeper understanding of industry career options," said Elgie Bright, faculty chair-automotive marketing and management degree.

Northwood students also attended the summit.

"By attending FAR 2.0 and working with Maritz, I learned so much more about the auto industry and the opportunities available to me. I left the conference even more excited to enter into the automotive sector," said Northwood student Kendall Schaus.
Midland Mayor Maureen Donker was recently honored with the Community Builder Award by the Michigan Municipal League during its annual Capital Conference Awards Gala in Lansing.

The award honors individuals whose leadership creates positive community change through efforts such as encouraging civic engagement, supporting up-and-coming leaders, fostering good working relationships, and thinking strategically.

Donker was recognized for her work and leadership to ensure the economic health of the Midland community. The award was presented by Ward 4 Midland City Councilwoman Diane Brown-Wilhelm, a member of the League Board of Trustees.

"The word community drives everything she does whether it's in her work with special needs individuals or as her role as mayor of our city," Brown-Wilhelm said. "Maureen Donker is ingrained in the fabric of Midland in every imaginable way. She doesn't just work for the people of Midland -- she works right along with them. She works for positive change and inspires all of us to come along with her. She truly is a 'community builder' and is so deserving of this honor."

Donker was elected to the Midland City Council in 2007 and has served as mayor since 2009. She has been a leader in the implementation of Midland's Community Well-Being Survey, which aims to learn what well-being looks like in the community directly from residents and uses the feedback to develop a plan for prosperity.

Donker previously served as a League Board member, a Workers' Compensation Fund Board member, and is active with the Michigan Association of Mayors and Michigan Women in Municipal Government. She is the executive director of The Reece Endeavor of Midland, a community program providing homes for individuals with special needs. Donker also serves on the Board of Directors of the Arnold Center, Midland Center for the Arts' Board of Directors, Midland Center for the Arts' Matrix: Midland Advisory Board, Midland County Health and Human Services Council and MidMichigan Health Advisory Council.
Government support for businesses through subsidies and other special treatment, commonly referred to as corporate welfare, has proven time and again to be an ineffective use of taxpayer dollars. But the practice persists, with policymakers claiming they cannot give up these "tools" to compete with other states for business development. "Multilateral Disarmament: A State Compact to End Corporate Welfare," a study published recently by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and 1889 Institute, proposes a solution to this "collective action" problem and shows how states can join together to end corporate handouts once and for all.

The complexity of state tax systems make it challenging to pinpoint exactly what corporate welfare is. This study takes care to define it properly, describing it as "any financial benefit purposely granted by government to a specific business or class of business and that is not generally available to all businesses and taxpayers." The most common types of corporate welfare are also identified, as well as what should not be considered corporate welfare. These definitions are important so as not to confuse good tax policy with harmful corporate welfare.
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Paducah Mayor Brandi Harless (left) speaks with Nancy Whitworth, interim city manager and former economic development director of Greenville, while at dinner on the first night of a two-day fact-finding trip, organized by West Kentucky Community and Technical College, to the South Carolina city. More than 20 city and county officials, educators, and community and business leaders hope what they learn in Greenville, one of the fastest growing economic development sectors in the country, will aid local economic development efforts.

LAUREL BLACK | The Sun
Bamako, Mali (PANA)  The first Francophone Africa investor summit, which brings together investors, entrepreneurs, projects managers, incubators and financial institutions from several African countries, opened on Thursday in Bamako, Mali
Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Burundi's National Council for Communication (CNC) on Friday announced the withdrawal of the operating licence of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC, British public radio), citing "serious breaches" of ethics governing journalism practice in Burundi
Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - The European Union has condemned last Saturday's massacre of some 160 people and the destruction of a village in central Mali and called on the government to ensure security for the people
Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - A report released on Wednesday by the Crime and Corruption Reporting Project investigation group Thursday accused former Gambian head of state Yahya Jammeh of embezzling about US$1 billion from state coffers during his tenure between 1994 and January 2017
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian government has declared three days of national mourning for some 160 people killed last Saturday at the village of Ogossagou in central Mali, A decree of signed by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita published Thursday night said the national mourning would start at midnight on Friday
Abuja, Nigeria (PANA)  The Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) on Friday said that seven Boko Haram terrorists were killed in various offensive engagements conducted across the Areas of Responsibilities in Chad, Nigeria and Niger Republic
Heres the good news, for Utah beer drinkers: After 86 years, the states 3.2 beer law finally came to an end Tuesday, as Gov. Gary Herbert signed SB132, raising the maximum ABW (alcohol by weight) allowed in Utah grocery and convenience stores.

Heres the bad news: That number is only increasing from 3.2 percent ABW to 4 percent ABW. Which is to say, this increase is barely a perceptible increase at all, and is ultimately one that should benefit the likes of AB InBev and MillerCoors more than it will Utah craft breweries. For reference, and because pretty much the entire rest of the country uses ABV (alcohol by volume) instead of ABW, this is an increase from 4 percent ABV to 5 percent ABV beers that will be available in supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants. Higher ABV beers and liquor are only sold at liquor stores operated by the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The law takes effect on Nov. 1, 2019, joined by an increase in tax on each barrel of beer from $12.80 to $13.10, the additional 30 cents to be used for enforcement.

How did this happen? Well, as initially introduced, the bill was meant to raise the cap on ABW all the way to 4.8 percent (6 percent ABV), which would have at the very least allowed some of the craft beer worlds lighter IPAs to make an appearance. This legislation was opposed by the states local breweries, however, not because they didnt want the ABW to increase, but because they naturally wanted it to increase even more. The average limit, in states that bother to institute a limit on beer sold in grocery and convenience stores, is 12.4 percent ABV. Understandably, Utah brewers likely wanted something similar for themselves. Nicole Dicou, the executive director of the Utah Brewers Guild, said it quite plainly: Obviously, we are on the same side as consumers that want a higher ABW.

And so, we ended up with the following compromise on the last day of the 2019 legislative session, wherein the state legislature does what it tends to do in every statepurposefully misinterpret the feedback of the states craft breweries and adopt legislation that primarily benefits AB InBev and MillerCoors. Most importantly, it will let AB InBev and MillerCoors finally do away with the 3.2 versions of beers such as Bud Light and Miller Lite, replacing them with the flagship 4.2 percent ABV versions that exist nationally. Craft brewers, meanwhile, are unlikely to see much benefit, aside from possibly being able to get new beers onto the store shelves that fall between 4 and 5 percent ABV.

Arguably the most damaging aspect of this entire story, though, is the fact that it will no doubt hold back any further discussion of Utahs ABW laws for several years, which will only continue to hurt the states craft breweries. Its not as if theyre going to be able to drum up support for MORE legislation to increase the ABW limit next year, when the response will surely be But we just increased it last year. Never mind the fact that it increased by .8 percent ABW.

Still, this at least marks the end of an era that dated back 86 years, all the way to the Cullen-Harrison Act of 1933. Signed nine months before Prohibitions repeal, it allowed the production of 3.2 ABW beer, functioning as what was essentially a soft repeal before Prohibitions final end. When the end of Prohibition finally came via the 21st Amendment, most states did away with Cullen-Harrison. In Utah, well  86 years later is theoretically better than never.
Our picks for the best books of March include everything from Helen Oyeyemis fairy tale-inspired novel to Mitchell S. Jacksons powerful essay collection. Exploring everything from Islamophobia to climbing to the history of high heels, these 10 books (listed in order of release date) deliver stunning reads you wont want to miss.

Release Date: March 5th from Riverhead Books

Why Youll Love It: Helen Oyeyemis latest novel proves that her writing still remains an unpredictable delight, whisking readers through a fantastical tale with contemporary relevance. Bridey Heing

(Read Pastes review of the novel here.)

Description: Perdita Lee may appear to be your average British schoolgirl; Harriet Lee may seem just a working mother trying to penetrate the school social hierarchy; but there are signs that they might not be as normal as they think they are. For one thing, theres the gingerbread they make. The worlds truest lover of the Lee family gingerbread is Harriets charismatic childhood friend Gretel Kerchevala figure who seems to have had a hand in everything (good or bad) that has happened to Harriet since they met.

Decades later, when teenaged Perdita sets out to find her mothers long-lost friend, it prompts a new telling of Harriets mesmerizing story.

Release Date: March 5th from Dutton

Why Youll Love It: If you were captivated by the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, youll enjoy this deep dive into the history of climbing centered on Alex Honnolds trailblazing ascent.

(Read Pastes essay on the book here.)

Description: In Mark Synnotts unique window on the ethos of climbing, his friend Alex Honnolds astonishing free solo ascent of El Capitans 3,000 feet of sheer granite is the central act. Synnott also delves into a raggedy culture that emerged decades earlier during Yosemites Golden Age, when pioneering climbers like Royal Robbins and Warren Harding invented the sport that Honnold would turn on its ear. Painting an authentic, wry portrait of climbing history and profiling Yosemite heroes and the harlequin tribes of climbers known as the Stonemasters and the Stone Monkeys, Synnott weaves in his own experiences with poignant insight and wit. Synnotts personal history of his own obsession with climbing since he was a teenagerthrough professional climbing triumphs and defeats, and the dilemmas they rendermakes this a deeply reported, enchanting revelation about living life to the fullest.

Release Date: March 5th from Bloomsbury Publishing

Why Youll Love It: T Kira Maddens memoir pairs gorgeous writing with honest emotion, exploring identity and family in her must-read book.

Description: Acclaimed literary essayist T Kira Maddens raw and redemptive debut memoir is about coming of age and reckoning with desire as a queer, biracial teenager amidst the fierce contradictions of Boca Raton, Florida, a place where she found cult-like privilege, shocking racial disparities, rampant white-collar crime and powerfully destructive standards of beauty hiding in plain sight.

As a child, Madden lived a life of extravagance, from her exclusive private school to her equestrian trophies and designer shoe-brand name. But under the surface was a wild instability. The only child of parents continually battling drug and alcohol addictions, Madden confronted her environment alone. Facing a culture of assault and objectification, she found lifelines in the desperately loving friendships of fatherless girls.

Release Date: March 5th from Scribner

Why Youll Love It: Because Mitchell S. Jacksons book tackling race, class and culture is one of the best essay collections of 2019.

(Read Pastes essay on the book here.)

Description: This dynamic book explores gangs and guns, near-death experiences, sex work, masculinity, composite fathers, the concept of hustle and the destructive power of addictionall framed within the story of Jackson, his family and his community. The primary narrative, focused on understanding the antecedents of Jacksons familys experience, is complemented by poems composed from historical American documents as well as survivor files, which feature photographs and riveting short narratives of several of Jacksons male relatives. The sum of Survival Maths parts is a highly original whole, one that reflects on the exigenciesover generationsthat have shaped the lives of so many disenfranchised Americans.

Release Date: March 19th from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Why Youll Love It: Samira Ahmeds timely Young Adult novel tackles Islamophobia in a United States that has turned against Muslimsone that proves too close to our own reality in this sobering, necessary read.

Description: Set in a horrifying near-future United States, 17-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens. With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camps Director and his guards.

Release Date: March 19th from Algonquin Books

Why Youll Love It: Mathangi Subramanian tackles everything from friendship to religion to sexuality to identity in this striking contemporary novel set in Bangalores slums.

(Read Pastes interview with Subramanian here.)

Description: Welcome to Heaven, a 30-year-old slum hidden between brand-new high-rise apartment buildings and technology incubators in contemporary Bangalore, one of Indias fastest-growing cities. In Heaven, you will come to know a community of people living hand-to-mouth and constantly struggling against the city government who wants to bulldoze their homes and build yet more glass high-rises. The novel centers on five best friends, girls who go to school together, a diverse group who love and accept one another unconditionally, pulling one another through crises and providing emotional, physical and financial support. Together they wage war on the bulldozers that would bury their homes, and, ultimately, on the city that does not care what happens to them.

Release Date: March 19th from Penguin Press

Why Youll Love It: Carolyn Forche proves shes just as talented a memoirist as she is a poet in this enthralling read demonstrating the visceral power of empathy.

(Read Pastes essay on the book here.)

Description: Carolyn Forche is 27 when the mysterious stranger appears on her doorstep. The relative of a friend, he is a charming polymath with a mind as seemingly disordered as it is brilliant. Shes heard rumors from her friend about who he might be: a lone wolf, a communist, a CIA operative, a sharpshooter, a revolutionary, a small coffee farmer, but according to her, no one seemed to know for certain. He has driven from El Salvador to invite Forche to visit and learn about his country. Captivated for reasons she doesnt fully understand, she accepts and becomes enmeshed in something beyond her comprehension.

As priests and farm-workers are murdered and protest marches attacked, he is determined to save his country, and Forche is swept up in his work and in the lives of his friends. Pursued by death squads and sheltering in safe houses, the two forge a rich friendship, as she attempts to make sense of what shes experiencing and establish a moral foothold amidst profound suffering.

Release Date: March 21st from Bloomsbury Academic

Why Youll Love It: Combining brilliant writing with extensive research, Summer Brennan delivers an entertaining read highlighting the cultural impact of the high heel.

(Read Pastes essay on the book here.)

Description: Fetishized, demonized, celebrated and outlawed, the high heel is central to the iconography of modern womanhood. But are high heels good? Are they feminist? What does it mean for a woman (or, for that matter, a man) to choose to wear them?

Meditating on the labyrinthine nature of sexual identity and the performance of gender, High Heel moves from film to fairytale, from foot binding to feminism and from the golden ratio to glam rock. Summer Brennan considers this most provocative of fashion accessories as a nexus of desire and struggle, setting out to understand what it means to be a woman by walking a few hundred years in her shoes.

Release Date: March 26th from Tor Books

Why Youll Love It: Arkady Martines debut novel introduces a dazzling space opera from science fictions newest author to watch.

Description: Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasnt an accidentor that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.

Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself and save her Station from Teixcalaans unceasing expansionall while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own and hiding a deadly technological secret that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life.

Release Date: March 26th from Pantheon

Why Youll Love It: Laila Lalamis powerful novel crystallizes the all-consuming purpose of racism: the projection and protection of power. Matt Brennan

(Read Pastes essay on the novel here.)

Description: Late one spring night, Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant in California, is walking across a darkened intersection when he is killed by a speeding car. The repercussions of his death bring together a diverse cast of characters: Guerraouis daughter Nora, a jazz composer who returns to the small town in the Mojave she thought shed left for good; his widow Maryam, who still pines after her life in the old country; Efrain, an undocumented witness whose fear of deportation prevents him from coming forward; Jeremy, a former classmate of Noras and a veteran of the Iraq war; Coleman, a detective who is slowly discovering her sons secrets; Anderson, a neighbor trying to reconnect with his family; and the murdered man himself. As the characters tell their stories, the invisible connections that tie them togethereven while they remain deeply divided by race, religion, or classare slowly revealed.

For more reading recommendations, check out our lists of the best books of January and February.
Ive got to hand it to our British friends across the sea: at a point where America seemingly couldnt embarrass itself any more, the Brits decided to show everyone who the true crumbling empire is with a hilariously terrifying series of failed Brexit votes. The Brits are reaching the point of no returnthe timetable set two years ago scheduled their Brexit for today, but as yet another vote failed, its clear the Brits have no actual plan to leave the European Union. Now we wait until April 12th, which is the next key date, when they have to tell the EU what the hell it is theyre doing.

Its really quite something, watching the UK government try to design a parachute by committee while standing next to the open airplane door, determined to jump out either way  Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) March 28, 2019

Brexit was a yes or no public referendum in 2016 on a wildly complicated trade agreement, and the ensuing infinity car pileup in British Parliament was the only logical conclusion of the attempt to distill complex policy matters into a binary option (and let's be real, like Trump's election here, Brexit won because it gave people the opportunity to bask in their racism under the guise of a false immigration panic). Trade deals are why we elect government officials in the first place. You and I have jobs to do and lives to livewe can't spend our days figuring out the optimal strategy to trade with Belgium. That complex stuff is why we elect officials who employ wonks to analyze it for them so officials can make informed, crucial decisions. Referendums like Brexit are literally anti-democratic in that they give democratic powers to the people that they really shouldn't have.

That's not to say that the UK should not have substantive reservations with the European Union. The EU is a complete and utter bureaucratic nightmare that doubles as the test case for why you cannot have a currency union without a political union to govern it. The problem England has with Brexit is that unless they stop trading with Europe altogether, they haven't gotten out from under the EU's kilometers of red tape, and all they have done in this mess is create another bureaucratic nightmare for themselves in order to deal with one of the globe's most frustrating bureaucraciesall without the collective bargaining power behind their trade deals that the EU provides (another demonstration of how there is power in unions).

Now we are left with a complete and utter catastrophe that British politicians, led by Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party, seem determined to turn into an even bigger calamity. This would be hysterical if the consequences of potentially devastating trade on the European continent weren't so horrifyingly life-threatening. Here's a good recap of the madness of the last 24 hours from Vox:

Members of Parliament (MPs) held indicative votes on Wednesday, casting ballots for eight different options on how the United Kingdom should break up with the European Union. The goal of the process was to reveal what kind of Brexit plan might win a majority in the House of Commons, after MPs twice rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal.

There's just one problem  no option won a clear majority.

A plan for a second referendum, in which any Brexit deal approved by Parliament would go back to the public for a vote, received the most aye votes. A customs union arrangement, where the UK would follow the same customs rules as the EU, came in second.

'This is a deal that a nation signs only after having been defeated at war'

Economist @yanisvaroufakis criticises Theresa May on Brexit. #bbcqtpic.twitter.com/5JZCoZ5krH  BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) March 28, 2019

Mays Brexit plan has been overwhelmingly rejected twice (one of them stands as the largest defeat for a sitting government in history), and now we are left with a situation where leaving the EU and not leaving the EU have been voted down. What does Britain want to do? Katie Mack said it perfectly in the tweet at the top of this piece: the Brits dont need to do this. The EU has demonstrated that they will let them basically forget this ever happened in order to avoid the massive headache British Parliament is planning for Europe. They can simply just ctrl alt delete Brexit and the EU would take them back, and yet here we are. Such is the nature of the pride of a crumbling empire. Americans should look at Brexit as a warning for 2020. Our own crumbling empire has already proven that we are not immune to this kind of abject stupidity.

Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.
Twitter has a catch-22 on its hands. It claims to be a platform that will not tolerate abuse and harassment, while also wanting to leave world leaders words uncensored. The problem for Twitter is that a certain world leader also continually violates its policies. Trump has targeted plenty of people for harassment, like when he tweeted that Mika Brzezinski was bleeding badly from a face-lift. Trump has also sent out threatening tweets, like when he seemed to try to bait North Korea into all-out nuclear war with his fire and fury tweet. He has also retweeted anti-Semitic memes. Looking over Twitters rules and Trumps tweets finds it clear as day that Trump is in violation of their standards and guidelines.

This is a real dilemma for Twitter. They have two priorities that both should be followed: abuse and harassment are bad (too bad Twitter doesnt stick to that principle enough) and publicly accountable figures have a different impact on Twitter than private citizens like myself. As harrowing as that fire and fury tweet was, it was of immense importance to the news. Thanks to Twitter, we got a direct look inside of the mushbrain of the most powerful man alive. Thats seriously valuable.

Now, Twitter is trying to find a way to thread the needle between letting public figures like Trump be abusive, and trying to curb that abuse. Per The Washington Post:

The next time a politician, dignitary  or perhaps a president  makes an utterance that violates Twitter standards, the message might be accompanied by a note that expands on the 280-character tweet, a top official with the company said Wednesday.

Twitter is exploring how it can annotate offensive tweets that break its rules but remain in the public interest, said Vijaya Gadde, the companys head of legal, policy, and trust and safety. Its an effort to stem offensive content and hate speech and follows comments last year by chief executive Jack Dorsey, who said he is rethinking core parts of the platform to stem harassment and other abuses.

One of the things were working really closely on with our product and engineering folks is, How can we label that? Gadde said in a response to questions from the Posts Silicon Valley correspondent, Elizabeth Dwoskin. How can we put some context around it so people are aware that that content is actually a violation of our rules and it is serving a particular purpose in remaining on the platform.

Context is the key word here. Censoring stuff on platforms is an incredibly dicey proposition that does have a slippery slope. While Facebook finally admitted that white supremacy does not fall under the nuanced slippery slope positiongiven that white supremacys thesis is that non-white people should not have freedom like white people dothere is still a lot of work to do. This kind of contextual update to harmful information is exactly the route these social networks should be taking, and Amazons refusal to provide context on a book about the patently absurd and dangerous Qanon conspiracy theory is a demonstration of the typical Silicon Valley failure.

For years, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the like fought tooth and nail against the notion that they are media companies, and therefore require editorial judgement. They simply wanted to advertise themselves as platforms, and then run away from any and all culpability of the garbage people put on to their platform. After the Christchurch massacre demonstrated for everyone how white supremacy is not something that can be trifled with, it seems like we have reached something of a new era where these companies admit that they have editorial responsibility. Its unfathomably depressing that it took the mass murder of 50 Muslim worshipers (live-streamed on Facebook Live) to even potentially change the paradigm, but given the demonstrated incompetence and ineffectiveness of social networks like Facebook and Twitter, we should be happy with any progress we can get out of these companies that clearly wish they could just keep raking in cash without any of the responsibility that comes along with their success.

Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.
Yesterday the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple relating to Project Titan and more specifically to multi-modal sensing for nighttime autonomous driving object detection and recognition. The superiority of the new system over traditional headlights when driving at night is going to save a lot of lives in the future.

Some automated systems gather process large quantities of sensor data to identify objects in the surrounding environment. The processing of sensor data is often subject to a real-time constraint to facilitate navigation and/or robust control of the automated system. This is what Apple's invention is trying to improve upon.

Overall Apple's invention covers implementations of multi-modal sensing for nighttime autonomous driving object detection and recognition.

Apple explains that nighttime or low-light environments present challenges for automated vehicle control systems. For example, the illumination level provided by headlights on a vehicle at night may be limited by laws or regulations, which may in turn limit the effective range of a visible spectrum sensor (e.g., a camera) used for detecting objects in or near the path of the vehicle.

Having a limited effective range (e.g., about 60 meters = 180 feet) for detecting and or classifying objects can reduce safety and/or reduce the speed at which the vehicle can travel safely.

A combination of multiple complimentary image sensing technologies may be employed to address the challenges of nighttime or low-light environment object detection and classification. For example, there may be looser or no restrictions on the illumination level of a near infrared illuminator mounted on a vehicle.

A near infrared sensor with a near infrared illuminator can be configured to capture high resolution image information about objects in or near a path of the vehicle out to a significantly longer range (e.g., 200 meters = 600 feet) from the vehicle.

This may enable earlier detection and classification of objects as the vehicle moves and improve safety and/or maximum speed. Near infrared illuminators may project near infrared light in a relatively narrow field of view (e.g., a 30-degree cone).

Although their range may be relatively limited, visible spectrum sensors can provide high resolution image data in multiple color channels (e.g., red, green, and blue). Visible spectrum sensors also may provide a wider field of view (e.g., a 120-degree field of view) of the path in front of a vehicle.

Long wave infrared sensors (LWIR) capture naturally occurring thermal radiation from objects in the environment around a vehicle and therefore do not rely on an illuminator. The effective range of a long wave infrared sensor may be limited by the sensor resolution and the resolution requirements for object detection and/or classification.

A long wave infrared sensor, which may include an array of component sensors, may provide a wide field of view around the vehicle (e.g., a 180-degree field of view). Long wave infrared sensors may provide images of objects in the environment that are of relatively low resolution.

In some implementations, objects detected based on low resolution image data from a long wave infrared sensor are classified by adjusting control parameters for other sensing modalities and/or image processing resources to focus computer vision resources of the vehicle on a region of interest associated with the detected objects.

For example, an integration time, an aperture size, a filter, or a gain for a sensor (e.g., a near infrared sensor or a visible spectrum sensor) may be adjusted to enhance a portion of a captured image associated with a region of interest.

For example, a power level or a field of view for an illuminator (e.g., a near infrared illuminator or a visible spectrum illuminator) may be adjusted to enhance a portion of a captured image associated with a region of interest. For example, a computational control parameter (e.g., a resolution used for image processing or a count of image processing passes) may be adjusted and applied to an image portion associated with a region of interest.

The techniques described in Apple's patent application may provide improvements over prior computer vision systems for automated vehicles. Some implementations may increase the effective range at which objects in or near the path of a vehicle may be detected and classified. Some implementations may more accurately classify objects in a low-light environment. Safety of an automated vehicle control system may be improved and/or the maximum safe speed in low-light environments may be increased.

Apple's patent FIG. 4 below is a block diagram of an example of a vehicle configured for multi-modal sensing for nighttime autonomous object detection and recognition; FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example of overlapping fields of view for multiple sensors of different types mounted on a vehicle.

Apple's patent application that was published yesterday by the U.S. Patent Office was originally filed back in Q3 2018. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.

News about Project Titan broke back in January about a second Chinese National working on Project Titan being arrested by the FBI for stealing company secrets. Obviously Apple's project has highly valuable autonomous vehicle technologies that the Chinese would love to steal.







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Patna: Tej Pratap Yadav, the eldest son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi on Thursday resigned from the post of coordinator of the RJD student wing saying those who think of him as a naive person were naive themselves.

The former Health Minister of Bihar who has a healthy appetite for melodrama  case in point, his marriage to Aishwarya Rai only to end up in court less than six months after the wedding  in a tweet, said that he knew who had how much clout in Bihar and those who thought of him as a simpleton or naive person were being naive themselves.

Yadav, who was the coordinator of the student wing of the party, resigned from his post today in a sign of protest over seat sharing arrangement within the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, insiders say.

Sources within the party said Tej Pratap Yadav wanted his sister Misa Bharti to contest from Pataliputra seat so she could go directly against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Ram Kripal Yadav  a person the Lalu family considers a turncoat. However, that seat is likely to go to RJD leader from Maner Bhai Virendra, a hardcore Lalu loyalist.

Similarly, Yadav wanted his uncle Sadhu Yadav to contest from Valmiki Nagar seat but that one is also poised to go to some other candidate.

Yadav also cancelled a press conference that he had convened earlier today to express his disappointment over seat-sharing arrangement after his mother Rabri Devi talked him out of it.

The former Health Minister is also said to be annoyed with his own party after his name, along with the name of his sister Misa Bharti, was excluded from the list of star campaigners in Bihar despite the fact that the names of both his mother and younger brother Tejaswi Yadav appear in this list.
Patna: With the Grand Alliance in Bihar on the verge of collapse due to disagreement between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress over seat-sharing, the previously-scheduled induction of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shatrughan Sinha into Congress party was once again delayed until April 6.

Sinha, who is ready to quit the BJP after the party he had been a lifelong member of dropped him from the Patna Saheb seat and instead decided to field Ravi Shankar Prasad, was scheduled to join Congress today at a function in Delhi. However, due to the in-fighting in the Bihar Mahagathbandhan over seat-sharing, the event was delayed till April 6.

The former actor-turned-politician though met with Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday during which both showered each other with praise.

Promising to pay all those living below poverty line a minimum income of Rs. 72,000 per annum was a stroke of genius by Rahul Gandhi, said Sinha adding he will now join Congress after Navaratri.

Later Congress Bihar in-charge Shakti Singh Gohil confirmed that Sinha was now going to be inducted into the party on April 6.
The slow death of Wunderlist continues. Beginning April 15, Microsoft will disconnect Cortana and Wunderlist, so that you wont be able to issue oral reminders via Cortana any more.

Its a consequence of Microsofts move away from the Wunderlist app, and toward its own Microsoft To-Do. As of January, Cortana integrates with Microsoft To-Do, though youll need to be running a Windows Insider version of the Windows 10 April 2019 Update and follow some convoluted setup instructions to enable it.

In the meantime, though, Microsoft is obliquely notifying customers that Wunderlist is being de-prioritized. Thats because youll have to click on the Cortana/search field, navigate to the Notebook, then to Connected Services, and finally to the Wunderlist button. Clicking that produces the following message:

Starting 15th April, Cortana will no longer sync your Wunderlist lists and tasks, the message reads. Previously synced data will remain accessible from both applications but no new list information will be synced. As the services will no longer be connected, you can only view, edit, and delete your information in Wunderlist or Cortana, separately.

Microsoft reportedly spent between $100 million and $200 million to acquire 6Wunderkinder GmbH in 2015, then left it alone until 2017, when Microsoft launched a pale shadow of the app called To-Do. Microsoft then announced it would retire Wunderlist, but gave no timetable for doing soleaving Microsoft with two note-taking apps, one with far fewer capabilities than the other. Microsofts said since then that it still plans to retire Wunderlist, though for now the service lives on.

Were not currently working on new features for Wunderlist as were concentrating on our new app, Microsoft To-Do, a Microsoft spokeswoman said in a statement. Once we are confident that we have incorporated the best of Wunderlist into Microsoft To-Do, we will retire Wunderlist.

What this means for you: To its credit, Microsoft has addressed several of the shortcomings my colleague Jared Newman addressed in his 2017 critique of To-Dos shortcomings. To-Do now ties into the Windows 10 Mail and Calendar apps, you can share lists (via an emailed link), and there are some other integrations here and there. It still feels awfully bare-bones, however. Meanwhile, since Microsoft pulled out of mobile phones, native Android and iOS apps have commanded the spotlight. For my money, neither Wunderlist nor To-Do can challenge the basic effectiveness of Google Keep at the moment.
A new Kentucky bourbon is coming to Pennsylvania.

Coopers Craft Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is releasing two different expressions of bourbon in the Keystone States Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores in April. Its the first move into Pennsylvania for Coopers, which currently sells its bourbon in only 11 other states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Pennsylvanians will be able to enjoy the Coopers Craft Original (82.2 proof) and the Coopers Craft Barrel Reserve (100 proof). The original has citrusy-notes, as well as hints of baked apple and fresh oak. Its smooth and light and sells for $24.99 for a 750 milliliter bottle at Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores.

The reserve has a smokey smell along with a caramel, vanilla and cinnamon taste. Its finish is one of cinnamon and oak. The more robust-flavored barrel reserve retails for between $29.99 and $32.99 and will only be available via special order.

While the whiskeys be released statewide in April, several Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores already have the Coopers Craft Original in stock, including ones in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Coopers Craft is part of the Brown-Forman company, which also manufactures Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniels. The name draws from the barrel makers (coopers) of Brown-Forman, who have been based in Louisville, Kentucky since 1945. The cooperage is a source of pride for Brown-Forman, as it makes the company the largest major distiller to own its own cooperage.

The barrels themselves play an important part in differentiating the Coopers Craft Original from the Coopers Craft Barrel Reserve. The two bourbons actually begin life as the same spirit, but acquire different flavors due to their different aging processes (even though theyre aged for the same length of time). The original is aged in an American White Oak barrel and is run through a beech and birch charcoal filter. The reserve is aged in a chiseled and charred American White Oak barrel.

I like to think of it as a really nice science experiment because that way were able to showcase how just changing some part of the formula really affects the whiskey, said Coopers Craft brand ambassador Fitz Bailey.

To get the full sensation of each whiskey, Bailey recommends doing a tasting that includes nearly all of your senses.

The first thing he recommends to do is to touch it. For this, he recommends spraying onto your hands a clear, un-aged whiskey. Itll feel a little slimy because of the fatty acids in the liquor. The original Coopers Craft bourbon will feel dry, as the filter it goes through pulls out the acids. The barrel reserve will feel in between the two, as it doesnt go through a filter but it is aged.

Second, Bailey recommends giving the whiskey a look-over, to note the color. The original is light, while the reserve is a rich amber. That should be followed by a sniff.

Then, you give it a Kentucky chew.

You want to prime your tastebuds, so you take a little bit of the bourbon and work it around your mouth, he explained. Because the proof is higher, around 80 [for the original], itll almost shock your tongue so we want to work into it.

After five to ten seconds of the Kentucky chew, its time to do a proper sip. Its then that youll get the flavor notes, Bailey said.

You can learn more about Coopers Craft at cooperscraft.com. To see if its in stock at a Fine Wine and Good Spirits store near you, visit finewineandgoodspirits.com.

This story has been updated to correct the availability of the Barrel Reserve bourbon in Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores. A photo caption has also been updated to correctly identify Coopers Craft as a spirit brand.
Friday, March 29 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

The Hampden Township Veterans Recognition Committee, in conjunction with Lower Allen VFW Post 7530 and Mechanicsburg VFW Post 6704, will be conducting a ceremony to thank and honor all United States veterans who served regardless of location between Nov. 1, 1955, and May 15, 1975.

In this Sept. 21, 1966, file photo, U.S. Marines emerge from their muddy foxholes at sunrise after a third night of fighting against continued attacks of north Vietnamese 324 B division troops during the Vietnam War. The war ended on April 30, 1975, with the fall of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, to communist troops from the north. (AP Photo/Henri Huet, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Veterans who served during this period will be recognized and presented the Vietnam Veterans Lapel Pin.

The ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. March 29 at the Hampden Township Veterans Park, 4345 Marketplace Way, Enola. Parking is available in the Giant Foods Store parking lot across from the park entrance.

SP4 Nelson A. Parker uses field phone to call for air power as Vietnamese patrol is surrounded by Communist Viet Cong in jungle 20 miles north of Saigon in Vietnam on Feb. 15, 1965. Beside him is Sgt. Lloyd E. Rath. Both were U.S. advisers with the patrol. (AP Photo)AP

The program will include a presentation of colors performed by the Pennsylvania VFW Minutemen Color Guard and a joint Field Cross and Honor Guard salute performed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7530 of Lower Allen and American Legion Post 751 of Enola.

The ceremony is open to the public.

For more information, send an email to Gary Coburn at glcmech01@verizon.net or go to www.hampdenpaveterans.org.

U.S. infantrymen pray in the Vietnamese jungle Dec. 9, 1965, during memorial services for comrades killed in the battle of the Michelin rubber plantation, 45 miles northwest of Saigon. (AP Photo/Horst Faas)AP

More than 58,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War - between South Vietnam and the communist North Vietnam.

The United States became involved in November 1955. The war continued until April 30, 1975 - the fall of Saigon.

Wounded U.S. Marines rest in rice paddy while awaiting evacuation by helicopter, background, from a battle area six miles south of Da Nang in South Vietnam on Feb. 9, 1968. Action took place on Dec. 8, 1968, as Marines met with the North Vietnamese second division. (AP Photo)AP

The Vietnam War bitterly divided Americans.

The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, according to history.com.

Protests against the war were common. In October of 1967 about 35,000 people joined a protest outside the Pentagon.

According to history.com, a protest on Nov. 15, 1969, was the largest anti-war demonstration in American history in Washington, D.C. More than 250,000 Americans gathered to support the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam.

A U.S. Marine carries a 3.5-inch rocket launcher and ammunition through a monsoon swollen creek in South Vietnam, Oct. 14, 1966. The 2nd battalion of the 5th Marines was patrolling the jungle mountains south of the demilitarized zone. (AP Photo/Merron)AP

To search a database of Pennsylvanians who died in Vietnam, click here.

Major battles of the Vietnam War included:

The Battle of Ia Drang, Nov. 14-18, 1965.

Battle of Khe Sanh, Jan. 21-April 9, 1968

Tet Offensive, Jan. 30-March 28, 1968

Hamburger Hill, May 10-20, 1969

National Vietnam War Veterans Day was established in 2017 with The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act.

A fleet of U.S. helicopters ferries two fresh Vietnamese battalions to Binh Gia, Jan. 1, 1965, to relieve battered government forces in a five-day fight with strong Viet Cong regiment. Choppers are from the 118th Company. They are flying over the twisted Saigon River. Ground troops were entrapped trying to recover bodies of four Americans killed on New Year's Eve. (AP Photo)AP

The commemoration makes no distinction between veterans who served in-county, in-theater, or were stationed elsewhere during those 20 years.

U.S. soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division sprawl on the jungle floor and fire down a narrow trail and into thick brush from which Viet Cong forces have been pouring heavy fire near Dau Tieng, Nov. 5, 1966. (AP Photo/Al Chang)AP

Three U.S. Navy nurses are decorated with Purple Heart medals in Saigon to become the first American women to receive the medal for service in the Vietnam War at a ceremony on Jan. 7, 1965. The nurses were wounded in an explosion in Hotel Brink in Saigon, Christmas Eve. rom left are, Lt. Barbara J. Wooster of Laurel, Md.; Lt. Ruth A. Mason of Goshen, N.Y.; and Lt. Ann D. Reynold of Dover, New Hampshire. (AP Photo)ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Navy medical corpsman with the 7th Marine Regiment, treats a Montagnard child at Nguoi Trong outpost Aug. 1966, during the Vietnam War. (AP Photo)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Military honors are paid to a U.S. helicopter pilot - the 200th American fatality of fighting in Vietnam - as his coffin begins the trip back to the United States, Oct. 9, 1964, from Saigon. Another victim's coffin is carried in background.(AP Photo)AP

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HOMESTEAD, Pa. (AP)  Authorities say a dispute over a parking spot apparently sparked a shooting that left one man dead and another wounded in western Pennsylvania.

Allegheny County police say Neil Chandler is charged him with criminal homicide, aggravated assault and a weapons count. Its not known if the 42-year-old Homestead man has retained an attorney.

The shooting in Homestead was reported shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday.

Authorities say both victims were taken to a hospital. Thirty-nine-year-old Calvin Walker, of West Mifflin, died there a short time later while a 40-year-old man was treated and released later Thursday. The wounded mans name was not disclosed.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Two men and a teenager robbed a Rite Aid at gunpoint early Thursday morning, according to police.

The trio was apprehended after a pursuit involving officers from Lower Paxton and Swatara townships. A fourth individual remains at large, police said.

Police have arrested and charged the following suspects, who are all from the Washington D.C. area:

Gerard Gaffney, 19, is charged with robbery, conspiracy, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, driving without a license, and reckless driving.

David Marable Jr., 18, is charged with robbery, conspiracy, receiving stolen property, and firearms not to be carried without a license.

A 17-year-old, who police did not identify, is charged with robbery and conspiracy.

Officers in Lower Paxton Township were dispatched at 3:57 a.m. Thursday to the Rite Aid on Union Deposit Road. Employees reported at the time that three men dressed in dark clothing entered the store and demanded prescription medication and cash, according to police.

Police also said a handgun was brandished during the robbery.

While enroute, officers received information that the suspects vehicle was traveling south on East Park Drive toward Derry Street.

Officers with Swatara Township responded to the area and tried to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle, but the vehicle sped away, police said.

The vehicle crashed at the intersection of 63rd and Derry Streets, where Gaffney, Marable, and the teenager were taken into custody. A fourth individual fled on foot into the rail yard underneath the 63rd Street bridge, police said.

Despite officers setting up a perimeter and using multiple K-9 units, the fourth individual has not yet been taken into custody and remains at large, police said.

Marable was found in possession of a stolen firearm, and additional items of evidence were also recovered and pursuant to a search warrant executed later in the day Thursday, police said.

Gaffney, Marable, and the teenager have been placed in Dauphin County Prison in lieu of bail.

The investigation continues, and police said more charges may be filed when it is concluded.
Buddhist monks, Thai dancers and local members of the Buddhist faith are expected to parade in the streets of Carlisle Saturday afternoon in celebration of a new temple.

Saturday will mark the grand opening of the Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple and Meditation Center of Pennsylvania at 51 North Pitt Street in the borough.

Its an event that is expected to attract about a dozen Buddhist monks from across the country, said Nancy Bittinger, one of the temples board members.

They are mostly there for support, she said of the monks. Its a big deal to open a new temple.

For little more than three years, Carlisle area Buddhists hosted their services and mediations at Bittingers local business Bowenwork, a center for alternative healing. But all the time, they were looking to establish a designated temple, Bittinger said.

That search was fruitless until Bittinger one day saw a for sale sign outside of 51 North Pitt Street. In November, temple leaders purchased the building, which Bittinger described as small, and began hosting services, she said.

Now, the building has been retooled and styled to serve as a proper temple, and that is what the Saturday opening is intended to celebrate, Bittinger said.

The grand opening will coincide with the local Buddhists fourth annual Vesaka Day celebration, according to a news release.

The event will include multi-cultural activities, live music, food and blessings from monks and nuns from various Buddhist lineages, according to the release.

Buddhist monks Bhante Soma and Bhante Sujatha are to appear at the grand opening of the Blue Lotus Temple and Meditation Center of Pennsylvania on Saturday.

The local Blue Lotus temple is helmed by an abbott called Bhante Soma. He, along with the visiting monks, will be in attendance Saturday, Bittinger said.

She also made sure to point out that Bhante Sujatha, the founder of the Illinois-based Blue Lotus tradition, will be in attendance.

Its like a pretty big deal that he is here and that he is helping with all of this, Bittinger said.

The celebration is slated to begin with a 4 p.m. ceremony at the temple.

After the ceremony, local Buddhists plan to host a small Peace Parade on Carlisle streets, Bittinger said. The monks, Thai dancers and possibly dragon dancers are expected to participate, she said.

Following the parade, community members will be able to hear from a number of Buddhist leaders, who are scheduled to speak at the First United Church of Christ social hall across the street from the new temple, Bittinger said.

She stressed that local Buddhists are welcoming to members of other religions and that services at the temple were purposely scheduled to avoid conflicts with other religions Sunday services.

According to a news release, the temples mission is to promote individual peace of mind, compassion for all beings, spiritual growth and an ethical way of life based on Buddhist principles.
The sound of chainsaws will rend the silence in the old Midland Cemetery in Swatara Township on Saturday morning in the interest of history and heritage.

And Barbara Barksdale will have her fingers crossed.

The saws, to be wielded by about 20 military veterans from across Pennsylvania, will be felling 25 trees in Ancestor Grove, the oldest section of the cemetery along Kelker Street.

Barksdale, president of the Friends of Midland, said Friday that the trees are being removed to make way for the use of ground penetrating radar that will be employed to try to detect the location and possible contents of graves at the site.

That part of Midland was in use in the late 1700s and early 1800s, a time when slavery still existed in Pennsylvania, Barksdale noted. Many, if not most of the burials in the targeted section of Midland are believed to have been for slaves, she said.

Researchers already know other parts of the cemetery contain the much later graves of black Union veterans of the Civil War, Buffalo Soldiers who fought in the Old West and even African-American veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I, along with many of the areas first black doctors and lawyers.

Barksdale said there are no guarantees as to what the radar to be employed by Rettew Associates will find in Ancestors Grove after the vets from the Team Rubicon service organization clear the trees. The radar survey is to begin next week.

There was no embalming at the time of the 18th and early 19th century burials, and perhaps coffins werent even used, Barksdale said, so the odds of finding many traces after so much time are long. The likelihood of finding anything concrete is almost nil, she said. But I have to try.

I have to protect the people. I have to protect their history, she added.

The radar search will extend onto Kelker Street because it was paved over part of Ancestors Grove, said Barksdale, who has spent decades working with other volunteers to preserve the heritage of the burial ground just outside Steelton.

If identifiable graves are discovered, were going to mark them, she said, even though there will be little, if any, hope of attaching names to the people buried in them.

Volunteer officers from the township police will be on hand to direct traffic during Saturdays tree clearing work, Barksdale said.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is increasingly becoming known for high fares and higher debt loads, thanks in no small part to policy decisions made more than a decade ago to ask the toll road to help pay for other transportation systems around the state.

Heres a look at some of the numbers that the highways operators, state officials and motorists are contending with:

$11.8 billion: This is the level of outstanding debt the states original cross-state toll road is shouldering.

Its on track to exceed all the debt on the books assigned to the rest of state government by next year, and some $6.1 billion of that is directly attributable to the 2007 law passed by legislators and signed into law by then-Gov. Ed Rendell that required the Turnpike - initially intended to simply pay for itself (with your toll dollars) - to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars a year to other statewide transportation needs.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is helping fund projects like construction of the Central Valley Susquehanna Thruway, a 13-mile limited access highway near Selinsgrove, but some worry that this model is not financially sustainable.

$1.45 billion: This is the total revenue collected by the Turnpike Commission in FY 2018, which ended last May 31.

That money is the total of all fares collected, lease agreements with concessionaires, investment earnings and other capital contributions from gas taxes and motor vehicle registrations.

$1.25 billion: Projected toll revenue in the current fiscal year.

By far the biggest share of the revenue pie, this also means that motorists will continue to bear the lions share of the costs to come.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, shown to the left of Pa. Turnpike CEO Mark Compton, said next years turnpike debt is going to be higher than the entire debt the commonwealth owes.

$670.4 million: Bond payments the Turnpike is scheduled to make in the current fiscal year.

A recent report by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale notes that while the Turnpikes consultants believe the highway will be able to make its steadily escalating payments through the next 20 years, its a fragile balance that could be wrecked by driver resistance to steadily-escalating tolls, recessions, fuel price spikes or other developments that cut into expected traffic volumes.

The mounting debt load has also required a scaling back of Turnpike capital projects.

608 of 2018: The federal class-action suit filed by independent truckers that seeks to stop Pennsylvanias practice of using toll collections for purposes other the maintenance and operation of the tolled roads.

This pending case has policy-makers crossing their fingers about the viability of the 2007 transportation funding transfer plan for entirely different reasons.

$494.7 million: The Turnpike Commissions projected operating expenses in the current fiscal year.

Backing out tax revenues reserved for capital projects, DePasquales latest report suggests that the Turnpike Commission will have a surplus of about $32 million after covering its operating expenses and loan repayments.

Pa. Turnpike growth has flattened since growing strongly in the 1990sAuditor General Eugene DePasquale

201.2 million: The number of motorist trips on the Turnpike in 2018.

The traffic mix was 172.5 million passenger cars, and 28.7 million trucks and other commercial vehicles. The traffic count has increased in eight of the last nine years. Through the end of February, it was showing growth of 1.8 percent this year.

The growth rate in traffic volume has flattened considerably, however, since a major toll increase in 2004.

1.7 million: The approximate number of non-payment notices sent out to motorists who used the road but didnt pay tolls so far this year. Thats already exceeded last years total of 1,619,000, with more than two months left in the fiscal year.

Under current state law, repeat violators can have their vehicle registrations suspended with six violations, or an aggregate balance due of $500 or more. In some of the worst cases, felony theft of service charges have been filed.

The more aggressive collection efforts appear to be having some positive effect. The Turnpike brought in more in back tolls ($87.7 million) than it registered in new unpaid notices ($83.2 million) during fiscal 2018.

$73.4 million: What the Turnpike Commission spends yearly on maintenance of its 552-mile system.

40: According to current plans, the number of consecutive years motorists are expected to see toll increases on the Turnpike. The current schedule runs through 2048.

$26.29 / $37: The current fares via EZ-Pass and cash, respectively, for a passenger vehicle trip from Pittsburgh to Valley Forge.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike has gotten a lot more expensive lately, but it is still far from the most expensive toll road in the nation.New Jersey Turnpike Authority

Worth noting: While there are many toll roads across America that are more expensive on a cost-per-mile basis, most of those are much shorter routes that are comprised of time-saving express lanes, or bypasses built to bypass congested arteries in major metro areas.

But the Pennsylvania Turnpike is already one of the highest, cross-state thoroughfares in the nation. Of our neighbors, only the New Jersey Turnpikes EZ-Pass rates cost more.

$75.49 / $106.25: Projected fares, again via EZ-Pass and cash, for that same trip in 2048. As a point of reference, the Pittsburgh-to-Valley Forge trip cost $15.25 in 2008.

Heres a visual look at the current schedule of rate increases across all motorist categories.

5,859: The number of Turnpike employees, contractors, consultants, state police and others who have been granted access to use the Turnpike for free. According to DePasquales latest report, the free-riders used about an average of about $2.8 million per year.

The access is primarily meant for business use, but the Turnpike Commission officials have argued that it is important for their staff to have round-the-clock access to the highway.

82.6: The percentage of all Turnpike fare transactions that are now billed electronically through EZ-Pass or other forms of automated collection.

66: The current number of toll interchanges.

17: The current number of service plazas, where motorists can fill up their tanks, buy a Pennsylvania t-shirt, or get an Auntie Annes soft pretzel.

Construction of the Blue Mountain Tunnel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.Pennsylvania Turnpike

5: The number of mountain tunnels.
On the surface, this might seem like a no-brainer.

A state Commonwealth Court panel ruled Friday that a BJs Wholesale Club employee who was fired after falling asleep on her night shift isnt eligible for unemployment compensation.

Yet this was a split decision by the court.

Judges Anne E. Covey and Michael H. Wojcik found the denial of benefits to Sammiethia A. Jones was justified since her nodding off constituted willful misconduct.

President Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt disagreed. In a dissenting opinion, she argued that it isnt clear whether Jones, an asset protection associate, deliberately violated the BJs rule against sleeping on the job. The case should be sent back to the state Unemployment Compensation Board of Review for further consideration of that particular point, Leavitt contended.

Nodding off on the job does not automatically constitute willful misconduct, even if the employer has a work rule against sleeping, Leavitt wrote.

According to the courts majority opinion by Covey, Jones, of Philadelphia, had been working for BJs for nearly nine years when she dozed off around 2 a.m. on Aug. 16, 2017. Her firing was immediate. BJs policy, Covey noted, is that it will discharge and employee for a first offense of falling asleep on the job.

Jones was aware of this rule, Covey wrote, yet she did not seek (her) employers assistance in regard to preventing sleep or tiredness issues. Any claim by Jones that she didnt know of the no-dozing rule is baseless because that regulation is part of the employee manual she received, Covey found.

While the court is sympathetic to (Jones)she worked the overnight shift for a year and a half and never expressed a concern to her employer about staying awake, Covey added.

Thats not exactly the case, Leavitt countered in her dissenting opinion. She noted that Jones, who acted as her own lawyer in appealing the unemployment comp denial, had started her career at BJs on the daylight shift. She cited testimony Jones gave the compensation board regarding her employers decision to shift her to night work in November 2016.

They offered me a job to work overnight, which I told them that it would be hard; that I would absolutely try my best, Leavitt quoted Jones as saying. The judge also noted Jones husband has a medical condition that requires Jones to see to his care.

Jones didnt tell her bosses about her difficulty in adjusting to the night shift, but did stay on the lookout for other daylight jobs at BJs, Leavitt wrote. She pointed to Jones testimony that she had a busy day taking care of her husband before falling asleep at work, and had not had a chance to nap before starting her shift at 10 p.m.

A key factor in Jones case, Leavitt said, is that she did not abandon her postShe simply nodded off at her desk.

Leavitt cited another unemployment comp sleeping case her court addressed in 2010 where a Philadelphia Parking Authority worker was found not to have committed willful misconduct when she nodded off on the job. That worker also had a night shift and had too little to do. She asked the employer for more work lest she konk out, Leavitt noted.
The controversy surrounding Mondays opening prayer in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on the day the chambers first Muslim woman was sworn into office has yet to get an amen.

Legislative leaders plan to meet to talk about House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody of Allegheny Countys request to form a committee to develop guidelines for the opening prayer, according to Dermodys spokesman. An attempt to get that confirmed from Republican leaders was unsuccessful on Thursday.

Rep. Kevin Boyle, D-Philadelphia, has introduced a resolution that urges members offering an opening prayer to craft one that is respectful of all religious beliefs.

Boyle said he created the resolution after hearing what he called a fire and brimstone evangelical prayer that epitomizes religious intolerance from Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, R-Clinton County, at the start of Mondays House session.

Borowicz, who has declined to respond to several messages left at her office seeking comment, spoke about her prayer on a Christian radio show on Thursday.

During Thursdays radio show on the American Pastors Network, Borowicz was quoted as saying, "I had no idea that that would cause controversy. It wasnt directed at anyone. Nonetheless, she said she stood by her prayer and doesnt apologize for her words.

Along with being nervous and excited about offering the prayer, she said the way she prayed on the House floor is how she prayers with her family. According to Philly.com, Borowicz told the American Pastors Network that when she gave the invocation from the House rostrum, she prayed as I always did.

Several Democratic representatives said Borowiczs prayer tarnished the swearing-in ceremony of Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, a Philadelphia Democrat.

Johnson-Harrell had 55 guests  most of them Muslim like herself  seated in the well of the House in front of the rostrum to witness her taking the oath of office. Five generations of her family were present, including her three children and three of four grandchildren. Johnson-Harrell said she bowed her head out of respect when Borowicz started to pray.

As Borowiczs words continued, Johnson-Harrell said she realized what she was hearing no longer sounded to her like a prayer but more like a political statement intended to weaponize my swearing-in with the mention of Israel, President Trump, Gov. Tom Wolf, and a forefather who owned slaves.

Johnson-Harrell said she felt attacked and some of her guests even became heated over Borowiczs words and she had to console them.

Borowiczs prayer came to an abrupt end after state Rep. Margo Davidson, D-Delaware, shouted objection.

At that point, House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, reached out to Borowicz in what appeared to be an effort to end the prayer, but not before Borowicz said, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus, that you are Lord.

Davidson told PennLive other members were giving non-verbal cues to try to get Turzai to cut off the prayer when it moved beyond prayer into something closer to sermonizing and remarks. She said she shouted objection in accordance with House rules. The rules allow remarks to be made under unanimous consent but if one member objects, the remarks must cease.

I am not sure everyone was aware of the rules so I needed to stop what was happening, said Davidson, an admitted evangelical Christian. It was disrespectful.

But some Republicans said they were put off at hearing the imans recitation of the Al Fatiha, the first surah of the Quran, in Arabic at the start of Johnsons swearing-in.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler County, said whenever rabbis have prayed in Hebrew in the past, they always followed it up with an English translation.

It was offensive that the speaker would have allowed someone to carry on in a different language offering what he was proclaiming to be a prayer that no one else around him could understand other than a few people who were guests with him, Metcalfe said.

Metcalfe also was irritated by the Democrats stares and body language directed at Borowicz after Dermody made comments about her prayer being divisive and beneath the dignity of the House. He further disliked a statement that Johnson-Harrell made to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star accusing other members of being Islamophobic. Metcalfe is seeking support from other Republicans to have her censured.

In his news release, Boyle, who said he walked off the floor in protest during the opening prayer, reacted to Borowiczs statements regarding that prayer.

This is not your home where you can say whatever you want, Boyle said. "It is the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where we show a common decency to one another.
Kutztown University said this week a student has come down with a likely case of mumps and advised students that if they experience symptoms they should contact the university health center or a doctor.

The student with mumps is recovering at home and wont return to campus until cleared by a doctor, the school said.

Mumps, which is highly contagious, causes symptoms similar to the flu as well as a swollen jaw and puffy cheeks. It can be spread through things such as sharing beverages, living in close quarters and kissing.

People usually fully recovery from the mumps, although in rare cases it causes dangerous inflammation of the brain or other organs.

Cases of mumps became rare as a result of the MMR vaccine, which protects against mumps but which can eventually wear off. However, Temple University in Philadelphia is in the midst of a mumps outbreak that has grown to more than 100 cases. About 2,000 students and staff received mumps booster shots during a clinic at the school this week, and a second clinic was scheduled for Friday.
Construction officially began Friday on Penn State Healths 108-bed hospital in Hampden Township in Cumberland County.

Hampden Medical Center, expected to cost $200 million, is scheduled to open during the summer of 2021. Its being built on a site just north of Wertzville Road between Good Hope Road and Interstate 81.

Officials of Penn State Health, the parent of Penn State Health Milton Hershey Medical Center, said the new hospital will be staffed with about 600 people when it opens, with the figure expected to rise to about 1,000 after a few years.

The three-story hospital will include an emergency room as well a portion devoted to medical offices. To appease nearby homeowners, Penn State Health opted not to land medical helicopters at the hospital.

The hospital will be circled by a walking trail and have berms and landscaping to buffer it from an abutting neighborhood.

Alan Brechbill, who oversees hospital operations for Penn State Health, said the new hospital will be a smaller community hospital rather than a mini version of Penn State Healths flagship 500-bed academic medical center near Hershey in Dauphin County.

Unlike the larger hospital, where all the doctors are employed by Penn State Health and typically serve on the staff of Penn State College of Medicine, the Hampden hospital will have an open staff. That means any local doctors, including independent doctors or those who work for other health systems, can obtain privileges to admit patients and care for them.

Penn State Health officials held a ground breaking ceremony on Friday amid a large gathering of employees and elected officials.

Participants included a top executive of health insurer Highmark, which recently partnered with Penn State Health to invest $1 billion in medical services and facilities in the region.

In partnering with Penn State Health, Highmark ensures that people in the Harrisburg region covered by Highmark health insurance will never lose access to local doctors and hospitals. Concerns about access arose after UPMC absorbed the former Pinnacle Health System, creating the possibility UPMC could someday cut off access to Highmark members, as it did in Pittsburgh.

UPMC, meanwhile, has said it has no plans to make such a move in central Pennsylvania. Moreover, the dividing of the health care market in the Pittsburgh region, which followed a long running dispute between UPMC and Highmark, has been poorly received by patients, businesses and state officials.

The new Penn State Health hospital is within a mile of UPMC Pinnacles West Shore Hospital, where an expansion project is just getting under way.
Stephanie Borowicz, a first-term Pennsylvania representative from Clinton County, has received national attention following criticism of a prayer she gave in the state House on March 25.

On the day that the state Houses only Muslim woman, Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, was sworn into office, Borowicz gave an invocation in which she mentioned Jesus more than a dozen times and praised President Donald Trump for standing beside Israel, unequivocally.

Democratic lawmakers have condemned Borowiczs remarks.

In a video, House Democratic Whip Jordan Harris said prayer was weaponized from the speakers dais. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said he was horrified by the invocation, according to The Associated Press.

Borowicz has stood by her remarks.

The Washington Post, USA Today and other national outlets have picked up the story.

Kris Eng, chairperson of the Centre County Republican Party, defended Borowicz.

Shes always been very clear about her beliefs. Shes never hidden anything. She makes it clear that Christ is the center of her life, and that is her belief, Eng said in a phone interview Wednesday, later adding, Why is she now vilified because of how she prayed?

Borowicz was elected to office in 2018 after flipping a Democratic seat. Heres a look at who she is, how she won election to the state House and what shes focused on as a lawmaker so far.

Borowiczs background

She grew up in Orlando, Florida, according to a WPSU profile, and graduated from Vanguard University, a Christian university in Orange County, California.

On a legislative website, she describes herself as a mother, former fourth-grade teacher and pastors wife.

The bio says she is deeply committed to protecting our God-given rights and freedoms from intrusive government overreach, which includes safeguarding our Second Amendment liberties and protecting the sanctity of all human life.

How Borowicz got into office

Borowicz first ran for state representative in 2016, challenging a longtime Democratic lawmaker, Mike Hanna Sr. At the time, Hanna was the minority whip in the House.

A video from that 2016 campaign shows Borowicz talking about the importance of religion in her campaign. Were God-fearing, God-loving people, she says. No one is offended here when I knock on their door and I mention Jesus and God.

Borowicz lost that race.

But she ran again in 2018. This time, Hanna didnt seek re-election. Instead, Hannas son, Mike Hanna Jr., ran on the Democratic side.

A WPSU profile of the race said she was running as a Christian conservative and references the Bible often in her campaign.

Borowicz won with nearly 54 percent of the vote  or a margin of more than 1,500 votes.

Chris Ellis, an associate political science professor at Bucknell University, said the approach in her campaign was similar to the approach people can see in the invocation video.

I think what happened is not a surprise and I think it plays fairly well for her district, Ellis said.

Who Borowicz represents

Her district is made up of Clinton County and a northern part of Centre County.

Clinton County is home to Lock Haven University, one of the state universities in Pennsylvania.

In the county of about 39,000 people, about 96 percent of the people are white. The median household income is under $48,000 a year.

Centre County is home to the main campus of Penn State. Borowicz represents a rural area north of the University Park campus. The total population of the county is about 163,000, and about 88 percent of the people are white. The median household income is more than $56,000.

In 2016, Republican Donald Trump won 65 percent of the vote in Clinton County. Trump lost Centre County, but he did better in the part of county that Borowicz represents.

Rep. Borowicz on her controversial prayer: "That's how I pray everyday." When asked to respond to Dems calling for an apology she says "Oh no, I don't apologize ever for praying"  Andrew Bahl (@AndrewBahl) March 25, 2019

What laws shes tried pass

In early February, she sent out a co-sponsorship memo, seeking support for legislation that would ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

This legislation will be another great rallying cry for us to save babies around this state and possibly around the nation, she wrote in a co-sponsorship memo.

That bill hasnt been introduced yet.

Shes signed onto other legislation, including a resolution that would condemn the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement condemn against Israel as an antisemitic political movement.

Shes signed on to legislation on less controversial topics. Pennsylvania, for instance, has the second largest number of dairy farms nationally.

She signed on to a bill that would allow milk haulers to travel on highways during a declaration of a disaster emergency  a time when there are restrictions on commercial vehicles.
Childhood trauma is a widespread issue. According to Child Trends, nearly half of children in the United States and in Pennsylvania have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, or ACE, which often leads to traumatic stress. Research is clear that traumatic stress in children can negatively impact cognitive, academic and behavioral outcomes.

Yet schools are not equipped to address these problems. A recent ACLU report notes that 90 percent of U.S. public schools do not meet the minimum standards for providing adequate mental health staff (school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses)/ The report recommends school districts expand trauma-informed services and trainings.

Research for Actions new brief, Trauma-Informed Schools in Pennsylvania: Aligning Expansion with High-Quality Implementation, provides a pathway towards that goal. In it we highlight how trauma-informed schools work and provide recommendations for how to expand this approach to education.

What, exactly, is trauma-informed school?

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network defines a trauma-informed school system as one in which all teachers, school administrators, staff, students, families, and community members recognize and respond to the behavioral, emotional, relational and academic impact of traumatic stress on those within the school system.

A trauma-informed approach to education requires a shift in school culture -- not simply a one-time training session or the addition of another program to fit on top of an existing school structure. Trauma-informed approaches impact every aspect of school operations and personal interactions and use a multi-tiered approach that involves school-wide education about trauma as well as group and individualized intensive supports.

Implementing trauma-informed approaches often requires the support of community partnerships, as well as system-level changes in both policy and practice, considerable action planning, strong leadership, and financial resources. It also requires support from and for school staff at every level.

Pennsylvania has begun to recognize the need for our schools to address our childrens trauma. For instance, Act 44 calls for schools to provide safety training that includes trauma-informed education. Governor Wolfs School Safety Task Force released recommendations in August 2018 which also included, among other reforms, the adoption of trauma-informed approaches. Schools and districts across the Commonwealth are already shifting toward trauma-informed models.

These are encouraging developments. Trauma-informed approaches in schools lead to increased student engagement and attendance and decreased disciplinary office referrals and suspensions. Trauma-informed practices have also been associated with improvements in coping skills, behavior, and graduation indicators over multiple years.

Ongoing research is needed to confirm these preliminary outcomes, but new initiatives to expand trauma-informed approaches hold significant promise.

Mark Duffy is a Senior Research Associate and Rachel Comly is a Senior Research Analyst at Research for Action, a nonprofit education research organization based in Philadelphia. Learn more at www.researchforaction.org.
Turnover sink Petoskey in Saturday matchup with Menominee

PETOSKEY  The early portion of the season always comes with lessons and learning curves, some of which are learned the hard way.
AUSTIN, Texas  Everything goes on the line on Friday with multiple scenarios still in the mix as we try to get to our final 16 who make it to the weekend at Austin Country Club. Four-man playoff anyone? With only 20 of the 64 players officially without any hope of advancing, plenty of excitement awaits.

MATCH PLAY: Scores | Group Standings | Bracket | Group scenarios | Day 2 match recaps | Watch PGA TOUR LIVE, 10:15 a.m. ET



FOR ALL THE MARBLES

Henrik Stenson (37) vs. Jim Furyk (52)  These two veterans come together knowing the winner advances. Despite being around match play for decades the pair have never gone head to head before. Both took down fellow major winners Jason Day and Phil Mickelson to get here.

Justin Rose (2) vs. Gary Woodland (22)  Woodland actually has the upper hand in this match given a tie would send him through, but it can only be one of these two make the weekend. FedExCup champion Rose fought back late to earn a half on Thursday allowing him the knowledge a win against Woodland will be enough to advance.

FOUR-MAN PLAYOFF?

Xander Schauffele (9) vs. Rafa Cabrera Bello (29)  Should Cabrera Bello beat Schauffele in this match, he might force his way into a playoff with the former Rookie of the Year. That playoff in Group 9 could contain four men if Lee Westwood finds a way to beat countryman Tyrrell Hatton (see below). Schauffele is guaranteed at worst a playoff if he wins.

Tyrrell Hatton (35) vs. Lee Westwood (62)  Like above, Westwood can give himself a chance at a playoff if he can beat Hatton. Hatton can secure himself at least a playoff if he wins. If Westwood prevails and Cabrera Bello does likewise in the above match, all four will go to sudden death! Read about all group scenarios here:

Tony Finau (14) vs. Ian Poulter (30)  A win for either man guarantees at the very least a playoff to advance against a potential winner in the Kisner/Mitchell match. A tie could be enough to force a four-man showdown in Group 14, but only if the above-mentioned match also ends in a tie.

Kevin Kisner (48) vs. Keith Mitchell (56)  See above. Just switch the names.

MUST WIN FOR TIGER

Tiger Woods (13) vs. Patrick Cantlay (18)  After a loss to Brandt Snedeker, three-time champion Woods faces an uphill battle to advance to the weekend knockout phase. First, Woods must beat Cantlay and then hope winless Aaron Wise can find a way to either beat or tie Snedeker in their match. If Wise and Woods win, Woods advances. If Wise ties and Woods wins, he will go into a sudden death playoff with Snedeker looking for revenge. Read about Woods loss here .

PRIDE ONLY
First: Sandra Day OConnor

By Evan Thomas

Random House. 476 pp. $32

Reviewed by Julie Cohen

A major biography like First by Evan Thomas draws its power not only from the people and events it depicts but also from the culture into which its launched. The white-hot polarization in the age of Trump makes Sandra Day OConnors preference for cool civility and compromise seem especially appealing. And this eras struggle for womens rights, energized by the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements, makes this the right time to take stock of the country club cowgirl who managed to climb higher than any American woman had before.

On Aug. 19, 1981, President Ronald Reagan made good on a campaign promise to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court. OConnor got the call and breezed through her confirmation with a 99-to-0 vote.

That OConnor found herself the highest-ranking woman ever in American government was no accident. Thomas vividly sketches the attributes she used to clear the high barriers to female ascendancy: a knack for brushing past insults, relentlessness belied by a pretty smile, an almost superhuman level of energy, and, not least, a heroically supportive husband. John OConnor was a successful lawyer in his own right but willing to take a backseat if it meant helping his wife achieve her lofty goals.

This list of assets will sound familiar to Ruth Bader Ginsburg aficionados. (Though, unlike the kitchen-averse RBG, SDO could whip up a tasty salmon mousse when the need arose.) While Ginsburg in her pre-justice days distinguished herself by fighting to secure gender equality under the Constitution, OConnor was no flaming feminist. If she had been, the Reaganites surely would have looked elsewhere. As a politician eager to distance herself from womens libbers, she addressed a Rotary Club with the evocative line: I come to you with my bra and my wedding ring on. In the State Senate, OConnor played a key role in striking down hundreds of Arizona laws discriminating against women, but she didnt put her political weight behind passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. After the Supreme Courts 1973 Roe v. Wade opinion, she voted against a resolution calling for an antiabortion constitutional amendment but supported key measures restricting womens access to abortions.

It was the same style of compromise - some might say fence-straddling - that OConnor would employ as a Supreme Court justice. Some legal scholars have criticized her for seeking to decide cases on narrow grounds, leaving larger constitutional issues unresolved. In Thomas more generous interpretation, OConnors judicial minimalism flowed naturally from a realpolitik shed honed as, well, a real politician.

OConnor was temperate on abortion rights cases, resisting numerous attempts by her conservative colleagues to strike down Roe but not issuing the ringing endorsement of reproductive freedom that liberals might have favored. Her split-the-difference standard: States can regulate reproductive rights so long as their rules dont place an "undue burden" on a woman seeking an abortion. In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992), which she co-authored with Justices David Souter and Anthony Kennedy, OConnors "undue burden" standard became the law of the land.

First does give us a real sense of Sandra Day OConnor the human being. Cinematic scenes from her upbringing on the family ranch find young Sandra changing a tire all by herself as she struggles to get the chuck wagon to the cowboys before cattle-branding time. Thomas shows how well her flintiness served OConnor in adulthood. She faces down Stage 2 cancer and a mastectomy with minimal self-pity, doing chemo on Fridays so she could be back on the bench for Monday oral arguments (a regimen passed on to the equally flinty Ginsburg when she, too, got cancer).

Thomas also reveals OConnor to be likable and quirky, a woman who yelled, Hot diggity dog! when she hooked a trout and who got a charge out of Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. The scenes of OConnor retiring early to help care for her husband as he struggles with Alzheimers are poignant, the news of her own diagnosis with that same brutal disease even more so.

Thomas gives OConnor the credit she deserves. As he suggests, even for those made uneasy by her sometimes-pallid support for Roe v. Wade, or nauseated by her ruling with the majority to cut off the Florida recount in the 2000 Bush v. Gore case, we owe her some respect. Without OConnors crucial fifth votes, both legalized abortion and affirmative action could well have lost their protection under the Constitution. And her strong work through a quarter-century on the Supreme Court paved the way for Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and the others who will follow.

The first step to getting power is to become visible to others, and then to put on an impressive show, OConnor said in a 1990 speech (later quoted admiringly by Ginsburg). As women achieve power, the barriers will fall . . . And well all be better off for it. To which so many women - millennial and older, progressive, and conservative - might say in unison: Amen, sister.

Julie Cohen is the director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary RBG, along with her filmmaking partner Betsy West.
Can King Lear survive a monarch-sized hole at its center? The Quintessence Theatre Group production playing at the Sedgwick Theater through April 20 grapples with that question, as a critical piece of miscasting threatens to crater Shakespeares greatest tragedy.

Robert Jason Jackson, an unnecessarily imported actor from the Midwest, brings little more than a sonorous basso profundo to the hubristic ruler. Those who like to hear Shakespeares poetry intoned mellifluously will delight in his velvety timbre, but if you long to connect with Lears emotional journey, you might find yourself, like the old king, lost in the wilderness.

Jacksons Lear remains remarkably sane and placid from first to last. He seems certain of his decision to cleave his kingdom into thirds and divide it among his daughters, as he should in that moment. But as his tether from reality progressively loosens, Jackson keeps an even keel, which results in a long and bland evening. (The production runs nearly 3 hours.) Dont expect a dark night of the soul, or even a momentary black cloud.

In recent years, Quintessence has presented some of the finest senior actors in Philadelphia: Frank X and Johnnie Hobbs Jr. in a brilliant Waiting for Godot; Dan Kern as the cantankerous professor in Uncle Vanya; Paul Hebron as both the preening Tyrone of Long Days Journey into Night and the broken Old Ekdal in The Wild Duck. It seems a waste to bring in a ringer when any one of those local gents could have delivered a more compelling performance.

Its a shame, too, because director Alexander Burns assembles an unusually strong supporting cast. It will come as no surprise that J Hernandez continues to burnish his reputation as the regions premier classical actor with his cunningly malevolent turn as Edmund, the scheming bastard son of the Earl of Gloucester (commanding, sympathetic E. Ashley Izard, in a sharp bit of gender-swapped casting). Or that Gregory Isaac, unrecognizable from his suave turn in Lantern Theater Companys Betrayal, makes a dignified, earthy Kent.

Goneril and Regan come across not as cartoonish villains but as forces to be reckoned with in blazing performances by Donnie Hammond and Anita Holland, respectively. Eunice Akinola wrests Cordelia from wet-blanket territory with forthright clarity.

Burns  who also designed the striking minimalist sets and intrusive soundtrack  isnt immune to bad ideas. He imagines the Fool (played here by a grating D.J. Gleason) as a cross between Buster Keaton and a borscht belt schlockmeister. His staging takes a peripatetic approach, moving the action  and the audience  throughout the Sedgwick at various intervals. This choice adds little more than chaos and confusion to the proceedings. The phrase herding cats comes to mind.

If you seek a fully satisfying Lear, you may need to turn to another Jackson  Oscar-winner Glenda, whose own interpretation opens on Broadway next week.

Theater

King Lear

Through April 20 at Quintessence Theatre Group, Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Avenue. Tickets: $15-35. Information: 215-987-4450; quintessencetheatre.org.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaks outside Francis Scott Key Public School at 8th and Wolf Streets in South Philadelphia to propose immediate funding to Philadelphia Public Schools. Read more

A group of state and local lawmakers and union leaders has done the math: It would cost $170 million, they said Friday, to remedy all the urgent health and safety problems inside the Philadelphia School District.

The money would go to not just remove lead paint and asbestos problems underscored by The Inquirers reporting, but to replace leaky windows and roofs, install new heating systems, upgrade electrical service, and pay for more cleaners to ameliorate the rodent and bug problems that plague many city schools.

Lawmakers, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan, and Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said that the money would have to come from state, local, and federal funds, but that they had no specific plan to get it. .

For too long, students across our city and our state have suffered from a catastrophic disinvestment in school facilities, said State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D., Phila.), standing outside Francis Scott Key Elementary, the districts oldest school. It was built in 1889, and, like many schools across the city, has a host of problems.

Officials said the $170 million is comprised of mostly onetime costs, but did include recurring expenses, like hiring more cleaners to keep schools in better shape, which would address the infestation issues.

The group, which has dubbed itself the Fund our Facilities Coalition," said each of the Philadelphia School Districts funders would be responsible for part of the cash, but suggested that the state would have to pick up a large share of the tab.

When we get to Harrisburg, one of the key issues is going to be education funding; it always is, said State Sen. Larry Farnese (D., Phila.), alluding to ongoing budget negotiations. This year, were underscoring the facilities piece.

Gov. Wolf last week proposed a severance tax on natural gas extraction to fund a $4.5 billion plan that would pay for the removal of lead paint from schools in Philadelphia and the rest of the state, but that faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled legislature. Wolf last year earmarked $7.6 million in new state cash to fix lead paint at some schools, but that only tackled a handful of classrooms, State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.) said.

City Councilwoman Helen Gym noted that the group was asking for real money, she said, and while there is no clear path now, I know that we dont get anywhere unless we make a whole lot of noise.

Weingarten, the national teachers union president, said forming a group to push was a start.

What you see here is an unprecedented coalition to say, We must make sure we do not poison our children, said Weingarten.

What kind of response the plea might receive in Harrisburg is unclear. A spokesman for House Republicans on Friday did not respond to a request for comment.

Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the office held by State. Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler.
Ben Dickey, who starred as legendary Texas songwriter Blaze Foley in Ethan Hawke's 2018 biopic 'Blaze,' is on tour in support of his new album 'Glimmer On The Outskirts.' The former Philadelphian plays the Ardmore Music Hall on April 4 as the opening act for Hayes Carll . Read more

When Ben Dickey left Philadelphia in 2014, he was ~in a bad way.

Blood Feathers, the rock band he cofronted with Drew Mills, had broken up after releasing Curse & Praise in 2006 and Goodness Gracious in 2010, two superb albums that never found a wide audience.

The songwriters job as chef at Johnny Brendas, the Fishtown gastropub and music venue he helped open in 2006, had become all-consuming. After a close friend and coworker was killed in bicycle accident, Dickey was reeling, suffering some kind of breakdown.

The Arkansas native had to get away. Recording a solo album before he left Philly as a calling card, he headed back down South. Settling in a tiny northwest Louisiana town where he and his visual artist partner, Beth Blofson, are two of three total residents, he aimed to get his creative life back in balance.

Mission accomplished. On Thursday, the 41-year-old guitarist will return to his old stomping grounds when he plays the Ardmore Music Hall, opening for Texas songster Hayes Carll.

Dickey is touring in support of Glimmer on the Outskirts (Sex Hawke Black ***), his fine new solo album produced by Austin guitar ace Charlie Sexton that earned him the artist to watch distinction from Philly radio station WXPN-FM (88.5) this month.

And, oh, yeah, Dickey is also coming back to town a movie star. The 6-foot-5 troubadour made his feature film debut in the title role in the 2018 impressionistic biopic Blaze.

The movie tells the story of revered songwriter Blaze Foley, who died in 1989 under mysterious circumstances. Foleys songs have been covered by Merle Haggard, Townes Van Zandt, and John Prine, and his reputation was burnished by Drunken Angel, Lucinda Williams song on her 1998 album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

Dickeys quietly commanding performance  all the more impressive coming from a first time actor  earned him praise. (The movie is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and Google Play and comes out on DVD on May 7.)

Blaze has also given Dickey a platform to play his own music. The project opened a giant conduit for me to express myself and be seen, Dickey said last week from Austin, Texas, where he was set to hit the road after doing a dozen-plus shows at the SXSW music festival. I owe that to Ethan, and to Blaze.

Ethan is Ethan Hawke, the actor and filmmaker who directed and cowrote Blaze and who has been a supporter of Dickeys for more than a decade.

Hawke, who won an Independent Spirit award for his role as a tormented priest in Paul Schraders First Reformed and who played a real-life music star in Born to be Blue, the 2015 Chet Baker biopic, became friends with Dickey through his wife, Ryan Shawhughes. She went to elementary school with Blofson, who was Blazes art director.

An ardent Blood Feathers fan who lent the band his house in Nova Scotia to record Goodness Gracious, Hawke has been encouraging Dickey for years to act. He finally convinced him with Blaze, a project that grew out of their mutual admiration for the music, spurred by John Prines covering Foleys Clay Pigeons on his 2005 album Fair & Square.

Prines version sent Dickey down a Foley rabbit hole. I reckon myself a musical archaeologist, he said. And the more I listened, the more I loved his music. The power of that simplicity.

"I realized how much we had in common. Hes from Arkansas, Im from Arkansas. He moved and spent some time in Georgia, and so did I. There are friends inside our families that know one another. All these eerie confluences. And then Sybil and I became great friends.

Sybil is Sybil Rosen, author of Living in the Woods in a Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley, which provided the template for Hawkes movie. Shes played by Alia Shawkat, and Rosen plays her own mother.

She and I became super-close, says Dickey. And inside of that friendship I gave myself permission to not question anything I was doing. The only thing I was hyper-focused on was taking care of Blazes music. I didnt want to do an impression of Blaze. I wanted to stand where he stood and stand what he stood for.

Still, Dickey admits he found the idea of acting terrifying. And as far as Hawke was concerned, that was the appropriate attitude.

If he wasnt terrified, he would have been an a-, Hawke says with a laugh. I was taking a huge risk on him.

But Hawke had abundant faith. When I first told him he should play Blaze, he thought I was kidding.

But Hawke, who also got an empathetic performance from Sexton as Van Zandt, says, The separation of the arts is pretty arbitrary. You watch Ben on stage and hes a performer. He hypnotizes people. Its a lever you can move and push the river in a different direction. Forget singing for a bit: Just memorize these lines and think about what they mean to you the same way you think about what that song means to you.

And, besides, I wasnt asking him to play Albert Einstein. If Daniel Day-Lewis was cast in this role, it would take him seven to 10 years to prepare so he could know as much about music as Ben already knows.

 READ MORE: Ethan Hawke to adapt Lambertville author James McBrides The Good Lord Bird

Dickey will play a small role in The Good Lord Bird, the forthcoming Showtime TV series adaption of Lambertville author James McBrides novel about John Brown and the 19th-century abolitionist movement; Hawke will star and executive-produce. Dickey aims to approach acting with the same discipline and creativity that he brought to the kitchen and concert stage.

He saw that same discipline reflected in William Reed and Paul Kimport, his former bosses at Johnny Brendas. He praised them for the way they look at the world. Thats the way I look at music.

Theres a paramilitary element of discipline in making sure the technique is there. But at the same time, youre on an adventure, youre trying to express yourself. Youre trying to turn people on and make them happy. Its like running a band. Theres harmony involved, and hard work.

Dickey fell in love with Philadelphia" after following musical friends to the city in search of affordable housing in 1997. He worked in restaurants and played in bands and shot hoops on South Philly playgrounds as he got his big-city musical and culinary education.

Blaze has turned Dickey into an ambassador for Foley, a responsibility he takes seriously. Some people who are like true-blue Austinites, people who knew Blaze, come up to me and treat me like a proxy for someone they really love. Along with nine original songs, the slow-burning Glimmer, which bears the influence of Bob Dylan, includes a frisky cover of Foleys philosophical Sitting By the Road.

The association with Foley has also given Dickey the opportunity to get the attention of roots music and rock-and-roll fans that the Blood Feathers were never able to reach.

I thought it was really important that Ben record some new music and not get sucked into playing Blaze Foley covers the rest of his life," Hawke says. "Hes a serious musician in his own right.

To aid in that pursuit, Hawke cofounded the SexHawkeBlack label imprint of Nashville record company Dualtone. Glimmer is the first release from the venture of Sexton, Hawke, and Austin Chronicle and SXSW Film Festival founder Louis Black. The goal, Hawke says, is to help Glimmer find an audience, and then support other unsung artists, the Blaze Foleys that are out there that are still alive.

Forming an intimate relationship with Foleys spirit was a psychedelic experience, Dickey says, that made him a better musician. My songs are coming out more fully formed now."

Most of the tunes on Glimmer, like the road-trip escape of Sing That One to Me and the Nick Lowe-worthy Eloise, were written after filming was over, then recorded with Sexton in an Austin studio that was formerly the workplace of Willie Nelson.

Usually, I write songs in clusters of six or seven, Dickey says. But I forced myself to stop when I made Blaze. I didnt want to have the way I normally function take over the front seat of the car. And then when I stopped making the movie, it was like I had all these dragonflies at my window, and when I rolled it down, they just flew in.
Members of the Icelandic band Sigur Ros have been charged with tax evasion, three years after local authorities launched a probe into the avant-garde rock bands finances. The indictment, issued by the District Prosecutor on Thursday, March 28, 2019 accuses the Nordic nations prominent musicians of submitting incorrect tax returns from 2011 to 2014, evading a total of 151 million Icelandic Krona ($1.2 million). Read more

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP)  Members of the Icelandic avant-garde rock band Sigur Ros have been charged with tax evasion three years after authorities launched a probe of the group's finances.

An indictment issued by the district prosecutor Thursday accused the prominent musicians of submitting incorrect tax returns from 2011 to 2014, evading a total of 151 million Icelandic Krona ($1.2 million).

The band's four members faulted their former accountant and said they cooperated with tax authorities after learning about the inaccurate tax returns.

In a statement Thursday, they vowed to clear the Sigur Ros name and said the group "regrets seeing the case end up in court."

Assets of the four, including apartments and houses worth $6.5 million, will be frozen pending trial, authorities said. Two-thirds of the assets belong to Sigur Ros frontman Jon Thor Birgisson, who currently lives in Los Angeles.

Birgisson is charged with evading about $240,000 in income taxes and another $105,000 in taxes on his investment income.

According to the prosecutor, other band members  Georg Holm, Kjartan Sveinsson and Orri Pall Dyrason  allegedly neglected reporting a total of $1.6 million in income, of which they should have paid about $725,000 in taxes.

In Iceland, general income tax for high earners is 46 percent.

Holm and Dyrason are also accused of evading about $150,000 in taxes on investments.

"The members of Sigur Ros are musicians  not experts on bookkeeping and international finance," defense lawyer Bjarnfredur Olafsson said in a statement.

A court date has not set.
Owners Cathy Lee (left) and Francis Cretarola (back) with Christine Thompson (front) and chef Damon Menapace at Le Virtu restaurant in South Philadelphia. Read more

Now this is a delicious development.

After reading my column about a South Philadelphia restaurant selling bread pudding in support of an immigrant family seeking sanctuary at a local church, Di Bruno Bros. will also start selling the family dessert in their Rittenhouse Square location starting this weekend through April.

The co-owners of East Passyunk Avenues Le Virtu, Francis Cratil-Cretarola and Catherine Lee, have been offering the Thompson familys bread pudding at their restaurant since the beginning of the month, with all proceeds from the sales going to the family.

Oneita Thompson learned the recipe over a charcoal fire in an island nation she and her husband, Clive, fled in 2004 after gangs burned their farm and threatened their lives. Facing deportation after building a life in the U.S., which they entered on visitor visas, they sought refuge last year at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, where theyve since lived with their two teenage children.

Their 16-year-old daughter, Christine, who was born in the U.S., took the cherished family recipe to the South Philadelphia restaurant, where she taught chef Damon Menapace how to make the sweet concoction, which includes cherries and raisins soaked in white rum and red wine.

Hell continue to make it for the restaurant and for Di Bruno Bros., which thrilled the family.

We are very excited! Oneita Thompson texted after she heard the news.

Cratil-Cretarola, the grandchild of Italian immigrants, and Lee, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, have long been advocates of immigrant rights and immigration policy reform that directly affects many of their Mexican staff, who are more family than employees.

Some diners werent pleased to see Sanctuary Bread Pudding on the menu, but a lot more  like Di Bruno Bros.' Emilio Mignucci  were supportive.

Immigration is the backbone of Di Bruno Bros., said Mignucci, one of the owners of the third-generation business started by Italian immigrants.

We have always felt that we were lucky enough because of timing  a lot of it is timing, he said. Then, there werent as many issues as there are today. Today theres a lot to be worrisome about with terrorism and the way things are happening around the world, but I still think that without a break, without good people getting a break, they could never better themselves or their familys lives.

The message he hopes to send by selling the Thompson family bread pudding is simple, he said.

Theres value in people.

To purchase a piece of Sanctuary Bread Pudding, stop in at Le Virtu at 1927 E. Passyunk Ave. or at Di Brunos at 1730 Chestnut St.
A group of women shop during the Our Closet pop-up clothing program for people in need at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, PA on March 27, 2019. Read more

They lined up early inside the historic Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia on Wednesday morning, like it was a once-in-a-lifetime sale.

Except all the donated clothes that volunteers had carefully laid out were free. Ties for men. Jewelry for women. Tables full of quality slacks and jeans and stylish sweaters and blazers, sneakers shoes and a few purses. Friendly volunteers led by program manager Shauna Ekezie offered alternatives if the size or style wasnt working.

Started by Jill Aschkenasy in 2011, the idea behind Our Closet, a program of the Jewish Family and Childrens Service of Greater Philadelphia, is to bring clothing to people who need it, where they need it.

So, cmon, how could I resist bringing my pop-up newsroom  started to meet people and tell their stories where they are  to one of their pop-ups? We both are trying to connect with people who too many view from afar, even while trying to control their narratives, and sometimes even their fates.

It didnt take long to realize that this wasnt just some clothing program, charitable and compassionate as it was.

It was a window into the economic and emotional realities faced by many Philadelphians.

Unemployment, underemployment. Hunger, homelessness, addiction, mental illness.

But also  because too often thats all people see, right?  resilience and hope and happiness and humor. And love.

Yep, love  right there at one of the pop-ups held throughout the year in multiple locations. Charlotte Haley and Herman McKeiber met at one of the clothing pop-ups about a year ago. They left Wednesday before we had a chance to talk, but I caught up to the couple on their bus home. They indeed were an item, Haley confirmed. But while the clothes were free, her heart wasnt. I didnt give him my number the first time we met.

Doreen, who asked that I didnt share her last name, found a different kind of love at the pop-ups, the kind of humanity she desperately needed after serving three years in prison for retail theft in 2016.

She was released, she said, with little more than an oversized pair of sweats and sneakers and a t-shirt imprinted with  Department of Corrections. I didnt even have a bra," she said. "I got one here, a new one.

There was also Earvin Royal, a regular reader of my column, thank goodness, so he was spared the pitch I offered others, how I was representing a lot of reporters in my newsroom who genuinely wanted to hear their stories. Royal was between jobs, so he was eyeing gym clothes to get in shape before the job hunt began again. But Angela Brooks was in the thick of looking for a job, so she not only searched for good interview clothes, she asked me to share that if someone is looking for a smart, driven administrative worker with an impressive resume, shes available.

And then there was Janet Geathers. On disability and a fixed income, she walked half an hour to get to the pop-up, but she didnt mind. The fresh air cleared out her lungs and her mind. Plus, she was rocking the sweetest pair of Air Jordan sneakers she got from a previous pop-up.

Whats offered at Open Closet arent shabby handoffs  nothing like the clothes I passed from a donation box throwing up wet and soiled clothes on the way to the church. There are multiple drop-off sites in the city and the suburbs, including one at Congregation Rodeph Shalom Synagogue on North Broad St. and Rebel Yoga Studio and Apparel Store in Chestnut Hill.

The mission is simple: They wont accept anything they wouldnt wear themselves.

Really this whole thing is a blessing, said Geathers before heading off to grab some food at the churchs soup kitchen, the Advocate Cafe, with a woman shed just met at the pop-up. Shopping and lunch, she laughed. Whats better than that?

Ive already got my eye on locations for upcoming pop-ups. A city pool once the weather gets warmer  maybe this one-woman show can land some sponsorship that will allow me to spring for some @NotesFromHel Pop-Up Newsroom branded sunglasses. You know you want them. A reporter from D.C., who used to intern with us, wants to join me when I set up in her old North Philly neighborhood. Awesome, I want to bring other reporters on board soon. A couple of block captains have floated the idea of letting me set up shop outside their houses. Im down with that. One pop-up and one block at a time, Philly.
Larry Sharrott, owner of Sharrott Winery in Winslow Township, pours a glass of his Coeur dEst. He is also president of Visit South Jersey, the marketing organization for Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties, that has helped make this region a beverage tourism destination. Read more

The Visit South Jersey marketing campaign has helped the region begin to overcome what Salem County winemaker Scott Donnini calls the guffaw factor.

I know what he means: When the nonprofit was established in 2003, even a longtime resident/unabashed fan like me was rather ... amused, if not amazed, by the notion of fun-seekers disembarking from tour buses in, say, Mantua.

But visitors are likely to be doing so in that Gloucester County township when Rowan Universitys planned Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park becomes a reality.

Theyre already arriving regularly at Donninis Auburn Road Vineyards in Pilesgrove and other well-regarded wineries in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties  the sprawling, somewhat amorphous 1,700-square-mile urban, suburban, and rural territory for which Visit South Jersey is the states official Destination Marketing Organization (DMO).

The success is a testament to the growing public appetite for fresh and local food and beverage products of all kinds, a movement South Jersey, still the states agricultural heartland, is eminently well-positioned to capitalize on. And despite a perpetual funding crisis, Visit South Jersey helped put the region on the wine tourism map.

Part of the mission, like the mission we face as wineries, is convincing people that we are legitimate, and that South Jersey is a legitimate tourist destination, said Donnini, who serves on Visit South Jerseys board.

Made up almost exclusively of volunteers, Visit South Jersey promotes not only beverage tourism (local vineyards, breweries, and distilleries) but also the regions downtowns, arts groups, and events, on an annual budget of $195,000.

Convincing outsiders that South Jersey is worth a visit isnt the only battle. Only Collingswood and Swedesboro (among the 114 municipalities) and three of the four counties in the Visit South Jersey territory support the organizations current budget, collectively ponying up $57,000. Burlington County doesnt contribute directly.

The biggest challenge is for local communities to recognize themselves as potential tourist attractions, said Donnini, who moved to South Jersey from Philadelphia with his wife, Julianne, co-owner and winemaker at Auburn Road, in 2007.

Theres a misunderstanding of what tourism can mean to a community, he said. "Its thought of as frivolous, not something to be taken seriously in this part of the world.

The most recent analysis released by the state Division of Travel and Tourism found that visitors to the state spent a total of $43 billion in 2017. That hardly sounds frivolous to me.

Every dollar of advertising and promotion generates $47 in revenue, said Joseph Simonetta, executive vice president of the 400-member New Jersey Tourism Industry Association.

But relatively little of the revenue trickles down to Visit South Jersey or the 20 other destination marketing organizations in the state.

Nationally, the typical DMO has a $3 million budget, said former Visit South Jersey executive director Jake Buganski, who also headed up New Jerseys Division of Travel and Tourism for two years, until last March.

Theres never been an adequate revenue stream to fund these local DMOs, said Buganski, now vice president of strategy at Tempest, a tourism-industry consulting firm in Philadelphia.

Devon Perry, a tourism professional who succeeded Buganski at the helm of Visit South Jersey and resigned in 2018, said her Dig South Jersey proposal  an ambitious concept to promote all of the dinosaur and fossil-related tourism assets in the region  did not attract enough local or state support.

Perry, Buganski, and others said New Jersey tourism has long focused on the Shore, which in the last 20 years has found itself facing unprecedented competition from Virginia and the Carolinas  much as Atlantic City casinos now compete with upstart gaming halls in nearby states.

Do we have enough money? Hell no. We dont get funded anywhere near what the Finger Lakes area of New York State, or Virginia, spend to promote their wineries,said Visit South Jersey board chairman Larry Sharrott, owner of the Sharrott Winery in Winslow Township.

"If we had a stronger financial footing, would we prefer to have a hired staff? The answer is yes, Sharrott said. "But am I going to give up on marketing South Jersey because I dont have enough funding? No.

Email and social-media marketing do help fill the gap, as do working relationships with other community or professional organizations, such as the Coopers Ferry Partnership in Camden, or with other DMOs. Atlantic County is not in Visit South Jerseys territory, but the organization nevertheless is happy to promote events in places like Hammonton, a.k.a. The Blueberry Capital of the World.

We have synergy with all the things going on around the region, agrotourism, family fun, restaurants, historical sites, they all intertwine, said Michael Snyder, a partner in a marketing agency and the manager of operations for Visit South Jersey.

As for the future, were putting together a strategic plan that includes the goals of financial stability, and diversification of income, he said.

A more focused message, or branding, effort  similar to the one that has helped establish South Jersey as a destination for wine tourism  might also be in order.

The Dig South Jersey concept could be a winner. Or how about highlighting the renewal and distinctive character among many of the regions downtowns, including Glassboros sleek new collegiate vibe, the emerging artsiness of Pitman, the postcard charms of Woodstown, or the urbane, Victorian flavor of Merchantville?
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) is one of the architects of the sweeping Green New Deal, which would slash carbon emissions to fight climate change - and cost a bundle. Senior Democrats are urging the party's left to be more practical and incremental, lest it scare away voters. Read more

WASHINGTON  After months in which liberal political stars and activists have driven the Democratic agenda, some party elders are taking the wheel, and tapping the brakes.

While ambitious proposals such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal have drawn headlines  and Republican fire  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and senior Democratic leaders this week introduced more modest plans on both health care and the environment, each aiming to build off existing policies that have won support in the recent past.

One would shore up the Affordable Care Act by expanding protections for people with preexisting conditions and undoing some of the steps President Donald Trump has taken to undercut the law commonly called Obamacare. The other would aim to reduce carbon emissions and bind the U.S. to the targets set in the international Paris climate accord.

Each would advance progressive aims, but move far less dramatically than the bold plans laid out by a rising crop of liberals such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and a faction of activists who have pressed Democratic presidential candidates to embrace far-reaching ideas including eliminating the Electoral College and increasing the number of Supreme Court justices to create a more liberal tilt.

While those plans have thrilled some liberals, they have also excited Republicans, who have used the proposals to paint Democrats as socialists pushing a radical agenda that would result in higher taxes, bans on flying and hamburgers, and government-run health care.

Another note of caution came from former President Barack Obama, who spoke to Democrats freshman class Monday. While encouraging bold ideas, he also told the new House members to be mindful of the potential costs, which could scare off some voters, the Washington Post reported.

Obamas advice came as energized liberals and more centrist Democrats wrangle over what posture to present in the 2020 presidential race. Some Democrats worry that far-left proposals could hurt them with the swing voters in key states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, while the partys left wing argues they have to give their supporters a reason to get excited.

Democrats from more moderate districts, including those around Philadelphia, welcomed the new, more modest approaches.

I was at President Obamas conversation for most of it and I think that his advice is good advice, said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D., Pa.), who won a House district based in Chester County, which has long sent Republicans to Congress.

Houlahan, one of dozens of Democrats who helped take the House majority by winning moderate districts, noted that many of the proposals grabbing national attention dont have price tags or frankly even details.

Im very happy to see these kind of more pragmatic, incremental ideas coming out that are bite-sized, as well, that arent so aspirational and grand, and I think they reflect, frankly, the groups of people who came here as freshmen, she said.

When Pelosi rolled out the health care and climate change bills Tuesday and Wednesday, she prominently included freshmen Democrats who had flipped swing districts, including Reps. Andy Kim, of South Jersey, and Susan Wild, of the Lehigh Valley, who each spoke at the health care event.

Pelosis backing likely ensures that her proposals will come up for votes far faster than the more polarizing plans offered by the partys left wing.

Democratic leaders have also taken other steps to temper their partys approach. Pelosi dismissed the idea of impeaching Trump even before the special counsel investigation into Russian interference was completed. Democrats House campaign arm adopted a policy to ice out political operatives who help primary challengers, an apparent warning shot to progressive groups that have threatened to oust Democrats they view as insufficiently liberal.

The moves come as Democrats wrestle with some of the same challenges that long confronted Republicans, who had to contend with a bloc of far-right House members who exerted outsize influence and created conservative litmus tests, with sometimes damaging political results.

Some presidential candidates who have supported bold liberal plans have also tried to temper expectations. At a town-hall meeting hosted by CNN Wednesday, for example, Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) reiterated his support for Medicare for All, but quickly added, Thats an ideal that we have to show a pathway to get there through practical things.

He suggested, as he has before, that expanding Medicare to people aged 55 or targeting prescription drug costs might be more realistic first steps.

And he sidestepped the recent calls for reparations for African Americans, saying the issue is too complicated to reduce to a box to check.

Some liberals, however, warn that if the party waters down their ideas they risk diluting the enthusiasm that powered the party in 2018.

Theres always been that tension obviously that exists where people are concerned, Are we going too fast? said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), cochair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and sponsor of the main Medicare for All bill in the House. But I would just say that I think the 2018 election and sort of the energy across the country really shows us that the energy is with the people, and the people want bold proposals.

Republicans are also eager to keep those big plans in the spotlight.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) forced a vote this week on the Green New Deal, hoping to embarrass Democrats  nearly all of whom voted present, saying it was a sham vote on a serious issue.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) introduced a constitutional amendment to keep the Supreme Court at nine justices, a long-shot idea that nonetheless highlights the calls on the left to expand the high court. Several Democratic presidential candidates have suggested they are open to the idea.

When Democrats coalesce around some idea that I think is a huge threat to us, then absolutely we should have a discussion about it, Toomey said.

Some Democrats are trying to move the discussions in a different direction.
A Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporter holds a banner as he takes part in the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London, Friday, March 29, 2019. The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finishes on Friday March 29 in Parliament Square, London, on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension. Read more

LONDON - Theresa May's Brexit deal was slapped down for third time by the British Parliament on Friday, with all bets off on when or how United Kingdom will leave the European Union.

The EU gave Britain until the end of this week to approve the withdrawal agreement. Now it has until April 12 to propose a new plan, or leave the bloc without a deal.

The prime minister's stripped-down version of her twice-defeated Brexit deal lost on Friday by 58 votes - 344-286 - in yet another "last ditch" and "cliff edge" attempt to exit from the European Union.

The third losing vote for May in the House of Commons came on the day Britain was due to "take back control" and depart the continental trading bloc.

But instead of Brexiteers gulping pints and waving Union Jack flags to celebrate what they were, once upon a time, calling "British Independence Day," (copyright pending re: American Revolution) the parliamentarians are still debating how and whether they want to leave.

"Today should have been the day that the United Kingdom left the European Union. That we are not leaving today is a matter of deep personal regret to me," May said, moments before lawmakers started voting.

"There are those who will say, 'the House has rejected every option so far, you'll probably lose, so why bother?' I bother because this is the last opportunity to guarantee Brexit," she said.

The prime minister offered to resign if her own Conservative Party could help deal over the line. And that did help convince some members to back it - but not enough.

In a series of tweets on Friday morning, Boris Johnson, Britain's former foreign secretary and a favorite to replace May, explained his screeching U-turn.

Recall: Johnson once described May's deal as something akin to donning a "suicide vest," but on Friday said that not voting for it posed the "risk of being forced to accept an even worse version of Brexit or losing Brexit altogether."

Dominic Raab, the former Brexit secretary and another potential contender for May's job, said he was now on board.

"I will vote for the motion," he said, prompting cheers and jeers in the Commons on Friday.

Backing it will "stave off a longer extension and prevent European elections in May," Raab said

But May needed more than just Conservative Party "switchers." She needed the Democratic Unionist Party, who voted against the government.

She also needed a handful of Labour lawmakers.

On Friday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told Parliament the deal was "bad for our democracy, bad for our economy and bad for this country" and he urged lawmakers "not to not to be cajoled for this third-time-lucky strategy and vote it down today."

The House of Commons voted only on part of the Brexit treaty - the 585-page withdrawal agreement. That's the part of the treaty that spells out, in a legally binding way, how much Britain will pay to leave the European Union ($50 billion), how the two-year transition will preserve the status quo for trade and travel (no change), and how Britain and the European Union will treat each other's citizens in the interim (nobody gets kicked out of anybody's country).

The withdrawal agreement also includes the controversial "Irish backstop," an ironclad guarantee to preserve the open, invisible border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland - with trade-offs that have been a stopping point in the past.

Parliament did not vote Friday on the second part of the treaty, the political declaration, which sets out the aspirations for the future relationship on trade, security and borders.

The hope, from Team May, was that the withdrawal agreement on its own will win over more votes than the overall agreement. They were also trying to get around a ruling by House of Commons Speaker John Bercow that the government cannot repeatedly present the same motion for a vote.

On Friday, Brexit dominated the front pages of British newspapers and websites - but not in the way Brexiteers might have imagined exactly two years ago, Britain gave its formal notice to the EU that it would be leaving the bloc on March 29, 2019.

"Darkest Hour for Democracy," ran the front-page headline in the Daily Express, one of the most pro-Brexit newspapers. "One Last Chance," said the Daily Mail, urging parliamentarians to "put your country first" and back May's deal. "The day of reckoning," said the Daily Telegraph.

On social media, the search term trending was "Kafka Brexit," in a nod to the twisted, nightmarish qualities of Franz Kafka's fictional world.

Also popular: A Banksy painting portraying the members of Parliament as chimps, on display at the Bristol Museum.

When a BBC reporter asked a cabinet minister why the prime minister would hold the vote when she almost certainly faces defeat, he was told: "F--- knows. I am past caring. It is like the living dead in here."

On Friday, the newly formed group of lawmakers known as the Independent Group applied to form a new political party called ChangeUK, which hopes to field candidates in the European elections if Britain takes part in them. The group is formed of 11 politicians who broke away from the Conservative and Labour Party over their handling of Brexit.
FILE - In this June 6, 2013 file photo, vehicles are parked near a sign outside the National Security Agency campus in Fort Meade, Md. A former NSA contractor accused in a massive theft of classified information is expected to plead guilty Thursday, March 28, 2019, in what U.S. prosecutors had once portrayed as a "breathtaking" breach at the nation's biggest spy shop. Prosecutors announced Wednesday, March 27 that Harold T. Martin III would face rearraignment in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, a proceeding typically signaling a change of plea. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) Read more

BALTIMORE (AP)  A former National Security Agency contractor accused in a theft of classified documents from the agency's headquarters pleaded guilty Thursday to willful retention of national defense information.

In a federal courthouse in Baltimore, Harold T. Martin III pleaded guilty to one felony count, which authorities said involved a top secret NSA leadership briefing from March 2014 that he had multiple copies of. Another 19 counts he faced are expected to be dismissed at sentencing in July. As part of a plea agreement, Martin's defense team accepted nine years in prison with three years of supervised release.

The 54-year-old private contractor and former U.S. Navy lieutenant who held various security clearances was arrested at his Maryland home by heavily armed FBI agents in August 2016. He's been in federal custody ever since. Martin initially pleaded not guilty to 20 counts of willfully retaining classified information and was due to go to trial in June, but prosecutors announced this week that he would be arraigned again, signaling a change in plea.

After his change of plea on the one count, Martin's federal defenders said he had no intention to harm his country or the intelligence agencies he served. During the Thursday hearing, Martin told a federal judge that he was diagnosed with ADHD and took medication for that disorder.

"Today's plea is an affirmation of what Mr. Martin and his defense team have maintained from the beginning of this case. His actions were the product of mental illness. Not treason," his federal defenders' statement said.

One of his lawyers has previously described Martin of Glen Burnie, Maryland, as a "compulsive hoarder" who took work documents home with him. An indictment accused Martin of stealing top secret and classified documents between 1996 and 2016. Authorities said they found a trove of documents stowed in his car and his Maryland home.

The NSA has suffered a series of significant breaches in recent years. Most notably, Edward Snowden disclosed a cache of classified material in 2013, exposing U.S. government surveillance programs. Martin, like Snowden, had worked as a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton.

Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy specialist with the Federation of American Scientists, said the breaches at the NSA are a reminder that keeping secrets is a tricky task, particularly now as technological advances allow large amounts of information to be stored inside routine devices.

"The string of breaches is a humbling reminder that keeping secrets is hard, that people are fallible, and that perfect security can never be achieved. What has changed over the past several decades or so is that the scale of the breaches has increased tremendously. Instead of individual secrets being compromised, it often turns out that entire databases or libraries of information have been breached," Aftergood said in an email.

People have stolen government secrets throughout history but intelligence contractors hoarding reams of classified information at their homes appears to be something new.

Last year, another Maryland man who had worked at NSA pleaded guilty to keeping numerous top secret U.S. defense materials at home. At his sentencing, Nghia Hoang Pho, 67, told a federal judge he took copies of U.S. government documents and writings containing national defense information so he could work from home and possibly earn a promotion. He got 5  years in prison.

"I don't know if psychological screening can uncover hoarders before they are employed, and that might be especially challenging because the age of onset is typically not young. But once an employee is in the grip of a powerful obsessive compulsion like hoarding, I would imagine that they are extremely difficult to stop," said Gabriel Schoenfeld, a national-security policy expert and author of the book "Necessary Secrets."

It's not clear whether the NSA has instituted new protections in the wake of Martin's case.

"I don't have any specific knowledge of new security measures. But every compromise of classified information is a learning opportunity, and security officials would be derelict if they did not use the occasion to make improvements," said Aftergood, who writes the "Secrecy News" blog reporting on developments in secrecy policy.

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Laurie and Melissa Wilcox (from left), who have life-shortening illnesses, and Debra Dunn, with Compassion & Choices, watch nervously from the galley as the medical aid-in-dying bill is voted upon by the N.J. Assembly on March 25. Read more

Susan Boyce recalled how her son pushed her wheelchair close to the edge of the New Jersey Senate floor so she could listen to the votes as they were cast, one by one, on the controversial Aid in Dying bill.

She was directly behind the lawmakers and when the vote count hit 21, she burst into tears. After a seven-year struggle, the bill was approved March 25, on a busy voting afternoon in the Trenton statehouse. Once it is signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, who has promised to do so, it will become effective within four months.

I had grown a bit nervous that something could bounce it off the schedule or someone would change their mind. ... I was so hugely relieved," said Boyce, a 55-year-old terminally ill patient with a progressive, genetic disease, known as Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, that has left her with 29 percent lung function.

She testified at earlier hearings about her need to have peace of mind and death with dignity while some others with her ailment have lingered breathless for months before dying.

When Murphy, a Democrat, signs the bill, New Jersey will become the eighth state to allow terminally ill patients with a prognosis of less than six months to end their lives after a doctor prescribes a lethal drug. Murphy said shortly after the bills passage he would sign it because allowing terminally ill and dying residents the dignity to make end-of-life decisions according to their own consciences is the right thing to do."

Boyce said she plans to ask her doctor to prescribe a lethal drug that she can self-administer whenever she feels the time has come. I hesitate to say whether I would use it, but having the option out there is so relieving for me to know that I will have a path to relieve suffering, said Boyce, a Rumson resident who uses oxygen equipment.

Emotions ran high the day the bill passed.

Dozens of patients and advocates who witnessed its passage "hugged each other; they cried, they mouthed thank you to the lawmakers, said Corinne Carey, campaign director of Compassion & Choices New Jersey. Oregon led the way in 1997, and New Jersey legislators first considered the bill in 2012.

Critics, however, warn that disabled and vulnerable people may now face pressure from unscrupulous family members or caretakers to terminate their lives. The Catholic Church calls the bill an affront to human life. A few Republican lawmakers urged Murphy to consider a veto.

The day of the vote, scores of patients and advocates, wearing sunny yellow Compassion & Choices T-shirts, jammed the busy hallways in the statehouse and held up signs. The measure received less attention because it came at the same time a vote on legalizing recreational marijuana was canceled.

The Aid in Dying bill does not allow mercy killing, euthanasia, or assisted suicide. Instead, terminally ill patients must get a diagnosis from two New Jersey doctors before they can get a lethal drug, often a barbiturate. The bill says they can take the medication in the presence of a loved one or others, or opt to take it alone, but they must administer it themselves.

Because of these requirements, individuals such as Patrick Mirrione, 79, of Parsippany, who was charged with aiding suicide on the day the bill passed, will still have to face the courts, said Assemblyman John Burzichelli, a major architect of the measure. Mirrione was arrested March 15 after his wife was found dead of a gunshot wound and he was accused of moving items at the scene and giving conflicting reports to police.

Its a very sad story and its why this option should be in place to help these people, said Burzichelli, a Democrat from Gloucester County.

Burzichelli said he was moved by the stories of terminally ill patients who said they wanted the option of choosing whether to end their own lives to stop prolonged suffering. Theres already aid in dying in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania through the magic of morphine. With a wink and a nod, people have gotten it, he said. But some people would like another choice and complete control over this.

A Gallup poll last May found 72 percent of those surveyed in the United States supported doctor-assisted suicide, while a 2015 Rutgers Eagleton poll found 63 percent of New Jersey residents supported the states earlier aid-in-dying bill.

The attention around 29-year-old Brittany Maynard, who had an aggressive form of brain cancer and who decided to take a lethal drug in Oregon in 2014, also played a role in changing public opinion, pollsters said.

In the last year, 17 other states considered aid-in-dying bills. Maryland rejected the measure, while it is still pending in New York. Pennsylvania last considered a bill in 2017.

Opposition to New Jerseys plan still runs deep.

The Diocese of Camden posted a warning on its website that said the bill would go beyond the terminally ill and affect the handicapped, elderly, depressed, and vulnerable." The Diocese of Trenton wrote to New Jersey lawmakers and said a diagnosis of terminal illness is not always accurate and people may choose based on false information. Physicians pledge an oath to do no harm. Taking a life before natural death violates that vow and there is no turning back, the February letter said.

The Medical Society of New Jersey also opposes the bill, saying it requires a physician to participate in the termination of human life and puts physicians at odds with their professional ethical requirements. A statement on the medical societys website said the group historically agrees with the American Medical Associations Code of Medical Ethics but also supports patients right to make health-care choices.

Larry Downs, chief executive of the society, said aid-in-dying is scheduled to be discussed at the groups conference in May and there could be a decision to support this kind of work, or continue to discourage physicians to be engaged, or to leave it up to the individual physicians based on circumstances. He also said that the AMA debated the issue last year and failed to get enough votes to reaffirm the current policy or to change it. It was a very close vote  and its representative of all the dialogue going on about this.

Diane Coleman, president of Not Dead Yet, a disability-rights group based in New York, said aid-in-dying laws are troubling because theres nothing in the bill to protect patients from medical mistakes, coercion by families or insurance companies to die early, and nothing to prevent outright abuses, including the potential for someone like an heir or a caregiver to administer the drugs. ... No independent witness or medical person needs to be present at the death.

Coleman, 65, suffers from a form of muscular dystrophy and said doctors told her parents she would only make it to age 12. Theres a lot of guesswork," she said.

Burzichelli said the New Jersey bill incorporates various safeguards.

Patients must request the medication twice, verbally, over a period of 15 days, and then once in writing, and have two witnesses (including one who would not stand to inherit money from the patient). If the doctor believes a patient suffers from psychological problems or depression, he or she would have a psychiatrist or psychologist make a determination.

Dementia and mental illness are not terminal illnesses," Burzichelli said.

Burzichelli also said Oregon health officials say only 249 patients applied for the lethal drugs last year and many chose not to use it. The argument that people will be pressured to die has always been a red herring, he said. Those who are against it are not looking at the facts but are looking to strike an emotional note.
Anna Sophie Tinneny with two members of the family she is living with on a farm in Ecuador during a gap year. Read more

Last year, then-Pennridge High School senior Anna Sophie Tinneny clashed with the school board as a leader of an unauthorized school club to protest gun violence and a subsequent viral protest after 225 student protesters were given detention.

This year, the 18-year-old Tinneny isnt just fighting the school board. Shes running to join it.

Its not revenge -- thats not what its about, said Tinneny, referring to her run in the May primary for one of five available seats on the nine-member board. But she said that after the turmoil over the gun-violence walkout, I realized maybe these [incumbents] arent the best people to be making decisions on the community and our childrens education.

Tinnenys campaign, helped by Sean Jenkins, another recent Pennridge grad and leader of the protest that became known as the Pennridge 225, puts her at the forefront of young people rising from the resurgence of activism over issues such as gun violence and climate change and now looking toward electoral politics.

Amanda Litman, a cofounder of a group called Run for Something launched on the same day Donald Trump was inaugurated as president in January 2017, said organizers have been stunned by the more than 1,000 young candidates who have emerged from the project, with roughly one-quarter of them under the age of 25.

Litman noted that a number of the Run for Something candidates have cited the gun-safety issue  either energized by the March for Our Lives movement that arose from the February 2018 high school mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., or those who experienced gun violence personally or through a family member.

The current crop of candidates nationwide includes 19-year-old Matthew Gifford of Waukesha, Wis., a March for Our Lives activist running for school board, and Aaron Chess, a 21-year-old candidate for Peoria, Ill., city council who lost his sister to a shooting.

Look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and different people around the country running for city council at 18, 19 years old, said Tinneny, who is also an ambassador for a youth voter initiative called Eighteen x 18. Its really a movement. I felt empowered.

The future political science major is already getting an education in both the promise and perils of elective politics.

Right now, shes living with a family on a farm in Ecuador in a study-abroad program during a gap year before she attends college. If she wins the May primary, shed have to juggle the fall campaign with her studies at a nearby university, though shes not sure where yet. Shell be back in April to focus full time on the campaign.

She feels strongly that young people need a voice in the school district. I wasnt in high school 20, 30 years ago, Tinneny said, comparing herself with the current incumbents. I was in high school last year, as she cited being able to have that first-person perspective on classroom issues.

Few students  or first-time school board candidates  can cite as dramatic a final year of high school as Tinneny and Jenkins had in 2018. Defying administrators and a school board vote, as organizers at Pennridge during last Marchs National School Walkout they led their classmates to leave campus and stage a protest for stricter gun laws in the weeks after the Parkland shooting.

After the walkout, the school ordered 225 students to attend Saturday detention. A viral video of several dozen students staging what they called a modern sit-in by locking arms and holding signs with the names of Parkland victims has been viewed more than 3.4 million times.

The controversy was also a crash course in local politics for Tinneny, Jenkins, and the rest of the Pennridge 225. A number of the student activists had pleaded with the school board for permission to conduct the walkout, only to be rebuffed by Republican members who cited safety concerns but also expressed ideological differences.

One incumbent, Joan Cullen, later on Twitter cited the truly radical, anti-police, anti-U.S. govt. nature of the school walkout and retweeted a fellow conservative who called the students misinformed Marxist truant peers. Last June, Cullens close ally on the board, Megan Banis-Clemens, was installed as board president after her predecessor, Christine Yardley  whod supported the walkout  resigned.

Banis-Clemens and Cullen are seeking reelection with three other incumbents. There are six challengers. All are cross-filed with both parties. Tinneny is a registered Republican while Jenkins is a Democrat. She comes from a Republican family, said her mother, Heather McCarron, noting that Pennridge is Trump country.

Student activists, for their part, vowed after their detentions to turn their focus to registering young voters in the Pennridge district, which sprawls across several townships in Upper Bucks County.

Tinneny, who served a one-day in-school detention for organizing the viral protest, said school officials subsequently monitored and occasionally asked about her Twitter posts, which she suspects was clearly directed by the school board.

I wasnt very super politically active before all of this, she said. This has opened my eyes to a whole different world.

Initially, Jenkins planned to join Tinneny as a candidate, but as they prepared to run they realized that running two separate campaigns might muddy the waters with a slate of candidates called One Pennridge that is also hoping to oust some of the GOP incumbents who sparred with the gun-walkout activists.

I didnt want too many names on the ballot to scramble the vote, said Jenkins, a freshman at Temple University studying political science and business. He said he also backs the One Pennridge candidates.

The school safety issue that got Tinneny and Jenkins active in the first place also still looms over Pennridge. On Monday, the Pennridge board voted to hire two armed police officers to patrol its schools. On Twitter, Pennridge 225 wrote: This will not keep us safe.

But when Tinneny speaks of her campaign, she focuses  like other young people running for office in the current climate  largely on the more fundamental need for generational change. I feel like I owed it to my past self and also the kids that are still there, at Pennridge, she said of her campaign. I owed it to them.
Patty Fortney-Julius, of Harrisburg, right, gathers with others to protest during the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore last fall. Read more

When Pennsylvania resident Patty Fortney-Julius took to the microphone at a New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee meeting in early March, she had a clear request: Pass a bill that allows more child sex-abuse victims to sue, a step she and her sisters said is crucial for finding justice.

Its heartbreaking to us that the state of Pennsylvania has gotten it all wrong as they continue to put pedophiles and the institutions that cover it up before the victims, Fortney-Julius said. We implore you, as representatives of the great state of New Jersey, to not make the same mistake and to get this right today.

As she and her sisters have done so many times in their home state, Fortney-Julius told their story. She told the committee of her familys excitement in 1982, when they learned that a priest from New Jersey, the Rev. Augustine Giella, had been selected to run their church, St. John the Evangelist in Enhaut, part of the Harrisburg Diocese.

And then, her voice beginning to tremble, she recounted the time Giella took her and her siblings to a motel in Wildwood, and how he abused one of her younger sisters. The trip, she said, will haunt us forever."

On Monday, New Jersey passed a bill that will allow the Fortney sisters and others like them to sue. New York also passed a measure, and similar changes to statutes of limitation are up for consideration in Maryland. Democrats have majorities in all three states.

In Pennsylvania, where Republicans control the agenda, the legislature has been paralyzed.

This is not a political decision, Carolyn Fortney, Pattys sister, who also testified in New Jersey, said during an interview Friday. I think its so disheartening when we hear people say, We need a blue wave movement to do this. "

This should be a bipartisan issue, she added, noting that her family includes Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

Like their counterparts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey lawmakers had jockeyed for years over whether to change the statute of limitations.

New Jersey State Sen. Joseph Vitale, a Middlesex County Democrat, said he began pushing for changes nearly 20 years ago, when some of my colleagues who no longer serve with me looked at me like I was insane.

There was a wave of enthusiasm in 2002, after the Boston Globes reporting on sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church ignited a wave of activism around the globe. But the church, too, lobbied hard, as did some in the insurance industry.

In the years since then, the New Jersey governors office has changed hands four times, and many seats have turned over in the Legislature.

Then, last summer, the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office released a report that singled out more than 300 predator priests, including some with New Jersey ties.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, a Democrat, created a task force to investigate clergy abuse and its potential cover-up in Catholic dioceses there. The dioceses, meanwhile, created a victims compensation fund, with a caveat that anyone who takes money through the program must agree not to sue.

The grand jury report "put a real spotlight on the issue and really reminded my colleagues just how much of a pandemic this is, and I received several calls from my colleagues, unsolicited, asking to be cosponsors of the bill, Vitale said.

When Vitale introduced the latest version of his legislation this year, the Senates deputy majority leader, Nicholas Scutari, a Union County Democrat, signed on as a prime sponsor.

The bill extends the statute of limitations for civil cases from age 21 to 55, or seven years after victims discover that their childhood sex abuse has contributed to problems in their lives. It also opens a two-year window that allows people whose cases are outside the statute of limitations to sue. It is currently before Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, who is expected to sign it.

The grand jury report also spurred a wave of activism in Pennsylvania, where victims encouraged legislators to make changes recommended by the grand jury, such as extending or reopening the statute of limitations.

Lawmakers came close last fall, but the effort stalled after Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) introduced an amendment that would have allowed some older victims to sue their attackers  but not the institutions that might have covered up the abuse.

The session ended without a compromise, meaning the legislation had to start from scratch in 2019.

For a while, it was quiet.

Senate Democrats announced plans earlier this year for a bill that would abolish the criminal and civil statute of limitations for future sex-abuse cases and create a two-year window in which people whose cases are time-barred can sue. They are expected to introduce that bill next month.

On the House side, two representatives who both survived child sexual abuse themselves  one a Democrat, the other a Republican  have partnered on a pair of bills aimed at changing the statute of limitations.

One bill would make changes for future child sex-abuse victims, increasing the cutoff for when they could sue from age 30 to 55, and eliminating the criminal statute of limitations for some sex offenses.

The other would change the state constitution to create a two-year window allowing child sex-abuse victims whose cases are outside the current statute of limitations to sue, regardless of who abused them.

Both are sponsored by Rep. Mark Rozzi (D., Berks), who has been one of the Capitols most vocal advocates for changing the statute of limitations, and freshman Rep. Jim Gregory, a Republican from Blair County.

Rozzi did not respond to messages seeking comment.

For Gregory, the constitutional amendment fulfills a campaign promise. But its also personal. He, like Rozzi, said he is a survivor of child sexual abuse.

Its more than just the statute of limitations and compensation issues, Gregory said. Its about trauma and abuse and bringing it out in the light.

The constitutional-amendment idea has been embraced by some legislators who worried that creating a retroactive two-year window for civil suits would violate a provision of the state constitution and make any statute passed vulnerable to a court challenge.

I think it has a real, real shot, Gregory said, adding later: We dont want to give [victims] false hope anymore."

But, others are skeptical. Some contend that the window is already constitutional, an argument Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has made. Others fear that a constitutional amendment is a legislative death sentence.

Constitutional amendments must pass in identical form in two consecutive two-year sessions. Then, they must be approved by voters.

Its completely unrealistic, said Marci Hamilton, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and prominent advocate for abuse victims. When you hear constitutional amendment, someone is trying to stall.

Victims, noting that they are not privy to closed-door political meetings, are anxiously waiting to see how things play out.

Its early in the political season. I would imagine there will be several other proposals floated, said Shaun Dougherty, a survivor who, along with the Fortney sisters, has been advocating for change in Pennsylvania.

Carolyn Fortney said she and her sisters have reached out to the bills sponsors in hopes of learning more about the new legislation. She hopes she and others will get a chance to testify at a hearing, as they did in New Jersey.

Many quietly expect the bills to pass the House. The Senate is murkier. Spokespeople for top Senate Republicans, who control the chambers legislative agenda, either declined comment or did not respond.

While Pennsylvania victims wait to see how Pennsylvania will handle the statute-of-limitations question, a select group, whose abuse crossed state lines, could turn to New Jersey for relief.

Earlier this month, a Superior Court judge in Atlantic City ruled that a lawsuit filed there against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia could proceed because some of the abuse is alleged to have occurred in New Jersey.

The ruling is significant not just because it provides a forum for this client to hold the archdiocese accountable, but also for potentially many other victims who were transported to New Jersey by abusive priests, attorney David Inscho of Kline & Specter, who is representing the victim in the case, said in a statement. Many priests used the opportunity to seclude victims by taking them on trips, frequently to the Jersey Shore.

Thats where the Fortney sisters experienced some of their abuse  and where theyll likely sue.

When she spoke before the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee, Patty Fortney-Julius rattled off the things her family knows about Giella, the priest who abused them.

Investigators found petri dishes, feces, pubic hair, and urine in his Manahawkin, N.J., beach home. They also found childrens soiled underwear and photos of naked kids. Some of them, she said, have not yet been identified.

At this point, I only have bullet points to touch on, because so much of our story is missing, because so much of our story is here, in New Jersey, and we have had no discovery, she told the lawmakers. A huge piece of our puzzle is missing, and we need the pieces to complete it.

Theyre hopeful that will change.

We have to [sue], Carolyn Fortney said, if not just for us, for his other victims and, honestly, for any other victims that he has that dont have the confidence yet to come forward.
An overall view of the Robert Morris Apartments in Morrisville, Pa., on Feb. 26, 2019. Shana S. Decree, 45, and her daughter Dominique Decree, 19, were charged with five counts each of homicide and one count of conspiracy in the deaths of five family members whose bodies were found Feb. 25 inside unit S-7 of the apartment building. Read more

Four of the five family members found dead inside a cramped Morrisville apartment last month in an apparent murder-suicide were asphyxiated and a fifth victim was strangled, the Bucks County Coroners Office said Friday.

The causes of death for Damon Decree Jr., 14; Erika and Imani Allen, both 9; and NaaIrah Smith, 25, were ruled to be asphyxiation. Jamilla Campbell, 42, was killed by strangulation.

All five deaths were ruled to be homicides, a spokesman for the coroners office said Friday.

Shana Decree, 46, and her daughter Dominique Decree, 19, have been charged with the murders and are awaiting a preliminary hearing in the case, tentatively scheduled for next month in Doylestown.

The investigation into these murders continues with one goal: justice for five people killed in Bucks County. We are committed to seeking justice for Erika, Imani, Damon, NaaIrah and Jamilla, said Deputy District Attorney Christopher W. Rees, who is assigned to the prosecution. We recognize that the public is very interested in this story, and we are grateful for the communitys support. In deference to this overwhelming tragedy, we ask that everyone respect the families privacy as they continue to mourn their loved ones.

A case worker with Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services found all seven inside a basement unit in the Robert Morris Apartments on Feb. 25.

The five victims were found lying together in a bedroom inside the home. Their bodies were so closely grouped that investigators initially believed only four people had died.

The mother-and-daughter suspects were in the apartment as well, reportedly lying disoriented" in another bedroom, authorities said.

They told police that everyone at the apartment ... wanted to die, and confessed to strangling Smith, Shanas older daughter; Damon Decree, her son; as well as Campbell, Shanas sister; and Campbells twin daughters.

They each face five counts of criminal homicide and conspiracy, and remain in the county prison without bail.

Authorities, who continue to investigate, said they knew of no motive for the quintuple homicide, a crime that Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub has called an unspeakable tragedy.

Relatives told The Inquirer that in the weeks before the grisly discovery, the group had become isolated, cramming into Shana Decrees apartment and cutting themselves off from the outside world. In the brief texts and phone calls, the family in Morrisville spoke of seeing demons" all around them.

Ronald Smith, NaaIrahs father, said the 25-year-old had recently moved in with her mother, despite having her own apartment nearby with her fiance. After a frantic trip north from Maryland to check on his daughter, Smith said she would only talk to him briefly at the door of the Morrisville apartment.

She seemed meek and timid, a departure from her usual demeanor, Smith said. And she told him she needed to "make herself right before going through the pearly gates, saying the world was going to end by March 1.

It was like a switch was flipped, Smith said last month. I talked to NaaIrah all throughout the month of January, and then nothing.

During that self-imposed isolation, the family had attracted the attention of Bucks County Children and Youth. The caseworker who stumbled on the bodies had visited the apartment on Feb. 5, and had tried to contact the family again on Feb. 23.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the caseworker was sent to check on the family at the request of officials at Morrisville Junior/Senior High School. The schools principal called the agency on Feb. 1 after Damon Decree had been absent for several days and his mother did not return officials calls.

Police said Campbells daughters were registered for school in Trenton, but had not been attending in the weeks before their deaths.

Officials at the Morrisville School District said last month that Damon Decree had missed nearly 10 days of school in February. The district had been notified by Shana Decree that she wanted to remove her son from the school and begin homeschooling him, and officials were in the middle of making arrangements for that when the boy and his relatives were discovered dead.
Conductor Yannick Nezet-Sequin (in white jacket) embraces composer Hannibal Lokumbe following the Philadelphia Orchestra premiere of "Healing Tones." Also shown are Mezzo-soprano Funmike Lagoke (in white, left of Nezet-Sequin) and choral directors Eric Conway and J. Donald Dumpson (right of Nezet-Seguin). Read more

The first sounds you hear in Hannibal Lokumbes Healing Tones are quiet strings and a shofar. In Judaism, the blowing of the ancient animal horn instrument can be interpreted as a call to action.

So, too, can Healing Tones itself. The piece, premiered Thursday night by the Philadelphia Orchestra in Verizon Hall, is a large-scale response to the work the Texas composer has done in Philadelphia in the last three years, visiting schools, prisons, and shelters, and gathering human evidence of healing.

But you need not have known any of this to have absorbed the message of Healing Tones, Hannibals last piece here as composer-in-residence.

Hannibal has a gift for synthesizing pain into a convincing call to optimism. He was already writing Healing Tones when Octobers massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh occurred, and it became part of his piece. He wrote the shofar into the score, bringing in Audrey Glickman, the shofar blower who had been leading a service at Tree of Life that October morning, for these performances.

For all the real-life inspiration behind Healing Tones, it is largely unmoored from time and place. The piece carries in it something of Hannibals Cherokee ancestry (one of his great-grandmothers was Cherokee), but it comes across as an operatic parable. Three characters  the Everlasting, Eternal Mother, and the Shaman  carry the story, while the chorus creates a scrim of ancestral voices.

In form, it is not far from Bartoks Bluebeards Castle, and the story seems like something out of a Maurice Maeterlinck drama.

The Shaman has seen too much of mans dark side and wants to escape through death. The Everlasting grants his wish and allows the Shaman to enter a kind of paradise. The Shaman, though, is shown a vision of suffering in the world and sees that his peace can be found only in returning home and realizing his destiny as a healer.

Like Bartok, Hannibal is strong on atmosphere: strains of orchestral sunlight, smoky jazz, African drumming, and forest murmurs from the woodwinds happily commingle in the piece. Hannibal is a wonderful vocal writer. He conjures inventive sounds and textures from the chorus, the combined 100 or so strong and subtle voices of the Morgan State University Choir and Philadelphia Heritage Chorale.

Soprano Karen Slack as the Eternal Mother was love in sound in an aria about a vision of the New Being and a world undivided by power, fear, and greed. Mezzo-soprano Funmike Lagoke, the Everlasting, was rich and deeply emotional. Tenor Rodrick Dixon caught the pain and triumph of the Shamans evolution.

But as effective as the musical storytelling was, it was the more emotional messaging of Hannibals score I loved most  the pulsing optimism, the peace and reconciliation, the urging toward hope.

Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducted, and despite the fact that he stopped the orchestra in one section when something went awry and had to start over, this was a persuasive performance that promised to get only stronger.

The presence of such a singular piece provided Nezet-Seguin with a programming challenge: with what to pair it? He answered with the Sibelius Symphony No. 2, which looked like an odd choice on paper and continued to be so in practice. Still, it is one of the orchestras most frequently performed works historically, recorded multiple times by Ormandy, and here was a chance for the conductor to make his own imprint.

Nezet-Seguins vision of the first movement isnt one of strategically paced unfolding, but of rushing forth. The second movement ended with an extra-angry edge, a bit of smart drama I liked. But Nezet-Seguin hears the last movement as more fluid than monumental, which had the effect of making it less dramatic rather than more.

It wasnt Ormandy. But it also wasnt quite a convincing alternative. If his predecessors are any guide, though, Nezet-Seguin will have another chance at it, and maybe more than one.

Additional performances Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Streets. Tickets are $10-$136. philorch.org, 215-893-1999.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers introduced a sweeping piece of Pennsylvania legislation this week aimed at better regulating new-home construction, a multibillion-dollar industry that for the last few years has faced a swelling number of claims from consumers who have encountered defects in their homes.

The bill, introduced by State Rep. John Galloway (D., Bucks), with bipartisan support from four Southeastern Pennsylvania legislators, would establish improved protections for consumers buying new homes  and would better hold builders accountable when defects arise. Specifically, any home builder or limited liability corporation would be required to register with the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office every two years, comply with specific language in purchase contracts, and notify consumers soon after the company becomes aware of a construction defect.

The legislation also would establish a fund from which consumers could collect money if their builder does not or cannot pay out the settlement awarded by a court. The pool, to be administered by the Attorney Generals Office, would be financed by a $50 fee that every home builder who enters into a contract with a buyer would pay each time a building permit is issued.

Galloway said his legislation, dubbed the New Home Construction Consumer Protection Act, was prompted by a November 2018 Inquirer investigation that examined how shoddy new residential construction overseen by at least 27 builders had left hundreds of homes severely damaged by water intrusion. The investigation found that a combination of rushed production, undertrained workers, lower-quality materials, and lax oversight allowed water to seep into the walls of new homes, leaving homeowners with repair bills that can cost as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars.

>>READ MORE: How water intrusion in new homes turns American dreams to rot

Yet by the time many homeowners discovered the problem, layer after layer was already damaged, sometimes bringing infestations of mold, termites, and phorid flies, The Inquirer investigation found. Other houses had become so water-ravaged that they were structurally unstable. When some homeowners approached builders with their discoveries, they were told that too much time had passed  and the problem was out of builders hands.

This bill was really something that came from the reporting [The Inquirer] had done, which showed that this was a much bigger problem than just stucco, said Galloway, who represents Bristol and areas of Lower Bucks County. It was born out of the fact that consumers had very little recourse. Their hands were tied, and the contractor was holding all of the cards.

The bill was referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs this week, where it now awaits a hearing. State Rep. Brad Roae, the committees Republican chair, was not available to comment on when a hearing may be scheduled.

Galloways legislation  detailed across 30 pages  marks one of the most significant regulatory steps that have been taken since water intrusion in new construction has swelled to what some observers have called epidemic proportions within the last few years. Pennsylvania has often been described as the crisis epicenter, largely because of its wide variations in weather, the types of home-building materials used, and the massive building boom that the region experienced during the mid-2000s. Initially thought to be a crisis affecting only stucco homes, The Inquirers reporting disclosed that water intrusion also has damaged brick, vinyl siding, stone, and fiber cement homes  some of which were 10 or 20 years old, while others were brand new.

Still, recent regulatory legislation has not been able to gain significant traction. In 2017, State Rep. Bernie ONeill, a now-retired Bucks County Republican, introduced two bills that similarly targeted construction defects, one of which would have required builders to notify customers when problems are discovered. Neither advanced.

There are not adequate protections in the statute in Pennsylvania for individuals having new homes built, said State Rep. Thomas Murt (R., Montgomery), a cosponsor of the latest bill. We have to address this in a meaningful way.

Daniel Durden, the CEO of the Pennsylvania Builders Association, a statewide trade organization whose political committee is a financial contributor to state lawmakers and committees, said that while the association sympathizes with the [bills] intent  we dont believe its the correct way to do it. Specifically, he said the association is opposed to how the Home Builder Guaranty Fund is structured, including the fees that a home builder must pay when obtaining a permit. He said the group also is opposed to a requirement that each home-building company pay a $25 fee, which cannot be billed more than once a year, if the funds balance falls below $1 million.

Any additional fee on permits is going to increase the cost of housing and make affordability that much more difficult at the entry level, Durden said.

Though Galloway said the legislation was initially motivated by the water-intrusion problems across Bucks County, his legislation covers a wide-range of defects. For example, one provision requires that home builders notify their customers within three months upon discovering a defective building material, product, special-order material, or building technique of any kind. Homes less than 30 years old would be eligible.

The Inquirers reporting found that many builders did not notify homeowners of any potential problems  even as their lawyers combated water-intrusion claims. For example, Anthony Geonnotti of Horsham-based Toll Brothers, a Fortune 500 company, testified in 2017 that within slightly more than two years, he had inspected 300 to 350 regional homes for water intrusion  with roughly 85 percent needing repairs, according to an arbitration hearing transcript filed in court. Nearly a dozen homeowners told The Inquirer that Toll had never notified them of a problem.

In a November statement, Toll said that water-intrusion-related issues on older stucco homes are an industrywide problem in Pennsylvania, adding that the company has an excellent record of ensuring that these water-intrusion complaints are reviewed and resolved.

If Ford Motor Company knows its air bags are bad, they are required to tell all the consumers who drive that car for a product recall, said Jennifer Horn, an attorney with Horn Williamson, one of many local law firms that has handled water-intrusion claims. Why is that not required in the construction industry?

Wally Zimolong, a Villanova-based attorney who also handles these claims, said the bills notification requirement is significant," especially because local municipal code inspectors are not required to specifically check for errors that could lead to water intrusion, as The Inquirer found.

The proposed legislation mandates that when a building company registers with the Attorney Generals Office, the names, addresses, and phone numbers of partners, offices, and managers must be included, as well as all prior business names. For LLCs, the name of each director holding more than a 5 percent interest must be listed. Proof of general liability insurance that would cover personal injury and property damage is required.

In addition, all construction must comply with the building code, according to the bill, and arbitration clauses must be written in boldface type with capital letters, and must appear on a separate contract page. The Inquirers reporting found that some builders require customers to enter into mandatory arbitration, where records are not public.

If a builder misrepresents or conceals his or her real name or the name of the business, the bill states, he or she could be charged with a felony of the third degree. Consumers who cannot collect monetary awards are eligible to receive as much as $30,000 from the Home Builder Guaranty Fund. The bill states that more than $200,000 cannot be paid out to different customers who purchased from one home builder, unless the home builder reimburses the fund.

A builders registration certificate will be revoked when a payment is made from the fund on the companys behalf. The certificate will be reinstated only when the full amount is paid, plus interest.

The bill, which would not apply retroactively, does not address the Pennsylvania law that currently allows homeowners to bring claims against a builder within 12 years, and in some cases, 14 years after a home is built. Under Galloways bill, that time frame would remain.
PARIS (AP)  Filmmaker Agnes Varda, a central figure of the French New Wave and feminist activist who later won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, has died. She was 90.

Her production company Cine Tamaris confirmed her death on Friday after French media first reported the news.

Varda's rich filmography includes movies such as "Cleo de 5 a 7," ''Sans toit ni loi" ("Vagabond")  for which she won the Golden Lion in 1985, "Jacquot de Nantes" and "Les glaneurs et la glaneuse" ("The Gleaners and I").

Varda was a fixture for years at the Cannes Film Festival, where she presented more than a dozen films from 1958 to 2018. She took part in two Cannes juries, and the festival gave her an honorary Palme d'Or in 2015 for her life's work.

Varda, was the first woman to receive such an honor, and regularly sought more recognition for women in the industry.

At last year's Cannes festival, she joined jury president Cate Blanchett for a bilingual speech against sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

"Women are not a minority in the world, and yet our industry says the opposite. The stairs of our industry must be accessible to all. Let's climb," she said.

With her distinctive half-red, half-gray hairstyle, Varda was instantly recognizable on the European film circuit, where she was often one of the few female directors in the crowd.

Varda was honored last month at the Berlin Film Festival with the Berlinale Camera award for lifetime achievement. The festival had its highest number of women directors yet, some of whom named Varda as an inspiration.

Varda's 2017 documentary with street artist JR, "Faces Places," was nominated for an Oscar  making Varda, then 89, the oldest woman ever nominated  and won best documentary at the Independent Film Spirit Awards.

When she couldn't attend the Oscar nominees' luncheon, JR brought a life-sized cardboard cutout of her onto the red carpet with him.

Born in Belgium on May 30, 1928, Varda started as a photographer after studying literature and arts. Her first movie, "La Pointe Courte," followed a couple going through a crisis in the small port of Sete on the Mediterranean coast. The movie was cut by Alain Resnais but was regarded as too radical at the time and only had a limited release.

Varda came to prominence in 1962 with "Cleo de 5 a 7," a real-time movie about a young woman who finds she may have cancer.

Varda continued to explore the themes of illness and life as a couple later in her career. Her biggest success came in 1985 with "Vagabond," starring Sandrine Bonnaire, who plays the tragic role of young marginal wandering to her death.

Varda was married to French director Jacques Demy, who died in 1990. She is survived by her two children, Mathieu Demy and Rosalie Varda, themselves both involved in French filmmaking.

___

Angela Charlton in Paris and Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report.
When Joellen Brown came to Philadelphia for her graduate work in English at the University of Pennsylvania in 1975, she brought with her an unwelcome companion: rheumatoid arthritis.

But she didnt let the disease stop her. Instead, it strengthened her resolve to do whatever she wanted in life.

We all felt Joellen was one of the bravest people we've ever known, said her friend Jay Grossman. She was clear-eyed and moved ahead. If there was an obstacle, she worked around it. She was just an amazing woman.

Ms. Brown became a senior communications executive at Verizon Corp., served as a longtime board member of Philadelphia Young Playwrights, studied drawing at Fleisher Art Memorial, immersed herself in great literature, and traveled the world. She had many friends who admired her intelligence, compassion, and keen wit.

On Friday, March 22, Ms. Brown, 65, who walked with the aid of a cane, stepped off the curb at 21st and Lombard Streets, a block from her home near Rittenhouse Square, and was hit by a delivery van as it backed up. She died two days later at Penn Presbyterian Hospital from complications of head trauma, said the Philadelphia Medical Examiners Office, which ruled the death an accident.

Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Ms. Brown graduated from West High School there in 1971. She earned a bachelors degree in English in 1975 from Ohio Wesleyan University, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received the Slocum Prize as outstanding graduate in the humanities. At Penn, she earned a masters degree in English.

After her studies, Ms. Brown taught English at Bryn Mawr College and Rutgers University-Camden. She left academia to work for the Human Resources Network, a public affairs consultancy in Philadelphia.

She joined Bell Atlantic Corp. on Jan. 1, 1984, opening day of the Baby Bell created in the break-up of the Bell System and a forerunner to Verizon. In 2000, she became head of Verizons executive communications department, crafting speeches and presentations for three successive company chairmen, as well as other senior officers. She mentored many on her staff, Grossman said.

She retired on Dec. 31, 2017, as Verizons director of executive communications. In retirement, she settled her mothers estate in Ohio and arranged to take art lessons.

She was very concerned about what she would do with her time in retirement, but her friends never worried about it, Grossman said.

Ms. Brown served on the board of Philadelphia Young Playwrights starting in 1992 and was still active as a trustee at the time of her death. Executive director Lisa Nelson-Haynes said Ms. Brown was progressive and proactive with teaching artists and students and loved to attend the classes that the group sponsors.

If you walked into a room with her, you would think her a quiet, reserved person, but when it came time for her to contribute, she would just light up, Nelson-Haynes said. She was very much respected by everyone. Thats why we involved her in such a big part of our process. She was in no way, shape, or form just sitting on the board.

When it came time for contest entries to be judged, she read through a mound of plays, and gave feedback to the playwrights. Her commitment to us was comprehensive, Nelson-Haynes said. She will be sorely missed.

Ms. Brown established the Janet L. Brown 79 Endowment in Support of Libraries at Ohio Wesleyan and made provision in her will to create the Joellen Brown 75 Endowed Scholarship Fund at the university.

Janet Brown, her sister, died earlier, as did a brother, Stephen. She is survived by two nieces.

A life celebration will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Philadelphia Young Playwrights, 1219 Vine St., Philadelphia. Burial will be private.

Donations may be made to Philadelphia Young Playwrights via https://www.phillyyoungplaywrights.org/.
If elected, you would be the first openly gay president of the United States, Stephen Colbert said to Pete Buttigieg after the mayor of South Bend, Ind., declared his candidacy. While the characterization of being openly gay or out is relatively new, the fact is the United States has already had a gay president whose contemporaries knew it: James Buchanan. Indeed, the United States has also had a gay vice president and, maybe more surprisingly, a gay senator from Alabama.

If students taking U.S. history classes are taught anything about Buchanan, they learn that he was our only bachelor president. How quaint. But, by using euphemisms, we falsely educate students  indeed all Americans  about the realities of this countrys history. We also distort how and why Buttigiegs sexual identity matters today.

Before becoming president in 1857, Buchanan openly lived with William Rufus King, who at various times served as senator from Alabama, ambassador to France and, finally, Franklin Pierces vice president. They met in Washington as young politicians, and lived together on and off for more than 16 years until Kings death from tuberculosis in 1853. Buchanans biographer, Jean H. Baker, believes that his relationship with the Southerner King partially explains why this Pennsylvanian was a doughface, a northerner who did not oppose slavery. Indeed, Buchanan explicitly urged the Supreme Court to deliver an expansive ruling in the Dred Scott case  which denied freed slaves American citizenship and forbade Congress from regulating slavery in U.S. territories  and lobbied Congress to admit Kansas as a slave state.

How do we know Buchanan and King were a couple? In 1844, after King assumed his posting in Paris, Buchanan wrote a letter to a friend, complaining about being alone and not being able to find the right gentleman partner:

I am now solitary and alone, having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection.

Maybe he was only looking for a roommate, but who woos a roommate? And he admits he would not deliver ardent or romantic affection to a woman.

Similarly, King wrote Buchanan from Paris:

I am selfish enough to hope you will not be able to procure an associate who will cause you to feel no regret at our separation. For myself, I shall feel lonely in the midst of Paris, for here I shall have no Friend with whom I shall commune as with my own thoughts.

Other contemporaries called King Buchanans better half, and one congressman referred to him as Mrs. B. All this would be quite peculiar if Buchanan was not gay. And we are not likely to get more explicit acknowledgment because both Buchanan and King had their personal papers burned after death.

Skeptics will note that in 1819, at age 28, Buchanan was engaged to Anne Coleman, daughter of a rich Pennsylvania ironmaster. Ultimately, she canceled the engagement and shortly thereafter apparently committed suicide. A rumor in the 1850s had Buchanan involved with Sarah Childress Polk, the widow of President James Polk, but it was never substantiated. In all, there is no evidence that he ever was intimately involved with another woman. At most it could suggest Buchanan was bisexual.

By not openly discussing this moment, we forget that being gay in the mid-19th century did not automatically exclude a man from national leadership. The idea that some people, including politicians and social leaders, are gay was not news or shocking to our forefathers. Americans generally considered it a private matter, and irrelevant to holding or performing public office. We obscure or even deny all this history, and, consequently, we miseducate our children and misdirect our attention. Moreover, we obfuscate perhaps the one positive step we took as a country in electing James Buchanan, who makes almost every list of the worst U.S. presidents.

So, sorry, Pete Buttigieg, you cant aim to be the first gay president, although you could be the first married gay president. Lets stop pretending Buchanan was a bachelor, and take a lesson from our forebears. Instead of focusing on a candidates sexuality, lets spend our time assessing their aptitude to lead our country in this perilous moment in history.

Ezekiel Emanuel is vice provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania.
A folder containing labeled "Register of Wills" can be seen behind John Raimondi in the office of Ronald Donatucci in Room 180 of City Hall during a conference on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. Read more

The upcoming May 21 primary promises to be ground-breaking for a number of reasons. The sheer number of candidates for City Council  almost 70is notable, as are the number of candidates running for less well known offices, like Commissioner and Register of Wills. To help voters better understand the functions of some of these offices as well as what is at stake, this special Primary School  editorial series will introduce you to the key issues, offices, and players.

This week: The Register of Wills.

. On the ballot: Ronald Donatucci (D-Incumbent), Tracey Gordon,Jacque Whaumbush. Voters elect one

Overview: This row office is entrusted with receiving wills for probate, collecting inheritance taxes, maintaining records of wills, estate inventories and other documents, and issuing marriage licenses. The office operates with about

70 employees and a budget close to $4 million.

An outlier: Although considered one of City Halls row offices, this office is not a city agency and doesnt operate under the home rule charter. That means, among other things, that its employees are not part of the civil service system. Presumably, it is also not subject to the citys campaign contribution rules. It also means it would take more than action from City Council to get rid of it.

The million dollar question: Why do we have an elected Register of Wills? The function of the Register of Wills is largely to support the courts. In 2009, both the Committee of Seventy and the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Agency issued reports arguing for the elimination of this and other row offices. (The title of one: Needless Jobs. The title of the other: A history we can no longer afford: Consolidating Philadelphias Row Offices. )

The existence of the office as a stand alone is redundant and wasteful. As the PICA report says, "The functions of government should be organized on the basis of efficiency and effectiveness, not on the basis of an inherited centuries-old structure. We, too, argue for its elimination.

What would that take? According to one reading of the PICA report, a referendum could put the office under the Home Rule Charter, which would enable the city to get rid of it.

The current office holder: Ron Donatucci is seeking his 11th term; he earns a yearly salary of $130,000. The Committee of Seventys report pointed out few complaints about performance of the office, but in disputes over ownership, the office is a critical arbitrator. Recently, the Inquirer reported about a scheme to steal the house of a dead woman by forging a will. The Register of Wills certified the fake will, giving claim to the thief and requiring the womans family members to seek criminal prosecution to reclaim the estate.

The Register of Wills is infamous for being a patronage mill -- a fact that Donatucci does not contest.

Above all, the existence of the Register of Wills on the ballot is unfair to voters. It is almost impossible to assess candidates, and voters are forced to make a decision in the dark -- making the election not about merit but about political clout. The sooner it goes away, the better.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg presents the annual report for 2018 during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, March 14, 2019. Read more

Every child knows if he is attacked by a bully in a schoolyard it helps to have buddies alongside him. All the more so for nation states: Military allies make attacks less likely and alliances of democracies strengthen their hands against despots.

Yet President Donald Trump repeatedly displays his scorn for NATO, the transatlantic military alliance that has kept the peace in Europe since World War II ended.

NATO will mark its 70th anniversary in Washington on April 4, but onetime plans to make it a celebratory summit were downgraded to a low-key gathering of foreign ministers for fear Trump would harangue the party.

So, rather than pop corks, the ministers have an unwritten item on their agenda: Not only must they adapt NATO to new challenges from Russia, China, and technology, but they need to figure out how to survive Trump.

The good news: There is strong bipartisan support for NATO in Congress. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) is a fervent NATO supporter and has split with Trump on the issue; he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) have invited NATO head Jens Stoltenberg to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Pa.), who just led a congressional delegation to a meeting on NATO in Croatia, says: Bipartisan support for institutions like NATO has been critical in deterring Soviet and then Russian aggression. Counterparts in Europe grilled Boyle on whether that support will last in the Trump era. He thinks it will. Polls show more than 75 percent of Americans believe the U.S. should maintain its commitment to NATO.

This, despite Trumps calling the alliance obsolete and suggesting last year that the United States quit NATO because it was a drain on our finances. Trump fulminates that allies dont pay their fair share and are taking advantage.

When he thinks of Europe, he thinks of trade, of German cars, of allies being deadbeats, says Jim Townsend, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, who served eight years as deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy. He sees NATO purely in transactional terms.

However, the issue of members individual defense budgets  each is supposed to rise to 2 percent of GDP by 2024  is relevant. Germanys failure to boost defense spending undercuts the alliance. It gives Trump further excuse to keep bashing the alliance, although he wrongly claims that the increased funds would reimburse the United States.

Yet the big reasons to back NATO have nothing to do with Trumps monetary gripes.

What weve learned since WWII is that we dont want to be alone in the world, because it is too dangerous, says former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns, coauthor of NATO at 70: An Alliance in Crisis, a just-released report from Harvards Kennedy School.

After 9/11, recalls Burns, all the allies came with us and unanimously invoked Article 5 of the NATO charter, which calls for a common defense. Since then, thousands of NATO member soldiers have served  and over 1,000 died -- alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Burns argues that the power of an alliance is critical when the United States faces new challenges from a resurgent Russia, a rising China, and new technological threats.

A strong NATO forces Moscow to think twice before trying to destabilize European member countries as they have done in Ukraine, Georgia, and elsewhere. The Baltics and Poland still need defense, says Burns.

A strong NATO strengthens efforts to push back against Kremlin cyber-meddling and political assassinations. It is needed to coordinate a response to the new deployment of Russian missiles on its European territory.

And NATO is vital to coordinate a common approach to new global threats from China.

Beijing is making big economic inroads in Europe with security implications for all members. We need to work with NATO and the European Union for a common position on keeping China from buying up all the infrastructure on the Mediterranean, says Burns, referring to Chinese efforts to manage or buy up ports in Israel, Greece, possibly Italy  along with infrastructure elsewhere in Europe.

Similarly, NATO coordination will be vital in coordinating a Western position on the race for the technological lead in AI [artificial intelligence]. Europe-bashing wont persuade allies to join Washington in curbing the worrisome, global expansion of Huawei, Chinas telecommunications giant.

Most important, NATO is key to the battle of ideas that may shape the 21st century. NATO is also an alliance of democracies, says Burns, as the U.S. and European allies push back against the big idea [promoted by] authoritarian powers.

Slamming NATO gifts Putin and others who argue that democracy is passe.

Congress gets it. The public gets it. The issue is whether their support for NATO will be overruled by Trump.
Unidentified victims and families and sexual abuse victims sit on the stage as Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro releases the findings of a two-year grand jury investigation into clergy abuse at six of the stateOs Roman Catholic Dioceses, leading a news conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg on Aug. 14, 2018. DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer Read more

HARRISBURG  Top Roman Catholic leaders in Pennsylvania covered up decades of child sex abuse involving more than 1,000 victims and hundreds of priests, according to a long-awaited grand jury report released Tuesday.

Capping what may be the most comprehensive examination yet of clergy sex abuse across a single state, the nearly 900-page document accuses church officials in six Pennsylvania dioceses of routinely prioritizing their institution over the welfare of children in their care.

The allegations stretch back to the 1940s, detailing child rapes and groping that mirrored the reports that have roiled the church worldwide. But the document includes several uniquely disturbing accounts of its own  including one of a 1970s pedophile and child pornography ring in Pittsburgh among priests who whipped their victims and took photos of one boy as he posed naked as if on the cross.

One priest in Southwestern Pennsylvania is said to have sexually abused a boy in a confessional. Another, from Allentown, allegedly forced a boy to give him oral sex and then cleansed the child's mouth with holy water. Two priests impregnated teens; one urged an abortion, the other arranged a secret marriage.

In all, more than 300 priests were singled out  though some names remain redacted amid legal wrangling over the fairness of the investigation and the public report. Dozens of church superiors  including some now in prominent posts nationally  were also named as complicit.

"All of [the victims] were brushed aside, in every part of the state, by church leaders who preferred to protect the abusers and their institutions above all," the report says. "Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible not only did nothing: They hid it all."

More coverage

These 9 accused priests had postings around Philadelphia | Will report lead to change in Pa.'s statute of limitations? | Mike Newall: If the Church doesn't change now, time to walk away | Grand jury: A child porn ring in Pittsburgh diocese | Report says cover-up began at the top | Read the full report | Dozens of pages shielded from public | Maria Panaritis: Thank the law, not the Men of God

The abuse "was rampant and widespread," Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at a news conference in the state Capitol. "It touched every diocese, and it is horrifying."

Many of those accused  including bishops implicated in alleged cover-ups  disputed the findings in responses attached to the report.

The panel's assertions are likely to fuel long-simmering battles in Harrisburg, including debates over the fairness of the state's grand jury system and stalled legislation that would allow childhood victims to sue their abusers and others decades after an assault.

The report also comes amid a new wave of accusations that have upended Catholic congregations worldwide and resulted in the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, formerly the archbishop of Washington.

Among those named by the Pennsylvania grand jury was McCarrick's successor in Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, a longtime Pittsburgh bishop and one of Pope Francis' prominent U.S. advisers.

Wuerl, who took over the Western Pennsylvania diocese in 1988, was faulted by the grand jury as failing to protect children from predators and withholding key information from parishioners during his two decades there.

Wuerl denied the claims Tuesday. His spokesman, Ed McFadden, called the investigation a "flawed process" steered "unwaveringly toward a predetermined result"  a statement that echoed concerns raised by nearly two dozen other clergy members who have disputed the report's accuracy in court and fought to have their names, at least temporarily, redacted.

"In factual ways large and small, the Attorney General's Office was more concerned with getting this report out than getting it right," McFadden said.

One woman, the report says, tried to commit suicide days after her testimony and later, from her hospital bed, urged grand jurors to finish their investigation.

Shapiro said he stood by the findings, the result of a two-year investigation by his office.

Despite the wide-ranging criminal behavior the attorney general outlined Tuesday, no new prosecutions are expected to emerge.

Two priests were indicted at earlier stages of the investigation. Many of the accused are either dead or long since removed from ministry, their offenses now beyond the state's statute of limitations for sex crimes. Some had previously been prosecuted, or the accusations against them made public years ago.

Still, in its scope and breadth, the grand jury's report was remarkable. The investigation drew upon testimony from dozens of witness and "secret archives" of priest abuse complaints obtained from the Dioceses of Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton, Erie, and Greensburg  together home to more than 1.7 million Roman Catholics.

Pennsylvania's other dioceses  Philadelphia and Altoona-Johnstown  were not included because previous grand juries had already scrutinized their handling of clergy sex-abuse claims.

>> FROM 2005: Grand jury says cardinals hid priests' abuse of children, but panel recommends no new criminal charges

But the state's largest city and only archdiocese weren't completely absent. Some of the accused priests at one point in their careers made stops in Philadelphia; one allegation recounted a boy being abused at one priest's family home in the city.

Several names fleetingly referenced in the report  including the late Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua and his former aide Bishop Edward Cullen  were church leaders in Philadelphia before or after service in other dioceses.

In many respects, the tactics described Tuesday mirrored those of the 2005 report that assailed the Philadelphia Archdiocese during their tenures here.

Priests preyed on vulnerable children, and their superiors either ignored or hid allegations while shuffling abusers from parish to parish. Lawsuits filed by accusers often ended in strict confidentiality agreements, ensuring their silence for years.

Problem priests were cycled through church-owned treatment centers  including the St. John Vianney Center in Downingtown. Tuesday's report dismissed the therapy at such facilities, saying it largely existed to "launder accused priests" and "provide plausible deniability to the bishops and permitted hundreds of known offenders to return to ministry."

In Allentown, grand jurors accused Msgr. Anthony Muntone of discounting a plea from a priest reporting he had molested a 12-year-old in 1982 and asking for help. Instead, the panel said, Muntone concluded "the experiences [would] not necessarily be a horrendous trauma to the victim" and allowed the priest to remain in active ministry for two decades.

In a response to the report's findings, Muntone denied he ever put children at risk and said all actions he took came after consultation with the diocese legal counsel.

In Erie, grand jurors assailed Bishop Donald Trautman for lauding the Rev. Chester Gawronski for his "many acts of kindness" and "deep faith" even after he admitted to fondling at least 12 boys during what he described as "cancer checks."

Trautman, in a statement, characterized many of the accusations against him as false.

And in the Pittsburgh Diocese, the report suggests, church officials weren't the only ones out to avoid public embarrassment. Former Beaver County District Attorney Robert Master told the grand jury that he proactively shut down an investigation into an accused priest in the 1960s, hoping to "prevent unfavorable publicity" and win support for his political career.

>> READ MORE: Stolen Childhoods: Decades later, the damage from one Philadelphia predator priest still torments a generation of victims

Response from church leaders began even before the report's release. Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of Harrisburg and Bishop Lawrence Persico of Erie sought to blunt the impact this month by opening their own archives and releasing names of all priests against whom there were "credible claims of abuse." Other dioceses followed suit Tuesday.

All the bishops noted that most of the accusations predated their tenures by decades and stressed steps their diocese had taken to improve, including instituting a zero-tolerance policy in investigating abuse allegations.

But their responses to specific allegations varied. Bishop David Zubik in Pittsburgh asserted that "he knew of no cover-ups in his three decades" there.

Meanwhile, Persico  the lone bishop to testify before the grand jury  insisted that "apologies and policies  are not enough."

"We are committed to publishing the abuses of the past and to being transparent with our decisions going forward," he said.

As church leaders were grappling with how to address their congregations, state lawmakers were gearing up for a battle over the report's recommendations  including suspending laws barring victims from suing their abusers decades after their assaults occurred.

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) reiterated his support for a bill he authored to eliminate the civil and criminal statute of limitations for child sex abuse in some cases, saying it "takes a crucial step forward to help protect victims."

But Scarnati has been opposed to making any change to the statute retroactive, arguing that such a move would be unconstitutional and could lead to hundreds of lawsuits against the church.

House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R., Indiana) said he expects to schedule a vote on Scarnati's bill this fall, but indicated that discussions over its provisions are ongoing.

Even with that fight ahead, accusers and their advocates described Tuesday's win  exposing abuse kept secret over decades  as victory enough for now.

"I knew the truth would come out eventually," said James Faluszczak, a former priest from the Erie Diocese who says he was abused by a priest as a child, and who cried as Shapiro described the report. "I thank God, like, I think, all the other victims, that we've had this opportunity to have our voice finally heard."

Staff writers Tricia L. Nadolny, Chris Palmer, William Bender, Jessica Calefati and Craig R. McCoy contributed to this article, along with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporters David Templeton, Shelly Bradbury, and Julian Routh.
In January, thousands of city employees could find themselves working fewer hours for the same salary and others will be working the same hours for more money, thanks to a new human resources computer system that will have cost more than $44 million by the time it is operational later this year.

For uniformity, city officials want the new system to classify about half the workforce, or 13,400 employees, as working 7.5-hour days.

But since many have jobs that require them to work eight hours a day, that design choice could end up costing Philadelphia millions, and wipe out some of the savings officials projected from getting a new computer system in the first place.

The move could have at least three potential ripple effects: Some employees who currently work eight-hour days will be moved to a 7.5-hour schedule but paid the same salary. Others workers whose jobs require them to work eight hours must maintain that schedule and will be paid more for what, on paper, will be considered an extra 30 minutes a day. And the shorter workday means 11,000 who are eligible for overtime will see a 10 percent increase in their overtime pay rate.

Labor union officials were baffled when the city approached them about switching to 7.5 hours. The city's blue-collar union, AFSCME District Council 33, initially fought the change, asking why the new system couldn't accommodate both kinds of workers, but eventually accepted it when city officials told them employees would get more money in the deal.

"They said it has to do with computer stuff, it all has to be uniform," said Sam Spear, DC33's labor attorney. "We said, 'That sounds crazy but if you say so.' "

The city says it does not know how much the switch will cost because officials cannot currently say how many employees currently work 7.5 hours or eight hours.

"We expect that many employees will continue to work 7.5 hours because they are already doing that and that some departments will change their 8 hours workers to 7.5 hours, thereby avoiding any additional cost," city spokesperson Mike Dunn said in an email. "Of course, there are some departments who will actually work 8 hours and pay the extra half hour on a regular basis. We can't, at this point, pinpoint that last group and predict how all of this will work out or the cost of it."

But one impact is clear: The move will increase the hourly rate for many workers, and thus will hike overtime rates.

If overtime were to remain the same as it was this past record-breaking year, the city would be on the hook for more than $7 million in additional payroll cost. That's not counting the additional 30 minutes of straight-time pay some will get for keeping to their eight-hour workday.

For an employee with a $50,000 salary, that could mean an automatic $3,072 annual pay bump. Multiply that by thousands and the hourly rate switch could put a dent in its $4.7 billion annual budget. The additional compensation would also be used to calculate employees' future pensions and thereby increasing the city's liability long term.

The system upgrade is part of the One Philly project, launched in 2014 to link the city's personnel, payroll, pensions and benefits systems and give managers the ability to better keep track of employee hours and reduce the use of overtime. For decades every piece of employee information has been manually entered into various incompatible programs.

The new system can accommodate both 7.5- and eight-hour workdays. It will cover police officers, firefighters, prison guards, sheriff deputies, and all court employees who will continue to work their eight-hour and 12-hour shifts. But legions of other employees won't be accommodated.

"If you are building all this specialty code, why not account for 7.5 hour workers and eight-hour workers," said one source with knowledge of the system, who requested anonymity because he's not authorized to speak about the project. "Why would you give up millions of dollars for nothing?"

Pennsylvania has a similar split among its 73,000 public workers  46,000 work 37.5-hour workweeks while many of the rest, in law enforcement and certain facilities, work 40-hour weeks. But the state doesn't pay extra for its eight-hour-a-day workers.

One option for Philadelphia would have been to make everyone eight-hour employees. Because the current payroll system was already calculating workdays that way, such a move would have been cost-neutral, Dunn said.

Officials, however, did not want to inconvenience employees who might have been forced to extend child care or adjust other commitments.

"We did an analysis of it and at the time we presented it to the steering committee and at the time they thought the benefits outweighed the negative," Rick Stewart, the One Philly project director, said of going to 7.5-hour days.

He cited the incompatibility of the previous disjointed system.

"As you can imagine, addresses spelled differently or different benefit type information put into another system doesn't match another," Stewart said. "So we are constantly going back and forth saying well why doesn't this match here, what's the system of record?"

Ciber Inc was selected as the lead vendor for One Philly with a $14.8 million contract and a 2-year timeline. But as the Inquirer and Daily News reported last year, the project was riddled with significant delays and cost overruns by the time the firm, based in Colorado, filed for bankruptcy in April 2017. By then Ciber had been paid $9 million and the city had spent millions more on software and staff. Yet One Philly was far from complete.

Other governments, including the Hawaii Department of Transportation and Washington state's community colleges, went to court over Ciber Inc.'s inability to deliver and won.

Philadelphia decided it was best to proceed and finish the project. The city increased its contract with the company, by then purchased by HTC Global and rebranded as Ciber Global, to $28.7 million, nearly double the original amount.

Philadelphia officials dismissed questions about the quality of Ciber's work, saying that the reorganized company is improved. While some of the same employees as before remain, city officials say they are confident. The new system is expected to go live by mid-December.

Vickas Bhutada, executive vice president at HTC/Ciber Global, said that when his team acquired Ciber, it checked with Philadelphia and other customers to resolve outstanding issues.

"We deployed the right team on the project, defined all the requirements and details, validated all the work that had been done, figured out the gaps," Bhutada said. "We believe we are now in very good shape and on schedule, hitting budget and we should be ready to launch as far as the plan."

It's been more than a month since the Inquirer and Daily News requested copies of Philadelphia's Ciber contracts, as well as related One Philly contractors, including Oracle. The city provided the Ciber Global contract on Monday but has not yet provided the rest. Without the original contracts, it is difficult to see just how much over budget the project currently is.

Including other vendors and payroll, the city says it expects to have spent at least $44 million by the time One Philly goes live. But even after the project is completed, taxpayers will still be on the hook for at least $3.3 million a year to support the new system.

That doesn't include the extra costs of the new work schedule.
State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams meets on March 25 with anti-crime activists to announce a "Citywide Peace Pledge" in front of John Bartram High School in Southwest Philadelphia. Read more

The May 21 primary election is less than eight weeks away and Mayor Jim Kenney, facing two Democratic challengers, is still running an undercover campaign.

Kenney, who kicked off his bid for a second term last month with a video on social media, now announces endorsements and other milestones after the fact, with pictures of smiling supporters sent in emails and posted on Twitter. His campaign schedule, which is not available ahead of time, shows only private events in the last week.

One challenger, State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, is working to flush Kenney out into the public spotlight. Williams stood outside John Bartram High School in Southwest Philly with community activists this week to announce a citywide peace pledge.

There, Williams slipped not-so-accidentally off script and showed another flash of the class warfare imbuing his rematch against Kenney, who defeated him in the 2015 primary.

Ill just stop, unfortunately, to interject something controversial, Williams said before asking the 13 anti-violence activists there to raise their hands if they support supervised injection sites where people dealing with addiction can use drugs, access rehabilitation services, and be revived by medical personnel if they overdose. No hands went up.

Williams, who has been touting his neighborhood roots while suggesting Kenney has abandoned his, said the plan to open the nations first supervised injection site in the city came from people who are well-intentioned but dont live in the communities that will be affected.

Some may look like theyre from the community, but theyre not from there, Williams said, before casting his eye toward pricier zip codes. Now if they want to put one of those sites in East Falls or Rittenhouse Square or Chestnut Hill, I guess well take an opportunity to experiment. But until these sites dont end up in neighborhoods that already have problems, were going to have challenges.

The other Democratic challenger, former City Controller Alan Butkovitz, and Billy Ciancaglini, the lone Republican, also oppose supervised injection sites, guaranteeing well be watching this political fight for at least seven more months.

Kenneys office, told of Williams comments, reiterated his support for a private operator running what they call an overdose prevention site. The goal: to try and save as many lives as we can, mayoral spokesperson Deana Gamble said in an email.

We recognize any site will cause challenges and those issues deserve a robust discussion to make sure theyre addressed, Gamble said.

Williams wrapped up his event this week with a nod toward Kenneys ghost campaign, calling on him to speak rather than relying on city or campaign spokespeople.

I dont want to hear a snarky comment from someone who doesnt live in the hood, never been in the hood, doesnt understand the hood, doesnt give a damn about the hood," he said. I want to hear from the mayor who represents the hood.

Will Philadelphias Democratic Party snub Sheriff Jewell Williams?

Sheriff Jewell Williams was one of more than 80 candidates who made a pitch this week for endorsement by the Democratic City Committee. Things may not go his way this year. And that would be a big change for Williams, facing three primary challengers while taking serious heat for sexual-harassment cases.

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the local party chairman, said there will be no rubber-stamping of Williams bid for a third term. The party could remain neutral, he added. Either way, Brady expects plenty of debate when the party meets to vote on endorsements.

If we meet for two hours, an hour and a half will be about that, he said.

A group of protesters gathered outside Monday evening as Williams was interviewed by the partys Policy Committee. They waved signs saying Sheriff Jewell Williams must go and You have disgraced the uniform.

The citys Law Department last month agreed to pay $127,000 to a former Sheriffs Office employee. The Democratic caucus of the state House settled another sexual-harassment suit in 2011 for $30,000, filed against Williams when he was a state representative. Another Sheriffs Office employee has a sexual-harassment case pending in federal court.

Not granting the endorsement would be a major shift for the party, which practically preordained Williams as sheriff in 2010, a year before he won his first term. Williams did not respond to requests for comment.

Desiree Peterkin Bell talks Frenemy on national television

The business model is simple: Talk-show host Wendy Williams walks among her studio audience with a microphone, getting people to act out for the fleeting attention of TV viewers.

This week, that meant watching former City Representative Desiree Peterkin Bell talking to Williams about a frenemy who she claimed pasted a picture of her head onto the naked body of a woman on a beach and posted it online. Bell seemed mostly perturbed that the body was flat-chested since she identifies as Team Double-D.

If the name rings a bell  sorry, had to do it  thats because Bell was charged with several crimes in November, accused of misspending nearly $250,000 from the Mayors Fund, a city-run nonprofit, while working for former Mayor Michael Nutter. She is awaiting trial.

Bell asked Williams if she should retaliate. Desiree, how old is everybody?" Williams asked, before offering this advice: "Stop this. This is really juvenile. Bell said she would try.
A Philadelphia real estate developer and a Jersey Shore-based general contractor have agreed to pay Philadelphia $160,000 in permit fees and fines after city agencies discovered that the companies had failed to obtain proper permits, or used fraudulently altered ones, for past construction projects.

V2 Properties LLC, a developer who builds single-family homes in Brewerytown and parts of South Philadelphia, and Rock Haven Builders LLC, a Woodbine, N.J-based general contractor that builds in South Jersey and Philadelphia, were cited by city agencies for failing to obtain the proper right-of-way permits from the Streets Department at 94 different construction sites, the city said this week. The Streets Departments right-of-way unit issues street-closure permits for various types of construction work that might block streets or sidewalks.

On four construction sites, the citys Department of Licenses and Inspections found that Rock Haven Builders had posted previously used permits, altered to appear as if they had been issued for the projects on those sites, the city said.

The properties that were missing the required permits were located throughout city, though most were located in Southwest Philadelphia and South Philadelphia, according to a spokesperson for the Office of the Inspector General, one of the city agencies that investigated the incident. L&I and the Streets Department also were involved in identifying the construction sites where permits were not obtained.

The properties were built between April 2014 and August 2017, the spokesperson said.

Reached by phone, David Henry, the owner of Rock Haven Builders, said that there was confusion about obtaining the actual permits themselves and that the companies put up the proper fencing surrounding all of their projects.

Its not like we were trying to cause any harm to the city or anything ... we were not attempting to do anything wrong, Henry said. We had actually applied for [the permits]  there was confusion in getting them. We filled out the application and sent it in, and after that it got discombobulated.

Vince Viney, president and founder of V2 Properties, said in a statement that V2 Properties has not and never will commit any fraud of any kind.

We are 100 percent devoted to educating ourselves and our business partners going forward so that we remain in full compliance with the rules and regulations of the City of Philadelphia, Viney said.

Both companies cooperated with the investigation, the city said. V2 Properties agreed in June to pay the city $100,000 for owed permit fees, and Rock Haven agreed in November to pay $60,000 in fines, according to the city.

V2 Properties also agreed to implement a permit-compliance program that includes periodic training for subcontractors and a designated permit-conformance manager for future projects, the city said.

Rock Havens Philadelphia contractors license also will be subject to a one-year probationary period, meaning that if the company commits any further violations, it may be subjected to revocation of its contractors license, a spokesperson for the Inspector Generals Office said. Henry said his company had no intention of letting the problem happen again.

L&I Commissioner David Perri said in a statement that skirting the citys permitting process and construction codes will not be tolerated.

L&I has strengthened its audit, investigation, and enforcement units and will continue to work closely with [the Office of the Inspector General] to protect the safety of our community, Perri said.
In January 2019, a handful of Rhode Island state senators introduced Senate Bill 136, An Act Relating to Business and Professions  Prescription Drug Sales  Representative Disclosure Act. The legislation, if passed, would require prescription drug manufacturers to file a detailed list of each pharmaceutical sales representative and pay an annual fee for each name listed with the department of business regulation.

Legislation Requirements

The bill also notes that the department is responsible for providing electronic access to the most recent list provided by each manufacturer to all providers of health care, licensed, certified or registered in the state, operators of pharmacies, and operators of medical facilities, in addition to the general public via the departments website.

If someone is not listed on the current list, they are not allowed to market prescription drugs on behalf of a manufacturer to any provider of health care, any pharmacy or employee thereof, or an operator or employee of a medical facility.

Annual Report Requirements

In addition to being registered on the list, each person included on the list must file a report with the department on March 1 annually. The annual report must include a list of providers of health care, pharmacies and employees, and operators and employees of medical facilities to whom the representative provided: anything of value worth more than $10.00 or total compensation with a value that exceeds $100.00 in aggregate; and the name and manufacturer of each prescription drug for which the pharmaceutical sales representative provided a free sample.

The department is then responsible for reviewing and analyzing those annual reports and compiling a report of its own on the activities on pharmaceutical sales representatives in the state. That report is due by June 1 of each year and shall be posted on the departments website in addition to being submitted to the governor, the director of the department of health, the commissioner of the office of health insurance, and the speaker of the house and senate president.

Fees and Penalties

The director of the department will charge each manufacturer $55.00 annually for each pharmaceutical sales representative listed by the manufacturer.

If a manufacturer fails to provide the information required by the legislation, the attorney general may bring a civil action against the company for injunctive relief, costs, and attorneys fees, in addition to a civil penalty of no more than $10,000 per violation. Each unlawful failure to provide the information shall constitute a separate violation.

Rhode Island Senate Hearing

On March 28, 2019, the Rhode Island Senate Committee of Health and Human Services held a hearing during which they discussed the legislation. The first witness, speaking in support of the legislation, noted that other states such as Nevada and cities such as Chicago have implemented similar legislation. He also suggested copying the language from the state of Washington and Nevada where the confidentiality of the information thats contained in the registry is protected and only available to the department of health and the attorney general.

Senator Joshua Miller, Chairman of the Committee, mentioned concerns that representatives voiced in Washington, Nevada, D.C., and Chicago, about their safety. The witness noted that he was unaware of any anecdotal evidence that such concerns were valid, stating it has been in place for many years, but that he was happy to check with other counterparts in other states.

In response to a question by Senator James Sheehan about data, the witness mentioned a JAMA article that outlined a relationship between detailing and increased use of opioids and overdose deaths, and also testified that he believes the opioid crisis is still alive and well in Rhode Island, while also mentioning some of the other provisions in the D.C. law that he encourages Rhode Island to add, including continuing education and ethics requirements.

Kelly Ryan spoke on behalf of PhRMA in opposition to the bill. While she noted that the association understands the impetus behind the bill and does not condone the behavior the bill is trying to prevent, the bill goes beyond simply preventing bad actors. She noted that interactions are already regulated at the federal level, including via federal laws such as the Anti-Kickback Statute and Open Payments. She also noted that the bill as is currently written goes further than the Nevada legislation as it creates another level of reporting above and beyond Sunshine Act reporting and provides an incredible level of detail of relationships between manufacturers and physicians.

Ryan also noted that in October 2018, the Sunshine Act was expanded to include non-physician prescribers as well and a lot of the information the bill requires to be provided is already provided under Sunshine Act. Sample reporting has been in place for decades.

Ryan also mentioned that in the bill as currently written, the reporting function and responsibility falls on the shoulders of the individual, but the penalty falls on the manufacturer. She noted that this could be a problem if staff changes mid-way throughout the year and the individual does not file the report as required and the manufacturer does not have control over the individual any longer, it may result in manufacturers being fined penalties beyond their control.

Conclusion

The legislation seems to be in an early draft at this stage, as it states that manufacturers would be required to inform the department of a change in their list within thirty days of the change, by any means acceptable to the department, and that failure to do so may result in a penalty to be determined by the department.

Overall, the Chairman of the Committee seemed open to amending the legislation and adding or subtracting certain pieces of it. Time will tell what those changes will be, and whether they will be successful in passing the bill.
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Donald Trump melted down in Michigan on Thursday night in his first campaign rally since the Mueller investigation wrapped up  and the media pretty much shrugged its shoulders.

As the presidents rally kicked off, both MSNBC and CNN opted out of covering it. Instead, they focused on more pressing issues, like: Um, where the hell is the actual Mueller report?

Fox News, of course, decided to cover the president as he threw a tantrum that would have left even the least developed fourth grader rolling his or her eyes.

Trump played his stale greatest hits

The rally was full of Trumps greatest hits. First, he went after what he called the Russia hoax and attacked Democrats for continuing to scrutinize him.

The Democrats have to now to decide whether they will continue defrauding the public with ridiculous bullshit, partisan investigations, or whether they will apologize to the American people and join us to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, bring down the cost of health care and prescription drugs  help us fix our broken trade deals, Trump said.

Like usual, he also went after the media, referring to journalists as bad people and said they must be held accountable for their reporting over the two-year Mueller investigation.

Like well-trained pets, the sea of red hats began chanting, Lock them up!

Trump bashes media at Michigan rally over Russia investigation, calls journalists bad people and says there must be accountability. Crowd chants lock them up! pic.twitter.com/pvF8Uokg1j  Jon Passantino (@passantino) March 28, 2019

Then, like the true man-child that he is, Trump came up with a new nickname for Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff hours after the congressman tore Republicans to shreds for turning a blind eye to the presidents unethical behavior.

Little pencil neck Adam Schiff, the leader of the free world said. Hes got the smallest, thinnest neck Ive ever seen. He is not a longball hitter.

Then Trump broke into an impression of the congressman, you know, like a totally sane commander-in-chief would do.

Little pencil neck Adam Schiff is Trumps new nickname for @RepAdamSchiff pic.twitter.com/gK3mqx4xNk  Marcus DiPaola (@marcusdipaola) March 28, 2019

In another piece of Trump lunacy that shouldnt be ignored, the president flaunted his ignorance when it comes to alternative energy.

The president (wrongly) claimed that wind power only works when its windy outside, telling the crowd, I know a lot about wind.

TRUMP: Youd be doing wind, windmills. WEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNDDD. If it doesnt blow, you can forget about television for that night. Darling, I want to watch television. Im sorry! The wind isnt blowing. I know a lot about wind. I know a LOT about wind. pic.twitter.com/DmlfxzG5qf  Marcus DiPaola (@marcusdipaola) March 29, 2019

Meanwhile, the midwest is slipping away from Trump

In addition to his incoherent attacks on the media and Democrats, Trump tore into his usual retelling of the 2016 campaign, hitting Hillary Clinton for not visiting Michigan or Wisconsin enough before reminding the applauding rubes in the audience what the final electoral vote tally was.

But for anyone outside the MAGA bubble  aka the majority of the country  its no surprise that Trump dropped into Michigan on Thursday. After all, recent polling  and the 2018 election results  show that the presidents numbers in the midwest are collapsing.

According to new surveys, the president has fallen behind in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and even Iowa. Without those states, there is no second term for Donald Trump.

And while the president spent a sizeable portion of his ramble on Thursday night taking a victory lap over a report nobody  not even he  has seen, it might not matter that much either way.

The majority of the country has already made up their mind about 2020, and they dont want to see this unstable man have access to the nuclear codes for another four years. The presidents performance on Thursday night provided a good reminder of why that is.

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Even though Robert Muellers Russia investigation has wrapped up  though we still have yet to see the actual report  Donald Trump continues to be scrutinized for his shady business dealings, which were largely outside the purview of the special counsel probe.

According to a new report from The Washington Post, Trump repeatedly inflated his wealth in order to get loans: When Donald Trump wanted to make a good impression  on a lender, a business partner, or a journalist  he sometimes sent them official-looking documents called Statements of Financial Condition.'

David Fahrenthold, one of the reporters who broke the story on Thursday, listed some examples of Trumps lying about his wealth:

NEW: How did @realDonaldTrump inflate his net worth to lenders?

Added 10 stories to Trump Tower.

Added 800 acres to his winery.

Added 24 ready-to-sell lots to his property in CA.

Weve got (some of the) inflated docs investigators now want to see. https://t.co/cNfKTsSlrW  David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) March 28, 2019

More from The Washington Post:

These documents sometimes ran up to 20 pages. They were full of numbers, laying out Trumps properties, debts and multibillion-dollar net worth. But, for someone trying to get a true picture of Trumps net worth, the documents were deeply flawed. Some simply omitted properties that carried big debts. Some assets were overvalued. And some key numbers were wrong.  Now, investigators on Capitol Hill and in New York are homing in on these unusual documents in an apparent attempt to determine whether Trumps familiar habit of bragging about his wealth ever crossed a line into fraud. The statements are at the center of at least two of the inquiries that continue to follow Trump, unaffected by the end of special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation. On Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform said it had requested 10 years of these statements from Trumps accounting firm, Mazars USA.

Trumps potential crimes extend well beyond the Mueller report

While Trump and his allies might be taking victory laps over William Barrs letter released last weekend, his potential criminal behavior extends well beyond the special counsel probe.

Not only is it likely that Muellers complete findings will make the White House celebrations look silly in hindsight, but the report itself is irrelevant to many of the investigations that continue to circle around the president, his businesses and his family.

As The Post noted on Thursday, Democrats in the House of Representatives and authorities in New York are moving full speed ahead with their investigations of this president.

When investigators get done digging through all of Donald Trumps shady business dealings, not only wont he be celebrating, but hell likely regret ever running for president in the first place.

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Rachel Maddow blasted Attorney General William Barr on Thursday for keeping the Mueller report secret and not even providing a copy to Congress after hes had it for nearly a week.



Maddow cited previous investigations which released their reports either to Congress or the public almost immediately after they concluded.

This isnt how things like this have previously been handled, Maddow said. Tomorrow it will be a week and we havent seen any of it.

Video:

Rachel Maddow listed previous investigations that released their final reports almost immediately. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/zRxJqhlz1H  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 29, 2019

Maddow said:

The last time there was a special counsel, which is what Robert Mueller is, that was John Danforths report about the Branch Davidian standoff at Waco. His report was released publicly. Before, it was independent counsel Ken Starr. His report was provided in full to the House on a Wednesday afternoon. It was then released to the public on a Friday morning. Even as the grand jury material and underlying evidence was held just within Congress and not released to the public, the public got the report, Congress got all the underlying evidence and it happened zip, zip. Before that, it was the independent counsel Lawrence Walsh and his report about Oliver North and the Iran Contra scandal. That was released fully to the public. Even some lesser known ones. There was an independent counsel who looked into then-HUD secretary Henry Cisneros that was released fully to Congress and then released with very limited redactions to the public. There was an independent counsel report into an agriculture secretary named Mike Espy that was released fully to the public. Its just the Mueller report they want to sit on. This isnt how things like this have previously been handled. But for this one, were heading  tomorrow it will be a week and we havent seen any of it.

The American people want to see the Mueller report

While Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress continue to high-five each other over Attorney General William Barrs four-page summary of a 300-page report, the American people arent buying it.

Earlier this week, a survey showed that a stunning 84 percent of the country  including 75 percent of Republicans  wants to see the full Mueller report. A majority of the American people also dont believe Trumps lie that he has been fully exonerated by Mueller.

Ultimately, Democrats in Congress and a bipartisan majority of the country is getting impatient with the refusal of the Trump administration to release the full Mueller report.

The longer they sit on it, the more hollow their victory lap looks.

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By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  President Donald Trumps son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner on Thursday appeared at a closed door meeting of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee for the second time, four congressional sources said.

It was not known what topics were discussed with Kushner, who is involved in developing an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and has helped forged closer U.S. ties with Saudi Arabia. The committee has been conducting a largely bipartisan investigation of suspected Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and the nature of contacts between Trump campaign members and Russian officials, including Kushner.

A spokesman for Kushners lawyer Abbe Lowell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senator Mark Warner, the panels Democratic Vice Chairman declined to comment.

Senators and staff investigators were present at the meeting with Kushner in a Senate office building, the congressional sources said. Kushner, who is married to Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump, had previously appeared before the panel in July 2017. Only staff investigators were present at that session, according to news reports at the time.

Committee investigators are working on a five-chapter final report on Russian political activities targeted at the United States and American responses to them. Russia denies interfering in the election. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Moscow meddled to undermine the U.S. democratic process and help Trump get elected.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Sunday released his four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert Muellers report on a 22-month investigation into Russian interference in 2016. Barr said Mueller did not establish that Trumps campaign colluded with Russia in the campaign.

Specific topics upon which Republican and Democrat investigators on the Senate Intelligence Committee agree include investigative findings on the security of U.S. election systems, the political impact of social media, and examinations of how U.S. spy and law enforcement agencies responded to suspected Russian activities both before and after the election.

The committee also is working on final assessments of whether there was collusion between Republican Trump and his campaign and Russians. But on this issue Republicans and Democrats assessments diverge, with the political rivals agreeing there is a lack of direct evidence of collusion, but Democrats saying there is ample circumstantial evidence to support such a finding.

The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on the other hand is bitterly divided. Republican members of the panel opened a session on Thursday on Russian meddling with an attack on Democratic chairman Adam Schiff. They said all nine Republican members had signed a letter asking him to resign because of his criticism of the presidents 2016 campaign and Russia.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball; additional reporting by David Morgan; editing by Grant McCool)
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Trump threw his own Education Secretary Betsy DeVos under the bus as he falsely claimed that he has funded Special Olympics.

Trump said, The Special Olympics will be funded. I just told my people, I wanna fund the Special Olympics, and I just authorized a funding of the Special Olympics. Ive been to the Special Olympics, I think its incredible and I just authorized a funding. I heard about it this morning. I have overridden my people. Were funding the Special Olympics.

Video:

Presidents don't authorize funding. Keep this fact in mind as you watch Trump claim that he has authorized funding for the Special Olympics. pic.twitter.com/mEXoIk9KQM  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 28, 2019

Presidents Dont Have The Power To Authorize Funds

Trump claimed that he did something that he does not have the power to do. Presidents do not authorize or set funding for programs. That power belongs to Congress. This is why the presidential budget is viewed as an advisory document, not a real budget that has any chance of becoming law. Trump was trying to spin away bad news for his administration, so he granted himself the imaginary power to decree that the Special Olympics have been funded.

Members of Congress in both parties have made it clear that Special Olympics will be funded, but none of the credit goes to Trump. Donald Trump has nothing to do with it. The president is continuing his con of dodging responsibility for what his administration does while making promises that he has no power to deliver on.

Trump cant declare the Special Olympics funded, just like he cant wipe away the stain of his administration trying to eliminate Special Olympics funding for three straight years.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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For the past five days Donald Trump has continually claimed that he has been totally exonerated by Attorney General Bill Barrs summary of special counsel Robert Muellers report.

But a new poll released Friday shows that the majority of Americans are skeptical and are not buying Trumps claims of exoneration.

The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that just 36 percent of Americans think that Barrs letter has completely cleared Trump of any wrongdoing. On the other hand, 56 percent of American voters believe there are still significant questions that exist about the Trump campaigns activities during the 2016 presidential election.

The majority of voters also said they believe Mueller had conducted a fair investigation. But they also believe that a four-page summary of Muellers 300 page report is not enough to end the debate over coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Only 18 Percent of American Voters Think Barrs Summary Is Sufficient

In a stunning blow to Republican efforts to cover up the Mueller report, just 18 percent of survey respondents said they are of the opinion that Bill Barrs four-page summary of the Mueller report was sufficient,

On the other hand, fully three-fourths of poll participants  75 percent  said they want the complete Mueller report made public.

People clearly want to see more about the report, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the poll. They want it released publicly, are eager to see the principals  Mueller and Barr  testify, because they want to see how the sausage was made. They want to see how we got to this point.

One unanswered question is how far Democrats should go in investigating him going forward. There seems to be a push now to not only subpoena Muellers report, but also to subpoena Bob Mueller himself to come before a House committee to testify about what is in his report.

This would allow House Democrats to question him on his underlying evidence also, which would go a long way to disclosing exactly what the Trump campaign did during the 2016 campaign.

The American People Want Answers

As this poll points out, the vast majority of Americans are not satisfied with the Barr summary, and they believe that Donald Trump has NOT been cleared of any wrongdoing.

If Trump, Barr and other Republicans continue to withhold the evidence from Congress and the American people they will find that their punishment will come in next years elections when they are thrown out of office.

The American people want answers, and if they dont get them there will be another Big Blue Wave in 2020, and it will be unlike anything weve ever seen before.
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Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut was on CNN this morning and told host John Berman that he believes Adam Schiff has nothing to apologize for when it comes to accusing President Donald Trump of colluding with Russia.

He also said that Bill Barrs summary of the Mueller report will not absolve Donald Trump of his sleazy behavior.

Like other of Schiffs Democratic colleagues in the House, Himes was strongly supportive of what the House Intelligence Committee chairman is doing and saying about the president.

Himes said that even though Attorney General William Barrs short summary of special counsel Robert Muellers lengthy report did not establish that Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia, it certainly did not absolve the president (or his campaign) from their bad behavior that has greatly harmed American democracy.

The congressman told Berman:

Maybe the presidents actions didnt rise to the level of a criminal conspiracy but it was a long list of inappropriate, unpatriotic activity that was evidence  real evidence  of something possibly going wrong

Im willing to conceded today that perhaps it wasnt a provable criminal conspiracy, but remember, none of these activities were appropriate.

Himes also said that he is worried that Trump will use executive privilege to avoid the release of information that will be inconvenient or embarrassing for this President in the Mueller report. I think thats the fight were going to have.

Video:

Rep. @jahimes says he worries that the White House will use executive privilege "to avoid the release of information that will be inconvenient or embarrassing for this President" in the Mueller report. "I think that's the fight we're going to have. https://t.co/q0lkvj25cf pic.twitter.com/tkexwq2f2N  New Day (@NewDay) March 29, 2019

On Thursday, Schiff went on a long rant against Trump and his campaign during a House Intelligence Committee meeting. In the meeting he said he was not OK with Trump campaign officials meeting with alleged Russian agents and encouraging them to leak damaging material that they had stolen from Hillary Clintons campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Himes said he believed those facts alone constituted a scandal, and that Muellers full report would demonstrate just how badly the Trump campaign had behaved.

Even Without Proof of a Crime, Muellers Report May Show Collusion With Russia

One thing that people often forget is that there is no specific federal crime called collusion. But Muellers report dealt only with crimes that could be proved in a court of law at a criminal trial.

This means that Mueller may have found  and probably did find  much evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia, but NOT evidence of provable crimes.

A careful reading of Bill Barrs short summary of Muellers long report shows that the attorney general also believes there was evidence of collusion, but not enough evidence to charge Trump or his campaign with crimes.

As more information comes out about Trump collusion (and hopefully as we eventually are allowed to see the full Mueller report) it will become crystal clear that Jim Himes and Adam Schiff are right.

As Himes said:

When the evidence comes out, it will not look good for the president.

CLICK HERE to watch the interview courtesy of CNN
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Rush Limbaugh suggested that Republicans may be doomed in 2020 if Trump keeps attacking Obamacare.

Limbaugh said on Fox News, I understand that it is an issue that the Democrat (sic) Party has owned, Limbaugh said. I know the president would love to take it away from them and have it be something that the American people rely on the Republican Party for, but it needs to be done right, and it needs to reemphasize the private sector and the free marketI wish that we would just focus on immigration. We dont know how much time we are going to have to do this.

Video:

Even Rush Limbaugh can see that Trumps Obamacare attack is a bad idea

Trying to get rid of Obamacare was the dumbest thing that Trump could do in the middle of the Republican Partys propaganda effort to bury the Mueller. Trump gave Democrats a gift, and a giant club to beat Republicans over the head with for the next two months. Limbaugh knows that this is a terrible idea. Republicans will never be able to get an Obamacare replacement bill through Congress, so if the ACA is thrown out by the courts, Republicans will own the higher premiums for hundreds of thousands of Americans, and the 20 million people who will immediately lose their coverage.

Republicans were crushed in the 2018 midterms because of healthcare, and if Trump pushes this issue in 2020, it could be an even bigger bloodbath for the GOP.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made it clear that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) isnt going anywhere as she also took out Devin Nunes.

Nancy Pelosi Stands With Adam Schiff

Speaker Pelosi tweeted:

.@RepAdamSchiffs calm, professional leadership is something we should all be proud of. Unlike his predecessor, his time as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has been a shining example of how to responsibly carry out the committees mission. https://t.co/v30oR8Xi3X  Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 29, 2019

Speaker Pelosi was correct. Rep. Schiff is under attack from Trump and his flying monkey Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) because he is doing a great job, and Donald Trump is clearly unnerved by him.

Here is Trump at his rally in Michigan trying to personally attack Rep. Schiff:

Trump's fear of Adam Schiff is showing. The pencil neck attack isn't going to work either. Trump is both trying to discredit Schiff and distract him from his investigation. pic.twitter.com/J6B1vgO5SA  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 29, 2019

Trump said, Little pencil neck Adam Schiff. Hes got the smallest, thinnest neck Ive ever seen. He is not a long ball hitter. 

Adam Schiff isnt going anywhere, and thats why Trump is so worried

The president is breaking out all of his tricks. He is trying to distract Schiff by luring him into a tabloid-style insult war. He is attacking the House Intelligence Committee chairman in an attempt to discredit the investigation and what they might find, and he is using false claims about total exoneration to try to stop the House investigation.

The nation has seen all of this before.

The Speaker was correct. Rep. Schiff is driving Trump up the wall with his calm, professional, and focused leadership. Unlike Devin Nunes, Schiff isnt going to discredit the committee by being a puppet for Trump.

Rep. Schiff is going anywhere, and you can smell the fear on Trump.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told lawmakers on Thursday he did not know whether any of the approvals he authorized for U.S. companies to sell nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia were made after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October last year.

Perry told a Senate hearing he approved some authorizations by U.S. companies to sell preliminary nuclear power technology and assistance to Saudi Arabia since November 2017, confirming media reports by the Daily Beast and Reuters on Wednesday.

The Department of Energy issued a statement later on Thursday clarifying that it had issued seven such approvals for companies wishing to participate in Saudi Arabias civilian nuclear power program, but pointed out that they do not permit the transfer of nuclear material, equipment or components.

U.S. companies commonly win such approvals, known as Part 810 authorizations, for selling nuclear power know-how abroad and the documents are often kept for the public to access in a room at Energy Department headquarters.

But the ones that Perry approved for Saudi Arabia, which has been in quiet talks with the Trump administration on a wider nuclear power deal, were not made public. Perry said they contained proprietary information for the companies, the names of which have not been released.

A House of Representatives aide said that previous Part 810 approvals for Saudi Arabia made during the administration of President Barack Obama are available for public perusal.

Lawmakers from both parties have slammed the Trump administration for negotiating a deal while keeping Congress in the dark. They worry that a program without non-proliferation safeguards could eventually lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia, which wants to build two reactors initially, has pushed back against U.S. limits on enriching uranium and reprocessing spent fuel, both of which are potential paths to a nuclear weapons program.

Concern grew after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said last year said the kingdom would pursue nuclear weapons if its rival Iran developed them.

Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, asked Perry if any of his approvals were made before or after Oct. 2, 2018, the day that Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi was a resident of Virginia, Kaines state.

I dont, Perry told Kaine. I dont want to give you a date specific, Perry said before Kaine resumed questioning. Perry told Kaine he would get back to him on the specific timing of the approvals.

Kaine has accused the Trump administration of complicity in covering up Khashoggis murder. A number of lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, have been at odds with the Trump administration over its response to Khashoggis killing, and a bipartisan group of senators had introduced a bill to impose sanctions on those responsible for his death.

Perry, responding to another question by Kaine at the hearing, said that since 2017, the Department of Energy has received 65 applications for Part 810 authorizations and approved 37. Perry said nine were for work in the Middle East, including two for Jordan.

Perry said late last year that he had emphasized to Saudi Arabian officials it was important for them to be seen as strong on non-proliferation, but that part of the talks has centered on making sure any nuclear inspections would not be intrusive to sensitive areas in the kingdom.

Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, said on Thursday he will introduce a bill to stop the Trump administration from what he called bypassing Congress on nuclear technology transfer to Saudi Arabia. The legislation, which would mandate that any 810 authorizations are made available to Congress, would face an uphill battle in the Republican-led chamber.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Leslie Adler and James Dalgleish)
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Donald Trump is really going off the rails. His crazy antics might be funny if he werent the most powerful man in the world, who has the codes to Americas nuclear weapons.

As head of both the U.S. military and the U.S. law enforcement agencies, Trump is in a unique position to abuse his power by persecuting (and perhaps prosecuting) people who criticize him.

And last night, in an unhinged rally speech in Michigan, he showed signs of how he might abuse his massive power by starting to create his own personal enemies list.

In other words, our autocratic president, who is a dictator wannabe has begun making a list of people and entities who he believes are enemies of his state because they have dared to criticize him.

His speech last night was his first since Attorney General William Barr reported that he would not be prosecuted for obstruction of justice, and that Robert Mueller had not established the existence of a provable conspiracy between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.

So Trump took the opportunity to list his enemies by name and occupation, and his crowd of right-wing crazies loved it.

It does make you wonder if they will now be motivated to please their leader by committing acts of violence against the enemies that Trump has identified. This has certainly happened before.

Little pencil-neck Adam Schiff, Trump said of the House Intelligence Committee chairman, who continues to oversee an investigation into Trump collusion.

Jerry Nadler, he said, invoking the name of the House Judiciary chairman, who is looking into obstruction-of-justice allegations. I have beat him many times, and now I have to come here and beat him again, Trump said of the Manhattan Democrat.

These people are sick, Trump said, and then added:

All of the Democrat politicians, the media bosses, bad people.  crooked journalists, the totally dishonest TV pundits.  And all the current and former officials who paid for, promoted, and perpetuated the single greatest hoax in the history of politics in our country. They have to be  I am sorry, they have to be accountable.

Trumps Supporters Want to Lock Them Up

It is more than a little scary that Trumps mob of supporters began chanting the solution they want: Lock them up!

But perhaps whats most frightening is that for many these are not just idle words at a campaign rally. For many Trump supporters locking people up for daring to criticize their beloved president is a desirable solution to what they see as a big problem.

They want to forget fair trials and due process of law. In fact, they want to forget the entire U.S. Constitution (except the second amendment).

They want to go further and seek revenge against those who they believe are carrying out the Deep State conspiracy against Donald Trump.

Its clear now that Trump is using Barrs summary of Muellers report to claim that he and his supporters are the victims. They seem to believe that all that they hold dear is being threatened by these Deep State elitists who are attacking the president unjustly.

Trump is Exacerbating the Situation

Bradley Moss, a Washington lawyer who specializes in national security issues, had this to say:

The president is absolutely trying to reinforce the feeling among his allies and surrogates that the media went overboard in its coverage of the Russia investigation, that certain lawmakers were reckless in their claims, and that the investigation itself was flawed in its inception.

The problem here is that even if the president has legitimate gripes on one or more of those things, his overly-aggressive commentary is doing nothing but exacerbating the situation.

Barrs Summary Concludes That Russia Helped Elect Trump

The contents of Muellers full report remain a mystery, and both the public and Democratic lawmakers want to see it.

One fact that has not been much discussed this past week is that Barrs summary of the Mueller report stated that Russia tried to help him win the presidency.

Kim Wehle, a Baltimore law professor, pointed this out, saying:

The Mueller report and the two conspiracy indictments against a host of Russians confirm that Russias attack on our 2016 presidential election is no hoax.

If he respected the office, the president would be calling for accountability for Russia for the safety and security of the United States.

Instead, Trump has lied by casting doubt on Russias role in the election again Thursday night, saying in his speech:

All of a sudden I hear we were involved with Russia? I said, Russia? What the hell does Russia have to do with my campaign?'

You know, I went up to Wisconsin, where Hillary Clinton did not go.

Trump Follows Putin, Not U.S. Intelligence Agencies

Trump has always aggressively denied that Moscow even tried to interfere in 2016. And he as he stood next to the Russian President at a press conference following their Helsinki summit last summer Trump said:

President Vladimir Putin says its not Russia, and I dont see any reason why it would be.

Trump is a Threat to Democracy and Must Be Removed From Office

If Donald Trump believes and follows Putin  a brutal dictator who has his own critics and enemies assassinated  then by creating a new enemies list he has shown that he is a real threat to American democracy.

Donald Trump would love to be able to do what Putin does (or what dictators in other countries, like North Korea and the Philippines do). He would love to be able to take his list of critics and enemies and lock them up.

To save American democracy and the U.S. Constitution it is imperative that Donald Trump be removed from office as quickly as possible.
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Donald Trump keeps trying to undo the nations healthcare protections, and he keeps losing in court.

The latest loss came when a federal judge struck down a Trump administration rule aimed at enabling millions of Americans to buy cheap health insurance plans that do not comply with key Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) requirements. The rule was part of Trumps efforts to chip away at the healthcare law after he could not get Congress to repeal it.

The judge said that Trumps attempt to make cheap health insurance plans available that avoid the requirements of Obamacare was illegal.

It was the second loss in court for Trump in as many days.

The day before, another U.S. District Judge blocked the administrations plans for Medicaid recipients in Kentucky and Arkansas to be subject to work requirements in exchange for health benefits.

The newest ruling, came from U.S. District Judge John D. Bates of the District of Columbia, who expressed his contempt for what Trump was trying to do.

The final rule is clearly an end-run around the Affordable Care Act, Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush, wrote in the ruling, before adding:

Indeed, as the president directed, and the secretary of labor confirmed, the final rule was designed to expand access to cheap, noncompliant association plans to avoid the most stringent requirements of the Affordable Care Act.

The rule, put forward by the U.S. Department of Labor, would have allowed small businesses and those who are self-employed to band together in associations that would allow them to buy cheap health insurance policies that did not comply with federal law on minimum coverages.

Obamacare requirements include mandatory coverage for a set of 10 essential health benefits, such as maternity and newborn care, prescription drug costs and mental health treatment. Under Trumps rules employers could create so-called associations that would be exempt from these mandatory coverages, to the detriment of employees who would lose valuable healthcare benefits.

Trumps move was strongly opposed by doctors, hospitals, insurers and other medical groups. They said that if Trumps rule was allowed to be put in place it would drive up health insurance premiums and make insurance unaffordable for millions of people.

These provisions are unlawful and must be set aside, Bates said in his ruling.

Trump keeps trying to take away healthcare from Americans, and he keeps losing in court. Hopefully next year he will also lose at the ballot box and we can get new leadership who actually wants to help Americans by providing them the healthcare they need.
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By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has approved six secret authorizations by companies to sell nuclear power technology and assistance to Saudi Arabia, according to a copy of a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

The Trump administration has quietly pursued a wider deal on sharing U.S. nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia, which aims to build at least two nuclear power plants. Several countries including the United States, South Korea and Russia are in competition for that deal, and the winners are expected to be announced later this year by Saudi Arabia.

Perrys approvals, known as Part 810 authorizations, allow companies to do preliminary work on nuclear power ahead of any deal but not ship equipment that would go into a plant, a source with knowledge of the agreements said on condition of anonymity. The approvals were first reported by the Daily Beast.

The Department of Energys National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said in the document that the companies had requested that the Trump administration keep the approvals secret.

In this case, each of the companies which received a specific authorization for (Saudi Arabia) have provided us written request that their authorization be withheld from public release, the NNSA said in the document. In the past, the Energy Department made previous Part 810 authorizations available for the public to read at its headquarters.

A Department of Energy official said the requests contained proprietary information and that the authorizations went through multi-agency approval process.

Many U.S. lawmakers are concerned that sharing nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia could eventually lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS last year that the kingdom would develop nuclear weapons if its rival Iran did. In addition, the kingdom has occasionally pushed back against agreeing to U.S. standards that would block two paths to potentially making fissile material for nuclear weapons clandestinely: enriching uranium and reprocessing spent fuel.

Concern in Congress about sharing nuclear technology and knowledge with Saudi Arabia rose after U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Part 810 authorizations were made after November 2017, but it was not clear from the document whether any of them were made after Khashoggis killing.

Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat, called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a congressional hearing on Wednesday to release the names of the companies that got the approvals by the middle of April, and Pompeo said he would look into it. Sherman also said the Trump administration had attempted to evade Congress on sharing nuclear power with the kingdom.

Pompeo said the administration was working to ensure any shared technology nuclear power would not present proliferation risks.

Last month, Democratic House members alleged in a report that top White House aides ignored warnings they could be breaking the law as they worked with former U.S. officials in a group called IP3 International to advance a multibillion-dollar plan to build nuclear reactors in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.

IP3 did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether it was one of the companies that got a Part 810 authorization.

Separately, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, accepted a request by Senators Marco Rubio, a Republican and Bob Menendez, a Democrat, to probe the administrations talks on a nuclear deal with Saudi, the GAO said on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)
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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.
Four days after a school fight and the subsequent death of a fifth-grade student, central questions remained unanswered by Colleton County law enforcement and school district officials.

An autopsy was scheduled for Friday to determine the cause of death for 10-year-old Raniya Wright, a student at Forest Hills Elementary in Walterboro who died Wednesday morning, two days after the classroom incident.

During a press conference Friday afternoon, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone did not release the initial results of the autopsy and said they are waiting for results from several medical tests. He said the findings would not be released for several weeks.

+5 Community seeks answers after SC 5th-grader dies following a fight at school In the rural South Carolina town of Walterboro, the death of a fifth-grade girl after a fight with another student has prompted shock and outrage, and left the community with more questions than answers.

Law enforcement and Colleton County School District officials have so far declined to say how the fight unfolded and whether the students were supervised at the time.

Meanwhile, Raniyas family has retained Summerville attorneys Margie Pizarro and Myesha Brown, who said Friday that loved ones are joining the community in calls for transparency and accountability.

Raniya's mother, Ashley Wright, has said that her daughter was bullied at school and "nothing was done." Authorities and school officials have been mum on whether bullying contributed to the fatal incident.

"In Raniyas name, the family is demanding change," the family's attorneys said in a statement. "Change that addresses the reasons that a child would openly express anxiety about attending school. Change that addresses legitimate fears that a child has while in the school building. Change that addresses bullying and teasing and the collateral damage when those behaviors go unchecked.

Before her daughter died, Wright on Tuesday posted a photo on Facebook of Raniya in a hospital bed with breathing tubes and medical tape on her head. The girl was unresponsive, she said.

An incident report said staff at Forest Hills Elementary called 911 around 1 p.m. Monday to report that a student had collapsed. Authorities found Raniya unconscious but breathing in a nurse's station.

She was transported to a local hospital and later airlifted to Medical University Hospital in Charleston, where she died Wednesday.

The school district said another fifth-grade student involved in the fight has been suspended. The student has not been publicly identified.

No arrests have been made and no criminal charges have been filed, according to the Sheriffs Office.

During the Friday afternoon press conference, Colleton County Sheriff R.A. Strickland said it was "premature" to determine if criminal charges would be pending.

The school district deactivated its Facebook page Wednesday after announcing Raniyas death so officials could better focus on providing the care that our stakeholders need at this time. Statements from the superintendent, the school board chair and Forest Hills Elementary principal have been posted on the districts website.

We ask for the community's help in preventing the spread of speculation and rumors, and we want to thank the entire Colleton County community for your patience and support, Superintendent Franklin Foster said in a statement that he read to residents and reporters Thursday after the school board discussed the incident behind closed doors.

Residents who attempted to seek answers at that board meeting, and others who attended a vigil Thursday evening, said rumors are rampant in the community. One resident, Wendell Lyons, said many are left wondering whether a teacher was in the classroom and why no adult intervened before it was too late.

District spokesman Sean Gruber did not return to messages or emails seeking comment Friday.

Meanwhile, the familys attorneys said they are focused on uncovering answers while Raniyas loved ones plan her funeral services.

She is remembered as a wonderful student who loved being a big sister and served as a junior usher at her church.

Raniyas untimely passing leaves a void in this family that will never be filled, and her family is struggling to make sense of the incident that took her life, said the statement from the familys attorneys.
Paul Bowers is an education reporter and father of three living in North Charleston. He previously worked at the Charleston City Paper, where he was twice named South Carolina Journalist of the Year in the weekly category.
The Roman Catholic Church late Friday released its list of 42 South Carolina priests who have a credible allegation of child sexual misconduct  10 more than it reported five years ago.

Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone said the list was released in the spirit of transparency and accountability.

He said he hopes publishing the names of the priests will help bring healing to the victims and their families who have been grievously harmed by the betrayal of priests and church leadership.

The victims of sexual abuse and their families have suffered much pain and are understandably hurt and angry," he said. "We must continue to pray and care for our brothers and sisters who have experienced this trauma inflicted by priests they trusted.

"We also need to honor the courage of those who have come forward to share the most intimate and painful experiences of their entire lives," he added. "My heart hurts for the victims and the damage this has caused to them and to their families.

A range of names and dates

The church released the names in four separate lists. No one on any of the lists still serves as a priest.

The longest of the four lists contains 21 names of diocesan priests who were ordained between 1940 and 1994. All but four are deceased. The list does not mention the parishes or institutions where they served.

The church also listed six others who were visiting priests or with a religious order. All are either deceased, departed or dismissed from the ministry, except for two whose statuses are unknown but are believed to have left the country, the church said.

A third list includes seven priests who served in South Carolina without incident but face a credible allegation of child sexual misconduct or abuse in another state.

For instance, the late Rev. Robert E. Spangenberg served as a pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church in downtown Charleston from 1990 through 1993, but his service here has not yet led to a credible allegation against him. However, Spangenberg was among more than 300 Roman Catholic priests named by a grand jury in Pennsylvania last year.

The final list includes eight priests listed because of a class-action settlement payment. The only one on that list who is not dead left the Catholic priesthood in 1983.

Decades of abuse

Behind the priests' names are stories that stretch back to at least the 1950s.

The Rev. Eugene Luke Condon was considered popular during his time here but pleaded guilty in 1998 to committing lewd acts on boys.

Investigators looking into Condon discovered a trunk containing about 150 photographs of naked adolescent boys taken in the rectory of Stella Maris Catholic Church on Sullivans Island.

Another Charleston church official named was the Rev. Raymond DuMouchel, who died in 2006 while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually assaulted three young women in the 1950s in Charleston.

The Rev. Justin Goodwin, who died in 1995 at age 90, was arrested the year before for molesting at least four children between 1978 and 1979 when he was the priest at Blessed Sacrament Church in West Ashley.

Church officials responded by placing him on administrative leave in 1994, telling him not to associate with children and forbade him from celebrating Mass.

Goodwins four victims ultimately received $37,500 each from the diocese. No support for medical or psychological treatment was offered when they settled with the diocese.

Basil Congro, a former pastor in Charleston, was put on administrative leave in 2002 and not allowed to function as a priest.

Congro, who was pastor of Jesus, Our Risen Savior Catholic Church in Spartanburg, was suspended after the Diocesan Sexual Abuse Advisory Board determined a mans abuse allegation against him was credible.

Congro was accused of the abuse in the 1980s, when the victim was between 15 and 19 and when Congro was a priest at St. Marys Catholic Church in East Islip, N.Y. He also appears on the list as having a credible allegation against him in South Carolina.

Congro, who moved here in the early 1990s, also was pastor of St. Patrick and Our Lady of Mercy in Charleston, St. Mary on Yonges Island, Saints Frederick and Stephen on Edisto Island, and St. Anthony in Florence.

He also was chaplain pro tem at Christ the Divine Teacher at The Citadel.

Grappling with the reality

The diocese's move is expected to stir emotions not just among those who were abused by the priests but for other victims, as well, said Carole Swiecicki, executive director of the Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center, which works with child victims of sexual abuse.

Just a release of these names could be a trigger to anyone who has experienced abuse," she said Friday. "Its a reminder that abuse happened, and it reminds them that their abuse happened.

I think people like to think that theyre immune to this happening in their backyard, but this is a reminder that this happens everywhere and it could happen here and in every family," she added. "Adults have to take steps to keep this from happening to children and to know what to do if something happens.

Zach Hiner, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in St. Louis, said the release of this list comes very late but does at least provide public acknowledgement by the diocese.

He said he hopes this acknowledgement will help push victims, especially those suffering in silence, to get help.

"This is a real validation for people that were disbelieved for so long," Hiner said.

He also commended the diocese's decision to include names of priests affiliated with religious orders, those who were visiting priests and priests who served in South Carolina that had allegations of abuse outside of the Diocese of Charleston.

Other lists that Hiner has seen were more limited. Ideally, he would have liked to have seen more details on priests' parishes, work histories and even photos. He said he hopes local and state authorities will open up independent investigations.

David Flowers, a retired Greenville attorney who has represented victims abused within the Diocese of Charleston and in other states, recognized the second name on the list, the late John Bench Jr.

"He (Bench) actually admitted to molesting a 10-year-old girl and got down on his knees and begged the girl's parents for forgiveness," Flowers said, speaking about a victim he represented in Pickens County.

A few years later, church officials sent the girl's parents a letter asking their thoughts on reinstating Bench as an active priest.

Though the church has had a policy on addressing allegations of sexual misconduct against children by church personnel for years, Flowers said he believes misconduct is still occurring in the diocese.

A special advisory board, including 10 people not employed by the diocese and one priest, compiled the list of priests whose allegations occurred between 1950 and the present, and Guglielmone accepted all of the boards recommendations, the church said.

The list reflects the information reasonably available to the Diocese at the present time, the church said in a statement. The Diocese continues to encourage all victims of abuse to first report that abuse to law enforcement, and then to contact the Dioceses Victims Assistance Coordinator.

South Carolina is the most recent state for which the Catholic Church unveiled a list of priests who sexually abused minors, part of its ongoing campaign to reckon with a dark chapter of its past and to help victims of it heal.

At least 14 other state dioceses have released their collection of names since the Pennsylvania grand jury report in July.

Even as these lists are made public, a sense of closure can be elusive. David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and current volunteer director for SNAP in Missouri, said the first priority is stopping further abuse.

"The single most ignored question is how many years have Catholic officials sat on these names," Clohessy said.

A list that still could grow

In 2014, reports said 32 priests in the Diocese of Charleston faced credible allegations, and that number grew by 10 because of priests who served here but whose names surfaced on lists in other dioceses and because of some new allegations being seen as credible.

The Diocese of Charleston's list could be updated publicly with new names if further allegations are made and deemed credible.

Omitted from Friday's list of names were three priests who are currently being sued, one priest who faces a criminal investigation, and two priests facing further review by the diocese's Sexual Abuse Advisory Board.

The diocese has revised its policy of reporting allegations of sexual abuse by priests several times over the years. The policy was revised in 1984 and then updated in 1997 and 2002.

In 2007, the diocese set aside $12 million to settle claims of parishioners who said they were abused by priests in years past.

Last year, the diocese faced new allegations of sexual abuse from two people who said their repressed memories of incidents from the 1950s and 1960s surfaced recently due to news reports and other litigation.

One suit stated that a victim who was 10 to 12 years old in the mid-1950s was sexually abused by Frederick Hopwood, a Charleston priest known for sex crimes who died in 2017. Hopwood was on the released list.

In 1994, he admitted to repeatedly molesting an altar boy in the early '70s. He pleaded guilty to one count of a lewd act upon a minor after at least 10 men came forward with stories of abuse. As part of an agreement with prosecutors, he received statewide immunity from further prosecution.

The victim in the latest lawsuit said he remembered Hopwood saying that if he told anyone about the misconduct, he and his family "would be excommunicated and they would all go to hell," according to the suit.

The Diocese of Charleston's list was released on the same day that Pope Francis issued new legislation that requires Vatican City State and Vatican diplomats to immediately report allegations to Vatican prosecutors. The church also issued child protection guidelines for Vatican City State and its youth seminary.

On Friday, Bishop Guglielmone called for South Carolina Catholic churches to participate in this resurgence of holiness.

We in the church must continue to strengthen the protections provided to our children and young people in our parishes and schools, he said. With your help, our church will become stronger and the crisis we now face will result in the purification of the church.

Stephanie Harvin, Schuyler Kropf and Cleve O'Quinn contributed to this report.
Gregory Yee covers the city of Charleston. He's a native Angeleno and previously covered crime and courts for the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, CA. He studied journalism and Spanish literature at the University of California, Irvine.
David Slade is a senior Post and Courier reporter. His work has been honored nationally by Society of Professional Journalists, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Scripps foundation and others. Reach him at 843-937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com
Columbia/Myrtle Beach Managing Editor

Andy Shain runs The Post and Courier's newsrooms based in Columbia and Myrtle Beach. He was editor of Free Times and has been a reporter and editor for newspapers in Charlotte, Columbia and Myrtle Beach.
A 5th-grade girl died after allegedly being involved in a school fight Monday, and the South Carolina town of Walterboro is reeling and looking for answers. Some, including the girl's mother, say bullying is out of control in the schools.
WALTERBORO  The schools of Colleton County must do more to address bullying and fights before another child dies, said some parents, aunts and uncles who were waiting in the shade outside the district office Thursday afternoon.

They were waiting for details on the death of fifth-grader Raniya Wright, a 10-year-old girl who died Wednesday after being involved in a fight Monday at Forest Hills Elementary School. But few specifics were offered as an investigation continues.

The school board met behind closed doors for 2 hours Thursday with sheriff's officers and legal counsel as community members outside grew increasingly impatient.

Some just wanted reassurance that nothing like Raniya's death would happen again under the school district's watch.

Raniya's mother, Ashley Wright, told The Post and Courier in a phone interview Thursday that a student had been bullying her child and "nothing was done."

School and law enforcement officials have not commented on whether bullying contributed to the fatal incident.

Wright said she planned to speak further about her daughter's death once her family gets past the funeral service.

"But I am going to speak to everyone and answer everyone's questions to get down to the bottom of this," she said.

In a prepared statement after the meeting Thursday, District Superintendent Franklin Foster asked for community members to prevent the spread of rumors and to remain focused on students' well-being.

"Our district remains committed to offering support to our students and staff through our guidance and counseling services," Foster said.

Behavior problems

Several community members who were waiting outside the district office Thursday said they had heard from their children or other parents about fights and bullying incidents in the schools. They gave mixed accounts of how officials handled complaints.

Brittany Burns, 28, said her nephew's school took appropriate action after he reported that students were bullying him on the bus. She said she hasn't heard of any problems since.

Kathy Wright, who said she is no relation to Ashley or Raniya Wright, said the district has a tendency to suspend students for three to five days but then send them back into the classroom with little changed about their behavior. She said she was angry when she heard Monday that a child, Raniya, had to be airlifted out of town following a fight.

"I don't care who bullied who. It never should have gotten to that point," Kathy Wright said.

She said the size of Forest Hills Elementary may be a factor in behavior problems there.

The school had about 670 students last year, twice the size of other elementary schools in the district. State report card data also showed that one-third of the teachers in core classes at Forest Hills had fewer than four years of teaching experience, a far higher ratio than at other schools in the district.

Cynthia E. Salley, who has nieces and nephews in the school system, said the district has been failing to address long-term problems and fights between students. She said that's particularly troubling when a child works up the courage to tell an adult she is being bullied.

"They're telling the proper adults," Salley said, "but the adults aren't handling it."

Still reeling

Some parents and neighbors gathered Thursday simply expressed shock.

"My God, what's going on?" said Allen Jamison, 58, one of the first community members to arrive at the district office. "What's happening to the children?"

Officials with the Colleton County Sheriff's Office and the school district have so far declined to answer questions about the circumstances of the fight, citing an ongoing investigation.

An incident report released Wednesday said Forest Hills Elementary staff called 911 around 1 p.m. Monday reporting that a student had collapsed. A school resource officer assigned to the building was already on the scene when Colleton County Fire-Rescue crews arrived.

Authorities found Raniya in the nurse's station, "unconscious but breathing," the report stated.

Raniya was initially transported to Colleton Medical Center. She was later flown to Medical University Hospital in Charleston, where her mother said she died Wednesday morning.

The Sheriff's Office report classified the incident as a simple assault. It said Raniya had suffered an "apparent minor injury." No weapons were involved. Gang activity was not suspected, according to the report.

The school district has suspended the other fifth-grade student involved in the fight.

No arrests have been made and no criminal charges have been filed, the Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

An autopsy is scheduled for Friday to determine Raniya's cause of death.

Community support

A GoFundMe page for Raniya's family had raised more than $44,000 as of Thursday afternoon. Parents and others who said they were horrified by the girl's death commented with messages of condolence.

Wright said the support helps.

"Its making me feel like her story is being heard already," she said. "Her voice is getting out there. I appreciate everybodys love."

Thomas Novelly contributed to this report.
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.
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Patients heavily sedated or shackled to gurneys for days while awaiting placement in a specialized psychiatric hospital, their symptoms exacerbated by the noise and chaos of emergency medicine. Long wait times in crowded ERs for people who show up with serious medical emergencies. High costs for taxpayers, insurers and families as patients languish longer than necessary in the most expensive place to get care.

"If you are living with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, that is a really tough way to begin that road to recovery," said Dr. Jack Rozel, president of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry.

In pockets across the country, hospitals are trying something new to address the unique needs of psychiatric patients: opening emergency units specifically designed to help stabilize and treat patients and connect them to longer-term resources and care. These psychiatric ERs aim to address the growing number of patients with mental health conditions who end up hospitalized because traditional emergency rooms dont have the time or expertise to treat the crisis.

The rate of ER visits involving psychoses, bipolar disorder, depression or anxiety jumped more than 50 percent from 2006 to 2013, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Roughly 1 in 8 emergency department visits now stem from mental illness or substance use disorders, the data show.

The psychiatric ERs, staffed with nurses, social workers and psychiatrists, work to treat and release patients in less than 24 hours, much as traditional emergency rooms handle physical ailments. Those who are well enough to go home get discharged, while those who need more treatment are admitted to the hospital or transferred to an inpatient facility.

There are now roughly 100 such units across the country, said Dr. Scott Zeller, vice president of acute psychiatry at Vituity, a physician-led organization that provides staffing and consulting services to medical centers nationwide.

Zeller pioneered the approach while working as chief of psychiatric emergency services at John George Psychiatric Hospital in Alameda County, Calif. Over time, he transformed the center from a traditional ward where restraints were common into one that treated patients in a more supportive, living-room like setting. The results  in terms of both patient outcomes and cost-savings  made Zeller a believer.

He is helping design 10 new units, including in California, Florida, Illinois and Tennessee. Each is distinct, accepting patients in somewhat different circumstances and offering a slightly different range of services.

Patients who arrive at an emergency room for psychiatric or substance use disorders are more than twice as likely to be admitted as other patients, federal data show. And yet about 80 percent of the time, Zeller said, patients mental health crises can be resolved without a costly inpatient hospital stay. A patient may be having a psychotic episode because he fell off his medications, for example, or having drug-induced hallucinations.

"We need to treat people at the emergency level of care," he said. "The vast majority of psychiatric emergencies can be resolved in less than 24 hours."

Open design

Wearing a hospital gown, Rachel Diamond lay back in her recliner in a spacious room in a relatively new ward at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center San Pedro, a hospital near the Port of Los Angeles. Nearby, a few patients slept on identical recliners, draped in soft blankets. Others communed at a kitchen table over microwaved meals. A nurse walked through the locked unit with a rolling cart, dispensing medications.

Except for a nursing station in the middle of the room, the unit didnt look much like a health care facility. The room was divided into mens and womens sides, with separate TVs. A few smaller rooms  where patients could meet with a psychiatrist or social worker  lined the units edge.

Anya Price, interim clinical supervisor and a nurse, said the unit was designed to feel more like a home than a hospital. "Were operating from an understanding that theyre coming here to get better," Price said.

The open design of the unit, known as the "Outpatient Behavioral Health Center," allows patients to move freely. Staff said it also helps reduce problems because they can quickly spot a patient who may be getting agitated. Dr. Herbert Harman, a psychiatrist and medical director for the facility, said violence and the need for restraints are rare.

The unit is in a building a short walk from the medical center emergency room. It opened in 2017 and accepts patients from emergency rooms across Los Angeles County once they are deemed stable medically. So far this year, its staff has treated about 400 patients, Price said.

One recent morning, the patients included a man in his 40s found on the railroad tracks after an alcohol binge, and a woman with a history of schizophrenia who said she was seeing spirits. Some were there on involuntary holds because authorities had decided they were at risk of hurting themselves or others because of their illness.

Diamond, 30, said she has been diagnosed with depression and anxiety and has landed in multiple ERs over the past decade when her symptoms spiked out of control. During those stays, she said, she often felt isolated and in the dark about her treatment. Doctors typically numbed her with medications and consigned her to a guarded room. "No one really talked to me," said Diamond, who lives in Torrance, Calif. "It was like I was a caged animal."

She had been living in a car and fighting with her boyfriend in late February when she decided she wanted to end her life. She tried jumping out of a moving car, and when that didnt work, she grabbed a bottle of pills. She gets help for her mental health issues, but sometimes, she said, the stress becomes too much. This time, she was taken to a hospital emergency room in Torrance before being transferred to the San Pedro unit.

During her time in the behavioral health center  about 26 hours  she slept, received medications and met with nurses, a social worker and a psychiatrist. She said it was calmer than a regular ER, and the staff had time to talk, listen and help her through the worst of the crisis.

"I genuinely feel better enough to leave," she said. "I havent been able to say that in a while."

Return on investment

Zeller argues that the use of emergency psychiatric clinics is both humane and cost-effective. Research on the Alameda County model found such units can dramatically reduce how long patients spend in medical emergency rooms, and that about three-quarters of patients treated in the units can be discharged to the community rather than to inpatient care. That, Zeller said, can lessen the overwhelming demand for inpatient psychiatric beds and preserve available spots for those who truly require them. The model saves money for hospitals in part because the patients spend less time in emergency care.

"The return on investment is exponential," he said.

In Montana, the Billings Clinic opened a psychiatric stabilization unit last April across the street from the traditional ER. Dr. Eric Arzubi, psychiatry department chair, said nearly 10 percent of the visits in the Billings Clinic emergency room involve people in psychiatric crisis. Since the new unit opened, wait times for psychiatric patients have dropped from about 10 hours to four hours, and fewer patients are being admitted to the inpatient unit. Arzubi said his staff isnt trying to cure people of their mental illness but rather stabilize them and get them the care they need.

"Just like in the emergency room, you dont get comprehensive care," Arzubi said. "But you can stop the bleeding, you stabilize the patient and get them to the right level of care."

In some cases, that means a transfer to an inpatient facility.

Staff at the San Pedro unit decided soon after Chantelle Unique arrived that she would be one of those patients. Unique, who is 23, has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. She had been dancing on the roof and speaking gibberish when her mother called 911.

Unique said she has had a hard time in regular emergency rooms. "There are a million people," she said. For most of a morning at the San Pedro facility, she sat calmly watching TV, talking to nurses and eating spaghetti. But at one point, she started pacing and yelling at other patients. Nurses and security guards quickly surrounded her and persuaded her to return to her recliner and take additional medication.

Finding an inpatient bed for a patient like Unique with more progressed mental illness is not always easy, said clinical social worker Mark Tawfik. But hes committed to finding a way. "We have to make sure we find them adequate resources," he said. "Otherwise, they will come right back."

For Price, the clinical supervisor, even when a patient requires a transfer for more intensive care, theres satisfaction in knowing that person is headed in the right direction. If Unique hadnt been brought in, Price said, she would have been out in the community, lost to her delusions, putting herself at risk of accident or arrest.

In the unit, staff made sure she was safe, Price said, in addition to providing "a warm bed, some food and some compassion."
DES MOINES, Iowa  Despite skepticism that the United States and China will reach a trade deal yet this month, some are cautiously optimistic.

Curt Mether, Iowa Corn Growers Association president, said most farmers realized something had to be done to level the trading field. They continue to support President Donald Trump in his attempt to negotiate a favorable trade deal with China, and they are willing to wait.

"Farmers wait a whole year for a crop, so they are willing to wait awhile for Trumps negotiation style to work," said Mether.

Still, their patience is not endless.

"If he doesnt get (trade deals) to work, I think hell lose their support pretty quickly," he said. "But they are still thinking that hes going to get something done in the next couple of months."

Soybean farmers may be especially anxious.

Iowa Soybean Association president Lindsay Greiner said soybean prices are almost $2 a bushel lower today than at this time last year.

"I think that soybeans in particular have taken a hit on this trade dispute with China," said Greiner.

Should the trade dispute rally on, not only will the price of grain continue to drop, but there is fear of it affecting the price of other commodities.

Mether said the removal of a third of the market in a free-market system destroys the price of everything.

"Thats what its doing to soybeans ... that has affects on corn acres for next year, because they plant more corn, and that could hurt the price of everything," said Mether. "Just take off the top 20 percent of demand and thats a big issue."

Iowans can expect to see the prices of some items that were once exported go a bit lower, but other prices will go higher. While the impact the tariffs have on farmers is not easy to predict, commodity prices will be one of the first places it will be noticed.

A study from Iowa State University shows that Iowas soybean industry could lose between $159 million and $891 million, and the states corn industry may lose between $90 million and $579 million. Ethanol producers are estimated to lose $105 million. The Iowa hog industry is expected to face a loss of up to $955 million.

Long-term impact

In the 1980s, the U.S. enacted a grain embargo against the former Soviet Union and U.S. farmers felt the sting of falling commodity prices as they watched European farmers fill the void. In 2009, a trade dispute resulted in the U.S. losing a significant portion of its poultry trade with China go to Brazil and the European Union.

Today, soybean producers fear a similar situation.

"Brazil is starting to combine beans, and now they have another supply," said Mether of Chinese buyers. "There was a short window for three or four months where we were their market. That has disappeared. Thats going to keep the price of soybeans down for awhile, Im afraid."

Dealing with loss

As the nations second-largest agricultural exporter, after California, Iowa leads the nation in corn, soybean and pork exports. Iowa farmers are expected to receive approximately $550 million in aid from the USDAs Market Facilitation Program, to help offset the export losses.

The $1.65 per bushel soybean farmers will get through the MFP will help, said Iowa Soybean Association CEO Kirk Leeds, but it doesnt compare to the amount farmers would get if the trade wars with China, Canada and Mexico were settled.

After 13 months of negotiations, the United States, Canada and Mexico announced a trilateral free-trade agreement on Sept. 30. The agreement, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is intended to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement and create a modernized free-trade system between the three parties and address critical issues, such as the harmonization of regulatory systems, e-commerce and the protection of intellectual property.

"We do feel really good about the USMCA," said Mether. "We got that done. It still has to go through Congress yet, and hopefully it will get approved. And it should."

On Dec. 2, Trump announced he would begin a six-month process to withdraw from NAFTA, adding that Congress needed to either ratify USMCA or else revert to pre-NAFTA trading rules.

As for the Chinese, Greiner is hopeful.

"The Chinese have agreed to purchase an additional 5 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, which I think is a good sign," he said. "It still doesnt get us even close to what we were selling to them before the trade dispute, but any little bit is good."
A senior at Mayo High School, Sandhya Kumar was recently awarded the Benjamin B. Ferencz Young Fellowship in Human Rights and Law by World Without Genocide, a human rights organization at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul.

Sandhya shared, "I enjoy reading the news and knowing what is happening around the world, and I feel a responsibility to be aware of the struggles others experience. Learning about ethnic conflicts at the World Without Genocides Summer Institute encouraged me to explore the venues through which we can be more aware and active."

Driven to make a difference, Kumar is a busy student who has spent the last several years serving in various capacities in our community. As co-chair of the Rochester-Olmsted Youth Commission, she has advocated for a 100% renewable energy program in Rochester, working with RPU and city officials. She has been a Youth Delegate to the National League of Cities Conference and also served as a youth representative on the Olmsted County Public Health Services Advisory Board.

Sandhya is a co-founder of Mayo High Schools Global Affairs Club. In addition to educating themselves and others, the group also competed and took first place in Minnesota at the World Affairs Council competition. Next month, they head to Washington, D.C., for the national competition.

In partnership with World without Genocide and the Youth Commission, Kumar is helping bring Tents of Witness to Rochester. The exhibit shares personal stories of those impacted by genocide and will be at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds April 13-16.

In the fall, Kumar will attend Yale University and plans to major in global affairs. Thinking beyond her undergraduate studies, she said, "I am interested in studying law, especially in using a law degree to further social justice."

Circle of Honor

The Circle of Honor is a small group of UPS drivers who are recognized and honored for achieving 25 years or more of accident-free driving. Earlier this year, two Minnesota drivers from the Rochester area were inducted into the group. Dean Johnston,of Rochester, drives the Spring Valley route, and Chad Kanz,of Pine Island, delivers to Grand Meadow. With nearly 2,000 full-time UPS drivers in the state of Minnesota, Johnston and Kanz are certainly in an elite class.

Safety has always been a priority at UPS. Advancement in technology has enhanced features on the package cars (the official name of the brown delivery truck) over the years, keeping drivers and the public even safer. All drivers have a yearly "ride along," during which a supervisor spends the day with the driver, evaluating the driving. Chad said, "Safety is drilled into us."

Both men have spent their careers at UPS and reflected on the changes over the past 25 years. When Dean and Chad were hired in the late 1980s, they carried clipboards and had pens that would freeze up in the cold. Today, customers provide a digital signature when accepting a package. Distracted drivers, cell phones, and texting make the work of the UPS drivers riskier and more challenging today.

But the most challenging aspect of the job? Both Dean and Chad simultaneously said, "The weather." It is Minnesota, after all.

Dean said, "There are no easy days. There are long days and there are longer days." But both men clearly love their work because of the customers. Connecting with people and knowing their stories makes the job fun. Chad has even been invited to weddings of folks he has met while delivering packages.

When it comes to unique cargo, neither man has delivered anything too unusual. However, Dean did have the honor of picking up a tuxedo from a shop in Rochester that was being sent to Hollywood for use in the "Dumb and Dumber" movie.
Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate on Friday, Guam time, would extend compensation to Guam residents exposed to radiation during U.S. nuclear testing from 1946 to 1962.

Guam, Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah would be added to existing areas where victims can apply for compensation under the proposed Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 2019, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, announced in a press release. Crapo introduced the legislation.

"As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee with jurisdiction over this program, I will continue to work for the passage of this important legislation," Crapo stated.

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Robert Celestial of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors said Crapo's office also informed him of Guam's inclusion.

At present, only residents of certain counties in Utah, Nevada and Arizona are eligible to apply for benefits, Crapo's office stated.

Celestial was one of four people nationwide invited to testify before the last Senate Judiciary Committee on a similar RECA bill in June 2017. The earlier legislation ran out of time.

'Downwinders'

Under RECA, claimants are entitled to free medical care, health screening and $150,000 compensation for certain illness, for qualified individuals. The bill would increase compensation and widen eligibility requirements for victims denied government help for more than 50 years for health problems relating to cancer caused by radioactive fallout from nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s, Crapo stated.

Guam's exposure was confirmed in 2004 by the National Academies of Science, which also recommended that Guam be included under RECA as "downwinders."

Celestial and PARS have been advocating for inclusion under RECA since 2002, contending that Guam residents were adversely affected by nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands more than half a century ago. Celestial has said he also was among workers sent to Enewetak Atoll for the cleanup after the tests.

Celestial said he expects a RECA bill also will be introduced in the U.S. House in the next few days and has been assured by Guam Sen. Therese Terlaje that she will pursue a resolution confirming the support of the Guam Legislature and the people of Guam on both the Senate and House bills. Celestial also has spoken to Del. Michael San Nicolas and asked him to co-sponsor the House bill.
Scotts two posts on his and Victor Davis Hansons treatment by The New Yorker calls to mind one of the first and most important lessons I learned from my mentor in journalism, the great M. Stanton Evans. Most mainstream journalists are not merely biased, but have a narrative story line in mind when they begin reporting, so that when they call you on the phone, they arent looking for actual information and perspectivethey are looking for a specific quote to drop in their story that fits their narrative. The point is: when you deal with the media, it is not just their innate liberalism you need to be on guard foryou need to keep in mind that they already have their story written.

Theres nothing Scott could have done to alter the Wallace-Wells attack on him since it is obvious that he had his story line already done. Theres another especially egregious example of ventriloquist journalism going on right now besides Scott and Victors experience that Ill come to in a moment.

Stan Evans had a typically great label for thishe called it ventriloquist journalism. Reporters have in mind a specific quote theyd like to have from you, and have developed great skill in teasing it out of people. Think of it as just one aspect of fake news. I had quite a bit of first-hand experience with this during my years in Washington, and I got good at spotting the technique and having the discipline not to give in to the usual reporters tricks. Often Id get a call from a reporter wanting my comment on something the Bush Administration was doing, and the question, in substance, was usually: Dont you think the Bush Administration is doing the wrong thing? (Though always more artfully put than that.) And when I didnt give the answer the reporter was looking for, theyd keep asking the same question over and over again in different forms, because what they needed for their story was a way to say something like, But even a conservative at the American Enterprise Institute thinks Bush is making a mistake. Bush is making a mistake, said Steven Hayward. . . Sometimes a reporter would keep me on the phone for 30 minutes or more, hoping Id give in. I learned the discipline of never giving in to this trick, and what do you know? I was never quoted in any of the stories that reporters like this filed. Nor did any of the information or analysis I had about the issue make it into the story, because background information and perspective was not what the reporter was looking for.

Right now you can see this at work in the media coverage of Stephen Moores appointment to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Ive stopped compiling the stories where conservative economists are going on record trashing Steve, and every case I am certain that whatever good things people may have told reporters about Steve were not even put down in the reporters notebook. The fact that so many news stories quote mostly conservative economistsbut only very few liberals who of course would dislike Steveis a dead giveaway about what is going on. That, and the fact that none of these hit piece news stories bother to explain differences people might have with Steve Moore about the substance of economic policy. All they include are snarky comments about Steve. I wont name names, but some of these people, whom I know in some cases, ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Everyone likes to see their name in print, and many reporters are very skillful at exploiting this natural tendency. It took a long time for me to come to like not being in a news story, though I do make exceptions, which Ill explain shortly. But Ive come to detest reporters so much as a general class that, in a few instances, I have adopted not just a no comment policy, but a direct go to hell policy just so my contempt is made clear. I used to get contacted occasionally by NPR, and my standard answer now is: Every time I have ever gone on NPR I was sandbagged in various ways [which is true], such that I refuse ever to go on any NPR program again. Good day. This usually elicits whining and protestations that whatever my past experience, they pinkie-swear promise that theyd be different. To which I retort that I see no reason to trust any such assurances from such a plainly biased and untrustworthy news entity, and please go away and never bother me again. Happily, I never hear from NPR any more.

There are some exceptions. There were several New York Times reporters I got to know and trust (theyve all taken buyouts and left the paper by now however). I wish I could say the same for the Washington Post, but their environmental reporter, Juliet Eilprin, is a complete hack, and no one else there (with the exception of one Outlook section editor I knew) stands out as straightforward and trustworthy. You need to do your due diligence about any reporter who contacts you. I try to look up stories by any reporter who contacts me to see if I can divine their slant or predominant practices.

There is one other piece of advice I give to everyone: always run your own complete audio and/or video recording of any interview you do with a reporter. Then you have your own complete record to use in follow ups with editors, or if you want to do you own story about how it really went down.

Roll your mind back to the famous incident from 1982 where CBS 60 Minutes legend Mike Wallace got caught remarking about low income minorities who signed mortgage documents with adverse language: Theyre probably too busy eating their watermelon and tacos. This came about because the bankers being interviewed ran their own videotape of the entire interview, and according to the New York Times account of the incident, the 60 Minutes camera crew had stopped taping for a moment, probably to reload the cameras, but the banks cameras kept rolling when Wallace made the comment, almost surely hoping to soften up his target. As the Times reports, Wallace tried to get the bank to erase their tape. Is there any doubt that if 60 Minutes had caught on tape one of the bankers saying something like that, it would have been the centerpiece of the story, while Wallaces bait would never have seen the light of day?

Although the Times story is pretty embarrassing to Wallace and CBS, it is likely that the full story was even worse for CBS. A few years later, I happened to meet one of the bankers involved in the story who was responsible for coming up with taping the entire proceedings themselves, and he told me Wallace tried to bargain with them, offering to soften the story if the bank would erase the tape. They said no, and released that great tidbit to the press.

In hindsight, [Wallace told the Times], its conceivable that I made a mistake.

Yeah, you got caught. Everyone should similarly arm themselves in all dealings with the media.
New Yorker staff writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells defamed me in passing, drive-by style, in his profile of Ilhan Omar on Wednesday. I say I was Sideswiped by the New Yorker. I emailed Wallace-Wells on Wednesday afternoon to ask him to state the factual basis for his falsehoods about me. As of this morning, he has not responded. Neither has he responded to my inquiry about the fact-checking apparatus the New Yorker applied (or not) to his profile. I hear its not what it used to be.

What gives at the New Yorker? If its not all politics, all the time, the magazines brain-dead leftism has exacted an enormous toll on its standards. Readers may recall, for example, the interview conducted by Isaac Chotiner with Victor Davis Hanson on the occasion of his new book, The Case for Trump. Like Wallace-Wells, Chotiner is a New Yorker staff writer. After the interview was posted online last month, Dr. Hanson added this note at his Private Papers site on February 25:

For the record, I recently spoke with @NewYorkers @IChotiner per his request for a discussion on my recent book. The published piece was edited and condensed for clarity; however, the editing was donein a way that omits the chronological accuracy of our conversation and the vast majority of what was said, which I think is important for purposes of context, tone, and intentboth Mr. Chotiners and my own. There are also introductory false accusations of a history of hostility to undocumented Mexican and Central American immigrantsand to African-Americans who speak about the persistence of racism. Neither charge is remotely true. If Mr. Chotiner would release an accurate transcription of our long conversation, there will appear wide discrepancies in tone, intent, and content from the published interview. This is exactly why many people today have distrust of many in media and reflect upon the unprofessionalism that occurs too often. An unfortunate piece that shouldnt have been published in its current form and should be retracted.

There is no excuse for what the New Yorker has done to me, but at least Im in good company.
I wrote here about Jessie Liu, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and the Trump administrations nominee for Associate Attorney General, the number three position at the Justice Department. Lius nomination concerned me because she was the Vice President of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) when that organization opposed and condemned the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. NAWL stated:

[Alito] is not qualified to serve on the Court from the perspective of laws and decisions regarding womens rights or that have a special impact on women.

After I wrote my post, Liu explained that she disagreed with NAWLs position on Alito and resigned from the organization not long afterwards when she accepted a position at the Bush Justice Department. Indeed, Liu signed a letter of Yale Law School alumni in support of Alitos nomination.

Although Lius explanation raised a few questions (e.g., did she resign due to disagreement with NAWL or because of her new job and why did she agree to become NAWLs president-elect between the time of the Alito denunciation and her resignation?), I concluded that Liu likely would be okay as the Associate Attorney General.

Some conservative Republican Senators did not so conclude. They reportedly raised serious concerns over Lius role in an organization that opposed Alito and backed abortion rights.

In the face of these concerns, Liu has withdrawn her name from consideration.

Based on my conversations with folks who know Liu, it shouldnt be too difficult for the administration to find a well-qualified replacement who is more conservative than she is. If the administration is willing to consider white males, the task will be easy.

UPDATE: Mike Lee apparently is the main Senator who stood in Lius way. According to this report, Justice Department officials are livid about it:

Only a moron like Mike Lee would tank President Trumps nominee, an Asian woman, for the departments No. 3 job, a senior Justice official told CNN. This is beyond politically stupid.

The reference to Liu as an Asian woman is telling, I think. In my opinion, Liu is well-qualified to be Associate Attorney General. But it has seemed to me that the administration is quite keen to fill the job with a woman (the job originally was held by Rachel Brand), or a minority group member, or (ideally) someone who is both.

Sen. Lees office says his opposition to Liu centered around the issue of abortion. By no means should a Senator who disagrees with a nominees views on a key issue back off because of the nominees race or gender.

Unnamed Justice Department officials reportedly say that in some ways Liu is more conservative than Lee. If they are talking about leniency for felons, or criminal law in general, they are probably right.

Overall, however, the people Ive communicated with about Liu would scoff at the idea that shes more conservative than Mike Lee.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-29 14:02:03

Arch Announces European Brexit Changes

Arch Insurance (EU) dac

Soren Scheuer

sscheuer@archinsurance.eu

+353 1 669 9700



Arch Insurance (UK) Limited

Hugh Sturgess

hsturgess@archinsurance.co.uk

+44 20 7621 4500

Arch Insurance International and Arch MI today announced changes to their European operations as part of the Arch Brexit plan and other recent business initiatives. Notably, Arch Insurance (EU) dac (formerly Arch Mortgage Insurance dac), has received authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) to expand the classes of business it writes in the EU/EEA. With this authorisation, from 29 March 2019 Arch Insurance EU will commence underwriting P&C, Motor and other business lines in the EU/EEA in addition to its current mortgage insurance business.

Arch Insurance Company (Europe) Limited has also changed its name to Arch Insurance (UK) Limited. Arch Insurance UK, based in London, will continue to write a diverse portfolio of global specialty insurances in both the UK and other non-EU/EEA regions. The Arch UK Regional Division of Arch Insurance UK, which was formed in January 2019, will continue without change and focus on commercial property, casualty, motor, professional liability, personal accident and travel business through its extended office network across the UK. The Arch Lloyds underwriting platform also remains unchanged.

Arch Insurance EU retains its headquarters in Dublin and adds branch offices in the UK, Italy and Denmark. The Motor insurance business and other specialty lines will be conducted through its newly formed Alwyn Europe division.

Going forward, Arch Insurance UK and the P&C insurance operations of Arch Insurance EU fall under the Arch Insurance International banner. Arch Insurance International includes Archs insurance operations in Europe, Bermuda and Australia.

The CBI authorisation enables Arch Insurance EU to provide a broad range of insurance products in Europe and to ensure a smooth Brexit transition, said Soren Scheuer, President and CEO of Arch Insurance EU.

These important changes mean that our European clients and policyholders will continue to be well-served by Arch Insurance EU, added Hugh Sturgess, CEO of Arch Insurance International.

About Arch Insurance International and Arch Insurance (EU) dac

Arch Insurance International includes Archs insurance operations in Europe, Bermuda and Australia. We provide specialized property and liability insurance programmes to a wide range of industrial and commercial companies and financial institutions. Business in the UK is written by Arch Insurance (UK) Limited, and business in the EU/EEA is written by Arch Insurance (EU) dac or via the Lloyds Brussels platform.

Arch Insurance (EU) dac also provides innovative mortgage credit risk management and capital optimisation solutions to clients throughout Europe.

Arch Insurance (EU) dac (trading as Arch Insurance International, Arch Insurance, Arch Insurance EU, Arch MI, Arch Mortgage Insurance and Alwyn Europe) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, and Arch Insurance (UK) Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the UK.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. This release or any other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Arch Capital Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries may include forward-looking statements, which reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in or incorporated by reference in this release are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or their negative or variations or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements involve our current assessment of risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. A non-exclusive list of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements includes the following: adverse general economic and market conditions; increased competition; pricing and policy term trends; fluctuations in the actions of rating agencies and our ability to maintain and improve our ratings; investment performance; the loss of key personnel; the adequacy of our loss reserves, severity and/or frequency of losses, greater than expected loss ratios and adverse development on claim and/or claim expense liabilities; greater frequency or severity of unpredictable natural and man-made catastrophic events; the impact of acts of terrorism and acts of war; changes in regulations and/or tax laws in the United States or elsewhere; our ability to successfully integrate, establish and maintain operating procedures as well as integrate the businesses we have acquired or may acquire into the existing operations; changes in accounting principles or policies; material differences between actual and expected assessments for guaranty funds and mandatory pooling arrangements; availability and cost to us of reinsurance to manage our gross and net exposures; the failure of others to meet their obligations to us; and other factors identified in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The foregoing review of important factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with other cautionary statements that are included herein or elsewhere. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-29 08:59:28

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Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global cellulose film packaging market in its published report titled Cellulose Film Packaging Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013-2017 and Opportunity Assessment 2018-2028. In terms of revenue, the global cellulose film packaging market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period, owing to numerous factors on which FMI sheds light in this report. The Asia Pacific cellulose film packaging market is expected to remain in the leading position during the forecast period.Cellulose film packaging is a bio-compostable packaging solution manufactured from wood or cotton, both of which are easily compostable. Besides cellulose film packaging extends the shelf life of fresh produce products by controlling the moisture content. Cellulose film packaging also maintains the aroma of the food product. It also reduces waste production as cellulose films are compostable. Cellulose film packaging provides better durability as well as good printability. The availability of a wide range of innovative packaging solutions is likely to have a significant impact on the demand in cellulose film packaging market during the forecast period.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2103 In this report, Future Market Insights suggests that the cellulose film packaging will play a major role in food & beverage industry during the forecast period. A shift in preference from traditional cellulose film packaging towards bio-compostable packaging solutions has been observed among packaging manufacturers. Additionally, cellulose film packaging extend the shelf life of fresh produce packed by controlling the moisture content. Land filling problems are majorly caused by the extensive use of conventional plastic bags, pouches, bottles, etc. This problem can be solved by replacing conventional plastic bags with cellulose film packaging solutions. As cellulose film packaging is biodegradable and compostable in nature, it is capable of solving land filling issues to a considerable extent. Earlier, bio plastics packaging manufacturers had to face waste legislation issues as these bio plastics materials require different composting process as well as grounds. However, due to growing usage of cellulose film packaging, problems related to composting process of bio plastics have decreased.The growth of cellulose film packaging can mainly be attributed to the contributions from emerging economies, such as countries in the APEJ region  India & China. China is expected to be at the forefront, spearheading the growth of the cellulose film packaging market, during the forecast period. According to the research by Future Market Insights, the China cellulose film packaging market has witnessed rapid growth in the past couple of decades. Cellulose film packaging manufacturers are looking forward to developing such biodegradable bioplastics that will reduce the carbon footprint.Companies involved in the manufacturing of cellulose film packaging are focusing on enhancing their production capacity by establishing new production units. The manufacturers of cellulose film packaging are likely to eye the lucrative regions of Asia Pacific as well as Middle East & African regions in the coming years. Some of the key drivers for the growth of the global cellulose film packaging market include growing demand from food & beverage industry due to its biodegradable nature. Cellulose film packaging also helps in maintaining the aroma of food products and reduces the production of waste products as the films used for cellulose film packaging are easily compostable. The Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) cellulose film packaging is expected to create highest incremental $ opportunity during the forecast period and is expected to grow at a significant pace in the coming years. Revenue from the cellulose films packaging market in North America is estimated to account for over 21.9% of the global cellulose film packaging market revenue in 2018.Key players considered in this report on global cellulose film packaging market include Futamura Chemical Co., Ltd., Celanese Corporation, Hubei Golden Ring Co. Ltd., Weifang Henglian Cellophane Co. Ltd, Chengdu Huaming Cellophane Co. Ltd, Eastman Chemical Company, Sappi Limited, Tembec Inc, Rhodia Acetow GmbH and Rotofil Srl.Ask a question to Analyst @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-the-analyst/rep-gb-2103
5G Technology Market

5G Technology Market

PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-29 14:03:50

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Future Market Insights (FMI) recently published a report titled 5G Technology Market  Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 20182028. 5G technology will play a crucial role in supporting governments and public organizations in transforming cities into smart cities, and will enable citizens and communities to realize and participate in the socio-economic benefits delivered by an advanced, data-intensive, and digital economy. The increasing demand for improved network performance and reliability is driving the growth of 5G technology market. Moreover, significant growth in wired and wireless subscriptions as well as the number of internet users is creating potential opportunities for the growth of 5G technology market.FMI has segmented the global 5G technology market on the basis of technology, application, vertical, and regions. The global 5G technology market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 82.4% during the forecast period. In addition, the 5G technology market was valued at US$ 608.3 Mn in 2018, and is estimated to grow substantially to reach US$ 248,462.4 Mn by 2028, owing to the heavy investments by government and various key players in 5G technology.Government Initiatives to Speed up 5G Technology  The US is expected to be the first country to introduce 5G technology, wireless applications and networks, as regulators pave the wave for rapidly growing next-generation services. In North America, enterprises such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communication Inc. are coming together to commercial 5G technology. Also, increasing number of initiatives by the government is boosting the growth of 5G technology market.For instance, in July 2016, the US government launched initiatives worth US$ 400 Mn to conduct research on 5G wireless networks. Also, the Government of Canada is strongly committed to boosting engagement in next-generation networking and 5G technology by opening an innovation ecosystem to accelerate the growth of ICT.Request to Report Methodology @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-9011 Moreover, in enterprise application, the substantial adoption of advanced technologies, such as the internet of things and cloud solutions, is expected to boost the adoption of 5G technology by transforming the focus from consumer-centric cellular coverage to more machine-centric communications. Moreover, in the beginning of 2018, 5G technology has launched in the specific regions of GCC countries, and large-scale commercial roll outs are expected in commercial areas by 2020.Dominance of Western Countries in 5G Research Prevails  It has been observed that, in the European region, countries such as Germany, France, and the UK are leading the research that is being conducted for the commercialization of 5G technology. Enterprises such as Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Ericsson are testing various frequency spectrums and advanced technologies to deploy 5G technology efficiently. Moreover, these enterprises have launched customer trails in several geographical areas which will form the base for 5G technology.In June 2017, Belgium BASE signed a partnership agreement with ZTE Corporation, a telecom equipment provider based in China. The main objective of this partnership is to conduct research on LTE advanced, Internet of things, and 5G technology.Increasing number of Contracts between Telecommunication Service Providers  According to FMI analysis, providers of 5G technology and telecommunication services are focusing on collaborating with each other to increase their revenue share as well as reach new potential markets. For instance, in July 2018, T-Mobile and Nokia announced a US$ 3.5 Bn agreement to accelerate the deployment of a 5G technology and networks across the U.S.According to the agreement, Nokia will provide its end-to-end 5G technology, software, and services portfolio to T-Mobile, which will assist the latter in bringing the 5G network to the market for customers in the critical first years of the 5G technology cycle. Some of the other key players in the 5G technology includes Ericsson, Telecom Italia, AT & T, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Orange S.A., China Mobile Limited, KT Corporation, Qualcomm, and Verizon Communications, Inc.Request Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-9011
Fat Filled Milk Powder Market

Fat Filled Milk Powder Market

PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-29 13:51:43

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Over 2 million tons of fat filled milk powder was consumed globally, by 2018 end. As analyzed by Future Market Insights new intelligence report, the consumption volume will increase by 5.1% in 2019. While demand from dairy industry will remain pervasive, FMI envisages a prominent boost to demand growth from bakery, confectionary, and ice cream segments in the near future.Economic price point compared to whole milk powder and butterfat has been a prominent factor accounting for growing popularity of fat filled milk powder among multiple sectors of the food and beverages industry. Increasing consumer preference for value-added food ingredients is translating into billowing sales of products such as fat filled milk powder. Moreover, favorable trade scenario is extending strong support to progressing sales of fat filled milk powder.Dairy Products Register Highest Consumption, Ice Cream Most Lucrative While dairy products continue to account for more than 30% of the total volume of fat filled milk powder consumed by 2018, ice cream also registers a significant share of around 1/4th of the total sale of fat filled milk powder. FMI opines that bakery and confectionary are emerging as high-potential segments in the years to come, representing a sizeable collective share in the fat filled milk powder market.The report forecasts a dominant share for fat filled milk powder 28%, followed by fat filled milk powder 26%. Attributed to the highest vegetable fat and protein profile, the former will continue to reign supreme over others in fat filled milk powder market. Variants of instant fat filled milk powder are the relatively low shareholders in fat filled milk powder market. However, instant fat filled milk powder 26% and 28% will gradually gather traction in the years to come  reflecting healthy annual growth rates in 2019  according to FMIs analysis.Request to Report Methodology @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-8981 Almost 40% sales of fat filled milk powder is clustered at supermarkets and hypermarkets, as depicted by the report. While convenience stores have also been among the key sales channels for fat filled milk powder, FMI foresees promising opportunities residing in the thriving Ecommerce sector. Departmental store sales on the other side are witnessing a healthy upsurge in recent years. FMI anticipates global fat filled milk powder market to benefit from the improving penetration into organized retail sector, rather than within independent retail outlets. Moreover, modern trade formats are more likely to assist revenue growth of the fat filled milk powder market in coming years.Europe & North America Capture a Combined Share of over 40% The largest manufacturers and exporter region of fat filled milk powder, Europe will retain the top ranking consumer market position. The region will collectively account for over 44% share in the total market value, with North America. Whereas, the demand for fat filled milk powder will gain more prominence across South Asian region, according to the report. Sustained popularity of dairy products and a growing trend of consuming dairy beverages with vegetable protein and fat content. Fat filled milk powder manufacturers in South Asian market are likely to encounter untapped windows of opportunities in multiple dairy product categories such as cheese, yogurt, and fresh fermented products. Companies are thus also focusing on expansion of their culture manufacturing capacities.The report has tracked strategic profiles of some of the leading players operating in fat filled milk powder landscape. Moreover, the report has anticipated a 5.4% volume CAGR for the market during 2018-2028.Request for Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8981
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-29 08:29:45

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Safflower is an annual plant flourish in hot and dry condition, primarily in the western great plain area of the United States. It is also named as Catharanthus tinctorius L. (Botanical Name), Sallflower, False Saffron or Bastard Saffron (because of Saffron like property), American Saffron, Alazor, etc. It is from Asteraceae family and close relative of Sunflower. Safflower extract is a yellow pigment extracted from Safflower soluble in water.Safflower extract is derived by the process of extracting, filtrating, purifying, concentrating, sterilizing, spraying & drying. Traditionally, safflower extract was only used for red and yellow dyes for textile and food industry. But now a days it has a number of usage like in cooking oil, birdseed, superior quality paints and varnishes, infant formulas, cosmetic industry, protein supplement for livestock, beverages, pharmaceutical industry,Safflower extract contain three types of pigments on the basis of composition which are extracted and separated by using different chemicals: Red Carthamin, Safflower yellow A, Safflower yellow B. Safflower extract contain about 0.83% of red cathamin and 30% of yellow cathamadin which are extracted either by thin layer chromatography or spectrophotometric measurement. Monosaturated fatty acid (oleic) and Polysaturated fatty acid are the two type of oil present in safflower plant which is responsible for lowering the cholesterol level in the blood.Ask The Analyst @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-the-analyst/rep-gb-8168 Market Dynamics:Major drivers of the Safflower extract market is the rising demand of processed foods. The increasing demand for organic and natural ingredients in processed foods is a very important driving factor. Other very important factor for the growth in safflower extract market is the multi-functionality of the product such as medicinal and colorant property. This replaces a lot of other products used in processed foods which can cause ill effects to human health.In various studies, it is found that safflower can cause adverse effect such as bleeding problems (hemorrhagic diseases, clotting disorders and intestinal ulcers), allergy, increase in sugar level in diabetic patients and miscarriages leads to restraining the market of safflower oil. The major factors which are trending the demand of safflower extract are heath consciousness of people, demand for organic food, growing cosmetic industry, etc.There is an opportunity for companies in this industry to expand their product in transgenic safflower plant extract for producing human insulin which is having major demand in the market.Market Segmentation:Safflower extract market segmentation is done on the basis of nature of offering, application and region. On the basis of nature of offering safflower extract market is segmented as dried powder, decoction and oil. Among these segments safflower oil is represents largest market share as it has massive use in various sectors such as pharmaceutical, food and manufacturing. Safflower extract market is segmented as pharmaceutical industry, food and beverages industry, dyes, cosmetic industry and textile industry on the basis of application. Among these industries pharmaceutical industry represents largest market share followed by food and beverages industry.Regional Outlook:Safflower extract market is segmented on the basis of regions into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Japan. The leading producers of safflower extract are India, The United States and Maxico followed by Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, China, The Arab World, Argentina, Tanzania and Australia. More than 60 countries produce safflower plant but India is having half of the market share of the safflower extract mainly for domestic vegetable oil market.Market Player:The key players in safflower extract market includes Naturalin, Quality Product Lab Pvt. Ltd., New Way Herbs, EPC Natural Products Co. Ltd., Shanghai Youngsun foods, Cibaria International, Aktivv LLP, Ramazanogullari, Global oil trading and services, Quality brands, Galp distribution oil Espana, Algodones Y Aceites Mexicanos, Los Charitos, etc.Request to View TOC and Sample of Research Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11209
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-29 16:30:44

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HONG KONG / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2019 / A fully integrated biopharmaceutical company - Uni-Bio Science Group Limited ("Uni-Bio Science", together with its subsidiaries referred to as the "Group", stock code: 0690.HK), is pleased to announce its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2018 (the "Year"), as well as its comparatively figures for the year ended 31 December 2017 ("2017").Key Accomplishments in 2018During the Year, the Group has recorded a spectrum of accomplishments, either in terms of marketed products, or consolidation of the Group's assets. The key highlights include:1. During the Year, the Group's investments and efforts in marketing team's integration and optimization, especially expanding the sales capacity for its biologic drugs, notably GeneTime(R) and GeneSoft(R), have begun to bear fruit. The extended coverage into tier-3 hospitals, primary healthcare centres, and community hospitals has greatly fuelled the revenue growth of the Group. These two products have seen growth both in their average selling price and sales volume, totaled at HK$72.5 million and HK$31.3 million, representing an increase of 9.2% and 49.4% respectively.2. During the Year, Pinup(R) (commonly known as voriconazole tablets) successfully tapped into the Guizhou, Xinjiang, Shaanxi and Hainan market and expanded its coverage to 26 provinces. The Group also entered into a cooperation agreement for Pinup(R) National Promotion Project with Shanghai Loymed Pharma Technology Co., Ltd. ("Loymed Pharma"). Under the Agreement, Loymed Pharma was granted the exclusive agency right to market, promote, distribute and sell the contract product in the PRC. The Group believes that partnering with Loymed Pharma, who enjoys extensive distribution network in the PRC market, it will continue to expand the market coverage of Pinup(R) in order to fully realize its market potential.3. The Group has completed the BE study of Acarbose tablet and is in the view that BE results are robust. The abbreviated new drug application ("ANDA") together with related BE study results were submitted and accepted by the NMPA in December, 2018. In addition, the Group's another self-developed biologic drug tailored for patients living with Type 2 diabetes, Recombinant Exendin-4 Injection ("2nd Generation Uni-E4"), has been accepted by the CDE of NMPA for Phase III clinical trial during the Year.4. The Group's newly launched product Bokangtai (Mitiglinide tablets) also concentrates on the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. During the Year, Bokangtai added ten more provinces into its distribution network, namely Shandong, Guangxi, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Ningxia, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangdong. Currently, the Group is collaborating with Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. to jointly conduct the BE study on Bokangtai. The preparation work was commenced and the BE online registration will be submitted in the second half of 2019. Approval is expected to be obtained in 2020.5. To fully harness asset values, the Group set up two state-of-the-art aseptic production lines to support the development of the 2nd Generation Uni-PTH and Uni-E4 injection-form products, and currently the production lines are put into operation of Contract Manufacturing Organization ("CMO") services. The Group has also launched the 3-in-1 CMO customizing services solution, which could collaborate strategically with client base on the distinctiveness of R&D of new drugs and the respective production process, hence to offer quality and efficient CMO production services.6. During the Year, the Group strategically completed a series of non-core asset disposal and asset structure optimization, including the divestiture of non-core R&D projects by offloading the chemistry, manufacturing, and controls ("CMC") platform with its related facilities and joint management of fixed assets, thereby improving management efficiency, revitalizing asset portfolios, streamlining business operations, and focusing on core businesses. The Group believes that such disposal will benefit more on developing, manufacturing and distribution of innovative biological pharmaceutical products.7. Uni-PTH, namely its powder famulation, the only anabolic agent effective in improving bone density, is marching towards its official launch. The Group has been taking proactive actions to proceed with the launch timetable of Uni-PTH and actively preparing for its NMPA's on-site inspection. Meanwhile, through constructive communication with CDE, both sides came to a conclusion that the clinical trial of the liquid form of Uni-PTH is to be exempted, thus, it will proceed into BE study in the near term.Annual ResultsIn 2018, the Group recorded a turnover of HK$135.3 million, representing a decrease of 13.6% YoY. The decrease in turnover was mainly attributable to the consistent R&D investment and weaker sales situation for one of the Group's marketed drugs, namely Pinup(R). R&D costs proportionate to revenue increase from 27.2% for 2017 to 32.7% for the Year to progressing our Biological innovation projects as EGF products, Uni-E4 and Uni-PTH, meanwhile, Pinup(R) faced keener price competitions across the marketplace where other market players lowered the product price, hence the sales was temporarily affected. However, sales of Pinup(R) had begun to pick up towards the end of the Year, thanks to its increased coverage to the total 26 provinces in PRC. Given that the Group's major competitors who are engaged with price war in the market have not conducted BE study, obtaining the approval will allow the Group to enjoy numerous policy benefits during tendering and purchasing.Gross profit decreased by 12.0% to approximately HK$117.6 million (2017: HK$133.6 million), on the contrary, gross profit margin improved slightly from 85.4% in 2017 to 86.9% in 2018, led mainly by the increase of overall unit sales price of GeneTime(R). Alongside our efforts for restructuring and reorganizing our sales team in order to achieve greater efficiency, the Group also expanded the number of sales team members. Hence the sales and distribution cost recorded an increase over the Year.In 2018, the Group recorded a loss of HK$120.6 million with a basic loss per share of HK$2.24 cents for the Year. The increase in loss was mainly caused by this reason: we have seen mounting pressure on the pricing of Pinup(R), hence the Group has been optimizing its salesforce since last year in an effort to achieve maximum sales efficiency. The sales team has been expanding rapidly, and the distribution ch
The President of the Nigeria Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Bello Agaie, says the country is not exporting meat because its products do not meet the basic standard requirements for export.

Mr Agaie said this at a press briefing on the annual summit of the association in Abuja on Thursday.

He said other countries which do not have the number of animals in Nigeria export their products.

Mr Agaie said abattoirs were established to examine and regulate the processing and sale of safe meat but lamented that they do not carry out the responsibilities in Nigeria.

He said improved seeds doctors whose roles are to examine the animals are in limited number in the country

Some states like Rivers have only a veterinarian in the state, he said.

In some abattoirs, you do not have doctors who examine these animals and collect the revenue. All you see are people with little or no knowledge of it collecting the revenue which is of utmost importance to them, rather than human health, he said.

He spoke on the resolutions by participants at the summit.

The summit directs full implementation of the veterinary regulations in all states and FCT in the entirety of the ramifications, Mr Agaie said.

He said the summit also charged all members of the NVMA to be involved and show concerns in situations of an emergency involving animal and man, in line with the ethics of the profession.

It charged stakeholders to be cautious of the incessant outbreaks of Avian Influenza, urging them to observe global best practices to checkmate diseases in their farms.

The summit urged investors to help build the capacity of the quarantine services of the country.

It recommended digitalisation for better data management and accessibility of the reporting system for the nature of diseases in animals.

Mr Agaie said livestock farming should be adopted to ensure healthier products.

We need to move away from the traditional livestock farms to the modern farms. Today, it has caught up with us and we are now paying those prices, he said.

,

There is need to urgently inaugurate the Board of Veterinary Council of Nigeria, the regulatory body of the profession dissolved since 2015, he said

He acknowledged the effort of the National Assembly in passing bills needed to strengthen the laws governing the profession in the country.

Mr Agaie said the summit appreciates the effort of the federal government at controlling Antimicrobial Resistance,(AMR).

NVMA is the umbrella for veterinary surgeons registered with the Veterinary Council of Nigeria.
Oil prices rose on Friday amid the ongoing OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, putting crude markets on track for their biggest quarterly rise since 2009.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $59.34 per barrel at 0802 GMT, up 36 cents, or 0.6 per cent, from their last settlement.

WTI futures were set to rise for a fourth straight week and were on track to rise 30 per cent in the first three months of the year.

Brent crude oil futures were up 24 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $68.06 per barrel.

Brent futures were set to rise more than 1.5 per cent for the week and by more than 25 per cent in the first quarter.

For both futures contracts, the first quarter of 2019 is the best performing quarter since the second quarter of 2009 when both gained about 40 per cent.

Oil prices have been supported for much of 2019 by the efforts of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-affiliated allies like Russia  together known as OPEC+  who have pledged to withhold around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of supply this year to prop up markets.

Production cuts from the OPEC+ group of producers have been the main reason for the dramatic recovery since the 38 per cent price slump seen during the final quarter of last year, said Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank.

Britains Barclays bank said on Friday oil prices are likely to move still higher in Q2 and average $73 per barrel ($65 WTI), and $70 for the year.

OPEC+ are meeting in June to discuss whether to continue withholding supply or not.

OPECs de-facto leader, Saudi Arabia, favours cuts for the full year while Russia, which only reluctantly joined the agreement, is seen to be less keen to keep holding back supply beyond September.

However, the OPEC+ cuts are not the only reason for rising oil prices this year, with analysts also pointing to U.S. sanctions on oil exporters and OPEC members, Iran and Venezuela, as reasons for the surge.

Despite the surging prices, analysts are expressing concerns about future oil demand amid worrying signs the global economy may move into a recession.

The biggest short-term risk to the oil market is likely to be driven by renewed stock market weakness, Saxo said.

Stock markets have been volatile this year amid signs of sharp global economic slowdown.

Business confidence has weakened in recent months  (and) global manufacturing PMI is about to move into contraction, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note.

Although it added that the services sector  continues to expand unabated.

Given the OPEC+ cuts, however, Bank of America said it expected oil prices to rise in the short-term, with Brent prices forecast to average $74 per barrel in the second quarter.

Heading toward 2020, however, the bank warned of a recession.

(Reuters/NAN)
We will have cholera, we will have malaria. Its unavoidable in this situation, so the government is opening a cholera treatment centre already, Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development in Mozambique, Celso Correia.

Tropical Cyclone Idai struck the coastline of Mozambique between March 14 and 15 this year. The devastating tropical storm made its way across Mozambique with heavy rain and strong winds into two neighbouring countries, therein devastating Zimbabwe and Malawi as well, affecting millions.

Hundreds of people have already lost their lives in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai and, as the death toll is still on the rise, there is an even greater number of displaced people to contend with.

Recent reports from the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development in Mozambique declare that 417 citizens of the country have lost their lives since the storm struck, a significant rise from the initially reported number of 242. While in the neighbouring country of Zimbabwe, 259 Africans have reportedly lost their lives to this tragedy. The storm has also resulted in a further 56 deaths in Malawi.

This, collectively, is about 700 deaths in total across Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi with many more injured, displaced and forced to wait in poor living conditions. It is important to note that the authorities have stated that these numbers are preliminary as the Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development noted that once the flood recedes, more bodies might be discovered.

In the wake of this tragedy, public health is at the forefront. Many water-borne and vector-transmitted diseases, which have a pre-existing status and are already endemic in these African countries, have the potential to take even more lives, here.

These typically preventable diseases are exceedingly challenging to contain in disaster-torn areas, particularly, in developing countries where existing health systems are sub-standard. The United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has already warned of these public health concerns as the flooding, culminated with overcrowding in shelters, poor hygiene levels, stagnant water and infected water supplies will put many at risk of diseases such as cholera, malaria and diarrhoea.

During her visit to Beira, one of the worst-hit areas, the Executive Director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, raised the issue of the health implications the cyclone will have on the people. While the search and rescue operations continue, it is critical that we take all necessary measures to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases which can turn this disaster into a major catastrophe, she cautioned.

There is growing concern among aid groups on the ground of potential disease outbreaks Already, some cholera cases have been reported in Beira along with an increasing number of malaria infections among people trapped by the flooding, said the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Cholera, a water-borne disease which is characterised by diarrhoea, is exacerbated by poor hygiene conditions and becomes life-threatening if left untreated. Cases of cholera have been confirmed as a result of cyclone Idai. This, according to the Executive Director of UNICEF, can be attributed to stagnant water, , decomposing bodies, lack of good hygiene and sanitation.

Prior to the current events, cholera had been prevalent in Mozambique. According to WHO, 1799 cases were reported in the most recent outbreak that occurred from 14 August 2017 to February 2018. In spite of the high numbers, the case fatality was 0.06%, as only one death occurred. The health ministry in Malawi reported that in a cholera outbreak that started in November of 2017, 893 cases were reported with 30 people dying, as a result. According to WHO, Zimbabwes most recent cholera outbreak in September 2018 resulted in 8535 cumulative cases as well as 163 laboratory-confirmed cases with 50 deaths; a 0.6% rate fatality.

Concerning malaria, this is expected as the aftermath of a storm provides a suitable breeding ground for mosquitoes. According to the WHO, malaria was already the leading cause of death in Mozambique, with the country being home to the third highest cases of malaria in the world.

Where healthcare and medicine are available, fatality rates can be reduced. However, treating the cases of cholera and malaria, is a challenge as access to appropriate care and medicines are curtailed. This is evidenced by reports of destroyed healthcare centres in the regions impacted by Cyclone Idai. In Mozambique, 55 healthcare centres have been destroyed, further worsening health outcomes.

Furthermore, the danger of food insecurity, which is typical in disasters like this, worsen health concerns for people in the area. Food shortages have already been reported as the heavy rains and floods have washed away, and damaged crops grown in some of these regions.

The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, reiterated these concerns in a statement where he said: with crops destroyed in the breadbasket of Mozambique, more people are at risk of food insecurity in all three countries.

Access to safe drinking water is also a problem that has been reported in Zimbabwe as Medecins Sans Frontieres has noted that pipes have been washed away in some of these regions. In Mozambique, the water supply system in cities has been damaged and as a result of this, people are being forced to drink from contaminated wells or stagnant water.

The health implications of food shortages include a hunger crisis and malnutrition, especially for children, pregnant women, sick or disabled persons. These implications are imminent as the UNs World Food Programme (WFP) declared this disaster a level three emergency, likened to the circumstances of Yemen, Syria and South Sudan. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Cyclone Idai has already put 75,000 pregnant women at risk of life-threatening complications as 45,000 births are expected within the next six months in the current conditions.

Moreover, the effects of the disaster such as death, displacement and destruction of property, have devastating psychological impacts on the affected individuals. Hence, in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, mental health and psychological support from trauma will be relevant.

In summary, to prevent what the WHO has referred to as a second disaster from the serious disease outbreaks or inability to access essential health services, action from the respective governments and the international humanitarian community is of crucial importance.

The WHO estimates that at least $38 million is needed over the next three months in Mozambique, to cover health responses to Cyclone Idai.

In due course, however, the health systems in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi will likely have to deal with gross understaffing from death and displacement of personnel; limited health financing due to a shift in priorities from health resources to other sectors and a breakdown in the leadership and governance of the health sector. In addition, the disaster will have an overall impact on health service delivery as the minimum standards in quality and accessibility become sparse.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to shut the border with Mexico in the coming week, if the southern neighbour failed to prevent migrants from reaching and crossing the frontier.

If Mexico doesnt immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States (through) our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, in the coming week, Mr Trump said in a series of tweets.

He said the U.S. was losing money to Mexico, especially when you add in drug trafficking etc and therefore the Border closing would be a good thing!

He also slammed Mexico, saying they just take our money and talk.

In his campaign for the 2016 election, Mr Trump attacked Mexico and even accused Mexicans of being rapists and murderers, in what was widely perceived as a racist attack.

However, he has toned down some of his comments towards the country since becoming president and as the sides negotiated a new trade deal to replace NAFTA, along with Canada.

Mr Trumps latest broadside comes as reports say a new caravan of migrants is working its way up from Central America to the U.S.

Most new arrivals in the U.S. are not Mexicans, but transit through that country.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday conceded there is a problem, even as he pointed out that his country was not responsible for the situation.

Mr Trump has declared a national emergency on the southern border and is using the special powers in this pronouncement to tap funds to vastly expand a wall between the two countries.

(dpa/NAN)
Burundi has banned the BBC from the country and taken its radio off the airwaves, after what the government said was the broadcasters false reporting on secret torture centres.

The licence to operate the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio Station is withdrawn, Nestor Bankumukunzi, the head of the National Communication Council, said in a statement on Friday.

It is strictly forbidden for any Burundian or foreign journalist located in the national territory of Burundi to directly or indirectly provide information that can be broadcasted by BBC Radio, he added.

The government said the decision was taken in light of an investigation published by the BBC in December, which alleged Burundis security services were running secret torture and detention sites to silence dissent.

Mr Bankumukunzi said the documentary had violated the law governing the press in the country.

Voice of America is already temporarily banned in Burundi, which rights groups accused of having a repressive government under President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Burundi has been seized by civil unrest since 2015 when Nkurunziza announced his decision to seek a third term in office despite a two-term limit.

His subsequent election victory unleashed a crisis that led to hundreds of people being killed.

In 2018 changes to the constitution were approved that allowed him to potentially remain in power until 2034; he has, however, said hell step down in 2020.

In 2018, the government also ordered the UN human rights office to close its bureau in the country, after it published negative reports on the situation in the country. (NAN)
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has decried the exit of about 10 consultant physicians from the services of the Nasarawa State Government over poor staff welfare.

The NMA state chairman of the union, Bulu Umaru, made the disclosure while addressing journalists on Friday in Lafia.

Mr Umaru said that about 10 consultant physicians had left the service of the state government since June 2018.

According to him, some of the consultants were even leaving to take up jobs in neighbouring states with fewer salaries in order to guarantee their career progression.

Mr Umaru also cited high taxes above their counterparts elsewhere as one of the reasons for the mass exit of physicians from the state.

He noted that though the state government had performed excellently in providing infrastructure for the health sector, the issue of staff welfare had been very poor.

Mr Umaru said that doctors in the state were being owed over N400 million as arrears for corrected salary structure.

In terms of career progression, Mr Umaru said many doctors had been stagnated since 2012.

The few doctors, who are fortunate to get promoted, its just on paper without cash backing, he added.

Mr Umaru said the union had resolved to embark on a three-day warning strike to press their demands.

Meanwhile, Roseline Kela, the Commissioner of health, has said that the government was doing its best to address the demands of the doctors.

She noted that the government was working hard to reposition the health sector for the benefit of the people.

According to her, a committee chaired by the secretary to the state government had been set up to address the concerns of the doctors to avert industrial disharmony.

(NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday launched a micro pension plan for self-employed Nigerians.

The launch took place at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

Mr Buhari launched the programme by supervising the registration of a Keke NAPEP operator, Sagir Shawai, a resident of Karu village of the Federal Capital Territory.

The president said the programme was conceived for Nigerians in the informal sector of the country.

He appealed to trade associations, workers unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the informal sector to join hands with the government in enlightening their members on the importance of the scheme.

This initiative will capture those that are not fully captured in the existing pension scheme.

In the past three years, we have provided loans to farmers and others in the informal sector. The micro pension plan is the next step, he said.

Details later
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is poised to suspend the multi-billion naira corruption probe of Bala Mohammed, succumbing to a constitutional provision that accords absolute immunity from criminal prosecution to an elected governor.

Mr Mohammed, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP), was elected governor of Bauchi State on March 9, defeating incumbent Mohammed Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Since his exit as Abuja minister in 2015 and until his election this month, Mr Mohammed faced corruption trial arising from alleged land racketeering.

Following months of investigation, Mr Mohammed was first arrested in late 2016 in what anti-graft detectives suspected might have involved up to N1.6 trillion in questionable land allocations around Abuja, the nations most expensive real estate market.

Mr Mohammed was suspected of receiving bribes of N550 million to illegally allocate public properties to Aso Savings Limited. The governor-elect was also accused of receiving N314 million in separate suspicious payment from Aso Savings. He was the mortgage bankers board chairman at the time of the questionable transactions, prosecutors said in court filings.

He was subsequently slammed with an initial N864 million fraud. He was then arraigned on May 10, 2017, before Abubakar Talba of the Gudu Division of the Federal Capital Territory High Court and granted a bail, which he has enjoyed ever since, as his trial proceeded in court.

Multiple sources told PREMIUM TIMES there is a slew of other probes involving billions of naira pending against the politician as of Wednesday afternoon.

While his immunity would prevent prosecutors from bringing charges that may arise from further investigations, it would not prevent those investigations from proceeding on their own.

Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution is clear, that charges cannot be brought against a governor, EFCC spokesperson Tony Orilade told PREMIUM TIMES. Considering the fact that it will be practically impossible to get conviction before May 29th, the moment he is sworn in as governor, immunity clause is invoked.

Chris Uche, a senior lawyer who has been representing Mr Mohammed in the case, conveniently told PREMIUM TIMES he had nothing more to add to the position of the EFCC.

On the campaign trail, Mr Mohammed repeatedly dismissed the charges as politically motivated, saying the EFCC had not been able to pin anything on him.

He described himself as a victim of a vindictive crackdown on opposition elements, especially officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

A different fate

While Mr Mohammed might have gotten a crucial reprieve from all corruption allegations against him for at least another four years  bar an impeachment or other outliers that could drive him from office  his son will continue to answer all outstanding cases of graft, the EFCC said.

Mr Orilade said Shamsudeen Bala is also being prosecuted, and his trial will continue as he has no immunity from prosecution, and will not be getting any by way of his father. Only the president, vice-president, governor, and deputy governor are bestowed immunity under the Nigerian Constitution.

The son was charged with laundering about N1.1 billion, using a mishmash of shady tech and agro firms, court documents alleged. Some of the firms included Bird Trust Agro Allied Ltd; Intertrans Global Logistics Ltd; Diakin Telecommunications Ltd and Bal-Vac Mining Ltd.

Mr Uche has also been providing legal services to Mr Bala in the matter, which had seen multiple adjournments since it commenced in 2017. The lawyer has vigorously defended his client, saying he was innocent of all allegations of corruption.
A Nigerian car manufacturing company claims it has obtained a court order that allows it to take control of one of the countrys largest banks.

Innoson Nigeria Limited on Friday said it obtained a writ of Fifa from the Federal High Court in Awka, Anambra State, against Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) to implement the judgment given by Nigerian courts over the lingering crisis between it and the bank.

A copy of the Awka court order was sent to PREMIUM TIMES.

The company in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Cornel Osigwe, said a judgement given by the Federal High Court in Ibadan was upheld by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

A Writ of Fieri Facias (or Writ of Fi Fa) is a document issued by the court for the purpose of effecting court judgment on a debtors property. It is also the legal instrument by which the assets of a judgment debtor may be seized.

Innoson and GTB have for long been locked in legal tussles following disagreements over a business deal.

On Friday, Innoson claimed its Chairman, Innocent Chukwuma, has been mandated to take over GTB after the supreme court dismissed GTBs appeal against the judgement of the appeal court in Ibadan.

The Chairman of Innoson Group, Chief Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, OFR has through a Writ of FiFa taken over Guaranty Trust Bank PLC for and on behalf of Innoson Nigeria Ltd as a result of the banks indebtedness to Innoson Nigeria Ltd, the statement said.

In a landmark decision on February 27th 2019, the Supreme Court of Nigeria dismissed GTBs appeal  SC. 694/2014  against the judgment of Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division.

The Court of Appeal, Ibadan division had in its decision of 6th February 2014 dismissed GTBs appeal against the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division.

Thus, the Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division which ordered GTB by way of Garnishee order absolute  to pay N2.4billion to Innoson with a 22% interest, per annum, on the judgment sum until the final liquidation of the judgment debt. Rather than obey the judgment of the Court of Appeal, GTB approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Court of Appeals decision, the auto firm said.

The company in its statement said a ruling delivered by Supreme Court Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour dismissed GTBs appeal and thus affirmed the concurrent judgment of both the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division.

The ruling, it said, ordered GTB by to pay N2.4 billion to Innoson with a 22 per cent interest, per annum, on the judgment until the final liquidation of the judgment.

The Judgment debt of N2.4bn has an accrued interest as at today of about N6,717,909,849.96 which results to about N8.8 billion, the statement said.

Based on the Supreme Courts decision of 27th February 2019 the counsel to Innoson, Prof McCarthy Mbadugha ESQ, had approached the Federal High Court, Awka Division for leave to enforce the judgment having obtained certificates of Judgment from the Ibadan Division of the Federal High Court.

Mr Chukwuma, the founder of Innoson Motors, dragged GTBank to court in 2011, alleging arbitrary charges levelled against him and a string of bank accounts he held at the bank. But GTBank later counter-sued, saying it was Mr Chukwuma who allegedly falsified bank and shipping documents to obtain tax waivers from the Nigerian government.

The bank subsequently referred the matter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The anti-graft office filed criminal charges against Mr Chukwuma at a Lagos court. Last month, he was declared wanted for failing to appear for arraignment in the matter, which is still proceeding separately from the N14 billion arbitrary charges lawsuit currently at appellate levels.

Mr Chukwuma denied the allegations of doctoring shipping documents, saying the matter had previously been investigated by the EFCC and the police both of whom cleared him of any wrongdoing.

He accused GTBank of using law enforcement agencies to hound him and cripple his business, a claim the bank also denied.

Efforts to get GTBs reaction to the latest development were unsuccessful as of Friday evening.
Nigerian academics have welcomed the judgement by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordering the repatriation of six academics from the former British Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) and four other refugees who were all in Nigeria and who were abducted and illegally deported from Nigeria on January 5, 2018, on the allegation of plotting to destabilise the government of President Paul Biya of Cameroon.

Two separate judgments were handed down by the presiding judge, Anwuli Chikere, on March 1, 2019, in connection with the matter.

In the first case  brought by a group of human rights lawyers against the National Security Advisor and Attorney General  the judge ruled that the arrest of January 5, 2018, and subsequent detention of the academics at the National Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) was illegal and unconstitutional. In the second case  brought by the deportees  the judge ruled that the deportation of January 26, 2018, was illegal and violated the deportees rights as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution.

Power of the courts

The court ruling has been hailed by the university community and staff unions as a sign that the courts can still protect and defend the rights of foreign nationals and citizens who are either working, residing or are refugees in Nigeria. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has promised to ensure that the judgement is enforced.

The academics are part of a larger group of 57 Cameroonian refugees and asylum-seekers who are Anglophone restorationists. Some of them have been living in Nigeria for decades and at least one has a Nigerian wife and children.

The university lecturers are: Professor Augustine Awasum, Faculty of Veterinary Surgery & Diagnostic Imaging at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria; Dr. Henry T. Kimeng, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering also at the Ahmadu Bello University(ABU) Zaria; Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, Assistant Vice President and Pioneer Head, Information and Technology, American University of Nigeria in Yola; Dr. Fidelis Ndeh, Assistant Professor and Director, Academic Planning, American University of Nigeria in Yola; Dr. Cornelius N. Kwanga, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Umaru Musa Yaradua University in Katsina; and Dr. Egbe Ogork, Associate Professor of Structural Engineering, Bayero University, Kano.

On the issue of their illegal arrest and detention, the judge ordered the state to pay damages of N5 million (US$13 to each detainee as general and aggravated damages for illegal violation of their fundamental rights to life, dignity of person, fair hearing, health, freedom of movement and freedom of association. On the issue of their deportation, the court ordered the state to pay damages of N200,000.

The judge also ruled in both cases that the Nigerian state was under perpetual injunction restraining it from further violation of fundamental rights without lawful justification.

She also ordered that the deportees should be returned to Nigeria as soon as possible.

Solitary confinement

Since their deportation from Abuja to the Cameroon capital Yaounde in January 2018 at the hands of Nigerian and Cameroonian security forces, the deportees were initially kept in solitary confinement at a maximum-security prison facility without access to sunlight, family, lawyers or specialized medical care for 11 months after which they were moved to another maximum  security prison facility with some limited access to family and lawyers.

They are yet to be charged or arraigned for any crimes because lawyers in Cameroon have consistently challenged the jurisdiction of the Military Tribunal in LRC to try scholars who faced a death penalty if eventually the kangaroo military tribunal brings them to trial. The lawyers argue the composition, jurisdiction, language and historical precedence which makes the court incompetent to hear the case or guarantee a free and fair trial of the academics. As refugees who were abducted, their lawyers have persistently insisted that the national and international laws should be respected and the scholars should be returned to Nigeria from where they were kidnapped.

Soon after their deportation, a team of human rights lawyers led by Femi Falana and Abdul Oroh filed a case in the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging their detention and deportation. In their submission they rejected the allegation that the group were terrorists bent on overthrowing the LRC government.

In July 2018, University World News reported that Me Oroh, who is representing the detainees, said the deportees were members of a political organisation demanding a complete restoration of their homeland, the British Southern Cameroons to complete independence and be free from the annexation by the La Republique du Cameroun.

In an exclusive interview with University World News following the March 1, 2019 judgments, Mr Oroh said he had written to Nigerias Attorney General Abubakar Malami, informing him of the judgments.

In my official letter to the attorney general, I attached a certified copy of the two court rulings on this subject matter. I received a call from the attorney general acknowledging the receipt of my letter. He assured me that my letter was receiving urgent attention and that his ministry would soon comply with the court ruling, said Mr Oroh.

Nigerias academic community have welcomed the rulings and hopes are high that the repatriation will be expedited as quickly as possible.

The world is watching

Caleb Abraham from the Faculty of law at the University of Uyo said both Nigeria and Cameroon are signatories of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

In the light of these rights, the arrest and deportation of our colleagues is illegal and unconstitutional. Therefore, both the Nigerian and Cameroonian governments should implement this court ruling by ensuring these teachers and others are repatriated to Nigeria and their rights in Nigeria are enforced. The entire world is watching, he said.

Adekunle Akinlaja from the Faculty of Law at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, said both President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and President Paul Biya of Cameroun may find it difficult to explain and rationalise their actions on this matter within the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the UNs Universal Declaration.

However there is still room to rectify these wrongs, he declared.

Highlighting the lack of irrationality in the governments actions, Muktar Ismail, based in the Sociology Department at the University of Jos, said Egbe Ogork was married to a Nigerian. By right they are Nigerians. How would the Nigerian government rationalise its actions against those who by marriage are now Nigerians?

Kolawole Akomolafe from the Economics Department of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti noted that the list of the alleged plotters included names of responsible scholars and teachers. These are scholars and teachers who have dedicated their lives to the development of Nigeria. I have known them for over 20 years, he declared.
An Ado-Ekiti High Court on Friday in Ekiti State sentenced 31-year-old Olumide Ogunrinde to 12 years imprisonment for kidnapping and conspiracy.

Justice Cornelius Akintayo sentenced Mr Ogunrinde after the court had listened to the arguments and submissions of counsel for the defendant and the prosecution.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the court, however, exonerated the convict from charges of murder and armed robbery.

I hereby sentence Ogunrinde to five years imprisonment for conspiracy and seven years for kidnapping, the sentence shall run concurrently, the judge ruled.

Mr Ogunrinde faced an 11-count charge, bothering on conspiracy, murder, kidnapping and armed robbery, all of which he pleaded not guilty.

According to the charge sheet, the crimes occurred serially between May 3, 2015, to May 15, 2015, at Epere-Ekiti, Ido-Ekiti, Ipere-Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti, Eyio-Ekiti, among others.

The victim, whose name was withheld by the court, narrated that they were forced to a stop along Ido-Ilogbo-Ekiti Road and were whisked to an unknown place, adding that they trekked for almost six hours.

On getting to the kidnappers camp, we met some women who had earlier been abducted.

I overheard the kidnappers saying they dont normally kidnap men, but stubborn ones. As a man, I was scared for my life.

We were given concoction rice in the morning and eba at night.

Altogether, we spent over 15-days in their camp, the victim narrated.

The defendant was later arrested by the police, through the efforts of a vigilance group at Iju, in Ondo State.

The Prosecutor, Idowu Adelusi, called five witnesses, who identified Ogunrinde.

In contrast, counsel to Ogunrinde called four witnesses but could not convince the court of proof Ogunrindes innocence.

(NAN)
The wife of Suleiman Abubakar, the Nasarawa state chairman of the Correpondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists and three other women abducted along Gudi-Keffi Road on Wednesday, have regained their freedom.

Samaila Usman, the Police Public Relations Officer in Nasarawa told journalists on Friday in Lafia that the victims were released by their captors at 9:45 pm on Thursday.

Mr Usman attributed the release of the victims to sustained pressure from the search party deployed by the Commissioner of Police, Bola Longe.

He said all the victims, including the wife of the journalist and wife of a former state lawmaker, were all National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members.

He said they had all been reunited with their families.

However, the chairman of the correspondents chapel told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he paid ransom to secure the release of his wife.

According to him, the abductors called him, using his wifes cellphone and directed him to drop the money at a certain location along the same axis where the women were abducted.

Mr Abubakar said, I took the money to the said location as instructed and they further directed me to another location around Mandara Village to pick my wife.

He expressed gratitude to God for sparing the life of his wife from her captors.

Gunmen on Wednesday attacked Mr Abubakar, his wife and others while they were travelling back to Lafia in the correspondent chapels official bus from Keffi, where he took his wife for registration at the NYSC orientation camp.

Mr Abubakar said that he and others were able to escape from the gunmen but his wife, wife of a former state lawmaker and two other women were abducted by the gunmen.

He said the abductors contacted him on Thursday demanding N5 million ransom and later reduced it to N2 million.

He, however, did not disclose how much he eventually paid and it could not be ascertained if ransom was also paid for the release of other victims. (NAN)
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, says the Federal Government will collaborate with the government of The Netherlands on improved seeds to boost agricultural production in Nigeria.

The minister spoke when he hosted a delegation from The Netherlands in Abuja, a statement said on Thursday.

Mr Ogbeh commended the government of Netherlands for its numerous supports for Nigeria towards the development of its agriculture.

He said Nigeria looked forward to increasing the level of engagements with the European country, especially on improved seeds.

Mr Ogbeh said aside from the need for improved seeds, the Nigerian government would further require the support of The Netherlands Government in the areas of research, cattle breeding, aquaculture.

He lamented that Nigeria is spending 60 million dollars annually on fish import.

The ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior has set up agro rangers to provide security for Nigerian farmers as part of governments commitment to creating an enabling environment for both public and private sectors in the nations agriculture sector, he said

He informed the delegation that Nigeria would continue to partner with The Netherlands Government to develop Nigerias agriculture sector.

In his remarks, the Minister of State, Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri, said the focus of the present administration was to achieve self -sufficiency in food production, which could only be achieved through extensive research.

He called on The Netherlands government to support Nigeria in the area of research development in Agriculture.

The Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Marion Kappeyne, said the delegation was in the ministry to explore areas of collaboration for the development of the agriculture sector.

The areas of collaboration would include improved seeds, horticulture, aquaculture, poultry and nutrition among others, the ambassador said.

Ms Kappeyene said The Netherlands governments willingness to support Nigeria on agriculture revolution to change the country from food import to food export.

In a related development last year, Premium Times reported how the Nigerian government called for a partnership with the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh to develop flood resistant seed varieties to ensure food security in the country.

The Minister of State Agriculture, Mr Lokpobiri, said Bangladesh has made a silent revolution in agriculture as a result of the countrys dedicated investment in research and technology.

Mr Lokpobiri expressed regrets that although Nigeria had about 30 research institutes and colleges of agriculture, it is yet to achieve food security.
The Federal Ministry of Education has apologised to the management of Maryam Abacha American University of Niger, Maradi, in the Republic of Niger, over the embarrassments caused to it by an ill-conceived circular written by office of the Head of Civil Service, Zamfara.

This was contained in a letter, with reference number FME/S/174/C.2/IX/20, dated 14th March 2019 and addressed to the President Founder, MAAUN, Maradi, Republic of Niger.

This was disclosed in a statement issued in Kano on Friday by the president and founder of MAAUN, Adamu Abubakar-Gwarzo, a professor.

The letter was signed by Mrs Giginna L. I., Education Support Services Development, Evaluation and Accreditation Division on behalf of the Minister of Education.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a circular from Office of Head of Service, Zamfara had directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) under Zamfara Government, not consider certificates awarded by MAAUN Maradi, for any appointment, promotion, advancement or change of cadre.

The State Government further wrote a letter to NUC and Federal Ministry of Education requesting confirmation on the status of certificates awarded by the university.

In its response, the Federal Ministry of Education, through a letter, with reference number FME/S/174/C.2/B/IX/19 and dated 14th March 2019, confirmed the presence of MAAUN Maradi on the ministrys list of accredited institutions in Niger Republic.

The letter further stated that the ministry has approved the evaluation of certificates awarded by the institution for the purpose of employment, promotion, change of cadre, admission and the National Youth Serce Corps (NYSC) mobilisation in Nigeria.

The ministry then drew the attention of Zamfara government, or any other interested organisation, to avoid making hasty conclusion on matters related to recognition of foreign certificates without recourse to Federal Ministry of education.

The letter also requested Office of Head of service, Zamfara to recant publications credited to it on social media that disparaged the credibility of the MAAUN and to write apology letter to the institution to avoid diplomatic damage between the Nigeria and the Republic of Niger.

It should be noted that there is bilateral agreement between the two countries on recognition of educational certificates awarded by either of them.

The management of Maryam Abacha American university of Niger, Maradi, is by this development calling on all graduates and students of MAAUN to disregard any mischief against this great institution as their certificate is internationally recognized.

MAAUN is approved and recognized by both governments of Nigeria and Niger Republic, read the statement in part.

(NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently meeting with some prominent Islamic clerics.

The meeting, which is holding inside the council chamber of the presidential villa, is taking place few minutes after the president also met with a delegation of Christian leaders led by the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Samson Ayokunle

.

Mr Ayokunle told journalists after the meeting that they were at the Villa to congratulate Mr Buhari on his victory during the recently held presidential election.

Details later.
The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, has described the allegations and evidence brought against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) as invalid.

Mr Onnoghen said this through his counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, on Friday.

He is facing a six-count charge before the CCT for allegedly failing to declare his asset after 2005.

The CJN, who was present at the tribunal on Friday, made the assertion as parts of arguments from his lawyers in their no-case-submission.

After the prosecution closed its case at the last adjourned date, the lawyers representing the suspended Chief Justice, led by Mr Awomolo, said they would present their application for a no-case submission at the next hearing date.

Mr Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, therefore highlighted several points to discredit the arguments of the prosecution.

Regarding count one of the charge, Mr Awomolo said the CCB accused Mr Onnoghen of failing to declare his asset between 2005 to 2015.

He added that there was no report of the CCBs investigation to back that allegation.

Count one alleges that between 2005 to 2015, the defendant did not file any asset firm. No report of investigation to show that this is true.

Pw 2 told the tribunal that there is a register and a director managing the register, where all declaration of asset are registered and kept.

Neither the register nor the director, nor the departmental schedule officer were brought before the tribunal, Mr Awomolo said.

Consequently, he said the allegation was a mere hearsay, irrelevant and useless.

The defendant has no duty to show that he has filed forms. Where is the proof? There has not been any attempt by the prosecution to prove it, Mr Awomolo said.

Regarding the documents presented as exhibits two and three, Mr Awomolo said the CCB confirmed that the declaration forms were not verified by the Bureau.

He then added that the Supreme Court had ruled during a similar case involving the Senate President, that such verification was necessary.

It is mandatory that the prosecution must prove that there is verification of exhibits and two and three

They must show that exhibits two and three have been verified. Otherwise, without verification, there can be no allegation of false declaration or omission, he said.

He read through sections of the Supreme Court ruling to suggest that the authorised person must have investigated the statement in the declaration form.

Mr Awomolo also faulted the admissibility of the bank documents, stressing that they were addressed to an institution other than the parties involved in the matter.

Mr Awomolo said the Supreme Court had held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the State Security Service (SSS) have no business being part of the investigation of the CCB. So it is illegal, Awomolo said.

Mr Awomolo, therefore, described the documents as strangers.

Exhibits four and five is not part of this proceedings, he said.

Mr Awomolo added that the Bureau failed to produce a certificate to authenticate the computer generated documents presented in court. He said the failure of the prosecution to do so, rendered their documents inadmissible before the tribunal.

Section 84 (2) (4) of the evidence act demands that there shall be a certificate issued by the maker of the computer generated evidence.

Section 84 (2) and (4) are mandatory. Where there is non-compliance to the sections, the documents cannot be admissible.

Responding, the prosecution lawyer, Aliu Umar, said the submissions of the prosecution that the documents were addressed to the EFCC can not be relied upon.

According to Mr Umar, what mattered was the compliance of the prosecution to the necessary provisions for the trial of the defendant.

The prosecution lawyer said the necessary procedures as laid down by the Constitution had been complied with.

According to Mr Umar, the government has investigated Mr Onnoghen, applied to the tribunal for his trial and was granted permission to try the defendant.

He described the lapses noted by Mr Onnoghen as internal comminnication procedures employed by the CCB.

Mr Umar said the internal communication should not be weighed higher than the Bureaus right to prosecute, as contained in section 174 of the constitution, regarding the rights of the Bureau and sister agencies working with the office of Attorney-General of the Federation.

Our first submission is that the internal memo of the CCB cannot override the procedures of the Constitution, Mr Umar said.

Mr Umar added that the arguments brought forward by the defence that the prosecution failed to bring some witnesses should not be entertained.

He submitted that the prosecution had offered to let the defence bring the said witnesses, but they declined, saying they did not need the witnesses.

Mr Umar then added that the defence cannot turn around after declining to say that a witness was not brought by the prosecution.

Mr Umar said the only point made by the prosecution is that Mr Onnoghen failed to declare his asset from 2005, till 2016.

He then added that the other detail alleging high influx into Mr Onnoghens account was not part of their allegation.

In reply on point of law, Mr Awomolo said the witness brought by the CCB had confirmed that the Bureau failed to comply with its own law.

The three member panel of the tribunal, led by Danladi Umar, stood down till 1:30 p.m to rule on the no-case-submission
Governor Seriake Dickson on Thursday named John Sentamu of the Church of England head of a high-powered international panel to probe deadly oil spills in Bayelsa State.

John Kuffuor, a former Ghanaian president, would also serve on the panel, which has the mandate to hold both public and private hearings and submit its findings within nine months.

The governor said the environmental degradation arising from the spills has become insufferable in recent years, leading to the death of at least 16,000 Niger-Delta infants in their first month annually.

Earlier this month, he accused the oil firms of aggravating security crisis in the region, calling on heavy sanctions to forcibly push the companies towards meeting international standards of oil production.

At the inauguration of the commission of inquiry in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Thursday, Mr Dickson canvassed urgent international investigation to hold major oil companies to account and engender restitution for the people of Niger-Delta who have continued to pay severe prices for decades of oil exploration and production.

The governor accused oil companies of spilling about 40 million barrels of crude in the Niger-Delta, as against about four million recorded in the United States, according to details of the event circulated by government spokesperson, Daniel Iworiso-Markson.

The environmental challenges have also seen the life expectancy of Niger-Delta residents cut by 10 years against national average of 55.2 years as of 2018.

The governor expressed confidence that the ten-man Commission of Inquiry on Environmental Degradation would help resolve some of the crucial issues, especially as it is led by Mr Sentamu, the Archbishop of York and second most-senior official of the Church of England, coming directly behind the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Mandate

The nine-point mandate of the panel cuts across health, socio-economic, cultural and human damage allegedly caused by operations of both local and multinational oil companies.

Mr Dickson said oil firms operating in the Niger-Delta should be held to similar standards enforceable in Norway, Scotland and the United States.

Mr Sentamu decried the detrimental effect of oil spill. He called on the international community to prioritise protection of the environment as a collective heritage of mankind.

Other members of the committee include Valerie Amos, Engobo Emeseh, Anna Zalik, Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, the commissions secretary; Roland Hodler and Michael Watts.

Kemasuode Wodu, a former Bayelsa attorney-general, would stand as the panels legal adviser.

PREMIUM TIMES also reached out to Chevron and Shell for comments.

The oil giants spokespersons promised to get back with a detailed response to the governors charges, but were yet to do so hours after official close of business on Friday.

However, the oil firms have long defended themselves against accusations of not doing much to curb release of toxic substances across the Niger-Delta.

They also previously said they have done a lot to ameliorate the suffering of the local population, even though they add that the Nigerian government should be held responsible for damages to the environment and its deadly toll on residents.
Seven petitions are for the senatorial elections while seven others were for the House of Representatives elections conduct on February 23.

The Election Tribunal in Bauchi State said on Friday that it had so far received 16 petitions from individuals and political parties on the just concluded Governorship, National and State Assembly elections conducted in the state.

The Secretary of the Tribunal, Bello Abdullahi said this in Bauchi in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Mr Abdullahi explained that seven petitions were for the senatorial elections while seven others were for the House of Representatives elections conduct on February 23.

He further explained that the remaining two petitions were for the State Assembly elections held on March 9.

Mr Abdullahi said most of the petitioners were alleging that widespread irregularities were committed during the last general elections.

He said other petitioners had complained over alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

The secretary also explained that some petitioners had complained about falsification of educational qualifications by some elected candidates.

(NAN).
The police in Kebbi are investigating the murder of a housewife and her three-year-old daughter in Dole Kaina village of Dandi Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nafiu Abubakar, confirmed this while briefing journalists on Friday in Birnin Kebbi.

According to him, the housewife, Balkisu, 27, and her three-year-old daughter, were found dead on Saturday by her husband, Malan Zayyanu, in his house after he came back from a trip.

Mr Abubakar said the housewife and her daughter were found killed when her husband travelled to Tsamiya village.

He described the incident as unfortunate, adding that the police in the state were doing their best to fish out the criminals and bring them to justice.

The spokesperson said the investigation has commenced but no arrest has been made.

(NAN).
The Rivers State Government has banned public protest in the state.

A statement from the state Commissioner for Information, Emma Okah, on Thursday, said the ban was with immediate effect.

All security agencies are directed to enforce the ban in the interest of public peace, safety and order in the state.

The public is requested to comply with this interim measure as defaulters will have themselves to blame, the statement said.

Mr Okah told PREMIUM TIMES, Friday morning, that public protest was becoming rampant in the state, and that they were election-related.

The thing is becoming rampant now, they take over the streets, by different groups, some for and some against. And when they do this, they disrupt economic activities, Mr Okah said.

The general elections in Rivers have been marred by violence and killings.

The state governor, Nyesom Wike, on Thursday, inaugurated a judicial commission of inquiry into election-related violence and killings in the state.

Mr Wike also inaugurated a similar commission on the violent attack on the state judiciary and destruction of property at the judiciary complex, Port Harcourt, on May 11, 2018.

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach the police in Rivers for their comment, as the police spokesperson in the state, Omoni Nnamdi, did not respond to calls and text message to his phone line.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), which is the main opposition party in Rivers, said they would soon issue a statement on the ban on public protests in the state.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has described as ineffectual the ban on public protests in the state by the Rivers government.

The government, which announced the ban on Thursday, said it was with immediate effect and meant to protect public peace and safety.

It is the height of absurdity by a government, the APC said in a statement on Friday from its spokesperson, Chris Finebone.

The APC said Rivers people, and indeed every Nigerian, has the inalienable right to peaceful protest.

Perhaps the governor should be reminded that Honourable Justice Adekeye J.S.C. (rtd) once stated that, A rally or placard carrying demonstration has become a form of expression of views on current issues affecting government and the governed in a sovereign state.

It is a tread recognized and deeply entrenched in the system of governance in civilized countries. We must borrow a leaf from those who have trekked the rugged path of democracy and are now reaping the dividend of their experience, the APC said.

The party said Governor Nyesom Wike, through the decision, wants to stop the people from exposing the ills and atrocities of his administration.

It is necessary at this point to inform Gov. Wike that his ban on protest is simply waste of time and space. Nigeria Police cannot enforce an illegal ban except the governor intends to deploy his usual gun-toting hoodlums.

He should remember that this is not 2015; this is 2019. If the governor tries it, he will not like the outcome and he knows it, the party said.
In a firm demonstration of his administrations utmost concern and commitment to apprehending those behind the assassination of the Head of Nursing Services at the Federal Psychiatric Hospital, Enugu, Maria Amadi, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has offered N5 million to any person or persons with information on the perpetrators.

Mr Ugwuanyi made the offer when members of National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Enugu State Chapter, accompanied by Joint Health Sector Union and Association of Resident Doctors, visited him at the Government House, Enugu, to seek his intervention towards the unravelling of the assassins.

The governor who disclosed that the money will be made available immediately to the State Commissioner of Police, Suleiman Balarabe, stressed that it will go a long way in ensuring that those who perpetrated the dastardly act were apprehended and made to face the wrath of the law.

Mr Ugwuanyi condemned the unfortunate incident and promised to get to the root of this crime.

He also commiserated with the families of the deceased and her colleagues, saying: I am sincerely saddened by the gruesome murder of your colleague. I share in your grief. It is a solemn moment for all right-thinking persons.

The governor, who disclosed that he had made several interventions to ensure peace in the hospital, said he did not know that the crisis in the establishment had taken a new dimension.

He promised to do all that was possible to give late Mrs Amadi justice and ensure that such heinous act does not recur in the state.

His words: To tell you that we are serious, I am making available the sum of N5 million to the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command for any person or persons that will provide information about the people that killed this nursing officer.

It is a bad story and we will get to the root of this crime. You have done well by showing your grievances peacefully. It has shown that you love the late Dr. Maria Amadi and I know that wherever she is, she will know that her colleagues did not abandon her.

In a related development, Mr Ugwuanyi, following the unfortunate killing of the Secretary to Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, Nnamdi Peter Ogueche, by yet-to-be-identified hoodlums, approved the release of N10 million to the wife and children of the deceased.

The governors gesture was for the upkeep of his immediate family in keeping with his commitment to assist them to overcome their challenges.

Late Mr Ogueches burial, according to the Uzo-Uwani LGA Chairman, Fidelis Ani, who expressed the gratitude of the people of the council to the governor for the benevolence, has been scheduled for April 5 at his country home, Adaba.
The PDP candidate in the July 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, on Friday rejected the judgment of the Court of Appeal in a suit he instituted to challenge the victory of Governor Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Olusola-Eleka also said he would challenge Thursdays Court of Appeal judgment affirming Mr Fayemi as the duly elected governor of Ekiti State.

He expressed regrets at the manner in which the Appeal Court dismissed his appeal, saying it suggested that our democracy is endangered.

The judiciary is being gagged and justices are constantly being molested and persecuted, he said.

He assured his followers, party and the people of Ekiti that his legal team would study the Appeal Court judgment and take necessary actions.

Mr Olusola-Eleka expressed optimism that justice would be served in the end.

He commended the people of the state for the hope and confidence reposed in him, assuring them of victory eventually.

Let us remain prayerful, it is not over, until its over. I have hope in the judiciary and I strongly believe that in the end, justice will be served,  he said.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had on Thursday upheld the victory of Mr Fayemi as governor of the state.

In its judgment, the court also upheld the ruling of the Ekiti Election Tribunal of Jan. 28 which affirmed Fayemis victory.

(NAN)
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.




"Having completed a year which was characterised by tough and targeted work, we are pleased to announce that Greece Sotheby's International Realty tripled its sales volume in 2018 compared to the previous year, effectively reinforcing its leading position in the luxury real estate market in Greece. Within just 24 months of operation, we have achieved the highest recorded sales by a company in Paxos, Naxos and Ios, while over the past 6 months we have completed the highest volume of residential agreements in Mykonos. At the same time, we have also seen a significant increase in Rhodes and Corfu as a result of the international marketing strategy we have pursued. The outstanding results, both locally and globally, are sound confirmation of a business culture which recognizes that the clients' interests are our most valuable asset. By capitalizing on the strength of our name, building a strong talent pool, working with experienced professionals, and continuing to choose the best property in the country, we are heading towards an exciting and ambitious 2019."

Sotheby's International Realty continued to grow in major European markets during the financial year 2018, such as Spain, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Switzerland. At the same time, 2018 saw the sale of its rights in Cyprus. In Asia, new offices were inaugurated in Sri Lanka and Thailand, while expansion agreements were signed in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Maldives.

"Experts predicted that 2018 would be a year in which the global real estate market would move sluggishly," said Philip White, Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Despite all of the forecasts, our highly trained companies and affiliate vendors have continued to make the most of their potential, achieving a truly remarkable annual increase in sales. We plan to continue with the same fortitude in 2019 and reinforce Sotheby's International Realty's network by offering innovative products, tools and research that will enable a top-level service in our sector. "

About Greece Sotheby's International Realty

Greece Sotheby's International Realty is the leading luxury real estate agency specializing in the promotion and sale of luxury homes on the Greek islands, as well as in selected locations on the mainland. It is an international award-winning company, with executives who have more than two decades of successful sales experience between them. Using sophisticated promotional tools and taking advantage of the strength of the international brand, Greece Sotheby's International Realty offers excellent residences to outstanding people all over the world.

For further information, please contact Greece Sotheby's International Realty | +30-210-9681070 | info@sothebysrealty.gr

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/842256/Greece_Sothebys_White_Vista.jpg

SOURCE Greece Sotheby's International Realty
In many parts of the world, avoidable sight loss means children are dropping out of school. Issues such as refractive error, cataract and strabismus (severe squint) can all impede a child's ability to see the blackboard, their text books and their teachers. In some cases children are dropping out of school to care for an adult with sight-loss.

See My Future aims to raise 850,000 and the UK government will match every pound, up to 2 million, which will help save the sight of thousands of children and adults around the world.

All of the money matched by the UK government will go directly towards expanding Orbis's project in Nepal which screens and treats children with sight loss, enabling them to attend school and face a brighter future. All individual donations will support the charity's vital sight saving work across the world, wherever it is needed most.

The Countess of Wessex, who is a global ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, is a longstanding supporter of Orbis. She has seen the charity's sight-saving work first hand, visiting Orbis's Flying Eye Hospital programmes in Kolkata in 2013 and Bangladesh in 2017, observing everything from a cataract surgery using basic cost effective techniques, to a complex prosthetic surgery on a man who had not been able to see for fourteen years.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

"Access to proper eye care can be life changing for a Nepalese schoolchild. Unchecked visual impairments can lead to blindness, meaning the child is forced to leave school, and potentially faces a lifetime of unemployment and poverty.

"By giving them basic eye-care, the UK Aid-backed See My Future appeal will help give a future to more than 300,000 children across Nepal.

"UK Aid Match will double every pound, up to 2m, which the Great British public donates to this campaign, meaning their generosity will go twice as far."

Rebecca Cronin, Orbis UK CEO says: "With a simple eye exam and a pair of glasses, a child's life can be transformed. Clear sight opens up a future of possibilities  children can return to school, play with their friends and contribute to society, breaking the cycle of poverty.

"With the UK government's Aid Match scheme, our See My Future appeal really will have twice the impact - just 5.50 doubled to 11 could provide two new pairs of glasses for children struggling to see in school."

Orbis UK's See My Future appeal runs until 23rd June. Double your impact by visiting: www.orbis.org.uk/en/see-my-future

For further information contact Communications Manager Natasha Lee: nlee@orbis.org.uk +442076087284

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/843050/Orbis_UK.jpg )

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/843201/HRH_The_Countess_of_Wessex.jpg )

Related Links

https://gbr.orbis.org/en



SOURCE Orbis UK
SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- "Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile," opines Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. "But sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." This is not news to Alliance for Smiles ( www.allianceforsmiles.org ) the San Francisco nonprofit providing free comprehensive treatment for cleft lip and palate anomalies in under-served areas of the world. On Saturday, April 6 the miracle-making gift of a smile will be celebrated at the 15th annual "Night of Smiles" Gala and kick off unprecedented trips to China, The Philippines, Nigeria, Bangladesh and for the first time, Egypt, The Republic of Congo, Honduras and Guatemala.

"Our mission is repairing children's smiles," said Alison Healy, Alliance for Smiles Executive Director. "It is impossible not be renewed in spirit by the young people we heal. We celebrate them and are committed to expanding our work and educating the public about the long road faced by our patients."

A cleft lip occurs when the lip does not quite close during the child's development before birth and needs to be surgically closed. A cleft palate occurs during the same period when there is an opening in the roof of the mouth. Worldwide, a child is born every three minutes with a cleft. In developing countries, access to corrective surgery can be difficult to access and prohibitively expensive. To fill this need, in October 2004, Alliance for Smiles was founded by five members of the Rotary Club of San Francisco: Past Presidents, John Uth, Anita Stangl, Jim Patrick, Jim Deitz and John Goings.

"Traditional efforts to repair cleft lips anomalies have consisted of small surgical teams," Healy says. "However, the initial surgery only addresses one part of the problem. Cleft patients require ongoing treatment in dentistry, orthodontia, speech therapy and sometimes psychological counseling."

Alliance for Smiles conducts two-week surgical missions, provide training for local health care providers and has established permanent treatment centers where patients receive follow-up care.

In addition to raising funds, the April 6th Gala will honor volunteers with the organization: Lifetime Achievement Award  Dr. Karin Vargervik; Volunteer of the Year  Becky Steed, RN; John Uth Memorial Award for Significant Financial Support  Dr. Chih-Chen Fang.

Media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / [email protected]

SOURCE Alliance for Smiles

Related Links

http://www.allianceforsmiles.org


ARLINGTON, Va., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Yesterday, the American Trucking Associations, along with three motor carriers representing the industry, appealed last week's decision by the federal district court in Rhode Island to dismiss their challenge to Rhode Island's RhodeWorks truck-only toll scheme, on procedural grounds.

In its challenge, ATA contends that Rhode Island's truck-only toll scheme is unconstitutional because it discriminates against interstate trucking companies and impedes the flow of interstate commerce. In its March 19, 2019 decision dismissing the case, the district court did not address the merits of that constitutional claim. Instead, it held only that ATA's challenge could not proceed in federal court.

"Since RhodeWorks was first proposed, the trucking industry has been strong and united in opposition to this extortionate plan. We've warned politicians in Rhode Island that these truck-only tolls were unconstitutional and should be rolled back," said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. "It is unfortunate that Governor Raimondo and her administration did not heed those warnings. While we are disappointed the district court's decision means further delay in seeing these tolls rolled back, our appeal of the dismissal of our case on a technicality should demonstrate to the state that this fight is by no means over, and we look forward to establishing the unconstitutionality of Rhode Island's discriminatory tolls on the merits."

In its suit, ATA, along with Cumberland Farms Inc., M&M Transport Services Inc. and New England Motor Freight, argues that the RhodeWorks plan violates the Constitution's Commerce Clause by discriminating against out-of-state trucking companies, and by designing the tolls in a way that does not fairly approximate motorists' use of the roads.

"From the outset of this debate, Rhode Island's trucking industry and business community stepped forward as viable partners for long-overdue infrastructure investment in our state," said Chris Maxwell, president of the Rhode Island Trucking Association. "Instead of considering our perspective, Rhode Island's leaders, led by Governor Raimondo, marginalized us, dismissed us and chose the unfortunate path of designing, building and executing an unlawful and unequitable scheme of truck-only tolling. Meanwhile, Rhode Island continues to invest already scarce infrastructure resources on toll gantries knowing they are likely to have their toll scheme overturned by the courts."

American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or on Facebook. Trucking Moves America Forward

SOURCE American Trucking Associations

Related Links

http://www.trucking.org


OAHU, Hawaii, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved power purchase agreements between Clearway Energy Group ("Clearway") and Hawaiian Electric Company for the construction of two solar projects on Oahu: Mililani I Solar and Waiawa Solar Power. The power purchase agreements were previously executed and submitted for review by the PUC in December 2018.

The Mililani I Solar project is sized at 39 MW and located in the Mililani Agricultural Park, while the Waiawa Solar Power project, located in the Waiawa region, is sized at 36 MW. Both projects will include battery storage capability.

"We're excited to move forward with Hawaiian Electric and all of our partners in Hawaii in bringing even more clean energy to Oahu at a savings to ratepayers," said Patrick Sullivan, Vice President of Development at Clearway. "The alignment and support for projects like these by the Governor, the Legislature and the PUC is making Hawaii a true national leader in the clean energy revolution. We're humbled by this vote of confidence in our projects and look forward to advancing them through permitting and into construction in support of the state's 100 percent renewable energy goals."

In addition to the two solar projects approved today, Clearway has three other solar projects that are currently under construction on Oahu and will be completed in 2019. Combined, the five projects will generate 185 megawatts of low-cost, renewable energy  enough to power approximately 62,000 Oahu homes each year.

With renewable assets across 28 states, over 500 employees and the capacity to power about 2.7 million homes, Clearway is one of the largest clean energy companies in the United States.

ABOUT CLEARWAY ENERGY GROUP

Clearway Energy Group is accelerating the world's transformation to a clean energy future. Built for 21st century energy markets and focused on providing customers with the power they need and the customer experience they deserve, Clearway was created and staffed with functions specific to renewable energy generation and distribution. With assets across 28 states, more than 500 employees and the capacity to power about 2.7 million homes, Clearway is bringing reliable and clean power to market from day one. The Company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with offices in Carlsbad, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; Houston, TX; and New York, NY. For more information, visit www.clearwayenergygroup.com.

SOURCE Clearway Energy Group

Related Links

https://www.clearwayenergygroup.com


BEIJING, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CreditEase, a Beijing-based leading FinTech conglomerate in China, announced today that its direct investment arm, CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund (CEFIF), led the investment of Qupital's Series A capital raise of USD 15 million, with additional capital injections from the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund and MindWorks Ventures following their initial investments in the seed round. Qupital plans to use the funds to expand their presence in mainland China, enlarge their technology development and risk management teams, and strengthen its fast-growing, cross-border e-commerce expansion.

As a pioneer and leader specializing in inclusive finance and wealth management (or "As China's first marketplace lending company"), CreditEase will provide marketplace lending access and networks, to facilitate the geographical expansion of Qupital, as well as bringing on-the ground operational expertise. The wealth management team of CreditEase also is considering providing new capital to fund SMEs' trades.

Qupital is Hong Kong's largest online, small and medium enterprise (SME) trade financing platform, operating on a user-driven, safe and secure online platform, Qupital enables SME businesses to raise quick quality capital in a matter of few clicks by connecting them with professional investors in equitable win-win opportunities.

Qupital serves a wide range of businesses in general trading, service sectors, and in addition e-commerce merchants, facilitated by innovative credit control technology. Meanwhile, investors can gain access to a new attractive asset class previously only accessible by commercial banks - short-term, low-correlation, self-liquidating credit products such as the trade receivables.

Qupital has already provided trade finance solutions to hundreds of businesses across the Greater China area. Based on its core competiveness with technology innovation and affordable access for SMEs, as of Q4 2018, Qupital has handled over HKD $1,630,000,000 in transaction volume.

"Qupital has accomplished remarkable results since 2016. Since the completion of the seed round financing, we successfully handled over 8,000 transactions, totaling HKD 2 billion. Over the past two years, we are grateful to all our investment partners for supporting Qupital. In particular, we are honored to receive the capital injection from our strategic investor, CEFIF in this round of funding, whose Vision, Mission and Values (VMV) matches with Qupital, " said Winston Wong, Founder of Qupital.

Dennis Cong, PhD, Managing Director of CEFIF, said: "The growing volume of SME and cross-border trading drives a huge demand for alternative financing for SMEs which are underserved in the market and opportunities for investors to earn a decent risk adjusted return. We look forward to working with Qupital to broaden its source of capital base and create an unparalleled investment opportunities for CreditEase. We will be working with Qupital to further utilize the technologies to enhance risk management, user experience and operational efficiency."

About CreditEase

CreditEase is a Beijing-based leading FinTech conglomerate in China, specializing in inclusive finance and wealth management, in addition to payment technology, marketplace lending, crowdfunding, robo-advisory, insurance technology and blockchain products and services. CreditEase actively engages with global FinTech innovators through business incubation, commercial co-operation, and investment. Better tech, better finance, better world.

About CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund

Founded in February 2016, CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund ("CEFIF") is a venture fund investing in FinTech companies globally. CEFIF has an equivalent of USD 1 billion in the total committed capital. The Fund was recently ranked the 2nd "Most Active Fintech VC Fund" globally by CB Insights and also nominated for "Top Fintech Equity Investor" Award at LendIt USA Annual Conference.

About Qupital

Qupital is Hong Kong's leading supply chain finance platform. Operating on a safe and secure online platform, Qupital enables SME businesses to raise capital in a few clicks by connecting them with professional investors, whilst at the same time providing a brand-new asset class to investors that was previously unavailable. In 2018, Qupital launched its strategic partnership with Alibaba.com, the leading B2B business platform, aiming to help more HK B2B businesses in their transformation to e-commerce.

Qupital has raised a total of USD 17 million in funding. Qupital's shareholders include CreditEase, Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Gobi Partners and Mindworks Ventures.

For more information, please visit http://www.qupital.com/

SOURCE CreditEase
YARDLEY, Pa., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) will release its earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. The Company will hold a conference call to discuss these results at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday, April 18, 2019.

The dial-in numbers for the conference call are (630) 395-0194 or toll-free (888) 324-8108 and the access password is "packaging". A replay of the conference call will be available for a one-week period ending at midnight on April 25, 2019. The telephone numbers for the replay are (203) 369-3432 or toll free (888) 562-6205. A live webcast of the call will be made available to the public on the internet at the Company's website, www.crowncork.com.

Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading global supplier of rigid packaging products to consumer marketing companies, as well as transit and protective packaging products, equipment and services to a broad range of end markets. World headquarters are located in Yardley, Pennsylvania.

For more information, contact Corporate Communications at (215) 602-2653.

SOURCE Crown Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.crowncork.com


HONOLULU, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE: DEI) today hosted a grand opening event celebrating the completion of 491 new workforce housing units at Moanalua Hillside Apartments. The new apartments include studios and one-bedroom units designed to serve individuals and families in the 80 percent to 120 percent Average Median Income (AMI) range.

"The expansion of Moanalua Hillside Apartments provides critically needed workforce rentals for local families, individuals and military personnel," said Douglas Emmett President and Chief Executive Officer Jordan Kaplan. "With the completion of this project, we have already turned to our announced downtown conversion of 1132 Bishop from office to residential with the goal of meaningfully impacting the supply of affordable rental housing on O'ahu."

"There is a huge unmet demand for affordable housing in the City and County of Honolulu," said Mayor Kirk Caldwell. "Douglas Emmett is stepping up by providing nearly 500 new workforce housing units at Moanalua Hillside Apartments. This provides our residents the opportunity to live more resilient lives and we are grateful to Douglas Emmett for building this much needed housing product."

The grand opening ceremony included a traditional Hawaiian blessing and maile lei untying, brief remarks from Douglas Emmett executives and Mayor Kirk Caldwell, and the presentation of a $20,000 check to Red Hill Elementary School.

"We are deeply grateful for the generous gift from Douglas Emmett and know that these funds will contribute to enhancing the education of our keiki," said Rory Vierra, Principal of Red Hill Elementary School. "As one of Moanalua Hillside Apartments' neighbors, we can see and feel the effect of the revitalized apartments and are proud to welcome more residents to Moanalua and our Red Hill community."

Upgrades accompanying the expansion of Moanalua Hillside Apartments include an 8,000 square foot fitness center, a yoga studio, two saltwater pools, recreation areas, and a new management and leasing office. As the largest developer of workforce rental properties for families in Hawai'i, Douglas Emmett is currently working on converting 1132 Bishop, a 25-story downtown Honolulu office building, into approximately 500 new workforce rental apartments and also operates the Villas at Royal Kunia and Waena Apartments on O'ahu.

For more information about the Moanalua Hillside Apartments, please visit www.moanaluahillside.com .

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] Megan Tsuchida 808.286.3183 [email protected]

SOURCE Douglas Emmett, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.douglasemmett.com


CHICAGO, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 400 Easterseals leadership volunteers, corporate and individual donors, government officials, and affiliate and national staff from across the country gathered to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Easterseals in Washington, D.C., March 26-28, 2019. Following a day on Capitol Hill to advocate for programs and services vital to the individuals Easterseals serves, guests gathered at the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a 100th Anniversary Celebration Dinner.

"What an inspiring series of events through which Easterseals key stakeholders could come together to celebrate Easterseals' legacy of impact and to commit to our future vision of a world in which everyone is 100% included and 100% empowered," said Easterseals President and CEO Angela F. Williams. "I am certain that the energy felt this week will propel us into our next century of service to America."

Capitol Hill Day

On Wednesday, March 27, more than 150 Easterseals leaders and volunteers from across the country gathered on Capitol Hill to meet with Members of Congress including Senators Joni Ernst (IA), Bob Casey (PA), Tom Carper (DE), and Ben Sasse (NE), and Representatives Jim Langevin (RI-2), Darin LaHood (IL-18), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Jim Himes (CT-4), Adam Schiff (CA-28), Darren Soto (FL-9), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), and Bradley Byrne (AL-1).

Discussions focused on Easterseals legislative funding priorities to ensure access to programs like Head Start, the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP).

Participants also asked their representatives to cosponsor the bipartisan congressional resolutions (H. Res. 100 and S. Res. 85) in either the United States House of Representatives and or the United States Senate to recognize Easterseals on its 100-year history and legacy of service and impact.

Several Members of Congress signed onto the resolutions based on the Easterseals outreach, including Representatives Tom O'Halleran (AZ-01), Derek Kilmer (WA-6), Andy Harris (MD-1), and Kathy Castor (FL-14) and Senators Chuck Grassley (IA) and Ron Wyden (OR).

Easterseals has a rich history of advocating for the rights of individuals with disabilities. In the last 100 years, the organization was on the forefront of lobbying for legislation including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and protecting healthcare access by rallying against Medicaid cuts and caps.

100th Anniversary Celebration Dinner

On the evening of Wednesday, March 27, 420 guests convened at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Kogod Courtyard for a Celebration Dinner. The event was emceed by Judy Woodruff, PBS NewsHour anchor and managing editor. Woodruff is an influential supporter of Easterseals and has been a proud volunteer for many years as a member of the Advisory Committee for Easterseals DC, Maryland and Virginia. Easterseals was also honored to open the evening's program with a congratulatory video message from the Honorable John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, former Governor of Florida.

The night was a celebration of Easterseals' impact nationwide over the past 100 years. Former Easterseals representatives and clients shared stories of how Easterseals services (including early intervention, camping and recreation, job training and placement, veterans supports including caregiving and respite, and adult day services) positively affected their lives.

"Tonight, we celebrate. We congratulate. We thank. And we rededicate ourselves to delivering on our promise to assure that people with disabilities and other special needs have equal opportunities to realize their full potential in life," said Easterseals President and CEO Angela Williams in her remarks. "As we all know  our work is not done. And with one in four Americans today living with disability, the need for our life-changing services and powerful advocacy has never been greater."

Special guests in attendance included Easterseals national corporate partners from Comcast NBCUniversal, MassMutual, Freddie Mac, Anthem, PhRMA and Eli Lilly. Easterseals also celebrated its 40-year partnership with Century 21 Real Estate LLC as well as its 35-year partnership with Amway, companies that have raised more than $123 million and $35 million respectively for Easterseals.

ABOUT EASTERSEALS

For 100 years, Easterseals has served as an indispensable resource for individuals with disabilities, veterans, seniors and their families. Together, our 70 affiliates in communities nationwide serve 1.5 million people annually through high-quality programs including autism services, early intervention, workforce development adult day care and more. In schools, workplaces and communities, we're fostering environments where everyone is included and valued  with a real and positive impact on us all. Join us in ensuring that everyone  regardless of age or ability  is 100% included and 100% empowered. Learn more at www.easterseals.com.

SOURCE Easterseals

Related Links

http://www.easterseals.com


ISTANBUL, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Istanbul's 8th Consumer Court has ordered British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover Company to pay damages in a court case relating to the company's Range Rover Vogue model SUV. The Turkish court ruled that an engine safety hazard that was part of a manufacturing defect.

The case was first brought to court in 2013 when the owner of a brand new Range Rover vehicle filed a complaint after his SUV had engine trouble and caught fire. Gurol Law Office filed a lawsuit on behalf of their client, Engin Yakut, at the 1st Consumer Court of Istanbul with the file number 2014/1334. As a result of the lawsuit, pursuant to the decision given in the hearing dated 28/02/2019 regarding the file 2016/1029 in the 8th Consumer Court of Istanbul, it was ruled that 'the lawsuit was accepted' and that 'the black Jaguar Land Rover Range Rover Vogue 4.4 vehicle with chassis number SALGA2JF4DA104851/engine number 0021762448DT was established to have been manufactured with defects in the factory'.

Cases of perpetuating testimony and defective goods replacement were opened in 2013, followed by a recall of defective vehicles in 2014. All legal action was consolidated into a single case in 2016. Following a series of correspondence between Turkey's Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs and the British Embassy, Jaguar Land Rover sent legal representation to attend the Turkish court's hearings.

After numerous investigations at Land Rover's official distributor, a panel of nine professors from Yildiz and Istanbul Technical Universities produced three expert opinion reports.

Dr. Candas Gurol, a Lawyer with Gurol Law Office, said in the trials: "We want to be asked about the case related to the vehicle's Distributor in Turkey, Borusan A.S., with a memorandum written regarding the same model to determine whether there are any further appeals about the vehicle."

For more information, please click here.

About Gurol Law Office

Gurol Law Office has been serving in Fenerbahce Kadkoy since 2011. Areas of activity include Criminal Law, Family Law, Intellectual and Industrial Property Law, Execution and Bankruptcy Law, Foreign Law, and Strategic solutions abroad. Gurol Law Office, which provides legal services in English, French and Italian, carries out joint work with many law offices, academicians, financial advisors and auditing firms in Turkey and abroad.

Contact details:

GUROL LAW OFFICE

Telephone Number: +90-216-336-1216

E-mail address: [email protected]

SOURCE Gurol Law Office
SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP alerts investors in American Renal Associates Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ARA) to the May 28, 2019 Lead Plaintiff deadline in the securities class action pending in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. If you purchased or otherwise acquired American Renal securities between August 10, 2016 and March 27, 2019 (the "class period") and suffered losses contact Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. For more information about the case or to inquire about serving as Lead Plaintiff click

https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/ARA

or contact Reed Kathrein, who is leading the firm's investigation, by calling 510-725-3000 or emailing

[email protected].

According to the complaint, throughout the class period Defendants misled investors about American Renal's accounting for revenues, collections and related matters.

Then, on March 27, 2019, Defendants announced investors should not rely on the Company's previously issued consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 or on several interim quarterly period financial statements. Defendants also announced the Company's CFO resigned effective March 26, 2019.

In response to the March 27 and earlier partial disclosures, the price of American Renal shares has significantly fallen.

"We're focused on investors' losses, the admitted improper revenue accounting that might have been intentional, and the extent to which investors may have been misled," said Hagens Berman partner Reed Kathrein.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding American Renal should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 510-725-3000 or email [email protected].

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman is a national investor-rights law firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington with 78 attorneys in 9 offices across the country. The firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw .

Contact:

Reed Kathrein, 510-725-3000

SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP

Related Links

https://www.hbsslaw.com


"It was a great honour to meet with Deputy Minister of Finance Soto and to explore with him Huobi's advantages when it comes to blockchain technologies and applications," Li said. "We hope to further strengthen our cooperation with the Argentine Ministry of Finance to achieve win-win development for both of us."



"We would like to learn how to participate in cryptocurrency and blockchain industry from Huobi," said Soto, who heads up Argentina's international financial relations. "Through tokenization on Huobi's platform, for example, Argentina's plentiful agricultural, mineral and energy resources could be well financed by global investors."



Soto believes Argentina should consider blockchain technology as a way to promote financial inclusion and reduce government costs. "At present, half of our population doesn't have bank accounts. They practice mainly cash transactions and convert their savings into US dollars," Soto said. "Through promoting cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and with Huobi's assistance, we could reduce our demand for US dollars, which eventually would contribute to stabilizing the local market and attracting global investment."

Huobi Group has expanded rapidly in recent years, opening up exchanges in areas like Japan, South Korea, Russia and  through its strategic partner Huobi (US)  the United States. It serves much of the rest of the world through Huobi Global, its flagship exchange platform.

Over the past few years, Argentina has been at the forefront of blockchain adoption in the South American region. Blockchain-centric start-ups have sprung up to serve the needs of the South American public and many Argentinians are increasingly investing in digital assets. The shift to cryptocurrency and blockchain is starting to manifest visible changes in Argentina. Earlier this year, for example, Bitcoin became an accepted payment method for busses, subways, trains and other forms of public transport and the country is also host to a growing number of crypto ATMs.

"With Huobi's expertise in blockchain and cryptocurrency, Argentina can accelerate its pace to digital assets era," Soto said.

About Huobi:

Consisting of ten upstream and downstream enterprises, Huobi Group is the world's leading blockchain company. Established in 2013, Huobi Group's accumulative turnover exceeds $1 trillion. It proudly provides safe, secure, and convenient cryptocurrency trading and asset management services to millions of users in 130+ countries. For more information, visit www.hbg.com

For enquiries please contact:

Jiayi Li

+65-92295769

[email protected]

SOURCE Huobi Group

Related Links

http://www.hbg.com


OVERLAND PARK, Kan., March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sprint (NYSE: S) will offer LG G8 ThinQTM in all Sprint retail channels beginning April 12. First announced at MWC Barcelona in February, customers can begin pre-ordering the device Friday, March 29, at www.sprint.com/lgg8 or by calling 1-800-Sprint1.

There has never been a better time to switch to Sprint for a great price on LG G8 ThinQ and Unlimited:

For a limited time, get LG G8 ThinQ for just $15 per month with Sprint Flex lease (SRP: $840 ). 1 Plus, get a $150 prepaid MasterCard  Virtual Account from LG when you purchase $75 or more of accessories. 2

per month with Sprint Flex lease (SRP: ). Plus, get a prepaid MasterCard Virtual Account from LG when you purchase or more of accessories. Switch to Sprint and get your third, fourth, and fifth lines of service for free. Get Unlimited  including Hulu  for just $20 per month per line for five lines of service with this limited time offer. That's a savings of more than $1,000 in the first year over Verizon and AT&T.3

LG G8 ThinQ brings a new way to interact with the world using intuitive touchless control, allowing you to perform a host of common tasks hands-free with just a wave. Easily unlock the phone with a quick scan of your hand. Easily access favorite functions, answer calls, snooze alarms, and even increase volume without touching your phone.

"Sprint customers count on LG for the latest in smartphone advancements  G8 ThinQ doesn't disappoint with its impressive features," said Ryan Sullivan, Sprint vice president of product development. "Futuristic updates like Air Motion make it fun and easy to control your G8 ThinQ with a wave of your hand. We are excited to bring our customers this super cool phone at a great value."

LG's award-winning OLED TV technology now fits in the palm of your hand with LG G8 ThinQ. Enjoy self-lighting pixels for some of the best picture quality ever. And with 128GB of onboard memory, there is no need to worry about running out of space or the cost of extra upgrades.4

LG G8 ThinQ also offers LG's best-ever network performance on the Sprint network with HPUE. It leverages the latest LTE Advanced capabilities Sprint is rolling out as part of its massive Next-Gen Network investment to improve coverage, reliability and speed nationwide. For the latest on LTE Advanced, Sprint's best network to date, visit www.sprint.com/network.

About Sprint:

Sprint (NYSE: S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served 54.5 million connections as of Dec. 31, 2018, and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Today, Sprint's legacy of innovation and service continues with an increased investment to dramatically improve coverage, reliability, and speed across its nationwide network and commitment to launching the first 5G mobile network in the U.S. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

1 LG G8 ThinQ $15/month, after $20 monthly credit applied within two (2) bills. Plus tax. Requires 18-month leases with approved credit and new line of service. If you cancel early the remaining balance due.

2 Prepaid credit card is virtual/digital. Qualified customers will be given a virtual card number they can use to purchase what they want from vendors that take electronic payments. If customers want a plastic, physical MasterCard, $2 will be deducted from the $150 allowance. Requires online registration. Ships from LG within 8 to 10 weeks. Redeem at www.lgpromotions.com/sprint. Additional terms and conditions apply. See site for details.

3 After 6/30/2020 pay $60/month for line 1, $40/month for line 2 and $20/month/line for lines 3-5, with AutoPay. SD video streams up to 480p, music up to 500kbps, gaming up to 2Mbps. Data deprioritization during congestion. Other monthly charges apply. Compared to Verizon Go Unlimited and AT&T Unlimited & More for five (5) lines, features differ. Includes one Hulu (ad-supported plan) per Sprint account. Excludes taxes, surcharges and roaming.

4 Memory: 6GB RAM / 128GB ROM (up to 103 GB usable) / microSD (up to 2TB).

SOURCE Sprint

Related Links

http://www.sprint.com


TAASTRUP, Denmark, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Norican Global A/S ("Norican Group"), a majority-owned portfolio company of the private equity fund Altor Fund IV ("Altor"), is pleased to announce the hiring of a new President and CEO. Mr. Anders Wilhjelm will join the Norican Group on Monday April 1, 2019, reporting to Mr. Jean-Marc Lechene, the Chairman of the Board.

Anders Wilhjelm brings to Norican Group a breadth of line management operational expertise and relevant board experience. After starting his career in Carlsberg A/S and McKinsey & Co., Anders spent ten years in a series of escalating international leadership roles within Danisco A/S ending as Executive Vice President. After Danisco, Anders spent the next six years as President & CEO of GEA Process Engineering, a global project business of close to 2 billion in revenue. His most recent leadership role was as Group CEO of Solar A/S. Augmenting his operational experience, Anders also brings relevant board experience to the Group, including current board positions in Biomar A/S, DAT-Schaub A/S, Tresu Group A/S and BIMobject AB (Chairman).

"We are pleased to welcome Anders as the new President and CEO of Norican Group. To be able to attract an executive of his caliber, experience and intellect is yet another milestone in Norican's journey," says Jean-Marc Lechene. "We look forward to working with him on the next phase of our strategic evolution."

"I am very excited about joining the Norican team," says Anders Wilhjelm. "Norican is a strong combination of knowledgeable people, great technologies, a global business, and an owner team I already enjoy working with."

www.noricangroup.com

www.altor.com

SOURCE Norican Group A/S

Related Links

http://www.noricangroup.com/


STOCKHOLM, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The State of New Hampshire has awarded a new five-year contract to Opus subsidiary Gordon-Darby in the U.S. to develop, implement, and operate the State Motor Vehicle Inspection Management System.

The New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of Motor Vehicles, and Gordon-Darby signed a new contract for the Motor Vehicle Inspection Management System covering the state's emissions and safety testing program. The new contract will be effective January 1, 2020. The five-year contract allows for one additional two-year extension. In addition to the new contract, the state extended the current contract for six months, now ending December 31, 2019.

The decentralized Motor Vehicle Inspection program tests approximately 1.3 million vehicles a year across the state. The program includes an automated OBD inspection and electronic recording of all safety inspection requirements.

Robert Tefft, Gordon-Darby President, said, "We are thankful to the state of New Hampshire for this opportunity to continue our partnership with the State in their efforts to achieve cleaner air and to ensure that vehicles are operating in a safe manner."

Gordon-Darby has been partnering with the state of New Hampshire since its original launch of the automated inspection program in 2004.

Gothenburg, March 29, 2019

Opus Group AB (publ)

For additional information, please contact:

Lothar Geilen

CEO

Tel: +46-31-748-34-00

E-mail: [email protected]

Helene Carlson

Director of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations

Tel: +46-765-25-84-93

E-mail: [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/opus-group/r/opus-subsidiary-signs-new-hampshire-emission-and-safety-contract,c2775382

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Opus Group
SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Outermost Technology announces the successful raise of funding from an undisclosed investor. The company will use the funding to upgrade its service system that is focused on the semiconductor, LED, and self-driving auto industries.

This initial investment will enable Outermost Technology to further expedite its current business model development with expectations to promote its growth as a high technology service provider in metrology, reverse engineering, reliability, failure analysis, and thin film deposition. The funding will also be used to develop a new platform for the optimization of the workflow and the data analysis of service projects.

About the Company

Outermost Technology is a high technology service company in Santa Clara, California specializing in material analysis, reverse engineering, reliability, and failure analysis. For more information, please visit www.outermost-tech.com.

2019 Outermost Technology, LLC. Outermost Technology names and logos are registered trademarks of Outermost Technology, LLC.

Sang Lee

Phone: 408-721-6800

Email: [email protected]

Related Images

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Outermost Technology

Company Logo

Related Links

Company Website

SOURCE Outermost Technology

Related Links

http://www.outermost-tech.com


This briefing will take place in the Zenger Room of the National Press Club, located at 529 14th Street NW (13th floor) in Washington, D.C. To register for this event please click here.

About Night Out for Austin Tice:

In April of 2018 the FBI offered a reward of $1 million for information leading to the safe return of Austin Tice. In an effort to intensify the search for Tice, the National Press Club, along with other Free Austin Tice Coalition partners, announced the "Night Out For Austin Tice" initiative  a national awareness and fundraising campaign to take place in restaurants across the country on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, Thursday, May 2, 2019. Participating restaurants will donate a portion of the proceeds made at their establishments on May 2 to a fund aimed at doubling the FBI's $1 million reward.

Since the November launch the coalition partners have been organizing and planning the May 2 event which currently has 34 restaurants in seven states and two countries participating. At the press conference on March 8, International Women's Day, the Free Austin Tice Coalition announced the addition of an influential new partner, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. The national association of more than 1,000 women restaurant owners and chefs from across the country join existing partners: the National Press Club, The Washington Post, McClatchy, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, and Georgetown University.

For updates and more information on this project, and to learn more about Austin Tice, please visit www.nightoutforaustin.com

PRESS CONTACT: Lindsay Underwood, [email protected], (202) 662-7561

SOURCE National Press Club

Related Links

https://www.press.org


BOCA RATON, Fla., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Peroxfarma, a leading European health and wellness company, is introducing an all-natural cough syrup to the American consumer this year.

Epaplus Immuncare is a 100 percent natural cough syrup that soothes the throat and strengthens the immune system. Its ingredients include vitamins C, B2, B3, honey, and plant extracts that have been used to strengthen the immune system.

"We developed Immuncare based on scientific research to give people an all-natural alternative to treat coughs," said Joan Xiol Foret, the CEO of Peroxfarma, which is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. "Our research and development team combined highly concentrated pure Vitamin C and Vitamins B2/B3 to strengthen the immune system along with honey and plant extracts, which helps soften the mucus.

"This all-natural combination has shown that it can help ease the symptoms of a cough," Xiol added.

Epaplus Immuncare includes the following plant extracts:

Acerola, which is a fruit with a high concentration of vitamin C

Plantain, which has a soothing effect on the throat, pharynx and vocal cords

Grindelia, which is rich in flavonoids, essential oils, and tannins, helps the respiratory tract and acts a throat demulcent

Drosera, which helps maintain respiratory and bronchial tract health.

In addition, Immuncare uses blossom honey , which for centuries has been used for its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, to help prevent respiratory tract infections.

Peroxfarma also plans to introduce its Epaplus product line, which primarily helps people with arthritis, coughs, sleep disorders and gastric problems, to the American consumer in 2019. In addition to Immuncare, Peroxfarma's nutritional supplements include Epaplus Arthicare, Epaplus Sleepcare, Epaplus Skincare, Epaplus Vigorcare, Epaplus Digestcare, and Epaplus Vitalcare.

"We are dedicated to improving everyone's health and well-being. That is what makes us unique," Xiol said. "We develop products that people need to improve their quality of life. As we like to say at Peroxfarma, our mission is to bring 'an extra dose of health to people'."

For more information, check out Peroxfarma's website at peroxfarma.com .

Please direct inquiries to:

Andrew Polin, 561-544-0719

[email protected]

SOURCE Peroxfarma

Related Links

https://www.peroxfarma.com


On the banks of Providence's Woonasquatucket River, Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo, Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, Rhode Island Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor, and community leaders joined Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO of Gotham Greens, to officially announce and preview construction progress on the company's 110,000 square foot state-of-the-art greenhouse farm that will create approximately 60 permanent and 100 construction jobs. The facility is slated to open in early fall 2019 and will operate year-round to supply residents, restaurants, and foodservice customers of Providence and the greater New England region with 10 million heads annually of delicious farm-fresh lettuce and leafy greens grown with minimal environmental impact to preserve our natural resources.

Located at 555 Harris Avenue, the site, which had been vacant for two decades, was once home to Providence Base Worksa bustling General Electric facility that employed hundreds of workers to manufacture lamp bases. "Gotham Greens is a shining example of the type of innovative, sustainable, and community-minded businesses we envision will help to reinvigorate the Woonasquatucket River Corridor," said Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza. "By supplying fresh, healthy produce and well-paying jobs for Providence residents, Gotham Greens will serve as a driver of economic growth in the capital city while generating a creative source of energy that will help better connect the neighborhoods along the River." "We are excited by the tremendous progress Gotham Greens has made on this project, as well as the potential this project holds for Rhode Island," said Rhode Island Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor. "Beyond the creation of jobs in its construction and ongoing operations, this project will further strengthen the state's already strong food sector, a vitally important industry in Rhode Island."

The $12.5 million project is a collaborative community effort, bringing in diverse stakeholders from local and state government agencies including the Office of the Governor, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), the Office of Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, Providence Redevelopment Agency (PRA), Providence Office of Economic Opportunity, as well as many other City of Providence staff and community members. Gotham Greens has deeded a portion of its property to the City and is collaborating with the PRA in order to create a publicly accessible bike path along the Woonasquatucket River that will connect riverbank communities to downtown Providence. Gotham Greens will partner with community organizations to increase access to healthy foods and support wellness and nutrition education, ag-tech research, and environmental education programs across the region.

In support of this project, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation has committed up to $2.3 million in tax credits, payable over a 10-year period contingent on actual job creation. In addition, DEM has awarded $250,000 as part of their Brownfield Remediation and Economic Development 2016 Green Economy Bond program, and the Providence Department of Economic Opportunity has committed $200,000 for job creation and training.

Using advanced growing methods that include recirculating hydroponics, big data-driven climate control intelligence, and renewable energy, the facility is expected to produce approximately 30 times the yield of conventional agriculture per acre, while using 90 percent less water. "Gotham Greens is an exciting, innovative company, and I'm thrilled to welcome them to Rhode Island," said Governor Gina M. Raimondo. "Rhode Island's green economy is growing, and we're emerging as a national leader in sustainability. Gotham Greens' commitment to reducing their environmental impact makes them a perfect fit for our state."

With this project, Gotham Greens is continuing its rapid growth of building high-tech indoor greenhouse farms across the U.S. Since its pioneering greenhouse launch in 2011, Gotham Greens has grown from a single urban rooftop greenhouse in Brooklyn to a multi-state indoor farming leader and one of the largest hydroponic leafy greens producers in North America. Gotham Greens currently operates more than 180,000 square feet of greenhouse in New York and Chicago and has an additional 500,000 square feet of development underway across five U.S. states, including previously announced projects in Chicago, Ill. and Baltimore, Md.

"We are thrilled to partner with the City of Providence and State of Rhode Island on this project," remarked Gotham Greens Co-Founder and CEO Viraj Puri. "Providence is the perfect location for us, strategically located at the gateway to New England, the city has a rich legacy of manufacturing, world-class institutes of higher education, and a thriving local food culture. Geographically, New England is farthest from the West Coast, where the majority of leafy greens distributed across the U.S. today are grown. Once we're operational, Gotham Greens will be able to supply this region's supermarket retailers and foodservice operators with a consistent and reliable supply of fresh produce grown right here in New England year-round. Furthermore, using our proprietary indoor growing methods, we can implement rigorous health, safety, and traceability measuresfrom seed to harvestthat far exceed those of conventional commodity agribusiness to ensure that we are growing the highest quality, safest products on the market today."

About Gotham Greens

Gotham Greens is a global pioneer in urban greenhouse agriculture and a leading consumer brand of premium-quality local produce and fresh food products. The company grows its produce using ecologically sustainable methods in technologically sophisticated, climate-controlled, urban greenhouses. Gotham Greens provides its diverse retail, restaurant, and foodservice customers with a local, reliable, year-round supply of salad greens, herbs, and fresh food products grown under the highest standards of food safety and environmental sustainability. The company operates more than 180,000 square feet of greenhouse across five facilities in New York and Chicago and currently has 500,000 square feet of greenhouse under development in five U.S. states. Gotham Greens was founded in 2009 in Brooklyn, New York, and currently employs over 160 full-time team members and is growing. For more information, visit www.gothamgreens.com or view Gotham Greens' media resources.

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter



Gotham Greens Media Contact

Nicole Baum

718-935-0600

[email protected]

City of Providence Media Contact

Ben Smith

401-660-5619

[email protected]

SOURCE Gotham Greens

Related Links

http://www.gothamgreens.com


WASHINGTON, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowell & Moring LLP, counsel for Marsha Lazareva, a prominent member of the business community in the Middle East, has filed a request for her temporary release from the Kuwaiti prison where she has been held for the past year.

The requestformally called an Application for Interim Measuresclaims that Kuwaiti officials have been holding Lazareva in violation of international law and calls for her immediate release pending the resolution of her ongoing arbitration proceedings. Lazareva, a Russian citizen and former U.S. Green Card holder, and her 5-year-old son, an American citizen, have been unable to return to the U.S. from Kuwait while she remains incarcerated.

This latest development stems from a Notice of Arbitration that Lazareva's legal team filed against Kuwait in July 2018. The original notice claims that the charges against Lazareva are part of a coordinated campaign by Kuwaiti government officials and others to damage her reputation as a successful business leader and diminish the value of her investments. It also notes that her prosecution began with vague, unsubstantiated charges and escalated to improper travel bans, harassment and improper detention in abject conditions. Lazareva was convicted in a show trial based on the testimony of a single witness who relied on forged documents. The court issued its verdict without allowing her lawyers to present a defense.

This new filing builds on the July 2018 Notice by requesting that Lazareva be released on bail pending the outcome of her arbitration proceedings. It also comes on the heels of an appeal for her release made by Neil Bush, former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson, former Congressman Ed Royce and former FBI director Louis Freeh. The delegation went to Kuwait to formally request that Lazareva be released pending her appeal.

"Very regrettably, the continued prosecution of Ms. Lazareva has deteriorated from a criminal case where her due process has been repeatedly denied, to a serious human rights matter, highlighted by her imprisonment on charges where the relevant facts have been disproven, and key evidence used to convict her has proven to be forged," said Freeh, a member of the delegation working towards Lazareva's release. "Due process and fundamental fairness demand that the Kuwaiti government grant Marsha's immediate, temporary release while her international arbitration plays out."

As Vice Chairman and Managing Director of KGL Investment (KGLI), Marsha Lazareva was the only foreign woman serving as the head of an investment company in Kuwait. In her capacity at KGLI, she managed the creation of an investment property called The Port Fund, whose investors included the Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA) and the Kuwait Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS).

Over its ten-year investment period, The Port Fund grew its original investment of $188 million to $380 million. In 2017, it was in the process of distributing returns to its limited partners and creditors, including the KPA and PIFSS, when $496 million in funds were frozen in a Dubai bank. Those funds were finally released in February 2019, after a protracted and expensive legal battle, at which time the Port Fund's creditors, investors and stakeholders were paid the respective monies due them. However, following two subsequent hearings, a Kuwait court continues to refuse Lazareva's release.

In November 2017, Lazareva was arrested and detained for questioning on the orders of the Kuwaiti General Prosecutor's office. After being held in poor conditions for over two months, she was temporarily released as part of a $33 million bail agreement, only to be imprisoned again three months later.

About Crowell & Moring LLP

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with approximately 540 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity. The firm has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, London, and Brussels. Visit the firm at www.crowell.com.

SOURCE Crowell & Moring LLP
TOKYO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo has two major features. First, the museum holds the best collection of Western artworks in Asia, allowing visitors to trace the history of Western art from the late Medieval Period to the early 20th century. The other is that the museum's Main Building, designed by world-renowned architect Le Corbusier, is registered as a World Cultural Heritage site.

(Images: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/201903254637?p=images)

The museum is holding a series of exhibitions themed on its basic philosophy in 2019, which marks the 60th anniversary of its founding. Following the ongoing "Le Corbusier and the Age of Purism" exhibition, the museum will hold an exhibition titled "THE MATSUKATA COLLECTION: A One-Hundred-Year Odyssey" from June, which will exhibit the museum's collections of works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Auguste Rodin and other master pieces, all collected by businessman Kojiro Matsukata. In the exhibition, the museum will display Monet's long missing "Water-Lilies, Reflections of Weeping Willows," which was found in France in 2016 and donated to the museum later, for the first time in the world after restoration of the work.

Matsukata collected a massive number of artworks, including "Water-Lilies", in London and Paris over a period of 10 years from 1916 with the aim of establishing a museum of art to introduce Western artworks in Japan. Many of the works were lost because they were sold off or burned in fires. However, the French government returned 375 of the works that remained in Paris to Japan after World War II. It is the National Museum of Western Art that was established to store and exhibit these works.

Special Exhibitions Schedule

- Upon the 60th Anniversary of the NMWA

Le Corbusier and the Age of Purism

and the Age of Purism Underway through May 19

- Upon the 60th Anniversary of the NMWA

THE MATSUKATA COLLECTION: A One-Hundred-Year Odyssey

June 11-September 23

Audio guidance in English, Chinese and Korean (paid) is provided while free guide apps and tablets in these three languages are also available at some exhibitions.

The museum's official website: http://www.nmwa.go.jp/en/

SOURCE The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

Related Links

http://www.nmwa.go.jp/en/


MINNEAPOLIS, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Vireo Health International, Inc. ("Vireo" or the "Company") (CSE: VREO), America's leading science-focused, multi-state cannabis company, today announced the acquisition of an entity which manages the vertically-integrated operations of Red Barn, a holder of one New Mexico's medical cannabis licenses. Red Barn currently operates two medical cannabis dispensaries, located in Santa Fe and Gallup, and a cultivation and processing facility, located in Gallup.

"Vireo Health is excited to expand our operations into New Mexico's well-established medical cannabis market," said Chief Executive Officer, Kyle Kingsley, M.D. "Red Barn is a well-respected operator in New Mexico's medical cannabis program, which has earned the trust of consumers. We look forward to welcoming Red Barn into the Vireo Family. Together, we will create best-in-class products and continue to provide patients with compassionate care."

In 2007, New Mexico became the 12th state in the United States to adopt a medical cannabis program. According to the New Mexico Department of Health Services, in February 2019, there were 70,109 active qualifying patients enrolled in the state's medical cannabis program. The New Mexico Medical Cannabis program includes 35 Licensed Non-profit Producers ("LNPPs") which cultivate and distribute cannabis to qualified patients. On March 1, 2019, the New Mexico Department of Health Services enacted an emergency rule that increased the plant limit count from 450 to 2,500 - an increase of over 500 percent.

This transaction, which was previously disclosed, was financed through a combination of cash and stock and represents Vireo Health's second acquisition since it began trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker symbol "VREO." Vireo Health now has more than 300 employees across operations in eight states including Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

About Vireo Health International, Inc.

Vireo Health International, Inc. is America's leading science-focused, multi-state cannabis company. Vireo's physician-led team of more than 300 employees provides best-in-class cannabis products and customer experience. Vireo cultivates cannabis in environmentally-friendly greenhouses, manufactures pharmaceutical-grade cannabis extracts, and sells its products at both company-owned and third-party dispensaries. The Company currently has operations in eight states including Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. For more information about the company, please visit www.vireohealth.com.

Contact Information

Investor Inquiries

Sam Gibbons

Vice President, Investor Relations

[email protected]

(612) 314-8995

Media Inquiries

Albe Zakes

Vice President, Corporate Communications

[email protected]

(267) 221-4800

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell 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.

Forward-Looking Statement Disclosure

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws, based on current expectations. Generally, any statements that are not historical facts may contain forward-looking information, and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "look forward to", "budget" "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "will continue", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or indicates that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" taken, "occur" or "be achieved." Forward looking information may include, without limitation, statements regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, milestones, strategies and outlook of Vireo, and includes statements about, among other things, future developments, the future operations, strengths and strategy of the Company. Forward-looking information is provided for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. These statements are based upon certain material factors, assumptions and analyses that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including Vireo's experience and perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that are believed to be reasonable in the circumstances.

Examples of the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to those related to: the achievement of goals, the closing of acquisitions, obtaining of necessary permits and governmental approvals, future market positioning, as well as expectations regarding availability of equipment, skilled labor and services needed for cannabis operations, intellectual property rights, development, operating or regulatory risks, trends and developments in the cannabis industry, business strategy and outlook, expansion and growth of business and operations, the timing and amount of capital expenditures; future exchange rates; the impact of increasing competition; conditions in general economic and financial markets; access to capital; future operating costs; government regulations, including future legislative and regulatory developments involving medical and recreational marijuana and the timing thereto; receipt of appropriate and necessary licenses in a timely manner; the effects of regulation by governmental agencies; the anticipated changes to laws regarding the recreational use of cannabis; the demand for cannabis products and corresponding forecasted increase in revenues; and the size of the medical marijuana market and the recreational marijuana market.

Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions at the date such statements are made, there can be no assurance that it will be completed on the terms described above and that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information. Vireo assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by applicable law.

By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to risks and uncertainties, and there are a variety of material factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company and that may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: denial or delayed receipt of all necessary consents and approvals; need for additional capital expenditures; increased costs and timing of operations; unexpected costs associated with environmental liabilities; requirements for additional capital; reduced future prices of cannabis; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the cannabis industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; title disputes; claims limitations on insurance coverage; risks related to the integration of acquisitions; fluctuations in the spot and forward price of certain commodities (such as diesel fuel and electricity); changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in the countries where the Company may carry on business in the future; liabilities inherent in cannabis operations; risks relating to medical and recreational cannabis; cultivation, extraction and distribution problems; competition for, among other things, capital, licences and skilled personnel; risks relating to the timing of legalization of recreational cannabis; changes in laws relating to the cannabis industry; and management's success in anticipating and managing the foregoing factors.

SOURCE Vireo Health, Inc.

Related Links

www.vireohealth.com


BEDFORD, Mass., March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- VoltDB, the enterprise-class database that powers real-time intelligent decisions on streaming data, today announced that it has been selected by independent systems integrator, Open System Development (OSD), to support the national invoice system for the ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. VoltDB enables Kazakhstan's invoice system users to work with multiple directories of the system, such as lists of taxpayers, goods, services, addresses and more, and offers immediate access to this data.

With its guaranteed consistency and 100 percent ACID compliance, VoltDB enables the mission critical application to operate in real time without threat of crashing, losing data or providing inconsistent or inaccurate data. VoltDB also powers OSD's Virtual Warehouse module that monitors the movement of goods from the moment of import or production, to the final customer sale, boosting the number of OSD users to over 400,000.

"Today, our system is critical for all value added tax (VAT) payers in Kazakhstan, and response speed is one of the most sensitive parameters. Only VoltDB offers the ability to process extremely high-volume data streams in real time with complete accuracy," said Anvar Sadykov, CEO of OSD. "Our system is involved in every cashless deal in Kazakhstan, and by the end of this year will be involved in every sale in the whole country. I can say with full confidence that VoltDB is now one the most important parts of our system."

"The application that OSD and the Ministry of Finance in Kazakhstan have deployed with VoltDB is an ideal use-case," said David Flower, CEO of VoltDB. "Our product has been designed from the ground up to support mission critical applications that cannot afford down time or data loss, and must linearly scale to perform transactions at predictably high speed."

For more information about VoltDB, visit https://voltdb.com/ .

About VoltDB

VoltDB powers applications that require real-time decisions on streaming data. By immediately connecting insights with action, VoltDB enables a more agile, intelligent and data-driven enterprise. No other database can fuel applications that require a combination of speed, scale, volume and accuracy. VoltDB was founded by a team of world-class database experts, including Dr. Michael Stonebraker, winner of the ACM Turing award.

Media Inquiries:

For VoltDB:

Kaley Carpenter

InkHouse for VoltDB

781-966-4119

[email protected]

SOURCE VoltDB

Related Links

https://voltdb.com


QUEENS, N.Y., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The 1st Annual Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 5K is a Family Fun Run & 1K Kid Dash supporting U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & a Green New Deal on the Saturday following Earth Day. The course will take runners around Astoria Park and along the waterfront on Shore Blvd. Enjoy the beauty of NY's 14th Congressional District on a Greenway stretching between two majestic bridges. The route is easy, mostly flat, and fast. Organized by Race Director Tim Hayes of Productions NYC LLC.

Reduced rates are available for early registration. Runners are encouraged to form teams, bring together friends, co-workers, family and even their dogs in support of creating a better & cleaner environment for us all.

We ask all runners to support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a Green New Deal by making a direct donation in any amount here https://secure.actblue.com/donate/5kfamilyday

Use mass transit if possible. The N/W, Q100 & Q69, & NYC Ferry are nearby. Citi Bike docking stations are located at Astoria Park. Free parking is available. Please carpool if driving.

If you can't attend, the AOC 5K Virtual Run allows everyone to join. The concept is simple. Register for the event, make a donation in any amount supporting a Green New Deal via the link provided then complete the distance. This could be during a morning run, on a treadmill, or just as a personal challenge. Record your distance on a running app then submit evidence of the run and of your donation. A Green New Deal 5K race shirt and official race bib will be sent to you in the mail. (U.S. residents only)

Race Director Tim Hayes said, "A Green New Deal will provide everyone, young & old, rich & poor with the benefits of a healthier, cleaner and more sustainable world that can last for generations. I am proud to support leaders with strength, determination and vision. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demonstrated that she is that person. I am honored to help. I hope others will join us on April 27 at Astoria Park in Queens."

For more information on the event, visit AOC5K.COM

WHEN: SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 9AM  CHECK IN BEGINS AT 7AM

WHERE: ASTORIA PARK QUEENS, SHORE BLVD

QUESTIONS: RACE DIRECTOR, TIM HAYES [email protected]

EVENT PAGE: AOC5K.COM

Paid for by Productions NYC LLC

SOURCE Productions New York City LLC
DUBLIN, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "2019-2020 Workforce Management Product and Market Report" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

2019-2020 Workforce Management Product and Market provides an in-depth analysis of the contact center WFM market, the competitive landscape, market trends and challenges, vendors, product suites, technology and innovation.

It provides an insightful analysis of how WFM is being re-engineered to meet the complex requirements of today's omni-channel, virtualized contact center environments, consumers' rising expectations and the demands of the modern workforce.

The report provides an analysis of WFM market activity as well as 5-year market projections. Six leading and contending vendors are featured in the Report: Aspect, Calabrio, Genesys, NICE, Teleopti and Verint.



The New Standard for WFM



Flex scheduling, agent self-service and adaptive real-time scheduling are the new standards of WFM. The WFM vendors are investing in delivering new and enhanced methods to improve the accuracy of forecasting and scheduling for omni-channel, multi-skill and blended environments. Many of these new algorithms leverage AI technologies and are optimized for each discrete channel.



Leading WFM solutions have re-imagined the traditional fixed-shift staffing paradigm and utilize flex scheduling, which empowers agents to create and manage their own schedule via self-service portals. Adaptive real-time scheduling is being used to address the intraday challenges of volatile demand and fluctuating resources. It re-forecasts intervals for the remainder of the day, determines the required skills and resources to address new projections, and automates the required scheduling changes to acquire or dismiss resources.

The WFM sector has undergone a dramatic transformation. The key differences between 'old school' and 'new wave' WFM are flexibility, mobility, enablement and automation.



The WFM market is performing extremely well, and is expected to continue to grow at a strong rate even though it is a mature market. This research anticipates that the WFM market will experience rapid growth over the next 5 years, increasing by 11% in 2019, by 10% in 2020 and 2021, and by 9% in both 2022 and 2023. However, it is possible that the rate of growth could be substantially higher if back-office and branch/retail implementations accelerate.

Report Highlights

WFM is addressing staff demands for work-life balance: Flex scheduling and self-service empowerment are enabling agents to achieve control over their work hours. This is a major shift in the WFM world, a sharing of power with employees, who now have visibility into and control of their schedules.

Adaptive real-time scheduling allows companies to address variances from planned activities during the workday: Companies require WFM solutions that are self-adjusting and able to adapt in real-time to changing conditions. Adaptive real-time scheduling automates the intraday management challenge. These solutions can identify service level nonconformance and can forecast and reschedule for the remainder of the day.

AI is playing an increasingly influential role in the future of contact center technology: AI and machine learning are being leveraged to improve scheduling accuracy and fairness. They also support predictive technology to address hiring, agent churn, and to predict timely completion of work.

The report includes:

Review of workforce management market segments and vendor-supported business activities

Functional components that comprise contact center WFM suites

Current market and business trends and challenges that are driving enterprise investments and influencing vendor innovation

WFM market innovation, including a review of recently introduced functionality and what is planned for the next 12 - 18 months

Insightful discussion of how artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies will be instrumental in the future of WFM

Comprehensive analysis of the fundamental requirements of WFM solutions: forecasting, scheduling, managing, automating, engaging and planning

A look at the latest developments in the back-office and branch capabilities included in the 6 featured WFM suites

WFM market activity analysis, adoption rates and 5-year market growth projections

Review and assessment of the WFM competitive landscape, including an overview of the 6 leading and contending WFM vendors, with company snapshots, their WFM suites, packaged solutions and small and mid-size business (SMB) offerings

Implementation analysis, including vendor methodology, best practices, maintenance and support, workshops, training and professional services

WFM benefits and return on investment (ROI) analysis

Vendor pricing for 250-seat on-premise and cloud-based WFM implementations, including incremental costs for optional modules

Comprehensive customer satisfaction survey results that measure and rank ratings across 16 product components, 16 effectiveness categories and 10 vendor categories

Detailed company reports for the 6 leading and contending WFM vendors, analyzing their products, functionality and future product development plans

Comprehensive WFM Vendor Directory

Key Topics Covered



1. Executive Summary



2. Introduction



3. Research Methodology

3.1 Report Participation Criteria



4. Workforce Management Market Segments

4.1 WFM Vendor-Supported Market Segments



5. Workforce Management Suites

5.1 Vendor High-Level Suite Capabilities

5.2 SMB and Packaged Offerings

5.3 High-Level Functional Summary



6. Workforce Management Market Trends



7. Workforce Management Market Challenges



8. Workforce Management Market Innovation

8.1 New Product Features

8.2 Future Enhancements



9. The Next Chapter for WFM



10. WFM Fundamentals: Forecasting, Scheduling, Managing, Automating, Engaging, Planning

10.1 Omni-Channel WFM: The Right Agents with the Right Skills at the Right Time

10.1.1 Omni-Channel and Multi-Skill Forecasting and Scheduling

10.2 Rapid Response: Real-Time Intraday and Adherence Management

10.2.1 Intraday Management

10.2.2 Real-Time Adaptive Scheduling

10.2.3 Real-Time Adherence

10.3 Workflow Automation: Less Time, Less Effort, Better Results

10.3.1 eLearning/Meeting Management

10.3.2 Vacation/Time-Off Management

10.3.3 Timekeeping/Payroll Management

10.4 It's All About Me: Agent Engagement and Performance Management

10.4.1 Agent Self-Service

10.4.2 Gamification

10.4.3 Performance Management

10.5 The Best-Laid Plans

10.5.1 Long-Term Strategic Planning

10.5.2 Hiring Management

10.5.3 Workspace Allocation

10.6 Back-Office/Branch WFM

10.6.1 Desktop Analytics



11. Workforce Management Market Activity Analysis

11.1 Validating Market Numbers

11.2 WFM Market Share Analysis



12. Workforce Management Market Adoption



13. Workforce Management Projections



14. Workforce Management Competitive Landscape

14.1 Company Snapshot



15. Implementation Analysis

15.1 Integration Capabilities

15.2 Security

15.3 Dashboards, Reporting and Analytics



16. Workforce Management Benefits and Return on Investment



17. Pricing

17.1 Premise-Based Pricing

17.2 Cloud-Based Pricing



18. Vendor Satisfaction Analysis

18.1 Summary of Survey Findings and Analysis: Vendor Categories

18.1.1 Vendor Satisfaction by Sub-Category and Customer

18.2 Summary of Survey Findings and Analysis: Product Components

18.2.1 Product Modules/Components Satisfaction bySub-Category and Customer

18.3 Summary of Survey Findings and Analysis: Product Effectiveness Categories

18.3.1 Product Effectiveness Satisfaction by Sub-Category and Customer

18.4 Customer Background and Insights

18.4.1 Customer Background

18.4.2 Top Challenges to Solve with a WFM Solution

18.4.3 Strengths of WFM Solutions

18.4.4 Product Enhancements

18.4.5 Additional Comments



19. Company Reports

19.1 Aspect Software Inc.

19.2 Calabrio

19.3 Genesys

19.4 NICE

19.5 Teleopti

19.6 Verint Systems



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/krbsr4/20192020?w=5

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

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PHILADELPHIA, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") (NYSE: FAX) held its Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") on March 29, 2019. At the Meeting, shareholders of the Fund voted to re-elect two Class I Directors to the Board of Directors.

As of the record date, February 6, 2019, the Fund had outstanding 248,980,612 shares of common stock and 2,000,000 shares of preferred stock. 84.6% of outstanding common stock were voted and 100.0% of outstanding preferred stock were voted representing a quorum.

The description of the proposal and number of shares voted at the Meeting are as follows:

To elect two Class I Directors to the Board of Directors:



Votes For Votes Against Votes Withheld Neville J. Miles 200,222,324 8,536,591 3,478,725 Moritz Sell 200,189,802 8,575,718 3,472,120

Directors whose term of office continued beyond the meeting are as follows: Martin J. Gilbert, P. Gerald Malone, William J. Potter and Peter D. Sacks.

Aberdeen Standard Investments is a brand of the investment businesses of Standard Life Aberdeen plc, its affiliates and subsidiaries. In the United States, Aberdeen Standard Investments is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Ltd., Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, Aberdeen Standard Investments ETFs Advisors LLC and Standard Life Investments (Corporate Funds) Ltd.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected]

aberdeenfax.com

SOURCE Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc.
PHILADELPHIA, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen Global Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE American: FCO) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund, today announced that it paid on March 29, 2019, a distribution of US $0.07 per share to all shareholders of record as of March 21, 2019 (ex-dividend date March 20, 2019).

Your Fund's distribution policy is to provide investors with a stable monthly distribution out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital.

Under U.S. tax rules applicable to the Fund, the amount and character of distributable income for each fiscal year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and related Rules, the Fund may be required to indicate to shareholders the source of certain distributions to shareholders.

The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distribution for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the Rules adopted thereunder. The table has been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The table includes estimated amounts and percentages for this distribution and for the cumulative distributions paid relating to fiscal year to date (11/01/2018 - 02/28/2019), from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated composition of the distributions may vary from month to month because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities and currencies.



Estimated

Amounts of

Current

Monthly

Distribution per

share ($) Estimated

Amounts of

Current Monthly

Distribution per

share (%) Estimated

Amounts of Fiscal

Year to Date

Cumulative

Distributions per

share ($) Estimated

Amounts of Fiscal

Year to Date

Cumulative

Distributions per

share (%) Net Investment

Income $0.0322 46% $0.1610 46% Net Realized Short-

Term Capital Gains* - - - - Net Realized Long-

Term Capital Gains - - - - Return of Capital $0.0378 54% $0.1890 54% Total (per common

share) $0.0700 100% $0.3500 100%

*includes currency gains

The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income."

Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of the Fund's current distributions or from the terms of the distribution policy (the "Distribution Policy").

The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions in 2019 will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The following table provides information regarding the Fund's total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Fund's annualized and cumulative distribution rates.

Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 02/28/20191 2.00% Current Fiscal Period's Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV2 10.45% Fiscal Year to Date (11/01/2018 to 02/28/2019) Cumulative Total Return on NAV1 4.27% Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV2 3.48% 1Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan. 2 Based on the Fund's NAV as of February 28, 2019.

While NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market.

Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2010, the Fund may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Fund during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Fund, to be taxed at a lower rate not to exceed the maximum rate applicable to your long-term capital gains. Distributions made in any calendar year in excess of investment company taxable income and net capital gain are treated as taxable ordinary dividends to the extent of undistributed earnings and profits, and then as a return of capital that reduces the adjusted basis in the shares held. To the extent return of capital distributions exceed the adjusted basis in the shares held, capital gain is recognized with a holding period based on the period the shares have been held at the date such amount is received. Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the terms of the distribution policy. The final determination of the source of all distributions will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. The Fund's Board of Directors has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances.

Circular 230 disclosure : To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Treasury, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

Aberdeen Standard Investments is a brand of the investment businesses of Standard Life Aberdeen plc, its affiliates and subsidiaries. In the United States, Aberdeen Standard Investments is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Ltd., Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, Aberdeen Standard Investments ETFs Advisors LLC and Standard Life Investments (Corporate Funds) Ltd.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the NAV of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected]

aberdeenfco.com

SOURCE Aberdeen Global Income Fund, Inc.

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VANCOUVER, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Alexco Resource Corp. (NYSE American: AXU, TSX: AXR) ("Alexco" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce the results of an independent pre-feasibility study ("PFS") on its 100% owned Keno Hill Silver project ("Keno Hill" or the "Project") in Yukon, Canada.

Highlights of the PFS:

Note that all dollar amounts referenced herein are in Canadian dollars ("CAD") unless indicated otherwise.

Project pre-tax and after-tax net present value ("NPV") is $136.4 million ("M") and $101.3 M (5% discount rate), respectively, and pre-tax and after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") is 84% and 74%, respectively, at an assumed average life of mine ("LOM") silver ("Ag") price of US$17.90 per ounce ("oz").



("M") and (5% discount rate), respectively, and pre-tax and after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") is 84% and 74%, respectively, at an assumed average life of mine ("LOM") silver ("Ag") price of per ounce ("oz"). At current spot metal prices 1 and USD/CAD foreign exchange rate, the project has a pre-tax and after-tax NPV of $101.7 M and $79.9 M (5% discount rate), respectively, and a pre-tax and after-tax IRR of 63% and 57%, respectively.





and USD/CAD foreign exchange rate, the project has a pre-tax and after-tax NPV of and (5% discount rate), respectively, and a pre-tax and after-tax IRR of 63% and 57%, respectively. LOM average annualized mine production is projected to be 154,000 tonnes ("t") per year over an approximately eight (8) year project life at an average feed grade of 804 grams per tonne ("g/t") Ag, 2.98% lead ("Pb"), 4.13% zinc ("Zn") and 0.34 g/t gold ("Au").





Total payable metals in concentrate are approximately 27.2 M oz of Ag, 67.2 M pounds ("lbs") of Zn, 65.4 M lbs of Pb over an eight (8) year mine life. Average annualized contained silver in concentrate is 4.0 M oz per year, based on full production years.





oz of Ag, pounds ("lbs") of Zn, lbs of Pb over an eight (8) year mine life. Average annualized contained silver in concentrate is oz per year, based on full production years. Initial capital costs are estimated to be $23.2 M comprised of $17.9 M of surface and underground development costs to reach mill commissioning plus an additional $5.3 M of net working capital for two (2) months of mill operations ramp-up prior to positive cash flow.





comprised of of surface and underground development costs to reach mill commissioning plus an additional of net working capital for two (2) months of mill operations ramp-up prior to positive cash flow. Total sustaining capital (including underground development and property, plant and equipment ("PP&E")) is estimated to be $76.5 M , which excludes the initial capital of $23.2 M . Direct operating costs of $321 /t of ore are estimated over the LOM.





, which excludes the initial capital of . Direct operating costs of /t of ore are estimated over the LOM. Upon achieving commercial production, Alexco has calculated all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") (contained Ag, by-product basis) over the LOM to be US$11.98 /oz of Ag. At current spot prices1 over the LOM, the calculated AISC is US$10.86 /oz of Ag.



Footnote: 1. Current spot prices are calculated as of March 22, 2019 using the following assumptions: Ag US$15.46/oz, Au US$1311.30/oz, Pb US$0.9187/lb, Zn US$ 1.2961/lb and USD/CAD exchange rate of $0.75.

Alexco Chairman and CEO, Clynton Nauman, commented, "The results of the PFS reflect the exceptional asset we have in Keno Hill and demonstrate a robust high margin primary silver operation that can produce approximately four million ounces of silver per year. The operational and economic metrics of the PFS show an improvement over the previous preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") in nearly all categories including a higher NPV, increased annual silver production, reduced capital requirements, improved operating costs and productivities, increased mine tonnage and throughput, lower LOM AISC and an impressive IRR. With the results of the PFS now in hand, we are now on a clear path to production at Keno Hill."

Pre-Feasibility Study

The PFS includes existing mineral resource estimates for the Flame & Moth, Bellekeno, Lucky Queen and Onek deposits, and an updated resource estimate for the Bermingham deposit. In addition, mineral reserve estimates are provided for assessment of underground mining operations for all of the deposits with the exception of the Onek deposit. The PFS was compiled by Mining Plus Canada Consulting Ltd. ("Mining Plus") with contributions from a team of qualified persons and firms. The PFS assesses underground mining operations in all four (4) deposits, with two deposits in concurrent production at all times, feeding an existing conventional flotation mill to produce mineral concentrates containing silver, lead, zinc and gold.

* See "Cautionary Note to Investors regarding Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates" below.

Key PFS metrics (and assumptions) are as follows:

Production Profile Total Tonnes Mined/Milled 1,177,379 t LOM Diluted Mill Feed Grades 804 g/t Ag, 2.98% Pb, 4.13% Zn Total Payable Silver in Concentrate 27.2 M oz Current Project Life 8 years Metallurgical Recoveries 95.6% Ag, 88.6% Pb, 73.6% Zn LOM Average Mill Throughput 430 tonnes per day ("tpd") Annualized Silver in Concentrate 1 4.0 M oz/yr LOM Net Smelter Return ("NSR") $554/t LOM AISC US$11.98 Capital Requirements Pre-Production/Development Capital Cost $17.9 M Working Capital Ramp-Up $5.3M LOM Sustaining Capital 2 $76.5 M Operating Costs Underground Mining Direct $201/t Milling $61/t G&A $59/t Total Direct Operating Cost $321/t LOM Sustaining Capital 2 $68/t Economics

Pre-Tax After-Tax Cash Flow $174.1M $129.4M NPV (5%) $136.4M $101.3M IRR 83.7% 74.2% Payback Period 2 26 months 27 months

Notes: 1. Based only on full production years 2. Calculated after initial capital costs are incurred

The economic parameters are based on a metal price forecast with the following assumptions: US$15.75/oz Ag in Year 1, increasing to US$18.25/oz in Year 4 and long-term; US$0.96/lb lead in Year 1, increasing to US$1.00/lb long-term; US$1.25/lb zinc in Year 1, decreasing to US$1.22/lb long-term; and USD/CAD foreign exchange of US$0.75 in Year 1, increasing to US$0.77 long-term.

Alexco President, Brad Thrall, commented, "The results reflected in this PFS include an optimized mine plan for Flame & Moth with increased tonnes and reduced development relative to the previous PEA. Similarly, at Bermingham we have a 65% or 142,000 tonne increase to the mine plan primarily as a result of 2018 exploration success at this deposit. Furthermore, the silver production from the Bermingham mineral reserve incorporates only one-third of the current Bermingham silver indicated mineral resource and is therefore a reflection of the potential upside at Bermingham, which will be a focus of ongoing mine optimization and expansion studies. With over 1,000 meters ("m") of development completed at Flame & Moth and Bermingham at the end of 2018, we are in a position to initiate mill operations and achieve concentrate production within 5-7 months after making a production decision for Keno Hill. Finally, with over 75% of projected revenue from Ag and a LOM Ag equivalent ("AgEq") grade of 1,136 g/t 1, Keno Hill represents an exceptional silver development project with relatively low capital intensity and is now on a path to become Canada's only primary silver producer."

Mining and Mineral Reserves

The PFS mine plan is centered on the Flame & Moth and Bermingham deposits with LOM production contributions of 60% and 30%, respectively. Supplemental mine production is sourced from the Bellekeno deposit early in the production period and from the Lucky Queen deposit later in the mine life. The LOM production schedule includes an annualized average of 430 tpd over an approximate eight (8) year period. Nominal production rates are an initial 250 tpd from the Bellekeno deposit, a variable 250 - 300 tpd from each of the Flame & Moth and Bermingham deposits throughout the entire mine life and 100 tpd from the Lucky Queen deposit in the final two (2) years of the mine plan. Mining methods are predominantly mechanized cut and fill with a trend toward long hole and drift and fill mining methods in areas of increased deposit thickness. A summary of the mineral reserve estimates from each of the deposits included in the PFS is set out below:



Classification Tonnes Ag (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) Au (g/t) Contained

Ag Bellekeno Proven - - - - - -

Probable 40,109 843 11.79 6.31 - 1,087,000 Lucky Queen Proven - - - - - -

Probable 70,717 1,244 2.63 1.38 0.12 2,829,000 Flame & Moth Proven - - - - - -

Probable 704,211 672 2.71 5.73 0.49 15,214,000 Bermingham Proven - - - - - -

Probable 362,343 972 2.59 1.32 0.13 11,324,000 Total Proven - - - - - -

Probable 1,177,379 804 2.98 4.13 0.34 30,454,000

Notes: 1. Sum of all amounts may not add up to totals due to rounding. 2. The mineral reserves above are included in the mineral resource estimate table in Appendix 1.

* See "Cautionary Note to Investors regarding Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates" below.



Footnote: 1. AgEq equivalent was calculated using PFS average LOM metal prices and mill recoveries: Ag US$17.90/oz, recovery 96%; Pb US$1.00/lb, recovery 89%; Zn US$1.22/lb, recovery 73%; Au US$1,321/oz, recovery 49%.

Processing and Infrastructure

The Keno District mill facility has a nameplate capacity of 408 tpd and employs conventional crushing, grinding, differential flotation and dewatering processes to produce a Pb-Ag concentrate, a Zn concentrate and a filtered tailings product for storage in an established dry stacked tailings facility or to be used underground as backfill. Ag and Pb minerals are recovered together in a Pb-Ag concentrate and Zn minerals in a separate Zn concentrate. The mill was previously commissioned in 2011 and operated for three (3) years and has been under enhanced care and maintenance since 2014. Silver recoveries are estimated to be 94% with 91% reporting to the Pb concentrate, thereby enhancing Ag payability. The average LOM throughput in the mill is 430 tpd over the eight (8) year schedule, with a peak throughput to 550 tpd in the third year of the PFS schedule. This would require an amendment to the current quartz mining license ("QML") prior to the increase in mill throughput.

Prior to resumption of mill operations, an additional 1.8 m x 3 m, 150-kilowatt ("kW") ball mill (purchased and on site) would be installed to provide expanded grinding capacity ahead of the flotation circuit. Additional tailings filtering capacity and concentrate regrind mills will also be installed prior to mill commissioning. Updated metallurgical recovery performance in the PFS is based on five (5) additional locked cycle flotation tests on representative sample composites from Flame and Moth, Bermingham and Lucky Queen, as well as previous open cycle tests. Once in commercial production, the Pb-Ag concentrate would have an expected commercial grade of 54% Pb and 17,300 g/t Ag. The projected metallurgical performance in the PFS is as follows:

Mill Recoveries (Payable)  LOM

Into Pb-Ag Concentrate Into Zn Concentrate Ag % 91.0 4.6 Pb % 88.6 - Zn % - 73.6 Au % 49.0 - Concentrate Production (at full production)

Pb-Ag Concentrate Zn Concentrate Ag g/t 17,316 704 Dry Tonnes 52,772 65,436 Pb % 54.0 - Zn % - 53.0

Additional pre-production site infrastructure improvements included in the PFS comprise a camp expansion, additional dry facilities, expanded administration offices, an additional maintenance facility, electrical power grid substation at Bermingham and a water treatment plant at Bermingham.

Capital Costs

The Keno Hill Silver Project is a low capital intensity project due to its existing mine and mill infrastructure. The initial capital costs of $23.2 M comprises $17.9 M of surface and underground development costs to reach mill commissioning plus an additional $5.3M of working capital to reach positive cash flow. PP&E expenditures in the amount of $2.8 M are being allocated to mill upgrades to increase the grinding and filtering capacity and to complete other improvement modifications prior to reaching commercial production.

Initial Capital Costs (CAD$ Millions) Mine Development/PP&E 11.8 Mill Refurbishment 2.8 Site Infrastructure/PP&E 1.4 Owners Costs, Contingency 1.9 Total Pre-Production Capital 17.9



Working Capital 5.3 Total 23.2

Other

All of the regulatory approvals required for mining and processing activities associated with the Bellekeno, Lucky Queen and Flame & Moth deposits are currently in place. An amendment to the QML and Water Use Licence ("WUL") are required for mining and processing activities associated with the Bermingham deposit. Both of these license amendments are underway. The amendment to the QML is anticipated in Q2 2019 while the amendment to the WUL is anticipated to be received in Q3 2019.

The PFS was compiled by Mining Plus with contributions from a team of Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") as follows:

Zach Allwright , P.Eng. of Mining Plus

, P.Eng. of Mining Plus Hassan Ghaffari , P.Eng of Tetra Tech

, P.Eng of Tetra Tech Gilles Arseneau , Ph.D., P.Geo. of SRK Canada Inc.

, Ph.D., P.Geo. of SRK Canada Inc. Cliff Revering , P.Eng., of SRK Canada Inc.

, P.Eng., of SRK Canada Inc. Paul Hughes , Ph.D., P.Eng. of Mining Plus

, Ph.D., P.Eng. of Mining Plus Adrian Churcher , P.Eng. of Mining Plus

All mineral resources are classified following the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May 2014), in accordance with the CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines and NI 43-101.

See "Cautionary Note to Investors regarding Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates" below.

The disclosure in this news release of scientific and technical information regarding exploration has been reviewed and approved by Alan McOnie, FAusIMM, Alexco's Vice President, Exploration, while that regarding mine development and operations has been reviewed and approved by Neil Chambers, P.Eng., Mine Superintendent, each of whom is a Qualified Person and has approved the disclosure herein. The technical information in this news release was reviewed by Zach Allwright, P.Eng. and Adrian Churcher, P.Eng. both of Mining Plus, Gilles Arseneau, Ph.D., P.Geo. and Cliff Revering, P.Eng, both of SRK Canada Inc. and Hassan Ghaffari, P.Eng. of Tetra Tech, each of whom is a Qualified Person and has approved the disclosure herein.

Conference Call Details

Alexco will hold a conference call and webcast tomorrow, March 29, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern (6:00 a.m. Pacific). To participate in the live call, please use one of the following methods:

Dial toll free from Canada or the US: 1-800-319-4610



Dial from outside Canada or the US: 1-604-638-5340



Dial from Germany: 0800-180-1954



Dial from Switzerland: 0800-802-457



Dial from the UK 0800-101-2791



Confirmation Code#: Ask to join the Alexco conference call



Live audio webcast: www.alexcoresource.com

Participants should connect five to ten minutes before the call.

The conference call will be recorded and an archived audio webcast will be available at www.alexcoresource.com.

About Alexco

Alexco owns the majority of the historic high-grade Keno Hill Silver District in Canada's Yukon Territory.

Alexco also operates a wholly-owned subsidiary business, Alexco Environmental Group, that provides mine-related environmental services, remediation technologies and reclamation and mine closure services to both government and industry clients in North America and elsewhere.

Please visit the Alexco website at www.alexcoresource.com

Some statements ("forward-looking statements") in this news release contain forward-looking information concerning the results of the PFS, anticipated results and developments in Alexco's operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of its properties, plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future, made as of the date of this news release. Forward looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to results of the PFS; future mineral exploration including the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources and the realization of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; future mine construction and development activities; future mine operation and production; the timing of activities and reports; the amount of estimated development and operational expenses; projected operational and economic metrics; the success of exploration and development activities; the potential upside and growth in respect of certain deposits comprising the Keno Hill Silver Project; anticipated permitting time lines; requirements for additional permits (or amendments to existing permits); anticipated installation of certain infrastructure; projected equipment and production capacity; and potential capital, revenue and sources and uses of funds. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, risks related to actual results and timing of exploration and development activities; actual results and timing of mining activities; actual results and timing of environmental services activities; actual results and timing of remediation and reclamation activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of silver, gold, lead, zinc and other commodities; possible variations in mineable resources, grade or recovery rates; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; First Nation rights and title; continued capitalization and commercial viability; global economic conditions; competition; and delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development activities. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions that management believes are reasonable at the time they are made. In making the forward-looking statements included in this news release, Alexco has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, the assumption that Alexco will be able to raise additional capital as necessary, that the assumptions, projections and estimates in the PFS will proceed as planned, and that market fundamentals will result in sustained silver, gold, lead and zinc demand and prices. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Alexco 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 otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

Cautionary Note to Investors regarding Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates

This press release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. The terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve" and "probable mineral reserve" are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") - CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended. These definitions differ materially from the definitions in SEC Industry Guide 7 ("SEC Industry Guide 7") under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical average price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis to designate reserves, and the primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority.

In addition, the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are defined in and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101; however, these terms are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral deposit in these categories will ever be converted into SEC Industry Guide 7 reserves. "Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable. It is reasonably expected that the majority of inferred mineral resources could be upgraded to indicated mineral resources with continued exploration. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC Industry Guide 7 standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures.

Accordingly, information contained in this press release regarding descriptions of the Corporation's mineral deposits may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, including SEC Industry Guide 7.

APPENDIX 1 - MINERAL RESERVES AND MINERAL RESOURCES

The table below represents the current Keno Hill mineral resource estimate inclusive of mineral reserves in the indicated mineral resource category. Mineral resource estimates for the Bellekeno, Flame & Moth, Onek and Lucky Queen deposits are unchanged from the Company's prior public disclosure. The Bermingham mineral resource estimate has been updated as disclosed in the footnote below.



Classification Tonnes Ag (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) Au (g/t) Contained Ag

(Oz) Bellekeno Indicated 262,000 585 3.5 5.3 n/a 4,927,000

Inferred 243,000 428 4.1 5.1 n/a 3,344,000 Lucky Queen Indicated 132,300 1,167 2.43 1.63 0.16 4,964,000

Inferred 257,900 473 1.04 0.8 0.13 3,922,000 Flame & Moth Indicated 1,679,000 498 1.85 5.33 0.42 26,883,000

Inferred 365,200 356 0.47 4.25 0.26 4,180,000 Onek Indicated 700,200 191 1.24 11.85 0.6 4,300,000

Inferred 285,100 118 1.15 8.26 0.42 1,082,000 Bermingham1 Indicated 1,102,300 930 2.4 1.7 0.14 33,004,000

Inferred 509,400 717 1.7 1.5 0.15 11,746,000 Total Indicated 3,875,800 594 2.0 5.3 0.34 74,078,000

Inferred 1,660,600 455 1.6 3.7 0.20 24,274,000

Notes: 1. The effective date of this mineral resource table is September 26, 2018, and is based on a revised narrow-vein interpretation prepared by Alexco on September 13, 2018. An initial vein model was prepared by Alexco on August 28, 2018, which was predicated on a wider vein interpretation that incorporated a significant volume of low-grade material (i.e. <100 g/t silver). Although an initial mineral resource estimate was completed using the wider vein model, a subsequent update has been completed using the narrow-vein model to remove this low-grade tonnage for use in the 2018 PFS study. The narrow-vein geological model was interpreted using a 100 g/t silver cut-off grade to define the mineralized veins but otherwise estimated using the same parameters. 2. Mineral resources for Bermingham are reported at a value per tonne cut-off of CAD$185/t using the following metal prices and recoveries; Ag US$20.80/oz, recovery 96%; Pb US$1.05/lb, recovery 97%; Zn US$1.20/lb, recovery 88%; Au US$1,450/oz, recovery 72%. Foreign exchange rate of $0.80 USD/CAD. All numbers have been rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

* See "Cautionary Note to Investors regarding Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates" above.

SOURCE Alexco Resource Corp.

Related Links

www.alexcoresource.com


US, French C-130J Hercules Train Together in France



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GLASGOW, Scotland, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- TC BioPharm (TCB), leaders in the development of tumor-targeting gamma delta T (GDT) cells, today announced that Professor John Anderson has been appointed as Scientific and Medical Director. He joins as the company executes clinical translation of the first candidates from a development pipeline of genetically modified "off the shelf" CAR-T products. As a distinguished clinical investigator and academic researcher, John's breadth of expertise and experience will strengthen the leadership team and contribute to the company mission of improving patient health and quality of life.

Professor Anderson leads research into novel immunotherapies with a focus on childhood solid cancers at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, where he is Professor of Experimental Paediatric Oncology. He is also the Chief Investigator of a Cancer Research UK sponsored trial of anti-GD2 CAR-T cells for neuroblastoma patients.

At TCB, Professor Anderson joins a growing clinical biopharmaceutical company with a focus on the development of transformational CAR-T cell products with the capacity to dramatically improve the clinical, logistic and cost burden of the first CAR-T products on the market. The company operates an integrated model, building all critical capabilities in-house, and Prof Anderson's arrival marks a significant addition to scientific and clinical capabilities.

The formal appointment is facilitated by UCL Consultants, and builds upon the collaboration initiated in 2017 when TCB exclusively licensed next-generation CAR-T technology from the UCL research group, to consolidate the company's IP protection around the costimulatory GDT CAR-T platform, and is recognition of the highly successful partnership which has resulted.

Professor John Anderson, commented: "TCB have a unique portfolio of preclinical capabilities related to gamma delta CAR-T cells, which are now ripe for translation into the clinic. Importantly, the ability of gamma delta CAR T cells to avoid toxicity, including graft versus host disease, is a possible advantage over the conventional CAR-T cell approach. Specifically these cells could be developed into off the shelf products, greatly increasing availability for patients. In the coming years it will be exciting to contribute to their evaluation in clinical trials."

TCB's Chief Operating Officer, Angela Scott, said: "Over the past two years our work with Professor Anderson and colleagues has been a true collaborative effort and his track-record of innovation at the cutting-edge of immuno-oncology coupled with his daily experience of treating patients with experimental medicines, brings invaluable input to the day-to-day development of our allogeneic CAR-T products. With his help we will accelerate towards our goal of improving patient health and quality of life."

About TC BioPharm (TCB)

TC BioPharm is a biotechnology company developing a platform of CAR-T immuno-oncology products using expanded gamma delta T cells to formulate treatments for a wide variety of hematological and solid tumor types. The company aims to develop and commercialize innovative cell-based products to tackle disease and improve patient quality of life. Commencing operations in 2014, TCB has grown rapidly leveraging the extensive cell therapy experience of two of the founders, Dr Michael Leek and Angela Scott.

TCB is registered in Scotland (SC 453579), with facilities in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Kawasaki, Japan. In January 2015, TCB's cell therapy manufacturing facility at Maxim Park, Glasgow was awarded a Manufacturer's Authorisation for Investigational Medicinal Products MIA (IMP) which permits GMP manufacture and release of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) for use in clinical trials. Further to obtaining an MHRA manufacturing license, TCB was granted a Clinical Trial Authorisation (CTA) by the MHRA in September 2015 to commence clinical evaluation of gamma-delta T cell therapies. Learn more at http://www.tcbiopharm.com.

About UCL Consultants (UCLC)

UCL Consultants Ltd is wholly owned by UCL and works with UCL Innovation and Enterprise and sister company UCL Business plc, by providing UCL with structures for engaging with businesses. UCL is a world-class multi-disciplinary research and teaching institution, ranked seventh in the world's top ten universities by the QS World University Rankings (2018)

UCLC help partners access critical specialist knowledge and first class research facilities across 11 faculties and 100+ departments. Their strength is the range of expertise which can be deployed - UCL's know-how extends from management and law, education, the humanities and social sciences to engineering disciplines, infrastructure and the built environment, life and medical sciences. Learn more at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/consultants.

SOURCE TC BioPharm
INDIANAPOLIS, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization stated his "extreme displeasure" with certain members of Congress who chose to replace POW/MIA flags with transgender equality flags outside their Washington offices.

"According to several media reports, some members of Congress replaced POW/MIA flags that were displayed outside their Capitol Hill offices with Transgender Equality banners," American Legion National Commander Brett P. Reistad said. "We take no issue with members of Congress honoring additional groups, but it should be in addition to rather than instead of our heroes, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. These servicemen and servicewomen went missing while defending all Americans. Their flags should not go missing as well. The American Legion urges that every member of Congress honor these heroes by ensuring the POW/MIA flag is properly and permanently displayed outside their offices."

With a current membership of nearly two million wartime veterans, The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, patriotic youth programs and Americanism. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through nearly 13,000 posts worldwide. From the drafting of the original GI Bill to the creation of the Department of Veterans Affairs, The American Legion is the most influential voice for America's veterans. The American Legion, www.legion.org, will be celebrating its centennial through Veterans Day.

Media contacts: John Raughter, [email protected], (317) 630-1298, cell (317) 441-8847

SOURCE The American Legion

Related Links

http://www.legion.org


MESA, Ariz., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Care For Life, an Arizona-based anti-poverty charity working in Mozambique, is pleading with the public for donations to save the lives of those endangered by Hurricane Idai. Emergency donations are being taken on www.CareForLife.org .

A villager in Beira, Mozambique, where Care for Life has worked for years, stands next to her home totally destroyed by Hurricane Idai.

An estimated 1,000 people are dead after the hurricane made landfall. Much of the country is still under water and the total body count still not known. Flooding and winds as high as 106 miles per hour destroyed over 90 percent of the infrastructure and homes in Mozambique. Food is scarce because almost all crops have been destroyed. The hospitals are far past capacity and contaminated water is spreading cholera. Standing water greatly increases concerns of malaria.

"We are very lucky to have a staff made up of Mozambique citizens in the affected area," said Care for Life President Linda Harper. "Now that our team has gotten themselves and their families in a safe place, we are ready to start helping others. Money is our biggest need. This will allow us to arrange transportation and purchase supplies such as food and all the other basics the people of Mozambique need right now. As more funding comes in, it will go directly to help the people in the center of this disaster. Those who want to help can go to our website."

Care For Life has 30 staff members on the ground ready to distribute aid. Monetary donations are most needed and will be used directly for relief efforts designed to prevent any further loss of life. Donations can be made at www.CareForLife.org as well as https://www.facebook.com/careforlife.org/.

About Care for Life

Care for Life is a global non-profit organization operating with a comprehensive approach to ending poverty in a sustainable way by preserving the family while encouraging and enabling the principles of self-reliance. Care for Life operates in Mozambique, Africa. Donations to Care for Life can be made at www.CareForLife.org.

For more information:

Glen Galatan, Marketing & Funding Manager

Care for Life

3850 E. Baseline Rd., Ste 114, Mesa, AZ 85206-4403

480-696-0418

[email protected]

www.careforlife.org

Related Files

Care for Life Hurricane Idai Press Release.docx

Related Images

hurricane-idai-destroyed-homes-in.jpg

Hurricane Idai destroyed homes in Mozambique Care for Life village

A villager in Beira, Mozambique, where Care for Life has worked for years, stands next to her home totally destroyed by Hurricane Idai.

Related Links

Facebook Page Care for Life

SOURCE Care for Life

Related Links

http://www.careforlife.org


WASHINGTON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Armed Services YMCA and the Department of Defense are announcing the continuation of the DOD Military Outreach Initiative. This joint effort provides eligible DoD service members and their families access to local YMCAs and to certain local private fitness centers around the country.

Department of Defense

This initiative is designed to provide eligible military families and active duty personnel with access to youth development, family strengthening, and health and well-being programs through memberships at community Ys or access to select private fitness facilities nationwide.

Membership fees are underwritten by the DoD and the program is overseen by Armed Services YMCA.

The Armed Services YMCA-DoD Military Outreach Initiative responds to a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which requires the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to support military family readiness and to ensure that military family readiness programs and activities are available to all military families, including those of the National Guard and Military Reservists meeting specific DoD requirements.

Service members can visit https://www.asymca.org/ymca-dod-military-outreach-initiative for more information and to see if they meet the eligibility requirements for a free Y or private fitness membership.

ABOUT ASYMCA:

The Armed Services YMCA is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that serves active duty military members and their families. In 2017, we registered more than 250,000 participants and delivered more than 1.3 million points of services to junior enlisted Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen and family members at 200 service centers in 18 states. Whether providing respite child care for parents in need, summer camps for kids, or assisting with emergency needs, the Armed Services YMCA is a nonprofit with a mission: Strengthening Our Military Family. Visit our website to see how you can join us in supporting military families.

CONTACT

Chris Haley, Chief Marketing Officer

Armed Services YMCA

[email protected]

571-932-3212

SOURCE Armed Services YMCA

Related Links

https://www.asymca.org


WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Autosoft, Inc., an eight-time Stevie awards winner, has received four more awards in the Technology Industries category in the 13th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service Excellence.

Silver Stevie Awards presented to Autosoft are: Angie Fair, Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year; Taylor Rivera, Young Customer Service Professional of the Year; and, Autosoft Customer Support Center, Contact Center of the Year (Up to 100 Seats).



Honored as a Bronze Stevie Award recipient is the Autosoft Dedicated Chat Team for Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year.



Established in 2002, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world's top honors for customer service, contact center, business development, and sales professionals in more than 45 nations. Winners in the 13th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service were unveiled on Friday, February 22, 2019 at a gala ceremony in Las Vegas, NV, attended by more than 700 executives from around the world.

Autosoft President and CEO, Bryce Veon, was thrilled with the news of these honors again this yearin 2017, Autosoft received a Silver Stevie Award and in 2016, three Bronze and one Silver Stevie Awards. "Our ultimate goal is to provide a powerful platform that will improve our customers' dealerships, and the customer service that will support our dealers. Everyone on our team is dedicated to that goal, and I am proud that they have been recognized with these prestigious awards." He goes on, "This is the third year in a row our individuals and teams have received Stevies, confirmation that we work tirelessly every day and with every interaction to maintain the utmost quality of our customer service."

One Stevie Award judge commented, "Autosoft has done a great job with their [customer service] initiatives and results achieved, including 95% of customer calls resolved during the first call!" Another judge said, "I love the focus on employee empowerment through the cross-training. It's a huge benefit to the employee and the customer also benefits greatly from a workforce that has a better understanding of the business and how to solve customer tensions. Win-win."

Details about the Stevie Awards and the complete list of winners in all categories are available at http://stevieawards.com/.

Autosoft has also been recently recognized as a Best Place to Work in Pennsylvania winner, a Psychologically Healthy Workplace Honors recipient from the American Psychological Association, a national Best and Brightest in Wellness by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR), and the All-Time Most Recommended DMS by DrivingSales.

About Autosoft, Inc.

Autosoft provides a reliable and full-featured technology platform offering dealer management systems and product solutions that maximize profits and productivity. Autosoft has been recognized as the All-Time Most Recommended DMS through DrivingSales and integrates with over 220 partners and 35 OEM certifications. Autosoft provides Vehicle Inventory, Sales and F&I, Service, Parts, and Accounting solutions with over 2,000 automotive dealerships. To learn more about Autosoft, call 844.888.8200, email [email protected], or visit www.autosoftdms.com.

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors of the 13th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Sales Partnerships and ValueSelling Associates.

Media Contact: Amy Gibbs, 1-724-906-6260, [email protected]

SOURCE Autosoft

Related Links

http://www.autosoftdms.com


HOUSTON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BBVA Compass received a perfect score of 100 on the 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation's premier benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation. The bank joins the ranks of over 570 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year.

"The top-scoring companies on this year's CEI are not only establishing policies that affirm and include employees here in the United States, they are applying these policies to their global operations and impacting millions of people beyond our shores," said HRC President Chad Griffin. "Many of these companies have also become vocal advocates for equality in the public square, including the dozens that have signed on to amicus briefs in vital Supreme Court cases and the more than 170 that have joined HRC's Business Coalition for the Equality Act. Time and again, leading American businesses have shown that protecting their employees and customers from discrimination isn't just the right thing to do -- it's also good for business."

BBVA Compass is among those companies that have joined the HRC's Business Coalition in support of the Equality Act.

"I'm beyond proud of the amazing work that our people have done to make equality a priority," said BBVA Compass Chief Talent & Culture Executive Rosilyn Houston. "We will continue to do everything in our power to embrace the diversity of our team members, and to celebrate the experiences and perspectives that a truly inclusive workplace can foster."

BBVA Compass Director of Communications and Responsible Business Reymundo Ocanas reiterated the bank's long-term commitment to workplace equality. "Last year's perfect score served as recognition of the bank's hard work and rededication to workplace equality. This year's score reinforces our ongoing commitment to creating a more inclusive workplace for everyone," said Ocanas, whose team helps steer the bank's overall diversity and inclusion efforts in partnership with the Talent & Culture and Procurement areas. "I hope it serves as a strong signal to people already working at the bank and those considering doing so that we value them and want them to bring their authentic selves to work."

The 2019 CEI evaluates LGBTQ-related policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs, and public engagement with the LGBTQ community. BBVA Compass's efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria results in a 100 percent ranking and the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.

For more information on the 2019 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei .

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

To learn more about BBVA Compass, visit: www.bbvacompass.com

For more news visit: www.bbva.com and newsroom.bbvacompass.com

About BBVA Group

BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The Group has a strong leadership position in the Spanish market, is the largest financial institution in Mexico, it has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States; and it is also the leading shareholder in Garanti, Turkey's biggest bank for market capitalization. Its diversified business is focused on high-growth markets and it relies on technology as a key sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate responsibility is at the core of its business model. BBVA fosters financial education and inclusion, and supports scientific research and culture. It operates with the highest integrity, a long-term vision and applies the best practices. More information about BBVA Group can be found at bbva.com.

About BBVA Compass

BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 644 branches, including 331 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 63 in Arizona, 61 in California, 45 in Florida, 37 in Colorado and 18 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass ranks among the top 25 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (6th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the leading small business lenders by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and ranked 8th nationally in terms of dollar volume of SBA loans originated in fiscal year 2018. Additional information about BBVA Compass can be found under the Investor Relations tab at bbvacompass.com. For more BBVA Compass news, follow @BBVACompassNews on Twitter, visit newsroom.bbvacompass.com, or visit bbva.com.

SOURCE BBVA Compass

Related Links

http://www.bbvacompass.com


ROSWELL, Ga., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Incorporating a behavioral science perspective can help brands conduct better consumer research. In fact, it helped drive a new marketing strategy in a slow-moving but high-potential category facing pressure from retail partners.

MMR Research, Perrigo Animal Health, and Triggerpoint will present a case study at the Quirks Event in Chicago April 2-3 detailing how they conducted a Rapid Mindstate Profile study (RaMP) to help Perrigo Animal Health become more competitive in the Pet Behavior category.

John Rindone, VP Client Relationships, MMR Research Associates

"This partnership allowed us to create a brand turnaround plan," said John Rindone, vice president of client relationships at MMR Research. "Critical components to the process were applying the RaMP technique to understand the conscious and non-conscious drivers of consumer behavior in the category, applying the insights to develop a dominant consumer Mindstate Profile, and creating a Behavioral Activation Brief to map out the brand development and marketing communication plan. This combination was a winning solution."

Rindone will co-present with Cobey TenBensel, senior associate category manager  behavior and social media, Perrigo Animal Health; and Will Leach, founder, Triggerpoint.

The Chicago conference is the third Quirks Event this year focused on marketing research and consumer insights learning. Sessions feature real-world case studies and discussions organized for industries, researchers, and students. The other events were held in New York and London.

About MMR Research

MMR Research is a passionate team of forward-thinking experts who provide high-touch, customized, decision-focused marketing research. Since 1999, clients have relied on MMR to design and execute versatile, tailored solutions that shape business direction and inspire confidence. MMR operates as a research concierge, with an action-focused process and method-agnostic approach. mmrresearch.com

About Perrigo

Perrigo is a leading global healthcare company, focused on providing value to its customers and consumers by delivering Quality Affordable Healthcare Products. Perrigo has built a unique business model that is best described as the convergence of a fast-moving consumer goods company, a high-quality pharmaceutical manufacturing organization and a world-class supply chain network. Perrigo is the world's largest manufacturer of OTC healthcare products and supplier of infant formulas for the store brand market. The Company also is a leading provider of branded OTC products throughout Europe and the U.S., as well as a leading producer of "extended topical" prescription drugs. Perrigo, headquartered in Ireland, sells its products primarily in North America and Europe, as well as in other markets, including Australia, Israel and China. perrigo.com

About Triggerpoint

TriggerPoint is a behavioral research and design consultancy specializing in identifying and influencing the neurological and psychological factors driving consumer decision making. The company helps brands understand how behavioral psychology and decision environments work together to non-consciously drive their customers' buying behavior. Triggerpoint's proprietary Behavioral Design process directly applies these insights into psychologically optimized consumer experiences, marketing, and innovation. triggerpointdesign.com

Media Contact:

Susan Cross

[email protected]

419.913.9943

SOURCE MMR Research

Related Links

http://mmrresearch.com


SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Charlotte Russe Holdings Corporation together with its subsidiaries (the "Company" or "Charlotte Russe") today announced that it has successfully sold the Charlotte Russe brand and related intellectual property to YM Inc. (Sales), one of North America's largest fashion houses dedicated to delivering leading-edge fashion apparel at affordable prices.

"We are very excited Charlotte Russe will be joining the portfolio of brands at YM. This acquisition marries a beloved brand with a sophisticated retail platform and provides Charlotte Russe a path to grow in the future. We thank our loyal customers and employees for sticking by us through the past several months," said Dayna Quanbeck, interim CEO of Charlotte Russe.

"Charlotte Russe is an iconic retailer and we could not be more excited to have them join the YM Group. We believe that this acquisition aligns well with our growth strategies and will further strengthen our mission to exceed customer expectations by delivering fast fashion at amazing value," said Eric Grundy, CEO of YM Inc.

Additional information regarding Charlotte Russe's Chapter 11 filing and information about the claims process is available at www.donlinrecano.com/charlotterusse or by calling the Company's claims agent, Donlin Recano, at (877) 864-4836 or submitting an inquiry via e-mail to: [email protected].

Cooley LLP and Bayard P.A. are serving as the Company's legal counsel, Berkeley Research Group is serving as its financial advisor, and Guggenheim Securities, LLC is serving as its investment banker.

About Charlotte Russe

Charlotte Russe is a fashion brand for young women, offering affordable on-trend apparel, shoes and accessories for all sizes, with a fun and engaging shopping experience wherever and whenever she wants. For more information, please visit http://www.CharlotteRusse.com and on Instagram @CharlotteRusse.

About YM Inc.

At YM Inc., we love fashion and believe that everyone should have access to clothing they love to wear. We make it our mission to not only provide the latest styles and trends, but to make them attainable and affordable. Our obsession for fashion shows in everything we do. Across all our brands, we provide value for today's trends for kids, teens and adults. By developing the best shopping experiences and offering the best retail brands and prices, we are well positioned to continue our success, now and in the future. To find out more, please visit www.ym-inc.com

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains or may contain forward-looking statements, including statements relating to Charlotte Russe's strategic initiatives. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by use of terms such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seek," "intend," "plan," "estimate," or "anticipate" or similar expressions, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. These forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that may change at any time, and, therefore, Charlotte Russe's actual results may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: risks related to retail businesses generally; deterioration of general economic conditions; consumer spending patterns, debt levels, and the availability and cost of consumer credit; additional competition from existing and new competitors or changes in the competitive environment; weather conditions that could negatively impact sales; the ability to attract and retain qualified management; the dependence upon relationships with vendors; operational disruptions; unsuccessful marketing initiatives; and changes in, or the failure to successfully implement, key strategies. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. Charlotte Russe undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, and such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.

Media Contact:

Jennifer E. Mercer

Donlin Recano Strategic Communications for Charlotte Russe

818-802-5199

[email protected]

SOURCE Charlotte Russe Holdings Corporation
SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Charlotte Russe Holdings Corporation together with its subsidiaries (the "Company" or "Charlotte Russe") today announced that it has successfully sold the Peek Kids brand and related intellectual property to Mamiye Brothers Inc., a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of apparel for women and children.

Mamiye plans to continue to grow the Peek brand by offering the high-quality, whimsical fashion that Peek is known for. While the remaining 9 stores will be closing in the coming weeks, Mamiye will continue the ecommerce and wholesale offerings after a short break, beginning again in July 2019.

"We are so happy Peek Kids is joining the incredible family of brands at Mamiye Brothers. We are grateful to our loyal customers who have stuck with us through the past few months, to our employees who have set this brand up for an exciting future and to Mamiye for sharing our passion and vision for our beloved brand," said Dayna Quanbeck, interim CEO of Charlotte Russe.

"Mamiye has long admired the Peek brand, its unique design aesthetic and exceptional relationship with its consumers. Just like all kids, Peek Kids is growing and changing, and we look forward to continuing its legacy and staying true to its loyal followers," said Chuck Mamiye, CEO of Mamiye.

Additional information regarding Charlotte Russe's Chapter 11 filing and information about the claims process is available at www.donlinrecano.com/charlotterusse or by calling the Company's claims agent, Donlin Recano, at (877) 864-4836 or submitting an inquiry via e-mail to: [email protected].

Cooley LLP and Bayard P.A. are serving as the Company's legal counsel, Berkeley Research Group is serving as its financial advisor, and Guggenheim Securities, LLC is serving as its investment banker.

About Peek Kids

Peek Kids is a uniquely positioned premium children's brand that embodies the best of West Coast urban sophistication. It stands for values such as inclusion, creativity, and education, which are expressed through high-quality products sold on peekkids.com and better retailers nationwide. Founded in 2006, Peek Kids has been owned and operated by Charlotte Russe Holdings Corporation since 2016. For updates, please visit http://www.PeekKids.com and on Instagram @Peekkids.

About Mamiye Brothers

Mamiye Brothers is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of global lifestyle brands for women's and children's apparel. With a 70 year legacy in the apparel industry, Mamiye has been built on a longstanding commitment to excellence, quality and innovation. It distributes its brands to a wide range of retailers and channels both online and through 13,000 stores worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.mamiye.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains or may contain forward-looking statements, including statements relating to Charlotte Russe's strategic initiatives. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by use of terms such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seek," "intend," "plan," "estimate," or "anticipate" or similar expressions, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. These forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that may change at any time, and, therefore, Charlotte Russe's actual results may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: risks related to retail businesses generally; deterioration of general economic conditions; consumer spending patterns, debt levels, and the availability and cost of consumer credit; additional competition from existing and new competitors or changes in the competitive environment; weather conditions that could negatively impact sales; the ability to attract and retain qualified management; the dependence upon relationships with vendors; operational disruptions; unsuccessful marketing initiatives; and changes in, or the failure to successfully implement, key strategies. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. Charlotte Russe undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, and such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.

Media Contact:

Jennifer E. Mercer

Donlin Recano Strategic Communications for Charlotte Russe

818-802-5199

[email protected]

SOURCE Charlotte Russe Holdings Corporation
HAIKOU, China, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- China Pharma Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: CPHI) ("China Pharma," the "Company" or "We"), an NYSE American-listed corporation with a fully-integrated specialty pharmaceuticals subsidiary based in China, today announced financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.

Full Year Highlights

Revenue decreased 6.7% to $12.3 million in fiscal year 2018 from $13.2 million in fiscal year 2017;

in fiscal year 2018 from in fiscal year 2017; Gross margin was 16.0% in fiscal year 2018, compared to 18.7% in fiscal year 2017.

Impairment loss was $6.5 million in fiscal year 2018 compared to $14.2 million in fiscal year 2017, which represented a decrease of $7.7 million ;

in fiscal year 2018 compared to in fiscal year 2017, which represented a decrease of ; Loss from operations was $10.4 million in fiscal year 2018 compared to $18.7 million in fiscal year 2017, which represented a decrease of $8.3 million ;

in fiscal year 2018 compared to in fiscal year 2017, which represented a decrease of ; Net loss was $10.8 million in fiscal year 2018 compared to $19.3 million in fiscal year 2017. Loss per common share was $(0.25) per basic and diluted share in fiscal year 2018 compared with $(0.44) per basic and diluted share in fiscal year 2017.

In a statement from Ms. Zhilin Li, China Pharma's Chairman and CEO, "We experienced certain market fluctuations in 2018, but through the continued implementation of sales promotions, our sales revenue of 2018 was comparable to the same period a year ago. Management will continue to vigorously promote sales through active participation in recent provincial market openings to solicit new drug tender offers and allow China Pharma to expand its presence in these markets." Ms. Li continued, "In addition, we continued experiencing sustained pressure from the more stringent requirements of drug registration standards, consistency evaluations, and the rising costs of clinical trials in 2018. In this challenging environment, the company actively evaluated the technical difficulty, investment demand, time requirements, and investment return rate of all applicable marketed and pipeline products, and actively advanced the compliance process for several key products in 2018."

Full Year Results

Revenue decreased by 6.7% to $12.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to $13.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. This decrease was mainly due to the negative impact associated with health insurance cost controls as well as government policies targeted at reducing drug costs as a proportion of total health-care spending, in conjunction with the Company's efforts in controlling bad debts by more rigorous screening customers and more stringent policies on payment terms.

Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $2.0 million, compared to $2.5 million in 2017. Our gross profit margin in 2018 was 16.0% compared to 18.7% in 2017. This decline in our gross profit margin was mainly due to a decrease in our sales, and our fixed manufacturing overhead.

Our selling expenses for the year ended December 31, 2018 were $3.2 million, a decrease of $0.2 million compared to $3.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. Selling expenses accounted for 26.1% of the total revenue in 2018 compared to 26.2% in 2017.

Our general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2018 were $1.9 million, which was close to $2.0 million in 2017. General and administrative expenses accounted for 15.8% and 15.3% of our total revenues in 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Our bad debt expenses for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $0.6 million, which represented a decrease of $0.8 million compared to $1.4 million in 2017. The decrease in our bad debt expenses was mainly due to the change in the composition of aging of accounts receivables for the years ended December 31, 2018 compared to December 31, 2017, which came in line with the Company's more stringent scrutiny upon customers' payment history.

Impairment of intangible assets for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $6.5 million, compared to $14.2 million in 2017. As a pharmaceutical company, we have been focusing on the development and maintenance of our intangible assets, mainly in the form of medical formulas. Because of recently implemented government policies such as consistency evaluations, our management made certain assessments regarding the impairment of our intangible assets as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 respectively, and identified two formulas and six formulas in 2018 and 2017, respectively, that would likely be unable to generate positive cash flow in the foreseeable future and therefore recognized impairment loss on them accordingly.

Net loss for year ended December 31, 2018 was $10.8 million, or ($0.25) each basic and diluted share, compared to net loss of $19.3 million, or ($0.44) each basic and diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2017. The decrease in net loss was mainly a result of the decrease in impairment of long term assets.

Financial Condition

As of December 31, 2018, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $1.2 million compared to $2.0 million as of December 31, 2017. Working capital decreased to ($1.3) million as of December 31, 2018 from $3.1 million as of December 31, 2017.

As of December 31, 2018, our net accounts receivable was $0.9 million, compared to $2.3 million as of December 31, 2017.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, cash flow from operating activities was $1.3 million, as compared to $0.8 million in 2017.

Conference Call

The Company will hold a conference call at 8:30 am E.T. on March 29, 2019 to discuss the results of full year 2018. Listeners may access the call by dialing 1-866-519-4004 or 65-671-350-90 for international callers, Conference ID # 3784037. A replay of the call will be accessible through April 6, 2019 by dialing 1-855-452-5696 or 61-281-990-299 for international callers, Conference ID # 3784037.

About China Pharma Holdings, Inc.

China Pharma Holdings, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a diversified portfolio of products, focused on conditions with high incidence and high mortality rates in China, including cardiovascular, CNS, infectious, and digestive diseases. The Company's cost-effective, high-margin business model is driven by market demand and supported by new GMP-certified product lines covering the major dosage forms. In addition, the Company has a broad and expanding nationwide distribution network across all major cities and provinces in China. The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Hainan Helpson Medical & Biotechnology Co., Ltd., is located in Haikou City, Hainan Province. For more information about China Pharma Holdings, Inc., please visit www.chinapharmaholdings.com. The Company routinely posts important information on its website.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements set forth above that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to: the achievability of financial guidance; success of new product development; unanticipated changes in product demand; increased competition; downturns in the Chinese economy; uncompetitive levels of research and development; and other information detailed from time to time in the Company's filings and future filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations, except as required by applicable law or regulation.

- FINANCIAL TABLES FOLLOW -

CHINA PHARMA HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS















December 31,

December 31,



2018

2017 ASSETS







Current Assets:







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 1,186,587

$ 2,030,214 Restricted cash

1,273,940

709,796 Banker's acceptances

20,579

39,867 Trade accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful







accounts of $17,815,075 and $18,209,734, respectively

916,931

2,293,120 Other receivables, less allowance for doubtful







accounts of $34,884 and $40,010, respectively

170,098

162,981 Advances to suppliers

47

461,307 Inventory

5,054,975

6,407,155 Prepaid expenses

123,759

185,647 Total Current Assets

8,746,916

12,290,087









Advances for purchases of intangible assets

17,069,587

23,722,954 Property, plant and equipment, net

19,294,379

23,541,003 Intangible assets, net

266,443

398,856 TOTAL ASSETS

$ 45,377,325

$ 59,952,900









LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY







Current Liabilities:







Trade accounts payable

$ 1,060,934

$ 1,141,138 Accrued expenses

310,804

276,368 Other payables

3,065,508

2,858,701 Advances from customers

525,647

581,132 Other payables - related parties

1,633,263

1,354,567 Current portion of construction loan facility

2,181,360

2,305,430 Bankers' acceptance notes payable

1,273,940

709,796 Total Current Liabilities

10,051,456

9,227,132 Non-current Liabilities:







Construction loan facility

4,362,720

6,916,291 Deferred tax liability

764,374

738,175 Total Liabilities

15,178,550

16,881,598 Commitments and Contingencies (Note 12)







Stockholders' Equity:







Preferred stock, $0.001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized;







no shares issued or outstanding

-

- Common stock, $0.001 par value; 95,000,000 shares authorized;







43,579,557 shares and 43,579,557 shares outstanding, respectively

43,580

43,580 Additional paid-in capital

23,590,204

23,590,204 Retained (deficit) earnings

(5,270,358)

5,479,809 Accumulated other comprehensive income

11,835,349

13,957,709 Total Stockholders' Equity

30,198,775

43,071,302 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

$ 45,377,325

$ 59,952,900

CHINA PHARMA HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)



















For the Years





Ended December 31,





2018

2017 Revenue



$ 12,330,687

$ 13,212,314 Cost of revenue



10,355,839

10,743,764











Gross profit



1,974,848

2,468,550











Operating expenses:









Selling expenses



3,216,512

3,460,596 General and administrative expenses



1,949,921

2,019,949 Research and development expenses



172,384

90,474 Bad debt expense



604,388

1,393,576 Impairment of long term assets



6,479,057

14,183,969 Total operating expenses



12,422,262

21,148,564











Loss from operations



(10,447,414)

(18,680,014)











Other income (expense):









Interest income



38,516

64,414 Interest expense



(451,258)

(539,334) Net other expense



(412,742)

(474,920)











Loss before income taxes



(10,860,156)

(19,154,934) Income tax benefit (expense)



109,989

(122,631) Net loss



(10,750,167)

(19,277,565) Other comprehensive income - foreign currency







translation adjustment



(2,122,360)

3,439,733 Comprehensive income (loss)



$ (12,872,527)

$ (15,837,832) Loss per share:









Basic and diluted



$ (0.25)

$ (0.44) Weighted average shares outstanding



43,579,557

43,579,557

CHINA PHARMA HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS





For the Years



Ended December 31,



2018

2017 Cash Flows from Operating Activities:







Net loss

$ (10,750,167)

$ (19,277,565) Depreciation and amortization

3,258,739

3,291,330 Inventory write off

954,311

118,003 Bad debt expense

604,388

1,393,576 Deferred income taxes

68,419

122,631 Impairment of long term assets

6,479,057

14,183,969 Changes in assets and liabilities:







Trade accounts and other receivables

99,400

51,024 Advances to suppliers

(449,101)

1,614,958 Inventory

688,852

1,718,336 Trade accounts payable

(16,441)

(2,045,948) Accrued taxes payable

(147,099)

18,753 Other payables and accrued expenses

437,901

420,523 Advances from customers

(25,127)

(274,068) Prepaid expenses

53,860

(494,306) Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

1,256,992

841,216









Cash Flows from Investing Activities:







Purchases of property and equipment

(51,145)

(136,479) Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

(51,145)

(136,479)









Cash Flows from Financing Activities:







Payments of construction term loan

(2,263,877)

(1,479,944) Advances from related party

287,423

- Net Cash Used in Financing Activities

(1,976,454)

(1,479,944)









Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Cash

(73,020)

139,619 Net Decrease in Cash and Cash Equivalents

(843,627)

(635,588) Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Period

2,030,214

2,665,802 Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period

$ 1,186,587

$ 2,030,214









Supplemental Cash Flow Information:







Cash paid for income taxes

$ -

$ - Cash paid for interest

$ 588,191

$ 525,788









Supplemental Noncash Investing and Financing Activities:





Issuance of banker's acceptances

$ 625,128

$ 709,796 Accounts receivable collected with banker's acceptances

579,896

531,294 Inventory purchased with banker's acceptances

597,686

492,906

SOURCE China Pharma Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.chinapharmaholdings.com


ZURICH, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Chubb Limited (NYSE: CB) will hold its first quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

The company expects to issue its first quarter earnings release and financial supplement after the market closes on Tuesday, April 30, 2019. These documents will be available on the company's investor website at investors.chubb.com.

The earnings conference call will be available via live webcast at investors.chubb.com or by dialing 800-347-6311 (within the United States) or 323-794-2094 (international), passcode 5310561. Please refer to the Chubb website under Events and Presentations for details. A replay of the call will be available until Wednesday, May 15, 2019, and the archived webcast will be available on our website for approximately one month. To listen to the replay, please click here to register and receive dial-in numbers.

About Chubb

Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London, Paris and other locations, and employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: www.chubb.com .

SOURCE Chubb Limited

Related Links

http://new.chubb.com


ARUSHA, Tanzania, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Climbing Kilimanjaro, a premier personal guide service in Tanzania, is taking reservations for the upcoming June through October Kilimanjaro climbing season. The company offers a variety of packages designed to help climbers achieve their goals of summiting Mount Kilimanjaro safely and on schedule.

Climbing Kilimanjaro

While any time of year is a good time to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the Climbing Kilimanjaro team recommends early January through early-March and again from June through October. With these seasons in mind, Climbing Kilimanjaro is encouraging those interested in climbing during the June through October season to act quickly to make their reservations to take advantage of the ideal climbing conditions during these months before their guide services fill up.

The Climbing Kilimanjaro team prides itself on its commitment to helping climbers achieve their goal of summiting Mount Kilimanjaro through its expert guide services. Guides are highly experienced, medically trained and committed to all climbers' safety every step of the way. All guides are licensed by the national park, are certified Wilderness First Responders and receive ongoing high-altitude medical training throughout the year.

Climbing Kilimanjaro's team has received outstanding recommendations from past clients due to their attention to detail and safety, preparedness, friendliness and summiting success rate. The company boasts one of the highest guide-to-climber ratios of all the local climbing companies, coming in at 1:2, which helps to ensure climber safety and a higher rate of summit success.

In addition to hiring the best guides in the country, Climbing Kilimanjaro is committed to providing the most comfortable and successful climbing experience through providing high-quality equipment and supplies. From warm, waterproofed tents to hot, delicious meals, the Climbing Kilimanjaro team provides an all-around exceptional experience from clients' first steps up the mountain to their last as they summit the peak.

Climbing Kilimanjaro is also recognized as a socially responsible company. All staff is hired locally, giving economic opportunities to residents of the Arusha area. Climbers securing their services can feel good about supporting the families of the area while helping support the local economy and uplifting local standards of living.

Climbers looking to plan a climbing excursion with Climbing Kilimanjaro have a number of packages to choose from. On average, it takes between five and nine days to complete the climb, but it is dependent on which route climbers choose. Packages offered by Climbing Kilimanjaro include:

Typically, the longer the climb duration, the higher the success rate, as it is recommended that climbers take a couple of days to acclimate to the mountain.

To learn more about all of Climbing Kilimanjaro's services and packages or to schedule a climb, visit https://www.climbing-kilimanjaro.com.

About Climbing Kilimanjaro: Climbing Kilimanjaro is Tanzania's premier provider of guide services for climbers looking to scale Mount Kilimanjaro. All guides are local, have extensive climbing experience, are certified by the local park, hold Wilderness First Responder certification and undergo extensive ongoing high-altitude medical training to ensure climbers' safety. They offer a wide range of services and packaged designed to help climbers safely achieve their goals of summiting the mountain. To learn more about their services, visit https://www.climbing-kilimanjaro.com.

Media Contact: [email protected]

Related Images

kilimanjaro-summit-uhuru-peak.jpg

Kilimanjaro Summit - Uhuru Peak

SOURCE Climbing Kilimanjaro

Related Links

https://www.climbing-kilimanjaro.com


PHOENIX, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CUBEX LLC's MedBank Medical Solutions, a leading provider of first dose and emergency medication management technology, announced that Community Pharmacy, a long-term care pharmacy prominent throughout the Midwest, will expand their emergency medication access with the MedBank Mini product line.

According to Mackenzie Farr, Community Pharmacy Chief Operations Officer and Pharmacist, Community Pharmacy plans to deploy the Mini solution to their long-term care clients to increase control of e-kit and first dose storage, while improving medication inventory levels and expiration control. She stated the automated technology will also improve operational efficiencies in its long-term care clients as well as streamline the pharmacy's workflow.

Engineered to help pharmacies expedite safe, controlled medication availability, the MedBank Mini's advanced security features assure simplicity and accuracy in the medication dispensing process, including validation code requirements for narcotics, quick to issue mode and NDC scan validation. Community Pharmacy will also be implementing MedBank's QLock solution which provides secure control of refrigerated medications.

"By partnering with MedBank, we are providing the latest in-facility medication dispensing technology that fully controls the onsite storage of emergency medications," explained Farr. "We can provide timely access to medications and reduce the risk of errors to help our long-term care facilities enhance patient safety and quality of care."

"We are continually looking for new ways to help our pharmacy partners increase their value-added service offerings," stated Michael Boivin, MedBank Medical Solutions President. "The deployment of MedBank will deliver significant value to Community Pharmacy's emergency medication management process enabling them to meet their goals of medication safety, enterprise-wide inventory optimization and both pharmacy and facility productivity."

About Community Pharmacy

Community Pharmacy, a leading long-term care pharmacy, provides an extensive range of pharmaceutical services to healthcare partners throughout the United States. The company specializes in partnering with Skilled Nursing Facilities and Assisted Living Facilities to ensure safe, cost-effective, and highly accurate pharmacy services to residents throughout their continuum of care. Additionally, Community Pharmacy provides pharmacy, infusion, education, consulting and related services. Visit www.cpharmrx.com.

About CUBEX LLC MedBank Medical Solutions

MedBank Medical Solutions is a leading provider of innovative health care automation and cloud-based business intelligence solutions that enable institutional pharmacies and alternative healthcare providers to improve medication care, cost and compliance. Visit www.cubex.com

Media Contact:

Jennifer Burgus (CUBEX LLC)

760.707.3683

[email protected]

SOURCE CUBEX LLC

Related Links

http://www.cubex.com


CALGARY, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Canadian Pacific (TSX: CP) (NYSE: CP) will release its first-quarter 2019 financial and operating results at 4:01 p.m. eastern time (2:01 p.m. mountain time) on April 23, 2019.

CP will discuss its results with the financial community in a conference call beginning at 4:30 p.m. eastern time (2:30 p.m. mountain time) on April 23, 2019.

Conference Call Access

Toronto participants dial in number: 1-647-427-7450

Operator assisted toll free dial in number: 1-888-231-8191

Callers should dial in 10 minutes prior to the call.

Webcast

We encourage you to access the webcast and presentation material in the Investors section of CP's website at investor.cpr.ca

A replay of the first-quarter conference call will be available by phone through to May 7, 2019 at 416-849-0833 or toll free 1-855-859-2056, password 8383898.

Access to the webcast and audio file of the presentation will be made available at investor.cpr.ca

About Canadian Pacific

Canadian Pacific is a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States with direct links to major ports on the west and east coasts. CP provides North American customers a competitive rail service with access to key markets in every corner of the globe. CP is growing with its customers, offering a suite of freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise. Visit cpr.ca to see the rail advantages of CP. CP-IR

SOURCE Canadian Pacific

Related Links

www.cpr.ca


David is an international natural resources executive with over 30 years' experience in the mining, metals and investment banking sectors. Arriving in 2015, David joined as CEO of CRU Consulting to lead the global expansion of the business unit and to substantially increase sales. With his experience in transformational strategy and corporate development, David's leadership has established CRU Consulting as a world leader in providing informed and practical advice to meet the needs of customers and their stakeholders.

"It is an honour and a privilege to be asked to run CRU Group, a business with an unparalleled heritage and reputation in commodity research, built over 50 years by dedicated professionals and supported by loyal customers," said David Trafford, Chief Executive Officer, CRU

Read the full story: https://www.crugroup.com/about-cru/news/2019/cru-appoints-david-trafford-as-new-chief-executive-officer/

Read more about CRU: http://bit.ly/About_CRU

About CRU

CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events.

Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China.

CRU employs over 280 experts and has more than 11 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia  our office in Beijing opened in 2004 and Singapore in 2018.

When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response.

CRU  big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers.



SOURCE CRU
DALLAS, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cushing Asset Management ("Cushing"), a leading investment adviser which invests primarily in securities of midstream energy and other natural resource companies, is pleased to announce that Jerry Swank, Founder, Managing Partner and co-Chief Investment Officer of Cushing, has appointed John Alban to the new position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Swank will serve in the new role of Chairman and will remain actively involved in the business. Mr. Alban has over 30 years of experience in the investment management industry and most recently has served as a partner and Chief Operating Officer of the firm. As CEO, Mr. Alban will continue to have primary oversight responsibility for the firm's operations.

Mr. Alban commented, "I am thrilled to have this new role at Cushing. We have an exceptionally talented team that continues to focus on delivering strong portfolio performance, top notch client service and innovative solutions for our clients."

"On behalf of all of his colleagues, I want to congratulate John for the expansion of his responsibilities as CEO," said Mr. Swank. Mr. Swank added, "John and I have worked together closely for 9 years and I am highly confident that he has the leadership and business skills to steer the firm forward. With John handling the day-to-day operations, I plan to focus my attention on the firm's investment strategies, including our private funds, and special projects."

ABOUT CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT

Cushing Asset Management, LP ("Cushing") is an SEC-registered investment adviser headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Its general partner is Swank Capital LLC. Cushing serves as investment adviser to affiliated funds and managed accounts which invest primarily in securities of midstream companies and other natural resource companies.

Cushing has recently moved offices. Its new address is 300 Crescent Court, Suite 1700, Dallas Texas 75201.

Contact:

Brian Atwood

214-692-6334

www.cushingasset.com

SOURCE Cushing Asset Management, LP and Swank Capital, LLC

Related Links

http://www.cushingasset.com


TOKYO and MUNICH and BASKING RIDGE, N.J., March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo) announced today that it has entered into a global development and commercialization agreement with AstraZeneca for Daiichi Sankyo's lead antibody drug conjugate (ADC), [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan (DS-8201), currently in pivotal development for multiple HER2 expressing cancers including breast and gastric cancer, and additional development in non-small cell lung and colorectal cancer.

Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca will jointly develop and commercialize [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan as a monotherapy or a combination therapy worldwide, except in Japan where Daiichi Sankyo will maintain exclusive rights. Daiichi Sankyo will be solely responsible for manufacturing and the supply of [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan.

As announced separately by Daiichi Sankyo, a Biologics License Application (BLA) submission to U.S. FDA for [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan in HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer previously treated with ado trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) will be accelerated to the first half of fiscal year 2019.

Designed using Daiichi Sankyo's DXd proprietary ADC technology, [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan is comprised of a humanized HER2 antibody attached to a novel topoisomerase I inhibitor payload by a tetrapeptide-based linker. It is designed to target and deliver chemotherapy inside cancer cells and reduce systemic exposure to the cytotoxic payload compared to the way chemotherapy is commonly delivered.

"[Fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan is the flagship asset in our oncology pipeline created by our relentless pursuit of science and technology, the most important strengths of our company," said George Nakayama, Representative Director, Chairman and CEO of Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited. "Through the strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca, a company with a wealth of global experience and expertise in oncology, we will combine our respective skill sets to maximize the value of [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan, and accelerate the establishment of our global oncology business. By aiming to provide new treatment options across a wide range of cancers as soon as possible, we will maximize our contribution to patients with cancer and their families around the world."

"We believe that [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan could become a transformative new medicine for the treatment of HER2 positive breast and gastric cancers," said Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca. "In addition, [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan has the potential to redefine breast cancer treatment as the first therapy for HER2 low expressing tumors. It also has the potential to treat other HER2 mutated or HER2 overexpressing tumors, including lung and colorectal cancers. We are proud to be working with Daiichi Sankyo, a long-term collaborator of AstraZeneca in other disease areas."

Financial Terms

Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay Daiichi Sankyo an upfront payment of $1.35 billion. Contingent payments of up to $5.55 billion include $3.8 billion for achievement of future regulatory milestones and other contingencies, as well as sales-related milestones of up to $1.75 billion. Total payments under the agreement have the potential to reach up to $6.90 billion.

Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca will share equally development and commercialization costs as well as profits from [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan worldwide, except for Japan. Daiichi Sankyo is expected to book sales in U.S., certain countries in Europe, and certain other markets where Daiichi Sankyo has affiliates. AstraZeneca is expected to book sales in all other markets worldwide, including China, Australia, Canada and Russia.

The impact on Daiichi Sankyo's consolidated results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019 is immaterial because the upfront payment will be booked in revenue over the period in which Daiichi Sankyo has contractual performance obligations under this collaboration. The collaboration is expected to contribute to enhancing the corporate and shareholder value of Daiichi Sankyo over the medium to long term.

About [Fam-] Trastuzumab Deruxtecan

[Fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan (DS-8201; [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan in U.S. only; trastuzumab deruxtecan in other regions of world) is the lead product in the investigational ADC Franchise of the Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise. ADCs are targeted cancer medicines that deliver cytotoxic chemotherapy ("payload") to cancer cells via a linker attached to a monoclonal antibody that binds to a specific target expressed on cancer cells.

A broad and comprehensive development program with [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan is underway in North America, Europe and Asia including five pivotal studies. [Fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan is in pivotal phase 3 development in previously treated HER2 low expressing metastatic breast cancer versus investigator's choice (DESTINY-Breast04); phase 3 development in HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer versus ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) (DESTINY-Breast03); and phase 3 development in HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer versus investigator's choice post T-DM1 (DESTINY-Breast02). [Fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan also is in pivotal phase 2 clinical development for HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer resistant or refractory to T-DM1 (DESTINY-Breast01); pivotal phase 2 development for HER2 positive advanced gastric cancer resistant or refractory to trastuzumab (DESTINY-Gastric01); phase 2 development for HER2 expressing advanced colorectal cancer; phase 2 development for metastatic non-squamous HER2 overexpressing or HER2 mutated NSCLC; and, phase 1 development in combination with nivolumab for HER2 expressing metastatic breast and bladder cancer.

[Fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for the treatment of patients with HER2 positive, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have been treated with trastuzumab and pertuzumab and have disease progression after T-DM1, and Fast Track designation for the treatment of HER2 positive unresectable and/or metastatic breast cancer in patients who have progressed after prior treatment with HER2 targeted therapies including T-DM1 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). [Fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan has received SAKIGAKE Designation for the treatment of HER2 positive advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer by the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW).

[Fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan is an investigational agent that has not been approved for any indication in any country. Safety and efficacy have not been established.

About Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise

The mission of Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise is to leverage our world-class, innovative science and push beyond traditional thinking to create meaningful treatments for patients with cancer. We are dedicated to transforming science into value for patients, and this sense of obligation informs everything we do. Anchored by three pillars including our investigational Antibody Drug Conjugate Franchise, Acute Myeloid Leukemia Franchise and Breakthrough Science, we aim to deliver seven distinct new molecular entities over eight years during 2018 to 2025. Our powerful research engines include two laboratories for biologic/ immuno-oncology and small molecules in Japan, and Plexxikon Inc., our small molecule structure-guided R&D center in Berkeley, CA. Compounds in pivotal stage development include: [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan, an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) for HER2 expressing breast, gastric and other cancers; quizartinib, an oral selective FLT3 inhibitor, for newly-diagnosed and relapsed/refractory FLT3-ITD acute myeloid leukemia (AML); and pexidartinib, an oral CSF1R inhibitor, for tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT). For more information, please visit: www.DSCancerEnterprise.com.

About Daiichi Sankyo

Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical products to address diversified, unmet medical needs of patients in both mature and emerging markets. With over 100 years of scientific expertise and a presence in more than 20 countries, Daiichi Sankyo and its 15,000 employees around the world draw upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help people. In addition to a strong portfolio of medicines for hypertension and thrombotic disorders, under the Group's 2025 Vision to become a "Global Pharma Innovator with Competitive Advantage in Oncology," Daiichi Sankyo research and development is primarily focused on bringing forth novel therapies in oncology, including immuno-oncology, with additional focus on new horizon areas, such as pain management, neurodegenerative diseases, heart and kidney diseases, and other rare diseases. For more information, please visit: www.daiichisankyo.com. Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, is a member of the Daiichi Sankyo Group. For more information on Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., please visit: www.dsi.com.

Contact

Daiichi Sankyo

Jennifer Brennan

Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.

[email protected]

+1 908 992 6631 (office)

+1 201 709 9309 (mobile)

ONP/19/0013

SOURCE Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited

Related Links

http://www.daiichisankyo.com


DONGGUAN, China, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- How will Dongguan, a city well-known for manufacturing in Guangdong province, march forward as the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area continues? A documentary series "The Manufacturing Era" has been a recent hit in China, showing the world the status quo of the city's manufacturing industry and its efforts for transformation.

Taking "Dongguan manufacturing" as an example, the documentary once again attracts global attention to "Made in China". A pool of technicians with vitality in innovation and entrepreneurship in an open economy enabled the city's advanced manufacturing to be more globally competitive, said experts at a meeting on the film held by the Information Office of Dongguan Municipality on March 28.

The first episode introduces how companies, workers and technicians in Dongguan learn to operate robots, improve techniques for efficient production and carve out competitive products. It tells the city is seeking a change amid the trend of industrial transformation and upgrading. The fundamental elements for advanced manufacturing include precision, scale and efficiency, together with competent technical personnel that require long-term training. Experts viewed that a pool of technicians would give Dongguan more comparative advantages when building a world-class advanced manufacturing cluster.

By 2020, Dongguan will foster 10,000 international skilled talents, introduce another 10,000 personnel with craftsmanship in urgent need, and promote one million people to enhance academic achievement and skills.

The second episode introduces a host of ambitious Dongguan businessmen promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. It echoes the fact that Dongguan is creating a sound environment for global business to energize market players, noted Bai Ming, deputy director of the International Market Institute at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation at the meeting. Official data shows that Dongguan was home to over 1.15 million market entities by the end of 2018, and attracted 102 foreign-funded projects worth over USD 10 million for each in 2018 alone, with the total contract value up to USD 3.65 billion.

Meanwhile, experts pointed out that with the development of the Greater Bay Area, Dongguan would become more capable of having its innovation outcomes commercialized, which is of great importance to energize the market. Liang Weidong, Secretary of the CPC Dongguan Municipal Committee, said in a recent interview that going ahead, an improved industrial network will allow Dongguan to contribute to the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Science and Technology Innovation Corridor and strengthen its capabilities of research, development and commercialization of R&D outcomes. Beyond increased cooperation with the core cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao, Dongguan will further bring together major scientific and technological infrastructure, research institutes, and innovative firms and talents. That's how it can vitalize all innovative players and grow into China's demonstration zone for transferring and commercializing innovations.

As the series show, an increasing number of Dongguan firms are embracing globalization, with many setting up factories overseas. The Dongguan-based ceramics manufacturer Marco Polo Group has established a factory in Tennessee of US. Vivo, a technology company, has founded its plants in Jakarta, Indonesia and Delhi, India. The Dongguan watch maker Dailywin now owns a factory in Switzerland.

Dongguan companies always give priorities to efficiency, quality and cost, so they can outweigh counterparts in going global, said the representative from the Marco Polo Group, adding that with advanced equipment, they can produce top quality products.

According to Liang Weihao, president of Dailywin, there are about 1.1 billion watches made worldwide every year. Among them, 70 million are from Switzerland, yet 90% of the parts are manufactured in China. The shared aspiration for better quality and manufacturing strength has bridged the two countries to cooperate closely and open a wider global market.

Experts believed the continuous development of the Greater Bay Area has enabled Dongguan companies to expand their business overseas at a faster pace. The city should further cooperate with Hong Kong and Macao in essential fields like investment and trade, industrial transformation and market development, to jointly promote the Belt and Road Initiative and pursue all-round opening up as a showcase.

SOURCE The Information Office of Dongguan Municipality
RICHARDSON, Texas, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Electronic Transaction Consultants Corporation ("ETC") announced on Wednesday, March 20, 2019 it has named Bret Kidd as the company's CEO.

Mr. Kidd has more than 25 years of successful leadership in technology services business with emphasis in the travel, transportation and public sectors. Previously, Bret held executive roles at Travelport, the $2.2B travel-technology business, most recently serving as President of Travelport Americas with responsibility for Travelport's operations in North and South America. Prior to Travelport, Bret served as President and COO for Stratos Management Systems, an IT services firm focused on hybrid cloud solutions. His government industry experience includes creating and leading Hewlett Packard Services' Global Public Sector unit, spearheading EDS' aviation security initiatives following the 9/11 attacks and serving as a Special Assistant for U.S. Senator Phil Gramm.

In addition to his professional background, Bret has an outstanding educational background, earning a BBA from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

ETC Board Chairman Tim Gallagher commented, "Mr. Kidd's accomplishments closely align with ETC and its customer-centric approach. He has the strong combination of organizational leadership and experience to continue moving ETC forward."

Mr. Kidd stated, "This is an exceptional time in the tolling and transportation industries. ETC has an excellent opportunity for growth while enhancing toll customers' operational performance with robust, next-generation solutions and continuing its trend of delivering some of the industry's most complex solutions. I am thrilled to assume the role of ETC's CEO."

About ETC

ETC is a leading global systems and services provider for the tolling and transportation industries, delivering both Roadside systems and Back Office platforms. The company's two decades of delivering technically sophisticated solutions has supported many of the country's largest toll Authorities and helped transform the industry with first-of-its-kind advancements. ETC's solutions process over $3 billion of toll revenue annually.

For additional information, please visit www.etcc.com.

Follow us:

LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/etctoll

YouTube channel at goo.gl/qNqpVv

Media Contact:

Colleen Lauless, Marketing and Communications Manager

[email protected]

(o) 214.615.2320 | (c) 469.404.6650

SOURCE Electronic Transaction Consultants Corporation

Related Links

https://etcc.com


COLUMBIA, Md., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FEI Systems, a Columbia, Maryland-based provider of health information technology solutions, was awarded a contract from the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) in support of the State's opioid response initiatives and the State Opioid Response Grant, awarded by SAMHSA. Through this contract, FEI will provide the State of Florida with mission-critical data collection, assessment, hosting, and support services.

The goal of the contract is to standardize the assessment of service need workflow for the substance use population in order to address the ongoing opioid crisis in Florida. The contract is a targeted approach to deliver a platform that provides a linkage between various reporting measures and systems utilized by Florida DCF.

These reporting measures consist of enrollment in programs of care, and data reporting on state-mandated level of care assessments. The measures include the American Society of Addiction Medicine ASAM CONTINUUM assessment tool, which FEI Systems developed in association with ASAM. The ASAM CONTINUUM allows clinicians and non-clinicians to assess patients with addictive, substance-related, and co-occurring conditions through computer-guided, structured interviews.

Through this initiative, FEI Systems will also provide the State of Florida access to FEI System's Web Infrastructure for Treatment Services (WITS) system. WITS is a web based application which the State will use to collect assessment data, which can be correlated with other outcomes and payment data throughout the state.

Jiao Gu, PhD, CEO and President of FEI Systems stated that "We are proud that FEI Systems will partner with the State of Florida and Florida DCF to provide recovery oriented services to individuals adversely affected by the ongoing opioid crisis."

About FEI Systems

FEI Systems is a leading provider of health information technology solutions. Our clients include Federal agencies such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Health and Human Services (HHS), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Administration for Community Living (ACL), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). FEI works with 30+ state and local government clients, implementing behavioral health applications, electronic health record systems, and innovative alternatives to traditional fee-for-services Medicaid programs.

SOURCE FEI Systems

Related Links

www.feisystems.com


LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Marika is thrilled to announce the opening of their first branded retail store at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The store sits in a prime location right next to the food court in the A-B Terminal and offers a variety of product categories for both women and men. The Marika Store was opened in collaboration with Stellar, a premier travel retailer currently operating in 19 U.S. airports.

"Stellar is very pleased to partner with Marika in bringing highly popular athleisure apparel to travel retail," said Nancy Rosales, Vice President of Merchandising for Stellar. "Athleisure is a trend that continues to gain momentum, and this innovative partnership fills an oft-underserved niche in airport retail."

While the store features a large selection of Marika activewear, casual wear and fitness accessories, it carries other well-known brands and products including:

Under Armour apparel

Swell water bottles

Aloha Collection splash-proof travel bags

Malvados flip flops & sandals

Sticky Be Socks

Marika's shop-in-boutique opened Jan. 31 of this year adding more variety to the airport's shopping options for travelers. Since its launch, sales have continued to exceed expectations, even with a full-price retail strategy. FAM Brands already planning another store opening in the Philadelphia with additional airport stores on the horizon.

About FAM Brands: Founded in 1985 by Frank Zarabi, the company offers a wide range of products from fitness accessories to lifestyle, casual and active apparel. FAM Brands not only provides cutting-edge products that enhance the lives of consumers, it delivers innovative design and high standards of safety in manufacturing.

About Marika: Founded at the height of the aerobics boom in 1982, Marika is the activewear brand designed for women by women in the heart of fashion and fitness in Los Angeles, California. From low to high intensity workouts, their styles are designed for performance and all-day comfort to wear beyond the gym.

About Stellar Partners, Inc.: Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Stellar Partners, Inc. is a leading airport retailer that develops, operates, and markets a portfolio of award-winning news/convenience and specialty stores that range from exclusive brands and regional favorites to well-known luxury brands. Founded in 1965, the company currently operates more than 60 stores that enrich the traveler's shopping experience in 16 major U.S. airports. StellarAirportStores.com.

SOURCE Marika
LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Forbix Financial Group is continuing to pursue its philanthropic efforts by partnering with US HART and sponsoring the Opportunity Zones Black Capitalism Fund Summit (OZBCFS) . The summit, which was deliberately held in the middle of Black History Month as a celebration, seeks to unite Native American, White American, and African American capitalist endeavors to create " Red, White, and Blue Capitalism. "

Emil Khodorkovsky speaking at the Opportunity Zones Black Capitalism Fund Summit

With high political tensions throughout the country, the summit brought together a diverse group of community leaders to discuss the Opportunity Zones Black Capitalism Fund. The goal of the fund is to raise $5 billion dollars to invest in Opportunity Zones across the United States, in places such as South Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The investment will lead to economic development by creating jobs and providing affordable housing.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed in late 2017, was the foundation for the creation of Opportunity Zones . Initially spanning only 18 states, the program has grown to over 8,700 registered areas across all 50 states and spans 5 U.S. territories. Investing in these areas over a period of time will lead to large tax cuts. They work to incentivize both private and public enterprises to invest in areas that are in need of an economic boost. These zones have been neglected and typically are home to a large population of minorities.

The government simply does not have the budget to allocate the money necessary to improve these communities. That's where private investors come in. Incentivizing private investors to commit resources to these areas in exchange for significant tax breaks is a win-win. Investment into Opportunity Zones brings jobs and housing to these areas helping to ease their economic distress.

Forbix founder and CEO Emil Khodorkovsky spoke at the OBCFS to discuss an Opportunity Zone project that his company is handling. Khodorkovsky believes in the importance of giving back to the community and making it easier for others to do so as well. He stated, "It's never bad for people to make money and help the community at the same time. Investing money into these Opportunity Zone projects helps develop the community, create more housing, and makes housing affordable."

This isn't the first time that Forbix has teamed up with US HART. Back in January, Forbix Financial Group was awarded the 2018 patriotic Philanthropic Eagle award by US HART for sponsoring the inaugural Emergency Housing and Safe Waste Summit. This summit focused on aiding the recovery efforts in the Caribbean after the destruction caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The initial response from the government was lacking and left many people without homes and basic necessities. Forbix's investment in the area will help provide residents with affordable housing.

When asked of the possibility of future collaborations with US HART, Forbix founder and CEO Emil Khodorkovsky is very open to the idea, stating that first and foremost, Forbix has a good relationship with US HART president and OZBC organizer Jimmy Whitehead. They will continue to collaborate whenever a favorable project arises. Their upcoming project will focus on tackling the issue of cybersecurity in the United States. The goal is to create a fund that will help educate children about cybersecurity, implementing the infrastructure and development needed to improve cybersecurity, among other things.

Forbix has committed up to $20 million dollars for qualified projects to develop in Baltimore and Maryland Opportunity Zones, hoping that their leadership will help encourage other private investors to follow suit.

Media contact:

Anna Grigoryeva

[email protected]mail4pr.com

818-935-5218

SOURCE Forbix

Related Links

https://forbix.com


WASHINGTON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 30, Friends of Puerto Rico will release Cafe Ama at the Chocolate and Coffee Expo in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Cafe Ama is a coffee that survived Hurricane Maria with a mission to uplift communities by empowering the Maria Generation by seeding an entrepreneurial mindset among Puerto Rico's youth today, as they, in turn, will lead the growth of the island's economy tomorrow. All proceeds go to children's programs by Friends of Puerto Rico.

Children from Aibonito, Puerto Rico Designed the coffee packet with the traditional Coqui, a small frog that sings in Puerto Rico that rests on a magic coffee bean.

Angelique Sina, President of Friends of Puerto Rico shared how Cafe Ama roots its humble beginnings as a resilient batch of coffee that survived the impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Every package will share the story of the coffee's symbolic ambassador Ama, a young entrepreneur that has learned to sell the coffee of her beautiful island, Puerto Rico. She represents the power of the young people who have taken a small step after the humanitarian crisis to make a big difference for our communities. The first and limited edition can be purchased at www.cafeama.com.

About Ama: Ama is a 10-year-old girl who was born in Las Marias, Puerto Rico in the mountainous region of the island. Her parents named her in honor of the flower Amapola, but she goes by "Ama," which in the Spanish language means "to love." She was fascinated by the magic coffee bean stories told by her beloved great-grandfather Tono, the coffee farmer whose coffee made it all the way to the Vatican City. Ama decided to plant her own coffee with a collection of magical seeds that survived hurricane Maria. Ama represents the power of youth and shows how with one small step, a positive mind and a lot of curiosity and enthusiasm, one can make a big difference. She is a young entrepreneur who sells the best coffee to delight others and has them fall in love with the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. In the process, she educates children at risk, helping them to escape poverty through the power of coffee.

About Friends of Puerto Rico: Friends of Puerto Rico is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) social impact organization based in Washington, DC that works with at-risk youth to create opportunities and develop the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs of Puerto Rico.

Since our beginning in 2015, we have served as an intermediary to provide over 1.5 million dollars in grants and support to nonprofit organizations in Puerto Rico. In four years, we have created a network of over 30,000 donors and have over 50 partner organizations.

For questions contact us at: [email protected] +1 (787) 314-7228

Related Images

children-from-aibonito-puerto-rico.jpg

Children from Aibonito, Puerto Rico

Children from Aibonito, Puerto Rico Designed the coffee packet with the traditional Coqui, a small frog that sings in Puerto Rico that rests on a magic coffee bean.

ama.png

Ama

Ama is a 10-year-old girl who was born in Las Marias, Puerto Rico. Her parents named her in honor of the flower Amapola, but she goes by "Ama", which in the Spanish language means "to love". She was fascinated by the magic coffee bean stories told by her beloved great-grandfather Tono, the coffee farmer whose coffee made it all the way to the Vatican City and she decided to launch Cafe Ama.

Related Links

Cafe Ama

Friends of Puerto Rico

SOURCE Friends of Puerto Rico
DUBLIN, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Prospects for Space Exploration" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Global government investment in space exploration totaled $14.6 billion in 2017, a 6% increase compared to 2016.

Prospects for Space Exploration is an economic and strategic assessment of the space exploration sector, including an analysis and benchmark of government and commercial space exploration programs worldwide. The report identifies existing and upcoming new entrants in space exploration, global trends related to space exploration, and analyzes collaborative undertakings for exploration.

Highlights of the report

Fifteen leading space programs worldwide are estimated to contribute to this global investment, with the U.S. accounting for 74% of the total. Global expenditures have grown in the past five years driven by programs in leading countries and new countries investing in space exploration. In a still constrained budgetary environment, global space budgets for space exploration are expected to grow to over $20 billion by 2027.

Future funding for space exploration is expected to grow to support the ambitious plans of the next decade. Nonetheless, national investments will remain constrained by their public finance environments that should dictate realistic and pragmatic investment strategies. Space exploration is attracting not only the interest of an increasing number of governments but also the private sector; start-ups to large companies seek to exploit the commercial potential of exploration activities. Space agencies are increasingly seeking to leverage partnerships with the private sector to achieve their goals more cost-effectively while fostering sustainable space exploration.

Over the past ten years, 19 planetary exploration missions were launched by six countries/agencies (the U.S., ESA, Russia, Japan, China, and India). Over the next decade nearly 80 missions are expected to be launched, of which 63% will correspond to government missions. The next decade will also see the rise of commercial exploration initiatives, with close to 30 commercial missions forecasted by 2027, primarily driven by lunar initiatives.

In terms of applications, Moon exploration is expected to account for the majority of missions to be launched by 2027, as lunar exploration becomes the focus in the strategy of private and public stakeholders. A total of 18 missions are anticipated to be launched for other deep space exploration, while the remaining missions will be dedicated to Mars exploration.

Included in the Report:

Government funding in space exploration of leading space agencies. Two periods of reference are considered: 2013-2017 for historical trends and 2018-2027 for forecasts

Government and commercial space exploration missions launched and to be launched over 2008-2027

Five applications analyzed in detail, including: Transportation, Orbital Infrastructure, Moon Exploration, Mars Exploration, and Other Deep Space Exploration

Profiles of key commercial and government organizations involved in space exploration

Who will Benefit from this Report?

Satellite & launch vehicle integrators

Satellite & launch vehicle parts manufacturers

Launch & service providers

Banks, investors & insurers

Satellite operators

Space & other government agencies

This report provides an assessment and benchmark of space exploration programs. It does not assess the market value of the commercial exploitation of space resources. The report concentrates on programs in LEO orbital programs and beyond LEO, excluding suborbital programs.

Key Topics Covered:



1. STRATEGIC ISSUES & FORECASTS

Space exploration: The context in 2018

Global trends for government funding in space exploration

Leading government space exploration programs

Space exploration missions launched and to be launched

Government cooperation

Public-private cooperation

Commercial organizations involved in space exploration

Challenges and enablers for commercial organizations

Overview of each application area, including

Prospects for the application

Government funding

Missions roadmap

2. TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS

The context in 2018

Government transportation programs

Commercial transportation programs

3. ORBITAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMS

The context in 2018

The ISS: Program & future scenarios

Future government orbital infrastructure programs

Commercial initiatives: Commercial utilization of the ISS

Commercial initiatives: Space stations

4. MOON EXPLORATION PROGRAMS

The context in 2018

Government programs

Commercial initiatives

5. MARS EXPLORATION PROGRAMS

The context in 2018

Government programs

Commercial initiatives

6. OTHER DEEP SPACE EXPLORATION PROGRAMS

The context in 2018

Government programs

Commercial initiatives

7. PROFILES OF LEADING SPACE AGENCIES

United States

China

ESA

Japan

Russia

European National Programs

UAE

India

Canada

South Korea

8. PROFILES OF PRIVATE STAKEHOLDERS

Astrobotic

PTScientists

Moon Express

ispace

Blue Origin

Masten Space Systems

Deep Space Industries

Planetary Resources

Axiom Space

Bigelow Aerospace

Made In Space

NanoRacks

SpaceX

Sierra Nevada Corporation

Thales Alenia Space

Airbus Defence & Space

Lockheed Martin

MAXAR Technologies

Boeing

Northrop Grumman





Companies Mentioned





ABS

Airbus Defence & Space

Amos - Spacecom

Anchorage Capital Group

Apax Partners

APT Satellite

Arab Satellite Communication Organization

Arianespace

Arqiva

Arsat

ASI

Astrium

Astrobotic

Avanti Communications

Axiom Space

Bain Capital

BC Partners

Bigelow Aerospace

Blue Origin

Boeing Satellite Systems

CAST

Center of Space Communications in Kazakhstan

China Great Wall Industry Corporation

China Satellite Communications

CIB

Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

CNES

Cobham Microwave

COM DEV International

Convergence Partners

CPPIB

Crdit Agricole

Crdit Suisse

CSA

Cyfrowy Polsat S.A

Deep Space Industries

Deutsche Bank

EBU

Echostar

Electronic Telecommunications Research Institute

Ericsson

ESA

Eutelsat

Fidelity Investments

Gazprom Space Systems

Gilat Satellite Networks

Globecast

Goldman Sachs International

GSO Capital Partners

GT Satellite Systems S.A.

Hispasat

Hughes Network Systems

iDirect Technologies

ING

Inmarsat

Intelsat

ispace

ISRO

ISS Reshetnev

JAXA

Jefferies & Company

Khrunichev State Research & Production Space Center

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Korea Telecom-Kt Sat

Lockheed Martin

Macquarie Capital

Made In Space

Masten Space Systems

MAXAR Technologies

MDA

Measat

Merrill Lynch

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Moon Express

Morgan Stanley

NanoRacks

National Operator of Satellite Communications CJSC

NEC

NEC Corporation

Newtec

Northrop Grumman

O3b Networks

Ocean Rich Technology

Onex Corporation

Optus

Perella Weinberg Partners

Planetary Resources

PT Telkom

PTScientists

Raytheon Company

RRsat Global Communications Network

RSCC

SES

Shumway Capital Partners

Sierra Nevada Corporation

Singtel

SK Telecom

SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation

Skyware Global

Socit Gnrale

SpaceX

Spectrum Venture Management

SSL

Star One S.A.

TA Associates

Telecom

Telenor

Telesat

Telespazio

Temasek International

Tesat-Spacecom

Thales Alenia Space

The Blackstone Group

Turksat A.S.

UBS Investment Bank

Unison Capital

VEGA Deutschland

Wavestream

Yahsat

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8xmjbj/global_market?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]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

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DUBLIN, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Spasticity Treatment Market 2019-2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The spasticity treatment market will register a CAGR of close to 4% by 2023.

The growing popularity of physical therapy is one of the key factors driving the growth of global spasticity treatment market. Patients are increasingly adopting this physical therapy treatment because it has minimal side effects. Several advantages of physiotherapy are encouraging various hospitals to invest in a physiotherapy center. Similarly, many healthcare authorities and hospitals of several countries are working on opening physical therapy centers in hospitals for the treatment of many chronic conditions such as spasticity. This will lead to increase patient adherence and is expected to drive the growth of the global spasticity treatment market during the forecast period.

Market Overview

Availability of advanced technologies for drug delivery

One of the growth drivers of the global spasticity treatment market is the availability of advanced technologies for drug delivery. The growing novel drug delivery systems help in delivering the drugs to the target site for improving treatment efficacy, which will drive the market growth during the forecast period.

A long time is taken to gain benefits in physical therapy



One of the challenges in the growth of the global spasticity treatment market is the long time taken to gain benefits in physical therapy. Several limitations such as long duration of physical therapy coupled with its high treatment costs and differences in service delivery create a negative impact on the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape



The market appears to be moderately fragmented and with the presence of several vendors. The vendors in the market are focusing on developing neurostimulation devices to treat spasticity in combination with medications available because sometimes physical therapies are compounded by the adverse side-effects.

This market research report will help clients identify new growth opportunities and design unique growth strategies by providing a comprehensive analysis of the market's competitive landscape and offering information on the products offered by companies.

Key Topics Covered:



PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT



PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY TYPE

Market segmentation by type

Comparison by type

Drug therapy - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Physical therapy - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by type

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE



PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

- Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Europe - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

- Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Asia - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

- Market size and forecast 2018-2023 ROW - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK



PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS



PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Allergan

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

Ipsen Pharma

Pfizer Inc.

UCB S.A.

PART 14: APPENDIX



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/m66mfx/global_spasticity?w=5

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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NEWARK, Del., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. ("Gore"), a global materials science company, announces its intention to participate in two upcoming life sciences conferences. At the 2019 BioProcess International Conference Europe (BPI Europe), in Vienna, Joe Cintavey, Gore Product Specialist, will present "A Challenge with Single-Use Technology: Protecting Bulk Drug Substance (DS) during Cold-Chain Handling, Storage, and Transport" on Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 2:05 P.M., along the Vaccines Track. The presentation will focus on the challenges of utilizing single-use containers throughout the biologics cold chain and introduce a new solution specifically designed to address these challenges in existing cold chain handling technologies. Gore is also exhibiting at Stand #7.

GORE STA-PURE Flexible Freeze Containers are designed to protect high-value bulk drug substances from container breakage or leakage during frozen handlingtypically the most vulnerable stage of the product's journey from processing to delivery. The containers are constructed of a proprietary high-strength fluoropolymer material that is durable after freezing at -86C (-123F). In addition to durability, the container's chemically inert, biocompatible, high-purity fluoropolymer composite film has a low extractables profile. It also offers users the convenience and scalability of a single-use system that efficiently uses freezer space. For more information, visit www.gore.com/notthatyouwould.

The same week, April 2-4th, 2019, Gore's product and technical specialists will be available in New York City at Interphex, a premier international pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and device development and manufacturing event, to discuss the full range of Gore's innovative products for the biopharmaceutical industry. From durable, resilient tubes for peristaltic pumps,GORE STA-PURE Pump Tubing, to the GORE LYOGUARD Freeze-Drying Tray, a single-use tray for lyophilization, to chromatography devices and containers for frozen bulk drug substance, the team will be showcasing solutions that address some of the most challenging problems currently facing the biopharmaceutical industry.

About Gore PharmBIO Products

Our technologies, capabilities, and competencies in fluoropolymer science are focused on satisfying the evolving product, regulatory, and quality needs of pharmaceutical and bioprocessing customers, and medical device manufacturers. Products in Gore's PharmBIO portfolio are manufactured in a manner that adheres to relevant current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) as defined in the stringent Gore PharmBIO Products' quality system which is certified to ISO 13485 and ISO 15378.

About Gore

W. L. Gore & Associates is a global materials science company dedicated to transforming industries and improving lives. Founded in 1958, Gore has built a reputation for solving complex technical challenges in the most difficult environments and addressing many demanding market application needs ranging from creating medical devices that improve and save lives to enabling new levels of performance in the aerospace, pharmaceutical and mobile electronics markets, among other industries. The company is also known for its strong, team-oriented culture and continued recognition from the Great Place to Work Institute. Headquartered in Newark, Del., Gore employs approximately 9,500 Associates and generates annual revenues that exceed $3 billion. For more information visit gore.com

Gore Contact: Virginia Gatch, Marketing Communications, Gore, [email protected]

Media Contact: Susan Stipa, McDay, [email protected]

SOURCE Gore

Related Links

http://www.gore.com


LONDON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Most haircuts, eyelash treatments or dermal fillers are scheduled during work, according to the latest report by Versum, all-in-one salon management software digitalizing the hair & beauty industry worldwide.

The busiest and most profitable hour is 9 a.m. This is when salons see four times more clients and earn nearly seven times more than at 6 p.m., after office hours. The early peak timeframe continues through the lunch break with 61 percent of daily appointments completed by 1 p.m., shows the report drawn from over 325,000 British and Irish beauty & hair salons clients.

Fridays and Saturdays are the busiest with 40.19 percent of services scheduled on these days each week. Mondays are the least crowded  fewer than 9 percent bookings are scheduled for when the weekend rolls around.

The hottest months for salons are March, May, and June (30 percent of appointments yearly). "This could mean two things. First, whether it is a summer trip or a long weekend, we want to look and feel good. Second, coincidently these months are also the peak season for job interviews," says Sebastian Maska, CEO at Versum. January and February are the weakest (7 percent of appointments each month).

Investing in beauty

"The average client is 38 years old, visits a salon five times a year and spends reasonably  slightly over 200 a year just in a single salon. Haircut & coloration are on the top of the list (40 percent of appointments yearly). At 13.8 percent, eyebrow and eyelash treatments are almost as popular as manicure and pedicure (15.5 percent)," says Maska. Other front-runners are facials (9.2 percent), hair removals (9.3 percent), and botox and fillers (7.3 percent). A few up-and-coming services include men beard waxing, hair extension, and Russian eyelash extensions.

Beauty is going digital

"The leap to online tools for scheduling and salon management is one of the most prominent trends in the industry," says Maska. According to the Versum report, salons utilizing its software saw an average of 55,200 in revenue last year from clients who are flocking to digital tools. In addition, the salons that take appointments online receive up to 41 percent fewer phone calls than the ones sticking to the good old notebooks.*

"Taking the advantage of new technologies, salons save time and resources so they can focus on running their business more efficiently and caring for their clients who expect to schedule services 24/7, receive text reminders and review the experience on the go," says Maska.

The report is based on data from over 325,000 British and Irish beauty & hair salons clients registered with Versum.com between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018.

* An insight from the Polish market where Versum is based

About Versum

Versum reshapes how salons operate in 54 countries thanks to its web-based platform for efficient management of hairdressing and beauty salons and SPAs. Used by over 8M customers and 34k top beauty and hair specialists, Versum handles 2.5M reservations per month and 755M of customer transactions yearly. Founded in 2011 in Poland, its top markets include the U.K., Ireland, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, and Poland.

Media Contact:

Maja Gawronska

[email protected]

+1 858 349 0006

SOURCE Versum

Related Links

https://www.versum.com/m


EFFINGHAM, Ill., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Heartland Dental, the nation's largest dental support organization serving approximately 1,400 supported dentists across more than 900 dental offices, today announced the opening of a non-clinical support office in St. Louis. The new location is the third site for administrative support services in addition to its Effingham, Ill. headquarters and Indianapolis support office.

"As our network of supported dentists grows, so must our infrastructure of support that is our tireless commitment to serve the needs of doctors and their dental office teams," said Patrick Bauer, Heartland Dental President and CEO. "The St. Louis region has the right mix of central location, affordable real estate and talent to help Heartland Dental grow. We are grateful for the city's warm welcome, and excited to bring jobs to the local economy."

The new St. Louis support office will be housed in the West Park II building, located at 12647 Olive Boulevard. The office will feature the desired amount of work space to accommodate both immediate and future positions.

"Heartland Dental is a welcomed addition to Missouri," said Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. "We're thankful that they recognized Missouri's business-friendly climate and hard-working people, and chose to invest and create jobs in Missouri. We look forward to building a partnership that supports their growth long into the future."

Heartland Dental has collaborated with Cushman & Wakefield, a leading global real estate expert, to identify markets that offer ideal talent recruitment opportunities. Cushman & Wakefield assisted with the installation of the St. Louis support office, as well as the opening of Heartland Dental's Indianapolis support office last year.

"This was an outstanding team effort by the Department of Economic Development, AllianceSTL, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Cushman & Wakefield, and Missouri Partnership to support Heartland Dental's expansion in Missouri," said Subash Alias, Interim CEO of Missouri Partnership. "This is a great company, creating good-paying jobs, and investing in our state. It is a pleasure to welcome Heartland Dental to Missouri."

To learn more about Heartland Dental, click here.

Media Contact:

Adam Lueken, Corporate Communications

(217) 540-5664 or [email protected]

SOURCE Heartland Dental

Related Links

https://heartland.com


ATLANTA, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hodges Ward Elliott ("HWE"), the world's leading independent hotel brokerage and investment-banking firm, with offices in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and London, today announced that Bhavesh (B.J.) Patel has joined the company as its newest Vice President.

In his new role, Patel will focus on expanding the HWE select service hotel brokerage practice and increasing its deal volume as well as strengthening their overall platform by further developing new and existing client relationships. He will be based in the firm's Atlanta office.

B.J. Patel, Hodges Ward Elliott

Boasting over fifteen years of experience in hospitality, Patel joins HWE after serving as a Senior Managing Director with a national firm's lodging capital markets group in Atlanta for a decade where he focused on hotel investment sales. Throughout his career, he has been involved in half a billion dollars in transactions, including deals such as a Courtyard in downtown Columbia, SC, the WNW portfolio of 8 hotels, and the B Hotel Savannah, GA (former Country Inn & Suites).

"B.J. will play a key role as we continue to expand the Hodges Ward Elliott select service division in markets across the country," comments Bill Hodges, Hodges Ward Elliott. "We're pleased to add his talents to what has become an unrivaled roster of industry leaders and we look forward to leveraging his comprehensive select service hospitality market knowledge fostered throughout years of hands-on experience."

"Hodges Ward Elliott's commitment to excellence, its power of experience, and its long-standing reputation as the nation's leading hotel brokerage offered the ideal environment for me, and will allow me to focus on continuing to deliver, and significantly improve upon, the high level of client service I've built my career on," says Patel. "My new colleagues are among the 'best of the best' in our profession and I'm excited about my new role in helping to grow the firm's premium select service hotel division."

Earlier in his career, Patel also served as a Development Manager with NYLO Hotels and as an Associate for Acquisitions and Asset Management at the Procaccianti Group. He graduated from the Cornell Hotel School with a Masters of Management in Hospitality and completed undergraduate degrees in finance and business management at Clemson University.

About Hodges Ward Elliott:

Hodges Ward Elliott (HWE) is the leading hotel brokerage and investment-banking firm in the country providing total capital solutions, including hotel sales, recapitalizations and debt placement for our clients. Over the past 5 years, HWE has sold or financed more than $23.8 billion of hotels and resorts across the U.S. including more than $5 billion in 2017 and $3.8 billion in 2018. The HWE New York office and commercial investment sales practice focuses on office, multifamily, retail and land transactions.

Contact:

Great Ink  212-741-2977

Tom Nolan ([email protected])

SOURCE Hodges Ward Elliott

Related Links

http://www.hodgeswardelliott.com


The Fair has also organized more than 30 forums for participants and the LED industry to exchange ideas on the future of LED solutions and advertising trends. ISLE has brought together a large number of LED product manufacturers and solution providers to showcase their latest technology. Highlights include:
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Reich Bros Structured Finance, LLC ("Reich Bros Finance") is pleased to announce the addition of Jeff Malach as a Managing Director and member of the Investment Committee.

Jordan Allen, Principal of Reich Bros Finance, said, "we are excited for Jeff to join the team and to help us build out our real estate finance business. We are seeing many opportunities where borrowers are looking to finance both their machinery and equipment as well as the underlying real estate. With Jeff's addition, we can now offer this additional product. In addition, we will provide bridge financings on commercial and industrial real estate, leveraging Jeff's deep knowledge of the space."

Before joining Reich Bros Finance, Malach was head of Capital Markets at Barnett Capital, a family office located outside of Chicago, where he focused on the capital structuring of all Barnett's business lines. Additionally, Jeff developed and ran the commercial real estate bridge lending platform for Barnett. Previously Jeff was the Regional Vice President for B2R Finance, a Blackstone Group Company. Earlier in his career, Jeff was the initial employee and eventually Senior Business Development Director of Hilco Real Estate Finance, a lender to residential real estate investors. As part of the management team, Jeff helped develop and grow that business to an eventual successful sale of the business to Garrison Investment Group.

Malach added, "I am excited to join Reich Bros Finance to help expand their product offering to borrowers. While competitive, we believe there is a significant opportunity for opportunistic lenders to finance real estate owners and developers in need of short term capital. In addition, we should be able to offer an attractive offering to Reich Bros Finance's core M&E borrower seeking additional capital."

Reich Bros Finance's affiliated business, Reich Brothers, owns more than 5 million sf of industrial real estate. Adam Reich, Principal at Reich Bros Finance and a co-CEO of Reich Brothers said, "with Jeff, we can expand on our knowledge of and relationships within the commercial and industrial sectors and offer financing options, and at the same time add a real estate component to our core business."

About Reich Bros Structured Finance, LLC

Reich Bros Structured Finance is an asset-based lender that helps borrowers unlock value in capital assets through financing solutions customized to meet the borrower's needs. Financing solutions include sale-leaseback, capital lease, term loan, secured loan and other structured transactions, and assets include machinery, equipment and industrial real estate. We provide capital to companies across a wide range of industries, including agriculture, construction, energy, food and beverage, healthcare, industrial, manufacturing, mining, pharmaceuticals, technology and transportation. Our team can quickly and creatively structure and close credit facilities from $500,000 to $20 million. For more information, see www.reichbrosfinance.com

Media contact: Ron Schinik

[email protected]

(914) 719-6071

SOURCE Reich Bros Structured Finance, LLC

Related Links

http://www.reichbrosfinance.com


BOSTON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund (NYSE: HEQ) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Advisers, LLC (the "Adviser") and subadvised by Wellington Management Company LLP (the "Subadviser"), announced today sources of its quarterly distribution of $0.3760 per share paid to all shareholders of record as of March 11, 2019, pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan. This press release is issued as required by an exemptive order granted to the Fund by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Notification of Sources of Distribution

This notice provides shareholders of the John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund (NYSE: HEQ) with important information concerning the distribution declared on March 1, 2019, and payable on March 29, 2019. No action is required on your part.

Distribution Period: March 2019



Distribution Amount Per Common Share: $0.3760

The following table sets forth the estimated sources of the current distribution, payable March 29, 2019, and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short term capital gains; net realized long term capital gains; and return of capital or other capital source. All amounts are expressed on a per common share basis and as a percentage of the distribution amount.

Source

Current

Distribution ($)

% Breakdown

of the Current

Distribution

Total Cumulative

Distributions for

the Fiscal Year to

Date ($)1

% Breakdown

of the Total

Cumulative

Distributions

for the Fiscal

Year to Date1 Net Investment Income

0.1635

43%

0.1635

43% Net Realized Short-

Term Capital Gains

0.0000

0%

0.0000

0% Net Realized Long-

Term Capital Gains

0.0000

0%

0.0000

0% Return of Capital or

Other Capital Source

0.2125

57%

0.2125

57% Total per common share

0.3760

100%

0.3760

100%

















Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the 5 years ended on February 28, 2019

4.38%





Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of February 28, 2019

9.77%





Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through February 28, 2019

6.50%





Cumulative fiscal year-to-date distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of February 28, 2019

2.44% 1 The Fund's current fiscal year began on January 1, 2019, and will end on December 31, 2019.

You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's managed distribution plan.

The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income."

The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this Notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The Fund has declared the March 2019 distribution pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan (the "Plan"). Under the Plan, the Fund makes fixed quarterly distributions in the amount of $0.3760 per share, which will continue to be paid quarterly until further notice.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact your financial professional or call the John Hancock Investments Closed-End Fund Information Line at 1-800-843-0090, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time.

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 the Fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

An investor should consider a Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing.

Wellington Management Company LLP is an independent and unaffiliated investment subadviser to John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund.

About John Hancock Investments

John Hancock has helped individuals and institutions build and protect wealth since 1862. Today, we're one of the strongest and most-recognized financial brands. We serve investors globally through a unique multimanager approach: We search the world to find proven portfolio teams with specialized expertise for every strategy we offer, then we apply robust investment oversight to ensure they continue to meet our uncompromising standards and serve the best interests of our shareholders. Our approach to asset management has led to a diverse set of investments deeply rooted in investor needs, along with strong risk-adjusted returns across asset classes.

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial

John Hancock is a division of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people achieve their dreams and aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the right advice and solutions. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States and as Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups, and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were over CAD$1.1 trillion (US$849 billion) as of September 30, 2018. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com.

One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports approximately 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and education savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.

SOURCE John Hancock Investments
BOSTON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE: PDT) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Advisers, LLC and subadvised by John Hancock Asset Management a division of Manulife Asset Management (US) LLC, announced today sources of its monthly distribution of $0.0975 per share paid to all shareholders of record as of March 11, 2019, pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan. This press release is issued as required by an exemptive order granted to the Fund by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Notification of Sources of Distribution

This notice provides shareholders of the John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE: PDT) with important information concerning the distribution declared on March 1, 2019, and payable on March 29, 2019. No action is required on your part.

Distribution Period: March 2019 Distribution Amount Per Common Share: $0.0975

The following table sets forth the estimated sources of the current distribution, payable March 29, 2019, and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short term capital gains; net realized long term capital gains; and return of capital or other capital source. All amounts are expressed on a per common share basis and as a percentage of the distribution amount.

Source

Current

Distribution ($)

% Breakdown of the Current Distribution

Total Cumulative Distributions for the Fiscal Year to Date ($)1

% Breakdown of the Total Cumulative Distributions for the Fiscal Year to Date1 Net Investment Income

0.0537

55%

0.3401

70% Net Realized Short- Term Capital Gains

0.0000

0%

0.0000

0% Net Realized Long- Term Capital Gains

0.0019

2%

0.0495

10% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source

0.0419

43%

0.0978

20% Total per common share

0.0975

100%

0.4874

100%

















Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the 5 years ended on February 28, 2019

10.46%





Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of February 28, 2019

7.80%





Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through February 28, 2019

7.75%





Cumulative fiscal year-to-date distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of February 28, 2019

3.25%

You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's managed distribution plan.

The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income."

The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this Notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The Fund has declared the March 2019 distribution pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan (the "Plan"). Under the Plan, the Fund makes fixed monthly distributions in the amount of $0.0975 per share, which will continue to be paid monthly until further notice.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact your financial professional or call the John Hancock Investments Closed-End Fund Information Line at 1-800-843-0090, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time.

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 the Fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

An investor should consider a Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing.

About John Hancock Investments

John Hancock has helped individuals and institutions build and protect wealth since 1862. Today, we're one of the strongest and most-recognized financial brands. We serve investors globally through a unique multimanager approach: We search the world to find proven portfolio teams with specialized expertise for every strategy we offer, then we apply robust investment oversight to ensure they continue to meet our uncompromising standards and serve the best interests of our shareholders. Our approach to asset management has led to a diverse set of investments deeply rooted in investor needs, along with strong risk-adjusted returns across asset classes.

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial

John Hancock is a division of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people achieve their dreams and aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the right advice and solutions. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States and as Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups, and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were over CAD$1.1 trillion (US$849 billion) as of September 30, 2018. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com.

One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports approximately 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and education savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.

1 The Fund's current fiscal year began on November 1, 2018, and will end on October 31, 2019.

SOURCE John Hancock Investments
LOVELAND, Colo., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- KCoe Isom, a national food and ag consulting and accounting firm, has announced a new program intended to provide entrepreneurs with a more visible platform for their food & ag innovations. The unique Spark program utilizes the expertise of KCoe Isom's food & ag consultants to identify and promote clever innovations and young companies that have the proven potential to change and advance food and agriculture operations.

"The foundation for the Spark program was conceived from the amount of requests we were receiving from start-ups that were approaching us to partner with them to help bring their products or services to market," says Kathleen Walton, Partner and Chairwoman of the Board for KCoe Isom.

"As a leading food and ag firm, our ability to positively shape the future and strengthen the position of food and ag companies is what matters most to us. By creating a program that can connect these innovative ideas and companies with our firm's dynamic resources, clients, and industry leadership, our ultimate goal is to progressively transform America's oldest and most important industry  a win-win for everyone."

Companies who have a new, market-ready product or service can learn more and apply for the program at www.kcoe.com/spark . Applications will be reviewed and companies will go through a comprehensive due diligence process to be accepted. Spark program members will receive access to the expertise of food and ag advisors, brand promotion, and strategic opportunities to accelerate their company.

About KCoe Isom

KCoe Isom is a top 100 accounting firm and the nation's leading food and agriculture consulting firm. With roots dating back to 1932, the firm has expanded upon traditional accounting services to deliver increased value and growth for clients through comprehensive policy-to-plate strategies, and specialized advisory in the areas of sustainability, federal affairs, land conservation, wealth management, succession planning, and talent strategy - to name a few. KCoe Isom provides insight and solutions for the food and ag, biofuels, manufacturing, construction, and banking industries. The firm serves domestic and international clientele from coast-to-coast office locations. Visit www.kcoe.com .

CONTACT:

Jen Hertzig

Brand Leader

[email protected]

559-437-4621

SOURCE KCoe Isom

Related Links

http://www.kcoe.com


SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kountable, the global trade marketplace, has hired Joel Onodera as its VP of Finance. Kountable has selected Onodera due to his international experience and leadership in finance and operations at some of the most successful public technology firms over the past three decades. He developed financial planning, product strategy and operations teams at Apple, Sony, Nike and Prezi among others.

At Apple, Onodera set product strategy for the Macintosh product line in Japan. At Nike, he was responsible for connecting demand and supply chain planning and at Prezi, he built international finance and data analysis teams to scale their SaaS business.

As Kountable scales globally, this new hire is part of its strategy to build the sophisticated financial operations required to build a marketplace that connects Africa's demand chains to Europe, Asia and North America's supply chains. Having an executive who has worked in publicly traded and globally recognized brands in early stage and late-stage, post IPO, were all factors in bringing Onodera on board.

Onodera will oversee the successful execution of financial governance risk and compliance initiatives along with Kountable's financial operations from currency, KYC, AML, accounts receivable and supply chain and fintech financial tools as Kountable builds its global marketplace and deals with highly regulated data.

"We determined at this stage in our growth and global expansion in field operations and financial planning to hire someone who has experience in the global sales of tangible goods as well as international SaaS businesses expertise," said CEO Chris Hale, "and Onodera had all of that, plus an operating style that fits our mission, vision and culture."

Kountable, founded in 2015, launched in Rwanda and now has offices in Kenya, Ghana, and the US. The company is building a global ecosystem that unlocks the value creation and problem-solving capability of the world's greatest entrepreneurs. By nurturing business growth of SMEs and providing a marketplace for the end payers and multinational suppliers, the company is aggregating the demand end of the supply chain.

"We learned a lot during our evolution from a fintech company into a trading platform where we are building a global marketplace," said Hale. "We have come to understand our responsibilities to our platform users when moving goods and services all over the planet, accounting for investor capital and calculating return on investment."

"The opportunity for Kountable is really large," said Onodera. "There aren't that many companies that are addressing a 4 trillion-dollar market gap, because what we are doing is not easy. We are learning a lot along the way, which will enable us to keep leading the way in solving these problems."

"At Nike, it was all about understanding and creating an emotional tie with the consumer, the athlete. For Kountable, our focus is on understanding and meeting the needs of our local entrepreneurs. This is what is going to make us successful."

About Kountable: Kountable is a global marketplace that harnesses the massively transformative capabilities of entrepreneurs in emerging markets who are solving some of the world's biggest problems. In developing economies, entrepreneurs serve as a vital link between institutions and foreign suppliers of specialized goods and equipment. Kountable's marketplace connects these local entrepreneurs with multinational suppliers and top-quality goods that are then delivered to end payers such as governments, NGOs or corporations looking to complete large scale projects. Kountable, based in San Francisco, launched in Rwanda in 2015 and now has offices in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, and the US. For information, visit www.kountable.com .

SOURCE Kountable

Related Links

http://www.kountable.com


WASHINGTON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- B2B ratings and reviews company Clutch released its annual report highlighting the best business process outsourcing companies and voice services providers to help businesses invest in the right services for their company.

These top-performing companies are important because businesses of all types and sizes rely on services such as data entry, medical billing, content creation, payment processing, virtual assistants, and voice services. Consumers especially value human interaction when calling a business , according to Clutch survey data.

Top voice services companies in 2019 Best business process outsourcing companies in 2019

Each firm featured today was evaluated and mapped against peers in the industry based on market presence, work quality, services offered, and client reviews.

The top voice services companies, listed alphabetically, are as follows:

A&A Communications Answer America Answer California AnswerConnect AnswerForce Blue Zebra ContactWorks Direct Answer, Inc. Extended Presence GCS Agents Global Response Intelligent Office LexReception OnBrand24 PATLive Pereus Marketing (RPMC) Ruby Receptionists Sound Telecom Specialty Answering Service Sunshine1 The Connection VoiceNation VoiceStamps Westpark Communications

The top business process outsourcing firms, listed alphabetically, are as follows:

Arise DataPlus Exela (formerly SourceHOV) FLS Connect Global Payments Morae Global Navigant PACE Talk2Rep TechSpeed LLC WePay

"Clutch has rapidly grown its BPO and voice services research in the past year," Clutch Business Analyst Jack O'Connor said. "We've worked with amazing firms to better understand the impact of their work and how the industry is moving forward. We're thrilled to see how these companies continue to take their services to the next level, helping support and scale firms globally."

Clutch's research on voice services and business process outsourcing service providers is ongoing. The Clutch team invites interested companies to apply to get listed in the report next year.

The results are a snapshot of Clutch's Leaders Matrices on Thursday, March 14, 2019. Rankings are dynamic and may not reflect the rankings currently listed on Clutch's website.

About Clutch

A B2B research, ratings, and reviews firm in the heart of Washington, D.C., Clutch connects small and medium businesses with the best-fit agencies, software, or consultants they need to tackle business challenges together and with confidence. Clutch's methodology compares business service providers and software in a specific market based on verified client reviews, services offered, work quality, and market presences.

Contact

Jack O'Connor

(202) 840-6685

[email protected]

SOURCE Clutch

Related Links

https://clutch.co


NEW YORK, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- L'Oreal USA is proud to announce that it has, for the second consecutive year, scored a perfect 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) and been named a "Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality."

The Corporate Equality Index is the nation's premier benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality. The CEI assesses non-discrimination policies and equal employment opportunities; equivalent benefits for workers and their families; company-wide education and accountability programs to encourage LGBTQ inclusion competency; and a public commitment to the LGBTQ community. These include domestic partner benefits across gender identities and sexual orientations as well as transgender-inclusive protections.

"L'Oreal is committed to promoting and celebrating diversity in all forms, across our company and the industry as a whole," said Xavier Vey, President of L'Oreal Luxe USA and Executive Sponsor of [email protected]'Oreal, L'Oreal USA's LGBTQ employee-driven Think Tank. "Our mission of 'Beauty for All' means making beauty accessible to and inclusive of everyone. I am committed to ensuring that LGBTQ employees' voices are heard, and every individual is empowered to be their true self at work."

In addition to receiving its perfect score on HRC's Corporate Equality Index, L'Oreal USA has taken additional steps to support the LGBTQ community, including:

Launching several employee-driven Think Tanks focused on various dimensions of workforce diversity, including [email protected]'Oreal, which advances initiatives that protect LGBTQ rights and promote well-being across the organization.

Partnering with the Ali Forney Center, an organization dedicated to protecting LGBTQ youth from the harms of homelessness, for an LGBTQ Career and Education Panel engaging employees during L'Oreal USA's annual Volunteer Day.

annual Volunteer Day. Achieving a top 10 ranking in the 2018 Thompson Reuters Diversity & Inclusion Index, an index measuring the corporate performance of 5,000 companies worldwide against multiple factors that define diverse and inclusive workplaces.

Adopting the United Nation Human Rights Office's standards of conduct for business, which are designed to combat discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

Marching in the NYC Pride March; over 500 L'Oreal USA employees, representing the company's portfolio of over 30 brands, marched together in 2018.

"Diversity, respect, and having a sense of belonging are central to our culture at L'Oreal," said Angela Guy, Senior Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion at L'Oreal USA. "We celebrate the differences that make us beautiful and champion the LGBTQ community both internally and externally. We are always working to be better advocates on behalf of our workforce, customers, and consumers and are honored that HRC has recognized our efforts for a second year in a row."

About L'Oreal USA

L'Oreal USA is the largest subsidiary of the L'Oreal Group, the world's leading beauty company. L'Oreal USA manages a portfolio of more than 30 iconic beauty brands, including Garnier, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Kerastase, Lancome, La Roche-Posay, L'Oreal Paris and Yves Saint Laurent Beaute. L'Oreal USA also serves as the international hub for the product development and marketing strategy for L'Oreal's 21 American brands: AcneFree, Baxter of California, Carol's Daughter, CeraVe, Clarisonic, Dermablend, essie, IT Cosmetics, Kiehl's, Matrix, Maybelline New York, Mizani, NYX Professional Makeup, Pureology, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Redken, Seed Phytonutrients, Softsheen-Carson, SkinCeuticals and Urban Decay. Generating more than $7 billion in sales annually, L'Oreal USA is committed to growth through sustainable innovation, driven by the company's Sharing Beauty With All ambition for sustainable development across the Group's value chain. The company is headquartered in New York City, employs more than 11,000 people, and operates administrative, research, manufacturing and distribution facilities across 14 states, including Arkansas, California, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Washington. For more information, visit www.lorealusa.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @LOrealUSA.

SOURCE L'Oreal USA

Related Links

http://www.lorealusa.com


"At McDonald's, we strive to connect with our customers by showing up in ways that matter to them," said Lizette Williams, Head of Cultural Engagement & Experiences, McDonald's USA. "Prior to launching the Black & Positively Golden campaign, we spent time with our African-American customer base and heard from them on what's most important. We are leveraging this platform to shine a brilliant, powerful light on Black culture and excellence in a way that matters most to our consumers. This is the largest African-American campaign we have launched in 16 years and it continues to demonstrate our longstanding commitment to this community."

The new campaign is brought to life in partnership with McDonald's Black Owner/Operators nationwide. These entrepreneurs bring positive economic opportunities to the neighborhoods they serve in numerous ways, including hiring directly from the community, providing scholarships and engaging in other philanthropic activities.

"McDonald's has long supported African-American communities. We maintain a commitment to our neighbors through various parts of our business  including scholarship partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, generational wealth-building with franchisee training and partnering with minority suppliers," said Nicole Enearu, a second-generation Owner/Operator and member of McDonald's U.S. Marketing African-American Consumer Market Leadership Committee. "Through our new Black & Positively Golden campaign, we aim to further connect with and inspire the African-American customer."

Continuing the growing momentum of the brand's economic impact and commitment to diversity, Enearu is one of 300 African-American McDonald's franchisees representing more than 1,500 restaurants.

In an effort to reach consumers in places where they already live, work and play, Black & Positively Golden commences a yearlong commitment to the YWCA USA, supporting the organization's Women's Empowerment 360 Program, an initiative designed to empower women of color who aspire to be entrepreneurs. Currently, more than 70% of participants are African-American. McDonald's financial support will help empower approximately 5,000 up-and-coming businesswomen across the U.S. with education curriculum and other tools needed for success.

The commitment with YWCA USA officially kicks off tonight, in the celebrated and largely African-American Leimert Park neighborhood with an interactive, community event at the YWCA Greater Los Angeles. The event will feature a transformative empowerment mural created by LA-based artist Enkone. Attendees will help co-create the community mural by adding their own words of affirmation. There will be an appearance by actress/comedienne Yvonne Orji, a special performance by multi-platinum recording artist Normani and more. The one-of-a-kind event will shine a light on African-American culture and demonstrate the power words have to inspire Black excellence.

"As part of our commitment to the community, we are excited to kick off Black & Positively Golden with an expanded commitment to the YWCA, an organization that shares McDonald's core values," Williams said. "McDonald's has restaurants in many communities that are also served by the YWCA, and we have local ties to the organization. For instance, we've supported their Chicago chapter for more than 30 years. With their focus on women entrepreneurs of color, the partnership is a great fit and we're thrilled to extend our support nationally."

"We are honored that McDonald's has chosen to extend their partnership with us. The community-led event and mural project is incredibly special. The mural will live at one of our centers, located in a historic, predominantly African-American community, and will stand as a beacon of positivity and empowerment," said Faye Washington, CEO and President of the YWCA Greater Los Angeles.

In conjunction with the YWCA launch event, McDonald's will debut the campaign with a 60-second anthem television spot on Saturday, March 30, during the 50th NAACP Image Awards. Consumers will also engage with campaign elements in some of their favorite and most trusted digital, print, radio and broadcast outlets all year long. Understanding the importance of social media for engaging the African-American audience and especially millennials, the brand launched a new Instagram channel for the Black & Positively Golden campaign - @wearegolden, highlighting moments of positivity, exciting programs and consumer experiences, as well as people who are shining examples of Black excellence in the community. The channel also provides resources to help uplift communities through education, empowerment and entrepreneurship.

The Black & Positively Golden campaign also will be supported through a series of events throughout 2019. First up is McDonald's Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour set to kick off in late April, followed by consumer experiences at BET Experience and Essence Festival. In addition, Black & Positively Golden will provide $60,000 in scholarships to foster educational empowerment among HBCU students through its partnership with Thurgood Marshall College Fund. For more information visit TMCF.org/McD.

For more information on McDonald's new Black & Positively Golden campaign, follow @wearegolden on Instagram.

About McDonald's USA

McDonald's serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to more than 25 million customers every day. Ninety-five percent of McDonald's 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com, or follow us on Twitter @McDonalds and Facebook www.facebook.com/mcdonalds.

SOURCE McDonalds USA

Related Links

http://www.mcdonalds.com


DENVER, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicine Man Technologies, Inc. (OTCQX: MDCL) ("Medicine Man Technologies" or "Company"), a rapidly growing, vertically integrated cannabis operator, today announced that the Company will present at the Spring Investor Summit being held on April 1-2, 2019, at the Essex House in New York City.

Date: Monday, April 1, 2019

Presentation Time: 10:00 AM ET  Track 3

Location: The Essex House, NYC

Joe Puglise, COO of Medicine Man Technologies, will deliver an overview of the Company, highlighting two pending acquisitions of MedPharm Holdings, LLC, and Medicine Man Denver, and provide an overview of its financial and operating performance as well as details on its strategic goals as a vertically integrated cannabis brand and operator.

Mr. Puglise will also serve as a guest speaker for the Cannabis Panel at noon ET, which will focus on key industry trends and address relevant questions regarding the revolutionizing of cannabis in recent years. Mr. Puglise will be available for one-on-one meetings with investors.

The Spring Investor Summit is an exclusive event dedicated to connecting small and micro-cap companies with high-level, institutional, and retail investors. The event's focus is to highlight the most captivating publicly traded companies under $5 billion in market cap across all industries and sectors. The conference will feature 200 presenting companies, 1,200 institutional and retail investors, 2,000 one-on-one meetings, as well as a variety of industry-specific panels.

About Medicine Man Technologies

Medicine Man Technologies is a fully integrated operator in the cannabis industry, offering consulting, retail pharma-grade products, and turnkey solutions for cannabis cultivators for over a decade. Medicine Man Technologies is leveraging its expertise and intellectual property to vertically integrate retail, cultivation, formulation, and distribution operations. The Company's client portfolio includes active and past clients in 18 states and seven countries.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Such statements may be preceded by the words "intends," "may," "will," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "predicts," "estimates," "aims," "believes," "hopes," "potential," or similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain assumptions, and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, and cannot be predicted or quantified. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) our inability to manufacture our products and product candidates on a commercial scale on our own, or in collaboration with third parties; (ii) difficulties in obtaining financing on commercially reasonable terms; (iii) changes in the size and nature of our competition; (iv) loss of one or more key executives or scientists; and (v) difficulties in securing regulatory approval to market our products and product candidates. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Investor Relations Contact:

[email protected]

1-866-348-1997

SOURCE Medicine Man Technologies, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.medicinemantechnologies.com


TYSONS CORNER, Va., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- This month, MicroTech is proudly celebrating its fifteenth anniversary of being in business. Founded by Anthony "Tony" Jimenez in March of 2004, MicroTech underwent a meteoric rise to become one of the premier Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) in the Nation, and continues to deliver innovative technology to its Federal, State and Local Government and commercial clients and customers.

Mr. Jimenez started MicroTech with two other partners after completing a 24-year career in the U.S. Army. In early 2015 Tony bought out his partners and became the sole owner of MicroTech in order to fully implement his lofty vision for the company. Under his leadership, MicroTech has experienced exponential growth and is repeatedly recognized as a small business success story.

MicroTech plans to make its fifteenth anniversary a yearlong celebration by hosting various events for its team members, clients, and customers. "I'm often asked why MicroTech has been so successful over the past 15 years and my answer is simple," says Tony Jimenez, Founder, President and CEO of MicroTech. "We have great clients and customers who make our world a better place and we have talented, hardworking and dedicated employees who go the extra mile every single day," adds Jimenez. "For 15 years, we have served the Government and Commercial communities and have enjoyed every minute of it and are looking forward the next 15 years."

Over the last 18 months, MicroTech has won nearly $100 billion dollars of new multiple-award type contracts, including the $50 billion, 15-year, GSA Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract, which has a $75 million guarantee, the $5 billion Veterans Technology Services 2 Government-wide Acquisition (VETS 2 GWAC) contract, the $192 million U.S. Army Rapid Acquisition for Materials and Prototyping (RAMP) contract and the $37 billion Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) contract with the United States Army.

For more information on MicroTech and the EIS contract, visit www.microtech.net.

About MicroTech: MicroTech, a Certified and Verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), is certified by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) as a Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs). Described as the "hottest Hispanic business in the nation," MicroTech ranked as the #1 Fastest Growing Hispanic Company in the Nation for three consecutive years by Hispanic Business Magazine and has been repeatedly listed on Washington Technology's annual list of the Top 100 Government Contractors. MicroTech provides IT, Telecom and Network Infrastructure and Integration Services & Solutions, Cybersecurity and Cloud Management Solutions, Financial Services, and Value-Added Resale to Federal, State and Local Government Agencies and Fortune 500 Companies. MicroTech is ISO 20000-1, ISO 27001:2013 and ISO 9001:2008 certified, and is CMMI Maturity Level 3 rated in both CMMI Services (CMMI-SVC) & CMMI Development (CMMI-DEV). Follow MicroTech on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

CONTACT: Jennifer Berman, [email protected], 703-637-3235



SOURCE MicroTech

Related Links

http://www.microtech.net


Transaction will reduce Monarch's cost of acquiring

McKenzie Break and Swanson properties by $800,000

MONTREAL, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - MONARCH GOLD CORPORATION ("Monarch" or the "Corporation") (TSX: MQR) (OTCMKTS: MRQRF) (FRANKFURT: MR7) is pleased to report that it has sold a 0.5% Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty on the Pandora property (the "Pandora royalty") to Agnico Eagle Mines Limited. The Pandora royalty was part of the assets that Monarch acquired from Richmont Mines in October 2017. In return for the Pandora royalty, Monarch's payments for the McKenzie Break and Swanson properties will be reduced by $800,000, as follows:

Dates Payment Original

Agreement Amended

Agreement Status December 21, 2017 Payment in shares $600,000 $600,000 Paid December 21, 2018 Cash payment Payment in shares $400,000 $600,000 $400,000 $600,000 Paid Paid December 21, 2019 Cash payment Payment in shares $400,000 $600,000 $400,000 -

December 21, 2020 Cash payment Payment in shares $400,000 $600,000 $400,000 $400,000

December 21, 2021 Cash payment Payment in shares $400,000 $600,000 $400,000 $600,000

Total $4,600,000 $3,800,000



"This is a great deal for Monarch, allowing us to reap even more benefits from the Richmont transaction by monetizing a non-core asset," said Jean-Marc Lacoste, President and Chief Executive Officer of Monarch. "The McKenzie Break property has gained tremendously in value since we started drilling in 2018, as we have been able to expand the deposit and confirm its high-grade potential. As mentioned in our March 20, 2019 press release, we are presently analyzing the results of the 2018 drilling on McKenzie Break and planning the follow-up program for 2019."

ABOUT MONARCH GOLD CORPORATION

Monarch Gold Corporation (TSX: MQR) is an emerging gold mining company focused on pursuing growth through its large portfolio of high-quality projects in the Abitibi mining camp in Quebec, Canada. The Corporation currently owns close to 300 km of gold properties (see map), including the Wasamac deposit (measured and indicated resource of 2.6 million ounces of gold), the Beaufor Mine, the Croinor Gold (see video), McKenzie Break and Swanson advanced projects and the Camflo and Beacon mills, as well as other promising exploration projects. It also offers custom milling services out of its 1,600 tonne-per-day Camflo mill.

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Monarch's actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied therein. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

SOURCE Monarch Gold Corporation

Related Links

http://www.monarquesgold.com/en/


"Our efforts to address diabetes in the U.S. have typically focused on supporting community programs that promote fitness, nutrition and overall healthy living," said Tracy Hamill, M.D., medical director of Sun Life Financial U.S. "Now we have the opportunity to continue our efforts from a policy perspective, and I'm looking forward to continuing our work with the ADA's Call to Congress initiative to achieve legislative action for the diabetes community."

While access to affordable insulin has been a major focus, advocates also explained how Congressional support for research and programs can improve the quality of life for people living with diabetes.

"We are really fortunate to have the support of an incredible community of advocates who are so dedicated to ADA's mission and the power of advocacy through Call to Congress," said Tracey D. Brown, CEO of the American Diabetes Association. "With support from Sun Life, a company that has shown continued commitment to bending the curve on diabetes, we have been able to amplify our message to an even wider audience and empower our Diabetes Advocates to urge Congress to support our legislative goals."

Today, advocates departed with reinforced commitment to make diabetes a priority going forward, and received helpful guidance on continuing their advocacy efforts back home.

Sun Life U.S. is the exclusive supporter of ADA's 2019 Call to Congress and supports many causes and organizations that focus on diabetes prevention and awareness, including the YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. Sun Life also awards grants to community organizations around the country who support programs for diabetes management, prevention, education and awareness through the Sun Life Team Up Against Diabetes grant program.

To learn more about ADA's advocacy efforts and to become a Diabetes Advocate, visit www.diabetes.org/advocacy.

To learn more about Sun Life's commitment to diabetes, visit www.sunlife.com/usdiabetes.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individuals and corporate Clients. Sun Life Financial has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2018, Sun Life Financial had total assets under management of C$951 billion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

In the United States, Sun Life Financial is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving more than 60,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces across the country. Sun Life's broad portfolio of insurance products and services in the U.S. includes disability, absence management, life, dental, vision, voluntary and medical stop-loss. Sun Life employs approximately 6,000 people in its U.S insurance and asset management businesses. Group Insurance policies are issued by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley Hills, Mass.) and Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.) (Lansing, Mich.). For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com/us .

About the American Diabetes Association

Approximately every 21 seconds, someone in the United States is diagnosed with diabetes. Nearly half of the American adult population has diabetes or prediabetes, and more than 30 million adults and children are living with the disease. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation's leading voluntary health organization on a mission to prevent and cure diabetes, as well as improve the lives of all people affected by the disease. For nearly 80 years, the ADA has driven discovery by funding research to treat, manage and prevent all types of diabetes, while working relentlessly for a cure. Magnifying the urgency of this epidemic, the ADA works to safeguard policies and programs that protect people with the illness, those at risk of developing diabetes and the health care professionals who serve them by initiating programs, advocacy and education efforts that can lead to improved health outcomes and quality of life. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit us at diabetes.org. Information is available in English and Spanish. Join the conversation with us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn) and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).

Media contacts:

Devon Fernald

Sun Life Financial

781-800-3609

[email protected]

Sabrena Pringle

American Diabetes Association

703- 549-1500 ext. 1637

[email protected]

SOURCE Sun Life Financial

Related Links

http://www.sunlife.com/us


DENVER, Pa., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- If condition is king, expect a red carpet to be rolled out on April 3 as Morphy's presents a regal auction line-up of antique signs, gas globes and early license plates in a 746-lot Automobilia & Petroliana Auction. The high-octane selection includes many entries from collections that were established back when petroleum-related items in pristine condition were easier to find.

Boyce Moto Meter Authorized Service Station tin flange sign with image of young woman in Art Deco attire, lithographed sides in condition 8.75+ and 8.5, respectively. Estimate: $15,000-$25,000 Left: 1905 leather/aluminum Michigan license plate issued to Packard Motor Co., used before the state actually produced license plates, only known example of its type, estimate $10,000-$15,000. Right: Six early Rhode Island passenger license plates from a group lot of 40 that span the years 1904-1966 (with only two years not represented), estimate $20,000-$30,000

"Many signs in this sale would be hard to improve upon. They would be considered upgrades for even the finest of known private collections," said John Mihovetz, Head of Morphy's Automobilia & Petroliana division.

A case in point is the outstanding double-sided Shell Motor Oil die-cut Motor Oil sign dated 1931. With strong crimson and orange coloration, the clamshell-shape sign is rated a solid 9.5 out of 10. Estimate: $3,500-$5,000

A very rare British double-sided die-cut porcelain sign for Morris Trucks is designed as a head-on view of a radiator emblazoned with the slogan "Buy British and be proud of it." One of the best examples of its type that Morphy's experts have ever seen, it could achieve $3,000-$5,000.

Big, bold and all-American is the way to describe a supersized Ford V8 porcelain dealership sign. At 75 by 40 inches, it had to be designed as two parts that fit together seamlessly  Henry Ford wouldn't have had it any other way. In beautiful 8.75+ condition, it is estimated at $15,000-$25,000.

Advertising signs featuring stylish ladies have always commanded a premium price, and there are two such signs worthy of special mention in the sale. A Boyce Moto Meter Authorized Service Station tin flange sign with the image of a young woman in Art Deco attire comes has a $15,000-$25,000 estimate; as does a circa-1907 double-sided die-cut tin flange sign advertising Pennsylvania Oilproof Vacuum Cup Tires with the image of a well-dressed woman of that era.

A fantastic collection of antique and vintage license plates takes collectors on a virtual coast-to-coast motoring trip. Apportioned into 181 lots, the collection includes very early plates that are nearly impossible to find nowadays. For example, there's a grouping of 40 Rhode Island passenger plates with the same three-digit number  394  starting with the first-issue 1904 production run and ending in 1966. Only two years are missing from the series: 1918 and 1946. Estimate: $30,000-$40,000. Another extreme rarity, a 1905 leather and aluminum Michigan plate was in use before the state actually produced license plates. It was issued to the Packard Car Company and used from 1905 through June 1907. In 9.0 condition and the only known example of its type, it is expected to make $10,000-$15,000.

Petroliana collectors never tire of pretty Polly, the vibrantly hued parrot mascot for Polly Premium Motor Oil. Posed on her perch, she graces the front of a scarce one-quart Polly can graded 8.9. It will take more than a cracker to take Polly home. The pre-sale estimate is $2,500-$4,500.

A fantastic array of gas pump globes awaits bidders, including a 15-inch single-lens globe for Beacon Gasoline. Finished in bright primary colors with an appealing graphic of a beaming lighthouse, this extremely rare globe could reach $7,500-$15,000.

In all, there are 85 stunning gas pump globes from which to choose. An excellent example of an etched one-piece Independent brand Royal Gasoline globe is graded 9.0 and estimated at $4,000-$6,000; while a Jones Bros. Red Hat Gasoline globe on its original metal body has a $2,500-$4,500 estimate. A quaint reminder of the early days of "filling stations," an all-original Correct Measure 5-gallon visible gas pump is expected to make $3,000-$5,000.

Media Contact:

Dan Morphy

[email protected]

877-968-8880

SOURCE Morphy Auctions
NEW YORK, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- MUFG announced that it has achieved a perfect score on the 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation's premier benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation. MUFG has consistently achieved high marks on the CEI, earning a perfect score of 100 for the sixth consecutive year.

"We are incredibly proud of our diverse and inclusive culture at MUFG," said Amy Ward, Chief Human Resources Officer for the Americas. "Our top ranking on this well-regarded equality index reflects the conscious commitment we have made to being a leader in equality for all members of our workforce, regardless of sexual orientation."

MUFG's legacy as a diverse, inclusive business is reflected in its workforce. More than 65 percent of the bank's employees are women or people of color, and the bank's corporate board is one of the most inclusive in American banking, as the majority of board members are women and/or people of color. This distinction from HRC comes on the heels of MUFG's recognition as a member of Bloomberg's Inaugural Gender-Equality Index in 2018.

MUFG's dedication to LGBTQ equality stems from the company's corporate values, which embrace mentoring, hiring and retaining top talent from all backgrounds. The bank consistently supports scholarships for diverse, underserved populations, including LGBTQ youth. In 2018, the bank worked alongside a local non-profit to begin construction of North Park Seniors, San Diego's first LGBTQ-Affirming affordable housing development for people over the age of 55. The residential facility is now open and is comprised of 75 apartment units.

About Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.'s U.S. Operations including MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation

The U.S. operations of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG), one of the world's leading financial groups, has total assets of $337.4 billion at December 31, 2018. As part of that total, MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation (MUAH), a financial holding company, bank holding company and intermediate holding company, has total assets of $168.1 billion at December 31, 2018. MUAH's main subsidiaries are MUFG Union Bank, N.A. and MUFG Securities Americas Inc. MUFG Union Bank, N.A. provides a wide range of financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, and major corporations. As of December 31, 2018, MUFG Union Bank, N.A. operated 352 branches, consisting primarily of retail banking branches in the West Coast states, along with commercial branches in Texas, Illinois, New York and Georgia, as well as 22 PurePoint Financial Centers. MUFG Securities Americas Inc. is a registered securities broker-dealer which engages in capital markets origination transactions, private placements, collateralized financings, securities borrowing and lending transactions, and domestic and foreign debt and equities securities transactions. MUAH is owned by MUFG Bank, Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. MUFG Bank, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and Canada. Visit https://www.unionbank.com or www.mufgamericas.com for more information.

SOURCE MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation

Related Links

http://www.mufgamericas.com


TECH Fund was launched in March 2017 to address a key barrier to building affordable housing. It provides flexible financing to allow affordable housing developers to compete for sites on the open market that may otherwise go to market-rate homes or offices. These funds have been used to purchase land next to transit in downtown San Jose, close to jobs in Mountain View, preserve and rehab existing properties occupied by low-income residents in Redwood City, and other endeavors.

TECH Fund by the numbers: https://housingtrustsv.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/TECH-Fund-Summary-Sheet-190329.pdf

Built initially to create 10,000 affordable housing opportunities in the first ten years, TECH Fund has already started up 2,040 homes across 18 developments in Silicon Valley  with more than half for families, a third for the homeless and/or permanent supportive housing, and one-in-five for seniors. Most homes are aimed at those earning 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) or less.

"It is going to take all of us  elected officials, philanthropists, and business leaders  working together to solve our housing crisis," said Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco). "It is heartening to see some of our largest companies stepping up to help address our region's greatest challenge. This investment will make it possible for more people to find an affordable home in the Bay Area."

"NetApp believes in helping the communities where we live and work. Our investment in the TECH Fund is an important way for us to give back to the community that has been our home for 25 years," said George Kurian, Chief Executive Officer and President, NetApp. "We are proud to be able to contribute to the TECH Fund to address the affordable housing challenge and make a meaningful impact in a key area of basic human needs."

"Since 2000, Housing Trust Silicon Valley has partnered with investors to create affordable homes and preserve the vibrancy of our region," said Kevin Zwick, CEO of Housing Trust Silicon Valley. "We are grateful for companies like NetApp who are devoted not only to providing more opportunities to the current workforce, but also empowering future growth of the greater Bay Area."

ABOUT NETAPP

NetApp is the data authority for hybrid cloud that provides a full range of hybrid cloud data services that simplify management of applications and data across cloud and on-premises environments to accelerate digital transformation. NetApp and its partners empower global organizations to unleash the full potential of their data to expand customer touchpoints, foster greater innovation, and optimize their operations. For more information visit www.netapp.com

ABOUT HOUSING TRUST SILICON VALLEY

Housing Trust Silicon Valley (Housing Trust) is a nonprofit community loan fund based in San Jose that works to improve the quality of life for low-income people in the greater Bay Area by increasing affordable housing opportunities. Since 2000, Housing Trust has invested nearly $230 million in programs that help everyone from the homeless to renters to first-time homebuyers - creating nearly 18,500 affordable housing opportunities serving 33,600 of our neighbors. It is the first nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to receive a Standard & Poor's rating, AA- because of its strong capacity to meet financial commitments. For more information visit www.housingtrustsv.org

ABOUT TECH FUND

TECH Fund (Tech + Equity + Community + Housing) is an initiative created by Housing Trust Silicon Valley to create opportunities for philanthropists and large Bay Area employers to provide resources to be part of the affordable housing solution. The fund began in March 2017 with an initial investment from the Cisco Foundation that has since been followed by investments from The Grove Foundation, LinkedIn, NetApp, David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Pure Storage and Sobrato Family Foundation. Housing Trust to date has raised $62 million for the TECH Fund to be revolved over the course of a ten-year investment period  at the end of which TECH Fund investors receive a modest return on their investments in addition to the original investment being repaid and, most importantly, having created 10,000 affordable housing opportunities during that time. For more information visit www.housingtrustsv.org/tech-fund/

SOURCE Housing Trust Silicon Valley

Related Links

https://housingtrustsv.org


PROVO, Utah, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: NUS) will release first-quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, April 30. The Nu Skin management team will host a conference call with the investment community later that same day beginning at 5 p.m. (EDT). During the call, management will discuss historical results and upcoming business initiatives.

The webcast of the conference call, including the financial information to be presented, will be available on the investor relations section of the company's website at ir.nuskin.com. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same location through Tuesday, May 14.

About Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc.

Founded 35 years ago, Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. develops and distributes innovative consumer products, offering a comprehensive line of premium-quality beauty and wellness solutions. The company builds upon its scientific expertise in both skin care and nutrition to continually develop innovative product brands that include the Nu Skin personal care brand, the Pharmanex nutrition brand, and most recently, the ageLOC anti-aging brand. The ageLOC brand has generated a loyal following for such products as the ageLOC LumiSpa skin cleansing and treatment device, ageLOC Youth nutritional supplement, the ageLOC Me customized skin care system, as well as the ageLOC TR90 weight management and body shaping system. Nu Skin sells its products through a global network of sales leaders in Asia, the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Pacific. As a long-standing member of direct selling associations globally, Nu Skin is committed to the industry's consumer guidelines that protect and support those who sell and purchase its products through the direct selling channel. Nu Skin is also traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NUS." More information is available at nuskin.com.

SOURCE Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.nuskin.com


LEAWOOD, Kan., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jefferson Surgery Center  Blue Bell, a NueHealth facility, has achieved both three-year accreditation by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) and Medicare Deemed Status.

Since its founding in 1979, the AAAHC has evaluated ambulatory surgery centers for accreditation using a strict and thorough process that includes a complete on-site survey. Accreditation signals that Jefferson Surgery Center  Blue Bell provides the highest quality of care to its patients as determined by the AAHC.

NueHealth

On average, the AAHC's rigorous accreditation process takes approximately three to four months, Jefferson Surgery Center  Blue Bell voluntarily requested accreditation in December 2018. "We sought a true review of our entire organization," said Philomena Glowka, Administrator of Jefferson Surgery Center  Blue Bell. "We want to build upon our strengths and identify areas where we can improve so we're always providing the highest quality of care."

Blue Bell staff and board members were thoroughly prepared for the accreditation process, resulting in a relatively short turnaround time of only two months. "It was hard, but it was definitely worthwhile - and even fun," said Vicky Connor, Director of Clinical Operations and Project Director for NueHealth. "We had knowledgeable staff who were prepared and worked with a sense of camaraderie. To be able to take on something you know is going to be difficult but approach it with high quality and efficiency, that's exactly how the Surgery Center itself runs."

All ambulatory health care organizations seeking AAAHC accreditation undergo an extensive self-assessment and on-site survey by AAAHC expert surveyors, including physicians, nurses, and administrators who are actively involved in ambulatory health care.

"It is an honor to receive the accreditation, and validation of our commitment to our facilities and their patients," said Connor.

Jefferson Surgery Center  Blue Bell was created when NueHealth, in partnership with Rothman Institute, Jefferson Health, and 14 individual multi-specialty physicians, acquired what was formerly the Blue Bell Surgery Center in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania in May 2018, with NueHealth assuming day-to-day management of the facility.

Originally founded in 2008 by a group of independent physicians, Blue Bell Surgery Center had been owned and managed by a third-party health system operator from 2013-2018. The reorganization into what is now Jefferson Surgery Center  Blue Bell put ownership of the surgery center back in the hands of physician owners, while also providing a lower cost site of service.

"The original doctors were an integral part of the accreditation process," said Glowka. "They have a commitment to the facility, and they, along with the entire Blue Bell team, take great pride in the facility and in knowing we're providing good care."

About NueHealth

Since 1997, NueHealth has partnered with over 10,000 physician investors and 20 health system partners to develop lower-cost sites of service, expanding into more than 150 facilities, including physician-owned surgery centers, surgical hospitals and hyper specialty centers. Today, NueHealth operates in over 30 states, positioning their Ambulatory Centers of Excellence (ACE) to be national leaders in the transition to value-based care. For more information, visit www.nuehealth.com.

About the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care

The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, founded in 1979, is the leader in ambulatory health care accreditation with more than 6,000 organizations accredited nationwide. AAAHC accredits a variety of organizations including, ambulatory surgery centers, office-based surgery centers, endoscopy centers, student health centers, military health care clinics, and large medical and dental practices. AAAHC serves as an advocate for the provision of high-quality health care through the development of nationally recognized standards and through its survey and accreditation programs. AAAHC accreditation is recognized as a symbol of quality by third-party payers, medical organizations, liability insurance companies, state and federal agencies and the public. Additional information is available at www.aaahc.org.

About Rothman Orthopaedics

Since its founding in 1970, Rothman Orthopaedics has grown from a single Philadelphia office into one of the nation's largest and most-respected orthopaedic practices. Orthopaedics is all that this organization does. Rothman Orthopaedics remains consistently focused on treating both routine and complex musculoskeletal issues that result in a higher quality of life for its patients. It's a powerhouse of innovation and an international leader in developing new treatments, testing new devices and setting surgical standards. It's a research pioneer that is committed to uncovering the root cause of orthopaedic diseases and injuries and finding better ways to treat them. It's a teaching organization that trains dozens of residents and fellows each year and conducts teaching sessions via simulcast and webcast to colleagues around the world. As the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute has grown in capability, staff and reputation, it has broadened its reach into dozens of communities throughout the Philadelphia suburbs, New Jersey and New York. While this growth is impressive, it hasn't come at the expense of the patient experience. Rothman Orthopaedics will always "practice local", putting an emphasis on caring for its patients in the communities in which they live. For more information, visit www.rothmanortho.com .

About Jefferson Health

Jefferson Health is reimagining health care in the greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey. Our dedicated team of doctors, nurses, health professionals and staff provides a range of primary to highly specialized care through 14 hospitals (seven Magnet-designated for nursing excellence), more than 40 outpatient and urgent care locations, the NCI-designated Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and Magee Rehabilitation. Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Inc., is nationally ranked in 10 specialty areas by U.S. News & World Report (2018-19). For more information, visit JeffersonHealth.org.

Media Contact:

Allison Chick

913.387.0663

[email protected]

SOURCE NueHealth

Related Links

https://nuehealth.com


HARRISBURG, Pa., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Following validation of 62 bids received by the March 25 deadline for the eighth restaurant license auction authorized by Act 39 of 2016, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) has issued Notices of Selection to top bidders on 22 licenses.

Winning bids range from $28,888 for a license in Elk County to $276,100 for a license in Bucks County. The average winning bid in the eighth auction was $95,255.

The number of bids received for each of the 22 licenses receiving bids ranged from one to eight.

Three licenses  one each in Dauphin, Monroe, and Sullivan counties  received no valid bids.

Winning bids and bidders are posted to the PLCB restaurant license auction web page.

Top bidders have 14 days from the date of each Notice of Selection to remit full bid payment to the PLCB. If bid payment is not received within two weeks of auction award, the second-highest bidder will have the opportunity to remit its full bid payment.

Each auction winner has six months from the issuance of the Notice of Selection to file a license application with the PLCB. Bids will be held in escrow by the PLCB, pending approval of the license application.

This auction included one license in each of the following 25 counties: Berks, Blair, Bucks, Clearfield, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Lycoming, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Pike, Sullivan, Venango, Wayne, and Westmoreland.

Auction revenue recognized since the first auction in 2016 totals $25.4 million, while another $3.5 million remains in escrow, pending license approvals.

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates more than 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits  totaling $16.5 billion since the agency's inception  are returned to Pennsylvania's General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania's schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit lcb.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT: Shawn M. Kelly, 717.783.8864

SOURCE Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

Related Links

http://www.lcb.state.pa.us


SAN JOSE, Calif., March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Chief Executive Officer, Perla Rodriguez, was awarded the inaugural Latino Leadership Award from the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

The award honors exemplary Latino business leaders for their contributions and commitment to outstanding professional performance and role in developing the next generation of leaders.

"I am honored to have been selected by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. I thank them for the recognition," said Perla A. Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer, Voler Strategic Advisors. "This award not only acknowledges the pivotal role that each of us play in empowering and transforming our communities, it underscores the power of our Latinx voices across industries and spaces."

Well-known throughout corporate and media circles for her expertise and high level of professionalism, Rodriguez has worked for many of the biggest brands, including Intel, Univision, PG&E, and the Public Policy Institute of California. Previously, Rodriguez served as the Vice President of Public Affairs for Mi Pueblo Foods, where she was instrumental in building the company's first public affairs department.

Among her accomplishments, Rodriguez has been recognized as a leader in the public relations industry. In 2011, she was recognized by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of the 100 most influential women in the Silicon Valley and by the National Grocer's Association for developing the Best Public Service campaign. In 2005, while working as a Community Affairs Manager for Univision 14, she was nominated for an Emmy Award as executive producer of the Exito Escolar education program.

Rodriguez holds a BA in international relations from Stanford University and an MPA from University of San Francisco. She is a graduate of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative by the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Latino Business Action Network (LBAN).

About Voler Strategic Advisors:

Voler Strategic Advisors is a full-service strategic communications firm offering public relations, crisis management, and communications strategies that help organizations achieve their full potential.

At Voler, we believe that great communications drive great results. We offer solutions that are client-inspired, success-driven and always inclusive of the communities that you serve.

Voler Strategic Advisors draws upon our training and extensive experience in communications, community engagement, government, leadership, management, politics, social media, health care, and diversity.

For more information: www.volersa.com

SOURCE Voler Strategic Advisors

Related Links

http://www.volersa.com


TORONTO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - (OTCQB: PLYZ) Plyzer Technologies Inc. ("the Company") is pleased to announce that it has now launched an online price comparison app targeted for the global cannabis sector. Consumers can now search for any cannabis related product sold through online marketplaces in Canada and the United States of America under the name CA.NNABIS.COM.

Plyzer founder and CEO of Plyzer Technologies Corp, Luis Pallares, commented "Ca.nnabis.com is brand agnostic, with search results unbiased across all relevant products in a category. Search rankings are based solely on providing online shoppers with the best available real time prices."

About CA.NNABIS.COM

The app is an intuitive and convenient way for consumers to find the lowest real-time prices for cannabis related products, across all online marketplaces. The app currently monitors over 10,000 products and compares over 130,000 prices. It is currently available in English, French and Spanish in the Apple Store.

About Plyzer Technologies Inc.

Plyzer Technologies Inc. is a provider of custom, real-time, cloud-based business intelligence solutions for brands to analyze critical online price and market data. Plyzer's highly customizable dashboard enables country, regional and local sales, production and logistics operations to adapt to prevailing market conditions quickly. The Company's technology is also being used to provide real-time price comparison reporting to the consumer market. These solutions are both driven by Plyzer's proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.

Please visit www.plyzertechnologies.com and ca.nnabis.com and plyzer.com for more information

This news release may contain forward looking statements concerning future operations of the Company. All forward looking statements concerning the Company's future plans and operations, including management's assessment of the Company's expectations or beliefs may be subject to certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual performance and financial results may differ materially from any estimates and projections.

SOURCE Plyzer Technologies Inc.
MCLEAN, Va., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- iWorks Corporation is pleased to announce that the Professional Services Council (PSC) selected our COO, Charlie Sowell, as their new National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee (NISPPAC) representative.

Charlie Sowell, iWorks Corporation

The NISPPAC, comprised of both Government and industry representatives, is responsible for recommending changes in industrial security policy through modifications to Executive Order 12829, its implementing directives, and the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual. The NISPPAC also advises the government's Information Security Oversight Office on all matters concerning the policies of the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), including recommended changes to those policies, and serves as a forum to discuss policy issues in dispute. iWorks is a PSC member company.

PSC, a leading voice in security clearance reform initiatives, selected Charlie to represent the association's more than 400 member companies on the NISPPAC based on his and iWorks' extensive personnel and industrial security experience. Alan Chvotkin, PSC's Executive Vice President and Counsel, commented: "Charlie was an obvious choice for PSC based on his past roles at ODNI as Program Executive for Security Clearance Reform and Assistant Deputy Director for Special Security, in addition to his industry and PSC experience. PSC looks forward to continuing our strong contributions to the NISP through our NISPPAC participation and Charlie's service."

Read more about Charlie Sowell, and the entire iWorks leadership team, by clicking here.

About iWorks Corporation

iWorks Corporation, founded in 2005, is a leading provider of information technology and professional services to the federal government. We are a recognized leader in personnel security and vetting solutions, Agile, DevOps, DevSecOps, data analytics and cloud solutions. Our continuous process improvement approach, combined with our business and technology expertise, results in innovative solutions. We are committed to quality and timely delivery. We are CMMI Level 3 appraised, and ISO 9001:2015, 20001:2011 and 27000 certified. We're a company people like working for and with. Our staff recognized iWorks as Washington Post Top Workplace for three years, including 2018. For more information about iWorks Corporation, visit http://www.iworkscorp.com.

SOURCE iWorks Corporation
"By combining technology and curriculum design with pedagogical expertise, Qkids and TESOL hope to transform the English language education experience. This partnership offers teachers an opportunity to become certified with a global English education leader, and gives educators and students access to high-quality online content, teaching services, and data insights to improve learning outcomes," said Adam Chen, Co-Founder and Global President of Qkids.

Christopher Powers, Executive Director at TESOL International Association said, "We're pleased to partner with Qkids and look forward to strengthening our relationship to support English language teaching. TESOL International Association will provide professional resources to support the large and great teacher community of Qkids. I'm looking forward to developing further our cooperation and working together to best serve the needs of English language education across the world."

At the event to announce the agreement during the TESOL 2019 International Convention and English Language Expo, Qkids also unveiled key insights into learning behaviors and best practices from China's burgeoning English education industry, and showcased their innovative platform, which harnesses gamification, 24/7 feedback and support, and a personalized learning management system to deliver engaging, user-friendly learning experiences.

About Qkids

Qkids is a leading online education platform that connects North American English teachers with over 500,000 Chinese students from ages 4 to 12 years old. Founded in 2015, Qkids has become a national leader in cross-cultural online learning and established offices in Shenzhen, Xiamen, Guangzhou, and Beijing. The company has completed its Series B financing round led by IDG Capital and is poised to build lasting growth across the world.

For more information, please visit https://teacher.qkids.net/.

About TESOL International Association

TESOL International Association is the trusted global authority for knowledge and expertise in English language teaching. A professional community of more than 10,000 educators representing over 150 countries, TESOL fosters the exchange of ideas to advance the expertise of those teaching English while supporting equity, diversity and multilingualism. For over 50 years, TESOL has strived to advance its mission with programs, publications and services to expand its global presence and connectivity, share its knowledge and expertise, and amplify its voice through advocacy.

For more information, please visit https://www.tesol.org/.

SOURCE Qkids

Related Links

https://teacher.qkids.net/


WASHINGTON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NAR President John Smaby issued the following statement after District Court of Columbia Judge John Bates struck down a Department of Labor attempt to expand association health plans earlier this week.

"As independent contractors, Realtors have long struggled to find and secure affordable health insurance options," said Smaby, a second-generation Realtor from Edina, Minnesota. This is why NAR strongly supports the U.S. Department of Labor's final rule expanding access to Association Health Plans.

"This rule has been successful and is growing in many states, providing high quality, lower cost coverage alternatives to many of NAR's 1.3 million members and their families.

"We are extremely disappointed in this week's District Court decision, which threatens the progress Realtor Associations have made in offering much needed health insurance solutions. NAR is reviewing this ruling to determine its potential nationwide impact and we vow to continue to fight for more affordable, quality health insurance options for our members."

The National Association of Realtors is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

SOURCE National Association of Realtors

Related Links

http://www.realtor.org


"We have always had tremendous respect for Dan and admired the advertising and public relations work his team created at Santy," said RIESTER Founder and CEO Tim Riester . "Since early in 2019, RIESTER has been fortunate to earn a significant number of new clients and adding Santy's talented staff will help support that growth. RIESTER also has a deep expertise in the Santy client industries, making this move an immediate value for everyone."

Founder of Santy and newly appointed RIESTER senior partner, Dan Santy, said, "There is no better group suited for the future of our current employees and for the continued success of our clients. Work will continue uninterrupted, and starting April 1, our clients will have instantaneous access to expanded services and resources from RIESTER. This includes additional executive-level perspective on their business with RIESTER's experienced and established partners."

Announcing this instant expansion of in-house experts and clients this month is especially timely for RIESTER, as the Firm celebrates its 30th year in business. Growth by acquisition has been one of RIESTER's core strategies and has contributed to its 30 years of success.

All of Santy's Scottsdale-based employees will integrate into RIESTER's corporate headquarters in Phoenix. The current Santy office located in Brea, California will begin to operate in sync with RIESTER's Los Angeles Office and under the RIESTER name. In addition to the iconic pizza chain, Peter Piper Pizza, transitioning clients include Kitchell, Goettl Air Conditioning, Bona, Arizona Public Service, Aunt Rita's Foundation, Circle the City, Arizona Department of Agriculture, Children's Museum of Phoenix and the Health System Alliance of Arizona.

About RIESTER

RIESTER is a full-service digital marketing, advertising and public relations firm providing a complete range of integrated services in brand planning, web and mobile marketing, advertising, media planning and buying, social media and public relations. The agency is headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz. with offices in Los Angeles, Calif. and Park City, Utah. For more information visit RIESTER.com or learn more on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

SOURCE RIESTER

Related Links

http://www.riester.com


NEW YORK, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP, a class action law firm dedicated to representing shareholders nationwide, is investigating a potential breach of fiduciary duty claim involving the board of directors of F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE: FNB).

If you are a shareholder of F.N.B. Corporation and are interested in obtaining additional information regarding this investigation, free of charge, please visit us at: http://pjlfirm.com/f-n-b-corporation/

You may also contact Robert H. Lefkowitz, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at 212-725-1000. One of our attorneys will personally speak with you about the case at no cost or obligation.

Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP is a law firm exclusively committed to representing shareholders nationwide who are victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty and other types of corporate misconduct. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://pjlfirm.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

SOURCE Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP

Related Links

http://www.pjlfirm.com


LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lyft and Uber drivers held a 25-hour strike in Los Angeles and Redondo Beach on Monday, protesting wage cuts and poor working conditions.

The strike was spurred by a recent announcement from Uber  drivers will receive a 25 percent cut in pay per mile in Los Angeles and parts of Orange County. While Uber insists the new rates are fair, and drivers will earn as much as they did last fall, many drivers say they can't afford it. According to Rideshare Drivers United, an advocacy group, hundreds were at the strike, including Sinakhone Keodara.

"I'm currently homeless," said Keodara, a Lyft driver. "I don't make enough to get out of my situation, but I can't walk away from Lyft. I'm trapped in an endless cycle." Keodara claims he works 14-hour days, seven days a week but still finds himself sleeping in the car he's renting from Lyft and skipping meals to save money. Drivers insist that it is hard to earn a living when they have to pay to maintain their vehicles as well.

The companies disagree. Lyft insists that many of their drivers use the service as a source of extra income, not their main income. They maintain that 91% drive fewer than 20 hours a week and noted it has not changed its rates in 12 months. Uber says that the rate changes will allow drivers to have more autonomy over how they earn by affording them the opportunity to make their own schedule.

Rideshare Drivers United are seeking a resolution similar to the rideshare situation in New York City, which sees drivers receiving a $28 per hour salary before expenses (although Lyft and Juno are currently challenging that ruling in court). Additionally, the group would like to be able to have the right to organize, without retaliation. While Uber was recently ordered to pay $20 million in a settlement to California and Massachusetts drivers, it was considered a victory for the company as it could classify drivers as contractors, not employees.

"It is the right of every person in this country, as an employee of a company who provides a service, to make a living wage," said Carney Shegerian.

About Shegerian & Associates:

Shegerian & Associates has won clients over $300 million in employment-based disputes and maintains a 98% success rate. We have offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside and New York.

Media Contact:

Pace Public Relations

Caroline Kropke

[email protected]

SOURCE Shegerian & Associates
The Everyday Drone contains the Explore1 high precision UAV, the Edge1 integrated GNSS base station and edge compute module, and the Viewer, an online data visualization and analysis tool, all packaged into one, commercial grade kit. The Everyday Drone allows a user to experience industry-leading time to data without needing Ground Control Points (GCP), and the ability to seamlessly integrate precision aerial data into their Smart Construction Workflow.

In common construction workflows, the time to data using traditional surveying methods could take weeks until project stakeholders can view or analyze their job site data. With the Edge1, customers are able to leverage a seamless GCP free workflow that consistently delivers sub 50 mm accurate data, in arbitrary or local coordinate systems within 30 minutes, saving countless hours and labor costs.

"We are now using the Everyday Drone at the start of projects to collect whole site information for pre-tender and bidding capability, comparing against 3D design surface to provide fleet and project managers real, accurate information viewed in the Smart Construction Application. This allows them to work out their cut and fill volumes with accuracy from the beginning, and enables the project tender team to select the right machines for the project optimising fleet recommendation and empowering the team to make the right, data-based decisions from the start," says Aaron Marsh National Technology Solution Expert Manager - Smart Centre at Komatsu Australia Pty Limited.

"Skycatch is proud to offer a better way of accessing precision data on-site. With traditional methods, the solutions are piecemeal, cumbersome, and time-consuming. Now, customers are able to make informed decisions about changes to what was planned and what is actually happening on site in near real-time, ultimately providing greater productivity, increased profit and reducing project risk from beginning to end," says Christian Sanz, Skycatch Founder, and CEO.

Customers in Australia have already experienced the benefits of the Everyday Drone Solution, shared James Mackenzie, National Remote Support Manager at Komatsu Australia. They went out to test the receptiveness of a drone solution in the market, originally in Civil Construction and quickly expanded into Quarry sites. Mackenzie was able to survey 6 quarries in 5 days for different customers, post-processed in the cloud, receiving the data back the next day. "Compared to a traditional survey, this is 100% more productive and efficient," says Mackenzie. "By using the Everyday Drone, customers are no longer putting themselves in harm's way, surveying around heavy machinery or climbing up unstable stockpiles at risk of twisting an ankle". He also noted that customers immediately appreciated the fast turn-around-time, the ease of use, and the ruggedness of the products.

"Skycatch's ability to provide near real-time data throughout the entire project is vital, and being able to deliver that to the customer, supervisor and give project teams the ability to make decisions throughout the project easily with usable, accurate data is key to the success of the project as a whole, not just in siloed environments is priceless," says Marsh.

About Skycatch

Skycatch is the leading industrial data collection and analytics company, focused on indexing and extracting critical information from the physical world. We use a combination of hardware, software, and artificial intelligence to deliver high precision data at unprecedented speed and ease of use. Built for enterprise, our turnkey solutions are deployed across global project sites with the world's largest construction, mining, and energy companies. For more information, visit www.skycatch.com

About Komatsu Australia

Komatsu is a manufacturer of utility, construction and mining equipment and over the past 6 years has been a key driver for change in the way OEMs typically do business. Leading the way in technology and innovation in the solution based business.

Komatsu has been supplying and supporting Komatsu equipment to Australian contractors, quarries, miners, farmers, and other end users since 1965  celebrating our 50th anniversary of Australian operations in 2015.

Today we are a strong member of the worldwide Komatsu family, with sales, service, support and parts facilities throughout Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia  and able to draw on the global resources of Komatsu to ensure the ongoing success of our customers.

We are very proud of our deep engagement with the Australian community, through our dedicated management and staff, our business partners and suppliers, our support for community organisations, and of course our customers and the industry sectors they serve.

Media Contact: Jackie Guilbault | Skycatch Marketing Director | [email protected]

SOURCE Skycatch, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.skycatch.com


KYOTO, Japan, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, located in the ancient Japanese capital, is an art museum possessing a broad array of works associated with Kyoto. In the leading cultural city in Japan, really diverse artworks have been nurtured during its long history. The museum stores and exhibits a wide variety of artworks such as ceramic artworks, dyeing artworks, metal artworks and other craftworks, including those by artists designated as living national treasures, besides Japanese paintings based on traditional techniques as well as Western-style paintings, sculptures and photos inspired by Western art. Artworks on display at the museum are replaced several times a year, allowing visitors to enjoy the diversity of artworks from a new perspective whenever they visit there.

(Images: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/201903264694?p=images)

In addition to some of these collections on display, an exhibition of Japanese "kimono" folk costumes and other works Kyoto textile-dyeing artists made from the 1960s to date is currently underway at the museum. It will be followed by an exhibition of ceramic works by prominent modern Kyoto potter Kawai Kanjiro.

Okazaki Park, where the museum is located, is one of Kyoto's best cultural areas, dotted with museums, theaters, a library and a zoo as well as famous old shrines and temples, including Heian Jingu Shrine and Nanzen-ji Temple. The area, known as a popular cherry blossom-viewing spot, is best suited for taking a stroll.

Main exhibitions in spring and summer

- "Kyoto Textiles: From the 1960s to the Present"

Underway through April 14

Techniques of "dyeing" and "weaving" as well as designs by 28 Kyoto dyeing artists from the 1960s to date are being shown through their works on display.

- "Potter Kawai Kanjiro: Works from the Kawakatsu Collection"

April 26-June 2

The exhibition will introduce ceramic works by Kawai Kanjiro, a leading artist in the folk art "Mingei" movement in Japan .

Free guide apps explaining artworks on display, mainly collection exhibitions, are available in English, Chinese and Korean.

For further details, visit the museum's official website:

www.momak.go.jp/English/

SOURCE The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Health policy expert Kev Coleman, president and founder of AssociationHealthPlans.com, today issued the following statement in response to a federal judge's ruling to strike down a regulation that expands access to association health plans:

"Judge Bates' ruling on the new Department of Labor regulation is not only disappointing but also represents clear harm to small businesses across the nation. Thousands of employees and family members within the small business community have already enrolled in association health plans  which help lower health care costs  since they first became available last fall. They have provided a means by which broad benefits may be accessed at more economical prices. While I do not believe today's ruling will survive appeal, I believe Judge Bates' decision is an unnecessary detour on small businesses' path toward more affordable health coverage."

It is important to note that while this lawsuit was filed before the new regulation was implemented, it did not stop insurers and employers from moving forward with these plans. Clearly, insurers, employers and chambers of commerce have confidence in this emerging market.

AssociationHealthPlans.com plans to release a new study next week that analyzes the work that chambers of commerce have done in launching new association health plans.

Today's decision was issued by U.S. District Judge John Bates in State of New York v. U.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor regulation  which has staggered implementation dates, the last of which is April 1 of this year  makes it easier for small employers to band together to offer more affordable health insurance plans previously available only to large companies.

Kev Coleman is founder and president of AssociationHealthPlans.com, the leading online resource supporting the emerging association health plans market. AssociationHealthPlans.com is headquartered outside Nashville, Tennessee.

CONTACT: Amy Fletcher Faircloth

[email protected]

(720) 460-0276

SOURCE AssociationHealthPlans.com

Related Links

https://www.associationhealthplans.com


NEW YORK and PARAMUS, N.J., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC, an employee-owned, full-service independent partnership associated with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (member FINRA/SIPC), today announced that Nick Fiegoli and Dennis Reynolds have joined the firm in New York, NY and Paramus, NJ, respectively.

Mr. Fiegoli joins Steward Partners from UBS where he oversaw $140 million in client assets and focused on being a personal advocate for clients, providing professional advice tailored to each of their unique circumstances, priorities and financial goals.

Mr. Reynolds joins the firm from Wells Fargo, where he oversaw $72 million in client assets and helped guide clients through all aspects of their financial lives. He understands that every client has different values and goals, and he works with them to create a customized plan to help them achieve those goals.

"Dennis and Nick are both highly-talented advisors who share the same values as all of us at the firm, starting with putting clients first," said Tim Sheridan, Divisional President at Steward Partners. "We couldn't be happier to welcome them to our growing Steward Partners family, and are excited that so many talented advisors continue to see the value in our model and everything Steward Partners has to offer."

"Today's an exciting day, and I'm thrilled for the opportunities and value my new home will create for my clients," said Nick Fiegoli. "The resources available at Steward grant me so much more flexibility, which in turn allows me to provide more solutions and better serve my clients."

Added Dennis Reynolds: "I'm thrilled to be a part of Steward Partners' quickly growing team in New Jersey and Raymond James' network of advisors. I can't wait to begin speaking with my clients about everything now available to them and look forward to starting this next stage of my career."

Mr. Fiegoli joins the firm as a Managing Director while Mr. Reynolds joins as a Senior Vice President. Mr. Fiegoli will be based in Steward's New York City location, while Mr. Reynolds will be based in Steward's Paramus location, one of two offices that Steward operates in New Jersey.

About Steward Partners Global Advisory

With offices in Newtown, CT., Washington, D.C., Clearwater, FL., Andover and Boston, MA., Baltimore and Bethesda, MD., Portland, ME., Keene, Manchester and Portsmouth, NH., Paramus and Morristown, NJ., Albany and New York City, NY., Dallas and Houston, TX., and Richmond, VA., Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC, is an employee-owned, full-service independent partnership catering to family, institutional and multigenerational wealth. For more information, visit us at www.stewardpartners.com.

About Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. is a financial services firm supporting independent financial advisors nationwide. Since 1974, Raymond James Financial Services Inc., member FINRA/SIPC, has provided a wide range of investment and wealth planning related services through its affiliate, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC. Both broker/dealers are wholly owned subsidiaries of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE: RJF) a leading diversified financial services company with approximately 7,800 financial advisors throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. Total client assets are $785 billion.

Steward Partners Holdings, Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC, Nick Fiegoli and Dennis Reynolds maintain a separate professional business relationship with, and our registered professionals offer securities through, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC, 1776 I Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20006. Toll Free: (844) 801-8268.

Media Contact:

Jesse Chen  Water & Wall Group

212-625-2365

[email protected]

SOURCE Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC

Related Links

http://www.stewardpartners.com


HONG KONG, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics, the leading international insurance think tank of the insurance industry, recently published its latest analysis report, Healthcare in Emerging Markets: Exploring the Protection Gaps (the "Report"). The Report said that internet technology has the potential to greatly improve health service efficiency, expand or scale up treatment delivery to millions of patients in emerging countries and ultimately improve the outcomes of patients. In addition, the Report focused on analysing the service mode and network of Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited ("Ping An Good Doctor", or the "Company"; Stock code: 01833.HK), China's largest online healthcare platform, and believed that the Internet medical enterprises represented by the Company are playing a positive role in improving the quality of China's medical services.

Established in 1973, the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics, also known as The Geneva Association, is a non-profit organization funded by its members. It is comprised of chief executive officers (CEOs) from the world's top insurance and reinsurance companies, which identifies fundamental trends and strategic issues where insurance plays a substantial role, or which influence the insurance sector. This is the first time that the association has released the analysis for the sector, and provided solutions for the sustainable development of global medical and healthcare services by analyzing the supply and demand structure and funding sources of current healthcare services in emerging markets.

The Report took Ping An Good Doctor as an example and provided a comprehensive introduction to the development of internet healthcare in China. Ping An Good Doctor has a nationwide network of healthcare service providers covering 3,100 hospitals, 1,100 health check-up centers, 500 dental clinics and 7,500 pharmacy outlets. It also provides users with one-stop services, including online consultation, hospital referral and appointment, inpatient arrangement, second opinion services and one-hour drug delivery. Ping An Good Doctor is expanding to Southeast Asia by establishing an international joint venture with Grab to meet the growing needs of the region.

"Emerging countries continue to suffer from gravely insufficient healthcare funding, which will reduce the healthcare quality and ultimately the health status of citizens," said Jad Ariss, the Secretary General of The International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics. In the last two decades, the share of total aggregate global expenditure on healthcare in GDP has increased from about 8% to almost 10%, driven by the accelerating cost of medical treatment and increasing customer demands. Digital health initiatives shall help emerging markets expand coverage and access, enhance medical services quality and reduce and optimize cost.

According to the Report, internet healthcare can significantly increase the scope of local medical services, and patients can access medical and health information more quickly and efficiently through their mobile phones. By adopting digital healthcare solutions, patients in China could enjoy both better access to and quality of services as well as more convenience. Providers are set to benefit primarily from efficiency and productivity gains. Payers can control fees effectively.

SOURCE Ping An Good Doctor
LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Todd-AO  commitment to productivity and performance marches forward with the release of PhADR , an iOS  App for professional working Actors.

Professional actress Marina Orlova in an ADR session with PhADR. PhADR is an iOS application designed to help Actors conveniently record and replace their dialog, commonly known as ADR. Producers prefer to record ADR at professional ADR studios but sometimes it is impractical. Our goal is to help the Actor record with performance in mind and check for matching as if they were in a studio. The post team emails QuickTime videos to the Actor who then returns recorded ADR Takes back via email. TODD-AO recommends recording in a quiet room with heavy fabrics, and using the Rode  Videomic ME L (Lightning Connect & 3.5mm with Headphone Out) The PhADR Solution. PhADR provides the Actor with the sync and performance reference found in a traditional ADR studio, on an iPhone or iPad. The Actor can preview, record, and playback in order to perfect their performance

Why PhADR ? Actors recording on iPhones  has proliferated.

Actors scatter all over the world after a feature film or television production wraps. Around 2013, Actors started recording their replacement dialog on cell phones. The biggest problem with these recordings was that the performance, pitch, and sync were usually disconnected from the original performance. Secondly, the recordings were compressed (degraded) and of poor quality.

Sound Editors and Re-Recording Mixers have gallantly tried to match these cell phone recordings with a myriad of tricks. Their common complaint was that they could make the poor recordings "work" if the Actor's performance had matched better.

The PhADR Solution.

PhADR provides the Actor with the sync and performance reference found in a traditional ADR studio, on an iPhone or iPad. The Actor can preview, record, and playback in order to perfect their performance. TODD-AO recommends recording in a quiet room with heavy fabrics, and using the Rode  Videomic ME L (Lightning Connect & 3.5mm with Headphone Out).

PhADR is now available on the Apple  App Store .

PhADR is $19.99 per year for unlimited recordings. The Editor spots the ADR beeps and sends the Actor individual QuickTime movies via email, the Actor imports the movies into PhADR, Records ADR, and sends the WAVs back to the Editor.

Social Media Networks Youtube | Instagram | Twitter

About TODD-AO

TODD-AO operates one of the finest and largest ADR Stages in the world through a partnership with Deluxe , in the historic TODD-AO / Glen Glenn Studios building in Hollywood, California. The company focuses on post-production sound services, sound editorial, and software development for post-production sound. Absentia DX , TODD-AO's first software release has been nominated twice for an Outstanding Post-Production Software award by the Cinema Audio Society .

For more information contact: Rob Nokes, 3109636177, [email protected]

Links: PhADR.com , TODD-AO.com , AbsentiaDX.com , bydeluxe.com , Cinemaaudiosociety.org/ YouTube channel

SOURCE Todd-AO

Related Links

http://TODD-AO.com


HONG KONG, SUZHOU, China and HANGZHOU, China, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcenta Holding (Transcenta) today announces that its wholly-owned subsidiary, HJB, has signed an exclusive agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) to license a portfolio of novel biotherapeutics programs in the therapeutic area of bone diseases for development and commercialization in Greater China, including the phase 2-completed Blosozumab, a humanized antibody to sclerostin. Transcenta will be responsible for the overall preclinical/clinical development, regulatory filing and manufacture of these biologic therapeutics. As part of this transaction, Lilly will receive an upfront payment in cash plus equity shares in Transcenta, and will be eligible for potential regulatory and sales milestones, and commercial royalty payments.

Blosozumab has been studied by Lilly as a potential treatment for osteoporosis. It is the second novel biotherapeutics in anti-sclerostin class to have completed phase 2 clinical trials in the US and Blosozumab is expected to enter clinical trials in China next year. Several other novel biologic assets to treat bone diseases at earlier pre-clinical development stages are also included in this deal.

"We are excited to sign this license agreement with Lilly, a global leader in innovative medicines with successful experience in the area of osteoporosis. This license demonstrates our commitment to developing innovative medicines to meet unmet medical needs in China," Transcenta's Executive Chairman Dr. Jonathan Zhao emphasized.

"As a China-based biotherapeutics company, Transcenta is committed to discover and develop innovative medicines for meeting the unmet medical needs in China. China has a large number of patients with severe osteoporosis at risk of fracture. Our expertise in bone disease research and clinical development, process and manufacturing capability for antibody therapeutics, and strong investor support make us an ideal company to commercialize this innovative product in China," Transcenta's Chief Executive Officer Dr. Xueming Qian added.

"Lilly is committed to working with capable companies around the world to develop meaningful treatments for patients," said Ruth Gimeno, Ph.D., Lilly vice president of diabetes and metabolic research. "We believe this transaction with Transcenta offers a great opportunity to potentially help patients in China that have osteoporosis and other bone issues."

About Transcenta Holding Limited

Transcenta Holding Limited is a clinical stage biotherapeutics company with fully-integrated capabilities in research, development, regulatory and manufacturing of biologics. With five global sites, Discovery Research, Translational Research and Clinical Development Center in Suzhou, Process and Product Development Center and a next-Generation Manufacturing Facility in Hangzhou, and additional Clinical Development Centers in Shanghai, Beijing and Boston, US, Transcenta has over 10 innovative pipeline molecules in development in oncology and select non-oncology areas. Transcenta's mission is to deliver high quality innovative biologics at affordable price to patients around the world.

SOURCE Transcenta Holding
MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Tru-D SmartUVC, an industry leader in UVC disinfection, will attend and exhibit its innovative technology at the Association for Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Surgical Conference and Expo April 7-9, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee at booth #1738. The industry standard in advocating for excellence in perioperative practice and health care, AORN provides more than 42,000 members with education and resources for safe clinical practice and professional development.

Tru-D to exhibit at 2019 AORN Conference and Expo

"As important as handwashing, manual cleaning and antibiotic stewardship are to your infection prevention protocols in the OR, so is incorporating enhanced terminal room disinfection," Alice Brewer, Director of Clinical Affairs for Tru-D SmartUVC, said. "Tru-D has been shown by multiple studies to provide a cleaner and safer operating environment using chemical-free and environmentally-friendly UVC energy."

A recent manuscript accepted by the Journal of the American College of Surgeons examined C. diff in adult surgical patients. The paper, "Multidisciplinary Approach and Clostridium difficile Infection in Adult Surgical Patients," discusses the multidisciplinary program that Duke University Medical Center implemented to reduce its C. diff rate.

Strategies to reduce CDI included antimicrobial stewardship optimization, increased use of Tru-D SmartUVC for terminal cleaning of CDI patient rooms, increased hand hygiene and PPE signage as well as monitoring in high-risk CDI areas, improved diagnostic stewardship by an electronic best practice advisory to reduce inappropriate CDI testing, education through surgical grand rounds and routine data feedback via NSQIP and NHSN CDI reports.

Using these strategies, observed rate of C. diff decreased from 1.27 percent in 2016 to 0.91 percent in 2017, a 28 percent decrease. Individual hospital results may vary based on numerous factors including adherence to standard disinfection protocol.

"We are excited to meet with attendees at AORN and share more on how Tru-D can help reduce SSIs and HAIs, improving patient outcomes," Brewer said.

The pioneer of UVC disinfection, Tru-D placed the first UVC disinfection robot in a health care facility in 2007, and it is still in operation today. Operating from one placement in the room, Tru-D ensures significant pathogen reduction in direct and shadowed areas and minimizes the chance of human error in the disinfection process. Adjusting for room variables such as size, shape and amount of equipment in the room, Tru-D emits one, lethal cycle of UVC energy to disinfect an entire room. Tru-D is backed by the first-ever randomized clinical trial on UVC disinfection, the Benefits of Enhanced Terminal Room-Disinfection (BETR-D) study. Results showed that enhanced terminal room disinfection strategies using Tru-D decreased the relative risk of colonization or infection from target MDROs among patients admitted to the same room by a cumulative 30 percent when standard disinfection protocols were followed 93 percent of the time.

For more information or to watch a video on Tru-D's technology, visit tru-dpowerofone.com.

About Tru-D SmartUVC

Only Tru-D delivers one automated, measured dose of UVC light to consistently disinfect an entire room during one cycle. Operating from one placement in the room, Tru-D ensures significant pathogen reduction in direct and shadowed areas. Backed by more 20 independent studies, Tru-D's automated, measured dosing capabilities and real-time usage-tracking features make it one of the most advanced UVC disinfection systems available. To learn more, visit tru-d.com.

Christin Yates

Public Relations

Tru-D SmartUVC

901-774-5771

[email protected]

SOURCE Tru-D SmartUVC

Related Links

https://tru-d.com


NEW YORK, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Blockchain markets are seeing signs of recovery, with bullish sentiment reemerging early in 2019. Many blockchain projects have been working hard behind the scenes and are now delivering solutions to the market. Unlike the juvenile environment of 2018, the world is now demanding commercial applications from blockchain projects and to see quality adoptions. The public chain project "Ultrain" has made several breakthroughs in this regard.

Founded in 2017, Ultrain focuses on the development of public technological infrastructure for trusted computing. Its mission is to provide trusted, secure, efficient, and cost-effective distributed computing services to businesses and individuals. Ultrain has announced many recent milestones, such as partnerships with streetwear e-commerce giant YOHO!, blockchain game developers Unitopia Gaming, and energy company Great Resource Energy.

Mars Finance recently interviewed Guo Rui, co-founder and CEO of Ultrain, in response to Ultrain's latest developments.

Mars Finance: Tell us about Ultrain's latest development status

Guo: Ultrain's team has nearly 40 full-time technical staff, most of which are from Ant Financial's Blockchain technology team, including the technical lead of the original Ant Financial Blockchain team. We also have cryptographers and core architects from Google ChromeOS. Most team members have more than 10 years of system development experience, and more than 2 years of blockchain development experience. We released our proof of concept network back in July 2018, which ran with 3000 transactions per second in a cloud environment on 1000 machines. Our public test network went live in October 2018, allowing global users to install the Ultrain software and participate. Our commercial main network system was completed and went live on January 1st this year, and is currently providing services to commercial clients. All of our code is open source, except for consensus code, which will be open sourced by the end of 2019.

Mars Finance: As a public chain, how does Ultrain differentiate itself from Ethereum, EOS and other well-known public chains? From a technical point of view, what are some of the important highlights? For example, what innovations are there with the consensus mechanism? How is TPS being improved?

Ultrain's key innovation is its consensus mechanism, called Random Proof of Stake (R-PoS), which is based on a cryptographically secure Verifiably Random Function to achieve TPS performance improvements. Take EOS as an example, which uses a Delegated PoS consensus mechanism. A group of people chooses a fixed number of others to make decisions based on the number of tokens they hold. R-PoS, on the other hand, randomly selects valid nodes from the network to automatically make their own block proposals, and then randomly selects 10 times as many verifiers to determine whether the previous proposal is correct. The verifiers then decide on which proposal should be added to the chain. This helps Ultrain achieve a 10 second block time, with higher security and decentralization than DPoS. There are no special nodes in the Ultrain network, and all machines are treated equally. Our method can be compared to Bitcoin. Bitcoin uses a hash to implement randomization across the network, while we use a VRF function to implement randomization.

Mars Finance: There are many public chains out there in the market, what is Ultrain's unique advantage?

Guo: Ultrain has a very short confirmation time. Clients won't use a technology that takes minutes to perform an operation in a commercial scenario. Ultrain's 10 second confirmation time meets the needs of existing business scenarios. Secondly, Ultrain's user costs are 1/20 of Ethereum. Third, is low developer onboarding costs. Ultrain's smart contracts are based on JavaScript and are easy to learn. Fourth is privacy protection. Ultrain has a mature zero-knowledge chain solution to meet the privacy requirements of enterprise customers. We are the only public chain currently providing a zero-knowledge proof solution.

Mars Finance: How does Ultrain position itself? What problems do you want to solve in the blockchain industry and traditional businesses?

Guo: Ultrain is positioned as a commercial chain to provide trusted computing services to businesses and commercial clients, leveraging Ultrain's high performance, low price, and privacy protection scheme to help enterprise customers develop blockchain solutions.

Ultrain provides enterprises with a service that we call "trusted computing." Trusted computing is the core value proposition of all blockchain technology, which Ultrain has improved upon. We integrate distributed scheduling technology, resource management technology, micro-service technology and other core technologies to form next generation computing infrastructure.

The core function of trusted computing (and point of differentiation with cloud computing) is that after the data of the enterprise enters the trusted computing platform, the data cannot be tampered with, cannot be destroyed, and is transparent to everyone. This data can be naturally trusted.

Ultrain retains similar flexibility to modern cloud computing services, such as a "pay as you go" flexible model for enterprises, providing companies with a technology-based and low-cost form of trust that facilitates business transactions. This is unimaginable in the traditional business society. In China, the only enterprises with the ability to form low-cost trust are the four major state-owned banks.

We also provide design services for business model upgrades. We serve a wide range of industries and are now commercializing in a number of industries including new retail, logistics, energy, healthcare, advertising, philanthropy, gaming, and data markets.

Mars Finance: It has been historically difficult to find the direct commercial value of DApps. Although Ali Cloud has been established for many years, it still does not directly generate profit. What is Ultrain's business model and how does it generate revenue?

Guo: Alibaba Cloud's large operation cost comes from server procurement and is a model that requires significant asset management. Ultrain adopts a lighter model of operation by creating a decentralized network. Our trusted computing nodes are run by the general public, to which 80 percent of network fees are received by miners, and the remaining 20 percent is paid to Ultrain. Enterprises pay service fees one year in advance, which are locked in a smart contract. The smart contract will automatically perform the service fee allocation according to the above criteria.

Changing smart contract code is only possible via network consensus, which means no one can change or violate business rules once they're deployed, guaranteeing security for all participants.

Mars Finance: What is the uniqueness of Ultrain in terms of community governance? What are the advantages of Ultrain's market expansion?

We are addressing community growth and governance with a two-pronged approach. Firstly, 25 percent of Ultrain's mining revenue (20 percent of all fees) is allocated to community project funding and growth. Allocation is directly sent to a public address for transparency purposes. Secondly, we are adopting a voting governance method, which is provided naturally by the Ultrain system. When there are disputes on the network, votes are made according to the amount of UGAS held by each miner, and the voting result is automatically updated to the Ultrain system.

Another key part of growth is Ultrain's growth is landing key partnerships, such as massive streetwear retailer YOHO!, who joined Ultrain in January. There are now roughly 400 sneaker transactions on chain every day, with a projected 400,000-500,000 transactions this year. Others partnerships include Electric Soul Network, and Great Resources Energy's two Chinese listed companies who will launch applications in the near future. Customers in new retail, logistics, medical, advertising, philanthropy, data market, and other industries will gradually launch applications on Ultrain in the coming months. Ultrain is also actively cooperating with international top 500 companies. It has already launched the Microsoft cloud service market and is connected to Microsoft's Azure joint sales system. Microsoft will also help Ultrain to expand its customers in blockchain enterprise services.

Mars Finance: What is Ultrain's business goal in 2019? What is Ultrian's future vision?

In 2019, Ultrain hopes to serve benchmark enterprises in multiple industries, with established blockchain business models that drive commercialization of 100 DApps. We also hope to establish a secure foundation of the main network by selling 1,000 mining rigs. Our future vision is to serve more enterprises and industries, apply trusted computing services to upgrade business models across a number of business verticals. I expect that Ultrain will integrate blockchain technology with emerging IoT and AI technology to create the programmable business society of the future.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Ultrain
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., an oncology-focused precision medicine company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics to treat cancer, announced that Novartis will present a poster with data from an ongoing clinical trial evaluating the tolerability and preliminary clinical activity of IDE196 as a potential monotherapy in metastatic uveal melanoma (MUM).

IDE196, coded LXS196 by Novartis, is a potent small molecule protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor which IDEAYA plans to develop for the treatment of cancers with GNAQ and GNA11 mutations. Notably, approximately 90% of metastatic uveal melanoma patients harbor activating mutations in GNA11 or GNAQ.

Novartis is conducting an ongoing Ph1 clinical trial, entitled "A Phase I, multi-center, open-label, study of LXS196, an oral protein kinase C inhibitor, in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma" (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02601378). In the ongoing trial, IDE196 is being studied as a single-agent and in combination therapy with HDM201, Novartis' human double minute 2 (HDM2) inhibitor, an important negative regulator of the p53 tumor suppressor.

The IDE196 poster will be presented on April 1, 2019 as follows:

Session Title: Phase I Clinical Trials: Part 2

Session Date and Time: Monday Apr 1, 2019 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Session Location: Georgia World Congress Center, Exhibit Hall B, Poster Section 17

Poster Board Number: 25

IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. has an exclusive license from Novartis for further clinical development of IDE196, together with unrestricted rights to commercialize worldwide.

About IDEAYA Biosciences

IDEAYA is an oncology-focused precision medicine company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics for patient populations selected using molecular diagnostics. Our approach integrates extensive capabilities in identifying and validating translational biomarkers with small molecule drug discovery to select patient populations most likely to benefit from our targeted therapies. We are applying these capabilities across multiple classes of precision medicine, including direct targeting of oncogenic pathways and synthetic lethality  which represents an emerging class of precision medicine targets. For additional information, please visit www.ideayabio.com.

SOURCE IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.ideayabio.com


NOVI, Mich., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Yanfeng Automotive Interiors (YFAI) recently received the Toyota Value Improvement Award 2018 and other honors from Toyota Motor North America. This award was presented to YFAI at Toyota's Annual Supplier Business Meeting in Detroit.

YFAI was honored with the Value Improvement Award which recognizes supplier performance in meeting general and individual targets for design and manufacturing improvements that result in mutually beneficial cost savings.

"We are truly honored to receive this award from Toyota," said David Wang, Vice President and Deputy General Manager, North America for Yanfeng Automotive Interiors. "This award is a testament of our commitment to our customers and our mission of being our customers' preferred partner for automotive interior solutions."

At the event, YFAI also received Certificates of Achievement awards for two North American plants in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and Holland, Michigan that support Toyota. The company also received a Supplier Diversity honor recognizing the company's work with minority-owned companies.

YFAI supplies interior components for the Toyota Avalon, Camry, Highlander, RAV4, Sienna, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra, 4-Runner, as well as the Lexus ES and RX.

About Yanfeng Automotive Interiors

Yanfeng Automotive Interiors (YFAI) is the global leader in automotive interiors. YFAI is redefining how people relax, work and play in their vehicle interiors today and decades from now. Headquartered in Shanghai, the company has approximately 110 manufacturing plants and technical centers in 19 countries and more than 33,000 employees globally. They design, develop and manufacture interior components for all automakers. Established in 2015, Yanfeng Automotive Interiors is a joint venture between Yanfeng, one of the largest automotive suppliers in China and Adient, the global leader in automotive seating. For more information, please visit www.YFAI.com.

SOURCE Yanfeng Automotive Interiors

Related Links

http://www.yfai.com


Patriots in the hunt for third gold ball Coming off a 2020 season in which they went 1-5, the 2021 Mission Veterans Patriots football team may have caught some people by surprise by winning seven of their eight District 16-5A Div. II games and claiming a share of the district title. But while there is
United Nations, March 29 : The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution that calls upon countries to prevent and counter the financing of terrorism, especially in its new forms.

Initiated by France, Resolution 2462 is intended to update existing resolutions and adapt them to new forms of financing of terrorism and new challenges in this field, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

The resolution notes with concern that terrorists may abuse legitimate businesses and non-profit organisations for their activities, and make use of emerging payment methods, such as prepaid cards and mobile payments or virtual assets.

It also expresses concern at the continuing use by terrorists and their supporters of information and communications technologies, in particular the internet, to facilitate terrorist acts, as well as inciting, recruiting, funding, or planning terrorist acts.

Therefore, the resolution calls upon all countries to enhance the traceability and transparency of financial transactions, including assessing and addressing potential risks associated with virtual assets and as appropriate, the risks of new financial instruments, including but not limited to crowd-funding platforms.

It also encourages member states to apply risk-based anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations to virtual asset service providers, and to identify effective systems to conduct risk-based monitoring or supervision of virtual asset service providers.

Furthermore, the resolution encourages competent national authorities, in particular financial intelligence units and intelligence services, to continue to establish effective partnerships with the private sector, including financial institutions, the Financial technology industry and internet and social media companies, in particular with regards to the evolution of trends, sources and methods of the financing of terrorism.

Adopted in 2001 in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US, Resolution 1373 was the first comprehensive resolution imposing obligations on all states to respond to the global threat of terrorism.

Resolution 2462 also affirms the Resolution 1373 and in particular its decisions that all countries shall prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts and refrain from providing any of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts.
Jammu, March 29 : Heavy firing exchanges took place on Friday between Indian and Pakistani soldiers on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmira's Poonch district, Defence Ministry said.

"Around 7.30 a.m., Pakistan initiated the attack violating the ceasefire agreement. There was unprovoked attack launched by the Pakistnai soldiers in Mankote and Krishna Ghati sectors," Ministry spokesperson Lt. Col. Devender Anand said.

They resorted to mortar shelling and also used small firearms to target Indian positions. The Indian Army retaliated effectively, he added.
Washington, March 29 : The US State Department sources have said that they know American residents, either citizens or people with legal status in Washington, were being held in detention camps in Xinjiang, China, the media reported.

The sources however, did not give an exact number of how many residents were being held, but said on Thursday that there were a few, CNN reported.

At a State Department briefing on Thursday, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said he had a new, unconfirmed report about a man in California whose father, a legal US resident, had not been heard from since returning to Xinjiang.

"He had legal status being here, travelled back to Xinjiang after being here with his son in California. And then has not been heard from since. And he's deeply concerned about whether, what his treatment is. He has a number of chronic illnesses, he's a 75-year-old man and an intellectual," Brownback said.

"Entire villages are being encased and people limited on their movement in and out, of the villages in that region that's occurring as well. The situation continues and in some cases appears to be escalating, not de-escalating," he added.

The 2018 State Department Human Rights report estimated that China "arbitrarily detained 800,000 to possibly more than two million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslims in internment camps designed to erase religious and ethnic identities".

The State Department on Thursday night reiterated its travel advisory for US citizens going to China, warning specifically of "extra security measures in the Xinjiang Uigher Autonomous Region".

The Chinese government has defended these camps as a means of fighting what they claim is a rising tide of extremism in Xinjiang.

It claimed that the camps are "vocational and educational training centres for counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation purposes".
Greater Noida, March 29 : Eight persons were killed and over three dozen injured in a road accident on the Yamuna Expressway here in Uttar Pradesh on Friday when a bus rammed into a truck from the rear, police said.

The incident happened at around 5 a.m. at Rabupura in Gautam Buddh Nagar district.

The injured have been pulled out of the badly damaged bus and rushed to nearby medical facilities, an official told IANS.

Condition of more than a dozen passengers is said to be critical.

Prima facie, the police said, the bus driver may not have seen the truck in the dark and hit it from the rear.

The impact of the collision was such that the front part of the bus caved in, shattered and mangled into a steel mesh.

Villagers from nearby informed the police and also helped in the rescue.
United Nations, March 29 : The UN Security Council (UNSC) has demanded that all countries should take stringent action to combat the financing of terrorist organisations and to prosecute those funding terrorism.

A resolution passed unanimously on Thursday said that every nation should have laws to prosecute serious criminal offences, the collection of funds or the provision of resources and services to terrorist organisations or individual militants and enforce them.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, whose country holds the Council presidency for the month, introduced the resolution at the session on terrorism funding. He said that to fight terrorism, the international community must tackle evil at its root by cutting off the sources of financing.

Terrorists have learned to adopt new technologies for their use posing a great challenge, he said. But he added, "our determination must be equally great".

For this, he said, the UN's Office of Counter-Terrorism (CTED) must develop its capacity to combat terrorist financing and work with other organisations.

India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin criticised the lax implementation of the Council resolutions and UN measures against terrorism financing. He said that no effective actions have been taken against those not complying with sanctions.

An expert on countering money-laundering and terrorism financing, Mercy Buku, said that the proliferation of mobile phone-based money transfer services and digital payment systems were vulnerable to exploitation by criminals because of the speed and convenience.

Governments should enact and enforce regulations to ensure that new technologies are not used to finance terrorism, she said via video-teleconference from Nairobi.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) President Marshall Billingslea told the Council that the risks of terrorism financing extend beyond the banking and financial sectors and governments should look for all the ways they may become vulnerable to terrorism financing.

Billingslea, who is also a US assistant treasury secretary, drew attention to factors like corruption, weak governance, and regional instability that create environments conducive to terrorist financing.

FATF, which monitors and takes action against money laundering and terrorist financing, has put Pakistan on a "grey list" of countries that fail to adequately act against financing terrorists.

A delegation from the FATF's Asia Pacific Group was in that country this week for meetings with officials and institutions. According to the Pakistan-based Geo TV, the delegation said that the country had not taken adequate action against eight major proscribed organisations.

At the Council, Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi pleaded that it was difficult to implement the Task Force recommendations because her country's economy was largely cash-based. She asserted that action was being taken to ensure that non-profit organisations did not divert funds to terrorist group.

Regardless of the context, she could not resist taking a pot shot at India, saying that "foreign occupation" of Jammu and Kashmir is "state terrorism".

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
San Francisco, March 29 : The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that has charged Facebook for housing discrimination via its advertising policies, is also probing Google and Twitter's housing ad policies.

According to The Washington Post, the department officials told Twitter and Google about a probe into their advertising policies and a review is still ongoing.

"They want to make sure that other companies aren't getting away with something that one company is investigated for," the report said on Thursday, citing sources.

A Google spokesperson told The Verge: "Our policies are designed to protect users and ensure that advertisers are using our platforms in a responsible manner."

A Twitter spokesperson said that targeted advertising "is prohibited on Twitter and we enforce our policies rigorously".

Earlier, the HUD charged Facebook with housing discrimination, saying the social media giant encouraged and caused housing discrimination through ad targeting.

"Facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live. Using a computer to limit a person's housing choices can be just as discriminatory as slamming a door in someone's face," HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a statement.

The department accused Facebook of allowing advertisers to exclude certain people from seeing ads, including parents, people born outside the US, non-Christians and those interested in Hispanic culture or accessibility matters.

A Facebook representative was quoted as saying they were surprised by HUD's decision.

"We've been working with them to address the concerns and have taken significant steps to prevent ads discrimination," the spokesperson told The Verge.
San Juan, March 29 : Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said he would not sit back and allow his officials to be "bullied" by the White House as tensions escalated between him and US President Donald Trump over slow disaster relief efforts.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Rossello said: "If the bully gets close, I'll punch the bully in the mouth... It would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with courage."

Rossello's top aides told CNN that during a tense encounter at the White House on Wednesday they were warned by senior administration officials that representatives for the US territory were pushing too hard to arrange a meeting aimed at discussing the island's dire situation with the President.

Despite their requests, Trump has declined to schedule a meeting with Rossello to discuss recovery efforts that are ongoing nearly two years after Hurricane Maria hit the island.

According to Puerto Rican officials, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, along with other senior officials, all but threatened the island's representatives during the meeting.

In response to the allegations, a White House spokesman said the administration would continue working with Rossello and his aides on recovery efforts. But he stopped short of saying definitively the President would meet with the governor in the future.

Trump claimed on Thursday he has "taken better care of Puerto Rico than any man, ever", rebutting claims he's ignored the island's plight after Hurricane Maria.

San Juan Mayor Carmen YulAn Cruz Soto responded saying Trump's comments were a reminder that he "cannot lead".

Besides Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 storm, also devastated Dominica and the US Virgin Islands in September 2017. A total of 3,057 people were killed.
Moscow, March 29 : Russia has acknowledged that it has military personnel in Venezuela, saying the deployment is legal and does not alter the delicate balance of power in the region.

In a briefing on Thursday in Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that "Russian specialists" were on Venezuelan soil but declared their deployment to be "in accordance with the provisions of the bilateral intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation" between Moscow and Caracas.

Asked at the briefing by CNN how long they would be deployed, she replied that the personnel would remain in Venezuela "for as long as needed, and as long as the government of Venezuela needs them".

Moscow has continued to back embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, while Washington and more than 50 other nations recognise Juan Guaido, the head of the country's National Assembly, as the South American country's interim president.

Zakharova provided few specifics about the activity of the personnel but said their presence "doesn't violate international law, doesn't change the balance of forces in the region".

She added that Russia had delivered a shipment of humanitarian aid at the request of the Maduro government.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russia was within its rights to send military specialists to Venezuela, CNN reported.

"Russia has a longstanding, highly developed and mutually beneficial relationship with Venezuela," Peskov said in a conference call with the media.

"Russia has contractual obligations based on previously signed documents, contracts to supply special equipment. To implement these contracts, Russia is taking the actions that its taking."

Peskov said Russia's relations with Venezuela should not worry third party countries.

The revelation comes a day after US President Donald Trump urged Moscow to "get out" of Venezuela following reports that Russian planes were arriving in the country.
Manila, March 29 : Maria Ressa, a high-profile Philippines journalist and the Time Magazine Person of the Year, was arrested on Friday at the airport here shortly after stepping off a plane from San Francisco.

Ressa, the CEO of upstart media company Rappler, told CNN that she was later charged with violating the anti-dummy law, legislation related to securities fraud.

The journalist that she was posting bail -- the seventh time that the beleaguered, award-winning journalist has been forced to do so in recent months.

She had to post bail twice on Friday -- once in the sum of $1,709 and a further $2,430 in bail for charges brought at another court.

Rights groups have long alleged that Ressa is being targeted by the authorities as part of a campaign to silence and intimidate Rappler, which has reported extensively on Presidet Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs that has killed thousands.

Ressa's arrest follows that of Rappler's managing editor and five other former and current board members earlier this week.

Ressa told CNN before boarding the flight to Manila that her lawyers were expecting her to be taken into custody upon arrival.

Friday's arrest is the latest in a string of charges levelled against Ressa and Rappler.

She was arrested last month by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation on so-called "cyber-libel" charges, and was forced to spend a night in custody after a bail hearing could not be arranged in time.
Washington, March 29 : US President Donald Trump said that he has asked federal authorities to review the case of "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a hate crime against himself in Chicago, adding that the incident was "an absolute embarrassment to our country".

"I think the case in Chicago is an absolute embarrassment to our country and I have asked that it be -- that they look at it," Trump told the media at the White House lawn on Thursday.

"Somebody has to at least take a very good hard look."

Trump announced earlier on Thursday that the Justice Department would review Smollett's case after conservatives decried a prosecutor's decision on Tuesday to unexpectedly drop all charges against the actor.

"FBI and DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago," Trump said in a tweet. "It is an embarrassment to our nation."

Smollett went to police in January claiming he had been attacked by two men who tied a noose around his neck, poured bleach on him, used racial and homophobic slurs, and shouted, "This is MAGA country", a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

Initially reacting to Smollett's claims, Trump denounced the alleged attack, as others did.

But after Chicago police investigated, they alleged that Smollett had hired two men to stage the attack, though those charges were dropped by the prosecutor on Tuesday.
Washington, March 29 : US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has asked Congress to change the laws to allow for faster deportation of migrant children from Central America, as well as the ability to detain families while they await their day in court.

In a letter to lawmakers on Thursday, Nielsen said her most immediate request is for the authority to return Central American unaccompanied children to their home countries if they "have no legal right to stay", similar to the way the department repatriates Mexican children, CNN reported.

According to Nielsen, the inability to deport these children has resulted in hundreds of Central American children entering Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody each day and ultimately being placed with sponsors in the US.

Nielsen also said she will propose measures to allow DHS to keep migrant families in custody throughout their immigration proceedings, as well as a plan for Central Americans to apply for asylum in their home countries.

The administration has repeatedly called on Congress to make some of these changes to US law.

She wrote that the department needs these changes because it is "increasingly unable" to uphold its responsibility to control the situation at the southern border.

The letter comes a day after the Secretary signed a regional agreement with the so-called Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to try to address illegal immigration, combat criminal organisations and ultimately help with US border security.
Washington, March 29 : US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, will meet for a summit on April 11 here amid uncertainty over the future of nuclear negotiations with North Korea, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

Moon and Trump will "discuss the latest developments regarding North Korea as well as bilateral matters", CNN quoted Sanders as saying on Thursday.

Their face-to-face will take place after Trump held his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi last month.

The talks fell apart over disagreements on exchanging sanctions relief for steps toward the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

Though the summit ended abruptly, the White House has maintained the leaders left on good terms.

Meanwhile, a South Korean government official said on Friday that Trump proposed the meeting with Moon in a call to him made from the Air Force One after leaving Hanoi.

Trump "proposed to discuss the issues related to North Korea over lunch. President Moon gladly accepted his invitation", the official told the media in Seoul.

Moon has essentially positioned himself as the middle man between Washington and Pyongyang since the two countries began exploring diplomatic negotiations last year.
New Delhi, March 29 : The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the life imprisonment of P. Rajagopal, the owner of South Indian hotel chain Saravana Bhavan, for murdering employee, Prince Shantakumar, in October 2001 to marry his wife on the advice of an astrologer.

The bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana gave Rajagopal time till July 7 to surrender.

The top court's decision comes on the Madras High Court order upholding his life imprisonment.

The High Court had enhanced the 10 year sentence given by a trial court.
Thiruvananthapuram, March 29 : The Kerala Police has intensified its probe into a death threat against former ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair, warning him not to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an intelligence official said here on Friday.

Speaking to IANS, the official, on condition of anonymity, said the threat came in a letter two days ago.

"The death threat that came in a letter, mentions the name of the Jaish-e- Mohammed terror group. It has now been sent for a high-profile forensic examination and the test results are awaited. The police have already registered a case and detailed investigations are going on by multiple probe teams of the Kerala Police," he said.

The 75-year-old Nair, who resides in the heart of the state capital, retired as chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation in 2009 and is a Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee.

He played a crucial role in the design and development of the cryogenic engine for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

Last year, Nair joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
New Delhi, March 29 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached the immovable property of Shabir Ahmad Shah, the President of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP), in Srinagar in a terror financing case, the agency said on Friday.

JKDFP, a separatist political party launched by Shah in May 1998, favours tripartite talks involving India, Pakistan and Kashmir's representatives.

The ED attached Shah's property located in Effandi Bagh, Rawalpora which was being held in the name of his wife and daughters. The attachment was made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

It was shown that the property had been gifted to Shah's wife and daughters by his sisters-in-law in 2005, which was purchased in their name by his father-in-law in 1999, said the ED.

However, the agency said, that in spite of repeated opportunities given to his father-in-law and sisters-in-law, they failed to justify the sources of funds to acquire the property.

"Investigation has also revealed that Shabir Ahmad Shah is the de-facto owner of the property purchased vide unexplained source of fund by his father-in-law."

Shah has been involved in carrying out "illicit activities" along with his accomplice Mohd Aslam Wani, an activist of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), said the ED.

"Shah was using Aslam Wani as a carrier for collecting hawala money sent by his Pakistan-based sympathizers through hawala operators to Srinagar," said the ED.

During the investigation initiated by ED on the basis of charge sheet filled by Delhi Police, Shah admitted that he was not having any source of income and failed to explain any legitimate source of money for his expenses.

Investigation also revealed that he was in touch with Hafiz Saeed, chief of banned outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa, which is based in Pakistan, said the ED.

"Shah had been receiving money for carrying out separatist activities in J&K and has acquired various properties through a maze of dubious transactions," the ED said.

Wani and Shah were arrested by the ED in 2017 on charges of money laundering. Wani was granted bail by the Delhi High Court in January 2019. Shah is still in judicial custody.

Earlier, the Special Cell of Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet alleging that in 2005 Wani was caught with 5 kg of explosive, a pistol with 15 live cartridges and Rs 62,96,000 in cash.

Wani reportedly admitted that Rs 52.96 lakh of the money belonged to Shah and was to be delivered to him in Srinagar.

He further revealed that Shah was directing hawala operators from Pakistan to deliver money to him in Delhi.

Wani also informed police that in the past also he has been acting as a carrier for Shah and has delivered Rs 2.08 crore on various occasions.
New Delhi, March 29 : The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the life imprisonment of P. Rajagopal, the owner of south Indian hotel chain Saravana Bhavan, for murdering an employee in in October 2001 in order to marry his wife.

A bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana gave Rajagopal time till July 7 to surrender.

The ruling comes on the Madras High Court order upholding his life imprisonment. The High Court had enhanced the 10-year sentence given by a trial court.

When contacted, Rajagopal's son P.R. Shivakumar told IANS: "I just got an SMS about the verdict. I have to get more details."

The hugely popular Saravana Bhavan hotel chain has outlets within and outside India and is now managed by Shivakumar.

Rajagopal was arrested on charges of murdering his employee, Prince Shantakumar, so as to marry his wife.
New Delhi, March 29 : The state-run BSNL will hold a crucial board meeting on April 4 to discuss the 2018-19 financial results, the roadmap, investments for 2019 fiscal, increasing of the ceiling limit for capex loans, sources said on Friday.

They also informed that the Public Sector Unit will its services revenues to pay March salaries on time.

"The board meeting is scheduled for April 4 as of now, the approval of the board for raising the ceiling limit for availing the capex loans will be taken and then sent to the Telecom Ministry.

"The meeting will also draw up investment plans for the next fiscal and targets as well," said one of the sources.

Currently the BSNL board has a ceiling of Rs 4,300 crore to raise as capex loans.

The source also said the salaries for March will be paid on time and from BSNL's service billings of own resources.

Service billing would mean the revenues from its access, leased line, enterpise business and broadband services, -- and not the payments from the special projects that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) pays it for doing projects like BharatNet, Andaman and Nicobar telecom projects and Network for Spectrum project.

The BSNL Board has two nominees from the DoT and they would be apprised of the BSNL action and investment plan for the next fiscal to survive the hyper-competition in the sector, challenges, likely expenditure, market conditions and capex, network expansion included.

The PSU has already installed 4G network equipment but they may need some scale up in view of the expected roll out of the LTE based 4G services sometimes in the second half of the year.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is currently examining the BSNL 4G spectrum issue after DoT referred to it.

The DoT has ensured a comfort letter for BSNL to avail Rs 3,500 crore working capital from banks for the maintenance of the networks.

The PSU had a tough time in disbursing its HR bill of Rs 850 crore in February -- the first time in its 18 years of formation -- due to late and reduced arrival of receivables.

The BSNL has at present three proposals pending for its revival with DoT -- its Rs 6,535 crore VRS proposals to bring down employees base from a huge 1.76 lakh crore and the funding of this would be done through 10-year bonds by government. The 4G spectrum issue is currently with the TRAI.

The other proposal is the monetisation of its land which will be decided by the Disinvestment Department of the Finance Ministry as DIPAM is the nodal centre of non-core asset monetisation across Ministries.

With 3G and 2G, BSNL was the only operator besides Jio which could add 9 lakh subscribers (in February) keeping full fledged 4G players like Airtel and Idea Vodafone behind.

The state carrier is facing financial pressure due to lack of full fledged 4G services and a huge workforce as also excessive competition unleased by lower tariffs from Reliance Jio which has affected the entire industry, with BSNL being no exception.

The PSU has 11.5 crore mobile users and has 9.7 per cent market share.

(Anjana Das can be contacted at anjana.d@ians.in)
London, March 29 : UK Prime Minister Theresa May will put only half of her Brexit deal to a vote on Friday, the day Britain was originally meant to leave the European Union.

MPs will vote on the withdrawal agreement, which sets out the terms of the UK's departure from the EU. May had promised to step aside if the MPs give her their approval.

The Prime Minister has already lost two votes on the full Brexit deal by large margins, and Commons Speaker John Bercow has ruled out bringing the same motion back a third time without "substantial" changes.

The Friday vote is May's final attempt to secure MPs' support as senior Cabinet ministers made clear earlier that she must leave No 10 "very soon", the Guardian reported.

According to ministers, their backing is vital if Britain is to avoid a disorderly exit. But opposition Labour Party said it will vote against it, saying that denying MPs a say on the political declaration section of the deal, which outlines the shape of future UK-EU relations, is a "blindfold Brexit".

Around 30 Eurosceptic Tories and the 10 Democratic Unionist MPs were also holding out against the Brexit deal.

The fresh vote, if it passes, would secure a delay until May 22. It will not allow Parliament to ratify the entire withdrawal package, because the law allows this only after the passage of a "meaningful vote" on both parts of the deal, the BBC reported.

MPs will be warned that failure to back the withdrawal agreement this time will lead to a long extension that requires participation in European Parliament elections or crashing out without a deal on April 12.

With European leaders sceptical that such efforts will be successful, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier told diplomats on Thursday that a no deal was now "the most plausible outcome" and ordered work to begin on wargaming the bloc's response.

No 10 insisted that it could still make progress, arguing that passing the withdrawal agreement alone will allow the UK to avoid a cliff-edge Brexit in April and secure another five weeks to renegotiate the political declaration in order win support for the deal in its entirety.

But according to the BBC, with Labour and the Democratic Unionist Party planning to vote against it, it looked like May was heading for another loss.

Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood told BBC Newsnight: "There are some big challenges here. It's a key day and probably the last opportunity to get this particular motion across."
Patna, March 29 : Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, is likely to contest the Lok Sabha polls against the father of his estranged wife and RJD candidate Chandrika Rai from the Saran seat.

The development comes a day after Tej Pratap Yadav announced that he had resigned as the patron of the Rashtriya Janata Dal's student wing after being sidelined by his family and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Party sources said on Friday that Tej Pratap Yadav was angry that his younger brother and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav had named Rai as the RJD nominee from Saran, a seat which was won by their father Lalu Prasad four times.

"Tej Pratap felt insulted and humiliated over the party's decision to field Rai from Saran. He will contest the polls against him as an Independent candidate," a party leader said.

Tej Pratap Yadav is yet to make an official announcement.

In November, he filed a petition in a court seeking divorce from his newly-wed wife Aishwarya Rai. Despite pressure from his family, he refused to withdraw the plea.

Aishwarya is Chandrika Rai's daughter and granddaughter of former Chief Minister Daroga Rai.
New Delhi, March 29 : India on Friday expressed concern and sought clarification from Pakistan on reports that some controversial elements have been appointed by Pakistan to a committee to be associated with the Kartarpur corridor.

It also asked Pakistan to clarify its stand on key proposals put forward by India at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

Informed sources said that India summoned Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah and asked him to clarify Islamabad's response to the issues only after which the next meeting on the modalities of the corridor can be scheduled.

In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues agreed to at the last meeting.

Kartarpur in Pakistan is where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, spent his last years.
Caracas, March 29 : Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido will be barred from holding public office for 15 years, the maximum allowed by law, following a probe that showed irregularities in his financial records, the state Financial Controller has announced.

"Disqualify from holding any public office the citizen Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaido Marquez," Comptroller Elvis Amoroso said on Thursday, following the investigation into his declaration of assets.

Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself interim President in January and has the support of more than 50 countries, including the US.

The decision will be "for the maximum period established in the decree with the scope, courage and strength of the law against corruption", Amoroso said.

According to the BBC, the decision to stop Guaido from holding office will come into force if he decides to put himself up for re-election at the end of his current term in the National Assembly.

Guaido rejected Amoroso's announcement, saying that he was "not auditor general".

"The legitimate congress is the only one with power to designate an auditor general," he said.

Last week, Guaido's Chief of Staff Roberto Marrero, 49, was accused of planning "acts of sabotage" against officials after being arrested.

Marrero's arrest sparked international condemnation, with the US, the European Union and Latin American nations demanding his immediate release.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said that "weapons and foreign currency" were found by intelligence services during a raid on his home.

Guaido said the security forces had committed an "illegal and unconstitutional" act, adding that he believed the items allegedly found at Marrero's home had been planted there.

With the backing of the Donald Trump administration, Guaido has been leading calls for Nicolas Maduro to stand down as President as discontent with his socialist regime grows.

Guaido and Maduro each claim to be the constitutional President of Venezuela. After Guaido declared himself interim leader, his assets were frozen and the Supreme Court, dominated by government loyalists, placed a travel ban on him.

But the 35-year-old opposition leader defied that ban in February when he visited Latin American countries to garner support.

Maduro, who still has the support of China and Russia, accuses the opposition of being part of a US-orchestrated coup.
San Francisco, March 29 : An anti-LGBTQ app on the PlayStore that influences a person's sexual orientation using psychological or spiritual interventions has raised questions about Google's corporate equality ideals leading to the search engine's suspension from the CEI rating.

The app "Conversation therapy" originates from a non-profit organisation -- Living Hope Ministries -- which "proclaims a Christ-centred, Biblical world-view of sexual expression rooted in one man and one woman in a committed, monogamous, heterosexual marriage for life because anything less than this ideal falls short of God's best for humanity".

US-based LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group -- Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation -- has suspended Google from its 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for failing to remove the app from PlayStore, USA Today reported on Thursday.

The CEI is a report published by the HRC Foundation as a tool to rate American businesses on their treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) employees, consumers and investors.

"Pending remedial steps by the company to address this app that can cause harm to the LGBTQ community, the CEI rating is suspended," the report noted.

"Conversation therapy" is a practice that is used to influence a person's sexual orientation or gender identity using psychological or spiritual interventions.

Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have removed the app from their platforms and currently, petition-filing platform Change.org has collected over 1,40,000 signatures for removal of this app from PlayStore.

Google's suspension from the CEI comes as a shock especially because the company has been known to support the LGBTQ community.

In 2018, Google scored a full 100 per cent on the CEI report.

Google has not yet commented on the matter.
Dubai, March 29 : Asian cinematic icon Jackie Chan hosted a special dinner for Indian actor Sonu Sood where they discussed plans for a second instalment of their film "Kung Fu Yoga".

Sonu had featured with Chan in Stanley Tong's 2017 action-comedy "Kung Fu Yoga".

When Chan, who is shooting for "Vanguard" with Tong here, got to know that Sonu is also in the same city, they decided to arrange a dinner for him.

"The whole dinner thing was very special. Everyone was so emotional," Sonu said in a statement.

"Friendship is one thing which can't be put in words. It stays with you. It really made me emotional," he added.

According to a source, Sonu is very close to Chan and his family.

"When they got to know about Sonu being in Dubai, they wrapped up the shoot early to host an exclusive dinner for him in an Italian restaurant.

"They also discussed 'Kung Fu Yoga 2', which Stanley is already writing. After wrapping up 'Vanguard', they are planning to start the sequel which will see Jackie and Sonu collaborate again," the source added.
Kathmandu, March 29 : Nepal on Friday unveiled dozens of private and public projects worth $30 billion at the start of a two-day investment forum.

The government is looking to boost growth in the Himalayan country, which is classified by the UN as one of the world's 48 least developed countries, reports Efe news.

"We need to attain a double-digit growth over the next years. A tentative estimation (...) is that the country would require an investment of over 97.77 trillion Nepali rupees (about $88.18 billion) over the next five years," Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said at the Nepal Investment Summit 2019's inauguration here.

"Domestic resources alone would not be sufficient to meet this requirement," he added.

More than 600 investors and high-level officials from multinational companies and organisations from 40 countries were expected to take part in the Nepal Investment Summit 2019.

More than half were expected to be from India and China.

Nepal is also often severely affected by natural disasters and is still recovering from the 2015 earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people.

According to Systematic Country Diagnostic report of the World Bank, Nepal's growth has been much lower than that of the other economies in the region during the last 20 years, growing at an average rate of 4 per cent annually.

To address this, the government has begun looking outward to stimulate its economy following years of instability.

"We all know the investment climate was not favourable in past years due to the unstable political situation, labour issues and the energy deficit," said Bhawani Rana, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"Now, the situation has improved. We have a powerful and stable government to deliver optimistic results," added Rana.

She said that the summit would be a platform to demonstrate to the international community that Nepal is open for business.
Patna, March 29 : Visible in his rich oeuvre, the free-spiritedness of 86-year-old artist Himmat Shah took shape when he explored the landscapes of Gujarat and Rajasthan. A tribute to this solitary pursuit, a six-decade retrospective exhibition will open here on April 2.

The comprehensive exhibition "Under the vastness of sky" will be brought to Bihar's capital in a collaboration between Bihar Museum and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA).

As per curator Roobina Karode, Himmat Shah, known for his sculptural "Head" series, wandered and lived amidst the ruins of the pre-historic sites of Gujarat's Lothal (one of the prominent cities of Indus Valley Civilization), on farmlands in arid desert environments, in the wilderness of the dense jungles of Dang and Gir, processing emotions of fear, uncertainty and danger.

Celebrating this free-spiritedness, the two-month expo will celebrate Himmat Shah's inspiring nomadic life lived under an open sky that transformed into the vastness and infinity of space in his work.

It presents around 200 works from the KNMA collection along with loans from the artist. Besides his famous terracotta sculptures, bronzes and drawings, it brings to light his lesser-known mediums and extraordinary body of works - high-relief murals, burnt paper collages, prints and silver paintings.

The selection spans over almost six decades; starting from his early burnt paper collages that he exhibited in the famous Group 1890 exhibition at Lalit Kala Akademi in 1964 to the few surviving silver paintings that will be exhibited for the first time since 1973.

Though trained in painting, Himmat Shah turned to exploring new mediums right after completing his formal education. The exhibition showcases a number of seminal terracotta sculptures from "Head" series to small found objects, vessels and containers.

The exhibition includes around 100 drawings, made from 1957 when he was a student at the Fine Arts Faculty in Vadodara to his most recent works in 2015. They are referenced as anchor-points for the entire exhibition.

Also presented is a gallery of portraits, bronze heads, projected as maquettes of possible future buildings, and his monumental bronze sculptures.

As per art patron and collector Kiran Nadar, Himmat Shah's individualistic and unique contribution to the discourse of Indian art needs a larger audience - something that this retrospective aspires to resolve.

The KNMA-curated exhibition has previously travelled to cities like Jaipur and Delhi.

It will be on display at the Bihar Museum here from April 2 to June 2 during 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except Mondays and public holidays).
Washington, March 29 : US President Donald Trump told supporters at a rally that he had vanquished a corrupt group of Democrats, the news media and the Washington elite, who tried to "nullify" his "historic" election victory by painting him as an "agent of Russia".

"After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead," Trump said at his rally at Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday night.

"The collusion delusion is over," The New York Times quoted the President as saying.

This was his first rally since Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up his the 22-month investigation and found no evidence of collusion between the Trump's presidential election campaign and the Russian government.

"The Democrats need to decide whether they will continue to defraud the public with ridiculous b******t," Trump said during his 22-minute speech.

In vilifying his opponents, Trump was not troubled by the fact that the 300-plus-page report by Mueller is yet to be released, or that Attorney General William P. Barr, in his summary of Mueller's findings, stipulated that the report did not exonerate the President, even if it did not find him guilty of conspiracy or of obstructing justice.

"It's interesting," Trump said. "Robert Mueller was a God to the Democrats. He was a God to them until he said 'no collusion'. They don't like him so much now."

He called the Russia investigation "an extravagant waste of time" and underlined the need to "drain the swamp", and he celebrated his cheering supporters over what he described as the faithless elites in Washington.

"I'm President and they're not... They came, and they didn't even know these people existed," Trump said of the elites.

"I have a better education than them. I'm smarter than them. I went to better schools than them... Much more beautiful house. Much more beautiful everything."

Trump also went after the "fake news" media, celebrating what he claimed was a sharp decline in ratings for CNN and MSNBC after the Mueller findings were released, and predicting they would never regain their credibility.
Beijing, March 29 : China on Friday said it was wrong to accuse it of sheltering terrorists because it put a technical hold on the resolution to blacklist Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group chief Masood Azhar as its decision was in line with the rules of an anti-terrorism panel at the UN.

China has repeatedly blocked resolutions moved by India, the US, the UK and France at the UN to declare Azhar an international terrorist, who is wanted for plotting deadly attacks in India.

Last month, India lamented and the US slammed the latest and fourth technical hold by China on the resolution to ban Azhar at the 1267 UN committee. His outfit JeM claimed responsibility for killing 40 Indian security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir last month.

"If certain country accuses China of sheltering (terrorists) by putting such technical hold, does that mean that all countries that put hold are sheltering terrorists? If this makes sense, shall we say that the country that puts the most holds is the biggest protectors of terrorists?" asked Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang here.

He was responding to a question about Beijing being accused of shielding terrorists.

"At the UN Security Council sanctions committee, the practice of putting technical holds is in line with the stipulations of the committee. It is not China that has put the most hold at the committee," Geng said.

"China put a technical hold with a purpose to conduct a comprehensive and in-depth assessment so as to give enough time and space to dialogue and consultation between the parties.

"China has stayed in close communication with all parties to seek a settlement through the dialogue. We hope all the members of the Security Council will work towards that goal," the spokesperson added.

When asked about the time sought by Beijing to explain the rationale behind the latest technical hold was running out, Geng said: "China has stayed in close communication with all parties on the issue listing. Like we said many times, we will act in a responsible and constructive manner to participate in discussions at the committee."

"We also hope to work with various parties as to seek a proper settlement of the issue.

"And it is improper for me to reveal to you the detailed discussions," the spokesperson added.

The latest technical hold on the resolution by Beijing has prompted the US to turn directly to the UN Security Council and unilaterally circulate a draft of such a request to declare Azhar an international terrorist.

A livid Beijing on Thursday warned the US over the move, asking to act cautiously as its actions could complicate the matters.

Beijing also accused Washington of "bypassing" the UN 1267 Committee and eroding its authority.
New Delhi, March 29 : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday slammed the Congress, while accusing it of coining the "Hindu terror" slogan and filing cases based on fake evidence to gain political mileage.

Days after an anti-terror court in Haryana acquitted Swami Aseemanand in the 2007 bombing of the Samjhauta Express, Jaitley said a decision has to be taken in the end.

"Perhaps because of this, those who considered Hindus as terrorists are now trying to prove their devotion towards religion," he told the media, adding that the trial in court happened on the basis of evidence collected during the UPA regime.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that during the tenure of the UPA, when there was no evidence, the theory of Hindu terror was floated for the first time in the history of the country to tarnish the Hindu community.

"Three-four similar cases were made but none of them could stand in the court. The Congress floated the fake theory of Hindu terror to gain political mileage and tarnished the entire Hindu community. They should apologise to the community," he said.

Last week, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here acquitted all four accused, including Aseemanand, in the February 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast which killed 68 people, mostly Pakistanis.

Slamming the Congress, Jaitley said: "The judgment makes it clear that it was a trial of no evidence... So many innocent people died. Who will take responsibility of this? The responsibility lies with the UPA leadership. The society will not forgive them.

"You did not go towards the real culprits. To create a theory of Hindu terror, you caught the wrong people."

The NIA court had in January 2014 framed charges against Aseemanand, Kamal Chauhan, Rajinder Chaudhary and Lokesh Sharma.
New Delhi, March 29 : India is leading the external storage business for Dell EMC in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region and the country has outpaced others with an all-time high demand for storage, helping the businesses deliver meaningful technology innovation to the customers, a top company executive has stressed.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the external storage market in India grew at 16.7 per cent (year-on-year) in 2018, which is one of the highest in the world.

The most popular external storage device for the Indian companies is an all-flash storage array (AFA) -- a storage architecture designed to take advantage of solid-state memory technology.

Benefits can include low latency, higher IOPS (input/output operations per second), greater storage density and reduced power consumption.

"The Indian companies are ordering AFAs from Dell EMC like never before and the country has beaten others in the APJ region in terms of growth," Kris Day, Vice-President, Modern Data Centre - Asia Pacific & Japan Dell EMC, told IANS.

Dell EMC is currently number one in India in the external storage market.

According to the IDC, India storage market is projected to grow at a CAGR of eight per cent over the next four years while the APJ (excluding China) market is expected to grow at only 1.39 per cent in the same time-frame.

"All-flash array (AFA) is nearly 34 per cent of all storage shipped today. By 2022, it would be 42 per cent in APJ (excluding China). In India, AFA is 37 per cent of all storage shipped today and by 2022, it would be 43 per cent of all storage," said the IDC in its latest report.

External storage offers hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid state drives (SSDs), all-flash and hybrid storage arrays for block, file or object-based storage, or a mix of these.

"Another great observation is that the Indian CIOs and CEOs have understood the importance of moving their operations to Cloud-enabled, software-defined data centres.

"They are looking for cost-effective, modern, scalable, secure and hybrid Cloud experience in an era where data is being generated exponentially," Day noted.

According to him, the Indian enterprises are now striving for Hybrid Cloud and multi-Cloud offerings where the same ease, simplicity and security can be achieved on-premise that a Cloud-only environment is expected to provide, in less cost.

(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
Amaravati, March 29 : In a setback to the Andhra Pradesh government, the High Court on Friday refused to intervene in the Election Commission's order transferring three police officials including Director General, Intelligence A.B. Venkateswara Rao.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice C. Praveen Kumar declined to stay the transfer of the police officials.

Following the High Court order, Chief Secretary Anil Chandra Punetha issued an order, transferring Venkateswara Rao. He was asked to report to the police headquarters. As per the order, no election duty will be assigned to Rao.

The court, which had reserved its orders on Thursday, ruled that there was no case for interim relief.

The state government had challenged the Election Commission's move transferring intelligence chief Rao, Srikakulam Superintendent of Police Venkata Ratnam and Kadapa Superintendent of Police Rahul Dev Sharma.

Advocate General D. Srinivas told the court that the EC's move was biased as it took a different stance in a similar case in Jharkhand. He said the poll panel took immediate action on a complaint by the opposition YSR Congress Party.

However, appearing for the EC, D. Prakash Reddy submitted to the bench that the decision was taken in a normal course of action to ensure free and fair elections.

The EC had Tuesday ordered transfer of three police officials following a complaint by YSRCP that they were working in favour of ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The Chief Secretary had issued an order the same day, transferring the officials.

However, the next day he revoked the transfer of DG, Intelligence. He also issued another order, excluding DG, Intelligence, from the list of designated police officers under the Representation of People Act, 1951.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had also written to the Election Commission protesting the manner in which the transfer of three officials was ordered.

He accused the poll panel of bias and termed the transfers, especially of DG, Intelligence, a conspiracy by YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and abetted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao.

Naidu said that that DG, Intelligence, was not connected with the conduct of election but was responsible for providing security to him, his cabinet colleagues and senior political leaders.
Washington, March 29 : The US Supreme Court has stayed the execution of a Buddhist inmate in Texas whose request that his spiritual adviser be present in the execution chamber was denied.

In a brief, unsigned order, the court on Thursday said that Texas may not execute the inmate, Patrick H. Murphy, "unless the state permits Murphy's Buddhist spiritual adviser or another Buddhist reverend of the state's choosing to accompany Murphy in the execution chamber during the execution", The New York Times reported.

Murphy was sentenced to death for the 2000 murder of a police officer, Aubrey Hawkins. He has been a Buddhist for about a decade, according to court papers.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch said they would have allowed the execution to proceed.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote that the state's policy of allowing only Christian and Muslim chaplains to attend executions amounted to unconstitutional religious discrimination.

"The government may not discriminate against religion generally or against particular religious denominations," Kavanaugh wrote.

"In this case," he wrote, "the relevant Texas policy allows a Christian or Muslim inmate to have a state-employed Christian or Muslim religious adviser present either in the execution room or in the adjacent viewing room.

"But inmates of other religious denominations who want their religious adviser to be present can have the religious adviser present only in the viewing room and not in the execution room itself for their executions."

Murphy's case was similar to one in February in which the court, by a 5-to-4 vote, allowed the execution of a Muslim inmate in Alabama who had asked that his Imam be present.

In Alabama, only a Christian chaplain employed by the prison was allowed in the execution chamber.
Dehradun, March 29 : A teenager went missing two years ago from an Uttarakhand school where a 12-year-old boy has now been murdered and buried.

"We have sought details from police about this missing 18-year-old boy who disappeared in 2017," Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairperson Usha Negi said on Friday after visiting the premises at Ranipokhri near here.

But Negi added that the so-called school where the grisly incident took place early in March was actually an ashram for orphans.

She said she was amazed how such an institute managed an NOC from the Education Department and the CBSE. She said she would inquire into all such institutes being run in the state.

Twelve-year-old Vasu Yadav, a Class 7 student, was killed by two senior students just because he stole some biscuits.

Later, the school management buried the body in the campus in order to hide the matter.

"Other students are extremely scared," Negi said.

Five persons were arrested, including the manager and two students who had thrashed Yadav. They will face murder charges, police said.

The incident came to light after Negi visited the school soon after hearing reports of the death of Yadav on March 10.

"If it is an ashram, how can you obtain an NOC," asked Negi.

The owner of the school was at large, she said. "He is also an accused and must be arrested."

Negi said no CCTVs were installed in the school. "Even villagers are saying that the working of the school looked very suspicious."
New Delhi/Chennai, March 29 : The Election Commission has allotted 'gift pack' as the common symbol for candidates of T.T.V. Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) in Tamil Nadu.

In a tweet, Dhinakaran thanked the Election Commission for allotting the symbol for all its 59 candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls and Assembly by-elections in the state.

"The people were waiting to see the election symbol to be allotted to AMMK. This morning the symbol `gift pack' was announced by the Election Commission," AMMK leader Thanga Tamil Selvan told IANS.

"Reaching out the symbol to the people is not difficult. We are also not perturbed if the `pressure cooker' symbol is allotted to independents," Selvan added.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had refused to recognise AMMK's claim over the 'pressure cooker' symbol, with which Dhinakaran won the R.K. Nagar Assembly by-election last year.

The Dhinakaran-led party, which will contest elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, was formed after he and V.K. Sasikala were ousted from the AIADMK.

The Election Commission has recognised Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami's group as the real AIADMK and allowed it to retain the 'two leaves' symbol.
Mumbai, March 29 : "The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story" director Aneesh Daniel says the movie, which documents the tragic death of an Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his sons in Odisha, is very relevant in the current socio-political situation in the country.

The film is based on Staines, who worked among the underprivileged and leprosy victims in Odisha. In 1999, he was burnt to death along with his two sons allegedly by members of a hardline Hindu organisation inside his station wagon in Manoharpur village in Kendujhar district of the state.

"The story holds relevance even today and we should not forget the history. In fact, at the time of the general election, it holds most relevance," Daniel told IANS when asked why he decided to make a movie on the incident that took place years ago, and release it before the general election this year.

"Because at this moment, people are throwing mud at each other...People to people friendship is getting hampered because of their different political views. I believe this is the time we should talk about forgiveness," he added.

In 2003, Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh was convicted of the murders and sentenced to lifetime imprisonment.

However, Staines' widow Gladys forgave him, and continued to live in India and served leprosy patients till 2004.

Daniel said: "People should forgive each other like how Gladys forgave the killers 20 years back."

The English language film, starring Sharman Joshi, Stephen Baldwin, Shari Rigby, Manoj Mishra, Prakash Belawad, released on Friday.

Daniel says he started working on the film in 2007 when his team got approval from Gladys.

"It is just that it's divine timing. Andrew (Matthews) our scriptwriter came to India twice to research and we also spoke to a number of people who (then) witnessed the incident. We tried to find the right cast for the film, so that the film looks authentic. In fact, the driver who acted as Staines' driver (in the film) is the real person who used to drive Staines and his kids around for a number of years," the director said.

The film was shot in Araku Valley, a city in Andhra Pradesh.

"We shot in Araku Valley because I wanted to give the same feeling of the beauty of Manoharpur. The leprosy home we used is the real leprosy home where Staines served for many years."
Male, March 29 : The Maldivian High Court has ordered the release of former President Abdulla Yameen from detention citing lack of evidence to hold him on allegations of witness tampering, the media reported on Friday.

Yameen was detained in February after a criminal court ordered authorities to take him into custody until a money-laundering case against him was concluded in court, Xinhua news agency reported.

The prosecution asked the court to take Yameen into custody to prevent him from influencing the evidence against him.

However, the Maldivian High Court on Thursday said Yameen could not be held in detention for over a month and the prosecution had not provided any reason to extend his remand in custody.

Yameen was being held under house arrest and not in jail due to ill health, the report said.

The former President is facing allegations of money laundering and the criminal court has already frozen his local bank account holding nearly $6.5 million. He has denied any wrongdoing and appealed against the allegations.
Colombo, March 29 : A Sri Lankan magistrate's court on Friday further remanded nine Iranian nationals who were arrested earlier this week for attempting to smuggle in 100 kg of heroin through the sea.

The Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) told the court that investigations into the drug bust were continuing and they had received details that the suspects had loaded the drugs into the trawler, off the Pakistan coastline.

The suspects were remanded till April 5, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Iranian nationals were arrested last Sunday in the seas off Sri Lanka's southern coast following a joint raid conducted by the navy, Special Task Force and the PNB.

Immediate investigations revealed that as the officers approached the suspects' trawler, they threw 50 kg of the heroin into the sea.

Sri Lankan investigators have since January launched a severe crackdown on drug dealers and smugglers, with several arrests being made within the past two months.
Ayodhya, March 29 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday took a pot shot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying when he does not know anything about villages in his Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency how will he develop them.

Priyanka Gandhi said this as she huddled with a group of women under a scorching sun in Uttar Pradesh's Atka village here.

Launching a blistering attack on Modi two days after his Mission Shakti, Gandhi said, "If you cannot listen to the voice of your people, then what kind of power do you have?"

She also did not spare BJP President Amit Shah and called the saffron party's 2014 promise of giving Rs 15 lakh to every citizen as "rhetoric".

The Congress leader said that the BJP and its leaders stay away from villages and keep on lying.

This is the second time in her three-day tour of the state that the Congress' eastern in-charge of the state has brought up the Prime Minister and his work.

On Thursday, interacting with party workers in her mother Sonia Gandhi's constituency in Rae Bareli, she had surprised the cadres when responding to a query about contesting from her mother's safe seat, Priyanka Gandhi said "Why not Varanasi?"

She also said that Modi does not hug the poor. "He goes to foreign lands and hugs the people there. But he does not hug the poor in India," she said.

"He only meets and greets the rich," she added to loud applause.

Priyanka Gandhi said it was the Congress which had brought the people-friendly schemes like MGNREGA to give employment to people across the country.

"When they were in opposition, they opposed the MGNREGA, but as soon as they came to power they realised how good the scheme was," she said.

"These projects have now gone into the hands of contractors," she alleged, adding that now the people enrolled are not getting money for over six months. "Actually, they want to close this scheme."

"This government wants to snatch the poor people's employment. But the Congress through NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojna) scheme will give Rs 72,000 per poor family," she said speaking about the party's fresh attempt to cater to the impoverished voters.

Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Gandhi said: "When we announced NYAY, BJP said that this is bluff and the government does not have money."

She questioned how then was the BJP working for the industrialists. She accused the BJP government of waiving loans of industrialists but not doing the same for the farmers.

Earlier in the day when she was on her way from Rae Bareli to Faizabad, Gandhi halted at several places. She met women workers and also paid obseisance at Materva Mazaar in Amethi.

The 47-year-old became nostalgic when a Muslim family reminded her of her grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's visit to the village in the 1980s.

They showed her the photographs of their family with Indira Gandhi. As she was being photographed some four decades later, Priyanka wanted to keep her grandmother's picture. An old man said: "Go ahead, we have a copy."

Comparing her party's politics with that of the BJP, Gandhi said: "Their politics is of lie and publicity. It won't work anymore."

She also said that her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi had spoken about the rights of the farmers. She reminded them that Rahul had even gone to Bhata Parsaul to fight for their rights.

During the day, Priyanka Gandhi will also hold a road show in the temple town of Ayodhya.

Before concluding her three-day poll campaign, she will pray at Hanumangarhi temple.

En-route from Rae Bareli to Ayodhya, Priyanka Gandhi received a rousing welcome from party workers at several places.
New Delhi, March 29 : The 2019 Human Development Report (HDR), with its focus on inequality, will be released around this year's last quarter, the UNDP said.

The report will provide a comprehensive picture of the many forms of inequality that are shaping the 21st century. In a statement, the United Nations Development Programme acknowledged that today's world remains deeply unfair.

It said: "The life and prospects faced by a newborn in a poor country or in a poor household are radically different from those of wealthier children. In all societies, long-standing forms of inequality persist while gaps are opening in new aspects of life".

In his blog post, UNDP HDR Office Director Pedro Conceicao said the report will use a framework that looks beyond income (considering inequalities in health, education, tech and exposure to economic and climate-related shocks) and beyond averages (painting a more accurate and timely picture of the state of inequality).

It will also seek to look beyond today by taking a long-term view of inequality and by identifying trends and making projections.

"We are witnessing both convergence and divergence in human development. For instance, in many countries today, gaps have closed when we talk about access to primary education. But differences between children in poor and wealthy households are widening in both early childhood and quality of education.

"These inequalities will have lifetime consequences, particularly given the rapid technological changes, which are likely to impact labour markets. This is just one example of why our analysis of inequality must go beyond income, beyond averages and beyond today," Conceicao explained.

The first HDR in 1990 shifted the economic growth-centric paradigm to the one that also includes giving people opportunities and freedoms to live the lives they would value.

As of March 9, the HDR Office's Statistical Advisory Panel, had brought together prominent members from the statistical community and addressed many aspects of the statistical production for the 2019 report on inequality.
Bhopal, March 29 : A Congress legislator in Madhya Pradesh has submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Kamal Nath over inaction on liquor mafia, alleging the administration is "protecting" them.

Panchi Lal Meda, who represents Dharampuri constituency of Dhar district, told reporters on Friday that a lot of liquor shops are doing business along the bank of the Narmada river, and near educational institutes.

Meda said he demanded the closure of the liquor shops in his area.

"I have been continuously demanding the closure of these shops. But the excise department, district administration and police are patronizing the liquor contractors," he said.

The Congress leader alleged that he was being "insulted" on the directions of liquor contractors. Some women were also provoked and made to talk to him in indecent language on phone.

"When I went to the police station to report this, I was surrounded by one contractor and some women. The Superintendent of Police, on being informed, told me to leave from the back door," he said.

Meda alleged that he was "humiliated" by the police and "made to sit for four hours" when he went to the police station.

He said he is "pained to see that the liquor mafias are receiving patronage even as the Congress is in power in Madhya Pradesh".
New York, March 29 : Global warming could expose as many as a billion people to mosquito-borne diseases including dengue and Zika by 2080, says a new study that examined temperature changes on a monthly basis worldwide.

The study found that with the rise in temperature, dengue is expected to have a year-round transmission in the tropics and seasonal risks almost everywhere else. A greater intensity of infections is also predicted.

To understand, researchers from Georgetown University in the US looked at temperatures month by month to project the risks through 2050 and 2080.

While almost all of the world's population could be exposed at some point in the next 50 years, places like Europe, North America, and high elevations in the tropics that used to be too cold for the viruses will face new diseases like dengue.

On the other hand, in areas with the worst climate increase, including west Africa and southeast Asia, serious reductions are expected for the Aedes albopictus mosquito, most noticeably in southeast Asia and west Africa, revealed the study, published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes can carry dengue, chikunguyna and Zika viruses, as well as at least a dozen other emerging diseases.

"Climate change is the largest and most comprehensive threat to global health security," said Colin J. Carlson, postdoctoral candidate in Georgetown University in the US.

"The risk of disease transmission is a serious problem, even over the next few decades," Carlson added.

Dengue is the fastest growing mosquito-borne disease across the world today, causing nearly 400 million infections every year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The 2018 data from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) and National Health Profile showed that cases of dengue increased 300 per cent -- from less than 60,000 cases in 2009, it increased to 188,401 in 2017.
Kathmandu, March 29 : Declaring that the pre-condition of political stability for economic development now stands fulfilled in Nepal, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday inaugurated the Nepal Investment Summit 2019, saying that political transformation cannot be sustained without an economic one.

The two-day summit, organised by the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) with the objective of promoting the landlocked Himalayan nation as an investment destination, is the third of its type after the first in 1992 and the second in 2017, which was held after the adoption of Nepal's new Constitution in 2015.

"Political stability is absolutely fulfilled now. Also political consistency, as well as legal, institutional and policy reforms, have been the best last year," Oli said.

"Political transformation alone cannot be sustainable without economic transformation. The Constitution of 2015 has ended the protracted political transition and has brought optimism for economic development," he added.

According to the IBN, over 600 foreign delegates from 40 countries were participating in the summit. Of these, 265 were from China and 120 from India.

Oli said that as many as 77 viable projects (50 public and 27 private) worth $32 billion were being showcased in the event. The projects were in the areas of hydropower, agriculture, industry, tourism, transportation, urban infrastructure, education and health.

Noting that Nepal aims to move up from its least developed category status to become a middle income economy by 2030, Oli said that the country will need investments of nearly $90 billion in five years to achieve its objective of rapid economic transformation.

Highlighting the reforms undertaken by his government to improve ease of doing business, Oli pointed to the three key legislations passed in the period leading up to the summit. These were the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, Public Private Partnership and Investment Act and the Special Economic Zone Act.

Describing Nepal as "virgin land" offering tremendous opportunity for investment, he said Nepal will "actively pursue" Bilateral Investment Protection Treaties with foreign countries, as well as Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements.

"The government is fully committed to protect your investments. There is no place for violence in Nepal and disruptions in law and order will be severely dealt with. Repatriation is guaranteed on earning and equity," the Prime Minister said.

Companies from India taking part in the summit included Dabur, Muthoot Group, Nestle India, CDC India, Hester Bioscience, Exim Bank and SJVNL.

(Biswajit Choudhury is attending the Nepal Investment Summit 2019 at the invitation of IBN. He can be reached at biswajit.c@ians.in)
Bengaluru, March 29 : Outgoing Congress Lok Sabha member S.P. Muddhanumegowda withdrew his nomination from the Tumkur constituency where Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda is the joint candidate of the ruling allies in Karnataka, said a party official on Friday.

"On the party high command's directive, our sitting MP Muddhanumegowda has withdrawn his nomination from the Tumkur parliamentary seat and agreed to campaign for Gowda who is the joint official candidate," Congress spokesman Ravi Gowda told IANS here.

The 'rebel' MP withdrew from the contest on the last date of withdrawal for the first phase of polling in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies. Polling in the first phase will be held on April 18.
Alipurduar: BJP chief Amit Shah with party leaders Mukul Roy, Kailash Vijayvargiya and Rupa Ganguly during a public meeting at Parade Ground in Alipurduar district of West Bengal, on March 29, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Patna, March 29 : BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said that only Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and no one else, can give a befitting reply to terror and Pakistan.

"If you want a befitting reply to terror and Pakistan, vote for the BJP to elect Narendra Modi as Prime Minister again. Modi has proved that only he can give a befitting reply to terror and Pakistan, "Shah said while addressing his first election rally in Aurangabad parliamentary constituency of Bihar.

Shah said the outcome of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls will decide the fate of the nation.

The BJP has fielded its sitting MP Sushil Singh from the Aurangabad seat.

Shah reminded a gathering of people that when 40 CRPF troopers were killed in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir PM Modi responded with air strikes against terror and Pakistan. "Modi only can successfully fight against terror".

Shah appealed to the people to reject the Grand Alliance led by Congress President Rahul Gandhi and RJD chief Lalu Prasad. "They cannot give reply to terror and Pakistan, they can only do corruption".

Shah also questioned the Opposition saying who is their PM candidate. "We have a strong candidate in Modi, who led the country to a new high in the last five years but the Opposition has no face to lead the country."
Baramulla, March 29 : Although there are nine candidates in the fray, the main contest for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir will be between Muhammad Akbar Lone (National Conference), Raja Aijaz Ali (Peoples Conference) and Abdul Qayoom Wani of the PDP.

The Congress has fielded Farooq Mir from Baramulla but it would mainly be the firebrand Engineer Rashid who would provide the fireworks during the poll campaign in the constituency as an Independent candidate.

He represented the Langate Assembly seat in the Assembly that was dissolved by Governor Satya Pal Malik in November when President's rule was imposed in the state.

Engineer Rashid has been organising meetings in the constituency. If the attendance at these meetings is proof of his support, then Rashid could ruffle a feather or two.

Former IAS officer Shah Faesal has decided that his party will not contest the Lok Sabha elections. He had earlier said he would stand as a candidate from this Lok Sabha constituency.

NC's Akbar Lone has represented the Sonawari voting segment in the Assembly.

Lone recently stirred a controversy by justifying his earlier act of raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogan. His statement was criticized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he launched the BJP election campaign in Jammu on Thursday.

The seat was represented in 2014 in Parliament by Muzafar Hussain Beg of the PDP. Beg has chosen not to seek re-election from Baramulla.

The entry of the PC candidate Raja Aijaz Ali, who belongs to the Uri border area and is himself a Pahari, has posed challenges to the NC.

PC President Sajad Lone has strong influence in Handwara and Kupwara.

The PC candidate is likely to attract Shia Muslim votes, especially in the Pattan Assembly segment that was represented by Imran Raza Ansari of PDP in the last Assembly.

Ansari has since joined Sajad Lone's PC.

PDP's Abdul Qayoom Wani belongs to Tangmarg voting segment of Baramulla constituency. The PDP's support base has definitely come down after the collapse of the PDP-BJP ruling coalition in the state in June last year.

But writing the PDP off as far as the Baramulla Lok Sabha contest is concerned would be a mistake.

The party still has the potential of getting votes in many segments.

PDP's Abdul Haq Khan, who represented the Lolab Assembly seat, continues to be a crowd puller as he is believed to have retained his vote base in Lolab.

This Lok Sabha constituency is spread over 15 Assembly voting segments in three districts of Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora.

The voting segments include far flung Gurez and Karnah Assembly segments which remain closed due to heavy snowfall for nearly three winter months each year.

The constituency also includes big towns like Baramulla, Sopore, Kupwara, Handwara and Bandipora.

The voting population includes a majority of Muslims with a small minority of Sikh voters concentrated in and around Baramulla town.

There are 18,744 Kashmiri Pandit migrant voters who would be voting at various places outside the Valley for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.

Kashmiri Pandit voters of the constituency migrated out of the Valley in early 1990s. Some still live at a few places in the constituency.

Support bases and pockets of influence notwithstanding, the fortunes of the contestants in Baramulla will depend on the voter turnout.

Voting percentages have been very low in urban areas of the constituency ever since the separatist violence started in the Valley.

In border areas like Uri, Gurez and Karnah, voters have been coming out in good numbers in the last 32 years.

The fortunes of the winners would, therefore, mostly depend on the number of votes they poll in these border segments.

Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency goes to poll in the first phase of the five-phase general elections in Jammu and Kashmir on April 11.

A total of 13,12,148 voters are expected to exercise their democratic right at 1,749 polling stations.
Mahbubnagar : , March 29 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday kicked off the BJP's campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana by targeting Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) calling him the face of the politics of dynasty and appeasement.

Addressing a rally at Bhoothpur in Mahbubnagar district, he also slammed the alliance between the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) saying it can do no good to Telangana.

"This alliance of those who insult 'Bharat Mata' and speak for reservation in violation of the Constitution is only for vote bank politics," Modi said in an obvious reference to the TRS' demand for 12 per cent reservation for Muslims in government jobs and education.

Modi pointed to the nearly three-month long delay in the formation of the KCR government's cabinet in Telangana and poked fun at the Chief Minister's reliance on astrology. "You showed great haste in going for the Assembly elections but there was long delay in forming the Cabinet. Astrology might have been the reason for it," he remarked.

Claiming that KCR advanced the Assembly polls because an astrologer told him that in April-May fortune will favour Modi, the Prime Minister said it would be difficult for the TRS to escape now. "Will Telangana's future be decided by people or jyotish?" he asked.

Appealing to the people to vote for the BJP for a strong India, Modi said their 'chowkidar' had come seeking their blessings once again. He said despite attacks and abuses by his opponents, he ran the government with honesty and worked day and night to make people's life comfortable.

The PM claimed that the development works which were hanging fire for decades were completed while work was on to execute many new projects. "From basic works like sanitation and construction of toilets to conducting missile test to destroying satellite in the space, this chowkidar took many decisions," he said.

Modi claimed that his government crushed terrorism, confining it to a corner in Kashmir. Barring a small region, bomb blasts had become a thing of the past in the country, he said.

He said India demonstrated its power by going beyond the border to destroy terrorists. He also claimed that the world was heeding India's loud voice, recognising its growing importance and taking note of its new image and self-confidence.

Modi slammed the Opposition parties saying they neither have a leader nor policies. "They can think only of their families. They can't do any good for the Dalits, poor, oppressed and depressed," he said.

He lashed out at the Congress for "raising doubts about the capability of the Army and showing more concern for proof of the strikes in Pakistan than for the soldiers".
Beijing, March 29 : Government representatives from the US and China on Friday concluded a fresh round of constructive trade negotiations here ahead of another round of talks in Washington that could pave the way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to sign off on a deal later in the month.

"@USTradeRep (Robert Lighthizer) and I concluded constructive trade talks in Beijing," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tweeted. Another round of trade talks between the US and China will be held on April 3 in Washington.

"I look forward to welcoming China's Vice Premier Liu He to continue these important discussions in Washington next week," he was quoted as saying by Efe news.

Mnuchin also posted a photograph along with the text where he could be seen shaking hands with the Treasury Secretary and the Chinese representative, against a backdrop of flags of both the countries.

"In the past rounds of talks, one or both sides have released statements, but not sure they will keep doing so, if there isn't anything further to report," an official told Efe news.

The US delegation arrived in Beijing on Thursday and began discussions with Chinese officials over a working dinner.

The agenda of the discussions included the contentious issue of tariffs, skewed trade balance between the two countries, forced transfer of technology, protection of intellectual property rights and restrictions on foreign investments.

During the Boao Forum on Thursday, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang said that China will open new economic sectors to foreign investment by the end of July.

Li had also assured further opening in the service industry, including telecommunications, healthcare and education as well as financial sector including banks, insurance companies and financial institutions.

Trump's economic policy adviser Larry Kudlow and Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson Gao Feng indicated that the negotiations were unlikely to be finalized in Washington next week.

Gao said, before the dinner on Thursday, that although a certain progress has been achieved during telephonic conversations between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and his American counterparts, a lot of ground remained uncovered yet.

Kudlow added that the expected agreement could take weeks and months.

During their meeting in Buenos Aires on December 1, Trump and Xi had agreed to halt the trade war for 90 days while their administrations negotiated common positions on various issues.

However, despite the initial goodwill measures by both the countries, last week Trump had said that some tariffs will be retained on Chinese products for a substantial period until it complies with the agreements.
Ayodhya/Rae Bareli, March 29 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he "only meets and greets the rich" and has no time to meet people from villages.

Priyanka Gandhi said this as she huddled with a group of women under the scorching sun in Uttar Pradesh's Atka village and Naua Kuan in Faziabad district.

Addressing the party workers, the AICC's Uttar Pradesh (East) in-charge said: "I asked people if development happened in your villages and they replied that a 15-km road has been made.

"I asked them when was the road approved and the people said it was approved under the Congress government but 15 km of road has been made for publicity," she said.

"When I asked when was the bridge constructed, the people replied that it is a 75-year-old bridge. And when I pointed out that it looks like a new bridge, the people replied that it has only been given a fresh coat of painting and Chinese lights have been fitted so it looks new."

The Congress leader then said that when she asked the people if Modiji came to your villages, they replied "not even once in the last five years as he remains busy in doing publicity".

Targeting the Prime Minister over his foreign trips, she said: "He goes to foreign lands and hugs the people there. But he does not hug the poor in India."

The Congress leader also lambasted the Modi government for questioning the Nyuntam Aay Yojana or Nyay (minimum income guarantee scheme) announced by party President Rahul Gandhi and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says they do not have enough money to pay the people.

"The government has waived off the loans of several industrialists but they don't have money for the people of the country.

"This government wants to snatch poor people's employment. But the Congress through Nyay scheme will give Rs 72,000 to each poor family," she said.

The Congress leader then also targeted Modi over his 56-inch chest remark. She said political power is not a tool for publicity but it is for listening and serving the people.

Accusing the BJP of diverting attention from the real issues, she said they talk of "Mai Bhi Chowkidaar", but now the farmers are compelled to save their produce by acting as watchmen.

"They are insulting you. They want to divert your attention. BJP wants to ensure that whatever lie they say should be shown as a full package and people get diverted (from real issues)," she said.

Earlier, at Atka village the Congress leader launched a blistering attack on Modi, two days after his announcement of "Mission Shakti", saying: "If you cannot listen to the voice of your people, then what kind of power do you have?"

Not sparing BJP President Amit Shah, she called the saffron party's 2014 promise of giving Rs 15 lakh to every citizen as "rhetoric".

On Thursday, interacting with party workers in her mother Sonia Gandhi's constituency in Rae Bareli, she had surprised the cadres when responding to a query about contesting from her mother's safe seat, Priyanka Gandhi said: "Why not Varanasi?"

Priyanka Gandhi said it was the Congress which had brought people-friendly schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to give employment to people across the country.

"When they were in opposition, they opposed the MGNREGA, but as soon as they came to power they realised how good the scheme is," she said.

"These projects have now gone into the hands of contractors," she alleged, adding that now the enrolled people are not getting money for over six months.

Earlier in the day, while on her way from Rae Bareli to Faizabad, Gandhi made brief halted at several places. She met women workers and also paid obeisance at Materva Mazaar in Amethi.

The 47-year-old became nostalgic when a Muslim family reminded her of her grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's visit to the village in the 1980s.

Comparing her party's politics with that of the BJP, Gandhi said: "Their politics is of lie and publicity. It won't work anymore."

She also said that her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been speaking about the rights of the farmers. She reminded them that he had even gone to Bhatta Parsaul to fight for their rights.

During the day, Priyanka Gandhi will also hold a road show in the temple town of Ayodhya.

Before concluding her three-day poll campaign, she will offer her prayers at Hanumangarhi temple.

Enroute from Rae Bareli to Ayodhya, Priyanka Gandhi received a rousing welcome from party workers at several places.

(Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)
Mumbai, March 29 : Soon after being named the Congress candidate for Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat was announced, Bollywood actress Urmila Matondkar appeared to consciously shed her image as a glamour doll in shorts and slipped into comfortable but eye-catching saris and loose-sleeved blouses These would be her gladrags for the rough and dusty poll campaign in the blistering summer heat during the poll season.

In the past few days, she has already drawn attention by her 'politically correct, mature comments' on various issues concerning the commoners, middle-classes and the elite alike.

Virtually mobbed by the paparazzi on Friday afternoon at the Mumbai North Congress Party office, she graciously took all queries from the media in the presence of a beaming District President Ashok Sutrale and other highly-charged leaders and workers.

Marathis and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sympathisers alike cocked their ears when she invoked the teachings of the legendary 20th century social reformer of Maharashtra, Pandurang Sadashiv Sane, famous as Sane Guruji, instantly endearing her to the locals.

Always smiling, she retorted boldly, questioning the ruling dispensation's policies vis-a-vis religion, freedom of choice, patriotism and the like, setting the tone for her campaign, which promises to be mean and challenging.

Interestingly, Mumbai North - with 17.83 lakh voters - comprises a majority of nearly 40 percent Gujaratis, followed by Maharashtrians, North Indians and the minorities like Muslims and Christians, Jains and Parsis.

"However, there were apprehensions of division in the crucial Marathi votes, which will now be prevented by the entry of Urmilaji Matondkar," District Congress Working President Ghanshyam Dubey told IANS. He will be among those entrusted a key role in directing the Matondkar campaign effectively.

But the local BJP is unfazed by Matondkar's charm and dismissively claimed she is "no challenge" at all to the incumbent Gopal Shetty, who speaks fluent Gujarati and is familiar to the locals here.

Mumbai BJP Vice President and the Mumbai North in-charge, well-known lawyer J.P. Mishra, explained that despite Matondkar, Shetty's winning margin, which was around 4.47 lakh in 2014 during the 'Modi wave', will now jump to 5.50 lakh in 2019.

"It must be noted that in 2004 when (actor) Govinda Ahuja trounced (former Union Petroleum Minister) Ram Naik, the victory margin was only 50,000 votes, that too only from the Vasai-Palghar belt which was then part of Mumbai North," Mishra told IANS.

Later, after the delimitation exercise in the 2009 when the constituency was re-charted to six assembly segments between Malad and Dahisar, Naik lost by only 6,000 votes to the Congress' Sanjay Nirupam, he pointed out.

"Presently, BJP has four MLAs, (ally) Shiv Sena and (opposition) Congress have one each, and of the 42 municipal corporators, the BJP-Sena alliance has 39. Matondkar will be nowhere in the contest," Mishra confidently asserted.

Despite the criticism, the Congress appears buoyed by Matondkar's nomination and is supremely optimistic that the seat - once considered a BJP bastion - would return to the party.

In the past, it has elected stalwarts like the legendary Communist leader S.A. Dange (1952), Defence Minister V. K. Krishna Menon (1957, 1962), the firebrand Mrinal Gore or 'Paniwalai Bai' (1977), Ravindra Varma (1980) and Anoophand Shah (1984).

Naik - presently the Uttar Pradesh Governor - was elected in 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 1999, followed by Govinda (2004), Nirupam (2009), and currently Shetty.

A downright 'Mumbaichi Mulgi', Matondkar was born in a small rural hospital in her (maternal) native region of Sindhudurg, to Shrikant and Sunita. Her father Shrikant is a retired officer of the erstwhile Grindlays Bank and her mother Sunita is a retired state government employee.

She was educated at the prestigious century-old King George High Shool, Dadar, which is now renamed as Raje Shivaji Vidyalaya, and then joined the Ruparel College, but couldn't complete her graduation as she got a big break in Bollywood.

With a successful film career behind her, Urmila married a Kashmiri businessman, M.A. Mir and regularly visits her inlaws in the Valley.

While her sister is a former actresss-turned-lawyer Mamata A. Bhalekar who lives in Mumbai, her eldest brother, the Pune-based Kedar Matondkar is a retired Indian Air Force officer who saw action during the Kargil War of 1999.

"She loves social issues, reading, and has read all major literary works, especially the pennings of Sane Guruji who has influenced her deeply. Urmila is always dediated and committed in any venture she undertakes, whether acting or social work or politics," her proud father Shrikant told IANS.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)
New Delhi, March 29 : The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday told the board of the cash-strapped IL&FS to submit the details of the group's dues.

The matter has been adjourned till the next hearing on April 8.

The Delhi-based appellate tribunal also said that there would be no stay on the government's resolution plan for the companies of IL&FS, however, all the steps regarding resolution of the group companies would have to be cleared by the appellate tribunal.

On Friday, the lenders of IL&FS asked the tribunal to direct the "amber" companies to discharge their dues to senior secured financial creditors.

Under the resolution plan, the government has categorised IL&FS group companies into green, amber and red categories based on their financial positions.

Firms classified as "green" would continue to meet their payment obligations, while "amber" category firms can meet only operational payment obligations to senior secured financial creditors.

Those under the "red" category are the entities which cannot meet their payment obligations at all.

Last year, the Central government superseded the management of the beleaguered company through a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order and appointed a six-member board led by Uday Kotak, MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, to restore its financial solvency.

Key public sector lenders and undertakings, such as the Life Insurance Corporation of India and the State Bank of India, have a 25.34 per cent and 6.42 per cent stake, respectively, in the firm which has around Rs 91,000 crore in long-term debt.
Srinagar, March 29 : Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said the special status of Jammu and Kashmir has been under constant threat ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the Centre.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Abdullah said: "The special status of the state guaranteed under Article 35A of the Constitution has been under threat right from the beginning but after the right wing BJP came to power, the threat of its abrogation has only increased."

He said Jammu and Kashmir is not the only state in the country that has a special status and identity of its own.

"The Northeast, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar or Lakshadweep also have special status and their own identity under the same Indian constitution.

"Why is it that always Jammu and Kashmir has to face the onslaught of these right wing parties?"

He said that the special status is not only for the Kashmir Valley Muslims.

"Article 35A is beneficial for Kargil, Leh as well as for the people of the Jammu region," he asserted.

The former Chief Minister's reaction was triggered by the recent comments of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who said that Article 35A was an impediment to the state 's development.

In a blog titled 'The rule of law and the state of Jammu and Kashmir', Jaitley said: "Article 35A is a surreptitious executive insertion in the Constitution."

He said it was neither a part of the original Constitution, nor was it an amendment that needs to be approved by a two-third majority of both Houses of Parliament.
Mumbai, March 29 : After a close battle with Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie's channel, Indian film production house and music label T-Series has finally managed to become the worlds No.1 YouTube channel.

T-Series is leading by more than 60,000 subscribers now as currently it has garnered over 91,774,917 subscribers while PewDiePie has subscribers with a count of 91,705,546.

The battle between the two channels was going on for long. Even T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar started the #BharatWins campaign on social media, urging people to help in making T-Series the world's most subscribed YouTube channel.

The T-Series YouTube channel began on March 13, 2006. It has 29 sub-channels and features songs and film trailers.

Many Bollywood celebrities such as Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor and John Abraham joined the online battle between PewDiePie and YouTube, to plead with netizens to subscribe to T-Series' channel on YouTube.

Not only T-Series, PewDiePie has also received support from many international celebrities.

Popular DJ Alan Walker extended support to PewDiePie by starting the "subscribe to PewDiePie" campaign on Twitter.
Bengaluru, March 29 : Outgoing Congress MP S.P. Muddhanumegowda withdrew his nomination from the Tumkur constituency, where Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda is the joint candidate of the ruling allies in Karnataka, said a party official on Friday.

"On the party high command's directive, our sitting MP Muddhanumegowda has withdrawn his nomination from the Tumkur Parliamentary seat and agreed to campaign for Gowda who is our joint official candidate," Congress spokesman Ravi Gowda told IANS here.

The 'rebel' lawmaker withdrew from the contest on the last date of withdrawal of nominations for the first phase of polling in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.

The first phase of polling is on April 18. The remaining 14 seats will go to the polls in the second phase on April 23. The votes will be counted on May 23.

Defying the party's diktat, Muddhanumegowda filed his nomination on March 25 as thousands of his supporters and party cadres wanted him to re-contest despite the Congress gifting the seat to the JD-S as part of their pre-poll tie-up.

The Congress is contesting 21 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats from the state, leaving 7 to the JD-S. Though the Congress has re-nominated 8 of its 9 MPs, its denial of a ticket to Muddhanumgowda triggered a revolt in the party's Tumkur unit.

"Muddahaunmegowda reconciled to withdraw after our party president Rahul Gandhi called him up and asked him to respect the coalition 'dharma' with the JD-S and support Gowda to retain the seat," the official said.

Since both Muddahanumegowda and Deve Gowda belong to the powerful Vokkaliga community, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara and Congress state President Dinesh Gundu Rao persuaded the former to withdraw from the contest and prevent a vertical split of the votes.

Tumkur has become a prestige battle for the ruling allies after 85-year-old Deve Gowda gave up his bastion Hassan to contest from there. Deve Gowda represented Hassan for a record six times since 1991.

The former prime minister's shift to Tumkur paves the way for his grandson Prajwal Revanna to contest in the JD-S pocket borough. Prajwal is the son of Deve Gowda's second son and state PWD Minister H.D. Revanna. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is his third son.

"In the interest of the party and coalition dharma (justice), I have withdrawn from the contest and decided to campaign for Gowda as he is our common candidate," Muddhanumegowda later told reporters in Tumkur.

The BJP has fielded G.S Basavaraju, a Lingayat, who lost to Muddahanumegowda in the 2014 general elections.
New Delhi, March 29 : In a bid to strengthen Indo-French ties, India has been designated as the guest of honour at the Paris Book Fair in 2020, while France will be the guest country at the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) in 2022.

The announcement was made by the nodal agency - National Book Trust (NBT) - in a statement on Friday.

The Livre Paris (Paris Book Fair) will take place from March 20 to 23, 2020.

The designation of India as the guest country was declared in the joint statement signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron during the latter's visit to India in March 2018.

The statement also mentions France as NDWBF's 2022 guest country.

As a precursor to next year's presentation, the NBT participated in the recently concluded Paris Book Fair 2019.
Washington, March 29 : China poses a security threat to the US and its allies, and its infrastructure as well as connectivity projects, including the One Belt One Road (OBOR), have an element of "national security", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said.

Pompeo's comments came as China is preparing to host the second Belt and Road Forum in April.

The OBOR, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative, aims to connect Europe, Asia and Africa through a wide network of roads, highways, sea lanes and ports. Its jewel project, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), cuts through Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi did not attend the launch of the Belt and Road forum in 2017, saying the CPEC violates its territorial sovereignty.

Pompeo, during a conversation with Rich Lowry at the National Review Institute's 2019 Ideas Summit, said on Thursday that Beijing posed security threat to the US, its friends and allies.

"They're moving into the South China Sea not because they want freedom of navigation. Their efforts to build ports around the world aren't because they want to be good shipbuilders and stewards of waterways. They have a state national security element to each and every one of them.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is no different," Pompeo said.

"We've said this every place we've gone, every - if you talk to any of our ambassadors or our charges, they will tell you we are happy to compete on a fair, transparent basis under rule of law with the Chinese anywhere in the world. We'll win more than our fair share, but we'll lose some to them too.

"But when you're showing up with a non-economic offer, whether that's through state-facilitated, below-market pricing or handing someone something knowing that you can foreclose on their nation shortly, so predatory lending practices, that's not straight and we are working diligently to make sure everyone in the world understands that threat."

The world is waking up to this threat, Pompeo said.

"I think Asia and, Southeast Asia in particular, are waking up to this risk, and I hope the State Department can continue to be a part of making sure that they see that, identify it, and that it becomes more difficult for the Chinese to engage in these practices."

Indian envoy to Beijing Vikram Misri had said earlier this month that New Delhi cannot be a part of China's Belt and Road Initiative as it ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"India shares the global aspiration to strengthen connectivity and it is an integral part of our economic and diplomatic initiatives," Misri had said.

"We are ourselves working with many countries and international institutions in our region and beyond on a range of connectivity initiatives.

"However, it is also our belief that connectivity initiatives must be based on universally recognised international norms, good governance and rule of law.

"No country can participate in an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity," the envoy said in an oblique reference to the CPEC.
Alipurduar : , March 29 (IANS) Attacking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the issue of minority appeasement, BJP President Amit Shah on Friday alleged that she was trying to impose Urdu in schools.

The BJP chief also said the budget for Madarasa education was more than the higher education budget of the entire state.

"Mamata, who talks about Bengal culture, is trying to impose Urdu in schools. Even in schools where there are no Urdu students, she is recruiting Urdu teachers," Shah said while addressing an election rally in northern West Bengal's Alipurduar.

Shah referred to the incident in a school in North Dinajpur district's Islampur where two former students were killed allegedly due to police firing, following protests against the recruitment of two new teachers, one of them for teaching Urdu.

A section of the students and alumni of Darivit High School had clashed with the police demanding teachers in literature and science subjects.

"There was so much protest against this in Islampur. When two of our activists Rajesh Sarkar and Tapas Barman, protested against it and demanded teachers for Bengali instead, they were shot dead in broad daylight," Shah said.

"What was their fault? Their only fault was that they wanted the kids in the school to learn Bengali," he said, asking the audience whether such a rule can continue.

The BJP leader said he had no problem with Banerjee giving honorarium to Imams (Muslim priests), but Hindu priests should also get the same.

He said the budget for Madarasa education was Rs 4,000 crore, while "the higher education budget of entire Bengal is less than Rs 4,000 crore".

"I can tell you that only one person can save Bengal from Mamata's rule, he is Narendra Modi," he added.

Dismissing Shah's charge that the state government was "imposing Urdu", Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said the state had a clear cut policy that a language would be recognised as a medium of instruction in a particular region if 10 per cent of the population speaks that language there.

"There is no question of imposing Urdu. We have so far given recognition to 16 languages. Any region... where ten per cent of the population speak in any of these languages, that language will be given recognition in that region," said Chatterjee.
New Delhi, March 29 : Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and several Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari will be present when BJP chief Amit Shah will file his nomination on Saturday from Gandhinagar, said a senior Gujarat BJP leader on Friday.

Party veteran L.K. Advani will, however, not be present on the occasion.

The mega event, seen as a show of strength of Shah, would begin with a road show from Naranpura before filing of the nomination.

"Apart from Thackeray and Badal, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Ram Vilas Paswan will also attend Shah's road show tomorrow," Vaghani told reporters in Ahmedabad.

Sharing the details about the event, he said the four-km road show would start from Sardar Patel Statue in Naranpura area of Ahmedabad and culminate at Patidar Chowk in Ghatlodia.

All the leaders invited for the nomination are likely to accompany Shah during his road show in Ahmedabad.

Advani, a founding member of the BJP and an eleven-time MP, who is credited with a significant role in strengthening the party's political base, will not be present during the mega event, party sources said.

Shah has replaced Advani as BJP candidate from Gandhinagar -- the seat represented by the party veteran for six terms. He had won the seat for the first time in 1991 by defeating G.I. Patel of Congress by a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes.

He had been representing the constituency continuously since 1998 before being elected to the Rajya Sabha for four terms.

Shah, who is a Rajya Sabha member, will be contesting his first Lok Sabha election.

Last date for filing nominations is April 4. Polling for all the 26 seats of Gujarat will take place on April 23.
New Delhi, March 29 : The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to telecom service providers Vodafone and Airtel on a CBI plea claiming that the two service providers were not co-operating with the probe agency in furnishing the call records of the accused in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.

As the bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued notice to the two service providers on the application by the CBI, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi described the allegations as "completely wrong".

Denying the charge, Rohatgi appearing for Vodafone asserted, "We have given everything" sought by the probe agency.

The probe agency sought call record details from the two service providers as the CD given by the West Bengal police, which initially investigated the case before it was handed over to the CBI by the top court, was blank.

The hearing also saw Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointing to an incident at the Kolkata International Airport where police officials threatened custom officers as they tried to scan the luggage of Rujira Narula - wife of Trinamool Congress lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee - on the suspicion of her carrying gold and cash.

Banerjee is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, With the Solicitor General contending that there was "constitutional anarchy" and "complete lawlessness" in the State, CJI Gogoi asked what he expected the court to do and told him to file an application stating all that he was saying orally.

The court directed the next hearing of the matter on April 8 when the matter relating to the two service providers would be taken up.

The incident relates to the intervening night of March 15 and 16 when Narula arrived at Kolkata airport from Bangkok.

Describing the allegations that Narula was caught at Kolkata airport for carrying gold in her check-in baggage as "baseless", Banerjee had on March 24 said that the complaint filed by the customs authorities alleging interference and obstruction by the local police was drafted in Delhi and was "highly politically motivated".
Mumbai, March 29 : Actor Ranveer Singh, who has come out with his independent music record label -- IncInk, says the remix culture has to co-exist with original music.

Ranveer has teamed up with filmmaker Navzar Eranee to launch the label. He opened up about his plans while interacting with the media at the launch of the label here on Friday.

"This is my way of giving back. As an outsider, I always wanted to support new and outstanding talent that deserves to be heard and deserves to be seen," Ranveer said.

"There are so many talented kids in our country who just need a platform. This is something which Navzar and I discussed in 2016 which is before 'Gully Boy' and this is something we always wanted to do. I have always been into alternative, underground, electronic and hip-hop music," he added.

He has collaborated with rappers Kaam Bhaari, Slow Cheeta and Spitfire for the music venture. The actor said that he will promote new talent in the industry.

"Through this initiative, we are promoting new talent. We are nurturing them and endorsing them. We are bringing them forward."

Ranveer said the remix culture has to co-exist with original music.

"It is a funky time for original music in our country. We have this remix culture that's going on. People often ask where is the original music? And there is nothing wrong with remix culture. I love these songs. They are my favourite mainstream songs. One of my biggest songs is a remix song ('Aankh marey from 'Simmba').

"Remixes are great but it has to co-exist with the original music. I mean, fifty years from now, we need something to remix. So, it's important to encourage artistes who have an original voice and who have something to say."

The actor asserted that he is not in any kind of rat race with the music label.

"It is just about the expression as long as we can empower them to authentically express themselves and that's the best thing that we can do because we are not in any kind of rat race. We are not looking at how many views we are getting for the music which we are producing. It's just that we have discovered them and we are allowing them to be heard."
Cairo, March 29 : An Egyptian activist who rose to prominence during the 2011 uprising against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, has been released from prison after serving a five-year sentence for organising an illegal protest, his family said on Friday.

Alaa Abdel Fattah was arrested in 2013 for campaigning against the generals that ruled the country after Mubarak's resignation.

His sisters, Mona and Sanaa Seif, posted messages on Facebook on Friday stating: "Alaa is out". The blogger and software engineer was once described by the authorities as "the icon of the revolution".

Sharing a picture of Abdel Fattah playing with his dog at home, they thanked everyone who "followed and supported" them during his jail term, the BBC reported.

A video shared by the "Free Alaa" Facebook page showed Abdel Fattah smiling, hugging and shaking hands with friends after leaving what appears to be a police station in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Abdel Fattah will remain on probation for another five years, reports said. His release was also celebrated by opposition figures and supporters on social media.

He was a leading secular figure in the 2011 revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for almost 30 years.

After the ousting of Mubarak, Abdel Fattah was arrested over his demonstration against the trials of civilians by military tribunals, known for their swift and harsh rulings.

Abdel Fattah also opposed Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi and is one of the several well-known activists to have been jailed since the Army ousted him from power in 2013.

The charges against Abdel Fattah included organising an illegal protest and assaulting a policeman. They stemmed largely from a law prohibiting protests in Egypt without prior government permission, a measure that came after Morsi was overthrown.
Imphal, March 29 : Altogether 19 candidates will be in the fray for the two Lok Sabha seats in Manipur. No candidate withdrew the nomination papers on Friday, the last date of withdrawal.

Eleven candidates are participating for the Inner Manipur constituency which goes to the polls on April 18. Eight tribal candidates are in the fray for the reserved Outer Manipur seat which will see voting on April 11.

There is no woman candidate in both the constituencies. One woman applicant for the BJP ticket, Kim Gangte had resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party after she was not allotted the party ticket.

There are 19,59,429 voters in both the constituencies. For the first time 45 transgender voters in Manipur will cast their votes under their distinctive identity of being transgenders.

Chief Electoral Officer P.K. Singh said all arrangements including security cover to the polling officials are in place.

Electioneering is in full swing with the two major players, the Congress and the BJP, trading charges and counter charges. However, so far there is no report of any untoward campaign related incident in any part of the state.
London, March 29 : The United Kingdom Members of Parliament on Friday rejected for the third time Prime Minister Theresa Mays European Union withdrawal agreement, throwing Brexit plans into more confusion.

The deal was turned down by 344 votes to 286 -- a majority of 58 votes, the BBC reported. Britain was earlier scheduled to leave the EU on Friday.

May said the vote would have "grave" implications and the "legal default" was that the UK would leave on April 12.

That meant there would not be enough time to get legislation through to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

It was the third time the deal was brought before the MPs, after being rejected twice by large margins.

According to the Guardian, the UK could ask for a further extension. But that would mean holding European elections. The MPs will consider further options on Monday.

May said it was a "matter of profound regret that once again this House been unable to support leaving European Union in an orderly way".

She said the "implications are grave" of the decision and added: "The default is the UK due to leave on April 12 -- in just 14 days time".

"I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this house," the Prime Minister said, adding that she will continue to press the case for an "orderly Brexit".

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called for May's resignation and sought an election.

Responding to the vote, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: "In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on April 10."

The pound fell following the announcement of the result.
Miryalaguda: Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao addresses an election rally at Miryalaguda in Nalgonda district of Telangana on March 29, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Miryalaguda: Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao addresses an election rally at Miryalaguda in Nalgonda district of Telangana on March 29, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Hyderabad, March 29 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday claimed that 11 surgical strikes were carried out by India when he was a Minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Rao, who was Minister for Labour and Employment in Manmohan Singh's cabinet in 2004-06, revealed this at an election rally in Miryalguda where he targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for creating a hype over surgical strikes to garner votes.

"When I was a Cabinet Minister in UPA, there were 11 surgical strikes but we never spoke about it outside. These are strategic attacks carried by them and also by us. It keeps happening on the border," he said.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief said that while Modi claimed that 300 people died in the Balakot attack, JeM leader Masood Azhar said not even an ant was killed.

"Do you seek votes by creating a hype on such issues, leaving real issues like poverty, problems of farmers and economy aside," Rao asked.

KCR, who was speaking hours after Modi addressed an election rally in Telangana, alleged that the Prime Minister uttered lies. He asked Modi to specify what he had done for the poor, farmers, Dalits and backwards during the last five years.

He slammed Modi and the BJP for what he called their 'political Hindutva'.

"They are pseudo Hindus. We are real Hindus. We have bhatki. Theirs is a political Hindutva aimed at only garnering votes and targetting other communities," he said.

KCR asked both the BJP and Congress to explain to people why they failed to use available water resources and electricity in the country and why they failed to address real issues of people despite ruling the country for 70 years.

Reiterating that he wanted to bring a qualitative change in the national politics, KCR predicted that regional parties would form the next government at the Centre.

"The BJP-led NDA will not cross 150 seats and Congress will not get more than 100 seats. After May 23, the regional parties will rule this country," he said.
New Delhi, March 29 : In a setback to the GMR group, the Supreme Court on Friday did not allow the construction of Goa's new greenfield international airport at Mopa and ordered that an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) would study allegations related to specific environmental concerns.

Directing the committee to undertake the assessment in a month's time and submit its report to the court, a bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta put under suspension the environment clearance given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in October 2015.

"Bearing in view the necessity to maintain a balance between the need for an airport and environmental concerns, we are of the view that it would be appropriate if the EAC is directed to revisit the conditions subject to which it granted its EC on the basis of the specific concerns which have been highlighted," said Justice Chandrachud, speaking for the bench.

In a slew of directions the court said that the "EAC shall revisit the recommendations made by it for the grant of an EC, including the conditions which it has formulated, having regard to the specific concerns which have been highlighted" and it would carry out its task within one month of the receipt of a copy of this order.

It further said that until the EAC carries out the fresh exercise, the EC granted by the MoEFCC on October 28, 2015 "shall remain suspended".

Upon the reconsideration of the matter, the court said that if the EAC allows the construction to proceed then it would impose "such additional conditions" which in its expert view would adequately protect the concerns about the terrestrial eco systems.

The EAC, the court said, would be at liberty to "lay down appropriate conditions concerning air, water, noise, land, biological and socioeconomic environment".

The court further said that the EAC "shall have due regard to the assurance furnished by the concessionaire to this Court that it is willing to adopt and implement necessary safeguards bearing in mind international best practices governing greenfield airports".

Having ordered a fresh environment assessment, the court barred all courts and tribunals from entertaining challenges to the report that would be submitted by the EAC to the top court.

"No other Court or Tribunal shall entertain any challenge to the report that is to be submitted before this Court by the EAC in compliance with the present order," the court said in its direction.
New Delhi, March 29 : The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday told the board of the cash-strapped IL&FS to submit details of the group's dues.

The matter has been adjourned till the next hearing on April 8.

The Delhi-based appellate tribunal also said that there would be no stay on the government's resolution plan for the companies of IL&FS. However, all steps regarding resolution of the group companies would have to be cleared by the appellate tribunal, it added.

On Friday, the lenders of IL&FS asked the tribunal to direct the "amber" companies to discharge their dues to senior secured financial creditors.

Under the resolution plan, the government has categorised IL&FS group companies into green, amber and red categories based on their financial positions.

Firms classified as "green" would continue to meet their payment obligations, while "amber" category firms can meet only operational payment obligations to senior secured financial creditors. Those under the "red" category are the entities which cannot meet their payment obligations at all.

Further, as the next hearing would take place in April 8 -- the next financial year, the banks exposed to the IL&FS debt have also got a breather from provisioning as IL&FS defaults still cannot be declared as non-performing assets (NPA), people in the know of developments said.

As the fiscal calendar changes on March 31, 2019, banks will not need to make provisioning for ILFS defaults as NPAs, at least for now, they said.

The NCLAT in an earlier order restrained banks from categorising their exposure in IL&FS as NPA without its permission.

ILFS, across various companies, has defaulted on around Rs 15,000 crore of loans in this fiscal ended March 31, 2019. This would have entailed provisioning of nearly Rs 5,000-9,000 crore by banks, depending on the norms followed by each bank, in classifying these as NPAs.

The NCLAT, however, has prohibited banks from classifying IL&FS loans as NPA without its permission. The central bank had contested the NCLAT order and sought relief, which was denied by the appellate tribunal.

The RBI plea will now be heard by NCLAT in April 8 along with other things pending in the case.

Last year, the Central government superseded the management of the beleaguered company through a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order and appointed a six-member board led by Uday Kotak, MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, to restore its financial solvency.

Key public sector lenders and undertakings, such as the Life Insurance Corporation of India and the State Bank of India, have a 25.34 per cent and 6.42 per cent stake, respectively, in the firm which has around Rs 91,000 crore in long-term debt.
New Delhi, March 29 : A minor boy who was playing near his house was crushed to death on Friday after a speeding van ran over him in Delhi, police said, adding that the accused was arrested with the help of CCTV footage.

The accident occurred around 3 p.m. near Kaushar Masjid in Sangam Vihar and some commuters informed the police that a four-year-old boy was run over by a speeding white van.

"The police took the boy later identified as Ajam Ansari to AIIMS trauma centre where doctors declared him brought dead," Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Kumar said.

"The accident was captured in a CCTV footage installed near the spot that helped police to trace the vehicle from its number," Kumar said, adding that it nabbed driver Sushant Kumar Majumdar from his residence in Nangloi.

Ansari was the only son of Yusaf Khan who stays with his family in L-block of Sangam Vihar.
New Delhi, March 29 : Was the Mi17 V5 chopper crash at Budgam near Srinagar on February 27 -- which killed all six Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board -- caused by an Indian air defence missile hit? That "could be one of the possibilities", a highly placed source said on Friday.

This might have happened in the heat of the moment when dozens of Pakistani fighter jets came near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Naushera sector and the IAF aircraft were scrambled to take them on.

A few men who were present on the spot have said that they heard a loud blast before the chopper came crashing down to the ground in thick plumes of smoke. A local boy, Kifayat Hussain, also died in the crash.

"If the chopper was indeed hit by an Indian missile, it means there could be a failure of the system put in place to protect assets from friendly fire. But there is a big 'if' in all this," the source said.

"Other possibilities too cannot be ruled out such as a technical snag or the militants down below (in Kashmir). Things would become clearer after a forensic report of the chopper parts comes out," the source added.

The technical snag possibility, however, does not look very plausible as firstly, the Mi17 is not very prone to such snags, and secondly, it does not explain the loud explosion.

The crash took place a day after the IAF carried out a strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

Pakistan had claimed that it shot down two Indian "aircraft" on that day, and a section of its media went to the extent of claiming the Mi17 was also shot down by the marauding Pakistan Air Force fighter jets, but officially the country didn't say so.

When IANS asked the IAF for a comment on the matter, its spokesman Group Captain Anupam Banerjee said: "In any flying accident, the court of inquiry looks into all the possibilities before conclusively establishing the cause of the accident. In the instant case also, the ongoing court of inquiry is looking into every possibility which could have caused the accident. Before the court submits it's report, it will be premature to comment on it."
London/New Delhi, March 29 : The Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday rejected the bail plea of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi suspecting he could "flee" Britain and "interfere with witnesses", said sources.

Judge Emma Arbuthnot has granted the Metropolitan Police custody of the 48-year-old businessman till the next hearing on April 26.

Arbuthnot is the same judge who ordered the extradition of former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya last December.

The court order came after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), appearing on behalf of the Indian authorities, argued against Nirav Modi's bail. "There is a real risk that he could flee, interfere with witnesses, interfere with evidence," the prosecution said.

Defence barrister Clare Montgomery said, "I (Nirav Modi) have been in the UK even before the case was registered in India. How can my bail be opposed saying I might flee the UK?"

Montgomery, who had earlier represented Vijay Mallya, countered to say that his client is not a "flight risk" as he has rented a flat in London in his own name and was trying to open a bank account when he was arrested.

Before the hearing began, the CPS had submitted a new file with additional evidence against Nirav Modi in the Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Nirav Modi was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities from Holborn in London on March 19 in connection with the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.

He was sent to police custody and the next day, was produced before a judge at the Westminster Magistrates' Court, who denied him bail and deferred the hearing for Friday.

Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation after the PNB alleged that they cheated it of Rs 13,500 crore with the involvement of a few bank employees.

Both fled India before the details of the fraud emerged in January 2018. The ED on February 26, 2018 attached property worth Rs 147 crore of Nirav Modi and his associate companies in connection with the case.

On May 24 and 26, 2018, it filed charge sheets and sought non-bailable warrants against the duo.

The Interpol also issued a Red Corner Notice against Nirav Modi in July 2018 at the request of the ED and the CBI.

An extradition request against him had been pending before the UK authorities since September last year.

However, the businessman's whereabouts remained a mystery as he was spotted in New York, Hong Kong and other cities at different times.

His arrest came days after The Telegraph newspaper in Britain published a report earlier this month about Nirav Modi being spotted in London.

The daily reported that he was living in a three-bedroom flat, occupying half the floor of the landmark Centre Point tower block.

The paper said that Nirav Modi was involved in a new diamond business, run from an office in Soho, just a few hundred yards from his apartment. The new business was incorporated in May 2018, it added.
New Delhi, March 29 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart his election campaign in northeastern states on Saturday from Arunachal Pradesh.

According to BJP, he will addressna a public meeting at ITBP Ground, Aalo in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

This will be followed by his two election rallies in Assam.

He will address a gathering in Moran of Dibrugarh and then he will move to Ghaigaon in Gohpur to address another rally.

The Bharatiya Janata Party wants to ensure maximum seats in the coming general elections so that the seats that they lose in other states can be compensated for.

With the Congress decimated from the whole of North-East, the BJP has set a target of winning 25 seats from the region.

In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won eight seats. It won seven of the 14 seats in Assam and one seat in Arunachal Pradesh.
Bhopal, March 29 : A Congress legislator in Madhya Pradesh has submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Kamal Nath over inaction on liquor mafia, alleging the administration is "protecting" them.

Panchi Lal Meda, who represents Dharampuri constituency of Dhar district, told reporters on Friday that a lot of liquor shops are doing business along the banks of the Narmada, and near educational institutes.

The development has created a stir in the Madhya Pradesh government. Two ministers -- Bala Bachchan and Pradhuman Singh Tomar -- went to Meda's residence and took him along to meet the Chief Minister.

Kamal Nath held a closed-door meeting with Meda and assured him that action would be taken against the erring officers.

The Chief Minister also instructed the legislator not to talk to the media.

Earlier, Meda told media persons that he demanded closure of the liquor shops in his area.

"I have been demanding the closure of these shops. But the excise department, district administration and police are patronizing the liquor contractors," he said.

The Congress leader alleged that he was being "insulted" on the directions of liquor contractors.

"When I went to the police station to report it, I was surrounded by the contractor and others. The Superintendent of Police, on being informed, told me to leave," he said.

Meda had alleged that he was "humiliated" by the police and "made to sit for four hours" when he went to the police station.

He said he is "pained to see that the liquor mafia are receiving patronage despite Congress coming to power in the state".
Alipurduar : , March 29 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah said on Friday that if his party was voted back to power at the Centre, it will implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal and smoke out all the infiltrators from the state.

Addressing an election rally here in North Bengal, Shah focused on issues such as infiltration and the airstrikes in Pakistan's Balakot and accused the Mamata Banerjee-led government of doing "vote bank politics" and indulging in "appeasement politics".

Launching a scathing attack on Chief Minister Banerjee, Shah said the BJP will end "vote bank politics" in the state if it can achieve its target of winning 23 Lok Sabha seats in Wes Bengal.

"Mamata Banerjee thinks the infiltrators will help her sail through this election. But the Modi government will come back to power. We will bring NRC to Bengal. Each and every infiltrator will be identified and thrown out," Shah told the rally held in support of BJP candidate John Barla.

"For these people (Banerjee and her party leaders), the security of the country is not important. Votes of infiltrators are more important... I have no fear to announce that if you help us win 23 seats from Bengal, we will ensure that each and every infiltrator staying here is smoked out," he said.

Accusing Banerjee of trying to mislead the Hindu and Buddhist refugees in the state about the impacts of the NRC, Shah said the BJP government, while implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act, will ensure that the rights of all the refugees were protected.

Coming down heavily on Banerjee on the Balakot issue, Shah asserted that the Modi government will reply to Pakistan's bullets with bombs.

"Mamata has recently become very angry with us (the BJP government). I was wondering what was the matter. Later journalists told me that she was annoyed because Modiji entered Pakistan and conducted air strikes on terrorists," Shah said.

He alleged that for people like Banerjee and certain opposition leaders who were questioning the air strikes, the country's security was less important than securing their vote banks.

"Mamata (Banerjee), Rahul Baba (Gandhi), Akhilesh Yadav are all talking about holding a dialogue (with Pakistan). She is trying to appease her vote bank. The terrorists from Pakistan attacked and killed 40 of our brave jawans. Should they be punished or not? Shouldn't the terrorists and Pakistan be given a befitting reply," he asked.

"It is India's right to defend itself. And I can assure you that the Modi government will not spare the terrorists. We will reply to Pakistan's bullets with bombs," he said.

Shah also flayed Banerjee for questioning the timing of "Mission Shakti" announcement and claimed that the "missile" of Bengal's voters will wipe her out of the state.

Pulling up Banerjee for her alleged minority appeasement, Shah charged the Chief Minister with attempts to impose Urdu in schools.

The BJP President also said the budget for Madarasa education was more than the higher education budget of the entire state.

"Mamata, who talks about Bengal's culture, is trying to impose Urdu in schools. Even in schools where there are no Urdu students, she is recruiting Urdu teachers," Shah said while addressing the rally.

The BJP leader said he had no problem with Banerjee giving honorarium to Imams (Muslim priests), but Hindu priests should also get the same.

He said the budget for Madarasa education was Rs 4,000 crore, while "the higher education budget of entire West Bengal was less than Rs 4,000 crore".

Slamming Shah for his comments that the Modi government will implement NRC in the state if it returned to power, the Trinamool Congress said it would not allow any such move.

"First and foremost, they (the Modi government) won't come to power. They will rather be evicted from everywhere they are in power... They are trying to drive out Indian citizens and divide the society for a few votes, but the people of Bengal as also from the other states will resist them," said state Education Minister and Trinamool Congress General Secretary Partha Chatterjeehe.

Ridiculing Shah's claim that the BJP would win 23 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, Chatterjee doubted whether the saffron outfit will win even a single seat.

Another Trinamool leader and Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim said that as long as party supremo Mamata Banerjee was alive, the BJP would not be able to implement NRC in the state.
New Delhi, March 29 : Budget passenger carrier IndiGo on Friday said its Delhi-Istanbul flight had to be diverted to Kuwait due to an engine snag.

According to the airline, the snag hit its A320 NEO aircraft which was en-route from Delhi to Istanbul.

"The root cause is yet to be determined. The Aircraft landed safely in Kuwait and IndiGo local representatives are currently taking care of the passengers and crew," the airline said in a statement.

"Our endeavour is to use the next possible connecting flight out of Kuwait to Istanbul so that passengers reach their destination with minimum inconvenience. Customers in Istanbul who are booked on this flight back to Delhi will be accommodated with Turkish Airlines. We expect normal operations on Istanbul flights tomorrow."
New Delhi, March 29 : India on Friday summoned Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah and conveyed its concerns over the presence of Khalistani separatists in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor project, sources said.

India's decision has put on hold the second round of Kartarpur Corridor talks scheduled for April 2.

An External Affairs Ministry release said it has been conveyed that the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan's response.

India has also sought clarifications from Islamabad on key proposals put forward in the last meeting held at Attari to discuss the modalities of the corridor.

"India has shared concerns and sought clarifications on reports that controversial elements have been appointed by Pakistan to a committee to be associated with the Kartarpur Corridor," it said.

The release said India has proposed another meeting of techncial experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting in order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner.

"Government of India remains committed to realise the long pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the holy Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner," it said.

Sources said India has already made it clear that the Kartarpur Corridor should not be used for anti-India activities or propaganda.

They said there have been reports about Gopal Singh Chawla, a close aide of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed being made a member of a 10-member committee for managing Kartarpur Sahib corridor. Reports have also surfaced about association of other anti-India elements such as Bison Singh, Kuljit Singh and Maninder Singh with the corridor .

The sources said the developments have raised fresh concerns about safety and security of Indian pilgrims and misuse of corridor for anti-India activities.

India has been strongly emphasising the need for fool-proof security of pilgrims on Pakistani soil and demanding commitment from Pakistan to insulate them from any anti-India propaganda.

The sources said India will await credible explanation from Pakistan before the next round of discussions and is keen that these are fruitful to meet expectations of devotees of Guru Nanak Dev in India and abroad.

They said that implementation of corridor project on the Indian side is proceeding at a vigorous pace and work on border infrastructure by Land Port Authority of India an on road infrastructure by NHAI is in full swing. Both the organisations have been given a firm deadline to complete the works by September 2019.

India wants to make the corridor visa-free as also free of any other permit, documentation or fee while Pakistan has been seeking a special permit.
A Sunshine Coast investor, who was familiar with the Coolum commercial market, has snapped an industrial warehouse for $245,000.

The property at 13/25 Quanda Road, Coolum Beach came with a 113 square metre building area, was part of a strata tilted slab block of 19 units with easy access to the Bruce Highway and Sunshine Coast Motorway.

The asset was marketed and sold by Ray White Commercial Noosa and Sunshine Coast North Property Consultant Tracey Ryan.

Ryan said the team had worked on the original development of the unit complex, selling 14 of the original 19, in the first offering.

The unit featured retail style shop fronts on two sides, allowing two-street access and flow-through from two sides, she said.

The Quanda Road development is at the gateway to the Coolum Industrial Estate and has always sold and leased well.

Unit 13 was a resale for a previous investor, Ryan said.

The property had been continuously let for the previous eight years, with some improvements being made in that time, including an open mezzanine office.

The seller was divesting to consolidate his Brisbane-based investments and the new owner had a prospective tenant secured for post-purchase.

The price reflected the range for sales rates in the area. The Coolum Beach small industrial unit market continues to be buoyant, with more than 70 units sold in the past two years.
Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit) has bought Felix Hotel, for $60.6 million.

The prime freehold limited-service business hotel is located close to Sydney Airport and will be rebranded as Citadines Connect Sydney Airport upon completion of the acquisition in May 2019.

The property will be Ascott Reits first business hotel in Australia and its first property to be managed by its sponsor, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) under the new Citadines Connect brand.

The 150-room property was completed and opened in February 2018.

Located in Mascot, it is within walking distance to the Mascot railway station and Sydney Airport, which catered to around 44.4 million passengers in 2018 and is forecast to receive around 60.7 million passengers by 2035.

The acquisition will bolster Ascott Reits portfolio in Australia to over 900 units across six properties.

Ascott Reit currently owns three properties in Sydney  Quest Mascot, Quest Campbelltown and Quest Sydney Olympic Park, in addition to Citadines St Georges Terrace Perth and Citadines on Bourke Melbourne.

Bob Tan, Ascott Residence Trust Management Limiteds (ARTML) Chairman, said the purchase was in line with its strategy to redeploy capital and invest in higher-yielding assets.

This acquisition will deepen Ascott Reits presence in the stable and resilient market of Australia, adding to our portfolio a quality property that provides good yield in the highly sought-after Sydney market, said Tan.

Well supported by a range of industries, and a transparent and well-regulated business environment, Australia has consistently ranked as one of Ascott Reits top contributing markets in terms of gross profit.

This acquisition will further strengthen our investment in developed markets, which collectively account for almost 80% of the asset value for Ascott Reit.

Ascott Reit will continue to seek opportunities in key markets with strong corporate demand, such as Australia, Japan, Europe and the U.S., to deliver strong yield and growth in distribution income for our unit holders.

Beh Siew Kim, ARTMLs Chief Executive Officer, said the propertys location was important.

The target business hotel is adjacent to another property owned by Ascott Reit  the 91-unit Quest Mascot which has been enjoying over 85% occupancy, Kim said.

It will enable us to leverage scale and increased operational efficiency from the clustering effect across these Ascott-managed properties.

With this enhanced presence in the vicinity of Sydney Airport, Ascott Reit is not only well positioned to benefit from the growing transient traveller traffic, but more importantly gain access to a significant number of transport and logistics-related national corporate accounts, as well as to capture demand from the growing industries in its neighbouring suburbs.
GUEST OBSERVATION

Australias electricity sector has begun to transition away from coal, with coals contribution to our electricity mix falling from around four-fifths 13 years ago to around three-fifths today.

Twelve coal-fired power stations closed between 2012 and 2017.

There are clear upsides to the transition, among them an ongoing decline in carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector.

For local economies, however, the closure of a coal-fired power station can create economic challenges, including higher unemployment.

Weve quantified the effects of 12 closures

In a new paper in the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, we use detailed Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) data to quantify the extent to which local unemployment rates have increased following the closures of twelve coal-fired power stations across Victoria, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

There are 87 SA4 regions in Australia, each with an average population of around 290,000 people. We found that on average the regional unemployment rate climbs by around 0.7 percentage points after a station closes.

The effect remains observable for year or two, although it varies from region to region.

Clearly, labour mobility and the creation of new jobs do not fully make up for the impact of such closures.

This means there is scope and need for strategies to smooth the labour market transition as we move towards a lower-carbon energy system.

What we found

A simple look at the data indicates that local unemployment rates tend to rise after closures, both in absolute terms and relative to what is happening at the state level.

We find that this effect remains when controlling for the impacts of other key factors, such as macroeconomic shocks and the coal export price.

Burke, Best, Jotzo, 2019

Typically the increase in the first year is around 0.7 percentage points  for example, from 6.0% prior to a closure to 6.7% afterwards. It is a sizeable effect. For males the increase is 0.9 percentage points.

The Latrobe Valley in Victoria faces one of the biggest structural adjustment challenges. It has seen two closures of coal-fired power stations in recent years: Morwell in 2014 and Hazelwood in 2017.

As the graph below indicates, the average unemployment rate in the Latrobe-Gippsland SA4 region climbed well above the Victorian average after the first closure, before turning down.

ABS Labour Force, detailed

A multitude of local transition efforts are underway, coordinated by the Latrobe Valley Authority. These have included a worker transfer scheme that has found places for displaced employees at other power stations.

At the even finer-grained level SA2 level, the unemployment rate in the town of Morwell remaines stuck at around 17%, one of the highest rates in Victoria, years after the closure. Before the closure it was around 13%.

The regions remaining power stations  Yallourn W, Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B  are ageing. Yallourn W is the oldest, at 45 years.

We need to prepare

Structural change is an ever-present feature of a healthy economy. But, especially where rapid structural change happens due to closures of large plants in regional areas, it is important to have measures in place to ease the transition.

The Labor party has promised a national Just Transition Authority to plan for and manage the transition process as coal-fired power stations close. Whether it can help mitigate rises in local unemployment after plant closures remains to be seen.

Many of Australias remaining coal-fired power stations are likely to close over the next decade or two as renewable energy becomes more cost competitive and the pressure increases to meet emissions targets. The next cab off the rank is likely to be the Liddell power station in the NSW Hunter Valley, which is due to cease coal-fired operations in 2022.

And then theres the larger question of the transition away from coal mining. Export demand for coal is set to fall over time, winding back a large export industry in New South Wales and Queensland.

The Just Transition Authority will have its work cut out.

This research was supported by the Coal Transitions Project and the Australian-German Energy Transition Hub. An open access version of the research paper is available here.

Paul Burke, Associate Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

Frank Jotzo, Director, Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

Rohan Best, Lecturer in Economics, Macquarie University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
EXPERT OBSERVATION

The announcement by the Federal Labor Party of their support for a build-to-rent model through tax relief is good news.

There is a big swing to rental accommodation in Australian cities, but tenants are unable to have long term security of tenure.

In America and Britain long term rental is available through build-to-rent models, but this approach has not worked in Australia due to excessive taxes.

The announcement by the Federal Labor Party that they will cut the managed investment trust withholding rate in half would make build-to-rent economically viable.

The build-to-rent model works with apartment precincts that have shared amenities where residents can have a comfortable lifestyle while having the security of tenure in their own rental home.

It is likely that the larger developers of apartments will be encouraged to move into this new long term rental market.

Hopefully the current Federal Government will also support tax incentives to encourage a swing to long term rental across Australias cities.

There are 2.7 million renters of homes across Australia. Urban areas in Sydney have very high percentages of renters with Parramatta having 70%, Surry Hills 64% and Newtown 62%.

It is clear that younger people in particular, are swinging towards rental accommodation in bustling inner city urban areas where they are close to amenities and work.

With housing approvals dropping fast in Australian cities the industry will need a stimulus to boost housing supply. A viable build-to-rent approach will encourage the development of more homes across the country.

The Urban Taskforce is a strong supporter of Australia having a viable long term rental approach.

It is clear that many millennials now prefer an urban lifestyle, and many prefer this to be through a rental model in apartments.

This is clearly a different lifestyle to the suburban home and it needs to be supported as part of our diverse approach to how Australians want to live.

CHRIS JOHNSON is the Urban Taskforce CEO.
Australia has a new richest postcode, Palm Beach the pricey peninsula playground.

It the first time in seven years that the Sydney Northern Beaches location has dethroned the Point Piper, Edgecliff, Darling Point postcode, according to Australian Taxation Office statistics released late on Thursday.

The 1,279 tax filers in Palm Beach's 2108 postcode reported an average income of $230,330 for 2016/17, while the 6,089 tax filers in Edgecliff's 2027 postcode made an average of $187,769.

Postcode 2027 had ranked as Sydney's highest earning postcode since 2009/10. Although in 2016/17 it also ranked behind Melbourne's 3142, where the 10,044 filers in Toorak made an average of $193,904.

Palm Beach's 2108 postcode also includes Scotland Island, Coasters Retreat, Great Mackerel Beach and Currawong Beach.

The rankings reflects the trend in the past few years of owners turning Palm Beach holiday homes into principal residences.

It is not the first time a beach retreat location has ranked at the top of the ATO list as in 2008/09 the postcode 3944 - the Mornington Peninsula suburb of Portsea - was the top-earning postcode, with an average income of $197,987.

WA's 6011 was the richest postcode in Western Australia, with the 6,431 tax filers living in Cottesloe and Peppermint Grove on Perth's western suburbs made an average of $155,264.

In ACT, the 2603 was richest, with 6,650 tax-filers in Forrest, Griffith, Manuka and Red Hill earned an average of $110,394.

In Queensland, 4007 took the top spot, with 9,278 residents of Ascot, Hamilton and Hamilton Central in northeast Brisbane earning an average of $107,478.

South Australia's top postcode was 5061, where 6,587 residents of Hyde Park, Malvern and Unley in inner-southern Adelaide made an average of $93,871.

In the Northern Territory, 885 residents in the mining town of Alyangula - postcode 885 - made an average of $83,343.

Tasmania's top postcode was 7258, where the 571 residents of the Launceston suburbs of Breadalbane, Relbia and White Hills made an average of $68,621.

The lowest-earning postcode was 2308, covering Newcastle University and Callaghan, with an average taxable income of $20,589.

The second-lowest was 4611 in Queensland, where Marshlands and Mondure residents earned an average of $23,225.

Queensland had five of the bottom 10 postcodes, with 4611 recording the second lowest average income nationally of $23,225.

The report also showed that surgeons were once again the top-earning profession, making an average of $394,866.

Anaesthetists came second, earning $367,343 on average.

Out of 1,100 occupations recorded, there were 72 where women made more than men, including authors, future traders, magistrates, pro surfers and illustrators, the ATO statistics showed in 2016/17.

The Herald Sun reported female futures traders in Australia earn nearly 4 per cent more than their male counterparts, with an average income of $315,197.

This years stats present an overview of 16.5 million 2017 income tax returns for 13.9 million individuals, 970,000 companies, as well as super funds, partnerships and trusts.

Australians reported donating $3.5 billion in charitable donations with an average gift size for those who did donate of $770.

The most generous state was Western Australia, with 30 per cent of residents claiming an average deduction of $1190.

Northern Territory residents recorded the lowest charitable donations, with 34 per cent of residents claiming an average deduction of $405.
Australia now has 2,156,319 property investors, according to the ATO.

Tax year 2016-17 Tax year 2015-16

One property 1,536,112 1,493,982

Two properties 407,971 395,910

Three properties 125,915 122,654

Four properties 46,460 45,229

Five properties 19,504 18,872

Six or more 20,357 20,017

Total 2,156,319 2,096,664

That's a jump of 59,000 fresh investors in the 2016-17 tax year.

But the number of investors with six or more properties has barely risen with the latest ATO tally putting it at 20,357 investors in the 2016-17 tax year.

It was 20,023 in tax year 2015-16.

It is this six or more investor demographic that has attracted the attention of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in his pursuit of negative gearing changes.

The Opposition leader Bill Shorten has conceded that Labor's negative gearing/capital gains tax reforms were not universally loved.

I would rather see more young couples buy their first home, than spend billions subsidising investors acquiring multiple properties, Shorten argues.

All of the experts know that with scarce taxpayer dollars its better to put money into health and aged care than give a tax subsidy to someone buying their sixth or seventh investment property, Mr Shorten said.

According to ATO statistics a steady 71 per cent of the Australians with rental properties have just the one investment.

That's 1,536,112 individuals with the one property.

There are 1,300,344 individuals who own loss making rental properties.

There are 855,975 individuals who are in a rent neutral/profit situation with their rental investment.

An interest in a property means the property is solely owned, jointly owned or part-year owned  for example, bought or sold a property during the year.
Every consumer is in a different place when it comes to financial progress, and most likely does not measure their progress in the same way.

There are a number of ways that consumers can measure their progress towards financial independence. Reaching financial independence can be seen as reaching an important goal, such as paying off debt, building an emergency fund or contributing to a retirement fund. To help consumers asses their progress, national nonprofit American Consumer Credit Counseling explains several different achievements to consider that contribute to financial success.

Every consumer is in a different place when it comes to financial progress, and most likely does not measure their progress in the same way, said Steve Trumble, President and CEO of American Consumer Credit Counseling. Although it is different for everyone, it is important for consumers to have a way that works best for them when measuring their progress and know where they stand.

According to NerdWallets annual U.S. household debt analysis, credit card balances from month to month continued to rise in 2018 and hit $420.22 billion by the end of the year, a five percent increase from the previous year. The average credit card debt per household is about $6,929. Credit card debt is only a small portion of debt held by consumers. The analysis found that the average amount of total outstanding household debt is about $135,768, which includes mortgage.

American Consumer Credit Counseling discusses how consumers can measure their financial progress.

1. Income  Some consumers measure their financial progress based on an increase in income each year. An increase in income, whether it be a raise in salary or money from a side business, makes consumers feel as though they are moving closer towards financial independence.

2. Net Worth  Net worth is the total value of a consumers assets once their liabilities, such as debt, have been taken out. Reducing liabilities and increasing assets is a good way to increase your net worth and see results.

3. Emergency Fund  Creating an emergency fund and continuing to add to it contributes to financial progress. Reaching a goal of three months worth of expenses saved is a good milestone to work towards.

4. Debt  Being in debt is discouraging, so reducing that debt by paying it off leads to a sense of accomplishment. Consumers should focus on paying off each type of debt they have and check it off the list as they progress towards financial independence.

5. Retirement  Continuing to contribute towards retirement and reach a certain monetary goal can give consumers a good idea of where they are financially.

ACCC is a 501(c)3 organization that provides free credit counseling, bankruptcy counseling, and housing counseling to consumers nationwide in need of financial literacy education and money management. For more information, contact ACCC:



For credit counseling and student loan counseling, call 800-769-3571

For bankruptcy counseling, call 866-826-6924

For housing counseling, call 866-826-7180

Or visit us online at http://www.ConsumerCredit.com

About American Consumer Credit Counseling

American Consumer Credit Counseling (ACCC) is a nonprofit credit counseling 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering consumers to achieve financial management through credit counseling, debt management, bankruptcy counseling, housing counseling, student loan counseling and financial education concerning debt solutions. To help consumers reach their goal of debt relief, ACCC provides a range of free consumer personal finance resources on a variety of topics including budgeting, credit and debt management, student loan assistance, youth and money, homeownership, identity theft, senior living, and retirement. Consumers can use ACCCs worksheets, videos, calculators, and blog articles to make the best possible decisions regarding their financial future. ACCC holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and is a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). For more information or to access free financial education resources, log on to ConsumerCredit.com or visit http://www.consumercredit.com/financial-education.aspx
Joe Moorer Creative Colors is a well-known company with a very good reputation. Its mobile services make it much more convenient for the customer. The CCI brand stands out to me the most and it offers others a significant savings on any of their repair needs. - Joe Moorer

Creative Colors International, the nations leading on-site repair and restoration franchise, will launch its newest location on March 19, in the Summerville, South Carolina area. This is big news, as more local business owners and cost-conscious residents than ever are seeking alternatives to astronomical upholstering charges and replacement fees associated with damaged possessions made of leather, vinyl, plastic and fabric.

The new Creative Colors franchise will be owned by Joe Moorer, who has lived in Summerville for 30 years. Prior to joining CCI, he spent 17 years with two local companies in quality control, overseeing the standards and accuracy on a production process. He will continue to operate his own home inspection business in the Summerville area as well.

Moorer is also a veteran of the United States Air Force Reserve. During his time with the Air Force Reserves, he was an Air Transportation Specialist, shipping cargo from one location to another. He spent six years in the infantry with the Army National Guard (1984-1990). Moorer then returned to the Air Force Reserve in 2001 with an air transportation unit and stayed until his retirement in 2015.

According to Moorer, hes thrilled to open this Creative Colors International location because the companys revolutionary products and restoration techniques will help local customers save up to 90 percent in replacement fees by repairing worn and/or damaged materials. Creative Colors is a well-known company with a very good reputation. Its mobile services make it much more convenient for the customer. The CCI brand stands out to me the most and it offers others a significant savings on any of their repair needs.

After learning about Creative Colors, I was attracted to the concept because of the need for those services in our area. Our Summerville location provides a good customer base for both car and boat owners who live near the coast. I think there is a good opportunity in this market due to the proximity to the airport, the number of tourists in Charleston and local rental car companies here. We expect to service customers in a 40-mile radius around Summerville.

Further, the statistics suggest that repairing and restoring, as opposed to upholstering and replacing, can save local business owners and residents hundreds of dollars on any damaged item. For example, the costs associated with upholstering any type of seat can be very steep, ranging anywhere from $120 to $450 per cushion. And according to Terri Sniegolski, Creative Colors Internationals CEO, the commitment shared by all franchisees to help customers save money, and deliver on the companys We Can Fix That philosophy, has been the key catalyst for the companys expansion to 82 locations in 28 states with 160+ mobile units since its initial inception in 1980.

Were excited to open our next Creative Colors location in the Summerville area because we know that Joe shares the same We Can Fix That attitude our other successful franchisees possess, said Sniegolski. We are thrilled about our expansion near the South Carolina coast because we know the local business owners and customers in the community will be eager to repair and restore their possessions at a fraction of the cost.

Serving the automotive, commercial and furniture industries, Creative Colors International offers affordable solutions for tears, holes, scuffs, scratches and other damage found on leather, vinyl, plastic or fabric, through on-site repair, restoration, cleaning, dyeing and protection. For local residents, this means Creative Colors International can repair auto interiors, leather furniture, RV flooring and boat vinyl, among other things. Additionally, for business owners, Creative Colors International can repair any upholstery found in critical locations around the company, such as waiting rooms, examination rooms, restaurant booths, hotel rooms and theater seating, among others.

For more information on Joe Moorer and his Creative Colors International location, please visit https://wecanfixthat.com/charleston/.

About Creative Colors International

Launched in 1991, the Creative Colors International (CCI) franchise system was created through its affiliate, J&Js Creative Colors, the original industry leader in refurbishment techniques and systems. Today, both companies continue to be family-owned and operated by the second generation. Catering to the abundance of upholstered items in every home, business and vehicle, CCI is the ultimate in on-site repair, restoration, cleaning, protection, and dyeing of leather, vinyl, plastic and fabric. Through proprietary technology, CCI restores damaged material at a fraction of replacement costs, saving customers up to 90 percent. CCI repairs are stronger than the original area and are nearly invisible to the naked eye. In the Automotive, Furniture, and Commercial Markets, CCI offers on-site repair and restoration to all types of leather, vinyl, fabric, plastic, and carpeting by repairing and re-dyeing holes, cuts, tears, burns, scrapes, fading, and discoloration. For more information on CCIs services and franchise opportunities, visit http://www.wecanfixthat.com.
We help companies connect their people, processes and data for competitive advantage  and weve been working with Sage to ensure strong integration with all of their solutions so that their customers can take full advantage of our document and process automation capabilities.

Altec, a leader in enterprise document management and process automation solutions, will be exhibiting at the Sage Intacct Business Building Conference (BBC) next week in Texas. DocLink, the companys flagship product, has been certified with Sage Intacct and is currently available through the Sage Intacct marketplace, where customers can find the best solutions on the market to run their businesses.

In addition to being added to the Sage Intacct marketplace, Altec has experienced significant successes with Sage in recent months, including:



Was named by Sage as its top Independent Software Vendor (ISV) revenue performer in the U.S. for the second consecutive fiscal year.

Was awarded Sages highest ISV Rockstar status for strong integration to Sage Enterprise Management.

To obtain certification with Sage Intacct and be available on the Sage Intacct marketplace, Altec demonstrated a rigorous commitment to integrating DocLink into Sage Intacct. Altec achieved quality assurance by passing the Sage Intacct software certification with ongoing plans to align and support future Intacct releases as approved by Sage Intacct. The AP integration allows customers to connect their business data with the right people at the right time, whether it originates inside or outside of Sage Intacct.

DocLink also enables Sage customers to digitally transform their entire operations by automating and streamlining any business process beyond AP, including accounts receivable, human resources, legal and IT. DocLink provides improved visibility and control to the entire document lifecycle by eliminating paper and human error so that documents can be captured, created, processed and approved by anyone, anywhere, on any device.

Don Howren, President and COO for Altec states, Were pleased with the certification and partner marketplace recognition for the work weve done to ensure that our integration is the best it can be for Sage Intacct customers. We help companies connect their people, processes and data for competitive advantage  and weve been working with Sage to ensure strong integration with all of their solutions so that their customers can take full advantage of our document and process automation capabilities. DocLink complements Sage Intacct by improving productivity and ultimately saving companies significant time and money.

About Altec

Altec is a leading provider of integrated document management and process automation solutions. Its flagship product, DocLink, helps companies connect people, processes and data providing them with the ability to store, search, retrieve and send any document securely. DocLink effectively eliminates the need for paper while automating processes that improve organizational efficiency and reduce costs associated with human errors. With thousands of customers globally, Altec also enjoys strong, collaborative partnerships with ERP solution providers such as Sage, Microsoft, Acumatica, AmTech, Key2Act, Epicor, and SAP B1 to provide the most comprehensive enterprise solution. Learn more at http://www.altec-inc.com.

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AssuredPartners President and COO Tom Riley commented We are excited to welcome Goodworks Financial Group to our AssuredPartners family. Located in a premier region, we are looking forward to working with their remarkable team and clientele.

AssuredPartners, Inc. is pleased to announce Goodworks Financial Group of Glastonbury, Connecticut has joined AssuredPartners. The team of 14 dedicated employees across multiple cities and offices in the Eastern region will remain under the operational leadership of Dennis Dressel and Paul Brian. The agency currently reports $3 million in annualized revenues.

Since early development in 2011, we have dedicated our team to valuing people first. Organizationally, we strive to explore creativity and forward-thinking product development. Whether focused on employee benefits or industry and insurance solutions. Retaining business through our superior customer service has been one of our greatest achievements, stated Paul Brian of Goodworks Financial Group.

While we are comprised of multiple companies, we remain aligned in our efforts to extend a suite of services, catering to the needs of our customers, stated Dennis Dressel of AssuredPartners Northeast.

AssuredPartners President and COO Tom Riley commented We are excited to welcome Goodworks Financial Group to our AssuredPartners family. Located in a premier region, we are looking forward to working with their remarkable team and clientele.

ABOUT ASSUREDPARTNERS, INC

Headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida and led by Jim Henderson and Tom Riley, AssuredPartners, Inc. acquires and invests in insurance brokerage businesses (property and casualty, employee benefits, surety and MGUs) across the United States and in London. From its founding in March of 2011, AssuredPartners has grown to over $1.2 billion in annualized revenue and continues to be one of the fastest growing insurance brokerage firms in the United States with over 225 offices in 30 states and London. For more information, please contact Dean Curtis, CFO, at 407.708.0031 or dean.curtis@assuredpartners.com, or visit http://www.assuredpartners.com.
The 2019 Hyundai Elantra is available at Cocoa Hyundai, and shoppers can read about it on the dealership's website.

Cocoa Hyundai, an automotive dealership native to its namesake Cocoa, Florida, prides itself on offering much more than the typical car-shopping experience. With programs such as Hyundai Shopper Assurance, the Million Miles Plus Warranty and more, its certainly on its way. Not only does it offer these programs, but it offers great customer service when shopping for a new Hyundai vehicle like the refreshed 2019 Hyundai Elantra.

While great customer service in the store is huge, a majority of potential car buyers begin their shopping experience from the comfort of home courtesy of the internet. Thats why Cocoa Hyundais website is such a huge advantage. Shoppers in the Cocoa area, including nearby cities and beyond, can head to the website to find all sorts of information regarding the vehicles that it provides. This makes it much easier for shoppers to sift through the available vehicles and find something that will work for them.

One way it does this is with a plethora of informative model research pages focusing on the different new Hyundai vehicles, such as the 2019 Sonata. These pages will provide a handful of exterior and interior images of the vehicle alongside some of the important details about the vehicle, such as its powertrain information or the different exciting features that it offers.

Whether looking for information on the safety technologies available in the 2019 Hyundai Kona, or trying to find a sedan with a premium audio system, CocoaHyundai.com makes the process much easier. Questions that the website leaves unanswered can be directed to the sales team at 888-900-1985. Cocoa Hyundai is located at 1825 West King St. in Cocoa.
The Mid-Currituck Bridge is a 4.7 mile, two-lane bridge that will connect the Currituck County mainland to the Outer Banks. "Visitors ease of getting to their destination should also benefit the rental income generated on the property, which has an effect on the return on investment, thus increasing property values." - Pamela Smith, Vice President of Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty

Last week, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) announced that they had received federal approval for a Mid-Currituck Bridge. The official Record of Decision was received March 6, 2019. NCDOT officials will now work toward obtaining necessary permits and the land needed for the project in order to move forward. The completion of the Mid-Currituck Bridge could have considerably positive impacts on local real estate sales and the vacation rental industry.

NCDOT first identified the need for a potential bridge across the Currituck Sound in 1975 with official planning starting in 1995. In 2006, the Turnpike Authority joined the project. Those in favor of the bridge argued that it could substantially alleviate traffic during peak tourism months. The approximately 40-mile shortcut could potentially save some drivers up to 2-hours of travel time. Additionally, this will provide an alternate route out of the Outer Banks during hurricane evacuations which is imperative because as of 2018, Outer Banks evacuation times did not currently meet the state standards.

Proponents of the bridge also believe that it will give an economic boost to both Currituck and Dare counties. With less congestion, travelers will find that that accessing the Outer Banks is much easier which will have an overall positive effect on the tourism industry. With steady tourism, businesses in the area will be in a better position to provide steady year-round employment to residents who will in turn look to purchasing homes.

After speaking with several of our agents, the consensus is that the largest impact of the Mid-Currituck Bridge will be on the vacation rental market first followed by the real estate market. Vacationers who have experienced frustrating commutes on the weekend will be more likely to come back and visit the OBX. Its not just the northern beaches that will benefit from the new bridge. The bottleneck of turning north on 12 in Southern Shores causes a backup well before you cross the Wright Memorial Bridge, effecting traffic heading to the southern beaches and all areas of the Outer Banks. Visitors' ease of getting to their destination should also benefit the rental income generated on the property, which has an effect on the return on investment, thus increasing property values. Property located on both ends of the bridge should be impacted positively as well, in particular the mid-Currituck area. Being able to travel from a home in Aydlett, for example, to Corolla in less than 7 miles will bring a tremendous value to homeowners in the area. As a local resident, I will look forward to being able to go out to dinner in Duck on a Saturday night in the summer! said Pamela Smith, Vice President of Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty.

The Mid-Currituck Bridge will be built as a 1.5-mile long bridge across the Maple Swamp and a two-lane 4.7-mile long toll bridge across the Currituck Sound. This will connect mainland Aydlett, NC to Corolla, NC. According to NCDOT, the projects total estimated cost will be around $440 million dollars with part of these funds being reimbursed from toll revenue. The project also includes some upgrades and changes to parts of N.C. 12. The estimated completion date is still to be determined.

About Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty: Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty firm has sold the most real estate on the Outer Banks for the third year in a row was the #1 ranked firm on the Outer Banks*. Family owned and operated with nearly 30 years of local knowledge and experience, the company offers real estate services across the entire Outer Banks as well as all of northeastern North Carolina. Combined with the Coldwell Banker brand, one of the largest and most influential residential real estate brokerage franchises in the world, Seaside Realty offers top-tier real estate services to buyers and sellers throughout the region.


Dave Holtzman  President of Search Solution Group named as a 40 Under 40 Winner by the Charlotte Business Journal! Dave has been instrumental in shaping our company culture, which has heavily contributed to our immense success over the last year. Dave is a natural born leader that others follow without question and his involvement with the local community is a tremendous asset to the Charlotte market.

Dave Holtzman, President of Search Solution Group, has been honored as one of Charlotte Business Journals 40 Under 40. The list highlights Charlottes brightest individuals under the age of 40 who have already made a remarkable impact on their businesses and the community. As President of the regions top recruitment firm, Holtzman is an accomplished business leader who is connected to the pulse of Charlottes corporate landscape. On top of this, he is also a passionate, active citizen who is dedicated to local causes he holds dear.

Holtzman was promoted to President of Search Solution Group at the beginning of 2018. He has been a key driver of the success of the recruitment firm since his start over 5 years ago. When he took over as President, he immediately championed an initiative to improve company culture and within the first six months, the company saw a dramatic increase in retention, greatly improved morale, and record-breaking profitability. Since Holtzman joined the company, the employee population at Search Solution Group has exploded from 6 employees to almost 70, and the company plans to add another 25-30 more employees in 2019 alone. His focus on internal culture earned Search Solution Group the number one spot on Charlotte Business Journals list of Best Places to Work in 2018 for large companies. One of Holtzmans greatest attributes is consistency--he is always the first person in the office and is one of the last to leave. He is a natural leader of people who possess a true skill in motivating his employees to excel and inspiring them to be better people on a daily basis.

Dave has been instrumental in shaping our company culture, which has heavily contributed to our immense success over the last year. Dave is a natural born leader that others follow without question and his involvement with the local community is a tremendous asset to the Charlotte market. - Josh Mangum, Director of Strategy at Search Solution Group

In addition to his contributions to company culture, Dave Holtzman continuously leads by example, maintaining one of the largest books of business in the company. Holtzman is celebrated for his ability to build strong relationships with other companies and work collaboratively with clients to tailor customized solutions that fit their specific business needs. With 20 years of experience in human resources and talent management, Holtzman is highly regarded as a subject matter expert in talent acquisition. He is often featured in panel discussions, interviewed by local media, and asked to consult with businesses on their talent acquisition needs.

Holtzman is also heavily involved in the Charlotte community, particularly Plaza Midwood. He is an active member of a local Rotary chapter, where he has served multiple years as a board member and chairman for social events. From 2012-2016, Holtzman was a Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association (PMNA) board member and each year chaired their largest annual fundraising/social event, Midwood Maynia. He is also an active participant in the Farewell to Summer Party that raises over $75K annually for Time Out Youth and RAIN. Holtzman motivates Search Solution Group to be active in the community; the company has raised funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Habitat for Humanity, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and held several events for charitable causes, including a fundraiser for Veterans Bridge Home where Holtzman used his prominence within the recruitment industry to find jobs for veterans in the Charlotte market.

On May 16, Charlotte Business Journal is hosting the 40 Under 40 Awards at the McGlohon Theater. The celebration honors the winners and their achievements as Charlottes most esteemed professionals under 40. Holtzman and his fellow honorees will be recognized surrounded by family, friends, and colleagues.

For more information about Search Solution Group, visit http://www.searchsolutiongroup.com

For more information about Search Solution Executive, visit http://www.searchsolutiongroup.com

For more information about Search Solution Staffing, visit http://www.searchsolutionstaffing.com
Dr. Lane, pictured here with Unison's Melissa Hood and GPT's Sherrie Williams and Les Evans, was named Telehealth Provider of the Year on Friday, March 22. As physicians consider adding telehealth to their practices, Dr. Lane serves as a wonderful example to follow.

Global Partnership for Telehealth recognized Dr. Kayln Lane of Unison Behavioral Health as the Telehealth Provider of the Year at the telehealth agencys Tenth Annual Conference last week.

According to Unisons CEO Glyn Thomas, Dr. Lanes award is well-earned. Unison is fortunate to have Dr. Kayln Lane as our medical doctor, Thomas said. She is triple board certified in Adult, Child, and Forensic Psychiatry and provides outstanding leadership and excellent clinical care.

Dr. Lane received the reward due to her active role in providing psychiatric services to children through school-based telehealth clinics. According to Sherrie Williams, COO of Global Partnership for Telehealth, Lane consistently provides quality services to the Ware, Atkinson, and Pierce County School Systems.

Dr. Lane exemplifies what a true telehealth physician-champion looks like, Williams said. She saw a need in the community and knew that there had to be a better way to reach her patients. As physicians consider adding telehealth to their practices, Dr. Lane serves as a wonderful example to follow.

Dr. Lane was one of several award winners GPT recognized at the conference. The Speech Path, based in Perry, Georgia, won the Telehealth Trailblazer Award, while GPT commemorated ten years of conferences by honoring Jeff Robbins of Tift Regional Medical Center with the Ten Years of Excellence Award. Additionally, Joe Tallent of the Effingham School System was named the companys School-Based Telehealth Person of the Year.

Other award winners include Ken Kirtland and Dylan Fealtman of Georgia Tech University, Dr. Susan McLendon of Meadows Health, and Matthew Soon of Georgia Tech, who respectively won first, second, and third place for poster presentations.

The award ceremony closed the Tenth Annual Global Partnership for Telehealth Conference, which was one of the companys largest ever, with over 150 people in attendance.

Global/Georgia Partnership for Telehealth (GPT) is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to deliver worldwide access to healthcare by leveraging technology. With a 12-year track record of success developing and implementing sustainable, cost-effective telehealth programs, we are the leading agency globally focused on increasing access to healthcare through innovative use of technology. Currently, GPT manages a network of more than 650 endpoints, including partner providers, health systems, schools, universities, long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, and international mission projects. For more information, visit our website at http://www.gpth.org.
Fisher Investments named to Best Workplaces in Texas "These are exciting times for Fisher Investments as we continue to grow locally and globally while providing a collaborative work environment that supports our employees development." - Chief Human Capital Officer Lane Jarvis

GPTW analyzed anonymous survey feedback from more than 42,000 Texas-based employees across hundreds of employers to determine the 2019 Best Workplaces in Texas. Participants responded to more than 60 survey questions describing the extent to which their organization creates a great work environment. From these results, Fisher Investments ranked #20 in the large company category. To be considered for this award, companies had to meet the Great Place to Work-certified standard.

Highlights of Fisher Investments employee responses to the GPTW survey include:



83% say Fisher Investments is a great place to work.

94% believe our customers would rate the service we deliver as excellent.

94% say employees are made to feel welcome when they join the company.

93% say management is honest and ethical in the firms business practices.

92% say that Fisher Investments benefits are special and unique.

Were honored to be among the top workplaces in Texas, said Chief Human Capital Officer Lane Jarvis. Our Plano office has been open for over a year now in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, and were growing so quickly we recently added an additional office space. These are exciting times for Fisher Investments as we continue to grow locally and globally while providing a collaborative work environment that supports our employees development. Were proud to be known as a great place to work; a place where employees can build rewarding, lifelong careers.

About Fisher Investments

Founded in 1979, Fisher Investments is an independent, fee-only investment adviser. As of March 26, 2019, Fisher Investments and its subsidiaries manage over $100 billion in assets. Fisher Investments maintains four principal business units, Fisher Investments Institutional Group, Fisher Investments Private Client Group, Fisher Investments 401(k) Solutions Group and Fisher Investments International Group, which serve a global client base of diverse investors. The clients of Fisher Investments and its affiliates include over 175 large institutions and over 50,000 high net worth individuals. Founder Ken Fisher is a contributor to more than a dozen of publications around the globe, including USA Today, Financial Times in the UK, Nikkei in Japan, and Caixin in China, among others. He has also authored 11 books on finance and investing including four New York Times bestsellers.
An important benefit of G-CONs prefabricated modular cleanroom system is that it will speed up the design, build and validation process for our production facilities...

GenCure has selected G-CON Manufacturing, the leader in prefabricated, flexible cleanroom solutions, for its new multi-product cell therapy facility. The new facility, which will anchor the VelocityTX innovation center in San Antonio, Texas, will expand GenCures manufacturing capabilities, providing new state of the art manufacturing capabilities to support clinical cell therapy trials. GenCure is a subsidiary of BioBridge Global, a family of non-profits, whose mission is to save and enhance lives through the healing power of human cells and tissue.

The PODs will provide approximately 6,700 sq. ft. of cleanroom space to facilitate production of the large numbers of consistent, high-quality, clinical-grade adult stem cells needed to help bring potential new therapies into human clinical trials. The site is designed to facilitate future expansion up to 14,000 sq. ft. of cleanroom capacity. Being prefabricated and largely autonomous, PODs are ideal for the planned expansion phases while avoiding impact to ongoing manufacturing.

We are very excited and grateful for the opportunity to design and build PODs for this important project at GenCure, said Peter Makowenskyj, Director of Sales Engineering at G-CON Manufacturing. Cell therapies can successfully treat previously unmet medical needs and for that reason are one of the fastest growing segments in our industry. Based on our experience in this space, G-CON is well prepared to support GenCures needs by providing the fastest and most flexible technology available in the cleanroom market.

There is a pent-up demand for stem cells needed to bring potential new cellular therapies into clinical trials, and the major bottleneck in the system is a lack of biomanufacturing capacity, said Becky Cap, Senior Vice President of BioBridge Global and Chief Operating Officer for GenCure. An important benefit of G-CONs prefabricated modular cleanroom system is that it will speed up the design, build and validation process for our production facilities, supporting our goal of bringing the first phase of this new biomanufacturing space online by the end of the year.

About G-CON

G-CON Manufacturing designs, produces and installs prefabricated cleanroom PODs. G-CONs cleanroom POD portfolio encompasses a variety of different dimensions and purposes, from laboratory environments to personalized medicine and production process platforms. The POD cleanroom units are unique from traditional cleanroom structures due to the ease of scalability, mobility and the ability to repurpose the PODs once the production process reaches the end of its lifecycle. For more information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.gconbio.com.

About GenCure

GenCure, a subsidiary of San Antonio-based nonprofit BioBridge Global, is focused on enabling the development of cell-based therapies by providing access to source materials, cGMP biomanufacturing experience and clinical research support. GenCure focuses on regenerative medicine through the Texas Cord Blood Bank, biomanufacturing facility, apheresis center and a deceased donor tissue bank. Learn more at http://www.gencure.org.
Heather Berry, Administrative Assistant for the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance "It is an honor to help promote the leading manufacturers who support our states economic stability and growth," said Heather Berry.

The Georgia Manufacturing Alliance (GMA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Heather Berry as their new Membership Coordinator & Administrative Assistant. With her educational background and experience with Georgia-based companies, Ms. Berry will be vital in maintaining a rapidly increasing membership base while assisting in everyday administrative functions.

I have worked with manufacturers in the past and have seen first-hand the impact they have on our state, said Ms. Berry when asked why she decided to join the GMA team. As a Gwinnett County native, it is an honor to help promote the leading manufacturers who support our states economic stability and growth.

The Georgia Manufacturing Alliance has seen tremendous growth this year and now has over 350 members and five regional chapters. GMA hosted over 120 events last year including plant tours, networking events, tradeshows, and educational sessions and they have a rich schedule planned this year. Their upcoming schedule includes plant tours at Fastenal, KIA Motors Manufacturing, Peachtree Packaging, Red Hare Brewery, ViaSat, and World Emblem. They also have educational sessions planned for Continuous Improvement, Cyber Security, and Workforce Development.

As our membership grows and our event calendar expands, we are excited to have Heather join our team. She will be handling the administrative tasks for our office, help with membership, and will be a great asset as we head into the Georgia Manufacturing Summit, said Mr. Jason Moss, CEO of the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance.

GMAs largest event of the year is the Georgia Manufacturing Summit which will be held October 9, 2019 at the Cobb Galleria. Expected to attract over 1,000 manufacturing professionals from across the Southeast, the Summit is considered the Manufacturing Event of the Year and will address the Trends to Track for 2020. Top name keynotes and over 40 industry leaders will provide an educational forum to discuss Manufacturing a Better Bottom Line, Supply Chain & Logistics, Workforce Development, Disruptive Technologies, Sales and Marketing Trends, and International Trade.

About the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance:

The Georgia Manufacturing Alliance (GMA) is a membership-based industry organization founded in 2008 to support Georgias manufacturing community. GMA provides monthly plant tours, educational sessions, tradeshows, and unique networking opportunities designed to help make profitable business connections for its members. The Georgia Manufacturing Directory, Georgia Manufacturing Summit, BuyFromGA.com and Georgia Manufacturing Calendar are additional resources produced by GMA. To learn more about the organization, membership, and upcoming events, please call 770-338-0051 or visit their website https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/
The 2019 Honda Pilot comes standard with numerous driver assistance features.

Hansel Honda is showcasing the 2019 Honda Pilots new standard safety features for Petaluma community members in search of a new family vehicle. The 2019 Honda Pilot is a three-row SUV thats offered in five trim levels: LX, EX, EX-L, Touring and Elite. The Honda Pilot received several new features for the 2019 model year, including a revised touchscreen display for its infotainment system.

The Honda Sensing suite of driver assistance features now comes standard in every 2019 Honda Pilot trim. Features such as adaptive cruise control, a lane keeping assist system, frontal collision warnings with automatic emergency braking, automatic high-beam assist and a road departure mitigation system are all included as part of Honda Sensing. Drivers who opt for the EX trim can also take advantage of a blind-spot monitoring system with rear cross-traffic alert.

The 2019 Honda Pilot also comes standard with several comfort and convenience features. Dual vanity mirrors, interior air filtration, a tilt and telescopic steering wheel, a rearview camera, electric power steering, front and rear door pockets, keyless ignition, front seatback storage and steering wheel-mounted audio and cruise controls are all standard 2019 Honda Pilot features.

All five trim levels of the 2019 Honda Pilot utilize a 3.5-liter V6 engine which produces 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. LX, EX and EX-L models pair this engine to a six-speed automatic transmission system, while Touring and Elite models come with a nine-speed automatic transmission system.

Interested drivers looking for additional 2019 Honda Pilot information can find out more at Hansel Hondas website, http://www.hanselhonda.com. The dealerships staff can also be contacted by calling 707-709-8438. Hansel Honda is one of several dealerships that make up the Hansel Auto Group, which expanded into the Sonoma Valley region in 1961.


SunStar Strategic is pleased to announce that Hennessy Advisors, Inc. is a Gold Sponsor for SunStar Strategic's 2019 Mutual Fund Conference, Thriving in an Ever-Changing Industry. The conference is ideal for small to medium-sized fund firms who want to grow.

Neil Hennessy, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Hennessy Advisors, Inc., will participate in a panel about mergers and acquisition trends in the mutual fund industry, sharing his insights from completing 10 acquisitions representing 30 mutual funds. He will be joined by Bruce Cameron, Partner and Co-founder of Berkshire Global Advisors, and Brad Hearsh, Senior Advisor with UBS Investment Bank.

The event features two keynote speakers. Christopher Davis, Head of U.S. Research for Strategic Insight, will present Distribution Essentials for Boutique Funds, addressing how boutique firms can market themselves. Davis comments will be data-based and support his hypothesis that multiple channels of distribution should be pursued. Warren Miller, Founder and CEO of Flowspring, will present "Beating the Big Guys - How to Attract Assets as an Active, Boutique Manager. Miller will share unique analytics that highlight how small managers are already winning and how to take these strategies to the next level. His comments will include a close examination of the characteristics of funds that are driving significant asset growth.

This years event promises to provide a wealth of actionable information for fund managers, said Hennessy. Ive participated in SunStars conferences for many years. They do a professional job with presentations that are very well suited to smaller and mid-sized fund firms. Its time well spent.

Thriving in todays competitive environment is tougher than ever. To address the industrys issues, the conference will offer panels of:



Fund managers with assets ranging from $120 million to $250 billion talking about specific techniques they are using to sell their funds, covering an array of products, sales efforts and marketing structures.

Industry experts offering insights on how to get on platforms and maximize opportunities.

Financial journalists sharing what they're looking for and what topics they find to be of interest.

Data and digital providers demonstrating how to maximize their services for advisor outreach through smart data.

The conference takes place April 29 and 30 in Washington D.C. For more information or to register, please visit sunstarstrategic.com/conference or call 703.299.8390.

About Hennessy Advisors, Inc.

Hennessy Advisors, Inc. is a publicly traded investment manager offering a broad range of domestic equity, multi-asset, sector, and specialty mutual funds. Hennessy Advisors, Inc. is committed to its consistent and repeatable investment process, combining time-tested stock selection strategies with a highly disciplined, team managed approach, and to superior service to shareholders.

About SunStar Strategic

SunStar Strategic offers public relations (PR) and marketing programs to help attract, maintain, and grow clients. Core services include comprehensive PR, creative strategy, and execution. SunStar is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices in Chicago, New York City, and Austin.
El Rancho Tajiguas is a 3,500-acre California ranch that dates back to Spains King Carlos, III. Where Real Estate Is Never Boring

California Ranch Has Ties To King of Spain & John Travolta

From 18th-century Spain to modern-day rocket silos, Santa Barbaras Gaviota Coast is overflowing with history, beautiful quiet beaches, and the states most expensive ranch. Originally farmed by the Chumash Indians, El Rancho Tajiguas was part of the great rancho development of Spains King Carlos, III. In modern celebrity history, a portion was once owned by John Travolta. Purchased in the early 1980s by the TAG Group Limited as a corporate retreat, the 3,500-acre ranch is for sale, priced at $110 million.

TAG Group, former owner of the luxury watch brand TAG Heuer, bought the original land in the 1980s and continued to add parcels, including buying 16 acres with an historic hacienda from John Travolta in 1988 (which portion is not included in the current offering). After maxing their acreage purchases at 3,500 acres and agriculturally developing some of the land, they built two villas in 2014 and 2015 keeping in the Spanish style of architecture and sited with unobstructed panoramic views of the Pacific. With so much acreage, room to roam and inspiring views, it was a perfect retreat location for TAGs harried executives and subsidiaries. After reevaluating some years later, TAG finds they are not using the ranch as much as anticipated and have put it on the market.

With an interest in sustainable agriculture, the Group has cultivated the land to the highest standards. The two estate homes measure 10,000 square feet and 12,000 square feet and each includes five bedrooms, guest houses, swimming pools, theaters, wine cellars and helipads. Other improvements include an additional 20 structures: a ranch managers house, staff and farming equipment, hundreds of acres of avocado groves, a persimmon orchard and grazing land for a herd of 120 head of cattle.

El Rancho Tajiguas is a largely undeveloped ranch with some of the most stunning ocean views in the state. Considering the vastness of its 3,500 acre size, it is surprisingly close to the cultural centers of Montecito and Santa Barbara and only a hop from one of the two helicopter pads to the Santa Barbara airport. Priced at $110 million, the listing agents are Marco Naggar and Aaron Kirman of Compass, Los Angeles and Randy Solakian of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury, Montecito.

Visit TopTenRealEstateDeals.com for more historic, spectacular and celebrity homes and real estate news.
Finding your car vandalized is surely unpleasant. This scenario is covered by auto insurance, but only if you have comprehensive coverage, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Finding your car vandalized can be quite infuriating. Vandalism is a term that covers a wide spectrum of actions that can affect a car both aesthetically and functionally. From eggs thrown to the windshield, to graffiti spraying, up to broken windows and headlights, all these damages must be reported to the insurer.

Find out more about vandalism coverage and get free car insurance quotes from https://compare-autoinsurance.org/vandalism-car-insurance-coverage/

The only policy that covers vandalism is comprehensive car insurance. This policy will cover the repair costs for sustained damage.

The policy covers only the car. Comprehensive car insurance does not cover any items stolen from the vehicle. Drivers are constantly warned not to let personal, valuable belongings inside the car when not attending it. Also, custom parts are not covered by comprehensive coverage. There are other policies for custom equipment.

Comprehensive coverage requires deductibles. Before the company provides reimbursement, the policyholder will have to pay the agreed deductible. The recommended deductible is usually $500. For minor incidents, when the repair costs are significantly lower than the deductible, it is recommended to pay for the repair from their own finances. Making a claim for minor damage may result in higher upcoming premiums.

How to file a claim for vandalism:



File a police report. Insurance companies will require a police report. Official documentation will also help victims if they plan to file a lawsuit later.

Contact the insurance company. The insurance agent will answer any questions will provide further assistance.

Speak to a claims adjuster. The insurance company may send a claims adjuster to assess the damage. The adjuster will evaluate the damage, ask questions, and take pictures.

Repair the damage. The insurance company will make recommendations or instructions about where to repair the vehicle.

Solving the claim. The company will reimburse the client, minus the deductible.

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

For more information, please visit http://compare-autoinsurance.org/
Republican National Hispanic Assembly Julio is a well-respected leader in his field, as well as in the tax reform world.

Republican National Hispanic Assembly Elects New Board Members and Grows its National Leadership Team.

The Board provides the organizational leadership required to carry out the mission. They promote the fundamental principles and values of republicanism throughout the Hispanic American community in the United States.

The National Finance Chairman will be Julio Gonzalez, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Engineered Tax Services, Inc., a nationally licensed engineering firm headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida with 15 offices nationwide and over 140 employees and consultants. ETS works with many of the Top 100 CPA firms and Fortune 500 companies nationwide.

Julio is a well-respected leader in his field, as well as in the tax reform world. Amongst many of his talents, Julio has an extensive track record of speaking at national events on topics such as cost segregation, historic tax credits, opportunity zone, research and development, and emerging tax programs.

About Republican National Hispanic Assembly

The RNHA is an American political organization founded in 1967 that was formally recognized by the RNC a few years later. Its purpose is to develop and effectively educate a strong Republican Hispanic constituency throughout the nation. The participation of citizens of Hispanic heritage in the American political process and the Republican Party is critical; we encourage able and qualified Americans who are registered Republican voters, to seek office at all levels of government.

About ETS

Engineered Tax Services, Inc. (ETS) is a licensed engineering firm that focuses on federal, state, and local tax benefits. Founder and CEO, Julio Gonzalez, is an expert in tax reform whose strong presence is helping define our current tax laws. Under Gonzalez's guidance and true insight into how the industry is shaping, Engineered Tax Services is one of the largest, fastest growing, and most innovative engineering, energy, and specialty tax credit services firm in the country. Visit us at http://www.engineeredtaxservices.com
Kogni offers a unique set of AI-powered security tools and controls that help enterprises better protect their personal data assets and stay compliant in an age of ever-evolving laws and regulations.

Kogni, provider of the leading enterprise solution to discover, secure, and monitor sensitive data, today announced several key updates to its data security platform. Building on its core data-centric audit and protection solution, Kognis latest release enables users to stay compliant with new and pending regulations, as well as cover an ever-growing number of enterprise data sources. With Kogni, enterprises in financial services, healthcare, education, and other verticals can dramatically simplify their data governance, regulatory and compliance efforts.

Major shifts in how data is stored has made enterprise data environments increasingly complex, and the location of sensitive data is always changing. In most organizations, knowledge of sensitive data is siloed and tribal instead of institutional, and there is no holistic understanding about what data the company has, where it lives, and who is accessing it. Cloud and big data environments are often black boxes making the challenge even greater. Kogni provides single pane of glass visibility across all databases, environments, and geographies.

The features and benefits of Kognis latest platform release include:



Support for CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), enabling companies doing business in California to stay complaint with CCPA, which goes into effect January 1, 2020

Compliance packs for GDPR, PHI, FERPA, PCI, CCPA.

Document Recognition capabilities, enabling enterprises to discover and catalog sensitive data from documents like W2, 1099, etc.

Ability to discover rogue or hidden databases, ensuring hidden risks do not go unaddressed

Enhanced support for unstructured data in MongoDB, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox

Multi-cloud support, ensuring coverage for enterprises using a combination of public and private cloud

This latest release of the Kogni platform represents an important step in helping enterprises adopt a more data-centric security strategy and move away from threat-centric security practices, which are no longer sufficient to address the risks stemming from a landscape exploding with new sources of sensitive data, said Avinash Ramineni, CTO of Kogni. Kogni offers a unique set of AI-powered security tools and controls that help enterprises better protect their personal data assets and stay compliant in an age of ever-evolving laws and regulations.

As part of the new platform release, Kogni has launched a redesigned website to provide customers and prospects with better experience and reflect the companys expanding product and compliance support. For more information visit http://www.kogni.io.

About Kogni

Kogni is a provider of the leading enterprise solution for companies to discover, secure, and continuously monitor sensitive data. Leveraging the latest innovations in AI and data analytics, Kogni helps organizations in financial services, healthcare, education and other verticals to comply with security and privacy best practices and industry guidelines spanning federal, state, and international regulations including CCPA, GDPR, PCI, PHI, HIPAA, FERPA, SOC 1 & SOC 2, ISO 27001, and more. Founded in 2018, Kogni is headquartered in Phoenix. For more information visit http://www.kogni.io.
Logo This is a major win for families and communities impacted by the administrations discriminatory decision to terminate a humanitarian relief program that provided a safe haven for thousands of Liberian immigrants who have been peacefully contributing to their communities and our economy for decades,

Following Mounting Pressure From Civil Rights Groups, Trump Administration Orders Extension of DED for Liberians

Today, President Trump extended the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program for Liberians for twelve months, through March 31, 2020. This decision comes hours ahead of an emergency hearing in federal court in a lawsuit filed by the national Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Lawyers for Civil Rights calling for the administration to reverse its decision to terminate DED, a life-saving immigration program, for Liberian immigrants. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of African Communities Together (ACT), the UndocuBlack Network, and over a dozen affected individuals, including Liberians raising U.S. citizen children. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. (Case No. 19-cv-10432)

This is a major win for families and communities impacted by the administrations discriminatory decision to terminate a humanitarian relief program that provided a safe haven for thousands of Liberian immigrants who have been peacefully contributing to their communities and our economy for decades, Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the national Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. This victory helps protect the rights of thousands of Liberian immigrants who faced the looming threat of deportation. While this relief is not final, it provides a reprieve for families who faced the risk of being torn apart. Clarke continued, Ending DED was neither right nor lawful. It is no coincidence that this administration took this action weeks after the filing of our litigation and hours before an emergency hearing scheduled by the court in this matter. As we continue to fight for full and final relief through litigation, we will continue to demonstrate the ways in which President Trumps animus towards Liberians influenced his decision to end the DED program.

The UndocuBlack Network has arduously fought for the integrity, dignity and humanity of all undocumented Black people, said Patrice Lawrence, National Policy and Advocacy Director for UndocuBlack Network. This fight with our Liberian community has been long, hard and frustrating. Our work is personal and to that end we are very grateful for the support that our Liberian communities have gotten from our partners and allies. This win, though incremental, minute and still a termination of status, must be recognized as the monumental power of the people. The president overturned his own decision, we have more might than we can even begin to imagine. I am proud to lead this fight with you all.

This is a crucial victory, said Amaha Kassa, Executive Director of African Communities Together. Our members are celebrating because the shadow of imminent deportation no longer hangs over their heads. Credit goes to the brave Liberian DED holders and civil rights advocates who stepped forward to challenge this hasty and unjust termination. We plan to use this one-year reprieve to keep up the fight for Liberian DED holders and their families.

We are proud to stand with our allies and partners, including African Communities Together, UndocuBlack, and our courageous Liberian clients who have been living, working, and raising U.S. citizen children for nearly three decades in the United States, said Oren Nimni, staff attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights.

Dennis H. Hranitzky, partner at Dechert LLP who served as co-counsel said, We are proud to stand with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on behalf of Liberian nationals who have built lives, livelihoods, and families in the United States in the 20 years this life saving policy has been in place. This is an important, but only temporary victory, and we will continue this important work until the permanent safety and peace of mind of our clients is assured.

About the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:

The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. Now in its 55th year, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is continuing its quest to Move America Toward Justice. The principal mission of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and voting rights.

Contact

Reynolds Graves, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, press(at)LawyersCommittee.org, 202-662-8375
At Lucas Group, we take the same approach with our Associates as we do with our Candidates -- we do more than find people jobs, we help build careers.

Lucas Group, ranked third on Forbes Best Professional Recruiting Firms list for 2018, announced the recent promotion of 18 Associates to advanced recruiting positions, including Executive Senior Partner, Senior Partner and Senior Executive Search Consultant.

At Lucas Group, we take the same approach with our Associates as we do with our

Candidates -- we do more than find people jobs, we help build careers, said Carolina King, Chief People Officer for Lucas Group. The promotion of these dedicated Associates during the second quarter of 2019 represents the continued growth of our practice groups and branches as we head into the second half of our fiscal year.

The promoted Associates represent all of the companys seven practice groups, which include Accounting & Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal, Manufacturing, Military and Sales & Marketing.

The following Associates were promoted to Executive Senior Partner:



Gordon Bowen, Manufacturing, Houston

Hope Brick, Sales & Marketing, Phoenix

Bryn Davis, Accounting & Finance, Atlanta

Dusty Pellegrino, Legal - Contract, Los Angeles

Patrick Whittaker, Manufacturing, Atlanta

The following Associates were promoted to Senior Partner:

Mickey Brewster, Manufacturing, Atlanta

Brooke Cadwallader, Accounting & Finance, Houston

TJ Choquette, Accounting & Finance, Atlanta

Daniel Massello, Accounting & Finance, Chicago

Miranda Reed, Accounting & Finance, D.C.

Jen Soerensen, Human Resources, Cincinnati

The following Associates were promoted to Senior Executive Search Consultant:

Laura Cortina, Human Resources, D.C.

Carly Finnegan, Information Technology, New York

Chris McIntosh, Human Resources, D.C.

Gabe Peacock, Human Resources, Atlanta

Jason Pham, Manufacturing, Atlanta

Meagen Shockley, Military Transition, Dallas

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with 15 locations across the country, Lucas Group recruiters are able to source leading talent with unparalleled results. Offices are located in Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Irvine, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Diego, Tampa Bay and Washington, D.C.

About Lucas Group

Lucas Group is North Americas premier executive search firm. Since 1970, our culture and methodologies have driven superior results. We assist clients ranging in size from small to medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 companies find transcendent, executive talent; candidates fully realize their ambitions; and associates find professional success. To learn more, please visit Lucas Group at http://www.lucasgroup.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
With the increasing skills gap between what adults learn in school and what is required of them on the job, additional training is becoming more and more necessary.

Today, Mediaplanet launches the most recent edition of their Celebrating Continuing Education campaign. This campaign focuses on todays adult learner and how education can fit into their personal and professional life. As high school diplomas and bachelors degrees become expected by employers in todays workplace, many adults feel that they need additional education and training to succeed, but do not know where to look for these programs. The campaign seeks to inform audiences of the opportunities that access to information on various forms of professional and continuing education can benefit them in advancing their current careerss or kickstarting a new one.

Jake Schwartz, CEO of educational pioneer, General Assembly, speaks on the value of dynamic training in todays workforce. With the increasing skills gap between what adults learn in school and what is required of them on the job, additional training is becoming more and more necessary. Jake and his team saw the increased need for relevant, affordable career training and created GA to provide that education to busy adults. He stresses, The real challenge is putting all the pieces together so the individual can invest reliably their time, their passion and energy, and their money to get a real return through a career with better economic prospects.

The print component of Celebrating Continuing Education is being distributed within todays edition of the San Francisco Chronicle in San Francisco, CA. The publication will also be distributed through various industry events in 2019, including the University Professional and Continuing Education Associations Annual Conference, the Association for Career and Technical Educations CareerTech Vision, and the American Association for Adult and Continuing Educations Annual Conference. The digital component is distributed nationally, through a vast social media strategy, and across a network of top news sites and partner outlets. To explore the digital version of the campaign, click here.

This campaign was made possible with the support of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, the Association for Career and Technical Education, the National Association of Home Builders, Kim Kimble, Stanford University, Columbia University, the Flatiron School, University of Maine and many more leaders featured in the print campaign and online version.

About Mediaplanet

Mediaplanet specializes in the creation of content marketing campaigns covering a variety of industries. We tell meaningful stories that educate our audience and position our clients as solution providers. Our unique ability to pair the right leaders with the right readers, through the right platforms, has made Mediaplanet a global content marketing powerhouse. Our award-winning stories have won the hearts of countless readers while serving as a valuable platform for brands and their missions. Just call us storytellers with a purpose. Please visit http://www.mediaplanet.com for more on who we are and what we do.

Press Contact:

Samantha Yagozinski

Samantha.yagozinski (at) mediaplanet (dot) com

(646) 619-3118
Its a privilege to be among our industrys safety leaders who work hard to ensure miners return home safely at the end of each work day.

Safety and health leaders in the mining industry were recently recognized for their contributions and accomplishments at the Florida Mine Safety & Health Association (FMSHA) Conference held March 6-7 at Polk State College in Bartow, Florida. FMSHA, which holds a conference each year centered around mine safety and health, awarded the Rising Safety Leader Award to Jeremy Stalnaker, a safety specialist at Mosaic Wingate Creek; the Outstanding Safety Contributor Award to W. Ben Hart, CMSP, of W. Ben Hart & Associates; and the Innovation Award to Curtis Peters, CMSP, superintendent of Bedrock Resources and Dixie Lime & Stone.

We created this awards program to recognize mine-safety leaders and their contributions to the mining community, said Hart, who serves on FMSHAs Board of Directors. Its a privilege to be among our industrys safety leaders who work hard to ensure miners return home safely at the end of each work day.

Stalnaker received the Rising Safety Leader Award for his eight years of contributions in mining safety. Stalnaker quickly moved his way up through the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from an inspector to an incident investigator, and eventually a special investigator. He now works as a safety specialist at Wingate Creek Mine for Mosaic where he has developed a behavior-based safety program and continues his mining safety efforts.

Hart received the Outstanding Safety Contributor Award for his extensive contributions to MSHA safety training and auditing services. After retiring from 30-plus years of public service, Hart continued his efforts by beginning his safety and health consulting firm, W. Ben Hart & Associates.

Peters earned the Innovation Award with his design, fabrication and installation of a fall-prevention system for fuel truck drivers. Peters recognized a mining safety issue and was able to come up with an innovative and practical solution to the problem. His fall-prevention system has eliminated the fall hazard of the fueling process for many miners in the industry.

FMSHA focuses on promoting the health and safety aspects of the mining industry, sharing their expertise on the subject and providing educational opportunities to the community. FMSHAs conference is held each spring. For more information, please visit https://floridaminesafety.org
Grand Opening Celebration May 4 from 2 to 4 p.m. "Our generous community has made it possible for us to have more capacity to serve more babies, conduct more research, develop new services and launch new community education programs."

Mothers Milk Bank of North Texas (MMBNT) will celebrate its move into a new facility with a Grand Opening, happening from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 4.

Guests can tour the 13,090 square foot building, which includes a laboratory, advanced processing equipment and community education space. Featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony, food trucks and outdoor games, the family-friendly event is open to the community.

The Grand Opening follows a two-year capital campaign, which funded the renovation of and addition to an existing office building in southwest Fort Worth. This facility offers more than three times the space of MMBNTs previous home, accommodating the nonprofits exponential growth and preparing the organization for a future of helping more fragile infants than ever before.

From mothers who donate extra breastmilk to a wide variety of philanthropic individuals and organizations, our generous community truly made this project possible. Having more room to make more miracles is a dream come true and we are delighted to celebrate with everyone, Executive Director Amy Vickers said.

Those interested in attending the event can RSVP on the "Events" tab on MMBNT's Facebook page.

MMBNT is located at 7617 Benbrook Parkway, Fort Worth, Texas, 76126.


NextHome proudly announces its new national charity partner, Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit with the primary purpose to enhance the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs. The partnership will drive national donation efforts from its local offices to generate additional funds that will provide Canine Companions assistance dogs to children, adults and veterans with disabilities free of charge.

The partnership with Canine Companions was revealed during the fourth annual NextHome conference. The three-day event in Las Vegas brought together hundreds of NextHome franchisees, brokers and agents from across the country to take a first peek on trending industry insights and introduce new programs, such as this partnership.

As a firm believer in investing in your own team and giving back to local communities, it made perfect sense to associate NextHome with an organization that is equally dedicated to society by delivering the greatest resources to individuals in need, stated Chief Executive Officer James Dwiggins. Our hope is that our matchmade partnership with Canine Companions for Independence will enrich the lives of those people through the support of our offices, agents, followers, friends and families.

Canine Companions introduced the concept of assistance dogs for people with physical disabilities in 1975. With professional instructors who possess hundreds of years of cumulative experience in both training assistance dogs and being able to instruct people with over 60 different types of disabilities, Canine Companions is now known as the largest provider of assistance dogs in the world.

Were excited about this new partnership with NextHome and appreciate that they share our belief in the value of collaboration and community, added Paige Mazzoni, Chief Executive Officer of Canine Companions for Independence. With the support from NextHome and their franchise with hundreds of offices across the nation, well be able to unite more people with dogs in a powerful program that opens up new opportunities and new possibilities and allows us to expand the work that we do that improves the quality of life for so many people.

NextHome is encouraging its members, friends, families and supporters to help raise funds to support the mission of Canine Companions for Independence. Donations will allow Canine Companions to continue to provide expertly trained assistance dogs and follow-up services free of charge to adults, children and veterans.

To learn more about the new partnership and ways to support Canine Companions for Independence, please visit cci.org/nexthome.

About NextHome, Inc.

NextHome, Inc. is an independently owned national franchisor with a focus on changing the way consumers work with local agents and shop for real estate online. It owns the NextHome and Realty World Northern California & Northern Nevada franchise networks with over 465 offices and more than 3,800 members. The company closes over 20,000 transactions annually worth over $6.4B in volume. For additional information, visit http://www.nexthome.com.

About Canine Companions for Independence

Canine Companions for Independence is the largest non-profit provider of trained assistance dogs with six regional training centers across the country. Established in 1975, Canine Companions provides professionally trained assistance dogs to children and adults with disabilities and is recognized worldwide for the excellence of its dogs, and quality and longevity of the matches it makes between dogs and people. There is no charge for the dog, its training and on-going follow-up services. For more information, visit cci.org or call 1-800-572-BARK.

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"PrideStaff is truly my home away from home! My team is tremendously supportive, and we have so much fun growing in this line of business. We laugh a lot, we celebrate a lot, we overcome a lot of challenges, and we work so very hard to help one another succeed."

To recognize her outstanding performance in revenue, gross margin growth and client count, Cristina Davis was recently bestowed with PrideStaff Financial's Circle of Excellence Award at PrideStaff's Annual Conference. This award is presented annually to the top-producing individuals who uphold the highest standards of customer service, professionalism and teamwork within each of the national, franchised organization's three specialty divisions: PrideStaff Financial, Rx relief and Insurance Relief.

Davis first earned her spot among PrideStaff's elite circle of top producers in 2016. This year, she received the Circle of Excellence Award for a second time by finishing in the top three in the entire country across all three qualifying criteria. By consistently building her book of business, Davis exceeded her personal production goal this year, helping Strategic-Partner Sean Akin's PrideStaff Financial Fresno office achieve an astounding 35% year-over-year growth rate.

"It's an honor to recognize Cristina for achieving this level of excellence for a second time," said PrideStaff COO Tammi Heaton. "She is a great example of the success that comes from setting high goals, consistently working hard and following PrideStaff's proven processes. Ultimately, Cristina's individual achievements have fueled tremendous growth for the Fresno office, while helping PrideStaff Financial become one of the fastest growing accounting and financial staffing firms in the nation."

When interviewed, Davis attributed her success to hard work, loyalty to her team, candidates and clients, and ongoing support from her husband and family. "Earning the Circle of Excellence Award is my biggest career goal each and every year; winning a second time makes me feel like I have the best career out there," said Davis. "PrideStaff is truly my home away from home! My team is tremendously supportive, and we have so much fun growing in this line of business. We laugh a lot, we celebrate a lot, we overcome a lot of challenges, and we work so very hard to help one another succeed."

"My trusting clients and hardworking candidates also deserve a piece of this award," continued Davis. "I could not have accomplished what I did without their trust, clear communication and enthusiasm. I make it a priority to deliver exceptional service to the individuals and employers who decide to work with me, and it's played a huge part in the growth of my business."

About PrideStaff Financial

A division of PrideStaff, PrideStaff Financial specializes in accounting and financial staffing. The parent company was founded in the 1970s as 100 percent company-owned units and began staffing franchising in 1995. They operate over 80 offices in North America to serve over 5,000 clients. With over 40 years in the staffing business, headquartered in Fresno, CA, all PrideStaff brands offer the resources and expertise of a national firm with the spirit, dedication and personal service of smaller, entrepreneurial firms. For more information on PrideStaff Financial services, visit http://www.pridestafffinancial.com.

PrideStaff and PrideStaff Financial's shared Mission: Consistently provide client experiences focused on what they value most.
Peter Sommer at the end of his 1994 months-long 2,000 mile walk in the footsteps of Alexander the Great in Turkey. Peter Sommer's 1994 experience of walking through Turkey set a course that is still continuing. All of what are now Peter Sommer Travels Turkish itineraries, he touched on in that first journey, from Inthe Footsteps of Alexander the Great to tours to Ionia, Caria, Lycia and throughout Turkey.

Spring 2019 marks 25 years since Peter Sommer made his seminal first visit to Turkey, a months-long 2,000-mile solo trek that changed his own life and that eventually led to the foundation of the company bearing his name, as an operator for high-end archaeological and cultural tours, active in six countries by now. It was also the inspiration of their signature tour, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great in Turkey, https://www.petersommer.com/tours/alexander-the-great-turkey an adventure on which guests can join Peter April 29-May 10.

For more than 2,000 years Alexander the Great has excited the imagination of people around the globe. This archaeological tour in Turkey is a unique opportunity to retrace his footsteps across Asia Minor, the first leg of his extraordinary 22,000 mile journey. Along the way youll explore many of the countrys most fascinating and best-preserved ancient and cultural sites, see some of its most striking and beautiful landscapes, savor many of the highlights of Turkish cuisine and stay in some delightful, characterful and charming small hotels. The 12-day tour costs from 3,675 (approximately $US 4,855/$CA 6,515) per person double, including full-board accommodation on a traditional gulet, airport transfers, all crew services on board, entrance fees and tips on land, and excursions with expert guide.

This year, more than two dozen archaeological, culinary and cultural tours spanning the five countries of Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Turkey and the UK are featured in Peter Sommer Travels 2019 schedule, including a first-ever tour of Wales. Departures are filling quickly, with several already sold-out.

Top picks across Peter Sommer Travels European program for 2019 include:

In CROATIA

Cruising the Dalmatian Coast: From Sibenik to Zadar https://www.petersommer.com/tours/sibenik-zadar-cruise-croatia

Experience the Dalmatian Coast as few have before, exploring the more off-the-beaten-track sites on this eight-day cruise from Sibenik to Zadar. Led by expert guides Professor Helena Tomas, Professor Ivana Jevtic or Filip Budic (depending on the departure date chosen), visit some of the astonishing historical and cultural sites along this diverse coastal region. Walk through striking landscapes, view breathtaking architecture and visit fascinating museums, and indulge in delicious local cuisine along the way.

Departing 1 June, 7 September and 14 September, this seven-night tour costs from 3,395 (approximately $US 4,435/$CA 5,920) per person double, including full-board accommodation on a traditional gulet, airport transfers, all crew services on board, entrance fees and tips on land, and excursions with an expert guide.

Cruising the Dalmatian Coast from Dubrovnik to Split https://www.petersommer.com/tours/dubrovnik-cruise-croatia is a spectacular tour, offering the same combination of experiences that has become the hallmark of Peter Sommer Travels gullet cruises elsewhere: a beautiful traditional Turkish gulet, fascinating archaeological and historical sites explored in the company of dedicated experts, a wonderful maritime landscape and  of course  delicious local food and wine!

Departing 31 August (May 25 departure is sold-out), this seven-night tour costs from 3,395 (approximately $US 4,435/$CA 5,920) per person double, including full-board accommodation on a traditional gulet, airport transfers, all crew services on board, entrance fees and tips on land, and excursions with an expert guide. Reverse itinerary from Split to Dubrovnik departs 21 September.

In GREECE

Cruising the Dodecanese https://www.petersommer.com/tours/dodecanese-cruise-greece

This spectacular gulet cruise takes you from the famous island of Kos through the entire Dodecanese chain, including eleven of the most beautiful and evocative of the Greek islands and no less than three UNESCO-listed World Heritage sites. The islands strategic location has made them a well-connected cultural interface throughout history. Carians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, the Crusader Knights of St. John, Ottomans and Italians visited or settled them, leaving behind a rich legacy of grandiose ancient sanctuaries, mighty castles, serene monasteries and traditional villages, all set within an ever-changing maritime scenery.

Departing 31 August (May 25 departure is sold-out), this 14-night tour costs from 4,250 (approximately $US 5,783/$CA 7,703) per person double, including full-board accommodation on a traditional gulet, airport transfers, all crew services on board, entrance fees and tips on land, and excursions with an expert guide.

Walking and Cruising the Dodecanese https://www.petersommer.com/tours/walking-cruising-greece

Discover the best of the stunning Dodecanese islands on this eight-day walking and cruising tour. This itinerary provides guests with an insight into the historical depth and hidden gems often overlooked by visitors to the region. Led by expert guide Dr. Michael Metcalfe, guests will discover the islands scenic valleys, hike to breathtaking summits and visit fascinating archaeological sites by day before returning to the comfort of a traditional gulet, where tranquil dips in the Aegean Sea and delicious cuisine, eaten at a relaxed Mediterranean pace, await.

Departing September 28, this seven-night tour costs from 2,845 (approximately $US 3,715/$CA 4,960) per person double, including full-board accommodation on a traditional gulet, airport transfers, all crew services on board, entrance fees and tips on land, and excursions with expert guide.

In ITALY

Cruising the Amalfi Coast https://www.petersommer.com/tours/amalfi-coast-cruise-italy

Observe one of the worlds most famous coastlines from an alternative perspective on this eight-day cruise of the Amalfi Coast and its islands. Led by expert guides Dr. Sophy Downes and Francesca Del Vecchio, explore some of the coasts most well-known areas including Capri, Pompeii and Amalfi, as well as lesser-known, yet equally grand, sites such as the ancient Roman town of Baia and the outstanding Villa Oplontis.

Departing 31 August and 7 September, this seven-night tour costs from 3,795 (approximately $US 4,960/$CA 6,620) per person double, including full-board accommodation, airport transfers, entrance fees and tips on land, and excursions with expert guides.

A Gastronomic Tour of Sicily https://www.petersommer.com/tours/gastronomic-sicily-tour

Eastern Sicily is home to a vibrant culinary tradition that mixes delicious local produce with cooking styles drawn from its many foreign rulers, from the Byzantines to the Arabs, and from the Normans to the Spanish. Expert guides on this food tour have lived and worked in this region for many years. They have drawn deeply on their personal knowledge of land and people to craft an itinerary that combines practical cooking experience with the highlights of the regions cuisine and visits to key historical and cultural sites.

Departing 21 September, this seven-night tour costs from 3695 (approximately $US 4,912/$CA 6,542) per person double, including full-board accommodation, airport transfers, entrance fees and tips on land, and excursions with expert guides.

Cruising the Aeolian Islands https://www.petersommer.com/tours/cruising-aeolian-islands-sicily

The Aeolian Islands, a gorgeous volcanic archipelago off the Northern Coast of Sicily, are renowned for offering a relaxed and luxurious retreat to rich and famous Italians, while also being home to some fascinating archaeological sites from the ancient cultures of Southern Italy. Strung out in two intersecting lines, with a handful of their fellow islands always visible on the wide horizons, they create one of the most perfect areas for gulet cruising in all of Italy, and one of the most varied set of island experiences that can be enjoyed in just a week of glorious cruising.

Departing 22 June, this seven-night tour costs from 3795 (approximately $US 5,045/$CA 6,720) per person double, including full-board accommodation, airport transfers, entrance fees and tips on land, and excursions with expert guides.

In TURKEY

Peter Sommer Travels Turkey itineraries include A Gastronomic Gulet Cruise, https://www.petersommer.com/tours/food-tour-turkey an eight-day tour, led by Serdar Akerdem, that departs on 1 June, from 2,395 (approximately $US 3,130/$CA 4,180) per person double; and Cruising the Carian Coast: From Mediterranean to Aegean, https://www.petersommer.com/tours/carian-cruise-turkey an eight-day tour led by Dr. Cathie Draycott, that departs on 14 September (June 22 sailing is sold-out) from 2,395 (approximately $US 3,130/$CA 4,180) per person double.

In the UK

Peter Sommer Travels first-ever Welsh tour traces the unique story of south and west Wales on a six-day escorted itinerary which explores some of the Principalitys finest historic sites set amidst stunning landscapes. Led by expert guide Paul Beston, explore what remains from the settlements of the Romans, Vikings, Normans - and the English! Visit Roman forts, medieval chapels and an array of fascinating castles, with highlights including Chepstow Castle, Tintern Abbey, Caerphilly Castle and the attractive remains of Bishop de Gowers remarkable palace.

Departing July 14, Exploring Wales: Millennia Under the Gaze of Mountains https://www.petersommer.com/tours/wales-exploring costs from 2,695 (approximately $US 3,520/$CA 4,700) per person double, including accommodation, minibus travel, entrance fees and tips, excursions with expert guides, breakfast daily, five lunches and three dinners.

The new Wales tour joins a variety of UK itineraries which include Exploring Hadrians Wall: Romans, Reivers and Romantics https://www.petersommer.com/tours/hadrians-wall-tour-england, an eight-day tour led by Paul Beston and Peter Sommer himself that departs on 22 June, from 2,825 (approximately $US 3,690/$CA 4,925) per person double; and Exploring Wessex: From Neolithic Avebury to Georgian Bath, https://www.petersommer.com/tours/exploring-wessex-england a seven-day tour led by Paul Beston and Dr Michael Metcalfe, that departs on 30 June, from 2,795 (approximately $US 3,650/$CA 4,875) per person double.

About Peter Sommer Travels

Specializing in small-group expeditions, Peter Sommer Travels offers more than 25 different expert-led land tours and gulet cruises among the ancient sites of Croatia, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Turkey, including family tours; gastronomic tours of Sicily; city tours of Athens, Rome and Istanbul; and cultural walking holidays. Each tour is limited to no more than 18 participants, for a personalized experience.

Peter Sommer Travels received the Tour Operator of the Year Gold award in 2018 and 2016 from AITO, the Association of Independent Tour Operators, as well as the Silver award in 2017 and 2019.

Every itinerary is hosted by an expert guide. They provide a fascinating insight into ancient lands while guests enjoy the history, culture, magnificent scenery, food and wine of each destination.

For full details and bookings, visit https://www.petersommer.com or email info@petersommer.com; alternatively, call Peter Sommer Travels at 1-855-443-3027 (in the US and Canada).


Prime TSR, a Chicago-based technology modernization consultancy, today announced it has been named among the consulting industrys The 2019 Seven Small Jewels: Seven To Watch (https://www.consultingmag.com/2019/03/13/the-2019-seven-small-jewels-seven-to-watch/). Published by ALMs Consulting Magazine, this years list includes 7 small, but mighty, fast growing niche consulting firms. In selecting the firms to watch, Consulting Magazine said we felt these outstanding firms needed to be noticed.

This recognition is the latest recognition of Prime TSRs rapid growth trajectory and broadened focus around cloud-based infrastructure, applications and data platforms. Prime TSR also made its debut on the 2018 Inc. 5000the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies.

This honor is a testimony to the dedication and deep commitment of our team of experts. Our people bring extraordinary passion and ingenuity to developing solutions for our clients' most important challenges, said Eugene Khazin, principal and co-founder, Prime TSR.

In its own press announcement of The 2019 Seven Small Jewels: Seven To Watch, Consulting magazines publisher & editor-in-chief, Joseph Kornik commented: We felt these outstanding firms needed to be noticed. So, here they arethis years Seven to Watch.

About Prime TSR

Founded in Chicago in 2013, Prime TSR is the strategic technology modernization partner for Fortune 1000 organizations, including some of the best-known names in professional services, healthcare, insurance, financial services, manufacturing, distribution and logistics. Prime TSRs diverse team of highly-skilled technologists focuses on three primary areas: Application Development & Integration, Data Platforms & Analytics and Infrastructure & Operations. Initially gaining credibility for behind the scenes work resolving mission critical IT system challenges and enterprise breakdowns, today Prime TSR applies the same ingenuity and pragmatic approach to developing insightful, long-term technology solutions to its clients most pressing business challenges. For more information visit: primetsr.com.

About Consulting magazine

Consulting magazine is the flagship publication of the consulting profession featuring the latest information on consulting careers, thought leadership and corporate strategies. In addition to providing industry insights, Consulting hosts award dinners as part of our Achievement Awards serieshonoring Women Leaders in Consulting, The Top 25 Consultants, The Rising Stars of the Profession, The Best Firms to Work For, and The Global Leaders in Consulting. Please visit http://www.consultingmag.com for more information and follow @Consulting_Mag on Twitter.

About ALM Intelligence

ALM Intelligence, a division of ALM Media LLC, supports legal, consulting, and benefits decision-makers seeking guidance on critical business challenges. Our proprietary market reports and analysis, rating guides, prospecting tools, surveys, and rankings, inform and empower business leaders to meet business challenges with confidence. Please visit http://www.alm.com/intelligence for more information.
2019 Modular Building Institute Awards of Distinction Whether its a single-source design-build project, working in a design-assist role, or being a strategic sub-contractor to a GC, we have the expertise, creativity, and resources to bring a collaborative team approach to every job we do

Design-build commercial modular building firm Ramtech Building Systems of Mansfield, Texas has announced that the company was recognized with three Awards of Distinction honors at the Modular Building Institute's 2019 World of Modular annual convention and trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ramtech received a First Place award in the Relocatable Modular Assembly category for their Denver International Airport Concourse A Expansion project, a 38,920 square foot Type II facility completed in 180 days which added six gates and a food concession area.

Ramtech also received two Honorable Mention awards. In the Permanent Modular Special Application category, the company was cited for a payment scale house designed and built for Waste Management, Inc. Built using traditional pier and beam permanent modular construction, the 952 square foot building is situated at the entrance to Waste Managements DFW Landfill Management disposal location in Lewisville, Texas and is elevated on concrete piers to sit at the same level as the weigh scales on both sides of the structure.

The second Honorable Mention award was for the innovative custom redesign of Ramtechs industry standard portable classrooms. Developed in collaboration with Pfluger Architects to meet the needs of the Eanes (TX) Independent School District, Ramtech received the award in the Relocatable Modular Education Under 10,000 square feet category for their innovative Learning Studios. These portable classrooms include changes that incorporate open ceilings with exposed painted trusses and spiral ductwork, pendant lighting with full height projected windows for more natural lighting. There are also connecting corridors that serve as a vestibule with a common restroom allowing for a shared space while helping with sound attenuation.

Winning these MBI Awards of Distinction in such diverse categories across multiple industries is what makes us unique, said Linc Moss, President of Ramtech. Whether its a single-source design-build project, working in a design-assist role, or being a strategic sub-contractor to a GC, we have the expertise, creativity, and resources to bring a collaborative team approach to every job we do.

The 2019 Modular Building Institute Awards of Distinction program included hundreds of entries in categories for relocatable, permanent, and renovated modular buildings, as well as for marketing and promotional pieces. The Awards of Distinction competition includes over 30 categories in which MBI members including manufacturers, dealers, and product and service providers can submit entries. The building awards are judged by an independent panel of building design and construction experts on architectural excellence, technical innovation & sustainability, cost effectiveness, and energy efficiency.

About Ramtech Building Systems

Since 1982 Mansfield, Texas-based Ramtech Building Systems has been providing innovative permanent modular construction and relocatable modular buildings to educational institutions, government agencies, healthcare providers, and Fortune 500 companies throughout the Southern United States. As a design-build construction company, Ramtech offers full in-house design, a manufacturer direct product, and complete site construction services all within a single-source provider solution. By emphasizing a value engineering approach, Ramtech has successfully completed over 4,000 total projects of diverse sizes across multiple industries. Their project portfolio includes both relocatable buildings and facilities built using traditional pier and beam permanent modular construction and the companys flagship slab-on-grade permanent modular construction method. For more information, visit the Ramtechs website at RamtechModular.com.
I love working with brands that continue to push the envelope on what is achievable within the retail space  this is exactly what LTH JKT do. Their accelerated growth and operational challenges are going to be a perfect fit for the RetailOps ecosystem.

Leading omnichannel software company RetailOps is proud to welcome luxury clothing brand LTH JKT to their hyper-focused direct-to-consumer retail platform.

Established in Venice, California, by Grace Branton and Andrew Pollard in 2017, LTH JKT has grown from a start-up company to a global leatherwear brand within just two years. However, as the brand grew, LTH JKT began facing the inventory management problems associated with increased demand and operating on a multitude of marketplaces and channels.

As Grace Branton, who is also Director of Operations at LTH JKT, explained, I believe that inventory is the most valuable asset for a brand. Ultimately, not knowing where inventory is at all times can be a disaster. Using an inventory management system that knows where everything is in multiple locations is how a small niche company scales to a globally recognizable brand.

In early 2019, LTH JKT reached out to RetailOps to help keep track of their growing inventory across multiple markets, allowing for a streamlined inventory management system that could scale with the business.

Client Operations Manager at RetailOps, Ryan Caslavka, said, I love working with brands that continue to push the envelope on what is achievable within the retail space  this is exactly what LTH JKT do. Their accelerated growth and operational challenges are going to be a perfect fit for the RetailOps ecosystem.

He added, Its so rewarding to have the opportunity to work with a brand that understands that growing businesses need to evolve. The whole team at RetailOps is looking forward to being part of LTH JKTs ongoing success.

RetailOps is a leader in retail execution and operational efficiency. Their all-in-one software suite is a SaaS product uniquely designed for retailers  online, brick-and-mortar, and everything in between. It provides a full set of tools to run back-office operations from the C-suite to the warehouse floor; purchasing, receiving, inventory, product management, POS, shipping, reporting and beyond, in a single cohesive system.

For more information on RetailOps, visit https://www.retailops.com/

For more information on LTH JKT, visit: https://lthjkt.com/
RoosterBio, Inc, a leading supplier of innovative human Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell (hMSC) biomanufacturing systems, will attend the Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting & Exposition on April 3-6, 2019 in Seattle, Washington.

This conference gives us the opportunity to connect with academic, healthcare, governmental and business professionals in all aspects of the biomaterial science field who are advancing the rapidly growing regenerative medicine industry, said RoosterBio CEO Margot Connor. RoosterBios products are accelerating the cell-based bioeconomy by providing standardized hMSCs product platforms that enable rapid clinical and commercial translation. By sharing knowledge at the annual meeting, we can collaborate across various scientific disciplines including materials science, biology, engineering and medicine to improve human health.

RoosterBio Scientist Josephine Lembong, PhD will present a poster at the conference titled, Scalable Xeno-Free Microcarrier-based Suspension Bioreactor System for Biomanufacturing of Human Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells (hMSCs) for Regenerative Medicine (#1067). Poster Sessions will be held on Thursday, April 4, 2019 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm and Friday, April 5, 2019 from 3:45pm to 5:15pm.

Commenting on the poster, Connor added, The data shown in this presentation demonstrates our robust, scalable hMSC culture process in bioreactors. The consistent cell yield and maintained cell quality exhibited with this scalable fed-batch process allows the adaptation of this plug-and-play standardized system by translational researchers and hMSC product developers in the regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and cell therapy fields, while providing significant time and cost savings.

Additional meeting details can be located on the conference website at http://www.2019.biomaterials.org.

About RoosterBio, Inc

RoosterBio, Inc. is a privately held cell manufacturing platform technology company focused on accelerating the development of a sustainable regenerative medicine industry, one customer at a time. RoosterBio's products are high-volume, affordable, and well-characterized adult human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hMSCs) paired with highly engineered media systems. RoosterBio has simplified and standardized how stem cells are purchased, expanded, and used in development, leading to marked time and costs savings for customers. RoosterBio's innovative products are ushering in a new era of productivity and standardization into the field, accelerating the road to discovery in Regenerative Medicine. For more information on RoosterBio, please visit http://www.roosterbio.com.
Senior citizens that are older than 65 years, will have troubles finding life insurance. However, there are some ways that can help them find an affordable life insurance coverage, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Lifeinsuranceover65.com has launched a new blog post that explains how seniors can obtain life insurance no medical exam policy.

For more info and free quotes, please visit https://lifeinsuranceover65.com/find-life-insurance-seniors-older-65-years/

Finding life insurance can be hard for any person that is older than 50 years. Obtaining life insurance over that age might look impossible, but in many cases, even seniors older than 65 years can find good life insurance.

A senior citizen that wants to obtain affordable life insurance should consider the following:



Consider getting a no medical exam life insurance. Most life insurance carriers will refuse to work with any kind of senior citizens, no matter their age. Instead, senior citizens should choose a no medical exam policy. These types of policies are known for providing support to seniors and other categories that are usually excluded by the standard life insurance providers.

Analyze the available budget. Usually, at the age of 65, most seniors retire and they are earning less when compared to what they earned when they had a job. For this reason, life insurance companies are skeptical when it comes to insuring retirees. Seniors should first consult with their families about the possibility of getting a no medical exam life insurance and see what they can afford. Then they can start their search.

Consider revealing more details about the health condition. Although many no exam insurance carriers will not ask that many questions about the health of a senior and some policies will not ask any medical questions at all, they will charge extra on the insurance rates of seniors that are not willing to disclose that much about them.

Shop online for free quotes. Brokerage websites are ideal to do that. Senior citizens will save time and will compare insurance prices in an easy manner if they use a brokerage website.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://lifeinsuranceover65.com/

Lifeinsuranceover65.com is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.
ShareSmart CEO to join Canadas first women-only business mission to Japan.

A discussion of womens economic advancement strategies in Canada and Japan.

ShareSmart CEO and Co-founder, Rena Tabata will be among a group of Canadian women to join Canadas first women-only business mission to Japan on April 1-3, 2019. This exclusive mission gives opportunity to 25 female entrepreneurs who are leading Canadian companies to grow their business in Japans growing eldercare sector.

The delegates are hand-picked companies that have a strong track-record in exporting and whos business activities complements the growing needs in Japan.

The mission will offer two days in Tokyo at the Canadian Embassy consisting of business-to-business matching, industry site visits, and high-level discussions of womens economic advancement strategies in Canada and Japan. The 3rd day will be hosted at the Kyoto Women's University.

Currently, ShareSmart is offered bundled with iPhones to certain university hospitals in Japan. The Japanese interface was developed in consultation with Apple Japan, and offers compliance with local privacy guidelines.

Sending a women-only mission shows that Canada doesnt just talk the talk, it also walks the walk in advancing gender equity, says Dr. Allison Sekuler, who is participating in the mission as a thought leader delegate.

It is an honor to be among such a brilliant group of women, says Rena. Canada has so much to offer in health technology and the mission will open the door for Canadian women in the Asian market.

About ShareSmart: Think Tank Innovations Ltd. is a Canadian health communication solutions development firm, committed to clinical practice excellence and health promotion through digital innovation. Its flagship product, the ShareSmart secure clinical photography and chat app is being utilized in 71 countries by doctors, nurses, paramedical and allied health professionals.
We all want healthy children, Dr. Miller continued, "and one of the best ways to accomplish that is by educating parents and doctors, not by using bad science and medical bullying, which are the antithesis of the ethical principle of informed consentupon which modern medicine hinges.

Although medical doctors and vaccine manufacturers have been protected from liability for vaccine injuries and deaths since the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, soon California doctors may no longer be able to protect their patients from vaccine injuries or deaths.

In 2015, California removed the personal belief exemption to vaccination for both private and public school attendance, and the responsibility of recommending a medical exemption to at-risk children then fell on their physicians. Now, SB 276 seeks to prevent medical doctors from using their expertise and knowledge to protect at-risk children in their practice from vaccine injuries and deaths.

If SB 276 becomes law, children at risk of severe vaccine injuries will be at the mercy of public health officials with whom they have no patient-doctor relationship, and past, current, and future medical exemptions will only be approved if a childs medical circumstances are found on a short government checklist, explained PIC Founder and President Dr. Shira Miller.

Physicians for Informed Consent has sent an open letter to California legislators opposing SB 276, citing that it is unscientific and unethical. The chance of dying from measles in the United States is 1 in 10,000, based on data from the pre-vaccine erawhen about 4 million U.S. children got measles every year, said Dr. Miller. 1 in 10,000 is about the same chance as being struck by lightning once in your lifetime. The problem is that the risk of dying or being permanently disabled by the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine has not been proven to be less than 1 in 10,000. This makes mandating the MMR vaccine unscientific and unethical.

We all want healthy children, Dr. Miller continued, and one of the best ways to accomplish that is by educating parents and doctors, not by using bad science and medical bullying, which are the antithesis of the ethical principle of informed consentupon which modern medicine hinges.

Physicians for Informed Consent is a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization representing hundreds of doctors, as well as scientists and attorneys, whose mission is to safeguard informed consent in vaccination. In addition, its Coalition for Informed Consent consists of over 150 member organizations which represent millions of Americans.

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The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi The holistic and comprehensive academic experience Methodist offers its students is central to its commitment to educate quality and engaged health care professionals, said Executive Director Dr. Mary Todd.

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi will install its 353rd chapter at Methodist College in Peoria, Illinois, today, March 29. Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nations oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society.

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is pleased to welcome Methodist College to its community of scholars, said Executive Director Dr. Mary Todd. The holistic and comprehensive academic experience Methodist offers its students is central to its commitment to educate quality and engaged health care professionals.

The installation of the Methodist College chapter comes after a thorough petitioning process, site visit and approval from the Societys board of directors. To be eligible, an institution must be a regionally accredited four-year college or university with an established reputation of excellence and an expressed commitment to upholding the values of the Society.

The officers at the newly installed chapter are President Charles Clark, President-elect Eileen Setti, Secretary Pam Ferguson, Treasurer Barry Soffietti, Public Relations Officer Debbie Stark, and Awards and Grants Coordinator Melissa Williams.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 when Marcus L. Urann, a student, brought to his professor the idea of creating a different kind of honor societyone that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the Society has chapters on more than 300 select campuses in the United States and the Philippines and inducts approximately 30,000 new members each year. Membership is by invitation only to the top 7.5 percent of juniors and the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students, along with faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

About Phi Kappa Phi

Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The Societys mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." Since its founding, more than 1.5 million members have been initiated. Some of the organization's more notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist John Grisham and YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley. Each year, Phi Kappa Phi awards nearly $1 million to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, member and chapter awards, and grants for local and national literacy initiatives. For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, visit http://www.PhiKappaPhi.org.


Our mutual customers will enjoy the benefits of a high-performance cloud-based LOS and Unifys comprehensive suite of CRM tools for loan originators.

Unify CRM, a full-featured CRM platform specifically designed for the mortgage industry, and LendingPad, a leading provider of mortgage Loan Origination System (LOS), have announced the integration of their two platforms. The integration provides users of LendingPad to easily take advantage of the business-building features and communication tools within Unify CRM.

Unify CRM and LendingPad have already provided this integration to the clients they currently have in common and will present this powerful solution to future clients jointly. Utilizing LendingPads API allows Unify to pull more data from the LOS to provide Loan Officers with up-to-date loan information, enable status update communications to borrowers and agents, and provide a source of data to help identify future lending opportunities.

Unify is not just a static contact management system, said Scott Lidberg, president of Cross Media/Unify. It is designed to automate much of the work that loan originators need to do on a daily basis to be successful. This includes communications, prospecting, and pipeline management. Our goal is to improve communications and efficiencies while helping to build relationships with clients and referral partners that result in strong business growth.

This integration gives managers more control over marketing content, branding, campaigns and compliance by pulling information directly from LendingPad's LOS instead of having to re-enter data, eliminating entry mistakes and automating the process further. Unify CRM features extensive marketing tools for video, text, and social media channels, including marketing audit features, lead tracking, and the inclusion of a marketing scorecard to give loan officers an insight into their daily work. It also just released the first truly Mobile Mortgage CRM providing originators these same tools, but in the palm of their hand.

LendingPad is proud to be at the forefront of mortgage lending technologies working with powerful platforms such as Unify CRM together to enhance loan origination process, said LendingPads Managing Director, Wes Yuan. Our mutual customers will enjoy the benefits of a high-performance cloud-based LOS and Unifys comprehensive suite of CRM tools for loan originators.

About Unify CRM

Unify is an innovative suite of features and technology services designed specifically for the mortgage industry. We help mortgage banks, community banks, mortgage brokers, credit unions, and loan originators to more effectively connect with their clients, manage relationships, and grow their business. We are proud to have built the most robust CRM for the Mortgage Industry. It is our goal to help loan originators become more efficient, grow their business, and make more money. Unify is a product of Cross Media, LLC with offices in Florida and Minnesota.

About LendingPad

Residential mortgage professionals created LendingPads innovative loan origination system in 2006 to provide an exceptional user experience, to make better lending decisions and to enhance individual originators ability to succeed. Leveraging from a highly-scalable cloud infrastructure, LendingPad  is a web-based, end-to-end innovative LOS offering unique features such as same-file multi-user edit capabilities and real-time updates. LendingPad  Network is a hub connecting borrowers, brokers, lenders and service providers. The solutions LendingPad offers elevate the efficiency, compliance, and information security of brokers, lenders, and depository institutions. LendingPad is a Premier Member of the Mortgage Bankers Association and an endorsed technology sponsor for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. LendingPad is a product of WEI Technology LLC, headquartered in McLean, VA, USA.
Vanguard Roofing began on March 29, 1972, as a full-service commercial, industrial and institutional repair and maintenance roofing company.

Since its inception in 1972, Vanguard has provided a unique approach towards the installation and maintenance of roofing systems based upon a thorough analysis from specifications that included building attributes and existing roofing components. Accurate recommendations, quick response to our customers needs and our commitment to producing high-quality work for a fair price is what Vanguard Roofing is all about.

In 1979 Vanguard became a pioneer in the installation of single-ply membrane roofing assemblies. By 1994 Vanguard started a full-service coating division for various types of smooth surface and built-up roofs.

Vanguard has continued to expand its services and by 2015 added Infra-Red Scans, and other sophisticated equipment, for exterior building diagnostics to detect moisture infiltration, thermal breaks and leaking issues of existing roofing systems.

Vanguard has been successful at evolving and changing to stay ahead of other roofing companies and has positioned itself in the most competitive way possible.

Rodney Rouse began his long career at Vanguard in 1975. His knowledge and meticulous workmanship helped him advance from a journeyman to foreman to crew chief followed by Senior Estimator in 1985. His working understanding of roofing system installations ensures Vanguards final product to be highly rated and has been instrumental in helping Vanguard attain Master Contractor status.

The first day on the job for me was a learning experience. Service to the customer is what the message passed along was. It was then and still is now. What the management taught and emphasized over and over was the strength of the relationship you build by focusing on the needs of the individual customers and what you, as a company, need to do to make sure your company is the one they call when a problem develops, said Rodney

Jo-Ann Longobardi, Vanguards Operations Manager started with the company as the bookkeeper in 1979. Her ability to multi-task a variety of procedures is instrumental in helping Vanguard achieve the growth rate it is has enjoyed. She works hand in hand with the production department in ordering and arranging for equipment to be at the job site and organizing mobilization for job startups. Her skillful management of company funds allows us to continue our growth.

Working for Vanguard has been a lifetime of client satisfaction, integrity, and personal growth. The founding beliefs of family, commitment and excellence remain in place today and are the cornerstone of our company. Over the years being promoted from bookkeeper to office manager to Operations Manager I have seen these fundamental beliefs allow Vanguard to grow into the commercial, industrial, and institutional roofing company we are today, said Jo-Ann.

Frank Algier purchased the company in 1990, coming from the construction industry; he brought with him a fresh insight and industry changes and has enhanced our customer relationships. Under his leadership Vanguard has been able to present innovative and customized approaches to traditional roofing installations and repairs to meet our customers ever-changing needs.

Frank Z. Algier joined his father in the business in 2007, after graduating with a degree in business from Marist College, making it truly a family-owned business.

Never would I have imagined I would love this profession as much as I do. I wake up every morning eager to face new challenges with fresh insight into solving our customer's roofing problems. Thinking outside the box is a very rewarding experience. We have achieved a role of leadership through our integration of new technology including aerial imagery, Infra-Red Scans, and moisture analysis. The value we bring to every roofing obstacle is highly regarded by our many customers, said Frank Z.

As we continued to grow Kim Ashcraft joined our management team, with her operational background with a top Fortune 100 company. She quickly took on different operational challenges including IT and Marketing.

This has been the most interesting 18 years of my life. My personal goal is to Be Deliberate in Every Moment which I believe has enabled me to be successful and learn different operations of Vanguard. I believe that due to our founding beliefs remaining our top priority today Vanguard remains viable, strong and growing. Vanguard has achieved this milestone through the hard work and dedication of our associates and our culture of customer service that exists throughout the entire organization. Our customers continually show their confidence in us by giving us their business, by sharing new opportunities and by recommending us to others. We are grateful for that confidence and we continually do all we can to earn it, said Kim

In 1984 Vanguard expanded its territory to include Eastern Connecticut, and in 2004 to Northern New Jersey. Vanguard continued its expansion into Massachusetts; by 2014 Jay Dzuibek joined our team and was quickly promoted to the Division Manager working out of Vanguards Springfield Mass Office servicing the Western Connecticut and Eastern Massachusetts areas.

Since starting with Vanguard and my promotion to Division Manager the past 5 years expanding into our newest territory has flown by. Our clients come first and our goal is to deliver a quality roofing product which I know we do. Exchanging ideas is exciting when it helps our customers achieve their goals. Whether it is repairing or re-roofing there is nothing more satisfying than hearing a Great Job Jay, said Jay.

To date, Vanguard has repaired thousands of roof leaks in 4 states and surpassed millions of square feet of managed commercial roofs each year.

The past 29 years have been a growing experience with my fundamental values as the foundation. The company today is a testament to our business practice of Standing behind our finished product with pride. We are constantly training our employees in safety, new roofing techniques, and customer service as we strive for excellence in our industry. To all our valued customers who have trusted us with their roofing needs a big THANK YOU, said Frank the Owner/President.

For more information on Vanguard Roofing please call or visit us at https://www.vanguardroofing.com/our-company/

Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/vanguardroofing/
National Giving Month may have come and gone, but one franchise brand is eager to continue giving back. April is World Autism Month, and wireless retail brand Wireless Zone is partnering with Kyocera International Inc.s Communications Equipment Group to donate to Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to research, advocacy and support of people with autism.

Throughout the month of April, all Wireless Zone stores will be collecting donations to support the mission of Autism Speaks, which is a core charity of the Wireless Zone Foundation for Giving. In addition, the brands supplier partner, Kyocera, has agreed to donate $5 for each Kyocera phone sold at a Wireless Zone location during the month of April. With U.S. stores throughout the upper Midwest, East Coast and Texas, there are nearly 370 Wireless Zone locations at which customers can shop or donate.

Autism Speaks is dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the life span, for the needs of people with autism and their families. World Autism Month activities are aimed at increasing understanding and acceptance of people with autism to create a more inclusive world. As autism spectrum disorder affects 1 in 59 children and their families, including the families of both Wireless Zones and Kyoceras staff; this organization remains a core charity of the Wireless Zone Foundation for Giving.

Kyoceras line of wireless phones are designed to provide the consumer with a high quality and durable device. Kyoceras DuraForce PRO 2 is a rugged 4G LTE Android smartphone featuring a Verizon- exclusive 5-inch Sapphire Shield Display, which is virtually scratch proof. DuraForce PRO 2 is IP68 dustproof and waterproof (to 6.5ft deep for up to 30 minutes), and meets Military-Standard 810G criteria for protection against shock/impact, vibration, temperature extremes, solar radiation, humidity, and much more. Made with Japanese precision and quality, and backed by a 2-year manufacturers warranty, DuraForce PRO 2 is designed for business and enterprise use, especially construction, public safety and transportation as well as adventure-seeking consumers. The Kyocera Cadence LTE for Verizon is a sleek, easy-to-use flip phone designed to get the basics right, providing a simplified phone experience without sacrificing quality. A purchase of any Kyocera model during April at a Wireless Zone store will automatically generate a $5 donation to Autism Speaks.

Along with providing advocacy and support, Autism Speaks works to advance research, increase the early childhood screening and timely interventions, and improve the transition to adulthood. This World Autism Month, we are so grateful for the support of Wireless Zone and Kyocera, said Autism.

Speaks President and CEO Angela Geiger. Were focused every day on creating a more inclusive world for people with autism, and we couldnt do it without partners like these whose generosity is making a true impact.

Kyocera has a decades-long history of strong corporate giving around the world, said Robert Clark, National Consumer Sales Manager, Kyocera International, Inc.s Communications Equipment Group. Were honored to work with Wireless Zone to raise funds for autism, a spectrum disorder that has affected many of our own employees families as well as countless consumers. The wireless industry has done a lot to help ensure devices can be used by a wide range of users, regardless of ability, but financial contributions are crucial to helping organizations like Autism Speaks provide important services.

Autism Speaks is one of the core charities that the Wireless Zone Foundation for Giving supports annually. We are so grateful to Kyoceras management team for recognizing the important work this organization is doing, and for generously supporting and supplementing the fundraising efforts that each Wireless Zone store is doing for Autism Speaks, said Wireless Zone Chief Information Officer and President of Wireless Zone Foundation for Giving, Brian Murtari.

To find a Wireless Zone near you, visit http://www.wirelesszone.com/store-locator.

ABOUT WIRELESS ZONE

Founded in 1988 as "The Car Phone Store", the Wireless Zone system has become the nation's largest wireless retail franchisor and was ranked the No. 1 franchise in its category by Entrepreneur magazine. Each store is independently owned and operated, exclusively offering Verizon Wireless products and services. The Wireless Zone system has been honored with Verizon's Best Customer Service award for five consecutive years and is franchised and operated by Wireless Zone LLC. For more information, visit http://www.wirelesszone.com.

ABOUT THE WIRELESS ZONE FOUNDATION FOR GIVING:

The Wireless Zone Foundation for Giving was founded in 2003 after identifying a need and desire to give back to our communities. Today the Foundation raises a substantial amount of money to support a large number of local charities and causes in the communities in which we do business. We have time- honored relationships with Autism Speaks, Feeding America, Childrens Tumor Foundation, Veterans Leadership Program and Center for Hospice Care.

ABOUT KYOCERA

Kyocera International, Inc.s Communications Equipment Group (CEG) is the headquarters for Kyocera wireless devices in the Americas. Designed with durability, dependability, and long-term value as priorities, Kyocera mobile phones help people feel comfortable with new technology and use it to connect, perform and outsmart life and work challenges. At the heart of Kyocera's products is a belief that one size doesn't fit all, and that people should do more with phones instead of being confused by them or having to alter their lifestyles to accommodate them. Kyocera strives to offer rugged devices as an integral part of a total solution for a wide range of industries such as public safety, transportation and construction. Joined by an ever-growing list of application and accessory partners, Kyocera provides tremendous flexibility in creating efficient and economical telecommunication solutions for varied enterprise needs. For more information, follow the company at facebook.com/kyoceramobile, linkedin.com/company/kyoceramobile, Instagram.com/kyoceramobile, and twitter.com/kyoceramobile.

ABOUT AUTISM

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. We now know that there is not one autism but many subtypes, and each person with autism can have unique strengths and challenges. A combination of genetic and environmental factors influence the development of autism, and autism often is accompanied by medical issues such as GI disorders, seizures and sleep disturbances. Autism affects an estimated 1 in 59 children.

ABOUT AUTISM SPEAKS

Autism Speaks is dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the life span, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. We do this through advocacy and support; increasing understanding and acceptance of people with autism spectrum disorder; and advancing research into causes and better interventions for autism spectrum disorder and related conditions. To find resources, join a fundraising walk or make a donation, go to http://www.AutismSpeaks.org.

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Raul the Third (his full name is Raul Gonzalez III) flew off the starting block with Lowriders in Space (Chronicle, 2014) a picture book graphic novel that featured Latinx characters and lowrider cars. To show young artists that professional art can be produced with ordinary tools, Raul did all of the illustrations with ballpoint pen. Two more Lowrider volumes followed; the second won the Pura Belpre Award in 2017. His new picture book graphic novel, Vamos! Lets Go to the Market, explores the magical Mercado de Cuauhtemoc. Modeled on Ciudad Juarezs market of the same name, its across the river from El Paso, Tex. Raul grew up going to the market, and his extended family still works there. In the story, a young wolf cub named Little Lobo and his dog Bernabe deliver supplies to the markets merchants, savoring treats and comic books along the way. Raul spoke with PW about the mercado, what friends are for, and how important it is to tell your own story.

In preparing for this interview, it became clear that there is more than one artist named Raul Gonzalez.

Yes, there are several! There is a guy in Texas who does performance art, and another guy, too. Ill get a phone call and theyll be complimenting me and Ill say, I think you mean the Raul from Dallas. I know people who know those guys, and apparently they get confused with me, too. Thats why I decided I wanted to be Raul the Third. Theres only one Raul the Third, and I kind of like that.

Can you talk about the beginning of Vamos!?

It was an opportunity to take part in something new. My friend Arielle Eckstut asked if Id be interested in working with Kwame Alexanders new imprint, Versify. I was working on the third Lowriders book and also working on illustrations for SpongeBob Comics.

How did you get to do SpongeBob?

I drew maybe five issues. I got involved with the series after meeting [Workman editor] Chris Duffy. It was a great series to experiment with different styles, and it was where Elaine Bay started coloring my illustrations. It was such a fun and natural collaboration that when the opportunity for Vamos! came along, she and I joined forces once again.

So there you were, doing the third Lowrider book and SpongeBob...

I said, That sounds fantastic! And Arielle said, You have about a week to get something to us.

Youre quoted somewhere saying that you turned in the first sketches for Lowriders within hours. So maybe a week was doable?

Well, I had had elements of this idea for many years now. My idea was always to try to create a book that was simply about taking in all of the things around you. It took me back to being a young kid growing up in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, where a trip across the bridge put you into a completely different country.

Whenever anyone asks me about my aesthetic, I tell them, its influenced by the mercado. In the mercado, every little piece of real estate is filled with all sorts of detail. I wanted to fill the book with that dynamic energy. You can hear it, you can see it, you can smell itits exciting!

And I knew I wanted to work with Elaine Bay. Her coloring is so suited to my work.

Shes your wife, is that right?

She is! And shes from the same place as I am, so she has a deep sense of how color is affected by the hot sun, how it gets bleached out.

Some of the images in the marketthe masks, the skullsmight seem strange for some readers, but for Little Lobo, theyre home.

To grow up on the border is to be immersed in two cultures simultaneouslytwo cultures that were one to myself and the people growing up there. The influence of the frontera on our lives is part of our everyday.

Can you talk a little about the relationships Little Lobo shares with all the different people he knows?

Yes, thats very important! When you get to know the people around you it makes life so much richer. When my son was first getting to be aware of what was going on around him, he asked,

Why are people always saying hello to us? And I told him, Theyre all our friends. Theyre here to help us, and were here to help them.

What I love about Little Lobo is that hes just good at doing things for other people. He tries to make himself helpful. The mercado is about community. Thats so important to instill in our youth. Be open to learning about the place where you live!

Who was your editor? Did she play a big role in shaping the story?

My editor is Margaret Raymo. Shes incredibly helpful, and very hands-off. She would nudge me here and there and push me in all of the right ways. It just makes you feel confident.

Was there anything in an earlier version of the book that didnt make the final cut?

No. What is in there were things that I wanted to be in there. I remember [Margaret] saying, The way youre creating this book seems to be very organic. A lot of discovery happens when Im creating the final art. I have characters that Im getting to know for the first time and there are these background details that suddenly appear. Through the sheer will of their own personalities, the background characters force themselves into the storyline. It has been this way as I finish the second book, too.

Theres going to be a second one?

Its already in the can.

What happens in this next one?

In the first book, I tried to focus more attention on the merchandise, so the second book is going to be all about food.

Is it done in the same way?

This second book has been completely different because I decided that I was going to create all my layouts digitally. I drew them all on my Cintiq [an interactive touch screen for artists] and [went] directly from rough layouts to printing them on smooth plate Bristol board. Then I started directly inking my rough layouts, adding little details that I had wanted to put in. As soon as I finished the first page I scanned it back in and immediately sent it to Elaine.

There are lots of halftone screens in there, right?

Yes. I wanted the book to resemble some of the Saturday morning cartoons I watchedHanna-Barbera and Top Dog. And theres a thread in Vamos! about the comic book rack, my home away from homeits about the influence of printed matter on both of our lives, Elaines and mine. Through the halftone dots were paying homage to the four-color printing process. And to that really cool pop sensibility of Lichtenstein and Warhols screenprinting.

Elaine is riffing off of a lot of things: my fine-art practice, and her passions and color choices. Its a nice marriage of both of our styles.

Thats right! You have a career as a fine artist, too, correct?

Its true. I love finding different ways to create an installation in a museum or a gallery. Finding different ways to tell a storywith video, sound, or sculptural elements... or with funny animals!

Simply being able to share, in some surreal, dreamlike way, the frontera, the desertI am so happy that I get my own corner to create my own world and my own characters. That I get to draw characters with names like Mal Burro and Peeky Pequeno.

What can you share about what comes next?

Theres going to be a new Lowriders book, and theres a picture book coming, too.

Do you feel like an artist with more ideas than youll ever get down on paper?

It took me a while to begin to create artwork that was about myself and who I was. I remember one day I was teaching after-school classes. I was having the kids design comic book characters. I just started to notice all of these kidskids who had just come from El Salvador and Mexico and Jamaica, all these different placesand thinking to myself, Why are their heroes not like them or their parents? Why are their characters all stereotypical American heroes?

Then I turned the question back to myself. I had been trained to shy away from that. It was almost as if I had opened up this well full of material. Suddenly, I went from having a difficult time creating artwork to having a difficult time catching up with all these ideas. I started laughing at my jokes and my dads hard luck stories, and I became proud of my grandparents who opened up the market in Juarez.

At the same time, I started being an example to the young kids I was with. I wanted to infuse them with the confidence to tell their history, and their families journeys. Sometimes youre just made to feel embarrassed by differences between yourself and the new place you find yourself. I wanted to find a way to reverse that.

This book and the book to come are other kinds of American stories. There are so many American stories that have yet to see the light of day. I cant wait for our youngsters to have the confidence to tell them.

Vamos! Lets Go to the Market by Raul the Third. HMH/Versify, $14.99 Apr. 2 ISBN 978-1-328-55726-1
The premise of Adam Gidwitzs Unicorn Rescue Society is, indeed, the quintessential stuff of legends. When fictional Professor Mito Fauna heard rumors of a unicorn in danger in the mountains of Peru, he instantaneously founded the Unicorn Rescue Society and set out to save the creature. Though disappointed to find not a unicorn but a qarqacha, the legendary two-headed llama of the Andes, Fauna valiantly rescued it anyway. Entitled The Creature of the Pines, illustrated by Hatem Aly and released by Dutton in April 2018, this saga launched the series recounting the professors various quests (aided by his student sidekicks) to protect creatures of myth and legend worldwide.

In The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande, due from Dutton in April, Fauna and his team embark on their fourth mission, traveling to Laredo, on the U.S.-Mexican border, to help another mythical creature in need: the chupacabras. Gidwitz, whose previous novels include the Grimm trilogy and the Newbery Honor-winning The Inquisitors Tale, wrote the novel with David Bowles. This collaboration is Gidwitzs third in the series, after penning The Basque Dragon with Jesse Casey and Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot with Joseph Bruchac.

The Unicorn Rescue Society had its roots in what Gidwitz flippantly describes as a traumatic experience from my childhood: his inability to find a book that interested him as a second grader. I remember walking up and down the aisles of the school library and being so frustrated that there was nothing I wanted to read, he recalled. What I wanted was a book that was funny and exciting and part of a seriesand if it had animals in it, even better.

Thats an apt description of his latest series, the bare-bones idea for which Gidwitz shared with his longtime friend, Casey, cofounder, with Chris Lenox Smith, of Mixtape Club, an audiovisual creative studio that creates narrative-driven films. Throughout middle and high school, Jesse and I did lots of projects together, including writing movie scripts and building a car powered by a mouse trap, which never moved! said Gidwitz. He and Chris and I began developing the idea for the Unicorn Rescue Society, and they created some tie-in animated shorts for YouTube. Casey and Smith became co-creators of the series, and Casey cowrote the second book.

To write the third novel, Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot, which involves the rescue of Bigfoot in Western Washington, ancestral home of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Gidwitz partnered with Joseph Bruchac, a prolific Native American poet and storyteller, to ensure the authenticity of the novels voice and backstory. There were several passages that I wrote that Joseph said were lovely and empathetic, but not factually correct, Gidwitz explained, so he rewrote them to make them accurate. His historical and creative input made this novel much stronger.

Expanding Cultural Landscapes

The idea of asking Bowles to coauthor The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande came out of a conversation that Gidwitz had with author Matt de la Pena, a mutual friend of his and Bowles. De la Pena immediately mentioned Bowles when Gidwitz said he was looking for a Mexican-American author to collaborate with on a novel.

It was a smart call. Born into a Mexican-American family, Bowles currently teaches at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, and is author of numerous critically acclaimed titles for children, including The Smoking Mirror and They Call Me Guero: A Border Kids Poem, both Pura Belpre Honor Books. I had established myself in a small way as purveyor of border legends and myths, Bowles said, and that dovetailed nicely with the series focus on mythological milieus. When Adam asked me, I immediately said yesit didnt require any thinking on my part at all!

Their collaboration proved smooth-going. Once the two hammered out the story, Bowles said, it became a process of backing-and-forthing, which each author writing two chapters before passing the manuscript back to the other. It was a good way to ensure the flow of the story, Bowles observed. Adam would correct the voice if I was straying away from the rhythm of the series, and it was fun to see how, no matter how well you plan, the story grows organically in ways you cant anticipate. It was important to me to break stereotypes and make sure that the Latinx characters represented in the book accurately reflected the rich diversity of the people of the Rio Grande Valley.

Gidwitz praised his co-author for the vision and depth of information he brought to the noveland for his patient rewriting of what he called my horrible, broken Spanish. Like Bowles, Gidwitz is pleased with the diversity of the novels characters in the book and their differing views on a border wall. Once we decided that we couldnt ignore the controversy surrounding the border wall, we knew we had to meet it head-on, he said. We found a way to face the issues in a way that is respectful and edifying for kids. And we found a range of feelings on the border that I didnt expect. Characters cropped up and expressed their opinions in a way that was beautiful and moving to me.

Julie Strauss-Gabel, president and publisher of Dutton Childrens Books, who has been Gidwitzs editor for almost a decade, jokes that the shifting collaborative partnerships on the Unicorn Rescue Society books, along with input from Casey and Smith, makes for a cast of thousands, thats for sure! Yet she welcomes the challenge and the fluctuating tides. I am always game for whatever creative project Adam proposes, she said. This series is ambitious, and he has brought different talent to the wheelhouse. It has been great to work with all the guest authors who have come on board.

Gidwitz explained that the series fifth installment, centering on a Cuban-American family and a Caribbean mythological sea creature, will be coauthored by Emma Otheguy (whose Silver Meadow Summer is due from Knopf in April). Though he has a six-book contract for the series, Gidwitz mused it may have to extend beyond that number, since the sixth book is already planned outand no unicorn has been rescued. Gidwitz is cagey about its whereabouts, noting, The unicorn might show up in book sevenor in book 80! I know where it is, but Im not telling.

The Unicorn Rescue Society: The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande. Adam Gidwitz and David Bowles, illus. by Hatem Aly. Dutton, $14.99 Apr. ISBN 978-0-7352-3179-5
Ian Falconer, creator of the internationally bestselling book series about Olivia the pig, is swapping porcine characters for canines in his first picture book outside of the Olivia universe. Hes also moving house: Suzanne Murphy, president and publisher of HarperCollins Childrens Books, has acquired world rights to Two Dogs, written and illustrated by Falconer, via Conrad Rippy at Levine Plotkin & Menin. The book will be published by Harpers Michael di Capua Books in April 2020.

The acquisition is a coup for di Capua, a longtime admirer of Falconers work. When the first Olivia came out, I was just blown away by it, said di Capua, who met Falconer shortly after, at a party celebrating the New York Times Best Illustrated Childrens Books in December 2000. I normally consider myself a very dignified individual but I rushed over to him like a teenage girl groupie and introduced myself, di Capua recalled. I told him Olivia is the only book Ive ever seen that was published by someone else that I wished I had published myself.

When Ann Bobco, who served as art director for the entire Olivia series, left Simon & Schuster and with Michael di Capua Books already at HarperCollins, Falconer had two powerful reasons to make a change. Shes so good graphically, just extraordinary, Falconer said. And all my books start as drawings. I fill in the text later on and Michael is very, very good at eliminating anything extraneous.

Like his bestselling books about Olivia, Falconers family inspired Two Dogs. (Olivia is based on the real-life daughter of Falconers youngest sister.) The two dachshunds who star in his new picture book are named for his sister Tonia Barringers twins, Augie and Perry.

After Olivia, Tonia wanted her kids to be memorialized in a book, too, and dachshunds seemed natural because our family has always had dachshunds, Falconer said. Our grandparents on both sides had dachshunds, we had dachshunds, our cousins had dachshunds. Its all dachshunds, all the time.

The 48-page book will contain many wordless spreads, and details the two dogs mischievous adventures when they manage to escape to the backyard one day while their family is away. Falconer started working on the book a decade ago, when he was in Paris, doing production design for an operetta, and Tonia, who works as his assistant, left the twins with him for the day. She wanted to go shopping so I had both of them, who were eight or nine at the time, traipsing around Paris on a summer day in identical white shirts and shorts, Falconer recalled. They were so naughty. All they wanted to do was eat Nutella crepes so by the time I got them home, they were covered in chocolate. My sister was furious but I had new respect for her.

Falconer is not sure that his dachshunds have series potential, like Olivia did. I dont know how marketable these are as stuffed animals and there are not going to be clever allusions to Eleanor Roosevelt, he said. But they are very cute.
In 1975, Betty Takeuchi opened San Marino Toy and Book Shoppe in San Marino, Calif., helping guide generations of childrens booksellers and readers during a historic period of growth for the industry. Throughout her 45-year career, the pioneering bookseller deliberately kept things old-fashioned at her store, with handwritten tags, giftwrap, and an offline inventory system.

Takeuchi helped found the Association of Booksellers for Children in 1985 at the American Booksellers Association convention in San Francisco. At the height of the ABCs influence, the group counted about 600 members. Those numbers declined over recent years as the bookselling industry evolved, and by November 2010, the ABC merged into the ABA, counting just 250 members compared to the boom days of the 1980s. Read more in this PW feature.

This past January, Takeuchi shuttered her store and retired. However, shortly after the closure, local patrons Kelley and Andy Carpiac swooped in to bring their favorite bookstore back to life. The store will reopen in April, in the same location, once the new owners finish refreshing the stock and getting the store ready for its grand re-opening.

PW caught up with Takeuchi as she heads into retirement, looking back at her many years in the childrens bookselling business.

PW: What were the biggest challenges you tackled over the course of your bookselling career?

Takeuchi: Over the years, the biggest challenges were big box stores and online shopping. Also, our children dont seem to have as much time as they used to have. Now there are sports, tutoring, and all the other things after school. We used to have tremendous author signings and other activities in our store. Those seem to have all gone by the wayside because children seem to be busy every single minute of every single day.

PW: What was the community of childrens booksellers like during the early days of the ABC?

It was just amazing. Everybody shared and the publishers were so supportive. We didnt have any money, but these publishers would always help.

Whenever there was a convention, they would always support our dinner. And we had dinners with up to a thousand people back then, wherever ABA was being held that year. It was absolutely incredible. They would help us put on these wonderful dinners and we would have speakers and party favors.

The publishers realized that it was a fabulous way for them to get their books into the hands of booksellers. They knew that childrens booksellers hand-sold their products and that was very difficult with all the chain stores that were proliferating back then. You couldnt just put a book on the shelf and think that it was going to sell. With childrens books, hand-selling has always been the only way to do it.

PW: What was it like in childrens bookstores back then?

In the 1980s, Jim Trelease released The Read-Aloud Handbook and everything just took off from that point. Libraries and schools, everybody wanted to get in on that movement. Everyone realized how important reading was. We saw a huge surge in authors and illustrators being toured during that period of time.

We called ourselves the missionaries because we so believed in what we were doing. If someone walked into our store, wed say, Buy The Read-Aloud Handbook, buy three books to go along with it, and then go to your library! We were really insistent. Many of us spoke outside of our stores, at the libraries and at PTAs where they would listen to us.

Everybody wanted to be a part of the movement and everybody wanted to help. The Library of Congress got behind us, and, in the 1990s several members of the ABC were invited to visit the White House and meet with Barbara Bush. We were able to spend the morning with her, and we discussed our mutual efforts in childrens literacy.

PW: How did you maintain an old-fashioned feeling at your store?

We didnt change much in 45 years. We were never online and everything was just run through a cash register. Inventory control was all done in our heads. It was just the kind of place where everybody would come in the door and they would feel welcome and they would know there would be people there to help them.

I saw many of these people who I first met 45 years ago as children. I see their families, children, and grandchildren today. And even though the grandparents may be gone or have moved to other places, the children and grandchildren still come back because they want to show their children what they had when they grew up. Its so special.

We always pride ourselves on customer service and customer satisfaction. My staff really takes pride in what theyre doing and in what the store has accomplished, and we certainly hope will continue to accomplish. My staff is staying on and the new owners are wonderful. They believe in our mission and they are going to carry it forward.

PW: How do you feel about the future of childrens bookselling?

I think its going to be done on a different scale, but we will continue to sell lots of childrens books, as long as we have all these generations that keep coming back to bookstores. There, you have someone show childrens books to you. Someone to tell you why they liked them.

Customers will come in looking for a book for a certain age and theme, and we can put a book in their hands.

Amazon tries, but its not the same. It just isnt the same.
As we reported on Monday, the worlds copyright axis shifted this week after the European Parliament voted to approve a sweeping copyright reform bill supported by publishers and media companies, but which critics say could harm free expression online and fundamentally alter the way the internet works.

By a 348 to 278 margin, MEPs approved a final version of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, including two controversial provisions: Article 11 (now article 15 in the final bill) which will require web aggregators (like Google News) to negotiate with media companies for sharing snippets of their works; and Article 13 (now article 17), which observers say will compel web platforms hosting user-generated content to filter uploads for intellectual property violations.

In recent weeks, the years-long battle over the directive had become eerily reminiscent of the SOPA/PIPA battle in the U.S. in 2011 and 2012, with tech companies and the public lining up against the EU directive, and publishers and news organizations supporting it. In a statement, Rudy Vanschoonbeek, president of the Federation of European Publishers praised the votes outcome, but conceded the directive was "the most hotly contested I have ever seen."

The measure will now get a vote in the coming weeks before the Council of the European Union, though observers say passage there is not in doubt. And as a directive (rather than a regulation) each EU member state will then have two years to rewrite their own national laws to comply with the directivea prospect that could still prove contentious in some member states.

Observers say the reforms will impact the work of European libraries. In a post on the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) blog just before the EU vote, IFLA officials said some parts of the reform bill were positive, including a section on data mining. But othersspecifically Article 13risk undermining fundamental freedoms online.

Notably, an amendment to strip Article 13 from the final bill failed by just five votes.

In a statement this week, the Wikimedia Foundation expressed disappointment, but also found good and bad in the directive. "As Articles 15 and 17 (formerly 11 and 13) of the directive take effect across the European Union (EU), we expect to see direct repercussions on all online activities," reads a statement, while also acknowledging the bill has "elements to celebrate," including "a new safeguard for the public domain" and a provision that could allow libraries to provide digital access to "out-of-commerce works" that have not yet fallen into the public domain.

"While we are disappointed, the fight is not over," the Wikimedia statement continues. "As the copyright directive is implemented into national law over the next two years, it presents an opportunity for Europeans to proactively engage with policymakers and ensure national copyright protects internet freedom and empowers everyone to participate in knowledge."

The World Intellectual Property Review reports that Google officials have said they will work with the changes, but IP lawyers acknowledged a key point made by opponents of the directive: Google can afford to work with the new changes, given their dominance, but the changes might frustrate would-be innovators. By requiring that online platforms remove or filter copyrighted material from their sites and holding them liable for copyright infringements, the costs of doing business for platforms and aggregation sites will increase, said Rohan Massey, global head of privacy and cybersecurity at Ropes & Gray in London, warning that these changes could come at the expense of smaller players.

Of course, the big questions now may be: first, whether EU reps up for reelection in May will see fallout from their vote, as promised by opponents. And two, whether Europe's efforts might embolden a similar effort in the U.S.?

As usual, Gary Price at InfoDocket has rounded up a great selection of resources and reaction on the EU vote.

Reserve Reading

Back in the U.S., CNET reports that the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee has approved a bill that would restore net neutrality protectionsbut the bill still faces an uncertain future. In an 18-11 vote along party lines, the bill, dubbed the Save the Internet Act would prevent broadband providers from blocking, throttling, or creating fast lanes on the internet, and would also reinstate the FCC's authority to police abuses by ISPs. The bill now heads to the full committee, and then to the full house, where it is expected to pass easily. Then, of course, it surely hits a brick wall in the Senate known as Mitch McConnell. Last year, the Senate passed a Congressional Review Act resolution (with Republican Senators Susan Collins, of Maine; John Kennedy, of Louisiana; and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska all voting with Democrats), however the effort fell short of getting the 218 votes needed to force a vote in the GOP-controlled House.

Motherboard has a good piece on the bill as well, noting how twisted our political landscape has become that a bill seeking to keep Internet platforms from restricting the freedom of Americans online is portrayed as infringing the freedom of multi-billion dollar corporations: "Survey after survey have shown that the vast bipartisan majority of Americans supported the FCCs 2015 rules and opposed the repeal. But the Trump FCC was quick to bow to pressure to telecom giants like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcastdespite their long history of using their role as natural monopolies to hamstring competitors and nickel and dime subscribers."

Meanwhile, also from Gary Price at InfoDocket, "The Federal Trade Commission issued orders to seven U.S. Internet broadband providers and related entities seeking information the agency will use to examine how broadband companies collect, retain, use, and disclose information about consumers and their devices."

Facebook this week announced that beginning next week it will ban "praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism" on Facebook and Instagram. "[O]ver the past three months our conversations with members of civil society and academics who are experts in race relations around the world have confirmed that white nationalism and separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups," reads a post on Facebook's news page.

Via the Greenville News, librarians in South Carolina want answers after two library employees mysteriously found themselves unemployed following a controversy over a Drag Queen Story Time. The paper reports that "Former Five Forks branch manager Jonathan Newton announced via Facebook last week that he was no longer manager of the Five Forks Branch. Newton's Facebook post didn't detail the reason or circumstances surrounding the change in his job status."

In Kentucky, the Courier Journal reports that The Louisville Free Public Library has scheduled a new Drag Queen Storytime for May, "after canceling the March event without explanation."

From Philly.com, here's an eye-opening story: The Philadelphia Free Library circulated a survey to employees online last December asking staffers whether they had experienced or observed bias in the workplace...and "nearly 60 employees replied anonymously to the online forum, detailing stories of harassment, discrimination and prejudice."

Good take from The Scientist about the open access movement: "Most of the news surrounding the effort has focused on disputes with Elsevier, which have led to lapses in subscriptions and lost access to the publishers journals. But the tune changed in January when DEAL announced its first triumph: a deal with Wiley."

An important column from Barbara Fister at Inside Higher Ed questions whether academic libraries are repeating the mistakes they made with e-journals by eschewing print books for e-book packages.

From the San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Lambert has been named to head the San Francisco Public Library. "Lambert, who has served as the acting librarian since former City Librarian Luis Herrera retired last year, will be the first Asian American to lead the citys library."

From Purdue University, Beth McNeil, dean of library services and professor at Iowa State University, has been named the new dean of the Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies.

From Fort Wayne, Indiana's local NBC affiliate: the group "behind a petition criticizing the Allen County Public Librarys leadership will try and make their case that the library is weeding at what the groups leader calls an 'alarming pace.'

The Holland Sentinel, Michigan, reports on a number of bills in Michigan legislature seeking to ensure support for libraries and librarians in Michigan schools.

This is very cool: From Buffalo Business First, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library has preserved and digitized the original manuscript of Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, making a copy of the hand-written manuscript freely available online.

And Quartz has a fun list: 13 Nonfiction Books About Real, Live Librarians.
BRAZIL: Rumo has won the tender for a 30-year concession to complete and operate the 1 537 km southern section of the Ferrovia Norte-Sul corridor linking Porto Nacional in Tocantins to Estrela d'Oeste in Sao Paulo state.
ITALY: Infrastructure manager RFI awarded design and construction contracts worth 608m on March 29 for rebuilding of the Apice  Hirpinia section of the Napoli  Bari line.
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ITALY: National operator Trenitalia has awarded CAF Italia a 120m six-year contract for the preventative and corrective maintenance of 59 ETR500 Frecciarossa high speed trainsets. There is an option to extend the contract for a further six years.
North Korea is a revolutionary nation with the mission to liberate the entire Korean peninsula from foreign domination. The author Adrian Buzo named its ruling family the Guerrilla Dynasty. In 2014, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry determined that the 25 million Koreans living in the north are essentially slaves in a gulag state. Unexpectedly, there now appears to be a political rival to Pyongyang determined to overthrow the Guerrilla Dynasty and liberate the gulags.

The Choellima Civil Defense organization, now known as Free Joseon, (i.e., "free Korea") has been quietly working behind the scenes for the past two years. Until last month, its best-known action was to protect Kim Han-sol, son of Kim Jong-uns half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, after his father was assassinated in Malaysia by North Korean intelligence. However, the group recently made headlines by taking credit for a February attack on the North Korean Embassy in Madrid. Afterward, the group allegedly made contact with the FBI to turn over the computers, electronic media, and documents it acquired. These actions have raised hopes that Free Joseon may be the revolutionary organization that Koreans have longed for to end the despotic rule of mafia-like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime.

The sudden prominence of Free Joseon is undoubtedly an unconventional warfare practitioner's dream; it is a nascent organization with the potential to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power. I have written about potential unconventional warfare operations in North Korea. However, the excitement over this development must be tempered with an objective analysis of the organization, its legitimacy, its objectives, and how it can fit into the larger strategy of the South Korean-U.S. alliance. Unfortunately, when things are too good to be true, they usually are.

The best information we have about Free Joseon comes from its web site, which says the group consists of exiles from North Korea, apparently now in the U.S. Its declaration for a Free Joseon on page two describes its mission and intent, which is encapsulated by this line: "Down with Kim family rule! For our people, we rise up! Long live Free Joseon!" The group keeps its members secret, so we cannot vet them. (At least they practice some operational security).

One red flag is that some of the entries or parts of the entries on the Free Joseon website are written in high-level English rather than the more stilted English found when translated from Korean. This suggests a need for caution because Americans tend to be attracted to those who can speak English, enabling them to achieve outsized influence over American strategy and policy. We would do well to remember the impact of people like Syngman Rhee, Soong Mei-ling, a.k.a., Madame Chiang, the wife of Chaing Kai Shek, and most recently Ahmed Chalabi. Just because someone speaks English well does not mean their policies are sufficiently aligned with U.S. interests or their assumptions and assessments are correct.

A second red flag is the rudimentary psychological warfare that Free Joseon is practicing. It released a simplistic video of an alleged Korean from the North smashing framed photos of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong II as a way to delegitimize the regime. Psychological Operations professionals should evaluate this to determine if such a video will have the desired effect on target audiences in the North. It is possible that the actual target audience is not Koreans but those in the U.S. and west for the purpose of generating support.

One of Free Joseons most innovative activities is selling visas to a hypothetical free North Korea to raise funds for the organization. The ostensible utility of such visas is for future travel and conducting business in Free Joseon. This shows a level of sophistication, creativity, and the use of modern technology that does add an air of credibility.

Two other points should be considered. The Kim family regime is a master of deception. In addition to the Madrid operation possibly having been carried out by the North Korean security services, it is also possible that Free Joseon itself could be an elaborate deception as part of the regimes political warfare strategy to test the response of the ROK and U.S. The ROK media had not reported on this for more than a month until a recent Chosun Ilbo newspaper article and there have been no statements from the ROK government.

We should also consider the possibility that a different foreign government or even a non-state actor wants to generate the perception that there is resistance to the Kim family regime. This would have the dual purpose of both putting pressures on the regime and inspiring actual resistance among the second-tier leadership and the general population. While the odds against either outcome are long, they are not outside the realm of possibility. Of course, the most important question whether this is purely deception or if Free Joseon is a viable resistance organization that could contribute to both of these objectives.

Finally, a pivotal question for the ROK/U.S. alliance whether this or any organization can contribute to an acceptable and durable political arrangement on the Korean peninsula that will serve, protect, and advance alliance interests. According to its declaration, Free Joseon wants to liberate the North from the oppression of the Kim family regime. However, it says nothing about unification on any of the five pages of its web site. Free Joseon calls on the U.S. and the international community to provide support; however, it does not ask for help from South Korea and instead decries the fact that Seoul did not come to the rescue of the North:

For decades we hoped for rescue, while our families were held hostage. We watched powerful and wealthy nations. We gazed at the incredible feats of prosperity and developments to the south, hoping that their rising strength would make them sisters and brothers left behind by history.

But liberation did not come.

It goes on to say this:

"This is the first time that we have established a free government in the United States, and we are in the process of establishing a free government.

We declare this entity as a legitimate representative of the Korean people of the north.

While the description of "the Korean people of the north" implies that there are one Korean people who should be unified, the declaration is somewhat problematic in that it does not state unification as a goal. An organization that works at cross purposes to the alliance should not be supported. The U.S. cannot provide effective support to a resistance organization without access to South Korean territory and resources. The members of Free Joseon must be convinced that the only way that we will see an end to the nuclear and conventional threats in Korea and an end to the human rights abuses of the people of the North is through the establishment of a secure, stable, economically vibrant, non-nuclear peninsula with a liberal constitutional form of government determined by the Korean people. In short, this is a United Republic of Korea  or UROK.

Multiple media are reporting that the person allegedly behind Free Joseon and the North Korean Embassy operation in Madrid is Adrian Hong who was named in Spanish court documents petitioning for his extradition from the U.S. Hong is a long time North Korea activist who since 2008 has advocated for the overthrow of North Korea. However, he has no known ties to any resistance organization inside North Korea, and his vision of a future North Korea seems not to involve South Korea. Based on reporting about the operation it is highly unlikely that he received any support or training from professional intelligence agencies or advisors. If he is behind Free Joseon and the Madrid embassy raid, those who might be willing to support him, whether governments or private organizations and citizens, should do due diligence in vetting his motives and capabilities.

Free Joseon may be worthy of assessment and examination to determine if its interests are sufficiently aligned with the ROK/U.S. alliance. The excitement over the existence of this organization must be tempered with caution and objective analysis. Their stated goals are worthy, namely the elimination of the Kim family regime. Is it the organization that can out-revolution the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State? Perhaps, but if so, there has to be agreement on the only long-term solution to the Korea question  a United Republic of Korea  and it may require a revolution in the North to defeat the revolutionary leadership of Kim and his Juche ideology to achieve this. If that is not an objective, then I would be hard-pressed to recommend support as much as I too long to see a Free Korea.

David Maxwell is a retired U.S, Army Special Forces Colonel and a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also contributes to FDDs Center for Military and Political Power. Follow him on Twitter at @davidmaxwell161.

Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CMPP. FDD is a Washington-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
To mark the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements were taking a look at how researchers study some of the elements in their work.

Todays its tin, a chemical that has little use by itself, but mix it with other elements and it takes on a whole new life.

Mention tin and most people would think of the typical tin can, used to preserve foods you store in your cupboards. Tin is used here to help protect the can against corrosion (although not all cans today contain tin).

But while the use of tin in canning only dates back to the early 1800s, the mixing of tin with other elements dates back many centuries.

Tin  chemical symbol Sn with an atomic number 50 on the periodic table  is soft and silvery in colour, with a melting point of only 232. At first sight it doesnt seem to be a promising prospect for making anything.

Read more: Where did you grow up? How strontium in your teeth can help answer that question

Somehow, humans discovered that adding controlled amounts of tin to copper produced a splendid, golden-yellow alloy we call bronze.

I first became interested in bronze during my final year undergraduate research project in 1978. That interest continues today  Im working with colleagues in Thailand to reverse-engineer the technologies used to make ancient Thai bronze bangles.

Early bronze

The first known tin bronzes seem to have appeared in the Caucasus region of Eurasia in about 5800 to 4600 BCE. That these very scarce early examples of tin bronze may have been accidentally made from rather rare ores that naturally contained both copper and tin simultaneously.

There is abundant evidence that by about 3000 BCE, tin bronzes were being made in the Aegean and Middle East (Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran) by deliberately alloying tin and copper, with the ores being obtained from separate sources.

Clearly, a series of somewhat unlikely events had to occur before this could be the norm.

An accidental melt would have to have been made from suitable minerals containing oxides of tin and copper. The resulting metal would have to be recognised to have desirable properties, such as hardness, colour and toughness, such that superior weapons or ornaments could be produced.

Craftspeople would then have had to be organised enough to be able to work out how to repeat this smelting process to create artefacts such as swords, axe heads, bowls and bangles.

Trading networks then had to be established to bring the comparatively rare tin from faraway places, such as Afghanistan or Cornwall in Britains southwest, to any foundry. The metallurgical craft would have to be passed on to other practitioners, probably by oral means.

The spread of bronze

The trick of deliberately adding tin to copper then spread throughout the Old World, reaching Western Europe by about 2800 BCE, Egypt by 2200 BCE, the populous North China Plain by 2200 BCE, Chinas Yunnan province by about 1400 BCE, Thailand by about 1100 BCE, and southern India by 1000 BC (if not a century or two earlier).

This has led to some robust discussion among archaeometallurgists on whether the special knowledge of tins useful attributes spread from a single founding location in the Middle East, or whether it had been repeatedly independently developed by indigenous craftspeople.

In the case of Thailand and Cambodia, arguments have been raised for several scenarios: that the technology was independently developed, that it was brought south from China (or maybe the reverse, exported from northeast Thailand to China), or that it was imported from Bengal.

Courtesy of Dr Supitcha Supansomboon and Assoc Prof Seriwat Saminpanya , Author provided

With China, some local scholars have favoured the view for independent local discovery of tin bronze, although it the balance of evidence suggests that the knowledge was transmitted by horseriding visitors from West Asia.

African bronze

Tin was also mined in precolonial times in Southern Africa, and some bronze artefacts  such as pieces of metal sheet or ingots  have been recovered at old metalworking sites there.

The available evidence for this region suggests the technology for producing and working iron, copper and bronze appeared contemporaneously at locations in sub-Saharan Africa, beginning about 500 BCE in the north and reaching South Africa in about 300 CE.

How did the metallurgical knowledge get to Southern Africa? Was it an indigenous discovery of the Bantu of East Africa that was then carried with them on their migrations, or was the skill transmitted southwards from the Middle East, and if so by who and how?

As in the case of Asia, interpretation of these issues can be coloured by modern political sensibilities. The question of the source of the metalworking skills that produced the beautiful copper and gold ornaments of the ancient city of Mapungubwe in South Africa, for example, has still not been settled.

Bronze in the Americas

The ancient cultures of the Americas also developed sophisticated skills for processing precious metals, copper and tin.

They were able to manufacture bronze artefacts such as rings, pendants, body ornaments, ornamental tweezers, sheet metal breastplates, large discs, ornamental shields and especially bells, by casting, albeit only from about 1000 CE in South America and then soon afterwards in western Mexico.

In the case of Mesoamerica, the knowledge of bronze was believed to have been carried north from Peru and Ecuador to Mexico by maritime traders.

Clearly, the ancient world, both Old and New, was well connected by lengthy trade routes along which ideas (and in many cases tin) flowed.

The mix of tin

The transmission of the technology can also be followed by paying attention to specific aspects of the physical metallurgy involved.

When more than about 15% tin by mass is added to the copper, the resulting alloy becomes rather brittle in its cast form, even if it still has a wonderfully warm golden yellow colour.

Somebody, somewhere, made the remarkable discovery that if such a casting is rapidly quenched from red heat into water (or better, brine), it becomes softer and relatively more ductile and workable.

The quenching heat treatment leaves a very characteristic needle-like microstructure (known as martensite) in the artefact that can be detected by a microscope. This tells an archaeologist that the part has been manufactured by a comparatively complex process, rather than merely cast.

Michael Cortie , Author provided

When the tin content is less than about 15%, no martensite forms and nothing remarkable happens on quenching.

The result obtained when heat-treating a high-tin bronze is counterintuitive because, when iron is treated this way, it becomes hard and brittle. The trick to make the bronze tough is so specific that it is most likely this knowledge was transmitted from person to person.

Its transfer across the Old World would have required knowledgeable individuals travelling significant distance to foreign climes. The appearance of these artefacts at far-flung locations across Eurasia and Africa is another sign of ancient globalisation.

An extra element

There is one more trick that appears in the ancient bronzes, although this one might have been independently discovered at more than one location.

Read more: Hydrogen fuels rockets, but what about power for daily life? We're getting closer

Some time in the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age (around 500 BCE), craftspeople began to add lead to their tin bronze castings. This gives the molten metal extra fluidity, allowing it to flow into fine detail in a mould so that castings with fine details and embossed figures can be made.

As an element, lead is not as shiny or attractive as tin; it is much denser and is found in quite different ores such as galena (lead sulfide). The earliest known cast bronzes with significant controlled additions of lead appear to be from China (500 BCE to 200 CE). Once again, it was clearly a deliberate innovation, and once again it spread rapidly all over Eurasia.

Courtesy of Dr Supitcha Supansomboon and Assoc Prof Seriwat Saminpanya , Author provided

As more sites such as the ones in eastern Thailand are excavated, and as the database of alloy compositions and dates increases, it will become possible to cast more light on ancient routes of trade, migration and tech transfer.

The presence and usage of tin at these sites will act as a kind of metallurgical DNA, an indicator for ancient cultural and human exchanges.

If youre an academic researcher working with a particular element from the periodic table and have an interesting story to tell then why not get in touch.

Michael Cortie, Physics Discipline Leader, University of Technology Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Kalani Faagata admits she's having a tough time during her second pregnancy with husband Asuelu Pulaa 's baby.Kalani took to Instagram on Tuesday and posted two videos of the baby moving around inside of her tummy, and in the caption, the TLC star revealed to fans she's been struggling in more ways than one."I haven't done many pregnancy updates because I haven't been doing very well both mentally and physically," Kalani confessed."I'm so thankful that my mom's in town for a while so I can have a break and finally start nesting. I'm fortunate to have such strong women in my life who help me when I'm struggling."Kalani then thanked her mother and sister for their support in her post, to which her mom commented, "I love you my little Lanigirl. I'm so thankful that I'm able to be exactly where I should be. Daddy and I wouldn't have it any other way my love.Kalani and Asuelu, who are already parents to a son named Oliver, announced in January 2019 they're expecting another baby boy Kalani, a 30-year-old from Orange County, CA, met Asuelu, a 23-year-old from Samoa, when she had traveled to Samoa in July 2016 and Asuelu worked as an activities director of the resort she was staying at.During her second visit, Kalani lost her virginity and ultimately had a surprise pregnancy, which rocked and initially disappointed her entire Mormon family.Kalani and Asuelu therefore went ahead with the K-1 visa process so Asuelu could move to the United States and become a hands-on father and eventual husband.Kalani welcomed Oliver into the world in January 2018 and then Asuelu arrived in America that summer.The couple starred on 's sixth season, which ended with Kalani learning she's pregnant for the second time and getting married to Asuelu.Kalani initially wasn't happy about getting pregnant again because she wasn't ready for another baby given Oliver was so young and she was still working on relationship issues with Asuelu.In a December 2018 episode of , Kalani actually cried to her mother about the news and feared disappointing her family once again."I feel like... I should be excited," she said in the episode, according to Life & Style."But I feel like it's not good timing right now with [Asuelu's] papers and the next round of papers we have to do and planning a wedding and taking care of my son."Kalani also reportedly vented at the time about how another baby would take her time away from Oliver and she was already "spreading [herself] thin."Kalani also previously revealed on Instagram she had battled antenatal depression during her pregnancy with Oliver and feared going through that again."[It was] to the point that I wanted to kill myself," she confessed, according to the magazine. "That's one of the reasons she was initially unhappy to discover she was expecting again."Asuelu, however, was always thrilled about the pregnancy, and Kalani has slowly come around.
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New voting machines, stricter hate crime laws and restrictions on abortions all have a chance at becoming law in Georgia this year. Here's an explanation for what bills have passed on the House and move into the Senate for voting.
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The first University of Georgia Signature Lecture series of the spring semester, hosted by the College of Engineering and the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems, featured former Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate. He discussed his seven deadly sins of emergency preparedness at the Coverdell Center Friday.
A few months ago, the world was shocked when Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced his experiment led to the birth of the first genome-edited babies. While the details of Hes experiment continue to unravel, the experts tell us not to be worried about the misuse of CRISPR, a powerful gene-editing tool.
The RBI wants to include shares and options within the variable salary of the CEOs, proposed to be capped at 200 per cent of their fixed salary; the floor for it is 50 per cent.

Simply put, under the new plan, if a bank CEO gets a fixed salary of say Rs 1 crore a year, the variable portion can vary between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore, inclusive of shares or stock options that would be at least half of it, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

The CEOs of private and foreign banks in the worlds fastest growing major economy are a sulking lot these days as Indias banking regulator is planning to downsize their remuneration.

Those who always feel these bankers earn a lot, particularly in comparison to their counterparts in government-owned banks, some of which have much larger balance sheets, are watching them with voyeuristic glee.

Under Indias Banking Act, private and foreign lenders always need regulatory approval for the remuneration of whole-time directors and CEOs and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not exactly been liberal in its approach.

Still, they manage to earn a decent (some say indecent) sum through stock options, which have been outside the remuneration package.

Now, the RBI wants to include shares and options within the variable salary of the CEOs, proposed to be capped at 200 per cent of their fixed salary; the floor for it is 50 per cent.

Also, at least half of the variable pay must be in the form of non-cash.

At the moment, the variable pay of the bank CEOs is capped at 70 per cent and there is no floor for it.

Simply put, under the new plan, if a bank CEO gets a fixed salary of say Rs 1 crore a year, the variable portion can vary between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore, inclusive of shares or stock options that would be at least half of it.

Going by the proposal, at least 60 per cent of the total variable pay must be deferred for a minimum of three years.

Also, there should be a clawback agreement forcing a CEO to return already-paid remuneration under certain circumstances as well as malus, denying the CEO deferred remuneration if the bank is not disclosing bad assets and setting aside money for them.

The RBI also wants the banks to identify the so-called material risk takers or MRTs among the senior employees whose actions have a bearing on a banks performance.

No one can find fault with the latest initiative of the regulator when bankers compensation issue is at the centrestage of the regulatory reforms, globally.

If at all, the RBI could have looked into this much earlier as a few Indian private banks have not exactly been reverent about corporate governance.

The plan to deny the bank CEOs full remuneration through the exercise of the claw back and malus clauses if they jeopardise a banks health by taking excessive risks or hiding bad assets is welcome.

Similarly, identification of MRTs for special treatment, on the line of the UK regulator Financial Services Authoritys focus on persons of significant influence, is also welcome.

However, if the regulator takes upon itself the job of structuring the CEOs salary to the last detail, what is the remuneration committee of a banks board for?

How are banks expected to react to this?

They are likely to raise the fixed component of a CEO salary.

My understanding is that to protect the existing compensation, some private banks will have to raise the fixed salary of their CEOs by as much as 50 per cent.

This is what the CEOs of European banks have done.

This negates the very purpose of the regulator as a more assured payment protects a large chunk of remuneration even if a CEO is taking excessive risks!

Besides, it can also breed complacency and inefficiency and discourage the strive for excellence at the top job.

Of course, this thesis is based on the presumption that the RBI does not plan to do both -- overseeing the composition of the compensation package as well as fixing the absolute sum.

How does one value the stock options?

If a CEO gets vanilla shares in the form of restricted stock units, it is easy to value them as the executive enjoys the economic benefit of an entire share of stock but in the case of an ESOP, an employee has the option to purchase stock of a company at a future date at a predetermined price.

If the market price of the stock is above the procurement price, the employee stands to gain by selling it off but if it is below the agreed price level, the employee will not exercise it.

Indeed, there is a formula for calculating the fair value of an option but the market performance of Indian private banks is not uniform.

For instance, an HDFC Bank employee has always been in the money as the stock has been consistently doing well but ICICI Bank employees have hardly made any money in past few years and Yes Bank stock has lost 40 per cent in the past seven months.

Also, if a stock is doing well, shouldnt the CEO be compensated handsomely as this is a testimony to the managers great work?

In November 2018 Indias second-largest tyre maker Apollo Tyres promoters Onkar Kanwar and his son Neeraj were forced to accept a 30 per cent pay cut following minority shareholders rejection of Neerajs re-appointment as managing director at the companys annual general meeting amid claims of high compensation and moderating financial performance.

Ultimately, the board and the investors should take the call on a CEO salary; if or when the board is compromised, the RBI should step in.

Also, the size of balance sheet alone cannot determine compensation; the challenge and complexity of the job should also be factored in.

Stock offerings have turned many professionals into entrepreneurs in India, created fine banks and revived falling ones.

While there must be disincentives for excessive risk takers and punishment for those who do not believe in good governance, the regulator must assure the performers that they dont need to worry.

Otherwise, the best bankers may migrate to greener pastures -- the non-banking finance companies, insurance firms and even FMCG and infotech sectors.

Incidentally, the compensation structure of the CEOs of Indias public sector banks needs to be recast without delay, if we care for performance.

It needs to be delinked from bureaucrats salary.

And, the ESOP proposals of at least two such banks have been lying with the finance ministry for years now.

Has anyone heard on this?

Tamal Bandyopadhyay, a consulting editor with Business Standard, is an author and senior adviser to Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd.
AIBEA has decided to write to the government and RBI against infusing money into Jet Airways. State-owned banks, including SBI and PNB, are the main lenders to Jet.

The All India Bank Employees Union (AIBEA) will write to the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) against the decision of the consortium of lenders to infuse additional money into Jet Airways.

C H Venkatachalam, AIBEA general secretary, said the decision was taken at the bank employees unions central committee meet on Thursday.

It will also write to the Ministry of Finance.

Venkatachalam said banks should not become owners of Jet and that running the airline was the business of the company and its management.

It is unwarranted. The bank should recall the loan and get out of it, he said, adding that the next course of action will be taken based on the response of the government and the regulator.

He said the airline should pay back the loans but, on the contrary, it is being reported that the shares of Jet Airways are sought to be dumped on the shoulders of the banks.

"Even Ethihad Airlines wants its shares to be purchased by the banks.

State-owned banks, including State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank, are the main lenders to Jet.

When Jet Airways was profitable, the profits went to the owners.

"Now, when it is running losses, why should public money and the banks money be used to save them?

"We oppose these moves. Banks should do banking business, not run airlines," said Venkatachalam.

Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
According to exporters, withdrawal of incentives under GSP would impact India's export worth $5.6 billion to the US.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

The government is considering sending an official delegation to the US next month from the commerce ministry to discuss ways to resolve trade related issues, sources said.

The government is also expected to again extend the deadline to impose retaliatory duties on 29 US items till May 1.

The current deadline will end on April 1.

Although officials of India and the US were negotiating a trade package, the Trump administration earlier this month announced its decision to withdraw export benefits provided by them to India under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

US companies have raised concerns over price capping on medical devices like stent.

They also want greater market access for their dairy products and reduction in duty on Harley Davidson motorbikes.

According to exporters, withdrawal of incentives under GSP would impact India's export worth $5.6 billion to the US under this initiative.

Sources said that trade dialogue would help in resolving the issues as the US is one of the largest trading partners of India.

The US is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus.

The commerce ministry has also sought intervention of the Prime Minister's Office on resolving trade issues with the US.

US President Donald Trump had said he intends to end the preferential trade status granted to India and Turkey, asserting that New Delhi has failed to assure America of "equitable and reasonable" access to its markets, an announcement that could be seen as a major setback to bilateral trade ties.

The US Trade Representative's Office said that removing India from the GSP programme will not take effect for at least 60 days after notifications to Congress and the Indian government, and it will be enacted by a presidential proclamation.

As many as 3,700 products get GSP benefits but India exports only 1,900 items such as chemicals and engineering under that concession, which was introduced in 1976 by the US.

The government on Tuesday extended the deadline to impose retaliatory customs duties on 29 US products, including almond, walnut and pulses, till April 1.

As discussions are going on between India and the US for a proposed trade package, the commerce ministry had asked its finance counterpart to again defer the implementation of a notification to impose high duties on US products.

A notification said that implementation of increased customs duty on specified imports originating in the USA has been postponed from March 2, 2019, to April 1, 2019.

Further In June 2017, India decided to impose retaliatory tariffs after the US imposed high customs duties on certain steel and aluminium products.

As part of the imposition of higher import duties, New Delhi has notified higher tariffs on several products.

While import duty on walnut has been hiked to 120 per cent from 30 per cent currently, duty on chickpeas, Bengal gram (chana) and masur dal will be raised to 70 per cent, from 30 per cent currently.

Levy on lentils will be increased to 40 per cent, from 30 per cent.

As both the countries were negotiating a trade package and no deal was concluded, India was again and again extending the deadline to impose these duties.

India is pressing for exemption from the high duty imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products, resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under their generalised system of preferences (GSP), greater market access for its products from agriculture, automobile, automobile components and engineering sectors.

On the other hand, the US is demanding greater market access through a cut in import duties for its agriculture goods, dairy products, medical devices, IT and communication items.

India's exports to the US in 2017-18 stood at $47.9 billion, while imports were $26.7 billion.

The trade balance is in favour of India.
'Shouldn't the DGCA ensure both safety and convenience of passengers?'

'And convenience has been a casualty as nobody knows which Jet flight would be grounded next, throwing passengers' plans in disarray,' says Nivedita Mookerji.

IMAGE: Jet Airways Founder Naresh Goyal who stepped down as the airline's chairman on Monday, March 25, 2019.

This photograph was taken in May 2007 after Goyal signed a memorandum for Jet Airways's then European hub at Brussels's Zaventem airport. Photograph: Getty Images

A failing airline with two-thirds of its fleet grounded has witnessed so much drama around it, that a person close to the events was compelled to draw comparisons with a Netflix action series.

Jet Airways employees, including the crew, are not amused by the Netflix-like twists and turns in the much hyped-up resolution plan to keep the airline flying.

While the State-owned banks are stitching together a last-minute rescue plan to ensure a private airline doesn't go down ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, there are at least 10 unanswered questions on how and why the Jet issue has been reduced to a drama with no clear plot or ending.

Let's start with the Jet board meeting of February 14, when the draft resolution plan to convert lenders' debt to equity was approved. How did the Jet board give an in-principle nod to a plan which was tweaked and changed so many times after that?

In other words, what exactly was the board approval for if the contours of the deal underwent so many changes after that?

Two, the outcome of the Jet EGM on February 21 came as a puzzle. What had looked like a walkover earlier turned out to be not quite so subsequently. Why is it that the voting pattern at the EGM did not capture what was in store?

Next, the memorandum of understanding between the two parties -- Etihad Airways with 24% holding and Jet Founder Chairman Naresh Goyal with 51% -- has been a mystery in the piece. So, the third question with no answer is this.

How was an MoU struck without any 'understanding' between the two partners who are not known to be fond of each other?

Soon after the MoU, based on the lenders-led resolution plan, was discussed at the Etihad board meeting on March 11, the silence emanating from Abu Dhabi made it quite clear that it was a no-go deal.

Fourth, what was it that Etihad CEO Tony Douglas wanted and SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar refused, at their meeting in Mumbai on March 18, that not only did the resolution deal fail but the Abu Dhabi airline decided to exit Jet completely?

The fifth question arises from there. Did Douglas fly down to Mumbai with the purpose of making an offer to SBI that Etihad was willing to sell its 24% share in Jet at a discounted rate of Rs 150 a share, making it a Rs 400 crore deal?

Sixth, if Etihad had already decided to exit the venture, what gave lenders, especially SBI, so much confidence that they promised a resolution plan would be done and dusted within a week?

On March 15, bankers had said Jet resolution would come in a week. By March 18, they were piecing together a Plan B.

Seventh, why did Naresh Goyal and son Nivaan Goyal fly to the Qatar Airways headquarters in Doha to give a presentation soon after hearing a 'no' from long-time partner Etihad?

Did they really think it was worth it, while names of other possible contenders floated around without any evidence?

Eighth, wouldn't State-owned banks putting in additional funds in Jet mean another liability for the government?

And can our system afford it, especially as Air India continues to be in the bucket list for divestment even after a failed effort by the government recently to sell it?

Ninth, should the policy makers still talk about preference for Indian ownership over foreign when a consortium of banks is set to take control of what used to be a top airline of the country not too long ago?

Don't the banks have their hands full already?

The tenth question is about the regulator. Why is it that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has not taken any stand yet that would send out a message to businesses about shaping up or shipping out?

Even with mass grounding and mass cancellations, Jet has not been told to stop passenger bookings yet.

Shouldn't the regulator ensure both safety and convenience of passengers? In this case, safety may be compromised as pilots are under stress with no payment of salaries since December.

And convenience has been a casualty as nobody knows which Jet flight would be grounded next, throwing passengers' plans in disarray.

This is not an answer to any of the 10 questions, but it is no rocket science that quick fixes don't work in any serious business.

Jet is no different.
Jewellers initially feared the ban applied on them.

However, after discontinuing their monthly schemes for almost two weeks, they've started accepting deposits again.

Dilip Kumar Jha reports.

IMAGE: A goldsmith shows wedding rings in a jeweller's shop. Photograph: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters

A month after the ban on unregulated deposits, some questions still remain unanswered.

For instance, whether deposits taken by jewellers from customers are acceptable, especially when jewellers are not regulated.

Jewellers initially feared the ban applied on them, too.

However, after discontinuing their monthly schemes for almost two weeks, they've started accepting deposits again.

Gold jewellers have several monthly deposit schemes, to expand their working capital and to enable customers in jewellery purchase on maturity.

Titan Company, the Tata venture which sells the Tanishq brand of jewellery and fashion accessories, has a 'Golden Harvest' scheme -- one deposits a minimum of Rs 2,000 a month for at least 10 months.

The company offers a discount equivalent to 55% to 75% of the first instalment at the time of redemption in the 11th month.

Similarly, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri offers a scheme of a minimum Rs 1,000 a month for nine months; the company offers 0.75% of the first instalment in the 10th month.

Another jeweller, Waman Hari Pethe, offers the equivalent of one instalment as an incentive to customers on regular deposits of 12 months.

Others run similar schemes.

"By definition, all deposits accepted by jewellers will fall within the purview of the ordinance. Hence, there is a need for the government to look at instances where the intent is not within the definition of deposits. There should be exceptions or some monetary limit for instances like loans from friends or jewellery schemes," said Abhishek A Rastogi, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co.

The ordinance, promulgated last month, defines a deposit as money received by way of an advance or loan or in any other form, by any deposit taker, with a promise to return after a specified period or otherwise, either in cash or kind or as a specified service, with or without any benefit in the form of interest, bonus, profit or in any other form.

This language suggest it covers the deposits that jewellers are taking and, hence, are disallowed.

Jewellers, though, have found a way out.

They show the advance sales against which they are getting payment in monthly instalments.

"All deposits settled within one year without accompanying interest are legal. Jewellers now adjust the interest by giving away the discount largely towards making charges," said Surendra Mahta, secretary, India Bullion and Jewellers Association.

After the ordinance, jewellers prepare a tentative bill of the sum equivalent to the monthly deposits and interest on maturity for a customer on the day of enrolment in the scheme.

Once the tentative bill is generated, which the jeweller keeps, all deposits mentioning the bill number would be considered as advances under the law.

Jewellers do not mention the interest component on the bill, to escape the regulatory glare.

In fact, the interest component works out to around 8.33%, very much within the purview of the regulatory threshold of 10 per cent.

Repeated efforts to reach Titan Company did not elicit a response.

"It is clear that the various retail schemes under which jewellers accept advance payments from customers shouldn't come under the purview of the ordinance," says Ahammed MP, chairman, Malabar Gold & Diamonds.

"Under such schemes," says Ahammed, "jewellers accept payments for a tenure of a few months and at the end of the tenure, customers purchase jewellery equivalent to the value of the total payment. It's like an advance against sales.

"So, this shouldn't come under the ambit of the ordinance," Ahammed adds.
The judge fixed April 26 as the next date of hearing when he will appear via video link from jail.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

A UK court rejected Nirav Modi's second bail application on Friday, saying there are "substantial grounds" to believe the fugitive diamantaire will fail to surrender.

Looking more dishevelled and dressed in a similar white shirt as his first court appearance last week, the 48-year-old was brought to the dock to be produced before Westminster Magistrates Court Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot and sat behind a glass enclosure as the hearing got underway.

Rejecting Modi's bail plea after hearing both defence and prosecution, Judge Arbuthnot said his attempt to try and seek citizenship of Vanuatu, a remote island country located in the South Pacific Ocean, shows he was trying to move away from India at an important time.

"There are substantial grounds to believe he will fail to surrender," said the judge, who fixed April 26 as the next date of hearing.

Modi will appear via video link from jail at the next hearing.

Earlier, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of Indian authorities, said Modi should not be granted bail because he posed a significant flight risk and had even issued death threats to witnesses related to his fraud and money laundering case.

CPS barrister Toby Cadman told Judge Arbuthnot that there was a "substantial risk" that the prime accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud to the "amount of between $1 and 2 billion", would flee and attempt to interfere with witnesses and evidence.

"Given the nature and seriousness of charges and the resources available to him there will be an overwhelming desire to flee the jurisdiction and interfere with the administration of justice," said Cadman.

Giving details of Modi's attempt to interfere with witnesses, the CPS barrister made specific reference to one such witness, Ashish Lad, who Modi "threatened to kill in a phone call" and also offered him an incentive of Rs 2 million to provide a false statement.

Nilesh Mistry and three other witnesses were similarly targeted by Modi and mobile phones and a server holding "material critical to the fraud" were destroyed at request of Modi, raising fears of further "destroying of evidence" if bail was granted, the court was told.

"Due to the nature of his business he has at his disposal diamonds, gold and pearls," added Cadman.

The court was told about Modi's attempt to attain citizenship in jurisdictions less likely to be willing to extradite him to India, including Vanuatu at the end of 2017 on the basis of a $200,000 investment.

However, Vanuatu citizenship request was declined as a result of the ongoing Indian criminal investigation.

Modi's defence team, led by barrister Clare Motgomery - who was also the barrister for former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya in his extradition case - opposed the CPS claims of Modi being a flight risk and stressed that in fact Modi sees UK as a "haven where his case will be fairly considered".

"The size and nature of these allegations is not a safe touchstone by which you can judge if he should be granted bail," said Montgomery, who claimed a series of "underlying issues" were behind PNB withdrawing insecure lending.

The defence offered to submit Modi to an electronic tag for monitoring in an attempt to secure bail for him.

They also disputed the death threats allegations to witnesses by Modi.

At the very start of the hearing, Judge Arbuthnot said she was getting a sense of "deja vu", in reference to her having ordered the extradition of Mallya in December last year.

"Do we know which part of India he [Modi] is being sought in," the judge asked, to try and establish which jail Modi is likely to be held in.

She was told by the CPS that it would be an extradition to Mumbai and that he may in fact be held in the same Arthur Road Jail as that prepared for Mallya, to which the judge said in a light-hearted vein that it could even be the same cell as we know "there is space" from the previous video submitted during Mallya extradition trial.

In another throwback to the Mallya trial, Montgomery raised the issue of the state of the paperwork submitted by the Indian authorities, claiming it "made her cry" at one stage.

The judge concurred with her and was very firm about proper indexing of all documents to be submitted to the court in relation to the case.

Cadman assured the court that the point had been conveyed to the Indian authorities.

A three-member joint Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) team from India was present in court and handed over a new file of evidence which was review by the judge before the hearing.

Modi is believed to have been living in the UK on an Investor Visa, applied for in 2015 - at a time when the so-called golden visa route was relatively easier for super-rich individuals to acquire residency rights in the UK based on a minimum of 2-million pound investment.

According to official data, around 76 Indians have used this visa category to gain permanent settlement in Britain since 2009, with a peak of 16 Indian applicants in 2013 and seven last year.

The UK has since tightened the criteria for the category over concerns of its misuse.

Modi was denied bail by District Judge Marie Mallon at his first hearing soon after his arrest by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch as he tried to open a new bank account and has been in custody at HMP Wandsworth prison in south-west London since then.
The all-cash transaction is likely to be complete in the first quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory clearance.

Infosys Technologies, the country's second-largest information technology services entity, said it would acquire 75 per cent of the equity in Stater NV, a subsidiary of Dutch-based ABN AMRO Bank, for 127.5 million ($143.1 mn).

Stater is a business process management (BPM) provider, offering end-to-end mortgage administration services in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Infosys will acquire the 75 per cent stake through its Infosys Consulting subsidiary.

The rest of the holding will remain with ABN AMRO, which will also continue as an important client to Stater, the company said.

The all-cash transaction is likely to be complete in the first quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory clearance.

This transaction strengthens our approach to offer clients digital platforms and industry-focused solutions.

"It brings together our complementary capabilities," said Mohit Joshi, president at Infosys.

The current management team at Stater would continue to steer it, said Infosys.

The former's clients include financial services entities Allianz, Deutsche Bank and Lloyds Bank. It has around 1,400 employees.

Infosys, under current Chief Executive Salil Parekh, increasingly tapping the joint venture (JV) route, apart from taking strategic control in units in a bid to push up revenue growth.

In September last year, it formed a JV with Singapore state fund Temasek, to expand in Southeast Asia.

Infosys had said it would acquire 60 per cent in the JV entity, Trusted Source, in lieu of which the company would invest around $9 million in the entity.

Around 200 of Temasek employees would come on the rolls of Infosys.

In December, it formed a similar JV with Hitachi, Panasonic Corporation and Pasona, to strengthen its presence in the Japanese market.

As part of the deal, Infosys had agreed to acquire 81 per cent of the shareholding in Hitachi Procurement Service, a fully owned subsidiary of Hitachi, for the equivalent of nearly Rs 175 crore.

Photograph: Abhishek N Chinnappa/Reuters
'With the Balakot strike, India has established a precedent for response to any new terrorist attack engineered by Pakistan.'

'This will stay irrespective of who wins the coming elections,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).

In this election season, major security related developments have been viewed from a partisan view point. It is like three blind men describing the elephant as a pillar, a rope or a snake, since the blind men could not see the full picture.

These were momentous events and will have a lasting impact on Indian national security for a long time to come.

It is necessary that every common citizen understands the full implications of what has happened.

The Balakot airstrike in response to the Pulwama attack was indeed a 'game changer' in India-Pakistan relations.

Analysts like me and many others have been crying hoarse for several decades that India needs to embrace the strategy of 'counter terror' and not just anti-terror.

Let me explain it in plain terms. All through the 1980s to the 21st century, after every terror attack traceable to Pakistan, India responded with anti-terror measures.

We increased CCTV coverage, created counter terror special forces, fenced the border and tried to tackle Pakistan diplomatically. This was true after the 2006 Mumbai train bombings as well as the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Even earlier, India's response even to the Kargil intrusion was 'defensive' in nature. We recovered our lost territory, but did not cross the LOC.

Although a grave provocation like the December 2001 attack on Parliament by Pakistan-based Jaish e Mohammad terrorists evoked a strong response and we mobilised the armed forces for a conventional war, India did back out ultimately.

If we are to understand the Pakistani strategy as proxy war, then we are essentially confined ourselves to 'defence' only. It is well understood by all students of war that one can never win a war with a purely defensive strategy. But that is precisely what India has been doing for the last 30 years.

Pakistan has been successfully using the strategy (called the 'Mad Mullah' by the Washington Post) of deterring India by threatening 'irrational' responses and invoking the specter of nuclear war.

With the air strike on the Balakot terror camp in mainland Pakistan (not just the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir) India has called the Pakistani bluff.

Irrespective of the damage done at Balakot, the air strike has established a new red line in the sub-continent. Why that is so needs an explanation.

We are too close to events and no official will reveal exactly what happened, so an educated guess is possible.

When India decided on launching the air strike, a possibility of Pakistani reaction must have been factored in. India must have put plans in operation for a ground attack on Pakistan as well as attack from the sea.

To back up this threat and deter Pakistan from escalating the conflict, India must have also put its nuclear forces on alert. As a matter of fact, these forces must be still on alert even to date March 29, a month after the Balakot strike.

It is unlikely that the level of alert will be lowered before the end of elections in India and a mutual stand-down by both the countries.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan alluded to this fact when on March 26, 2019, he stated that war clouds are yet to dissipate.

With the Balakot strike, India has now established a precedent for response to any new terrorist attack engineered by Pakistan. This will stay irrespective of who wins the coming elections.

In one stroke India has re-established the credibility of its deterrence.

Far from making a nuclear war possible, this has actually diminished its possibility as Pakistan will now have to think twice before permitting Jaish or Lashkar e Tayiba to repeat a Mumbai 26/11 like terror attack.

IMAGE: The Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully launched the Ballistic Missile Defence Interceptor missile in an Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile test 'Mission Shakti' engaging an Indian orbiting target satellite in Low Earth Orbit in a 'Hit to Kill' mode from the A P J Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha, March 27, 2019. Photograph: ANI Photo

Closely following on its Balakot success, India on March 27 tested an anti-satellite missile successfully. The test showed that India is steadily moving towards Ballistic Missile Defence.

This will further reinforce our deterrence ability as Pakistani's first strike strategy becomes problematic.

Much more needs to be done in the field of air defence, but suffice it to say that through the anti-sat missile test, India has shown that it is in a different league from Pakistan.

Anti-satellite missile technology is a closely guarded secret and it is unlikely that China will share it with Pakistan. As time passes, the gap between India and Pakistan will only increase.

This will hopefully lead Pakistan to pursue a more realistic defence posture and force it to give up its quest for strategic parity with India.

This will be the first step towards 'detente' in our region.

Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) is a military historian.
Two days after she joined the Congress, she has been given a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency.

IMAGE: Bollywood actress and Congress parliamentary candidate from Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency Urmila Matondkar is greeted with a garland by Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora in Mumbai. Photograph: Subhav Shukla/PTI Photo

"The Congress central election committee has approved the candidature of Urmila Matondkar as party candidate to contest the ensuing general elections from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra," a party statement said.

Mumbai North is a constituency that Congress has deemed a tough nut to crack.

In 2014, then sitting MP Sanjay Nirupam faced a crushing defeat at the hands of Bharatiya Janata Party's Gopal Shetty by more than 4 lakh 46 thousand votes.

WATCH: 'I believe in ideology of Congress': Urmila after joining the party

Matondkar has been given the ticket after Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora on Thursday said that the city unit of the party had requested the high command to give a Lok Sabha ticket to the actor.

Urmila joined the Congress on Wednesday and said she wanted the politics of hatred which has grown by "leaps and bounds" in the last five years, to end.

The money spent on "trolling and hatred" should have gone into development, she added.

-- With inputs from Agencies
In an interview to Republic Bharat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the BJP's prospects in the polls, emergence of an Opposition front, dynastic politics and several other issues ranging from the Rafale deal to unemployment.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the interview said he was confident of his party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls and there was no contest. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Confident over Bharatiya Janata Party's electoral prospects in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the National Democratic Alliance will form the government with over 300 seats.

"My political experience says that there will be a lot of increase as compared to the past. Previously people had some doubts over who Modi is but now they know what Modi has done for country's security for poor and on other issues. Now they know Modi's vision and work. In these elections, the BJP will win with a complete majority and with a bigger mandate than 2014. This time people will strengthen us in even the areas where our representation was less previously," he said an exclusive interview to Republic Bharat news channel's editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami.

"In 2019 there is no contest," he added.

Sharpening his attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Modi claimed that past governments were mired in corruption over defence deals.

"In our country, defence deals have been like an ATM for previous governments. All previous Congress government have used these ATMs," said Prime Minister Modi.

When asked by the editor whether another multinational company with defence interests were being pushed by the opposition, PM Modi replied that the opposition party members couldn't fathom that defence deals could happen transparently. "They can't even imagine that defence deals can happen with transparency and honesty. And until their own interest was served, they didn't bother about the interest of the forces," added Modi.

IMAGE: A supporter wearing a mask of Prime Minister Narendra Modi checks his mobile phone as he attends an election campaign rally being addressed by Modi in Meerut. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

He also claimed that the 'mahagathbandhan' is more scattered today as compared to 2014 and said, "The people of the country have made up their minds, they want a government with an absolute majority. People have seen 30 years of instability and five years of a majority government. People of India now don't want to take the country towards instability," he added.

"Dynasty is dangerous for a democracy. Four generations of the same family have spoken about removing gareebi (poverty). Indira Gandhi also spoke about it, Rajiv Gandhi also spoke about it and now Rahul Gandhi is talking about it," he said.

He also said that he will take every one along with his government and said, "As a responsible citizen, as a responsible political party, as a responsible PM, I will work with everyone together. Be it Congress or Mayawati or Mamata Banerjee.

Prime Minister Modi also said that there is a focus on him because he has been an active prime minister and has worked amidst people.

"Focus is on me because I've been an active prime minister and worked amidst the people. People have given me a job, I have no right to live for myself. I will live for the country, for however long they have given me. Because of this one pledge, I continue to go on", he said.

PM Modi's re-election campaign blitz began on Thursday from Meerut and he is expected to address over 150 rallies across the country by the time the last phase of polling arrives on May 19.
'I felt that the idea about putting money into bank accounts of the poor was a right one if implemented with sincerity'

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his idea for a minimum income guarantee scheme for the poorest of poor came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Rs 15 lakh promise' made ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Gandhi said the Congress' poll promise for the ambitious 'Nyay' (Nyuntam Aay Yojna) under which Rs 72,000 will be deposited each year in the bank accounts of 20 per cent of the country's poorest is 'historic' and claimed that the prime minister looks 'shaken' ever since the announcement was made on Monday.

Accusing Modi of helping certain industrialists, Gandhi said he protects the rich while refraining from helping out the debt-ridden farmers, adding this 'chowkidar' is a thief.

On the contrary, Gandhi said his party bats for the poor, the weaker sections and the farmers.

"The 2019 polls are a fight between two ideologies. On one hand are the BJP, the RSS and Narendra Modi and on the other is the Congress," he said.

Gandhi was on a day's visit to Haryana to be part of Congress state unit's ongoing six-day lone Parivartan Yatra, which began from Gurugram earlier this week.

Gandhi said unlike the BJP his party keeps its promise and referred to 'Nyay' the Congress plans to introduce if it forms the government.

"He(Modi) promised putting Rs 15 lakh into every Indian's bank account. Did anyone get anything?" he said at a public meeting in Yamunanagar district's Jagadhri town.

"Truth is when our Government is formed we will put Rs 72,000 a year into the accounts of 20 per cent of the country's poorest. Modi spoke lies about putting Rs 15 lakh into every Indian's bank account, However, I felt that the idea about putting money into bank accounts of the poor was a right one if implemented with sincerity.

"I caught hold of this idea. I spoke to Congress party's thinktank and told them about Modi's Rs 15 lakh promise and said he did not fulfil it, instead what he did was to do injustice to farmers, hit small shopkeepers with demonetisation, and brought Gabbar Singh Tax," Gandhi said, adding he told the party's think tank to come out with a scheme to benefit poor and they worked out the modalities in six months.

Gandhi was referring to Modi's 2014 election speech when as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate he promised to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks within 100 days of coming to power. Modi had also said that if all the black money was brought back to the country, it would be enough to deposit Rs 15 lakh in every poor person's bank account.

"It(Nyay) is historic, so much historic that you must have seen Narendra Modi's face on TV during the past 2-3 days, he looked shaken.

Gandhi also accused Modi and BJP of spreading hatred and anger and putting real issues on the backburner.

"In the last five years, Modi ji has waived Rs 3.50 lakh crore of 15 industrialists.

Narendra Modi protects the rich, Modi gives justice to rich, he said.

Gandhi also said that 'anyay' or injustice had been done to farmers, poor and weaker sections and added if Congress forms the next government at the Centre it will give nyay..we will give justice to the poor, farmers, labourers, small traders...

"During the past five years, Modi has made several promises to the people of this country. Wherever he goes, he spreads hatred," Gandhi alleged.

Gandhi asked party workers to fan out in every nook and corner to apprise the people about the minimum income guarantee scheme.

He also attacked Modi on the Rafale deal issue alleging irregularities in the procurement of the jet fighters from France.

He (Modi) used to say I do not want to become pradhan mantri and I want to become chowkidar. He used to say 'Achhe din ayenge'. These days a new slogan is running. 'Chowkidar chor hai' (watchman is a thief)," said Gandhi while taking a dig at Modi.
India on Friday summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner in New Delhi and conveyed concerns over the presence of a leading Khalistani separatist in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor project, official sources said.

They said India will wait for a response from Pakistan on the issue and is likely to reschedule a meeting on the Kartarpur corridor which was to be held on April 2 in Wagah on the Pakistani side.

Sources said India has sought clarifications on a number of issues from Pakistan including on the presence of Khalistani separatist Chawla in the Kartarpur committee as well as association of other anti-India elements like Bison Singh, Kuljit Singh and Maninder Singh in the project.

They said Chawla, a close aide of terrorist Hafiz Saeed, is part of the committee, which was not acceptable to India.

The Pakistani Cabinet constituted a 10-member Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee to facilitate Sikh pilgrims after opening of the Kartarpur Corridor.

Sources said Pakistan has agreed to allow pilgrims from all faiths to visit Kartarpur Sahib as demanded by India. Initially, Pakistan said only Sikh pilgrims will be allowed to visit the shrine.

Pakistan was conveyed that the issue has raised fresh concerns in India about the safety and security of pilgrims and possible misuse of the corridor for anti-India activities, sources said.

India has been strongly emphasising on the need for foolproof security for its pilgrims on the Pakistani soil and demanding commitment from the neighbouring country to insulate them from any anti-India propaganda during their visit to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, sources said.

India also asked Pakistani deputy high commissioner Syed Haider Shah his country's stand on key proposals put forward by New Delhi at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, they said.

A ministry of external affairs statement said it has been conveyed to the Paksitani side that the next meeting on the modalities of the corridor can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan's response.

Meanwhile, Pakistan described as "incomprehensible" India's decision to reschedule the upcoming meeting of the experts on the Kartarpur Corridor.

"The meeting was to discuss and find consensus on outstanding issues," Mohammad Faisal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted.

"Last minute postponement without seeking views from Pakistan and especially after the productive technical meeting on March 19 is incomprehensible," Faisal further said.

The two sides had met on March 14 to thrash out sticky issues relating to the project.

In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, the statement said.

The Indian government remains committed to realising the long-pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner, it said.

India has asked Pakistan to allow pilgrims to travel on foot, if they wish. It also urged that another 10,000 pilgrims be allowed access on festivals like Baisakhi and Gurupurab.

Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.

Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district.

Two days later, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, 125 km from Lahore.
Lalu's word is final in the RJD when even when he is serving a long jail sentence after being convicted in fodder scam cases.

M I Khan reports from Patna.

IMAGE: Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, escorted by the police, after he appeared at the Special CBI court in Ranchi, January 6, 2018. Photograph: PTI Photo

Ignoring his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav's disintegrating marriage with Aishwarya Rai (not to be mistaken with the celebrated actress), jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has fielded Aishwarya's father from the Saran Lok Sabha seat.

Lalu has also fielded his eldest daughter Dr Misa Bharti from the Patliputra Lok Sabha seat, ignoring anger and unhappiness in the RJD over her nomination.

Lalu also fielded Subhash Yadav, who has alleged links with the sand mafia, from the Chatra Lok Sabha seat in neighbouring Jharkhand, again ignoring party anger over his candidature.

Annapurna Devi, the RJD's Jharkhand unit president, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in protest against imposing an outsider in Chatra, ignoring her claim to the seat.

Lalu's almost imperial decisions may provoke disgruntled RJD leaders and workers to revolt, some observers say.

Chandrika Rai, a senior RJD leader, former minister and son of the late Bihar chief minister Daroga Rai, is the RJD candidate from Saran, which Lalu represented four times in the Lok Sabha.

Lalu's wife, former chief minister Rabri Devi, was defeated in Saran by the BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy in the May 2014 general election. Rudi has already begun his 2019 campaign.

In May 2018, Chandrika Rai's daughter Aishwarya, an English-speaking graduate from Delhi University, wed Tej Pratap, Lalu's Class 12 pass elder son. The marriage fell apart weeks later, much to Lalu and Rabri Devi's dismay. Tej Pratap has since filed a petition for divorce.

"Lalu decided to field Chandrika Rai to send a political message to his supporters, mostly from his Yadav caste who are present in sizeable numbers in Saran, that he enjoys a good relationship with his son's father-in-law and daughter-in-law's family," says a senior RJD leader.

RJD sources say some party leaders wanted Lalu to field Rabri Devi from Saran, but Lalu chosen to field Chandrika Rai to pacify Yadavs upset by Tej Pratap's decision to divorce his wife.

"Lalu's decision to nominate Chandrika Rai is a game changer," an RJD leader claims. Rai is perceived as a decent, popular, politician with a clean image in his assembly constituency if not across the Saran parliamentary seat.

Dr Misa Bharti, who is an RJD Rajya Sabha MP, has been campaigning in Pataliputra for weeks even though her younger brother Tejashwi Yadav only announced her nomination on Friday, March 29.

RJD sources say Bhai Virendra, the RJP MLA from Maner who hoped to be nominated from Pataliputra, is unhappy by Lalu's decision to field Misa, who was named after the acronym for the Maintenance of Internal Security Act under which Lalu was jailed during the Emergency when Misa was born.

Virendra hoped to contest the Pataliputra seat with support from Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly, but Lalu backed his eldest child.

Lalu contested the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Pataliputra, but was defeated by the Janata Dal-United's Ranjan Prasad Yadav.

In 2014, Misa -- who has a medical degree -- was defeated in Pataliputra by Lalu's trusted associate Ramkripal Yadav who revolted against Lalu's family love and joined the BJP.

Subhash Yadav, who is considered a close aide of Lalu and his family, has been part of the RJD since the mid 1990s. The Bihar police has reportedly lodged several cases against him in connection with illegal sand mining and benami property.

One thing is clear: Lalu's word is final in the RJD when even when he is serving a long jail sentence after being convicted in fodder scam cases.
Barely three days after joining the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashriya Janata Dal mahagathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh, the Nishad Party on Friday sprang a surprise by parting ways with the fledgling anti-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and meeting chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

IMAGE: Sanjay Nishad, chief of Nishad Party, meets UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Photograph: ANI

There was no immediate word from either side as to what transpired at the meeting between the Nishad Party leaders including its president Sanjay Nishad with Adityanath in Lucknow.

"The Nishad Party is no more in alliance with the Samajwadi Party," Nikky Nishad alias Riteash Nishad, media in-charge, Nishad Party said.

"There was conflict between the two parties on Maharajganj seat as Nishad Party wanted to contest with its own party symbol where as Samajwadi Party was not ready for it," he added.

The party workers were not willing to contest on the SP symbol and many of them began quitting, he said.

"So, our national president Sanjay Nishad ji went to Lucknow and on late Thursday it was confirmed that the Nishad Party is no more a part of the alliance," he added.

When asked whether Pravin Nishad, MP, will also quit Samajwadi Party, he said, "I don't know about it."

The Nishad Party is headed by Sanjay Nishad, the father of Pravin Nishad who had won the Gorakhpur parliamentary seat on an SP ticket in the 2018 by-polls.

The win had been remarkable, as Gorakhpur was considered a bastion of Adityanath, who had represented the parliamentary constituency several times before.

A Nishad Party insider accused SP chief Akhilesh Yadav of backtracking on his promises.

"They did not put our name on the posters/letters or anything. Our party workers, authorities, core committee were upset," he said.

"So, the Nishad Party has taken a decision today that we are not with the gathbandhan, we are free, can fight elections independently and can look for other options as well. The party is free now," he added.

When contacted, SP national spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury saisd that he had no information of the decision taken by the Nishad Party.

Just three days ago on Tuesday, the Nishad (Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal) Party in a press conference in Lucknow had announced that it was joining the grand opposition alliance in the state.

On the day of the announcement, Sanjay Nishad had addressed a press conference in which he had attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him a 'jumlebaz' as well as Adityanath.

"Our constitution, youth and farmers' futures are in grave danger. People voted for a 'jumlebaz' party cause of their false promises," he had said.

"Modi and Yogi promised many things for Nishad community but nothing was done. The Nishad community will now give full support to the SP-BSP alliance in all the state," he added.

The Nishad Party, sources said, is in talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party for some seats including Gorakhpur.
National Geographic has revealed the first batch of entries in its Travel Photo contest -- and the bar has been set very high.

Think extraordinary landscapes, inquisitive wildlife, sneak peeks into people's lives around the world, and jaw-dropping natural phenomenons; all captured in a whole host of creative ways.

These exquisite images are battling it out for the possible grand prize of $7,500 (Rs 5.17 lakh).

The winning image will also be featured on National Geographics official Instagram account.

Details of entry into the competition can be found on the contest homepage, and National Geographic are accepting entries until May 3.

Here are some early highlights from the entries National Geographic received so far.

Cows such as this one in Pushkar, India, have free rein to wander as they please. As this one approached the entrance of a temple in Pushkar, dedicated to Vishnu, people made way for the cow to enter. Photograph: Ellen Dore/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

Rundown neighbourhoods contrast with the glitzy Grand Lisboa hotel on Macaus skyline. Photograph: Goncalo Lobo Pinheiro/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

On my last day in Antarctica, I was posting my last video update, I heard what I was waiting for and documented what was to come. A leopard seal was feeding on a penguin I was in a 7mm free-diving suit to be more flexible to change positions quickly. A normal encounter would be 20 minutes or so and I wouldn't be too cold afterwards, but this day was different, as we swam with three different leopard sealsbrrrr. I felt safe being so close to the action with my team. Just amazing. Photograph: Rita Kluge/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

Looking down at the Kilauea eruption from Fissure 8, as it enters the ocean, and the plume of smoke opens up, revealing the newly created island underneath. Photograph: Michael Perea/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

Some places like El Rosario National Reserve in Mexico, make you feel humble, grateful you are alive and can see nature's beauty. Like a time machine, the child in you has been awaken. I took a few photos, but then decided that the best pictures cannot be taken, you just hold them in your heart. I put down the camera, sat on my rear end, and looked up quietly. The monarchs gather in Michoacan to spend the cold months, between November and March. Some of them make it all the way from Canada. Photograph: Tihomir Trichkov/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

The days are much shorter in winter and the different elevations within Yellowstone National Park initiates even earlier sunsets. With the evening closing in and temperatures dropping, a herd of bison made their way up and over a frozen hill in search of their next meal. As I watched the group fade out of sight the last bison in line paused, turned back in my directions, took a breath and exhaled creating a thick cloud of steam before continuing over the hill and out of sight with the others. Photograph: Taylor Albright/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

This summer we spent our holidays on Kefalonia island. It is a beautiful island, but has a difficult road network. There are turns all the time and for someone that gets dizzy easily, like my daughter Zoe, it is really tough. Here we stopped so she could get some fresh air and rest a little bit. She took lovely poses as she was taking deep breaths and felt the air in her face. So when you have a dad that loves photography you end up with a document of your dizziness. August 2018. Photograph: Babis Beslemes/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

Market day in Urubamba. Beautiful, delicious, organic, and oh so colorful. Always so much healthier here. The only things being processed are your thoughts tickling your senses :). My daily routine. Stop here in the morning. Combine this goodness into a fresh smoothie and save some for a five oclock drink with a kick of Pisco. My advice ... if you want to experience more about a culture visit the local market. Photograph: Ryan Kost/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

Participants in the annual Golden Eagle Festival, show off their skills. The festival is held in Bayan-Olgii aimag, West Mongolia. The eagle hunters are celebrating their Kazakh heritage and compete to catch small animals such as rabbits and foxes. Eagle hunting has been practiced in Central Asia for thousands of years, although nowadays it is preserved only in the Kazakh culture where the traditions are still alive and well kept. Photograph: Tihomir Trichkov/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

The Palkhi Festival showcases the distinctive feature of the Maharashtrian culture in India. Thousands of people called Varkari reach Pandharpur from Alandi or Dehu after walking for about 250 km. The Palkhi offers some of the best cultural events of Maharashtra once in a year. This photo was taken when all the devotees were singing devotional songs by using an instrument called Taal or Manjira which is a set of small cymbals, which produce a clashing sound after contact with each other. Photograph: Mahesh Lonkar/2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest
It was a moment of awe and pride when three rare Sumatran tiger cubs ventured into the public's view for the first time on Friday at the Tarong zoo in Sydney.

Zookeepers called the moment a "wonderful success" for the future of the critically endangered species.

All photographs: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Say hello to Mawar, Tengah Malam and Pemanah, the three Sumatran tiger cubs who were allowed for the first time to venture outside their closed dens at Sydney's Taronga zoo.

Of the three -- Mawar (which means rose in Indonesian) and Tengah Malam (meaning midnight) are female cubs whereas Pemanah (archer) is their brother.

The three cubs were born on January 17. This has been the first time that they have moved in the outside, zookeeper Louise Ginman was quoted as saying.

That's mommy tiger there! Kartika is the proud mother of the three cubs at the zoo.

The three cubs are now a part of the 350 Sumatran Tiger pack. These tigers are critically endangered and found only in the forests of the Indonesia island of Sumatra. One of the main reasons for the few numbers is that their habitat has been devastated by illegal wildlife trade and jungle clearing for palm oil plantations.

Taronga Zoo manager Mandy Everett said the zoos cubs are likely to grow up to become part of breeding programmes in other zoos around the world.

Asked about the cubs, Zookeeper Louise Ginman was quoted as saying by Reuters, "This birth is such a wonderful success for the conservation of this fragile species, and I am so excited that we can now invite guests to share our joy."
Rahul said his party's soon-to-be released manifesto will reflect the people's voice and not just one man's view.

IMAGE: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi addresses an election rally. Photograph: @INCIndia/Twitter

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has not ruled out contesting the Lok Sabha election from a constituency other than Amethi, saying many party leaders have fought elections from more than one seat in the past and a decision on the issue will be taken by the party soon.

Referring to demands from party leaders that his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should contest, Gandhi told PTI in an interview that she will have to take a call on whether to fight the polls or not.

Speculation about the newly appointed Congress general secretary contesting grew after she asked people in Varanasi on Thursday whether she should fight the polls from the temple town, the constituency from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a re-election.

Amethi is his karmabhoomi (place where you are destined to work) and will remain so, Rahul Gandhi said, keeping his options open on fighting the election from a second seat amid demands from party units in Kerala and Karnataka that he should be fielded from their states.

"Amethi is my karmabhoomi and shall always remain so. I am deeply grateful for the love, affection and the sentiments expressed by our party workers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala who have asked me to contest a second seat from their states," the Congress chief told PTI in response to a question on the speculation over him contesting from Wayanad in Kerala.

"In the past, too, many leaders from the Congress and other parties, including Mr Modi himself, have contested elections from more than one seat. The Congress party will take a decision on this issue at the earliest," he said.

In 2014, Rahul Gandhi defeated BJP's Smriti Irani by a margin of over one lakh votes. Both are pitted against each other again from Amethi.

Asked about Priyanka Gandhi contesting the election, the Congress chief said candidate selection is an ongoing process and the party has announced over 300 candidates so far.

"As far as Priyanka is concerned, it is up to her to decide if she wants to contest the election or not," he said.

On whether party veterans will be fielded by the Congress to put up a strong fight, Gandhi said the party has a system of identifying candidates and it goes through various processes.

"I have looked at young as well as experienced candidates equally because I have believed that Congress party needs both. Seniors are fighting elections. We also have many new faces who will be fighting their first election," he said.

There has been a clamour among Congress leaders from the south for Rahul Gandhi to contest from Kerala as well as Karnataka and the state units have already passed resolutions on the issue.

His mother, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, earlier contested from the Bellary Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka while his grandmother, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, had contested from Chikamangalur in Karnataka.

The process of nominations in Kerala, which goes to the polls on April 23, started on Thursday and will end on April 4.

'Our manifesto will reflect people's voice, not one man's'

Rahul said his party's soon-to-be released manifesto will reflect the people's voice and not just one man's view, a clear reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Gandhi also said the manifesto will lay major thrust on jobs creation, addressing agrarian distress and strengthening the education and health sectors besides charting a roadmap to boost economic growth.

The 48-year-old Congress president said the Congress-led UPA is storming back to power as people have rejected Modi's politics of "false promises".

"We want India's voice and aspirations to prosper. We don't believe in one man's voice. We believe in everyone's voice and choices. It requires tremendous discipline and hard work to do, but it works," he said.

The Congress chief said the party's manifesto is the result of extensive nationwide consultations and is a very "powerful" document aimed at redressing key challenges facing the nation.

Congress is set to release its manifesto next week, ahead of the first phase of polling on April 11.

Without divulging specific details of the manifesto, Gandhi said it will have a well-thought out "strategic plan" for creation of jobs on a "huge scale" and a roadmap for transformation of the agriculture sector as well as ways to boost small businesses and the economy at large.

Besides promoting entrepreneurship and industry, the Congress will also free businesses from the onslaught of "tax terrorism" and ensure fairness to small and medium traders, he said.

The Congress chief also said his party intends to significantly increase public investment in the education and health sectors which will help provide better facilities for the common person.

"Our manifesto has a commitment to increasing the expenditure on education and creating a high quality public education system. There is a tremendous amount of work that has gone into preparing our manifesto," he said.

"All this is ground breaking stuff. So yes, while the BJP's failures and Modiji's false promises and incompetence are certainly election issues, we have more than enough to share when it comes to our plans and our vision for India," he said.

Reflecting on his party's poor performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll when it just got 44 seats, Gandhi said it was an "aberration", asserting that the Congress is storming back to power.

"The Congress at one level is an organisation, but at another level, the Congress is a conversation."

"It is allowing people to speak. It is allowing multiple viewpoints. It is allowing our institutions to have their own independence. It is not imposing unwitting ideas, like demonetisation on the nation," he said.

He said the Congress party had got down to brass tacks after 2014 - to rework, rebuild and resurrect the organisation as a whole. This was initiated by decentralising power.

The party, through effective state leadership, reconnected with workers down to the booth level, he said, adding that it has been a priority and it has been successful as evidenced in the outcome of the recent state elections.

Gandhi said the Congress across India is naturally building up and strengthening, because the "more the RSS-BJP try to suppress the conversation, the more India wants to converse, think and grow".

Taking a dig at Modi's 'Congress Mukt Bharat' slogan, he alleged that what the PM actually meant was that nobody should be allowed to speak or think. "Nobody should be allowed to express themselves," Gandhi said.

"The Congress builds and grows in India when the conversation builds," he asserted.

Accusing Modi and the BJP/RSS of "imposing" their views on people, he said the Congress is not in the business of imposing ideas as it wants to listen and work together with all the stakeholders of this country.

"The RSS-BJP will say only one person speaks for India. It's impossible. As Congress president, I say with great humility that Congress will grow even more when it permits multiple different voices," he said.

Referring to the ambitious 'Nyay (Nyuntam Aay Yojna)' announced by him earlier this week, Gandhi claimed it threw the BJP into disarray.

"It's not my scheme; it's a scheme that has been created after listening to lakhs of people in our manifesto conversations," he said.

Gandhi said answers would come by talking to people on the street, as "we're just replicating their voice".

The Congress chief said a lot of farmers came to the party and asked for building infrastructure to help them put up a factory right near their farm, put food processing plants near agricultural areas and link those food processing units to the rest of the country.

"It's a great idea. They gave it to us, and we will implement it," he said.

"From my perspective, it is not only about farmers or Nyay or the youth or our women. It's also about industry, it's also about tax terrorism, it's also about fairness to small and medium businesses, it's also about entrepreneurship," he said.
Will 'Bhaiyyaji', as Priyanka is called in UP, contest against Modi?

Archis Mohan reports.

IMAGE: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at Assi Ghat in Varanasi, March 20, 2019. Photograph: PTI Photo

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday, March 28, triggered speculation that she might contest against Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat.

Congress leaders, however, said they were uncertain if she really meant it or the remark was a joke.

Varanasi goes to the polls in the last phase of the elections on May 19, and the Election Commission is yet to notify the dates for filing of nominations.

With nearly two weeks to go before the notification for the last phase, the Congress hopes it will get enough time to gauge the public mood and take a decision, but the remark could help enthuse party workers in Uttar Pradesh.

You read it here first! What Rahul and Priyanka are planning next

Priyanka sprang this surprise on Thursday when she told party workers in Rae Bareli, the constituency represented by Sonia Gandhi, her mother and former Congress president, that she could contest from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency.

The Bharatiya Janata Party hhas already announced that the PM will recontest from the seat.

In 2014, Modi contested from two seats -- Varanasi and Vadodara. He had won from both seats, but later quit from Vadodara. The BJP is yet to announce a second seat for the PM.

When Priyanka was appointed general secretary of the party, in charge of Uttar Pradesh East's 40 Lok Sabha seats, some in the party had expected her to contest from Rae Bareli as Sonia Gandhi had earlier hinted at retiring from electoral politics.

However, the Congress felt the need to maximise its wins from UP, and has already announced Sonia Gandhi's candidature from Rae Bareli, her sitting seat.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Amethi, and there has been speculation that he could also contest from Kerala.

Priyanka had maintained that she might not contest, but on Wednesday she said in a media interaction that she could if the party so wished.

At an internal meeting of party workers in Rae Bareli on Thursday, they implored 'Bhaiyyaji', as she is referred to in Rae Bareli, that she should contest the Lok Sabha elections.

'Where should I fight contest from?' she asked, and responded with a smile and a tad rhetorically, 'Varanasi!'

Some in the party argued that she contesting from Varanasi would help galvanise party workers, and have the added advantage of pinning Modi to Varanasi when the BJP has plans that he will undertake a whirlwind campaign across the country. However, other sources said Priyanka meant it as a joke.

The BJP expects the Varanasi seat to be a cakewalk. In 2014, Modi had received 56.37% of the total votes polled in the constituency. The Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal was the runner up with 20.3% and the Congress's Ajay Rai secured 7.34%.

The Nehru-Gandhi family has ventured out of their Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in the past. Indira Gandhi contested from Chikmagalur in Karnataka in 1978 and Medak in present day Telangana, apart from Rae Bareli, in 1980, while Sonia Gandhi has contested in the past from Bellary.
WASHINGTON  The Washington Environmental Council will host a Love Your Mother Earth race in conjunction with Steep Rock Association on Saturday, April 27.

WEC, a grassroots community organization that was founded in 1971, works to advocate for protecting and enhancing the environmental quality in and around the town. In 2015, WEC succeeded in lobbying Washington to become the first town in Connecticut to ban fracking waste. Now, in honor of Earth Day, WEC will hold their third annual race to benefit the organization.

Runners will be able to choose from two race

options: a 5K course that follows the Shepaug River and is flat and fast, and a more challenging 5 mile route on trails through Steep Rock Preserve.

No matter which option you decide to run, all participants will begin at the same place along the Shepaug River, said WEC Co-President Diane Decker. At the halfway point of the 5K, runners will have the choice to turn around to complete the 5K or continue onto the trials for the 5 mile route.

The 5-mile route promises beautiful, scenic views of the preserve.

Uniquely, this event will be a zero waste race. There will be no plastic goodie bags, no plastic straws and no plastic water bottles, Decker explained.

We are encouraging participants to bring their own reusable water bottles, and water stations along the race routes will serve water in paper and compostable cups.

I love that were doing this, she said.

Instead of goodie bags, the first 100 runners will receive small parsley plants in biodegradable pots from Brierwood Nurseries. Prizes for the winners will include reusable bottles and tote bags from J. Seitz & Co. in New Preston.

The event will also feature a sneaker drive. Participants and spectators can bring their gently used sneakers for donation. Woodbridge Running Company will pass these sneakers along to Rerun Shoes, an organization that then cleans the shoes and sends them to countries in West Africa where they help support entrepreneurs and microbusinesses.

Its a great cause, and helps to reduce waste, Decker said of the many shoes that wind up in landfills each year.

Leading up to the race, WEC invites community members to participate in a town-wide cleanup effort. Residents, businesses and organizations can adopt a road to go and pick up garbage. Complementary garbage bags for collecting litter and a dumpster to dispose of the trash will be available at Town Hall from April 24 to 29.

Additionally, the town will also be providing free shredding services to securely dispose of documents on the day of the run, from 9 a.m. to noon.

Interested runners are encouraged to preregister for the race at a cost of $20 for both races by visiting WECs website at www.wec-ct.org. Same-day registration will cost $25. Same-day registration and race-bib pickup will be from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. on the day of the event. The race begins promptly at 9 a.m. at 2 Tunnel Road in Washington.

Community members interested in adopting a road to clean up may also sign up on WECs website.
WASHINGTON  Gunn Memorial Library in Washington welcomes literary scholar Mark Scarbrough as he leads a six-week course The Grand Descent: A Walk Across Dantes Inferno. The classes will be Mondays at 10 a.m., April 1 through May 6.

What happens when a man decides to trek across the known universe? If hes a Tuscan poet in the Middle Ages, he starts the great descent  which takes him into everything thats known and in turn almost single-handedly creates the Western literary tradition. After 700 years, theres still no other walk like this, no cadence like it. And certainly no theme or plot to rival this exploration of the nature of all that is. Walk with Dante (and Cimabue, Giotto, popes, generals, and other poets) across the infernal regions, the first third of the poets journey through the cosmos and into the foundations of all the imaginative literature we read today.

The required book is The Inferno - Signet Classics - Dante Alighieri (Translated by John Ciardi). Copies are available for purchase at the Hickory Stick Bookstore.

The reading schedule: April 1 - Introduction; April 8 - Inferno, Cantos 1-4; April 15 - Inferno, Cantos 5-10; April 22 - Inferno, Cantos 11-17; April 29 - Inferno, Cantos 18-27; May 6 - Inferno, Cantos 28-34

Scarbrough started his professional life as an academic and did his doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin Madison before accepting a job at Saint Edwards University in Austin, Texas. He has given papers on Chaucer at the International Medieval Conference and on American literature at the MLA and regional MLA conferences.

After several years teaching, he resigned and moved to New York to write. In New York, he met and married Bruce Weinstein. Together, they have written more than two dozen cookbooks, and have appeared on The Today Show, CBS This Morning and The View and selected as The Most Influential People of Litchfield County. He has been a popular book group and literary discussion leader across Southern New England. For more information on Mark visit markscarbrough.com

This program is free and open to the public but registration is requested; call 860-868-7586 for further information or visit www.gunnlibrary.org

The Gunn Memorial Library is located at 5 Wykeham Road at Route 47 on the Green, in Washington,

Society to present The Art of Tomas Savrda

SHARON  The Sharon Historical Society & Museum is pleased to announce the opening of the next exhibit in Gallery SHS, works by the Kent artist Tomas Savrda, to be held at the Sharon Historical Society & Museum Art Gallery through May 10.

Savrda is known for creations that are somehow charming and whimsical, but also distinctly edgy and thought-provoking. Constructed from wood, tin, stone, and found objects, his masks, mini stage scenes, and free-standing kinetic sculptures look like they have tumbled from some nineteenth century cabinet of forgotten toys.

The artist was born in Czechoslovakia, and worked as a graphic designer in Prague and the United States before focusing full time on his art. A portion of all purchase proceeds will support the Sharon Historical Society & Museums mission.

Gallery SHS is located in the Sharon Historical Society & Museum at 18 Main Street in Sharon. For more information and directions to Gallery SHS, call 860-364-5688. For additional information about the Sharon Historical Society & Museum, visit www.sharonhist.org.

Meals on Wheels holding fundraiser

TORRINGTON  The Meals on Wheels Program sponsored by the Litchfield Hills Northwest Elderly Nutrition Program, The City of Torrington and partially funded by the Western CT Area Agency on Ageing announce the kick off of the Buy A Wheel fundraising event. The campaign benefits the local Meals on Wheels Program that delivers 2 meals each day to homebound seniors.

Participants include Bantam Market, March 1-31; LaBonne's Market (Salisbury location), March 15-29 and Davis IGA of Kent, April 14-29.

Stores are offering customers the Meals on Wheels wheel for a $1 donation. The wheels, listing each donors name will be displayed at the store. The campaign will run for two weeks or more throughout the month of March during store-selected weeks.

Meals on Wheels is administered by The City of Torrington, Litchfield Hills Northwest Elderly Nutrition Program which also provides meal services at local senior centers. We are asking participants of any of these services and their family and friends to please support this event that assists with keeping homebound seniors independent in their own home.

For more information on the Buy A Wheel event or other services, contact Sherry Cote or any Nutrition Staff member @ 860-482-4151 or email at sherry_cote@torringtonct.org.

Nursery school accepting registration

NEW HARTFORD  ,Bakerville Community Nursery School is accepting registration for the 2019-20 school year for both the 3-year-old and 4-year-old pre-school programs.

BCNS, now entering its 53rd year of operation, is a community outreach program of the Bakerville United Methodist Church, 1087 Litchfield Turnpike in New Hartford. For more information or to arrange a visit, contact the school at 860-496-1852 or bcns1967@gmail.com, or visit bakervillecn.weebly.com or on Facebook.

Safe boating course begins in April

TORRINGTON - The Torrington Parks and Recreation Department is sponsoring a Safe Boating/Personal Watercraft Certification Course to be presented by the State of Connecticut DEEP. The fee for the course is $25 per person, and is open to individuals 12 years and older. The course will be held April 4, 9, and 11, 6-9 p.m. at Coe Memorial Park. Attendance on all three days of the course is required.

Participants who successfully complete this course and pass the test qualify for a Safe Boating Certificate and a Certificate of Personal Watercraft Operation which allow an individual to operate any recreational vessel including a personal watercraft ("jet ski" type vessel) on Connecticut's waters.

The registration fee submitted to the Parks and Recreation Department covers only the cost of attending the 3-day course. Upon successful completion of the course, participants are eligible to purchase the Safe Boating/Personal Watercraft Certificates through the State of Connecticut DEEP for an additional fee of $50.00 when they are ready to do so.

All participants are required to have a State of CT Conservation ID number. You may register for the course without an ID number, however you must have one established prior to the first night of class.

For more information, call 860-489-2278.
The last three months of 2018 finally brought some improvement to housing affordability across Canada.

After more than three years of declining affordability, RBC Economics says its measure shows widespread improvement; although first-time buyers in the hottest markets are still facing a significant struggle.

In its Housing Trends and Economic Report, RBCs aggregate housing affordability measure reduced by 0.7 percentage points to 51.9% last quarter (measured as a share of household income).

But in the three most expensive markets there is still a crisis with Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria showing little improvement in affordability for most buyers.

Vancouvers affordability crisis endures despite being in full-blown correction mode. RBC says that even with the slump in sales, high prices means homeownership still requires an eyewatering 84.7% of household income.

Cooling market conditions in Toronto has taken a bite out of sales but RBC expects prices to be flat over the next two years; that wont help the well-above-average affordability measure of 66.1%.

Montreals housing market is heating up but prices are rising at a steady pace.

The areas affordability measure is some way below the two hottest markets and below the national average, but at 44.5% it is near a decade high.

Condos no longer the affordable alternative

The traditional option of a condo as a cheaper alternative to a single-family detached home is less attractive in the hottest cities.

RBC says that demand for condos has driven prices higher and their affordability measure has increased (become less affordable) by far more than single-family homes (2.9% vs. 0.9%) over the past year.

Buyers of an average condo in Vancouver, Toronto, Victoria, and Montreal pay a premium of more than $900 per month relative to renting a two-bedroom apartment, a figure that has ballooned in the past three years.

Buying a condo is a bigger step up from renting than it's ever been in these cities.

Interest rate outlook

RBC Economics is not expecting rates to rise anytime soon but does forecast a continuation of the strong labour market, helping boost household income.

"We have lowered our profile for future interest rates in light of disappointing economic developments since the late stages of 2018," said Craig Wright, Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist, RBC. "Furthermore, we also see very little scope for home prices to increase nationally this year."
One of Torontos largest shopping malls is scheduled to undergo a multi-million-dollar revitalization.

Property developer Cadillac Fairview (CF) and asset manager TD Greystone Asset Management (TD Greystone) have announced plans to revitalize North Yorks CF Fairview Mall. The developer has put aside an estimated $80 million for revamping 230,000 square feet of existing department store and other retail space to introduce more brands to the property, create a new row of restaurants, and improve pedestrian access to the nearby Don Mills subway station.

Read more: Vancouver malls a potent commercial real estate investment

"This area is undergoing many changes which reflect peoples' desire to work, live, shop and dine in a dynamic, transit-connected mixed-use community," said Wayne Barwise, executive vice president of development at Cadillac Fairview. "Our redevelopment plan is about diversifying CF Fairview Mall and the surrounding land so we can continue to offer a vibrant destination for people to come together and enjoy."

"We are excited to be involved in the redevelopment of CF Fairview Mall, one of Canada's premiere mall and shopping destinations in Toronto, said Jeff Tripp, managing director of real estate investments at TD Greystone. The mall's strategic proximity to transit and nearby residential neighbourhoods is ideal for creating a unique experiential and service-oriented retail environment."

The developer said that construction will begin this month, and completion of the project is slated for 2023.
Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday unveiled his strategy to offset the loss of a preferential trade agreement that the European Union is likely to withdraw in response to his governments failure to reverse rollbacks on democracy, saying he is done taking orders from other countries.



Speaking during a three-hour forum hosted in the capital Phnom Penh, Hun Sen told civil servants, members of the private sector, and other stakeholdersincluding diplomats and the EU ambassador to Cambodia, George Edgarthat his government wont bow down to anyone in return for aid or other handouts, and has had enough of other nations trying to dictate Cambodias internal affairs.



Hun Sen listed several reforms that he said followed the late King Norodom Sihanouks policy of independence and sovereign integrity, including reducing unofficial payments in his government, decreasing transportation fees, and cutting the number of national holidays from 30 to 23 days.



He also called for a reduction in certain fees for using Cambodias two major ports, and said that the public will now only be able to take one day off of work for King Norodom Sihamonis birthday, instead of the traditional three.



We will generate revenue of up to U.S. $400 million [following these reforms], so if the EU wants us to pay taxes, we will pay the taxesdont worry, he said.



The EU decided in February to launch a six-month monitoring period to determine whether Cambodian exports should continue to enjoy tax-free entry into the European market under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.



The EU trade measure, and a similar one proposed by the U.S. Congress, was motivated by the September 2017 arrest of opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) president Kem Sokha, as well as a wider crackdown on media and civil society.



Kem Sokhas arrest, and a decision by the Supreme Court to dissolve the CNRP two months later, paved the way for Hun Sens ruling Cambodia Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in parliament in a July 2018 general election that was widely seen as unfree and unfair.



Hun Sen said Friday that Cambodia is fed up with demands from foreigners about how to run the country.



Cambodia is done taking ordersforeigners tell us to do things and if we decline, they threaten to impose taxes, he said.



Cambodia can no longer endure this suffering and continue to bow down. Cambodia will continue to do businessthey will pay us taxes and we will pay them taxes.



He also directed the Ministry of Commerce to lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the EU, citing unjust trade practices for imposing a tax on Cambodian rice for three years beginning in January, after an EU investigation found that a significant increase in imports of the grain from the Southeast Asian nation had caused economic damage to European producers.



Fewer holidays



The prime minister praised workers and government employees for understanding the need to reduce the number of national holidays in Cambodia.



Workers get too many holidays and it affects economic growth, he said, without providing details.



Hun Sen had announced his decision to reduce national holidays earlier this week as a reform aimed at improving the economy, saying at the time that it had nothing to do with whether the EU ends the countrys benefits under the EBA scheme.



His announcement immediately drew concerns from those who warned the move would negatively impact the income, health and morale of the countrys workers.



Others complained that the government was acting on behalf of the interests of factory owners, rather than the countrys labor force, and said companies are already making a significant profit in Cambodia, regardless of the number of holidays in the country.



On Friday, analyst Ly Sreysros told RFAs Khmer Service that Cambodias government doesnt care about the EBA scheme because officials arent the ones who will be impacted by an end to the preferential trade agreement with the EU, which ranked in 2017 as Cambodias second-largest trade partner, importing goods worth 5 billion euros (U.S. $5.8 billion) from the country.



She stressed that average Cambodians will be the ones who bear the brunt of losing the EBA, and urged Hun Sen to delink the EUs demands to issues of sovereignty.



The EU is requesting the government restore democracy and respect human rights, she said.



I think such a request is fair and doesnt affect our national integrity.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Chinese human rights attorney Wang Yu has been detained overnight by police in Beijing on her way to attend a Women's History Month event at the U.S. Embassy, her husband said.



Wang was detained by police after arriving at the embassy to take part in a seminar titled "Using the Law to Combat Domestic Violence" to mark Women's History Month, but hadn't brought her ID card. It is unlikely that police didn't know who she was, however.



Police detained her in handcuffs in spite of protests from embassy officials that she was an invited guest at the event, and held her for nearly 20 hours, Wang's husband Bao Longjun told RFA.



Beijing-based rights activist Tang Zhishun said he was present during Wang's detention, and said police had used excessive force when taking her away.



"They wanted to check her ID, but Wang Yu hadn't brought her ID card and couldn't remember the number," Tang told RFA. "They said that if she didn't cooperate with the police, that she would be immediately placed under coercive measures."



"They just picked her up and carried her into the police vehicle, two of them, then they ... pinned her to the back seat and put handcuffs on her," he said. "The police have unlimited powers ... the diplomats were there and they saw it all, too."



"She has now regained her freedom, and she's OK," Bao said. "The officers in charge of her case were pretty rude."



Bao said police had checked Wang's ID under a section of Chinese law allowing for such checks where there is reason to suspect someone.



"So you get carted away in handcuffs for not having your ID?" he said. "The police wield too much power."



Bao said Wang is a frequent guest at the U.S. Embassy, and has been "closely following" the cases of detained fellow rights attorneys Ge Jueping, Yu Wensheng and Li Yuhan.



"I think they got pretty angry about that, on top of which Wang Yu has a lot of contact with the embassy, which they hate," Bao said. "Otherwise there's no way they would have come to check Wang Yu's ID and then taken her away immediately like that."



An officer who answered the phone at the Chaoyang district police department said Wang's case was being "handled according to law."



But he declined to comment further. "We will not tell you about the case if you just call up," he said.



Beijing-based activist Chen Yanhua said police claimed that their ID check was carried out in accordance with Article 9 of China's Police Law.



"I heard Wang Yu say that she hadn't brought her ID card," Chen said. "The embassy staff also said 'we invited her,' but the police didn't care. [They] said, 'you have to cooperate with the investigation'."



Bao said police had told Wang she was detained on suspicion of "obstructing officers in the course of their duty."



Ordinary lecture



Chen said her detention was unlikely to be linked to the content of the lecture she was giving, which wasn't politically sensitive.



"The content of this lecture was very ordinary, which is how to use the law to prevent domestic violence," he said. "There were no political issues involved."



Guangxi rights lawyer Tan Yongpei said police had likely intended to prevent Wang from attending the lecture, however.



"The Chinese police have taken this approach in order to prevent citizens from attending the event, and also from attending court trials [of fellow lawyers]," Tan said.



"They just shut you down for 24 hours, and there's nothing you can do about it," he said.



Wang and Bao were both detained in a massive nationwide crackdown on rights lawyers and activists that began in July 2015, targeting the now-shuttered Beijing Fengrui law firm.



The crackdown later broadened into a nationwide operation targeting more than 300 lawyers, law firm staff, and associated rights activists for detention, professional sanctions, house arrest, and travel bans, including for family members.



The couple were released under police surveillance after Wang made a televised "confession" to charges of subversion, which she later said was made out of fear of violence against her son Bao Zhuoxuan, who was in police custody following her own arrest.



Wang told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post in 2018 that she had agreed to make a forced confession after the authorities threatened to stop her from seeing her son.



She said later she learned her teenaged son, Bao Zhuoxuan, had been handcuffed, shackled, isolated, beaten and intimidated by Chinese security officers after she was taken into custody. Wang was released in July 2016, the paper reported.



Reported by Ng Yik-tung and Tam Siu-yin for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Gao Feng for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
A VPN proxy app is shown on the screen of an Apple iPhone.

Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan have handed an administrative warning to a man who had an app designed to evade government censorship, RFA has learned.

Police in Sichuan's Pengxi county handed an official warning to Pang Zhiyong after scanning his phone and finding an app titled Wujie Yidiantong, which roughly translates as "press once for a world without borders."

The app offers users the opportunity to browse internet content beyond the complex system of blocks, filters and human censorship known collectively as China's Great Firewall.

But individual users are increasingly being targeted and punished since a crackdown on VPN circumvention tools last year.

"At 3:30 p.m. on March 25, this team discovered a VPN circumvention app on the phone of Pang Zhiyong (Wujie Yidiantong)," a copy of the administrative decision issued to Pang seen by RFA said.

"During interrogation, Pang Zhiyong made a full confession that he had installed and used Wujie Yidiantong in order to browse websites outside China," the document said. "Pang Zhiyong has been ordered not to use illegal channels to access the international internet, and a warning issued."

The warning was given under the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Computer Networks and Their Connection to the International Internet," which have been used to target a number of internet users in recent months.

"This is about setting limits to what Chinese internet users can do online," rights activist Wang Aizhong, who had thousands of his tweets deleted by Chinese police last December after they gained access to his Twitter account.

"The limits apply to the domestic internet, but also to any situation that the authorities can monitor internationally," Wang said. "It's been several years since these rules were issued, but previously we didn't see many cases like this."

"The number of such cases has been gradually on the rise in the past year or so," he said. "The government wants to limit what internet users in China can see, to make sure they remain within an online environment that is controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party."

Twitter said in July 2016 that it had around 10 million users based in mainland China registered on the platform, but the technology blog TechCrunch estimated the number at more than 35 million.

Jia Pin, a Twitter user based in the southern province of Guangdong, said he knows of many Chinese Twitter users who have been issued with warnings or even administrative detentions over their use of the platform.

"I have heard of many people who have been treated in that way," Jia said. "In the more serious cases, some of them  though not a large number  have even been sentenced to prison over things they have said on Twitter."

"This just shows that they are getting stricter and stricter about controlling information, especially on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, where they have no way to delete posts," he said.

Not playing by the rules

The rules used to target Pang and others state that computer information networks must use international gateways provided by state-run telecommunications service providers to access the international internet.

"No organization or individual may establish or use such a connection by itself," the rules say. "Police may give a warning to those who violate this regulation and impose a fine of up to 15,000 yuan [U.S. $22,000]."

Last October, police in Rongchang district of the southwestern megacity of Chongqing handed an official summons and warning to internet user Huang Chengcheng for "setting up and using illegal channels to access the international internet."

Huang was held for eight hours of questioning on Jan. 4, his phone scanned, and his posts to overseas social media sites gathered by police for use as evidence.

Police said Huang's posts had "seriously contravened laws and regulations," and warned him not to use circumvention tools again, according to the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch rights website.

Around the same time, police in Guangdong issued an administrative punishment to an internet user surnamed Zhu on the same charge.

According to the official WeChat social media account of the Shaoguan municipal police department, Zhu was fined 1,000 yuan (U.S. $148) on Dec. 27 for his use of the Lantern Pro app to circumvent government censorship.

Over the last two decades, Chinas Great Firewall has grown into an alarmingly effective apparatus of censorship and surveillance, according to the 2018 Freedom on the Net report published by Freedom House.

"Internet controls within China reached new extremes in 2018 with the implementation of the sweeping Cybersecurity Law and upgrades to surveillance technology," the report said.

It said Beijing is also seeking to propagate its model of online censorship overseas by conducting large-scale trainings of foreign officials, providing technology to authoritarian governments, and demanding that international companies abide by its content regulations even when operating outside of China.

"These trends present an existential threat to the future of the open internet and prospects for greater democracy around the globe," the report said.



Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
A university in the southwestern city of Chongqing has barred another professor from the classroom as the ruling Chinese Communist Party wages ideological warfare on the country's campuses.



Tang Yun, a 56-year-old deputy professor at the Chongqing Normal University, was stripped of his rank and teaching credentials after he made "comments injurious to the country's reputation," an official directive issued by the school said.



Tang, who penned the university's anthem, was also accused of being "a bad influence" on staff and students at the school.



Attempts to contact Tang on Friday were unsuccessful. However a poem said to be written by him circulated on WeChat.



"I leave today, clothed in shame," Tang wrote of his 33-year teaching career. "But tomorrow I will certainly return garlanded with laurels."



An employee who answered the phone at the Chongqing Normal University offices on Friday declined to comment, referring all inquiries to the propaganda department.



However, an official who answered the phone at the propaganda department said they were unaware of Tang's situation, and declined a request for an interview.



"I don't know about this," the official said, before hanging up the phone.



Rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan said media reports had indicated that Tang was accused of making "certain comments" while teaching a class on the revolutionary author Lu Xun.



"He said something during his class 'Researching Lu Xun' that was considered to harm the country's reputation, but the media didn't say what it was," Liu told RFA on Friday.



"I haven't been able to find it online, either, but I saw online that some of his comments had been reported to the authorities by students," he said.



Crackdown is harming everyone

Tang's firing comes after President Xi Jinping tightened ideological controls over all aspects of society, including universities, colleges and schools.



The approach stems from a 2013 article titled "Improving Ideological and Political Work Among Young Teachers in Colleges and Universities," and from Xi's reiteration of the "Seven Taboos" that mustn't be discussed in public by servants of the state, including teachers.



The seven banned topics are: universal values of human rights and democratic, constitutional government; press freedom; civil society; citizens' rights; the historical mistakes of the ruling Chinese Communist Party; the financial and political elite; and judicial independence.



Earlier this month, Tsinghua University law professor Xu Zhangrun was banned from teaching and counseling students after he published an article last July hitting out at the return of totalitarianism under the Chinese Communist Party, including the abolition of presidential term limits and a cult of personality around Xi.



He called for amendments pushed through by China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC) in 2018 to be revoked, and for an end to massive international expenditure to boost China's influence overseas, as well as legislation requiring officials to publish details of their assets and financial interests.



Guizhou University professor Yang Shaozheng, who was fired outright after he made comments critical of the ruling party in an online article, said the crackdown is harming everyone, however.



"This is to do with the right to freedom of speech and expression," Yang said. "My right to express myself was violated, and the authorities will do the same to anyone else who dares to say what they're really thinking."



"Actually, this is harmful to every single person in our country," he said. "Tang Yun's case is in essence the same as my being accused of politically incorrect language in the classroom."



Yang said there have been a string of punishments meted out to liberal-minded professors at some of China's top universities.



"Tsinghua University, Peking University, there are so many," he said.



Reported by Wen Yuqing for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
North Korean workers are finding ways to return to Vladivostok after their once populous migrant community in the Russian Far East was decimated as Moscow begun making efforts to comply with U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang.

The sanctions, aimed at depriving the regime of cash to fund its prohibited nuclear weapons and missile programs, call for a freeze on new working visas for North Koreans and the complete repatriation of North Koreans currently working abroad by the end of 2019.

According to earlier RFA reports, Russian authorities were deporting North Korean workers to comply with the U.N., but many of the workers have found their way back by utilizing loopholes in Moscows immigration policies, sources say.

The North Korean workers in construction sites are the very same workers who left Russia at the end of last year as their visas expired, said a source from Vladivostok in an interview with RFAs Korean Service on Monday.

They went back home and returned with student visas, said the source.

Most of them are construction workers [working with] a dispatch agency in Pyongyang. They work in groups for large and small construction projects in downtown Vladivostok, the source said.

The source noted that not all of the sectors that previously hired North Koreans are calling them back.

[Up until] last year [they] had been working in the construction, fishing, manufacturing and restaurant industries, but now they have only been dispatched to construction sites and restaurants.

The source was skeptical that the international community would be fooled by the workers sanctions-dodging scheme, pointing out this loophole had been attempted before.

[They] tried [the same thing] last year but the international community raised the issue that they were [gaining entry] by cheating, the source said.

It just seems obvious [that they are lying] when migrants aged 30 to 50 come to Russia on student visas, the source said.

Because they are on student visas, the workers must visit a Russian educational institution once per week just to check in [and keep up appearances], said the source.

While many of the construction workers are returnees, the North Korea-themed restaurant workers appear to be first timers, joining a niche that had once enjoyed a boom across the entire Asian region.

The restaurants need a fresh supply of young entertainer-waitresses, who, rather than the food, are the main attraction. Recently the novelty of their singing and dancing performances has worn off, leading to closures across the whole industry.

But those restaurants in Vladivostok that are still in business are able to use the loophole to get new talent.

A second source, also from Vladivostok said on Tuesday that three of the North Korean restaurants in the city took on more waitresses recently.

The waitresses say that they are Pyongyang University of Commerce graduates and they came to Russia for training, the source said.

The source added that the training was merely a justification. Previous RFA reports detailed how the North Korean regime exploits these young women, often requiring them to work long hours for little or no pay, while taking the lions share of the restaurants earnings as a means to generate foreign cash.

North Korea is clearly dispatching its workers to Russia, the source said.

This tells us that North Korea and Russia have a close relationship. It is suspected that Russia is totally on board with accepting North Korean workers despite the sanctions, the source said.

Reported by Jieun Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan (R) and his wife (L) and during the university graduation ceremony of daughter Nguyen Quang Hong An (C) in Nuremberg, Germany, Feb. 12, 2019.

Veteran Vietnamese human rights activist and political prisoner Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan and his wife are back in Vietnam after being expelled from Germany this week following an unsuccessful effort to apply for political asylum in Canada, his daughter told RFAs Vietnamese service.

Nhan and his wife were expelled from Germany on March 26 after a raid on their residence by German police, who took them to the airport, daughter Nguyen Quang Hong An, told RFA on March 27.

A group of about six or seven police came in, then more than 10 policemen came, and said nothing except we have to leave. I tried my best to ask them why, and they said there was an order to expel my father back to Vietnam and asked my parents to leave immediately, said An by telephone from Germany.

I did not understand why it was so, and I asked them where the decision was from. They showed me a paper but in such a quick manner that I could not read anything, she said.

My father was very shocked. He had wanted to contact Canada but could not, and the police kept shouting so he could not do anything. My father collapsed in shock, said An.

He has a number of ailments, so I asked them to let him see the doctor and get medication. They promised me they would help, but they took my parents directly to Munich, and put them on the plane, she added.

An said she went to police headquarters and the immigration department in Nuremburg to ask for information, and learned that her parents had been handed over to the Vietnamese police in Hanoi.



I contacted my father in Vietnam, and he said that the police had interrogated him, and he became very low-spirited. After that, wherever they took my father to, I don't know, she told RFA.



The German Federal Immigration Service refused to answer questions from RFA about the case of Nhan and his wife, citing an obligation to protect personal information during the asylum procedure.

RFA called the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany but was unable to get through.

Nhan and his family came to Germany in 2015 and asked for refugee status. Nhan applied for asylum in Canada at Ottawas embassy in Austria.

However, his familys application for documents to travel to Vienna to be interviewed by Canadian officials was rejected several days before police came to deport Nhan and his wife.

Nhan is a human rights activist who was imprisoned by the Vietnamese government. In 1979, he was charged in Vietnamese courts with "propaganda against the revolution" and organizing to send students and students abroad.

The repatriation of Nhan and his wife comes amid an increasingly severe crackdown on journalists, bloggers, and human rights activists by Vietnams one-party communist government.

Nguyen Kim Binh of the Vietnam Human Rights Network said in December that Vietnam was detaining more than 200 political prisonerssurpassing figures tallied by Western human rights NGOs.

Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by An Ngyen. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
Candidates in Ukraines presidential election spent one final day campaigning on March 29 ahead of the crucial first round vote this weekend.



No campaigning or political advertising is allowed in Ukraine one day ahead of balloting on March 31.



Thirty-nine candidates are vying for the post, but only three are given a realistic chance of winning: the incumbent Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has been the surprise of the campaign, leading in all opinion polls.



Zelenskiy, who stars in a TV comedy series about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, has tapped into public frustration in Ukraine over the pace of reforms and the fight against graft.

In his last comedy show before the election, Zelenskiy and his traveling comedy troupe performed for a full house in the Kyiv suburb of Brovary.



Despite promising to not campaign while on stage, he took aim at his political opponents, especially the incumbent, quipping, Why does Poroshenko want a second term? So he doesnt get a first [prison] term.



There was no political campaigning tonight, right? You didnt see any? You didnt see any, he told the audience of a few thousand people.

At a political rally in the western city of Lviv on March 28, Poroshenko alleged that his two top rivals  Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko -- were being financed by self-exiled tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskiy, who splits his time between Israel and Switzerland.



"He has fled abroad, but he is simultaneously moving two figures on the election chessboard," Poroshenko asserted.

Poroshenko claimed that Kolomoyskiy, a billionaire who has faced investigations and government pressure in Ukraine, wants to "to take revenge against the state" for the 2016 nationalization of his Privatbank.



Poroshenko also said that Vladimir Putin would fail in what he called the Russian president's bid to derail Ukraine's effort to join the European Union and NATO.



"Only the Ukrainian people, not Putin, not anybody else, not oligarchs who sit in Israel, will define what will be the future of Ukraine," he said. "I'm confident of this, and I'm confident that this future will be trans-Atlantic membership, NATO and Europe."



A reported 20,000 people attended the rally in Lviv amid a heavy police presence, which kept several hundred ultraright demonstrators from disrupting it.



Ultraright activists have dogged Poroshenko at his campaign stops across the country, accusing him of corruption and demanding the detention of those linked to a military embezzlement scheme.



Poroshenko has rejected the allegations dating back to 2015 and involving corruption with military procurement.

Meanwhile, Tymoshenko closed her campaign at a rally in Kyiv on March 29.



Tymoshenko, who came to prominence as a leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution and has run for president twice before, criticized the lack of progress in putting an end to the war in eastern Ukraine under the current peace talks format, which she called a waste of time.

Since April 2014, some 13,000 people have been killed in fighting between Kyiv's forces and the Russia-backed separatists who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.



Cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed at resolving the conflict -- have contributed to a decrease in fighting but have failed to hold.



"Five years have been lost," the 58-year-old told a crowd of cheering supporters. "We need a new strategy," she said, adding that she wanted the United States to be involved in the talks.



Zelenskiy has pledged that, if elected, he will move forward with the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

Meanwhile, Ukraines interior minister has accused Poroshenko and Tymoshenko of bribing potential voters.



In a statement released late on March 28, Arsen Avakov said that his ministry is looking into hundreds of claims that campaigners for Poroshenko and Tymoshenko were offering money to voters who would promise to cast a ballot for their candidate.



He said most of the complaints, about sixty percent, were leveled at the Poroshenko campaign.



Avakov claimed neutrality, but he has heavily focused on alleged violations by Poroshenko's campaign.

With reporting from UNIAN, Interfax, AP, and AFP
A Chechen man says he has turned himself in to police in Chechnya after admitting to causing a deadly car accident several days earlier in the Russian capital, Moscow.



In a video uploaded to social media on March 29, Muslim Dzhambekov said he turned himself in "immediately" after Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Russian North Caucasus region, reprimanded him online.



Dzhambekov said he had driven the Mercedes SUV vehicle that slammed into a much smaller Russia-made Niva car in Moscow on March 25, killing a 34-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter. A man was also seriously injured in the accident and remains hospitalized.



The video was published on Kadyrovs accounts on Instagram and the Russian social-media site VKontakte. On his accounts, Kadyrov boasted that Dzhambekov handed himself in a day after the Chechen leader urged him to do so.



It was unclear where Dzhambekov was being held or whether he would be transferred to Moscow to face criminal proceedings.



In the video, Dzhambekov stands in front of the Heart of Chechnya mosque in the Chechen capital, Grozny, and says he is sorry for "what happened."

He also expresses his "condolences to the relatives and friends of the traffic accidents victims," adding that he left "the accident's site" because he was "in shock and did not know what I was doing."



Earlier, Russian media reports said that the Mercedes involved in the crash belonged to Abdul-Rakhman Dudayev, a Chechen mixed-martial-arts (MMA) champion. He was quoted as saying that he had sold the car last year.



Dzhambekov was previously convicted of robbery and spent nine years in prison, the reports said.

With reporting by Rossiiskaya Gazeta
China has thanked Kazakhstan for supporting its crackdown on the restive far-west region of Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of rights abuses against indigenous ethnic groups, including Kazakhs.

China has been under criticism for operating internment camps for Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other mostly Muslim groups in Xinjiang.

A report by a UN panel of experts last year said that an estimated 1 million of them were being held in "counterextremism centers."

They said millions more had been forced into reeducation camps.

Beijing has insisted that the facilities are not internment camps, but "vocational education centers" aimed at helping people steer clear of terrorism and allow them to be reintegrated into society.

On March 28, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Kazakhstan counterpart Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing.

According to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Atamkulov said his country "understands and supports the measures taken by China's Xinjiang region" to tackle terrorism, separatism and extremism.

"We appreciated the Kazakh government's understanding and support for China's position, and we will never let any person or any force damage the friendship and mutual trust between China and Kazakhstan," Wang said, according to the statement.

Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry did not mention Xinjiang in its statement on Atamkulov's visit to China. But a March 28 statement by the ministry said that "the issue of the situation with ethnic Kazakhs living in the People's Republic of China" was also discussed.

Turkic-speaking, mostly Muslim Kazakhs are the second-largest indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs, and the region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans.

China is a major trading partner for neighboring Kazakhstan, where authorities and state-controlled media have generally avoided the issue of the internment camps.

Kazakh police this month detained a naturalized Kazakh citizen, Xinjiang native Serikzhan Bilash, who has campaigned on behalf of ethnic Kazakhs in China, and charged him with inciting ethnic hatred.

In October, an ethnic Kazakh Chinese national, Sayragul Sauytbay, who escaped China and whose court testimony described a secretive network of reeducation camps, was denied political asylum in Kazakhstan, where her family lives.

In recent months, several demonstrations protesting against the reeducation camps for Muslims were held in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia's Republic of Tatarstan.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has filed a new appeal against a UN court's move to increase his prison sentence for war crimes, according to court documents.

"President Radovan Karadzic hereby appeals...the life sentence imposed upon him," said a notice filed by his lawyer and released by the court in The Hague on March 28.

On March 20, the court ruled against the 73-year-old Karadzic's appeals against his convictions of genocide and war crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the 1990s. It also extended his 40-year sentence to life in prison.

The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo at the time welcomed the verdict, saying that it "represents an important step toward holding to account those individuals responsible for the tremendous suffering of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while providing some sense of justice and closure to victims and their families."

The ruling was handed down by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, a UN court that is dealing with cases left over from the now-defunct trial court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

The judges will now have to decide whether to admit his appeal. Decisions by the appeals court of the UN tribunal are usually final and decisive.

But Karadzic's lawyers in the filing said that "Karadzic's appeal may be distinguishable, since he seeks to appeal only his sentence."

The original case centered on Karadzic's role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, his orchestration of a nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo, and war crimes committed in 20 Bosnian municipalities for which Karadzic was convicted in 2016.

Based on reporting by AFP and Balkan Insight
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on March 29 presented a peace prize to Jordan's King Abdullah II and called for a European sense of perspective in its handling of refugees.



Speaking in Assisi, Italy, Merkel highlighted Jordan's major role during the refugee crisis, taking in not only Palestinian refugees but more than 670,000 Syrians over the past several years.



"If we compare that to the size of Germany, this would mean accepting about 5.7 million people, and in Italy for example more than 4 million people," Merkel said.



Germany took in more than 1 million refugees at the height of the crisis in 2015-2016. "We Europeans would do well to keep such dimensions in front of our eyes," Merkel said.



Merkel was presenting to Abdullah the Franciscan "Lamp of Peace" award, a Catholic prize presented annually in the Italian city of Assisi.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was also in attendance for the ceremony.



Merkel, who received much domestic criticism but also international praise for her own role in the refugee crisis, was given the award in 2018.



Other past winners of the Lamp of Peace include the Dalai Lama and Poland's Lech Walesa, as well as Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis.

Based on reporting by dpa
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has defied a new law that bans online insults against Russian officials -- using Twitter to insult President Vladimir Putins administration.



In his March 29 act of online civil disobedience, the anti-corruption activist also insulted the upper chamber of Russias parliament and the ruling United Russia party.



As of today, the law that bans offending authorities on the Internet comes into effect in Russia, Navalny tweeted.



"I, Aleksei Navalny, state the following," he wrote. "The presidential administration and the government of the Russian Federation are a bunch of thieves, scoundrels, and enemies of Russia. The Federation Council is filled with villains. United Russia is a party of crooks and thieves."



Putin on March 18 signed the law that imposes tough new fines for Russians who spread what authorities deem to be "fake news," or who show "blatant disrespect" online for the Russian state and its authorities.



Critics say the law is a new mechanism for state censorship. Russian government officials argue that it is needed to battle false news reports and abusive online comments.



The law imposes fines up to 100,000 rubles -- more than $1,500 -- for online "disrespect" of the authorities, state agencies, state symbols, "Russian society," the Russian flag, or the Russian Constitution.



Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to 15 days.



It imposes fines of up to 400,000 rubles, or more than $6,000, for publishing "false information" online that leads to a "mass violation of public order."



It also grants authorities the power to block websites that fail to remove information deemed by state officials to be factually inaccurate.



Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev used Russias popular VKontakte social media network on March 29 to defend the new law.



"Authorities should learn to be tolerant of criticism, there is no doubt about that, and everyone has the right to express their views," Medvedev wrote in response to questions from VKontakte users.



"But this doesnt mean that chaos should reign on the Internet, and on social media in particular, or the ability to insult another person in any way," Medvedev said.

With reporting by TASS
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is to be released by mid-April, Attorney General Bill Barr said on March 29.



Barr, in a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate judiciary committees, said he was in the process of redacting sensitive material from the nearly 400-page report.



"Our progress is such that I anticipate that we will be in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner," Barr said.



Mueller officially closed his investigation when he submitted the report on March 22.

Barr sent a four-page letter to Congress two days later, detailing Mueller's "principal conclusions."

The special counsel did not find that the Trump presidential campaign coordinated or conspired with Russia to win the election, Barr wrote, and did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.



Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided on their own that Mueller's evidence was insufficient to establish that the president committed obstruction.



Barr said in his letter that some pieces of information must be redacted before the report is released, including secret grand jury information and intelligence sources that by law cannot be made public or might infringe on privacy.



At a rally on March 28 in Michigan, Trump celebrated the end of the investigation and what he called "lies and smears and slander."

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
MOSCOW -- The Federal Security Service (FSB) has raided several buildings in Russia belonging to the Church of Scientology in connection with a fraud investigation that authorities say involves the embezzlement of more than 800 million rubles ($12 million) by people affiliated with the U.S.-based religious group.

According to a statement by the Interior Ministry cited by TASS, the raids on March 28 were tied to a criminal probe launched in 2017 into a major case of fraud in the St. Petersburg region, involving 400 people cheated of their investments in a housing development.

The raids took place in St. Petersburg and at least two locations belonging to the church in the Moscow region and the Russian capital.

Tatyana Zakharchenko, a spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg, told RFE/RL that the church itself was not being investigated but certain individuals affiliated with its St. Petersburg branch were.

"This is the same as if an Orthodox believer broke the law and the FSB raided an Orthodox church," she said of the raids. The church's Moscow chapter declined to comment for this story.

In videos of the police operation aired on Russian state TV on March 28, masked FSB officers can be seen breaking into and scouring a building in St. Petersburg whose tenants are shown lined up on either side of a wide corridor.

The report opens with a promise to reveal "technologies of siphoning money right inside the offices of the Scientologists," but ends up providing no evidence and few details of the alleged fraud.

'Lure And Deceive'

As cameras zero in on books written by the church's American founder, L. Ron Hubbard, the presenter says the faith's followers in St. Petersburg had sold their apartments to live in double bed "barracks" constructed inside the premises while money allegedly stolen from them was used to finance the lavish lifestyles of the church elite.

"Lure and deceive: that's the way the Scientology cult has lived for decades," the report concludes.

Zakharchenko, the church representative, did not elaborate on the ongoing investigation but she sent a statement from the religious organization saying that law enforcement has previously raided its church in St. Petersburg "in an effort to shift suspicions of a crime from a specific person onto the entire religious community."

"We believe that what's happening is an example of the continuing discriminatory politics toward Scientology, provoked by specific individuals who work toward the destruction of our Russian society," the statement said.

The Russian government has long been opposed to recognizing the churchs status as an official religion, and has waged a protracted battle to get affiliates in Russia shut down.

The Russian Orthodox Church considers the organization a religious sect, a view often advanced on the airwaves of Russian state TV. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favor of several regional chapters of the church in Russia.

High-Profile Investigations

In November 2015, the Justice Ministry declared the Church of Scientology in violation of Russian law and called for the liquidation of its chapters in Russia. Several raids have since been conducted on premises used by the organization, and some members have become embroiled in high-profile fraud investigations.

In October 2018, a court in St. Petersburg sentenced Yekaterina Zaborskikh, one of the church's adherents in the city, to 6 1/2 years in prison for allegedly transferring money to the church that was stolen from people who had invested in housing projects by her construction company.

Between 2012 and 2014 Zaborskikh allegedly defrauded over 70 families of investments totaling more than 130 million rubles, Interfax reported at the time.

Since 2016 the government has expanded its campaign to rein in foreign-based religious groups. The Christian denomination Jehovah's Witnesses was outlawed in 2017 and equated in practice with supporters of the Islamic State extremist group. The Supreme Court announced the confiscation of all its property in Russia, and its estimated 170,000 members now risk jail time for congregating.

Over 500 charges have been brought against religious groups in connection with the clampdown. The majority are fines for proselytizing in public, incorrectly marked literature, and the absence of plaques designating places of worship -- religious groups like the Church of Scientology have been subject to searches and increased scrutiny.
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Serbia's 14th-century Golubac fortress was reopened on March 29, following reconstruction largely financed by the European Union. A ceremony at the fortress, 90 km from Belgrade on the banks of the Danube, was attended by EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Turkey will honor its air-defense deal with Russia despite warnings from Washington, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said following talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

"We have agreed with Russia in the end and signed an agreement. This agreement is valid [and] we are discussing when the delivery will be," Cavusoglu told reporters on March 29.

"This agreement is a done deal," he added.

He also said Ankara did not plan to sell the S-400 to other parties.

Four U.S. senators on March 28 introduced a bipartisan bill to prohibit the transfer of F-35s to Turkey until the U.S. government certifies that Ankara will not take delivery of the S-400 system.

Cavusoglu said Turkey had been receiving contradictory statements from the United States, adding that Ankara had met all its obligations related to the F-35s.

He also said that Ankara opposed the United States' recent move to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on March 25 officially recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, reversing long-standing U.S. policy.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the move, saying it put the Middle East on the brink of a new crisis.

Russia, Iran and a number of Arab countries including U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf have also blasted Trump's decision.

Lavrov said at the briefing with Cavusoglu that Washington's decision on the Golan Heights was "a deliberate, conscious demonstration of permissiveness."

Based on reporting by Haberturk, AP, Reuters, Interfax, and TASS
Washington has condemned Russia's deployment of military forces in Venezuela, with senior U.S. officials saying the presence of Russian troops there is destabilizing a country that already faces a political and economic crisis.



"We strongly caution actors external to the Western hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations," U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton said in a statement released by the White House on March 29.



Speaking to reporters at the State Department after Bolton's statement was released, U.S. special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams said the U.S. estimates there are about 100 Russian military personnel in Venezuela and that their presence was "extremely pernicious."



Abrams said Russian troops in Venezuela are primarily working on the country's Russian-made S-300 air defense systems, which may have been damaged by recent widespread power outages.



Abrams also said the presence of several thousand Cubans, mainly in Venezuela's intelligence services, was troubling.

As a result, Abrams said a "list of options" had been given to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for consideration.



"I would say that there are a lot of things we can do certainly in the area of diplomacy, but there are things we can do in economic terms, in terms of sanctions," Abrams said. "I would just say that we have options and that it would be a mistake for the Russians to think they have a free hand here -- they don't."



The United States, Canada, and most of their European allies have been pressing Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's disputed president, to give up power -- arguing that his reelection in 2018 was not legitimate.



Maduro is supported by his allies Russia, China, Iran, Syria, and Cuba.



President Donald Trump has joined more than 50 other countries that recognize the opposition leader in parliament, Juan Guaido, as interim president.



U.S. officials have in recent days stepped up their warnings to Russia about becoming involved militarily following the arrival in Caracas of Russian military planes carrying personnel and cargo.

With reporting by Reuters and AP
The U.S. State Department has condemned the arrests of 23 Crimean Tatars in Russian-annexed Crimea.

In a March 28 Twitter statement, State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino called on Russia to release the arrested men "and the 70+ other unjustly imprisoned Ukrainians."

A court in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, said on March 29 that since March 27, 23 Crimean Tatars had been arrested and placed in pretrial detention until May 15, on charges of belonging to the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group.

Crimean Solidarity, a human rights group that has members in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine, said earlier that at least 25 homes of Crimean Tatars were searched on March 27 in Simferopol, and nearby districts.

Since Russia seized the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014, Russian authorities have prosecuted 31 Crimean Tatars for allegedly belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir.

In February, the branch of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Black Sea region launched probes against eight alleged members of the group accused of plotting to seize power in Crimea.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global organization based in London that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate.

The group can operate legally in Ukraine. However, Russia's Supreme Court banned it in 2003, branding its supporters "extremists."

Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they describe as a campaign of repression by the Russian-imposed authorities in Crimea who are targeting members of the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar community and others who have spoken out against Moscow's takeover of the peninsula.

Russia took control of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after sending in troops, seizing key facilities, and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries. Moscow also backs separatists in a war against government forces that has killed some 13,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

With reporting by TASS
A LANDMARK church in Rotherham town centre will be closed and sold off amid dwindling congregation numbers.

Grade II-listed Talbot Lane  a site of Methodist worship for 258 years  has been valued at 250,000.

A plea for support was made two years ago but now the decision has been taken and a final service will be held on July 14 at 4pm.

Rev Joanne Archer-Siddall, superintendent minister of Rotherham and Dearne Valley Methodist Circuit (pictured), said: It is with a great sense of sadness that the Methodist church at Talbot Lane will soon be closing its doors and be sold.

The building is the third church on the site, but over recent years the congregation number has dwindled with few people, if any, showing any meaningful support following various church and community events.

The Methodists of Rotherham know that Talbot Lane has featured in many peoples family history.

But history and nostalgia cannot sustain us as we move forward with immense costs to maintain a building that seats 850 people, of which just a small number of faithful attend week in and week out.

Peter Hawkridge, secretary of Rotherham District Civic Society, said: The society is disappointed that the Methodist Circuit has decided to sell Talbot Lane church, despite the opposition of the local congregation.

We recently placed a blue plaque on the building to celebrate the introduction of Methodism into Rotherham.

We hope that, whoever buys the building, they treat it with the respect it deserves.

The current church, opposite Rotherham Town Hall, is the third place of worship on the site.

An octagonal chapel was opened on the site in 1761 and Methodism founder John Wesley preached there several times.

It was replaced with a classical-style chapel in the early 19th century as the number of worshippers grew.

But the building was destroyed in 1901 by a fire caused by a candle accidentally being dropped in the organ space.

A competition was held to design the third iteration, details of which were publicised by the Advertiser in 1902.

Rev Archer-Siddall said: It is truly a heart-breaking time for the church members, but the church, circuit and district of the Methodist church have exhausted all possible avenues to save the church as a place of worship, and have reached the conclusion that the best course of action is to thank God for all that is past, and trust him for all that is to come.

It is hoped that a buyer will be found that will maintain the churchs architectural beauty, and understand its unique contribution to the history of Rotherham throughout the years.

Many churches in the UK are under considerable pressure to stay open. Please support your local church as much as you can.

The church needs you. And maybe, just maybe, you will find that the church has more to offer than you thought.
AN EASTWOOD man who attacked his girlfriend's dog so badly it had to be put down has been jailed and banned from keeping animals for life.

Reece West (22), of St Johns Road, killed his then-girlfriends two-year-old chihuahua, Mac, after he was left alone with him in her flat last April.

He was jailed for 26 weeks at Sheffield Magistrates Court today (Friday) after being found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal at a previous hearing.

Mac suffered a fractured skull and a bleed on his brain while in Wests care, which experts concluded had been caused by blunt force trauma.

Speaking after the hearing, RSPCA inspector Paula Clemence said: This was a very upsetting case to deal with.

The owner of Mac is devastated  as youd imagine.

She left for work, and everything was fine, then she got a text from her boyfriend at the time  West  saying something was wrong with Mac and she needed to come back.

She went straight home and found Mac collapsed, bleeding from his eye and ear and turning blue.

She rushed him to a vet where he was placed on oxygen and examined and found to have severe head trauma.

Mac was put to sleep on humane grounds, said the inspector.

Vet evidence stated that Mac had a large swelling around his left eye, bruising to his ear and across his body including his chest, toes and legs, and had a number of scratches and small abrasions.

A post-mortem examination confirmed that Mac had suffered a fractured skull and haemorrhaging to his head and neck consistent with large magnitude blunt force trauma to the area.

West told inspectors that he had assumed Mac had gone downstairs while he was lying in bed and he had woken up some time later to find the dog on the bed crying and collapsed.

Both vets who gave evidence during the trial said it was impossible for Mac to have sustained the injuries himself, and that a fall from a small height, like a bed or sofa or even down the stairs, wouldnt have resulted in head injuries so severe.

The court heard that West had mentioned to Macs owner that he had given him a right whack two days before the incident, and she noted that Mac had been avoiding him in the home.

Insp Clemence added: This incident caused a great deal of suffering to Mac, and his death, as well as an enormous amount of upset to his owner whose grief over what happened goes on.

West was also ordered to pay 750 costs and a 115 victim surcharge.
The White House confirmed the visit in a statement. The subject to discuss will be uncertainty over the future of nuclear negotiations with North Korea. Moon has essentially positioned himself as the middle man between Washington and Pyongyang since the two countries began exploring diplomatic negotiations last year. Moon also seeks to promote inter-Korean projects both to boost his countrys economy and to foster inter-Korean peace through economic integration.

Theres obviously a long ways to go. Theres more work to do, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday. On the other part, the South Korean official who briefed reporters Friday said the government hopes to have another inter-Korean summit sometime soon. In a sign of rising tensions last Friday, North Korea suddenly withdrew its officials from a joint liaison office operated in tandem with South Korea along their shared border. The North Korean leader has stayed quiet since the summit, a sign he may be unsure how to proceed.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation

New Delhi, Mar 29: Chicago-headquartered Hyatt Hotels Corporation Thursday announced plans to open more than 14 new properties in India over the next 24 months. The new properties will include hotels and resorts in Bengaluru, Dehradun, Udaipur, Gurgaon, Jaipur, and Trivandrum. In a statement, Hyatt Hotels said 2019 would mark record growth for Hyatt in India. "Expansion plans foresee the addition of over 2,100 guest rooms through the opening of more than 14 new properties over the next 24 months," it said.

Aside from growth in the larger capital cities, the emphasis will be on leisure and cultural destinations, with a focus on emerging cities within India. This expansion includes hotels in eight new markets in the country which will establish Hyatt brand presence across 27 cities in India. "As a result of an increasingly favourable business climate and heightened tourism spend, encouraged by relaxed visa rules and a growing upper middle class, there is a general demand for growth in the hospitality industry in India," the statement said.

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This year's expansion began with the introduction of the Hyatt Centric brand through the opening of Hyatt Centric Candolim Goa. New to the Hyatt portfolio as part of the Two Roads Hospitality acquisition in November 2018, the Alila brand also added two new properties in India, located in Diwa Goa and Fort Bishangarh.

Hyatt Regency

Later in 2019, Hyatt plans to expand its brand footprint in Kerala with the opening of Hyatt Regency Kochi Malayattoor, a resort property on the banks of the Periyar river, and Hyatt Regency Thrissur, providing travellers with the first premium hotel in Thrissur. Hyatt also plans to add its first resort in the foothills of the Himalayas with the anticipated opening of Hyatt Regency Dharamshala Resort in the second half of 2019.

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Gurgaon will also be in focus later in 2019, with the scheduled opening of Grand Hyatt Gurgaon. "These hotels will add over 1,000 guest rooms to Hyatt's existing offering in India and will establish its brand presence in four new markets," it said. In the next year, Hyatt Place Bangalore Urbana, Hyatt Regency Jaipur Mansarovar, Hyatt Regency Dehradun, Hyatt Place Vadodara, Hyatt Regency Trivandrum, Hyatt Place Jaipur Malviya Nagar and Hyatt Regency Udaipur will be opened.

"Hyatt is one of the longest-running international hotel management brands in India, the first Hyatt hotels in India opened over 30 years ago," said Dhruva Rathore, vice-president development (India), Hyatt. "Our heritage and experience in this complex market, paired with the strong relationships we hold with local developers and owners has helped make India one of the top-three growth markets for Hyatt globally."

India has high growth potential and remains a market where Hyatt can expand its brand representation, said Sunjae Sharma, vice-president operations (India), Hyatt. "Being focused on intentional growth gives us a unique edge as Hyatt can differentiate by having the right assets in its portfolio." Hyatt, he said, would collaborate with owners who want personal, flexible relationships and to stand out in a slightly overcrowded market.
Cong mulling fielding heavyweights in other BJP bastions in MP

Bhopal, Mar 29: After announcing candidature of senior leader Digvijaya Singh from Bhopal, which the Congress has not won since 1989, the party is mulling fielding prominent leaders from other seats like Vidisha and Indore, where it has not tasted success for last 15 years or more.

Bhopal is considered a tough seat for the Congress along with Indore, Vidisha, Bhind and Damoh as the BJP has not lost in these constituencies since 1989 but the Congress is hoping to build on the recent victory in Assembly polls to dislodge the saffron party here. Apart from these five, there are nine other seats out of the total 29 Lok Sabha constituencies where the Congress has not won during the 15-year BJP rule in the state.

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Chief Minister Kamal Nath has represented Chhindwara ten times including six times in a row while senior party leader and Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (West) Jyotiradiya Scindia has been winning from Guna since 2002. These were the only two seats out of 29 won by the Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha election which was swept by the BJP. "The party will definitely field senior leaders in seats like Indore and Vidisha which it has not won since 1989," Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi told PTI.

Digvijaya Singh

"Like Assembly polls, our party this time has sought opinions of ground level workers from mandal, block and district to finalise the best candidate who can win from those seats where the party has not won for long," he said. "The party had done similar experiment during assembly polls also and had got best results and the same is expected in Lok Sabha polls also because of anti-Modi sentiment in the country," he said.

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The Congress' decision to field former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh from Bhopal has already raised the political temperature in the state. Soon after Singh's candidature was announced, Ajay Singh, former leader of opposition and close confidant of Digvijaya Singh, demanded that the party should field other senior leaders from tough seats like Indore and Vidisha.

Without taking the name of any particular leader, he told PTI that "the party has a very tall leader in Chambal Gwalior region and he should be fielded from other tough seats like Indore and Vidisha". He was apparently referring to Congress general secretary and Guna MP, Jyotiraditya Scindia. Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh and Scindia have been leading rival factions in the party's state unit.

The BJP has not yet decided its candidate in Bhopal and there is speculation that former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be pitted against Digvijaya Singh. In 2003 also, Chouhan had contested assembly polls against Singh from latter's home constituency Raghogarh in Guna district. There are 14 constituencies from where the Congress had not won during the BJP rule in the state, while the saffron party failed to wrest Congress stronghold of Chhindwara and Guna.

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Kamal Nath

State BJP's chief spokesman Deepak Vijaywargiya said, "This time BJP will try to win all the 29 seats in the state and will field strong candidates of the caliber of Scindia and Nath in their respective constituencies." "The party will field the best workers from the remaining seats of the state so that it can win from all the constituencies," he said. "Depending upon the opposition candidate, the party may also change its strategy at the last moment to ensure victory in each and every constituency," he added.

The fourteen seats from where the Congress has not won since last 15 years are -- Bhopal, Indore, Vidisha, Morena, Bhind, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Jabalpur, Balaghat, Betul and Rewa. The Congress has announced candidature of Kiran Ahirwar from Tikamgarh, Kavita Singh from Khajuraho, Madhu Bhagat from Balaghat and Ramu Tekam from Betul.

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Except Rewa, the BJP has been winning from the rest of the seats. In 2009, Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Devraj Singh Patel won from Rewa while in 2004 and 2014, the BJP emerged victorious from this seat in Vindhya region bordering Uttar Pradesh. Since 1996, the BJP has not lost from Morena, Sagar, Jabalpur and Betul while it is winning continuously since 1998 from Satna and Balaghat. In the remaining 13 seats -- Gwalior, Jhabua, Shahdol, Mandla, Hoshangabad, Rajgarh, Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Dhar, Sidhi, Khargone and Khandwa -- there have been mixed results for the two parties during the last 15 years.
BJP chief Amit Shah

Kaliabor/Teok, Mar 29: BJP chief Amit Shah Thursday accused the previous Congress government in Assam of settling illegal immigrants in the state, as he applauded the Narendra Modi government for securing the country's frontiers and avenging Indian soldiers killed by Pakistan-backed terror groups. Addressing two election rallies in the northeastern state, Shah asserted, let alone infiltrators "not even a bird" will be allowed to enter Assam illegally if the BJP secures a second term at the Centre.

He said only Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP can ensure security of the country and not the Congress or its president Rahul Gandhi. "In his five years in office, Modi brought in a lot of development. But most of all he ensured the security of the country and its borders. Under his leadership, India avenged the blood of our soldiers killed in Uri and Pulwama attacks by Pakistan-based terror elements," Shah told election rallies in Kaliabor and Teok.

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The BJP president claimed the way the world viewed India underwent a drastic change under Modi. Shah insisted that India under Modi was only the third nation after the US and Israel to take swift revenge for the spilling of their soldiers' blood by enemies. He criticised the Congress party for demanding proof of the damage caused by the Indian Air Force's Balakot air strike inside Pakistan in the wake of the killing of 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

"Should we avenge our fallen soldiers or not? The Congress party cannot protect the country's borders. If we want to protect India's borders, then only Narendra Modi and BJP can do that. "Rahul and Congress say hold talks (with Pakistan). Tell me, should we? We will respond bullet for bullet. During the 10 years of Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh rule, heads of our soldiers were chopped off but there was no reply from the Indian side," he told the Kaliabor rally where he canvassed support for ally AGP candidate Monimadhab Mahanta.

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Shah alleged the Congress government under Tarun Gogoi settled illegal immigrants inside the Kaziranga National Park and 16th century Vaishnavite monasteries in Assam. "It was (Assam CM) Sarbananda Sonowal and Himanta Biswa Sarma's BJP government, which dared to evict all the immigrants out of Kaziranga. Rhinos were being killed. Now the BJP government here has sent the poachers to jail. No one dared to do that earlier," he asserted and claimed 200 acres of land occupied by "infiltrators" were recovered.

"Make Narendra Modi the prime minister again and I assure you that we will detect and deport every single illegal immigrant out of Assam. Let alone infiltrators, not even a bird will be allowed to enter Assam illegally," he asserted. Shah said though it was under "Rahul baba's father" (Rajiv Gandhi) as the prime minister that the Assam Accord was signed in 1985, the Congress governments did little for its implementation.

Rahul Gandhi

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He said when the Modi government came to power it set up a committee to save the culture, language and heritage of the indigenous people. Addressing another rally at Teok in Jorhat for BJP candidate and state minister Topon Kumar, Shah accused Tarun Gogoi of entering into a tacit understanding with Badruddin Ajmal's AIDUF to ensure his son's victory in Kaliabor Lok Sabha seat.

"Gogoi and Ajmal plan to fill Assam with illegal immigrants. The man who once asked who is Badruddin is hugging Ajmal only for the victory of his son (sitting MP Gaurav Gogoi)," he said. "Gogoi and Ajmal fight during the day but sing ILU-ILU at night," Shah said, recalling the "I love you" song from Hindi film Saudagar. The BJP has been accusing Congress of having a covert understanding with the AIDUF of Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal after the latter decided to contest only three seats this time. The party led by perfume baron Ajmal had fielded its candidates in 10 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam in 2014 and won three.
The worlds biggest provider of dialysis equipment and services agreed Friday to pay the DOJ and SEC $231 million in penalties and disgorgement to resolve violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, based in Homburg, Germany, bribed doctors and public health officials in at least 17 countries.

Under a non-prosecution agreement (pdf) with the DOJ, Fresenius paid a criminal penalty of $84.7 million.

In the SECs civil enforcement action, Fresenius disgorged $147 million (including prejudgment interest), bringing the total amount of the settlement to about $231.7 million.

The SEC resolved the case through an internal administrative order (pdf) and didnt go to court.

The DOJs non-prosecution agreement requires Fresenius to retain an independent compliance monitor for two years and self report for an additional year. The company also agreed to cooperate with the DOJs investigation and enhance its compliance program.

The SEC said despite known red flags of corruption since the early 2000s, [Fresenius] devoted insufficient resources to compliance.

In some countries it failed to train employees or perform any due diligence on agents.

In many instances, senior management actively engaged in corruption schemes and directed employees to destroy records of the misconduct, the SEC said.

Fresenius paid about $30 million in bribes using sham consulting contracts, falsifying documents, and funneling bribes through a system of third party intermediaries, the SEC said.

Among the countries involved, according to the SEC and DOJ, were Angola, Benin, Bosnia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, China, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Morocco, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Spain, and Turkey.

The DOJ said Fresneius made at least $140 million in profits from the bribery.

In Angola, Fresenius bribed an Angolan military officer and prominent government-employed nephrologists, the DOJ said. Fresenius gave the military officer and a government doctor shares in a local Fresenius joint venture. It contracted with the sons of the military officer for warehousing space that it never used. And it entered into consultancy agreements with publicly employed doctors for which no services were ever performed, the DOJ said.

In Saudi Arabia, Fresenius bribed health officials and doctors with cash payments. Fresenius also entered into fake collection commission agreements, made payments to a government charity, and gave gifts and made payments to publicly employed doctors for travel with no business or educational justification, according to the companys admissions.

In Morocco, Fresenius bribed an official in exchange for contracts to develop kidney dialysis centers at state-owned military hospitals. Fresenius paid the official 10 percent of the value of the contracts. The company paid an actual employee sham bonuses which the employee passed on to the official.

In Spain, Fresenius paid a government doctor more than $90,000 for consulting without a consulting agreement or contract in place, the DOJ said. The doctor was the head of nephrology at a state-owned hospital that awarded Fresenius a tender in 2011. Fresenius provided other doctors in Spain with travel to medical conferences and made donations to fund projects for the doctors.

In Turkey, Fresenius gave a government doctor 35 percent of the [local] joint venture shares (worth approximately $74,000 at the time) at the time it was formed, the DOJ said. In 2010, Fresenius purchased the doctors shares and never required the doctor to pay for his shares in the joint venture resulting in $356,000 profit to the doctor.

Fresenius operates more than 3,700 dialysis clinics worldwide and has 37 production sites in various countries.

In February this year, the company said it reserved 200 million ($245 million) for a potential FCPA resolution with the DOJ and SEC.

The DOJ said Friday that Fresenius knowingly and willfully failed to implement reasonable internal accounting controls over financial transactions and failed to maintain books and records that accurately and fairly reflected the transactions.

Fresenius didnt qualify for a declination under the Corporate Enforcement Policy (pdf), the DOJ said. Although the company voluntarily self-disclosed the misconduct in April 2012, the bribery was widespread and the company did not timely respond to certain requests by the [DOJ] and, at times, did not provide fulsome responses to requests for information.

The DOJ said the criminal fine was 40 percent below the low end of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range.

Fresenius CEO Rice Powell said in a statement Friday: We are pleased to have concluded these investigations and to have resolved the issues that we identified and voluntarily disclosed to the U.S. authorities. Since the investigation began we have taken extensive steps to further a culture of ethical business behavior throughout the entire company and to strengthen our compliance programs and internal controls.

____

Richard L. Cassin is editor at large of the FCPA Blog.
A major U.S. beer manufacturers decision to build a giant production plant in Baja Californias desert capital has been cause for much celebration in Gov. Francisco Vega de Lamadrids administration. But not everybody is applauding.

Constellation Brands, maker of Modelo and Corona beers whose beer business ins headquartered in Chicago, finds itself in the crossfire of a bitter dispute. On one side are government officials who are vowing to see the project through; on the other, opponents determined to shut it down, saying the plant will use a large amount of water that should go to local farmers.

The stakes are high: The project is a state-of-the-art brewery that represents an investment of more than $1 billionthe largest the region has seen in years, some say decades, and will provide 750 permanent jobs.

The plant, scheduled for completion in late 2019 or early 2020, will be export-oriented, with all product destined for U.S. consumers. In the initial phase, it expects to produce 132 million gallons annuallythe equivalent of 58 million cases of beer; at a maximum it would produce four times that amount.

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Mexicali is growing like it never has in its history, and part of the reason is that Constellation Brands is coming to the city, said Carlo Bonfante, the states secretary of economic development. All projects are important, but this is an emblematic project.

But even as permits have been issued and construction has moved forward, opposition has continued.

Alfonso Cortez Lara, a researcher at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, said misgivings over the plant have persisted in the Mexicali Valley, a historically agricultural region. There is doubt because the water is going to an activity that is not necessarily going to bring benefits to this region, ones that are tangible, observable, measurable.

Tensions flared earlier this month as several dozen protesters blocked workers from digging a trench for an aqueduct to the facility. They threw rocks and dirt at state and municipal police who moved in on the crowd, and one protester drove a vehicle into a line of officers, who were not injured. The police, protected with riot shields but unarmed, also threw rocks at the crowd, according to journalists covering the event.

A half dozen people were arrested, and one demonstrator suffered a broken jaw.

On Thursday, a peaceful protest brought some four dozen demonstrators outside Constellation Brands Mexicali corporate offices, holding signs that read, Constellation Go Home. and Fuera Constellation.

The issue here is water and government corruption, said Leon Fierro, an engineer who was one of the groups leaders. Sure, they want to invest a few million, but practically none of it will benefit Mexicalis citizens.

Accusations of corruption

Opponents have questioned the state governments championing of the project.

The perception is one of corruption, said Daniel Solorio Ramirez, a constitutional law professor at the Autonomous University of Baja California who opposes the brewery. Our problem is that we have a government that is not made up of politicians, but of businessmen, who are experts at conducting business.

But the state government is not alone in backing the giant brewery. Last week, Mexicos federal government stepped forward to offer absolute support for the Constellation Brands project, according to news articles quoting the interior ministrys top representative in Baja California.

In an interview in Tijuana on Wednesday, Gov. Vega defended the project. I heard some voices say there is not enough water in Mexicali.but the National Water Commission which administers the water supply.never told the governor to stop investments, nor the growth of the city for lack of water.

Just how much water will be used by the plant has been a point of contention. Bonfante, the economic development secretary, said that at maximum capacity, the plant would draw less than seven million cubic meters annually, about 1.8 billion gallons, a quantity that he said would irrigate about 750 hectares of wheat. This represents .03 percent of the water available in Mexicali, its an insignificant quantity, he said.

Opponents say the plant will consume nearly three times that amount. Last year, their protests led to the state canceling construction of a 30-mile aqueduct to deliver water after protesters said the officials had failed to obtain an environmental permit. The company said it would not be deterred, and would proceed with its own plan.

Opponents say the water will come from wells that are overdrawn at the northern end of the Mexicali Valley.

Last week, a Constellation Brands spokesman referred questions about the brewerys water supply to the state water commission, CESPM. We are not responsible for decision-making related to water sourcing, said Michael McGrew, Constellations vice president for corporate communications.

In its fiscal year 2017 annual report, Constellation Brands stated we expect our Mexicali Brewery will receive an allocation of water originating from an aquifer.

The brewery will be one of the most state-of-the-art and highly efficient breweries in the world, McGrew wrote in an email. We are committed to doing our part to safeguard natural resources such as water in Mexico and other markets around the world where we have operations.

Origin of protests

Like other parts of Mexicos northern border, Mexicali has long seen its fortunes closely tied to the United States. The city has a sizable number of export-oriented factories known as maquiladoras, which employ some 65,000 people. At the northern end of the Mexicali Valley, growers use high-tech irrigation systems to produce a wide range of winter crops aimed at U.S. consumers.

South of the city, on a large property off the road to San Felipe, behind a fenced topped with barbed wire, construction of the future brewery is already well underway. A reporter driving the perimeter Thursday was quickly approached by private security guards.

For Salvador Mena, a small farmer who lives near the future plant, and has been housing brewery opponents on his property, the issue is a simple one: Theyre going to take millions of cubic meters of water, and we wont have enough to irrigate our crops, he said. We believe the water is for growers, not for making beer.

Opposition to the plant first surfaced last year, during massive and unprecedented anti-government protests that drew tens of thousands of angry demonstrators to state government offices in Mexicalis Civic Center. Fueling the anger was the prospect of rising gasoline prices as Mexico moved to deregulate its energy sector. But demonstrators were also protesting a hastily approved state water law that opened the door for private sector involvement in functions such as water distribution and sewage servicesa law later annulled by the governor.

Crowds have since been greatly diminished. But many opponents are registering their discontent through a Change.org petition denouncing the irregular and irresponsible process of authorizing the Constellation Brands Brewery that has more than 23,000 signatures.

Business leaders have stood squarely behind the project.

It would be an incalculable blow to Mexicalis reputation, to the state, if such a company is forced to leave due to a lack of legal guarantees, said Gustavo De Hoyos, an attorney from Mexicali who is national president of the influential employers group Coparmex.

There is a group of citizens that has legitimate concerns, but we cannot allow when there is an investment, that pseudo-leaders see this investment as a way of pressuring for compensation, said De Hoyos.

He disagrees that the future plants water consumption is the primary concern, but said there has been inadequate communication on the part of the state. Any questions raised on actions by the government should be clarified, and if there were violations, there should be sanctions.

The opposition is unprecedented, he said. I dont recall any investments, even smaller ones, that had to fight so hard to establish itself.

sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com

@sandradibble
Albertsons grocery stores violated the rights of Latino employees with a policy forbidding workers to speak Spanish around non-Spanish speakers  even when conversing with one another during breaks or helping Spanish-speaking customers, according to a new lawsuit.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Albertsons Cos. on Thursday in federal court. The lawsuit accuses the Idaho-based chain of discriminating against Latino employees at San Diego-area stores, harassing them and subjecting them to a hostile workplace because of their race or country of origin.

Employers have to be aware of the consequences of certain language policies, Anna Park, an attorney for the commissions district office covering San Diego County, said in a statement Thursday. Targeting a particular language for censorship is often synonymous with targeting a particular national origin, which is both illegal and highly destructive to workplace morale and productivity.

Albertsons is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, operating stores  including Safeway, Vons and Pavilions  in 35 states and the District of Columbia.

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While we cannot comment on this pending litigation specifically, Albertsons does not require that its employees speak English only, company spokeswoman Jenna Watkinson said in a statement. Albertsons serves a diverse customer population and encourages employees with foreign language abilities to use those skills to serve its customers.

In or around 2012, Albertsons developed an unwritten English-only policy, which Albertsons implemented as essentially a no Spanish policy, the lawsuit alleges.

Christine Park-Gonzalez, deputy director of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions Los Angeles district office, said one of the key issues of the lawsuit is that, in an Albertsons training video, two workers are shown speaking Spanish, and the video suggests that its best if workers refrain from speaking Spanish in front of workers who do not speak the language.

Park-Gonzalez said an upper-level manager at an Albertsons store on Lake Murray Boulevard in San Diego took an aggressive stance regarding the policy, telling workers they couldnt speak Spanish at the store, even on break and even if a customer started talking to them in Spanish.

The lawsuit said non-Latino employees were not similarly harassed or subjected to the no-Spanish policy.

It became a hostile work environment that impacted the employees of the store where they were disciplined and disciplined publicly in front of others, Park-Gonzalez said.

David Loy, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, said that he did not know enough about the facts of the lawsuit to comment on it specifically, but that typically, English-only policies must be justified by a business as a necessity, such as for safety reasons.

Loy said it was not obvious to him what business necessity would require employees to speak only English, even on their breaks or when serving Spanish-speaking customers, but the justification may be more clear once the parties have had time to present the facts and circumstances surrounding the policy decision.

One on occasion in October 2012, the manager reprimanded Hispanic workers Guadalupe Zamorano, an employee since 2007, and Hermelinda Stevenson, an employee since 1989, in front of the store for speaking Spanish, the lawsuit alleged.

Afterward, Zamorano called Albertsons hotline to complain about the managers conduct and prohibition against speaking Spanish at work, the lawsuit reads.

After she lodged her complaint, a union representative investigated the complaint, and told Zamorano that she needed to speak English because she was living in the United States. There was no further action taken in regards to the complaint, the lawsuit said.

Staffers at the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135 union office, which represents workers in San Diego County, said they never received a complaint from Albertsons employees regarding an English-only policy.

The first we heard about it at the union was [Thursday] when it broke in the news, said Mickey Kasparian, the Local 135 union president. He said union staffers then looked through grievances from earlier years and found no such complaint. We take these matters very seriously, and if it had been reported to us, we would have been immediately on top of this.

Park-Gonzalez, with the employment commission, said that the union was involved in some capacity, but that she couldnt expand further on what that means because of the pending litigation.

In December 2012, Zamorano was again reprimanded  this time because she was speaking Spanish to a Spanish-speaking customer  and told to speak only English at work, the lawsuit says.

The following year, the suit says, Zamorano and Stevenson requested transfers to other stores.

Stevenson asked for the transfer in June 2013 because harassment and other issues at work were making her sick with anxiety and stomach problems, the lawsuit says. It says that in November 2013, Zamorano also asked for a transfer, citing harassment and that the manager refused to submit her request until she removed the statement about harassment.

The lawsuit asks the court to order Albertsons to stop discriminating against employees based on their national origin, to compensate the aggrieved employees for monetary losses and emotional pain according to proof at trial, to award punitive damages and to pay the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions legal costs.

morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com

Cook writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Times staff writer Jaclyn Cosgrove contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

4:05 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Christine Park-Gonzalez and Mickey Kasparian.

This article was originally published at 7:30 a.m.
A jury trial in Qualcomm Inc.s wide-ranging legal war with Apple Inc. has been set to begin April 15 in San Diego federal court, with a settlement looking unlikely.

U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel scheduled the trial at hearing Friday. Qualcomm had sought to begin the trial in February, but Curiel said the April date was needed to accommodate the courts schedule.

He also noted that the complexity of the litigation and the prominence of the two tech giants would require more time.

Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf told CNBCs Jim Cramer this week that the San Diego cellular technology firm was on the doorstep of finding a resolution to the dispute with Apple.

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Some news outlets took Mollenkopfs statement to suggest that the two sides were in settlement talks, even though the chief executive made it clear in the past that a resolution would come from either a settlement or a verdict in court.

Apple attorney William Isaacson told Curiel on Friday that a settlement wasnt in the cards.

The parties are going to need a trial, Isaacson said. There have been unfortunate articles lately that the parties are close to a settlement, and that is not true. There havent been talks in months.

Since early 2017, Qualcomm and Apple have been waging a legal war over royalties that Qualcomm charges for use of its patented cellular technology.

It has been a fierce fight. Apple instructed Asian contract manufacturers that build iPhones to stop paying royalties to Qualcomm, and it left out Qualcomm chips from its latest iPhone models.

Qualcomm has sought to ban iPhone imports in the U.S., Germany and China. It also has accused Apple of stealing trade secrets and supplying them to rival Intel.

Apple contends that Qualcomm has concocted a scheme that allows it to overcharge for patents in violation of patent, contract and antitrust laws. According to Apple, Qualcomm is getting paid twice for its intellectual property: once when it licenses its patent portfolio and a second time when it sells cellular modem chips.

Qualcomm says there is nothing illegal about its business practices. The company contends that not all of its 130,000 patents are encompassed on a cellular radio chip. It takes a systemwide approach to deliver fast wireless internet connections to smartphones, involving multiple components in phones and broader cellular networks. Its extensive patent portfolio covers these systemwide inventions.

A key battle is coming up early next year. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sued Qualcomm, claming antitrust violations along similar lines as the Apple lawsuit.

A trial in the FTCs antitrust case is scheduled for Jan. 4 in U.S. District Court in San Jose. The outcome of that trial could play a role in the San Diego federal case. Qualcomm and the FTC both have said they are pursuing a settlement.

mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com
A San Diego whistleblower will receive $17.2 million with the settlement of a 7-year-old false claims lawsuit against Prime Health Care regarding overbilling for Medicare services at 14 California hospitals.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it has reached a $65-million settlement with the Ontario-based healthcare system, resolving allegations that Prime engaged in a deliberate corporate-driven scheme to increase inpatient admissions of Medicare beneficiaries and that the company engaged in up-coding by falsifying information concerning patient diagnoses. Up-coding entails making illnesses seem worse than they really are in order to increase Medicare reimbursement.

The government said the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing and that claims of up-coding and improper admissions remain allegations only with no determination of liability.

Prime, which operates a network of 45 hospitals in 14 states and 15 more through its not-for-profit Prime Healthcare Foundation, said it determined that it was in the best interest of its patients, independent physicians and employees to resolve this matter despite not agreeing that there was any truth to the allegations related to coding.

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The case started in San Diego with whistleblower Karin Berntsen, Alvarado Hospitals former director of performance improvement. The registered nurse contacted the government in 2011, offering information that eventually turned into a formal complaint unsealed in 2013.

In a statement released by her legal team, Berntsen said she fell ill and underwent several surgeries and hospitalizations during the drawn-out investigation. At one point, the nurse, according to her attorneys, wore a hidden microphone to secure evidence of Prime founder and CEO Dr. Prem Reddy and supplied detailed documents to support her case, eventually testifying for more than 12 hours at deposition.

Bernsten and her attorneys will be compensated under the False Claims Act, a federal statute that allows private citizens to receive up to 30% of any money recovered by the government as a result of their complaints.

Sisson writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Sisson writes for The San Diego-Union Tribune
The last remaining nuclear power plant in California will begin shutting down operations in six years as part of a plan approved Thursday by state regulators.

We chart a new energy future by phasing out nuclear power here in California, Michael Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said prior to the 5-0 vote. We agree the time has come.

The nuclear plants operator, Pacific Gas & Electric, in 2016 announced an agreement with a collection of environmental and labor groups to shut down the plant, which has delivered electricity since 1985.

The utility said Diablo Canyon would be uneconomical to run in the near future because of changes in Californias power grid  specifically, the growth of renewable energy sources, increased energy efficiency measures and the migration of more customers from traditional utilities to new local suppliers under the states community choice aggregation program.

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Diablo Canyon had been the last remaining nuclear plant in the state, after the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station closed its doors in January 2012 following a small radiation leak from a steam generator.

Although California soon will have no nuclear plants in operation, there are 99 other nuclear reactors operating in the United States.

Under Thursdays decision, Unit 1 will close in 2024, and Unit 2 is scheduled for retirement in 2025, the years the federal licenses for the respective units expire.

Located on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Luis Obispo County, Diablo Canyon generates almost 18,000 gigawatt-hours of power each year, powering 1.7 million homes.

According to the most recent figures from the California Energy Commission, nuclear power accounted for about 9% of the states power mix, without producing greenhouse gases.

Supporters of nuclear energy said closing Diablo Canyon will cause the state to use more natural gas to replace the electricity generated by the plant.

Im sorely disappointed the CPUC has neglected the ratepayers and the environment, said Gene Nelson, government liaison with Californians for Green Nuclear Power. Solar and wind cannot be counted on.  Theyre subject to random interruptions.

Environmental groups hailed the decision, which was expected after 17 months of filings and debate, but also were concerned about what type of energy sources would be used to replace Diablos electricity.

We really have to make sure that as were phasing out and getting rid of our nuclear power that were not replacing it with dirty and dangerous fossil fuels like natural gas and that were moving to a 100% clean, renewable economy, said Dan Jacobson, state director of Los Angeles-based Environment California.

Commissioners expressed confidence that wont happen.

Theres no retreat from our strong commitment to our GHG [greenhouse gas] reduction goals, Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen said.

Commissioners approved a proposed decision outlined by a PUC administrative law judge that would give PG&E less money than it wanted to keep staff and retrain the plants 1,500 employees as Diablo Canyon gets decommissioned.

PG&E originally wanted $363.4 million, but the commission reduced that to $222.6 million. PG&E will receive $18.6 million from ratepayers for costs associated with licensing from the federal governments Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

A number of parties in the case, as well as PG&E, proposed $85 million to compensate the community surrounding the plant for the loss of tax dollars that would accompany the closure of the facility.

Commissioners acknowledged the plants economic effect on the area, but they said questions involving tax dollars are the responsibility of the state Legislature.

We are very disappointed that this program was not approved, PG&E spokesman Blair Jones said, adding that the utility will meet with the parties it worked with in 2016 to determine what do next.

Nikolewski writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com
In a move expected to dramatically reduce wait times for hundreds of trucks that each day move goods from Tijuana to San Diego, Mexican customs officials for the first time are working side by side with their U.S. counterparts at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

Under a pilot program formally launched Friday, U.S. and Mexican officials operate out of adjacent booths at the busy U.S. port, working separately but simultaneously as they carry out inspections on products crossing into the United States  everything from tomatoes to televisions.

Known as Unified Cargo Processing, the program has proven successful at other ports of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border, including Nogales, Douglas and San Luis in Arizona and Calexico across from the Baja California capital of Mexicali. Wait times have plunged by as much as 85% for qualifying shippers.

The Otay Mesa Port of Entry is the second busiest U.S. commercial port of entry on the Mexican border, with an average of more than 3,500 truck crossings per day, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The process of entering San Diego can stretch to five or six hours if the truck is twice pulled over for secondary inspection  first as it leaves Mexico, and again as it enters the United States.

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Early Friday afternoon, a line of trucks streamed steadily from Tijuana into the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. In one lane, drivers leaned through their windows as they handed paperwork to Michael Horn, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. Horn immediately shared some of the documents with Rosa Maria Barrientos  an official with Mexicos Tax Administration Service  who worked in a separate booth. Within minutes, the truck in question was cleared to continue to the United States.

Had either of the officers questioned a shipment, the truck would have been pulled over for an inspection conducted jointly by U.S. and Mexican officials.

The joint inspections involve only about a third of the northbound truck traffic, limited to shippers who are enrolled in a trusted traveler program known as Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism.

Companies in Tijuanas booming manufacturing industry are expected to benefit from these inspections as they export products such as televisions, audio speakers, prosthetics and pacemakers from Mexico to the United States.

Toyota, which operates a Tacoma pickup manufacturing plant in Tijuana, is among the main potential beneficiaries.

U.S. customs officials have said they expect the program to cut inspection times in half.

The new system underscores the collaboration at the border between the U.S. and Mexican agencies. Were building upon the structures and procedures that are already in place, said Larry Fanning, assistant port director for trade at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

The joint inspections at Otay Mesa began more than two years after the U.S. and Mexico launched a pilot pre-inspection program that has had U.S. and Mexican officials working together at a facility in Tijuana to inspect agricultural goods crossing from Baja California to San Diego.

The collaborative efforts are seen as a way to increase efficiency even as the U.S. and Mexican governments have struggled with limited funding to expand ports of entry and build new ones.

Meanwhile, this is a time of uncertainty over the future of commercial relations between the United States and Mexico, as the North American Free Trade Agreement is being renegotiated.

We are not waiting to see what happens, said Luis Hernandez, president of the Tijuana Maquiladora Assn. We are moving forward.

sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com
With a masters degree in computer science and 30 years of experience working for technology companies, Tom Middleton had little doubt he would soon find new employment after losing his job a decade ago as a software engineering manager at Kyocera in San Diego.

How wrong he was.

After two years of submitting more than 300 applications for tech jobs and scoring only an occasional face-to-face interview, the then-59-year-old Middleton became convinced his age was a hindrance. He would hear feedback like Youre overqualified and We cant pay you what youre used to.

As money grew tighter, house payments were missed and 401(k) savings were exhausted, he took minimum-wage jobs at Target and Walmart and tried his hand at income tax preparation. On a whim, he applied for a job as a bus driver  and was hired, now earning less than half his former six-figure salary.

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I had some days where I just wanted to crawl in a hole, Middleton, now 66, said of his job search. I thought Id be a bargain to someone, but they didnt see it that way.

A growing share of baby boomers is opting to work well into what traditionally would be their retirement years, but the challenges of remaining employed or reentering the workforce at an older age, even in todays tight labor market, havent necessarily eased.

And even as Labor Department data show more people 55 and older are employed than ever before and have a lower jobless rate  3.1%, compared with 3.9% for all workers  they remain out of work longer than their younger peers when they lose a job. On average, theyre jobless for about 37 weeks, compared with 25 weeks for workers ages 35 to 44, according to 2017 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Their hourly pay also starts to decline as they enter their 60s, regardless of how much education they have.

We are living longer. We are living healthier. We want to work, said Susan Weinstock, vice president of financial resiliency for the AARP. We have this labor shortage, and we hear about the skills shortage. Older workers can fill those needs if employers will open themselves up to the idea.

Why work longer?

Changing demographics and compensation for older Americans have been upending the retirement landscape since the mid-1990s.

In a reversal of a decades-long trend toward earlier retirement, workers ages 55 and older made up 22.4% of the U.S. workforce in 2016, up from just 12% two decades earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2026, when baby boomers will be 62 to 80 years old, that share is expected to rise to 25%.

Workforce participation also has risen sharply, with about 40% of people ages 55 and older either working or actively looking for work today, compared with 30% in 1996. In a survey last year by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, more than half the people queried said they plan to work past age 65 or do not plan to retire.

Economists offer multiple theories about what is driving people to work longer, including improving health, higher education and a shift toward less physically demanding jobs.

The gradual phaseout of traditional employer pensions and a corresponding rise in more volatile 401(k) plans have also discouraged earlier retirements. At the same time, an increase in the Social Security full retirement age (now 66 and rising) has induced people to stay in the workforce longer by rewarding them with higher monthly payments.

There is a whole set of people who have never really recovered from the Great Recession, AARPs Weinstock said. If your retirement accounts took a hit at that time, it has only been 10 years, and it takes a lifetime to build up those retirement accounts.

Workers 55 and older have been the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. labor force since 1996, and that trend is expected to continue through 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, the growth rates for younger age groups arent projected to increase much over the next decade.

And as Gary Burtless, a senior fellow in economic studies with the Brookings Institution, noted, there are also some people who simply like their jobs and arent ready to stop working.

Lower wages, regardless of education

After 35 years in the construction industry, David Sapper, now 64, said it felt like a punch in the gut when he lost his highly paid management job as part of a downsizing seven years ago.

Recognizing he would have to settle for pay well below his previous six-figure salary, he spent nearly a year looking for work before taking a job he hadnt envisioned for himself  and that pays much less than his old one.

Wage data assembled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta show average hourly pay for full-time workers starting to decline after age 60 across all education groups. Those statistics, though, are only for full-time employees and therefore dont reflect the part-time work many older workers typically take, either by choice or necessity.

For the last six years, Sapper has been a caravan driver for San Diego Zoo Safari Park, escorting visitors on tours that include close-up views of giraffes, rhinos and antelopes. Since joining the park, he has worked his way up to nearly 40 hours a week, earning $45,000 to $50,000 a year, he said.

Sapper acknowledged that his wifes job as a school administrator enabled him to take a significant pay cut, but he also said working at Safari Park has meant much less stress in his life.

I can now finally sleep at night and go to work happy and not be walking through the door dreading how am I going to make up for a half-million-dollar overrun on a construction job, he said.

Ellyn Terry, economic policy specialist with the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, surmises that one reason for the drop in pay that some workers experience as they age may have to do with reduced productivity.

Theres economic theory that says prime productivity declines close to the end of our careers, she said. Productivity is generally associated with wages; that is, the more you can produce, the more you will get paid. Lower wages among older individuals may also reflect people switching to less intensive jobs.

She is less convinced, though, that the data suggest age discrimination.

An economist would argue that age discrimination should not exist, that when an employer wants the best person at the best price theyre not going to willy-nilly use age unless its related to something else correlated with worker productivity and they have nothing else to go on, Terry said.

Proving discrimination is tough

Greg Locke, 60, says he saw signs of bias while looking for work recently. After 21 years in the Marines, Locke earned a masters degree in business management from San Diego State University and started a second career working for the County of San Diego in the early 2000s.

In June of last year, he retired as real estate telecommunications development project manager, took a few months off and then began looking for work again. During a few of the six interviews he had, Locke said, he was asked how he would interact with younger workers.

I have to wonder if younger workers were also asked how they would interact with older workers, he said. He eventually landed a job with a company that didnt ask that question.

Proving discrimination is difficult, especially in instances where someone does not get hired for a job and age bias is the suspected reason.

Often cited as evidence that age discrimination does indeed exist is research conducted by a trio of economists who in 2015 sent out some 40,000 applications with fictitious resumes for about 13,000 largely low-skilled positions, such as retail sales clerks, janitors and administrative assistants. The resumes were nearly identical except for age and gender.

It turned out that callback rates were higher among younger applicants than their older counterparts, providing compelling evidence that older workers experience age discrimination in hiring in the lower-skilled types of jobs the experiment covers, the authors said.

Instances of age discrimination were most noticeable among older women, said coauthor David Neumark, economics professor at UC Irvine and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Still, Neumark acknowledges that proof of discrimination remains elusive. My point is simply, its complicated, he said. Its better to be an older worker now than it was in 2010, and its better to be a black worker and an ex-felon because employers have fewer workers to choose from to hire. But its about the employment cycle, so right now its a little easier for these workers finding work, but were at the end of a very long recovery.

There remains a strong perception among the graying workforce that their age is working against them. A 2017 survey commissioned by AARP found that 3 in 5 workers over age 45 have experienced or seen age discrimination in the workplace.

Laurie McCann, senior attorney with the AARP Foundation, said employers these days are savvy enough to not leave the smoking gun around that would clearly show age discrimination, but that doesnt mean there arent more subtle instances of ageism in the hiring process.

Some indications are asking that people be recent graduates. Were also seeing some jobs where people have to be a digital native, which is someone who grew up using the internet, McCann said.

Age discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission totaled more than 18,000 last year, although the number has been trending downward since the recession, when they peaked at more than 24,000. It is not atypical for such complaints to ebb and flow with the economic cycle.

Potential bias against older workers could derail policies aimed at encouraging baby boomers to work longer  one of the best options for keeping the nations labor force vibrant.

Thats important because labor force participation among people ages 16 to 24 has been declining since the 1990s. Moreover, employment for workers ages 25 to 54 was stagnant most of the last decade. It was not until this year that jobs in this age group finally returned to pre-recession levels.

Meanwhile, the leading edge of the baby boom generation  some 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964  is now 72 years old. Ten thousand baby boomers are retiring every day, AARPs Weinstock said. Thats a companys institutional knowledge walking out the door.

The changing job search process

For some older workers, particularly those who worked for one company for many years, trying to find a new job is daunting.

The job search process has moved online, with job boards such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter making it easy to find and apply for all sorts of jobs. But often these efforts prove fruitless, with no feedback whatsoever to applicants.

Kim Selznick, 64, worked as an accountant/administrator for an alternative investment firm for the past 21 years. In April, she was laid off, and shes struggling to find another job.

It was suggested that I get on LinkedIn, find people to connect with, then find people that they are connected with, she said. That is where I have a hard time, asking people for help and making those connections.

Yet thats what it takes to get an employers attention in an era of online applications, said Kyle Houston, San Diego branch manager for staffing and consulting firm Robert Half Technology.

My first bit of advice is to stop applying through job boards, he said. That whole adage, its not what you know but who you know, still rings true.

Weisberg and Freeman write for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
A San Diego man has settled SEC allegations that he and another man ran a $61.5-million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 350 investors across multiple states.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Diego last week, accuses Jonny Ngo, 32, and Donato Mick Baca Jr., 36, of raising money from investors between 2013 and 2017 that was supposedly to be used to buy bulk electronics such as iPhone screens and drone aircraft overseas. These products were then to be distributed in the U.S. and sold at a substantial profit, investors were allegedly told.

According to the SEC, the men promised investors returns of 5% to 15% every two weeks to 45 days through Ngos wholesale technology import business, NL Technology.

NL Technology has a storefront in San Diego offering cellphone and computer repairs, but it engaged in little or no wholesale import business activity, according to the SEC.

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Ngo has settled with the SEC without admitting wrongdoing. The final judgment prohibits him from raising money in connection with any offering of securities, and orders him to repay $4.5 million. He also must pay a $480,000 civil penalty and $245,726 in prejudgment interest.

The complaint alleges Ngo and Baca used money raised by new investors to pay prior investors in a classic Ponzi scheme. About $52 million was distributed in this way.

The SEC claims the rest went to fund Ngos and Bacas extravagant lifestyles, including gambling and purchasing luxury cars, watches and homes.

To conceal the scheme, Ngo fabricated bank statements and financial records, forged invoices and created phony email addresses, the SEC claims. He also impersonated people with whom NL Technology was supposedly doing business.

Baca owned a company called MR Media and claimed to be an investor who helped gather other investors. Later, he said he held various executive positions at NL Technology.

The scheme began to fall apart in April 2017, according to the SEC, when Ngo and Baca stopped paying most investors, claiming delays were due to switching banks, supplier problems and an SEC audit.

When confronted by a suspicious investor in May 2017, Baca disavowed knowledge of the scheme but did not inform other investors. Instead, Baca told investors that he was leaving NL Technology but that they could invest directly with Ngo, according to the complaint.

According to the SEC, Baca personally misappropriated at least $4.7 million of investor funds, including funds paid to MR Media. The SEC claims the money was used for rent, luxury watches and payments on personal credit cards. Investor funds also were used for a down payment on a $3.5-million home.

The SEC lawsuit seeks return of ill-gotten gains, civil penalties and interest and an injunction to prevent fundraising from investors.

Freeman writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TechDiego
The news that Ukraines Constitutional Court (UCC) has abolished a law designed to prevent government officials from benefiting from corrupt practices, effectively waves a white flag at those who see public service as a means to line their own pockets.

It is almost incomprehensible that a country such as Ukraine, harboring ambitions to become a full member of the European Union, should effectively dash its own hopes by succumbing to what can only be interpreted as judicial corruption.

Make no mistake about it: corruption in the Ukraine is likely to soar once again to the endemic proportions that flourished when the country first emerged into independence following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. In the process, it has also likely denied itself the cash flow stream that came in the form of aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

What is the reason for the UCCs decision? It has ruled that the anti-corruption laws in question were unconstitutional, as they violated the principle of presumptive innocence. The 2015 law, enacted to ensure that Ukraine fell into line with the obligations demanded by the IMF, followed already well-established legislative formats utilized by at least some members of the EU.

The process to shift the burden of proof onto a suspected grafter to evidence the derivation of their wealth, showing that it came from legitimate means, is not a power wielded lightly. In the UK for example, there is similar legislation contained within the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and more recently the legislation creating the jurisdiction for courts to grant what are called Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO).

However, these are not pieces of legislation owing their origins solely in civil law, declaring open season on those who may have been considered erstwhile targets for criminal investigation.

The powers inherent in these legislative blunt instruments come with riders to prevent their abuse. Law enforcement cant simply pluck a name out of the hat labelled gangsters. Instead, the law enforcement agents are still required to put together a case as to why the target deserves to be subjected to what can still be considered to be draconian legislation.

To obtain an UWO, law enforcement agencies in places such as the UK or Switzerland still need to mount a meaningful investigation against a politically exposed person (PEP), showing that there is prima facie disparity between, for instance, a PEPs published salary as a public official and sworn asset disclosure statements, and the wealth attributable to them.

This leads to what Brazilian legal academics call dynamic distribution of the burden of proof; or what I say is similar to what happens to the presumption of innocence when a four-year old child is caught by his mother with the remnants of a blueberry pie all over his face. Protest all he likes, mom knows where the pie on her childs face came from. Equally a PEP with $1 billion in a Swiss bank account whose honestly earned wealth cannot have exceeded $200,000 needs to explain the origin of the $1 billion.

These comparatively recent additions to the UKs anti-corruption toolbox are still rarely used. Law enforcement is sensitive to the fact that switching the burden of proof onto the suspect is not a step to be taken lightly.

This said, I for one fail to see why law enforcement agencies are reticent about reaching for this particular spanner. If law enforcement came knocking at your door, demanding to see evidence of where you acquired the funds in order to purchase your home, cars and other assets, you would be comparatively unfazed. Being able to piece together a familys income and expenditure is a straightforward process for 99.99 percent of the global population; which leaves only the crooks with something to hide.

Why should we shy away from placing the onus onto them to show where their wealth came from?

Surely, like us, they will be able to draw upon income tax and capital gains tax records?

Surely, they should be able to provide evidence accumulated by their accountants whose role it is to declare income and ensure their client remains tax-efficient?

Surely, where they own and operate companies domiciled both onshore and offshore, there will be accounts available to show income streams drawn from them, wont there?

I could go on, but Id be in danger of overstating the obvious. The answers to all these questions are simple. If the individual is straight and honest, the information will be free-flowing, readily available and indicate without reservation the source of their wealth. If you are unable to draw upon any of these information sources, then it is likely you have something to hide, which in turn could justifiably jeopardize your retention of the assets in question.

Herein lies the problem with the UCCs decision. The fact that it is those at the top of the food chain who stand to benefit from the courts decision is one thing. The fact that the judiciary of Ukraine itself is under serious scrutiny for its own shortcomings when it comes to corrupt practices, renders the ruling even more questionable.

It is rumored that Russia cherishes the prospect of dragging Ukraine back behind the ever-expanding, fast forming and resurgent new millennium version of the Iron Curtain. Ukraine has effectively turned to the West in order to avail itself of protection, even to the point of considering becoming members of NATO. This being the case, returning to a judicial system that is open to corruption and effectively closes down the investigation of those already suspected of graft, is an outrage.

Ukraine needs to revisit this decision and quickly. Like me, most will be appalled by this ruling.

With thanks to Tony McClements, Senior Investigator at Martin Kenney & Co, for his assistance with this post.

_____

Martin Kenney, pictured above, is Managing Partner of Martin Kenney & Co., Solicitors, a specialist investigative and asset recovery practice based in the BVI, focused on multi-jurisdictional fraud and grand corruption cases www.martinkenney.com | @MKSolicitors. In 2014 he was the recipient of the ACFEs highest honor: the Cressey Award for life-time achievement in the detection and deterrence of fraud. He was selected as one of the Top Thought Leaders of the Legal Profession in 2018 and 2019 by Whos Who Legal International and as the number one offshore lawyer for asset recovery in 2017 and 2018.
Summers first heat wave has Southern California utility officials and managers of the states electric grid working to make sure the power system doesnt wilt.

A high-pressure system sent temperatures soaring Friday, and heat records were expected to fall in several spots, including downtown Los Angeles, Woodland Hills and Long Beach, according to the National Weather Service. Significantly cooler temperatures arent expected to return until the middle of next week.

Utility representatives said adequate electricity supplies have been secured in anticipation of the heat wave and the California Independent System Operator hasnt issued a flex alert  a call for consumers to voluntarily conserve electricity when there is a predicted shortage of energy supply.

But Cal-ISO on Thursday did issue a Restricted Maintenance Operations notice, which orders delays on any planned maintenance of power plant and transmission facilities to make sure all available resources remain so in case they are needed.

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We have no major transmission or generation outages at this time, said Steven Greenlee, senior public information officer for Cal-ISO. But wildfires are always our concern. That can change things in just a matter of minutes.

Cal-ISO oversees the operation of about 80% of the states electric power system and runs electricity markets.

Southern California Edison, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. have lined up extra repair crews in case the roasting temperatures cause power outages.

Our crews are ready to respond to incidents that may occur due to this record heat wave, said Tony Edeson, Edisons grid operations director.

Over the weekend, the DWP is expecting daily peak power usage that is higher than during the average summer day, Chief Operating Officer Martin Adams said, but the municipal utility isnt expecting to break the record 6,502-megawatt peak hit last August.

The average daily peak consumption during the last three summers was 4,350 megawatts, according to the DWP.

As a precautionary measure, SDG&E has canceled scheduled maintenance work in fire-prone areas and asked customers to cut back on energy use.

Weve secured enough resources and were fully prepared to meet the system demand ... but its always a good idea, particularly when these hot weather events come, that everyone help conserve energy where they can, SDG&E spokesman Joe Britton said.

Utilities are advising customers to be conservative with air conditioning use during the day, reduce power in the afternoon and use washers, dryers and other energy-intensive devices early in the morning and later at night to avoid taxing power-delivery equipment.

Doing certain things later at night is a lot less inconvenient than a power outage, Adams said.

Among some of the things customers can do to reduce energy consumption, Britton said, include:

Instead of air conditioning, use ceiling fans or portable fans;

Pre-cool your home by running the AC in the morning and turning it off before leaving for work;

Close drapes and blinds to keep the sun from warming up rooms;

Run appliances and swimming pool pumps after 9 p.m.

SDG&E has declared Friday a Reduce Your Use day, in which customers on the Reduce Your Use Rewards program can receive a credit on their monthly bills by cutting back on energy use from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. About 80,000 SDG&E customers have signed up for the plan, Britton said.

With low humidity and dry conditions expected to persist, SDG&E has put its heli-tanker, the Erickson Aircrane, on standby. The aircrane holds as much as 2,650 gallons of water or fire suppressant  the equivalent of five fire engines.

The summer outlook

Cal-ISO issued four flex alerts in 2017, with two coming in late June. The system operator has yet to issue a flex alert this year but Greenlee cautioned that does not necessarily mean the summer of 2018 is shaping up to be more manageable than the summer of 2017.

Its too early to tell, Greenlee said. We got through June without the heat waves. We were pleased to see that but weve got a long way to go. Our biggest worry is in late summer and August and September.

In May, Cal-ISO released its summer assessment and predicted an extremely low probability the system operator will be forced to initiate rotating power outages.

But at the same time, it anticipated capacity would be tight in high-load periods this summer and found a 50% probability of declaring a Stage 2 emergency for at least one hour this summer.

A Stage 2 emergency means demand is outpacing supply, forcing Cal-ISO to dip into its electricity reserves.

Peak demand this summer is expected to be about the same as last year.

Cal-ISO projects 51,947 megawatts of generation will be available to serve demand this summer. The peak demand this summer is anticipated to be 46,625 megawatts under normal conditions. Last years peak load was 50,116 megawatts, recorded Sept. 1.

However, by late summer hydroelectric production is expected to be down by about 1,300 megawatts compared with 2017. The winter of 2016-17 was especially wet in California but the California Department of Water Resources on April 2 of this year reported the water content of the snowpack was just 51% of average.

The summer assessment expects electricity supplies to be adequate during daytime hours, largely because of the high production of solar power across the state. However, solar production falls off when the sun goes down, and energy users come home from work, turn on their air conditioners and use appliances that suck up a lot of power, such as washers and dryers.

Hydroelectric production is a very flexible resource, Greenlee said. It is valuable to us as grid operators because, especially in the late afternoons, we can call upon that to follow demand that may be changing quickly.

The system has added 692 megawatts of generation since last year  the vast majority from renewable sources, including 60% from solar.

But natural gas-powered generation has dropped by about 837 megawatts since last summer due to plant retirements.

That loss may be somewhat offset by a recommendation by the Energy Division at the California Public Utilities Commission to increase the natural gas storage volume at the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility in Los Angeles County.

The Energy Division calls for raising storage volume at Aliso Canyon to 34 billion cubic feet of gas from 24.6 billion cubic feet at the site.

One billion cubic feet is enough to fuel about 5 million homes in the U.S. for one day.

A massive leak was discovered at Aliso Canyon in October 2015 but not permanently contained until February 2016, forcing the evacuation of more than 8,000 households in the Porter Ranch neighborhood.

All told, about 100,000 metric tons of methane were emitted. According to a UC Davis study, the total greenhouse gas pollution equaled the emissions of a half-million cars driven for a year.

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

ethan.millman@latimes.com
Five months after owners of the failed San Onofre nuclear plant agreed to slice hundreds of millions of dollars from the cost to ratepayers of the 2012 breakdown, a California Public Utilities Commission judge has endorsed the proposed settlement.

If the full commission also approves the decision, customers of Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric will see their share of the $4.7 billion in closure costs reduced by $775 million. Under the original deal, ratepayers would have paid $3.3 billion of the costs.

Without commission approval, the settlement of a federal lawsuit challenging the 2014 plan that charged utility customers 70% of the nearly $5 billion in closure costs has languished. The ruling from Judge Darcie Houck, released late Monday, makes it more likely customers will save money from the previous arrangement.

The only amendment imposed by the judge regards $25 million that was supposed to be paid by the utilities to study the effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

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That payment was first negotiated at a secret meeting in Warsaw, Poland, between former commission President Michael Peevey and an Edison executive, according to records previously disclosed in the commission investigation.

The specific deal point became part of a criminal investigation into the utilities commission conducted by the state attorney generals office.

Attorney Maria Severson, who sued Edison and the utilities commission in federal court to try to overturn the initial San Onofre deal, praised the ruling.

It is great news for ratepayers, she said. By doing this, the ratepayers will avoid paying the last five years of what they were charged under the original settlement agreement.

Severson and her law partner, former San Diego City Atty. Michael Aguirre, lost their case before a U.S. district judge in 2015. But more than a year later the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case.

The decision by federal appeals judges prompted attorneys for Edison and SDG&E to open settlement negotiations, and early this year all parties to the case announced the agreement to stop charging utility customers for many of the closure costs after December 2017.

The deal was calculated to trim $775 million or more from the residential and commercial utility bills through 2022.

For 6.4 million customers across Southern California, the savings will total $121 on average over four years.

The five commissioners are expected to consider the judges proposed decision later this year. If approved, ratepayers would collect a refund equal to costs paid between December and whenever the approval is formally adopted.

The status of the state criminal investigation is not clear. The attorney generals office executed at least six search warrants, but no charges have been filed.

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com
The California Public Utilities Commission has approved an increase in exit fees charged to customers who buy electricity from government-run community choice programs rather than traditional utilities such as Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric.

After reviewing two competing exit fee proposals, all five commissioners voted Thursday in favor of an adjustment that many advocates predicted could hamper the growth of the community choice movement, which has begun to gain traction with 19 community choice aggregators operating in California.

In Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the Clean Power Alliance CCA hopes to sign up nearly 1 million customers by the end of next year. The city of San Diego is weighing two options  one from SDG&E and the other from CCA proponents  as it moves toward a goal of 100% clean power by 2035.

I support the creation of alternative electric providers to expand customer choice, and our legal obligation is to make sure this happens without increased costs to customers who do not, or cannot, join a CCA, said Commissioner Carla Peterman, who authored the proposal that passed. Todays proposal ensures a more level playing field between customers.

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Under the CCA model, utilities still handle customer billing and maintain transmission and distribution lines. But officials in a given local government entity make the final decisions about what kind of power sources are purchased.

Once a CCA is formed, its business and residential customers must pay an exit fee  called a power charge indifference adjustment  to the legacy utility serving that particular region. The fee is included in customers monthly bills.

The fee is required to offset the costs of the investments utilities made over the years for things like long-term power contracts, natural gas power plants, renewable energy facilities and other infrastructure.

Utilities argue that if the exit fee is set too low, it does not fairly compensate them for their investments and gives CCAs too much of a price advantage; if its too high, CCAs say, it reduces the financial incentive for their potential customers.

The Public Utilities Commission chose to adopt a proposal that some said was more favorable to utilities, leading to complaints from CCA boosters.

We see this will really throw sand in the gears in our ability to do things that can move us toward [climate change] goals, Jim Parks, staff member of Valley Clean Energy, a CCA based in Davis, said before the vote.

The commission estimated that because of the fee adjustment, CCA residential customer bills would increase 2.5% in Edison territory, 5.24% in SDG&E territory and 1.68% in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. territory.

But minutes after the vote was announced, one of the leading voices in favor of the city of San Diego establishing its own CCA said the decision was good news because it provides some regulatory certainty.

For us in San Diego, its a green light to move forward with community choice, said Nicole Capretz, executive director of the Climate Action Campaign. For us, its lets go, lets launch and lets give families a choice. We no longer have to wait.

The Clear the Air Coalition, a San Diego County group critical of CCAs, said the new exit fee  which goes into effect next year  is a step in the direction.

But the group, which includes the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego County Taxpayers Assn. and lobbyists for Sempra Energy, the parent company of SDG&E, repeated concerns it has brought up before.

If the city of San Diego decides to get into the energy business, this decision means ratepayers in National City, Chula Vista, Carlsbad, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, El Cajon and all other neighboring communities would see higher energy bills, and San Diego taxpayers would be faced with mounting debt, coalition spokesman Tony Manolatos said in an email.

CCA supporters say community choice is crucial to increasing the use of renewable energy while reducing customer bills.

A feasibility study released last year predicted a CCA in San Diego has the potential to deliver cheaper rates over time than SDG&Es current service, while providing as much as 50% renewable energy by 2023 and 80% by 2027.

The city has already figured out we are still capable of launching a program, having competitive, affordable rates and finally offering families a choice as to who their energy provider is, said Capretz, who helped draft an initial blueprint of San Diegos climate plan as a city staffer.

SDG&E has come to the city with a counterproposal that offers 100% renewables by 2035.

Thus far, the utility has produced a rough outline for a tariff program that would charge ratepayers the cost of delivering more clean sources of energy over time.

Speaking in general about the utility commissions decision, SDG&E spokeswoman Helen Gao called it a victory for our customers, as it minimizes the cost shifts that they have been burdened with under the existing fee formula.

As commissioners noted in rendering their decision, reforming the [exit fee] addresses a customer-to-customer equity issue and has nothing to do with increasing profits for investor-owned utilities, Gao said in an email.

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com
Qualcomm Inc. longtime executive Paul Jacobs is taking a reduced role on the companys board of directors  a move likely aimed at appeasing angry shareholders as the San Diego cellular giant tries to fend off a hostile takeover from Broadcom Ltd.

Meanwhile, rival chipmaker Intel Corp.  not eager to compete with the combined might of Broadcom and Qualcomm  is thinking about bidding to acquire Broadcom, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing unnamed sources.

Intel hopes Broadcom will fail in its effort to take over Qualcomm, but if Broadcom looks likely to succeed, Intel might try to buy Broadcom, the Journal said. That tie-up would be huge: Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intels market value is $244 billion, and Broadcoms is $104 billion.

Alternatively, the Journal said, Intel might make other, smaller acquisitions.

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Qualcomm, pushing against Broadcoms bid, announced a boardroom shuffle Friday. It said Jacobs  son of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and the companys chief executive from 2005 to 2014  will no longer serve as executive chairman of the company or chairman of its board of directors. He will remain a member of the board.

Jeffrey Henderson, who joined Qualcomms board in 2016 after activist shareholder Jana Partners efforts to change Qualcomms corporate governance and structure, will become chairman. The executive chairman post will be eliminated.

Broadcom is trying to gain control of Qualcomms board as part of a $117-billion hostile takeover bid. It has made Qualcomms stock performance over the last four years the centerpiece of its campaign that it would do a better job of managing the company.

The argument appears to be resonating with Qualcomm shareholders.

Bloomberg has reported that Jacobs and Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf were among the lowest vote-getters in early stock holder balloting for the companys board.

The six Broadcom-nominated candidates were leading the vote count for Qualcomms 11-member board. About half of shareholders have cast ballots.

There is a lack of faith, especially among institutional investors, in Qualcomms senior management, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst with Tirias Research. So either senior management needs to step up and be seen as visionaries in the industry  or senior management needs to be changed.

Qualcomm shareholders were expected to wrap up voting last Tuesday. But the multi-agency Committee for Foreign Investment in the U.S. ordered a 30-day delay so it could investigate the proposed takeover of Qualcomm.

Broadcom is based in Singapore but is moving its headquarters to the U.S., which is expected to be completed in May.

Still, the foreign investment committee and members of Congress have raised concerns about the takeover of Qualcomm threatening national security and U.S. competitiveness in 5G and other advanced technologies.

Broadcom sent a letter to Congress on Friday pledging to continue investments in 5G and other advanced wireless technologies if it acquires Qualcomm to maintain American technology leadership.

Jacobs has been chairman of Qualcomms board since 2009. During his tenure as chief executive, Jacobs navigated legal challenges to Qualcomms licensing business by Nokia and spent heavily on 4G technology research during the 2008 economic downtown, which resulted in the company having a substantial lead on competitors on faster 4G LTE networks from 2010 to 2014.

Jacobs also placed expensive bets on technologies that didnt pay off  such as low-power display screens for smartphones and tablets that never caught on. Still, he was viewed as a visionary as Qualcomms CEO.

Henderson was chief financial officer of Cardinal Health Inc. from 2005 to 2014. Before that, he held management positions at Eli Lilly and General Motors. He is currently an advisory director to Berkshire Partners, a private equity firm.

Qualcomm also announced that it has extended its tender offer for NXP Semiconductors, a Dutch automotive chip maker, until March 16. The $43-billion deal has been approved by eight global regulators but is still awaiting approval from China. The company also raised its quarterly dividend from 57 cents a share to 62 cents per share.

Qualcomms stock rose 2% to $63.03 on Friday. Broadcom shares rose 2.8% to $253.78.

Freeman writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Times staff writer Lauren Raab contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

3:25 p.m.: This article was updated with a report about Intel and with stocks closing prices.

This article was originally published at 10:20 a.m.
The former president of the Salk Institute discouraged one of her professors from suing for gender discrimination, saying in a private email that legal action could damage the La Jolla science centers reputation  and suggesting it might harm the researchers career.

Elizabeth Blackburn, a Nobel laureate, sent the email to biochemist Beverly Emerson on June 30, 2017.

Families have disagreements. But they dont litigate their disagreements, Blackburn told Emerson, adding that a lawsuit would be ill-advised and might not be the most prudent tactic for her career.

In a dispute thats been unfolding in court documents, Emerson, 66, a noted cancer researcher, decided to join colleagues Katherine Jones and Vicki Lundblad in suing the Salk Institute for alleged gender discrimination.

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All three women claimed that the institute had systemically discriminated against them on salary, benefits, promotions and access to private donations.

The institute announced out-of-court settlements with Jones, 63, and Lundblad, 65, on Aug. 7. Neither researcher is talking. Nor is Emerson, who is proceeding with her lawsuit.

But their concerns are outlined in court documents  especially those of Emerson, who went from believing that the institute might shed its misogynist culture to thinking that very little would change.

The Salk Institute denies that it discriminated against the women. And it is asking a San Diego County Superior Court judge to remove Blackburns email to Emerson from the record, saying that it is a privileged communication. That request is scheduled to be considered on Friday.

The institute says the email is privileged because it is part of mediation between Emerson and the Salk Institute.

Emersons attorney, Alreen Haeggquist, disputes that the email is privileged and says the email helps establish that Emerson was retaliated against for filing the lawsuit.

It is disappointing that [Emersons] counsel has chosen to disclose what we maintain is a privileged communication, over our objections and before the matter could be decided by the Court, particularly because Dr. Blackburns message was a sincere effort to reach out to Dr. Emerson and avoid litigation, said Steve Strauss, an attorney representing the institute, in a statement emailed to the Union-Tribune. That olive branch is now being used out of context to create an unfair and inaccurate characterization of Salk.

Blackburn, 69, could not be reached for comment. She left the institute earlier this year after announcing her retirement in December.

Optimism

In May 2016, Emerson, Jones and Lundblad met with Blackburn to discuss the Salk Institutes workplace culture and advancement opportunities. Blackburn had become president in January.

The meeting seemed to go well.

I dont want to go too overboard (ok, maybe I will just a bit), but our meeting with Liz (Blackburn) was a little tiny bit historic, Lundblad wrote in an email to Emerson. First time in decades (or ever) that three senior women faculty sat in the Salk Presidents office and were lauded by the Salk President for their scientific achievements ...

Yes, you had support from me and Kathy, but all the heavy lifting was done by you  and if you hadnt run for faculty chair, I dont think the three of us wouldve been there, listening to Liz acknowledge that yes, there is a real problem, and its been a problem for years.

Emerson replied, I think with Liz at the helm, the misogynist culture will definitely change and the Institute will evolve. This has to be set in stone or things can revert back when Liz eventually steps down (hopefully after many years.)

This is poignant, wonderful, and sad all at the same time.

The question of gender balance at the institute also was called into question in early 2016 by Seattle cancer researcher Robert Eisenman, who served on the Salk Institutes External Advisory Board.

Ive certainly been aware of the lack of gender balance but to my knowledge it never came up as an issue for discussion at any of our EAB meetings, Eisenman told Emerson in a February email. I wish it had.

Claim of retaliation

Emerson left the institute at the end of December after her contract was not renewed. She technically remains at the Salk Institute as an emerita faculty member.

In her lawsuit, Emerson maintains that the failure to renew her contract was illegal retaliation and points to Blackburns June 30, 2017, email as evidence.

You have a reputation to protect, Blackburn wrote. The Institute has a reputation that it will vigorously defend. While you certainly have a right to litigate, I ask you to consider if this is the least injurious path toward achieving your goals. What feels good right now, based, perhaps, on complex emotions, may not prove  on a career-long road  the most prudent tactic.

Emerson responded to Blackburns email on July 3, agreeing to talk with Blackburn and reiterating her grievances.

As you know, I have tried to resolve the issues you are referring to in many ways, even as Faculty chair and Board member, but in my mind nothing changed for the senior female faculty, Emerson replied.

Even lately, simple things like getting broken departmental equipment replaced ... and even trying to get a donation by giving a lab tour and showing a PowerPoint to the Brown Foundation, have been unsuccessful.

My request to hire a part-time student lab helper, previously approved, was not re-approved and my student, whom we had trained as a volunteer for several months, took a job elsewhere. I only have two postdocs in my lab so their time to train the student is valuable, Emerson said.

Finally, I havent heard any updates about the status of fundraising for my research proposal on Cancer Ecosystems in several months even though I worked to prepare a 5 year budget and write a lay summary as requested.

Strauss, the Salk Institute attorney, said Emersons tenure expired at the end of 2017, and that the institute followed proper procedure in not renewing her contract.

To qualify for a post-tenure appointment, Salk professors must meet the external funding requirements set out in the Institutes written post-tenure guidelines, which were most recently updated in 2011, Strauss said.

Several Salk professors (female and male) have met these requirements and have continued to work at the Institute, for decades in some cases, beyond the expiration of their original appointments. Dr. Emerson did not meet the requirements.

Emerson said in a July 13 filing that the institute denied her the resources to meet the requirements, subjecting her work to a death spiral that effectively ended her career.

Emerson is best known for her work on how cancer develops. In 2015, she was named a fellow of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, a distinguished scientific society.

Other allegations

Controversy over the Salk Institutes treatment of women extends beyond the lawsuit. An April article in the journal Science detailed allegations from eight women that star Salk scientist Inder Verma, 70, had sexually harassed or discriminated against them for decades.

Verma, a noted geneticist and cancer researcher, denied the charges. But he resigned from the institute in June after an investigation.

He had earlier told the Union-Tribune in an email, I have never used my position at the Salk Institute to take advantage of others. I have also never engaged in any sort of intimate relationship with anyone affiliated with the Salk Institute.

The institute has declined to release details of the investigation.

Whatever the specifics of the [Jones and Lundblad] settlement, their lawsuits, combined with the claims of eight women who made sexual harassment allegations against Inder Verma  raise troubling questions about the challenges women face working as researchers at the Salk Institute, said Leigh Turner, a bioethicist at the University of Minnesota.

Turner added that the institute also misstepped in its initial response to the researchers lawsuits.

In July of last year, shortly after Jones and Lundblad sued, the institute released a statement characterizing the two as below-average scientists in the bottom quartile (lowest 25%) in scientific productivity, compared with their peers.

Emerson wasnt then part of the litigation, but sued a week later.

Blackburn declined to comment on the assessment at the time, but institute staff said she cleared the statement.

In April, however, the institute said Blackburn didnt personally issue the statement, and that it disagrees with the characterization of the July 2017 statements; they do not criticize the quantity or quality of the professors scientific research.

Top scientists condemned the July 2017 statement. Carol Greider, who shared a 2009 Nobel Prize with Blackburn, called the comments unwarranted. On Twitter, she specifically defended Lundblad, calling the Salk Institutes characterization of her work a character smear.

Greider also defended Emerson after she sued.

Ive known [Emerson] for over 30 years, been to many conferences with her. And her science is fabulous, Greider said at the time.

After the criticism, Blackburn said in an open letter that she wanted to correct any unintended impressions from prior statements related to the litigation.

The Salk greatly values the contributions of professors Emerson, Jones, and Lundblad to the scientific community and to the Institute, Blackburn wrote in the letter, dated Aug. 17, 2017.

These professors are our colleagues and members of the Salk community we all cherish. Indeed, the institute greatly values all of your contributions to the progression of science.

Emersons lawsuit is scheduled for trial on Dec. 7.

News researcher Merrie Monteagudo contributed to this report.
More than three years after state regulators permitted Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric to start charging consumers billions of dollars for the failure of the San Onofre nuclear plant, utility executives and consumer advocates appear to have settled a long-running dispute over premature closure costs.

In a joint filing to the California Public Utilities Commission, key parties alerted regulators that mediation efforts paid off and a notice of settlement conference would follow soon.

Parties that signed off on the notice included Edison, SDG&E, The Utility Reform Network, the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, Citizens Oversight and the utilities commissions Office of Ratepayer Advocates.

Holding a settlement conference is the last step before announcing terms of a deal. The meetings allow other interested parties to weigh in on a proposal before it is submitted to the commission for approval.

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Similar negotiations between Edison and TURN led to an agreement in 2014 that was approved by regulators later that year. But other groups complained they were shut out of the discussions, and in 2015, it was disclosed that a framework for the deal had been outlined at an undisclosed meeting in Warsaw, Poland, in 2013.

San Diego attorney Michael Aguirre, who represents ratepayer Ruth Henricks and the Citizens Oversight advocacy group, sued the commission over its 2014 vote to allow the utilities to charge customers $3.3 billion of the $4.7 billion in costs related to the San Onofre plant closure.

He said a new deal is all but formalized.

Im looking forward to the time to discuss in greater detail the terms and conditions of the settlement, Aguirre said.

Edison issued a brief statement saying it was among several parties to reach a preliminary agreement in the San Onofre case.

Southern California Edison, along with other parties in the San Onofre nuclear plant closure proceeding, today advised a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge of their intent to serve notice of a settlement conference within 15 days, spokeswoman Maureen Brown wrote in an email Wednesday.

The company also alerted investors to the development through a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, although the five-page document warns shareholders that a decision is not final.

It is not clear how the settlement might affect a criminal investigation of the utilities commission, which has been under scrutiny by the attorney generals office for its handling of the San Onofre plant failure and other proceedings. Back-channel dealings between regulators and utility executives are under review.

Also unclear is the agreements effect on a series of lawsuits Aguirre filed as a result of the San Onofre case, including a review by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and a state lawsuit seeking access to scores of San Onofre-related emails to and from the governors office.

The conceptual agreement comes after earlier mediation efforts failed to secure a deal last summer.

Even though neither side would discuss terms, the tentative deal likely involves suspending millions of dollars Edison and SDG&E have been charging customers every month under the 2014 commission decision.

The nuclear plant north of Oceanside leaked a small amount of radiation in January 2012, months after a steam generator replacement project was supposed to add decades to the life of the facility.

The settlement adopted by commissioners in 2014 effectively ended an investigation into what caused the plant breakdown. Last year, amid a looming federal court review and continuing criticism, the commission agreed to reconsider the division of costs.

According to Edison, the utility already recovered more than $1.1 billion from ratepayers for the San Onofre breakdown.

SDG&E, which owns 20% of the shuttered nuclear plant, collected a proportionate amount of money from its customers.

Aguirre has been trying to stop those charges for years, through the commission, the courts and mediation.

Last summer, as the last round of mediation fizzled, he filed a motion requesting regulators suspend the monthly collections due to an improper meeting between Edison and former commission President Michael Peevey.

Aguirre said the private 2013 meeting in Warsaw, where Peevey and then-Edison executive Stephen Pickett sketched out a framework for settling the San Onofre costs at a hotel bar, was illegal and violated the due process rights of his clients.

The plant has not been used or useful to utility customers since January 2012, he wrote in the June filing. There can be no more profiteering from this plant.

Edison disclosed the Poland meeting nearly two years later than required by commission rules  days after criminal investigators found the Warsaw meeting notes during a search of Peeveys Los Angeles area home in early 2015.

The commission fined Edison $16.7 million for 10 separate violations related to the Warsaw meeting.

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com
Plant owners and consumer attorneys have struck a bargain in the long-running dispute over who pays for the failure of the San Onofre nuclear plant.

Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric agreed to shave $775 million from the multibillion-dollar pact that allowed them to charge millions of ratepayers for the plant in northern San Diego County, which shut down in January 2012 amid a radiation leak.

For 6.4 million customers across Southern California, the savings will total $121 on the average bill over four years.

The agreement was announced Tuesday after a settlement conference in San Francisco between utility and consumer attorneys. It would supersede a 2014 plan approved by regulators that imposed $3.3 billion of the estimated $4.7 billion in costs related to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station failure on customers, as opposed to utility shareholders.

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State regulators must sign off on the settlement before it takes effect.

The primary negotiators  utility lawyers and the Aguirre & Severson law firm in San Diego  signaled their agreement to more favorable terms for customers three weeks ago, when they notified the commission they planned to schedule settlement talks in the long-running dispute.

The specific terms were not disclosed until the meeting concluded late Tuesday.

In short, Edison and SDG&E agreed to forsake any further collections related to the broken nuclear plant through February 2022, when the assessments were scheduled to stop under the original 2014 agreement. Edison agreed to reimburse SDG&E for $151 million that wont be collected from customers.

This is great news for ratepayers, said attorney Maria Severson. It was the courage of the federal-court plaintiffs and their willingness to go to court that made this happen.

Edison owns almost 80% of the plant, and SDG&E is a minority owner.

We are pleased to be able to bring closure to this issue, Edison President Ron Nichols said in a statement. The parties undertook extensive efforts over many months to reach agreement, and SCE looks forward to timely regulatory approval.

Michael Aguirre, a former federal prosecutor and San Diego city attorney, sued the California Public Utilities Commission and Edison in 2014, claiming the initial deal amounted to an illegal taking of property. The argument was rejected in U.S. District Court but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals took up the case.

The original agreement was approved by the utilities commission in November 2014, and revelations soon thereafter called its fairness into question  including reporting by the San Diego Union-Tribune on an undisclosed meeting in Poland in 2013 that shaped the terms. Edison disclosed the meeting days after the Union-Tribune report and was fined $16.7 million for related violations.

Making a deal in a Warsaw hotel is among the most absurd and unlawful conduct thats been disclosed in years, said Aguirre, who filed multiple lawsuits and dozens of demands for public records in his quest to overturn the 2014 settlement.

Aguirre & Severson will collect attorney fees of just over $5.4 million  the first time the firm will receive compensation for its litigation challenging the San Onofre costs.

Other consumer advocates hailed the agreement as a historic win for ratepayers.

It is a boatload of disgorgement, said attorney John Geesman of the nonprofit Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, using the legal term for the act of giving up illegal profits. It represents a pragmatic compromise on both sides.

Notes from the March 2013 meeting in Poland spelled out a series of deal points, most of which made their way into the settlement that was approved unanimously in November 2014.

One of the terms negotiated between regulators and an Edison executive at the Hotel Bristol Warsaw  $25 million from the utilities to pay for greenhouse gas research at the University of California  was disavowed in the latest agreement.

Instead, the two utilities will contribute a total of $12.5 million to support climate-change research conducted at Cal State campuses. Edison shareholders will donate $2 million a year over the next five years and SDG&E will give $500,000.

Parties to the settlement also agreed not to besmirch the utilities or assign any liability to the plant owners in public discussions.

Charles Langley of the group Public Watchdogs, not a party to the settlement, criticized the new deal for being struck much the same way as the old one  out of the publics view.

The failure of San Onofre was caused by Southern California Edisons failure to deploy equipment that was approved by the [Nuclear Regulatory Commission], Langley said. This failure was 100% the fault of Edison, and it is an abortion of justice to ask ratepayers to pay anything.

The San Onofre nuclear plant was a mainstay in the regional power supply for decades, generating some 2,200 megawatts of electricity.

Six years ago, the facility was closed after newly installed replacement steam generators wore thin and leaked radiation. The $680-million upgrade was supposed to add up to 40 years to the life of the plant.

Edison has always blamed the plants failure on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, maker of replacement steam generators. Edison was awarded $125 million in an arbitration case with the manufacturer.

SCE is focused on safely decommissioning the nuclear plant, guided by core principles of safety, stewardship and engagement, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com

UPDATES:

Jan. 31, noon: This article was edited and tightened throughout.

This article was originally published Jan. 30 at 8 p.m.
Four years after approving a plan that charged ratepayers billions of dollars for the premature closing of the San Onofre nuclear plant, state utility regulators adopted a new deal Thursday that trims about $750 million from consumers electricity bills.

By unanimous vote, the California Public Utilities Commission agreed to a new cost-sharing settlement that halts payments by utility customers for the failed power plant as of December 2017.

The decision means that consumers would stop paying the $3.3 billion in San Onofre-related charges imposed on them after a radiation leak shut down the nuclear plant north of Oceanside in 2012.

Under the plan approved by regulators in 2014, those charges were scheduled to persist until 2022.

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The agreement would save more than 6 million homes and businesses an average of about $120 over four years. Ratepayers also could see an actual rebate  most likely reflected as a credit on their bills  for closure costs they paid since December, when the revised settlement was agreed to in principle.

This is a marked improvement from the 2014 decision, CPUC President Michael Picker said just before the vote.

Commissioner Carla Peterman said, Ratepayers deserve closure on this issue.

The new arrangement was negotiated by plant owners Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric after the San Diego area consumer group Citizens Oversight sued Edison and the commission over the 2014 deal.

Its not a 100% victory, but it does mean no more bleeding after December 2017, said attorney Michael Aguirre, who represented Citizens Oversight in the litigation.

In a statement, Edison President Ron Nichols said the commission took an important step forward.

The commission made one change to the proposed decision  eliminating a $25-million, stand-alone greenhouse gas research program to be administered by the Cal State University system and funded by utility shareholders.

Although the programs goals may be laudable, Picker said, I dont think its appropriate for us to approve.

Parties involved in the case have 10 days to let the CPUC know if they agree with the deletion.

As part of the new settlement, a team of six nuclear energy experts has been assembled to work with Southern California Edison to try to find a way to move the 3.55 million pounds of nuclear waste at San Onofre to another location.

The team includes a former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the independent agency in charge of all safety-related matters surrounding nuclear energy in the U.S., and a former director of policy at the U.S. Department of Energy.

The federal lawsuit that led to the $750 million in savings accused the utilities commission of authorizing an illegal taking of property  consumers cash by way of higher electricity bills  because customers were being charged for a power plant that produced no electricity.

The suit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo in 2015, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later agreed to hear the case.

Within weeks of that decision, lawyers for Edison and SDG&E initiated settlement discussions that led to an agreement announced early this year between the utilities and each party in the San Onofre case pending before the utilities commission.

But Picker and other commissioners were not immediately swayed that the agreement was worthwhile.

In February, they agreed to allow the San Diego advocacy group Public Watchdogs into the proceeding on a limited basis. Public Watchdogs opposed the settlement because it allowed the utilities to retain most of what the group said were illegal gains and because it granted Aguirre and his law partner approximately $5.4 million in attorney fees.

Sure, the settlement claims to return [$750 million] to ratepayers, but the total cost of the failure [at San Onofre] is $5.5 billion and 40% of that cost is being borne by the public, Public Watchdogs Executive Director Charles Langley said during the public comment period at Thursdays commission meeting in Sacramento.

Backers of the settlement approved Thursday say it is a notable improvement from the deal approved in 2014, when regulators assigned the lions share of San Onofre costs to utility customers rather than Edison and SDG&E shareholders.

The $3.3 billion in costs to consumers equaled 70% of the $4.7-billion expense. The $750 million in savings ratepayers will now see is nearly 25% of the 2014 cost to utility customers.

The 2014 deal was negotiated privately between utility executives and two consumer groups, the Utility Reform Network of San Francisco and the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, an independent unit of the utilities commission.

The proposed settlement was announced in March 2014 but amended that September to include a provision requiring utility shareholders to contribute $25 million toward an unspecified greenhouse gas research program within the University of California (which was later changed to be run by the Cal State University system).

About the same time, then-Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris opened a criminal investigation into the utilities commission based on emails between utility regulators and executives that surfaced in an unrelated lawsuit.

Those exchanges showed that commissioners were routinely meeting privately with companies they oversaw to discuss matters that were pending before the commission.

When investigators searched the Los Angeles area home of longtime commission president Michael Peevey in 2015, they found two pages of handwritten notes that appeared to show an agreement to resolve the San Onofre costs between ratepayers and utility shareholders.

After the San Diego Union-Tribune disclosed the finding, Edison filed notice of an ex parte meeting  conversations not in a public forum  it had with Peevey nearly two years earlier at a hotel in Warsaw, Poland.

The company said it had previously thought the meeting needed to be reported, even though the deal points listed on the notes closely resembled the terms approved by Peevey and other commissioners at their public meeting in November 2014.

The $25 million in greenhouse gas emissions research funding became a key element of the criminal investigation because the funding appeared on the Warsaw notes sketched out in 2013 but were not added to the settlement terms released publicly until September 2014.

Meanwhile, emails obtained by the Union-Tribune showed Peevey discussing the funding with UCLA researchers nearly a year before then-commissioner Michel Florio proposed adding the money to the San Onofre settlement as a way to improve the deal for consumers.

The utilities commission later fined Edison $16.7 million for failing to disclose the Warsaw meeting for nearly two years.

Despite the meeting in Warsaw and numerous disclosures indicating that the San Onofre costs were negotiated in private rather than through the public process, regulators took no steps to alter the terms of the deal they approved in 2014  until Thursday.

The four-year attorney generals office investigation into utilities commission practices similarly sputtered and no criminal charges have been filed.

McDonald and Nikolewski write for the San Diego Union Tribune.

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com
Sempra Energy finalized a 20-year deal with Polands national oil and natural gas company Wednesday  a deal that the San Diego company hopes will help it become a major world player and that bolsters Sempras plan to build a liquefied natural gas facility on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Polish Oil and Gas Co. signed a sale-and-purchase agreement with Sempra to take 2 million tons of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, per year. Thats enough to meet about 15% of Polands daily natural gas needs, and its about 20% of the export capacity at the proposed facility near Port Arthur, Texas.

The agreement takes effect only if Sempra builds the facility.

Joseph Householder, Sempras president and chief operating officer, said the agreement will build momentum and prompt other customers to jump on board. Korea Gas Corp., South Koreas state-owned natural gas supplier and the worlds second-largest importer of LNG, agreed to establish a framework with Sempra last year on the Port Arthur facility.

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I think what will happen here is some of the people weve been talking to for a while  will start saying, Uh oh, weve got to sign because we need to make sure that we dont get lost in the shuffle, Householder said. This is a big announcement for us because it really helps drive the Port Arthur facility.

A final decision to build the Port Arthur project has not been made, but Sempra expects to get a permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finalized by the end of the first quarter of 2019.

If the project becomes a reality, the deal signed with Poland will begin in 2023.

Through the liquefaction process, natural gas is cooled to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit and turned into liquid. It can then be transported in containers. At its destination, the LNG is turned back into a gas.

Along with partners based in France and Japan, Sempra is already building another massive LNG facility on the Gulf Coast  in Lousiana  called the Cameron LNG facility. The $10-billion projects first shipment of LNG to international customers is expected by the middle of next year.

Sempra also wants to expand an LNG facility near Ensenada, Mexico, operated by its Mexican subsidiary, to include an export component to ship natural gas to growing markets in Japan, China and other Asian countries.

The company has set a long-term goal of exporting 45 million tons of LNG a year to customers around the globe.

For Poland, the deal with Sempra marks a step toward becoming less dependent on natural gas from Russia. Poland signed similar agreements with Venture Global in October and Cheniere Energy last month. The Polish oil and gas company also said Wednesday that it plans to expand its LNG import terminal in the port city of Swinoujscie.

Another long-term contract not only allows us to develop an LNG portfolio with a view to delivering to Poland, Piotr Wozniak, Polands oil and gas company president, said in a statement, but it gives us, in the near future, the possibility of trading in LNG purchased on a global scale.

The Trump administration has been promoting American LNG to markets in Europe as a way to boost U.S. industry, reduce the trade deficit and exert some leverage on Russia.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, right, shakes hands with Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz in Warsaw on Wednesday. (Czarek Sokolowski / AP)

Anytime you can diversify to offset any potential negative implications with a certain geography or a certain country is probably a smart move, said Andy Smith, a senior analyst who follows utilities for Edward Jones. And its a smart move price-wise, too, because you can try to play one against the other and get the best price for your product.

Until recent years, the LNG export market in the United States was practically nonexistent. But due to hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques in places such as the Marcellus Shale in the East and the Permian Basin in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico, domestic production has taken off.

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

Nikolewski writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The recent high-profile reports of sexual harassment in the workplace have prompted a surge in training courses, which experts are updating to reflect the latest examples making front-page news.

Inquiries about sexual harassment training provided by TrainUp have skyrocketed, said Jeremy Tillman, founder and chairman of the Dallas-based company. The company got about 2,150 requests for its services last month, compared with 267 in January 2017.

Weve reached a point to where companies can no longer turn a blind eye, he said.

Since 2005, California employers have been required to conduct two hours of sexual harassment awareness training every other year for supervisors and executives in companies with 50 or more employees. The subjects covered have expanded over the years, and as of Jan. 1, were extended to gender identity, expression and orientation.

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During a training session, actors play a scene in a fictitious breakroom where one woman wears a provocative T-shirt and falls into the arms of her colleague at her birthday party. (Workplace Training Network )

Experts say two hours of training doesnt guarantee better behavior, judging by the publicized cases of late.

Heres what doesnt work  relying solely on compliance rules, education and training  to prevent or address sexual harassment,  said Johnny C. Taylor Jr., president and chief executive of the Society for Human Resource Management, at a joint legislative committee hearing in Sacramento last month. We could demand that every employee take 10 hours of sexual harassment training every week and accusations would still happen.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission logged 356 complaints last year in California, an increase from 2016 but less than the high of 441 filed in 2014.

Kit Goldman, a San Diego actress who runs sexual harassment training sessions, said she has seen a sharp increase in calls in recent months.

Theres definitely an awareness of how damaging [harassment] is, because people have seen companies and careers evaporate from this, she said.

Next month, she and her team will be shooting nine new videos to bring her sexual harassment vignettes up to date. She also gathers fellow actors together to demonstrate the donts in the workplace at onsite training sessions.

My job is to help my clients stay solvent, lawful and happy in the workplace, she said.

Matt Lauer was fired as an anchor on NBCs Today show in November 2017 after a female employee accused him of inappropriate workplace behavior. (Richard Drew / Associated Press )

If companies dont take steps to deter harassment, they can pay a high price. The EEOC said employees who had made sexual harassment complaints received a record $46.3 million in monetary compensation in 2017, up 13.8% from 2016.

The Consumer Attorneys of California said several laws have been introduced in Sacramento this year to clamp down even further. They would:

Extend the statute of limitations from the current one-year maximum to three years.

Broaden the definition of who can sue in the course of searching for work.

Loosen arbitration-requirement provisions in employment contracts.

Regulate how many years company must keep complaint records.

But the groups legislative counsel, Jacqueline Serna, said no bills have been introduced yet to require all employees to undergo harassment awareness training. Some companies do conduct training for nonsupervisorial workers.

Hollywood, Silicon Valley, New York and Washington, D.C., have dominated the headlines of egregious behavior, mostly men harassing women.

But the food, beverage and hospitality industry has historically seen the most cases, experts say.

We just have much more exposure than any of these other industries, said Stephen Zolezzi, chief executive of the San Diego Food & Beverage Assn. Its a hospitality environment. Theres more of an opportunity to be familiar with people, and that could be offensive to somebody  where do you draw the line?

His members pay $30 a person for online biannual sexual harassment training  a charge that can run much higher for in-person sessions. And the need is constant, he said.

Melody Nelson, vice president of human resources at Burger Lounge Restaurants, said her company uses online training courses that feature animated scenarios and quizzes throughout. Onsite instructor sessions also have been held.

Were at work and we can be friendly and caring and have close bonds with employees, but we always have to maintain professionalism, she said.

Heather Whitley-Quinn, human resources director at employment agency Manpower, said virtually the entire staff, not just management, receives sexual harassment training. But she acknowledged that low-level employees at any company may still not feel empowered to complain because they cant afford to quit and look for a new job.

If they leave an organization they may not necessarily be able to get good references if they make waves, she said. These issues are probably still pretty common.

Attorneys who represent both employers and employees in sexual harassment cases said that while training is required, many bosses and their workers dont take the rules very seriously  that is, until theres a problem.

Its not just about sex  its about power, said Joshua Gruenberg, who represents workers suing companies, and there are folks in the workplace who want to exert power over others.

Gruenberg began his legal career in the aftermath of Anita Hills allegations against Supreme Court justice then-nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991 and has gotten a boost in calls from potential clients as allegations multiplied against President Trump, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, NBC anchor Matt Lauer and many others  despite robust anti-harassment policies in place.

People tend to let the worst of their human nature come out at times, Gruenberg said. We dont expect this to stop, just like we dont expect discrimination cases to stop.

Showley writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

roger.showley@sduniontribune.com
O n a warm summer night in August 2009, an intruder shot Camile Hamilton in the face inside a suburban Florida home.

Hours after the attacker fled, Camile woke up  barely alive and with a bullet still inside her.

Three others, including Camiles teenage daughter, were dead. The crime scene was brutal and complicated, and neighbors didn't see anything.

The hunt was on for a killer.

Searching for Camile

After she was shot, Camile was able to reach a friend on her cellphone. That friend called 9-1-1 and was trying to relay directions to officers who were searching for a badly wounded Camile.

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He didnt know the address, so he described the location  on Encino Street in the River Run neighborhood of Miramar, off Fairmont Avenue.

He described the house as having a lot of flower pots in front.

Eventually, a 9-1-1 operator was able to reach Camile on her cellphone. She was barely able to speak and difficult to understand. But the operator was able to coax her to find the front door and go outside.

Thats where police spotted her, lying on the ground against the door, her legs straight out in front of her. She was wearing a brown sundress.

The bodies

As Camile was being treated by paramedics and then taken away in an ambulance, police officers moved into the house to clear it and search for other victims.

Inside the foyer, they found the first signs of a possible robbery. There were items strewn on the floor along with money  American and Jamaican bills.

Police found a bullet, too. But the house was quiet.

Officers re-grouped, after seeing the bullet, and called for SWAT officers. Before long, they went back inside.

They cleared the first floor room by room before starting their climb up the carpet-covered stairs. Another bullet was on the floor near the top of the steps.

The first door on the left was the master bedroom, and thats where they found the bloody scene.

On the floor next to the bed were three bodies. They were face down. Their ankles bound with duct tape. The wrists of two of them had also been taped.

Faith Bisasor, Davion Bishop and Nekitta Hamilton had been shot in their heads.

The news stunned the community. The South Florida Sun Sentinel carried the dramatic news.

Initial investigation

While a detective interviewed Camile Hamilton at a hospital, the home on Encino Street had become a major crime scene.

The search for evidence took days.

Police were going over every inch of the house. Bullets were found in various places in the house, including in the guest bedroom.

And there were signs of a robbery. In the master bedroom where the three bodies were found, purses had been emptied on the bed.

Police were also looking for evidence outside the house.

Two cars were parked in the driveway. A Toyota Corolla was on the left and a Mercury Sable on the right  parked at an angle and partially on the sidewalk.

The Corolla belonged to Faith Bisasor, one of the victims inside. The Mercury Sable was registered to an elderly woman who hired Camile as a live-in caretaker.

The Sables glove compartment had been opened and papers were strewn on the passenger seat and the floor.

Plastic baggies  the kind that could be used for drugs  were found on the strip of grass between the sidewalk and street in front of the house. It wasnt known if they were connected to the murders.

There was also a screen that was off a window in the back of the house, and found lying on the ground.

Its a complicated, confusing crime scene, and police are videotaping, noting and photographing every inch looking for a significant clue.

As the search for evidence stretches into days, there are far more questions than answers.

The only person who could help piece it together is in intensive care with a bullet still in her neck.

Who shot Camile Hamilton and killed Faith Bisasor, Davion Bishop and Nekitta Hamilton?

What police havent yet realized is that the key to identifying a suspect is hiding in plain sight. Its sitting next to the bodies in the bedroom, though it will be many months before it reveals its secret.

Its a roll of duct tape, and it contains what will become the most significant piece of evidence in the entire case.
After several years of growth, the number of jobs in the solar energy sector took a hit in 2017, with California absorbing the biggest blow.

Solar employment dropped 14% in California last year, which was largely responsible for a 3.8% decline nationwide, according to the National Solar Jobs Census released this week.

It was the first time those jobs have dropped in the history of that annual census, which first came out in 2010.

California lost 13,636 jobs in the industry last year, more than any other state.

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Being the biggest solar state, its not surprising that California takes the biggest hit, said Ed Gilliland, senior director for the Solar Foundation, a nonprofit in Washington that supports solar energy adoption and releases the jobs census each year.

California is home to about 40% of the nations solar capacity and employs seven times as many solar workers as any other state.

(@latimesgraphics )

Massachusetts saw a larger percentage drop in employment (21%), but Californias sheer size relative to the solar market dragged the national growth of solar jobs into negative territory.

The census results did not surprise Barry Cinnamon, chief executive of Spice Solar, a San Jose company that specializes in residential installations.

Im definitely seeing a little bit of a slowdown from the standpoint of jobs for solar in California, he said.

Why solar numbers were down

One of the biggest reasons for the decline stemmed from the fact that 2016 was a banner year for the industry. Nationally, 51,000 solar jobs were added that year and California accounted for almost half of them.

New installations in the U.S. doubled from 7.5 gigawatts in 2015 to 15 gigawatts in 2016, in many cases from customers who feared Congress would get rid of the federal governments 30% tax credit for solar projects.

That led to a rush to sign up for projects before the end of the year. As it turned out, Congress extended the tax credit in December 2015, but many projects were already under contract for 2016.

Specific to California, last years extremely wet winter also led to a reduction in installations.

That puts a big crimp in the residential market especially, Gilliland said, because who wants to buy solar in the rain?

Another reason for the decline: California utilities instituting net metering 2.0 rules pertaining to how rooftop solar customers  homes and businesses with solar panels on their roofs  are paid for the excess electricity their systems send back to the grid.

Under the new rules, there are times of day when selling that excess electricity brings in less money than it used to.

Utilities want to discourage people from running appliances and devices that consume a lot of energy  air conditioners, washers and dryers, for example  at times of day when demands on the power grid are highest. So theyre moving customers to time-of-use pricing, making electricity more expensive during high-demand times and cheaper during low-demand times.

The peak, or most expensive, rates occur in the evening.

That means when youre selling [excess solar-generated electricity] in the afternoon, youre not getting as good a rate, Gilliland said.

Under those conditions, buying a rooftop solar system can be less tempting.

Unease about tariffs

The solar jobs census was conducted in October and November, when the industry was very concerned about the Trump administration imposing tariffs on imports of solar modules, especially from Asia.

Two manufacturers called for the tariffs, saying the imports were unfair, but the U.S. solar industry in general opposed them, saying higher costs would hurt the domestic market.

President Trump had not made a ruling at the time the census was taken, but 71% of the respondents said the pending case already had hurt their businesses.

Last month, Trump imposed four years of tariffs, starting at 30% and stepping down each year. The tariffs were not as high as some in the solar industry had feared, but they are expected to weigh on the sector  especially on utility-scale projects because of their size.

What 2018 holds

Despite the head winds, the businesses taking part in the solar census projected solar-industry job growth of 5.2% this year, bringing the nations total to 263,293 jobs. They cited figures that indicate more growth for the industry in the long term.

In the last five years, the solar workforce in the U.S. increased 110%, or 131,000 jobs.

Twenty-nine states reported increases in solar jobs in 2017. Utah, Minnesota, Arizona and New Jersey reported the largest gains.

We could definitely be in some choppy waters over the next year or two, but the states with strong policies and strong economics should continue to do well and continue to grow, Gilliland said.

Information for the census came from 2,389 establishments; the Solar Foundation said 77% of those completed or substantially completed the survey. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.25% for the national employment numbers.

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rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com
The federal tax law that has resulted in big savings for corporations across the country is also leading to a windfall for utility companies  and that should lead to ratepayers getting a break on their power bills.

In California, the size of that break is still being worked out.

The California Public Utilities Commission has vowed to make sure ratepayers dont get overlooked.

At the CPUCs direction, electric and gas utilities and water companies under the CPUCs jurisdiction are tracking the savings from the tax law changes and will be required to refund the savings to their customers, Terrie Prosper, the director of the commissions public information office, said in an email.

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In the past, such refunds would be made part of a given utilitys rate case  the process that occurs every three years in which utilities make requests before the PUC on what they can charge customers.

But given the size of the savings from these tax law changes, the PUC may take action to refund the money to customers sooner, Prosper said.

Sempra Energys two utilities  Southern California Gas and San Diego Gas & Electric  are still assessing the tax reform and how it impacts our operations.

Southern California Edison said it plans to file a modification next month of its proposed rates for 2018-2020, which the PUC has under consideration. In its rate case filed in September 2016, Edison requested a 4% increase in the revenue it can collect from all customer categories in 2018, a 9% increase in 2019 and a 9% increase in 2020.

Tax-related reductions resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act should lead to a reduction in the amount that SCE is requesting the commission to authorize, Edison said in a statement.

Taken on an individual basis, any reductions on a ratepayers bill figure to be modest and may merely result in customers seeing no increase in their monthly bills for the next few years.

But cumulatively, the numbers are big.

Pacific Gas & Electric, for example, said that although officials at the company that services Northern California are still making calculations on the benefits PG&E will receive from the tax law, we expect it will total approximately $500 million annually.

PG&E was quick to point out, however, that it will soon ask the PUC to allow the company to recover extraordinary costs associated with harsh winter storms last year and loss of trees from years of drought and bark beetle infestations.

These costs are on a similar order of magnitude as the benefits of tax reform over the next couple of years, the company said in an email.

Sempra and Edison didnt put a dollar figure on what the tax law will mean.

SDG&E said it has implemented a tax tracking mechanism to assure any net tax benefits will flow to our customers.

We will work closely with the California Public Utilities Commission to determine how best to pass on those savings to our customers, SDG&E communications manager Wes Jones said.

Last October, SDG&E filed its general rate case request with the PUC, asking for an 11% rate increase in 2019 and running through 2022.

The federal tax bill, signed into law by President Trump on Dec. 22, went into effect at the start of the new year.

According to a study conducted by the Penn Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania, the utilities sector is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the law, projecting tax savings of 15.6% over the next nine years.

Some power companies across the country have already promised to pass on savings from the tax cut to ratepayers:

ComEd in Illinois has filed a proposal of about $200 million in tax savings to its customers, which the company estimates will lead to an average residential customers seeing a $2 to $3 reduction in monthly bills.

Baltimore Gas and Electric has filed papers that would lead to a reduction of $4.27 per month for an average gas and electric customer and a $2.31 monthly savings for gas-only customers.

Eversource, an electric company in Massachusetts, has committed almost $56 million in savings from the new tax bill to its 1.4 million customers.

Other utilities, such as Oregon-based Pacific Power, which has a service territory that includes the upper tip of California, have vowed to pass along savings from the tax cut to ratepayers but have not yet offered specifics.

Nikolewski writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com
Clustered near county jail and the courthouse, San Diego bail bond agencies sit at the intersection of crime and punishment, ready to play their part in the criminal justice system by helping people avoid incarceration while they await trial. They are, by their own accounts, the unsung heroes of the accused.

Now its their turn to appeal to a higher power.

Last week Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 10, effectively eliminating cash bail and the niche industry surrounding it, valued at $2 billion annually in the U.S. California-specific revenue is hard to pin down, but Aladdin Bail Bonds, one of the nations largest bail bond companies, is based in Carlsbad and is expected to pull in $14.4 million in 2018 U.S. revenue, according to research outfit IBISWorld.

Ultimately, the new law aims to level the playing field for rich and poor, ensuring that those who are detained ahead of trial are in custody because they need to be, not because they dont have the money to get out, said bill author Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys.

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There are other victims though.

It would put us out of business completely, said George Junior Stahlman III, whose local bail bond business, King Stahlman Bail Bonds, was established by his father, the late George King Stahlman, in 1954. Youve surely heard its famous jingle, Its better to know me and not need me than to need me and not know me.

Were a mom and pop store  a San Diego family business.

Currently, judges in California set bail for defendants, or a fixed amount that must be deposited with the court to ensure someone charged with a felony, and a misdemeanor in special cases, returns for court hearings and trial. If the defendant cannot post the entire bail, the court will accept a promise by a bail bond agency to pay the entire amount. The defendant then must pay a non-refundable premium to the agency in question, which is typically around 10 percent, and also promise to pay the full amount if he or she doesnt appear as directed.

Under the new pretrial risk assessment system, which goes into effect on Oct. 1 of next year, people arrested on most misdemeanor charges will be automatically booked and released. Everyone else will be graded by a validated risk assessment tool  aka computer software  that scores a persons likelihood to return to court, and whether or not the person is a threat to public safety. Those deemed by the tool to be low risk or medium risk will be released after making a written promise to return to the court  with money no longer a factor in the process. Higher risk individuals, meanwhile, may or may not be released with supervision, via tracking devices paid for by taxpayers, following a prevention detention hearing.

A referendum drive, launched by a coalition of agencies and supported by bail agents, aims to stop the law from being enacted before the public can weigh in, which would be during the November 2020 election. But, as it stands, the 2,795 licensed bail bondsmen and bondswomen of California, 265 of whom call San Diego County home, need to think about finding a new career.

I stand to lose a business that I built from nothing, said Wendy Zamutt, the owner of the San Diego-based Bail Bond Woman agency and a licensed agent since 1996.

Am I sad? Im very sad. Im not sad for Wendy, the bail bondwoman. Im sad for California, because were going to lose our Eighth Amendment right to bail.

Zamutt, who sold pagers before entering the bail services business in the mid-90s, speaks of her role in the justice system as one mostly misunderstood by the public. Shes not a vulture, preying on people when theyre down and out. Rather, in her eyes, shes a friend with a shoulder to cry on and a bank account that guarantees a loved ones release.

Im here to rescue you, she said.

Zamutt meets her clients directly at jail while theyre still in custody  so they dont have to be seen going into a bail bonds office. She helps them locate phone numbers for family members, which most people dont have memorized in the age of smartphones. And she provides hugs when needed, because her clients are often scared and alone.

People are treated very badly when theyre arrested, Zamutt said. But just because you were arrested doesnt mean you need to be treated like a criminal.

Its a flowery version of the surety bond system, for sure, but Zamutts glowing Yelp reviews back up her assertions. Plus, she touts a 100 percent return rate, meaning she makes sure her clients return to court as ordered, and she doesnt need to keep a bounty hunter on staff.

Whether sweet or sour in approach, Zamutt, Stahlman and other bail agents argue that they do what counties cannot; they get people to show up for court.

The law will put tens of thousands of criminals back out on the streets, said Jeffrey Stanley, a one-time mortgage banker who started his own company, Bad Boys Bail Bonds, 20 years ago. I think it was irresponsible of the legislature to pass this bill.

Hertzberg, he said, is ignorant of the work it takes to get someone charged with a crime to show up for court appearances. A friendly reminder wont cut it. Nor will counties have the police manpower and financial resources to pick up defendants who fail to appear, Stanley said.

Its the classic argument that private enterprise can do better than government  because money is on the line.

I would be out of business if my clients didnt show up to court, he said.

I employ 19 full-time investigators that help make sure (defendants) go to court, Stanley added. If someone misses court, we dont put a warrant into the system. We put them into custody.  We spend $2.1 million a year  on recovery, locating individuals.

Whether counties across the state can match the bail agents court return rates  Stanley says he has a 99.8 percent success rate  remains to be determined. The Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia, where cash bail is a thing of the distant past, asserts that 90 percent of released defendants made all scheduled court appearances in 2015. The federal agency, however, comes with an annual cost of more than $60 million, according to its budget reports.

Because of the states size, California taxpayers can expect to spend billions in dollars to fund these kinds of pretrial services, the bail agents argue. And because money is at the heart of the matter, they also challenge the idea that money bail discriminates against poor people, claiming its just political rhetoric.

I can see why people would think that, Junior, the acting King Stahlman, said. But theres a false narrative spread by the people who created this bill. They act like people are languishing in jail because they cant afford to bail out.

Most people dont know this, but bail bond companies dont charge 10 percent anymore. They can charge up to 10 percent, but most of the time its way under that. Theres a lot of negotiation that goes on depending on what they can afford.

The most common offenses he sees are cases of driving under the influence, which only require a $2,500 bail. That means the defendant would pay at most $250 to secure his or her release. And most times, Stahlman said, the defendant or a family member would make a $50 down payment.

Agree or disagree, the argument is moot  so long as the state law stands.

That means people like Gloria Mitchell, the volunteer president of the California Bail Agents Association and the owner of Gloria Mitchell Bail Bonds in Pomona, must abandon businesses that have often been handed down from generation to generation. Two decades ago, Mitchell took over the family business after her mother died of cancer. Now her two daughters are helping out.

Its very disheartening that the governor did not stand up to Senate Bill 10, she said.

Hertzberg, of course, argues otherwise.

Our job in California is to make sure people are treated fairly, not to protect one industry over another.

Business

jennifer.vangrove@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1840 Twitter: @jbruin
The migrant caravan crisis that led to a five-hour closure in both directions of the busy San Ysidro Port of Entry on Sunday highlighted the far-reaching economic impact such disruptions can have on the San Diego region  from potential labor shortages to substantial business losses among border-area merchants.

San Ysidro shop owners alone lost an estimated $5.3 million in sales as a result of the temporary shutdown, with some fearing that any future closures will put them out of business.

While there are multiple ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, San Ysidro is the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere. About 70,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians move between the two countries each day.

The Sunday shutdown occurred after hundreds of migrants made a rush to the U.S. border and were met by federal authorities deploying tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

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President Donald Trump early Monday morning sent out a tweet threatening to close the border. His comments have raised fears of future closings that threaten to disrupt the local cross-border economy.

Here is what we know about how the local economy is affected when there are disruptions and delays at the U.S.-Mexican border in San Diego.

How much business flows across the border?

Across the entire border, you have more than 1 million crossings a day, $1.6 billion in two-way trade every day, said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Washington D.C.-based Wilson Center. So if you did see, as Trump threatened this morning that he would permanently shut the U.S.- Mexico border, youd be looking at disastrous, catastrophic losses on both sides of the border.

On a daily basis, commercial exchange between San Diego and Tijuana in sectors from tourism to manufacturing is estimated at $2.1 million.

Prior to a $741 million expansion last year at the San Ysidro port, the San Diego Association of Governments predicted an 87 percent increase in vehicle traffic by 2030 in the San Ysidro area.

What types of goods and services are coming across the border?

In addition to agricultural goods, the San Diego-Baja California region is a manufacturing juggernaut, with nearly 600 export manufacturing plants and 50 contract manufacturing options within a 15-mile radius south of the San Ysidro Port of Entry. It is estimated that $42 billion worth of goods are imported and exported at Otay Mesa each year, according to the Smart Border Coalition.

Manufacturing components and equipment in such sectors as medical devices, electronics, automotive, plastics, aerospace, ship building and pharmaceuticals are regularly crisscrossing the border.

According to Jock OConnell, international trade adviser for Beacon Economics, a research and consulting firm based in Los Angeles, most trade between Mexico and the U.S. goes through Texas but the impact statewide is sizable.

In California, Mexico is our top export market, by far, OConnell said, citing that in the first nine months of this year, trade with Mexico accounted for 17.3 percent of all of Californias exports. So California has a strong need to keep borders functioning efficiently.

What businesses are most vulnerable?

In San Ysidro alone, the Chamber of Commerce counts 650 businesses in its ZIP code, most of them small.

A vast majority of the mom and pops make the bulk of their profit between Nov. 20 and Jan. 5, said Jason Wells, the chambers executive director.

Wells estimated about 75 percent of San Ysidros businesses, including the popular Las Americas Premium Outlets, decided to close Sunday.

It was a decision they didnt make lightly, Wells said. The perimeter of their parking lot is the border wall, so anything happening at the border can affect customers and employees  Ive got many businesses who wouldnt survive two more days of this. Its that critical.

Stores re-opened Monday but Wells said foot traffic in the early afternoon was slower than normal. Even before the weekend closure, sales were down 35 percent as many of the lanes at San Ysidro were closed in anticipation of the arrival of Central American immigrants.

No one wants to cross and (worry) that while Im there they shut down the border, Wells said.

Construction trades, landscaping companies, and hospitality businesses, including hotels and restaurants, are affected when there are severe delays at the border because many have employees who live in Tijuana.

How many workers need to cross to get to jobs in San Diego?

It is difficult to quantify how many workers cross the border each day. One estimate is that about a third of those arriving by car and on foot are coming to jobs in San Diego.

Unite Here, the union that represents hotel and hospitality workers, estimates at least 15 percent of its members are crossing the border to work in San Diego. The tourism economy would be devastated if there was a complete shutdown, said Unite Here Local 30 president Brigette Browning. These are the jobs that non-immigrants will not perform, the hardest ones, like housekeeping and the dishwashers.

How are businesses in San Diego coping?

Like other hotels, the Loews Coronado Bay Resort was affected by the Sunday shutdown when some employees were absent from work.

We have team members who live in Tijuana and legally work at Loews Coronado Bay Resort, said hotel Managing Director Sean Clancy. The border closures have obviously resulted in some delays, and a few work absences. Commute times have been extended, and in the case of yesterdays border closure, several of our team members were concerned about how they would get home. Some  stayed at the hotel overnight last night to avoid the border entirely.

Clarke Ramsey, president of LePerv Landscape Inc. in San Diego, also said the border shutdown led to some tardy arrivals and work no-shows. About 20 percent of his 30 employees live in Tijuana, he said.

It definitely hurts us, Ramsey said. The first thing I had to do this morning was send out emails saying we wouldnt be at their properties. People understand it because theyve seen this on the news. Im already trying to come up with solutions, like do we have a place to rent a house for four or five people who need to stay overnight.

The San Diego Convention Center Corp., which has about 50 full- and part-time employees who cross the border, has a break room with comfy bean bag-like seating for those workers who arrive early and need a place to relax before their shifts start or need to wait before heading back home across the border.

Many of our staff have also made connections with those who live here in San Diego so that they have accommodations to stay here if they need to, said corporation spokeswoman Barbara Moreno.

What about trucks? Where will all of that traffic go?

The crossing at Otay Mesa is the single largest gateway for commercial trucks moving across California and Mexico and is the second-largest truck port along the entire U.S. border with Mexico.

In 2017, the Otay Port of Entry recorded 9.27 million northbound vehicles crossings and 17 million crossings that included passengers and pedestrians.

But the Otay Mesa facility is considerably smaller than the port at San Ysidro, which racked up 32.17 million passenger and pedestrians crossings.

That means if San Ysidro is closed for an extended period of time, travelers could not simply drive east to Otay Mesa to cross the border without experiencing significant delays.

Otay cannot handle San Ysidros traffic, said Paola Avila, vice president of international business affairs at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. We know border wait times on their own cost our economy billions of dollars.

What about tourism from Mexico?

Visitors from Mexico fuel a tourism economy that benefits all Californians, said Caroline Beteta, president & CEO of Visit California, the states tourist office. Mexico is by far Californias top international market, responsible for more than 40 percent of Californias international visitor volume and $3.1 billion of visitor spending every year.

Last year San Diego welcomed more than 4.7 million day and overnight visitors from Mexico. They spent an estimated $360.4 million while here, according to Warren L. Skip Hull, vice president of CIC Research.

What now?

Representatives of various industries, government agencies, and business groups are already meeting and communicating with one another regularly to be prepared in the event of more border disruptions. Just last week, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce hosted such a meeting to address how to minimize the impact on the workforce and share ideas.

San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer is in Washington D.C. through Tuesday, meeting with the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal officials on cross-border relations.

In an email to the Union-Tribune, Faulconer said he will urge our leaders to work more collaboratively with Mexico to help resolve this issue as quickly and humanely as possible by providing increased border staffing and more resources to process those who are truly seeking asylum.

Los Angeles Times reporter Margot Roosevelt contributed to this report.

Business

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski
Just over a quarter of San Diegos largest publicly traded companies have all-male boards of directors. But that may change soon under a new law signed Sunday by California Gov. Jerry Brown.

The law requires publicly traded corporations headquartered in California to include at least one woman on their boards of directors by the end of 2019.

The goal of the law is to close the gender gap in the corporate world, but it could face legal challenges. Brown acknowledged potential legal flaws in a signing ceremony over the weekend.

In San Diego, 13 of the 46 local companies listed on the Russell 3000 index have all-male boards as of June 30, said Annalisa Barrett, a lecturer at the University of San Diego who studies corporate governance.

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Thats an improvement from 2017  when 20 of 48 San Diego Russell 3000 companies had no women on their boards.

The progress is a bit misleading, said Barrett, who is also chief executive and founder of Board Governance Research LLC.

While a few local companies added women to their all-male boards last year  including Viasat, Bridgepoint Education and Pico Holdings  the improvement stems largely from changes in the mix of local companies on the Russell 3000  an index of the largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. based on market capitalization.

San Diego is home to many publicly traded companies that are too small to be included in the Russell 3,000 index, said Barrett. There are many microcap companies in San Diego that do not have women on their boards.

Many of San Diegos largest companies  Qualcomm, Realty Income, ResMed, Cubic Corp.  have at least one woman as a director now. A handful of San Diego companies have three women directors, including Jack-in-the-Box and Illumina.

Sempra Energy has the largest number of female directors locally, with five women on its 14-person board.

Diversity and independence on corporate boards is being driven in part by large institutional shareholders, particularly for Russell 3000 companies.

They are pressuring companies that they invest in to make changes in governance practices, and companies in the larger market cap ranges are responding to those requests by their investors, said Barrett.

Local Russell 3000 companies with all-male boards include American Assets, a real estate investment trust; broadband chipmaker MaxLinear; and Bank of the Internet parent Axos Financial, among others.

Axos, America Assets and MaxLinear did not respond to requests for comment.

By July 2021, the new law calls for at least two women to sit on boards with five members, and three women must be on boards with six or more members.

Companies that miss the targets face fines of $100,000 for a first violation and $300,000 for subsequent violation. The California Chamber of Commerce and about 30 business groups opposed the law.

Public companies typically want a variety of skills on their boards, said Christina de Vaca, chief executive of the Corporate Directors Forum in San Diego, a non-profit that works to educate and support board members.

But increasingly, they want different viewpoints as well, said de Vaca.

The ability to have a variety of perspectives when you are making decisions is so important, she said. It is not just the skill sets. It is the varying perspectives that really enriches the dialog.

The lack of women on corporate boards, she said, stems in part from a lack of women in top executive positions at companies. Once that changes, there will be a bigger pool of women candidates to choose from for board seats.

A quarter of Californias publicly traded companies do not have a woman on their boards, according to Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, who introduced the legislation with Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego.

That percentage is on par with San Diegos ratio for larger public companies. Because the region  as well as the state  has an abundance of smaller, microcap firms, the overall percentage is likely higher, said Barrett, the University of San Diego lecturer.

Biotechnology, a key industry in the region, also is a field where companies tend to want a specific, narrow skill set that sometimes leads to all-male boards, she said. Half of the 25 largest San Diego biotech companies do not have women directors.

From my experience of 20 years looking at boards, the biotech industry is much more likely to have a concentration of directors who are all from the biotech or science field as opposed to other industries, she said.

Three local biotech firms, however, have two or three women directors  Halozyme Therapeutics, Arena Pharmaceuticals and Obalon Therapeutics.

In addition, biotech industry organizations and trade groups are working to support women in the field, said Ken Wechsler, an associate partner with compensation consulting firm Radford Aon.

You need to make sure it is the right person for the board, and in certain industries, there are going to be more men, he said. But with the push to get more women in biotech, that is going to change. It just wont happen overnight.

Business

mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com;

Twitter:@TechDiego

760-529-4973
For the last several months, the country  the world, really -- has been having a dialogue about how to eradicate workplace sexual harassment. There have been career-ending consequences for men in high and not-so-high places who have credibly been accused of such misconduct.

That in turn has provoked a backlash from prominent men and women here and abroad, including the President of the United States, raising concerns about due process for those accused and about the vanishing line between the klutz and the barbarian.

There is an emerging realization that the law is necessary in addressing sexual harassment, but is not sufficient. The law can never be the entire answer because, generally speaking, the law is designed to remedy only violations of behavioral minimums, not to prescribe best practices. Thus, for example, the law only redresses sexually harassing behavior that is severe or pervasive and the failure to prevent or correct it effectively.

The New York Times recently published an essay titled #MeToo and Laws Limitations by Harvard and Michigan scholar Catharine MacKinnon, a pioneer in sexual harassment law. Professor MacKinnon wrote: It is widely thought that when something is legally prohibited, it more or less stops. This may be true for exceptional acts, but it is not true for pervasive practices like sexual harassment . . . . MacKinnon credits the #MeToo movement for doing what the law cannot.

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New voices are being heard and perennial voices are being heard in new ways. On Feb. 13, the San Diego Union-Tribune convened a community-wide forum so San Diegans who had been affected by sexual harassment could be heard and so that ideas from experts and others about how to deal with it could be shared.

The American Bar Association House of Delegates, the organizations policy-making body, just unanimously adopted a one-page, nine-point resolution focused on sexual harassment that goes beyond lawyers and beyond law. The original draft resolution was directed only to employers in the legal industry. The final resolution included a strengthening and broadening an amendment, authored by San Francisco lawyer Mark Schickman who defends and advises employers, that extended the guidance in the resolution to all employers.

The ABA urges employers to adopt and enforce policies and procedures that prohibit, prevent, and promptly redress sexual harassment and retaliation. The ABA tells employers that the first step is to write a zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy and distribute it to all employees. Top executives must be involved in developing, communicating, and enforcing the policy.

Second, the policy must expressly apply to all levels of the organization, to non-employees such as vendors and customers who interact with employees, and in all work-related settings. A report accompanying the resolution emphasizes that [s]exual harassment by an employer may take place in settings that are not in the workplace, such as a taxi, conference, or restaurant meeting.

Third, the ABA advises employers to provide multiple ways to report violations of the policy, including methods which do not involve any accused party, including at least one anonymous reporting method (such as a hotline).

Among the other components the ABA believes are essential in an effective harassment policy are consistent and effective disciplinary consequences for harassment and retaliation and regular and effective training programs for all employees, which goes beyond the training requirements of California law.

In a recent story on why some sexual harassment training is ineffective, The New York Times quoted University of Wisconsin Professor Shannon Rawski saying that training should focus on empowering the bystander to address such conduct, thereby equipping everyone in the workplace to stop harassment, instead of offering people two roles no one wants: harasser or victim.

This remarkably open dialogue about sexual harassment is ongoing. The law has a place in this dialogue. And so do you.

Dan Eaton is a partner with the San Diego law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek where his practice focuses on defending and advising employers. He also is an instructor at the San Diego State University Fowler College of Business where he teaches classes in business ethics and employment law. He may be reached at eaton@scmv.com. His Twitter handle is @DanEatonlaw.
Eli Lilly is offering a half-price version of a top-selling insulin to ease the financial strain for some patients, but an advocacy group says much bigger changes are needed.

The drugmaker said Monday it will introduce a version of the diabetes treatment Humalog that will be called Insulin Lispro and come with an initial price 50 percent lower than Humalogs current rate of about $275 per vial.

The company said it is working to make the insulin available as quickly as possible.

Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that helps the body use glucose for energy. When a patients body doesnt make enough insulin, they have to take it by injection or through a pump.

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The average insulin price nearly tripled from 2002 through 2013, according to the American Diabetes Association. Since then, prices have continued to rise, often by 10 percent or more a year, and some patients have resorted to rationing their insulin.

Lilly and other drugmakers have been targeted by protesters and taken heat over soaring prices for some of their products. Theyve become frequent targets of President Donald Trump, and drug company leaders have been called before Congress and grilled about their prices.

House Democrats also recently started investigating pricing practices of the three major insulin makers, a group that includes Lilly.

The drugmakers have said that developing their products is a risky and costly process, and their prices reflect that. Some also have noted that while initial list prices are rising, the net price their companies receive after giving rebates has been relatively stable.

List prices are initial figures drugmakers attach to a product and are typically knocked down by rebates negotiated with pharmacy benefit managers. But those initial prices can still hurt patients without coverage or those who must first pay high deductibles before their coverage starts.

Lilly Chairman and CEO David Ricks said Monday in a blog post that the discounted insulin will be identical to Humalog, and it can address gaps in the current pricing system until we have a more sustainable model.

He added in a separate statement that Lilly pays significant rebates from its list price, but those discounts do not directly benefit all patients.

Lillys discounted insulin will sell for a list price of $137.35 per vial or $265.20 for a five pack of Kwik Pens. A company spokeswoman said the average person uses about two vials a month, and the pack of pens can last a month or more.

Ben Wakana, president of the advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs, said in an email that the lower prices were still too high, and Lillys move will help only a fraction of the patients who need it.

Clearly, the insulin cartel is feeling pressure after years of price gouging a lifesaving drug, he wrote.

Humalog brought in $1.8 billion in U.S. sales and about $3 billion globally last year for Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co.

Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan said in a research note that Lillys move makes sense to lower out-of-pocket costs and also ease public pressure on manufacturers.

Business

lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  The maker of the Gibson guitar, omnipresent for decades on the American rock n roll stage, is filing for bankruptcy protection after wrestling for years with debt.

Gibson guitars have been esteemed by generations of guitar legends. After Chuck Berry died, his beloved cherry-red Gibson guitar was bolted to the inside of his coffin lid. David Bowie favored the 1989 Gibson L4 when he fronted Tin Machine. Slash swears by them.

A pre-negotiated reorganization plan filed Tuesday will allow Gibson Brands Inc. to continue operations with $135 million in financing from lenders.

Gibson was founded in 1894 and is based in Nashville, Tennessee. It also makes the Epiphone and Wurlitzer pianos.

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The company has already sold off some noncore brands, acquisitions that contributed to its burdensome debt load.
San Diegos financially troubled Green Flash brewery has been sold to a group of investors following a foreclosure by the companys principal lender, Comerica Bank.

As a result of the sale, which closed Friday, a new ownership group calling itself WC IPA LLC is taking over and making a number of top management changes.

Former Green Flash Brewing Company CEO Mike Hinkley will continue as the new companys vice president.

The announcement of the sale comes just a week after Green Flash closed its Virginia Beach brewery, which had a 16-month lifespan. There was more troubling news last week as the brewery closed its Poway barrel-aging facility, Cellar 3.

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While Green Flash had ambitious plans to become a national force in craft beer, distributing to all 50 states from its San Diego and Virginia bases, it was unable to make payments on the $20 million loan it had with Comerica.

After a general slowdown in the craft beer industry, coupled with intense competition and a slowdown of our business, we could not service the debt that we took on to build the Virginia Beach brewery, and in early 2018, the Company defaulted on its loans with Comerica Bank, Hinkley wrote in a note to Green Flash shareholders. While we took substantial efforts to recapitalize the Company over the past several months, both before and after the bank default, we were ultimately unable to close a transaction.

The Green Flash and Alpine breweries will continue to operate under new ownership, Hinkley added, but Green Flash Brewing Company and Alpine Beer, which Green Flash purchased in 2014, will be dissolved. Separately, Comerica is in the process of trying to sell the Virginia Beach brewery.

Pat McIlhenney, co-founder of Alpine, said he heard from Hinkley on Monday.

McIlhenney and his wife -- Val McIlhenney, who was vice president of Green Flashs Alpine Beer division -- will have no role in the new company. Their son, Shawn McIlhenney, remains under contract as a Green Flash brewer.

Hinkley and his wife, Lisa Hinkley, started Green Flash 16 years ago. A news release said he will lead the new company, although a California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control document identifies him as vice president.

That development drew barbed comments from McIlhenney. I dont have a lot of faith in the management, he said, especially if they keep Mike on management.

He has no business being in this business. His business prowess is abysmal.

Hinkley could not be reached for comment.

Despite the financial troubles, the Green Flash Brewhouse & Eatery in Lincoln, Neb., will open this month, and will brew specialty beers serving the state of Nebraska.

The rise and fall of Green Flash reflects the peculiar state of Americas craft beer industry, which is enjoying record sales and witnessing an unprecedented number of failures. Last year saw the demise of 165 craft breweries (the term describes operations that are small, independent and devoted to traditional beer styles and ingredients).

At the same time, 997 breweries opened across the U.S. There are about 5,600 craft brewing companies, operating from 6,622 locations.

We havent seen those numbers ever in our countrys history, said Julia Herz, craft beer program director of the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based national industry group. This is still the best time ever to be a beer drinker.

But the rapid growth in breweries means fierce competition for shelf space in stores and tap handles in bars and restaurants. At the same time, industrial breweries like Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors have been buying numerous craft breweries, using their nationwide distribution and sales networks to undercut their independent rivals.

Thats changing the environment and tipping the scales, Herz said. The business, she added, is certainly harder than ever.

Green Flash is not alone in struggling with these changes. Last month, New Hampshires Smuttynose Brewing Co. was auctioned off to an investment group. San Franciscos Speakeasy Ales & Lagers was bought by the former owner of a beer distributor last May, two months after its closure.

Theres still value in these businesses, said Bart Watson, the Brewers Associations chief economist. The brands still have value to customers so for the right price there is still interest.

While the craft beer sector is still growing at a healthy 5 percent, that doesnt mean there wont still be casualties as companies try to expand their brands outside the local region, said David Barnett, a Chicago-based senior research analyst for JLL, a commercial brokerage firm. which last year released The Craft Beer Guidebook to Real Estate.

If you want to make that step of going from a local to a national player, you need to grow your brand loyalty in alignment with new customers, and youre not going to see every business successful in doing that, whether its operations and distribution, name recognition and picking the right location, said Barnett, a former San Diegan who at one time was a server at Karl Strauss Brewing Company.

For now, the new company says the Green Flash brand will still be sold in eight states: California, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and Nebraska. The breweries in Mira Mesa and Alpine will continue to operate.

Dave Mills, a veteran of San Diegos Ballast Point, was named vice president of sales and business development. He replaces Jim Kenny, who had held that position for eight years. Also departing is Chris Ross, who had been president since 2016.

Erik Jensen, the brewmaster since 2015, retains his position as vice president of brewing operations.

The president of the new company is identified as Richard Alan Lobo, founding partner of Muirlands Capital, a San Diego private equity firm. Lobo also has been a board member of Green Flash since April of last year.

Raising some eyebrows in the craft beer community is the addition of Joshua Yelsey, formerly of Anheuser-Busch, as manager of Green Flashs new owner. Not only was he a manager in Anheusers mergers and acquisitions department, but he also worked as head of finance for such Anheuser-acquired craft breweries as Goose Island and Blue Point.

Since January, when Green Flash laid off dozens of employees, the company has been showing signs of decline. For fans of the beer and friends of the Hinkleys, like San Diego Brewers Guild president Paul Sangster, thats been tough to watch.

I think all of us in San Diego are hoping Green Flash and Alpine brands continue to be made the way theyve been made recently, Sangster said, so we can continue to enjoy them.

Pat Korn, a former Green Flash brewer who was Cellar 3s barrelmaster, said the brewery made several fatal mistakes: expanding to the East Coast before its West Coast brewery had reached peak production; raising prices on its beers; and tinkering with the recipe of its flagship ale, West Coast IPA.

West Coast built that Mira Mesa brewery, Korn said, and they decided to change it.

Business

lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg
Two Thai massage parlors in San Diego are being asked to pay tens of thousands of dollars in back wages to 17 employees after violating federal wage laws, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Monday.

In total, the two businesses  Yuanjun International Inc. (doing business as Massage Eden) and Rama Thai Massage  will pay $61,317 in back wages. Massage Eden will bear the brunt of that payout, as it has been ordered to pay $46,555 to its affected employees. The Labor Department says the company incorrectly classified its workers as independent contractors, failed to pay minimum wage and overtime, and failed to keep accurate payroll records at three different locations in San Diego County.

Separately, two local Rama Thai Massage locations were found in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Its affected employees will get $14,762 in back wages.

The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring employees receive all wages they have rightfully earned and encourages all employers to review their pay practices to make certain all employees are classified and paid correctly, said Rodolfo Cortez, district director of the Labor Departments Wage and Hour Division, in a statement. We urge all employers to make use of the many tools the Department provides to help them understand and comply with the law, and to call us for assistance.

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brittany.meiling@sduniontribune.com 619-293-1286 Twitter: @BrittanyMeiling
SEATTLE (AP)  Nestle is paying more than $7 billion to buy the rights to sell Starbucks coffee and tea in supermarkets and other stores outside its coffee shops.

The deal comes with a huge price tag for Nestle, but it could pay off big for the Swiss company. Its Nescafe and Nespresso dont carry anywhere near the heft in America that the Starbucks brand does, with its $2 billion in annual sales. Nestle will also put Starbucks in grocery stores outside the U.S. and Canada.

The deal gives Nestle the rights to market, sell and distribute bags of Starbucks coffee beans, as well as its instant coffee. Nestle will also sell other brands owned by Starbucks, such as Seattles Best Coffee, Teavana tea and Torrefazione Italia coffee, and will be allowed to put the Starbucks brand on Nestle single-serve capsules for coffee machines.

The agreement does not include bottled drinks like iced coffees and Frappuccinos that are sold in and outside of Starbucks stores.

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Nestle hinted last year that it was looking at focusing on higher-growth areas like pet care, coffee and infant nutrition. In January it announced it was selling its U.S. candy business to Italys Ferrero for approximately $2.8 billion. And last year, Nestle bought a majority stake in high-end coffee company Blue Bottle.

With the strength of the Starbucks brand, Nestle will be able to better compete against JAB Holdings, an investment holding company that has gobbled up coffee businesses and brands associated with Peets, Caribou, Stumptown and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.

Starbucks already has a deal with JAB, creating single-serve coffee for its Keurig brewers. Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said that deal is unaffected by the agreement with Nestle.

Nestle announced Monday that Starbucks Corp. will receive $7.15 billion in an up-front cash payment. Approximately 500 Starbucks employees will join Nestle, and operations will continue to be located in Seattle.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of the year.

Business

jennifer.vangrove@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1840 Twitter: @jbruin
Los Angeles biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong is nearing a deal to buy The San Diego Union-Tribune and Los Angeles Times from their Chicago-based parent company, Tronc, according to two people familiar with the talks.

The deal, if consummated, would return the U-T and The Times to private ownership. It also would represent a major shift for Tronc, formerly known as Tribune Publishing, which had built its strategy around owning newspapers in the countrys largest cities.

A deal had not been reached Tuesday afternoon, though both sides are said to be working to complete the transaction and make an announcement quickly, according to those sources, who were not authorized to speak about the negotiations publicly and requested anonymity.

The Washington Post on Tuesday first reported the potential sale, but Soon-Shiong was not available for comment and Tronc representatives declined comment.

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Sources put the purchase price at $500 million  nearly equivalent to the market capitalization of the entire Tronc chain, which stood at $608 million Tuesday.

Tronc is expected to use the proceeds to pay down company debt and further its digital strategy across the remaining papers, which include the Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel and Baltimore Sun. Soon-Shiong would assume pension liabilities for the California News Group, the entity that owns the Union-Tribune and the L.A. Times.

The talks accelerated over the weekend after a flurry of news articles questioning Troncs oversight of The Times and a critical New York Times article that suggested that Los Angeles wealthy class had abandoned its hometown newspaper at a time when other billionaires, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, had stepped up. Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million and invested in its newsroom.

The U-T, which is marking its 150th anniversary this year, was owned by the Copley family until it was sold to Platinum Equity, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, in 2009 for an undisclosed sum that was estimated at $50 million or more.

Douglas F. Manchester bought the paper for $110 million in 2012. Three years later he sold the companys Mission Valley buildings to local developers for $50 million and the publishing business for $85 million to Tribune.

Soon-Shiong would be the fifth owner in the past decade.

The U-T employs about 260 people, down from nearly 2,000 under the Copleys. Most of the downsizing has come from outsourcing of printing, packaging and distribution, but the news and advertising departments have experienced layoffs as well.

Soon-Shiong has some connections to San Diego. He has owned timeshares since 2001 at the Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara in Carlsbad and is vice chairman of Viracta Therapeutics, an anti-cancer biotech in Cardiff.

Dean Nelson, director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University, said the ownership change reflects the turmoil in the U.S. newspaper industry.

What do we do with the traditional kinds of news media weve been used to, he asked. How do you stay relevant, and really, I think the key is going to be how do you stay local.

He said the answer may come if the new owner reinvests in local staffing that has declined in the face of growth of free online news sites.

Throughout American history, different news organizations have been owned by billionaires, he said. This is not a new phenomenon. Whether a billionaire can really make it a legitimate, viable function in a free society other than just trying to get across his or her own ideology  thats going to be the critical issue.

U-T Publisher and Editor Jeff Light called the idea of a Southern California media company a very compelling proposition.

The business opportunity and the journalistic opportunity are very big, he said.

Gabriel Kahn, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California, said he had interviewed Soon-Shiong for LA Magazine and wasnt sure why he was interested in investing in news organizations.

I hope Patrick can declare quickly what his intentions are, how much he plans to invest, he said. Both papers will require serious investment going forward. Neither can afford any more newsroom cuts. They will need new technology and new revenue streams.

Lloyd Greif, a downtown Los Angeles investment banker, said he believes Soon-Shiong is interested in acquiring The Times largely for civic reasons, though Greif said he suspects the billionaire entrepreneur will want to get a return on his investment.

Patrick wants a strong, locally focused, engaged newspaper, said Greif, who has been closely following the developments. He wants it to be a vibrant voice. This is 100 percent good news. But yes, hes going to make money. Hes not doing this as a charitable gift.

A sale of The Times could be a first step in dismantling Tronc, Greif said. He speculated that Ferro might keep his hometown Chicago Tribune but sell off the rest of the companys publications.

If they sell The Times, I think they go into liquidation mode, Greif said. This is a sign Ferro is at the end of the road and is prepared to take whatever profit he can get. So hell try to maximize the value of The Times and get what he can for the rest.

A source close to Tronc said there are no plans to sell papers other than the two in California.

Founded in 1881 and locally owned, the Los Angeles Times was acquired by the Chicago Tribune company in 2000. Los Angeles business leaders have periodically tried to buy it back ever since. In recent months it has sustained a series of management changes and staff cuts, starting in August when several top editors were ousted.

Ross Levinsohn, a former Yahoo and Fox executive, was appointed its new publisher and brought in his own team to develop a new digital strategy. But last month, he was placed on unpaid leave pending an investigation into sexual harassment claims that occurred at previous jobs.

There have been three top editors in the last six months, including Jim Kirk, who was named editor in chief last week. He replaced former Forbes editor Lewis DVorkin, whose tumultuous three-month tenure was marked by contentious dealings with staff. And last month, The Times newsroom, unhappy with corporate management and years of cost-cutting, overwhelmingly voted to join the News Guild-Communication Workers of America, the first time in the newspapers history that it has been unionized. (The Union-Tribune newsroom voted to withdraw from The Newspaper Guild in the 1990s.)

Soon-Shiong, 65, a medical entrepreneur and native of South Africa, had been rumored several years ago to be among a group of wealthy Angelenos who were interested in buying The Times. His interest in the paper was formalized in May 2016 when the biotech magnate invested $70.5 million in The Times parent company. His current stake is 26 percent. He also owns a minority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers.

At the time, the deal was seen as a coup for Tronc Chairman Michael Ferro, a way for him to fight off a hostile takeover bid by rival newspaper company Gannett. Though Ferro and Soon-Shiong presented a united front opposed to Gannett, their relationship soon soured.

Early last year, Tronc and Soon-Shiong traded barbs in a series of publicly filed letters, with Soon-Shiong saying he wanted to acquire a larger stake in the company and Tronc saying it had rebuffed the doctors efforts to acquire The Times. An April letter from a Tronc attorney said Soon-Shiong offered to buy The Times in December 2016 but was told he would have to buy all of Tronc  which publishes 10 daily papers. If [Soon-Shiong] wants to make such a proposal, the board will do its duty and consider it, Troncs attorney wrote.

Ferro initially bought a 16.6 percent stake in Tribune Publishing in 2015, investing $44.4 million in the company when the stock was trading around $8.50 a share. Ferro has continued to buy shares and now owns a 28 percent stake. On Tuesday, the stock closed at $18.10.

Meg James and James Rufus Koren write for the Los Angeles Times and Roger Showley writes for The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which has been struggling with a financial crisis stemming from Californias historic wildfires, intends to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by the end of the month, according to a regulatory filing.

The company, which is the largest investor-owned utility in California, said it faced an estimated $30 billion liability for damages from the 2017 and 2018 wildfires that killed scores in Northern California, a sum that would exceed its insurance and assets. The filing followed the announcement Sunday night that PG&Es chief executive, Geisha Williams, would step down.

By early afternoon trading on Monday, the companys shares had fallen nearly 50 percent. They had already lost almost two-thirds of their value since early November, when the companys equipment was linked to the Camp Fire, which destroyed thousands of homes in Paradise, Calif., and killed at least 86 people.

PG&Es problems could be the harbinger of more turmoil in Californias energy sector. The state, which prides itself on being a leader in the fight against climate change, has in recent years had to contend with much larger and more destructive wildfires, many of them caused by or linked to utility equipment. Industry executives have been lobbying the California Legislature to protect them financially by allowing them to raise electricity rates to help pay for property damage caused by fires, an effort in which they have been partially successful.

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Some experts say that the state could be on the cusp of its second energy crisis in less than two decades. In 2000 and 2001, California was roiled by blackouts, soaring electricity rates and the bankruptcy of PG&E after a botched deregulation by the state.

PG&Es filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said the company planned to file for bankruptcy on or about Jan. 29, saying the move was ultimately the only viable option to restore PG&Es financial stability to fund ongoing operations and provide safe service to customers.

The filing noted that the company was required to give employees 15 days notice of such a move, under a recently passed California law.

One possibility is that another utility company will take over all of PG&E, or parts of its business. It is the primary gas and electricity supplier to the northern half of California, serving about 16 million customers over 70,000 square miles.

PG&Es safety culture has also been under scrutiny since it was found at fault in a natural-gas explosion in 2010 that devastated the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno and killed eight people. The company was fined a record $1.6 billion by the state for failing to maintain its pipeline system properly, and it paid $900 million to resolve lawsuits related to the explosion.

Fire investigators determined that PG&E equipment was responsible for at least 18 of 21 major fires in 2017 as well as blazes in 2018. Some of the fires have been attributed to power lines coming into contact with trees, which critics have said is a result of the utilitys failure to trim the trees.

The billions in potential costs have prompted a series of downgrades in PG&Es ratings, including decisions last week by Moodys Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings to downgrade the utilitys bonds to junk.

The action is driven entirely by the further weakening of Pacific Gas and Electric Companys credit quality, Moodys stated in its decision.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who took office last week, has said that responding to the utility and wildfire issues is among his top priorities. Officials have said that a bankruptcy filing would not jeopardize the provision of gas and electricity.

While PG&E announced its intent to file bankruptcy today, the company should continue to honor promises made to energy suppliers and to our community, Mr. Newsom said in a statement on Monday. Throughout the months ahead, I will be working with the legislature and all stakeholders on a solution that ensures consumers have access to safe, affordable and reliable service, fire victims are treated fairly and California can continue to make progress toward our climate goals.

After intense lobbying, the states investor-owned utilities, which include Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric, won a legislative shield last year from having to bear the cost of 2017 fires. The law allows them to pass the cost of wildfires to their customers in the form of higher electricity rates.

Now they are seeking the same for last years fires. State law requires utilities to compensate property owners for fire damage caused by their equipment, regardless of whether negligence is proved.

In its filing Monday, PG&E said it was aware of 50 complaints on behalf of at least 2,000 plaintiffs in connection with the Camp Fire, including six seeking to be litigated as a class action. It also cited 700 complaints on behalf of at least 3,600 plaintiffs related to 2017 wildfires, including five seeking to be certified as class actions.

The utility companies acknowledge that they may bear some responsibility for wildfires but say it is not entirely their fault, because climate change and development in remote areas have made wildfires more destructive.

In San Diego, SDG&E defended its recent safety record.

While there is an increased threat of wildfires statewide, the circumstances of investor-owned utilities are not the same across the board, said Helen Gao, spokeswoman for San Diego Gas & Electric in an email to the Union-Tribune.

Gao pointed to more than $1 billion the utility has invested since deadly wildfires ripped through San Diego County in 2007. Among the programs SDG&E has established with ratepayer dollars: a weather network made up of 177 stations and mountaintop wildfire detection cameras. SDG&E also has upgraded 14,000 wood poles to fire-resistant steel poles.

At the end of the trading day on Wall Street, PG&E Corporation stock dropped by more than half, falling from an opening of $17.59 per share to $8.38.

Sempra, the parent company of SDG&E and Southern California Gas, finished the trading day down 2.3 percent at $111.76 per share.

Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, was down 1.97 percent to $58.15 a share.

Andy Smith, a senior analyst who follows California utilities for Edward Jones, said PG&Es woes would likely have just an ancillary effect on SDG&E and Southern California Edison.

But Smith said, I think one consequence of this will be greater focus on tree-trimming and system hardening and other things that can help keep wildfires from becoming so disastrous. And while the utility pays for that upfront, it eventually finds its way into customers bills.

Energy expert Gary Ackerman, former executive director of the Western Power Trading Forum, an organization based in Sacramento whose 90 members in the West buy and sell power, acknowledged PG&Es faults but said a bankruptcy could be disastrous for others, including ratepayers.

I think people are just fooling themselves if they say, just let PG&E go bankrupt and things will take care of themselves and we will punish them, Ackerman said. Who are you punishing? Ratepayers are on the hook to guarantees of revenues and costs (by investor-owned utilities)  The utilities have a certain obligation and role to play in the state pursuing its energy and environmental policies, period. I dont see that changing and a bankruptcy would just make things worse.

The California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees PG&E and the two other investor-owned utilities in the state, said through a spokeswoman it continues to closely monitor PG&E, along with the governors office and other state agencies.

At this point, PG&E has sufficient resources to continue to safely meet its core responsibilities and obligations, said CPUC communications director Terrie Prosper in an email.

U-T staff writer Rob Nikolewski contributed to this article.
Martin Shkreli, the notorious former hedge fund manager, is scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court Friday for defrauding investors.

Prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto to sentence Shkreli to at least 15 years in prison. Shkrelis defense team is asking for much less, 12 to 18 months.

Shkreli, 34, best known for raising the price of an AIDS drug by 5,000 percent when he was chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, was convicted by a Brooklyn jury in August of defrauding the investors in his hedge funds. Shkreli lied to obtain investors money, then didnt tell them when he made a bad stock bet that led to massive losses, prosecutors argued. Instead, they said, he raised more money to pay off other investors, or took money and stock from Retrophin, a drug company that he was running.

Shkrelis defense attorneys have argued that Shkrelis investors eventually made money and said the jury erred by convicting Shkreli on some of the counts he faced. Matsumoto rejected those motions.

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The big risk that Shkreli faces here is that he has kind of dug his own grave four times already with this court by showing this complete disdain and thumbing of his nose to the judicial process and the court and law enforcement, said David Chase, a former prosecutor for the Securities and Exchange Commission. You couple that with the judges very powerful discretion, and it just [isnt] going to end well.

Usually boisterous and defiant, Shkreli has recently struck a contrite tone. I accept the fact that I made serious mistakes, but I still believe that I am a good person with much potential, he said in a three-page letter to the judge overseeing his case.

But it may be too late. Prosecutors dismiss Shkrelis contrition as insincere and say that he was able to repay investors is further evidence of his crime, not his innocence. Not once does Shkreli acknowledge that he lied to investors and committed fraud, prosecutors said. Shkrelis investors were not repaid due to Shkrelis personal generosity or honest hard work, but were ultimately remunerated due to Shkrelis continuing crimes.

In the two years since FBI agents ushered him from his Manhattan apartment, Shkreli has gone from a rising star in the hedge fund world to Wall Street bad boy. He has smirked his way through interviews and congressional appearances, and beefed with rappers, reporters and almost anyone else in his path. He was repeatedly kicked off Twitter. There was a satirical musical about him, Pharma Bro: An American Douchical! (it received good reviews) and an episode of CNBCs American Greed dedicated to his troubles.

His antics even continued during his five-week trial. Once, he walked into a room full of reporters and mocked the Brooklyn prosecutors on his case as the junior varsity to the federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Matsumoto told him to stop talking.
The state of California has found The Cheesecake Factory and its janitorial subcontractors liable in a $4.57 million wage-theft case related to hundreds of underpaid employees at eight San Diego and Orange County locations.

The Labor Commissioners Office found that 559 janitorial workers are due $3.94 million in minimum wages, overtime, liquidated damages, waiting time penalties, and meal and rest period premiums.

Affected restaurants include the Friars Road and Harbor Drive locations in San Diego, as well as the Escondido location.

State investigators found that janitors frequently began shifts around midnight and worked until morning without proper meal or rest breaks. After working for eight hours, janitors couldnt leave until Cheesecake Factory kitchen managers conducted walk-throughs that frequently led to additional tasks. That resulted in each worker logging up to 10 hours of unpaid overtime each week, according to investigators.

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Americlean Janitorial Services Corp., The Cheesecake Factorys janitorial contractor, had subcontracted work to Magic Touch Commercial Cleaning. All entities were held liable for wage theft.

The Cheesecake Factory janitorial contractors were also accused of wage violations in 2007 and 2010. Stolen wages are business as usual for the restaurant chains contracted workers, said Lilia Garcia-Brower, executive director of the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, a janitorial industry watchdog based in Los Angeles.

This marks the third time the Cheesecake Factory has stood by as the people who clean their restaurants had thousands of dollars in wages stolen from their paychecks. This time is different. Because of new laws in the state, the Cheesecake Factory will also be held accountable for the stolen wages of the people who clean their restaurants, she said.

Fridays fines were handed down under a 2015 state law that holds client employers accountable for workplace violations conducted by contractors.

Businesses contracting and subcontracting to avoid responsibility for ensuring proper worker wages is a common janitorial wage theft practice, according to Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su, though the 2015 law allows officials more recourse in penalizing employers.

Client businesses can no longer shield themselves from liability for wage theft through multiple layers of contracts. Our enforcement benefits not only the workers who deserve to be paid, but also legitimate janitorial businesses that are underbid by wage thieves, she said.

The investigation was initiated after the Labor Commissioners Office received a report of wage theft from the Employee Rights Center in San Diego, a nonprofit that assists low-wage workers without union representation.

Investigations typically include three years of payroll audits.
Cutwater Spirits, a Miramar-based craft distillery built by the founders of Ballast Point Brewing, has been sold to Anheuser-Busch.

Cutwaters line of canned cocktails was a wonderful fit for the brewing behemoths Beyond Beer portfolio, said Anheuser-Buschs Marina Hahn.

This is the time to really do our best to dominate a new category, said Hahn, vice president of new business.

In a boozy case of deja vu, several Cutwater executives  including founder/brewer Yuseff Cherney and chief sales officer officer Earl Kight  helped sell Ballast Point to New Yorks Constellation Brands in 2015.

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Ballast Point met with an immediate backlash. Some San Diego craft beer fans argued that the brewery, a local brewing pioneer, had sold out to a multi-national corporation with enough marketing power to crush smaller rivals. The sales price also drew disbelieving gasps: $1 billion.

Cherney, Kight and Ballast Point co-founder Jack White used their shares to turn Ballast Point Spirits into Cutwater. Making bourbon, rum, gin and other spirits, the distillery eventually moved into a 50,000-square-foot facility that includes canning and bottling lines plus a restaurant.

Business was good, Cherney said, but not growing as fast as he would like. Enter Anheuser-Busch.

One of the things we always battle with is getting out products into the consumers hands, Cherney said. To be able to open that up with the Anheuser-Busch marketing network is huge for us.

Financial terms of the deal were not revealed, although Cherney said Cutwaters management team will remain intact.

Cutwater grew out of Cherneys experiments with a makeshift distillery built inside Ballast Points Scripps Ranch facility.

We claim the title of first distillery in San Diego since Prohibition, Cheney said. I think I am still making that claim.

San Diego County is now home to more than a dozen craft distilleries. While Cutwater declined to state its annual production, it is in excess of 100,000 gallons a year, one of the distinguishing features of craft distilleries.
For the third time in three years, California energy officials are working to expand governance of the electric power grid to become a regional function covering as many as 14 states.

Opponents of the plan, which would fundamentally rewrite how electricity is managed across most of the West, are once again steeling for a fight.

Gov. Jerry Brown and key lawmakers are meeting with utility interests, labor groups and other stakeholders to build support for whats called a regional transmission organization, or RTO.

Promoters of the expanded-grid concept say a multi-state system would allow California to sell excess renewable power like solar or wind to other states that rely on electricity generated by heavier polluters like coal and natural gas. They also say it will save money, create jobs and protect the environment.

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Integrating clean, renewable energy on a coordinated Western grid more effectively uses resources and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, said Kellie Smith, chief consultant to the Utilities and Energy Committee, chaired by Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena.

This also allows for a broader mix of renewables across the western region and provides tangible economic benefits by allowing for the export of unused renewable power, like solar, throughout the region, Smith said in an email.

Holden has been circulating draft language for a bill that would create a regional grid to supplant the work of the California Independent System Operator, or CAISO, the Folsom-based nonprofit that now controls most of the states power grid.

Members of the CAISO board of directors are appointed by the governor. The RTO would be overseen by a board that answers to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Consumer advocates worry that marrying California to a regional system would cede state oversight of the transmission network to federal political appointees who do not always agree with California energy policies.

After Minnesota banned the import of coal-generated electricity, for example, federal judges ruled that the Midwest Independent System Operator had jurisdiction over how power is created  not state officials  and reversed the ban.

Based on the evidence presented so far, we dont see that turning the CAISO into a regional entity would produce compelling benefits for California ratepayers or the environment, said Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney at the Utility Reform Network or TURN. We remain deeply concerned about the potential risks to Californias sovereignty.

The idea of a multi-state grid was first proposed as part of the 1990s legislation that deregulated the California energy market. It was suspended after electricity rates skyrocketed due to price manipulation by some traders and cost consumers tens of billions of dollars.

Loretta Lynch, who served as the California Public Utilities Commission president during the state energy crisis of the early 2000s, said an expanded grid could again damage ratepayers by eroding their rights to participate in public hearings and access public records.

The new Holden bill amendments are designed to make it look like California will retain some power over the new RTO board and also that some public participation will be mandated, she said. Talk about putting a finger on the scale of transparency  this is more like an iron fist for secrecy.

The regional grid plan was reintroduced in a 2015 bill that requires California to produce at least half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

The effort stalled in 2016 amid concerns that it would take away Californias ability to dictate what sources of electricity it generates and consumes. Other states in the proposed RTO rely more heavily on power generated by coal and other fossil fuels.

Last September, in the final days of the 2017 session, the proposal was inserted into legislation on a Friday night without public deliberations. Holden withdrew the bill days later, after the proposal received media attention and consumer advocates and other groups protested.

The latest effort says it would protect and preserve a states authority over matters regulated by the state, including procurement policy, resource planning and resource or transmission siting within the state.

It also would delegate authority of grid operations to an RTO board, a structure that includes representatives of utility interests in other regions.

What would change is the governing board, which would not be solely directed by California, Smith said.

Holdens answer to preserving some governance authority for California is creating a committee to advise the RTO board with three members appointed by the governor. His draft bill also would limit conflicts of interest by prohibiting any member of the governing board from directly owning any interest in energy related assets.

Lynch and other critics say that language does not go far enough to prevent abuses.

Why put California at risk? Lynch asked. Why turn the clock back and embed in California law less transparency, no outright prohibitions against personally profiting from being on an RTO board and enabling those same people to make rules that profit their former employers?

Jan Smutny-Jones is the chief executive at the Independent Energy Producers Association, a Sacramento trade association that supports a multi-state power grid. He called the Holden plan a big win and said it will not affect the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or Californias clean-energy laws.

All other (regional operators) have less state involvement. All are subject to FERC tariff approval, he said. It is important to stress that the FERC has expressed no interest in restricting Californias RPS (renewable power rules), GHG (greenhouse gas) goals or energy efficiency standards.

The regional grid plan would require approval from governors and lawmakers in the other participating states  support that was not immediately forthcoming when the idea was brought forward in 2016.

Regions that rely on fossil fuels to create most of their electricity worry that under a multi-state grid California could impose its environmental policies on them or seek to dictate what sources they could use to generate power.

In a Feb. 9 letter to a Utah lawmaker, attorneys in Salt Lake City offered to challenge Californias existing restrictions on coal-fired power  for $2 million.

California carbon emission offsets currently result in a $28/ton adder for every ton of Utah coal used to generate electricity for export to California, the confidential sales pitch from the Snell & Wilmer law firm states. After 2027, California entirely bans the import of coal-fired generation.

No decision on the expanded grid proposal is imminent. Comments on the draft legislation being circulated by Holden are due Wednesday.

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Hundreds of hotel workers and supporters marched in downtown San Diego over a contract dispute and briefly blocked the driveway entrance of the Marriott Marquis on Harbor Drive late Wednesday afternoon.

There were no arrests, and among the people sitting on the street at the entrance were state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, San Diego City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez and Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Padilla.

1 / 17 Members of Unite Here, the local hotel and food service workers union, block the driveway entrance to the Marriott Marquis hotel on Harbor Drive as they demonstrate for better wages in San Diego. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 17 Members of Unite Here march in front of The Westin. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 17 Members of Unite Here march in front of The Westin. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 17 A pair of hotel guests walk past members of Unite Here as they head into The Westin. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 17 Members of Unite Here march in front of The Westin. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 17 Members of Unite Here march in front of The Westin. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 17 After protesting in front of The Westin march toward the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 17 After protesting in front of The Westin march toward the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 17 Pauline Esquibel uses a loudspeaker to lead chants as she and fellow members of Unite Here march in front of the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 17 Members of Unite Here march in front of the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 17 Members of Unite Here march in front of the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 17 A large number of San Diego police officers were present as members of Unite Here march in front of the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 17 People in the hotel lobby watch as members of Unite Here march in front of the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 17 Members of Unite Here march in front of the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 17 Members of Unite Here, the local hotel and food service workers union, block the driveway entrance to the Marriott Marquis hotel on Harbor Drive as they demonstrate for better wages in San Diego. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 17 Members of Unite Here block the driveway entrance to the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 17 President of Unite Here Brigitte Browning speaks to members of Unite Here members as they block the driveway entrance to the Marriott Marquis. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Im here to support my constituents, a large number who work in the tourism industry, in particular in Marriott properties, Gonzalez Fletcher said. This is part of a national campaign to ensure people are paid a decent wage and dont have to work more than one job.

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Contracts have expired or are expiring for workers in the Marriott-owned Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter in Horton Plaza, and union representatives who organized the march said the two sides still are far apart.

Marriott owns a few hotels in San Diego, including the non-union Marriott Marquis, the Hotel Republic, SpringHill Suites and Marriott La Jolla. There are 44 Marriott properties in San Diego County, accounting for more than 11,000 hotel rooms.

We believe they need to set the standard for the best wages, the best benefits, and they dont, said Brigette Browning, president of Unite Here Local 30, the San Diego County hotel and food service workers union.

Tourism workers should be able to live in the community they work in, she said.

The demonstration  counted among many held Wednesday in cities across the country, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston  began in downtown San Diego around 4:30 p.m. with about 80 people marching and chanting in front of the Westin.

Among the marchers was Karen Betancourt, who delivers room-service meals at the hotel where shes worked four yeras.

We love our job, she said. We love this property. We just want to make enough money to live here.

Betancourt said she is paid minimum wage supplemented by tips, but she doesnt get enough hours to qualify for health insurance. She said like many other workers at the hotel, she has worked two jobs to make ends meet.

After about 30 minutes of marching at the Westins entrance, the demonstration headed west on E Street, turned south on Front Street and continued with a police escort five blocks to the Marriott Marquis on Harbor Drive.

There, they were met with other demonstrators, and the protest grew to about 400 people.

Among the people in the march was San Diego City Councilman Chris Ward, who carried his four-year-old daughter, Betty. Ward said on the way to the march, he had talked with her about the importance of workers earning a living wage.

Padilla said many hotel workers in San Diego live in Chula Vista, and he was at the demonstration to support his constiuents.

The people give their labor and their lives to make them the most successful operating chain in the country, and they cant even get a contract to make a living and raise their families, he said.

Chris Guerra, who has set up the banquet room at the Westin for eight years, said the demonstrating is about workers wanting dignity.

What we want is very simple, he said. To work just one job and be able to own our houses. If they take care of us, well take care of them.

The demonstration ended peacefully after about an hour, but Browning told the crowd through a megaphone that they would be back.

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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
Records of life in old San Diego lay forgotten for decades in the house of photographer Randy Dible. But when the Point Loma native cleaned out his home after it was sold, family members rediscovered those mementos of his grandfathers work.

On Saturday morning, Dible brought his trove to the San Diego History Center. The center is scanning photos for a pictorial book on San Diego up to the year 1939. Its a project of the history center and The San Diego Union-Tribune, to be published by Pediment Group, based in Washington state.

History center staff admired the photos, dating back to the 1920s. They depicted relatives at the beach posed in front of a classic car, a visit to San Diego by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the late comedian and family friend Jack Benny, and more.

Staff placed blue sticky notes on the pages with photos to scan, quickly decorating the black pages with a forest of blue.

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Its ironic, said Dible (pronounced DYE-bul). Im a photographer, and I didnt even realize what a photographer my grandfather was.

His grandfather, Robert G. Thompson, owned Thompson Photo Service, a developing store in downtown San Diego on 6th Avenue.

He was a world traveler, but he was also a big San Diego businessman, said Dible, who said the photos were found Monday. After seeing a Union-Tribune article about the project, he brought them in.

1 / 8 A photo of a biplane taken in the late 1920s that was brought in by Randy Dible. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 8 Ashley Ainley, vice president of sales for Pediment Publishing, and her brother Chris Fenison, president of Pediment Publishing, look through an album of old photos of San Diego that was brought in by Randy Dible, left, at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 8 Ashley Ainley, vice president of sales for Pediment Publishing, and her brother Chris Fenison, president of Pediment Publishing, look through an album of old photos of San Diego that was brought in by Randy Dible. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 8 Ashley Ainley, vice president of sales for Pediment Publishing, helps Randy Dible in captioning the selected photos that he brought in. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 8 President of Pediment Publishing Chris Fenison uses a flatbed scanner to make a copy of an old photo taken in San Diego County. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 8 Former San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Roger Showley, right, who is helping with the captioning of photos, looks through a photo album brought in by Randy Dible, center, as Matthew Schiff, marketing director for the San Diego History Museum, watches. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 8 A picture Randy Dibles relatives standing next to their car at Ocean Beach. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 8 A picture of young girl posing on a car. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Thompson also left behind a case of slides from his world travels; those were discovered about three months ago.

I was showing those to my cousin on Monday, and he said, Check out these other photos we just found, Dible said.

Bill Lawrence, the history centers executive director, said he was especially interested in a New Years Eve photo taken in the back country area of Descanso, with people playing in the snow. Thats a rare event now, he said.

These photographs are perfect, Lawrence said. They come from a professional photographer of the time. There are also some great shots of Mexico at the height of Prohibition, which you dont often see, back in the heyday of Tijuana and Ensenada.

In that era, from 1920 to 1933, San Diegans with an urge to tipple could legally do so by traveling south of the border.

Even if the Mexico photos dont strictly meet the books theme, theyre still welcomed by the history center, which views the San Diego/Tijuana region as one.

But what the history center wants most of all is photos of San Diego in the 19th century, especially photos of Native Americans and other ethnic minorities who are underrepresented.

Wed like to see everyday life in the 19th century, and people who dont show up in the history books, Lawrence said.

Two more scanning sessions are planned at the history center, located at 1649 El Prado in Balboa Park. One is Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The last takes place on Tuesday, also from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Details of the project are available at sandiego.pictorialbook.com. The website allows allows scanned photos to be sent directly. They should be uploaded at a resolution of 4,200 pixels or 14 inches at 300 dpi, with JPG the preferred format. The deadline for online submissions is Wednesday.

The book, San Diego Memories: A Photographic History of the 1800s Through the 1930s, is available at the pre-publication price of $29.95. It can be ordered at the San Diego pictorial book website.

The book is expected to be ready by early December.

Related reading

Scanning history: Pre-1940 San Diego photos sought for new book

Struggles, triumphs, and a major exhibition: San Diego History Center celebration

Old photos sought as U-T, History Center team up on book about San Diegos past

Related

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
A record label says both members of British indie duo Hers have been killed in a car accident in Arizona.

Heist or Hit says in a statement that Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading died alongside their tour manager Trevor Engelbrektson in a collision early Wednesday.

They had performed in Phoenix, Arizona and were driving to a show in Santa Ana, California.

Authorities in Arizona say a pickup truck and a van collided head-on about 75 miles (120 kms) west of Phoenix, killing the trucks driver and three people in the van. Officials did not name the victims.

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The Liverpool-based duo released its debut album, Invitation to Hers, last year.

The record company said in a statement: We are all heartbroken. Their energy, vibrancy and talent came to define our label.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Elicio Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based immuno-oncology company, engineering therapies for cancer killing immune responses, raised $30m in funding.

The backers were not disclosed.

The company intends to use the funds to advance its therapies.

Led by Robert Connelly, CEO, and Executive Chairman Julian Adams, Ph.D., Elicio is developing precision vaccines, immuno stimulators and cellular therapies based on the work of Darrell Irvine, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Sciences and Howard Hughes Investigator at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The company is engineering potent cancer vaccines and immunotherapies for an array of aggressive solid and hematologic cancers.

Elicios Amphiphile platform enables precise targeting and delivery of immunogens directly to the lymphatic system, substantially enhancing the bodys own system of immune defenses, with the aim to achieve durable cures.

The companys lead vaccines targeting pancreatic, colorectal and head and neck cancers will enter initial patient studies in the first half of 2020. These programs are followed by a broad preclinical pipeline of vaccines, adjuvants, cellular therapy vaccines and immuno stimulatory therapeutics.

FinSMEs

29/03/2019
When the Navy accepted delivery of the newly-built $4.6 billion Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer Michael Monsoor (hull DDG 1001) in April, it marked the occasion with a signing ceremony and a news release.

Delivery of DDG 1001 marks the culmination of years of dedication and hard work from our Navy and industry team, Capt. Kevin Smith, the Zumwalt destroyer program manager, said at the time. We have incorporated many lessons learned from DDG 1000 and are proud of the end result.

The only problem was the Navy already knew  and had known since February  that the condition of the Monsoor was far from ship-shape.

It already needed a new engine.

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That information would not be disclosed for another three months.

News of the engine troubles broke on July 11, when Rear Adm. William Galinis  the program executive officer of ships at the Naval Sea Systems Command  acknowledged the issue at a Navy League breakfast.

His comments were first reported by the U.S. Naval Institute.

One of the Monsoors two $20 million engines would need to be replaced before the ship could transition to its future homeport of San Diego, he said. The engine was damaged during sea trials early this year, and will be replaced at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.

In February 2018, a post-cleaning inspection of one of the DDG 1001s two Main Turbine Generators revealed damage to the rotor blades of the generators MT30 engine, Alan Baribeau, a spokesman for the Navy, said by email. After the damage was identified, and out of an abundance of caution, the Navy decided to remove the engine in its entirety to ensure a successful and safe transit of the ship to her San Diego homeport.

Baribeau said the Navy accepted delivery of the ship in April  despite the damaged engine  in order to remain on-schedule.

In order to support planned post-delivery activities, the Navy made the decision to accept delivery, Baribeau said. This course of action allowed for crew to move aboard and training to commence as planned.

The Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) during acceptance trials. (DENNIS GRIGGS / U.S. Navy)

Shelby Oakley, who monitors Navy shipbuilding for the Government Accountability Office, said that delays often cost the government more money because equipment falls out of warranty.

The Navy often pays to fix construction defects that are the contractors responsibility, she said in an email. In the case of DDG 1001..it is unlikely that the warranty remains effective.

The Navy would not say whether the engines, manufactured by Rolls-Royce, were covered under warranty.

The Navy and its industry partners are working together to determine the cause of the failure, Baribeau said. It would be speculative to comment on liability for the repair until the analysis is complete.

The Monsoor is not the first Zumwalt-class destroyer to experience issues with its engines.

In 2016, the lead ship of the class, the Zumwalt, broke down off the Panamanian coast en route to San Diego.

Baribou said the issues the Zumwalt had and what happened with the Monsoor are not related.

What were looking at (with the Monsoor) is an isolated incident, he said.

Zumwalt-class destroyers, with their sleek lines and stealth characteristics, are among the most technologically-advanced ships in the Navy.

If Batman had a ship, it would be the Zumwalt, said Adm. Harry Harris, then-leader of U.S. Pacific Command, in 2016.

But Batmans ship never really got out of the Batcave

In 2008, a shift in naval strategy and skyrocketing costs led the Navy to pivot back to the previous  and less expensive  generation of destroyers, the Arleigh Burke.

A planned purchase of 32 Zumwalt-class ships was reduced to 24, then seven, then reduced again. The third Zumwalt destroyer, the future Lyndon B. Johnson (or DDG 1002), will be the last.

The reduction in orders have led to higher production costs for the few that remain. A July 3 Congressional Research Service report estimated the combined procurement cost of the three Zumwalt destroyers to be $13 billion, a 45 percent increase from 2009. It pegged the price of the Monsoor at $4.6 billion.

An April GAO report said the total cost of the three Zumwalt destroyers, including research and development, was $24.5 billion  an average of about $8 billion per ship.

The ships, with their low-profile design and advanced guns, were originally intended to attack targets on shore, replacing retired battleships.

However, late last year, the Navy said it was reorienting the Zumwalt class mission to be more of a surface-to-surface combatant  that is, that they would be armed with more conventional guns and missiles to fight other vessels.

The change in mission orientation was announced after the 155 mm Advanced Gun System  designed exclusively for the Zumwalt class  was scrapped after ammunition costs shot up to $800,000 per round.

The Navy has not yet announced a replacement munition.

The Monsoor is named for Michael Monsoor, a Navy Seal based in Coronado who was killed in Iraq in 2006 and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He is buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

The ship is still on track to relocate to San Diego in December, Baribeau said.

andrew.dyer@sduniontribune.com

@SDUTdyer
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, visited with sailors and toured a fast-attack submarine at Naval Base Point Loma on. Friday

Harris, at a news conference afterwards, praised the work of the submarine force and blasted what she called President Donald Trumps disgraceful and irresponsible stance toward U.S. allies and a historic foe, Russia.

This administration does not fully understand... who is an ally and who is an adversary, she said. It is...foolhardy to embrace ones adversary and push away and insult ones ally.

Many U.S. allies are currently participating in the biannual Rim of the Pacific or RIMPAC  the largest maritime military exercise in the world.

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Twenty-five nations are participating in RIMPAC  including many from the European Union, which Trump called a foe in comments made just before his now infamous meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

I hope that our allies trust working with us, Harris said. And I trust that they know that we as a nation, and we as Americans, are forever grateful for those friendships and alliances that have surpassed who happens to be in the White House.

Harris, who serves on both the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said it was important to get out of Washington, D.C.s wood-paneled rooms and see what was going on in the fleet first-hand.

I want us to have the best fleet in the world, she said. I dont want it to be that were competing with China or Russia  I want there to be no competition.

Harris toured the fast-attack submarine Scranton. She said she wants to make sure sailors have the best resources available to them, and to see where the government could do better.

I will always stand in support of military families, she said. That means giving them the resources that they need, the benefits that they need and also taking care of them when they come back.

Harris did not answer questions about the 2020 presidential race.
Naval Special Warfare Command says it will evaluate its training procedures after a group of Navy SEALs and trainees were shot at by a man with a pellet gun late Monday evening.

Around 10:30 p.m., Navy SEAL instructors and trainees were conducting a nighttime qualification dive when Scott Douglass Weaver, 47, confronted them near the Halsey Road bridge at Liberty Station, authorities said.

At one point, the man began firing a pellet gun at the divers. A Navy spokesman said thats when the SEALs called the police.

San Diego Police arrested Weaver for assault with a deadly weapon, threats, brandishing a replica firearm and obstruction, a police spokesman said.

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The Navy said no military personnel were injured.

Police did not say whether Weaver had a motive for targeting the SEALs or if he was even aware of who he was firing upon.

That will be determined after the investigation is completed, San Diego Police Officer Billy Hernandez said in an email.

Navy SEALs are a clandestine special-warfare component of the Navy. As such, much of what they do  including training  is treated as sensitive information.

We dont want to highlight our training, said Lt. Trevor Davids, public information officer at Naval Special Warfare Training Center. (But) we do train in San Diego Bay.

The notoriously arduous SEAL training school  Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S)  is located at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. Prospective SEALs train in the Silver Strand surf as well as other locations in and around the bay.

Davids said the Navy takes the safety of its students and the public into consideration when planning its training.

We recognize we are training in a densely-populated area, Davids said, We have procedures in place to protect our students.

Davids said the Navy will examine the incident in an after-action report, and that it could affect how future training is conducted.

Its something we (will) plan for and evaluate for the safety of our students and the public, he said.
Naval Special Warfare Basic Training Command graduated its 100th class of specially-trained small boat operators at a ceremony at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Thursday.

The Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen (SWCC) rating has only been officially recognized by the Navy since 1987, but has its roots in the small-boat operations that have always been part of the service.

This milestone graduation was marked by an intimate compass ceremony, with only SWCC operators attending, followed by a larger pinning ceremony in front of family and friends.

Forty candidates began this training cycle across two classes, and 10 made it through to graduation.

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SWCC operators operate the small boats that transport the more well-known Navy SEALs into and then out of harms way. And while their training is similar to what SEALs endure, SWCC operators maintain a much lower profile.

According to the training commands officer-in-charge, thats the way they like it.

We stand on the shoulders of giants, he said. We pride ourselves on professionalism and being humble.

Navy Lt. Trevor Davids, the Naval Special Warfare Centers public information officer, asked The San Diego Union-Tribune not to name active-duty operators  including members of class 100.

All these guys will go on to do clandestine work, he said.

And that work is dangerous.

At the smaller compass ceremony, each graduate is given a small, wooden box containing a compass, symbolizing the only navigation instrument they could not do without. Engraved on each box was the name of a different fallen comrade.

After the compass ceremony, grads were ushered over to a larger staging area for their pinning ceremony.

The SWCC pin is similar in size to the SEALs famous trident. It features a small boat with a crossed cutlass and flintlock pistol.

A board displays Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman (SWCC) basic warfare pins representing the students of Class 100, which graduated today. (Petty Officer 1st Class William Gaskill/ U.S. Navy)

Unlike the SEALs, the SWCC community does not have its own officer corps. Instead, each special boat team is led by a SEAL officer.

The commanding officer of Special Boat Team 20, a Navy SEAL commander, delivered the keynote address at the pinning ceremony. Afterwards, he talked about the invaluable role SWCC played in the mission of the SEALs.

These guys are unsung heroes overshadowed by the public image of the SEALs, he said. We need to shine some light on the (SWCCs), they are special people.

The commander also mentioned the similarity between SEAL and SWCC candidates.

There are a ton of similarities, he said. The ideal SWCC candidate is not afraid to turn a wrench (and) not afraid of big diesel engines. If youre into boating  high-performance boating  those are the kind of areas you can really excel as a SWCC.

Each SWCC graduate completed 27 weeks of training, including running a total of 157 miles, swimming 44 miles and completing the obstacle course at least 14 times.

The total ammunition expended by the class exceeded 37,000 rounds of small arms ammo and 135,000 rounds of heavy weapons ammo. They navigated 750 nautical miles over 200 hours.

Navy Special Warfare is a small component of the overall Navy, representing only 1.7 percent of the branch. The roughly 800-member SWCC community is smaller still, at .25 percent of the force.
President Trump has selected the former president of a large brewing company to lead a commission on veterans mental health care, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced Tuesday.

Thomas Jake Leinenkugel will lead the Creating Options for Veterans Expedited Recovery Commission to examine the VAs evidenced-based therapy model, the VA said in a news release.

Leinenkugel was the president of Leinenkugel Brewing Company for 26 years and is a former Marine captain. In January 2017, Trump tapped him to be his VA white house senior adviser.

In that role, Leinenkugel clashed with former VA Secretary David Shulkin. His appointment Tuesday comes on the heels of Mondays senate confirmation of Robert Wilkie as VA secretary and reports of purges of VA employees disloyal to Trump.

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These changes are part of a sweeping reorganization of the VA that critics  including its former secretary in a New York Times opinion story  have said is an attempt to further privatize the department.

At a speech Tuesday at the national annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Trump talked up the changes hed made to the VA.

Last year, I signed a law  the VA Accountability Act  which nobody thought wed get approved, Trump said. Now, when a bad person, maybe a federal employee, abuses our great veterans in their time of need, we can look at them and say youre fired.

On Friday, the VA announced it had implemented Trumps May 25 executive order limiting how much paid time government employees could spend conducting union business.

The Executive Order has led to chaos at the VA, a union attorney told GovExec.com, an independent government news website.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America released a statement Monday responding to Wilkies confirmation and the tumult at the VA.

We finally have a Secretary after months of disruption, controversy and leadership changes, Paul Rieckhoff, founder and CEO of IAVA, said in the statement. After decades of empty promises and failed results, our members are rightfully skeptical now about VAs ability to make the changes we need quickly  especially in such a divisive political environment.

The recovery commission is not wasting any time getting started  the VA said the first meetings will be held July 24 and 25.
The path out of homelessness could begin with a single phone call to the right person.

Finding that persons number, however, can be a challenge for someone on the street or in a shelter with few resources, little time for research and possible personal issues.

Thats where the San Francisco-based nonprofit Miracle Messages comes in.

Theres a mix of digital illiteracy and a lack of access to technology, along with these emotional barriers like the shame of being homeless, that leads to this perfect storm that can keep people on the street, said Kevin Adler, founder and CEO of Miracle Messages.

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The small nonprofit has a team of volunteers that includes retired private investigators who know how to find people, often through internet searches that can be as simple as doing searches on Whitepages Premium or Facebook.

Their work has led to about 200 reunions in the last four years, according to the groups website. People write text messages or record short videos directed at whomever they are seeking, and Miracle Messages team members try to track that person down to pass along the greetings.

Adler and a few others from Miracle Messages were in San Diego in late February to attend the National Alliance to End Homeless conference. While in town, he, a videographer and his friend Tim Schwartz went to a neighborhood known to have a large homeless population.

Arriving on the corner of 17th Street and Imperial Avenue on a cold and damp morning Feb. 21, Schwartz immediately turned heads with his suit, a loud black outfit covered in graphics from a Pac-Man game. He celebrates friends birthdays by giving hugs to strangers in public, and Adler was turning 34 this day.

He caught the attention of Rita Chambers, 56, as she walked past pushing a shopping cart filled with her belongings and dog, Eddie. After hearing of Miracle Messages mission, she began to tear up and told Adler she had not seen her three children in years, including a son who had been adopted as an infant.

Can you help me find him? she pleaded.

Later that morning, they met another homeless person who said he was looking for his birth parents. Adler said they are still working on his and Chambers cases, but dealing with adoption agencies can be especially challenging.

They had better luck with Jessica Montiero, who said she had not seen her sister, Sonja, in four years.

This one was pretty easy, Adler said. A couple of things were in place. Its an easy name to look up because its not that common. We had a sense that there was no bad blood between them, just someone moving away.

A few days later, a Facebook search found Sonja in Phoenix. She replied that she would love to see her sister again.

While a Facebook search doesnt seem like the most elaborate detective work, Adler said that sometimes the hectic life of homelessness can be an obstacle to doing what other people may see as simple tasks.

You dont know where youre going to go to the bathroom; you dont know where youre going to sleep, he said. Imagine your house gets flooded or there was an earthquake, and thats every single night. You wouldnt have the wherewithal to go to the library and do detective work.

Adler said he was inspired to create Miracle Messages because of his late Uncle Mark, who had mental health problems and was homeless on and off for 30 years.

After talking with homeless people in San Francisco, Adler realized many experience what he calls relational poverty, meaning they lack a social support network of family and friends.

He began asking homeless people if they had a family member or friend theyd like to reconnect with, and he met a man named Jeffrey who said he hadnt seen his family in 20 years.

He recorded a message, and I got home that night and found a Facebook group connected to his hometown in Pennsylvania, Adler said. He posted the video.

Within an hour, it was shared hundreds of times and made the local news that night, he said. Comments started coming in. Hey, I went to high school with Jeffrey. Im in construction. Does he need a job? 

Adler quit his job and focused on creating Miracle Messages.

The nonprofit has partnered with Union Square Business Improvement District in San Francisco and recently began working with the city of Riverside. Adler said the nonprofit is working on a mobile app to create messages that will be uploaded to a database.

Homeless people who are searching for someone are asked to call (800) MISS-YOU. Friends and family members who are looking for someone they believe is homeless can fill out an online form at miraclemessages.org/findthem. About 700 people and 150 families are in the database.

The organization also offers free online classes twice a week for people to learn to do digital detective work and homeless outreach. Adler said there are volunteers across the country trying to create reunions through Miracle Messages.

Our mantra is Everyone is someones somebody,  he said.

Gary Warth writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Warth writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com
It was a long time coming, this child support payment.

But nearly 50 years after a judge awarded Toni Anderson child support, the now 73-year-old Carlsbad woman took her ex-husband back to court  and won her bid to force him to pay up. The settlement tally, including interest: $150,000.

Married in 1966, Toni Anderson and Don Lenhart split up a few years later. She was left to raise their young daughter.

In 1970, a Los Angeles judge awarded child support, money to be paid until daughter Lane Lenhart was 21. The order was $210 a month to start, then dropping to $160 a month.

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Anderson said her ex-husband made an initial payment but the check bounced. Then he left he country, she said. She gave up on the money.

A single mother, Anderson went to work as an interior decorator, eventually running her own company. She said it was a struggle beyond struggle for years and years, and she worked 24/7. Money was tight. So was the time she had to spend with her little girl.

But she made it work.

Fast forward to a few years ago. Anderson handed her business over to her daughter  also an interior decorator  and moved south to Carlsbad in 2015.

Last year, she had an epiphany: She was still owed child support, and knew California had no statute of limitations barring her from chasing the payment.

She Googled her ex, she said, and found that he was living in Oregon. She also dug up that old court order.

Anderson steeled herself and headed to the Vista courthouse, ready to be laughed at. But staffers at the Department of Child Support Services welcomed her, she said.

They said we will do everything we can to get you this money, Anderson said.

Earlier this year, after starting the process, she found and hired San Diego family law attorney Sara Yunus. At first, the attorney questioned the case, until Anderson showed her the certified award dating back to 1970. All was in order.

I looked at it and I told her, You are entitled to every single penny of this,  Yunus said.

With interest and attorneys fees, a child-support bill that would have amounted to roughly $35,000 decades ago ballooned more than four times over, Yunus said.

A Vista Superior Court commissioner agreed last week to adopt the parties settlement agreement as an order of the court. Yunus said the case settled for $150,000, to be paid in part with a large initial sum and the rest paid over the next year and a half.

Through his attorney, Lenhart issued a statement that he was glad to pay Ms. Anderson the child support that was owed and I wish her only the best in the future.

We had an informal agreement that I was operating off of after our divorce, but when Ms. Anderson filed her motion in 2018 to collect the $35,000 in principal plus interest, I hired a private investigator to locate her so I could offer her payment. I am pleased we were able to reach an agreement.

The motion was filed through the Department Child Support Services, and did not include her address.

Andersons story has made headlines across the country, even landing her an interview on Good Morning America this week.

Shes good with all that attention, and for a reason: Anderson wants to raise awareness that single parents  at least in California  can chase even the most overdue child support payments.

I really starting realizing what a need there is for this information to get out, Anderson said.

Going to the courthouse to start the process, she said, is an emotional thing you have to do. And its a scary thing.

She got the process started on her own. A few weeks before the hearing, she hired Yunus.

Daughter Lane Lenhart, who is now 52, said the attention to the case was completely shocking.

Obviously the story is resonating with lot of people, she said. Good for her for pioneering this.

These days, Anderson receives Social Security payments, works part time at a Carlsbad store and drives a 17-year-old car. But she said she has no plans to spend the long overdue child support money just yet. Shes socking it away for the future.
A Tarzana school said it will close Friday after the Los Angeles Police Department received a possible threat to the campus.

Woodcrest School administrators announced the closure late Thursday in an email to parents and staff. The school advised parents to tell their children that a plumbing issue on campus caused the closure.

Please stay calm and know that our number one priority is the safety of your children, administrators said in the email. They added that an officer was being sent to monitor the school.

Officer Mike Lopez, an LAPD spokesman, said the criminal threat was brought to the departments attention about 5:30 p.m. He declined to comment on the nature of the threat.

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We didnt tell them to close the school, but they decided to, to keep everybody safe, he said.

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek
An arsonist set a fire that blackened the walls of an Escondido mosque early Sunday and left a note on the house of worships driveway referencing a shooting rampage at two New Zealand mosques that left dozens dead, investigators said.

There were seven people inside the Islamic Center of Escondido on West 6th Avenue when the incident occurred about 3:15 a.m., Escondido Police Lt. Chris Lick said. One person who was awake at the time spotted the flames, and the group managed to put out the fire before it caused any serious damage.

Officers and firefighters arrived soon after and quickly determined the fire was intentionally set. Lick said an accelerant was used to set the blaze, but he did not elaborate. No information on suspects was available.

Lick said investigators found a note on the driveway of the mosque that referred to the March 15 shootings at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in New Zealand that left 50 people dead.

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A morning prayer at the center was canceled while a team of law enforcement agencies investigated.

Escondido police and fire investigators, a regional bomb/arson task force and agents with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the incident as an arson and a hate crime.

Everyone should remain absolutely vigilant and watchful at their prayer centers, Lick said. If there are people who are not supposed to be there, please give us a call.

Yusef Miller, a spokesman for the Islamic community in Escondido, echoed those sentiments, encouraging other mosques across the county to remain vigilant.

Everyone is on edge here today, Miller said. When they connected it to New Zealand, it gave us a more real fear that something outlandish might happen.

#BREAKING: Police are investigating an alleged arson attack at the Islamic Center of Escondido. https://t.co/nI8qOZI68o  #NBC7 San Diego (@nbcsandiego) March 24, 2019

An arson investigation is underway at an #Escondido mosque pic.twitter.com/pa83KBUPge  Ramon Galindo (@RamonGalindoNBC) March 24, 2019

A prayer and security vigil were scheduled to be held at the mosque from 8 to 9 p.m. Sunday night to show support and protect those who wished to participate in evening prayer.

Dustin Craun, the executive director of the San Diego office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who will participate in the vigil, condemned the fire and called for stepped-up security and police protection at Islamic institutions.

It is disturbing enough that some sick individual would attempt to burn a house of worship to the ground, but referencing the slayings in New Zealand is beyond the pale, Craun said in a statement. While the majority of humanity has responded to the tragedy to draw closer to one another and refute hatred, a violent and hate-filled minority seeks further divisions.

Lick said officers planned to keep a close eye on worship centers in the area. He encouraged members of the public to report any suspicious activity near religious centers.

Lyndsay Winkley and Lauryn Schroeder write for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
It was a strange place for a meeting. Six years ago, San Diegan Linda Sheridan convinced members of the police department, probation office and D.A.s Juvenile Division to gather for a discussion of graffiti.

She set up tables and chairs under state Route 163 near its intersection with Interstate 8. It is a place known by locals as The Pit and is a jungle of graffiti. The visitors first were asked to look at the scribbled images and give their impressions.

She was hoping the messages they saw would be the ones that had touched her heart: Lost and alone. Sorrow, sorrow, sorrow. They say Im trash but Im not. People dont love you. ...

They were.

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Sheridan was ready with a proposal. Local authorities were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on graffiti paint-outs and on a graffiti tracker program to identify and hunt down the paint-wielding perpetrators. But Sheridan wanted to focus on the kids behind many of the spray cans to give them an education in vandalism and offer them other venues for their creative expressions.

This is just a portion of about 300 images that radiated out from a giant heart mural painted on a building at Cherokee Point Elementary School in City Heights. It was a student project orchestrated by the San Diego Cultural Arts Alliances Graffiti Hurts program. (Linda Sheridan)

As founder and CEO of the San Diego Cultural Arts Alliance, she developed an eight-week, after-school graffiti arts curriculum and recruited reformed taggers and respected mural artists. They now teach potential offenders that their crime can lead to costly restitution, jail and even felony records, and work with them on art projects that enhance rather than deface a surface.

Upon completion, students are invited to join the mural team doing commissioned public artworks throughout San Diego.

After nearly four years of working with Sheridan, Chuck Schindler, the principal at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista, reports that campus graffiti has all but disappeared, school attendance by students in the weekly program is up as much as 70 percent. They are getting higher grades and completing high school, he says. Plus their behavior has improved, and they have a place to go after school.

We let them paint a mural on campus at the end of the program. That has had a very positive effect on the kids, he adds.

At Cherokee Point Elementary School in City Heights, mural artist Jose Venegas painted a large heart as a centerpiece. Then students added more than 300 pieces of art depicting something each loved. It covers the back wall of the school auditorium and stretches around the building.

Graffiti arts students at Crawford High School transformed a tagger-targeted wall across from a nearby elementary school into a colorful student portrait mural no longer in need of bimonthly paint-outs.

Mural artist Jose Venegas, who works with a graffiti arts program designed to channel students creative talent into positive activities, painted this artwork for the lobby of the San Diego District Attorneys Juvenile Division. The program focuses on prevention, not punishment. (Courtesy of San Diego County)

Nowhere does Sheridans Graffiti Hurts program, with its tender vs. tough approach, make more of an impact than in the District Attorneys Juvenile Division, where attorneys are used to prosecuting destructive taggers. A 15-foot-long graffiti mural by Venegas was installed in its lobby late last month. Instead of F words and negative expressions, it highlights positive words: respectful, honesty, integrity, accountability, justice and more.

The artist, in a videotaped interview, says theyre trying to teach the students that graffiti doesnt have to go in an alley. It can be on a canvas, on a T-shirt or on a hat. You can really go places when you do it with permission, he notes.

Division chief Lisa Weinreb explains that her office is working with different community organizations to take what otherwise might have been criminal activity and divert it into positive action.

SANDAG has put out a warning to motorists about the closure of multiple lanes of traffic of La Jolla Village Drive at Genesee Avenue near Westfield UTC for one week, from Feb. 8 to early Feb. 15 to facilitate trolley line construction. (Courtesy of SANDAG)

A mall with a heart: In light of the traffic congestion on La Jolla Village Drive due to construction of the Mid-Coast Trolley extension, the management of Westfield UTC shopping mall is suspending its new parking fee charges for this Saturday and Sunday in all of its UTC lots during mall operating hours.

For some time, motorists have been slowed by trolley overpass construction work near the intersection of Genesee Avenue and La Jolla Village Drive. The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) announced that various lane closures will be in effect for a full week  from 9 p.m today to early Feb. 15  as 60-foot-long concrete girders weighing up to 200,000 pounds each are hoisted into place over La Jolla Village Drive.

The shopping center let it be known last spring that it planned a switch to charging $2 an hour after two free hours of parking for shoppers (with the exception of validations available for cinema, ice rink and 24-Hour Fitness clientele). Its Jan. 30 fee debut happened to coincide with the trolley project work.

The mall has stationed parking ambassadors in its lots to help familiarize customers with the machines and ticketing procedure. Nevertheless, motorist confusion and vehicles delayed at the entry gates have seen traffic back up into the street.

After contacting UTC management Friday for comment, I learned that mall operators had decided to temporarily suspend the parking fees and lift the gates to accommodate the busy weekend traffic. My advice to those who want to save a buck: Do your shopping this weekend.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.news
Entangled Group, a San Francisco, CA-based education venture studio, raised $15m in Series B funding.

The round was led by global investors Hereditas Capital Management and TDM Partners of Hong Kong and education investor Rethink Education.

Led by Nick Hammerschlag, President, and Paul Freedman, CEO, The Entangled Group is a venture studio building startups at the intersection of education and employment. It pioneering a new approach to the development and scale of education and workforce technology that blends investing, company-building and consulting. As an evolution of the venture capital model, the venture studio approach enables the firm to invest seed capital as well as to launch and operate their own businesses directly aligned with the needs of the education ecosystem.

The Entangled portfolio includes:

 Andela, launched by 2U founder Jeremy Johnson, which helps employers develop tech talent in Africa;

 microscholarship platform Raise.me (backed by Owl Ventures and Redpoint); and

 Guild Education (backed by Bessemer Venture Partners and Redpoint), which helps employers like Disney, WalMart, and Chipotle provide frontline employees with educational benefits, including college tuition assistance.

Earlier this year, the firm launched PathStream in collaboration with Facebook to close skills gaps with untapped talent from community colleges. Entangled-backed ReUp Education allows colleges to re-enroll adults with some college credit but no degree.

In 2017, the firm exited Entangled-created startup Practice, the video-based skill development platform acquired by Instructure (INST).

FinSMEs

28/03/2019
There is something remarkably different about the San Diego delegation to the annual Commission on the Status of Women now meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

It includes five men  more than 20 percent of its 23 members.

Usually, we have one or two men. This is the first time we have had five, says Bettina Hausmann, executive director of the San Diego chapter of the U.S. United Nations Association.

Not only is she delighted by the increased male presence, she hopes for even more men in the future. If we dont have male support, equality for women is really hard to achieve, reasons Hausmann.

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The men come from private industry, academia, government, a nonprofit and a stay-at-home-dad, Ross Naismith. The professional bagpiper and music instructor volunteered with the chapter for two years then joined its board early this year.

I just started showing up at some of their events, and listening, and learning, says Naismith. He is past president of the House of Scotland near the U.N. groups Balboa Park headquarters, which Eleanor Roosevelt officially opened in 1953.

He is especially interested in policies and programs elsewhere for dads who stay home with their kids so that mom can continue her career.

I personally dont feel discriminated against, but I do understand that this is out of the norm from what has been done in the past. Hopefully, it becomes more commonplace, he says.

Naismith acknowledges that achieving equality for women is a continuing uphill battle. We still have a lot of work to do. Women werent even allowed to vote until the early-1900s, he says.

The Commission on the Status of Women offers a smorgasbord of sessions that attendees can tailor to their interests. Plus, they can exchange ideas with 9,500 people from all over the world, Hausmann said. She once found herself next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and struck up an impromptu political discussion.

Six years ago, the convention ignited the fervor of some L.A. school girls (led by their teacher, former San Diegan Melissa Berton) to publicize the plight of girls in India who sometimes drop out of school when their periods start because sanitary products arent available. They helped produce a documentary that last month won an Academy Award for best documentary short.

Given this years conference theme  social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality  the San Diego group is moderating a parallel event to emphasize the under-discussed issue of gender equality.

Its March 14 panel will focus on people who feel they are a mixture of male and female or are genderless, referred to as non-binary gender ID.

This issue is very important to San Diego, says Hausmann, because of our strong LGBTQ community.

Naismith agrees. Its unfortunate that people of this nature are not granted the same access to services as everyone else. There is a big stigma. People dont want to accept it or even acknowledge it. ...Were all human beings.

Just as women have not been afforded equal wage and job opportunities, the focus on LGBTQ+ and the gender neutral community pushes the quest for equality another step further, he says

The panel, co-hosted by a New Zealand group, will be moderated by local U.N. Association V.P. Stefania Marchina. Its goal is to promote legal recognition of those with nonbinary gender IDs and bring this issue to the attention of U.N. nations. Legal status would give these people access to social networks and protections.

Leaving no one behind is a must, Hausmann said.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.news
Some of them are marching to keep their loved ones safe. Others are marching for respect. Some are marching to honor the women who raised them, others are marching for the communities that shaped them.

The people who are marching in Sundays March for Black Women San Diego are marching in support of major causes  tackling violence against black transgender women, ensuring economic justice for low-income women, providing better access to healthcare  and in response to personal stories of discrimination and abuse, and also of triumph and survival.

And both the big-picture causes and the personal stories support one of the marchs major missions  to provide a platform for the unseen heroines and a powerful boost for voices still in need of a megaphone.

We want to make sure that people take note of the fact that black women have been behind so much activism in this country, said march co-organizer Kelsey Daniels. Black women were such a force in the civil rights movement. Black women started the Black Lives Matter hashtag. Tarana Burke started the MeToo hashtag.

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We are not doing it for credit or props, but it is important that as we do this work, we are telling other women that we see you. We see the small stuff that you are doing that is moving the nation, and this is your day.

Now in its second year, the March for Black Women San Diego grew out of the national March for Black Women, which was held in Washington, D.C., in September 2017, with sister marches happening in other cities.

After that national march, the Black Womens Blueprint civil- and human-rights organization reached out to communities throughout the country to expand the March for Black Women concept on a grassroots level. San Diego was one of the communities that answered the call.

About 400 people participated in the 2018 March for Black Women San Diego, which started at Euclid and Logan avenues and wove its way through Southeast San Diego.

This year, the March for Black Women San Diego is once again being held on March 10 in honor of Harriet Tubmans birthday. Once again, it is open to marchers of all stripes. According to the marchs Facebook page, Kids/Allies/Co-conspirators/Abolitionists/Non-black (People of Color)/Men are welcome!

The march will again start at Euclid and Logan. It will end in Kennedy Neighborhood Park on Ocean View Boulevard, where there will be a community celebration with speakers, vendors and a lot of collective pride.

Im a native. I was born and raised in Southeast San Diego, and I had never seen anything like this before, Daniels, 28, said of the 2018 march. To see something like this in my neighborhood, to walk through the Four Corners rallying and chanting, it was really powerful. For me, it symbolizes the idea that no matter who you are, you can be part of something great.

While the March for Black Women San Diego is happening independently of the Womens March San Diego  which was held in January  the two events share a spirit and a conscience. The Womens March San Diego has provided some funding (mostly to offset logistical costs) to the March for Black Women San Diego, and the group is using its large social-media platform to promote Sundays event.

Women are not a monolith, said Poppy Fitch, board secretary for Womens March San Diego. If we assume that the Womens March San Diego that happens annually addresses all issues for all women, we really miss an opportunity be in support of groups that are raising awareness for the unique experiences of many different women.

Recognizing that the women they represent embody a multitude of experiences and concerns, the March for Black Women San Diego expanded its programming this year to include Black Womxn Save My Life, a gathering for black women and girls to discuss the marchs demands, which also include an end to violence against black women and an end to the deportation of immigrant women.

The summit is being held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Skyline Hills Library. The issues being raised at the summit and at Sundays march are tough and deeply entrenched. The fight to tackle them is just getting started.

After last year, we wanted to make sure that the conversation didnt begin and end with the march, Daniels said. We understand that this is a big undertaking, but we also understand that if we plant the seed, we can start having a longer conversation.

March for Black Women San Diego

When: 10 a.m. Sunday

Where: Euclid and Logan avenues, Southeast San Diego

Online: m4bwsd.wordpress.com

Twitter: @karla_peterson

karla.peterson@sduniontribune.com
Mayor Kevin Faulconer has a message for California Republicans: Its time to get a separation from the national GOP.

In a Sacramento speech last week, Faulconer stressed the need for California Republicans to be viewed once again as the party of responsible solutions. Its time to demand our state leaders focus on running our state  not Washington, D.C.

The San Diego mayor delivered his comments at a meeting of New Way California, a newly created group of moderate Republicans, including former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, that seeks to reverse the fortunes of the troubled state GOP.

Faulconer called for sweeping changes in the state party, which requires a pragmatic, California-centric, and inclusive approach.

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He wasnt necessarily calling for a divorce from the national party, but certainly for creating some distance.

Thats why the California Republican Party must not be a carbon copy of the national GOP, he said. . . . . California Republicans need to create a party tailored to the people of California.

The speech again thrust Faulconer into the spotlight as a leading voice on the future of the California Republican Party. As the only Republican mayor of a major U.S.city  a Democratic one at that  Faulconer a couple of years ago was seen as a rising star and a potential gubernatorial candidate who, even if not victorious, might help lead the party out of the political wilderness.

Then several things happened. Donald Trump was elected president, Faulconer declined to run for governor, and he was faced with increasing problems in San Diego, including the deadly 2017 hepatitis outbreak that tainted the region and its government leaders.

Even though he stepped back from the statewide political stage during those trying times, he continued to attract attention as a GOP counterweight, albeit a diplomatic one, to the Trump administrations hard-line border policies. As he has for years, Faulconer regularly extols the benefits of cross-border interaction  economically, socially and culturally.

Hes an outspoken advocate of encouraging legal immigration. While deflecting discussion of Trumps proposed extended border wall, he is not silent on the need to deal with unauthorized entries.

Let me be clear, he said in his speech, we cannot ignore the issue of illegal immigration. Doing so would mean ignoring those who do follow our nations laws. We must push for efficient ports of entry and get smarter about border security.

The timing was advantageous, if coincidental. The New Way gathering came the week after a major shake-up in the state GOP as a more pragmatic and diverse group took hold of the leadership, starting with new party chair Jessica Patterson  a Latina and the first woman to lead the state party. She was elected over the opposition of conservatives who advocated doubling down on support for Trump.

Faulconer connected that shift to one of many broader changes facing the state GOP.

For example, the Republican Party seems to only acknowledge women on so-called womens issues, he said. Women arent issues to be checked off a list  theyre our peers, our professors, our doctors, our CEOs and our mentors. And they often have to work harder than men for the respect they deserve.

Thankfully, he continued, the new leadership of the state GOP recognizes this, with Shannon Grove as our Senate leader, Marie Waldron (of Escondido) as our Assembly leader, and Jessica Patterson taking over as the chair of the California Republican Party.

He suggested issues such as parental leave, the cost of child care and pay equity shouldnt be of concern to just women (or, though he didnt say this, Democrats).

They are California issues where California Republicans must step up and lead, he said.

That was a continuous theme in his speech: Republicans should not let partisanship keep them from championing issues important to Californians.

...we must be realistic about the challenges facing our state  and offer achievable and genuine solutions. Take climate change, for example. Just as clean skies and clean water are in Californias DNA, it must also be in the DNA of our revitalized party, said Faulconer, who ushered through San Diegos landmark Climate Action Plan.

Instead of looking to Washington for the way forward, or trying to invent something entirely new, we should look to what is working here at home, he added in a nod to his own policies.

He said the GOP needs to catch up with Californias demographic changes  which have greatly benefited Democrats.

We must represent the people we want to serve  and we want to serve everyone. We do it by standing for freedom  freedom of thought, of religion, of sexual orientation, he said.

Not only is individual liberty part of Californias heritage, its a classic conservative principle  one that Republicans have ignored to our own detriment. People have stopped seeing the GOP as the party of freedom. They see it as the party of no.

We must return to being the leaders who let you find your calling, live your life, run your business, and speak your mind. We stand for inclusion. The national political landscape seeks to define us, and then divide us, by the color of our skin, where we were born, or what language we speak. I reject this notion.

He said the state GOP must get back to the fundamentals of government service and focus on infrastructure, water, education, government reform and a looming pension crisis.

Faulconer argued that if Republicans want a say in these matters, the party must broaden its appeal if it ever hopes to deny Democrats their current one-party rule in Sacramento.

He criticized the opposition partys political approach  along with Trumps, in a subtle way.

Democrats are suffering from outrage FOMO  a fear of missing out on the latest controversy that will allow them to score political points on Twitter, he said. . . .California Democrats and the Trump administration are locked in the worlds most toxic relationship, and its not good for our state.

The message seems clear: Faulconer and like-minded Republicans advocate focusing on more populist issues that affect quality of life, such as the cost of housing, privacy in the digital age and the environment, and away from partisan fights over immigration, taxes, gun control  and Trump.

That wont be easy.

A strong component of the state GOP believes those are core issues that shouldnt be de-emphasized. Republican critics view New Way California as too willing to appease Democrats to the detriment of the GOP and the state.

Regardless of which faction ultimately prevails  if either does  it will be a challenge for the Republican Party to gain enough strength simply to get back into the policy conversation in California soon. Last year, Democrats gained two-thirds majorities in the Legislature, which effectively denies Republicans leverage, and their congressional victories in California were key to the party taking over the House of Representatives.

That was largely driven by antipathy toward Trump, and hell be on the ballot in 2020.

Tweet of the Week

Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade), congressional reporter for The Washington Post.

lol @SpeakerPelosi to a male reporter chasing after her in the hall as she tries to quickly walk away: No fair! you dont have heels.

michael.smolens@sduniontribune.com

Twitter:@michaelsmolens

(619) 293-1256
A San Diego judge on Monday approved the placement of a violent sexual predator in Jacumba Hot Springs, with the decision coming after the judge agreed to delay the decision during a Friday hearing amid emotional opposition from the mans victims.

Alan Earl James, 56, will be placed in the East County community on or before April 25, a spokeswoman for the District Attorneys Office said.

James, who was convicted in the 1980s for sexual assaults on at least three children  including younger relatives  was previously found to meet criteria for release from a state psychiatric hospital to supervised housing in the community.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Albert Harutunian III last fall approved James conditional release to a home in Jacumba Hot Springs on Old Highway 80 across from Jacumba Airport.

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Haratunian agreed to review the decision at Fridays hearing, saying he is not a believer in shooting from the hip. He said he would issue a ruling as soon as I can reasonably do that.

He made his ruling Monday.

The judge issued his ruling today that the proposed placement in Jacumba meets all the statutory criteria, District Attorney spokeswoman Barbara Medina said in an email.

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob on Friday asked Harutunian to find another spot for James, saying rural East County already has an over-concentration of violent sexual offenders, with nine of them placed in Jacumba, Boulevard and Campo.

On Monday, Jacob issued a statement calling the judges ruling wrong.

Sexually violent predator Alan Earl James  (is) the tenth predator placed in our backcountry, Jacobs statement said. The high concentration of these monsters out East is outrageous. I will continue to work with families and victims to fight it.

Three of James victims spoke at Fridays hearing, fighting through tears to voice fears that James will victimize other children if he is released from the state hospital.

I feel hes a danger, because of what happened to me, as well as my siblings, as well as others, one man said.

James was convicted in 1981 of one count of lewd act on a child under age 14 and was given a six-month jail sentence and three years probation. In 1986, he was convicted of kidnapping, molesting and having unlawful sexual intercourse with the three children, and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Before he was due to be released, county prosecutors petitioned for James to be committed to a state hospital as a sexually violent predator  one likely to re-offend, with multiple victims.

He was diagnosed with pedophilia disorder and in 2007 was committed to Coalinga State Hospital in Fresno County. James sought his conditional release several times and was denied until a final hearing in October, when medical experts deemed him fit for release with continued treatment.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com
San Diegans will likely be asked in coming years to pay for a costly yet world-class public transit system  complete with a San Diego Grand Central, new rail lines and commute times that rival driving.

To fund the ambitious vision, officials are now gearing up to ask the regions historically tax-averse electorate to approve not one but two new tax hikes, the first of which could be before voters as soon as November 2020.

For months, leaders at the countys premiere transportation and planning agency, the San Diego Association of Governments, have sketched out the need for tens of billions of dollars in public funding to overhaul of the regions transit system.

Now officials with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System announced this week theyre also serious about pursuing a tax increase to pay for bus and rail upgrades.

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Political and transportation experts have said the move could be risky, potentially confusing voters and stretching thin their patience for new taxes.

Theres only so many sales-tax measures that voters are going to support, said Ethan Elkind, a transportation and land-use researcher at UC Berkeleys Center for Law, Energy and the Environment. I think thats a legitimate concern if you have these dueling measures. Its going to be hard to go back to voters for a second bite at the apple.

Still, if voters believe that in the end officials can deliver a transit system worth riding, they could be convinced to fork over the money, said Thad Kousser, chair of the political science department of UC San Diego.

What voters care about is the value proposition, he said. If you can sell them on this being a good investment, it doesnt matter how big that investment is.

Its making people who dont think of themselves as transit riders now, envision themselves as riding, he added.

Asking voters to approve multiple ballot measures, each requiring the onerous two-thirds voter approval, does not appear to be a coordinated tactic among the two transportation agencies.

MTS board chair Georgette Gomez announced on Wednesday the organizations strong interest in placing a half-cent sales tax increase before voters in the upcoming presidential election.

Gomez  who also sits on the SANDAG board  dismissed the idea that a second measure was even on the table.

At the moment, I dont know that SANDAG has been exploring a measure, but I do know that MTS is, she told the Union-Tribune. I, we are working very closely with SANDAG. If they are to explore a measure  I dont think this is competing to that, but thats if they ever go back to the ballot, to the voters, in the future.

However, over the last three months, SANDAGs recently hired top official, Hasan Ikhrata, has been leading the charge to radically modernize the regions transit system  making no bones about his intent to go to the voters for public funding.

Its going to need more than half a cent of sales tax, he recently said in an interview. Its going to be expensive.

Ikhrata, whos been rumored to be privately concerned about putting two measures before voters, has publicly expressed support for MTSs efforts to raise money.

I hope theyre successful, and Im going to support and coordinate with them, he said. If this is a down payment thats OK.

Ikhrata  a widely lauded transportation expert who left his position as the head of the Southern California Association of Governments in December to lead SANDAG  has repeatedly said his goal is to develop a public transit system thats at least as fast as driving.

His ambition has seemingly emboldened other transportation officials.

If you really want to make transit work better, theres really two key ingredients, make it goes faster, make it go more frequently, MTS CEO Paul Jablonski said at a press event Wednesday, aimed at boosting enthusiasm for his agencys envisioned new tax.

To make transit competitive with driving, Ikhrata has floated everything from exploring a futuristic hyper-loop system to constructing an underground trolley line from San Ysidro to Kearny Mesa to building a Grand Central station that would connect regional transit riders to the San Diego International Airport.

All this is necessary, hes argued, not only to boost the economy and draw new talent to the area but to meet state mandates for limiting greenhouse gases from cars and trucks.

His rhetoric has been everything the regions environmental and transit advocates have been yearning to hear for decades  including ideas many had been loudly touting at SANDAGs 21-member board of elected officials.

I will credit Hasan in being relentless in his public outreach in conveying a big vision, said Nicole Capretz, executive director of the San Diego-based Climate Action Campaign.

One of those public transit advocates has been Gomez, who before being elected to the City Council in 2016 worked for more than a decade with the Environmental Health Coalition, representing low-income neighborhoods of color suffering from toxic air pollution.

SANDAG is expected to release an initial blueprint for modernizing the regions transportation system by the end of the year.

At the same time, Gomez said MTS will be embarking on a months-long public outreach campaign to better understand what projects voters desire and would likely fund.

Were going to be very intentional on how were going to be gathering information and very transparent, she said at Wednesdays media event. Were going to be inclusive, transparent and we are going to be making sure that we are held accountable to our riders 

Her comments come less than two years after SANDAGs previous executive director, Gary Gallegos, resigned amid scandal. After a 2016 tax increase put forth by the agency failed at the ballot, it was revealed Gallegos had promised voters a long list of highway and transit project the half-cent levy likely wouldnt have fully covered.

Both agencies would like to distance themselves from SANDAGs former incarnation, which had made enemies on all sides of the political spectrum.

While MTS has a relatively clean record, its efforts to raise money for an all-transit ballot measure will likely be an uphill battle. Most successful transportation tax measures include a wide variety of projects, from rail and bus expansions to highway and road improvements.

Voters serviced by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority have approved four half-cent sales tax measures since 1980, all of which included some funding for highway infrastructure.

Transit-only measures face a much more demanding hurdle than measures that include things for multiple interest groups, said Martin Wachs, a distinguished professor emeritus at UCLAs Department of Urban Planning, who has studied transportation systems and policies around the world.

Wachs also said that putting two tax increases before voters could jeopardize the success of both.

Its pretty clear that voters need to have a relatively straight forward understanding of what is happening, and they will vote no if they dont understand what the measure is or they think another measure is coming soon, he said. So a single measure will stand a much greater chance of passage.

MTS officials said this week that recent polling found 67 percent of voters would definitely or probably vote for a half-cent sales tax to fund an expansion of the existing transit network. The agency wouldnt release the full survey results, citing an exemption under the California Public Records Act.

Such a razor-thin margin raises questions about to what extent organized groups will attempt to kill the tax increase.

Yeah, there will be funded opposition, said Tony Krvaric, chairman of The Republican Party of San Diego County. I think peoples appetite for taxes is over. We just had a gas tax. Its completely absurd.

Haney Hong, president and CEO of the San Diego Taxpayer Association, struck a more measured tone.

Expanding public transit in our region is important, but the devils in the details. We look forward to seeing what MTS puts together for a ballot measure and then giving it a good scrub to see if it uses taxpayer dollars well, and is able to deliver what it promises.

The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, which opposed SANDAGs 2016 tax increase, declined to comment for this story.

The first measure to the ballot has the best chances of passing, but that does mean it will raise enough money to truly overhaul the transit system, said Carl Luna, a political science professor at San Diego Mesa College.

It would be nice and smart and more effective if SANDAG and MTS would have come together to develop a unified, complementary plan, Luna said.

Summers coming, he added. Maybe we can lock the leadership in a room, turn off the air conditioning and keep them in there until they come up with a comprehensive regional transportation plan. Ill pop for a round of iced lattes to reward them all if they reached a deal.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
The path out of homelessness could begin with a single phone call to the right person.

Finding that persons number, however, can be a challenge for someone on the street or in a shelter with few resources, little time for research and possible personal issues.

Thats where the San Francisco-based nonprofit Miracle Messages comes in.

Theres a mix of digital illiteracy and a lack of access to technology, along with these emotional barriers like the shame of being homeless, that leads to this perfect storm that can keep people on the street, said Kevin Adler, founder and CEO of Miracle Messages.

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The small nonprofit has a team of volunteers that includes retired private investigators who know how to find people, often through internet searches that can be as simple as doing searches on Whitepages Premium or Facebook.

Their work has led to about 200 reunions in the past four years, according to the groups website. People write text messages or record short videos directed at whomever they are seeking, and Miracle Messages team members try to track that person down to pass along the greetings.

Adler and a few others from Miracle Messages were in San Diego in late February to attend the National Alliance to End Homeless conference. While in town, he, a videographer and his friend Tim Schwartz went to a neighborhood known to have a large homeless population.

Arriving on the corner of 17th Street and Imperial Avenue on a cold and damp morning Feb. 21, Schwartz immediately turned heads with his suit, a loud black outfit covered in graphics from a Pac-Man game. He celebrates friends birthdays by giving hugs to strangers in public, and Adler was turning 34 this day.

He caught the attention of Rita Chambers, 56, as she walked past pushing a shopping cart filled with her belongings and dog, Eddie. After hearing of Miracle Messages mission, she began to tear up and told Adler she had not seen her three children in years, including a son who had been adopted as an infant.

Can you help me find him? she pleaded.

Later that morning, they met another homeless person who said he was looking for his birth parents. Adler said they are still working on his and Chambers cases, but dealing with adoption agencies can be especially challenging.

They had better luck with Jessica Montiero, who said she had not seen her sister, Sonja, in four years.

This one was pretty easy, Adler said. A couple of things were in place. Its an easy name to look up because its not that common. We had a sense that there was no bad blood between them, just someone moving away.

A few days later, a Facebook search found Sonja in Phoenix. She replied that she would love to see her sister again.

While a Facebook search doesnt seem like the most elaborate detective work, Adler said that sometimes the hectic life of homelessness can be an obstacle to doing what other people may see as simple tasks.

You dont know where youre going to go to the bathroom; you dont know where youre going to sleep, he said. Imagine your house gets flooded or there was an earthquake, and thats every single night. You wouldnt have the wherewithal to go to the library and do detective work.

Adler said he was inspired to create Miracle Messages because of his late Uncle Mark, who had mental health problems and was homeless on and off for 30 years.

After talking with homeless people in San Francisco, Adler realized many experience what he calls relational poverty, meaning they lack a social support network of family and friends.

He began asking homeless people if they had a family member or friend theyd like to reconnect with, and he met a man named Jeffrey who said he hadnt seen his family in 20 years.

He recorded a message, and I got home that night and found a Facebook group connected to his hometown in Pennsylvania, Adler said. He posted the video.

Within an hour, it was shared hundreds of times and made the local news that night, he said. Comments started coming in. Hey, I went to high school with Jeffrey. Im in construction. Does he need a job?

Adler quit his job and focused on creating Miracle Messages.

The nonprofit has partnered with Union Square Business Improvement District in San Francisco and recently began working with the city of Riverside. Adler said the nonprofit is working on a mobile app to create messages that will be uploaded to a database.

Homeless people who are searching for someone are asked to call 1-800-MISS-YOU. Friends and family members who are looking for someone they believe is homeless can fill out an online form at miraclemessages.org/findthem. About 700 people and 150 families are in the database.

The organization also offers free online classes twice a week for people to learn to do digital detective work and homeless outreach. Adler said there are volunteers across the country trying to create reunions through Miracle Messages.

Our mantra is, Everyone is someones somebody, he said.

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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
Authorities on Wednesday shut down two marijuana dispensaries said to be operating illegally in Valley Center, and seized cash, cannabis and related items, a sheriffs sergeant said.

About 9 a.m., deputies served abatement warrants at the shops Valley Center Greens dispensary on Cole Grade Road and 24/7 Collective on Valley Center Road, Sgt. George Crysler said in a news release.

Law enforcement teams seized marijuana, marijuana edibles and paraphernalia, along with money from both dispensaries, the sergeant said. They also arrested five employees for unlawful sale of marijuana.

The county boarded up the doors at 24/7 Collective, he said.

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Crysler said the department had received numerous complaints from the community about both dispensaries.

Deputies, he said, got the warrants only after both businesses were given adequate notice and refused to cease operations in violation of a county ordinance that outlaws most marijuana facilities in unincorporated areas.

Crysler noted that the county will continue to address illegal marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated communities. To that end, he said, the county has started serving such shops with a 10-day notice warning landlords to get rid of tenants who sell marijuana.

Although state voters OKd the recreational use of marijuana in 2016, there are a limited number of places where cannabis can be legally sold.

According to the states Bureau of Cannabis Control, there are 34 licensed marijuana retailers in San Diego County. Half of them are licensed for medical sales only, the other half can do both medical and recreational sales.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

(760) 529-4945

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
Cancel your lawsuits or risk getting tied up in court for years.

That, essentially, is the message conveyed to the four medical marijuana dispensaries that recently sued the City of Vista seeking to invalidate the random lottery used to seed the priority list that will determine which of the applications, among the 30 submitted, will receive up to 11 coveted licenses to sell cannabis within Vistas municipal boundaries.

When the city started accepting applications on Jan. 22, its officials decided to ignore an ad-hoc line that started forming outside city hall on Jan. 11, instead going with a random-selection method that assigned each applicant a letter code printed on a series of orange ping pong balls which were picked, one-by-one, by a blindfolded city staffer.

Introducing such a strong element of random chance into a process that out-of-town marijuana businesses have fought for years to control left four feeling upset enough to sue. Measure Z, the cannabis industry-created ballot initiative that has forced Vista to permit up to 11 medical marijuana storefronts, does not say precisely how the sign-up queue should have been formed, stating only that applications are to be ranked and processed in the order in which they are first filed.

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But applicants who had better line spots than they ended up getting in the random drawing are asking for judicial intervention, arguing that the intent of the measure was not a random drawing.

This drama, the city notes in a new post made Thursday on the citys website, will come to a head on Feb. 15, about half-way through the 30-day period that Measure Z grants the city to process applications. If a Vista Superior Court judge grants an injunction request from Manuel Migueles Collective, one of the four businesses that sued, the city says the most likely outcome is that the application process would be suspended indefinitely while trials and/or appeals on the cases proceed.

In other words, the city appears to be signaling clearly that it would take each and every case to trial and would appeal any outcome that wasnt in its favor.

It is strongly recommended that applicants consult their legal counsel to determine if these cases will affect their existing rights under Measure Z and their ability to receive their licenses in a timely manner, the citys post states.

Michael Cindrich, the attorney for Manuel Migueles Collective, said Thursday that the citys post is about slowing things down as much as possible.

The politics behind this are that the people in charge do not want to see Measure Z move forward, and theyre doing everything they can to prevent it, Cindrich said.

As to the citys assertion that the entire application process is likely to become mired in the courts for years if the lawsuits against the city continue, the lawyer said that he sees more than one possible outcome. Its equally possible, he said, that a judge would decide to let the application process continue in some provisional form while the legal wrangling unfolds. He said he is not inclined to drop his suit despite the citys rather pointed commentary Thursday.

For someone who was in a top-11 position in line who ended up with a number outside the top 11, it would be very much in their interest to proceed with a lawsuit, even if the application process is held up as a result, Cindrich said.

City officials did not respond Thursday to a request for comment on the matter.

The effect of lawsuits on Vistas medical marijuana process are not the only open question in play at the moment.

Applicants and observers are still wondering what the city will do about the seven applications submitted by G1 Perez LLC. As applications rolled in on Jan. 22, many called foul, citing a section of Measure Z which says that an applicant may only be assigned one place on the priority list, and multiple submissions will result in immediate disqualification from the registration process.

The initiative defines an applicant as a person or legal entity, and, while two different versions of the G1 Perez business name were listed for all seven applications, each was submitted by a different applicant. It is up to the city, then, to decide whether its the business name or the applicants name that matters most. On Jan. 23, the city posted a brief update on this line of questioning, stating that it did not attempt to screen or evaluate applications when they were accepted. That work will now begin, with a vetted priority list due out on Feb. 5.

We are beginning the evaluation process to determine whether or not applications comply with our rules. As we get more information during the evaluation process we will assess whether all, some, or none of these particular applications were properly submitted, the city wrote.

And then there is the matter of the pile of cold, hard cash that businesses were required to hand over in order to apply. Measure Z required each to present a $100,000 cashiers check for deposit in a special city-run trust fund as an initial showing of the resources available to applicant for any fees, improvements to the building/structure, or any other costs associated with the application process.

The city also tacked on nearly $10,000 to cover its costs during the permitting process.

Businesses, especially those who are at the moment far down the citys priority list, have started wondering when and under which circumstances the city will return their cash. Thats not a question that the city is answering at the moment.

In an email, Vista City Clerk Kathy Valdez declined to clarify the matter.

I have no further information at this time, Valdez said.

Here is the full list of companies from first to last: Hillside Hollistic,Riverside County Dispensary and Delivery, G1 Perez LLC Harvest of Vista, Urbn Leaf, G1 Perez LLC Harvest of Vista, Bruce Harkness Collective, Survivor Medz, Frank Zimmerman, Coastal Wellness, Oswald Chavez Collective, G1 Perez LLC Harvest of Vista, G1 Perez LLC, G1 Perez LLC, Monex Place Wellness Inc., G1 Perez LLC Harvest of Vista, Red Rhino Remedies, G1 Perez LLC, Veteran Medical Alternatives, Honey Oil Collective, Dr. GreenRX, TERP Inc., Vista Grenhouse Collective Inc., SCZZ Collective Inc., Native Bliss, Manuel Migueles Collective, Gregory Ahlrich Collective, South Bay Dreams Cooperative, Oro Verde Vida, The Laughing Leaf, CalGrow Trading, MLR Holdings LLC.

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paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1850

Twitter: @paulsisson
A group of migrants who breached the U.S. border fence by the Pacific Ocean at Playas de Tijuana were detained Thursday by Border Patrol agents in Border Field State Park.

The group of about 35 people included women and children who said they were mostly from Honduras and came to Tijuana in a caravan.

Video shot from the Mexican side shows the group climbing through a broken piece of fencing and running down the beach.

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Agents with the Border Patrol had the group sitting on the edge of a muddy trail while they collected their belongings into paper bags.

The detained migrants were instructed by Border Patrol agents not to speak with the media.

One member of the group, a man in his early 20s, was detained separately and kept his eyes closed as he was loaded into a separate van.

The group was apprehended approximately 200 yards from the border fence on the U.S. side.

Access to the area is typically closed to vehicles during periods of wet weather. The area where they were stopped is about one mile from the parking lot at the entrance to Border Field State Park.

The migrants were loaded into Border Patrol vans, which drove away at about 6:15 p.m. Thursday.

Some areas of the trail were muddy and badly flooded after recent rains.

On Wednesday, photojournalist Tom Franklin captured video of two migrants slipping through the porous border fence in Playas, where a section of the lattice fencing had been pulled back. Franklin went back to the fence Thursday to see if it had been repaired.

Two women, one carrying a young child, followed a group of roughly 20-30 migrants who squeezed through an opening in the border fence on the beach on La Playa Tijuana today, running past border patrol heading towards SanDiego. (THOMAS E. FRANKLIN)

As we arrived we saw a large group of people  about 75 people  jammed up against the fence looking through, a group of about 20-30 had snuck through the fence and a number of them were running down the beach in the distance.

After the last of the migrants slipped through  two women with one holding a child  a Border Patrol SUV drove up to the fence and blocked the gap.

In the video shot Wednesday, the migrants can be seen running down the coastline in Imperial Beach, while an agent chases after them.

One of the men seen in the video is fleeing while he is carrying a small child in his arms.

It remains unknown if the two men and child who slipped through the fence Wednesday were apprehended.

A spokesman for Border Patrol said Wednesday he was not immediately aware of either incident.
Reports that the U.S. government kept a database on journalists, activists and immigration attorneys during an investigation into last years migrant caravan has stirred outrage among civil rights groups, drawn concern from lawmakers and prompted more people to come forward with additional allegations of being detained by U.S. immigration authorities.

Brendon Tucker, 24, a volunteer from Brownsville, Texas, said he and other volunteers who had been working with the migrant caravan in Tijuana were stopped at gunpoint by Customs and Border Protection agents in the first days of 2019.

Tucker said he was returning with activist Evan Duke from a migrant shelter in Tijuana to San Diego through the San Ysidro Port of Entry when CBP directed their vehicle to secondary inspection.

They pointed guns at me. They used a bullhorn to call me out of the car, Tucker said. They tried to take my phone. They tried to take Evans phone. And all we were doing was bringing supplies to the migrants in Tijuana.

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Undeterred by the initial encounter, Tucker said he and Duke picked up more supplies in San Ysidro, crossed the border again that same day and dropped them off at migrant shelters in Tijuana.

When they returned, they were again held at gunpoint by CBP officers and this time detained and questioned for six hours, Tucker said.

Tucker said he suspected he was being targeted or investigated since January because each time he goes through a border checkpoint, he faces additional screening and questioning.

I didnt see it coming, but I cant say Im surprised, he said.

Tucker and Duke said they are not sure whether they are in a database revealed in leaked documents published Wednesday by NBC7. The documents indicate that the U.S. government has kept dossiers on dozens of activists, advocates, attorneys, and journalists it is investigating in relation to the migrant caravan that arrived in Tijuana last November.

Im dying to find out if Im on that list, said Tucker, who described himself as a solidarity worker not associated with any particular organization. Tucker said he was transporting clothing, food and medicine to various migrant shelters in Tijuana.

Among those included in the Homeland Security documents leaked to NBC7 are 10 journalists, seven U.S. citizens, an American attorney and 47 people from Central America. Some of the people in the group were denied entry into Mexico and had their passports flagged.

In this Nov. 25, 2018 file photo, migrants run from tear gas launched by U.S. agents, amid members of the press covering the Mexico-U.S. border, after a group of migrants got past Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)

The information has outraged civil liberties and media groups, which called tracking, detaining and questioning journalists a violation of free speech rights. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, along with the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, said it plans to meet with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to express concerns about this practice.

If our First Amendment means anything, its that the government cannot retaliate against journalists based on the content of their reporting, said Gabe Rottman, director of the Reporters Committees Technology and Press Freedom Project.

CBP released a statement Thursday from Andrew Meehan, the assistant commissioner of public affairs, who said the agencys collection of information followed assaults on Border Patrol agents in November and January.

A group of about 150 migrants attempted to breach the south side of a San Diego border fence on New Years Day, which resulted in U.S. officials firing tear gas. Officials said some migrants had thrown rocks at them, an account that some witnesses disputed.

The collection of information after such an incident is a standard law enforcement practice, CBP said, stressing that journalists are not targeted based on their occupation or their reporting. Further, they said, the agency has policies in place that prohibit discrimination against arriving travelers and has specific provisions regarding encounters with journalists.

CBP declined to immediately provide a copy of those specific provisions.

The CBP statement also said that the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Inspector General, in conjunction with CBPs Office of Professional Responsibility, initiated an inquiry in February in order to ensure that all appropriate policies and practices were followed.

A spokeswoman said she was looking into the incident involving Tucker and Duke.

On Thursday Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation & Operations, sent a letter to CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan expressing concern and requesting information about this troubling practice, which raises serious legal and constitutional questions, according to a statement.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government, which denied entry to some of the people in the database, said it didnt do illegal surveillance and would ask the U.S. to clarify any possible cases of illegal spying.

In this Nov. 25, 2018 file photo, a group of migrants got past Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Mexico welcomes all foreign visitors who, obeying immigration laws, carry out in our territory tourism or professional activities, according to a joint statement from the Foreign Relations Department and the Department of Security and Citizen Protection.

Freelance photojournalist and U.S. citizen Kitra Cahana said that being detained, questioned and denied entry into Mexico has impacted her work and had a chilling effect on her colleagues.

I have been denied entry into Mexico twice now, and unable to continue my reporting, said Cahana, who first told the Times about her experiences last month. But beyond my own situation, it has created a climate of fear for many of my colleagues who are thinking twice right now about covering the border and migration.

Both Cahana and Tucker were present during the Jan. 1 incident at the U.S.-Mexico border during which border agents deployed tear gas on migrants attempting to breech a border fence.

CBP said after that clash the agency identified individuals who may have information relating to the instigators and/or organizers of these attacks.

Tucker said during his second stop by CBP a few days after the Jan. 1 incident, agents confiscated his video camcorder and his friends phone. He said they never returned the items.

At the end of the day, they just dont like what were doing, Tucker said. So, they say Were going to pull you in secondary. Were going to tear up your car. It sucks.

I know I didnt do anything illegal to be put on any list, he added.

Duke confirmed Tuckers account of what happened at the vehicle checkpoint.

Tucker said to me: You have rifles aimed at your head right now and so do I, said Duke, describing the tense moments when CBP ordered them to exit their vehicle.

They told (Tucker) to put his hands outside of the window, and I did too and they started yelling Just the driver! and I thought Oh, God, dont kill me, Duke said.

Based on questions investigators asked him, Duke said he believes its possible that investigators are acting upon information provided to law enforcement by right-wing conspiracy groups. He said a North Dakota radio talk-show host bragged on the air about reporting him and his colleagues to law enforcement.

Duke said all of the information he was asked by investigators at the border was readily available through open sources.

They asked me if I was at Standing Rock. Yeah, I was at Standing Rock. They asked me if I was at the (presidential) inauguration. I said Im pretty sure you know that because its on my Facebook, Duke said.

Hugo Castro, a human rights activist with Border Angels, a nonprofit advocacy group, whose name appears among those allegedly tracked by the government, said interrogations at the border have also caused some in his circle to hesitate about providing aid to migrants.

I think they are trying to stop people from helping caravan members or asylum seekers or anyone providing any help for migrants, Castro said. And in a way, they are succeeding, because many of our colleagues are very worried and trying to avoid crossing the border.

Staff Writer Kate Morrissey contributed to this report
Mount Elbert Capital Partners, a Denver, CO-based real-assets private equity firm with specialized capabilities in internet infrastructure, closed its first fund, Mount Elbert Capital Partners Fund 1, at $382m.

The fund received support from a range of global investors, including pension funds, endowments, and family offices.

Fund 1 was 22% invested at December 31, 2018, investing alongside global institutional investors GIC and OPTrust in EdgeCore Internet Real Estate (EdgeCore). EdgeCore is an investment vehicle developing, acquiring, and operating data centers and related infrastructure, and has been initially capitalized with over $900 million of equity targeted to support approximately $2.0 billion in data center development. In addition to Mount Elberts investment through Fund 1, Mount Elbert affiliates serve as General Partner of and provide asset-management, development, and leasing services to EdgeCore.

Led by Tom Ray, Chairman, and CEO, Mount Elbert Capital Partners is a real-assets private equity firm with specialized capabilities in internet infrastructure, including data centers, colocation and interconnection assets and operating companies, and related assets. Founders and investment professionals have experience evaluating, making and managing investments in real assets with an aggregate value exceeding $20 billion across the US, Europe, and Asia, with more than $15.0 billion in internet infrastructure.

FinSMEs

29/03/2019
Fleeing a gang, Pedro Cordova joined thousands traveling north last fall from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He endured tear gas, days without food and trekked thousands of miles to Tijuana in November.

But it wasnt the complicated U.S. immigration policy or active-duty troops deployed to the border that slowed Cordovas northward journey.

It was Linda Romero Sanchez, a 29-year-old from Ensenada. Shes the coordinator of the Movimiento Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana and a mother to three children.

From the moment he laid eyes on her, right there on Avenida Constitucion, less than a block from the U.S.-Mexico border, his journey norte: forgotten.

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I started passing by every day just to catch a glimpse of her, Cordova said. Her smile just fixed everything for me.

Romero works long hours, sometimes 15 hours a day, helping thousands of migrants a year.

There have been times when shes had to put her body in between domestic violence victims and their abusers, and show cartel members the door, as she puts it.

On Wednesday morning, she apologizes for nearly dozing off in between intakes.

We didnt get to sleep last night until after midnight, Romero yawns. I didnt even feed my own kids until after 10 p.m.!

Tijuana shelters are once again crowded to the brink of crisis, and shelter workers are bracing for more arrivals as people are sent back under the new U.S. Remain in Mexico policy.

Okay, breakfast is at 8:30 a.m.  There is a schedule to charge your phones  At 7 p.m., its bedtime for all the kids, Romero explains to a new arrival  a young woman with long, curly hair, holding a toddler on her lap.

Do not leave your child here and go somewhere. They must be taken care of by you at all times. When you take a shower, they go with you to bathe.

Once the paperwork is done, Romero slumps back down toward her desk, nearly drifting off, until something catches her eye from clear across the building.

Its Cordova, her new husband.

As the 32-year-old Honduran navigates his way through rows of bright-colored tents where the migrants sleep, Romero comes back to life, sitting up straight at her desk and flashing a smile.

When I see him, its like I have all my strength back with me, she said.

Cordova arrived with the caravan of Central Americans in November, and the two had a whirlwind romance, quickly falling in love.

They arent the only ones to find love in the time of caravans. News reports document at least a dozen marriages between people who met amid the large numbers of people leaving Central America, a migration movement that garnered international news attention and prompted angry tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The pair celebrated their wedding on Dec. 28, 2018 at Movimiento Juventud.(Romero didnt want to leave the shelter for the whole day.)

It happened very fast. Everything happened so fast with our wedding, she said. I called my mom and it was a big surprise.

They tell their love story over the laughter of about a dozen children watching a movie in the shelter.

I told her I would take care of her and I just wanted her by my side, said Cordova, who now works in a partner shelter around the block to be closer to Romero.

Between the two of them, they have five children. Two are in Honduras and Cordova doesnt know when or if he will ever see them again.

He cries about that sometimes, Romero says.

Cordova said he has not yet applied for a permanent legal status in Mexico.

He keeps his feelings guarded, but its easy to see how proud he is of her and how he fell in love with someone who dedicated her life to welcoming those who walked a similar path he did as a migrant.

When the movie is interrupted by a fight over pan dulce, Cordova steps in to back up Romero, sending the offending youth off to his tent while she wraps her arms around and comforts the other.

Romero said they think about getting regular jobs to have more time with her kids and more money.

But I like working with people who need me, she said. Someone has to have a heart or nothing will change.

They both know how it feels to be desperate.

Cordova said he fled gang violence, leaving everything he has, even his children behind and he will never return to Honduras.

About 10 years ago, Romeros family fell on hard times and she came to Tijuana with her children looking for work. They struggled to find shelter.

I knocked on door after door after door and no one would accept me, she said.

Before that, she spent parts of her childhood, begging in the streets for change.

My mom never said to me: How are you feeling today? Do you want me to play with you? Do you want me to help you with your homework? she tearfully recalls.

Here, shes able to make sure children get the love and comfort they all deserve, she says.

They say love can conquer all.

For Pedro and Linda, overcoming their pasts may be their biggest obstacle. Much like the forces driving thousands of Central Americans to flee northward, decades of policy is not easily undone.

The two are grappling with how to blend their very different families now stretched thousands of miles apart.

The future looks challenging too.

Recently, Linda didnt have money to buy her 11-year-old daughter a birthday present. The migrants at Movimiento Juventud all chipped in together to buy a birthday cake.

Their family shares a one-room apartment; the kids sleep on cobijas on the floor, and theres a baby on the way.

Linda says before she met Pedro she never liked her own name because in Spanish, linda means pretty.

When I was in grade school, kids would tease me that it wasnt for me, she explains.

The truth is shes a beautiful woman with a wonderful heart, Pedro counters.

All they know is right now, in this moment, when Pedro looks at Linda, he sees the most beautiful woman hes ever laid eyes on.

And in Pedro, Linda found what was missing all her life. She finally has someone on her side, and with that, her beauty shines bright.
It was 1982, the height of the civil war in El Salvador. Four Dutch TV journalists had linked up with leftist rebels near the town of El Paraiso, which has an army base on its outskirts.

Planning to spend several days behind rebel lines, the newsmen hoisted rucksacks onto their backs and, carrying their recording gear, walked single-file down a narrow dirt trail.

They had only minutes to live. Lying in wait, Salvadoran soldiers armed with assault rifles and machine guns were ready to spring an ambush.

They were sitting ducks. The military waited for them and basically executed them, said Thomas Buergenthal, an American who was part of the three-member United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador, set up as part of a U.N.-brokered peace agreement in 1992.

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In 1993, the commissions report on wartime human rights violations concluded that the ambush was set up to kill the journalists and was ordered by Col. Mario Reyes Mena, a brigade commander.

Calls are now mounting in the Netherlands for Reyes Mena and others responsible for the killings to be brought to justice after a documentary shown on Dutch TV cast a spotlight on the never-prosecuted slayings. The investigative piece, aptly titled In Cold Blood, revealed that Reyes Mena had been living for years in relative obscurity in the United States.

It is very much in the interest of the Dutch government to bring those responsible for the deaths of the four journalists to justice, the Dutch foreign and justice ministers told lawmakers six weeks after the documentary aired. Not only because it concerns four Dutch citizens who were shot dead, but also because it concerns journalists, who have an indispensable task in a democratic constitutional state.

The government will make every effort to achieve this result, the ministers said.

Reyes Mena, now 79, lives in a Washington suburb. A legal resident of the United States since at least 1987, he is no longer shielded by a 1993 amnesty law that protected the military, paramilitary groups and guerrilla fighters from prosecution for human rights abuses during the 12-year war. The Salvadoran Supreme Court declared the amnesty unconstitutional in 2016, though the countrys legislature is now considering granting another one.

Even before the Dutch documentary aired in September, the attorney generals office in El Salvador had begun investigating possible criminal charges against Reyes Mena and Francisco Antonio Moran, the former head of the Salvadoran secret police who was also named in the U.N. report. The prosecutors were acting on a criminal complaint filed in March 2018 by lawyers for Gert Kuiper, a brother of one of the slain journalists, said Oscar Perez, a spokesman for Kuipers legal team.

I need to find justice, said Kuiper, whose older brother, Jan, was killed two days before his 40th birthday.

The Salvadoran attorney generals office wont comment on its confidential investigation, which the Dutch government says began last June.

The developments come amid a growing push for justice on behalf of victims of El Salvadors civil war, during which an estimated 75,000 civilians were killed, mostly by U.S.-backed government security forces.

In November 2017, former Salvadoran army Col. Inocente Orlando Montano, accused in the 1989 massacre by soldiers of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in San Salvador, was extradited from the United States to stand trial in Spain. Several of the victims were Spaniards. He remains jailed, and the trial is expected to begin later this year.

In January 2016, former Defense Minister Jose Guillermo Garcia Merin was deported from the United States to El Salvador. He is among those being prosecuted for the December 1981 massacre by a U.S.-trained Salvadoran army battalion of almost 1,000 people in the village of El Mozote, the largest massacre in modern Latin American history.

Geoff Thale, of the human rights group Washington Office on Latin America, said it is important for El Salvador to see justice done in these cases, even as the Central American country struggles with gang-related violence.

Its hard to imagine that Salvadorans would feel confident about the ability of attorneys general and courts to bring them justice today if they cant bring justice in cases like El Mozote, or internationally covered cases like the Dutch journalists or the Jesuits, Thale said. Its a test of the judicial system and of the rule of law in El Salvador today.

In its report, the U.N. truth commission cited statements from officers at a military base outside El Paraiso in naming Reyes Mena as the planner of the ambush on the Dutch journalists.

An Associated Press reporter, photographer and videographer went to the town house where Reyes Mena lives in Centreville, Virginia, last month after telephone calls seeking comment about the allegations were not returned. A middle-aged man opened the door a crack and then slammed it shut without saying a word.

In the Dutch documentary, Reyes Mena accused the filmmakers of being part of a communist conspiracy for seeking answers about the killings.

I dont have to be talking about it. It was more than 30 years ago, he said. The filmmakers left after a younger man standing behind Reyes Mena told them to go.

Days before their deaths, journalists Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen had come under the scrutiny of El Salvadors secret police after Kosters contact information was found on a guerrilla. Before dawn on March 11, 1982, the four were rousted in their San Salvador hotel and taken to secret police headquarters for interrogation by Moran.

A photo taken after their release later that day appeared in a local newspaper with a headline identifying Koster as a contact for subversives, according to the U.N. report.

Undeterred, the four pushed ahead with their plan to meet up with Salvadoran guerrillas on March 17. A German journalist drove them in a Volkswagen van from the capital to the outskirts of El Paraiso, where, guided by a young boy, they linked up with four rebels and headed down a path. The truth commission report, citing testimony of the sole survivor of the ambush, a rebel identified only as Martin, described what happened next.

They had gone about 250 meters when they came under heavy fire from M16 rifles and M60 machine guns, coming from two hills about 100 meters away. Martin saw two of the journalists fall to the ground. They were hit by the first shots and never moved again, the report said.

Martin ran a zig-zag path to evade the bullets and escaped.

Soon after the ambush, Todd Greentree, a political officer at the U.S. Embassy at the time, met with reporters and dismissed as fiction the official Salvadoran account that the newsmen died in crossfire.

Still, Greentree says hes very ambivalent about seeking justice for what he said was obviously a war crime.

Bringing individual officers to trial for what appeared to be a coordinated operation among different security force branches seems at best an incomplete form of seeking justice, he said by telephone from his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Greentree said the Dutch journalists were seen by Salvadoran security forces as agents of the enemy because of a previous film that Koster made that they considered sympathetic to the rebels.

Buergenthal disagrees. These were legitimate journalists, he said.

Globally, journalists now face even greater peril, with the number killed in retaliation for their work nearly doubling in 2018 over the previous year, to 34, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The 1982 case stands out because state security targeted the newsmen, said Natalie Southwick, CPJ program coordinator for South and Central America.

Bringing those responsible to justice is incredibly important because it sends a message to those considering killing journalists that they wont get away with it, Southwick said.

Buergenthal, who from 2000 to 2010 served as a judge on the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, said the Dutch government was oddly silent about the killings for years.

I expected, when I was elected to the court, that sooner or later somebody from the Dutch government would try to find out more about the case, Buergenthal recalled. Not a word. No interest shown, whatsoever. I dont know why.

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Associated Press reporters Mike Corder in Amsterdam; Marcos Aleman in San Salvador, El Salvador; and Luis Alonso Lugo in Centreville, Virginia, contributed to this report.

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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
It was 1982, the height of the civil war in El Salvador. Four Dutch TV journalists linked up with leftist rebels near the town of El Paraiso, which had an army base on its outskirts.

Planning to spend several days behind rebel lines, the newsmen hoisted rucksacks onto their backs and walked single-file down a trail.

They had only minutes to live. Lying in wait, Salvadoran soldiers armed with assault rifles and machine guns were ready to spring an ambush.

They were sitting ducks. The military waited for them and basically executed them, said Thomas Buergenthal, who was part of a three-member United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador set up as part of a U.N.-brokered peace agreement in 1992.

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In 1993, the commissions report on wartime human rights violations concluded the ambush was set up to kill the journalists, and was ordered by Col. Mario Reyes Mena, a brigade commander.

Calls are now mounting in the Netherlands for Reyes Mena and others to be brought to justice after a documentary shown on Dutch TV cast a spotlight on the never-prosecuted slayings. The investigative piece, In Cold Blood, revealed that Reyes Mena has been living in relative obscurity in the United States.

It is very much in the interest of the Dutch government to bring those responsible for the deaths of the four journalists to justice, the Dutch foreign and justice ministers told lawmakers after the documentary aired. Not only because it concerns four Dutch citizens who were shot dead, but also because it concerns journalists, who have an indispensable task in a democratic constitutional state.

Reyes Mena, now 79, lives in a Washington suburb. A legal resident of the United States since at least 1987, he is no longer shielded by a 1993 amnesty law, declared unconstitutional by the Salvadoran Supreme Court in 2016.

Even before the Dutch documentary aired in September, the attorney generals office in El Salvador had begun investigating possible criminal charges against Reyes Mena and Francisco Antonio Moran, the former head of the Salvadoran secret police who was also named in the U.N. report. The prosecutors were acting on a criminal complaint filed in March 2018 by lawyers for Gert Kuiper, a brother of one of the slain journalists, said Oscar Perez, a spokesman for Kuipers legal team.

I need to find justice, said Kuiper, whose older brother, Jan, was killed two days before his 40th birthday.

The Salvadoran attorney generals office wont comment on its confidential investigation.

The developments come amid a growing push for justice for victims of El Salvadors civil war, during which an estimated 75,000 civilians were killed, mostly by U.S.-backed government security forces.

In November 2017, former Salvadoran army Col. Inocente Orlando Montano, accused in the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in San Salvador, was extradited from the United States to stand trial in Spain. He remains jailed with trial expected to begin later this year.

In January 2016, former Defense Minister Jose Guillermo Garcia Merin was deported from the United States to El Salvador. He is among those being prosecuted for the December 1981 massacre by a U.S.-trained Salvadoran army battalion of almost 1,000 people in the village of El Mozote.

Associated Press journalists went to the town house where Reyes Mena lives in Centreville, Virginia, last month after telephone calls seeking comment about the allegations were not returned. A middle-aged man opened the door then slammed it shut without a word.

Reyes Mena also refused to talk to the Dutch documentary team that went to his home, accusing them of being part of a communist conspiracy.

Days before their deaths, journalists Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen had come under the scrutiny of El Salvadors secret police after Kosters contact information was found on a guerrilla. Before dawn on March 11, 1982, the four were rousted in their San Salvador hotel and taken to secret police headquarters for interrogation by Moran.

Undeterred, the four linked up with four rebels near El Paraiso on March 17 and headed down a path. The truth commission report, citing testimony from the sole survivor, a rebel identified only as Martin, described what happened next.

They had gone about 250 meters when they came under heavy fire from M16 rifles and M60 machine guns, coming from two hills about 100 meters away. Martin saw two of the journalists fall to the ground. They were hit by the first shots and never moved again, the report said.

Soon after the ambush, Todd Greentree, a political officer at the U.S. Embassy at the time, dismissed as fiction the official Salvadoran account that the newsmen died in crossfire.

Still, Greentree says hes very ambivalent about seeking justice for what he said was obviously a war crime.

Bringing individual officers to trial for what appeared to be a coordinated operation among different security force branches seems at best an incomplete form of seeking justice, he said by telephone from his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

But Natalie Southwick of the Committee to Protect Journalists said it is incredibly important to bring them to justice because it sends a message to those considering killing journalists that they wont get away with it.

___

Associated Press reporters Mike Corder in Amsterdam; Marcos Aleman in San Salvador, El Salvador, and Luis Alonso Lugo in Centreville, Va., contributed to this report.

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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The United Nations is making an emergency appeal for $282 million for the next three months to help Mozambique start recovering from the devastation of Cyclone Idai.

The U.N. funding will be used to provide water, sanitation, education and restoring the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people, U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said Monday.

He said separate appeals will be made shortly for Zimbabwe and Malawi, also hard-hit by the cyclone.

Lowcock said funds for cyclone victims are starting to come through, including 22 million pounds from the United Kingdom, but are far outstripped by the needs.

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UNICEF head Henrietta Fore just visited Mozambiques ravaged port city of Beira and said its a race against time to help the displaced and prevent disease.

Authorities in Mozambique say that with a key road open to the badly damaged city of Beira, conditions on the ground improving and more international help arriving, vital aid to those hit by Cyclone Idai should now flow more freely.

Cyclone Idais death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera.

In Mozambique the number of dead has risen to 446 while there are 259 dead in Zimbabwe and at least 56 dead in Malawi for a three-nation total of 761.

The death toll is very preliminary, said Mozambiques environment minister, Celso Correia, who said it is expected to rise.

The U.S. military will join the number of international aid groups assisting in providing food and medical care to those affected by the massive cyclone, one of the worst natural disasters in southern Africa in recent history.

Some 228,000 displaced people are now in camps across the vast flooded area of Mozambique, said Correia, who is the governments disaster coordinator, briefing journalists on Monday. It is still too early to give a number of missing, he said.

Diarrhea is reported in camps but he says it is too early to say whether it is cholera. He has said that it is almost certain that the deadly disease will emerge.

Aid teams are going to high points on islands created by Cyclone Idai and finding a lot of people, Correia said.

Until all areas can be reached and assessed, it is impossible to say the disaster response effort has turned a corner, he said.

When asked by journalists about people found sheltering in a school along the newly opened main road to Beira who said they had not eaten since the storm, Correia said the aid had to be prioritized according to necessity.

At least they were found and aid is coming, he said. They can still hang on for a few days.

Correia defended Mozambiques storm warning system, asserting that people knew weeks in advance that trouble was coming. More than 300,000 people were warned in advance, he said. All reports say the system worked, he said.

Some residents of Beira and Buzi, however, have said they had heard nothing to indicate the scale of the cyclone and were shocked by the quickly rising waters, and some have expressed anger at the government for not giving more warning.

Mozambiques former president, Joachim Chissano, was at the press briefing and said authorities did what they could to warn residents. Chissano added that it would take three years to rebuild the city of Beira.

Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, deputy director of the U.N. Humanitarian operation, told reporters that a lot more assistance should be seen by Tuesday as more aid arrives at staging areas such as the Beira airport.

He confirmed the reports of diarrhea in camps. Its a killer, he said.

He said the government is repairing key roads just enough to allow aid and other trucks to have access, with repair crews on hand when problems arise. They are being repaired for now, and thats good enough, Stampa said.

One bright spot amid the hurried response efforts is the weather, which on Monday morning in Beira was dry, partly cloudy and hot. With no rains, the flooded areas should be able to drain.

Im pretty confident in the weather, Stampa said. Its the only thing Im confident about.

The United States military says President Donald Trump has directed it to support relief efforts to help Mozambique with the destruction caused by Cyclone Idai more than a week ago.

The U.S. Africa Command statement comes three days after Mozambiques government made a formal request to the international community for aid. The southern Africa nation earlier declared a national disaster as its president said deaths from the cyclone could reach 1,000. Confirmed deaths are now close to 450.

The U.S. statement says AFRICOM provides disaster relief when it has unique capabilities that can be utilized in the U.S. Governments response.

It says the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa will lead the U.S. military efforts and that its initial assessments have begun at the scene of the disaster.

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Edith M. Lederer contributed to this story from the United Nations

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Australias top cyberwarrior revealed Wednesday that his country actively participated in the electronic war against the Islamic State group in Syria, degrading their communications during military operations and actively stopping people seeking to join the extremist group.

The director-general of the government-run Australian Signals Directorate, Mike Burgess, spoke publicly for the first time about his agencys work.

Burgess cited an example of how the cyberwarfare body helped the Australian Defense Force and its allies win a critical battle with IS.

Just as the coalition forces were preparing to attack the terrorists position, our offensive cyberoperators were at their keyboards in Australia  firing highly targeted bits and bytes into cyberspace, Burgess said in a speech at the Lowy Institute, an Australian strategic think tank.

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He said IS communications were degraded within seconds.

Terrorist commanders couldnt connect to the internet and were unable to communicate with each other. The terrorists were in disarray and driven from their position  in part because of the young men and women at their keyboards some 11,000 kilometers (6,900 miles) or so from the battle.

Burgess said the operation required weeks of planning by his agency and military personnel and was unprecedented in terms of how cyberwarfare was closely synchronized with the movements of military personnel.

And it was highly successful. Without reliable communications, the enemy had no means to organize themselves. And the coalition forces regained the territory, Burgess said.

He said his agency had also inflicted important damage to ISs media machine by locking it out of its servers and destroying propaganda material, undermining its ability to spread hate and recruit new members.

In a rare departure  anywhere in the world  from the secrecy that typically surrounds such operations, Burgess painted a fuller picture of his agencys work in a speech aimed at recruiting more operatives.

Our targets may find their communications dont work at a critical moment  rather than being destroyed completely. Or they dont work in the way they are expecting. Or they might find themselves not able to access their information or accounts precisely when they need to, he said.

Operatives came from all walks of life, having studied anything from mathematics to biology and marketing, he said. They sat at computers in Canberra, where they worked against IS on battlefields in Syria.

He said another operation began after his agency learned of a man in a remote location who had been radicalized and was attempting to join a terrorist group. A team was assembled, including linguistic, cultural and behavioral experts, which was headed by a young female science graduate in Canberra who was pretending to be a senior male terrorist in the Middle East.

ASD tracked down and reached out to the man over the internet. Pretending to be a terrorist commander, our lead operator used a series of online conversations to gradually win her targets trust, Burgess said.

To ensure he couldnt be contacted by the real terrorists, she got him to change his modes and methods of communication. Eventually, she convinced the aspiring terrorist to abandon his plan for jihad and move to another country where our partner agencies could ensure he was no longer a danger to others or himself, he said.

Burgess said the woman who led the operation was like many from fairly ordinary backgrounds who worked to help Australian operations abroad, or to prevent cyberattacks targeted at Australia.

And when she was studying science at university, she would never have dreamed that one day she would be posing online as a terrorist and helping to defend Australia from global threats, he said.

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South Korea said some North Korean officials returned to an inter-Korean liaison office on Monday, three days after the North abruptly withdrew its entire staff citing unspecified instructions from higher-level authorities.

It wasnt immediately clear why North Korea sent some workers back to the office or whether it would restore a full staff. The Norths decision to withdraw its staff on Friday came a week after its vice foreign minister threatened to pull out of nuclear negotiations with the United States following the collapse of a nuclear summit last month between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in Vietnam.

Seouls Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, said in a statement that four to five North Korean officials showed up for work Monday at the liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and told South Korean officials they came to work their usual shifts.

The ministry said the North had still not provided a clear explanation as to why it withdrew staff from the office. It expressed hope that even the partial return of North Korean personnel would allow the office to serve its essential function. The North reportedly had sent about 10 workers each working day to the office since it opened last September as part of a slew of reconciliation steps between the rivals agreed to by Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

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We plan to continue operating the inter-Korean liaison office like we did in normal times, said Baik Tae-hyun, the ministrys spokesman.

Some analysts say the withdrawal was part of North Korean efforts to pressure South Korea to back its position with the United States more strongly following the breakdown of the Trump-Kim summit. North Korean state media have recently demanded that South Korea distance itself from the United States and resume joint economic projects that have been held back by U.S.-led sanctions against the North.

The Koreas in past months have also dismantled some of their front-line guard posts, halted military exercises across their border and vowed to resume inter-Korean economic projects when possible, voicing optimism that international sanctions could end, allowing such projects.

While Moon says inter-Korean reconciliation is crucial for achieving progress in nuclear negotiations, the breakdown of the Trump-Kim summit has created a difficult environment to push engagement with the North.

Washington and Pyongyang have struggled with the sequencing of North Koreas nuclear disarmament and the removal of sanctions, and blamed each other for the collapse of last months meeting in Hanoi.

The liaison office between the Koreas is the first since the Korean Peninsula was split into a U.S.-backed capitalistic South and a Soviet-supported socialist North in 1945. The rivals previously used telephone and fax-like communication channels that were often shut down in times of high tensions.

Kaesong is also the location of a now-shuttered factory complex that was jointly run by the two Koreas. It combined South Korean capital and technology with cheap North Korean labor. Both Koreas want the United States to allow exemptions from the sanctions to permit the reopening of the factory park, which provided North Korea with much-needed foreign currency. Critics say Kaesong and other inter-Korean economic projects helped North Korea fund its nuclear weapons program.

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New Zealand will hold a top-level inquiry into the massacre of 50 people at two Christchurch mosques that will examine what roles guns, social media and spy agencies played preceding the attacks.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday that it would hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry, the countrys highest form of investigation.

While New Zealanders and Muslim communities around the world are both grieving and showing compassion for one another, they are also quite rightly asking questions on how this terror attack was able to happen here, Ardern said.

Her Cabinet had previously agreed on holding an inquiry, but had not decided what level of investigation. She said royal commissions are usually reserved for matters of the gravest public importance and that was clearly appropriate in this case. She said the exact terms of the inquiry, including its duration, would be finalized over the next two weeks.

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In short, the inquiry will look at what could have or should have been done to prevent the attack, Ardern said. It will inquire into the individual and his activities before the terrorist attack, including, of course, a look at agencies.

She said those agencies will include the countrys domestic spy agency, the Security Intelligence Service, and its international counterpart, the Government Communications Security Bureau. Other agencies to be looked at include police, customs and immigration.

A royal commission is run independently from the government and is chaired by a high-court judge. It has the power to compel witnesses to testify and organizations to hand over documents. But it remains up to the courts or government to follow through on any recommendations or findings.

Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 28, has been charged with murder for the March 15 attacks. He is next due in court on April 5.

Some people have already criticized New Zealands intelligence agencies for focusing too much on perceived threats from Muslim extremists and left-wing radicals while not looking deeply enough into possible threats from nationalist groups and white supremacists.

There will be a focus on whether our intelligence community was concentrating its resources appropriately and whether there were any reports that could, or should, have alerted them to this attack, Ardern said. It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to the bottom of how this act of terrorism occurred and what, if any, opportunities we had to stop it.

On Thursday, less than a week after the attack, the government announced it was rushing through new laws to ban military-style semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines like those used by the gunman.

Ardern said Monday that it was unacceptable that a disturbing video of the attack taken by the gunman and livestreamed on Facebook continued to be available on some social media platforms. She said she wanted assurances from social media leaders that something similar would never happen again.

New Zealand has previously held royal commissions into the 2010 Pike River coal mine disaster and building failures during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. It is currently holding an inquiry into historical abuse in state care.

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Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A Filipino woman who helped shelter former NSA contractor Edward Snowden when he fled to Hong Kong has been granted refugee status in Canada.

Vanessa Rodel and her daughter Keana arrived in Toronto Monday evening.

I feel so great and I feel like Im free, she said.

Lawyer Robert Tibbo represented Rodel as she sought asylum in Hong Kong in 2013 due to an alleged kidnap and rape by militants in her homeland. The attorney asked her to help Snowden hide out there after he leaked documents revealing extensive U.S. government surveillance.

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Tibbo said Hong Kong rejected Rodels asylum request and since then officials there have grilled her over her contacts with Snowden, who now lives in exile in Russia.

Tibbo and a nonprofit group called For the Refugees wants Canada to accept five others who helped Snowden.

Snowdens lawyer decided to go public with the identities of the refugees after learning that movie director Oliver Stone had found out about them and would incorporate their role into his film on Snowden, which was released in 2016. The three families, who didnt realize they were harboring one of the worlds most wanted figures at the time, said they feared being sent back.

Since that became public they have been targeted by the Hong Kong government who called up all of their refugee claimants and denied them all on the same day after about a half hour, For the Refugees spokesman Ethan Cox said. They have had their support payments cut off. Theyve only been able to survive off donations to our non-profit.

Snowden tweeted about Rodel and her daughter.

Thank you to all those in Canada and around the world who have made this possible, he wrote in French. After so many years, the first of the families who helped me is free and has a future. But the work is not over  with solidarity and compassion, Canada can save them all.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said she could not comment on privately sponsored refugee applications.

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Migrants trying to reach Europe face routine rape and sexual torture throughout their journey and especially in Libya, with men facing abuse nearly as routinely as women, according to a study based on dozens of interviews with aid workers and migrants.

The graphic study released Monday by the Womens Refugee Commission comes as Europe has blocked rescues at sea and outsourced its migration policy to Libyas coast guard instead. With European Union funding, the Libyan coast guard retrieves migrants from the Mediterranean Sea and returns them to detention centers nominally run by the Libyan government, where migrants say the abuse resumes.

Smugglers torture migrants and film it to extract ransom payments from their families, and to thin the number of people in their unofficial prisons, according to the study. Previous studies have found that nearly all women who cross from North Africa have been raped or sexually abused along the journey; this one found that the danger was likely nearly as prevalent among men. A mental health worker described graves filled with men with their genitals sliced off  a description corroborated by the account of a survivor of a mass mutilation.

Migrants told similarly horrific stories about rape, forced incest and mass sexual abuse intended to humiliate detainees who had to strip naked and become either rapists themselves or victims.

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According to a 20-year-old man from Guinea, when the men came back crying, they would talk about what the guards did to them and how violent it was.

Because the men were victimized together, they were willing to talk about it in ways that might otherwise be taboo. Mostly, they dont talk about it. In repeated AP interviews with migrants in Europe and in Africa, Libya is the place they dont discuss.

The area around Bani Walid is particularly notorious for its clandestine prisons, where migrants have described being held in sunless warehouses for months and even years on end while smugglers try to extract money from them to continue their journey. Last May, more than 100 migrants and refugees broke out from one of the lockups, fleeing under their captors gunfire. At least 15 people died and 40 were left behind, according to the aid group Doctors Without Borders. The survivors were ultimately shipped to an official Libyan detention center.

And now official detention is likely where they will end up even if they make it into the Mediterranean, due to European policy that has effectively banned rescues at sea in an effort to slow migration. The EU has spent 338 million euros ($382 million) in Libya since 2014 to stem migration, much of it on strengthening the Libyan coast guard and the detention centers.

Migrants turned back in the Mediterranean are unlikely to fare much better in official detention than they did in the warehouses, according to the studys lead researcher, Sarah Chynoweth. United Nations staff and aid groups have limited access to the centers and Chynoweth said migrants told her than in any case we were just too terrified to say anything.

At one of the official prisons, a 19-year-old Nigerian woman told a health worker that women faced near constant threat of rape, and men only marginally less. Migrants bribe their way to freedom or escape if they can.

They said that if we tell in Europe what is happening in Libya, our brothers and sisters in the prison will pay, she said, according to the study.

Chynoweth has carried out similar studies among the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Syrian refugees in the Middle East. What differs in the European context, she said, is how widespread it is, and the fact that profoundly disturbing forms of sexual torture are used for purposes of extorting ransoms  sent via video to desperate families.

The minute people are stopped at sea, Europeans wash their hands of it, said Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui, the humanitarian affairs adviser for Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Earlier this month, the European Union issued a statement saying the continents migration crisis is over, and current levels are a mere 10 percent of what they were at their peak in 2015. The statement cited appalling conditions in Libyas detention centers as an issue, without suggesting solutions.

One of the studys few bright points came aboard the MSF rescue ship Aquarius. On the ship, the medical team realized that men and boys appeared not to know that what theyd experienced was sexual abuse. Trained health workers decided in 2018 to emphasize free medical and psychological counseling.

As a result, the study said, 33 percent of sexual assault survivors who came forward last year on the Aquarius were male, compared with just 3 percent in 2017.

It was about creating that safe environment, allowing the men and boys to know theyre not alone, said Aoife Ni Mhurchu, who was a nurse on board the Aquarius at the time and specializes in working with vulnerable populations. Few migrants had any illusions that their attackers would face justice, said Ni Mhurchu, who worked in four detention centers in Libya before her time at sea.

She said few detained in Libya would dare come forward while there.

This climate of impunity in Libya signals to this extremely vulnerable population that reporting is not only dangerous but futile, she said.

The Aquarius is now chartered for a scientific expedition. The only people pulling migrants from the Mediterranean waters off the Libyan coast take them right back where they came from.

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the name of the group that carried out the study. It is the Womens Refugee Commission.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Russia savored an I told you so moment Monday after special counsel Robert Mueller found no collusion between President Donald Trumps campaign and Moscow. Government officials also dismissed the extensive evidence uncovered by Mueller of Russian cyber-meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Its hard to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if it isnt there, President Vladimir Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, insisting that Russia has never interfered in elections in the U.S. or any other countries.

While Mueller found no evidence Trumps campaign conspired or coordinated with Moscow to sway the election in his favor, he uncovered multi-pronged Russian meddling and indicted 25 Russians on charges of hacking Democratic email accounts and spreading disinformation on social media.

The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected those charges as ridiculous and politically motivated and denounced Muellers investigation as a waste of taxpayer money stemming from the Democrats effort to discredit Trump.

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Colossal efforts and significant taxpayers funds have been spent to refute a clear fake, it said.

Russian authorities over the past months have described the Mueller probe in a language strikingly similar to that of Trump, denouncing it as politically driven witch hunt.

The results of Muellers investigation are a disgrace for the U.S. and its political elites, Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the information committee at the Federation Council, tweeted Monday. All of the accusations were proved to be trumped up.

Russian state-owned Channel One suggested that U.S. media had been deliberately whipping up hysteria about possible collusion to turn American public opinion against Russia.

There were so many fake scoops: the one about the non-existent back channel between Washington and Moscow, the one about the so-called Russia Dossier with the Kremlins alleged compromising information on Trump, said Channel Ones U.S. correspondent, Yulia Olkhovskaya. But will the viewers hear the rebuttals now?

Putins spokesman said that Russia wants good relations with the U.S. but that its up to Washington to move to repair ties.

Vladimir Pozner, a veteran TV commentator in Russia, said that by lifting the cloud hanging over Trump, Muellers report removes a barrier to better U.S-Russia relations.

It creates a kind of an opening for an improvement of relations, which is badly needed considering the situation today, Pozner said Monday.

Other Russian officials and commentators held out hope that Trump would now reach out to Moscow, but most also noted that congressional support for sanctions against Russia and political infighting in Washington made any improvements in relations unlikely.

There is nothing to celebrate here in Russia; the accusations against us remain, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Federation Councils foreign affairs committee, said. Theres an opportunity to reset our relations, but the question is whether Trump will take the risk.

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko alleged Thursday that his two top rivals in a weekend election are backed by a self-exiled tycoon who wants to unseat Poroshenko as revenge for the nationalization of his bank.

Poroshenko said at a rally in the western city of Lviv that billionaire businessman Ihor Kolomoyskyi is trying to prevent the incumbents re-election by supporting comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Sundays election.

He has fled abroad, but he simultaneously moves two figures on the election chessboard, Poroshenko alleged of Kolomoyskyi, who lives in Israel.

Poroshenko claimed the tycoon wants to to take revenge against the state for the 2016 nationalization of his Privatbank.

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Opinion polls have shown Zelenskiy leading the race. He and Tymoshenko have rejected claims that Kolomoyskyi is the funder and mastermind of their campaigns.

Speaking to reporters at the campaign event, Poroshenko sought to downplay the polls that gave Zelenskiy, who stars on a TV comedy series about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, a big lead over the incumbent president and ex-prime minister.

There is no any big gap between Zelenskiy and me, he said.

Poroshenko blamed Tymoshenko for Ukraines past economic woes, calling her Madam Crisis and alleged that Zelenskiys victory would benefit Russia.

He even jokes in Russian, Poroshenko said.

Russia annexed Ukraines Crimea in 2014 in a move that most nations see as illegal and also backed a separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

At Thursdays rally, Poroshenko said Russian President Vladimir Putin wouldnt succeed in his attempts to derail Ukraines effort to join the European Union and NATO.

Only Ukrainian people, not Putin, not anybody else, not oligarchs who sit in Israel, will define what will be the future of Ukraine, he said. Im confident of this, and Im confident that this future will be trans-Atlantic membership, NATO and Europe.

The rally in Lviv drew more than 20,000 people and was tightly secured by police, which kept several hundred ultra-right demonstrators from disrupting it.

Ukraines ultra-right activists have shadowed Poroshenko as he campaigns across the country, accusing him of corruption and demanding the detention of associates who are accused of involvement in a military embezzlement scheme.

Poroshenko rejected the accusations and ordered a probe of the alleged embezzlement scheme.

Ultranationalists dogging the president on the campaign trail occasionally clashed with police, but the rally in Lviv went on peacefully.

The ultranationalist groups have said they plan to monitor voting to prevent election violations. Their statement worried the ambassadors of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, who sent a letter to Ukraines Interior Ministry expressing concern about the increasingly assertive stance of right-wing activists ahead of the vote.

The ministry promised that it would ensure order. Poroshenko also pledged to ensure a free and fair election.

Im absolutely confident that we have enough power not to allow any pro-Putin or nationalistic or (neo-) Nazi small groups to try to block or cancel or attack our elections, he said. We are responsible. We understand how important this election is for the democracy of Ukraine, for stability in Europe.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Pope Francis has set the record straight about why he pulled his hand away when throngs of people lined up this week to kiss his ring: for fear of spreading germs.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said Thursday that Francis was concerned about hygiene when, after greeting dozens of well-wishers in a lengthy receiving line Monday in Loreto, he began pulling his hand away to discourage people from kissing his ring.

Video of the incident went viral, with conservative critics blasting what they said was Francis graceless disrespect for the tradition and the faithful who wanted to honor it.

Gisotti said Thursday he had just spoken to the pope about it, and Francis replied that it was nothing of the sort.

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The Holy Father told me that the motivation was very simple: hygiene, Gisotti told reporters. He wants to avoid the risk of contagion for the people, not for him.

The tradition of kissing the ring of a bishop or pope goes back centuries, as a sign of respect and obedience.

Gisotti noted that Francis is more than happy to receive the ring-kiss in small groups, where the spread of germs is more contained, as he did Wednesday when a handful of people were lined up at the end of his general audience to greet him.

Several bent down to kiss his ring, and Francis patiently allowed it.

You all know that he has a great joy in meeting and embracing people, and being embraced by them, Gisotti said.

Francis is known for gleefully embracing babies given to him to kiss and  germs be damned  sipping from mate gourds offered to him by strangers when hes out and about on his popemobile.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel early Tuesday, the second day of cross-border fighting that erupted in the last stretch of a closely contested race for Israeli prime minister between the long-serving incumbent and an ex-army chief.

The latest violence was triggered by a surprise rocket fired early Monday from Gaza, a territory ruled since 2007 by the Islamic militant group Hamas. The rocket slammed into a house in central Israel and injured seven people.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would cut short a visit to Washington, Israel sent troop reinforcements to the Gaza border and Hamas leaders went into hiding  signals that both sides are heading into perhaps the most serious confrontation since a 2014 Israel-Hamas war.

Late Monday, Hamas announced a cease-fire had been brokered by Egyptian mediators, but the cross-border strikes continued into early Tuesday.

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The conflagration comes at a time when both Netanyahu and his Hamas foes are in desperate situations, with little incentive to de-escalate quickly.

Netanyahu is in a tight race for re-election against former army chief Benny Gantz. Just two weeks before the April 9 vote, he faces tough criticism from political rivals, including in his own right-wing political camp, who accuse him of being too soft on Hamas.

Hamas, meanwhile, is under growing pressure domestically because of its failure to get Israel and Egypt to ease their Gaza border blockade, imposed after the 2007 Hamas takeover.

Netanyahu signaled a tough response.

Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate this, he declared during a White House meeting with President Donald Trump.

Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression, he said. We will do whatever we must do to defend our people and defend our state.

Israel opened public bomb shelters in most major cities and civil defense authorities canceled sports events and public transportation in southern Israel.

The Israeli army said several dozen rockets had been fired into Israel on Monday and Tuesday, as air raid sirens wailed across southern Israel. The army said nearly all rockets were either intercepted or landed in open areas.

Israeli airstrikes hit military sites for Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group. Gazas Health Ministry said seven Palestinians were injured in the airstrikes.

Targets included the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The Israeli military confirmed the bombing, saying the building had served as an office for many military meetings.

Haniyeh issued a statement warning Israel against heavy retaliation. He said the Palestinian people will not surrender and its militant factions will deter the enemy if it exceeds the red lines.

Another blast destroyed a multistory building in Gaza City that Israel said had served as a Hamas military intelligence headquarters. The airstrike was so powerful it sent debris flying onto the roof of The Associated Press bureau on the 11th floor of a nearby high-rise.

In Beirut, the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, met Monday with a senior Hamas delegation. Hezbollah said they discussed the Gaza situation and Israeli aggression.

Hamas is facing perhaps its toughest domestic test since seizing control of Gaza from the rival Palestinian Authority 12 years ago.

An Israel-Egyptian blockade, imposed to weaken Hamas, combined with sanctions by the Palestinian Authority and mismanagement by the Hamas government, have all fueled an economic crisis that has left Gaza with an unemployment rate above 50 percent.

Hamas has been leading weekly protests along the Israeli border for the past year in hopes of easing the blockade, but the demonstrations, in which some 190 people have been killed by Israeli fire, have done little to improve conditions.

Last week, hundreds of Gazans protested the dire conditions, a rare expression of public discontent against the authoritarian government. Hamas responded with a violent crackdown, beating and arresting dozens of demonstrators and drawing rare public criticism.

The rocket attack, which caught Israel off guard, may have been an attempt by Hamas to divert attention from its growing domestic woes.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars. Although neither side appears to have an interest in another war, fighting could easily spin out of control. The 2014 conflict lasted 50 days and ended with over 2,000 Palestinian deaths, including hundreds of civilians, and 73 killed on the Israeli side.

Netanyahu faces the difficult task of delivering a tough blow to Hamas while avoiding protracted fighting that could work against him on election day.

Mondays attack came 10 days after rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israels densely populated commercial capital of Tel Aviv, and the Israeli military struck back. Gazas Hamas leaders said the rocket was fired accidentally and the fighting quickly subsided.

The sounds of air raid sirens jolted residents of the Sharon area, northeast of Tel Aviv, shortly after 5 a.m. Monday, sending them scurrying to bomb shelters.

The rocket destroyed a residential home in the farming community of Mishmeret, wounding six members of a family. The Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including two women who were moderately wounded. The others, including two children and an infant, had minor injuries.

The Israeli military said Hamas militants fired the rocket from southern Gaza. It said its Iron Dome rocket-defense system was not activated because the attack in central Israel had not been anticipated. The army added it was reinforcing its missile defense batteries in preparation for an escalation.

Maj. Mika Lifshitz, a military spokeswoman, said it was a self-manufactured rocket with a range of 120 kilometers (75 miles), making it one of the deepest strikes ever carried out by Hamas.

Lifshitz added that two armor and infantry brigades were being mobilized to the Gaza front and that a limited drafting of reserves was also taking place.

Several cities, including Tel Aviv and Beersheba, opened public bomb shelters. Civil defense officials canceled sporting matches and train service in southern Israel. Schools were ordered to hold classes in bomb shelters, and large public gatherings were banned.

Netanyahu came under heavy criticism from allies and opponents for what they say has been an ineffective policy containing Gaza militants.

He has conducted indirect cease-fire talks through Egyptian mediators in recent months, and even allowed the delivery of millions of dollars of Qatari aid to Hamas to ease harsh conditions in Gaza.

The reality in which Hamas turned Israel into a hostage is unprecedented and unfathomable, his chief challenger, Gantz, wrote on Twitter on Monday. Gantz led the army during the last Gaza war in 2014.

Netanyahu also came under attack from his own nationalistic allies.

Israels deterrence has collapsed, and it has to be said in all honesty Netanyahu has failed against Hamas, said Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Yamin HeHadash faction in Netanyahus coalition.

___

Akram reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Ilan Ben Zion and Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The U.S-backed Syrian fighters who drove the Islamic State from its last strongholds called Monday for an international tribunal to prosecute hundreds of foreigners rounded up in the nearly five-year campaign against the extremist group.

The administration affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said such a tribunal is needed for justice to take its course, particularly after countries have refused to bring home their detained nationals. The SDF has captured more than 1,000 foreign fighters, including many from Western countries.

We dont have other options, Abdulkerim Umer, a foreign affairs official in the Kurdish-led administration, told The Associated Press. No one wanted to take the responsibility (of repatriating their nationals). We cant put up with this burden alone.

Western countries have largely refused to take back their detained citizens, fearing they would not be able to convict them in civilian courts and that they could pose a security risk. The problem has grown more urgent since President Donald Trump announced his intention to reduce the U.S. military presence in Syria, where American forces are fighting alongside the SDF.

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It is an exceptional situation and we are looking at an exceptional framework, said Ilham Ahmed, the head of the political arm of the SDF, told the AP. We are dealing with a failed state. In this case we can treat the (Kurdish-administered) region as an exception.

Asked about the tribunal proposal in Washington, U.S. special envoy for Syria and the anti-IS coalition, Jim Jeffrey, said: Were not looking at that right now.

Jeffrey said the priority is to deal with the Iraqi and Syrian prisoners, which he estimated at 7,000 held in eastern Syria and representing the vast majority of those in detention. The second priority, Jeffrey said, is convincing the home countries of the foreign fighters to take them back.

Umer said foreign fighters should be tried where their crimes occurred and where they were detained. The international community has evaded its responsibility, so we ask that they help us set up the court here, he said.

Germanys Foreign Ministry said in an email that it only knew of the proposal from media reports, but that setting up such a tribunal would raise many political and legal issues, which would require careful evaluation by the international community.

Germany has said bringing detained German militants home would be extraordinarily difficult, in response to a U.S. call for European nations to repatriate their nationals.

The SDF has been fighting IS since 2014 and has retaken large areas in northern and eastern Syria. Its administration is not recognized internationally or by the Syrian government, which has vowed to bring all the countrys territory back under its control.

The Kurdish-led administration has asked the government to grant it autonomy in a new constitution, something Damascus has roundly rejected. Umer said the issue of the foreign detainees is therefore an exceptional case that requires an international tribunal. He said the presence of the foreign fighters is a big problem that could stoke further instability in the region.

It is a burden and a risk for us and the international community, he said.

Nadim Houry, the director of the counterterrorism program at Human Rights Watch, said it is hard to imagine setting up an international tribunal on sovereign territory without that countrys approval. Previous efforts to get Security Council backing for international tribunals for crimes committed in Syria have failed, mostly because of vetoes by Russia, a main ally of Damascus.

Houry said a major legal concern would be trying people for the same crimes in different courts depending on their nationality.

There is no real precedent for creating an international tribunal for some nationals and not the others, Houry said. It is an option that raises as many questions as it provides answers.

He said that while the U.S.-led coalition has provided military aid to the SDF, it has done nothing to help develop the local judiciary.

It is a fair call on the (SDF)'s part to say this should be an international responsibility, but so far the path to such help is unclear.

Kurdish-run courts in northeastern Syria have tried hundreds of Syrians suspected of links to IS. In trials attended by the AP last year, Kurdish authorities showed leniency toward the mostly Arab suspects in a bid to build bridges with the majority Arab population. The courts do not impose the death penalty.

Umer said an international tribunal would help bring the system in line with global norms.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Jordans in Berlin and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The man accused of shooting a West Texas sheriffs deputy faces an upgraded charge after the lawman died over the weekend.

El Paso Magistrate Judge Penny Hamilton said Monday that 27-year-old Facundo Chavez was rebooked on a capital murder charge. Chavez was initially booked on a count of attempted murder.

The El Paso County Sheriffs Office confirmed Sunday that 35-year-old deputy Peter Herrera died after being shot Friday during a traffic stop.

Authorities say a man in vehicle Herrera stopped fired 15 shots at the deputy after he asked the driver to step out of a car in San Elizario, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of El Paso.

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While officials initially expected him to survive, Herreras widow said on Facebook his condition worsened Saturday.

Officials say its the first shooting death of an El Paso deputy since 1940.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A prominent Hong Kong businessman earned leniency with a three-year prison sentence dispensed Monday by a judge who said bribes paid to the presidents of two African countries were serious crimes but kindness including playing violin for fellow inmates was extraordinary.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska sentenced Dr. Chi Ping Patrick Ho, 69, who is also an ophthalmologist and was once Hong Kongs home affairs secretary.

Preska said acts of charity were common for those who had achieved Hos wealth, but he went above and beyond by restoring sight for strangers, bringing music to the Metropolitan Correction Center and tutoring inmates who then finished high school.

It is indeed extraordinary, Preska said.

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Ho was convicted in December of paying bribes to the presidents of Chad and Uganda in a scheme to secure oil rights for an energy conglomerate known as CEFC China Energy.

Lawyers for Ho insisted at trial that payments to the presidents were legitimate charitable donations. The payments included $2 million in gift boxes delivered to Chads president in 2014.

Ho was charged in New York City by authorities who cited meetings and wire transfers in Manhattan related to the bribes.

Prosecutors had recommended Ho serve five years. Defense lawyers said his 16 months behind bars as a model inmate were enough.

Ho will likely serve about another year behind bars before he is deported.

The actions that have caused this suffering and brought me to this courtroom today were mine and mine alone, he told Preska as he choked up several times.

I accept full responsibility for them and I am deeply sorry, Ho said.

He said he was grateful to guards and inmates at the MCC for keeping him safe.

When he finished his remarks, Ho took a full bow before the judge to show his gratitude and appreciation.

During a weeklong trial, prosecutors said Ho approached the presidents of Chad and Uganda on behalf of CEFC China Energy after growing accustomed to using money to entice foreign officials to help the company expand its business.

Prosecutors say the Ugandan scheme emerged at the United Nations in New York when Ugandas foreign minister served as president of the U.N. General Assembly.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
San Diego legal experts, political scientists and elected officials joined a nationwide parade of parsing Sunday, weighing what a long-awaited summary of the Mueller report means.

Amid the shouts of no collusion among Republicans and no exoneration among Democrats, a consensus emerged that issues raised by the special counsels 22-month probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign arent going away.

This just seems like the start of it all, not the end, said Stephen Goggin, a political science lecturer at San Diego State University. I think many people were hoping this was going to bring it all to a close, but it opens up a lot more questions than it answers.

It also doesnt figure to change anybodys mind about President Trump, said Peter Cowhey, dean of the School of Global Politics and Strategy at University of California San Diego.

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The public divide over Trumps conduct wont change dramatically, he said. Prior indictments and an ambivalent finding on obstruction give critics enough to sustain their opposition. No finding of collusion boosts his supporters.

Cowhey said the energy for debate may slowly ebb a bit, especially if Attorney General William Barr releases the full report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Barrs four-page letter to Congress Sunday summarized the reports principal conclusions.

Democrats continued their call for broader transparency.

Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano (U-T file photo)

The American people deserve to see the special counsels full report and the underlying documentation, said Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano. He must release the full report immediately.

But Tony Krvaric, chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego County, said its time to move on.

Will Democrats accept the report and engage in a debate about the important issues and challenges facing America, he asked, or double down on what are now ludicrous, disproved allegations that belong on the ash heap of history?

Chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego County Tony Krvaric (U-T file photo)

Chuck La Bella, a former U.S. attorney with experience in politically charged investigations  he looked into possible campaign-finance crimes in the 1996 presidential election  said its not up to Barr to release the entire report because there are legal restrictions on the disclosure of grand jury material.

These people saying he has to do it, he has to do it, they should check the law, La Bella said. The law says he cant do it.

La Bella said Barr could petition a judge and argue that a full release is in the publics interest. But judging from the attorney generals letter Sunday, I dont think thats going to happen, La Bella said.

Much of the discussion Sunday by legal experts and politicians centered on the part of the report dealing with obstruction of justice. In his summary, Barr quoted Mueller: While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.

That left it to the attorney general to determine whether any of Trumps conduct constituted a crime. In his letter, Barr said the evidence developed by Muellers team is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.

That left people on both sides of the controversy with something to grab onto, and they did. Everybodys already spinning it the way they want it to be, Goggin said.

It left San Diego journalist Seth Hettena, author of the 2018 book Trump/Russia: A Definitive History, scratching his head.

San Diego journalist Seth Hettena, author of Trump/Russia: A Definitive History (AP)

One thing I cant explain is why Mueller punted on whether there was sufficient evidence on obstruction of justice, he said. Thats why he was there. It was his job to make that determination.

Steven Semeraro, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and a former federal prosecutor, said he wasnt surprised by Barrs decision on obstruction of justice because of the attorney generals earlier comments endorsing sweeping executive-branch authority.

Nor was he surprised by the reports other key conclusion: That the Trump campaign did not conspire or coordinate with the Russian governments social-media and computer-hacking interference in the 2016 campaign.

There was a lot of smoke suggesting something was happening, but there hasnt been anything to prove there was an agreement between the campaign and Russia, he said.

La Bella said the DOJ makes it clear to its prosecutors  and Mueller was one at one time  that they need proof beyond a reasonable doubt before bringing a case.

There may be an unethical, improper or unseemly relationship, but thats irrelevant to criminal law, La Bella said. Criminal law is very precise. If you dont have proof beyond a reasonable doubt, you dont have a criminal case.

Still, Semeraro said, theres a difference between whats illegal and whats right. He drew a comparison between the Trump campaign, which had multiple contacts with Russians, and Al Gore, who alerted the FBI when he was offered dirt on George W. Bush in 2000.

He asked, Is it a crime not to (contact the FBI)? No. But is it OK? Whether a crime is committed is one question, and whether its OK for America, OK for our democracy, is another.

For former San Diego federal prosecutor Jason Forge, the main question is why Sundays summary letter was released publicly at all.

Former federal prosecutor Jason Forge (U-T file photo)

He called it political grandstanding and said, It conflates what the public is interested in versus whats in the public interest.

He said it would have been better to keep the report confidential  just like every other prosecution memo thats ever been generated in the history of the department of Justice.

Still, he was also struck by something that many people, no matter their feelings about the Mueller reports conclusions, may find impressive, if not comforting: The size of the investigation, which included more than 2,800 subpoenas, 500 search warrants, and interviews with about 500 witnesses.

Thats stunning, Forge said. Thats as comprehensive an investigation as this country has seen.

Staff writers Gary Robbins and Charles Clark contributed to this report.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com
The Mueller report is finished, but Californians overwhelmingly believe that investigations of President Trump should continue, according to a new poll taken Monday.

By 2-1 ratios, the respondents want Congress to look into possible wrongdoing by the president, and they want prosecutors to move forward with probes into Trumps private companies.

The percentage of Californians who believe that Trump won the 2016 presidential election fair and square now sits at 29 percent, the lowest its been in two years of tracking by SurveyUSA. Fifty-four percent believe Trump was helped across the finish line, up from 43 percent in March 2017.

The poll of 700 adults, conducted for the Union-Tribune and 10News, was done one day after U.S. Attorney General William Barr provided to Congress a four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert Muellers 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

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According to Barrs summary, the Trump campaign did not conspire or coordinate with the Russians who conducted social-media and computer-hacking operations to influence the election. Twenty-five Russians and three Russian entities were indicted by Muellers team last year.

Mueller reached no conclusion on whether various Trump actions during the investigation amounted to obstruction of justice: While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. In his summary, Barr said there was insufficient evidence to support an obstruction charge.

In the new poll, Californians seemed unconvinced by the Barr summary. More than three-quarters said the full Mueller report should be released.

That includes two-thirds of Republicans, so its a broadly based coalition, said Ken Alper of Survey USA. People who support the president want to see vindication, while those who dont support him want to see what evidence there is against him.

Less than one-third of those surveyed accept the conclusion that Trump and his campaign did not conspire with the Russians, while a higher percentage said they believed there had been collusion.

When asked about Trumps actions surrounding the Mueller investigation, almost half of the respondents said the president had obstructed justice, while less than one-third said he had not.

Many of the survey results broke along predictable partisan lines. On the conspiracy question, for example, 49 percent of Democrats said Trump or his campaign had worked with the Russians; 49 percent of Republicans said no.

A majority of Democrats said Trump had obstructed the Mueller investigation, while a majority of Republicans disagreed.

Republicans were far more willing in the poll to echo one of Trumps favorite phrases and call the Mueller probe a witch hunt, while Democrats were twice as likely to believe that, in 100 years, Sundays announcement by Barr will be remembered as that time the big fish got away.

The composition of the adults in the survey echoed the voter breakdown in California: 42 percent Democrat, 27 percent Republican and 26 percent independent.

Of the states 19 million registered voters, 44.4 percent are Democrats, 25.1 percent are Republicans and 25.5 percent are independents. A recent study by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that 43 percent of the independents lean Democrat, and 29 percent lean Republican.

In the 2016 election, Democrat Hillary Clinton won California, capturing 61.7 percent of the ballots (8.5 million votes). Trump, the Republican nominee, received 31.6 percent (4.5 million votes).

But the poll also showed general agreement between the parties followers on several questions. Majorities in both said they believed Mueller had completed the assignment he was given.

Both ranked Trump first when asked who they thought had emerged as the big winner in the Mueller report summary, and both ranked Democrats near the top as the big loser.

Similar numbers  47 percent of Democrats, 45 percent of Republicans  said their best guess is that Trump will serve one full term as president, as opposed to serving two terms or leaving office early.

That remains to be seen, of course, a point that Alper said is worth remembering.

We see (the poll) as being on a path that still has more steps to go, he said. While its possible that the American public now has everything it needs to know from the Mueller report, its also possible that there is more to be learned.

This is going to be a developing story for quite some time.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com
Two men were shot two minutes apart Monday night in two separate incidents  one in Spring Valley, the other in City Heights  and both victims were expected to survive and were uncooperative with law enforcement, police and sheriffs officials said.

A witness reported the first shooting on Broadview Street in Spring Valley at 9:26 p.m., San Diego County Sheriffs Lt. Dave Perkins said. The witness heard the gunfire and spoke with the victim, who said hed been shot, but the witness did not see the shooter.

Deputies found the victim with at least one gunshot wound, Perkins said. The deputies treated him until medics arrived to take him to a hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.

The victim did not call 911 and apparently would not cooperate with investigators, Perkins said. No description of the shooter was available.

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In a nearly identical but apparently unrelated incident, a shooting was reported just two minutes later, at 9:28 p.m., in San Diegos City Heights neighborhood, Officer John Buttle said.

In that shooting, which happened on 36th Street near El Cajon Boulevard, a man was struck in the leg, Buttle said. He was taken to a hospital with an injury believed to be non-life-threatening.

He was also uncooperative with police investigators, Buttle said, and police did not have a description of the gunman.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com
Last week, office administrator Maryam Abdullah had to negotiate an obstacle course to reach her desk in the Islamic Center of San Diego.

She edged past roses, carnations and wildflowers piled across counters. Stepped around more bouquets stacked on the floor. Resisted candy and cookies left by non-Muslim visitors. Avoided knocking over greeting cards and a homemade poster, the latter reading You Are Us.

To Abdullah, these gestures sent a message: He didnt succeed.

He was the terrorist who killed 50 Muslims in two New Zealand mosques on March 15. The slaughter of men, women and children at prayer struck a chilling chord around the world, frightening Muslims  and others  who have seen too many mass murders in the name of various warped causes.

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Police reported that the perpetrator of this atrocity had issued a manifesto, urging a white nationalist campaign against immigrants and religious minorities. If his goal was to provoke more outbursts of anti-Muslim violence, he failed.

Spectacularly.

We have had an overwhelming outpouring of love, support, sympathy and solidarity from all walks of life, said Imam Taha Hassane, the Islamic Centers spiritual leader. We are seeing people who have never been in a mosque in their lives walking in with flowers and words of love and support.

That support was especially strong among faith leaders  including local rabbis. They recalled that Hassane and other Muslims had rallied to their side last October, after 11 Jews were murdered in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

This was important to me, Rabbi Michael Berk of Beth Israel said about joining a delegation of rabbis to the Islamic Center the day after the New Zealand atrocity. Just as love and support was shown to our community, we would show that in return.

Imam Taha and other imams are our beloved neighbors, said Rabbi Lauri Coskey, head of Chavurah Kol Haneshamah, a community that gathers for Jewish holy days and life celebrations. We know each other and we show up for each other.

Like a tsunami

While San Diego has always been home to Muslims, Muslims havent always been a visible thread in our civic fabric. That was especially true after 9/11, when many kept a low profile for fear of a backlash from non-Muslims.

I remember the same deep, raw pain that everybody felt, said Ismahan Abdullahi, the Muslim American Societys national deputy director, recalling her reaction to that terrorist attack. But I felt demonized by what seemed like a majority of American citizens. Back then, I felt I could only rely on my own Muslim community and a few allies.

Even before 9/11, foreign politics often prevented better domestic relationships. Tensions between Israel, an ally of the U.S., and Iran, Syria and other Arab nations hindered attempts to build bridges between local Muslims and their Christian and Jewish neighbors.

Hassane, an immigrant from Algeria, arrived at the San Diego center 14 years ago. His early efforts to reach out to the broader community were resisted  by his own congregation.

Why are you having these programs with Jews and Christians? he was asked.

Some Jews and Christians asked the same question. Did Muslims belong in interfaith gatherings?

In the 80s and 90s, if we had an interfaith gathering it didnt include Muslims, Rabbi Berk said. There was the National Conference of Christians and Jews  now they call themselves the National Conference, but interfaith initially was just Christians and Jews.

Hassane persisted. Few were surprised when the imam joined other clerics in protesting the U.S. occupation of Iraq, but Hassanes concerns extended beyond the Middle East. He insisted on addressing a larger audience, beyond the walls of his mosque.

Imam Taha has spoken at my church and churches all across San Diego, said the Rev. Beth Johnson, pastor of the Palomar Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Vista.

There is such a strong connection with the Muslim community and that is very much due to the outreach and ongoing presence of Imam Taha Hassane.

When local spiritual leaders marched for immigration reform or better working conditions, Hassane would be in the front ranks. He condemned terrorism, no matter the ethnic or religious identity of the attacker or the victims.

He is a criminal and should be taken to justice, Hassane said, citing the self-professed Muslim mastermind of the 2015 San Bernardino massacre. Thats it.

Then came last Oct. 27. When a gunman slaughtered 11 Jews inside Pittsburghs Tree of Life synagogue, social media spread the news  and the sense of shock and fear  within minutes.

When Pittsburgh happened, Rabbi Berk said, it sort of swept over the Jewish community like a tsunami. One of the first personal outreaches we had was from Imam Taha. His love and support was so important.

A few days later, Beth Israel held a vigil. It was attended by thousands of people, representing numerous backgrounds and religions.

The most moving thing was when all the faith leaders were asked to come to the pulpit, Berk said. There were 40  I was just overwhelmed. And, of course, among them was Imam Taha.

I had to go, Hassane said. This is what my faith tells me. If my neighbor is in pain, I am in pain.

This month, clerics and lay people from all religions  and non-religions; local atheists were also present  flocked to the Islamic Center, expressing solidarity and concern. For Hassane and his flock, it was a watershed moment.

The same ones who were asking why we were having programs with Jews and Christians, the imam said, those same people now see the importance of this interfaith work.

Sad ties that bind

Religious scholars teach that Muslims, Jews and Christians belong to the same spiritual family, worshipers of one almighty God whose respective faiths share many tenets. Despite stereotypes of deep hostility between Muslims and Jews, polls show that they look on each other with a great deal of admiration.

In 2018, the Pew Research Center surveyed Muslims in several countries, asking if they had an unfavorable view of Jews. In the U.S., only 7 percent answered yes.

This year, the Michigan-based Institute for Social Policy and Understanding conducted a similar survey. This one found that only 10 percent of U.S. Muslims had an unfavorable view of Jews, while 13 percent of U.S. Jews expressed unfavorable views of Muslims.

Positive views of Jews were held by 45 percent of Muslims, and 53 percent of Jews had positive views of Muslims.

Tensions are over-played, said the Muslim American Societys Abdullahi.

While American Muslims and Jews tend to be divided over Israeli-Palestinian relations and other Middle Eastern issues, theyve found common cause in opposing terror.

It was so beautiful to see this solidarity, Abdullahi said, referring to the thousands who rallied at a vigil in Balboa Park last Sunday.

We stood together when the shootings happened in Pittsburgh, so we are going to stand together against this Islamophobia as well. The root issue is white supremacy and that doesnt impact just the Islamic community. It affects us all.

The bridge-building continues. On Wednesday, Hassane was an invited guest at St. Pauls, the Episcopalian cathedral on Bankers Hill. There, he led Muslims and non-Muslims in the traditional Islamic prayers at sunset.

On that same evening, a candlelight vigil at the University of San Diego  a Catholic institution  remembered the Muslims killed in New Zealand.

Weve had a lot of support from our school, said Rameen Javadian, the international relations undergraduate and Muslim Students Association president who organized the event. Especially the university ministry and the dean.

Among those assured Javadian theyd take part in the vigil: leaders of the schools Jewish Student Union.

That may be surprising, but should it be? Tammy Gillies, executive director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues San Diego branch, has her doubts.

Taha and I both agree there are areas we dont agree, but we are setting those aside, said Gillies, whose nonprofit is rooted in the Jewish community. Right here, in this community, we are leaders and we need to make our community better.

Lethal attacks in a house of worship, Gillies added, is, sadly, something that binds us. As Americans, we have to say this is what we dont want.

Two Fridays ago, she demonstrated what we do want: cookies.

She brought those goodies to the Islamic Center, telling the imam she wanted to cheer up the congregations children. Gillies shared her grief and anger with Hassane. And then this Jewish woman walked upstairs to join her Muslim neighbors in midday prayer.
Nicole Havin was among those who took turns inside the head of the lion Saturday, dancing her way down Third Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter to usher in the Year of the Pig.

It was an opportunity to step into a tradition that goes back more than 1,000 years, symbolizing good luck and noble opportunity.

Oh, and you get to make little kids scream.

That, the 19-year-old USC computer science student from East County explained, is probably the best part of being a member of the Lucky Lion Dancers, who are the heart and soul of the 37th Annual Chinese New Year Festival underway this weekend at Third and J Street downtown.

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They scream, but not in a bad way. I love making them feel that excitement that the lion brings, Havin said, recalling her own time in the crowd, screeching with joy as the lion opened its mouth to gobble her up, providing a few seconds to share a wink with the performer inside.

Its a transformation, she said, that led her to double major in theater. Performing the lion dance is a chance, she said, to embody the hopeful energy of the crowd, tapping into an excitement for a new year, a blank slate and wide open opportunity.

I dont even know what I think about when Im the lion. Everything just kind of disappears and youre in that moment. There is so much going on that you really just have to be there, present, and go where it goes, Havin said.

The blocklong festival surrounds a two-story building at 428 Third Avenue which has been the cultural home of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of San Diego, the organization that puts on the festival, since 1911.

Though traditional dance and music are a big part of the party, so is food. Vendors offer a broad range of traditional street eats and, by far, the line for bao steamed buns was the longest Saturday afternoon. Luke Denly of La Mesa had no problem waiting a bit for a treat that conjures memories for his whole family. The chance to reminisce and meet friends, he said, has spurred return visits four years running.

Its something my wife had in China when she was a teenager, and we both ate bao when we were there a couple of summers ago. So its something we have to have every time we come here, Denly said.

Besides putting on the annual new year festival, the association also runs a moon festival in the fall and a Ching Ming Festival, where community members participate in the Chinese tradition of tombstone sweeping as a way of remembering ancestors.

As is the case with lion dancing, sweeping is a way of helping the younger members of the community move through the history of their community by doing something positive out in the real world, said My My Lu, chair of this years fair.

We try to find little ways to make them feel like theyre doing something to live their tradition, Lu said.

The festival continues Sunday, starting with a Lucky Lion performance at 10:30 a.m. Other events include Red Panda Acrobats at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., a kung fu presentation at 3:30 p.m. and traditional Chinese artistic performances at 4:30 p.m., the last event of the day. For more information, visit sdcny.org.

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Chelsea Clinton joined San Diego County health officials and vulnerable teens on Thursday in Balboa Park for a panel discussion about how to better help children in the countys child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

The panel focused on the progress of a collaboration between the Clinton Foundations Health Matters Initiative, the county and the San Diego Foundation to study factors that lead to poor health outcomes and a higher rate of children of color in the justice system and foster care.

We finally really do know what works, Clinton said during the panel. We really do know kind of what works, from how best to support young people, whether theyre in child welfare services, theyre in foster care, theyre going to be adopted or theyre on probation in the juvenile system.

The question the group wants to answer, she said, is how best to coordinate resources to ensure there is community and individual support, mentoring and other types of assistance children need to ensure that they have every opportunity to have a safe, happy, healthy life.

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Since the largely grant-funded collaboration between the Clinton Foundation, the county and other organizations was established in 2017, it has engaged hundreds of people and organizations in workshops and conversations to determine how to prioritize effects and leverage available resources, according to information provided by the group. It also created a youth-trauma informed code of conduct that organizations can adopt to improve performance.

A speaker at Thursdays event, Jonathan Curiel, an 18-year-old former gang member who has been in juvenile custody and is now on probation, said the code of conduct is already being used in the county  and it has made a world of difference to him.

He said of his probation officer: Me and her have a little partnership  . She sits down with me and actually helps me out and honestly I take that as a big role because Ive never had that. Ive been on probation since I was 12 and Ive just had people telling me, Dont do this, dont do that, you gotta do it this way.

That individualized assistance, that feeling of being seen as a person worthy of real attention, has helped him fill his time with helpful programs and instead of gangs, Curiel said.

San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, who also spoke at Thursdays event, said the collaboration is important because the work paves the way for policymakers like himself to make targeted changes that are needed to help government systems work better.

The foundation, in my opinion, of the American Dream is the equality of opportunity, he said. There is no equality of outcome, but there is supposed to be an equality of opportunity.

The panel comes two months after the release of a county-created working group report laying out weaknesses in the countys child welfare system and recommendations for improvements.

Former County Supervisor Ron Roberts and Supervisor Greg Cox suggested creating the working group after a report published July 22 in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The article focused on a lawsuit by two former foster children who alleged the county failed for years to protect them from abuse by a former foster parent despite dozens of reports of suspected child abuse from people including a teacher, a lawyer and a psychologist.

In August, the county agreed to pay $3 million to settle the lawsuit and a related civil case by one of the former foster children, who accused county lawyers of snooping through his confidential juvenile records while actively defending the county in civil court.

The county working group report released in December found numerous weaknesses in the foster care system and recommended solutions to address them. The countys Health and Human Services agency is expected to respond to the recommendations as soon as next month.

morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com
Mayor Kevin Faulconer surprised pedestrian safety advocates Tuesday when he announced plans to improve hundreds of dangerous intersections throughout the city in the next few years.

Seniors, students and pedestrians should be able to use a crosswalk without having to dodge oncoming traffic, Faulconer told a crowd gathered for the State of the City speech at the Balboa Theatre downtown.

So this year, well begin work on nearly 300 more safe intersection projects throughout the city, he added.

Officials said the city would start installing pedestrian countdown timers and high-visibility crosswalks at crash-prone intersections in the summer of 2020.

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The first 50 intersections are expected to be completed before Faulconer leaves office, with the remaining upgrades slated to finish by 2022, according to city officials.

Our goal is to make every neighborhood safer for pedestrians and others who choose to get around without a car, said the Mayors spokesman Greg Block. No one should fear walking across the street.

To pay for the improvements, the city has already secured two Caltrans grants, including $1.2 million to add pedestrian countdown clocks or high visibility crosswalks, or both, at 66 intersections, as well as about $250,000 for pedestrian countdown clocks at another 215 intersections.

The locations of the intersections have yet to be released by the city.

Faulconers announcement followed the bloodiest year for pedestrians since San Diego started tracking such statistics in 2016 as part of its Vision Zero campaign. The nationwide movement aims to end traffic-related deaths and injuries by 2025.

Last year, 34 pedestrians were killed by cars in the city of San Diego, double the number from 2017, according to data from the San Diego Police Department. The number of people severely injured by cars while walking also increased to 93 in 2018, up from 75 the previous year.

Police department statistics have found that pedestrians and drivers are each at fault for such accidents about half the time.

The grim statistics didnt come as too much of a surprise for Leah Shahum, founder and executive director of the advocacy group Vision Zero Network.

They talked a lot, but acted quite slowly, so Im not at all surprised not to see improvement yet, she said. Its going to take a few years to really make a change.

However, Shahum said the addition of pedestrian countdown clocks and high-visibility crosswalks can make a real difference for safety going forward.

One of the most important elements of a strong Vision Zero program is a focus on the high injury locations, she said. I would hope that San Diego is stepping up its approach to being data driven.

The Mayor also said in his speech that the city was just days away from completing upgrades at 15 of San Diegos most deadly intersections, dubbed as the Fatal 15.

The San Diego-based nonprofit Circulate San Diego had called out the locations in early 2017 as part of its ongoing efforts to improve traffic safety around the region.

Following the State of the City speech, Colin Parent, executive director of Circulate San Diego praised the Mayor for ramping up efforts to address dangerous intersections.

Its great, he said. It was like pulling teeth to get the city to fix the 15 most dangerous intersections, so this is a major improvement. The mayor should be given due credit.

A number of major cities have made progress on Vision Zero campaigns, in large part by lowering speed limits or redesigning streets to encourage slower driving.

New York saw traffic-related deaths fall in 2018 to the lowest number in more than a century.

At the same time, Los Angeles has struggled to rein in deadly accidents. Recently, the city identified more than 80 streets and intersections to target for safety upgrades in 2019.

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San Diego took its time developing rules governing the dockless bikes and scooters that appeared early last year on street corners around the city, from Little Italy to La Jolla.

The city has been inundated with complaints from concerned citizens about the hazards of the vehicles, which in recent months have become almost entirely motorized.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer on Thursday released draft regulations for the start-up industry, which has been financed by millions of dollars of investor cash. The industry leaders Bird Rides and Lime are valued at around $2 billion each.

We welcome more mobility options, and these new regulations take a common-sense approach that will allow this emerging market to grow in a responsible way, he said in a press statement.

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The mayors office didnt immediately respond to questions about the timing of the newly proposed rules.

Heres a breakdown of the mayors draft regulations for dockless bikes and scooters:

Speed: Companies would be required to restrict vehicle speeds using geofencing technology in designated zones to 8 miles an hour, down from the current 15 miles an hour. Such areas would include the boardwalks in Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla, as well as Spanish Landing and Petco, Balboa, Mission Bay and NTC parks.

In the North Embarcadero and Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade, dockless bikes and scooters would be slowed to just 2 miles an hour, with riders receiving alerts that those areas are no-ride zones.

Parking: Riders will also be prevented from ending rides in certain high-traffic areas, including on the boardwalks, around Petco Park and the Embarcadero in downtown.

Those working for dockless bike and scooter companies will also be restricted in where they can set up the vehicles. The devices must be staged in groups of no more than four and at least 40 feet apart.

The devices cannot be parked within 500 feet of K-12 public schools or hospitals, or within six feet of bus and trolley stops.

Residents would be encouraged to report improperly parked or abandoned vehicles using the citys Get it Done app. Dockless scooter and bike companies will be notified as a result and given three hours to move a device or face impound and other fees.

Fees: Companies would be required to obtain operating permits every six months in January and June, which declare and fix the size of each vehicle fleet. Companies would have to pay associated fees to be established by the City Council. The mayor has proposed $253 a permit and up to $150 per device annually.

Education: Motorized scooters must be labeled in 40-point font that Riding on Sidewalks is Prohibited, as well as any age requirements adopted by the operator.

Data: Operators would be required to share data on fleet sizes, how often devices are used, trips and parking locations, accidents and maintenance.

The proposed rules will be discussed on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at the City Councils Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Lime scooters for rent on the corner of F Street and Front Street in Downtown San Diego. (Eduardo Contreras / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The announcement was met with general approval by transportation advocates in the region, as well as dockless vehicle operators.

The safety of all riders and pedestrians should be our highest priority, and these measures should be effective, said Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. My only concern is for the potential to overregulate.

Circulate San Diego Executive Director Colin Parent said: The city of San Diego is striking the right balance for dockless mobility. People should have access to new transportation options, while ensuring that pedestrians and the disabled can fairly use sidewalks and paths.

Lime issued this statement: We want to thank the mayor for his leadership in ensuring all micro-mobility operators in the city are operating responsibly and creating a healthy, clean and safe transportation option for all San Diego residents and visitors.

The move comes more than six months after cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Monica started putting similar rules in place. Last summer, Faulconers team said the mayor would let the market dictate how dockless mobility companies operated.

That was before public health officials from San Diego to San Francisco started speaking out about injuries related specifically to motorized dockless scooters.

San Diego continues hands-off approach as electric scooter injuries mount 

Beyond those injured seemingly everyone in the city had a story about nearly being hit by someone illegally whizzing down the sidewalk.

At the same time, Councilwoman Barbara Bry blasted the city for allowing the companies to profit off the public right-of-way without contributing to city coffers

The new rules seems to address many of these issues, including concerns that the devices have clogged boardwalks, parks on other crowded areas. The rules would also require operators to indemnify the city from liability claims and carry insurance policies.

Twitter: @jemersmith

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The regions top transportation planner is calling for a massive investment in public transit  with the aim of making bus, trolley and commuter rail services competitive with driving.

The vision would be a dramatic shift from today, with the regions sluggish mass-transit system mostly serving those unable to afford a car or truck.

Transit is not competitive at all. It has to be, said Hasan Ikhrata, who took over as the executive director of the San Diego Association of Governments this month.

Its going to cost a lot of money, he added. Its up to the voters whether the vision is good enough to pay that much money.

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Ikhrata said in a recent interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune that after more than a decade as the top official at the Southern California Association of Governments, he was lured south by the challenge of building a state-of-the-art transportation system for the region.

In the next two to three years, if we dont have a vision for the San Diego region to change the debate that means I did not succeed, he said. Its a free-market economy, but you cant expect people to leave their car in the garage when they have no other (viable) option.

Its going to cost a lot of money. Its up to the voters whether the vision is good enough to pay that much money. Hasan Ikhrata, executive director of the San Diego Association of Governments

As part of that push, Ikhrata called last week for the construction of a Grand Central station to connect rail systems to San Diego International Airport.

This is not about adding another bus or interchange, he said. This is about having a system that people can access the airport, a real alternative.

That seemed to line up with what environmental groups have been seeking.

Were committed to a system, an affordable, equitable system that allows people to participate meaningfully in the economy without having car, Nicole Capretz, executive director of the San Diego-based Climate Action Campaign.

SANDAGs new leadership pushes San Diego Grand Central to connect transit to airport 

However, much of the region, especially North County residents far from trolley services, remain skeptical of large investments in rail projects.

Dont put the cart before the horse, said Tony Krvaric, chairman of the county Republican Party. Meaning roads and flexible mass transit like buses and innovative solutions like ride-share services need to be the focus. The types of infrastructure residents actually use versus top-down, politically correct agendas like bike paths, fixed trolleys, and using tax dollars to purchase open space.

Large transit projects are difficult to fund because tax increases require a two-thirds public vote for passage. SANDAG hasnt been able to do that since 2004, and many of its board members have taken a dim view of any funding blueprint that doesnt focus on highways and roads.

Voters rejected a tax increase in 2016 that would have ramped up funding for roads and transit, leaving the agency to operate on its half-cent sales tax, Transnet. By comparison, Los Angeles County has four such taxes, totaling 2 cents.

On top of that, recent revenue projections have found that Transnet will bring in about half of the nearly $40 billion envisioned for new projects through mid-century.

Still, the political dynamics at SANDAG are shifting in Ikhratas favor.

Although the 59-year-old took a cut in benefits when he took the job, SANDAGs 21-member board of elected officials matched his annual pay at SACAG of $414,149  an increase from the $310,000 that former SANDAG chief Gary Gallegos was making.

Hasan Ikhrata, the new executive director of the San Diego Association of Governments, in his office in San Diego, California. (Sam Hodgson / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Ponying up the extra money seems to signal a willingness, at least by some elected officials, to back Ikhratas ambitions.

Before taking the job, Ikhrata said he met with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas, two of the most powerful officials on the board following recent rule changes.

Faulconer declined an interview for this story, but his staff released this statement attributed to the mayor: One of the biggest reasons I was so adamant that we look outside of SANDAG for new leadership is that we needed to bring in someone with bold ideas. Hasan is a proven leader whose fresh perspective has energized SANDAG, and I fully support his vision for the future of transportation in our region.

After Gallegos resigned in 2017 amid a scandal involving the faulty revenue projections, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, D-San Diego, pushed a bill through the Legislature that gave the agencys board a weighted vote based on population.

Now the cities of San Diego and Chula Vista can make overriding decisions for SANDAG as long as they secure votes from just two other jurisdictions. At the same time, a number of the boards most staunch skeptics of transit are either termed out or lost reelection.

Just as important, SANDAG is now required by the new law to use a skilled and trained workforce as defined by California law on all major projects. That means contractors must meet specific requirements, such as the number of hours workers have completed and participation in state-approved apprenticeship programs.

Local unions declined to support the 2016 tax increase, and in some cases actively opposed it, after the SANDAG board refused to include similar language in the ballot measure.

Keith Maddox, newly installed leader of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, said that hes comfortable backing a new funding blueprint as long as it includes the now-mandatory labor provisions.

We need to make sure that were creating quality jobs, he said. At the end of the day we need to know that workers are being paid a decent wage for a decent standard of labor.

Ikhratas first major challenge will likely be securing support for his proposed transit hub to connect rail and bus service to the airport. With an intergovernmental steering committee in the works at SANDAG, Ikhrata has vowed to have a plan in front of the board by summer.

*A previous version of this story misstated the amount of revenue the half-cent sales tax, Transnet, had originally been expected to bring in over its 40-year life. The San Diego Union-Tribune regrets the mistake and strives for accuracy.

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For nearly a century the Junior League of San Diego has sought to improve its community through service, and its 90th anniversary doubled down on that effort.

Throughout the weekend and into late Monday night, members of the Junior League of San Diego are commemorating their anniversary by donating 90 hours of continuous community service.

From packing food at the San Diego Food Bank and cleaning up parks to serving meals at Father Joes Villages and sewing tote bags for rehab patients, members are working in-person with community partners and during the middle of night at home as they try to make a positive impact and celebrate the work the group and its partners have already done.

The Junior Leagues claim to fame is training volunteers to do really great work in the community, and we wanted to do something big that would also really showcase the community partners we work with on a regular basis, said Joni Flaherty, president of the Junior League of San Diego.

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Although the first Junior League was founded in 1901, San Diegos league officially joined the Association of Junior Leagues of America  now the Association of Junior Leagues International  in 1929. Inspired by the nearby Pasadena Junior League, the group started with only a handful of members but quickly grew and thrived in its mission of promoting volunteerism, developing women and improving the community.

Now the all-women group is more than 1,000 members strong, with members ranging from age 21 on up, and has made an impact in a variety of focus areas over the years including domestic violence, literacy and now transition-age foster youth.

That service took a variety of forms Saturday during the groups 90 Continuous Hours as members cleaned up Torrey Pines State Beach, prepared bagged lunches for homeless people and partnered with St. Pauls Seniors Services to help senior residents make Valentines Day cards.

During the event at St. Pauls  a longtime partner of the group  seniors bundled in cardigans and sweaters sat side-by-side with volunteers and conversed while crafting pink, purple and blue cards. The cards, playfully decorated with hearts, drawings and a variety of stickers, were often intended for family, friends and St. Pauls staff, and one senior shared how a Valentines card she gave last year helped strike up a new friendship.

I think of myself as fairly creative, and I like the fact they provided the supplies I needed and let me go ahead in my own way, said one of the seniors, Marilyn, who preferred not to share her last name. The woman from the Junior League was very friendly. I enjoyed talking with her.

Leah Wetchler, 28, a member of the league for a year and a half, said she chose to volunteer at St. Pauls because she had fun with her previous volunteer experience there and enjoys talking with the seniors.

My grandparents passed away when I was young so being able to come and interact with the senior citizens here is great, and if they have family who is far away and cant visit  Im glad we can come do that, said Wetchler, who would next be volunteering at Ronald McDonald House.

At the same event Saturday, Emily Lake, president-elect of the league, also expressed a similar attitude about the Valentines activity, saying that over the years it has been a popular event among members.

You sit there and you make cards, but its so much more than that, said Lake. Youre hearing stories from an older generation and its just a fun event that feels really like socializing.

Lake also shared how beyond volunteering, the league overall can have huge impact on developing women.

As a restaurant owner, I dont think I would have had the confidence or the training to open my own business without a lot of the training I received from the Junior League, and Ive also got a support structure, said Lake, whos opening a restaurant in Hillcrest.
Two San Diego entrepreneurs and a Coronado father were among five people killed in Kenya when their helicopter crashed Sunday night in Central Island National Park, authorities said.

Anders Asher Jesiah Burke, Brandon Howe Stapper and Kyle John Forti died in the crash on an island in Lake Turkana, the U.S. Embassy confirmed.



For the record: A previous version of this story referred to Gehane Ribeyre as Brandon Stappers girlfriend. She was his wife. The couple married in 2015.

The fourth American killed in the crash, whose name was not immediately released by Embassy officials, was Coronado resident David Mark Baker, according to Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey, who called Baker one of his close personal friends.

Baker was an amazing family man, businessman and adventurer, Bailey wrote in a Facebook post. He had an infectious laugh and made friends wherever he went. Dave lived life to the fullest.

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According to CNN, the Kenyan pilot was identified as Mario Magonga, who flew the chopper to the island. Kenyas Daily Nation newspaper reported that Magonga was also the pilot for Kenyas Deputy President William Ruto.

Burke and Stapper were close friends and were visiting Kenya to stay at a lodge Burke had purchased months ago and was hoping to develop into a vacation destination for entrepreneurs, according to Stappers younger brother, Brett Stapper.

Baker, who worked in commercial real estate and was part owner of several other businesses, was also close to Burke and Stapper, Bailey said in a phone interview Monday evening.

Brett Stapper said Burke had invited Brandon Stapper and other friends to stay at the lodge, go on excursions and help him develop his concept.

(Burke) ended up acquiring part of the lodge with the vision to (create) this entrepreneurial paradise where high-level executives could go and explore Africa in a way they hadnt explored it before, said Brett Stapper, who had just returned from Kenya on Friday.

Among the activities Burke had arranged for guests was exploring Kenya in helicopters. The trips would last for hours and include stops on top of a volcano, in a river bed and at other scenic locations.

Shortly before the chopper crashed, the group had stopped to watch the sunset over Lake Turkana, Brett Stapper said.

Brandon Stapper, a San Diego entrepreneur, who died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Kenya. He was 33. (Courtesy of Brett Stapper)

Stormy, windy conditions had delayed the helicopters for a while before they took off.

Brett Stapper said his brothers wife , Gehane Ribeyre, was in another helicopter with other guests and called him to say they had lost contact with the other chopper. They were in a remote area with limited support, and Stapper said he called several officials to push for a search to begin Sunday night.

According to an internal police report seen by The Associated Press, the crash occurred in Central Island National Park around 8:30 p.m. soon after two helicopters took off after a visit to the Lobolo tented camp.

A search-and-rescue mission found the wreckage shortly after 3 a.m. and officials said an investigation was under way into the cause of the crash.

Brandon Stapper was a prominent young entrepreneur and investor who was well known in San Diegos startup circles. After spending part of his youth in Michigan, he arrived in San Diego at the age of 20 to chase his dream of starting a business, according to his website.

He got a job at a restaurant and saved $400 to buy a custom decal machine on eBay, with which he founded a custom printing business called 858 Graphics. The company grew to service more than 10,000 clients with sales in the multi-millions.

He came from a background that was not privileged, and really was that self-made entrepreneur, said Rebecca Bamberger, who said Stappers mentorship helped her grow her public relations business, Bam Communications.

Bamberger said Stapper was known for his generosity in San Diegos entrepreneurial scene, not just with his wealth but with his time and mentorship.

After growing his printing business, Stapper went on to found the private equity firm Crown Growth, which invested in software startups among other companies. He was also a new member of Tech Coast Angels, a group of startup investors.

Dean Rosenberg, who leads the local investor group, said Stapper was an adventurous person who certainly didnt waste any moments of his life.

So many of us forget about life stuff in the work-life balance and spend all our time building our businesses, Rosenberg said. He said he found it inspirational that Stapper would schedule time off to do exciting things outside of the office.

Baker had lived in Coronado for the last several years, according to the mayor, who said he met Baker outside the realm of politics and city business. The two once competed together in a six-day, 120-mile endurance race known as the TransRockies Run.

Dave lived life to the fullest, Bailey said. He was an amazing family man, he loved his kids so much  He was one very proud father.

David Mark Baker, who lived in Coronado, died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Kenya. He was 48. (via Facebook)

Bailey, who also knew Brandon Stapper, said Baker was part-owner of a brewery and other businesses and worked in commercial real estate. Baker was also an avid athlete and adventurer, Bailey said.

In Instagram and Facebook posts, Baker posed for pictures with his children, his significant other, family and celebrities like snowboarder Shaun White and former Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

He posted pictures of himself snowboarding, rafting and hiking in far-flung places like Peru, Canada, Hawaii and Mexico.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of Daves loved ones, as we all try to make sense out of this tragic event, Bailey wrote on Facebook. I will miss Dave terribly.

Anders Asher Jesiah Burke had worked as a political consultant before becoming president of a brand incubator called Bland, which earned $100 million in annual revenue, according to Burkes LinkedIn profile. He was listed in Pacific Magazines 30-under-30 profile in 2015.

Jeriel Burke, 25, said her brother was a digital marketing visionary and an entrepreneur at heart.

Born and raised in San Diego, he moved to Puerto Rico in 2017.

He was a born leader with a unique ability to build teams, streamline and connect, she said in an email. He worked to find others strengths, develop them and unleash unlimited potential. His draw was nothing short of magnetic and his energy was palpable.

Although his first name was Anders, a family name, he went by Asher Jesiah  Asher, which means, happiness and blessings and Jesiah, which means lent by God, said his sister.

He was happiness and blessings, she said. Asher was lent to us for 28 years. He lived with fearless courage and a passion for experiencing all of lifes adventures. He loved his girlfriend Emeri, his family and his friends.

Brett Stapper said he was grateful his brothers and Burkes last moments were spent in a beautiful place. He had worried the helicopter had crashed over water but was told there was an instant impact and that (they) had no time to grasp what was going on.

After this amazing helicopter tour, seeing wildlife, meeting local tribes their final point was sitting there thinking, wow, that was an amazing day, he said. Thats kind of what they were doing  their final moments were doing that.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

9 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

6:35 p.m.: This article was updated with the identity of Dave Baker.

3:30 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

This article was originally posted at 10:55 a.m.
The ongoing construction of the Mid-Coast Trolley extension will require closures at La Jolla Village Drive and Genesee Avenue for a week starting on Friday night.

Construction crews will set 60-foot-long concrete girders in place, each weighing up to 100 tons, as part of the project, located near the Westfield UTC mall. The large girders or beams will form the elevated guide-way on which the Mid-Coast Trolley will run.

 The Mid-Coast Trolley Project will extend Blue Line Trolley service from Old Town north to the University City community, serving major activity centers such as Mission Bay Park, the VA Medical Center, UC San Diego, and Westfield UTC. (video courtes

Weekend closure from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday:

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Closure of southbound Genesee Avenue lanes and through lanes at the La Jolla Village Drive intersection.

One lane open on northbound Genesee Avenue.

Weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.:

Through lanes at La Jolla Village Drive to be closed at Genesee Avenue.

Right turns from La Jolla Village Drive to Genesee Avenue will be maintained.

Two lanes open on northbound and southbound Genesee Avenue.

Weeknights from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.:

Closure of southbound Genesee Avenue lanes and through lanes at the La Jolla Village Drive intersection.

One lane open on northbound Genesee Avenue.

All lanes will reopen the morning of Feb. 15, according to the San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG.

SANDAG is the lead agency on the roughly $2 billion trolley project, which will extend the Blue Line Trolley from downtown to University City. It is being paid for in large part with the regions half-cent sales tax, Transnet, which voters approved in 1987 and extended in 2004.

Officials have said the new rail line, which started construction in 2016, is on schedule to open in 2021. The line will include nine new stations, serving locations such as Mission Bay Park, the VA Medical Center, University of California San Diego and Westfield UTC.

Moving roughly 120,000 people a day over more than 54 miles of track, the San Diego Metropolitan Systems light rail is one of the largest in its class, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

Detours for the closure of La Jolla Village Drive will be in place to help motorists navigate around the intersection. Signs warning of the closure have been in place for several weeks along Interstates 5 and 805.

Twitter: @jemersmith

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On Thursday, Israeli officials recommended indicting the long-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, citing multiple instances of bribery, fraud and corruption.

In Iran, a power struggle between hardliners and moderates continues to rage.

One U.S. ally in the region, Turkey, is pitted against another regional U.S. ally, the Kurds.

How can San Diegans make sense of these rapidly changing developments in the Middle East? The Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center (JCC) suggests one way: attend Prof. Jacob Goldbergs lectures in La Jolla, March 11-13.

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Although Goldberg is a professor at Tel Aviv University and one-time senior adviser to one of Netanyahus predecessors, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, hes a familiar figure in San Diego County. Hes been visiting here since 1984, both as a tourist and a guest speaker.

A former lecturer at both UC San Diego and San Diego State University, Goldberg is known for his blunt and insightful commentary.

Hes considered a brilliant analyst, said Don Harrison, editor of San Diego Jewish News. He wont be giving you propaganda, but his best take on what is happening at the moment.

Prof. Goldbergs presentations are up-to-the-minute, said Brian Garrick, director of cultural arts programs and festivals at the JCC, incorporating todays headlines into his talks.

Goldbergs lectures:

March 11: Disintegration of the Arab World: Iranian-Turkish Struggle for Leadership.

March 12: From Carter to Trump: Four Decades of US Misconceptions on the Middle East.

March 13: Israeli Elections at a Critical Juncture: A Collision Course with Iran/Hizballah/Hamas and a Prime Minister on Trial.

Each talk will begin at 7 p.m. in the JCCs David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. General admission tickets are $28 for a single lecture, or $63 for all three; members tickets are $23 for one lecture, or $52 for the entire series.

Tickets can be purchased online at sdcjc.org or by calling guest services, (858) 457-3030.

Goldberg earned a Ph.D from Harvard University. He is the author of The Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia: The Formative 1902-1918, which the Middle East Forum praised as a meticulous and thorough account.
In his brief lifetime, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was many things  minister, activist, orator, dreamer of a more perfect American Dream. So it seemed fitting that San Diegos celebrations Monday echoed numerous sides of his life and work.

In Balboa Park, King the public servant was invoked as 500 volunteers picked up trash, cleared brush, planted seedlings.

We want to give back to our community, said Coratena Ayala-Blackburn, a member of the San Diego chapter of Hope Worldwide, part of the International Church of Christ.

Inside the Balboa Park Activity Center, Kings political mantle was seized at the 31st annual All Peoples Celebration, organized by Alliance San Diego. Speakers linked current struggles  especially the current government shutdown, sparked by President Trumps insistence on $5.7 billion for a border wall  to the slain civil rights leader.

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If anything, said the keynote speaker, Greisa Martinez Rosas of the pro-immigration United We Dream, the story of Martin is the story of the community of activists and leaders that he was a part of.

It is the story of us.

On Harbor Drive, the 39th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Day parade sounded some serious notes  consistent with Dr. Kings religious and political views, said William Gillespie  but the tone was festive.

Its a celebration, said Gillespie, president of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, which organizes the annual event. We have bands, dancing, floats.

The holiday dawned clear and breezy, a relief to King Day event planners after a week of rain. The morning was cool but pleasant for the 150-plus sweeping through Mission Beach, ridding the shoreline and surrounding streets of litter, discarded lobster traps and other flotsam.

We got a lot, said Dawn Reilly, who led the cleanup for Beautiful MB. Lots of metal, lots of wood  1,884 pounds.

How did this relate to Kings legacy?

What are you doing for other people? Reilly said. In this case, cleaning up the community.

Giving back was also the King-like goal of the Balboa Park cleanup. For 11 years, an interfaith group  the current committee includes representatives of First United Methodist Church, Temple Beth Israel and the Islamic Center of San Diego  has spent this holiday beautifying the citys most popular park.

To see a bunch of different religious communities come together and help the community as a whole is inspiring to me, said Api Tuia, a Chula Vista resident and an elder with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its kind of a unifying thing.

This is wonderful, said Kim Duclo, a park ranger with the citys Parks and Recreation Department. Making this a day of public service really honors the legacy of Dr. King.

In its nearly four-decade run, the All Peoples Celebration has had many themes. This year it was Move, which inspired Rosas to encourage attendees to work toward a bright, multi-racial and powerful future...

A Dreamer brought from her native Mexico to Texas at the age of eight, Rosas argued that the Trump administration aims to reverse gains won by women, people of color and the LGBTQ community.

We know we are fighting for much more than immigration reform or the Dream Act or any piece of legislation, she said. We are fighting for the soul of our democracy and we are fighting for the dreams of our parents and of our communities.

The audience of roughly 1,000 included representatives of corporations, universities, unions, non-profits and foundations. Dignitaries included state Senator Toni Atkins, Assembly members Shirley Weber, Todd Gloria and Lorena Gonzalez, and the latters husband, San Diego Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.

Many of the same public figures, including Weber, Atkins and Constance Carroll, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District, showed up for the afternoons bayfront parade.

Although there were dignitaries by the dozen, they were outnumbered by a broad swath of rank-and-file San Diegans. There were police officers, the Skyline dance team, the San Diego Bus Drivers Union and the tie-dyed employees of Dr. Bronners Soap, blasting classic rock tunes from an antique fire engine.

Everyone seemed to have a share in Kings vision.

Dr. Martin Luther King was very involved in seeing that people who had health disparities were well-represented, said Samantha Gambles Farr, a nurse practitioner, marching with the San Diego Black Nurses Association Inc. As nurses, we need to continue to do this.

Not continuing, at least this year: the U.S. Coast Guard, the Border Patrol, Homeland Security, all missing from the 2019 parade due to the partial government shutdown.

For spectators like Christopher and Zenobia Mayweather of Lemon Grove, though, the events message is deeper and more enduring than the current political tussle.

Even with everything going on in our country today, he said, we still have that hope, that dream, that we can all come together in one common accord.
Transit officials agreed Thursday to scale back a proposed fare hike on seniors and disabled riders as part of the first overhaul to ticket prices on buses, trolleys and trains in more than a decade.

The adjustments are aimed at helping to address a roughly $10 million annual budget shortfall and would impact a wide range of users.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System met with vocal criticism when it announced earlier this year that monthly passes for seniors and disabled riders would jump from $18 to $26 a month.

In response, MTS scaled back the new proposed fare to $23. The age limit to qualify as a senior would increase from 60 to 65 years of age under the new structure.

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We have to make an adjustment or the other adjustment is cutting services, said Georgette Gomez, chair of the MTS Board of Directors and the San Diego City Council. This is not an easy conversation to be having.

We heard from the public, and Im glad that staff is making changes to what is being proposed, she added.

A number of other board members expressed concerns at Thursdays meeting about the impact to two of the regions most vulnerable populations.

Im looking at this today and going wow thats another loaf of bread, said Mike Diaz, MTS board member and Chula Vista City Councilman. Im really torn here.

Ramon Florez, a 70-year-old East Village resident on a fixed income, attended the meeting to protest the hike. He said the increase would be tough to handle.

Even two dollars, three dollars could buy extra medicine, he said. This whole system doesnt make any sense. One day the people are going to revolt.

Stacy Williams, education specialist with the San Diego Unified School Districts Transition Resource for Adult Community Education program, said at the meeting that her program assists many young adult students with disabilities who rely on the bus system and who will be hard hit by the fare hike.

That increase is going to affect them because the majority are living on less than $1,000 a month. Why are we increasing it for this population when theyre already the ones struggling the most? My kids are not middle class. Theyre living in poverty.

Other proposed ticket changes include single ride fares increasing for adults from $2.25 to $2.50 and for seniors and disabled from $1.10 to $1.25. Adult day passes would go from $5 to $6, while monthly passes would remain flat at $72.

Seventy percent of our ridership is low income, so if you look at this increase, its not just on seniors, said Paul Jablonski, MTS chief executive officer. The burden is being shared.

At the same time, youth riders, 6 to 18 years old, would see a decrease for a regional 30-day pass decrease from $36 to $23 to align with the senior fare.

The increases are expected to bring in about $4 million, while revenue from SB 1, which raised fuel and vehicle registration taxes and fees, expected to cover the remaining roughly $6 million annual budget deficit, according to MTS officials.

The changes are expected to decrease ridership by 1.8 million riders a year, but officials said that reduction is expected to likely rebound within a few years.

The fee hikes must be approved by the San Diego Association of Governments, which is expected to finalize the changes in early 2019.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
The number of pedestrians killed by cars spiked last year in the city of San Diego.

Thirty four people died in 2018 after being hit by a vehicle, up from 17 victims the previous year, according to statistics provided by the San Diego Police Department.

The bloodshed comes despite efforts by Mayor Kevin Faulconer to improve safety at a number of dangerous intersections as part of the citys Vision Zero program to eliminate all traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries by 2025. Vision Zero has collected the accident data from San Diego police only for the past three years.

Its very alarming to see that pedestrian fatalities have actually doubled, said Maya Rosas, policy director for the transportation nonprofit Circulate San Diego, which has pushed the city to invest in pedestrian safety. Clearly the city is trending in the wrong direction when it comes to achieving its Vision Zero goals.

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The mayor has made important commitments that Circulate asked for last year, she added, but clearly thats not enough. Clearly, much more needs to be done to save lives.

The Mayors office did not return several requests for comment.

It is imperative that we make the appropriate investments that protect the health, safety and well-being of our citizens, said Councilwoman Barbara Bry. These statistics are heart-breaking and they should compel us to do everything in our power to protect our citizens.

At the same time, pedestrians and bicyclists saw increases in serious traffic-related injuries. The number of pedestrians who were severely hurt rose to 93 last year up from 75 in 2017, while such injuries for bikers increased to 23, up from 19.

The surge in deaths and injuries comes as a growing number of people have also landed in emergency rooms after crashing one of the hundreds of dockless electric scooters that have been dropped by start-up companies across the city.

This is now a public health mandate, said Nicole Capretz, executive director of the Climate Action Campaign, a San Diego-based nonprofit that advocates for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. It is essential that we redesign our streets to be safe for all modes of travel. There is no excuse and no time to waste. We know what to do. It is just a matter of political will.

Officials said the city has made significant improvements to nine of 15 crash-prone locations its committed to overhauling by summer. Upgrades include installing pedestrian countdown timers and high-visibility crosswalks.

Safety enhancements, city officials said, have been rolled out at these intersections: El Cajon Boulevard and Mississippi Street; 45th Street and Market Street; Ash Street and Front Street; Mira Mesa Boulevard and Westview Parkway; Marbury Avenue and Mira Mesa Boulevard; Streamview Drive and College Avenue; 4th Avenue and Ash Street; Imperial Avenue and 62nd Street; Imperial Avenue and San Jacinto Drive.

The city has also made some investments in bicycle safety. Since Faulconer became mayor in 2014, the city has installed about 56 miles of new bike lanes, roughly 28 miles of street with lanes running in both directions.

The mayor also recently announced that the city recently started construction on about 9 miles of long-awaited protected bike lanes downtown.

No bicyclists were killed in car accidents in the city in 2018 or 2017, according to the police department statistics. Three were killed in 2016.

Weve been encouraged not to see any fatalities in the last two years, said Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. Theres been a lot more bike lanes added, but we cant delay these projects. They have to be implemented now.

Those are alarming pedestrian numbers, he added, and we have to do more to take action to fix dangerous areas where those accidents are occurring.

Hanshaw said that the coalition and Circulate San Diego have started meeting with city officials to help launch a public education campaign around improving safety on roads and sidewalks.

Its moving forward, he said. Its got to be a priority in the citys budget and everyones mind to protect peoples safety first and foremost.

The citys Vision Zero campaign has struggled to get off the ground since it was first embraced in 2015. The campaigns task force rarely met and is now potentially being rolled, along with the Bicycle Advisory Committee, into a newly created mobility board.

While the citys Vision Zero website provides some data on crashes and locations, the city has aimed to expand the amount of information available to the public, including monthly reports.

The police department has said its beefed up enforcement details of targeted streets with a focus on bicycle and pedestrian safety. However, a City Auditors report from last year found such efforts had yet to result in an increase in the number of tickets written for the most risky behaviors exhibited by drivers and pedestrians.

While a number of major cities have made progress on Vision Zero campaigns, Southern California has struggled to rein in deadly accidents. Los Angeles, for example, recently identified more than 80 streets and intersections to target for safety upgrades this year as it continues to grapple with mounting pedestrian deaths.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

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Facing a projected budget shortfall for the coming school year, the San Diego Unified School Board voted at its meeting Tuesday to eliminate the equivalent of more than 200 positions and give lay-off notices to dozens of employees.

The board voted 4 to 1, with member Kevin Beiser opposed, to eliminate 97 certified employee positions and 116 classified positions.

However, district staff said at the meeting they plan to create 112 new classified positions, but they offered no details about what the new positions would be.

Eliminating positions is expected to result in layoff notices to 33 certified teachers and four certified district administrators.

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Also as many as 66 classified employees could also be laid off, including preschool assistants, school health assistants, classroom assistants and clerical employees. The total layoff number has not been decided, according to board records.

The district has approximately 10,000 employees, officials said.

As of December, the district was projecting a $1.4 billion budget for the coming school year and a $37-million shortfall, according to board records. Updated budget figures are to be presented to the board next week.

The plan approved at Tuesdays meeting calls for a gradual transition from year-round preschool centers to 10-month school-based programs such as pre-kindergarten. A plan to provide services in the two-month gap had not been decided.

District staff did not specify in board records or at the meeting Tuesday how the staffing and programming changes are expected to impact the budget. Negotiations with unions were pending.

Board member Michael McQuary said during the meeting that the cuts and changes were not intended to be a budget solution, but rather an effort aimed at making sure the district funds only the positions individual schools have indicated they need and want.

Beiser said after the meeting that he voted against the recommendation because district staff had not provided specific information about the positions they said they would create, the expected cost savings, how they plan to cover the two months pre-kindergarten services not provided, or who is going to do the work of the many teaching assistant jobs to be eliminated.

Public speakers at Tuesdays meeting included union representatives, teachers and others. The speakers expressed their anger and concern that the district was proposing layoffs when the district had eliminated the prior deficits that had haunted it.

The speakers said the cuts would deprive students of library services, teaching support and year-round preschool that low-income families need and use. They said they suspected the district was planning to repurpose employees to save money.

How many employees will actually lose their jobs remains to be seen. The district has until June 30 to finalize a budget, months during which the financial situation can change and employees can retire, be promoted, or be reassigned, reducing the need for layoffs.

Last school year the district issued 150 layoff notices, but only 40 were actually laid off and 20 ended up being hired back, staff told the board in December.

UPDATES:

This story has been updated to reflect more recent employment totals.
A 30-year-old man was hospitalized with serious injuries Saturday night after riding an electric scooter into a car in the Gaslamp Quarter.

The incident happened around 11 p.m. on Fourth Avenue near E Street by the Balboa Theatre, San Diego police said.

The scooter rider ran a red light traveling eastbound through an intersection and broadsided a Toyota Prius traveling south on Fourth Avenue.

The man was transported to a hospital with a brain bleed, police said.

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The driver, a 47-year-old woman, cooperated with authorities, and alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the incident.

It was not known if the man was riding his own scooter or one he had rented.

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Mom  Ummmm, Im in trouble.

The skinny teenagers body is nearly doubled over with stress, his mothers voice rising with increasing anxiety from the speaker of his cell phone laid out in front of him in a federal interrogation room.

Criminal drug organizations are turning San Diego teenagers into mules, using them to smuggle hard narcotics, even deadly fentanyl, across the border in a trend that is alarming law enforcement authorities.

Hold on ... What did you do? his mother squawks into the phone.

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Tell her, an agent prompts the unidentified youth in a video recording of a real interrogation now played for South Bay students as a warning of the potential consequences.

So, I went to Mexico and I brought back drugs because I was gonna get paid for it.

The phone call ends with the mother sobbing How could this happen? How could this happen?

The teenager keeps repeating Sorry mom.

In recent months, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations arrested four juveniles for smuggling hard narcotics into the country from Mexico.

Weve seen meth, heroin and fentanyl, said David Shaw, HSI special agent in charge in San Diego. Theyre strapping it right onto their body without properly packaging it. And with fentanyl, a small amount can kill you.

Last year, border agents arrested seven minors crossing at ports of entry in San Diego County smuggling fentanyl, a drug so potent that an amount as small as a few grains of salt can be lethal.

Minors were arrested 71 times trying to smuggle meth and seven times trying to smuggle in heroin in fiscal year 2018, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection numbers.

Theyre targeting teens because you can lure them a little easier with electronics or money, Shaw said. They tell them You get across three times, and you get an iPhone.

He said federal authorities are getting some resistance from some local schools theyve approached about doing education and outreach because of concerns about immigration enforcement.

HSI operates under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but it is a different branch  concerned only with serious criminal investigations, Shaw said. ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations, an entirely different division, carries out immigration arrests and deportations.

In June 2018, a majority of the special agents in charge of ICEs Homeland Security Investigations division, including Shaw, signed a letter to the Department of Homeland Security saying they want to split off from ICE because of its perceived role in the politics of civil immigration.

Under the Trump administration, the ERO division of ICE has expanded its reach beyond immigration enforcement on serious criminals and national security threats. People have been arrested while at hospitals, dropping their kids off at school and paying traffic fines, leaving Latino and immigrant communities even more distrustful of the agency.

Manny Rubio, spokesman for Sweetwater Union High School District, said district officials were initially cautious about a program that educates youth on heavy topics like drug cartels and smuggling. He said there was concern about having immigration officers on campus.

We were a little bit tentative because we wanted to make sure we were protecting students and their parents, Rubio said.

Rubio said the school district worked with HSI, the U.S. Attorneys office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and CBP and started letting the agencies give the presentation in Sweetwater schools last semester. He said its a powerful program that has an impact on the kids.

At first we were a little bit unsure, but once we got into it, and saw who all the partners are, its been a good thing, said Rubio.

Shastity Urias, the community outreach and prevention coordinator in the U.S. Attorneys office, said one of the purposes is to counteract lies smugglers tell teenagers, including that transporting the drugs is easy and the students wont be taken into custody if theyre caught.

Urias said the information is helpful for parents and teachers too because a smuggler trying to recruit a teen is more likely to look like their lab partner than a tattooed cartel member.

Because the goal of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation and not punishment, sentences for minors convicted of narcotics smuggling can range between 90 days to 480 days, San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Mary Loeb said .

She added the group tries to get the teens to think about the longer term consequences such as having to disclose the information on certain types of job applications in the future, and the decision affecting their college choices.

A conviction could even mean the minors entire family loses their SENTRI eligibility.

Sometimes the teenagers dont know what they are smuggling or realize that fentanyl is so deadly, federal officials said.

It can be absorbed through the skin and even hurt people standing around them in line if it becomes airborne, said Shaw.

Linda Dere, HSIs deputy special agent in charge in San Diego who worked at the border early in her career, said San Diego juveniles engaging in smuggling isnt a new phenomenon.

Back in the day, they use to smuggle marijuana. But the part that is so concerning is what they are bringing is now becoming more hazardous, Dere said.

The presentation has been given in a few schools in the Sweetwater Union School District where federal authorities note students have been targeted or arrested for smuggling.

It offers students tips, such as hotlines to call and a mobile app where they can anonymously report recruitment attempts, on how to get help if someone approaches them to smuggle drugs.

Shaw would like to expand the program to 61 schools around the county and in other districts.
At an event honoring her policy work for children, Mexicos former first lady highlighted stories Friday of unaccompanied minor migrants, who have been invisible for too long, she said.

Margarita Zavala, a former senator in Mexico and the wife of former president Felipe Calderon, spoke of the untold story of minors who cross Mexico to the U.S. border, sometimes losing their parents along the way and some who never make it.

What is it that makes a boy or girl cross an entire country? she asked. What force must be there for a boy or girl to have to cross a country, to cross a desert to see his father or their mother. Thats why I always said we cannot lose them.

A child that accomplishes this cannot lose, she said.

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Zavala was honored by Border Angels on Friday, recognized with their 2018 Power of One award at the Sherman Heights Community Center. Border Angels is a San Diego-based nonprofit that advocates for immigrant rights.

Osvaldo Ruiz and James Cordero were also honored by Border Angels for their work on migrant issues. Ruiz brings supplies to migrants and helps rebuild Tijuana shelters. Cordero also brings donations to Tijuana and makes extreme water drops for migrants crossing in the remote desert, something others have been prosecuted for doing.

I use my stature. I use my skin tone. I use my privilege  to speak up for others, said Cordero when accepting his award.

Zavala was a candidate in Mexicos 2018 presidential elections, and among the first to run as an independent after a change in law allowing presidential hopefuls to run outside the main political parties.

She left the race two months before the election citing the principle of political honesty. Zavala has since created a new political party in Mexico called Mexico Libre.

Zavalas husband, Calderon, of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), was president from 2006 to 2012. Critics blame his administration for launching a war against Mexicos drug cartels that led to a surge in violence across much of the country, especially in border cities.

Also a conservative, Zavala, a mother of three, has taken a softer stance on social issues and focused her policy efforts on children.

At her speech Friday, she said the immigrant story is part of Mexicos story.

Im from Mexico City, and in the City of Mexico, all of us, but I mean all of us, have immigrants close to us, said Zavala in Spanish. And mostly, we have them in the United States and most are undocumented. Thats the story of our country.

As a lawyer, she began working on the issue of migrant children long before tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors began showing up at the U.S. border in 2014, sparking international attention and concern.

The unaccompanied boys and girls for a long time were invisible, she said during her keynote speech. Only very recently did we start talking about them.

Zavala read personal accounts from migrant children in Spanish. Border Angels founder and director Enrique Morones repeated one of the anecdotes for the English-only speaking audience about a boy, named Edgar, who was allegedly told to walk straight or were going to shoot you, by U.S. border officials.

Maritere Delgaldo, a 15-year-old Preuss School student, said she appreciated the personal stories.

I somehow already had a personal connection because I already know a lot of immigrants and they have tough stories, said Delgaldo, who said hearing the stories in childrens words was still eye-opening.

After the event, Zavala took questions from reporters, including one about Trump administrations new Migrant Protection Protocols, which returns asylum seekers to Mexico while they wait for their cases in U.S. immigration court.

Zavala noted that the Migrant Protection Protocols policy does not place unaccompanied minors back into Mexico, but she said the long wait for minors to ask U.S. officials for asylum protection risks their safety while they wait in dangerous border cities.

Children are children, she said. They dont understand the border and the migration policies and theyre just looking for their dad and their mom and to reunite with their family.
At the South Lawn on Saturday, President Trump said hell announce Kellys replacement in the next day or so. Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, has been the presidents top aide since late July 2017 and has had a rocky tenure.

Trump has chafed at Kellys management style and resisted some of his moves to instill discipline in the West Wing and contain chaos. In recent months, the chief of staffs power has ebbed, and administration policies and decisions have been guided more by the presidents gut instincts than by Kellys processes.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.
Official Washington will turn out to honor the late President George H.W. Bush on Wednesday with the full pageantry of a state funeral, bringing President Donald Trump together with his three most recent predecessors for the service at the National Cathedral.

Video courtesy Fox 5 San Diego
An Illinois State Police trooper was killed Thursday when she was struck by a truck during a traffic stop, the second trooper to die that way this year.

Trooper Brooke Jones-Story was killed in the crash that occurred on Route 20 near Route 75 in Freeport, state police officials said. Jones-Story was a 12-year veteran of the Illinois State Police District 16 in Pecatonica.

Today is a dark day for the Illinois State Police family, said Acting Director Brendan F. Kelly. This is the six-year anniversary of the death of another trooper, and now another brave soul, Trooper Brooke Jones-Story, has made the ultimate sacrifice for people of this state.

Jones-Story, 34, was inspecting a commercial motor vehicle at the time of the crash. She is the second state trooper killed in a crash this year. Trooper Christopher Lambert was fatally hit by a vehicle in January while he directed traffic during a snow storm near a crash on I-294 near Northbrook.

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Thursdays accident was the 15th time since January that a state trooper or a police squad car has been struck by motorists. Thats double last years total of eight.

State police has pushed recently for motorists to observe the Move Over Law when approaching vehicles on the side of the road.

The law requires motorists approaching vehicles along the roadside to slow down and change lanes to provide more space.

Citations for violations of the Move Over Law and improper lane usage has been issued to the unidentified truck driver.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker tweeted his condolences to Jones-Storys family. He also renewed his call for motorists to follow the rule, also known as the Move Over law.

Our state troopers do incredible work keeping the public safe, and it is devastating to the entire state that another has been killed on the side of a highway, Pritzker wrote.

The investigation into the accident is ongoing, with troopers working with Stephenson County States Attorneys Office.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Massachusetts Senate has approved legislation that would prohibit LGBTQ conversion therapy for minors in Massachusetts.

The Senate approved the bill Thursday by a 34-0 vote. The House earlier this month passed a similar measure by a 147-8 vote.

Bill backers say conversion therapy that intends to alter a persons sexual identity has been widely discredited by mental health professionals and can be harmful to children.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has said he is leaning toward signing the measure if it reaches his desk.

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Arlene Isaacson, co-chair of the Coalition to Ban Conversion Therapy for Minors, said conversion therapy can range from generating physical pain to try to dissuade individuals from same sex attraction to what she called cruel psychological talk therapy.

Being LGBTQ is not a disease that requires a cure, Isaacson said in a statement. These fraudulent treatments often lead patients to depression, substance abuse, self-harm and suicidality.

Democratic Senate President Karen Spilkas office said the Senate bill would instead promote therapies that encourage self-exploration and social support.

Andrew Beckwith, Massachusetts Family Institute president, said during a recent Statehouse protest that the bill eliminates options for struggling youth who are questioning their sexuality or gender identity and really takes away the rights of parents to find the treatment that is best for their children and their families.

If the measure is approved and signed by Baker, Beckwith said the organization intends to mount a legal challenge on the grounds that the ban would violate the First Amendment protection of free speech.

Five of the six Senate Republicans voted present on the bill, saying they didnt oppose it but raising concerns about potential constitutional conflicts.

The question is not whether we should ban these practices. The answer to that is a strong and affirmative yes, said Republican leader Bruce Tarr, of Gloucester. The question is how.

Tarr and other Republican lawmakers wanted to delay a final vote and instead ask the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for an advisory opinion about the constitutionality of the bill  including concerns that it might infringe on free speech rights.

Democratic Sen. Mark Montigny of New Bedford said the Senate should forge ahead.

Let the SJC do their job, Montigny said. Our job is to pass this immediately.

Similar laws in California and New Jersey have survived initial court challenges.

Advocates said if the bill is signed into law, Massachusetts will become the 16th U.S. state to pass a conversion therapy ban.

Other states that have passed similar bans include Connecticut, California, Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii and New Hampshire. The District of Columbia has also approved a ban, advocated said.

Lawmakers passed a similar bill last summer but it stalled in the sessions final hours.

The proposed ban would continue to allow adults to seek conversion therapy if they want.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A minister who promised a woman hed take care of her daughter began having sex with the teenager daily and later encouraged two other pastors to have sex with her as well, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Anthony Haynes could face up to life in prison if hes convicted of child sex trafficking and other charges. The two other Toledo-area pastors charged in the investigation have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Prosecutors said during the opening of Haynes trial that he first had sex with the girl when she was 14. They said the evidence against him includes text messages, photos, voice mails and DNA evidence from his church where the girl said they often had sex.

Haynes attorney told jurors that the allegations are shocking, but theres not enough evidence to prove the trafficking and conspiracy charges he faces.

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Attorney Pete Wagner also said Haynes may have had a questionable relationship with the girl, but he didnt coordinate or take part in trafficking her to the other ministers. He also said there was no paying for sex.

Prosecutors say the girl had a difficult childhood and was sexually abused by a relative.

Haynes pledged in front of his congregation to protect her and serve as a father figure, but he began grooming her for sex when she turned 14 and first forced her to perform sex acts in front of him, said Michael Freeman, an assistant U.S. attorney.

They had sex day after day, often at a motel or his church, the Greater Life Christian Center in Toledo, and Haynes would give her cash, Freeman said.

After about a year, Haynes introduced her to Kenneth Butler, another pastor, and he also began having sex with her, Freeman said.

Sometimes, the two men joked about the arrangement, prosecutors said. One text shown in court that prosecutors say was sent by Butler to the girl said: You better be nice and naked when I get there.

Prosecutors said the girl next met Cordell Jenkins, a minister who founded his own church in Toledo and built a large following until it closed after his arrest.

The FBI has said in court documents that Jenkins had sex with two girls at his home, church office and a motel and often recorded the acts with his phone.

Haynes, prosecutors said, encouraged the relationship with Jenkins.

In addition to the charges against the men, Haynes wife and stepdaughter are accused of abducting the girl at gunpoint in January and warning her not to testify at his trial.

Court documents say the pair forced the teenager from her apartment, choked her with a cord and told her to take back statements she made to investigators. Attorneys for Haynes wife and stepdaughter have declined to comment.

Just before her husband went on trial, his wife appeared Monday in the same courtroom where the judge overseeing the case turned down her request to be released.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
President Donald Trumps pick for the Justice Departments No. 3 position has withdrawn her name from consideration after encountering opposition on the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee because of her past membership in a lawyers group that has supported abortion rights.

Jessie Liu will instead stay on in her current position as the United States attorney for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department said Thursday.

A person familiar with the process said Lius selection was jeopardized by her involvement more than a decade ago in a legal group, the National Association of Women Lawyers, that filed legal briefs in support of abortion rights and that opposed the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito, a conservative justice.

Though Liu was a senior official of the lawyers group at the time of Alitos nomination, she did not sign onto the letter opposing Alitos nomination and instead signed a separate Yale Law School alumni letter in support of him, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the process. Liu said in an interview with the National Review published this month that she was then and am now a huge admirer of Justice Alito and that she ultimately resigned from the group as it took left-leaning positions.

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Still, Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican who once clerked for Alito on a federal appeals court, made clear his opposition to Lius nomination, according to the person and the senators office. Other Republicans on the committee likely would have raised similar concerns, denying her the necessary votes for confirmation.

The associate attorney general position is the third-highest ranking Justice Department job in Washington, responsible for overseeing issues including civil litigation, civil rights, antitrust and environmental matters. Her withdrawal could delay Attorney General William Barrs efforts to assemble a new leadership team around him as he begins implementing his agenda.

Jessie Liu is one of the finest, most impressive people serving in the Department of Justice, Barr said in a statement. She has been an outstanding United States Attorney and would have made an outstanding Associate Attorney General. I have zero doubt she would have faithfully executed my priorities and advanced my rule-of-law agenda.

He appointed Liu to serve as chairwoman of a committee of U.S. attorneys that advises him.

As top federal prosecutor in the nations capital, Liu will continue overseeing some of the matters referred to her office by special counsel Robert Mueller during his recently concluded investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Those include a subpoena issued to an unidentified company owned by a foreign government. The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from the company, which for months has refused to turn over documents demanded by Muellers team.

The first associate attorney general in the Trump administration, Rachel Brand, left her position after less than a year.

___

Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP

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The first black woman to lead a city police department in Virginia said Monday that she was forced out, calling herself no quitter and accusing a small group of officers of bias and acts of systemic racism, discriminatory practices and abuse of authority.

Tonya Chapman released a four-page statement a week after her abrupt resignation. It says her attempts to change the culture consistently were met with resistance from some people within the Portsmouth Police Department, some of whom quite frankly did not like taking direction from an African American female.

Despite working closely with the city manager during her three-year tenure, Chapman says the city manager made her resign under duress and without warning.

City Manager L. Pettis Patton did not immediately return calls Monday seeking comment.

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There will be no comment as this is a personnel matter, said Dana Woodson, a spokesperson for the city.

City Councilor Elizabeth Psimas said in an email that council members cant comment on city employee personnel matters.

Chapman said the city manager told her that if she signed a pre-written resignation letter, she would receive two months of severance pay, but if she did not, she would be terminated. She said she is asking the city to extend her severance pay to six months and to give her a positive letter of recommendation.

Portsmouth, with a population of nearly 100,000 people, is about 52 percent black. Home to a large Navy medical center and a sprawling shipyard, it sits across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk and is a short drive to the Atlantic Coast.

Chapman said she could not provide additional information about her forced resignation but suggested it was driven by members of a highly influential fraternal organization who had tried unsuccessfully for more than two years to generate a vote of no confidence in her. She said some of those people were recently disciplined for policy violations.

Sgt. Matthew Crutcher, president of the Portsmouth Fraternal Order of Police, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chapman said she knew running the police department would be a challenge but became acutely aware of racial tensions within the ranks after a former officer was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the 2015 shooting of a black man.

Officer Stephen Rankin shot and killed William Chapman II outside a Walmart. The 18-year-old was unarmed and had been suspected of shoplifting. Rankin, who is white, claimed self-defense, saying Chapman knocked away his stun gun and charged at him.

Having been a member of two other law enforcement agencies, I have never witnessed the degree of bias and acts of systemic racism, discriminatory practices and abuse of authority in all of my almost 30-year career in law enforcement and public safety, she wrote.

She said she is reluctant to speak publicly about what she witnessed out of concern for public safety, but said she is willing to share specific information with the appropriate government entity.

James Boyd, president of the Portsmouth chapter of the NAACP, said his group will respond at a 6 p.m. Monday news conference. Last week, Boyd said Chapman is the latest victim of what he calls a systemically racist police force.

Chapmans statement also included a list of crime reduction statistics and community engagement initiatives during her tenure.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Anna Sorokin, the alleged con artist accused of passing herself off as a wealthy German heiress, spoke the language of the financial world and persuaded a New York banker to loan her $100,000 that she never repaid, a witness told a Manhattan jury Thursday.

Banker Ryan Salem detailed a lengthy back-and-forth in which Sorokin lobbied City National Bank for a multimillion-dollar loan to finance a private arts club she purported to be building.

The bank denied that request but, despite a host of red flags, agreed to lend her $100,000 that Sorokin promised to repay within days.

We always believed that she had money, Salem said, referring to a fortune of some $67 million (60 million euros) that Sorokin claimed to have at her disposal overseas. She seemed to speak the language. She understood the financial jargon that you need to know to interact and transact in this environment.

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The testimony came on the second day of Sorokins grand larceny and theft of services trial in state court in Manhattan.

Prosecutors say Sorokin bilked friends, banks and hotels to the tune of $275,000 over a 10-month period, living a life of luxury in New York City on swindled funds. Using the name Anna Delvey, she sported high-end clothing and adopted a jet-setting lifestyle that prosecutors said she could not afford.

Her defense attorney has said she never intended to commit a crime.

Jurors viewed dozens of emails Thursday between Salem and Sorokin, who became increasingly hard to pin down when the bank demanded repayment.

Salem, who spent the day on the witness stand, said his dealings with Sorokin hurt his credibility within the bank.

I went to bat for somebody who at the end of the day was not somebody to go to bat for, he said.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The driver of a bus that overturned on a Virginia highway told State Police he was going about 70 mph (113 kph) when he turned suddenly and tried to take an exit ramp before the deadly crash.

Citing an affidavit for a search warrant, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that 40-year-old Yui Man Chow made the statement to a trooper. The New York resident is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. He appeared in court Monday.

Police say the bus was traveling from Florida to New York with 57 people aboard when it overturned last week. Two people were killed and dozens were injured.

The crash was the ninth at the exit since 2014. Officials are investigating if any occurred because signs had confused drivers.

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Chows attorney Adam Jurach declined to comment.

___

Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, https://www.richmond.com

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Democratic-controlled House fell short Tuesday in its effort to override President Donald Trumps first veto, handing him a victory in his drive to spend billions more for constructing barriers along the Southwest border than Congress has approved.

Lawmakers voted 248-181 in favor of overturning his veto, mostly along party lines, but that was 38 votes shy of the number needed for the required two-thirds majority.

The outcome, not a surprise, enabled Trump to move forward on an issue that was a hallmark of his 2016 presidential campaign and of his presidency. Yet the vote also gave Democrats a way to refocus on policy differences with Trump, days after Attorney General William Barr gave the president a political boost by saying special counsel Robert Mueller had concluded that Trump had not colluded with Russia to influence his election.

Congress sent Trump a resolution this month annulling the national emergency that Trump had declared at the US-Mexico border. That included passage by the Republican-led Senate, in which 12 GOP senators  nearly 1 of every 4  voted with Democrats to block him.

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Trump vetoed that measure almost immediately.

Trump had declared the border emergency under a law that lets him shift budget funds to address dire situations. His plan is to shift an additional $3.6 billion from military construction projects to work on border barriers. Congress voted this year to limit spending on such barriers to less than $1.4 billion, and Democrats called his declaration a gambit for ignoring lawmakers constitutional control over spending.

We take an oath that we must honor to protect the Constitution, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaking on her 79th birthday. The choice is simple, between partisanship and patriotism. Between honoring our sacred oath or hypocritically, inconsistently breaking this oath.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, called Trumps declaration constitutional vandalism.

Republicans said Trump was merely acting under a law that gives presidents emergency powers, and was trying to head off Democrats with little concern about border security.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said Trump was acting against the radical left in this House that would dissolve our borders entirely if given the chance  a stance that no Democrat has taken.

Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., called the veto override effort a partisan whack job because of its certain defeat.

Fourteen Republicans, a mix of conservatives plus moderates from swing districts, joined all voting Democrats in favor of the override. It was the same 13 who opposed the veto in last months House vote plus Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., who missed that roll call.

In a symbolic move by Democrats, presiding over the debate and vote was freshman Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, representing a district surrounding El Paso along the Mexican border.

Tuesdays vote was the legislative finale of a showdown thats been building for months.

Even with his veto remaining intact, Trump may not be able to spend the money for barriers quickly because of lawsuits that might take years to resolve.

Democrats were hoping to use the border emergency battle in upcoming campaigns, both to symbolize Trumps harsh immigration stance and claim he was hurting congressional districts around the country.

The Pentagon sent lawmakers a list last week of hundreds of military construction projects that might be cut to pay for barrier work. Though the list was tentative, Democrats were asserting that GOP lawmakers were endangering local bases to pay for the wall.

Opponents of Trumps emergency warned that besides usurping Congress role in making spending decisions, he was inviting future Democratic presidents to circumvent lawmakers by declaring emergencies to finance their own favored initiatives.

Trump supporters said he was simply acting under a 1976 law that lets presidents declare national emergencies. Trumps declaration was the 60th presidential emergency under that statute, but the first aimed at spending that Congress explicitly denied, according to New York Universitys Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks the law.

The House approved the resolution blocking Trumps emergency by 245-182 in February. On Tuesday, Trump opponents will need to reach 288 votes to prevail.

This month, the GOP-led Senate rebuked Trump with a 59-41 vote blocking his declaration after the failure of a Republican effort to reach a compromise with the White House. Republicans were hoping to avoid a confrontation with him for fear of alienating pro-Trump voters.

With the House override failing, the Senate wont attempt its own override and the veto will stand.
Two members of Congress accompanied 15 asylum seekers from the Central American caravan to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on Monday to observe how U.S. officials treat asylum seekers.

Reps. Nanette Barragan and Jimmy Gomez, both of the Los Angeles area, questioned Customs and Border Protection officials after they were told the port would process only the eight unaccompanied children, and the rest, including a mother with five children, would have to go to the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Officials at San Ysidro take a limited number of migrants each day for asylum processing, which has led to a backlog of thousands waiting in Tijuana.

For me, its clear. Were on U.S. soil, Barragan said, referring to a law that prevents the U.S. from returning people to Mexico after they cross the international line if they are from another country.

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She said officials have told Congress that migrants can request asylum at any port of entry but what she is witnessing at Otay Mesa contradicts that. She called the situation unfortunate and disturbing.

The asylum seekers, organized by legal aid group Al Otro Lado, were selected to participate because they are particularly vulnerable in Tijuana, volunteers said.

They walked up to the port of entry about 2:30 p.m. in small groups to avoid being noticed by Mexican immigration officials who might send them away before they reached their goal, the United States.

When they stepped over the border boundary, the asylum seekers, all from Honduras, sat down in hopes that officials would allow them in for asylum processing. A group of attorneys, law students and other volunteers who are all U.S. citizens formed a human shield around the sitting migrants to keep anyone from trying to force them back into Mexico.

Though officials initially said they would take the unaccompanied children, the entire group sat on concrete outside the ports gate but past the international boundary for hours. A number of Customs and Border Protection officers with helmets stood nearby watching them and blocking one lane of traffic.

When a supervising officer told Barragan that they couldnt take the mother and her five children or the man who was traveling alone because of capacity, Barragan asked to see inside the port of entry to understand its limitations.

The officer disappeared back into the port of entry to talk with higher ranking officials. When Barragan asked for an update from officers at the gate an hour later, they were unable to give her new information.

When asked about the incident, Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, pointed to an increase in asylum seekers arriving at ports of entry along the southwest border over the last year. The agency has limited resources and a variety of factors can influence how much space it has for asylum processing on a given day, according to a CBP spokeswoman.

CBP processes undocumented persons as expeditiously as possible without negating the agencys overall mission, or compromising the safety of individuals within our custody, the spokeswoman said.

As we have done for several years, when our ports of entry reach capacity, we have to manage the queues, and individuals presenting without documents may need to wait in Mexico as CBP officers work to process those already within our facilities, she added.

Among the migrants sitting outside the Otay Mesa Port of Entry was a woman whose face became famous after she was photographed running with her children away from tear gas at the border weeks ago.

Attorney Nicole Ramos of Al Otro Lado stood over her.

Ramos has helped asylum seekers present at Tijuana ports of entry for years and observed as U.S. officials began sending them away a couple of years ago.

She questioned why the government hasnt done more to speed up processing since it has known about the growing backlog for at least a year.

Its not representative of what the government has the financial capacity to do, Ramos said.

After more than two hours, it was not yet clear what the outcome of the peaceful standoff would be. Both members of Congress promised to hold the agency accountable to U.S. and international law.

What were doing is observing, Gomez said. Time will tell.

Morrissey writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The passing late Friday of George H. W. Bush  the American fighter pilot, war hero and 41st president of the United States  brought a wave of respect and remembrances from San Diego politicians and others fortunate enough to have met him.

They heralded his humility and genuineness, recounting cherished memories and praising the career public servant as a statesman and role model.



For the record: This story was amended from its original posting to correct the office that Pete Wilson was running for when George H.W. Bush came to visit.

Former San Diego Mayor and Gov. Pete Wilson had been an acquaintance of Bush for years when the then-vice president came to California to help Wilson campaign for U.S. Senate.

That was really the beginning of a great friendship, Wilson said Saturday.

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Many years later, Wilson joined his friend at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Texas. As well as he knew Bush and his background, Wilson said it was still a revelation looking through the archives to see how much he had done in his life.

Almost his entire life was in service of the country, Wilson said. He had performed so many functions . . . he was a decent, selfless patriot.

He had a passion for life, Wilson added.

Former legislator and San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith remembered Bush as a humble man with a quick wit and sincere interest in local concerns.

I had an opportunity to speak with him several times, including once when he was president, he said. I met him on the tarmac once, and he said San Diego was one of his favorite places.

Goldsmith called Bush an honorable man with an intrinsic understanding of public service.

He guided us through the transition of the Cold War. He brought our allies together and worked with them, Goldsmith said. He was a nice fellow, and very very engaging.

The former president traveled to San Diego many times over his long career, even passing through as a naval pilot at the tail end of World War II.

Bush returned in 1973, after he served two terms in Congress and became chairman of the Republican National Party. He accepted interviews with the editorial board of The San Diego Union that year and again in 1976 as outgoing director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

As a Republican Party leader during the Carter administration, Bush made several visits to San Diego, addressing the San Diego Rotary Club at the El Cortez Hotel in 1978 and twice in 1979 just before announcing his campaign for the White House in 1980.

Former judge and state lawmaker Larry Stirling said he was already a fan when he was attending an event in the 1980s, while Bush was the vice president.

He ran into my son who was a little kid at the time, and he had one of his aides bring my son one of his calling cards, Stirling remembered late Friday. We made Channel 10 that night.

On another occasion, Stirling met Bush during one of his visits to the state capital, and Stirling was passing out lapel pins from the University of California  and didnt hesitate to present one to Bush.

Giving away Golden Bears pins was part of my schtick, he said. When I pinned it on him he said, What would the Stanford guys say?

Bush grew accustomed to using the power of the presidency and vice-presidency to shore up support for Republicans in lower office. He toured the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in 1987 and headlined a $1,000-per-plate fundraiser. He delivered speeches at the Hotel del Coronado and U.S. Grant Hotel downtown.

During a San Diego stop for his winning 1988 presidential campaign, Bush visited the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and called himself a Teddy Roosevelt Republican.

Tony Krvaric, longtime head of the San Diego County Republican Party, said President Bush was one of a few select people for whom appreciation kept growing  especially after leaving public office.

Today America lost a great statesman and true gentleman, he said. Yet we are comforted in knowing that tonight he is reunited with his beloved Barbara in heaven.

Mesa College political science professor Carl Luna said Bush was a founding member of what has become known as the Greatest Generation, the young men in their late teens and 20s who answered historys call without hesitation or fear after the bombing at Pearl Harbor.

Its not surprising but its sad, Luna said of the former presidents death at age 94. The passing of George H.W. Bush really is the eulogy of that World War II era, where people had enough in common that they put aside their differences and worked together for the common good.

John Cox, the Republican runner-up in the recent campaign for California governor, called Bush a statesman who put his country ahead of himself at an early age.

His example should serve as a guiding light to all of us; that putting country ahead of self is not only the right thing to do but is also a major part of what makes us human and gives our lives the meaning we desire, Cox said in a statement Saturday. Leadership and being part of something bigger than yourself is the lesson we learn from his life and America should be grateful for his commitment to our great country.

Bush is well-remembered for the graceful message he left for incoming President Bill Clinton in early 1993.

You will be our President when you read this note, the single-paged handwritten note said. I wish you well. I wish your family well.

Even so, by 1996, when San Diego hosted the Republican National Convention that named Bob Dole the partys nominee, Bush was not shy about criticizing Clinton during his speech and promised that Dole would restore dignity to the presidency.

He will be a president we can look up to. He will do us proud, Bush said of the senator from Kansas at the San Diego convention. It breaks my heart when the White House is demeaned.

Bush returned to San Diego in 2007 to deliver an opening-day speech at the Manchester Grand Hyatt before a national convention for real estate finance professionals.

(Correction: Wilson mentioned Vice President Bush came out to campaign for Wilsons Senate bid. The initial post said governor.)

Staff writer Michael Smolens contributed to this report.

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald

UPDATES:

4:45 p.m. Saturday: This article was updated with additional details.

1:50 p.m. Saturday: This article was updated with additional details.

This article was originally published at 11:05 p.m. Friday.
San Marcos Democrat Alex Balkin, a former inspector general with the U.S. Navy, has ended his campaign to unseat Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, just six weeks after it began.

He has endorsed fellow Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar.

After much time and thought, I decided to withdraw my candidacy for Congress to spend more time as a husband and father, Balkin said in a statement Thursday. It is in my sincerest hope the next representative brings real leadership to the 50th District.

Reached by phone late Friday, Campa-Najjar said Balkins statement and endorsement were generous.

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That was a very graceful suspension of his campaign, he said. He was a formidable guy (who) had all the raw materials. But, I think on the ground  in the district  we had the support locked up.

The district, which encompasses parts of Riverside County and much of eastern San Diego County, from Temecula to Chula Vista, is considered to be solidly Republican.

However, it has been targeted by Democrats because of Hunters looming criminal trial. The seven-term Congressman and his wife Margaret Hunter were indicted in August on multiple felonies, including campaign finance violations and bank and wire fraud.

I wish Ammar Campa-Najjar the best of luck in his endeavor to unseat Duncan Hunter and return respect and integrity to the office, Balkin said.

In November, Campa-Najjar lost to Hunter by 3.4 points. Critics say Hunters campaign made personal attacks against Campa-Najjar, a Palestinian-Mexican American, including questioning the San Diego natives loyalty and labeling him a national security risk.

Hunters trial is scheduled to begin in September. He was removed from congressional committee assignments by party leaders in August and has recently been advocating for military personnel who are on trial for war crimes.

Contact Andrew Dyer via email or Twitter.
Early next month, the longest serving Republican in San Diegos congressional delegation will quietly step away from the House of Representatives.

For Republicans in the 49th District, which stretches from La Jolla to Dana Point in south Orange County, the transition marks the end of an era of Republican dominance. Not only is Rep. Darrell Issa  their man in Congress for nearly two decades  retiring, his endorsed successor was defeated by nearly 13 points.

For Democrats in San Diego County and across the country, Issas departure is more than welcome. For a time, the Vista congressman was the national face of Republican antagonism toward former President Barack Obama. More recently, he was admired and despised as a staunch ally of President Donald Trump.

Issa, who will be succeeded by Democrat Mike Levin of Orange County next month, did not respond to multiple interview requests, as San Diego prepares to say farewell to one of its most colorful political figures  an Ohio native and high school dropout who built a multimillion-dollar personal fortune and became one of the wealthiest members of Congress.

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Issa entered politics with an unknown name and rose to prominence as head of one of the highest-profile committees in the House. He may have arrived in Washington a generation too late for his political ambition and leaves Congress in some ways undone by the very image he sought to craft.

Dropout to millionaire

Issa, 65, grew up outside of Cleveland as one of six children. He quit high school at 17 and enlisted in the U.S. Army at the height of the Vietnam War. Two years later, after his father suffered a heart attack, he was granted a hardship discharge.

After leaving the Army, Issa earned his G.E.D. and eventually graduated from Kent State University. He rejoined the Army as a reservist, serving until 1980.

In civilian life, Issa invested in a company called Quantum Enterprises and, in what could be described as a hostile takeover, he acquired a struggling electronics company that made car alarms. Within a decade, Issa turned the company into a multimillion-dollar powerhouse, and produced the widely popular Viper anti-theft device that bears his voice dramatically warning would-be thieves to stand back.

His fortunes secure, Issa turned his attention to public service and ran for the U.S. Senate in 1998. Despite outspending his opponent, he lost the Republican primary due to poor name recognition and issues from his past. News organizations revealed Issas previous arrest for carrying a concealed weapon, an indictment for stealing a car and allegations of arson by former business associates. Issa vigorously denied the allegations over the years and was never convicted of auto-theft or charged with arson.

Political success

Although the U.S. Senate bid fell short, the 1998 campaign served as a launching pad for his House campaign two years later.

Running for a seat vacated by nine-term Republican incumbent in what was then the 48th District, Issa dominated the primary election in 2000 and defeated his Democratic opponent by more than 30 points in the same election that sent George W. Bush to the White House.

The North County district was reconstituted as the 49th District in 2002, and Issa continued to win re-election comfortably. He won eight of his next nine House races by double digits.

Until recently, his only political speed bump came in 2003, when he spent $1.7 million of his own money to fund a recall election against then-Gov. Gray Davis  the first and only governor in the history of California to be recalled.

Issa had planned to replace Davis but dropped out one day after Hollywood legend Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he would seek to replace Davis. At an August 2003 press conference, he put the brightest face he could on the unhappy development and announced he would not run for governor.

Once it was possible to not have to be the face of the recall, not have to be the candidate if no one else would lead, I now have the opportunity to choose between two directions, Issa said at the time. One is my service in Washington, the other was what many people assumed was blind ambition.

Jack Pitney, a professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College, said Issa never saw the movie star coming.

He thought hed be champion of the recall, he said. Little did he know he was doing Arnold Schwarzenegger a solid.

The congressman from Vista may have arrived in Washington a decade or two late, Pitney added.

The county changed, the state changed, said Pitney, a longtime Republican who left the GOP in 2017 as a Trump critic and became an independent. Darrell Issa came too late and stayed too long.

Check to power

The lost race for California governor did not arrest Issas political climb.

He redoubled his efforts in Congress and became ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee after Obama was elected president. Two years later, when Republicans took control of the House, he was named chairman.

Issa became a fixture on Fox News and developed a reputation as a fierce partisan. He called Obama one of the most corrupt presidents in history and engaged in shouting matches with the ranking committee Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland.

The Vista congressman relished his oversight role, enthusiastically investigating a bank-relief program, the Internal Revenue Services review of conservative organizations, the death of Americans in Benghazi and the Fast and Furious guns program.

At one point, he held then-Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

The investigations drew praise from Republicans and ire from Democrats, who viewed them as partisan attacks that offered little in the way of results.

Obama himself said Issas primary contribution to the United States Congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollars on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere, during a visit to La Jolla in 2016.

Pitney, the Claremont McKenna political scientist, said Issa could be his own worst enemy.

He was too overtly partisan, Pitney said. His focus was on doing partisan warfare in Washington. Rather than go for the flashy headlines, he should have focused on the dreary mechanics of government if you can improve the efficiency of a cabinet department by 5 percent that would be huge.

Danielle Brian is the executive director at the Project on Government Oversight, a non-partisan Washington D.C.-based watchdog group. She said Issas greatest accomplishments had less to do with his chairmanship of the House Oversight committee than bills promoting government transparency, whistleblower protections and open records.

He was really involved in important government reform legislation, she said.

Issa is also well regarded by many in the tech community for his role preventing the passage of the Stop Online Privacy Act, which critics feared would threaten free speech and give the government authority to block access to websites.

He was instrumental in blocking the House majority from moving the bill quickly, said Ernesto Falcon of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Changing district

While Issa became a staple in Washington D.C., his North County district was changing demographically and ideologically.

In 2016, he confronted his most serious political challenge in Col. Doug Applegate, an attorney and retired Marine who came within 1,600 or so votes of unseating the incumbent from Vista. The narrow victory exposed the changing district.

Part of the reason Darrell won by double digits in the past was Democrats didnt spend time, money or make much of an effort against him, said Jerome Kern, a Republican and former Oceanside city councilman. Once they saw Doug did really well Darrell was exposed as being weak.

The congressmans broad embrace of President Trump also appears to have helped drive a growing distaste for Issa.

Doug Applegate had support throughout the country because Democrats throughout the country disliked him [Issa] immensely, said Francine Busby, former chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party.

UC San Diego political science professor Thad Kousser said Issas activism and profile made him a target.

He embraced a polarizing role, and he had to live with the consequences of that, Kousser said. As he became more prominent, the (congressional Democrats) really wanted to take him out.

The election of Trump and worries that the Republican-controlled Congress would repeal the Affordable Care Act led to organized protests outside Issas Vista office. On most Tuesdays since, protesters would gather by the dozens  and sometimes hundreds  to protect the health-care law and criticize Issa.

We really wanted to know what he was thinking, recalled Ellen Montanari, who helped organize the weekly protests.

Montanari said she expected Issa to move more to the center after his close race in 2016.

It didnt take me long to realize that wasnt the case, she said.

The protests continued month after month because they knew they had a real shot to turn Issa out of Congress, Montanari said. They were right. Early this year, Issa announced he would not seek re-election.

Throughout my service, I worked hard and never lost sight of the people our government is supposed to serve, Issa said at the time. Yet with the support of my family, I have decided that I will not seek re-election in Californias 49th District.

A congressmans legacy

The retiring congressman is not likely to leave Washington D.C. anytime soon. In September Trump nominated him to lead the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, although he still awaits Senate confirmation.

Issa is leaving San Diego politics behind with a complicated legacy.

Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, and Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, recalled finding common ground with Issa on only a handful of issues, such as the expansion of the San Ysidro Border crossing.

I think Darrell will be remembered for a few things, Peters said. He was such a vociferous partisan with respect to president Obama. Im not sure in the end that was helpful to him or his party.

I think he is someone who tried his best to work for constituents and his region away from the mic he was pretty pragmatic.

Peters said he was disappointed in Issas unwavering support for Trump, especially his support for repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Kern, the former Oceanside councilman, also recalls a man who was persistent in working for residents as well, especially when it came to ensuring Oceanside Harbor was dredged.

He doesnt get credit for doing the work, Kern said. He was a national figure, but as far as a local elected official, Darrell was working for the city.

Others point to the indelible mark he left on California. Kousser, the University of California San Diego political scientist, said Issa has been a central actor in two of the biggest political moments in modern California history.

First the recall of Gray Davis, which never would have made it to the ballot if Issa had not funded the signature drive, he said. Second, his was the first political domino to fall in the 2018 wipeout.

Pitney had a different perspective on Issas impact in Congress.

His legacy is the aftermath of battle, he said. He was a political warrior and warriors leave memories and casualties, and ultimately he was a casualty of the war in which he participated in.
President Donald Trumps Oval Office address failed to sway most Californians on the need for a border wall, a new poll shows.

Of the 614 registered voters surveyed across the state who saw the address, more than half said they oppose construction of a wall across the U.S. border with Mexico. A little more than one-third of the respondents, 34 percent, said they support this plan.

A majority of those surveyed said the presidents remarks would divide Americans by using scare tactics and exaggerations. Only one in five agreed that the speech would unify Americans and cause them to rally around a shared goal.

Thats one of the things that jumps out at me, said Ken Alper, news director of SurveyUSA, the firm that conducted the poll Wednesday for The San Diego Union-Tribune, 10News and KABC-TV Los Angeles.

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Almost two-thirds of the people who watched the speech thought it would further divide Americans. To the extent the president had a goal with this, Im not sure he succeeded.

However, this question prompted overwhelming agreement across ideological lines: if a wall was built, who would pay for it?

American taxpayers, said 74 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of independents and 88 percent of Democrats.

As a candidate, Trump had promised that Mexico would pay for the wall. Only a small fraction of respondents, 7 percent, still believe this. (The breakdown by party affiliation: 11 percent of Republicans, 4 percent of Democrats, 10 percent of independents.)

The poll, Alper said, indicated that the average Californian has already heard enough about the proposed border wall to have a firm opinion on the subject.

Most people have already made up their minds, he said. There were not a lot of surprises.

Answers tended to reflect partisan divisions. For instance,nearly two-thirds of Republicans said the presidents comments were completely true or mostly true. In contrast, roughly three-quarters of Democrats said they were completely false or mostly false, a view that was echoed by almost half of the independents.

Would the wall cut down on the number of immigrants illegally entering the U.S.? Yes, said about three-quarters of Republicans, nearly half of independents but fewer than one in five Democrats.

Two-thirds of the respondents blame President Trump for the government shutdown. Nearly six in 10 Republicans pointed to Democrats in Congress, while nearly one-third of Republicans faulted Trump.

Given this lack of common ground, responses to the surveys final question may have caught pollsters by surprise. Asked how the shutdown will end, there was broad agreement  79 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of independents  that all parties will compromise a little.

Fewer than one in 10 believe that Trump will embrace the Democrats proposals or that Democrats will come over to Trumps position.
With the partial government shutdown headed toward its second week and no resolution in sight, President Trump on Friday issued a string of tweets in which he again vowed to close the entire U.S. border with Mexico and halt aid to several Latin American countries unless Democrats agree to his demand for billions of dollars in wall funding.

Trump also canceled plans to visit his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, and will remain in Washington over the New Years holiday, Office of Management and budget director Mick Mulvaney said.

About 25 percent of the federal government has been shut down since Saturday, with roughly 800,000 workers affected, including an estimated 350,000 who are on furlough at home.

We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with, Trump said in a morning tweet.

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We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with. Hard to believe there was a Congress & President who would approve!

In a reprise of his threat before the midterm elections to cut off aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador as a caravan of migrants was making its way toward the United States, Trump said that those three countries are doing nothing for the United States but taking our money.

Mulvaney: Trump absolutely willing to close southern border amid budget stalemate

Office of Management and Budget Director and President Trumps acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney spoke to reporters on Dec. 28. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Word is that a new Caravan is forming in Honduras and they are doing nothing about it, he said, without providing further details. We will be cutting off all aid to these 3 countries  taking advantage of U.S. for years!

Despite Trumps threat, the United States this month announced a new collaboration with Mexico on a program to curb migration from Central American countries, with much of the $10.6 billion U.S. contribution to be drawn from existing aid programs.

Trumps tweets come as Congress has effectively given up on breaking the impasse over the presidents demands for border-wall funding, all but ensuring that the partial government shutdown will stretch into at least the start of the new year.

The House and the Senate convened for just minutes Thursday before gaveling closed until next week. During the brief session in the House, Republicans shot down a Democratic attempt to vote on legislation to reopen the government.

Members of the congressional leadership were not in Washington, though aides insisted that lawmakers could return if there is a deal to end the shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was in his home state, according to his office, while Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) was with his family in New York.

Aides to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declined to say where they were.

The House remains ready to act once there is a product that can pass the Senate and that the president says he will sign, said AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan.

Trumps previous threats to build a wall and force Mexico to pay for it led to diplomatic clashes with the government of former president Enrique Pena Nieto. But Mexicos new president  Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is a leftist  has tried to avoid such disputes.

Asked about Trumps latest tweets, Lopez Obrador told reporters Friday: We have acted prudently and cautiously, and we have not expressed an opinion on this theme, because this is an internal matter of the U.S. government and we prefer to abstain from making a statement.

He added that the Mexican government is seeking to always maintain a very good relationship with the government of the United States.

As he did Thursday, Trump remained out of public view on Friday. In an appearance on Fox News, Mulvaney said that the president had canceled his plans for Christmas, and now hes canceled his plan for New Years.

Hes staying in Washington, D.C., over New Years, said Mulvaney, who is set to become Trumps acting chief of staff next month.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said early Friday afternoon that the president was in the West Wing meeting with staff and making calls and that there were no plans as of now for him to travel to Florida.

Even though Trump will be in town and Republicans control both chambers of Congress, Mulvaney acknowledged that little progress on a deal is expected until the start of the new Congress on Jan. 3, when Democrats will retake the House.

Contending that Democrats have simply shut down the discussions, Mulvaney claimed that Schumer was really interested in doing a deal in their recent negotiations, but the more were hearing this week is that its [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi whos preventing that from happening.

Nancy Pelosi, in fairness, does not have the votes for the speakership yet, Mulvaney said. She cannot be seen by her party as being weak on negotiating with Donald Trump. So we fully expect that until she is elected speaker and has locked that vote up, we dont expect to hear from the Democrats again.

According to a Washington Post tally, Pelosi, who won the Democratic caucuss nomination for the speakership in late November, appears to have secured enough support to be elected speaker in January.

Throughout the negotiations, Pelosi and Schumer have presented a united front, issuing several joint statements and appearing together at an Oval Office meeting with Trump and Vice President Pence on Dec. 11.

Pelosis spokesman, Drew Hammill, said in a statement Friday that Democrats are united against the Presidents immoral, ineffective and expensive wall  the wall that he specifically promised that Mexico would pay for.

Democrats will not consider any offers that have not been publicly endorsed by Trump himself, he said, adding that the last time the White House directly reached out to Pelosi was when the president called her following the Oval Office meeting.

While we await the presidents public proposal, Democrats have made it clear that, under a House Democratic majority, we will vote swiftly to reopen government on Day One, Hammill said.

A Schumer spokesman said that Schumer and Pelosi have been in constant and close contact and on the same page with regards to shutdown strategy. There is no daylight between them.

At the heart of the stalemate is Trumps demand for $5 billion in funding for his proposed wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Congressional Democrats have rejected that figure and in recent weeks have refused to publicly endorse a figure above $1.3 billion, which continues existing funding levels and includes money for new border fencing and levee walls but not the concrete wall Trump once demanded before he started more recently talking about steel slats.

Legislation with that level of funding, which would have kept the entire government open through Feb. 8, passed the Senate unanimously last week, but Trump subsequently rejected it.

Mulvaney said Friday that some folks use the term wall and they mean different things.

Everyone agrees that what we can and should be building on that southern border is that steel barrier that the president tweeted out. Thats what he wants to build. The Democrats, believe it or not, dont call that a wall, he said.

Erica Werner and Paul Kane in Washington and Mary Beth Sheridan in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Dick Cheney, the former vice president, made just about the nastiest crack a Republican could offer about President Trumps foreign policy when he said it looks a lot more like Barack Obama than Ronald Reagan.

Obviously, the comparison is flawed. But say this much for Cheney: Hes the rare Republican who isnt intimidated by Trump these days. Cheney made a string of similarly blistering comments at a supposedly off-the-record conversation with Vice President Pence at a gathering in Sea Island, Georgia, last weekend hosted by the American Enterprise Institute.

Cheneys remarks tell us that we are experiencing what may be a political realignment in America, in which some of our political labels dont work very well. Theres a populist wing in both parties, with Trump and some progressive Democrats expressing broadly similar concerns about Americas overextension in the world and the unfairness of the existing global order to working people.

Theres a traditionalist wing in both parties, too, which supports the old Cheney-esque American-led world order and its network of alliances and trade agreements. This traditionalist approach was embodied in the shared invitation this week by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to NATOs secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, to address a joint session of Congress.

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Theres a world of difference, to be sure, between Trumps bullying, rich-guy version of populism and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders empathetic, progressive version. Similarly, Pelosis version of internationalism is less defense-oriented and hawkish than McConnells. But politics is confusing these days partly because the usual left-right spectrum doesnt always apply. Is free trade liberal or conservative? How about internationalism? What about privacy protection?

American politics has always been more personality-driven than ideological, and when we think of eras, theyre usually defined by presidents. George Washington personified the Federalist Era; Andrew Jackson defined a freewheeling Democratic Party assault on the elites; Abraham Lincoln created the modern Republican Party in the Civil War; and Theodore Roosevelt recast it in the Progressive Era; Franklin Roosevelt created a new Democratic coalition; and Reagan framed a new Republican one.

Is Trump such a transitional figure? I doubt it. He seems more an emblem of our current political disorder than the architect of a new political alignment. But hes a harbinger of change in our party system.

Trump already has led one of the most successful insurgencies in American politics. He destroyed the existing Republican establishment, savaging the GOPs field of presidential candidates in 2016. His defiant, carnival-barker politics of resentment was on display this month at the CPAC convention. It was a bizarre, idiosyncratic performance, but it clearly enthralled his audience. Trump owns whats left of the party he wrecked.

Democrats these days can seem just as frightened as Republicans by a party base thats in ferment. An example is former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, an ex-entrepreneur who created a bipartisan base in his home state. Hickenlooper is the embodiment of a moderate Democrat. But he verged on incoherence last week on MSNBCs Morning Joe when host Joe Scarborough asked him if he was a socialist or capitalist. Watching him, it seemed possible that Democrats are as jittery about offending Sanders supporters as Republicans are of crossing Trump.

Maybe Sanders has the passion and progressive appeal to make democratic socialism a winning strategy for 2020. Hes undeniably appealing to the Democratic base; polls show him gaining steadily over the past two months, while most of the rest of the field has been treading water.

But Ill be very surprised if Sanders can make it to the White House. The Democrat who can beat Trump is more likely to be a large but also reassuring personality, acceptable to blue-collar Democrats and also exciting to younger voters  a more youthful version of Joe Biden, perhaps. People who occupy that space (at least on my mental map) include Sen. Michael Bennett; Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Seth Moulton and former Rep. Beto ORourke.

Political systems can be like scientific theories. Sometimes there emerge so many anomalous elements that dont fit the existing structure that the theory collapses, and a new one arises. In science, that means, for example, that the theory that the sun revolves around the earth loses its explanatory power, and evidence proves the opposite is the case. In politics, new parties emerge, or the existing ones develop new identities.

We may be entering such a period. The definition of a winning Democrat may be that, in response to Trumps rambling circus of self-aggrandizement, he or she could create a genuinely coherent new political order.

Ignatius can be reached at davidignatius@washpost.com. He is on Twitter, @IgnatiusPost
Investigation insights

Attorney General William Barr released a four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs report on Sunday. Here, two county political party chairs, two former city attorneys and two academics react to it. What do you think about the revelations so far? Let us know in 500 words or less at yoursay@sduniontribune.com.

In criminal cases, the plaintiff is the government, which holds the burden of proving its case that the defendant is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In civil cases, the plaintiff only has the burden of proving their case by a preponderance of the evidence. Beyond reasonable doubt and a preponderance of the evidence are very different standards of proof, and the former is much stronger than the latter. For example, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murder in his criminal trial, whereas the civil trial did find him responsible for the wrongful deaths of two people.

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According to the summary of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs report published by U.S. Attorney General William Barr, the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference. The attorney general held that the [Mueller] report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constitute obstructive conduct, had a nexus to a pending or completed proceeding, and were done with corrupt intent. It is important to note that this is the opinion of the attorney general rather than that of Mueller. However, the fact that the summary indicates the special counsel did not recommend any further indictments would suggest that Barrs conclusions are congruent with Muellers.

Both sides of the aisle are already spinning this report in a fashion coherent with their assessments of the president and his campaign. Of course, Republicans are claiming the report summary exonerates the president of wrongdoing; we live in a country in which individuals must be presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty. By contrast, Democrats are pointing to the Barr summarys indication that while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. This suggests a Caesars wife standard of proof: Caesars wife must be above suspicion, or Caesar is obligated to divorce her.

Current congressional debates over impeaching President Donald Trump are yet another example of the parties fighting over standards of proof. The U.S. Constitution establishes treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors as grounds for impeachment. But the Constitution does not define what constitutes a high crime or misdemeanor. In 1998, the Republican House impeached President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, but every Senate Democrat (and a few GOP members) voted against convicting him. Failing the necessary two-thirds vote, Clinton remained in office.

Like the dispute over impeachment, the variance between the way the summary of the Mueller report is being read by the two parties is disturbing. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but no one is entitled to his or her own facts. The country must put aside the kind of partisanship that requires reading every fact through a partisan lens. Republicans and Democrats alike must discard the double standard whereby they give every member of their own team a pass and only hold members of the other team accountable. If this country is going to last, we must all be part of the same team again.

James W. Ingram III is a San Diego State University professor who teaches The American Presidency.
Last December, I asked a question related to Martha McSally as she was about to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the late John McCain: What more could you want in a senator?

Having known McSally during her two terms in the House of Representatives, I was impressed with her spunk and courage, as demonstrated during her 26 years in the Air Force, where she was a squadron commander and the nations first female fighter pilot to fly combat missions. Ive also admired her humility, warmth and, of course, love of dogs. Dont laugh. Must Love Dogs isnt just a romantic comedy. Its the password to my personal universe.

Now we also know that McSally is a rape victim, though the word victim doesnt suit her. Indeed, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last Wednesday, where she told her story, McSally referred to herself as a military sexual-assault survivor. She wasnt always able to say that. For years, she told no one about the rape and suffered in silence, as so many assault victims do. McSally told the committee that she felt ashamed, confused and embarrassed, and she blamed herself. Again, as so many victims do. She didnt trust the system, she said.

If you caught McSally at the televised hearing, or in subsequent news clips, you may have seen what I did  a woman of strength, self-control, resolve and determination, despite visible emotion and apparent deep pain. Shes a mavericks maverick, I thought, and one tough cookie. Though she remained composed, one could see McSally struggle as she recounted being raped by a superior officer and then, in her words, being raped again, figuratively, when she eventually reported the assault to the Air Force.

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The system victimized her again, she said, treating her as though she were a perpetrator rather than someone who had been violated. Such was her despair that McSally considered packing her duffel bag and leaving the military.

But I didnt quit, she said. I decided to stay and continue to serve and fight and lead. To be a voice from within the ranks for women  and then in the House and now the Senate.

Weve heard stories like McSallys too many times. Until relatively recently, many women had been afraid to speak up lest they not be believed. Others feared the stigma of rape. A close friend of mine who was sexually assaulted at knifepoint in her own home said she refused to prosecute her assailant when he was captured because she didnt want to be known as a rape victim. She imagined that, no matter whatever else she might do or become, the first thing people would say about her was, Oh, theres so-and-so. She was raped, you know.

Though weve come a long way since the time when McSally was attacked, theres still much to be done, both in civilian and military life. McSally said she decided to tell her story to the world in hopes of further advancing necessary changes.

The military is unique in obvious ways, making sexual assault not just a personal issue but one of national security. Teamwork and morale, which are so critical to military effectiveness, cant possibly be maintained if female (and some male) troops live in fear of rape.

Even one assaulted person would undermine troop cohesion  and word gets around. In McSallys case, circumstances were even worse given the power differential between her and her superior officer. She not only suffered a breach of trust but became his psychological captive.

McSally soldiered on, despite suffering self-doubt and, surely, fear. One can only imagine the horror of essentially being held hostage to a predator who also has power over your future. Meanwhile, lives are at stake. What if you knew your wingman had been raped by your commanding officer?

Grit, it seems, is McSallys wingman. In an interview last Friday with CBS Norah ODonnell, McSally said she decided to become a fighter pilot as soon as she learned that women werent allowed. It just pissed me off, she recounted. And I said, Thats exactly what Im gonna do. And I walked around saying, Im gonna be the first woman fighter pilot. ... I knew nothing about flying, but I was mostly driven because they told me that I couldnt.

Nothing was going to stop her, apparently, including a superior officer who tried to destroy her through the ultimate means of domination. I suspect McCain would be proud of the woman who took his place.

Parker can be reached at kathleenparker@washpost.com.
Your Say: Investigation insights

Attorney General William Barr released a four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs report on Sunday. Here, two county political party chairs, two former city attorneys and two academics react to it. What do you think about the revelations so far? Let us know in 500 words or less at yoursay@sduniontribune.com.

The letter from Attorney General William Barr and the circumstances under which it was released on Sunday show many defects in the way the Department of Justice conducted the investigation into whether there were links or coordination between the Russian operatives and the Trump organization in the 2016 presidential campaign. Congress must follow up with an open, public investigation into the many questions the Department of Justice has left unresolved.

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The defects in the investigation are as follows: First, President Donald Trump put his hand-selected attorney, Barr, in control of the case. Second, Barr claims the investigation was thorough, even though Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III did not question Trump under oath. Third, Barr is withholding all of the evidence in the report on a pretext that is required under a rule of criminal procedure, yet Barr can ask it be waived. Fourth, Barr admits Russia attempted to influence the presidential election, but left out of his letter the attempt was done to hurt Hillary Clinton and to help Trump. Fifth, Barr is satisfied with the indictment of Russian military members as enough response to the fact those Russian government actors successfully hacked into computers and obtained emails from Clinton and the Democratic Party. Sixth, inexplicably, Mueller did not draw a conclusion  one way or the other as to whether Trump or those around him obstructed justice. This was a decision Mueller was hired to make. Seventh, taking a page from Pontius Pilate, Mueller made a non-decision in concluding while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.

Mueller was hired to make a thorough investigation of any links or coordination between individuals associated with President Trumps campaign and the Russian governments efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. The evidence shows the Russian government intended to, and did in fact, interfere with the 2016 election to help Trump. We know Trump did not disavow, but in fact, encouraged the Russian governments hacking of his opponents computers. After his election, we know Trump has been unusually supportive of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Under these circumstances, there is a profound public interest in the release of the Mueller report. The standard to be applied in deciding whether the Mueller report should be released involves a balancing test, much as that used by federal judges. Federal courts ask whether concealment or disclosure better serves the public interest. When information will inform the public about violations of public trust, the Department of Justice acknowledges the case for disclosure is strong. There is always a strong public interest in a full and thorough airing of serious abuses in the hope that such abuses will not occur in the future.

Barrs letter advocates for President Trump; it does not resolve the question of whether Trump or other federal officials aligned with him committed high crimes or misdemeanors. In this case, any information that would support Congress thinking about whether there have been high crimes and misdemeanors should be disclosed. The drafters of our Constitution understood high crimes and misdemeanors because the terms were used for centuries in English parliamentary impeachments. The drafters knew high crimes and misdemeanors were committed if the president subverted the fundamental laws.

Barrs letter does not resolve the question of whether Trump has subverted our laws. Congress must now conduct an open and public national inquest, in the words of Alexander Hamilton, to answer the questions the Mueller report leaves unresolved. What Constitutional Convention delegate George Mason argued in favor of writing impeachment into our Constitution is still true: the president should not be above justice because he can commit the most extensive injustice.

Michael J. Aguirre is a Democrat and a former San Diego city attorney.
Things clump together; the periphery cannot hold.

As you read this, Democratic presidential hopefuls are crisscrossing Iowa, trying to assure farmers that they share their concerns. Commentators are publishing opinion pieces about how Democrats can win back rural voters. Think tanks are issuing manifestoes about reviving heartland economies.

Theres nothing wrong with discussing these issues. Rural lives matter  were all Americans, and deserve to share in the nations wealth. Rural votes matter even more; like it or not, our political system gives hugely disproportionate weight to less populous states, which are also generally states with relatively rural populations.

But its also important to get real. There are powerful forces behind the relative and in some cases absolute economic decline of rural America  and the truth is that nobody knows how to reverse those forces.

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Put it this way: Many of the problems facing America have easy technical solutions; all we lack is the political will. Every other advanced country provides universal health care. Affordable child care is within easy reach. Rebuilding our fraying infrastructure would be expensive, but we can afford it  and it might well pay for itself.

But reviving declining regions is really hard. Many countries have tried, but its difficult to find any convincing success stories.

Southern Italy remains backward after generations of effort. Despite vast sums spent on reconstruction, the former East Germany is still depressed three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Maybe we could do better, but history is not on our side.

Whats the matter with rural America? Major urban centers have always been magnets for economic growth. They offer large markets, ready availability of specialized suppliers, large pools of workers with specialized skills, and the invisible exchange of information that comes from face-to-face contact. As Victorian economist Alfred Marshall put it, The mysteries of the trade become no mysteries; but are as it were in the air.

But the gravitational pull of big cities used to be counteracted by the need to locate farming where the good land was. In 1950 U.S. agriculture directly employed more than 6 million people; these farmers supported a network of small towns providing local services, and some of these small towns served as seeds around which various specialized industries grew.

Nor was farming the only activity giving people a reason to live far from major metropolitan areas. There were, for example, almost half a million coal miners.

Even then, rural areas and small towns werent the real America, somehow morally superior to the rest of us. But they were a major part of the demographic, social and cultural landscape.

Since then, however, while the U.S. population has doubled, the number of farmers has fallen by two-thirds. There are only around 50,000 coal miners. The incentives for business to locate far from the metropolitan action have greatly diminished. And the people still living in rural areas increasingly feel left behind.

Some of the consequences have been tragic. Not that long ago we used to think of social collapse as an inner-city problem. Nowadays phenomena like the prevalence of jobless men in their prime working years, or worse yet, the surge in deaths of despair by drugs, alcohol or suicide are concentrated in declining rural areas.

And politically, rural America is increasingly a world apart. For example, overall U.S. public opinion is increasingly positive toward immigrants. But rural Americans  many of whom rarely encounter immigrants in their daily lives  have a vastly more negative view.

Not surprisingly, rural America is also pretty much the only place where Donald Trump remains popular; despite the damage his trade wars have done to the farm economy, his net approval is vastly higher in rural areas than it is in the rest of the country.

So what can be done to help rural America? We can and should make sure that all Americans have good health care, access to good education, and so on wherever they live. We can try to promote economic development in lagging regions with public investment, employment subsidies and, possibly, job guarantees.

But as I said, experience abroad isnt encouraging. West Germany invested $1.7 trillion in an attempt to revive the former East Germany  more than $100,000 per capita  yet the region is still lagging, with many young people leaving.

Nor, realistically, can we expect aid to produce a political turnaround. Despite all that aid, in 2017 more than a quarter of East German men cast their ballots for the extreme-right, white nationalist Alternative for Germany.

Im sure that some rural readers will be angered by everything Ive just said, seeing it as typical big-city condescension. But thats neither my intention nor the point. Im simply trying to get real. We cant help rural America without understanding that the role it used to play in our nation is being undermined by powerful economic forces that nobody knows how to stop.
San Diego is proof positive that migration doesnt bring mayhem in its wake. With Americas biggest and most active port of entry at San Ysidro, its vast pool of cross-border commuters, and the lowest murder rate among Americas biggest cities, San Diego is a national beacon for those seeking a prototype of successful U.S.-Mexican relations. Why arent more people watching?

With Washingtons exclusive focus on the wall, other approaches need to be highlighted. San Diego demonstrates secure borders work best when they are at the same time efficient crossroads for business and culture. San Diegans know border security is more than just fencing. Borders have to be secure enough to stop crime but porous enough not to hinder legitimate intersectionality between nations. This is the San Diego model.

No city in America has been a greater beneficiary of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) than San Diego. In the decades since NAFTA was signed San Diegos metropolitan region has exploded economically. NAFTA-driven growth in Mexico has spilled north across the border. Tijuana and Mexicali have grown from sleepy tourist towns to major commercial and industrial powerhouses. Our border cities have been growing in symbiosis, with benefits to our educational institutions, our cultural diversity and our economy.

San Diego-born ideas like Custom and Border Protections SENTRI system of pre-clearing trusted travelers have become national models for successful facilitation of busy border crossings. Cross border educational exchanges make both our nations smarter. The University of California at San Diego is a world leader among elite universities in part by taking advantage of geographical proximity to Mexico with innovative cross-border strategies.

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With Washingtons political bandwidth overwhelmed by often fearful debate about immigration across Americas southern border, San Diegos positive experience is of national importance.

San Diego has been blessed with more than its share of visionary civic leadership. Leaders on both sides of the border must continue to build on the positive while fighting the negative. New ideas must continue to be explored; new forms of cooperation tried. This is a model Americans can understand: private sector leadership bringing slow-moving governments along. San Diegos relationship with Tijuana is already a national role model for trans-border interaction; more Americans need to hear about this, particularly given Tijuanas long-running martyrdom to United States drug demand.

Politically, San Diegos Republican leaders, in particular, can also serve as national role models, exemplifying a GOP both true to its roots and capable of courting and building Latino constituencies. Kevin Falconer has provided an example worthy of note. Is the GOP in Washington listening and learning?

Institutionally, UC San Diegos Pradeep Khosla has the right instincts with regard to expanding the universitys cross-border ties. There is no elite university anywhere in the United States as close to a major border as UC San Diego; Dr. Khoslas strategic planning should keep this geographical reality foremost as he looks to the universitys future.

Ideas are important to policy-making. Two hemispherically relevant think tanks are based in La Jolla. UC San Diegos Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies under Rafael Fernandez de Castro is steadily enhancing its reputation as a critical element of the United States and Mexicos cross-border think tank infrastructure. The Institute of Americas (IOA) should be doing more as well. Ambassador Jamal Khokhars departure from IOA provides that institutions leaders with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape IOA into a think tank on par with Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution  albeit differently focused.

Americas essential international challenge in the twentieth century was the battle against communism  hence Hoovers seminal role. This centurys challenge for us as Californians and as Americans will be to better align neighboring economies, cultures, and migratory policies to ensure another century of American prosperity. Philanthropy will be required to strengthen IOA in this ambitious vision. San Diegans in the past have stepped up to the plate when a compelling case has been made. Its time to make that case.

No other city in America has the geographical location, the educational and cultural institutions, and the experience to take the lead in this challenge. Now is the time.

Erickson is a former United States consul general in Baja California.
The same scenario has played out over the last few years: an unnecessary shooting of an unarmed person by law enforcement followed by grief, frustration and protests like those weve seen after Stephon Clarks death. Inevitably, there is no sense of justice for the victims families because under current law, these horrendous deaths are seen as justified, which leads to more grief, protests and calls for reform.

And nothing changes. People continue to die unnecessarily.

Related: How proposed bill criminalizes law enforcement profession

Related: Why Senate Bill 230 is no solution to bad shootings

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Related: Why Senate Bill 230 can reduce use of force

California leads the nation in the number of people killed by law enforcement annually. Of course, these deaths take a terrible toll on the families of shooting victims who have lost not only their loved ones but also their faith in our public justice system. The officers involved in these shootings also pay a price with post-traumatic stress, guilt and apprehension about their careers and reputations. Because the victim is frequently black or Latino, communities of color become increasingly distrustful of police and less cooperative with their efforts, while the chasm between law enforcement and the people it serves widens. In the end, we are all less safe.

After the funerals and the protests, communities expect that law enforcement will pursue policies to prevent these deaths from happening again. Yet out of over 500 law enforcement agencies in California, only a handful have undertaken serious reform aimed at reducing the use of lethal force.

After the decision in the Stephon Clark case, not only were communities of color demanding change, but also some of the states leading elected officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who admitted that the status quo is untenable.

I agree and have introduced Assembly Bill 392 as a way to move California forward by saving lives and restoring trust in law enforcement.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justices Civil Rights Division (DOJ) conducted a review of Seattles policing practices and found that police were using excessive force to the degree they violated the U.S. Constitution. The following year, Seattle entered into a consent decree with the DOJ to reform their policing practices, including changing the policy authorizing the use of force to require that officers use force only when they have no reasonable alternatives while also requiring greater use of de-escalation tactics to minimize the need for force.

The court-appointed monitor who oversaw Seattles implementation of these recommendations reported that the policy had been effective in reducing the use of force incidents  a 60 percent reduction of moderate and higher-level uses of force  while posing no additional risk to officers or any increase in crime.

Seattles use of force reforms are aligned with the best practices of policing experts and are reflected in Becerras recent recommendations to the Sacramento Police Department to reform its practices. Similar policies have been adopted in Dallas, Cleveland and San Francisco.

Informed by these best practices, Assembly Bill 392 would change California law to authorize the use of deadly force only when it is necessary to defend against a threat of imminent death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person. Officers are also required to use sound tactics whenever safe and feasible, including time, distance and communications to reduce the need for force. These de-escalation tactics would expand the tools available to officers to better ensure the safety of the public and themselves, rather than excessive reliance on deadly force.

What is also essential to our bill is a change in culture. Assembly Bill 392 reasserts basic principles in American democracy limiting the power of government over the life and liberty of its citizens. This bill affirms that the authority to use physical force is a serious responsibility that must be exercised judiciously and with respect for the sanctity of human life.

I believe I speak for the public and police alike when I say the preservation of human life should be the primary objective of policing. But the current use of force standard allows police to use deadly force and kill someone even when officers have other options. As lawmakers, we are obligated to change that. Assembly Bill 392 will save lives and prevent tragedies by updating our states outdated use of force standard.

Weber, D-San Diego, is the author of Assembly Bill 392 and represents Californias 79th Assembly District.
Once again, in the name of inclusiveness, some well-meaning folks are urging that since women can now serve in combat roles, they should also be required to register for the draft. These people probably never have been in hand-to-hand combat with fixed bayonets in a life or death struggle or in a tank or fighting vehicle in battle. There is little privacy in a small warship or warplane. In a tank or a trench, there is none at all and during battle all bodily functions must be performed in plain sight. This can be traumatic enough for young people of the same gender. For mixed crews it can be traumatizing.

As I have written previously, we shouldnt allow inclusiveness to get in the way of common sense. To begin with, there is no immediate need to reinstitute the draft and little likelihood that we will again engage in massive, prolonged expeditionary campaigns that would require drafting large numbers of untrained civilians and integrating them into an all-volunteer force. Nor are the services structured, staffed or organized to process and train large numbers of nonvolunteers who probably would rather not be there.

Related: Why women should be eligible for the military draft

Military culture and technology have changed greatly since the advent of the all-volunteer force. It is smaller, far more complex and professional. The training is also more complex. Many draftees would not qualify mentally and/or physically today without lowering standards which would impact readiness.

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The services benefit from the synergy that is produced by people who are there by choice, not because they were drafted. In an emergency requiring more people we will rely, not on the draft, but on trained reservists, just as we did during the Gulf wars. By the time we reorganized to deal with large numbers of draftees and trained and integrated them, a future war would most likely be over. Why, then, should we require women to register for the draft when there is no foreseeable need? If such a need arises in the future, we can revisit this issue.

I have long been an advocate for women serving in any position in the military for which they are qualified. In 1978, while serving as commanding officer of a guided missile cruiser deployed to the Middle East, I wrote an essay entitled Women in Warships: A Right to Serve. I argued that any woman should be allowed to serve in any position in my ship for which she was qualified. It won me the Naval Institutes Author of the Year Award, but also a lot of criticism from seniors in the all-male seagoing navy of that time. Soon after, however, it became reality and I had the privilege of helping to manage the integration of women in ships of the Pacific Fleet. I also commanded one of the first ships to have women officers on board. Women have since served with distinction in shipboard and aviation roles.

But there are differences between seaborne or aerial combat, where one seldom comes face-to-face with an enemy, and hand-to-hand combat in the trenches. Women in the military today have as many opportunities as men to distinguish themselves in battle without having to slug it out alongside men on a battlefield, facing all the horrors that this entails. I dont want my daughters or granddaughter, or anyone elses for that matter, to have to deal with this, except perhaps for the few who volunteer and meet the physical requirements without waivers, especially when there is no foreseeable national need or career enhancement to be gained and the only apparent reason is some notion of fairness to the men. But if women are required to register and in the unlikely event that a draft is someday needed, draftees, given their lack of specialized training, will likely be assigned wherever they can be used immediately, namely to ground combat units. This is a bad idea.

Granted, this implies a double standard, but common sense demands it. There are differences between the sexes, if you havent noticed. I see no reason to force women into a combat role for which she may be emotionally very unsuited. Its true that some men arent suited, either, but thats not a valid reason to inflict such trauma on women also unless they volunteer and qualify physically. Thousands of combat veterans, mostly males, suffer from post-traumatic distress syndrome which can affect them for the rest of their lives. Lets not make a decision that could add daughters, sisters, wives and mothers to this list of victims when there is no compelling reason for it.

We shouldnt allow inclusiveness to get in the way of common sense.

Kelly, a freelance writer based in Coronado, is a retired navy captain who commanded three San Diego-based ships and a naval laboratory. He teaches ship handling and seamanship at Naval Base San Diego.
The current Selective Service System is the last vestige of an emotionally driven reluctance to finally accept changing social norms regarding women and military service. Under the current system, men ages 18 to 25 are required to register, women are not.

Society no longer tolerates debates about integrating African-Americans into the military; the same should apply to women and military service. The drawn-out debate about women and registering for the draft has little practical value, especially considering the legacy of women in combat. Women like Deborah Sampson who served in combat disguised as a man during the Revolutionary War, or Army Lt. Ashley White, killed in action in 2011 while serving alongside Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan. The resurgence of arguments against women in combat, as stated recently by former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, are not only baseless in fact but are also completely out of touch with the realities of the military today.

Related: Why our daughters should not be drafted

Draft registration must change to reflect the reality that some women, just as some men, are capable of serving, and just as willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in doing so. A gender-neutral draft registration will help finish this endless debate about women and service. Excluding women from draft registration damages the principle of civic duty, perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes, is impractical and violates the Constitution.

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Providing for the common defense is a burden that should be shared by all. As Gen. James Mattis remarked, military service is a touchstone for patriots of whatever stripe. Excluding women from registration sends a resounding and widespread message to society that gender somehow matters for civic duty in a time of war or national crisis.

Forcing gender exclusion reinforces unhealthy and negative stereotypes about the roles of men and women, inevitably forcing young boys and girls to perceive one another differently in terms of civic duty. Arbitrarily dividing civic obligations only ingrains negative stereotypes, which typically form at a young age, and can carry into adulthood. According to the Global Early Adolescent Study, one common negative gender stereotype is that girls are vulnerable and in need of protection while boys are seen as strong and independent. Requiring only boys to register turns this stereotype into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Removing gender distinction from registration can dispel harmful stereotypes and send the message that all citizens, regardless of gender, may be expected to serve in times of need. Moreover, excluding women implies that society cannot rely on women to serve. This is particularly troubling because it undermines and ignores the heroic actions of female service members who have fought and died for this country.

In practicality, gender distinction contradicts the drafts purpose. As President Bill Clinton described in 1994, its purpose is to provide a hedge against unforeseen threats and a relatively low-cost insurance policy against our underestimating the maximum level of threat we expect our armed forces to face. Though our all-volunteer military diminishes the drafts need, the Selective Service nevertheless remains a contingency plan. Contingency plans are meant to be sound and reliable; excluding half of the American population from being considered for the registration defies practicality. Widening the candidate pool for the draft registration only builds a stronger contingency plan.

From a legal perspective, excluding women from draft registration violates the equal protection component of the Constitution. In 1981 the Supreme Court explored this concept in Rostker v. Goldberg. At that time, the military barred women from thousands of positions, which in the courts view meant men and women were not similarly situated, thus not requiring equal treatment under draft requirements.

Anachronistically, we find ourselves in 2019 with the fundamental premise of that 1981 case no longer applicable. In 2013 then-Secretary of Defense Panetta ended gender discrimination in the military when he opened all occupations to qualified women, subsequently invalidating the grounds relied upon in the Goldberg case.

The drafts gender exclusion no longer has the same legal basis as it once did. This year, federal Judge Gray Miller reinforced this, stating that while historical restrictions on women in the military may have justified past discrimination, men and women are now similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft.

Gender discrimination in matters of national security remains inconsistent with the concept of civic duty, is harmful to society, and is both impractical and unlawful. The military rid itself of gender discriminatory policies in 2013; its time for Selective Service requirements to meet the same end.

Loya served in the Marine Corps for seven years on active duty, including deployment to Afghanistan in 2010. She is currently a major in the Marine Corps Reserves and is set to graduate from Georgetown Law School this year.
We can all agree that first responders have dangerous jobs. They run toward life-threatening peril, when most of us run for cover. Its their job. Its what they signed up to do. And its what we expect of them.

We also expect our law enforcement to use the tools at their disposal with good judgment. All our communities rightly deserve transparency and public policies that set the highest and most reasonable policing standards possible, including those for use of force.

Currently, there are competing bills in the California Legislature focused on use of force, but only one of those bills makes sense.

Related: Why Senate Bill 230 is no solution to bad shootings

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Related: How proposed bill criminalizes law enforcement profession

Related: Why California needs to change outdated law to save lives

Under Senate Bill 230, authored by state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, California will lead the nation in legislation designed to reduce uses of force  developed in collaboration with experts, researchers and communities with the best available science and research.

Senate Bill 230 sets a clear and enforceable standard for authorizing the use of force, standardizes use of force training and enacts precedent-setting, evidence-based policies to maximize sound judgment and minimize use of force in our state.

Case law  affirmed time and again by the U.S. Supreme Court  establishes clear and enforceable thresholds for authorizing the use of force. It uses reason to determine when use of force has been excessive and provides law enforcement with strict and objective criteria upon which to base their training. Senate Bill 230 modernizes Californias current law to mirror this clear threshold.

Senate Bill 230 also mandates that all California law enforcement agencies adopt comprehensive policies in 13 categories viewed as best practices for preventing use of force, including de-escalation, rendering medical aid and an officers duty to intercede if they witness excessive force.

And it provides our law enforcement communities with the tools and resources needed to minimize the use of force through training and education. Californias law enforcement communities are among the nations vanguard in developing training methods for de-escalation, interacting with vulnerable populations, rendering medical aid, communication and human interaction. These effective training programs have helped California law enforcement officers reduce fatal shootings by 40 percent since 2015. Creating good public policy starts with good data  we must replicate these effective programs to minimize tragic outcomes. Senate Bill 230 will standardize the most effective training methods for minimizing use of force across departments statewide.

The California Law Enforcement Code of Ethics begins with, As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind.

In support of this promise, law enforcement leaders want to work together to pass legislation to improve policing and reduce the use of force in our state.

Since mid-2018, law enforcement has been meeting with the attorney general, state legislators, the American Civil Liberties Union and other stakeholder and community organizations to collaborate on changing the laws governing California law enforcement use of force. We listened to, understand and share their concerns. Senate Bill 230 not only finds common ground but also provides the most effective means to minimize the use of force.

Senate Bill 230 will require all of Californias 500 law enforcement agencies to:

Adhere to the use of force standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Establish the most comprehensive use of force policies and guidelines in the nation.

Undergo the best use of force training available.

Continue to uphold their commitment to protecting all Californians.

What Senate Bill 230 wont do is criminalize our law enforcement for doing their jobs. The men and women of Californias law enforcement communities deserve our support. We owe them the tools and resources to deploy the most effective training based on the best available science and research.

Please join me in supporting Senate Bill 230. It is the proactive, collaborative and effective legislation that will reduce uses of force, improve outcomes and ensure that public safety officers can continue protecting Californias communities.

Marvel is president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC).
Now that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has turned in his report on the 2016 Trump campaigns connections with the Russian government to Attorney General William Barr, the focus shifts to Barr and his decision on how much of the report should be made public and how long it takes him to decide. But this should not be a difficult choice.

Given that Muellers probe involves an attempt by a feared enemy of America to sway a presidential election, for the good of democracy, Barr should release as much of Muellers report as possible  and as quickly as possible.

Early indications are promising. In a letter to ranking members of the House and Senate judiciary committees, Barr wrote that he has already begun reviewing the report and may be in a position to advise you of the special counsels principal conclusions as soon as this weekend.

Its possible the report wont have any bombshells beyond those revealed by Mueller when he charged 34 people, including 25 Russians. Seven people pleaded guilty, including Michael Flynn, President Donald Trumps first national security adviser; Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer; and Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman. But given the traditional Justice Department view that a sitting president cannot be indicted, its plausible that Mueller will cite evidence of alleged criminal behavior by Trump. Americans need to know what he has found  and soon.

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Could the death of Aleah Mariah Jenkins, 24, after her arrest last year by San Diego police, have been avoided if police Officer Lawrence Durbin had acted faster to alleviate her medical distress while she was in custody? District Attorney Summer Stephan concluded Friday that Durbin is not criminally liable in the death of the El Cajon mother of three. Stephan said a toxicology report showed Jenkins ingested as much as 17 times a lethal dose of methamphetamine while apparently seeking to hide evidence from police when she and two other people were pulled over by officers in La Jolla on Nov. 27. She died Dec. 6.

Nonetheless, after viewing video of Jenkins following her arrest, Councilwoman Monica Montgomery made a powerful point when she said, It was very heart-wrenching to hear Ms. Jenkins asking for help and water for over an hour after vomiting and no assistance was rendered. Montgomery and City Council President Georgette Gomez have requested the state Attorney Generals Office conduct an independent investigation of the tragedy.

Police officers have an extremely difficult job and are subject to a level of second-guessing encountered by few if any other professionals. But the Jenkins case needs to be evaluated not just on the basis of whether Durbin did something wrong but with consideration of whether police procedures need refining and improving. Montgomery and Gomezs request is appropriate and necessary.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

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The U.S. Supreme Courts decision to not hear an appeal from the city of San Diego over a California Supreme Court ruling targeting a 2012 ballot measure eliminating defined-benefit pensions for most newly hired employees was no surprise. Now a ruling is expected within a month from the state appellate court that is considering how the city should remedy its mistake of having then-Mayor Jerry Sanders lead the push for the Proposition B pension cuts without first bargaining with city employee unions.

There is a lingering hope at City Hall that this remedy will be no more than a significant fine or an order that the city and affected unions negotiate a settlement. But its difficult to read the state Supreme Court ruling from August and not see it as essentially directing the appellate court to invalidate Proposition B. The ruling is also an implicit endorsement of the state Public Employment Relations Boards conclusion that the employees hired since the measure took effect must be made whole and get a pension equivalent to what they would have received pre-Proposition B.

Reducing public employment retirement benefits remains a worthy goal. Given Proposition B got 65 percent of the vote, a properly developed successor measure could win voter support. Pension reformers should start thinking about that and realize a court reprieve is nearly impossible. What a mess.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

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A 53-year-old tourist from Woodstock, Georgia, has become the first known person to die in San Diego (and second killed in the county) while riding a rented scooter. Police said Christopher Conti, who wasnt wearing a helmet, lost control of the scooter while making a left turn on a sidewalk along 10th Avenue near C Street just before 10 p.m. Wednesday and crashed into a tree. He died two days later. Its not known if alcohol or drugs were factors.

This is the type of tragedy that many San Diegans have worried about since dockless motorized scooter companies like Lime and Bird came to San Diego last year. It shows the importance of the City Council finalizing approval of rules proposed by Mayor Kevin Faulconer that won unanimous support from a council committee last month. The rules would cut the maximum allowable speed from 15 miles per hour to eight mph in busy areas like Balboa Park and near Petco Park and to three mph on the Embarcadero and the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade. Scooter companies would be required to use geofencing technology to limit speed and parking in certain areas. The parking of scooters at schools and hospitals and on beach boardwalks and in other crowded areas would be banned.

These scooter rules are expected to be voted on next month by the full City Council after several weeks of officials discussing minor tweaks. This approval cant happen soon enough. Once adopted, the rules could be changed as needed.

The scooter regulation debate isnt going to stop any time soon. Three prominent 2020 mayoral candidates  lawyer Cory Briggs, Councilwoman Barbara Bry and Assemblyman Todd Gloria  are divided on the issue, with Bry calling for much tougher rules than Gloria, and Briggs proposing his own regulations. Just such a debate is needed  to encourage use of the technology and make it safe.

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In response to authoritarian remarks and actions over the past four years by Donald Trump, first as a candidate and now as president, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board has repeatedly expressed optimism that the strength of the U.S. democratic system will preserve democratic norms. In June 2017, we wrote that the checks and balances built into government by the Constitution have kept Trumps excesses in check, and will keep doing so.

Unfortunately, our optimism is being chipped away. Both parties, not just the president, now seem open to throwing away norms. Its troubling enough that 41 Republican senators believe Trump can bypass federal lawmakers in appropriating $6.6 billion for a border wall that even a GOP-controlled Congress refused to fund. But as detailed in a new analysis in The Washington Post, the Trump administration no longer believes it has to follow a 1946 federal law requiring that changes in basic federal policies need to be justified with legitimate explanations supported by facts. This is the primary reason that federal judges, including 15 GOP appointees, have rejected at least 63 policy changes promulgated by the White House. No administration in history has lost so often so quickly in court.

This record shows the judiciary remains a valuable check on executive overreach. But at least five Democratic presidential candidates  Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, former Texas congressman Beto ORourke, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg  have declined to rule out or suggested they may support an assault on the independence of the judiciary. They are receptive to expanding the U.S. Supreme Court with the express intent of adding liberal justices.

There is no constitutional requirement that the Supreme Court have nine justices. In the 1860s, there were briefly 10 members. But ever since, there have been nine. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to add six new justices in 1937, he got nowhere. There was a considered view that if Congress and the White House were controlled by the same party, and that if an explicitly partisan decision was made to add justices, that would destroy the judiciary as a credible check on the executive and legislative branches. The next time the other party took over Washington, it would be their turn to pack the court.

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But many Democrats have no patience for this long, measured view. Their anger over Trump and the Republican Senates refusal to even consider President Barack Obamas 2016 nomination of Judge Merrick Garland consumes them.

Will lingering Democratic anger and Republican indifference to democratic norms fade  or will they combine to yield a battered, dysfunctional America? It seems the nation will soon find out. Buckle up.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

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Attorney General William Barrs four-page summary of special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs 22-month investigation into President Donald Trump and his 2016 campaigns dealings with Russian officials and operatives arrived Sunday like a thunderclap. It did not offer the complete and total exoneration that Trump claimed afterward. Nor, as the president asserted, was the probe an illegal take-down that failed. But the summary said the report rejected the ominous narrative put forth by many Democrats: that Trump and his aides knowingly conspired with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his thuggish government to steal the White House from Democrat Hillary Clinton. Just as the president has so often tweeted, there was no collusion.

It remains an indelible negative on Trumps record that among the seven who pleaded guilty to charges brought by Mueller were Paul Manafort, his campaign chairman; Michael Flynn, his first national security adviser, and Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer. But the collapse of the collusion claim is sure to resonate to Trumps benefit in his re-election bid and perhaps much longer as history judges his early years as a national politician.

On the more complex question of obstruction of justice, Barr noted Mueller specifically neither concluded Trump had committed a crime nor exonerated him. That left Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to make the determination  and they decided Trumps actions (such as firing FBI Director James Comey in 2017) were not obstruction. But as Barr wrote, Mueller noted that it is difficult to mount an obstruction case if the evidence does not establish the president was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference.

Trump still faces other serious criminal probes that could lead to indictments over financial misconduct, tax evasion and hidden improper payoffs to two alleged mistresses. But a massive investigation published in October by The New York Times documenting a Trump business empire built on shady, unethical, possibly illegal efforts to siphon profits and avoid taxes was shrugged off by many Americans. His attempts to buy the silence of alleged mistresses at this point are well-known and already baked in to how he is regarded.

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Given this backdrop, it may be time for the focus to shift from Trump to what Democratic leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers hope to accomplish from here on out. The earliest presidential primaries are less than a year away.

If the report comes out and offers no red flags that undercut Barrs summary, high-profile Democrats would be better served to focus on what they would do for the future of the country than on futile talk of impeachment. They risk handing re-election to a president they cant stand if they dont start emphasizing how they want to bring constructive change to America.

If House investigators find wrongdoing by the president, of course they should try to document it and bring it to light. But as matters now stand, its time for the more difficult challenge of explaining to everyday Americans how their lives would be better if a Democrat were in the White House.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

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All presidents should reveal tax returns

Re Presidents tax returns telling, even if unseen (March 16): I recently had a discussion with my CPA regarding the disclosure of Trumps tax returns, and he pointed out that tax returns alone would not necessarily reveal what we all need to see.

They wont tell us exactly who the customers, debtors and creditors are of the businesses owned by Trump and his family. And they wont tell us who Trump and his family personally owe money to, and who owes them money. And they wont necessarily tell us who the equity partners are of the businesses owned by Trump and his family. Or who the key employees of their businesses are.

In other words, theres a lot of information that isnt in Trumps tax returns. All of this should be required in addition to Trumps personal returns and those of all the businesses he owns, partially or in full. And this should be the minimum standard for all future candidates for president.

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Mike Allen

San Diego

Trump is smart to keep his tax returns secret

President Trump would be an idiot to release his income tax returns to the public. He has everything to lose and nothing to gain. I remember what Democrats did to Mitt Romney when he released his returns. The IRS, the organization with the expertise and credentials to review and approve tax returns, does so every year in Trumps case.

The Democrats would have a field day mischaracterizing and misconstruing almost everything in his returns for their political gain. Why would the president allow an inexperienced public and Congress to review his very complicated tax returns when he is not required to do so?

Cliff Lindroth

San Diego

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

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Re Fox News Tucker Carlson faces backlash after vulgar audio recordings resurface (March 13): Tucker Carlson invites individuals with all perspectives to speak on his program. Media Matters for America works to destroy any conservative perspective in its research.

Donald Trump Jr. is quoted in the article, The left is not going after Tucker Carlson for any reason other than hes effective at destroying their agenda. Thats what they do. The Union-Tribune could present their stories without the rhetoric and bias that so ubiquitously reflects the lefts agenda: One-sided journalism is as tiresome to read as propaganda.

For example, there are no quotes from the Media Matters website, rather just innuendo as to what Carlson said. The story emphasizes the attack on Carlson rather than including the validity of his view, or right to free speech. As a critical reader of media, I would like to see more balanced articles in this local paper.

Linda West

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Rancho Bernardo

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
The San Diego Union-Tribune asked its readers to weigh in on the death penalty this week after Gov. Gavin Newsom put a moratorium on capital punishment statewide, granting a temporary reprieve to the 737 inmates on death row. Here is a selection of the up to 500-word essays we received on the subject.

In all, readers sent us about 12 essays this week, three supporting capital punishment, nine advocating against the death penalty.

Next week, we will publish essays on another question: What, if anything, should be done to regulate tech companies like Facebook? Send yours to yoursay@sduniontribune.com.

Newsom cant assume we have same values

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Times have changed since cattle rustlers or horse thieves stretched hemp when caught. The underlying principle of immediate capital punishment remains unchanged however. People favor swift, sure justice for such crimes. Californians are denied that certainty today, and the prospect for executing the worst of the worst is fading with the suspension of the death penalty two weeks ago by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom said that capital punishment is inconsistent with our bedrock values. Where did he learn that? In the United States core values regarding crime and punishment rest on obeying the law and the belief that lawbreakers must pay a penalty. The rich, the famous or members of the in crowd dont get a pass. Newsoms executive order is especially galling because Americans arent accustomed to governance by fiat (witness whats going on in D.C.).

The governor hasnt been paying attention. Californians in 2012 and 2016 rejected initiatives to repeal the states death penalty and in 2016 even approved an initiative to expedite the process. The current process is a mockery of justice because defense lawyers prolong an appeal for years by introducing a single argument, letting it run its course and, if its rejected, come up with new single issues ad infinitum. A workable solution would be a panel of legal experts who would have 90 days to bring all their points to the fore. A courts decision then would be final. No second guessing.

Our protracted appeals process has resulted in a backlog of more than 700 inmates on death row. The contention that prosecution of a capital case is more expensive than warehousing inmates is hard to believe. A good number of death row inmates found guilty of multiple murders have been in San Quentin since the 1970s or 1980s. David Joseph Carpenter , dubbed the Trailside Killer, hung out in state parks where he waylaid, raped and murdered coeds who were out jogging. Edmund Kemper at age 15 shot his paternal grandparents to death. He was sent to Atascadero State Hospital to be rehabilitated. Once released, he strangled his mother and several of her friends. Carpenter and Kemper had 10 victims each. Such tigers dont change their stripes.

A proposal several years ago that lifers work to pay restitution to victims is a ludicrous alternative to execution. Such a debt can never be settled.

Ideally, the death penalty would be allowed only in cases where there is incontrovertible evidence of guilt  fingerprints, DNA or credible witnesses. Capital punishment would be pursued for serial killers, those guilty of premeditated murder, killers for hire and perpetrators of domestic violence that take a life. Juveniles, the certifiably insane and the mentally incapacitated would be spared a death sentence.

Gov. Newsoms autocratic suspension of the death penalty must be challenged. Californians have stated plainly where they stand on capital punishment. Newsoms end run thwarts the peoples will. He should learn what truly constitutes our bedrock values.

Dale Rodebaugh

San Diego

The governor should enforce laws we have

For the death penalty to be effective, there must be swift sure justice. It is not retribution. It should be a deterrent.

In March 1972, I changed from no to yes on the issue. That is when an AWOL Marine and two teens robbed my dad in his store. Because there was then no death penalty in California, as they left, the Marine stabbed my father in the chest to eliminate the only witness. He missed. The knife entered pops chest and pierced the area between his heart and aorta. A couple other stab wounds were superficial. A review of reporting in The San Diego Union-Tribune, police records and his hospital records at Mercy Hospital would validate my statement.

In cases where objective criteria for a possible death penalty are met, the accused should be given a fair trial with competent counsel. An orderly  but expedited  appeals process should be followed, as previously approved by California voters, then have the sentence carried out. Having a person sitting on death row for decades is unjust to the prisoner, the family of the deceased and the citizens of California. And delayed justice eliminates the reason for the penalty as a deterrent. Delayed justice is truly cruel and inhumane.

If Gov. Gavin Newsom decides to commute sentences, I do not have a problem with that as long as the governor has declared that during the election campaign. If a person wishes to be a trial, appeals or state Supreme Court judge, the person must commit to enforcing the death penalty, if the standards for the penalty are met. Otherwise, the citizenry should initiate recall initiatives or just not vote for the person when he or she next appears on a ballot.

At the end of the day, we must be a people of laws.

Alan C. Burye Sr.

La Mesa

Wrongful executions are not a legitimate excuse

On March 13, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that begins a moratorium on the death penalty. It halts any oncoming executions while repealing the lethal injection protocol. The entire document is filled with politically charged language that seeks to divide the public and advance Newsoms legislative agenda. In response to this behavior, here is why the death penalty remains a vital option for the California justice system to consider.

Since 1978, California has executed 13 men in total. That equates to a single execution every three years. Any notion that the death penalty is being abused and overused is completely the opposite of reality. The death penalty is rarely used, and even then only on the most dangerous of criminals.

Douglas D. Clark, hes been on death row for 36 years after murdering six young women in Los Angeles. Ruben P. Gomez, hes been on death row for 19 years after murdering six men who owed him drug money in the Mexican Mafia. Eric Leonard, hes been on death row for 22 years after killing six people during a string of robberies in Sacramento.

Gov. Newsom and his cohorts parrot the talking point that false executions are a serious concern in these death penalty cases. Leonard was publicly seen by numerous witnesses, robbing stores and murdering people in cold blood. There is no ambiguity. There is no confusion in this case. Theres only 22 years worth of appeals as a cold-blooded murderer sits around while these six families try and rebuild their lives.

Digging deeper into the topic of wrongful executions, we find that over four decades of using the death penalty, California has only ever exonerated five people of the charges. Yes, the criminal justice system has only ever been mistaken a handful of times.

There is no epidemic of wrongful executions. The only epidemic here is one of lying politicians who dont deal in facts.

Even with the five exonerations, this is over 43 years! Criminal justice and law enforcement have evolved significantly since the 1970s! If you think police are behaving exactly as they did during the peace and love period, youre greatly mistaken!

From the renowned works of Elizabeth Loftus and many other heroes, law enforcement has improved and changed with time to avoid past pitfalls that led to wrongful executions.

The last exoneration happened over 26 years ago. Since then, there have been no wrongful convictions in the realm of death row inmates.

The idea that wrongful executions are a serious threat is complete fantasy. A fantasy that Gov. Newsom hopes to spread, to misrepresent the situation and capitalize on emotional appeals. Dont let him get away with it. Support capital punishment during our next election cycle.

Samuel Eduardo Garza National City

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
We saw a lot of pothole gags this week, but our favorite was submitted by Lin Exline. Congratulations! She will receive Steve Breens signed original in the mail. Thanks to all those who participated.

Next weeks cartoon is below. Please remember to limit your submissions to three and keep em brief. Good luck!

Winner

Potholes, wormholes, whatever. None of them get fixed in San Diego. Lin Exline, San Diego

Finalists

Lets close it before another candidate comes through to run for president. Gary McIntosh, Temecula

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Thats where I went next Thursday. Jess Barmatz, San Diego

I wonder if this will take us back to when the Padres had a winning season. Gregory Hom, Sorrento Valley

Do you think the IRS can track me there, too? Jeff Johnson, La Jolla

Would you mind running in and checking? I think I dropped my cellphone in there. Joseph Puzo, San Diego

Thats nothing ... wait til you see the early bird. Skip Waycott, El Centro

And I thought the scooters on the sidewalk were bad. Kevin Hippensteel, Santee

We dont need a bullet train after all. Jeanie Klemm, Boulevard

Lets travel to a time without social media. Cheryl Sonstein, Normal Heights

Maybe Stan Lee will be in the final Avengers movie. Maggie Pettit, Coronado

Whats Elon up to now? Rainier Dischinger, Spring Valley

Madge says she can be at the mall in 3.2 seconds. Susan Gale Wickes, Richmond, Indiana

If I dont come back, please remind my wife to let the dog out. David Bisby, Chula Vista

I contacted NASA and Homeland Security, but the only one to take me seriously was Caltrans. Mechelle Perrott, La Mesa

K-12

So whos going to get the Frisbee? Milo Bennett, seventh grade, Woodland Park Middle School

I dare you to put a finger in it. Adrian Ferreira, sixth grade, Muirlands Middle School

Zowee mama! Robert Page, sixth grade, Pacific Beach Middle School

Maybe its Gavin Newsoms alternative to high-speed rail. Quentin Phillips, ninth grade, Rancho Bernardo High School

Uh ... lets go ask Bill Nye. Marissa Malone, seventh grade, Woodland Park Middle School

Wow! Fortnite Season 9 looks great. Robert Gilmour, sixth grade, Dana Middle School

Next weeks cartoon

(Steve Breen)

To enter, email entries to cartooncontest@sduniontribune.com by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Please remember to limit your submissions to three and keep em brief. View last weeks winners.
We saw a lot of thermostat-related gags this week, but we thought Alan Van Loys was the coolest. Congratulations, Alan! He will receive Steve Breens signed original in the mail. Thanks to all those who participated.

Next weeks cartoon is below. Please remember to limit your submissions to three and keep em brief. Good luck!

Winner

As long as Im CEO, the thermostat will stay at 30 degrees. Alan Van Loy, San Diego

Finalists

My time here is limited so let me get right to the point. Michael Ehrenfeld, San Diego

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If one more person asks if Im CEO of Jack in the Box, my head will explode. Susan Wiczynski, La Jolla

Congratulations on your promotion. Our last boss suffered a meltdown. Lou Franzini, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

I need you to pick up a bunch of fresh noses from the grocery. Davis Kahan, San Diego

The computer just froze on me again. Noah Mationg, Imperial Beach

Whaddaya mean the SEC is turning up the heat? Mike Goloskie, San Diego

Were looking for someone well-rounded who knows how to keep a cool head. Dennis Romero, Ramona

Sorry if I seem a bit frosty this morning. Dan Collins, San Diego

Get a mop ... Im feeling a climate change. Bob Essman, Oceanside

I didnt say my keyboard sticks, I said I cant keyboard with sticks. Bob Daily, Spring Valley

Can you please stop telling our clients they have a snowballs chance in hell of winning their case? Don Kakuda, La Jolla

No, I do not know Eugene ONeill. Ruben Escobosa, San Diego

I take the accusation of maintaining a slush fund seriously, for multiple reasons. Mechelle Perrott, La Mesa

Like it or not, I speak for the coal industry. Bruce Kliewe, Oceanside

I like your qualifications, but were in the middle of a hiring freeze. Brad Crawford, San Marcos

K-12

Not to be cold, but youre fired. Cougan Snodgrass, sixth grade, Muirlands Middle School

I heard that people here are chill, but this is ridiculous. Justin Tran, sixth grade, Waggenheim Middle School

Do you know how to get rid of a brain freeze? Jacob Beach, sixth, Dana Middle School

New recruits just warm my heart. Ronan McHenry, sixth grade, Dana Middle School

Do you want to build a snowman? Alfredo Jimenez, fifth grade, Baker Elementary School

Next weeks cartoon

(Steve Breen)

To enter, email entries to cartooncontest@sduniontribune.com by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Please remember to limit your submissions to three and keep em brief. View last weeks winners.
Beachgoers, beware! That especially goes for you spring breakers who dont usually spend time in the ocean or around stingrays.

Posting to Facebook on Sunday, the Lifeguards of San Diego page shared that the stingrays are out in full force and shared a photo of three people soaking their feet in buckets. Dana Vanos, president of the San Diego Lifesaving Association, said stingrays are out on the beaches all year, but that the recent warm weather brought more people to the beach, resulting in more stings.

A warning from San Diego lifeguards is as good a reason as any to review not only why stingrays are dangerous, but how to avoid them and what to do if you get stung.

Here are some quick reminders to keep in mind about stingrays as you head to the beach this spring and summer.

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What is a stingray?

Heres what youre looking for: Stingrays, also referred to simply as rays, are flattened or winged sharks whose pectoral fins expand forward and are fused to the sides of the head over the gill openings, which are on the underside of the head, according to David A. Eberts Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras of California, published by the Regents of the University of California.

The stingrays seen around San Diego are usually round rays. They can be found all the way from Humboldt Bay in northern California down to Panama City, Panama, but are most often found in southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico, according to the Aquarium of the Pacific.

The aquarium, which houses round stingrays at its Long Beach location, says the animals can be as long as 22.9 inches but most commonly are about 10 inches in diameter or less. They are a variety of brown, gray or tan colors.

Why are they so dangerous?

These stingrays come pretty close to the shore and hide in the sand as they look for food.

Stingrays are not aggressive, but if you follow one too closely, you run the risk of catching the business end of the stingrays sharp, painful stinger, the National Ocean Service says.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, reports that stingrays are the most common group of fish that sting humans and their sharp spines contain poisonous venom.

Inside the barb of the stingrays tail is a venom that causes severe pain, said Richard Clark, Director of Toxicology at UC San Diego.  It doesnt really cause a lot of tissue damage or what we would call systemic affects like heart attack or stroke, it mainly causes severe pain in the site where its injected.

What should you do if you get stung?

Seek medical help as soon as youre stung, experts recommend, by notifying the nearest lifeguard or calling poison control at 1-800-222-1222.

The best treatment is to initially stop the bleeding and then seek out lifeguard help if youre in the proximity to do so, said Vanos.

The next step is soaking the wound area in hot water. That breaks down the toxin so the punctured area can be treated as a regular wound.

Vanos said the pain can vary depending on the severity of a sting, a persons pain tolerance, the wound and the amount of venom injected. The pain can shoot into a persons groin and the pain from the resulting wound can last from one to two days to as long as one week.

If the stingrays barb or a piece of the barb breaks off in the wound, people may need additional treatment from a doctor or an emergency room visit, but such infections arent very common.

Our lifeguards are so good at treating people here that I dont see many people in the emergency room, Clark said of stingray stings.

How can you avoid being stung?

As silly as it sounds, the so-called stingray shuffle is recommended by lifeguards to stay safe from a sting.

Thats very effective, Vanos said. You keep your feet firmly on the ocean floor and just shuffle your feet like you would on the carpet trying to get static on your socks.

The injuries seen at San Diego County beaches are most commonly seen on peoples feet.

The key is not to take your feet off the sand because that will give you a chance to actually step on them, Vanos said.

For more information on the warning from local lifeguards, check out the post below or these resources:

Aquarium of the Pacific

U.S. National Library of Medicine

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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CORINTH, N.Y.  A Corinth woman was arrested for offenses that occured on Monday after an altercation at a Corinth home.

Jayde L. Tesiero, 24, was charged on March 27 with criminal mischief fourth degree, petit larceny, and harassment second degree when troopers located her two days later.

New York State Troopers responded to a residence in Corinth Monday evening, after receiving a report of a disturbance. Upon arrival, a female victim told Troopers that Tesiero had entered her home unannounced and began yelling at her.

Police said a physical altercation ensued before the victim could retreat into another room. Tesiero threw items, damaged the victims property, and left the scene, taking the victims cellphone with her.

Troopers recognized Tesiero during a traffic stop, who was then taken into custody. She was transported to State Police in Queensbury for processing and issued an appearance ticket. Tesiero is due in Corinth Town Court on a later date.
GALWAY, N.Y.  A Galway man was arrested in Malta on multiple drug possession charges.

Jeremy Defibaugh, 26, was charged on March 28 with criminal possession of a controlled substance third degree, and criminal possession of a controlled substance third degree,with intent to sell, both felonies,and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance seventh degree, both misdemeanors.

Defibaugh was arraigned in the City of Saratoga Springs and was remanded to the custody of the Saratoga County Correctional Facility without bail. Jeremy Defibaugh is due to return to the City of Saratoga Springs City Court on a later date.
Mammograms have been something most people dread getting and they can be costly if you arent covered. Mammograms can cost between $75 and $250. However, it is the most effective way to discover and/or prevent breast cancer. Now, for the first time in 20 years, the Food and Drug Administration has proposed mammogram changes that may make early detection easier.

The proposal aims to help patients identify the risks of breast cancer earlier. If accepted, it will amend regulations under the Mammography Quality Standards Act (1992).

Mammogram Changes to Improve Early Detection

The new proposed rule on mammography will require, for the first time under federal rules, that women receive information about breast density to better inform their healthcare decisions, Scott Gottlieb (FDA Commissioner) said in a statement.

More than 50 percent of women over 40 in the United States have dense breasts, making them more prone to developing breast cancer. Under the new proposal, women with dense breasts will be notified by their physician that they have a higher risk of breast cancer and provide them with more information.

For women with dense breasts, X-ray results are not always accurate. This is because tumors can go undetected behind the dense breast tissue. Currently, there is no federal regulation to alert patients to the fact that they are more prone due to dense tissue. It has been up to the states to determine whether or not it would be required.

When women are informed about this, the FDA has proposed language that will help them weigh out their options. It will tell women if they should do more imaging tests or talk to their doctors. Gottlieb noted, Breast cancer is one of the most worrisome health concerns facing women. As part of our overall commitment to protecting the health of women, were proposing new policies to modernize our oversight of mammography services.

Low-Cost and Free Mammograms

Women over the age of 40 simply should not skip their annual mammogram. They help identify between 85 and 90 percent of all breast cancer cases. If you are a woman that needs a mammogram but are concerned about the cost, there are a number of options available to you.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, many organizations offer free or low-cost mammograms for women. Look around for deals or freebies throughout the month of October. Both Planned Parenthood and YWCA Encore Plus Programs have been known to offer free breast exams during Awareness Month.

FDA-Certified Mammography Facilities The FDA also has a number of certified facilities where you can get free and discounted mammograms. Machines used at FDA facilities are maintained and checked annually. Although the service is free, it must be done with the same quality and care as a full-price screening. All you need to do to find the FDA facility closet to you is Google FDA-approved mammography with your zip code. Local Support Organizations There are a number of local organizations that raise money to help offer women free or low-cost mammograms as well. Inquire about your options at one of the local chapters of the organizations below. American Breast Cancer Foundation

American Cancer Society

Breast Cancer Network of Strength

Susan G. Komen Foundation National Breast & Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program The CDC has a program that provides low-income, uninsured, or otherwise, underserved women access to breast and cervical cancer screenings for free. It is available in all 50 states, five territories, and 12 tribal organizations in the U.S. When it comes down to it, mammograms save lives. Taking the proper precautions could save yours!

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April Monthly Tips

CarolinaCard. Make sure your student has the CarolinaCash they need to buy snacks and meals during the long study sessions leading up to final exams! To add CarolinaCash, click "CarolinaCash Deposits" on Self Service Carolina under the account tab.





Make sure your student has the CarolinaCash they need to buy snacks and meals during the long study sessions leading up to final exams! To add CarolinaCash, click "CarolinaCash Deposits" on Self Service Carolina under the account tab. Commencement. The 2019 Commencement ceremonies will take place May 10 at 3 p.m. and May 11 at 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. for undergraduate students. Ceremonies are designated by the college/school from which your student receives their degree. For more information about Commencement, visit sc.edu/commencement.





The 2019 Commencement ceremonies will take place May 10 at 3 p.m. and May 11 at 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. for undergraduate students. Ceremonies are designated by the college/school from which your student receives their degree. For more information about Commencement, visit sc.edu/commencement. Exam schedule . April 29 is the last day of classes for the spring semester. Final e xams take place at the end of the month and continue into May. Make sure your student knows when their exams are scheduled to take place!





xams take place at the end of the month and continue into May. Make sure your student knows when their exams are scheduled to take place! Family Weekend. Save the date for Family Weekend 2019, Sept. 27-29! Events start mid-morning Sept. 27 and last through early afternoon Sept. 29. Enjoy a weekend of Gamecock fun with your Carolina family. Registration will open in early summer at sc.edu/familyweekend.





Save the date for Family Weekend 2019, Sept. 27-29! Events start mid-morning Sept. 27 and last through early afternoon Sept. 29. Enjoy a weekend of Gamecock fun with your Carolina family. Registration will open in early summer at sc.edu/familyweekend. Financial aid for summer classes. The financial aid application for students taking summer courses is now available. The deadline to complete it is May 1.





The financial aid application for students taking summer courses is now available. The deadline to complete it is May 1. Reading Day. Tuesday, April 30 is Reading Day for the spring semester. There will be no classes held on this day, as it is reserved for students to prepare for final exams.





Tuesday, April 30 is Reading Day for the spring semester. There will be no classes held on this day, as it is reserved for students to prepare for final exams. Reflection. As the semester comes to a close, have a conversation with your student about their academic year at Carolina. It is important to reflect on all the growth and transformation your student has had this year and to celebrate that development! Challenge your student to think critically on the ways they have developed and how that has prepared them to be successful in the future.





As the semester comes to a close, have a conversation with your student about their academic year at Carolina. It is important to reflect on all the growth and transformation your student has had this year and to celebrate that development! Challenge your student to think critically on the ways they have developed and how that has prepared them to be successful in the future. SophoMORE Halfway There Celebration. Students completing their sophomore year at UofSC are invited to attend the Halfway There Celebration April 17 to commemorate completing four semesters with only four remaining to graduation. There will be food, music and fun on Greene Street with the Student Success Center from noon to 3 p.m.





Students completing their sophomore year at UofSC are invited to attend the Halfway There Celebration April 17 to commemorate completing four semesters with only four remaining to graduation. There will be food, music and fun on Greene Street with the Student Success Center from noon to 3 p.m. Stress management. As your student begins to prepare for final exams and papers, they may feel stressed or overwhelmed. If your student needs to talk with someone about how they are feeling, encourage them to make an appointment with Counseling and Psychiatry. UofSC students are eligible to receive most services at counseling and psychiatry at no additional charge. However, students who request more than 10 individual visits per academic year may incur additional charges.





As your student begins to prepare for final exams and papers, they may feel stressed or overwhelmed. If your student needs to talk with someone about how they are feeling, encourage them to make an appointment with Counseling and Psychiatry. UofSC students are eligible to receive most services at counseling and psychiatry at no additional charge. However, students who request more than 10 individual visits per academic year may incur additional charges. Summer move-out. Non-graduating students are encouraged to move out of their residence hall 24 hours after their last exam. Residence halls and the Greek Village will close May 9 at 10 a.m. and noon respectively. Discuss with your student their plans to move out.

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Last year, the United States of America imposed tariffs of up to 25% on goods imported from China. The Chinese government reacted by imposing tariffs of 25% on US goods, including US soybeans. Exports of US soybeans to China in 2018 dropped by 50%, even though the trade war had begun in the middle of the year only. Replacement may be provided by Brazil. This might have dramatic impacts on the rainforest, KIT experts warn.

"As a consequence of the trade war, we fear large-scale deforestation in Brazil. In the past, exponential increase in global soybean demand regularly led to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest to create new cultivation areas. In 2016, China imported 37.6 million tons of soybean from the US, which now have to be supplied by other producers. Brazil is the only country which could satisfy Chinese demand quickly enough," says climate researcher Richard Fuchs. Together with his colleagues Calum Brown and Mark Rounsevell from the Atmospheric Environmental Research Division of KIT's Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research and other European scientists, he studies potential impacts and warns of the consequences in a comment of the Nature magazine.

Brazil is by far the largest producer of soybeans, followed by the US and Argentina. Around 90 other countries, including China itself, together produce just about as much soybeans as Brazil alone. In the course of the US-China trade war, China's soybean import from Brazil climbed to a new record value of 75%. Soy is a crop that is mainly used as animal feed in meat industry. To an increasing extent, it is applied for the production of biofuel.

"In our opinion, it is most likely that Brazil will ramp up its production to satisfy the additional Chinese soybean demand. To achieve that, Brazil needs to increase the current area of soybean production by up to 39%. This would require up to 13 million hectares of additional land, likely to be tropical forests and corresponding to an area similar to Greece. In 1995 and 2004, the country's two peak deforestation years, 3 million hectares of rainforest were lost each year. Taking these rates, it would require only four years to provide enough area for Chinese soybean consumption. We urge the United States and China to acknowledge their roles in indirectly driving deforestation and to accordingly modify their trade agreements by removing tariffs from soybeans."

Apart from quick countermeasures of the US and Chinese governments, the scientists comment, other measures might also contribute to reducing the pressure on the Amazon rainforest partly at least. China could buy more soy from Argentina or the European Union and, at the same time, soybean producers in these areas could try to increase their harvests. Europe, however, would have to reconsider its opposition to genetically modified soybeans that is presently preventing large-scale cultivation. In the scientists' opinion, China also should increase own production.

Since 2000, China's cultivation area has decreased by about 25%, because it is cheaper to import soy from Brazil and the US and because Chinese agriculture has been damaged strongly by high fertilization, soil erosion, and use of pesticides. Governments worldwide should attach higher priority to protecting the remaining Amazon rainforest and encourage the Brazilian government to enhance environmental protection in this region. If they fail, ambitious climate protection and biodiversity goals would be at stake.

To sustainably cope with this problem, however, Fuchs only sees one option: "Ultimately, global meat consumption has to be reduced. Such a change will not be reached by appeals, campaigns to change consumer behavior, or eco-labeling of sustainable production. In our view, ecological consequential costs need to be included in food costs. Also bioenergy products, such as biodiesel, have to become more expensive."

However, there is not much time left for the world's community to prevent massive deforestation in Brazil: "Governments, producers, regulators, and consumers must act now. If they do not, the Amazon rainforest could become the greatest casualty of the US-China trade war."
In the future, ultrahigh-speed spintronics will require ultrafast coherent magnetization reversal within a picosecond -- one-trillionth of a second. Spintronics centers on an electron's spin and magnetic moment in solid-state devices. While this may eventually be achieved via irradiation with a nearly monocyclic terahertz pulse, the small change of magnetization, or modulation, it generates has so far prevented any practical application of this technique.

Generally, the "magnetic field" component of a terahertz pulse is considered to be the origin of the coherent terahertz response of the magnetization. But, as a group of University of Tokyo researchers previously discovered, the "electric field" component of a terahertz pulse plays a key role in the terahertz magnetization modulation of semiconductor-based ferromagnetic materials.

Now the group reports in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, that their initial discovery inspired them to explore ferromagnetic nanoparticles embedded within a semiconductor. Their theory was that the electric field of the terahertz pulse could be effectively applied to each nanoparticle due to the small energy loss of the terahertz pulse during its propagation through a semiconductor.

"Until now, ferromagnetic metal films have been used for studies on the terahertz modulation of the magnetization," said Shinobu Ohya, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo. "The modulation ratio reported so far has typically been less than ~1 percent of the saturation magnetization."

To test their theory, the group used a 100-nanometer-thick semiconductor gallium arsenide (GaAs) film embedded with ferromagnetic manganese arsenide (MnAs) nanoparticles. "The small energy loss of the terahertz pulse during the propagation in our film allows it to penetrate the film. This means that the strong terahertz electric field -- with a maximum intensity of 200 kilovolts/centimeter -- is uniformly applied to all of the ferromagnetic nanoparticles," said Ohya. "This strong electric field induces the large magnetization modulation via the modulation of the carrier density in the MnAs nanoparticles, thanks to the spin-orbit interaction."

The researchers succeeded in obtaining a large modulation of up to 20 percent of the saturation magnetization, and also concluded that the electric field component of the terahertz pulse plays a key role in the large modulation.

"Our results will lead to an ultrafast coherent magnetization reversal within a picosecond, which will be an essential technique for ultrahigh-speed spintronics," Ohya said. "Ferromagnetic nanoparticle systems are extremely promising for high-speed magnetization switching using terahertz pulses."
Human-induced climate change is disrupting nature's calendar, including when plants bloom and the spring season starts, and new research from the University of School of Public Health suggests we're increasingly paying the price for it in the form of seasonal allergies.

The study, based on over 300,000 respondents between 2002 and 2013, shows that seasonal allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, increases when the timing of spring "greenup" changes. The findings were published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

"We found that areas where the onset of spring was earlier than normal had 14% higher prevalence of hay fever," said Associate Professor Amir Sapkota in the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health. "Surprisingly, we also found similar risk in areas where the onset of spring was much later than what is typical for that geographic location," he added.

The study provides the first national-level quantitative data showing how ongoing climate change is increasing the allergic disease burden in the United States. Hay fever, or "seasonal allergic rhinitis," affects 25 million adults in the United States and results in $11.2 billion in related medical expenses annually.

Dr. Sapkota and his team used satellite data collected by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to identify the start of the spring season throughout the US and linked these data to National Health Interview Survey data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"Previous studies have shown that plant phenology is highly dependent on temperature. As such, it is one of the most sensitive indicators of how our ecosystem is responding to climate change," said Dr. Chengsheng Jiang, co-author of the paper. "We show that such climate change-driven ecological changes are directly linked to allergic disease burden in the United States. Even a relatively small change in the timing of tree flowering can have a significant economic impact given that 25 million American adults already suffer from hay fever each year."

The reason for increased hay fever when spring arrives early seems to be related to pollen exposure. An earlier onset of spring means trees flower sooner and create a longer season for tree pollen, which is the major source of spring seasonal allergens. But a very late onset of spring may mean many species of trees simultaneously burst in bloom, blasting allergy suffers with a high concentration of pollen for a shorter duration.

Dr. Sapkota suggests this is yet another example of how climate change is impacting burden of allergic disease right here in our backyard. Given that climate change is projected to intensify, Dr. Sapkota argues such data are critical to inform public health adaptation strategies, including early warning systems. "Climate change impacts our health in more ways than we can imagine. We need community-specific adaptation strategies to increase resilience and minimize disease burden associated with climate change," he urged.
Since they were first released as live bait in the mid-twentieth century, rusty crayfish have roamed lake bottoms in northern Wisconsin, gobbling native fish eggs, destroying aquatic plants, and generally wreaking havoc on entire lake ecosystems. Today, in some lakes, traps can routinely pull up 50 to 100 rusty crayfish at a time, compared to two or three native species. But in other lakes nearby, populations seem to be declining. In a new study published in Ecology, scientists document the crash and explain what could be behind it.

"Some researchers have long proposed that invasive species should experience periods of population growth followed by periods of population decline, but very few have documented declines and even fewer have suggested a reason," says Eric Larson, assistant professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois and lead author on the study.

Understanding when and why invasive species populations crash could help managers decide when and where to apply control efforts. After all, invasive species cost the U.S. economy more than $120 billion dollars annually in control and lost grazing, crop yield, and tourism revenue. Could land managers simply wait out some invasions? Larson thinks it's worth finding out.

Key to measuring population declines is a long-term view of invasive species population dynamics over time, but those kinds of datasets are rare. That's why Larson paired up with David M. Lodge, director of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University. He has been keeping tabs on the rusty crayfish in northern Wisconsin lakes throughout his career, starting in 1983 at the University of Wisconsin and continuing through moves to the University of Notre Dame and Cornell.

"This analysis would have been impossible without our many years of data collection, highlighting how essential long term studies are for describing and ultimately understanding environmental changes," Lodge says.

For the Ecology study, Larson and his colleagues analyzed population trends in 17 lakes from 1972 to 2017 and found that about half were experiencing population declines. The reason? Muck.

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In the mid-2000s, the team sent cameras roving along underwater transects to characterize the bottom of each lake. Adding that information to the population dataset, the researchers found rusty crayfish populations declined only in lakes with mucky and sandy bottoms. In those with more rocks, boulders, and cobble, crayfish populations stayed steadily high or continued to arc upward over time.

"The rusty crayfish wants to be in rocky substrate," Larson explains. "It uses that rock to avoid predation by fish or even wading birds, river otters, or raccoons. If it doesn't have that rock, it uses aquatic plants as secondary habitat as shelters to avoid predators."

And that's where the rusty crayfish sabotages itself.

Larson describes rusty crayfish as highly active lakebed engineers. As they forage and burrow, they constantly turn over rocks and uproot plants. They also clip stems as they hunt among leaves for bugs and snails.

With millions of crayfish in a lake, their impact on aquatic plants is huge. In many lakes in the study area, aquatic plants have been almost completely wiped out.

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"From a condition decades ago where 50-60 percent of our trap locations in some lakes had plants, it's now about 5 percent. It's a pretty big reduction of coverage," Larson says.

Essentially, by destroying the aquatic plants, crayfish in lakes without rocky substrates removed their only refuge from predators.

Although the study represents a unique mechanistic view of invasive species population decline, Larson cautions that the underlying cause may be more complex than just rock versus muck.

"Other mechanisms besides habitat quality could be contributing," he says. "We'd like to know what impact parasites and predatory fish are having. We'd also like to study more of the effects of climate on these crayfish from year to year through lake temperatures, drought, and duration of ice cover."

In environmental research, the answers are rarely simple, but documentation of invasive species decline should be cause for celebration.

In many cases, however, it might be too late. Changes to the lake ecosystem over half a century are not easily undone. In earlier studies, Lodge and his colleagues showed aquatic plant seed reserves might not be adequate to recover even if rusty crayfish collapse. That's why Larson doesn't endorse a "do nothing" approach, even for species that are shown to be declining on their own. Instead, he stresses the importance of prevention when it comes to invasive species introduction and spread.

"Rusty crayfish has invaded and done its damage in northern Wisconsin, but we have a whole pool of invaders that could do similar things. Prevention is far better than the cost of control and eradication, which often doesn't work. And then we're stuck with these impacts."
A team of researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine developed a method to grow and maintain olfactory stem cells in culture, which can then be used to restore tissue in the nose. The discovery raises hope that future therapies could be developed to restore the sense of smell in individuals where it has been damaged by injury or degeneration.

The stem cells, called horizontal basal cells (HBCs), can repopulate all olfactory epithelium (OE) cell types, including sensory neurons, when transplanted into injured tissue. Published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports, the development paves the way for further research into stem cell transplantation therapies, or pharmacological approaches that stimulate stem cells within the nose to regenerate tissue.

The nerves that confer the sense of smell are unique when compared to the rest of the nervous system, in that they can trigger a robust and nearly complete regenerative response after injury. OE tissue contains two types of stem cells -- globose basal cells (GBCs) and HBCs. The GBCs have been successfully cultured and appear to have a primary role in repopulating cells that have been lost to routine turnover. HBCs, however, remain dormant and are not activated until there is an injury. Unfortunately, studies on these cells have been limited by the fact that they could not be expanded and maintained in culture. In this study, the researchers determined the optimal conditions for expanding and maintaining healthy HBC stem cells in culture, borrowing methods and factors used to maintain respiratory stem cells.

"Once we determined that we could grow HBCs in the lab, and that they expressed the same identifying molecular markers found in vivo, we sought to confirm whether they would work as well as the in vivo HBCs -- can they regenerate tissue that has been injured -- and they did!" said James Schwob, M.D., Ph.D., professor of developmental molecular and chemical biology at Tufts University School of Medicine, and corresponding author for the study.

Despite a natural ability for regeneration, dysfunction in the sense of smell is still reported among 19.4 percent of the population (OLFACAT study, 2003), with 0.3 percent experiencing complete loss of smell. Causes range from aging, injury, smoking, and neurodegenerative diseases to certain medications.

Schwob and his team discovered that the lab-grown HBCs were able to fill in olfactory lesions, generating multiple cell types including Sus cells, basal cells and olfactory sensory neurons.

"The HBCs in culture remained quiescent, pretty much as they do in vivo, but we were able to trigger them into an active state to start the process of differentiation into various olfactory epithelial cells just before engrafting them into injured tissue," said Jesse Peterson, Ph.D., first author of the study and currently a post-doctoral fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Peterson conducted the study as part of his doctoral dissertation at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts, advised by Schwob.

The trigger used was retinoic acid, which has the effect of lowering levels of the protein P63 in the cells, leading to stem cell activation. P63 functions as a "master control switch" and is known to decrease levels during injury, transitioning HBCs from dormancy to activation in vivo. A more thorough understanding of the role of P63 has been hampered by the slow pace of in vivo studies. With lab-grown HBCs, the mechanisms of activation can be examined more closely.

"Now that we can create a reserve of dormant stem cells, we see this as a useful tool for exploring ways to guide cell differentiation toward specific cell types, and develop new stem cell therapies for tissue and sensory regeneration -- using the patient's own stem cells for culturing and transplantation, or pharmacological interventions to activate the patient's own dormant stem cells within the nose," said Schwob.

Other authors contributing to this study are Brian Lin, Ph.D., Camila Barrios-Camacho, Daniel Herrick, M.D., Ph.D., and Julie Coleman, Ph.D., all graduates or students at Tufts, Woochan Jang, Ph.D., former research assistant professor at Tufts, and Eric Holbrook, M.D., of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Harvard Medical School.

This work was supported by awards from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01DC002167, F31DC014637, F30DC013962, F31DC014398). This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
A new map of brain tissue in people with HIV shows atrophy in several areas including a primary neurocognitive control center where shrinkage and loss of function can be seen in scans before clinical symptoms appear.

The map and other findings from researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center, are published in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

The brain map paints a two-stage model of what exposure to HIV does to the brain, says the senior author, Xiong Jiang, PhD, director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory at Georgetown.

"The drugs we use to keep HIV at bay work wonderfully well in the body, but they cannot easily reach the brain due to the blood-brain barrier," says Jiang. "We have long known about neurocognitive impairment resulting from HIV, but this is the first time we have a neural model to relate neurocognitive impairment severity to injury in certain brain structures." HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders are known as HAND.

The model shows the sweep of atrophy that occurs as time passes from initial viral infection. It suggests that early on in HIV+ disease, the virus affects the frontal lobe, considered to be the essential hub of brain networks, responsible for such high-level tasks as attention and executive and cognitive functioning. By contrast, the injury to the caudate/striatum area, a subcortical region and part of the motor and reward system, becomes more prominent when individuals develop clinical HAND symptoms.

Inspired by work in Alzheimer's disease, the Georgetown model was proposed to relate neurocognitive impairment to neural underpinnings, says Jiang.

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"There is a strong desire for a neural model of HAND severity, which currently is solely defined by neurobehavioral assessments using standard neuropsychological tests," he says. "This model, while highly simplified, might have the potential to help to develop targeted treatment, which in turn might be more effective."

The method researchers used to assess brain atrophy across 25 published studies, called colocalization-likelihood estimation (CLE), was developed by Peter E. Turkeltaub, MD, PhD, an associate professor of neurology at Georgetown and a co-author of the study.

The researchers found that the frontal region (including anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC) is the most frequently affected brain region in HIV+ adults, whereas the neural injury to the caudate/striatum was consistently linked to neurocognitive impairment.

These results suggest a two-stage model of HAND in the context of brain atrophy, with a frontal/ACC stage that links to HIV disease and likely other comorbidities, such as substance abuse, and a caudate/striatum stage that links to neurocognitive impairment. "These two areas likely play different roles in HAND," Jiang says.

"It is our theory, and others, that the frontal/ACC area damage is due to a number of factors, but which importantly includes damage to the dopaminergic region," he says. "Also, we believe the caudate might be one of the key HIV reservoirs in the brain.

"This model is limited, but it has, we believe, meaningful theoretical and practical implications in HAND clinical diagnosis, management, treatment, and future research," Jiang says, "It will be of a great interest for future studies to explicitly test the model's predictions."

In addition to Jiang and Turkeltaub, study co-authors include Sarah M. Israel, Shiva Hassanzadeh-Behbahani, and David J. Moore, PhD, all of Georgetown, and Ronald J. Ellis, MD, PhD, from the University of California, San Diego.

The authors report having no personal financial interests related to the study

The research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (1R01MH108466).
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
The Daisy Lane Parade started in 1953 when Gertrude Whittle worked with the Long Beach City Council and Council of Churches to help decorate the grass median on Daisy Avenue with a Christmas Village and nativity scene, according to the...
SECURITY COUNCIL AND WIDER UN STRUCTURE

Briefing by the High Commissioner for Refugees

Expected Council Action

In April, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi will brief the Council. The briefing will take place under the agenda item Briefing by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which allows for a general briefing by the High Commissioner without tying it to a specific situation on the Council agenda. No outcome is expected.

Background

Since the early 1990s, the Council has occasionally received briefings by the High Commissioner for Refugees about specific situations on the Councils agenda, such as briefings by then-High Commissioner Antonio Guterres on the Sahel in 2012 under the agenda item Peace and Security in Africa or on Syria in December 2015. It has received three briefings under the agenda item Briefing by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The first such briefing was on 10 November 2000 when High Commissioner Sadako Ogata gave her final address to the Council before leaving her post. While it was Ogatas 12th Council briefing, all of her previous briefings had been held under country-specific agenda items. On 8 January 2009, Guterres briefed the Council under this general agenda item during the presidency of France.

More than eight years passed until Grandi briefed the Council under the same agenda item on 2 November 2017. He surveyed the multitude of displaced people in various new crises as well as in protracted situations that had remained entrenched. He said that the sharp rise in forced displacement reflected declining international cooperation and capacity to prevent, contain and resolve conflicts. He added that when local situations were neglected because of short-term and competing interests, they eventually expanded and became transnational crises.

After two years of consultations led by UNHCR with member states and other stakeholders, the General Assembly affirmed the Global Compact on Refugees on 17 December 2018. The compact provides guidance for states and international organisations about how to support refugees and meet their needs in ways that benefit them as well as their host communities. Its objectives are to ease pressures on host countries, promote refugee self-reliance, expand access to third-country solutions, and support conditions in countries of origin in order to facilitate refugees safe return.

Key Issues

Germany, the Council President for April, has opted to use this general agenda item to request that Grandi brief on any situations he wishes to address on the Councils agenda. Grandi is expected to address the current state of refugees worldwide and the displacement aspect of various conflicts on the Security Council agenda, with a view to highlighting ways in which the Council can help alleviate the global refugee crisis and perhaps support the work of UNHCR.

The number of displaced people around the world is considered to be at its highest ever. According to UNHCR, there are currently 40 million internally displaced people (IDPs), 25.4 million refugees and 3.1 million asylum-seekers worldwide. More than 44,000 people are forced from their homes daily because of conflict or persecution. Numerous conflict situations on the Councils agenda have a displacement component that Grandi may address. In particular, 57 percent of refugees come from three situations on the Councils agenda: Afghanistan, South Sudan and Syria.

Grandi visited Syria for the fourth time on 7 March to assess the massive humanitarian needs facing the population. An estimated 1.4 million IDPs returned to their homes in Syria in 2018. At the same time, more than 5.6 million Syrians live as refugees across the region, and 6.2 million remain internally displaced.

The protracted conflict in Afghanistan has resulted in nearly 2.5 million Afghan refugees, the second largest refugee population in the world after Syria, and 2 million IDPs. Speaking at the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan on 27 November 2018, Grandi noted that a solution to Afghan displacement continues to be central to any debate about the future of Afghanistan.

The civil war in South Sudan, which broke out in December 2013, has occasioned mass displacement, with over 2.2 million refugees in neighbouring countries and nearly 2 million IDPs.

Another situation of concern is Myanmar, where more than 745,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar fled to Bangladesh as a result of the violent acts of the Myanmar military forces after the 25 August 2017 attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on security posts, joining 200,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh displaced by previous cycles of violence. Grandi was scheduled to visit Rakhine state in Myanmar in January, but Myanmar authorities cancelled the trip. On 15 February, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration launched the 2019 Joint Response Plan (JRP) to meet the massive needs of the refugees, seeking to raise $920 million.

UN DOCUMENTS ON BRIEFINGS BY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
Middle East (Israel/Palestine)

Expected Council Action

In April, the Security Council is expected to hold its quarterly open debate on the Middle East, focusing on Israel/Palestine. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov will likely brief. There may also be a briefer from civil society.

Key Recent Developments

On 7 February, Council members were briefed under any other business regarding Israels decision not to renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH). Several members of the international community, including those countries whose citizens acted as observers, were surprised at the decision and shared their disapproval. During the meeting, the US supported the action as the sovereign right of Israel. The US blocked adoption of a Council press statement condemning Israels action, proposed by Indonesia and Kuwait, which had also requested the meeting. The rest of the Council was ready to adopt some press elements.

On 20 February the Council held its monthly meeting on the Middle East (Israel/Palestine). Along with the usual participation of Mladenov, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ursula Mueller briefed the Council for the first time on Israel/Palestine since 2016. In the public session, Mladenov condemned unilateral moves by both sides that are undermining peace efforts, urged donors to continue their support for civil society, and regretted Israels decision not to renew the mandate of TIPH. On Palestinian reconciliation, Mladenov said elections might be the only way out of the current impasse.

Mueller said the situation remains, at its core, a protection crisis. She noted that funding continues to decrease while needs grow. She particularly stressed the impact on children, noting that 40 children have been killed in the march to return protests since they began in March 2018. She said that on multiple occasions over the past year, Gaza health services were at the risk of shutting down because of a lack of electricity. While the humanitarian situation in the West Bank is less acute, she noted the growing pressures faced by families in Area C, an administrative division of the West Bank. Mueller said that the ability to provide humanitarian assistance is increasingly constrained because of record low funding.

On 8 March, Council members met under any other business to discuss an ongoing disagreement between Israel and Palestine on tax collection, as requested by Indonesia and Kuwait. Mladenov took part in the meeting. On 17 February the Israeli governments security cabinet announced plans to implement a law adopted by the Knesset in 2018 to withhold approximately $139 million in tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority (PA), citing payments made by the PA to Palestinians involved in attacks against Israelis using the tax money. Israel says the payments encourage further violence and are used to finance terrorism. Palestinian authorities argue the money is an essential welfare policy that takes care of its citizens. According to a 1994 economic agreement, Israel collects money on behalf of the PA and then transfers it. On 20 February it was reported that the PA returned the entirety of collected tax revenue to Israel in protest of the change in procedure.

Mladenov stressed on 8 March that these actions could have economic and security implications as well as an effect on any political dialogue. He again urged the Council to engage constructively. Most members expressed concerns about the impact of this disagreement on the humanitarian, security, and economic situation, recalling the Oslo Accords and urging the parties to restrain from unilateral action. However, one member argued that the money goes to terrorists, saying that it is the Palestinian Authoritys actions that were putting their people at risk.

A surprise participant was Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trumps special envoy and Special Representative for International Negotiations. Greenblatt and Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, have reportedly been developing Trumps peace plan for Israel and Palestine. Greenblatt delivered the US statement on the tax issue and after those discussions spoke briefly about the peace plan. Earlier in the week, in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Greenblatt said: It really is up to the Israelis and the Palestinians; theyre the ones who will have to live with the consequences of the plan [he hopes external stakeholders] will focus on the good and see the possibilities of a brighter future. And if the two sides are willing to engage, they will be the ones to work through the tough issues.

After the meeting some Council members said that Greenblatt had not provided any details about the peace plan. Apparently, several Council members asked Greenblatt specific questions, but he repeatedly said he could not give details.

On 15 March, two rockets were fired from Gaza into Tel Aviv. On 17 March, a Palestinian killed an Israeli soldier and civilian in the West Bank. On 21 March, Trump announced via Twitter that it was time for the US to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and officially did so in a presidential proclamation on 25 March. Israel took control of the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. In May 1974, the UN Disengagement Observer Force was established through resolution 350 (1974) after increased tensions and an agreed disengagement of the Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan. Since then, the situation has been in a relative stand-off. In response, the UN and many other countries, including all European members of the Council, have said that they continue not to recognize Israels sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, including the Golan Heights. Additionally, on 25 March a rocket was fired from Gaza into a village north of Tel Aviv, injuring seven people. In response, Israel struck what it said were Hamas targets in Gaza. More rockets came into Israel from Gaza, but since then there has been relative calm.

On 26 March, Mladenov presented his ninth report on implementation of resolution 2334 (2016) to the Council. He presented a written report, S/2019/251; the first since June 2018. Mladenov said Israel has taken no steps to follow the provisions laid out in the resolution. Several members publically thanked the Secretariat for the second written report.

Human Rights-Related Developments

During its 40th session, the Human Rights Council (HRC) held an interactive dialogue on 18 March with the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, and considered his report (A/HRC/40/73). The HRC also held an interactive dialogue with the independent international commission of inquiry to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military assaults on the large-scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018, whether before, during or after, and considered the commissions final report (A/HRC/40/74). The HRC also considered the reports of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the implementation of HRC resolutions S-9/1 and S-12/1 (A/HRC/40/39); the implementation of HRC resolution 37/36 (A/HRC/40/42); and HRC resolution 37/37 (A/HRC/40/43). Furthermore, it considered the report of the High Commissioner on the database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (A/HRC/40/40). On 22 March, the HRC adopted the following four resolutions submitted by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation: Ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (A/HRC/40/L.25), by 23 to 8 votes with 15 abstentions; Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination (A/HRC/40/L.26), by 41 to 3 votes with 2 abstentions; Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (A/HRC/40/L.27), by 39 to 3 votes, with 5 abstentions; and Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan (A/HRC/40/L.28), by 32 to 5 votes, with 10 abstentions.

Key Issues and Options

There has been little progress on this file and, in fact, Mladenov has warned the Council every month that there could be serious repercussions because of the lack of Council unity and action. Each month, the Council is faced with recurring issues, including repeated violations of resolution 2334, violence against civilians, provocative actions and inflammatory rhetoric, the difficult promotion of intra-Palestinian reconciliation, and the humanitarian needs of Gaza.

It seems unlikely that any outcome will be decided, given the inability to adopt an outcome on 7 February regarding the TIPH mandate. Nevertheless Kuwait, before it leaves the Council at the end of the year, may continue to push for various outcomes. For example, after the 7 February meeting, Kuwait said it would explore having a Council mission to the region. Other members had suggested this in the past. This proposal is expected to face heavy resistance from the US.

Another issue for Council members is the continued silence by the US on its peace plan. Depending on the US timetable, the peace plan could be announced before the Councils open debate in April, though it will more likely be announced around June. Council members, and the wider UN community, may need to be ready to address it.

Council Dynamics

After US Ambassador Nikki Haley left her post at the end of 2018, there were questions as to how her departure would affect US statements on this matter. Would the US return to addressing Israel/Palestine during the quarterly open debates as was done during the Obama administration or would it continue to use the meetings to focus on what it views as Irans destabilising influence in the region? As most countries expected, the practice of focusing on Iran and terrorism in the Middle East continues. Januarys open debate once again highlighted the stark differences between the US and other members on this file.

Indonesia and South Africa, who joined the Council in 2019, have been active on this file. Kuwait and Indonesia have jointly called for both meetings and products on Israel/Palestine. During the meeting in February, Kuwait, Indonesia and South Africa spoke in the open chamber (along with Cote dIvoire and Equatorial Guinea), while Kuwait and South Africa took the opportunity to call again for at least two written reports on the status of the implementation of resolution 2334. Indonesia, Kuwait, and South Africa also spoke out against the decision of Israel to not renew TIPHs mandate.

Several Council members continue to call for written reports in advance of the quarterly briefing on the implementation of resolution 2334. Apart from one written report produced in June 2018, these reports have only been conveyed orally. The sole written report was prompted by a letter submitted by ten Council membersBolivia, China, Cote dIvoire, Equatorial Guinea, France, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Peru and Swedenon 14 May 2018 requesting the quarterly reports to be in writing. This call was repeated in another letter on 21 December signed by 13 members, including both outgoing and incoming elected members; Germany and the Dominican Republic were not signatories, however.

UN DOCUMENTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST (ISRAEL/PALESTINE)
Non-Proliferation

Expected Council Action

In April, the Council will hold a briefing under the agenda item non-proliferation, focused on supporting the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ahead of the 2020 review conference.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is expected to chair the meeting. Briefings are expected from Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano and Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu.

The Council may adopt an outcome during the meeting.

Background

The NPT was opened for signature in 1968 and entered into force in 1970. The treatys main purposes are the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons, promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy and ultimately complete nuclear disarmament. With 191 parties, the NPT is regarded as the most-observed treaty on disarmament matters. Since its entry into force, the state parties to the NPT have held review conferences at five-year intervals to review the operation of the treaty and address other related issues. The treaty was initially set to expire after 25 years but was made open-ended by the states parties during the 1995 NPT review conference. The Security Council meeting in April will provide an opportunity for Council members to emphasise the importance of the non-proliferation regime and express their commitment to the treatys implementation.

The period since the 2015 NPT review conference has been marked by some significant developments on the non-proliferation front. Most notable were the decision of the US to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Irans nuclear program and the intensified US-Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) diplomatic engagement on denuclearisation.

Although the US withdrew from the JCPOA, other parties to the agreement have remained committed to its implementation. So far, Iran has continued to implement and verify its nuclear-related commitments under the agreement. Following its withdrawal, the US imposed a series of economic sanctions on Iran and has hindered the ability of Iran to access international financial and oil markets. In January, the EU launched a special trade mechanism that would facilitate legitimate trade between the EU and Iran and circumvent the US sanctions. In the absence of economic benefits granted by the JCPOA, Iran has threatened that it would stop adhering to the agreement and would consider withdrawing from the NPT.

In 2017, the Council demonstrated unity in reacting to the increase in ballistic missile testing by the DPRK when it adopted a series of resolutions toughening the sanctions on the country. The tensions on the Korean peninsula have decreased significantly during 2018 in light of renewed inter-Korean and US-DPRK diplomatic efforts. US President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un have held two summit-level meetings while Kim and Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in have met three times. The DPRK denuclearisation talks reached an impasse during the February US-DPRK summit; Trump broke off the talks after Kim offered only to dismantle nuclear facilities in Yongbyon in exchange for lifting economic sanctions on the DPRK. This was followed by media reports showing satellite imagery suggesting that the DPRK has resumed activity at some of its missile launch sites and missile production sites.

In February, the US announced that it would withdraw from the 1987 US-Russia Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, citing Russias lack of compliance with the treaty. Subsequently, Russia said that it would no longer adhere to provisions of the treaty. The goal of the INF was to prohibit testing and deployment of land-based missiles with a range between 310 and 3,420 miles. The treaty will formally end in August following a six-month withdrawal period unless the US and Russia resolve outstanding issues.

While addressing a UN conference on disarmament in Geneva on 25 February, the Secretary-General expressed his concern over the breakdown of international arms control mechanisms. He called on the US and Russia to engage in efforts to preserve the INF treaty and also to extend the New START treaty (a US-Russia treaty on reduction of strategic nuclear weapons) ahead of its expiry in 2021. In May 2018, the Secretary-General unveiled his disarmament agenda, called Securing Our Common Future, which presents a set of practical measures on a range of disarmament issues, focusing on weapons of mass destruction, conventional weapons, and new battlefield technologies.

Council Dynamics

Council members are generally supportive of overall non-proliferation efforts. Council dynamics have varied, however, in specific cases and situations that the Council has discussed. Following its withdrawal from the JCPOA, the US has been isolated in the Council on this issue given that most other members as well as the Secretary-General share the view that the agreement should be preserved. The Council has been unanimous in its support of recent diplomatic efforts on denuclearisation of the DPRK. Council members seem to hold varied positions on how the Council should balance the use of sanctions in light of ongoing diplomatic efforts. Some members, in particular China and Russia, are becoming increasingly interested in considering some form of sanctions relief for the DPRK while the US and most other members oppose this. The 2018 use of a nerve agent in Salisbury has unveiled another dynamic in the Council, pitting the UK and its allies against Russia.

UN DOCUMENTS ON NON-PROLIFERATION

This was a resolution on the 1540 Committee. This was a resolution that endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran. This resolution established the 1540 Committee and its mandate, affirmed that proliferation of nuclear weapons as well as the means of delivery constitutes a threat to international peace and security. This is a summit-level meeting on countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, chaired by US President Donald Trump. This was an emergency session on the investigation of the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

Useful Additional Sources

Non-Proliferation Treaty

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Overview

The joint presidencies of France and Germany continue in April as Germany assumes the Council presidency. The role of women in conflict situations, international humanitarian law and disarmament, all stated priorities of the joint presidencies, feature strongly in Aprils programme of work.

The month will start with a briefing on strengthening respect for international humanitarian law, presided over by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. Anticipated briefers include ICRC President Peter Maurer, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock, and Naz Modirzadeh, Director, Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict. Ahead of this briefing there will be an Arria-formula meeting on protecting humanitarian and medical personnel in conflict organised by France.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi is expected to provide a briefing on the current state of refugees worldwide and the displacement aspect of various conflicts on the Council agenda.

There will be three open debates: on women in peacekeeping; on fighting and preventing sexual violence in conflict situations; and the quarterly open debate on Israel/Palestine. Maas will preside over the debate on sexual violence in conflict during which the Secretary-Generals annual report on this problem will be presented. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten are expected to participate, as are the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad and international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. The open debate on peacekeeping will focus on the importance of and the need for increasing womens participation in peacekeeping operations and integrating gender perspectives into the work of these operations, with a briefing by Guterres.

There will also be a briefing on the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ahead of the 2020 review conference chaired by Maas with expected briefings by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano and Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu.

The Council is expected to renew the mandates of the UN missions in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) and in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in April. The Council will hold a debate on Haiti prior to the renewal of MINUJUSTH. There will be a TCC meeting and consultations ahead of the renewal of MINURSO planned for the end of the month.

Regarding African issues, the Council will discuss developments in relation to UNISFA in Abyei and Sudan/South Sudan relations. The Council is also expected to decide whether to extend UNISFAs support to the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism. There will be a briefing and consultations on UNAMID in Darfur.

In addition to the quarterly open debate on Israel/Palestine, Middle East issues that will be considered include:

Syria, the monthly briefings on the humanitarian situation, the political process and the use of chemical weapons; and

Yemen, an update on the implementation of resolution 2452, which established the UN Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA).

A briefing followed by consultations on the Secretary-Generals 90-day report on the UN Verification Mission in Colombia is also anticipated.

Following the visiting mission to Mali and Burkina Faso in March, the Council will be closely watching developments there, as well as in Burundi, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
THEMATIC ISSUES

Rule of Law/International Humanitarian Law/Protection of Civilians

Expected Council Action

In April, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is expected to preside over a briefing on strengthening respect for international humanitarian law. The anticipated briefers are International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock, and Naz Modirzadeh, founding Director of the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict.

The meeting is scheduled to follow an Arria-formula meeting on protecting humanitarian and medical personnel, organised by France earlier on the same day.

Background and Recent Developments

At the end of 2018, the scope of the challenges facing civilians in conflict-affected countries, including several on the Councils agenda, has remained significant. According to the Global Humanitarian Overview 2019 published by OCHA, at least 2 billion people worldwide live in areas affected by fragility, conflict and violence. More people are being displaced by conflict than in previous years, with the number of forcibly displaced people rising from 59.5 million in 2014 to 68.5 million in 2017. Natural disasters and climate change also have severe impact, with disasters affecting 350 million people on average each year and causing billions of dollars in damage.

OCHA expects that in 2019, nearly 132 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection, the majority because of the impact of conflict. One clear trend is the current protracted nature of humanitarian crises, with nearly three-quarters of people targeted to receive assistance in 2018 located in countries that have been affected by a humanitarian crisis for seven years or more. One such situation, Yemen, significantly worsened in 2018. In 2019, some 24 million people in that country are expected to need humanitarian assistance and protection, making Yemen once again the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to OCHA. In Syria, an estimated 13 million people are likely to require humanitarian assistance and protection in 2019. As the Syria crisis enters its ninth year, there are more than 5.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

In addition, the use of siege and the denial of basic humanitarian needs, as form of warfare, have become increasingly common, including in these two countries, with appalling effects. On 24 May 2018, the Council adopted resolution 2417 on the link between armed conflict and food insecurity. The resolution strongly condemned the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, as well as the unlawful denial of humanitarian access, and urged all parties to protect civilian infrastructure critical to the delivery of aid and to ensure the proper functioning of food systems.

On top of the protracted nature of some conflicts with a humanitarian aspect, the environment for humanitarian action has worsened in recent years amid an increasing number of armed conflicts, according to the ICRC. It has noted that the characteristics of these armed conflicts have changed dramatically, a common thread being the increase in the number of parties involved in each conflict. In its report The Roots of Restraint in War, published in June 2018, the ICRC estimated that only one-third of conflicts today are between two belligerents. Almost half of the worlds conflicts involved between three and nine parties, and 22 percent have more than ten belligerents, most of them non-state actors. According to the ICRC, this trend is detrimental to the delivery of humanitarian assistance as ensuring access becomes more complicated, involving armed actors that are uninformed or unwilling to abide by international humanitarian law.

In addition, in certain situations, some of the belligerents may be considered terrorist organisations by the host state or listed as such by the 1267/1989/2253 Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)/Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, complicating humanitarian assistance that requires coordination with such groups in areas under their control.

The Council has addressed this issue repeatedly over the years. In resolution 1502 of 2003, the Council reaffirmed the need to comply with obligations set forth in international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Regulations, related to the protection of humanitarian personnel. It urged those concerned to allow full unimpeded access by humanitarian personnel to all people in need of assistance and to promote the safety, security and freedom of movement of humanitarian personnel. The resolution further expressed the Councils determination to take appropriate steps in order to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian personnel.

More recently, in resolution 2175 of 2014, it strongly condemned violence and intimidation against those involved in humanitarian operations, urged parties to armed conflict to allow complete and unhindered humanitarian access, urged states to ensure that they hold accountable those who commit crimes against humanitarian workers within their respective territories, and requested the Secretary-General to include in his reports on country-specific situations and other relevant reports information regarding the safety and security of humanitarian workers and to present recommendations about how to strengthen their protection. Resolution 2286 of 2016 emphasised the unacceptability of violations of international humanitarian law arising from attacks against humanitarian and medical workers and medical facilities.

Yet despite the existence of legal norms to protect humanitarian workers, they are at greater risk than ever before. Countries such as Syria, the Central African Republic and Mali are particularly dangerous for humanitarian workers while many other conflict areas considered safe in the past are becoming increasingly dangerous for humanitarian efforts. According to the September 2018 Secretary-Generals report to the General Assembly on the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of UN personnel, 60 employees of NGOs working in cooperation with UN were killed from January 2017 to June 2018, 96 were injured, and 113 were abducted, each figure an increase from previous periods. Similarly, as at 18 March, the World Health Organisation had recorded 729 attacks on medical personnel or infrastructure since January 2018, causing 170 deaths and injuring over 900.

The Arria-formula meeting, which is supposed to be attended at the ministerial level, will focus on finding ways to support better implementation of existing obligations under international law and identifying best practices in this regard.

Key Issues and Options

The overarching issue is whether, and how, thematic discussions about the protection of civilians can be translated into concrete measures to mitigate the suffering of civilians in armed conflicts around the world. In this sense, it is important for the Council to consider how the open debate can focus greater attention on, and galvanise support for, addressing the needs of civilians in conflict-affected countries.

Another issue is to see if there is a way to take advantage of the important anniversaries coming up in 2019 to strengthen follow-up and engagement on protection issues. The 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions is in August and this years annual open debate on protection of civilians (expected in May) will mark the 20th anniversary of including protection of civilians on the Councils agenda.

Council and Wider Dynamics

There is general awareness among Council members of the devastating impact that armed conflict has had on civilians in recent years. Beyond reaffirming existing commitments under international humanitarian law, Germany and France have initiated this briefing as part of their twin presidencies initiative in March and April, to highlight the current negative trends and the need for heightened attention to the issue, and to identify tangible ways of improving implementation of humanitarian obligations.

Despite general agreement on the overarching objective, divisions among members affect discussions and approaches towards the protection of civilians in the context of specific conflicts. The P3 and other members tend to stress accountability measures and sanctions as mechanisms for leveraging compliance with international humanitarian law whereas other members, such as China and Russia, tend to be more circumspect about using such enforcement measures in light of their emphasis on state sovereignty. China, Russia and the US (despite its general support for accountability measures), as well as some other member states, have been particularly reluctant to use the power given to the Security Council in the ICC statute to refer situations to the Court and have pushed to minimise references to the ICC in Council outcomes.

Differences in perspectives have also surfaced with respect to the protection mandate of peace operations. For example, when Russia endorsed the Declaration of Shared Commitments on UN Peacekeeping Operationsinitiated by the Secretary-General in 2018 and endorsed by 151 member states and four international organisationsit expressed its reservation over the paragraph saying that peacekeeping operations can contribute to international efforts to protect civilians and to promote and protect human rights.

In addition, political differences and alliances with opposing belligerents among Council members, particularly among the P5, have hindered the Councils ability to play an effective role in protecting civilians in conflicts on the Councils agenda, including in Syria and Yemen.

UN DOCUMENTS ON THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
Status Update since our March Forecast

Somalia

On 1 March, Council members issued a press statement, condemning the terrorist attacks of 28 February along the Mukkah Almukaramah road in Mogadishu, which killed and injured innocent Somalis (SC/13729). On 27 March, the Council renewed the mandate of UNSOM until 31 March 2020 (S/RES/2461).

Counter-Terrorism

The 1267/1989/2253 Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) (Daesh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee met on 6 and 14 March. On 22 March, the committee added an individual to its sanctions list. On 15 March, Council members condemned the terrorist attack that took place at Al Noor and Linwood Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier that day, which resulted in at least 50 killed and many wounded. On 28 March, the Council held an open debate on combatting the financing of terrorism, with briefings by the Under-Secretary-General of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, Vladimir Voronkov (via video teleconference) (S/PV.8496). The Council adopted a resolution on the topic (S/RES/2462).

OSCE Briefing

On 7 March, Slovakian Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak briefied the Council in his role of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (S/PV.8479). Lajcak presented three main priorities during Slovakias chairmanship of the OSCE which include: preventing, mediating and mitigating conflict, focusing on the people affected; providing for a safer future; and effective multilateralism. The discussion at the meeting was mainly centered on the crisis in Ukraine given that the OSCE has a significant presence in the country and it is the organisation tasked with monitoring the implementation of the Minsk agreements. During the meeting Council members expressed their support for the work of the organisation and welcomed greater UN-OSCE cooperation.

South Sudan

On 8 March, the Council received a briefing from Special Representative and head of UNMISS David Shearer (S/PV.8480). A civil society representative based in South Sudan also briefed. Council members held consultations following the briefing. On 15 March, the Council adopted resolution 2459 renewing the mandate of UNMISS for an additional year, by 14 votes in favour with Russia abstaining (S/PV.8484). The resolution maintains the troop ceiling of 17,000 troops. Language was added specifying that advice or technical assistance, within existing resources can be a part of the missions good offices efforts to support the peace process and also calling on the mission to support the facilitation of the safe, informed, voluntary, and dignified return or relocation of IDPs from United Nations protection of civilian sites. Following the vote, statements were made by China, Kuwait, Russia and the US.

Human Rights

On 11 March, there was an Arria-formula meeting on human rights, accountability and justice: contributions to international peace and security, co-hosted by France and Peru. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Miguel de Serpa Soares, and former President of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia and currently of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals Theodor Meron, briefed.

EU-UN Briefing

On 12 March, Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy briefed the Council on cooperation between the two organisations (S/PV.8482). She addressed the EUs involvement in and support for various peacekeeping operations in Africa and its support for the UN-led political process in Syria. Furthermore, Mogherini emphasised the importance of preserving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran and support for other non-proliferation efforts. During the meeting, Council members welcomed the cooperation between the UN and EU.

Women, Peace and Security

On 13 March, there was an open Arria-formula meeting on the inequalities between women and men in political processes, co-hosted by France and Germany. Asa Regner, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, and Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, briefed at the meeting. AU Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security Bineta Diop; Fatima Maiga of the Malian Coalition des femmes maliennes pour lagenda Femmes, Paix et Securite; and Delphine Djiraibe, a Chadian attorney and co-founder of the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, also participated.

Afghanistan

On 15 March, the Council unanimously adopted as a technical rollover resolution 2460 extending the mandate UNAMA for six months (S/PV.8485). Although Council members held several rounds of negotiations and bilateral meetings, no agreement could be reached on the original draft resolution after which the decision was made to pursue a technical rollover. The US and China were deadlocked on whether to maintain a reference to the Belt and Road Initiative in the context of welcoming regional economic cooperation. Ahead of the adoption, on 11 March, the Council held a briefing followed by consultations on the situation in Afghanistan (S/PV.8481). Briefers included Special Representative and head of UNAMA, Tadamichi Yamamoto; Afghanistans National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib; and Deputy Executive Director of the Afghan Womens Network Storai Tapesh. The discussion during the meeting centred on, among other things, the political situation including the preparations for the 2019 presidential elections, ongoing negotiations on reaching a political solution, and security and humanitarian situation in the country.

Crimea

On 15 March, Arria-formula meeting entitled: A symbolic date: Fifth anniversary of the beginning of Russias occupation of Crimea: A blatant violation of international law was held. The meeting was organised by Council members Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, the UK, and the US, in partnership with Ukraine. The meeting provided an opportunity to hear first-hand accounts from civil society and experts on the latest developments with regard to Crimea. Briefers during the meeting included Sergiy Kyslytsya, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine; Alim Aliev, Program Director of Crimean House; Ayla Bakkali, executive member of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars; and Ahtem Chyihoz, Vice Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar.

Children and Armed Conflict

The Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict met on 15 and 18 March to continue negotiations on its conclusions on the Secretary-Generals report on children and armed conflict in Syria (S/2018/969).

Democratic Republic of the Congo

On 18 March, the Security Council received a briefing, followed by consultations, on MONUSCO (S/PV.8486). The Council was briefed by Special Representative of the Secretary-General Leila Zerrougui and Anny Tenga Modi, Executive Director of Afia Mamaa, a civil society organisation. A representative from the DRC mission participated in the briefing. As of press time, Council members were negotiating a resolution on MONUSCO, whose mandate expires on 31 March.

Libya

On 20 March, the Council was briefed by the Special Representative and head of UNSMIL, Ghassan Salame, and the Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany, Ambassador Jurgen Schulz, who chairs the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee (S/PV.8488). Salame announced that the National Conference on the future of Libya will be held in April. On 26 March Council members issued a press statement welcoming Salames announcement that the National Conference will take place from 14-16 April 2019 in Ghadames, Libya (SC/13749).

Mali and the Sahel

On 20 March, the Security Council held an informal interactive dialogue with the PBC on the Sahel. Germany, as the informal coordinator between the Council and the PBC, organised the meeting in preparation for the Councils visiting mission to Mali and Burkina Faso later in the month. The Chair of the PBC, Ambassador Guillermo Fernandez de Soto (Colombia) and Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Oscar Fernandez-Taranco provided briefings. Cote dIvoire, France and Germany co-led a visiting mission to Mali and Burkina Faso from 22 to 24 March. The focus of the mission was to assess the implementation of the 2015 Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in Mali, the operationalisation of the joint force of the G5 Sahel and the deterioration of the security situation in Burkina Faso. Upon returning to New York, on 27 March, the co-leads briefed the Council on the mission and on 29 March the Council held a ministerial meeting on Mali chaired by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, featuring a briefing by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and with the participation of Malian Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga. Separately, on 28 March there was a high-level meeting on the G5 Sahel at UN headquarters in New York.

DPRK

On 20 March, the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee held a meeting during which committee members discussed the recommendations from the final report of the Panel of Experts (S/2019/171).

Myanmar

Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten briefed Council members under any other business on 20 March on her visit to Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw from 5 to 8 February. She provided Council members with information on her meetings with Myanmar government officials and the follow-up to the joint communique signed on 8 December 2018 between the UN and the government of Myanmar to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence.

Middle East and West Africa

On 21 March, Security Council members held an informal interactive dialogue on Fostering dialogue and cooperation as a response to conflicts and common challenges in the Middle-East and North Africa to explore ways to better take into account regional dynamics, root causes of conflict in the region, and common security challenges. France and Germany organised the meeting, which included briefings by MarieJoelle Zahar representing University of Montreal, the International Peace Institute and Folke Bernadotte Academy; Joost Hilterman, the Program Director, Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group; and Mourad Wahba, Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States at the UN Development Programme.

Central African Republic

On 22 March, the 2127 CAR Sanctions Committee met with the Group of Experts assisting it, to discuss their programme of work for the year. On 26 March Special Representative and head of MINUSCA Mankeur Ndiaye briefed the Council under any other business.

UNDOF (Golan Heights)

On 25 March, in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation recognising Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on the same day that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres considers that the status of Golan has not changed. Council members cancelled previously scheduled consultations and held a briefing on 27 March to discuss this as well as the latest report of the Secretary-General on UNDOF, covering the period from 21 November 2018 to 14 March 2019 (S/2019/248). Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacekeeping Affairs, and Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, briefed and representatives from Israel and Syria participated (S/PV.8495).

Guinea-Bissau

On 26 March, Council members issued a press statement congratulating Guinea-Bissau for the peaceful conduct of legislative elections held on 10 March (SC/13746). Members recalled the importance of organising the presidential election within the legal mandated time frame in 2019, and called upon national authorities to expedite the review of the constitution.

Great Lakes Region

On 26 March, outgoing Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region Said Djinnit briefed the Council on the Secretary-Generals latest report (S/2019/229) on the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region (S/PV.8490). The briefing was followed by consultations.

Lebanon

On 27 March, the Council held consultations on the implementation of resolution 1701 which called for a cessation of hostilities between the Shia militant group Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. Council members were briefed by newly appointed Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis; Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix; and UNIFIL Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col.
AFRICA

Sudan (Darfur)

Expected Council Action

In April, the Security Council will be briefed on the Secretary-Generals 90-day report on the AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) as requested in resolution 2429, which is due to be submitted by 9 April. Consultations are expected to follow the briefing.

The mandate of UNAMID expires on 30 June.

Key Recent Developments

On 22 February, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir declared a nationwide state of emergency for one year. The announcement came in response to ongoing protests across Sudan calling for President al-Bashir, who has ruled the country for nearly three decades, to step down. (The protests began in December 2018, sparked by food and fuel shortages.) The state of emergency led to the federal and state governments being dissolved while the national and state assemblies were maintained. Additionally, the Minister of Defence was given the role of the First Vice-President; 18 new governors with military and security positions were appointed to replace dismissed governors; and the Sudanese Armed Forces were assigned to maintain law and order. On 11 March, the National Legislative Assembly approved a shortening of the state of emergency from one year to six months.

On 26 February, the US, the UK, Norway and Canada issued a joint statement saying the return to military rule does not create a conducive environment for a renewed political dialogue or credible elections. The statement also noted the ongoing detention of political leaders, activists and journalists[and] continuing reports of unacceptable use of live fire, beating of protestors and mistreatment of detainees.

The Darfur peace process has again stalled in the context of the ongoing protests, which have included sporadic protests in some areas of Darfur. Reportedly citing solidarity with the protesters, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)/Gibril Ibrahim faction and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)/Minni Minawi faction revoked their December 2018 agreement to resume talks with the Sudanese government in January. On 20 March, the Sudanese opposition alliance Sudan Call announced its decision to withdraw from the AU High-Level Implementation Panels Roadmap Agreement for Ending the Conflicts in Sudan, signed with the government in 2016.

On 28 January, al-Bashir declared an open-ended cessation of hostilities in Darfur and Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states (also known as the Two Areas). On 9 February, the SLA/Minni Minawi faction, JEM/Gibril Ibrahim faction and two other groups extended a unilateral cessation of hostilities in Darfur and the Two Areas until 8 May. However, there are reports of ongoing violence in the Jebel Marra region between the government and the SLA/Abdul Wahid faction.

Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Bintou Keita briefed the Council on 25 February, following her joint visit to Sudan from 9 to 12 February, along with Assistant Secretary-General at the UN Development Programme Mourad Wahba, and Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Oscar Fernandez-Taranco. Keita told the Council of a collective responsibility to ensure that UNAMIDs exit does not create a vacuum that leads to persistent local-level tensions or new risk factors, adding that the visit served to highlight the challenging factors that the government, UNAMID and UN country team are facing to maintain the pace of the transition, including in terms of the availability of resources.

On UNAMIDs drawdown as set out in resolution 2429, Keita told the Council that ten UNAMID team sites were closed by December 2018 and handed over to the government, in accordance with agreements signed with the mission. She said the former sector headquarters in Nyala, Ed Daein and El Geneina are due to be closed by June, leaving the remaining 13 team sites in the greater Jebel Marra and the logistics hub in El Fasher. She also said that the new mission headquarters in Zalingei is fully operational while the office of the Joint Special Representative and head of UNAMID has been relocated to Khartoum.

On 18 March, a joint AU-UN Strategic Assessment Team on UNAMID held a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting, attended by Joint Special Representative and head of UNAMID Jeremiah Mamabolo, focused on issues related to the missions ongoing transition process.

Sanctions-Related Developments

On 12 February, the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee met with representatives of Sudan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda to discuss implementation of the sanctions measures and the 10 January final report of the Panel of Experts. On 18 March, five experts were appointed to the Panel of Experts assisting the Committee. On 26 March, Ambassador Joanna Wronecka (Poland), chair of Committee, provided the quarterly briefing to the Council on the work of the Committee, during which she expressed her intention to visit the country, at dates yet to be determined.

Key Issues and Options

A key issue that Council members will want to follow closely is the effect on the security situation of further troop reductions and implementation of the missions revised priorities as set out in resolution 2429. The impact of recent developments, including the lack of progress in the peace process and ongoing violence in the Jebel Marra area of Darfur, will be an additional factor.

A related issue is to monitor progress made on the proposed benchmarks and indicators of achievement for the exit of the mission set out in the Secretary-Generals report of 12 October 2018. The Council took note of these in its 11 December 2018 presidential statement to help guide the Security Councils considerations on the future of UNAMIDs mandate. An option would be to invite Mamabolo to brief the Council on progress and challenges in meeting the benchmarks and on the missions transition progress. The upcoming strategic review, requested in resolution 2429 by 1 May, is expected to further inform the Councils thinking ahead of the 30 June expiry of UNAMIDs mandate.

Council Dynamics

There continue to be differences amongst Council members in assessing the situation in Darfur, as was again made apparent during the discussion following the 25 February briefing. Several membersincluding Belgium, France, Germany, the US and the UKraised concern over the ongoing protests in Sudan and the national state of emergency. In its statement the UK said that political instability in the Sudan and the declaration of a state of emergency naturally affect the situation in Darfur[and] call into question the Governments commitment to delivering progress on human rights, the rule of law and security sector reform. Germany expressed the view that these events made it necessary to look even more closely at the benchmarks for a withdrawal of [UNAMID], in particular the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, while France said the withdrawal of UNAMID must be adapted to the situation on the ground and should be gradual and cautious.

However, Russia expressed the view that these events have nothing to do with the Councils consideration of the situation in Darfur and UNAMID, saying that it is important to continue the process of drawing down UNAMIDs military component. Other members, including China, Indonesia, Kuwait and South Africa, along with Russia, highlighted the improved situation in Darfur and did not refer to the ongoing protests.

The UK and Germany are co-penholders on the issue; Poland chairs the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee.

UN Documents on Darfur
AFRICA

Sudan/South Sudan

Expected Council Action

In April, the Council is expected to receive a briefing on the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and on Sudan/South Sudan issues, followed by consultations. The Council is also expected to decide by 15 April whether to extend the missions support for the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM), established in 2011 to conduct monitoring and verification activities along the Sudan-South Sudan border, as set out in resolution 2438.

The mandate of UNISFA expires on 15 May.

Key Recent Developments

On 11 October 2018, the Security Council unanimously renewed until 15 April UNISFAs support for the JBVMM. However, it decided that as of 15 April, UNISFAs authorised troop ceiling would decrease by 541 troops (from the then authorised level of 4,500) unless the Council extends the missions support for the JBVMM. As in previous resolutions, since resolution 2352 adopted on 15 May 2017, it said this would be the final extension of such support unless Sudan and South Sudan demonstrate measurable progress in certain specified areas. In this regard, the resolution set out seven specific border-demarcation measures (see our Whats In Blue story of 11 October 2018). Resolution 2445, which extended UNISFAs mandate until 15 May and reduced the troop ceiling from 4,500 to 4,140, adjusted the number of troops the mission would be reduced by from 541 to 557 if support for the JBVMM is not extended in April (see our Whats In Blue story of 14 November 2018).

On 14 March, as requested in resolution 2438, Council members received a confidential note from the Secretary-General on border-demarcation progress, namely any steps taken in implementing the seven specific measures contained in resolution 2438. It apparently said that while there has been improvement in the JBVMMs ability to fulfil its mandate as compared to previous years, challenges remain, including a lack of attention from both governments to its smooth operation.

On 8 March, the Secretary-General informed the Council of the appointment of Parfait Onanga-Anyanga as Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa. The appointment followed the Secretary-Generals decision to expand the role of the Special Envoy for the Sudan and South Sudan, previously held by Nicholas Haysom until September 2018, to cover the Horn of Africa region.

The Council was last briefed on UNISFA and Sudan/South Sudan issues in consultations on 29 October 2018.

Key Issues and Options

The key issue for the Council is whether to retain UNISFAs support of the JBVMM. An option is to continue the missions support based on the comparative improvement in the JBVMMs ability to fulfil its mandate. Another option is to retain the missions support for a shorter period as a means of putting pressure on the parties to intensify efforts to implement the JBVMM fully and address the current lack of progress towards a political solution. This could take the form of a technical rollover of support for the JBVMM for one month until UNISFAs mandate renewal in May. A further option is for the Council to take no action to extend the missions support for the JBVMM, which would result in UNISFAs troop levels decreasing by 557 troops after 15 April, as set out in resolution 2445.

Another key issue for the Council to consider ahead of UNISFAs mandate renewal in May is the appropriateness of the missions current mandate in relation to the situation on the ground and what modifications, if any, to make to the mandate and force structure. This assessment is likely to be informed by the Secretary-Generals report on UNISFA due by 15 April, as requested in resolution 2445.

Council Dynamics

As in previous years, the Councils focus on the situation in Abyei remains limited, largely overshadowed by its ongoing engagement on South Sudan and Sudan (Darfur). However, the upcoming renewal of UNISFAs support for the JBVMM in April and the missions mandate in May present opportunities for Council members to direct attention to the issue.

Unlike previous negotiations on resolutions to extend UNISFAs support for the JBVMM, the US in October 2018 did not initially seek either to reduce the missions authorised troop ceiling (as it did in April 2018) or to suspend the missions support for the JBVMM (as it did in November 2017), both of which then-Council member Ethiopia and some other members successfully resisted. As a result, negotiations ahead of adopting resolution 2438 in October proceeded comparatively smoothly.

During Ethiopias term on the Council in 2017 and 2018, outcomes on UNISFA were primarily negotiated bilaterally between the US and Ethiopia (UNISFAs main troop-contributing country). The US repeatedly asserted that UNISFA was persisting longer than intended for an interim force and that Sudan and South Sudan were taking advantage of the relative stability that UNISFA provides to delay attempts to resolve the status of Abyei. However, Ethiopia in particular viewed UNISFAs presence as critical. Some members may adopt Ethiopias position during upcoming negotiations. It is unclear, however, whether the US will be willing to compromise.

The US is the penholder on Abyei.

UN Documents on Sudan/South Sudan
MIDDLE EAST

Syria

Expected Council Action

In April, the Council will receive the monthly briefings on the humanitarian situation, the political process, and the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Key Recent Developments

As the conflict enters its ninth year, the humanitarian situation in Syria remains critical. After Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (a Council-designated terrorist group) took control of most of Idlib in January, there has been an upsurge in attacks by government forces and in civilian casualties. The situation in the north-east of Syria remains fragile following the December 2018 announcement by the US regarding the withdrawal of its troops, with the potential for an escalation of violence between Turkey and the Kurdish YPG militia, which is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). On 23 March, the SDF took over the village of Baghouz and declared victory over the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). However, concerns persist about the living conditions of civilians who had fled the area, including family members of foreign terrorist fighters.

Briefing the Council on 26 February, Reena Ghelani, the director of OCHAs Operations and Advocacy Division, emphasised the need for sustained humanitarian access to the makeshift camp of Rukban near the border with Jordan. She said that although most residents have expressed their wish to leave the camp, they have ongoing concerns related to their safety and security. She reiterated that any returns or relocations must be voluntary, safe, dignified and well-informed and must abide by core protection standards that comply with international humanitarian law and human rights law.

Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen briefed the Council for the first time on 28 February and identified five goals for the period ahead:

to begin and then deepen a sustained dialogue with the government and the opposition on building trust and confidence towards a safe, calm and neutral environment;

to see more concrete action on detainees, abductees and missing persons;

to engage a wide range of Syrians and involve them in the political process;

to convene a credible, balanced and inclusive constitutional committee as soon as possible; and

to help the international parties deepen their own dialogue towards a credible and sustainable political settlement of the conflict that can enjoy international support.

High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu briefed Council members on 6 March in consultations on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Members considered a 1 March report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) regarding the chemical weapons attack that took place in Douma (Eastern Ghouta) on 7 April 2018. The report concluded that the evaluation and analysis of all the information gathered by the FFM provide reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon took place and that the toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine. Although the FFM is not mandated to assign responsibility, the report established that it is possible that two yellow industrial cylinders were the source of the substances containing reactive chlorine that caused structural damage in two locations (one of the cylinders was found on a rooftop terrace and the other passed through the ceiling of a different building and hit the floor). Although at this point no reaction is expected from the Council, the recently created Identification and Investigation Team of the OPCW is expected to focus in the coming months on this and other cases of suspected use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict.

Separately, the OPCW and the Syrian government have held two technical meetings in recent weeks to discuss the gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies identified by the OPCW in Syrias initial declaration in 2013 of its chemical weapons stockpile.

On 12-14 March, the EU and the UN co-chaired the third Brussels conference on supporting the future of Syria and the region. At the conference, participants pledged $7 billion for 2019 and close to $2.4 billion in multi-year pledges for 2020 and beyond.

Human Rights-Related Developments

During its 40th session, the Human Rights Council (HRC) held an interactive dialogue on 12 March with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria and considered its report (A/HRC/40/70). The report details violations and the general absence of the rule of law affecting civilians throughout the country, including 6.2 million internally displaced persons and 5.6 million refugees seeking to return. Based on investigations conducted from 11 July 2018 to 10 January, the report finds that the current situation throughout Syria undermines the feasibility of the return of internally displaced persons and refugees. The report sets out ten recommendations to effectively address the complex issue of returns. On 22 March, the HRC voted 28 to 5 (with 14 abstentions) to extend the mandate of the Commission for one year (HRC/RES/40/L.7). The resolution expresses the HRCs appreciation to the Commission for its briefings to members of the Security Council, and recommends the continuation of future briefings.

Key Issues and Options

Given the crucial role of the Astana guarantors (Iran, Russia and Turkey) on both the political and humanitarian fronts, Council members could seek an informal interactive dialogue with their representatives to have a more action-oriented discussion regarding current and future efforts to avert a full-fledged military offensive in Idlib.

Council members continue to be profoundly divided over Syria, and some question whether any effort on the political process is likely to yield results, considering the Syrian governments emphasis on regaining territory and consolidating control. With Pedersen still early in his tenure, Council members could organise a retreat to hold an informal and frank discussion with him to consider how, individually and collectively, they can best support the prospects of a political process based on resolution 2254.

The issue of detainees, abductees and missing persons has not attracted much attention in the Council and is mostly considered under the rubric of confidence-building measures being discussed by the Astana guarantors. With little progress on this front and the Syrian governments release of thousands of prisoner death notices, the Council could hold a meeting specifically to shed light on this little-discussed issue and call on the guarantors to use their influence on the government to engage in good faith on this matter.

A new concern is that the Syrian government and its allies could use the recent takeover of most of Idlib by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to justify a military offensive.

The Council could request a briefing in consultations from the Secretariat to focus on the potential for instability in north-eastern Syria, call on the actors involved to exercise restraint, and support good-offices efforts to address long-standing grievances.

Council members could invite the director of the OPCW to participate in an informal interactive dialogue on the work of the organisation on Syria.

Council and Wider Dynamics

The Council continues to be divided over the Syrian conflict. While the arrival of a new envoy provides an opportunity to reinvigorate the political process, Council dynamics on Syria continue to be characterised by polarisation, particularly among permanent members, on the three files through which the conflict is discussed: political, humanitarian, and chemical weapons.

Belgium, Germany and Kuwait are co-penholders on humanitarian issues in Syria.

UN DOCUMENTS ON SYRIA
AFRICA

Western Sahara

Expected Council Action

In April, Council members expect to hold consultations on Western Sahara and to renew the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) before it expires on 30 April. The Secretary-Generals Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Horst Kohler, is expected to brief on his latest activities and Colin Stewart, the Special Representative for Western Sahara and head of MINURSO, is expected to brief on the Secretary-Generals MINURSO report, due in early April.

Key Recent Developments

Western Sahara has been the subject of territorial disputes since Spain withdrew in 1976. Initially both Morocco and Mauritania presented claims, but Mauritania renounced theirs in 1979. The independence movement is led by the Polisario Front. The UN has been actively involved in seeking a solution to this conflict since 1985. The Council established MINURSO in 1991, through resolution 690 (1991). Since then, there has been little progress and the referendum referred to in the missions name has not taken place.

On 5 and 6 December 2018, Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania attended a roundtable meeting in Geneva. This was the first roundtable with the stakeholders since the last informal talks in 2012. The last formal round of negotiations was in March 2008. The attendees adopted a communique that noted, Delegations took stock of recent developments, addressed regional issues, and discussed the next steps in the political process on Western Sahara. The year ended with a sense of momentum for the first time in several years.

On 29 January, members of the Council met in consultations to hear an update from Kohler on the Geneva meeting and his subsequent efforts. On 31 January, Council members issued a press statement, its first on Western Sahara since 4 February 2008. The statement expressed unified Council support for Kohlers efforts and welcomed the December roundtable and the participation of Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania. It also noted that a second roundtable was foreseen for the first quarter of 2019.

Throughout March, Kohler continued to work on the next stage of discussions. He held bilateral talks with stakeholders in Berlin and Paris in early March. After these discussions, a second roundtable was held on 21 and 22 March near Geneva. News reports ahead of the meeting said the aim of this stage was simply to deepen the exchange of ideas, and officials cautioned against expecting breakthroughs. In his statements after the roundtable, Kohler encouraged delegations to explore good faith gestures and concrete actions that go beyond the roundtable. He said that the roundtable showed that all stakeholders want to create a better situation for their constituencies. The participants issued a communique in which they agreed to continue discussions to find a mutually acceptable political solution but presented no concrete actions.

MINURSOs mandate was last renewed on 31 October 2018 through the adoption of resolution 2440.

Key Issues and Options

Members want to see real progress on this nearly 30-year-old file. One area of concern is how to agree on confidence-building measures, which would be a logical next step in discussions. The parties positions on a political solution remain mutually exclusive. The Polisarios position has been that the final status of Western Sahara can only be decided in a referendum that includes independence as an option, while Morocco has proposed that Western Sahara be an autonomous region within Morocco. Members will want to see the impact of the second roundtable, understanding that the situation remains difficult with these very different positions.

Concerning the mandate, it should be noted that the political process and the peacekeeping mission are two separate parts of the Western Sahara issue. The personal envoythe post has existed since 1997is appointed directly by the Secretary-General, and is not part of MINURSO; successive resolutions renewing MINURSOs mandate usually simply welcome and encourage the Special Envoys efforts. The US has been arguing for tying the two mechanisms together for the purposes of determining whether MINURSO is fulfilling its mandate on the ground.

Council and Wider Dynamics

Against a backdrop of cautious optimism, the Council will have to decide how the recent rounds of discussion between the stakeholders affects MINURSOs mandate. The US has argued that without the political process, there should be no MINURSO, and was successful in 2018 in having two shortened six-month renewals of the mandate. The aim was to put greater pressure on the parties to restart the political process. However, this idea was controversial, and when it came to adoption Bolivia, Ethiopia, and Russia abstained (during the vote on the mandate renewal in April 2018 China, Ethiopia, and Russia abstained). These members did not feel that the resolution adequately reflected their positions. Russia also said that the negotiating process of the draft was not positive. The US can be expected to pursue its 2018 approach, and may cite the increased dialogue as proof that this method of pressure is working to restart progress toward a reliable political process. However, given the ostensible positive momentum, France may want to return to one-year renewals of MINURSO. That was the practice since 2008, and France was the leading proponent for a 12-month extension during the last mandate renewal. This also reflects its staunch support for Morocco, which has not been keen to have the more frequent reporting and Security Council meetings on Western Sahara that result from the shorter mandate extensions. Event though France voted in favour of the last mandate renewal, it included in its statement after the vote that it would have preferred a year-long renewal.

South Africa, who joined the Council in January, has maintained its strong support for the Polisario Front position. The African Council members do not have a shared position on Western Sahara, with only South Africa having recognised an independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, as proclaimed by Polisario in 1976.

Overall, Council members have been supportive of the efforts of the personal envoy, and any division over the mandate could be detrimental. His mandate rests on being able to establish trust amongst the parties, and having Council support is critical to his legitimacy in suggesting paths forward. Kohler has also been active in keeping the wider Group of Friendscountries with a particular interest in the issueinformed, which has not always been past practice.

The US is the penholder on Western Sahara. Resolutions are initially discussed among the Group of Friends, comprising France, Russia, the UK, and the US, joined by Spain, the former colonial power and a country that provides much logistical support to the Sahrawi in Tindouf. Spain also provides significant humanitarian support and remains worried about any reduction in financial aid by donors.

UN Documents on Western Sahara
Weather in Bonn and the region : Spring weather finally arrives on the weekend

Bonn/Region ith temperatures reaching up to twenty degrees Celsius, spring will finally come to the region on Saturday. But in the morning hours it will still be rather chilly.

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With temperatures reaching up to twenty degrees Celsius, spring will finally come to the region on Saturday. But in the morning hours it will still be rather chilly. The high pressure system "Irmelin" is bringing spring weather to the region. Already today, Friday, the weather in Bonn will almost be T-shirt weather with temperatures of up to 18 degrees Celsius. On Saturday, temperatures could climb up to 20 degrees.

According to the German Weather Service (DWD), Saturday will be the warmest and sunniest day of the week. But one can still expect chilly temperatures in the morning and early fog in some areas, as the DWD reported on Friday morning. Looking at the forecasts of Wetter Online, Sunday will be also be quite pleasant with up to 14 degrees. On Monday the temperatures could climb up to 17 degrees.

Overnight to Saturday, temperatures will drop down to somewhere between plus seven and minus one degree.

Allergy sufferers beware

Corinna Borau, meteorologist at wetter.com warns: "We can't look forward to consistent spring weather temperatures. The weather will remain in a state of fluctuation". So a cold front, with a sudden drop of temperatures is likely to follow the nice weather.

Bad news for allergy sufferers: the weather conditions are conducive to airborne pollen. There will be a medium to high amount of birch pollen in the air until Monday. But the alder pollen concentration will be rather low. According to Wetter Online, allergy sufferers will also have to adjust to poplar and willow pollen in the coming week.
PEACEMAKING, PEACEKEEPING AND PEACEBUILDING

Women in Peacekeeping

Expected Council Action

In April, there will be an open debate on women in peacekeeping. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and a civil society representative may brief.

Background and Key Recent Developments

There is widespread recognition of the importance of increasing womens participation in peacekeeping operations and integrating gender perspectives into the work of these operations. In 2017, Canada launched the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peacekeeping to work with interested member states to foster the meaningful involvement of women in peace operations through funding and technical assistance. A contact group supporting this initiative consists of Canada, Argentina, France, the Netherlands, Ghana, Norway, Senegal, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, Sweden, the UK and Uruguay.

At a high-level meeting on his Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative on 25 September 2018 on the margins of the General Assembly, Guterres told member states that active steps were being pursued to enhance the role of women in peacekeeping, noting that more women in peacekeeping means more effective peacekeeping. The Secretary-General reiterated this point in his statement at the Councils strengthening of peacekeeping operations in Africa debate on 20 November 2018. Similarly, the A4P Declaration of Shared Commitments, agreed to by 151 member states, recommits its supporters to increasing the number of civilian and uniformed women in peacekeeping at all levels and in key positions and to integrating a gender perspective into all stages of analysis, planning, implementation and reporting.

The Security Council has also pronounced itself on the importance of womens participation in peacekeeping operations. Notable in this regard was the adoption of resolution 2242 in October 2015. The resolution urged the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs to ensure the necessary gender analysis and technical gender expertise throughout the life-cycle of missions. It further welcome[d] the Secretary-Generals commitment to prioritize the appointment of more women in senior United Nations leadership positions, as well as efforts to incentivize greater numbers of women in militaries and police deployed to United Nations peacekeeping operations. In this regard, it called on the Secretary-General to initiate, in collaboration with Member States, a revised strategy, within existing resources, to double the numbers of women in military and police contingents of UN peacekeeping operations over the next five years. There is a dearth of women in UN peace operations; in October 2017, women constituted 28.3 percent of international staff serving in peace operations.

When the Council adopted resolution 2436 on peacekeeping performance in September 2018, the revised strategy for increasing women in peacekeeping operations had not been completed. Recalling resolution 2242, the peacekeeping performance resolution set a deadline of March 2019 for this strategy to be presented to the Council and requested that it ensure the full, effective and meaningful participation of women in all aspects of peacekeeping. This strategy has recently been completed, and its key findings might be presented to the Council prior to or during the open debate.

Key Issues and Options

The key issue is what the Council can do to encourage the increased participation of women in peacekeeping operations, including in specific roles and contexts. In this regard, the debate could provide an opportunity to consider what obstacles exist at the national and regional levels to increasing womens participation in peacekeeping and how these could be best addressed. Once the strategy is presented, an option for the Council would be to request regular updates on its implementation. To keep the momentum, a further option would be to ask UN Women and the Department of Peace Operations to brief the Council on ways in which increasing female participation in peace operations enhances their effectiveness. Another option would be for the Council to pursue a presidential statement or resolution that encourages member states to increase their contribution of female peacekeepers and support the Secretariats efforts to recruit more women to serve in peacekeeping operations, including in leadership positions.

Council and Wider Dynamics

The open debate on women in peacekeeping is one of the key events of Germanys presidency. The other open debate Germany is hosting in April is on sexual violence in conflict. The themes of these debates are consistent with one of the priorities that France and Germany outlined for their joint presidencies for March and April: the role of women in conflict situations, including their protection and their empowerment.

The importance of womens participation in peacekeeping operations is highlighted by a wide range of member states both on and off the Council. These members recognise that women play a key role in integrating gender perspectives in peacekeeping operations, which enhances their effectiveness. During the Councils most recent thematic debate on peacekeeping on 20 November 2018, which focused on strengthening peacekeeping operations in Africa, several member statesfor example, Canada, Djibouti, Estonia, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway (speaking on behalf of the Nordic countries), Peru, and the Philippinesnoted the importance of womens participation in peacekeeping operations. However, in spite of broad support for increasing the percentage of women in peacekeeping, some member states have concerns that they may have difficulty meeting goals set by the revised strategy, given the composition of their armed forces.

UN DOCUMENTS ON WOMEN IN PEACEKEEPING
THEMATIC ISSUES

Women, Peace and Security

Expected Council Action

In April, the Council will hold an open debate on the Secretary-Generals annual report on conflict-related sexual violence, focusing particularly on accountability and survivor-centred approaches. Germanys Minister for Foreign Affairs, Heiko Maas, is expected to chair. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten are expected to participate, as are the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad. International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is also expected to participate as well as a civil society representative. Germany plans to circulate a concept note ahead of the debate. An outcome is possible.

Key Recent Developments

At press time the Secretary-General was expected to submit his most recent report on conflict-related sexual violence, covering January to December 2018, which will provide the basis for the April open debate. Conflict-related sexual violence, as defined in the Secretary-Generals annual reports, refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls or boys that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict.

As in previous years, the report is likely to provide an overview of current and emerging concerns, focus on countries for which verifiable information is available, and provide country-specific strategic recommendations as well as overarching policy recommendations. Also, as in recent years, the report is expected to include an annex of a list of parties credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict on the agenda of the Security Council, the majority being non-state actors. Last years report detailed the removal of Cote dIvoire from the annex after no new cases of sexual violence by members of the Ivorian security forces were recorded in 2017. The report is also expected to cover country visits by Patten during 2018, including to Sudan from 18 to 25 February; Iraq from 26 February to 5 March; Guinea from 26 to 28 March; Bangladesh in May; and South Sudan from 3 to 7 July.

On 8 February, there was an open Arria-formula meeting on the preventive impact of criminal accountability for conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. The meeting was organised by Germany in partnership with Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, France, Kuwait, Peru, Poland, South Africa and the UK. The concept note identified the objective as exploring how to more effectively integrate criminal accountability for sexual violence in conflict into the prevention agenda, including into conflict resolution, transitional justice and peacebuilding. The results of the discussion were intended to feed into the open debate and possible outcome. (See our Whats in Blue story of 7 February for more details.)

Key Issues and Options

A key issue is the role of the Council in enhancing prevention, early warning and accountability regarding sexual violence in conflict. Another issue is what the Council can do to ensure full implementation of the relevant resolutions as well as compliance by state and non-state parties.

The invited civil society speakers, Dr. Mukwege and Ms. Murad, may want to call the Councils attention to the issues of their respective focus and expertise, sexual violence related to conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Iraq (the latter during the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant occupation).

An option is for the Council to closely monitor the implementation of key resolutions and integrate the issue into relevant country-specific and cross-cutting thematic resolutions. Another option is to support engagement with state and non-state parties towards specific commitments on conflict-related sexual violence and to monitor their compliance, including through the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security.

A related issue is expanding designation criteria in all relevant sanctions regimes for situations where sexual violence is persistently perpetrated. The Council may also consider how to go beyond receiving briefings by the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict and the submission of names of perpetrators of sexual violence to the relevant sanctions committees. This may include adopting targeted measures against individuals. Further options are to strengthen the dedicated gender and conflict-related sexual violence expertise informing the work of sanctions committees and to invite the Special Representative to share information with sanctions committees, as appropriate.

In the context of the Secretary-Generals focus on prevention, a further issue is how to give due consideration to the identified risk factors of sexual violence as early-warning indicators that could enable the Council better to fulfil its conflict prevention role.

Additional options are to use more consistently Council visiting missions to conflict situations to further highlight, where relevant, the issue of sexual violence, including the views of survivors, and to support the deployment of womens protection advisers in peacekeeping missions.

Council Dynamics

Discussion of the Secretary-Generals report on conflict-related sexual violence has been a regular feature on the Councils agenda since 2009, but Council members continue to have divergent views on aspects of this thematic agenda, including how to incorporate it into the Councils sanctions regimes and how to advance and deepen efforts to integrate the women, peace and security agenda across all areas of the Councils work. China and Russia have typically resisted many elements that they interpret as an expansion of the women, peace and security agenda or perceive as infringing on state sovereignty or the responsibilities of other parts of the UN system. In this context, some Council members may be wary of a new outcome, given the continued need for implementation of resolution 2106 and other relevant resolutions on the issue, and whether proceeding with an outcome could potentially lead to acrimonious negotiations.

Some members have highlighted the importance of working closely with relevant sanctions committees to list perpetrators, and they may raise this issue in the open debate. Others have shown interest in focusing on how conflict-related sexual violence occurs in situations where there is also systemic gender-based discrimination, such as the exclusion of women from political life, economic marginalisation, and discriminatory systems in both formal and traditional justice systems.

UN Documents on Women, Peace and Security
MIDDLE EAST

Yemen

Expected Council Action

In April, Special Envoy Martin Griffiths is expected to brief the Council on the implementation of resolutions 2451 and 2452. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock and General Michael Lollesgaard, the chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and head of the UN Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), may also brief.

Key Recent Developments

Progress has largely remained stalled in getting the warring Houthi rebels and Yemeni government to withdraw their forces from the critical port city of Hodeidah and the nearby smaller ports of Saleef and Ras Isa as set out in the December 2018 Stockholm Agreement. Carrying forward the other two elements of the Stockholm Agreementa prisoner exchange and Statement of Understanding on Taiz for greater humanitarian access to the cityhave also stalled.

The impasse around Hodeidah continued despite a 17 February agreement on a plan to conduct the Phase 1 redeployment of forces envisioned in the original agreement on Hodeidah. The plan set out a two-step process, with the Houthis redeploying from Saleef and Ras Isa ports in the first step, and from Hodeidah port in the second. In the second step, both parties would also withdraw forces from the frontline area of the so-called Kilo 8 triangle in Hodeidah city in a manoeuvre that would allow UN access to the Red Sea mills, which hold enough grain for 3.7 million people for a month but have been inaccessible since October last year.

While no redeployments have occurred at press time, on 26 February a World Food Programme-led assessment mission accessed the Red Sea mills to determine the condition of grain stocks, which the UN has worried could start rotting. Despite some spoilage and damage to the mills, it seems that food stocks can be salvaged if the UN can gain further access to repair the damage and fumigate the mills.

Upon concluding a visit to Aden, UK Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt warned on 3 March that the Stockholm Agreement could collapse within weeks if the sides do not hold to their commitments. The weekend of 10 to 11 March saw the outbreak of what was reported as the heaviest fighting in Hodeidah since the agreement was reached at the end of UN-brokered consultations in Sweden. In a 12 March joint statement, the ambassadors of the P5 countries to Yemen said they were extremely concerned that the three parts of the agreement had not been implemented. They urged both parties to begin implementing the latest proposal on Hodeidah without further delay and without seeking to exploit the redeployments by the other side. On 13 March, Griffiths and Lollesgaard briefed Council members in consultations. Discussion focused on the lack of progress on Hodeidah.

On 19 March, Griffiths announced that discussions with both parties had led to significant progress towards an agreement to implement the Phase 1 redeployments and that operational details would be presented to the RCC for endorsement shortly.

The conflict has continued in other areas of the country. Particularly heavy fighting has continued in the north-western Hajjah governorate between the Hajour tribe and the Houthis. The clashes have centred around the Kushar district, which is strategically significant because if Yemeni government forces advance to Kushar, they could threaten Houthi supply routes between Sanaa and their home region of Saada. On 11 March, the Office of the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator condemned strikes on houses in Kushar, which killed 12 children and ten women, according to medical sources. On 18 March, the humanitarian relief organisation International Refugee Council said civilian deaths had doubled in Hajjah and Taiz governorates over the past three months compared to the pre-Hodeidah ceasefire average, citing 164 people killed in Hajjah and 184 killed in Taiz since the Stockholm Agreement came into effect.

Human Rights-Related Developments

During its 40th session, the Human Rights Council received an oral update on 20 March from the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on the human rights situation in Yemen. Bachelet emphasised that the dire human rights situationmerits attention. Outlining the humanitarian situation, she urged the removal of restrictions on humanitarian supplies.

Women, Peace and Security-Related Developments

On 4 March, the Informal Expert Group on Women, Peace and Security convened a meeting with Council members on the situation in Yemen. Griffiths briefed the expert group by video teleconferencing, joined by experts from his office and the UN Country Team. During the meeting several members asked how to increase the involvement of women in the talks beyond an advisory role to the Special Envoy and in the implementation of the Stockholm agreement, among other issues.

Key Issues and Options

Implementing the Stockholm Agreement remains a key issue. UN officials have regularly highlighted that progress has been impeded by a deep mistrust between the parties. This includes the Houthis concern that measures to redeploy, including de-mining of roads, could make them vulnerable to attack from Yemeni government forces.

Since agreeing to the Phase 1 redeployment arrangements in February, a stumbling block has been the composition of the vaguely worded local security forces that, according to the Hodeidah agreement, are to take over security responsibilitiesan issue that the sides had agreed to work out later. The Yemeni government, however, subsequently insisted on resolving this question and wanted these to be its own police. By the 13 March consultations, the Houthis were apparently objecting to a proposal for addressing the matter.

Another issue is how much longer the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, which backs the Yemeni government, will continue waiting for the Hodeidah agreements implementation before possibly resuming a military offensive on the city. Moreover, fighting on other fronts beyond Hodeidah governorate may jeopardise the stalled processes. If the impasse continues, the Council could adopt a presidential statement or a resolution to exert pressure on the parties to follow through on their commitments from Stockholm.

Organising a new round of consultations between the parties on a broader political solution to the conflict has been delayed until the Hodeidah agreement is implemented. Griffiths, however, has noted during recent Council briefings the importance of resuming such talks. Some of the underlying challenges in implementing the Hodeidah agreement represent issues to be worked out in a comprehensive political agreement, and the Council may express support for initiatives to restart peace talks if the Special Envoy seeks to move ahead with a new round of consultations. Upon the parties agreeing on a negotiating framework for a comprehensive political solution, the Council may adopt a resolution endorsing this framework, as Griffiths has proposed.

Despite the de-escalation around Hodeidah since the Stockholm Agreement, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic. More than 24 million people80 percent of the populationrequire aid and 10 million people are at risk of famine. Sustaining access for commercial imports and humanitarian assistance through Hodeidah port and then making sure the goods are distributed throughout Yemen are among the challenges for addressing the crisis.

A looming issue is the risk of instability in southern Yemen, which leaders of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) have said is possible if the STC is not included as a formal participant in peace talks.

Council Dynamics

Members appear united in wanting the parties to fulfil their commitments under the Stockholm Agreement. Kuwait is part of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition and tends to champion coalition positions. It has sought to facilitate political efforts, hosting peace talks in 2016 and providing aircraft to transport the Houthi delegation to the consultations in Sweden in December 2018. Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Peru and Poland have been among members seeking to highlight issues around the humanitarian crisis and international humanitarian law. The US often raises concerns about the role of Iran, which it views as having a destabilising effect on the region.

The UK is the penholder on Yemen. Peru chairs the 2140 Yemen Sanctions Committee. The first sanctions committee mission to the region since its establishment in February 2014 was set to depart at press time.

UN DOCUMENTS ON YEMEN
The family of a man who died by hanging himself while locked up at an Alameda County jail has filed a lawsuit alleging staff there left him alone and without appropriate mental health care even though he was a known suicide risk.

Logan Masterson, 37, had been held in administrative segregation for two days at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin before he died on April 8. He had been booked at the jail four days earlier on suspicion of carjacking and various other crimes, and was placed on suicide watch in a safety cell until the morning of April 6, when he was moved to the segregated cell.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Masterson repeatedly asked for mental health care while he was alone in the segregated cell, but his requests were ignored. Jail staff were supposed to check on him by visual observation once every half hour, but that did not happen, the lawsuit alleges.

Two hours before he died, Masterson flooded his cell by clogging a sink or toilet, according to the lawsuit. He also partially covered the window in his cell door with wet toilet paper. Jail staff responded by turning off the water in his cell but did not otherwise intervene.

He was found dead at 4:29 p.m., an hour after his last welfare check, according to the lawsuit.

There is a significant problem with Santa Rita and the way that theyre providing for inmates, said Elise Sanguinetti, the familys attorney. When (Masterson) was put into custody they knew he was suicidal. And they took him off suicide watch anyway. Within a very short period of time he was found dead.

The defendants were deliberately indifferent to Logan Mastersons medical needs and safety, failed to provide necessary medical or psychiatric care to him or take other measures to prevent him from attempting suicide, violated his civil rights, (and) wrongfully caused his death, the lawsuit states.

Ten individuals are named as defendants, including Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern and several jail guards and other staff members. The county of Alameda is also named.

Masterson was the only inmate to die by suicide while in Alameda County sheriffs custody last year, according to the Sheriffs Office. There were two suicides each in 2017 and 2016, and three in 2015.

Four people overall died while in custody last year, including Masterson; two died by overdose or accident and one of natural causes. Eighty inmates have died since 2005.

Over the last five years its been down-trending, said Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman with the Sheriffs Office. Kelly added that most deaths are natural, and the tally is minimal considering the more than half-million people who came into custody over that 14-year period.

Kelly said he was unable to comment on the lawsuit.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

He said inmates are screened for mental health issues as soon as theyre booked into jail. If an inmate is flagged, jail officials activate whats known as intensive observation, where employees perform visual checks on at-risk inmates twice within every 30-minute period.

We do everything in our power to prevent suicides, Kelly said. We actually interrupt and intervene in a lot of situations where we prevent suicides, but unfortunately some do occur in a short period of time.

Some people, he said, are able to kill themselves in literally a minute or two minutes.

Kelly said the inmates in Alameda County jails arent placed in isolation, where individuals are deprived of any sensory stimulation. Those placed in segregation are still allowed to talk to and have visual contact with others through glass or doors, he said.

In 2016, the family of a man who died by suicide in a San Francisco jail filed a similar lawsuit alleging that county and police officials did not take his mental health needs seriously. Albert Carlos Petrolino, 50, had been taken into custody on July 25, 2015, after he was found intoxicated on the Golden Gate Bridge. He hanged himself in a county jail shower three days later. That case was settled in 2018.

Erin Allday and Megan Cassidy are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ erinallday @meganrcassidy
Former Gov. Jerry Browns days are now filled with drawing water from a well on his rural Colusa County ranch and watching his neighbors cows grazing on the sprawling land.

How different is his new life from that of constant security details and the luxuries of the governors mansion?

It actually feels the same, Brown said to laughter from an audience Thursday night at the Marines Memorial Theatre in San Francisco. I dont sweat the details. I talk to people. I read books. I do stuff, so whats the difference?

Brown and former first lady Anne Gust Brown, in their first public appearance since he left office in January, spoke to more than 500 attendees about the daunting challenges they face living on a self-sustaining farm: installing solar panels for power, collecting water from a well, and tending to an olive tree orchard.

To go to a ranch, you couldnt go to something more extreme, Anne Brown said to her husband. We were in the hubbub, and then we were with some cows, so I found it shocking. I dont think it shocked you ... but youre very zen.

Maybe, she said to laughter from the audience, you dont realize youre not governor anymore.

Theyve become accustomed to unannounced visits from neighbors just wanting to check in on the new couple and their two lively dogs.

Brown said as governor, he spent his days signing or vetoing any number of bills.

Now Im not doing that, but Im still  in my own mind  kind of running things, Brown said, prompting his wife to chuckle.

But the move off the grid came with unforeseen adjustments. The couples security from the California Highway Patrol ceased. They had to buy a car after years of getting escorted. They are enlisting the help of geologists and hydrologists to provide advice on how to restore damaged soil on their ranch. A friendly neighbor stops by once a month out of the goodness of his heart to collect trash, as normal garbage trucks dont pass through the rural community, Anne Brown said.

We have to provide everything for ourselves, she said. Were living a culture that is so different from living in the city. The people out there ... have always had to provide so much for themselves. They also care a lot more and think a lot more about their neighbors.

Gloria Duffy, the president of San Francisco public affairs forum Commonwealth Club, moderated the conversation.

She asked for Browns response to Gov. Gavin Newsoms decisions now that hes taken the helm, such as announcing the states proposed high-speed rail should focus instead on the Central Valley.

Brown largely shied away from making political statements and declined to comment on Newsoms recent decisions  including the choice to suspend the death penalty in California  instead opting to compare the United States railway arteries to those of other countries.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Past governors dont really comment on the current governor, Brown told Duffy. China has committed itself to thousands of miles of high-speed rail. This is not a California problem. This is an American challenge.

Brown said the federal lawmakers must invest in new technology to ensure that future railways and transit systems run on clean, renewable energy to slow down the effects of climate change on the country and its residents.

We gotta get off oil, Brown said. China is becoming the leader in the production of batteries and electric cars. If we dont watch it, well be bailing out the coal industry and in five to seven years, the electric car will be the standard. And it will all be Chinese.

Both the Browns acknowledged their new lives on the farm have reinforced the urgency of making personal and nationwide changes to reduce the impacts of climate change.

The ranch has a past, but it also has a future, because were in the midst of climate change. It could well be that in 10 or 15 years, the place is unlivable. It could just burn up, Jerry Brown said, pointing to the recent dangerous, deadly blazes in Northern California. Climate is serious business. This is a real place, with a real history, and Im building a real future. How are we going to get along with nature? Because were not on very good terms with nature.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
New Siblings, Old Secrets At-home genetic testing turned four strangers into half siblings. But finding their link to each other  a donor at a Bay Area fertility clinic  upended what theyd known about their families

New Siblings, Old Secrets At-home genetic testing turned four strangers into half siblings. But finding their link to each other  a donor at a Bay Area fertility clinic  upended what theyd known about their families

The message was waiting in Karen Meyers Facebook in-box first thing one morning.

Hi, Karen. This is going to be completely out of left field, but Im doing some family research. ... Do you know whether your dad was a sperm donor at Stanford?

Meyer was stunned. Shed never even considered such a thing.

The question had come from Sandra Tofte, a stranger to Meyer. By the end of the day, they would know each other as half sisters, in a new world opened up by the rise in online genealogy.

There were further discoveries for Meyer: another half sister and a half brother. Half nieces and half nephews, cousins of all degrees. An entire web of family that had existed only in shadow.

Over a matter of weeks, genetic testing by Meyer, Tofte and others exposed the decades-old secrets of at least four families  creating new links, answering questions that had long been festering, and in some cases shattering bonds of trust between children and parents.

It felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me, said Meyer, 61, who lives in Portland, Ore., but, like her new siblings, has family roots in Northern California.

Her dad, it turns out, had never told his family he was a sperm donor, but he seems almost certainly to be the biological father of at least three people who were conceived at a private fertility clinic in Palo Alto near Stanford.

Her new half siblings are Tofte, who lives on Bainbridge Island near Seattle; Lori Stone of Redwood City; and Thomas Lesondak, who lived in San Jose for decades before moving to Colorado in March. They are all 55, born within a few months of each other in 1963.

The 1960s were pioneering days in artificial insemination. The practice started in the United States in the 1940s among a handful of discreet doctors, but wouldnt become mainstream until the late 1970s. In those first decades, infertility, especially in men, could be a source of shame, and parents were advised never to tell anyone that the man at the head of the family was not the biological father of his children.

Most doctors didnt keep records of the sperm donors. No one would ever know, they assured their patients.

They couldnt have foreseen that 40 years later, scientists would map the human genome, identifying every gene and the sequences that distinguish one person from another, and that five years after that, people would be able to do genetic testing in their own homes.

They couldnt have known, as well, that social media would make it exponentially easier to make connections with strangers that otherwise would have required years of detective work.

Over the past decade, people have used at-home genetic tests to track down parents who had given them up for adoption. Others who knew they were conceived by sperm or egg donation have sought to find donors who once had been promised anonymity. Identifying donors has become so simple that the days of anonymous donation may already be over, though most fertility clinics still operate under that premise.

The case of these siblings is still unusual, fertility experts say, because its centered around a deeply held deception, bolstered by the social and ethical norms of another generation.

Tell us your story Have you found a long-lost (or never-known) relative through at-home genetic testing? Wed like to hear from you. If you would like to share your story, contact Erin Allday at eallday@sfchronicle.com.

None of them had been seeking information about their biological parents when they did genetic testing. Only one had known that her parents had undergone artificial insemination, and even she hadnt expected to find siblings or the man who donated his sperm.

To learn of their origins well into middle age, after raising their own children  and after most of their parents have died  has been disconcerting for all of them to varying degrees.

Fertility medicine isnt practiced that way anymore, experts say. Research has found that adults who learned their parents were not biologically related struggled with issues around identity and trust. Now, parents seeking artificial insemination are counseled to be transparent.

Research tells us its best for children to find out about sperm or egg donation before age 7. Then theres no jarring moment of discovery, its just something that they grow up and make sense of over time, said Lauri Pasch, a psychologist with the UCSF Center for Reproductive Health who counsels people on infertility and family building.

Otherwise they have anger, resentment. Theres a feeling of mistrust and deceit, Pasch said. It can be very jarring to ones sense of self.

Dr. Roy Cauwet started his obstetrics and gynecology practice in 1956 near Stanford, where hed gone to medical school, and seems likely to have started offering artificial insemination around that time. The donors Cauwet recruited were almost always Stanford medical students or young lecturers  a selling point for many families he treated.

Shortly before Cauwet died in 2014, a man contacted him to ask about the identity of a particular sperm donor, said one of Cauwets daughters, Marianne Dugoni. But her father had no records to share and wasnt able to help. She said Cauwet took great pride in the children he helped bring into the world.

My dad was one of the pioneers in infertility, Dugoni said. There are a lot of babies because of him. A lot of happy families.

In the 1950s, Toftes parents were living in Monterey and unable to have children when a doctor referred them to Cauwet more than 80 miles away. They had their first child in 1959, then returned to Cauwet and had Tofte four years later.

Tofte learned all this four years ago, when her mother was dying and suffering from dementia and revealed she had undergone artificial insemination. A few months later, her father said the story was true and that he was not her biological parent.

Why didnt you tell us? Tofte asked him. He responded, It just never came up.

In 2015, not long after her parents had confessed, Tofte and her sister took genetic tests with the company 23andMe and learned they were only half sisters.

Tofte looked more closely at the report only this year. Genetic testing results sometimes include the names of people who may be related, often distant cousins. Tofte noticed a new name on her report, Simon Puckett, listed as a possible first cousin. She didnt recognize his name, and that struck her as odd  surely if they were that closely related, she should know him.

She contacted Puckett through Facebook. Tofte mentioned that her parents had gone to a clinic near Stanford for fertility treatment; Puckett said he thought his grandmother might have gone there, too. He connected Tofte with his mother, Lori Stone, on Jan. 26.

They quickly figured out that both of their mothers had seen Cauwet for fertility issues  and that theyd been born within two months of each other. Next they swapped photos, and the similarities were striking: same coloring, same nose, same almond-shaped eyes. Tofte thought they looked more alike than the sister shed been raised with.

Tofte and Stone realized they were probably half siblings. Stones son wasnt Toftes cousin, but her half nephew.

Stone had already done genetic testing through the company AncestryDNA, but hadnt yet gotten her results. They arrived in mid-February, and though Stone couldnt use them to connect herself to Tofte  different genetic testing companies use different techniques for analyzing DNA that cant be compared  she did find yet another mysterious close relative, a young woman in Morgan Hill.

Stone reached out to Caitlin Souza and asked the pertinent questions: Had anyone in Souzas family undergone fertility treatment near Stanford? Were there questions about paternity?

Souza answered yes and told them about her father, Thomas Lesondak. His parents had been treated for infertility by a Stanford doctor. Rumors had long swirled in the family around her grandfather and the paternity of his children. Lesondak had been born a few months before Stone and Tofte, and almost certainly was their half brother, making Souza their half niece.

On March 1, Tofte flew to the Bay Area. The three presumed siblings  plus Souza and Stones mother  met at a Chinese restaurant in Los Altos. Stones mother couldnt stop staring at her daughter and Tofte. The physical resemblance was less obvious with Lesondak. But, Souza said, Sandra, my dad and I have the exact same cowlick.

The natural next step was to try to track down the sperm donor. That proved more challenging.

They contacted Cauwets family, who said that if hed ever kept records, they were long gone. Stone went to Stanford to look at photos of medical school students from the time theyd been conceived, in the far-fetched hope that one of them would look familiar. None did.

The breakthrough came when Souza contacted Elaine Dependahl of San Jose, a woman who was on her list of possible relatives on AncestryDNA. Dependahl, fueled by an intense interest in genealogy, had compiled a roster of hundreds of relatives going back several generations.

Souza told Dependahl about her father and his possible half sisters. She explained they were looking for the sperm donor and that he probably would have been a medical student at Stanford in the early 1960s. Dependahl said only one man in her extended family tree would fit those criteria.

Souza passed the name to Stone and Tofte, who took to Google to learn everything they could about him. Hed died in 2008, and they found an obituary that listed his surviving family  including a daughter named Karen Meyer.

Tofte sent the message by Facebook on March 9, just six weeks after shed first made contact with Stone. Meyer confirmed that her father had been a Stanford medical school student in 1962. Hed studied obstetrics and gynecology, which made it possible that he interacted with a doctor doing pioneering work in fertility medicine.

By coincidence, Meyer had done a genetic test through 23andMe a few weeks before. On Tuesday, she got her results: Tofte was a likely half sister.

The rapid unspooling of their shared family history has hit each sibling  and the extended families  in disparate and unpredictable ways.

Tofte has been mostly unruffled. Learning that her parents lied to her was hard, and she asked herself, Did everybody know and dupe me my entire life? But the man who raised her was still her father, she said, and the new information didnt change that.

Souza said her father is slowly digesting each revelation as it comes and hes enjoyed meeting his new siblings, but he hasnt wanted to explore the consequences too deeply. Lesondak declined to be interviewed.

Ive been very excited about all of this, staying up all night researching, Souza said. But I think it takes him a little time to get used to each piece of information.

Meyer spent a day feeling protective and jealous, recoiling at the thought of sharing her father with these strangers. But she came around quickly and realized shed had a lifetime with him. She figured hed want her to be generous with the children he never knew.

She asked that his name be kept private, because hed always assumed he would remain anonymous. But she thinks of her new half siblings as his encore children. She thinks he would have been proud of them.

Stone has struggled more than the others. She never had a clue that the man who raised her was not her biological father. Now, her origin story has changed. In her mind, she was made in a doctors office, not conceived of love. That awareness has shifted her world perspective. Her very identity is askew, she said.

We were brought into this world disconnected from our biological parent or parents. I look at artificial insemination as doctors playing God a little bit, and thats a weird thing, Stone said. Maybe it would feel different if youre told when youre young.

But perhaps more upsetting are the decades of lying that now define her relationships with her parents, Stone said. Her father, who died in 2013, was a secretive man.

Its easy for me to believe he was deceptive about her origins, she said. But that her mother had lied was disappointing.

Even after Stone talked to Tofte and they worked out they were probably half sisters, Stones mother continued to deny that shed undergone artificial insemination. She was deeply committed to the old secret. If donor sperm had been used, she insisted, she hadnt been told.

Lori Stone smiles at her dog, Reese, while working at a sewing machine at her home in Redwood City, Calif. Thursday, March 21, 2019. Lori Stone smiles at her dog, Reese, while working at a sewing machine at her home in Redwood City, Calif. Thursday, March 21, 2019. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close New siblings, old secrets: DNA links 4 strangers through Bay Area fertility clinic 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

Finally, in mid-March, Stones mother gave in and confirmed the whole story.

I dont really know whats going to happen with my family, to be honest. This is a big thing, Stone said. As things are, I cant really move forward in the old way. And I dont know what the new way is yet.

As it stands, Tofte, Stone and Meyer have confirmed by genetic testing that they are almost certainly half sisters. Lesondak has not yet taken any genetic tests, but the links theyve identified so far have them convinced hes also their half sibling.

All four siblings dont yet have plans to meet. For now, they continue to exchange old photos, to gently get to know one another over phone calls and texts and emails.

Meyer said shell be in Seattle in a couple of months and may meet Tofte then. She and her husband will celebrate their 40th anniversary in San Francisco in August; she may see Stone while shes here.

Meyer was raised with a brother and sister. They have, so far, expressed no interest in meeting their new half brother and half sisters, she said. Shes not pressuring them. Shes still not sure how she feels about these people who are strangers, and yet are not.

Its premature to say theyre family, because we dont have that relationship established yet, Meyer said. Well see where the road goes.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday
Courtesy photo/Hercules PD

Authorities on Thursday were searching for a 2-year-old child who is believed to be with her mother, who police described as having a medical condition that puts the daughter at risk.

The woman and toddler were reported missing by the womans aunt on Tuesday from a home on the 1900 block of Lupine Road in Hercules. They may be in a black 2005 Honda CRV with a California license plate: 5MAX512.
In a little over a week, a coalition of San Francisco residents raised more than $50,000 in an effort to block a new Navigation Center proposed for construction along the Embarcadero.

Its creators attracted generous  often anonymous  donors, but also ridicule from critics who said the group is attempting to thwart badly needed aid for homeless people.

Now a rival fundraiser is hoping to counter the coalitions efforts, raising money to support the advocacy group Coalition on Homelessness and any of the Navigation Centers potential legal hurdles.

By 8:15 p.m. Thursday, the rival group had raised more than $21,000 from nearly 300 people, many of them donating $20 to $50. It also got one notable high-dollar donor: Just hours after the site went live on GoFundMe, the GoFundMe team itself donated $5,000.

The pro-Navigation Centers GoFundMe page is called SAFER Embarcadero For ALL, a play off its anti-center counterpart, Safe Embarcadero for All.

William Fitzgerald, the creator of the Safer page, said he was disappointed but not surprised to see wealthy residents fight a shelter in their neighborhood.

It was kind of brazen, Fitzgerald said. Theyre (trying to stop) a shelter in the neighborhood, and these are the same people who complain about homelessness all the time.

Fitzgerald said he drew inspiration from another GoFundMe page that was created to counter a group raising funds for a border wall. The group, Ladders to Get Over Trumps wall, raised money for immigrants seeking legal asylum.

Those opposed to the 200-bed center, which is proposed for Seawall Lot 330 near the Bay Bridge, say it will threaten the health and safety of the community. A group founder did not return a call and message for comment.

Rob Solomon, the chief executive officer of GoFundMe of Redwood City, explained why it granted a donation to the rival group: I dont think the tech industry is doing enough about the homeless issue. We wanted to do our small part, even though were not located in San Francisco.

When asked about the Safe page, Solomon explained that the company offers an open platform, and it may disagree with the philosophy of an individual fundraiser.

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I think in some ways its abhorrent, he said of the efforts to block the shelter. But as the keeper of the platform, Im really glad that theres a counter-campaign.

Solomon said the $5,000 is separate from GoFundMes Gives Back program, in which the company donates more than $100,000 per month to campaigns nominated by employees.

Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of Coalition on Homelessness, said the group will use the funds to help with public education, to get input on the Navigation Center, and to de-stigmatize the population.

You kind of have to move through the misinformation, the fear, the class bias, and try to get everyone on the same page fighting for a solution, she said.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the amount of money GoFundMe donates through its Gives Back program.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

A cabin odor diverted a San Francisco-bound flight to the Washington, D.C., area on Friday morning and seven passengers were taken to the hospital, officials said.

United Airlines flight 1675 left Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport at 6:36 a.m., and the plane was expected to arrive at San Francisco International Airport at 9:45 a.m. Pacific. The flight was forced to change course and land at Dulles International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington less than 10 minutes after taking off, because of the strong odor, the airline said in a statement.
Its surely the rare San Francisco city employee who has a nickname bestowed by residents and especially rare that the nickname is an affectionate one and doesnt contain a single four-letter word.

But to scores of city residents, Shirin Oloumi is known reverentially as the Queen of Car Break-ins. No, its not because she smashes car windows and swipes backpacks with abandon. Its because she prosecutes the guys who do.

If you break into a car in San Francisco and, in a small miracle, police arrest you  it happens less than 2 percent of the time  Oloumi will know about it. Every car break-in arrest crosses her desk at the Hall of Justice, and shes the one in the district attorneys office who decides whether to charge it as a crime.

She works with police to strengthen their cases. She works with neighborhood groups fed up with incessant property crime. She knows the case law inside and out. She knows all the repeat offenders, who tend to work in organized gangs, and how theyre connected. She handles the most serious cases herself, taking them before a judge.

Its a distinct unit, in that Im the unit, she said with a laugh, shrugging off her nickname. Anybody in that position would have been called that, Im sure. King or queen.

When District Attorney George Gascon created an auto burglary unit in early 2015, he tapped Oloumi for the position.

Shes passionate, detail-oriented and dedicated, Gascon said. She also gets results.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle 2018

The numbers bear him out. In 2014, the year before Oloumi took the job, the district attorneys office prosecuted 73 percent of auto burglary arrests. Last year, that number rose to 82 percent.

San Franciscos car break-in epidemic reached its peak in 2017 when more than 31,000 incidents were reported to police, and puddles of shattered glass were as familiar as fog and seagulls. Probably because of a mix of factors  including increased prosecution, heightened media attention and the citys public awareness campaigns about leaving nothing in cars  the frequency of the crime is down significantly.

Last year saw a 17 percent reduction in reports of car break-ins compared with 2017. Police statistics show 3,581 car break-ins reported in the first two months of this year, down 21 percent from the same time period last year and down 30 percent from the same time period in 2017.

The last couple of years, we as a community have done a great job, said Oloumi, 33. Ive done my best to shine a light on these crimes and why they matter. I think the Police Department has too.

It wasnt long ago that many San Franciscans thought City Hall and the Hall of Justice didnt care a lick about car break-ins. And they were right. Nobody did much about the citys property crime epidemic because, hey, at least they werent violent crimes.

But sometimes they were. There was the repeat car break-in assailant who tossed a Chihuahua she found in a car from a seven-story parking garage, killing the animal. There were the car break-in suspects who tried to run over an undercover police officer at Alamo Square.

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2019

Last year, I told you about Deshawn Patton, a prolific auto burglar who once rammed a police car with officers inside and another time slammed into a mans car, sending him to the hospital for several days.

Oloumi took Pattons case before a grand jury, which indicted him on 20 counts including 11 felonies. He was sentenced to four years in state prison last fall, with Oloumi wrapping up the case just 10 days before going on maternity leave.

Oloumi also charged Delon Barker, the man who smashed a window and swiped a backpack on Lombard Street in full view of me and a Chronicle photographer last year. He got away after that incident, but was arrested after being identified as the man who broke into more cars in Vacaville and, with two other men, led police on a high-speech chase down Interstate 80. In December, a San Francisco judge at a preliminary hearing held him over for trial. Hes due back in court April 18.

Especially with certain people who do car burglaries as almost their job, they have a very, very high interest in not getting caught, Oloumi said. It can turn dangerous, which is why we should take these crimes more seriously.

She knows the drill very well. The men work in groups  a driver, a lookout and somebody to break the window and swipe the goods. Theyre especially interested in Apple products, including iPads and MacBooks, which can fetch $300 or more at Seventh and Market streets. They have their preferred fencer, whisk the electronics to him and ditch everything else.

Its a very quick transaction, and theyre on their way with cash, Oloumi said.

Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle

Oloumi is taking a year off and plans to return to the Hall of Justice this fall. I met her the other day at her home in Oakland where she was taking care of her baby girl and her dog, Bandit. Its an unusual name for the pup of a woman who prosecutes thieves, but her husband, a private attorney, named the dog before they married.

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Oloumi, a Southern California native, majored in English literature at UCLA before attending law school at Hastings. She wanted to work at the public defenders office, but her application was routed to the district attorneys office instead. Shes worked there for the past seven years.

I really like it, she said. You get to be a part of the worst moments of some peoples lives. If you can make it a little bit better, I think thats a worthy cause.

Fans of the Queen of Car Break-ins say she does make life better for San Franciscans.

Joel Engardio is vice president of Stop Crime SF, a group of 500 city residents determined to see a drop in property crime. The group runs the Court Watch program, keeping in touch with Oloumi about important cases and sending volunteers to hearings so judges can see that residents are paying attention.

Engardio said other assistant district attorneys might dismiss the Court Watch crew as troublemakers or even cranks, but Oloumi sees them as partners in pushing the city to take property crime seriously.

A lot of our volunteers consider her a hero, he said. Often crime victims dont feel heard or supported in San Francisco, but when you see Shirin there being so tenacious and being an advocate for the people, that goes a long way.

Oloumi said shes tenacious because no city should tolerate rampant car break-ins. Not only can they turn violent, but the items taken may be trash to the thieves but invaluable to the owner.

Remember the ashes of a deceased man stolen from his relatives car? Or a mans prosthetic arm taken in February?

Part of my job is to impress upon judges that these crimes still matter, Oloumi said. Not just for the victims, but to the people of San Francisco.

Thanks, Queen. You rule.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight normally appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2018

PG&E Corp. has once again pushed back its deadline to nominate candidates for its board of directors, further prolonging efforts to bring in new leadership after Gov. Gavin Newsom intensely criticized the companys plans.

PG&E wants to replace at least half of its current board, and the utility said Friday that it is moving the nomination deadline  which had been Friday at 8 p.m.  to Monday. The new board members will play a pivotal role in guiding the company during the bankruptcy process. The company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization two months ago because of its looming wildfire liabilities.
The Alameda County district attorneys office on Friday charged a man who police said owned a firearm that was used to shoot a child in the head.

Terrence Leavell Wilson, 37, faces three counts of child abuse, possession of a firearm by a felon and first degree criminal firearm storage, according to court documents.

Oakland police officers responded at 2:02 p.m. Wednesday to a report of a child with a gunshot wound at 2433 Ritchie Street, where Wilson and his girlfriend Brijjanna Price live.

There, investigators found the child suffering from a gunshot wound and a firearm on the bedpost next to him.

Police have not determined who fired the gun, but a family member told The Chronicle the boy shot himself. He was in critical but stable condition as of Thursday, police said.

At the time of the shooting, the boy had been watching television alone in a bedroom, Price told investigators. She was released after police interviewed her.

Wilson was playing video games in the living room when the gun went off, the documents said. He told police he did not realize the child was in the bedroom.

The defendant allegedly slept with the firearm under his pillow the night before and forgot it was there when he woke up to take his children to school, according to court documents.

Wilson was familiar with trigger locks for the firearm but did not use them on this firearm as he had recently lost the keys to the device, Sgt. Bradley Baker, of the Oakland Police Department, wrote in a sworn declaration.

He said he bought the firearm off the street in San Francisco two weeks prior, and was aware he was prohibited from having a firearm due to his criminal record.

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The gun recovered from the home had been reported stolen, police said.

Prosecutors said the defendant had prior felony convictions in 2003 for burglary, grand theft, insurance fraud and conspiracy in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.

Wilson was booked Wednesday night into Santa Rita Jail on $180,000 bail but is presently out of custody, according to jail records. He is set to be arraigned Friday afternoon.

Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu
A former Fremont Fire Department captain was charged with 10 counts of sexually assaulting a child on Tuesday in Contra Costa County court, authorities said.

Gerald Norman Fogel, 58, allegedly committed multiple lewd acts on a girl under 14 years old between August 2000 and August 2003, according to the Contra Costa County district attorneys office.

The former fire captain was arrested at his home in Foresthill (Placer County) on March 27, according to the Placer County Sheriffs Office.

We do know he was a firefighter at the time of the alleged sexual assaults, said Scott Alonso, a Contra Costa County district attorneys office spokesman.

Prosecutors said Fogel lived in Contra Costa County at the time of the alleged assaults. He was employed with the Foresthill Fire Protection District from August 2014 to November 2016, when he was released from duty, the agency said.

Fogel worked at the Fremont Fire Department from 1985 to 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He was booked into Contra Costa County jail on $1 million bail, but he has since been released, according to the Sheriffs Office.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Fogel, the Fremont Fire Department and the Foresthill Fire Protection District did not immediately respond to requests for more information.

Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu
Alameda County prosecutors filed two felony charges Thursday against a suspect accused of striking an Oakland motorcycle cop with his vehicle and fleeing the scene.

Clayton Freeman, 28, is charged with felony counts of assault on a peace officer and vandalism in connection to the incident that occurred just after 11 a.m. Tuesday when the police officer stopped Freeman.

The officer, Natalie Windham, pulled over Freeman on the 2400 block of Havenscourt Boulevard for speeding and failing to stop at a stop sign, police said.

Windham approached Freemans drivers window and asked for identification, according to probable cause documents. Police said Freeman delayed providing his information then suddenly reversed his vehicle and struck the officers ankle.

Freeman then struck Windhams motorcycle, pushing it back about 10 to 15 feet, according to police records.

Police said Freeman fled the scene at a high rate of speed, heading northbound on Havenscourt. Windham reported the incident to dispatch, providing a description of the suspect and his vehicle.

The officer was treated at a hospital.

Hours after the incident, Oakland and San Leandro officers arrested Freeman.

Freeman had an outstanding warrant for grand theft and other charges, according to police. He fully confessed to the incident, police said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Freeman is held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on a $75,000 bail. His next scheduled court appearance is April 4.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
A teenager who was shot this week in San Franciscos Mission District has died while his alleged killer remains in custody in Southern California after fleeing the city and being shot by law enforcement, officials said Friday.

Taiepisi Gutu died at San Francisco General Hospital after being shot Monday afternoon inside the CitiCenter building on the 200 block of 13th Street, officials said.

Gutu was shot on his 19th birthday, records show.

Gutu was a student at Downtown High School. Officials with San Francisco Unified School District said the school has been in contact with his family and it is providing support services to students and faculty.

Gutus alleged killer, identified as 20-year-old Hakim Oden, fled the scene in a Silver Ford Focus and was spotted by a license-plate reader Monday night in Riverside County near the Arizona Border, authorities said.

California Highway Patrol officers shot Oden during an encounter outside the town of Blythe around 3:10 a.m. Tuesday and he was taken into custody. His condition was not released. No officers were injured in the incident.

Jail records show Oden is in the Riverside County Sheriffs Departments custody and hes being held on suspicion of attempted murder and other charges.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Both men have histories of strong-arm robberies in San Francisco and were out of custody while their cases were pending. Police did not elaborate on a possible motive for Mondays shooting.

Oden was charged in a 2016 robbery in the Tenderloin and Gutu was charged for a high-profile attack in January on a Chinese bakery owner in the Mission.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
The IPOs are coming! The IPOs are coming!

So if youre not already armed with millions of dollars and a debt-free home, youd better run.

Thats the generally accepted story traveling around San Francisco these days.

The panic is understandable. Lyft went public on Friday and started trading at $87.24 per share, for a valuation of $25 billion. Ubers initial public offering, expected to be the biggest of the year, could net the company up to $120 billion. Itll land in just a few weeks. Pinterest, valued near $12 billion, has filed for an IPO in April. Slack is on tap for later this year.

Coming after a long, dry spell for tech IPOs (the last truly enormous one was Facebook in 2012), it definitely looks like were about to get hit with a tsunami of the tech money thats already gentrified our neighborhoods, homogenized our economy and subjected every aspect of our lives to a relentless circle of surveillance and optimization.

Its an overwhelming prospect, and people are running to their various barricades. Real estate agents are crowing about a market where all the homes cost more than $1 million. San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar is calling for an impact hearing. The last dregs of the citys middle class are firming up their escape plans  with 44 percent of residents planning to move out of the Bay Area in the next few years, according to the latest Silicon Valley Leadership Group poll.

But what if I told you things arent going to be much worse than they already are?

Dont get your economic perspective from real estate agents unless you enjoy living in a state of terror. If you want to have a cold, hard understanding of what were facing, ask the economists who actually work with IPO data.

Their conclusion? Things cant get much worse.

There are a lot of conflicting factors with a situation like this, said Jay Ritter, a professor of finance at the University of Florida who has studied initial public offerings for 40 years. First, not everyone cashes out at once. Second, the higher housing prices go, the more pressure there is for companies to move their employees elsewhere. Third, most people who dont work within these companies dont realize that not everyone working there is going to be earning huge amounts from these events.

That last factor is interesting.

Tech employees want to believe theyre going to strike gold with an IPO. In fact, plenty of them even accept lower wages to work at a startup in the hope that theyll eventually get a big payout.

Now theyre about to remember that we live under capitalism. The people who are likeliest to get rich in an IPO are the same ones who always get rich: the people who are already at the top. Those are the firms founders and venture capitalists who gave them money. Labor  even highly paid engineering labor  isnt on the list.

Its rare to see anyone other than venture capitalists or top executives (receive) more than 5 percent (of a companys equity) in the S-1 filings, said Michael Ewens, an associate professor of finance and entrepreneurship at the California Institute of Technology, referring to the registration companies must make with the Securities and Exchange Commission before going public.

These people have already bought their luxury properties in San Francisco. Thats part of the reason why three recent studies found that while IPOs do raise home prices near company headquarters, its only by about 1 percent.

Everyone who is likely to get a smaller payout will adjust expectations accordingly.

Say youre a non-founder, non-executive employee  you might get 0.5 percent or 0.75 percent of the company, Ewens said. With a $1 billion company, thats still $5 (million) to $7.5 million.

Thats an insane amount of money, of course. But consider that the median value for a house in San Francisco is already $1.37 million. Many of those cashing out with less than $10 million are going to look elsewhere. The city that really needs to be worried about next years housing prices is Oakland.

Then theres the fact that not everyone who contributed to these companies is going to cash out at all.

Say you were fortunate enough to be an early employee. Even then, what kind of bargaining position were you in? Ritter said. A secretary probably wasnt getting a lot of stock options. If you were an engineer with lots of AI experience, you were probably in a good bargaining position. But the idea that every employee was in this position is not true.

One of the more interesting wrinkles about the latest rash of IPOs is how many tech workers are developing self-awareness about the fact that even they cant afford life here.

Silicon Valleys burgeoning labor movement is sweeping up engineers for the first time. Last fall, the cloud-software company Lanetix paid $775,000 to 15 engineers the company had fired after they organized a union drive at their workplace.

Uber was abuzz this week after an anonymous employee posted a rousing defense of drivers strikes and noted the similarities between their situations. As tech workers, we share more in common with the drivers that support the platform than the company executives, wrote the employee in a Wednesday post on Medium.

The upshot?

Yes, things are going to get a bit worse due to IPO-mania, but only because they were already so bad.

Meanwhile, theres still time to raise a ruckus, and not as many people are going to get rich as youve been led to believe.

Heck, the way things are going, some of these tech workers may be on the barricades themselves instead of ringing the Wall Street bell.

Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cmillner@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@caillemillner
Thomas Keller opens a high-profile Mexican restaurant. The first black-owned food business debuts in San Franciscos Ferry Building. A New York burger chain becomes the talk of Marin.

Restaurant activity in the Bay Area is traditionally slow during the first three months of the year, but not in 2019. Notable ventures have come to life at a blistering pace since January. Here are 17 newcomers worth knowing:

Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle

La Calenda: 6518 Washington St., Yountville

Thomas Kellers Yountville Mexican restaurant, La Calenda, was big news in the food world months before it quietly opened in January. Billed early on as a taqueria focusing on Oaxacan cuisine, the kitchen has proven itself worthy of praise, or as Chronicle critic Soleil Ho put it: La Calenda is cultural appropriation done right.

Justin Phillips

Brown Sugar Kitchen: 1 Ferry Building, Suite 41, San Francisco

Brown Sugar Kitchen: 2295 Broadway, Oakland

Tanya Holland double-dipped this quarter with two new soul food spots: Brown Sugar Kitchen at the San Francisco Ferry Building and Brown Sugar Kitchen in Uptown Oakland, both of which opened in February. Holland says the two new outposts are her early steps toward creating a national soul food empire.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Moongate Lounge: 28 Waverly Place, San Francisco

Brandon Jew expanded his reach in San Franciscos Chinatown with the ambitious Moongate Lounge upstairs from Mister Jius. The spacious lounge fills the former banquet space of predecessor Four Seas. Moongate debuted in March with cocktails and a compact food menu of char siu buns and salt and pepper squid, among other things.

The Butcher Shop by Niku Steakhouse: 57 Division St., San Francisco

Niku Steakhouse: 61 Division St., San Francisco

Udon Time: 55 Division St., San Francisco

The Omakase Restaurant Group debuted a three-part mega project in San Franciscos Design District  the Butcher Shop by Niku Steakhouse, which specializes in kobe beef, the high-end Japanese-inspired Niku Steakhouse and fast-casual Udon Time, a noodle shop. The project made a rolling debut between January and February.

Sfo

Manufactory Food Hall: San Francisco International Airport, Terminal 1

Manufactory Food Hall, a 3,241-square-foot market space at the San Francisco International Airport, opened in January at Boarding Area A in the International Terminal. Anchored by some of the regions brightest culinary talent, including Pim Techamuanvivit of Kin Khao, Gabriela Camara of Cala and Elisabeth Prueitt, who runs the Tartine empire with husband Chad Robertson, the food hall has a focus on quick bites and grab-and-go stations.

Soleil Ho

Shake Shack: 1401 Larkspur Landing Circle, Larkspur

The New York burger chain opened a new location in Larkspur in March, only a few months after landing in Palo Alto and attracting more than 1,200 people to its first day of service in December. The Larkspur opening was tame, by comparison, with only a few dozen people in line at a time. Shake Shack also has plans to open in San Francisco.

The Slanted Door Group/

Slanted Door: 6000 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon

Slanted Door, the critically acclaimed modern Vietnamese restaurant, opened its first East Bay location at the City Center Bishop Ranch in San Ramon in January. The restaurant is notably spacious, sprawling across 7,500 square feet with a 200-seat dining room, bar area and chefs counter.

Palette

Palette: 816 Folsom St., San Francisco

Part art gallery. Part retail store. Part restaurant. Palette, one of a unique addition to the city's dining scene, opened in March in the former Lulu space in SoMa. The location is just a temporary home for Palette while its permanent space at 155 12th St. remains under construction.

Paul Chinn / The Chronicle

Verjus: 528 Washington St., San Francisco

Michael and Lindsay Tusk of Quince and Cotogna opened Verjus in January as a European-style wine bar, with a focus on natural wines. Upon its debut, the space featured around 400 wines and a counter area where patrons could dine on imported tins of anchovies, mackerel and tuna.

Justin Phillips

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Noosh: 2001 Fillmore St., San Francisco

The Middle East-influenced Pacific Heights restaurant Noosh garnered attention for its use of new restaurant technology when it opened in March. But at its core, the restaurant is an ambitious brick-and-mortar iteration of Laura and Sayat Ozyilmazs successful Istanbul Modern pop-up, which was praised for its boundary-pushing menus.

Justin Phillips

Beit Rima: 138 Church St., San Francisco

Samir Mogannam, the son of the founder of local burger chain Burgermeister, opened this casual Arabic food restaurant on Church Street in February. It was a debut that flew under the radar in San Francisco, despite Mogannam being an industry veteran with experience at places like Aziza, Tawla and Dyafa.

Justin Phillips

Burma Club: 8 Mint Plaza, San Francisco

Burma Club became the latest addition to the Burma Superstar canon when it opened in March. Spread across three floors of the former Oro restaurant space at 8 Mint Plaza, Burma Club is also the brands most ambitious venture to date.

Remy Hale

Tonys Seafood Restaurant: 18863 Shoreline Hwy, Marshall

After a significant remodel, this historic seafood restaurant in the North Bay town of Marshall reopened to the public in February. The 70-year-old property was taken over by the Hog Island folks in 2017. They fixed floors, painted walls and replaced tabletops, but kept the shops old school charm. The old crab cooker remains in front of the restaurant.

Sarah Felker

Fiorella: 2238 Polk St., San Francisco

The Richmond Districts popular Fiorella pizzeria opened a new location in Russian Hill on Polk Street in March, its second such outpost in the city. The new spot has calzones, more housemade charcuterie options and a few new pastas on the menu, among other things.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
Marco Senghor, the owner of San Franciscos Bissap Baobab, plead guilty on Thursday to a felony charge of making a false claim or statement involving an immigration document.

The guilty plea, which was part of the terms of an agreement between Senghors legal team and the prosecution, carries with it a maximum 10-year prison sentence, as well as potential immigration consequences, such as deportation.

Senghor was originally charged on Aug. 1 with multiple felonies, including procurement of citizenship for a person not entitled to citizenship and procurement of citizenship contrary to law. He pleaded not guilty on Aug. 2 and was released on $50,000 bail.

This month, the U.S. Attorneys Office filed superseding information that consisted of only one charge  making a false claim or statement involving an immigration document. (The filing was first reported by Mission Local.)

Senghor arrived to the U.S. from Senegal in 1989 and became a U.S. permanent resident and, ultimately, a naturalized citizen. Little Bissap Baobab opened its doors in 1996, quickly becoming an integral part of San Franciscos Mission District. In subsequent years, his business expanded into the larger space next door on 19th Street.

In a hearing on Thursday afternoon, the prosecution laid bare the following details of its case: Senghor married a U.S. citizen in April 2000, but, according to the prosecution, he had never met her prior to the wedding ceremony and had no contact with her after. Senghor was also accused of falsely claiming on his immigration filings that he lived with the woman between 1999 and 2003.

During the hearing, Senghor read a prepared statement in which he said he was naive and gullible in his search for guidance on how to become a legal citizen.

Back then, steeped in West African customs, I looked for a wise uncle and foolishly allowed myself to wind up in the hands of a shady individual, Senghor said.

Presiding over the hearing was U.S. District Judge William Orrick III of San Francisco. In January, Orrick opposed the Trump administrations efforts to withdraw funds from the state and San Francisco over their sanctuary policies.

Senghors sentencing will take place during a hearing in August.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

As for whether this spells the end of Senghors immigration issues, Abraham Simmons, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorneys Office, would not say whether Senghors case is necessarily concluded.

I cannot confirm or deny any pending additional charges or investigations, Simmons said, before adding that charges like what Senghor was facing seemingly disappearing overnight is just something that does not happen in most cases.

As a byproduct of the legal woes, Senghor is selling his Bissap Baobab space on 19th Street in order to pay for his legal fees.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
Consolidates Bank Agreements into a New $350 million Facility



Simplifies Terms, Enhances Flexibility and Extends Maturity to 2024

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- INTERFOR CORPORATION (Interfor or the Company) (TSX: IFP) today announced that it has closed a new and modernized credit facility with a syndicate of major banks co-led by RBC Capital Markets, TD Securities and Wells Fargo.

The new facility will consolidate and replace several existing bank agreements. The major elements of the new agreement include: (i) increasing total availability to $350 million, which represents an increase of approximately $20 million versus the total under the previous credit agreements; (ii) extending the term from 2021 to 2024; (iii) reducing the security package, reporting covenants and certain other restrictions; and (iv) establishing a more favourable fee structure.

Interfor is very pleased to have the support of its long standing lending partners. In particular, we were appreciative of their perspectives and advice as we developed our roadmap for this modernized credit arrangement, said Mike Standbrook, Interfors Vice President and Corporate Treasurer. At December 31, 2018, Interfor had more than $500 million of available liquidity and this new facility will provide the Company with additional flexibility to pursue its strategic agenda.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release contains information and statements that are forward-looking in nature, including, but not limited to, statements containing the words believes, will, should, expects, annualized and similar expressions. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Interfors actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among other things: price volatility, competition, availability and cost of log supply, natural or man-made disasters, currency exchange sensitivity, regulatory changes, allowable annual cut reductions, Aboriginal title and rights claims, potential countervailing and anti-dumping duties, stumpage fee variables and changes, environmental impact and performance, labour disruptions, cyber-security measures, and other factors referenced herein and in Interfors Annual Report available on www.sedar.com and www.interfor.com. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this release are based on Interfors current expectations and beliefs. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. Interfor undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking information or statements, except where required by law.

ABOUT INTERFOR

Interfor is a growth-oriented lumber company with operations in Canada and the United States. The Company has annual production capacity of approximately 3.1 billion board feet and offers one of the most diverse lines of lumber products to customers around the world. For more information about Interfor, visit our website at www.interfor.com.



For further information:

Mike Standbrook

Vice President & Corporate Treasurer

(604) 451-2828
Norwegian English

The Bank's annual report for 2018 is published today, 29 March 2019, on the banks website: https://www.banknorwegian.no/OmOss/InvestorRelations





For further information, please contact:



CEO Tine Wollebekk; phone: +47 40805557



CFO Pal Svenkerud; phone: +47 93403904

Head of Communications and Public Affairs Kai-Morten Terning; phone: +47 90531898





This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

Attachments
If Trump wont, then California will. Thats this states go-to approach with nearly every political challenge from Washington, and now it includes reining in low-performing for-profit colleges that pile on student debt.

The Legislature is weighing seven bills that go the heart of the problem: restoring controls lifted by the Trump administration on a wayward industry that over promises results and leaves low-income students and veterans saddled with tuition bills.

Well known operators such as Corinthian and ITT Tech went out of business in the last decade after a crackdown on student abuses, but the for-profit sector has sprung back. A central reason is friendly treatment from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Transferring her love of charter schools, shes sweeping away Obama-era rules in the name of a free market, and as few rules as possible.

Theres the shell of an argument here. Not every student is college campus material, and others want a trade skill or job ready degree. For-profit schools home in on this desire and have attracted 2.3 million students looking blue collar training, medical lab work or tech skills.

But hard-sell recruiting, unrealistic pitches about future hiring and heavy debts are part of the picture. The market is fueled by billions in federal loans that can go unpaid, leaving taxpayers on the hook and colleges unscathed. For-profits have higher dropout and failure rates than any other higher ed sector. Their students, who are generally low income and with little education, are victimized.

DeVos has turned a blind eye to these problems while dialing back oversight. If its the right fit for the student, then its the right education, she said in a speech on last summer.

Shes sought to drop the so-called gainful employment rule that obliged schools to live up to promises to find jobs for graduates as a remedy to unrealistic promises that recruiters make in luring students to sign up. Enforcement of that rule and others to trim student debt is the heart of reforming the for-profit world.

Erasing the regulations and pouring federal money back into a shady industry is the opposite of worthwhile education policy. It cheats students and taxpayers. Applicants need to know what theyre signing up for and what it will cost.

The intentions of this White House shouldnt be a mystery. DeVos may be a true believer in the benefits of charters and for-profit schools unbounded by rules. But the president has no such philosophic underpinnings. He paid $25 million to settle claims of fraud lodged against the for-proft Trump University. Hes presiding over an industry in which hes already played a shameful role.

California lawmakers have a chance to step in. If the schools want to operate here, theyll need to follow a batch of proposed laws that largely match what existed before.

The sum of seven bills go after the abuses that include overheated sales practices, efforts that target veterans, false promises about future employment and a proviso that allows students to recoup tuition money if a school shuts down. A handful of other states are considering similar bills, a sign that the Trump administrations treatment of the issue isnt sitting well with lawmakers elsewhere.

The most prominent measure in the package may be AB1340 by Assemblyman David Chiu, a San Francisco Democrat. It would oblige colleges to promise jobs in vocational programs that would be in line with debts students rack up. Federal data found 266 programs in the state produced graduates with low income levels and high loan burdens. In effect, these classrooms turn out students who have no chance of paying back their tuition for ill-suited or worthless degrees.

Two others worth highlighting aim to protect veterans and tone down high pressure sales that prey on prospective students who are often low income with spotty educational backgrounds.

A bill by Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Stockton Democrat goes after the government faucet of money flowing to for-profits for ex-service members. Her bill AB1343 would limit the amount the schools could collect in such financial aid. A third bill AB1345 by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, a Sacramento Democrat, would ban recruiting bonuses and quotas used by colleges for their employees.

The proposals can curb problems by an educational industry thats shown it needs oversight. California should take over a job that Trumps failed to do.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
State Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, braved the furor of the internet-inspired anti-vaccine movement a few years ago to carry SB277, a repeal of the personal belief exemption for child vaccinations, to victory.

The anti-vaccination forces threw everything they had at the bill while it was in the state Legislature, and then they tried to recall Pans seat after it passed.

Fortunately, they failed. Inoculation rates in California have risen dramatically, and the only children in California who are currently allowed to start their educational careers without vaccines are those with medical exemptions or those who are schooled at home.

Unfortunately, there are still far too many Californians who refuse to believe the comprehensive scientific evidence in support of vaccinations and are willing to risk the publics health as a result. The number of students entering kindergarten with a medical exemption has tripled since SB277 passed.

Even small increases in the number of unvaccinated children and adults can have big impacts  the Bay Area suffered a small measles outbreak in 2018 that was traced back to families who had managed to avoid immunizing their children, for example.

So Pan has gamely taken on the anti-immunization forces a second time.

Pans new bill, SB276, takes on the problem of fraudulent medical exemptions for vaccinations by directing the state health department to standardize the request process.

Under the bills terms, the state health department would develop a standard medical exemption request form using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on the kinds of medical evidence that indicate vaccinations will pose a danger to a child.

The state would also create a database of current medical exemptions, so those that do not meet the evidentiary standards can be revoked.

Is SB276 intrusive?

Yes, it is.

But whats really intrusive are outbreaks of contagious diseases that could have easily been avoided with responsible parenting and medical practices.

Some schools are reporting that more than 20 percent of their students have a medical exemption, said Pan in a statement. It is clear that a small number of physicians are monetizing their exemption-granting authority and profiting from the sale of medical exemptions.

SB276 tries to balance public health with the needs of families who genuinely need medical exemptions for their children. Therefore, it wont completely solve the problem of fraudulent medical exemptions.

But Pan has correctly identified a threat to public health and taken steps to combat it. For that, he should be applauded. The state Legislature needs to pass SB276.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
The Chronicle

Regarding S.F. e-cigarette rules set double standard for 'sins,' some say (Page 1, March 27): Catherine Hos article about a double standard for tobacco and cannabis raised an issue that is exemplified by San Franciscos proposal to allow events such as Outside Lands to obtain permits to waive the citys laws regulating public smoking.

The rationale that people are going to smoke anyway so we might as well allow it might, perhaps, be understandable for a cannabis festival, but letting other events do this runs counter to San Franciscos pioneering commitment to public health. In fact, if the citys smoke-free laws are made conditional, whats to stop an outdoor cafe from getting a permit to allow smoking of cannabis or even tobacco? Its a slippery slope. Marijuana was legalized with the understanding that steps would be taken to prevent the renormalization of public smoking. Notably, Los Angeles County just strengthened its public smoking ordinances to include cannabis. San Francisco should continue to be a leader in the prevention of involuntary public exposure to secondhand smoke, not in its enablement.
When Pete Buttigiegs Democratic presidential campaign passed through San Francisco in February, he was greeted by a throng that consisted of pretty much me. Plus a radio outfit, a handful of donors and some techies curious about what he would say at the headquarters of the on-demand delivery company, Postmates.

The two most pressing questions then for the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., were: Who is this guy? And, How do you pronounce Buttigieg? (Its BOOT-edge-edge.)

But Thursday night, Buttigieg packed a 300-seat room at the Marines Memorial Club for an onstage interview. Somehow over the past month, Democrats have figured out who Buttigieg is.

Hes the hottest candidate in the Democratic presidential field, CNNs Chris Cillizza said the other day. Dont look now, but a (nother) skinny kid with a funny name is turning heads in the presidential race. In 2008, it was Barack Obama. In 2020, its Pete Buttigieg.

Cillizza wasnt the only D.C. pundit having an Obama flashback over Buttigieg.

The only other time in twelve years that we heard from as many people about a guest was after @BarackObama appeared on Morning Joe, tweeted Morning Joe Scarborough.

Its a little early, however, for Buttigieg fever. At this point, its more like Buttigieg runny nose.

Buttigieg is starting to be noticed, but it could be that the masses are trying to figure out what the Beltway fuss is all about. More people searched for him on Google in the past week than searched for former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren. And nearly as many searched for him as for Beto, which is how people look for former Rep. Beto ORourke.

Key words: searched for. I searched for Antonio Brown several times in the past week, but Im not voting for him for president.

Preview

Yes, Buttigieg is moving up in the polls. Hes gone from zero to 2.2 percent in the latest RealClearPolitics.com amalgamation of major polls  good for seventh place among confirmed and possible Democratic candidates. For perspective, Biden is first at 29 percent, followed by Sanders at 22 percent.

And Buttigieg is starting to raise grassroots money. His campaign says he has met the Democratic National Committees requirement to participate in its first two debates  the bar is receiving donations from 65,000 people in at least 20 states. Thats impressive for a mayor whose city has fewer people than Concord.

All of this attention has come organically, earned over months rather than minutes  in contrast to, say, ORourke, the subject of a Vanity Fair hagiography and nonstop cable news coverage.

Im a little surprised by the pace of it because it happened so swifty, Buttigieg conceded Thursday.

It helps that Buttigieg has made the most of his brief turns in the national spotlight. He comes across as an everyman  he nearly always wears a white shirt, thin tie and no coat, like a guy dressed for his first job interview  and yet speaks with the intellectual gravitas of the Harvard/Oxford grad that he is. Often in complete paragraphs.

He gives a straightforward answer to the question hes asked, said Darrin Brocca, who asked him one Thursday. Most politicians dont do that.

While San Francisco resident Jenifer Shriver is also scoping out Warren, Harris and ORourke, shes leaning toward Buttigieg because hes the freshest face out there. Hes just so well spoken and intelligent and sensible.

Hes an Afghanistan war veteran who married his boyfriend three years ago. Hes managed to be elected twice in deep-red Indiana, though thats not quite as unlikely as it might seem  South Bend is a reliable Democratic outpost. Hes a concert-level pianist, and he taught himself Norwegian so he could read the works of author Erlend Loe, after reading Loes novel, Naive. Super.

He rarely raises his voice to the lectern-pounding volume that Sanders lives in, but he can fire off a decent zinger. During a discussion of how his Christian faith shapes him, he told CNN that his states former governor, Vice President Mike Pence, stopped believing in Scripture when he started believing in Donald Trump. He also called Pence the cheerleader for the porn-star presidency.

After hearing Buttigieg on Thursday, Wicky Mendoza said she finds his approach to be like a soothing parent, who is thinking about all of the different things that could affect you. ... Im from Texas, and Beto gets you all fired up on a guttural level. But this is different. He makes you feel good in a different way.

Yet while hes conversant and thoughtful on the issues, he hasnt put forward his full platform yet. Part of that is because hes officially still in the exploratory phase of his campaign. But mostly, he thinks that too often Democrats lose voters by talking first about policy minutiae.

Shortly before Buttigieg spoke Thursday, the president held a rally in Michigan where he said, Were opening up car plants in Michigan again for the first time in decades. ... And this has been happening pretty much since Ive been president. That is inaccurate. Fiat Chrysler is the only carmaker that plans to open a plant in Michigan, and that is one it planned to reopen before Trump was elected.

It is an illustration of how Buttigieg says Trumps Make America Great Again slogan is insulting to voters, particularly in the industrial Midwest.

There is no such thing as an honest politics that revolves around the word, again, Buttigieg said Thursday. The president is offering  to stop the clock and move backwards. It just doesnt work that way.

But he cautioned that Democrats shouldnt make this election all about him. A lot of voters are going to hear (the anti-Trump rhetoric) and say, Whos talking about me? he said. I think thats what happened in 2016, and it would be a shame if we allowed it to happen again.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
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When you shove off from shore in your canoe or kayak at Kibbee Lake, your first strokes propel you forward on the start of North Americas greatest paddling loop adventure, the Bowron Lakes Circuit.

You might hear a loon calling for a mate with its long, warbling plea. You might see a trout jump, a bald eagle sail overhead and maybe even a moose swimming across the lake.

Ahead is a 75-mile paddling loop linked by 13 lakes, six rivers and seven portages. It is the heartbeat of Bowron Lake Provincial Park, located in the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia, east of Quesnel. The Bowron Lakes Circuit typically takes seven to 10 days to complete. Weve met kayakers who ripped through in three days; seniors in canoes, who take their time to squeeze out every piece of magic along the way, take up to two weeks.

Tom Stienstra / Jeffrey Patty / Special to The Chronicle

The route works its way through lakes large and small, edged by forests where glacier-filled mountain ridges tower on the horizon. The rivers are more like connector links, easy Class I. The portages, once you get past the first day or two, are not difficult.

The loop provides access to some of the most remote wildlands available to paddlers anywhere, with no roads or trails available, and no motors on boats permitted. To reach the starting point, it is a 950-mile drive from San Francisco to Vancouver, British Columbia, another 660 miles (though all the road signs are in kilometers) through Hope and up the Fraser River Canyon to Quesnel, and then 75 miles east (much of it on hard-packed gravel) to Bowron Lakes Provincial Park.

Reservations to paddle the Bowron circuit are available for May 15 through Sept. 29, with 9 a.m. and noon launch times, at www.DiscoverCamping.com. For this years season, there is plenty of space available. This is the opposite of many world-class adventures, such as getting a trailhead date for the John Muir Trail or Mount Whitney, where getting a permit is like searching for a polar bear in the desert.

Portage & paddle

Each paddler is required to take part in an orientation  that is, a video and Q&A with a ranger. There is no cell phone service. Six two-way radios are posted around the circuit and are available to the public for emergencies, and floatplanes can be dispatched for rescues. Otherwise, you are on your own.

Yet the storage space in a canoe allows many luxuries, such as an ax to split firewood (available at woodlots along the circuit), expanded camp kitchens and plenty of food, and lots of rope. Rain is common, and you must have gear that will keep you warm and dry. Restrooms are available at most of the lakes.

The trip begins with a 1-mile portage to Kibbee Lake. This weeds out anybody not ready for the realities of the expedition.

Tom Stienstra / Tom Stienstra / The Chronicle

What we did was load all of our gear in two backpacks and a dry bag, which my pal Jeffrey Patty carried. I portaged the canoe. For this, you learn how to kneel to the side of your canoe, then raise it so the yoke rests on your shoulders, and then stand. My canoe, an Old Town Tripper, weighs 78 pounds, and I would not advise trying to portage heavier boats (such as kayaks with pedal drivers). Lighter rental boats are also available (but they dont always have the capacity for two big guys with plenty of gear), and rangers also allow boaters to use small tow dollies.

The first lake, Kibbee, is small and pretty with a campground at its far end. Most paddlers, eager to get on, make short work of it. You then face a butt-kicker portage, up a hill and down the other side, more than a mile, with canoe rests posted along the way so you can catch your breath. The trail feeds out to the foot of Indianpoint Lake, a gorgeous lake edged by forest, with a series of lakeside campsites.

A third portage then connects Indianpoint to Isaac Lake. Isaac extends ahead for 4 miles, then turns right and spans another 19 miles, long and narrow. Some 20 campsites are sprinkled along its shore, each separate, private and with lake views.

Kibbee, Indianpoint and Isaac are the prettiest lakes of the circuit and also provide the best fishing, views and camping. The best suggestion is to take your time at the start, enjoy these three lakes, get acclimated and enjoy the ride. Once you pass, theres no going back.

Trout, eagles, loons

While we paddle, well keep a fishing rod out and keep a trout or two for dinner. What works best is to troll a No. 12 olive wooly worm, or black Seal Bugger or leech streamer, with no weight; that is, you tie it directly to your line. The water is clear, so I use 6-pound ultra-green line to a black barrel swivel, then a near-invisible 4-pound test fluorocarbon leader. Most of the trout run 12 to 15 inches.

Another trick is to paddle near the shore, not out in open water. The relative motion of your boat near shore makes it feel as if youre going at a good clip and making progress. Thats also where the fishing is best. Out in the middle of a lake, on the other hand, with no relative motion to the shore, even when you paddle hard, it feels as if youre standing still.

From Isaac Lake, a gentle stream pretzels its way through forest to Lanezi Lake. The main hazard here is the chance of encountering a downed tree, called a sweeper, which could pin and dump you and your gear. For those with any experience, they are easily avoided.

Tom Stienstra / Courtesy Bowron Lake Canoe Rentals

You emerge at Lanezi, with four camps on the right shore. Lanezi then connects to Sandy Lake, and most breeze right through to the portage to Babcock Lake and beyond to Spectacle Lake.

As we emerged onto Spectacle, we rounded a point and a momma moose and its calf emerged right next to us, swimming. I scrambled to pull my camera and managed a less-than-stellar photo, yet it was an electrifying surprise. Where else are you going to see something like that?

Beyond, Spectacle Lakes then merges into Swan Lake, where we sighted both loons and a bald eagle. A wider river then pours you into Bowron Lake, for the final paddle back to parking lot.

Many, when they have completed the route, often wish the adventure was not yet over. Most would like another crack at Indianpoint and Isaac Lake. Next thing you know, youll be planning another trip.

Thats because the Bowron Lakes Circuit provides access for a paddling adventure like no other in the world.

Tom Stienstras Outdoor Report can be heard Saturdays on KCBS (740 and 106.9) at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Daily twitter at @StienstraTom
Before 1972, San Franciscos commuters didnt know when their streetcars, buses and cable cars were going to arrive. No other major city in America had that problem, the Chronicle reported at the time.

One rogue Muni driver put a stop to that by printing schedules with his own money, and he almost lost his job over it. Instead, he survived and remained a thorn in Munis side for almost two decades.

Richard Morley was a 28-year-old operator on the J Church streetcar who'd joined Muni two years earlier, in 1970. He grew frustrated by riders complaining to him about unpredictable arrival times. Muni cited a budget shortage for not publishing timetables, but Morley thought it was more about covering up bad service.

I said 'why dont we publish them like across the bay with AC transit?' Morley, 74, recalls now. Theyd say 'oh yeah, they ought to do that,' the proverbial they. I said 'why dont we do it ourselves?'

So Morley, who made $900 a month at the time, kicked in about $250 of his own money, along with some other driver donations, and went to a local womens publishing collective. They printed timetables for select lines including the J Church, N Judah and 33 Ashbury, and passed them out to riders.

ALSO: A peek inside SF's living room: Muni Diaries founders talk about how it all started

Morley followed that up by spending more money on an expanded list of timetables, including the 38 Geary bus. Hed published 6,000 schedules by 1973.

The public loved the schedules and wanted more; Muni wasnt so pleased. For one thing, they exposed Muni to additional rider complaints if a streetcar or bus was late. But Morley added something else to them.

The part that really upset management was that we published telephone numbers of top officials to complain to, including the head of the scheduling department, encouraging them to drop by, Morley said. They were evading responsibility.

Morley faced a disciplinary hearing in August 1973 for two unrelated charges that he says were just fig leaves for firing him over the schedules. One charge was for excessive absenteeism with 52 missed work days from 1972-1973, though Morley says he was forced to take that time off because of relentless migraine headaches.

The other charge was for an unauthorized switchback of his J Church streetcar at 11th Street and Market. Morley said he did this because there were empty streetcars in front of him that shouldnt have been, and unhappy passengers were waiting in the other direction. He said the Muni operator handbook calls for doing exactly what he did.

Morley knew what hed gotten himself into and didnt regret it, but he still worried about losing a well-paying union job. The migraines persisted.

This is when the Chronicle took notice and published a detailed story about Morleys predicament, with the headline Munis Problem Driver.

The Chronicle saved my little ass, Morley says now. People started showing up at the hearings. They had to move it from a small room at City Hall to a larger room.

The senior Public Utilities Commission official who could decide Morleys fate was John Crowley. Three weeks after the first story was published, the Chronicle reported that Crowley had not just kept Morley on the job, but also reduced his suspension from 30 days to 15.

On top of that, Crowley praised Morley for his intelligence, energy and talent, and invited him to take a civil-service exam for a supervisory position.

By this time, Muni was finally printing its own schedules.

ALSO: Should you thank your bus driver? AC Transit bus drivers weigh in

His actions did lead the agency at the time to contract out the production of official public timetables for almost all of the lines, including some in other languages, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said.

Morley partly credits his survival with Muni to the fact that Crowley was a retired brigadier general who was seeing the impact of bad publicity in the Vietnam war: He realized the press was there and he went on the TV news, and realized that oh no, you dont risk a battle if you think youre going to lose.

Morley never tried taking an exam to be in management  I didnt have that kind of ambition. Instead, with his migraines gone, he kept operating streetcars until his next standoff with Muni in 1979 as a cable-car conductor.

This fight wasnt about schedules, but about his clothes.

Morley wanted to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the California Street cable-car line by having Muni outfit conductors with the type of blue, tailored outfits that were worn decades earlier rather than the required yellow-and-brown Muni garb with a green beret that he called baggy and crummy, and that few conductors actually wore.

Chronicle reporter Carl Nolte wrote at the time that the official uniforms made conductors look a bit like paratroopers. But Muni wanted the more affordable outfits, even though Morley said his were made to last longer.

They said 'dont call us, well call you,' Morley says of Muni, and with that he paid $250 to craft his own vintage uniform by converting a Southern Pacific jacket, vest and hat that he picked up at a local outfitter.

This got Morley another disciplinary charge under inattention to duties. When the Chronicle reported the kerfuffle, it quoted Rod Bartholomew, the superintendent of transportation, as saying, Mr. Morley is one of our finest conductors. He added that Morley is not in trouble at this time, but if he keeps doing it he will be in trouble.

To no ones surprise, Morley kept doing it. I see it as good, old-fashioned civil disobedience, he said at the time. He received no formal hearings, and he says he was boosted by the support of legendary Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, who lived near his line.

If all this didnt make Morley enough of a pain in the 1970s, he also was an editor for a trade newspaper for drivers and mechanics that critiqued the working conditions at Muni  That also really set them off, he said.

But he had no major incident with his employer after the cable-car clothing affair for the next 10 years. In 1989 after a final run with for Munis subway lines, he quit at 47 and cashed out his pension. He notes it was the same year the Berlin Wall fell.

Communism was collapsing, and I thought so is this organization," Morley said. The (Mayor) Agnos administration were offering older people pensions to go away. I thought Id take it and run screaming out the door.

Today, Morley spends most of his days at his Noe Valley home with his partner, while they spend their winters in San Diego. He has complimentary things to say about the light rail there. He also has no regrets about his years as Munis problem driver.

I probably would have done the same thing now, he said. There always has been a contrarian in me.
Wanted: Chief executive to clean up radioactive mess. HazMat suit not provided.

Wells Fargo is searching for a leader after CEO Tim Sloan abruptly resigned Thursday, after being hounded by politicians, regulators, customers and employees about the halting efforts to overhaul the scandal-tarred bank.

Wells Fargo, the countrys fourth-largest bank, is starting its chief executive search from scratch. The chairwoman, Betsy Duke, said Thursday that the board would try to recruit an executive from outside, someone without the baggage of being a Wells Fargo veteran.

Identifying a qualified candidate  a person with extensive banking and management experience, the credibility to pacify regulators and the skill to shepherd a company with 260,000 restive employees  will be a challenge. Persuading that person to take the job is likely to be even harder.

While the San Francisco banks finances are fundamentally sound, it faces a daunting list of problems: outstanding litigation, with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line; more than a dozen restrictions imposed by federal regulators; a largely demoralized workforce that is chafing under the banks leadership; and rigorous scrutiny of the banks next leader from high-profile members of Congress.

This is a really hard search, said Jeanne Branthover, a managing partner at the executive search firm DHR International. She added, Not everyone wants to lead something that could wreck their reputation.

Sloans resignation came barely two weeks after he was lashed by congressional lawmakers about a New York Times article detailing the banks persistent problems, including how many employees remain under pressure to hit sales targets. The board of directors has an executive-search committee that will run the recruitment process. The committee was holding its first meeting Friday. An outside adviser to the bank said the search is likely to take at least three months, perhaps much longer.

In the meantime, Wells Fargo will be run by C. Allen Parker, the general counsel. His job will largely entail trying to douse brush fires as they flare up. Most are products of a sales-obsessed Wells Fargo culture, which led employees to open fake accounts for customers, charge them unnecessary fees and sell them unwanted products.

Its been like whack-a-mole at the bank, said Nancy Bush, a longtime industry analyst. The minute one problem gets nailed down, another pops up. Whoever takes over has a whole lot of challenges theyre going to have to get their hands around very fast.

One emerging problem is a federal class-action lawsuit in California that claims Wells Fargo needs to repay more fees that were charged to some customers who took out auto loans. The fees were for a product called guaranteed auto protection, a type of insurance on their car purchases, which some customers have said they were forced to buy in order to get a loan.

Regulators have ordered Wells Fargo to return between $200 and $800 to thousands of borrowers in 11 states, but the California lawsuit claims that the bank should have to repay customers in the other 39 states, too. Many of the customers are low-income and do not even know they are owed money, according to the lawsuit. By some estimates, Wells Fargo could still have to shell out more than $500 million in additional penalties and customer refunds.

The bank is fighting the lawsuit and denies having required any borrowers to buy the auto-protection policy before giving them auto loans.

U.S. regulators, including the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, have 14 legal agreements restricting Wells Fargos activities. The most stringent of those is from the Fed, which early last year took the unusual step of barring the bank from expanding until it improved its culture and strengthened its internal safeguards against fraud and other wrongdoing.

Sloan repeatedly proved too optimistic about his ability to get the Feds order lifted  a task that will now fall to his replacement.

The bank also remains under federal investigation, including for the sales practices in its wealth-management division. This month, Wells Fargo was one of numerous banks to settle claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had tricked clients into buying more expensive investment products.

The bank and its leader are almost certain to remain popular political punching bags, especially as Democrats jostle for publicity in the run-up to the 2020 presidential primaries. When Sloans resignation was announced late Thursday, prominent Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, pounced within minutes.

Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said in an interview Thursday night that she plans to scrutinize Wells Fargos choice to replace Sloan.

What I want to hear is that they are using the fresh set of eyes to take an honest look at where Wells Fargo needs to change, Porter said. Its not going to be quick to change things. I think weve seen that some of the pressure on employees, the nickel-and-diming of consumers, goes very deep.

Would anyone want a job like this?

The banking industry is brimming with self-confident executives.

It would be the capstone of someones career  and they can make a lot of money, said Bert Ely, a banking consultant.

Emily Flitter and Stacy Cowley are New York Times writers.
English French

Completion of the 10-for-1 reverse stock split

Technical change has no impact on value of shares held by shareholders

GKTX ticker on Euronext remains unchanged

ARCHAMPS, France, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genkyotex (Euronext Paris & Brussels: FR0013399474  GKTX), a biopharmaceutical company and the leader in NOX therapies, today announced the completion of its reverse stock split, effective today.

After closing of the market on March 28, 2019, the old Genkyotex shares (ISIN code: FR0011790542) have been delisted from Euronext and have been replaced by the new Genkyotex shares (ISIN code: FR0013399474) beginning at the start of trading on March 29, 2019. Every 10 shares with a par value of 0.10 of the Companys issued and outstanding common stock have automatically been combined into one share with a par value of 1.00. The number of shares of common stock underlying Genkyotex options, warrants, convertible securities or other rights to acquire shares of common stock was adjusted accordingly. The ticker symbol (GKTX) remains unchanged.

This technical adjustment is purely arithmetical and has no impact on the value of Genkyotex shares held by the shareholders.

About Genkyotex

Genkyotex is the leading biopharmaceutical company in NOX therapies, listed on the Euronext Paris and Euronext Brussels markets. A leader in NOX therapies, its unique therapeutic approach is based on a selective inhibition of NOX enzymes that amplify multiple disease processes such as fibrosis, inflammation, pain processing, cancer development, and neurodegeneration.

Genkyotexs platform enables the identification of orally available small-molecules that selectively inhibit specific NOX enzymes. Genkyotex is developing a pipeline of first-in-class product candidates targeting one or multiple NOX enzymes. The lead product candidate, GKT831, a NOX1 and NOX4 inhibitor is evaluated in a phase 2 clinical trial in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC, a fibrotic orphan disease) and in an investigator-initiated Phase 2 clinical trial in Type 1 Diabetes and Kidney Disease (DKD). A grant from the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) of $8.9 million was awarded to Professor Victor Thannickal at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to fund a multi-year research program evaluating the role of NOX enzymes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic lung disease that results in fibrosis of the lungs, the core component of the program will be to conduct a Phase 2 trial with the GKT831 in patients with IPF. This product candidate may also be active in other fibrotic indications.

Genkyotex also has a versatile platform well-suited to the development of various immunotherapies (Vaxiclase). A partnership covering the use of Vaxiclase as an antigen per se (GTL003) has been established with Serum Institute of India Private Ltd (Serum Institute), the worlds largest producer of vaccine doses, for the development by Serum Institute of cellular multivalent combination vaccines against a variety of infectious diseases. This partnership could generate approximately 150 million in future revenues for Genkyotex, before royalties on sales.

For further information, please go to www.genkyotex.com or investors@genkyotex.com

Disclaimer



This press release may contain forward-looking statements by the company with respect to its objectives. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs, estimates and expectations of Genkyotexs management and are subject to risks and uncertainties such as the company's ability to implement its chosen strategy, customer market trends, changes in technologies and in the company's competitive environment, changes in regulations, clinical or industrial risks and all risks linked to the company's growth. These factors as well as other risks and uncertainties may prevent the company from achieving the objectives outlined in the press release and actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, due to various factors. Without being exhaustive, such factors include uncertainties involved in the development of Genkyotexs products, which may not succeed, or in the delivery of Genkyotexs products marketing authorizations by the relevant regulatory authorities and, in general, any factor that could affects Genkyotexs capacity to commercialize the products it develops. No guarantee is given on forward-looking statements which are subject to a number of risks, notably those described in the registration document (document de reference) registered by the French Markets Authority (the AMF) on 27 April 2018 under number R.18-037, and those linked to changes in economic conditions, the financial markets, or the markets on which Genkyotex is present. Genkyotex products are currently used for clinical trials only and are not otherwise available for distribution or sale.
LONDON  Facebook said Friday it is further tightening requirements for European Union political advertising, in its latest efforts to prevent foreign interference and increase transparency ahead of the blocs parliamentary elections.

However, some EU politicians criticized the social media giant, saying the measures will make pan-European online campaigning harder.

Under the new rules, people, parties and other groups buying political ads will have to confirm to Facebook that they are located in the same EU country as the Facebook users they are targeting.

Thats on top of a previously announced requirement for ad buyers to confirm their identities. It means advertisements aimed at voters across the EUs 28 countries will have to register a person in each of those nations.

Its a disgrace that Facebook doesnt see Europe as an entity and appears not to care about the consequences of undermining European democracy, Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the parliaments liberal ALDE group, said on Twitter. Limiting political campaigns to one country is totally the opposite of what we want.

The response underscores the balancing act for Silicon Valley tech companies as they face pressure from EU authorities to do more to prevent their services being used by outside groups, including Russia, to meddle in the May elections. Hundreds of millions of people are set to vote for more than 700 EU parliamentary lawmakers.

Facebook, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, said it will start blocking ads that dont comply in mid-April.

The Menlo Park company will ask ad buyers to submit documents and use technical checks to verify their identity and location.

We recognize that some people can try and work around any system but we are confident this will be a real barrier for anyone thinking of using our ads to interfere in an election from outside of a country, Richard Allen, Facebooks vice president of global policy solutions, said in a blog post.

Facebook said earlier that EU political ads will carry paid for by disclaimers. Clicking the label will reveal more detailed information such as how much money was spent on the ad, how many people saw it, and their age, gender and location.

The ad transparency rules have already been rolled out in the U.S., Britain, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Israel. Facebook will expand them globally by the end of June.

Twitter and Google have introduced similar political ad requirements.

Facebook is also making improvements to a database that stores ads for seven years, including widening access so that election regulators and watchdog groups can analyze political or issue ads.

In other Facebook news, the company says it has removed 200 pages, groups and accounts linked to Nic Gabunada, reportedly the former social media manager of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, for misleading people.

The social network says it took down the accounts for coordinated inauthentic behavior, the term it uses to describe accounts that work together to mask who is behind them and what their purpose is. In the past, Facebook has removed accounts linked to Russia, Iran and other countries for trying to wreak political havoc or influence elections in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The accounts and posts in question posted about elections, alleged misconduct by political candidates and local news. Facebook says they tried to hide their identity but were linked to a network organized by Gabunada.

Kelvin Chan is an Associated Press writer.
Native Texans are always proud to claim our Lone Star State heritage, and we're quick to share our familiarity with the state's history and geography. But even those of us who are fluent in Texan may find that there's some hidden nook left to discover, or maybe just a small town we can't get enough of.

There's "weird" Marfa, a far west town stuck in the hippie era, one with a drawl. The growing popularity of this odd, art installation-filled town has some residents concerned that it will soon become another tourist destination with souvenir gift shops proffering flashy key chains. So get there soon, and opt to stay in a yurt, teepee or tent (pictured in the slides above).
English German

The Board of Directors of Sika has appointed Philippe Jost as new Head Construction and Member of Group Management effective June 1, 2019.

Philippe Jost succeeds Yumi Kan, who for personal reasons has decided to relocate back to Asia, where she will assume the roles of Regional Target Market Manager Concrete Asia/Pacific and Area Manager South Asia.

Philippe Jost (47) began his career at Sika in 1997. He held various management positions at the Swiss and US national subsidiaries, before joining the Corporate organization in 2007, where he assumed the role of Corporate Target Market Manager Concrete, among others. In this function, he drove forward the growth and profitability of Target Market Concrete, and was responsible for the successful integration of acquisitions in the concrete area. In 2014 Philippe Jost was appointed Corporate Head Human Resources. In addition to bringing the HR organization closer to the business needs of Sika, he has been involved in Sikas digital initiatives, and is currently leading the preparation of the integration of Parex.

Philippe Jost is a qualified civil engineer (ETH Zurich) and holds an MBA (London Business School). He is a Luxembourg national and is married with two children.

CONTACT

Dominik Slappnig

Corporate Communications &

Investor Relations

+41 58 436 68 21

slappnig.dominik@ch.sika.com

SIKA CORPORATE PROFILE

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories. Its more than 20,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 7.09 billion in 2018.

The media release can be downloaded from the following link:

Attachment
FARGO, N.D.  North Dakotas largest city is back in the sandbag-filling business with a new crop of volunteers after a five-year break from warding off major Red River floods.

Fargo officials this week reactivated Sandbag Central, converting a building that normally houses garbage trucks into a operation combining machinery and manpower to fill 24 sandbags every 6 seconds. It saved the city in 2009, when a frantic effort led by middle school, high school and college students cranked out more than 6 million bags to barely hold back a record-setting flood.

The National Weather Service says theres a small chance the river could approach that level this year. So while the city isnt taking any chances, the first day of sandbagging Tuesday was more of a soft opening, in part because Fargo has made numerous changes to reduce its vulnerability and has time on its side. The Red River isnt expected to crest until mid-April.

The cushion is helpful since many of the students and city staff members expected to be instrumental in the effort are entering their first flood fight. That was one reason the city put out a video entitled, How to make a Fargo sandbag.

Solid waste utility director Terry Ludlum, who leads Sandbag Central, said the operation began this week with getting re-acclimated and catching our breath.

Even so, volunteers produced 96,000 sandbags on the first day, just 4,000 short of their daily goal. The city originally planned to make 1 million bags. On Friday, it cut that number back to 400,000 after receiving a favorable snow-melt forecast.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, of Fargo, cited the long-lingering flood threat across the Midwest that is expected to result in billions of dollars in damages as a prime example of why Fargo cannot be complacent about the looming flood.

We dont have to look any further than Nebraska or Iowa or Missouri to realize that even when you think you have great flood protection, it still can be topped, Burgum said.

Dave Kolpack is an Associated Press writer.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court stayed the execution of a Buddhist inmate in Texas whose request that his spiritual adviser be present in the execution chamber had been denied.

In an unsigned order Thursday, the court said that Texas may not execute the inmate, Patrick Murphy, unless the state permits Murphys Buddhist spiritual adviser or another Buddhist reverend of the states choosing to accompany Murphy in the execution chamber during the execution.
Swedish English

Press release





Hoersholm, Denmark and Cambridge, MA, US, March 29, 2019  Oncology Venture A/S (OV or the Company), today announces a new important strategic collaboration to develop precision medicine for womens cancers with a huge medical need. The collaboration will enhance the speed of patient inclusion in clinical trials. Two leading cancer coorporative groups  German NOGGO and Danish DBCG  will provide patients with opportunities for individualized investigational treatments based on Oncology Ventures DRP prediction technology and its pipeline of precision drug candidates. Oncology Venture has established a fully operational laboratory at the Charite University hospital in Berlin.

The aim of the collaboration is to further accelerate inclusion of patients into ongoing and future clinical trials of Oncology Ventures six precision medicine projects. Patients will be selected for the most appropriate treatment based on DRP prediction analyses, which will also serve to avoid the use of ineffective drugs and consequentially minimize the risk of unnecessary side effects.

Nord-Ostdeutsche Gesellschaft fur Gynakologische Onkologie (NOGGO) assembles more than 700 health professionals engaged in improving womens health in Germany. The Danish Breast Cancer Corporative Group (DBCG) organizes all Danish hospitals that are treating breast cancer patients.

The collaboration with NOGGO includes activation of four major cancer clinical sites in Germany for inclusion of patients to Oncology Ventures umbrella trials of 2X-121 (PARPi) and Irofulven for ovarian cancer, and LiPlaCis, 2X-121 (PARPi) and 2X-111 (liposomal anthracycline) for breast cancer. The collaboration includes establishment of a DRP laboratory at Charite University Hospital in Berlin which is now fully operational and shared data bases that ensures efficient and high quality of data. Furthermore, mutual scientific work is being established to develop Oncology Ventures PRP technology platform.

Im very proud of the interest from highly recognized international breast and ovarian cancer expert groups. The hospitals they represent will use Oncology Ventures response prediction technology to track, match and treat patients with our drug candidates. The aim is to tailor a beneficial treatment to each individual cancer patient. By this collaboration we will gain further speed in our efforts to bring new and better cancer treatments forward, said Peter Buhl Jensen, CEO, Oncology Venture.

"The strategic collaboration announced today between Oncology Venture and DBCG is built on top of ongoing and mutual clinical trials and is expected to improve the access of Danish breast cancer patients to prediction analysis and Oncology Ventures anticancer drugs, said Prof. PhD Bent Ejlertsen Chairman of the DBCG Scientific Committee for Medical Therapy.

I look forward to working with this cross disciplinary technology to provide our physicians with access to data on whether their individual patient will benefit from a specific cancer treatment. We have now established a laboratory that can handle tumor tissue, which will ease the procedures and turnaround time of drug response analyses, said Dr. med. Elena Ioana Breicu Professor, for translational medicine research in gynecological oncology, Coordinator of the TOC Network, Charite Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCCC), Charite University hospital in Berlin.

NOGGO is dedicated to find better treatments for our patients. We are diligently working with science that gives the highest hope of a positive outcome, building on the scientific break-throughs we have achieved. I believe that through the collaboration with Oncology Venture we can offer cancer patients a hope for better and more individualized treatment, said Dr. med. Professor Jalid Sehouli medical director Department of Gynecology, European Competence Center for Ovarian Cancer, Charite University hospital in Berlin.

For further information, please contact:

For investor inquiries

Ulla Hald Buhl

IR & Communications

E-mail: uhb@oncologyventure.com

Telephone +45 21 70 10 49

For media inquiries

Thomas Pedersen

Carrotize PR & Communications

E-mail: tsp@carrotize.com

Telephone +45 60 62 93 90

About Oncology Venture A/S

Oncology Venture A/S is engaged in the research and development of anti-cancer drugs via its wholly-owned subsidiary, Oncology Venture Product Development ApS. Oncology Venture uses Drug Response Prediction  DRP to significantly increase the probability of success in clinical trials. DRP has proven its ability to provide a statistically significant prediction of the clinical outcome from drug treatment in cancer patients in 29 out of 37 clinical studies that were examined and is currently demonstrating promising results in an ongoing phase 2 study prospectively using LiPlaCis and its DRP to track, match and treat patients with metastatic breast cancer. The DRP alters the odds in comparison with traditional pharmaceutical development. Instead of treating all patients with a particular type of cancer, patients tumors genes are first screened, and only the patients most likely to respond to the treatment will be treated. Via a more well-defined patient group, risks and costs are reduced while the development process becomes more efficient.

The current OV product portfolio includes: LiPlaCis, a liposomal formulation of cisplatin in an ongoing Phase 2 trial for breast and prostate cancer; 2X-121 a PARP inhibitor in an ongoing Phase 2 for breast cancer; dovitinib, which will enter Phase 2 trials for indications dependent on further Dovitinib-DRP retrospective/prospective analysis of studies completed by Novartis. 2X-111, a liposomal formulation of doxorubicin under manufacturing for Phase 2 in breast cancer; irofulven, a Phase 2 is ongoing for prostate cancer; and APO010, an immuno-oncology product in Phase 1/2 for multiple myeloma.

Oncology Venture has spun out two companies as Special Purpose Vehicles: Oncology Venture U.S. Inc. (previously 2X Oncology Inc.), a US-based precision medicine company focusing on developing 2X-121 and 2X-111, and OV-SPV 2, a Danish company that will test and develop dovitinib. Oncology Venture A/S has an ownership of 92% in Oncology Venture US and 55% of dovitinib with an opportunity to acquire further 30%.

Learn more at oncologyventure.com

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oncologyventure/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncology-venture/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OncologyVenture

Forward-looking statements

This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of OVs control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning OVs plans, objectives, goals, future events, performance and/or other information that is not historical information. All such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. OV undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date made, except as required by law.

Certified Adviser: Sedermera Fondkommission. Epost: ca@sedermera.se, telefon 040-615 14 10

This information is information that Oncology Venture A/S is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication on March 29, 2019.





Attachment
VMP Plc company release March 29, 2019, at 10.00



Annual General Meeting of VMP Plc 2019



Matters relating to the Annual General Meeting



VMP Plcs Annual General Meeting was held in Helsinki on March 28, 2019. The Annual General Meeting approved the financial statements and discharged the responsible parties from liability for the financial period January 1 - December 31, 2018.



The Annual General Meeting approved dividends in line with the Board of Directors proposal of EUR 0,08 for each of the outstanding 14.799.198 shares. The date of record for dividends distribution is April 1, 2019 and dividends will be paid on April 8, 2019.



The number of the Members of the Board of Directors was confirmed as eight. Liisa Harjula, Joni Aaltonen, Heimo Hakkarainen, Tapio Pajuharju, Paul Savolainen and Mika Uotila were re-elected as Members of the Board of Directors. Kati Hagros and Timur Karki were elected as new Members of the Board of Directors.



The Annual General Meeting confirmed a monthly compensation of EUR 2,000 for Board of Directors Members who are independent of major shareholders. In addition, the Annual General Meeting confirmed an additional monthly remuneration of EUR 500 for the chairperson of the Audit Committee, provided the Chairperson is independent of major shareholders.



Authorized public accountant KPMG Oy Ab was re-elected as the company's auditor. KPMG Oy Ab has informed that Authorized Public Accountant Mr. Esa Kailiala will act as the principal auditor.



The General Meeting approved an authorization for the Board of Directors to repurchase VMP Plcs own shares. A maximum of 1.000.000 shares may be repurchased. The authorization remains in effect until the end of the 2020 Annual General Meeting, however no longer than 18 months from the date of decision of the Annual General Meeting.



The General Meeting approved an authorization for the Board of Directors to decide on the issuance of shares and the issuance of options and other special rights entitling to shares. Maximum aggregate number of shares issued based on the authorization may not exceed 2,000,000. The authorization is in effect until the end of the 2020 Annual General Meeting, however at most 18 months from the authorization decision at the Annual General Meeting.



Decisions by the Board of Directors



At its meeting held immediately after the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors elected from among its members Liisa Harjula as its Chairperson.



Joni Aaltonen was elected as Chairperson and Mika Aaltonen as well as Liisa Harjula as members of the Audit Committee. Joni Aaltonen is independent of both the company and of significant shareholders. Mika Uotila ja Liisa Harjula are independent of the company.







For further information, please contact:



Juha Pesola, VMP Oyj, CEO



juha.pesola@vmp.fi ,



tel. +358 (0)40 307 5105







Certified advisor:



Danske Bank A/S, Finnish branch, tel. +358 (0)10 546 7934
LAS VEGAS  Police have arrested a woman believed to be connected to the death of CHOMP doctor Thomas Burchard.

The Las Vegas Metro Police Department reported that Kelsey Turner, 25, was arrested by members of the FBI in Stockton, Calif. on March 21.

On March 7, LVMPD got a call just after 10:50 a.m. about a suspicious vehicle with a broken window on State Road 147 between Las Vegas and Lake Mead. Burchard's body was found inside the vehicle.

>> Clark County Sheriff's Coroner: CHOMP doctor found murdered in Nevada desert

The Clark County Sheriff's Coroner later determined that Burchard, 71, was murdered, according to Las Vegas NBC-affiliate KSNV.

Homicide investigators believe that Turner was involved in the incident. Turner was arrested on charges of 1st degree murder with a deadly weapon enhancement.

ALSO: East Bay 2-year-old and her mother missing since Monday found safe

Turner's mother, Samantha, told KSBW that Kelsey and Burchard had known each other for years. Burchard had paid the rent on a home in Salinas where Kelsey and her mother, and Kelsey's children all lived.

A neighbor confirmed that Kelsey and her family lived at the home for "about a year".

"In fact, there were calls for police on a few occasions," Marcelino Alejandro, who lived next door to Turner in Salinas, said. Marcelino also said there were also parties and disturbances.

An anonymous source who originally told Action News that Burchard was renting out the Salinas home, said Turner moved to Las Vegas after Burchard stopped paying rent on the home.

The source said that Burchard met Turner online and was giving Turner and her mother, "Anywhere from two-four thousand dollars a week, easily."

ALSO: Woman shot and killed in BART parking lot

The source told KSBW that the last thing Burchard said to him before leaving for his deadly Las Vegas trip was, "seems Kelsey is having trouble with her boyfriend out there in Vegas because he's hitting her. He's abusing her and she has no money, no where to go. He says I feel partially responsible for this."

According to Turner's Facebook page, she is in a relationship with Greg Hagio.

Action News uncovered court documents from January that state Hagio was arrested for strangulation and domestic battery in Las Vegas. Charges would ultimately be dropped in the case.

Turner has a court date set for April 8 at 8:30 am in San Joaquin County.

More information about Turner's involvement and the investigation was not released by police.

Burchard was a psychiatrist at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.

>> Longtime girlfriend of murdered child psychiatrist speaks out
English Finnish Swedish

Finnvera Plc Stock Exchange Release 29 March 2019

On 29 March 2019, Finnvera's Annual General Meeting appointed new members to the company's Board of Directors and Supervisory Board.

Director General Antti Neimala and forester Pekka Nuuttila were appointed as new members to the Board of Directors. Neimala was appointed as the First Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Pentti Hakkarainen, Member of the Supervisory Board, ECB Banking Supervision, will continue as Chairman and Terhi Jarvikare, Director General, as Second Vice Chairman of Finnvera's Board of Directors. The following persons will continue as Board members: Ritva Laukkanen, MBA; Pirkko Rantanen-Kervinen, B.Sc (Econ.); and Antti Zitting, Enterprise Councellor, Chairman of the Board.

Finance Manager Jaana Montti and Second Vice Chairman Anette Vaini-Antila were appointed as new members to the Supervisory Board.

Antti Rantakangas, Member of Parliament will continue as Chairman and Krista Kiuru, Member of Parliament as Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Pia Bjorkbacka, Adviser for International Affairs; Eeva-Johanna Eloranta, Member of Parliament; Lasse Hautala, Member of Parliament; Laura Huhtasaari, Member of Parliament; Timo Kalli, Member of Parliament; Pia Kauma, Member of Parliament; Leila Kurki, Senior Adviser; Anne Louhelainen, Member of Parliament; Veli-Matti Mattila, Director, Chief Economist; Ville Niinisto, Member of Parliament; Carita Orlando, Managing Director; Eero Suutari, Member of Parliament; and Tommi Toivola, Director will continue as members of the Supervisory Board.

The Annual General Meeting adopted the Consolidated Financial Statements and the Parent Companys Financial Statements for the period 1 January31 December 2018, discharged the Supervisory Board, the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer from liability, and approved the proposal made by the Board of Directors for the use of the parent companys profits.

KPMG Oy Ab was appointed as the regular auditor with Marcus Totterman, Authorised Public Accountant, as the principal auditor.

Further information:

Pauli Heikkila, CEO, tel. +358 29 460 2400

Risto Huopaniemi, Senior Vice President, Administration, Legal Affairs and Administration tel. +358 29 460 2520
29 March 2019: The Annual General Meeting of Scatec Solar ASA will be held on 30 April 2019 at 10:00 am (CET) at Hyres Hus, Stortingsgata 20, 0161 Oslo.

Please find attached:

the notice of Annual General Meeting with attendance/Proxy

the Board of Directors proposed resolutions for the General Meeting for the items listed on the agenda

the recommendation by the Nomination Committee

the Board of Directors declaration on salaries and other remuneration for Executive Management 2018

All documents, including the the Board of Directors Corporate Governance Report for 2018, Annual Report 2018 and Sustainability Report 2018 are available at www.scatecsolar.com.

For key information relating to the cash dividend of NOK 0.95 per share proposed by the Board of Directors to the Annual General Meeting, refer to stock exchange release from 25 January 2019.

For further information, please contact:



Ingrid Aarsnes, VP Communication & IR

Tel: +47 950 38 364, Ingrid.aarsnes@scatecsolar.com

About Scatec Solar

Scatec Solar is an integrated independent solar power producer, delivering affordable, rapidly deployable and sustainable clean energy worldwide. A long- term player, Scatec Solar develops, builds, owns, operates and maintains solar power plants and has an installation track record of more than 1 GW. The company has a total of 1.7 GW in operation and under construction in Argentina, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Jordan, Malaysia, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Ukraine.

With an established global presence and a significant project pipeline, the company is targeting a capacity of 3.5 GW in operation and under construction by end of 2021. Scatec Solar is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'SSO'. To learn more, visit www.scatecsolar.com.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

Attachments
A Rhode Island man has been sentenced to 260 years in prison for producing child pornography involving multiple prepubescent children.

Federal prosecutors announced 45-year-old Thomas Goodmans sentence on Friday.

The Warwick man was sentenced by a judge who said, The level of depravity is beyond comprehension.

The Providence Journal reports Goodman collapsed onto the table before groggily regaining consciousness a few minutes later.

U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell said Goodman spent six years sexually abusing two young girls starting when they 6.

Prosecutors say Goodman also filmed himself inappropriately touching an infant.

His attorney asked for a more lenient sentence, saying Goodman had been molested as a child.

McConnell said he understood that Goodman victimized others as a result of he himself having been abused, but that his most important obligation was to protect the public.

The only way I can do that is to be sure you never get out of prison again, McConnell said. I have no assurances you will stop.

Goodman was caught last May when his employer, submarine maker Electric Boat, confiscated his cellphone for violating policy by using it on company property. The pornography was found on the phone.

He pleaded guilty in October.
News release from Asia Pacific

Singapore, 29 March 2019



New Zealand-based electricity generator and retailer Mercury has signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Vestas for the 119 MW Turitea Wind Farm. The project will be Mercurys first wind asset globally, adding a new source of renewable generation to its current hydro and geothermal renewable portfolio.

The Turitea Wind Farm is situated at Turitea, near Palmerston North, and enjoys world-class wind resources. Its 33 Vestas V112-3.45 MW turbines will be delivered in 3.6 MW Power Optimised Mode and have a hub height of 69 metres, designed specifically for the site, which will maximise annual energy production and deliver one of the worlds highest generation outputs per turbine.

New Zealand has outstanding wind resources, and we look forward to capturing some of this potential in the Turitea wind farm project, said Mercury Chief Executive Fraser Whineray. Mercury is 100 percent committed to renewable energy, and we share a vision of energy freedom with our customers, their communities and our country. We are proud to add another renewable resource to our portfolio through a contract that leverages Vestas global experience and wind turbine technology.

We are proud that Mercury has selected Vestas as its supplier for its first wind project, and we look forward to continuing this relationship as Mercury expands its portfolio, said Peter Cowling, Head of Vestas Australia and New Zealand. With our rich wind asset management experience, strong Palmerston North presence and the latest in turbine technology, we will capture the full potential of these wind resources, driving down the cost of energy and delivering commercial value for our customer.

Upon completion, Vestas will commence a 25-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) service agreement, designed to maximise energy production for the lifetime of the project. With a yield-based availability guarantee covering both turbines and balance of plant assets, Vestas will provide Mercury with long-term business case certainty.

Commissioning of operations at Turitea Wind Farm is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2020.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Rebecca Zhang

rezwe@vestas.com

Tel : +61 3 8698 7339

About Vestas

Vestas is the energy industrys global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines across the globe, and with 101 GW of wind turbines in 80 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and 86 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas more than 24,600 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.

For updated Vestas photographs and videos, please visit our media images page on: https://www.vestas.com/en/media/images .





We invite you to learn more about Vestas by visiting our website at www.vestas.com and following us on our social media channels:

Attachment
SAN MATEO (BCN)



Three suspected auto burglars were arrested Wednesday night after a pursuit from San Mateo across the Bay to Alameda County, San Mateo police said.



Officers responded around 8 p.m. to a report of an auto burglary in the 4300 block of Olympic Avenue, seeking a vehicle that fit the description provided by a witness.



Officers soon spotted the suspect vehicle in the Marina Plaza Shopping Center near South Norfolk Street and East Hillsdale Boulevard.



Upon seeing police approach, the suspects fled, and officers began their pursuit. The chase proceeded across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge and into Alameda County.



The suspects then left the car, and officers chased the suspects on foot, capturing and arresting Alexandria Chambers, a 20-year-old Hayward resident, Anthony Dennis, a 22-year-old Oakland resident, and Richard Hardman, a 20-year-old San Leandro resident.



Several suspicious items were recovered from the suspects' vehicle, and they were booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree burglary, possession of stolen property and conspiracy to commit a crime.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
New model predicts substantial reduction of malaria transmitting mosquitoes

The role of mosquitoes in spreading malaria is the biggest factor behind a recent study that found them to be the 'World's Deadliest Animal'. It is particularly concerning that current measures to control them (the most important of which is the use of insecticide treated bed-nets) are losing potency as mosquitoes are evolving resistance.

The persistence of malaria in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa has motivated the development of novel tools to complement existing control programmes. These include gene-drive technologies to modify mosquito populations, either to reduce them in number or to make the mosquitoes unable to transmit disease.

In new research published today in BMC Biology, from Oxford's Department of Zoology and Oxford Martin School, a team of scientists model the potential of modifying mosquitoes with a gene-drive technology called "driving-Y chromosome" to reduce mosquito populations in a one million square km area of West Africa, including all of Burkina Faso. A driving-Y chromosome has been genetically modified so that the male mosquitoes that carry it produce predominantly male offspring (which also carry the modification). Since only female mosquitoes bite, the spread of this modification will result in less females to transmit the disease, and less mosquitoes overall.

The researchers predict that introductions of driving-Y mosquitoes will cause significant reduction of the target mosquito species in some regions and complete elimination in others.

Lead researcher, Dr Ace North, from the Department of Zoology, said: 'Gene drive holds a lot of promise for malaria control, yet the potential impact at the scale of a country has not been considered much before. We built models to help understand how a gene-drive technology could affect mosquito populations in Burkina Faso, a country with a huge malaria burden. Our results suggest it would have a major impact in reducing malaria.'

The researchers found seasonality to be the most important predictor of the local impact of the gene-drive. Population elimination is more likely in regions with mild dry seasons, while reduction is more likely in regions with strong seasonality. However, even in the most challenging environments, populations were reduced. The model suggests that this approach would have a major impact in reducing malaria.

To reach this conclusion, the scientists fed large and varied data into their models, including:

information of more than 40,000 settlements

locations of all rivers and lakes - seasonal and permanent

historical rainfall data

field data estimating mosquito population sizes and mosquito movement rates

They ran a large number of simulations on Oxford University "super-computer" facilities to explore how different factors and assumptions influence the outcome of introductions of genetically modified mosquitoes with a driving-Y chromosome.

This technology, still under development, proposes creating a driving-Y chromosome modification into the most important species of malaria mosquitoes of sub-Saharan Africa.

Professor Charles Godfray, Director of the Oxford Martin School and co-author, said: 'This study suggests that repeated introductions of modified mosquitoes over a few years into a small fraction of human settlements may be sufficient to substantially reduce the overall number of mosquitoes across the entire geographic area.'

Dr Abdoulaye Diabate, a medical entomologist at the Institut de Recherche en Science de la Sante (IRSS), Burkina Faso, said: 'There is evidence that this approach, with the right national and international approvals, could be rolled out within the next 10 years.'

The region to model was selected as it is one of the worst malaria affected areas in Africa and exhibits much of the wide variation in environmental conditions found in West Africa.

The researchers are part of Target Malaria, an international not-for-profit research consortium aiming at developing and sharing new, cost-effective and sustainable genetic technologies to modify mosquitoes and reduce malaria transmission.

###

For more information or to request images, please contact the University of Oxford press office at ruth.abrahams@admin.ox.ac.uk / 01865 280730.

Notes to editors

About the University of Oxford

Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the third year running, and at the heart of this success is our ground-breaking research and innovation. Oxford is world-famous for research excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions. Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 170 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past three years.

Target Malaria

Target Malaria is an international not-for-profit research consortium aiming at developing and sharing new, cost-effective and sustainable genetic technologies to modify mosquitoes and reduce malaria transmission. It brings together more than 130 experts from a range of scientific disciplines, risk assessment specialists and regulatory experts, stakeholder engagement and communication teams and project management experts from Africa, North America and Europe.

Source: Mosquito 'World's Deadliest Animal': https:/ / www. gatesnotes. com/ Health/ Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week

This story has been published on: 2019-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Dublin, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Automotive Coatings: Technologies and Global Markets" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The scope of this report is broad and covers many different types of automotive coatings used globally on various types of vehicles. The market is broken down into major types of automotive coatings, by technology, by region, by layer, and by car age.

The market for automotive coatings is also estimated by layer, regional market, and technology. Revenue forecasts for 2016-2022 are given for each type of automotive coating, technology, layer, and regional market.



The report also includes a discussion on major players in each regional market for automotive coatings. It explains the major market drivers for the global automotive coatings industry, current trends within the industry, major industry challenges and regional dynamics of the global automotive coatings market.

The report concludes with a special focus on the vendor landscape. It includes detailed profiles of major vendors in the automotive coatings industry and discusses the market share of major players by automotive coating type.

Market Insights



Features such as scratch resistance, compatibility with any substrate and environmental friendliness fuel the demand for automotive coatings.



Although automotive coatings face threats from environmental issues such as volatile organic compound (VOC) and hazardous air pollutant (HAP) levels and increasing raw material prices, their market continues to grow with increasing demand from the Asia Pacific, North American, and other developing markets. The slow recovery of the European economy and that region's automotive industry also is contributing to the growth.

The report includes:

81 data tables

An overview of the global market for automotive coatings

Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2017 and 2018, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2023

Details on the technical and commercial aspects of various layers of automotive coating, and advantages of automotive coating technologies

Identification of significant drivers of revenue growth in specific categories of the automotive coatings industry

Information on the technological innovation, the environmental concerns and the regulatory pressures that are currently faced by coating suppliers

Profiles of the major players in the industry, including AkzoNobel, BASF SE, Cabot Corp., HMG Paints Ltd., Nippon Paint Automotive Coatings Co. Ltd., RPM International Inc., and Sherwin-Williams Co.

Key Topics Covered



Chapter 1 Introduction

Study Goals and Objectives

Reasons for Doing This Study

Scope of Report

Information Sources

Methodology

Geographic Breakdown

Analyst's Credentials

Custom Research

Related Reports

Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights



Chapter 3 Market and Technology Background

Description of Market Trends

Automotive Coating Layers

E-coating

Primer

Base Coat

Clear Coat

Automotive Coating Technology

Water-borne

Powder Coating

Solvent-borne

Others

Automotive Coating Resins

Polyurethane

Epoxy

Acrylic

Others

Automotive Coating Types

Automotive OEMs

Automotive Refinish

Automotive Coating Applications

Metals

Plastics

Chapter 4 Global Market for Automotive Coatings

Global Market for Automotive OEM Coatings

Automotive OEM Coating Market by Technology

Global Automotive OEM Coating Market by Coating Layer

Global Market for Automotive OEM Coatings by Region

Global Automotive OEM E-coating Market by Region

Global Market for Automotive OEM Primers by Region

Global Market for Automotive OEM Base Coating by Region

Global Market for Automotive OEM Clear Coating by Region

Global Market for Automotive OEM Solvent Coatings by Region

Global Market for Automotive OEM Water-borne Coatings by Region

Global Market for Automotive OEM Powder Coatings by Region

Global Market for Other Automotive OEM Coatings by Region

Global Market for Automotive OEM E-coatings by Technology

Global Market for Automotive OEM Primers by Technology

Global Market for Automotive OEM Base Coating Technology

Global Market for Automotive OEM Clear Coating Technology

Global Automotive Refinish Coating Market

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Coating Technology

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Coatings by Coating Layer

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Coating by Region

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Primers by Region

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Base Coatings by Region

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Clear Coating by Region

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Solvent Coating by Region

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Water-borne Coating by Region

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Powder Coating by Region

Global Market for Other Automotive Refinish Coatings by Region

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Primer by Technology

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Coating Technology by Base Coating Layer

Global Market for Automotive Refinish Coating Technology

Chapter 5 Market Drivers

Automotive Industry Growth

Increasing Demand for Metallic Coating

Ultraviolet (UV) Technology

Exploring UV Attributes

Automotive Forward Lighting

Exterior Plastic Parts

SMC Body Panels

OEM Clear Coating

Other Applications

Technological Changes: Integrated Solutions, Anti-Collision Systems, Color Innovation, and Reliability

Robots for Detailed Surface Painting

Robot Control to Process Control

Dense Phase Technology

Shifting Consumer Preferences: Paint Color and Vehicle Weight

North America

Europe

Asia

South America

Africa

Increase in Accident Rates Driving the Refinishing Market

Insurance Industry Driving Demand for Auto Refinish Market

Chapter 6 Patent Review

Recent Patents on Automotive Coatings

Chapter 7 Company Profiles

Akzonobel

Allnex Group

Axalta

BASF SE

Bayer Ag

Becker

Bollig & Kemper

Cabot Corp.

Donglai Coating Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

Dupont Coatings & Color Technologies (E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Co.)

Eastman

FM Automotive Coatings Ltd.

HMG Paints Ltd.

Jotun

Kansai Paint Co. Ltd.

Kapci Coatings

KCC Corp.

Lord Corp.

Nippon Paint Automotive Coatings Co. Ltd.

Noroo Holdings Co. Ltd.

PPG Asian Paints Pvt. Ltd.

PPG Industries

Rpm International Inc.

Russian Paints Co.

Shanghai Coatings Co. Ltd.

Shanghai Kinlita Chemical Co. Ltd.

The Sherwin-Williams Co.

Valspar Corp.

Whitford

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/qjpm3p/global_automotive?w=12
HERCULES (BCN)



A Richmond woman and her 2-year-old daughter have gone missing and police are asking for help finding them, Hercules police said Thursday.



Jessica Tucker, 30, and 2-year-old Roselyn Artiga were last seen at 8:30 p.m. Monday in the 1900 block of Lupine Road in Hercules.



Tucker suffers from a medical condition and does not have her purse, money, identification or any other belongings with her.



Police have been working to find the pair since Tuesday.



"Now, it's becoming a concern," Hercules police spokeswoman Detective Connie Van Putten said.



Tucker is not responding to texts and calls by detectives go straight to voicemail, police said.



Tucker is 5 feet 8 inches tall, 180 pounds with brown shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. Police did not know what Tucker was wearing.



The child is 32 inches tall, 30 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.



Anyone with information about the pair's whereabouts or the whereabouts of Tucker's aunt's black 2005 Honda CRV is asked to call the 24-hour dispatch line at Hercules police at (510) 724-1111.



The Honda's license plate number is California 5MAX512. Tucker has legal custody of her child, so police are not considering this an abduction, Van Putten said.



Police said Tucker does not have any other family in the area besides her aunt and her boyfriend, who is Roselyn's father. Tucker's boyfriend also has tried to reach her and has been unsuccessful.



The three live together in Richmond.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
SAN JOSE (BCN)



An environmental group sued the Bureau of Land Management in federal court in San Jose on Thursday in a bid to obtain information about plans for new leases for oil drilling and fracking in the Bay Area and on the central coastal California.



The lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity alleges the bureau is violating the federal Freedom of Information Act by failing to provide public records the center has sought since August 2018.



The Bureau of Land Management's press office said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.



The area under consideration concerns federal land and underground mineral rights managed by the bureau on approximately 400,000 acres in 11 counties extending from Contra Costa County in the north to Monterey County in the south, including the western Central Valley.



In January 2017, the bureau released a draft amendment to a 2007 Resource Management Plan for the area together with a draft environmental impact statement. It has not issued final documents.



The lawsuit asks for a court order requiring the bureau to search its records and provide any that can be legally disclosed under the FOIA law.



Center for Biological Diversity attorney Clare Lakewood said the group is especially concerned about potential fracking in Monterey, San Benito and Fresno counties.



Fracking is the process of using high-pressure streams of water mixed with chemicals to fracture underground rock in order to extract oil and natural gas. Lakewood said fracking in California generally occurs at shallow depths, posing concerns of contamination of drinking water.



She alleged the administration of President Donald Trump "is plotting behind closed doors to turn over some of California's most precious wild places to dangerous drilling and fracking.



"Californians have every right to know the details of this destructive plan, and it's deeply worrying that the BLM is refusing to release them," she said.



The potentially targeted lease areas in BLM's Central Coast District are in Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Stanislaus counties. The district is headquartered in Marina in Monterey County.



The draft plan of January 2017, which was prepared by the administration of President Barack Obama, proposed a preferred option of leases on 368,800 acres in Monterey, San Benito, Fresno, Merced, Stanislaus and Contra Costa counties.



But another alternative suggested leases on 487,200 acres in more counties, including Alameda and Santa Clara, and Lakewood said the center is concerned that the current administration could add even more.





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The stage adaptation of Anne Frank's book "The Diary of Anne Frank" will open Friday in Walnut Creek, city officials said.



From Friday through April 28 the story that has won numerous awards including the Tony Award and National Book Critics Circle Award will be performed at the Lesher Center for the Arts at 1601 Civic Drive.



Frank's classic book tells the tale of eight people who hide from the Nazi's in an attic in Amsterdam.







Petaluma police are investigating the deaths of two people found dead in a home late Thursday afternoon, police said.



Officers responded around 4 p.m. to a home in the 800 block of Echo Court where the pair was found.



Police Lt. Brian Miller said no outstanding suspects exist and there is no threat to neighbors.



Miller said officers are still working to confirm the identities of the two and their relationship to each other.



He said it appears the pair knew each other and lived together at the home.







Oakland police on Thursday released the name of the suspect who hit a motorcycle police officer with a vehicle Tuesday.



Clayton Freeman, 28, of San Leandro, allegedly struck the officer and pushed the officer's bike 15 feet during a traffic stop at 11:09 a.m. in the 2400 block of Havenscourt Boulevard in Oakland.



Freeman allegedly fled afterward and was arrested at about 5 p.m. in San Leandro on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, evading a peace officer with disregard for safety and a probation violation.



Police said the officer was in full police uniform and riding a marked police motorcycle and saw a speeding vehicle that did not stop at a stop sign.



Police said the officer activated their lights and siren and stopped the vehicle. The officer got off their bike, approached Freeman's vehicle, started speaking with Freeman when Freeman reversed his vehicle, which struck the officer.







A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of sexual battery after allegedly breaking into a woman's house in San Jose early Thursday morning, police said.



Officers responded to the 900 block of Ironwood Drive in South San Jose at 4:22 a.m. to reports of a man sexually assaulting a 28-year-old woman inside her bedroom.



Police said they located San Jose resident Richard Hernandez inside the house and arrested him on suspicion of sexual battery, assault with intent to commit rape and burglary. All three are felonies.



Anyone with more details about the attempted rape is asked to call Detective Frank Montoya at (408) 537-1382.







Representatives with Service Employees International Union Local 1021 said more than 200 jobs within the San Francisco Housing Authority could be cut if a private firm assumes control of the housing agency.



Thursday afternoon, dozens of employees with the authority voiced their concerns over the possible move at the agency's board of commissioners meeting.



The concerns come after, earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mandated that the city assume responsibility of the agency because it had defaulted on several agreements and obligations.



Union members say that since then the housing authority has begun discussions with unions to lay off 227 employees and possibly outsource their jobs to a private company. Union members are urging the housing authority to bargain in good faith on behalf of the employees, many of whom are minorities, San Francisco natives and employees who have worked there for several years.







An environmental group sued the Bureau of Land Management in federal court in San Jose on Thursday in a bid to obtain information about plans for new leases for oil drilling and fracking in the Bay Area and on the central coastal California.



The lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity alleges the bureau is violating the federal Freedom of Information Act by failing to provide public records the center has sought since August 2018.



The Bureau of Land Management's press office said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.



The area under consideration concerns federal land and underground mineral rights managed by the bureau on approximately 400,000 acres in 11 counties extending from Contra Costa County in the north to Monterey County in the south, including the western Central Valley.



In January 2017, the bureau released a draft amendment to a 2007 Resource Management Plan for the area together with a draft environmental impact statement. It has not issued final documents.







A Richmond woman and her 2-year-old daughter have been found after they went missing, according to the California Highway Patrol.



As of 8:54 p.m. Thursday, Jessica Tucker, 30, and 2-year-old Roselyn Artiga had been found.



The pair was last seen Monday night in Hercules.







Friday will be partly cloudy with highs in the upper 50s. North winds will be 5 to 10 mph before switching to northwest winds of 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon.



Friday night will be mostly clear with lows in the upper 40s. Northwest winds will be 10 to 20 mph.



Saturday will be partly cloudy with highs in the upper 50s to the mid 60s. Northwest winds will be 10 to 20 mph.













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Alameda County health officials are urging people who were at a Livermore restaurant Saturday night and are more at risk of contracting measles to get in touch with their doctor no later than Friday.



The officials said Thursday that people who were at Sauced BBQ & Spirits at 2300 First St., No. 120, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday may have been exposed to the illness.



Anyone at the restaurant at that time who is not immune to measles may contract the disease, according to health officials.



People who are urged to get in touch with a doctor immediately are those who are unvaccinated or who have weaker immune systems.



Health officials said some people can get a more serious form of measles and need preventative treatment within six days of being exposed.



Those people are children 12 months old and younger, people who cannot receive the measles vaccine because of a weakened immune system, because for example they had an organ transplant or chemotherapy, and pregnant woman.



Those groups, as well as health care workers who were at the restaurant between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. are asked to get in touch with a health care provider and call the Alameda County Health Department at (510) 267-3250 right away and no later than Friday.





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SAN JOSE (BCN)



Hope Village will be dismantled this weekend and its 16 residents will move to motels while organizers try and find a new location for the sanctioned homeless encampment.



Santa Clara County entered into a short-term lease for the encampment from the city of San Jose last September, but as the lease comes to a close on Sunday, neither agency has been able secure land to relocate the camp.



The city proposed a "Compassion Village" with tiny homes at Willow and Lelong streets in Willow Glen, but residents in the area shot down the idea this month, saying the encampment would be an eyesore and pose safety concerns for its homeless residents. Hope Village tenants were also concerned about the site's proximity to state Highway 87.



"There are so much empty, underutilized properties that have been abandoned and vacant for years," said James, a 59-year-old Hope Village resident who grew up in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.



He pointed to the vacant Santa Clara County traffic court building on Ruff Drive across the street from Hope Village, and asked for the city to include sanctioned encampments in a multi-pronged approach to transition people from the streets to permanent housing.



So far, city leaders have favored tiny homes over the encampments, but the storage-like structures are more expensive than a collection of tents and fencing.



The current location of Hope Village isn't ideal, with planes roaring over the tents hundreds of times each day and creating high winds.



"Is it prime real estate? Hardly," James said, but he's grateful the pilot program was able to shelter him for six months through an especially chilly winter.



Despite the discordant handling of Hope Village, residents said they're not actively worrying about being forced back onto the streets if Hope Village doesn't find a new home. The county has given residents motel vouchers that are eligible for 30 days, but Hope Village founders are trying to find another site in as soon as a week.



"The worst thing they could do is put me back where I started," resident Charles Nelson said.



"Which is in the creek, under the bridge, and deeper into the woods," James added, describing homeless individuals as "resilient" and "scrappy."



Hope Village moved four times in the first week and a half of its existence amid disputes between the city, the California Highway Patrol and the state Employment Development Department, which owned the encampment's original site a block down from its current one.



"Even that isn't as bad as being forced to stay on the move for six weeks in a row, like a sweep would do," James said.



Janice Rombeck, spokeswoman for Supervisor Dan Cortese, said the county has not secured another site, but is working on eventually relocating Hope Village. For now, she said the motel vouchers will provide temporary housing.



The residents are packing up and moving to the motels Thursday and Friday, and Hope Village is asking for volunteers to help move their belongings into storage on from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.



"The closing of Hope Village is a result of the failure of local government to act," Hope Village leadership said in a statement. "Future plans are unclear but we will continue to search for a way to re-open Hope Village and move forward with our plan to provide a safe secure, humane location for area homeless."





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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



Representatives with Service Employees International Union Local 1021 said more than 200 jobs within the San Francisco Housing Authority could be cut if a private firm assumes control of the housing agency.



Thursday afternoon, dozens of employees with the authority voiced their concerns over the possible move at the agency's board of commissioners meeting.



The concerns come after, earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mandated that the city assume responsibility of the agency because it had defaulted on several agreements and obligations.



Union members say that since then the housing authority has begun discussions with unions to lay off 227 employees and possibly outsource their jobs to a private company. Union members are urging the housing authority to bargain in good faith on behalf of the employees, many of whom are minorities, San Francisco natives and employees who have worked there for several years.



Jasmine Kuo, who has worked for the housing authority for 18 years, said to commissioners at the meeting, "Eliminating and outsourcing our jobs to an out-of-state for-profit company is illogical and wrong when you have existing staff who have been here for five, 10, 20 and even 30 years. Staff members know this work inside and out and have relationships with the clients we serve.



"We the workers are the ones who brought the housing authority to standard performance and have kept us up there so why are we all being kicked to the curb?" she said. "We're everyone's favorite punching bag. As demoralizing as this is, we've continued to do the work we do and the best we can with the limited funding we have," she said.



After several other employees echoed similar sentiments, Commission President Joaquin Torres said, "I understand that this is not a fair experience that we're going through. What I'm hoping is that we can have a fair and respectful process for each and everyone one of you for what I know what is going to be a difficult time.



"I wish there was more I could say in terms of assurances, but as we work through the process this is where we're at. It is obviously not comfortable for me to share that with you at all and I thank you for the continued advocacy; for coming today to share this publicly to put the voices you have at the table with us which is where this work continues," he said.



SEIU representative Claude Joseph said with the Mayor's Office of Housing in control, Breed should work directly with the union to "save public housing in San Francisco and save the jobs of these employees.



"If she chooses otherwise, scores of employees will lose their retirement and medical that they have been working for for decades," he said.



Maryanne Montesa-Wright, eligibility worker for 19 years said, "We as staff of the housing authority and SEIU members are victims of mismanagement.



"I'm so emotional because for 19 years I worked hard and then suddenly they'll say 'hey you're out'" she said. "We want transparency and honesty so that we can prepare our lives."



On March 7, Breed announced the transition and said she'd focus on making sure the thousands of San Franciscans who rely on the housing voucher program wouldn't be affected. She also said she wanted to ensure the agency's employees wouldn't be harmed.



In October it was revealed during a hearing at the Board of Supervisor's Government Audit and Oversight Committee that the housing authority had a shortfall totaling less than $30 million.





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Santa Clara County reported a second case of measles within one week on Friday, saying a county resident contracted the infection while traveling abroad.



Public risk from the case is very low, according to the county, which is contacting everyone who may have come into contact with the person.



The case is unrelated to one reported on Tuesday involving an international traveler who visited 20 locations in the county last week.



County public health officials said the rate of measles vaccination in Santa Clara County is very high, so most people are protected from the infection. People with weakened immune systems or unvaccinated children are at higher risk.



County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said to call a doctor immediately if anyone who may have contracted measles experiences fever, cough, red eyes, runny nose and a rash beginning on the face.



Health officials also reminded anyone planning international travel to make sure they are up to date on their vaccinations.





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OAKLAND (BCN)



Oakland police on Thursday released the name of the suspect who hit a motorcycle police officer with a vehicle Tuesday.



Clayton Freeman, 28, of San Leandro, allegedly struck the officer and pushed the officer's bike 15 feet during a traffic stop at 11:09 a.m. in the 2400 block of Havenscourt Boulevard in Oakland.



Freeman allegedly fled afterward and was arrested at about 5 p.m. in San Leandro on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, evading a peace officer with disregard for safety and a probation violation.



Police said the officer was in full police uniform and riding a marked police motorcycle and saw a speeding vehicle that did not stop at a stop sign.



Police said the officer activated their lights and siren and stopped the vehicle. The officer got off their bike, approached Freeman's vehicle, started speaking with Freeman when Freeman reversed his vehicle, which struck the officer.



Freeman's vehicle continued backward until it struck the officer's motorcycle.



Freeman is scheduled to appear in court on April 4.





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SAN MATEO (BCN)



Police are searching for a man suspected of stealing expensive bras from a home during a realtor-hosted open house on Sunday.



Surveillance video from the homeowner shows a man being greeted by a realtor inside the home, then walking around the house "with a noticeable bulge around his abdomen that wasn't there when he initially walked inside the home," according to release from San Mateo police.



After the open house event concluded on Sunday afternoon, the homeowner noticed many of her expensive undergarments were missing, police said.



Police released a surveillance image of the suspect, who is described as an Asian male, between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a slender build. He was wearing glasses, a gray long-sleeve shirt, vest, and jeans.



Anyone with information on the suspect is urged to contact police.





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Dublin, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Asia-Pacific Healthcare Industry Outlook, 2019" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The healthcare market in Asia-Pacific (APAC) is expected to grow by 7.2% in 2019 due to the growth of smart hospitals and developments in the home care segment and medical tourism. This, in turn, has increased the demand for technology, innovative healthcare programmes, as well as drugs and medical devices based on advanced technology.

Conventional growth drivers such as supportive government regulations and policies are also a major boost for projected market growth in the APAC healthcare industry. Emerging markets such as China, India and ASEAN are expected to offer high-growth opportunities across all segments.

It is estimated that the Asia-Pacific healthcare market will grow to $486.72 billion in 2019. However, in the APAC region, healthcare challenges remain the same; access and affordability of new technology demand complex and innovative solutions from all industry stakeholders.

Key industry issues that deserve attention include policy innovation, support for new business models, development of secure interoperable technology platforms, and the evolving role of consumers in healthcare. These emerging trends create growth opportunities for industry participants including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical technology manufacturers, digital health vendors and healthcare service providers.



The role of digital health is changing dramatically in Asia-Pacific. Digital technology is enabling improvements in the quality of drugs and medical devices, access to information and care as well as financial, clinical and operational workflows across all healthcare segments.

With this major industry transition as the background, some of the key growth opportunities discussed in this years outlook include:

Cell Therapy

Biosimilars

Precision Medicine

eClinical Platforms

Medical Device Manufacturing

Medical Tourism

Healthcare Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Risk Stratification

Within APAC, ASEAN countries still have unexplored and under-served markets, which provide boundless opportunities for healthcare vendors with innovative products and services. Therefore, to be able to capitalize on the market, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and digital health vendors will need to understand the market trends unique to each of these countries.



However, the healthcare industry in these countries evolves rapidly, as market participants constantly find ways to upgrade the quality of healthcare systems offered. Due to the turbulence in the market, there is a need to understand the key trends as well as predictions for each of these countries to estimate the future market potential and dynamics.

This research service highlights the key trends and provides significant predictions and suggestions to healthcare vendors. This study will help vendors align their strategies accordingly and develop innovative solutions and products that will help them to capitalize on the opportunities in these markets.



In a nutshell, 2019 is expected to be the year when Asia-Pacific truly transforms the healthcare industry with technology and innovation; presenting growth opportunities for vendors and healthcare providers with an innovative culture. This outlook discusses the qualitative and quantitative factors driving this transformation.

Key Topics Covered



1. Executive Summary

Research Scope

Key 2019 Healthcare Market Predictions - Asia-Pacific (APAC)

APAC Healthcare Market Revenue - 2018 and 2019

2019 APAC Prospective - Developed Markets

2019 APAC Prospective - Emerging Markets

2. Total APAC Healthcare Industry Outlook for 2019

APAC Healthcare Revenue by Sector in 2018 and 2019

APAC Healthcare Revenue by Country in 2018 and 2019

3. Key 2019 Healthcare Market Predictions

Prediction 1 - Cell Therapy to Emerge as Leading Market Across Regenerative Medicine

Prediction 2 - China to Surpass South Korea with the Strongest Biosimilar Pipeline Across APAC

Prediction 3 - Rapidly Reducing Costs of NGS Platforms to Drive Precision Medicine in Asia-Pacific

Prediction 4 - eClinical Platforms to Lead Digital Transformation in APAC Pharmaceutical (Pharma) Market

Prediction 5 - ASEAN Government Initiatives to Boost Localised Medical Device Manufacturing

Prediction 6 - Integration of Health and Wellness to Boost Medical Tourism Industry

Prediction 7 - Healthcare AI to Flourish Due to Global Funding Towards Innovation Culture Companies

Prediction 8 - Integrated Service Providers to Lead Risk-stratified Intervention in Chronic Disease Management

4. Industry Sector Outlook 2019

2019 Market Snapshot - Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

2019 Pharma and Biotech Market - Key Growth Opportunities

Pharma and Biotech Sector Companies to Watch - 2019

2019 Market Snapshot - In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD)

IVD Market - Key Growth Opportunities

IVD Sector Companies to Watch - 2019

2019 Market Snapshot - Medical Devices

Medical Devices Market - Key Growth Opportunities

Medical Devices Sector Companies to Watch - 2019

2019 Market Snapshot - Medical Imaging Equipment

Medical Imaging Equipment Market - Key Growth Opportunities

Medical Imaging Sector Companies to Watch - 2019

Key 2019 Market Snapshot - Healthcare IT

2019 Healthcare IT Market - Key Growth Opportunities

Healthcare IT Sector Companies to Watch - 2019

5. Regional Outlook 2019

Australia & New Zealand

China

India

Japan

South Korea

ASEAN

ASEAN (Indonesia)

ASEAN (Malaysia)

ASEAN (Singapore)

ASEAN (Thailand)

6. Key Conclusions

Concluding Thoughts

7. Appendix

List of Acronyms

List of Exhibits

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/msd33v/asiapacific?w=12
Danish English

FLSmidth to deliver new cement production line in Vietnam

PRESS RELEASE, Copenhagen, Denmark

29 March 2019

Xuan Thanh Cement has awarded FLSmidth a contract to deliver equipment for a brownfield cement production line in Ha Nam province in Vietnam. The contract has a value of around DKK 550 million.

FLSmidth will design and engineer the new clinker production line and deliver energy-efficient equipment for the entire production from crushing to clinker silo. The order is due to be fully delivered by the end of 2020, and once operational the production line will have a capacity of 12,500 tonnes per day.

In 2015, Xuan Thanh Cement placed a similar order for a production line that has been operating successfully since 2017.

"We are very pleased to continue our engagement with Xuan Thanh Cement. It is rewarding to work with a customer that combines a strong focus on reliable and efficient production with the ambition to minimise its environmental impact. Our cooperation shows that when you focus on total cost of ownership, you can get energy-efficient equipment that lowers emissions without compromising productivity," says Jan Kjaersgaard, President, Cement, FLSmidth.

The order becomes effective immediately, engineering work is performed in the coming months and the main revenue will be recognised during 2020.

Contacts

Media Relations

Sofie Karen Lindberg, +45 30 93 18 77, skl@flsmidth.com



Investor Relations

Nicolai Mauritzen, +45 30 93 18 51, nicm@flsmidth.com





FLSmidth delivers sustainable productivity to the global mining and cement industries. We deliver market-leading engineering, equipment and service solutions to our customers enabling them to improve performance, drive down costs and reduce environmental impact. Our operations span the globe and our 11,400 employees are present in more than 60 countries. In 2018, FLSmidth generated a revenue of DKK 18,8 billion. www.flsmidth.com
Lithuanian English

Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of AB Linas (company code 147689083, address S. Kerbedzio str.23, Panevezys) will be held on April 30, 2019 acc. to the decision and initiative of the Board.

Date of the meeting  April 30, 2019, Tuesday.

Time of the meeting  13:00 a.m. Registration of participants from 12:00 a.m. till 12:45 a.m.

Place of the meeting  AB Linas premises, S. Kerbedzio str. 23, Panevezys.

Agenda of the meeting:

The conclusion of the auditor about consolidated and Companys annual financial reports set of year 2018 and annual report. Confirmation of consolidated and Companys annual financial reports set of year 2018 and presentation of consolidated annual report. Companys allotment of profit (loss). Election of the member of Audit committee.

The accounting date of General Meeting of Shareholders is April 23, 2018. In the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders have the right to participate and vote persons who were companys shareholders at the end of accounting date (April 23, 2018), personally or their authorized persons, or persons with whom voting right transferring contract is signed.

The Company doesnt form the right to participate and to vote in the meeting with the help of electronic communication equipment.

Decision projects on the agenda, documents which will be presented for General meeting of Shareholders are announced in companys web page http://www.linas.lt . The shareholders of the company have the right to acquaint with this information on working days from 9:00 a.m till 16:00 a.m. at companys premises S.Kerbedzio str.23, Panevezys.

Shareholders the shares of whom provide not less than 1/20 of all votes, can offer new decision projects for the questions which are included or will be included into the agenda of the meeting. Offers can be presented in written form or by e-mail. The offers in written form can be taken till April 30, 2019, 10:00 a.m. (on working days) to the companys premises or sent by registered letter to address S. Kerbedzio str. 23, LT-35114, Panevezys. Offers by e-mail are sent to address office@linas.lt . During the meeting there will be discussed only offers received in the company till April 30, 2019, 10:00 a.m.

Shareholders have the right to provide questions in relation with agenda of the meeting in advance. Shareholders can provide questions by e-mail office@linas.lt not later than 3 working days till the meeting. The company will present answers by e-mail till the meeting. The company has the right not to give answers to shareholders questions if they are in relation with companys commercial (production) or confidential information.

All the persons who are participating in General Meeting of Shareholders and have the right to vote have to present the document certifying person identification. Representative of the shareholder for the meeting has to present the original of authorization acc. to law indicated form and content. The company doesnt indicate special form of authorization. The shareholder has the right with the help of electronic communication equipment to authorize other natural or legal person to participate and to vote in the meeting in the name of shareholder. The shareholder has to inform the company about the issued authorization by e-mail office@linas.lt not later than till the last working day 16:00 p.m. to the meeting. In the report the shareholder has to indicate web page from which the shareholders electronic signature checking program could be sent for free.

It would be able to vote on the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders questions completing the general voting bulletin in written form in advance. Printed general voting bulletin is available at companys premises, address S. Kerbedzio str.23, Panevezys. If the shareholder requires in written form, then the company is sending general voting bulletin by registered letter or handle with written confirmation not later than 10 days till the meeting. Shareholder or his authorized person has to sign the filled in general voting bulletin. If the general voting bulletin is signed by the representative, then the document confirming his right for voting has to be added to the bulletin. Properly completed voting bulletins with the attached documents should be presented to the company personally, by the authorized person or by registered letter to the address S. Kerbedzio str. 23, LT-35114, Panevezys, not later than the last working day to up to the meeting.

Information is available by phone +370 45 506100

AB Linas head of Finance dept.

Egidijus Mikeliunas

+370 45 506100
TORONTO, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- dynaCERT Inc. (TSX VENTURE: DYA) (OTCQB: DYFSF) (FRA: DMJ) ("dynaCERT" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it is an active exhibitor and participant in the following upcoming international trucking shows.

March 28 to March 30: Mid-America Trucking Show, Louisville, Kentucky

dynaCERT currently is displaying its HydraGENa Technology at the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) in Louisville, Kentucky from March 28 to March 30. Almost 100,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors are present at this largest and most diversified trucking show in North America. Please visit us at Booth 11124.

https://www.truckingshow.com/

April 1 to April 5: Hannover Messe, Germany

At the 2019 Hannover Messe, from April 1 to April 5, dynaCERT will be hosting European executives from a number of industries as well as high-ranking German officials of different levels of government, important politicians, senior technology company officers and industrial company management. Hannover Messe is the worlds largest meeting of the Technology Industry where 220,000 expected visitors will have an opportunity to discover 6,500 new technologies including dynaCERTs HydraGENa Technology. Please visit us at Hall 16 Booth H03.

https://www.hannovermesse.de/home

April 11 to April 13: Montreal ExpoCam Show, Canada

dynaCERT is also exhibiting at Montreals ExpoCam show from April 11 to April 13, the biennial Canadian truck show hosted by NewCom Media Inc. This years show has both Canadian and international exhibitors and expects to exceed last years 14,000 visitors. Please visit us at Level 400 Booth 4781.

https://www.expocam.ca/product/hydragen-hg145b/

April 8 to April 14: bauma in Munich, Germany

At the bauma International Construction Equipment show in Munich, Germany, dynaCERT will have an opportunity to greet visitors from April 8 to April 14. In 2019 bauma will feature 18 halls and an overall exhibition space of 614,000 m and is expecting 4,006 exhibitors from 58 countries, and more than last shows 583,736 visitors from 219 countries and 138,929 visitors from the mining sector. https://www.bauma.de/index-2.html

Mr. Jim Payne, CEO of dynaCERT, commented, dynaCERT is very pleased to showcase its HydraGENa Technology to a global audience where we closely support our international dealers. These trade shows enhance dynaCERTs exposure to governments, trucking companies, diesel consumers and technology experts from around the world. Our growing sales and marketing team is doing an excellent job of disseminating the value of our products and their various applications in many industries and jurisdictions.

About dynaCERT Inc.

dynaCERT Inc. manufactures, distributes, and installs Carbon Emission Reduction Technology for use with internal combustion engines. As part of the growing global hydrogen economy, our patent-pending technology creates hydrogen and oxygen on-demand through electrolysis and supplies these through the air intake to enhance combustion, resulting in lower carbon emissions and greater fuel efficiency. Our technology is designed for use with all types and sizes of diesel engines used in on-road vehicles, reefer trailers, off-road construction, power generation, mining and forestry equipment, marine vessels and railroad locomotives. Website: www. dynaCERT .com

READER ADVISORY

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to the potential expansion into new markets, industries and segments, such as diesel- powered use of any the dynaCERT products and sales. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance of achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward- looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success for new products and technologies; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of products and services; changes in technology and changes in laws and regulations; the uncertainty of the emerging hydrogen economy; including the hydrogen economy moving at a pace not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements; and the other risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the release.

On Behalf of the Board



Murray James Payne, CEO

For more information, please contact:

Jim Payne, CEO & President

dynaCERT Inc.

#101  501 Alliance Avenue

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP. (the "Company" or First Majestic) is pleased to announce its 2018 Mineral Reserve and Resource estimates for its existing mineral property assets in Mexico with an effective date of December 31, 2018. The Company completed a total of 211,695 metres of diamond drilling at its operating mines in 2018, representing a 35% increase in metres drilled compared to the prior year.



2018 HIGHLIGHTS (compared to the prior estimate of December 31, 2017)

Proven and Probable Reserves increased 46% to 170.9 million silver equivalent ounces Added San Dimas Reserves consisting of 100.4 million silver equivalent ounces; or up 32% compared to post acquisition estimates due to higher conversion of Resources to Reserves resulting from successful infill drilling in the Jessica, Roberta and Regina mining areas San Martin Reserves declined 71% to 6.1 million silver equivalent ounces resulting from an increase in cut-off grades due to lower metal price assumptions and an increase in operating costs, as well as re-assessing the dilution and mining recovery factors to reflect current mining conditions La Parrilla Reserves declined 75% to 3.6 million silver equivalent ounces resulting from mine depletion and an increase in cut-off grades due to lower metal price assumptions and an increase in operating costs Excluded La Guitarra Reserves after placing the operation in care and maintenance

Measured and Indicated Resources increased 82% to 259.8 million silver equivalent ounces Added San Dimas M&I Resources of 130.2 million silver equivalent ounces; up 8% compared to previous estimates Upgraded 8.8 million silver equivalent ounces at the Ermitano Silver/Gold Project from Inferred to Indicated Resources

Inferred Resources increased 3% to 212.7 million silver equivalent ounces Added San Dimas Inferred Resources of 112.6 million silver equivalent ounces Increased Ermitanos Inferred Resource by 20% to 49.0 million silver equivalent ounces Reclassified 92.9 million silver equivalent ounces at La Joya to historical estimates



The following table shows the total tonnage mined from each of the Companys producing properties during 2018, including total ounces of silver and silver equivalent ounces produced from each property and the tonnage mined from delineated Reserves and Resources at each property. A portion of the production from each mine came from material other than Reserves or Resources, as set out below under the heading Material Mined from Areas Not in Reserves or Resources.

2018 PRODUCTION TABLE

Units SAN DIMAS SANTA ELENA LA ENCANTADA SAN MARTIN LA PARRILLA DEL TORO LA GUITARRA TOTAL Ore Processed Tonnes 435,289 899,370 916,894 284,656 491,637 267,170 80,435 3,375,452 Material Mined from Reserves Tonnes 434,838 876,070 205,931 235,154 472,546 235,387 43,963 2,503,890 Material Mined from Areas Not In Reserves or Resources Tonnes 451 23,300 710,963 49,502 19,091 31,783 36,472 871,561 Silver Produced Ounces 3,621,868 2,223,246 1,603,740 1,746,139 1,340,385 785,154 358,919 11,679,452 Silver-Equivalent Produced from Other Metals (1) Ounces 4,429,737 3,791,441 7,155 423,199 982,671 647,158 282,260 10,563,619 Silver-Equivalent Produced Ounces 8,051,605 6,014,687 1,610,895 2,169,338 2,323,056 1,432,312 641,179 22,243,071





(1) Silver-equivalent ounces are estimated considering: metal price assumptions, metallurgical recovery for the corresponding mineral type/mineral process and the metal payable of the corresponding contract of each mine. Details as to the method of calculation can be found in the applicable tables in each mine section of the 2018 Annual Information Form. (2) Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Metal price assumptions used to estimate the 2018 Reserves were reduced to reflect a conservative view and relatively inline with the three-year rolling price averages. Price assumptions for Mineral Reserves estimation decreased to $17.00/oz for silver (-$1.00/oz), $1,250/oz for gold (-$50/oz), $1.10/lb for lead (-$0.10/lb) and $1.20/lb for zinc (-$0.20/lb) when compared to the previous estimates.

RESERVES AND RESOURCES UPDATE

As of December 31, 2018, Proven and Probable Reserves totaled 170.9 million silver equivalent ounces, representing a 46% increase in metal content compared to the prior estimate of December 31, 2017. This increase reflects the incorporation of the high grade reserves of the San Dimas mine after its acquisition on May 10, 2018 and the results of the infill exploration and development programs, offset by the effect of mining depletion, the reduction of reserves primarily at San Martin and La Parrilla, the elimination of reserves from La Guitarra which was put in care and maintenance in August 2018, as well as the impact of lower metal price assumptions.

The Companys consolidated Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources have increased 17% in terms of tonnage and 82% in terms of silver equivalent metal content as the result of incorporating the high grade resources of San Dimas as well as conversion of Inferred Resources at Ermitano following its successful 2018 exploration program. These increases were partially offset by production depletion and reductions in metal price used for Mineral Resources estimation.

Consolidated Inferred Mineral Resources increased by 3% in terms of silver equivalent metal content after the incorporation of resources from San Dimas which was offset by the subtraction of resources from La Joya which is now considered a historical estimate.

The complete 2018 Mineral Reserve and Resource estimates for all metals, tonnage and grades are shown below in the following tables:

Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves with an effective date of December 31, 2018 Mine Category Mineral Type Tonnage Grades Metal Content kt Ag (g/t) Au (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) Ag-Eq (g/t) Ag (k Oz) Au (k Oz) Ag-Eq (k Oz) SAN DIMAS Proven (UG) Sulphides 1,629 323 4.09 - - 630 16,940 214.4 32,980 Probable (UG) Sulphides 3,794 303 3.34 - - 553 36,980 407.1 67,450 Total Proven and Probable (UG) Sulphides 5,423 309 3.56 - - 576 53,920 621.5 100,430 SANTA ELENA Proven (UG) Sulphides 2,028 113 1.58 - - 238 7,340 103.2 15,520 Probable (UG) Sulphides 576 102 1.28 - - 202 1,880 23.6 3,740 Probable (Pad) Oxides 1,349 36 0.94 - - 111 1,570 40.7 4,800 Total Proven and Probable (UG+Pad) Oxides + Sulphides 3,953 85 1.32 - - 189 10,790 167.5 24,060 LA ENCANTADA Probable (UG) Oxides 1,311 189 - - - 189 7,950 - 7,950 Probable (UG) Oxides - Flotation 809 147 - 2.35 - 196 3,820 - 5,090 Probable (Tailings) Oxides 4,138 110 - - - 110 14,630 - 14,630 Total Probable (UG) Oxides + Tailings 6,257 131 - 0.30 - 138 26,400 - 27,670 LA PARRILLA Probable (UG) Oxides 70 233 0.17 - - 247 520 0.4 560 Probable (UG) Sulphides 308 166 0.05 2.00 2.10 308 1,650 0.5 3,050 Total Probable (UG) Oxides 378 179 0.08 1.63 1.71 297 2,170 0.9 3,610 SAN MARTIN Proven (UG) Oxides 79 175 0.27 - - 195 445 0.7 495 Probable (UG) Oxides 615 245 0.50 - - 282 4,840 9.9 5,580 Total Proven and Probable (UG) Oxides 694 237 0.47 - - 272 5,285 10.6 6,075 DEL TORO Proven (UG) Transition + Sulphides 42 205 0.29 2.44 0.65 325 280 0.4 450 Probable (UG) Transition + Sulphides 639 200 0.28 4.41 4.08 419 4,110 5.7 8,620 Total Proven and Probable (UG) Transition + Sulphides 681 200 0.28 4.29 3.87 413 4,390 6.1 9,070 Total Proven and Probable All mineral types 17,387 184 1.44 0.31 0.19 306 102,955 806.6 170,915





(1) Mineral Reserves have been classified in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, whose definitions are incorporated by reference into National Instrument 43-101 (NI43-101). (2) The Mineral Reserves statement provided in the table above is based on internal estimates prepared as of December 31, 2018. The information provided was reviewed and prepared under the supervision of Ramon Mendoza Reyes, PEng, and a Qualified Person ("QP") for the purposes of NI43-101. (3) Silver-equivalent grade is estimated considering metal price assumptions, metallurgical recovery for the corresponding mineral type/mineral process and the metal payable of the corresponding contract of each mine. Estimation details are listed in each mine section of the 2018 Annual Information Form (AIF). (4) Metal prices considered for Mineral Reserves estimates were $17.00/oz Ag and $1,250/oz Au, $1.00/lb Pb, and $1.20/lb Zn. (5) A two-step constraining approach has been implemented to estimate reserves for each mining method in use: A General Cut-Off Grade (GC) was used to delimit new mining areas that will require development of access and infrastructure and all sustaining costs. A second Incremental Cut-Off Grade (IC) was considered to include adjacent mineralized material which recoverable value pays for all associated costs, including but not limited to the variable cost of mining and processing, indirect costs, treatment, administration costs and plant sustaining costs.

The cut-off grades, metallurgical recoveries, payable terms and modifying factors used to convert Mineral Reserves from Mineral Resources are different for all mines. These cut-off grades and economic parameters are listed in the applicable section describing each mine below in the AIF. (6) Dilution for underground mining includes consideration for planned dilution due to geometric aspects of the designed stopes and economic zones, and additional dilution consideration due to material handling and other operating aspects. Dilution and mining recovery factors are listed in the applicable section describing each mine below in the AIF. (7) Tonnage is expressed in thousands of tonnes, metal content is expressed in thousands of ounces. (8) Totals may not add up due to rounding.







Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources with an effective date of December 31, 2018 Mine / Project Category Mineral Type Tonnage Grades Metal Content

kt Ag (g/t) Au (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) Ag-Eq (g/t) Ag (k Oz) Au (k Oz) Ag-Eq (k Oz) SAN DIMAS Measured (UG) Sulphides 1,412 505 7.33 - - 1,059 22,930 332.7 48,080 Indicated (UG) Sulphides 3,193 427 4.93 - - 800 43,840 505.7 82,080 Total Measured and Indicated (UG) Sulphides 4,604 451 5.66 - - 879 66,770 838.4 130,160 SANTA ELENA Measured Santa Elena (UG) Sulphides 2,508 132 1.84 - - 280 10,640 148.7 22,550 Indicated Santa Elena (UG) Sulphides 915 124 1.60 - - 253 3,650 47.1 7,430 Indicated Ermitano (UG) Sulphides 704 65 4.05 - - 389 1,460 91.7 8,810 Indicated (Pad) Oxides 1,179 39 1.04 - - 122 1,480 39.3 4,630 Total Measured and Indicated (UG+Pad) Oxides + Sulphides 5,306 101 1.92 - - 255 17,230 326.8 43,420 LA ENCANTADA Indicated Veins Systems (UG) Oxides 1,339 255 - - - 255 10,960 - 10,960 Indicated Breccias (UG) Oxides - Flotation 830 238 - 3.36 - 337 6,350 61.5 8,990 Indicated (Tailings) Oxides 4,200 110 - - - 110 14,850 - 14,850 Total Indicated (UG) Oxides + Tailings 6,370 157 - 0.44 - 170 32,160 62 34,800 LA PARRILLA Indicated (UG) Sulphides 999 184 0.06 2.01 1.78 318 5,910 44.3 10,230 Indicated (UG) Oxides 142 254 0.15 - - 265 1,160 - 1,210 Total Measured and Indicated (UG) Oxides + Sulphides 1,142 193 0.07 1.76 1.55 312 7,070 44.3 11,440 SAN MARTIN Measured (UG) Oxides 112 268 0.46 - - 302 960 1.7 1,090 Indicated (UG) Oxides 1,485 291 0.57 - - 334 13,880 27.1 15,940 Total Measured and Indicated (UG) Oxides 1,597 289 0.56 - - 332 14,840 28.8 17,030 DEL TORO Measured (UG) Transition + Sulphides 60 225 0.35 2.60 0.66 362 430 0.7 700 Indicated (UG) Transition + Sulphides 896 218 0.30 4.47 3.98 477 6,290 8.7 13,760 Total Measured and Indicated (UG) Transition + Sulphides 956 219 0.31 4.35 3.77 470 6,720 9.4 14,460 LA GUITARRA Measured (UG) Sulphides 384 292 1.84 - - 431 3,610 22.7 5,330 Indicated (UG) Sulphides 243 250 1.98 - - 399 1,950 15.5 3,120 Total Measured and Indicated (UG) Sulphides 627 276 1.89 - - 419 5,560 38.2 8,450 Total Measured and Indicated All mineral types 20,601 227 1.88 0.43 0.26 392 150,350 1,347.4 259,760





(1) Mineral Resources have been classified in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, whose definitions are incorporated by reference into NI 43-101. (2) The Mineral Resources information provided above is based on internal estimates prepared as of December 31, 2018. The information provided was reviewed and compiled by Ramon Mendoza Reyes, PEng, QP for First Majestic, and is based on internal work prepared under the supervision of First Majestic internal QPs, who have the appropriate relevant qualifications, and experience in geology and resource estimation. (3) Metal prices considered for Mineral Resources estimates were $17.50/oz Ag, $1,300/oz Au, $1.00/lb Pb, and $1.20/lb Zn. (4) Silver-equivalent grade is estimated considering: metal price assumptions, metallurgical recovery for the corresponding mineral type/mineral process and the metal payable of the corresponding contract of each mine. Estimation details are listed in each mine section of the AIF. (5) The cut-off grades used to estimate Mineral Resources are different for all mines. The cut-off grades and factors are listed in the applicable section describing each mine section of the AIF. (6) Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources are reported inclusive of Mineral Reserves. (7) The La Guitarra mine was placed on care and maintenance on August 3, 2018 and is no longer a material property.







Inferred Mineral Resources with an effective date of December 31, 2018 Mine / Project Category Mineral Type Tonnage Grades Metal Content

kt Ag (g/t) Au (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) Ag-Eq (g/t) Ag (k Oz) Au (k Oz) Ag-Eq (k Oz) SAN DIMAS Inferred Total (UG) Sulphides 5,708 341 3.60 - - 614 62,640 661.3 112,640 Inferred Santa Elena Mine (UG) Sulphides 931 90 1.09 - - 177 2,700 32.7 5,310 SANTA ELENA Inferred Ermitano (UG) Sulphides 4,637 59 3.36 - - 329 8,820 501.5 48,980 Inferred Total (UG) Sulphides 5,568 64 2.98 - - 303 11,520 534.2 54,290 LA ENCANTADA Inferred Veins Systems (UG) Oxides 608 234 - - - 234 4,580 - 4,580 Inferred Breccias (UG) Oxides 902 201 - - - 201 5,830 - 5,830 Inferred Ojuelas (UG) Oxides - Flotation 88 183 - 3.41 - 283 520 6.7 810 Inferred Total (UG) Oxides 1,598 213 - 0.19 - 218 10,930 6.7 11,220 LA PARRILLA Inferred (UG) Oxides 870 189 0.07 1.83 1.95 321 5,290 35.1 8,970 Inferred (UG) Sulphides 471 226 0.06 - - 231 3,430 - 3,490 Inferred Total (UG) Oxides + Sulphides 1,341 202 0.06 1.19 1.27 289 8,720 35.1 12,460 SAN MARTIN Inferred Total (UG) Oxides 1,634 232 0.30 - - 254 12,180 15.7 13,360 DEL TORO Inferred Total (UG) Transition + Sulphides 560 219 0.18 3.33 1.23 377 3,960 3.3 6,790 LA GUITARRA Inferred Total (UG) Sulphides 164 268 1.39 - - 373 1,420 7.3 1,970 Total Inferred All mineral types 16,573 209 2.30 0.23 0.14 399 111,370 1,263.6 212,730





(1) Mineral Resources have been classified in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, whose definitions are incorporated by reference into NI 43-101. (2) The Mineral Resources information provided above is based on internal estimates prepared as of December 31, 2018. The information provided was reviewed and compiled by Ramon Mendoza Reyes, PEng, QP for First Majestic, and is based on internal work prepared under the supervision of First Majestic internal QPs, who have the appropriate relevant qualifications, and experience in geology and resource estimation. (3) Metal prices considered for Mineral Resources estimates were $17.50/oz Ag, $1,300/oz Au, $1.00/lb Pb, and $1.20/lb Zn. (4) Silver-equivalent grade is estimated considering: metal price assumptions, metallurgical recovery for the corresponding mineral type/mineral process and the metal payable of the corresponding contract of each mine. Estimation details are listed in each mine section of the Annual Information Form (AIF). (5) The cut-off grades used to estimate Mineral Resources are different for all mines. The cut-off grades and factors are listed in the applicable section describing each mine section of the AIF. (6) The La Guitarra mine was placed on care and maintenance on August 3, 2018 and is no longer a material property.

2019 EXPLORATION PROGRAM



For 2019, First Majestic is planning to invest a total of $26.2 million towards exploration to drill approximately 188,000 metres across its core Mexican assets. The 2019 drilling program will consist of approximately 11,600 metres of sustaining diamond drilling to support mining activities at the six operating mines; approximately 152,000 metres of expansionary diamond drilling intended to improve confidence and increase Mineral Resources with a focus on the Santa Elena Main Vein and the Central Block at San Dimas; and drill approximately 8,400 metres intended to test greenfield targets at Santa Elena and Del Toro. Furthermore, due to the exploration success in 2018 at Ermitano, the Company is planning to complete a 16,000 metre drill program in 2019 to investigate the continuity of mineralization at shallow depths that may be amenable to open pit extraction.

The Company also announces that its 2018 Annual Information Form has been filed on SEDAR. In addition, a Form 40-F report has been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and is available on EDGAR. Both documents are also available on the Companys website at www.firstmajestic.com.

Shareholders may also receive a copy of First Majestics Annual Report which includes the audited financial statements, without charge, upon request to First Majestic, Suite 1800 - 925 West Georgia Street Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6C 3L2 or to info@firstmajestic.com.

Mr. Ramon Mendoza Reyes, Vice President Technical Services for First Majestic, is a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed in this news release.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

First Majestic is a mining company focused on silver production in Mexico and is aggressively pursuing the development of its existing mineral property assets. The Company presently owns and operates the San Dimas Silver/Gold Mine, the Santa Elena Silver/Gold Mine, the La Encantada Silver Mine, the San Martin Silver Mine, the La Parrilla Silver Mine and the Del Toro Silver Mine. Production from these mines are projected to be between 14.2 to 15.8 million silver ounces or 24.7 to 27.5 million silver equivalent ounces in 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION contact info@firstmajestic.com, visit our website at www.firstmajestic.com or call our toll free number 1.866.529.2807.

FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP.

signed

Keith Neumeyer, President & CEO

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains forwardlooking information and "forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws (collectively, forwardlooking statements). These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance, business prospects or opportunities that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management made in light of management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the Companys business strategy; future planning processes; commercial mining operations; cash flow; budgets; the timing and amount of estimated future production; recovery rates; mine plans and mine life; the future price of silver and other metals; costs of production; costs and timing of the development of new deposits; capital projects and exploration activities and the possible results thereof. Assumptions may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Consequently, guidance cannot be guaranteed. As such, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon guidance and forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, assumptions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forwardlooking statements. Statements concerning proven and probable mineral reserves and mineral resource estimates may also be deemed to constitute forwardlooking statements to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered as and if the property is developed, and in the case of measured and indicated mineral resources or proven and probable mineral reserves, such statements reflect the conclusion based on certain assumptions that the mineral deposit can be economically exploited. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as seek, anticipate, plan, continue, estimate, expect, may, will, project, predict, forecast, potential, target, intend, could, might, should, believe and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forwardlooking statements.

Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the integration of acquisitions; actual results of exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; commodity prices; variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; actual performance of plant, equipment or processes relative to specifications and expectations; accidents; labour relations; relations with local communities; changes in national or local governments; changes in applicable legislation or application thereof; delays in obtaining approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; exchange rate fluctuations; requirements for additional capital; government regulation; environmental risks; reclamation expenses; outcomes of pending litigation; limitations on insurance coverage as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Description of the Business - Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form, available on www.sedar.com, and Form 40-F on file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. Although First Majestic 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.

The Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forwardlooking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forwardlooking statements included herein should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.
SPOKANE, Wash., March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nearly 200 community leaders joined Avista this week in celebrating the Companys 130th birthday at events in Washington and Idaho where Avista leadership announced a major philanthropic contribution that extends Avistas long, rich tradition of championing the communities it serves.



Our region and our company are human powered, said Scott Morris, chairman and CEO of Avista. To celebrate 130 years of working together to build strong, healthy and vibrant communities, Avista is pleased to announce an investment of more than $7 million that will fund initiatives in our local communities.

Were grateful for the hard work and collaboration of our communities over the years as weve worked side by side to make our communities what they are today. Were pleased to build on our legacy of community stewardship with this contribution that will serve to elevate the great work already being done and expand the possibilities for what we can accomplish together into the future, Morris said.

Working with the communities, Avista will focus on three initiatives:

Homelessness  working to help find solutions to this very complex issue facing communities both large and small Small Town Pride  strengthening communities by solving tough problems, building resilience and continuing to care for neighbors Youth Success  recognizing the many challenges faced by youth today, investing in initiatives to ensure youth can be safe and successful in the classroom and excited for their future

The funding for this $7 million investment does not come from utility rates, but instead comes from shareholders through the various philanthropy programs of Avista.

Through Avistas corporate and foundation giving, the Company infuses the communities across its five-state service area with more than $2.5 million annually.

Each birthday celebration included music provided by local students and a birthday cake, along with the opportunity for participants to mix and mingle, continuing to strengthen relationships that make communities strong.

About Avista Utilities

Avista Utilities is involved in the production, transmission and distribution of energy. We provide energy services and electricity to 388,000 customers and natural gas to 355,000 customers in a service territory that covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.6 million. Avista Utilities is an operating division of Avista Corp . (NYSE: AVA). For more information, please visit www.myavista.com

The Avista logo is a trademark of Avista Corporation.

To unsubscribe from Avistas news release distribution, send reply message to lena.funston@avistacorp.com

Contact:

Avista: David Vowels 509-495-7956, david.vowels@avistacorp.com

Avista 24/7 Media Access 509-495-4174
Dublin, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Hydroponics Market - Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2019 - 2024)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Hydroponics Market was valued at USD 23.94 billion in 2018 and is expected to register a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period (2019-2024).



In 2018, Europe is the largest geographic segment of the market studied and accounted for a share of around 47.3% of the overall market.



Hydroponics is an environment-friendly and profitable technology. It has been promoted by the various governments and non-governmental organizations for its benefits in terms of food security. High-cost is the only major drawback in technology. However, increased R&D activity is being carried out globally to reduce the cost involved in technology. The major industry drivers include high profits, growing emphasis on food security, and increasing consumption of salad and exotic vegetables.



Scope of the Report



Hydroponics involves the process of growing plants by using mineral nutrient solutions in sand, gravel, or liquid, without using soil. Due to the increasing success rates associated with the commercial hydroponics industry and the increasing difficulty of growing crops on soil, the hydroponics market is expanding exponentially. Along with the market expansion, manufacturers of hydroponic equipment are focusing on the development of new efficient systems.



Key Market Trends



Increasing Food Demand and Security



Global population is increasing exponentially, and every day nearly 200,000 people are adding up to the world food demand. Supplying food to this growing population has become a global threat. On the other side, agricultural land is also shrinking globally. Adding to this, crop pests are causing 10-16% of global crop losses annually, making the situation worse. To attain self-sufficiency in food, hydroponics provide an effective solution, as the technology uses space efficiently and can be applied even by landless urban and rural people.



Currently, the technology has been successfully standardized for various vegetable crops, and it has great potential, especially in regions, like the Middle East, where billions of dollars are invested to import food and grains, due to water scarcity and unfavorable environmental conditions for agriculture. The aforementioned global food demand coupled with rising quality concerns is expected to drive the hydroponics trend, thereby resulting in the overall growth of the hydroponics industry.



Europe Dominates the Global Market



Europe is traditionally the largest market, that is implementing advanced techniques in hydroponics smart greenhouse horticulture. The matured European market demand is led by countries, such as the Netherlands, Spain, and France. In Europe, Holland is the largest producer of hydroponic crops and is expected to maintain the lead for the next 10 years. This is because of the vast expansion of hydroponics technology in the Netherlands. Germany is expected to register a higher pace, among the European countries.



The major vegetable and fruit crops that are grown using hydroponics in European countries include, cucumber, tomatoes, roses, and peppers among others. As consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the quality difference in greenhouse-grown vegetables, the demand for hydroponics culture is increasing in Europe.



Competitive Landscape



The global hydroponics market is a niche market, with various small and medium-sized companies coining a very minimal share in the world. This has resulted in very stiff competition. The development of regional markets and local players in different parts of the world is the major factor for the fragmented nature of the market. Europe and the Asia Pacific are the two regions showing maximum competitor activities.



Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction

1.1 Study Deliverables

1.2 Study Assumptions

1.3 Scope of the Study



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Market Drivers

4.1.1 Growing Emphasis on Food Security

4.1.2 Higher Consumption of Salad Crops and Exotic Vegetables

4.2 Market Restraints

4.2.1 High Startup Cost

4.2.2 Less Adoption and Awareness

4.3 Porter's Five Forces Analysis



5 Market Segmentation

5.1 Type

5.1.1 Aggregate Hydroponic System

5.1.1.1 Closed System

5.1.1.2 Open System

5.1.2 Liquid Hydroponic System

5.2 Crop Type

5.2.1 Tomato

5.2.2 Lettuce & Leafy Vegetables

5.2.3 Pepper

5.2.4 Cucumber

5.2.5 Microgreens

5.2.6 Other Crop Types

5.3 Geography

5.3.1 North America

5.3.1.1 United States

5.3.1.2 Canada

5.3.1.3 Mexico

5.3.1.4 Rest of North America

5.3.2 Europe

5.3.2.1 Germany

5.3.2.2 United Kingdom

5.3.2.3 France

5.3.2.4 Spain

5.3.2.5 Italy

5.3.2.6 Netherlands

5.3.2.7 Rest of Europe

5.3.3 Asia-Pacific

5.3.3.1 China

5.3.3.2 Japan

5.3.3.3 India

5.3.3.4 Australia

5.3.3.5 Rest of Asia-Pacific

5.3.4 South America

5.3.4.1 Brazil

5.3.4.2 Argentina

5.3.4.3 Rest of South America

5.3.5 Middle East & Africa

5.3.5.1 Middle East

5.3.5.2 South Africa

5.3.5.3 Rest of Africa



6 Competitive Landscape

6.1 Most Adopted Strategies

6.2 Market Share Analysis

6.3 Company Profiles

6.3.1 BrightFarms Inc.

6.3.2 Argus Control Systems Ltd.

6.3.3 Hortisystems UK Ltd.

6.3.4 Kubo Group

6.3.5 GreenTech Agro LLC

6.3.6 Circle Fresh Farms

6.3.7 Hydrodynamics International Inc.

6.3.8 Heliospectra AB

6.3.9 American Hydroponics, Inc.

6.3.10 Lumigrow Inc.

6.3.11 General Hydroponics Inc.

6.3.12 Koninklijke Philips NV

6.3.13 Logiqs BV

6.3.14 FormFlex

6.3.15 Thanet Earth

6.3.16 Pegasus Agritech

6.3.17 Valoya

6.3.18 Village Farms International Inc.

6.3.19 Growlife

6.3.20 Terra Tech



7 Market Opportunities and Future Trends

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5rrqu8

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levon Resources Ltd. (TSX:LVN) (OTCQX:LVNVF) (Levon or the Company) announces that, further to its news release of March 26, 2019, Victor Chevillon, the Companys Vice President Exploration, has been appointed as Interim CEO.



Mr. Chevillon, M.Sc., C.P.G., has been a director of the Company since 2007 and has served as VP Exploration since 2009. As a consulting exploration geologist with over 48 years experience, he has been integral in the development of the Companys Cordero project, one of Mexicos premier porphyry targets for silver, zinc, lead, and gold. As Interim CEO, Mr. Chevillon will continue to provide technical knowledge and leadership as the Company evaluates its next steps.

For further information, contact the main office number 778-379-0040.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Daniel Vickerman"

_____________________________

Daniel Vickerman

Chairman and Director

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.




Please, please don't try this at home.

A Palo Alto resident called Animal Control on Thursday morning when they discovered a bird in their backyard, Palo Alto Animal Control wrote in a Facebook post.

It turned out to be a nesting screech owl, but he wasn't in great shape: At one point, after being brought in to Animal Control, the officer dealing with the little owl thought he had perished during the ordeal.

ALSO: World's oldest known wild bird lays an egg at 68 years old

"At one point we thought he had passed on," they wrote.

But Animal Control then turned to a surprising tool in their arsenal: a blow dryer, which revived the little owl with its gentle heat.

"After being warmed up with a run-of-the-mill hair dryer, and placed in a warm incubator, he was sent off to the wildlife center where he is now resting comfortably," they wrote.

UH OH: The 'poultry Grim Reaper' is making its way to Northern California

The situation seemed unusual even to the officer involved.

"I never thought the reason I'd be late for an important meeting with the boss, was because I was 'blow-drying an owl,'" they wrote, "but here we are."

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at filipa.ioannou@sfgate.com and follow her on Twitter

Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.
With the demise of Iceland's budget carrier WOW Air this week, bargain hunters are likely wondering what the future of low fare flying to Europe is going to look like.

Right now, cheaper fares are harder to find, but you just need to know where to look. From the Bay Area, there are plenty of low-cost airline options. But how long those too-good-to-be-true fares will last is up in the air.

Over the last year or so, we've lost many key low-cost and ultra-low-cost carriers that have have helped push down average transatlantic fares to as low as I've ever seen them. By low I mean less than $500 in the off season and around $1,000 during the summer peak season.

This fresh crop of low-cost carriers have forced legacy airlines to offer cut-rate, low frills basic economy fares across the Atlantic in order to compete for budget conscious fliers.

Transatlantic basic economy fares offered by most legacy carriers all include one bag in the overhead bin, which is probably enough luggage for hard core bargain hunters.

WOW Air's (which flew about 3 million passengers in 2018) collapse was preceded by Danish-low cost carrier Primera Air, which did not fly to SFO but connected Boston and New York with London and Paris. Germany's Air Berlin (which did serve SFO) declared bankruptcy and was swallowed up by Lufthansa in 2017.

Norwegian Air Shuttle, with a much larger network and more customers (37 million passengers flew with the carrier in 2018) than any others, is hanging on, but seems vulnerable. It's built a sizable offering at Oakland International Airport with a half-dozen European cities served non-stop. And just this week, it will launch flights from SFO to London and is looking to add more.

Norwegian's rapid expansion has come at a cost  it's not cheap to buy planes, hire crew and set up bases around the world. Now, Norwegian is having to deal with the Boeing 737 MAX grounding, an aircraft (it has 20) it relies on for some transatlantic routes from the U.S. northeast.

In January, it snagged a much-needed cash infusion of about $350 million which should help keep it afloat this year, but its finances were looking pretty murky before that.

It has reportedly been in takeover talks with International Airlines Group (which owns British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus), Ryanair and Lufthansa, none of which have culminated in an agreement.

Norwegian recently said that its focus would change from growth to profitability  which is another way of saying that it will try to raise fares. Its decision to attract more higher-yielding business travelers by switching its Oakland to London flight to instead serve San Francisco might be an indication of its new direction. (More about that here.)

This week, I sat down with United Airlines President Scott Kirby for a wide-ranging interview which I'll share soon. But with the WOW Air news breaking the day of our chat, I asked him about the future of cheap transatlantic fares, he said, "In some markets, fares are going to be higher. The low-cost carriers have put fares in markets that don't cover their costs, and that is just not sustainable."

WOW Air made a splashy entrance to the Bay Area market when it launched flights in June 2016 between San Francisco and Reykjavik, Iceland for just $99 one-way (plus fees). Bay Area flyers gave WOW Air generally high marks for service, new planes and was clear about setting service expectations low-- even charging for water.

But its impact on transatlantic airfares was diluted when flights switched to summer-only from year-round- it has not flown to SFO since October 30, 2018. WOW Air pulled out of California entirely in early 2019 after it gave up its fleet of Airbus A330 wide body jets needed to fly between SFO, LAX and Iceland. (More about that here.)

Despite its low base fares, WOW Air had an inherent disadvantage in that all U.S. customers had to travel via Iceland to get to Europe. Other low fare carriers like Norwegian, and the majors, fly nonstop to several European cities.

Competing carrier Icelandair tried to mimic WOW Air's low fares, low frill approach, but with WOW Air out of the market, there will be less pressure for discounting, particularly with Iceland becoming a hotspot for tourism in recent years. Icelandair continues to operate flights between SFO and Reykjavik.

Airlines in the Bay Area flying to Europe for cheap

On the bright side, two more low-fare carriers arrive at SFO this summer: Air Italy, which is backed by the deep pockets of Qatar Airways (more here), and TAP Air Portugal (more here) which is in the midst of a low-cost turnaround headed by JetBlue founder David Neeleman.

Both are offering cheap introductory fares along with a slew of restrictions and fees for economy class fares. Both offer business class fares, too, for cheaper than what you'd find from competing transatlantic carriers.

Other lesser known carriers also offer no-frills fares across the Atlantic, but travelers need to know where to look. Here's a rundown:

- On Air Italy, which begins flights between SFO and its hub in Milan beginning April 10, we found round-trip flights for a one week trip in May starting at $959 in economy (that's the fare without checked bags). In Air Italy's business class, fares begin at $3,600 round-trip.

- TAP Air Portugal's flights between its Lisbon hub and SFO begin June 10. We found summertime fares beginning at $922 in economy and $4,125 in business.

-Level, which was set up by IAG (which also owns British Airways, Iberia) to compete against low-fare carriers moved its low frills lights from Oakland to San Francisco last year.

- UK-based low cost vacation airline Thomas Cook Airlines is an option, but it only flies a few times a week between San Francisco and Manchester, England on a seasonal basis. Its non-stops to San Francisco resume in May. Fares vary wildly on Thomas Cook, but if you're in the market to explore Manchester, we managed to price out a one-week round-trip itinerary that came in under $600.

-Discount carrier French bee began flying from its hub at Paris's Orly Airport to Tahiti with a stopover in San Francisco last year, and we're finding round-trip spring flights on its flights between SFO and Paris under $500. These fares are highly restrictive basic economy fares, so you'll end up paying more for checked bags, seat assignments, etc.

Another French discount carrier, XL Airways, has been offering summer seasonal flights between SFO and Paris's Charles De Gaulle airport. This year's flights resume June 27. We found round-trip fares in the $1,000 range. That's pretty good for non-stop summer fares from the Bay Area to France.

Of course, there's the robust offering of low-cost Norwegian Air flights out of OAK. There, Norwegian flies to Barcelona, Copenhagen, Oslo, Paris, Rome and Stockholm. Norwegian operates a network of European short-haul flights that allow for connections to the rest of the continent.

Not to be forgotten are the legacy carriers like United, American, Delta, British Airways and Lufthansa. All have responded to the rise of low-cost transatlantic flying with their own no frills basic economy fares that could end up being a better deal and experience for budget travelers.

Overall, it seems that airlines with too-good-to-be-true fares might be just that. Right now we are lucky in the Bay Area with lots of competition. Plus airline fuel costs remain relatively low which puts less pressure airlines to raise fares. In addition, a sluggish European economy means less demand, and more discounting by airlines to fill seats. But it won't last forever.

Will you, or have you taken a cheap trip across the pond this year? Thoughts on low fare flying in general? Leave them in the comments!

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Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.
In 1992, on a dusty Friday afternoon in Black Rock Desert, Terbo Ted prepared to play music for no one.

The setup for the first-ever DJ set on the deep playa was famously jury-rigged; the speakers, leftovers from a dissolved punk band, blew out within minutes. It was a historic moment  the beginning of electronic music at Burning Man. But to some, it was also an ending.

Ted was 24 years old at the time, and a few of his friends who were active in Oakland's underground rave scene had discovered Burning Man through analog serendipity  a print ad in a local New Age magazine. The message was austere, but cryptic: "An experience in the desert." After calling the number listed, they met Larry Harvey, Burning Man's co-founder. He invited them to bring their music and speaker system to the desert.

After hours of driving, the group spotted the camp's only marker: a pole, with a red blinking light. The landscape looked like they'd left Earth.

It was still the early days of Burning Man, just two years after what had started as a solstice ritual at Baker Beach in 1986 made its way into the vast Nevada desert. It would be years before it became an event home to more than 70,000 globetrotters, and a makeshift city with police and a medical clinic.

But even in the event's nascent stage, there was tension.

Members of San Francisco's Cacophony Society, an underground group of pranksters were the ones who brought Burning Man to the Black Rock Desert. This constellation of DIY-minded artists weren't excited about the idea of sharing the desert with starry-eyed ravers in their 20s, Ted told SFGATE.

"The pranksters blamed us for everything," Ted said. "For us to bring dance music culture out there  they thought we were bringing consumer trash. They hated what we were doing."

"When we first started going out there, there was no definition of what being a burner was," Ted said. "Going out there was like going to Mars, or the Moon."

Ted, now 50, considers himself an 'elder.' He's attended the event on and off for the last 25 years. When he goes, he regales new burners with tales of the event before it became a studied experience and an aesthetic  before the hot springs were banned, before there were fences, and the year  1996  when hell came to life.

And as an informal historian, he's also obligated to tell them the truth: He ruined Burning Man.

The event wasn't appealing to the public in 1992, Ted said, so he and his friends proselytized it into the ground. Around a decade later, it went viral  it was codified, memefied and rendered into the collective consciousness.

Anyone who came in contact with the event acquired a Midas-like touch, but it wasn't gold  it was the ability to destroy it.

For as long as Burning Man's existed, it's been ruined. The ravers ruined it for the welders. The collective-minded hippies ruined it for the anarchist ravers. Tech bros displaced the bohemians.

The list of acts that destroyed Burning Man is limitless. There are the extravagant camps run by sherpas, a sub-industry of event butlers. The 1996 Wired expose article. Kids below the age of five running in the desert. High-speed Internet. Lobsters FedExed and delivered to Burning Man.

In a cheeky 2016 article for the Burning Man blog, Benjamin Wachs outlined a history of who ruined Burning Man. Its self-destruction apparently occurred at its birth:

"In 1986, at the very first Burn, a crowd of complete strangers gathered around the Man once it was lit it [sic] on fire. Nobody had invited them. They didn't know anything about the 10 Principles, or understood what The Man was about. They just saw something cool and wanted to participate. They had no gifts. Strangers ruined Burning Man."

Burning Man, Wachs wrote, has been ruined 27 out of 30 times. "On two occasions, it was ruined twice in the same year. In total, 12 different groups (that we know of) have done the ruining. It's easy to get paranoid about something you love."

It seems useful to consider the event's conditions; Burning Man is an exercise in ephemerality. Like a city, it doesn't emit its own essence. It's a vessel, a container for whoever, or whatever resides in its limits.

That sense of impermanence feels central to Burning Man, where desert whiteouts and dust storms have the power to blow entire campsites away, and meticulously assembled projects dematerialize after the week's end. Its very nature precludes its shackling.

Besides, Ted said, that's what makes it interesting. He's careful not to lament the changes as of late  the increasing police presence and proliferation of Plug 'n' Play camps, among other things.

"I accept it. It's going to be different every year," he said. "That it even happens is amazing, and it's the most modern city in the world. The culture's bigger than Larry. It's bigger than me; it's bigger than any one person. So you can't say anyone really owns it."

But there is one thing he undoubtedly misses.

"When we first started going out there, there was no definition of what being a burner was," Ted said. "Going out there was like going to Mars, or the Moon. Larry [Harvey] used to say, When you go out there, you have no choice, in this void of nothing, to have whatever your inner soul or spirit was to shine out of you. Whatever you was, would come into view because there was nothing else to measure it against."

Now, it can be hard to locate that sense of discovery  of blankness  in all the noise. This year, Ted opted to skip Burning Man, which is fine, he says, because he's already missed it 20 times. Instead, he'll be hosting a 2 hour-long live electronic set and light show in Mill Valley on Sept 1. He and the other DJs will be streaming the burn through a live feed.

The event is open to the public, Ted said. It could be for people who wanted to attend the event but couldn't, for whatever reason. Or, it's an option for people who've grown similarly disillusioned with how the event has changed. Like a blank canvas, it's for anyone.

Read Annie Vainshtein's latest stories here. Send her news tips at avainshtein@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @annievain
MANILA  The head of a Philippine online news site that has been critical of President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Friday for the second time in two months, this time over a ban on foreign ownership of news media.

Police served an arrest warrant to Rappler Inc. CEO and executive editor Maria Ressa after she arrived at Manilas airport, and she later posted bail at a regional trial court.
SEOUL  President Moon Jae In of South Korea will meet with President Trump in Washington on April 11, his office announced Friday, as Moon struggles to salvage his role as a mediator between Trump and North Koreas leader, Kim Jong Un.

Moon has devoted his governments diplomatic efforts to facilitating a deal between Trump and Kim on dismantling North Koreas nuclear arms program and building lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. But those efforts hit a wall when Kim and Trump ended their summit meeting in Vietnam last month without a deal, confirming how far apart they were on the terms of denuclearization.
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A train loaded with military hardware from Syria is currently touring Russia ahead of its arrival in Moscow next month.



Video filmed last week by a railway worker shows the train arriving in eastern Russia's Vladivostok with scores of tanks and other military hardware on board.



"Everybody knew the train is coming and we were so excited to see it," filmer Evgenij told Newsflare.



The equipment was reportedly seized by Russians from Syrian rebels as part of Moscow's campaign to help President Bashar al-Assad's regime.



According to reports, the train departed from Syria on the February 23, when Russia marks Defenders of the Fatherland Day, and will arrive in Moscow in April.
Tarrytown, NY, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Nightfood, Inc. (OTCQB: NGTF), the innovative company solving Americas $50 billion-dollar nighttime snacking problem, has announced today that their second production run has been completed of all eight flavors of Nightfood ice cream.



All online back-orders are scheduled to ship early next week and e-commerce shipping will return to normal.

Its important to point out that we were never on back-order for our wholesale customers, which is the focus of our business, explained Jim Christensen, Nightfoods VP of Ice Cream Sales. In fact, we shipped several pallets to a new distributor last week when this run was just getting underway.

In light of the extensive national media coverage Nightfood has received, and pictures by individual consumers shared on social media showing Nightfood out of stock in certain Meijer supermarket locations, the Company has received many inquiries from investors concerned about the ability to meet demand for the ice cream.

When our E-commerce warehouses ran out of certain flavors, we made the easy business decision to pause consumer shipments for a couple of weeks rather than spread our remaining inventory too thin across multiple warehouseswe needed to make sure we were able to quickly fulfill wholesale orders for our new and existing accounts, added CEO Sean Folkson. Ive stated before, our focus is on making Nightfood available locally across the country and mail order ice cream has never been a primary focus.

Management is working to establish production redundancy and secure increased production capacity, but reminds investors there is plenty of untapped production capacity already available through existing relationships.

Were investing in production redundancy and optimizing systems that will allow us to grow rapidly and efficiently, continued Folkson. Were not concerned about an inability to fulfill projected demand and growth. That being said, regardless of how much capacity a young brand has, its always conceivable that a major and unforeseen positive event could create an inventory shortfall.

As part of this national roll-out, Nightfood has secured distribution arrangements in fifteen states within six weeks after first appearing on-shelf. The brands second major retail chain partner, a top-50 supermarket chain in the Carolinas, is expected to be formally announced in the coming weeks.

About Nightfood Holdings:

Nightfood Holdings, Inc. (OTC: NGTF), owns Nightfood, Inc. and MJ Munchies, Inc.

On Feb 8, 2019, it was announced that Nightfood ice cream won the 2019 Product of the Year award in the ice cream category in a Kantar survey of over 40,000 consumers.

With the overwhelming majority of at-home ice cream consumption occurring in the hours before bed, Nightfoods sleep-friendly nighttime ice cream, formulated by sleep and nutrition experts, delivers benefits found in no other product on the market.

Market research giant Mintel recently released a report identifying nighttime specific food and beverages as one of their most compelling and category changing trends for 2017 and beyond.

Nightfood ice cream is rolling out nationally, and has recently announced distribution in the popular Meijer supermarket chain throughout the Midwest, with concentration in the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Columbus, and Milwaukee.

To enter the Nightfood Ice Cream Giveaway, where the Company is giving away a one-year supply of Nightfood ice cream, plus a brand-new freezer to store it in, visit http://nightfoodicecream.com  each entrant gets a coupon for a free pint of ice cream (some purchase required).

MJ Munchies, Inc. was formed in 2018 as a new, wholly owned subsidiary of Nightfood Holdings, Inc. to capitalize on legally compliant opportunities in the CBD and marijuana edibles and related spaces. The Company intends to market some of these new products under the brand name Half-Baked, for which theyve successfully secured trademark rights.

For more information, visit http://ir.Nightfood.com and http://Nightfood.com

Questions can be directed to investors@Nightfood.com

Forward Looking Statements:

This current press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to, any products sold or cash flow from operations.

Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with distribution and difficulties associated with obtaining financing on acceptable terms. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our most recent annual report for our last fiscal year, our quarterly reports, and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.




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French employers should be cautious about firing someone for prolonged absences if the fired worker can establish that he or she was psychologically harassed on the job, according to a Jan. 30 French Supreme Court decision.



Labor Code Allows Firing for Disruptive Absence

The French Labor Code generally prohibits dismissing an employee for taking sick leave.

But under the code, an employer can dismiss an employee if his or her sick-leave absence is disruptive for the employer. In such a case, the company must prove that:

The employee's prolonged or repeated absence is disrupting the company's operations.

The company needs to permanently replace the absent employee.

French case law suggests that a company must prove one more thing: that the reason for the absences isn't the employer's fault, such as due to psychological harassment.

Employee Prevails Before Lower Court

In a recent case, an employee was on leave because of an accident and then repeatedly took sick leave.

On June 15, 2012, the worker was fired "because of the prolonged absence, which disrupted the proper functioning of the company and required a permanent replacement," according to the company.

The employee sued, arguing that her dismissal was unfair because it was the employer's psychological harassment that caused her to be absent on sick leave.

On Nov. 8, 2017, the Paris Court of Appeal ordered the employer to pay compensation amounting to 18 months' salary for unfair dismissal.

[SHRM members-only toolkit: Introduction to the Global Human Resources Discipline]

Company Loses Appeal to French Supreme Court

The French Supreme Court dismissed the company's appeal. As soon as a causal link is established between psychological harassment and an employee's absence, the employer cannot claim that the worker was fired because her absences disrupted the company's operations, the high court ruled.

In its appeal, the company also challenged the burden of proof applied by the Court of Appeal. Once psychological harassment and its effect on the employee have been established, the employer has to prove "that the dismissal for repeated absences of the employee related to illness [was] justified by objective elements unrelated to any harassment," the high court ruled.

The French Supreme Court decided that the employee does not have to prove the causal link between the reason for dismissal and the psychological harassment. When psychological harassment is established, it is up to the employer to justify that the dismissal is based on objective factors unrelated to any harassment.

Cecile Martin is an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Paris.
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In Germany, employees have long been able to reduce their work hours and switch from full-time to part-time employment. But until now, this demand for part-time work had a downside: The employee had no right to return to his or her previous full-time work hours at the same employer. Hence, employees who asked for part-time work ran the risk of having to work part time permanently while with the company, unless they were working part time temporarily while on parental leave.



New Legislation

Starting Jan. 1, German law gave employees a general right to work part time temporarily.

Workers who've been employed for more than six months at a company with over 45 employees can now reduce their work hours for a limited period. The law requires this temporary part-time arrangement to be in place for at least one year, and it can last a maximum of five years, after which time the employee can return to full-time work.

How Does One Make Such a Request?

The worker must use e-mail, a letter or a fax to ask the employer for a part-time schedule at least three months before the worker wishes to go part time. The request must include:

The date the temporary part-time employment will begin.

The date the temporary part-time employment will end.

The number of hours the employee wishes to work.

The request must be phrased so the employer can approve or reject the new work schedule with a simple "yes" or "no."

[SHRM members-only toolkit: Introduction to the Global Human Resources Discipline]

What Does the Employer Need to Do?

If the employer opposes the proposed work schedule, it must deny the request in writing at least one month before the part-time work was to start; otherwise, the law says the employee's request is considered approved.

The law requires that the employer's denial be in the form of a written and signed letter, not an e-mail or fax.

When Can the Employer Reject a Request?

An employer can reject a request for temporary part-time work if the employee's reduced hours would significantly disrupt the processes, workflow or safety of the company, or if the reduced hours would cause the employer to incur significantly high costs.

An employer can also reject a request if a certain number of employees are already working part time temporarily. Companies with between 46 and 200 workers are only required to grant part-time temporary employment to 1 in 15 employees; larger employers don't have this privilege. The right to part-time work does not apply to employers with fewer than 46 workers.

If a midsize employer receives simultaneous requests for temporary part-time work that exceed this "1 in 15" limit, the employer chooses which workers can reduce their hours. There must, however, be objective reasons for approving certain requests and rejecting others. Such reasons could include, for example, the employee's personal circumstances.

Anja Becher is an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Berlin.
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Portland, Ore., has long prohibited religious discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodationbut now the city will also expressly protect the nonreligious, including atheists, agnostics and others that don't believe in a particular religion.

Although discrimination based on the lack of religious beliefs is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Portland law, which was first proposed by the local chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, makes this protection clear. "We often encounter managers and supervisors who simply do not know that atheism is protected," said Blerina Kotori, attorney with Tonkon Torp in Portland.

Starting March 29, Portland law prohibits discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation on the basis of nonreligion, which includes "atheism, agnosticism, and nonbelief in god or gods," according to the city's code. The law largely mirrors a 2015 Madison, Wis., ordinance, which the Freedom From Religion Foundation also initiated.



"Just as someone could claim to have been discriminated against because of their religion, Portland employees may now assert legal claims based on nonreligion," said Sean Driscoll, an attorney with Lewis Brisbois in Portland. For example, a job applicant could claim that a prospective employer did not hire her because she is an atheist, an employee could claim that he was harassed because he is an agnostic, or an employee could claim he was fired by his religiously devout supervisor because of his lack of faith.

Like for claims of religious discrimination, Portland employees can file complaints of nonreligion discrimination with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries or sue their employers. Potential remedies are the same as those for other forms of employment discrimination that are prohibited under state law, and employees may be able to recoup attorney fees and costs.



Exception

Religious-based organizations may continue to factor religion into their employment decisions. Oregon law allows churches and other religious institutions, including faith-based schools and hospitals, to prefer an applicant of one faith over another.

For instance, earlier this year, the Oregon Court of Appeals rejected a religious-discrimination claim brought by a Jewish professor who was not hired by a Christian college because of his religion.

The Portland ordinance incorporates this state-law exception.

Impact



Statistics about Portland's residents who identify as "religiously unaffiliated" suggest that the city may be more likely to see legal action than other locations. In a 2015 nationwide survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, 42 percent of Portland's residents identified themselves as religiously unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic or no religious belief in particular). This ranked Portland as the most religiously unaffiliated major city in the country.

"It used to be that employees ordinarily did not debate politics or religion at work," Kotori said. "That atmosphere is changing, and as those topics become more frequent in the workplace, employers will need to strike a balance between supporting employees of all religions, including atheists, agnostics and other nonbelievers, and observing workplace rules and standards."

[SHRM members-only toolkit: Introduction to the Human Resources Discipline of Diversity]

Kotori said that with the new law in place, Portland employers should expect more workers to feel comfortable expressing that they do not believe in a god or gods. "Similarly, more employees may request relief from religious employment practices, such as prayer."

Driscoll can imagine a scenario with dueling religious-harassment complaints in which an employer would be fearful of choosing a side, "for example, an argument between an atheist and an evangelical that turns bitter."



Practical Suggestions

Driscoll recommends that businesses treat nonreligion like any legally protected status. "Update policies to prohibit discrimination on this basis, and train both managers and line employees on company policies and complaint procedures," he said.

Employers should also remind hiring managers and other interviewers that the topic of religion (and nonreligion) is off limits with job candidates. If an applicant brings up his or her religious faith or lack of it, interviewers should steer the conversation to work-related issues, Driscoll added.

Kotori recommends that employers ensure that managers, supervisors and HR professionals know how to spot and handle potential issues.

She also recommends reviewing whether there are any workplace practices that have religious overtones that employees must attend. For example, do any company or client events begin or end with prayer? Are employees required to attend the office Christmas party?

"If so, employers should reconsider whether to maintain the practices, revise them or not make attendance compulsory."


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The U.S. Coast Guard was among the agencies that responded to an oil spill from a boat in the Arthur Kill waterway near the Goethals Bridge on Thursday afternoon.

A commercial container ship leaked an unknown amount of fuel oil while moored off the Island at the Global Marine New York Container Terminal in the incident that happened around 2 p.m., according to a news release from Coast Guard Sector New York based in Fort Wadsworth.

Responders contained the leak and skimmed and cleaned the waters, according to the Coast Guard.

A pollution response team from Coast Guard Sector New York assessed the situation and conducted pollution mitigation. An aircrew aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City monitored the spill by air, according to the Coast Guard.

The NYPD also responded to the spill.

The captain of the port established a safety zone on the Arthur Kill waterway from the Goethals Bridge to Shooters Island, the Coast Guard said.

The cause of the incident is currently under investigation. A Unified Command has been established to coordinate cleanup efforts and reestablish the marine transportation, according to the Coast Guard.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A hole in a container caused a fuel spill in the Arthur Kill waterway near the Goethals Bridge on Thursday afternoon and officials continue to investigate the incident, according to the Coast Guard.

A hole was detected in the hull of the Hapag-Lloyd container ship Dublin Express during unloading operations in the Global Marine New York Container Terminal, according to a press release from the agency.

It is not clear how the hole occurred and how much oil was indeed spilled, according to spokeswoman Allyson Conroy.

The incident is still under investigation, said Conroy.

The oil was able to escape from an about 15-square-inch opening, though the hole was promptly closed to stop more oil from pouring in the waters.

The U.S. Coast Guard, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Gallagher Marine Systems responded to the incident, stopping vessels from navigation until 1 p.m., when the waterway was eventually re-opened.

A total of 60 responders are tying to recover the oil spilled.
CITY HALL -- Former Republican Congressman Michael Grimm is inching toward a decision on whether to run for Congress in 2020, a source close to him says.

The source, who has intimate knowledge of Grimms political plans, said that the former congressman is assessing the field of potential candidates for New Yorks 11th District -- but if President Donald Trump does not think Grimm is the best candidate to run, he will likely walk away from a 2020 bid.

The source also said that one of the biggest factors in his decision is State Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-East Shore), who recently announced plans to run in 2020, and who Grimm sees as a weak candidate.

In response, Malliotakis says she has already received support from both inside and outside of the district and is confident about her run, referring to her results in a bid for New York City mayor in 2017.

I received 67 percent of the vote and won both sides of the bridge in this Congressional district in 2017 and am receiving tremendous support from across the district. I have received incredible encouragement from both the President and [House Minority] Leader [Kevin] McCarthy, will be surpassing fundraising goals this quarter and look forward to representing my constituents in Congress, the assemblywoman said.

COMEBACK ATTEMPT

Grimm served in Congress from 2011 until 2015, when he resigned after pleading guilty to tax fraud related to a Manhattan health food restaurant he co-owned before taking office. He had won re-election while under indictment in November 2014.

After serving eight months in federal prison beginning in 2015, Grimm attempted a comeback last year when he challenged former Congressman Dan Donovan in a Republican primary where the two candidates were constantly jockeying to align themselves with President Trump.

He lost on June 26 by nearly 30 points.

Grimm declined an interview with the Advance about his 2020 plans, but told Politico in a recent interview he was 90 percent of the way there to run.

The source close to Grimm said the former congressman has been talking to people in Washington, D.C. and trying to gain support.

[Malliotakis] has friends in D.C. who are lobbying for her, and Michael has a lot of friends in D.C. too, the source said.

WILL BORELLI RUN?

City Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) -- who is also mulling a Congressional run -- also factors into the 2020 campaign calculus, said the source.

However, Borelli says that the key to his own plans are his family.

Nicole and Mike arent a factor in my decision, Johnny and Joe Jr. are, Borelli said, adding he has already spoken to the White House and is courting donors.

Im considering a run. Not only have I been a consistent conservative in this crazy city, but Ive done it pretty successfully, he continued. Last year I was one of the top bill passers in the City Council, I have the highest chairmanship a representative of Staten island has ever had in the council, and I can point to parks, schools, and roads that are under construction because I got the job done. Ill put that up against anyone.

CHALLENGING ROSE

Whichever Republican candidate prevails in next years primary will be set to face Democratic Congressman Max Rose, who unseated Donovan last November in one of the most closely-watched Congressional races in the nation.

In December, when Rose was still a congressman-elect, he sent an email urging constituents to donate to his campaign, warning his base they needed to gear up because Grimm, who once held Roses seat, was planning to challenge him in 2020.

At the time, Grimm, who has since gone back to consulting, said the door to taking back his congressional seat was wide open.

Grimm said then that if Rose does a good job and passes legislation that helps constituents in the 11th district, he would leave the Democrat alone.

But he said if Rose does not do a good job he would challenge the Army veteran.

For now, Rose does not appear to be phased by Grimms plans.

Second times the charm, I wish him all the best," Rose said.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.
Dublin, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Automotive HUD Market by Technology (AR-HUD, Conventional HUD), HUD Type (Combiner, Windshield), Vehicle Class (Economy, Mid-Segment, Luxury Car), Dimension (2D and 3D), Vehicle Type, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The automotive HUD market is estimated to be USD 1.1 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 4.3 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 25.28% during the forecast period.

Consumers are increasingly considering advanced automotive safety functions and technologies while making purchase decisions. Further, government regulations in the developed regions of North America and Europe are increasingly favoring automotive innovations and technologies that support vehicle and road safety.



The HUD has become a key advanced driver assistance system. The increasing demand for comfort and safety functions has encouraged auto manufacturers to invest in advanced in-vehicle safety functions. The HUD was introduced as a convenience function in luxury vehicles. During the last two decades, the HUD has become an important functional offering in the luxury and premium segment vehicles owing to its safety features. The increasing demand for safety functions is driving vehicle manufacturers to develop the feature for mid-segment and economy segment vehicles too.



At present, advanced cockpit electronics functions such as park assist, lane departure warning system, blind spot detection, and adaptive cruise control (ACC) are integrated with the HUD. The integration of these functions into the HUD ensures that the driver does not look away from the road to monitor the instrument cluster. Equipped with sensor technology such as radar, lidar, image, and a fusion of sensors, the HUD intelligently projects the information on the windshield or the combiner HUD at real time.



Further, government mandates related to safety functions such as ACC and lane keep assist in European countries, the US, Japan and South Korea will provide traction to the market.

The report provides insights with reference to the following points:

Market Development: The report provides comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyzes the automotive HUD market for all vehicle types across regions.

Product Development/Innovation: The report offers detailed insights about R&D activities, upcoming technologies, and new product launches in the automotive HUD market across all regions.

Market Diversification: The report provides detailed information about untapped markets, investments, new products, and recent developments in the automotive HUD market.

Competitive Assessment: The report offers an in-depth assessment of strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of leading players in the automotive HUD market.

Vendor DIVE Analysis: The report provides company-level mapping of net sales, growth rate of a company's net sales, overall regional presence, company's presence/plans in emerging countries, mapping of inorganic and organic developments, manufacturing plants, company's presence in the OE and aftermarket segments, product offerings (breadth and depth), new product developments in recent years, and R&D expenditure among others.

Company-wise product and business strategy scorecards: The report offers company level analysis and evaluation of product offering category including the breadth of offering, product innovation, and market presence (OEM and aftermarket). Also, the company level analysis and evaluation of business strategies including company's reach (based on regional presence), revenue growth, infrastructure and clientele, inorganic growth (on the basis of partnerships, collaborations, and acquisitions), and organic growth (on the basis of geographic expansions and new product developments) are available in the report.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Automotive HUD Market Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights



5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Increase in Awareness About Passenger and Vehicle Safety

5.2.1.2 Demand for the Improvement of In-Vehicle Experience

5.2.1.3 Increasing Demand for Connected Vehicles

5.2.1.4 High Growth in Luxury and High-End Car Segments, Mainly in the Emerging Markets

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 Requirement of Greater Space in the Cockpit for the Installation of HUD

5.2.2.2 Lack of Luminance, Brightness, and High-Power Consumption

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Increased Demand for Semi-Autonomous and Electric Vehicles

5.2.3.2 Introduction of Portable HUDs at Lower Prices in Low and Middle Car Segments

5.2.3.3 Development of Comprehensive Voice-Operated Head-Up Display Systems

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 High Cost of Advanced Head-Up Display Systems



6 Automotive HUD Market Industry Trends

6.1 Technological Overview

6.1.1 Introduction

6.1.2 Current Sensor Technologies Used in Head-Up Display (HUD)

6.1.2.1 RaDAR

6.1.2.2 LiDAR

6.1.2.3 Image Sensors

6.1.3 Technological Advancements in the Near Future

6.2 Macro Indicator Analysis

6.2.1 Introduction

6.2.2 Macro Indicators Influencing the Automotive Head-Up Display Market for Top 3 Countries

6.2.2.1 United States

6.2.2.2 Germany

6.2.2.3 Japan

6.3 Value Chain Analysis

6.4 Porter's 5 Forces Analysis

6.5 Emerging Trends

6.5.1 Motorcycle Windshield HUD

6.5.2 Motorcycle Helmet HUD



7 Market, By Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Research Methodology

7.3 Combiner HUD

7.3.1 Volume Growth of Combiner HUD in MID-Segment Car Will Drive the Market

7.4 Windshield HUD

7.4.1 Europe is Estimated to Have the Largest Market Share in 2019

7.5 Key Industry Insights



8 Automotive HUD Market, By Technology

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Research Methodology

8.3 Conventional HUD

8.3.1 Asia Pacific is Projected to Lead Conventional HUD Market in 2025

8.4 Augmented Reality HUD (AR HUD)

8.4.1 Europe is Projected to Lead the AR HUD Market

8.5 Key Industry Insights



9 Market, By Dimension Type

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Research Methodology

9.2.1 3-D HUD Segment is Projected to Have the Highest Growth Rate

9.3 2-D HUD

9.3.1 High Adoption of Combiner HUDs in the Asia Pacific Region Will Propel the 2-D HUD Market in the Region

9.4 3-D HUD

9.4.1 High Production Rate of Luxury Vehicles in European Market Will Provide A Leverage for the Growth of 3-D HUD Segment in the Region

9.5 Key Industry Insights



10 Automotive HUD Market, By Vehicle Class

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Research Methodology

10.3 Economy Car

10.4 MID-Segment Car

10.5 Luxury Vehicles

10.6 Key Primary Insights



11 Market, By Vehicle Type

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Research Methodology

11.3 Passenger Cars

11.3.1 Asia Oceania is Projected to Have the Highest Growth Rate

11.4 Commercial Vehicle

11.4.1 Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV)

11.4.1.1 North America is Estimated to Have Largest Market Share

11.4.2 Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV)

11.4.2.1 High Vibration and Heat are Major Challenges for Growth of Automotive HUD in HCVs

11.5 Key Industry Insights



12 Automotive HUD Market, By Region

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Asia Oceania

12.2.1 China

12.2.1.1 Increasing Automotive Production in China is Driving the Market

12.2.2 India

12.2.2.1 Rise in Foreign Investment Due to Improved FDI Polices is Expected to Foster the Indian Automotive Market in the Coming Years

12.2.3 Japan

12.2.3.1 Presence of Leading HUD Manufacturers is Expected to Propel the Japanese Market

12.2.4 South Korea

12.2.4.1 Increasing Adoption of HUD By South Korean OEMs Such as Hyundai and Kia is Expected to Drive the Market

12.2.5 Rest of Asia Oceania

12.2.5.1 HUD is Expected to Be Widely Available in the Luxury Segment in the Region

12.3 Europe

12.3.1 France

12.3.1.1 High Presence of Luxury Car Manufacturers is Expected to Drive the Market

12.3.2 Germany

12.3.2.1 Germany is Home to Leading Car Manufacturers and HUD Manufacturers

12.3.3 Russia

12.3.3.1 Luxury Car Segment Contributes to the Largest Market Share

12.3.4 Spain

12.3.4.1 MID Segment is Projected to Have the Highest Growth Rate

12.3.5 UK

12.3.5.1 High Demand for Luxury and High-End Cars are Expected to Drive the Market

12.3.6 Rest of Europe

12.3.6.1 High Demand for Advanced Features Will Propel the Automotive HUD Market in Rest of Europe

12.4 North America

12.4.1 Canada

12.4.1.1 MID Segment is Projected to Be the Fastest Growing Segment

12.4.2 Mexico

12.4.2.1 Lower Production Cost Compared to Other North American Countries is Driving the Mexican Automotive Market

12.4.3 US

12.4.3.1 High Demand for Premium Features in Vehicles is Expected to Drive the Market'

12.5 RoW

12.5.1 Brazil

12.5.1.1 Luxury Car Segment is Projected to Account for the Largest Market Share

12.5.2 Iran

12.5.2.1 Less Production of Luxury Cars is Restraining the Market

12.5.3 Rest of RoW

12.5.3.1 HUD is Expected to Be Available Mainly in the Luxury Segment



13 Competitive Landscape

13.1 Overview

13.2 Market Ranking Analysis

13.3 Competitive Scenario

13.3.1 New Product Developments

13.3.2 Collaborations/Joint Ventures/Supply Contracts/Partnerships/Agreements

13.3.3 Expansions, 2016-2017

13.3.4 Merger & Acquisition, 2015-2017

13.4 Competitive Leadership Mapping

13.4.1 Visionary Leaders

13.4.2 Innovators

13.4.3 Dynamic Differentiators

13.4.4 Emerging Companies

13.5 Competitive Leadership Mapping (SMSE/Start-Ups)

13.5.1 Progressive Companies

13.5.2 Starting Blocks

13.5.3 Responsive Companies

13.5.4 Dynamic Companies



14 Automotive HUD Market Company Profiles

14.1 Bosch

14.2 Continental

14.3 Panasonic

14.4 Denso

14.5 Visteon

14.6 Nippon

14.7 Pioneer

14.8 Yazaki

14.9 Garmin

14.10 LG Display

14.11 Other Key Players

14.11.1 Asia Pacific

14.11.1.1 Alps Alpine

14.11.1.2 Renesas

14.11.1.3 Toshiba

14.11.1.4 Japan Display, Inc.

14.11.1.5 Mitsubishi Electric

14.11.1.6 Clarion

14.11.2 North America

14.11.2.1 Texas Instruments

14.11.2.2 Microvision

14.11.2.3 Exploride

14.11.2.4 HUDWAY

14.11.2.5 NVIDIA

14.11.2.6 Magna International

14.11.2.7 Harman

14.11.3 Europe

14.11.3.1 Magneti Marelli

14.11.3.2 Valeo

14.11.3.3 Saint-Gobain

14.11.3.4 ZF Friedrichshafen



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/m9e12n

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If you like to lounge around in bed, there may be a dream job for you.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), in conjunction with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are conducting an Artificial Gravity Bed Rest Study (AGBRESA), which will take place in two phases.

As part of the study, 24 volunteers will remain in bed for 60 days, as scientists study how artificial gravity could help astronauts stay healthy in space.

And each volunteer will be paid about $18,500.

Crewed spaceflight will continue to be important in the future in order to carry out experiments in microgravity, but we must make it as safe as possible for the astronauts, said Hansjorg Dittus, DLR Executive Board Member for Space Research and Technology, in a statement. This bed rest study conducted by DLR, NASA and ESA offers space researchers from all over Europe and the USA the opportunity to work together and jointly acquire as much scientific knowledge about human physiology as possible."

Carried out at the DLRs :envihab facility, in Cologne, Germany, participants will have restrictions on how much they can move around. Everything -- including meals and recreation -- will take place lying down. And the beds will be angled downward toward the head, as this duplicates many of the effects of a low-gravity environment.

In addition, the study will use a short-arm centrifuge as a way of re-creating gravity for participants, allowing scientists to study the potential of artificial gravity in mitigating the effects of spaceflight.

The first phase of the study began this week, with pre-testing. Participants arrived at DLR on Monday, and will remain there for a total of 89 days, including the pre-test and recovery phases.

The second phase will begin in September, and scientists are still seeking volunteers -- mostly women -- for the fall. To volunteer, you must speak German.
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 56-year-old doctor has admitted to driving drunk when he crashed into parked cars in Rosebank two months ago.

Kenneth Thornton, a doctor with the Veterans Affairs Administration, pleaded guilty Thursday in Criminal Court to a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated stemming from the Jan. 14 incident.

The Livingston resident was driving to work when his Jeep smashed into two parked vehicles on Bay Street near Lynhurst Avenue around 7 a.m., said a source with knowledge of the investigation.

Cops found the defendant in the drivers seat of a 2009 Jeep Wrangler on the sidewalk at Bay Street and Chestnut Avenue, according to a criminal complaint and police.

The key was in the ignition and the engine was running.

An empty, open bottle of champagne was discovered on vehicles passenger-side floor, said the source.

The defendant had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, slurred his speech, and was swaying and falling on his feet, the complaint said.

A test at the 120th Precinct stationhouse in St. George determined Thorntons blood-alcohol content was .188, more than twice the legal limit of .08, said the complaint and police.

Thornton was charged with misdemeanor counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated and driving while intoxicated. He was also accused of a lesser count of driving while impaired.

In exchange for his plea, Thornton was fined $500 and sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge, plus a six-month drivers license suspension.

He must attend an anti-drunk-driving program and install an ignition-interlock device for a year after his license is reinstated.

Earl Antonio Wilson, Thortons lawyer, did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment on the case.
CITY HALL -- President Donald Trump has agreed to extend a program for a year that allows Liberian nationals to live and work in the country.

The Presidents move comes as the immigration status of some 800 Staten Islanders from Liberia had remained in limbo for months.

Staten Island is home to one of the largest Liberian populations outside of Africa, and had the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program not been extended beyond the March 31 deadline, many faced deportation.

Upon further reflection and review, I have decided that it is in the foreign policy interest of the United States to extend the wind-down period for an additional 12 months, through March 30, 2020, the President said in a memorandum Thursday. The overall situation in West Africa remains concerning, and Liberia is an important regional partner for the United States.

Prior to the President agreeing to extend the program, Congressman Max Rose (D-Staten Island) and Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) had pressed the administration to reinstate DED and save the Islands Liberians from deportation.

Congressman Rose vowed to continue to fight for Liberians to permanently remain in the country.

This is a huge relief to so many in our communities living in fear of what tomorrow would bring, he said. But this reprieve is only temporary. Im going to continue fighting to pass the Dream and Promise Act to provide a permanent fix.

Councilwoman Rose also applauded the presidents move and called on leaders in D.C. to give Liberian Americans permanent relief.

I am pleased that Deferred Enforced Departure has been extended. Our pleas have been heard, and now scores, if not hundreds, of our neighbors here on the North Shore will not have to make the chilling choice between leaving their children behind and returning to a nation still struggling to rebuild its infrastructure, or remaining here in the shadows, without authorization to work. I now call on our leaders in Washington to pass legislation to give Liberian Americans permanent relief, so that we dont have revisit this every year, causing turmoil, angst and anxiety among families, Councilwoman Rose said.

Since 1991, certain Liberian nationals have been eligible for Temporary Protected Status or DED, which has allowed them to remain in the United States, according to the White House.

Their immigration status has been extended by both Republican and Democratic administrations beginning in 1991. However, last year, President Trump terminated DED for Liberian beneficiaries and set a March 31, 2019 deadline.

Im relieved that the administration reversed course and acknowledged the plain reality that our Liberian friends and neighbors in New York City are still relying on deferred enforced departure for their and their families safety. It was the common sense and humane thing to do, said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.
On Nov. 19, U.S. District Court Judge Jon S. Tigar issued a nationwide injunction temporarily blocking the Trump administration from denying asylum to migrants entering the United States illegally through its border with Mexico. It was yet another instance of a single, unelected, trial-level federal judge invalidating action by the executive branch of the United States government. Conceptually, at least, the plethora of such instances over the past two years should trouble people of all political persuasions. Instead, however, Democrats and large segments of the mainstream media celebrate them gleefully because they frustrate the agenda of a president they bitterly oppose.

Tigar, an appointee of President Barack Obama, is assigned to the Northern District of California which, of course, is within the sprawling, notoriously left-leaning Ninth Circuit. President Donald Trumps opponents initiate challenges to his policies in that jurisdiction whenever legally possible.

Its been a highly successful strategy, too, as nearly half of the court orders barring or restricting administration directives have emanated from the San Francisco-based circuit. At the same time, its decisions are overturned by the Supreme Court far more often than those from any of the nations other appellate courts. On Feb. 25, for example, the Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit in Yovino v. Rizo, for counting the vote of a judge who had died. Federal judges are appointed for life, the Supreme Court quipped, not for eternity.

Extraordinary defeats

Last week, within yet another article critical of Trump, the Washington Post reported that federal judges have ruled against the administration at least 63 times, an extraordinary record of legal defeat that has stymied large parts of the presidents agenda on the environment, immigration and other matters. While acknowledging that 45 of the administrations 63 losses came from Democratic appointees, the Post characteristically tried to blame the president.

When Trump blasted Tigars ruling as the product of an Obama judge, it ignited yet another round of accusations that he was threatening the independence of the judiciary. Even Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, whose leftward drift is gaining increasing recognition, jumped in. We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges, he opined. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.

While thats surely the ideal, its just as surely not reality. In some instances, yes; in most, maybe; in all, no way. To suggest otherwise is to posit pure coincidence as the explanation for the overwhelming number of judicial defeats incurred by Trump at the hands of Democratic judicial appointees. Even sillier are accusations that Trump, the nations chief executive, is a threat to the judiciary when, in reality, the statistics suggest the precise opposite.

To be clear, judges have both the right and responsibility to invalidate actions of the executive branch that are clearly unlawful. Yet, the unprecedented number of times theyve done so over the last two years, and their partisan breakdown, invite speculation that political animus is as much, if not more at play, than the rule of law.

Historical attacks

Executive attacks on the judiciary are almost as old as the country itself. President Thomas Jeffersons vendetta against Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase moved from words to action when he orchestrated an impeachment proceeding against the Federalist jurist. Chase was ultimately acquitted by the Senate, an outcome often cited for the self-evident proposition that mere disagreements with a judges rulings, however mischaracterized as impeachable crimes, are no basis for removal from the bench.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt took a different approach after the Supreme Court struck down several of his New Deal programs. His proposed Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937 would have added up to six judges to the court for every sitting member over the age of 70 years and six months. Cooler heads prevailed, however, as several Democrats, including Vice President John Nance Garner, joined Republicans in defeating Roosevelts brazen attempt to pack the court.

In the months leading up to the Supreme Courts historic 2012 decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, Obama and the nations top Democrats repeatedly warned that a decision striking down the legislation would be the work of conservative judicial activists. Many believe that the intensity of those warnings, and their portent for a presidential election campaign targeting the Supreme Court for vicious criticism, induced Roberts to protect the court  his court  by changing his initial vote against the measure to the decisive one upholding it.

Thus, beyond the validity and futility of Trumps criticism of the courts is the fact that its well within his right to offer it. In fact, measured against the antics of Jefferson, Roosevelt, Obama and many of his other predecessors, Trumps criticisms of the judiciary have really been quite mild.
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TORONTO, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSXV: EGLX) (OTCQB: EGHIF), (Enthusiast or the Company), a gaming company building the largest community of authentic gamers, is excited to announce that it has hired David Newman as Vice President of Sales. David brings more than 18 years of experience across multiple disciplines, including sales, marketing, business development, and public relations, and is expected to play a key role in driving the national sales strategies for Enthusiast Gaming in an attempt to achieve its revenue objectives.



Prior to joining Enthusiast Gaming, David served as the Director, Brand Partnerships for Machinima (Warner Media / AT&T), based in LA, California. Previous to Machinima, David spent a number of years as the Director, Sales for Vox Media and CBS Interactive, where he led National Sales teams to deliver exceptional results year after year, including activations and partnerships with Microsoft Xbox, Activision, 2K Games, Qualcomm and Modelo.

David will be heading the Los Angeles office and will focus on building out key activations for brands and agencies looking to target Esports and video game verticals. His extensive sales experience across various media and advertising industries will be instrumental in helping execute the long term direct sales strategy of Enthusiast Gaming, and in helping develop and foster key advertising partnerships.

Recently ranked as the fastest growing gaming property in North America by ComScore, Enthusiast Gaming believes the addition of David is a significant step in strengthening its direct sales team and in driving revenue and key partnership growth.

Menashe Kestenbaum, CEO of Enthusiast Gaming commented, We are thrilled to welcome David to our North America sales team. His experience in media and advertising sales and proven track record of delivering results is invaluable to the growth of Enthusiasts key partnerships. One of our main focuses for 2019 is to build out a successful direct sales strategy to drive revenue, and David will be a valuable asset for Enthusiast to do so.

About Enthusiast Gaming

Founded in 2014, Enthusiast is the fastest-growing online community of video gamers. Through the Companys unique acquisition strategy, it has a platform of over 80 owned and affiliated websites and currently reaches over 75 million monthly visitors with its unique and curated content and over 50 million YouTube visitors. Enthusiast also owns and operates Canadas largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, (eglx.ca) with over 55,000 people attending in 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com .

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Investor Relations:

Julia Becker

Head of Investor Relations & Marketing

jbecker@enthusiastgaming.com

(604) 785.0850

This news release contains certain statements that may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results, developments, performance or achievements that Enthusiast anticipates or expects may or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking information. Such information may involve, but is not limited to, comments with respect to strategies, expectations, planned operations and future actions of the Company. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Enthusiast to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to Enthusiast, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management's current expectations or beliefs regarding future growth, results of operations, future capital (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof) and expenditures. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

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.



The securities of the Corporation have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
US billionaire Barry Sternlichts global real estate fund has teamed up with private Melbourne developer Riverlee to open an upmarket 1 Hotel on the banks of the Yarra River, the latest in a string of deals in Australias busy accommodation sector.

A subsidiary of Mr Sternlichts $US60 billion Starwood Capital Group, hotel management business SH Hotels & Resorts, will run the 280 room five-star hotel in the Seafarers development on the rivers north bank opposite the Melbourne Convention Centre.

It will be the environmentally focused 1 Hotel brands first foray into Australia.

Riverlee founder Clement Lee, Victorian trade minister Martin Pakula, SH Hotels president Arash Azarbarzin, and Riverlee's David Lee in front of the Northbank site.

The rapidly expanding SH Hotels operates three similarly branded hotels in the US, with another five underway in Hollywood, Mexico, China, London and Paris.
Lynas chief executive Amanda Lacaze. Credit:Christopher Pearce Wesfarmers would hardly have been surprised by the knock-back. The plucky rare earths miner had effectively rejected the former Coles owner already. Lynas made its intentions clear last November after months of talks, which made clear the two parties were at cross purposes. "We thought we were talking to a friend and they thought they were talking to a target," said Lynas chief executive Amanda Lacaze. Neither party would offer more details of the talks, but it is clear what the two parties would have been discussing for months if it wasnt a takeover.

"An investment in Lynas leverages our unique assets and capabilities, including in chemical processing," Wesfarmer's boss Robb Scott announced this week when the offer was made. The message was clear: Wesfarmers has the deep pockets and know-how to help Lynas expand its processing operations outside of Malaysia. Lynas faces a shutdown of its Malaysian operation if it is not able to get the new government to backtrack on its tough conditions. The company has clearly decided that any further expansion of its operations must be in another country to ameliorate the sovereign risk facing companies in the new reality of a world dominated by Brexit and Trump. They (Wesfarmers) want to grow. Theyve got an objective to grow and theyve got a balance sheet that allows them to do that. Credit Suisse analyst Grant Saligari

Wesfarmers, with extensive operations in Western Australia including chemical processing at the industrial enclave in Kwinana, would have been a useful partner for a company that had only recently escaped a near death experience and needed to fund its expansion. The appeal of Lynas is that it owns the biggest rare earths processing plant outside of China, a highly strategic asset which analysts say makes it a market leader in the production of rare earth materials including NdPr. NdPr is used to make magnets used in electric motors in electric vehicles and wind turbines, and therefore in big demand around the world. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have learned that Lynas is talking to WA authorities about the future of its operations. In 1998, the company secured environmental approvals for a "secondary processing" facility near Northam, 100km north east of Perth, but withdrew them in 2003.

For any new processing facility to get off the ground Lynas would need to get environmental approvals again. A WA Environmental Protection Authority spokeswoman confirmed the agency had met twice with the company since the 2018 Malaysian election, but there were no current proposals before them. "The Environmental Protection Authority met with the company and/or its consultants twice in the past eight months," she said. "There are no further matters before the EPA." The play by the Rob Scott-led Wesfarmers is its first $1 billion-plus acquisition move in Australia in years, and the first major corporate move since the Coles demerger.

The question then is, why Lynas? What next for Wesfarmers? And what does the move say about Wesfarmers' possible future interest in retail operations? Lynas is an interesting company and I think Wesfarmers has picked their timing quite well. Matt Williams, Airlie Funds Management The bid prompted divergent responses from investors in the two companies. Lynas shares soared 35 per cent on Tuesday on the back of the announcement, hitting their highest level in months, but Wesfarmers' stock dropped 3.5 per cent, wiping about $1.4 billion off the companys market capitalisation. In the days since, the Wesfarmers move has been described by one investor as the kind of move the "Wesfarmers of old" would make, an observation that was a compliment, not criticism. Leading retail analyst Grant Saligari, from Credit Suisse, says the Wesfarmers play was "within scope of strategy" for the large conglomerate.

Saligari says Wesfarmers likes assets that for some reason are mis-priced in the short term, but have good long-term fundamentals, a sound industry structure and growing demand. Given Wesfarmers' strong balance sheet, the series of changes made to its portfolio under Scott - including the Coles demerger and the exit from its failed UK hardware foray - Saligari and others expect more M&A activity from the WA heavyweight. "They want to grow. Theyve got an objective to grow and theyve got a balance sheet that allows them to do that. I think they will continue to look for the opportunities. "I think theyre industry agnostic, they actually look for that strategic overlay of assets being mispriced. I think theres a low probability on retail at the moment," he says. The Wesfarmers bid was welcomed by Matt Williams, portfolio manager at Airlie Funds Management, which holds Wesfarmers stock.

"Lynas is an interesting company and I think Wesfarmers has picked their timing quite well in the sense that the share price of Lynas has been under pressure," he says. "From what I understand of Lynas, there is a bit of value on offer there if things all work out for it, if they overcome their current hurdles. This Lynas foray is more akin to the Wesfarmers of old, which I think is a good thing. Matt Williams, Airlie Funds Management Williams says the move reflects "classic Wesfarmers" buying behaviour, "buying something thats cheap because of current short-term problems. It reminds me of when they bought Howard Smith when it was going through a lot of problems, which was part of the formation of Bunnings and part of the success of Bunnings." "This Lynas foray is more akin to the Wesfarmers of old, which I think is a good thing," Williams says.

Wesfarmers bid for Lynas came via a $2.25 a share cash offer that was conditional and non-binding. Lynas shareholder Greencape Capital owns more than 9 per cent of the rare earths miner, a stake that has grown considerably in recent months despite the challenges in Malaysia. Greencape portfolio manager Matthew Ryland says Greencape is confident in Lynas future, and has bought millions more shares in the miner when the stock was in the range of $1.50-1.70. "We think the (Wesfarmers) approach was very, very opportunistic. And this is a long way below where the value of the business is," he says. Ryland wasn't surprised that Wesfarmers has a positive view on Lynas.
Australia's coolest and most digitally enabled workplaces are no longer the domain of tech giants and audacious start-ups. The public sector is embracing the concepts too and this isnt optional  its a necessity.

Organisations today define themselves less by their physical footprint and more by what they can achieve through a connected workplace.

A connected workplace brings together design, technology, systems and policies to create spaces where people can work with ease. The aim is to attract, inspire and retain talented employees, resulting in the type of office usually envied for its coolness  think Telstra, WeWork and Google.

WeWork's offices are designed for the digital worker, like this one at 161 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.

Its not all about football tables, bars and free food, of course. The idea is that flexible, adaptable and enjoyable workspaces will improve staff comfort, engagement and productivity. Theyre designed for the digital worker.
The competition watchdog has renewed calls to scrap rooftop solar subsidies by 2021, putting it at odds with both sides of federal politics.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) first electricity monitoring report said the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) should be abolished early as it has achieved its aims.

Competition tsar Rod Sims said the solar subsidy scheme is now an unfair system. Credit:Nic Walker

The subsidy for small-scale installations is no longer required given the dramatic fall in the cost of rooftop solar since the start of the scheme in 2011, ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

The SRES has been a driving force in the uptake of rooftop solar, cutting system costs by up to a third.
Australian shares weren't able to recover from Monday's $20 billion sell-off, ending the week lower as the major banks weighed.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed the week 14.5 points, or 0.2 per cent, lower at 6180.7, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 19.2 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6261.7.

Investors are fretting that moves in the bond market signal another brake on profits. Credit:Peter Braig

The market had a tumultuous start to the week, recording its second-worst loss this year on Monday following a global share sell-off on Friday. Optimism returned to the market through the week but it wasn't enough to recover all of Monday's losses.

The major banks were modestly weaker this week, prompted by a record low for the Australian 10-year government bond yield, as investors fretted that the moves in the bond market signalled another brake on profits.
Some of the most valuable tech startups are preparing to go public, starting with Lyft on Friday, US time. The initial public offerings promise to generate big pay days for the startups' employees and investors.

Here are some of them.

Lyft could be worth about $US25 billion ($35.3 billion) when it starts trading. Credit:AP

Lyft

The ride-hailing service, which has branched out into scooters and bike-sharing, among other ventures, could be worth about $US25 billion ($35.3 billion) when it starts trading. The value of each stake in Lyft is based on a pre-IPO share price of $US72.
Australia has a new richest postcode for the first time in seven years.

The postcode that's home to Palm Beach on Sydney's northern beaches has dethroned the one containing Edgecliff, Darling Point and Malcolm Turnbull's Point Piper residence in the city's eastern suburbs, according to Australian Taxation Office statistics released late on Thursday.

The people of Palm Beach are the richest taxpayers in Australia. Credit:Jim Rice

The 1279 tax filers in Palm Beach's 2108 postcode reported an average income of $230,330 for 2016/17, while the 6089 tax filers in Edgecliff's 2027 postcode made an average of $187,769.

It's a wide income gap compared with people living in the nation's poorest postcode 2308  covering Newcastle University and Callaghan  who earned $209,741 less on average.
THE HAPPY PRINCE 

(MA15+) 100 minutes Oscar Wilde may have had nothing to declare but his genius, but Rupert Everett has more to say in this lush recreation of the writer's last days. His film takes place in the post-work part of Wilde's life, focusing on his decline and death  painfully observed for what seems an eternity in a garret in Paris in 1900. Rupert Everett as Oscar Wilde in The Happy Prince. Credit:Wilhelm Moser Why this rather than the glory days, or even Wilde's notoriously nasty trial for sodomy? Because of course, the death of an artist allows the bio-piccer to avoid the more difficult task of delving into how the artist produced great art in the first place. Falling down drunk in a Parisian dive is both more picturesque and more reassuring for the audience. See, he might have been great, but look where he ended up. Become an accountant instead. Even so, Everett's touch is light. Tom Wilkinson, as the priest who baptised Wilde on his deathbed, remarks in the carriage en route that he has all the right unguents on hand  assuming there's no need for exorcism. The jokes are frequent and juicy throughout. It's the carefully constructed symbolism and buckets of emotion that make it seem a little treacly.

Rupert Everett (right) and Colin Morgan. What can Everett say about Oscar Wilde that hasn't been said? I'm not sure that an original interpretation was ever the main ambition. What Everett wants is a vehicle in which he can play the great gay icon  and if he has to write and direct it himself, so be it. It's a film about Rupert Everett, on one level, especially when Wilde bangs on about the tragedy of losing his youth and beauty. If there is a deeper moral purpose  and Wilde would have argued there needn't be one  it's that he did not quite know how to love, despite his declarations about love being everything. Two men love him throughout the movie as he humiliates himself with the pouting and spoiled Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas (Colin Morgan). Robbie Ross (Edwin Thomas) is his long-suffering literary executor and an early sexual intimate; Reggie Turner (Colin Firth) is an actor who gives his all in friendship. Neither gets much in return from Wilde, or the man playing him. Everett is sympathetic to their plight, but not enough to give them the extra screen time that might have helped flesh out their characters and energise the drama. There's only one star of this show, thank you very much, and that's true of Wilde, as well as Everett. Wilde is in Paris when the movie opens, after serving two years in prison. He is broken and pathetic, rouging his cheeks and paying two street kids in cocaine for their companionship. The younger boy, about nine, is a match-seller who adores hearing Wilde tell the story of The Happy Prince (in French, of course). His older brother Jean (Benjamin Voisin), who's about 20, provides sexual favours for the usual amount. Wilde is only in his early 40s, but looks much older  a jowlier Quentin Crisp in the wrong century, borrowing money from fans and strangers alike. He's a moocher. In flashback, just after fleeing England, he tells Reggie and Robbie at Dieppe that he is done with Bosie, for good. A few months later, he's shacked up with him in a villa opposite Naples, in a room full of semi-naked sailors.
Belleville, Illinois, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allsup, a nationwide benefits firm providing guidance and education on alternative healthcare coverage options for employees and retirees, will be exhibiting at the annual BenefitsPRO Broker Expo held April 2-4, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Miami, Florida.

Allsup representatives will be available at booth 804, providing information on Medicare plan selection, enrollment into Medicare Parts A and B, and establishing employer healthcare secondary to Medicare. Medicare eligible participants can include older workers, dependents, and individuals with disabilities.

Offering high-quality healthcare alternatives to employees can help your business stay innovative and competitive, said Tricia Blazier, Director of Healthcare Insurance Services at Allsup. I am looking forward to helping brokers understand how Allsup can save employers thousands by directing them to the proper healthcare decisions.

As healthcare premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs continue to rise every year, Medicare has become an attractive alternative to employer plans. Medicare premiums are stable (as low as $134), deductibles are lower (usually under $200), out-of-pocket costs are lower or zero, and networks are often broader (93% of primary care physicians accept Medicare).

Employers can utilize the option of transitioning eligible employees to Medicare to help combat rising health costs and avoid high price claims down the road. Medicare plans also provide significant worth for older workers and their dependents, sometimes with more advantages and value when compared with employer group health coverage.

Allsup provides guidance and support to employers and employees through the Medicare coordination process, allowing for a smooth transition.

For more information about enrolling for the first time, reconsidering your current Medicare plan, or transitioning employees to Medicare, visit AllsupInc.com, call (800) 426-9532 or email allsuphealthcare@allsupinc.com.

ABOUT ALLSUP

Allsup and its subsidiaries provide nationwide Social Security disability, veterans disability appeal, return to work, exchange plan and Medicare services for individuals, their employers and insurance carriers. Allsup professionals deliver specialized services supporting people with disabilities and seniors so they may lead lives that are as financially secure and as healthy as possible. Founded in 1984, the company is based in Belleville, Illinois, near St. Louis.
What are your tips for looking hot in a photo or selfie? [Laughs] Oh, I don't think I look sexy at all! Really? One of Australia's best-known models doesn't think she's sexy? My one plus is I don't need to pout. As for the rest? Good lighting. Don't angle your face down, hold the camera upwards; you don't want a double chin. And tilt your face. Use angles. RELIGION

Were you raised with faith? My mother, Myrna Sussye, is Christian. I believe in God. But I also believe in Dreamtime spirituality, too. Do you have your own commandments or mantras? Try to be kind to others. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Be humble. Who did you get those values from?

Definitely my mum. She didn't have a lot growing up, but as well as raising me and my three brothers, she also raised my two cousins. My brother's girlfriend was in the picture, too, as well as my niece. We had a really big family. Mum is very nurturing, very kind, will give you the shirt off her back and always puts others first. Which of the seven deadly sins are you most susceptible to? Gluttony. I love sweets. Cakes. Desserts. I'll look at the dessert menu before anything else. I love my food, but I think everyone does. Food brings you together. That doesn't sound like a sin at all. I've turned it around, haven't I!

Which living people do you worship? My mum. My husband, Luke. I met Meghan Markle last year at Admiralty House in Sydney when she and Prince Harry came to Australia. I literally couldn't string a sentence together. Why were you so floored? She's royalty. She's a princess. I'd always wanted to be a princess as a kid. She's not just a princess; she's an inspiring woman. And she's a black woman, too. BODIES

What kind of physical maintenance and exercise goes into being a model? I try to exercise  weights, pilates  four or five times a week. And I'm always conscious of eating well. You can't starve yourself. I'm eating nutritious food to fill my body because I am doing such a big exercise regimen. I used to be one of those young girls who thought, "The less I eat, the thinner I'll be." That's not how bodies work. As I've got older, I'm more aware of being healthy. What you put into your body shows on the outside. You're a Dunghutti woman. Is it true that it's common for Indigenous women to be told, "You're pretty  for an Aborigine"? Yep, I've had that. I've also had, "Where are you from? What's your nationality?" My mum tells me stories of how she would try to see if she could scrub the colour off her skin, because she didn't want to be dark. It was that bad. You've noted that although you've seen so many beautiful Aboriginal girls, you don't understand why there aren't more on the catwalk. What's your theory?
It's no surprise, then, that a niche publishing wave is underway, from a slew of books released worldwide to magazines such as the three-year-old online site, Anxy. Sarah Wilson's 2017 book, First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, is a harrowing memoir of life-long anxiety by the successful journalist turned bestselling author and entrepreneur, who recently turned her sights towards encouraging greater philanthropy. Jill Stark's Happy Never After, out last July, is less gut-wrenching but equally exploratory and explanatory. Loading There are even events covering the topic, such as the Big Anxiety festival, billed as the country's largest mental health gathering. Hosted by the University of NSW and the Black Dog Institute, it's intended to create "opportunities for meaningful encounters that increase curiosity and empathy, decrease stigma, support neurodiversity and promote psychological and emotional well-being in our society". More than 160,000 people attended the inaugural event in 2017, which was successful enough to be repeated later this year. Director Jill Bennett's essay, Are we all anxious now?, was published as far afield as the Tate museum's magazine in the UK. All this interest raises the question: is the type of anxiety that's serious enough to be medically diagnosed on the rise, or are we just renaming aspects of the human condition and talking about them more? The figures, as is often the case, are unclear. Many medical researchers suggest the diagnosis of anxiety is fairly static, although the Australian Bureau of Statistics says the proportion of the population reporting anxiety-related problems has risen sharply over recent years to 11.2 per cent in 2014-15. Indeed, it's thought that one in three women and one in five men in Australia will experience anxiety at some point in their lives.

Clinicians on the front line tell Good Weekend theyve seen a clear increase over the past decade. Lisa Lampe is a psychiatrist and assistant professor at the University of Newcastle whose book, Take Control of Your Worry: Managing Generalised Anxiety Disorder, was published in 2004. She believes interest in anxiety is part of a long, slow coming out of mental disorders. Sufferers are owning up to the condition, which encourages others to admit their prob- lems or even realise that those problems are not just the way they are, but treatable. "I agree that the stats are pretty stable," says Lampe. "My theory is that awareness of mental health generally is growing. I think it developed for the more obvious disorders, like schizophrenia, first. Then, remember, there was a great rash of publicity around bipolar disorder in the 1990s, and a lot of people came out saying they had it. Then there was a focus on depression, which was around the time Beyondblue got up. Then other people put their hands up and said, 'I have terrible trouble with anxiety,' and the focus switched to that. I think it's anxiety's time and it's well overdue." A lively conversationalist who has specialised in treating anxiety since leaving university, Lampe finds this a positive development. "I fell in love with treating anxiety disorders because people get better," she says. She emphasises the strength, rather than the weakness, of sufferers. "The thing that always strikes me about my anxious patients is that they've got this debilitative condition and yet they soldier on. The sad thing is, they often think they're weak because they get anxious, but I always tell them it's the complete reverse. Imagine if other people felt they had to cross a 12-lane freeway, with no help, to start every day, and then carry on. The strength that requires is actually amazing." Imagine feeling you had to cross a 12-lane freeway, with no help, to start every day, then carry on. The strength that requires is amazing. Psychiatrist Richard Wu, who is as considered as Lampe is vivacious, works in the calm of a Sydney CBD heritage-listed building. He also believes anxiety is increasing; it's certainly showing up more and more in his practice. Wu notes the academic truism that quantitative research lags behind qualitative experience. And why wouldn't anxiety be increasing, he points out  society puts people in an impossible bind these days, increasing pressure in tandem with isolation. He believes a diagnostic bias in favour of depression has eclipsed anxiety when patients like Steve present with symptoms that could fall into either category.

"There has always been an under-recognition of anxiety disorders and it's really hard to find true statistics on them," he says. "The commonly accepted figure is about 33 per cent of the population will fit the diagnostic criteria at some time in their lives for anxiety disorders. That's already very high. But what I'm seeing is something we could call a hidden, or an elusive, epidemic." Not everyone who experiences anxiety consults a doctor, of course. Paul*, who lives in Canberra, has experienced the full blast of anxiety in the form of panic attacks. When his daughter was little, he took the morning preschool run, while his wife did afternoons. At the time, he was uncomfortably overweight, and he still remembers the sense of rising fear as he got out of breath trying to fit his daughter's shoes on, organise her lunch and pack her schoolbag. The thought that ricocheted around his brain as it was happening was, "Please don't let me die of a heart attack now, when she's alone with me and it will be hours until anyone finds us." Like Steve, Paul woke every morning in a high state of anxiety, which would wear off as the day progressed. Unlike Steve, he never sought help, never received treatment; taking instead the old-school approach of self-medicating with alcohol. Eventually, as he lost weight, became fitter and drank less, and his daughter became less dependent, the intensity of his anxiety receded So, what exactly is anxiety? The most authoritative medical definition, from the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), is a six-month period of uncontrollable worry accompanied by three or more persistent problems such as restlessness, fatigue, concentration issues, irritability, muscle tension or sleep disturbance. Anxiety disorders were only officially defined in 1980's DSM-III, but the most recent edition  the DSM-V, published in 2013  already has a dozen sub-categories, from phobias to social anxiety to generalised anxiety disorder, with many refinements within each. As The New York Times reviewer, Nathan Heller, remarked in his review of Scott Stossel's 2014 bestseller, My Age of Anxiety, "Clusters of these symptoms probably describe the entire city of New York." One could say the same for Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong, London and other world cities. Clusters of anxiety symptoms probably describe the entire city of New York.

Anxiety occurs on a long continuum, from horror stories to the butterfly flutter we've all experienced when checking exam results or struggling to meet difficult deadlines. David H. Barlow, founder of Boston University's Centre for Anxiety and Related Disorders, calls it "the common cold of mental disorders". Its most severe form has been recognised for millennia, if not isolated. In 1621, Robert Burton described a patient of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates  the "father" of Western medicine  in this way: "He dare not come into company for fear he should be misused, disgraced, overshoot himself in gestures or speeches, or be sick; he thinks every man observeth him." Burton described these symptoms: "Many lamentable effects this fear causeth in man, as to be red, pale, tremble, sweat; it makes sudden cold and heat come over all the body, palpitation of the heart, syncope, etc. It amazeth many men that are to speak or show themselves in public." One of the poet W.H. Auden's greatest works, published in 1947 in the aftermath of World War II, was called The Age of Anxiety. As Stossel puts it in My Age of Anxiety, "Every generation, going back to Periclean Greece, to second-century Rome, to the Enlightenment, to the Georgians and to the Victorians, believed itself to be the most anxious age ever." Every generation, going back to Periclean Greece  believed itself to be the most anxious age ever. Kate* has been anxious since childhood. At school, she says, tougher children often took her under their wing and looked after her, but that wasn't an option when she reached adulthood. (And anyway, she points out, such relationships are emotionally unbalanced, with the stronger person dominating.) Kate took a science degree at university, with her curiosity about her own experience leading her to major in psychology. Now a mother of three, she tries to help herself, but has also been formally diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder by a psychiatrist. She has used Xanax and beta-blockers, the side effects of which she found to be worse than the original problem. "The worst part for me is social phobia," she says. Painfully shy as a child, she still can't control her sweating and blushing and stammering when she finds herself in public. Parties are generally not on. The night before we speak, she'd been to an 18th birthday party and got through it in a haze. She couldn't speak at her own wedding.

"As I'm talking, I'm watching myself talk and judging whether that is going well or not, and how it might be judged from the other person's point of view," she explains. "An incredible amount of effort goes into trying to make sure I'm coming across okay, and it just ends up being this spiral. The more you are judging yourself, the worse it will become. And you're quite aware that it's visible, especially when you start blushing. I know it's impossible to work out what another person is thinking, but that doesn't stop me trying." Loading Her only reliable solution is to withdraw. "Immediately there's a sense of relief," she says. "You're out of it, you're away, and it's fine. And that effectively reinforces withdrawal. I've got years' worth of withdrawal behind me." The nature-versus-nurture debate colours research into anxiety. Yes, it runs in families, but is that due to genetic inheritance or the anxious environment in which the children are raised, becoming their own anxious parents? The influential Harvard professor of psychology Jerome Kagan spent two decades studying more than 450 healthy children, born without medical complications, to assess what combination of temperament and life history produces an "excessively fearful or anxious adolescent or adult". He reported that most babies with "high reactive" symptoms of anxiety  responding to external stimuli with agitated limb movement, muscle spasticity, and an occasional arching of the back, accompanied by fretting and crying  had become less fearful, and begun to resemble typical children, by the time they were four-and-a-half years old. None, however, became "consistently extroverted", he wrote. "The temperament of the high reactive infants constrained their development of an extremely extroverted personality rather than causing a fearful, anxious personality in most of these children."

By the time they were seven, half the high reactive had a serious fear of kidnapping and other dangers, compared with only 10 per cent of the low reactive kids. Interestingly, Kagan found guilt to play a large part in the most inhibited children. They "also displayed extreme sensitivity to criticism over violation of standards they believed were appropriate. That is, they seemed as prone to guilt as to fear and anxiety." So what level of anxiety is an inevitable product of the times we live in, and when does that become a medical issue? A UN study of 15 different countries in 2017, looking at teleworking, found that 41 per cent of "highly mobile" employees (those who more often work from home) considered themselves highly stressed, compared to only 25 per cent of those who worked only on-site. The home workers' higher reliance on smartphones and laptops, as well as their comparative social isolation, contributed to higher stress levels and insomnia. Mark Ryan, head psychiatrist at the Sydney neuroCare clinic, specialises in sleep disorders and the link between sleep and physical and psychological well-being. "The elephant in the room is sleep," he says simply. "Anything less than six hours a night is going to lead to significant cognitive impairment." And that, he says, bumps up a range of symptoms, including anxiety. He quotes Jerome Kagan on the nature/ nurture debate, pointing out that even if childhood testing suggests you're the kind of person who's more likely to react to things, it doesn't mean you're doomed to high anxiety if you can arrange your environment, or life, well. We don't have psychological problems, we have problems in living. As a psychotherapist, what I do is help people have a life that will work. "We use drugs and cognitive behaviour therapy to treat anxiety, but when you carve it all up, there's still a missing link," he says. "With a top-down approach, we're only treating the shadows. We only see one thing at a time and people end up taking a lot of drugs." He maintains there's a huge placebo effect in many patients relieved by taking medication, refers glancingly to the commercial interests of big pharmaceutical companies in treating anxiety, and says much of the anxiety he sees is learned.

Canadian academic Jordan Peterson was a psychology lecturer with a large student following before his recent notoriety. In one of his earlier online lectures, he quotes the Austrian psychiatrist Thomas Szazs on "the myth of mental illness". "We don't have psychological problems, we have problems in living," Peterson says, "and often what I'm doing as a psychotherapist is helping people have a life that will work." In Sydney, Richard Wu emphasises life skills, too. "You know, if you put a bunch of rats together, their stress levels will go up," he says. "Well, we're living in increasingly dense urban areas ... and people are worried about retrenchment and mortgages. There are things happening at a philosophical level as well. Nietzsche talks about "moral chaos": without the institutions and the beliefs we once had, we are chasing mediocrity in increasingly narcissistic ways." Steve the lawyer knows his anxiety was heightened by a stressful period at work, though he emphasises how kind his firm was when the crunch came. "When I joined the firm in the mid-1980s, it was the tail-end of what I would call the 'golden era' of the law as a profession, where the lawyer's role was to give advice and his expertise was respected for that," he says. "Now law firms, for a start, are global conglomerates. In a sense, I was unlucky that the world was changing around me. All of a sudden, far from just being a lawyer, you're expected to be a businessman, with these targets for billing that were increasingly onerous.Although I more or less managed to do it, increasingly I realised it was too much pressure. I just didn't want to do it; it wasn't really where my talents lay." He is happy with his current lot as a freelance writer. "I'm much poorer, but happier and considerably healthier." * Names have been changed.
The federal Greens oppose the expansion of the Australian War Memorial and launched a policy that would share the half-a-billion dollars earmarked for the project across all of Canberra's national institutions.

As part of a broader defence and foreign aid policy announcement on Friday, the party also said the war memorial should be banned from accepting donations from weapons manufacturers but should receive more government funding to make up the shortfall.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale says the War Memorial expansion shouldn't go ahead. Credit:AAP

Greens leader Richard Di Natale made the promise on Friday along with a commitment to reduce Australia's spend on defence and end the alliance with the United States.

Both the Liberal government and the Labor party have committed to support the War Memorial in its $498 million expansion, but the Greens say it wouldn't be necessary if its halls weren't filled with military hardware.
Woden will keep its workforce of Health Department public servants after the federal government agreed to a lease fastening them to the struggling town centre for another 16 years.

The department's deal with its landlords at the Sirius office block will buoy businesses that have watched bureaucrats from other federal agencies leave the ailing commercial hub and move to Canberra's city centre and parliamentary triangle.

The Department of Health is staying in the Sirius building, in Woden, for another 16 years. Credit:Graham Tidy

Health officials working in the building are likely to have new, "flexible" workspaces after the department secured renovations from property company Mirvac in agreeing to extend their lease to 2035.

The Department of Health negotiated the new agreement with Mirvac six years before its lease expired at the office block purpose-built for the federal agency in 2010.
Canberra developers dumping clean fill in NSW could be set to pay more under a new haulage levy being reviewed by Yass Valley Council.

It comes as the council voted to charge a new "contribution levy" to local developers on Wednesday night.

A photo from a 2016 report to council of clean fill dumped at Sutton.

The vote followed a heated community meeting between councillors and residents on Tuesday where locals vented concerns about the hundreds of trucks hauling clean fill through rural back roads.

"I think it's going to take someone getting killed on these roads before you do something," one resident said on Tuesday. "It's just money and dirt."
The owner of a house designed by architect Harry Seidler has told a tribunal that he doesnt want to live in a museum and that the owner of the expensive property should be able to demolish it if it does not suit their needs.

Michael Bowden is appealing the ACT Heritage Councils decision to add the Deakin home to the heritage register on the grounds that significant changes to the property have destroyed its design integrity.

The Harry Seidler designed house in Northcote Drive, Deakin. Credit:ACT Heritage

Mr Bowden told the tribunal on Friday that registering the house would devalue it and no one would seek to make the house smaller and restore it to its original condition.

He said he thought no private houses should be heritage listed without the owners permission.
Palm Beach is now the wealthiest postcode in Sydney for the first time outstripping the city's traditionally ritzy eastern suburbs.

Just six years ago, Palm Beach was not even in the top 20 wealthiest postcodes. But residents in the suburb have seen their average incomes leap up more than $100,000 since 2013-14 to about $230,000.

Life's a beach for wealth Palm Beach residents, who have just been named in Sydney's wealthiest postcodes. Credit:Jim Rice

That is a far cry from some of the city's other postcodes, including Auburn ($37,000), where the average resident is declaring about $1400 more a year in income than they were four years earlier according to new taxable income data released by the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Associate Professor Angela Knox at the University of Sydney said the data was a reflection of wage stagnation and growing inequality.
Police who arrested two brothers over an alleged Sydney terror plot had no idea that one of the men was in contact with an Islamic State operative in Syria until he told them so in an interview, a court has been told.

Khaled Mahmoud Khayat, 51, and his brother Mahmoud Khayat, 34, are on trial in the NSW Supreme Court after both pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring to do an act in preparation/planning for a terrorist act.

Accused: Khaled Khayat.

It is alleged the pair plotted from January 20, 2017, until their arrest on July 29, 2017, to plant a bomb on an international flight at Sydney Airport and then separately to disperse a lethal gas.

On Friday, a NSW Police detective who interviewed Khaled Khayat in 2017 was cross-examined by Mr Khayat's barrister Richard Pontello about the extensive interview.
The driver of a red car who allegedly stalked another woman in the minutes before the suspected abduction and murder of Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan is back in the frame under a new police investigation.

Also, as part of a new appeal for information, the NSW government has increased to $1 million the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Ms Vaughan, then 31, went missing in 2001 and no trace of her has been found.

A coroner concluded in 2009 that Ms Vaughan was murdered, although the circumstances remained a mystery because "the trail has gone cold".
A driver who allegedly stalked another young woman in the minutes before she was abducted is under the microscope in a new police push to find out what happened to Janine Vaughan.

Ms Vaughan, 31, was last seen getting into a red car outside a Bathurst nightclub just before 4am on December 7, 2001.

No trace of her has been found.

Detectives hope that a $1 million reward announced on Friday and new DNA technology will allow them to catch a killer who has eluded police for 17 years, following an original investigation that was criticised as flawed and recommended to the Police Integrity Commission.
EDMONTON, Alberta, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Visionstate Corp. (TSX-V: VIS) (Visionstate or the Company) today announced that it has posted a recent interview with the Companys CEO on its website in the News section.



The interview answers questions about Visionstates operations, business model, WANDA developments and near-term plans, as well as the Companys portfolio of investments.

Visionstate would like to thank all of the people taking interest in the Company and hopes that the answers provided will be beneficial to its investors.

About Visionstate Corp.

Visionstate Corp. (TSX-V: VIS) is a growth-oriented company that invests in the research and development of promising new technology in the realm of the Internet of Things, big data and analytics, and sustainability. Through Visionstate Inc., it helps businesses improve operational efficiencies, reduce costs and elevate customer satisfaction with its state of the art devices that track and monitor guest activities and requests. The footprint of its WANDA smart device now extends to hospitals, airports, shopping centres and other public facilities across and beyond North America. Through building up a collection of synergistic technologies, Visionstate Corp. will continue to innovate, reduce environmental impact and transform consumer experiences.

Issued on behalf of the Board of Directors

John A. Putters

Visionstate Corp.
Light rail construction "destroyed" a significant Aboriginal heritage site in Sydney's east that a new report says shed light on early interactions between Indigenous people and British settlers.

Mystery surrounded tens of thousands of stone objects that were unearthed at the Randwick tram stabling site in 2016, prompting Indigenous elders to launch a failed bid to halt work on the $2.1 billion light rail line.

Light rail vehicles at a stabling yard next to Randwick Racecourse have been undergoing testing. Credit:Louise Kennerley

A post-excavation report, prepared by consultants GML Heritage for Transport for NSW and light rail contractor Acciona in November, found that Aboriginal people used the area to forge tools from flint brought to Australia on British ships.

The report said that the site near the corner of Alison Road and Doncaster Avenue had "considerable heritage". "It is significant to Sydneys historical narrative," the report said.
The Australian Medical Association Queensland has urged the state government to pause the rollout of the integrated electronic medical record, with clinicians voicing serious concerns about its safety.

It follows a Brisbane Times investigation into the $600 million electronic medical record project, which has revealed clinicians and medical organisations have been calling for a suspension of the program amid serious patient safety concerns.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles was urged by the AMAQ to pause the rollout of the ieMR. Credit:AAP

The AMAQ issued a statement on Friday confirming that while they supported electronic medical records, they wanted to see the rollout paused.

"The AMA Queensland e-health working group has raised these concerns with Queensland Health as they have arisen over the past 12 months, most recently during a discussion about the ieMR system," the statement said.
One property destroyed near Bunkers Hill. Credit:Nine News

At least 13 buildings have been destroyed after two large grass fires ripped through homes, sheds and grasslands near Ballarat.

A large grass fire in the Bunkers Hill area, around 12km south of Ballarat, engulfed one home and nine sheds before it was brought under control about 7.45pm on Friday.

Fallen powerlines, trees and scattered asbestos prevented emergency services from surveying the damage overnight. But a spokeswoman from the CFA said more losses were expected when crews assessed the damage on Saturday morning.

Residents in the Bunkers Hill area were warned about 2pm on Friday that it was too late to leave the area, before a cool change about 4pm helped firefighters gain control of the blaze.
Roadside testing for driver fatigue could be rolled out in Victoria in a bid to reduce the road toll, the Victorian government has said.

VicRoads and Monash University are conducting trials that will test driver fatigue, with the hope of developing roadside testing technology that could one day test drivers' fatigue levels, alongside drug and alcohol use.

It's not yet known exactly how police officers could test drivers for fatigue, though it could involve measuring the pupils of the eyes.

The trials are part of a $850,000 investment in studying driver fatigue, its detection and prevention.
A 21-year-old man who used social media to threaten and manipulate teenage girls then sexually assault them has been jailed for more than five years.

Rhian Lee Ryan repeatedly raped and assaulted a 14-year-old girl at a time unknown between December 2014 and January 2015 after contacting her via Facebook and Snapchat.

Rhian Ryan was sentenced on Friday. Credit:Facebook

He called her a slut and a tramp, and threatened to have people beat her up in public if she didn't send nude photos, which he captured via screenshots. He then said he'd send them to her family and post on public forums if she didn't meet him.

When she came to his house, he attacked the terrified girl, punching her in the ribs and biting her hand so hard he left a scar.
Police have seized more than 30kg of methylamphetamine and almost 5kg of MDMA from homes in Perth suburbs.

Search warrants recently executed at residences in Morley Drive in Dianella, Morley Drive East in Morley and Orlestone Street in Gosnells uncovered an alleged 32.5kg of methylamphetamine and more than 4.9kg of MDMA.

The drugs were seized during a joint police operation.

Cash and other items of interest to the investigation were seized from the Gosnells residence.

On Thursday a 30-year-old man from Gosnells and a 41-year-old man from Morley were arrested. Both men have been charged with two counts of possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply.
Social media is a support engine for the seven deadly sins. Lust. Gluttony. Anger. Envy. All of them verified, fortified and amplified. Throw in Sloth, Avarice and Pride. Sites like Facebook and Instagram discover our weaknesses and then, through their algorithms, exploit them for corporate gain.

The sites have an upside; of course they do. But, increasingly, we're aware of their dark side  a dark side that's been left free to flourish by companies that consistently put profit before care.

The motor car supplied endless freedom and fun. But without seatbelts and other limits brought death and destruction.

Social media is implicated in every stage of the Christchurch massacre: from the poisoning of the alleged murderer's mind to his live-streaming of the resulting crime in his attempt to poison the minds of others. Same story: Islamic State, Australian white supremacists, al-Qaeda, European neo-Nazis.

I purposefully mix them together since all are cut from the same cloth. All have used the same engine to prosper  employing the echo-chamber of social media to promote hate-filled speech and turn it into hate-filled violence.
Whoever won the funny lines contest, the conclusion we can draw from this call is the same.

Bishop has said that after listening to an angry Abbott tirade she replied, "So I take it I can't count on your vote?"

What was said next varies according to which side of the conversation is telling the tale. Abbott has told colleagues that he said, "Why would I vote for Malcolm in a skirt?" And then abruptly hung up.

Julie Bishop and Tony Abbott during a division in the House of Representatives in December 2018. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

It was as far as she got. Abbott cut her off. "What about you do me the courtesy of being a loyal deputy?" He was still fuming about the collapse of his own prime ministership three years earlier. He blamed Bishop for colluding against him.

Hi Tony, it's Julie Bishop," began the call. Long silence. Malcolm Turnbull's prime ministership was collapsing. Bishop had decided to run for the leadership. She was making every call herself, even the difficult ones, to ask for support. No intermediaries, no numbers men.

Indeed, Cormann would become a decisive force for its next, fatal turn, and Turnbull's most bitter disappointment.

Abbott wouldn't accept a diplomatic post; Turnbull wouldn't give him a cabinet one. It would take some sort of intervention to find a solution. But Cormann had tried several times already and his energy for the task was exhausted. The Liberals were fated to complete the cycle.

Greiner asked senior ministers to get involved, too. For instance, during an overseas trip with Mathias Cormann in June 2017 he said to the Finance Minister: "You have to find a way to shut Tony up. It doesn't matter whether it's ambassador to Kazakhstan, put him in cabinet, whatever. It has to stop."

"Malcolm declined to engage on the issue," he has told colleagues "He thought he'd win on his merits. And Tony didn't really want to try for a resolution either. Both put themselves ahead of the party."

The Liberal party national president, Nick Greiner, made a concerted effort to break the cycle. But the former NSW premier discovered that there was a distinct lack of real interest in pursuing reconciliation.

It was August 2018, but the anger of the coup against Abbott in September 2015 was still live and raw. And that coup was partly a consequence of Abbott's coup against Turnbull in 2009. Like the Labor party before it, the Liberals found themselves in a long and demented cycle of vengeance.

Turnbull has since said that Cormann didn't contest his characterisation of the insurgents as "terrorists".

But the account given by others in the room is starkly different. "We are past all that," Cormann said, in the recounting of others who were there. "You can't describe 35 members of the party room as terrorists."

The reply from Cormann? Turnbull has told his allies and confidantes that Cormann said, "We have to give in to the terrorists." Turnbull says that he has a note of the remark.

Cormann, the Leader of the Government in the Senate and the man he regarded as his most constant confidante and counsellor, had come to give Turnbull the hard news. Together with two other Liberal senators, Jobs Minister Michaelia Cash and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, he told Turnbull on Wednesday, the day after the initial spill, that his leadership was irretrievable. Turnbull had won the spill against Dutton by 48 votes to 35.

In the parliamentary corridors outside the prime minister's suite, the conservatives who had barely tolerated Turnbull for three years were going office to office gathering the ammunition, the signatures on a petition, to end his leadership. "You can't give in to terrorists."

"Mathias, these people are terrorists," the then prime minister told Cormann over and over as he pleaded for his job in the final 48 hours of his prime ministership.

The others talked him around, in the Cormann side's version of the meeting, "telling Turnbull that there was no need to get the Governor-General on the phone." They assured him they were trying to find a resolution to the situation.

In the Cormann side's account, the prime minister performed a dramatic flourish  he produced his phone and said he was going to call the Governor-General. "Peter Cosgrove knows he can't swear him in because he has a Section 44 issue," said Turnbull, in the accounts given by people in the room. "I'll get Peter on the phone now and he will tell you himself." Even if the party voted Dutton in, the Governor-General wouldn't be able to swear him in. In the Turnbull telling, this didn't occur.

"You can't install Dutton," said Turnbull. Dutton's wife's childcare business received a federal government subsidy, and Dutton was a director of her company. MPs and senators can be ineligible if they are in any business relationship with the Commonwealth.

The prime minister raised the constitutional question mark over Peter Dutton. He even invoked the prospect that the Governor-General would not swear in Dutton even if the party elected him leader, all sides to the conversation agree.

Cormann conveyed that, since the first spill, cabinet ministers who'd voted for Turnbull had come to him to say that the prime minister was too badly damaged. "In my judgement you have lost the majority."

Turnbull's prime ministership ended as it began  on the conservatives' terms. It was not the angrily obvious Abbott who moved to strike the fatal blow but the quietly determined Dutton.

It was the inevitable conclusion to the Faustian bargain Turnbull had made to win the prize. He had sold his soul for his supernatural powers and, just as an evil angel foretold to Dr Faustus in Marlowe's play, when his time was up he would "tumble in confusion".

Turnbull told colleagues that he was thinking of calling an early election, perhaps the Friday of that week. Anything might have happened.

But Cormann's view was that the longer the government continued with an injured PM, the worse the situation would get. He wanted certainty for the party, the government and the country. By the end of the week.

Turnbull's anger at Cormann today stems from his view that, as a former Turnbull aide says, "Cormann could have stopped it. All he had to do was to tell Dutton and a couple of others, 'F--- off, I'm with him'," indicating the prime minister.

They were alarmed that Turnbull might bring the head of state into a party leadership contest, potentially turning a leadership crisis into a constitutional one.

He'd decided four months earlier, in April, that he would likely challenge Turnbull by the end of the year. The government, clinging to its majority of one, had been behind in every opinion poll since the last election. Dutton couldn't see how Turnbull could win. And a growing body of opinion in the party agreed with him. The government reeled from one disaster to another.

Turnbull had managed some serious accomplishments. He'd taken a party in despair, and out of cash, and given it hope and energy.

When he took the leadership of the parliamentary party, Tony Nutt replaced Brian Loughnane as the leader of the organisational wing only to discover that the Liberal party was broke.

Astonishingly, for his first months in the job, Nutt was unpaid. The Liberal party could not afford to pay its federal director.

The elevation of Turnbull restored the flow of support, donations and votes.

But as the electorate discovered that Turnbull was there to enact Abbott's agenda on key issues  "Tony Abbott in a nicer suit" as one wit cuttingly put it  the enthusiasm ebbed.

Turnbull contributed $1.75 million of his personal fortune to the party's 2016 election campaign. Today the party is again short of cash as it prepares for a federal election in May.

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And for every success there was a setback. For every Snowy 2.0 triumph there was a bonking ban embarrassment, for every reform to the Marriage Act there was a citizenship crisis, for every piece of deft diplomacy in managing Donald Trump there was a failure in diplomacy managing Tony Abbott.

Turnbull told himself that the government was running well and that the polls were slowly improving. There was everything to be gained by sticking with his leadership.

Dutton couldn't be sure he could win an election, but as the party increasingly lost confidence in Turnbull, the conservatives decided that Turnbull had no political judgement, that the polls would never recover and that they had nothing to lose by changing to Dutton. "At least we'll go down on our own terms," one conservative said.

Dutton played to this sentiment: "I know what I stand for and I won't compromise on that," he told colleagues, "a bit like John Howard".

But the conservatives lapped up Dutton's tough guy rhetoric. The weight of his undersized antique desk, the desk that Dutton thought had once been Howard's, pressed down on his knees, and to him it must have seemed the Howard mantle itself.

By the middle of last year Dutton was not ready to challenge and not entirely committed to do so, and he continued to work closely with Turnbull even as he weighed his decision. But three factors converged to force events to their denouement, to bring on what Scott Morrison would later deride as a "muppet show".

The Longman byelection on July 28 was a threshold moment. It was one of five byelections on so-called Super Saturday. The seat just north of Brisbane was held by Labor's Susan Lamb, forced to resign by the High Court when it ruled that as a British citizen she was ineligible to sit in Parliament. The Liberal National Party ran hard to win the seat. And, for a moment, there was a prospect that it would.

It would have been the first time in a century that a government had won a seat from the opposition at a byelection. Turnbull overplayed his hand, declaring that "the contest is between me and Bill Shorten."

So when Labor reclaimed the seat, the prime minister had no one to blame.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in February 2018. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The LNP's share of the vote in Longman fell by a jolting 10 percentage points. Over two elections it had fallen a sickening 16 percentage points.

If the government went to an election and lost just one-fifth as many votes in its other Queensland seats, it would be wiped out. The Longman result drained hope from the government.

Second, energy policy, once again, created the opportunity for upheaval. Ever since Abbott broke Australia's bipartisan consensus by dumping the Howard policy for an emissions trading scheme, energy and carbon policy have been the killing field in Australian political leadership.

Turnbull and his energy minister Josh Frydenberg did a painstaking job of crafting an energy policy, the National Energy Guarantee, as a fragile compromise between all parts of the Coalition. Turnbull and Frydenberg even managed to have it negotiated through the party room. Eight MPs had spoken against it, but if party discipline had held it very likely would have made it into law.

But, of course, it didn't, and, with some conservatives threatening to cross the floor in the House to oppose it, the policy shattered. Australia remained without an energy policy and was about to lose the prime minister who had tried to give it one.

Turnbull dumped the policy  technically, he announced a "stay" on the policy, just as Kevin Rudd had announced a delay in his climate change policy when his colleagues were coming for him.

"I did that so I couldn't be blamed for bringing the government down over the NEG," Turnbull later explained. "I did everything possible to keep the government together."

But, in truth, the core of disgruntled conservatives was not to be appeased and not to be dissuaded. "There was probably nothing Malcolm could have done to hold the right at bay," one prominent conservative said after the event.

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Third, Turnbull chose the timing. With the conservative movement rallying around Dutton as its champion, Turnbull decided to pre-empt the coming challenge.

The prime minister guessed that Dutton wasn't quite ready, and he was right. He had resolved to strike but was still gathering numbers. He was still some weeks away.

Turnbull took the initiative and brought on a surprise spill motion. This was startling to everyone except his deputy, Bishop, his numbers man, Craig Laundy, and the whips, who'd needed to prepare ballot papers.

It was especially shocking to Cormann. "You should have seen Mathias' face," said another MP. "It was white. He was stunned."

Cormann felt wounded that he'd been excluded from this momentous decision. After working as Turnbull's confidential consigliere, conservative praetorian guard and Senate manager, he felt that he'd earned the right to be consulted. And if he had been? He would have urged Turnbull not to do it.

But once done, it exposed the deep fissure in the government. The conservatives had their blood up, and Morrison's smaller support group was manoeuvring to make sure the damage to Turnbull was irreparable.

After surviving the first spill by 48 to 35, Turnbull tried to see if Dutton could be contained. A remarkably calm and conciliatory Turnbull visited Dutton in his office immediately after the spill and encouraged him to stay in the Cabinet. "You've done an incredible job in the portfolio, let's put this behind us and get on with it."

Dutton has told colleagues that Turnbull also dangled the deputy leader's job in front of him, the job Bishop held at the time. Turnbull has denounced this as a lie.

Dutton declined. It was not viable for him to stay in Turnbull's cabinet, he said. It was the next day, Wednesday, that Cormann threw his weight behind Dutton and Turnbull lost his last conservative bulwark. He was finished.

Once Turnbull came to this conclusion himself on Thursday, all thinking turned to how to thwart Dutton. Turnbull gave Morrison and Bishop absolution to make their own bids for the leadership.

He set up a delaying mechanism to give them time  he said he'd only call another party room meeting if presented with a petition with 43 signatures, a majority of the party members, on it.

He didn't realise that Morrison's supporters had a bid already well under way. Bishop was late to the race, without realising that she'd already lost. She was the party's only popular prospect. But even as she was making her calls, her own faction, the moderates, guided by Christopher Pyne, Simon Birmingham, Marise Payne and Paul Fletcher, decided the imperative was not to elect one of their own but to block Dutton.

"If we make Julie leader, do you think the conservatives will stop throwing rocks?" one of the moderates' leaders said at the time. The tactics of terrorism, and even the anticipated threat of it, were paramount in their thinking.

Outgoing PM Malcolm Turnbull addresses the media after the partyroom meeting for the leadership spill, with his wife Lucy, daughter Daisy and grandchildren Jack and Alice on August 24, 2018. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The moderates decided that the only way to defeat Dutton was to back Morrison, which is what they did. For a man with perhaps a dozen supporters in the party to win a ballot of 45 was, as one of his supporters later boasted, "miraculous".

To Dutton's disappointment he was not to wear Howard's mantle. And he later discovered that his prized desk probably hadn't actually belonged to the former leader.

One of the younger conservatives stalking the corridors seeking signatures to end Turnbull's term was Victorian senator James Paterson. As he took the petition from office to office he passed the moderate MP Julia Banks and gave her a friendly "Hi Julia, how are you?"

Banks replied, "Well you've really f---ed this up".

Paterson: "There's a lot of it going on."

Incoming Prime Minister Scott Morrison and newly elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party Josh Frydenberg on August 24, 2018 Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Two months later, after Turnbull had quit Parliament and brought on the Wentworth byelection that cost the government its majority, Bill Shorten stood up in Parliament and asked Scott Morrison his ritual question, the great mystery of the unexplained Morrison prime ministership: "Why is Malcolm Turnbull gone but you're still here?"

Morrison replied that he would bear responsibility for voter anger: "I'm very, very happy to stand up as leader of the Liberal Party and cop it on the chin."

Morrison will go to the May election leading with his chin.

This is the final part of the Endgame series. Read the rest of the series here.
Former One Nation Senator Brian Burston has made a statement to Australian Federal Police investigating a Parliament House altercation with One Nation staffer James Ashby that led to Mr Ashby's banning from Parliament.

Senator Burston also said he will sue Ms Hanson for defamation after a fiery interview on Friday morning in which she defended Mr Ashby for trying to report "the sexual abuse and harassment that was going on with the female staff" in Senator Burston's office to Senate president Scott Ryan.

Senators Brian Burston and Pauline Hanson in the chamber together. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Senator Burston said he had instructed his lawyer to initiate proceedings after viewing the Friday morning Today show interview and strongly denying the allegations.

"She's said sexual abuse and harassment. I deny the allegations completely, absolutely and utterly," Senator Burston said.
Are they going to believe a priest or are they going to believe you? said Father Pierre Khoury as he stood in the doorway of a parishioners home, shrugging off the bounced cheque he had written in satisfaction of a million-dollar debt.

Rosie Elias, 68, and her husband Peter, 78, claim that Father Pierre, a Catholic Maronite priest at Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Harris Park, has defrauded them of at least $1 million. Their son-in-law Jawad Deeb is also owed a large sum of money. The family claim other parishioners have also been taken advantage of by the priest.

Rosie and Peter Elias claim their priest has stolen property from them in Lebanon after they trusted him to sell it on their behalf. Credit:Janie Barrett

Back in 2014 Mrs Elias, a disability pensioner, was trying to arrange the sale of large block of vacant land in Lebanon which she inherited. Father Pierre, who asked for the title deeds, said he knew of a prospective buyer and offered to help with the sale. He subsequently informed Mrs Elias that he had sold the block for $US1.3 million and that he would give them the money the following week.

But the money never came. Instead, over the next year Father Pierre paid Mrs Elias $300,000 in cash. Sometimes he give me $5,000, sometimes, $20,000 and sometimes $10,000  always in cash and always $100 short, said Mrs Elias, who kept records of the payments.
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Global 7500 business jet sets impressive speed record between New York and London, once again highlighting its unmatched performance

New record set just days after completing the fastest ever business jet flight between Los Angeles and New York

Record demonstrates exceptional capabilities of aircraft by attaining a top speed of Mach 0.925

The unrivaled Global 7500 aircraft is the largest and longest range business jet in the industry

The multiple award-winning Global 7500 aircraft offers Bombardiers signature smooth ride and a spaciousness that is unique among business jets

MONTREAL, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier announced today that the ultra-long-range Global 7500 jet has again proven its unmatched performance capabilities, adding another significant city-pair speed record to its list of remarkable achievements, this time during a transatlantic flight from White Plains, NY to Luton, UK. The record is pending certification by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association.

The award-winning Global 7500 business jet left Westchester County Airport in White Plains, NY at 6:26 a.m. local time on March 27, 2019, and arrived at London Luton Airport at 3:52 p.m. local time. The aircraft completed the transatlantic mission in 5 hours and 26 minutes under seasonal winds, establishing the record and making it the fastest flight for a business jet between these two major financial centres. During the flight, the aircraft reached a top speed of M 0.925, with an average speed of M 0.92, demonstrating exceptional speed, all while providing the smoothest ride.

This recent record showcases the real-world capabilities of this impressive aircraft and demonstrates once again why the unrivaled Global 7500 aircraft is the undisputed leader in our industry, said David Coleal, President, Bombardier Business Aircraft, Our award-winning, best-in-class Global 7500 aircraft is redefining private aviation and elevating the overall in-flight experience through its speed, range and its exceptional cabin comfort.

Since its entry-into-service, the Global 7500 jet has emphatically proven itself to be the highest-performing aircraft in the industry. With unmatched capabilities, the Global 7500 aircraft is on a record-setting streak. Earlier this month, it completed the longest flight in business aviation with an 8,152-nautical-mile mission between Singapore and Tucson, landing with 4,300 lbs of fuel reserves, representing nearly 1.5 hours of additional flight. This week, it also set a record-breaking speed flight from Los Angeles to New York in 3 hours and 54 minutes, sustaining a speed of Mach 0.925 for more than two hours. The Global 7500 aircraft continues to set the bar for unprecedented excellence and performance in the world of business aviation.

Through visionary design and superior performance, the Global 7500 aircraft redefines the business aircraft experience. With four distinct living spaces plus a dedicated crew rest area, it is unique among business jets in spaciousness, comfort and highly personalized design flexibility.

About Bombardier

With over 68,000 employees across four business segments, Bombardier is a global leader in the transportation industry, creating innovative and game-changing planes and trains. Our products and services provide world-class transportation experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety.

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier has production and engineering sites in 28 countries across the segments of Transportation, Business Aircraft, Commercial Aircraft and Aerostructures and Engineering Services. Bombardier shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Bombardier posted revenues of $16.2 billion. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier .

Notes to Editors

Visit the Bombardier Business Aircraft website for more information on our industry-leading products and services.

Follow @Bombardierjets on Twitter to receive the latest news and updates from Bombardier Business Aircraft.

To receive our press releases, please visit the RSS Feed section.

Bombardier and Global 7500 are registered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.
The former boss of Brisbane's outgoing lord mayor has paid tribute to the "tremendous contribution" Graham Quirk made to the city.

On Friday morning, Cr Quirk announced he would step down from the job on April 7, eight years to the day since he took on the role.

Lord mayor Graham Quirk and Campbell Newman celebrate after Cr Quirk won the election in 2012. Credit:Harrison Saragossi

Former premier and Brisbane lord mayor Campbell Newman said Cr Quirk was great to work with in City Hall.

"I may have put forward the big tunnel projects and bridges but I can tell you now that Graham Quirk was the guy behind the scenes who did a lot of heavy lifting to make these projects happen," he said.
That pledge had to be made to counteract a persistent whispering campaign that, after what was then 31 years in City Hall  five of which as lord mayor  retirement surely loomed. And as recently as last May, Quirk maintained he would seek re-election in 2020, as the whispering continued around City Hall. So why wait until now? Again, the answer is politics. Simply put, its to avoid a mayoral byelection. This is a quirk (if youll pardon the pun) of the local government electoral system, in which councillors can be appointed, rather than elected, within 12 months of a scheduled general election in the event of a sitting councillor resigning or otherwise leaving office. It is by this means Walter Taylor ward councillor Julian Simmonds will be replaced by an LNP appointee when he steps down to make a tilt for the federal seat of Ryan.

In Brisbane, the lord mayoralty can similarly be filled from the ranks of councillors in the chamber. That means Quirks deputy, Chandler ward councillor Adrian Schrinner, can be installed without facing the voters of Brisbane. Importantly for the LNP, Quirks decision to stand down will give his successor incumbency  the greatest of political assets  going into next Marchs election. (It should be noted Schrinners instalment is no fait accompli  that other ambitious councillors might throw their hats in the ring should come as no surprise.) Its a cynical move, but a well-worn one.

Quirk himself was appointed lord mayor in 2011 after Newman left the office to lead the state LNP and, eventually, become a one-term premier. Labors Tim Quinn was not so fortunate. He was installed as lord mayor in May 2003, following the resignation of popular lord mayor Jim Soorley. Quinn went on to lose the lord mayoralty to the young upstart, Can Do Newman. Another major factor in Quirks decision is a lot more personal.

To his credit, Quirks family has largely been kept out of the public spotlight. But it is widely known the long hours in City Hall hung heavily on his shoulders, as it meant spending valuable time away from his special-needs daughter. So, what is Quirks legacy? Like all leaders, it could take some time for that question to be fully answered. Theres his signature project, the Brisbane Metro, a new bus network that, while certainly worthwhile, does not live up to its metro moniker when compared with examples overseas. His economic policies have reaped benefits and his push to host the Olympics  with its related transport infrastructure  could be an absolute game-changer for the city. And hes been a steady hand, liked (on a personal level, at least) by most who deal with him, even those from across the aisle.
The shocking footage live-streamed from the Christchurch mosque attack has convinced the federal government to take action against the social media companies that spread it around the world.

It is the right move and the legislation which the government has just proposed puts Australia at the cutting edge of the global debate about where to draw the line of responsibility for social media. Before going too far, the government should ensure that any measures are proportionate and technically feasible.

Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern hug following Friday's service for those killed in Christchurch. Credit:AAP

Under the bill to be introduced in the budget session of parliament, the directors of social media companies which are found to have spread "abhorrent, violent material" and which fail to take it down expeditiously could face personal liability and up to three years in jail. It is possible even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg could face jail.

The companies themselves would face fines of up to 10 per cent of global revenue. To get some idea of the potential sums at stake, do the maths: Facebook has global revenue of $55 billion and Google $136 billion. This is strong medicine.
Armed forces aboard the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblue 1, which was hijacked by migrants. Credit:AP

ROME: Five migrants who allegedly led the hijacking of a tanker in the Mediterranean to avoid being returned to Libya were arrested in Malta on Thursday after special forces stormed the vessel to take back control.

The five men, some of whom were led off the merchant vessel in plastic handcuffs, were among 108 asylum seekers who were rescued by the El Hiblu 1 tanker north of Libya on Tuesday.

The tanker was ordered by Libyan authorities to take the migrants to Tripoli, but they allegedly subjected the 12-man crew to physical threats and forced the vessel to sail north instead, towards Europe.
Rhode Island is one of the few places where people can still be punished with "civil death", and civil rights advocates want the century-old practice to stop.

Inmates serving life in prison are deemed dead, by Rhode Island statute, with respect to property rights, the bond of matrimony and other civil rights, as if their natural death took place when they were convicted.

Cody-Allen Zab, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2008, is considered "dead" under Rhode Island state law. His bid to change his marriage record was rejected this week. Credit:AP

Most civil death laws in the United States have been repealed or successfully challenged in court. Most other countries never adopted the practice.

The Harvard Law Review called civil death "outworn as a mode of punishment" all the way back in 1937. Yet Rhode Island's statute, enacted in 1909, is still enforced. The state Supreme Court said on Tuesday that inmate Cody-Allen Zab couldn't litigate an issue with his marriage record because he's civilly dead. The court also questioned how he got married in the first place.
"We said any place is fine as long as we get off Nauru." The reality, they have found, has been much more difficult than expected. The Valley of Opportunity El Cajon describes itself as the Valley of Opportunity. The city has long attracted people seeking to create a new life. At first transplants from the eastern states came to farm the land, pan for gold or work on the railroad. In recent decades, the area has become a magnet for Chaldean Catholics fleeing persecution in Iraq.

"As I understand it, the largest concentration of Iraqi Christians in the world is in Baghdad, the second is Detroit and the third is here in El Cajon," Bill Wells, the city's mayor, says. El Cajon, a short drive from San Diego, has also attracted significant numbers of migrants from other Middle Eastern countries, including Syria. Omar, who is from Lebanon and part-owner of Joe's Hair Cut in El Cajon, cuts a customer's hair. Credit:Ariana Drehsler The Prabhakars were among another wave of migrants  those sent from Nauru. According to the International Rescue Committee, 26 refugees from Nauru have been resettled in the El Cajon area. Twenty-five are Sri Lankan Tamils and one is from Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age spent a week in El Cajon with one of the resettled families. It was almost a year to the day since their plane from Nauru touched down in America. And it was, they had hoped, the end of a long journey. The people smugglers told us, You will have a good life, Australia will take care of you'," says 23-year old Niwali. Artists Barber Shop in El Cajon, California. Credit:Ariana Drehsler We had no idea about Nauru or Papua New Guinea. If we had known we would be sent there, we would never have come." The Prabhakars were found to be refugees and were told they had been accepted for resettlement in the US.

In (another) strange land Given many Sri Lankan expats live in New Jersey and New York, either of these cities would have seemed obvious locations to send them. Instead they were flown to El Cajon, which has a long-running refugee resettlement program but no Sri Lankan or Tamil communities. "There are not many Sri Lankans here that I have heard about, Wells says. A lot of the refugees are very unprepared for life here. Very few have come and really landed on their feet. Fleur Wood, co-founder of Ads-Up When they arrived in El Cajon, the Prabhakars found it a disorienting experience. A year later, they still do.

Almost all the neighbours in their apartment complex are Arabic-speaking refugees. The refugee resettlement services are geared towards immigrants from the Middle East. None of the support staff spoke Tamil. Interns and teachers play music in their down time at the International Rescue Committee in El Cajon. Credit:Ariana Drehsler Niwali has excellent English. But when she went looking for jobs in El Cajon, she found that wasn't enough: many employers also wanted their staff to speak Arabic. "I almost never see an American here," Niwali says. "Arabic speakers will live a good life here. But for people with a different language its hard. "I think we would have done much better with our community."

Niwali's 18-year-old brother Mathavan has struggled socially. He's fit and healthy but seems drained of energy. I dont go out a lot, he says. I dont have any friends. I go to work, I go to school. Thats it. Their experience is not unique, says Fleur Wood, the co-founder of Ads-Up, a group of Australian expats who help refugees from Manus Island and Nauru to resettle in the US. She says many of the refugees have arrived in the US full of optimism. But they soon find life in America is more challenging than they had imagined. "A lot of the refugees are very unprepared for life here," she says. "Very few have come and really landed on their feet.

"Weve had refugees end up in small towns where they are the only refugee from Manus or Nauru and there isnt anyone else from their home country. That can be very isolating and difficult for them." Donna Duvin, who heads the International Rescue Committee in the San Diego area, says: "It is challenging enough when you have an established population from your country in the place you are now calling home. It becomes more challenging when there isnt that established group." Last year the president of Nauru said 40 refugees who had resettled in the US had asked to return to the island country. Wood says a small number of refugees have expressed an interest in returning to Nauru, most because they want to be reunited with romantic partners or family still living there. Starting off in debt After arriving in El Cajon, the members of the Prabhakar family were each given one-off payments of $US1200 ($1700). These mostly went towards rent and furnishing their small apartment. They also receive government food stamps which allow them to buy groceries for free.

But life is tough financially. Refugees from Nauru and Manus are required to pay back the cost of their plane tickets to the US. This means many families start their life in America deeply in debt. The Prabhakar family has to pay back a total of $US12,265 ($17,310). A Refugees Welcome banner hangs at the International Rescue Committee. Credit:Ariana Drehsler Both of Niwali's parents speak little English and have serious health problems. Her father, who worked as a fisherman in Sri Lanka, suffers from polio which makes it difficult for him to stand up for long. Her mother has an iron deficiency. During the Herald and Age's visit, she passed out while using the bathroom during the night and had to be taken to hospital.

Neither of Niwali's parents work, which increases the pressure on her and her brother to provide for the family. Niwali studied information technology in India and worked as a paralegal in Nauru. She hoped to find an office job in El Cajon but was instead given a job making sandwiches at Subway. While working there she also studied to become a medical assistant. "The American system of resettlement is all about making refugees self-sufficient and we try to achieve that within nine months," Duvin says. "Its really intense when you think about it." Minimum wage During the Herald and Ages visit, Niwali started a job as a medical assistant at a doctors clinic in El Cajon. She had recently completed an internship there and liked her boss.

But within a few days she had quit. On her first day she found out she would be paid just $US11 an hour - the minimum wage in California for firms with under 25 employees. It was less than the $US13 she gets paid at Subway, and not enough to cover the family's living costs. She has also registered as an Uber driver to help bring in more money when she has free time. Children pass by Alazayem Restaurant in El Cajon. Credit:Ariana Drehsler "Its common for people to find their qualifications are meaningless here and that can be really hard for them," Wood says. You have people with degrees in engineering or nursing working in a factory for $US8.20 an hour. It is hard to survive on that.

"We have had families who have not been able to afford winter clothes for their children. "We have had three refugee men living in a house with only one mattress." Ads-Up recently held a fundraising drive to help refugee families in the US repay their flight debts. In April the organisation will also hold a gala in New York to raise money for an education fund for refugees. Actresses Naomi Watts and Rose Byrne will be among those attending. The Prabhakars have applied for their green cards, which will put them on the path to become US citizens within five years. Niwali's 54-year-old mother is excited by the idea of voting in an election for the first time in her life.
The British frigate HMS Antelope explodes in San Carlos Bay in the Falklands War. Credit:AP/Martin Cleaver We call on Argentina to immediately cease hostilities and withdraw its military forces from the Falkland Islands, the spokesman said. The Argentinian junta, in a communique broadcast by radio, said Argentina would guarantee the lives, property and rights of 1800 English-speaking inhabitants of the islands. But any act of resistance to Argentine rule would be punished in accordance with the law, the communique said. It said the islands had been restored to the national patrimony by force of arms after all diplomatic efforts had failed to achieve this end.

Vanguard A vanguard force had been sent ashore to capture key objectives, the agency said. Argentinian police last night surrounded British diplomatic missions and commercial ventures amid persistent rumours of an imminent invasion. The Victor, used in the Falklands War. Credit:Alamy An Argentinian news agency claimed that the British Governor, Mr Rex Hunt, had asked for special talks with the Argentinian forces.

Speaking on the local radio station, he urged British soldiers to gather at the Government headquarters, the agency said. Mr Hunt called for calm and urged people not to commit any acts of provocation, the agency said. In Brussels, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation council held a special session today at Britains request to hear a report on the crisis. The council, consisting of the ambassadors of the 15 NATO nations, expressed deep concern at the dispute between a member of the alliance and a State with which we all have friendly relations. The council reiterated a call made to both sides by the President of the United Nations Security Council yesterday to refrain from the use or threat of force and to continue to search for a diplomatic solution, the NATO statement said.

Margaret Thatcher in 1982. Credit:Peter Morris Although the Falkland Islands lie outside the geographical area of the NATO treaty, whose southern limit is the Tropic of Cancer, it is common practice for NATO members to inform each other of events concerning them throughout the world. The British navys latest carrier, the 19,500-tonne Invincible, is expected to head a task group of six or seven ships sailing within the next few days for the South Atlantic. The task group was to have left Britain for the Indian Ocean in September but its departure is apparently being brought forward because of the dispute. The Invincible has a squadron of five Sea Harrier fighters and nine Sea King anti-submarine helicopters. Prince Andrew is one of the Sea King pilots.

Telephone and telefax communication between the Falklands, administered by Britain since 1833, and the Argentinian mainland is possible for only three hours a day, during the afternoon. Appropriate After an emergency meeting of British Cabinet this morning the Government pledged itself to appropriate military and diplomatic measures in the face of the Argentinian threat, although no details of what military steps to be taken have been released. The Deputy Foreign Secretary, Sir Humphrey Atkins, told a tense House of Commons that Britain would ensure it sustained its rights to the islands under international law and the United Nations charter. As MPs assembled in the Commons this morning, there were rumours that the attack had already taken place.

Sir Humphrey said Britain still hoped the crisis could be resolved through political and diplomatic channels. Loading We continue to hope that the Argentine Government, even at this late stage, will consider its objection to the diplomatic channel as a means of settling differences between our two countries. Sir Humphrey criticised Argentina for failing to associate itself with the UN recommendation which called on Britain and Argentina to restrain from the threat or use of force in the situation and added that Britain had had no response from the Argentinian President to its many appeals for him to draw back from the use of force. The Falklands were discovered by British seamen in the 16th century, initially opened up by the French and bought by Spain in the 18th, and then occupied and settled by Britain in the 19th.

President Galtieri came to power in Argentina last December when President Viola was removed by the Right-wing military junta. He is the third military man to hold the post since the army ousted President Isabel Peron in 1976. Loading Things are not running smoothly for the junta at home. Yesterday thousands of steel-helmeted riot police clashed with Peronist demonstrators demanding peace, bread and work in Buenos Aires. The action was described as the worst street disturbances since the 1976 coup. The Argentinian fleet is sailing with the countrys only aircraft carrier, a 37-year-old vessel of 19,896 tonnes which was built in Britain. Military experts estimate the Argentinian army strength at 65,000 and say it is one of the best-armed and trained in South America.
Caracas: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Friday that it is poised to deliver aid to Venezuela, warning that it will not accept any interference from President Nicolas Maduro or opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Workers unload medical supplies from a Chinese plane at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, near Caracas, Venezuela. Credit:AP

Federation president Francesco Rocca said at a news conference in the capital of Caracas that the humanitarian network can start distributing assistance to an estimated 650,000 people in the South American country in around 15 days.

The Red Cross "can never accept interference from other actors," Rocca added, saying that Venezuela was a deeply polarised country and it was vital that no one take advantage of the aid.

On Twitter, however, Guaido almost immediately claimed credit for the effort, saying the announcement amounted to a victory for "our struggle."
PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Nature Foundation is seeking assistance from the local business community, tour operators, hotels and trade organizations to promote the environmental organizations donation page.



The Nature Foundation would like to create more awareness about its projects and environmental efforts by informing visitors to the island who in turn may want to contribute towards the conservation efforts of the local body.



Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson is calling the aforementioned entities to assist the Nature Foundation in reaching its conservation goals.



The Nature Foundation page for donations is: sintmaarten.reefsupport.org



The funds generated through donations goes directly towards the management and maintenance of the marine protected area and projects such as reducing single-use plastics.



The Nature Foundation plays a very important role in our community with the aim to preserve and enhance the natural environment of the country for generations to come.



They are very active in organizing a number of activities annually including educational awareness activities within schools and throughout the community along with research and monitoring projects.



The Nature Foundation also manages the countrys marine resources such as the Man of War Shoal National Marine Park, the only designated nature park area.



The marine resources of the country where diving is prevalent is a sector that is valued around US$50 million annually to the Gross Domestic Product of the country.



The business community and visitors giving back to such an organization is one way of assisting the good work that is being done by the Nature Foundation and this source of funding would be a sustainable way for the foundation to continue and expand its conservation activities, Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson said on Thursday.



This opportunity will be beneficial for our beautiful island as our main focus is to preserve and enhance nature while in the process strengthening the economic and educational value and potential of our natural resources.



The Nature Foundation can be contacted by email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , in case you are interested in exposing the donation page or if you have any more questions.
PHILIPSBURG:--- CIBC FirstCaribbean organized it's First in Business Seminar where 80 businesses took part.



Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson commends CIBC FirstCaribbean for its First in Business seminar initiative and looks forward to additional seminars in the future for the countrys business sector.



CIBC FirstCaribbean pointed out in a statement that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector is one of the primary drivers of economic growth and employment in a country.



The majority of Sint Maarten businesses comprises of approximately 85 per cent MSMEs.



CIBC FirstCaribbean said that the reason for hosting the forum is the necessity to provide important information that can assist in facilitating an improvement in the performance and management of a business.



MSMEs are generally acknowledged to make a meaningful contribution to the economic development of our country through performance in growth, income, employment generation, and innovation.



They are the foundation of the economy of our country, a key engine of growth, and must be on the ball where innovation and service are concerned as we are a service-based tourist economy.



Local business organizations have to upgrade, enhance productivity where necessary, innovate and transform in order to continue to grow based on capacities and capabilities.



The First in Business seminar can help local businesses deepen their capabilities and develop their innovative capacities improving quality and becoming a business of excellence, Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson said on Thursday.



The First in Business seminar provided business attendees with the opportunity to network and gain expertise in Law, Finance, Insurance and Accounting.



MSMEs have the potential to make a long-lasting positive impact on global development needs, as the engine for economic growth and job creation, which is estimated to account for two out of three net new jobs created worldwide.
EDMONTON, Alberta, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- F12.net has become one of the first organizations in Canada awarded the new Cyber Essentials Plus certification. In addition, F12s programs help other businesses and charities achieve certification.



Cyber Essentials Canada Certification

Cyber Essentials Canada is the only government-backed, government-owned, cybersecurity certification that is available in Canada. The Cyber Essentials Canada program, modelled after Cyber Essentials from the UK, is a cost-effective annual certification for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Cyber risk is a vital concern for businesses and charities. Customers, investors, insurers, and regulators are looking for assurance that necessary systems are in place to protect their interests, including their personal information. The Cyber Essentials Canada certification framework is built upon 5 Key Controls deemed essential in mitigating over 80% of common internet threats. The five essential controls are:

Boundaries Firewalls & Internet Gateways

Access Control

Malware

Patch Management

Secure Configuration

Cyber Essentials Canada aligns organizations to:

100% of the UKs Cyber Essentials

43% of the United States NIST 800-171

Due diligence under EUs GDPR

PIPEDA Requirements

As of November 1, 2018, organizations subject to The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) are required to:

Report to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada breaches of security safeguards involving personal information that pose a real risk of significant harm to individuals

Notify affected individuals about those breaches, and

Keep records of all breaches.

F12.net as a Path to Cyber Essentials Canada Certification

The F12 Plus , F12 Select , and F12 Secure programs include the systems needed for organizations to achieve Cyber Essentials Canada certification. F12 has developed a short, fixed-cost engagement to help clients on these programs form the internal policies and complete the application for Cyber Essentials certification.

About Cyber Essentials Canada

Cyber Essentials Canada is operated by a government agency, dedicated to securing Canada's digital economy. More information about the Cyber Essentials Canada program can be found at https://cyberessentialscanada.ca

About F12.net

F12.net is a leading provider of comprehensive IT programs designed to minimize conversations about networks and computers and maximize focus on business objectives. F12s suite of IT solutions improves productivity, reduces risk, and rationalizes IT expenses.

More information about F12s solutions can be found on the company website: https://f12.net/solutions

For more information about F12.net contact:
Fission 3 Regains Sole Ownership of Patterson Lake North

Posted by Publisher Internet

Fission 3.0 Corp. (?Fission 3? or the ?Company?  https://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298932 ) announces that it has increased its interest in Patterson Lake North property (the ?Property?).? Pursuant to a property option and joint venture agreement dated April 29, 2013 (the ?Option and JV Agreement?) between Fission Uranium Corp. and Azincourt Energy Corp. (?Azincourt?), which was later acquired by Fission 3, Azincourt earned an initial 10% interest in the Property. On December 18, 2018, Fission 3, as operator of the Property, sent Azincourt the approved exploration/development program and budget, which required Azincourt to elect whether to fund its share of the program (the ?Cash Call?).? Azincourt did not respond to the Cash Call within the time allotted under the Option and JV Agreement and is thereby deemed to have elected not to participate in the Cash Call.? As a result, Azincourt?s interest in the Property and joint venture is terminated and Fission 3 now owns a 100% interest in the Property.? The Company has sent Azincourt a notice confirming the above.

About Patterson Lake North (PLN)

PLN is in the south-west area of Saskatchewan?s Athabasca Basin, immediately adjacent and to the north of Fission Uranium?s PLS project, which hosts the high-grade Triple R uranium deposit. With its proximity to large-scale, high-grade uranium deposits, and with multiple geological and geophysical interpreted features, including an extensive drill-identified mineralized corridor, PLN ranks highly in Fission 3?s extensive portfolio.

About Fission 3.0 Corp.

Fission 3.0 Corp. is a Canadian based resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of uranium properties and is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol \FUU.\

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD????????????????????????????????

\Dev Randhawa\?

Investor Relations

TF: 778-484-8030

ir@fission3corp.com

www.fission3corp.com

Dev Randhawa, Chairman & CEO?Fission 3.0 Corp.

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement: Fission 3.0 Corp.

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes \forward-looking information\, within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as ?has,? ?now?, ?shall?, \plans\, \expects\ or \does not expect\, \is expected\, \budget\, \scheduled\, \estimates\, \forecasts\, \intends\, \anticipates\ or \does not anticipate\, or \believes\, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results \may\, \could\, \would\, \might\ or \will be taken\, \occur\, \be achieved\ or \has the potential to\. Forward looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of Fission 3.0 Corp. which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Among those factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: market conditions and other risk factors listed from time to time in our reports filed with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. ?The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and Fission 3.0 Corp. disclaim 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 expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

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 of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the ?1933 Act?) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration is available.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES?OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES
29 March 2019



ETAIREIA INVESTMENTS PLC

("Etaireia" or "the Company")

Directorate Changes and Correction

The Board of Etaireia Plc is delighted to announce the appointment of David Barnett to the Board, with immediate effect.

David Barnett (age 68, Director)

David Barnett is an experienced sales executive. David will join the company

as executive Chairman. He brings over 40 years of business experience to

the Company.

David Barnett current and past (five years) directorships are as follows:

Current directorships Past directorships (five years)



Globe Capital Ltd Barnett Fashion Agency Limited Ecovista Plc Pendleton & Cross Limited David Barnett Consultancy Limited Stingray Leather Goods UK Limited

Since David Barnett is being appointed the proposed EGM referred to in the previous announcement will now not take place.

Ian Fallmann has been reinstated as a director of the Company.

The company also announces that Dennis Rogers and Myles Cunliffe are stepping down from their role as a Directors with effect immediately, to pursue commitments outside of the Company.

The Board would like to wish them all the best with their future ventures.

Correction to previous announcement: on March 14th it was announced that two commercial properties in Peterlee have been sold and removed from the balance sheet. This is not the case. The company is still actively working with the mortgagee to resolve the financing of the properties.

Alexander David will also be resigning as the companys Corporate Advisor and the company is in talks to appoint a new Advisor as soon as possible.

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for this announcement.

ENDS

Enquiries:

Etaireia Investments Plc

Tel: 07836285536

David Barnett

NEX EXCHANGE CORPORATE ADVISER:

Alexander David Securities Limited

David Scott Corporate Finance

James Dewhurst  Corporate Broking

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7448 9820

http://www.ad-securities.com

49 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4N 4SA
4 smart ways to use security to power the business of the future

In the new era of work, our relationship with the workplace is defined by flexibility and mobility. Employees are working across the home, office, and blended spaces more than ever before, as well as working varied hours to suit the modern work schedule. This new hybrid workforce model holds the potential for more diverse talent and better productivity, but it also comes with its challenges  one being how to ensure security, health, and safety in the workplace. Strong and smart security ecosystem While nearly one-third of companies report that theyve implemented a hybrid model, according to a recent survey by STANLEY Security, many still have much to do to prepare their office for the future. Building a strong  and smart  security ecosystem is crucial in preparing for the future. As such, businesses should consider technologies that help protect their people, as well as safeguard their assets, optimise their operations, and secure their network. 1)Protect your people Implementation of a security ecosystem combines health, safety, and security hardware and software solutions seamlessly Nearly 60% of mid-market and enterprise businesses across the UK and US report that the health and safety of their employees and customers are a primary concern when implementing modern and hybrid working models. This begs the question: How can businesses create a safe and healthy work environment when 59% are planning to bring employees back on-site in some capacity within the next 18 months? The answer lies, in part, in the implementation of a security ecosystem that combines various health, safety, and security hardware and software solutions seamlessly. Integrating platform Nearly half (46%) of business decision-makers say they are interested in adopting an integrated platform such as this. This means integrating traditional and digital security solutions, then leveraging the data and insights they produce to further enhance the workplace experience. Take this example: With employees and visitors moving in and out of the office at different times, a business may lack oversight of occupancy or density levels, people flow, workspace scheduling, visitor check-in processes, and more. However, with visitor management, access control, and other building/business systems integrated, employees can reserve a workspace for a specific date and time and be granted access to the building. Leveraging AI and machine learning Visitors can pre-register, answer a health screening questionnaire, and receive a mobile credential before arriving. Once the visitor arrives on-site, the system can alert the respective department  all without the close contact typically required for traditional visitor check-in processes. When layering artificial intelligence and machine learning on top of the data, a business may identify trends in people flow and opportunities to optimise congested areas. They may also see that certain rooms within the building get more use than others and leverage these insights to manage their space more effectively. All of this is powered by a security ecosystem that can help a business better protect its people while realising other benefits in the process. 2) Safeguard your assets Businesses are concerned about the security of their assets when it comes to the hybrid workforce model Even more, businesses are concerned about the security of their assets when it comes to the hybrid workforce model. About 72% of leaders say this is, in fact, their primary concern with the hybrid approach. This figure isnt surprising when you consider the impact of the pandemic, which left many businesses closed either temporarily or permanently, with few people allowed on-site to manage facility operations. As a result of the pandemic, we saw tech adoption accelerate at an astonishing rate  simply because businesses had to implement cloud and remote technologies to survive during a time when buildings were closed indefinitely. Remote management and visibility This was particularly true for security solutions, such as cloud video surveillance and cloud access control solutions like wireless IoT-connected locks. Nine out of 10 businesses (91%) report that they have already implemented cloud security technology; of those, nearly half (48%) stated that this was due to the pandemic. These technologies allow for remote management and provide visibility into business operations at the same time. In a retail setting, for example, cloud video surveillance allows businesses to identify and track not only criminal activity, but also foot traffic patterns, peak operating hours, staff shortages, and more. Loss prevention strategy When integrated with the retailers point-of-sale (POS) system, businesses can gain greater insights into their traffic counts, end cap effectiveness, loyalty card activity, and a variety of POS exceptions, such as high-dollar transactions, repeated transactions, excessive returns, employee discounts, and more. For retailers especially, a security ecosystem means a more efficient loss prevention strategy that helps safeguard assets and profits. 3) Optimise your operations The future of work is still very much a work in progress, but one thing is clear: Businesses are looking for ways to increase efficiencies, drive cost savings, and, ultimately, optimise their operations  especially now with the challenges posed by price inflation. A relatively untapped opportunity for businesses to achieve these goals lies within their security infrastructure. Security technology and solutions gather incredibly rich data which, when unlocked, can help businesses understand how their buildings are being used, when the busiest times are, where there are highly trafficked areas, and more. Leveraging cloud video surveillance systems, businesses could identify emerging staff training needs Cloud video surveillance systems For example, by leveraging the insights produced by cloud video surveillance systems, businesses could identify emerging staff training needs, which could ultimately result in improved employee satisfaction and reduced attrition. However, much of this data sits untouched within the infrastructure, leaving businesses unaware of the opportunities in front of them. 44% of businesses that currently use a cloud security system for its primary use say they want to know how else this technology can be utilised, and an additional 20% arent even aware that it could be used in other ways. AI and analytics The interest in adoption is promising for the office of the future, especially when we see that the majority of businesses (78%) would consider using AI and analytics technologies to optimise their operations, helping their business to operate more effectively and efficiently. The increase in adoption of cloud technology  paired with the rise in interest in AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics  could make it possible for businesses to uncover invaluable insights from their security infrastructure and leverage them to adapt and build business resilience. 4) Secure your network Advanced technology help businesses improve their cybersecurity, making it harder for hackers to gain entry With cyber threats becoming more prevalent, businesses are increasingly looking to secure their networks and protect their data. More than half (54%) of those surveyed expressed interest in using AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics to secure their network by identifying and eliminating cybersecurity threats. Advanced and automated technology can help businesses improve their cybersecurity, making it harder for hackers to gain entry to the larger corporate network. Modern cybersecurity tools that use AI and machine learning can detect anomalies in network traffic or alert and act on suspicious behaviour. Cybersecurity software For example, if an IoT device suddenly begins broadcasting and establishing connections with multiple devices, cybersecurity software could detect this abnormal behaviour, send an alert, and suspend traffic or quarantine an endpoint immediately  saving precious time during a potential breach. A single data breach could result in widespread distrust from workers and customers, potentially leading to decreased business as well as litigation issues. As such, businesses need to take action to update and strengthen their defences so that they can avoid downtime and continue to operate with peace of mind. Prepare your business for the future Businesses will continue to look for more ways to extract value out of their existing infrastructure, including their security technology. For many, the tools to do so are already in place, its just a matter of unlocking the insights with a security ecosystem. With such an ecosystem  one that helps protect a business people, assets, and network, while optimising operations  companies can better safeguard the future of their workspaces and usher in the new era of work with confidence.
French English

Long-time Bombardier customer and F1 World Champion takes delivery of the first European-based Global 7500 aircraft

Production and completions ramp up for Global 7500 jets proceeding as planned

The Global 7500 aircraft recently completed the worlds longest-range business jet flight in history and broke the city pair speed record between LA and NYC*

Winner of the 2019 Aviation Week Grand Laureate Award, the Global 7500 aircraft offers Bombardiers signature smooth ride and a spaciousness that is unique among business jets

MONTREAL, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier announced today that it delivered its first European-based Global 7500 aircraft to long-time Bombardier customer, Niki Lauda, as production and completions of the award-winning business jet continue to ramp up as planned. Bombardier is on track to deliver between 15 and 20 Global 7500 aircraft in 2019.

We are thrilled to deliver our flagship Global 7500 business jet to Niki Lauda, our esteemed customer for many years, said David Coleal, President, Bombardier Business Aircraft. The Global 7500 aircraft is simply the best business jet on the market. It sets the standard by which all other aircraft in private aviation will be measured, demonstrated by the prestigious design and aviation awards it has garnered. The Global 7500 aircraft is the crown jewel of the industry.

I have enjoyed watching the evolution and growth of the Global Aircraft program. I have always been impressed with the expertise, craftsmanship and innovation that go into building every Global business jet, said Niki Lauda. The Global 7500 aircraft is the culmination of all the knowledge Bombardier teams have gained over the years and I look forward to experiencing the range, speed and comfort this jet has to offer.

The Global 7500 jet is the latest in a series of Bombardier business aircraft that Mr. Lauda has owned and piloted during his career as an aviator. Previously, he operated a Global 6000, Global 5000 and Challenger 300 jet as his private aircraft.

Since its entry-into-service, the Global 7500 aircraft has unequivocally proven itself to be the highest-performing aircraft in the industry. The Global 7500 business jet has a top speed of Mach 0.925 and recently flew from Singapore to Tucson, completing a record-setting 8,152 nautical mile flightthe longest-range flight in business aviation history. In addition, it also recently broke the city pair speed record between Los Angeles and New York. The Global 7500 aircraft continues to assert its position as the leader in the business jet market.

The Global 7500 aircraft offers Bombardiers signature smooth ride and a spaciousness that is unique among business jets. With its award-winning bespoke interior featuring a full-size kitchen and four true living spaces, the Global 7500 jet offers the ultimate in-flight experience. Setting the benchmark for the most exceptional cabin interior, the Global 7500 aircraft offers the most innovative features: Bombardiers patented Nuage seat, meticulously designed for maximum comfort and the revolutionary nice Touch cabin management system (CMS), a new way to connect with the Global 7500 aircraft cabin through the Bombardier Touch dial, featuring business aviations first application of an OLED display.

About Bombardier

With over 68,000 employees across four business segments, Bombardier is a global leader in the transportation industry, creating innovative and game-changing planes and trains. Our products and services provide world-class transportation experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety.

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier has production and engineering sites in 28 countries across the segments of Transportation, Business Aircraft, Commercial Aircraft and Aerostructures and Engineering Services. Bombardier shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Bombardier posted revenues of $16.2 billion. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier .

Notes to Editors

Visit the Bombardier Business Aircraft website for more information on our industry-leading products and services.

Follow @Bombardierjets on Twitter to receive the latest news and updates from Bombardier Business Aircraft.

To receive our press releases, please visit the RSS Feed section.

Bombardier, Global 7500 and Nuage are registered or unregistered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

*Record pending certification by the National Aeronautic Association. Flight performed under certain operating conditions.
Greenland's fastest-flowing and fastest-thinning glacier recently threw a real brain bender at scientists, who realized that instead of shrinking, the glacier is actually growing thicker, they reported in a new study.

The glacier  known as Jakobshavn, which sits on Greenland's west coast  is still contributing to sea level rise, but it's losing less ice than expected. Instead of thinning and retreating inland, its ice is thickening and advancing toward the ocean, the researchers found.

The big question: Why is this happening? [Images: Greenland's Gorgeous Glaciers]

After much sleuthing, a team of scientists from the United States and the Netherlands found that the glacier is likely growing due to colder ocean currents. In 2016, a current that passes by Jakobshavn Glacier was cooler than usual, making waters near the glacier the coldest they'd been since the mid-1980s.

This cooler current came from the North Atlantic Ocean, more than 600 miles (966 kilometers) south of the glacier, according to data from NASA's Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission and other observations.

The finding took the scientists completely by surprise. "At first, we didn't believe it," study lead researcher Ala Khazendar, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "We had pretty much assumed that Jakobshavn would just keep going on as it had over the last 20 years." But the cold water isn't a one-off. Data from OMG shows that the water has been cold now for three years in a row.

The front of Iceland's Jakobshavn Glacier, where icebergs calve off. (Image credit: John Sonntag/NASA/OIB)

It appears that the cold water is the result of a climate pattern known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which makes the northern Atlantic Ocean slowly switch between warm and cold water about once every 20 years, the researchers said. The cold phase just recently started, and has cooled the Atlantic Ocean in general, they said. In addition, some extra cooling of the waters around Greenland's southwest coast helped keep the glacier chilly.

But this crisp change won't last forever. Once the NAO climate pattern flips back, the Jakobshavn will likely start melting faster and thinning again, the researchers said.

"Jakobshavn is getting a temporary break from this climate pattern," Josh Willis, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the principal investigator of OMG, said in the statement. "But in the long run, the oceans are warming. And seeing the oceans have such a huge impact on the glaciers is bad news for Greenland's ice sheet."

Huge ice loss  then small gain

Scientists have watched Jakobshavn with concern for decades. After losing its ice shelf in the early 2000s (an ice shelf forces a glacier to flow more slowly into the ocean, like dirt clogging a drain), Jakobshavn began losing ice at an alarming rate. Between 2003 and 2016, its thickness (from top to bottom) dwindled by 500 feet (152 meters).

A wider view of the calving front of Jakobshavn Glacier, as seen from a NASA research plane flying overhead. (Image credit: John Sonntag/NASA)

But in 2016, the waters flowing from Greenland's southern tip to its western side cooled by more than 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius). Meanwhile, the NAO climate pattern caused the Atlantic Ocean near Greenland to cool by about 0.5 F (1 C) between 2013 and 2016. By the summer of 2016, these cooler waters reached the glacier, and they are likely the reason that Jakobshavn slowed its rate of ice loss to the ocean, the researchers said. [Image: Greenland's Dramatic Landscape]

In all, Jakobshavn grew about 100 feet (30 m) taller between 2016 and 2017, the researchers found. But, as mentioned, the glacier is still contributing to ocean level rise worldwide, as it's still losing more ice to the ocean than it is gaining from snow accumulation, the researchers said.

The findings shed light on how much ocean temperatures can affect glacier growth, said Tom Wagner, a NASA Headquarters program scientist for the cryosphere, the frozen part of Earth.

"The OMG mission deployed new technologies that allowed us to observe a natural experiment, much as we would do in a laboratory, where variations in ocean temperatures were used to control the flow of a glacier," Wagner, who was not involved in the study, said in the statement. "Their findings  especially about how quickly the ice responds  will be important to projecting sea level rise in both the near and distant future."

The study was published online March 25 in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Originally published on Live Science.
The Lunar Flashlight mission, selected by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems, is a project from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center. In the mission, a cubesat would use lasers to look for water ice deep in lunar craters.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.  Good things come in small packages: Two proposed microsatellites could help NASA explore Venus and the moon.

During a talk at the Beyond the Cradle conference on March 14 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, Larry James, the deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory , gave the audience a sneak peak into the exciting scientific missions that NASA and JPL plan to launch in the near future and the new approaches behind some of these missions.

NASA already plans to further explore Mars' atmosphere with the spacecraft MOXIE in 2020 and the outer planets with the Europa Clipper in 2023. In addition, James said, the agency and JPL are looking for ways to make exploration more cost effective and compact. Enter the cubesat .

Related: Success of Tiny Mars Probes Heralds New Era of Deep-Space Cubesats

These satellites, which NASA classifies as a nanosatellite research spacecraft, can be as small as 4 inches by 4 inches by 4 inches (10 centimeters on a side) and weigh less than 3 lbs. on Earth (1.4 kilograms). While still packing a scientific punch, they are simple enough that NASA has partnered with high schools and universities to give future scientists and engineers a chance to help design cubesat experiments that can fly on real launches.

James said that the recent launch of the InSight Mars lander, whose arrival at the Red Planet was tracked by two little cubesats called MarCO, is evidence of just how useful these satellites can be.

"[Today], we talked a lot about the democratization of space," said James. "And I think these smaller spacecrafts are going to allow us to do that. Without [MarCO], we would not have had that real-time data of the entry, descent and landing of the InSight mission."

The two MarCO cubesats were the first of their kind to travel into deep space and were able to relay information about the mission directly to Earth in real time. With this success paving the way, NASA and JPL are looking at launching two cubesat interplanetary missions in the near future.

The first mission on the horizon, slated for launch in 2020, is called Lunar Flashlight . That mission will be not only the first cubesat mission to reach the moon, but also the first to use NASAs new ammonium driven green propulsion fuel, and lasers to search for water ice on the lunar surface, James said. This cubesat will be six times the size of the small 4 inch cubed model, will shine infrared lasers into the moon's permanently shadowed craters, and an onboard spectrometer will measure surface reflection and composition to help scientists better understand the lunar surface and prepare for possible future rover missions.

"We heard about the water on the moon ," said James. "[Lunar Flashlight] uses a laser to actually look for that water and measure what it is in those dark craters on the surface of the moon. We're using a cubesat to do that, to do real science."

The second planned NASA cubesat mission, which is still in development and has yet to receive a launch date, would measure Venus' atmosphere and is called Cupid's Arrow . James said the mission is being proposed in partnership with India to launch alongside that nation's next Venus mission. Cupid's Arrow would study the noble gases of Venus' atmosphere to help scientists get a better picture of how this once Earth-like planet diverged so drastically from ours in its geophysical history. This would help future missions understand the difference between an Earth-like exoplanet and a Venus-like exoplanet.

Along with MarCO, these two missions will show how useful these small satellites can be in exploring our solar system, James said. And thats just the beginning.

"I think there's this revolution of cubesats," said James, "that really is going to change how we can put systems into orbit that do real missions."
SAN FRANCISCO  In the wake of the March 27 Indian anti-satellite test, Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation suggested companies consider boycotting India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

Secondary payloads launching on PSLV generate significant income for Indian space programs. If India creates debris in low Earth orbit through anti-satellite testing that could harm the business models of PSLV's launch customers, Weeden tweeted. Many space industry startups also emphasize social responsibility in public statements and interviews.

"I wonder if any commercial space companies are willing to take a stand on this and boycott the PSLV to send a message to India? Corporate social responsibility anyone?" Weeden, Secure World Foundation technical advisor, tweeted March 27.

Related: India Says Anti-Satellite Test Created Minimal Debris. Is That True?

Small satellite companies declined to comment on the likelihood of a boycott of the India Space Research Organization's PSLV.

However, Planet condemned the anti-satellite test. "While Planet enjoys a great working partnership with agencies of India's government  like ISRO  we categorically condemn the anti-satellite missile intercept recently conducted by India's defense department," the San Francisco-based company tweeted March 27. "Space should be used for peaceful purposes, and destroying satellites on orbit severely threatens the long-term stability of the space environment for all space operators. Planet urges all space-capable nations to respect our orbital commons."

Planet sent 88 cubesats into orbit on a PSLV in February 2017 and launched 16 more on a November 2018 PSLV flight.

Weeden said by email he was not calling for a boycott, but saying "the commercial sector should be concerned about where the space arms race is heading and how it may impact their business, and they should have a voice in the debate. A boycott is one possible way they could do that, but there may be others."

While a single anti-satellite test is unlikely to cause significant debris, the Indian test is the latest sign "of the recent proliferation of anti-satellite and counterspace technologies," Weeden said. "Coupled with increased reliance on space for military purposes by many countries, it means there's a greater chance a future conflict may include attacks on satellites. And that could have devastating consequences for all, including commercialization and investment in space."

Nations have been largely unsuccessful in reining in anti-satellite testing. Commercial companies with their expanding role both in the space industry and in global economies "could use their dollars and customers to also influence how countries behave in space. Countries aren't the only ones who can set and enforce norms of behavior."

Terrestrial companies are taking stands on ethical and moral issues. Their positions influence where they operate and what countries they work with, Weeden said. "I wonder if we might start to see that happen in the space world as well," he added.

Instead of focusing on India alone, companies "should probably consider the behavior of all countries pushing the space arms race," Weeden said. "India is only the latest, but by no means the only one."

Laura Grego of the Union of Concerned Scientists also expressed concern about the spread of anti-satellite weapons and their increasing sophistication. "That increases the risks of a crisis getting sparked or escalated because someone uses or threatens to destroy someone else's critical national security satellite," Grego, a senior scientist in the Union of Concerned Scientists Global Security Program, said by email.

Destroying a satellite with a ground-based missile as India, the United States and China have all done, "creates enormous amounts of space debris when used," Grego said. India destroyed a satellite at an altitude of 300 kilometers, meaning the cloud of debris created will not be in orbit long. Using a similar weapon to target "a satellite in a more common orbit would create debris that lasts decades," she said.

Multinational organizations including the Conference on Disarmament and the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts have failed to reach agreement on arms control treaties or voluntary codes of conduct for space activities, Union of Concerned Scientists said in a March 27 news release.

"The international effort to ensure space remains a peaceful and secure environment is not keeping up with the spread of these technologies, and India's test makes it harder to see progress on that. In fact, it's possible that India's test encourages others to test, too," Grego said.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch successfully completed a spacewalk at the International Space Station today to continue an ongoing power upgrade at the orbiting lab.

The spacewalkers spent 6 hours and 45 minutes working to replace a set of old nickel-hydrogen batteries with new lithium-ion batteries located on the station's P4 truss, where one of the station's solar arrays is located. These batteries hold the charge generated by the solar arrays and power the space station when it's not in direct sunlight.

Hague and Koch did work that's similar to what was done during the previous spacewalk on March 22 . During that spacewalk, Hague and NASA astronaut Anne McClain swapped out six old nickel-hydrogen batteries with three new lithium-ion batteries on another power channel at the station's P4 truss.

Related: The International Space Station: Inside and Out (Infographic)

Image 1 of 7 (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 2 of 7 (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 3 of 7 (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 4 of 7 (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 5 of 7 (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 6 of 7 (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 7 of 7 (Image credit: NASA TV)

Although these two spacewalks were planned to be almost identical, NASA had to make a quick change in plans after encountering a problem with one of the new lithium-ion batteries installed last week. After that spacewalk was completed, ground controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston activated the newly upgraded power channel to test out the new batteries.

The ground crew "saw more voltage than expected" in one of the three batteries and were "not sure why" it was malfunctioning, Branelle Rodriguez, NASA's lead space station mission evaluation manager, said during a live webcast of today's spacewalk. "Essentially, we don't know if that battery is good anymore," Rodriguez said. So, that lithium-ion battery will need to be replaced with the two nickel-hydrogen batteries that it was intended to replace  undoing some of the work that Hague and McClain did last week.

As one of their "get-ahead tasks" today, Koch and Hague did some work to prepare for that battery swap, but they didn't actually replace it themselves. The bulk of that work is done robotically from the ground using the station's Canadarm2 robot arm. All the spacewalkers needed to do was disconnect some cables and move the adapter plate  one of the three that Hague and McClain installed last week  out of the way, leaving all the "heavy lifting" to Canadarm 2.

Technically, the batteries don't actually weigh anything in microgravity , but the 428-lb. (194 kilograms) units are each about the size of a minifridge and can be difficult for an astronaut to lug around outside the station.

The Canadarm2 robot arm outside the International Space Station (Image credit: ESA/NASA)

Over the next week, ground controllers will remotely operate Canadarm2 to put the two old nickel-hydrogen batteries back in their original spot. Once NASA launches a spare lithium-ion battery, astronauts will install it during a future spacewalk, Rodriguez said.

Some minor hiccups

Although the spacewalkers successfully completed all of their main tasks and "get-ahead tasks" with time left to spare, it wasn't exactly "smooth sailing" for the astronauts today. They did experience a few minor technical difficulties, though thankfully, none of those obstacles jeopardized the mission.

Nick Hague hit his first bump in the road while loosening the bolts on one of the old nickel-hydrogen batteries that the spacewalkers were replacing. As often happens during spacewalks, one of the bolts just didn't want to budge. Ground controllers helped him troubleshoot, and he managed to break it free. Shortly afterward, he encountered more trouble while installing a portable foot restraint, but he eventually got that piece of hardware to cooperate, too, without putting the mission behind schedule.

"That must be a great view, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who served as the spacewalk communicator alongside the ground control team, told Hague.

"Hard to describe  not sure I have the words," Hague replied. "I sure wish everybody down there on the team could see it."

"We do have a view of you, so that's even better, Pesquet said, to which Hague replied, "I'm not so sure about that."

One of the space station's external cameras captured this beautiful view of Earth as NASA astronaut Christina Koch grabbed some supplies from the Quest airlock. (Image credit: NASA TV)

Later, while both spacewalkers were getting ready to move the third and final adapter plate, Hague reported seeing some debris. "Um, I see metal flakes coming out of the socket," Hague said. He then inspected the work site to figure out what those flakes were and where they came from, but it's still not clear what caused these flakes to appear.

Koch also encountered a minor problem with her spacesuit. Ground controllers told her that she had a "possibly failed" carbon-dioxide sensor in her suit and asked her to closely monitor herself for any signs of rising carbon-dioxide levels. Thankfully, Koch did not report any physical symptoms of breathing high levels of carbon dioxide  something that could potentially cause respiratory failure.

More spacewalks to come

The two spacewalks this month are a continuation of work that began in 2017 , when the Expedition 50 crew replaced a total of 12 nickel-hydrogen batteries with six lithium-ion batteries over the course of two spacewalks.

It will take at least another four spacewalks to complete the work, NASA's space station program manager Kenneth Todd said during a news conference earlier this month. Although those spacewalks have not yet been scheduled, NASA is aiming to tackle those in late 2019 and early 2020.

This NASA infographic shows where all of the separate sets of batteries are located and when they will be (or already were) replaced. (Image credit: NASA TV)

By the end of these spacewalks, a total of 48 nickel-hydrogen batteries will have been replaced with 24 lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are expected to last until the end of the space station's life. While they are certified to last for 10 years, NASA expects them to be fully functional for about 20 years, NASA spokesperson Kelly Humphries told Space.com in an email. NASA is planning to end its funding of the International Space Station in 2024, although lawmakers are currently fighting to extend operations until 2030 .

A major milestone that wasn't

Today's spacewalk would have been the first to be done by a crew of only women, but a spacesuit sizing issue led NASA to swap crew assignments, thereby postponing this historic milestone for women in space.

McClain, who was originally scheduled to join Koch on today's spacewalk, decided that the size-large spacesuit she had planned to wear today would not fit properly. Because only one medium-size suit at the station had been prepped for the current series of spacewalks, and Koch was planning to wear it today, Hague wore the large suit instead and took McClain's place. McClain is now scheduled to take another spacewalk on April 8 with Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques.

During that next spacewalk, the astronauts will be working on some maintenance tasks unrelated to the ongoing battery-replacement work. Instead, McClain and Saint-Jacques will be installing some jumper cables to give Canadarm2 a redundant power supply. They will also be upgrading the station's wireless communications network by installing new cables.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain assists Christina Koch (left) and Nick Hague (right) during a spacesuit fit check. (Image credit: NASA)

Spacewalk stats

Today's spacewalk was the first for Koch and the second for Hague, who has now accrued a total of 13 hours and 24 minutes of spacewalking time. It was the 215th spacewalk that astronauts have done to build and maintain the International Space Station.

Koch is now the 14th woman to have completed a spacewalk, and McClain became the 13th during her spacewalk on March 22. For comparison, more than 200 men have taken spacewalks. Since the very first spacewalk in 1965 , there have been 404 spacewalks in all, only 39 of which involved a female spacewalker.

While it may be disappointing that NASA didn't end up doing the first all-female spacewalk in history today, agency officials have assured observers that the milestone is "inevitable," because more and more women are joining NASA's astronaut corps.
In last week's column about Leo, the Lion, we ended by mentioning several other nearby star patterns that were also members of the cat family. So this week, we'll give equal time to the dogs currently romping around our early evening springtime sky.

There are two pairs of hunting dogs. One pair belongs to Orion, the Hunter, which at nightfall is visible tilting down in the southwest part of the sky. The other pair belongs to Bootes, the Herdsman, now making his way up from above the east-northeast horizon.

Here's how to find them, and why they're worth a look.

Related: Hunting for Spring Galaxies with Mobile Astronomy Apps

The Big Dog

Canis Major, the Big Dog, is by far the most conspicuous of our four celestial canines. It is noteworthy because it contains the brightest star in the night sky: Sirius, the Dog Star . If you stretch an imaginary line from Orion's three-star belt to the southeast (or lower left) you'll come to Sirius  as if you needed Orion's belt to find it in the first place! This week, just look about one-third up from the south-southwest horizon at dusk and you'll see Sirius gleaming brightly through the twilight sky.

Sirius is a dazzling object; it's a brilliant white with a definite blue tinge, and it owes its brilliance chiefly to its rather close proximity to us, just 8.6 light-years (or 50.6 trillion miles) away. It's 25 times more luminous than our sun and roughly twice as massive and twice as large. It's the fifth nearest star known, yet it's 550,000 times more distant than the sun. Among all the naked-eye stars, it's the nearest of all, with the sole exception of Alpha Centauri .

On most star charts and atlases that show the old allegorical star pictures, Sirius marks the tip of the Big Dog's nose, though I prefer H.A. Rey's concept in his classic star guide "The Stars  A New Way to See Them" (Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston) by depicting Sirius as a dog tag. The rest of the dog is composed of a distinctive triangle marking the hindquarters and a long body. The muzzle and paws are uplifted as though Sirius were prancing across the sky following Orion.

But Sirius on its own was known and worshiped long before the other, neighboring stars were added to make up the shape of the entire animal. In ancient Egypt, Sirius' first appearance through dawn's light was taken to be the sign of a special event and served to foretell and fix a most important date. For a long time, on the morning when it first became visible above the east-southeast horizon just before sunrise, it also preceded the rising of the Nile and warned the Egyptians when that important time was at hand. This first appearance of Sirius was thus used to herald the Nile flood at least as early as 3000 B.C. For this reason, Sirius became known as "The Nile Star" or "The Star of Isis."

The Little Dog

In stark contrast to Canis Major, the Little Dog known as Canis Minor is composed of only two naked-eye stars. But one of them happens to be the eighth brightest in the sky, a beautiful whitish-yellow twinkler that can be found by running a line through the two stars marking Orion's shoulders (Bellatrix and Betelgeuse) straight east (left). Like Sirius, Procyon is a close stellar neighbor at a distance of 11.5 light-years away.

The name Procyon is the equivalent of the Latin word "Antecanis" or "Before the Dog" ("Pro" equals before and "cyon" equals dog), alluding to the fact that from the mid-northern latitudes Procyon rises about 25 minutes before Sirius, and thus heralds the appearance of the Great Dog Star. Yet when they are at their highest in the south, Procyon trots behind its more dazzling companion. In deference to Sirius, Procyon is sometimes referred to as the "Little Dog Star."

Interestingly, both Dog Stars keep strange company, for each have dim, mysterious white-dwarf stars orbiting them. The one circling Sirius is popularly known as "The Pup." Both stars are about as massive as the sun, yet measure only a fraction as large. The result are stars that are packed together with densities approaching 100,000 times that of the sun. If we could somehow transport a teaspoon of this material to Earth, it would weigh something on the order of a couple of tons!

The Hunting Dogs

Like the Little Dog, Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs) are also comprised of two naked-eye stars that are tucked below the handle of the Big Dipper. This star pattern is the creation of Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687), a Polish astronomer who created 10 different constellations, of which seven are still in existence today. Conceived just before Hevelius' death, Canes Venatici represent the Hunting Dogs, Asterion and Chara, held on a leash by Bootes. While Bootes is generally known as the Herdsman, he is also recognized as the "Bear driver," for he is also hunting the northern skies chasing the celestial bears, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

The brighter of the two stars that make up this constellation is third magnitude Cor Caroli, which means "The Heart of Charles" and is believed to have been named by Edmond Halley (of comet fame) after his patron, King Charles II of England.

Cor Caroli represents the dog Chara, while the companion dog, Asterion, is marked by the fainter star, Beta. Cor Caroli is a lovely double star in small to moderate-size telescopes. Canes Venatici's other claim to fame is that it includes two noteworthy deep-sky objects: Messier 3, a beautiful globular cluster, and Messier 51, the Whirlpool Galaxy , which along with its companion NGC 5195 form one of the best-known images in astronomy.

I've often said that because both Canis Minor and Canes Venatici each have only two stars, that maybe we should call them "Hot Dogs" instead.

The Wolf

Domestic dogs and wolves are related; they're both part of a large family classified as Canidae. For that reason, I should point out that we also have a wolf in our night sky, although the beast is not well seen from midnorthern latitudes since when it is at its highest it barely skims above the southern horizon, and at this time of year it's not visible until the wee hours (2 to 4 a.m.). This is Lupus, a small constellation, seemingly entangled with Centaurus, the Centaur, who appears as nothing more than a shapeless jumble of moderately bright stars. Charles Federer, who in 1941 founded Sky & Telescope magazine, perhaps said it best: "You don't really know all of the constellations until you have mastered the Wolf!"
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Negotiations over the past month between the B.C. government and the Association of Legal Aid Lawyers (A.L.L.) has resulted in an interim agreement to head off job action scheduled for Monday that would have limited or suspended the provision of legal aid services.



The 624 members overwhelmingly voted in favour of accepting the governments proposal that provides for a grant of $7.94 million to support development of a new framework for legal aid funding and an interim 25 per cent increase in payment to legal aid lawyers during the six-month period from April 28 until October 31, 2019.

This interim agreement is an important recognition by this government that legal aid lawyers are being taken seriously. It is an endorsement by legal aid lawyers that the Government of B.C. will continue to bargain in good faith with a goal to permanently improve the legal aid system. This benefits each and every British Columbia resident.

Historically B.C.s legal aid budget did not come close to meeting the needs of vulnerable and marginalized people in British Columbia. As a result, they are not receiving the legal help they need. Too many people facing difficult family, child-protection, immigration and criminal law problems are having to go to court alone.

B.C.s Legal Aid lawyers have only had one pay raise in 28 years. That was in 2006 when there was a modest increase to the hourly rate of approximately 10 per cent.

A.L.L. negotiators Marilyn Sandford, Chris Johnson and Richard Fowler state: This interim agreement reflects the government and Minister Ebys recognition of the history of underfunding of legal aid and the important work legal aid lawyers do to provide services to the most vulnerable people in the province.

For more information

bclegalaidlawyers.ca

Ross Sullivan

Peak Communicators

Ph: 604 689-5559

Cell: 604 802-7139

Email: rsullivan@peakco.com




The article was written by Ellys Cartin. Article edited by Donna Cromeans (@DJRiter). Article prepared for publication by Aimee Hicks.





(14x13), the milestone 300th episode of, put the Winchester family front and center for a surprise reunion. Jensen Ackles gave a bittersweet, unforgettable performance as Dean Winchester saw his happiest dream come true. The miracle, in turn, brought the character face to face with the most horrible tragedies of his life. Ackles left no stone unturned as Dean basically navigated the five stages of grief all at once. The episode didn't hinge on the sadness though, with Ackles's sharp comedic timing providing a welcome contrast. Ackles brought an intensity to this episode which saw Dean's heart sneak up onto his sleeve. Sometimes you see him lean on his family in this episode, and sometimes he makes them lean on him. Ackles's performance makes it possible for the emotional devastation to also be cathartic and even satisfying. Like his costar last month, Jensen Ackles was a fan favorite and easily selected as SpoilerTV Readers' Choice Performer of the Month for February.The episode begins with a typical day in the life of the Winchesters. Dean and Sam (Jared Padalecki) enter a slightly skeevy pawn shop and offer the owner (Donny Lucas) some extra cash to show them the good stuff. He leads them back into a room full of relics. Sam picks up a teddy bear with a string, intending to pull that string, only for the owner to warn him not to. Ackles shakes his head with an impromptu sigh to show Dean's exasperated patience. His posturing establishes his character as the older sibling. The brothers ask the shop owner about a particular skull, which he shows them. Up to this point, Sam has taken the lead in the conversation with Dean hanging back. When the skull comes out, though, Ackles steps forward and takes over the conversation. He calmly informs the shop owner they know the skull was recently stolen from a murdered hunter. His tone is level and his gaze never breaks away, from the slight tilt of his head and his taut neck you can see that Dean is coiled and ready to strike. He is ready when the shop owner tries to distract the brothers with dragon's breath and cleave Sam in two. One shot is all it takes. Afterward, Dean meanders over and toys with the dragon's breath, jumping back when he sets it off again. A quick look of mischievous glee is replaced with one of feigned innocence. Sam gives him a weary admonishing look, in a playful flip on who is the more focused brother.The next scene focuses on Lebanon itself, the town the brothers have come to think of as home. Ackles really sells this feeling through his actions and responses. Dean is repeatedly the one shown to have more personalized connections to the townspeople. He exchanges greetings and asks the proprietor, Jackson, for double his regular when they go into the liquor shop. When Sam interrupts his exploration of the beverage options, Dean kids around. Sam hints that the Baozhu artifact could help with things, alluding to the murderous, anarchic archangel trapped in Dean's head. Ackles responds to the hint with confused alarm, jesting that he doesn't know what Sam is referring to, before nearly rolling his eyes with annoyance that Sam would bother to water it down. That annoyance is sharply upended by astonishment as Dean's eyes widen and his mouth falls open in panic when he looks out the window. You then see the empty street where Baby was parked a moment before, and, as the brothers scramble out the door, their car speeds past them. The sole witness to the theft, Ethan (Cory Gruter-Andrew) stands across the street, and they rush to question him. Well, Sam does the questioning, because Dean is beside himself. Ackles adds frantic energy to his performance, his voice almost husky with rage. The strength of Dean's emotion there makes the transition appears in the next scene more humorous. Sam asks local postal worker Marta (Catherine Barroll) for car thief Max (Skylar Radzion)'s address. Marta is clearly put off by the request, staring warily up at Sam who towers above her. Dean then rather casually enters the shop but makes sure the door closes behind him in a courteous manner. He beams at Marta, who instantly relaxes and cheerfully asks about her grandson. He positions himself in front of the counter but leans against it so that he's right at Marta's eye level. Tipping his head slightly downward, Dean looks directly at Marta and tells her their intentions are good. She gives in just a little by saying she can inform them where Max's mom, Caitlin (Rose Ranger) works. Dean doesn't get up and rush away, instead, he gives her a grateful smile that ripples across every part of his face, unfolding his forehead, crinkling his eyes, and relaxing his jaw.The Winchesters learn from a coworker of Max's mom that the young car thief is likely at an off-the-books school party. They pull up to find Baby parked in the drive, and Dean launches toward her, with arms outstretched, cautiously surveying her perimeter for damage. Just as he reaches out to give the car a gentle pat, Sam alerts him to the empty backseat. They encounter a teenager running from a ghost and enter the house with FBI badges blazing. Sam quickly identifies the haunted item responsible and goes to work trying to burn it. Dean hangs back, nonchalantly pointing out how a serial killer clown is the best and worst of things. Max and her friends rush in just as the ghost goes up in smoke. Ackles has Dean first attempt a sheepish look of innocence which transitions into what's meant to be a smile but definitely comes across more like a dog's snarl. After telling the teenagers the truth and securing their secrecy, Dean and Sam return to their home. Sam finds the Baozhu and gives it to Dean. He asks his older brother if he wants to wait for their mom or friend Cass (Misha Collins). There's a quick flash on Dean's face that is equal parts scared and wistful but with a roll of his shoulders, he replaces that look with a more determined one. He squeezes the pearl inside his fisted hand, his face scrunching intently as he tries to will his wish into being. The lights dim and flicker, a stranger appears in the darkness and quickly overcomes their attempts to struggle. But when the stranger speaks, Dean just stops moving, just stares upward, then he shakes slightly. He seems to have to try once or twice to finally get the word out and address their long-dead father resurrected before their eyes.The reunion with John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) shifts Dean's focus from possible apocalypses to his loved ones, and Jensen Ackles accordingly infuses his performance with joyful warmth. His eyes are shining when he tells John that their grandfather helped them find their home, though he does have to look away for a moment when John says he wishes he had been with them. And when their mother Mary (Samantha Smith) tenderly reunites with John in front of them, Dean freezes on the spot, looking at his parents with dazed wonder. Sam gets Dean to leave the room, and Dean continues to marvel. He presses his folded hands against his mouth to hold in another chuckle. When Sam questions how this has happened, he speaks quickly and happily, reminding you that he's wanted this forever. And he's agitated when Sam suggests there could be consequences. His eyes narrow, and his tone becomes more authoritative. At the same time, Ackles clues you in that Dean is aware this miracle has come with a reckoning. He wants Sam to stand down for the moment, but he doesn't express disbelief just frustration.The brothers come to a truce and head into Lebanon to get supplies for a family dinner. Dean hits up the liquor shop, walking in briskly with a loud hand clap to announce his arrival. He excitedly tells Jackson they are having a celebration. When Jackson doesn't recognize him, Dean doesn't want to acknowledge what is happening at first. He tries more than once to jog Jackson's memory until the shop owner seemingly recognizes him. Dean stands there with an expression that's more irritated than concerned. However, by the time Sam returns to the car, Dean has gotten some answers from the internet. He shows Sam a video of this new timeline's Sam, lover of kale and treadmill desks. When Sam starts to comment, Dean holds up a finger to shush him, saying there's more to see. He shakes his head in disbelief when Alternate Sam says there's no room in a perfect life for hobbies or family. And Ackles follows that up with a perfectly delivered jab on how Alternate Dean (wanted for multiple beheadings) is cool while, and he inserts a gagging sound here, Alternate Sam is a successful attorney. Their conversation is interrupted by a disturbance at the pizza parlor across the way. Inside, they find Alternate Cass and a similarly "plucked from the past" Zachariah (Kurt Fuller) threatening Max and her friends. The crux of this scene is Dean futilely trying to find their Cass in the alternate version, but this Cass brutally subdues both brothers. Even when it comes down to being seconds away from death, Dean doesn't stop pleading. At the last second, he just slumps, no spirit left, saved only by a desperate measure from Sam. He pulls his arm inward against his chest, in a reflexive but late defensive move.Unable to deny the consequences of the time change, Dean must break the news to John. Ackles keeps Dean's grief subtle in this scene. There are moments where Dean can't meet his father's eyes, like when he tells him that without fixing time Mary will likely fade away. His face is bruised and cut, but it is through the wounds around Dean's heart that Ackles lets you see his pain. John tells Dean he wished that one day his son would find a peaceful life with a family. A smile sort of cracks across Dean's face, as he tells his father he does have a family. But as he sits around the table with his first family, his eyes are angry. There's bitterness in how he picks up his glass and unintentionally buries his face inside it. John must bring everyone out of their sorrow and remind them they can be grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Dean winces at first, but, over the course of the meal, he gradually yields to the laughter and company. After the dinner, Sam is feeling the hurt of the impending separation. He brings up his feelings to Dean, as the brothers wash the dishes. Sam suggests they might find a way to warn John about his future. Dean admits he's thought about the past and what they could do if they tinkered with time. He asks what it would make them if they tried to pass their burden to someone else. It's a somber scenario, but it never hits harder than when Ackles says he wouldn't know who that alternate Dean Winchester was. He breaks from the heaviness, the fog of reflection, and asserts his identity. There's power and courage in how he says he knows this version of himself and how he is the product of everything that has led him to this version. He feels every bit of the hardship they have encountered, and viewers feel it too, but the moment he straightens his back and head, that history of hard-fought battles and costly losses become a bit lighter.As the episode draws to a close, Ackles shifts Dean into the central position. He is calm. As his father and mother tearfully say goodbye and Sam freely cries, Dean maintains his composure. He tells his father it was good to see him, holding in his feelings so completely that it only makes the faint quiver of his chin and lower eyelid more devastating. When John pulls his sons in for a last hug, he tells his boys he loves them. Dean is unable to respond at first, so intent on keeping his eyes open and holding those tears in check. He finally whispers back the I love you. When John pulls away, there's a brief glimpse of Dean, feet firmly planted to the ground, holding his arms at his sides in an uncomfortably rigid position, as if he doesn't trust himself to not reach out to somehow keep John from leaving. John looks at Sam's face then Dean's once more, and Dean's cheeks are wet. When Sam smashes the pearl, Dean jumps just a little, and one suppressed shudder escapes. A lingering shot of his tearstained face sees him start to loosen the invisible grasp he had on himself, and, as his body returns to normal, the physical symptoms of his grief do too. When their own regular Cass returns home and asks what happened, Dean looks up with an almost smile and says there's a story to tell.Jensen Ackles has been telling Dean's story since 2005. Along with costar Jared Padalecki, he has made TV history. The show wouldn't have such a legacy without their performances. From the beginning, viewers have been drawn to Dean's mix of charming bravado, brotherly love, and rueful sensitivity. He's both a brother and fighter first, someone who has turned every kind of trauma into fuel in a never-ending war against darkness. Ackles has created an icon and inspiration, while also bringing tears and thrills to the table every time. His performance inmoved a curtain that is rarely drawn back, rewarding both Dean and viewers with a cathartic journey into the land of what if. Every moment you knew what this experience meant to Dean and what he was wrestling with in having to let go of it. It's no surprise that our readers recognized Ackle's incredible work by voting him February's Outstanding Performer of the Month. This article has just scratched the surface of the depth of his work in this episode. What did you think of his performance? Discuss in the comments below.
STAMFORD  Charter Communications this week made a full-court press of a presentation to the Zoning Board to garner approvals of its fast-tracked pitch to build a second headquarters next door to the 15-story glass rectangle rising just south of Interstate 95.

For its two new buildings, Charter didnt get approvals late Thursday  instead earning a continuance to April 8  but appeared to garner enough goodwill and make enough changes to earlier plans that the board didnt pounce on prior misgivings.

Earlier, the Planning Board sent a letter upbraiding Charter and developer Building and Land Technology for the building design, and several Zoning Board members, including Chair David Stein, questioned Charters plan to buy out an earlier pledge to include 500 parking spaces for train station commuters.

In response, Charter redesigned the nine-story addition and the three-story connecting building under consideration. The 15-story building now under construction was previously approved.

Both went from staid glass boxes to buildings with cut-outs, columns and facade elements such as solar fins that promise to change the buildings look through the day by casting shadows

We had some comment back that its bland and it needs a little more life to it, said Mike Daly, vice president of corporate real estate for the company.

Weve played around with these solar fins, he said. We tried to make it stand out architecturally but still blend in.

Building and Land Technology, which is building the project and will lease the space to Charter for the long term, defended the parking space pullback and described how it could find commuters a place to park for the some 18 months they might be without one.

Charter would likely move in and take all the spaces before a new 1,000-space state garage opens in 2020.

BLT Chief Operating Officer Ted Ferrarone told the board it had nothing to worry about if it allows the 500 space reduction, saying there is unused supply in nearby garages. The company would buy out of the requirement for $6.6 million, some of which would be used to house the commuters displaced, BLTs attorney William Hennessy said.

Ferrarone said BLT could work with the state Department of Transportation, which owns another parking garage near the Transportation Center, to reopen more than a hundred spaces closed indefinitely for repairs. There is also parking hiding in plain sight, Ferrarone said.

For example, there is a surface lot next to the state garage that I didnt even know about, but its primarily used by cabbies to hang out during the day, Ferrarone said.

In a slide show to the board, Ferrarone also included photographs of empty garages near the train station, and said that were just talking about commuter spaces near the train station. There are thousands of empty parking spaces in the city of Stamford, I read that, you know in the Bell Street garage, Summer Street garage.

Board member Rosanne McManus, a train commuter, said none of the replacement spaces proffered are quite the same as what will taken away. Bell Street and Summer Street garages are downtown, a half-mile walk from the train.

If you were running for a train, you dont care about those garages, McManus said.

Open spaces at private garages nearby dont work either, she said. The spaces are open because of cost.

I dont call replacement spaces ones that are $100 more a month, she said.

Public comment likely helped the telecommunications giant. Some 20 company employees attended the meeting and more than a dozen members of the public spoke in favor of the project.

Among the group was a varied ensemble of construction contractors now working on Charters HQ who sought more work.

We want to thank you for the work were able to do, said Brain Wilkerson, from firm Baker Concrete Construction.

We are here today in support of Charter Communications second building as it will continue to provide jobs for many workers across Connecticut, said Greg Weiner, vice president of Eastern Metal Works.

We greatly support the project and moving forward with tower two, said Chris Handley, a superintendent with Otis Elevator Co.

Charter itself employs some 1,300 people, about a fifth of whom live in the city, according to the company. With the the the expanded HQ  777,000 square feet in total  the company could have some 3,000 in Stamford in coming years, said Mike Chowaniec, vice president of state government affairs.

Were here, and the good news is that were here earlier than expected, he said.

barry.lytton@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2263; @bglytton
GREENWICH  Greenwich has a few unsolved murders on the books, and police said they are being investigated to this day.

Theyre still open, said Greenwich police spokesman Lt. John Slusarz. We do have an officer assigned to working cold cases in Greenwich.

Unsolved murder investigations in Greenwich all date to the 1980s. Matthew Margolies, a 13-year-old boy from Pemberwick, was killed in 1984. In 1986, a murdered newborn baby was found by a trash hauler in central Greenwich. Local authorities were unable to identify the child or find its mother. Stamford resident Carrie Lee Mock was found murdered in Greenwich on July 19, 1981.

The departments cold-case investigator, working on old cases in a part-time capacity, draws on a number of resources, Slusarz said. DNA technology is a primary tool, he said, but not the only one.

We keep going back and talking to people. There are a lot of avenues to take, he said.

The cold-case investigator has also been assigned to investigate the discovery of decomposed remains of a person found in Old Greenwich, near the Perrot Memorial Library on April 28, 2017.

The killing of Matthew Margolies shocked the community. He was last seen alive with a fishing rod on Aug. 31, 1984, apparently headed for the Byram River near his home in the Pemberwick section of town, before disappearing. When he failed to return home, a major search was launched, with helicopters, boats, dogs, scuba divers and state troopers scouring the area. Five days after he went missing, Matthews body was pulled from a partial grave on a steep hill near the river.

Police later said there were five suspects were considered, but no one has been charged.

In 1981, a 36-year-old mother Carrie Lee Mock was found a day after she went missing in Stamford. Her body was found on Maher Avenue in central Greenwich. An autopsy determined she had been killed by strangulation, with stab wounds in her neck as a contributing factor.

Another case still being investigated as a major case involves a murdered newborn found not far from Town Hall. The baby was a boy.

Slusarz said the department welcomed any tips on cold cases. The phone number is 203-622-3333, or send an email to Tips@greenwichct.org.

The Greenwich police often confer with the states cold-case task force, but the department does not have an officer assigned to the state organization.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
The Ridgefield man arrested for possession of assault weapons, high-capacity ammunition magazines and silencers, said Friday he plans to fight the charges in court.

While removing firearms from the house, Ridgefield police also discovered an explosive device.

The illegal firearms included 76 unregistered high-capacity ammunition magazines, 16 assault weapons and six silencers. The device was later removed by the state police bomb squad.

Im not a killer, Im not a bad guy, said Mark Albin, who Ridgefield police originally arrested for disorderly conduct at 12:30 a.m. Thursday after receiving a domestic disturbance call from inside his Tackora Trail home.

Albin said he knew he had unregistered ammunition, but that it remained locked in a safe and never left his home.

I never left my house with anything that was unregistered, he said. I keep everything in a locked safe.

Albin said the explosive device found inside his home was a tear gas grenade.

I bought some parts online, he said. It wasnt even assembled.

The (state police) bomb squad at the scene told the Ridgefield police that it was up to them to press charges, he said. And thats because it wasnt a weapon.

Ridgefield police charged him with manufacturing a bomb. State police did not bring charges.

More News Explosive device, arsenal seized from Ridgefield home

When asked about Albins statements, Ridgefield police Capt. Shawn Platt said he couldnt confirm or deny any details as the case heads to court.

Ablin was previously arrested in Carteret County, N.C., in June 2011 for possession of a substance with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

On Thursday, Albin posted a $100,000 bond for the bomb and firearms charges and was released from police custody. He is due April 11 in Danbury Superior Court.

In addition, he posted a $500 bond for the disorderly conduct charge and is due in court May 7 on that charge.

It is my understanding that he was very cooperative during the incident, Platt said.

Mechanic and experimenter

Albin, 49, said his son called police after he got into a verbal altercation with his wife.

We were having a loud argument and my kid got scared and called 911, he explained. Nothing physical happened. She didnt want me to leave the house is all, and I didnt want to stay.

A mechanic, Albin said he was fired from his job at Limestone Service Station because of the arrest. The owners said Friday that Albin had been told to take a few weeks off, and had not been let go.

Im a mechanic, not a gunsmith, Albin said. I like building stuff from scratch, thats all. And theres plenty of documentation on the internet thats readily available to anybody who wants to build guns from scratch.

Albin said in addition to building weapons, he has been buying guns since he was 18.

Some of the unregistered magazine clips they found came from weapons I bought 20 years ago when that magazine size was legal, he said.

I never used them, he said. I put them in my safe and theyve sat in there since then ... I own plenty of magazine clips that are within the legal limit and those are the ones I bring with me to the shooting range.

Albin said he shoots at Wooster Mountain Shooting Range on the Ridgefield-Danbury border, as well as other local ranges.

Ive never fired a weapon in my yard or anything like that, he said. My neighbors know that and theyre supporting me.

He admitted to making all six silencers from parts he purchased online, and denied selling any of the weapons he had made over the years.

I like to experiment, Im not going to shoot people, Albin said. The [silencers] were for different kinds of guns ... Trust me, my neighbors would know if I were firing weapons even if there were silencers on them. Guns make a lot of noise. Its not like in the movies where a silencer is applied and no sound comes out.

Honest guy

People who knew Albin from his work as a mechanic were quick to defend him.

I have nothing but good things to say about him, said John Miceli. Everybodys going to try to badger the guy, but he is a very, very nice guy who got caught up in a really messed up situation. This whole gun thing in the state of Connecticut  a lot of things are interpreted on paper as legal and not legal  and there are a lot of variances to get stuff registered, and if you miss the timeline to get registered, you basically have something thats unregistered and theres no way to resolve the issue.

Miceli said he blames the state of Connecticut for the nebulous gun laws.

Anybody who knows about guns understands, he said.

Miceli, who owns his own tree-cutting business, said he knows Albin from around town.

He is a local mechanic  an honest, reputable guy, Miceli said. Hes fixed several cars for me over the years.

Town resident Chris Patterson said Albin helped him out about six months ago after Pattersons son got in a car accident.

He always did the right thing by me, Patterson said.

I was ready to have [the car] hauled away and taken in for junk  they were saying it was going to cost $5,000 to fix it, but he took a look at it and he said, No. Let me do something. He went way out of his way to repair the under-body of this car, and he did it for $600.

He was a solid guy, so Im disappointed in this development. Its a bummer.

Patterson said he grew up with Albin in Ridgefield.

He was in school when I was in school, and then I just kind of saw him when he was working up at the service station, he said. So there was kind of a work relationship, certainly, and then a previously existing relationship.

Patterson acknowledged some of Albins previous postings on Facebook. One image he posted reads Now I lay me down to sleep/Beside my bed a glock I keep/If I wake and find you inside/The coroners van will be your last ride.

The images, both posted in 2014, have since been removed from Albins personal Facebook page.

When Albin fixed Pattersons car, it had Obama-Biden bumper stickers and NPR stickers on it, Patterson said. We could not have been further apart in our political perspectives, but we got along.

Patterson said Albin nonetheless managed to be friendly and helpful and kind to me.

The whole things a bummer, Patterson said. I hope hes going to be all-right, and Im glad no one was hurt.
STAMFORD - Each year this time, the members of two powerful elected boards - one that makes the laws and one that controls the money - invite taxpayers to speak about the budget the mayor proposes for the coming fiscal year.

Few taxpayers take them up on it.

Such was the case Thursday night, when most of the seats in the auditorium at Cloonan Middle School were empty, even as the stage was full of elected officials from the Board of Representatives and Board of Finance.

It was true even though Mayor David Martins $603 million budget proposal for 2019-20 includes a tax hike of 4.4 percent. Martin himself has said he is unhappy about the increase.

But few speakers, each of whom was given three minutes at the podium, addressed the coming tax hike before the elected officials who now are combing through Martins budget looking for things to trim.

Among the 21 who spoke, most advocated for a cause.

Six parents, for example, urged board members to allocate money the mayor budgeted to fix Newfield Elementary School. Five other parents asked that board members not cut the special education budget. Four residents of Waterside said they want board members to support road and sidewalk repairs. Two residents made a case for preserving money Martin set aside for work that would help the city comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The greatest number of comments came from parents with children at Newfield School, where administrators in October closed six modular classrooms that were temporarily installed about 25 years ago. The modulars leaked water, spurring mold growth, and were so full of holes that birds and mice nested in them. Now workrooms and other spaces are doubling as classrooms, and parents want board members to approve money to build an expansion.

There are kids learning in closets now, parent Glenn Harper said. You guys need to step up to the plate.

Parent Jonathan Lucas said the mother of one his daughters third-grade classmates once studied in the temporary classrooms.

This is an issue of neglect, Lucas said. Now is the time to act.

Newfield is a special school, parent Lisa Kotasek said, but that doesnt include the building.

The mayor came and saw what the kids have to deal with, Kotasek said. We need permanent construction.

When parents post on social-media platforms that their children are approaching school age and they want to know whether they should move to New Canaan, Kotasek said, we need to be able to tell them, No, stay in Stamford.

Parents of special education students were the next-largest group to speak. Nicole Raucher applauded a Board of Education effort to save money by creating more in-district programs, such as one at Rippowam Middle School, where one of her children is a student.

If not for the new programs, her child would have been out-placed, Raucher said. Its fantastic to have all three children in the same school system. I support the special education budget.

So does Paola Becerra, who brought her first-grader, Abigail, and lifted her to the microphone to say hello to board members.

I wanted you to see my daughter and how the school programs have helped her, so you can see that the money is not being wasted. She is out of physical therapy. Her speech is so much improved. She is doing much better than kids who dont have these programs, Becerra said of Abigail, who was born with Down syndrome. I am here for all kids with special needs.

Waterside residents said money must be spent on crumbling streets and sidewalks because traffic from expanded office parks is increasing in their neighborhood along the Greenwich border.

Some street surfaces have disintegrated, Lineene Krasnow said.

Im one of those old-fashioned people who sweeps the street in front of my house, Krasnow said. Last weekend I swept up four bags of gravel.

People know when theyve crossed into Stamford from Greenwich because Stamford roads look like Beirut in the 1980s, said Jon Alsonas, a resident of Top Gallant Road.

That street forms a complex intersection with Southfield Avenue, Davenport Drive and Gatehouse Road that has become a choke point, resident Paul Adelberg said.

It can take 35 or 40 minutes to get downtown because you have to go through there, Adelberg said. There is a huge amount of traffic from the office parks.

Richard Thomas asked for help for Southfield Park, where his children grew up and his grandchildren now play. The parking lot is a collection of potholes, he said.

It could be the most neglected park in the city, Thomas said. I understand money is set aside for it. I hope you will not cut it.

Frank Mercede and Phillip Magalnick urged board members to leave intact money budgeted to improve handicapped access in municipal buildings. Mercede lauded the city for spending $250,000 this fiscal year to install a wheelchair beach mat on the sand at Cummings Park, renovate seating and bathrooms at Terry Conners Ice Rink and refit doors at the Stamford Government Center.

There are still so many things that need to be addressed, Mercede said.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed 29 years ago but compliance has dragged, said Magalnick, who is legally blind and struggles to navigate sidewalks that do not have the required curb cuts.

If the city put signs along the road that said, No blacks, or No Jews, or No Muslims, all hell would break loose, Magalnick said. But by failing to follow ADA codes for walkways, you are saying to the disabled person, You are not welcome, he said.

Two residents broached the pending tax hike. Layne Rodney, who lives in the High Ridge area, said there are government inefficiencies, particularly with road repairs, and we can do better.

Do (taxpayers) work for the bureaucracy, or does the bureaucracy work for us? Rodney asked.

Cove resident Kathryn Barrios challenged Martins plan to hire 19 new people.

I live in a modest-income area, in a modest home  on a fixed income, and I feel like I am being driven out of Stamford, Barrios said.

After a property revaluation, her taxes last year increased 9.3 percent, and, with Martins proposal, could rise another 4.4 percent July 1, she said.

I dont live off this hypothetical increase in the value of my house, she said. I live off my income. The mayor needs to learn to live within a reasonable budget.

acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296.
Stamford police / Contributed

STAMFORD  A Bridgeport man who ran a stop sign in front of narcotics officers riding in a unmarked car Thursday afternoon was busted while allegedly in possession of cocaine, a carton of marijuana vape cartridges and a few prescription pills, police said.

Capt. Richard Conklin said officers in the Narcotics and Organized Crime squad were patrolling the East Side when they saw a black Honda traveling eastbound on Ely Place turn right onto Colloden Road without observing a stop sign at about 3 p.m. Thursday.
29.03.2019: Borregaard ASA ("Borregaard", OSE ticker: BRG)

Reference is made to the stock exchange notice of 1 March 2019 where Borregaard announced the intent to repurchase up to 300,000 of its outstanding common stock.

Borregaard has today purchased 11,000 own shares through broker at an average price of NOK 85.04 per share.

After this transaction Borregaard holds a total of 435,996 own shares, representing 0.44% of total shares outstanding.

By this transaction, Borregaard has completed its share repurchase programme by repurchasing 300,000 shares of its outstanding common stock.

Contact:

Lotte Kvinlaug, Investor Relations Officer, +47 922 86 909

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
T RAVEL firm TUI on Friday warned profits could take a 170 million hit this year after the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

Tui, which has a fleet of about 150 planes including 15 of the affected Boeings, admitted it would have to pay more to replace the planes and face higher fuel bills and other disruption costs. This follows the global grounding of Boeing jets in the wake of two crashes in six months involving the Max aircraft. The Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines tragedies killed 346 people.

TUI said underlying profits this year will be 17% lower than the 1.2 billion (1 billion) it made in 2018. It previously said profits would be broadly flat.

But it warned that if the Boeing 737 Max remained grounded beyond July, it would cost the firm another 100 million (86.2 million), on top of the 200 million (173 million) hit.

The shares slumped 8%, or 64p, to 705p.

Shore Capital analyst Greg Johnson said Tuis hotels arm remains the driver of its growth and said of the 737s: They will be able to recoup a good chunk of the costs off Boeing.

TUI didnt say if it would seek compensation from Boeing. The travel firm is expecting the delivery of a further eight 737 Max planes by the end of May.

The company assured customers that it has made arrangements to ensure no disruption to their holidays.

It said: No dates have yet been announced for modifications of the existing aircraft model by the manufacturer, neither for approval of such modifications by the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency. TUI has taken precautions to be prepared for Easter, Whitsun and start of the summer holiday season and to secure holidays for its customers and their families.

Boeing has come under intense scrutiny and faces the challenge of proving its Max planes are safe to fly amid suggestions that errors with its sensors and software have led to the crashes.

Boeing has thousands of unfilled orders with airlines worth half a trillion dollars in revenue. Indonesias national airline, Garuda, recently said it wanted to cancel its order, making it the first airline to ditch Boeings jet.
S et your watches for 11pm tonight. Get the cake and the champagne ready. And when the hour comes, toast Happy No-Brexit Day. For we have every reason to celebrate.

Today was the day we were supposed to leave the EU. Instead our country has, literally at the 11th hour, avoided making the greatest mistake in its modern history.

The British parliamentary system, with all its obscurantist procedure, flexible rules and repeated votes, did its job. The pragmatism and common sense for which Britain has been renowned triumphed

The narrow ideological dogmatism which it has always previously repelled was defeated. Britain is pausing before tearing apart the economic and security arrangements with our neighbours that have underpinned our prosperity and safety for half a century. But only for now.

This date of March 29, 2019, was always artificial. It was announced by the Prime Minister two-and-a-half years ago for the sole reason that she needed an announcement for the Conservative Party conference.

Set in law when Article 50 was triggered in the spring of 2017, it is even clearer now than it was then that we were not remotely prepared for the consequences.

We had not  inside the Government let alone the body politic  resolved our own profound disagreements about what purpose leaving the EU would achieve.

Nor did we have a clue what the new relationships would be with our closest neighbours and most important partners in the world.

Some wanted nothing other than interaction governed by World Trade Organisation rules  wed have the same deal with the Netherlands as we have with China. Others argued, as the Evening Standard did, for staying as a permanent member of the customs union and single market.

The only thing that was universally agreed was that in the two years of negotiations that lay ahead, Britain would have to work out what it wanted and get it agreed with Brussels before we walked out the door.

The Prime Minister spelt it out in her Lancaster House speech in January 2017: we will not seek some form of unlimited transitional status, in which we find ourselves stuck forever in some kind of permanent political purgatory, she said.

I want us to us have reached agreement about our future partnership by the end of the two years.

On January 14 this year, Theresa May repeated in Parliament that that agreement on how we left could not be separated from the agreement on what the future partnership looked like. One cannot be banked without the commitments of the other  they come as a package, she told us just two months ago.

Permanent purgatory

Today, that fundamental requirement is being jettisoned by Theresa May. It is a last ploy from a leader who has committed political suicide, and is now desperate for some kind of epitaph.

The future partnership agreement she negotiated with the EU, which was already flimsy, has been abandoned.

Instead MPs are being asked today solely to vote on the withdrawal agreement, the mechanism that takes us out of the EU. The only provisions in that agreement about the future are the ones the EU insisted on, notably the Irish backstop.

The UK has secured no guarantees or reciprocal backstop from the EU on our future relationship.

Dont be fooled by the honeyed words from the Government that this is all procedural, merely a device to buy more time from the EU. It would be, as Labours Keir Starmer says, a blind Brexit.

The idea that this present hung Parliament and divided Government will ever be able to agree on a permanent partnership with the EU is pure fantasy.

For the moderate Tory MPs who have so courageously fought to have a closer partnership put on the table, like Common Market 2.0, they risk today giving up all the leverage they have battled to achieve.

For the DUP and the hard Brexiteers, they would be all but guaranteeing that both the Irish backstop they despise, and the requirement to follow EU rules they say amounts to being a vassal state, would come into force.

We would be stuck in the permanent political purgatory Mrs May warned about.

Instead of surrendering our future freedom of action, let March 29, 2019, be remembered as the day Britain took back control  and make it a real independence day.

TODO: define component type apester
T heresa May was definitely wrong when she said this nation was bored of Brexit. Quite the opposite. We are obsessed. Diners are checking Twitter all the way through dinner and giving the latest updates to the tables beside them. Pubs are showing the votes live  walking home on Monday night, I heard drinkers shouting Brexit and customs union with the same fervour that they might have been shouting Ingerland and Sterling!

Even my nine-year-old nephew listens to the Brexitcast podcast religiously.

I asked Parliament Live, the Houses of Parliaments own online streaming service, how many viewers they were getting for their raw feeds from the Commons. Over the course of Wednesday, the day of the indicative votes, they had 150,000 viewers tune in.

BBC Parliament is also fist-bumping at a rise in numbers. They tell me theyve been picking up hundreds of thousands of viewers at peak times. The record so far is during the first meaningful vote when half a million tuned in.

And it is not just us. A tweeter called @footymac reports that even Italians  hardly short of their own political dramas  are developing a nightly ritual of watching the madness happening in our Parliament. Who knew that the great British Brexit export was going to be Brexit itself?

Think back to an era in modern history when youve seen so many people gathered in public to watch politics together  the fall of communist leaders, the Arab Spring. Brexit has been one of the precursors to major political upheaval. We start from a different place, thankfully  from being a rock-solid democracy. But that point at which we are tuning in in such numbers, and staying up late to watch the machinations of Parliament, is a symptom of the same thing: that people are deeply unhappy at how they are being governed.

It is difficult to buy us off with bread and circuses when politics has become the circus itself.

Grounds for concern among the baristas

There are 160,000 baristas in the UK  and we need 40,000 more over the next five years, said a report that came out yesterday.

Our thirst for coffee is unabated. A good news story? Nothing is ever that simple. The very same day The Economist ran an item about the new trend for robot baristas  theres already one in Shanghai, already pressing beans and frothing milk, and there are more in development that can pump out 100 cups an hour.

If theres one thing you dont need to tell baristas, its to wake up and smell the coffee.

Success is fine, but failing works too

Elizabeth Day / (c) Jenny Smith Photography

How to Fail, by Elizabeth Day, has landed on my desk. We both worked together as junior journos at the Standard, and Ive followed her career with envy and admiration.

Fail? Her? A high-flying writer at The Observer, an award-winning novelist. Day was setting the pace for the rest of us. But as it turns out, some of that was just success on others terms.

Her book, and the podcast it grew out of, makes a mockery of all those life guides about the mythical tick-boxes of achievement, from job promotions to getting the perfect beach body. By the end of it, you begin to ask the question of whether success is even something you should be aiming for. Indeed, it seems like the boring option.

Good for her for changing course and disorientating the rest of us. And as for those contemporaries whove been following her, we can congratulate ourselves on having failed  some with A*s.

When friendship turns to fisticuffs

I have spent the past six months watching one of my close friendships collapse in slow motion. Each attempt to fix it only seems to worsen matters. From having seen each other two or three times a week, it is now once every few weeks.
C ome to my dinner party. Five words that fill me with utter horror. But I nearly always say yes, especially since I have run out of ageing great-aunts who I can pretend have just snuffed it. Its not just the toe-curlingly smug food I cant stand: I couldnt get hold of everything at Waitrose so I gathered pondweed at midnight myself. It isnt even the crass seating plans designed to set me up with my table neighbour: John our designer is gay, and youre gay so youre sure to love each other. Its the nauseating attitude these hosts  especially the famous ones  have to cocaine use.

Very little makes me more furious than the moral gymnastics of worthy middle-class cocaine-users. I may not have witnessed it personally but Ive certainly been at parties where people will openly name political figures and well-known stars whose antics with the white powder they have seen. It is all laughed off as a bit of fun. I mean, its not as if anybody is getting hurt  the drug turf wars and consequent knife crime happen to other people.

I dont care what people do in private. Take whatever you want, but take it and shut up. You have no right to talk on any moral issue if this is part of your life. The number of concerts where the performer denounces global warming only to guzzle mounds of this deforestation-driving, murder-fuelling, middle-class drug of choice up their artisinally crafted nostril is obscene. Offset your moral destitution by all means but just shut up about your do-gooding ways.

I heard a story from a very reliable source about a famous pop star standing under a fossil-fuel-burning patio heater at a party, saying: You know, sometimes I think its only me and Sting that care about global warming. At the same party there was more cocaine going around than at a Pablo Escobar re-enactment fair.

As a barrister, I used to defend cocaine mules. They were nearly always women who had been blackmailed and manipulated by their male masters, who might kill one of the womans children and hold another one alive and hostage to keep her quiet.

Any lawyer who has dealt with this stuff will tell you that cartels deliberately choose the most vulnerable women as carriers. They will tell you about executions, about torture and about whole communities decimated. Women will be forced into prostitution and deliberately infected with diseases so that courts will treat them more leniently, meaning they can get back to work quicker. Cocaines mobility across international borders relies on the deaths and misery of countless women and children. All the while, the middle and celebrity classes preach about the virtues of veganism while ignoring the dire consequences of this drug.

"The drugs mobility across international borders relies on the deaths and misery of so many women and children"

London is one of the cocaine capitals of Europe. They measure the figures by how much of it has worked its way out of the bladders of the populace and into the water system. Now, with cocaine readily available, use is merely a sign that your morals have died and crawled down the drain via your nose.

This is one issue where both sides of the political divide wallow in the moral low ground. There are currently no plans for tougher sentences for possession of cocaine. Why would there be?

Just try to remember that you are exploiting the poorest communities in the world and, better still, dont invite me to your dinner party. Sadly, my great-aunt has just passed away.

My flight of fancy with gorgeous Taron

Taron Egerton / Getty Images for EJAF

It's not often Im rendered speechless. But it happened when I was on a plane and noticed a familiar-looking young man with an older, glamorous-looking woman. I half- listened to their conversation. They sounded like they were from Liverpool and seemed delightful.

He was the best-looking man that I have ever seen in the flesh  heart-stoppingly handsome, like a movie star of the Fifties. I asked one of the cabin crew who he was. Taron Egerton, she whispered. I was in such a daze that I replied: Thank you, half past three.

I spent the rest of the flight in giggly adolescent mode. I watched one of his films (not his best, I suspect) and was desperate to go over and say hello. Instead I said nothing.

It turns out that Egerton is set to play Elton John in the biopic Rocketman. Tarons nuclear-charged charisma makes him the perfect choice for the role. I plan to go and see it many times (even if its terrible).

Beautiful Kenya is open for business

One of the many perks of celebrity (there are no downsides) is getting free things. You are also gifted the opportunity of telling the world about places that are struggling and really in need of a boost. Kenya (a country I love) has suffered a serious decline in tourism because of terrorist atrocities in recent years.

I returned recently from there, having stayed at Hemingways hotel in Watamu on the Indian Ocean.
T his is the day when we have been repeatedly told that Britain would finally be leaving the EU. Ive just looked out of my window, and I can confirm were still in it. Instead of March 29 being Brexit Day, we are heading into the worst constitutional crisis since the settlement from 1688 after the Glorious Revolution.

Most worrying of all, there is no end in sight. The last week has seen a full-grown political crisis morph into this constitutional crisis. The latter are far more serious and very rare. They occur when politicians are unable to reach a solution under the existing constitutional arrangements, causing gridlock with no clear way out.

How exactly does Britain, which gave modern democracy to the world, find itself in this dire mess? For two years the PM has tried to reach a solution but her deal was voted down by the House of Commons twice  in the first and the fourth biggest defeats in British political history. Todays vote hangs by a thread. This week, Parliament tried taking control but it too has failed to find a way forward. Cabinet, meanwhile, has completely broken down: its 200-year-old doctrine of collective responsibility has collapsed, with ministers openly trashing government policy. MPs are defying three-line whips. The Speaker is wielding novel powers.

No one knows where power or sovereignty lies any more. Is Britain a direct democracy, with the people voting in the 2016 referendum to leave the EU, or a parliamentary democracy, where our MPs favour remaining in? Two theories. No meeting ground.

Not since the country divided itself into Catholic and Protestant camps in the 16th and 17th centuries has Britain been so split. Our views on EU membership go to the heart of the UKs position in the world, its economic and trade policy, its ability to make and enforce laws, and its very cohesion. It poses existential questions about our personal identities.

Anthony Seldon is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham / Getty Images

The Conservative Party is eating itself alive in a civil war that began in earnest 50 years ago, with no sign of being able to find any enduring compromise or consensus. In the middle stands a Prime Minister barely able to hold it together, clinging courageously  or idiotically, depending on your view  to her deal.

The Labour Party is worse. The Tories are divided only over Europe but Labour is riven from head to foot over just about everything. Over it presides Jeremy Corbyn, the weakest Labour leader in its history, unable to assert any moral leadership on this most divisive of issues, the puppet to his right-hand man, Seumas Milne.

So this crisis knocks into a cocked hat those which have blipped up every 10 or so years since 1945: Suez in 1956, devaluation in 1967, the IMF in 1976, the miners strike of 1984/85, the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 1992, and the Iraq war in 2003. We have to go back far further to see anything comparable to Brexit. The abdication crisis in 1936 rocked the nation. New king Edward VIII wanted to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson, to the disapproval of Parliament, but with his abdication and the accession of George VI the crisis swiftly passed. No such quick route out is available in 2019.

Much graver was the crisis over Lloyd Georges Budget in 1909, with imposed taxes on the wealthy to fund social policy but which was blocked by the House of Lords. Two general elections in 1910 and the support of Irish MPs saw the issue resolved, and the Parliament Act of 1911 shackled the power of the Lords forever. A general election now would offer no such clear resolution.

"A general election is no way out. A new hung Parliament could be a recipe for turmoil with the threat of unrest"

Not since the struggle over Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries has there been anything comparable to today. The issue tore parties and the country apart, and led to the Liberal Partys eclipse. With the UK teetering on the brink of civil war before 1914, the issue was eventually calmed by granting independence to the 26 counties of southern Ireland in 1922. The issue largely went away for 50 years. No such splitting up of the UK would settle anything today.

So the prospects look very bleak. If MPs vote for Mrs Mays deal theyll be entering the unknown with no clue what Britains relationship will be with our near neighbours. If they dont, were heading for more delay and paralysis. A second referendum might sound an attractive solution, but it is fraught with problems, not least the fury it will invoke in the Leave camp. It might never pass Parliament, with almost all Conservative MPs (and a fair number of Labour MPs too) opposed to it.

A referendum cannot be convened for several months, during which time we would have to remain in a very uncomfortable relationship with the EU, including having to take part in the European Parliament elections. Another narrow referendum result similar to 2016, as is likely, would lead us deeper into the morass.

A general election too provides no way forward: another hung Parliament could be a recipe for even greater turmoil, with the threat of social unrest and economic disorder growing all the time.

The best way forward to encourage MPs to vote for Mrs Mays deal would be to couple it with a second referendum to be held exactly five years later. As with the 1975 referendum on continued EEC membership, it would allow the UK to vote on whether it liked the Prime Ministers deal once it could see how the deal worked out in practice, or to confirm leaving altogether or whether to rejoin on fresh terms.

From great crises emerge great leaders  like Lloyd George in the First World War and Churchill in the Second  to unite the country in its darkest of hours. Johnson, Rudd, Gove, Hunt and Javid et al might not have shone brightly to date but Churchill was far from remarkable until he became PM. One of them might well rise to the challenge of healing the country after this most bitter peacetime divide in 300 years.

We are closer today  supposed Brexit Day  to national peril than at any point in peacetime since before 1914. The people are angry. Their patience is fraying. Have a good weekend, all.
Review at a glance









T he eyes have it, the eyes have it. Almost everything else about Tim Burtons remake of Disneys 1941 classic Dumbo about the flying baby elephant is pitiably inferior to its predecessor. But the eyes still have the power to turn you to mush. If those soulful, cobalt-blue orbs dont melt the heart, consider applying for an apprenticeship with a poaching gang in Zimbabwe.

One problem here is that we dont see enough of them. The infant pachyderm with the aerodynamic ears vanishes for long stretches as Burton overstrives to make the story his own.

One understands the pressure to avoid pallid plagiarism. The original Dumbo was such a masterful tear-jerker that, however long ago you saw it, you never forget. Knowing this, Burton shifts the focus away from the title character, and towards a bunch of humans and a clutch of sub-themes. But his people are barely archetypes, and he never scratches beneath the surface. So the search for distinction leads to nothing more than a live-action distraction from what made Disneys fourth animation one of the studios very best.

The year is 1919, and the Medici Bros travelling circus, owned and ringmastered by brotherless Max Medici (Danny DeVito), sets up on the edge of a town in New York state.

Returning from the Great War in Europe is circus equestrian Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell, with a strong Kentuckian twang). On the platform he is reunited with sciencey daughter Millie (Nico Parker) and pre-teen son Joe (Finley Hobbins).

Tim Burton's Dumbo - In pictures 1 /18 Tim Burton's Dumbo - In pictures Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney Stills from the trailer for Tim Burton's forthcoming Dumbo film Disney

What Holt learns from them is that he is minus not only an arm (though he may have known that already), but also, thanks to a flu epidemic, a wife. In her unavoidable absence, the kids have been cared for by Medicis menagerie of freaks  mermaid, bearded lady, worlds strongest man, snake-charmer and other unwilling refugees from that bewildering box-office smash The Greatest Showman.

Business is down in Maxs circus and he needs a spectacle to suck in the rubes. An adorable baby elephant is just the big-ticket item. One arrives through a less fanciful delivery system than in 1941. Although a nearby stork presages his arrival, he emerges from Mrs Jumbo. After her maternal instincts make her stroppy, she is sent away. Her baby  paraded in pram, bonnet and ear-hiding bonnet as Dear Baby Jumbo, until some letters fall off the banner to leave Dumbo  is as motherless as the children who befriend him.

Inspired by a lucky feather, he flaps the gargantuan ears, which trail behind him like bridal trains, and are making a laughing stock of him. He manages what the film cannot. He takes off.

So far, so adequate. Burton has laid the ground to explore how the lonely and isolated create families of their own. But hopes of Burtons belated return to form evaporate when the story departs the circus for an art deco-esque proto theme park, Dreamland, owned by VA Vandevere (Michael Keaton, wildly overhamming the panto baddie; Alan Arkin is pointlessly wheeled out as his unofficial ugly sister, a cartoonishly flint-hearted banker).

TODO: define component type brightcove

If we are being invited to regret the birth of the ruthlessly profit-driven corporate theme park, hats off to Disney for the chutzpah. Vandevere dupes the simpleton Medici into a mock-partnership to monetise Dumbo, for whom an elaborate escape plan is duly hatched.

The film is strongest when it pays fond homage to the 1941 version (a nice rendition of the touching number Baby Mine; a cutely reworked pink elephants hallucination). But something much more important than the rest of the songsheet or the infamous racist stereotyping of those jive-talking crows has gone. Also jettisoned is the bitterness that melded so exquisitely with the sweet. The film glosses glibly over the poisonous intolerance of otherness, and the nastiness is as broad and as lame as what few gags there are.

DeVito brings his usual pint-sized whirlwind brio to Medici, and Eva Green injects empathy along with haughty glamour as French trapeze artist Colette, a surrogate mother to two species, and saviour of a lost father.

Burton minimally redeems himself with a climax that gave these lacrimals a workout, but if director and studio looked a horrible mismatch on paper, so it proves on screen in such an anodyne milking of the archive cash-cow udder that never raises its ambitions above the pantomime stage.

It was shocking misjudgment to sanitise this story. The 1941 films sinister side embedded it in formative minds, at least as much as the gooey stuff.
F ilm fans are in for a treat this April, with new horrors, blockbuster action movies and cult comic book adaptations all coming to the big screen.

Avengers: Endgame marks the second Marvel movie of the year, released on April 24. It follows hot on the heels of the acclaimed Captain Marvel, which saw Brie Larson make her debut in the role in March.

Elsewhere, the first Hellboy movie since Guillermo Del Toros 2008 film The Golden Army debuts, and theres also moving drama in the form of High Life.

These are five must-see films to seek out in April.

Pet Sematary (April 5)

Pet Sematary (2019) - Official Trailer

2019 is shaping up to be a strong year for horror, with Jordan Peeles Us already winning over critics and It: Chapter Two arriving over the summer. Pet Sematary, a new adaptation of Stephen Kings novel, is another one to watch out for.

The movie follows the Clarke family, who move to a new home in the country only to discover a mysterious burial ground in the woods close by. The remake of the 1989 hit of the same name stars John Lithgow, Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz, and it promises to be just as entertaining and sinister as the original.

King has enjoyed a Hollywood renaissance of late, with It, Geralds Game, 1922 and the Dark Tower all arriving over recent years  the early signs are all suggesting Pet Sematary will be the next success.

Shazam! (April 5)

Shazam! - Trailer

Imagine Tom Hanks Big, but instead of turning into an adult, the protagonist became a superhero. Thats the premise of Shazam!  the new comedy-action flick from director David Sandberg. The film focuses on a 14-year-old foster child transported to a distant realm and given incredible powers.

Zachary Levi stars as Shazam  a hero blessed with incredible speed, strength, wisdom and the power of flight  while Mark Strong does what he does best, playing main villain Dr Thaddeus Silvana. It looks like great fun, and it could be the perfect antidote to the studios recent po-faced efforts Aquaman, Justice League and Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

High Life (April 5)

High Life trailer

Robert Pattinson appears in this new sci-fi drama from French director Claire Denis. The movie focuses on a group of convicts, who are sent on a mission to explore a black hole. Believing they can walk free after taking part, they suffer unimaginable conditions along the way. The film does, however, see Pattinsons character learn to connect with his newborn daughter.

The film won favourable reviews after debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and currently holds an impressive 88 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Its set to be a harrowing, but thought-provoking watch this April.

Hell Boy (April 12)

Hellboy 2019 trailer

Stranger Things star David Harbour underwent months of intensive training to bulk up to play demonic superhero Hellboy. He certainly looks the part in the new film, which marks a welcome return for the cult Dark Horse Comics character.

The movie follows the heros battle against an evil sorceress intent on destroying the world. Its set, partly, in London  in the trailer we see Hellboy arrive at a crime scene outside of the Bank of England, before entering a secret headquarters in an old fish and chip shop. Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich and Daniel Dae Kim also star in the movie, which is set to be one of the most idiosyncratic superhero movies of the year.

Avengers: Endgame (April 24)

Avengers: Endgame - Trailer 2

The Avengers are looking to make a fresh start in Endgame this April, following the devastating effects of Thanoss snap in 2018s Infinity War. After half of all life in the universe was destroyed in the last film, the likes of Tony Stark, Captain Marvel, Thor and Captain America all come together once again to lead the fightback.
P roducer Judith Dimant said she was saved the headache of casting after playwright Enda Walsh invited my friend Cillian to an audition for Grief is the Thing with Feathers.

Dimant launched her own production company with the play after getting the rights from the publisher. She sent the original novel to Walsh, who adapted and directed it.

She said: We decided to do a workshop on it and he said, Ill bring my friend Cillian. If you have a director like Enda, when he read it he thought, I know this is Cillian Murphy. It was simple like that.

Dimant said the story, which she describes as somewhere between a novel and a poem, resonated with the leading man and added: Cillian engaged with the material so quickly.

The piece got under his skin and he could relate to the character, they were a similar age, hes got children. It felt right.

I think hes very particular about the theatre work he does and he just felt this was very special.
KINGSTON, Ontario, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Under the Doug Ford government, there is a lot at stake for Ontarians. Labour and community allies must be at the forefront of the Ford resistance, says the Ontario Federation of Labour.



On Tuesday, April 2, the Ontario Federation of Labour and the Kingston and District Labour Council are hosting a Regional Activation Meeting in Kingston. We are inviting all labour and community activists and leaders across the Kingston Region.

When labour and community work together we bring the power of many to the table, and we win, said Ontario Federation of Labour President Chris Buckley. We have put this government on notice. The people of Ontario will not let them dismantle public services like health care and education for all, decent work, or safe and healthy communities. We are the power of many, a unified movement for change.

What: Kingston Power of Many Regional Activation Meeting

When: April 2, 2019 at 5:30pm  8:30pm

Where: OPSEU Hall, 824 John Counter Blvd, Kingston, ON K7K 2R1

Speakers will include: Smokey Thomas, President, OPSEU

The Kingston regional activation meeting will:

Lay out what is at stake for Ontario in the coming months and years.

Introduce a member-to-member campaign that allows for stronger communication with rank-and-file members.

Launch a provincial-wide rapid response network to coordinate local fightback efforts.

Build and set a plan of action through resistance with community allies over the next several months.

Identify where and how we increase capacity, support, and infrastructure for the fightback.

Identify what tools are required to build our fightback network and escalate our actions.

The Ontario Federation of Labour represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.ofl.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter .
Jacquemus, the palm-sized handbag brand loved by Kendall Jenner, has opened a cafe in Paris.

In a collaboration between Simon Porte Jacquemus and Caviar Kaspa, Cafe Citron opened today in Paris's Instagram utopia Galeries Lafayette. If you've never been, the city's stunning luxury shopping arcade crowns the top end of the Champs Elysees, an area synonymous with the City of Light's luxury scene.

Designed by Bjarke Ingels - the man behind Silcon Valley's campuses - the concept cafe/restaurant is a clean, light and airy space featuring millennial pink terracotta decor and a charming lemon olive grove set up. Think mismatching tables, odd chairs, shelves stacked with glass art pieces and oodles of lemon trees. Essentially, Riviera chic for the demands of the Instagram generation - which is, incidentally, a good way to describe the Jacquemus' AW19 collection aesthetic.

The menu is Mediterranean at heart, with products sourced from some of the city's biggest names: confectionery comes courtesy of A La Mere de Famille, calories (AKA bread) from famed boulanger Anthony Courteille and additional produce from Les Vergers St Eustache.

New career venture: Simon Porte Jacquemus at the finale of his AW19 collection in Paris / Imaxtree

The menu features plenty of dishes that are hot in the Parisian culinary scene right now, including creamy burratta served with beef heart tomatoes (it's basically the new Caprese salad) and a fayet and Marseille-style pissaladiere.

Must eat? Take a look at the 'gram below:

Masterminded by pastry chefs Cedric Grolet, Jeffrey Cagnes and Anthony Courtiells, the signature cake to devour is this candied lemon bonanza. See, all of those lemon trees make absolute sense now.
M other's Day is the ideal time to celebrate the mother figures in our lives and express our appreciation with gifts, cards and kind words.

In the UK we celebrate Mother's Day on the fourth Sunday in Lent, and exactly three weeks before Easter Day because of religious tradition.

It stems from a centuries-old practice in which people would travel from far and wide to return to to their "mother church" for a special service during Lent.

People would also reunite with family from their hometowns and it later became known as "Mothering Sunday", with children often picking flowers for their mothers on the way to church.

Mother's Day: How to bake the perfect cake

Today, Mother's Day mainly draws from the American secular holiday, which was passed along from American to British soldiers during the Second World War.

When is Mother's Day 2019?

This year, Mother's Day falls on Sunday, March 31 in the UK. However different countries celebrate it at different times of year.

For example, countries such as the USA, Australia, Japan and New Zealand celebrate it on the second Sunday in May.

The reason the UK has a different date for Mothers Day is because historically people were given the day off to return to their home and worship with their families.

Mother's Day gift ideas

Today, many feel that Mother's Day has become too commercial, favouring homemade or personalised gifts over spending money in the shops. So here's how to show your Mum how much she means to you without breaking the bank.

1. Bake her something

Theres something about homemade baking that wraps you up in a cocoon of love. Whether its a cake or brownies, your mum will appreciate the gesture more than you know.

2. Frame your favourite photo of the two of you together

While this one involves a little bit of money you can do it cheaply and make good use of one of the thousands of photos you have on your phone. If you have a bit of extra time, think of making a photo album for her of the two of you together.

3. Make her her favourite dinner

Your mum spent your childhood making you dinners so its time to return the favour. Head round to hers and make her favourite mac and cheese or a roast if youre feeling fancy - and be sure to do the dishes afterwards.

4. Write her a letter

Perfect for if you live far away from your mum or if you struggle to articulate your feelings verbally, writing a mushy letter to tell her all the reasons you love and appreciate her will probably become one of her most prized possessions.

5. Make her a personalised cross stitch
M other's Day is now just days away, meaning it's nearly time to show your appreciation for everything our mums do for us.

The annual celebration of motherhood falls on Sunday March 31, which gives you just enough time to get your present to her sorted.

According to Next's Mother's Day survey, the average mum shares proud moments of her kids on social media every week - so now is the perfect time for you to return the favour.

If you're looking for something to show the world how much your mum means to you online or in a card, these heartwarming quotes could be just what you're after.

Mother's Day ideas 2019: The best places to go in London 1 /10 Mother's Day ideas 2019: The best places to go in London OXBO If youre after a brunch that packs a boozy punch, OXBO is one of the best in the city. Hit up the Pimp Your Prosecco station, mixing up unlimited fizz with all kinds of syrups and fresh fruit. Youll need something to soak it all up. Head to the open kitchen for unlimited servings of eggs benedict, eggs royale, omelettes, waffles and malted pancake, before sharing three main courses  sirloin steak, haddock and pumpkin and jackfruit korma. The two hour brunch with unlimited fizz is 45 and as a bonus, diners will also receive a Mothers Day goodie bag, full of artisan chocolates to take with you. Hilton London Bankside, 2-8 Great Suffolk Street, SE1 0UG Wild By Tart One of the centrepieces of Victorias impressive Eccleston Yard redevelopment, Wild by Tart is teaming up with Darjeeling Express founder and celebrated Chef's Table star Asma Khan for a special Mothers Day brunch. Expect fresh dishes like Tart's baked eggs with okra, aubergine and coriander green chutney on offer, all prepared by Khan and Wild by Tart staff. Tickets are 45 and include gift bags with chocolate truffles. 3-4 Eccleston Yards, Belgravia, SW1W 9AZ The Petersham If there's anything better than a luxurious four-course meal, it's a free luxurious four-course meal. Richmond hotel the Petersham is letting mothers eat without paying a penny this year, welcoming them to enjoy a lovely meal in a charming setting by the Thames. The restaurants light and airy dining room is a great place to enjoy the crab and quinoa salad and pan-fried cod with crab tortellini, before tucking into chocolate forest gateau, cherry and rum sorbet or sticky toffee pudding. For every four guests booked after 4pm, one mum can eat for free on the big day. Nightingale Ln, Richmond TW10 6UZ Thames Rockets If your mum likes to feel the wind in her hair, Thames Rockets could be the way forward. Speedboat tours of the Thames are some of the quirkiest ways to spend March 31. The Mother's Day Dash is a chance to blast up and down the river for 50 minutes and take in the sights of the city. Best of all, on the day mums go totally free in groups of two or more. The London Eye Millennium Pier, SE1 7PB Camino Bankside Get crafty at Camino Bankside, with a special jewellery-making masterclass. Choose between making a ring, broach, earrings or a necklace pendant at the event, which runs from 11am to 1pm on March 31. Design and create the piece on the day, before sending it off to be cast in sterling silver. The perfect way to add a little personality to your Mother's Day gift. Tickets are 75 and include a glass of fizz on arrival. 5 Canvey St, SE1 9AN SUSHISAMBA If lobster and champagne sound like your thing, then the SUSHISAMBA brunch could be the ideal place to start the Mothers Day celebrations this year. The menu is among the most glamorous youre likely to find, and the Liverpool Street venue is going all out, running a special Bossa Nova Brunch from 11.30am to 4.30pm on March 31. The 55 offer features fresh fruit tiraditos, mini lobster brioche rolls, causa benedict and sweet finish desserts, as well as a live band providing the soundtrack. EC2 and WC The Savoy Those looking for an unforgettable experience are well catered for at the Savoy on Mother's Day  and throughout the rest of the year, in truth. The recently launched vegan afternoon tea in the Thames Foyer costs 65, offering a plant-based treat in one of Londons most beautiful dining rooms. Or, keep it classic with a trip to the Beaufort or American Bar. It's one of the glitziest places to enjoy a drink in the city, and one of the very best for marking a special occasion. Strand, WC2R 0EZ London Shell Co. Cruise down Regents Canal on floating seafood restaurant London Shell Company, which is hosting a special Mothers Day menu. Expect seasonal dishes served out of the charming converted barge, which offers amazing views of the surrounding park and London Zoo. Cured trout and smoked roe croustade, as well as mussel and saffron soup with fried curry leaves, are among the highlights of the five-course menu, costing 50 a head. It could be the very best way to float your boat this March 31. The Prince Regent Sheldon Square Central, W2 6PY

Best Mother's Day quotes and poems

"Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love." Stevie Wonder

Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved." Erich Fromm

"A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories." Honore de Balzac

"He didn't realise that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark." J.K. Rowling.

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." Theodore Hesburgh

"To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power." Maya Angelou

"A mother's arms are more comforting than anyone else's." Princess Diana

Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not." James Joyce

"Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother." Oprah Winfrey

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers." Rudyard Kipling

"I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars." E.M. Forster

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." Abraham Lincoln

My mother is a walking miracle." Leonardo DiCaprio

"Children are the anchors of a mother's life." Sophocles

"A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them." Victor Hugo

Motherhood is the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. Its huge and scary  its an act of infinite optimism. Gilda Radner

A mothers love is everything. It is what brings a child into this world. It is what molds their entire being. When a mother sees her child in danger, she is literally capable of anything. Mothers have lifted cars off of their children, and destroyed entire dynasties. A mothers love is the strongest energy known to man. Jamie McGuire

Motherhood: All love begins and ends there. Robert Browning

My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind. Michael Jordan
B ar do Mineiro

Up in the boho artist quarter of Santa Teresa  accessed via a rattly tram  this cheery boteco (bar) champions food and drink from the neighbouring state of Minas Gerais. And Minas Gerais is the home of cachaca, so go figure: the caipirinhas are fantastic. Order one before admiring monochrome photos of olden-days Rio.

Academia da Cachaca

The key ingredient in caipirinhas is the sugarcane spirit of cachaca, so where better to try the cocktail than at the Academia da Cachacas bar in posh Leblon? Choosing from more than 100 cachacas, mixologists can serve caipirinhas the classic way, or replace lime with passionfruit, pineapple or lima, a kind of bittersweet orange.

Copacabana Palace Piano Bar

Rios most iconic hotel, plum in the centre of Copacabanas crescent-shaped beach, is the art deco Belmond Copacabana Palace.

Non-guests are welcome to join celebrities and politicians at its low-lit, all-day Piano Bar, where expert bartenders mix up caipirinhas as jazz musicians softly tickle the ivories.

Galeto Sats

A more affordable Copacabana restaurant dating from 1962, Galeto Sats signature caipirinha is ready-made for balmy days. It uses zesty lemon, coconutty cachaca from Paraty, a traditional production region for the spirit, and that most Brazilian of fruits, cashew. And itll cost you under a fiver.

Gavea Beach Club
S weden is synonymous with three things: Abba, Ikea and meatballs.

While you can visit the Abba museum and an Ikea in Stockholms city centre, finding the Swede capitals best meatballs is a tougher endeavour.

With various places across the city offering the traditional dish, weve narrowed down the best places to get your meatball fix below.

Nytorget 6

Where to find it: Nytorget 6, 116 40

What to order: the classic veal meatballs, which are served with potato puree, lingonberries, pickled cucumber and cream sauce. 215 SK

Far away from the tourist traps, youll find this cosy local establishment which serves up some of the best meatballs in the city. Traditionally served with cream sauce and potatoe puree, after youve had the meatballs take your time wandering through this area to find some lovely design stores serving up a host of Scandi interior inspiration.

Meatballs for the People

Where to find it: Nytorgsgatan 30, 116 40

What to order: opt for the meatball open tortilla for a different take on the classic. This is served with garam masala-spiced couscous, tomato sauce, roasted garlic yoghurt and salad. 179 SK

Just around the corner from Nytorget 6 (why not get both?) youll find Meatballs for the People. As its name suggests, meatballs are the speciality here with a number of variations to choose from.

Bakfickan

Where to find it: Karl XII:s torg, 111 86

What to order: Swedish meatballs in cream sauce with potato puree, lingonberries and pickled cucumber. 215 SK

Adjacent to The Opera Bar, youll find Bakfickan, a counter restaurant that seats just 28 and serves an array of traditional Swedish cuisine. It gets rather busy around lunch and doesnt take bookings so be sure to arrive early or late.

Restaurant Pelikan

Where to find it: Blekingegatan 40, 116 62

What to order: Pelikans meatballs, served with cream sauce, gherkins, lingonberries and potato puree. 198 SK

Open from 4pm Monday to Thursday and from midday on Friday and the weekend, Pelikan is the place to go for your late night meatball fix. Modelled after a beer hall, head here for hearty Swedish food  youll find reindeer, char and ox on the menu alongside the meatballs.

Fem sma hus

Where to find it: Nygrand 10, 111 30

What to order: the Swedish meatballs.

Located in Stockholms old town, this restaurant is a fusion of French and Swedish cuisine, but its the Terrace Bar that offers some of the best meatballs in town. Head there for a drink and a side of meatballs and youre set for the evening.

Tradition

Where to find it: Osterlanggatan 1, 111 31

What to order: Swedish meatballs with cream sauce, lingonberries, pickled cucumber and potato puree. 215 SK

Using uncomplicated, high-quality ingredients, Tradition lives up to its name serving traditional Swedish food just as it was intended. Here, youll not only find meatballs but a number of other classic Swedish dishes, like pork-filled potato dumplings and shrimp toast.

Den Gyldene Freden (The Golden Peace)

Where to find it: Osterlanggatan 51, 111 31

What to order: the meatballs, served with lingonberries, pickled cucumber, cream sauce and potato puree. 235 SK
A ll frontline Met officers should have access to Taser stun guns to counter the threat of a growing number of assaults on police, a report urged today.

The call by the London Assembly Tory group highlights an 81 per cent rise in assaults on London police in the past three years. Figures show that in 2017-18 there were 4,791 compared with 2,634 in 2015-16, though some of the increase is attributed to better recording.

The reports author, London Assembly member Susan Hall, said: The rise in officer assaults comes directly off the back of Londons crime epidemic. Officers are increasingly having to throw themselves into dangerous situations, thus becoming victims themselves.

She called on the Mayor to arm all officers with Tasers  if they wanted to carry the weapon  to ensure they have better protection, adding: The evidence shows Tasers can play a significant role in keeping officers safe, which is why the Mayor must initiate its wider roll-out.

The report, In Harms Way: Protect Our Police, says officers should patrol in pairs within sight of each other. It reveals about 140 Met officers and staff are referred to the forces counselling service each month.

A Met spokesman said: We continuously review and monitor the number of Taser-trained officers  We are currently running a programme in order to get 6,500 Taser-trained officers by autumn 2019.
A computer hacker caused 3 million of damage in cyber-attacks on Microsoft and Nintendo after he was spared prosecution for a notorious data breach involving more than six million children, a court heard.

Zammis Clark, 24, hacked into the servers of Hong Kong-based toy firm Vtech in 2015 and gained access to millions of customer accounts, including names and addresses, download histories and profile pictures.

The company was forced to suspend its shares after the breach, and admitted more than 10 million accounts had been compromised.

But Clark, who confessed to carrying out the hack from his family home in Bracknell, Berkshire, was given just a police caution when Vtech  under fire over its cyber security  refused to assist in prosecuting him.

Blackfriars crown court heard yesterday that Clark, who is on the autistic spectrum, was the architect of a 2017 cyber-attack on tech giant Microsoft, causing up to $2 million (1.5 million) of damage when he accessed software under development, downloaded 43,000 files and posted information online to allow others to join the hack.

Prosecutor Dickon Reid said: He published on an internet chatroom the fact he had hacked into the system, and by publishing that a number of other hackers from France, Germany, Ireland, Slovakia, the United States and the United Arab Emirates accessed the computer server.

The breach, which included uploading malware, was traced back to Clarks computer and detectives raided his home in June 2017.

Despite being on police bail, Clark then carried out a near-identical hack in March 2018 on games firm Nintendo, stealing more than 2,000 user names and passwords.

Mr Reid told the court the attack was not discovered until two months later, and cost Nintendo 1.4 million in repairs to its systems.

Clark, who pleaded guilty to computer hacking charges, was sentenced alongside website designer Thomas Hounsell, 26, who admitted joining in the Microsoft attack.

Clark was allowed to sit in the well of the court next to his mother for the sentencing hearing, as Judge Alexander Milne QC heard he suffers from face blindness as part of his autism and struggles to make friends.

His barrister, Charles Burton, said Clarks hacking is akin to an addiction and he couldnt help himself.

The judge gave Clark a 15-month suspended jail sentence and said he accepted Clark and Hounsell didnt see them as attacks at the time. But he compared the breaches to house burglaries and added: You are entering someone elses property.
A 16-year-old schoolboy has received a police caution after a Syrian refugee was filmed being attacked at school.

Footage showed the 15-year-old victim being thrown to the ground and having water poured onto his face in Huddersfield.

West Yorkshire Police said it had investigated whether a racially aggravated assault had taken place in October last year.

The Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring such a charge against the suspect.

He was given a caution for a section 39 assault, police said.

In a statement, the force said the victim's family had "been kept updated throughout the process and has been updated on the Crown Prosecution Service's decision".

The footage provoked outrage and prompted well-wishers to set up an online crowdfunding page for the victim which received 50,000 in donations in the space of a day.

Shortly after the footage emerged, the victim said he no longer felt safe at school.

He told ITV News: "I woke up at night and just started crying about this problem. They think I'm different - different from them.

"I don't feel safe at school.

"Sometimes I say to my dad, 'I don't want to go to school anymore'. I was just crying and I didn't do nothing because I respect the school rules."
T ensions erupted in Westminster this evening after thousands of Leave supporters gathered to demonstrate over the delay to Brexit - on the UK's scheduled date for departing the EU.

Police and protesters faced off at Downing Street on Friday as a large crowd of Tommy Robinson supporters gathered in Whitehall.

It came after the Prime Minister suffered a third Commons defeat when her Withdrawal Agreement was rejected on Friday.

Some demonstrators cheered as MPs voted down Theresa May's deal, but others were left fearing it meant a new EU referendum was now on the cards and were frustrated by a delay.

Demonstrators march holding flags and placards during a pro Brexit rally on Friday / Getty Images

Five people have been arrested at the march, Scotland Yard said.

One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and two others on suspicion of assault.

Brexit: Crowds attend Leave protests in Westminster

Another was for being drunk and disorderly, while a fifth was detained after being identified for being wanted in relation to an offence in Hertfordshire.

Clashes later broke out between Tommy Robinson supporters and police, with fans of the controversial figure even engaging in a tug of war with officers over metal railings.

Pro-Brexit protesters clash with police / AP

Many Robinson fans began to engage in heated words with the police officer.

His supporters chanted "we want our country back" and "we want Brexit", before turning on the Channel 4 television crew.

Clashes broke out between police and protesters / Getty Images

Two MPs had earlier claimed they were abused by protesters before and after the vote.

Friday's march saw huge crowds of activists with Union Jack flags, placards and banners fill the roads outside Parliament.

Protesters holding placards during the pro-Brexit rally / Getty Images

The March to Leave, which began in Sunderland two weeks ago, arrived in Parliament Square this afternoon.

A separate 'Make Brexit Happen' rally also featured at the demonstration, with speeches from Ukip leader Gerard Batten and English Defence League founder Robinson.

Pro-Brexit protesters take part in the March to Leave demonstration / Reuters

While a counter-protest by the group Stand Up to Racism has been taking place in Westminster.

SNP Joanna Cherry reported being "abused by trailing ends" of the Leave means Leave protest as she walked home.

Thousands joined the rally on Friday (BBC)

She claimed she was "Called a traitor" and "told to go back to my own country".

Meanwhile The Labour MP for Wigan, Lisa Nandy, said on Twitter she was "accosted" outside Parliament before the vote.

Tommy Robinson seem on a screen addressing protesters / Getty Images

She wrote: "Today outside Parliament I and others were accosted by people shouting f****** traitor as we tried to get in to vote. Our staff were advised to leave the building for their own safety. There were armed police everywhere. This is not normal."

Mrs May's Brexit deal was defeated by a crushing margin of 58 votes, triggering Tory calls for her to stand down.

The reaction of some protesters reinforced how confusing the Brexit process has been, with some wrongly believing it was a third "meaningful vote" on Mrs May's deal.

A pro-Brexit protester faces off with police outside Downing Street / REUTERS

Danny Wallace, 28, from Manchester, said: "I listened to what happened and Theresa May pretty much said she's going to come out with a second referendum.

"That's a bad idea, I think what most people wanted was what was on the table."

Roger Hopkins and Charlotte Clifford, both from Eastbourne, said they were pleased the agreement had been defeated as it was a "bad deal".

In pictures | Pro-Brexit march in London 1 /26 In pictures | Pro-Brexit march in London A man comes face to face with a police officer PA A pro-Brexit protester faces off with police during a demonstration outside Downing Street REUTERS Pro-Brexit supporters burn a EU flag near to Trafalgar Square PA Pro-Brexit supporters stand in the road at Trafalgar Square PA Pro-Brexit supporters confront police officers securing the gates of Downing Street AFP/Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters face off with police REUTERS Demonstrators march holding flags and placards during a pro Brexit rally Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters clash with police after their rally in Westminster AP A man takes a photo of a Metropolitan Police officer AP Police officers clash with demonstrators Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters clash with police after their rally in Westminster, AP The pro-Brexit protest was attended by thousands AP One protester wearing a Guy Fawkes march AP Police officer secure the gates of Downing Street AFP/Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters stand near police AP Demonstrators clash with police officers Getty Images A far-right protester is detained by police REUTERS A Pro-Brexit supporter wearing a Donald Trump mask in Whitehall PA PA Brexit supporters march in Fulham in the final leg of the March To Leave Rally Getty Images

Mr Hopkins, who is retired, said: "What I really really hope for now is to come out on WTO (World Trade Organisation) terms, it's not 'crashing out' or anything like that."

Ms Clifford added: "The people are supposed to be the masters and them inside (pointing at Parliament) are meant to do what we tell them. It's democracy."

The final leg of the March To Leave had seen hundreds of marchers file from Fulham towards Parliament Square.

Ukip leader Gerard Batten spoke alongside Mr Robinson from a stage in Whitehall during the protest.

Scotland Yard was compelled to dismiss as "baseless and false" suggestions from Mr Batten that water cannon could be deployed at protests to "provoke Brexiteers".

The Metropolitan Police did have three water cannon - purchased while Boris Johnson was London Mayor - but they were sold at a more than 300,000 loss because their use had been banned.

Westminster Council said it is aware of up to 13 separate scheduled protests and the Metropolitan Police said "appropriate policing plans are in place".
A man who fraudulently claimed nearly 50,000 meant for Grenfell Tower survivors has been jailed.

Moses Ettienne used to live in the west London tower but had moved out several years before the tragic fire, police said.

Following the 2017 blaze, where 72 people died as a result of a fire in the building, the 49-year-old told Kensington and Chelsea council he had been staying in the tower on the night the fire broke out.

Police said Etienne gave a false flat number that did not exist, and then refused to provide the council or the police with details of the flat he was claiming to live in.

Officers said: Ettienne claimed that this was due to his top secret work with foreign governments on renewable energy and that the flat may still contain these top secret Government files.

He even tried to claim that as a result of his government work he was afforded diplomatic immunity as a result of him being attached to the US Mission in Geneva.

The reality was he held no diplomatic status in the UK and that whilst he had created two renewable energy companies with Companies House, both were closed after a year due to lack of trading. Evidence showed that he was in fact a second hand vintage clothes stall holder.

As a result, he claimed hotel accommodation and sustenance to a value of 47,415.75.

Ettienne was jailed for five years after he was convicted at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday.

Andrew Levin, from the CPS, said: This is yet another shocking case of taking advantage of a community tragedy for personal gain.

Although Ettiene did provide documents that proved he lived at the Grenfell Tower  these dated back to 2014 and there was absolutely no evidence showing he had lived in the building post 2015.

The prosecution case did not dispute the historic links Ettiene had to the tower, but was able to prove that he was lying and was not a resident at the time of the fire.
OTTAWA, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- There is a lot at stake for Ontario under the Ford government. Labour and community allies must be at the forefront of the Ford Resistance, says the Ontario Federation of Labour.



On Tuesday, April 2, the Ontario Federation of Labour and the Ottawa and District Labour Council are hosting a Regional Activation Meeting in Ottawa. We are inviting all labour and community activists and leaders across the Ottawa Region.

Labour and community activists will not sit idle while this government makes cut after cut and cancellation after cancellation of programs and services that Ontario families depend on, said Ontario Federation of Labour President Chris Buckley. We know that we can win. We are going to make sure our province has well-funded public services like health care and education, safe, healthy communities, and decent work for all.

Labour and community activists are bringing the power of many to this fight, said OFL Secretary-Treasurer Patty Coates. We are the majority and together we are going to win.

What: Ottawa Regional Activation Meeting

When: April 02, 2019 at 6:00pm - 8:30pm

Where: Jean Pigott Hall, Ottawa City Hall (first floor),110 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1

Speakers will include: Ahmad Gaied, Executive Vice-President, Ontario Federation of Labour, Sean McKenny, President, Ottawa and District Labour Council

The Ottawa regional activation meeting will:

Lay out what is at stake for Ontario in the coming months and years.

Introduce a member-to-member campaign that allows for stronger communication with rank-and-file members.

Launch a provincial-wide rapid response network to coordinate local fightback efforts.

Build and set a plan of action through resistance with community allies over the next several months.

Identify where and how we increase capacity, support, and infrastructure for the fightback.

Identify what tools are required to build our fightback network and escalate our actions.

The OFL represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter .

For further information contact: Meagan Perry

Director of Communications, Ontario Federation of Labour

mperry@ofl.ca l 416-894-3456

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T he ringleader of an all-female Islamic State terror cell who plotted a murderous rampage outside Parliament has had her bank account frozen by a court amid fears she could try to fund extremists from behind bars.

Rizlaine Boular, 23, conspired with her younger sister Safaa and mother Mina Dich to plan an attack in the name of IS which they codenamed after the Mad Hatters Tea Party in Alice In Wonderland.

When counter-terror officers foiled the plot, Boular was shot three times in the stomach during a raid by armed officers on her home in Willesden.

The mother of one, who had been radicalised online and made a failed bid to travel to Syria in 2014, was caught on covert surveillance discussing the terror plot to stab members of the public at random around Parliament.

The sisters were heard laughing as they discussed an Alice In Wonderland theme for the tea party attack, while Boular and her mother went shopping for knives and carried out reconnaissance in Westminster.

Rizlaine Boular with her mother Mina Dich who was also jailed

Boular, who admitted the terror plot, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years at the Old Bailey last June.

Met anti-terror officers went to Westminster magistrates court this week to seek a freezing order on Boulars bank account. It also emerged in court the account had been receiving overpaid state benefits for at least a year while she has been in prison.

The evidence shows for a number of years Ms Boular was seeking to travel to Syria and seeking to plan a terrorist atrocity in London, said Scotland Yards barrister Aaron Moss.

She now says she doesnt want to do that ever again, and she wont let anyone use her money while she is in prison.

But he told the court: Self-professing willingness to change is not sufficient to show it is not likely that money will be used for terrorist purposes.

Boulars lawyer Keshina Bouri said the young mother has agreed to undergo religious studies in prison after accepting she had a lack of understanding of Islam.

Counter-terror officers foiled the plot, during an armed raid on Rizlaine Boular's home in Willesden. / Mail Online

She will not be using this money, there is no reasonable suspicion she wants to use it or give it to somebody for terrorist purposes, she argued.

She does have a clear commitment to change and make constructive use of her life sentence. She is not in a position to be using it for terrorist purposes.

Ms Bouri added that an imam who has met Boular said she has made a significant breakthrough in her studies, and wants to gain a correct understanding of Islam to make sure she makes a life for herself.

She added: She acknowledges the error of her ways and has a degree of regret for her actions.

However, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser approved a two-month freezing order on Boulars bank account.

Her commitment to Islamic State and Syria is long-standing, and the degree of commitment was demonstrated by attempting to travel to Syria and also a serious act of terrorist planning, she said. The fact that she has a desire to change is not demonstrated and the fact she has changed is not demonstrated.

Boular was not present in court for the hearing. The court heard she is appealing against the life sentence for preparation of terrorist acts.

Safaa, 19, was convicted of terror plotting and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 13 years. Dich, 45, admitted involvement in the plot and was jailed for 11 years, nine months.

At Boulars sentencing hearing, Judge Mark Dennis QC told her: There are individuals walking the streets today whose lives could have been irreparably damaged or lost had it not been for the intervention of the police and security services.
A man has been jailed for nine years after driving more than twice the speed limit and killing an elderly couple who were on their way home from babysitting in south London.

Ben Ord, of Eltham, was found to be four times over the drink drive limit and four times over the drug drive limit when he hit childhood sweethearts Robert and Shirley Wigzel, both 71, head on.

The 41-year-old was sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving. As well as being jailed for nine years, he was also disqualified from driving for 16 years and six months and will be subject to a driving retest.

Mr and Mrs Wigzells family said their lives will never be the same after their deaths, adding: Mum and Dad were the core of our family.

The couple were pronounced dead at the scene of Footscray Road, Eltham, about a mile from their home, shortly after midnight on February 23.

Mr and Mrs Wigzells family said their lives will never be the same after losing their Mum and Dad / Metropolitan Police

Ord had been driving of speed in excess of 70mph in a 30mph zone as he tried to flee police.

Their son Gary Wigzell, 45, previously told the Standard his parents had seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The retired couple had met at Eltham Green School before marrying and having three children, Gary, Angela and Sue.

Detective Constable Alan Curtis, from the Mets Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: Ord had no regard for the safety of others when he set out to evade police and his actions ultimately had tragic consequences.

This case highlights the dangers of driving under the influence and we hope it will act as a deterrent to anyone intent on doing the same.

We know nothing can ever ease the pain for the family of the victims but we hope this sentence brings them some element of closure.

In a statement, Mr and Mrs Wigzells family said: We would like to thank the police, emergency services and the CPS for all their hard work throughout this terrible time.

"Our family has been left completely heartbroken and destroyed by the reckless and selfish behaviour of Ben Ord, he chose to drive a motor vehicle after excessive drinking and drug taking, with total disregard for the safety of others.

Never again will our lives be the same. Mum and Dad were the core of our family.

No sentence that has been given will ever be enough, as we will be serving a life sentence without them.

Two of the most loving and kind people in the world have lost their lives for absolutely no reason, when they should be enjoying retirement and watching their grandchildren and great grandchildren grow up, where is the justice in that.

We hope that anyone who takes drugs or alcohol before driving thinks twice before doing so, because the trail of devastation and heartache which they would leave behind is endless.
T he father of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence says Scotland Yard still has to prove it is no longer institutionally racist before it can be free of the label imposed by the inquiry into his sons death.

Dr Neville Lawrence said black youths in London were still being targeted unfairly by police and there was little progress in the promotion of ethnic minority officers into senior ranks.

Speaking at a conference at the London Metropolitan University with the title The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 20 years on. What have we learnt? What still needs to be done?, he said: The name that they were given, institutionally racist, as far as I am concerned, still remains. They will have to work very hard to get rid of that name.

Stephen was murdered by a racist gang in Eltham in 1993. Dr Lawrence said in the 10 years after the 1999 Macpherson report into failings in the police investigation everything was being done to implement its recommendations and change policing culture.

However, in the past 10 years a Home Office steering group set up to monitor the changes had been abolished and he said that a lot of the recommendations have not been implemented and it is as if things have gone backwards.

Dr Lawrence added: They have to get to the stage where people can see that they are no longer institutionally racist, in order to get rid of that name they have to progress.

He said: There continues to be very little progress in promotion of black, Asian and minority ethnic police officers into the senior ranks and there is a huge disproportionality problem of misconduct and discipline for BAME officers.

Also speaking at the conference, Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said the force was more accountable, better governed and more diverse as a result of the Macpherson report. She said there was still a gap between police and communities but reducing that gap was one of her highest priorities.
A protester ripped up flowers from the memorial to murdered police officer Keith Palmer during a Brexit demonstration, when he was denied access to Parliament, a court heard.

Daniel Forde, 26, was said to have destroyed floral wreaths left by the memorial stone outside Parliament and allegedly tore a bunch of white roses into pieces in front of police.

Pc Palmer was killed on March 22, 2017 by an Islamic State-inspired terrorist, who had mown down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.

A ceremony, attended by Theresa May and Met Commissioner Cressida Dick, was held last month to unveil the memorial.

Forde is accused of desecrating the memorial on March 12, as Mrs May tried to gain MPs support for her Brexit deal, Westminster magistrates court heard yesterday.

Daniel Forde allegedly destroyed floral wreaths left by the memorial stone outside Parliament in front of police / Tristan Kirk

Protesters had gathered in Parliament Square before the Commons vote over the deal, which was rejected for a second time.

Jason Seetal, prosecuting, told the court Fordes alleged offence was not directly linked to the demonstration.

Police have been directed that the defendant was removing flowers from the plaque for Pc Keith Palmer, he said. The defendant was seen to rip flowers apart, and when officers attended he grabbed white roses from the plaque and ripped those apart.

Forde pleaded not guilty to a public order charge of causing harassment, alarm or distress, but accepts he tore up the flowers, the court heard.

He shouted in the dock: A guy was upset that he was denied entry to the public gallery, thats why he ripped up the roses.

It was when Theresa May was doing no-deal Brexit.

Tribute: flowers at the memorial in Westminster which was unveiled last month / PA
 Bobbies from Britains biggest private police force will go on patrol in one of the West Ends busiest tourist destinations for the first time next week to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

The Dixon Of Dock Green-style seven-day service is being funded by businesses in and around Leicester Square  which is often blighted by noisy buskers, traders and petty criminals such as pickpockets.

It will be provided by My Local Bobby, a private security force set up by two retired Metropolitan Police officers.

The patrols start on Monday as a trial with at least two uniformed officers in red jackets and hats on duty at any one time, noon until midnight.

The initiative was revealed at a meeting of members of the West End business group Heart of London this week. Its head of delivery Robin Hibbert said the service was needed because what is lacking is consistent eyes and ears on the ground.

The officers will wear bodycams and will have authority to move on performers who are causing a nuisance or blocking pavements. They have been trained to make arrests. However, they will call in assistance from Met officers when they encounter serious crime.

The patrols will be supplemented from May by Westminster City enforcement officers working from 8am to 10pm, Monday to Friday.
W hats the story with Talulah Riley? The actor, who married and divorced SpaceX founder Elon Musk twice, was scheduled to release a politics-themed novel in the coming months, but trouble appears to be afoot.

Last year The Londoner reported that Riley was penning The Quickening, a dystopian novel about a female prime minister. In a time of deep political unrest, a new isolationist Britain is emerging, the official synopsis read. Under the leadership of charismatic prime minister Dana Mayer, a one-party government is slowly taking control of everything  creating a regime which seems, at first, idyllic.

But, just as our real-life Prime Minister, Theresa May, faces a delay and possible demission, so too does Rileys fictional one. The novels official page on publisher Hodder & Stoughtons website has disappeared, while Amazon no longer lists a release date for the book, writing: We dont know when or if this item will be back in stock.

The Londoner contacted Hodder & Stoughton to check up on The Quickenings progress, only to be told that it is no longer publishing this book. It later corrected this. It is actually happening still, a source told us when pushed for reasons for the cancellation. Its just been pushed back  as is often the case with publishing schedules.

Riley already has a book under her belt: a romance novel, Acts Of Love, which was released in 2016 and received warm reviews.

She has appeared in the films Pride and Prejudice, St Trinians and Inception, as well as modelling  she was one of the faces of H&Ms Autumn/Winter collection in 2018. In 2017, The Londoner revealed that she was in a relationship with Tom Hooper, the Oscar-winning director of Les Miserables and The Kings Speech. At this point, were not sure which will come to fruition first: this book or Brexit.

Zombies on parade

Who should succeed Theresa May? was the vital question at last nights ThinkIn by Tortoise, the news organisation established by former head of BBC News James Harding. Ben Page, chief executive of Ipsos MORI, one of the countrys leading polling companies, was invited to give his expert analysis. I have absolutely no idea, he declared to audience laughter.

On Newsnight, political editor Nicholas Watt reported similar confusion among Cabinet members as to why May is bringing back her deal for a vote today. One told him: F**k knows. Im past caring. Its like the Living Dead in here.

---

Labour has been advertising for a new head of complaints after long-standing controversies over how allegations of anti-Semitism are handled within the party. But applications close today, only 72 hours after the ad was posted. Cue a barrage of complaints.

---

Salman Rushdie used to be a frequent sight at Electric House in Notting Hill, but no more. Earlier this week, a patron was overheard asking a fellow regular why they hadnt seen the Midnights Children author around lately. Well, they responded, I havent seen him here ever since a punter approached him and said: Oh my God! Are you Salman Rushdie? Ive got all of your albums.

Firth and Ferretti put the world to rights in Fitzrovia

Eco-warriors: Livia Firth and Alberta Ferretti / Dave Benett/Getty Images

Livia Firth, the sustainable fashion campaigner and wife of actor Colin Firth, kept her cause close to her chest yesterday.

She was at Mr Foggs House of Botanicals in Fitzrovia for the launch of Alberta Ferrettis Love Me Collection, a collaboration with Firths company Eco Age. Also among the guests was Rosanna Falconer, the founder of Fash Mash who is a co-chair of next weeks Royal Marsden Gala, which is raising funds for the Oak Cancer Centre.

The lunch event was just the beginning of a busy day: Victoria actor Jenna Coleman and presenter Nick Grimshaw were on Sloane Street for a party hosted by Gucci, former ballet dancer Eric Underwood was at My Beautiful City off Charing Cross Road for the launch of the Gentlemans Journals e-commerce site and, across the river, rock progeny Molly Moorish and Tigerlily Taylor toasted the opening of the new Lyaness Bar at the South Bank hotel Sea Containers.

SW1A

Starkie's new boss: Dominic Raab / Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Michael Goves former comms aide James Starkie is to join Dominic Raabs team next week, putting him on a possible collision course with his old boss. Ex-Brexit Secretary Raab, below, has made the hire ahead of an expected tilt at the Tory leadership. Gove, though, is the bookies favourite. Starkie quit Goves team last year in protest at Theresa Mays deal, but will their very cordial relations continue?

---

As soon as Theresa May announced her resignation plans, Tory campaigns were kicking off. First out of the blocks? Im off to join the ABB campaign, one Tory staffer told The Londoner. ABB? Anyone but Boris.

---

With Brexit Day postponed, Lord Tebbitt  88 today  may have to rearrange his joint birthday plans with fellow Brexiteer Priti Patel. I couldnt ask for a better birthday present, he said in January. We might even have a glass together at Westminster to celebrate! Not anymore.

Steamy Day in LA

Elizabeth Day launched her latest book, How To Fail, at the Groucho last night, having written it in Los Angeles.

I wrote every day in the sunshine on my friends terrace, she told us, surrounded by bougainvilleas, being the hideous LA cliche, drinking kombucha and being that smug t*** you never want to meet.

Day is no stranger to the city: she once travelled there to live like Gwyneth Paltrow for a week. It involved getting my vagina steamed, which just made me a bit clammy.

Quote of the day

Political solution: Lily Allen / Erika Goldring/FilmMagic

'Might run for MEP'
T heresa May appeared to be heading for her third and perhaps final defeat on Brexit in the House of Commons this afternoon.

On the day that the Prime Minister once decreed would be Brexit Day, Downing Street appeared to be losing the battle to drag her twice-rejected withdrawal deal over the line.

The chances of an early general election were rising as the Prime Ministers DUP allies refused to cave in and back her, while a hardcore in the European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers said they also would not budge.

That left Mrs May begging Labour MPs to bail her out. She succeeded in getting a trickle to promise their votes, but not enough to guarantee victory.

As MPs met at Westminster with protesters gathering outside, Mrs Mays hopes rested on the ERG, which called a meeting at 1.30pm  an hour before the vote was due  to take stock.

Theresa May in the Commons today / AFP/Getty Images

One leading Brexiteer, Priti Patel, hinted in the Commons she would back the deal. She told MPs that trust in politics was in danger if Brexit did not happen.

But an ERG source, who appeared to be speaking on behalf of the hardcore of the group, said: We have not blinked. Some Tories were suggesting the ERG hardcore had been reduced to a rump of less than 20 by a whipping operation.

One of the architects of Brexit, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, admitted that the fiasco was risking a chasm of distrust between voters and the political system.

Labour backbencher Lisa Nandy, who was keenly targeted by Tory whips to change her mind, told the Evening Standard she would not back the Prime Minister.

The deal that the Prime Minister seems to have struck with the ERG to go [resign], and essentially be replaced by one of them, has basically made it very, very difficult to see any large number of Labour moving over to support it, she said.

A handful of Labour MPs said they could back the bare bones of the withdrawal agreement, which guarantees EU citizens rights and smooth trade until December 2020.

Ex-minister Jim Fitzpatrick, the MP for Poplar & Limehouse, was among them. Former north-east miner Ronnie Campbell said he would listen to the debate to be sure its not a trickery.He stressed he was not endorsing Mrs Mays wider blueprint, saying: As long as its not her deal. Because her deal is crap, I want nothing to do with her deal. Eurosceptic Labour MP Graham Stringer said: Im going to vote against it because nothing has changed. She says she will go if she wins. She should go if she loses.

Jon Lansman, founder of the Labour grassroots movement Momentum, tweeted this morning: Any Labour MP who votes today with the Tories to leave the EU with absolutely no idea where we are heading does not deserve to be a Labour MP.

A few Tories changed sides at the start of the Commons debate. Former Tory chief whip Mark Harper wrote on ConservativeHome the deal remained a bad set of proposals, but went on: However, I am prepared to compromise to ensure that we deliver Brexit.

Cabinet minister Liam Fox admitted that the fiasco was risking a chasm of distrust" between voters and politicians / PA

Backbencher Lucy Allan posted on Facebook: My constituents voted 67 per cent to leave and leave we must. I have a duty to deliver that, whatever I think personally about the deal.

Daniel Kawczynski said the alternative was not leaving for possibly two years, if at all.

Boris Johnson confirmed in a tweet he had taken the painful decision to back a deal he once claimed would leave the UK a vassal state.

Defeat for the Prime Minister would risk an even worse version of Brexit or losing Brexit altogether, he said. Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab today joined the former foreign secretary in backing the deal, despite having repeatedly lambasted it as flawed. Only yesterday he suggested Mrs May should try to win concessions from Brussels.

ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker was swayed last night towards backing the deal but by this morning said he had decided to oppose it.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said todays stripped-down version was not another meaningful vote / AFP/Getty Images

Mrs Mays deal was defeated in two meaningful votes by a margin of 230 in January and 149 this month.

Opening the Commons debate, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said todays stripped-down version was not another meaningful vote but would be the minimum needed to qualify for an extension to Article 50 until May 22, avoiding the risk of a chaotic exit on April 12.

In a big concession to Labour MPs, Mr Cox said the Government would allow the Commons to set the negotiating mandate for the next phase of Brexit negotiations.

He said ministers had been willing to accept an amendment by Ms Nandy empowering the Commons to pass resolutions to direct talks on trade and security between the UK and EU. But Speaker John Bercow did not select the amendments for voting.

We would have accepted his amendments, Mr Cox told backer Labours Gareth Snell. If it requires an amendment to that legislation, wed obviously consider its detail carefully, but wed be minded to accept such.

Mr Cox appealed to MPs to back the agreement and bring certainty to thousands of businesses and millions of individuals throughout this country, and to one million citizens of our country residing in the European Union. Mr Bercow repeatedly called for calm as the Commons debate was punctuated with heckling and shouting.

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds told MPs that sadly not enough progress had been made with the Government to neuter the threat of the Northern Irish border backstop. Every single unionist party in Northern Ireland  agree with the position that this is a problem for the union, he said.
A leading economist has lampooned Theresa Mays Brexit deal as the kind a nation signs only after having been defeated at war.

In a blistering attack on BBC Question Time, Yanis Varoufakis, Greeces former finance minister, said Mrs Mays deal is not built for purpose for any sovereign country.

The panel had been asked by an audience member who was to blame for Brexit not happening on Friday: the UKs original scheduled departure date from the EU.

The answer is very simple, Mr Varoufakis said with a smile. "Theresa May. First she triggered Article 50 on the basis of red lines which boxed her in to an impossibility.

Yanis Varoufakis on BBC Question Time on Thursday / BBC

"And secondly, and that is a crime against logic, she failed to recognise that Michel Barnier, when he announced the two-phase negotiation process, was issuing a declaration of hostilities against the government.

Countdown to Brexit: Britain to leave on April 12 or May 22

Addressing the audience member, he continued: She never even saw this coming. Because if I come to you and say: 'Listen, let's have a little negotiation between us, first you're going to give me everything I want, secondly we will discuss [what] you want.

You are a sensible young man, clearly you will say 'no, mate'. I am not going to have a negotiation with you along those lines.

TODO: define component type apester

Theresa May started that negotiation. The result was effectively a deal whether you are a Brexiteer or a Remainer, this is a deal that a nation signs only after having been defeated at war.

This is not a deal which is built for purpose for any sovereign country."

TODO: define component type apester

Instead of leaving the EU as originally planned on Friday, Mrs May was battling to get her Withdrawal Agreement backed by the Commons.

The Prime Minister has split the legally binding treaty segment of her Brexit deal from the declaration on future relations with the EU, in order to ensure MPs could vote on it.
Dublin, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "The Communication Services in Developed Asia-Pacific: Trends and Forecasts 2018-2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Technological developments, a good economic outlook and high GDP per capita in developed Asia-Pacific (DVAP) will result in revenue growth in almost all service segments apart from traditional voice services. In this report, we examine key trends and drivers, and provide comprehensive telecoms market forecasts for the region and for seven individually modelled countries.

This report and associated data annex provide:

a 5-year forecast of more than 180 mobile and fixed KPIs for the DVAP region as a whole and for seven key countries

an in-depth analysis of the trends, drivers and forecast assumptions for each type of mobile and fixed service, and for key countries

an overview of operator strategies and country-specific topics, in order to highlight similarities and differences by means of a cross-country comparison

a summary of results, key implications and recommendations for mobile and fixed operators.

Key performance indicators

Connections

Mobile

Handset, mobile broadband, IoT

Prepaid, contract

2G, 3G, 4G, 5G

Smartphone, non-smartphone

Fixed

Voice, broadband, IPTV, dial-up

Narrowband voice, VoBB

DSL, FTTP/B, cable, BFWA, 5G, other

Fixed and mobile voice traffic

Outgoing minutes, MoU

Revenue

Mobile

Service, retail

Prepaid, contract

Handset, mobile broadband, IoT

Handset voice, messaging, data

Fixed

Service, retail

Voice, broadband, IPTV, dial-up, business services

DSL, FTTP/B, cable, BFWA, other

Mobile ARPU

SIMs, handset

Prepaid, contract

Handset voice, data

Key Topics Covered:



Executive summary and recommendations



The total telecoms retail revenue in developed Asia-Pacific will grow steadily in all segments apart from traditional voice

The overall retail revenue growth rate in the region will be low; Japan, New Zealand and South Korea will see the most growth

Geographical coverage: by 2023, the 4G/5G and NGA share of connections will approach 100% in most DVAP countries

Key trends, drivers and assumptions for the mobile and fixed markets

Key recommendations for telecoms operators

Regional forecasts and cross-country comparison

Market context: operators in developed Asia-Pacific benefit from a relatively high GDP per capita, which drives retail spending on telecommunications services



Key mergers, acquisitions, and market entries

Key drivers at a glance for each developed Asia-Pacific market

Market overview: mobile data will drive revenue growth in DVAP; fixed broadband revenue will not offset declining fixed voice revenue

Mobile: 99.5% of mobile connections in DVAP will use 4G or 5G in 2023

Mobile: the demand for data services will help to reduce ARPU declines

Mobile: 5G roll-out plans are gathering pace while operators are aiming to capitalise on opportunities in the IoT segment

Fixed: the vast majority of households in DVAP will use NGA broadband connections by 2023

Fixed: increasing competition in New Zealand will result in a rapid increase in fixed broadband household penetration and will contribute to ASPU declines

Fixed: the fixed market in DVAP is very competitive and operators will focus on consumer experience and churn reduction

Business services: growth in the business service segment in DVAP will slow down

IoT: the automotive and smart building segments will generate a significant share of IoT revenue by 2023

Pay TV: traditional pay-TV revenue growth will be slow as markets are saturated and OTT competition is growing quickly

Individual country forecasts



Australia: fixed broadband revenue growth will be faster than the revenue growth in the mobile handset segment

Australia: the number of high-speed broadband connections is increasing quickly as the roll-out of NBN gathers pace

Australia: competition in both fixed and mobile market segments will intensify, resulting in a slight decline in total telecoms revenue by 2023

Australia: forecast changes

Hong Kong: IoT will account for the overwhelming majority of new connections, but its impact on revenue will remain negligible

Hong Kong: FTTP/B will continue to be the key broadband access technology

Hong Kong: competition in the fixed broadband segment has declined and the mobile segment is now following suit

Hong Kong: forecast changes

Japan: the number of mobile IoT connections will grow rapidly, while handset penetration will remain relatively stable

Japan: the number of FBB connections will increase due to continued fiber take-up; FBB revenue will grow at a CAGR of 2% up to 2023

Japan: operators are placing a focus on churn reduction strategies across the fixed and mobile sectors

Japan: forecast changes

New Zealand: fixed services revenue will remain almost flat due to strong competition in the fixed broadband market

New Zealand: MNOs are focused on migrating subscribers from prepaid to contract plans

New Zealand: unlimited mobile data plans were launched in 2017

New Zealand: forecast changes

Singapore: mobile service revenue will decline at a CAGR of 0.5% between 2018 and 2023

Singapore: the number of DSL and cable connections will drop to 0 by the end of 2019

Singapore: the mobile market is experiencing structural changes and a fourth MNO will enter the market in 2019

Singapore: forecast changes

South Korea: telecoms revenue will increase modestly, largely thanks to growth in mobile data and fixed broadband revenue

South Korea: South Korea will have the highest share of 5G mobile connections in the DVAP region in 2023

South Korea: MNOs plan to launch consumer 5G offers in 2019; 10Gbps broadband services were launched in 4Q 2018

South Korea: forecast changes

Taiwan: service revenue in both fixed and mobile segments will decline mildly due to saturated markets and stiff competition

Taiwan: rapid growth in mobile data usage and strong 5G take-up will not prevent the continued decline in mobile ARPU

Taiwan: the prevalence of unlimited mobile data packages will dampen revenue growth in both the fixed and mobile segments

Taiwan: forecast changes

Methodology



Countries Covered



Australia

Hong Kong

Japan

New Zealand

Singapore

South Korea

Taiwan





For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/r9c2x2/communication?w=12

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner has warned that Labour could have difficulty supporting a plan for a confirmatory referendum on any Brexit deal.

"It would be saying we could accept what we have always said is a very bad deal. Therefore it looks as if the attempt to have a public vote on it is simply a way of trying to remain because nobody likes this deal," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"To put that up as the only alternative in a public vote and say we will let it go through looks as though you believe that at the end of it Remain would be the result.

"It is not where our policy has been. Our policy is clearly that we would support a public vote to stop no-deal or to stop a bad deal, but not that we would allow a bad deal as long as the public had the opportunity to reject Brexit altogether.
B rexiteers turned on each other today as the clock ticked towards the hour that they had dreamed Britain would quit the EU.

Leave campaign chief Arron Banks took a swipe at Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group, who has said he will now vote for Theresa Mays Brexit plan if it is backed by the DUP.

Mr Rees-Mogg previously poured scorn on the PMs proposals, saying they were rotten and would condemn the UK to at least 21 months of vassalage at a cost of 39 billion.

Happy Vassal State day ... @Jacob_Rees_Mogg, tweeted Mr Banks, who is being investigated by the National Crime Agency, as is his Leave.EU campaign, for alleged funding offences committed during the 2016 EU referendum. He denies wrongdoing.

The ERG has split over whether to back Mrs Mays Brexit blueprint, with senior members Steve Baker and Mark Francois among those refusing to throw in the towel and support it.

Mr Rees-Mogg has signalled a willingness to back it despite previously suggesting it would mean making Britain at least temporarily a slave state, if leaked Brussels plans were true.

For the potential of being locked in a customs union, for dividing our nation up, and for allowing the European Court of Justice to continue, we are going to pay our European friends 39 billion of taxpayers money ... for that we get nothing in return, no guarantee of any trade deal in future, but a vacuous political statement that could mean anything to anybody, he had argued.

MPs voted earlier this week to formally change UK legislation to delay Brexit Day from tonight to at least April 12, though the Government had already agree with Brussels, with no fanfare, to do this under international law. Mr Francois accused Downing Street of game-planning a dark blue-on-blue strategy to divide Eurosceptic MPs.

However, he predicted on the ConservativeHome website: When the bells ring at 2.30pm in the House of Commons this afternoon, and despite all of the Governments brutal kidology, I still believe that the Dark Blue-on-Blue strategy will fail, and the despised Withdrawal Agreement will be defeated.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt explained how Britains Brexit woes were being watched in disbelief in many capitals around the world.

When I picture how others see Britain right now, I suspect old friends are shaking puzzled heads, he wrote in the Washington Post. The clash and thunder over Brexit is not an appealing spectacle. Some may feel that British politicians are acting out Monty Python sketches in real life.
T he newly-created Independent Group of MPs has applied to form a new political party called ChangeUK.

The group said it has applied to be a political party in order to stand in European elections.

MP Heidi Allen will be the group's interim leader until a permanent replacement can be chosen.

The group has submitted an application to the Electoral Commission to establish Change UK - The Independent Group.

Independent Group MPs Mr Umunna, Gavin Shuker Ann Coffey, Heidi Allen and Chris Leslie / Getty Images

But campaign group Change.org UK said they were seeking legal advice after claiming the political party were hijacking their brand name.

The UK will have to stage elections to the European Parliament as a condition of any further delay to Brexit.

Defeat for Prime Minister Theresa May in a vote on her Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons on Friday would greatly increase the likelihood of an application on April 12 for a long extension to the Brexit process.

In order to field candidates in the European polls, conducted on a regional proportional representation system, any group must be registered as a political party with the European Commission.

Ms Allen said: "Today marks a huge step forward on The Independent Group's journey to becoming a fully-fledged political party, so I am delighted to have been chosen as our interim leader.

PA

"If we are to deliver on our ambition to change politics for the better, it is vital that we attract support from people from every walk of life, every political background and none.

"Coming into the House of Commons from running my manufacturing business in 2015, I have seen with my own eyes how improved our political system would be if it harnessed the diverse skills and experience of our country.

"We in Change UK, as we hope to be known, don't just dream about a fairer and better future for our country, we are determined to unleash it through hard work, passion and shared endeavour."

The Independent Group was founded by former Labour MPs Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey, Mike Gapes, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith and Chuka Umunna on February 18. They were later joined by Labour defector Joan Ryan and ex-Tories Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston.

In a statement, Change.org said: "Change.org UK or @UKChange is a movement of 17 million people in the UK. We empower ordinary people to start petitions and campaign to create the change they want to see.

The Independent Group enjoying a meal at Nando's / ChukaUmunna/Twitter

"Our petition starters, like Laura Coryton who ended the tampon tax and Richard Ratcliffe who is fighting for the freedom of his wife Nazanin, are disrupting the status quo of power in politics.

"Change.org UK or @UKChange as we are interchangeably known, is totally independent of party politics, always has been and always will be.

"It is said that imitation is a form of flattery. But the movement that we have built in the UK to win campaigns for ordinary people is ours - all 17 million of us. We are seeking guidance on the proposed use of our brand name by those reported to be setting up a new political party."

TIG spokesman Chuka Umunna said Change UK would aim to put forward a "substantial" number of MEP candidates with backgrounds from outside politics.

"There is clearly an appetite for an alternative to our broken politics which needs fundamental change, as shown by the disastrous Brexit process which has occurred under the watch of the two main parties," said Mr Umunna.

Heidi Allen speaks at a news conference after quitting the Conservative Party. / REUTERS

"A new party will shake up the two-party system and provide people with an alternative that can change our country for the better. This is what Change UK will be aiming to do at any European elections if our application for registration is accepted in time."

Earlier this month, Mr Umunna told the Standard that one of May's ministers was considering defecting.

Asked whether the current 11-strong group of MPs  nicknamed the TIGs  could double in size, he said: I think there are a lot of MPs in both parties who are on that journey, but when they reach the destination, who knows?

I got a very nice letter from a minister of state, actually, that suggested they were on the journey, which is quite extraordinary.

The Independent Group supports a People's Vote on Brexit, and tabled an amendment paving the way for a second referendum last month.

Anna Soubry: 'The country is watching' / AFP/Getty Images

After it was rejected, former Tory Anna Soubry said: "This is a betrayal of Labour Party members and voters, Labour MPs, Labour's conference policy and, most importantly, the British public.

"The Labour Party leadership are determined to deliver Brexit, which would harm our country.

"But The Independent Group will not give up. We will keep up the pressure for a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal.

"We'll keep holding the Government to account and providing the real opposition our country needs. The British people deserve the final say on Brexit."
C abinet is in complete and utter despair as Theresa May prepares to bring back a version of her Brexit deal to the Commons for another vote, the BBC's Newsnight political editor has said.

Nick Watt said he asked one Cabinet minister: why is the Prime Minister holding a vote when she is pretty sure she will lose?

He said the minister responded using "very strong language": F*** knows. I am past caring. It is like the living dead in here.

On the day that was originally scheduled to see Britain leave the EU, the PM has split the withdrawal agreement part of her deal from the political declaration in order to ensure MPs could vote on it on Friday.

Brexit deadlock: Theresa May faces an uphill struggle as key allies signaled they will vote against her plans / PA

Under the terms of an agreement with Brussels, if passed by MPs on Friday the vote would qualify the UK to be granted an automatic delay to May 22 of the formal date of Brexit.

But Mrs May faced an uphill struggle as key Government allies the DUP joined Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in saying they would vote against the move.

Mr Watt said the minister told him that Cabinet had completely broken down.

Brexit: What happens next?

This Cabinet Minister then went on to say that Theresa May is the sole architect of this mess, it is her inability to engage in the most basic human interactions that brought us here, he said.

Cabinet has totally broken down. Ministers say their bit and she gives nothing away.

One side thinks x will happen, the other side think y will happen and the prime minister decides on z.

The PM's decision to present just the Withdrawal Agreement to the Commons means it is not a third attempt to pass a "meaningful vote" on the Government's Brexit deal and complies with rules laid down by Commons Speaker John Bercow.

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said his party could not back the Withdrawal Agreement because the Government had failed to win legally binding changes regarding the controversial "backstop" customs arrangements for the Irish border.

Mr Corbyn told the PM in a 20-minute telephone discussion on Thursday that he would not support the move as it represented a "blindfold Brexit".
J acob Rees-Mogg has hinted heavily that he will back Boris Johnson to be the next Prime Minister.

The chairman of the influential European Research Group (ERG) said he had a very high option of the former Foreign Secretary and London mayor.

Mr Rees-Mogg said that it would be sensible to wait until the leadership contest was under way before firmly selecting his favoured candidate.

But the backbench MP did appear to suggest that he would endorse Mr Johnson, who was his choice in the previous Conservative Party leadership contest.

Boris Johnson arrives at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday / Dominic Lipinski/PA

He told ITVs Acting Prime Minister podcast: "The partys very lucky, there are a lot of very able people who would make excellent prime ministers.

I have a very high opinion of Boris Johnson...but the competition hasn't yet started, so it's sensible to wait until it does.

It comes after Theresa May promised Tory rebels she would stand down as leader if her Brexit deal, which has been rejected twice in the Commons, was given the green light.

Mr Rees-Mogg on Wednesday signalled he would back Mrs Mays agreement despite being one of its most vocal critics. Writing in the Daily Mail, he apologised "for changing my mind before admitting by doing so I will be accused of infirmity of purpose by some and treachery by others.

Theresa May: MPs react to PM's vow to step down

But he added: "I have come to this view because the numbers in Parliament make it clear that all the other potential outcomes are worse and an awkward reality needs to be faced."

Mrs May's decision to tell the 1922 Committee that she "won't stand in the way" of new leadership prompted leading Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg to say: "The great joy of the Tory Party is it has so many talented people in it.
M ore than 1,100 people have submitted claims for compensation from Lambeth council over one of the capitals worst child abuse scandals.

Widespread sexual, physical and psychological abuse took place at the authoritys former childrens homes, which were open between the Thirties and Nineties.

The council launched a 100 million scheme in January last year, allowing all former residents who were abused, or feared abuse, to claim compensation without going through the courts.

An interim report by Lambeth shows that 1,002 people submitted claims within the first year of the scheme, rising to 1,115 by mid-March.

During the first 12 months, 851 payments totalling 7.7 million were processed under a harms way category  a payment of up to 10,000 for those who feared abuse or neglect.

There were also 68 people who received redress payments  a maximum of 125,000 for those who survived neglect and abuse. The total paid out so far is 915,680.

Nearly three-quarters of the applications  72 per cent  relate to abuse at Shirley Oaks Childrens Home, the boroughs flagship facility in Croydon, which closed in 1983.

Lambeth council leader Jack Hopkins said: We know that many former childrens home residents will never be able to forgive the council for their childhood experiences. But we are determined to do all we can to deliver swift and compassionate redress to those who have waited so long to even have acknowledgement of the suffering they experienced. I want to apologise to abuse survivors on behalf of the council.

A report by the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (SOSA) in 2016 outlined abuse on an industrial scale over three decades. The association said it had spoken to 400 former residents, many of whom reported being abused by staff and visitors.

It claims 31 paedophiles were connected to the home or authority, including ex-priest Philip Temple, a former senior housefather at Rowan House in Shirley Oaks who was jailed for 12 years in August 2016 for abusing 13 young people over a 25-year period.

SOSA founder Raymond Stevenson said he was unhappy at the speed that victims were being compensated. He said: [The victims] have been re-traumatised by the length of time this is taking and the low and insulting offers.

The council said it takes an average of 43 working days to process harms way payments. It added that redress payments were taking an average of seven months, which it claimed was quicker than making a civil claim through the courts.

The total cost of the scheme, which is open for applications until January 2020, is expected to be about 100 million.
S ajid Javid today told EU citizens living in London that the Home Office was looking for ways to grant them permanent status in this country whatever happens with Brexit.

In an open letter to Europeans in the UK, the Home Secretary said he understood the anxiety that the turmoil over Britains departure deal might be causing.

But he said he wanted everyone to take up the right to live here permanently and would do everything possible to help them complete the application process required.

Mr Javid, right, added: I want you to know how much we want you to stay regardless of whether the UK leaves the EU with or without a deal. Let me be clear, we are looking for reasons to grant people status and we want everyone eligible to get the status they are entitled to receive.

All people need to do is complete a three-step application with a laptop, tablet or mobile device to prove your identity, confirm you live in the UK and declare any criminal convictions. As Home Secretary, Im determined that no one is left behind.

The Governments EU Settlement Scheme officially launches tomorrow. It has been set up to enable EU citizens living here to apply, free of charge, for permanent status after Brexit.
T heresa May is battling to get her Brexit Withdrawal Agreement backed by the Commons on the day that was originally scheduled to see Britain quit the EU.

The Prime Minister split the legally binding treaty segment of her plans from the declaration on future relations with the EU in order to ensure MPs could vote on it on Friday.

But Mrs May faced an uphill struggle as key Government allies the DUP joined Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in saying they would vote against the move.

The PM's decision to present just the Withdrawal Agreement to the Commons means it is not a third attempt to pass a "meaningful vote" on the Government's Brexit deal and complies with rules laid down by Commons Speaker John Bercow.

Brexit deadlock: Theresa May faces an uphill struggle as key allies signaled they will vote against her plans / PA

Under the terms of an agreement with Brussels, if passed by MPs on Friday the vote would qualify the UK to be granted an automatic delay to May 22 of the formal date of Brexit.

Mrs May's move allows the Government to present the situation as a choice between a short delay to Brexit and the potential for a much longer one, which would mean taking part in European Parliament elections.

But it would not let Parliament go ahead and ratify the withdrawal deal, as Brexit legislation allows this only after the passage of a "meaningful vote" on both the Withdrawal Agreement and a Political Declaration on the future relationship.

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said his party could not back the Withdrawal Agreement because the Government had failed to win legally binding changes regarding the controversial "backstop" customs arrangements for the Irish border.

Brexit: What happens next?

Mr Corbyn told the PM in a 20-minute telephone discussion on Thursday that he would not support the move as it represented a "blindfold Brexit".

However, Downing Street is hoping that the move to split off the agreement will win support from Labour backbenchers.

TODO: define component type apester

Labour's Caroline Flint said she would back the Government, telling the BBC: "I actually think this is a positive move and I will be supporting the motion for the Withdrawal Agreement.

"Lots of people have problems with the Political Declaration, but they don't, actually, have much disagreement with the Withdrawal Agreement."

John Bercow confirmed the Government will debate and vote on a Brexit motion on Friday / AFP/Getty Images

Mr Dodds said: "We will be voting against the Withdrawal Agreement because the concerns that we have about the trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, and what that would mean in terms of who makes our laws - not Stormont or Westminster - those concerns remain."

Despite Mrs May winning the backing of some members of the hardline European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs after she said she would stand down as PM if she gets her deal through Parliament, a number of Conservative Eurosceptics have refused to budge.

Sir Bill Cash told the BBC: "The Prime Minister's deal is not Brexit.

Downing Street has said that Mrs May will not move to a third meaningful vote - known in Westminster as MV3 - unless she believes she has a realistic chance of success, after it was heavily defeated by 230 votes in January and 149 in March.

If the motion on the Withdrawal Agreement is rejected by MPs, the UK will have until April 12 to ask for a further extension to Brexit negotiations - which would require voters to choose new MEPs - or leave the EU without a deal.

The vote comes on the day that pro-Brexit protesters are set to gather outside Parliament to mark what had been scheduled to be the UK's exit date from the EU.

Meanwhile, Sir Oliver Letwin has tabled his business motion to continue the indicative votes process on Monday to consider Brexit deal alternatives.

The motion also raises the potential for a third round on Wednesday.

TODO: define component type apester
T heresa Mays Brexit deal fell to a third defeat today by a crushing margin of 58 votes, triggering Tory calls for her to stand down and boosting the prospect of an early general election.

MPs threw out by 344 to 286 a stripped-down version of her withdrawal plan after a debate that saw leadership rivals Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson fall into line behind the PM. But over 30 Tories rebelled.

I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House, the wounded Prime Minister told the Commons immediately after her bigger-than-expected defeat was confirmed.

Steve Baker, of the Tory right wing European Research Group ERG, said: I regret to say it is time for Theresa May to follow through on her words and make way so a new leader can deliver a withdrawal agreement which will be passed by Parliament.

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Of her deal, he said: Its finished. And we must move on. It has not passed. It will not pass.

Jeremy Corbyn called on Mrs May to accept defeat, fall on her sword and allow a general election. If the Prime Minister cannot accept that, she must go.

In Brussels, European Council president Donald Tusk immediately called an emergency summit for April 10.

DUP leader Nigel Dodds pleaded with the PM to have one more attempt at getting the backstop watered down. Please, Prime Minister, even now use the time consecutively to get that matter spotted out, he said.

TODO: define component type apester

In a closing speech, Mrs May pleaded with Labour and Tory MPs to take a step forward together.

She made a major concession to Labour MPs by promising them a say in the negotiating mandate for the next phase of EU talks which will cover trade, security and other issues.

But the PM failed to persuade a hard core of Tory eurosceptics and her DUP allies to back her. A handful of Labour MPs in Leave areas summoned the courage to back the agreement but too few to save it.

Downing Street was taking advice on whether the Government could have a fourth attempt at getting her deal over the line. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the Standard yesterday that the EU might be flexible for a vote next week.

Appealing to Labour backbenchers Mrs May said: Im asking them to take a hard decision and I know that.

Im asking members on the opposite benches to help me deliver on an instruction from the British people.

She urged: Everyone will have to look into our hearts and decide what is best for our constituents and our country.

Mrs May said she would have accepted an amendment from influential Labour MP Lisa Nandy that sought a vote for parliament to set the mandate this summer, an amendment that Speaker John Bercow did not choose to call for debate.

If you want to honour the referendum but want Parliament to shape our future relationship, back this motion, she said.

Jeremy Corbyn said: We need to get a better deal. The country deserves a better deal and Im convinced that a better deal can be negotiated.

This deal, even the half-baked one that we have today, is bad for our democracy, bad for our economy and bad for our country.
U KIP leader Gerard Batten has been mocked online for claiming water cannon could be deployed on a pro-Brexit protest.

Thousands of demonstrators descended on Whitehall on Friday as MPs rejected Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement for a third time.

A 'Make Brexit Happen' rally took place at the protest and featured speeches from Mr Batten as well as a planned speech from English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson.

Ahead of the protest, Mr Batten said he heard reports the Metropolitan Police were going to use water cannons and "provoke Brexiteers".

The Met said his claim was "baseless".

Gerard Batte / BBC

On Thursday, Mr Batten said: "There are reports that a water cannon may be deployed tomorrow in London and that some of the police may try to aggregate and provoke Brexiteers.

"There is always the danger of provocateurs planted to cause trouble. I hope this is not true, but I call on everyone present to be peaceful."

Police said: "No water cannons are owned or used by the Met Police.

"Any suggestion that we are intending to use water cannons or seeking to agitate any protestors is baseless and false. We will continue to work with partners and public to put public safety at the heart of everything we do."

Mr Batten's original comments were mocked on social media.

Richard Johnson said: "How does one aggregate a Brexiteer", while the account for author behind the Secret Barrister book wrote: "I'm prosecuting a aggregated burglary next week".

Richard Holmes wrote: "You know the UK doesn't actually have water cannon, yes?"

Thousands of Brexit protesters march in central London / PA

Mr Batten later retracted his original comment, adding he was "pleased" the Met did not use water cannons on members of the public.

He wrote: "I am pleased to say the Met have said there will no water cannon today. My reports were from a reliable source & they did say they were coming from elsewhere.

"The Met have always been helpful at previous events, for which I am grateful. I repeat my call for a peaceful day alround."
BOSTON, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New England College of Business (NECB) announces significant advancements in the colleges ability to provide affordable, high-quality degrees with new models addressing the prior learning of working adults, responding to the growing demand for online Associates, Bachelors, Masters and Doctorates.



With the expansion of its education opportunities with 11 new degree programs  nearly doubling its number of offerings, NECB continues to provide award-winning, flexible, and affordable education opportunities for in-demand careers.

NECB has 110 years of developing programs that directly address evolving workforce needs, said Dr. Debra Leahy, Provost, NECB. Our 11 new programs continue that tradition as they are carefully tailored to working professionals who are balancing careers, family life, and their many other responsibilities. Our students will be able to apply what they learn to their careers in real-time, and, equally important, remain equipped with robust skills that will stay with alumni throughout the lifespan of their careers.

All 11 new degree programs were chosen based on employer and student demand. Designed with input from industry subject matter experts (SMEs) in conjunction with NECBs faculty, all of whom have extensive experience in their fields. The 11 new programs include:

In addition to the 11 new programs, NECB instituted Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) for an increasing number of Masters degrees offered by the College, most notably toward the MBA. Given 96% of NECB students are employed and an average age of 35, NECB offers more value by awarding credit for experience they have gained through employment, reducing the total number of credits required to take to earn their MBA. Given the five-week term length and ten-course requirement, this results in a student having the opportunity to earn their degree faster and for less cost.

NECBs programs were designed to have practical takeaways, said Evan A. Lemoine, MBA, CPA, CFE, CGMA, PRP. Evan serves as Supervisor, Operational Audit at Aix Group, is President of the Rhode Island Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and is an adjunct faculty member at NECB.

Programs additionally prepare students to attain industry certifications. Students can prepare for their Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA) credentials in the accounting programs, or credits may be available for students who have already earned industry recognized certifications. Students can also be on track to earn their Six Sigma Certification, Project Management Professional (PMP), and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) credentials with NECBs quality systems management programs, a set of re-envisioned degree offerings adapted from the National Graduate School model when it was acquired by NECB earlier this year.

When creating the new degree programs with NECB, it was imperative that we blended the textbook knowledge one would expect to see in an accounting program with the vital industry-related knowledge to empower students to employ their skills on day one, he continued. While accounting is often viewed as a rigid profession with too many rules and standards, NECBs programs were designed to offer readily applicable skills along with guidance to students looking to pursue an accounting certification after graduation.

NECBs new degrees complement the Colleges existing offerings, including 13 graduate and undergraduate degrees with concentration options plus 6 certificate programs. Learn more about NECB at www.necb.edu .



About New England College of Business (NECB)

New England College of Business (NECB), a private online college accredited by New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), has been educating business professionals for 110 years. NECBs program portfolio includes single courses, certificates, Associates, Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees in core business disciplines. Its undergraduate and graduate degree programs are nationally awarded for program content and technological innovation, most recently by U.S News & World Report, Online MBA Today, and the Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Learning Award in technology.

NECB is affordable, with one of the lowest tuitions among all private four-year colleges in New England, as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education over the past 7 years. Deep Military discounts and an additional 25% tuition discount is available to employees and immediate family members of NECBs 300 Corporate Educational Partners. Learn more at www.necb.edu.

Contact: Stephanie Lines

(413) 822-7107

Stephanie.Lines@necb.edu

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2590a59c-1d41-4715-847a-6ed7cf50ab9b

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4ea7df3c-5289-4f49-a503-00344ad80df0

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/77da9920-9c4d-41bc-ae6c-f2be35160261
T heresa May is yet again battling to get her Brexit deal passed by the Commons today.

On the day the UK was originally scheduled to leave the EU, the Prime Minister is putting her Withdrawal Agreement before Parliament once more.

But when will the vote take place, when will it be debated and what will it mean if MPs pass it?

Heres everything you need to know:

A jogger flicks a finger at a pro-Brexit demonstrator outside the Houses of Parliament on Friday ahead of the Brexit vote / AFP/Getty Images

What time will the vote take place?

Voting is expected at about 2.30pm.

What time will the deal be debated?

MPs will start debating it in the Commons from about 9.30am.

TODO: define component type apester

Why has it not been labelled as a third meaningful vote?

In order to ensure MPs could vote on it today, the Prime Minister split the legally binding treaty segment of her deal from the declaration on future relations with the EU.

This means it complies with rules laid down by Commons speaker John Bercow, who said the same deal previously rejected earlier this month and in January could not be brought back to Parliament.

Theresa May arrives at the Houses of Parliament on Friday / AFP/Getty Images

What happens if it passes?

Under the terms of an agreement with Brussels, the vote would qualify the UK to be granted an automatic delay to May 22 for the formal Brexit date.

Has it any chance of passing?

As usual for Mrs May, she faces an uphill struggle.

Key government allies the DUP have joined Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in saying it would vote against the move.

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured leaving Parliament on Wednesday, told Mrs May he won't vote for her deal / AFP/Getty Images

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said his party could not back the Withdrawal Agreement because the government has failed to win legally binding changes to the controversial backstop customs arrangements for the Irish border.

Mr Corbyn, meanwhile, told Mrs May in a 20-minute telephone discussion on Thursday that he would not support the move as it represented a "blindfold Brexit".

But are there any reasons for Mrs May to be hopeful?

Downing Street is hoping the move to split off the deal will win support from Labour backbenchers.

Labour MP Caroline Flint said: "I actually think this is a positive move and I will be supporting the motion for the Withdrawal Agreement.

And among the many amendments to the deal tabled by MPs today, one way for Mrs May to woo Labour MPs might be to accept a proposal tabled by Stoke-on-Trent Central's Gareth Snell and Wigan's Lisa Nandy.

It would give Parliament the power to set the negotiating mandate for talks on the future relationship.

TODO: define component type apester

What about hardline Brexiteers in the Tory ranks?

The likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Iain Duncan Smith have now pledged to back Mrs Mays deal.

But some hardliners from the European Research Group are refusing to budge. Sir Bill Cash told the BBC: "The Prime Minister's deal is not Brexit."

What are the numbers involved?

A total of 634 votes are in play. The magic number for a government majority is 318 votes.

If everyone who voted in favour on March 12 does so again today, it still needs to find 76 more votes to reach 318.

Even if every eligible Conservative MP (311) voted in favour, that would not be enough.

With the DUP already committed to voting against, the government will need votes from Labour and independent MPs to see it over the line.

There is likely to be a small number of Conservative MPs who will vote against the Withdrawal Agreement - both from a pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit standpoint.

The exact number is impossible to predict but, for example, if 12 Tories vote against, that would reduce the number of Tories voting in favour to 299, meaning the government would need 19 extra votes to win.

Four independent MPs and three Labour MPs backed the government last time and if they do so again, the government would need only another 12 votes to be over the line.

So the final result could be very close.
G raffiti artist Banksy said his painting of politicians as chimpanzees in the House of Commons is back on display to mark Brexit day.

The four-metre wide artwork, called Devolved Parliament, was put back on show at the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery in time for March 29  the date the UK was originally set to leave the EU.

The piece was first displayed at the museum in 2009 as part of the Banksy vs Bristol Museum exhibition.

At the time, Banksy said of Devolved Parliament: "You paint 100 chimpanzees and they still call you a guerrilla artist."

An unnamed collector then bought the piece, but has loaned it to the Bristol gallery to mark a decade since its unveiling. Banksy gave his permission for it to be displayed.

The artist posted a photo of the chimp piece on his Instagram account on Thursday, along with a caption reading: "Devolved Parliament. I made this ten years ago.

"Bristol museum have just put it back on display to mark Brexit day."

He ended the post with: "Laugh now, but one day no-one will be in charge."

This is an apparent nod to his piece Laugh Now, which he created for a Brighton nightclub in 2002.

Laugh Now depicts a stencil image of a chimpanzee wearing a sandwich board reading: "Laugh now, but one day we'll be in charge."

The artwork 'Laugh Now' is on display in the 'Banksy: The Authentic Rebel' exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan, / EPA

Four art conservators spent nine hours putting up Devolved Parliament in the museum's front hall, where Banksy's Paint Pot Angel has been on display since 2009.

Members of the public will be able to visit the chimp-MP portrait at the museum for free, for five months.

Exhibition curator Philip Walker said: "When this work was shown 10 years ago it caused a real stir.

"It feels like a timely chance to revisit the work and a great opportunity to share Banksy's largest known work on canvas with the public again."

Yoma Smith, trustee of Bristol Museums Development Trust, described Banksy as "Bristol's son" and hailed the artist for reflecting society in his work.
A mazon has been criticised for selling the hate-filled manifesto by the white supremacist responsible for the Christchurch mosque massacre.

Brenton Tarrant , 28  accused of gunning down 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand  published The Great Replacement online, minutes before the March 15 attack.

It was recreated in a 74-page paperback by a publisher who was permitted to sell it on Amazon. It is understood to have been on sale on the site since March 23 and was available for four days until the Standard alerted the retail giant and it was quickly withdrawn.

Brendan Cox, the husband of Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered by a white supremacist in 2016, criticised the company for allowing the books sale.

He said: Promoting the ramblings of the New Zealand terrorist is bad enough, profiting from them is disgraceful.

Mr Cox, a co-founder of Survivors Against Terror, added: Its time tech giants use their own technology to take down these attempts at propagating hatred.

The Standard found a version of the manifesto on Amazon by entering Tarrants name. A reporter was able to click on the look inside tab to read, free of charge, two pages of the introduction.

The manifesto was published in French on March 23 by a publisher Bibliotheque Dissidente, which has also published books by pro-fascist writer Louis-Ferdinand Celine and far-Right activist Jacques Ploncard dAssac. Tarrant has been charged with murder and is likely to face more charges when he reappears in court on April 5.

An Amazon spokesman said: The item was removed from the site once the Evening Standard made us aware of it.
A n Australian wedding guest was left speechless after a bride said her gift wasnt expensive enough and demanded a cash payment to make up for it.

The stunned woman, who posted about the incident on an online wedding shaming group, explained that she and her husband had attended the nuptials with the Australian dollar equivalent of 110 cash, along with a 40 designer candle.

However, the bride called weeks later to say the two guests attendance had cost around 270, so they would need to pay 160 to cover the extra expense.

The woman wrote on the social media group: "I've just hung up the phone from a friend (ex-friend now!) whose wedding was a few weekends ago.

"She was ringing people thanking them for coming to her wedding. Sweet right? Wrong."

"She had a beautiful wedding, lots of guests, lots of wine and food. There were even fireworks when she and her new hubby left (via yacht) to go on their honeymoon.

The Queen and Prince Philip's Royal Wedding - In pictures 1 /25 The Queen and Prince Philip's Royal Wedding - In pictures AFP via Getty Images The marriage register showing the signatures of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, and the King and Queen, signed as 'George R' and 'Elizabeth R' PA Princess Elizabeth and Lt Philip Mountbatten with close relatives and bridesmaids in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace immediately after the wedding ceremony. In the front row are (L-R) Queen Mary (the King's Mother) Princess Andrew of Greece (Duke of Edinburgh's mother) the late Prince William of Gloucester with the fellow pageboy Prince Micheal of Kent , King George VI and the Queen Mother. Back row; The bridesmaids are left to right: The Hon. Margaret Elphinstone, The Hon. Pamela Mountbatten, Lady Mary Cambridge, HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent, HRH The Princess Margaret, Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Lady Elizabeth Lambart and The Hon. Diana Bowes-Lyon. PA The Queen and Prince Philip on their Wedding Day PA Nelson's Column with it's surrounding Lions made useful advantage points for some of the thousands who were already jamming Trafalgar square PA The immense crowd dotted with periscopes in Trafalgar Square waiting for a glimpse of the royal procession through Admiralty Arch on the way to Westminster Abbey PA Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh leaving Westminster Abbey after their wedding ceremony PA Princess Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten entering the Westminster Abbey for a wedding rehearsal PA Hundreds of thousands lined the streets to see H.R.H Princess Elizabeth drive to Westminster Abbey for her marriage to the newly created H.R.H the Duke of Edinburgh PA The Bride and Groom wave from the balcony as crowds gather at the gates of Buckingham Palace to greet the happy couple PA Londoners surge around the gates of Buckingham Palace for a glimpse of Princess Elizabeth and Lt Philip Mountbatten PA A Panoramic view as the crowds gather to watch the royal wedding PA Two pages, Prince William of Gloucester and Prince Michael of Kentare wrapped up as they prepared to leave Westminster Abbey, after the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh PA The Royal procession walk down the aisle at Westminster Abbey PA A souvenir programme for the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh which took place at Westminster Abbey PA Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in procession to the west door of Westminster Abbey, London after their wedding PA Princess Elizabeth wearing a diamond encrusted bridal gown PA Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in a carriage procession to Waterloo Station for their train to Winchester for the start of their honeymoon PA Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in a carriage procession to Waterloo Station for their train to Winchester for the start of their honeymoon PA

The guest then described how the bride criticised her "miserly" gift.

At first I thought she was being sarcastic and joking, but she was serious. She didn't consider the candle a real gift because 'it wasn't the big one that she wanted,' she added.

The woman ended her post by explaining that unlike the US and other countries, Australian wedding guests are generally not expected to cover the cost of their attendance with gifts.
D onald Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Robert Muellers Russia probe and accused Democrats of defrauding Americans with ridiculous bulls***.

The fired-up president turned the findings of the special counsels investigation into a political weapon as he addressed crowds at a campaign rally in Michigan.

Mr Trump described the inquiry as the greatest hoax in the history of our country and warned that those behind the probe would be held accountable.

"After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is dead," the US leader said at the rally on Thursday night. "This was nothing more than a sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people".

Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan / REUTERS

The Grand Rapids rally was Mr Trumps first political event since the Russia probe found no evidence that his campaign "conspired or coordinated" with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Mr Trump said the investigation was an attempt to "overturn the will of the people" and that many "innocent people" were swept up in the probe.

"Robert Mueller was a god to Democrats. He was a god to them. Now they don't like him much now, he told the crowd.

US President Trump points to supporters during the campaign rally / AFP/Getty Images

The president linked the report with the myriad investigations launched by House Democrats and tried to make the case that, after Mr Mueller's findings, further probes are partisan overreach.

"The Democrats now have to decide if they will continue to defraud the American public with this ridiculous bulls***," said Mr Trump, who urged the opposing party to instead work with him on issues like infrastructure repair and drug pricing.

Mr Trump stood before a giant American flag and signs reading "Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!" and "Make America Great Again as he delivered the speech to a crowd of more than 10,000 people.
P ope Francis has offered an explanation as to why he repeatedly pulled his hand away when worshippers were trying to kiss his Papal ring, claiming he didnt want to spread germs.

In a now viral video, the Pontiff was filmed snatching his hands away while multiple people tried to kiss him while he visited an Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mart at Loreto.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said Francis was worried about spreading germs and was concerned about hygiene as devoted visitors all tried to kiss him.

Mr Gisotti said: The Holy Father told me the motivation was very simple: hygiene. He wants to avoid the risk of contagion for the people, not for him.

He added that usually when the Pope greets a small crowd of people, traditional kisses are welcomed but because the group was larger, there was a bigger concern for spreading germs.

He told reporters: You all know that he has great joy in meeting and embracing people, and being embraced by them.

Pope Francis greets 85-year-old sister Maria Concetta Esu during his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square / EPA

A Vatican aide said he had been reportedly amused' by all the reaction.

The aide said: Sometimes he likes it, sometimes he does not. Its really as simple as that.
J osh Denzel has revealed that the Love Island guys are all rallying around and supporting each other in the wake of Mike Thalassitis death.

Thalassitis was found dead in a woodland near his home on March 16. He was 26.

His death raised concerns from past contestants and fans about the level of aftercare provided by Love Island bosses after youngsters are catapulted into the limelight on leaving the villa.

Denzel emphasised the importance of checking on each other after finding fame on the show during a group interview with Jack Fincham and Chris Hughes.

He told British GQ: In our group chat with some of the Love Island boys, its me, Wes [Nelson], Jack [Fowler], Adam [Collard], we fully just said, like, Yo, were always here for each other.

'If something's s***** and you don't want to tell your close friends or your boys from home or whatever, were all experiencing the same stuff, so let us know.

Mike Thalassitis - In pictures 1 /13 Mike Thalassitis - In pictures Mike Thalassitis and Megan McKenna attend Kisstory On The Common 2018 at Streatham Commo Getty Images Mike Thalassitis on Love Island in 2017 Rex Features Mike on Love Island in 2017 next to contestant Georgia Harrison Rex Features Mike Thalassitis from 'Celebs Go Dating' Getty Images Mike Thalassitis and Danielle Sellers attending the ITV Gala at the London Palladium in November 2017 PA Former Love Island contestant Mike Thalassitis who has died aged 26 PA Mike Thalassitis and Montana Brown leave Sexy Fish restaurant in Mayfair SplashNews.com Mike Thalassitis on Love Island in 2017 ITV Mike Thalassitis and Megan McKenna attend Kisstory On The Common 2018 at Streatham Common, London, in July last year Getty Images Mike Thalassitis on Love Island in 2017 ITV

I think that your support network is the people that you speak to every day and the people that youre around. Boys looking after boys is massively important.

He revealed he must have had 20 or 30 texts from other boys telling them that they were there for him when news of Thalassitis death was announced.

Reality stars pay tribute to Mike Thalassitis who has died aged 26

Speaking at the Broadcasting Press Guild, McCall addressed the devastating deaths of Thalassitis and former contestant Sophie Gradon, who died last year.

People should not have assumed that we didn't have a duty of care because we did have a duty of care and we had clear processes and procedures. We've been evolving them, she said.

New role: ITV has named EasyJet's Carolyn McCall as new chief executive / REUTERS

The social media haste and sometimes nastiness ... It's moving so quickly that you have to keep changing and reviewing what you do on an ongoing process.

"We had already changed some of those processes in light of that... and we will continue to do that.

McCall said that they relied on the stars to reach out to them if they were being targeted and would reach out themselves if they could see it happening but would now ensure that counsellors contacted stars in the weeks after regardless.

She finished: We can do everything we possibly can to look after people and to do our duty of care but you can't do that forever with an individual. There has got to be a framework and it will come to an end. It can't be indefinite.
B oyzone star Keith Duffy was forced to pull out of a gig in Thailand after falling ill.

The band broke the news on their official Twitter account, telling fans Duffy, 44, was taken to hospital in Bangkok on Wednesday evening.

Keith was taken ill before the gig here in Bangkok this evening and has been admitted to hospital on the advice of the local medical team, the tweet read.

Our brother will be back on his feet as soon as possible and we thank you for all your wonderful support in the meantime.

They posted a picture of Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham, and Shane Lynch performing as a three piece.

Duffy appeared to be in good health on arriving in Bangkok earlier this week after posting a video of himself giving a shout out to Irish rock bad Picture This.

Greetings from Bangkok, he said. Have a great night. God bless you.

Performing: Keith Duffy (far right) on stage with Boyzone / Getty Images

Boyzone are currently on their Thank You and Goodnight tour which kicked off on January 23.

It will take them to Australia next month as well as New Zealand, Dubai and Belgium before wrapping up at The Grand in Clapham, London.

The tour has seen the band pay tribute to former member Stephen Gately who died aged 33 in 2009.

Boyzone formed in 1993 and had hits with No Matter What and Love Me For A Reason. They split in 1999 before reuniting in 2007.
M elanie Brown reportedly branded Victoria Beckham a b**** in the same interview she claimed to have slept with Geri Horner.

Brown, known for her runaway mouth, is said to have called her former bandmate a bit of a b**** when asked by Piers Morgan what she thinks of her.

Scary Spice is then believed to have explained that her attitude towards Beckham was because the fashion designer wasnt joining the Spice Girls on their reunion tour later this year.

According to The Sun, Brown then said: I am sad she is not going to be there. But she is busy with what she is doing with her fashion line and her family.

Revealing: Mel B made a series of confessions during her Life Stories interview / ITV

But I am gutted that she is not going to be with us. But I am still going to hold that candle and hope that she will.

The popular band delighted fans when they reunited last June ahead of a stadium tour of the UK, which kicks off at the end of May.

Glory days: Mel B with Victoria Beckham and Geri Horner / Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images

But Beckham was not part of the line-up, later declaring that she has hung up her microphone for good. Rumours of her joining the foursome on stage in London have circulated since but nothing has been confirmed.

Browns mini-takedown of Beckham comes in the same interview she confessed to an alleged fling with Horner, then Halliwell, at the height of the Spice Girls fame.

Mel B revealed she slept with bandmate Geri Horner

Asked by Morgan whether there was any truth in the rumours that the pair had enjoyed a night of passion, Brown smiled and nodded as if to confirm a tryst.

She then said: She's going to hate me for this because she's all posh in her country house with her husband. But its the past.

The star later backtracked on her claims during an interview on Australian radio, claiming her remark had been taken to a whole other level by the media.

Horner is yet to comment on the claims but is reported to have denied them.
A ctor Shane Rimmer, who voiced Scott Tracy in hit show Thunderbirds has died aged 89.

The news was announced by his wife Sheila on The Official Gerry Anderson Website, the co-creator of Thunderbirds page.

Rimmer died at his home in the early hours of Friday morning surrounded by family. The cause of death has not been revealed.

James Bond historian Mark OConnell and producer Jonathan Sothcott were among the first to pay tribute to Rimmer online.

Bond: Rimmer appeared in a string of James Bond movies / Rex Features

Sothcott hailed Rimmer a fine character actor in a touching post dedicated to the late star.

He wrote: RIP that fine character actor SHANE RIMMER - a great face (and voice) in some of the best loved family films of the 70s: THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS, STAR WARS. Thunderbirds. Amazing career. #ShaneRimmer.

OConnell shared a collage of Rimmers hit films and a string of his biggest successful roles before hailing him the Godfather of I know that guy.

Rimmer moved to the UK during his twenties after auditioning for his iconic role as Scott in the pilot episode of Thunderbirds in 1964.

Tribute: Rimmer was succeeded by his wife Sheila (PA Archive/PA Images) / PA

As well as becoming the famous voice in the original series, he reprised his role in hit films Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6.

He went on to achieve mass success, landing roles in Hollywood blockbusters Star Wars: Episode IV, Batman Begins and a string of James Bond movies including Roger Moores The Spy Who Loved Me.

Rimmer also made a string of TV appearances including his role as Joe Donnelli in Coronation Street and an appearance in Doctor Who episode The Gunfighters.
London, UK, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The lead analyst of the report said: The adoption of Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) is expected to increase significantly in the coming years owing to increasing adoption of technically advanced hybrid vehicles and growing environmental concern towards carbon emissions. Also, the improving charging infrastructural developments in developing countries like China, Japan and India is expected to generate opportunities for EVSE market players. Asia Pacific dominates the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) market, owing to the governments collaborations with numerous public and private companies to ease the charging issues, attractive government policies and incentives to promote the sale and usage of electric and hybrid vehicles and fluctuating fuel prices. In the coming years, market players are focusing on increasing the global network of charging stations. This will affect the sale of hybrid cars or battery operated vehicles. Also, the profit of tax exemption and access to special lanes in some countries are further factors propelling the growth of Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE).

For free sample pages on this report please click on:

https://www.visiongain.com/report/electric-vehicle-supply-equipment-evse-market-report-2019-2029/

The 180+ page report contains 100+ tables, charts and graphs that add visual analysis in order to explain developing trends within the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) market. Visiongain provides unit installation forecasts for the period 2019-2029 for the various subsystems. The report offers forecasts and analysis for 5 regions and 20 leading national markets and the rest of the world market. In addition, the report contains a dedicated leading companies chapter covering more than 20 companies leading the field in Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE).

If you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, please send an e-mail to sara.peerun@visiongain.com or call her on +44 207 549 9987.

The Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Market Report 2019-2029: Forecast & Outlook By Charger Type (Private Chargers, Public (Slow Chargers, Fast Chargers), & By Region Plus Analysis of Leading Companies Developing Charging Stations, Recharging Points & Charging Infrastructure for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) & Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) report will be of value to anyone who wants to better understand the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) market and its various segments. It will be useful for businesses who wish to better comprehend the part of the market they are already involved in, or those wishing to enter or expand into a different regional or technical part of the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) industry.

Notes for Editors

If you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, please send an e-mail to sara.peerun@visiongain.com or call her on +44 207 549 9987.

For more automotive reports please visit https://www.visiongain.com/industries/automotive/


M ichelle Keegan was branded perfection by fans as she showed off her tanned beach body while holidaying in Barbados with husband Mark Wright.

Keegan posted a snap of herself in a retro-inspired bikini as she posed in the sand.

Bringing some 80s vibes to the beach, she wrote alongside the shot.

The image, which amassed over 200,000 likes in a matter of hours, left fans in awe of her physique, with one asking: Is she even real?

Another wrote: Omg what a perfect example of beauty xxx.

Others branded her stunning, gorgeous and her body insane.

Some said she was giving them goals to get fit, while others joked they were regretting their chippy tea.

But others were concerned for her impending tan lines, with one commenting: Omg what are you thinking Michelle youll get loads of tan lines for that.

Another wrote: Tan lines from hell.

She posted another snap of herself and Wright fooling around on the beach for the cameras as well as another as she waited for a cocktail.

Mark Wright talks long distance marriage to Michelle Keegan

My task today..? What cocktail to have next, she wrote.

Wright and Keegan have been sharing several snaps from their romantic getaway, shutting down any talk of troubles in their four year marriage.

Michelle Keegan - In pictures 1 /30 Michelle Keegan - In pictures Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images Brassic Sky UK Our Girl BBC Ordinary Lies BBC Coronation Street Getty Images Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright Getty Images Tina and Bboby Our Girl BBC Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan arriving at the National Television Awards 2017 Ian West/PA Michelle Keegan attends the ITV Gala in 2016 Dave Benett Michelle Keegan arrives for the Revlon Choose Love Masquerade Ball in 2016 Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images Michelle Keegan attends the launch of Michelle Keegan's new collection in collaboration with Lipsy at Nobu Berkeley in 2016 Michelle Keegan arriving at the National Television Awards 2016 Ian West/PA Michelle Keegan's Wedding Day in 2015 Michelle Keegan attends the Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women Of The Year awards in 2015 Dave Benett Michelle Keegan attends the House of Fraser British Academy Television Awards in 2015 Michelle Keegan Michelle Keegan for Lipsy Michelle Keegan for Lipsy Michelle Keegan attends the British Heart Foundations Roll Out The Red Ball at Park Lane Hotel in 2015 Michelle Keegan attends the National Television Awards in 2014 Coronation Street

The pair are frequently plagued by reports they are battling to cope with a long distance relationship which sees Keegan shooting abroad for Our Girl while Wright was working in Los Angeles.

Im no longer living in LA. I was there for nearly two years and had the most amazing time, he told The Sun.
N ASA has successfully completed a test flight of a helicopter that will hover above the surface of Mars.

The helicopter is due to be flown on the red planet remotely by 2021. Engineers are making progress in their ambitious plans to launch a drone-like device into the skies above the Red Planet for the first time.

They hope it will reveal a new perspective on the Martian surface.

Remotely controlling a helicopter from hundreds of millions of miles away, on top of Mars's thin atmosphere and freezing temperatures as low as minus 90C at night make flying such a device an incredibly difficult technical feat.

They hope to pilot the piece of kit remotely to explore the surface of Mars / NASA

The space agency has been putting the 4lb (1.8kg) helicopter through its paces in a vacuum chamber at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which swaps nitrogen, oxygen and other gases for carbon dioxide to mimic the atmosphere of the Red Planet, as well as a gravity offload system.

"Getting our helicopter into an extremely thin atmosphere is only part of the challenge," said Teddy Tzanetos, test conductor for the Mars Helicopter.

"To truly simulate flying on Mars we have to take away two-thirds of Earth's gravity, because Mars's gravity is that much weaker."

Nasa is aiming to launch the helicopter with the Mars 2020 rover in July 2020, before it is expected to reach the planet in February 2021 and carry out flights a few months later.

Scientists performed test flights of the drone in a vacuum chamber / NASA

"The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Mars Helicopter.

"Watching our helicopter go through its paces in the chamber, I couldn't help but think about the historic vehicles that have been in there in the past.

"The chamber hosted missions from the Ranger Moon probes to the Voyagers to Cassini, and every Mars rover ever flown. To see our helicopter in there reminded me we are on our way to making a little chunk of space history as well."

The news comes days after US Vice President Mike Pence told Nasa that he wants astronauts on the Moon again within five years, which he said "holds great scientific, economic and strategic value".
CHICAGO, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GuavaTech, Inc. , a leading managed service provider specializing in customized IT solutions for proprietary trading firms, investment banks, hedge funds, broker/dealers, and FCMs, today announced that it will begin offering low-latency access to Seed CX , the Chicago-headquartered digital asset exchange for institutional investors.



"We are pleased to offer our clients the capability to connect to Seed CX, said Michael Pappas, SVP of Business Development at GuavaTech. GuavaTechs proven global network and expansive customer base provides a robust connectivity option for Seed CXs digital asset exchange. With the addition of Seed CX, GuavaTech continues to deliver the growth and flexibility that our clients require to expand and diversify their trading strategies.

Through its subsidiaries, Seed CX offers a licensed exchange for institutional trading and settlement of spot digital asset products, and plans to offer a market for CFTC-regulated digital asset derivatives. Seed CX recently partnered with Singapore-based trading platform developer Hydra X to expand its institutional user base and asset offerings in Asia. In November, Seed CX announced that QCP Capital, one of Asias largest digital asset trading firms, had connected to its trading platform.

Were very excited for GuavaTech customers to connect to Seed CX, said Edward Woodford, Seed CX co-founder and CEO. Were working to connect groups across the world using their existing infrastructure, and this union with GuavaTech is an essential part of that.

For Media Inquiries

Michael Pappas, GuavaTech, Inc., Sales@GuavaTech.com

Hunter Stuart, Seed CX, hunter@propllr.com

About GuavaTech, Inc.

GuavaTech, Inc . is a Global Managed Service Provider focused on customized IT solutions for proprietary trading firms, investment banks, hedge funds, broker/dealers, and FCMs. GuavaTech provides a sophisticated, highly secure, resilient, and ultra-low latency trading infrastructure that encompasses networks, collocation hosting services, exchange / ECN / liquidity pool access, ISV facilitation as well as management, support, and monitoring throughout the US, Canada, Europe and Asia.

About Seed CX

Seed CX is a Chicago-based licensed digital asset exchange, which, through its subsidiaries, offers a market for institutional trading and settlement of spot digital assets, and plans to offer a separate market for CFTC-regulated derivatives. Seed CX is backed by Bain Capital Ventures . Seed CX wholly owns a number of subsidiaries:

Seed Digital Commodities Market is a spot exchange for digital asset commodities.

Zero Hash is a FinCen regulated Money Service Business and FX Dealer as well as a Money Transmitter in more than 30 States. Zero Hash custodies both fiat and digital assets, with on-chain settlement.

Seed SEF is a CFTC-regulated Swap Execution Facility (SEF) that plans to offer a market for CFTC-regulated digital asset derivatives.

Seed Digital Securities Market is pending registration as a Broker Dealer with FINRA and an ATS with the SEC.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. , March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Department of the Interior issued a sources sought notice for complete vegetation managment services at the Prosesser Creek Dam and Stampede Dam and Dike. Vendors who are interested need to respond by April 5, 2019. For assistance in meeting this deadline with proper registrations, businesses may use third-party government registration firm, US Federal Contractor Registration (USFCR).

561730, Landscaping Services, is the designated NAICS code for this opportunity. Here are the following requirements for all respondents:

Name of Organization

Address Including Zip Code

Point of Contact

Telephone Number

Email Address

Confirmation of Active SAM Registration

Business Size and Classification

Number of Years in Industry

At Least 2 Examples of Similar Past Work

The required information is to be sent to the Contract Specialist Rebekah Lauren Yuson (ryuson@usbr.gov). For more details and information on the requirements, this notice can be found on the Advanced Procurement Portal. All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). Contracting officers will be unable to assist with specific contractor requirements such as registration in SAM. For a quick registration without errors, US Federal Contractor Registration (USFCR) is a third-party firm that offers full-service SAM registrations for businesses.

USFCR is the world's largest third-party government registration firm. They have helped thousands of entities translate their capabilities into the U.S. Government's language and systems with the Simplified Acquisition Program, bid training, and proposal writing services. They not only register companies on their behalf in SAM, but also have pioneered the Advanced Procurement Portal (APP). APP shows active and historical federal business opportunity information in the same place, simplifying market research. Active federal buyers and vendors are not only cataloged in APP but also are also using the system, creating a powerful network. Businesses who partner with USFCR will be able to dedicate their complete effort toward their performance on a contract, rather than the acquisition of it.
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PITTSBURGH, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) announced today that interested stockholders, investors and others may listen to the companys first quarter 2019 conference call with securities analysts on May 3, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. The call, which will be available via the U. S. Steel website, will cover first quarter financial results and may include forward-looking information. The company plans to release its first quarter financial results following the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, May 2, 2019.



U. S. Steel officials participating in the call will be; David B. Burritt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin P. Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Kevin Lewis, General Manager-Investor Relations.

To access the webcast, visit the website at www.ussteel.com and click Investors. Replays of the conference call will be available on the website after 10:30 a.m. on May 3.

Financial information, including earnings releases, certain SEC filings and other investor-related material is also available at the companys website.

United States Steel Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a leading integrated steel producer and Fortune 250 company with major production operations in the United States and Central Europe. The company manufactures a wide range of value-added steel sheet and tubular products. For more information about U. S. Steel, please visit www.ussteel.com .

Analysts/Investors

Kevin Lewis

T  (412) 433-6935

E  klewis@uss.com
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At a Romanian-Greek intergovernmental meeting at the Romanian Government House in Bucharest on Friday, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and her Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras agreed on an action plan reflecting the priorities of the Romanian-Greek bilateral agenda that establishes a clear long-term co-operation strategy between the two countries in all areas.

Read also: Bulgarian PM Borissov: 'I hope we'll make the first dig for Romania-Bulgaria gas interconnector in June'

"I had a consistent and extremely useful meeting today with my Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, followed by a first Romanian-Greek intergovernmental meeting, an exercise that we hope will become constant and provide the guidelines needed to define pragmatic, consistent and concrete coordinates for the bilateral dialogue. We agreed to provide a new dimension to our bilateral relationships and decided to jointly develop an action plan that reflects the priorities of the Romanian-Greek bilateral agenda and establishes a clear long-term co-operation strategy between our two countries in all areas. The development and diversification of our bilateral relationships is favoured by positive premises such as traditional relations between our countries, spiritual affinities, common history and similar approaches of many regional and European themes," Dancila told a join news conference with Tsipras at the Romanian Government House on Friday.

She added that another element of connection is provided by the two communities, of Romanians working, living and studying in Greece and of the Greeks in Romania.

"We have an opportunity to boost the bilateral dialogue, starting from the inter-human, traditional and historical relations that bind us," Dancila said.

She congratulated her Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, and the Greek Government on Greece exiting from financial assistance programmes "with a stronger economy after implementing fiscal and structural reforms."

She also mentioned that Romania stood in solidarity with Greece during the economic crisis and during the migration crisis, same as the two countries were together in the key moments of their history, overcoming difficulties and obstacles together.

"We met today with the Greek partners to analyse developments in strategic areas such as transport and energy security and to identify new opportunities in areas with a direct impact on economic development such as trade, agriculture, tourism, culture and education (...) As far as transport is concerned, we discussed co-operation in major road and rail interconnection projects and we highlighted the importance of these projects for the integrated economic development of our countries. We welcomed the fact that Romania and Greece share a common goal as far as energy is concerned and a shared attention attached to those initiatives and projects capable of increasing energy security in our region by diversifying gas supply sources and routes," Dancila said.

She mentioned the importance of the BRUA Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria interconnection project in this context.

"We are continuing to advance with the BRUA corridor, the first diversification project in southern Europe that has the potential to offer a new route and sources of gas natural to a number of European countries that are in a major dependence on a single external supplier," said Dancila.

She also mentioned that a closer co-operation framework was agreed upon for the promotion of start-up companies in the field of information technology and creative industries on the regional markets, as well as the setting up and participation of Romanian innovative companies in regional clusters to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experience and to increase their competitiveness.

"We are glad that over one million Romanian tourists visit Greece every year, as the preferred holiday destination for Romanians and that the interest of Greek tourists in Romania is growing," Dancila said.

She also mentioned the themes addressed in the cultural field.

"I talked with my friend Alexis about a very important cultural project and we decided to develop collaborative projects between Timisoara and Elefsina, both of which will be European capitals of culture in 2021. I would also like to emphasise that the dialogue on culture and education is excellent and we want to further capitalise on the important potential that exists in the area of cultural exchanges and co-operation between universities," said Dancila.

In the same context, she briefed Tsipras on the results so far achieved by the Romanian presidency of the EU Council, showing that in the first three months of the term of office Romania managed approximately 900 events and meetings.

"Our efforts have resulted in substantial outcomes in negotiations over active legislative files, so we have succeeded in finalising negotiations over 86 legislative files, many of which have already been confirmed by the Council. I also had a very useful exchange of ideas with Prime Minister Tsipras about the future of Europe," the Romanian PM added.

Dancila thanked Tsipras for Greece's support to Romania's bid for OECD membership.

On Friday afternoon, a new Romania-Bulgaria-Greece-Serbia four-side meeting is scheduled to take place at Snagov Palace.

AGERPRES .
TORONTO, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The First Canadian Women-only Business Mission to Japan, the first gender-based mission into Asia, will visit Tokyo and Kyoto from April 1-3, 2019. Organized by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada), the Mission will include corporate and university site visits, pitch presentations, key stakeholder discussions, and networking events with 36 representative women leaders of Canadian business, innovation, and thought leadership and their Japanese counterparts.



Japan, which hosts the worlds third-largest economy and is one of Canadas oldest and strongest trading partners, is an ideal entry point for Canadian women business leaders and entrepreneurs looking to diversify into Asian markets. This three-day Mission is intended to facilitate the expansion of Canadas women-led small and medium enterprises (SMEs) involved in health and eldercare into Japans highly-developed market supporting its aging population.

Mission objectives include:

Creating business opportunities through B2B matching sessions, partnerships with Japanese incubators and venture capital, and introductions to Canadas network of trade offices as well as Japanese government and non-government services.

through B2B matching sessions, partnerships with Japanese incubators and venture capital, and introductions to Canadas network of trade offices as well as Japanese government and non-government services. Expanding Canada-Japan networks of women business, thought, community, and government leaders.

of women business, thought, community, and government leaders. Enhancing understanding of Japans aging society, its gender inclusion policies and practices, and its business practices and culture.

The First Canadian Women-only Business Mission to Japan is a direct outcome of recommendations from women business and thought leaders who participated in APF Canadas dialogue series Women2Women in the Asia Pacific conducted across Canada from 2017 to 2018 and led by APF Canada Vice-president and Mission Director, Christine Nakamura. The Mission is co-chaired by Ryerson University Chancellor Janice Fukakusa and by Dr. Beatrix Dart, Professor of Strategic Management and Executive Director of the Rotman Initiative for Women in Business at the University of Torontos Rotman School of Management.



The First Canadian Women-only Business Mission to Japan has been made possible through the generous support of Manulife, as well as Air Canada, The Embassy of Canada in Japan, Global Affairs Canada, and Samantha Thavasa Japan Ltd., and in partnership with The Centre for Global Social Policy, University of Toronto.



Quotes

Small- to medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the Canadian economy, but only 16 per cent of these enterprises are women-owned or women-led. Women entrepreneurs face many barriers such as accessing capital, expertise and networks, which also hinders their export-readiness. This first-ever women-only trade mission to Japan, hosted by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, is offering Canadian women entrepreneurs amazing opportunities to enhance their international networks and opening doors to new business relationships and future growth.



 Mission Co-chair and Rotman Initiative for Women in Business Executive Director, Dr. Beatrix Dart

As a CEO of a private organization, my primary objective is to explore and pursue potential partnerships and opportunities for growth and expansion of the organization that I lead. The additional benefit of being able to help shine a light on fellow Canadian female leaders and entrepreneurs and provide another example to young women across our great nation that any glass ceiling they encounter in life can be broken  brings me immense joy and pride.

 Fonemed Chief Executive Officer, Charlene Brophy

The talent of the women recruited for this first-ever gender-based business mission to Asia has inspired me tremendously. I hope to make this the first of many women-led missions to the vibrant markets in the Asia Pacific region.

 Mission Project Director and Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada Vice-president, Christine Nakamura

Contact



Michael Roberts

Communications Manager

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

michael.roberts@asiapacific.ca




Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu attended on Thursday the High-level Meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development for All, organised by President of the UN General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, a release of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) sent to AGERPRES informs.

The head of the Romanian diplomacy underscored in his speech that the United Nations Organisation plays and important role in the fight against climate changes and promotion of climate at global level for the current and future generations.

"We are at a crucial moment for the health and survival of the planet," the Minister showed, bringing to mind the Special Report on global warming 1,5 Degrees Celsius of the Climate changes Panel.

According to the MAE release, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Objectives, the Paris Agreement on climate change and the objectives of the multilateral environment agreement imply "a sustainable management of natural resources and the evolution to circular economy."

"Climate changes are more present than ever and they became a problem of national interest and national security, whether we are talking about small or large countries, rich or poor, islands or without access to the sea. We all have to commit to this fight," the Romanian chief of diplomacy conveyed.

Welcoming the 2019 UN Climate Summit to be held in New York in September, Melescanu highlighted Romania's firm commitment to the international legal framework developed by the United Nations - 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Change Climate Change (UNFCCC) - which put climate change at the top of the organization's agenda.

Among Romania's efforts to endorse the fight against climate change, Teodor Melescanu also mentioned the "Building resilience to natural disasters" conference, organised by the Romanian Presidency at the EU Council in Bucharest on 12 March.

The Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister also carried out a series of bilateral meeting on the sidelines of this attendance to the high-level meetings held at the UN headquarters.

He met with Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, with whom he reviewed Romania's foreign policy objectives, underscoring the importance of continuing our country's commitment in the following areas peace, justice and development, with an emphasis on the synergy between strengthening peace and climate change, as well as their impact in the context of international security.

Minister Teodor Melescanu reiterated Romania's support in identifying the sustainable development projects for Dominica, including in view of the opportunities provided by Romania exercising the EU Council Presidency, in the first semester of 2019.

Both sides welcomed the boost of the bilateral dialogue over the last period and expressed their will to intensify cooperation between Romania and Dominica in the culture and education areas, resilience to disasters and peace strengthening.

The Minister also participated in the reception provided by Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland for the inauguration of a new headquarters of this country's Permanent Mission to the UN. Melescanu and Freeland carried out a discussion, tackling the participation in peace-keeping operations, bilateral cooperation and the EU-Canada relations in the context of Romania's Presidency at the EU Council.
Former National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) head Laura Codruta Kovesi tabled on Friday an appeal with the High Court of Cassation and Justice against the measure of judicial review ordered against her by the prosecutors of the Judiciary Crime Investigation Section, in the file in which she is accused of service abuse, bribery, and false testimony in connection with the extradition of disgraced businessman Nicolae Popa, manager of a bankrupted National Investment Fund (FNI).

Read also: Alexis Tsipras: 'Greece and Romania have the strongest economies in the Balkans'

For the time being, the Supreme Court has not set a deadline for judging the appeal.

On Thursday, Laura Codruta Kovesi was placed under judicial control by prosecutors of the Judiciary Crime Investigation Section (SIIJ) in the file in which she is accused of abuse of office, bribery and false testimony in connection with the extradition of disgraced businessman Nicolae Popa, manager of a bankrupted National Investment Fund (FNI).

Kovesi is under several bans, she is not allowed to leave the country and talk to the press about the case she is being investigated in. She cannot work as a prosecutor at the Prosecutor General's Office.

Laura Codruta Kovesi was heard on Thursday, more than six hours, at the SIIJ, and said she was forbidden to talk to the press, considering that this was a measure of "muzzling her."

The case in which Laura Codruta Kovesi is accused was opened in December 2018 following a complaint by former deputy Sebastian Ghita who had fled to Serbia after being indicted in several corruption cases. Ghita claims that in 2011 Kovesi asked him to pay 200,000 euro for bringing disgraced trust fund manager Nicolae Popa, internationally wanted back then, from Indonesia on a flight.

Prosecutors with the Judiciary Crime Investigation Section (SIIJ) claim that Laura Codruta Kovesi asked for and received in 2011 268,689 lei from businessman Sebastian Ghita in connection with the extradition of Nicolae Popa.

AGERPRES .
The European Union is ready for "the worst case scenario" in the context in which the Brexit Agreement was rejected for the third time, Minister-delegate for European Affairs George Ciamba posted on Twitter on Friday, partitive agerpres.ro.

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"The Brexit Agreement was rejected for the third time by the British Parliament. Although we regret the decision, the Romanian Presidency of the European Union Council took all the contingency measures for the worst case scenario. The General Affairs Council is ready to support London's requests," the Romanian Official wrote on Twitter.

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President of the European Council Donald Tusk convened on 10 April an extraordinary summit of the European leaders, after the vote on Friday in the British Parliament, which rejected, for the third time, the agreement of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU, according to Reuters and AFP.
Romania's Minister-delegate for European Affairs George Ciamba on Friday had a series of bilateral meetings with Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Minister Emilia Kraleva Denitsa Zheleva, a foreign policy adviser to Bulgaria's prime minister, on the side-lines of the fifth meeting of the Romania-Bulgaria High-Level Co-operation Council.

According to a press statement released by Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE), at the meetings with Kraleva and Zheleva, Ciamba "welcomed the close partnership between Romania and Bulgaria, amidst this year's 140th anniversary of Romanian-Bulgarian relationships."

"The Romanian-Bulgarian relationship is built on a sustainable basis as they are neighbouring countries, members of the EU and NATO. The Romanian official said intensifying and diversifying co-operation between the two countries is absolutely necessary."

Ciamba brought to the attention of the two Bulgarian officials the priorities of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union.

According to MAE, reviving regional co-operation in the Black Sea is an important point on the agenda, and the Romanian official mentioned to the Bulgarian side that Romania counts on Bulgaria's officials for promoting this objective on the EU agenda.

Also discussed by Ciamba and the Bulgarian dignitaries was Romania's role in strengthening the EU-Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) relations and in revitalising the Black Sea Synergy as complementary dimensions in Romania's approach of the Black Sea.
Bulgaria is a key-partner for Romania in the region and the commercial exchanges exceeded 4 billion euro last year, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated at the end of the 5th meeting of the High-level Cooperation Council of Romania's and Bulgaria's Governments.

"The bilateral meeting which I carried out with my counterpart and the intergovernmental consultations which followed, alongside numerous contacts at political and sectoral levels over the last period reflect the close and substantial relations between our countries and the common will to further develop them. The 5th meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council between Romania and Bulgaria takes place at an anniversary moment, when we mark 140 years since the establishment of the bilateral relations between the two countries. Bulgaria is a key-partner for Romania in the region, the bilateral commercial exchanges exceeded 4 billion euro in the previous year, confirming the upward trend of the last seven years," Dancila told the joint press statements with her Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov.

She brought to mind that there are numerous ongoing bilateral projects in areas such as transport, energy, local public administration, cross border cooperation.

"In today's meeting I confirmed, together with Prime Minister Borissov, our decision to provide the necessary political impulse to a cooperation that will continue the positive trend so far and run at a more sustained pace, capitalising as much as possible on the existing potential. Our firm commitment in this regard is reflected in the joint statement we have adopted. The political statement details the cooperation sectors and sets the framework for action to strengthen bilateral, regional, European and international cooperation," Dancila added.

According to the PM, within the meeting held at the Victoria Palace, several documents in priority areas were signed, which relate to the cooperation for emergency situations, stimulating SMEs, improving the navigation conditions on the common Romanian-Bulgarian sector of the Danube and transport connectivity.

"We agreed to provide additional dynamism to joint projects and actions in priority areas of cooperation such as connectivity. We will continue to work together to ensure the the navigability on the Danube River through concrete maintenance and naval infrastructure projects, identifying the optimal location for building a new bridge over the Danube, the development of railway infrastructure linking the two states," PM Viorica Dancila stated.

She voiced her belief that the Giurgiu-Ruse gas pipeline, inaugurated in November 2016, will become operational at maximum capacity by completing the works at the natural gas compressor in Podisor in the assumed deadline - 2019.

"At the same time, we strongly support the BRUA projects [the the National Gas Transmission System on the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria corridor] (...) and the Greece-Bulgaria-Romania vertical corridor, able to ensure access to a wide range of resources to our states and Central European partners," Dancilla stated.

According to the Executive head, a series of concrete measures were discussed, related to protecting and stating the ethnic and linguistic identity of Romanians in Bulgaria and of Bulgarians in Romania.

She also referred to the cooperation between the two countries at EU-level, expressing satisfaction with the "exemplary" way in which the authorities of the two countries worked jointly in the framework of the coordination and good practice mechanism regarding Romania and Bulgaria exercising for the first time the EU Council Presidency.

"At the same time, the two countries cooperate at EU level to promote common objectives, including Schengen accession, for which the technical criteria have been met ever since 2011," Viorica Dancila said.

On the occasion of the 5th meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council of the Governments of Romania and the Republic of Bulgaria, the relevant ministers of the two countries signed the Governmental Agreement regarding cooperation in the emergency situation area, a Memorandum of Understanding on SMEs and another one regarding the implementation of joint initiatives for improving the navigation conditions on the common Romanian-Bulgarian sector of the Danube and connectivity in the transport area.
The national governments of Romania and Bulgaria on Friday signed an agreement on emergency co-operation designed to contribute to the development of bilateral relations in the field of prevention, preparedness and response in case of major emergencies, natural disasters technological and fire, according to Romania's Interior Ministry (MAI).

"The agreement governs technical principles and ways of action in forecasting, preventing, assessing, containing and removing the effects of emergencies in line with the relevant requirements and recommendations for international co-operation," MAI reported on Friday.

Interior Minister Carmen Dan welcomed her Bulgarian counterpart Mladen Marinov on Friday on the side-lines of the 5th meeting of the Romania-Bulgaria High-Level Co-operation Council.

"The talks were particularly fruitful and addressed common themes of interest in coordinating pending European files, securing the common border and, implicitly, the EU's external border, preventing and combatting illegal migration, as well as police co-operation."

The two sides reiterated their commitment to further coordinating efforts to bring Romania and Bulgaria to the border-free Schengen area.
The representative of the Romanian Presidency at the Council of the European Union coordinated the EU member states at the 124th session of the International Coffee Council as Chairperson of the Council of the European Union's Working Party on Commodities, according to a release of the Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship Minsitry (MMACA).

The meeting took place between March 25-29, 2019, in Kenya, Nairobi.

Romania, as the Presidency-in-Office of the Council of the European Union, coordinates the member states' position within the international commodity bodies. European Union's common position is discussed and endorsed by the Council of the European Union's Working Party on Commodities and the European Commission represents the member states within such international fora, the MMACA release mentions.

The International Coffee Council meeting, held for the first time in Kenya, was focused on Profitability: Consumption and Productivity.

At the same time, other related events unfolded, such as the Conference on Coffee Industry Sustainability: Coffee: How sustainable is our future? Thus, the talks in Nairobi focused on the sustainable development of the coffee industry and, implicitly, on the functioning of the International Coffee Organization (ICO).

The meeting agenda included topics such as the assessment of the organization membership, the arrangement for members in persistent arrears, the 2018/2019 action program, the coffee market status report with an emphasis on coffee prices - which are falling - organization's surveys and reports, assessment of domestic coffee policies, report on the implementation of Memoranda of Understanding with various partners, ICO subsidiary bodies' reports, the current status of the Special Fund for the promotion of coffee consumption in the exporting countries, as well as ICO's future events, the MMACA release mentions.
The Romanian Government approved on Friday, an agreement between the governments of Romania and Turkey on cooperation in the field of healthcare and medical sciences, signed in Ankara on October 15, 2018.

The document will replace an old agreement dating back from 1991 and an additional protocol on healthcare cooperation concluded in July 1994, which validity has run out, according to Romania's Ministry of Health.

"It was absolutely necessary for Romania's agreement with Turkey in the field of healthcare to be adjusted to the needs of today's healthcare services. The Romanian patient is at the centre of the policies promoted by the Ministry of Health. This collaboration will focus in particular on Romanian patients aged 0 to 18 who will receive treatment in Turkey for certain pathologies," Health Minister Sorina Pintea said in a statement.

Under the new agreement, Romania and Turkey will promote, on the basis of equality and reciprocity, co-operation in areas such as strengthening healthcare systems, encouraging mutual investment in the healthcare sector, medicines, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, hospital management, public health and the healthcare system, family medicine, geriatrics and gerontology, as well as emergency medical services.

At the same time, the two countries will co-operate by exchanging information, exchanging delegates and health professionals, and by encouraging the participation of specialists in conferences and scientific meetings.

In this respect, a joint working committee will be set up, which will meet regularly to establish co-operation priorities and regular evaluation of activities.
Speaker of the Deputies Chamber Liviu Dragnea on Friday discussed with the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Alexis Tsipras, who is currently paying a visit to Bucharest, about bilateral cooperation in fields such as economic, cultural, energy and transportation areas.

"They approached topics of a common interest in bilateral cooperation, in fields with a major development potential such as the economic, cultural, energy and transportation fields, and also topics on the regional and European agenda. In the context of increasingly tight Romanian-Hellenic cooperation relations, the dialogue between Liviu Dragnea and Alexis Tsipras showed their common will of identification and exploitation of new collaboration sectors, both at bilateral and regional level," informed the Deputies' Chamber, through a press release.

In what concerns the European agenda, the Speaker of the Deputies Chamber pointed out the support granted by Greece to Romania in the file regarding the Multiannual Financial Framework and in advancing talks regarding the future cohesion policy.

"The convergent positions of the two countries in several European files provide an excellent starting point in strengthening the existing projects, and also in extending cooperation to cover new fields, with a strong regional impact. The identification of collaboration opportunities and actions taken with priority were considered objectives of an immediate importance by the two dignitaries, who pointed out the existence of favourable conditions for the development of railway and road transportation projects, for the activation of such exchanges of experience in fields like research and food safety, for the promotion of start-up companies in the IT field," reads the release.
DENVER, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bow River Capital is pleased to announce a round of real estate acquisitions following the successful close of $186 million in capital commitments in Bow Rivers second pure-play real estate fund in July 2018 (Real Estate Fund II). Bow Rivers Real Estate Fund II has closed the following 9 deals in the last 12 months.



Office

San Antonio, TX  Value-add acquisition of a seven-building suburban office portfolio totaling approximately 238,000 square feet that was 54% occupied at time of acquisition. The portfolio is west of the intersection of I-10 and I-410 in the northwest sub-market of San Antonio, TX. The portfolio is now 70% occupied.

Dallas, TX  Located more specifically in Las Colinas, Texas just east of DFW, this joint-venture was formed for the development of a 66,000 square foot medical office building that was 48% pre-leased prior to construction commencement. The project broke ground in Q3 2018 and is expected to be complete in Q3 2019.

Phoenix, AZ  This value-add acquisition of 285,000 square feet of office that was 33% occupied comes with 4.4 acres of developable land for multifamily. The project is strategically located in the Midtown sub-market, which is currently benefiting from attractive values compared to other sub-markets as well as a lot of inbound investment across multifamily developments, tenant relocations, the Park Central Mall redevelopment, and Creighton Universitys recently announced $100 million medical campus development.

Industrial

Henderson, NV  This is a joint-venture acquisition and development of 26 acres of land adjacent to the Raiders practice facility which is currently under construction in Henderson, Nevada. The business plan assumes 275,000 square feet of Class A industrial development along with the optionality for mixed-use development and/or sale on an additional 8 acres.

North Las Vegas, NV  This development represents the joint-venture acquisition of 21 acres of land that will be developed into approximately 297,000 square feet of Class A industrial space across two adjacent buildings. The project is in the Speedway micro-market just off the intersection between I-15 and the Bruce Woodbury Beltway.

Senior Living

Oklahoma City, OK  Two value-add senior living facilities in Oklahoma City and Mustang, Oklahoma totaling 151-beds. The facilities were under-managed with low margins at 75% occupancy. Services included are a mix of independent living, assisted living, and memory care with the option to build additional independent living cottages at one of the facilities.

San Marcos, TX  Acquisition and development of an approximate 74,000 square foot, Class A assisted living and memory care community along I-35 just southwest of Austin, Texas and northeast of San Antonio. The development will consist of 106-beds and will offer rates similar to nearby competitive product that is 20+ years old.

Las Vegas, NV  This represents a value-add acquisition of 151-beds that have been recently renovated due to a minor fire. The facility was 55% occupied at acquisition and prior to the renovations, the facility was operating at 92% occupancy. The services offered include IL, AL, and MC. The project is located in the eastern sub-market of Las Vegas.

Retail

Wichita, KS  Value-add acquisition of 360,000 square feet across three centers on the east side of the metro area. The centers were collectively 66% occupied at acquisition in a sub-market with an overall occupancy reported in the low 90s. Since acquisition, approximately 68,000 square feet of new leases have been signed including a regional fitness center taking 55,000 square feet and Dollar Tree taking 12,000 square feet.

About Bow River Capital

Founded in 2003, Bow River Capital is a private alternative asset management company based in Denver, Colorado, with Buyout, Real Estate, and Software Growth Equity Fund platforms. Bow Rivers Buyout platform focuses on lower middle market operating companies across a geographic area the principals refer to as Bow River Capitals Rodeo Region, which encompasses the Rocky Mountains and surrounding states.
Philadelphia, PA, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) is pleased to announce the 2019 Class of SIAM Fellows. These distinguished members were nominated for their exemplary research as well as outstanding service to the community. Through their contributions, SIAM Fellows help advance the fields of applied mathematics and computational science.

SIAM congratulates these 28 esteemed members of the community, listed below in alphabetical order:

Mihai Anitescu, Argonne National Laboratory & University of Chicago, is being recognized for contributions to the modeling, theory, and practice of optimization.

David A. Bader, Georgia Institute of Technology, is being recognized for contributions in high-performance algorithms and streaming analytics and for leadership in the field of computational science.

Francesco Bullo, University of California Santa Barbara, is being recognized for contributions to geometric control, distributed control, and network systems with application to robotic coordination, power grids, and social networks.

Jose Antonio Carrillo de la Plata, Imperial College London, is being recognized for his outstanding contributions to applied mathematics in complex particle dynamics and service to the Applied Mathematics Community of the European Mathematical Society.

Stephen Jonathan Chapman, University of Oxford, is being recognized for his outstanding contributions to physical and biological modeling as well as for his asymptotic methods development in applied mathematics.

Pierre Comon, CNRS, is being recognized for pioneering and groundbreaking contributions to signal processing, tensor decompositions, and his instrumental role in creating independent component analysis.

Wolfgang A. Dahmen, University of South Carolina Columbia, is being recognized for contributions to numerical methods for partial differential equations, signal processing, and learning.

Jesus Antonio De Loera, University of California Davis, is being recognized for contributions to discrete geometry and optimization, polynomial algebra, and mathematical software.

Froilan Dopico, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, is being recognized for contributions in numerical linear algebra and the solution of polynomial and rational eigenvalue problems via linearizations.

Ernesto Estrada, University of Zaragoza & ARAID Foundation, is being recognized for outstanding contributions to mathematical chemistry and network science.

Fariba Fahroo, Air Force Research Lamboratory, is being recognized for outstanding scientific leadership while managing AFOSR and DARPA programs in dynamics and control and computational mathematics, and fundamental research accomplishments in computational optimal control.

Andreas Frommer, Universitat Wuppertal, is being recognized for contributions in numerical linear algebra and the solution of problems in quantum chromodynamics.

Roger G. Ghanem, University of Southern California, is being recognized for his seminal contributions to the mathematical foundations of uncertainty quantification methods.

Sigal Gottlieb, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, is being recognized for her contribution to strong-stability-preserving time discretizations and other schemes for hyperbolic equations, and for her professional services including those to SIAM and women in mathematics.

Michael Allen Heroux, Sandia National Laboratories, is being recognized for research, leadership, and community building in software and algorithms for scientific and high-performance computing.

Misha Kilmer, Tufts University, is being recognized for her fundamental contributions to numerical linear algebra and scientific computing, including ill-posed problems, tensor decompositions, and iterative methods.

Ron Kimmel, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, is being recognized for contributions to shape reconstruction, image processing, and geometric analysis.

Gitta Kutyniok, Technische Universitat Berlin, is being recognized for contributions to applied harmonic analysis, compressed sensing, and imaging sciences.

Irena Lasiecka, University of Memphis, is being recognized for fundamental contributions to control theory of partial differential equations and their dissemination through numerous invited talks, administrative positions in professional societies, and the mentoring of many PhD students and postdoctoral associates.

Juan C. Meza, University of California Merced, is being recognized for contributions to optimization methods and software applied to challenging real-world problems, technical leadership, and service to the SIAM community.

Jill C. Pipher, Brown University, is being recognized for her profound contributions in analysis and partial differential equations, groundbreaking work in public key cryptography, and outstanding scientific leadership.

Mason A. Porter, University of California Los Angeles, is being recognized for contributions to diverse problems and applications in networks, complex systems, and nonlinear systems.

Sebastian Reich, Universitat Potsdam, is being recognized for incisive contributions to the field of computational differential equations, and applications in molecular dynamics and data assimilation.

Carla D. Savage, North Carolina State University, is being recognized for outstanding research in algorithms of discrete mathematics and in computer science applications, alongside exemplary service to mathematics.

Zuowei Shen, National University of Singapore, is being recognized for contributions to approximation theory, wavelet theory, and image processing.

Joel A. Tropp, California Institute of Technology, is being recognized for contributions to signal processing, data analysis and randomized linear algebra.

Yin Zhang, Rice University and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, is being recognized for pioneering and current algorithmic and theoretical contributions in the areas of linear and nonlinear optimization and remote sensing.

Jun Zou, Chinese University of Hong Kong, is being recognized for contributions to numerical methods and analyses of direct and inverse problems of partial differential equations.

In addition to raising the visibility of applied mathematics and computational science, the SIAM Fellows Program helps makes SIAM members more competitive for awards and honors as well as leadership positions in the broader society.

Learn more about the SIAM Fellows Program.
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, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lund Enterprises Corp. (TSXV: LEN), (the "Company" or "Lund") is pleased to announce that the shareholders of the Company (the Shareholders), have approved all matters brought before them at the annual general and special meeting of shareholders held on March 29, 2019 (the Meeting), including the reverse takeover transaction (RTO) involving the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding shares of 1163631 B.C. Ltd. (116). Other matters that were approved by the Shareholders at the Meeting include: (i) the consolidation of the outstanding Lund shares on the basis of two pre-consolidation common shares to one post-consolidation common share of the Company; and (ii) the name change of the Company from Lund Enterprises Corp. to Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. (the Resulting Issuer).

Additionally, all annual matters that were put before Shareholders at the Meeting were approved, including the election of directors, appointment of Lunds auditors, and the Lund stock option plan.

Trading in the common shares of Lund remains halted in accordance with TSX Venture Exchange (the Exchange) Policy 5.2. Lund will make an application for final approval of the RTO with the Exchange and deliver the required documentation and complete the steps necessary to permit a resumption of trading. Completion of the RTO remains subject to certain conditions, including, but not limited to, completion of a non-brokered private placement of units for minimum aggregate gross proceeds of $3.3 million, completion of the 116 restructuring transactions, and receipt of all requisite regulatory, corporate, and third party approvals, including final approval of the RTO from the Exchange.

For additional information about the Resulting Issuer, the RTO and the other transactions related thereto, please refer to Lunds management information circular dated February 28, 2019, a copy of which is available under Lunds profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

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 RTO, Lund is endeavouring to divest its interest in the Black Fox Property such that it is expected upon completion of the RTO the business of Lund will become that of Reconnaissance.

116 / Reconnaissance

116 is a privately-held British Columbia incorporated company. In connection with the RTO, 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.

Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the Exchange) 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 RTO, obtaining the requisite approval of the Exchange, completion of the consolidation, the concurrent financing, and the name change. 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 RTO being able to obtain the necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals; completion of the concurrent financing; Exchange 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 Exchange, the failure to obtain any required shareholders' approval to the RTO 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.
BOSTON, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Ireland Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IRL) (the Fund), a closed-end fund, today announced that it paid on March 29, 2019, a distribution of US$0.1107 per share to all shareholders of record as of March 22, 2019.



Your Funds distribution policy (the Distribution Policy) is to provide investors with a stable quarterly distribution out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital.

Under U.S. tax rules applicable to the Fund, the amount and character of distributable income for each fiscal year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Funds fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act) and related Rules, the Fund may be required to indicate to shareholders the source of certain distributions to shareholders.

The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distribution for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the Rules adopted thereunder. The table has been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The table includes estimated amounts and percentages for the distribution to be paid on March 29, 2019, as well as the estimated cumulative distributions declared fiscal year to date (11/1/2018  3/28/2019), from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated composition of the distributions may vary from quarter to quarter because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities.

Estimated Amounts of Current Quarterly Distribution per share ($) Estimated Amounts of Current Quarterly Distribution per share (%) Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per share ($) Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per share (%) Net Investment Income - - - - Net Realized Short- Term Capital Gains * - - - - Net Realized Long-Term Capital Gains $0.1107 100% $0.2214 100% Return of Capital - - - - Total (per common share) $0.1107 100% $0.2214 100%

*including currency gains

Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Funds investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Funds Distribution Policy, which is to provide investors with a stable quarterly distribution.

The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions in 2019 will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Funds investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The following table provides the Funds total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Funds annualized and cumulative distribution rates.

Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 2/28/20191 1.27% Current Fiscal Periods Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV2 4% Fiscal Year to Date (11/1/2018 to 2/28/2019) Cumulative Total Return on NAV1 0.21% Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV2 1.00%

1Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Funds dividend reinvestment plan.

2 Based on the Funds NAV as of February 29, 2019.

While NAV performance may be indicative of the Funds investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholders investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholders investment in the Fund is determined by the Funds market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Funds shares in the open market.

Pursuant to an exemptive order granted to the Fund by the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 19, 2014, the Fund may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Fund during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Fund, to be taxed at a lower long-term capital gains rate. If the total distributions made in any calendar year exceed investment company taxable income and net capital gain, such excess distributed amount would be treated as ordinary income to the extent of the Funds current and accumulated earnings and profits. Distributions in excess of the earnings and profits would first be a tax-free return of capital to the extent of the adjusted tax basis in the shares. After such adjusted tax basis is reduced to zero, the distribution would constitute capital gain (assuming the shares are held as capital assets).

The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Funds net assets. A decrease in the Funds net assets may cause an increase in the Funds annual operating expenses and a decrease in the Funds market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Funds net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Funds investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold or hold securities that it would liquidate, for the purpose of paying the distribution. The Distribution Policy may, under certain circumstances, cause the amounts of taxable distributions to exceed the levels required to be distributed under the Internal Revenue Code (i.e., to the extent the Fund has capital losses in any taxable year, such losses may be carried forward to reduce the amount of capital gains required to be distributed in future years; if distributions in a year exceed the amount minimally required to be distributed under the tax rules, such excess will be taxable as ordinary income to the extent loss carryforwards reduce the required amount of capital gains distributions in that year). The Funds Board of Directors has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Funds market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Funds investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investors shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the funds portfolio. There is no assurance that a fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

* * * * *

The Fund is managed by KBI Global Investors (North America) Ltd. (KBIGI), a wholly owned subsidiary of KBI Global Investors Ltd. (based in Dublin, Ireland). KBI Global Investors Ltd. is majority owned by Amundi Asset Management, Europes largest asset manager by assets under management.

KBI Global Investors Ltd. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK. Details about the extent of our regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from KBI Global Investors Ltd. on request. KBIGI is registered as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

The Fund is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol - IRL. For further information, please contact the Fund at (800) 468-6475 or investor.query@newirelandfund.com .

Website: https://newirelandfund.com
Trumps Golan Declaration Another Own Goal

The presumed global leader, Washington, is losing foes and allies alike through its disregard for any pretense of probity. The Golan Heights is another nail in the coffin for Washingtons over-rated self-regard.

Hardly a week goes by and the United States falls deeper into global disrepute. This week was a bonanza of own goals for the self-declared leader of the free world.

The debacle over the ridiculous Russiagate scandal finally imploding was spectacular.

Then there were more horrific reports of US air strikes killing civilians simultaneously in four countries  Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

That was followed by Washingtons ludicrous lecturing to Russia about the US-imposed humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.

And then, to top all those own goals, we saw President Donald Trump declaring that Israels illegal annexation of the Golan Heights is not, in the warped US view, illegal after all. Can you possibly keep score of the mind-boggling inanities and insanities?

Switching metaphors for a moment  because you can hardly just use one when it comes to grappling with American asinine policy  Russias foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova got it right when she likened the US to a cowboy shooting up the Louvre museum in its free-wheeling, double-dealing foreign conduct.

Where to begin in dissecting the US and its descent into madness and mafia-style foreign policy? It truly is a brain-wrecking, train-wrecking challenge. Is there a wicked genius to its Mephistophelean madness? Perhaps it is simply down to Washington becoming an absurd circus of incompetence, accelerated under the administration of a former real-estate magnate and reality TV star, President Donald J (for Joker) Trump.

On the Golan issue, Trumps proclamation this week of recognizing the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as under Israeli sovereignty is a flagrant subversion of international law and the United Nations Charter. Israel has been forcibly occupying Syrian southern territory since the 1967 Six Day War. It formally annexed the strategic plateau in 1981, which was ruled as illegal by the UN Security Council  including a vote from the US at that time.

Trumps declaration is thus a brazen repudiation of international law and a glaring green light to aggression. Can anything this president says or does be taken seriously? Whats that about Venezuela, or Ukraine?

His declaration this week undermines gravely the foundation of international law in a shocking, reckless affront. It completely demolishes any pretense the US claims to have as a world leader and upholder of international law.

Washington has been slamming Russia for the past five years over alleged annexation of Crimea  and then Trump this week turns around and endorses Israeli theft of Syrian territory.

At a UN Security Council meeting called this week by Syria in protest to Trumps proclamation, the US was seen as a pariah state. All 14 other members of the council (including non-permanent members) slammed the US policy on Golan. They included US allies Britain and France.

Outside the UNSC, other US allies also condemned Washingtons declaration of complicity in Israeli annexation of Golan.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, among others, all slammed the US for daring to legalize the theft of Syrian territory by Israel.

Russias deputy envoy to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov, put it aptly. He said that the US move was not only an audacious violation of international and the UN Charter. This only exacerbates the situation in Syria and complicates the establishment of a political process, but it also creates serious obstacles to normalizing the relations between Israel and the Arab states.

We will come back to that profound point in a moment. But first, lets throw out a few other motives for Trumps outrageous violation of international law regarding Golan and Israels annexation.

Trump is no doubt giving his family friend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a timely electoral boost ahead of Israeli state elections scheduled for April 9.

There is also the issue of American oil interests being pursued by designating the Golan as Israeli territory. The mountainous region overlooking the Jordan Valley is reputed to hold untapped reserves on par with those of Saudi Arabia, which US-based Genie oil company has been exploring for years.

But still a more strategic motive is the objective of keeping the Middle East and Syria in particular in perpetual turmoil. By annexing Syrian territory, the US-Israeli move furthers the objective of controlling the wider Arab region.

Syrias envoy to the UN, Bashar al Jaafari, made that very point at the UN Security Council meeting this week. He said the US-backed annexation of Golan was a part of the US-sponsored covert war against his country. The move is a way to keep Syria and the region in turmoil, said al Jaafari.

This gets back to what the Russian envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, said. The whole point is for Washington to prevent any political settlement to the eight-year war in Syria and to impede any normalization of relations in the region. The US and its client Israeli regime only stand to benefit from perpetual chaos and conflict in the region.

So far so good, as Washington may calculate  albeit fiendishly. But in the final analysis, the US is ending up looking like a complete rogue state without any respect, even among its supposed allies.

The presumed global leader, Washington, is losing foes and allies alike through its disgraceful duplicity and disregard for any pretense of probity. The Golan Heights is another nail in the coffin for Washingtons over-rated self-regard.

In a week of other American absurdities and own-goals, the Golan debacle may turn out to be the moment when Washington is finally seen in the eyes of the world as the utter laughing stock that it surely has become. Its a laughing stock, but in the creepiest, macabre sense.
Trump Must Fire Bolton  To Save the Peace of the World

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. If Bolton looks, acts and sounds like a dangerous warmongering fanatic that is because he is a dangerous warmongering fanatic.

Now that US President Donald Trump has finally been cleared of the ridiculous Russia Collusion charge, his top priority should be to reduce tensions with Moscow sensibly  and the place to start doing that is to fire John Bolton, his national security adviser at once.

The case for this is urgent and the preservation of world peace will depend upon whether Trump renews his courage and acts accordingly or lets himself once more be passively manipulated along the road to new endless wars and war crimes as the previous Republican President George W. Bush was by Bolton and his neocon friends.

All the signs are that, on the contrary, Bolton  along with his lifelong close friends Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Special Envoy to Restore Democracy in Venezuela Eliot Abrams have Trump still completely in their pockets. And that they remain determined to topple the legitimate democratically elected government of Venezuela, despite the grave warnings from Moscow to stop doing so.

On March 20, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met Abrams In Rome and flatly warned him Moscow would not tolerate any direct US military intervention in Venezuela to topple President Nicolas Maduro and replace him with Americas farcical puppet fake President Juan Guaido. As Finian Cunningham wrote in the columns of Strategic Culture Foundation, The encounter in Rome was described as frank and serious  which is diplomatic code for a blazing exchange.

Ryabkov said after the meeting, We assume that Washington treats our priorities seriously, our approach and warnings.

But did Abrams honestly and accurately give his boss, the President of the United States an accurate and honest report of Ryabkovs very serious warning?

We should seriously suspect this never happened but that, on the contrary, Abrams, and his master Bolton protected the man they are supposed to loyally serve from this inconvenient truth.

This certainly seems to be the case: For on March 27, Trump told reporters after meeting with Guaidos wife in Washington that Russia had to get out of Venezuela, When asked how he would make Russia leave, Trump said: Well see. All options are open.

Earlier, the same day, Vice President Mike Pence, who is no fool but who has prospered mightily from often pretending to act like one, called on Russia to abandon its support for Maduro and stand with Juan Guaido.

It is clear, therefore, that Trump  and Pence  have not taken Ryabkovs warning, conveyed through Abrams  if in fact he conveyed it at all  seriously for a second.

It must again be stressed: Behind Abrams stands John Bolton: The two men worked together like Siamese twins in orchestrating the bloody suppression of the Mayan peoples of Central America under President Ronald Reagan. Then, they worked overtime together to help orchestrate the invasion of Iraq in 2003 under President George W. Bush. Now they are at it again and the legitimate government of Venezuela is in their sights.

Bolton was implacable in his determination to scrap the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the United States and Russia and he continues to crush all possibilities for strategic arms control and cooperation in his fanatical and unrelenting grip. Trump has supported him enthusiastically on this at every step and shows no signs whatsoever of regret or second thought.

Bolton and Trump were obviously in full accord on recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights  a move that is certain to drive Syria and Iran closer to Moscow than ever and that can only motivate Damascus to poise new challenges for both Israel and the United States in retaliation as soon as possible.

All efforts to portray the US president as still eager to improve relations with Russia and avoid potentially catastrophic clashes with Moscow must therefore be rejected. As Sigmund Freud rightly said, often the obvious explanation is the correct one: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. If Bolton looks, acts and sounds like a dangerous warmongering fanatic that is because he is a dangerous warmongering fanatic.

If Trump remains at all serious about the courageous declarations of wanting to improve ties with Russia that he made repeatedly during his 2016 presidential campaign, he should therefore celebrate his total exoneration on Russia collusion charges by Special Counsel Robert Mueller by firing Bolton immediately and seeking to start a serious constructive dialogue with Moscow. No such dialogue is remotely possible while Bolton stands at Trumps right hand, endlessly deferential to him and whispering in his ear, determined to prevent it.

Bolton must go. The security and survival of the United States and indeed of the entire human race demand it.
Trump Threatens Nuclear War If Russia Protects Venezuela

Instead of US being the international policeman, its the leader of the biggest international gang; it is the global leader in international gangsterism, dwarfing the Mafia.

On March 27th, US President Donald Trump said that Russia has to get out of Venezuela, and that All options are on the table if Russia refuses to withdraw from Venezuela the protection it has recently provided to Venezuelas elected Government, which Trump is attempting to overthrow, by an illegal coup. And Vice President Mike Pence, on the same day, said Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power, and it is the policy of the United States of America, at the direction of President Donald Trump, that Nicolas Maduro must go. The United States is therefore trying to do to Maduro what Barack Obama did to Victor Yanukovich in Ukraine in 2014, and to Muammar Gaddaffi in Libya in 2011, and tried to do to Bashar Assad after 2011 in Syria, and what George W. Bush did in 2003 to Saddam Hussein in Iraq. But, this time, there is a difference, because right up front, Russia isnt allowing it, and is sending men and equipment to Venezuela, to prevent it from happening  in other words, to block the US Government from achieving a conquest of Venezuela.

On the night of January 22nd, Juan Guaido, who had been the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela (somewhat equivalent to Nancy Pelosi in the US House of Representatives), was instructed by US Vice President Mike Pence, to declare himself the interim President of Venezuela, and Guaido did that the very next day, though the Venezuelan Constitution says that only Venezuelas constitutional court (the Supreme Judicial Tribunal) can authorize the National Assembly to even consider the possibility of removing Venezuelas President, and though the only person who (under the Constitution) can follow (succeed) the elected President of Venezuela if an elected President becomes removed from office, is Venezuelas Executive Vice President, the equivalent of Americas Vice President  not the President of the National Assembly. The Supreme Judicial Tribunal did no such thing. So: Guaido was (and is) following Pences instruction to perpetrate actually a coup against his country. This coup-attempt was long in the planning. It is a follow-on to what Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, was trying to do.

Russia has sent troops and weapons to Venezuela to protect Venezuela from a possible US invasion. Trump and Pence are telling Russia they wont accept this. They demand that their coup-attempt succeed. Russia is no more-likely to accept that in Venezuela than in Syria, where the US invasion-via-proxies continues. So, the US is now committed, in at least those two places, to regime-change, where Russia is less publicly and explicitly, but perhaps even more, committed to halt Americas aggressions.

The idea of the United States as a policeman of the world has now become an insult to the United Nations and makes clear what John Bolton had meant when he said:

Congressional Record, Volume 154, Part 8, May 22, 2008 to June 6, 2008 [ultimate source being Unification Churchs neocon Insight on the News magazine during 1999, interview w. Bolton]

It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law even when it may seem in our short-term interest to do so  because over the long term, the goal of those who think that international law really means anything are those who want to constrain the United States.

Global Structures Convocation in New York on 3 February 1994

JOHN BOLTON: The point that I want to leave with you, in this very brief presentation, is where I started, is there is no United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world, and thats the United States, when it suits our interest and when we can get others to go along.  The Secretariat Building in New York has 38 stories. If you lost 10 stories today, it wouldnt make a bit of difference.

Anyone today who supports the United States Government opposes the United Nations, and despises democracy  not only domestically, but especially internationally.

Specifically in regard to the ongoing US coup-attempt against the sovereign nation of Venezuela, here is what Bolton said on January 23rd:

Were looking at the oil assets. Thats the single most important income stream to the government of Venezuela. Were looking at what to do to that.  We dont want any American businesses or investors caught by surprise. They can see what President Trump did yesterday. Were following through on it.  Were in conversation with major American companies now that are either in Venezuela, or in the case of Citgo here in the United States.  It will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies really invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela.

Why does John Bolton keep coming back to power in the US? Because he represents Americas billionaires no matter what, and because the US Government does, too  it doesnt represent Americas public; it represents only the individuals who overwhelmingly finance Americas politicians; and those politicians, in turn, represent the 585 US billionaires interests, and not the interests (the priorities) of the American public. The public are merely to be manipulated, not represented. Thats why we invaded Iraq. Thats why we invaded Libya. Thats why we invaded Syria. Thats why the US regime took over Ukraine. Thats why it now is trying to take over Venezuela. The public dont learn from history but instead are constantly being manipulated  the public are constantly gullible. A gangster-led nation hires professionals to fool them, constantly. This is serious business, not for amateurs. The naive view of democracy makes it sound natural, but its not  not at all. Sometimes things that are unnatural are essential; and this is increasingly coming to be the case. Calling the US a democracy is to support this government that the entire world (in the only polls that have been done of the matter) recognizes to be the most aggressive and dangerous regime on Earth. This Government is natural, but its rotten, through and through.

This, in other words, is international piracy. So: instead of US being the international policeman, its the leader of the biggest international gang; it is the global leader in international gangsterism, dwarfing the Mafia. Thats the reality. And this explains why the US Government despises the UN.

Anyone today who supports the United States Government opposes the United Nations, and despises democracy  not only domestically, but especially internationally, which means the UN (not that its perfect  nothing is  but its the only one, at the present time). Either the world will be led by its top gangster, who represents the top gang and definitely not the global public (and not even his own national public  see this and this), or else the world will be led by the only international democracy that currently exists. And this is why the US regime wants to destroy the UN  to eliminate even the little democracy weve actually got.



PS: In order to anticipate the US regimes next step, which is expected to be citation of Americas Monroe Doctrine as justifying its actions specifically in Venezuela (and, generally, as justifying US imperialism in the Western Hemisphere), there will be quoted below relevant highlights from the superb Ph.D. thesis of Nicholas Cleaver, which thesis documents that Americas first modern application of the Monroe Doctrine was against, and not for, US imperialism (and so the Trump regime has no justification, even in US law, to do this):

Rise to Power?: The Foreign Policy of the Second Grover Cleveland Administration, 1893-1897. Nicholas Cleaver, Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of East Anglia, School of American Studies, February, 2012:
President Hassan Rohani of Iran came to Iraq on the March 11th for an official visit and left many Iraqis wondering if Rohani went home believing Iraqis were feeling comfortable with their eastern neighbor. Iran seems to think Iraq has become an extension of Iran. Yet a growing number of Iraqis are openly demanding that Iran back off. Senior Iraqi Shia clerics told Rohani that Iraqis would not tolerate Iranian pressure or respond well to Iranian pressure.

Actually, it gets worse than that because Iraq, which Iran hoped to annex or at least turn into a compliant client state, is not cooperating. In part, because Arab Shia have always disliked the Iranian (Indo-European) Shia and vice versa. Iraqi Shia get regular reports of how badly Iran still (after thousands of years) treats its Arab minority. So while the Shia dominated government of Iraq pretends to be friendly and grateful towards Iran it is becoming obvious to Iran that this is all for show and not real. Opinion polls in Iraq make it clear that most Iraqis are hostile to Iran and Iranian intentions. These suspicious attitudes are on the rise. This does not mean the Iraqis are above making some cash in somewhat questionable transactions. But becoming an appendage of Iran is not going to happen no matter how much the Iranians threaten, cajole and scheme.

The Iran backed PMF militias are also having trust issues. A growing number of PMF members are losing belief in the superiority of the Iranian Shia religious dictatorship. Over a year of increasing popular protests against the Iranian government has not gone unnoticed. Iran has ordered that the Iraqi PMF units purge their ranks of members who appear to have lost their willingness to do whatever they are ordered to do (like trying to overthrow the Iraqi government or attack Iraqi or foreign troops). This includes attacks on PMF units that were never (or no longer) controlled by Iranian advisors or reliable Iraqi Shia Arabs.

Iraqis are particularly angry at pro-Iran PMF leaders who keep talking about attacking American troops as part of a campaign to get the 5,200 American troops out of Iraq. Most Iraqis understand that without the presence of those Americans Iraqi would be even more threatened by most of their neighbors (Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia). Even many Iraqis who are not particularly pro-American recognize this use of American troops as a protection force. The Americans arent there to fight Iraqis, but to keep the neighbors from making life difficult for an independent Iraq.

One Of Us

No one is sure how many ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) members have fled to Iraq during the last six months as ISIL controlled territory in eastern Syria shrank to nothing after a small town near the border was recently cleared of any ISIL control. Kurdish SDF rebels did most of the fighting against ISIL in Syria and Iraqi Kurds played a major role containing and defeating ISIL in Iraq. While the Islamic State no longer exists as a geographic entity, there are still thousands of ISIL members in Iraq and Syria, many of them with Iraqi roots. That explains why so many of the surviving ISIL members in Syria seek to return to their home areas in Iraq. Over a thousand ISIL members have made it across the border since late 2018 and more are expected. This information was obtained from those who were killed or captured during the crossing. That intel indicates that these ISIL survivors included a lot of senior personnel and apparently a large quantity of cash and other valuables (gold and other portable high-value loot). There have been more ISIL attacks on civilians in Anbar province and between Anbar and Mosul. There have been more energetic security efforts by local militias to defend their towns and villages, especially with ISIL using more suicide bomber attacks in addition to the kidnappings and assassinations.

Iraqi ISIL men returning to Iraq means more of the ISIL members in Iraq are not revealed as foreigners just by the way they speak or act. Moreover, Iraqi ISIL members know they still have supporters in any Sunni area because the Shia dominated Iraqi government tends to placate Iran by treating Iraqi Sunni Arabs badly. Anything less is considered supporting the enemy by the Iranians. Yet that is what the Iraqi government openly does when it cooperates with Sunni Arab neighbors. Iraqi Arabs in general know that in the end this is all about the ancient struggle between Arabs and Persians (Iranians). Arab culture recognizes the Iranians as an ancient threat that uses all manner of tricks, threats and treachery against Arabs.

Another ancient tradition is religious intolerance. Islam, alone among the major world religions, has scripture (the Koran) that provides plenty of encouragement to kill non-Moslems, or Moslems that try to convert to another religion or engage in heretical behavior. For over a thousand years this has caused periodic outbreaks of Islamic terrorism by fanatical defenders of Islam. Until the late 20th century, when global mass media became common in Moslem countries, most of the world could ignore these local outbreaks of religious terror. The victims of Islamic terrorism are still overwhelmingly (more than 90 percent) Moslems but what was formerly local news is now shared internationally. Because of the global media the world can share an ancient problem formerly found only in Moslem majority areas. Moslem nations tend to be very hostile towards accepting Moslem refugees from this religious violence. Western nations are more welcoming until they find out why Moslem refugees are unwelcome in other Moslem nations where they are rarely absorbed and treated with hostility and demands that they return to their homeland as soon as possible. Thats why ISIL cannot establish a separate state but can survive as an organization of murderous religious bigots.

In western Iraq, the local militias are also part of an effort to defend Sunni Arabs from Iran backed PMF (Peoples Mobilization Forces) who serve as security forces in most of the Sunni Arab parts of Iraq that the PMF helped free of ISIL control. The United States is demanding that the Iraqi government disband or discipline armed pro-Iran groups in Iraq (especially if they are PMF) that use violence against Iraqi civilians and threaten to do the same to foreign troops. The NATO forces, particularly the Americans, can defend themselves from PMF violence but the Sunni Arab civilians being policed by PMF militias have less attractive options. The best way these civilians can fight back is to form armed militias and tolerate continued ISIL recruiting and operations in their neighborhoods if those ISIL groups leave civilians alone. The new ISIL arrivals from Syria are inclined to terrorize local civilians into cooperating with ISIL rather than take the time to cultivate local Sunni Arabs. These impatient and unruly ISIL returnees tend to attract the attention of the police and army commando units that specialize in hunting down and capturing or killing terrorists of all kinds. The Americans are still available to share intel on local and regional ISIL activity. So the undisciplined ISIL survivors tend to disappear quickly. The more patient and prudent ISIL survivors will be around for a while because while ISIL as an organization is generally disliked by most Moslems, individual ISIL members are often admired for their boldness and decisiveness in defending Islam, especially if it involves killing non-Moslems or anyone seen by the local civilians as foreigners. That definitely includes Iranians, despite the shared Shia religion.

This is why ISIL continues to operate in Anbar, Mosul and Kirkuk even though the local Sunni Arab tribes led the fight against ISIL in Anbar and Kirkuk was free of ISIL problems when the Kurds ran local security. That ended in late 2017 when the government used PMF as well as regular troops to drive the Kurds out of Kirkuk province and replace them with pro-Iran PMF. The Kurds are still better at keeping ISIL out of Kurdish controlled areas. That means ISIL concentrates more effort on terrorizing areas where there is no Kurdish security in charge.

March 26, 2019: In the northeast ( Diyala province), a soldier was shot and killed by an ISIL sniper. This sort of thing is increasingly common in Diyala province, as are other forms of ISIL violence. ISIL counts on kidnapping and extortion activities (which sometimes involved non-lethal violence). These operations are important because they raise money and keep locals in line. This increase in activity shows how effectively ISIL has established base areas to operate from. Most of the bases are in the Hemrin Mountains, which extend from Diyala province through northern Salahuddin province and into southern Kirkuk province. ISIL terrorism is often very selective with little or none of it falling on known friends of ISIL.

March 25, 2019: Iran and Syria have made it official; Iran will assist the Assad government in regaining control of all of Syria and will back efforts to reopen all border crossings with Iraq.

March 24, 2019: In the north (Sinjar, in Nineveh Province ), three ISIL men crossed the Syrian border and were spotted as they tried to move deeper into Iraq. The three were soon surrounded by local militia in an abandoned building. Then security forces showed up and the three ISIL men decided it was hopeless and killed themselves by detonating explosives they had with them.

The leaders of Iraq, Jordan and Egypt met in Egypt to discuss military, diplomatic and economic cooperation. The military cooperation was mainly about the continuing battle against ISIL.

Britain reported that its warplanes had killed 4,000 Islamic terrorists in Syria and Iraq since 2014. While most (75 percent) of the dead were in Iraq (where British warplanes are based) most of the British airstrikes have shifted to Syria during the past year. Britain is one of the more active members of the American led air coalition that has been operating against ISIL since 2014. Britain is also the only coalition member that has some of the same specialized aircraft (electronic intelligence type manned aircraft and Predator UAVs) as the United States. These non-combat aircraft are heavily used because most air coalition activity is about surveillance and reconnaissance.

March 23, 2019: In eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province), the Kurdish led SDF declared that they had eliminated the last visible remnants of ISIL that had been driven out of the town of Baghuz (near the Iraq border) on the 19th. Apparently, this announcement was convincing and spread quickly because within 24 hours many ISIL fighters were emerging from hiding places (like tunnels not yet discovered) and surrendering. Others walked in from seemingly uninhabited areas around Baghuz and surrendered to SDF personnel.

March 22, 2019: In the north (Sinjar, in Nineveh Province, 120 kilometers west of Mosul), the army began moving at least one infantry brigade into the area. This is in response to a clash, at a road checkpoint, between soldiers and Yazidi PKK militiamen on the 17th that left two soldiers and two Yazidi gunmen dead. The Turks are demanding that Iraq force PKK forces from Sinjar along with their Iraqi Yazidi allies. The PKK move to Sinjar began in early 2018 when a large (over a thousand armed men) force of pro-PKK Yazidis (who are generally considered Kurds) sought to establish a PKK base near Sinjar. This is a largely Yazidi area that became the scene of a major battle between ISIL and Kurdish forces who came from Kurdish controlled Dohuk province to assist the Yazidis. The October 2017 Iraqi offensive against the Kurdish occupied areas outside the autonomous north pushed Kurdish forces back to Dohuk but local Yazidi forces remained and these contained many PKK supporters. Turkey considers all the Yazidis pro-PKK, something the Iraqi government and Iraqi Kurds disagree with. In response to the Turkish advances Iraq sent an army brigade to Sinjar and the PKK announced it was leaving Sinjar. The Turks were not convinced and insisted that Iraq ensure there are no PKK bases in the north. Iraqi troops are demanding that the PKK forces in Sinjar either leave the country or surrender.

March 21, 2019: In the north, a Turkish airstrike on the Iraqi side of the border killed three PKK members and wounded a senior leader.

March 18, 2019: India revealed that they had quietly sent 45 police commandoes to Baghdad to reinforce the security around the Indian embassy there.

March 17, 2019: In the autonomous Kurdish north (Sulaymaniyah Province), a group of armed smugglers trying to sneak into Iran (Kermanshah province) were detected right after they crossed the border and confronted by border guards. There was a gun battle that left one Iranian soldier dead. The Iraqis fled back into Iraq.

In the north (Sinjar, in Nineveh Province), Kurdish PKK separatists were halted at an army checkpoint and a gun battle broke out. Two soldiers were killed and five wounded as the PKK men drove their vehicle through the checkpoint.

March 16, 2019: In the north near the Turkish border, Turkish troops inside Iraq clashed with some PKK gunmen. Two Turks were killed and eight wounded while the PKK lost six dead and some wounded as most of the PKK force got away.

March 12, 2019: In the north (Kirkuk province), an American airstrike killed two ISIL men.

Iran and Iraq have agreed to reestablish railroad connections and revive the 1975 treaty that settled long-standing disputes over joint use of a waterway that served as part of the Iran-Iraq border.

March 8, 2019: In the north (Mosul), a car bomb went off killing a soldier and a civilian (and wounding a dozen more bystanders). ISIL was suspected as they have claimed responsibility for several other recent attacks.

March 5, 2019: In the west (Anbar province), a Western warplane destroyed a vehicle on a desert road, killing eight ISIL members.

February 28, 2019: In the north (Mosul, in Nineveh Province), ISIL carried out two attacks with bombs leaving one dead and 17 wounded.

February 27, 2019: In the northeast ( Diyala province), ISIL fired several mortar shells at a village, killing two civilians and wounding four. This was apparently part of an intimidation effort.

February 26, 2019: In the west (Anbar province), a roadside bomb near the city of Fallujah killed four civilians and wounded several others.
TICKERS: INE

Source: Streetwise Reports (3/29/19)

The advantages of the transaction to this Canadian company are discussed in a CIBC report.



In a March 25 research note, CIBC analyst Mark Jarvi reported that Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. (INE:TSX) agreed to sell its Iceland assets, held through a 53.9% interest in HS Orka, for CA$409 million to a European infrastructure fund. From the transaction, "Innergex realized full value," Jarvi wrote.

The analyst indicated that the transaction, expected to close by the end of Q2/19, benefits Innergex in three ways. It helps the company return focus to its key markets and technologies, geothermal not being one of them; it gives Innergex money to repay acquisition loans; and it strengthens the balance sheet, better positioning the company for future growth.

Innergex intends to use the proceeds from the noncore assets sale to fully pay back the CA$228 million outstanding on the Cartier wind acquisition bridge financing, noted Jarvi. With the balance, it will repay past credit facility draws it took to support growth efforts.

Jarvi explained that with the closing of the deal, the CA$99 million of debt (as of Dec. 31, 2018) associated with the Iceland assets will be taken off of Innergex's balance sheet. "With no cash taxes on the sale, net proceeds will be about CA$401 million after transaction costs of about CA$7 million, which is above the CA$341 million carrying value on the balance sheet," he added.

CIBC revised its model on Innergex to reflect the sale, Jarvi indicated, but that did not alter the bank's target price of CA$15 per share on the Neutral-rated energy company. Innergex's stock is currently trading at around CA$14.12 per share.

[NLINSERT]

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Disclosures from CIBC, Innergex Renewable Energy Inc., March 25, 2019

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Important Disclosure Footnotes for Innergex Renewable Energy Inc.

 Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. is a client for which a CIBC World Markets company has performed investment banking services in the past 12 months.

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SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agents Sandy Onken Fiek and Samson Ng from Zephyr Real Estate have just listed 45 Lobos Street in the Oceanview neighborhood for a very attractive $699,000. As recently featured in SFGate , the charm of this home is in its general street appeal as well as its rear-yard structure, affectionately termed the mini-me shed. The shed is an exact replica of the main house on a much smaller scale, of course.



The Victorian details of the home and meandering path leading to a matching storage shed felt like walking into a fairly tale, commented Samson Ng. Buyers and agents love the house. Its bright and cheery and has fantastic light.

In addition to the delightful outbuilding, 45 Lobos Street offers three bedrooms, two baths, living/dining room, family room and a walk-out patio to the large rear yard. Dramatic views are featured from most of the rooms, and public transit and freeway access are nearby as is Ocean View Park. Built in 1911, the residence offers new appliances and refinished cabinetry in the kitchen plus hardwood floors throughout the upper level.

Oceanview, despite its name, is landlocked, away from the ocean. It was originally named for the train service that connected San Francisco and San Jose called the Ocean View Railroad. Yet, the views are extraordinary, and the neighborhood features several homes dating back to the late 1800s. The small-town ambiance appeals to both residents and visitors, and the Oceanview Recreation Center is a notable facility for the locals.

The home is listed for $699,000. For more details or to schedule a tour, please contact Sandy Onken Fiek at sandraonken@zephyrsf.com or 415.902.5991 or Samson Ng at samsonng@zephyrre.com or 415.218.3000.

About Zephyr Real Estate

Founded in 1978, Zephyr Real Estate is San Franciscos No. 1 independent real estate firm with nearly $2.3 billion in gross sales and a current roster of more than 350 full-time agents. Zephyrs highly-visited website has earned two web design awards, including the prestigious Interactive Media Award. Zephyr Real Estate is a member of the international relocation network, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World; global luxury affiliate, Mayfair International; the local luxury marketing association, the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco; and the regional luxury real estate affiliation, the Artisan Group. Zephyr has nine locations across San Francisco, Marin, Alameda and San Mateo Counties and two brokerage affiliates in Sonoma County, all strategically positioned to serve a large customer base throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit www.ZephyrRE.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0d0e2d06-7a5e-4d24-abea-ac209dbf25f3
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Description

GIS - 29 March, 2019: The second edition of the National Productivity and Quality Convention (NPQC), an initiative of the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC), was launched yesterday at the Hennessy Park Hotel in Ebene in presence of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mr Dhanunjaye Gaoneadry, the Ambassador of Japan, Mr Yoshiharu Kato, the Executive Director of the NPCC, Mr Deepak Balgobin, and other personalities. The second edition of the National Productivity and Quality Convention (NPQC), an initiative of the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC), was launched yesterday at the Hennessy Park Hotel in Ebene in presence of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mr Dhanunjaye Gaoneadry, the Ambassador of Japan, Mr Yoshiharu Kato, the Executive Director of the NPCC, Mr Deepak Balgobin, and other personalities. In his address, Mr Gaoneadry highlighted that the NPQC has become an annual feature on the calendar of the NPCC, which aims at fostering the right attitudes of efficiency, distinction and merit among business and government agencies. He pointed out that the NPQC is also about showcasing organisational excellence and valorising human capital which is a prerequisite for future developmental areas.

These objectives, he emphasised, are in line with Governments determination to support such holistic initiatives driven by the NPCC. On this score, he underlined the importance to better equip the human resource and inculcate, in them, the need to becoming more productive, innovative and quality-oriented.

The Permanent Secretary urged greater participation from Small and Medium Enterprises and added that the latter should come forward and share their latest developments. The NPQC will enable enterprises to focus on medium and long term goals as well as to recognise the need to adopt better standards and quality initiatives hence contributing to an increase in the overall productivity level of the economy.

For his part, Ambassador Kato underscored that the NPCC, through the NPQC, is putting in tremendous efforts to increase growth, productivity and leverage the quality of products as well as services. Such initiatives, he said, will further encourage public and private bodies to demonstrate continuous improvement in their daily operations.

He also pointed out that the NPQC and the International Convention for Quality Control Circles (ICQCC) will help s trengthen bilateral ties between Japan and Mauritius adding that the latter has growing expectations from Japan with regards to trade investment and blue economy. He thus reiterated that Japan will continue providing technical assistance in order to support the African continents potentials to better harness innovation and technology.

Mr Balgobin underlined that the NPQC aims at encouraging local organisations to share their best operational practices, processes, systems and initiatives and learn from the experiences of others. It also provides an opportunity for the teams to share their achievements related to managing productivity and quality improvements at their workplace, he added.

NPQC and ICQCC 2019

The NCQP platform enables quality and productivity practitioners from public and private organisations to showcase their value creation projects in the fields of productivity and quality and eventually compete in three different categories namely Gold, Silver and Bronze awards.

A final selection among the winners of the Gold Award in the different category will be held on the 31st May and the best teams will eventually h ave the opportunity to present their projects to a panel of international judges at the ICQCC which will be held in Tokyo from 23 rd to 26 th September 2019. The prime objective of the ICQCC hosted by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers is to further develop quality control circle activities by mutually benchmarking global movement and initiatives.
Straight from city council

A personal view,

by Councillor Steve Morris

With our fellow Kiwis laid to rest and the national day of remembrance behind us, its time to reflect on the road ahead for New Zealand.

Not since the Second World War have Kiwis been so united. With one voice we condemned terrorism, put our differences aside and embraced one another. This unity has made us stronger and we need to seal these gains and pass them to the next generation.

Ahead there are some hard questions to be asked about our attitudes toward each other and the world we live in, but I get the sense New Zealanders are open to frank conversations and change.

We should ignore those who diminish the tragedy by using it to make cheap political points. We should continue our wariness of race-baiting and those who divide us along racial lines. The role of social media in extremism shouldnt be overlooked.

Im not much of a Facebook user, but I know its become more than a place to share with family and friends. An analogy was given to me last week: In every village theres always been a village idiot. Before the internet, the right-thinking majority in the community would keep that idiot in check. Now, village idiots from around the globe can seek each other out in their own virtual community full of idiots.

Lets remember the kindness we showed each other last week; we can disagree, but we shouldnt be disagreeable, and we certainly cant leave any place for hate.
Retailers in Taurangas CBD are going back to the future in a bid to kick-start business in the inner city shopping precinct by re-introducing late night trading.

The new opening hours will be in place on Thursday evenings from next spring.

Apparently we have had late shopping in the CBD before, says Murray Clode of the Macandmor Gallery in the citys Goddard Centre. But not in my time, and I have been here 11 years.

Theres a lot going on in the CBD, a lot of money being invested and a lot of work being done. Its going to be fantastic but, right now, businesswise, its a struggle.

Murray says it was malls that almost certainly killed late night shopping in the city centre the first time around. They made it redundant, he explains. People didnt rush into town in the evening to shop because they had all weekend to do it.

On the other hand, we have had forums where the public - the customers - have had their say, and they tell us they work all week and dont have a chance to come into town, but would love to. So late night shopping would be great for them.

Murray has personally canvassed around 20 retailers, while Downtown Tauranga, the retail lobby group, have spoken to many more. The feeling, they say, is split 50/50.

But business woman, author, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and mother of five, Suzie Johnson, was the catalyst, and swung it for the CBD retailers.

She was at a workshop organised by Downtown Tauranga, says Murray, and her message was dont wait for other people to do things. Just do it. Get in there and do it.

So they will.

Evening shopping works for some CBD retailers now, with Glassons and HB staying open until 6pm on Fridays.

Across the Goddard Centre from Murray Clodes gallery there is an empty retail space - another shop thats gone out of business. It is not the only one. Would a late night Thursday help fill that space?

It is a concern to Murray. I dont think we are trying to breathe life into a dead fish, he says, but it probably tells us we need to do things differently downtown.

What we need is a variety of small, interesting enterprises - boutique stuff. Let the bigger stores go to the malls, and we can keep the small boutiques in the CBD.

A lot of people have told the retailer that a late shopping night would be great way to wait out the traffic. Workers could go shopping, eat and have a drink until the traffic improved and then head home. It doesnt matter why they stay in town, just as long as they do, he adds. They can have an early dinner, wander the shops and see whats there.

It is hoped that the new Farmers and Westpac buildings, and several hundred new Waikato University students, will inject new life into downtown retail. But will they want to live in a city that closes at 5pm? Murray thinks retailers will have to respond to the expectations of the new demographic around town and a whole new generation of city dwellers.

The Thursday night initiative, which will likely see stores open until 7:30-8pm, has a tentative start date of September and will run for around a year, to see if it gathers some traction.

Stores cant generally be open, or sometimes open, says Murray. They have to be open.

And it will be done with a fanfare. It will be done with some sort of push. It will be a special occasion, people will know about it.
The Thames-Coromandel District Council are urging members of the community to give feedback on the upgrade of the Meri Te Tai Mangakahia Reserve in Whangapoua.

The beachside reserve in the heart of Whangapoua is in need of an upgrade and the council are working with the community to now refine a plan for improvements to its facilities and appearance so that todays and future generations can continue to enjoy the park.

Another public consultation will be held at the reserve today, March 30, from 11.00am-2.00pm, where Council staff will be on hand to talk through the draft concept plan developed so far.

There is a questionnaire as well that the public is asked to fill in, to help gather as much feedback as possible.

If you can't make todays meeting, go to the website at www.tcdc.govt.nz/meritetaireserveupgrade where you'll find more information on what the council are proposing for the upgrade as well as the survey.

Please let the Thames-Coromandel District Council know what you think of the proposals by Friday, May 3.

What's being proposed:

The toilet block needs an upgrade and currently sits in a low point in the reserve, creating flooding issues. It's proposed we relocate it, and replace the effluent field, which does not cope with the usage over the summer period.

The playground is tired and needs an upgrade. More suitable nature play equipment with a natural look and feel is proposed and the location shifted back from the dune edge.

The present location of vehicles parking close to the dune crest limits the recreation space and dune protection planting opportunities. The draft concept proposes pulling it back, but still keeping formalised parking close to the sea, with little loss of total parks.

Freedom camping parking will be retained.

Improve pedestrian access with paths connecting various parts of the reserve.

Plant suitable coastal species on the dunes and throughout the reserve and retain all the existing pohutukawa.

Upgrade the reserve furniture with robust, attractive and functional selections.

Relocate the inflatable rescue boat shed and shelter area, which are in poor condition, and replace and shift them to an agreed area closer to the fire station.

The public rubbish disposal service provided through Moloks at the reserve is not compliant with legislation. The community has previously indicated a desire to retain the current service. If the Moloks are to be retained, legal compliance will be required at additional cost and the outcome of this process cannot be predetermined.
Description

GIS  29 March, 2019: A second 3D Printing Centre, a joint initiative of the National Computer Board (NCB) and SME Mauritius, aiming to support a wide range of industries, professions and academia, including SMEs, start-ups, designers and university students in fields such as Medical, Engineering and Architecture, was launched yesterday on the premises of SME Mauritius in Coromandel.

The Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Yogida Sawmynaden, the Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, and other personalities were present.

The Centre is equipped with several 3D Filaments Printers and 3D Scanners. It will act as a one stop-shop for 3D printing and 3D scanning, advice, counselling and initiation to 3D designs and modelling. It will offer several facilities namely: 3D print support services for SMEs; guide start-ups to build their own open source through the use of low cost 3D printing machines; reduce scale models for designers of various industries; create moulds and dyes through an accelerated process; logistics support to build prototypes, in particular for primary and secondary schools and university students, and provide training sessions for targeted users.

In his address at the launch event, Minister Sawmynaden recalled that the first 3D Printing Centre was set up on the NCBs premises in February 2018. Since its operation, he said, around 50 students have used the services of the 3D Centre to prepare their projects and proof of concept and some 600 objects and parts have been crafted by the 3D printers. The scope of 3D printing technology, he highlighted is limitless and is bound to play a bigger part in the years to come. By 2027, it is predicted that 10 % of production will be done by 3D printers, he said.

Furthermore, the Minister indicated that 3D technology has been used to create artificial reefs and bases for coral breeding at the initiative of the NCB, Sun Resorts and the University of Mauritius. To that effect, he dwelt on the importance of a synergy among public and private sectors and the academia which, he said, can achieve significant results.

As regards training, the Minister emphasised the need to train people so that they can use hi-tech printers. On this score, he pointed out that the NCB in collaboration with the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council had offered a two-day training on Design Thinking & 3D Printing to some 115 students.

The Minister also evoked the collaboration between NCB and Centre Lois Lagesse (School for the Blind) and lUnion des Aveugles de L'ile Maurice (Lizie dans la Main). 3D braille alphabet and education puzzles are being produced for the benefit of the visually-impaired persons at these institutions, he added.

For his part, Minister Bholah spoke about the setting up of a Digital Fabrication Lab on the premises of SME Mauritius in Coromandel which will be equipped with more robust and complex 3D printing and cutting tools. The objective, he underlined, is to encourage SMEs to adopt small agile production runs and to reduce their testing/prototyping process through the adoption of digital or Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing.

Furthermore, the Minister highlighted that Government is putting in place all the enablers to make the SME sector the locomotive of an inclusive and sustainable economy. He indicated that schemes/incentives/measures are being implemented by SME Mauritius, in line with the recommendations of the 10-Year Master Plan such as Mentoring and Hand-holding Programme, Barcode Registration System, and SME Productivity Improvement Scheme.

In addition, Mr Bholah urged entrepreneurs to get out of their comfort zones and to assume a far more prominent role in the development of the SME sector which is clearly positioned as the engine of Mauritiuss economic development. By 2026, SMEs contribution to Gross Domestic Product is expected to rise from 40% to 52%, total employment from 55% to 64%, and exports from 7% to 18%, he indicated.
GRANBY, N.Y. -- A town of Granby man was cleaning his gun when he accidentally fired a shot that struck a woman outside his apartment, according to New York State Police.

Troopers were called to an apartment at 10 Airport Road at 10:33 p.m. Thursday for a reported shooting.

The bullet struck Heaven Ridgeway, 25, in her right arm, who was sitting on a stroller in the apartment complex entrance foyer. Ridgeway was transported to Upstate University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, state police said.

The investigation revealed that Charles Pollock Sr., 48, was cleaning his .22 caliber rifle in the kitchen area of his apartment. While cleaning the rifle, Pollock expended one round through the living room wall.

Pollock was charged with second-degree assault and first-degree endangerment, both felonies, state police said.

He was arraigned in Granby Town Court and remanded to the Oswego County Jail on $1,500 cash bail or $3,000 bond.
(Editors Note: A previous version of this article misstated the status of the Econo Lodge hotel. The hotel remains open. The defendant used the hotel property to post a bond for his release awaiting sentencing. As long as he shows up to court, the government will not try to seize the property.)

A Liverpool man admitted this week to selling crack from two local businesses he owns: A hotel near the airport and a Solvay convenience store called Munchies.

Prosecutors said Jayesh Patel, 49, of Liverpool, delivered crack to customers at their hotel rooms at the Econo Lodge Inn & Suites near the Syracuse airport. Patel pleaded guilty to maintaining drug-involved premises and making drug transactions, federal prosecutors said in a press release.

Patel is the co-owner of Munchies convenience store at 1219 Milton Ave. in Solvay, and the Econo Lodge on South Bay Road in North Syracuse, officials said.

Patel sold crack to customers from the businesses on a near daily basis, according to prosecutors. He also admitted to laundering the proceeds through a business bank account at Solvay Bank.

Law enforcement charged Patel Wednesday, and he admitted to the allegations on the same day. He was released from custody on $200,000 bond. He used the value of the hotel property to secure the bond.

According to court papers, Patel sold crack in $50 to $100 packages, and allowed customers to use crack in the hotel, sometimes charging them to use the space.

Prosecutors wrote that Patel would deliver to customers hotel rooms and sometimes stored the drugs in his hotels boiler room. He distributed more than 2.4 kilograms of crack, officials said.

Patel sold drugs from the two businesses as early as 2014. Investigators collected evidence of drug sales throughout 2016 and 2017, until they obtained a search warrant for the hotel in April 2017, according to court papers.

Prosecutors said investigators found crack, cash and laundered money in bank accounts at the time of the search. Prosecutors did not say why they didnt charge Patel in federal court immediately.

Federal officials initially sought to seize the hotel, which Patel owns in partnership with others. The government agreed not to seize the property as part of a settlement to collect $1 million in drug proceeds from Patels bank accounts.

Patel faces 30 years in prison on the two charges.

As part of his plea agreement, prosecutors said they would not ask for a prison sentence longer than 121 months, which is just more than 10 years. Prosecutors also noted that Patel is facing charges in state court, but they believed that due to his acceptance of responsibility, Patel should be able to serve prison sentences in both cases at the same time.

Patel is scheduled to be sentenced in July before U.S. District Court Judge David Hurd. He faces up to $500,000 in fines.

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government, education and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992
TOWN OF SALINA, N.Y. -- A town of Salina woman is accused of stabbing her boyfriend during an early morning domestic dispute, according to the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office.

Deputies were called to the 700 block of Matty Avenue at about 1:15 a.m. after neighbors called 911 to report a domestic disturbance occurring outside between a man and a woman. As deputies arrived on scene they discovered a man in his 40s bleeding from two stab wounds to his arm, according to Sgt. Jon Seeber, a spokesman for the sheriffs office.

Dawn Waldron, 26, of Matty Avenue, is accused of stabbing her boyfriend twice with a kitchen knife during an argument inside the home with two children present at the time, Seeber said.

Waldron was charged with second-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of second-degree harassment, Seeber said.

The mans injuries were considered non-life threatening and he was transported to a hospital by private vehicle, Seeber said.

Waldron was arraigned this morning and released.
Description

GIS  29 March, 2019: The Final Project Workshop of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) under the Technical Cooperation Programme entitled,  Support for Strengthening the National Food Safety and Plant Health Protection Systems in Mauritius, was held, yesterday, at the Ravenala Attitude Hotel, Balaclava. The Director of the Agricultural Services of the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security , Mr Punchoo, and other personalities were present.

Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security , Mr Punchoo underlined that in line with Governments Vision 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals which are the foundation stones for global food security, the Final Project Workshop aims to promote safe and sustainable agriculture techniques for the benefit of farmers, consumers, the environment and as well as the future generations. The objective is also to enhance plant protection capacity and food safety control systems for the provision of improved public services related to plant health protection and food safety and the preparation of a biosecurity plan, he said.

Furthermore, the Director recalled that his Ministry and the FAO have been collaborating since the late 1960s adding that the Technical Cooperation Programme was signed in August 2016 together with the Support for Revision of Forest Code. The Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security, he pointed out, has benefitted from technical assistance from the FAO for the implementation of several projects in the fields of agriculture, fisheries and forestry.

Speaking about climate change, Mr Punchoo highlighted that Mauritius is witnessing the harsh consequences of global warming. He, therefore, stressed on the need for the country to become resilient to climate change in order to mitigate its devastating effects along with enhancing food and nutritional security and promoting food safety and sustainable production systems. He also cautioned on the use of chemical pesticides which pose risks to human and animal health and to the environment.

As regard the recent Fall armyworm outbreak in Rodrigues, the Director expressed optimism that his Ministry will benefit from the assistance of the FAO to identify the best tactics to sustainably manage this invasive pest which can cause much damage.
Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse man accused of raping a 74-year-old woman in her North Side apartment couldnt stop fidgeting or talking in court today, nearly leading to his removal.

Shamik King, 29, is facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted of burglary and rape in the August 2018 attack at James Streets Skyline Apartments.

The unusual hearing included King repeatedly interrupting testimony from police witnesses, accusing them of discrepancies that didnt exist, and even a question as to whether he was referring, at one point, to his lawyer or a bottle of tequila.

Kings lawyers, Tim Roulan and Dan Petrone, have sought to have his mental health tested. If hes deemed unstable, his trial could be delayed, his sentence could be lessened or he could be sent to a secure mental hospital, instead of prison, if found to have committed the rape.

But King has resisted those efforts, refusing to meet with his defense teams own doctor and saying in court he wants to prepare for trial.

The perpetrator entered the womans unlocked apartment, pummeled her and then raped her, badly injuring her, police said.

Police today said multiple witnesses pointed to King as the culprit. But King remained defiant that he was innocent.

During the hearing, hed often interject an answer to a question directed at a police officer on the witness stand. He often blamed the officers for lying.

In one case, King accused an officer of lying because he testified that King was arrested at the Catholic Charities mens shelter, not the Oxford Inn. Those are, in fact, two names for the same place, though the shelter is no longer on Oxford Street.

County Court Judge Stephen Dougherty gave King at least three warnings after major outbursts, noting that he didnt want the defendant to miss testimony at his own hearing. (Such a removal, if found unjustified, could be grounds for an appeal.)

In another moment, Kings lawyer asked an officer whether King had yelled, I want Petrone! during his police interrogation.

That was the name of one of Kings lawyers (Dan Petrone). But, as was pointed out, Patron was also the name of a brand of tequila. It wasnt clear which one King was asking for. He otherwise waived his Constitutional rights and spoke to the officers, according to todays testimony.

For now, King is still headed to trial on the rape and burglary charges.

If he agrees to meet with doctors and they rule he is mentally ill, he could plead to a lesser charge or have his trial delayed. If not, hell go to trial as though he was competent and face up to 25 years in prison.
UTICA, N.Y. -- Utica police found a loaded assault rifle and drugs while responding to reports of shots fired Thursday evening.

Officers were called to Hope Street at about 7:30 p.m. While en route, police were told there was a male standing on a front porch brandishing an assault rifle. Upon their arrival, the officers encountered several individuals exiting from a backyard of the house in question, Utica police said.

The individuals were interviewed, and during the course of the investigation an AK-47-style Romarm SA/Cugir rifle was located in the yard where the people exited the property. The weapon was loaded with 7.62x37 ammunition, Utica police said.

Two men were brought to the Utica Police Department for questioning. Prior to transport, one of the men was found to be in possession of heroin and crack cocaine, Utica police said.

Thomas Bell, 33, of Utica, was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, Utica police said.

Detron Brown, 28 of Utica, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, both felonies, Utica police said.

Officers learned that other people, who were directly involved in the initial shots-fired incident, fled prior to police arrival. Utica police ask anyone with information to call (315) 223-3510. All calls may be kept confidential.

Booking photos for Bell and Brown were not released.
Granger Smith is ready to bring his country music Yee Yee Nation to Chevy Court.

Smith will perform at Chevy Court at 8 p.m. on Friday, August 30 with his debut performance at the 2019 Great New York State Fair.

The country artist was last seen in Central New York two years ago, as part of Luke Bryans tour stop at the St. Josephs Health Amphitheater at Lakeview.

Fairgoers love young country artists playing the kind of music that gets them dancing on the grass at Chevy Court. Were really looking forward to Granger Smiths appearance and believe its a night that all fans of modern country should circle on their calendars, said Fair Director Troy Waffner.

Smiths first number-one country hit was Backroad Song from his major label debut album, Remington, released in 2016. Since then he has amassed a social media following nearly 7 million. He was nominated as Best New Country Artist for the 2017 iHeartRadio Awards.

This is the sixth Chevy Court concert to be announced. More NYS Fair performers will be announced in the coming months.

2019 Chevy Court lineup at the New York State Fair:

And at the 2019 New York Experience Stage:

The 2019 New York State Fair runs from Aug. 21 to Sept. 2.
SYRACUSE, N.Y.  A federal court has blocked a new rule by the Trump administration that allows health insurance plans that are cheaper than Obamacare and offer fewer consumer protections.

The decision by the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said the rule allowing so-called association health plans is clearly an end run around the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that creates absurd results.

Under the rule, businesses and individuals can team up to create group health plans that offer less expensive coverage without complying with many of the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Critics have called association health plans junk insurance that provide skimpy coverage. These plans do not have to provide maternity coverage and other essential benefits required by the Affordable Care Act.

Proponents say the plans are attractive to middle-class Americans who may not qualify for federal Obamacare health insurance subsidies.

New York, 10 other states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit challenging the Association Health Plan rule.

Were pleased that the District Court saw past the Trump Administrations transparent effort to sabotage our healthcare system and gut these critical consumer protections in the service of its own partisan agenda, Letitia James, New Yorks attorney general said in a prepared statement.

The lawsuit alleged the primary purpose of the Association Health Plan rule was to undermine the Affordable Care Act without accounting for increased risk of fraud and harm to consumers.

Trump has said association health plans would let Americans escape some of Obamacares most burdensome mandates.

The Trump administration earlier this week called for the total repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
Sure its about lighting up without fear of the law. And yes, its about tax revenues. And theres the whole argument about the health and wellness benefits.

But for many advocates of legal recreational marijuana in New York, it boils down to two words: Social justice.

Im not a fan of marijuana, said Hasan Stephens, who works with at risk youth in Syracuses poor and mostly black neighborhoods through the Good Life Youth Foundation. But if we are going to legalize it, then lets make sure the communities that have been most devastated by the war on drugs see some of the benefits. Lets not exclude them like we have so many times in the past.

But what social justice in marijuana reform means, exactly, depends on who you ask.

If there is a consensus among those pushing for justice it is the underlying assumption that the criminalization of pot has unfairly targeted people of color: They are more likely to be arrested, convicted and jailed for marijuana offenses than their white counterparts.

The fixes to the problem are harder to agree on.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo made marijuana legalization a key piece of what he called his Justice Agenda of progressive or liberal reforms this year. The key social justice piece of his plan to is to seal the records of some criminal marijuana convictions, so things that would no longer be illegal couldnt come back to haunt people in job applications, school admissions or other situations.

But some advocates believe that doesnt go far enough. They want tax revenues from the legal sale of marijuana to be directed to the poor and mostly minority communities that have been most harmed by pot-related arrests, prosecutions and bloodshed. Some go further, arguing that those communities should be given priority when it comes to locating, operating and staffing the new marijuana production and retail businesses authorized under the law.

But theres push back on some of that, even from those who support marijuana reform. Its one of the major reasons that New Yorks effort to legalize weed -- championed by Cuomo this year --- has has hit some roadblocks.

Opposition from the left, the liberal wing of the state Legislature, caused Cuomo to abandon hopes that legalization, and the taxes that go with it, could be included in the new state budget -- or in the first 100 days of this year, as he planned. The deadline to adopt the budget is midnight Sunday.

It now looks like marijuana legalization will be one of the key issue to be debated before the state Legislature ends its annual session in June.

At stake in the budget debate was an estimated $300 million in marijuana taxes in the coming year. Cuomo initially proposed that much of that money should be used to help bail out the struggling New York City subway system.

But the leaders of the legislatures liberal wing want guarantees that the tangible benefits of legal pot -- money and jobs -- go to the minority neighborhoods they believe have been disproportionately affected by the illegal marijuana trade.

I havent seen anyone do it correctly, state Assembly majority leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes told the New York Times when she and some colleagues challenged Cuomos plan. They thought we were going to trust that at the end of the day, these communities would be invested in. But thats not something I want to trust.

Proponents of social justice in New Yorks legal weed debate often cite worries that big, well-financed pot companies -- like Columbia Care, Vireo Health and MedMen -- will have the best shot at winning state licenses to cultivate and sell legal marijuana. Critics have already accused Cuomo of bowing to corporate pressure by failing to include provisions for home-grown pot in his recreational bill -- a charge the governors administration denies.

Hasan Stephens is a DJ, adjunct professor at SUNY Cortland and the founder of The Good Life Youth Foundation, which works with at-risk kids in Syracuse.Submitted photo

Stephens, who grew up in a poor and rough neighborhood in the Bronx, says one solution might be to have the state offer low-interest loans to those wishing to set up marijuana businesses in minority neighborhoods.

We all know it takes money to get into business and make money, said Stephens, who is also a local hip hop DJ (DJ Maestro) and an an adjunct professor at SUNY Cortland. In these communities, where the harm of the current illegal drug trade has been so great, there needs to be something like that so that the people there can take advantage of the economic benefits.

Like I said, Im not a fan of marijuana. But someones going to make the money if its legal -- why not them?

But there are those who say the last thing communities devastated by the drugs wars need is more drugs, even if theyre legal and could be turned into profitable businesses.

Will Jones, of the group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, speaks at a rally at the State Capitol in Albany in February.

Will Jones is advocate for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group that favors decriminalization, but not legalization.

We do not believe that anyone should go to jail or get arrested for possession or use of marijuana, Jones said. Basically, that (marijuana) shouldnt be anything that gets you in contact with law enforcement.

But Jones worries that pushing marijuana outlets onto every corner in poor neighborhoods sends the wrong message.

Look, you go into these neighborhoods and on every corner you can buy alcohol and tobacco, he said. Now were going to add marijuana?. If were being honest, no recreational marijuana market is going to benefit communities of color.

Yet recognition that something should done for the communities devastated by decades of marijuana busts is gaining traction among the pro-legalization forces.

Gary Colmey of Rome, NY, a member of the pro-marijuana group Legalize It! CNY.

Gary Colmey of Rome is an active member of the group Legalize It! CNY. He admits his main objective is simple -- the freedom to grow and use marijuana without risking jail.

Bur he recently attended a conference in which he met people who are advocating for social justice provisions in their communities.

I came away with a new understanding of the racial issues, the justice issues, hesaid. "I mean thats not my own experience. But I now believe the drug war decimated whole neighborhoods and families, people of color. I sat with those people and looked them in the eye and knew it was true.''

With a few months to go in this years effort to make recreational marijuana legal in New York, advocates of social justice hope they are gaining momentum.

Were talking about communities where generations of kids were left parentless and fatherless by a war on drugs, youth advocate Hasan Stephens said. "That war targeted communities where there was literally no other way for people to feed their families and put food on the table.

Legalizing marijuana and giving these communities an economic stake cant be the only solution to those problems -- theres too much damage that has happened. But its a start.''

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- If you want to see what life in the grocery store will be like after New Yorks plastic bag ban goes into effect next year, stop by Syracuse Cooperative Market.

We dont use plastic shopping bags," said produce manager Stephanie Newkirk, whos been at the store for four years. I dont know that we ever have.

Co-op customers bring their own bags, or get a paper shopping bag at checkout, Newkirk said. Only a few ask for plastic, she said.

Some people are confused by the fact that we dont have plastic, but our average customer doesnt really have any complaints, Newkirk said.

Consumers across the state are likely to find out next year what life without plastic checkout bags is like. The state Legislature is scheduled to vote Sunday on a law that would ban the use of single-use plastic bags in grocery stores, convenience stores and other retail outlets. The law, part of the state budget, would go into effect March 1, 2020.

The bill has support from both houses and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Proponents of the bill said it will slash the number of flimsy bags that litter streets and wreak environmental havoc.

They really have a lot of problems, not just litter, said Kate Kurera, deputy director of Environmental Advocates of New York, which has pushed for the law. We would hope to see the reductions of billions of pounds of plastic bags that find their way into the environment.

Plastic wont disappear entirely from stores under the law, Kurera said; just at the checkout. Customers can still put their lettuce or bulk almonds in plastic bags, and meat and deli items can still be wrapped in plastic.

Those wont be affected, she said. When you go to the checkout, you wont be given the option of having the plastic bag with a handle to carry your groceries out.

The law carves out a number of other exceptions, too. It would also allow plastic bags for prescriptions at pharmacies and for take-out food at restaurants. Consumers would still be able to buy plastic bags such as garbage and food-storage bags.

At the checkout, stores can provide paper bags instead of plastic. While advocates had pushed for the state to impose a 5-cent fee on each paper bag, the law instead lets counties and cities impose their own 5-cent fees.

Paper bags arent exactly environmentally friendly, either, both advocates and opponents of the plastic ban agree.

A plastic bag ban that doesnt also address the use of paper bags is not a sustainable solution, said Evelyn Ingram, a spokeswoman for Wegmans, in an email to Syracuse.com. It takes seven tractor trailers to transport the same number of paper bags as plastic bags carried by one tractor trailer.

Suffolk County, on Long Island, imposed a 5-cent fee on both paper and plastic bags in January 2018. Grocery stores there said the law led to an 80 percent drop in the use of bags at the checkout in the first six months.

Five cents is not a lot, but there is quite a lot of evidence across New York state and the country that the 5 cents over time incentivizes people to bring reusable bags. Kurera said.

Its too early to say if Onondaga County will impose a fee on paper bags, said the countys environment director, Travis Glazier.

We are studying the legislation to understand the details but have not yet decided if the county would opt in for the paper bag fee, he said in an email.

California imposed a statewide ban on plastic bags in 2016. The following year, the percentage of plastic bags collected as trash at state beaches dropped in half.
Stephen Sarsfield Bowman is president of Peregrine Senior Living in Syracuse.

By Stephen Bowman | Special to Syracuse.com

Paying reparations to black Americans for slavery seems ridiculous on so many levels. Who is black? Werent the Irish treated terribly? Isnt slavery ancient history? Yet, as President Lyndon Baines Johnson said in 1965, black poverty is different than white poverty, in its cause and perpetuation. And now with four major Democratic Party candidates running for president in support of reparations, as well House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, we are about to have that long-overdue conversation.

First, we will need to determine the merit of the claim, and then an equitable plan for implementation.

I have always been bewildered by white Americas denial about the 300-year horrific conditions of black slavery. We seem to have bought into the heartwarming portrait of slavery presented by the movie Gone with the Wind, where slaves are treated as family and happily embraced by their masters. This sentiment also was expressed by President Woodrow Wilson when he wrote in 1902, where the master was himself at hand, there was almost always moderation, a firm but not unkindly discipline, a real care shown for their comfort and welfare. No mention of the whip, chains, rape and the 40-generation reign of family separation at the auction block.

Racism and exploitation did not end when the cannons of the Civil War went silent. Sharecropping, Jim Crow segregation and almost 4,000 lynchings followed black Americans deep into the 20th century. So they left the South and approximately 6 million moved to the North seeking employment at the newly invigorated factories spurred on by the First and Second World Wars. But they were not welcomed warmly; Martin Luther King Jr. said the intensity of the hatred in Chicago was even greater than what he witnessed in Selma and Birmingham.

The hammer of repressive racism used by whites in the North was the governmental and private sector housing policy. Starting in 1934 with the creation of the Federal Housing Administration, which, made homeownership affordable for a majority of Americans, black neighborhoods were excluded or redlined from receiving mortgages. Black neighborhoods were deemed too unstable for federal investment. This discrimination was diligently enforced until 1968 with the passage of the Fair Housing Act. But this discriminatory policy effectively starved black communities of fresh investment for decades, leaving whole blocks empty and crumbling.

Of course, the private sector was happy to follow the federal policy of discrimination. According to the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, as late as 1950 the National Association of Real Estates code of ethics warned that a Realtor should never be instrumental in introducing into a neighborhood  any race or nationality  that would clearly be detrimental to property values. And in 1943, one of their brochures specifically identified undesirables and included madams, bootleggers, gangsters, and a colored man of means. Private banks also followed the federal lead in redlining until the passage of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, which forced all banks to release the ZIP codes of their residential loans, and thereby exposing their prejudicial lending practices.

But the damage had been done, and we witness the destruction of the black community every day as we drive to work. It seems pretty obvious how those living conditions lead to high crime rates, the breakdown of the family, drug use and hopelessness. The national black poverty rate of 20 percent comes into focus as we realize that the mangling of the black family didnt end at Appomattox.

Having established the merit of the claim, what would reparation look like? A cash payout was made to the Japanese-Americans who were interned during World War II, but that seems impractical and probably unaffordable to do this for black Americans. Enhanced affirmative action is unrealistic in light of the Supreme Courts Bakke ruling that firm quotas are impermissible.

Perhaps a better model would be a sustained and targeted economic development policy we used to call Urban Renewal, where millions of dollars could be targeted into high-poverty areas. Or the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, which sought to motivate private banks to lend to the inner cities, in the effort to redress redlining. But this would need to be greatly augmented by federal funds to have a meaningful impact. Regardless, the point is that we would need to invest substantial dollars to rebuild our intentionally over looked and circumvented communities of color.

Reparations may be unrealistic, with only 26 percent of Americans supporting the idea, and politically impractical in light of the recently recognized plight of the white, blue-collar middle class. But the biggest obstacle to even entertaining such a conversation is the powerful denial of many white Americans regarding the evil of slavery, and the current and lingering legacy of Jim Crow today. This we comfortably rationalize through demeaning stereotypes and unproven suspicions of black inferiority. Perhaps the most that can be hoped for is the cleansing and healing benefit of just having the conversation for both whites and blacks. This may even be salvific as we endeavor to come to grips with Americas original sin.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers have agreed to close two state prisons within the next year, according to a tentative state budget deal reached Friday.

Cuomo last month asked for approval to close three prisons by Labor Day, citing record declines in New Yorks prison population and a declining crime rate.

But after objections by some Upstate New York lawmakers, the budget agreement authorized closing two prisons which have not yet been identified, said state Assemblyman Al Stirpe, D-Cicero.

Cuomo has asked the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to recommend which of the states 54 correctional facilities should be closed.

The governor wants to transfer prison guards and inmates to correctional facilities that have excess capacity.

A group of Upstate lawmakers including state Sen. Patty Ritchie have started an online petition drive against the plans. Ritchie says the closings would make the remaining prisons less safe and take an economic toll on small communities.

Unions representing the states correctional officers say a better option would be to eliminate double bunks in existing prisons.

Michael B. Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, criticized the budget deal Friday.

The governor and Legislature have seemingly done the impossible, Powers said. Theyve made one of the most dangerous prison systems in the country even more dangerous for both incarcerated individuals and correctional officers.

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
President Trumps feud with Puerto Rican officials heated up Thursday, with Gov. Ricardo Rossello issuing a warning to the administration.

"If the bully gets close, Ill punch the bully in the mouth, Rossello told CNNs Jim Acosta in an interview Thursday.

The comment comes amid the White Houses refusal to grant additional funding to the hurricane-stricken island. Earlier this week, the president told Republican lawmakers he opposes the idea.

The U.S. territory is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria, which struck the island in 2017, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Trump hit back at the governor moments before departing Michigan Thursday afternoon for a 2020 campaign rally.

Ive taken better care of Puerto Rico than any man ever, he said. And I think the people of Puerto Rico understand it... Theyve got to spend the money wisely. They dont know how to spend the money.

A 2018 survey by the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 52% of Puerto Ricans think Trump did a poor job responding to Hurricane Maria.

CNN reported Rossello has been trying, unsuccessfully, to set up a meeting with the president. The governor was in Washington this week to meet with lawmakers about the islands statehood proposal.

The federal government has approved $20 billion in relief funds to Puerto Rico, but only $1.5 billion has actually made it there so far.

Rossello told Acosta the president treats Puerto Ricans as second-class citizens.

I just want to have the opportunity to explain to him why the data and information hes getting is wrong, Rossello said.

-- By Nelson Oliveira, New York Daily News
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  South Korean President Moon Jae-in will travel to the United States in two weeks for a summit with President Donald Trump on stalemated North Korean nuclear diplomacy.

It would be their first meeting since Trump's second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi last month collapsed due to disputes on U.S.-led sanctions. The breakdown of that summit put Moon, a liberal who has shuttled between Washington and Pyongyang, in a difficult position on how to further engage North Korea and facilitate the nuclear diplomacy.

Moon's office said Moon will visit the United States on April 10-11 to discuss how to strengthen their countries' alliance and achieve North Korea's complete denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The White House said Trump and first lady Melania Trump will welcome Moon and his wife Kim Jung-sook to the White House on April 11. It said in a statement the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea "remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region."

Earlier this month, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui threatened to pull out of the nuclear negotiations with the United States citing a lack of its corresponding steps to match some disarmament measures North Korea took last year. She said Kim would soon decide whether to continue the talks and his moratorium on nuclear and missile tests.

South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers in a private briefing Friday that North Korea has nearly completed its work to restore a long-range rocket launch facility that it had partially dismantled last year at the beginning of the nuclear diplomacy, according to Kim Min-ki, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.

The lawmaker also cited the National Intelligence Service as saying the North's uranium-enrichment facility at its main nuclear complex remains operational. The NIS said it doesn't comment on intelligence assessments provided to lawmakers.

Citing analyses of commercial satellite imagery, many civilian experts in the U.S. have previously given similar assessments on the North's Tongchang-ri launch facility and the Yongbyon nuclear complex. But there have been no reports that North Korea is preparing for a long-range rocket launch or a nuclear test anytime soon.

Moon's push to expand ties with North Korea and resume dormant inter-Korean economic projects is in doubt as U.S. officials maintain that sanctions on North Korea would stay in place unless the country takes significant denuclearization steps.

North Korea recently withdrew its entire staff at a frontline liaison office with South Korea before sending some of them back to the office. Seoul's Defense Ministry said Friday that North Korea hasn't responded to its offer 11 days ago to hold military talks to discuss planned joint searches for Korean War dead at their border area.

Also Friday, South Korea received the first two of the 40 F-35A fighter jets that it has agreed to buy from Lockheed Martin by 2021. The F-35A jets that arrived at an airport in southern South Korea have become the country's first stealth fighter jets. North Korea has previously called the introduction of F-35A aircraft a plot by Seoul to attack North Korea.

Some experts say North Korea still hopes to keep diplomacy with the United States alive because it is desperate to win sanctions relief to revive its trouble economy.

In a possible reflection of its resolve to press ahead with its engagement policy on North Korea, South Koreas Unification Ministry on Friday reiterated its position that it will push to hold a regular summit with North Korea and realize Kims promise to travel to Seoul.
Description

GIS  29 March, 2019: A colloquium on the theme "Travay Sosial Profesionel dan Moris: Eski nou pe fer ase? was held yesterday at the initiative of the Association of Citizen Advice Bureaus (CABs) Organisers, with the support of Omnicane Ltd, at Holiday Inn Mauritius Mon Tresor in Plaine Magnien. The Acting President of the Republic, Mr Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory, and other personalities were present.

The objective of the colloquium was to start a reflection on the world of social work in Mauritius and to consider how the professional social workers could bring their contribution towards a better Mauritius.

At the very outset, the Acting President, who was the Chief Guest, expressed appreciation to the staff of Omnicane and CABs for their collaboration and dedication towards professional social work. He recalled that the partnership of all stakeholders will help achieve the different set objectives with regards to social work.

Speaking on the theme of the World Social Work Day 2019, Mr Pillay Vyapoory highlighted that it is important for professional social workers to reflect and self-assess their work so as to perform better. He also urged citizens to rally and support professional social workers in their endeavours.

The Acting President underscored that many institutions, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are working to tackle social issues adding that financial and psychological assistance is being provided by the Government and others institutions. Furthermore, he highlighted that the Government is making tremendous efforts to enhance inclusiveness in the Mauritian society through the implementation of Minimum Wage, Negative Income Tax, free tertiary education and renovation of NHDC houses.

Mauritius, Mr Pillay Vyapoory pointed out, is undergoing deep transformation with the development of new economic poles, mega infrastructural projects and is fostering the use of artificial intelligence in many spheres. However, he indicated that during this transformation, the society is also deteriorating socially. Hence, to prevent the erosion of social values during these times, parents should give their best to instill social values such as respect and discipline in their child at home, he emphasised.

Speaking about capacity-building, the Acting President underlined that it will be necessary to enhance and reinforce the capacity of professional social workers in the civil service so that they can support the people who may encounter emotional and social dilemmas, beyond economic difficulties.

About the Colloquium

The panelists were the Ombudsperson for Children, Mrs Rita Venkatasawmy, a lecturer at the University of Mauritius, Ms Fabiola Ramsamy, the director of NGO ANFEN, Mr Viken Vadeevaloo, and the Acting Coordinator of CABs, Mr Girty Eleonore.

The Colloquium focused mainly on the reinforcement of social service in the public sector to address the proliferation of social ills such as domestic violence and synthetic drugs by laying emphasis on the importance of respect of human rights, and on the work being done by professional social workers.
Chick-fil-A will not be coming to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, according to Assemblyman Sean Ryan (D, NY-149).

Delaware North, the company that runs the food operations at the Western NY airport, had plans to renovate the food options by adding a Chick-fil-A. The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority approved tentative plans Thursday for the process to move forward.

Ryan voiced concerns Thursday asking the NFTA to reverse its decision. He stated that an anti-LGBTQ company should not be allowed to operate in a taxpayer-funded public facility. Ryan posted the following disappointment on Twitter.

I'm disappointed in the @NFTA decision to bring a Chick-fil-A to the @BUFAirport. pic.twitter.com/zP0oIUOz3q  Assemblyman Sean Ryan (@SeanMRyan149) March 29, 2019

By Friday afternoon, Ryan said the airport notified him that the fast food chain will not be included as part of the airport project.

A publicly financed facility like the Buffalo Niagara International Airport is not the appropriate venue for a Chick-fil-A restaurant, Ryans statement read. I applaud the decision that has been made to remove Chick-fil-A from the plans for this project. We hope in the future the NFTA will make every effort to contract with businesses that adhere to anti-discrimination policies, and were confident another vendor who better represents the values of the Western New York community will replace Chick-fil-A as a part of this project in the very near future.

Recently, the San Antonio International Airport also disinvited Chick-fil-A, in part, for its religious view on anti-same-sex marriage values. The Texas attorney general has launched an investigation into whether the city of San Antonio has violated Chick-fil-As religious liberty.

Last fall, a standalone Chick-fil-A restaurant opened up in Cheektowaga with the excitement of many patrons. The chain has been opening locations in Upstate NY in Greece and Cicero with plans for a Henrietta location.
NEW YORK (AP)  A high-profile lawyer was cleared Thursday to defend a wealthy heiress in a n Upstate New York sex-trafficking case despite reports linking him to an alleged extortion plot by Michael Avenatti.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis approved Clare Bronfman's decision to hire Mark Geragos a day after she had a fainting spell in federal court in Brooklyn as the judge began to question her about her choice.

"Honestly, I was scared yesterday," Bronfman told the judge. "This whole situation has been very stressful."

Bronfman, heiress to the Seagram's liquor fortune, has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing her of bank-rolling a cult-like organization that brainwashed and branded women who served as sex slaves.

Bronfman said she wasn't deterred by reports saying Geragos is the unidentified co-conspirator mentioned in court papers charging Avenatti of trying to extort Nike for millions of dollars. The judge had warned her that her lawyer's "potential criminal exposure" could create a conflict.

Clare Bronfman, a member of Nxivm, an organization charged in sex trafficking, leaves Brooklyn Federal Court with her lawyer Mark Geragos after she received medical attention while in court, Wednesday March 27, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)AP

The judge also quizzed Bronfman on whether she was aware that Avenatti joined Geragos at a meeting with prosecutors where Avenatti offered them information in exchange for "a benefit." She responded that she knew about it, but that Avenatti only acted briefly as a "consultant."

Avenatti, best known for representing porn star Stormy Daniels, has denied the extortion charges. Geragos declined to speak about them on Thursday.

Geragos clients have included Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Colin Kaepernick, and Jussie Smollett.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to close the nations Mexican border or large sections of it next week, a potentially drastic step affecting both nations economies, if Mexico does not halt illegal immigration at once.

"It could mean all trade" with Mexico," Trump said when questioned by reporters in Florida. "We will close it for a long time. I am not kidding around."

Trump has previously threatened to close the border - including at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Thursday night - but this time was different as he gave a timetable. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether his possible action would apply to commercial and air travel, but a substantial closure could have an especially heavy impact on cross-border communities and both nations.

"If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week," Trump said in a tweet. "This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and 'talk.'"

A senior Homeland Security official on Friday suggested Trump was referring to the ongoing surge of mostly Central American families crossing the border from Mexico, though many of those families request asylum under U.S. law.

Those seeking asylum are not deemed illegal simply by their arrival.

The official said the U.S. might close designated ports of entry to re-deploy staff to help process parents and children.

Ports of entry are official crossing points that are used by residents and commercial vehicles. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, did not specify which ports the administration was considering closing, but said only that closures were "on the table."

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have fought over whether there actually is a "crisis" at the border, particularly amid Trump's push for a border wall, which he claims will solve immigration problems. Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said Thursday the immigration system is cracking under the strain.

The president called on Congress to immediately change what he said were weak U.S. immigration laws, which he blamed on Democrats.

Arrests all along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months. Border agents are on track to make 100,000 arrests and denials of entry there this month, more than half of them families with children.

To manage the crush, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reassigning 750 border inspectors from their usual duties at the ports of entry to help Border Patrol keep pace with arrivals in between ports of entry. The head of the agency held a press conference in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday to say the breaking point had arrived.
Waves of low pressure riding along a frontal boundary will bring some big swings in the weather across Upstate New York this weekend.

Saturday will start with the front roughly along I-90. To the south of the front, morning temperatures will be near 50 degrees. To the north, 40s and 30s will be commonplace.

Areas of scattered showers will be throughout Upstate New York, but especially in the North Country, where a little snow may mix in.

The front will move north during the day, eventually pivoting to a southwest to northeast orientation by the evening. The front should move north and west of most of Upstate New York.

More scattered showers will be possible during the afternoon and evening, but with plenty of dry time as well.

High temperatures will be in the upper 50s and low 60s for most of Upstate New York. The St. Lawrence Seaway may be the one exception with highs in the 30s on the cold side of the front.

That front will move east Saturday night as a cold front. Temperatures will rapidly drop as the front passes, falling from the 50s to the 30s in less than an hour.

A band of rain will change to snow as the front passes, leaving a coating of snow for many areas and a couple inches over Western New York and some higher elevations.

The front should clear Upstate New York early Sunday morning. Cold northwest winds will hold temperatures in the 30s throughout the day.

A few flurries will be possible, especially along the I-90 Corridor west of Utica all the way to areas south of Buffalo thanks to some scattered lake effect snow.

Here are the weather forecast details for a variety of events across Upstate New York this weekend.

Maple Sugar Festival & Pancake Breakfast

Get out into the woods to discover all things maple. Head out on the Maple History Trail to learn how various tapping methods evolved and get hands-on with the tools of the trade. Visit the museum's recently completed sugarhouse to see how sap is made into thick maple syrup and try a sample. Also, enjoy an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.

When: March 30-31 Where: Genesee Country Village & Museum, 1410 Flint Hill Road, Mumford

Weather: Saturday will be warm and blustery with an occasional rain shower. High temperatures will be near 61 degrees. Sunday will be cold but still blustery, with a few snow showers and highs of 35 degrees.

 More info

Sugaring Off Sundays

This weekly event offers contemporary and historic maple sugaring demonstrations, fun activities for the kids, and much more. A full pancake breakfast including scrambled eggs, sausage, and home fries is served from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with all other activities scheduled 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m..

When: Sundays through March 31 Where: The Farmers Museum, 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown

Weather: Skies will be mostly cloudy with a flurry possible. Winds will be gusty. High temperatures will be near 37 degrees.

 More info

Maple Weekend at Riverside Maple Farms

Get a tour of the facility and free samples of maple products including syrup, spread, and cotton candy. Learn about the versatility of maple syrup from savory dishes to classic pancakes with recipes from around the state. Explore the new Maple-Beer Trail, a quarter mile scenic trail linking Wolf Hollow Brewing Company to Riverside Maple Farms. Stop by Wolf Hollow Brewing Company for a special maple beer featuring Riverside Maple Farms' own amber syrup.

When: March 30-31 Where: Riverside Maple Farms, 7152 Amsterdam Rd, Glenville

Weather: A couple rain showers will be possible on Saturday with a couple snow showers Sunday. Both days will be windy. Highs Saturday will be near 62 degrees, but Sunday will only reach 38 degrees.

 More info

9th Annual Ice Breaker Challenge

The Ice Breaker Challenge is a one of a kind Capital District running/walking road race challenging runners and walkers against rowers from the Albany Rowing Center. Runners/walkers will travel along the Corning Preserve Bicycle Path while rowers from the Albany Rowing Center will race alongside in shells on the Hudson River.

When: March 30 Where: Hudson River Corning Preserve - Albany Rowing Center Boathouse

Weather: Skies will be a mix of sun and clouds. A brief shower cannot be ruled out. Temperatures will be quickly rising through the upper 40s into the 50s.

 More info

Pink Floyd Laser Show

Come to the Rochester Museum & Science Center and enjoy some Pink Floyd as the Strasenburgh Planetarium as their songs lit up in a laser show. The show lasts about 50 minutes. Song list includes "Time from Dark Side of the Moon," "Keep Talking from The Division Bell," and "Run Like Hell from The Wall."

When: March 30 Where: Strasenburgh Planetarium, 657 East Ave., Rochester

Weather: Periods of rain are likely, especially after the show. Travelers from the Buffalo area should be on the lookout for snow by the time they get home. Temperatures will be near 52 degrees to start, but will be on the cusp of a rapid drop into the upper 30s.

 More info
Sean Bratches has warned Zandvoort that the venue needs to secure its place on the 2020 calendar.

Earlier this week, Dutch GP boss Jan Lammers said a widely reported March 31 deadline is actually more of a "guideline".

But Bratches, Liberty Media's commercial boss, told the Dutch publication Formule 1: "Let me put it this way. If the place is gone, it will be gone for five or ten years."

He said negotiations with the organisers of a race at Zandvoort for 2020 are "ongoing".

"We are trying to do a deal but I have heard there is a lot to be done still," Bratches added.

When asked if the March 31 deadline is firm for Zandvoort, he answered: "We are putting together the calendar for next year.

"The requests for grands prix are much higher than the number of places we have available. We have enough to choose from," said Bratches.

(GMM)
I am a stong advocate for protecting your hearing from noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). This is a bigger problem today than ever before, especially since so many people listen to music from their portable devices on headphones, often cranking the volume to unsafe levels.

Electronics specialist Dave Russell became concerned when his young daughter started suffering from NIHL because she was listening to music on headphones at high levels for long periods of time. He founded Puro Sound Labs to develop high-quality headphones for kids that help protect their hearing.

Two years ago, TechHive reviewed Puro Sounds previous models, the BT2200 for kids and BT5200 for adults. Now, Puro Sound has introduced a new model, the PuroQuiet, which adds active noise cancellation (ANC). Can it help stem the tide of NIHL in kids? I was eager to find out.

PuroQuiet feature set

The PuroQuiet is an on-ear headphonethat is, the earcups sit on the ears rather than around them, though I suppose they might fit around a small childs ears. The earpads and headband are wrapped in what the Puro Sound website calls protein leather, and they weigh just under six ounces, which is very lightweight.

Puro Sound Labs The PuroQuiet has a complex structure, as seen in this exploded view.

Sound is reproduced by 40mm dynamic drivers with neodymium magnets aided by a Qualcomm CSR 8635 DSP (digital signal processing) chipset. Frequency response is specified from 20Hz to 20kHz (no tolerance given).

The primary audio input is Bluetooth 4.0 from any compatible source device. Supported profiles include A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, and HSP (aptX is not supported, despite the Qualcomm chip). A 3.5mm two-channel analog-audio jack is also available on the bottom of the right earcup. If the battery dies, you can connect a source device to the headphone with the included cable (or any 3.5mm audio cable) and continue enjoying your tunes.

The PuroQuiet approaches hearing protection in three ways. First, the company claims 82 percent passive noise isolation at 1kHz simply by wearing the headphone. This seems quite high to me, especially for on-ear headphones. Most of the companys materials mention 82 percent noise isolation without specifying the frequency, which seems a bit misleading.

In response to my queries about this, the company informed me that the isolation factor increases with frequency. Its relatively flat from about 300Hz to roughly 2kHz, and it increases dramatically above that. There is not much isolation below 300Hz, as seen in the graph below.

Copyright 2019 Puro Sound Labs According to Puro Sound Labs testing, ANC (red line) reduces ambient noise levels by 18-22dB below 500Hz. Passive isolation (green line) increases with frequency, from about 10dB at 200Hz to more than 50dB at 10kHz. This graph is only an estimation based on extensive measurements.

Also, like the companys BT2200 and BT5200, the sound pressure level is said to be limited to 85dB, which is generally accepted as the maximum safe level for long-term exposure (eight hours, according to the Hearing Health Foundation). Puro Sound does not specify if this limit is expressed in A-weighted decibels (dBA), flat (dBZ), or some other weighting, and I did not get an answer to this question by the time I needed to turn in the review. I suspect its dBZ, though the OSHA and commercial-cinema standards specify an average level of 85dBA for eight hourswhich means that the momentary level can exceed 85dBA provided the average over eight hours doesnt go above that level. Whatever the weighting, 85dB is still too high in my opinion, but thats just meand my 30 years of experience researching this topic.

Finally, the PuroQuiet integrates active noise cancellation, which inverts the phase of sound picked up by a single microphone in the headphone and mixes it with the unaltered sound, thereby reducing the perceived level thanks to phase cancellation. The idea is this: If the ambient noise level is reduced, users can drop the volume and still have an enjoyable listening experience while subjecting their hearing to lower levels overall.

The PuroQuiet ANC is said to provide 22dB of noise reduction below about 500Hz, where most steady-state ambient noise exists. The effectiveness of ANC starts rolling off above 500Hz, and its completely ineffective above 700Hz or so, as seen in the following graph.

PuroQuiet battery life

Of course, such technology requires a battery. The PuroQuiets 290 mAh battery charges in about three hours and provides power for 16 hours with ANC engaged or 22 hours without ANC.

As with most wireless headphones, the PuroQuiet also functions as a phone headset; a second microphone is built into the unit to serve that function. A single multifunction button lets you answer, reject, and hang up calls on the paired phone. You can even transfer calls from the headphone to the phone and back again. Naturally, the music pauses during a call.

PuroQuiets user controls

Most of the controls are found on the back of the left earcup, and they are simple enough for a child to operate. They include the aforementioned multifunction button, a power on/off slider, and separate volume up and down buttons. Aside from its phone duties, the multifunction button initiates Bluetooth pairing as well as starting and pausing playback. There is no skip forward/backward control. The back of the right earcup has a slider that turns ANC on and off.

Puro Sound Labs Most of the controls are found on the back of the left earcup, including the multifunction/Bluetooth button, power on/off, and volume up and down. The ANC on/off slider is on the back of the right earcup.

A micro-USB port on the bottom of the left earcup lets you charge the battery by connecting the port to a USB power source (5V, 2A), and the PuroQuiet comes with an appropriate cable. An LED next to the micro-USB port indicates the charging and Bluetooth status. The 3.5mm input is on the bottom of the right earcup along with another LED that indicates ANC status.

Puro Sound touts the durable construction of the PuroQuiet, which uses AL6063 aluminum for its outer casing and headband extenders. It seems quite sturdy to me, but on my sample, the micro-USB port was not well aligned with its hole in the outer casing, making it a bit difficult to insert the connector for charging. That could be a problem for small, impatient fingers.

Performance evaluation

Pairing the PuroQuiet to my iPad went without a hitch. When I first put the headphone on, it felt very tight on my head. Granted, its intended for kids, though the website says The suggested age range of using PuroQuiet is from 2 to 92 years old. Also, my head is quite large in the physical senseI wear a 7 3/4 hat size. As a result, I found this headphone to be fairly uncomfortable for long listening sessions, but that shouldnt be a problem for those with smaller heads.

Puro Sound Labs Although Puro Sound Labs says people of any age can use these headphones, people with large heads might find them uncomfortable (they shouldnt be a problem for kids, of course).

I started my listening with Green Instrument from the album Seed by world-trance artist Afro Celts. The instrumentation is mostly synthesizers with electric bass, percussion, and Irish flute. Without ANC, the sound was quite thick and closed in; engaging ANC, the sound opened up considerably, with a much clearer midrange, airy highs, and less boomy bass. Also, the overall level seemed to increase a bit at the same volume setting.

From a different part of the world, I listened to Itzhak Perlman and the Klezmatics play Golem Tants from Live in the Fiddlers House. This lively Klezmer musicthe folk music of Eastern European Jewsincludes violin, clarinet, trumpet, bass clarinet, piano, and electric bass. My experience with and without ANC were much the same as before: congested sound that lacked midrange without ANC; much cleaner and well-balanced sound with ANC.

Turning to pop/rock, I listened to Fleetwood Macs Little Lies from their Greatest Hits album. Without ANC, the lead and background vocals were obscure, and the sound felt clogged, as though I was listening through a tube. With ANC engaged, the sound opened up dramatically and seemed a bit louder.

In the classical genre, I sampled the Bizet opera Les Pecheurs de Perles; specifically, Amis, Interrompez vos Danses from Act 1 as performed by the Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Georges Pretre. Once again, the difference between ANC on and off was obvious. Without it, the sound was very closed in and the soloists were obscured. Turning ANC on, the sound opened up significantly and the solos were much clearer.

As I was listening to music from my cell phone, I asked my wife to call. The music paused and I pushed the multifunction button to answer the call, which worked exactly as expected. My wife reported that my voice had a tinny, metallic character, but my speech was entirely intelligible. Her voice sounded a bit thin in the headphone, but we could carry on a conversation with no problem.

Puro Sound Labs The earcups fold flat to fit in the included hard-shell case.

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

I was interested in testing Puro Sounds claim that the PuroQuiet limits the output level to no more than 85dB SPL. Also, I wanted to objectively examine the effect of ANC. So, I pulled out my calibrated measurement microphone (an iTestMic), which is designed to work with the AudioTools iOS app from Studio Six Digital.

I used the SPL Graph module within AudioTools on my iPhone 6. The module measures SPL over time and provides various metrics, including Leq (average RMS level over the entire length of the measurement), Lmax (maximum 1-second RMS level during the measurement), L50 (RMS level exceeded 50% of the time during the measurement), L10 (RMS level exceeded 10 percent of the time during the measurement), and L01 (RMS level exceeded 1 percent of the time during the measurement).

For the test material, I selected White Room by Cream, played from the same iPad I had used for most of my listening. I cranked the volume to maximum and played the tune twiceonce with ANC off and again with ANC onwhile pointing the microphone directly into the center of the right earcup. The mic has a windscreen, so I let it rest on the inner surface of the earcup.

With ANC off, Leq was 65.5dBA (A-weighted) and 66.9dBZ (flat). Lmax was 76.7dBZ, and L01 was 71.6dBZ. In other words, the maximum 1-second level was only 76.7dBZ, and the level exceeded 71.6dBZ only 1 percent of the time. That is all well below the 85dBZ limit.

Turning ANC on, Leq was 70.5dBA and 72.0dBZ, Lmax was 96.8dBZ, and L01 was 77.7dBZ. Obviously, the level was higher with ANC engaged, and Lmax exceeded 85dBZ by more than 10 dB! That was only for one second, however, and the level remained well below 85dBZ more than 99 percent of the time.

In addition to measuring SPL metrics, the SPL Graph module also provides an RTA (real-time analyzer) with 1/3-octave bands. As you can see in the following screen shots from the app, there is a distinct drop in the low midrange with ANC off, while the spectrum is much more balanced with ANC on, confirming my subjective impressions. Of course, these graphics are only a snapshot of one moment; the spectrum varied over time. But the RTA revealed these general spectral shapes throughout the measurement.

Scott Wilkinson / IDG With ANC off, the low midrange is somewhat deficient, confirming my sense that the sound was lacking in that region.

Scott Wilkinson / IDG With ANC on, the overall spectral balance was much better, resulting in a cleaner, clearer sound. Also, the level was higher overall than with ANC off at a given volume setting.

For my final test, I drove around my neighborhood while wearing the PuroQuietkeeping a sharp eye out for cops! I turned ANC on and off as I listened to music and with no music. The noise-cancelling function worked very well, greatly reducing the level of engine noise. As before, the sound quality was much better with ANC on.

I also checked ANC in a quiet room with no music. It exhibited a slight hiss, but that is not a problem in a noisy environment.

PuroQuiet headphones are a solid value

I applaud Puro Sound Labs for its dedication to protecting childrens hearing. The PuroQuiet headphone is a worthy testament to that dedication, providing three-way protection: passive isolation, volume limiting, and active noise cancellation.

In my tests, the level never got close to 85dBZ with the volume maxed out and ANC turned off, but it did momentarily exceed that level with ANC on. Still, the level remained well below 85dBZ more than 99 percent of the time, so I dont think that momentary peak is a big deal. Overall, the level remained well within the safe zone during my listening.

The ANC works very well at reducing the level of low-frequency ambient noise, and it also significantly improves the sound qualityin fact, I recommend listening with ANC on all the time, even in quiet environments. Of course, that also reduces the battery life, but its still pretty impressive at 16 hours. Also, the overall level with ANC on is somewhat higher than when its off, so you can back off the volume control to protect your hearing even more.

Although the Puro Sound Labs website says the PuroQuiet is meant for ages 2 to 92, I found the headphone too small for comfort on my (admittedly large) head. But this should be no problem at all for children.

The list price of $199.99 is pretty high, but the build quality is solid, which is important for careless kids. Even better, the PuroQuiet is selling for $149.99 on the Puro Sound website for a limited time. (They wont tell me when that price will go back up to full list.) Either way, its a relatively small price to pay for the peace of mind knowing that youre protecting your kids hearing.
In context: There's no denying that prison can be a pretty rough place for the inmates that live there. Solitary confinement, the lack of personal autonomy, and the ever-present risk of physical violence are just a few examples of that. However, one could argue that working is one of the least-destructive parts of prison life - it lets inmates remain productive and keep their minds off of their situation.

When you think of prison jobs, you probably think of laundry duty, kitchen detail, or even janitorial work. Now, though, tech startup Vainu is turning that perception on its head by giving some prisoners a decidedly more modern role to play in the outside world's economy.

The company, as reported by The Verge, is partnering up with two prisons and Finland's Criminal Sanctions Agency to bring AI training jobs to a handful of inmates in Vurtu and Helsinki.

Inmates who are given these jobs will be teaching AIs to to better handle Finnish data by reading through various articles pulled from the web and label what they're about.

An example task, The Verge says, might be an inmate determining that an article is about Apple the tech company and not a fruit company with the word "apple" in its name. Though these distinctions are usually obvious to humans, AIs tend to struggle with them - at first, anyway.

Right now, this whole concept is still in its early stages, and it remains to be seen how viable it will be in the long run.
Experts are recommending restrictions on supermarket special offers after a new study reveals that they fuel obesity and unhealthy food choices.

While supermarket deals may be easier on the wallet, researchers say that they're detrimental to the health.

Packing On The Pounds With Supermarket Deals

A report published by Cancer Research UK reveals that people whose shopping baskets are loaded with food and drinks on special promotions are more than 50 percent more likely to be obese.

Researchers observed more than 16,000 British households, finding that shoppers with 40 percent to 80 percent of their purchases on special offers and sale items have a greater chance of putting on weight.

Notably, the bargain hunters were also found to pick up unhealthier choices, buying 30 percent less fruit and almost 25 percent less vegetables. The shoppers who picked up the most special offers purchased 25 percent more food and drink items that are high in sugar, salt, or fat.

In Great Britain, three out of 10 food and drink products bought are on promotion. Nearly half of all the chocolate, chips, popcorn, and savory snacks bought were on a special promotion.

Obesity Linked To Cancer, Health Issues

Professor Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK's prevention expert, explains that special promotions provide shoppers with a lot of tempting food and drink choices that are ultimately bad for the health.

"With young children frequently being the ones who suffer from the effects of these purchases, introducing restrictions is important for their future health," Bauld continues.

Cancer Research UK's director of cancer prevention Alison Cox agrees, saying the government is going in the right direction by proposing a ban on junk food by 9 p.m.

"Now we want to see restrictions on price promotions for unhealthy food and drink items, as well as those strategically-placed at checkouts," she says.

Obesity is a growing problem, especially since it is linked to a lot of health issues, including cancer. Forty percent of all cancers diagnosed in the United States in 2014 are associated with overweight obesity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the United States, 18.5 percent of children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years old are affected with obesity. Obesity also affects 39.8 percent of adults in the country in 2015 to 2016.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Advanced computer simulations show that Jupiter was formed four times farther from the sun before wandering into the solar system and resting on its orbit.

Early theories suggested that giant gas planets are often very close to their host star. The new study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics could prove that Jupiter may be an outlier.

A Wandering Planet

Researchers from Lund University in Sweden calculated how Jupiter landed on its current orbital path approximately 4.5 billion years ago. During this time, the gas giant was no bigger than Earth.

Based on their calculations, PhD student and lead author Simona Pirani said the young Jupiter originated from a location that is four times than its current distance to the sun. Other gas giants like Saturn and Neptune may have migrated the same way as Jupiter.

The inspiration for going deeper into its journey to the solar system was the asymmetry of the Trojan asteroids found in front of and behind Jupiter.

Two groups of Trojan asteroids adjacent to Jupiter differ in size. One group has 50 percent more asteroids than the other. Scientists believed that identifying the cause of the asymmetry will help them understand Jupiter's migration.

"This is the first time we have evidence that Jupiter was formed far from the sun and then migrated to its current path," Pirani said. "The evidence for the migration can be found in the Trojan asteroids that revolve near Jupiter."

Pirani's team reported that the migration took around 700,000 years, about 2 to 3 million years since Jupiter began its life. It followed a spiral-shaped movement in an increasingly narrow path toward the sun.

Forming The Trojan Asteroids

Computer simulations showed that Jupiter began capturing Trojan asteroids as a young planet without a gas body. Jupiter may have the same building blocks as those that can be found in the asteroids.

"The reason for the asymmetry is the relative drift between the migrating planet and the particles in the coorbital resonance," the authors said. "The capture happens during the growth of Jupiter's core and Trojan asteroids are afterwards carried along during the giant planet's migration to their final orbits."

The gravitational force from Jupiter's surrounding gas caused the migration itself.

Journey To Jupiter's Trojans

In October 2021, NASA will launch Lucy, the first space mission to study the Trojan asteroids. Scientists believe that these celestial bodies will provide vital clues on the formation of the outer planets as well as the origin of the solar system and organic life on Earth.

Lucy will complete a 12-year journey to a Main Belt asteroid and six Trojans. It will provide a closer look to the C-, P-, and D types of bodies in the swarms of asteroids. It is said that dark carbon compounds, water, and other volatile substances make up the asteroids.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Paleontologists in the United States have identified a new species of mastodon after uncovering teeth that were noticeably smaller than those of the Mammut americanum (American Mastodon).

In a study featured in the journal PeerJ, researchers excavating at Diamond Valley Lake located near Hemet, California stumbled upon mastodon teeth that were oddly smaller and narrower compared to those found in other areas of the country.

Upon further examinations, they found that the pearly whites belonged to a different species of mastodon that scientists have not encountered before. They dubbed the new animal the Mammut pacificus (Pacific Mastodon).

"Finding a new ice age animal is like finding a new animal alive today," said Alton Dooley, executive director at Hemet's Western Science Center and lead author of the study.

Dooley and his colleagues also unveiled their discovery during a presentation at the center on Wednesday, March 27.

A New Mastodon Species In The United States

While half of California mastodons were unearthed in Diamond Valley Lake, the researchers believe the Pacific Mastodon was not exclusive to the region.

Dooley said they examined over 500 mastodons from different parts of North America and discovered that the Pacific variant was found all throughout California. They also came across three specimens found in Idaho.

If this was the case, then many of the mastodons featured in the Los Angeles Natural History Museum and other museums around California might actually be those of Mammut pacificus and not Mammut americanum.

Max Mastodon, the Western Science Center's own mascot, is most likely a Pacific Mastodon as well.

As far as American mastodons living in California, Dooley said they have found no evidence to suggest that the animal made it to the state.

The Pacific Mastodon's Narrow Teeth

The Ice Age is one of the most commonly studied period in the Earth's prehistory. Because of this, Dooley and his team were not expecting to find an entirely new species when set out for the project four years ago.

The researchers initially thought that mastodons that lived near the Diamond Valley Lake had to adapt to a certain environment, and those that inhabited similar areas in other parts of the United States would have relatively smaller teeth as well. However, this is not what they saw in their study.

All other places that the team examined had mastodon fossils with wide teeth. The only region that had variants of the animal with narrow teeth was California.

The researchers are still not sure why the Mammut pacificus had narrower teeth compared to its Mammut americanum cousin, especially since both species were considered grazing animals. It is likely a case of the Pacific Mastodons inheriting the narrow teeth trait from their ancestors, according to study coauthor Eric Scott.

"It's not necessarily a functional difference. It's more of a[n] ancestor descendant relationship they inherited," Scott noted.

"Why there was an initial difference we're not entirely sure."

Aside from having narrower teeth, the Pacific Mastodon also had thicker femurs and six vertebrae compared to the five vertebrae found in the American Mastodon. The Pacific variant also did not have lower tusks.

These consistent physical differences between the Pacific Mastodon and the American Mastodon over thousands of years are proof that they are indeed two distinct species, according to the researchers.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Sitting down for too long not only increases the risk of certain diseases but has also caused about 70,000 deaths, a new study has found.

Data also revealed that chronic diseases that are due to or worsened by sedentary behavior has cost the NHS 700 million ($921 million) each year.

'Could Have Been Avoided'

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University looked into the financial burden caused by sedentary lifestyle. They extrapolated data from previous studies and NHS' spending on type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and three types of cancer.

For the period of 2016-2017, the NHS spent 424 million ($557 million) on cardiovascular disease, 281 million ($370 million) on type 2 diabetes, and 30 million ($39 million) on colon cancer.

The amount of financial burden for all five health conditions, which included endometrial and lung cancer, totaled 0.8 billion ($1.52 billion).

"Our research showed that sedentary behaviour contributed to almost 70,000 lives lost in 2016. This could have been avoided if sedentary behaviour was eliminated in the UK," said lead researcher Leonie Heron from the Center of Public Health and Queen's University Belfast.

Around 11.6 percent of all deaths in the UK in 2016 were related to sedentary behavior. It is notable that a significant fraction of this population will have more than one of the said conditions at any given time. For example, 30 percent of people with type 2 diabetes will also develop cardiovascular disease.

The study was published March 25 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Need For Public Health Policy

Heron and colleagues noted that the cost of sedentary behavior to public health and government funding calls for clear guidelines and policy interventions.

Dr Keith Diaz, a behavioral medicine expert at Columbia University, said that the lack of effective intervention to address sedentary lifestyle may be due to concerns that it might decrease work productivity.

"Thus, the findings from this study are immensely important as they provide a strong economic case that public health policy changes to reduce workplace sedentary behaviors could be a worthwhile investment," Diaz said.

Diaz advised that the best recourse is to "sit less, move more, and move often."

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Photo for illustration

Over the past 12 years of investing in Cambodia, the Vietnam Rubber Group has established two groups planting, exploiting and processing rubber latex in Kampong Thom with a total value of more than USD750 million and having planted nearly 90,000 hectares; creating jobs for over 15,000 local workers.

In his speech at the event, Mr. Sok Lou hailed the operation Vietnamese rubber investors in the province for creating jobs for many local people and bringing high economic efficiency for the two countries.

Currently, Kampong Thom and two neighboring provinces Siem Reap and Preah Vihear have eight rubber planting companies (Group 1) under the Vietnam Rubber Group.

Last year, the group produced 26,160 tons of rubber latex and exported 25,704 tons; earning a revenue of USD29.39 million. This year, Group 1 will tap rubber latex on an area of 31,000 hectares with more than 6,500 direct workers.

Vietnamese Ambassador expressed thanks to the leaders and the locality for creating opportunities for Vietnamese rubber companies to operate and invest, while suggesting that the local authorities should pay more attention to protecting assets of the companies and offer more favorable mechanisms for worker recruitment./.
Changes are being made to help drivers at the back of the grid to see the starting lights in Bahrain.

In Australia, as an unforeseen consequence of the taller rear wings for 2019, drivers including Robert Kubica, Pierre Gasly and George Russell said they could not see the five lights on the Melbourne grid.

Russell, who drives for Williams, said he watched the red lights go out by looking at the reflection in the pit building.

"I don't know if it will be a problem on all the tracks, but I've heard that additional lights will be installed here," he said in Bahrain.

Red Bull's Gasly added: "I think they are planning to raise the starting lights a bit because it's probably going to be an issue on other tracks as well."

(GMM)
Daydreaming in class is normal for many students, but when Jasmine Banovic spaces out in class, it's the sign of a serious health condition.

Banovic, now 21, was actually having a type of epileptic seizure that's known as "absence seizures."

Graphic Designer Hides Seizures Under the Guise of 'Daydreaming'

For five years, the graphic designer from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire kept her seizures a secret from everyone but her family, best friend, and a handful of other people. Little did everyone else know, she was having up to 30 seizures a day, according to Metro UK.

With her absence seizures lasting anywhere from several seconds to five minutes, Banovic hid her diagnosis from the world for years under the guise of daydreaming.

"It wasn't the sort of fit you stereotypically imagine when you think of epilepsy," she explains in a report from Metro UK. "Instead, I would lose all focus and stop responding. People just thought I was daydreaming."

Banovic was only 11 when she was diagnosed with epilepsy. As a child, she knew very little about her neurological condition, describing her feelings as isolated while growing up.

For a long time, she found herself riddled with anxiety about going out in public for fear of getting a seizure. Since stress is a major trigger for seizures, it became a difficult cycle for Banovic.

With the stress becoming too much, she opted for homeschooling at the age of 15.

Epilepsy, Mental Health

Over the years, Banovic learned to manage her condition with therapy, medication, and opening up to family and friends. While she continues to experience side-effects from medication including fatigue, headaches, and nausea, she says she's as mentally strong as she has ever been.

Banovic now speaks out to encourage people with epilepsy to be more open as she has learned to be.

According to the Epilepsy12 National Audit report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health released in January 2019, only 12.8 percent of health boards and trusts offer mental health support in epilepsy clinics.

Epilepsy Foundation reports that 25 percent to 55 percent of people with epilepsy experience interictal depression. Suicide rates are also five times higher among people with epilepsy.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Monsanto will have to pay millions of dollars to a California man who developed cancer after he had been allegedly exposed to the weed killer Roundup.

A U.S. jury awarded 70-year-old Edwin Hardeman over $80 million in compensation for his claim that his exposure to Monsanto's popular herbicide caused him to develop the malignant disease.

In their verdict, the jurors said the agrochemical company failed to provide enough warning regarding the potential health risks of using the glyphosate-based Roundup.

Monsanto will pay the Sonoma County resident $75 million in punitive damages and an additional $5.2 million in compensatory damages.

Hardeman's Lawsuit Against Monsanto

Hardeman had been using Monsanto's Roundup to kill off invasive plants that have been encroaching into his property for over 20 years. In February 2015, he was informed by doctors that he had developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

In his complaint, Hardeman alleged that his illness was a direct result of his years-long exposure to Monsanto's weed killer. He said the company either knew or should have known that its product could cause such effects.

The Sonoma County resident blamed the herbicide maker for failing to give consumers enough warning about the dangers that Roundup posed to human health.

Hardeman's lawsuit is just one of many ongoing cases filed against Monsanto regarding the potential carcinogenic effects of its glyphosate-based products. More than 1,600 plaintiffs have complaints in the U.S. District Court in California's Northern District.

Following the verdict, Hardeman said he felt "overwhelmed," and that the result of his lawsuit has not "sink in yet."

Meanwhile, Hardeman's legal counsel Aimee Wagstaff and Jennifer Moore welcomed the jury's decision.

"As demonstrated throughout trial, since Roundup's inception over 40 years ago, Monsanto refuses to act responsibly," the lawyers said.

"Today, the jury resoundingly held Monsanto accountable for its 40 years of corporate malfeasance and sent a message to Monsanto that it needs to change the way it does business."

Bayer Stands Behind Its Products

In its statement, Monsanto's parent company Bayer said it was a disappointment in the jury's ruling.

The German pharmaceutical firm argues that the verdict does not affect the credibility of its products, which have been proven safe and non-carcinogenic by international regulators and decades' worth of extensive science.

Bayer is adamant that the result of Hardeman's lawsuit will not have any bearing on future cases and trials, stating that each one will have its own factual and legal circumstances.

While the company expresses its sympathy for Hardeman and his family, it remains committed to its products and vows to defend them vigorously.

Bayer said it would appeal jury's verdict.

Roundup is currently registered in 130 countries and has been approved for use on over 100 different crops. However, one of the herbicide's base components, glyphosate, has been classified as "probably carcinogenic" to humans by the World Health Organization in 2015.

This led to several complaints and legislative challenges thrown at Monsanto.

In August, a San Francisco court ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to a 46-year-old former groundskeeper who developed cancer after using Roundup for years, similar to Hardeman's case.

Jurors ruled in favor of Dewayne Johnson's claim that the weed killer caused his terminal illness, and that Monsanto failed to adequately warn him about the health risks.

The herbicide maker had "acted with malice or oppression," according to the jury.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The United Nations is urging people to donate in fundraising efforts to raise the $282 million needed for victims of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique.

The tropical cyclone tore through several countries in Africa over a week ago, leaving hundreds of people dead and millions of dollars in damages. In Mozambique, where the ravages of Cyclone Idai was most felt, nearly 2 million were left without families, friends, and homes.

The UN has called on nations of the world to provide humanitarian assistance, which is badly needed by victims of the disaster. If help does not come soon, aid groups believe the situation in affected countries will become a lot worse.

Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Left Homeless

Beira City is one of the most devastated areas in Mozambique. Strong winds and flooding brought on by Cyclone Idai pretty much destroyed almost every structure in the city, including homes, schools, and medical facilities. More than 100,000 men, women, and children are currently in need of help in the area.

Aid workers from the UN and other humanitarian organizations have mobilized in Beira to lend a hand to ongoing relief efforts by local governments. These groups have been providing food and cash assistance and transporting much-needed supplies and medicines to ravaged areas. They have also helped out in coordinating other humanitarian work.

Mark Lowcock, UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has set aside $20 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help deliver critical and urgent emergency relief to Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.

However, additional funds are needed to reach all those affected by Cyclone Idai.

Earlier this week, the United Nations launched a revised flash appeal for $281.7 million to bring aid to victims in Mozambique. The organization has designated the cyclone's devastation a "scale-up emergency," which is considered to be the most severe.

"I call on the international community to fund these appeals quickly and fully so that aid agencies can urgently ramp up their responses," said Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is expected to provide food assistance to an estimated 500,000 people victimized by the disaster.

Meanwhile, the Word Health Organization (WHO) is already making plans to mitigate the potential health risks associated with the recent flood. The group is anticipating a rise in cases of waterborne and airborne diseases such as malaria.

In Beira, five cases of cholera have already been recorded as of Wednesday, March 27. Officials fear that the disease could end up spreading, given the poor living conditions of tens of thousands of people left homeless by Cyclone Idai. The city is still struggling to gain access to clean water and sanitation.

How To Donate To Humanitarian Efforts

People who would like to donate to the Central Emergency Response Fund can visit the UN's webpage dedicated to Mozambique flash appeal. Every donation will help support the organization's relief efforts in areas devastated by Cyclone Idai.

The CERF is where much of the funding for necessary suppliers, such as food, shelter, clean water and sanitation, and health care, come from.

The WFP has also set up a page to help collect funds for its feeding programs for victims of the disaster.

Other charity organizations have launched their own fundraising efforts as part of their humanitarian work for the people in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.

The Catholic Relief Services is working to provide an initial 4,000 families in these countries with immediate aid.

There is also Doctors Without Borders, whose members are giving medical support and water sanitation to affected areas.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Israels Beresheet spacecraft is on the way to the moon and may land on it by April. If all goes according to plan, the team behind it may also be on the way to receiving $1 million from the X Prize Foundation.

'Moonshot Award'

On March 28, the X Prize Foundation announced that it is offering a $1 million Moonshot Award to the X Prize team that demonstrates a moonshot achievement outside of the parameters of an X Prize competition. The foundation states that the award is inspired by Israels SpaceIL, which is the first privately funded mission to the moon. Before SpaceIL, the governments of China, the United States, and the Soviet Union were the only ones to have landed missions on the moon.

So far, SpaceILs Beresheet spacecraft is already on the way to the moon and is expected to land by April 11 of this year. Should things go according to plan, the team behind Beresheet will receive the inaugural award as well as the $1 million prize.

SpaceILs mission represents the democratization of space exploration. We are optimistic about seeing this first domino fall, setting off a chain reaction of increasingly affordable and repeatable commercial missions to the Moon and beyond, said X Prize founder and chairman, Peter H. Diamandis.

X Prize is also considering future Moonshot Awards to recognize literal and figurative moonshots, even in other domains.

Unclaimed Google Lunar X Prize

Originally, SpaceIL was one of the five finalists competing at the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize, which challenged teams from all over the world to build and launch lunar landers using mostly private funding. The competitions deadline got pushed several times between 2012 to 2018, but unfortunately, it ended last year without any of the teams claiming the prize.

Even so, many of the teams continued working on their projects, and SpaceIL turned up to be the first to launch last Feb. 21. This time, should the team receive the Moonshot Award, the prize is no longer funded by the original competition they entered but by X Prize alone in celebration of the moonshot feat.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A corrections officer at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola was arrested early Thursday after officials found drugs inside her vehicle.

A "shakedown" during Thursday's 5 a.m. shift change at the prison led to the bust, state Department of Corrections spokesman Ken Pastorick said in a news release. Heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine and a digital scale were among the items found.

Crystal Jenkins, 40, of Woodville, Mississippi, was booked on various drug counts and a count of introduction of contraband into a penal institution

Jenkins, who worked at Angola since August 2018, resigned and confessed to DOC investigators after the drugs were found, Pastorick said.

Reports of sex, contraband smuggling, more at Angola as 7 employees resign, 4 arrested so far Seven employees at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola  six correctional officers and a nurse  have resigned from their corrections p

Earlier this month seven employees at Angola  six correctional officers and a nurse  resigned from their corrections posts and face charges after an investigation found evidence they engaged in inappropriate relationships with inmates, including sex in one case.
The operators of the Colonial Landfill near Sorrento have agreed to increased air monitoring for two years under a settlement ending litigation over a permit allowing expanded dumping at the decades-old waste pile.

+3 LEAN, Ascension councilman sue over expansion of Republic Services' Colonial Landfill LEAN and the chairman of the Ascension Parish Council have brought a legal challenge to the expansion of a Sorrento-area landfill that has dra

BFI Waste Systems of Louisiana, a subsidiary of Republic Services, has agreed to hire a third-party company to test for methane and, in some cases, for hydrogen sulfide at the 287-acre landfill off La. 70 in Ascension Parish, an attorney for the plaintiffs said.

In the fall of 2016 and in early 2017, the permit drew public opposition as residents living near the waste pile complained about constant, rotten odors they claimed were coming from the landfill and harming their health and sense of well-being.

In January 2018, Louisiana Environmental Action Network and Ascension Parish Councilman Bill Dawson sued the state Department of Environmental Quality to appeal the permit.

BFI later intervened in the suit brought in 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, which is the statewide venue for legal challenges to the agency.

Though the deal with BFI requires the plaintiffs to drop their challenge of the state permit with prejudice  meaning the challenge to the permit can't be raised again  they hope the testing regime will show the origin of the odors, plaintiffs' attorney Clay Garside said.

BFI officials have maintained that a neighboring landfill, the Gator Landfill, was actually the source of the odors.

"We want BFI to prove up what they say. They may be right, that it's not them," Garside said, "and that's what we want to find out."

+3 DEQ renews permit, extends life of Ascension landfill despite complaints of residents SORRENTO  Louisiana environmental regulators have signed off on a permit that will extend the life of a controversial Ascension Parish landfi

If the odors are found to be coming from the landfill, the new settlement doesn't preclude the plaintiffs from pursuing a future legal action over those findings, Garside said.

He said BFI will test for methane and, if the methane levels are high enough, will also test for hydrogen sulfide.

"To the extent they get a large enough hit of methane, they're going to switch to a hydrogen sulfide meter and test for that, which  the smells that often come off the landfill are related to," Garside said.

Methane is common gas emitted by landfills as materials dumped in them break down. Hydrogen sulfide, another gas that can come off a landfill, can have a rotten egg odor at lower concentrations. People can lose their ability to smell the gas at higher concentrations when it can turn deadly.

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Even at low concentrations, hydrogen sulfide can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, difficulty breathing, headaches, poor memory and balance problems, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

The state permit, which DEQ granted in December 2017, allows the landfill to expand its waste storage by 27 percent, adding another 6.5 million cubic yards of trash by raising a greater portion of the waste pile to the previously approved maximum height of 186 feet.

The landfill isn't expanding its footprint, however.

What's that smell? Sorrento residents complain about dump's foul odors, but no unsafe air found, DEQ says State environmental regulators have delayed a decision whether to allow the expansion of BFI Colonial Landfill while they try to pin down the 

The Colonial Landfill had previously been authorized to accept residential, commercial and nonhazardous industrial waste, including oil and gas exploration and production waste.

The new permit allows the landfill to continue to accept that waste and add construction and demolition debris and wood waste.

In the suit, the plaintiffs alleged DEQ did not reasonably address hundreds of complaints about the landfill's odors or its track record of complaints and permit violations when the permit was granted.

The settlement calls for monitoring of the entire landfill site every other month during the two-year testing period. The testing results will be published on a website so neighbors can see what is coming off the landfill, Garside said.

The settlement doesn't require what times of the day the testing must occur, he said.

Garside said the monitoring will come in addition to monitoring BFI is already required to do.

Under the permit, the company will be also be required to expand its gas collection and flaring system, purportedly cutting emissions by 75 percent.

'Y'all are poisoning me': Woman fires shotgun over Sorrento dumps strong smell, deputies say A vocal critic and next-door neighbor of the BFI Colonial Landfill south of Sorrento was arrested Monday morning after she yelled at workers a

Brad Kiesling, a Republic Services spokesman based in Phoenix, said Wednesday, "We are pleased this issue has been resolved, and we look forward to continuing to serve this community."

The settlement document had not been filed and finalized as of Thursday, but Garside said testing must start within weeks of that happening.
Jean Todt has responded to a controversy about a jailed protester in Bahrain.

Earlier, the FIA vowed to "investigate" the case about Najah Yousif, who was reportedly jailed by the Bahrain regime for protesting about the race.

Some had even called for F1 to boycott this weekend's Bahrain grand prix.

But FIA president Todt is quoted by DPA news agency: "The FIA believes in the unifying power of sport and the positive impact of bringing people together."

The Frenchman added that F1 should unite to "pursue this mission with determination".

(GMM)
The local civil service board is working to acquire security for next month's appeal hearing for fired Baton Rouge police officer Blane Salamoni, as they expect the review of the July 2016 fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling will draw heightened interest and controversy.

The Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board, which reviews disciplinary actions for both the Baton Rouge Police and Baton Rouge Fire departments, has asked the Louisiana State Police or the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office to provide security for the April appeal hearing, because they believe those agencies will be more neutral during the proceedings. State Police has denied that request. The Sheriff's Office has not yet responded.

Hearing date for fired Baton Rouge police officer Blane Salamoni now set for mid-April The Baton Rouge civil service board Thursday set a hearing for mid-April for former city police officer Blane Salamonis appeal of his firing 

"We believe that significant security is going to be necessary, and that it would be wiser to provide for that security and not need it, than to be unprepared, should disruption occur," Julie Cherry, the chair of the civil service board, wrote in letters to State Police Superintendent Kevin Reeves and Sheriff Sid Gautreaux. "If the Baton Rouge Police Department provides that security, it may serve to provoke some citizens."

While the five-member civil service board rarely draws much public attendance to its monthly meetings, in anticipation of Salamoni's hearing they have reserved the city's Metro Council chambers at City Hall to accommodate a larger crowd. The local board typically meets at the Fire Department's headquarters off Harding Boulevard near the Metro Airport.

Reeves mentioned the location of the hearing as one of his reasons he declined Cherry's request.

+11 Baton Rouge officer who shot Alton Sterling is terminated; other officer involved suspended three days After nearly two years of investigations and a public outcry over the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy

"BRPD has extensive experience in providing security for this setting as well as council meetings," Reeves wrote in a letter to Cherry last month. "My concern is that LSP's introduction into the security at this meeting, where the law enforcement authority of BRPD is at issue, would serve to unfairly undermine the interest of the law enforcement parties involved in the hearing."

Reeves also noted he has not received any "particular threat assessments which indicate that the heightened security you request will be necessary," so he did not want exacerbate tension without cause.

The civil service board members said Thursday they expect disruptions and challenges at Salamoni's appeal hearing, which is set to begin April 16 at 9:30 a.m. The board has reserved three full days for testimony and deliberations.

At the board's meeting Thursday, Cherry said she still hopes to hear from the sheriff, whom she wrote to earlier this week after the denial from State Police.

The Sheriff's Office did not immediately answer a request Thursday for comment.

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At this point, without either State Police or the Sheriff's Office support, Cherry said, the board will plan for the Baton Rouge Police Department to provide security.

"I still think it would be better to have a neutral provider of security," Cherry said. "I think the meeting will be charged, and rightfully so.

If we need to have to ask someone to leave, I think it would be best to have it not be a Baton Rouge police officer," Cherry added.

Cpl. Robb Moruzzi, the police department's representative on the board, said he had spoken with Police Chief Murphy Paul, who had supported the idea that a neutral agency provide security.

I felt that it would look better and be better for the public, and be more inviting, if we didn't have BRPD officers providing security," Moruzzi said.

Salamoni was fired last March by Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul for his actions in the encounter with Sterling.

+11 Baton Rouge officer who shot Alton Sterling is terminated; other officer involved suspended three days After nearly two years of investigations and a public outcry over the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy

Salamoni, along with Baton Rouge Police officer Howie Lake II, responded to a 911 call on July 5, 2016 about a man selling CDs outside a convenience store on North Foster Drive who had brandished a weapon. Sterling matched the caller's description and, after a brief struggle with the officers that lasted less than 90 seconds, Salamoni fired six shots, killing Sterling. Officers found a loaded handgun in Sterling's pocket.

Portions of the shooting were captured on cellphone videos by bystanders. Those videos were shared on social media, sparking nationwide protests over police brutality. Almost two years later, the police department released the officers' body camera footage as well as local surveillance video, which showed the most complete turn of events in the shooting, drawing additional scrutiny over how Salamoni approached Sterling and escalated the situation.

Neither officer was charged with any criminal or civil rights violations after federal and state officials separately reviewed the incident and sought the counsel of use-of-force experts.

Lake was suspended for three days for his actions in the shooting. He has also appealed his suspension, but the civil service board has not yet set a date for that hearing.
The three announced candidates for governor all have different positions on the future of the death penalty in Louisiana  revealing one of the most striking policy contrasts among them in the race, to date.

Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone opposes the death penalty; U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham thinks it should be used more; and Gov. John Bel Edwards wont divulge his personal views, instead saying he will uphold whatever's in state law.

Abraham and Rispone are both Republicans challenging the only Democratic governor in the Deep South.

The election is Oct. 12. A Nov. 16 runoff will take place between the top two vote-getters if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, regardless of party.

Louisiana is one of 31 states that still allow the death penalty as a form of criminal punishment in law. But the states last execution was in 2010, and that inmate volunteered to be executed. The issue has been tangled up in the legal system amid a fight over the state's process for lethal injection, all while debate over the death penalty's future has simmered.

Louisiana lawmakers hold hearing over future of death penalty, make little headway State legislators took a deep dive Tuesday into Louisianas stalled death penalty system, but its unclear what  if any  legislation may com

The state has agreed that it will carry out no executions at least for another year as a legal battle wages over its lethal injection protocol, so whoever wins the governor's race this fall could be instrumental in determining the future of capital punishment in Louisiana after the new term starts in January 2020.

I really dont believe in the death penalty, Rispone told The Advocate on Thursday. It goes back to my faith  really and truly. If it was proven to be a deterrent and it saved innocent lives, then I would probably have to think hard about it again.

+4 Death sentences drastically decline; report says there was 'a sea change in public opinion' Louisiana's use of the death penalty has reached record lows in recent years amid ongoing debate  both statewide and across the country  abo

Rispone contrasted the death penalty with war, which he said is necessary. We have to go to war to save innocent lives, he said. But Im not convinced that (the death penalty)s a deterrent.

He said he came to that conclusion after discussions with prosecutors and others in law enforcement.

The DAs say they spend so much time on the death penalty and could be out prosecuting way more people if they didnt have to go through that," Rispone said.

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Abraham, meanwhile, has sided with Attorney General Jeff Landry in aggressively pushing for the use of the death penalty in Louisiana.

A question of 'frustration': Does Gov. John Bel Edwards support the death penalty? Does Gov. John Bel Edwards support the death penalty? It's a question that chief political rival Attorney General Jeff Landry has been pushing

Not only am I in favor of the death penalty, but Im also in favor of enforcing it," Abraham, R-Alto, told The Advocate. "If you murder someone in Louisiana, you should know that when caught you will be put to death.

"While were at it, Id like to see child molesters added to the list of death penalty eligible person," Abraham added. "There is no greater monster than someone who harms an innocent child.

Edwards has repeatedly deferred to state law on the matter and dismissed questions about his personal views on the topic.

"I took an oath to support the Constitution and laws of the United States and the state of Louisiana," Edwards said in a statement last fall when The Advocate asked for clarity on his position. "The fact of the matter is that we cannot execute someone in the state of Louisiana today because the only legally prescribed manner set forth in state statute is unavailable to us. That's not through any fault of my own or the Department of Corrections."

Landry, a Republican seeking re-election as AG this year, has helped put a spotlight on the issue in recent months, accusing Edwards of playing a role in executions being put on hold and publicly criticizing the governor's lack of clarity on his personal position. The AG recently orchestrated a State Capitol hearing on the future of the death penalty that included testimony from families of murder victims whose killers remain on death row.

Proponents of abolishing the death penalty say it will reduce costs and could save innocent lives of those wrongly convicted. Opponents say the measure comes across as soft on crime and lessens the weight placed on the most heinous crimes committed in the state.

The debate over the death penalty often is further complicated in heavily Roman Catholic populated south Louisiana. Pope Francis, an outspoken critic of the death penalty, has issued a proclamation that the death penalty is unacceptable in any case in the eyes of the Catholic Church.

Edwards and Rispone are Catholic (as is Landry), and Abraham is Baptist. All oppose abortion, a position frequently noted in the death penalty discussion.

Attempts to abolish capital punishment have been made in recent years at the State Capitol, but the effort continues to face major resistance in both the Republican-controlled House and Senate. The debate hasn't gotten a formal recorded vote in either chamber in the past two years that its been proposed.

Multiple bills have been prefiled ahead of the regular session that begins April 8 that again call for an end to the use of capital punishment in Louisiana. Separately, legislation has been proposed that would conceal providers of lethal injection drugs, possibly freeing up the state to resume carrying out executions.
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It would be overstating things  by a lot  to say that the Louisiana governors race is finally getting interesting. But at least voters trying to tell the difference between Democrat John Bel Edwards two Republican challengers now have something to work with, and on a major topic no less.

One of the declared GOP candidates, U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, has taken the default Republican position on the death penalty. He not only supports it, he said recently, but wants to see it enacted regularly. Thats an issue because the state has not executed anyone since 2010, due largely to a lack of access to the drugs its legally allowed to use. And its a bigger issue because some Republicans  most loudly Attorney General Jeff Landry  are trying to use the dearth of executions to score points against Edwards.

Businessman Eddie Rispone, though, says hes a death penalty opponent.

I really dont believe in the death penalty, Rispone told The Advocate on Thursday. It goes back to my faith  really and truly. If it was proven to be a deterrent and it saved innocent lives, then I would probably have to think hard about it again.

Rispone may be somewhat of an outlier, but hes got some company in the GOP. One prominent death penalty opponent is state Sen. Dan Claitor, a term-limited Baton Rouge Republican and former prosecutor who is expected to take one more pass at abolishing the practice during the upcoming legislative session.

James Gill: Don't confuse Jeff Landry dog and pony show for serious debate on Louisiana executions When a drunken French colonial soldier called Pierre Antoine Dochenet attempted to kill two slaves in 1752, he committed a crime against prope

Where do 3 Louisiana governor candidates stand on death penalty? See their responses The three announced candidates for governor all have different positions on the future of the death penalty in Louisiana  revealing one of th

Meanwhile, Edwards himself continues to studiously avoid sharing his personal feelings on the matter.

"I took an oath to support the Constitution and laws of the United States and the state of Louisiana," Edwards said in a statement last fall when The Advocate asked for clarity on his position. "The fact of the matter is that we cannot execute someone in the state of Louisiana today because the only legally prescribed manner set forth in state statute is unavailable to us. That's not through any fault of my own or the Department of Corrections."
Catholic Church officials asked the Dominican order Thursday to move an elderly priest out of his living quarters at St. Dominics Priory in Lakeview, a day after a victim-advocacy group exposed his presence on a list of Dominican religious order members who have been credibly accused of child molestation.

The news about Richard Raphael Archer, 89, a retired priest, was contained in a letter that New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond sent to the parents of children at St. Dominic School on Memphis Street. The school serves students in pre-K through 7th grade and is attached to a church and priory on Harrison Avenue.

Archer in December was among those listed in a 24-name roster of Dominican order members in the eastern and southern United States who were suspected child sex abusers, both living and dead. A board reviewing personnel files deemed an allegation of the sexual abuse of a minor against Archer as credible. He was removed from public ministry in 2002, when he was assigned to a Metairie-based Dominican province, his order said.

Nonetheless, Archer was still listed as in residence at the St. Dominic Priory as of Wednesday, when the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests published a statement highlighting that fact. SNAPs statement also noted that, despite Archer's past, the Archdiocese of New Orleans marked the 50th anniversary of his ordination in a 2017 news release recognizing veteran priests.

Archer's name was not among the 57 names on a list of credibly accused clergy in New Orleans that Aymond released on Nov. 2. The list was comprised of diocesan and religious order priests whom the archdiocese had removed from ministry, or would have removed had they been living. However, Aymond cautioned that the release did not include clergy and religious personnel who had been defrocked by their orders.

Aymond wrote to parents of St. Dominic on Thursday that he hadnt learned of Archers status until that morning, but then acted immediately.

I have been in touch with  Dominican (leadership) and advised  that Archer may no longer reside at the St. Dominics Priory, effective today, Aymonds letter said. Although it is my understanding that he has been confined to the priory and not in contact with the students of St. Dominic, I believe this decision to ask the Dominican Order to move him is the appropriate one.

Dominican order officials didnt immediately respond to a request for comment about what they plan to do after Aymonds request. Archer was no longer listed as an in residence priest at St. Dominic as of Thursday evening.

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Archers removal from public ministry came as the Catholic Churchs decades-long, clergy abuse scandal in the U.S. hit a fever pitch in Boston. The scandal has again boiled over in recent months as new cases of clergy abuse have continued coming to light worldwide.

Deacon credibly accused of abuse by New Orleans Archdiocese added to Baton Rouge Diocese's list The Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge added a New Orleans deacon Wednesday to an evolving list of clergy members who have been credibly accused 

Catholic officials both locally and nationally have disclosed lists of credibly accused clergy and religious members in hopes of winning back the trust of parishioners disgusted by the latest aftershocks of the scandal. But new names continue to be revealed.

Newspaper clips show Archer frequently officiated services at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ponchatoula throughout the 1990s. He also routinely presided over services at a Ponchatoula funeral home.

Archer was one of four Dominican members from the December list who were assigned to a regional chapter that was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Metairie.

The other three on the release are dead: Dominican brother John L. Malachy Cosgrove, and John Aquinas Powers and Bernardine George Dyer, both of whom were ordained as priests.

Attempts to contact Archer on Thursday were unsuccessful.
A New Orleans homicide detective testified Thursday that a prominent Pennsylvania businessman was stabbed three times in the front part of his body on the morning he was found dead in a Treme hotel.

Defense lawyer John Fuller said the location of the wounds and the fact that other guests heard a struggle should amount, at most, to a manslaughter charge against his client, Magen Hall.

But a court commissioner held fast to his earlier decision that there was probable cause to arrest Hall for second-degree murder.

Prosecutors have yet to present Halls case to a grand jury, but the hearing before Magistrate Commissioner Jonathan Friedman offered a window into the investigation of jeweler Patrick Murphys death five days before Mardi Gras.

Hall, dressed in a maroon Orleans Justice Center uniform, sat next to Fuller and fellow lawyer Marcus DeLarge at the defense table, occasionally conferring with them.

The sole witness at the hearing was Police Detective Patrick Guidry, who said Murphy was found inside a room at the Empress Hotel with one stab wound to his neck and two to his abdomen.

Guests in the room next door heard a roughly two-minute struggle and a woman shouting at a man, Guidry said.

Get into the bathroom! the woman shouted, according to the witnesses.

Surveillance video established that Murphy and Hall were the only two people to enter the hotel room early on Feb. 28 before a housekeeper discovered Murphys body shortly before noon, Guidry said. The only other entry point to the room was a small window that police found locked from the inside.

The video showed Hall leaving the hotel alone, walking briskly.

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Guidry also said there were no signs that Murphy was forced into the hotel. The video did not show any kind of strained interaction between the two, he said.

Hall has a history of arrests for prostitution, and Fuller asked the detective at one point whether police recovered any evidence of adult relations.

He also asked, Were you able to recover any video of any interactions they had that night, whether it was at a barroom, a club?

However, after objections from prosecutors, Friedman cut off that line of questioning as irrelevant for Thursdays hearing.

After Guidry left the stand, Fuller said there was not enough evidence to support a second-degree murder charge. He noted that police said Hall checked in with her own identification card.

It's clear that my client did not go to the hotel with any intent whatsoever to harm the deceased in this case, he said. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that if you want to commit a crime or a murder or any crime, the last thing you're going to do is leave a copy of your ID at the front desk.

He added that the wounds are consistent with two people facing each other ... the gentleman received no wounds to his back whatsoever.

However, Assistant District Attorney Inga Petrovich said there was ample evidence supporting Hall's arrest on a murder count. There were three stab wounds.  I don't know what gets more specific intent to kill than that, she said.

She said Hall exited by herself, leaving the victim to die in a hotel room.

Fuller separately asked for a reduction of Hall's $750,000 bail, but Friedman said that would have to come after a written request is submitted. Afterward, Fuller said it was unlikely that he would make such a request.

He declined to comment when asked if his client would argue self-defense.

Stay tuned, Fuller said.

Hall's first name has been spelled in various ways since her arrest, but Fuller said it is Magen.
There are no sure bets on the future of a popular small business-focused scheme that lets companies write down the value of purchases, experts warn.

In January Scott Morrison said the government had to "put our money where our mouth is", announcing an extension of the instant asset write-off scheme to July 2020, including boosting the value of assets covered to $25,000.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pledged to extend the write-off policy until 2020. Credit:AAP

The 'asset write-off policy lets businesses immediately write down depreciation on assets worth up to $20,000. The most recent data on its use is from 2017, when 350,000 small businesses used the policy.

The bill to extend the measure has only made its way to a second ready debate in the House of Representatives.
Sydneysiders will be reaching for an extra blanket on Sunday as temperatures tick down to 12 degrees, marking the coldest morning of the year so far - and possibly the coldest March reading in 15 years.

Sunday morning will signal a real autumn chill, with the 12-degree reading about 7 degrees cooler than Sydneysiders have been used to so far this month. It would also come in about 5 degrees lower than the long-run average for the month.

Sydney is set for the coldest March morning in 15 years. Credit:Janie Barrett

The Sunday cooling will follow a Saturday when many people will already be looking to hunker down, as rains of as much as 25 millimetres, including a possible storm, return. Winds reaching 45 km/h will also make temperatures feel less than the forecast top of 26 degrees on Saturday.

Lest beachgoers think summer's done, a return to sunnier conditions by midweek will see the mercury climb back into the mid- to high-20s across the city.
Michel Bacos, the valiant French pilot who was forced by terrorists to fly his jetliner to Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976, but refused to abandon Jewish passengers before an audacious rescue by Israeli commandos, has died in Nice, France aged 94. Celebrated in films and books, the swashbuckling rescue by Israelis disguised as Ugandan soldiers culminated a harrowing week in which hijackers from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Germanys Baader-Meinhof Gang seized control of Air France Flight 139 less than eight minutes after it lifted off from Athens on June 27, 1976. The plane had stopped there on its way from Tel Aviv to Paris. The plane, carrying more than 240 passengers and a crew of 12, was diverted to Libya to refuel, then directed to fly more than 3,500 miles to Entebbe, where it landed with only 20 minutes of fuel remaining. Three days later, the hijackers freed the 148 passengers who were neither Jewish nor Israeli. They threatened to kill the rest unless 53 prisoners being held in Israel and other countries on terrorism charges were released. The planes crew was also permitted to depart. The New York Times.

Brian MacArthur

Credit:SMH

who has died aged 79, enjoyed a long and distinguished career in newspapers, editing three titles and contributing to many more. While he wrote prodigiously, notably about the workings of his profession, he was at his best when operating behind the scenes. MacArthur was founding editor of The Times Higher Education Supplement, editor of the Western Morning News and the first editor of Eddy Shahs Today newspaper; yet to many journalists he was better known in his executive roles, notably as the broker of such sensational stories as what purported to be Hitlers secret diaries for The Sunday Times in 1983 and, more successfully, the revelation of John Majors affair with Edwina Currie that appeared in The Times in 2002. The Telegraph, London.

Scott Walker, a singer-songwriter who became a 1960s pop sensation as the leader of the Walker Brothers, then turned toward dark and moody avant-garde compositions as a solo artist, died March 22 in London. He was 76. Walker was a session bassist before he rose to fame with the Walker Brothers, an easy-listening pop trio that topped the charts in Britain and reached the Top 40 in the United States. Their 1960s hits included Make It Easy on Yourself, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and The Sun Aint Gonna Shine Anymore, by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. Although the group was based in England, Walker and his bandmates, who went by John Walker and Gary Walker, were American. They were also neither siblings nor Walkers, a last name they adopted around the time they moved to Britain in 1965. The Washington Post.
Flights at Sydney Airport were delayed or cancelled on Friday after a back-up battery system for the air traffic control tower overheated, leaving passengers frustrated.

Vicki and Paul Wittwer had spent a week in Katoomba enjoying walking in the Blue Mountains and were making their way home to Adelaide when they pulled into the airport car park and found out their 4.30pm Jetstar flight had been cancelled.

Paul and Vicki Wittwer arrived to find their flight had been cancelled. Credit:Laura Chung

Left with very little information, Mr Wittwer said: I dont think Ill be flying with them again.

Mrs Wittwer said its all part of the adventure but being told a bit early that their flight was cancelled would have been nicer.
Under the bill , the directors of social media companies that are found to have spread abhorrent violent material and which fail to take it down expeditiously could face personal liability and up to three years in jail. It is possible even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg could face jail. The companies would face fines of up to 10 per cent of global revenue. To give an idea of the potential sums at stake, Facebook has global revenue of $US55 billion and Google $US136 billion. This is strong medicine.

It is the right move but the legislation the government has just proposed puts Australia at the cutting edge of the global debate about where to draw the line of responsibility for social media. Before going too far, the government should ensure that any measures are proportionate and technically feasible.

The shocking footage live-streamed from the Christchurch mosque attack has convinced the federal government to take action against the social media companies that spread it around the world.

Attitudes to social media have shifted over the past decade. Once seen as agents of democracy and free speech, the giants of social media are now viewed by some as dangerous, multinational monopolies that flout consumers right to privacy and show contempt for social norms. For example, Facebook was faulted for its role in diffusing fake posts by Russian trolls during the 2016 US elections and for allowing Cambridge Analytica to misappropriate personal Facebook data, which it used for political campaigns.

The giants of social media are now viewed by some as dangerous monopolies that flout consumers right to privacy. Credit:Bloomberg

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has asked why social media giants, which are so clever at using artificial intelligence to tailor ads to customers, should find it so hard to block inappropriate content. It is a good question. The government says the proposed rules are not that new and are similar to legislation on child pornography and to the norms imposed on traditional media such as broadcast television. Yet social media companies are sure to raise objections. These could include the question of who decides what constitutes violent abhorrent material.

Big tech has also stressed the practical problems and huge costs of taking down all the versions of an abhorrent post. By slightly altering specifications or switching to a different social media platform, a violent video can be made almost invisible to Facebooks internal net police and its artificial intelligence bots. Social media companies will argue that they are already devoting significant resources to dealing with this problem, and if the government takes too tough a line it will only drive violent material underground to the dark reaches of the internet.

On balance, the decision to force tech companies to increase their curation of social media is welcome. It is an area where self-regulation has failed. Yet there is a risk in rushing ahead. Australia has already picked a fight with big tech over control of content. The Coalition at the end of last year pushed through laws on data encryption that forced tech companies to give Australian security agents back door access to their networks.
Racing Minister Paul Toole has been elected the new deputy leader of the NSW Nationals at the first party room meeting since the state election.

The elevation of Mr Toole, the member for Bathurst, follows the decision by former deputy leader Niall Blair to stand down from the position despite the Coalition's election victory because of the toll on his family life.

Mr Toole defeated Roads Minister Melinda Pavey for the position.

As expected Deputy Premier John Barilaro has been re-elected Nationals leader unopposed.
State government spending on taxpayer-funded advertising has increased significantly with more than $105 million splashed on ads in the financial year before the state election.

By comparison, the government spent $82.4 million in the previous financial year of 2016-17.

Premier Daniel Andrews has overseen a substantial increase in government spending on advertising in the past financial year. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

The latest government report on advertising showed the Andrews government spent $357.6 million on advertising between 2014 and 2018.

However, the government maintains it spent $50 million less than its Coalition predecessor over four years.
The United States' newly appointed ambassador to Australia has used a speech in Perth to issue a reminder that the US remains our "most important economic partner".

In his first major speech since taking up the post earlier this month, Arthur 'A.B.' Culvahouse said the strength of the economic relationship between the two nations was at times taken for granted.

US ambassador to Australia Arthur "A.B." Culvahouse delivers his first major speech in Perth. Credit:CEDA

But the two-way investment relationship between Australia and the United States totalled $1.6 trillion, almost as much as the total of Australia's Gross Domestic Profit.

Mr Culvahouse said the US was the largest international employer and wage-payer, and US companies paid more in tax than businesses from any other country.
He was a prominent pro-Brexit campaigner before the 2016 referendum and in the years since has largely backed the prime minister's strategy. Whatever charisma is, I don't have it. Michael Gove, 2016 Loading Some British news media outlets, including the conservative weekly tabloid The Mail on Sunday, have speculated recently that he would be the likely "consensus choice" to replace May as a caretaker leader if she were ousted. But amid the speculation, Gove reiterated his support for May this week, urging others in his party to support her deal.

"I think it's not the time to change the captain of the ship," he said. "I think what we need to do is to chart the right course, and the prime minister has charted that right course by making sure that we have a deal which honours the referendum mandate." Gove has proved to be an unlikely ally of May's ever since losing to her in his bid to succeed David Cameron on the heels of the referendum in 2016. At that time, he offered himself up as a reluctant candidate for leadership, saying he knew his "limitations". "Whatever charisma is, I don't have it," Gove said at the time. "Whatever glamour may be, I don't think anyone could ever associate me with it." Boris Johnson, pictured in London last week. Credit:AP Boris Johnson Johnson, 54, the former foreign secretary and a vocal critic of the prime minister's Brexit plans, said on Wednesday that he would now back May's plan, which Parliament rejected twice but could put to a third vote on Friday.

Loading He gained notoriety as the outspoken and often-outrageous mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, before returning to Parliament. He was a figurehead in the campaign to leave the European Union and since the 2016 referendum has advocated a hard split with the bloc. This mindset has put him at odds with May, who has fought for relatively closer ties to Europe  and who has seen Johnson regularly undermine her efforts to negotiate a deal. He has long been a polarising figure within the party, which could hurt his chances in a bid for its leadership. I'm going to have to support this thing. Boris Johnson, March 2019 Johnson resigned as the foreign secretary in May's Cabinet in 2018 in protest over her withdrawal strategy. That could help position him as a candidate of hard-line Brexit supporters, though there are other contenders for that mantle, including Dominic Raab, the former Brexit secretary.

But on Wednesday night, after May said she planned to step down if the deal were approved, he told London's Telegraph: "I feel very, very sorry and though it fills me with pain, I'm going to have to support this thing." Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt outside 10 Downing Street last week. Credit:AP Jeremy Hunt Hunt, 52, who replaced Johnson as foreign secretary, had served as the country's health secretary for the previous six years. He voted for Britain to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum. But in the years since, Hunt has become an outspoken supporter of the decision to leave. His view was hardened, he said, in part by the bloc's negotiation tactics, which he called "arrogant" and "disappointing".

Like Gove and others in the Cabinet, he has been a vocal supporter of May's withdrawal deal. Sajid Javid, UK home secretary, is apparently a more popular leadership prospect than Boris Johnson. Credit:Bloomberg Sajid Javid Javid, 49, Britain's home secretary, had been a successful banker before turning to politics. He is the son of parents who emigrated to Britain from Pakistan. Like Hunt, he also once supported Britain remaining in the European Union, but he has since come to support the efforts to leave.

Javid has been positioning himself for a potential leadership role in recent months, making waves with the decision to strip the British citizenship of Shamima Begum, the teenager who travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State group. But some, including fellow Tory lawmakers, criticised him for the move, calling it opportunistic. David Lidington, UK minister for the cabinet office, seems to be a reluctant candidate. Credit:Bloomberg David Lidington Lidington, 62, who was a supporter of the campaign for Britain to remain in the European Union, is the prime minister's de facto deputy and has been described by many as her natural caretaker successor. When speculation began about a possible coup within her Cabinet, some British tabloids pointed to Lidington as the presumed caretaker prime minister. One thing that working closely with the PM does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task. David Lidington, March 2019
Yet even if this crop of Democratic candidates does not want to be associated with the oligarchs and politically aloof innovators of Silicon Valley, it needs them just the same. Much like the bankers and brokers on Wall Street, the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley have assets the candidates want - in this case expertise on digital campaigning tools, policy expertise and big bank accounts that can be crucial to a White House bid. 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar waves as she walks in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Credit:AP The iPhones of wired Silicon Valley politicos are still ringing, with calls from the same campaigns that are using the valley as a political pinata. "Every day here in San Francisco, there is another presidential candidate coming through," said Chris Lehane, the longtime Democratic strategist who now heads global policy and public affairs at Airbnb. "There are two or three here this week." They are just circumspect.

No candidate this time around has sought a media moment by opening a satellite campaign office in a cubicle of a San Francisco incubator, as Republican Senator Rand Paul did in the last presidential race. None are trying to prove their tech savvy by hailing an Uber en route to an appearance at the office of a gig-economy platform for plumbers, as Jeb Bush did in 2015. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and 2020 presidential candidate, right, attends the South By Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, US. Credit:Bloomberg Yet most of the top candidates this cycle have already been hosted by tech executives at fundraisers and are enlisting tech industry bundlers - well-connected supporters who can tap their networks of friends and business associates to raise tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars for campaign accounts. Operatives who have been around a few presidential cycles have seen similar episodes of industries falling out of political favor. Former President Bill Clinton aggressively and publicly courted Wall Street's approval. By the time Hillary Clinton ran, holding a campaign rally near the New York Stock Exchange, as her husband did, was extremely ill-advised for a Democrat.

"Silicon Valley is feeling itself under the spotlight in a negative way for the first time" since the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, said Maria Salamanca, a venture capitalist and Democratic activist who helped launch Swing Left, one of the most successful new fundraising platforms for progressives. Yet at this early stage in the campaign, she said, tech leaders are not so much panicked as looking to sort out "candidates who are attacking tech because it is a hot talking point versus candidates bringing the appropriate amount of attention to issues of concern to everyone." Even as tech entrepreneurs say the hearings lawmakers are holding in Washington to berate companies like Facebook and Google have done little more than highlight how ill-prepared Capitol Hill is to regulate the sector, they are chastened by the problems that have been exposed. Their posture toward regulation is no longer resisting it at all cost. Many are eager to see the giant firms that have generated the most unwanted attention forced to improve their business practices. "I spent my life in Silicon Valley, and I will be the first to say a lot of the larger firms here have lost the trust of the American people," said venture capitalist Steve Westly, the former California state controller and one of the tech industry's most prolific Democratic fundraisers.

"They need to do a better job protecting their customers." Westly has already been enlisted to raise money for former Vice President Joe Biden, who is expected to enter the race at some point in April. Another star tech fundraiser, Amy Rao, is working to fill the campaign coffers of Senator Kamala Harris. Silicon Valley power broker Ron Conway said in an email that he'll be backing Harris, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and "likely others." "Many candidates running have relationships with Silicon Valley leaders and an understanding of the innovation economy, even if they don't always agree with the tech sector's perspective," he wrote. Beyond stealthy fundraisers in the living rooms of tech titans, even candidates who are among the most sharply critical of tech have been quietly traipsing the tech circuit, stopping in at incubators, visiting the campus of Stanford and meeting people at intimate events at Manny's, a social hub for innovators in San Francisco's Mission district.
Washington: Democrats intensified their demands for Robert Mueller's full report on Thursday after learning the special counsel's findings from his Trump-Russia investigation run to more than 300 pages, while President Donald Trump boasted of total exoneration based on a four-page summary by his Attorney-General.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler was told by Attorney-General William Barr that there's no intention of giving the confidential report to Congress immediately as he redacts grand jury testimony and other elements.

Democrats say they may subpoena the report if it's not forthcoming by their Tuesday deadline, which Barr has said will not be met.

Through the day, tempers were rising on Capitol Hill.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: At his first political rally since the end of the Russia collusion probe, President Donald Trump on Thursday accused backers of the investigation of trying to overturn the 2016 election and attempting "illegally" to claim power.

Declaring the country "hurt" by the probe, Trump called his opponents "losers" and celebrated the fact the investigation had come to a close.

U.S. President Donald Trump in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday. Credit:Bloomberg

"After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead. The collusion delusion is over," he told a crowd of thousands at a Grand Rapids arena.

The Russia witch hunt was a plan by those who lost the election to try and illegally regain power by framing innocent Americans  many of them, they suffered  with an elaborate hoax, he said.
Find-A-Used-Ford In Detroit - New Ford App

SEE ALSO The Auto Channel Used Car (Includes Fords) SuperSearch And Used Car (All Brands) Research

Two young Ford engineers earn Ford X funding to pilot FindYourFord.com, a platform designed to make it easier for Detroit-area customers to shop for used Ford vehicles

Find Your Ford shoppers can search inventories at six Metro Detroit dealerships for specific features that are hard to pinpoint on other used car websites

With funding from Ford X, Find Your Ford was developed to provide the ease of modern retailing while also helping customers build relationships with dealerships

DEARBORN, Mich., March 27, 2019  When 25-year-old structures engineer Arnold Kadiu first began working at Ford last year, he knew exactly what kind of used car he wanted to buy to mark the occasion: A long-bed, crew-cab F-150 with two-wheel drive and adaptive cruise control.

The dilemma for him was whether he would ever find it.

He learned quickly that searching for used cars online can be tricky, especially when looking for specific features. To help improve the shopping experience, Kadiu and his colleague, 24-year-old autonomous vehicle engineer Leda Daehler, worked with Fords incubator Ford X to create Find Your Ford, a website for customers looking for their perfect used Ford vehicle.

Find Your Ford lets shoppers search for used vehicles from multiple dealerships in one place, reducing the need to scroll through individual dealer inventories separately. It also lets customers filter results based on features they are most interested in, including those that are usually hard to pinpoint on other online sales sites, such as heated steering wheels and specific driver-assist technologies.

Most people have experienced the frustration of settling for something less than desired, said Sundeep Madra, vice president, Ford X. Arnold and Leda, working with Fords dealers and sales teams, have designed Find Your Ford to provide an easy, comprehensive way to sift through whats out there to find the perfect vehicle.

Once a potential customer finds a vehicle theyre interested in, they can schedule a time to go see the car at the dealership. As trusted members of the Ford network, dealers will take the time to show the vehicle, arrange a test drive and help complete the purchase.

The Find Your Ford platform helps customers build relationships with dealerships, so they have a trusted partner in their corner, whether they have questions about the vehicles technologies or need an oil change, said Madra. Other sites sell them and leave them. We know the importance of customer support after the purchase and for the life of the vehicle.

While Daehler and Kadiu joined Ford to work on next-generation autonomous and electric vehicles, their plans for Find Your Ford quickly took off when Daehler relayed a similar shopping experience, searching for a Lincoln MKZ with a tan interior and adaptive cruise control  and driving eight hours away to pick it up. Their project quickly found a home at Ford X, a division of Ford Smart Mobility that is responsible for incubating, testing and validating new ideas and business models via a series of in-market experiments.

Leda and I both discussed our frustrations shopping for used vehicles and were able to turn those experiences into a new service thanks to Ford X, Kadiu said. We were fortunate to join Ford at a time when the company is open to new ideas that can lead to real results.

Through Ford X, Daehler and Kadiu found the funding and support needed to design the Find Your Ford website, engage dealers and put a pilot site together.

The two engineers also worked closely with Fords Customer Experience team, which helps identify and fix customer pain points that have the highest potential to drive improved business results, from digital platforms to customer contact centers to improved retail and distribution models.

Find Your Ford complements perfectly the Customer Experience teams broader work to help customers buy and service vehicles easier, Daehler said. This is just one of many ways that Ford is investing to increase loyalty with our customers.

Currently, Ford is piloting the Find Your Ford platform in Metro Detroit with the participation of six dealerships, as well as exploring expansion to more dealerships and other markets.
Just about everyone can relate: you return home from a long trip, happy but exhausted, to find nothing but a few expired items in the refrigerator.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 29/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just about everyone can relate: you return home from a long trip, happy but exhausted, to find nothing but a few expired items in the refrigerator.

Many would grumble and head off to the store, but Amanda Von Riesen picked up her pen and wrote "Eggs & Whiskey" instead.

The song, inspired by a return from Nashville, opens Sore Winner, the debut album from Poets & Lies, a country trio Von Riesen (vocals, lyrics) formed in 2016 with Winnipeg musicians Adam Young (guitar, dobro, banjo) and Jon Mushaluk (upright bass).

The six-track album, featuring original songs co-written by Von Riesen and Young, was released last Friday.

The album is the latest to emerge from the Southeasts vibrant country music scene, which includes Kleefelds Jason Kirkness and Mitchells Quinton Blair.

The bands big break arrived last year, when they were invited to perform at Dauphins Countryfest, Canadas longest running country music festival. The band has also graced stages at Summer in the City and Hanover Ag Fair.

After bumping into each other at various gigs and venues, the three noticed they had similar musical tastes.

"We just started singing in a green room," Von Riesen recalled last Friday from the kitchen table in her Steinbach home.

When they began rehearsing at Youngs home studio in Winnipeg, they pooled favourite cover songs as well as tunes theyd written over the years.

Things clicked. One of Von Riesens sketches, which became the albums third track, "Crowning the Turtles," was completed in just 20 minutes.

"We just finished it right thereboom," Von Riesen said.

Its video later garnered the group one of four nominations at the 2016 Manitoba Country Music Association Awards. Theyve been nominated for an MCMA award every year since.

Today, theyre a tight-knit group of friends who support each other through hard times.

"I feel like theyre my brothers," Von Riesen said.

Sore Winner was recorded at Youngs home studio and Von Riesens house (Steinbachs Outbach Music provided a glockenspiel on short notice, which Von Riesen played on the albums lead single, "Rebound Fling").

Modern recording software allows a band to "make anybodys vocals sound like whatever you want," but the band wanted a live feel, with long takes and raw vocals.

"This is just us. Its about the songs, the music," she said.

With no drums and liberal use of banjo, slide guitar and upright bass, the bands sound sidesteps the pop sensibility that dominates country radio, and pursues a more direct connection to the early country, blues, and rock that inspire them.

"I love all kinds of countrybut Im very drawn to the old stuff," Von Riesen said. "I think old country is coming back. People appreciate it more. It lasts."

She cites Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, and Dwight Yoakam as influences, but likes the Rolling Stones too.

"My first cassette tape was Bruce Springsteens Born in the USA."

A self-employed visual artist whos exhibited her works at New York Citys Agora Gallery, Von Riesen, 44, was once advised to choose either music or painting.

She refused, explaining the two modes of expression are inseparable.

"They totally work off of one anotherFor me, (painting) is about creating a feeling. Same with music."

Portraits of Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and other giants of 20th century music line her living room.

Other influences are found within her own family tree.

Her father, Walter Friesen, played guitar and accordion in a family band, while her mother, Susan Friesen, sang gospel songs around the house.

Von Riesen grew up on a farm near the Frantz Inn, and later moved to Mitchell, where she pumped gas at her fathers auto repair shop.

"I wasnt a bad kid, but I definitely didnt sit still," she said.

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A self-described "wandering soul" who left town at age 16"Grabbed my last paycheque, quit school, quit work"Von Riesen wound up in Amarillo, Texas, the town immortalized by George Strait.

She returned to Steinbach three months later with a lifelong love of travel and enough new experiences to inspire lyrics for years to come. Later, in university, she studied psychology to help her sift through her young adulthood.

"Sometimes, things come out years later. I think thats how I work. It all sorts itself out a few years down the road."

Now the mother of a 21-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter, Von Riesen said she tries to instill in them a love of trying new things through road trips and visits to art galleries.

"I cant not travel," she said.

Sore Winner is available on iTunes and streaming services. CD copies can be requested by visiting poetsnlies.com.
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has revoked the registration of a Seattle area-based registered investment adviser and barred its principal from the securities industry for stealing money from a private fund the adviser managed. The remaining assets will be liquidated and placed in a fund for distribution to harmed investors.

According to the SECs order, Dennis Gibb, the owner of Sweetwater Investments Inc., stole more than $3 million from Sweetwater Income Flood LP, a private fund Sweetwater managed, to pay for personal expenses, including his mortgage and car payments, and to keep Sweetwaters business afloat. To hide his theft and convince investors to put even more money into the fund, he sent fraudulent account statements and tax documents to investors. The false documents showed, in the aggregate, that there was $7.8 million in the fund, when there was actually only about $1.8 million. Gibb also falsely reported in SEC filings that Income Flood had been audited, and that Sweetwater had over a billion dollars in assets under management, when it really had only $73 million. Gibb failed to hire an independent auditor or have a surprise verification of the funds assets conducted. Gibbs fraud was discovered by the SECs San Francisco Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations staff when they conducted an examination of Sweetwater.

The diligence of the SECs regional examination staff was critical in uncovering Gibbs fraud, said Erin Schneider, Associate Director for the SECs San Francisco Regional Office. As a result, the remaining funds will be preserved and returned to harmed investors.

The settled order finds that Gibb and Sweetwater violated the anti-fraud and custody provisions of the federal securities laws and made false statements in SEC filings. The SECs order also finds that Gibb and Sweetwater are liable for disgorgement of money stolen, plus prejudgment interest.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Washington today announced that Gibb pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
President Donald Trump (C) speaks as Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (L), and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) (R) look on in the U.S. Capitol on March 26, 2019 in Washington. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

6 in 10 Americans Say Congress Should End Trump Probes

A majority of American voters believe its time to stop probing President Donald Trump and his campaign after Attorney General William Barr delivered a summary of the findings from Robert Muellers nearly 2-year-long special counsel investigation last week.

At a recent rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Trump addressed his vindication via the Mueller report which found no evidence that he and his campaign associates colluded or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.

After 3 years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead. The collusion delusion is over, Trump told 12,000 supporters in the Van Andel Arena.

Although many Democrats still want to keep the investigations into Trump rollingvoters appear to have had enough.

Just 31 percent of all likely U.S. voters think congressional Democrats should do their own investigation, despite the Mueller probe finding no evidence of Russian collusion, according to March 29 data from Rasmussen Reports.

The majority of those polled, 61 percent, said its time for Democrats to move on to other issues, according to data from Rasmussen, one of the most accurate polls in predicting the 2016 presidential election results.

In the same poll conducted in February, before the release of the long-awaited Mueller report, Rasmussen found only 29 percent of likely U.S. voters favored a probe by Democrats at the time. Meanwhile, 64 percent said they did not want to see a Democrat investigation.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) was one of the most prominent voices among the Democratic Party that pushed the collusion claims. He claimed on television that theres plenty of evidence of collusion or conspiracy in plain sight.

At the recent rally, Trump called Schiff sick, adding that hes not a long ball hitter. He gave the same description to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). The president and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have since called for Schiffs resignation.

Barrs four-page summary to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate judiciary committees stated that the special counsel interviewed approximately 500 witnesses, executed almost 500 search warrants, issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, obtained more than 230 orders for communications records, and authorized nearly 50 pen registers.

It remains unclear just how much the reportif it is fully released to the publicwill affect public opinion because of the split of opinion on the investigation itself, according to data from a recent Fox News poll.

Data from the poll conducted from March 17 to 20, before Mueller delivered the report to Barr, found that 41 percent of voters said there is no chance at all that Muellers report will change how they feel about the sitting president.

At the same time, a combined total of 50 percent said there is at least a small chance that the long-awaited report could change how they feel about Trump to varying extents. Five percent of the group said there was a strong chance the report could change their views, while 14 percent said there was some chance. Meanwhile, 29 percent specifically said there was a small chance.

Trump has said he would be fine with the upcoming Mueller report being publicly released.

Let it come out, let people see it, he told reporters on his way to leave the White House for Ohio on March 20. Thats up to the Attorney General  and well see what happens.
85-Year-Old Pro-Life Man Assaulted While Praying Outside Planned Parenthood

An 85-year-old man was praying outside a Planned Parenthood abortion center in San Francisco when he was assaulted by a man clad in black who also stole the victims banner.

In the clip, an alleged abortion activist knocks down the victim, identified as Ron, tells him to stay down, repeatedly kicks him, and tears away a 40 Days to Life sign Ron was holding.

I tried to keep him from taking it and that was it, Ron told NBC. Then he knocked me down and kicked me.

The video begins with the abortion activist walking away with Rons banner as the 85-year-old pursues him and attempts to jam the bicycles wheel with the pole which held the sign.

Ron is part of a pro-life group called 40 Days for Life, which holds silent prayer vigils outside Planned Parenthood abortion centers nationwide.

We were just here praying as we always do during the day, Ron said.

The attacker can be heard saying old man, stay on the ground before tugging the sign from the victims hands. According to Ron, the same man harassed the group three times this week and tried to steal the sign.

Police are investigating the incident as an assault.

Ron said he bruised his back but returned to the same Planned Parenthood days later.

Donald Trump Jr. shared the video and wrote, help find this piece of garbage.

Help find this piece of garbage. https://t.co/2IojTcJijT  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 27, 2019

Life Legal Defense Foundation is representing Ron. The organization said the same man attacked Ron and another victim two days before.

Life Legal Defense Foundations senior legal counsel, Allison Aranda, called the attack intolerable and vowed to make sure justice is served and that the freedom to speak freely on the public sidewalk without threat of physical violence is protected no matter the message, Fox News reported.

Over the past few months, we have seen an increase in violence from abortion supporters in an effort to instill fear and deter our law-abiding volunteers, Shawn Carney, the president of 40 Days for Life, told Fox News.

The idea that San Francisco is tolerant is a joke, Carney added.

Planned Parenthood, the nation largest abortion corporation, has surveillance footage of the incident but reportedly refused to provide it to police or assist in the investigation, according to the National Review.

Despite the attack, 40 Days for Life said there has not been a police presence at the Planned Parenthood location.

Another 40 Days for Life volunteer, Imelda Jacquez, filmed the video on her cellphone. San Francisco Police Public Information Officer Robert Rueca said the police have obtained Jacquezs footage and are investigating the assault.

An elderly man and a suspect got into an altercation where the suspect assaulted the elderly man and stole a sign that the victim was using for a planned protest, Rueca told National Review.

Police are still looking to identify the suspect and ultimately place them into custody, Rueca added.

According to Life Legal, Ron is afraid for his safety.

We have seen an increase in violent assaults during peaceful pro-life vigils at Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities across the nation, the organization said in a statement.
A photo of murder victim Kate Steinle is placed on an easel as her father Jim Steinle (2nd L) prepares to testify about her murder during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on immigration enforcement policies, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 21, 2015. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

9th Circuit Rules Kate Steinles Parents Cant Sue Sanctuary City Over Negligence

SAN FRANCISCOThe parents of a woman killed by an illegal alien who was released from custody despite a federal request that he be held cannot sue San Francisco for negligence over the death that touched off a fierce national debate, a U.S. appeals court ruled.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, March 25, unanimously refused to reinstate a lawsuit the parents of Kate Steinle filed against San Francisco and its former sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi, in the July 2015 shooting by Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate.

The shooting turned into a major campaign issue in multiple national and local races across the country. President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to the shooting during his 2016 campaign to bolster his argument for tougher immigration policies and his opposition to so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with immigration officials.

The Kate Steinle killer came back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent, and yet this info was not used in court. His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice. BUILD THE WALL!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017

Mirkarimi released Garcia-Zarate, a Mexican national, from jail three months before the shooting despite a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to inform them of his release date and hold him until they could pick him up for deportation proceedings. Garcia-Zarate had already been deported five times.

An email to an attorney for Steinles family, Frank Pitre, was not immediately returned.

The facts of the case are undeniably tragic, but the sheriff was well within his authority when he issued a memo that limited his departments cooperation with immigration officials, 9th Circuit Judge Mark Bennett said. Bennett was nominated to the court by Trump, a frequent critic of the 9th Circuit.

The tragic and unnecessary death of Steinle may well underscore the policy argument against Sheriff Mirkarimis decision to bar his employees from providing the release date of a many times convicted felon to ICE, Bennett said. But that policy argument can be acted upon only by Californias state and municipal political branches of government, or perhaps by Congress.

Federal immigration laws cited by the plaintiffs also did not require Mirkarimi to provide Garcia-Zarates release date, Bennett said.

A San Francisco jury in 2017 acquitted Garcia-Zarate of murder, but convicted him of illegal gun possession. Garcia-Zarate said a gun he found on the pier accidentally fired when he picked it up.

He is also facing federal gun charges to which he has pleaded not guilty.

The gun used in the fatal shooting belonged to a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger who reported it stolen from his car parked in San Francisco. Steinles parents also named the federal government as a defendant in their lawsuit because the ranger had allegedly left the gun in plain view in an unlocked car on a downtown street. That part of the lawsuit is moving forward.

By Sudhin Thanawala
Two children walk in flooded waters from their house destroyed by the cyclone Idai, to go to seep in a shelter in Buzi, Mozambique, on March 22, 2019. (Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP)

A 71-Year-Old Grandmother Walked Miles to Donate to Cyclone SurvivorsZimbabwes Richest Man Noticed

A selfless act by a 71-year-old woman has caught the attention of Zimbabwes richest man, who called the grandmothers several-mile trek while carrying clothing and household items for cyclone survivors one of the most remarkable acts of compassion I have ever seen.

Plaxedes Dilon is being praised in Zimbabwe and beyond after she lugged the aid on foot to the Highlands Presbyterian Church in Harare, where volunteers have been coordinating relief efforts for thousands displaced since Cyclone Idai struck southern Africa in mid-March.

The church posted a photo of Dilon with a sack balanced on her head and noted she could not afford a ride from her neighborhood, about six miles away.

Now, Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa has vowed to build Dilon a home wherever she wants in the country. The telecom executive also promised her $1,000 per month for life, he announced in a Facebook post.

Reflection: A disastrous cyclone hit Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi__What might you be able to do to  Strive Masiyiwa  2019320

What she did is one of the most remarkable acts of compassion I have ever seen! Masiyiwa wrote.

When this is over, Im going to find her, and invite her to come and see me, if possible. Then, I will spend time in prayer with her! Then I will build her a house anywhere she wants in Zimbabwe! It will have solar power and running water! he continued.

Then, I will give her a monthly allowance of $1,000 for life!

Dilon gave away some of the clothes she sells for a living after she heard the news of the disaster on the radio, she said, according to local news reports.

Unselfish Gogo Who Got Strive Masiyiwas Recognition Identified As Plaxedes Dilon https://t.co/rO31HuYo0E pic.twitter.com/F4EuMqWwCM  Pindula (@WeArePindula) March 26, 2019

I immediately packed the clothes and jackets that I earlier purchased for resell and carried my bag  the following morning, Dilon told ZimLive.

Masiyiwa, whose company is leading local and international relief efforts for thousands in eastern and southern Zimbabwe, said her act of generosity moved him.

I admire people who are moved to act in a crisis! God bless you if you are moved to act as she did, he wrote. It is not about how much you have.

There has been an outpouring of support and aid from countries and relief organizations across the world for Idai victims in Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Mozambique, where more than 750 people are estimated to have being killed by the cyclone.

The Category 2 storm made landfall after midnight on March 15 in Beira, a port city in Mozambique, and submerged villages as it tore inland toward Zimbabwe and Malawi.

In Beira, where 90% of the city was destroyed, people clung to rooftops as they waited to be rescued, aid agencies reported. A witness described how more than 300 bodies washed up on a flooded stretch of road outside the city.
The public broadcasting company revealed today that popular support for the right-wing opposition party increased by 1.8 percentage points to 15.1 per cent between February and March, meaning only 0.7 percentage points stand between the party and the National Coalition.

THE FINNS PARTY made by far the biggest gains in the latest opinion poll commissioned by YLE.

The surge in popular support also saw the Finns Party overtake the Centre, which registered a 0.4 percentage point up-tick in popular support to 14.4 per cent.

The Finns Party are getting more and more support from people who cant or wont tell which party they voted for in the elections of 2015, Tuomo Turja, the managing director of Taloustutkimus, commented to YLE on Friday.

The Social Democratic Party remains by far the most largest party in the country, even though support for the opposition party fell by 1.2 percentage points from the previous poll to 20.1 per cent. The National Coalition, in turn, is polling at 15.8 per cent following a 0.4 percentage point drop in popular support.

Support for the Green League decreased by 0.7 percentage points to 13.0 per cent, whereas that for the Left Alliance jumped by 0.9 percentage points to 9.8 per cent.

The Swedish Peoples Party and Blue Reform both saw their popularity drop, the former by 0.4 percentage points to 4.3 per cent and the latter by 0.9 percentage points to 0.9 per cent. The Christian Democrats, on the other hand, stayed put at 3.5 per cent, according to YLE.

Taloustutkimus interviewed a total of 1,954 people for the poll between 6 and 26 March.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Source: Uusi Suomi
A general view shows wreckages of cars destroyed during an explosion near a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

Al Shabaab Car Bomb Outside Somali Hotel Kills at Least 15: Medics

MOGADISHU, SomaliaA car bomb exploded near a hotel and restaurants in Mogadishu on March 28, killing at least 15 people in a busy area of the Somali capital previously targeted by ISIS terrorists, rescue services said.

The afternoon explosion sent smoke billowing into the sky and destroyed two restaurants and some cars parked in the area.

A Reuters witness counted six dead bodies.

So far 15 people have died including five women. Seventeen others were injured in the blast, Abdikadir Abdirahman, the director of Amin Ambulance service, told Reuters.

Another witness at the scene said she had seen 18 bodies.

As a mother, it is shocking for me and I request those behind the explosions to stop. We are crying every day over dead bodies, and it is very hard for us to talk about, the resident, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters.

Police earlier gave a death toll of eight.

The blast destroyed a restaurant and killed many who were inside and outside the restaurant. The death toll may rise, police Major Mohamed Hussein told Reuters.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab terrorists said they were behind the attack, and that they had killed eight government staff and wounded five others.

Al Shabaab has in the past targeted the same location, the Wehliye Hotel, which is along the busy Maka al Mukaram road.

On March 23, 15 people died in two explosions and a gunfight between al Shabaab and security personnel in Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab, which is trying to topple Somalias Western-backed central government, was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.

But it remains a threat, with fighters frequently carrying out bombings in Somalia and neighboring Kenya, whose troops form part of the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force that helps defend the central government.

By Abdi Sheikh
A Chinese nurse prepares a dose of vaccination against measles in Anhui province in September 2010. Chinese vaccines have been criticized for their inferior quality, and damage to the children they are given to. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Amid Social Media Censorship, Why Are Some People Still Hesitant About Vaccines?

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its Ten threats to global health in 2019 list, and it included vaccine hesitancy among the list of environmental threats and diseases.

Vaccine hesitancy is defined as reluctance or refusal to use vaccines. The reasons for vaccine hesitancy are complex and numerous.

In early March, Congressman Adam Schiff reached out to Amazon, Facebook, and Google through letters urging them to remove information, search results, products, and content that include viewpoints opposing vaccines.

The Epoch Times interviewed Summer Boger, secretary of the Eagle Forum of California, a conservative organization, about the issue of vaccines and how government control and social media censorship is affecting the publics access to information.

We should be able to have healthy, critical conversations, and we should be able to question. I feel like those are inalienable rights, that here in America, were allowed to debate, were allowed to have conversation. And theyre considering this conversation misinformation if it goes against the vaccine agenda, Boger said.

The American Medical Associations a Code of Medical Ethics states there must be informed consent between a patient and a doctor. It reads, Patients have the right to receive information and ask questions about recommended treatments so that they can make well-considered decisions about care.

According to Boger, many people have valid concerns about vaccines, or they may have had reactions to vaccines that made them start to worry about their safety.

Boger said, I think the biggest reason [vaccine hesitancy has] gotten the most publicity is that they are now ex-vaxxers, not anti-vaxxers, which means that they, themselves, were vaccinated, and their children are vaccinated, and they had a severe reaction and decided after that they werent going to vaccinate anymore.

Other reasons include allergies, religious faith, ethical reasons, and more. All of these contribute to a persons decision of whether or not to receive a vaccination.

Boger said many people are aware of the ingredients in vaccines and the vaccine-making process. Whether its cells grown from aborted baby tissue or various animal tissues, some people may be opposed to having certain substances used in the production of something that would be injected into their bodies.

People who follow faiths that dont allow beef or pork may also choose not to get vaccines using cow or pig tissue.

Recently, various areas around the United States have reported a rise in measles cases.

State legislators have been introducing bills that would modify vaccine provisions and exemption rules. SB-584, introduced in Washington State, and SB-276, introduced in California, both limit students choice of refusing vaccines and to prohibit them from attending school if they do not receive vaccines.

As such, many people worry that the vaccine industry is too involved with the government.

The biggest lobby is the pharmaceutical industry. [The] pharmaceutical industry tends to make a lot of money, and that started when they were able to patent drugs and market them, said Boger.

Meanwhile, Boger said some people are concerned about how vaccines are studied.

Theres something called the gold standard, which all pharmaceutical drugs or medications are supposed to follow. There is a double-blind placebo used, and theyre able to tell what the effect of that drug is, said Boger.

However, not all vaccine testing uses this approach. According to the WHO, Randomised, placebo-controlled trial designs often raise ethical concerns when participants in the control arm are deprived of an existing vaccine.

In other words, researchers worry that people who dont get the recommended vaccines may be at higher risk of disease, so they often test new vaccines against old vaccines instead of a placebo.

Although WHO lists vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 health threats, the organization stated that vaccine hesitancy is not the cause of all disease outbreaks, such as the current rise in measles.

The WHO website states, The reasons for this rise [in measles] are complex, and not all of these cases are due to vaccine hesitancy.

Part of the effectiveness of vaccines relies on chance. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the two main factors that determine the effectiveness of a vaccine are 1) the age and health of the person receiving a vaccine, and 2) the similarity or match between the flu vaccine and flu viruses spreading in the community.

While studies have found that vaccines are effective in reducing the risk of certain diseases, they still do not guarantee protection against the contraction and spread of disease.
Australia-Hong Kong Free-Trade Deal Signed

Hong Kong already has the greatest concentration of Australian businesses outside Australia but it will now be easier to compete in the Asian city thanks to a new free-trade deal.

The deal, signed on March 26 morning, joins the Indonesia and Peru agreements waiting to be ratified when the new parliament sits after the May federal election.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham signed the deal with Hong Kong in Sydney.

Under this agreement zero tariffs will be locked-in on goods, market access will be guaranteed for services suppliers, and conditions for two-way investment will be significantly improved, he said.

We also agreed to a series of cutting-edge rulesparticularly on data flows and data storageto facilitate trade and investment and provide certainty and confidence to Australian investors.

While exporters will benefit, the deal opens up better market access for services companies.

Hong Kong is home to the largest concentration of Australian businesses operating overseas anywhere in the world, and there was $26.5 billion ($US18.8 billion) worth of trade between the two economies in 2017/18.

HSBC Australia chief executive Martin Tricaud said Australian businesses were now well placed to take advantage of a huge market.

The agreement will create opportunities for Australian business that extend beyond Hong Kong to the Greater Bay Area, which also includes nine mainland (China) cities and Macau, he said.

Chinas new plans for the economic integration of this region mean its consumer market may double to nearly $US900 billion by 2025.

Senator Birmingham said hundreds of Australian firms competing across the finance, construction, communications, hospitality, education, retail, logistics and professional services sectors would get better access to Hong Kong.

Australia now regularly records trade surpluses thanks in part to the trade deals weve done with our major partners, he said.

In fact, last calendar year was the first time in 46 years that every single month was a trade surplus.

Hong Kong was Australias fifth largest source of foreign investment at the end of 2017 with $116.6 billion invested. In the same year, it was the 10th largest destination for Australian foreign investment abroad at $47.4 billion.

Parliament will have to ratify the deal, but it is unclear whether Labor will support it in its current form.

Labor opposes the inclusion of investor-state dispute settlement clauses in free trade deals, which allow companies to sue governments.

By Angus Livingston
Edwin Hardeman (R), with his attorneys Jennifer Moore (L) and Aimee Wagstaff, speaks to the media, after Bayer AG was found liable for Hardemans non-Hodgkins lymphoma arising from his use of the companys weed killer Roundup, at the Federal court in San Francisco, California, U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Alexandria Sage

Bayer Shares Sag After US Jury Verdict in Roundup Cancer Trial

FRANKFURTBayer AG shares sank to their lowest in almost seven years on March 28 after a U.S. jury awarded $80 million to a man who claimed use of the groups weed killer Roundup caused his cancer, with thousands of similar lawsuits looming.

The jury in San Francisco federal court on March 27 found Bayer liable because its Monsanto unit did not warn plaintiff Edwin Hardeman of the herbicides alleged cancer risks.

German chemicals giant Bayer, which bought Roundup maker Monsanto last year for $63 billion, said it would appeal the verdict.

Its shares were down 1.3 percent at 55.59 euros at 10.23 a.m. GMT (6.23 a.m. EDT). That added to last weeks 9.6 percent plunge after the jury concluded part-way into the trial that there was a causal link between the weedkiller and Hardemans disease.

The steep, steady slide since the first adverse verdict in a Roundup lawsuit in August 2018 has pushed Bayers value down to about 52 billion euros ($58 billion), which is several billion dollars less than what the drugs and crop chemicals group paid to acquire Monsanto in 2016.

On March 27, the jury awarded Hardeman $5 million in compensatory and $75 million in punitive damages. Under a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, punitive damages are generally limited to less than 10 times the compensatory damages award, meaning the current verdict will likely be reduced, said Adam Zimmerman, a law professor at Los Angeles-based Loyola Law School.

The trial is only the second of more than 11,200 Roundup lawsuits set to go to trial in the United States.

In the first trial, a California man was awarded damages by a jury in state court in August, which were later reduced to $78 million from an original $289 million that Monsanto sought to throw out. The case is on appeal.

A third Roundup trial, handled by the same plaintiff lawyers who won the August verdict, is scheduled to start in Californias Superior Court in Oakland on March 28.

It was brought by California couple Alva and Alberta Pilliod who were diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2011 and 2015 respectively. They allege their decades-long use of Roundup caused their cancers.

Analysts at JP Morgan and Liberum said Bayers stock price shows the market expects an eventual settlement of up to 20 billion euros or 40 billion euros. They said that was overly pessimistic and they expected the final amount to be substantially lower than that.

Even if Monsanto/Bayer may win some cases, there is great uncertainty about the number of victories and defeats. That is why we expect Bayer to try to settle the remaining cases, said Bryan Garnier analyst Jean-Jacques Le Fur.

Peter Verdult, an analyst at Citigroup, said more focus should be paid to trials later in the year outside of California to better determine settlement estimates. At least two trials are scheduled to take place in St. Louis, Missouri state court this fall.

Hardemans case was considered a bellwether trial to help determine the range of damages and define settlement options for the more than 760 other federal cases pending in the same court before U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria. Other cases will be heard in state courts.

This verdict does not change the weight of over four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides and that they are not carcinogenic, Bayer said.

Monsantos Roundup was the first to contain glyphosate, the worlds most widely used weed killer. But it is no longer patent-protected and many other versions are available.

Bayer does not provide sales figures for the product and analysts no longer deem it a major profit driver.

Genetically modified crops that resist glyphosates plant-killing effect, however, contribute heavily to earnings at Bayers agricultural division.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the European Chemicals Agency and other regulators have found that glyphosate is not likely carcinogenic to humans. The World Health Organizations cancer arm in 2015 reached a different conclusion, classifying glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans.

By Ludwig Burger
Bolton Warns Russia Against Backing Maduro, Calls Actions Direct Threats to Regional Security

White House National Security Adviser John Bolton has warned Russia and other countries against sending its troops to Venezuela, saying that the United States views such actions as provocative and a direct threat to the security in the region.

Bolton issued the warning on March 29 in a strongly worded formal statement.

We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations, Bolton said.

We will consider such provocative actions as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region. We will continue to defend and protect the interests of the United States, and those of our partners in the Western Hemisphere, he added.

He also condemned Venezuelas illegitimate dictator, Nicolas Maduro, for using foreign military support to stay in power. He said that would perpetuate the economic crisis that has destroyed Venezuelas economy and endanger regional stability.

The national security advisers warning follows reports that two Russian military planes touched down in Caracas over the weekend with about 100 Russian special forces and cybersecurity personnel on board.

Hoy llegaron al aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetia estos dos aviones de la Fuerza Aerea rusa. 1 Ilyushin Il-62M

1 Antomov 124 Fotos: cortesia pic.twitter.com/w7hgQhyivr  Federico Black B. (@FedericoBlackB) March 23, 2019

On March 27, President Donald Trump called on Russia to pull its troops out of the country.

Russia has to get out, Trump told reporters in the White Houses Oval Office while in a meeting with Fabiana Rosales, the wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.

The president added that all options were being considered in response to Russias actions.

A day later, Russia brushed aside Trumps calls to remove military personnel from the South American socialist country, saying that they had only sent Russian specialists as part of a military cooperation deal.

Russia is not changing the balance of power in the region, Russia is not threatening anyone, unlike (officials) in Washington, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Russian specialists have arrived in Venezuela in line with the provisions of a bilateral inter-government agreement on military-technical cooperation. No one canceled this document.

Venezuela has been making headlines for months after Maduro refused to step down over mounting international pressure.

In mid-January, Venezuelas duly elected National Assembly declared Maduros presidency illegitimate. The United States refuses to recognize him as the Venezuelan leader because of a fraudulent election, instead officially recognizing his opponent, Guaido, as the interim president. However, Maduro has refused to give up control.

The standoff between the two has become a global referendum on socialism, with free-world nations including the United States, the UK, Germany, and Australia siding with Guaido. Meanwhile, socialist and communist regimes, such as China, Russia, and Cuba, are backing Maduro.

Venezuela has since spiraled into deep constitutional chaos, exacerbated by its ruined economy. It was recently hit by power outages, food shortages, rioting, and looting.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Caitlan Coleman Describes Confinement, Abuse at Hands of Husband Joshua Boyle

Caitlan Coleman, who was taken hostage by extremists in Afghanistan with her husband Joshua Boyle in 2012, testified in court on March 27 about the constant physical and emotional abuse she endured at the hands of her husbandboth during and after captivity.

Coleman, 33, said the couple were physically abused by their captors, but that Boyle also abused her during that time. She said Boyle would spank her as often as three times a week as a form of physical chastisement, as well as punch, slap, choke, and bite her when he got angry, the Ottawa Citizen reports.

Boyle, 35, has pleaded not guilty to 19 charges against him, including assault, sexual assault, unlawful confinement, and forcing someone to take a noxious substance. Coleman is named the victim in 17 of those charges, while a publication ban is in place for a second alleged victim.

Coleman gave her testimony via closed-circuit television from a separate room to avoid being in the same room as her estranged husband.

Kidnapping

Coleman and Boyle were kidnapped by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network about a week after they entered Afghanistan on a backpacking trip in Central Asia in 2012. Coleman, who was pregnant at the time, said she didnt want to go to Afghanistan but Boyle insisted.

After they were kidnapped, they were held in 22 different places, she said, usually in a single room with a dirt floor and bathroom. She gave birth to three children while in captivity.

In spring 2017, Coleman said Boyle told her she had to stay in the shower area of the room in which the family was being held, and she could only see her children for 20 to 30 minutes each day.

At that point, I knew it didnt do any good to argue with him so I would spend the entire day from waking up until the children were asleep staying in the shower space, she said, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

She said the final months of her captivity were the worst shes ever felt.

I was not in love with him anymore, I was afraid of him, she told the court. This was probably the darkest period of my whole life.

Return to Canada

Coleman testified that the abuse continued even after their family was rescued by Pakistani forces had returned to Canada in October 2017.

They first lived with Boyles parents in Smiths Falls, Ont., before moving to Ottawa, where they initially stayed in a hotel.

Coleman said that, following an argument, Boyle ordered her to strip off her clothes and stand in the hotel room shower, where he forced her to take three tablets of Trazodone, an anti-depressant medication. According to the Ottawa Citizen, she initially argued with him and threw the pills away, but he returned with more.

He hit me either before or after he brought me more, Coleman testified. He stood in the bathroom and watched me take them that time  I took them because I knew that if I didnt he would hit me harder.

On Dec. 30, 2017, Boyle made a late-night emergency 911 call saying Coleman had run screaming from their Ottawa apartment, threatening to kill herself. The recording of the call was played in court on March 26.

Police found Coleman at a downtown hotel with her mother, who was visiting from the United States.

Ottawa police Sgt. Shane Henderson told the court that Coleman provided a detailed statement, saying she was trying to flee from her husband because he had assaulted her numerous times and threatened to kill her. According to the Ottawa Citizen, Henderson testified that the investigation shifted from a mental health call to a domestic assault investigation.

Boyle was arrested on Dec. 31, 2017.

Early Days

Coleman, originally from Pennsylvania, told the court that the she and Boyle met online when she was 16 and began an on-again-off-again relationship before marrying in 2011.

She said that early in the relationship, Boyle would insult her and make her question her own self worth. She said he threatened to kill himself when she suggested in 2008 that they go their separate ways.

Shortly after they married, the couple separated and Coleman began divorce proceedings, but they reconciled and traveled to Central Asia in 2012. she learned she was pregnant in June 2012, shortly before their trip to Asia.

With files from the Canadian Press.
California Governor Suspends Environmental Laws for Wildfire Prevention Projects

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is suspending certain environmental laws in an effort to fast-track projects aimed at preventing wildfires.

He called a state of emergency on March 22, giving the green light to 35 projects that the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) must implement without delay.

Newsom, a Democrat, acknowledged that his executive order is controversial.

Im not naive. Some of these projects could literally, not figuratively, take two years to get done. Or we could get them done in the next two months, he said at a March 22 news conference.

Well be thoughtful about these prescribed burns, well be thoughtful about these fuel breaks, well be thoughtful about the impacts we will have on the environment, but we are going to do so in a way that does not inure again to a two-year SEQR (state environmental quality review) process.

The 35 projects focus on more than 200 communities, according to a report by Cal Fire, and include actions such as removing dead trees, clearing vegetation, and creating fire breaks.

Our hots are getting hotter. Dries getting drier. Wets getting wetter. Our climate is changing  we have to change with it. When fires strike or the earth shakes, CA needs to be prepared. Today, our admin modernized the way our govt responds and prepares for natural disasters. pic.twitter.com/MfBOTpxKQF  Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 8, 2019

More than 25 million acres of California wildlands are classified as being under very high or extreme fire threat, threatening more than half the state.

Fueled by drought, an unprecedented buildup of dry vegetation and extreme winds, the size and intensity of these wildfires [in 2017 and 2018] caused the loss of more than 100 lives, destroyed thousands of homes and exposed millions of urban and rural Californians to unhealthy air, the report stated. California must adopt an all of the above approach to protecting public safety and maintaining the health of our forest ecosystems.

The Cal Fire report cited a backlog in forest maintenance as one of the largest problems threatening as many as 15 million acres, adding that funding limitations constrain what can be achieved.

While Newsom has been openly critical of President Donald Trump on issues ranging from health care, offshore drilling, and border security, one thing they seem to agree on is the need to remove brush and logs that act as tinder for forest fires.

Today, CAL FIRE joined @GavinNewsom and other state & local leaders for a California For All Emergency Preparedness Press Conference in Lake County. https://t.co/IKYNSyd89Y  CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) March 22, 2019

The Cal Fire report also cited active management of forests as being essential for controlling fires, which the former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said is a key prevention strategy. But Newsom and the president differ in how far they will go in working with the private sector to remove unwanted trees.

Trump signed an executive order in December 2018 that called for offering for sale at least 3.8 billion board feet of timber from USDA Forest Service lands.

Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2019

But the Cal Fire report only suggests increasing commercial logging on private land, and said that better management of state lands would be possible with updates to the states Forest Practice Act.

The report also recommended modifying regulations to incentivize private landowners to engage in fuels reduction projects.

Trump has framed the issue as an economic one, not just because of the devastating effect that fires have on the economy and the costs to fight them, but because of a trade dispute with Canada over their subsidized lumber.

There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018

In 2017, the administration leveled tariffs on Canadian lumber, saying that Canada was unfairly subsidizing its lumber, thus undercutting American lumber businesses.

While Canada has denied those claims, Trump has used the trade dispute to make the case that the United States could produce more of its own lumber if private companies had access to public land.

From NTD

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Bryce McIntosh (L) and Noah McIntosh (R). McIntosh was charged with first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture in the death of Noah McIntosh, said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin on March 28, 2019. (Corona Police Department/AP)

California Prosecutors Say Father Killed His 8-Year-Old Son

CORONA, Calif.A California man was charged on March 29 in the torturing death of his 8-year-old son, who hasnt been found weeks after his mother reported him missing southeast of Los Angeles, prosecutors said.

Both parents had already been jailed on child abuse charges following the boys disappearance.

The photos shows missing 8-year-old Noah McIntosh. (Corona Police Department/AP)

Bryce McIntosh, 32, was charged with first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture in the death of Noah McIntosh, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said.

Police in the city of Corona said they are still looking for the boy but after searching three locations, found evidence that Noah was killed. Items included a trash can, plastic bag with residue consistent with blood, blender parts and empty bottles of drain cleaner, court papers show.

Bryce McIntosh was charged with first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture in the death of Noah McIntosh on March 28, 2019. (Corona Police Department/AP)

There is no more trust a child should have than in their parents, Police Chief George Johnstone told reporters. It truly is saddening. And it truly tears at our hearts to see this type of case.

Police said Jillian Godfrey reported on March 12 that she couldnt reach her son and had last dropped him off at his fathers home more than a week earlier. Police said Godfrey later told them she stayed at McIntoshs apartment from March 1 to March 3 and last saw her son on March 2.

Jillian Godfrey, the mother of missing 8-year-old Noah McIntosh. (Corona Police Department/AP)

McIntosh is expected to appear in court next week on the murder charge. His attorney Brian Cosgrove declined to comment. In court filings, police said McIntosh bought gloves, acid, drain opener and a trash can on March 4.

Thats also the day that McIntosh searched on his cellphone for normal heart rate for 8 year old and information about sodium hydroxide, which is corrosive and can dissolve flesh, Corona police Det. Mario Hernandez wrote in a court filing in support of an arrest warrant.

Godfrey initially told police she last saw her son on March 4, but later said it actually was two days earlier and that McIntosh had taken the boy into the bathroom where the child asked his father why he was hurting him, Hernandez wrote.

Police searched areas in Riverside County where McIntoshs cellphone had been used on March 4 and March 5 and found a glove, plastic bag, empty drain cleaner bottles and other items. They also had a plumbing company search his apartment and found that the bathtub plumbing trap was cleaner than usual, Hernandez wrote.

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin speaks about missing 8-year-old Noah McIntosh at a press conference at Police Desalter Training Room in Corona, Calif., on March 28, 2019. (Cindy Yamanaka/The Orange County Register/AP)

Noahs 10-year-old sister described how her father abused her brother by putting him in the bathtub and handcuffing him, according to the court filing.

Police asked residents to contact them if they saw either parent or a black BMW in the weeks before the boy disappeared. Residents held a vigil last weekend and hung blue ribbons throughout the community 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles to honor Noah.
Jussie Smollett, a cast member in the TV series "Empire," attends the Fox Networks Group 2018 programming presentation afterparty in New York, on May 14, 2018. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Chicago Seeks $130K From Smollett for Cost of Investigation

CHICAGOCity officials on Thursday ordered Jussie Smollett to pay $130,000 to cover the cost of the investigation into his report of a hate-based street attack that police say was staged to promote his career.

A letter from the citys legal department to Smollett and his attorneys said that the figure covers overtime worked by more than two dozen detectives and officers who spent weeks looking into Smolletts claim, including reviewing video and physical evidence and conducting interviews.

Those resources, the letter said, could have been used for other investigations.

Hours earlier, President Donald Trump tweeted that the FBI and the Department of Justice would review the outrageous case, calling it an embarrassment to the country.

FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019

Prosecutors infuriated Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the police chief this week when they abruptly dropped 16 felony counts that accused Smollett of making a false police report about being the target of a racist, anti-gay attack by alleged Trump supporters back in January.

Smollett has maintained his innocence and insisted that the attack was real.

The prosecution sealed the case but authorities still say the actor concocted the assault. Prosecutors offered no additional information Thursday during a court hearing where media attorneys argued that the public has a right to know what happened.

The Justice Department sometimes reviews federal cases if state prosecutors decline to file charges, including after police shootings that the federal government believes might constitute civil rights violations. But department policy generally restricts prosecutors from bringing federal charges after state charges have been resolved, unless they can establish that the potential crime is a federal one and involves a substantial federal interest.

If Smollett fails to pay, officials could charge him with violating a city ordinance and seek fines, damages and court costs, the letter said.

A spokeswoman for Smollett attorney Patricia Brown Holmes declined to comment on the letter.

In the past, city officials have sought restitution from other people who made false reports and from businesses that pursued city contracts by seeking disadvantaged business status, said a spokesman for the legal department, Bill McCaffrey.

Investigators believe Smollett, who is black and gay, hired two brothers to stage the Jan. 29 attack in downtown Chicago and that Smollett hoped the attention would help advance his career. Police also allege that before the attack, Smollett sent a letter threatening himself to the Chicago television studio where Empire is shot.

The FBI, which is investigating that letter, has declined to comment.

Smollett attorney Tina Glandian said the two brothers are lying. She said Smollett had hired one brother as a personal trainer but had no idea who attacked him along a Chicago street until the brothers were later identified by police.

Smollett has repeatedly said the two masked men shouted slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck and poured a substance on him. He also told detectives that the attackers yelled that he was in MAGA country, an apparent reference to Trumps Make America Great Again campaign slogan, police said.

Prosecutors initially charged Smollett with one felony count in February. A grand jury indicted him on 15 more counts earlier this month. But in a stunning reversal Tuesday, prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges, just five weeks after the allegations were filed.

In return, prosecutors said, the actor agreed to let the city keep his $10,000 in bail.

During Thursdays court hearing, prosecutors promised to notify media outlets if Smolletts lawyers tried to expunge his record. But lawyers for major news organizations, including The Associated Press, told the judge that the case had not been transparent.

The public is entitled to know what happened and whats happening in this proceeding, media attorney Natalie Spears argued.

Judge LeRoy Martin said court proceedings had followed the law and that there was no nefariousness.

In an interview with Chicago television station WGN, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx said Wednesday that the law allows Smollett to have his police records sealed but that the court files should never have been sealed. She said she believes it was done in error but that should not have happened.

If the case had gone to trial, Foxx said, Smollett never would have received a prison term because the 16 charges were the lowest possible form of felony. And if he pleaded guilty, it would have been to one count, not 16.

For all of the noise and all of the media attention, its a step up from a misdemeanor, Foxx said. Most comparable cases are resolved with probation or an agreement such as Smolletts if the defendants dont have a long rap sheet or a violence in their background.

Foxx recused herself before Smollett was charged because she had discussed the case with a Smollett family member. The case was then handed to First Assistant States Attorney Joseph Magats.

On Wednesday, the ex-chief of staff for former first lady Michelle Obama said she approached Foxx regarding the case on behalf of the actors family. Tina Tchen released a statement saying shes a friend of Smolletts family and knows Foxx from prior work together.

Tchen said her sole activity was to put the prosecutor in touch with an alleged victims family. Tchen said the Smollett family had concerns about how the investigation was being characterized in public.

Former Michelle Obama Chief of Staff Tina Tchen releases a statement about reaching out to @SAKimFoxx on behalf of Jussie Smollett. pic.twitter.com/nCEii7XJXb  Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) March 27, 2019

Email and text messages that Foxxs office provided to the Chicago Sun-Times show Tchen contacted Foxx to set up a telephone conversation with the Smollett relative. Foxx told the Sun-Times the relative expressed concerns over leaked information.

Foxx told the Chicago Tribune that she regretted dealing with the relative in the investigations early phases.

By Amanda Seitz and Herbert G. McCann
Chicago Teen Killed Moments After Mother Warned Him Dont Go Out

A 15-year-old Chicago boy was shot and killed just seconds after his mother warned him not to leave the house.

Darion Strong was murdered just a few doors down from his home in Chicagos Fuller Park on the night of Tuesday, March 26, police said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Chicago police were cited by the news outlet as saying the teen was standing on a sidewalk at 9:50 p.m. in the South Side neighborhood when an unknown assailant approached on foot and shot him to death.

A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed near his home in the Fuller Park neighborhood on the South Side Tuesday night. https://t.co/sqQDy2Mje6  Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) March 27, 2019

The teen was transported to Comer Childrens Hospital.

Medics were unable to save Strongs life and about an hour later, he was pronounced dead.

Police are investigating the incident as a homicide.

Death and Jail

The boys mother told reporters she had a premonition something tragic was about to happen and urged her son to stay indoors just moments before he was shot.

Dont go out that door, Darnielle Briggs told the Chicago Tribune she said to her son moments before bullets fatally struck him in the back and chest.

Briggs told the publication her son told her he was heading out to meet a friend. She said she sensed danger and told him so.

I told him not to go nowhere, Briggs told the Chicago Tribune.  Aint nothing out there for you but death and jail. Imagine telling your son that right before this happens.

Briggs told ABC7 that moments after her son left the house she heard gunfire. She said she found him sprawled on the street.

It hurts to see your baby take his last breath in front of you after you just told him not to, just telling himcome on now, you dont need to be out here, Briggs told ABC7.

The boys mother told the Chicago Tribune that conversations with his friends suggest the perpetrator may have been someone with a grievance against her son.

Crisis responder Andrew Holmes was cited by ABC7 as saying that the boy was ambushed several doors down from his home.

Darion Strong was a freshman at Tilden High School and, according to the Chicago Tribune, on the honor roll.

CBS reported that police have confirmed the victim did not have any gang ties.

Area resident Lenora Amos told ABC7 outlet that its rough around here and that tragic incidents like this are what were used to.

Shooting In Fuller Park Leaves 15-Year-Old Dead https://t.co/YbcibEl28T pic.twitter.com/ZHixyKpJEp  CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) March 27, 2019

Chicago Murder Rate Down

Police officials have said that for the second year in a row, the murder rate in Chicago declined in 2018.

Chicago, sometimes described as the nations murder capital, saw nearly 100 fewer murders in 2018 compared to 2017, according to data from the Chicago Police Departments end-of-year crime summary.

The murder rate decline represents a 15 percent drop.

Meanwhile, since 2016, murders as a result of a shooting have declined 31 percent in total.

This double-digit reduction was the greatest drop in homicides of any major American city, outpacing New York (0.37 percent drop), Los Angeles (9.2 percent drop), and Houston (6.64 percent drop), according to the data published Dec. 31.

Shootings, in general, are down by 32 percent in the city since 2016. But Chicago, the third largest city in the United States still had more murders than the combined total in New York City and Los Angeles, the No. 1 and No. 2 largest U.S. cities, respectively.

Other crimes such as burglaries and motor vehicle thefts and carjackings all decreased in 2018, compared to 2017.

Epoch Times reporter Bowen Xiao contributed to this report.
Meng Hongwei, former president of Interpol, gives an addresses at the opening of the Interpol World Congress in Singapore on July 4, 2017. (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese Regime Prosecutes Ex-Interpol President for Corruption, Targets Associates

The Chinese regime announced on March 27 it will prosecute former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei for corruption after an investigation found abused his power, and refused to follow Chinese Communist Party (CCP) decisions.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Security said it would extend its investigation to target associates of Meng in its own ranks.

Last October, Mengs wife reported that the police chief went missing after he traveled back to China in September. At the time, Meng was also vice minister of public security in China.

A few days later, Interpol, the global police coordination agency, said Meng resigned as president. At the same time, the Ministry of Public Security announced that Meng was being investigated for bribery and other crimes.

The partys Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said March 27 Meng was expelled from the CCP and sacked from his official position.

The anti-graft body, in a statement, said Meng refused to execute decisions from the the party center, and abused his power for private gain, adding that he wantonly squandered state funds to satisfy his familys extravagant lifestyle.

Meng also used his position to help his wife get a job, and took a huge amount of possessions in exchange for helping with promotions, job moves, and company operations.

Meng, 65, joined the CCP in 1975, and has worked in public security for 40 years. He served as vice minister of public security from 2004, before becoming Interpol president in November 2016. He then moved to live in Lyon, France, where Interpols headquarters are located, with his wife and two children.

Further Investigations

After the announcement of the decision to prosecute Meng, Chinas Ministry of Public Security said it would conduct further investigations into its own senior ranks to thoroughly root out Mengs pernicious influence.

For those in leadership positions in the Public Security Ministry connected with Meng Hongweis case, no matter how high or low, no matter who is involved, no matter their position, all must be seriously handled in accordance with the law and discipline, the Ministry said in a statement on March 27.

It appears that this process has already started.

Zheng Baigang, former senior officer at the Ministry of Public Security, is currently disappeared and under investigation, Hong Kong media outlet Mingpao reported on March 3.

The report said that Zheng was close to Meng, and was his most trusted deputy.

Zheng joined the Ministry of Public Security in 1989 after he left the military. He then worked in its watchdog department, the Discipline Inspection Commission before being promoted to the director of the Ministrys Exit and Entry Administration Bureau in 2010.

In 2016, Zheng was transferred to lead the joint task force with law enforcement in Laos, Burma, and Thailand to patrol the Mekong River.

Corruption Crackdown

Meng is among a slew of high-ranking officials who have been ensnared by Xis sweeping crackdown on graft and perceived disloyalty.

Mengs political connections may be what cost him his post. He may have somehow been tainted by former security chief and ex-Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang, who is now serving a life sentence for corruption.

Mengs various jobs likely put him in close contact with Zhou and other Chinese leaders in the security establishment, a sector long synonymous with corruption, opacity and human rights abuses.

Zhou and other senior figures prosecuted in Xis anti-corruption crackdown were mostly convicted of corruption but officials have since also said they were accused of conspiring openly to usurp party leadership.

Xi has ousted many powerful officialsmost of them part of an enemy faction loyal to former leader Jiang Zeminsince launching his anti-corruption campaign when he came to power in 2012.

Reuters contributed to this article.
A firefighter works to douse a fire in a multi-storied office building at Banani, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on March 28, 2019. (Mahmud Hossain Opu, File/AP Photo)

Criminal Case to Be Filed in Bangladesh Fire That Killed 25

DHAKA, BangladeshA Bangladeshi housing official said on March 29 that criminal charges would be filed against the owner of a building where a fire killed 25 people and which had four upper floors constructed illegally.

Minister for Housing and Public Work S.M. Rezaul Karim also pledged to take action against officials in his ministry if they were guilty of wrongdoing associated with allowing the added floors or other violations.

Karim said at the scene of the blaze that criminal cases would be filed against the towers owner, S.M. Faruque. Faruque could not be contacted despite repeated calls.

He said the deaths from Thursdays fire were murder, not an accident.

In Bangladesh, culpable homicide charges are brought if any deaths occur because of negligence.

Now the minister is saying some floors have been constructed illegally, but what did his officials do in the past when they allowed the design and construction? Those officials must be brought to justice, they must face punishment for their failure, said Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association.

Raising buildings beyond approved design is rampant in Bangladesh, where the government is seeking fast economic development and the private sector is expanding.

The blaze that burned for several hours Thursday trapped people inside the building, some shouting for help from windows on upper floors and the roof. By Friday morning, no smoke was visible at the FR Tower on a busy avenue in Dhakas Banani commercial district.

Mostak Ahmed, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Associated Press on Friday that the death toll rose to 25 with all but one identified. Based on information provided by relatives, no one appeared to still be unaccounted for, he said. Still we are checking, if someone comes to us we will verify, he said.

The fire injured about 70 people, many of them now being treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospitals burn unit.

Fire Exposes Safety Vulnerabilities

Authorities in Bangladesh imposed tougher safety rules after more than 1,100 people died when a garment factory complex collapsed near Dhaka in 2013. But continuing corruption and lax enforcement have resulted in many more deaths from safety lapses since the Rana Plaza disaster, including the fire on Thursday.

The fire in Banani exposed the vulnerabilities hidden behind the glass towers that have become symbols of Bangladeshs rapid growth. While its economy has expanded by more than 6 percent annually in the last decade, safety regulations and enforcement have lagged behind, experts say.

Our greed, our corruption, and mismanagementall equally responsible for this situation, said Hasan.

This little boy was trying to save the leakage of pipe while fire at #Banani #Bangladesh #Banani pic.twitter.com/c7mEfm6Dnl   (@DDulal2) March 28, 2019

A fire in the oldest part of Dhaka, a 400-year-old area cramped with apartments, shops, and warehouses, left at least 67 people dead last month.

In 2012, a fire raced through a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, killing at least 112 people trapped behind its locked gates.

Another fire in Old Dhaka in a house illegally storing chemicals killed at least 123 people in 2010.

Hasans group counts at least 16,000 fire incidents across Bangladesh in the last decade which killed about 1,590 people, according to data compiled from the fire department and other government and media reports.

Officials from the Capital Development Authority, which regulates building construction, said the owner of the F.R. Tower in Banani, a glass, 22-story building, sought permission in 1996 to develop an 18-story high-rise. In 2005 the owner submitted a building design that showed it had added four floors.

Authority chairman Abdur Rahman told the Daily Star newspaper that the four extra floors violated the building code. Rahman did not respond to messages from The Associated Press asking whether any action was taken against the owner in response to the violation.

The F.R. Tower also lacked adequate safety materials and the emergency exits were not properly built or maintained, fire officials involved with the rescue operations said Friday.

Facebook Live video showed people climbing out of windows attempting to escape, and one person slipping off what appeared to be a rope and falling to the ground.

After the Rana Plaza disaster, the U.S. Department of Labor funded a project to improve fire and building safety in Bangladesh, with a special focus on the countrys $30 billion garments-for-export industry, the worlds second largest after China.

But the International Labor Organization said in a 2017 report that Bangladeshs regulatory framework and inspections had not been able to keep pace with the development of the industry.

Because of more frequent inspections during the projects life, from 2013 until 2017, hundreds of garment factories had closed, according to Atiqul Islam, the mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation, an elected body responsible for city services, including trade licenses.

We did not compromise with the safety standard and compliance issues, Islam said.

Bangladeshs building code is a highly detailed document, prescribing the number of staircases and emergency exits as well as fire safety equipment, but corrupt officials often take bribes to allow areas designated in official records as one thingparking spaces, for exampleto be used for another, such as shops or warehouses, said Abu Naser Khan, chairman of the Save the Environment Movement, an independent advocacy group.

Bangladeshs safety regulations for housing, commercial and industrial setups are adequate but authorities lack will and capacity to follow them, Khan said.

Laws are there but you can change many things if you are connected to the ruling circle and if you have money, Khan said.
A person holds up a transgender flag at Washington Square Park in New York City on Oct. 21, 2018. (Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

Democrats in Congress Swap POW-MIA Flags for Transgender Banners

Several Congressional Democrats replaced flags honoring the American veterans with banners celebrating transgender equality, according to photos the Democrats shared on social media.

According to Fox News, the flags were delivered to every member of Congress by a group named National Center for Transgender Equality along with a request to fly the flags outside their offices.

It is unclear how many Democrats removed POW-MIA flags in favor of the transgender banners, but Washington Free Beacon found proof of at least one Democrat did so. The POW-MIA flag is one of the most commonly flown alongside the American flag but is not seen in most of the photos Democrats shared of the transgender banners.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) shared a photo of the flag outside his office.

Discrimination has no place in our society. I am proud to display this flag as a symbol of my support for transgender people across the country. We must stand with transgender people in all of our communities, Sanders wrote.

Discrimination has no place in our society. I am proud to display this flag as a symbol of my support for transgender people across the country. We must stand with transgender people in all of our communities. pic.twitter.com/W6Esa16vzP  Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 26, 2019

Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) posted a similar photo one of several other Democrats who also posted photos of the flag, claiming that she will defend transgender people from being erased by violence.

I am committed to safety and equality for all, Schrier wrote.

As a proud member of the @LGBTEqCaucus, I will do everything I can to make sure transgender people #WontBeErased by violence, fear or prejudice. I am committed to safety and equality for all. #TransVisibilityWeek pic.twitter.com/eB9nihPsaI  Rep. Kim Schrier (@RepKimSchrier) March 27, 2019

The Washington Free Beacon reported that Schrier had flown the customary POW/MIA flag outside her office in January. Schriers office responded to say that the switch to the transgender flag is temporary.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) also swapped out the POW/MIA flags for transgender banners, the Beacon reported. According to The Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) also displayed the transgender banners.

A Republican lawmakers office told the Beacon that they were asked to exchange the POW/MIA flag for the transgender flag but did not comply.

At least three Democrats, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Rep. Mazi Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), did not remove the POW/MIA flags in order to display the transgender flags.

During #TransVisibilityWeek I join in solidarity with transgender constituents in WA09 and transgender people across the country. In the halls of Congress, we should always remember our commitment to safety and equality for everyone. My office is welcome and open to all. pic.twitter.com/6jUMWc64qz  Rep. Adam Smith (@RepAdamSmith) March 26, 2019

As we recognize #TransVisibilityWeek, Im proud to fly the Transgender Pride Flag in the halls of Congress as a symbol of my support and commitment to ensuring equality for all people across the country. You are seen. You are heard. You #WontBeErased. pic.twitter.com/lZ0UKAzRnh  Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) March 27, 2019

The transgender flags accompanied the House Democrats rebuke to President Donald Trumps ban on transgender people serving in the military. Only a handful of Republicans joined the Democrats to oppose the ban: Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-Ind.), Will Hurd (R-Texas), John Katko (R-N.Y.), and Tom Reed (R-N.Y.).

The Supreme Court in January ruled to allow the Pentagon to enforce limits on transgender military service while lawsuits challenging the limit continue.

The Department of Defense had a ban on transgender military service, but President Barack Obama allowed transgender people already in service to serve openly.

Transgender people make up 0.3 percent of the United States population, according to 2011 findings by the Williams Institute.

More than 82,000 Americans are missing from World War II and other conflicts, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

I got a message from a mom of a transgender teen in #CA25. She saw my colleagues hanging flags in honor of #TransVisibilityWeek and asked me to do the same  I was proud to say ours is already up. The halls of Congress are decked out to show our trans community #WontBeErased! pic.twitter.com/raRWygVJIU  Rep. Katie Hill (@RepKatieHill) March 27, 2019

As a member of the @LGBTEqCaucus, I will do everything to make sure transgender people #WontBeErased by violence, fear, or prejudice. This flag is a symbol of my commitment to preserve the right of every person to dignity & pride. #TransVisibilityWeek pic.twitter.com/LgQngLgYc6  Rep Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) March 27, 2019

To every transgender American: I see you, I hear you, and you #WontBeErased. As a member of the @LGBTEqCaucus, I will do everything I can to fight the hateful ban on transgender patriots in the military and every act of prejudice against the trans community. #TransVisibilityWeek pic.twitter.com/AP0m9JO9QX  Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (@RepDMP) March 27, 2019
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) as she exits the Senate floor in Washington on Oct. 6, 2018. For 20 years Feinstein had a Chinese spy on her staff, a matter that has never been adequately investigated. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

DIA Officer Spied for Chinese as Part of Resistance

Commentary

Theres currently extensive news reporting about former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Ron Hansen, who spied on the United States for the Chinese intelligence service. He was caught by U.S. authorities and made a plea arrangement, likely facing 15 years in prison when hes sentenced in September.

In return, Hansen will tell U.S. intelligence everything he did and everything the Chinese asked of him. This sort of plea deal in cases of this kind are common. Its of real value to find out what the enemythe Chinese in this caselearned from their spy and the techniques they used to communicate with him, how they passed him money, what information and people they targeted, and so on. This teaches us what to look for in the cases of other Americans who might be spying for the Chinese.

Also, knowing what the Chinese learned lets us accurately assess the damage done and what Chinese priorities are. Their priorities are more interesting then one might think. The Chinese would ask a trusted spy of this nature exactly what they wanted to know, and from this, we can thereby learn where the gaps existed in their information and, perhaps more importantly, where no gaps existed. No gaps means they know the information from some other source. You can see where that takes us, and why it would be useful.

To someone with my background, one of the aspects of this case that really floats to the top is the motives of Hansen to spy for the Chinese to begin with. In his case, it appears that money was high on his list, and he was apparently well-paid, which isnt common for the Chinese. This is certainly a measure of the harm he did to the United States.

For any students of such things, the intelligence agencies of the rest of the world always consider greed to be the weakness of Americans. Hansen also spent time in Taiwan as a young man, where he learned to appreciate the country and culture. Finally, just uncovered by Bill Gertz at The Washington Free Beacon, buried in the transcripts of phone conversations, we learn that Hansen hated President Donald Trump passionately and viewed working against Trump as his duty.

This isnt the first time an individual believed that resisting Trump justified leaking classified information. In 2018, Reality Winner was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison for leaking classified information to the press that she thought would damage Trump.

These are just two examples of the poisonous atmosphere the resistance movement within the liberal Democratic Party has created. Most of the leadership at the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and National Security Agency (NSA) are overwhelmingly liberal and take it unto themselves to betray their oath of office to support the Constitution of the United States, for political motives.

In the bowels of bureaucracy, its mainstream to talk openly about how best to resist the lawfully elected president of the United States, and it shows up everywhere. There was a time when most in government were professionals first, but those days are gone, and now its overwhelmingly personal politics first.

We dont have to look very far back to remember that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) had a Chinese spy on her staff for about 20 years, who was her office director and her driver when she was in San Francisco. She claimed that since the Chinese spy was in California and didnt have direct access to classified information kept only in Washington, it was all a big nothingburger.

What is almost beyond belief is that this was accepted by everyone, including Congress and the cast of characters at the DOJ, FBI, CIA, and NSA, who all know better.

Being an expert on exactly this sort of case, please let me authoritatively point out this was a fantastic opportunity for the Chinese and a stunning success from their perspective. Any CIA officer who successfully recruited a similar person to spy on the Chinese leadership for 20 years would be a rock star. This was a truly big deal and very damaging to U.S. interests. Anyone who says differently is ignorant or a liar, and yet absolutely nothing has been done.

Wouldnt it be worth knowing if over a 20-year period, the chief of staff who was a spy for the Chinese recommended or hired people to work on Feinsteins Washington staff? Are they still there now or did they move to work in another senators office?

One other point worth noting, Feinsteins estimated net worth is $94 million. Most of that comes from the private equity firm of her husband, Richard Blum, who does much of his business with none other than the Chinese.

Did any of the tens of millions of dollars made by the Feinstein family have anything to do with the Chinese spy or Chinese intelligence? Can you imagine if Donald Trumps wife made tens of millions of dollars doing business with Russia and it was discovered that Trumps chief of staff was a Russian spy on his staff for 20 years?

China is probably the greatest long-term strategic threat the United States faces, and the socialist liberal movement within the Democratic Party has given birth to the resist movement to fight behind the scenes against the duly elected U.S. president. This negative force in American politics is so poisonous that it justifies in the mind of liberals almost any action, no matter how wrong.

Its clear, the leadership, particularly at the FBI and DOJ, are staunch Democratic supporters and appear to buy into the resist movement to the point they are willing to overlook glaring, significant damage to U.S. national security, only because looking into the matter would hurt a senior Democratic senator.

It seems they will also invent an investigation against political opponents. That this plays into the hands of our enemies like the Chinese isnt even a consideration for them.

Brad Johnson is a retired CIA senior operations officer and a former chief of station. He is president of Americans for Intelligence Reform.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Dubai Court Restores Yacht to Russia Tycoon, Move Disputed in Divorce Contest

DUBAIA $436 million superyacht belonging to a Russian billionaire at the center of one of the worlds costliest divorce battles has been released by a Dubai court after being impounded last year, but legal wrangling over the fate of the vessel continued.

Oil and gas tycoon Farkhad Akhmedov was ordered to pay about 40 percent of his fortune to his former wife Tatiana Akhmedova by Londons High Court in 2016 in one of the largest divorce settlements in legal history.

But Akhmedov failed to pay the 453 million pound ($594 million) divorce bill and the London court granted a worldwide freezing order, under which Akhmedovs superyacht M.V. Luna was impounded in Dubai.

Luna, an expedition yacht built for Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich before Akhmedov bought it in 2014, has at least nine decks, space for 50 crew, two helipads, a vast swimming pool, and a mini-submarine.

On WMarch 27 the Dubai court of appeal ruled that the Dubai lower courts order to impound the yacht was wrong, allowing it to leave the port, documents seen by Reuters showed.

But lawyers acting for Akhmedova called the ruling a procedural decision and said the case had been referred to another Dubai court for a further hearing.

Akhmedova will simply continue to pursue her claims in the Dubai Courts. She is bolstered by the fact that she successfully obtained additional orders in the English Court yesterday to secure Luna, the lawyers said in a statement.

When Reuters visited the yacht on March 28, moored in Dubais Port Rashid, workers were installing new teak flooring on the large outdoor lower deck and a private security team was guarding it.

Akhmedova began divorce proceedings in Britain in 2012. Akhmedov said he and his wife had already divorced in Russia in 2000, but various Russian and British courts have found no evidence to support this assertion.

Forbes estimates Akhmedovs net worth is $1.4 billion. The U.S. Treasury Department has put him on a list of sanctioned Russian state-owned companies and so-called oligarchs, identified as close to President Vladimir Putin.

By Lisa Barrington
Ex-Playboy Model Arrested For Murder of Nevada Psychiatrist

A Nevada woman has been arrested and charged in the murder of a California psychiatrist who was found in the trunk of a car, bludgeoned to death.

Kelsey Turner, 25, was taken into custody on March 21 in Stockton, Fox5 Las Vegas reported, citing the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. FBI agents from California and the Las Vegas police jointly made the arrest.

The victim, 71-year-old child psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Burchard, was found dead in Nevada earlier in March.

An investigation by #LVMPD Homicide Detectives led to the arrest of 25 year-old Kelsey Turner in this incident, the Twitter account of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced.

On March 7, 2019, an abandoned vehicle was located on State Route 147, near mile marker 14 with a deceased male inside the trunk. An investigation by #LVMPD Homicide Detectives led to the arrest of 25-year-old Kelsey Turner in this incident. #LVMPDnews pic.twitter.com/rjYYJNeL3G  LVMPD (@LVMPD) March 28, 2019

Police did not provide any details on what may have linked Turner and the victim.

According to KSBW 8, however, Turners mother, Samantha, said Turner and Burchard had known each other for years.

A neighbor told the station that for about a year, Turner, her mother, and Turners children all lived in a home that Burchard was paying the rent for.

Turners mugshot and name match the information on a Facebook profile that described the woman as a model, the Californian of Salinas reported. Her photographs were allegedly featured on Playboys Italian-language website, according to the report.

A review of social media profiles for a Kelsey Turner identify her as a model living in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Ex-Playboy Model Kelsey Turner Arrested For Murder Of Doctor Found Dead In Trunk Of Car https://t.co/W3a235tv4v  COED (@COED) March 29, 2019

An Instagram profile with the handle kelseyturnerofficial has over 100,000 followers and appears to feature the same woman as the police mugshot.

Grisly Discovery

Bruchards body was discovered on March 7 after a passerby noticed a car with a smashed window near the entrance to the Lake Mead National Recreational area, police said.

He died as a result of blunt force injury to the head, police said.

25-year-old Kelsey Turner has been arrested in connection to the death of long-time Monterey County psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Burchard. Turner was arrested in Stockton. I spoke with her mother, Samantha, who tells me her daughter and Dr. Burchard knew each other for years. pic.twitter.com/IhDc4mrUyb  Christopher Salas (@KSBWChristopher) March 29, 2019

Burchard worked in the behavioral health program with Montage Health, the Review-Journal reported.

Dr. Burchard was a psychiatrist in our behavioral health program for almost 40 years and was very helpful to many patients, Montage Health spokeswoman Mary Barker said, according to the Review-Journal. Its a very sad situation and our hearts go out to his family, friends, patients, and colleagues. We are notifying his patients and providing grief counseling for staff.

A Twitter user commented on the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department post, saying As a patient of Dr B, it broke my heart to hear about his death, he was honest and fair and helped me for almost a year. He will be missed beyond comparison. No one deserves this, let alone a doctor who has helped many children and adults in the Monterey County.

Turner was booked in the San Joaquin County Jail without bail, Fox reported.

She faces murder charges and awaits extradition to Nevada.
Following spring flooding water gushes along the driveway to Betty Lou Brave Heart's home near Porcupine, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on March 25, 2019. (Ryan Hermens/Rapid City Journal via AP)

Flooding Forces Evacuations on South Dakota Reservation

Record-breaking flooding has forced dozens of people on a South Dakota reservation to evacuate, and ranchers were working March 28 to get their livestock to higher ground while waiting for a river to crest.

High water from the Moreau River is threatening about 50 residences in an eight-mile stretch between White Horse and Thomas in north-central South Dakota, said Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe spokesman Remi Bald Eagle. He said about half a dozen people were rescued by helicopter; no injuries have been reported.

The tribe has asked others to voluntarily evacuate, although some residents are refusing to leave because their cattle are trapped by flooding.

Everybody is afraid that their livelihoods are going to be swept up by the water, Bald Eagle said. It is really a critical time for the livestock folks because right now, their cattle are all calving.

The reservation has deployed 20,000 sandbags and a Pennington County rescue team is on hand if needed.

The National Weather Service said the worst appears to be over. The river has been as high as 28 feet, or eight feet above flood stage. It stood at about 23 feet on the morning of March 28 and is expected to crest at 24 feet over the weekend, South Dakota meteorologist Jeff Chapman said.

On the Pine Ridge Reservation in southern South Dakota, the Oglala Sioux tribe is transitioning into recovery mode after flooding swamped roads, trapped people in homes, and cut off water supplies to thousands.

A lot of people lost their homes, said state Rep. Peri Pourier, who is executive director of the Pine Ridge Reservation Emergency Relief nonprofit. Its going to be a big recovery effortgetting the manpower, the materials, and resources to help recover.

Elsewhere, meteorologists in Montana said a spring storm that is bringing rain and snow may lead to additional flooding, as the runoff flows into rivers and streams already swollen with snowmelt. And North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum declared a statewide flood emergency after touring inundated homes in the western part of the state on March 27.

Rain is expected to prolong the flood fight along the swollen Missouri River, creating a second crest east of Kansas City, Missouri.

By Dave Kolpack and Blake Nicholson. Associated Press writers Matt Volz in Helena, Montana, and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
Thunder the kookaburra dressed in a white collar an tie costume (L) and in his natural state (R) in Virginia Beach, Va. (Courtesy of Michelle Crow and Virginia Seashore pet store)

GoFundMe Campaign Hopes to Give Thunder the Kookaburra a Better Life

An online fundraising campaign launched on March 26 is aiming to give a more suitable home for a kookaburra bird found on sale in a Virginia pet store.

The Bring Thunder Back Down Under GoFundMe appeal hopes to raise A$2,000 (US$1,418) to buy and relocate Thunder the kookaburra, which has been held captive in a cage for about four years at the Virginia Seashore pet retailer.

It comes after Australian expatriate Wendy Davidson, who lives in the United States, discovered what she considered to be a wild and protected animal being advertised for nearly A$1700 (US$1200). The bird was alone, confined to a small cage and sometimes dressed-up in tiny outfits for the amusement of customers.

Images have circulated on social media of Thunder wearing a little white collar and business tie outfit, with the caption Dress up time with the kookaburra. There is also an image of Thunder wearing a tiny Santa hat with other photos of birds donning Santa Claus costumes.

The images outraged animal lovers who labelled the pet store as cruel and accused the staff of dressing the bird up like it is a doll for peoples sick amusement.

Are Pet Kookaburras Illegal?

Contrary to widespread reports suggesting it is illegal to keep a kookaburra as a pet, in New South Wales it is still legal to keep certain native birds in Australia as pets, such as the laughing- and blue winged-kookaburra, provided the necessary B2 or B3 permits are obtained from the State Office of Environment and Heritage beforehand. It is currently illegal to capture a native kookaburra in Australia and export it to other countries.

However, in many parts of the United States, it is not illegal to keep the bird a pet since it is not a native species. In Virginia, kookaburras are not listed as a prohibited non-native animal species, so it is not illegal, according to The Spruce Pets.

However, Davidson felt deeply saddened after seeing the bird living so far from home where it would be in its natural habitat, mating with a chosen partner for life, and living in a family group.

I couldnt stop thinking about him being a prisoner in solitary confinement, she told News Limited.

Virginia Seashore has since closed its Facebook page because sympathisers of the bird have bombarded the store with angry phone calls, while others left negative comments complaining about the kookaburras living conditions.

Animal cruelty at its finest, one person said.

Inhumane pet shop. Australia called it wants it kookaburra back, another said.

A third added, Please surrender Thunder the kookaburra to a sanctuary who specialise in Australian wildlife. It is very inhumane to house a wild Australian bird in a pet store, let alone dress him up in ridiculous outfits.

He was hatched in captivity legally

The pet store said the kookaburra was not taken from the wild and shipped to the store; rather it had been bred in captivity and legally sourced.

Thunders lineage comes from a line of kookaburra that were legally brought into the states and legally bred through our licensed breeder. He was hatched in captivity legally, Virginia Seashore said in a Facebook post dated March 27. Exportation of birds was outlawed over 20 years ago  all of our baby birds including Thunder have come from our reputable baby breeders that we have been doing business with for 30 years.

Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh, 59km (37 miles) south of Sydney, told the Daily Mail the pet stores claims could be true, as a number of kookaburras and other exotic birds were at one time exported to the United States before stricter regulations took effect. The bird may simply be the 10th generation of birds bred in captivity, the wildlife park said.

Davidson tried to protest the sale of Thunder and lobbied the Australian Consulate-General in New York City to make a complaint to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

However, the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources said even if Thunder were freed, the bird would never be allowed back into Australia due to strict biosecurity laws.

This is because we dont know what diseases it may be carrying or its health history, a spokesperson from the department said. Unfortunately, it is not possible to bring the kookaburra back to Australia.

Within three days the GoFundMe appeal raised twice the amount needed to buy and re-home Thunder in the United States, with pledges totaling at least A$4,143 (US$2,940) out of the A$2000 (US$1,418) required at the time of publication.

There have been offers of placements for him in wildlife sanctuaries and I am waiting to get verification of theses places and people before your money is given to them, fundraising coordinator Michelle Crow said in an update dated March 29. Im hoping this is quickly so that Thunder gets to place catered for his needs very soon but not haphazardly so that Thunder will be caused undue stress.
(L-R) Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) introduce their paid family leave legislation during a news conference in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 27, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

GOP Bill Uses Future Social Security Benefits to Pay for Newborn or Adoption Care Leave

WASHINGTONSens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) want parents of newborn or adopted children to be able to use their future Social Security benefits now to pay for up to three months of paid leave.

Our proposal would let new parents pull forward a portion of their Social Security benefits for one, two, or three months of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child, Rubio said during a March 27 news conference.

Rubio and Romney were joined in the news conference by Reps. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), who introduced a companion bill in the House.

In exchange, parents can either choose to delay their retirement by about six months per child, or they have the option of receiving a reduced Social Security benefit during the first five years of retirement at an equal size, Rubio said.

There are only two states where births are outpacing deaths, and one of them is my home state of Utah. That means a lot of Utah families are having children, and it also means added expenses for those families, Romney said.

The New Parents Act will give parents the flexibility to take time off from work with pay during the first weeks of their childrens lives, without growing our national debt, raising taxes, or creating a new entitlement program, he continued.

The bill is a slightly revised version of a proposal Rubio introduced in 2018.

We have put forth a responsible paid family leave policy that allows new parents flexibility to spend more time with their children during one of lifes most precious and exceptional moments, Wagner said.

Wagner claimed the measure would not require an increase in federal taxes or add new financial burdens on small business.

It is rare that we get the chance to drastically improve the lives of hard-working families with no long-term impact on our budget. By giving families temporary access to future funds when theyre growing their family, we are helping Americans when they need it most. This will be a life-changing option. Crenshaw said.

The proposal reflects Republican worries about being able to carry Rust Belt states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania that were crucial to President Donald Trumps 2016 election victory, thanks in great part to votes from blue-collar households that normally support Democrats.

Democrats made substantial inroads in those states during the 2018 congressional elections that saw the party gain 40 seats and return to the House majority.

The newest proposal from the four GOPers is aimed directly at blue-collar households.

The benefit amount is large enough that nearly all parents below the median household income of about $60,000 will be able to take significant leave at a rate of two-thirds of their prior wages, Rubio and Romney claimed in a summary of their proposals provisions.

Many parents, especially those with low incomes, will be able to finance longer than three months of leave with the benefit, the senators said.

Personal Piggy Bank

But the proposal drew a withering critique from the conservative Heritage Foundations Rachel Greszler, a research fellow in economics, budget, and entitlements.

Everybody wants paid family leave and Democrats and Republicans can agree on that, Greszler told The Epoch Times. Unfortunately, good intentions dont make good policy and I think thats certainly the case here.

The basic problem with the proposal, according to Greszler, is that attaching a paid family leave program on top of Social Security will eventually impose huge new financial burdens on the countrys oldest entitlement program.

By using the most popular federal entitlement program in the country, that only guarantees that what is intended to only be a limited program will grow into a massive program, Greszler said.

The paid family leave benefit will also act as a magnet for saddling Social Security with other programs that are unrelated to the basic goal of assuring elderly Americans with a measure of financial security, she said.

Its using Social Security in a way it was never intended to be used, Greszler explained. Its supposed to an anti-poverty program for older individuals and now, this is treating it like a personal piggy bank that workers can tap into.

Greszler said there is already a proposal in Congress to allow workers to use future Social Security benefits to repay students college loans.

Then you could think about purchasing a house, could you borrow against your Social Security benefits for that? she said.

The 2018 Report of the Social Security systems trustees projected that the program will run out of reserves in 2034 and that general tax funds will only be able to pay about 75 percent of promised benefits thereafter.

Contact Mark Tapscott at mark.tapscott@epochtimes.nyc
Grandmother, 55, Gives Birth to Her Own Granddaughter

A British woman gave birth to her own grand-daughter at the age of 55, after acting as a surrogate for her daughter who was born without a womb.

Emma Miles is legally the mother of her own granddaughter Evie, who was conceived by IVF.

Her daughter, Tracey Smith, 31, had known since the age of 15 that if she wanted her own child, she would need a surrogate. She had no womb, but still had ovaries and fallopian tubes.

Over the years, her mother had mentioned the possibility that she could act as a surrogate, but it wasnt until Smith got married in 2016 that it became a serious prospect.

Miles lost 84 pounds to get down to a healthy weight for the pregnancy, according to Wales Online, and moved over a hundred miles from her home in south Wales to be near her daughter.

She gave birth by caesarian section on Jan. 16 to Evie, who weighed 7lb 7oz, reported the BBC.

A 55-year-old woman has acted as a surrogate for her daughter and given birth to her child.  BBC  2019221

I am so grateful to mum for her amazing gift to us, Smith told Wales Online. Every moment of heartache was so worth it just to have our little bundle in our arms.

Pregnancies after the age of 35 carry an increased risk of developing pre-eclampsia, a condition that can be potentially fatal for the mother or unborn baby.

But Miles brushed away those concerns.

Despite my age I wasnt worried about giving birth at all.

All of my focus has been about doing this special thing for my daughter.

Smith said that when scans revealed she had no womb it turned her world upside down.

I was heartbroken at the idea that I wouldnt carry my own child. Id always known that I wanted to be a mum, even at 15.

Straight after my diagnosis mum made an offer to do what she could to help. I knew that she meant one day shed carry my child for me. Over the years she mentioned it in passing but we never really made a firm plan. "I am so grateful to mum for her amazing gift to us."   Wales Online  2019329 It was only after I met Adam and we got engaged in 2016 that he broached the subject of children.

However, Smith was worried about using a surrogate. According to UK law, regardless of the babies genetic mother, the surrogate and her husband get automatic parental rights.

That felt like a huge risk, she said.

Some surrogates naturally develop a very strong maternal attachment to the newborn they have carried for 9 months, but Miles said that she only feels like a proud grandmother.

Shes my little granddaughter, she told the Cambrian Times. Shes always been Traceys little oneI was just head cook and passed her on.

Surrogacy Raises Legal Questions

IVF surrogacy has been around for only about 40 years, spinning off various legal paradoxes and challenges as it opens up the world of surrogacy to more people and creates new potential conflicts between different kinds of parents.

For example, a surrogate mother from Texas called for a change in the law after the biological parents of the baby she carried told her to abort their babywhich she refused to do.

Stephanie Levesque, who has been a surrogate mother three times, gave birth to a baby just days before Christmas on Dec. 21, 2017, at the Medical City Womens Hospital in Dallas.

Doctors had told her weeks prior that the child suffered from a severe heart defect, prompting the biological parents to demand that she abort the child due to the risk. Levesque said it ran counter to her beliefs and refused to go through with it.

Levesque said the confrontation with the parents caused her to reach out to lawmakers to revise surrogacy laws in the state. She wants protection for biological parents and their surrogates.

Levesque said that when Dec. 21 arrived, hospital staff took the baby boy moments after birth. She said to this day, she doesnt know anything about him.

I dont know his name. I dont know how much he weighed. I dont know if they chose to do surgery, she told the station. I assume they immediately took him to the NICU, but I do not know, I do not know.
Hollywood Actors Threaten State of Georgia Over Abortion Bill

A list of roughly 50 actors signed a letter penned by actor Alyssa Milano threatening to boycott the state of Georgia if they successfully pass the so-called pro-life heartbeat bill.

The H.B. 481 bill, dubbed the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, would ban most abortions after six weeks from conception or when the heartbeat of the infant can be detected by the hospital. Georgias Republican governor, Brian Kemp, is expected to sign the bill when the states House of Representatives votes on it.

In the letter, the actors vowed to leave the state if the bill gets signed into law, Deadline reported. Those who signed their name include Amy Schumer, Amber Tamblyn, Alec Baldwin, Don Cheadle, Rosie ODonnell, Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman, Essence Atkins, Uzo Aduba, Gabrielle Union, Christina Applegate, Ben Stiller, Sean Penn, David Cross, Mia Farrow, Colin Hanks, and Bradley Whitford.

We cannot in good conscience continue to recommend our industry remain in Georgia if H.B. 481 becomes law, the letter states.

The letter quickly took a threatening turn.

We cant imagine being elected officials who had to say to their constituents, I enacted a law that was so evil, it chased billions of dollars out of our states economy. Its not the most effective campaign slogan, but rest assured well make it yours should it come to pass, it said.

The letter has been circulating on social media. It was first sent to Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Governor Kemp on March 28.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on March 26 that the Trump administration will expand on existing anti-abortion policies with the addition of a new rule that prohibits U.S.-funded organizations from aiding foreign groups that support abortion.

Speaking to reporters, Pompeo said the United States will crack down on these non-governmental organizations. At the same time, he said they are fully enforcing federal law to prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars to lobby for or against abortion.

But there were also other actors defending the pro-life Georgia bill.

One of them was Ashley Bratcher who stars in the movie Unplanned, the story of a Planned Parenthood director-turned-anti-abortion activist.

Bratcher responded to Milano with a letter of her own from Mother to mother.

Hollywood may be silent on womens rights but Georgia, the new home of the movie industry, is making its voice heard loud and clear, she wrote on Deadline. Im incredibly proud of my home state for taking a stand in the fight for life amidst backlash and dubious threats.

She continued: Alyssa, let me make something very clear to you. In Georgia, we care just as much about being pro-life as being pro-film. We dont believe in putting a price tag on the value of a human life.

Bratcher described the pro-abortion laws being passed in New York and Vermont as radical.

The H.B. 481 bill states that the full value of a child begins at the point when a detectable human heartbeat exists.

The State of Georgia, applying reasoned judgment to the full body of modern medical science, recognizes the benefits of providing full legal recognition to an unborn child above the minimum requirements of federal law, the bill said.
One lucky Oz Lotto entrant won the division one prize twice after buying one of the tickets at Winning Lotteries, in Greater Melbourne, Australia, on April 2018. (Google Maps Street View/Screenshot)

Man $46 Million Richer After Accidentally Buying Two Lotto Tickets

A Melbourne man accidentally won more than $46 million (US$33 million) on March 26 after buying two lottery tickets by mistake.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought the tickets at Winning Lotteries in the northwestern suburb of St. Albans and also the Footscray Lottery Centre in the citys inner-west.

The man had no idea he had won a double division one prize of $46.6 million until the gaming company the Lott contacted him to inform him of his win.

The Lotto staff tried to phone the winner that same evening but nobody answered the phone at first. After calling several times, he finally answered the phone and told staff he has checked his Oz Lotto draw results on the internet.

Youre kidding! Am I seeing things? he said in a press release. I just checked my entry online and I think I know what youre about to tell me. Im speechless, I cant believe it, I just finished work for the night.

We love this story! A lucky Melbourne man has won last nights division one Oz Lotto jackpot twice! @theLott https://t.co/0B8fSjRfnD  Tabcorp (@Tabcorp) March 26, 2019

The winner, who usually works as a labourer, was still unaware at that stage that he had won the division one prize of more than $23.3 million twice when the Lott informed him he had bought two tickets with exactly the same numbers, meaning he had won twice.

After realising this, he revealed he has played with the same marked numbers for 30 years.

I play every week. I have always marked my entries but I have never chosen the numbers on anything in particular, he said. They werent special before but they are now.

A forgetful Melbourne man is $46.6 million richer after accidentally buying two tickets and winning last nights Oz Lotto jackpot TWICE!  pic.twitter.com/9NIAcfzF4v  Sunrise (@sunriseon7) March 26, 2019

He said his first action will be to think carefully about what he could spend his fortune on.

I need time for the news to register, he said. I might think about retiring, first maybe a new home or a holiday, Ill definitely share it with my family.

The Lott is still encouraging all those who bought a ticket for the $70 million (US$49.6 million) Oz Lotto draw check their numbers as soon as possible as a division-one from Tasmania is still yet to claim their prize money.

Imagine discovering youre a midweek multi-millionaire, spokesperson Bronwyn Spencer said. You may not think its possible that you could be the division one winner were searching for but, if you purchased an unregistered entry in this weeks Oz Lotto draw that you havent checked yet, youre in with a chance.

Lottery officials have no way to contact the ticketholder and have to wait for them to check their ticket and contact them. The ticket was purchased from Hobart City Lotto in downtown Hobart.

Victorian man gets two share sin $70 million Oz Lotto win and a third goes to Hobart punter https://t.co/NWHhCx7bBj  NewsfeedsMedia (@NewsfeedsMedia) March 26, 2019

In addition to the three division-one prizes in the draw, a total of 1.1 million prizes worth more than $24.6 million (US$17.4 million) were awarded in divisions two through to seven. This includes 14 division two winners, who each landed $49,892.40.

In 2018, there were 20 division one prizes, which collectively netted more than $253.7 million (US$179.6 million).

The winning numbers were 12, 28, 24, 29, 9, 18 and 25 with supplementary numbers 13 and 31.

A massive $70 MILLION is up for grabs in tonights Oz Lotto jackpot How would you spend it?  pic.twitter.com/l7Fd18G4b3  Sunrise (@sunriseon7) March 25, 2019

Things People Do With Prize Money

Last year, a Sydney man donated a portion of his Lotto winnings to aid farmers struggling through the drought. The man, aged in his 40s, was among the seven division one winners and collected $686,700 in prize money, reported Yahoo7 News.

He told the news channel that he had been playing on and off for a while, and that initially, I thought this was a joke. He said he had a list of his favourite people who he was planning to share his new-found monetary wealth with and that farmers were on the top of this list.

We were going to give a donation to the drought fund, but we can increase that now and make it more substantial. I think if were blessed with something like this, we should pass it on, he told Yahoo7. Well also pay off our mortgage and put the rest in for the kids, for their education.

Perils of Winning the Lotto

Another Lotto winner in 2011 was horrifically murdered by her own financial adviser when the man became angry that woman from NSW was wasting her $5 million winnings with her husband. The adviser was found guilty of murder after he hit his client over the head with a rubber mallet before smothering her to death.
Man Ignites Internet Controversy After Posting Unusual Bagel-Slicing Method

A man wrote on Twitter that he had introduced his co-workers to the St. Louis secret to cutting bagels.

Instead of cutting the bagel in half lengthwise, they were bread sliced, Alex Krautmann wrote.

The photo shows the bagels sliced like small loaves of bread.

Today I introduced my coworkers to the St Louis secret of ordering bagels bread sliced. It was a hit! pic.twitter.com/XNGbljtpYz  Alek Krautmann (@AlekKrautmann) March 26, 2019

Today I introduced my coworkers to the St Louis secret of ordering bagels bread sliced. It was a hit! he wrote in full.

Krautmanns photo drew controversy and jokes.

I work in a bakery that makes bread & bagels every morning. If someone asked me to bread slice bagels Id refuse service. I have standards and a healthy respect for bagels.  Str8OuttaSKAtland (@titty_tornado) March 27, 2019

This feels like something that should get a person sent to Gitmo  Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) March 27, 2019

I did the same in St. Louis and nobody ever asked for this not once never.  Justin (@jduello23) March 28, 2019

you should be ashamed of yourself  Blake News (@blakehounshell) March 27, 2019

Slicing bagels like bread is a well-known secret in St. Louis, Sara Burnett, a Panera Bread spokeswoman told Today.com.

She added that people around the United States can order their bagels St. Louis style.

No bagels for you! pic.twitter.com/7ZEHlCVVwC  Karen Good Potter (@karenlgpotter) March 28, 2019

Its allowed if you slice them in the other direction so you get 3 round slices. But this is an abomination  Michael Lieberman (@1398post) March 28, 2019

Officials in New York City, where the bagel is a staple deli item, posted jokes.

Thank you for reporting this crime, but we only serve New York City, where this would NEVER happen. https://t.co/dNCyX56svk  Chief Dermot F. Shea (@NYPDDetectives) March 27, 2019

On behalf of the New York Delegation: St. Louis, fuhgeddaboudit. https://t.co/zGvFRfBfJ0  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 27, 2019

Which is the greater offense? Bagels from Panera (seriously???) or the ridiculous way they are sliced?  NYPD Staten Island (@NYPDstatenIslnd) March 27, 2019
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks after the weekly Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol March 26, 2019 in Washington. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Mitch McConnell Criticizes Democrats for Not Standing Up to the Far Left

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted Democrats on Thursday, March 28, for failing to stand up against the far left, which he said is threatening the basic fabric of the American system of government.

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, delivered his remarks from the Senate floor, and cited several recent examples of how the left wing of the Democratic Party has gained significant influence over the partys agenda.

After they failed to defeat Justice Kavanaugh last year, liberal leaders decided the underlying structure of the American judiciary needed to be radically overhauled, McConnell said. They set out to rehabilitate the absurd notion of court packing.

Not since President Franklin D. Roosevelt has a court-packing scheme been attempted. The effort failed in 1937, when members of Roosevelts own Democratic Party voted against it. But the idea is now front-and-center in the effort to prevent President Donald Trumps reelection.

McConnell said the very term has been synonymous with an unprincipled power grab for nearly a century.

Instead of filling existing vacancies, why shouldnt the next Democratic president just make up a bunch of new ones so the far left can stack the courts? he said.

Elected officials often speak in partisan tones when criticizing their opponents, but McConnells protestations arent without merit.

Sen. Kamala Harris, (D-Calif.), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has already said that shes open to packing the U.S. Supreme Court if elected.

We are on the verge of a crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court, Harris said on March 18. We have to take this challenge head-on, and everything is on the table to do that.

Harris, along with Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), was among the leading opponents of the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugha Trump appointeein October 2018.

The unprecedented attempt to block a 5-4 Republican-appointed majority on the high court included evidence-free allegations that Kavanaugh committed sexual assault at a high school party in the 1980s, and that he participated in gang rape. Left-wing activists also caused chaos during the proceeding, mainly targeting Republican members of the Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.), now-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, gave an impassioned speech at the time, against those willing to use such radical political tactics. Boy, you all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham, he said.

When Kavanaugh was confirmed, Harris responded by saying the new court majority threatens to cloud the legitimacy of the Supreme Court of the United States.

White House contender Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has gone even further, saying that Justice Neil Gorsuchanother Trump appointeeis illegitimate because Gorsuchs seat should have gone to outgoing President Barack Obamas 2016 nominee, Merrick Garland.

The U.S. Constitution calls for presidents to nominate Supreme Court justices, but requires the Senate to confirm them. McConnell opted to block Garland in 2016not without precedentand instead let voters decide the future balance of the court. Liberals were enraged, however, when Trump unexpectedly won.

Democratic 2020 presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass.), South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and former Texas congressman Beto ORourke have all said they are open to expanding the Supreme Court if elected.

But McConnell warned the move would destroy a longstanding bipartisan consensus and threaten the rule of law.

Forget about interpreting and applying our laws and constitution the way they were written, he said Thursday. The far left wants to forget about all of that.

Without naming Eric Holder, McConnell referenced president Obamas attorney general for promoting the scheme.

Holder said earlier this month, We should be talking even about expanding the number of people who serve on the Supreme Court, if there is a Democratic president and a Congress that would do that.

McConnell also cited an activist organization dedicated to confronting Democratic candidates and officeholders on the issue. The group, called Pack the Courts, believes that the Supreme Court in its current make-up will not allow Congress to restore Democracy.

Pack the Courts campaign manager recently said in a statement that, Court packing is the cornerstone of any attempt to un-rig the system, and that is why five presidential candidates have spoken in support of the idea, and why it will remain a central theme in the 2020 campaign.

McConnell urged his Democratic colleagues to have the courage to look these far left agitators in the eye and tell them that some traditions and some institutions are more important than partisan point scoring.

He also blasted the so-called New Green Deal proposal to remake the American energy sectorand by extension, the economyto combat climate change. The measure has been popularized by self-identifying socialist, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (D-N.Y.), although many consider it totally unrealistic.

According to the American Action Forum, an organization headed by former CBO director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the plan would cost between $51 trillion and $93 trillion over 10-years. It could also usher in an unprecedented amount of government control over the country.

When McConnell brought the New Green Deal to a vote on March 26, not a single Democrat voted for it.

After months of enthusiastic declarations of support, after tripping over one another to prove their devotion to the far left core of the new Democratic Party, the vast majority of our colleagues across the aisle were unable to vote against even an obviously ludicrous proposal to tank the American economy, McConnell said.

After their radical proposal met with such an inglorious end, my colleagues might choose to pause and take stock. Well, think again, he added.

McConnell then turned to the sweeping attempt to reform the American election system, known as H.R. 1, that was recently passed by House Democrats. Many critics see the overhaul as a blatant attempt to gain a permanent electoral advantage.

Just yesterday, our Senate colleagues introduced a Senate version of Speaker Pelosis legislation to rewrite the rules of American politics to benefit one side, he said.

When the Constitution, our institutions, or the American people disappoint our colleagues, instead of taking the hint and perhaps making their positions more mainstream, they look instead to change the rules, McConnell continued. This seems to be emerging as a kind of pattern.
Honoree Andrea Mitchell (L) and Rachel Maddow speak onstage at The International Women's Media Foundation's 28th Annual Courage In Journalism Awards Ceremony at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, on Oct. 18, 2017. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for IWMF)

MSNBCs Rachel Maddow Sees Ratings Drop After Mueller Report

A week after the highly anticipated report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller was released, MSNBC star Rachel Maddows ratings have dropped by more than 10 percent.

Since President Donald Trump took office, Maddows show experienced a ratings boost, and she offered extensive coverage of Muellers investigation into whether Russia influenced the 2016 election. This year, according to The Associated Press, her ratings have slightly edged out Fox News pundit Sean Hannitys show, which has the same time slot.

The Rachel Maddow Show had an average 13 percent decrease in viewers since last weeks Muellers report found that President Trump did not collude with Moscow, reported Fox News. The decrease in ratings was from Monday to Wednesday of this week compared with last week.

Wow, ratings for Morning Joe, which were really bad in the first place, just tanked with the release of the Mueller Report. Likewise, other shows on MSNBC and CNN have gone down by as much as 50%. Just shows, Fake News never wins!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019

On Monday, March 25, Maddows audience dropped about 19 percent to 2.5 million, reported AP, citing Nielsen data. The next day, on March 26, her audience dropped to 2.3 million.

MSNBCs primetime news lineup averaged 2.46 million viewers for this week compared with the 2.83 million from last week, Fox reported.

For four days, Fox News primetime lineup has seen distinct rises in the average number of viewers tuning in, while rivals MSNBC and CNN have seen drops, Varietys Brian Steinberg reported. He was referring to Monday through Thursdays shows.

Maddow has been the most visible television personality taking on Trump during Muellers probe, her reports are methodical and detailed. As a result, shes a target of Trump supporters seeking vindication. The New York Post compiled a mock Mueller Madness bracket of Trump critics with Maddow the top-seeded cable news figure, and the chart was retweeted Wednesday by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.

Its yet to be seen if Maddow can recapture the ratings she saw several months ago.

In January 2019, she had the largest audience in cable news, getting 3.29 million average views. Hannity had 3.04 million, noted Variety. In February, she had 3.07 million while Hannity had 3.17 million viewers.

President Donald Trump made note of MSNBCs rating slump on March 28.

Wow, ratings for Morning Joe, which were really bad in the first place, just tanked with the release of the Mueller Report. Likewise, other shows on MSNBC and CNN have gone down by as much as 50%. Just shows, Fake News never wins! Trump tweeted.

During his rally in Michigan on Thursday, President Trump tore into ongoing Democratic investigations into his  The Hill  2019328

Trump Rally

During a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on March 28, Trump addressed the Mueller report.

The Democrats have to now decide whether they will continue defrauding the public with ridiculous [expletive], Trump said to applause, adding that partisan investigations, or whether they will apologize to the American people.

The Russia hoax proves more than ever that we need to finish exactly what we came here to do: Drain the swamp, Trump also told the audience.

I have a better education than them, Im smarter than them, I went to the best schools they didnt. Much more beautiful house, much more beautiful apartment. Much more beautiful everything. And Im president and theyre not pic.twitter.com/1BfDNuTuwS  Salvador Hernandez (@SalHernandez) March 28, 2019

Trump also addressed protesters near the arena, asking: What do you think of their signs, Resist? What the hell? Lets get something done.

I love campaigning against the Green New Deal, Trump also said. One car per familyyoure going to love that in Michigan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) talks to reporters as he heads to the U.S. Capitol for the weekly Republican policy luncheon on March 5, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Senator Offers Amendment to Reveal Obamas Role in Probing Trump Campaign

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) offered an amendment on March 28, which, if approved, would reveal what role former President Barack Obama played in the investigation of the Trump campaign and the use of the debunked Steele dossier.

Pauls amendment would modify a resolution, which calls on the attorney general to release the full report by special counsel Robert Mueller to Congress and the public. The resolution passed the House by a vote of 420-0 on March 14 and is now before the Senate.

What we need to discover, and we do not yet know, was President Obama involved? Was this done for partisan purposes? Was this done to try to elect Hillary Clinton? Paul asked on the Senate floor.

According to a summary of Muellers final report released by Attorney General William Barr, the special counsel did not find any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Muellers finding raises questions about the origins of the investigation of the Trump campaign and suggests that the probe was started without evidence of wrongdoing.

According to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee has enough evidence to establish that the investigation of the Trump campaign began much earlier than late July 2016. If Nunes is right, the bureau will be forced to produce what evidence, if any, it acted on to start the investigation.

Notably, the FBIs current rationale for starting the investigation of the Trump campaign in late July 2016 is already questionable. According to the current narrative, the probe started on evidence that Trump-campaign associate George Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat that Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton. There is no proof Papadopoulos ever had contact with Russian officials. Papadopoulos was convicted of lying to the FBI about contacts with Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor with extensive ties to Western intelligence, not Russia. In his new book, Papadopoulos claims he was caught in the crosshairs of a Western intelligence operation to take down Trump.

Pauls amendment also calls for the public release of all documents relating to the communications of several Obama administration officials, including the former president himself, former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Susan Rice, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok, former FBI attorney Lisa Page, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and former senior DOJ official Bruce Ohr.

Pauls amendment, if enacted, would also call on Brennan and Clapper to testify before Congress. Paul noted that Brennan and Clapper have both lied to the Senate.

In addition to the Mueller report, what we need to know, was there malfeasance? Was there a misuse of government power? Did President Obamas administration get involved in the election to actually try and manipulate and infiltrate the Trump campaign to entrap them or try to spread information that was incorrect? Paul asked. We need to know that.

In addition to disproving the collusion allegations, Muellers report is the final blow to the credibility of the Steele dossier. The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid for the dossier and the FBI used it, without due verification, to secure a warrant to spy on former Trump-campaign volunteer Carter Page. Former British spy Christopher Steele compiled the dossier by paying second- and third-hand sources with ties to the Kremlin.
Children's shadows at an elementary school outside of Los Angeles, on Feb. 8, 2019. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

Sex-Ed in California Schools Receives Backlash

SACRAMENTO, Calif.Opponents of Assembly Bill 329 (AB-329) voiced their stance at the California Capitol on March 28. Senators, community leaders, and concerned parents alike from all over the state joined together to make a stance against what they described as sexual indoctrination.

AB-329 is described as comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education, according to the California Department of Education. It mandates sexual education for students from grades seven to 12. The bill was enacted on Jan. 1, 2016.

Signs and banners were held above the crowd reading Repeal AB-329 and Reject the Framework. In this case, the word framework describes the newly planned curriculum for California health education.

In 2011, a bill was passed to teach homosexuality and transgender issues to children beginning in kindergarten. Senate Bill 48 (SB-48) was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Mark Leno and Rep. Tom Ammiano. The new bill expands on SB-48.

Parents can choose to opt their children out of certain aspects of sexual education. Some of the speakers at the rally said that the opt-out process was made to be complex, or even ignored by some educators.

After the rally, the group went to the final meeting of the Health Education Framework to protest its implementation. Starting May 2019, California schools will be mandated to teach content from the new bill.

Lawmakers Voice

Two of Californias Republican senators, Brian Jones and Mike Morrell, both representing districts in Southern California, voiced their opposition to the bill.

Jones cited his own family as his reasons for opposition. The State Board of Education is attacking our liberty with its disgusting and unintellectual proposals, Jones said. The parent-child relationship is sacred and special to each family, and parents and guardians know what is best for their children.

I dont like the government to dictate to my wife and I, how to raise our kids, Jones said.

Morrell spoke of the moral issue of the bill and said that California often guides the United States in policy. It is said, as California goes, so goes the nation, Morrell said. Ladies and gentlemen, California is the battleground for the soul of the United States of America.

Morrell mentioned the moral side of this argument, loosely referencing George Washingtons Farewell Address in 1796. Of all the habits and dispositions [sic] which lead to political prosperity, morality and religion [sic] are indispensable supports.

Morrell said that some individuals in the Democratic Party no longer call themselves progressives, but instead socialists. In response to the bill, Morrell sponsored SB-673, which gives more power to parents to make decisions about a childs sexual education.

Socialist Teaching

Gheorghe Rosca, who is both a civil engineer and a pastor, spoke at the rally about his family who lived under the communist regime in Romania. Theres plenty of people who have grown up in communist countries, Rosca said, pointing to members of the audience. Were here to tell you, that we see where this is heading.

Communism will take away all of your liberties, and each one of these laws, which communist elites here in California are passing, are taking away our American freedoms, Rosca said.

Rosca said the collusion runs deep, and the people who passed the bill are now in leadership positions in the states Department of Education. These individuals are also on the instructional quality commission, as well as the committee, which reviews new curriculum.

Democratic Rep. Shirley Weber authored AB-329, and is a member of the California Instructional Quality Commission. The commissions responsibility is to advise the state board of education about matters related to curriculum and instruction, according to the California Department of Education website.

They get to review their own curriculum, which they submit for review, Rosca said. Conflict of interest!

Rochelle Conner, president of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of California, gave a similar warning. This is socialist-communism, and they are trying to remove our first amendment rights, they are trying to remove the education of our Constitution, declaration, and bill of rights in our country.

Conner said it is not up to the state to decide what is age-appropriate content for childrens sexual education, but rather parental rights.

Declining Education

Aileen Blachowski, co-founder of Informed Parents of California and rally organizer, said that the foundation of the nation is being changed with these laws. Like Morrell, she said California is the staging area for many changes in the United States. Theyre a model for whats being rolled out around the country right now.

Blachowski shared a sex-ed book in an interview, which illustrates what she described as inappropriate scenes of romance. This is cartoon porn, Blachowski said. She also described the previous bill SB-48 as indoctrination of kindergarten students, calling it mental molestation of children.

Stephanie Yates, fellow co-founder and organizer with Blachowski, spoke on a specific intention of the bill. They want to teach children how to give and receive consent, Yates said. Our children are not legally allowed to give and receive consent.

If you teach children how to give and receive consent, then we dont need consent laws, Yates said, warning about predators taking advantage of children. Its state-sanctioned child sexual abuse.

Marlo Tucker, California state director for Concerned Women For America, warned about the state of Californias education. They are choosing sexual degradation over academics.

How many of you are proud that our great state of California ranks near the bottom of the nation with math and reading scores in public schools? Tucker asked. According to U.S. News, California ranks 44th in the nation for pre-K to 12 education.

She said the bill prioritizes hyper-sensitivity, and an ever-changing radical sexual agenda to distract our children from their studies.

America Figueroa removed her child from public education because of the laws on sexual education in California. Her son, Samuel, stood by her side as she spoke at the rally. Our kids are not beingare not getting the correct education, theyre getting an agenda [for] indoctrination, Figueroa said.

I refuse to let my kids be an experiment to the society or to the legislation, Figueroa said. Dont be afraid to be politically incorrect.

Samuel, now 10 years old and in the fifth grade, spoke after his mother. He said he was removed from school because the school didnt honor his mothers opt-out letter. The letter is to remove a child from participating in sex-ed classes.

Im a boy, why do schools need to question my identity? Samuel said. He cited that surveys were given to students to question if they identify as male or female.

Kira Davis, a producer and political commentator, defended parents who opposed the legislation. What has bothered me the most about this struggle, is how good, honest, hardworking, taxpaying parents have been painted as somehow hateful, as somehow on the fringe.

The conversation about sex and sexuality, beyond the biology of it, belongs in the home, Davis said. We are here for our children.

This article has been updated to reflect that Morrell sponsored bill SB-673, not AB-329. The Epoch Times regrets this error.
Sony to Close Smartphone Plant in China to Cut Costs

BEIJING/TOKYOSony Corp is closing its Beijing smartphone plant, a spokesman said on March 28, as the Japanese electronics giant cuts costs in an attempt to make the money-losing handset business more profitable.

The business is one of Sonys few weak spots and is facing a loss of 95 billion yen ($863 million) for the financial year ending this month.

The spokesman said the decision to close the plant was not related to U.S.-Chinese trade tensions. Production will stop by the end of the month, he added, but declined to say how many jobs would be affected by the closure.

Following the closure, Sony will only make smartphones at a plant in Thailand but will continue to outsource some production to contract manufacturers, the spokesman, who declined to be identified, said.

Some analysts have said Sony should sell the smartphone business given acute price competition with Asian rivals. The company has a global market share of less than one percent, shipping just 6.5 million handsets this financial year, mainly to Japan and Europe.

But Sony has said it has no intention to sell as it expects smartphones to be a central part of fifth-generation wireless networks, where cars and various devices can be connected. It aims to make the business profitable in the financial year beginning April 2020.

Fujitsu Ltd last year sold its mobile phone business to investment fund Polaris Capital Group, leaving just three Japanese smartphone makersSony, Sharp Corp and Kyocera Corp in a global market dominated by Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and cheaper Chinese rivals.

Samsung late last year said it would cease operations at one of its mobile phone plants in China, as its sales in the worlds biggest smartphone market slumped.

Smartphone Shipments Down

China boasts the worlds biggest smartphone market, but a slowing economy, exacerbated by a trade war with the United States, has seen demand for gadgets drop across the tech sector.

Smartphone shipments to China in February fell to their lowest in six years, market data indicated, as consumers continued to put off handset purchases amid a slowing economy.

Shipments are the number of smartphones that manufacturers deliver to retailers and carriers, different from sales that happen when customers actually buy these smartphones.

Shipments to China totaled 14.5 million units in February, down 19.9 percent from a year ago, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government-affiliated research institute.

That is the lowest since February 2013, when shipments to China totaled 20.7 million.

By Pei Li & Josh Horwitz
Sunburns, Starvation Used as Torture Methods by Prison in China

A prison in Sichuan Province, China, is being used as a torture facility to inflict cruel and unusual punishment on prisoners, particularly on adherents of Falun Gong, according to the Chinese language website Minghui.org.

According to Minghui.org, a website that documents the persecution of Falun Gong in China, there are specific forms of torture used specifically on Falun Gong practitioners. The torture includes facing a wall for a certain amount of time, forcing individuals to sit facing the hot summer sun for hours, and wearing only a single-layer of clothing outdoors in the middle of winter.

The torture victims have also been forced to wear motorcycle helmets that are sprayed full of tear gas. The report also said that prisoners have time limits set on their meals, often being allowed only 15 seconds to consume their share.

These forms of torture are used on believers of Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, in an attempt to make them renounce their faith. The practitioners follow the self-improvement system that is based on the universal values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has attempted to destroy Falun Gong for nearly 20 years. The report said that the persecution methods employed by the prisons were designed to first break the minds will and then torture the body.

Prison Persecution

The prison in Sichuan is called Jiazhou Prison but according to the report, the facility is kept secret and the entrance of the building is labelled as Chenma Group Ltd. About 200 Falun Gong practitioners are imprisoned there, with roughly 3,500 other inmates and surrounded by 500 prison guards, according to Minghui.org.

The prison uses forced labor for its own production means. Some prisoners work 10 hours a day without pay to produce locally consumed hard liquor. Others are forced to make hardware that is used in phones, computers, and televisions.

Falun Gong adherents are put under surveillance 24 hours a day, and constantly followed by guards or inmates.

Torture of Falun Gong

One form of torture that Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to is called three points, one line in which an individual is forced to stand for hours facing a wall with their nose, knees, and toes always making contact with the wall. It is one of the first forms of persecution that Falun Gong practitioners go through when they arrive at the prison.

The torture is followed by interrogationthe prisoners are ordered to give details about their name, place of residence and other personal information. They are forced to strip naked and then their heads are shaved. Afterwards, they have to continue facing the wall, or be prodded and inspected while naked, followed by squatting and standing while facing prison officials. They are then forced to sit cross-legged for several hours.

Another form of torture is eating meals within a set time, allowing the individual to consume their food for only a few seconds. The time allotted is set by the mood of the head guard, and often wont go longer than 15 seconds.

After prisoners are allowed to eat, they are forced to stand against a wall in the three points, one line position. This form of torture can last for months.

Falun Gong practitioners go through a torture method called Sunflower. They are made to stand outside under the blistering heat of the summer sun, facing a metal pole in the three points, one line position. They are not allowed to close their eyes. As the sun moves through the sky, the practitioners must follow its direction and continue facing it.

Others are forced to sit on cement squares, which becomes scalding hot under the suns heat. These individuals must put their bare back to the suns rays for hours at a time.

Victims of this torture end up not only with severe sun burns but also with massive blisters, described to be as large as an egg. Their bodies swell, and pus drips from their blisters. Others pass out. Those who pass out are given a tincture that is supposed to prevent heat stroke. But when they awake, the torture continues.

In the winter, Falun Gong practitioners are made to sit outside cross-legged from seven in the morning until ten at night. They are only allowed to wear a single, thin layer of clothing. Victims suffer from frost bite and chill burns.

Another kind of torture involves forcing victims to wear helmets with windshields, similar to a motorcycle helmet. The hands are bound and mouth is gagged, and after the helmet is strapped on, the guards spray tear gas onto ones face, and close the wind shield. The tear gas causes severe damage to ones eyes, including swelling and dimmed vision. Guards also mock the victims.

Other forms of torture that Falun Gong practitioners suffer include beatings, shocking with electric batons, sleep deprivation, and long hours of forced labor.

The final objective of the torture methods is to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their faith by signing a document called the Four Certificates.

Falun Gong adherents have endured these cruel forms of torture since the persecution started in 1999. The CCP continues its persecution against individuals of faith, as belief in the divine is considered a threat to the ideology of communism.
Swedbank's Acting CEO Anders Karlsson and Chairman of the Board Lars Idermark attend a news conference in connection with Swedbank's Annual General Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden March 28, 2019. TT News Agency/Henrik Montgomery/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN.

Swedbank Dumps CEO as Money Laundering Claims Spook Investors

STOCKHOLMSwedbank dismissed Birgitte Bonnesen as chief executive on March 28 only an hour before its annual meeting after disgruntled shareholders rounded on her handling of a rapidly-growing money laundering scandal.

The lender had repeatedly said it had faith in Bonnesen to calm concerns over allegations that Swedbanks Baltic accounts were used to launder money, but Swedish economic crime authoritys decision on March 27 to broaden its probe to cover suspected fraud proved to be the final straw for its board.

Investors had criticized Bonnesen for her communication and the way she has handled the allegations, which have sparked investigations by regulators and wiped a third off the market value of Swedens oldest savings bank.

Bonnesens dismissal was what we wanted and was the only solution that is viable, Ossian Ekdahl, chief active ownership officer at The First Swedish National Pension Fund, told Reuters from the annual general meeting.

The allegations against Swedbank, largely reported by Swedish TV, have linked it to a scandal at Danske Bank which faces potential lawsuits, fines, and sanctions after admitting last year that some 200 billion euros ($225 billion) of suspicious payments had flowed through its Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.

Alecta, a shareholder on Swedbanks nomination committee, warned it could demand further dismissals if the board did not take immediate action to restore confidence in the bank.

Shares in Swedbank were down 3.7 percent when trading was halted at the banks request just before Bonnesen was fired. When trading resumed after the AGM the shares extended losses and were down 8.4 percent at 1543 GMT. Fellow Swedish bank SEB was also hit, with its stock down 6.5 percent.

I do not rule out calling an extraordinary meeting in the near future to get a new board in place, said Magnus Billing, CEO of Alecta, which is Swedbanks third-largest shareholder.

Alecta and fellow shareholder AP1 were among Swedbank investors who, in a rare public expression of discontent, successfully voted against granting Bonnesen freedom from liability for 2018.

Bonnesen, who was Swedbanks chief audit executive between 2009 and 2011, which included overseeing the banks anti-money laundering policy, before running its Baltic operations until 2014, told Swedens Expressen newspaper that she had done nothing wrong.

Bonnesen said the last six months had been tough and when asked by Expressen if she felt she had done nothing wrong, Bonnesen replied: Yes, I do.

SVT has alleged, citing internal documents, that Bonnesen failed to prevent billions of euros of suspicious transactions.

Investors say Bonnesen denial of any Swedbank links to the Danske Bank scandal as recently as Jan. 29 and her subsequent backtracking sowed confusion and damaged confidence in the bank.

Her decision not to initiate an external investigation was overturned under shareholder pressure and the eventual release of a heavily-redacted version of an external report was not enough to quell rising shareholder anger.

Regardless of what the crime investigation shows, recently it has been far too turbulent for the bank to be able to focus on  managing the core business, Billing said.

Swedish Soul Searching

Sweden has been gripped by the scandal, which has dominated headlines and sparked parliamentary debates over the reputation of Nordic banks, which have long been held to be among the most trustworthy and least risky.

It has also stunned many Swedes, who take pride in the fact that their country is routinely ranked as one of the least corrupt in the world and boasts a level of transparency that leaves even individual tax returns in the public domain.

In a reflection of the mood among investors assembled in downtown Stockholm for the AGM, a string of critical comments by small shareholders were met with loud applause, a rarity at normally subdued corporate gatherings.

Chairman Lars Idermark said Swedbank had been honest with authorities looking into the allegations, while both he and acting CEO Anders Karlsson expressed regret over its communications.

We will do everything we can to be as transparent as possible, Idermark promised investors.

By Esha Vaish & Johan Ahlander
Teachers Trump-Related Assignment Triggers Anger from Parents

Officials and parents in Houston, Texas, expressed outrage at a school assignment given to seventh-grade students at a local public school which included a passage titled Trump Against American Values.

Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R) posted a photo of the assignment on Facebook along with a note from an angry parent. The passage in the assignment comes from a student-written essay and features statements like some of Trumps policies have gone against American value and accuses President Donald Trump of making racist remarks and calls on the American people to take a stand against the commander-in-chief.

This individual has violated the sacred trust that every parent has with the State of Texas when they send their child into a public school, Cain wrote. They have lost the privilege of being in a classroom with Texas children, and forfeit the title of teacher.

No teacher should attempt to indoctrinate a child to their ideology, no matter who is in the White House.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the assignment included a series of 10 student-written essays with questions asking what can be inferred from the essay.

The multiple-choice answers included options like Donald Trump should not be president and Americas future is in danger and the United States will impeach Donald Trump.

Chris Felder, the concerned parent who contact Cain, called his daughters assignment very out of place to say the least.

This type of non-factual rhetoric has no place in our schools regardless of who the president is, Felder wrote. My children have experienced great teachers in the classroom, but have also had to put up with those who see their role as indoctrinators, not educators.

As a fellow graduate of Goose Creek ISD, Im embarrassed that this is what our district tolerates.

According to Cain, the local school districts superintendent, Randal OBrien, had taken action to correct the situation.

It is our understanding that he and his administration have done all that state law allows them to do at this time, Cain said.

The school district received a number of calls, some of which included death threats after the controversial assignment was circulated online. The district pointed out that the matter was addressed before it received widespread attention.

We received many calls at the district following the issue of a media release and social media post that told part of the story and did not reflect the fact that the matter had been resolved within the district, the district stated.

Many of those calls were deeply disturbing and threatening in nature, the district added. While we all agree that the particular passage should not have been used, the teacher made a simple error in judgment. Like all of us, teachers are human and make mistakes from time to time.

Cain issued a response to the schools statement when the Chronicle provided the statement to him.

I am glad that we had the opportunity to bring this situation to light and encourage civil discourse on this incident, Cain said in the statement. Im also grateful to OBrien and the district for the actions they took before my office brought this issue to light.

I know Superintendent OBrien personally and have seen first-hand how much he cares for students and high ethical standards in education.

Some view this incident as a simple mistake, others see it as a betrayal of parents and students. Sunlight is the best remedy to inappropriate behavior in the classroom. The importance of Texans being made aware of such actions is to ensure public accountability to indoctrination in the classroom.
They Have to Be Accountable: Trump Calls Out Collusion Creators at Michigan Rally

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.In his first rally since special counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up his nearly 2-year-long investigation, President Donald Trump returned to familiar groundthe campaign trailwhere he put those behind the investigation in the spotlight.

After 3 years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead. The collusion delusion is over, Trump told 12,000 supporters in the Van Andel Arena.

The stage was set with a giant American flag as a backdrop, flanked with banners reading Jobs Jobs Jobs!a different tone from Trumps opening rally of the year in El Paso, Texas, which read Finish the Wall.

Donald Trump Jr., who spoke right before his father struck a victorious tone: Its not just our vindication its your vindication. Because you stuck by us.

The first thing the president addressed was his vindication via the Mueller report, which concluded that he and his campaign associates did not collude or coordinate with Russia in efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.

The president then swiftly shifted his focus to the Democrats and perpetrators of the Russian investigation, calling it a sinister effort after refusing to accept the results of the 2016 election.

Their fraud has been exposed and the credibility of those who pushed this hoax is forever broken, Trump said. And theyve now got big problems.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) was one of the most prominent voices among the Democratic Party that pushed the collusion claims. He claimed on television that theres plenty of evidence of collusion or conspiracy in plain sight.

Trump called Schiff sick and not a long ball hitter. He gave the same description to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).

The president and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have called for Schiffs resignation.

The president also made reference to the so-called Steele dossier which was at the heart of the allegations that he colluded with Russia.

All of the current and former officials who paid for, promoted, and perpetuated the single greatest hoax in the history of politics in our country, they have to be accountable, Trump said.

Just think of it, a fake dirty dossier, millions of millions of dollars paid for it by who? Crooked Hillary Clinton, the DNC, and the Democratic Party.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced on March 25 that his committee will investigate alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which resulted in the yearlong surveillance of a former Trump-campaign associate.

Graham called on Barr to appoint a second special counsel to scrutinize the events that led to the counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign.

On the same note, Trump said America is not a country that can criminalize political differences.

We do not abuse the law enforcement and intelligence power to target our political opponents, he said. We cant have two different standards of justice in our country, one with the left-wing radical establishment that can get away with everything they want.

Throughout his hour-long speech, Trump repeated a line to summarize the investigation: The single, greatest political hoax in our country.

Barrs four-page summary to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate judiciary committees said that the special counsel interviewed approximately 500 witnesses, executed almost 500 search warrants, issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, obtained more than 230 orders for communications records, and authorized nearly 50 pen registers.

The presidents response to the Russian investigation appeared to be the focal point of the rally but he also touched on the usual highlights, including the strong economy, positive stock market, low unemployment, border security, and his criticism of socialist policies.

He said the Democratic Party needs to decide whether to continue defrauding the public or to apologize to Americans over the Russian investigation.

He called on them to join him to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, bring down the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs help us fix our broken trade deals.

Trump also brought up Empire actor Jussie Smollett, who staged a racist, anti-gay attack in January, but whose charges were dropped by Chicagos Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx, who defended the decision on March 27.

In the fake incident, Smollett claimed two Trump supporters beat him up, put a noose around his neck, poured bleach on him, and yelled This is MAGA country.

The president called the whole incident a terrible situation at the rally. Thats an embarrassment not only to Chicago, that is an embarrassment to our country.
A father and daughter rest while someone holds their place before sunrise in a long line to buy basic foodstuffs at a supermarket on March 8, 2014 in San Cristobal, the capital of Tachira state, Venezuela. John Moore/Getty Images

US, Canadian Communists Meet With Venezuela Leadership

Commentary

Earlier in March, a communist-led delegation from the United States and Canada arrived in Venezuela for a series of meetings with the struggling socialist nations senior leadership.

Several members of this delegation have a history of supporting the United States enemies in Tehran, Damascus, Moscow, Beijing, Pyongyang, Havana, and now Caracas. This raises major questions about whether these individuals are working against the United States with hostile foreign countries in violation of federal law.

The delegation was organized by the U.S. Peace Council, which is led by the Communist Party USA and is an affiliate of the still-existing Soviet-era international communist front group the World Peace Council, which also provided some support.

According to the Marxist-Leninist Workers World newspaper: Leaders of the anti-war movement in the United States arrived in Caracas on March 9 and 10 to find out firsthand the truth of how the government and population are responding to the U.S.-led attacks on Venezuela. They will use this truth to build solidarity with the worldwide efforts to stop the covert U.S. war, economic sabotage and propaganda assault on Venezuela.

Leaders of the 13-member delegation included:

Bahman Azad : organizational secretary of the U.S. Peace Council; member of the coordinating committee of Hands Off Syria Coalition; former Iranian military officer.

Gerry Condon : president of Veterans for Peace; member of a 2016 peace and fact-finding delegation to Syria; member of the coordinating committee of Hands Off Syria Coalition. Part of an extended private meeting with pro-Russia President Bashar al Assad.

Sara Flounders : co-coordinator of the Workers World Party-controlled International Action Center; leading member of the pro-North Korea Workers World Party; member of the coordinating committee of Hands Off Syria Coalition. In September 2010, Flounders attended a meeting in New York with Irans then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and approximately 130 members of the U.S. peace and social justice movements.

Ajamu Baraka : national coordinator of the militant Black Alliance for Peace; ember of the African Heritage Delegation to Israel/Palestine, November 2014. Traveled to the Republic of Ireland to the First International Conference Against U.S./NATO Foreign Military Bases attended by members of the socialist political party Sinn Fein and Cuban parliamentarian and daughter of late Cuban terrorist Che Guevara, Dr. Aleida Guevara.

Joe Lombardo : co-coordinator of the United National Antiwar Coalition; active supporter of the Moscow-based Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia; member of the coordinating committee of Hands Off Syria Coalition.

Sarah Martin : member of Women Against Military Madness, Minneapolis; member of the pro-China Freedom Road Socialist OrganizationFightBack! In February 2009, Martin was denied entry to the Palestinian Territories by Israeli security forces. In November 2018, she attended the First International Conference Against U.S./NATO Foreign Military Bases in Ireland.

Miguel Figueroa : president of the Canadian Peace Congress; leader of the Communist Party of Canada 19922015.

Historic Struggle

The North American delegation met with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, who discussed with them the historic struggle between the U.S. and Venezuela over who will control the great oil and gold resources of this South American nation, according to the Workers World report.

According to Arreaza, Russia, China, and Turkey are helping Venezuela. We need the solidarity of the whole world, though, he said. Terrorist brigades are being armed against us.

Arreaza reportedly urged the delegates to use their combined organizational strength to defend Venezuelan socialism on the streets in North America.

Arreaza made it clear that the Bolivarian government attaches great importance to the potential response of the people in the U.S. He said you must be in the front lines, that you are the first victims of imperialism and that the most fundamental change will happen inside the United States, according to Workers World.

The members of the delegation and their organizations are currently working toward a major protest rally to take place March 30 in Washington. Joe Lombardos United National Antiwar Coalition originally called this event to protest the upcoming 70th anniversary of NATO, set to be celebrated there by the Western warmakers on April 4, according to Workers World. But after the U.S. moves against the government in Caracas, the coalition refocused the March 30 action more urgently on opposing U.S. intervention in Venezuela.

Arreaza also explained to the delegation that, in countering the nationwide electrical power blackouts, Venezuela had to deal with an attack on the brain of its electrical system.

The enemy knows the weakness of the system, he said. The U.S. knows what Venezuela could not buy or replace. Knows what we have. This is cyber terrorism!

The delegation also met with Dr. Carolus Wimmer, the international relations secretary of the Communist Party of Venezuela and head of the so-called Committee of International Solidarity, which hosted the members.

Also scheduled were meetings with Carlos Ron, the vice minister of foreign affairs for North America, and Pasqualina Curcio, an economist at the Central University of Venezuela, who blamed the United States for Venezuelas disastrous economy.

Curcio discussed the U.S. role in creating the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. These include shortages of necessities: toilet paper, corn, milk, coffee and vital medicines, according to the Workers World report.

Undermining U.S. Foreign Policy

These individuals are effectively offering their services to enemy foreign officials to help undermine U.S. military and foreign policy to the benefit of hostile foreign powers. If they were doing this in time of declared war it would be regarded as straightforward treason.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires that agents representing the interests of foreign powers in a political or quasi-political capacity disclose their relationship with the foreign government and information about related activities and finances.

Are these people registering with the Justice Department as agents of a foreign power? If not, why not?

The Trump administration is clearly working with the United States friends in Colombia and Brazil toward a much-needed regime change in Venezuela. This will not just be good for Venezuela but will serve U.S. strategic interests by countering Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and now, apparently, Turkish influence in Latin America.

Why are American communists and their allies being allowed to sabotage this laudable goal?

Trevor Loudon is an author, filmmaker, and public speaker from New Zealand. For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Woman Jailed 10 Years for Making String of False Rape Claims Loses Appeal to Overturn Conviction

A woman who was handed a 10-year prison sentence in 2017 for making a string of false rape allegations and sexual assault claims has lost an appeal to overturn her conviction.

Jemma Beale, from Hounslow, West London, was given the jail term in August 2017 after claiming she was raped by nine men and sexually assaulted by six in four incidents over the course of three years.

Her bid to overturn her convictions for perverting the course of justice and perjury was rejected by three judges at the Southwark Crown Court of Appeal on March 28.

Fake rape complainant who had man jailed for two years loses appeal against conviction and sentence. Court of Appeal judges say Jemma Beale showed no indication of remorse pic.twitter.com/4Yrf1UHkyi  CourtNewsUK (@CourtNewsUK) March 28, 2019

The 27-year-olds false claims against 15 men led to one serving a two-year prison term after being wrongly convicted of rape, while another fled the country.

The string of claims meant police spent more than 250,000 ($326,900) and 6,400 hours investigating her allegations, The Times reported.

Gillian Jones QC, a lawyer representing Beale, told the Court of Appeal the trial judge should have told the jury about the danger of assumptions, myths, and stereotypes surrounding victims of sexual offences.

Jones also argued that Beales loss of anonymity, which led to intense scrutiny in the media, caused prejudice to Beales defence.

The learned judge erred because he failed to give a direction about the dangers of myths and stereotypes, Jones said.

She was the subject of extensive media scrutiny in which she was vilified. The effect of which might have been to further prejudice the jury in the absence of such a direction.

This reporting compounded or could have compounded these myths and stereotypes which were never corrected by way of judicial guidance to the jury.

Beales lawyers added that if guilty, she should be handed a shorter sentence as she had suffered abuse as a child.

That clearly had a huge impact on this young womans life and resulted in a rapid downward spiral, Jones said, describing her as a very damaged young lady.

It clearly had a large part to play in the way she acted, she added.

But the court rejected the arguments and Beale was described by judges as a serial liar who fabricated accounts mostly of a sexual nature to make her girlfriend jealous and showed no indication of remorse.

Jemma Beale, 27, was described as a serial liar who invented allegations in part to make her female lover jealous https://t.co/J26MGk0jcL  The Times of London (@thetimes) March 29, 2019

This case went far further then myths and stereotypes about a complainants behaviour. The appellant was accused of being a serial liar who fabricated accounts mostly of a sexual nature, Lady Justice Hallett said.

In the light of the evidence called even if the guidance was given it would not have assisted the appellant.

The system of justice has suffered considerable harmconsiderable resources have been spent investigating and prosecuting crimes which never happened. There has been no indication of remorse on the appellants part, she added.

Judges Lady Justice Hallett, Mr. Justice Warby, and Sir John Royce agreed Beales 10-year jail term cannot be described as excessive, as they dismissed her appeal against her sentence.

Lady Justice Hallet reminded the court that in November 2010, Beale falsely accused Mahad Cassim of rape, for which he was jailed for seven years, and served a two-year sentence. His conviction was subsequently quashed in 2015 after serious concerns were raised over the authenticity of Beales claims.

Woman convicted of perjury & perverting the course of justice re: false rape allegations https://t.co/FEjGsLLsWX pic.twitter.com/VmuSqVASQR  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) July 6, 2017

While Cassim was behind bars, Beale had later been awarded 11,000 ($14,380) by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. At her trial it was reported she had invented the allegations to get money, the Times reported.

The idea that a woman could send an innocent man to prison for years solely so she could obtain compensation beggars belief, Lady Justice Hallett said.
On a morning in late March in Weston, Jane Garcin had just shipped a set of baby shoes hand-painted with childrens favorite motifs of Easter.

By the time the calendar flips to December, Garcin expects to have a full stock of shoes for the year-end holidays  with no shortage more capturing any number more images from the intervening seasons, from ladybugs to pumpkins.

Through her startup SoleBaby, Garcin is selling shoes painted by hand with whimsical images appealing to children and their parents, whether for special occasions, as keepsakes or even for everyday romping about the house.

Garcin stumbled onto the SoleBaby concept after searching in vain for baby shoes with whimsical designs as a gift, and decided to try to make them herself. It dawned on her that other people might be looking for better options as well, whether for their own families or gifts to others.

I painted a couple of pairs and people were very receptive, Garcin said. I thought, you know what? I am just going to sit down with my paintbrush and give it a go.

It only took her about a half-dozen tries to arrive at the right recipe for material and paint (canvas and acrylic) to create miniature murals that could hold their color and vibrancy. Garcin said the shoes can hold up to the normal wear to which a baby might subject them, as well as rain and puddles.

Garcin told Hearst Connecticut Media her own interest in the arts goes back as far as she can remember, and that while she has little in the way of formal training she has indulged her interest over the years by dabbling with paintings for children in her family.

She grew up in Connecticut and after graduating from Syracuse University ended up in a technology marketing career, initially with the Internet World subsidiary of MecklerMedia, at the time based in Norwalk as one of the earliest trade publications as early web browsers like Netscape came to the fore.

Garcin says she is learning anew about the Internet in an emerging era of social media and online influencers who can lift the visibility of products on websites like Etsy, where SoleBaby shoes are sold at www.etsy.com/shop/SoleBabyCo. As of Friday on the website, a search under the term baby shoes returned thousands of options, ranging from $10 crib moccasins to handknit baby booties for more than $450.

SoleBaby shoes sell for $55 with Garcin charging an extra $10 at present for any custom designs buyers may desire. She has made several dozen to date, with most designs taking her about an hour to complete, and laces matching predominant colors for each individual pair.

Garcin said she has fielded a query from a shoe industry representative interested in mass-producing her designs, but for now plans to keep SoleBaby in the cottage industry realm, while not ruling out a bigger business down the road. As business picks up, she is considering hiring art students to keep up with demand.

The trend right now is handcrafted (things)  people seem to like that, Garcin said. What I would like to do eventually is introduce a fashion calendar almost, with four collections a year: spring, summer, fall and the holidays.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
Alex Jones, who claimed the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was staged, may now be blaming his opinion on a form of psychosis he had in the past where I basically thought everything was staged ... even though Im learning a lot of things arent staged.

According to published reports, those claims were made earlier this month when Jones was grilled during an Austin, Texas, deposition taken in connection with one of the lawsuits brought by parents of some of the 20 children killed in the 2012 shooting.

Gunman Adam Lanza, who also killed his mother and six educators during the mass shooting, killed himself as police approached the school.

Jones spent more than three hours answering questions posed by lawyers in a suit claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress brought on behalf of Jessie Lewis, one of the slain children, by his mother, Scarlett Lewis.

The Lewis suit is just one of several lawsuits against Jones and others pending in Texas, Virginia and Connecticut.

The video of the deposition was posted in two parts on YouTube.

Jones often ran his hands through his neatly trimmed beard and short hair and took deep breaths, which he loudly exhaled.

At one point, as he was questioned about people debunking his theory and the debates that followed, Jones said I dont live, eat, breathe and sleep this stuff. If I had it all over to do, I would have done a better job. I didnt do it on purpose to be malicious.

It was not long after the shooting that Jones maintained on his InfoWars program that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, part of a government attempt to pass laws that would limit the right to bear arms.

Jones has claimed the school shooting was staged by paid actors who faked the childrens deaths.

The Austin American-Statesman said Jones told the lawyers during the Texas deposition, Its painful that we have to question big public events. I think thats an essential part of the First Amendment in America.

But, even as he said he has come to believe over the years that the Sandy Hook shootings were real, he continued in the deposition to voice conspiratorial suspicions that the whole truth about what happened remained hidden, the American-Statesman reported.

I think weve agreed before that Sandy Hook was real. It was not staged. It was not phony. You were wrong about that, said Mark Bankston of the Texas law firm of Farrar and Ball, representing Lewis, said, according to the Statesman.

Well, I want to be clear, Jones replied, according to the Statesman. I believe children died. I believe there was a mass shooting. I still think that there was a man in the woods in camo. ... And just a lot of experts Ive talked to, including retired FBI agents and other people and people high up in the Central Intelligence Agency, have told me that there is a cover-up in Sandy Hook.

Asked toward the end of the deposition whether people should be accountable for the people they hurt, Jones replied sometimes people claim theyve been hurt when they havent been. So you have to look at the agenda behind things. You have to balance things about why has the mainstream media lied so much, why our governments lied so much, the fact that the public doesnt believe what theyre told anymore, and are we going to criminalize questioning Jussie Smollett or WMDs or babies in incubators. And it really is the fact that weve allowed the government and institutions to become so corrupt that people have lost any compass of whats real.

Bankston asked Jones about the assertion by his lawyers at a pretrial hearing in his 2017 child custody case that in his on-air persona, Jones was a performance artist.

So I want to ask you, I want to know, Bankston asked. When you were making these claims about Sandy Hook, were you being a journalist, or was this all performance art?

When I say things on air, I believe it, Jones said.

Bankston asked Jones about his relationship with Wolfgang Halbig, described as a former Florida school security officer.

Halbig, according to The New York Times, promoted a baseless tale that Avielle Richman, one of the first-graders killed in Sandy Hook, was still alive.

Just this week, Richmans father, Jeremy took his life near his office of the Avielle Foundation at the Edmond Town Hall in Newtown. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization that studies brain science.

Earlier this month, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis gave families of the slain children the right to interview Jones under oath for five hours as part of the lawsuit discovery process. She also recommended the case be moved to the complex litigation docket in state Superior Court in Waterbury, where she will be sitting beginning Sept. 1.

In another matter, a federal judge in Virginia refused to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against Jones by the Georgetown Law Schools Civil Rights Clinic on behalf of Brennan Gilmore. Gilmore was a counterprotester who filmed the car attack that killed Heather Heyer and injured 36 others during the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Va.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing, capital of China, March 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing Thursday, vowing to promote cooperation in various fields.

Calling Kazakhstan a good neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of China, Wang said that under the leadership of the first President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has made well-recognized achievements in national building and is playing an increasingly important role in international and regional affairs.

"China speaks highly of Nazarbayev's outstanding contribution to promoting China-Kazakhstan friendship. The new President (Kassym-Jomart) Tokayev has also been an old friend of Chinese people," Wang said, adding China has every confidence in the future of bilateral relations.

Noting the two sides should maintain close high-level exchanges and enhance political mutual trust, Wang said China welcomes the first President Nazarbayev to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Wang called on both parties to renew their efforts and work together in promoting the construction of the Belt and Road.

Both parties should deepen security cooperation, jointly safeguard the security and stability of the two countries and the region and maintain close cooperation in international and regional affairs, he added.

Atamkulov, for his part, stressed that Kazakhstan will continue to implement the important consensus reached by the first President Nazarbayev and President Xi Jinping and continuously strengthen and deepen the strategic cooperation between Kazakhstan and China.

Emphasizing that President Tokayev attaches great importance to the development of relations with China, the foreign minister said that Kazakhstan is willing to work with China to promote the construction of the Belt and Road and strengthen cooperation in various fields.

Atamkulov said Kazakhstan understands and supports the measures taken in Xinjiang to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism and to ensure regional security and stability.

[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]
Credit unions pride themselves on their local connections. By their nature, they are non-profit and their membership is limited to a specific group of people, but offer many of the same services as traditional banks and seek to provide a wide range of financial services. Because they are not obligated to stockholders, they are able to offer reduced fees.

Best Of readers voted for Connex Credit Union, Waterbury Teachers Federal Credit Union  Middlebury & Danbury, and Wepawaug-Flagg Federal Credit Union/Crosspoint Federal Credit Union  Hamden as their top choices (in no special order).

Dubbed as the Unbank, Connex Credit Union has local offices at 620 West Main St., Branford, and 849 Boston Post Road, Guilford. There are additional offices in North Haven (headquarters), Hamden, New Haven, Meriden, Orange, and Monroe.

In keeping with its mission to [i]mprov[e] the lives of our members One member at a time, Connex offers free educational workshops to help with financial planning, most recently Credit Score 101 and How to Create a Budget. Other topics have included Reverse Mortgages, Medicare, Online Services, Identity Theft, and First Time Homebuyers. Connex welcome suggestions and will also host workshops in your place of business.

Frank Mancini, president and CEO, said in his annual message that customer feedback was instrumental in two recent changes  expanded hours and the opening of an additional branch in Fairfield County.

With 57,000 members, Connex prides itself on community involvement, including its annual Stuff-A-Bus partnership with KC 101, which helped feed thousands of families for Thanksgiving. Connex donated 25 turkeys and made a $1,000 in-kind donation to support the effort. Earlier in the year, I was also extremely proud that we broke records at the ShamRock and Roll Race that supports The Diaper Bank.

Personal products include checking and savings account (including health savings accounts), loans, youth and life event accounts, and credit cards, plus money market accounts and CDs. On the business side, checking and savings accounts are available, of course, along with credit cards and various partnerships. Online and Mobile Wallet, electronic statements, bill payment and Call24 Banking telephone banking are also available.

For more information go to https://www.connexcu.org/home/home.

With more than 18,000 members, the Waterbury Teachers Federal Credit Union (WCTFCU) serves all persons paid through the Board of Education in 27 western Connecticut towns, including teachers, administrators and other eligible public, private, university and parochial school personnel, and their immediate families (spouse/partner, siblings, children, parents).

Based in Middlebury with a second branch in Danbury, state-of-the-art digital services are available through WCTFCUs website, secure mobile apps with mobile check deposit, online banking and bill-pay, e-statements, social media, email communications, tools to promote financial literacy, and more. Products include checking accounts, savings accounts (Money Market, IRAs, CDs, and club and youth accounts), Visa-based credit cards, personal, student, home, and car loans.

WCTFCU was founded in 1934 by seven Waterbury teachers. Its mission is to serve any person employed as a teacher, supervisor or principal in the Waterbury public schools. With John M. Brophy as president, and James E. Moran as secretary, the 72-member Waterbury Connecticut Teachers Federal Credit Union began operations on December 6, 1934. The early founders and promoters included Gerard McEvoy, Mary Kennedy, Mary Morris, Mary Clarkin, Aidan Donahue, Arthur Dowling, Lucy Shanahan, Thomas Nolan, Laura Stanton, William F. Moran and William B. Elwell.

For more information, go to https://www.wctfcu.com.

Founded in 1936, Wepawaug-Flagg Federal Credit Union recently changed its name to Crosspoint Federal Credit Union. The name Wepawaug, which was given to the nearby river by the Pauguesett tribe, means the crossing place, and the new name reflects that definition. Built on a legacy of serving teachers, the member-owners on the board of directors changed the name to reflect the changing needs of its members and community.

Based in Hamden, Crosspoint Federal Union has offices in downtown New Haven at 200 Orange St., in Branford at 249 West Main St., and on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University. Crosspoint is part of CO-OP, a network of nearly 30,000 ATMs and 5,000 shared branch locations, which offers more direct, surcharge-free access to funds than most traditional banks.

Products include checking and savings accounts, home, auto loans and personal loans, credit cards, tools to navigate various life events, and online and mobile banking.

From starting point to every cross point, we empower our members to achieve their financial aspirations, says Michael J. Hinchly, president/CEO.

For more information, go to https://crosspointfcu.org/.
An Ohio mother who is still grieving the loss of her 2-year-old son is now dealing with more heartache.

The man accused of killing the toddler, Satwinder Singh, died of an apparent drug overdose while in the Hamilton County Justice Center, Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil said.

Neil said Singh was found unresponsive in his cell Tuesday and possibly overdosed on an unknown substance. He was transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he later died.

On Thursday, Dameon Turner Jr.'s mother, Brittney Hutcherson, spoke about the joy her son brought to their family.

"Every morning, he'd wake up and be like, 'Mommy, I'm going to save the world,'" Hutcherson said.

Dameon loved to dress up as Batman and believed he was a superhero.

"He was just happy," Hutcherson said.

Dameon was killed Dec. 31, 2018. His father was pushing him in a stroller over the Hopple Street overpass when a driver, identified as Singh, jumped a curb and crashed into the toddler.

"He demolished my son. It ain't like he hit him and boom, no, he demolished my son," Hutcherson said.

Investigators said Singh was impaired at the time, under the influence of fentanyl, cocaine and other opiates.

He was indicted on aggravated vehicular homicide charges and had been awaiting trial in the Hamilton County Justice Center.

"I'm angry. I'm mad. I'm upset. I feel like I was failed," Hutcherson said. "Not only do I want more answers, but I want answers from the justice center, because I feel like they failed me also."

Hutcherson said she now won't ever get the justice she had been hoping for.

"I just wanted him to know what he did to my son," Hutcherson said.

Hutcherson said she had hoped to find it in her heart to forgive Singh one day, but now she never will.

"I don't even leave the house. I cry every day. I miss my baby, I do, I really do, and now I feel like I'm suffering even more," Hutcherson said.

The investigation into Singh's death is ongoing by the Hamilton County Heroin Task Force.
KIEV, Ukraine - A country at war with Russian-backed separatists appears ready to move a comedian and political novice one step closer to becoming the possible commander in chief.

Volodymyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old entertainer who plays a president on TV, leads in the polls ahead of the first round of Ukraine's presidential election Sunday.

Behind him, polls show, are the two erstwhile favorites with long political resumes: incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former prime minister Yuliya Tymoshenko. They are expected to be in a down-to-the-wire battle for second place to face Zelensky in the April 21 runoff vote.

The country's scrambled political landscape on the eve of the election reflects Ukraine's rocky road since mass protests toppled a Moscow-friendly president five years ago.

All three leading candidates say they want to continue deepening Ukraine's ties to Western institutions such as the European Union. But domestic discontent over a weak economy, war, and corruption in the entrenched political class has spurred many voters to spurn Poroshenko and Tymoshenko.

"We have a choice between 'stable but bad' or a future where things could be better," said Elena Velikaya, a 19-year-old student in Kiev, the Ukraine capital. "Everything is bad right now. With Zelensky maybe it will be better. We know Poroshenko. We know Tymoshenko."

Zelensky's does not openly embrace the type of nativist rhetoric that has catapulted to office other entertainers-turned-politicians such as President Donald Trump and Italy's deputy prime minister and interior minister, Matteo Salvini.

But Zelensky does represent wider political trends in recent years that have elevated outsiders over establishment candidates.

Poroshenko has tried to use the war against Russian-backed separatists in the east and Russia's occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea to whip up voter support in his favor. He's touted his support of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent of Moscow, his investment in the military, and his promotion of the Ukrainian language over Russian, which is also widely spoken in Ukraine.

"Either Poroshenko or Putin," said a campaign slogan unveiled by the Ukrainian president in January.

But many voters aren't buying it.

Offering few specifics, Zelensky has promised to sit down with Putin and negotiate an end to the five-year-old war, which the United Nations says has claimed some 13,000 lives. Zelensky, a native Russian speaker who hails from Ukraine's southeast, has called for a campaign to win back the hearts and minds of people living in separatist-occupied territory.

And while Poroshenko has said that he'd work to return Crimea to Ukrainian control "as soon as possible" after the elections, Zelensky has sounded a more pragmatic note.

"You and I know when Crimea will return - when there's a change of leadership in Russia," Zelensky said in a recent television interview.

Alina Boyko, a 26-year-old cafe owner in Kiev, said fatigue with the war was one reason she would likely vote for Zelensky.

"Poroshenko hasn't solved this problem. Everything is just continuing," she said of the war. "With Poroshenko, it definitely won't end. At least with Zelensky there will be a chance."

Surveys show that Ukrainian disenchantment with their political system has only grown since the country's pro-Western revolution in 2014. Just 9 percent of Ukrainian residents have confidence in their government, according to a Gallup World poll published this month - the lowest level measured by Gallup anywhere in the world. The poll found that only 12 percent of Ukrainians believe in the honesty of their elections and 91 percent see widespread corruption in government.

Zelensky channels that discontent in his popular sitcom, "Servant of the People," which began airing its third season this week. He plays a humble schoolteacher whose off-the-cuff anti-corruption rant is filmed surreptitiously by a student and goes viral, resulting in his being elected president.

Zelensky's character takes on Ukraine's oligarchs and vested interests - and the candidate has promised to do the same in real life. The synergy is such that his real-life campaign videos include clips from "Servant of the People."

In this week's episode, referring to the presidency, a teacher asks his class: "What's better, honest and not experienced, or experienced and greedy?"

The other front-runners in the election seem to be real-life examples of the political establishment that Zelensky promises to take on.

Poroshenko, the incumbent, is hoping for a second five-year term. He owns Ukraine's largest chocolate producer - hence the nickname, "The Chocolate King" - and served in numerous government positions before becoming president after the revolution.

Tymoshenko, who earned her fortune in the country's energy sector (earning her the moniker the "Gas Princess"), has twice served as prime minister and twice ran for president. In 2011, she was jailed on charges - widely seen as politically motivated - for abuse of power while prime minister. She was released after the revolution in February 2014.

Although Zelensky holds a comfortable lead - different polls give him varying percentages, but he's always in top position - it appears that he'll fall short of the 50 percent needed to win outright in Sunday's vote. In that case, he'll face the second place finisher in the runoff in April.

The true battle on Sunday, observers say, is between Poroshenko and Tymoshenko, who in some surveys are shown to be neck-and-neck. Out of the field of 39 candidates, two have names similar to the former prime minister: Yuriy Tymoshenko and Yulia Lytvynenko.

These "clone candidates" could result in confusion in the voting booth, especially among Tymoshenko's older voters. and raise the risk that Tymoshenko's supporters don't accept the result.

"The risk here is that there could be a constellation in which Poroshenko advances to the second round, but with a very small margin," said Andreas Umland, an expert at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation in Kiev. He said there's a risk that such a circumstance could lead to "protests, escalation and potential riots."

Western diplomats are also worried about potential violence. Ukrainian officials accredited the National Militia - a far right organization involved in attacks on Roma and gay people, and whom the State Department has labeled a hate group - as election observers.

Ambassadors from the Group of Seven industrialized countries - which includes the United States - this month sent a letter to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov flagging their concern about "extreme political movements in Ukraine, whose violent actions are worrying in themselves."

"We have noted with concern that the very same groups involved in the violent incidents have registered as election observers and publicly threatened to use violence should they consider that election fraud is occurring," the letter said.

Despite Zelensky's lead in the polls, both Tymoshenko's and Poroshenko's supporters are hoping that voters will refrain from backing a comedian with no political experience when they actually step into the ballot box on Sunday.

Poroshenko's closing appeal on his purple campaign posters affixed across Kiev is simply: "Think."

"I'm for Poroshenko, because he's more predictable," said Evgeny Pankratov, an IT specialist in Kiev. "And because he won't lead us to Russia. Among three evils, he's the lesser."

- - -

Troianovski reported from Moscow. The Washington Post's Natalia Abbakumova in Moscow contributed reporting.
The Holocaust-themed programming at the Wilton Library demonstrates the inspirational strength of those who went through those horrific times while it keeps awareness and remembrance of those events alive. The librarys town-wide reading program, Wilton Reads 2019, for example, features The Tattooist of Auschwitz as its book selection. The No. 1 New York Times Bestseller is historical fiction based on the life of Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov. The books author Heather Morris comes to the library on April 11.

And this weekend, violin virtuoso Igor Pikayzen presents music inspired by the Holocaust. The program, In Concert: Igor Pikayzen and Friends, takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 30, with Adrian Daurov on cello, Imri Talgam on piano, and Ezgi Icellioglu on viola.

This music, often written in concentration camps, is a testament to the human spirit and genius that shines through even the most desperate moments, explained Pikayzen. Some of the pieces are only now beginning to be played regularly, but this is music that deserves to be heard and that stands on its own merit.

Pikayzen is an award-winning Russian-American violinist who has performed as a soloist with major orchestras all over the world. He grew up in Westport and graduated from Staples High School, received his bachelors degree from Juilliard and a masters degree and artist diploma from the Yale School of Music.

This project came together in a very organic fashion, explained Pikayzen, about Saturdays program. I gave a recital with my mother, Tatyana Pikayzen, at the wonderful Brubeck room in Wilton Library last year, which attracted a full house and was a very enjoyable evening for all. In the summer, I programmed a concert of composers that lived through - and many perished - in the Holocaust at Westports summer music festival Edelio. I was initially a bit wary regarding how the audience would react to such a program, but it exceeded all my expectations. When Michael Bellacosa from the Wilton Library first approached me and told me about Wilton Reads and the subject matter of this years novel, we discussed a program centering around the Holocaust, perseverance and love, and the program came together itself.

Saturdays concert includes works by Gustav Mahler, Gideon Klein, Erwin Schulhoff, and Dmitry Shostakovich. The program also includes Beethovens Romance and the finale of Brahms Piano Quartet.

Since the main theme of the evening is not only the tragedy of the Holocaust but also the ever-conquering love, we will start with Gustav Mahlers hauntingly beautiful Piano Quartet, explained Pikayzen. One of the greatest symphonists in history, the Jewish-born Mahler had to convert in order to obtain the position of conductor in Vienna, something he struggled with his entire life.

Gideon Kleins String Trio was actually written in the concentration camp Theresienstadt, shortly before the composers death there, continued Pikayzen. It is an incredible, life-affirming piece with elements of Czech folk melodies and rhythms and is a true testament to the human spirit. As is the music of Erwin Schulhoff, one of the most promising talents in Vienna, who also perished in the camps. Perhaps the culmination of the evening will be the last movement of Dmitry Shostakovichs Second Piano Trio written in 1944, during the war. It repeats the infamous dance of death  a Jewish melody, constantly, hauntingly repeated in almost a mechanical, soulless fashion, often interpreted as people dancing on the graves of the Jews, even if Shostakovich himself never made any written allusion to what the theme represented for him.

Pikayzen brings a personal connection to the Saturdays program.

Coming from a Russian-Jewish family  my great-grandfather was killed on the front lines in September of 1941  of course the war left a mark on our family, like every Russian and Jewish family in Europe during that period. On my tenth visit to Poland, I made myself go to Auschwitz, to walk along those train tracks, see the pyramid of shoes, clothes, gas chambers that the Germans blew up ahead of the advancing Russian army. Its a place one must visit to begin to understand what humans are capable of.

For program information, visit: Wiltonlibrary.org

Mike Horyczuns Sound Surfing column appears every Saturday in The Hour. Mike can be reached at: news2mh@gmail.com
Questions surrounding the yet-to-be released report from special counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election stands to further widen the chasm between the right and the left in American politics, a trend experts fear could trickle into Connecticut and the 2020 election.

Lets be realistic, the majority of Americans who dont like Trump most likely wanted to see that report say he did collude and at the same time the people who do like him, wanted it to say he didnt, said Gayle Alberda, an assistant professor of politics at Sacred Heart University. So you already have your stance, and you dont really care about the outcome, and thats what is dividing the nation.

While 84 percent of Americans said they believe the report should be made public, according to a poll released by Quinnipiac University earlier this week, those surveyed were deeply divided along partisan lines as to whether Mueller conducted a fair investigation. Only half of the respondents said they believe the investigation was legitimate, while 43 percent said it was a witch hunt, as President Donald Trump often refers to the investigation on Twitter.

Similarly, there is a wide gender gap as 50 percent of men said the investigation was a witch hunt, compared to only 37 percent of women, according to the poll results.

I think a lot of this is more populism than ideological, and Im kind of curious as to how this is going to spill out, said Jonathan Wharton, a political science professor at Southern Connecticut State University. Is there going to be any connection to Connecticut politics? How is this going to filter down for the Republican Party and the Democratic Party? Are they going to use this? I dont know. Considering our political and financial state that were in in Connecticut, Id hope this is not going to be leveraged for good or for bad.

Wharton said the oversimplification of the issue  its more than just collusion or no collusion, witch hunt or legitimate investigation  and the flashy headlines and soundbites it generates could become a troubling political tool for both major parties heading into the 2020 election cycle.

Theres already a natural assumption that if youre a Republican than you have to be all about Trump and if youre a Democrat you have to be all about Bernie Sanders, Wharton said. There is this tendency to hone in on politics, recently, based on national candidates. The amount of populism and amount of oversimplification is cause for concern. As our general assembly is going to be discussing the budget and other issues, how will both parties utilize this and direct it toward their base?

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, agrees, but added he doesnt think the majority of Americans are concerned with, or closely following the investigation.

Im pretty convinced this scandal speaks intensely  probably inappropriately, to the relatively small  and I dont know if that number is 20, 30 or 40 percent of Americans  who are absolutely dug in pro or against this president, Himes said in a televised interview with MSNBC. For them, this is absolute cat nip. But for most Americans, who are worried about how theyre going to educate their kids, who are worried about losing their health care, I think this is a little bit of a sideshow.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt
ROSEWOOD HEIGHTS  Two people, a 10-year-old boy with autism and his father, were taken to a St. Louis hospital with severe burns and two other family members were treated for smoke inhalation at area hospitals after an early-morning fire in the 400 block of California in Rosewood Heights.

No cause has been determined, but the blaze was not considered suspicious. None of the victims have been identified.

Rosewood Heights Fire Chief Tim Bunt said the department received a 911 call at about 12:30 a.m. Friday reporting a structure fire in the 400 block of California. When firefighters arrived they found a one-story brick house with heavy smoke showing.

Family members in the front yard said a boy was still in the house, probably in the basement.

When I went around the back of the house I found the father with second and third degree burns, laying on the ground, Bunt said. He had been trying to get in the basement door.

The man had burns on his arms, chest and face, but was conscious.

He was telling me his son was in the basement and he couldnt get to him, Bunt said. I got him up and was bringing him up to the front of the house. At that time I had a crew going to the basement door to make entry.

The boy was found about 10 feet from the door.

They did a very aggressive entry, search and rescue, Bunt said. They had him out very quickly.

When we pulled him out of the basement he was not breathing, no pulse, Bunt said. My guys started CPR on him. By the time they got him to Alton Memorial they had a pulse on him.

He was transferred to St. Louis Childrens Hospital, then Mercy, where the father had been taken. The hospital would not release information on their condition, but other media reported the boy was in critical condition.

The two other family members were taken to local hospitals to be treated for smoke inhalation. Their conditions were also unknown.

When the house caught on fire they went to a neighbors house, Bunt said.

The fire was contained to the basement, but there was smoke damage throughout the house.

The Cottage Hills, Bethalto and Wood River fire departments assisted in fighting the fire.

The cause of the fire was under investigation as of Friday by the Rosewood Heights Fire Department, Illinois State Fire Marshals Office and the Madison County Sheriffs Department.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois new evidence-based school funding model is effectively driving added funding to the states neediest school districts, but the state must double its annual added investment in the formula if districts are to reach funding adequacy in a timely manner, according to a report released Wednesday by the bipartisan Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.

The evidence-based model was passed in 2017, giving each public school district an adequacy target based on several factors tied to student performance. Those furthest from their target are prioritized when new funds are added to the formula.

Illinois has 707 districts that do not meet their adequacy target, and CTBA President Ralph Martire said if the statutory minimum of $350 million is added to the formula each year, the earliest all districts could meet adequacy levels is 2050.

That leaves generations of students in underfunded schools, Martire said.

For the state to make up a $7.35 billion education funding shortfall and meet adequacy levels within 10 years as specified in the legislation, Martire said, the actual annual funding increase would have to be closer to $779 million.

At a Capitol news conference detailing the report Wednesday, Martire said the numbers show how necessary a graduated tax structure touted by Gov. J.B. Pritzker will be to the process of increasing investment in schools.

Its crucial we start making these needed, long-term fiscal structural reforms or we cannot fund fully the evidence-based formula, and that will continue to shortchange the education for millions of children in our state, he said.

Martire said the graduated tax is a textbook definition of fair taxation, adding that from 1979 to 2015, incomes for the wealthiest 1 percent of Illinoisans grew by 179 percent, while the bottom 99 percent saw growth of only 9 percent.

Martire and Rep. Will Davis, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the evidence-based model in the House when it passed, said a graduated tax is a good first step in addressing the states structural budget deficit, even though revenue from it wont be realized until 2021 at the earliest.

Other steps such as reforming the pension ramp will be needed as well, they both agreed.

Thats not the only type of revenue resource were looking at, Davis said. It may need to be a combination of things.

Without these reforms, Martire said, the state would not have the resources to add to education funding without making cuts to already underfunded human service or other programs. For this reason, he said, it is unlikely to see a $779 million increase to education in this years budget, even though Pritzker has proposed funding slightly more than the mandated $350 million increase.

The state certainly isnt in a position right now where it can cut spending on other services to invest in K-12. That would make no sense he said. We are horribly underfunding human services, we are not adequately funding public safety, were barely adequately funding health care, and we are certainly underfunding higher ed, early childhood and K-12.

Another reason to increase the investment, Martire said, is because inadequate funding leads to disparities on racial lines. He said white students in an underfunded school face a funding gap of approximately $3,300 per student, that number is $4,600 per African-American student in an underfunded school and $4,800 per Latino student.

We now know how inequitable the old school funding formula was, he said

He said 79 percent of new funding from the evidence-based model is going to school districts that educated 84 percent of the states African American students and 75 percent of Latino students.

On top of that, 89 percent of the funding went to districts that reached only 64 percent of their adequacy target or less.

Davis said when he attends a fellowship group with legislators from other states, Illinois is now talked about as one of the leaders in education funding reforms, as opposed to one of the worst in the nation as it was under the previous funding formula.

We are now talked about in a different way, he said.

Reach reporter Jerry Nowicki at jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com
Some people caught stealing in Illinois soon could be able to pay and avoid a trip to jail or prison.

State Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, is pushing the idea to let some shoplifters and thieves pay their way out of jail. Plummer, a freshman lawmaker, got Senate President John Cullerton to co-sponsor the legislation. Plummer said he worked closely with the Democrat leaders office to craft the bill.

Plummers plan would allow prosecutors to agree to let people pay for what they stole and avoid jail time.

State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, asked Plummer how itd work.

So an individual gets caught stealing from, lets say from say an R.P. Lumber store. Under current law, that individual then is either charged with a misdemeanor or a felony, and thats the end of it, Syverson said. Under this legislation, [the person] would pay for the product, plus give you a 10 percent bonus on top of that product, to avoid being sentenced. Is that right?

Theres a bit of a joke there, Plummers family owns R.P. Lumber.

But Plummer said thats the general idea.

Essentially, what it would do is allow that person to avoid a misdemeanor or felony offense, Plummer said. If they go through the process with the states attorney, if they reimbursed the retailer, then their record would be wiped clean.

The legislation includes a number of other rules. For example, the program is only open to first-time offenders and only for retail theft. Anyone who pays back the store then would be on probation for three years.

Plummer said the idea is to give people a second chance.

The Senate agreed. Plummers plan passed nearly unanimously with 53 senators voting yes and just one voting present.
SPRINGFIELD  As March Madness heats up, a battle to determine Abraham Lincolns greatest words is getting underway, too. The public can vote on 32 of his most famous quotes, eliminating them one at a time until a champion emerges.

Stand-outs in the War of Words tournament, organized by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, include A house divided against itself cannot stand from an 1858 campaign speech, government of the people, by the people, for the people from the Gettysburg Address, and with malice toward none, with charity for all from his Second Inaugural Address.

If we never try, we shall never succeed demonstrates Lincolns firm belief in striving even against long odds. Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally mixes his biting wit with his disdain for slavery.

The competition began on March 21. Anyone can cast votes on the presidential librarys Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Lincoln.Museum, or at http://bit.ly/LincolnQuotes.

Obviously, were having some fun with this, and we hope the people who take part have fun, too. But we also think its a great way to encourage people to study Lincolns words, to think about what they mean and decide which ones resonate the most in modern America, said Alan Lowe, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

The final round of voting begins April 3. The winner will be announced on April 5.

The Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum uses a combination of rigorous scholarship and high-tech showmanship to immerse visitors in the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Visitors can see ghosts come to life on stage, watch TV coverage of the 1860 presidential election, roam through the Lincoln White House, experience booming cannons in a Civil War battle and come face to face with priceless original Lincoln artifacts.

The library holds an unparalleled collection of Lincoln books, documents, photographs, artifacts and art, as well as some 12 million items pertaining to all aspects of Illinois history.

For more information, visit www.PresidentLincoln.illinois.gov. You can follow the ALPLM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
ALTON  Alton elementary school student and his father have filed a $100,000 lawsuit against twp school bus companies, claiming the student was beaten by other students while on a school bus.

Plaintiffs Mark Wilkinson and his son, Craig Wilkinson, claim the younger man was on a bus May 27, 2015, he was attacked and severely beaten by older students, including having his head violently slammed against a window and being punched with closed fists.

The boy was 6 years old at the time of the incident.

Named are Illinois Central Bus and an associated firm North American Central School Bus, a company that was transporting students to school activities.

The suit claims the firm employed bus monitors to ensure the safety of the students.

The firm allegedly failed to supervise the passengers, fail to maintain a safe environment, failed to stop the conflicy and failed to provide first aid to the student.

The Wilkinsons claim the student was injured in the head, neck, and upper back. Craig Wilkinson allegedly suffered pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of a normal life. He has and will continue to be liable for medical bills, the suit claims.

The two-count suit is asking for at least $50,000 in each count. Michael Glisson of Alton is representing the plaintiffs. A spokesman for the bus company could not be reached.

The Madison Record reported that Mark Wilkinson believes the incident was caught on video, but the bus company refused to provide it to the family before the suit was filed formally.

The incident occurred four years ago.
SPRINGFIELD  A former state worker in Illinois who won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case last year striking down mandatory union fees for public employees is now asking a federal appeals court to order the union to refund nearly $3,000 in fees he was forced to pay over the course of his career.

Mark Janus worked as a child support specialist for the state from 2007 until 2018. And although he never joined a union, under Illinois law at the time, he was required to pay a fair share fee to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, Council 31.

Fair share fees are not membership dues, but rather a fee to reimburse the union for its administrative costs negotiating collective bargaining agreements that govern all members of the bargaining unit, regardless of whether or not they actually belong to the union.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor in a 5-to-4 ruling that struck down such mandatory payments as unconstitutional, it was seen as a major blow to public employee labor unions, and a major victory for the so-called right to work movement.

That ruling actually reversed an earlier Supreme Court ruling from 1977 that said such mandatory fees were lawful.

In Janus case, however, the high court did not order any specific relief, but instead remanded the case back to federal district court in Chicago for further proceedings. Janus then asked the district court to award damages in the amount of fair share fees he had paid prior to the Supreme Courts decision.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman denied that request and granted a motion by AFSCME to dismiss the claim, saying the union had acted in good faith, based on controlling law at the time.

On Wednesday, attorneys for Janus filed an appeal, asking the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to review that decision.

Mark, and other public employees like him, were harmed when unions unconstitutionally took their money, Jeffrey Schwab, senior attorney at Liberty Justice Center, which represents Janus in the case, said in a statement. They are entitled to have that money returned.

But AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said in a statement that the union does not believe Janus is entitled to any refund of his fair share fees, and suggested the entire lawsuit was part of former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauners anti-union agenda.

Mark Janus received wage increases, health insurance coverage, vacation time and other benefits that the union negotiated during his tenure in state government, Lynch said. He never once failed to accept such improvements in his working conditions, nor did he ever object to paying the related fees  until he became the plaintiff in Bruce Rauners court case against AFSCME. Janus prolonging this litigation is nothing but a greedy grab for more.
Hartford has a habit that Id like to break. Last month, as Governor Lamont delivered his budget address to the General Assembly, I remember the sinking feeling that came when I learned that 13 percent of Connecticuts budget will be consumed by debt services. As a new lawmaker, I cant help but feel saddled by the debts of our parents and grandparents generations. For years, lawmakers have kicked the can down the road, burdening future voters, taxpayers and lawmakers with a legacy of debt.

Consider the issue of public pensions. While lawmakers made generous promises, they regularly failed to set aside the annual required contribution to make future payments. Every day, I hear my Republican and Democratic colleagues condemn the fact that current taxpayers, lawmakers and voters are forced to grapple with yesterdays credit card bills.

Unfortunately, thats where the bipartisanship ends. Now, some of my colleagues are championing that same short-sighted approach.

Few can argue with a straight face that Connecticuts infrastructure is fine as-is. The train from my district to Manhattan is slower today than it was in 1950. We ask residents to drive over at least 332 structurally deficient bridges scattered across the state. Connecticut drivers experience 81 million hours of delay per year while stuck in traffic, costing residents and businesses a staggering $1.9 billion per year. The million dollar (or perhaps billion dollar) question: How should we fund the much-needed improvements to our infrastructure?

I support the idea of tolling. Thats not because I like paying tolls  who does? Its because were the only state between Maine and Florida that doesnt ask drivers to contribute to the upkeep of our roads. While Connecticut drivers dutifully pay tolls when traveling through other states, we give the out-of-state drivers who use our roads a free ride. New York raises $2.6 billion through tolls annually. Massachusetts raises over $440 million. If Connecticut were to install tolls, roughly 40 percent of the revenue would come from out-of-state drivers and trucking companies. Were leaving money on the table at a time when we cant afford to do so.

The other option, euphemistically termed Prioritize Progress, plays the very same game of appealing to voters today by burdening taxpayers of tomorrow. It calls for $65 billion in infrastructure bonding over the course of 30 years. Those bonds will increase in interest by 3 to 5 percent every year, increasing the cost over time. Sound familiar?

I may be new to politics, but I understand the political expediency of promising major transportation improvements at little or no cost to current taxpayers. But thats exactly the sort of thinking that got us into our current fiscal mess. As a State Senator, Im determined to break Hartfords habit of legislating narrowly and exclusively for the present.

Instead, lets plan carefully and responsibly for the future. Lets break the cycle of short-sightedness and make some tough but necessary decisions. Simply put, lets give future taxpayers a chance to succeed rather than saddling them with debt before they leave the cradle.

Will Haskell, a Democrat, is the state senator for the 26th District.
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Linkedin Kornelius Purba (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 09:08 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87305e1e3 1 Opinion #commentary,Japan,MRT-Jakarta,public-transportation,Transportation,diplomacy Free

Japanese media gave quite a lot of coverage to the excitement of Jakartas residents welcoming the operation of the long-awaited MRT. Asahi Shimbun, for instance, highlighted the behavior of passengers on the ultra-modern mode of transportation. For Japan, the launch of the mass rapid transportation system looks like sweet revenge for the countrys humiliating defeat in the race for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project four years ago.

Japans success in Jakarta is a convincing diplomatic victory because not only Jakartans but people in other provinces want to operate MRTs, which typify the modern metropolis around the world. The Jakarta MRT provides strong capital for Tokyo to boost its global role in providing high-tech modes of transportation to developing countries amid a tough challenge from China.

The tone of the media reports of the MRTs operation was a reversal of the gloomy event in September 2015, when President Joko Jokowi Widodo shockingly awarded the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project to China. The Japanese public reacted in fury and disappointment and accused Jokowi of unfairly dropping Japans offer, just to please their archrival China.

At that time Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution summoned the Chinese envoy to Jakarta, Xie Feng, and Japanese Ambassador Yasuaki Tanizaki to his office. Darmin told the two diplomats the Indonesian government had decided to cancel the project for budget constraints.

To Japans dismay, China eventually secured the project after it submitted a new proposal. The megaproject is now underway and there is no doubt about Chinas capability and capacity to complete the project as promised.

In an Indonesian-Japanese bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur in November 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bluntly expressed his disappointment with Jokowis favoring of China. Abe said he strongly believed Japans offer was superior to Chinas in terms of technology and financing.

The prime minister also emphasized the importance of a relationship of trust and transparency in procedures and called for a shared understanding on these matters for future cooperation.

Amid the MRT hype that has now lasted for about two weeks, Jakartans thronged to stations to get a free ride and politicians jostled each other for the credit of making the MRT come true. They pay little attention to the key role Japan has played. Few care that Japan has transferred its masterful MRT technology and management to Jakarta. That happens perhaps because we think the MRT project was just a business matter. We paid Japan (with borrowed money) to build our dream MRT  as simple as that.

In his speech inaugurating the 15.7-kilometer MRT track that connects Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, President Jokowi said the [MRT] is part of a new culture because this is the first in Indonesia.

Jokowi could have shown a token of appreciation for Japans leading role, but he appeared to focus on how to take advantage of the MRT for his reelection bid. He simply wasted a golden chance to woo Japan to do more to improve Indonesias transportation systems.

The first phase of the MRT project was funded by Japans Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Japan did its utmost to ensure it would trigger revolutionary changes to Jakartas mass transportation system.

Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii, Japans vice minister of land, infrastructure, transportation and tourism, Yasuhiro Shinohara, and Japan International Cooperation Agency vice president Yasushi Tanaka were present during the MRT inauguration ceremony. However, they apparently avoided publicity, but I wish Japan would have showed off a little bit. They chose to stay behind the scenes, although I heard from a Japanese friend they actually expected more open appreciation from the Indonesian government.

On its official website on March 24, the Japanese Embassy said: Japan has constructed the MRT system by utilizing our quality infrastructure technology and has seen the project to completion to enable us to celebrate todays inauguration ceremony. In a parallel effort, Japan has proactively transferred our technology on site to Indonesias engineers and workers.

It further said that Japan will continue to contribute to Indonesias economic growth through the export of Japans quality infrastructure.

Weve humiliated Japan on train project: Whats next? I raised the question in a column on this newspaper not long after President Jokowi angered the Japanese public back in September 2015. Now, the MRT has restored Japanese pride.

China is a very important partner to cooperate with and has offered infrastructure projects that are attracting Indonesia, but Indonesia also needs Japan. Japanese culture, way of life, high-level discipline and high-tech products have long been adored here. Japanese cuisine is highly popular and shopping malls managed by Japanese companies are at the top of the favorites lists here.

As the largest member of ASEAN, Indonesia naturally is of high interest to Japan. The relationship, however, has been overshadowed by the rapid rise of China. It seems to me that now Indonesia tends to take Japan for granted. Japan itself also looks too cautious in reaching out to the public here, as indicated by its low profile in the MRT celebration.

Nevertheless, Japans MRT has won Indonesias heart. Its MRT diplomacy is paying off, amazingly.
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Linkedin Aksel Tmte (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019

There has been much attention on and criticism of declared nonvoters or abstainers, known as golput (named after ballots marked outside valid choices) in the run-up to the April presidential election.

Among those warning against golput are Patrick Ziegenhein and the philosopher Franz Romo Magnis-Suseno, writing for The Jakarta Post and Kompas, respectively.

The term refers to the act of not voting for any of the presidential candidates. Golput can affect both candidates but is widely perceived to threaten the incumbent President Joko Jokowi Widodo the most.

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Linkedin Roy Ferguson QSO (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 10:17 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730cf516 3 Opinion Christchurch,New-Zealand,mosque-attack,terror-attack Free

Today in Christchurch, New Zealand a National Remembrance Service will be held just a short distance away from the Al Noor Mosque, one of the two mosques where 50 Muslims were killed in an act of terrorism. It will be televised nationally and throughout the country New Zealanders will come together to mourn.

We are devastated by the terrorist attack against our Muslim community in Christchurch and the values we hold. There is an outpouring of grief across New Zealand as we all come to terms with what has happened on one of our darkest days.

At this time the New Zealand governments first priority is to do everything we can for the victims of this terrorist attack and their families.

Ensuring those injured receive the very best medical care, assisting bereaved families with funeral costs and other financial support, and expediting visas for family members is all part of this; but embracing our Muslim community has also been of the utmost importance.

Led by our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, thousands of Kiwis have joined their Muslim brothers and sisters in vigils, and visited their mosques to pay respects, lay flowers and give messages of support.

We have responded swiftly and decisively to ensure the safety of our Muslim communities and their places of worship. This is a top priority for the government. The New Zealand Police are guarding all mosques in New Zealand to ensure that Muslim communities feel safe and secure.

The government is determined that New Zealand will remain a safe and open society, which is characterized by religious inclusiveness and freedom.

We condemn the attackers actions and are unified against him. A 28-year-old man is in custody in a maximum security prison and has been charged with murder. More charges will follow.

New Zealand does not have the death penalty under its laws. But he will face the full force of New Zealand law.

He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. Our Prime Minister Ardern will not use his name. He sought notoriety, and we will deny him that. As she has said speak the names of those who were lost, rather than name of the man who took them.

In doing this here in Indonesia, we think of the family of Muhammad Abdul Hamid (alias Lilik Abdul Hamid) who lost his life, and of the two Indonesians who were injured in the attack.

The New Zealand government has announced a Royal Commission of Enquiry into how these terrorist attacks were able to occur. This enquiry will examine the focus of the security and intelligence services, the role social media has played and the accessibility of automatic weapons.

The government has already tightened gun laws following this attack, banning all military-style automatic weapons.

Today is a day for remembrance, for embracing those most closely affected by this tragedy. For New Zealanders, a people of 200 ethnicities, 160 languages and adherents of all religions, it is a day to come together in goodwill to reject the message of hate and terror perpetrated on March 15.

We will leave the perpetrator nameless; he doesnt deserve a name. We will instead remember Haji Daoud al-Nabi, the 71 -year-old man who was one of the founders of the Al Noor Mosque. He was a greeter at the door of the mosque that Friday.

He was brutally murdered after opening the door to the attacker with the words Hello Brother.

We must honor his message, a message of love.

And tomorrow we must come together as governments, communities and individuals to do all we can to reject all forms of extremism so that these events are never repeated.

***

The writer is ambassador of New Zealand to Indonesia.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin (Kyodo News) Tokyo  Fri, March 29, 2019 10:07 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730613f3 2 Lifestyle Tokyo,Japan,cashless-society,cashless-payment,money,electronic-payment Free

Every few meters along a shopping street near the iconic Tokyo Skytree tower, signs with the words "PayPay used here" can be seen promoting the availability of an electronic payment option, something that remains a relative rarity in Japan.

Despite its reputation as one of the homes of forward-thinking technology, Japan remains generally reluctant to move in a cashless direction -- tradition, demographics and a wariness of change meaning people still prefer to reach for notes and coins when checking out.

But in a bid to attract more foreigners from countries familiar with paying via credit cards or apps that support cashless transactions, Sumida Ward, the area that hosts Tokyo's most imposing tower and one of the city's most popular tourist destinations, has begun working with PayPay Corp.

PayPay, which entered the cashless market in October 2018, started a trial of its mobile payment service at 300 shops in December, a joint venture between portal site operator Yahoo Japan Corp. and cellphone carrier Softbank Corp.

Although the Japanese government hopes consumers will eventually embrace the future, or even the present, and become comfortable with credit cards, debit cards or electronic transactions, it is proving a hard sell, especially among the older people that make up an increasingly large percentage of the country's population.

In Japan, cash remains king, with contactless transactions, including payments by credit cards and smartphones, accounting for just under 20 percent of personal spending.

Read also: Cashless China offers lesson for cash enthusiasts in Indonesia

In comparison, about 90 percent of such transactions were cashless in South Korea, 60 percent in China and 45 percent in the United States, according to 2015 data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

At shops along Oshinari Shotengai, one of the shopping districts participating in the "Sumida Cashless Demonstration Test Project," the red "P" PayPay logo is now ubiquitous.

"The number of customers who use PayPay has increased significantly, with one-fifth of our sales now coming from PayPay," said Matsuhiro Ito, 41, a staff member at a soba buckwheat noodle restaurant on the street. "Payments using PayPay are easily done...and there are no mistakes made when giving change."

Using the PayPay App, customers can scan QR codes displayed at stores with their smartphones to complete payment or they can let sales staff scan a barcode displayed on their screen.

PayPay's tie-up with Alipay, an online payment service provided by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., has led some Oshinari Shotengai storekeepers to hope that the ease of payment will lead to an influx of foreign tourists.

"I think (PayPay) will lead to sales growth as more foreign visitors, especially from mainland China and Taiwan, use Alipay," Ito said.

But not everyone is positive about cashless payments becoming the new normal.

Some store operators and workers, especially those of advancing age, said the new technology has left them confused or worried that transactions are not being completed correctly.

"I have been doing business only through cash for more than 50 years," said Sachiko Takahashi, a 71-year-old woman who works at a "senbei" baked rice cracker shop in the Oshinari shopping district.

"Although (money paid via PayPay) finally flows into the bank account, I am somewhat worried," she said, explaining that she is concerned about how to handle such transactions if an error occurs.

Takahashi said her shop will continue with the PayPay service after the end of the trial period at the end of March because her customers are now used to it.

A worker at a nearby bakery said adopting the PayPay service was an easy choice since there was no setup charge during the trial period. But she added the priority must be on making sure local customers and the elderly, most of whom are accustomed to using cash, are comfortable.

Read also: Jak Lingko to conduct only cashless payments starting next month

More and more companies from various industries, such as online retailer Rakuten Inc. and mobile carrier NTT Docomo Inc., have joined the domestic cashless payment market and are expanding their services.

Fast-food restaurant chain Yoshinoya Co. in December introduced Origami Pay, one of the pioneer mobile payment service providers, in almost all of its 1,200 shops, allowing customers to pay by smartphone.

The Kanagawa prefectural government said in November that it will promote cashless payments under the "Cashless City Kanagawa" campaign. Payments for property taxes and various other taxes can be made by Line Pay, a smartphone payment method offered by Line Corp., a service that began in January in the prefecture.

Among megabanks, Mizuho launched a smartphone app that can both work as a debit card and as a Suica prepaid e-money card and East Japan Railway Co. transport pass.

In a bid to grab market share amid intensifying competition, PayPay launched a campaign in February to give users reward points worth a total of 10 billion yen ($91 million) until May 31, following a similar campaign in December.

However, it remains an uphill battle to get people to buy in.

A Bank of Japan survey, conducted in March last year, said Japanese consumers use cash mainly because they are convenient, with cash used at many places and payments completed on the spot with no commission fees. Consumers are also concerned about security, including worries about their credit information being hacked.

Hsu Tien-in, 50, a Taiwanese man on a weeklong trip to Japan with two friends, said he uses cash all the time in Japan and sees no need for anything else, unlike in China where even the most basic purchase requires him to use mobile payments even at small local grocery stores.

Industry officials and analysts said 2018 marked the "first year" for the spread of cashless payments. The trade ministry unveiled its "Cashless Vision" in April 2018, aiming to raise the ratio of cashless payments in Japan from 20 to 40 percent by 2025.

The Japanese government is also putting its money where its mouth is as it hopes to boost consumption ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 and the World Expo in 2025.

Consumption bolstering steps by the government, implemented to mitigate the impact of the impending increase in sales tax from 8 to 10 percent in October, will serve as a major driving force for the spread of cashless payments, officials hope.

The government plans to give award points of up to 5 percent of purchase amounts for a period of nine months to consumers who make cashless payments at small- and medium-sized retailers.

During the period, cashless payment service operators will be required to cap their fees for such stores at 3.25 percent, lower than ordinary fees, in order to receive subsidies for the rewards program.

Yuuki Fukumoto, a chief researcher at the NLI Research Institute, said one of the key factors in the spread of cashless payments is whether there will be a mechanism to ensure small- and medium-sized retailers continue to move away from cash even after the government's nine-month program concludes.

Fukumoto said the importance of having more smartphone charging stations and free Wi-Fi to make it easier for customers to go cashless. But he also said older people need to embrace a post-cash world for it to stick.

"In a long history, it is natural to think digitalization is better since it's a hassle to carry paper money. I think our society will go cashless sometime, in the long run," Fukumoto said.
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Linkedin Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere/Fiachra Gibbons (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France  Fri, March 29, 2019 22:02 989 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730809e1 2 Art & Culture France,louvre,Louvre-Museum,Paris,culture,Museum Free

It was once decried as an architectural "obscenity", but as the Louvre's glass pyramid turns 30 on Friday, it has become a cherished icon of the French capital.

One eminent writer called for revolt in the streets when French president Francois Mitterrand's flamboyant culture minister Jack Lang first unveiled the plans for what is now regarded as Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei's masterpiece.

Plonking a modernist pyramid into the centre of a Renaissance palace was considered sacrilege, with one satirical magazine calling it a tomb and joking that Mitterrand -- who was suffering from cancer -- "wants to be the first pharaoh in our history".

Pei -- who will be 102 next month -- remembers "receiving many angry glances in the streets", with up to 90 percent of Parisians said to be against the project at one point.

Yet in the end, even that stern critic of modernist "carbuncles", Britain's Prince Charles, pronounced it "marvelous".

Over the next few days, JR, one of the world's most famous street artists, will create a huge collage with the help of 400 volunteers to celebrate its 30th birthday by revealing "the Secret of the Grand Pyramid".

Read also: Louvre's glass pyramid set for interactive performance for 30th anniversary

Masterstroke

The sphinx-like Mitterrand, who had embarked on a string of grand projects to transform the French capital, hedged his bets from the start.

"It's a good idea, but like all good ideas it is difficult to do," the wily old Socialist leader had warned Lang.

A whole wing of the Louvre was then occupied by the French ministry of finance, which held the purse strings of the state, and would be difficult to budge.

The museum's huge "Napoleon Courtyard was an appalling car park," Lang told AFP. "The museum was handicapped by the lack of a central entrance."

Pei's masterstroke was to link the three wings of the world's most visited museum with vast underground galleries bathed in light from his glass and steel pyramid.

Such was his success that the conservative French daily Le Figaro, which had led the campaign against his "atrocious" design for years, celebrated his genius with a supplement on the 10th anniversary of the pyramid's opening in 1999.

Pei, who grew up in Hong Kong and Shanghai, was not the obvious choice for the job, having never worked on a historic building before.

But Mitterrand was so impressed with his modernist extension to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC that he insisted he was the man for the Louvre.

Already in his mid-60s when the project began, nothing had prepared Pei for the hostility his plans would receive.

He needed all his tact and dry humour to survive a series of encounters with planning officials and historians.

Read also: France's Louvre planning Pierre Soulages retrospective next year

'You're not in Dallas now'

One meeting with the French historic monuments commission in January 1984 ended in uproar, with Pei unable even to present his ideas.

"You are not in Dallas now!" one of the experts shouted at him during the "terrible session", where he felt the target of anti-Chinese racism.

Not even Pei's winning of the Pritzker Prize, the "Nobel of architecture" in 1983, assuaged his detractors.

Lang told AFP he is still "surprised by the violence of the opposition" to Pei's ideas.

"The pyramid is right at the centre of a monument central to the history of France (the Louvre is the former palace of the country's kings)."

The Louvre's then director, Andre Chabaud, resigned in 1983 in protest at the "architectural risks" Pei's vision posed.

The present incumbent, however, is in no doubt that the pyramid helped turn the museum around.

Jean-Luc Martinez is all the more convinced having worked with Pei in recent years to adapt his plans to cope with the museum's growing popularity.

Pei's original design was for up to two million visitors a year. Last year the Louvre welcomed more than 10 million.

"The Louvre is the only museum in the world whose entrance is a work of art," Martinez insisted.

The pyramid is "the modern symbol of the museum", he said, "an icon on the same level" as the Louvre's most revered artworks such as the "Mona Lisa" or the "Venus de Milo".

Pei is not alone in being savaged for changing the cherished landscape of Paris.

In 1887, a group of intellectuals that included Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant published a letter in the newspaper Le Temps to protest the building of the "useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower", an "odious column of sheet metal with bolts."
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Singapore  Fri, March 29, 2019 18:02 989 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87307b83b 2 Food Singapore,UN,food,Malaysia,heritage,#food,hawker Free

Singapore on Thursday defended nominating its street food for UN recognition as a bid to "safeguard" local culture after the move sparked a cross-border culinary clash with Malaysia.

The city-state is home to many open-air food courts where vendors, known as "hawkers", serve dishes such as chicken and rice, noodles and satays at relatively cheap prices.

Singapore announced last year it would nominate its hawker culture to be designated as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, and if successful it will join items such as traditional Japanese cuisine and Belgian beer on the list.

But the move sparked anger in Malaysia -- while the country's street food is similar to that in Singapore, Malaysians claim it is generally far superior.

Announcing Singapore's nomination had been officially submitted this week, senior National Heritage Board official Yeo Kirk Siang insisted the bid was not meant to show the city's street food was "better" than that of other countries.

"It's not about countries trying to prove that their cultural practices are better, unique, or that it originated from the country," he told a press conference.

"What the nomination is about is whether the cultural practice is valued by the community within that country... and whether they are committed to safeguarding these practices within their countries."

Officials also hope the bid will encourage the younger generation to get more involved in the street food business.

Read also: :Singapore bid for UN street food honor sparks culinary clash

The news that Singapore was moving forward with the nomination raised hackles in Malaysia, however, with one Facebook user writing: "When Singapore realised it has no culture that is singularly it's own, it will claim what's others."

Singapore and Malaysia have had a testy relationship since a stormy union in the 1960s but tempers really boil over when it comes to food -- where particular dishes come from, and who makes the best versions, is often the subject of heated debate.

The outcome of Singapore's bid is due at the end of 2020.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 15:34 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87307289e 1 Science & Tech Sri-Widowati,Facebook,#facebook,country-director Free

Sri "Wido" Widowati has officially stepped down as Facebook Indonesias country director after three years.

We express our gratitude [to Wido] for the impact she has made over the last three years in executing Facebooks programs in Indonesia, said a spokesperson in a statement quoted by Antara on Thursday.

Read also: Selfie journalism and the lemons of live Instagram

Sri Widowati, the former country director of Facebook Indonesia, at the opening of Facebooks office in Indonesia on Aug. 14, 2017. (kompas.com/Yoga Hastyadi )

According to Facebook, Wido resigned from her position because she wanted to develop her career outside the social network giant. It gave no information what she would do.

Wido had been working in the marketing industry for more than 20 years, including at prominent manufacturer Unilever.

She was appointed as Facebooks country director in 2016 replacing Anand Tilak. (wir/kes)
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington  Fri, March 29, 2019 19:07 989 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87307eb3e 2 Entertainment Jussie-Smollett,scandal,Donald-Trump,FBI,Racism Free

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the FBI and Justice Department will review Illinois prosecutors' decision to drop all charges against a US television actor accused of fabricating a hate crime.

Calling the Chicago case involving "Empire" star Jussie Smollett "outrageous," Trump said: "It is an embarrassment to our Nation!"

Prosecutors said they had shelved all 16 felony charges against Smollett in exchange for an agreement that he carry out community service and forfeit a $10,000 bond payment.

But Smollett's lawyers claimed there was no such agreement, saying the state simply "dismissed the charges," and that the actor was the victim of a rush to judgment.

The 36-year-old, one of the main cast members on Fox musical drama "Empire" alongside Taraji P. Henson, was accused of masterminding a hoax attack in downtown Chicago to gain publicity and secure a bigger paycheck.

He reported to police that he was attacked in the middle of the night in January by two masked men while walking near his home.

Read also: Case dropped against US actor Jussie Smollett accused of hate attack hoax

Smollett, who is gay and African American, maintained his innocence in the face of a damning public account from authorities' of their case against him.

They accused him of sending himself a threatening letter and hiring two acquaintances to stage the attack, complete with homophobic and racial slurs, while invoking Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
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Linkedin Grace D. Amianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019

Oman has the potential to become a strong partner in trade and investment among other Middle Eastern countries, an opportunity that should be cultivated to help reduce the trade deficit, the Indonesian ambassador to Oman has said.

Ambassador Musthofa Taufik Abdul Latif told The Jakarta Post that his side was discussing stronger bilateral trade between the two countries with his Omani counterpart.

We are trying to increase trade; we will try to create a free trade agreement [FTA] [with Oman], he said on the sidelines of the Oman Vision 2040 national conference in Muscat in late January.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 09:05 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87305d89b 4 City hercules,West-Jakarta,Jakarta-police,thuggery,criminal-charge,AJI,AJI-Jakarta,journalist,assault-case Free

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Jakarta lambasted alleged assault conducted by infamous gang leader Hercules Rosario Marshal prior to his verdict hearing at the West Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

The AJI condemned the alleged assault targeted at journalists, saying it violated the 1999 law on the press, which guaranteed legal protection for journalists on duty, AJI Jakarta chairman Asnil Bambani Amri said.

We urge the police to arrest Hercules and bring him to court for him to be handed down punishment that is as heavy as possible so that there will be a deterrent effect to prevent this case from reoccurring, he said in a statement on Thursday.

Asnil also demanded that the police settle previous cases of attacks on journalists. The AJI noted that from the many cases reported in the Jakarta, not one had proceeded to court.

The organization also called on the public to not carry out acts of violence or intimidation targeted at journalists working in the field.

The incident took place at the court on Wednesday, when Hercules was standing trial for illegally occupying a 2-hectare plot of land in Kalideres, West Jakarta. As he stepped out of the car that brought him to the court, he was welcomed by a barrage of journalists and photojournalists trying to take photos of him.

He was allegedly furious and screamed before entering a holding room. Not wearing any handcuffs, he then allegedly chased several photographers who scattered away to protect themselves.

One online journalist identified only as FS, who was recording Hercules, found himself boxed in among parked cars. In a video that circulated on social media, Hercules appears to punch FS, who is holding a mobile phone in his hand while using his hand to try to protect his face. Several people attempt to stop the fight before Hercules is brought inside the court.

Asnil noted in the statement that not one policeman was seen guarding the area.

FS suffered bruises to his hand, which swelled up, allegedly because of the punches thrown by Hercules.

Asnil said FS initially wanted to file a report on the incident to the police. However, he cancelled the plan over concerns of his safety, Asnil added.

Hercules outburst also followed in the hearing room when he protested against the presence of police officers there. He stood up and shouted at the police, asking them to leave.

Do you think its a terrorist trial? Get out, he shouted while pointing at members of the police in the room, according to tribunnews.com.

His attorney then tried to calm him down as the panel of judges instructed that he return to his seat.

Hercules issued an apology to journalists Thursday in a video published online. In it, he claims his psychological state was affected by the verdict, which caused him to be emotional.

I, Hercules Rosario Marshal, apologize to journalists for my emotional reaction before my verdict hearing at the West Jakarta District Court, he says in the video.

Sr. Comr. Hengki Haryadi of the West Jakarta Police said the security acted in accordance with standard operating procedures.

As many as 300 members of the police were deployed to stand guard at the court.

Once crowned Jakartas Godfather of the Streets, Hercules was found guilty in the hearing of illegally entering and occupying land belonging to PT Nila Alam, violating multiple charges of the Criminal Code, including articles 167 on trespassing and 170 on assault. He was sent to eight months in prison.

He and 11 of his subordinates occupied the land for three months, during which the group intimidated and extorted money from local residents.

It was reportedly his fourth criminal case, after having previously been sent to prison over thuggery and money laundering charges. His longest amount of time served was in 2013, when he was sent to three years in prison for money laundering.

Hercules received the Satyalancana Seroja medal for logistical assistance he had provided to the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) during Seroja Operation in East Timor, now Timor Leste, in the 1990s. (sau)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 16:26 989 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730776b4 4 Business Garuda-Indonesia,Boeing,negotiation,Boeing-737-Max8,contract Free

Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has said that Boeing has not yet agreed to the airlines intention to cancel the order of 49 Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes.

[Boeing officials] have to discuss the matter internally, said Garuda Indonesia president director Ari Askhara in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Friday, as reported by Antara.

However, he said Boeing understood Garuda Indonesias reasons for the cancelation, particularly because of the loss of passengers confidence in the aircraft, following the Ethiopian Airlines crash earlier this month and a similar accident involving a Lion Air aircraft last October.

Therefore, Garuda and Boeing would meet again in April to discuss the possible restructuring of the contract on the Boeing 737 MAX 8, Ari said, adding that the aircraft manufacturer was expected to cooperate with Garuda to meet the airlines fleet requirements.

We still have confidence in the Boeing brand, but not the MAX 8 product, because the people, or our customers, have lost confidence in the product, he said, adding that he believed Boeing would support Garuda Indonesia, because, as a flag carrier, the airline was Boeings key customer in Indonesia.

He vowed that Garuda Indonesia did not plan to shift its order to another aircraft maker but ask Boeing to offer the airline other types of aircraft.

Currently, Garuda Indonesia has one Boeing 737 MAX 8, but the aircraft, along with 11 airplanes owned by Lion Air, was prohibited from flying by the government following the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

Meanwhile, Sriwijaya Air, which is now under the operation of the Garuda Indonesia Group, also seeks to cancel a Boeing 737 MAX 8 order. Yes, we will cancel the order. We are evaluating whether we will shift to Airbus or keep Boeing, he added. (bbn)
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Linkedin Kornelius Purba (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29 2019

Japanese media gave quite a lot of coverage to the excitement of Jakartas residents welcoming the operation of the long-awaited MRT. Asahi Shimbun, for instance, highlighted the behavior of passengers on the ultra-modern mode of transportation. For Japan, the launch of the mass rapid transportation system looks like sweet revenge for the countrys humiliating defeat in the race for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project four years ago.

Japans success in Jakarta is a convincing diplomatic victory because not only Jakartans but people in other provinces want to operate MRTs, which typify the modern metropolis around the world. The Jakarta MRT provides strong capital for Tokyo to boost its global role in providing high-tech modes of transportation to developing countries amid a tough challenge from China.

The tone of the media reports of the MRTs operation was a reversal of the gloomy event in September 2015, when President Joko Jokowi Widodo shockingly awarded the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project to China. The Japanese public reacted in fury and disappointment and accused Jokowi of unfairly dropping Japans offer, just to please their archrival China.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 09:53 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873060db8 4 Business Garuda-Indonesia,discount,promotion,State-owned-Enterprises-Ministry,anniversary Free

Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is offering 50 percent discounts on airfares from March 31 to April 13 to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry.

Lowering the airfares is Garuda Indonesias consistent commitment to making its 5-star service affordable for all Indonesian people, Garuda Indonesia commerce director Pikri Ilham Kurniansyah said in a statement on Thursday.

He said the discount was available for purchases through the Garuda Online Travel Festival, online travel agents, mobile apps, Linkaja and the official website of the airline: garuda-indonesia.com.

The offer was part of the airlines support for the countrys economy, particularly for the tourist industry, small and medium enterprises and the national logistics sector, Pikri said.

Previously, the Transportation Ministry announced that it would soon issue a regulation on airfares in a bid to lower prices, as the government maintains airlines have not significantly cut fares since President Joko Jokowi Widodo called on them to do so in early February.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan also suggested that the government invite private companies into the jet fuel or avtur business to create more competition and thereby lower the prices.

Pikri said Garuda Indonesia would continuously offer price cuts in accordance with the peoples expectation. He called on the people to order the tickets long before their departure dates, so that they could get price cuts.

We also call on other airlines to make similar moves by offering airfare discounts in cooperation with other companies to help boost the national economy, Pikri added. (bbn)
SAN JOSEDuring February and March, Humane Society International/Latin America, together with the National Animal Health Service, the College of Veterinary Doctors and the School of Veterinary Medicine of the National University, participated in health fairs organized by the Asociacion Costa Rica Indigena in the indigenous communities of Daytonia and Cachabri, in Talamanca.

This project provides free veterinary care to not only dogs and cats but also to farm animals such as pigs, cows, horses and chickens. Dogs and cats are spayed or neutered for free.

Amanda Chaves, manager of the Companion Animal Program for HSI/Latin America, sees the health fair as an excellent opportunity to collaborate closely with state institutions and other stakeholders in areas where there is very limited access to relevant services. Since we started this project with the Asociacion Costa Rica Indigena, we have participated in five health fairs and provided medical care for more than 1278 animals that had never received any veterinary attention. We hope to continue this work for the benefit of animal welfare in Costa Rica, explains Chaves.

The first of these fairs in 2019 took place in February in Daytonia. Over the course of a single weekend, 227 animals received free medical care, including general veterinary checks, deworming and vaccinations against rabies. In addition, veterinarians performed spay/neuter procedures on 35 dogs and cats.

In March, the team visited the indigenous area of Cachabri, where inadequate access to health services, public services and transportation contribute to poor health for many animals and made the work arduous. Animals brought for treatment presented severe skin problems, high levels of malnutrition and infestation by fleas, ticks and parasitic flies. A total of 345 animals received veterinary care in just two days, including general health exams, deworming and rabies vaccinations, while 83 dogs and cats were spayed or neutered.

Media contact: Fabiola Ruiz, fabiola.ruiz@efectiva.cr, ph. +506 88241785
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Linkedin Dyaning Pangestika and Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta and Medan  Fri, March 29, 2019

After decades, the government has corrected a misspelling of Buddhism, which was previously spelled as "Budha" on identity cards (KTPs) instead of the correct Indonesian spelling of "Buddha".

Buddhism is acknowledged as one of the six official religions in the country. All citizens are required to formally adopt one religion, as ID cards require the mention of one.

The Home Ministry issued on Feb. 6 a letter to announce that its Civil Registry and Population Agency had made the correction.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 12:05 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87306660b 4 Business Ethiopian-Airlines-ET-302,Crash,investigation,Indonesian,investigators Free

Indonesia will send two investigators to join an investigating team probing the deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8, earlier this month.

The Transportation Ministrys airplane airworthy and operations director general, Avirianto, said the two investigators were from the airplane airworthy and operation directorate general and the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT).

Avirianto added that his office would send inspector Totok who had an airplane investigation background and experience in investigating plane crashes.

The Boeing 7373 Max 8 crashed in Addis Ababa, six minutes after taking off, killing all 157 passengers and crew members on board. The accident is believed to be similar to the one involving a Lion Air plane that crashed into the Java Sea in October.

Ethiopian Airlines is welcoming experts from Indonesia because the country has experience in conducting investigations involving the Boeing 737 Max 8. In addition, an Indonesian was on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight.

Avirianto, as quoted by tempo.co.id, said the Indonesian investigators would focus on whether there were similar factors that triggered the deadly crashes.

He said if this was the case, then the team would issue a recommendation to the Boeing Company the aircrafts manufacturer. (bbn)
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Linkedin Dyaning Pangestika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 15:54 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873073e77 1 National ISIS,Indonesia,Syria,Tirto,Kurdistan,West-Java,IS,Islamic-State Free

Indonesians taking refuge at the Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp in Al-Hasakah, Syria, are begging to come home because supplies are starting to run out.

Mariam Abdullah, one of about 50 Indonesians in the camp, asked for help so that she and her family can return to Indonesia in a two-minute video posted on Indonesian online news outlet Tirto.id. We are asking for help so we can return home, Mariah said as quoted by Tirto.id.

Mariam claimed that she, her husband and four children were from Bandung, West Java.

She said she and her children had fled the village of Baghouz two days prior to the interview with the online news outlet. Mariam told the reporter, Afshin Ismaeli, that her husband, Saifuddin, was missing.

A recent update from the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that there were approximately 67,000 internally displaced people who resided in the camp as of March 14. This number is exceeding the original capacity of the camp, which was initially designed to hold 10,000 people.

Due to the unexpected number of incoming arrivals, there has been a shortage of health-care services in the area, which has resulted in the refugees suffering from hypothermia and various communicable diseases. As of March 14, the organization recorded 120 deaths in the camp, in which 80 percent of the casualties are children under 5 years old.

Despite of the camps alarming state, many Indonesian netizens showed no sympathy for Mariam as well as the other Indonesians who are suffering the same fate as her.

One Twitter user, @rizamsyafiq, questioned why they joined the Islamic State group in the first place.

They made a conscious decision to go there, betrayed the nation in the process, and are begging to come home after the Islamic State group lost. I only have one thing to tell them: suck it, he wrote on his account on Thursday.

Mereka berangkat dengan kesadaran diri sendiri, berkhianat terhadap bangsa negara, setelah ISIS kalah dan terdesak, mereka merengek untuk minta pulang? Hanya satu kata #Tuman (Sambil Ditabok) https://t.co/KRDZfVj6Qu  #Ansorockboyo (@rizamsyafiq) March 27, 2019

Another user, @qlytooq, blatantly told them not to come back to Indonesia.

selamat menikmati "surga" yg kalian inginkan, gausah balik lg ke indonesia  aqli aulia (@qlytooq) March 27, 2019

Enjoy the paradise that you wanted, dont ever come back to Indonesia. he wrote. (dpk)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 17:39 989 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87307a187 4 Business Enggartiasto-Lukita,GSP,negotiation,progress,report,jusuf-kalla Free

Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita met with Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Friday to provide an update on negotiations with the United States government on the countrys Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) facility for Indonesia.

Enggartiasto said the US would give Indonesia a chance to enjoy the GSP facility, namely lower duties of up to zero percent for Indonesian products, but with the requirement to make consistent regulation adjustments.

A number of regulations should change because of the World Trade Organizations decision. We have made adjustments, said Enggartiasto, after meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at in Jakarta as quoted by kontan.co.id.

Enggartiasto said the US had revoked GPS facilities for two countries. He said the US was seeking deregulation on livestock and horticulture products.

He added that the US had also demanded that the Indonesian government tighten supervision of property right laws, particularly for American products.

Enggartiasto said Indonesia had complied with a number of demands made by the US government in trying to maintain the GSP facilities, including by issuing a regulation on the placement of data centers.

The US government has been reviewing 124 Indonesian export products since last year to decide whether they will still be eligible for the GSP import tariff cut.

In 2017, Indonesias surplus amounted to US$9.67 billion, 9.89 percent higher than the $8.84 billion surplus recorded in 2016. From 2013 to 2017, Indonesias surplus with the US had grown at a rate of 8.47 percent per year. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 13:47 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87306ba8a 4 Business blocked-fund,Public-Works-and-Public-Housing-Ministry,transportation-ministry,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati,explanation Free

The Finance Ministry has blocked Rp 9.17 trillion (US$645.34 million) in funds allocated for the Public Works and Housing Ministry or about 8.2 percent of the total allocation in the state budget for the ministry, which was set at Rp 110.7 trillion.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati explained that it was triggered by incomplete or improper documentation of budgets.

Soon after the documentation is completed, we will unblock funds, Sri Mulyani said as quoted by tempo.co.id, adding that a similar block used to be imposed on the Transportation Ministry.

She referred to the blockage of Rp 900 billion or 2.1 percent of the Transportation Ministrys total budget this year of Rp 41.5 trillion.

Previously, Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono revealed the blockage when he met with lawmakers on Monday. He said of the Rp 9.17 billion blocked funds, Rp 9.1 billion was in rupiah, while the remainder was in the form of foreign grants.

Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the amount of blocked funds had been declining year by year. Budi explained that in 2017, the blocked fund for his ministry was recorded at Rp 5.1 trillion and last year it was Rp 1.8 trillion.

It is declining because of the application of e-filling and better budgetary processes, he said at a March 18 hearing with House Commission V on transportation.

Budi said the Finance Ministry was in the process of ending the blockage and as of March, the ministry had made Rp 75 billion of the blocked funds available. (bbn)
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Linkedin Victor Mambor (The Jakarta Post) Jayawijaya, Papua  Fri, March 29, 2019

A conflict between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and an armed group calling itself the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), which has forced residents of numerous villages in Papuas conflict-ridden Nduga regency to abandon their homes, continues unabated.

Thousands of people from the districts of Mbua, Yal, Bulmuyalma, Koroptak, Nitkuri, Yigi, Mugi, Mam and Mapenduma walked for days as they struggled to seek refuge from the chaos and violence in their villages. Some of the families finally settled in neighboring Lanny Jaya regency, while others took shelter in Jayawijaya regency.

"Around 2,000 people fled Nduga. There were several more who remained in the forests surrounding Nduga and Lanny Jaya. They need immediate help," Papua Justice and Welfare Foundation director Theo Hesegem said.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 14:10 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87306df42 4 City sedative,hospital,nurse,surgery,Cikarang Free

Agung Nugraha, 21, a nurse at Adam Thalib General Hospital in West Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java, was found dead in the hospitals lounge after allegedly injecting himself with leftover sedative on Tuesday.

The head of the West Cikarang Polices criminal investigation unit, First Insp. Elman, said the deceased was found lying on a chair, his face was blue and he had a number of track marks on his arm.

Elman said Agung had alleged injected himself with rocuronium bromide.

"It calms the body. This is a sedative, which is used as an anesthetic to relax the muscles, Elman said on Thursday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The police also found three syringes, three alcohol swab sachets, two 5 milligram ampoules of Midanest (which contains Midazolam Hcl) and one 10 milliliter bottle of NaCl at the scene.

Elman said he suspected that Agung had often injected himself with sedatives because of the many track marks on his body.

We found track marks on his left and right hands as well as his legs. He injected himself on his legs because it was covered in dried blood."

Based on the hospitals explanation, he said, leftover sedatives have always been kept in the lounge before it was discarded.

The police are now exploring the possibility that the hospital was negligent when discarding leftover medicine.

We will talk to people in the pharmacy unit, nurse supervisor head, doctors, and hospital owner. We want to know the flow of the leftover medicine and how a nurse got hold of it, Elman said. (ggq/evi)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 29, 2019 08:19 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87305ad8a 4 Business e-commerce,taxation,regulation Free

The government is yet to issue a technical regulation on e-commerce taxation with only several days left before the new policy is scheduled to take effect on April. 1.

The expected technical regulation will be a taxation director general regulation (Perdirjen) to support Finance Ministerial Regulation No. 210/2018 on e-commerce taxation.

Head of the Indonesian E-Commerce Association (iDEA) digital economy division Bima Laga said he was involved in drafting the Perdirjen, but that he was unsure about the final draft.

We hope the regulation will be flexible and there is an issue that needs to be regulated, namely social media-based businesses, Bima said on Thursday as quoted by kontan.co.id.

He called on the government to postpone the enforcement of its e-commerce taxation policy, which was initially only targeted at online marketplaces, so that it could also cover social media-based e-commerce.

He said if the taxation regulation only targeted online marketplaces it would encourage traders to move from marketplace platforms to social media to avoid paying taxes. He added that it would negatively affect tax revenue from e-commerce.

Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA) executive director Yustinus Prastowo predicted that the government would postpone the enforcement of e-commerce taxation as time was needed to disseminate information on the new Perdirjen.

He said the government needed three to four months to disseminate the new regulation after it was issued.

He added that Finance Ministerial Regulation No 210/2018 did not regulate new types of taxes, but only emphasized that e-commerce traders were required to pay taxes. (bbn)
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Fri, March 29, 2019 17:31 989 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873079963 1 National USU,student-protest,student-press,Suara-USU Free

A number of North Sumatra University (USU) students staged a rally at the USU campus on Thursday to protest the rectors decision to dismiss 18 students from the editorial board of student publication Suara USU after they published a short story about the struggle of a young woman who falls in love with another woman.

Protest coordinator, Felix Kristiono Simanjuntak, said the protest was a spontaneous act by the students to support the now-defunct student press.

We criticize the one-sided revocation of the press permit for the Suara USU student publication. This is an act of persecution. We, as students and an intellectual community, object to the suppression of ideas and creativity, Felix said in his speech.

Read also: Suara USU student website faces permit revocation for publishing LGBT-themed story

Felix said the students wanted the rectorate to reappoint the editorial board team.

Head of Suara USU, Yael Stefani Sinaga, who also wrote the controversial short story, said she was grateful for the support her fellow students had given.

Yael said the dismissed editorial board members had prepared to move out of the Suara USU secretariat room in compliance with a command from the rector, Runtung Sitepu. However, after seeing the protest, Yael said the board members would remain in the secretariat room.

We will stay here, we did not do anything wrong, Yael told The Jakarta Post during the protest.

Yael said the short story, Ketika Semua Menolak Kehadiran Diriku Di Dekatnya (Everyone Refuses My Presence Near Her), is still on the website although the website is now blocked by the university.

We will never take down the short story because we have a right to freedom of expression, Yael said.

Reacting to the protest, USU deputy rector Rosmayati said the rectorate had no interest in banning the student publication but would elect a new editorial board to run suarausu.co.

Rosmayati said the current editorial board had to leave the secretariat room as the university would soon elect new members.

This was one of the points of the agreement between the rector and the Suara USU editorial board during a meeting on Mar. 25, she said.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Wellington, New Zealand  Fri, March 29 2019

Cultural diplomacy: A dancer, wearing traditional Indonesian attire, performs at a gamelan concert in Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, on March 22. (Courtesy of Indonesian Embassy in New Zealand)

The sound of gamelan was heard at Hub Hall in Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, during a gamelan concert jointly held by the Indonesian Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand School of Music, and Gamelan Wellington on March 22.

The concert, titled Night HUB: Gamelan and Indonesian Dance, which also featured Indonesian traditional dance performances, was held a week after devastating mosque attacks that killed 50 people, including one Indonesian national, in Christchurch.

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First-graders from April Mazzeo's class at Hoosac Valley Elementary School receive a check from Big Y at the North Adams store on Thursday with Mazzeo, tech specialist Geoffrey Kondel and Principal Michelle Colvin.

Hoosac Valley Elementary Gets Robotics Lab 'Holiday Wish'

ADAMS, Mass.  Hoosac Valley Elementary School children got a big gift on Thursday that will help make their robotics dreams come true.

April Mazzeo's first-grade class traveled to the Big Y Supermarket in North Adams on Thursday morning to receive a "big check" of $5,000 to fund a robotics lab at the Commercial Street school.

Mazzeo and Adams-Cheshire Regional School District's technology integration specialist Geoffrey Kondel worked with the children on a video application to Big Y's Holiday Wish program last December for schools in its area.

"Our Holiday Wish was for a science lab at our school," explained Principal Michelle Colvin. "So we did not win the grand prize, but because all of these children did such a fantastic job in their video, in Big Y's words, our children 'touched their hearts' and they're giving us $5,000 toward the creation of our science lab."

Morgan Spencer, manager of marketing services at Big Y World Class Markets, said the Holiday Wish was part of the company's Education Express Program. Since 1993, the company has awarded more than $14 million to schools in its customer areas through the educational program that runs every few years.

Schools were encouraged late last fall to apply for a grant for specific items by submitting a letter or video detailing what their holiday wish for their school was.

"We were able to fill nearly every wish," Spencer said. Including the two grand-prize winners, nearly 40 schools were presented with grants ranging from $2,500 to $5,000. Only two schools in Berkshire County were recipients  Hoosac Valley Elementary and its neighbor across the street, Berkshire Arts & Technology Public Charter School.

Hoosac Valley's wish was for a science lab, particularly for robotics and the Lego educational series, although Mazzeo said it will be used for other science, technology, engineering, art and math activities.

"I think we're going to start programming robots," said first-grader Chloe Dimitropolis. Her classmate Elias is ready, too. "I want to make robots and make it walk and talk," he declared.

Colvin said the logistics of where the lab would be located in the school still had to be worked out.
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Linkedin Teuku Faizasyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 30 2019

After traveling for 13 hours, plus staying overnight in Suva, Fiji, I arrived on March 14 in Funafuti, Tuvalu, as a special envoy of Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi. I was assigned to ensure the participation of high ranking officials from the government of Tuvalu in the Indonesia-South Pacific Forum (ISPF) in Jakarta on March 21.



The long fl ight and a rare opportunity to visit island states in the Pacific Ocean provided a good chance to refl ect on Indonesias foreign policy under President Joko Jokowi Widodo and the strategic diplomatic conduct under minister Retno.



Quite frankly, a tendency to label Indonesian foreign policy under President Jokowi as lackluster and deficient in new strategic ideas prompted me to look carefully at the foreign policy over the past four years.



In the public domain, there is a suggestion that lately Indonesias interest in playing a leading role at regional and global levels is weakening. This argument is built on what seems to be President Jokowis selective attendance at international summits.



His absence at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is often argued as an example of such failings. His emphasis for diplomacy to bring more tangible benefits for Indonesia, particularly in the trade and investment sectors, is also perceived as oversimplification in interstate relations.



Foreign policy should be seen in its totality or comprehensiveness within which different sets of actors contribute, in their respective capacity, to the attainment of any diplomatic objective.



Hence, the presence or lack of presence of the Indonesian President at the UNGA, is not a determining variable to assess the level of activism in Indonesian foreign policy and diplomacy.



Suffice to say that there are numerous studies on the efficacy of summitry as a diplomatic means.



There are cases where a summit can help break an impasse, as shown during the series of summits in the 1980s between former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev and former United States president Ronald Reagan to bring the nuclear arms race under control.



In contrast, the two series of summits in Singapore and Hanoi between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have been unable to produce tangible results. They carry more symbolism of a growing personal relationship between the two leaders. Unfortunately, the summit in Hanoi which was supposedly an opportunity for President Trump to win accolades was clouded with news of progress on the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.



In fact, any prospect of a resolution to the Korean Peninsula confl ict cannot be disentangled from competition for infl uence between the US and China in the Asia-Pacific region. The region is witnessing a new surge in competition for sphere of infl uence between the two major powers; a reminder of old contests for supremacy or the great power competition during the Cold War.



Indo-Pacific has become the new mantra in conceptualizing the complex dynamic and the way forward in the Asia-Pacific region; alas from various kinds of lenses. Among the many strands of the Indo-Pacific conception, countries in the region  big or small  are encouraged to shelter in one of the two big tents, under the US (Quad) or China.



The competition for infl uence is also a spin-off from the ongoing contest of ideas of governance at global level, between the liberal international order (the West) and the so-called authoritarian powers (mostly referring to China and Russia). It is also predominantly a contest of development model between the international economic order (Washington Consensus) and the Chinese economic model (Beijing Consensus).



During the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, Nov. 18, 2018, US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. stressed the importance of maintaining a unified alliance structure, as a means of countering emerging threats and preserving democratic values globally. The statement is a clear pronouncement of a dividing line between democracy and authoritarian powers.



Indonesia is concerned that the contending proposal for a new regional construct will only create division among countries in the region. To that end, Indonesia engages in a series of dialogues with various countries and regional players, including ASEAN, as well as with relevant stakeholders to find a synergy and common denominators in the Indo- Pacifi c conception.



The holding of the High-Level Dialogue on Indo-Pacifi c on March 20 in Jakarta served that very purpose. Government officials from 16 countries, members of the East Asia Summit, took part in the dialogue. Moreover, the ISPF is part and parcel of Indonesias diplomatic overtures in the Asia-Pacifi c region within the framework of Indonesias strategic outlook of the Indo-Pacifi c.



Tuvalu is a case in point, where an island state in the South Pacific becomes an arena for competition among foreign actors over time. The airstrip in Funafuti was built by the US during the Second World War, to provide the allies with a stronghold against the Japanese war campaign in the Pacifi c theater. Taiwan has opened a socalled embassy in Funafuti and helped build a government office building and disburse a large amount of development assistance.



Hence, it is a stark reminder of deep-seated animosity between China and Taiwan, beyond the Taiwan Strait.



Tuvalu and others island states in the Pacifi c, such as Kiribati and Nauru are also affected by climate change. My visit to Tuvalu has enabled me to witness firsthand their challenge in mitigating the adverse impact of climate change.



As an archipelagic country which is vulnerable to climate change, Indonesia shares their concern.



The ISPF provides Indonesia with a new vehicle to engage with countries in the South Pacifi c by focusing mainly on two priority areas. First, on infrastructure development  a precursor to better connectivity and economic progress.



Second, on blue economy  an important component for attaining sustainable economy and environmental protection.



Back to back with the ISPF, Indonesia organized a business forum.



The business forum would enable business communities from Indonesia and the South Pacifi c to compare notes on economic potential and discuss together ways and means to increase their economic engagements.



In a nutshell, Indonesian foreign policy and diplomacy under President Jokowi and under the stewardship of minister Retno continue to serve its very own purpose, namely promoting Indonesias national interests. In an era when global competition is prevalent, Indonesia will have to play a constructive role to find the right balance.



As a final thought, todays diplomacy is part of a cyclical process, building on the milestones of the long years of diplomatic conduct and derived from the central tenets of Indonesian foreign policy stipulated in the preamble to the Indonesian Constitution.





_________________

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 30 2019

Insurance companies are looking to their agents to sell more policies to Indonesians.

Insurance agents still make a huge contribution to insurance companies premium income, Indonesian Life Insurance Association (AAJI) executive director Togar Pasaribu said.

According to the AAJIs unaudited data, insurance agents contributed 39.5 percent to total premium income last year, a 0.9 percent year-on-year (yoy) increase from the previous year.

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Hanoi, Vietnam  Fri, March 29, 2019 13:47 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87306b68a 2 SE Asia #Vietnam,#Crime,ivory,seizure,Vietnam,Congo Free

Vietnam has seized more than nine tons of suspected ivory in a timber shipment from the Republic of Congo, customs officials said Friday, in one of the country's largest illegal wildlife hauls in years.

Though it is illegal to buy and sell ivory in communist Vietnam, lax law enforcement has allowed the illicit trade to flourish on the black market.

The government has vowed to crack down on illegal wildlife trade in the face of mounting international pressure and authorities said the latest bust in central Danang city was the biggest in years.

"A huge 9.1-ton (20,000-pound) package of goods suspected to be ivory hidden inside timber logs was found and confiscated," according to Hai Quan news site, the official mouthpiece of Vietnam Customs.

The ivory-stuffed timber logs were discovered Tuesday at Danang's main port on a ship from the Republic of Congo in central Africa, it added.

A customs official told AFP "authorities are still inspecting before making a final conclusion" about the substance.

Images on state media showed piles of alleged tusks being weighed by officers in a warehouse after the seizure.

Ivory is used for jewellery, decorative housewares and traditional medicine in Vietnam, which is also a popular transit hub for illegal wildlife destined for elsewhere in Asia, mainly China.

The government has struggled to crack down on the illicit trade as sales have moved online from traditional marketplaces.

Britain's Prince William was in Vietnam in 2016 to host a wildlife conference where he delivered an urgent plea to end trafficking to save critically endangered species.
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Linkedin (Xinhua) London  Fri, March 29, 2019 09:03 990 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87305cb08 2 News China,Terracotta-Warriors,Museum,Liverpool,United-Kingdom,London,Liverpool-Museum Free

China's Terracotta Warriors had helped Liverpool's World Museum become the most visited English museum outside London in 2018, it was announced Wednesday.

Figures compiled by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) showed the overwhelming success of China's First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors exhibition, making it one of the best attended exhibitions in Britain in 2018. The 610,000 visitors to the Terracotta event rocketed World Museum up 30 places in the annual league table of British visitor attractions.

In what was a cultural coup for the northern provincial seaport city, three of England's top four museums outside of London are in Liverpool.

Laura Pye, director of National Museums Liverpool said: "The museums and galleries of National Museums Liverpool are bursting with brilliant objects, incredible stories and memorable moments, and in 2018 we were able to take it to another level with a really vibrant program, including some exceptional exhibitions."

According to her, 2018 was World Museum's busiest year with 1,416,632 visitors, a 111 percent increase on 2017. It is estimated the China's First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors exhibition had boosted the local economy by more than 110 million U.S. dollars.

Another reason to visit Liverpool, said ALVA, was the hugely popular Double Fantasy: John & Yoko exhibition at Museum of Liverpool which saw almost a million visits in 2018, a 31 percent increase on 2017. The exhibition features never before seen personal items from slain Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono.

ALVA announced visitor figures to UK attractions in 2018, which saw an average increase of 8.68 percent over 2017. Overall almost 139 million visits were made to the top 249 sites monitored in Britain by ALVA.

The biggest increase of 19.07 percent in 2018 compared with the previous year was in Scotland. Overall more than 138.8 million visits were made to the top 249 ALVA sites in the UK.

The most visited attraction in Britain in 2018 was Tate Modern in London, with about 5.87 million visits.

Read also: US man stole thumb of Chinese terracotta warrior statue

In London alone last year over 67.64 million people, nearly the equivalent of the total population of Britain, visited attractions in the UK capital, a 3.37 percent increase over 2017. The figures showed that the top-10 most visited attractions of 2018 were all in London.

The British Museum saw a slight decrease of 1.3 percent in visitor numbers, to around 5.83 million visits, but still made second place after the Tate. The National Gallery remained in 3rd place, while the Natural History Museum in London saw an 18 percent increase in visits to remain in the 4th place.

For the second year, the most visited attractions outside London were in Scotland, with the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle, and The Scottish National Gallery being the most visited.

In England, Chester Zoo and Stonehenge were the most visited attraction and heritage site outside London.

Bernard Donoghue, director of ALVA, said: "I'm so delighted that every year, more and more people, from here in the UK and from overseas, are experiencing the astonishing array of our leading attractions in every part of the UK. Tourism is our 5th biggest industry and 3rd largest employer."
'Gloria Bell': For Whom the Loneliness Tolls

My mother was beautiful. Not just pretty, but beautiful. At family gatherings, it was inevitably brought up: Who is more beautiful, Dora or Elizabeth Taylor? It was Mom's cue to blush, although she kept serving and rarely sat down.

Intentionally or not, her splendor impacted nearly every aspect of our lives. Whether taken to the shoe store or a visit to the doctor, it was a given: A beautiful woman had just walked into the room. People like beautiful. It fascinates them, whether wondering what it must be like to be beautiful or intellectually deliberating just what it

is that makes one beautiful.

Here's why I raise the subject. Inarguably beautiful Julianne Moore stars in Sebastian Lelio's "Gloria Bell," about a middle-class, middle-aged divorcee who earns a living in a nondescript office job by day and hits the L.A. dance clubs by night in search of Prince Charming. While the makeup doesn't accentuate Moore's comely visage, neither does it purposely attempt to deter from it. The latter would surely be an awkward mistake. But that the fact of her exquisiteness is simply avoided, especially in light of a screenplay that is otherwise so commendably realistic, is perplexing.

My thesis here isn't so Philistine to recommend that Gloria is liable to fare better in her eventual relationship with dance-floor find, Arnold, also divorced, because of her pulchritude. It might just be my excuse for seeing how many synonyms I can find for beauty. But the thing is, Moore's appearance can't help but play in contrast to the regular gal she's been assigned to portray.

However, as we take it for granted that most movie actors, save for character types, are far more attractive than a random sampling of folks walking down any street USA, most viewers won't share my piddling reservations. Plus, that Julianne Moore is also as much a thespic talent as she is a Venus doubtless helps ameliorate the miscasting.

But whether because of her humanity or also for her loveliness, we like Gloria, and hope that John Turturro's suitor turns out to be at least a reasonable facsimile of the gallant knight on the white horse come to rescue our gal from dying with her song still inside her. But again, leave it to me to also have a trifling problem with Turturro's character.

While it's completely understandable that we soon become impatient with Arnold's sometimes quirky behavior, there just may be an unexplained answer that director Lelio should have at least broached. There's something amiss, something happened here. A former Marine who runs an apparently lucrative paintball park, he is inordinately in the thrall of his ex-wife and two obnoxiously demanding daughters. And it just isn't enough for me to simply recognize Arnold's inability to compartmentalize his role as super breadwinner and emotional support extraordinaire. He is a main character and not a convenient widget or a mere sounding board to help delineate Gloria. I want to know just a little more.

All the same, attesting not only to Moore and Turturro's superb performances, but also to my status as a hopeless romantic, I nonetheless rooted enthusiastically for this pair of lovelorn souls. In a classic case of invoking that the end justifies the means, especially in the cause of something as sacred as amour itself, and lending dispensation over my detractions, I defer to Joe E. Brown's wacky rejoinder in "Some Like it Hot" (1959) when Jack Lemmon's Jerry tells him he's a man: "Well, nobody's perfect."

So, while "Gloria Bell" isn't the definitive statement on a woman of certain years left in the lurch through the sometimes unkind vagaries of marriage, among the parade of middle-aged actresses who've taken their turn at this entranceway to roles for older ladies, it is one of the most genuine. Ms. Moore, especially when her character is expressing the seemingly endless hours of loneliness that can overtake every other aspect of singlehood, proves a master of evocative nuance. Although we all know, especially through the canons of the modern woman's movement, that no one should be defined by whether or not they have a life partner, here we witness that there are challenges nonetheless to overcoming old modes and conventions.

I mean, there's a reason why we've generally attempted to pair off over these vast millennia, whether to swing from chandeliers together, to have someone there in the middle of the night to call the EMTs, or for any number of those infinite proclivities that seem unfathomable to others.

Before the current awakening to self-determination, folks who didn't participate in the mating game were often considered either selfish or undesirable  termed old maids, confirmed bachelors and, only in the rarest of positive estimations, exonerated as free spirits. But of course there has always been much more to it, and in Moore's "Gloria Bell" the savvy glimpse beyond the stereotype rings true.

"Gloria Bell," rated R, is an A24 release directed by Sebastian Lelio, and stars Julianne Moore, John Turturro and Michael Cera. Running time: 102 minutes
The property at 49-55 John St. was the first to go Thursday morning.

Four Pittsfield Properties to Be Razed



Associate Builders from Springfield won the contract for the work. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The first of four blighted properties to be demolished this spring was taken down Thursday morning.

The first on the docket was 49-55 John St. The property is one Mayor Linda Tyer had campaigned in front of during her first bid for office four years ago and was removed the morning Tyer announced her second bid for the corner office.

At 9 a.m., Associated Building Wreckers out of Springfield began razing the property. The building had been in code enforcement since 2016 and had been in significant disrepair before.

The owner, Raymond Supranowicz, told city officials he was looking to sell the property and claimed he had stopped working on it because it was broken into and copper was stolen.

But the property had significant issues with overgrowth, there was a lack of lighting and security, there were no utilities, fire alarms were not connected to alert the Fire Department, and there were significant structural issues, according to the Health Department.

Following that, the company, which was awarded $193,043 contract for the multiple property demolitions, will move on to 100 John St. Two others slated for demolition this spring include 68-70 Lincoln St. and 105 Daniels Ave.

The fight against blight is a lengthy process with multiple avenues a city can take. Pittsfield demolishes about four to six properties a year.

The city has a lengthy list of vacant properties to comb through. A code enforcement team consisting of the building inspectors and Fire, Health, and Engineering departments priorities and determine which properties will be torn down. That group meets regularly with representatives from the Department of Community Development, the city solicitor, and the Purchasing Department.
will host a FREE event with a

panel of local artists who will speak about their experiences as artists in the Berkshires and beyond.

They'll answer questions about navigating the arts scene, networking in the artist community, marketing, how to prepare for an exhibition and more.
Officials cut the ribbon on the opening of Adam's Hometown Market on Friday morning. PreviousNext

Adam's Hometown Market Opens to Welcoming Crowd

ADAMS, Mass.  Adam's Hometown Market opened to a welcoming crowd on Friday morning.

A month ago, the grocery store's aisles were empty and shelves bare as Big Y ended its tenure. In just 18 days, the Connecticut grocery chain had stepped, freshened the entire building, hired many of the former workers and filled the store with new products.

"Welcome back," one woman called out to employees as customers clustered around the deli counter.

It was 50 years and a month from when the building had first opened as Adams Supermarket, just the latest in the Wineberg's family grocery chain that proudly bore the town's name.

It was, state Rep. John Barrett III, a little like "deja vu all over again."

"This is the most remarkable project I've ever dealt with in all my years in public service," the former longtime North Adams mayor said during remarks before the store's opening.

Community leaders, market representatives, an honor guard of veterans who raised the flag and more than 100 eager shoppers stood in the light rain on Friday morning to celebrate the opening. Above them was a banner proclaiming the store's new name and ownership, a temporary fix until the new sign can be installed.

Russ Greenlaw, vice president of operations, said the town's welcome had been remarkable. Residents were waving down cars with Connecticut plates asking them if they were involved in the project; Adams' businesses have now become friends.

"This has been a very overwhelming experience for us," he said. "We sat down as a team and said we have three goals. The first one was going to happen no matter what because we made a pledge to the town of Adams that we were going to do everything we could to get this store open by the 29th and gosh darnit, we did it."

The other goals were in welcoming the chain's newest family members and thanking community friends.

The new grocer wasn't a done deal, said Selectmen Chairman John Duval.

"He questioned us ... he wanted to make sure that this community was a growing community, a progressive community and a welcoming community," he said of Greenlaw. "I think we gave him some good information ... I think that lead to the opening we have today."

Greenlaw confirmed that the company had conversations with the state and local officials and with 1Berkshire representatives on the economy and community of Adams. He credited the Selectmen and particularly Barrett for being instrumental in helping the chain's officers in making project happen.

"We're a small company and we have to be very, very careful of our decisions and your municipal leaders, all of you, changed our minds very, very quickly and inspired us in a big way," he said.

Perhaps the kicker was the name though: Duval said, "he mentioned the name of the store and it just knocked me off my seat."

Greenlaw joked he thought he'd have to ask Duval to change the name of the town but it worked out.

Town officials are hoping this will be a turning point in the town's fortunes: announcements are expected soon on the Greylock Glen development; the Town Common is about to undergo a renovation, and Route 8 south from the common is being redone. Plus, the town has a new administrator after more than a year with an interim.

"Let this project stand as a beacon that Adams is open for business and let this project stand further as an example that today begins a new chapter in Adams' history," said the new Town Administrator Jay Green. "A chapter filled with positivity and optimism, working together such as this project, the future is only bright for this town."

The first 200 shoppers were gifted with a reusable bag filled with coupons and food. Costumers browsed the widened aisles and greeted friends and employees. Near the checkouts, a collage of images from when the store opened fresh and new hung from the ceiling.

"I love the store and they've got a lot of gluten free stuff," said Albina Graziani, who'd worked at the former North Adams Hospital for 43 years. She'd usually shopped at the Adams Big Y and sometimes in North Adams.

"It's about time," said Dot Pelletier, who also liked the layout and look. "Oh yeah, we don't have to go to Pittsfield. That's where we've been going. I just live up the street so this is a big thing you know."

She smiled, pointing to her cart, "I come in for potatoes and already I'm filling it up."

Eugene Michaelanko said he liked the new look, the aesthetics and the graphics.

"It's great to be back shopping here. It's been my store for I don't know how long and I'm glad it's still here," he said. "I hated going to the Walmart and the Big Y in North Adams and I'm glad it's here."

Store Manager Robert Pytko credited the "hard-working and dedicated folks behind these doors" for making the opening happen. A resident of Adams, he noted he was living here and raising his family here.

"Adam's Hometown Market is all about community, it's all about local," he said. "It's about fresh, it's all about service, it's all about making sure you can focus on the things that matter to you."

See more photos here.
Patong tuk-tuk, motorbike taxi drivers charged for violent attack on tourists

PHUKET: Five people in total  comprising tuk-tuk drivers and at least one motorbike taxi driver  have been charged with the vicious beating of two tourists in Patong last night (Mar 28).

tourismtransportviolenceSafetypolicepatong

By The Phuket News

Friday 29 March 2019, 02:56PM

Five are in custody at PAtogn Police Station already. Photo: Supplied

The attack was recorded on video by a bystander. Screenshot: Supplied

UPDATE: Patong Polcec Chief Col Anotai Jindamanee has confirmed that the sixth suspect presented himself at the police station on Friday afternoon (Mar 29) to be charged.

Patong Police Chief Col Anotai Jindamanee confirmed to The Phuket News that five of the six people wanted for the attacked are in custody at Patong Police Station.

We are waiting for one more person to present himself to be charged for the incident, Col Anotai said.

The five in custody have already been charged with affray causing bodily harm, Col Anotai confirmed.

Additional charges might be added later after we have concluded our investigation, he said.

The fight broke out in front of the Malin Plaza on Pracha Nukroh Rd at about 11pm.

Parts of the vicious beating were recorded by a bystander. The footage recorded showed the tuk-tuk drivers and at least one motorbike taxi driver beating two men in the middle of Pracha Nukroh Rd.

The tourists were beaten to the ground, with several of their attackers kicking both men repeatedly while they were still down.

In the video recording a womans voice can be heard screaming for the attackers to stop. Her pleas were ignored.

The tourists were later identified as Khalil Humaid Obid Ali Al Alkaabi, 38, and Abdulla Humaid Obid Ali Al Kaabi, 35, both from the United Arab Emirates.

I dont know who started the fight first. We are still questioning the people involved now, but the tourists also fought back, Col Anotai explained.

The tourists  two men, a woman and a child  were walking along the road while shopping. They hailed a tuk-tuk in front of Marlin Plaza and asked the tuk-tuk driver to take them back to their hotel in Patong, Col Anotai said.

After they had settled on a price, the tourists put their shopping inside the tuk-tuk and walked away to look at other things at the plaza, he added.

The tuk-tuk driver then decided to not take them because it he said it was a waste of his time waiting for them and he told them to get another tuk-tuk when they were ready.

Thats when the argument started, and the fight broke out  and other drivers around there came and joined in.

Col Anotai said both tourists escaped without sustaining serious injuries.

One of the tourists was taken to Patong Hospital. Doctors told me that he has a bruised eye. The other man did not need any hospital treatment. He will get better in about a week, he said.

Additional reporting by Eakkapop Thongtub
A way to help during the holidays
The Canadian government will consider providing an aid package for canola farmers after China restricted its purchases of the crop, Trade Minister Jim Carr said.

We have a very serious understanding of possible consequences of this issue on producers, Carr said in an interview Thursday. If necessary and as necessary, we will look at possible support.

Some measures are already being considered as part of an agricultural support package, said one government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because no final decision has been made. One such measure would be a crop insurance-style program that would give farmers some kind of upfront payment, up to a threshold, for their crops. That program may not be limited to canola, in a bid to blunt the impact of any further Chinese pressure tactics on other crops, the official said.

The government is also considering aid for farmers similar to that provided to workers in the softwood lumber sector, which was impacted by U.S. tariffs, the official said. Farmers are watching the issue closely as Canadas spring planting season nears. Canadas shipments of canola  used in cooking and as livestock feed  to China last year totalled C$4.4 billion ($3.3 billion).

Asked about potential aid, a spokesperson for Canadas Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau declined to respond specifically but said the government will continue to standup for Canadas canola industry.

Read more:

Canadian farmers look to federal government for action in canola standoff with China

Canadas canola conundrum has Trudeau pinned between China and U.S.

Canada is not without clout in its canola fight with China

Huawei Link

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is grappling with how to respond to Chinas move, the latest in a bubbling feud surrounding Huawei Technologies Co. chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada after a U.S. extradition request. China has demanded her release  and has since detained two Canadians before choking off canola sales.

Carr said the priority in the meantime is trying to get evidence from China of why theyve suspended export permits for two major Canadian companies. China is the biggest buyer of Canadian canola.

We have to resolve this issue, right away, on the basis of whatever evidence the Chinese can present to us that indicates theres an issue, he said. But China hasnt provided any evidence yet, he said.

We have asked Chinese authorities to show us examples of impurities and we havent yet seen any of those.

Beijing has confirmed the suspension of exports from Glencore PLC-owned Viterra Inc. and Winnipeg-based Richardson International Ltd. China says it found pests in canola shipments that had already been cleared by Canadian inspections.

Root Problem

Carr declined to say if he thinks the canola issue is a Chinese pressure tactic to free Meng. I cant say, because I dont have the evidence, and no one has said directly to us that it is related, he said.

A spokesman for a major industry group said the focus should be on fixing the root problem.

First focus is on fixing the issue as quickly as we can, Brian Innes, vice president of public affairs for the Canola Council of Canada, said in an interview on Thursday. Everyone is aware that farmers are facing difficulties and Im sure that when the time comes there may discussions on that.

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Kyushu Music Contest is a prestigious international music competition, taking place once a year, with the participation of 1,200 candidates worldwide with many categories. Particularly, the piano category has 700 participants.

This year, the competition took place within eight days with serious judging by the jury, who are leading music professors in Japan.

Vietnamese 15-year-old contestant Bui Thao Huong.

Bui Thao Huong is a student of TH school. In addition she is studying at the Faculty of Piano, the Vietnam National Academy of Music, under the guidance of Professor and People's Teacher Tran Thu Ha.

Previously, Thao Huong won silver medal at the Asian Festival held in Singapore (2014) and another silver at the International Piano Festival held in the Republic of Korea (2018).

Along with Bui Thao Huong, four other Vietnamese contestants at the competition also won prizes, including two silver and two bronze prizes.
1Berkshire Announces VP of Tourism and Marketing, Digital Specialist

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  1Berkshire has promoted Lindsey Schmid to the position of vice president of tourism and marketing.

Schmid, who previously served as 1Berkshire's director of marketing, has worked with the organization for more than eight years and is also the regional Tourism Council director.

"We are thrilled to continue our work with Lindsey, who was originally hired by the late Lauri Klefos to work for the Berkshire Visitors Bureau," said Jonathan Butler, president, and CEO of 1Berkshire. "She worked hand and hand with Lauri, promoting and enhancing our tourism product, and has transformed our organization in the areas of traditional and digital marketing and public relations. We look forward to further utilizing her considerable skills in marketing, as well as her expertise in promoting the Berkshires - both regionally and nationally - as a preferred place to visit, live, work and grow a business.

Currently, she lives with her family in Lenox, serves on the board of Downtown Pittsfield Inc, and dedicates time to the Lenox Library Event committee. Prior to joining 1Berkshire in August 2010, Schmid lived in Denver, where she got her MBA from University of Denver and worked as marketing manager for SCS Interactive. Before that, she lived in Washington, D.C., where she worked for The National Council of La Raza, as well as Teatro and Osteria Goldoni Restaurants handling public relations and marketing.

1Berkshire also announced the arrival of Jeremy Clowe, who joined the organization as the digital design specialist. Clowe is charged with overseeing websites for both 1Berkshire and Berkshires.org, as well as digital communications.

Clowe previously served as manager of media services at Norman Rockwell Museum, where he worked for the past 18 1/2 years, creating digital content and acting as a chief spokesman for the museum. His public relations work for the museum was nominated for a Berkshire Trendsetter Award by 1Berkshire in 2014. Clowe previously worked for both broadcast television and performing arts companies in Western New York, and has created award-winning video and multimedia for clients across Western Massachusetts and New York's Capital Region, where he currently lives with his family.
Last year, a company won a contract to build a 65-megawatt solar and battery farm in Arizona. A month later, the Saudis came out with a $200-billion plan (U.S.) to build the worlds biggest battery-backed solar farm by 2030. Then a firm proposed a nearly 500-megawatt solar-storage site in Texass oilpatch.

The race to build the biggest solar-battery plant is officially on.

And the latest to join the competition is renewable energy giant NextEra Energy Inc., which said Thursday that it will build a project in Florida that will claim the title of the largest solar-powered battery in the world. The 409-megawatt battery will be added to an existing 74.5-megawatt solar plant on the west coast of the state near Tampa, a company statement shows.

The project would be four times larger than any other battery system in operation.

Its all a testament to how powerful of a combination solar and storage has become.

Batteries and renewable energy paired together are now threatening the economics of fossil fuel-fired power plants around the world. A BloombergNEF analysis issued this week showed storage is now, for the first time, the cheapest option for meeting peak power demand in some cases.

As the price of battery and solar technology continue to fall and as we learn how to optimize this technology in multiple ways to best serve our customers, we are going to be seeing more battery technology throughout our system, NextEra spokeswoman Alys Daly said in an interview.

This is further evidence of a trend that is becoming increasingly commonplace across the United States of solar plus storage displacing gas powered plants. It is considered in many states a genuine alternative to gas assets. Logan Goldie-Scot, energy storage analyst

NextEras project, slated to be in operation in 2021, will replace 1,638 megawatts of natural gas-fired generation at the site that will be retired once the battery system is in service. The company said the solar farm cost $100 million but declined to give an estimate for the battery portion of its project.

The next-largest battery in operation is a 100-megawatt storage project in Australia. But with the average cost of a lithium-ion battery pack down 85 per cent, more projects are being developed around the world.

Here are details on some of the other big solar-battery farms being proposed:

Saudi Arabia partnered with SoftBank Group Corp. last March for its project to build massive networks of photovoltaic panels across the sun-drenched desert kingdom backed by a storage system for when the sun isnt shining. If actually constructed, the 200-gigawatt project would dwarf any other proposed in the world.

In Texas, IP Juno, a unit of San Francisco-based Intersect Power LLC, outlined plans to Texass power grid operator for a 495-megawatt storage system that would be built in tandem with a solar farm of the same size in Borden County, Texas. The projects were proposed to be completed in 2021.

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners is proposing to install 690 megawatts of solar and as much as 200 megawatts of batteries on almost 44,000 acres of federal land about 40 kilometres northeast of downtown Las Vegas.

First Solar Inc. won a power contract to supply Arizonas biggest utility with a 65-megawatt solar farm that will, in turn, feed a 50-megawatt battery system.
WASHINGTONNearly a year after imposing stiff tariffs on foreign metals, the United States is pressing Canada and Mexico to agree to permanent limits on the amount of steel and aluminum they export to America each year.

The demand, reiterated in meetings with Canadian officials this week, has been rejected by Canada and Mexico and is eliciting opposition from U.S. companies that use foreign steel and aluminum in their products.

The dispute is further complicating efforts to finalize a new North American Free Trade Agreement, which faces a long battle in Congress and must be ratified by legislators in all three nations. Canada and Mexico had hoped that President Donald Trump would remove the tariffs last year, when the three countries agreed on a new trade deal known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. That did not happen, and Mexico and Canada are now demanding that the United States drop the levies as a condition of ratifying the deal.

But Trumps advisers appear hesitant to do away with what they see as a source of leverage with Canada and Mexico. Democrats, who now control the House, have made clear they will not approve the new agreement without changes that could require all three countries to sign off, and the White House may use the tariffs as a cudgel to force Canada and Mexico to agree to any alterations.

On Monday, Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian foreign minister, called the tariffs illegal and unjust and completely unacceptable. Freelands comments came after she left a meeting with Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, that focused mainly on the tariffs.

Freeland said Canadians would be really troubled with the prospect of moving forward to ratify the new trade pact while the tariffs were still in place. To a lot of Canadians, it just doesnt make sense, she said.

To try to resolve the impasse, the Trump administration has proposed switching Canadas current 25-per-cent tariff on steel and 10-per-cent tariff on aluminum to a quota system, in which a specific amount of Canadian metal would be allowed into the United States each year, people familiar with the discussions say.

But Canada has rejected that idea, as have U.S. companies that use foreign steel and aluminum in their products  from beer brewers to jet-makers. They argue that capping metal imports at a specific level would be more disruptive than tariffs and could result in steep price increases or a scarcity of metals.

The United States and Mexico are locked in similar negotiations over U.S. tariffs on Mexican metal. Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, travelled to Mexico last week to discuss the tariffs, the new trade deal and investment.

On Tuesday, associations representing the aluminum industry in all three countries sent a letter to Trump asking for their industries to be exempted from any tariff or quota. Replacing a tariff with a quota on aluminum imports in North America would be highly detrimental, the letter said.

Trump has credited his tariffs with reviving the U.S. steel and aluminum industries, saying last week that American steel mills were roaring back to life. And U.S. giants like United States Steel and Nucor say the tariffs have helped them build new facilities and hire workers.

Still, economists suggest those gains have come at a high price. Calculations published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics in December showed that Trumps tariffs would create 8,700 jobs in the U.S. steel industry but that steel users would pay an extra $650,000 for each job created.

Some American steelmakers have promoted the idea of quotas as a way to prevent surges of cheap metal, particularly Chinese steel and aluminum, from being routed into the United States through countries like Canada and Mexico. Lighthizer, who negotiated similar quotas to help the U.S. steel industry during the Reagan administration, has supported the approach.

But businesses say that approach could be even more detrimental to American companies and the economy.

What we hear from our member companies is tariffs are bad and quotas are worse, said John Murphy, the senior vice-president for international policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

In a statement on March 22, Canadian leaders of the United Steelworkers called on their government not to ratify the new trade pact until tariffs and quotas are removed from the equation.

Economists say that quotas, if mismanaged, can quickly lead to shortages, rationing and other logistical problems. If companies are not able to get crucial parts back and forth across the border, it can delay investments in factories or oil and gas pipelines, potentially at the expense of U.S. workers.

Aaron Padilla, the senior adviser for international policy at the American Petroleum Institute, said quotas would further hinder the oil and gas industry, which needs steel to build pipelines and other infrastructure and has already been affected by tariffs.

With surging production of natural gas and oil, the steel needs have increased, Padilla said. Quotas can actually stop steel at the border.

Depending on how the Trump administration managed the quota, companies shipping a product might not necessarily know if the cap would be filled by the time that product reached the border. That could result in companies having to either store the metal or have it sent back to the factory at great expense.

Traders can also game a quota system, stockpiling metal and then flooding the market when the quota period opens, which can lead to shortages for users and big profits for sellers. In a report on Monday, Harbor Aluminum Intelligence, a consultancy, said that one trader had bought over 200,000 metric tons of Canadian aluminum in March, a potentially profitable trade if Canada accepts the United States offer of a quota.

By placing a numeric limit on the products that can move across a border, quotas can also encourage importers to ship only the highest-value goods in order to maximize their profit. Economists argue that the quotas Lighthizer helped place on Japanese cars during the Reagan administration encouraged Japanese automakers to shift their focus from small, fuel-efficient economy cars to the luxury segment, propelling the success of the Toyota Lexus, the Nissan Infiniti and other models.

Trumps strategy has strained American alliances and given allies little room to manoeuvre. Although Canada and Mexico repeatedly insisted that they would not negotiate a revised NAFTA with the threat of levies hanging over their heads, the three countries signed their pact in November without the levies being lifted.

On Tuesday, Trump met with Republican members of Congress responsible for gathering votes for his North American trade deal while members of the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing with labour leaders, who were generally critical of the deals labour provisions.

Trump continues to threaten to withdraw from the North American trade pact altogether if Congress does not approve the new deal. When asked in an interview on Fox Business Network that aired on Friday if he had a Plan B if the trade deal did not pass, the president said, Maybe go pre-NAFTA.

NAFTAs one of the worst deals ever made, he added.

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North Americans have one less option for affordable air travel to Europe and limited recourse for compensation after Icelandic carrier Wow Air abruptly ceased operations Thursday, grounding all flights and stranding thousands of passengers.

The deep discount airline collapsed after failing to secure new financing. It announced on its website that all flights had been cancelled, advising passengers to look to other airlines that may offer marked-down or so-called rescue fares in light of the circumstances. Passengers said they received no advance notice of the shutdown.

We had no idea this was happening, and I happened to be looking online at news to find out it was cancelled, Tanja Hare said in a message to the Star. They have made no contact with us.

Hare said theres added stress because her 22-year-old daughters Canadian passport has expired, leaving a four-day window to find her daughter a flight back from overseas.

Im upset to have no information from Wow, added Vincent Ribes, a French citizen who is living in Montreal. As of midday Thursday he remained stranded in Reykjavik, Icelands capital and home base for the airline founded in 2011 by award-winning entrepreneur Skuli Mogensen.

Ribes said he reached out to Iceland flagship carrier Icelandair and filled out a form to get a flight for $100 back to Canada. But the only airports offering the flight are to Boston, Washington, New York City and Toronto. I dont know if I will have enough to get back to Montreal.

Ann Campbell, meanwhile, was supposed to be in Copenhagen for vacation. But instead of rest and relaxation, she experienced a difficult night at Pearson airport.

Cancelling a flight 20 minutes before takeoff is very unfair to passengers, she said. Im disappointed and frustrated about how Wow Air handled things.

The company said customers who paid for their ticket with a credit card should determine if the credit card company would offer a refund. The Canadian Transporation Agency said Wow Air passengers who purchased travel insurance should contact their insurer while Ontarios transportation regulator said those who booked using registered travel agencies can apply for refunds through the Travel Industry Compensation Fund.

Stranded Canadian passengers with no return flights and future travellers with already-booked flights are left with very few options to claim compensation, said Christian Nielsen, chief legal officer at air passenger rights organization AirHelp.

Customers who have booked their tickets directly with the airline do, unfortunately, have narrow chances of being reimbursed or compensated as the future of the airlines finances is uncertain.

Airline passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs called any information now too little, too late.

He said Minister of Transport Marc Garneau and the transportation agency both had time to act to protect passengers after Wow Air began cancelling unprofitable routes last year but can do little now that the carrier has sought protection from creditors.

The CTA could have issued a number of orders promptly, before the bankruptcy to deal with the passengers who were stranded earlier. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, no such actions were taken.

A spokesperson for Garneau said the ministers office is monitoring the situation and instructed affected Canadian citizens to contact the closest embassy for guidance and assistance.

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, which offers assistance to Canadians overseas, also said in an email they were monitoring the airlines closing but to date, we have no reports of any Canadian citizen having been affected.

Wow Air, with a fleet of about 11 Airbus planes serving roughly two dozen destinations, had 27 flights scheduled to take off Thursday. They were all grounded, stranding about 2,700 people.

The carrier employs about 1,000 people and flew 3.5 million passengers last year. It has airports in Europe, the U.S., Canada and Israel and offered no-frills flights for as little as $99 before fees and taxes from Canada to Iceland that made travelling to Europe more accessible with just one stopover.

Wow Air operated out of Toronto and Montreal and had planned to start a Vancouver route in June, part of a broader trend toward upstart budget carriers including WestJets Swoop and Air Canadas Rouge.

But while some have been successful, others have faced headwinds from higher jet fuel costs and increasing competition. In the last two years, eight European airlines have shut down.

Frederic Dimanche, a Ryerson University hospitality and tourism management professor, said the low-cost model is especially challenging economically over long-haul routes, with most discount carriers preferring quick rotations over shorter distances.

He said sudden cancellation can be a risk of using ultra-low-cost carriers, adding that Canadian travellers have fewer protections than air passengers in Europe.

 With files from the Washington Post

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Canada is being urged to launch a World Trade Organization challenge against China over an escalating canola feud between the two countries.

China has halted imports of canola  a crop used in cooking and livestock feed  from some Canadian firms. While the Asian country is citing pest and quarantine concerns, the move is widely seen in Canada as a likely retaliation over the arrest of a senior Huawei Technologies Co. executive, Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver late last year.

Some observers, including former Canadian ambassadors to China, are pushing Canada to file a complaint at the World Trade Organization as a way to signal Canadas displeasure, using one of the few options available to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, though they acknowledge it wont be a short-term fix. In an interview Thursday, Trade Minister Jim Carr said hell consider anything, but his first priority is trying to get any evidence from China of violations.

All options are on the table. Were wanting to deal with this issue at the evidence level first, Carr, who will meet with representatives from the industry Friday, said. Canada is considering sending a delegation to China to examine the science of any complaint. If theres no evidence, then wed move along to other measures, he said.

Top Market

China is the top export market for Canadian canola, totalling $4.4 billion last year. But it restricted imports this month from a pair of Canadian firms  Glencore Plc-owned Viterra Inc. and Winnipeg-based Richardson International Ltd.  citing concerns over pests. Carr said no other firms have yet had their export license suspended. He said Canadian officials have tested shipments, both before and since the Chinese complaints, and found no violations.

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Trudeaus government is also said to be weighing an aid package for farmers.

A WTO complaint would take years to resolve, giving farmers no certainty for the upcoming planting season, but proponents of such a move said it would nonetheless be a signal of Canadas view on the matter.

Canada needs to send a very clear message to the Chinese that this is not how rules-based countries behave  one thing that is part of that is that Canada should immediately launch a WTO case, said Meredith Lilly, the Simon Reisman Chair in International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa, and one-time trade adviser to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Its important that Canada uses the legal tools it has available, and one of those things is the WTO case.

Former Canadian ambassadors to China have also backed the notion of a WTO challenge. Whats nice about it is that it provides a high-profile medium, one thats important to China, for delivering the message that we dont think this is legitimate, David Mulroney, now a distinguished fellow at the University of Torontos Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, said in an email.

Symbolic Move

Guy Saint-Jacques, another former envoy, said a challenge should be launched if the Canadian delegation to China fails to produce a breakthrough, as he expects is likely. We wont make any progress, and in that case we have to be ready for a plan B  and in my view this should include going to the WTO to formally lodge a complaint against China, he told BNN Bloomberg television this week.

Any WTO challenge would be almost entirely symbolic in the short-term, as cases take years to fight, and the WTO is already under siege as the U.S. chokes off appointment of new officials.

The WTO is an option but the problem is it takes years and years and years, said Adam Taylor, a principal at Export Action Global, a trade consultancy. Hes also a former trade adviser in Harpers government. By the time the appeals process is exhausted, the damage will already be done to farmers.

The canola feud is a political issue that will only be resolved at the highest levels of government, Taylor said.

However, the only thing China likely wants is the release of Huaweis Meng, which Trudeau has no power to do at this stage of her extradition process, which could also take years.

Our top representatives of the Canadian government need to recognize this is a huge issue and take steps to engage directly with the Chinese and find a way forward, Taylor said. The problem is I think the Chinese will come back with that outrageous demand, which is obviously something the Canadian government cant consider, so theyre in a tough place.

The government of Saskatchewan, Canadas largest canola-producing province, encouraged the federal government in a written statement Thursday to elevate their engagement to a diplomatic level to rectify this situation as soon as possible, and to send a delegation to China. Saskatchewan remains very confident in the high quality of our canola products, the statement said.

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The real estate unit of insurer Sun Life Financial Inc. is close to a deal to purchase a Montreal office tower from two Canadian pension funds for about $600 million, according to people familiar with the plans.

Bentall Kennedy LP is under contract to buy 1250 Rene-Levesque Boulevard West from Oxford Properties Group and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The deal is not finalized and may not go through. Bloomberg reported in January that Oxford and PSP were engaging with prospective buyers for the building.

PSP, which manages the pension funds of Canadian public servants, is an anchor tenant in the building. Oxford, the property unit of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, manages it. The 47-story skyscraper was built in 1992 and is considered one of the citys iconic towers. Royal Bank of Canada and CBRE Group Inc. were hired to handle the sale.

Representatives for Oxford, Bentall, CBRE and RBC declined to comment. A representative for PSP didnt respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this year, Bentall was in talks to buy the tallest office tower in Montreal, 1000 De La Gauchetiere from Ivanhoe Cambridge Inc. though that building is no longer for sale. Bentall managed $22 billion of assets in Canada as of September and has plans to boost its investments in rental apartments amid strong immigration.
CALGARYA Calgary artist is launching his second collaborative zine Thursday evening, involving local and international artists in the popular, accessible art form.

Tabula Rasa is what Cole Degenstein calls an anthology of silent comics. Thats because he presented 18 artists with a two-fold prompt: to create a three-panel comic strip, but with no words allowed. Artists in Calgary, Vancouver, Australia, Serbia, and more participated in the zine, which is being launched Thursday evening with 75 print copies and a digital edition.

Degenstein said he started organizing collaborative zines as an accessible creative outlet for artists.

Its really nice to get a group of creatives together to make something thats purely for the joy of making it, he said.

A zine is a self-published pamphlet or magazine, created by one artist or through collaborations. They usually involve a theme and are often centred around social justice ideas or specific causes. Zines have grown in popularity across North America recently, through pop-up events, workshops, and artist collaborations.

Why? Theyre more accessible, for one  its easier to support a local artist by buying a zine than to purchase a painting or a sculpture. Theyre also a way for artists to explore different themes and mediums without breaking their own banks. Zines can be filled with simple line drawings, printed on glossy paper or involve elaborate artistic techniques.

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For example, Evan Brien, one of the Calgary artists featured in Tabula Rasa, once challenged himself to make an interactive zine that involved pull tabs. Other times, Brien said making a zine can be as easy as printing his artwork and stapling it together.

If I dont have a project coming up  it creates an excuse to make stuff, he explained, adding that zines are easy to share.

Its super accessible, he said. You can make it super fast and super cheap, and hand it out to your friends.

Its that accessibility that Degenstein said drew him to zines. He grew up in small-town Saskatchewan and discovered zines at the age of 12, connecting with people on the internet who traded their work all over the world. It was a way to connect to a wider community that has been a part of his life ever since.

Theres always been a sort of community aspect to zine-making, he said. Even there was a sense of community when I was doing it by myself in the middle of nowhere in Saskatchewan, because I was trading them with people all over the world.

Degenstein is an artist and fourth-year student at the Alberta University of the Arts (formerly known as the Alberta College of Art + Design, or ACAD) whose work is mostly comics-based. After his first collaborative zine, Shrines, was well-received, Degenstein decided to make another one, challenging artists to tell a three-panel story without words.

Degensteins contribution to Tabula Rasa drew inspiration from the graphic novel he is currently working on. Like most of the artists, he said he broke the barriers of the three panels, illustrating the concept of silence in a real-life intimate moment.

The thing thats always drawn me to (zines) is that there arent any rules, he said. Thats kind of the fun of small-press publications  its all about the freedom.

The anthology includes local, national and international artists, many with significant followings, from as far away as Australia, Serbia, and the United Kingdom.

I think that is important for bridging Calgary arts with arts on a more national level, Degenstein said, noting that Canadian artists Hiller Goodspeed and Talullah Fontaine are well-known across the country.

Brien is a Calgary-based artist whose work injects humour and personality into inanimate objects and everyday situations. He met Degenstein at the first big Calgary zine fair called CanZine in 2017, where they both had booths, and he participated in Degensteins first collaborative zine.

When Degenstein reached out to him for Tabula Rasa, Brien was up for the challenge. Panelled comics are not his normal fare, and text factors heavily into most of his work, so the prompt pushed him out of his comfort zone. Instead of his usual inanimate objects, Brien used a funny personal experience as the inspiration for his contribution.

Brien said zines have grown in popularity across Canada, but that cities like Toronto or Montreal have many more people involved in the zine culture. Here in Calgary, he said its a small, supportive community where artists trade zines and collaborate on projects. He and his brother often participate in pop-ups and come home with more zines to add to their growing collection, Brien said.

When it is smaller, I feel like that just encourages other people, he said. That leaves an opportunity to have more of a tight-knit community.

Degenstein said that while other Canadian cities may have larger zine communities, Calgarys has grown in the past couple of years, highlighting CanZine as an example.

Theres a ton of really passionate, creative people here, he said, adding that Tabula Rasa is proof of that local talent.

Tabula Rasa launches its print and digital editions Thursday at 7 p.m. at Shelf Life Books.

Other Calgary events include the Common Crown Maker Market at Common Crown Brewing April 6, where Brien and his brother will have a zine booth, as well as a zine launch by the UCBS Advocates on April 4 exploring party culture.

Theres also a Zine Library at the CommunityWise Resource Centre in Calgary, maintained by the Zine Tree Collective, which boasts local and international zines and holds occasional pop-up events.

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In the afterword of his new book Provisionally Yours, Lithuanian Canadian novelist Antanas Sileika observes how his native land was, for much of its modern existence, poised perilously between the hammer of Germany and the anvil of the Soviet Union. With the sabre-rattling, Crimea-annexing antics of Russian president Vladimir Putin currently destabilizing the Baltic region, Lithuanians both at home and abroad are once again fearful about their countrys future and its sovereignty. This makes Sileikas new novel very timely indeed.

Very much in the tradition of the Cold War spy and espionage novels of writers such as John Le Carre or even Graham Greene, Provisionally Yours relays the story of a Lithuanian expat soldier named Justas Adamonis. He is returning to the country in the wake of Czarist Russias collapse after the First World War and the creation at Versailles of the modern-day Lithuanian state after centuries of its being controlled by Russia or Poland.

Kaunas becomes the new provisional capital of the country  Vilnius, its real capital, remains in Poland. After the Great War, the boundaries of many European states were in flux. Almost as soon as Adamonis disembarks in Kaunas, he is press-ganged into becoming the director of military intelligence. What ensues is his discovery of a smuggling scam between Berlin and Moscow that implicates and embarrasses much of the new countrys political leadership. Adamonis counter-intelligence coup burnishes his reputation and, with his newly acquired celebrity/notoriety, he is on a fast track to leading one of the landmark events in modern Lithuanian history: the liberation of the Lithuanian French-occupied seaport city of Klaipeda.

Adamonis motivation for this risky raid is personal as well as political. Early in the story, he falls in love with his beautiful American cousin, Lily, who recently returned to her native land with her blueblood diplomat husband in tow. Divorce is out of the question in Catholic Lithuania, but not in its soon-to-be liberated protestant province. Once Klaipeda is free of the French, Lily could divorce her husband and marry Adamonis. But love and politics form a toxic brew in Provisionally Yours and happy endings, it seems, are better suited to romantic novellas than espionage thrillers. Ill leave the fate of our star-crossed lovers for intrepid readers to uncover for themselves.

Sileikas novel is based on actual events in Lithuanias often tragic modern day history. The Justas Adamonis character is modelled loosely, Sileikas notes in his afterword, on a man named Jonas Budrys who reached his apotheosis as the liberator of Klaipeda and ended his days as a chicken farmer in New Jersey. That last fact, itself, underscores the tumultuous history of the Baltic states in the 20th century: from hero to henhouse-keeper in one lifetime.

While not in the same literary league as Le Carre, Sileika has nevertheless crafted a finely honed political thriller, although perhaps a bit too tidy with tying up the loose ends at the novels conclusion.

Robert Collison is a Toronto writer and editor.

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Commercial real estate honcho Stan Krawitz has been a bonanza for Torontos mens dress-for-success charities. He has been culling his suit closet recently, a collection that he had invested in heavily, over his three decades in business. The roster of 18 suits is now down to four.

Blame the techies. It became absolutely obvious that showing up in (Torontos up-and-coming tech hub) Liberty Village in a suit and tie  much less a dark suit and an institutional tie  was the kiss of death, says the vice-chairman, founder and head of Canada for Savills brokerage. Youd get stares, and hear people asking, Are we being audited by the CRA (Canadian Revenue Service)? 

The news earlier this month that the venerable stuffy-suit investment bank Goldman Sachs has adopted a flexible dress code, may mark the end of the Bay Street business suit as we know it. Americas fifth largest bank, Goldman Sachs is one of the best-known white shoe institutions, a neat old-fashioned term that used to denote century-plus old provenance, and ultra-conservative mannerisms.

But times change, and the tech sector has all the juice right now. So even the formerly most formal guys are embracing the tech comfort code: ditching the brogues for sneakers, and the suit for unstructured layers of flexible fabrics.

A leaked memo sent to Goldman Sachs staff was vague about why changes in the workplace dress were taking place. But it is most likely about a generational shift as a youthquake has come to suit land. More than three-quarters of Goldman Sachs employees were born in 1981 or later, which is a whole lot of millennial and Gen Z preferences to placate for any firm that wants to retain top talent.

All of you know what is and is not appropriate for the workplace, was the final line, signed by its new CEO, David Solomon and the CFO and COO. But does this power C-suite really know (any more than the rest of us) what appropriate means in practice?

Suits have been the easy solution for generations of men in the workplace. The decision to loosen ties at Goldman Sachs is mirrored by what is happening here in Toronto. And that means the conundrum formerly known as Casual Friday now lasts the whole week long. A whole new set of guidelines is needed.

Enter Krawitz, an early adapter of the new business casual world order. Where once he would pull out one of his bespoke navy wool suits and pair it with a dark purple shirt and tie; today he goes to stores such as GotStyle to stock up on smart separates.

Things started to change as the tech sector emerged in the early 2000s, says Krawitz, who is wearing a slim, white shirt with a discreet and small-scale pattern, an unconstructed jersey jacket, dark jeans and  a clever final touch  black leather sneakers with a patent cap toe. He has this style of running shoe in three colours, as they offers a touch of shine to a dressed-down outfit.

Tech went from 1 per cent of my business to 65 per cent, he says. That meant losing the stiff suit in order to connect with these new-style clients. The last thing we want, as advisers and confidantes, is to do anything to dilute the comfort and trust.

What millennials get right, says Krawitz, is that it is much easier to collaborate without a tie, heavy shoes, starched shirts and slim-fitting suits. You can move more. Plus, he adds, it is seamless to go out at night in smart casual, straight from work.

Before his full transition to business casual, he kept a lot of suit bags in his office. Some days I would have to change two to three times, back and forth, from suit to casual depending on the clients I was seeing that day, he says.

Caution is needed as men learn to walk the new un-dress code line, according to retailers. Weve been down this road before.

Remember when your bank manager in the 90s suddenly started wearing chinos and an oversized polo? asks GotStyles owner, Melissa Austria. It made for a sloppy dogs breakfast of random styles.

It ends up eroding the workplace if it is not done properly, she says.

Suits provide a standardized decorum, and when things get freestyle, there is the risk of an image that projects sloppiness instead of competence.

Suits are easy, says Austria. Smart casual is hard.

Austria and her team have a solid suit business that goes from starter pieces to made-to-measure. But where they really stand out in the city is with their simultaneous focus on how to do the new business casual: from unconstructed blazers and fun-patterned dress pants to newfangled pinstriped joggers and other athleisure hybrids slipping into the work zone. These new outfits combos are complicated. GotStyle works with clients to build customized casual outfits. The clients are often sent home with photos showing what works together.

Austria has also begun giving seminars on how to pull off smart casual at various co-working hubs around the city.

Joseph Tang, the fashion director at Holt Renfrew, says while business casual means a more refined and relaxed look, the term relaxed should not be taken too literally, as it does not mean attire you can wear to the beach. It refers to a less constricted form of dress but still as polished as the perfectly tailored suit. Business casual still means you need to put an effort in what you wear to work, he says.

And the new-era melting pot of people from different industries and walks of life is itself fomenting change. The gig economy and co-working spaces have effected businesses attires because it has exposed multiple industries to how different people interpret formal dress codes, Tang says.

So, with the banker dudes getting more casual, how do the creative types distinguish themselves from the business advisers?

By letting your individuality shine, say Anthony CK Thomas, the early-40s founder of Nightcall (thisisnightcall.com), which connects businesses  banks, fashion labels, restaurant chains  with the right ad agency.

When your clothes feel like an extension of you, it gives you confidence, he says.

Thomas began his career following the standard advice of dressing for the position you want, which in his 20s he interpreted as suits and more suits. Then one day he had a boardroom epiphany, that told him he needed to do me. Today, that means a camo jacket by Be Edgy and a camo belt. But I draw the line at camo loafers! he says.

Austria agrees to outfit Krawitz and Thomas to illustrate the smart casual style.

For our shoot, Austria suggests Thomas add a tie, as a way of elevating the deliberately casual ensemble. The knit tie adds texture and doesnt read formal, though Austria adds a tie clip, to make it stand out. His best accessory, though, is his daughters daschund, Sausage, who goes to work with him (one of the other perks of the new, chill-er workplace).

Even Thomas, who has confidence in his own taste, loves to work with a styling team. When I come in here to GotStyle, he says, I tell them who Im meeting and what the vibe is and then it is like Im Snow White with the birds bringing me pieces of outfits to try as we craft a specific look for the occasion.

Krawitz also enjoys working with Austria as he evolves his new smart casual look. She makes the updating process seamless, he says. Getting insight into the thinking of big-name business players can be a difficult task. But Krawitz is such a loyal customer that when Austria learned he was sharing his style story here, she made an unsolicited donation to his favourite charity, Camp Oochigeas (www.ooch.org) in his name.

These men are in the vanguard of the move to casual. And the menswear market will have a lot of disruption ahead as the casual imperative spreads. But of course, as soon as the rest of the crowd of business men get this new smart casual game down, things will no doubt change again.

The youngest guys (already) want suits again, says Austria.

It is the nature of fashion after all, to reject the last thing and re-invent the old as new again.

The New Hero Pieces

The experts on what you need to master the Smart Casual look

Joseph Tangs picks:

Soft structured jacket

Churchs brogues

Tailored denim and/or trousers

Fitted cashmere sweater

Perfectly pressed white/blue shirt

Melissa Austrias picks:

Christopher Bates (bonus: Canadian!) elasticized waist and cuff pinstripe pants

Blue Industry or Circolo 1901 unstructures, unline jersey sportscoats

Swims Derby knit sneakers

Zanerobe piped sleeve bomber
VANCOUVERCanada needs a reality check regarding the prospect of a free-trade agreement with China, according to a new report from a Canadian public policy think tank.

The political and industry narrative that a China-Canada Free Trade Agreement is urgently needed to provide access to a vast market critical to Canadas prosperity belies a fundamental institutional incompatibility between the countries, according to the Thursday report from the MacDonald-Laurier Institute.

Given the Chinese governments command power over its economy, its persistent violations of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and underhanded actions against the interests of its existing FTA (Free Trade Agreement) partners, Canada should not rush headlong into FTA negotiations with China, the report reads.

The recent escalation of diplomatic tensions  spurred by the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver in December, and the subsequent detention of a pair of Canadians in China  may have cooled Canadian public appetite for closer ties with the single-party state, said Charles Burton, a senior fellow at the institutes Centre for Advancing Canadas Interests Abroad and spokesperson for the report.

But powerful Canadian corporations have long pushed for eased business restrictions between Canada and China.

According to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canadas database, Canadian development giant SNC-Lavalin twice exchanged written and oral communication with each of the past two Canadian ambassadors to China between 2014 and 2017.

The subjects of communication between the company and Canadas heads of mission to China included: foreign policies affecting trade; increasing diplomatic resources to foreign markets; improved business travel visa services; international development policy, particularly with respect to the Canadian private sector; and concerns that budget cuts for Canadian diplomatic representation in foreign capitals  framed as key export growth markets  will hamstring opportunities for Canadian firms.

According to the same lobbying registry database, Canadian aerospace and transportation firm Bombardier exchanged written and oral communication with Canadian government officials 11 times between 2012 and 2015 on subjects including introduction of a Canadian-China partnership agreement with respect to the Chinese aerospace market.

SNC-Lavalin and Bombardier are just two of a vast number of powerful companies that actively lobby the government, Burton noted. Such actors seem to have a terrific amount of access and influence over Canadas China policy, he said.

However, Burton said, the Chinese government is holding out the prospect of enhanced access to the Chinese market through an FTA, but with conditions.

According to Burton, such conditions include axing restrictions on Chinese state investment in Canada, relaxing controls on Canadian export of high tech to China and that Canada should show whats referred to as friendship, which amounts to maintaining silence on issues such as human-rights abuses, Chinas expansion in the South China Sea and support for rogue regimes.

The reports close look at the outcomes of existing FTAs between China and other countries really suggests that the Chinese government does not negotiate these agreements in good faith, he added.

Using data and analysis drawn from dozens of national and international sources, the report finds that Chinas FTAs with its existing partners have been lopsided and frequently have led to abuse by China, which should alarm Canadians.

In its FTAs with Pakistan and Switzerland, for instance, China manipulated tariff negotiations to quickly gain foreign market shares at the cost of its partner, the report says.

Chinas 2015 FTA with Australia provides another example of explicit asymmetrical treatment, it continues. By the terms of that agreement, Australia treats Chinese investors as equal to its own investors, while China does not provide Australian investors the same entry to its own markets. This one-sided open-door policy caused numerous Australian losses of critical infrastructure assets to China, leading to deep penetration of Australias energy infrastructure by Beijing-controlled and Beijing-linked actors and corporations, the report says.

Leading up to Trudeaus disastrous 2017 attempt at landing an FTA with the country, China had hoped to entice Canada into signing a cut-and-paste of the Australian agreement, Burton said.

In 2017, Canadas annual trade deficit with China exceeded $44 billion, with China being the largest contributor to Canadas trade deficit since at least 2010, according to the study. Based on Chinas track record with other nations, this trade imbalance would not likely be improved by an FTA, the study argues.

China has meanwhile proven to be a recidivist breaker of World-Trade Organization rules, while systemic theft of technology is a hallmark of the China model, whether through forced technology transfer, espionage or disguised control through investment, the report continues.

With all of this in mind, the report concludes, its imperative Canada ask itself tough questions that are predicated neither superficially on our need for economic growth  nor on the Chinese market potential, which is plainly obvious for all to see.

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OTTAWA As former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould debated whether to intervene in the corruption prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, she received legal advice from her department that underscored what an unprecedented move that would be.

The legal advice prepared by the department set out her possible options on the SNC-Lavalin prosecution, including the ability to seek outside legal advice, but it stressed that no chief prosecutor has ever intervened in a specific case, and that any decision to intervene must be hers alone.

Any decisions by the Attorney General of Canada are hers to make, independent of political considerations or processes, and in the public eye, the document states.

The Liberal government is in the midst of a political firestorm over whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his officials exerted undue pressure on the Wilson-Raybould to overrule the director of public prosecutions, and direct her to negotiate a deal with the Quebec company under a brand new law to allow remediated agreements in certain financial crime cases.

Wilson-Raybould says Trudeau and his officials raised inappropriate political considerations  such as the possibility of job losses in a province where the Liberals are counting on seats to be re-elected. But she testified their actions did not cross any legal lines.

Trudeau and his team, including his Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick and former top aide Gerald Butts, have denied pressuring her, but insisted job losses were a proper public policy consideration that had to be weighed, and said they encouraged her to take outside legal advice.

Wilson-Raybould is seeking to bolster her testimony with copies of emails and texts.

Read more:

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On Friday, the House of Commons justice committee is expected to release her documents along with a new written submission from her, after Liberal MPs denied an Opposition request that Wilson-Raybould be recalled to rebut Butts and Wernick.

Wilson-Rayboulds package of material is about 44 pages in all, according to one committee source, but had to be translated before being publicly released.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, the committee chair, expects the package to be available Friday afternoon.

Quite apart from Wilson-Rayboulds personal notes and texts, the committee has already received a copy of the legal opinion prepared by her old department that was labelled as protected under solicitor client privilege.

The Star received a copy of the three-page legal opinion from the justice committee, although it has not been posted publicly on the committee website.

It says the Attorney General of Canada is ultimately responsible for criminal prosecutions.

She must carry out those responsibilities independent of Cabinet and of any political considerations, and must be seen to undertake those responsibilities on objective and legal criteria, the document said.

Whether to initiate or stay a criminal proceeding is not a political matter, and the attorney general of Canada is acting in her capacity as chief law officer of the Crown, not a minister of the government of the day, when she makes such decisions, it said.

Policy considerations may be weighed in making decisions on criminal prosecutions. She may choose to consult members of cabinet at a general level on policy considerations but decisions related to the conduct of individual prosecutions must be hers alone and not the result of a Cabinet decision making process.

According to testimony by deputy justice minister Nathalie Drouin, the legal advice was prepared after Sept. 4 when the Director of Public Prosecutions Kathleen Roussel advised Wilson-Raybould she would not enter negotiations with SNC-Lavalin to settle criminal charges of bribery and fraud.

Drouin said she gave Wilson-Rayboulds senior staff a copy of the draft legal opinion on Sept. 8.

Wilson-Raybould testified that by Sept. 16 she had made up her mind after reviewing advice by her department, her ministers office and work I conducted on my own, that it was inappropriate for me to intervene in the decision of the director of public prosecutions in this case and pursue a deferred prosecution agreement. She says she told the prime minister verbally of her decision on Sept. 17.

Wilson-Raybould has never publicly identified her reasons for that decision. Nor has Roussel, the head prosecutor, outlined her rationale for denying a remediation agreement to SNC-Lavalin. Neither is obliged to under the statute or in common law, according to a federal court decision that rejected SNC-Lavalins attempt to force their hand.

The legal opinion prepared for Wilson-Raybould outlines clearly that although she could assume conduct of a prosecution, or direct a specific course of action in a particular case, it had never before happened.

To date, the Attorney General of Canada has not issued any directives in respect of specific cases, the department wrote.

It says if she did act under the various powers she has to take over a prosecution, notice must be published in the Canada Gazette, although publication can be delayed, but not beyond the completion of the prosecution or any related prosecution.

The memo says historically, the practice of successive Attorneys General has been to refrain from becoming involved in the operational decision-making in specific prosecutions, even prior to the enactment of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act.

Thats the law that took effect in December 2006 under the Conservatives, which created the independent prosecutions office, with the goal of explicitly establishing the independence of prosecutions from the political sphere.

The justice departments legal opinion described an attorney generals powers when it comes to the new law on remediation agreements  a law that SNC-Lavalin actively lobbied for and hoped to become the first beneficiary of. It was then set to come into force Sept. 19, 2018  nearly two weeks later  and has never been tested in Canada.

The memo says the law sets out specific conditions that must be met before any deal can be negotiated, including that the prosecutor must believe that entering a negotiation towards an agreement is in the public interest and appropriate in the circumstances.

The document says if the attorney general disagrees with the director of prosecutions whether the conditions to negotiate an agreement are met, she may direct the prosecutor to reconsider her decision, direct that a specific prosecutor be appointed to conduct a reassessment and to act on its results, or take conduct of the prosecution, and appoint a prosecutor to act as her agent to negotiate an agreement.

She can also seek advice about the exercise of her powers, and the memo says she could engage someone outside the Public Prosecution Service to assess the case and advise her as to whether the conditions for a remediation agreement are met.

It is this latter course of action that the PMO officials  according to both Wilson-Raybould and Gerald Butts  were urging her to take, and that she refused.

The memo, which Butts said set out her options, says Wilson-Raybould is not bound to accept the outside advice  which Butts also stressed was the PMOs understanding as well.

The Star has reported that her successor, David Lametti, has sought external advice in the SNC-Lavalin affair, but will not reveal what it is.

With files from Bruce Campion-Smith

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Fruscio, Former Creative Director, Has New Post at Housing & Development

Helena Fruscio Altsman

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The head of the county's former Berkshire Creative agency has been named assistant secretary of program and performance management for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

Helena Fruscio Altsman, a former city resident, has held a number of creative economy posts in state government including creative economy industry director.

Fruscio Altsman is one of three changes in the senior leadership at EOHED and the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism: Mark D. Fuller has been named undersecretary for business growth and Keiko Matsudo Orrall as MOTT's executive director.

"I am excited to round out my senior leadership team to help advance our work around business growth, program and performance management, and travel and tourism," said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Michael Kennealy in a statement. "Mark, Helena, and Keiko bring invaluable experience and perspective to their new roles, and I look forward to working closely with each of them to grow the commonwealth's economy, spur the creation of jobs for residents, and highlight Massachusetts' unique cultural and historic assets."

EOHED works to advance the economic opportunity for residents, partner with local leaders to pursue economic priorities, and engage with businesses to support job creation. EOHED is comprised of several agencies, including Housing and Community Development and the Office of Consumer Affairs, and has a $1.4 billion budget and approximately 1,000 employees.

In her role as assistant secretary, Fruscio Altsman will ensure program effectiveness on behalf of EOHED, tying its financial and programmatic support to economic outcomes on behalf of the commonwealth. Through secretariat partnerships, she will coordinate the implementation of programs for EOHED.

Fruscio Altsman has served as a policy adviser to the state for the past seven years, serving most recently as deputy assistant secretary of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology and the director of the Office of Performance Management Oversight.

Her work for the state has been informed by her experience as the director of Berkshire Creative Economy Council, which was a key organization in the creation of the economic development organization 1Berkshire. A graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government with a master's degree in public administration and an undergraduate degree from Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology, Fruscio Altsman has a track record of developing, advising, and deploying programs that truly impact the communities in which they are implemented.

Fuller will play an integral role in advancing the administrations strategy for job creation and business development across the entire commonwealth. He will coordinate state-funded incentive, capital, and operating budget driven programs and departments that offer support and resources for business of all sizes, and foster relationships with the state's diverse business owners. Fuller most recently the chief of staff at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and previously worked in the office of the governor as director of performance management.

As MOTT's new executive director, Orrall will build on the Baker-Polito administration's first-term accomplishments, which include expanding MOTT's international presence and increasing visitation from 27.5 million to nearly 29 million visitors. Prior to joining the administration, Orrall served in the Legislature for four terms as a representative for the 12th Bristol district.
ST. CATHARINES, ONT.A Niagara Regional Police officer has been charged with attempted murder in the shooting of another police officer last November.

The provinces Special Investigations Unit said Thursday that it has reasonable grounds to believe an officer committed criminal offences when a 52-year-old police officer was shot in Pelham.

The Standard has previously identified the wounded officer as Const. Nathan Parker.

An investigation by the SIU into the Nov. 29, 2018, shooting found NRP officers were in the area of Effingham St. and Roland Rd. to investigate a collision that happened days earlier. Two of the police officers became involved in an altercation at about noon and one of the officers discharged his firearm multiple times.

The second officer was struck and suffered serious injuries.

Det. Sgt. Shane Donovan has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

The SIU said he will appear in court on April 18.

Read more:

Niagara-area officer, shot several times in argument with fellow cop, in critical condition, SIU says

Critics decry lack of transparency around police shooting in Pelham

Niagara police chief anxious to get answers about shooting

There is little doubt that this incident has had a tremendous impact on our community and our members, Niagara Regional Police Chief Bryan MacCulloch said in a statement released late Thursday afternoon. At this time, we must respect the judicial process and allow this matter to continue to unfold before the courts.

MacCulloch added it was an isolated incident and asked for the publics continued support of its members and all those involved.

Police were scheduled to hold a press conference about the charges at police headquarters in Niagara Falls Thursday night.

Police services board chair Ken Gansel also issued a statement.

This incident is clearly deeply concerning and we offer our full support to Chief Bryan MacCulloch and the command team as they work with both the SIU and the OPP while supporting the members of the Niagara Regional Police Service, he said.

On behalf of the police services board, I would like to thank the community for their ongoing trust as we move through this judicial process.

The SIU is an arms-length agency that investigates all incidents of serious injury, death or sexual assault involving police in Ontario.

Donovan headed up the NRPs collision reconstruction unit at the time of the incident. Members were in Pelham investigating an alleged impaired driving collision that had happened Nov. 12 in which a driver failed to negotiate a curb, entered a ditch and struck a tree. The vehicle burst into flames and was destroyed.

Parker is a constable with 28 years of service with the NRP and at the time of the shooting was assigned to uniform patrol in Welland and Pelham. He had made news in the past as the subject of four disciplinary hearings, three of which involved violence against civilians.

Parker was treated at the Pelham scene and transported to an area hospital before being moved by Orgne air ambulance to Hamilton in critical condition.

There was no word Thursday on what his current condition is, nor his status returning to work.

Karena Walter is a reporter with the St. Catharines Standard. Email: karena.walter@niagaradailies.com

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OTTAWAOn the eve of the imposition of the Liberal governments new carbon tax, new polling data suggests a majority of GTHA residents accept Ottawas plan.

The data, released by Clean Prosperity and University of Toronto researcher Peter Loewen, suggests 60 per cent of residents of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area  including Durham, Halton, York, Peel regions and Hamilton, excluding downtown Toronto  either support or accept the Liberals plan to price carbon.

More surprisingly, the data suggests that opposition to the carbon tax largely melts away when respondents were informed that the money from the carbon pricing scheme will be sent back to Ontario households and businesses.

A full 47 per cent of respondents who opposed the policy switched their position to accept or support when informed of that intention, according to Clean Prosperitys data.

The sample size for the poll was small  just 504 respondents in the GTHA, excluding downtown Toronto, with the results weighted for age, gender, country of origin and home ownership. The polling was conducted through an online survey between Jan. 31 and Feb. 15, and Loewen says has an equivalent margin of error of roughly 4.5 percentage points.

The numbers suggest Justin Trudeaus Liberal government has not done a great job at selling their plan, according to lead researcher Peter Loewen.

I think its a deeply misunderstood tax, Loewen said in an interview Thursday.

Youve got a political debate over the carbon tax here, and its reasonable for people to not have all the facts, to not understand how the rebate mechanism is going to work. The federal government has in essence already conceded that, for example its taken on an advertisement campaign to tell people to apply for rebates through their income tax.

The federal governments carbon tax plan kicks in next week. Provinces that dont have a climate plan that meets Ottawas minimum standards will be subject to the carbon tax, but 90 per cent of the money collected through that tax will be sent back to households in that province through an income tax rebate.

The federal Liberals estimate that means an annual rebate of $307 for an average Ontarian household.

According to the Clean Prosperity data, just 28 per cent of respondents oppose the carbon tax in the GTHA, while 13 per cent are undecided.

When asked how their views would change if they received a rebate that exceeded their costs  60 per cent of those who opposed switched their position to support or accept, according to Clean Prosperity.

Understanding about the rebate is low. Just 41 per cent of Ontarians in the surveyed area were aware of the federal governments plan to rebate money to households and businesses.
OTTAWAGlobal Affairs Canada has issued a travel advisory for Canadians in Britain, warning them of possible violence in the wake of todays latest twist in the countrys Brexit drama.

The department issued the updated advisory as British politicians rejected the latest attempt to coalesce around a path out of the European Union.

In the advisory, officials warn of acts of violence and confrontations between demonstrators and security forces around the parliamentary buildings and near Westminster Abbey in London.

Canadians are urged to avoid areas where demonstrations take place and nearby subway stations.

The department continues to recommend Canadians visiting the United Kingdom exercise a high degree of caution due to the threat of terrorism.

U.K. parliamentarians today rejected for the third time British Prime Minister Theresa Mays plan for Brexit setting the stage for the country to crash out of the European Union next month without a replacement deal in place.

Read more:

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Theresa May the latest Conservative leader swamped by Europe

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ST. JOHNS, N.L.A Scottish parliamentarian is continuing her fight for a Newfoundland woman who has accused her co-workers of bullying and harassment.

Rhoda Grant is calling for an independent investigation into what happened to DeeAnn Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick, who is originally from Bell Island, N.L., but has been living in Scotland for decades, spoke out a few years ago after a photo of her bound and gagged and taped to a chair at her workplace came to light.

Fitzpatrick had been working with Marine Scotland and accused her co-workers of cruel and bullying behaviour.

She and her family maintain that many of those allegedly involved in the abuse have been promoted even though she has not been allowed to return to work despite the fact that she was not suspended.

Grant, who has represented Fitzpatrick for a decade, raised the matter in the Scottish parliament on Thursday.

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Quebecs taxi industry suspended all pressure tactics over the provinces proposed overhaul of taxi regulations after a member harmed himself on live television Friday.

An industry group said the decision was made after the dramatic incident at the end of an interview with a taxi owner on the LCN all-news network.

Appearing alongside a suicide prevention organization director at a news conference in Quebec City, taxi group spokesman Abdallah Homsy said the focus needs to be on the mental health of taxi owners and drivers.

This morning, one of our distressed colleagues called out for help on television by trying to end his life, Homsy said. I invite all my colleagues who are in mental distress, or friends and family who witness that distress, to seek out help.

Taxi drivers had been protesting all week in Montreal and Quebec City, claiming the governments proposed reforms will drive many of them into bankruptcy.

Transport Minister Francois Bonnardel last week tabled Bill 17 to modernize the provinces taxi industry in response to ride-hailing applications like Uber.

Read more:

Quebec taxi drivers decry industry overhaul they say will force them into bankruptcy

Montreal taxi company that challenged Uber with electric fleet halts operations

The bill would get rid of a quota system that limits the number of taxis in each city, and drivers say it would render their permits worthless. The province is offering a total of $500 million to compensate permit-holders.

Bonnardel said in a statement Friday that he was very upset by the televised incident. He said he has been touched by testimonials from cab drivers and owners about the impact of the government bill.

He reiterated the importance of discussions between representatives of the traditional taxi industry and the province to ensure a harmonious transition and encouraged anyone in distress to seek help.

A Quebec City police spokesman said first responders quickly arrived at the television studio and transported the injured man to hospital. Homsy later tweeted that his colleague was doing better.

But we must give him the time necessary for his convalescence, he wrote.

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The federal government is stepping in after the province announced that two supervised drug consumption sites in Toronto must close as of Monday.

A third site, run by the city, was left in limbo by the province, but will also remain open for now.

Amid a continuing overdose crisis in the provinces capital, the Ford government did not explain the sudden closures.

The press release, which was posted to the provinces website at 3 p.m. on Friday but not initially sent to journalists, said the province would be approving only 15 sites after Minister of Health Christine Elliott earlier promised a review.

An accompanying list left off a total of six proposed sites across the province, four of which were already operating.

Those that were in operation include the Street Health location at Dundas and Sherbourne Sts. and the site at St. Stephens Community House in Kensington Market.

We just had a brief call with the ministry this afternoon and basically as of Monday morning, they expect us to shut our doors, said Kelly White, the overdose prevention site co-ordinator at the Street Health site.

We expect that clients will be showing up on Monday morning with drugs in hand expecting to use our services and the ministry has advised us to turn them away and send them to other sites.

But after that gutting call, White said executive director Kapri Rabin contacted the federal government and learned that an application to stay open on an emergency and temporary basis was granted  even without provincial support  but its on them to come up with the money.

It means they can continue to offer the services for just one month because their board approved emergency funding in anticipation of a worst case scenario.

If we can get the money, we could continue up to a year. But we have to find the funds ourselves, said Rabin. It should be funded by the minister of health. This is a health service.

Rabin said when they spoke with the province just hours earlier and asked them what they were expected to do, it quickly became apparent that there was no interim plan and no thought had been given about how to handle the transition. It was close your doors. It is dangerous for people.

White said their staff have overseen about 1,600 visits since opening in June and about 60 per cent of the clients they serve are women. She said they work hard to build relationships with their clients in a non-clinical space.

The ministers office said sites were chosen based on new criteria, including providing evidence of community support and demonstrating a commitment to ongoing community engagement and considering proximity to other similar services, child care centres, parks and schools.

Our government takes the opioids crisis very seriously, says Elliott in the governments release.

Thats why weve created a new consumption and treatment services model that will continue to save lives by preventing overdoses and connecting people to primary care, treatment, rehabilitation, and other health and social services to ensure those struggling with drug addiction get the help they need.

At St. Stephens on Friday afternoon, executive director Bill Sinclair said they were in shock after receiving the call from the province.

But before 6 p.m., they learned their request to remain open on an emergency basis had also been approved by the federal government.

That means they too can stay open, for now  as long as they can find the money to operate.

Were going to move around some fundraising dollars to meet urgent community need, Sinclair said.

St. Stephens had been operating on temporary provincial funding for their site as of last year, and had hoped to change to a permanent site, said Sinclair.

Its been proven beyond a doubt that overdose prevention sites improve lives and prevent overdoses on a daily basis, said Sinclair. We have been proud of the work we are doing and wanted to continue doing that work. We feel we are a benefit to the community and we hoped to continue being a benefit.

Councillor Joe Cressy, who chairs the citys board of health, and Mayor John Tory both condemned the provinces decision Friday.

In the midst of this deadly crisis, we should be opening new sites, not closing the limited number we already have, said Cressy. Overdose deaths are preventable. The evidence is clear  supervised consumption sites save peoples lives.

Tory  who backed the opening of the first sites in Toronto  called the decision by the province extremely disturbing.

We are in the midst of an overdose epidemic in our country and supervised consumption services are one of the best tools we have right now to help save lives and I am deeply troubled by this sudden announcement, he said.

Toronto Public Healths The Works on Victoria St. was also left off the list. Hayley Chazan, the ministers spokesperson, clarified that site has been put on hold pending further review.

A spokesperson for Torontos medical officer of health Dr. Eileen de Villa said the office had just received the update from the province about The Works and said they are still in talks with the ministry.

In the meantime, TPH will continue to offer its current supervised consumption services (SCS) and other harm reduction services, said the spokesperson in an email.

The overdose emergency in Toronto is a serious public health issue and remains urgent.

The Works was one of the first sites to open in the city and has permission to operate from the federal government, unlike the other two Toronto sites that are now without provincial support. It is, however, also receiving funding from the province.

Since opening in August 2017, they have supervised 40,017 visits and have treated 748 overdoses, the TPH spokesperson said, making it the busiest supervised consumption service in the city.

De Villa noted that preliminary data for 2018 indicated there were 193 opioid toxicity deaths in Toronto in the first nine months of the year.

This number is expected to increase as the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario completes additional death investigations, she said. Too many people are dying and these are preventable deaths.

Gillian Kolla, a co-ordinator with the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society (TOPS), pointed to data posted on the city of Toronto website that shows that in the last three months paramedics have responded to 915 suspected overdoses. Of that, 45 were fatal.

I dont think the government understands the scope of what is going on on the ground right now, said Kolla. The fact they are walking back the funding on any of these sites is reprehensible.

The ministers spokesperson also said they will continue to accept applications on an ongoing basis, but it is unclear if they are willing to approve or fund any additional sites in Toronto.

Two more sites in London that were not yet open are also on hold, Chazan said. A third site outside of Toronto has also been ordered to close, but its location is unknown.

Two men outside The Works on Friday afternoon said these sites are saving lives and should be encouraged for the sake of everyone.

There arent any overdose deaths in places like this, and the (staff) are really dedicated to their jobs, said a fentanyl user who gave his name as Rod. I should be doing other things (than drugs), but when Im here I feel safe.

Asked where he would shoot up if there was no safe-injection site available, he said: Bridges, alleys, parks, the bathroom of Five Guys, while your family is there eating burgers and fries.

With files from Tony Wong and David Rider
It was Roger Hoppers 50th birthday. So his wife Debbie treated him to tickets for the Blue Jays home opener against the Detroit Tigers.

Hopper was in his 100-level seat celebrating by polishing off a $5.75 bag of strawberry Twizzlers that he could have picked up from Dollarama for a third the price. But he wasnt complaining. They had driven in from Brussels, Ont., population 1,158 for the big game. The lure of a free T-shirt and magnet didnt hurt either.

You have to be optimistic that good things will happen, said Roger, who sees three or four home games a year.

Im not so sure its going to happen this year, said Debbie, with less optimism.

Management says the Blue Jays are in a rebuilding phase and it was clear on the field that they didnt have quite the star power of earlier years in their 2-0 loss in the 10th inning. Attendance has been down significantly, and the home opener isnt the hot ticket it once was. But management had a secret weapon: Cheap beer.

For sports fans, nothing goes down worse than overpriced beer  especially if you think your team sucked. And management over the years still raised ticket prices even if they sucked. So the Toronto Blue Jays home opener strategy of making amends by dishing out cheap treats for fielding mediocrity, seemed to be working just fine  until the lines formed and the beer ran out at one stand, at least temporarily.

Some fans watching the Jays take on the Detroit Tigers complained they couldnt get their allocated two cans of $5 beer after lining up for as much as half an hour. One concession stand ran out of milk. And at one point the credit card machines werent working. The glitches were fixed  but it didnt leave everyone happy.

I think its kind of sad if most of the excitement is because the beer is cheap, says 38-year-old Fidel Cuadra, of Thornhill, who spent about 25 minutes in line at the Dug Out concession stand, as the team took to the field and a Canadian flag was unfurled by members of the Canadian Armed Forces. But really its about the quality of product on the field that theyre putting out and it doesnt look great right now.

Other fans werent happy that only a limited amount of concession stands were selling the cheap eats, causing massive lineups. Others were angry that they just bought more expensive items because they didnt know there was an alternative.

Its stupid that they just dont reduce all the prices or give you the same options at the stands so you dont get gouged, said Mikel Wernick of Mississauga who had just purchased a $7.90 Budweiser. I think only in Toronto do we think its a great deal that you pay $5 for nachos.

Im not so sure if its so great a deal if you spend half the time in line and youre missing the game, groused Norman Lem of Richmond Hill, who also wasnt happy that the $5 beer came in a slightly smaller container than the regular priced beer.

The marketing strategy of getting to fans through their stomachs isnt over yet: Coming this year are $1 hot dog days. These will only be on a limited amount of Tuesdays, because Blue Jays management still have to make payroll, and theyre not that desperate  at least just yet.

Its not a unique strategy. The NFLs Atlanta Falcons offered fan first pricing last season with reduced prices on hot dogs and beer  as sports teams start to figure out what movie theatre owners already knew: A bad showing on the field or on the screen doesnt translate into high turnover at the concession stands.

Home attendance dropped for the third straight year for the Jays last year, with the clubs 73-89 record. The club attracted 2,325,281 fans to the Rogers Centre in 2018, down 25 per cent from the prior year. And its not clear that $5 nachos are going to do the trick.

While sellouts for the opener used to be spring ritual, you could still get tickets on resale websites for as little as $24 for the nosebleed seats, with a face value of $45. One scalper offered 500-level tickets for $15 just before the start of the game.

Diehard fan Brian Habib, 49, of Halifax was supposed to be in Toronto for his birthday. Instead his sons hockey game prompted him to put $250 pair of tickets on Kijiji, netting him $160.

Not that long ago opening day would have been sold out long in advance and I could have sold my tickets at a nice profit, says the postal worker. But I think the buzz will come back. And then the hot dog prices will go right back up.
More waterfront parkland, rental housing units, and maybe even a new spa.

All while keeping the space public and preserving the distinctive Cinesphere and pavilion pods.

Thats the vision for the future of Ontario Place and Exhibition Place, presented in a new 12 page pitch entitled OPX by developer Ken Tanenbaum and urban planner Joe Berridge.

Its meant as a conversation starter for the public, says Tanenbaum.

All of us as Torontonians have seen effectively years of decay and we have this absolute gem that we need to reanimate, he says.

The fundamental piece of this all is that we cant solve the Ontario Place challenge and we cant solve the future of Exhibition Place challenge without actually thinking about these two things together.

Read more:

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From the beginning, Ontario Place was about the future

Tanenbaum is vice chairman of Kilmer Group, which operates OnRoute rest stops in Ontario and developed the Athletes Village for the 2015 Pan-Am Games.

The province will launch a process calling for expressions of interest process on how to reimagine Ontario Place this spring.

Share your thoughts:

Premier Doug Fords Fords spokesperson Simon Jefferies said the province looks forward to seeing and hearing a variety of ideas on how to make Ontario Place a world-class tourist destination.

A key part of the OPX pitch is to enhance Exhibition Go station, said Tanenbaum, so that the site is easier to access.

It also proposes moving Ontario Science Centre and building new purpose-built rental housing on where it is now, as well as expanded convention facilities.

A proposed festival plaza south of BMO field would be big enough to incorporate the CNE as well as other events like concerts and sporting events.

Ontario Places pods and Cinesphere would stay but be repurposed as a a museum-y type space, an innovation centre type space, said Anna Iannucci, an urban planner with Urban Strategies, and a water-park spa would be added on the east island.

Its about keeping what we all love about both Exhibition Place and Ontario Place and just adding more, she said.

Everything would be fully accessible public space, preserving the new Trillium Park, with parkland particularly concentrated on the West Island.

The plan also proposes a new management structure, Tanenbaum says, suggesting making the province responsible for the eastern economic engine and the city responsible for the western half. Its currently divided north and south of Lake Shore Boulevard between the city and the province.

Ontario Place was closed by the Liberal government in 2012, but partially reopened in the years since.

At a recent, passionate public consultation, residents suggested everything from a swimming pier with public sauna facilities, to a theme park.

There was a consensus, at least at that consultation, that the unique architecture of the pods and Cinesphere should stay and the land must stay publicly accessible.

Those are elements that Cynthia Wilkey, of the group Ontario Place for All, is happy to see in the OPX vision.

I think its fantastic to get a conversation going, she said.

To me, this is the kind of planning that should be happening here, that builds on whats there, that looks at what we need for the rest of the city. That doesnt just drop some alien kind of development.
Two soon-to-be-open Parkdale restaurants have filled their Queen West windows with signs proclaiming #ThisIsParkdale, #NotVegan and This is not Vegandale  in what appears to be a shot at the vegan business empire that sprung up in the community last year.

And yet, the communitys not so sure.

Over the last few days, people on social media have mused on Twitter and the restaurants Instagram posts that these restaurants are an arm of 5700 Inc., owned by Hellenic Vincent de Paul, who opened multiple ventures on the strip under the Vegandale umbrella  a move that angered residents who say it was an attempt to rebrand the long-standing community.

But the owners for both the new restaurants and Vegandale say thats just not the case.

It just wouldnt make any sense whatsoever to call our brand Vegandale and then to open or partner with non-vegan restaurants that promote animal exploitation, said Vincent de Paul.

Responding by emails through a spokesperson, Vincent de Paul said hes not concerned about the new businesses taking a not-so-veiled shot at his own branding and his strong stand against animal cruelty. He in fact applauds their marketing strategy.

Read more:

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Is it Parkdale or Vegandale? Fight intensifies over neighbourhoods identity

Vegandale neighbourhood brings veganism to the masses

It was devised to create an anti-vegan sentiment and at the same time, gather support from Parkdale residents, he said. Its worked well for them and it in no way takes away from our businesses so we really dont have a problem with it.

Kabir Mano, one of the people behind IST Snack Bar and Parkdale Pizza, said he was taking a stand for the community.

Parkdale has been there for 140 years, and I dont think it was cool for a company to come in and rebrand a neighbourhood without consulting anybody really, Mano said.

Nothing against vegan, but theres a bigger non-vegan population in the community than vegans, so we just decided to go that way with our marketing.

Manos two restaurants are opening in locations that currently have business licences registered with the city under companies owned by Vincent de Paul, but both he and Vincent de Pauls spokesperson say thats because Mano purchased the assets and ownership, and he has yet to have the licences transferred.

IST Snack Bar, set to launch Friday, will be located in the spot that previously housed Doomies, an eatery owned 5700 Inc. Doomies has since moved into Vegandale Brewery, across the street.

Parkdale Pizza, scheduled to open a week after, is in a location registered under the name Prohibition Pie, which has a business licence registered to a numbered company whose administrator is Vincent de Paul. According to the city, Prohibition Pie obtained the business licence to operate in the city on Feb. 7, 2019. It also obtained a three-year liquor licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) on March 15, 2019.

Mano said he will be paying the lease to the landlord, and is in the process of having the licences transferred.

On Thursday, the citys Municipal Licensing and Standards division said it has no records of applications for the transfer of business licences to new owners. A business licence can be issued on the same day the application is made if all requirements are in order, said Fiona Chapman, director of business licensing at Torontos MLS.

An operator is not supposed to start operating until such time as they receive their licence, Chapman said.

The city has charged Vegandale and Not Your Mother, another 5700 Inc. business, twice with operating without a licence  once in December 2018 and again last month.

According to MLS, Vegandale and Not Your Mother have been operating at 1346 Queen St. W., which is registered under Duggans Brewery Parkdale. Duggans is no longer in operation, but its licence will expire in May, according to the city. Those businesses will go to court on May 13 for the 2018 charges, and court dates are still being decided for the 2019 charges, city spokesperson Lyne Kyle said.

If found guilty, the court could impose fines and issue a closure order, Kyle said.

5700 Inc. spokesperson Jenna Owen said the companys lawyers will defend the case vigorously.

A charge is just that, a charge, not a conviction. Were in a grey zone because weve partnered with Duggans and he still operates out of there, she said.

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Naveen Singh, who said hes one of the managers at IST Snack Bar, confirmed being contracted to do printing work for Vegandale and 5700 Inc., services he still provides them today. A spokesperson at 5700 Inc. also confirmed this information.

Singh maintained the two restaurants are independent from Vegandale and said all will be in order by launch time.

Weve already spoken with the city and it only takes a day to get a business licence at their office. Well make it happen before we open, he said.

As for working for both Vegandale and a restaurant whose signage is in opposition to it, Singh said its nothing against Vegandale.

It just means we are opening our own restaurant. It in no way takes away from their business, he said.

Jacob Wharton-Shukster, owner of Chantecler restaurant a few steps down from the new snack bar, said he believes both sides may be co-ordinating this as a stunt.

The issue people have, he said, is the exploitative nature of Vegandale. Its not contributing positively to the community. Its not meant for the community. Its incidentally located in the community, he said.

Parkdale Life, an Instagram account with more than 46,000 followers, said its concerns are with the branding.

This is just weird, said the person behind the account. I personally dont understand why they couldnt just open restaurants like normal people without having to make some sort of grand stand. Serve meat or dont serve meat, you can do so without making grand moral declarations.

But there are some proponents. Anna Bartula, executive director of Parkdale Village BIA, said they have no information to suggest the businesses are connected and, Were delighted to see less vacancies within our community and welcome any new business owners.

Last summer when Parkdale residents protested the vegan branding of their community, Vincent de Paul said his goal was never to change Parkdale into Vegandale but that Vegandale was simply a marketing strategy for his business. He then promised to work more closely with the community, and committed to invest $100,000 over six years into community programs.

This week, a spokesperson for Vincent de Paul said the company has donated to Parkdale organizations focused on food security and social justice, including $3,000 to St. Francis Table, $2,500 to Parkdale Centre for Innovation and $1,000 to Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, and that they will continue to collaborate with other such groups.
The city is restricting vehicle access and parking at High Park this year during cherry blossom season to ensure public safety when crowds gather for the popular spring attraction.

City Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 4, Parkdale High-Park) said in a release on Thursday that the city is working with Toronto police to minimize the impact of traffic and congestion during peak cherry bloom days.

Perks said the city will release alerts about when the park is closed to vehicles and give information on public transit alternatives.

The city is also assigning more parking enforcement offices to patrol the streets around the park.

Many of these changes are being introduced for the very first time this year, Perks said. As a result, there will be important lessons learned that can help inform our efforts in the future

The councillor added he will meet police after the festival to discuss improvement and is encouraging residents to provide feedback.

The Sakura cherry trees, found in certain parts of the park, bloom for only about a week or week and a half around late April or early May.
Remembering the Spy Who Caught Eichmann

The Fellowship | March 29, 2019

Rafi Eitan



Life: November 23, 1926  March 23, 2019

Known for: Leading the 1960 Mossad operation in Argentina to capture the Nazi architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann

About him: Born in British-mandate Palestine to Jewish olim (immigrants) from Russia, Rafi Eitan grew up in a small farming community called Kibbutz Ein Harod. At the age of 12, Rafi joined the Haganah (the precursor to todays IDF) in order to defend his community from Arab attacks.

After graduating high school, Rafi joined the Haganahs elite unit, the Palmach, with whom he helped smuggle into Israel Jewish refugees from Europe who had fled the Nazis. While doing this, Rafi befriended Yitzhak Rabin, who later became Prime Minister of Israel. Rafis most famous operation during his time in the Palmach was when he blew up the British radar on Mount Carmel, which was used to track ships carrying Holocaust refugees. To do so, Rafi crawled underground through the Haifa sewers, which earned him his lifelong nickname of Rafi the Stinker. It was also during his service that Rafi was injured and became nearly deaf, a condition that has forced him to rely on the use of hearing aids ever since.

During Israels War of Indepence in 1948, Rafi served in the IDFs intelligence unit. After the war, he commanded the Shin Bet, and later served as Chief of Coordination between the Shin Bet and Mossad. It was in this role that Rafi would earn his greatest claim to fame in Israel  the capture of Adolf Eichmann.

Israeli intelligence identified Eichmann, alive and well, living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On May 11, 1960, Rafi led a group of Mossad agents on a daring kidnapping raid. They captured Eichmann and secreted him away on an El Al plane, all of them disguised as El Al employees. Once in Israel, Eichmann was tried for his crimes  which directly led to the deaths of 6 million Jews  and was ultimately executed.

Rafi retired from his intelligence career in 1972, devoting his life to farming and raising tropical fish. But in 1978, he was called back to serve Israel when Prime Minister Menachem Begin asked him to be his advisor on terrorism. It was in this role in 1981 that he helped plan and implement the secret Israeli attack on Iraqs Osirak nuclear reactor.

From 2006 to 2009, he served in Israels parliament, the Knesset, before retiring to a life of sculpting. In 2010, he said of his career, In principle, when there is a war on terror you conduct it without principles. You simply fight it.

Eitan passed away this past weekend in the Holy Land. He was buried in Netanya.
Would-be criminal lawyer Nadia Guo, who displayed a remarkable lack of judgement, sensitivity and self-control as an articling student, is of good enough character to be eligible to practise law, a Law Society tribunal has decided.

Ms. Guo has learned a very hard lesson, and she has made some real and substantive changes, panel chair Shayne Kert wrote in a 16-page decision released Thursday.

She has come to understand that being loud and abrasive does not necessarily equate to being an effective advocate, and that restraint can often prove a useful tool for resolving conflict.

The tribunals decision means Guo upon completion of the qualifications and other requirements as set out in the Law Society Act, is eligible to be granted a licence to practise. The act requires that a licence be issued only to an applicant who is of good character.

Guo told the Star in an email she is happy with the decision and intends to get her licence, but said she disagreed that her conduct merited a public hearing.

Guo also defended her actions, saying that although she will consider her opinions more strongly in the future, the way she had expressed herself online echoed the opinions and tone of the lawyers I worked with every single day.

The tribunal held a hearing last December after the Law Society received four complaints about Guos conduct as an articling student for a defence lawyer in Toronto from July to December 2015.

The complaints relate to various incidents, including the fallout of a verbal altercation with court staff in which Guo flipped her middle finger at them and ended up arrested for trespassing. Guo was released without charges and maintained it was an illegal arrest. She used very strong and colourful language about the incident in online posts.

Some of the complaints addressed Guos Twitter account, where she mocked defence lawyers, crown attorneys, court staff and justices of the peace.

Under an animated GIF of a llama blowing a raspberry, Guo wrote that she wished that it was socially acceptable to spit like this in Crowns faces when they make silly submissions.

The Ministry of the Attorney General also complained about Guo, who set up a website called Keep Resisting with a searchable database of police officers, crown prosecutors & justices responsible for eroding civil liberties in Canada. An Attorney General assistant deputy wrote she had made personal, inflammatory and egregious statements about the justice system, and about various individuals involved in it. The tribunal said the website has been on hiatus since the end of 2015.

In her email to the Star, Guo defended the site, saying it merely published the names of people who had been found to have breached the charter rights of an accused person.

There were no inaccuracies published on the website, she said.

The issue for the panel was whether Guo has been able to overcome her previous poor judgement and questionable conduct.

The panel agreed with Guos lawyer, Kris Borg-Olivier, that there are certainly matters of more serious conduct, such as those involving dishonesty or a lack of integrity that lead to licensing hearings before the tribunal. But her misconduct raised significant concerns about her exercise of judgement and her lack of insight into the personal and emotional impact of her comments on other people.

The panel found Guo had been insulting, impudent and rude to court clerks and disrespectful and rude to colleagues, and she may also have breached the confidentiality expected in an online forum for criminal lawyers.

While keeping the police and prosecutors accountable is a matter of public interest, some of her communications around the issue, including her public naming and shaming, were insensitive to the feelings of crowns and police and demeaned or tended to undermine the dignity of those people, the decision states.

The fact that much of this played out in public, including on Twitter, Craigslist and Reddit, only amplified the seriousness of the conduct, as did the fact that Ms. Guo continued with her behaviour despite receiving significant directions and warnings about her use of social media, and her conduct generally, from her articling principal and other senior lawyers during the material time period.

Guo finished her articles in mid-2017 and has been working part-time with criminal lawyer John Kaldas, where she has been receptive to his guidance, encouragement and advice as to the skills and conduct necessary to be successful in the profession.

Guo also has also worked as an escort, although that fact was not part of the tribunal hearing.

In her letters of apology to two complainants, Guo advised she was sorry for causing any offence and for not being more careful with her words.

She said that she has come to better understand the rules of civility in the legal profession and that she plans to conduct herself with a much more respectful tone in future, the decision says.

She has indicated that she now recognizes that her comments and communications were unnecessarily aggressive, insensitive and inappropriate, and that, having had the benefit of having grown up these last three years, her plan is to use the same drive that fueled her to achieve more significant goals in appropriate ways.

Guo told the Star she will have more to say in the future about sexism and classism in the legal profession, as well as resistance to diverse opinions and backgrounds within the bar.

Ill have more to say on this at a later date, she said. I plan on being the most badass criminal defence lawyer this country has ever seen.
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICOManuel is twitchy. He wears jeans, a heavy black hoodie and a knitted balaclava over his face. He fiddles with his gun, pulling it out of his waistband, yanking the clip from the magazine and then snapping it back into place, before eventually tucking it under his thigh.

Manuel  not his real name  sits in an upscale apartment in Playa del Carmen but far from the tourist strip, on Mexicos Caribbean coast. He has two bodyguards, both armed and masked. One has an assault rifle slung across his chest. The other has a gun at his hip, butted up against his cartel-issued walkie-talkie.

W5 confirmed with credible sources that Manuel is who he claims to be: a Mexican narco, a cartel member, in charge of the local drug trafficking cell of the worlds most powerful gang: the Sinaloa Cartel. Its leader, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, was recently convicted of federal drug trafficking charges in the United States and faces life in prison.

The rare television interview is granted on the condition Manuels face not be seen and his real name not be known. He offers disturbing insight into the unprecedented wave of cartel violence that has recently washed over the much-loved Canadian tourist hot spots of Playa del Carmen and Cancun.

There is no order, Manuel says. In the northern part of Mexico there is order. Over here theres no order. Its easy to invade the enemys territory if they are divided. But it doesnt mean that the cartel is weakened. Just that everyone is fighting in their own block.

Read more:

El Chapo seeks new trial

Seven shot dead in Playa del Carmen

Sinaloa cartel marches on

The block has never been so bloody. The murder rate in Quintana Roo state, which encompasses Playa del Carmen and Cancun, has increased by 335 per cent in the last two years. There were an astounding 840 murders in 2018, despite a population of just 1.5 million people. Its a rate so high it can be counted by the hour: someone is murdered in this region every 10 hours.

Its a jungle, says Manuel. Jungle enemies that with one opportunity kill each other without a doubt, (like) a lion and a hyena.

Manuel claims his cartel career began as a low-level sicario  an executioner. So good at killing, he rose through the ranks and is now in charge of the local drug trade, fuelled by tourists. He also claims responsibility for transporting up to 300 kilograms of cocaine every month through the Mayan Riviera and up to the United States border, some finding its way to Canada. The Rand Drug Policy Research Center estimates Mexicos drug trade is worth $10 billion (Canadian) a year.

Manuel speaks in near-perfect English. He rifles through his wallet and produces a tattered photo of a soldier in uniform. Using his thumb to obscure the face, he shows the picture as proof that he lived for some time in the U.S. and claims that he did two tours in Afghanistan with the American military, training that prepared him for his current life.

It helps you to recruit, to train and to kill, Manuel says. The only way to maintain a cartel is by order. Now how do you maintain order? OK, if you dont obey, Ill f---ing kill you and your whole f---ing family. Theres no other way.

The cartel landscape in the Mayan Riviera is a labyrinth of shifting allegiances and fluctuating control. Los Zetas cartel used to rule Playa del Carmen and Cancun with relative stability. But now the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels are battling for power, and the bodies have been piling up. Added to this volatile mix, the fastest growing and most violent group: the New Generation Jalisco cartel, which has a grotesque trademark of torture and dismemberment.

If one organization doesnt prevail, says Valentin Pereda, a doctoral candidate at the University of Torontos Centre for Criminology, violence can continue to go up and we could see a scenario potentially like the one that Mexico experienced in Acapulco.

For generations, Acapulco, on Mexicos west coast, was a magnet for the rich and famous, a major port of call for cruise ships, a jetsetters paradise. The beach resort town is now a no-go zone. It is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. The U.S. government has a do not travel advisory in place for Acapulco. The Canadian government has a warning to avoid all non-essential travel to the region.

Unlike Acapulco, the violence in the Mayan Riviera doesnt usually bleed into the tourist zones, but the cartel code against targeting tourists is tenuous.

Have you ever been close to a firefight? Manuel asks, while sitting in the apartment, which is a narco safe house. Youre not going to live by those rules. People get shot. We have enemies that are willing to kill us in plain view. Hes not going to care and Im not going to care.

Those rules were broken in 2017 at a Canadian-run music festival, called BMP, that had been operating in Playa del Carmen for a decade. On the final night of the event, armed gunmen stormed the tourist festival at The Blue Parrot Club and opened fire on the crowd of thousands. By the time it was over five people were dead, including a Hamilton bouncer named Kirk Wilson, who was hired to protect the partygoers.

Pereda believes that the Canadian organizers either didnt pay protection money or paid the wrong cartel. A narco banner, erected the day after the shooting, supported his theory.

These organizations have tried not to hurt tourists, says Pereda, who has been studying the increasingly barbaric cartel violence for five years. But they dont really care that much when it comes to using violence.

If a tourist gets caught in the crossfire, theyre not going to care.

The Canadian government warns Canadians to exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to Mexico, and the latest travel advisory specifically mentions increased violence in Quintana Roo.

Although tourists arent targeted, the statement says, drug cartels are very active. Foreigners may be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and could become victims of violent crime. Remain vigilant.

Canadians have not been scared off by either the government warning or the skyrocketing murder rate. Two million Canadians visit Mexico every year. The Mayan Riviera recorded an 8-per-cent increase in the number of Canadian visitors in 2018, compared with 2017.

If I go to any big city in any other country, there is crime, says Lizzie Cole, head of the Quintana Roo State Tourism Board. Most of our visitors come here and stay within their resorts, go out on excursions and go out partying at night and theyre absolutely safe. The incidents that we have are very targeted and  not in the areas where tourists go.

The entire country of Mexico is struggling with cartel violence. A record 33,000 homicides were investigated in 2018. Newly sworn-in President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was elected on a promise he would regain control from the cartels and end corruption. Within months of taking office, the president announced the creation of a new National Guard. Made up of federal police, the army and the navy, the force is expected to number 150,000 by the end of the year.

The level of corruption is so deep inside the government and the police, says Manuel, the Sinaloa member, that he doubts the cartels will be affected. People are always willing to take money from us, he says. Always. And if they dont take it, theyre scared to say no. So basically they just work with us.

On the beaches and streets of Playa del Carmen and Cancun, the juxtaposition of heavily armed soldiers patrolling alongside bikini-clad vacationers is jarring, but the mission is clear: protect tourists.

Little is being done, however, for those most affected by the cartel crisis. The locals who pour the drinks, set up the beach chairs and sell tourist trinkets must navigate home at the end of their shifts to neighbourhoods now transformed into battlegrounds.

There is little hope for change from this reality, where the cartels quest for control has few boundaries.

If I (came) from your country maybe I would have hope. Maybe I wouldnt want to throw it away, says Manuel. But my country is thrown away. And I was born in this. I didnt make it.

There is going to be a day where Im old enough to get out of this. But not right now. I cant.

W5s investigation into drug violence in Mexico  The Narco Riviera  airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.

Read more about:
BANJUL, Gambia - An inquiry panel handed over a report Friday to Gambias president on the financial dealings of ex-leader Yahya Jammeh who was recently accused of stealing nearly $1 billion from the small West African nation.

The money was used to finance Jammehs lavish lifestyle and is believed to still support him in his exile in Equatorial Guinea, the investigative group said. He hasnt responded to the ongoing investigations against him.

The commission looked at Jammehs more than two-decade long rule from 1994 to 2017. President Adama Barrow has expressed his commitment to implementing the recommendations of the report and his resolve to right the wrongs of the past. He had accused the former leader of pilfering at least $90 million from state coffers during his rule.

The findings of the panel, which is known as the Janneh commission after commission chair Surahata Janneh, remain confidential for now.

The commissions report exposes former President Jammehs financial activities ranging from complex webs of intricate and sophisticated international financial transactions that bear all the hallmarks of criminality and money laundering in particular aided by his close associates, to shameless acts of brazen outright thievery at the Central Bank of The Gambia, Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou said at the State House in the capital, Banjul.

The Inquiry Panel sifted through transcripts of 253 witness testimonies and other documentary evidence, analyzed and made sense of the information collected, and has produced a report in nine volumes, he said.

Tambadou said that while the commission couldnt look into all the financial activities of the countrys ex-leader, the investigation revealed huge amounts of money embezzled by Jammeh and his close associates.

He deplored the amount of money that was stolen saying it could have been used to impact significantly on the lives of the ordinary people of this country, in health, in education, in agriculture and many other priority areas ... Instead, it was money used to satisfy the pretentious and delusional lifestyle of an egotistic megalomaniac; acts that were both unconscionable and criminal.

Tambadou also disclosed that Jammeh claimed title to 281 land properties in the country.

We have shared information generated in the course of the commissions work with foreign governments that are assisting us with the tracking and recovery of assets abroad and which led to the freezing of the Potomac residence by U.S. authorities, he indicated.

The release of the report Friday to Gambias president comes days after an investigative group, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, released a report saying that Jammeh had looted Gambia of $1 billion through fear and privilege.

Jammeh looted the money from state coffers, including the central bank, social welfare office and state telecom company, during his more than two decades in power, getting away with it by elevating civil servants to prominent positions and empowering a group of businessmen led by a key Hezbollah financier, the corruption reporting group said.

Meanwhile, Gambia remains very poor with a debt of $489 million at the end of 2017, according to the World Bank.
RIO DE JANEIRO - The administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has named a retired air force lieutenant to the education ministrys No. 2 spot, the latest in a long list of military appointments by the far-right government.

An announcement published Friday in the official gazette said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Machado Vieira will serve as the ministrys executive secretary.

He is now the fourth person to be assigned to the position since Bolsonaro came to power in January.

Vieras predecessor, Iolene Lima, was fired after just eight days on the job when a 2013 interview surfaced on social media showing her defending education based on the word of God.

The student will learn the author of history is God, that the creator of geography is God, God made the hills and the climate... the greatest mathematician of all time is God, Lima said.

Controversy at the ministry has also deepened as anti-globalists claim that Brazils schools are wrought with cultural Marxism, leading leftist congressman Alessandro Molon to tweet that the ministry has proven incapable.

The time the minister spends on internal disputes is precious time for millions of children and teenagers, Molon said, referring to Education Minister Ricardo Velez Rodriguez.

Bolsonaro is a far-right ex-army captain who waxes nostalgic about the 1964-1985 authoritarian regime and has given a prominent role to the military in his government.

In a television interview before he was elected, he said he admired military schools because they were places where students are frisked regularly, they sing the national anthem, theres civics and moral education classes, they call the teachers sir.

On his first day in office, his education minister also created an under-secretary for the promotion of civic military schools.
KABUL - Afghan officials say the latest Taliban attacks have killed 17 policemen across the country.

Nik Mohammad Nazari, spokesman in northern Badakhshan province, says three policemen were killed on Friday in the district of Arghanj Khowa, where fighting is still underway.

Provincial police chief Ghulam Daoud Tarakhil says the Taliban launched massive attacks in eastern Ghazni province, targeting two checkpoints on Thursday and killing nine policemen. Tarakhil says the Taliban were defeated with heavy causalities after hours of gunbattles.

Deputy provincial council chief Asadullah Kakar says five policemen were killed in southeastern Zabul provinces district of Shinkay on Thursday.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for all three attacks.

Separately, governor spokesman Asadullah Dawlatzai says a mortar struck a house in eastern Laghman province on Thursday, killing two, including a child.
BEIJING - The Latest on China-U.S. trade talks (all times local):

Chinese and U.S. negotiators have wrapped up trade talks in Beijing with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin saying they were constructive.

Mnuchin said in a tweet Friday that he looked forward to continuing the talks in Washington next week.

The representatives posed for photos at a government guest house in western Beijing but did not comment about the state of negotiations in front of reporters.

Neither side provided any details on the status of the talks or said if major progress had been made.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is due to visit Washington next week to lead Beijings delegation to the talks on resolving a dispute over technology and industrial policy. It has resulted in both sides imposing heavy punitive tariffs on each others exports.

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10:10 a.m.

Trade negotiators from China and the U.S. are resuming talks to try to resolve their tariff dispute over Chinas technology ambitions.

Representatives of both sides arrived Friday morning at a government guest house in western Beijing where they posed for photos but did not comment about the state of negotiations in front of reporters.

President Donald Trump expressed optimism about the talks last week, saying, were getting very close. The chief American envoy, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said this week questions about details and enforcement remained.

Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin attended a working dinner Thursday night with their Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Liu He, who is to travel to Washington next week. Talks are due to last the entire day Friday.
BRUSSELS - European Union countries decided Friday to extend the mandate of a naval mission hunting smugglers in the Mediterranean Sea, but took the unusual step of restricting the operation by refusing to allow it to deploy any ships, in an effort to ease tensions with Italys anti-migrant government.

Aid groups were shocked by the seemingly absurd prospect of a naval operation without any boats, and lambasted the EU for abandoning people trying to make the perilous crossing from Libya in search of better lives or refuge in Europe.

Even the European Commission conceded that Operation Sophia could be compromised. Without naval assets, the operation will not be able to effectively implement its mandate, spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic warned earlier this week as the plan unfolded.

In a statement, EU headquarters announced that Sophias mandate will be extended for six months, until Sept. 30. But it ordered the commander to suspend temporarily the deployment of the operations naval assets for the duration of this extension for operational reasons.

Instead, it will deploy more planes and personnel.

Italy commands Operation Sophia, but the populist government in Rome refuses to allow its ships or aid groups migrant rescue vessels to disembark in Italian ports.

EU member states will continue to work in the appropriate fora on a solution on disembarkation of rescued migrants, the statement said, without elaborating.

Well over a million migrants entered Europe in 2015, overwhelming reception centres in Greece and Italy. But arrivals into Italy are now at their lowest levels for seven years.

Still, fears over migration have proved a sure-fire vote winner for populists, and governments like those in Italy and Hungary are homing in on the issue in the run-up to the May 23-26 EU elections.

Launched in 2015, Operation Sophia tackles migrant smugglers, trains the Libyan coastguard and helps enforce a U.N. arms embargo on Libya. It does no search and rescue work unless its vessels happen to be close to migrants in distress.

Indeed, it was only involved in one such incident between June and Nov. 30 last year.

Doctors Without Borders, which was criticized by Rome for attracting migrants with its sea rescue effort, has described the EU move as irresponsible and reckless.

Amnesty International migration expert Matteo de Bellis called it an outrageous abdication of EU governments responsibilities.

EU governments will continue to use aerial surveillance to alert the Libyan Coast Guard when refugees and migrants are spotted at sea, so they can be taken back to Libya, despite knowing that people there are arbitrarily detained and exposed to widespread torture, rape, killings and exploitation, he said.
KIEV, Ukraine - Five years after a deadly separatist conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine, the front line between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has become a de-facto border, cutting off a generation of first-time voters from Sundays presidential election.

Only those who left their homes in the east to live in areas under government control will be able to cast ballots for Ukraines new president.

Since 2014, a separatist war in Ukraines industrial heartland of Donetsk and Luhansk has killed more than 13,000 people and has prompted many to seek the relative stability of government-controlled areas.

The mood on both sides has become increasingly entrenched. The people who stayed behind in Donetsk are often viewed in Kyiv as Moscow supporters, while those who fled for the government-controlled areas are sometimes treated as traitors in their hometowns.

The residents of Donetsk and Luhansk were able to vote in Ukraines last presidential election in May 2014, when Petro Poroshenko was elected president. Election officials and voters were intimidated by separatists who shut down some polling stations but many stayed open. This year, the Ukrainian government has no presence in the rebel region and anyone wanting to vote would have to cross the front line to do so, which could bring retaliation at home.

Ukraine says 35 million people will be able to vote in Sundays election, but does not say how many of those voters are stuck in separatist regions or in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The Donetsk and Luhansk regions were home to more than 6.5 million people before the war but their statistics agencies this year put their current population at 3.7 million. Crimea has about 2 million people. None of them can vote in their cities and towns.

On a recent morning in Donetsk, a lecturer was teaching a class about the current, chaotic situation in Venezuela, stressing how the United States picks and chooses the regimes they like in the Western hemisphere. The presidential campaign in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where the U.S. has a major footprint, seemed like it was happening in another country.

Maxim Kaluga, who studies international relations at the Donetsk National University, toes the separatist line that the latest Ukrainian presidential election is not legitimate because Ukrainian authorities are oppressing people.

Kaluga was 16 when Russian and Russian-backed gunmen seized the administrative building in his native city of Donetsk, once a bustling commercial centre. Several months later, the war was in full swing. One afternoon, his friend nearly died when a bus stop was shelled near Kalugas house.

That was the scariest thing, he says.

Speaking out in favour of re-uniting with Ukraine is risky in Donetsk, where activists have been detained, tortured and faced bogus charges on suspicion of being Ukrainian government sympathizers. But what is perceived as Ukraines blockade of the east has also embittered many against the Ukrainian government.

After Russia annexed Ukraines Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014, Russia threw its weight behind separatists in eastern Ukraine but stopped short of annexing the region. There has been no indication from the Kremlin that Russia wants to annex Donetsk and Luhansk, which are too economically depressed and are nowhere near as predominantly Russian-speaking as Crimea.

Asked if he could see his region returning under the Ukrainian governments rule, the 21-year-old student says they are not compatible anymore.

Were hoping to join Russia or just keep our identity and become an independent state, Kaluga says.

Nearby, in muddy trenches that look like they are straight out of World War I, a 20-year-old soldier who goes by the nom de guerre of Bach patrols the front line, 700 metres (less than half a mile) away from Ukrainian government positions in the Donetsk region.

Hostilities here died down after a tentative peace accord in 2015 but never fully stopped, meaning that thousands of people like him have to man front-line positions on both sides of the unending conflict.

The fighter says many young people in the east are conflicted about the future of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Young people are divided here, he says. Some think that we have no prospects on our own or as part of Russia, only as part of Ukraine. Some support the Donetsk republic but are too afraid to fight.

In Kyiv, 18-year-old Ivan, whose family left Luhansk in 2016, studies on a full scholarship at a private college. He hopes to eventually enrol in a university overseas to study waste management, something that is still an obscure concept in Ukraine. His parents have spent all their savings to move to Kyiv.

Living in an unrecognized separatist republic would close too many doors for us, says Ivan , who asked that his last name not be used for fear his relatives in Luhansk would face repercussions.

Ivan is eager to vote in the upcoming presidential election because he is convinced that an individual can make a difference.

I do believe I can make a difference, he said. Every citizen should have a position because if you dont come out, if you dont do anything, nothing will ever change.

Many natives of eastern Ukraine who left feel it is too dangerous for them to come back to the region even for a visit because of their pro-Western views.

Kateryna Savchenko works in radio in Kyiv and acts in a theatre collective mostly made up of internal exiles. She left her eastern hometown of Horlivka in 2014 but is optimistic about her future in Ukraine.

I see no room for development there. Things are much better on the Ukrainian side, she says. Its great that in this country we have an opportunity to choose.
COPENHAGEN - A Swedish prosecutor said Friday a computer specialist suspected of spying for Russia has been released from custody.

Mats Ljungqvist says the evidence against Kristian Dmitrievski is such that the suspect cannot complicate the investigation. Ljungqvist said he couldnt comment further because the case is sensitive.

Dmitrievski, a 45-year-old naturalized Swedish citizen who previously held a Russian passport, was arrested Feb. 26 by Swedens domestic security agency SAPO as he met with a Russian intelligence officer working at Russias Embassy in Stockholm under diplomatic cover.

SAPO said the Russian officer had recruited Dmitrievski and that criminal activity had been going on at least since 2017. Dmitrievski has not been charged.

Asked by Swedens TT news agency whether there was a risk that Dmitrievski could flee, Ljungqvist replied I dont think so, but I cant go into details as to why.

According to an intelligence report from a European service obtained by The Associated Press, the Russian diplomat is Yevgeny Umerenko, who has left Sweden, according to the Swedish Foreign Ministry. The reason for his departure was not known.

The same report says Umerenko allegedly served as a line-x officer, or a specialist in technology espionage.

The head of SAPOs counter-espionage unit, Daniel Stenling, earlier said the suspect works in the Swedish high-tech industry and has information that the security agency knows is of interest to foreign intelligence services.
BERLIN - Thousands of students are gathering in the German capital, skipping school to take part in a rally demanding action against climate change.

Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who inspired the protests in Germany and elsewhere by staging weekly school strikes, is expected to lead the Friday rally through Berlins government district.

The 16-year-old is also meeting with scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, just outside the German capital.

The weekly Fridays for Future protests have been largely welcomed by German politicians, though some have criticized students for protesting during school time.

One placard at the protest read: Ill go to school if you keep the planet cool.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has called the protests a very good initiative.
Israel Sends Troops to Gaza Border as Tensions Rise

Stand for Israel | March 28, 2019

Israel is sending additional troops along its southern border with Gaza after terrorists fired scores of rockets at Israel this week. Egyptian negotiators are still working to come up with a permanent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

The current tension between Israel and Hamas flared after a rocket fired from Gaza hit and destroyed an Israeli home in central Israel. None of the seven family members were injured.

Also in response to the rocket attacks, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched numerous airstrikes against key Hamas targets, including the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

This week, U.S. President Trump recognized Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) this week, thanking the group for its continued support of Israel.

This weeks Israel in the News Perspective features the Fellowships President Yael Eckstein on living on the edge of war.
BUCHAREST, Romania - The European Parliament chief has offered his support to a former top Romanian prosecutor who has been banned from leaving the country or talking to journalists as part of a probe.

The Romanian body that investigates prosecutors and magistrates announced the restrictions Thursday on Laura Codruta Kovesi, the former anti-corruption prosecutor whos charged with heading a criminal group. She denies wrongdoing.

Kovesi is considered a front-runner to become Europes leading corruption-fighting official, despite opposition from Romanias ruling Social Democracy Party.

As Romanias chief anti-corruption official, she successfully prosecuted hundreds of lawmakers for graft. The government engineered her dismissal last year, claiming mismanagement.

EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani on Friday expressed concern about the situation, adding that Parliament stands by its candidate to head the European Prosecutors Office, a new office that will fight fraud.
KYIV, UKRAINEA country at war with Russian-backed separatists appears ready to move a comedian and political novice one step closer to becoming the possible commander in chief.

Volodymyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old entertainer who plays a president on TV, leads in the polls ahead of the first round of Ukraines presidential election Sunday.

Behind him, polls show, are the two erstwhile favourites with long political resumes: incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former prime minister Yuliya Tymoshenko. They are expected to be in a down-to-the-wire battle for second place to face Zelensky in the April 21 runoff vote.

The countrys scrambled political landscape on the eve of the election reflects Ukraines rocky road since mass protests toppled a Moscow-friendly president five years ago.

All three leading candidates say they want to continue deepening Ukraines ties to Western institutions such as the European Union. But domestic discontent over a weak economy, war, and corruption in the entrenched political class has spurred many voters to spurn Poroshenko and Tymoshenko.

We have a choice between stable but bad or a future where things could be better, said Elena Velikaya, a 19-year-old student in Kyiv, Ukraine capital. Everything is bad right now. With Zelensky maybe it will be better. We know Poroshenko. We know Tymoshenko.

Zelenskys does not openly embrace the type of nativist rhetoric that has catapulted to office other entertainers-turned-politicians such as U.S. President Donald Trump and Italys deputy prime minister and interior minister, Matteo Salvini.

But Zelensky does represent wider political trends in recent years that have elevated outsiders over establishment candidates.

Poroshenko has tried to use the war against Russian-backed separatists in the east and Russias occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea to whip up voter support in his favour. Hes touted his support of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent of Moscow, his investment in the military and his promotion of the Ukrainian language over Russian, which is also widely spoken in Ukraine.

Either Poroshenko or Putin, said a campaign slogan unveiled by the Ukrainian president in January.

But many voters arent buying it.

Offering few specifics, Zelensky has promised to sit down with Putin and negotiate an end to the five-year-old war, which the United Nations says has claimed some 13,000 lives. Zelensky, a native Russian speaker who hails from Ukraines southeast, has called for a campaign to win back the hearts and minds of people living in separatist-occupied territory.

And while Poroshenko has said that hed work to return Crimea to Ukrainian control as soon as possible after the elections, Zelensky has sounded a more pragmatic note.

You and I know when Crimea will return  when theres a change of leadership in Russia, Zelensky said in a recent television interview.

Alina Boyko, a 26-year-old cafe owner in Kyiv, said fatigue with the war was one reason she would likely vote for Zelensky.

Poroshenko hasnt solved this problem. Everything is just continuing, she said of the war. With Poroshenko, it definitely wont end. At least with Zelensky there will be a chance.

Surveys show that Ukrainian disenchantment with their political system has only grown since the countrys pro-Western revolution in 2014. Just 9 per cent of Ukrainian residents have confidence in their government, according to a Gallup World poll published this month  the lowest level measured by Gallup anywhere in the world. The poll found that only 12 per cent of Ukrainians believe in the honesty of their elections and 91 per cent see widespread corruption in government.

Zelensky channels that discontent in his popular sitcom, Servant of the People, which began airing its third season this week. He plays a humble schoolteacher whose off-the-cuff, anti-corruption rant is filmed surreptitiously by a student and goes viral, resulting in his being elected president.

Zelenskys character takes on Ukraines oligarchs and vested interests  and the candidate has promised to do the same in real life. The synergy is such that his real-life campaign videos include clips from Servant of the People.

In this weeks episode, referring to the presidency, a teacher asks his class: Whats better, honest and not experienced, or experienced and greedy?

The other front-runners in the election seem to be real-life examples of the political establishment that Zelensky promises to take on.

Poroshenko, the incumbent, is hoping for a second five-year term. He owns Ukraines largest chocolate producer  hence the nickname, The Chocolate King  and served in numerous government positions before becoming president after the revolution.

Tymoshenko, who earned her fortune in the countrys energy sector (earning her the moniker the Gas Princess), has twice served as prime minister and twice ran for president. In 2011, she was jailed on charges  widely seen as politically motivated  for abuse of power while prime minister. She was released after the revolution in February 2014.

Although Zelensky holds a comfortable lead  different polls give him varying percentages, but hes always in top position  it appears that hell fall short of the 50 per cent needed to win outright in Sundays vote. In that case, hell face the second place finisher in the runoff in April.

The true battle on Sunday, observers say, is between Poroshenko and Tymoshenko, who in some surveys are shown to be neck-and-neck. Out of the field of 39 candidates, two have names similar to the former prime minister: Yuriy Tymoshenko and Yulia Lytvynenko.

These clone candidates could result in confusion in the voting booth, especially among Tymoshenkos older voters. and raise the risk that Tymoshenkos supporters dont accept the result.

The risk here is that there could be a constellation in which Poroshenko advances to the second round, but with a very small margin, said Andreas Umland, an expert at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation in Kyiv. He said theres a risk that such a circumstance could lead to protests, escalation and potential riots.

Western diplomats are also worried about potential violence. Ukrainian officials accredited the National Militia  a far-right organization involved in attacks on Roma and gay people, and whom the State Department has labelled a hate group  as election observers.

Ambassadors from the Group of Seven industrialized countries  which includes the United States  this month sent a letter to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov flagging their concern about extreme political movements in Ukraine, whose violent actions are worrying in themselves.

We have noted with concern that the very same groups involved in the violent incidents have registered as election observers and publicly threatened to use violence should they consider that election fraud is occurring, the letter said.

Despite Zelenskys lead in the polls, both Tymoshenkos and Poroshenkos supporters are hoping that voters will refrain from backing a comedian with no political experience when they actually step into the ballot box on Sunday.

Poroshenkos closing appeal on his purple campaign posters affixed across Kyiv is simply: Think.

Im for Poroshenko, because hes more predictable, said Evgeny Pankratov, an IT specialist in Kyiv. And because he wont lead us to Russia. Among three evils, hes the lesser.

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CAIRO - A Sudanese newspaper is reporting that its chief editor has been freed after a month in detention for speaking out against President Omar al-Bashirs state of emergency declaration.

Al-Tayar independent newspaper wrote on its Facebook page Friday that Osman Mirghani has been released from detention.

Reporters Without Borders said Mirghani was clearly paying for his criticism of the state of emergency declared Feb. 22.

Sudan has been rocked by near daily protests since mid-December against the longtime ruler al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur.

Al-Bashirs government has met the protests with a heavy-handed crackdown and last month declared a state of emergency.
LAS VEGAS - A 19-time felon suspected of escaping from authorities, getting shot by Las Vegas police and leading a wild chase in a stolen truck stood before a judge the next day, his arm in a bandage, to be sentenced to life in prison.

Christopher Gregory Ganci, 52, stood shackled in court Thursday, surrounded by heavily armed police guards and a medic, as he told Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Smith he wasnt a violent man and deserved another chance. While not named by police in the attempted escape, Ganci acknowledged that he took a bullet the day before.

I never hurt anybody. Im no danger to the public, Ganci said. Your honour, Ive had a long hard life of crime. Im not a robber or killer.

But Smith declared Ganci a habitual offender with a history of disregarding judges and parole restrictions.

At some point you have to say, Mr. Ganci, you cant be in the public and not break the law, the judge said. I think its time you pay the consequences.

Gancis sentencing was delayed for a day after he failed to appear in court Wednesday. Smith gave Ganci five consecutive life terms without parole for being found guilty in February of armed robbery, kidnapping, battery and two counts of conspiracy. His 19th conviction was for admitting he had a gun.

He had been accused of abducting and robbing a man who escaped Ganci and a woman at a Las Vegas casino.

Prosecutor John Giordani told Smith that Ganci was convicted previously of 13 felonies in Arizona, California, Illinois and Texas and served multiple stints in prison before moving to Las Vegas.

Ganci has active warrants for his arrest from four states and still faces witness tampering charges in his Las Vegas case, the prosecutor said.

Ganci acknowledged he took a bullet on Wednesday, and Giordani said Ganci is expected to face charges related to the attempted escape and police chase.

Police have not named Ganci, but say an officer who accompanied a 52-year-old prisoner in custody to a medical clinic for what was described as a routine procedure shot the man in the left arm when he ran to an unattended pickup truck and drove away.

The wounded man led officers on a wreck-filled chase before surrendering near downtown casinos and the county courthouse, police said.

No bystanders were struck by gunfire and no one was seriously hurt in vehicles rammed by the pickup, police said.

The name of the officer has not been made public. He was placed on paid leave pending departmental and district attorney reviews of the shooting.

Police said it did not appear that two men who left the pickup unattended in the clinic parking lot were connected with Ganci.
WASHINGTONOne of President Donald Trumps health care initiatives intended as a cheaper alternative to Obamacare suffered a crucial defeat in Washington after a judge ruled the policy violates the Affordable Care Act.

U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington on Thursday blocked new rules governing so-called association health plans, which let businesses and individuals band together to create group health plans that offer less expensive coverage than the ACA  but without some of its protections.

The ruling is a victory for nearly a dozen Democratic state attorneys general who sued to block the policy last year. The judges findings come as the Trump administration is renewing its effort to unwind Obamacare by declining to defend it in court.

The final rule is clearly an end-run around the ACA, Bates, a 2001 appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, said in the ruling. Indeed, as the president directed, and the secretary of Labor confirmed, the final rule was designed to expand access to AHPs in order to avoid the most stringent requirements of the ACA.

The final rules governing so-called association health plans, or AHPs, was created by the Labor Department to comply with an executive order issued by Trump in October 2017. The agency has been phasing them in since August.

Read more:

Trump turns to health care with an eye on 2020

In divided White House, Trump sided with Mulvaney in push to nullify health law

Democrats pivot to health care as Trump attacks Obamacare

Some plans are already in the market, with offerings from UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Anthem Inc. either available now or on the way.

Bates cited the absurdity of the Labor Departments interpretation of a rule forming the basis of the initiative.

The attorneys general led by New York and including states ranging from Kentucky to California as well as the District of Columbia argued the new rules violate ACA provisions as well as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, commonly known as Erisa.

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Cory Booker will launch a two-week national tour next month from his presidential campaigns base in Newark, New Jersey. Its an effort by Booker to break out from the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential primary field.

Bookers campaign announced Friday it will hold a kickoff for the tour at Newarks Military Park on April 13. The Senate will be out of session during much of Bookers tour, allowing him to travel without having to return to Washington.

Booker is polling in the back of the pack in early surveys of the Democratic primary but is focused on winning over voters with an optimistic message.

Booker was mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013 before being elected to the Senate.
KODIAK, Alaska - Residents of a southern Alaska community have voiced environmental concerns over a planned military exercise.

Residents of Kodiak met with U.S. Navy and Air Force officials to discuss concerns about the effect of a two-week military training exercise scheduled to take place in May, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday.

This years version of the biennial Northern Edge exercise in the Gulf of Alaska will be very similar in size and scope to 2017, Air Force Col. Barley Baldwin said. The exercise will involve about 6,000 personnel, 175 fixed-wing aircraft and at least three Naval vessels, he said.

Some residents said they believe the activities could harm marine species and ecosystems and that the training should take place in the fall to avoid impacting species active in the spring and summer. At least one said she felt like the same issues are discussed each year the exercise occurs.

You take our comments and say you will consider them  and nothing changes, Kodiak resident Stacy Studebaker said.

The exercise is conducted in the spring because the season offers relatively safe weather, Baldwin said. Safety is one of the reasons we dont get into exercising at times when the seas are typically rougher, he said.

Alaska is important to both naval and air strategy, officials said.

Alaska is kind of the air crossroads of the world, Navy Senior Chief Brandon Raile said. From Alaska, were able to get anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere within nine hours.

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Information from: Kodiak (Alaska) Daily Mirror, http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An Anchorage man who spent three years in jail awaiting trial on murder charges has been acquitted.

The Anchorage Daily News reports a jury Thursday acquitted 37-year-old Thomas Skeek, who had been charged with first- and second-degree murder and evidence tampering in the disappearance of his wife, 32-year-old Linda Skeek.

Linda Skeeks family believes she is dead. Her body has not been found.

Defence attorney Emily Cooper told jurors that the state could not even prove that Linda Skeek was dead or that Thomas Skeek killed her.

Prosecutors contended that Thomas Skeek killed Linda Skeek after an argument on New Years Day in 2016 and disposed of her body.

Cooper in her closing argument said Linda Skeek could have fallen victim to a random act of violence or purposely disappeared.

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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration on Friday condemned Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro for what it said was his reliance on foreign military personnel to stay in power and renewed a warning to Russia against getting involved.

President Donald Trumps national security adviser John Bolton along with the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams said Russias military presence in the country is destabilizing amid the countrys political and economic crisis.

We strongly caution actors external to the western hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations, the national security adviser said in a statement released by the White House.

His comments come amid U.S. attempts to press Maduro to give up power, arguing his re-election last year was not legitimate. The Trump administration has joined more than 50 other nations in recognizing the opposition head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as interim president.

U.S. officials have in recent days stepped up their warnings to Russia about becoming involved militarily following the arrival in Caracas of Russian military planes carrying personnel and cargo.

Abrams, speaking to reporters at the State Department after Boltons statement was released, said the U.S. estimates there are about 100 Russian military personnel in Venezuela, primarily working on the South American countrys Russian-purchased S-300 air defence systems, which may have been damaged by recent widespread power outages.

Abrams also said the presence of several thousand Cubans, mainly in Venezuelas intelligence services, was troubling.

Their presence is extremely pernicious, the same thing is true I would say of the Russian presence, he said.
WASHINGTON - A redacted version of special counsel Robert Muellers report on the Russia investigation will be sent to Congress by mid-April and will not be shared with the White House beforehand, Attorney General William Barr said Friday.

Barrs timeline, included in a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate judiciary committees, sets up a possible showdown with House Democrats, who are insisting they see the full report next week.

In his letter, Barr said he shares a desire for Congress and the public to be able to read Muellers findings, which are included in the nearly 400-page report the special counsel submitted last week.

Barr said President Donald Trump would have the right to assert executive privilege over parts of the report. But he noted that Trump has stated publicly that he intends to defer to me and, accordingly, there are no plans to submit the report to the White House for a privilege review.

Mueller officially concluded his investigation when he submitted the report last Friday. Two days later, Barr sent a four-page letter to Congress that detailed Muellers principal conclusions.

Mueller did not find that the Trump campaign co-ordinated or conspired with Russia, Barr wrote, and did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided on their own that Muellers evidence was insufficient to establish that the president committed obstruction.

Barr said he is preparing to redact multiple categories of information from the report and Mueller is helping the Justice Department identify sections that will be blacked out in the public version.

Those include grand jury material, information that would compromise sensitive sources and methods; information that could affect ongoing investigations, including those referred by Muellers office to other Justice Department offices and information that could infringe on the personal privacy and reputation of peripheral third parties.

Our progress is such that I anticipate we will be in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner, Barr wrote.

Barr said last weeks letter detailing Muellers principal conclusions was not intended to be an exhaustive recounting of the special counsels investigation.

Barr described Muellers report as nearly 400 pages long, not including the tables and supporting materials, which he said sets forth Muellers analysis, findings and the reasons for his conclusions.

Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own, Barr wrote. I do not believe it would be in the publics interest for me to attempt to summarize the full report or to release it in serial or piecemeal fashion.

Asked about Barrs commitment to release a redacted version of Muellers report, Trump said he has a lot of confidence in Barr and if thats what hed like to do, I have nothing to hide. He spoke at Mar-a-Lago, his private estate in Florida.

Barrs letter drew a quick  and critical  response from Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who had demanded the full Mueller report by April 2.

Nadler, D-N.Y., said that deadline still stands and called on Barr to join him in working to get a court order allowing the release of grand jury information to the committee, rather than spending valuable time and resources keeping portions of the report from Congress.

There is ample precedent for the Department of Justice sharing all of the information that the Attorney General proposes to redact to the appropriate congressional committees, Nadler said in a statement. Again, Congress must see the full report.

The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said he appreciated Barrs update and looked forward to the attorney general appearing before his panel on May 1.

Members of Congress will be in recess for two weeks beginning April 12, which could mean that lawmakers will be out of town when the report is delivered.

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Associated Press writers Chad Day and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington and Jonathan Lemire in Palm Beach, Florida contributed to this report.

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Read the letter: http://apne.ws/NiTV5lG
US Puts Israel on the Map

The Fellowship | March 29, 2019

The recent American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights came as a big change to decades of international diplomacy. But diplomatic change isnt the only change being made. The Jerusalem Post reports that maps by the American government are being redrawn to reflect the change, as well:

United States government maps are slated to be redrawn to reflect US President Donald Trumps official recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, according to a report by Voice of America.

A State Department spokesperson told VOA that the map changes would be consistent with Trumps declaration, although he did not indicate how long it would take to make this change. US Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, said the government would release them as soon as they are ready.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it in 1981. Until now, no member of the international community has officially recognized Israeli sovereignty in the area. Since Trump made his decision  first announced on Twitter  and his declaration  signed and ratified a few days later  14 out of 15 United Nations Security Council member states condemned the move. Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari told reporters the move was a flagrant violation of international law.

Until now, the State Departments official maps labeled the Golan Heights as Israeli-occupied, according to the VOA report.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump will meet with Egypt President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi next month at the White House.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says in a statement released Friday the leaders on April 9 will discuss bilateral concerns, including conflicts in the region and military, economic and counterterrorism issues.

Egyptians currently are mediating cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and dozens of skirmishes since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza in 2007. The latest round was triggered by a Gaza rocket fired early Monday that slammed into a house in central Israel and wounded seven people.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was meeting with Trump in Washington, rushed back to Israel to deal with the crisis. In response, Israel struck dozens of targets in Gaza, wounding several Palestinians.
DENTON, Texas - A Texas grand jury has indicted former All-Star and World Series MVP pitcher John Wetteland on three counts of continuous sexual assault of a child.

The indictments Thursday in Denton County, north of Dallas and Fort Worth, follow Wettelands January arrest . Hes accused of making a child repeatedly perform a sex act on him.

The 52-year-old Wetteland was released in January after posting a $25,000 bond. A phone number couldnt be found for him Friday and its unclear if he has an attorney.

Wetteland was the Most Valuable Player of the 1996 World Series when he helped the New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves. He posted four saves in that Series, which remains a major league record.

He was also inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame and was the Montreal Expos closer from 1992 to 1994.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The family of a northern Virginia man shot to death by U.S. Park Police in 2017 has identified the two officers in an amended wrongful-death lawsuit.

Bijan Ghaiser was shot on Nov. 17, 2017, after a police chase on the George Washington Parkway.

In a federal lawsuit filed in August, Ghaisers family described the shooting as egregious, senseless and unlawful. The family identified the officers as Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vinyard in a court filing Friday.

A Park Police spokesman declined to comment. Both officers have been on paid administrative duties since the shooting. Vinyard has worked for the Park Police since 2007, while Amaya joined the force in 2009.

Neither officer could be reached for comment Friday. Vinyard did not immediately respond to a message left at his home. Amaya did not immediately respond to a message left on his cellphone. The names of their attorneys were not yet listed in court documents.

The lawsuit says the chase began after Ghaiser, 25, was involved in a minor traffic accident. It says Ghaiser drove away from the scene and was pursued by Park Police. They say he stopped three times, and each time, officers jumped from their cruiser and pointed their guns at him.

The lawsuit says that on the third stop, officers blocked his path with their patrol car, jumped out and fired nine shots into Ghaisars Jeep.

Dashcam video released by Fairfax County police shows that during the final stop, officers with guns drawn approach the car at the driver side door. When the car starts to move again, five gunshots are heard. The car starts to drift into a ditch, and two more sets of two gunshots are heard.

The FBI said recently that the shooting is a complex case and its 16-month investigation is not unusual. The agencys comments came in a March 15 letter to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who has questioned why the FBI is taking so long to investigate the shooting.
HONOLULU - The first state to limit tobacco and electronic cigarette sales to people 21 and older is contemplating a new nicotine crackdown: outlawing flavoured electronic cigarette liquids and flavoured tobacco to combat a spike in teenage vaping.

Hawaii would be the first state to adopt such a ban under a bill before the Legislature. San Francisco was the first U.S. city to do so.

The proposal would ban flavoured e-cigarette liquids such as Maui Mango and Cookie Monsta, along with cloves and other flavoured tobacco products, but it would exempt menthol cigarettes and vaping liquids.

Supporters aim to make e-cigarettes less alluring to teenagers as studies show increasing numbers of high school and middle school students are becoming addicted to nicotine through vaping.

They look at cigarettes and they say, Cigarettes are disgusting. Tobacco is disgusting, said Trish La Chica, an advocate and lobbyist for the Hawaii Public Health Institute. So take away the cotton candy, take away the flavours that look like they belong in an ice cream shop, and they wouldnt be attracted to start in the first place.

Battery-powered e-cigarettes typically heat flavoured nicotine solutions into an inhalable vapour. Theyre more popular among teens than regular cigarettes, and most experts agree theyre less harmful than cigarettes because the vapours dont contain tar and other cancer-causing byproducts of burning tobacco.

But there is virtually no research on the long-term effects of the chemicals in the vapour, some of which are toxic. And some researchers believe vaping will make kids more likely to take up cigarettes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this month proposed restricting sales of most flavoured tobacco products to stores that verify the customers age upon entry or include a separate, age-restricted area for vaping products. The FDA said it would prioritize removing vaping products that clearly appeal to kids, such as those with packaging that resembles juice boxes, candy or cookies.

Students testified to Hawaii lawmakers last week that their classmates were vaping in bathrooms and isolated corners of campus. Some teens post social media videos of themselves exhaling plumes, the students said.

I cant keep on walking into the bathroom at school and get hit in the face with a vape cloud that smells like cotton candy and not be able to work the rest of the day because of a headache, said Paige McCurdy, a sophomore at Kapolei High School near Honolulu, in testimony at the Legislature. It is affecting students, and it just needs to stop.

A 2017 Hawaii Health Department study found 16 per cent of middle schoolers and 26 per cent of high school students were current users of e-cigarettes. The number of high school students experimenting with vaping jumped four-fold between 2011 and 2015, the study said.

The National Youth Tobacco Survey found youth vaping surged 78 per cent between 2017 and 2018 across the U.S.

Hawaiis health agency said teen vaping is particularly concerning because nicotine in adolescents can disrupt the growth of brain circuits that control attention and learning and lead to increased impulsivity and mood disorders.

A House committee exempted menthol from the bill because prohibiting the flavour would dramatically reduce the tax revenue the state brings in from menthol cigarettes. Rep. John Mizuno, chairman of the House Health Committee, said such a ban would cut $15 million in revenue that goes toward ambulance services statewide and another $15 million toward a hospital trauma centre. His Senate counterpart, Sen. Roz Baker, said she opposes that change.

Bill opponents say e-cigarettes play an important role in helping smokers of traditional cigarettes reduce or stop smoking. They cite a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing e-cigarettes were nearly twice as effective as nicotine gums and patches at helping people quit.

Scott Rasak, vice-president of sales and marketing at VOLCANO Fine Electronic Cigarettes, said a flavour ban would encourage those who vape to revert to traditional cigarettes.

Is this bill worth pushing 75 per cent of the adult vaping community back to smoking cigarettes? he said.

He predicted the bill would annihilate Hawaii-owned independent retailers like his, which has 16 stores and 100 employees on three islands.

Trevor Husseini, a 30-year-old software engineer, said he was a pack-a-day smoker for over 10 years and wanted to quit but couldnt find anything that worked until he tried vaping. Since switching, hes been gradually been lowering his nicotine intake with the aim of not vaping at all.

He believes the ban would open a black market as people order online from mainland companies.

Theyre still going to get their juice, he said.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. contributed $12 million to an unsuccessful effort to persuade San Francisco voters to reject its flavour ban last year. Hawaiis proposal isnt up for a public referendum, so such spending hasnt been seen here. But there have been ads opposing the bill. Juul Labs Inc., the nations leading e-cigarette maker, registered as a lobbyist at the Hawaii state capitol for the first time this year.

A separate bill would bring taxes on e-cigarette sales in line with traditional cigarettes.

By taxing them in a way similar to tobacco, were hoping that we can keep more young people from trying it, getting hooked on it, staying on it, said Baker, lead author of the second bill.

About 10 states already tax e-cigarettes, according to the Public Health Law Center, a Minnesota-based non-profit organization. Mark Meaney, an attorney at the centre, said taxes are one of the most effective ways to discourage tobacco use.

The state Senate has passed versions of both bills. Both measures must pass the House Finance Committee by April 5 to advance to the full House.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - U.S. immigration authorities have arrested a Canadian man who has twice been convicted of trespassing at the California home of model and Kardashian family member Kendall Jenner.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Friday that John Ford, 38, was arrested earlier this week in the parking lot of an Albuquerque motel after agents received a tip that he was in New Mexico.

Authorities said Ford, who has an expired visitors visa, remains in federal custody in El Paso, Texas, awaiting a hearing on his immigration case. It wasnt immediately clear if he had an attorney.

Los Angeles police have arrested him twice in the past year, resulting in misdemeanour convictions and jail time. Most recently, he was found in Jenners swimming pool.

Immigration agents acted quickly on the tip to ensure Fords obsessive behaviour did not escalate into a tragedy, said Jack P. Staton, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso.

This timely arrest could very well have prevented a violent crime, he said.

Jenners family thanked Los Angeles police and immigration authorities for their work, explaining in a statement that Fords actions have had a severe impact on Jenners life and the familys sense of security.

Immigration records show Ford had entered the U.S. at Sweetwater, Montana, a year ago with a visa that allowed him to remain in the country no longer than six months.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Trump administration violated federal law with a proposed road through a national wildlife refuge in Alaska, a federal judge ruled Friday, saying the project would have reversed previous policy without explanation.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason rejected an Interior Department land exchange that would have led to a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, an internationally recognized habitat for migrating waterfowl.

Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signed a land exchange agreement for the road more than a year ago. Nine environmental groups sued a week later.

In her written decision, Gleason said Zinke was required to acknowledge that the road was a reversal of previous Interior Department policy and to provide an explanation.

An agency may not simply discard prior factual findings without a reasoned explanation, Gleason wrote, quoting a previous case. But that is not what happened here.

The decision is the latest development in a long dispute over access in Izembek. Congress created the 486-square-mile (1258-sq. kilometre) refuge in 1980. Residents say they were not properly consulted before their access to the area was limited.

The road would split an isthmus as narrow as 3 miles (4.8 kilometres) on the southern border of Izembek Lagoon. It holds one of the worlds largest beds of eelgrass, a rich food source for Pacific brant geese, endangered Stellers eider sea ducks and other migratory birds.

The isthmus separates King Cove, a fishing community of about 900 people sandwiched between ocean and mountains, and an all-weather airport at Cold Bay.

Zinke, at the urging of Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and other Alaska officials, portrayed the road as a people-versus-wildlife issue.

Strong winds at King Cove frequently prompt flight cancellations. Residents for decades have sought a road to Cold Bay, the site of an airport for emergency flights for patients. The facility was built during World War II and features one of Alaskas longest runways.

Congress in 1997 addressed the King Cove transportation issue with a $37.5 million appropriation for water access to Cold Bay that included a $9 million hovercraft.

The Aleutians East Borough, the regional governing body, took the vessel out of service after deciding it was too expensive and unreliable.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2013 concluded that a road through the isthmus could cause irrevocable damage to the watershed. Former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell agreed with a Fish and Wildlife analysis that found a land exchange could not compensate for the special qualities of existing wildlife refuge lands.

Zinke signed a land exchange swapping up to 0.8 square miles (2 square kilometres) refuge land for land of equal value offered by King Cove Native Corp.

He said at a signing ceremony that the 12-mile (19-kilometre) section of the road through the refuge would cause no harm to wildlife but would make a difference to children or mothers who need to get to a hospital. He said the road was a priority for President Donald Trump.

Environmental groups criticized the agreement, saying it was hatched in secret and the road would inevitably be opened to commercial usage, severely damaging the refuge. They hailed Gleasons decision Friday.

The agencys attempt to skirt the law to benefit private or commercial interests disregards the intention of Congress and the purpose of the Refuge System itself, said Katie Strong, senior staff attorney with Trustees for Alaska, which represented the environmental groups in the lawsuit.

Della Trumble, spokeswoman for King Cove Corp., made up of members of two federally recognized Aleut tribes, called the ruling disappointing.

The King Cove Group will never give up our fight for this land exchange, she said in a statement. It is so crucial for safeguarding the lives of our families. This access is truly a matter of life and death for us.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A man convicted in a knife attack on Anchorage elementary school children in 2001 has died in prison.

The Alaska Department of Corrections says 51-year-old Jason Pritchard was found unresponsive in his cell at the Anchorage Correctional Complex on Friday morning.

The department says officers and medical staff performed life-saving measures before emergency responders arrived. Pritchard was later pronounced dead.

The department says foul play is not suspected. It says prisoner deaths are reviewed by Alaska State Troopers and the state medical examiners office.

The Anchorage Daily News reports Pritchard was serving a 99-year sentence and had been in custody since May 2001.

He was convicted on two counts of first-degree attempted murder following a knife attack on students that left four boys seriously injured.
ATLANTA - A bill that would allow the in-state production and sale of low-potency medical marijuana oil passed the Georgia Senate on Friday, just two days after the proposal was limited significantly in committee.

The Senate voted 44-8 to pass the measure, which grants a sharply reduced number of licenses to grow and sell the product than the original proposal would have authorized.

The bill still closes a loophole created by the states 2015 medical marijuana law that allows patients to possess the drug but provides them no legal avenue to obtain it.

Current state law allows individuals with 16 specific conditions, including cancer, seizure disorders and Parkinsons disease, to possess the drug.

The bills author, Republican Rep. Micah Gravley of Douglasville, previously said the revised version has many, many problems, but noted on Friday that he proud of the Senate vote and that the bill, in its current form, has the potential to provide access to a safe oil for patients.

I am very hopeful, Gravley said.

Supporters say patients need access to a crucial medicine without breaking the law. Critics worry that legalizing medical marijuana could lead to legalizing recreational marijuana, which Gravley disputes.

Later in the day, at Gravleys request, the House disagreed to the Senates version of the bill. Gravley hopes to reach a compromise in a House-Senate conference committee.

The original bill granted 10 growing licenses to private companies  five for smaller organizations and five for larger organizations  and allowed for up to 60 retail locations.

The updated bill grants only two growing licenses to private companies  one for a smaller organization and one for a larger organization  and allows for up to 28 retail locations.

The number of places that sell the oil could rise under the new proposal because it also grants permission for independent pharmacies to sell the drug. Gravley was already interested in the idea of involving pharmacies but mentioned that he was not sure if doing so may jeopardize their DEA license.

The revised proposal would also grant permission for two universities to start a research and manufacturing program for the drug and create a state commission for Georgia to try and obtain medical marijuana from other states. Gravley was fine with both of these additions.

Thirty-three states already have comprehensive medical marijuana programs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Georgia is one of 13 other states that allow patients to possess a lower potency form of the drug.

Republican Sen. Matt Brass of Newnan told lawmakers before the floor vote on Friday that its easier to buy a bag of weed off the street than it is for patients to get the oil.

Some may argue that this is not a medicine, but we heard testimony of children having 80 to 100 seizures a day and then after taking the oil, down to one per week, said Brass, the Senate sponsor for the bill. That leaves no doubt in my mind that this is clearly a medicine.

Republican Sen. Randy Robertson of Cataula voted for the bill but warned the chamber to recognize the dangers of recreational marijuana use.

Be prepared for those vultures who are standing on the borders of our state ready to bring recreational marijuana into Georgia, Robertson said.
TOPEKA, Kan. - A man whose conviction in two rape cases divided his small northeast Kansas town must have a new trial because of errors by the prosecutor and court in the original trial, the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

Jacob Ewing, 24, of Holton was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison after his June 2017 conviction for raping and sodomizing one woman in 2016 and raping and committing two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy against another woman in 2014.

Ewing argued in his appeal that special prosecutor Jacqie Spradling misstated evidence in her closing arguments that inflamed the passions of the jury. The appeal also argued the court made other errors in allowing certain evidence in his trial, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported .

The cumulative effect of the errors committed by the district court and the prosecutor denied Ewing his constitutional right to a fair trial, the appeals court ruled.

Trevor Wohlford, one of Ewings attorneys, declined to comment on the ruling. The Kansas Attorney Generals office also declined to comment.

The errors cited in the appeal included Spradling suggesting that Ewing enjoyed abusing vulnerable victims and implying that one of the women was in that category, a misstatement about what DNA evidence shown at trial proved, and comments about Ewings use of pornography, which the appeals court said should not have been admitted into evidence.

Given the conflicting nature of the evidence admitted at trial, it is reasonable to believe that the jury took to heart the prosecutors comments during closing arguments that purported to represent the evidence, even when those statements did so inaccurately, the court wrote.

The state had argued in its response to the appeal that the prejudicial cumulative errors cant exist where the evidence is overwhelming against the defendant. The appeals court ruled that it didnt find the evidence overwhelming.

The burden is on the State to show that the cumulative error committed in this case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The State has failed to meet this burden, the court wrote. We hasten to point out that our finding is in no way intended to be a comment on the credibility of the alleged victims in this case.

The allegations against Ewing, a former state football champion and member of a well-known family, divided Holton , a town of 3,300 residents about 30 miles (48 kilometres) north of Topeka. His supporters posted signs in their yards and wore supportive T-shirts to court. Advocates for the women formed a support group and organized volunteers to sit in the courtroom during proceedings.

Ewing was also found not guilty in April 2017 of charges that he raped and sodomized an underage girl. Following a plea deal in a separate case, he was given another 7 1/2 years in prison for the attempted rape of a woman in January 2014 and a charge of child exploitation related to images of an underage girl.

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Information from: The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com
WASHINGTON - AOC could stand for All Over the Campaign.

For better or worse, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known ubiquitously by her initials, is a big part of the 2020 race for the White House more than five years before shes even old enough to run for the nations highest office. Democrats want her endorsement. Theyre being asked to answer for her Green New Deal. And President Donald Trumps supporters are ready for her.

AOC sucks! they chanted in battleground Michigan as the presidents son, Donald Trump Jr., riled up the crowd on Thursday. It wasnt the most descriptive Trump-era branding  think of the presidents Crooked Hillary Clinton, coined to evoke trust issues about her during the 2016 campaign. But the episode left little doubt that this former bartender from the Bronx, a self-described Democratic socialist, is the new villain for Trumps base of supporters.

Just three months into her new life in Congress, Ocasio-Cortez, 29, is already a coveted influencer Democratic national politics. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez called her the future of our party. All six senators aiming to replace Trump co-sponsored the Green New Deal she has championed to rein in climate change. And though Ocasio-Cortez is a protege of one such hopeful, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, shes taking meetings with others. This week, it was lunch with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

We had labneh, a creamy cheese made from yogurt, Ocasio-Cortez confirmed via Twitter.

BREAKING: We also had iced tea! tweeted Warren.

The metrics tell some of the story while the new congresswoman tells hers  down to soup-cooking on Instagram  on every platform and television talk show.

Ocasio-Cortez is known by most Americans despite being on the job just a few months. Shes even got higher name recognition than a handful of presidential presidential candidates such as Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, according to Gallup polling.

An analysis in February also found that the new congresswoman is polarizing, which would be important to presidential candidates seeking to energize Democratic voters and draw support from undecided or moderate ones.

Ocasio-Cortez has become better known since she was sworn in: In February, a Gallup poll found nearly 7 in 10 expressing an opinion, compared with about half who did in September. But as shes become a household name, opinions toward the congresswoman have grown more unfavourable, driven by a rise in negative Republican attitudes. Among Republicans, 73 per cent express an unfavourable opinion, up from 52 per cent in September. Republicans are somewhat more likely than Democrats to give an opinion, but Ocasio-Cortez does see favourable ratings among a slim majority of Democrats (56 per cent).

Its Ocasio-Cortezs social media mastery gives her much of her power  both by the numbers of followers and a special sauce of coveted authenticity and know-how.

In the last half of February, her handle was mentioned 3.64 million times on Twitter, more than those of the two leaders of Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (1.22 million) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (696,000), combined. Since she took office, stories about the congresswoman have averaged about 2,200 likes, shares, or comments on Facebook, according to the social media analytics company NewsWhip. Thats more than double the typical interactions on Pelosi articles. No other Democrats came closer.

Long before Trumps supporters chanted her initials, Ocasio-Cortez had vexed them. Some Republican members of the House booed her when she was sworn in. A few suggested that a video of the young congresswoman as a college student dancing on a rooftop was improper. Others took swipes at her knowledge of public policy.

The Green New Deal offers a powerful, but risky, draw for Democrats eager to prove their bona fides on climate change. All six senators  Warren, Klobuchar, Sanders, Gillibrand and Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey  support the plan to shift the U.S. away from fossil fuels such as coal and replace them with renewable sources like wind and solar power.

But Republicans have been eager to exploit the risks and potential Democratic divisions on the issue, casting it as a step toward socialism and the worst of costly, big-government policies. None of the Democratic presidential candidates who serve in the Senate joined Ocasio-Cortez to unveil the GND. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it the green dream, a phrase Ocasio-Cortez had to answer for by saying she wont let the issue divide Democrats. But there was more.

Within 48 hours of Klobuchars presidential campaign announcement, as she aimed for a more moderate lane, the Minnesota Democrat was forced to explain her backing for the non-binding agreement.

I see it as a framework to jump start a discussion, Klobuchar said on CNN, saying the GND represents some aspirations rather than a mandate for industries.

This week, Senate Republicans forced a vote on the non-binding resolution in an effort to put the Democrats on-record on what Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called something out of a far-left science fiction novel. He said it might sound appealing in San Francisco (Pelosis district), or New York (Ocasio-Cortez home state), the places that the Democratic Party seems totally focused on these days, but the communities practically everywhere else would be absolutely crushed by this.

Instead of voting for the GND, 43 Democrats  including the presidential candidates who co-sponsored the resolution  voted present.

In Grand Rapids, Mich., Thursday night, Trump smirked that there was more to come.

I love campaigning against the Green New Deal, he said in Michigan. I want them to make that a big part of their platform.

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Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.

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Follow Kellman on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman
OKLAHOMA CITY - A former University of Oklahoma student alleges he was touched and kissed inappropriately by former university President David Boren on several occasions almost a decade ago when the man worked as a teaching aide for the onetime governor and senator.

The allegations by Jess Eddy, now 29, appear to be at the centre of an investigation being conducted for the university by Jones Day, one of the worlds largest law firms, into whether Boren sexually harassed male subordinates. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has also opened an investigation.

Boren, now 77, has denied any inappropriate conduct in statements released by his attorneys, who have confirmed the Jones Day investigation. Boren was a Democratic governor in the 1970s before serving in the U.S. Senate for more than 15 years. He was OU president from 1994 until stepping down last year and has been married to his second wife for more than 40 years. He has denied requests to be interviewed, citing poor health.

Borens attorney, Clark Brewster, said Eddys newest account of his encounter with Boren, which he detailed in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press, contradicts previous statements he gave to Jones Day investigators and to Brewster. In those earlier statements, he said he was not aware of any inappropriate behaviour.

Eddys latest allegations were first reported Tuesday by the online news site NonDoc.

Mr. Eddy was carefully examined, asked about anything that he had ever witnessed or had seen or had experienced and not only said that didnt occur, but he gave specific factual detail as to why it couldnt have been true, Brewster said.

Eddy acknowledged the discrepancy with his initial accounts and said he was untruthful in an effort to protect Boren.

My initial instinct was to do what Boren wanted, Eddy said. I was under extreme duress.

Eddy confirmed providing Brewster with a signed written statement dated March 14 in which he addressed allegations made against Boren.

To the extent that any of these allegations are attributed to me, I would like to make perfectly clear that they are not true, Eddy wrote.

Eddy also acknowledged calling Boren personally and asking for financial compensation after The Oklahoman first reported Boren was being investigated.

I felt like a great wrong had been done to me, and I was looking for the path of least resistance out and some relief, Eddy said. I hope people can understand that this has just been a traumatic and deeply disturbing experience thats required me to undergo a lot of deep thought and consideration about what the right thing to do is.

Eddy said he decided to speak publicly about his encounters with Boren after he started to realize the implications of what I was doing by concealing my truth.

Thinking that there might be others like me began to just haunt me, he said.

Eddy said he came to know Boren after taking a political science course the president taught. Boren asked him to be his teaching aide the following semester, in the fall of 2010, when Eddy was 21.

That fall, he said, he accompanied Boren on a weekend fundraising-and-recruiting trip to Houston, where he flew on a private jet with Boren and attended a dinner with donors. He said he and Boren ended up in Borens hotel room, where the two of them drank alcohol and Boren made an unwanted sexual advance and touched him inappropriately before he left the room. Eddy declined to elaborate, saying the experience was too traumatic to discuss in detail.

The next morning, when a group of OU administrators picked him and Boren up at the hotel, OUs former vice-president of university development, Tripp Hall, a longtime Boren ally, placed his hand on Eddys inner thigh, touched his genital area and asked him if he had a good time, Eddy said. Hall, who left the university in November, did not respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment. He declined to comment on the allegations when contacted by NonDoc.

Eddy suggested Hall and other high-level administrators at OU were aware that Boren made unwanted advances toward male subordinates but did nothing to stop it.

Eddy cited several other incidents of unwanted touching and kissing by Boren that occurred in Borens office at OU in 2010 and 2011. He said he was not aware of any documents or other physical evidence that would corroborate his new account, but three people who knew Eddy in 2010 confirmed to the AP that he recounted to them a similar story about Borens sexual misconduct in the hotel room.

P.J. Wolbach, a friend of Eddys since high school, said he recalled hearing about the incident in the hotel room shortly after Eddy returned from the trip.

He told us how they had drinks and were alone and how Boren got touchy with him in a sexual manner, Wolbach recalled. I remember those points with vivid detail.

Eddy returned to work at OUs Office of University Community in 2017 but left a year later after reaching a separation agreement with the university. He said he now works part-time for a law firm.

Borens attorney said a transcript Eddy provided him of his first interview with Jones Day attorneys in mid-February showed Eddy not only denied ever witnessing or experiencing any inappropriate conduct by Boren, but also gave specific factual details as to why the allegations could not have been true.

And then you call up somebody and say you want money or youre going to say something different? Brewster said. That does cause somewhat of a daunting incredibility is all Im saying.

Neither Brewster nor Eddy agreed to release a copy of the transcript to the AP.

Eddy said he met again with Jones Day investigators this week and provided a detailed account of his allegations against Boren. Jones Day did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

A spokeswoman for the Norman Police Department confirmed that Eddy also spoke with detectives this week to make a report, but they determined none of the alleged incidents happened within their jurisdiction. Eddys complaint was forwarded to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. An OSBI spokeswoman confirmed the agency is investigating allegations against both Boren and Hall.

Eddy declined to discuss whether he was considering legal action against Boren or OU. He would not comment on whether he had talked to OSBI investigators.

In a statement this week, the university acknowledged an ongoing investigation into a report of sexual misconduct school officials received in November 2018, but they have declined to discuss details.

The goal of this investigation since the beginning has been to proceed with the highest degrees of professionalism, confidentiality and sincere concern for all parties involved, particularly potential victims, the statement read. While individuals may share their own personal accounting, it is critical that the university proceed deliberately, objectively and with respect for all the individuals involved.

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Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy .
BOSTON - From a Napa Valley vintner to a Hot Pockets heiress, a procession of wealthy parents made their first appearances in federal court Friday on charges they paid bribes to get their children into top colleges.

The 15 parents, including CEOs, investment executives, real estate developers and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, have been implicated in a college admissions scheme in which authorities say they paid a consultant to rig their childrens test scores and bribe coaches at sought-after schools like Yale, Georgetown and the University of Southern California.

Prosecutors say the case, dubbed Operation Varsity Blues, is the biggest college admissions scam ever prosecuted.

The initial court appearances were largely a formality as defendants were not asked to enter a plea, and court officials simply recited the charges and informed the defendants of their rights.

Most parents didnt speak up other than to respond to a brief series of yes or no questions by the judge. Many lawyers also declined to comment both during the court appearances and after.

But Brian Kelly, a lawyer for former casino executive Gamal Abdelaziz, downplayed the charges as he requested permission for his client to travel to Mexico on business next month.

This is not a strong case, he said in court.

This is a one-witness case that relies on a deeply compromised witness, Kelly said. This is winnable.

Magistrate Judge Page Kelley granted Abdelazizs travel request under the condition the former president of Wynn Macau turn in his passport after the trip.

Abdelaziz, 62, is accused of paying bribes to have his daughter named a basketball recruit at USC to boost her chances of acceptance.

But other defendants who sought special travel exemptions found less sympathy from Kelley.

William McGlashan, who co-founded an investment fund with U2s Bono in 2017, had his request to take a family vacation to Mexico denied after prosecutors noted his family had a number of domestic vacation options, including properties they own in Montana and northern California.

McGlashan, 55, is accused of paying bribes to get his son into USC as a recruit for the colleges storied football team, even though his sons high school didnt have a team.

All told, 33 prominent parents are charged in the case.

The most familiar are actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, but theyre not scheduled to appear in court until next week.

Among those appearing Friday was Michelle Janavs, whose family developed the microwave snack line Hot Pockets before selling their company, Chef America Inc., to Nestle for $2.6 billion in 2002.

Her lawyer spoke up to specifically state on the court record that shes also a longtime homemaker who volunteers in her community.

Janavs, a 48-year-old Newport Coast, California, resident, is accused of paying at least $100,000 to help her two daughters cheat on their college admissions exam and get into USC as beach volleyball recruits.

Agustin Huneeus, a 53-year-old San Francisco resident whose family owns vineyards in Californias Napa Valley and in Oregon, is accused of paying at least $50,000 to have SAT administrators correct his daughters college entrance exam and to have USC officials designate her as a water polo recruit.

And Elisabeth Kimmel, a 54-year-old Las Vegas resident whose family owned a television station and other media properties in San Diego before selling them off in 2017, is accused of using bribes to get her daughter into Georgetown as a tennis recruit and her son into USC as a track recruit.

Other defendants appearing Friday were prominent Miami developer Robert Zangrillo; Gregory Abbott, the founder and chairman of International Dispensing Corp., and his wife, Marcia Abbott; and Marci Palatella, who founded bourbon maker Preservation Distillery in Kentucky.

On Thursday, former Yale University womens soccer coach Rudy Meredith became the third person to plead guilty in the case. Rick Singer, the admissions consultant at the centre of the scheme, has also pleaded guilty.

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This story has been corrected to show that McGlashan is 55 years old, not 58 years old.
PHOENIX - An Arizona lawmaker who resigned this week amid an ethics investigation was accused of paying boys for sex, according to a 1983 police report released Friday by the House Ethics Committee.

The report, released with 426 pages of investigative files, offers details of the unspecified sex charges that prompted two ethics complaints against Republican Rep. David Stringer. He resigned on Wednesday after refusing to turn over documents demanded by the ethics committee.

According to the police report, a boy told Baltimore detectives that Rep. David Stringer approached him and another boy in a park and asked if they wanted to go to his house and have some sex. Stringer performed oral sex on the boys, they did the same to him and he gave them $10 apiece, the boy reported. He said he had been back to see Mr. Dave at least 10 additional times and was asked to engage in sex acts.

Stringer turned himself into police on Sept. 15, 1983, on eight sex charges.

The charges against Stringer came to light in January when the Phoenix New Times published a summary of the court file, which had been expunged and was released inadvertently to the newspaper. The court file did not detail the charges but suggested he was ordered to perform 208 hours of community service and enrol in a sexual disorders clinic at Johns Hopkins University.

Stringers lawyer, Carmen Chenal, has said he was never convicted of a crime. Stringer and Chenal, did not respond Friday to requests for comment.

The behaviour described in Mr. Stringers arrest report is absolutely appalling and sickening, House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican, said in a statement. I confronted Mr. Stringer with the information on Wednesday afternoon and again asked him to resign, which he finally did.

Later, Bowers released a joint statement with the top House Democrat, Rep. Charlene Fernandez, resolving to move forward.

The shock and horror we felt when we learned the details in this report are indescribable, not just as elected officials but as parents, the Bowers and Fernandez statement said. This is not about politics, its about the safety and security of children.

A spokesman for the House Republicans, Matt Specht, said a private investigator hired by the outside attorney investigating the allegations obtained the police report through a public records request of Baltimore police.

Stringer was already under fire even before the charges came to light for his racially charged remarks on race and immigration.

Republican precinct leaders in Yavapai County are meeting Sunday to nominate potential replacements for Stringer. The county board of supervisors will choose a replacement from the nominees.
BALTIMORE - Prosecutors in the murder case chronicled on the podcast Serial tested evidence from the 1999 crime last summer and found that none matched DNA from the convicted killer.

Defence attorney C. Justin Brown tweeted Thursday that no forensic evidence links his client Adnan Syed to the killing of his classmate Hae Min Lee.

Documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun say that about a dozen items, including a condom wrapper and fingernail clippings, were tested and none of them were positive for Syed. The only DNA investigators found belonged to Lee herself as well as an unidentified woman.

Maryland Attorney Generals Office spokeswoman Raquel Coombs says the lack of DNA doesnt exonerate Syed, who was convicted in 2000 of strangling Lee and burying her in a Baltimore park.

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Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com
WASHINGTON - The Latest on the Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election (all times local):

4:05 p.m.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler says an April 2 deadline still stands after Attorney General William Barr said he would deliver a redacted version of special counsel Robert Muellers Russia report by mid-April.

House Democrats have suggested they may subpoena the report if it is not delivered by next week. Barr said in a letter to Nadler and other lawmakers Friday that he would send the report to Congress by mid-April, if not sooner.

Nadler also says Democrats want to see the full report, not a redacted version.

Barr said in his letter that he would be available to talk to the House panel on May 2 and the Senate a day earlier. Nadler says he will take that date under advisement, but would like Barr to come sooner.

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3:17 p.m.

Attorney General William Barr has told Congress to expect a version of special counsel Robert Muellers report on the Russia investigation by mid-April.

The attorney general sent a letter Friday to Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees.

Barr says he wants the public to be able to read Muellers findings. He says Muellers report is nearly 400 pages long.

Mueller officially concluded his investigation last Friday and submitted his confidential report to Barr.

Barrs summary of Muellers report said it didnt find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Donald Trumps campaign to swing the 2016 presidential election.

Mueller reached no conclusion about whether Trump sought to obstruct the investigation. But Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined there was insufficient evidence to conclude Trump obstructed justice.

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6 a.m.

Democrats have been intensifying their demands for Robert Muellers full report after learning the special counsels findings from his Trump-Russia investigation run to more than 300 pages.

President Donald Trump boasted of total exoneration based on a four-page summary by his attorney general.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler was told by Attorney General William Barr that theres no intention of giving the confidential report to Congress immediately as he redacts grand jury testimony and other elements.

Democrats say they may subpoena the report if its not forthcoming by their Tuesday deadline, which Barr has said will not be met.
CANTON, Ill. - The Latest on the release of Thomas Kokoraleis, who was convicted in a 1982 killing and is a reputed member of Chicagos murderous Ripper Crew:

5:05 p.m.

Relatives of a Chicago woman killed by a reputed member of the notorious Ripper Crew gang say they will be looking over their shoulders for years now that he has been released from prison.

Thomas Kokoraleis killed 21-year-old Lorry Ann Borowski in 1982 and was freed Friday after serving 35 years.

Holding a photo of her daughter, Lorraine Borowski tearfully told reporters that Kokoraleis didnt receive the justice he deserved, but that she has no doubt God will deliver the final judgment.

Kokoraleis was initially sentenced to life in prison, but prosecutors allowed him to plead guilty on appeal in exchange for a 70-year prison term. The plea deal allowed for his release this week.

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7:50 a.m.

Authorities say a man convicted of murder as a suspected member of the notorious Ripper Crew that killed as many as 20 Chicago-area women in the 1980s has been released from prison.

An alert from Illinois victim notification system was issued Friday saying 58-year-old Thomas Kokoraleis had been discharged from the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Kokoraleis was initially sentenced to life in prison for the 1982 slaying of 21-year-old Lorraine Lorry Ann Borowski.

But prosecutors allowed him to plead guilty on appeal in exchange for a 70-year prison term. The deal allowed for his release this week.

Relatives of some victims were infuriated in 2017 when they learned of Kokoraleis expected release and delayed his initial parole date.

Records show Kokoraleis was held at the Illinois River Correctional Center in Canton, about 30 miles (48 kilometres) west of Peoria.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - President Donald Trump tried repeatedly to gut funding for a wide-ranging Great Lakes cleanup, only to be stymied by Congress. Suddenly, he did an about-face.

It happened Thursday during a campaign-style speech in the battleground state of Michigan. For years, the program the Obama administration established in 2010 enjoyed bipartisan support, and Trump  who proposed a 90 per cent cut just three weeks ago  toyed with the crowd before revealing his belated advocacy.

We have some breaking news, Trump told cheering supporters in Grand Rapids. You ready? I dont know. Can you handle it? I dont think you can handle it.

I support the Great Lakes. Always have. They are beautiful. They are big, very deep, record deepness, right? And Im going to get, in honour of my friends, full funding of $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Trumps apparent change of heart occurred the same day he reversed his budgets call to slash $17.6 million in funding for the Special Olympics, roughly 10 per cent of the organizations revenue, in the face of withering criticism on Capitol Hill.

The moves illustrate that, even as his annual spending plans seek draconian reductions in many areas, Trump is uncomfortable as a budget cutter and readily backtracks when popular programs are at stake. Such concessions might annoy fiscal conservatives, but they deprive the presidents foes of ammunition as he gears up for his re-election bid.

Democrats and environmentalists in the Great Lakes region, which includes fiercely contested states such as Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that Trump carried in 2016, were skeptical that his conversion on the restoration initiative was more than a momentary gesture to draw applause at his rally.

President Trumps actions need to speak louder than words, said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat who co-chairs the Senate Great Lakes Task Force. I call on him to work across the aisle to restore every penny of funding he proposed to cut.

In a statement, the White House said Trump trusts his agencies and staff to implement his goals and visions, but when specific issues, like the Great Lakes restoration, are presented to him he has every right to take a different approach.

As he prepared to announce his backing for the funds during the speech, Trump called the names of the GOP lawmakers who had lobbied for the program during a roughly 20-minute car ride with Trump from the Grand Rapids airport to the rally: Reps. Bill Huizenga, John Moolenaar and Jack Bergman of Michigan.

In a phone interview Friday, Huizenga told The Associated Press the trio had pushed hard.

It was a good, old-fashioned ganging up on, Huizenga said. People who arent from the Great Lakes dont have an understanding of what the entire system is about. It can be hard to get them to wrap their heads around it. We sort of laid out the case, both the economy and the ecology of it.

Trump asked questions about some of the projects, including a battle to prevent invasive Asian carp from reaching the lakes. Huizenga said he pitched the program as in keeping with the presidents desire to restore U.S. manufacturing and the Midwestern economy.

At one point, Bergman said, Mr. President, if you want to make news, this is one of the ways to make news in Michigan, according to Huizenga.

He said Trump made no commitment during the ride. But the message obviously had gotten through.

Does this mean the Great Lakes program is no longer in danger?

I think you take it year by year, Huizenga said. But it certainly makes it harder for them to go back and remove it out of the budget in future years.

The Great Lakes initiative is the biggest of nearly a dozen regional water restorations that Trump has sought to strip of funding. Among them are programs benefiting Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, Puget Sound and San Francisco Bay.

The presidents announcement Thursday offered them no reprieve, to the chagrin of William Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. His group supports a program that has funded research and cleanups in the nations biggest estuary. Trumps budget requested $7.3 million for 2020, a 90 per cent cut from $73 million this year.

For the president to fund one national treasures future and not the other makes no sense to us, Baker said. We invite the president to come see the Chesapeake Bay first-hand and hopefully make the same decision for clean water here as he did for the Great Lakes.

___

Follow John Flesher on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/johnflesher
CANAL POINT, Fla. - President Donald Trump has toured the Herbert Hoover Dike at Lake Okeechobee in the key electoral battleground of Florida.

Trump blasted Democrats while touting his administrations infrastructure efforts during Fridays appearance as he surveyed efforts to fortify the aging, 143-mile (230.13 kilometre) earthen dam.

Surrounded by Florida officials, Trump claimed the dam project was dying until we got involved. He also talked about health care, his new threat to close the U.S.-Mexico border and advertised an appearance later Friday with Small Business administrator Linda McMahon at his Palm Beach estate.

A budget proposal Trump released this month includes $63 million for Everglades restoration projects, about a third of what Florida lawmakers and environmental advocates have requested.

Democrats are urging the White House to add funding.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has decided to celebrate the occasion through a commemorative $1 coin, as will Pride Toronto, by making the anniversary its theme for 2019.

The anniversary is an important one for the LGBTQ community. After all, prior to 1969, homosexual acts between consenting adults, even in private, was punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The last Canadian to be imprisoned under such draconian measures was Everett George Klippert. On March 9, 1966, Klippert was convicted and sentenced to detention for an indeterminate period as a dangerous criminal offender.

In those days, Klipperts admission to having consensual sex with another man was cause enough for such a punishment.

The unjustness of the case attracted the attention of New Democratic Party leader Tommy Douglas, who was fiercely critical of the draconian laws against homosexuals.

So, too, was then Liberal Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Trudeaus famous quip summed up his position on the issue: Take this thing on homosexuality. I think that the view we take here is that theres no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.

As justice minister, and later as prime minister, Trudeau was chiefly responsible for the reforms to decriminalize homosexuality, which were entailed in the massive omnibus bill, known as Bill C-150.

Critics, such as historian Tom Hooper, have written scathing critiques of the bill (and subsequent legislation) and its lack of progress concerning homosexuality.

After all, the bill included allowances only for those 21 years of age and older. In contrast, consensual sex between men and women was legal at as young as 14. And the legislation certainly did nothing to curb bathhouse raids, which only increased in the following two decades. Or to protect against the persecution of homosexuals in the public service and the military, many of whom were deemed national security risks.

Nonetheless, when judging Bill C-150 and its progress (or lack thereof) for the LGBTQ community, historical context must be considered.

Fifty years ago, efforts to decriminalize homosexuality were far from easy to achieve. Homosexuality remained a controversial topic among the Canadian electorate, even during the heady days of the 1960s.

For instance, a polling firm in Trudeaus own riding of Mount Royal showed only 24 per cent approved of decriminalizing homosexuality, with 76 per cent opposing the changes. This opposition toward decriminalization found the ear of countless political leaders.

Progressive Conservative leader Robert Stanfield eventually voted in support Bill C-150. But he did so only after failed efforts to divide the bill and defeat the provisions on homosexuality.

Others, like Ralliement creditiste leader Real Caouette, stated clear his avowed opposition to homosexuality and refused to support the bill in the House of Commons.

One Conservative member went even further in his denouncement of Bill C-150, saying it was for queers and fairies.

Since this time, the country has made remarkable progress in the advancement of LGBTQ rights. Today, we are fortunate to live in a society where the pride flag has flown above Parliament Hill, and openly gay politicians have been elected as premiers of two provinces.

For all its flaws, Canada remains a haven for the LGBTQ community, especially for those who have fled here to escape persecution, rampant in places like Chechnya, Iran and Uganda.

While Canadians should rightly pride themselves for this, its important to never become complacent in the work that remains to ensure full equality.

After all, men who have sex with men continue to face unjust periods of abstinence before they are able to donate blood. And queer youth remain disproportionately at risk of being rejected by their families and ending up on the streets. Even conversion therapy, a barbaric cultural practice if there ever was one, has yet to be banned across the entire country.

Fifty years ago, the passage of Bill C-150 and the decriminalization of homosexuality marked the first time the Canadian government intervened to correct its injustices against the LGBTQ community. It represents a watershed moment in the progression of human rights in this country  one deserving of commemoration and celebration.

While we celebrate though, let us not forget that LGBTQ equality requires continued advocacy.
Not since Laureen Harper told an Indigenous rights protester at a cat video festival in 2014, Tonight were here for homeless cats has a member of the Canadian political establishment screwed up so badly in the face of an ordinary person wanting to be heard.

In case you dont know what Im talking about because youre too absorbed in the Prime Ministers other scandal (hint: it starts with an S and ends with an N), let me explain: Justin Trudeau was speaking at an event at a luxury Toronto hotel Wednesday night when a protester holding a large banner interrupted him.

People in Grassy Narrows are suffering from mercury poisoning, she called out, referencing the fact that people in Grassy Narrows  an Ontario First Nation  are indeed suffering from mercury poisoning because in the 1960s a paper company began polluting the river there. Many maintain, this protester included, that the government response to the crisis has been abysmally slow and insufficient. You committed to addressing this crisis, the protester said. But before she could continue, security approached her and escorted her away. And as they did the PM spoke.

Thank you for your donation tonight, he said. I really appreciate it.

It was in every way, the public speaking equivalent of kicking somebody when theyre already down.

And yet, laughter and applause followed  not from the protesters who presumably dont think theres anything funny about government inability to address a poisoning crisis, but from audience members who paid handsomely to be there, and whose experience with mercury poisoning is most likely limited to reading in a magazine that you can get it if you eat too much sushi.

Today they are eating their applause for a PM who is in apology mode.

Read more:

Trudeau apologizes for sarcastically dismissing Grassy Narrows demonstrators at Liberal fundraiser in Toronto

Grassy Narrows chief questions delay on promised mercury testing

I started to have seizures at the age of 2. Ontario residents describe the ravages of mercury exposure

The backlash to Trudeaus sarcastic response was swift from every source: from activists, from conservative voices on social media (who surprise, surprise, suddenly seem to have a vested interest in environmental protections), and from regular people of all stripes.

On Thursday, the PM apologized before the press. In his own words:

As I think you all know from time to time Im in situations where people are expressing concerns or protesting a particular thing and I always try to be respectful and always try to engage with them in a positive way. Thats how I believe a democracy should function and I didnt do that last night. Last night I lacked respect towards them and I apologize for that.

Trudeau said hed reimburse the protesters for the donation they made that granted them access to the fundraiser and he announced plans to revisit the Grassy Narrows crisis with his staff.

It seems like the least he can do but hopefully it produces some positive change (in this lifetime) for the protesters who told him off.

None of this, however, is positive for Justin Trudeau, a man heading into an election, whose approval rating, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted for Global News, has dipped below U.S. president Donald Trumps. After this weeks events I wont be surprised if we see another dip.

Laureen Harpers response (Thats a great cause but thats another night ... tonight were here for homeless cats) to a protester who wanted to know why she appeared to care more about felines than she did about missing and murdered Indigenous women was inappropriate. But it wasnt smug.

On Wednesday night Trudeau was smug. To be precise, he was as smug as they come.

And its hard to recover from smug. In fact, much like a cat, once smug is out of the bag  you cant stuff it back in. Once people see it on your face and hear it in your voice, they have a hard time seeing and hearing anything else when they look at you. And unlike SNC-Lavalin  a scandal that is complicated  Smug PM is very simple.

This could be Justin Trudeaus Mitt Romney moment.

In 2012 in advance of the US presidential election, American magazine Mother Jones released surreptitiously recorded footage of Romney talking about Democratic voters in disparaging terms.

Romney says in the recording: There are 47 per cent who are with him [Obama], who are dependent upon governmentMy job is not to worry about those people. Ill never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

Romney never recovered from this incident, not only because it obliterated his nice guy disguise, but because his opponents ensured that everywhere you looked, there it was: that recording, online, on TV, and in your head.

From now until October, prepare to watch Justin Trudeau being smug again and again and again. Christmas has come early for Andrew Scheer. Meanwhile, the people of Grassy Narrows wait.

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OTTAWAIn a tense phone conversation with Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick that Jody Wilson-Raybould secretly recorded, the former attorney general repeatedly warned him that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his officials were engaging in political interference with the SNC-Lavalin prosecution.

The 17-minute call on Dec. 19 begins cordially, but ends with Wernick warning Wilson-Raybould he was concerned about how the prime minister would react to her refusal to intervene in the trial and negotiate a remediation agreement with the Quebec company.

In the call, Wilson-Raybould issued what she called the strongest warning to Wernick about the actions of Trudeau and others.

It is entirely inappropriate and it is political interference, she said.

Does he understand the gravity of what this potentially could mean? Wilson-Raybould told the top civil servant.

This is not about saving jobs. This is about interfering with one of our fundamental institutions. This is like breaching a constitutional principle of prosecutorial independence, she said, according to a transcript released Friday by the Commons Justice committee.

Read more:

Jody Wilson-Rayboulds secret audio recording sparks ethics questions from legal community

Texts, phone calls and audiotape: Key parts from Wilson-Rayboulds new submission to justice committee

Opinion | Susan Delacourt: Seven years after historic boxing match, Trudeau fights to stay in the ring

It directly contradicts Trudeaus and his top officials public assertions that Wilson-Raybould never advised him of any concerns until after she was moved out of her job as justice minister in January.

Wilson-Raybould previously testified she was under pressure by Trudeau and senior officials to direct that SNC-Lavalin be given a deferred prosecution agreement under a brand new law, which would allow the Quebec firm to avoid a criminal conviction and with it, a 10-year ban on bidding for federal contracts.

In new material released Friday, Wilson-Raybould contradicts Wernicks public statement that the matter was not discussed at cabinet, reminding him she warned the entire cabinet when the change was being contemplated that any decision to use a deferred prosecution agreement would be exceptional, and would need to be left up to the prosecutor in trial cases, including SNC-Lavalins.

I made it very clear at the cabinet table and other places that these tools are at the discretion of the prosecutor  and everybody agreed to that and there was no guarantee that there would be a DPA in this or any other case. So we are treading on dangerous ground here, she said. I cannot act in a partisan way and I cannot be politically motivated. All of this screams of that.

But Wernick maintains through the call that Trudeau is not pressing Wilson-Raybould to do anything outside legal bounds. His view is that (he) is not asking you to do anything inappropriate or interfere. He is asking you to use all the tools that you lawfully have at your disposal, Wernick tells her at one point.

The Prime Minister was not briefed by the Clerk on his conversation with Jody Wilson-Raybould, and we were unaware of the full contents of this recording before today, the Prime Ministers Office said in a statement late Friday.

As the Prime Minister said in his statement, he should have spoken directly with the former Justice Minister & Attorney General about this matter  and he wishes that she had come to him. As has been made clear through the various testimonies, and as the Prime Minister said, there was clearly an erosion of trust over the past few months between PMO, the Clerk of the Privy Council, and the former Justice Minister & Attorney General.

The statement continues,

All the facts are on the table now, and everyone involved has shared their perspective, including the Prime Minister. We are focused on moving forward as a team on the issues that matter to Canadians and governing in the best interests of the country.

The transcript and audio of the call were part of a package that included texts and emails that revealed other new information about Wilson-Rayboulds decision on Feb. 11 to resign from cabinet, three weeks after she was shuffled into veterans affairs.

Wilson-Raybould denies testimony by Trudeaus top aide Gerald Butts that she called minister of justice and attorney-general her dream job. She says he was the one who described it that way. Notified that she was being shuffled out of the justice portfolio, Wilson-Raybould says she told Trudeau and Butts numerous times she believed she was being moved because of a decision I would not take in the SNC-Lavalin DPA matter, which they denied.

She took Trudeau at his word but made a decision then that she would immediately resign if David Lametti, who replaced her as attorney general, decided to issue a directive in the SNC-Lavalin matter as this would confirm my suspicions as to the reason for the shuffle of me in particular, she said.

A spokesman for Lametti told the Star Friday that he has not issued a directive in the SNC-Lavalin prosecution since his appointment.

Wilson-Raybould said it was her meetings with Trudeau in Vancouver on the weekend after the story first broke that led to my resignation from cabinet.

She says Trudeau publicly held up her presence in cabinet as evidence of her confidence in his government and its handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair. I resigned the next day and I trust my resignation also speaks for itself, she wrote in her brief.

But she pointedly does not go into detail about any aspects of their private discussions over three face-to-face meetings the prime minister had with her on Feb. 10-11 that led to her quitting.

Wernicks lawyer Frank Addario told the Star the taped conversation was a covert ops move, with her hanging onto it for a convenient moment. He dismissed Wilson-Rayboulds claims about Wernick, saying he was asking for information that only she could give.

The clerk said this is a legitimate tool and why are we not exploring it here and he asked repeatedly for an explanation to pass on to the prime minister and she refused to give it, Addario said. She didnt shut the call down. She described her wrong understanding of the law, which is that she cant even call the (director of public prosecutions) to ask questions without putting it into the Canada Gazette. Thats not what the statute says, so he was right in thinking they were talking past each other.

Wilson-Raybould acknowledged that taping the call with Wernick without informing him was an extraordinary and otherwise inappropriate move but says she wanted an exact record of the discussion because she suspected it was likely to be an inappropriate conversation.

During the call  which Wilson-Raybould previously described as the culmination of the pressure campaign  Wernick tells Wilson-Raybould she is part of a team, and the prime minister still believes she can use tools at her disposal, including asking former Supreme Court of Canada chief justice Beverley McLachlin for advice.

You are not just the attorney general, you are the minister of justice in a cabinet, Wernick says to her. I think the way (Trudeau) sees it and the advice he is getting is that you still have things you can do that are not interference and are still very much lawful.

Wilson-Raybould replies, It is not they are not lawful  the perception and what will happen is that it will be deemed political interference from day one when people were talking about why we are entering into a DPA or putting in a DPA regime in place  Everybody knows that it was because of SNC. Whether that is true or not, that is what people will think.

The texts and emails that Wilson-Raybould gave to the justice committee confirmed much of the testimony she earlier offered about the SNC-Lavalin affair. Her letter stresses that she took to heart departmental legal advice that it would be unprecedented for an attorney general to direct the prosecution of a specific case absent new facts and evidence. Wilson-Raybould said none were offered in the SNC-Lavalin matter.

She flatly dismissed the prime ministers explanation since the controversy broke that Wilson-Raybould experienced events leading to her resignation differently or that it was the result of an erosion of trust.

The real issues engaged by this matter  the issues that will inform what type of Canada we want to live in and pass on to the next generations  are not, ultimately, about how things are experienced, caucus dynamics, political ambitions, poll numbers, erosion of trust or the role of social media, she wrote in her 44-page brief.

By the end of the Dec. 19 phone call, Wernick is clearly concerned about having to go back to Trudeau without having made progress on the issue, telling Wilson-Raybould she was at loggerheads with the prime minister who is pretty firm, and that hes worried about a collision.

It also speaks to Wilson-Rayboulds anxiety at the time about the possible consequences for not budging.

I am waiting for  the other shoe to drop, so I am not under any illusion how the prime minister has and gets things that he wants. I am just struck doing the best job that I can, Wilson-Raybould said.

Later, she texted her chief of staff: Ok the shite is going to hit the fan. Uh oh, replies Jessica Prince.

In her accompanying brief, Wilson-Raybould underscored that prosecutorial independence remains the core issue  a principle that at times appears to have been obscured by layers of commentary, hyperbole and spin.

Any attempts to normalize such efforts is very dangerous to the institutions of our democracy, she said.

It wasnt immediately clear what the committee will do with the new information. Liberal MPs on the committee had already voted to shut down further hearings into the controversy, including an opposition effort to have Wilson-Raybould testify for a second time.

Liberal MP Randy Boissonault said the package confirms what we already know, that no law was broken.

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre told the Star the recording proves Jody Wilson-Raybould was telling the truth and Justin Trudeau was not. He claimed she never raised any concerns about political interference when she did so at least half a dozen times. He stated blatant falsehoods on that point and many others, he said. The Conservatives have already asked the RCMP to investigate, as did five former Conservative and Progressive Conservative attorneys-general.

The RCMP has not yet opened a formal investigation, but says it is aware of the matter and monitoring events.

NDP MP Tracey Ramsay, who is a vice-chair of the justice committee, said the revelations in the audio recording underscore her partys demand for a public inquiry in light of the Liberals refusal to allow committee hearings to proceed.

She said the audio of the telephone call presents clear and compelling and well-documented evidence of efforts to politically interfere in the criminal prosecution and her determination to rebuff it.

There is no one who would listen to that call and believe she wasnt pressured, Ramsay told the Star.

Trudeau has acknowledged that he asked Wilson-Raybould to revisit the SNC-Lavalin prosecution decision but has insisted that no ethical or legal lines were crossed.

This is something that I was clear on, and then I asked her  even though I heard that she had made a decision, she indicated to me that she had made a decision  I asked her if she could revisit that decision, if she was open to considering to looking at it once again, and she said that she would, Trudeau told a news conference earlier this month.

Wernick has acknowledged that Wilson-Raybould was approached about the file but maintains that there was no undue influence. In his own committee testimony, he said discussions with the former attorney general were legal and appropriate.

With files from Alex Boutilier

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First, a confession: A few weeks ago, I lied on the CBCs At Issue panel  or, at least, I delivered a partial truth. Asked by host Ian Hanomansing whether the SNC-Lavalin affair made me angry, I answered that I dont do anger because it gets in the way of thinking clearly.

That was true as far as the crisis that has been dominating Canadian politics is concerned.

Over the six weeks of the SNC-Lavalin saga, I have been curious as to its root cause and saddened by the deterioration of the relationship between the prime minister and two of the talented women he recruited in the last election.

I have also been somewhat bewildered by the fact that those who seem to have arrived at the unshakable conclusion that Justin Trudeau is guilty of mortal sins against the justice system have often been the most vociferous in arguing that Canadians do not yet have all the facts they need to make up their minds.

But this week, for the first time, I did feel real anger and, notwithstanding my answer on the CBC, this column is partly written in anger.

I was a junior radio news editor in the Toronto newsroom of Radio-Canada when I first heard about the mercury poisoning of the Indigenous communities of Grassy Narrows and White Dog.

The story surfaced in the early 1970s, a time when Canada was still relatively innocent about damages to the environment. Ontarios ministry of the environment was only a few years old, and the federal government would not have a stand-alone department until the end of that decade.

The notion that entire communities could be contaminated with a deadly poison because of air they breathed, the water they drank or, in this case, the fish they depended on for food, was foreign to many of us.

The Japanese though already had a name for what ailed the two Northwestern Ontario communities. They called it Minamata disease from the name of the bay whose mercury-contaminated waters had devastated the health of the communities that fished them.

When Japanese experts first visited Grassy Narrows and Whitedog and found evidence that a similar health crisis was underway, then-Ontario Natural Resources minister Leo Bernier dismissed them as Japanese troubadours.

More than 40 years have elapsed since the July morning when I edited reports about the mercury contamination of the English-Wabigoon river system. I am confounded by the notion that the issue is as alive today as it was then, and by what that says about how this country fails its Indigenous peoples.

Canada has had more than half-a-dozen prime ministers since the situation came to light under Pierre Trudeaus government, and more than 20 ministers of the environment and Indian Affairs.

Over the same period, Ontario has been governed by parties of three political stripes, including some who professed deep commitments to the environment and/or to the welfare of the First Nations.

And still those Indigenous communities struggle with the consequences of mercury poisoning and have to fight for every inch of government help they get.

For years, they were told the river would eventually clean itself. It did not.

It was only two years ago that a medical centre was promised to the community.

The CBC and the Star, to name just two media organizations, have devoted journalistic resources to document and keep this story in the public eye for decades.

And so, when the prime minister  with the general approval of the well-heeled party donors he was rewarding with his presence on Wednesday night  sarcastically dismissed an Indigenous rights activist who had paid her way into his fundraising venue to call his attention to the enduring plight of the people of Grassy Narrows, his performance was beyond words.

Trudeau did not even have the excuse  used by leader of the opposition Andrew Scheer to explain why he let patently false assertions connecting Hillary Clinton to a child sex ring stand at a recent town hall  of not having heard the protest or known what it was about.

The demonstrator unfurled a banner in his face.

Trudeaus behaviour was out of character. He has since apologized publicly.

Read more:

Trudeau apologizes for sarcastically dismissing Grassy Narrows demonstrators at Liberal fundraiser in Toronto

His put-down could be construed as a symptom of the impact the SNC-Lavalin affair is having on his performance. There is no doubt the prime minister has increasingly looked anchorless over the course of the ongoing crisis.

Trudeau coupled his apology with a commitment to turn more of his attention to the Grassy Narrows predicament. Maybe he will. But he is hardly the first to make promises.

Would it make a difference if we expended as much energy on keeping his feet to that fire as we have on pursuing every SNC-Lavalin angle? I dont know.

But I am somewhat thankful to the prime minister for having reminded me that some matters are more worth being profoundly angry about than others.

Chantal Hebert is a columnist based in Ottawa covering politics. Follow her on Twitter: @ChantalHbert

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VANCOUVERThe Canada Revenue Agency executed two search warrants in Vancouver on Thursday to try to find evidence of an alleged $77-million offshore tax-evasion case.

The CRA says 40 investigators uncovered a series of transactions in offshore tax havens that allegedly show non-residents did not pay tax on income they received from Canadian sources.

Investigators traced the connection between some of the Canadian and offshore entities by checking information leaked in the Panama Papers, according to a press release from the CRA. Criminal charges have not been laid in the case, and CRA declined to provide information about the location of the searches. Search warrants have not yet been filed at court registries.

The Panama Papers are a massive trove of documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca that were leaked in April 2016. They revealed secretive financial dealings through offshore tax havens, and showed how intermediaries like lawyers and banks helped wealthy people shield their money from tax authorities.

It is just one of 52 international and offshore tax-evasion cases under way, with five involving people named in the Panama Papers. Between 2012 and 2018, the CRA recovered $33 million after Canadian courts convicted 36 people who evaded federal taxes and had links to offshore money and other assets.

In February 2018, the CRA conducted  and publicized  simultaneous raids in West Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. They were the first searches conducted based on information from the Panama Papers.

In 2015, the CRA stepped up its audits of wealthy people and the complicated corporate structures they use to hold money. The agency has also been examining real estate activity more closely, and has identified the high-priced markets of Toronto and Vancouver as at high risk for tax evasion.

Between 2015 and 2018, CRA found $574 million in unpaid taxes related to real estate in Toronto and $310 million in Vancouver.

The B.C. government recently created a condo-flipping registry to track pre-sales of condos. CRA investigators found some buyers who flipped presale condos to be in non-compliance with tax law, and filed court applications to compel developers to give investigators information about the buyers.

B.C. is also the first province to propose a public landownership registry to reveal the true owners of real estate in the province. As recent reports from Transparency International showed, high-priced real estate in Vancouver and Toronto is regularly held in ways that conceal the ownership, raising the risk it could be used for money laundering or tax evasion.

With files from Marco Chown Oved

Read more:

Violators of money laundering law will be named publicly

Who owns these multimillion-dollar properties in Vancouver? With this new registry, the public could soon find out

Federal budget will provide millions to fight money laundering, financial crime

Read more about:
Huawei Technologies Co. posted a 25 percent jump in annual profit even as the Chinese telecommunications giant faces a U.S.-led push to keep it out of next generation networks.

China's largest tech company by sales posted net income of 59.3 billion yuan ($8.8 billion) in 2018 as it won customers for its smartphones and networking gear, according to a statement on Friday. Revenue for the year jumped almost 20 percent to 721 billion yuan.

Despite being at the center of global scrutiny, Huawei is winning customers for its equipment as it contends with Apple Inc. for the mantle of world's No. 2 smartphone label. The company has already disclosed accelerated growth in the first two months of 2019 as it develops cutting-edge chips and expands into cloud services. But its global prospects have been clouded by the Trump administration, which is waging a campaign to block the Shenzhen-based company from supplying equipment for the fifth-generation mobile networks.

"In 2019, we are cautiously optimistic about the growth in 5G business," Guo Ping, one of the company's three rotating chairmen, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "The future of telecom industry lies in the opportunities that 5G and future generations of technologies can provide to other industries."

Revenue from its consumer business, which includes smartphones, jumped 45 percent to 348.9 billion yuan while sales in the carrier unit were little changed at 294 billion yuan. Huawei said it invested more than 101 billion yuan, or about 14 percent of sales, in research and development.

After years of tension and accusations that the company makes it possible for Beijing to spy on the West, pressure on the Huawei has ratcheted up. Canada detained Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou last December at the behest of the U.S. Meng, also Huawei-founder Ren Zhengfei's eldest daughter, faces potential extradition on alleged bank fraud linked to U.S. sanctions against Iran. And the Chinese company is grappling with criminal charges for intellectual property theft. Both Meng and Huawei have denied wrongdoing.

Huawei finds itself in the cross-hairs of the U.S. government just as it's pushing for leadership in 5G and countries prepare to spend billions on the potentially revolutionary standard. Still, nations accounting for more than 40 percent of the world's gross domestic product are either embracing Huawei or appear unlikely to restrict the Chinese vendor.

The company has launched a multi-pronged charm offensive to try and squelch the U.S. accusations. In recent months, Ren has emerged from media seclusion to defend his company in a round of interviews, while top lieutenants showed off the company's technological capabilities and fought back against American criticisms.

It's also embarked on a full-blown legal offensive. In Canada, Meng sued the government for allegedly violating her constitutional rights as she was arrested. And the Chinese technology giant filed a lawsuit claiming the U.S. government is overstepping by barring Huawei from competing to supply equipment to certain federal agencies.

"Huawei will resolutely defend our interests in court," said Guo. "We have proof to make our points."
Natural gas prices are collapsing across the globe as supplies from the U.S. to Australia flood the market, sparking concern some exporters will have to curtail output and raising questions about new investments.

While prices typically ease at this time of year as mild weather in the northern hemisphere crimps demand, a boom in output of the heating and power-plant fuel is exacerbating the slump. The crash comes as the world's biggest energy companies are set to gather at the LNG2019 conference in Shanghai next week, with many considering whether to move forward with a wave of massive, multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas export projects.

Global trade is already shifting as lower prices wipe out the economics of sending U.S. gas to Asia and boost Europe's appeal as a market. New LNG production from Australia, Russia and the U.S. has helped to push prices in Asia more than 50 percent lower this year after a warmer-than-normal winter. Even as concern about climate change drives a shift to cleaner-burning gas from coal, demand isn't growing fast enough to absorb the supply surge.

"The gas market obviously is undergoing a winter hangover" after warm weather curbed demand, said Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities and derivatives research at Bank of America Corp. in New York. "We are getting a glut across the board and we don't see that changing all that much."

Asia's LNG benchmark, the Japan-Korea Marker, has more than halved since the start of the year to $4.375 per million British thermal units as of March 26. It's fallen to a rare discount to European prices, as U.K. National Balancing Point futures traded at around $4.50 on Friday, down 44 percent this year in their worst quarter in a decade. U.S. gas futures are down more than 8 percent this year, heading for the worst quarterly loss in two years.

The gas crash stands in stark contrast to oil prices, which are heading for their best quarter since 2002 as OPEC and its partners curtail production amid a decline in output from Iran and Venezuela. Since gas is produced as a byproduct of crude drilling in places like West Texas's Permian Basin, the oil rally threatens to exacerbate the gas glut.

European gas prices are also dropping relative to the U.S., and if the spread narrows further, American exporters may be forced to cut output, according to Societe Generale SA. The market is collapsing just as more Gulf Coast terminals designed to send LNG overseas are poised to start up, creating the first real test of buyers' appetite for U.S. cargoes.

"Prices could keep falling and stay low for weeks, perhaps until sometime closer to the middle of the year, after the market has adjusted and overcome frictions on the supply, demand and shipping sides," Citigroup Inc. analysts including Anthony Yuen wrote in a March 28 note to clients.

European prices may need to fall more than 15 percent to make U.S. LNG into the region uneconomic and help rebalance an oversupplied system this summer, BloombergNEF analysts said in a report this week.

"If sufficient demand to balance the LNG market cannot be found at around $4, then Asian and European prices may have to move low enough to reduce supply by eliminating U.S. export profitability and motivating export capacity holders to cancel exports and scale back global supply," said John Twomey, European power and natural gas analyst.

So much production is flooding the market that prices may not begin a sustained rebound until heating demand starts to pick up during the northern hemisphere winter, said Meg Gentle, chief executive officer of Tellurian Inc., which is planning a $28 billion export terminal in Louisiana.

The short-term pain may seem at odds with expectations that several developers are now set to announce billions of dollars in investments for new export facilities. That's because the medium-term outlook calls for the current surplus to shift into a deficit early next decade, which can only be avoided if projects are sanctioned now.

The impacts of this situation on U.S. projects "might raise questions at LNG2019 for the U.S. developers trying to sell LNG export capacity," Citigroup analysts wrote in the note. "Ultimately, customers are likely to look past this near-term dynamic."

Global consumption is forecast to grow 1.6 percent over the next five years, with China accounting for a third of global demand growth to 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. Gas is expected to surpass coal as the world's second-largest energy source, after oil, by 2030 amid a push to cut emissions.

"I have full confidence that the market will expand" to accommodate rising LNG production, Tellurian's Gentle said. "We will see it not only for power generation but going into the residential and transport sectors."

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Bloomberg's Dan Murtaugh, Stephen Stapczynski and Rob Verdonck contributed to this report.
The British Parliament emphatically rejected Theresa May's Brexit deal for a third time, throwing the U.K. deeper into a political crisis that shows no sign of ending.

The prime minister said Friday the defeat of her strategy had "grave" implications for the country, while the European Commission said an economically damaging no-deal split is now "a likely scenario." European leaders will meet for an emergency summit on April 10 to seek a way forward.

Speaking after the result of the vote was announced, May gave a veiled warning that a general election could be necessary to end the stalemate in the House of Commons, which has failed to back a Brexit plan after months of trying.

"I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House," May told lawmakers following the defeat by 344 votes to 286. The pound weakened, heading for its worst month since October against the dollar.

May has previously said an election is the last thing the country wants. Her spokesman would not go that far on Friday, insisting only that a national vote is not in Britain's best interests. Privately, officials accept that an election could be necessary, even though May has no appetite for one.

May's government will now step back while Parliament tries to work out a way forward without her next week.

On Monday, lawmakers will have a chance to choose their own preferences in a series of votes on Plan B options. Those are likely to include a full customs union with the European Union and another referendum to approve the final deal. The hope is that this process of narrowing down the options can produce a blueprint that Parliament will support.

May's team suggested she would try to accommodate the result of these so-called indicative votes. Ultimately, there could be a runoff between May's proposal and the next most popular option. But time is short.

Under a deal reached with the EU last week, Britain is now due to exit the bloc on April 12. "This is not enough time to agree, legislate for and ratify a deal," May said, "and yet the House has been clear it will not permit leaving without a deal. And so we will have to agree an alternative way forward."

The government will be talking to the EU about the terms of another extension to the Brexit deadline. May's officials aim to put her deal to a fourth vote in Parliament in the days ahead.

The margin of her defeat this time, 58 votes, was much narrower than the 230-vote loss she suffered in January.

May had offered to quit as prime minister in a bid to get the deal over the line. Leading pro-Brexit members of her Conservative Party, including Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Dominic Raab all dropped their opposition to May's proposal and voted for it on Friday.

Despite relentless lobbying from cabinet ministers, aides, and May herself, the push was not enough to win over enough critics, or Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, which supports her minority government. Without changes to the Withdrawal Agreement -- which the EU says can't be reopened -- there seems little prospect the DUP will be swayed. The party says the deal threatens to split Northern Ireland away from mainland Britain.

"I would stay in the European Union and remain rather than risk Northern Ireland's position" in the U.K., the party's Westminster leader, Nigel Dodds, told the BBC. "That's how strongly I feel."

If all May's efforts ultimately fail, she knows she could have to hand the problem to voters. An election would be fraught with risk for the British premier.

In 2017, she called a snap election hoping to increase her small majority amid predictions of a landslide victory. Instead, she fought a disastrous campaign, lost her majority entirely and has been struggling ever since to get her Brexit policies through the House of Commons.
The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts

By Joan Biskupic

Basic. 421 pp. $32

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The Supreme Court sits at the epicenter of fundamental disagreements about various crucial issues - campaign finance, affirmative action, abortion, gun control, voting rights and the constitutionality of some of President Trump's most controversial actions - and the stakes are as high as they have ever been. At the center of it all is conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

As Joan Biskupic observes in her book "The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts," after Republicans' refusal to confirm President Barack Obama's Supreme Court choice, Merrick Garland, and Trump's appointment of two fiercely conservative justices, Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court is "now Roberts's in name and reality."

Although Roberts consistently maintains that the court is not a political body, and although he insists publicly that "the justices do not advance political positions," Biskupic concludes that, in his decision-making in the most important and ideological cases, Roberts has all too often "engaged in the partisanship he claimed to abhor." Moreover, although Roberts' public persona seems very easygoing and congenial, Biskupic reveals that his top-down style has often "rankled" his colleagues on the court.

Like Biskupic's previous books about Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia and Sonia Sotomayor, "The Chief" offers an extraordinarily insightful, thoughtful and accessible analysis of Roberts' personal life, professional career, judicial experience and approach to constitutional interpretation. It is essential reading for anyone who truly wants to understand this pivotal moment in Supreme Court history.

Biskupic, who has known Roberts for more than 20 years, sat down with him for seven interviews totaling 20 hours for her book. She was therefore well-positioned to offer often stunning insight into Roberts' life and thinking both on and off the court.

In the first half of "The Chief," Biskupic traces Roberts' upbringing, his experiences in college and law school, and his work in the Reagan administration, private practice and in the two Bush administrations. As an adolescent, Roberts attended a Catholic boarding school, at which the students were required to go to daily chapel and Sunday Mass. While there, he wrote an editorial for the school newspaper objecting to any change in the boys-only admissions policy, arguing that "the presence of the opposite sex in the classroom will be confining rather than catholicizing."

Roberts excelled at Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and he then served as a law clerk to Judge Henry Friendly, one of the most distinguished judges in the nation, and then to Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist.

Thereafter, Roberts, who was deeply enamored of President Ronald Reagan, took a position as special assistant to William French Smith, Reagan's attorney general. As Biskupic notes, with some dismay, "a straight line can be drawn from Roberts's positions on voting rights, affirmative action, religion, and abortion rights in the 1980s to his expressed views from the center chair at the Supreme Court after his appointment in 2005."

After leaving the Reagan administration, Roberts moved into a lucrative career as an appellate lawyer, but then Kenneth W. Starr, President George H.W. Bush's solicitor general, enticed Roberts to serve as his deputy, raising "Roberts' visibility among powerful conservatives." Biskupic reports that, in this role, Roberts sought to "persuade the Supreme Court to limit judicial oversight of previously segregated systems" and worked hard to urge the court "to give the states significant leeway to restrict abortion." Roberts "abhorred the fact that Roe v. Wade allowed for the termination of fetal life," Biskupic says.

When Bush left office in 1993, Roberts returned once again to private practice. During the 2000 presidential election, though, he was enlisted to help George W. Bush by assisting in the case Bush v. Gore. Shortly thereafter, Bush nominated Roberts to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. As Biskupic notes, although Roberts "did not want to be viewed as a member of the hard right," he would not have been nominated "if he had not won" the imprimatur of the Federalist Society, with which he was "ideologically aligned."

Four years later, President Bush nominated Roberts to serve as chief justice of the United States. During his confirmation hearings, Roberts famously maintained that "judges are like umpires," their job is simply to call balls and strikes, not to take political positions. The Senate voted 78-22 to confirm Roberts' nomination.

The second half of "The Chief" focuses on Roberts' performance as chief Justice. One of Biskupic's more surprising observations is that Roberts' relations with other justices have at times been quite difficult. Indeed, over time, serious "personal conflicts" have emerged, and some of his associates think "he is not always acting in good faith [and] that he is not an honest broker." In recent years, Roberts and Sotomayor, in particular, "found themselves in a disagreement that quickly became personal," especially on issues involving race. Biskupic explains that Roberts simply does "not consider racism to be as prevalent or as intractable a problem as many of his contemporaries," both on and off the court.

Although in a few cases Roberts has "set aside his ideological and political interests on behalf of his commitments to the court's institutional reputation," most notably in his vote to uphold the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, Biskupic concludes that, in almost every case with important political and ideological implications, "he did not entirely shed his partisan thinking once he donned the black robe."As she documents, in decisions involving such issues as gerrymandering, the Voting Rights Act, the death penalty, campaign finance regulation, abortion rights, separation of church and state, and workers' rights, a five-member conservative majority, including Roberts, has "discarded or reinterpreted" "long-standing precedents"to reach their desired decisions.

In Citizens United, for example, the Roberts court, in a 5-to-4 decision, "rolled back more than one hundred years of regulation designed to provide a check on the power of money in elections." As Biskupic observes, the Roberts court's decisions in the realm of campaign finance have all been "decided by 5-4 votes along ideological lines that reinforced the appearance of a nakedly political institution."

And then there is the issue of race. While in the Reagan Justice Department, Roberts "fervently argued that the 1965 Voting Rights Act should be narrowly interpreted, a view that followed from his opposition to measures that protected groups of people based on race or ethnicity." In Shelby County v. Holder, decided in 2013, Roberts' opinion for the 5-to-4 majority "marked the first time since the nineteenth century that the Supreme Court struck down a provision of civil rights law protecting people based on race."

Although President George W. Bush had signed into law the provisions of the Voting Rights Act invalidated in Shelby County, noting "the many pernicious methods that had been used to disenfranchise blacks," Roberts insisted that the problems that "the Voting Rights Act was designed to correct no longer existed." As Biskupic observed, not only was Roberts' argument "specious," but his decision in Shelby County "sharply reduced the ability of African Americans and other minorities" to vote and "capped Roberts's decades-long effort ... to limit the reach of the Voting Rights Act."

Roberts leads the Supreme Court at a critical moment. For the first time in history, the court is divided 5 to 4 not only along ideological lines, but along partisan lines as well. That is, all five justices in the highly conservative majority were appointed by Republican presidents, and all four justices in the more liberal minority were appointed by Democratic presidents. Thus, going forward, there is a serious danger that on all the issues that have bitterly divided the justices over the past half a century, the court will divide sharply along partisan lines.

Such a state of affairs will seriously undermine the fundamental integrity of the court itself. The whole point of relying on judges and justices to decide fundamental questions of law is that they are doing their best to apply the law in a neutral and fair-minded manner. Although they may disagree sharply about questions of constitutional interpretation, their disagreements should be on intellectual rather than partisan lines.

As we look to the future, if the five Republican-appointed justices, under Roberts' leadership, persist in interpreting the Constitution in ways that further the interests and policies of the Republican Party, they will fundamentally undermine the credibility of the Supreme Court as a central institution of American democracy. As Biskupic observes, Roberts "now sits at the exact center, the determinative center, of the law in America." He is in a position to lead the court "in his own image," she says, adding: "The law will likely be what he says it is." Let us hope that he understands the stakes and does not destroy the credibility of the Supreme Court and his own place in history.

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Stone is the Edward H. Levi distinguished professor of law at the University of Chicago.
Putin's World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest

By Angela Stent

Twelve. 433 pp. $30

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The United States and its allies won the Cold War, a prolonged struggle across the globe, but news accounts nowadays give the impression that the West has lost the post-Cold War "peace" amid a resurgence of authoritarianism.

Exhibit A: Russia.

"Russia is a regional power," President Barack Obama said dismissively at an international gathering in March 2014, after Moscow's forcible annexation of Crimea. Back then, a Washington consensus largely belittled the United States' former Cold War rival as a fatally declining has-been with less than a 3 percent share of global gross domestic product, compared to a U.S. share more than seven times as great.

Yet just a few years later, the perception had changed. Russia's share of global GDP was no better, but in December 2017 President Vladimir Putin swooped in for a surprise visit to his country's air base in Syria and congratulated Russian troops for ensuring the survival of Bashar al-Assad's butcher regime against American wishes. "You are victorious, and you are going home to your families, parents, wives, children and friends," Putin said, then took off for Cairo, where he signed a $21 billion deal with Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sissi for Russia to build a nuclear power plant. The Russian leader next flew to Ankara and joined with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to condemn the Trump administration's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Within 24 hours, Angela Stent writes in her book "Putin's World," the Kremlin boss had demonstrated that Russia was the indispensable power in the Middle East.

Russia also has strengthened its ties simultaneously to Saudi Arabia and Iran, two implacable foes, and to Iran's other blood enemy, Israel, as well as with the United Arab Emirates. "Russia is the only great power that talks to the Shiite states, the Sunni states - and the Israelis," Stent marvels.

What is more, Russia has disregarded the India-China chasm, too. Putin received Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2018 in Sochi, where the two men hailed their countries' "special privileged strategic partnership." The next month, during a visit by Russia's leader to Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping gushed that "President Putin is the leader of a great country who is influential around the world. He is my best, most intimate friend." Xi added that China and Russia have "resolutely supported each other's core interests."

What happened?

The short answer: Russia actually conducts diplomacy.

For the longer answer, Stent expertly walks readers through Moscow's relations with every region in the world, avoiding the hysteria that warps discussion of Russia.

Aware that too many books about Russian foreign policy arrive instantly obsolete because they lack a foundation in history or political culture, Stent opens with those subjects. Of the Russia-West clash, she writes that "it has been tempting to personalize the answer: it is all due to Vladimir Putin and his small group of Kremlin insiders," but she adds that "behind the new tsar stands a thousand-year-old state with traditions and self-understanding that precede Putin and will surely outlast him." Nonetheless, we get a book mostly about the czars - Mikhail Gorbachev's, Boris Yeltsin's and especially Putin's official meetings, in minute detail. There is little about institutional makeup, interest group brawling or internal policy differences.

Stent clarifies that James Baker, George H.W. Bush's secretary of state, did not formally agree in 1990 to refrain from enlarging NATO in connection with German unification. But she also illuminates how in 1993, Warren Christopher, President Bill Clinton's secretary of state, ineptly assured Yeltsin that a so-called Partnership for Peace program would not entail NATO membership for Eastern European states, a vow that Clinton promptly broke. At the same time, she stresses that Moscow has not fleshed out the critical details in its persistent call for a new security architecture in Europe that would replace NATO and satisfy all parties, including former Russian satellites and possessions.

What does not come through is the larger strategic failure of U.S.-Russia policy under Obama. The president was suitably wary of American overextension, hyper-militarization and leading with democracy promotion, but he stocked his administration with regime change zealots, whom he did not empower to do what they were clamoring to do, but whom the Kremlin and others could point to and say, aha, they are the real U.S. policy.

Stent shows how Russia seizes upon the wealth of opportunities gifted again and again by U.S. blundering or inattention. She recounts the leverage Moscow derives from its exceptional tool kit: a U.N. Security Council veto, a massive doomsday arsenal, heavy investment in its military, global weapons sales, vast hydrocarbon reserves, and tactical daring (hacking, disinformation, assassinations). She further underscores the country's web of long-standing relationships, inherited from the ideological Soviet Union, but unlike the latter, Russia's global engagement is coldly pragmatic. She notes of the Middle East - in an observation that applies broadly - that Russia's "appeal as an opponent of regime change and supporter of existing governments endears it to all governments in the area, authoritarian and democratic."

Additional advantage accrues from a certain amorality. And spoliation is a far easier game to play than nation building.

Stent's regionally compartmentalized tour of Russian foreign policy lacks a compelling narrative arc. Still, chapters about the interminable deadlock in Russia-Japan relations or the economic sanctions imposed by Europe illuminate the flaws in any depiction of Russia as some global power broker, and the book culminates in a clear-eyed portrayal of the inescapably troubled U.S.-Russia relationship. She argues for strong pushback against Russian aggression combined with a proactive quest for areas of common interest, such as counterterrorism or arms control and nonproliferation. At the same time, though, she acknowledges that three failed efforts to reset the bilateral relationship have demonstrated that engagement has worked no better than attempts at isolation.

Injecting a dose of reality, Stent notes that "Eurasia represents an intermittent, as opposed to a core, interest for the West," so that "there are limits to which [the West] will go to challenge Russia's interests in the region." She deems the discontinuation of loose talk about further NATO expansion to places such as Ukraine or Georgia a victory for Putin, but in light of her analysis, this sobriety could be seen as having been inevitable. In any case, Russia's challenge to the United States long ago transcended its own backyard.

But Putin's foreign policy judo - a martial art that turns the strength of an opponent against that opponent - works only if the United States and its allies put themselves into vulnerable positions, such as Europe's adoption of the euro without fiscal integration, the second Iraq War, the global financial crisis, pervasive social media platforms that are cheaply weaponizable.

Ultimately, whether Russia obtains much, if any, enduring strategic gain from its heightened activism abroad remains doubtful, considering the country's fraught relations with Europe and its gathering eclipse by China. Vital technology transfer and major investment do not follow from ever-nastier one-upmanship of the West or rhetorical tribute paid by Beijing.

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Kotkin is a professor at Princeton and a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution.
So Much Longing in So Little Space: The Art of Edvard Munch

By Karl Ove Knausgaard

Penguin. 256 pp. $17

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If I had been feeling sufficiently penitent this Lent, I might have played a Nordic version of the old parlor game, "Which three famous people would you like to invite for dinner?" My guests would have been philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, author of "Fear and Trembling"; Edvard Munch, whose painting "The Scream" is probably the most parodied work of art in the world today; and Karl Ove Knausgaard, author of a six-volume autobiographical novel titled "My Struggle." The dinner, boiled cod and a few unsalted potatoes washed down with water, would have been an appropriately Lenten affair, its conversation unleavened by any scintilla of humor.

We shall now allow Kierkegaard to amble away on one of his solitary walks and consider the other two diners, for Knausgaard has written a book on Munch, "So Much Longing in So Little Space." A more accurate title would have been "Munch and Me: The Most Famous Norwegian Writer Since Knut Hamsun Considers the Most Famous Norwegian Painter Ever." Very little space is given over to the details of Munch's life; instead, the book considers what it means to be an artist in general and what it meant to be a highly talented artist from a restrictive Scandinavian background, obsessed with a peculiar set of personal issues, and living in a time of radical change, artistic and otherwise.

For Norwegians, Munch looms as an inescapable cultural emblem. The filmmaker Joachim Trier, whom Knausgaard interviews in the book, speaks of Munch as "a paradoxical figure whom we were told about, a master of sorts and an important national figure. At the same time, everything he stood for was very remote from what we faced in our daily lives." This book is an account of Knausgaard trying to come to terms with the giant. As a writer rather than an art historian, his discussion of paintings largely involves description: "In the very foreground, at the lower left edge of the painting, stands the leafless trunk of a tree, it appears to have been an old fruit tree, covered here and there by mint-green moss."

Seeking a more technical account of Munch's achievement, Knausgaard reaches out to helpers and interpreters from the world of visual arts. He flies to Paris to visit the studio of renowned German artist Anselm Kiefer, though the encounter doesn't yield much in the way of insight: "I asked Kiefer about his relationship to Munch, he more or less dismissed the question with an impatient gesture of his head while saying that Munch was a good graphic artist." Knausgaard pores over reproductions of the paintings of another contemporary artist he admires, Peter Doig, seeking evidence of Munch's influence, only to conclude that "the commonalities between them belong to figurative painting itself, in the most general sense." He talks to photographers, painters and film directors, reproducing his conversations with them in the book.

Knausgaard is driven to this scattershot who-can-I-talk-to-next quest in 2017 because, two years after giving a lecture on Munch, he has been invited to curate an exhibition of Munch's work from the holdings of the artist's estate, which were entrusted to the Munch Museum in Oslo. Munch was an inveterate keeper of his own work, never throwing anything away and getting paintings back when he could. The works in any artist's estate, however, usually consist of unfinished compositions or of works the artist was unable to sell.

Hoping to avoid putting together a show of duds, Knausgaard enlists the aid of art historian Stian Grogaard to go through the racks of paintings. Grogaard's comments as they look through a passel of what can be described only as "lesser works" are worth the price of the book. He speaks insightfully of the young Munch's struggles to break out of the prevailing academic trends. Grogaard, however, has issues with much of the leftover late work. Pointing to a painting of tree trunks, he sees a certain solemnity of effect, but then admits: "At other times, it just doesn't work, nothing comes of it, it just fizzles out. And then you think, Doesn't it mean anything to him? But at the same time I wonder if I'm applying the wrong scale." He finally evades the question of poor quality by asserting that "something else comes into being," and positing "painting as a kind of cosmological practice."

Not having seen the show, I don't know how well Munch came off, but his reputation was in no danger. Technical achievements aside, Munch's success came from his ability to give visual form to the stifled passions of a stratified and sexually inhibited society: He let the scream out. Whatever resistance he may have encountered initially, he was soon rewarded for his achievements. At 26, he won a scholarship to Paris, and by his early 30s, he was making good money. Patrons continued to come his way, and he was made a Knight of the Royal Order of St. Olav in 1909. If he chose to spend the next 35 years of his life living in relative isolation, that was his choice.

Norwegian culture still has issues with letting it all hang out, and Knausgaard's adaptation of the confessional memoir as a fictive device, his use of real people and their intimate struggles, was shocking to many critics. Scandal sells, however, and in a country of only about 5 million, more than 450,000 copies of "My Struggle" have been sold. Worldwide sales of the books have made Knausgaard a wealthy man. In writing about Munch, he considers the work of another specialist in cultural excavation. And specialists get paid well.

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Upshaw is an art dealer and critic in Beacon, N.Y.
ALTON  Alton City Council on Wednesday night approved the inclusion of Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater in the allocation of tourism-related tax revenues.

And, with that, a $100,000 addition to Alton Amphitheater Commission-controlled coffers.

The ordinance states that the commission has successfully attracted thousands of visitors to the City of Alton by the promotion of various events at the amphitheater: and whereas, the amphitheater is in need of additional funding on an ongoing basis to continue its mission of promoting the Alton Amphitheater and thereby producing major economic benefits to the City of Alton.

Mayor Brant Walker said the ordinance is very specific about the inclusion of the Amphitheater Commission in its relation to the Riverfront Park Development and Revitalization efforts.

The ordinance will now include the Riverfront Amphitheater in the allocation of taxes and penalties received from the citys tourism funds along with the emergency vehicle replacement fund and the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Riverfront Park Development and Revitalization Fund.

Walker said the amphitheater has made a tremendous impact on the redevelopment of the citys riverfront with not only ticketed events, but also free community events.

While ticketed events help offset costs, there are still improvements that need to be done.

For example, fencing. Mayor Walker stated that the Steve Miller Band nearly rejected the initial offer for them to perform due to their managements apparent fencing preferences.

Currently, the 2019 summer amphitheater lineup includes Steve Miller Band and Marty Stuart as well as the Bikes and BBQ Festival in June, the Alton Fireworks Spectacular in July and the Sauce Alton Food Truck Festival in August.

Robert Stephan, chairman of the Alton Amphitheater Commission, said as additional events are confirmed announcements will be made.

In other business this week:

 A bid from Element Turf and Outdoor solutions was also accepted and approved by council, extending their contract with the City of Alton for mowing services for city and county-owned properties. As the lowest responsive bidder, Element Turf and Outdoor Solutions will provide services for 298 parcels at least every four weeks.

 Council also approved a bid from Stutz Excavating for the removal and replacement of concrete sidewalks, curbs and driveways at various locations throughout the city.

The crosswalk beacon at the intersection of Clawson Avenue and College Avenue will be removed after the passing of a resolution by council Wednesday night, as the Illinois Department of Transportation prepares to resurface Route 140 at the location.

The crosswalk was originally installed to serve Horace Mann School and the Alton School District is using the location as a maintenance facility rather than a school, according to the resolution. With existing pedestrian facilities at Main Street and College Avenue, as well as Seminary Street and College, and little to no school traffic, the City of Alton has deemed the beacon no longer useful and beyond repair.

 A new ordinance was also approved regarding the disposition of lost, found or abandoned property in the City of Alton.

Madison County police departments are developing a plan similar to the pawn shop ordinance that was started countywide, Alton Police Chief Jake Simmons said during this weeks Committee of the Whole meeting.

It gives us a guideline on when we can destroy evidence and how long we can keep it, Simmons said.  Madison Countywide, were all getting on the same page.

 City Council approved an ordinance amending the zoning map by establishing general industrial zoning for property recently annexed to the City of Alton, in the area of Harris Lane and Wood Station road in part of the northeast quarter of section five of the third pricing meridian.

Reach Steven Spencer at 618-972-6790 or at steven.spencer@thetelegraph.com
ROME - Just three years ago, in country after European country, populist politicians were drawing up plans to follow Britain out the door. The French nationalist party leader spoke of a so-called Frexit. The Dutch far-right leader wanted a vote on Nexit. Some politicians predicted a secessionist contagion. Might there be a Swexit? A Czech-out? An Italeave?

"Now it's our turn," the leader of Italy's ascendant far right, Matteo Salvini, said at the time about exiting the European Union.

But the 2016 Brexit vote has spawned no copycats. Nor did it lead to the crack-up of the European Union. Even the most ardent Brussels-bashing politicians have concluded it's better to stick with the bloc than endure a messy, years-long divorce.

On Friday, the day Britain was supposed to leave the EU and "take back control," the British Parliament was still fighting over how and whether to leave. Lawmakers rejected, for the third time, the withdrawal deal negotiated between Prime Minister Theresa May and EU leaders. The pound fell on fears that Britain will abruptly crash out of the bloc on April 12, with massive disruptions to trade and travel.

Even if Britain manages an orderly departure, forecasts predict that Brexit could dampen economic growth for years. And the political and social divisions between "leavers" and "remainers" may persist.

Watching all this, the continent's influential euroskeptic parties - from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean - have quietly recast their message. They've dropped calls to leave the E.U. and are instead advocating for the less drastic approach of changing the bloc from within. The European political scene has scarcely a party remaining advocating for a Brexit-style departure.

"There has been a shift, definitely a shift," Stephen Bannon, a former White House chief strategist who consults with nationalist parties in Europe, said in an interview. "The agony of Britain in the last two years has clearly been a subtext for, let's try to make this thing work" within Europe.

The shift doesn't mean the EU has averted turmoil, nor that Europe's political insurgents are happy with the status quo. Europe's class of populists and nationalists - a mix of ruling parties and clamorous outside voices on both the left and right - remain buoyed by discontent over low economic growth, migration and perceived imperiousness of EU elites. Those populists want to decentralize power within the European Union and are hoping to use European parliamentary elections in May to expand their influence and carry out their ideas.

But even as Europeans find reason to grumble about the bloc, voters don't seem to have the appetite for an irrevocable split, and in fact some have grown fonder of the European Union.

The EU's approval rating increased sharply in 2017, as Britain began to debate the terms of its exit. A new Pew Research Center survey of 10 European nations shows that 62 percent of people hold a favorable view of the EU. A separate poll from last year showed that 67 percent of Europeans believed their country benefited from EU membership - the highest figure in 35 years.

"You had the Brexit referendum. Also the Trump election," said Stefan Lehne, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels. "It created a lot of fear and uncertainty, and the response [from Europeans] was, we want the known over the unknown."

From Hungary to Sweden, Germany to Italy, euroskeptic politicians are now trying to figure out just how much of a mandate they might have to upend Europe's norms. It's not as clear a calculus as it had been.

The reasons to stick with Europe go beyond a distaste for Brexit redux. A significant number of Europeans, even those who support euroskeptic parties, appreciate the freedom of movement allowed by EU rules and the ability to live in other countries. They also like the outsized influence of the unified bloc, which makes it easier for countries to contend with China and the United States.

For now, some parties have simply dropped exit-the-EU plans from their platforms. Others have made concessions or adapted after political setbacks. In Austria, the Freedom Party abandoned calls for a euro referendum before joining another party in a coalition government. In France, nationalist leader Marine Le Pen called in her 2017 campaign for a referendum on eurozone membership and badly lost an election to Emmanuel Macron. Now, she speaks instead of a "Europe of nations" that works better for its members.

And in the Netherlands, when the face of the anti-immigration far right - Geert Wilders - said in a televised debate that a "Nexit" would be the best thing that could happen to the country, the incumbent prime minister accused him of scaremongering.

"You want to push the Netherlands into chaos too," like in Britain, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

Wilders' party fared worse than expected in Dutch elections.

But it is in Italy where the evolution of the populist message on Europe is perhaps most stark. The country's government is composed of two euroskeptic parties that cheered Britain's Brexit vote when it happened. Now, those parties say it would be inconceivable to follow suit.

"It's not feasible," said Claudio Borghi, a parliamentarian from the League. "There wouldn't even be a majority to get to that."

Both Salvini's far-right League and the more politically amorphous Five Star Movement used to be more vocally hostile to the EU. They railed at fellow member states for having abandoned Italy in its efforts to deal with migration while saddling it with unhelpful economic rules. Salvini held rallies wearing T-shirts that read, "Enough with the Euro." The Five Star Movement, too, had long called for a referendum on Italy's euro membership. For a time, it maintained a parliamentary alliance with U.K. Independence Party, whose one-time leader, Nigel Farage, was a driving force behind the Brexit campaign.

But Italian politicians say both parties have changed tactics - in part as a result of having to govern but also because of a changing mood.

Last year, neither party campaigned heavily on the idea of leaving Europe, and when the coalition proposed an economy minister who'd called the euro a "historic error," the country's referee-like president stepped in and told them to find somebody else. The president, Sergio Mattarella, said any discussion on leaving the euro would first need a serious and public "in-depth analysis."

Salvini no longer uses the hashtag #bastaeuro. Major Five Star members no longer re-tweet calls for euro referendums. Borghi - a League hard-liner who remains vocally opposed to the EU - recently said Italy should consider leaving the bloc if things don't radically change; Salvini later that day said he had no plans to leave or "abandon" Europe.

As messy as Brexit has been, the exit process could be even more turbulent for a eurozone nation that would have to contend with not only customs and border headaches, but also the introduction of a new currency - or the return to an old one.

Marta Grande, a Five Star member who heads a parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, said that within her own party, views on Europe were all over the map several years ago. But those views have gradually converged on the idea that the European Union needs to be criticized constructively and reformed. She acknowledged that politicians in Italy continued to cast blame at Brussels, but said, "people don't want to leave the EU."

An Italian research group, the Carlo Cattaneo Institute, tracked Five Star votes in the European parliament and found the Movement in some ways resembled the voting patterns of a traditional Green party - left-leaning and somewhat pro-European.

"If I see how we behaved five years ago, we were so naive regarding so many issues," Grande said. She said the idea of a referendum on the euro "was something to say during the electoral campaign rather than a real attempt to do it."

Both Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, the head of the Five Star Movement, have launched campaigns for the May parliamentary elections; both have called for European reforms. Salvini has minted a new slogan: "And now we change Europe."

Analysts say that insurgent parties across Europe hope to curtail EU power over budget-making and bring their own hard-line migration ideas to Brussels.

But the elections are a referendum on the strength of the union - not on whether the union should exist.

- - -

The Washington Post's Stefano Pitrelli contributed to this report.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is sharply curtailing the number of families it will hold at a detention center outside of San Antonio because the agency is unable to transport them there amid an influx of migrant families at the southern border, U.S. officials said Friday.

Beginning April 1, ICE will temporarily use part of the Karnes County Family Residential Center to detain about 700 adult women, with a smaller portion of the jail reserved for families. Earlier this month, the facility had 528 family members detained, but by Friday that had been reduced to 63 parents and children.

Officials expect the facility to return to exclusively detaining families after about three months.

"The current volume of family units crossing the Southwest border has overwhelmed ICE's limited transportation resources to the point that ICE is currently only able to route a limited number of families apprehended at that border to the one other family residential center in Texas - the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Tex.," ICE spokeswoman Danielle Bennett said in a statement.

The move comes as Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other top officials are making urgent appeals to Congress to boost detention funding as a way to address the surge of migrants.

ICE said its adult detention space "is near capacity," with 49,447 in custody as of last week. Nearly 75 percent of the 259,365 people booked into custody from October through March were apprehended at the border.

The shift reduces family detention space at one of ICE's two largest family facilities and ensures that more migrants will be released directly into the country after crossing, where they will await an immigration court hearing - a process that can take months or years. Immigration and border officials already were releasing most families because of legal limits on how long they can detain children.

The head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said this week that his agency is "reluctantly" releasing asylum-seeking migrants directly into the country - without ankle bracelet tracking devices or extensive vetting - because the U.S. border law enforcement apparatus is overwhelmed.

More than 76,000 migrants were taken into custody in February, including a record number of Central American families, many of them seeking asylum after stepping onto U.S. soil. This month, Nielsen said, CBP is on track to apprehend nearly 100,000 people.

In a letter to members of Congress on Thursday, Nielsen reiterated an "urgent" appeal for more money and authority to swiftly detain and deport Central Americans, including minors, to make room to process asylum cases. She warned DHS is "increasingly unable" to take "operational control of the southern border."

"We are grappling with a humanitarian and security catastrophe that is worsening by the day, and the Department has run out of capacity, despite extraordinary intra-departmental and interagency efforts," she wrote. "I am especially concerned about the level of families and unaccompanied children arriving at our borders and in federal custody."

In addition to families, she said, hundreds of unaccompanied minors are spending too much time in crowded Border Patrol holding cells. Under federal law, children and teens traveling on their own are supposed to be swiftly transferred to U.S. Health and Human Services shelters and then placed with a parent or guardian.

HHS is "taking steps to rapidly add thousands of shelter beds," Nielsen said in the letter, first reported by NBC, but is "hitting peak capacity."

HHS had about 12,000 minors in custody this week, and was unable to immediately confirm Nielsen's statement.

Families detained at the border end up in ICE custody, but space is limited to roughly 3,000 beds. Karnes is one of ICE's largest facilities.

As of Friday, 63 family members were being held at Karnes; 1,025 at the south Texas facility in Dilley, Texas, which is down about 400 people from earlier this month, and nine at a smaller facility in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Advocates have called for releasing migrants to await a court hearing. ICE says it makes bond determinations "on a case-by-case basis."

Border Patrol apprehensions remain well below their peak of 1.6 million in 2000, but the Trump administration says the nature of the flows has transformed from mostly adult Mexican men, who are easily deported, to asylum-seeking families and unaccompanied minors from Central America who have protections under federal law.

In a Michigan rally Thursday, Trump said the asylum system is swamped by claims from Central Americans who are aware that the government is unable to detain them, calling it a "big fat con job." Trump has tried to get Congress to fund the construction of barriers along large stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border, and he has worked to narrow the ways foreigners can seek asylum in the United States. But many of the Trump administration's efforts have been stymied due to legal challenges.

Advocacy groups have argued that the Trump administration's tough approach to the border violates federal asylum law. They say Central Americans are fleeing drought, hunger, and violence back home and that the migrants should instead be treated as refugees.

And they have questioned Nielsen's concern for child migrants, noting that she signed off on a policy last year that separated more than 2,700 children from their parents at the border, over the objections of experts who warned that it could inflict long-term emotional and physical harm.

Nine months after Trump ended the policy, a federal judge is still trying to verify that all families - and possibly thousands more - have been reunited.

"For years, we've implored CBP to reallocate resources and make fundamental changes based on the new population of families and children who migrate to seek protection and turn themselves in," Astrid Dominguez, director for the American Civil Liberties Union's Border Rights Center, in a statement earlier this week. "The reality is that the federal government's focus on deterrence and harsh immigration enforcement dangerously neglects humanitarian needs."
MEXICO CITY - Earlier this month, 29 migrant parents from across Central America who were separated from their children last year by U.S. immigration officials returned to the U.S. border.

They asked to be allowed back into the United States to resume their asylum applications and to be reunited with their children, who remained in American foster homes, shelters or with relatives. After about 10 hours of waiting on March 2, the parents were escorted into Calexico, Calif., by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, as a group of immigration attorneys and advocates applauded.

But nearly a month later, 17 of those parents are still in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Their detention has drawn the attention of Democratic members of Congress, who this week called for their release. Four U.S. senators, Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen about the cases.

"It is imperative that these parents be released, reunited with their children, and allowed to continue their cases in immigration court," the senators wrote. "These families have already suffered significant trauma at the hands of the U.S. government. Given the grave risks to the health and wellbeing of these children and families, we urge you not to prolong their separation."

The 17 parents were separated from their children under a Trump administration immigration enforcement policy last year. More than 2,700 children were separated from their families along the border last year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. About 430 of the parents were deported without their children.

Once those parents returned to Central America without their children, some chose to give their children a chance at asylum in the United States, agreeing to let their kids remain with sponsors. Some parents hoped they would eventually be allowed back into the United States to be with their children.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit asking the government to allow 52 parents back into the United States to pursue their asylum claims. Lawyers said those claims had been blocked after the parents were separated from their children at the border. But so far that case has not been resolved.

The 29 parents, who were assisted by the legal organization Al Otro Lado, decided their best chance at seeing their children again was showing up at the border and pleading with U.S. officials. But after being escorted to Calexico, only 12 parents - those who had come with other children - were released and told when to appear in court. The other 17 are still detained at Imperial Regional Detention Center in Calexico.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is working with the Department of Justice to review these cases. In the meantime, ICE is facilitating communications between family members once the relationships are verified," said Paige D. Hughes, an ICE spokeswoman.

Lawyers for the parents say the detention has been particularly taxing on the parents, given that the last time they were detained in 2018, they were separated from their children.

"Their initial detention and separation was incredibly traumatizing. They knew nothing about their children the whole time they were detained. Some have suffered from severe mental health issues since then," said Erika Pinheiro, a lawyer for Al Otro Lado. "Now they're back in the same physical space, suffering again."

Pinheiro said that several of her parents have called her crying and that some exhibit "all the hallmarks of PTSD," or post-traumatic stress disorder.

It's not uncommon for asylum applicants, particularly those traveling alone, to remain in detention until they pass an interview demonstrating that they have a credible fear of returning to their home country, the first major step in their asylum applications. Many are detained well beyond that, often for the duration of their asylum cases.

But lawyers, activists and some members of Congress had hoped that these parents would be promptly granted parole.

"Given what these parents have been through, we would have hoped the government would have reunited them with their children while they wait for their hearings, or at least given them hearings promptly," said Lee Gelernt, the lawyer handling the ACLU case. "This is yet another instance of the government refusing to ameliorate the harm done by their unconstitutional and cruel family separation policy."
Photo via www.auntmarthas.org

SPRINGFIELD  Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday that he has nominated Marc D. Smith to become the next director of the Department of Children and Family Services, the states principal child welfare agency.

Smith is currently in charge of foster care and intact services at Aunt Marthas Health and Wellness, a nonprofit agency that contracts with the state to provide certain child welfare services. A resident of Joliet, he holds a bachelors degree in criminal justice from Illinois State University and a masters in social work from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
WASHINGTON - House Democrats are ready to accuse Attorney General William Barr of a "coverup" to protect President Donald Trump if he refuses to detail for Congress the information special counsel Robert Mueller III provided the grand jury during his investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

The pointed warning, delivered by senior Democratic aides during a media briefing Thursday, marked the latest sign of a potential legal standoff between lawmakers and the Justice Department over access to Mueller's complete findings. Barr has pledged to redact grand jury information from Mueller's report, which spans more than 300 pages, according to people familiar with the document, and that process is expected to take weeks.

That is far longer than Democrats say they are prepared to wait, and they have begun to express suspicion that the attorney general intends to prevent the public disclosure of information within Mueller's findings that may be unflattering or otherwise problematic for the president. It remains unclear what precisely Barr plans to deliver to Congress.

"If he does not include grand jury information in the summary or report or redacted report or whatever he gives to Congress, that amounts to a coverup," a House Democratic staffer told reporters during Thursday's briefing. "We do not want anything in the words of the attorney general. We want to see Robert Mueller's words."

House Democrats also said Thursday that they are prepared to authorize a subpoena for Mueller's full report if Barr misses the Tuesday deadline lawmakers set for him to deliver it to Congress. They stopped short, however, of promising to issue a subpoena, even though the attorney general has indicated he is unlikely to make their deadline.

Democrats are bracing, too, for a potential fight with the administration if the White House attempts to assert executive privilege over portions of the report, the staffers said - and they are contemplating whether the House counsel should appeal to a judge on behalf of the six House committees investigating Trump, if Barr does not include the grand jury information in the information he provides lawmakers.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said there were no plans to give a copy of the report to the White House, but she otherwise declined to address questions concerning the Democrats' plans and insinuations about the attorney general.

A four-page summary of Mueller's findings, which Barr delivered to Congress on Sunday, has exacerbated Democrats' concerns. The summary said the special counsel did not establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, and that he offered no conclusion on whether the president sought to obstruct justice during the investigation. Absent a firm conclusion from Mueller, Barr, in consultation with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, determined there was insufficient evidence to establish obstruction, the summary said.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., charged Thursday that Barr's letter was "an attempt to try to exonerate Mr. Trump," one that had "the odor of political expediency."

House Democratic staffers said Thursday they believe Barr's statement broke with Justice Department precedent and showed a willingness to flout Congress' oversight role.

Barr said during his confirmation hearing that he would be as transparent as possible, within the confines of the law and Justice Department policy. But he has never committed to turning over all of the materials Mueller reviewed, which Democrats say are essential for them to determine whether the president was ever compromised by his foreign contacts, even if they did not rise to the level of criminal activity.

As Democrats pledged to continue investigating the president, Trump and his allies lashed out at his critics, chiefly the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., who maintains there is still evidence of collusion with Russia, even if Trump won't be charged. On Thursday, the committee's Republican members formally called on Schiff to step down as chairman, submitting a letter they all signed declaring they had "no faith" in his ability to lead them.

"You've been at the center of a well-orchestrated media campaign, claiming, among other things, that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government," Rep. K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, said to Schiff at the start of a hearing, reading from the letter.

Mueller's findings, the letter said, "have exposed you as having abused your position to knowingly promote false information, having damaged the integrity of this committee, and undermined faith in U.S. government institutions."

At a news conference Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., compared Schiff to the disgraced late senator Joseph McCarthy, who was the driving force behind a campaign to expose communist infiltration in government and across society. His heavy-handed tactics and rampant charges of treason are remembered as one of the country's darker periods. The minority leader accused Schiff of lying to the public and smearing an innocent man. Trump, on Twitter, called on Schiff to resign from Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., backed Schiff, chastising Republicans as "scaredy cats" who were "afraid of the truth."

"They're afraid of competence," she said.

When he took over as chairman earlier this year, Schiff launched a new Intelligence Committee investigation into alleged collusion and money laundering involving Trump and his associates. For the past two years, the Senate Intelligence Committee also has investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election, including allegations of Trump's ties to Russia. On Thursday, the panel met privately with Jared Kushner, its second interview with the president's son-in-law and senior adviser.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, Republicans closely aligned with the president have urged for a return to inquiries focused on how the federal law enforcement agencies conducted themselves during the investigations of Trump and Russia, and Hillary Clinton's emails - topics House Republicans explored last year.

On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican, Rep. Douglas A. Collins of Georgia, released the transcript from a 2018 interview with Nellie Ohr, a former employee of Fusion GPS, the firm behind a controversial dossier alleging Trump had personal and financial ties to Russia. Ohr's husband, Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, met on several occasions with the author of that dossier, former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele.

In her interview, Nellie Ohr told congressional investigators that part of the work she did for Fusion GPS involved looking into open-source materials concerning potential links between Trump, his subordinates and organized crime.

- - -

The Washington Post's John Wagner, Rachael Bade and Shane Harris contributed to this report.
ALTON  Alton native and renown percussionist Blake Fleming is getting some high praise after the recent release of his book, heralded as a groundbreaking guide to mastering the complexities and intricacies of rhythm.

Sean Ono Lennon, of course the son of The Beatles John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono, posted the following Thursday night on his Instagram:

My good friend @blakeflemingdrums has done it! He has written the definitive rhythm codex that shall forever be the Bible of Beats! Every possible iteration of every possible arrangement of note patterns lovingly realized in this instant classic for all musicians. Buy this book immediately or forever be damned! No serious musician can be w out this book!

Fleming began his rise to musical prominence in the early 1990s with the Alton-area based experimental rock band Dazzling Killmen. The bands complex compositions have been rediscovered more recently, appearing on several best bands of the 1990s lists in major music publications.

Fleming is known as the founding drummer of Grammy Award-winning rock/alternative band The Mars Volta, which he says he left under circumstances of rock-stardom business that he didnt feel compatible with.

In the years since, hes worked as an educator. Recently, hes played with Lennon on studio work, although not (yet) in a live setting. Lennon most recently performed alongside Miley Cyrus in December on the Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live.

Fleming has given clinics/talks twice in the last two years at Lewis and Clark Community College, both sponsored by Halpin Music Company.

Flemings The Book of Rhythm is available on his website.

The description reads, in part:

The Book of Rhythm, an unprecedented collection of 5,096 meticulously organized rhythms for all instruments. His drumming has been written about in such major publications as The New York Times, NPR.com, Spin, Rolling Stone, MOJO, Modern Drummer, DRUM!, Dangerous Minds, and Pitchfork. He was included in SPINs 100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music and has recorded and toured extensively.
Holding signs with such slogans as I am a man, Keep the dream alive, and Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, nearly 40 seventh- and eighth-grade students from Franklin Junior High School marched the 8 miles between Alexander and Franklin.

The students walked Thursday along the Franklin-Alexander Blacktop with escorts from the Morgan County Sheriffs Department and Franklin Fire Department as they commemorated the march in Memphis, Tennessee, during the American civil rights movement.

Weve been learning about the civil rights movement in school and the nonviolent protest, eighth-grader Thad Bergschneider said. Walking today, we get to see how it feels.

The Memphis march was led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

Bergschneider and the other students used the march to raise funds to cover the cost of an upcoming trip to Memphis. Each student got pledges from family members, community members and businesses to help raise the funds for the trip.

The school takes the trip  now in its 11th year  every other year.

The students have been learning about Memphis ties to the civil rights movement and music. Those lessons will continue as they visit Graceland and other Memphis historic sites related to what theyve learned in class.

Making the walk is fun for the students and a way to commemorate the historic march, eighth-grader Quinten Aman said.

This is something that weve been learning about and will learn more about when we go to Memphis, Aman said.

Graceland is high on Amans list of places to visit.

Elvis is my favorite famous person, Aman said.

Although he has visited Memphis before, seventh-grader Trevor Colwell is looking forward to seeing different sites on the trip.

Im excited to see Beale Street again, Colwell said. All the shops are awesome.

Like the 1968 march, it took a lot of perseverance to make Thursdays long walk, Bergschneider said.

Its like we are repeating history, he said. They never stopped. Im looking forward to seeing where the march took place, where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. All these lives weve been talking about and well get to go be in the same spot where history was made.

Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1233, or on Twitter @JCNews_samantha.
EDWARDSVILLE  As Vietnam-era veterans, Ron Swaim and Don Takacs sometimes felt they were part of a forgotten generation, but theyre finally getting some long-overdue recognition.

National Vietnam War Veterans Day is observed every year on March 29 as a result of the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, which was signed into law in 2017.

The observance on Friday honors all United States veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time between Nov. 1, 1955, and May 15, 1975, regardless of location.

Its a pretty nice recognition for the Vietnam-era veterans, said Swaim, who is junior vice commander of Edwardsville American Legion Post #199. Weve all seen the pictures of the parades in New York City [for World War II veterans], but we didnt get anything like that.

Swaim, 71, joined the U.S. Army in December 1966 and served through 1969, serving in Okinawa as well as Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Fort Lee, Virginia, and Fort Hood, Texas.

He joined the American Legion in 1975 in Georgetown, Illinois, and has remained active while living in St. Louis, Brandon, Mississippi, Bethalto and Edwardsville.

Ive always felt that [military service] didnt make me better than anyone else, but I was proud and glad to do my patriotic duty, Swaim said. My uncles and my dad were in the Army and take my service very seriously.

Takacs, who is commander of Post #199, was drafted in September 1966 and did basic and advanced training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, before going to Vietnam in February 1967.

At that time, they needed engineers, so thats what I got into, said Takacs, who is 72. I spent a year in Vietnam and we built roads and bridges and put in culverts and swept the roads for mines.

Some of Takacs most vivid memories are of his last days in Vietnam in early 1968.

We were about a mile away from the Cambodian border and we were building a base camp for Special Forces in an airstrip. January 30 was the start of the Tet Offensive [a military campaign by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnam against South Vietnam, the United States and their allies] and we didnt know anything about it because we were going far out and away from everything.

Around February 9, my sergeant says, Do you see that helicopter? Youre going home on that. I had my bags packed before that thing landed and I never said goodbye to any of my buddies. I just jumped on that thing and said, Get me out of here.

Like Swaim, Takacs got little no or recognition for his military service once he got back to the U.S. and returned to civilian life.

When I came home, I didnt have problems with anybody spitting on me or anything like that, but when all the veterans came home from Vietnam, they all went their separate ways, Swaim said.

It took me 30 or 40 years to reunite with guys that I had served with. The internet came along and I was able to get a hold of some people and some of us hooked up just a year or so ago.

Swaim and Takacs are among a group of veterans from Post #199 who will participate in Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day on Saturday at Bethesda Barclay House, 230 S. Brentwood Blvd. in Clayton.

The event, which starts with breakfast at 8:30 a.m., includes a program at 9:30 a.m. with guest speakers Angela Sipe, executive director of Opus Peace, and Vietnam War veteran Nick Ohlman.

At 10 a.m., Swaim, Takacs and the other veterans from Post #199 are among a group that will be honored in a Veterans Administration pinning ceremony featuring Gary Moore from the St. Louis VA Regional Office.

Im not sure what all were going to be doing, but it sounds like its going to be a special day, Swaim said.

The event, which also includes community resource tables, is open to the public.

Registration is required as seating is limited. For more information, call Leslie Schaeffer at 314-373-7025.
PIASA  A teenager faces felony disorderly conduct charge, accused of making threats to Southwestern Middle and High Schools on Wednesday that forced students and faculty to evacuate. The threats have since been deemed a hoax.

Macoupin County States Attorney Jennifer Watson announced the charge on Friday, but didnt identify the individual, since theyre a juvenile.
As predicted, we are in the throes of some moderate to major flooding. With more rain scheduled, this will hold through most of next week. However, we must remember that these detours should not prevent you from going to your favorite place to watch the waters go by. Many of the businesses are open for your patronage during this trying time.

Also, the sky is the path that many of our international guests will be joining us over the next two months. We are busy doing sales missions, trainings and trade shows to connect the international traveler to our Great Rivers & Routes tourism area. This past week, we met with many Chinese delegates and operators to talk with them about how to connect China to the Midwest.
The USAID fundedRegional Health Integration to Enhance Services  North, Lango Project(RHITES-N, Lango) is operating in the nine districts of the Lango sub-region ofnorthern Uganda (Alebtong, Amolatar, Apac, Dokolo, Kole, Kwania, Lira, Otukeand Oyam). RHITES-N, Lango will increase the effective use of sustainablehealth services in the region. The Project is led by John Snow, Inc. inpartnership with African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref), Doctors withAfrica (CUAMM), The Medical Concierge Group (TMCG) and Another Option. The projectwill contribute to measurable improvements in key Ugandan national healthindicators (HIV; tuberculosis [TB]; malaria, maternal, newborn, and childhealth [MNCH]; family planning [FP]; water, sanitation, and hygiene [WASH]; andnutrition).USAID RHITES-N, Lango willfacilitate the recruitment of qualified Ugandans on behalf of Lira RRH. Thehospital is a 400 bed hospital situated in Lira Municipality in Lira town witha catchment population of about 2.3 million people. It is a referral facilityoffering both specialized and general services.
According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Morocco Tran Quoc Thuy, the embassy has worked hard to introduce Vietnamese culture as well as products through various activities in the country.

Representatives of Vietnamese students in Morocco expressed their hope that the Party and State will continue designing preferential policies to encourage Vietnamese students to return home to work.

Chairwoman Ngan said her visit to Morocco is the first made by a NA leader in 14 years following NA Chairman Nguyen Van Ans visit in 2005. The visit aims to deepen the friendship with Morocco and particularly the countrys parliament.

The NA leader briefed the Vietnamese community on Vietnams socio-economic and external relations situation, with GDP growth reaching 7.08% in 2018, the highest level since 2008.

Vietnam has signed, implemented and negotiated many bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements and successfully hosted the second DPRK-USA Summit in late February, she noted.

She lauded the efforts of the embassy in fulfilling its tasks, asking it to coordinate with relevant agencies at home, including NA bodies, on external relations.

Recognising the Vietnamese communitys wish to contribute to the growth of the homeland, she affirmed that the Party and State always create optimal conditions for the Vietnamese community abroad to promote the national cultural identity and contribute to the motherlands development.

She praised the spirit of solidarity and mutual support of the community and asked the embassy to guide Vietnamese associations to abide by the local law, supporting and protecting the rights of Vietnamese citizens in Morocco, and helping foster relations between the two countries.
TheStudent Intern  Kamuli will join Plan Kamuli to gain practical knowledgeand/or skills of interacting and working with the communities as they gainunderstanding of community work in relation to the theory learnt from theinstitutions. While its aimed at providing the intern with a substantive andchallenging work experience, internship is a process that exposes the studentsto the working environment and enables him/her to apply his/her competenciesand skills in performing project assignments that are in line with their careeraspirations. The program is designed in such a way that it provides the internopportunity to interact with experienced employees to enhance their confidencein performing the responsibilities in the assignment and professional growthwith ultimate intention of enabling them to face the challenges of the labourmarket with confidence.
CHARIHO: Charihos girls and boys soccer teams both won Division II titles in dramatic fashion. The girls won in penalty kicks and the boys in the final two minutes of double overtime. The football team reached the D-III title game, as did the field hockey team. The girls volleyball team played in the D-II semifinals. Erin vonHousen was All-State in girls cross country.

STONINGTON: Stoningtons boys soccer team earned its second straight Class M state title, closing the season with 21 straight victories. The field hockey team lost in the Class S title game.

WESTERLY: Westerlys girls volleyball team reached the Division III semifinals, losing to eventual champion Scituate. The football team played in the D-II semifinals. The girls soccer team reached the D-III semifinals. Jake Serra and Kaya West were All-State in cross country.

WHEELER: Wheeler boys and girls soccer teams qualified for the Class S state tournament.

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Paying by contactless increasingly doesn't even require you to make contact with the physical plastic card.

E-wallet apps like Apple, Google and Samsung Pay allow you to store your debit or credit card on your smartphone and make payments that way.

For higher spenders, it can be more convenient - the fact payments are authenticated with either your fingerprint or a passcode means the UK 30 contactless limit doesn't apply.

Apple Pay arrived in the UK in 2015 and has boomed in popularity in recent years along with other digital wallet ways of paying. But where does it leave Britain in the world rankings?

Card payments overtook cash for the first time in Britain in 2017, driven by contactless.

There were 5.6billion contactless payments made in Britain last year - but what proportion came from people pulling out their smartphones rather than their plastic?

According to data from Worldpay and Statista crunched by Expert Market, five per cent of all point of sale transactions in 2017 were made using a mobile wallet.

This compares with 55 per cent using physical debit cards and 22 per cent with cash.

While five per cent may seem low, it actually means Britain has the fourth-highest eWallet usage in the world, behind China, India and the United Arab Emirates.

It also lags a year behind, with usage last year likely to have grown substantially.

A mammoth 36 per cent of Chinese consumer transactions are made using mobile wallets  which is six times more than India and the UAE, and nine times the international average of four per cent.

The UK came third with 5% of all transactions in 2017 made using digital wallet apps - where your card is stored digitally on your smartphone - leading all of its European neighbours

China was also previously revealed to have the second-highest contactless limit in the world, 111.94, after Japan.

China likely leads the pack by such a wide margin because the development of its contactless technology has gone hand-in-hand with mobile payments.

Countries with the highest eWallet usage: Country % of transactions made using eWallets in 2017 China 36 India 6 UAE 6 UK 5 Germany 5 Indonesia 5 South Africa 5

Global card providers Visa and Mastercard are banned in China, while only two per cent of its population own credit cards  as the process is difficult and expensive.

By contrast, the value of Chinese mobile payments in 2017 was nearly 12trillion, thanks to tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent.

Digital banking expert Chris Skinner told Raconteur: 'They were able to leapfrog in China because most people didn't have credit cards, debit cards or plastic of any kind.

'So when mobile payment apps first came out, they immediately caught on.

'The market was essentially primed. It was a unique set of circumstances.'

In India, one key eWallet platform is called Paytm, valued at around $10billion. Once you transfer cash into the Paytm wallet, a QR code is used to make in-store payments.

US payment provider PayPal actually filed a trademark case against Paytm in November 2016, claiming Paytm's logo was too similar to its own.

Projections that 28% of all global transactions will be made using digital wallets may seem pie in the sky, but the last four years show this way of paying has boomed

Another key way Indians increasingly use mobile payments is through the Unified Payments Interface, a digital platform built and operated by the state-run National Payments Corporation of India.

According to Fortune, the UPI saw more than 620million transactions worth nearly $15billion in 2018, while 139 banks use the system for interbank transfers and payments.

While the UK lags two of the world's most technologically advanced and fastest-growing economies, it beats out many of its European neighbours to the bronze medal spot.

Three per cent of point of sale transactions in the Netherlands and Spain are made using mobile wallets, while just one per cent of payments in France are conducted this way.

If Worldpay's estimates ring true, then 1.5bn people could be using eWallet apps like Alipay, Apple Pay or Paytm in just three years' time - 20% of the world's population

With cash estimated to constitute just 17% of transactions by 2022, the value we spend through digital wallet apps will also go up instead - particularly if contactless limits rise

Three per cent of transactions in the US are made using eWallet apps, but as This is Money has previously reported, the tap trend has not really taken off there.

Its contactless limit is just 19, while according to Visa fewer than 10 per cent of payments are made using contactless.

It remains to be seen whether Apple's new credit card, which is operated through its Apple Wallet app and offers more generous cashback if you pay using Apple Pay, shakes things up there.

Poll Should contactless limit rise from 30 in Britain? Yes No Should contactless limit rise from 30 in Britain? Yes 687 votes

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More surprisingly Canada, which has the third-highest global contactless limit of 58.81, saw just one per cent of all transactions made using digital wallet payments.

This puts it among the countries who use this method the least; along with Colombia, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Poland.

Generally, however, this is a way of paying that is expected to grow.

Payment provider Worldpay, currently in the midst of a $43billion deal with Florida-based Fidelity Information Services, estimates that by 2022 digital wallet usage will account for 28 per cent of all transactions.

It also expects cash to constitute just 17 per cent of global payments in three years' time.

This would mean over 1.5billion users spending an average of $1,128.60 a year each this way by 2022, according to Statista.

While these are lofty predictions, they do appear borne out by trends highlighting the growth in the use of eWallet apps over the last few years.

In 2015, just $20million was spent using Android, Apple and Samsung Pay. Two years later that boomed to $144million, with Apple Pay alone accounting for $86million worth of global transactions in 2017.

While you'd expect the use of mobile wallets to be dominated by younger age groups, 16.4% of those aged 45 - 54 have also dipped their toe into paying this way

Unsurprisingly, those aged 25-34 are leading the charge; making up 35 per cent of all eWallet users in 2017, while 35  44 years olds made up a further 24.4 per cent.

However, those aged between 45 and 54 still made up a decent proportion of overall users  16.4 per cent.

Lucy Crossfield of Expert Market said: 'Mobile phones are becoming the number one device for everything from chatting to friends to watching TV to paying for all of our worldly possessions, and why?

'Because it's just so much more convenient to have everything in one place - in today's world, convenience is king.

'Granted, China is leagues ahead of the competition in terms of leaving physical wallets behind, but with projections estimating eWallet user increases of over 140million every year, it's just a matter of time before consumers the world over opt for the more streamlined convenience of digital wallets.

'Businesses better get ready, because this change is likely to hit sooner rather than later.'
The easy thing for quarrelsome MPs and Remain supporters would be to dismiss Lord King's remarks on a No Deal Brexit as the ravings of a long-time critic of the European Union and the eurozone.

Maybe. But King was also a two-term governor of the Bank of England, the person responsible for translating the last Labour government's plan for an independent Bank of England into a fixture of the financial landscape and an economist of the highest order.

His successor Mark Carney, criticised by Brexiteers for being a traitor for his Remain views, has, to his credit, been more prepared for Brexit than anyone in Whitehall.

Protests erupted last night, as Britain should have left the EU. The sticking point has been the deal and no deal Brexit is judged to be off the table but should we be that worried about it?

The Bank prepared a fat dossier on the potential impact of Brexit on the City, Britain's biggest overseas earner, only to see it gather dust in Whitehall.

Once Carney managed to capture the attention of Westminster he was able to resolve one of the biggest threats to the original March 29 deadline  the fate of 41 billion of derivatives contracts.

The current governor also forged a transatlantic derivatives deal and started to make the case for supranational leadership of the global economy.

In his BBC interview, King was critical of the Chancellor for delaying No Deal preparations until it was too late. We know that Britain's best-run companies, some of our European trading partners and the financial community have not been so foolish.

The world's biggest asset manager, Blackrock, had booked plane tickets to New York for a group of senior staff to make sure that investors did not suffer if an exit on March 29 turned out to be hugely disruptive to trading.

One of Germany's biggest northern ports, Bremerhaven, has worked overtime to make sure exports of Volkswagen cars and parts can be smoothly shipped to Britain irrespective of customs arrangements. Astrazeneca set up an alternate production line for its prostate cancer medicines in Sweden, just in case of supply problems in the UK.

Toyota, the world's biggest car maker, plans for production in the UK and there is intense speculation that BMW, far from shifting Mini production to Germany, wants to buy some of the Honda facilities in Swindon when it ships back to Japan in 2020.

This is not fantasy economics. Planning is what well-run companies do when faced with known unknowns.

Poll Would you back No Deal to get Brexit to happen? Yes No Would you back No Deal to get Brexit to happen? Yes 2077 votes

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It may be harder for small and medium-sized firms to prepare in the same way. But if the representative business groups, such as the British Chambers of Commerce, spent less time publicly groaning about 'corrosive damage' and more time assisting members with preparations then the landing might not be so bumpy.

King also reiterated a basic truth about the EU and the eurozone. It is far from being a perfect market of 500m, as has so often been claimed.

Greece remains an economic basket case where one quarter of output has been wiped out. Italy has seen no increase in its output for 20 years.

The monetary union, in King's view, has been 'disastrous', and he notes that the British economy has done better than Germany's since the referendum and is still doing so. Diplomacy teaches us that unilateral actions rarely work smoothly, so the unloved Theresa May deal (even with a 39 billion bill) remains the sound option in spite of a partial third defeat.

But as King reiterates, there is no reason to fear the kind of well-prepared No Deal that large swathes of corporate Britain and parts of Europe have been planning for.

Even by US hype standards this is a Lyft off

American brokers and investment bankers are masters of hype.

Before the ride-service Lyft offer, the last tech initial public offering to hit Wall Street was social media site Snap.

The stock soared 44 per cent on its first day of trading. Two years later the shares are trading at just above $10 against a float price of $17 per share.

Lyft's early trades were 20 per cent above the IPO price.

With a queue of other tech floats waiting to follow  including Uber  there was reason not to oversell Lyft, which has never made a profit.

Worryingly, Lyft founders Logan Green and John Zimmer learnt nothing about governance from previous tech floats. They will have 20 votes for each share they hold, against just one for everyone else, giving them 49 per cent control.

Silicon Valley finds it hard to ditch a controversial structure.
I'm a 16-year-old who's saved 2,500 over the last two years since I've started working.

I've moved half into a Barclays Help to Buy Isa, which pays 2.58 per cent. Deposits in it are limited to 200 a month and I would like to experiment with investing in stocks, or using other investment platforms.

I can save between 50100 a month. I'd perhaps like to have some extra capital to go towards the costs of a car or university, but in reality it is more an exercise in experience.

What do you think the best options are for someone to start learning to invest?

You don't need millions to be able to invest, but it can be tough to get your head around at first. We ask the experts to help one 16-year-old choose the right Isa, platform and funds for them

George Nixon, This is Money, replies: While Barclays does offer one of the top rates out there, unless you're planning on buying a house in the near future the Help to Buy, and its successor the Lifetime Isa, aren't your best bet.

That's because their main selling point; the Government bonus paid on your savings, doesn't kick in unless used to buy your first home.

What's more, the Lifetime Isa  only available to those aged 18-39  comes with a 25 per cent penalty unless used for your first home or your pension.

A good option for you instead is likely a Junior Isa. Both cash and stocks and shares options are available, with cash Junior Isas paying better rates than adult cash Isas, while you can't open an adult stocks and shares Isa until you turn 18.

You can deposit up to 4,260 this tax year, which ends on April 5. This 'Isa allowance', the amount you can deposit each year tax-free in an Isa, will be going up in the next tax year to 4,368.

The rules around Junior Isas mean you would need to ask your parents to open one for you, and the money will be locked away until you turn 18.

However, at age 16 you are legally allowed to manage the Isa and make all the decisions on how and where the money is invested.

Once you turn 18, you become the full legal owner and can do you what you like with it, and it converts into an adult Isa  whether it is an investment or cash version.

Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at DIY platform Willis Owen, says: 'To me, the Junior Isa is a great starting point as if you are a successful investor and continue to save you'll benefit from the Isa wrapper in the future.'

Before that though, there is a bit of amateur sleuthing that is worth doing. Jason Hollands, managing director at Tilney Investment Management Services, recommends you first try and track down something called a Child Trust Fund.

All children born between September 1 2002 and 2 January 2011 had this long term savings account opened for them with an initial government voucher.

This could either be invested or held in cash, with parents and family free to subsequently add to the account.

Yours could potentially have some cash in it, and you can find out through the HMRC website, while OneFamily has a useful guide here. Anyone with a CTF can then transfer it into a Junior Isa.

When it comes to picking where you to put your money, Holly Mackay, founder of investment advice site Boring Money, says the first decision is whether shares really are the right vehicle for you. That'll depend on what you think the money is for, and what your timeframe is.

'If it's five years or less then I'd stay with cash', she says. 'If you think you might use it for university fees, for example, then this isn't that far away so I would err on the side of caution.'

Rates on Junior cash Isas are also higher than adult versions, with Coventry Building Society paying the best rate in our tables of 3.60 per cent.

Adrian adds: 'I can appreciate that at 16 many of the goals we have as adults are unlikely to be top of his mind. But it is good to at least think about things.'

Which platform should you use?

But if you are planning on keeping your cash in for the longer term, or if you're still keen on investing, the next question is obviously where to put your money.

There is a dizzying array of investment platforms out there with their own quirks, ways of operating and fees, so it could be understandably difficult to get your head around as a first timer.

Wealthify is one example of a new trend of 'robo advisors' - where experts select various baskets of investments and you choose one

Holly Mackay, who last week wrote a round-up of Isa platforms, recommends looking at a so-called 'robo adviser'.

These delegate the process of selecting investments and monitoring them to an expert.

What will often happen is you answer a series of questions and they will put you into a mixed bag of investments, Holly describes it as 'a bit like getting a playlist on Spotify - you get someone else to put it all together without needing to be up to speed on all the latest songs'.

In your case she says: 'I would suggest you have a look at Wealthify. They have Junior Isas and I think they are clear and simple to use.' Investing 2,500 would cost you about 25 for the year, which includes the cost of the investments and the platform's own fee.

Investment risk In the investment world there is always talk of 'risk', with some investments deemed riskier and others better for more cautious investors. If you're a newcomer, this language could potentially throw you off. However, Holly Mackay, founder of investment advice site Boring Money, says: 'This is not the same sort of risk as skydiving or motorbike racing  'risk' in investment terms just tells you how much something is likely to bounce up and down in value. 'Just be prepared for higher risk stuff to maybe go from 100 to 75 and then back up to 100 and possibly up to 125 the following year  these are made-up numbers but you get the point. 'This is normal, to be expected and shouldn't cause you to panic and sell up.' However, you can of course choose investments with a lower risk profile, which will likely be a smoother ride.

With Wealthify, you use sliders to choose your initial investment, intended time-frame, and choose between five investment mixes depending on your attitude to risk.

'Failing that', she says, 'if you do want to be more proactive and pick your own funds, you could take a look at Hargreaves Lansdown.

'They publish a shortlist of their top 50 funds which will help you navigate this maze'.

Hargreaves is what is known as a 'fund supermarket', where you select your own investments, and comes with an annual charge of 0.45 per cent.

This would cost you around 11.25 if you put in 2,500.

It doesn't charge for buying or selling funds but there is a cost of 5.95 each time you buy or sell a collection of individual shares.

Be aware though that if you were to open a Junior Isa with Hargreaves, once you turned 18 it would convert into an adult Isa, and Hargreaves is one of the most expensive out there.

On this note, Laura Suter, personal finance analyst at DIY investment platform AJ Bell, says: 'The effect of charges can really eat away at your investment pot over the long term, so he should make sure you're getting what you want for as cheap as possible.

'For example, a 10,000 investment growing at five per cent a year with annual charges of 0.5 per cent would be worth 15,530 after 10 years, but if your annual charges were one per cent a year that amount would be 14,802  728 lower.

Hargreaves Lansdown is a 'fund supermarket' - where you choose your own funds and shares to invest in. However these come with additional fees to cover the cost of running the fund

'There's no problem with paying more for better quality or features you need, but make sure you're not paying extra for services you don't need.'

This is Money frequently updates our round-up of the best investment platforms out there.

If you have the ability to save each month, it could also be an idea to set up a regular investment, committing the same amount of money per month to buy investments.

'This can help iron out the ups and downs that can be experienced with stock market investments', says Laura.

Which investments should you choose

If you've chosen a platform that allows you to pick your own investments, you have the choice of putting money into either shares or funds.

Adrian Lowcock says: 'The trade-off between shares and funds is a good question.

'Basically individual shares should be seen as riskier, as effectively you are buying one or possibly two companies, whereas a fund invests in a larger number of companies  anything from around 30 to 200 depending on the fund.

Types of funds: For beginners, it's important to note there are two kinds of funds: 1. Actively managed funds - these are funds which feature professional fund managers who choose the investments they think will deliver the best returns 2. Passively managed funds - These are managed instead by an index tracker, which is designed to mimic a particular stock market, such as the UK, by replicating the various companies listed on it. The index fund was invented by fund manager and Vanguard found John Bogle, who died this January. Bogle was credited with popularising low-cost index investing. Tilney's Jason Hollands says: 'The costs of actively managed funds are higher than trackers and while some managers have delivered a lot of extra return to more than justify this, there are also plenty of managers out there who have delivered poor returns.'

'Professional managers do this because there is a risk to investing and they want to reduce the risks they get something wrong.'

Jason Hollands echoes this, and says: 'An important principle in the world of investment is diversification.

'That means not having all your eggs in one basket, but spreading your cash across a wide number of investments, markets and economies.

'That is very hard for a small investor to achieve by buying individual stocks and shares themselves.'

This is not to discourage you from investing in individual companies, especially if you plan on investing in a fund which has invested a higher percentage of its capital in one company, but Adrian adds: 'Investing in individual companies requires a huge amount of work and research, and with shares it's very unlikely you'll get lucky and you'll more likely buy a tip after the price has risen and miss out on further gains.

'Investing is more about getting rich slowly and funds are excellent for helping you achieve that.'

You'll also often have the choice between 'accumulation' and 'income' versions of the same fund.

An income fund will distribute any interest or dividend income from the fund directly to you, while an accumulation fund automatically reinvests your income within the fund, raising the value of your investment.

It's designed to help you grow your wealth rather than provide you with a consistent income.

Holly Mackay says of this: 'Investment compounding is powerful and a bit like building a snowman.

'At first you start rolling and it feels like you're working hard and that ball isn't getting much bigger. But the bigger it gets the faster it grows. And then it 'snowballs'.'

Jason adds: 'It's important to take the long view of at least five years. Investing for a short period of weeks or months is not investing at all; it is trading and very few people are successful at it.'

Some ideas for fund choices to start off with

For your own specific situation, our experts have made a number of suggestions about what might make a good selection of starting funds.

Adrian Lowcock says: 'Given your age and potential for long term growth, I have suggested a couple of longer term and riskier investments which to consider investing in.

'Merian UK Smaller Companies R - Merian have one of the most highly regarded small and mid-cap teams, headed by Dan Nickols who is the manager of this fund.

'Companies must demonstrate one or more of the following characteristics: the ability to grow earnings faster than the market average for an extended period of time; the scope to generate a positive surprise; or the potential to be re-rated relative to the market.

'A pragmatic approach is taken to valuation, with various ratios and timescales used depending upon the situation. This flexible approach allows growth, value, and recovery companies to be held, but the portfolio has tended to show a growth bias.

'Baillie Gifford Global Alpha - Partners Malcolm MacColl, Spencer Adair, and Charles Plowden have an equal say in portfolio decisions. They target companies that offer sustainable above-average earnings and cashflow growth.

'The team relies on detailed company research and favour businesses with competitive advantages, superior business models, strong financials, good management and attractive valuations.

The managers' approach is patient, so once they buy they tend to hold on for the long term.

'The portfolio is a diversified portfolio of 70-120 stocks, allocated into four growth buckets: rapid growth, latent growth, cyclical growth, and growth stalwarts. These groupings are intended to exhibit low correlation with each other.'

Jason Hollands says: 'To take a global approach. We have some great, world class companies on the UK market, but there are also opportunities to be had in the US, Asia, Japan and Europe  the world is your oyster.

'A good place to start is to invest in a global equity fund, which will hunt out opportunities wherever they are.

'For example, the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust  which is managed in Edinburgh but has nothing to do with mortgages  invests in fast growth companies from China to the USA.

'Its holdings include the likes of Amazon, and Illumina which is using genetic analysis to treat diseases, as well as Chinese internet giants Baidu and Tencent. It also partly invests in unquoted companies that an individual investor simply could not buy themselves.

'Another nice feature is that while this is an actively managed investment trust company, the costs are low.'

Laura Suter takes a different tack and says: 'Those with smaller amounts to invest can find that a low-cost passive fund is a good place to start.

'These funds simply track the performance of a market or index, such as the FTSE 100 index of leading UK companies.

'A good place to start might be a tracker for the MSCI World index, which has investments spread across 23 different countries. The iShares Core MSCI World Exchange Traded Fund costs just 0.2 per cent a year, so could be a good option.'
With Wow Air today announcing it has ceased operations  and Ryanair boss, Michael O'Leary, recently warning there could be just five budget airlines left in Europe by 2024 - it's clearly a testing time for the aviation business.

We've seen Flybmi, Monarch, Primera, Air Berlin and Germania, among others, go under in recent years.

Much of the trouble passes down to passengers with thousands being left stranded abroad after airline collapses.

Worryingly, almost half of customers won't have adequate insurance, meaning hordes of passengers could be left stranded, with no avenue for compensation.

Wow Air is the latest airline to collapse, cancelling all flights & leaving passengers stranded

Almost half of insurers offer no protection from airline failures at all, according to research by Defaqto.

Just 48 per cent of travel insurance policies offer cover for airline failure as standard - and it is offered as an optional extra in only six per cent of annual and seven per cent of single trip policies, a study by the financial information group revealed.

So, with recent collapses and Michael O'Leary's warning in mind, there are steps travellers should take to make sure they are protected.

This is Money reveals what passengers who have booked with a collapsed airline can do to ensure they have the correct insurance policy and get as much of their money back as possible.

I'm stranded. How will I reach my destination?

If you are trapped abroad when your airline collapses, it is advisable for passengers to check if there are any available flights with other airlines.

Some airlines may offer flights at a reduced rate which are so-called rescue fares.

A number of airlines have committed to airline fares which promises that passengers stranded in the event of an airline bankruptcy will be provided access to discounted transport to return home, subject to available capacity.

These are known as rescue fares.

These fares will be available for purchase up to a maximum of two weeks after the event to anyone who does not already possess insurance covering this eventuality.

I'm ATOL protected, how do I get my money back?

If you have booked flights or a holiday that includes flights with a travel firm that has an ATOL license and received confirmation that you are ATOL protected, the travel firm is responsible for your flight arrangements and must either make alternative flights for you so that your holiday can continue or provide a full refund.

To claim money back or to organise a flight back home, you must apply through the Civil Aviation Authority.

If you are on an ATOL protected holiday, you should make a claim to the CAA for a refund

I'm not ATOL protected, what do I do now?

If you booked directly with the airline, your flights will not be ATOL protected.

However, passengers who paid for their ticket with a credit card should contact their lender to check whether a refund of the ticket cost will be issued.

This is because under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, your credit card company and the supplier of goods will be jointly liable for any breach of contract or misrepresentation by the retailer or trader.

Therefore, you will be able to make a claim for a refund to your credit card provider, as long as the goods in question were between the sum of 100 and 30,000.

If you have insurance, make sure to contact your insurer straight away and begin the claim process - if your cover offers protection against such an event.

Those who bought their ticket from a European travel agent (within the European Economic Area) as a part of a package tour (that which includes flights and accommodation or other services) are protected by the Package Travel Directive and these passengers should contact their travel agent to arrange another flight.

Passengers who may have bought travel protection, or passengers whose credit card terms include protection, could be entitled to compensation and assistance due to the delays or travel disruption.

What can I do to protect myself from future collapses?

Make sure to book travel insurance that covers you for such airline collapses. Almost half of people travelling don't provide cover for such instances so it is important to read the small print before purchasing.

Always book with a credit card as this will give you protection and will mean you are much more likely to get your money back.

Also, when booking package holidays and flights through travel agents, make sure it is ATOL protected.

Brian Brown, head of insight at Defaqto, said: 'With flights and holidays cancelled as a result of the Wow Air collapse, a lot of people's holidays will be ruined over the coming months.

'Airline failure is not covered as standard on over two fifths of travel insurance policies as the risk is usually relatively small.

'Anyone who has booked a trip with Wow Air as part of a package holiday will be fully protected through the ATOL scheme and should not lose out.

'However, those who have booked flights directly and haven't travelled yet, are at risk.

'If you paid for your flight with a credit card, you will be able to get a refund from the credit card company and should contact them directly for this.

'If you bought your flight with a debit card, you may be able to claim under your travel insurance policy if you have this cover.'
Brazilian and Russian equities have dominated the charts for the top performing funds over the past three years, fresh analysis shows.

Investing platform Willis Owen has run the numbers and found that the South American country and fellow emerging market Russia were a dominant presence in the list of the ten best performers.

The recovery in commodities prices has been the fuel to this particular fire, with both nations heavily dependent on exports for their economic health.

The list featured no tracker funds, however, it is important to note that it only showed up the best performing active funds and not all the ones that underperformed both passive options and their benchmarks.

Brazilian equities have had a storming time over the past three years

Perhaps predictably, over five years the picture is very different with technology funds all over the top ten thanks to a sustained bull run for the sector. There is no mention of Brazil or Russia.

However, emerging markets do make an appearance in the five-year top ten in the form of Indian equities, which enjoyed a rapid rise following the election of business-friendly Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.

The analysis looked at 3,401 UK retail funds with performance measured on total return over three and five years, with net income re-invested.

The full top ten list for each timeframe can be seen below.

Top performing funds of the past three and five years THREE YEARS FIVE YEARS 1 BNY Mellon Brazil Equity (138.68%) Fidelity Global Technology (161.74%) 2 HSBC GIF Brazil Equity (114.03%) Polar Capital Biotechnology (153.73%) 3 Pictet Russian Equities (99.04%) Polar Capital Global Technology (151.41%) 4 JPM Brazil Equity (97.48%) AXA Framlington Global Technology (145.71%) 5 BlackRock GF World Mining (95.67%) GS India Equity Portfolio (142.43%) 6 Polar Capital Global Technology (94.51%) Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent (140.71%) 7 Neptune Russia & Greater Russia (93.15%) Baillie Gifford American (138.09%) 8 HSBC GIF Russia Equity (91.36%) Morgan Stanley Global Opportunities (135.88%) 9 HSBC GIF BRIC Markets Equity (88.39%) Legg Mason IF Japan Equity (135.16%) 10 Neptune Global Technology (87.64%) Matthews India (134.03%)

The analysis highlights the importance of selecting the right types of funds in sensible proportions for your investment pot.

Asset allocation, to give it its technical term, is generally thought to be responsible for at least 80 per cent of your investment gains. Or 80 per cent of the losses if you get it wrong.

It doesn't matter how good a fund manager is if the asset class in question is taking a hammering in global markets.

In contrast if market conditions are favourable to an asset class, a good fund manager can add value and outstrip passive funds simply tracking a rising market.

This is borne out in the Willis Owen analysis by finding passive funds account for just two of the top 50 performers over both three and five years.

An important thing to bear in mind regarding this is that the analysis identifies the best of the best in terms of active funds, not an average one for each asset class.

A large proportion of active funds will only match or even underperform their passive equivalent while charging more in fees.

So data like this could be seen as cherry picking in terms of the active versus passive investing debate.

The analysis makes it clear though that the top performing fund managers in a given asset class can certainly boost your pot. But it is far from easy to pick out the investing stars before they rise though.

'The top-performing funds were invested in high-growth or recovery parts of the market, whereas passives will give exposure to the whole market,' noted Adrian Lowcock, Willis Owen's head of personal investing.

'Generally, passives will perform in the latter stages of bull runs when active managers are struggling because the managers are more wary and are selling stocks they regard as over-priced. Passives are also useful if you wish to buy burned out markets and want exposure to the rebound quickly and cheaply.

'Passives compare badly when markets are rotating between styles, for example growth to value, because the market on the whole doesn't move as much whilst the prices of individual companies could change significantly,' Lowcock continued.

'Active managers are also better at picking small caps that are under-researched and equity income stocks because they can avoid dividend traps. Identifying the winning stock-pickers is also difficult, of course.'
Archie Norman has a formidable record for transforming businesses. In the 1990s he worked his magic at Asda, which was a basket case  but after it had been Archie-fied it was sold in 1999 for a hefty 6.7bn to US giant Walmart.

As chairman of ITV, he helped transform the broadcaster's fortunes. The share price rose from 50p when he joined in 2010 to 260p when he announced his departure six years later.

In the New Labour era, he took time out of business to serve as Tory MP for Tunbridge Wells.

Going for broke: M&S have hired This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby (above) to promote new ranges

Perhaps the 64-year-old is thanking his lucky stars he got out long before the Brexit farrago, though his latest job as chairman of Marks & Spencer looks only marginally easier than trying to steer Britain out of the European Union.

Norman has embarked on a bold strategy to rescue the retailer from oblivion. His first big move is a joint venture in which M&S will buy a 50 per cent share of Ocado's UK retail business for a stonking 750m.

Marks is asking shareholders to stump up 600m in capital to fund the deal, and has said it will cut the dividend by a painful 40 per cent.

M&S is one of the most popular companies with private investors, with at least 150,000 individual holders and many more who have a stake through their pension.

So should they trust in Norman's wisdom, or cut their losses now?

Opinion in the City is divided on the Ocado deal. Sceptics say M&S is paying a very high price for dubious rewards. 'It makes no commercial sense to me,' says retail analyst Richard Hyman. 'No one makes money selling food online. These sales are unprofitable, so why chase them?'

Even if the Ocado venture works, it doesn't solve all M&S's problems, not least the poor performance in women's fashion, where it has struggled against competition from the likes of Zara and H&M, despite hiring This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby to promote new ranges.

It also doesn't help that too many shops are in the wrong place.

Norman and chief executive Steve Rowe have drawn up a plan to close stores deemed to have no future. This, however, was met with protests from shoppers and could damage the brand.

Inevitably, some shareholders will see the latest developments as a catalyst to sell. M&S's share price has nosedived by almost two thirds in the past decade, tumbling from around 730p at its peak in 2007 to under 300p today.

Successive chairmen and chief executives have failed to halt the decline, let alone put the business back in the ascendant.

Graham Spooner, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, says: 'M&S has promised so much over the years yet continued to deliver very little. While the restructure and attempts to boost online sales are small glimmers of hope, sales in the clothing and home business continue to fall, the food business has begun to decline and the dividend is cut.

'We would recommend small investors looking elsewhere.'

Reading between the lines: Archie Norman has a bold strategy to rescue M&S

Of course, those who do sell out of M&S will need to find a better option. Adventurous investors might look at buying those of its partner, Ocado, although that is not for the faint-hearted.

It has a market value of 9 billion, despite making virtually no profits and not paying a dividend, but has done a string of deals with supermarkets in North America and France, and this week one with Coles in Australia  where Norman is an adviser to the board, having served as deputy chairman. But sceptics believe it could be riding for a fall.

Those scouting for more reliable returns in the retail sector could do worse than Next, which generates surplus cash and is raising its dividend.

Despite the gloom, many experts still support M&S. Details of 600m fundraising have not been revealed, but the firm has said it will stage a 'rights issue' in which investors will be offered the chance to buy new shares proportionate to their existing holding.

Russ Mould, of stock broker AJ Bell, says Norman's new strategy should be enough to persuade investors to back him. The slashing of the dividend is harsh, but, as Mould points out, even if it is cut from 18.7p last year to 11.2p this year, that would still leave a yield of about 4 per cent.

'The brand still resonates with a large percentage of the population and the company is still expected to make more than 500m before tax and exceptional items in the year to March 2019,' he says. 'It is not working as well as it could or should, but it's not broken yet.'

If anyone can save the company, it's Archie  but he will get only one chance.
Sir Philip Green is preparing to shut as many as 200 stores over the next two years amid signs his Arcadia retail empire is beginning to crumble.

The Mail understands that leases on around 200 shops are coming up for review over the next two years which Green, 67, may not renew.

Arcadia employs 22,000 staff in 570 stores, with brands including Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge and Wallis, as well as hundreds of concessions.

Sir Philip Green's (with wife Tina and daughter Chloe) Arcadia retail empire - which includes Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge and Wallis - is beginning to crumble

The billionaire is planning to close its worst-performing outlets and slash rent costs.

On Thursday, it was revealed that a list of 67 of the more desirable stores is currently being offered to rival chains to take over the leases.

Included in the document, seen by the Financial Times, were branches of Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge.

Some of the at-risk stores  which also include Burton, Evans and Wallis - were located in well-known shopping centres, such as Meadowhall in Sheffield, the MetroCentre in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, and the Merry Hill Centre near Dudley in the West Midlands as well as on provincial high streets.

The plans are the latest sign that Green's empire is struggling to fight back against an onslaught from online-only firms such as Asos and Boohoo, which have become hugely popular with younger shoppers.

The news comes after a spate of sexual harassment and racial misconduct allegations against the tycoon (pictured with Kate Moss) were made public

If the stores close, Arcadia will join a raft of retailers which are shutting shops.

More than 175,000 jobs are predicted to disappear from the High Street this year as retailers struggle with fierce competition and soaring costs such as business rates.

According to most recent figures published for Taveta, the holding company for Arcadia, profits at the group almost halved to 124million in the year in August 2017.

Topshop and Topman, once the jewel in Arcadia's crown, racked up losses of almost 10.9million from a profit of 59million a year earlier. Arcadia declined to comment. Green was unavailable for comment.

The news comes after a spate of sexual harassment and racial misconduct allegations against the tycoon were made public.

Some of the at-risk stores were located in well-known shopping centres, such as the MetroCentre in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear

Shops at the Merry Hill Centre near Dudley in the West Midlands (left) and Meadowhall in Sheffield (right) could also be affected

Green allegedly groped a female executive mocked a male employee's dreadlocks and dragged woman around in a headlock - and silenced them with settlements and non disclosure agreements.

Details of the allegations against Sir Philip involving five employees were revealed by The Telegraph after his legal action against the paper ended at the High Court.

It was reported that the Arcadia boss paid out millions in settlements with staff members, who include a senior female executive who was allegedly called a 'naughty girl' by Sir Philip.

He allegedly kissed her face on a number of occasions, slapped her bottom and made comments about her weight.

Sir Philip also allegedly drew attention to the dreadlocks of a senior male executive in front of other staff, and referred to him 'throwing spears in the jungle'.

Sir Philip was accused of groping a female member of staff and silencing her with an NDA

And it was reported he was told not to come any closer by a woman whose face he is said to have grabbed, allegedly dragged another senior female staff member around in a headlock and allegedly smashed a male staff member's mobile phone in an aggressive dressing down.

In all five cases, the employees had agreed to keep the details of their complaints confidential under NDAs.

Sir Philip obtained the injunction, but he dropped it because it was 'pointless' after he was named in Parliament as the businessman behind an injunction against the newspaper.

Lawyers representing the Topshop owner said the decision was prompted by Lord Hain's identification of Sir Philip in the House of Lords in October last year, a day after the Telegraph ran a front-page story saying it was prevented from naming a 'mystery businessman'.

Earlier this month, the body in charge of removing honours has said for the first time that it was examining a request to strip Sir Philip Green of his knighthood.

Frank Field, chairman of the work and pensions select committee, wrote to the Honours Forfeiture Committee in February to make the request.

Earlier this month, the body in charge of removing honours has said for the first time that it was examining a request to strip Sir Philip Green of his knighthood

He received a reply saying the committee has had sight of his letter, a response it had not given previously.

Mr Field said: Theyre getting closer. Ive never had this kind of response before. I wrote to the chair and it looks as though the whole committee has had sight of the letter.

The MP also helped to hold Sir Philip to account after the collapse of BHS. Sir Philip eventually agreed to pay 363million towards filling the pension deficit.

Sir Philip's reputation was left in tatters by the collapse of former high-street staple BHS in 2016, after being considered the king of retail for years.

Brought up in south London, Sir Philip was sent to a private school in Berkshire and went straight into wholesaling shoes and selling jeans.

A bold, brash wheeler-dealer, he made his name when buying and carving up the Sears empire in the late 1990s.

In 2002, he bought Arcadia, the parent company that controls Topshop, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge.

Other notable events in his career include a failed 9 billion bid to buy iconic high street chain Marks and Spencer in 2004.

Sir Philip was awarded the knighthood in 2006 for services to the retail industry.

But he is perhaps best-known for his role in the demise of BHS.

The collapse of the retailer in April 2016 left 11,000 people out of work and a 571 million black hole in its pensions fund.
It's all change at Wickes owner Travis Perkins as John Carter, its veteran boss, revealed plan to step down after a 40-year stint at the firm.

Carter, who was a director of the building group for 18 years and chief executive for five, will be replaced this summer by Nick Roberts, who is currently boss of engineering firm Atkins.

His departure comes at a difficult time for Travis Perkins, which has suffered steep sales declines at its DIY chain Wickes as cautious shoppers cut down spending on major home improvement projects and the housing market slows.

All change: John Carter, left, is to step down and will be replaced by Atkins boss Nick Roberts

Roberts will take up the helm on July 1 but Carter will remain with the group until the end of the year to ensure a 'smooth handover'.

Roberts will join Travis on a base salary of 630,000 per year, with a pension contribution of 10 per cent and an annual bonus of up to 180 per cent.

Chairman Stuart Chambers thanked Carter for his 'exceptional leadership' and added: 'He has led the group through periods of major change and demonstrated strong leadership during a period of significant investment and considerable market uncertainty.'

In Carter's tenure, group revenues grew by one third, from 5.1billion in 2013 to 6.74billion, Travis Perkins said.

All change: Boss John Carter is to step down and will be replaced by Atkins boss Nick Roberts

Chambers also said incoming boss Roberts has the 'breadth of skills' needed to grow the business and to build on the strategy outlined last year.

'He has deep experience of the construction, design and engineering industries; which coupled with his successes in the adoption of digital, will prove invaluable in driving the Group's strategy into the future,' Chambers said.

Travis has been shifting its focus from the declining DIY market to its trade customers.

In December it said it was putting its plumbing and heating division up for sale and attempting to cut costs by between 20million to 30million.

At the time, it placed Wickes under review, implying a possible sale of the 200-store DIY chain.

Sales at Wickes declined 4.4 per cent in 2018.

The group said the first half was particularly difficult, with poor weather conditions in March and April impacting the Easter trading period. But sales improved in the last quarter of 2018, rising by 4 per cent and setting the business 'up well heading into 2019'.

Travis Perkins shares nudged up 0.3 per cent at 1,365.72p on the news.
Chinese tech giant Huawei announced record profits just a day after a British spy agency said it had put the UK at risk.

Huawei, which supplies phone and internet firms worldwide, made more than 6.8 billion in profit last year.

Revenue rose by a fifth to 76.6 billion, it was announced yesterday, receiving a significant boost from smartphone sales.

Bright future: Huawei, which supplies phone and internet firms worldwide, made more than 6.8 billion in profit last year

But the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, said this week that Huawei's kit posed a long-term threat to national security, with several hundred vulnerabilities reported in 2018 alone.

Australia and New Zealand have already barred Huawei from parts of their telecommunications networks, and the UK will make a decision within weeks.

However, America has urged its allies to lock out Huawei.

But chairman Guo Ping said: 'The US Government has a loser's attitude. They want to smear Huawei because they can't compete with us. The US has abandoned all table manners.'

The firm is also dealing with a series of international arrests. At the request of the United States, chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was held in Canada on suspicion of fraud and breaching US sanctions in December.
The following companies are subsidiares of Lennar: 360 Developers LLC, Alliance Financial Services Inc., Ann Arundel Farms Ltd., Aquaterra Utilities Inc., Arbor Mill Veteran Project 2018 LLC, Asbury Woods L.L.C., Astoria Options LLC, Autumn Creek Development Ltd., Aylon LLC, Azusa Associates LLC, B2 Milpitas LLC, BB Investment Holdings LLC, BCI Properties LLC, BMR Communities LLC, BMR Construction Inc., BMTD LLC, BPH I LLC, Bainebridge 249 LLC, Bay Colony Expansion 369 Ltd., Bellagio Lennar LLC, Belle Meade LEN Holdings LLC, Belle Meade Partners LLC, Black Mountain Ranch LLC, Blue Horizons Estates LLC, Bonterra Lennar LLC, Bramalea California Inc., Bressi Gardenlane LLC, Breton Park Lennar LLC, CAP IL 1 LLC, CL Ventures LLC, CML INACTIVE LLC, CML-MO HAF LLC, CML-MO HAF PARKING LLC, CP Block 6aS LLC, CP Block 8aS LLC, CP Block 9aS LLC, CP Center Apartments LLC, CP Center Garage LLC, CP Red Oak Partners Ltd., CP Vertical Development Co. 1 LLC, CP/HPS Development Co. GP LLC, CP/HPS Development Co.-C LLC, CPFE LLC, CPHP Development LLC, CalAtlantic Financial Services Inc., CalAtlantic Group, CalAtlantic Group Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Arizona Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Georgia Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Texas Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Washington Inc., CalAtlantic Mortgage Inc., CalAtlantic National Title Solutions LLC, CalAtlantic Title Agency LLC, CalAtlantic Title Group LLC, CalAtlantic Title Inc., CalAtlantic Title LLC, CalAtlantic Title of Maryland Inc., Camarillo Village Park LLC, Cambria L.L.C., Candlestick Retail Member LLC, Cardiovascular Medical Specialists LLC, Carolina Blue LLC, Carson 175 LLC, Cary Woods LLC, Casa Marina Development LLC, Central Park West Holdings LLC, Cherrytree II LLC, Club Bonterra Lennar LLC, Coco Palm 82 LLC, Colonial Heritage LLC, Columbia National Risk Retention Group Inc., Commonwealth Incentive Fee LLC, Concord Station LLP, Coventry L.L.C., Creekside Crossing L.L.C., Crest at Fondren Investor LLC, DBJ Holdings LLC, DCA Financial LLC, DTC Holdings of Florida LLC, Darcy-Joliet L.L.C., Durrell 33 LLC, EL Ventures LLC, EV LLC, Eagle Bend Commercial LLC, Eagle Home Mortgage LLC, Estates Seven LLC, Evergreen Village LLC, F&R QVI Home Investments USA LLC, FLORDADE LLC, Faria Preserve LLC, Fidelity Guaranty and Acceptance Corp., Fidelity Land LLC, Fox-Maple Associates LLC, Friendswood Development Company LLC, GDI MANAGER LLC, Garco Investments LLC, Greystone Construction Inc., Greystone Homes of Nevada Inc., Greystone Nevada Holdings LLC, Greystone Nevada LLC, Greywall Club L.L.C., HCC Investors LLC, HPS Development Co. 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Ltd., San Lucia LLC, San Simeon Lennar LLC, Schulz Ranch Developers LLC, Seminole/70th LLC, Siena at Old Orchard L.L.C., Sierra Vista Communities LLC, Silver Springs Lennar LLC, South Development LLC, Southbank Holding LLC, Spanish Springs Development LLC, St. Charles Active Adult Community LLC, St. Charles Community LLC, Standard Pacific 1 Inc., Standard Pacific Investment Corp., Standard Pacific of Colorado Inc., Standard Pacific of Florida, Standard Pacific of Florida GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Las Vegas Inc., Standard Pacific of Orange County Inc., Standard Pacific of Tampa GP, Standard Pacific of Tampa GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Tonner Hills LLC, Standard Pacific of Walnut Hills Inc., Standard Pacific of the Carolinas LLC, Stoney Holdings LLC, Storey Lake Club LLC, Storey Park Club LLC, Strategic Holdings Inc., Strategic Technologies LLC, Summerfield Venture L.L.C., SunStreet Energy Group LLC, SunStreet Manager LLC, TCO QVI LLC, TICD Hold Co. LLC, TIH Hold Co. LLC, Talega Associates LLC, Temecula Valley LLC, Terra Division LLC, Terra/Winding Creek LLC, The Baywinds Land Trust, The Bridges Club at Rancho Santa Fe Inc., The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe Sales Company Inc., The LNC Northeast Group Inc., The Oasis Club at LEN-CG South LLC, The Preserve at Coconut Creek LLC, The Vistas Club at LEN-CG South LLC, Titlezoom Company, Treasure Island Holdings LLC, Treasure Island Member LLC, Treviso Holding LLC, Two Lakes Lennar LLC, U.S. Home Corporation, U.S. Home Realty Inc., U.S. Home of Arizona Construction Co., U.S. Insurors Inc., U.S.H. Realty Inc., UAMC Holding Company LLC, UB 2018C14 MOA LLC, USH - Flag LLC, USH Equity Corporation, USH LEE LLC, USH Leasing II LLC, USH Leasing LLC, UST Lennar HW Scala SF Joint Venture, VII Crown Farm Investor LLC, Venetian Lennar LLC, Vineyard Land LLC, Vineyard Point 2009 LLC, Vista Palms Clubhouse LLC, WCI Communities, WCI Communities Inc., WCI Communities LLC, WCI Towers Northeast USA Inc., WCI Westshore LLC, WCP LLC, WIP Lennar OHB LLC, Waterview at Hanover LLC, West Lake Village LLC, West Seattle Project X LLC, West Van Buren L.L.C., Westchase Inc., Westchase Ltd., Westfield Homes USA Inc., White Course Lennar LLC, Wild Plum JV LLC, Willowbrook Investors LLC, Winncrest Natomas LLC, Woodbridge Multifamily Developer I LLC, Wright Farm L.L.C., and YLRichards4Acres 2015 LLC.
iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF's stock was trading at $73.25 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EFG stock has increased by 50.0% and is now trading at $109.85.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
The following companies are subsidiares of Sysco: 2234829 Alberta ULC, 2234842 Alberta ULC, A. M. Briggs Inc., A.M. Briggs, Almacen Fiscal Frionet Caldera S.A., Almacen Fiscal Frionet Limon S.A., Appert's Foodservice, Arnotts (Fruit) Limited, Asian Foods, Bahamas Food Holdings Limited, Bahamas Food Services Limited, Brake Bros, Brake Bros Foodservice Ireland Limited, Brake Bros. Foodservice Limited, Brake Bros. Holding I Limited, Brake Bros. Ltd., Brakes Foodservice NI Limited, Buchy Food Service, Buckhead Beef Co., Buckhead Meat & Seafood of Houston Inc., Buckhead Meat Company, Buckhead Meat Midwest Inc., Buckhead Meat of Dallas Inc., Buckhead Meat of Denver Inc., Buckhead Meat of San Antonio LP, Buzztable Inc., CAKE Corporation, Central Seafood Co., Christys Wine & Spirits Limited, Clafra Aktiebolag, Colorado Boxed Beef Co - Specialty meat-cutting division, Corporacion Frionet Sociedad Anonima, Crossgar Foodservice, Crossgar Foodservice Limited, Crown I Enterprises Inc., Cucina Acquisitions (UK) Limited, Cucina Finance (UK) Limited, Cucina French Holdings Limited, Cucina Fresh Finance Limited, Cucina Fresh Investments Limited, Cucina Lux Investments Limited, Curleys Quality Foods Limited (Third Party), Davigel Belgilux S.A., Davigel Espana S.A., Desert Meats & Provisions, Distagro, Doerle Food Service, Doughtie's Foods Inc., Dust Bowl City LLC, Eko Fagel Fisk o mittemellan AB, Enclave Insurance Company, Enclave Parkway Association Inc., Enclave Properties LLC, European Imports, European Imports Inc., Figg Inc., Freedman Meats, Freedman Meats Inc., Freedman-KB Inc., Fresh Direct (UK) Limited, Fresh Direct Group Limited, Fresh Direct Limited, Fresh Holdings Limited, FreshPoint, FreshPoint Arizona Inc., FreshPoint Atlanta Inc., FreshPoint California Inc., FreshPoint Central California Inc., FreshPoint Central Florida Inc., FreshPoint Connecticut LLC, FreshPoint Dallas Inc., FreshPoint Denver Inc., FreshPoint Hawaii LLC, FreshPoint Inc., FreshPoint Las Vegas Inc., FreshPoint North Carolina Inc., FreshPoint North Florida Inc., FreshPoint Oklahoma City LLC, FreshPoint Pompano Real Estate LLC, FreshPoint Puerto Rico LLC, FreshPoint San Francisco Inc., FreshPoint South Florida Inc., FreshPoint South Texas Inc., FreshPoint Southern California Inc., FreshPoint Tomato LLC, FreshPoint Vancouver Ltd., Freshfayre Limited, Fruktservice i Helsingborg AB, GHS Classic Drinks Limited, Gilchrist & Soames Inc., Gilchrist & Soames UK Limited, Guest Packaging LLC, Guest Supply, Guest Supply Asia Limited, Guest Supply Singapore Pte. Ltd., International Food Group, Isakssons Frukt & Gront AB, J & M Wholesale Meats, J. Kings Food Service Professionals, J. Kings Food Service Professionals Inc., Kent Frozen Foods, Les Ateliers Du Gout, Liquid Assets Limited, M&J Seafood Holdings Limited, M&J Seafood Limited, Manchester Mills LLC, Mayca Autoservicio S.A., Mayca Distribuidores S.A., Menigo Foodservice AB, Mitshim Etatu Supply LP, Newport Meat Company, Newport Meat Northern California Inc., Newport Meat Pacific Northwest Inc., Newport Meat Southern California Inc., Newport Meat of Nevada Inc., North Star Holding Corporation, North Star Seafood, North Star Seafood Acquisition Corporation, North Star Seafood LLC, PFS de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Palisades Ranch Inc., Pallas Foods, Pallas Foods Farm Fresh Unlimited Company, Pallas Foods Unlimited Company, Pauleys Produce Limited, Promotora del Servicios S.A. de C.V., Restaurangakdemien AB, Restaurant of Tomorrow Inc., Rohan Viandes Elaboration SAS, SMS Bermuda Holdings, SMS GPC International Limited, SMS GPC International Resources Limited, SMS Global Holdings S.a.r.l., SMS International Resources Ireland Unlimited Company, SMS Lux Holdings LLC, SOTF LLC, SYY Netherlands C.V., SYY Panama S. de R.L., Serca Foodservice, Servicestyckarna I Johannes AB, Servicios Ameriserve S.A. de C.V., Shenzhen Guest Supply Trading Co. Limited, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Bianchi Montegut, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Boiseau, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Garcelles, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) J.D. Lanjouan, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Le Dauphin, Specialty Meat Holdings LLC, Stockflag Limited, Stockholms Fiskauktion AB, Supplies on the Fly, Sysco Albany LLC, Sysco Asian Foods Inc., Sysco Atlanta LLC, Sysco Autoservicio S.A., Sysco Baltimore LLC, Sysco Baraboo LLC, Sysco Bermuda Partners L.P., Sysco Boston LLC, Sysco Canada Holdings S.a.r.l., Sysco Canada Inc., Sysco Central Alabama LLC, Sysco Central California Inc., Sysco Central Florida Inc., Sysco Central Illinois Inc., Sysco Central Pennsylvania LLC, Sysco Charlotte LLC, Sysco Chicago Inc., Sysco Cincinnati LLC, Sysco Cleveland Inc., Sysco Columbia LLC, Sysco Connecticut LLC, Sysco Corporation, Sysco Corporation Director's Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Employee's 401(k) Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Executive Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Good Government Committee Inc., Sysco Corporation Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Executive Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Plan Trust, Sysco Detroit LLC, Sysco Disaster Relief Foundation Inc., Sysco EI VI S. s.r.l., Sysco EU II S.a.r.l., Sysco EU III S.a.r.l., Sysco EU IV Capital Unlimited Company, Sysco EU IV S. s.r.l.., Sysco EU V S. s.r.l., Sysco Eastern Maryland LLC, Sysco Eastern Wisconsin LLC, Sysco Foundation Inc., Sysco France Holding SAS, Sysco France SAS, Sysco George Town II LLC, Sysco George Town Limited S. s.r.l.., Sysco Global Finance LLC, Sysco Global Finance LLP, Sysco Global Holdings B.V., Sysco Global Resources LLC, Sysco Global Services LLC, Sysco Grand Cayman Company, Sysco Grand Cayman II Company, Sysco Grand Cayman III Company, Sysco Grand Rapids LLC, Sysco Guernsey Limited, Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc., Sysco Guest Supply Europe Goods Wholesalers LLC, Sysco Guest Supply Europe Limited, Sysco Guest Supply LLC, Sysco Gulf Coast LLC, Sysco Hampton Roads Inc., Sysco Hawaii Inc., Sysco Holdings II LLC, Sysco Holdings LLC, Sysco Indianapolis LLC, Sysco International Food Group Inc., Sysco International Inc., Sysco Iowa Inc., Sysco Jackson LLC, Sysco Jacksonville Inc., Sysco Kansas City Inc., Sysco Knoxville LLC, Sysco Labs Europe Limited, Sysco Labs Pvt. Ltd., Sysco Leasing LLC, Sysco Lincoln Inc., Sysco Lincoln Transportation Company Inc., Sysco Long Island LLC, Sysco Los Angeles Inc., Sysco Louisville Inc., Sysco Memphis LLC, Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Canada Inc., Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Inc., Sysco Metro New York LLC, Sysco Minnesota Inc., Sysco Montana Inc., Sysco Nashville LLC, Sysco Netherlands Partners LLC, Sysco North Central Florida Inc., Sysco North Dakota Inc., Sysco Northern New England Inc., Sysco Philadelphia LLC, Sysco Pittsburgh LLC, Sysco Portland Inc., Sysco Raleigh LLC, Sysco Resources Services LLC, Sysco Riverside Inc., Sysco Sacramento Inc., Sysco San Diego Inc., Sysco San Francisco Inc., Sysco Seattle Inc., Sysco South Florida Inc., Sysco Southeast Florida LLC, Sysco Spain Holdings SLU, Sysco Spokane Inc., Sysco St. Louis LLC, Sysco Syracuse LLC, Sysco Technologies Cayman Ltd., Sysco Technologies LLC, Sysco UK Holdings Limited, Sysco UK Limited, Sysco UK Partners LLP, Sysco USA I Inc., Sysco USA II LLC, Sysco USA III LLC, Sysco Ventura Inc., Sysco Ventures Inc., Sysco Virginia LLC, Sysco West Coast Florida Inc., Sysco Western Minnesota Inc., The SYGMA Network Inc., Upsys, Victua SAS, Walker Foods Inc., Waugh Foods, and Wild Harvest Limited.
New Delhi, Mar 29 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India has no quarrel against the people of Pakistan and maintained that the country's fight is against terrorism.

In an interview with 'Republic Bharat', Mr Modi said as far as India is concerned, Pakistan has no option other than fight against terrorism and take verifiable actions.

"Hamari Pakistan ke janta ke saath kahbhi jhagra nahi tha, aaj bhi nahi hae (We have no quarrel with the people of Pakistan, we do not have today also)," Mr Modi said.

"We gave all lists, tapes etc on 26/1, they can take actions against the perpetrators and send them to us, we will initiate legal steps. Jaish-e-Mohammad has said it clearly, yes, we have done it and even then you (Pakistan) don't action," Prime Minister said.

"Pakistan has always assured after every terrorist actions, that they will take decisive action, but they don't. I do not want to fall into their trap now," he said.

Prime Minister lamented that his detractors see statesmanship in Pakistan PM's statements and they doubt their own Prime Minister.

"The people should recognise these people," he said.

To a question, he said, "No one in this country can doubt Narendra Modi's patriotism. No one can question it".

Lashing out at Congress, he said for all the past Congress governments, the defence deals used to be like ATMs.

"They cannot imagine that defence deals can be done with transparency," he said.

Prime Minister said his government will work on defence deals at the level of government-to-government pacts so that there is transparency.


Mumbai, Mar 29 (IBNS): Mandated by the Ministry of Interior, State of Qatar, Qatar Visa Center was inaugurated by Saif Bin Ali Almohanndi, Consul General, The Consulate General Of The State Of Qatar, in Mumbai. Having already launched in New Delhi and now in Mumbai, 5 other visa centers in Kochi, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Chennai and Kolkata will be operational shortly.

At the new Qatar Visa Center, work visa applicants for the State of Qatar will be able to sign on work contracts digitally, enroll their biometrics and undergo mandatory medical test all under one-roof, thus saving time and making it hassle free for the applicants.

The move to get work visa applicants to complete the most essential and critical part of their visa processes in the country of origin (India in this case) is aimed at guaranteeing prospective employees their rights in a manner consistent with the best international standards.

The visa center is in sync with international standards guaranteeing greater transparency, traceability and improved anti-fraud measures and security screening mechanisms for the visa applicants. The center will operate between 08:30 am to 04:30 pm from Monday to Friday.

As part of the visa application process, the employer in Qatar will ensure all necessary procedures and make the visa payments on behalf of the applicant. The applicants will only need to book an appointment online and visit the Qatar Visa Center fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled time on a given day. Once at the center and after the identity of the visa applicant is verified and the list of required documents are checked a token gets issued.

Once the token is being referred to, the respective visa applicant will be explained the contract terms and can thereby digitally sign the work contract. Biometric enrollment and the mandatory medical tests will be done at the center. Upon completion of the processes at the visa center, the visa applicant then can choose to track the status of his application online or through their employer in the State of Qatar.

Saif Bin Ali Almohanndi, Consul General, The Consulate General Of The State Of Qatar, Mumbai expressed gratitude and said, Our thanks and appreciation to the officials in the Ministry of External Affairs- Republic of India, and the Government Of the State Of Maharashtra for their continued support to achieve this goal by opening the Qatar Visa Centre (QVC) on Friday 29/03/2019 in Mumbai. This project is one of the advanced projects for the State of Qatar in the field of protection of labour rights, and would facilitate the recruitment procedures in countries where centers have been opened including the Republic of India, and would provide necessary services for obtaining visas, both for the purpose of visit and residence. For Indian expatriates who travel to Qatar for employment, can complete their medical tests and sign work contracts before their departure - and this stands confirm to the State of Qatar's keenness to ensure safety and protection for expatriates and residents.

"As part of Qatar's willingness to facilitate the work process and protect the rights of expatriates, Qatar Visa Centers will be opened in a number of countries which include India," said Major Abdullah Khalifa Al Mohannadi, Director of Visa Support Services Dept at the Ministry of the Interior, Doha, Qatar. "Medical examinations, biometric data enrollment and the signing process of employment contracts will be done through the Qatar Visa Centers in the expatriate country of origin at the 7 Indian centers including the one in Mumbai. All of this, reflects the extent and depth of Qatar's endeavors to ensure the protection and safety of expatriates under a simplified and effective recruitment regime upheld and facilitated by the visa center," he added.

Suhail Shaikh - Business Head said, We are honored to launch the Qatar Visa Center in India in Mumbai on behalf of Ministry of Interior, State of Qatar. We take great pride in being able to provide transparent, standardized and streamlined visa services for Indians seeking work visas through a simple process managed by our capable colleagues.


NORRISTOWN  Police responded to a call regarding suspicious activity in the 200 block of West Main Street at approximately 1:20 a.m. March 23. The caller reportedly disconnected twice and responding officers did not initially see anyone in the area. While at the scene, police heard male voices yelling and three men emerged from a breezeway. One of the men had a diagonal laceration across his abdomen and was covered in blood. The other two men kept walking east on Main Street after the injured man stopped at the curb. The victim said that one of the men walking away stabbed him and police ordered them to stop. One of the men complied, but the other, whom the victim named as his assailant, did not, and would not take his hands out of his pockets until ordered to at gunpoint. Both the suspect and the other man, who the victim said was the suspects brother, were taken into custody. The victim gave police a bloody knife and a box cutter he was carrying. Officers recovered another bloody knife from the breezeway.

Theft investigation

NORRISTOWN  On March 21, a woman spoke to officers regarding the theft of several items from her residence in the 1200 block of Marshall Street. The victim told police two laptop computers, a cellphone and an unopened delivery box containing a doorknob had been missing since March 8, when police and EMS responded to her home for a medical emergency involving a family member. The victim said she didnt remember locking her door the day the items were stolen and she has since changed her locks.

Woman suspects daughter of theft

WEST NORRITON  On March 25, a woman came to the police station to report the theft of a lock box containing an estimated $4,000 worth of jewelry. The victim said she had last seen the box in January and it also contained immigration papers, old passports, her marriage license, and possibly her bank account information. She told police she suspects her daughter, who reportedly has a drug problem, was involved. Police advised the victim to close her bank account if she believes it was compromised and the case was referred to detectives.

Parking lot assault

WEST NORRITON  At 10:49 a.m. March 25, police were dispatched to Walmart, 650 S. Trooper Road for a reported domestic assault. Upon arrival, officers made contact with a man who said he and his girlfriend got into an argument over images on his phone and she started kicking and hitting him. He told police he tried to restrain her but did nothing else. The woman, who reportedly had visible redness around her neck, admitted to physically attacking the man after finding objectionable images on his phone, but added that he then pulled her out of the vehicle and put her in a chokehold. A pair of witnesses corroborated the womans story and the man was taken into custody.

Thieving couple sought

WEST NORRITON  An investigation into a missing jacket revealed a retail theft at Walmart, 650 S. Trooper Road, March 20. Around 8:30 a.m. an employee reported that his jacket, containing his house keys, car keys, and perscription glasses was stolen. Security personal reviewed video footage which showed a customer entering the store, putting on the jacket and leaving. The same man came back into the store minutes later without the jacket, selected an air mattress and sheets, and left the store again without paying. The suspect was accompanied by a female associate who is also suspected of stealing several items. The two left the scene in a silver sedan.

Investigation uncovers prostitution

LOWER PROVIDENCE  On March 18 at 10:10 p.m., police on patrol in the area of South Trooper Road and Shannondell Boulevard observed an occupied silver sedan sitting in a parking lot for an extended period. The vehicle eventually moved to the 600 block of Shannondell Boulevard where two women entered the car. The driver then returned to the original location where another occupied vehicle had also been parked for an extended period of time. Officers made contact with the occupants of both vehicles and determined that the women were prostitutes from Philadelphia. Police identified all parties involved and an investigation is ongoing.

Lousy delivery

LOWER PROVIDENCE  A food delivery driver was charged with theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property after taking packages from a customers porch in the 6000 block of Defford Place March 18. Police responded to the scene for a report of a theft in progress at 7:24 p.m. The victim said her neighbor saw the delivery man take the packages. The packages were quickly returned after the victim contacted the restaurant where she ordered the food, but they had already been opened. The driver was positively identified and taken into custody.

Daybreak donnybrook

LOWER PROVIDENCE  At 8:17 a.m. March 14 a man called police to report that he was assaulted in the 3800 block of Germantown Pike during a road rage incident earlier that morning. The victim said he had just pulled into a customers driveway when a 300-pound man wearing a security hat approached, forcibly removed him from his truck and began assaulting and threatening him. The victim had several visible lacerations and his clothing was torn. The victim also told officers the assailant was last seen driving a tan 90s Chevrolet Malibu.
NORRISTOWN  Dozens of residents, community activist and local officials gathered at the Montgomery County  Norristown Public Library on Powell Street Wednesday evening for a town hall focused on violence prevention.

The forum, organized by Lt. Michael Bishop, the Norristown Police Departments east regional commander and head of community affairs, sought input from the community on how to reduce crime  violent crime in particular  in the southeast neighborhood bound by Marshall, Markley, Fornance and Arch streets.

Bishop began the conversation by highlighting gun violence statistics.

Between 2014 and 2018, there were 63 shootings in the municipality, he said. Thirty-six of those shootings occurred in the southeast and half of those occurred in the area under discussion.

Over that same period, there were 134 calls for shots fired  incidents in which nobody was hit but gunfire was reported or police found bullet casings  with 67 percent originating from the southeast and 41 percent coming from the central southeast neighborhood.

Our major crimes are down 38 percent over the same time period, noted Bishop, adding that overall violent crimes, including shootings, robberies rapes, and homicides have plummeted 40 percent since 2014.

So weve done great strides over the last five years under the leadership of Chief (Mark) Talbot, but we can do more. At least I think we can do more. And part of that is why we called this meeting, so I can get more people from the community, specifically in those areas where we have the highest amount of violence, to be part of the prevention or the answer. 

Although violent crime has fallen by 49 percent in the southeast alone over that same time span, three of the five shots fired calls and two shootings in the municipality this year, including one homicide, have come from the district.

So the violence is still out there, and we need to find ways as a community to come together with the police department to try and stop this, Bishop said.

Bishop and the other officers emphasized the need for community involvement through a variety of methods, including town watch training; the use of social media through posts on Nextdoor, Facebook and Twitter; video surveillance; and the police departments anonymous tip line 610-278-TIPS (8477) or via email at NPDTips@norristown.org.

The overarching message was, If you see something, say something, and preferably when an issue first arises rather than after it has festered and become potentially dangerous.

Community members also addressed a number of quality of life issues that are often times the precursors of more serious crime.

Clean streets, public drunkenness, illegal parking, youth conflict in neighborhoods and schools, and appeals for more bilingual officers and more visible patrols in crime hot spots were discussed.

Some residents expressed frustration about entrenched quality of life issues they said they have brought up before that have not been addressed, but Bishop urged community stakeholders to continue the dialog in order to get results.

Community policing means the community needs to be involved, he said. This is your neighborhood were talking about and if theres a quality of life issue, were not going to know about it unless you tell us.

The more information we get. The better we can make this town, together.

Lt. Bishop says he is planning another town hall at May at the George Washington Carver Community Center, 249 Jacoby Street, in May.




By MK Bhadrakumar

March 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova acknowledged in Moscow on Tuesday that

This followed media reports that two Russian air force planes landed at Caracas on Saturday carrying Vasily Tonkoshkurov, chief of staff of the ground forces with nearly 100 military personnel and some 35 tonnes of material. An unnamed official at the Russian embassy in Caracas told the Sputnik that the Russian personnel had arrived to exchange consultations. Russia has various contracts that are in the process of being fulfilled, contracts of a technical-military character.

Zakharovas remarks came a day after Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received a phone call from the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on March 25. The Russian readout said Pompeo was interested in certain issues related to the developments in Venezuela. It added:



The state department readout, however, claimed that Pompeo warned Russia to cease its unconstructive behavior in Venezuela and that Washington and its regional allies will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions. It also said Pompeo accused Russia of continued insertion  to support the illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela [which] risks prolonging the suffering of the Venezuelan people who overwhelmingly support interim President Juan Guaido.

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Meanwhile, on Monday and Tuesday, in a series of tweets, US national security advisor John Bolton vent anger and frustration:

Maduro has lost the support of the Venezuelan people, so hes relying on Cuban and Russian support to usurp democracy and repress innocent civilians Rather than sending nuclear-capable bombers and special forces to prop up a corrupt dictator, Russia should work with the international community to support the Venezuelan people. The United States will not tolerate hostile foreign military powers meddling with the Western Hemispheres shared goals of democracy, security, and the rule of law Maduro asks for Cuban and Russian goons to suppress the people of Venezuela.

With these developments, the crisis situation around Venezuela may deem to have acquired a New Cold War dimension to it.

Clearly, Moscow has weighed the pros and cons of the Venezuelan situation and has decided to be unapologetic about its support for the Maduro government. Despite the US outbursts, Moscow is showing no signs of backing off, either.

The big question ahead is whether Russia is climbing the escalation ladder. Indeed, the stepping up of the military-technical cooperation stems from the assessment in Moscow that the desperate US attempts to engineer / sponsor a military coup in Caracas arent getting anywhere.

Meanwhile, President Nicolas Maduro announced in an interview with the Russian state television today that a high-level working session on intergovernmental cooperation between Russia and Venezuela is due to take place in April where we will sign over 20 documents on cooperation in economy, trade, culture, energy and education.

Suffice to say, Moscow intends to step up its support for Maduro and is drawing up a plan of action to develop a comprehensive bilateral cooperation program with a medium and long term perspective.

Now, that can only mean that in the Russian assessment, US blueprint to overthrow the regime through economic sanctions and other covert actions (such as the sabotage of power supply) and various methods of political and diplomatic pressure (including illegal confiscation of Venezuelan assets in western banks running into tens of billions of dollars) can be and must be countered.

It is interesting that Cuba, which is rich in experience in countering the US coercive policies, is working shoulder to shoulder with Russia in this direction.

From all appearance  so far, at least  a direct US military intervention in Venezuela to forcibly change the regime is not on the cards. Rather, a cold-war era war of attrition appears to be looming ahead. Can Russia sustain the financial and economic burden involved?

But the analogy of the Russian intervention in Syria does not hold good here insofar as Venezuela is potentially a rich country with the worlds largest proven hydrocarbon reserves.

On the other hand,

In geopolitical terms, a strong Russian presence in Venezuela becomes a negotiating chip for Moscow in dealing with the growing NATO and American deployments along Russias western borders in central and eastern Europe and the Baltic states. That alone makes Venezuela a strategic partner for Russia.

Plainly put, any projection of Russian power in the US backyard will at some point sooner rather than later impress upon Washington the imperative need to constructively engage Moscow in dialogue and negotiations, howsoever unpalatable that prospect might be.

In fact, at one point, Zakharaova pointedly touched on the Trump administrations Munroe Doctrine, asking in an acerbic tone:

What are they (US) themselves doing in Eastern Hemisphere? Perhaps, they believe that the people of this part of the world will be thankful when Washington wilfully changes their leaders and kills the unwanted ones. Or the US still believes that people are waiting for the Americans to bring democracy to them on the wings of their bombers. Ask Iraqis, Libyans or Serbs about it.

Zakharova did not explicitly mention Ukraine or the Baltic states and Poland and the Black Sea and the Caucasus, but the implicit meaning is clear: If the US interferes in Russias backyard, Moscow reserves the right to retaliate. Period. It is useful to recall that the denouement to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 was ultimately on the basis of a reciprocal withdrawal of Russian missiles in Cuba and the American missiles deployed in Turkey.

Pompeos phone call to Lavrov suggests that the US is trying to figure out the Russian intentions. Interestingly, the Russian readout mentioned that Lavrov also brought up Syria and Ukraine during the conversation with Pompeo. Lavrovs remarks were rather sharp: He (Lavrov) also stressed that the USs intention to recognise Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights would lead to a serious violation of international law, impede the Syrian settlement process and aggravate the situation in the Middle East. Speaking about Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov noted that Washingtons playing into the Kiev regimes hands in torpedoing the Minsk Agreements on the settlement of the intra-Ukrainian conflict was unacceptable.

Curiously, on the contrary, the US state department readout completely omitted any references to Syria or Ukraine. Evidently, it was too much of a hot potato for Washington to even acknowledge that Lavrov might have drawn a parallel with the US behaviour in the Eastern Hemisphere, which Russia finds utterly unacceptable.

This article was originally published by " Indian Punchline " -

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Peace and joy
Last year, when renowned authors Sherman Alexie and Junot Diaz were among those called out over social media for their alleged mistreatment of women  specifically, Alexie was accused of using his fame to sexually prey on women hoping to make it as writers; and Diaz, of forcibly kissing a woman, as well as engaging in arguably obnoxious acts (including asking a budding novelist to clean his kitchen)  some celebrated their fall, while others questioned it.

Their toppling has since become part of the polarized debate over whether to value such writers' work as art, or instead reject it  and insist others do so  over claims (even confessions) of authorial boorishness.

The issue may not preoccupy everyone, but it is certainly in the minds of literary event organizers. That's because, even as Alexie and Diaz, and others who've come up against the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, may have faded from view, the responsibility of local impresarios to decide which authors to invite to read, speak and teach at their respective organizations  and which not to  continues.

The pressure is high on organizers at public institutions. Among them is Paul Grondahl, director of the University at Albany-based New York State Writers Institute, who welcomes authors, auteurs and others to campus to discuss their work. In the face of what many consider to be a complex cultural moment, Grondahl's created a simple policy for building a roster of guests that parallels his response to claims of sexual misconduct.

"I believe the women," he said, referring to voices who've recently accused famous authors or artists of misconduct, harassment or abuse. If any figure has a shadow over their reputation, he said, "We just won't invite them."

Invoking medicine's Hippocratic oath and applying it to the Writers Institute, he said, "Our first responsibility is: Do no harm. We're not going to offend our strong, Student Association female president, and also our interns and our staff" by bringing in an author under a cloud of suspicion.

Plus, given the available talent who recently published a book, and want to read and discuss it, he adds, there's no reason to do so.

But some literary organizers hold a different view. Among them is Chris Morrow, co-owner of Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga, an independent, family-owned business that hosts author readings and talks.

Of bringing in controversial writers, he wrote in an email: "This is a messy topic. People are different and have committed different offenses. It is easy to lump all the #metoo men into [a] single group, but reality is different and I think people should be evaluated on the specifics of their cases. That said, we are not morality arbiters," he continued, referring to his family of book purveyors.

"In the past, we have witnessed admitted ex-cons  felons  write redeeming books and read at our stores," he added, referring to the two Northshire Bookstores, including one in Manchester, Vermont.

In a separate email, he observed: "Some bookstore owners are very vocal about their view of the world and imprint it on the store in terms of what they carry and don't." Invoking the First Amendment, he continued, "I try to create openness and a rich playing field where ideas can rumble about."

That some seek to impose their views about who gets to talk about literature, and how, is a concern echoed by Robert Boyers, professor of English and head of the New York State Summer Writers Institute, at Skidmore College. Boyers worries that that controlling impulse stems less from an interest in inquiry and information than from a "promiscuous casting of blame," as he puts it in his recent essay in The American Scholar, "The Privilege Predicament."

Consequently, "You're walking on proverbial eggshells. Things can explode at any minute," he said in a phone interview, of teaching and running a summer literary program in today's cultural climate, one that's increasingly driven  as he and other academics, as well as mental health professionals, believe  by a heightened sense of personal fragility and injury.

He recalled a recent incident in which a female student asked Boyers to request another student stop using certain words that trigger her, including "violate"; a tough task to meet in a classroom setting, especially in referencing the law. "Things are dramatically different now because students are much more inclined to challenge one another on particular words, including those that seem thoroughly uncontroversial."

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In organizing literary festivals, other unintended issues can arise. In a follow-up email, Boyers wrote, "I've heard a good deal about programs where invited speakers have ignited controversy because of a reputation unknown to those who've invited them. Not easy to know what to do in such cases."

Do smaller enterprises involve fewer minefields? Janet Hutchison, co-owner of the Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady, says the petite size of her shop limits her capacity to host public events there: "We don't do a lot of readings. If you look at my place, I don't have the room to host a large number of people."

Authors with local ties do stop by to discuss their writing. "William Kennedy came," she said of the Albany-based Pulitzer Prize winner and founder of the New York State Writers Institute, "and we have had some poetry reading evenings." But these are short programs. For more comprehensive events, Hutchison partners with the Schenectady Public Library, which also provides the venue.

All of Hutchison's author-related events are driven by her readers' interests, she said, later adding: "We don't have to agree with the viewpoint, because I really do agree with freedom of expression."

She echoed Morrow  "I respect Northshire's viewpoint"  in that it's the quality of the book that matters, she said, and not its author's personal history."

Then she issued a caveat. "But if there was strong evidence that someone had committed a wrongdoing, I would prefer not to have them in the store. And that's not just the #MeToo issue. To me, it would be anything that's against the law." Like many a writer, she revised once more: "I'd have to know the person, and I'd have to know the book."

Susan Comninos' journalism has appeared in The Atlantic Online, The Boston Globe, and others. She's taught writing at a number of local colleges and universities, most recently at University at Albany.
A Washington County farm was named as one of the 20 "most beautiful farm wedding venues across the country" by TLCme, a website run by the lifestyle TV channel.

The Wedding Barn at Lakota's Farm in Cambridge offers pastoral vistas, two spring-fed ponds and a historic homestead. The 1865 barn seats up to 250 people.
If it's Thursday or Friday, you're in luck. Philippine food, trending in food media since last year, has entered the mainstream with its salty and tangy Asian flavors and inexpensive plates, from adobo chicken legs in garlic and vinegar to braised pork hocks, the fatty shank below the shoulder where the trotter connects. Until now, it has been missing on the local dining scene, but a newly forged catering partnership between chefs Melanie Diaz and Giovanni "Gio" Lontoc has changed all that. Since January, they have been quietly running a Philippine turo-turo buffet in the spacious ground floor of their Cohoes-based catering company from noon to 7 p.m. on two magical days each week.

Lontoc, a Filipino chef from San Pablo and Padre Burgos, was raised in his grandfather's restaurant and moved to the Capital Region when his wife took a nursing job at Albany Medical Center; Diaz, whose family is Puerto Rican, moved upstate from Queens. The pair met in the culinary program at SUNY Schenectady, later working together at Rivers Casino in Schenectady before Diaz moved to Le Bistro at the Crossgates Mall-based Spa Mirbeau.

There's no sign outside 133 Remsen St., and that's the way the pair like it. When they started D&L Hospitality Management as a catering business last June, they kicked off with a Philippine buffet as a pop-up for the local community. With little more notice than an announcement on their Facebook page, the line stretched down the street.

Turo turo is a popular Philippine fast-service concept meaning "point point" in Tagalog and  once you've found the address, between a dentist and yoga studio  it's what you'll do faced with a dozen colorful chafing trays. While Diaz takes business calls, Lontoc is in the open kitchen behind the counter, frying battered fish and stoking fragrant pots on the stove, but he'll stop to describe each item with unabashed pride.

Dishes vary by the week and on both days, so whether you're on social media or not, it's worth a scan of their Facebook page that day. Chances are you'll have beef caldereta, a Filipino beef stew loaded with tomatoes, bell peppers and umami blasts from rich liver paste; or Bicol Express, a sweet-spicy stew from the south in which pork and long green chiles bathe in coconut milk laced with garlic and bagoong shrimp paste.

To call bachoy a noodle soup doesn't do justice to the dimensions achieved by cooking earthy pork offal  diced liver, kidneys or heart  and pork crackling in chicken or shrimp broth. In Philippine cooking, vinegar (suka), peppercorns and muscovado, or dark sugar, draw the earthiness of variety meats upward, imparting flavors that ricochet across the tongue.

There might be pinakbet (pork again, of course), spiced with long green chiles and tart bitter melon, or spicier bopis, where springy, finely diced heart and liver is softened with onions and tomatoes. For sure there will be dinaguan, the Philippine offal stew inked black with pig blood. Vinegar thins the gravy so it can be stirred smooth, but we find ours very lightly coagulated and suspect time spent in the chafing dish as the cause. There's almost always pancit, a noodle and vegetable stir-fry referencing the influence of the Chinese in the Philippines, and lechon paksiw, made with pork leftovers and soupy enough to ladle over plain white rice so sweetness from the garlic, sugar and vinegar seeps in.

Some days you'll be rewarded with pata tin, where whole pork hocks as thick as your wrist are painted the glossy brown of tempered chocolate, fragrant to the bone with Chinese spices, and slow-braised until their fatty mantles weep. Though some recipes call for pineapple juice, Lontoc caramelizes garlic, soy, apple cider vinegar and brown sugar in the rendered juices and daubs a heavy coat on each shank. It takes work to dissect the layers of thick skin and fat protecting tender meat. Poke your knife inside the bone to carve out the marrow. Or take it home to gnaw. You'll find marrow in the K.B.L.  shorthand for kadyos (shiny black pigeon peas), baboy (pork) and langka (jackfruit)  soured with tamarind, and in adobo chicken. Smaller bones, sliced on the bias, leave marrow soft and exposed, and easily scooped.

More Information D & L Hospitality Management 133 Remsen St., Cohoes Phone: 518-235-3300 Web: facebook.com/dlhospitalitymng, dlhospitalitymng.com Hours: Turo-turo buffet, noon to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday; Sunday brunch, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting April 7. Price: Inexpensive. Food: Philippine turo-turo buffet featuring classic Philippine variety meats, pork and stews. Puerto Rican brunch starting the first Sunday in April. Wedding and events catering, all options. Drink: Soft drinks only. Juice and infused water for brunch. Ambiance: Large if sparsely furnished catering space with counter. Pleasant enough for lunch/brunch. ADA accessible. Street parking. Noise: 1. Good for: Eat-in lunch, takeout, brunch, groups, large to-go orders, catering. Noise rating: 1- quiet; 2 - comfortable/conversational; 3 - loud; 4 - disruptive. Price range: Inexpensive, Moderate, Somewhat Expensive, Very Expensive See More Collapse

A combo meal with either rice or pancit noodles and two mains is a steal at $6. It's priced so reasonably that we share four combo plates to taste all 12 dishes, add two bottled waters, the $10 pata tin special and dessert  all without breaking $40. No joke.

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We gobble up bright green buko pandon, a cold dessert of jelly cubes made with pandan leaves, tapioca and sweet cream. It's nothing to look at and everything to eat, though true euphoria comes in a square of cassava cake where grated cassava, coconut milk, evaporated milk and sugar transform into something so outrageous you'll obsess over ordering more.

We should be leaving, but Lontoc has now finished frying thickly battered tilapia and brings some over to taste, and we're soon dipping superbly crisp ukoy  mung-bean fritters with tofu or shrimp  in sawsawan, a simple garlic-vinegar sauce. It's getting hard to stop.

Filipinos often tweak dishes by sprinkling vinegar and layering condiments like sawsawan or banana ketchup, but here they're presented as is, without a condiment array. Perhaps that's because the sizable Filipino population in Cohoes and Filipino nurses at Albany Med already place large take-out orders by the tray. Eating in at lunchtime, we're among the in-the-know who trickle in by ones and twos.

There are few dining secrets in the Capital Region, and I'm thrilled to share this. But there's one more thing. Although event catering is their main business, the success of the turo turo has convinced Diaz and Lontac to expand with a sit-down, table-service Sunday brunch that Diaz calls "Latin-fusion-Filipino." Diaz cooks the Philippine dishes alongside Lontoc, so a brunch menu centered around popular Puerto Rican plates like cremita de maiz, a sweet and creamy hot cereal, and pernil benedict, with roasted pork, poached eggs and a sofrito Hollandaise, will give her heritage a chance to shine.

Combo plates for two with bottled water and dessert cost $20 with tax, before tip.

Susie Davidson Powell is a British freelance food writer in upstate New York. Follow her on Twitter, @SusieDP. To comment on this review, visit the Table Hopping blog, blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping.
ALBANY  Capitol hallways that just days ago were packed with lobbyists, activists and legislative staffers had all but emptied by Friday, a familiar sign that a final deal on the state's $175 billion spending plan was close at hand.

The first quantifiable indication of progress came late Thursday night with the introduction of more than 160 pages of budget text that addresses a gamut of issues, from establishing online voter registration to allowing the closure of two upstate prisons.

And while hundreds of pages of legislation still needed to be printed on Friday afternoon, Democratic lawmakers broke from their private discussions of the budget with an expectation that they would return Saturday evening with outstanding issues resolved and finalized language ready to review. The Legislature is tentatively scheduled on Sunday morning to start voting on budget bills.

"There are details to be worked out on some of these things, and I have no reason to think they won't be worked out," Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told reporters Friday.

Stewart-Cousins said that includes "hammering the details" on overhauling the state's cash bail system, implementing a congestion pricing plan in Manhattan, and initiating a public financing program for political campaigns.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Friday there is a "conceptual agreement" to end cash bail for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, while disagreements remained on how to address New Yorkers accused of violent felonies.

"If it's not cash bail, then what would the circumstances be for remand?" Cuomo said, summing up the ongoing discussions.

The governor was much more vague about what it would take to realize a public campaign financing system, which has been held up behind the scenes by Assembly Democrats. "Everyone says they support it  well then, let's do it," he said.

The vast majority of spending and policy questions have been resolved:

The fight over education aid appears to be resolved, with the Legislature only able to extract a slight increase over the initial 3.6 percent bump that Cuomo initially proposed. The governor announced that the aid will also prioritize the poorest schools in New York.

The governor also said funding has been identified to prevent the $550 million in health care cuts he proposed in his February budget amendments to address an unexpected $2.6 billion gap in revenue. This should be good news for ambulance providers across the state, who warned the reductions could put them out of business.

A plan to address limousine safety, which initially included a ban on stretch limousines, was still being finalized on Friday, but the governor's counsel said it would strengthen criminal penalties for bad actors and impose new requirements on operators.

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An effort by Cuomo and environmental advocates to expand the collection of a nickel deposit on beverage containers is unlikely to be part of the budget, according to an administration source.

There is an agreement on amending state law to allow primary voters in upstate counties to vote before noon.

County district attorneys remain opposed to a plan to reform the state's asset forfeiture procedures, essentially restricting the confiscation of money and property until a person is convicted. Assemblyman Phil Steck, a Colonie Democrat, said the change was more "fair and reasonable."

New York will soon begin tracking instances where law enforcement officials use force in the line of duty, but the budget language doesn't allow individual officers to be identified.

Looming over the final hours of negotiations, but largely unmentioned by state lawmakers, is a $10,000 raise they stand to receive if their work is completed in a timely fashion. The current state fiscal year ends Sunday.

It's not clear, though, whether the salary hike will be in jeopardy if the Legislature's voting on bills spills into Monday. The report that authorized the raises called for the "on-time budget passage by April 1st," but didn't provide additional clarity.

David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @pooz87er
NEW YORK  Lauren Salzman, the daughter of NXIVM President Nancy Salzman, quietly pleaded guilty earlier this week to two felony charges in connection with the Justice Department's criminal prosecution of the Colonie-based organization's leaders.

Salzman, 42, who owns a residence in Halfmoon, pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy during an unannounced court appearance Monday before U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, according to court documents.

The transcript of her plea hearing was sealed and no one from the public attended, although it took place in open court. The government late Thursday asked the judge to release a transcript of the proceeding, but to keep a portion of it under seal. Their reasons for making that request were also filed under seal, indicating Salzman may have agreed to cooperate in the investigation when she pleaded guilty.

Salzman is the second person to plead guilty in the case. Her 64-year-old mother, Nancy, pleaded guilty to a single racketeering count on March 13. Nancy Salzman's guilty plea took place in open court during a proceeding that had been publicly noticed a day earlier. At Nancy Salzman's plea hearing, there was no mention of whether she has agreed to cooperate, although she still could be called as a trial witness.

The Salzmans were indicted last year along with NXIVM co-founder Keith Raniere; television actress Allison Mack; Clare Bronfman, the organization's operations director and an heiress of the Seagram's liquor empire; and Kathy Russell, a longtime bookkeeper for NXIVM.

Prosecutors have said they are engaged in plea negotiations with two other defendants, but did not identify them.

Raniere and Mack were arrested a year ago. In July, federal agents in Albany arrested the Salzmans and Russell. Bronfman was taken into custody that same day by federal agents in New York City.

When she pleaded guilty earlier this month, Nancy Salzman was the first of the defendants to break her allegiance to Raniere, who was her close confidant and NXIVM's spiritual leader.

Salzman's sudden admission signaled the unraveling of a close-knit and ultra-secretive organization that Raniere had built over the last 20 years, amassing thousands of followers in "executive success" training programs that prosecutors have cast as no more than a "cult-like" pyramid scheme, according to court filings.

On the day Nancy Salzman pleaded guilty, the government also unsealed a superseding indictment against Raniere and his remaining co-defendants that added seven charges, including some leveled at Raniere for his alleged sexual exploitation of an underage girl. Those charges elevated the severity of the case for Raniere, who would face a minimum 15 years in prison if convicted on those counts.

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Opening statements in the criminal trial are scheduled to take place April 29 in Brooklyn. It's unclear if the plea negotiations and additional charges filed against Raniere will delay that date.

Raniere has pleaded not guilty to the charges and remains in custody at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn without bond. The other defendants have all been released on conditions that include home confinement.

The new indictment honed the government's case and includes charges of extortion, sex trafficking, harboring of aliens for financial gain, forced labor, various conspiracy charges and wire fraud.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of a Halfmoon townhouse that Raniere called "The Library" and allegedly used as his private "sex lair," as well as more than $520,000 in cash that was seized last year from Nancy Salzman's Halfmoon residence.

The charges allege some of the defendants took part in recruiting and grooming sexual partners for Raniere, and of using "harassment, coercion and abusive litigation to intimidate and attack perceived enemies and critics of Raniere."

Raniere's attorneys have criticized the government's case as overreaching and are asking a judge to throw out evidence obtained when computers and other electronic devices were seized from Salzman's residence and other properties used by the group.
TROY  The six Democratic members of the Rensselaer County Legislature have demanded that County Executive Steve McLaughlin explain why he took a trip to Costa Rica last week paid for by a county agency.

The Democrats sent a memo to McLaughlin, a Republican, to find out the purpose of your recent trip to Costa Rica and the justification of the use of Rensselaer County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) funds to pay for expenditures.

Were looking for some transparency. Were asking some questions about whats going on. Our constituents want to know, said Minority Leader Peter Grimm, D-Troy.

The county executive took the unannounced trip with officials from Hudson Valley Community College and the state University at Albany.

The Legislative Minority Office, as well as the public, learned of the trip through a reporters inquiry and story that appeared in the Times Union, the legislators said.

When reached by the Times Union in Costa Rica, McLaughlin refused to discuss the trip and hung up after using foul language. Later, McLaughlins staff issued a press release on the trip.

We will be happy to provide information on this successful trip to strengthen economic and educational opportunities involving Rensselaer County, Hudson Valley Community College and the University at Albany with business and educational leaders in the coming days, Richard Crist, a spokesman for McLaughlin, said Thursday.

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The legislators want to know what was the trips purpose; the names and titles of the people who were part of this trips entourage and why were they selected and by whom; the IDAs funding and accounting for all trip expenses; what other county funds may have been used; what outcomes and tangible deliverables county residents can expect directly from the trip; and what the benefits would be for HVCC.

The county sponsors HVCC and supports it financially. Grimm said county residents deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent.

IDA Executive Director Robert Pasinella said the trip was taken in an effort to attract more students to attend HVCC, which has experienced enrollment declines similar to other community colleges nationwide.

In addition, Pasinella said the goal is to encourage expansion of cutting edge programs such as training in careers related to artificial intelligence. These programs, he said, would help create a pipeline to attract overseas students.
SCHENECTADY  A team of rescuers used heavy machinery to stabilize one tree and then lift another partially fallen tree off a man's leg Friday, said Assistant Fire Chief Don Mareno said.

Firefighters and medical workers comforted and treated the injured 45-year-old man as the delicate rescue played out.

"It was flawless," Mareno said several times while describing the situation.

The mishap began at about noon on a lot behind a Van Vranken Avenue home, located near the intersection of Seneca Street in the Goose Hill neighborhood.

Mareno said the tree toppled but did not fall all the way to the ground. Instead, it was perilously hung up against another tree. The base of the tree trapped the man's leg, leaving him in need of rescue and medical care.

Two doctors from Albany Medical Center Hospital were called to the scene to help the man while firefighters devised a way to safely remove the tree without causing more damage to the man's leg.

Clarence's Crane Rental of Altamont brought one of its machines into the yard, Mareno said.

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Once the machine was in place, an experienced tree climber scaled up about 20 feet on the leaning tree and attached safety straps to it. The crane then gently lifted it off of the man's leg, as a backhoe steadied the upright tree.

The victim remained conscious and alert throughout the ordeal and was eventually freed, Mareno said. He was taken to Albany Med to be treated for injuries that are not life-threatening.

Firefighters, police, doctors and equipment operators were aided by a tree expert, city employees and paramedics from Mohawk Ambulance, Mareno said.

"This was a total team effort by a lot of people who do not work together," he said.
HOOSICK FALLS  Village police are still searching for a burglary suspect who escaped custody Tuesday following his arrest.

Police are asking anyone who sees 35-year-old Justin Faatz to call 911 immediately.
By Hussein Ibish

March 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - That departure from U.S. and international norms will weaken both Israeli and Arab incentives to seek peace.

By rebooting American expectations, the Trump administration is revising Israeli calculations. For Israeli annexationists, the sky is now the limit.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is surrounded by people in his own Likud party and among his coalition partners who favor annexing parts of the West Bank, notably the areas on the western side of a separation wall built since 2002 along with major settlement blocs and the Jordan River valley.

Last year, Likud endorsed the de facto annexation of many Israeli settlements. So did the Knesset before being restrained by cooler heads, including Netanyahu himself.

Whoever wins the upcoming Israeli election, the drive towards annexation in the West Bank is likely to pick up speed. What argument is left against it?

Until now, that argument was decisively made by history and international law.

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In the early 1980s, Israel effectively annexed first East Jerusalem and then the Golan Heights, which it had seized from Syria in the 1967 war. The administration of President Ronald Reagan pushed back, joining the rest of the international community in rejecting those claims and upholding the principal enshrined in the United Nations charter of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war.

Every subsequent administration has done the same. Until now.

For Palestinians, there can now be no doubt that the U.S. government has signed on to the expansionist ambitions of Greater Israel advocates on the Israeli right.

Thats in conflict with the principle that the U.S. has upheld since the 1993 Oslo agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, which stipulated that any territorial adjustments to the 1949 armistice lines had to be mutually agreed.

With the Oslo framework discarded, Palestinians have no reason to hope they can win their independence through negotiations with Israel.

Violent factions like Hamas will be strengthened despite the bitter Palestinian history of military defeats.

Also emboldened will be the one-state movement that seeks to unite Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip into a single nation where Palestinians would enjoy demographic dominance (the combined population of those regions is already more than half Palestinian). The goal would be to discredit and eventually eliminate the Jewish state as an example of minority rule comparable to the apartheid system once used in South Africa.

Annexationist Israelis seem comfortable with the same trajectory. Both sides are convinced they can win a demographic battle that will more likely yield a bitter stalemate.

U.S. recognition of Israeli expansion is also likely to backfire against Israel itself by straining its emerging partnership with Arab countries, especially U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Israel is relying on cooperation with those countries against Iran and, increasingly, Turkey, as a basis for new approaches to Palestinian peace.

I was in Riyadh in May 2018, when the U.S. moved its embassy to Jerusalem, and the consternation of Saudi officials was unmistakable.

Now, the Arab world, including the Gulf states, Jordan and Egypt, is united in rejecting Mondays Golan proclamation. Arab leaders consider the U.S. move to be a gift to Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah and other radical groups in the region.

Saudi Arabias bitter statement went far beyond what would be required to satisfy Arab political correctness on this matter.

Trump justified his Golan declaration on the grounds of Israels security. The Saudi statement flings that logic back at him and raises the stakes. The declaration, the Saudi statement correctly notes, will risk the security and stability of the region.

This article was originally published by " Bloomberg " -

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Peace and joy
London

Britain's tottering efforts to leave the European Union remained at an impasse Thursday as allies of Prime Minister Theresa May tried to keep her deal alive in the face of unbending opposition.

The deal, already defeated twice in Parliament, was given new life Wednesday after May promised Conservative Party colleagues who are hard-line supporters of leaving the bloc that she would step down if it were passed, and let someone else take over the next stage of talks with Brussels for the process known as Brexit.

But even her offer to resign was not enough to assuage hard-line Conservatives or her putative allies in the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, or DUP, who hate the deal.

So the government debuted a new tack Thursday: Ministers said they would disassemble May's deal into its two parts  one called the withdrawal agreement, and the other the political declaration  and ask Parliament to vote Friday only on the first.

The withdrawal agreement outlines the terms of Britain's exit from the European Union, while the political declaration deals with the tangled question of its future relationship with the bloc.

The speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has said he would allow Parliament to vote again only if the plan had changed substantially since it had been rejected resoundingly  twice  and Thursday he said the government had met that test.

Ministers were pitching the vote to pro-Brexit hard-liners as their last opportunity to secure Britain's exit from the European Union in the coming months, lest anti-Europeans in Parliament take control and try to frustrate Brexit or force a longer delay.

Ministers also hoped the date of the vote  Friday, the originally scheduled day for Britain's exit  would put some symbolic pressure on pro-Brexit Conservatives to swallow their objections and back May.

But the withdrawal agreement contains some of the most contentious pieces of May's plan.

Among them is the so-called backstop that at least temporarily binds Britain and, to a greater extent, Northern Ireland, to European trading rules so as to avoid customs checks on the historically contentious border between Ireland, part of the European Union, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.

Unionists in Northern Ireland reject the backstop because they believe it would create regulatory differences between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, putting the union at risk.

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And British media reports late Thursday said unionists intended to vote against May's plan again Friday, considerably narrowing the prime minister's path to victory.

There was some hope among Conservatives that splitting May's plan in two would strengthen her case with opposition Labour lawmakers, whose main objections are to the political declaration and not the withdrawal agreement.

But Labour leaders reacted angrily to the idea Thursday, noting that May had previously said the two pieces of her plan were inextricably linked.

Keir Starmer, a senior Labour official, warned Thursday that splitting them "would leave us with the blindest of blindfold Brexits." He was referring to Labour's fear that, if Parliament passed part of May's plan and the prime minister resigned, a hard-line pro-Brexit politician like Boris Johnson would take over and shape the crucial next stage of negotiations.

Stephen Doughty, a Labour member of Parliament, said, "This looks to me like trickery of the highest order."

Confusion swirled all day in Parliament about the government's plans, with ministers leaving lawmakers in the dark about what they would be voting on Friday until late in the afternoon.
New homes await returning Adirondack osprey Once endangered species is now thriving in New York

New homes await returning Adirondack osprey Once endangered species is now thriving in New York

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Photo by Alex Zhang / Special to the Times Union

DRESDEN  How would you like to summer in the Adirondacks and winter in Brazil while eating fresh fish all day?

Sounds like the perfect life, right?

That's the life of the osprey. Every spring the large brown and white raptors make their way back from their winter vacation to return to their nests in the Adirondacks and other parts of New York state.

The only problem with this idyllic existence: Ospreys love to build their nests on top of electric transmission line towers, which often provide the hawks with perfect platforms for their nests and perches from which to scan rivers and lakes for fish.

Last week, crews from National Grid making upgrades to high-voltage transmission lines between Whitehall and Ticonderoga in Washington County also spent a considerable amount of time moving osprey nests off the tops of transmission towers onto new dish-like platforms that are raised above the tower  out of the way of the power lines.

It's an amazing process to watch  not only because the transmission towers are so tall and subject to high winds and bitter March cold, but because the nests have to be moved before April 1, when the ospreys start arriving after their long migration from South America and throw themselves into the task of occupying their Adirondack nests.

National Grid has environmental scientists on staff to help with the process of moving the nests, which is done in consultation with the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

National Grid scientist Steve Haller says the beautiful, large raptors are coming back in force in New York state after decades of decline. But that rebound brings challenges for electric utilities in their territory.

Osprey nests, which can weigh up to 100 pounds, are typically made of large sticks that can come in contact with high-voltage power lines, occasionally causing outages. The birds, with wingspans of up to six feet, can also come in contact with the wires.

"We need to make sure the lines are up for our customers and also make sure the birds are safe, so it's a nice balance that we have to strike," Haller said. "We need to make sure we're not impacting them during their nesting period."

Ospreys were declared an endangered species by New York in 1976. The population was decimated by exposure to the insecticide DDT, which caused reproductive issues such as thinning of the eggshells, according to the state DEC.

The state banned DDT in 1971. Ospreys were upgraded to "threatened" status in 1983 as the population grew, and in 1999 it was changed to "special concern," according to DEC.

Ospreys, which measure about two feet from head to tail feathers, eat mostly fish, which is why they like to be near large bodies of water like South Bay of Lake Champlain in Whitehall. The ospreys, which have keen eyesight, use their talons to grab fish out of the water and will sometimes submerge themselves completely underwater in order to grab fish.

Right off South Bay Pier, where National Grid put up one of the new osprey nest platforms, there are many types of fish, including northern pike, large mouth bass, pickerel, perch, sunfish and catfish.

Holly just showed up in Florida! Not a peep from her since Jan. 30 in far eastern Brazil. Cool! pic.twitter.com/4AU1Wgt4E3  OspreyTrack N.H. (@OspreyNH) March 27, 2019

It's unclear where the ospreys that nest in Whitehall live during the winter, although Rob Bierregaard, a Philadelphia-area osprey expert, has a good guess.

"South America is a 90 to 95 percent sure bet on Adirondack Ospreys' winter haunts," Bierregaard told the Times Union.

Bierregaard, who has tagged ospreys in the past to track their migration, is also author of "Belle's Journey," an illustrated book about the migration of an osprey on Martha's Vineyard that wintered in Brazil.

The Brazilian rain forest is one of the hawks' most popular winter havens, along with Venezuela. The birds will rest in the Caribbean midway on their migratory path. The distance between Whitehall and Brazil is about 4,000 miles.

"They're definitely coming back in force," Haller said of the upstate osprey populations. "They've rebounded significantly the past decade or two, and they ended up choosing a lot of our structures because they're easy to nest on. We have structures right near water for them. It's ideal."

New York's two main breeding populations are in Long Island and the Adirondacks. Haller said there are large osprey populations in Clayton on the St. Lawrence River and in Oswego on Lake Ontario.

Dan Rosenblatt, the state DEC's wildlife diversity section leader, said the ospreys are in New York from April to September.

"Osprey lay eggs in a large nest of sticks constructed at the top of dead trees, poles, or artificial nesting platforms," he said.

Rosenblatt says that there were only 100 osprey breeding pairs in the state in 1970, but by 2005, the population had tripled. It's much larger today. As of 2010, Long Island itself had 350 breeding pairs, the highest population of anywhere in the state. Along the St. Lawrence River, there were 130 osprey pairs as of 2014.

Rosenblatt said that neither state nor federal permits are required when osprey nests are moved outside of the breeding season, although a federal permit is required if nests are ever moved with eggs in them or if they have young ospreys in them.

"When utility companies face emergency situations during the breeding season, they are allowed to move a nest if an occupied nest causes a fire or is likely to do so," Rosenblatt said. "DEC has a federal permit allowing the movement of nests in emergency situations."

Moving the osprey nests isn't easy, and National Grid tends to do it in coordination with repairs it makes to lines because it's a more efficient process. Last week, National Grid was replacing insulators on the high-voltage transmission line between Whitehall and Ticonderoga.

The project required that National Grid shut down the line, which eases the process of moving the nests to the new platform, which is made of non-conducting material.

The transmission line that crosses South Bay is a main artery known as a "radial line" that serves roughly 10,000 utility customers. National Grid had to bring in nearly 30 commercial-grade generators to feed into local substations during the work. Each generator provides between 500 kilowatts and 1,500 kilowatts of power onto the utility's electrical system.

The project started Tuesday and finished Wednesday and involved a total of six osprey nests.

"Our crews handle moving the nests from their current location onto the new platform," National Grid spokesman Patrick Stella said. "When installing the nest, they attach the base arm first, and then the platform on top of that. We strive to do this work to have a minimal impact on the environment and our customers."

John Loz, president of the Southern Adirondack Audubon Society said he doesn't know of any tagging or naming of ospreys that has been done in the Whitehall area. But he knows that ospreys nest on a variety of structures throughout the region.

"Although ospreys will look to build their nests in tall snags in an open area, as well as power poles, they will also nest on structures such as abandoned railroad truss abutments, such as a nest that is located on one in the middle of the Hudson River just north of Hudson Crossing Park in Schuylerville," Loz said.

The Southern Adirondack Audubon Society donated an osprey platform to the Friends of Moreau Lake State Park in October 2017. It sits on a 22-foot hemlock pole on the shore of the lake, across from the nature center.

Sadly, the platform at Moreau Lake State Park has not attracted any osprey pairs so far.

"We seem to attract more eagles than ospreys," said Mary Knutson, who is president of the Friends of Moreau Lake State Park.

Cornell University's Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a joint research project on ospreys with the University of Montana called the Montana Osprey Project, which has a popular "osprey cam" that is focused on an osprey nest in Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Mont., on the Clark Fork River.

The nest is home to an osprey couple, Iris and Louis. Scientists at the Montana Osprey Project told the Times Union that while East Coast ospreys migrate to South America, Montana ospreys will winter in Texas or Central America, or even Cuba sometimes.

Historically, Iris has laid her egg about 19 to 24 days after arrival, with several eggs laid, each three days apart.

Dennis Riordan, president of the Menunkatuck Audubon Society, which has put up osprey platforms on the Connecticut shoreline, said the ospreys have already come back to their nests this year on Long Island Sound.

"Right now the mated pairs are re-establishing their bonds," Riordan said. "The male will soon start rebuilding the nest by bringing sticks, branches, and grasses to the platform where the female will rearrange them to her satisfaction."

The ospreys then mate, and then after the eggs are laid there is a five-week incubation period. Chick rearing takes another six to eight weeks, with the male constantly on the hunt for fish for the female and the chicks.

"He will give her a few breaks during that time period, but she'll spend the majority of the three plus months on the nest," Riordan said.

Then, once the chicks "fledge" when their wings get big enough to fly, the female osprey will leave the nest for a much-needed vacation.

"She'll head off to South America and leave the youngsters to the male to teach them how to fish," Riordan said. "Another month and he'll head back south. The juveniles will straggle along after another month or so."

Like the Montana Osprey Project, the Menunkatuck Audubon Society has their own "osprey cams" on osprey nests in West River Memorial Park in New Haven and at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, which is on the water.

And they are very popular, especially this time of year.

Osprey hunt for fish in the summer of 2018 at Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve in southern Saratoga County. Osprey measure about two feet long, but their wingspan can be as wide as six feet across. After years of decline in New York State, they have made a comeback. Their nesting period in New York begins April 1. ( less Osprey hunt for fish in the summer of 2018 at Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve in southern Saratoga County. Osprey measure about two feet long, but their wingspan can be as wide as six feet across. After years of ... more Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close New homes await returning Adirondack osprey 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

"Our osprey cams have been streaming for four years and attract thousands of viewers," Riordan said.

Web presentation by Joyce Bassett
Washington

President Donald Trump's choice to lead the Interior Department, David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist who has been accused of conflicts of interest, faced questioning Thursday from senators who must decide whether he is the right person to oversee some 500 million acres of public land and vast coastal waters.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Energy Committee, where Bernhardt testified, called his qualifications "unparalleled," and other Republicans praised his experience and ethics. But Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon unleashed a scathing rebuke, telling Bernhardt, "You're just another corrupt official."

Bernhardt contended that one of his top priorities would be to focus on overhauling the ethics culture of the agency. In particular, Bernhardt said he hoped to overhaul the reputation of an agency that became notorious for corruption scandals during the George W. Bush administration, when the deputy secretary of the interior, J. Steven Griles, was sentenced to prison for lying to a Senate committee about his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Bernhardt was the Interior Department's solicitor then.

More recently, the Trump administration's previous interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, resigned amid allegations of ethics misconduct.

Bernhardt also vowed to balance conservation of public lands with a push to develop oil and gas.

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The committee must decide whether to send Bernhardt's nomination to the full Senate for a vote.

Bernhardt, who has served as deputy secretary since August 2017, has been a powerful force advancing what Trump has called his "energy dominance" agenda of opening federal lands and waters to oil drilling and energy exploration.

He has been dogged through his tenure by accusations of conflicts of interest. Bernhardt's critics contend that, given his past as a lobbyist and lawyer for energy and agricultural interests, his decisions stand to benefit former clients.
Seoul, South Korea

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will travel to the United States in two weeks for a summit with President Donald Trump on stalemated North Korean nuclear diplomacy.

It would be their first meeting since Trump's second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam last month. Their talks collapsed due to disputes on U.S.-led sanctions on the North, and North Korea recently threatened to quit the nuclear diplomacy.

Moon, a liberal who favors greater ties with North Korea and a negotiated solution to the nuclear crisis, shuttled between Washington and Pyongyang to facilitate the nuclear diplomacy. The breakdown of the Hanoi summit put Moon in a difficult position on how to further engage North Korea and promote the nuclear diplomacy.

The White House and Moon's office said Moon and his wife will visit the United States on April 10-11 and Moon will meet with Trump at the White House to discuss developments on North Korea and bilateral issues.

The two leaders will discuss how to strengthen their countries' alliance and achieve North Korea's complete denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula, senior South Korean presidential official Yoon Do-han told a televised conference.

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The White House in its statement said the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea "remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region."

Earlier this month, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said her country has no intention of compromising or continuing the nuclear talks unless the U.S. takes steps commensurate with those the North has taken, such as its moratorium on missile launches and weapons tests, and changes its "political calculations." She said Kim would soon decide whether to continue the talks and the moratorium.

Some experts say North Korea still hopes to keep diplomacy with the United States alive.
Washington

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he was backing off a budget request to eliminate funding for the Special Olympics, reversing course after his administration weathered days of criticism for the proposed cut.

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for a rally in Michigan, Trump said he had authorized funding for the event. "I heard about it this morning. I have overridden my people. We're funding the Special Olympics."

Trump's announcement came after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spent days defending the proposal, which drew widespread criticism from lawmakers, as well as advocates and celebrities. Even before the president stepped in, legislators said the cut was unlikely to be approved.

The president added: "I've been to the Special Olympics. I think it's incredible."

His comments came hours after Senate Democrats grilled DeVos during a budget hearing on the proposal. She was also pressed by House Democrats days earlier, sparking a wave of criticism online.

In a heated exchange with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., DeVos said she "wasn't personally involved" in pushing for elimination of the funding, but she defended it as her agency seeks to cut $7 billion for the 2020 budget.

"Let's not use disabled children in a twisted way for your political narrative," DeVos told Durbin. "That is just disgusting and it's shameful and I think we should move on from that."

Durbin countered that it would be shameful to pull support for the Special Olympics, saying "someone has to accept responsibility for a bad decision."

The Trump administration's education budget proposal calls for the elimination of $17.6 million in funding for the Special Olympics, amounting to roughly 10 percent of the group's overall revenue. Most of its funding comes from individual and corporate contributions and other fundraising efforts.

DeVos said her department had to make "tough choices" on the budget and insisted the Special Olympics should be supported through private donations.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., joined in on the criticism, telling DeVos that "this is not about tough choices, this is about you prioritizing your agenda over students with special needs."

The proposed cut generated a storm of criticism from advocates and celebrities this week, with many rallying to support the organization.

Trump officials previously called for the elimination of Special Olympics funding in their budget proposal for 2019, but Congress rejected the idea. Lawmakers from both parties said they would reject it again for 2020.

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Asked Thursday whether he supports the proposed cut, House Minority Leader Kevin, McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters, "No. I fully support Special Olympics."

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Wednesday that he also supports the group and would not cut it from the budget.

DeVos faced questioning on a range of topics Thursday, including her proposed rewrite of rules around campus sexual assault and her handling of for-profit colleges.

Murray said the Education Department has been too slow to process more than 100,000 applications for loan forgiveness from students who say they were cheated by for-profit colleges. DeVos previously delayed an Obama-era rule allowing such forgiveness, but a federal judge said the delay was unlawful.

Asked on Thursday how many applications had been approved since the judge's order was issued, DeVos she didn't know but that officials are "reviewing them regularly."

Others criticized DeVos' department for being unresponsive to congressional requests for information. Blunt, chairman of the Senate subcommittee over the education budget, said he shared that concern.

"There are two or three departments we're just not getting responses back from as quickly as we should," Blunt told DeVos. "We're your funding source and have an oversight responsibility in addition to that."
Washington

President Donald Trump on Thursday accused Mexican and Central American leaders of doing "nothing" to prevent illegal immigrants from coming to the United States  one day after his administration signed an agreement with some of those same leaders aimed at reducing the number of migrants streaming north.

Trump's tweets risked undermining his administration's diplomatic efforts on immigration, and came as Mexico said it planned to set up a "containment belt" of federal forces to stem an increasing flow of Central American migrants.

"Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country," he tweeted. "They are all talk and no action. Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing."

Trump also suggested he'd shut the U.S.-Mexico border  a threat he's floated before  as U.S. border officials stressed immigration enforcement is at the breaking point. He doubled down on the digs against Mexico in a second tweet later Thursday.

Trump's remarks stood in contrast with those of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who expressed gratitude for the collaboration among regional leaders in addressing border problems. She met with Mexican officials and traveled to Honduras this week to meet with leaders of that country, Guatemala and El Salvador. The U.S. and Central American officials signed a border security compact Wednesday that aims to expand intelligence sharing, address human trafficking and combat transnational gangs.

"America shares common cause with the countries of Central America in confronting these challenges," she said in a tweet Thursday, adding that all the countries were working toward the same goal. "Together we will prevail."

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday acknowledged that migrants were increasingly coming north, "because there are no options, no alternatives in Central America."

Lopez Obrador said Mexico is doing its part to fight immigrant smuggling. "We are going to do everything we can to help. We don't in any way want a confrontation with the U.S. government."

He said Mexico was going to maintain a "very respectful relationship" with the U.S. government and Trump, adding that the U.S. concerns were legitimate.

For Trump, the tweet was a return to a signature policy and one that plays deeply to his base, wedged between victory tweets following the completion of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mueller's team found no evidence that Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, according to a summary by Attorney General William Barr. The report reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.

While overall arrests at the border are still well below highs of the early 2000s, the U.S. is facing a surge of Central American families who ask for asylum and who cannot be easily returned, straining the system, creating a huge backlog in cases, and overwhelming border facilities not set up to manage so many children and families.

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Arrests along the Mexican border jumped to 66,450 in February, up 149 percent from a year earlier. March is shaping up to be even busier. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said the agency was on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry during the month, up about 30 percent from February and about double the same period last year. About 55,000 people will have arrived as families, including 40,000 children.

The border agency temporarily reassigned several hundred border inspectors to process migrants, provide transportation and perform hospital watches to keep pace.

"That breaking point has arrived this week," McAleenan said Wednesday in El Paso. "CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our southwest border."

Mexico has already allowed the U.S. to return some migrants to Mexico to wait as their asylum cases play out. And Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero said the government would try to contain migrants heading north at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest part of the country's south and the easiest to control.

"It's going to be a big change," she said.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Trump has spent months clashing with lawmakers over his long-promised border wall and the fight included questions from Democrats on whether there actually was a "crisis" at the border.

That conflict escalated last month when Trump declared a national emergency to obtain billions in additional dollars for construction.

The move drew bipartisan criticism that the president was seeking to improperly circumvent lawmakers and prompted Congress to pass a resolution opposing the move. But Trump vetoed the resolution and the Democratic-led House lacked the votes to override.
By Paul Craig Roberts

March 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The Democrats cannot stop making fools of themselves. Thom Hartmann is an example. He writes for Common Dreams and has a progressive talk radio program. During the George W. Bush regime I was a frequent guest on his program. It was OK to tell the truth about the Bush regimes deceits and illegal wars of aggression. But telling the truth about the Obama regimes deceits and illegal wars of aggression left me unqualified for his program.

Hartmann, like the rest of them, will never escape from Democratic partisanship. He asserts that Attorney General William Barr, who he calls cover-up general covered up Muellers Russiagate report. Hartmann seems to think that Mueller found all sorts of damning evidence against Trump, but we will never know because Barr, without showing us even a single complete sentence from the Mueller report decided that there are no crimes here. He accuses Barr of burying Muellers report and cherry-picking fragments of sentences from it to justify Trumps behavior. He tells his readers that Barrs history of doing just this sort of thing to help Republican presidents in legal crises explains why Trump brought him back in to head the Justice Department. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/26/has-cover-general-william-barr-struck-again

Hartmann ignorantly accuses Barr of withholding Muellers report. To the contrary, Barrs summary of the report clearly states that federal laws, which he identifies, govern the release of information that can be made public. Once the DOJ has identified material that by law cannot be made public, the report will be released.

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I know Democrats are disappointed not to have Trumps head presented to them by Mueller on a silver platter. But surely not even Democrats are stupid enough to believe the Russiagate conspiracy tale. It was all cooked up by the military/security complex to prevent Trump from normalizing relations with Russia, thereby removing the enemy that justifies the $1,000 billion annual budget.

Before writing such nonsense as Hartmann has written, he should have read Barrs summary of the report. Barr quotes Mueller directly from the report: The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51323.htm

Again from Muellers report: The evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference.

Other Democrats who cannot cope with their disappointment claim that although cleared of election theft collusion Trump was not cleared of obstruction of justice. This is nonsensical even for Democrats. As Trump committed no crime, what evidence did he obstruct? The evidence of his innocence? Just as murder requires a body, obstruction requires a crime to obstruct.

But facts are boring to Democrats. They were certain that all the lies that they and the media whores told would find their way into Muellers report. Muellers staff was Democrat to the core, and Mueller used every dirty trick in the book in his effort to get something on Trump. It simply couldnt be done.

Democrats will never get over it, just as they never have got over Iran-Contra. Hartmann couldnt write about the Russiagate coverup without dragging in Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra coverup.

What coverup is he talking about? The Reagan administration started an investigation that continued during the George H.W. Bush administration. It resulted in a dozen indictments and convictions of high level officials, not lowly grunts as in the Abu Ghraib torture case. Among the convicted were Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane, National Security Advisor John Poindexter, Chief of Covert Ops-CIA Clair George, Chief of the CIAs Central American Task Force Alan D. Fiers, Air Force Major General Richard Secord, Lt. Col. Oliver North.

Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger was indicted but pardoned by President Bush prior to being tried. Poindexters conviction was overturned. North was granted immunity for testifying. With the exception of General Secord, the others convicted were later pardoned by President Bush.

Under precedents established by the George W. Bush and Obama regimes, an Iran-Contra investigation would not be possible today. In the 21st century US presidents have successfully asserted powers as commander-in-chief that are beyond the reach of Congress. For all practical purposes, the Boland Amendment is a dead letter law.

Iran-Contra was a scheme involving Israel to prevent what was perceived to be a communist takeover in Nicaragua and to obtain the release of US hostages held by Hezbollah. As a scandal its illegality pales in comparison to the Clinton regimes bombing attack on Serbia, the George W. Bush regimes invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Obama regimes overthrow of Gaddafi and attempted overthrow of Assad by military force and Obamas overthrow of democratically elected presidents in Honduras and Ukraine, and the Trump regimes threats against Iran and current attempt to overthrow the democratic government in Venezuela.

Iran-Contra was three decades ago. No one under 50 would know anything about it. Yet we hear more about it from the liberal/progressive/left than we do about the massive abuses of power and war crimes of our own time.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order .

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Peace and joy
A County Tipperary mother currently undergoing breast cancer treatment for the second time will be live on Virgin Media Ones Irelands Got Talent this Sunday.

Clerihans Annette Hahessy is part of the inspirational Sea of Change choir that will star in the second semi-final at The Helix in Dublin, after leaving the judges in tears when they auditioned for the talent show last November.

Read more: Tipperary's answer to Eminem 'hoping to rap his way' to TV superstardom on Ireland's Got Talent

The Dublin-based female choir - which is made up of cancer survivors and those touched by cancer from across the country- performed This is Me, getting put through to the live shows thanks to Denise Van Outens Golden Buzzer.

The 45 members of Sea of Change joined forces after meeting at a fundraiser last year for Aoibheanns Pink Tie, a national childrens cancer charity set up following the tragic loss of an eight-year-old to cancer. Annette and her friends from Clerihan were among the 2,505 women who travelled to Magheramore beach in County Wicklow, setting a world record for skinny dipping while raising over 500,000 to support children suffering from cancer in Ireland and their families.

Similar to her friends in the Sea of Change choir, Annettes journey to the bright lights of the popular Virgin Media One talent show has been heart-wrenching. Her life did a somersault in 2016 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. I cant even begin to describe how devastating and shocking it was when I found out I had cancer. It's unbelievable because you never think its going to happen to you and when it does your stomach flips out and the room starts spinning, Annette recalls.

Annette underwent four months of chemotherapy, followed by surgery and radiotherapy. Owner of Tumbletots Playschool in Clerihan, Annette was just getting her life back on track when breast cancer returned last November.

Annette praises her family and friends for their support throughout her journey with cancer, in particular her husband George and their four sons. George is by my side 24/7 and is living the fight with me. My sons Sean (23), Luke (20), Ben (16) and Michael (8) are amazing. My really close group of friends in Clerihan, and family in Clonmel and Dublin are also a huge support.

Annette says being part of Sea of Change is a great distraction as she battles breast cancer and has made her a stronger person. She adds: Sea of Change has changed my life. Talking to the women about cancer is like talking to someone else about the weather and it has helped me to open up to people without shedding a tear. I don't know where all this inner strength has come from. Two years ago I would have been bawling crying, but I have really toughened up as a person.

The semi-finals take place on Saturday and Sunday at 7:30pm nightly, with just two acts from each going straight through to the grand final.

Semi-final one (Saturday):

One Island Clan - Dublin and Belfast

Declan Colgan (20) - Mullingar

Liv Gregorio (9) - Cork

MC Daycent (25) - Thurles

Fly Youth (13 to 19 years) - Dublin

Aidan McCann (9) - Maynooth, Kildare

Sharyn Ward (33) - Longford / Dublin

Sharon and Brandon Webb (41 and 19) - Kildare

Semi-final two (Sunday):

Rodelle Borja (29) - Swords

Johnny Quinn (60) - County Down

Tara Jamieson (23) - Dublin

Robyn Diamonds (25) - Derry

Sea of Change (34 to 70 years) - All over Ireland

BSD (10 -17 years) - Swords

Hip Hopical (5-18 years) - Monaghan, Louth, Cavan

Rebel Acro (10 to 18 years) - Cork.
[March 29, 2019]

Bell to complete shutdown of CDMA wireless network on April 30

Customers transitioning to Bell's national 4G LTE network, which now reaches more than 99% of the Canadian population

MONTREAL, March 29, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - With Bell's 4G LTE network now covering more than 99% of the national population, Bell today confirmed it will complete the previously announced shutdown of its legacy CDMA wireless network on April 30.

Bell began winding down its CDMA network in 2017 as its national LTE coverage accelerated. Customers in remaining CDMA coverage areas in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces have been notified that they will transition to Bell LTE by April 30.

"Bell is proud to welcome our CDMA customers to Canada's best national mobile network. The Bell LTE network always sets the standard in wireless speed, capacity and quality and will continue to evolve as we prepare for the introduction of 5G wireless," said Stephen Howe, Bell's Chief Technology Officer. "Our Network team looks forward to leveraging efficiencies from our CDMA shutdown, including repurposing existing site structures, fibre connections and power systems, to further enhance our industry-leading LTE network."

For more iformation about Bell's CDMA network transition, please visit Bell.ca/CDMAnetwork.







About Bell

Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing advanced broadband wireless, TV, Internet and business communication services throughout the country. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out of home and digital media. Founded in Montreal in 1880, Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca or BCE.ca.

The Bell Let's Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let's Talk Day and significant Bell funding of community care and access, research and workplace leadership initiatives. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.

Media inquiries:

Jacqueline Michelis

613-785-1427

[email protected]

@Bell_News

Investor inquiries:

Thane Fotopoulos

514-870-4619

[email protected]

SOURCE Bell Canada
[March 29, 2019] Galaxy Next Generation to be the Interactive Panel of Choice for Newton County, Georgia School District's 20,000 Students

TOCCOA, Ga., March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Galaxy Next Generation, Inc. (OTCQB: GAXY) ("Galaxy"), a U.S. distributor of interactive learning technology hardware and software that create fully collaborative instructional environments, is proud to announce that Newton County, Ga , School District, a prior purchaser of G2 panels, will continue to purchase Galaxys G2 panel as a standard. Gary Lecroy, CEO of Galaxy, said, "We are excited to be the official company awarded Newton County chool Districts G2 panel contract-it is always edifying to have an existing customer see the continued value of our products.



Galaxy Next Generation is a U.S. distributor of interactive learning technology hardware and software that allows the presenter and participant to engage in a fully collaborative instructional environment. Galaxy's products include Galaxy's own private-label interactive touch screen panel as well as numerous other national and international branded peripheral and communication devices. Galaxy's distribution channel consists of 22+ resellers across the U.S. who primarily sell the Company's products within the commercial and educational market. Galaxy does not control where resellers focus their resell efforts, although generally, the K-12 education market is the largest customer base for Galaxy products comprising nearly 90% of Galaxy's sales. CONTACT:

Galaxy Next Generation, Inc. Investor Relations [email protected] 317-361-2392 Source: Galaxy Next Generation

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[March 29, 2019] Hagens Berman: Judge Gives Nod to State Consumer-Rights Claims in Class-Action Lawsuit Representing Corvette Z06 Owners

A federal judge gave a nod to several state consumer-rights claims pertaining to warranty and fraud in a class-action lawsuit filed against General Motors regarding its Corvette Z06 vehicles that attorneys say were knowingly sold with a defective cooling system that causes the engine to overheat unexpectedly and makes the car unsuitable for track use, despite the automaker's promises of a track-proven racecar, according to Hagens Berman. Law firms Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, the Miller Law Firm, and Schuler Halvorsen Weisser Zoller Overbeck also represent the vehicle owners who say that GM sold more than 30,000 affected Corvette Z06 cars that it knew were defective. Judge Victoria A. Robert issued the order Mar. 29, 2019 upholding the rights of plaintiffs under various state laws in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington. The 70 remaining claims fall into two major categories: warranty claims and fraud claims. If you own or lease a 2015-2017 Corvette Z06, you may be entitled to compensation for this defect that inhibits your car's performance. Contact Hagens Berman to find out more about this issue and your consumer rghts against GM.



"We look forward to continuing to represent the classes of consumers in this case and fighting for their rights against General Motors (News - Alert)," said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman. "We believe those who purchased the affected Corvette Z06 so-called 'track cars' were severely shortchanged and GM owes them answers after failing to live up to deliver on the racecar hype it created." The defect at the center of the lawsuit manifests after less than 15 minutes of track driving, when affected Corvette Z06 models overheat and causes the car to enter limp mode due to a defective cooling system. When the vehicle enters limp mode its power and speed are "drastically reduced," creating an incredibly dangerous situation when surrounded by other speeding cars, the lawsuit says. Owners report they have experienced limp mode also while on public roadways.

"Accepting as true Plaintiffs' allegations, the Court finds that Plaintiffs plausibly allege their cars are not fit for the ordinary purpose of providing safe and reliable transportation on public roads and safe and reliable use on race tracks," the order states. Judge Robert upheld fraudulent concealment claims, stating, "In fact, accepting as true Plaintiffs' allegations regarding the frequency in which the Z06 overheats and enters Limp Mode when used on the track, and in light of how rigorously [Corvette's chief engineer, Tadge] Juechter says GM track-tests the car, it would be implausible to infer that GM was not aware of the car's alleged defective cooling system as a result of its testing." Judge Robert also upheld claims that GM had a duty to disclose the defect and likely had knowledge prior to sale. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages as well as injunctive relief for GM's misconduct related to the design, manufacture, marketing, sale and lease of affected vehicles. Learn more about the lawsuit against GM. About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is a consumer-rights class-action law firm with nine offices across the country. The firm's tenacious drive for plaintiffs' rights has earned it numerous national accolades, awards and titles of "Most Feared Plaintiff's Firm," and MVPs and Trailblazers of class-action law. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005540/en/

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[March 29, 2019]

LipoMedix to Present New Clinical Data on Promitil at American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019

Givat Ram High-Tech Village, Jerusalem, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lipomedix, a clinical-stage, oncology-focused pharmaceutical company, involved in the development of innovative, safe and effective cancer therapy based on a pegylated liposomal drug delivery platform, today announced that the new clinical data of Promitil in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.



This study summarizes data from 72 patients with colorectal cancer within a phase 1A-B study, and follows encouraging preclinical1,2 and clinical results3,4. Promitil achieves disease stabilization and extended survival in a significant fraction of patients with 3rd line chemo-refractory, metastatic colorectal cancer. This study also revealed that the circulating half-life of Promitil may serve as a marker of clinical benefit (stable disease) and prolonged survival.

The presentation details are as follows:

Session Title: Phase I Clinical Trials: Part 2

Session Date and Time: Monday, April 1, 2019; 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Session Location: Georgia World Congress Center, Exhibit Hall B, Poster Section 17

Poster Board Number: 11

Permanent Abstract Number: CT054

Dr. Alberto Gabizon, President & CEO of LipoMedix commented: Treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer after failure with standard chemotherapy is a frequent and unmet need in oncology. The lipidic prodrug of mitomycin-c entrapped in liposomes is an important step towards maximizing survival benefits in this difficult condition.

Sanjeev Luther, Chairman of the Board of Lipomedix commented: The treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer has undergone major advances yielding significant improvements in survival over the past two decades yet remains disappointing in pre-treated patients with advanced stage cancer. The development of Promitil represents a novel and smart tool to overcome the problems associated with mitomycin-c toxicity with an optimized liposomal delivery system reducing normal tissue exposure and enhancing cancer tissue uptake.

About Promitil

Liposomes are closed lipid vesicles. If liposomes remain long in circulation (e.g. pegylated liposomes), they tend to accumulate in tumors due to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. LipoMedix has developed a pegylated liposome delivery platform based on the encapsulation of a new chemical entity (NCE) known as mitomycin-c lipidic prodrug (MLP), a proprietary prodrug form of the anticancer agent mitomycin-c. Promitil enables efficient and selective tumor delivery of MLP with rapid activation to a powerful mitomycin-c metabolite. Promitil has low toxicity and is active against a broad variety of cancer types in animal models including colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, and multi-drug resistant tumors. Promitil is a highly stable formulation with prolonged storage shelf life of over 5 years1,2.

About Lipoedix









http://www.lipomedix.com/

About Rafael Holdings, Inc.

Rafael Holdings (NYSE AMERCIAN: RFL) holds commercial real estate assets and interests in two clinical stage pharmaceutical companies. The real estate holdings consist of properties in Newark and Piscataway, New Jersey and in Jerusalem, Israel. The pharmaceutical holdings comprise majority interests in Rafael Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and in Lipomedix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Both are focused on the development and commercialization of drugs in the oncology space. For more information, visit www.rafaelholdings.com

References:

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or the companys future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential" or "continue", the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements should not be regarded as a representation by the company, or any other person, that such forward-looking statements will be achieved. The business and operations of the company are subject to substantial risks which increase the uncertainty inherent in forward-looking statements. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In light of the foregoing, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Contact

Sanjeev Luther

Chairman of the Board, Lipomedix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

President & CEO, Rafael Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

[email protected]

Dr. Alberto Gabizon

President & CEO, LipoMedix

[email protected]
[March 29, 2019] Skycatch and Komatsu Australia partner to boost project efficiency in Job Sites Across Oceana

SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Komatsu Australia Corp. and Skycatch Inc. are partnering to boost the efficiency of construction, mining, and quarry sites across Oceana with the High Precision Package. The High Precision Package is also known as Komatsu's Everyday Drone Solution, a key component to the Smart Construction workflow. The Everyday Drone contains the Explore1 high precision UAV, the Edge1 integrated GNSS base station and edge compute module, and the Viewer, an online data visualization and analysis tool, all packaged into one, commercial grade kit. The Everyday Drone allows a user to experience industry-leading time to data without needing Ground Control Points (GCP), and the ability to seamlessly integrate precision aerial data into their Smart Construction Workflow. In common construction workflows, the time to data using traditional surveying methods could take weeks until project stakeholders can view or analyze their job site data. With the Edge1, customers are able to leverage a seamless GCP free workflow that consistently delivers sub 50 mm accurate data, in arbitrary or local coordinate systems within 30 minutes, saving countless hours and labor costs. "We are now using the Everyday Drone at the start of projects to collect whole site information for pre-tender and bidding capability, comparing against 3D design surface to provide fleet and project managers real, accurate information viewed in the Smart Construction Application. This allows them to work out their cut and fill volumes with accuracy from the beginning, and enables the project tender team to select the right machines for the project optimising flet recommendation and empowering the team to make the right, data-based decisions from the start," says Aaron Marsh National Technology Solution Expert Manager - Smart Centre at Komatsu Australia Pty Limited.



"Skycatch is proud to offer a better way of accessing precision data on-site. With traditional methods, the solutions are piecemeal, cumbersome, and time-consuming. Now, customers are able to make informed decisions about changes to what was planned and what is actually happening on site in near real-time, ultimately providing greater productivity, increased profit and reducing project risk from beginning to end," says Christian Sanz, Skycatch Founder, and CEO. Customers in Australia have already experienced the benefits of the Everyday Drone Solution, shared James Mackenzie, National Remote Support Manager at Komatsu Australia. They went out to test the receptiveness of a drone solution in the market, originally in Civil Construction and quickly expanded into Quarry sites. Mackenzie was able to survey 6 quarries in 5 days for different customers, post-processed in the cloud, receiving the data back the next day. "Compared to a traditional survey, this is 100% more productive and efficient," says Mackenzie. "By using the Everyday Drone, customers are no longer putting themselves in harm's way, surveying around heavy machinery or climbing up unstable stockpiles at risk of twisting an ankle". He also noted that customers immediately appreciated the fast turn-around-time, the ease of use, and the ruggedness of the products.

"Skycatch's ability to provide near real-time data throughout the entire project is vital, and being able to deliver that to the customer, supervisor and give project teams the ability to make decisions throughout the project easily with usable, accurate data is key to the success of the project as a whole, not just in siloed environments is priceless," says Marsh. About Skycatch Skycatch is the leading industrial data collection and analytics company, focused on indexing and extracting critical information from the physical world. We use a combination of hardware, software, and artificial intelligence to deliver high precision data at unprecedented speed and ease of use. Built for enterprise, our turnkey solutions are deployed across global project sites with the world's largest construction, mining, and energy companies. For more information, visit www.skycatch.com About Komatsu Australia Komatsu is a manufacturer of utility, construction and mining equipment and over the past 6 years has been a key driver for change in the way OEMs typically do business. Leading the way in technology and innovation in the solution based business. Komatsu has been supplying and supporting Komatsu equipment to Australian contractors, quarries, miners, farmers, and other end users since 1965  celebrating our 50th anniversary of Australian operations in 2015. Today we are a strong member of the worldwide Komatsu family, with sales, service, support and parts facilities throughout Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia  and able to draw on the global resources of Komatsu to ensure the ongoing success of our customers. We are very proud of our deep engagement with the Australian community, through our dedicated management and staff, our business partners and suppliers, our support for community organisations, and of course our customers and the industry sectors they serve. Media Contact: Jackie Guilbault | Skycatch Marketing Director | [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skycatch-and-komatsu-australia-partner-to-boost-project-efficiency-in-job-sites-across-oceana-300820875.html SOURCE Skycatch, Inc.

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[March 29, 2019] Unisys Chairman and CEO Peter Altabef Wins Federal Computer Week Eagle Award for Leadership in Driving for a Safer and More Secure Internet

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today announced that Unisys Chairman and CEO Peter Altabef has been honored as the 2019 industry recipient of the Eagle Award for his significant contributions to federal government IT. Two winners of the Eagle award  one from government and one from industry  are selected each year from among the 100 winners of the annual Federal Computer Week Federal 100 Awards recognizing individuals who made a significant impact on federal IT in the past year. The 2019 Eagle winners  "the best of the best," according to Federal Computer Week  were announced at the March 28 Federal 100 Awards Gala in Washington, D.C. Altabef was cited for his work with the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), a presidential advisory committee established in 1982. Altabef serves as co-chair of the NSTAC's Cybersecurity Moonshot initiative, the goal of which is to make the Internet safe and secure for the delivery of critical services by 2028. The Cybersecurity Moonshot team delivered its report  which calls for a "whole of nation" approach encompassing government, business and academia, similar to the approach taken with the original Apollo Moonshot  t the White House in November 2018.



"It is an incredible honor to have been selected for this award. I humbly and gratefully accept it on behalf of all who have contributed to the Cyber Moonshot initiative, including my colleagues at Unisys," said Altabef. "I would also like to congratulate all of the Federal 100 Award winners who serve our country every day." For more information on the Cybersecurity Moonshot, visit www.unisys.com/moonshot.

About Unisys

Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most demanding businesses and governments on Earth. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing. For more information on how Unisys builds better outcomes securely for its clients across the Government, Financial Services and Commercial markets, visit www.unisys.com. Follow Unisys on Twitter and LinkedIn. RELEASE NO.: 0329/9660 Unisys and other Unisys products and services mentioned herein, as well as their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Unisys Corporation. Any other brand or product referenced herein is acknowledged to be a trademark or registered trademark of its respective holder. UIS-C View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unisys-chairman-and-ceo-peter-altabef-wins-federal-computer-week-eagle-award-for-leadership-in-driving-for-a-safer-and-more-secure-internet-300820611.html SOURCE Unisys Corporation

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[March 28, 2019] Exyte honoured 'Excellent Supplier of the Year' by HLMC

SHANGHAI, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Exyte, the global leader in the design, engineering and construction of high-tech facilities, plants and factories, received the "Excellent Supplier of the Year" Award from Shanghai Huali Microelectronics Corporation (HLMC) on March 19, 2019. The award is in recognition of Exyte's exceptional performance in the delivery of HLMC's new 300mm wafer fab manufacturing facility in Shanghai. The wafer fab will provide HLMC, a pure-play foundry with their most advanced 300mm manufacturing capability for semiconductor ICs including new products based on 14m FinFET process technology.



Exyte served HLMC as the key contractor delivering high-tech cleanroom and related sub-systems, as well as process-critical facility systems. As the global leader in the design & build of semiconductor facilities, Exyte successfully contributed its vast experience to this project and fully met customer's needs. One of the most important factors here is to ensure that the sensitive silicon wafers being processed are continuously maintained in an ultra-clean and controlled environment and supplied with high purity/process-critical media at the process equipment. Through more than a decade of partnership, Exyte has realized several semiconductor projects for HLMC in Shanghai, China.

Junjun Tang, President of HLMC, said: "HLMC is developing very quickly. The support of our vendors and contractors is important to contribute to our growth. This award to Exyte is significant as it is the first time HLMC has presented an excellent performance award to a construction contractor." Herbert Blaschitz, President of Exyte's Global Business Unit Advanced Technology Facilities, received this award on behalf of Exyte. "We are very proud to receive this award from our customer HLMC. It highlights Exyte's focus on delivering engineering excellence as well as the commitment to our customers for high-quality project delivery that is on time and on budget." "The Asia Pacific region is the most important market for Exyte. This award by HLMC is an acknowledgement of Exyte's leadership in the design and construction of highly controlled cleanroom environments. We strive to expand and bring our field of expertise to support the requirements of customers in the semiconductor, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemicals and data center industries," states Mark Garvey, President of Exyte Asia-Pacific. Exyte was awarded the contract by HLMC to design and build its new facility in Shanghai, China. The 300mm advanced production line project with a capacity of 40K wafers per month is the biggest integrated circuit investment project in Shanghai. The new facility works by Exyte include a 34,000 square metres cleanroom, mechanical, electrical and process distribution and plant systems. As a result of the close cooperation between HLMC and Exyte China, the project was completed in 16.5 months, 45 days ahead of its planned schedule. More information on Shanghai Huali Microelectronics and Exyte

https://photos.prnasia.com/prnk/20190328/2417290-1 Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190328/2417290-1-a

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190328/2417290-1-b

Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190328/2417290-1logo SOURCE Exyte

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Israel Migrates to the Right

By Lawrence Davidson

March 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - An article published in the Israeli news blog +972 on 19 November 2018posed the question: Why does the right keep winning elections in Israel? The answer offered was because Israelis are right wing. Simple enough, and apparently, quite true. The article estimates that over half of Israeli Jews think of themselves as right wing. Self-defined centrists are about 25 percent, and those Israeli Jews who still cling to leftist ideals are now only about 15 percent of the population. The remainder are non-committal.

This movement to the right is often blamed on the Palestinians, but that is largely an evasion. As the story goes, it was the Second Intifada (occurring from late 2000 to early 2005) that so scared a majority of Israeli Jews that it led to a migration of left-wingers to the  political center [and] centrists [to the] right, causing the percentage of Jewish right-wingers to drift upward over the decade. While the migration to the right has certainly taken place, it is better understood as follows: under Palestinian pressure for democratic reforms and justice, along with corresponding resistance to oppression, Israeli Jews who could not face the prospect of real democracy had nowhere politically to go than to the rightwhat should properly be described as the racist right. And, so they went. From this point on there was no more obfuscationIsraeli security is now clearly a stand-in phrase for the maintenance of Israeli Jewish domination over non-Jews.

Part IIEnter the Fascists

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The present shifting about on Israels political landscape prior to its April 2019 elections confirms this basically rightwing racist scene. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that Israel is the national state, not of all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people. A minority of Israeli Jews might denounce such racism, but Israels recently adopted nationality law states that the right of national self-determination in Israel is unique to the Jewish people. And whether the left acknowledges the fact or not, this law is in perfect sync with Zionist ideology.

It should be noted that the prime ministers personal preference is not for the Jewish people as a whole. Indeed, in his eyes, if you are an anti-Zionist Jew you are an anti-Semitic Jewwhatever that might mean. The prime minister is more comfortable with Jews of the fascist, racist right, with whom he has so much in common. This is the kind of Jew he has politically allied with. What in the world is a fascist Jew? Well, in this case, it is someone who uses violent methods to realize the logical consequences of Zionismif Israel is a Jewish state, then non-Jews must go. How they ultimately go has been left an open-ended question, though Israel is engaged in a continuous effort to destroy Palestinian infrastructure. Fascist Jews advocate expulsion of all Palestinians and sometimes engage in direct violenceakin to classic pogromsin an effort to fulfill this goal.

You might shake your head in wonderment at the notion of Jewish fascists, but they have always been an important element in Zionist history. You can trace their activity from Vladimir Jabotinsky and his notion of an iron wall (1923) that would force the Palestinians to acquiesce in Zionist domination, right up to Meir Kahane, an advocate of expulsion, and his Kach Party (1971-1990). It is Kahanes followers who now are political partners of Netanyahu. The migration of Israeli Jews to the right has narrowed the gap between the majority of ordinary citizens and the fascists. So, back into favor come the Kahanists.

Part IIIWhat Is an Israeli Centrist?

Nor should we look for anti-racist activism among the 25 percent who see themselves as centrists. Presently, those who seek to capture the centrist vote are Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid. Gantz is former chief-of-staff and a man who is being sued for war crimes. He is leader of the Israeli Resilience Party (Hosen Israel). That party has allied with Yair Lapid, a former TV celebrity, and his There is a future Party (Yesh Atid).

Both of these politicians call themselves new centrists and concentrate their platforms on socio-economic issues such as the cost of living. However, when it comes to the Palestinians, neither of them are interested in a democratic Israel that would afford non-Jews equal rightsnothing particularly new here for centrists. Gantz is the classic military maven so prevalent in Israeli politics. Here is his view of where resilience should take Israel relative to the Palestinians: The Jordan Valley will remain our eastern security border, Gantz declared. We will maintain security in the entire Land of Israel  we will not allow the millions of Palestinians living beyond the separation fence to endanger our security and our identity as a Jewish state. For someone who is campaigning on the theme that, under its present government, Israel has lost its way, Gantzs intentions in this regard are remarkably similar to those of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yair Lapids position on the Palestinians is little different from that of Gantz. He says that we need to separate from the Palestinians, as if Israeli Jews havent been doing just that for the past 71 years. He goes on to demand that all issues of security have to stay in Israels hands, there is no such thing as a right of return, and Jerusalem will not be divided into two capitals.

On the Palestinian issuethe one that now divides Israel from increasing numbers of citizens in the democratic worldthere is little difference between the Israeli rightists and the centrists except that the latter do not publicly talk about the forceful expulsion.

Part IVConclusion

That approximately 85 percent of Israeli Jews should end up unwilling to grant equal rights to the 20 percent of Palestinians who are their segregated neighbors; that they should support, or at best not act against the relentless, vicious process of illegal settlement in the Occupied Territories; and finally that they should react to Palestinian resistance to Zionist oppression by migrating to the right, is both tragic and predictable.

It must be realized that any country that allows racism to rule its public sphere cannot pass itself off as a democracy. It is simply a contradiction. The Zionist experiment looking toward a democratic Jewish state might have gone differently if it had been tried somewhere devoid of a non-Jewish population (like the moon), but then, in the end, the Zionists became obsessed with Palestine, fell in with the colonial mentality still prevalent during the first half of the twentieth century, and have never progressed beyond it.

To this point, I beg the readers patience as I repeat an argument I have made more than once in past analyses: It is impossible to create a state exclusively for one people (call them people A) in a territory already populated by another people (call them people B) without the eventual adoption of racist policies by A and eventual resistance on the part of B. Under such circumstances, for A, there can be no real security, nor can there be anything like a healthy national culture.

Indeed, unless a majority of Israeli Jews are willing to go the route of South Africa and renounce their program of discriminatory dominion over millions of non-Jews, they have nowhere else to go but head-first into the hell that is the racist right. With 85 percent sharing, or at least acquiescing, in the views of Netanyahu, Gantz, and Lapid, the chances for redemption do not look good. In fact, it is probably the case that the light unto the nations has long since gone out.

Lawrence Davidson is professor of history emeritus at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He has been publishing his analyses of topics in U.S. domestic and foreign policy, international and humanitarian law and Israel/Zionist practices and policies since 2010. https://tothepointanalyses.com

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[March 28, 2019] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces the Filing of a Securities Class Action on Behalf of Conduent Incorporated Investors (CNDT)

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM"), a national investors rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors that acquired Conduent Incorporated ("Conduent" or the "Company") (NYSE: CNDT) securities February 21, 2018 and November 6, 2018, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Conduent investors have until May 7, 2019 to file a lead plaintiff motion. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. 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 Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com.



On November 7, 2018, Conduent attributed its negative Q3 and Q4 projected operating results to "continued suboptimal performance from an inherited legacy technology vendorstem[ming] from the vendor's inability to deliver on service level agreements, lack of responsiveness to Conduent's needs, and poorly structured contract which [the Company] inherited." The Company also disclosed that an "outdated and historically under-invested legacy IT infrastructure has caused major disruptions to our operations and impacted clients and delivery performance." On this news, shares of Conduent fell $5.60, or 29%, to close at $13.62 on November 7, 2018, thereby injuring investors. The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Conduent had misled investors in representing that as of February 2018, it had fixed efficiency issues caused by the company operating on various information resource platforms; (2) those representations being noted as false per the November 7, 2018 admissions made by Conduent that it was continuing to have issues regarding it's outdated legacy IT infrastructure.

Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert): twitter.com/GPM_LLP. If you purchased shares of Conduent during the Class Period you may move the Court no later than May 7, 2019 to ask the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff. 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 Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190328006003/en/

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[March 29, 2019] amalan chosen by OJK as the only Fintech company specialized in helping borrowers reduce their debt burden

OJK introduces 12 new Fintech clusters to promote innovation in the Financial Services Sector (Regulation Number 13 / POJK.02 / 2018)

amalan is the only company in the "Online Distressed Solutions" cluster, which aims at helping borrowers reduce their debt burden

In aggregate there is an estimated US$ 20 billion of distressed overdue credit cards, KTA and mortgages in Indonesia

amalan offers a unique combination of restructuring and refinancing solutions that targets the more than 2 million Indonesian borrowers that have difficulties paying their monthly loan installments

amalan is a social enterprise that helps consumers and business owners on a success fee basis, without any upfront fees JAKARTA, Indonesia, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Indonesia's financial services authority, OJK, announced today the creation of new Fintech segments that will be regulated under Regulation Number 13 / POJK.02 / 2018. Among the 34 companies in 12 new segments, amalan stands out as the only company in the "Online Distressed Solutions" cluster. In fact, OJK created this segment specifically to reflect the uniqueness of amalan's services that focus on helping borrowers to find a way out of over-indebtedness. Using amalan's debt management programs, the debt burden can in many cases be reduced by 50% to 90%, giving the borrowers and their families a fresh start to build a better financial future. Given the rapid technological progress that fuels digital financial innovation in Indonesia, OJK has introduced regulation Number 13 / POJK.02/2018 concerning Digital Financial Innovation (abbreviated as IKD). This regulation aims at improving consumer protection, financial inclusion, service levels and risk management - all of which are goals shared by amalan. OJK has selected the leaders in each cluster who will be given a "regulatory sandbox" to then work together with OJK for the next 12 months to develop the right set of rules that will later become mandatory for all companies tha are active in this space. "Our team at amalan is excited to cooperate with our counterparts at OJK to create a framework that focuses on consumer protection, efficient service and the best possible results for all parties involved with the loan restructuring," says amalan's founder and CEO, Arne Hartmann.



In the three years since its establishment in 2015, amalan has consistently introduced new and innovative solutions that offer better and faster results to more borrowers. At its core, there are three fundamental differentiators that make amalan unique in Indonesia: amalan works FOR the borrowers to find the best possible solution in cooperation WITH their lenders.

amalan develops a customized solution for each individual, taking into account ALL loans, ALL income, and ALL assets to get out of debt faster, paying less interest and less penalties.

amalan does not ask for upfront fees and instead uses a success fee model where the borrower only needs to pay AFTER a restructuring plan has been agreed. The amount of the success fee is based on the savings generated through the restructuring. Most of amalan's customers sign up for a Debt Management Program. This is a customized solution that uses amalan's systems and proprietary data to determine the best possible way to reduce the debt burden through various forms of loan restructuring. In many cases, this leads to a reduction of between 50-90% of the outstanding balance and/or the monthly installments.

Since 2018, amalan has partnered with CIMB Niaga and Koinworks to introduce refinancing options, where several expensive old loans are replaced with an affordable new loan. Of course, refinancing requires the approval of amalan's refinancing partners. However, due to amalan's restructuring expertise, chances of qualifying for a refinancing loan are much higher than without amalan. Currently amalan offers mortgage refinancing for homeowners and a CardCutter / CardCutter+ program, which do not require collateral. In addition to offering better results, amalan is also constantly improving the user experience by simplifying and accelerating all processes. Borrowers can request a free consultation with one of amalan's consultants by submitting their data either through the mobile app or through the website at www.amalan.com. Until the end of 2018, amalan has successfully settled more than 1,300 cases with an aggregate balance outstanding of 30 billion rupiah (US$ 2 million), which resulted in approximately 10 billion rupiah (US$ 700,000) savings for the borrowers. Demand for restructuring services remains strong in 2019, with inquiries per month currently representing an aggregate balance of more than 550 billion rupiah (US$ 40 million) per month, of which half are overdue already and the other half is at risk of default. "We thank OJK for their trust in amalan. We share OJK's goals, especially with regards to improving consumer protection in the financial services sector. We are ready to contribute to the progress, innovation and security of the financial services sector in Indonesia," says Arne Hartmann, founder and CEO of amalan. Given the company's size today and its current growth rate, amalan is expected to continue as Indonesia's leading debt management company, and is currently preparing its expansion to Malaysia and other ASEAN countries. About amalan international is the first technology-enabled debt management company in Indonesia that is under the supervision of OJK. amalan works for the borrowers to find the most affordable loan restructuring solutions in cooperation with their lenders. amalan's debt management programs use technology and proprietary data to get borrowers out of debt faster, paying less penalties and less interest. In addition to debt management programs, amalan also offers refinancing options to replace expensive old loans with an affordable new loan. amalan's Indonesian office was established in Jakarta in 2015 and has built a team of restructuring and IT experts with decades of relevant experience. In July 2016, amalan was the first company in Asia to get accreditation from the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators ( IAPDA ). Please visit our website at https://www.amalan.com/id/press-kit for further press materials, including success stories of amalan customers, fact sheet and company profile. Media contact: Arne Hartmann

Tel: +65 94554175

Email: [email protected] Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190329/2418514-1 SOURCE PT amalan International Indonesia

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[March 29, 2019] Success of Thales Offer for Gemalto Shares

Regulatory News: Reference is made to the joint press release by Thales (News - Alert) (Euronext Paris: HO) and Gemalto (Euronext Amsterdam and Paris: GTO) dated 27 March 2018 in relation to the launch of the recommended all-cash offer by Thales for all the issued and outstanding shares of Gemalto (News - Alert) (the Offer), the publication of the Offer Document, and the joint press release of Thales and Gemalto dated 14 March 2019 in relation to the Acceptance Closing Time. Terms not defined in this press release will have the meaning set forth in the Offer Document. Upon expiration of the Acceptance Period at 17:40 (CET) yesterday, approximately 85.58% of the Gemalto shares have been tendered to the Offer. As a result, all Offer Conditions described in the Offer Document have now been satisfied or waived. Thales and Gemalto are therefore pleased to announce that Thales declares the Offer unconditional (doet gestand). "The integration of Gemalto marks the start of a bold new chapter in the history of Thales. Together, Thales and Gemalto will have the ability to cover the digital needs of all clients, in civilian and defence businesses, across all Thales market segments, with a unique portfolio of advanced technologies in the fields of digital security and the Internet of Things."

Patrice Caine, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Thales Acceptance

During the Acceptance Period, that expired at 17:40 (CET) yesterday, 79,889,388 Shares (including Shares represented by American depositary shares) have been tendered to the Offer, representing approximately 85.58% of the aggregate issued and outstanding share capital of Gemalto (on a fully diluted basis), and an aggregate value of approximately EUR 4,074 million (for an Offer Price of EUR 51.00 (cum dividend) per Share). Settlement

In accordance with the Offer Document published on 27 March 2018, holders of Ordinary Shares who accepted the Offer will be paid an amount in cash of EUR 51.00 (the Offer Price) per Share and holders of ADS who accepted the Offer will be paid an amount in U.S. dollar corresponding to 50% of the Offer Price, or EUR 25.50 (the ADS Offer Price) per ADS, the U.S. dollar equivalent being calculated by Thales using the spot market exchange rate for the U.S. dollar against the euro published on Bloomberg (News - Alert) at 12:00 p.m. New York time, on the day immediately prior to the date on which funds are received by American Stock Transfer & Trust Co., LLC (the ADS Tender Agent), to pay the ADS Offer Price to the holders of all Tendered ADS. Payment of the Offer Price and the ADS Offer Price will occur on 2 April 2019 (the Settlement Date). Thales currently does not hold any Shares. Following the Settlement of the Offer, Thales will hold 79,889,388 Shares, representing 85.58% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Gemalto (on a fully diluted basis). Post-Closing Acceptance Period

Thales hereby announces that Shareholders who have not tendered their Shares during the Acceptance Period will have the opportunity to tender their Shares under the same terms and conditions applicable to the Offer, in a Post-Closing Acceptance Period (na-aanmeldingstermijn) which will start at 09:00 (CET) on Monday 1 April 2019 and end at 17:40 (CET) on Monday 15 April 2019 (the Post-Closing Acceptance Period). A notice of guaranteed delivery will not be an effective means of tendering ADS during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period and no notice of guaranteed delivery will be accepted following the Acceptance Closing Time. The Offer Price paid to ADS holders in the Post-Closing Acceptance Period shall be converted to U.S. dollars using the Applicable Exchange Rate. In all cases, fluctuations in the euro to the U.S. dollar exchange rate are at the risk of holders of Tendered ADS. Thales will publicly announce the results of the Post-Closing Acceptance Period and the total number and total percentage of Shares held by it in accordance with Article 17, paragraph 4 of the Decree ultimately on the 3rd Dutch Business Day following the last day of the Post-Closing Acceptance Period. Thales shall continue to accept for payment all Shares validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by Thales) during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period and shall pay for such Shares within 5 Business Day following the last day of the Post-Closing Acceptance Period. During the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, Shareholders have no right to withdraw Shares from the Offer, regardless whether their Shares have been validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by Thales) during the Acceptance Period or the Post-Closing Acceptance Period. Buy-Out

If, following the settlement of the Shares tendered during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, Thales and its Affiliates hold at least 95% of the issued ordinary share capital (geplaatst gewoon aandelenkapitaal) of Gemalto, Thales intends to commence (i) a compulsory acquisition procedure (uitkoopprocedure) in accordance with article 2:92a or 2:201a of the Dutch Civil Code, and/or (ii) a takeover buy-out procedure in accordance with article 2:359c of the Dutch Civil code in order to buy out the Shareholders who have not tendered their Shares. Delisting

Thales and Gemalto intend to as soon as possible procure the delisting of the Shares from Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Paris and terminate the listing agreement between Gemalto and Euronext. Gemalto also intends to terminate the Deposit Agreement effective as per the delisting of the Shares. These actions may adversely affect the liquidity and market value of any listed Shares not tendered. Reference is made to Section 6.13 (Liquidity and Delisting) and Section 6.14 (Termination of the ADS Deposit Agreement) of the Offer Document. Further implications of the Offer being declared unconditional

Remaining Shareholders who do not wish to tender their Shares during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period should carefully review the sections of the Offer Document that further explain the intentions of Thales, such as (but not limited to) Sections 6.12 (Intentions following the Offer being declared unconditional) up to and including Section 6.15.5 (Other measures), which describe certain implications to which such Shareholdes will be subject if the Offer is declared unconditional.



Announcements

Any further announcements in relation to the Offer will be issued by press release. Any joint press release issued by Thales and Gemalto will be made available on the websites of Thales (www.thalesgroup.com) and Gemalto (www.gemalto.com). Subject to any applicable requirements of the applicable rules and without limiting the manner in which Thales may choose to make any public announcement, Thales will have no obligation to make any public announcement other than as described above. Further information

This announcement contains selected and condensed information regarding the Offer and does not replace the Offer Document and/or the Position Statement. The information in this announcement is not complete and additional information is contained in the Offer Document and the Position Statement.

Digital copies of the Offer Document and its French summary are available on the websites of Thales (www.thalesgroup.com) and Gemalto (www.gemalto.com). Such websites do not constitute a part of, and are not included or referred to in, the Offer Document. Copies of the Offer Document are also available free of charge from the 4 Agents listed below. The Settlement Agent for Ordinary Shares: ING BANK N.V.

Address: Bijlmerplein 888, 1102 MG Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Telephone: +31 20 56 36 619

E-mail: [email protected] The ADS Tender Agent: AMERICAN STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST COMPANY, LLC

Address: 6201 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, 11219, United States

Telephone: +1 (877) 248 6417

E-mail: [email protected] The Information Agent for Ordinary Shares: IPREO

Address: 10, rue du Colisee, 75008 Paris, France

Telephone: +33 (0)1 79 73 12 12

E-mail: [email protected] The U.S. Information Agent for ADS: D.F. KING & CO., INC

Address: 48 Wall Street, 22nd Floor, New York, New York, 10005, United States

Telephone: +1 (877) 536 1556

E-mail: [email protected] **** This is a joint press release by Thales and Gemalto pursuant to Section 16, paragraph 1 and 2, Section 17, paragraph 1 of the Dutch decree on public takeover bids (Besluit openbare biedingen Wft) in connection with the recommended all-cash offer by Thales for all the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of Gemalto, including all American depositary shares (ADS). This announcement does not constitute an offer, or any solicitation of any offer, to buy or subscribe for any securities in Gemalto. Any offer is only made by means of the Offer Document dated 27 March 2018, which is available on the website of Thales at www.thalesgroup.com/en/investors and on the website of Gemalto at www.gemalto.com/investors. About Thales

The people we all rely on to make the world go round - they rely on Thales. Our customers come to us with big ambitions: to make life better, to keep us safer. Combining a unique diversity of expertise, talents and cultures, our architects design and deliver extraordinary high technology solutions. Solutions that make tomorrow possible, today. From the bottom of the oceans to the depth of space and cyberspace, we help our customers think smarter and act faster - mastering ever greater complexity and every decisive moment along the way. With 66,000 employees in 56 countries, Thales reported sales of 15.9 billion in 2018. www.thalesgroup.com About Gemalto

Gemalto is the global leader in digital security, with 2017 annual revenues of 3 billion and customers in over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world. From secure software to biometrics and encryption, our technologies and services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between. Gemalto's solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people, transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software - enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of individuals and things. Our 15,000 employees operate out of 112 offices, 43 personalization and data centers, and 30 research and software development centers located in 48 countries. www.gemalto.com Notice to U.S. holders of Gemalto Shares

The Offer is made for the securities of Gemalto, a public limited liability company incorporated under Dutch Law, and is subject to Dutch disclosure and procedural requirements, which are different from those of the United States of America. The Offer is made in the United States of America in compliance with Section 14(e) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "U.S. Exchange Act"), and the applicable rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, including Regulation 14E (subject to any exemptions or relief therefrom, if applicable) and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of Dutch law. Accordingly, the Offer is subject to disclosure and other procedural requirements, including with respect to the Offer timetable, settlement procedures, withdrawal, waiver of conditions and timing of payments that are different from those applicable under U.S. domestic tender offer procedures and laws. The receipt of cash pursuant to the Offer by a U.S. holder of Gemalto Shares may be a taxable transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes and under applicable state and local, as well as foreign and other tax laws. Each holder of Gemalto shares is urged to consult his independent professional advisor immediately regarding the tax consequences of accepting the Offer. To the extent permissible under applicable laws and regulations, including Rule 14e-5 under the U.S. Exchange Act, and in accordance with normal Dutch practice, Thales and its affiliates or its broker and its broker's affiliates (acting as agents or on behalf of Thales or its affiliates, as applicable) may from time to time after the date of the joint press release by Thales and Gemalto dated 17 December 2017, and other than pursuant to the Offer, directly or indirectly purchase, or arrange to purchase Shares or any securities that are convertible into, exchangeable for or exercisable for such Shares. These purchases may occur either in the open market at prevailing prices or in private transactions at negotiated prices. In no event will any such purchases be made for a price per Share that is greater than the Offer Price. To the extent information about such purchases or arrangements to purchase is made public in The Netherlands, such information will be disclosed by means of a press release or other means reasonably calculated to inform U.S. shareholders of Gemalto of such information. No purchases will be made outside of the Offer in the United States of America by or on behalf of the Thales or its affiliates. In addition, the financial advisors to Thales may also engage in ordinary course trading activities in securities of Gemalto, which may include purchases or arrangements to purchase such securities. To the extent required in The Netherlands, any information about such purchases will be announced by press release in accordance with Section 5 paragraph 4 or Section 13 of the Dutch decree on public takeover bids (Besluit openbare biedingen Wft) and posted on the website of Thales at www.thalesgroup.com. Restrictions

The distribution of this press release may, in some countries, be restricted by law or regulation. Accordingly, persons who come into possession of this document should inform themselves of and observe these restrictions. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Thales and Gemalto disclaim any responsibility or liability for the violation of any such restrictions by any person. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of that jurisdiction. Neither Thales, nor Gemalto, nor any of their advisors assumes any responsibility for any violation by any of these restrictions. Any Gemalto shareholder who is in any doubt as to his position should consult an appropriate professional advisor without delay. Forward Looking Statements

This press release may include "forward-looking statements" and language indicating trends, such as the words "anticipate", "expect", "approximate", "believe", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "may", "potential" and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are only based upon currently available information and speak only as of the date of this press release. Such forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to a significant business, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are unknown and many of which Thales and Gemalto are unable to predict or control. Such factors may cause Thales and/or Gemalto's actual results, performance or plans with respect to the transaction between Thales and Gemalto to differ materially from any future results, performance or plans expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Neither Thales nor Gemalto, nor any of their advisors accepts any responsibility for any financial information contained in this press release relating to the business or operations or results or financial condition of the other or their respective groups. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190328006004/en/

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[March 29, 2019] Centrica Business Solutions and Tokyo Electric Power Company Join Forces to Support the Decarbonisation of the Japanese Grid

LONDON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Centrica's distributed energy and power business, Centrica Business Solutions, has joined forces with the venturing arm of Japan's largest power company, TEPCO, to deliver industrial demand response capacity for the Japanese grid. From 1st April, TEPCO Ventures (TEPCO) will use Centrica Business Solutions' award-winning FlexPond Demand Side Response (DSR) platform to provide the Transmission System Operator with flexibility services for the Reserve market in the Kyushu region, which has a significant number of both industrial customers and renewable energy projects connected to the power grid. The deal will see Centrica deliver FlexPond under an innovative commercial 'software as a service' model that allows utilities to use Centrica's proprietary platform to build their own virtual power plants (VPPs) and deliver clean demand side response capacity from a variety of flexible generation and demand assets. The cloud-based platform is currently used by over 150 of Europe's largest energy users and has won awards for its capabilities in high-value reserve markets that require a response in under a second. VPPs allow physical assets such as renewable generators and energy storage facilities to be managed as a single unit, providing an alternative to centralised power generation. Pieter-Jan Mermans, global Optimisation Director for Centrica Business Solutions said: "We are delighted to be supporting TEPCO intheir mission to drive forward demand response in Japan, harnessing the power of flexible industrial demand while securing a new revenue stream for their customer base.



"At Centrica we believe that one of our key responsibilities is to help our customers reduce their carbon footprint. Building virtual power plants that mitigate the need to build new fossil-fuelled plants is a key part of that so giving other energy and utility companies access to our software is an important way for us to support global decarbonisation efforts." TEPCO Ventures is working to develop advanced services for customers that will combine TEPCO's network operation knowledge with the advanced technologies of Centrica Business Solutions, and ultimately plans to expand its offer beyond Kyushu to provide transmission system operators all over Japan with flexibility services from commercial and industrial customers.

Shinji Akatsuka, President of TEPCO Ventures said: "It is a great honour for TEPCO Ventures to work with Centrica, which has a proven track record in Europe. We look forward to contributing to the realisation of a low carbon society." Japan's future Demand Response capability is expected to evolve from today's capacity-like reserves to frequency regulation and wider ancillary services by 2021. About Centrica Centrica plc is an international energy and services company. Our purpose is to provide energy and services to satisfy the changing needs of our customers. We've been serving customers for over 200 years and aim to be at the centre of their daily lives - central to helping them run their world. Under the Centrica Business Solutions brand, we deliver integrated energy solutions, combining distributed energy technologies and a variety of commercial options to help businesses and other large energy users to improve performance and cost management, drive decarbonisation, strengthen resilience, and create opportunities for growth. Centrica already has a small customer base in Japan through Centrica Business Solutions. About TEPCO Ventures TEPCO Ventures is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Holding Co., Ltd., and was established for the purpose of creating new business development. TEPCO Ventures will create various businesses as an extension of its core utilities business and focus on solving social issues in the energy field and related areas and foster new business opportunities. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO) is Japan's largest power company group. As a group, it generates, distributes, and sells electricity and other types of energy to mainly the Kanto Region, which includes Japan's two most populous cities, Tokyo and Yokohama.

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[March 29, 2019] TSE and Huawei signed the Cooperation Agreement for over 150 MW Japanese Solar Farm

BANGKOK, Thailand, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Thai Solar Energy Public Company Limited ("TSE"), the leading renewable energy company in Southeast Asia, and Huawei joint announced the signing of a cooperation agreement in Bangkok, Thailand on March 26, 2019. This agreement is to purchase the Huawei 1500V Smart PV Solution for an installed power generation capacity of over 150MW Onikoube Solar Farm in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The signing ceremony marks the start of a comprehensive cooperation between TSE and Huawei on utility scale PV plants in Asia Pacific. A number of senior executives from both sides attended the signing ceremony, including Cathleen Maleenont Ed. D., CEO of TSE, Mr. Somphop Prompanapitak, COO of TSE, Mr. Taoyuan Zhou, President of Huawei Network Energy, Mr. Tony Xu, President of Huawei Smart PV Business, Mr. Mark Meng, Head of Huawei Thailand Enterprise Business Group and Mr. Bruce Li, Generl Manager of Huawei Smart PV Business APAC.



TSE is one of the most influential PV plant operators in Southeast Asia, focusing on the development and investment of utility scale PV plants for decades. The collaboration between TSE and Huawei started from July, 2014 on a pilot project. After several years' stable operation, the executives from TSE highly recognize the value of Huawei FusionSolar Smart PV Solution and willingly partner with Huawei to produce clean energy to fulfill the growing demands in Asia Pacific.

As a leading global ICT ("Information and Communication Technology") and network energy solutions provider, Huawei innovatively integrates digital information technologies such as AI ("Artificial Intelligence"), IoT ("Internet of Things"), big data, and cloud computing, with PV technology, to promote industry-leading smart PV solutions. For the installed power generation capacity of over 150 MW PV plant, Huawei will provide the industry-leading 1500V Smart PV Solution with Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis, which combined the AI algorithm will highly improve the O&M ("Operation and Maintenance") efficiency and reduce the operating cost. The AI-aided 1500V FusionSolar Smart PV Solution will continuously reduce LCOE ("Levelized cost of electricity") and accelerate the grid parity process in Asia Pacific. About TSE: TSE was established in 2008 based in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the first in Southeast Asia to have effectively applied an advanced technology to utilize the sun radiation and converting it into green energy. TSE is in collaboration with several World renowned energy institutes and specialized energy companies to continuously evaluate their performance. TSE is a winner in the Asia's Best Performing Companies category of the Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (ACES) 2018. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190329/2418487-1-a

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190329/2418487-1-b SOURCE Huawei

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[March 29, 2019] Notice of the Annual General Meeting of Nokia Corporation

Nokia Corporation

Stock Exchange Release

March 29, 2019 at 9:30 (CET +1)



Notice of the Annual General Meeting of Nokia Corporation Notice is given to the shareholders of Nokia Corporation (the "Company") of the Annual General Meeting to be held on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. at Helsinki Messukeskus, Messuaukio 1, Helsinki, Finland. The reception of persons who have registered for the Meeting will commence at 12:30 p.m. A. Matters on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting

At the Annual General Meeting, the following matters will be considered:

1. Opening of the Meeting

2. Matters of order for the Meeting

3. Election of a person to confirm the minutes and a person to verify the counting of votes

4. Recording the legal convening of the Meeting and quorum

5. Recording the attendance at the Meeting and adoption of the list of votes

6. Presentation of the Annual Accounts, the review by the Board of Directors and the auditor's report for the year 2018

- Review by the President and CEO

7. Adoption of the Annual Accounts

8. Resolution on the use of the profit shown on the balance sheet and authorization to the Board of Directors to resolve on the distribution of distributable funds

The Board proposes that instead of a direct resolution on dividend payment, the Annual General Meeting authorize the Board to resolve in its discretion on the distribution of an aggregate maximum of EUR 0.20 per share as dividend from the retained earnings and/or as repayment of capital from the fund for invested unrestricted equity.

The authorization would be valid until the opening of the next Annual General Meeting. The authorization would be used to distribute funds in four instalments during the validity of the authorization, unless the Board decides otherwise for a justified reason. The Board would make separate resolutions on the amount and timing of each distribution with preliminary record and payment dates stated below. The Company will announce each Board resolution separately and confirm the relevant record and payment dates in such announcements. Preliminary record date Preliminary payment date May 23, 2019 June 6, 2019 July 30, 2019 August 8, 2019 October 29, 2019 November 7, 2019 February 4, 2020 February 13, 2020

Each instalment would be paid to the shareholders that are registered in the Company's Register of Shareholders maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy on the record date of the relevant instalment.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend is distributed directly by a resolution of the Annual General Meeting based on the balance sheet to be adopted for the financial period ended on December 31, 2018.

9. Resolution on the discharge of the members of the Board of Directors and the President and CEO from liability

10. Resolution on the remuneration to the members of the Board of Directors

On the recommendation of the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the annual fee payable to the Board members elected at the same meeting for a term ending at the close of the next Annual General Meeting remains at current level: EUR 440 000 for the Chair of the Board, EUR 185 000 for the Vice Chair of the Board and EUR 160 000 for each Board member. In addition, it is proposed that the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Chair of the Personnel Committee will each receive an additional annual fee of EUR 30 000, Chair of the Technology Committee an additional annual fee of EUR 20 000 and other members of the Audit Committee an additional annual fee of EUR 15 000 each.

The Board also proposes that a meeting fee for Board and Committee meetings be paid to all the other Board members, except the Chair of the Board, based on travel required between the Board member's home location and the location of a meeting. The meeting fee would be paid for a maximum of seven meetings per term and remain on the following levels: EUR 5 000 per meeting requiring intercontinental travel and EUR 2 000 per meeting requiring continental travel.

Furthermore, the Board also proposes that members of the Board of Directors shall be compensated for travel and accommodation expenses as well as other costs directly related to Board and Committee work.

It is proposed that approximately 40% of the annual fee be paid in Nokia shares purchased from the market, or alternatively by using treasury shares held by the Company. The meeting fee, travel expenses and other expenses would be paid in cash.

11. Resolution on the number of members of the Board of Directors

On the recommendation of the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the number of Board members be ten (10).

12. Election of members of the Board of Directors

Louis R. Hughes has informed that he will no longer be available to serve on the Nokia Board of Directors after the Annual General Meeting. Accordingly, the Board, on the recommendation of the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee, proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the following current Nokia Board members be re-elected as members of the Board for a term ending at the close of the next Annual General Meeting: Sari Baldauf, Bruce Brown, Jeanette Horan, Edward Kozel, Elizabeth Nelson, Olivier Piou, Risto Siilasmaa, Carla Smits-Nusteling and Kari Stadigh. In addition, it is proposed that Sren Skou, CEO of A.P. Mller Mrsk A/S, be elected as a member of the Board of Directors for the same term.

All candidates for the Board of Directors are presented on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

13. Election of Auditor for the financial year 2019

On the recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy be re-elected as the auditor of the Company for the financial year 2019.

14. Election of Auditor for the financial year 2020

Nokia has an obligation to organize an audit firm selection procedure in accordance with the EU Audit Regulation concerning the audit for the financial year 2020 (mandatory auditor rotation). The practical requirements for arranging the selection procedure under the EU Audit Regulation and the obligation to include at least two candidates in the recommendation of the Audit Committee have caused the Board to re-evaluate of the timing of the election of the auditor. The election of an auditor for the financial year 2020 already in this Annual General Meeting would give the elected auditor time to prepare for the new audit engagement. At the same time, the shareholders of the Company would have an opportunity to elect the auditor already prior to the relevant financial year.

Based on the above and on the recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that Deloitte Oy be elected as the Company's auditor for the financial year 2020.

15. Resolution on the remuneration of the Auditor

On the recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the auditor to be elected for the financial year 2019 and 2020, respectively, be reimbursed based on the invoice of the auditor and in compliance with the purchase policy approved by the Audit Committee.

16. Authorization to the Board of Directors to resolve to repurchase the Company's own shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorize the Board to resolve to repurchase a maximum of 550 million shares, which corresponds to less than 10 per cent of the Company's total number of shares.

The repurchases under the authorization are proposed to be carried out by using funds in the unrestricted equity which means that the repurchases will reduce distributable funds of the Company.

The price paid for the shares under the authorization shall be based on the market price of Nokia shares on the securities markets on the date of the repurchase. Shares may be repurchased to be cancelled, held to be reissued, transferred further or for other purposes resolved by the Board. The Company may enter into derivative, share lending or other arrangements custoary in capital market practice.







It is proposed that the authorization be effective until November 21, 2020 and terminate the authorization for repurchasing the Company's shares granted by the Annual General Meeting on May 30, 2018.

17. Authorization to the Board of Directors to resolve to issue shares and special rights entitling to shares

The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorize the Board to resolve to issue in total a maximum of 550 million shares through issuance of shares or special rights entitling to shares under Chapter 10, Section 1 of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act in one or more issues during the effective period of the authorization. The Board may issue either new shares or treasury shares held by the Company. The proposed maximum amount corresponds to less than 10 per cent of the Company's total number of shares as of the date of this proposal.

Shares and special rights entitling to shares may be issued in deviation from the shareholders' pre-emptive rights within the limits set by law. The authorization may be used to develop the Company's capital structure, diversify the shareholder base, finance or carry out acquisitions or other arrangements, to settle the Company's equity-based incentive plans or for other purposes resolved by the Board. The Board would resolve on all terms and conditions of the issuance of shares and special rights under Chapter 10, Section 1 of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act.

It is proposed that the authorization be effective until November 21, 2020 and terminate the authorization for issuance of shares and special rights entitling to shares resolved at the Annual General Meeting on May 30, 2018. The authorization does not terminate the authorization by the Extraordinary General Meeting held on December 2, 2015 granted to the Board for issuance of shares in order to implement the combination of Nokia and Alcatel Lucent.

18. Closing of the Meeting

B. Documents of the Annual General Meeting

The proposals of the Board of Directors relating to the agenda of the Annual General Meeting as well as this notice are available on the Company's website at www.nokia.com/agm. The "Nokia in 2018" annual report, which includes the Company's Annual Accounts, the review by the Board of Directors and the auditor's report, is available on the above-mentioned website. These documents will also be available at the Meeting and copies of these documents will be sent to shareholders upon request. The minutes of the Annual General Meeting will be available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm at the latest on June 4, 2019.

C. Instructions for the participants in the Annual General Meeting

1. The right to participate and registration

Each shareholder, who on May 9, 2019 is registered in the Register of Shareholders of the Company, has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting. A shareholder, whose shares are registered on his/her Finnish book-entry account, is automatically registered in the Register of Shareholders of the Company. If you do not have a Finnish book-entry account see section 4. Holders of Nominee registered shares or 5. Holders of American Depositary Receipts (ADR).

A shareholder, with a Finnish book-entry account, who wishes to participate in the Annual General Meeting, must register for the Meeting by giving prior notice of attendance no later than on May 14, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. (Finnish time) by which time the registration needs to be received by the Company. Such notice can be given:

a) through the Company's website at www.nokia.com/agm;

b) by telephone to +358 20 770 6870 from Monday to Friday at 09:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Finnish time); or

c) by letter to the Register of Shareholders, Nokia Corporation, P.O. Box 226, Fl-00045 NOKIA GROUP.

In connection with the registration, a shareholder is required to notify his/her name, personal identification number, address, telephone number, the name of a possible assistant and the name and the personal identification number of a possible proxy representative.

2. Advance voting service

A shareholder, who has a Finnish book-entry account, may vote in advance on certain items on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting through the Company's website from March 29, 2019 until 4:00 p.m. (Finnish time) on May 14, 2019. Unless a shareholder voting in advance will be present in person or by proxy in the Meeting, he/she may not be able to exercise his/her right under the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act to request information or a vote in the Meeting and if decision proposals regarding certain agenda item have changed after the beginning of the advance voting period, his/her possibility to vote on such item may be restricted. The conditions and other instructions relating to the electronic advance voting may be found on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

The Finnish book-entry account number of the shareholder is needed for voting in advance.

3. Proxy representatives and powers of attorney

A shareholder may participate in the Annual General Meeting and exercise his/her rights at the Meeting by proxy. A proxy representative shall produce a dated proxy document or otherwise in a reliable manner demonstrate his/her right to represent the shareholder at the Annual General Meeting. Should a shareholder participate in the Meeting by means of several proxy representatives representing the shareholder with shares in different book-entry accounts, the shares by which each proxy representative represents the shareholder shall be identified in connection with the registration for the Annual General Meeting. Powers of attorney should be delivered in original to Nokia's Register of Shareholders at the above- mentioned address or via email to [email protected] before the last date for registration.

4. Holders of nominee registered shares

A holder of nominee registered shares has the right to participate in the general meeting by virtue of such shares, based on which he/she on the record date of the general meeting, i.e. on May 9, 2019, would be entitled to be registered in the shareholders' register of the company held by Euroclear Finland Oy. The right to participate in the general meeting requires, in addition, that the shareholder on the basis of such shares has been registered into the temporary shareholders' register held by Euroclear Finland Oy at the latest by May 16, 2019 by 4:00 p.m. (Finnish time). As regards nominee registered shares this constitutes due registration for the general meeting.

A holder of nominee-registered shares is advised to request without delay necessary instructions regarding the temporary registration in the shareholders' register of the company, the issuing of proxy documents and registration for the AGM from his/her custodian bank. The account management organization of the custodian bank will temporarily register a holder of nominee-registered shares, who wants to participate in the AGM, into the shareholders' register of the company at the latest by the time stated above. Further information on these matters can also be found on the company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

5. Holders of American Depositary Receipts (ADR)

Holders of American Depositary Shares (ADR) intending to vote at the Annual General Meeting shall without delay notify the Depositary Bank of Nokia, Citibank, N.A., of their intention and shall comply with the instructions provided by Citibank, N.A.

6. Other instructions and information

On the date of this notice of the Annual General Meeting the total number of shares in Nokia Corporation and votes represented by such shares is 5 635 968 159.

Doors of the meeting venue will open at 12:30 p.m. The shareholders, their representatives and possible assistants are required to prove their identity at the entrance. Coffee will be served before the Meeting. The Meeting will be conducted primarily in Finnish, and simultaneous translation will be available into Swedish and English, and as necessary, into Finnish.

Pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act, a shareholder who has given prior notice of attendance and is present at the Annual General Meeting has the right to request information with respect to the matters to be considered at the Meeting. March 26, 2019

BOARD OF DIRECTORS About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. We develop and deliver the industry's only end-to-end portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing that is available globally. Our customers include communications service providers whose combined networks support 6.1 billion subscriptions, as well as enterprises in the private and public sector that use our network portfolio to increase productivity and enrich lives.



Through our research teams, including the world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs, we are leading the world to adopt end-to-end 5G networks that are faster, more secure and capable of revolutionizing lives, economies and societies. Nokia adheres to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. www.nokia.com



Media Enquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Tel. +358 (0) 10 448 4900

Email: [email protected]

Jon Peet, Vice President, Corporate Communications FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

It should be noted that Nokia and its businesses are exposed to various risks and uncertainties and certain statements herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect Nokia's current expectations and views of future developments and include statements regarding: A) expectations, plans or benefits related to our strategies and growth management; B) expectations, plans or benefits related to future performance of our businesses and any expected future dividends; C) expectations and targets regarding financial performance, results, operating expenses, taxes, currency exchange rates, hedging, cost savings and competitiveness, as well as results of operations including targeted synergies and those related to market share, prices, net sales, income and margins; D) expectations, plans or benefits related to changes in organizational and operational structure; E) expectations regarding market developments, general economic conditions and structural changes; F) our ability to integrate acquired businesses into our operations and achieve the targeted business plans and benefits, including targeted benefits, synergies, cost savings and efficiencies; G) expectations, plans or benefits related to any future collaboration or to business collaboration agreements or patent license agreements or arbitration awards, including income to be received under any collaboration or partnership, agreement or award; H) timing of the deliveries of our products and services, including our short term and longer term expectations around the rollout of 5G and our ability to capitalize on such rollout; and the overall readiness of the 5G ecosystem ; I) expectations and targets regarding collaboration and partnering arrangements, joint ventures or the creation of joint ventures, and the related administrative, legal, regulatory and other conditions, as well as our expected customer reach; J) outcome of pending and threatened litigation, arbitration, disputes, regulatory proceedings or investigations by authorities; K) expectations regarding restructurings, investments, capital structure optimization efforts, uses of proceeds from transactions, acquisitions and divestments and our ability to achieve the financial and operational targets set in connection with any such restructurings, investments, capital structure optimization efforts, divestments and acquisitions, including our 2019-2020 cost savings program; L) expectations, plans or benefits related to future capital expenditures, temporary incremental expenditures or other R&D expenditures to develop or rollout new products, including 5G; and M) statements preceded by or including "believe", "expect", "expectations", "commit", "anticipate", "foresee", "see", "target", "estimate", "designed", "aim", "plan", "intend", "influence", "assumption", "focus", "continue", "project", "should", "is to", "will" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These statements are based on management's best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and views of future events and developments and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Factors, including risks and uncertainties that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: 1) our strategy is subject to various risks and uncertainties and we may be unable to successfully implement our strategic plans, sustain or improve the operational and financial performance of our business groups, correctly identify or successfully pursue business opportunities or otherwise grow our business; 2) general economic and market conditions and other developments in the economies where we operate, including the timeline for the deployment of 5G and our ability to successfully capitalize on that deployment; 3) competition and our ability to effectively and profitably invest in new competitive high-quality products, services, upgrades and technologies and bring them to market in a timely manner; 4) our dependence on the development of the industries in which we operate, including the cyclicality and variability of the information technology and telecommunications industries and our own R&D capabilities and investments; 5) our dependence on a limited number of customers and large multi-year agreements; 6) our ability to maintain our existing sources of intellectual property-related revenue through our intellectual property, including through licensing, establish new sources of revenue and protect our intellectual property from infringement; 7) our ability to manage and improve our financial and operating performance, cost savings, competitiveness and synergies generally and our ability to implement changes to our organizational and operational structure efficiently; 8) our global business and exposure to regulatory, political or other developments in various countries or regions, including emerging markets and the associated risks in relation to tax matters and exchange controls, among others; 9) our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits, synergies, cost savings and efficiencies of acquisitions, including the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent; 10) exchange rate fluctuations, as well as hedging activities; 11) our ability to successfully realize the expectations, plans or benefits related to any future collaboration or business collaboration agreements and patent license agreements or arbitration awards, including income to be received under any collaboration, partnership, agreement or arbitration award; 12) Nokia Technologies' ability to protect its IPR and to maintain and establish new sources of patent, brand and technology licensing income and IPR-related revenues, particularly in the smartphone market, which may not materialize as planned, 13) our dependence on IPR technologies, including those that we have developed and those that are licensed to us, and the risk of associated IPR-related legal claims, licensing costs and restrictions on use; 14) our exposure to direct and indirect regulation, including economic or trade policies, and the reliability of our governance, internal controls and compliance processes to prevent regulatory penalties in our business or in our joint ventures; 15) our reliance on third-party solutions for data storage and service distribution, which expose us to risks relating to security, regulation and cybersecurity breaches; 16) inefficiencies, breaches, malfunctions or disruptions of information technology systems; 17) our exposure to various legal frameworks regulating corruption, fraud, trade policies, and other risk areas, and the possibility of proceedings or investigations that result in fines, penalties or sanctions; 18) adverse developments with respect to customer financing or extended payment terms we provide to customers; 19) the potential complex tax issues, tax disputes and tax obligations we may face in various jurisdictions, including the risk of obligations to pay additional taxes; 20) our actual or anticipated performance, among other factors, which could reduce our ability to utilize deferred tax assets; 21) our ability to retain, motivate, develop and recruit appropriately skilled employees; 22) disruptions to our manufacturing, service creation, delivery, logistics and supply chain processes, and the risks related to our geographically-concentrated production sites; 23) the impact of litigation, arbitration, agreement-related disputes or product liability allegations associated with our business; 24) our ability to re-establish investment grade rating or maintain our credit ratings; 25) our ability to achieve targeted benefits from, or successfully implement planned transactions, as well as the liabilities related thereto; 26) our involvement in joint ventures and jointly-managed companies; 27) the carrying amount of our goodwill may not be recoverable; 28) uncertainty related to the amount of dividends and equity return we are able to distribute to shareholders for each financial period; 29) pension costs, employee fund-related costs, and healthcare costs; 30) our ability to successfully complete and capitalize on our order backlogs and continue converting our sales pipeline into net sales; and 31) risks related to undersea infrastructure, as well as the risk factors specified on pages 60 to 75 of our 2018 annual report on Form 20-F published on March 21, 2019 under "Operating and financial review and prospects-Risk factors" and in our other filings or documents furnished with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proven to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

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[March 29, 2019] Huobi Group Eyes Possible Expansion In Argentina

BEIJING, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Huobi Group Founder & CEO Leon Li met with a delegation of senior Argentinian finance officials this week during their state visit to China. Li met with Felix Martin Soto, Deputy Minister of Finance and Javier Matias Mana, Director-General of the Bilateral External Finance Bureau to discuss Huobi's possible expansion into the country as well as the role blockchain could play in Argentina's economic development. The visit to Huobi was an important stop during their visit to Beijing for higher level collaboration between Chinese and Argentine governments. "It was a great honour to meet with Deputy Minister of Finance Soto and to explore with him Huobi's advantages when it comes to blockchain technologies and applications," Li said. "We hope to further strengthen our cooperation with the Argentine Ministry of Finance to achieve win-win development for both of us."

"We would like to learn how to participate in cryptocurrency and blockchain industry from Huobi," said Soto, who heads up Argentina's/span> international financial relations. "Through tokenization on Huobi's platform, for example, Argentina's plentiful agricultural, mineral and energy resources could be well financed by global investors."





Soto believes Argentina should consider blockchain technology as a way to promote financial inclusion and reduce government costs. "At present, half of our population doesn't have bank accounts. They practice mainly cash transactions and convert their savings into US dollars," Soto said. "Through promoting cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and with Huobi's assistance, we could reduce our demand for US dollars, which eventually would contribute to stabilizing the local market and attracting global investment."

Huobi Group has expanded rapidly in recent years, opening up exchanges in areas like Japan, South Korea, Russia and  through its strategic partner Huobi (US)  the United States. It serves much of the rest of the world through Huobi Global, its flagship exchange platform. Over the past few years, Argentina has been at the forefront of blockchain adoption in the South American region. Blockchain-centric start-ups have sprung up to serve the needs of the South American public and many Argentinians are increasingly investing in digital assets. The shift to cryptocurrency and blockchain is starting to manifest visible changes in Argentina. Earlier this year, for example, Bitcoin became an accepted payment method for busses, subways, trains and other forms of public transport and the country is also host to a growing number of crypto ATMs. "With Huobi's expertise in blockchain and cryptocurrency, Argentina can accelerate its pace to digital assets era," Soto said. About Huobi: Consisting of ten upstream and downstream enterprises, Huobi Group is the world's leading blockchain company. Established in 2013, Huobi Group's accumulative turnover exceeds $1 trillion. It proudly provides safe, secure, and convenient cryptocurrency trading and asset management services to millions of users in 130+ countries. For more information, visit www.hbg.com For enquiries please contact:

Jiayi Li

+65-92295769

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huobi-group-eyes-possible-expansion-in-argentina-300820927.html SOURCE Huobi Group

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[March 29, 2019] PSC Selects iWorks COO Charlie Sowell as NISPPAC Representative

MCLEAN, Va., March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- iWorks Corporation is pleased to announce that the Professional Services Council (PSC) selected our COO, Charlie Sowell, as their new National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee (NISPPAC) representative. The NISPPAC, comprised of both Government and industry representatives, is responsible for recommending changes in industrial security policy through modifications to Executive Order 12829, its implementing directives, and the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual. The NISPPAC also advises the government's Information Security Oversight Office on all matters concerning the policies of the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), including recommended changes to those policies, and serves as a forum to discuss policy issues in dispute. iWorks is a PSC member company. PSC, a leading voice in security clearance reform initiatives, selected Charlie to represent the association's more than 400 member companies on the NISPPAC based on his and iWorks' extensive personnel and industrial secuity experience. Alan Chvotkin, PSC's Executive Vice President and Counsel, commented: "Charlie was an obvious choice for PSC based on his past roles at ODNI as Program Executive for Security Clearance Reform and Assistant Deputy Director for Special Security, in addition to his industry and PSC experience. PSC looks forward to continuing our strong contributions to the NISP through our NISPPAC participation and Charlie's service."



Read more about Charlie Sowell, and the entire iWorks leadership team, by clicking here. About iWorks Corporation

iWorks Corporation, founded in 2005, is a leading provider of information technology and professional services to the federal government. We are a recognized leader in personnel security and vetting solutions, Agile, DevOps, DevSecOps, data analytics and cloud solutions. Our continuous process improvement approach, combined with our business and technology expertise, results in innovative solutions. We are committed to quality and timely delivery. We are CMMI Level 3 appraised, and ISO 9001:2015, 20001:2011 and 27000 certified. We're a company people like working for and with. Our staff recognized iWorks as Washington Post Top Workplace for three years, including 2018. For more information about iWorks Corporation, visit http://www.iworkscorp.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/psc-selects-iworks-coo-charlie-sowell-as-nisppac-representative-300820598.html SOURCE iWorks Corporation

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[March 29, 2019] Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation Announces Closing of Private Placement

Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation (the "Company") (TSX:ASP) is pleased to announce that it has closed a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of 23,230,772 common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares") to directors and management of the Company at a price of $0.195 per Common Share for aggregate proceeds of approximately $4.53 million. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Private Placement to fund the Company's current working capital requirements, including (i) to support its current payment on a royalty buyout for intellectual property related to the Company's nasal gel technology for Natesto, (ii) for purposes of deposits to build its inventory in advance of receiving European approval of Natesto and (iii) ongoing selling, general and administrative expenses and research and development requirements. The securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale o the securities in any State in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.



About Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a Canadian-based specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of innovative, branded products that improve patient experience, with a primary focus in the field of men's and women's health. The Company commercializes its products via its own salesforce in Canada, and through a global network of licensed distributors in the U.S. and other territories.

Forward-Looking Information Information in this press release that is not current or historical factual information may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws. Implicit in this information are assumptions regarding our future operational results. These assumptions, although considered reasonable by the company at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned that actual performance of the company is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and could differ materially from what is currently expected as set out above. For more exhaustive information on these risks and uncertainties you should refer to our annual information form dated March 4, 2019 that is available at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information contained in this press release is based on our current estimates, expectations and projections, which we believe are reasonable as of the current date. You should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While we may elect to, we are under no obligation and do not undertake to update this information at any particular time, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005017/en/

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[March 29, 2019] Huawei AI Fabric Intelligent and Lossless Data Center Network Passes Tolly's Test with All-Round Leading Performance

FUZHOU, China, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Huawei China Eco-Partner Conference 2019, Huawei announced that its AI Fabric Intelligent and Lossless Data Center Network solution passed the comparison test and verification by the international authoritative test organization  Tolly Group. The test results showed that, in typical service scenarios of data centers oriented to the AI era, Huawei AI Fabric has superior performance to networking solutions of other mainstream vendors in the industry, leading a new era of intelligent and lossless data center networks. Huawei's Global Industry Vision (GIV) predicts the AI procurement rate will reach 86 percent by 2025  and leveraging AI to make decisions, reshape business models and ecosystems, and rebuild customer experiences will be a key driving force. Additionally, AI will also drive ICT infrastructure transformation. To adapt to the development of the era, Huawei took the lead to launch the AI Fabric Intelligent and Lossless Data Center Network solution at HUAWEI CONNECT 2018, helping enterprises build high-performance data centers and accelerating the commercial use of AI services. Tolly tested the data center switch networking solutions of Huawei and other mainstream vendors in three typical application scenarios of data centers in the AI era: high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML), and distributed storage. The solutions were measured against the Intel MPI Benchmark (IMB) model and TensorFlow model, as well as performance indicators such as throughput, packet loss rate, and latency in the same spine-leaf networking envionment with all-100GE and 100GE/25GE. After rigorous testing, Huawei AI Fabric scored highest in every performance indicator, performing 30% better on average.



Huawei AI Fabric Intelligent and Lossless Data Center Network consists of the industry-leading CloudEngine series data center switches and leverages the unique iLosslessTM switching algorithm to enable an intelligent and lossless network with zero packet loss, low latency, and high throughput. This is the secret to the industry-leading performance demonstrated by Huawei AI Fabric.

Kevin Tolly, founder and CEO of The Tolly Group, said: "Through our thorough testing and verification, we are highly impressed by the network performance of the Huawei AI Fabric solution with its zero packet loss, low latency, and high throughput. Customers can clearly see the solution's value from the complete test report. With more intelligent scheduling and lossless forwarding, we believe that it will lead the construction of data center networks in the AI era." "In the AI era, data center networks must transform towards becoming intelligent and lossless, and this solution has already been put into commercial use in leading Internet enterprises. We are delighted that Tolly has conducted independent and stringent testing on Huawei AI Fabric, the results of which signify the industry recognition of the solution," said Leon Wang, President of Huawei Data Center Network Domain. "We will continue to increase R&D investment and technological innovation, promote the development of the data communication industry, and provide customers and partners with leading products and solutions." As one of the leaders in cloud data center network construction, Huawei's data center networks have been successfully put into commercial use by more than 7,800 enterprises worldwide, facilitating the digital transformation of customers in industries such as finance, Internet, and carrier. Huawei launches its AI Fabric solution, leading the data center network towards becoming intelligent and lossless, facilitating pervasive use of AI services, and joining hands with partners to build a fully connected, intelligent world. For more information, download the Tolly test report of Huawei AI Fabric: Huawei vs Cisco https://e.huawei.com/en/material/onLineView?MaterialID=334f712b8f584d718d41e9c2ec172c67 Huawei vs Mellanox https://e.huawei.com/en/material/onLineView?MaterialID=642a12984b0d49548d0235dcbeda3a9d SOURCE Huawei

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March 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Humans cant duck fatality. A terminally ill or addicted person has to accept the fact if he hopes ever to be free the drug or to die at peace. The mortal struggle with his hard reality begins, almost without exception, in denial.



Our long national psychotic break is over. After two years of tedium--hyped by a slavering press as foreplay to a shattering climax--and vacuuming of a dirtbagful of gross and petty financial, lobbying, influence peddling crimes by Trump punks, Mueller has declared there was no Russian collusion.



This, in a rational world, would be fatal to the Democratic Party. Upon the unimaginable humiliation of Hillary, its Geezer/Crone Politburo decreed that her appalling channeling of Marie Antoinette could not have undone her. Nor Trumps Deplorables, either... It had to have been demonic forces.



The Dems, and the Deep State War Machine they openly front for, had long settled on their Archdemon of choice. It was him, then: Putin.



Just before Hills electoral faceplant, a Dem insider smuggled a ton of dirty top-secret oppo on Bernie to Wikileaks, so why not script and package a Trump-Putin-Assange yarn and sell it in holy outrage? Treason to America by Trump was the perfect compelling story though, awkwardly, it was false, silly, and based on bought lies and perjurers inventions. Mox nix: Bring it.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

This had consequences. Sowing pyroclastic, penny-dreadful bullshit daily in the MSM to hook the credulous, Dems morphed from a party lying with Obamas suavete and decorum to one lying with vulgarity and desperation. That is to say, style change had no effect on its real character at all, but by going all in on a lie they set off a powerful petard with which they are now hoist. They have the choice of flogging their dead hobbyhorse or admitting they indeed are the noisomely discharging cloaca their lies baldly confirm.

They and their filthy media sluts--from the demented Harpy, Maddow, to the Grey Lady who, hiking her skirt, was gleefully putting out to sell the line--are all stunned their toxic con has imploded and its bad gas evaporated. Their tactic now will be to move the goal posts, to alter the bill of attainder, to try to refocus their animus where it should have been all along: on the sick, sleazy, pimp-and-hustler ethics of the odious swine whose scurrilous methods and means they knowingly embraced as their own.

If this revolting saga concerned a rabid, lunatic tyrant and two degenerate gangster cabals, squalling and brawling in a small, inconsequential country it could be gagged over and dismissed, but its the central reality of the blundering, murderous giant whose bullying madness appalls the world.



A further empowered ethical monster is now free to inflict his horrifying want of humanity and judgment on mankind with the abject complicity of two cowering covens of moral castrati, one avid only to foul, enslave and loot the planet, the other to insanely provoke world war until they have it.



To put this dynamic disaster in context is not just sobering, its terrifying. The U.S. is failing economically--making bombs, costly toys, and debt--raping its resources, siphoning wealth to the top and hard-wiring inequity. Its War Machine has ravaged Arab nations only to be swiftly given the Bums Rush. It has failed spectacularly with the worlds most overhyped, wasteful army to achieve its purposes in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan. Its been stalemated, balked, and rebuked by the only nations comparable in power--Russia and China--against either of which in a war scenario, according to military and RAND assessments, it would, quote, have its ass handed to it. It has alienated friends, foes, and victims with daft indifference. It has had its lordly dictums and ultimatums derided and laughed at while denying all science and evidence in favor of destructive profiteering and infantile pique. It has quashed efforts by weaker nations toward decent governance and humane policies while embracing as allies the most brutal, ugly, racist regimes on earth in all their apartheid tyranny.

It sickens the soul that such horrific crimes are perpetrated in our name. In that sense, we are also victims. The vicious cliques who govern us belong to the juggernaut, Cancerous Capitalism. Democracies--so called--fail historically, subverted by money. Ours, born impaired, is dead. Innocent, deluded people will continue to be hoodwinked by the cowardly, decayed entities Big Capital endows to exacerbate their fears, hates and prejudices.



Primo Levi, in Surviving Auschwitz, cites the Warsaw Ghetto uprising as a comprehensible human response to The Intolerable. Were conditioned to accept the intolerable and deny it and, of course, our intolerable is not the horror theirs was. Yet. Ours is more like that of the Germans in 42. They were able to deny it to the very end. Do we have that kind of endurance?

Paul Edwards is a writer and film-maker in Montana. He can be reached at: hgmnude@bresnan.net
[March 29, 2019] eFFECTOR Presents Data on its Selective Translation Regulators at AACR 2019 Annual Meeting

SAN DIEGO, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc., a leader in the development of selective translation regulators (STRs) for the treatment of cancer, today announced that data from all three of its pipeline programs  tomivosertib, eFT226 and its eIF4E program  will be presented at the AACR 2019 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, occurring March 29 through April 3.

In a late-breaking poster, eFFECTOR scientists detailed experiments demonstrating that tomivosertib enhances CAR T cell activity by modulating the differentiation of T cells into T stem cell memory and T central memory populations. Poster Title: Tomivosertib (eFT508), a Potent and Highly Selective Inhibitor of MNK1 and MNK2, Enhances CAR T Cell Activity Through Modulating T Cell Differentiation

Abstract Link: https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/6812/presentation/9203

Submission Category: Immunology Other presentations at AACR include: eFT226 program Poster Title: A focused CRISPR screen to identify synthetic lethal interactions with the novel eIF4A inhibitor eFT226 in KRAS driven NSCLC

Abstract Link: https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/6812/presentation/3398

Submission Category: Functional Genomics And Oral Presentation Title: eFT226: A Potent and Selective Inhibitor of eIF4A, is Efficacious in Preclinical Models of Lymphoma

Abstract Link: https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/6812/presentation/7503

Submission Category: Preclinical Drug Development eIF4E program Poster Title Targeting hormone receptor-dependent cancers with potent, selective and orally-available small molecule inhibitors of eIF4E

Abstract Link: https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/6812/prsentation/5518

Submission Category: Novel Targets and Pathways



Poster Title: Physical and Functional Interactions between MNK and mTOR Signaling Regulate the Activation and Differentiation of T cells

Abstract Link: https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/6812/presentation/3326

Submission Category: Novel Immunomodulatory Agents About Tomivosertib (eFT508)



Tomivosertib is eFFECTORs wholly-owned, highly selective translation regulator that inhibits MNK1 and MNK2 (MNK1/2) acting at the level of mRNA translation. The oral small molecule drug candidate promotes anti-tumor immune activity by selective down regulation of several immune checkpoint receptors and specific immunosuppressive cytokines. Tomivosertib in being evaluated in ongoing Phase 2 clinical studies in cancers that may respond to MNK inhibition. Tomivosertib is being evaluated as an add-on when patients are experiencing insufficient response to an FDA-approved checkpoint inhibitor [ NCT03616834 ] and in a separate study in patients with castration resistant prostate cancer [ NCT03690141 ] . Please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov for further information on ongoing clinical studies of tomivosertib. About eFT226

eFT226 is eFFECTORs wholly-owned sequence selective inhibitor of eIF4A1-dependent translation. eIF4A1 is an RNA helicase that facilitates the translation of select highly structured mRNA. In preclinical models and cancer cell lines, treatment with eFT226 leads to coordinated translational inhibition of key oncoproteins, including receptor tyrosine kinases HER2, EGFR, FGFR1/2 and c-MET, KRAS, CDK4 and CyclinD1/3, resulting in significant anti-tumor activity in breast cancer, lung cancer and hematologic tumor models. eFFECTOR is planning for the clinical evaluation of eFT226 in patients with select solid tumors. About eFFECTOR Therapeutics

eFFECTOR Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of an emerging class of therapeutics known as selective translation regulators or STRs. By acting on key biological mechanisms responsible for tumor growth and immune suppression, STRs represent a promising small molecule approach for treating cancer. eFFECTORs most advanced program, tomivosertib (eFT508), is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of several types of cancer. eFFECTOR has entered into clinical collaborations with a strategic alliance between Pfizer and Merck KGaA to study tomivosertib in combination with avelumab and separately with Merck & Co to evaluate tomivosertib in combination with KEYTRUDA. Additionally, the company has an emerging pipeline of promising STR programs targeting well-known oncogenes and intractable targets. eFFECTOR maintains global rights to all of its development programs. For more information visit www.effector.com. Contacts: Investors:

Amy Conrad

Juniper Point

858-366-3243

[email protected] Media:

Heidi Chokeir, Ph.D.

Canale Communications

619-849-5377

[email protected]

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[March 29, 2019] Wildflower Featured in CannabisNewsAudio Publication on CBD Entering Mainstream Acceptance

NEW YORK, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via CannabisNewsAudio  Wildflower Brands Inc. (OTCQB:WLDFF) (CSE:SUN) announces the availability of a CannabisNewsAudio Publication titled,  CBD Going Mainstream amid Flood of New Products, Celebrity Endorsements and Emerging Consensus about Benefits .

To hear the CannabisNewsAudio version, visit: http://cnw.fm/aN7GS To read the full editorial, visit: http://cnw.fm/FpDf2 Speaking of A-list celebrities and CBD products, it was the Wildflower Brands Inc.s CBD+ Healing Stick that found its way into the gift bags of the stars during Oscar weekend 2019. Packing a walloping 500mg of highly concentrated, full-spectrm CBD, Wildflowers cooling and soothing stick is easy to apply for targeted pain relief and skin care.



A reputable brand whose stated mission is to connect people to the healing power of plants via the companys increasingly sophisticated line of CBD vaporizers, capsules, tinctures, soaps and topicals, Vancouver-based Wildflower Wellness packs its extracts with essential amino acids and beneficial terpenes, the organic compounds that give plants flavor and scent. About Wildflower Brands

Wildflower Brands is a company headquartered in Vancouver building reputable brands and quality products that incorporate the synergistic effects of plants and their extracts. For more information, visit the companys website at www.WildflowerBrands.co About CannabisNewsWire (CNW) CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is a specialized information service that (1) aggregates cannabis news, (2) provides CannabisNewsBreaks that quickly updates investors in the space, (3) enhances corporate press releases, (4) helps companies with distribution and optimization of social media, and (5) delivers comprehensive corporate communication solutions. CNW is uniquely positioned in the cannabis market with a strong team of journalists and writers who can help private and public companies reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public through our ever-growing dissemination network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets. CNW is bringing unparalleled visibility, recognition and content to the cannabis industry. For more information please visit https://www.CannabisNewsWire.com Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer Forward-Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Corporate Communications: CannabisNewsWire (CNW)

Denver, Colorado

www.CannabisNewsWire.com

303.498.7722 Office

[email protected]

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[March 29, 2019] Upmarket Deal at $2.50 Per Share Saves Generex Biotechnology Shareholders $14+ Million



Generex and Veneto Holdings Re-Negotiate Acquisition from a $35 Million Total Consideration to a $21 Million Stock-Only Transaction at $2.50 Per Share to Satisfy Generex Obligations MIRAMAR, FL, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE  Generex Biotechnology Corporation ( www.generex.com ) (OTCQB: GNBT) ( http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/GNBT/quote ) is proud to announce that the company has successfully renegotiated a mutually agreed upon purchase price for certain assets of Veneto Holdings. As previously reported, on October 3, 2018, Generex affiliate NuGenerex Distribution Solutions 2, LLC ( NuGenerex ) agreed to purchase Veneto Groups eight pharmacies, a wholesale pharmacy purchasing company, and an in-network laboratory. In consideration, NuGenerex executed and delivered to Veneto a promissory note in the principal amount of US $15 Million (the  First Tranche Note ). On November 1, 2018, NuGenerex completed the acquisition of the balance of the Veneto Group operating assets, consisting primarily of its management services organization (MSO) business and two additional ancillary service companies. In consideration of the sale, transfer, and assignment of those assets, NuGenerex executed and delivered to Veneto a secured promissory note in the principal amount of US $35 Million due January 15, 2019. The note was guaranteed by Joseph Moscato, Chief Executive officer of Generex, and retired and replaced the First Tranche Note. The acquisition of selected Veneto Group assets is now complete. With this transaction, Generex, with the support of the Veneto Board, has renegotiated the purchase price to $21 million in an all-stock transaction at $2.50 per share, which equates to 8.4 million shares of GNBT Common Stock that will be paid from the dividend share pool [*See Note] to satisfy the obligations of Generex. The renegotiation centered around Generex continued assessment of the business operations of the acquired assets, including the evaluation of profitability, compliance with regulatory requirements, and organizational performance. Under the guidance of Terry Thompson, President of NuGenerex Distribution Solutions (NDS) and Chief Operating Officer of Generex, the company has reorganized the Veneto assets to focus on building the MSO business and completely revamping the pharmacy model to yield a better use of capital and to avoid continual regulatory and contractual scrutiny from the established regulators, wholesalers, PBMs, and insurers. The revised strategy is designed to be fully compliant with no direct pharmacy ownership and replacement of brick and mortar pharmacies with a nationwide network of cotracted pharmacies to fulfil the business needs of the company.



Mr. Thompson commented, The Veneto MSO platform remains a very powerful relationship engine with our investor physicians. We have spent the past several months rationalizing the team and talent, the products and services, and add on acquisitions. Most importantly, we have hired top tier health law counsel to keep us compliant and to continually review the health law and compliance issues surrounding our strategy. We believe we have cleared a runway to a successful acquisition strategy and organic growth through sales of new products, diversifying our offerings, and preparing for regional expansion. We finished a beta site roll out of our new DME-IQ product with a large orthopedic center and are calculating the results and preparing a proforma forecast to assess our roll out plans. We are also getting closer to finalizing our acquisitions in the surgical and biological space and are very excited as to the cross-over opportunities in these products and services. Other products on the horizon, such as our recently acquired Olaregen Therapeutix Incs new world class product Excellagen, which our podiatrists are keen to begin using, are adding more value to our relationships. The Veneto assets and physician relationships are at the core of our future momentum. Joseph Moscato added, The Veneto transaction is now completely finalized with an up-market, all share deal that saves Generex shareholders $14 million plus interest, eliminates the $20 million promissory note and guarantees from the second tranche note, and satisfies the companys obligations for the acquisition. When we make an acquisition, we have a deliberate, step-by-step process to ensure that we build true value for our shareholders and investors. We evaluate acquisition targets with multi-level due diligence, companies are audited for financial, operational, and regulatory compliance for the last several years, and the third step is an operational performance evaluation through a quarter. When we find deficiencies in any area, we renegotiate the deal to reflect the true value of the acquired business. Since the acquisition was made at the beginning of November, Terry Thompson, our Chief Legal Counsel, Anthony Crisci, Esq., CPA, and the team at NDS have done an incredible job in reorganizing the business to establish a foundation of operational excellence to grow the MSO model through geographic expansion and the introduction of DME-IQ, as well as through the distribution of medical, surgical, and biologic products of Generex subsidiaries through the network. With the quarterly report filed this week, we will now focus on closing our next acquisitions Pantheon Medical, MediSource Partners, and Fuse Medical in the coming weeks.

[*Note: As previously reported, the Generex pool shares were created by Directors and major shareholders for the benefit of Generex, and these shares are already in the market and factored into today's stock price.] About Generex Biotechnology Corp. Generex Biotechnology is an integrated healthcare holding company with end-to-end solutions for patient-centric care from rapid diagnosis through delivery of personalized therapies. Generex is building a new kind of healthcare company that extends beyond traditional models providing support to physicians in an MSO network, and ongoing relationships with patients to improve the patient experience and access to optimal care. In addition to advancing a legacy portfolio of immune-oncology assets, medical devices, and diagnostics, the Company is focused on an acquisition strategy of strategic businesses that complement existing assets and provide immediate sources of revenue and working capital. Recent acquisitions include a management services organization, a network of pharmacies, clinical laboratory, and medical device companies with new and approved products. Our newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary, NuGenerex Distribution Solutions (NDS), integrates our MSO network with a pharmacy network, clinical diagnostic lab, durable medical equipment company (DME-IQ) and dedicated call center. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This release and oral statements made from time to time by Generex representatives in respect to the same subject matter may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by introductory words such as "expects," "plan," "believes," "will," "achieve," "anticipate," "would," "should," "subject to" or words of similar meaning, and by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements frequently are used in discussing potential product applications, potential collaborations, product development activities, clinical studies, regulatory submissions and approvals, and similar operating matters. Many factors may cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements, including inaccurate assumptions and a broad variety of risks and uncertainties, some of which are known and others of which are not known. Known risks and uncertainties include those identified from time to time in the reports filed by Generex with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which should be considered together with any forward-looking statement. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future results or events, and one should avoid placing undue reliance on such statements. Generex undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Generex claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements that is contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Generex Contact: Generex Biotechnology Corporation Joseph Moscato 646-599-6222 Todd Falls 1-800-391-6755 Extension 222 [email protected]

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[March 29, 2019] Alorica Nabs "Winner" Spot In CRM Magazine's 2019 CRM Service Awards

Celebrating two decades in business, Alorica Inc., a global leader in customer experience solutions, today announced it was honored with a "winner" delegation for Best Contact Center Outsourcing in the 2019 CRM Service Leaders Awards. Produced by CRM magazine, the CRM Service Awards, now in its 16th year, honors the leading vendors across nine customer service and contact center technology segments. Alorica secured the top spot for its overall "stellar performance," earning a 4.2 score in company direction, a category-leading 4.0 score in customer satisfaction and another category-leading 3.8 score in cost. Ian Jacobs, a principal analyst at Forrester (News - Alert) Research, noted about Alorica, it "has a healthy mix of verticals," including telecommunications, healthcare, financial services, and retail, "without being over-reliant on any single one. Its nearshore strength is growing right when demand for such services is rising." Rebecca Wettemann, vice president at Nucleus Research, chimed in, adding that Alorica "is experiencing strong growth based on its effective cost model and investments in U.S. contact centers." "It's an honor to be recognized by CRM magazine and industry analysts for our continued efforts to build strong brand connections," said Greg Haller, Chief Operating Officer at Alorica. "Being bumped from a 'leader' to a 'winner' in a year's time speaks volumes to our ongoing commitment to deliver innovative and quality customer experience solutions to our clients, ultimately providing a powerful ROI to their business strategy."



Recipients of the CRM Service Leader Awards are determined through a proprietary ranking system based on the scores given by leading industry analysts and consultants for each vendor's deployment costs, customer satisfaction, breadth of services and company direction. Company financial data is also taken into consideration. Alorica provides a powerful advantage for our clients in the pursuit to deliver insanely great customer experiences. Visit our website to learn how we can streamline operations, drive innovation and enhance your ROI.

About Alorica

Alorica is the world's largest provider of customer experiences to North American consumers. We are made up of more than 100,000 passionate problem solvers who make lives better through positive customer interactions-at every touchpoint-across voice, chat and social. Leveraging innovative technologies-including intelligent automation and a comprehensive analytics suite-we support the world's most respected brands with the talent and resources necessary to create insanely great experiences. Alorica provides a host of world-class services-from customer care to financial solutions and digital services-to clients across industries of all kinds, many of whom are on the Fortune 500. Founded nearly 20 years ago, Alorica contact centers and operation hubs span the globe with 130 locations in 14 countries. To learn more, visit www.Alorica.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005105/en/

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[March 29, 2019] Wipro Positioned as a Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure Professional and Managed Services, Worldwide, 2019

Wipro (News - Alert) Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it has been positioned as a Leader in Gartner's (News - Alert) Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure Professional and Managed Services, Worldwide, 2019. The report authored by Craig Lowery, To Chee Eng, Scot MacLellan, Ross Winser, Brandon Medford was released on February 26, 2019. This Magic Quadrant is focused on MSPs that have deep technical expertise with hyperscale providers, effective cloud management platforms (CMPs), and managed services that leverage automation, where possible. According to Gartner, "By 2024, more than 50% of cloud service deals will include both application development services and cloud infrastructure professional and managed services, up from 10% in 2019." "Previous versions of this Magic Quadrant named this market the "Public Cloud Infrastructure Managed Service Providers. In the 2018 report, we noted the professional services market has become as important, if not more important, than the managed service market." "The MSPs must also possess the ability to deliver cloud-optimized solutions, regardless of whether a customer is deploying new cloud-native applications or migrating legacy workloads from an existing traditional data center. This depth of expertise and technical integration, including exploiting the API-enabled automation of hyperscale providers, distinguishes these MSPs from data center outsourcing (DCO) providers." Ramesh Nagarajan, Senior Vice President - Cloud Services, Wipro Limited said, "Wipro is excited to be named a Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure Professional and Managed Services, Worldwide. We continue to demonstrate our leadership in providing industrialized solutions to help our clients accelerate their cloud journey. Our 'business-first and cloud-first' strategy coupled with investments in vertical IPs positions us uniquely to enhance customer experience, drive business agility and generate data-driven insights for our customers. Our Cloud Studio supports the 'lift and shift' of applications to cloud, re-platforming using infrastructure-as-a-code principles, refactoring and cloud-native development using Wiro's IPs and partner tool sets."



Please click here to view the complete report. Disclaimer: Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Wipro Limited Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 175,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future. Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005277/en/

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KBRA Assigns Preliminary Ratings to Small Business Origination Loan Trust 2019-1 DAC

Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited (KBRA) assigns preliminary ratings to four classes of notes ("Rated Notes") issued by Small Business Origination Loan Trust 2019-1 DAC ("SBOLT 2019-1"). This is approximately a 180.0 million ABS (News - Alert) transaction collateralised by unsecured loans made to small and medium-sized enterprises ("SMEs") incorporated in the United Kingdom ("UK").

This transaction represents the third ABS securitisation collateralised by unsecured loans to SMEs originated through the online lending platform operated by Funding Circle Limited ("Funding Circle"), and the second rated by KBRA.

Founded in 2010, Funding Circle operates an online lending platform (www.fundingcircle.com) (the "Funding Circle Platform" or the "Platform") to originate loans in the UK, U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands. This transaction will only include loans originated in the UK. Loans are offered to SMEs through the platform which allows retail investors, government bodies and institutional investors to access credit investments in SMEs.

The transaction has initial credit enhancement levels of 35.75% for the Class A Notes, 32.75% for the Class B Notes, 25.75% for the Class C Notes and 15.25% for the Class D Notes. Credit enhancement for the Rated Notes consists of excess spread, subordination and a cash reserve account.

KBRA applied its Global General Rating Methodology for Asset-Backed Securities as part of its analysis of the transaction's underlying collateral pool, the proposed capital structure and Funding Circle's historical gross loss data. KBRA also conducted an operational assessment of the Funding Circle Platform, and will review the transaction's legal structure, transaction documents, operative agreements and legal opinions prior to the transaction's closing date.

To read the full report, please click Small Business Origination Loan Trust 2019-1 DAC Pre-Sale Report.







Preliminary Ratings Assigned: Small Business Origination Loan Trust 2019-1 DAC Class Preliminary Rating Expected Initial Credit

Enhancement (%) A AA- (sf) 35.75% B A (sf) 32.75% C BBB+ (sf) 25.75% D BB (sf) 15.25%

To access ratings, reports and disclosures, click here.

Disclosures

Further disclosures relating to this rating action are available in the EU Information Disclosure Form. Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com.

Related Publications: (available at www.kbra.com)

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About KBRA and KBRA Europe

KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider, and is a certified Credit Rating Agency (CRA) by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered with ESMA as a CRA.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005301/en/
[March 29, 2019] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of Orion Group Holdings, Inc. Investors

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of Orion Group Holdings, Inc. ("Orion" or the "Company") (NYSE: ORN) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concernin this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com.



On March 18, 2019, Orion announced that it would not file its annual report with the SEC (News - Alert) on time due to "extended evaluations of goodwill impairment testing and income tax adjustments, among other things." The Company also announced that it "expects that a significant change in results of operations from the corresponding period for the last fiscal year will be reflected in its financial statements." On this news, Orion's share price fell $0.52, or 12.3%, to close at $3.72 on March 19, 2019, thereby injuring investors.

If you purchased Orion securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley F. Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005010/en/

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[March 29, 2019]

Asia Media Cooperation Conference calls for greater convergence

BOAO, China, March 29, 2019 /CNW/ -- Media representatives from 20 Asian countries shared their perspectives on the media's role in global governance and Asian media's cooperation in the "omnimedia" era during one of the roundtable discussions at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019, which was initiated by the China Media Group and is now underway in Boao, south China's Hainan Province.

The Asia Media Cooperation Conference, which has been held annually over the past six year, shares the belief that in the omnimedia era, new technology promotes the transformation of the media industry, changes the traditional media ecology and influences the pattern of international communication.







Guo Weimin, vice minister of China's State Council Information Office, made a keynote speech at the conference on Friday. Guo said the emergence of new technologies such as AI and 5G has brought revolutionary changes to the media landscape.

He emphasized that the rise of digital media should not be seen as a threat to traditional media, but rather a boost for common prosperity.

Yan Xiaoming, vice president of China Media Group, said that in just one year's time, cutting-edge technologies like AI and 5G have turned from tools that that media reports about into tools that media use.

In this new era, there's an urgent need for Asian countries to improve their say on the world stage, to match their economic competence.

Other representatives echoed that Asian media should seize opportunities and work together to decide Asian media's say and development in the international community.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/asia-media-cooperation-conference-calls-for-greater-convergence-300821073.html

SOURCE China Media Group
[March 29, 2019] WP Engine Named a WordPress Recommended Partner for Adobe Business Catalyst Customers

WP Engine, the WordPress digital experience platform, today announced that it has been selected as a WordPress recommended partner for Adobe (News - Alert) Business Catalyst customers transitioning to a new digital experience platform. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005399/en/ WP Engine Named a WordPress Recommended Partner for Adobe Business Catalyst Customers (Graphic: Business Wire) Adobe Business Catalyst is an all-in-one hosted Content Management System (CMS) for digital agencies and business owners. Adobe announced the end of development for its Business Catalyst program as of March 26, 2018 and will cease the Business Catalyst program as of March 21, 2021. As part of the change process, Adobe named WP Engine a recommended partner to smooth the process of transitioning for Business Catalyst customers based on its WordPress digital experience expertise, award-winning support and Agency Partner Program. Highlights of the Adobe Business Catalyst partnership: Simplified, seamless and supported migration. Adobe Business Catalyst customers will enjoy simplified, seamless and supported migration to WordPress through WP Engine.

Adobe Business Catalyst customers will enjoy simplified, seamless and supported migration to WordPress through WP Engine. Proven migration solution. To support your move to the greener pastures of WordPress, WP Engine has teamed up with WordHerd, a migration agency with deep experience transferring business sites from Business Catalyst to WordPress.

To support your move to the greener pastures of WordPress, WP Engine has teamed up with WordHerd, a migration agency with deep experience transferring business sites from Business Catalyst to WordPress. Benefit from WordPress. WordPress is the world's most popular CMS for a reason, it offers more possibilities to help your business grow.

WordPress is the world's most popular CMS for a reason, it offers more possibilities to help your business grow. Access to great resources for your business. Through WP Engine's Agency Partner Program you can work directly with over 2,000 agencies to build great digital experiences, like the Antenna Group (formerly Chicago Digital), an Adobe Business Catalyst Master Partner, who can re-imagine your favorite Business Catalyst features on WordPress.

Through WP Engine's Agency Partner Program you can work directly with over 2,000 agencies to build great digital experiences, like the Antenna Group (formerly Chicago Digital), an Adobe Business Catalyst Master Partner, who can re-imagine your favorite Business Catalyst features on WordPress. The WordPress Digital Experience Platform. With WP Engine's digital experience platform you will have the performance, security, reliability, developer tools, ease of use and most extensive customer success on your team for the ultimate peace of mind.



The WordPress Partner of Choice Launched in 2017, WP Engine's Agency Partner Program enables agencies of all sizes to use WordPress to grow their business by driving creative, engaging experiences that deliver clear impact for their clients. Since its launch, the APP has grown exponentially, enrolling almost 2,500 agency partners thanks to the availability of extensive thought leadership and content resources, its digital experience platform, advanced developer tools and the opportunity for new business leads. New agencies to the program, signing up within the last 12 months, include Edelman (News - Alert), Grey, Huge, The Richards Group and W2O Group.

"Feature for feature, there is no better market-ready CMS for Business Catalyst websites to migrate to than WordPress," said Michael Sallander, Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy at Antenna Group. "We have built hundreds of BC websites of all different shapes and sizes and every one of them can be built on WordPress. WordPress + WP Engine gives Business Catalyst customers all the functionality they need with the world-class security, performance and maintenance they are used to, all at a price that is accessible to SMBs but powerful enough for Enterprise." "We are honored to have been selected as a recommended partner for Adobe's Business Catalyst business," said Mary Ellen Dugan, Chief Marketing Officer at WP Engine. "We've helped thousands of agencies build hundreds of thousands of their sites on WP Engine and look forward to working with Adobe Business Catalyst's customers. Our Agency Partner Program is designed to help those agencies grow their business while trusting the security, performance, agility and intelligence WP Engine provides." For more information about WP Engine and the Business Catalyst migration program, please visit our landing page where you can learn more about the program, our blog where you can find an in-depth article discussing the migration process as well as listen to a webinar that shares a lot of helpful details. ABOUT WP ENGINE WP Engine is the WordPress digital experience platform that gives companies of all sizes the agility, performance, intelligence, and integrations they need to drive their business forward faster. WP Engine's combination of tech innovation and an award-winning team of WordPress experts are trusted by over 90,000 companies across 150 countries to provide counsel and support, helping brands create world-class digital experiences. Founded in 2010, WP Engine is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has offices in San Francisco, California; San Antonio, Texas; London, England; Limerick, Ireland and Brisbane, Australia. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005399/en/

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[March 29, 2019] Worley Claims Services Acquires Alacrity Renovation Services

Worley Claims Services, LLC ("Worley"), a recognized leader in providing insurance claims services in North America, today announced the acquisition of Alacrity Renovation Services, LLC ("Alacrity") from Lowe's Companies, Inc. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1999, Alacrity has established itself as a leading provider of managed home and commercial property repair and emergency services to insurance carriers, financial institutions, property asset management firms and the real estate market. Through its experienced workforce of approximately 150 employees and credentialed network of more than 2,500 contractors, Alacrity specializes in providing property restoration and repair solutions in all markets throughout the United States. "Alacrity's leadership and highly skilled employees have established a reputation in the industry for delivering outstanding services to their clients. Alacrity's ability to manage complex projects with a keen focus on customer satisfaction has set the standard in the growing managed repair sector," said Jim Pearl, CEO of Worley. "This acquisition expands Worley's position as one of the largest providers of managed repair services in the property insurance market and aligns with our long-term strategy to continue making investments and strategic partnerships that will allow us to be a more comprehensive service provider capable of meeting the needs of our clients throughout the claim lifecycle." Jonathan Miko, President of Alacrity, stated, "We are excited to join forces with Worley and the strategic partners they have acquired over the past several years. Their service offerings, esteemed reputation and expertise within the industry are just a few of the traits that will help to further strengthen Alacrity's long-trm growth and strategic roadmap. Additionally, among the many similarities Alacrity and Worley share, customer service and internal culture are a primary focus for both organizations and will serve as a strong foundation for ongoing growth. We are energized by this new chapter in Alacrity's continued success and we look forward to offering our clients a full breadth of competitive services moving forward."



In 2016, Worley entered the managed repair services market with the acquisition of Nexxus Solutions Group. The transaction with Alacrity is Worley's eighth acquisition since 2015. In addition to the Alacrity and Nexxus Solutions acquisitions, Worley has also acquired NCA Group, a provider of daily and catastrophe residential and commercial property claims services; RJMW Claims Services, a regional provider of daily and catastrophe residential and commercial property claims services; Summit Independent Claim Services, which provides commercial/GA and residential property loss adjusting services; Apex (News - Alert) Claims Services of New England, a regional provider of property claims services; Audit Services, Inc., a provider of file review and desk-based estimate writing services; and Replacement Source (News - Alert) of America, a nationwide provider of contents loss evaluation and pricing. About Worley Claims Services

Worley, based in Fishers, Indiana, is one of the largest independent providers of insurance claims management services in North America. Worley provides property, auto, and casualty claims adjustment services and staffing solutions to national and regional insurance companies, MGAs, TPAs, self-insured corporations, as well as clients in the federal/state government sector. Aquiline Capital Partners, a New York and London-based private equity firm investing in businesses globally across the financial services sector, acquired a majority stake in Worley in October 2014. For more information, please visit: www.worleyco.com. About Alacrity Renovation Services Alacrity Services has been a leading supplier of home restoration and repair services since 1999. The company is powered by an elite, pre-screened network of contractors providing services across a number of industries including insurance, financial, commercial, property management, and real estate. Their model incorporates proprietary workflow management software and leverages top-to-bottom industry experience to provide exceptional support throughout the lifecycle of each assignment. Alacrity Services is headquartered in Eugene, OR, with a second office location in Charlotte, NC. For more information, please visit: www.AlacrityServices.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005417/en/

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Ngan shared that her visit aims to boost and deepen friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries in general and between the Vietnamese NA and the Moroccan House of Representatives in particular.

Elktiki Mustapha, in turn, stressed the significance of the Vietnamese top legislators official visit as it took place on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

He said that his association was set up right after the official visit to Vietnam by Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives Habib El Malki in late 2017. It has established ties with the Vietnam War Veterans Association.

He expressed his hope that Vietnam soon establishes a Vietnam-Morocco Friendship Association, so that the two associations can intensify cooperation for better mutual understanding between the two peoples.

He told Ngan that his association is compiling a book highlighting similarities of Morocco and Vietnam to help Moroccan youths understand more about the two countries histories. He said he is delighted when hearing that the Vietnam War Veterans Association has a similar intention.

Mustapha affirmed that his associations members will do their utmost to further develop the bilateral relations.

The top Vietnamese legislator affirmed she will work to speed up the establishment of the Vietnam-Morocco Friendship Association after returning home.

She also stressed that the Vietnamese State and people hope to consolidate and strengthen friendship and cooperation with the Moroccan State and people for practical interests and prosperity of the two nations, thus contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.


Slowly but surely, the EU is shifting its priorities to the East





By Pepe Escobar

March 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Lets start with the essential background for the meeting in Paris on Tuesday between Chinese President Xi Jinping and three EU heavyweights  French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker.

As imperfect as these figures may be, economic growth for the past 10 years after the 2008 financial crisis  which was a made in the West phenomenon  do tell an enlightening story.

Chinas growth: 139%. Indias growth: 96%. the US growth: 34%. EU growth: a negative 2%.

French mainstream media, controlled by a rarified group of oligarchs, spun a risible narrative that Macron imposed this four-way meeting on Xi to press on him the new EC strategy aiming to clarify Chinese ambiguity in relation to the New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

As I previously reported, the EC now brands China a systemic rival, and seems to have realized that Beijing is an economic competitor in search of technological leadership. And that may translate as a threat to European values and norms.

Xi had just come from Rome  where the populist, eurosceptic Lega, Five Stars coalition government became the first G7 nation to sign a partnership with the BRI, igniting massive sparks of Atlanticist fear.

So in the end, what did we get from Chancellor Angela Merkel as the EU faced a process French elites describe as Sino-globalization?

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We had realpolitik. Merkel stressed the BRI was an important project: We, as Europeans, want to play an active part and that must lead to certain reciprocity and we are still wrangling over that a bit. She added: We are seeing the project as a good visualization of interaction, interrelation and interdependence.

Merkel was essentially relaying the position of German business elites  as a trade powerhouse, the future of Germany lies in turbo-charging business with Asia, especially China.

So, instead of demonizing Rome, in practice Berlin will eventually embark on the same path. After all, Duisburg, in the Ruhr valley, is already the de facto top BRI terminal in northern Europe.

Xi and his EU partners did not fail to emphasize multilateralism. There could not be a more glaring contrast to the Trump administrations narrative that China is a threat and the BRI is all about Chinese vanity. Juncker even tried to defuse the systemic tension: We understand that China does not like the expression rivals, but it is a compliment describing our shared ambitions.

Add to it that Xi also felt the need to remind the EU leadership of the obvious. China will continue to open up, as it managed in only 40 years to accomplish what Europe did over the course of the entire industrial revolution.

New Silk Air, anyone?

On the  embattled  Macron front, more than New Silk Roads a de facto New Silk Air seems to be in effect.

No one  apart from Boeing  argues about a 30 billion euro-plus Chinese order to buy 300 Airbuses. And thats only the beginning. The fact that Beijing will use Airbus technology to enhance its aviation prowess under the framework of Made in China 2025 is another matter entirely.

So Paris may not have turned, like Rome, into an official partner to the New Silk Roads  at least not yet. But the promises are quite telling  on three fronts.

1) The emphasis on multilateralism  strong and efficient. Thats not exactly Trumpian rhetoric.

2) Common action with Beijing on climate change and biodiversity.

3) An economic-trade partnership that respects mutual interests. That is, in fact, New Silk Roads-BRI official policy since the beginning, in 2013.

So when we compare the different strategies by Rome and Paris, Xi has, in fact, come out with a win-win.

Merkel, predictably, was careful to hedge to the hilt: The triangle between EU, China and US is very important. Without the US, we will not be able to have multilateralism.

At the same time, she stressed, the US-China trade war was hitting our German economy.

As for Team Macron, with the leader obsessed with posing as the savior of the EU ahead of the European Parliament elections in May, they could not help but go after the administration in Rome.

According to a Macron acolyte: There is this bad European habit to have 28 different policies, with countries competing against each other to attract investment. We need to speak with a common voice if we want to exist. We have the same approach on the 5G issue: avoiding 28 different decisions.

The 5G Monaco Grand Prix

Which brings us to the case of Monaco, not exactly a shabby prize  and duly visited by Xi, who was received, literally, as royalty.

The principality is absolutely avid to gobble up the fast-growing Chinese luxury tourism market. And that explains why Monaco has already signed a deal with Huawei to be the first country to be entirely covered by 5G before the end of 2019.

Paris, by the way, has not ruled out using Huawei equipment. And as a cherry on the cake, guess which city Huawei chose to globally unveil its spectacular new P30 series of smartphones? Paris.

Make no mistake, for Beijing, in terms of trade and economic relations, Berlin is way more relevant than Paris. But these big three  Berlin, Paris and Rome  all have major roles to play.

The New Silk Roads being re-connected to Italy after half a millennium will accelerate Euro-Asia integration, and even, in the long run, more influence for both the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

EU businesses, if not political Eurocrats, are starting to realize that Europe cannot afford to become a battlefield in Cold War 2.0 between the US and Russia, cannot afford to become a hostage of Washington tearing up international law  see, for instance, the destruction of the Iran nuclear deal and recognizing the occupied Golan Heights as part of Israel  and cannot afford to become a victim of Washingtons trade whims.

Its no wonder that slowly but surely, the EU is shifting its priorities to the East  including to its systemic rival.

Pepe Escobar is correspondent-at-large at Asia Times. His latest book is 2030. Follow him on Facebook.

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[March 29, 2019] PartnerSource Asks: What about the Workers? Explosive Growth in Gig Economy, Including Lyft and Uber, Brings Worker Benefit Programs to Forefront

Lyft shares begin trading today, and an Uber IPO is expected to make news soon. Investments are growing in the gig economy. With it comes significant interest in finding out how our modern workplace's workers will be covered in the event of an injury or illness on the job. As new insurance products are emerging to cover gig workers' medical and disability expenses when they are injured on the job, PartnerSource, a Texas company that pioneered innovative alternatives to workers' comp, is pointing to history that is repeating itself, and imploring companies to look at innovations in Texas when considering how to care for workers. "Thirty years ago in Texas, there was a similar mass exodus of employers (and employees and payroll) from the Texas workers' comp system," notes Bill Minick, founder and chairman of PartnerSource, a firm that delivers innovative alternative solutions to workers' compensation programs. "There grew a large and immediate need for innovation in the space, so new Texas injury benefit plans were created to fulfill that. It's easy to compare that exodus with today's rising gig economy." From your Uber driver, to your housekeeper, your hairstylist, and the tech who just fixed your computer, ranks of gig economy workers are growing. As millions of U.S. workers move from traditional employment into the gig economy, new insurance products are emerging to cover their medical and disability expenses when injured on the job. Uber Technologies developed its "Driver Injury Protection" program to provide insurance coverage to drivers when they are logged on to the app, and transporting passengers. The National Domestic Workers Alliance announced a portable benefits platform called Alia for domestic house cleaners. New York's Black Car Fund has long-provided a non-profit, workers' compensation program for drivers of taxis and limos. The programs are varied in how they define and deliver services. "Determining who is, and who is not, an independent contractor is something that states and federal legislators, regulators and courts are working to decide," Minick explains. "As they modernize the definition of those involved in this new working model, we will see more of these insurance products spring up for any job imaginable that can be performed by an independent contractor. While there is no doubt that the gig economy is here to stay, we stress that it is necessary to appropriately fund the full cost of that labor -- and not shift the expense of work injury to charitable, governmental or other social programs funded by taxpayers."



To create sustainable programs that work, PartnerSource and others are asking companies to look at the lessons learning in the successful Texas option. Workers covered by Texas injury benefit programs today have three large advantages over workers covered by new gig worker programs: Alternative solutions in Texas must be ERISA-compliant. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is a federal law that provides strong worker protections on reporting, full disclosure, fiduciary duties and claim procedures that (according to the U.S. Supreme Court) provide a "full and fair review" of claims; Injured workers can sue their Texas employer for any failure in safety or training that caused the injury. The employer cannot defend against such claims based on the worker's assumption of risk, negligence of a fellow employee, or contributory or comparative negligence; and A 30-year track record of experimentation, refinement and success. Innovation was the genesis, but repeated testing and refinement has produced a solution that works. Simply put, in the vast majority of cases, workers get better benefits and care in a solution that ultimately also costs employers less. While the innovation from the rise of the gig economy is a good thing, PartnerSource hopes that this embryonic gig worker marketplace will eventually learn a lot from the communications, medical management and other claim process refinements that have allowed Texas injury benefit plans to deliver the best medical outcomes and highest wage replacement benefits for injured workers, along with the lowest costs for American employers.

"Behind each of these numbers, these rising statistics in this booming gig economy, are real people with real lives, real families, and real needs," Minick said. "It is imperative that they are protected." PartnerSource is the leading provider of a responsible alternative to traditional workers' compensation for businesses operating in the state of Texas. The company dedicates deep talent from a team of more than 30 experienced employees to provide end-to-end strategies that are easy to use, fiscally responsible, and driven by the purpose that better business comes from caring for injured workers. PartnerSource clients achieve better medical outcomes and deliver better wage replacement benefits for their injured employees than when using traditional workers' compensation plans, while also recognizing significant net cost savings. Based in Dallas, Texas, PartnerSource provides industry leadership and education through its annual conference and participation in numerous workers' compensation industry events, awards and associations that support people injured on the job. PartnerSource is also a proud supporter of the Kids' Chance of Texas scholarship fund, which is dedicated to bettering the lives of injured workers and their families. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005420/en/

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[March 29, 2019] Ocean Visions: Leading Institutions Come Together to Cultivate Innovative, Scalable, Science-Driven Solutions to Ocean Challenges

ATLANTA, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading ocean science and engineering institutions are joining forces to create Ocean Visions, an innovative scientist-driven ocean conservation venture that fosters collaboration between top researchers, conservationists and entrepreneurs committed to solving some of the biggest challenges facing ocean health. The endeavor's first summit  OceanVisions2019  Climate  will be held April 1-4 at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta. The summit will highlight ocean-based science and engineering successes that promote solutions addressing human, climate and ecological pressures. Ocean Visions represents the nation's leading organizations in ocean science and engineering  Georgia Tech, The Smithsonian Institution, Stanford University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography University of Georgia, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, The Georgia Aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium and Birch Aquarium at Scripps  coming together under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on scientifically sound, scalable, impactful and viable ocean conservation solutions. The ocean covers 70 percent of the Earth and provides food and jobs valued at $2.5 trillion dollars each year  making the ocean the seventh largest economy in the world. Unfortunately, ocean health has been declining as a result of climate change, overfishing and pollution. Climate change is making our ocean warmer and more acidic, threatening critical ocean ecosystems including corals, shellfish, and plankton. Thirty percent of the world's fisheries are overfished and nine million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year. Fertilizer and sewage runoff are creating massive "dead zones"  waters with such low oxygen levels that fish can't survive. Coastal dead zones have increased tenfold since 1950. Finding solutions to these pressing challenges is more urgent than ever. "The ocean is our past and our future. Healthy people, healthy communities and healthy economies depend directly on a healthy ocean," said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., recipient of the OceanVisions2019 Tethys ward, past head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and environmental scientist and distinguished professor at Oregon State University. "Ocean Visions is a pioneering endeavor that is committed to delivering comprehensive, science-led solutions to the ocean's many challenges  solutions that are scalable at a global level. That has never been done before."



A champion of science, Lubchenco is the first recipient of the Tethys Award, which was named for the Greek goddess of water and created to honor role models who contributed to, promoted, enabled or raised awareness about ocean solutions and who inspire new generations of ocean experts and leaders. Lubchenco will deliver the Tethys Award lecture during the summit's opening ceremony live streaming on April 1. To nurture and work towards these solutions, Ocean Visions will:

create a network that will bring together non-profits, industry and other private and public groups to focus on translational research;

host regular summits to highlight the latest research and scalable concepts to address ocean conservation needs;

launch a fellows program to foster an integrated community of scientists, engineers, policy makers, stakeholders and other groups who can exchange knowledge and experiences; and

sponsor startup competitions in the heart of academic institutions to engage young talent. "Addressing the challenges facing our oceans will take an ambitious effort that brings together the best talent in our nation," said G. Wayne Clough, Ph.D., secretary emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution, who will open the summit. "Ocean Visions is unique because it is led by trusted institutions and top scientists and researchers in ocean conservation working together to formulate a call to action to foster, support and advance innovative and viable solutions that can make a difference." The summit will provide networking events for business leaders to learn more about proposed solutions, ranging from advanced concepts to those that are market ready, such as marine algae-based animal feeds and biofuels that can reduce the carbon footprint of biofuel and protein production and sea-level sensor technologies for coastal cities and communities threatened by rising sea levels. "Ocean Visions provides much-needed optimism for the future of our oceans," said Emanuele Di Lorenzo, Ph.D., director of the Ocean Science & Engineering program at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "It establishes a playground for innovative solutions by bringing together the leading minds in ocean conservation who are dedicated to sharing experiences as well as brainstorming and supporting better solutions." Georgia Tech is hosting the April 1-4 OceanVisions2019 summit. Learn more about the OceanVisions2019 program. About Ocean Visions

Ocean Visions was founded by leading ocean research and conservation organizations to address the growing need to coordinate and integrate science and engineering and generate a knowledge base that enables ocean solutions. Ocean Visions consists of the leading organizations in ocean conservation: Georgia Institute of Technology, The Smithsonian Institution, Stanford University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography University of Georgia, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, The Georgia Aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium and Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Visit http://www.oceanvisions.org/. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ocean-visions-leading-institutions-come-together-to-cultivate-innovative-scalable-science-driven-solutions-to-ocean-challenges-300821089.html SOURCE Ocean Visions

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[March 29, 2019] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company Investors (MBT)

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of Mobile TeleSystems (News - Alert) Public Joint Stock Company ("Mobile TeleSystems" or the "Company") (NYSE: MBT) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. 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 Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or by email to < rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com.



On November 20, 2018, Mobile TeleSystems disclosed that it had reserved approximately $840 million to cover potential liability concerning investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC (News - Alert)") and Department of Justice ("DOJ") into the Company's former operations in Uzbekistan. Then, on March 7, 2019, the DOJ announced that Mobile TeleSystems and its subsidiary had entered into an agreement with the DOJ and SEC to pay a combined $850 million in penalties to resolve charges arising from its role in a scheme to pay $420 million in bribes in Uzbekistan.

On this news, shares of Mobile TeleSystems fell $0.24, or 3.08%, to close at $7.54 per share on March 7, 2019, thereby injuring investors. If you purchased Mobile TeleSystems securities, have information, or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005480/en/

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[March 29, 2019] Frankie Keyes Most Trusted Expert in Cybersecurity, Say Industry Insiders

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Frankie who? No April Fools joke: Francis (Frankie) Archibald Keyes, Esquire, a fictitious figure still unknown to most people outside IT, enjoys significantly higher trust among industry professionals than most real-life cybersecurity vendors or experts, according to new survey results from this years RSA Conference in San Francisco. The Cybersecurity Approval Poll was conducted by Silicon Valley based Authentic8, maker of the Silo cloud browser. Of those surveyed by the company at the RSA trade show, a total of 88% stated that they trusted the made-up Mr. Keyes much more, slightly more or about the same as other cybersecurity vendors and experts. If these results dont instill much confidence in the industrys ability to protect its customers from data breaches, malware attacks and online election meddling, that is the whole point. Frankie Keyes, a self-proclaimed Mr. Fix-it played by a professional actor, served as the face of F.A.K.E. Security, a make-believe company - on the web: fakesecurity.com - set up by Authentic8 to highlight what the company views as industry-wide self-delusion. F.A.K.E. Security boasted its own booth at the industrys annual gathering (for the second year in a row), where Frankie Keyes continued his meteoric rise to geek fame by peddling his Ultimate Cybersecurity Toolkit: Duct tape and WD-40. Nerd jokes aside, this tongue-in-cheek take on the industrys internal and external credibility problem hit a nerve, as the results of the survey conductd at the F.A.K.E Security booth prove.



The company points to three data points in particular that it thinks are symptomatic for what co-founder and CEO Scott Petry calls the reactive approach to cybersecurity: Asked which statement most accurately describes how they feel about the security of their enterprise, the most selected answer was: We know we are vulnerable in key areas, but we respond quickly to close the gaps as they become known.







While the vast majority of cybersecurity solutions have not stopped data breaches and web-borne exploits, 48% of respondents would expect a real ultimate cybersecurity toolkit to prevent most attacks, threats, and malware from ever reaching their endpoints or network in the first place.





Asked which applications put their organization most at risk, web browsers came in first (34%), followed by email clients (32%). Authentic8s Scott Petry calls it positive and encouraging that the web browser is ranking now as the application least trusted by IT security professionals. According to Petry, the industrys attempts to compensate for the browsers inherent vulnerabilities have been as effective as Fankie Keyes approach to cybersecurity. For the Authentic8 CEO, point solutions such as antivirus software or AI-based threat detection have become modern ITs version of Duct tape. For decades now, there has been an unhealthy cycle of web-borne exploits and data breaches, solutions promised, technologies purchased, leading to more incidents, says Petry, yet it hasnt lowered the breach volume. He emphasizes that the survey and its results were 100 percent not made up, surreal - but still real. Market research shows the cybersecurity industry grew at roughly 10% last year, surpassing $114 billion. The FAKE Security booth at RSA was our way of poking fun at the absurdity of repeating the failed approach over and over again and expecting different results, says Petry. The survey responses suggest that many IT security professionals feel the same way. About Authentic8

Founded in 2010 by principals from Postini, Authentic8 is redefining how the browser is used to access web data. Its flagship product, Silo, is a cloud-based secure browser. Silo creates a perfect insulation layer between the user and the web, keeping all web code isolated in a contained environment but delivering an encrypted display of the browser session. Silo also helps manage login credentials, access controls and data use policies. The Silo browser is built fresh at session start, and destroyed at session end, ensuring that users remain secure, compliant, and anonymous online. Try Silo risk free at www.authentic8.com. Mia Damiano

[email protected]

(703) 390-1502



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[March 29, 2019] ThoughtWorks Named Employer of the Year at 2019 Women in IT Awards

NEW YORK, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ThoughtWorks, a global software consultancy, was honored as Employer of the Year at the 2019 Women in IT Awards in New York, organized by Information Age. In addition, several ThoughtWorks leaders received recognition for their continued advocacy for women in the IT industry. Maintaining and creating a diverse and inclusive workforce is part of ThoughtWorks' DNA -- the company has seen first-hand the positive impact the experiences and perspectives of people from diverse backgrounds have on the workplace. ThoughtWorks was named Employer of the Year based on its efforts to attract and retain women technologists. Three ThoughtWorks employees were also honored at the awards: Dr. Rebecca Parsons Finalist, CTO of the Year -- for IT excellence and leadership.

Finalist, CTO of the Year -- for IT excellence and leadership. Tarsha McCormick Finalist, Advocate of the Year -- for bringing more women into IT careers.

Finalist, Advocate of the Year -- for bringing more women into IT careers. Cassandra Shum Finalist, Future CIO of the Year -- for excellence in IT and demonstrated progress towards C-level leadership.



Tarsha McCormick , Head of Diversity and Inclusion North America at ThoughtWorks. ThoughtWorks continues to increase diversity at all levels of the company through a variety of evolving programs and approaches. Key initiatives include recruitment of professionals from non-traditional backgrounds, technical training for career changers and graduates through ThoughtWorks University and an immersive onboarding program called First Year Experience.

The Women in IT Awards ceremony was held at New York City's Cipriani restaurant and included more than 600 of the technology industry's top leaders. Honorees were selected by a panel of diverse judges in 20 separate categories, based on who demonstrated the strongest performance in each criteria. The full list of the Women in IT Award winners can be found here. Visit www.thoughtworks.com/careers to learn more about making your mark in tech. About ThoughtWorks

We are a global software consultancy and community of passionate purpose-led individuals. We think disruptively to deliver technology to address our clients' toughest challenges all while seeking to revolutionize the IT industry and create positive social change. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thoughtworks-named-employer-of-the-year-at-2019-women-in-it-awards-300821146.html SOURCE ThoughtWorks

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[March 29, 2019] At War with Climate Change: Dominica Proposes Three Solutions - CS Global Partners

The world is at war with climate change and resources must be deployed to the front lines urgently, said the Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, on Thursday at the UN Headquarters in New York. During a high-level meeting on climate and sustainable development, the premier of the small Caribbean island highlighted that Dominica exceeded expectations of its economic recovery after Hurricane Maria devastation in 2017 mainly thanks to new policies and initiatives designed to build climate resilience and sustainability. Speaking to delegates to the United Nations, Mr Skerrit proposed three capacity-building solutions in areas that already bear the brunt of climate change. The first one is the development of straightforward financing of blue and green economy activities in small island developing states (SIDS). Another is a review of the "innovative financing" of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda which currently has limited application in SIDS and least developed countries. Lastly, the Dominican Prime Minister suggested creating a mechanism to exchange expertise in low-carbon technologies amongst countries in the Global South. "The global population must see itself at war against climate change," said PM Skerrit to UN delegates in New York on Thursday. "We must deploy human, technical and financial resources o the front lines. We must build capacity and resilience () [and] fight as a unified army."



Two years earlier, he had pledged to make Dominica "the world's first climate resilient nation". Since then, the small island has implemented several bold initiatives guided by Dominicans' green ethos. One of them is the construction of a geothermal plant that would supply nearly the entire population with clean energy. This is currently partly funded by the island's world-leading Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme, which also supports numerous key economic sectors in Dominica, such as the expanding ecotourism industry. Through the CBI Programme, highly-vetted foreign investors and their families can obtain Dominica's valuable citizenship in exchange for a contribution to the Economic Diversification Fund or an investment in pre-approved real estate, which include eco-friendly resorts and hotels. To ensure the integrity of the Programme, Dominica runs each applicant through a carefully-elaborated, multi-tiered due diligence process. It also makes sure that the Programme operates in line with the highest international standards. A recent report by leading international tax advisory Ernst & Young dispelled the myth that citizenship by investment programmes may pose a risk to tax reporting, giving the example of Dominica's citizenship not being relevant to obtaining tax residency.

Dominica runs its CBI Programme governed by the "Global Community" mindset. In the same community spirit, Dominica continues to invest heavily in sustainability. Another ambitious resilience-building project, entirely funded by Dominica's CBI Programme, is the Housing Revolution (News - Alert), which aims to provide new, hurricane-proof homes for thousands of Dominicans. CS Global Partners is the international legal advisory mandated by the Government to promote the Citizenship by Investment Programme worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005488/en/

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[March 29, 2019] Professor Clive Ballard Wins 2019 International Outstanding Achievement Award

TORONTO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Professor Clive Ballard, Executive Dean of the University of Exeter Medical School, was presented with the 2019 Weston Brain Institute International Outstanding Achievement Award in Lisbon, Portugal. This 25,000 award recognizes an exceptional researcher who has made significant advances in accelerating the development of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases of aging through translational research, has demonstrated remarkable leadership, and has a record of impeccable citizenship in the research community. This year's prize was provided by the Selfridges Group and was open to researchers based in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. 2019 International Outstanding Achievement Award: Professor Clive Ballard

Professor Clive Ballard is a world leader in dementia prevention and drug discovery, and an advocate for improved care for patients of neurodegenerative diseases of aging. Throughout his career, Professor Ballard has been the lead PI or co-PI on more than 30 clinical trials that evaluate various therapeutic interventions for neurodegenerative diseases of aging. His landmark clinical trials include the DART AD trial that highlighted the major long-term impact of using anti-psychotics on mortality in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, and the HTA-SADD trial for testing the use of sertraline and mirtazapine for the treatment of depression in AD patients. In addition to drug development, Professor Ballard is also heavily involved in the study of prevention strategies and alternative treatment opportunities for AD. For example, along with colleagues, he developed PROTECT, an online-based project, now adopted by the Dementia Platform UK, that aims to understand why some people develop dementia by collecting participants' information on demographics, lifestyle, cognitive abilities, and DNA samples, year after year. Clive Ballard comments "I am absolutely honoured and delighted to receive the extremely prestigious 2019 Weston Brain Institute International Outstanding Achievement Award. The dementia research field is at a pivotal point, and we look forward to turning research opportunities into benefits for people with dementia over the next 10 years." Professor Ballard has published over 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and has been cited over 50,000 times. In the past 15 years, he has garnered more than 100 million in research funding. Professor Ballard also held leadership positions in a number of organizations, including Director of Research for Alzheimer's Society in the UK (2003-2013), where he guided national policy around dementia treatment and care. In 2015, Professor Ballard was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Professor Ballard is currently the Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean, Professor of Age Related Diseases at the University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health.



"I'm delighted that Professor Ballard was named this year's recipient of the 2019 Weston Brain Institute International Outstanding Achievement award. Professor Ballard is a highly talented clinician who has developed important prevention strategies and alternative treatment opportunities for patients," said Alexandra Stewart, Executive Director of the Weston Brain Institute. Professor Ballard is the fourth recipient of the annual Weston Brain Institute International Outstanding Achievement award. The 2016 winner was Dr. Peter St George-Hyslop (Professor, University of Toronto) for accomplishments that include developing mouse models of AD as tools for drug development. In 2017, The Selfridges Group Foundation named Professor Nicholas Fox (Professor, University College London) the winner for accomplishments that include developing neuroimaging methods for the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of progression in neurodegenerative diseases of aging. The 2018 winner was Dr. Anthony Lang (Professor, University of Toronto) for his leadership in clinical trials and development of alternative therapeutic interventions for PD. The 2020 award will be supported by The W. Garfield Weston Foundation and presented to a researcher based in Canada.

About the Weston Brain Institute

The Weston Brain Institute is Canada's largest privately funded national initiative aimed at accelerating breakthrough discoveries for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases of aging, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and frontotemporal dementia. The Institute directly supports Canada's world-class neuroscience research community and focuses on high-risk, high-reward projects, independent of commercial potential, that address the existing translational gap in neurodegenerative research using an innovative fast-track granting model. In Canada, the Institute is a program of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, and in Europe, the Weston Brain Institute is a program of the Selfridges Group Foundation. www.westonbrain.org; twitter: @westonbrain; Facebook: WestonBrainInstitute About the Selfridges Group Foundation

The Selfridges Group Foundation was set up to coordinate charitable and philanthropic activities within Selfridges Group. Selfridges Group consists of Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, Holt Renfrew in Canada, de Bijenkorf in the Netherlands, and Selfridges in the UK. As part of its philanthropic work, the Selfridges Group Foundation supports medical research into treatments for brain disorders in Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The Selfridges Group Foundation has most recently awarded four grants through its Rapid Response programme in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The exceptional scientists working on these projects are pursuing novel, high-risk, high-reward translational research in neurodegenerative diseases of aging. The four recent grantees are: Dr. Sahar El Aidy of University of Groningen, who is establishing a bacterial enzyme from the gut as a biomarker to predict the efficacy of levodopa treatment in patients with PD, to determine optimal dosing of levodopa and minimize side effects in PD patients.

of University of Groningen, who is establishing a bacterial enzyme from the gut as a biomarker to predict the efficacy of levodopa treatment in patients with PD, to determine optimal dosing of levodopa and minimize side effects in PD patients. Dr. Connie Jimenez of VU University Medical Center, who is developing and validating a panel of protein-based biomarkers from CSF for the diagnosis and prognosis of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease using mass spectrometry analysis.

of VU University Medical Center, who is developing and validating a panel of protein-based biomarkers from CSF for the diagnosis and prognosis of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease using mass spectrometry analysis. Dr. Laura Parkkinen of University of Oxford , who is developing a biomarker to diagnose early PD, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy by detecting the protein alpha synuclein in CSF. Additionally, assessing the feasibility of measuring the biomarker in saliva and peripheral tissues (nasal brushings) rather than the more difficult-to-obtain CSF.

of , who is developing a biomarker to diagnose early PD, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy by detecting the protein alpha synuclein in CSF. Additionally, assessing the feasibility of measuring the biomarker in saliva and peripheral tissues (nasal brushings) rather than the more difficult-to-obtain CSF. Dr. Eline Willemse of VU University Medical Center, who is measuring neurofilament light chain in CSF and blood of patients with Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies to develop curves of how this biomarker changes over time for different diseases, genders and ages. This will help with differential diagnosis, earlier diagnosis and predicting disease progression. If successful, the group aims to create an app for healthcare providers to use with patients. For more information, please contact:

Annette Cremin

[email protected] Georgia Frost

+44-(0)-7872-544-077

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/professor-clive-ballard-wins-2019-international-outstanding-achievement-award-300821152.html SOURCE Selfridges Group

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[March 29, 2019]

Budget 2019: Building a Clean Economy

PRINCE GEORGE, BC, March 29, 2019 /CNW/ - Canadians' quality of lifeand Canada's future growthare deeply tied to the environment. Failing to invest in a cleaner, more sustainable future threatens the things Canadians rely on for their success: an affordable cost of living, good, well-paying jobs and resilient communities.

Today, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, was at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, to highlight Budget 2019, Investing in the Middle Class. The Budget makes significant investments to protect Canada's environmentwhile also helping create new jobs and make life more affordable for Canadians.

These investments go hand-in-hand with efforts to help more people find a home, find and keep good jobs, retire with confidence, and get affordable prescription drugs when they need them.

In Budget 2019, the Government proposes to protect Canadian families and the environment by:

Lowering Canadians' energy costs with support to increase energy efficiency in residential, commercial and multi-unit buildings.

with support to increase energy efficiency in residential, commercial and multi-unit buildings. Making it easier and more affordable for Canadians to choose a zero-emission vehicle by expanding the network of zero-emission vehicle charging and refuelling stations, and creating new incentives for people and businesses to purchase zero-emission vehicles.

by expanding the network of zero-emission vehicle charging and refuelling stations, and creating new incentives for people and businesses to purchase zero-emission vehicles. Providing new infrastructure to build cleaner and healthier communities through a major municipal infrastructure top-up investment. This will double the Government's commitment to municipalities and help communities fund their infrastructure priorities, including public transit, water and green energy projects.

through a major municipal infrastructure top-up investment. This will double the Government's commitment to municipalities and help communities fund their infrastructure priorities, including public transit, water and green energy projects. Promoting clean electricity by working with provinces and territories to develop a framework for a clean electric future that uses more clean, reliable and affordable electricity, including in rural and remote communities.

by working with provinces and territories to develop a framework for a clean electric future that uses more clean, reliable and affordable electricity, including in rural and remote communities. Helping coal workers and communities prepare for, find and act on new opportunities through skills training and business diversification as Canada moves to phase out coal-fired electricity by 2030.

through skills training and business diversification as moves to phase out coal-fired electricity by 2030. Ensuring all Canadians have greater access to healthy, affordable and locally produced food by developing A Food Policy for Canada , which will tackle food insecurity, fraud and wasteand promote Canadian food both locally and abroad.

Quote

"Our Government has been very clear that it is not only possible but an imperative to ensure that Canadians benefit from a strong economy and a clean environment. Starting this year, it is no longer free to pollute anywhere in Canada. Our clean growth and climate action plan is expected to result in the biggest drop in carbon pollution in the history of Canada's emissions reportingwhile creating more good, well-paying jobs in the clean economy and making life more affordable for Canadians. Budget 2019 continues that work, and will help Canadian communities in the ongoing fight against the devastating effects of climate change and pollution."

The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, M.D., P.C., M.P.

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations

"On behalf of Council, I am pleased to welcome Minister Bennett to Prince George, home of the University of Northern BC, Canada's Green University. Council is very encouraged with the Government of Canada's commitments in the budget to additional funding for infrastructure and clean energy. With our own renewable energy systems and electric vehicles, for example, Prince George is well positioned to provide a leadership role for Canada."

Lyn Hall

Mayor of Princ George, British Columbia







"UNBC is a Canadian leader in sustainability initiatives that inspire research and education opportunities, foster a healthier environment, and help UNBC save funding that can be redirected to other purposes. We commend the Minister and her government for their investments that support cleaner and healthier communities."

Dr. Daniel Weeks

President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia

Quick Facts

The Government is investing more than $180?billion over 12 years to build infrastructure in communities across the?country.

Working with provinces and territories, the Government has approved more than 33,000 infrastructure projects supported by federal investments of approximately $19.9 billion .

. Budget 2019 also makes investments in cleaning up abandoned mines in Canada's North and commits to continuing to explore the potential creation of a marine conservation area in the High Arctic Basin, in cooperation with the Government of Nunavut and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

North and commits to continuing to explore the potential creation of a marine conservation area in the High Arctic Basin, in cooperation with the Government of and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. From ensuring there is a price on carbon pollution, to accelerating the phase-out of traditional coal electricity generation, to the $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan and investments in public transit and green infrastructure, the Government is making significant progress in transitioning to a cleaner economy.

Oceans Protection Plan and investments in public transit and green infrastructure, the Government is making significant progress in transitioning to a cleaner economy. Since 2016, the Government has committed more than $9.4 billion to support Canadian scientists and researchers, including significant investments in the cutting-edge equipment needed to make scientific breakthroughs and drive innovation in the clean economy.

to support Canadian scientists and researchers, including significant investments in the cutting-edge equipment needed to make scientific breakthroughs and drive innovation in the clean economy. Without immediate action, climate change will reduce Canada's quality of life and collective prosperity. Encouraging clean technology development and adoption will help Canadian businesses remain competitive in the global low-carbon economy.

quality of life and collective prosperity. Encouraging clean technology development and adoption will help Canadian businesses remain competitive in the global low-carbon economy. Budget 2019 proposes to invest $134.4 million over five years for a suite of new measures to support food policy priorities. In addition, $100 million over five years will be allocated from the Strategic Innovation Fund to support innovation in the food processing sector.

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[March 29, 2019] Domtar Corporation Employees Read to Students at Perry Central Elementary School and Donated Books

Domtar Corporation (NYSE: UFS) (TSX: UFS) announced that employee volunteers from the company's pulp and paper manufacturing mill in Hawesville, KY visited Perry Central Elementary School and read to students to commemorate the company's donation of 160 books to the school. Each student received two brand new books to take home, and the remaining books were given to the school library. Domtar makes a wide variety of everyday products from sustainable wood fiber, and it is one of the world's largest producers of a complete line of absorbent hygiene solutions, as well as an innovator in absorbent technology. The company's Hawesville pulp and paper mill employs more than 460 people in the community. "Domtar treasures the wonderful relationship that we've developed with the students and faculty of Perry Central Elementary school, and we are especially honored to be able to make a difference in children's lives," said Domtar Corporate Responsibility Manager, Heather Alverson Stowe. "Literacy is one of Domtar's core corporate giving pillars, which is why it's so important for us to foster a love of reading and to help put books in the hands of children in our local communities." Domtar's book donation was made possible through the company's partnership with First Book, a nonprofitsocial enterprise that provides books to children in need. As part of its Powerful Pages campaign, Domtar has partnered with First Book since 2012 to provide more than half a million dollars in grants to schools and programs in towns that are home to Domtar facilities. Domtar's grants provide funding to educators to purchase books through the First Book Marketplace, a website available exclusively to First Book programs.



About Domtar Domtar is a leading provider of a wide variety of fiber-based products including communication, specialty and packaging papers, market pulp and absorbent hygiene products. With approximately 10,000 employees serving more than 50 countries around the world, Domtar is driven by a commitment to turn sustainable wood fiber into useful products that people rely on every day. Domtar's annual sales are approximately $5.5 billion, and its common stock is traded on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges. Domtar's principal executive office is in Fort Mill, South Carolina. To learn more, visit www.domtar.com.

About First Book First Book is a nonprofit social enterprise that has distributed more than 100 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families throughout the United States and Canada. By making new, high-quality books available on an ongoing basis, First Book is transforming the lives of children in need and elevating the quality of education. For more information, please visit us online or follow our latest news on Facebook and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005518/en/

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[March 29, 2019] Animal Supply Company Launches Digital Solution to Connect Independent Pet Retailers with Online Shoppers

Today, Animal Supply Company (ASC) announced that it's launching Animal Supply Connect, a digital eFulfillment and delivery solution to connect independent pet retailers with their shoppers. Pet shoppers will be able to browse and purchase through retailers' online stores, and ASC (News - Alert) will fulfill the order from one of its 10 eCommerce warehouses using its smart logistics technology. Products will typically be delivered within two business days. "Our priority is helping the independent pet channel compete in a dynamic market. That means focusing on operational excellence and developing innovative solutions to make business simple," said Don McIntyre, Chief Executive Officer. "Connect takes the hassle out of servicing the online shopper by caring for eCommerce logistics and providing the rapid delivery services consumers expect." Head of Digital, Angela Spears, added, "No one is more knowledgeable about quality products, nutrition and the family pet than independent pet retailers. Online shopping presents the next frontier for retailers to best serve pet shoppers who want a blend of in-store and online experiences. There is a world of possibilities for the retailer that is rooted locally, yet able to reach beyond traditional walls. Our mission is to use our talented digital team, and best-in-class technology partners, to help us think differently about ways we can help them chieve the possible. Access to technology levels the playing field in an ecosystem that has been dominated by Amazon and Chewy.com."



Animal Supply Connect is just one of the digital solutions ASC has recently brought to market to support retail customers. Last year, Animal Supply Company introduced a new retail website and mobile app. The website provides a modern, integrated user experience powered by a new national best-in-class eCommerce platform, which is unprecedented in the pet industry. The first version of the mobile app launched with game-changing features such as search by scanning a barcode, connected ordering between web and app, custom shopping lists and order tracking. Innovation is a cornerstone to ASC's strategic plan and supported by its new owners. In February 2019, Animal Supply Company announced that Summit Partners ("Summit") and certain funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. ("Goldman Sachs") had acquired a majority stake in the Company. Summit and Goldman Sachs have provided significant operating and growth capital investment to support the execution of ASC's strategic plan for future growth.

For more information on Animal Supply Company, visit: www.animalsupply.com. About Animal Supply Company Animal Supply Company is the national leader in Local Everywhere pet food and supplies distribution serving retailers throughout the United States and the Caribbean. Animal Supply Company's mission is to share our passion for animals through trusted partnerships that connect the brands and customers we serve to those who love pets. We envision a world where every pet is happy, healthy, and safe, and we work through our employees, customers, and vendors to realize this goal. Animal Supply Company operates 21 facilities, of which 10 offer eCommerce fulfillment and employs approximately 1,200 people. The company has 7,000+ independent retail customers who operate more than 15,000 retail outlets distributing pet food and supplies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190329005523/en/

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Why Therell Be No US-Russia Reset Post-Mueller

By Finian Cunningham

March 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - President Donald Trump and his White House team may have been cleared of collusion with the Kremlin in the 2016 presidential election. That startling conclusion by Special Counsel Robert Mueller after nearly two years of investigation, might be viewed by some as giving Trump freedom to now get on with normalizing relations with Moscow. Dont bet on it.

Muellers report, and US attorney general William Barrs appraisal of it, only partially vindicate Trumps long-held claims that the whole so-called Russiagate" story is a hoax.

Yes, Mueller and Barr conclude that neither Trump nor his campaign team conspired with Russia to win the presidential race. But Democrat opponents are now dredging up the possibility that Trump unwittingly facilitated Kremlin cyber operations to damage his 2016 rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton.

In his summary of Muellers report, Barr unquestioningly accepts as fact the otherwise contentious claim that Russia interfered in the US election. Democrats and the anti-Trump US news media have not been deterred from pursuing their fantasy that the Kremlin allegedly meddled in US democracy. Trump has been cleared, but Russia has certainly not. It very much continues to have the smear of interference slapped all over its image.

At the heart of this narrative  bolstered by Mueller and Barr  is the false claim that Russian cyber agents hacked into the Democrat party computer system during 2016 and released emails compromising Clinton to the whistleblower website Wikileaks. That whole claim has been reliably debunked by former NSA technical expert William Binney and other former US intelligence officials who have shown indisputably that the information was not hacked from outside, but rather was released by an insider in the Democrat party, presumably based on indignation over the partys corruption concerning the stitch-up against Clintons rival nomination for the presidential ticket, Bernie Sanders.

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That is real scandal crying out to be investigated, as well as the Obama administrations decision to unleash FBI illegal wiretapping and dirty tricks against Trump as being a Russian stooge. The Russian collusion charade was always a distraction from the really big serious crimes carried out by the Obama White House, the FBI and the Democrat party.

In any case, the notion that Russia interfered in the US elections  even without Trumps collusion  has become an article of faith among the American political and media establishment.

That lie will continue to poison US-Russia relations and be used to justify more economic sanctions being imposed against Moscow. Trump may be cleared of being a Kremlin stooge. But he will find no political freedom to pursue a normalization in bilateral relations because of the predictable mantra about Russia interfering in American democracy.

But there is a deeper reason why there will be no reset in US-Russia relations. And it has nothing to do with whether Trump is in the White House. The problem is a strategic one, meaning it relates to underlying geopolitical confrontation between Americas desired global hegemony and Russias rightful aspiration to be an independent foreign power not beholden to Washingtons dictate.

Russia under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin has presented a somewhat shocking quandary for the US ruling class. It found that Russia was no longer in the servile business of rolling over to pander to Washingtons tyranny in international relations. Under Putin, Russia shook off the vassal status that it had unfortunately acquired under the feckless presidency of Boris Yeltsin (1991-99).

Putins landmark speech in Munich in 2007 was certainly a watershed moment in geopolitical relations whereby the Russian leader condemned US rampaging across the Middle East with criminal wars.

Then there was the failed attempt in 2008 by the US and NATO to over-run Georgia, failed because of a decisive military intervention by Russia in support of neighboring South Ossetia.

The return of the Cold War in US-Russia relations under former President GW Bush was due to the realization in Washington that Putin and Russia were no longer subordinates that could be pushed around for the gratification of American imperialism.

The Americans then tried another tack. Public relations and inveigling.

When Barack Obama took over the White House in 2009, there was the famous reset policy initiated by Washington towards Moscow. In March 2009, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greeted Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva with a jokey reset button, purportedly to demonstrate a willingness in Washington for a new beginning in bilateral relations.

Ominously, Clintons State Department mislabelled the button with the Russian word for overload not reset. Her inane cackling to ingratiate herself with the skeptical Lavrov was also a giveaway of a phony reset.

Look how hollow such ostensible claims for reset by Washington have since manifested.

Admittedly, there was a significant gain in Obamas negotiation of substantial nuclear arms reductions with the New START treaty in 2010.

However, it didnt take long until Washington was back to its usual business of subversions and covert wars for regime change against foreign states that didnt kowtow to its dictates. We saw this with ample evidence in the overthrow of Libyas government in 2011, the attempted ouster in Syria beginning the same year, and the even more daring American intervention in Ukraine in early 2014 when it installed a rabidly anti-Russian regime through an illegal coup detat.

We are also presently seeing this criminal American imperialism being conducted brazenly towards Venezuela, where Washington wants to overthrow a socialist president in order to get its corporate hands on the South American countrys vast oil wealth.

All the while, Russia has become ever more resolute its defiance of Washingtons global gangsterism. Moscows military defense of Syria from US-led regime change was certainly a pivotal moment in defining the limits of Moscows tolerance, as was Russias defense of Crimea.

For these reasons, Washington in its chagrin has moved to abandon the other major arms control treaty, the INF, which could allow it to install short and medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe, thus aggravating threats and tensions with Russia. The future of the much-vaunted New START treaty is also in doubt because of American vacillation. So much for Obamas reset.

These are the structural, strategic factors in why Washington is set on a course of hostility towards Moscow. It has got very little to do with President Trump being in the White House or whether he has been cleared of collusion with Moscow.

The fundamental issue for Washington is that Russia is not a vassal for American imperialism. Thats why there will be no reset. There will only be reset when American imperialism is replaced by a law-abiding, genuinely democratic US government. Until then, expect more US hostility, confrontation and even war towards Russia.

This article was originally published by " Strategic Culture Foundation " -

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[March 29, 2019]

Electrovaya Announces Results of Annual Shareholders' Meeting

TORONTO, March 29, 2019 /CNW/ - Electrovaya Inc. (TSX: EFL) (OTCQX: EFLVF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that all of the resolutions that shareholders were asked to consider at its 2018 Annual Meeting held on March 28th, 2019 in Mississauga, Ontario, were approved. The five directors named in the management information circular of the Company, being Dr. Sankar Das Gupta, Dr. Bejoy Das Gupta, Dr. James Jacobs, Dr. Alexander McLean and Dr. Carolyn Hansson, were each elected as directors by over 97% of the votes cast for and less than 3% of the votes withheld at the Meeting for each director individually.

Detailed results of the vote are set out below:









Nominee Votes For Votes

Withheld Percentage of

Votes For Percentage of Votes

Withheld Dr. Sankar Das Gupta 40,330,677 993,588 97.60% 2.40% Dr. Bejoy Das Gupta 41,090,677 233,588 99.43% 0.57% Dr. Alexander McLean 40,501,225 823,040 98.01% 1.99% Dr. Carolyn Hansson 40,514,825 809,440 98.04% 1.96% Dr. James K Jacobs 40,480,777 843,488 97.96% 2.04%



Goodman & Associates LLP, were re-appointed as the auditors of the Company.

Additional details are included in the report of voting results filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Electrovaya Inc.

Electrovaya Inc. (TSX:EFL) (OTCQX: EFLVF) designs, develops and manufactures proprietary Lithium Ion Super Polymer batteries, battery systems, and battery-related products for energy storage, clean electric transportation and other specialized applications. Electrovaya is a technology focused company with extensive IP. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, Electrovaya with customers around the globe.

To learn more about how Electrovaya is powering mobility and energy storage, please explore www.electrovaya.com.

SOURCE Electrovaya Inc.
[March 29, 2019] Collaboration With Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez Brings Added Support to Native American Owned Company Navancio

LAS VEGAS, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Navancio LLC (navancio.com), the company serving immediate needs and supporting long-term solutions for Native Americans living in reservation communities will be collaborating with President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer, on topics endeavored for the betterment of Navajo Nation communities. Navancio, a Native American owned business, is certified as an 8(a) Business Development Program Participant by the U.S. SBA. Navancio provides professional services, including specialized expertise and high-technology solutions. These services stretch across the federal, state and local government market and in commercial sectors throughout the United States and internationally. "We are thrilled to work with President Jonathan Nez to help facilitate growth and development for the Navajo Nation," says Navancio founder Mark Maryboy, a former commissioner for San Juan County, Utah, and a former Navajo Nation Council Delegate from the Utah portion of the Navajo reservation. "With his experience and leadership in the local reservation communities, we know that President Nez will provide invaluable guidance to support Navancio and our goal toempower Native American communities."



Jonathan Nez is the ninth and current President of the Navajo Nation. Before his election, Nez served as Vice President from 2015 until his inauguration in early January 2019. At 43 years of age, Nez is the youngest person to have ever been elected President of the Navajo Nation. Before being elected Vice President of the Navajo Nation, Nez served as vice president of the Shonto chapter, delegate to the Navajo Nation Council representing the Oljato, Ts'ah Bii' Kin, Navajo Mountain, and Shonto chapters. "I believe eco-friendly tech advancements are key to solve the complex problems of environmental security and sustainability, and that is why I am excited to collaborate with Navancio in their efforts to support our Native American Community," says President Jonathan Nez. "Navancio is on a mission to transform the clean energy sector with their high-technology solutions, and I look forward to being part of their rapid expansion in the next few years."

About Navancio: Navancio LLC, a Native American owned business, works with numerous enterprise technologies to provide highly customized, scalable and integrated solutions to digitally transform government and commercial businesses. Navancio offers a full range of world-class professional services in areas of Information Technology, Engineering, Technical Operations, Training and more. To learn more, visit navancio.com. Media Contact:

Zack Chang

Email: [email protected] Related Images navancio-team-with-the-president.jpeg

Navancio Team with the President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer.

From left to right: Vice President Myron Lizer, Mckenzie Hall, Zack Chang, Mark Maryboy, and President Jonathan Nez. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/collaboration-with-navajo-nation-president-jonathan-nez-brings-added-support-to-native-american-owned-company-navancio-300821219.html SOURCE Navancio LLC

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[March 29, 2019]

Disruptive Big Data Company Quantexa Begins Canada Expansion

TORONTO, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantexa, a leading enterprise intelligence company specializing in advanced data analytics, has furthered its international expansion by opening a new office in Toronto.

The office is situated in the financial hub of Canada and aims to have 25 Toronto-based employees by the end of 2019. This will include a 20-strong delivery team of data scientists and engineers to support Quantexa's growing client base across Canada.

Following on from successes in North America and with existing high-profile global clients, Quantexa is already working with multiple major Canadian banks based in Toronto. The company is looking to target clients in multiple sectors including financial services, oil and gas, government, telecommunications and transportation.

Toronto is the sixth international office opening outside the UK Headquarters in the last two years. This expansion reflects the growing customer base ouside the UK, adding to an impressive client list, including some of the world's largest financial institutions.







Commenting on this expansion, CEO Vishal Marria said: "As the demand for financial crime solutions are increasing in the Canadian market, we have invested into the country to better serve our clients and continue innovating with them."

For more information contact LEWIS at [email protected] / +1 484 535 0796 or visit www.quantexa.com

About Quantexa:

Quantexa empowers organizations to drive better decisions from their data. Using the latest advancements in big data and AI, Quantexa uncovers hidden customer connections and behaviours to solve major challenges in financial crime, customer insight and data analytics.

Founded in 2016, Quantexa has accomplished rapid global expansion and achieved a valuation of 124 million in August 2018. Headquartered in London, Quantexa now has over 130 employees across the globe with offices in London, New York, Boston, Toronto, Brussels, Singapore and Sydney.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/disruptive-big-data-company-quantexa-begins-canada-expansion-300821290.html

SOURCE Quantexa
(Image credit: Samsung)

IHS Markit, a London-based market research firm, this week said that due to low demand, the DRAM market is expected to fall 22 percent year-over-year in 2019. Some of the top DRAM makers have previously announced that they will reduce supply, as high inventories have led to pricing wars after a couple of years of surging DRAM prices.

DRAM Demand Still Low

Over the past several quarters, DRAM makers have seen increased memory inventories as demand decreased. It doesnt look like DRAM demand will increase in 2019, so some DRAM makers, including Samsung and Micron, have promised to lower the output to match the low demand.

In fact, most memory chip manufactures are taking measures to manage supply output and inventory levels, to address softening demand," Rachel Young, associate director at IHS, said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Currently, the highest demand for DRAM chips comes from the server market, followed by mobile, IHS said. This is despite the smartphone market slowing since 2016. In the server space, by 2023, IHS expects more than half of DRAM bit demand to come from public cloud services companies, such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft. This is compared to the server market representing 28 percent of DRAM bit demand in 2018.

According to IHS, supply and demand growth will stay "in the 20 percent range in the coming years," making the market relatively balanced.

Samsung's Market Lead Is Shrinking

Even though Samsung was one of the first DRAM chip makers to announce a reduction in supply last September, it continues to lead the DRAM industry by a significant (albeit shrinking) margin, IHS said. In Q4 2018, Samsung had 39.9 percent market share, but sales had declined 26.5 percent quarter-to-quarter. IHS said while Samsung is still the DRAM leader, its lead had shrunken in Q4.

In terms of market share for that quarter, SK Hynix came in second with 31.9 percent, followed by Micron (24 percent) and Nanya (2.5 percent).

Last week, Micron announced that it will cut the production of both DRAM and NAND flash chips by 5 percent this year. The primary reasons given for this were high inventory due to low demand and worse than expected CPU shortages.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The UK government has released a security report around Huaweis equipment for telecommunications networks and its mostly negative. The report found that Huawei is suffering serious and systematic defects in its software engineering and cyber security competence.

Who Wrote the Report?

The Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) was set up in 2010 as a way to assure the national security agencies in the UK that the Chinese companys equipment can be trusted for use in the telecommunications infrastructure in the UK. Through HCSECs Oversight Board, which was established in 2014, the UK government is informed about Huaweis product strategies and roadmap, and it also allows the government to evaluate the security of Huaweis hardware.

The HCSEC Oversight Board is chaired by Ciaran Martin, the CEO of UKs National Cyber Security Centre, and an executive member of GCHQs Board, who is responsible for cybersecurity. Huawei is also represented on the board by a deputy chair. Other senior executives representing the UK government and the telecommunications industry are included as well. The board operates completely independently from Huawei, according to the UK government.

Significant Issues in Huawei Engineering Processes

In its report, the HCSEC Oversight Board said it found significant technical issues in Huaweis engineering processes, which can lead to new risks for UKs national telecommunications infrastructure.

The main issue seems to be that the Oversight Board cant properly verify whether or not the software source code provided by the Huawei for review by the UK government is the same one being used by actual Huawei equipment. Unless this is fixed, Huawei could potentially provide a clean version of its software for review and a backdoored one for use in telecommunications equipment.

The report also noted that currently the same Huawei hardware may use different software builds in different parts of a network, which means that the builds may operate on different levels of security. For instance, some builds may be patched for bugs, while others may not be.

The HCSEC Oversight Board warned that Huawei continues to use insecure third-party software components and that its LTE software is only getting worse, from a code quality point of view. The Board believes that Huaweis engineers lack sufficient technical competence.

No Confidence in Huawei for Remediation

Last year, after initially trying to downplay the security concerns from various governments, Huawei committed to investing $2 billion to address long-time concerns that the HCSEC Oversight Board had about Huawei telecommunications hardware. However, according to the latest report, the UK government has no confidence in Huaweis capacity to fulfill its commitment to address those security concerns. The report also noted that since last year Huawei has made virtually no progress in fixing the issues at stake.

Even though some officials from the UK government have said that the government can mitigate the risk that Chinese state interference in Huaweis equipment poses, the new report mostly contradicts that assessment.

The HCSEC Oversight Board said it can only provide limited assurance that all risks to UK national security from Huaweis involvement in the UKs critical networks can be sufficiently mitigated long-term. In other words, if the Chinese state does interfere in Huaweis hardware, the Oversight Board will likely not be able to prevent it.

When UKs HCSEC Oversight Board has been auditing Huawei for five years and still doesn't believe Huawei is providing basic security assurances that its hardware and software is not backdoored, its difficult to see how smaller countries could hold Huawei to the same or higher standard and ensure that their networks arent compromised by Chinese espionage operations.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Thomas Midgette Jr. will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing a man after an argument. Midgette, 56, of Kansas City, Missouri, listened to a judge sentence him Thursday for the Jan. 21, 2017, murder of Raymond C. Jones.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As the Kansas City, Missouri, mayoral race heats up, there's a new group urging the candidates to focus on and commit to making affordable housing a top priority in the city. is a newly formed group whose main agenda is to make sure those who rent in KCMO have a voice in rental situations.
Police find 29 stolen credit card numbers during arrest KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Police officers responding to a recent call for service in Blue Springs, Missouri thought the call would be for drug possession. After making an arrest, it was what else the suspect possessed that was cause for concern. In Oct.

A very sad real life mugshot offers a glimpse of local desperation and suspected stealing. Here's the latest realization that social ills causing havoc across the metrostay confined to one demographic or neighborhood. Take a look:
All the major sportbike players have an entry in the street-legal, racebike subgenre, and for Ducati , that distinction falls to the Monster 1200 R. The R brings liter-plus power to the table in combination with top-shelf suspension and ride-quality electronics that let you dial it right in, and of course, the Monster DNA is plain to see in the sparse sheet metal and exposed frame members. This machine is the ultimate iteration (so far) of an already aggressive family line with all the sex appeal youd expect from this marque.

Ducati Monster 1200 R Design

Seriously; put a knee, or even an elbow, down on the tarmac  the R can take it.

The factory took steps to shed weight anywhere it could. It started with the front fender that carries the same cut-down proportions as the other Monster 1200s, but in lightweight carbon fiber so as to minimize the unsprung weight at the front axle. A cyclops headlight housing dominates the front with a flyscreen that forms a protective pocket for the TFT instrumentation, but little else. The display is configurable, but since it automatically adjusts to changes in the ambient light you wont have to fiddle with it constantly just to keep it at max visibility.

A 4.6-gallon fuel tank gives the flyline that Monster look, kind of all up front with knee pockets that dramatically narrows the tank where it meets the waist. Frame, seat and tank come together in a narrow junction to give your legs a break, and thats fairly important given the 32.7-inch seat height makes it the tallest Monster currently on offer.

An upswept subframe lofts the p-pad area of the newly-narrowed, one-piece seat, and if youre into a solo/race look, you can conceal the pillion area with a snap-on tail fairing. An aluminum mudguard springs from the subframe just below the underslung taillight, and it mounts the blinkers and tag for easy one-stop removal on race day. Short-rise bars and forged-aluminum footpegs define an aggressive riders triangle, and as for the extra height, thats there to accommodate the deepest turns. Seriously; put a knee, or even an elbow, down on the tarmac  the R can take it.

Ducati Monster 1200 R Chassis

Playing on its eager nature in the corners, ground clearance is increased front and rear to ensure enough space to facilitate the deepest of lean angles if you have the nerve for it.

In typical naked fashion, the R leaves very little to the imagination with a dearth of body panels, and the tubular-steel Trellis frame itself becomes part of the overall aesthetic. The upper frame section bolts to the engine which then becomes a stressed component and allows a significant chunk of frame to be removed, adding to the overall weight reduction.

A 24.3-degree rake angle and 59.4-inch wheelbase gives the Monster its eager nature in the corners with 17-inch, forged-alloy wheels and Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP hoops to round out the rolling chassis. Ground clearance is increased by 15 mm front and rear to ensure enough space to facilitate the deepest of lean angles if you have the nerve for it.

Ohlins provides for all the suspension needs starting with a steering damper up front to help tame the kickback. A set of inverted, 48 mm forks float the front end on the full trinity of adjustments and 5.1 inches of travel, and out back, a monoshock and progressive linkage deliver the same spectrum of adjustability with 6.2 inches of travel. Wheel travel is on the high end of the spectrum for a street-only bike, but that gives you room when getting aggressive in the corners. As for the hoops, the ZR-rated Pirelli tires come in a 120/70 up front opposite a 200/55, and they rock a bi-compound tread that draws on WSBK-grade tech to deliver stability in all conditions.

Bikes with a lot of go require a lot of stop, and the Monster obliges with a pair of 330 mm discs and Brembo M50 anchors to slow the front wheel and a 245 mm disc and another Brembo caliper to slow the rear. Boschs 9MP ABS delivers three levels of intervention, plus Off, and its bound with the Riding Modes feature for quick adjustments to the ride-quality systems across the board. You can even dial it in to allow a certain amount of rear-wheel liftup if youre into that sort of shenaniganery.

Frame: Tubular steel Trellis frame attached to the cylinder head Front suspension: 48 mm Ohlins fully adjustable usd forks Rear suspension: Progressive linkage with fully adjustable Ohlins monoshock. Aluminum single-sided swingarm Rake: 24.3 Trail: 3.5 in (89 mm) Front wheel: Tri-W spoke forged alloy 3.50 x 17 Rear wheel: Tri-W spoke forged alloy 6.00 x 17 Front Tire: 120/70 ZR17 Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP Rear Tire: 200/55 ZR17 Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP Wheel travel, Front / Rear: 5.1 in (130 mm) / 6.2 in (159 mm) Front brake: Dual 330 mm semi-floating discs, radially mounted Brembo Monobloc evo M50 4-piston calipers, radial pump with ABS as standard equipment Rear brake: 245 mm disc, 2-piston caliper with ABS as standard equipment

Ducati Monster 1200 R Drivetrain

It has more horsepower than the Monster 1200 stablemates and ride modes to tailor that power into three distinct ride personalities.

As usual, the electronic delightfulness continues well into the drivetrain. The Ducati Safety Pack bundles the ABS and the traction control together to improve the overall stability of the R. Run with the stock presets, dial in your own profiles with a choice of eight possible levels of intervention or turn the thing completely off, its up to you. The ride-by-wire throttle control and Riding Modes feature give the engine a trio of personalities: Sport, Touring and Urban. You can expect the full 152 horsepower at 9,250 rpm in the first two modes, but the Urban mode cuts that back to an even 100 ponies, cause you dont really need more than that around town, right yall? Torque maxes out at 7,750 rpm with 92 pound-feet of grunt, 69 of which are available as low as 3,500 rpm for plenty of giddy-up in the low range, and top speed is approximately 165 mph.

Power comes from a Testastretta plant rocking Ducatis signature Desmodromic valvetrain that eliminates the valve springs  and their associated harmonic float  in favor of a pull-closed cam to help time the four-valve, dual-spark heads. As for the 11-degree component of the name, this comes from the degrees of rotation where valve overlap takes place, and it speaks to an effort to keep emissions low and the free hydrocarbons contained.

The 90-degree L-Twin plant packs a 106 mm bore and 67.9 mm stroke for a total displacement of 1,198.4 cc, and the compression ratio was boosted from 12.5-to-1 to 13-to-1 by subbing in a thinner head gasket. Clever, right? Thats where the extra horsepower came from over the other Monster 1200s.

Induction control falls to a new pair of oval throttle bodies that have a 56 mm equivalent diameter, up from 53 mm. The exhaust system also was resized 8 mm larger up to 58 mm, so both ends of the circuit were opened up some to let the engine breathe. A slipper-type clutch couples engine power to the six-speed transmission and provides another layer of protection for your rear contact patch.

Engine: Ducati Testastretta 11 DS, L-Twin, 4 valves per cylinder, Desmodromic, liquid cooled Displacement: 1198.4 cc Bore x Stroke: 106 mm x 67.9 mm Compression ratio: 13.0:1 Power: 152 hp (112 kW) @ 9,250 rpm Torque: 92 lb-ft (125 Nm) @ 7,750 rpm Fuel injection: Synerject-Continental electronic fuel injection system, elliptical throttle body, 56 mm equivalent with full Ride by Wire Exhaust: Lightweight 2-1-2 system with catalytic converter and two lambda probes. Twin stainless aluminum mufflers Gearbox: 6 speed Primary drive: Straight cut gears, ratio 1.84:1 Ratio: 1=37/15 2=30/17 3=27/20 4=24/22 5=23/24 6=22/25 Final drive: Chain drive, Front sprocket 15; Rear sprocket 41 Clutch: Wet, multi-plate clutch with hydraulic control. Self-servo action on drive, slipper action on over-run

Ducati Monster 1200 R Pricing

The Monster 1200 R is a top-tier machine, no doubt about it, but the factory managed to keep the sticker just below the $20k mark.

The Monster 1200 R is a top-tier machine, no doubt about it, but the factory managed to keep the sticker just below the $20k mark at $19,395. Oh, and it looks like you can get one in any color you want, as long as you want Ducati Red with white livery.

Instrumentation: Full TFT color display Standard Equipment: Power modes, RbE, Passenger seat cover Ducati Electronics: ABS, Traction Control, Riding Modes Warranty: 24 months unlimited mileage Color: Ducati Red Price: $19,395

Ducati Monster 1200 R Competitors

Aprilia brings the hurt with more horsepower and torque and still manages to score a minor victory at the checkout counter.

As competition for this Italian stallion, I wanted another Eye-Tie, and I didnt have to look far; behold, the RSV4 RR from Aprilia. Okay, sure, it isnt nearly as naked, but most street-legal racebikes fall more toward the superbike end of the spectrum with a skosh more in the way of body panels.

The front blinkers are married to the mirrors, and the rear turn signals and plateholder are also combined with the mudguard to make it easy to shed the weight of all of the above for track days. Clip-ons pull the rider into the jockey position, and the riders footpegs are definitely positioned to keep your feet clear of the tarmac in the deepest of turns to give the RSV4 the same kind of capability that the Monster brings to the table.

Sachs suspension components float the Aprilia with the full trinity of adjustments front and rear, so neither really gain anything in the stems since theyre both pulling from the top shelf. Brembo and Bosch made out like bandits as well since both bikes carry those brands in its brakes and ABS slots, respectively.

Aprilia brings the hurt with a V-4 engine that, while it only displaces 999.6 cc, manages to punch above its weight with a whopping, 201 max horsepower and 84.8 pound-feet of torque against 152/92 from the L-Twin. The RSV4 also holds station with Ducati in the engine-control systems with a full selection of ride-quality tweaks on board. Aprilia also scores another minor victory at the checkout counter with its $17,499 sticker, though at that price point, another couple grand isnt a big deal.

He Said

Price be damned, Id take the Monster over the Aprilia any day. Why? Well, its clean. Everything is short, sweet and to the point, and as a naked, it leaves all the useless body panels on the shelf and instead uses its own innards for decoration. One things for sure, its a bike that says serious business at a glance.

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, I find it not very maneuverable at low speeds and it feels a bit heavy, but the bike doesnt want to go slow and it isnt intended to go slow. Once you get moving, the power is controllable, and its oh-so flickable. Its a good thing the seat holds your butt because you can easily ride it right out from under you. Brakes are solid, and seriously, just a little twist of the throttle and you can feel that front just wanting to lift.

Ducati Monster 1200 R Specifications

Engine & Drivetrain: Engine: Ducati Testastretta 11 DS, L-Twin, 4 valves per cylinder, Desmodromic, liquid cooled Displacement: 1198.4 cc Bore x Stroke: 106 mm x 67.9 mm Compression ratio: 13.0:1 Power: 152 hp (112 kW) @ 9,250 rpm Torque: 92 lb-ft (125 Nm) @ 7,750 rpm Fuel injection: Synerject-Continental electronic fuel injection system, elliptical throttle body, 56 mm equivalent with full Ride by Wire Exhaust: Lightweight 2-1-2 system with catalytic converter and two lambda probes. Twin stainless aluminum mufflers Gearbox: 6 speed Primary drive: Straight cut gears, ratio 1.84:1 Ratio: 1=37/15 2=30/17 3=27/20 4=24/22 5=23/24 6=22/25 Final drive: Chain drive, Front sprocket 15; Rear sprocket 41 Clutch: Wet, multi-plate clutch with hydraulic control. Self-servo action on drive, slipper action on over-run Chassis: Frame: Tubular steel Trellis frame attached to the cylinder head Front suspension: 48 mm Ohlins fully adjustable usd forks Rear suspension: Progressive linkage with fully adjustable Ohlins monoshock. Aluminum single-sided swingarm Rake: 24.3 Trail: 3.5 in (89 mm) Front wheel: Tri-W spoke forged alloy 3.50 x 17 Rear wheel: Tri-W spoke forged alloy 6.00 x 17 Front Tire: 120/70 ZR17 Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP Rear Tire: 200/55 ZR17 Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP Wheel travel, Front / Rear: 5.1 in (130 mm) / 6.2 in (159 mm) Front brake: Dual 330 mm semi-floating discs, radially mounted Brembo Monobloc evo M50 4-piston calipers, radial pump with ABS as standard equipment Rear brake: 245 mm disc, 2-piston caliper with ABS as standard equipment Dimensions & Capacities: Dry weight: 396.8 lb (180 kg) Wet weight: 456.3 lb (207 kg) Seat height: 32.7 in (830 mm) Wheelbase: 59.46 in (1,509 mm) Fuel tank capacity: 4.6 gal (17.5 l) Fuel Economy: 43.6 mpg (5.4 l/100km) Number of seats: Dual seat Top Speed: 165 mph (est) Details: Instrumentation: Full TFT color display Standard Equipment: Power modes, RbE, Passenger seat cover Ducati Electronics: ABS, Traction Control, Riding Modes Warranty: 24 months unlimited mileage Color: Ducati Red Price: $19,395

Further Reading

Aprilia RSV4 RR

See our review of the Aprilia RSV4 RR.

Ducati Monster 1200 / 1200 S

See our review of the Ducati Monster 1200 / 1200 S.

Ducati

Read more Ducati news.
Pathological Deceit: The NYT Inverts Reality on Venezuelas Cuban Doctors

By Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz

March 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - After debunking Washingtons lies about the burning of humanitarian aid trucks on the Venezuelan/Colombian border (more than two weeks after being scooped by independent journalists), the New York Times quickly reverted to form in an article by Nicholas Casey headlined It is Unspeakable: How Maduro Used Cuban Doctors to Coerce Voters (3/17/19).

As the title not-so-subtly suggests, Casey claimed to present bombshell revelations regarding the Nicolas Maduro governments alleged weaponization of Cuban medical personnel as a means of holding on to power. On closer inspection, however, the article is riddled with factual inaccuracies, omissions and misrepresentations.

Dubious claims of politicized healthcare

Relying on the testimony of three Cuban doctors who have defected from the Venezuelan/Cuban health mission and taken up residence in other countries, as well as 16 anonymous sources within Venezuela, Casey provides the reader with shocking vignettes of how Cuban medical personnel have supposedly been used to manipulate Venezuelan politics.

One central allegation is that the Barrio Adentro healthcare mission staff, most of them Cuban doctors, are denying patients care on the basis of political affiliations. One Cuban doctor currently residing in Chile told the Times that one patient was refused treatment because she was from the opposition. The only other evidence to substantiate this grave accusation is the account of an opposition mayor who claims he was denied medication.

As has been widely documented (Guardian, 10/13/15), defector testimonies are often unreliable, given the political stakes involved. Similar reservations apply to a politician aligned with an opposition spearheading a foreign-backed coup in Venezuela.

Likewise worthy of skepticism is Human Rights Watch Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco, whose quote, it is unspeakable, gives the piece its headline, though a reader might assume these were the words of an actual doctor. Human Rights Watch, whose revolving door with the US national security state is now notorious, can always be counted on to attack the Venezuelan government, though its charges have been debunked on several occasions.

Vivanco is an especially dubious source, given his extremely biased track record on Venezuela. Just over a decade ago, the HRW official was publicly rebuked by over 100 Latin America experts for a report on Venezuela that did not meet even the most minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy or credibility, which included similar sweeping allegations of politicized denial of care, based on the second-hand testimony of one individual.

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Implausible electoral interference

The Times questionable allegations of denial of care quickly give way to even dodgier claims of Cuban doctors interfering in Venezuelan politics. One former Cuban supervisor said that she and other foreign medical workers were given counterfeit identification cards to vote in an election, Casey wrote, adding that Cuban doctors were asked to vote with false identification in 2013.

Anyone who knows how voting works in Venezuela would dismiss these allegations immediately. The first step upon entering a polling station is presenting ID and biometrically scanning fingerprints. Computerized voting screens will literally not open unless a valid fingerprint is presented. Cuban doctors, since they are of course not Venezuelans, would not have their fingerprints in the system, and thus not get past this first step. (Its worth noting that Cuban doctors in Venezuela number roughly 30,000, in a country with an electorate of around 20 million, making the notion of a secret program to enable them to vote illegally in hopes of affecting electoral outcomes rather far-fetched.)

Another passage suggested a similar lack of familiarity with the Venezuelan electoral process:

On the day Mr. Maduro was elected to his first term, [a Cuban doctor] witnessed officials opening ballot boxes and tampering with votes, including destroying ballots that chose the opposition.

First off, there are no ballot boxes or ballots, because voting is fully automated. After the voter makes their selection on the computer screen, a paper receipt is printed and placed in a box. At the end of election day, 54 percent of all voting machines, chosen at random, have their electronic totals cross-checked with the paper receipts. Destroying the receipts (not ballots) would not serve any purpose, other than raising a red flag when they did not agree with the electronic tally. (If the Times source had bothered to name the voting center, one could check the results and confront the National Electoral Council with any discrepancy, since the paper tallies are kept for a number of years.)

Secondly, all parties or candidates have witnesses at every electoral center. At the end of the day, the witnesses and the electoral delegates all sign a certificate validating the results. In the case of the April 14, 2013 election, there was not a single electoral center where opposition candidate Henrique Capriles witnesses did not validate the results, nor any reports of destruction of ballots, perhaps because there are no ballots.

For someone who covers Venezuela regularly, Casey makes a remarkable number of errors in his account of the countrys electoral system. For example, he wrote, In mid-2017, Mr. Maduro made a bid to consolidate power: a referendum for a second legislature to replace the opposition-controlled National Assembly. What took place on July 30, 2017, was an election, not a referendum, for a national constituent assembly, a body that is outlined in Articles 347349 of the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution, and which is much more than a second legislature. Furthermore, the National Assembly was declared null and void by the Venezuelan Supreme Court in 2016 (BBC, 1/11/16), after defying a court order to unseat three legislators pending an investigation for electoral crimes.

Whitewashing opposition violence

Given their factual implausibility, Caseys anonymously sourced claims of ballot-stuffing and illegal voting in the 2013 presidential election represent a thinly veiled maneuver to delegitimize Maduros victory, which was challenged by no country in the world except the United Statesa fact that is conveniently omitted.

One unnamed source accused the Chavista government of blackmail[ing] voters that the opposition would eliminate the Barrio Adentro medical mission if Capriles won. Casey did not inform readers that the Venezuelan opposition has long vowed to suspend bilateral cooperation agreements with Havana should it come to power.

Nor did Casey mention the oppositions repeated acts of violence against Cuban health professionals and clinics. Following Capriles US-sanctioned refusal to recognize the indisputable 2013 election results, and his call for his supporters to discharge that anger in the streets, seven people were killed in the ensuing street violence that saw 18 Cuban-staffed neighborhood health clinics set ablaze. The violent anti-government protests of 2014 likewise featured no less than 162 attacks against Cuban doctors, who were prominently lynched in effigy. In omitting these rather important details, Casey succeeded in inverting reality: He presented Cuban medical staff as witting or unwitting gendarmes of a brutal regime, rather than frequent victims of opposition violence.

This whitewashing of right-wing terror extended also to Caseys framing of the 2017 anti-government mobilizations, which he said led to 100 deaths in a government crackdown, leaving out the numerous killings carried out by opposition supporters, including mob lynchings of Afro-Venezuelan men and sniper assassinations of Chavista activists.

In addition to relitigating the internationally recognized 2013 election, Casey repeated the now-boilerplate allegations of fraud in the 2018 presidential elections, pointing to opposition figures barred from running, with Leopoldo Lopezdragged between house arrest and a military prison, and Capriles banned from running, along with most opposition parties. Casey didnt mention that Lopez was convicted of inciting violence during the 2014 street protests, while Capriles was barred due to corruption allegations that even the opposition has moved to investigate.

Caseys highly selective picture of Capriles and Lopez is particularly disingenuous, given that both politicians actively participated in the short-lived 2002 military coup, with the former leading an attack against the Cuban embassy, and both of them involved in the mob kidnapping of Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin. That alone would have disqualified them from holding political office anywhere else in the world.

It is also false that opposition parties were banned, since what was required of them was to revalidate their legal status by collecting a minimum number of signatures following their boycott of the December 10, 2017, municipal elections. Whether or not this was a political hurdle, some opposition parties, such as Accion Democratica, fulfilled it. And the fact remains that opposition candidates did run against Maduro, notably former Lara Gov. Henri Falcon, who was actively undermined by the hardline factions of the opposition, and was even threatened with US sanctions for defying the opposition boycott.

Erasure of sanctions

In an article explicitly dedicated to uncovering alleged foreign interference in Venezuelan state and society, it is ironic that Casey entirely omitted the most egregious form of external intervention: US sanctions. Since 2017, Trumps financial sanctions have battered the healthcare system directly, with recurring cases of medicine shipments blocked or assets destined for imports frozen as a result of US financial crimes enforcement directives, according to Torino Capital chief economist Francisco Rodriguez. In one such case, the Venezuelan government denounced the freezing of $1.6 billion of its assets by Brussels-based financial services agency Euroclear, half of which was reportedly destined for medicine imports.

US economic sanctions also debilitate healthcare indirectly by decimating the Venezuelan economy overall. According to conservative estimates, US financial sanctions cost Venezuela at least $6 billion annually in lost revenues, or around six percent of GDP. For comparison, healthcare spending in Latin America averages approximately seven percent of GDP, and, prior to the crisis, Venezuela was importing around $2 billion in medicine per year. Rodriguez estimates that the new US oil sanctions, amounting to an effective trade embargo, will cost Venezuela an additional 15 percent in real GDP loss, for a cumulative contraction of 26 percent in 2019.

Despite his stated concern for the politicization of healthcare in Venezuela, Nicholas Casey doesnt think it relevant to mention his own governments deliberate effort to destroy the Venezuelan economy, further devastating the countrys fragile health sector and killing thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Venezuelans. Rather, the New York Times Andes bureau chief mobilizes anonymous sources and defectorswhose testimony ranges from dubious to preposterousto further demonize Venezuela and provide cover for Washingtons murderous regime change policy.

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Australian connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology developer Cohda Wireless will deploy its vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications technology on a new digitally connected urban corridor testfield site in Berlin, Germany.

The DIGINET-PS (Digitally Connected Protocol Track) has been set up along Berlins Strasse des 17. Juni and has been developed to test automated and connected driving under real-life conditions in the city center, making it one of the first sites of its kind in Germany.

Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) DIGINET-PS is an open test environment for CAV technologies for which Cohda Wireless will be supplying its MK5 OnBoard Units (OBUs) and RoadSide Units (RSUs) to empower the initiative to help solve the challenges of urban mobility.

Led by the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (DAI-Labor) at the Technical University Berlin (TU Berlin) the multi-partner DIGINET-PS projects goals are

Development of a real digital infrastructure and a virtual test and validation environment for autonomous vehicles;

Establishment of an open and scalable platform for testing automated and connected driving;

Establishment of an ecosystem of key players that are working on the future of automated mobility; and

Collaborative development of new applications.

Within that framework, the project will study and create:

Intelligent Infrastructures;

V2X Communication Technologies;

Traffic Safety Applications;

Data Optimization and Provision;

New Services and Applications;

An Open Test Environment.

The test-field has been fitted with the worlds most advanced vehicle positioning technology, explained Dr Manzoor Ahmed Khan, technical lead of the DIGINET-PS project. To attain the objectives of L-5 (SAE Level 5) autonomous driving, we need to improve the perception of the vehicles beyond what is created by on-vehicle sensors. In DIGINET-PS, we achieve this by creating perception of road segments through onroad deployed sensors and share it with vehicles.

Prof. Paul Alexander, chief technical officer at Cohda Wireless, said, There is no substitute for an actual urban environment for testing purposes and the DIGINET-PS project also presents us with an opportunity to demonstrate our unique technology solutions.

There is scope for us to demonstrate our V2X-Locate technology, which enables accurate positioning of vehicles in environments where GNSS performs poorly, such as urban canyons, tunnels and underground car-parks.

The DIGINET-PS site includes an underground parking lot where we can also demonstrate this world-leading positioning solution. We are also keen to share our Australian experiences regarding Freight Signal Priority initiatives designed to enhance traffic flow by keeping large vehicles mobile.
Toll management services provider Bestpass is expanding its coverage to South Carolina through a partnership with the Southern Connector Toll Road while simultaneously launching a powerful new tolling data visualization tool.

Founded in 2001 by the Trucking Association of New York, Bestpass provides commercial fleet operators and owner-drivers with nationwide streamlined toll management services, including consolidated billing, volume discounts, violation processing and a single service compatible with more than 40 tolling groups and agencies. With more than 530,000 deployed transponders and more than 238,000 toll transactions every day, Bestpass already covers nearly every tolled facility in the USA.

The company is now expanding its coverage to include the Southern Connector Toll Road (I-185), a 16 mile-long (25.7km) highway that allows traffic to move more quickly and efficiently through Greenville County in upstate South Carolina. Bestpass has been testing coverage on the Southern Connector with several customers and expects to make the coverage available to all users by the end of April.

The company is actively engaged with other tolling authorities across the country to expand back office integration and payment processing, ultimately improving commercial toll management for both providers and end-users.

The Southern Connector is one of the most convenient routes in the region, and as a result, we see a significant amount of commercial traffic, said Pete Femia, president of the Southern Connector. Partnering with Bestpass makes sound business sense. We know that they will take care of our commercial users, and we can focus our attention on other priorities.

John Andrews, president and CEO of Bestpass, commented, We were able to directly integrate with the Southern Connectors back office, which allows us to move payments and toll data in a streamlined process that significantly benefits both the tolling authority and our thousands of customers that use the highway.

Bestpass has also launched Empower, a new reporting and analytics platform that transforms vast amounts of tolling data into meaningful charts and graphs to help customers identify tolling activity trends or anomalies and make strategic business decisions.

Accessed through a customers web portal, Empower takes raw tolling data and helps users visualize toll charges over time, violation occurrences, toll usage by authority, and high plate toll vehicles, with the opportunity to drill down on many other detailed data sets. Several Bestpass customers are already using Empower, and the company expects to roll the new platform out to all its fleet customers by the end of June.

Andrews noted, No matter the size of your fleet, the sheer volume of toll data that is available can quickly become overwhelming. Weve always provided great value to our customers by making their toll data more manageable, and Empower is the next level of toll data management.
The teeny amphibian inhabitants of Madagascar could fit four on a thumbnail.

What do the words minimum, miniature, and miniscule have in common? Well of course they all share the word-forming element, "mini," suggesting something supremely teeny  but now the three share something else as well. They serve as official science names for three tiny frog species newly discovered in Madagascar.

Meet Mini mum, Mini ature, and Mini scule, who are astronomically small, says Mark Scherz, an evolutionary biologist at Ludwig-Maximilians Universitat in Munich, Germany. Scherz described these and two other tiny new frog species in a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE.

You could sit the brain on the top of a pin. Its amazing that they have all the same organs you or I have in our bodies, but in a package that can fit four times on your own thumbnail, he told National Geographic.

As part of his PhD, Scherz has been studying frogs and reptiles on Madagascar, a tiny paradise with more than 350 frog species. In an essay published in The Conservation, Scherz notes that the island possibly has the highest frog diversity per square kilometer of any country in the world. "And many of these frogs are very small," he writes.

Just how small are they? Well the newly discovered ones  who in fact have given birth to a new genus  range in size from 8 mm (one-third of an inch) to 15 mm (just over half an inch). The smallest of the three is just a tad bit longer than a gran of rice. Scherz explains:

"Weve dubbed three of the new species as Mini  a group that is wholly new to science. When a whole group or genus like this is new to science, it needs a name, so that information about it can be accumulated with a fixed anchor. We also wanted to have a bit of fun. And so, we named the species Mini mum, Mini scule, and Mini ature. Adults of the two smallest species  Mini mum and Mini scule  are 811 mm, and even the largest member of the genus, Mini ature, at 15 mm, could sit on your thumbnail with room to spare."

Miniature frogs have been difficult to study because once frogs get so small, they look very similar  making it hard to know how diverse they really are, Scherz explains. Interestingly, the newly identified frogs belong to three different groups that are not closely related to one another  yet they have all independently evolved into their perfect tiny selves. Scherz says that the evolution of body size in Madagascars miniature frogs has been more dynamic than previously understood.

"Whats remarkable is that the smallest frogs have evolved to become tiny again and again, often several times within a single region, as highlighted in this new study, he writes. "This means there must be some kind of advantage to being a tiny frog or something that allows tiny frogs to survive, thrive, and diversify."

These are the new frogs:

Mini mum: Found in Manombo in eastern Madagascar. It is one of the smallest frogs in the world, reaching an adult body size of 9.7 mm in males and 11.3 mm in females. It could sit on a thumbtack.

Mini scule: From Sainte Luce in southeastern Madagascar is slightly larger and has teeth in its upper jaw.

Mini ature: Found in Andohahela in southeast Madagascar  a bit larger than its relatives but is similar in build.

Rhombophryne proportionalis: Found in Tsaratanana in northern Madagascar, Scherz says this one is unique among Madagascars miniaturised frogs because its a proportional dwarf, "meaning it has the proportions of a large frog, but is only about 12 mm long. This is very unusual among tiny frogs, which usually have large eyes, big heads, and other characters that are 'baby-like'.".

Anodonthyla eximia: Found in Ranomafana in eastern Madagascar, this one is distinctly smaller than any other Anodonthyla species. "It lives on the ground, providing evidence that miniaturisation and terrestriality may have an evolutionary link," writes Scherz. "Maybe getting really small makes it hard to stay up in the trees."

Noting that Madagascar is a treasure trove of biodiversity, Scherz says that it is one of the best places in the world to study reptiles and amphibians and their evolutionary processes. Alas, a familiar theme presents itself.

"We are aware that were working in a very tight time frame," he writes. "Madagascars forests are dwindling at an astounding rate .... Conservation work in the country is intensifying, but there is still a long way to go before we can consider species like Mini mum and Mini scule safe for the foreseeable future."
Celebrate Earth Hour Saturday night at 8:30 and start a movement to end this visual assault.

Ten years ago, Earth Hour was a very big deal. People around the world turned out their lights at 8:30 on Saturday night, lit candles, had a good time. It never caught on in the USA where it was instantly politicised and polarized, but north of the border in Ontario, Canada, so many people participated that there was a significant drop in power consumption.

That probably wouldn't happen today. Thanks to the LED revolution, energy consumption for domestic lighting has plummeted. I could turn off all the 100 percent LED lights in my house and my electric meter wouldn't even notice.

. MVRDV

 MVRDV

But outside, it is a different story. Buildings are being encrusted with LED screens and lights. Light pollution is spreading like mad. One study found that the earth's artificially lit outdoor area grew by 2.2% per year, with a total radiance growth of 1.8% per year. Cheap blue LED streetlights are keeping people awake and messing with their minds. As the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge noted,

The scientists expect that the upward global trend in use of outdoor lighting will continue, bringing a host of negative environmental consequences, including harm to wildlife, threats to human wellbeing and of course, spoiling everyone's view of the night sky.

In New York City, LED billboard barges are floating on the rivers and the Mayor is complaining, "Our waterways arent Times Square. These floating eyesores have no place on them. A city councillor picks up on this: Nobody wants to be walking along New York Harbor or the Rockaways only to be visually assaulted by a 1,200-square-foot TV screen running commercials on loop. But everywhere else but the Hudson River, that is what we all are assaulted with. LEDs are being used in ways that nobody ever could have imagined.

This Earth Hour, let's start thinking about all the incredible waste of energy and materials going into excessive and unnecessary lighting, the garish buildings, the giant billboards, the decorated bridges. Each little LED doesn't eat up much electricity, but the billions of them that we are putting on everything add up to a lot.

New York City wants to ban visual assault on the Hudson River; why not extend that to, say, everywhere? Earth Hour is a good time to start.
Christine Murray writes a provocative essay on doing what is right, right now.

While admiring a new wood tower proposed for Toronto recently, I noted that it "underwent an energy modelling exercise from which building systems were selected on the basis of energy efficiency and optimization." Architect Elrond Burrell, writing from New Zealand where he cannot get sued for publicly criticizing an architect in Toronto, responded to my tweet:

He also pointed to an article published in Dezeen on the same day by Christine Murray, who is "editor-in-chief and founding director of The Developer, a publication about making cities worth living in. Murray was formerly editor-in-chief of the Architects' Journal and The Architectural Review." Those are impressive credentials, and it is an impressive article, calling out architects for being more interested in design than in climate, and for the specious excuse that it has been built to last.

Most architects are blase when it comes to climate change. I've often been told, "designing a building to last one-hundred years is the most sustainable thing you can do". Not only is this untrue, it's dangerous nonsense.

She starts with an overview of the climate crisis we are in, and then continues with a Vitruvian bang:

What is the point of firmness, commodity and delight in the face of crop failure, nothing to drink, or breathe? Forty per cent of insect species are in decline; if we lose them all, we have no pollination  nothing to eat  and the entire ecosystem collapses due to starvation. What matters is now, not whether your stone facade is still standing at the fall of mankind.

 Foster + Partners/ Bloomberg. Foster + Partners/ Bloomberg

 Foster + Partners/ Bloomberg

She has no time for Lord Foster and points out his new Bloomberg Headquarters in London (as we have) for displaying his love of "love of technological gadgets encased in new-build tonnages of glass, steel and stone."

Murray blames architects for being lazy, for not demanding the greenest products, for ignoring embodied carbon. She says, "It's time for architects to choose ethics over aesthetics. Take responsibility, own that you are part of the problem, and do something about it."

Some were not impressed with the article. Adam Meyer used to work for Bill McDonough and says you can have both, beauty and ethics. I suspect Lance Hosey, author of The Shape of Green, would argue it too. Lance argued that you cannot have sustainability without beauty, writing:

Long term value is impossible without sensory appeal, because if design doesn't inspire, it is destined to be discarded. "In the end," writes Sengalese poet Baba Dioum, " we conserve only what we love." We don't love something because it is nontoxic and biodegradable, we love it because it moves the head and heart... When we treasure something, we're less prone to kill it, so desire fuels preservation. Love it or lose it. In this sense, the old mantra could be replaced by a new one: If it's not beautiful, it's not sustainable. Aesthetic attraction is not a superficial concern, it's an environmental imperative. Beauty could save the planet.

Tweet by Elrond Burrell/Screen capture

But Lance wrote that in 2012 and things are a lot more dire today. Is it time to dump Vitruvius and his Firmness, Commodity and Delight for Elrond and his efficiency, low embodied energy, healthy and walkable? It doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Can we please have both?
Russia will "pay a price" for its military presence in Venezuela - Abrams By Muhammad Irfan March 29, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2019) US Special Representative Elliott Abrams said in an interview on Friday that Russia will "pay a price" for its military presence in Venezuela, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is already looking at possible options. "We have a very nice options paper of the various things that can be done in US-Russia relations. The Secretary will be making his choice about how to respond," Abrams told BBC. "There is a lot of things that are on the list. So, The Russians will pay a price for this." This article was originally published by " UP " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter ==See Also== Fact or fiction? Satellite PHOTOS Allegedly Show Venezuela's Deployment of S-300 at Key Airbase 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.
editorial@tribune.com

New Delhi, March 28

State-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC) today completed acquisition of majority stake in Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Ltd by transferring Rs 14,500 crore to the government and is hopeful of merger of the two firms in 2019-20.

The transaction assumed significance because it helped the government meet its disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore for the current financial year.

We are hopeful about merger of the two firms (PFC and REC) during 2019-20. We have to get direction from the government in this regard and then we would appoint consultant for the purpose, PFC chairman and managing director Rajeev Sharma said.

This stake acquisition was in pursuance to the in-principle approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for strategic sale of 52.63% of paid-up equity shareholding of REC held by the government to PFC, along with the transfer of management control.

Sharma further said, In line with the agreement, REC acquisition transaction by PFC got concluded today (Thursday) with release of payment to the government and transfer of REC shares to PFC. Now, PFC will be the holding company of REC and also its promoter. PFC has acquired 103.94 crore shares constituting 52.63% equity stake held by the government in REC along with the management control at a cash purchase consideration of Rs 14,500 crore. The acquisition price of REC per equity share worked out to Rs 139.50 per piece. PFC has financed 70% of the deal from the cash inflows from the business and the balance 30% is through debt.

PFC Director (Finance) NB Gupta said the company was in discussion with Bank of Baroda, Life Insurance Corporation and State Bank of India, among others, to raise money for the deal.

Gupta said, It would be difficult to tell who have financed this deal. We had a pool of funds raised through different modes and investors. There was a lot of funds availability in the market at competitive rates.  PTI

Govt meets divestment target
ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Chandigarh, March 28

A team of 19 doctors, along with Rotarian volunteers, recently returned from Madagascar after attending 3,500 cases in OPDs.

According to the Rotary, 163 eye, 73 general, 36 plastic, 34 ENT, 35 orthopedic, 8 gynecology, and 576 dental surgeries were performed.

Rajendra K Saboo, former world president of the Rotary International, said in the past 21 years, the Rotary have sent more than 500 doctors to serve in 43 countries and a majority of them had been from Chandigarh and surrounding areas.

Doctors from Chandigarh included eye surgeon Dr Nivedita Singh, dermatologist Dr Vanita Gupta, plastic surgeon Dr VD Singh, ENT specialist Dr Raman Abrol, general surgeon Dr NS Sandhu, gynecologist Dr Nirlep Kaur and orthopedician Dr Ravjit Singh.

The doctors told the media about their experience of working in difficult situations with dismal infrastructure facilities and lack of trained manpower, causing proliferation of congenital diseases, and many curable, but neglected cases of skin diseases, bone infections, broken bones, hernia, goiter, clubfoot, burn injuries, etc.

Eye surgeon Dr Nivedita said she found nonfunctional equipment in an operation theatre, including auto-clave (sterliser), and then used pressure cookers to manage the situation.

A team of 17 doctors will be going to Mongolia from May 5 to 17 on another international medical mission.  TNS
ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Mohali, March 28

The local police arrested three youths following an exchange of fire at a house in Ballo Majra village in the Balongi area here this evening.

The youths, who are believed to be hardcore criminals, have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, Sukhdeep Kumar and Raman Kumar. The incident occurred around 8.30 pm and the police operation lasted around an hour.

SSP HS Bhullar claimed that after a brief encounter, the police arrested the trio and recovered two pistols, a .12 bore and a .32 bore, along with bullets from their possession.

The accused are said to have fired a few shots before being overpowered by the cops.

SSP Bhullar said the police got a tip-off about the accused, following which police teams were sent to the site. On seeing the police, the accused opened fire on them. We immediately dispatched more teams there to nab them, said SSP Bhullar, who also rushed to the spot.

After exchange of some gunshots, the policemen overpowered them.

The credentials of the accused are being checked. They seem to be hardcore criminals, said the police.

We have registered a case under Section 307, 120-B and other appropriate sections of the IPC and the Arms Act against them at the Balongi police station, said SSP Bhullar, adding that further investigations were on.

According to residents of Ballo Majra village, a couple had been residing as tenants at a house here. We knew the person as Deepa. Three youths came to his house today in the evening and after some time, policemen turned up there. Then there was an exchange of fire at the spot, said a resident. However, the police are tight-lipped over the identity of the woman whom Deepa claimed to be his wife. \

The credentials of the accused are being checked. They seem to be hardcore criminals. Police
ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 28

A 48-year-old woman was found murdered, allegedly by her paramour, at Burail village in Sector 45 here today.

On getting information, cops rushed to the spot and found the body lying in a pool of blood. The victim was identified as Meenu, a resident of the village.

The police said there were signs of scuffle at the spot and the victims jewellery was found lying there.

Cops cordoned off the area and initiated an investigation. A Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also inspected the spot. Later, the body was shifted to the mortuary at the GMCH-32.

The police said during investigation, it was found that the victim had an illicit relationship with Bablu, a resident of the village, for the past four years. Around six months ago, Bablu had gone to the victims house where her husband insulted him. The suspect held a grudge against her since then.

On Wednesday night, Bablu allegedly called the victim to meet him after which he took her to a house that is undergoing renovation. The duo had a scuffle, after which the suspect hit the victim on head, leading to her death.

A case of murder has been registered against Bablu at the Sector 34 police station. The suspect was arrested. He will be produced in court tomorrow.
Sankar Sen

Sankar Sen

Former Director, National Police Academy, Hyderabad

CHINA has again blocked the listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council. Earlier, such attempts were stalled by China in 2009, 2016 and 2017 at Pakistans behest. China placed a technical hold, which means that the proposal will remain in deep freeze for the next six months. Thereafter, China can lift its hold or block it again. Indias present initiative for listing the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief came after the Pulwama terror attack. This time, there was widespread international support for Indias criticism of Pakistan for providing a haven to top terrorists. Four permanent members of the Security Council  the UK, the US, France and Russia  and seven non-permanent ones (Australia, Belgium, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan, Maldives and Bhutan) joined hands in the move to designate Azhar as a global terrorist. But China did not budge and took the stand that it needed more time to study the proposal.

There has been disappointment and frustration at Chinas negative and obstructionist approach. Some UN officials have stated that the stalled proposal can be brought before the Security Council for an open discussion. And in that case, Beijing will have to willy-nilly defend a terrorist in full public view. As a permanent member, China may veto the resolution of the Security Council, but this will go a long way to name and shame China. France has announced that it would freeze Azhars assets in that country, and stand by India in its fight against terrorism. Germany has also come forward in support of listing Azhar as an international terrorist. The European Union is also thinking on the same lines. It will be a big diplomatic breakthrough for India if the EU lists Azhar. It will isolate Pakistan diplomatically. In a last-minute bid to persuade China against blocking the proposal, the US put out a statement saying that failure to designate Azhar would go against the goal of regional stability and peace.

Owing to international pressure, Pakistan has been compelled to take some action against the terrorist groups, but this is of a cosmetic nature. Certain persons have been kept in private detention and some terrorist groups have been allowed to function, with a change of signboards and leadership structure.

In 2016, India had named China for blocking Azhars listing. But this time, it has not criticised the Asian giant for halting the process. Delhis stand is that it would not lose patience with China over Azhar, and give it breathing space to resolve issues with Pakistan.

Pakistan is undoubtedly Chinas all-weather friend. As China challenges the post-Cold War global order, Pakistan is likely to be its most important ally. In his well-researched book, China-Pakistan Axis  Asias New Geo-politics, Andrew Small says China wants Pakistan to have the capabilities to play a specific role. China is also unhappy with India moving closer to the US. This has fuelled suspicion that China wants to use Pakistan to keep India on tenterhooks.

China has maintained links with terrorist groups such as JeM, and helped them with money and arms to ensure that they do not target China or support the Uyghur separatists in Xinjiang. China follows a policy of repression in Xinjiang. About one million Uyghurs are imprisoned in so-called re-education (concentration) camps. Pakistan remains quiet about it. Today, in view of the growing alliance between the US, Japan, Australia and India, China may try to improve its relationship with India, but it will not do it at Pakistans expense.

Pakistans relationship with JeM is quite complex. The ISI has spent vast resources to nurture it. It is an important sword arm of Pakistan in its proxy war in Kashmir. Hence, it is doubtful if the army and the ISI will change its policy of utilising them as strategic assets against India. Even former President Pervez Musharraf has denounced JeM, and said that Pakistan should not encourage it any longer.

However, it is to be borne in mind that Azhars listing, even if it takes place, will be symbolic. JeM is already a proscribed organisation, but this has not prevented it from carrying out terrorist strikes. Things will not change unless Pakistan changes its policy of viewing terrorist groups as strategic assets and using them against India. Hafiz Saeed of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was listed by the 1267 Committee. Both LeT and JeM are proscribed organisations for the past 20 years. The 1267 regime requests States to freeze, without delay, financial assets of the designated individuals or organisations. But Pakistan has seen to it that its strategic assets do not suffer. Only sustained pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which has already put Pakistan on the grey list, may work. But it is doubtful whether the US will go the whole hog in view of its dependence on Pakistan in brokering peace with the Taliban so that it can withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

The Azhar case has also brought to the fore Indias strategy and tactics of dealing with China. So far, the Indian policy towards China has been very defensive. India has often gone the extra mile to take note of Chinas core interests and respected Chinese sensitivities. But China has not shown the same concern for Indias core interests, and, at times, been uncaring. Perhaps, it is time for India to play hardball. India should think of options to put pressure on China by squeezing Chinese business interests in India, without fear of retaliation. But, at the same time, it would be improvident to reduce the growing and multi-faceted relationship with China over one issue, particularly when the practical gains of listing, as the experience with LeT shows, are limited.
editorial@tribune.com

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 28

Acquitting all four accused in the Samjhauta blasts case, Special NIA Judge Jagdeep Singh had expressed deep pain and anguish and said such a dastardly act of violence remained unpunished for want of credible and admissible evidence.

Two improvised explosive devices exploded in the Samjhauta Express near the Dewana railway station in Panipat on February 18, 2007, killing 68 passengers and injuring 12.

No evidence came on record against Lokesh Sharma while evidence against Aseemanand, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary was inadmissible, said the judgment, which was made public on Thursday. The court set the accused free on March 20.

The Special NIA Judge said, No concrete oral, documentary or scientific evidence has been brought on record to connect the accused facing trial with the crime in question. There was no evidence on motive.

The judgment said there was no evidence on how and from where raw material for making bombs had been procured, who had collected the material, who had prepared the bombs, how and from where technical know-how had been arranged and who had planted the bombs.

Aseemanand confession

The NIA case relied on Aseemanands confessional statement recorded under Section 164 of CrPC on January 15, 2011. On May 12, 2011, he said investigating officers had tortured him physically and mentally and compelled him to give the statement as dictated before the magistrate.

As per his statement, Sunil Joshi (who supervised the blasts as per the NIA chargesheet) told him on February 21, 2007, that the blasts had been carried out by their men and named Sandeep Dange and an accomplice.

It was also found that at the house of his associate Bharat Bhai, Dange and Amit had discussed the blasts and he guessed that they might have been involved.

Ramchander Kalsangre, Dange and Amit were never traced. Joshi had reportedly told him that they were behind the Ajmer and Malegaon blasts.

It is nowhere made out that this accused ever entertained any idea or intention or had any agreement with any other accused or suspect to carry out the Samjhauta blasts, meaning thereby that he exculpated himself totally so far as the present crime is concerned, the court observed.

The confession was declared as hearsay, involuntary and uncorroborated. Bare perusal of the retracted confession reveals that the confession is long, but a rambling one, which could have been pieced together only after some sort of tutoring, read the judgment.

No evidence on who procured bombs

The judgment said there was no evidence on how and from where raw material for making bombs had been procured, who had collected the material, who had prepared the bombs, how and from where technical know-how had been arranged and who had planted the bombs.
editorial@tribune.com

Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, March 28

Changing parties at this age will spoil the image of Pt Sukh Ram, said Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister, here on Thursday.

He was replying on the political development after the father and son of Power Minister Anil Sharma joined the Congress. He said Anil was still a minister in the government and the BJP expected him to work in support of the BJP candidate from Mandi.

Earlier, addressing a meeting of the BJP Mahila Morcha Jai Ram Thakur said women would play an important role in the formation of government. He said women welfare had been the priority of the BJP government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had initiated numerous programmes for the development of women. He said the state had experienced unmatched development during the NDA regime.

Speaking about the achievements of the Modi government, he said the country had regained the dignity worldwide and it needs the same leadership again. He said only Modi could dare Pakistan and teach it the lesson.

Hailing the achievements of BJP candidate Anurag Thakur, he said he had started many projects in the constituency and was continuously fighting for the development of the constituency.

Former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal and BJP candidate Anurag Thakur also addressed the meeting.
editorial@tribune.com

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, March 28

Power Minister Anil Sharma is in a quandary after his son Ashray Sharma joined the Congress in Delhi on March 25 along with his grandfather former Telecom Minister Pandit Sukh Ram.

The stand taken by Ashray Sharma and his grandfather has created political uncertainty for the Power Minister, who had joined the BJP just before Assembly election in state in year 2017.

During the Congress regime in the state, Anil Sharma was Rural Development Minister in the Virbhadra-led state government.

It was the rivalry his father Pandit Sukh Ram had with former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, which had been forced Anil Sharma to join the BJP.

Despite BJP pressure tactics to oust him from the Power Ministry in the Jai Ram Thakur-led government in the state, Anil Sharma has not offered resign from his post. However, the Chief Minister has asked Anil Sharma to decide whether he would do political campaigning for BJP candidate in Mandi Lok Sabha election or side with his son Ashray.

Ashray is expected to get ticket from Congress to contest the Lok Sabha election from Mandi seat.

Sources told The Tribune that Anil Sharma will decide about his next course of action after confirmation of Congress ticket to Ashray. However, the minister had told earlier that he would not campaign for his son because Ashray did not take him into confidence before joining the Congress.

On his part, the Chief Minister said that the continuity of the Power Minister in the BJP will depend on whether he will take active part in progammes of the party and political campaigning of the BJP candidate Ramswaroop Sharma or give excuse and skip it.

Interestingly, neither the BJP has as yet stripped Anil Sharma from his post or nor has the minister himself offered resign. Analysts say that according to present political scenario in Mandi parliamentary constituency, the BJP may ask Anil Sharma anytime to resign.

The BJP leadership of the state has asked Anil Sharma to attend Main Bhi Chowkidar Programme on March 31 at Jahu of Sarkaghat in Mandi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the party workers through live programme across nation. In this programme, IPH Minister Mahinder Singh Thakur, party candidate Ramswaroop Sharma and BJP MLAs will take participation to gear up the political campaigning for the win of party candidate.
Senator Kamala Harris arrives at the Soup Supper. Sen. Harris met with community members before giving a speech. "I think we all know we are at an inflection point in the history of out country, this is a moment in time that is requiring us all collectively and individually to look in a mirror and ask a question and that question is 'who are we?'," Sen. Harris said. The Story County Democrats held their annual Soup Supper at the Collegiate United Methodist Church on Feb. 23.
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 29

Two militants were killed and five Army men sustained injuries in a gunfight on the city outskirts today. A US-made M4 carbine used by the Pakistan army was recovered from the encounter site.

This is the second such weapon seized in the Valley in the past five months.

On October 31, security forces had recovered an M4 carbine from an encounter site in south Kashmirs Tral sub-district after three militants, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhars nephew Usman Haider, were killed.

An M4 carbine was recovered from the encounter site today which is similar to the one recovered from Haider, a security official said.

The weapon is used by NATO forces as well as by the Special Forces of the Pakistan army.

The recovery of the US made M4 carbine clearly shows the collusion between the Pakistan forces and terrorists, he added.

Security officials fear that more such weapons may have been brought in by infiltrating militants in the past two years.

In November 2017, an M4 carbine colt rifle was recovered during a gunfight in Pulwama.

The early morning gunfight erupted at Agarsuthsoo Kalan on city outskirts when joint teams of forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area bordering Budgam district.

As the search was on, militants opened fire triggering a gunfight. During the encounter, two militants were killed, said DIG (Central Kashmir) Vidhi Kumar Birdi.

It is understood that both terrorists, identified as Ali and Idrees, are Pakistan nationals, a police spokesman said. The two are affiliated with JeM.

Defence sources said five soldiers of 50 Rashtriya Rifles were injured in the gunfight and were shifted to Armys Srinagar-based 92 hospital.

In the past 24 hours, six militants have been killed and a militant arrested in Kashmir.
editorial@tribune.com

Our Correspondent

Anantnag, March 28

Four militants were killed in two separate gunfights in the poll-bound Kashmir valley on Thursday.

Three local militants, which the police say was a combined group of the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Toiba, were killed in a gunfight with security forces in the Kellar area of south Kashmirs Shopian district during the wee hours of Thursday.

The slain militants have been identified as Sajad Khanday, Aqib Ahmad Dar and Basharat Ahmad Mir, all residents of Pulwama district.

The three of them, the police said, were involved in a number of attacks on security establishments.

They had a long history of terror crimes and were wanted in many cases registered against them, a police officer said.

The gunfight triggered in the Yarwan forest in the Kellar area at 2.30 am on Thursday. Soon after the gunfight, a cordon and search operation was launched in the area.

The militants were hiding in the forest area, which was cordoned off following specific inputs regarding their presence, the police officer said.

He said the militants opened indiscriminate fire in a bid to escape but were cornered by retaliatory firing.

After a few hours of exchange of fire, all three militants were killed. Their bodies along with the weapons were retrieved from the site of the gunfight, the police officer added.

As news of the militants killing spread despite the Internet being snapped, clashes erupted in parts of Shopian and Pulwama district. Hundreds of people took to streets and threw stones at the security forces deployed in these areas. The forces used tear-smoke shells and pellet guns to disperse the protesting youth. Later, thousands assembled to offer funeral prayers of the slain militants in their respective villages.

Meanwhile, another militant was killed in a separate gunfight in north Kashmirs frontier Kupwara district.

The police said a cordon and search operation at Yaroo Langate, Handwara, turned into a gunfight when the party was fired upon by the hiding militants.

In the ensuing encounter, one terrorist was killed and the body was retrieved from the encounter site. The identification and affiliation of the terrorist is being ascertained, a police spokesman said.
editorial@tribune.com

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 28

In a major embarrassment to the BJP, its rebel leader Choudhary Lal Singh has refused to withdraw papers from the Jammu-Poonch parliamentary seat.

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday announced that the party leadership was talking to Lal Singh to convince him to withdraw his nomination from both seats of the Jammu region.

The last day of withdrawal of nomination papers for the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, which is going to the polls in the first phase of elections on April 11, was Thursday.

Returning Officer for the Jammu-Poonch seat Ramesh Kumar said only one nomination was withdrawn on the last day. The nomination was withdrawn by Lal Singhs wife Kanta Andotra, who had filed her papers as a covering candidate.

Lal Singh had also filed his nomination papers from the Udhampur-Doda parliamentary seat as a candidate of the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan.

Of the 37 candidates who had filed their papers for the Jammu-Poonch seat, the nominations of 25 contestants were found valid and 12 nominations were rejected. With the withdrawal of Kanta Andotras papers, a total of 24 candidates are now in the fray for the constituency.

If political pundits are to be believed, Lal Singhs decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections from both seats of the Jammu region, which are currently held by the saffron party, will cause a dent to the BJP in the elections.

Lal Singh had joined the BJP in the presence of party national president Amit Shah in August 2014 after he parted ways with the Congress. He was a Cabinet minister in the previous PDP-BJP coalition government headed by former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. He was sacked from the Council of Ministers following his participation in the Hindu Ekta Manch rally allegedly organised in support of those arrested in the infamous Kathua rape-murder case.

Tough fight for saffron party
gspannu7@gmail.com

Srinagar, March 29

The Pakistani wives of Kashmiri militants who came back in response to the Jammu and Kashmir Governments rehabilitation policy protested here on Friday, demanding citizenship rights and travel documents.

The state governments rehabilitation policy was announced in 2010.

These women have since been living with their husbands in Kashmir without either the citizenship rights or the travel documents to go back to Pakistan.  IANS
rchopra@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, March 29

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a Srinagar-located asset linked to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah in connection with a 14-year-old terror funding and money laundering case against him and others, the agency said on Friday.

The property is located in Effandi Bagh in the Rawalpora area of Srinagar, and the central probe agency issued a provisional order to attach the asset under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The action is part of a multi-agency crackdown launched by the government against separatists and terror operatives functioning from Kashmir Valley.

The ED said the asset is being held in the name of Shahs wife and daughters.

The seized asset is valued at Rs 25.8 lakh, the agency said.

It said Shah, currently in judicial custody, is involved in carrying out illicit activities along with his accomplice Mohammad Aslam Wani, who is an activist of banned militant organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Shah was using Wani as a carrier for collecting hawala money sent by his Pakistan-based sympathisers through hawala operators..., the agency said.

Records showed, the ED said, that this property had been gifted to Shahs wife and daughters by his sisters-in-law in 2005, which was purchased in their name by his father-in-law in 1999.

However, in spite of repeated opportunities given to Shahs father-in-law and sisters-in-law they failed to justify the sources of fund to acquire the property, the agency claimed.

Investigation has also revealed that Shah is the de-facto owner of the property purchased through unexplained source of fund by his father-in-law, it alleged.

The ED said its probe revealed that Shah was in touch with global terrorist Hafeez Sayeed, chief of banned outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa based in Pakistan, and that he had been receiving money for carrying out separatist activities in J&K and had acquired various properties through a maze of dubious transactions.

Shah and Wani were arrested by the ED in 2017.

Wani was granted bail by a court in January 2019.

The case dates back to August 2005 when the Delhi Polices special cell arrested Wani (37), an alleged hawala dealer, who had claimed that he had passed on Rs 2.25 crore to Shah.

Wani was arrested allegedly with about Rs 63 lakh, received through hawala channels from the Middle East, and a large cache of ammunition on August 26, 2005.

During questioning, he had told the police that Rs 50 lakh was to be delivered to Shah and Rs 10 lakh to JeM area commander in Srinagar, Abu Baqar, and the rest was his commission.

An amount of Rs 63 lakh was earlier attached by the ED.

Wani, who hails from Srinagar, had also claimed that he had delivered around Rs 2.25 crore to Shah and his kin in multiple instalments over the past year and in absence of Shah he used to deliver the money to his wife Bilquees Shah, it said. PTI
rajivbhatia82@gmail.com

Johnson Thomas

Jordan Peeles new horror movie not only pays fervent homage to Stanley Kubricks The Shining but also references the Old Testament to suggest a series of linkages that hold Us responsible for the damage weve caused to life and the planet. Here, every shot means something much more than the obvious while the family in danger construct is a mere red herring for what plagues us as a human race.

Peele not only wrote but also directed and produced this film which opens up windows of doubt in our belief patterns and makes us freak out on our own misguided vanities. The story seems a little bizarre at first glance but as you start ruminating about the experience, you will gain more understanding of what the filmmaker was trying to put forward as a caution regarding mans contempt and disregard for fellow humans, other living beings and the environment.

Accompanied by her husband Gabe (Winston Duke), son Jason (Evan Alex) and daughter Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph), Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyongo) returns to the beachfront home where she grew up as a child. Theres a palpable tenseness surrounding her interactions with her family and soon we get to understand that she is troubled by a traumatic experience from the past. When four strangers descend upon the house, she is left with little recourse other than facing up to her demons.

Peeles film works as a delightful home invasion story as well as a diabolical horror epic that forces us to rethink on the roles we play in real life. His narrative amalgamates comedy, horror and social commentary while staying charmingly unhinged and throwing up questions regarding our own behaviours. Lupita Nyongo is singularly outstanding, the other players lend the necessary support to make her presence strongly unnerving. Mike Gioulakis memorable cinematography, Nicholas Monsours assured editing and Michael Abels musical compositions add strong power to this intriguing horror thriller that chills your bones!
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 29

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre on a plea seeking registration of FIRs against 72 policemen, including six IPS officers, indicted by Kapur-Mittal Committee and Jain-Agrawal Committee for acts of omissions and commissions during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Filed by S Gurlad Singh Kahlon, a former member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the plea also demanded setting up of fast-track courts with adequate infrastructure to try cases relating to the anti-Sikh riots. Noting that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Justice SN Dhingra was re-investigating 186 cases, Kahlon submitted that till date the SIT has not looked/enquired into the conduct of the police officers, despite being brought out by various reports/ committees, especially Kapur-Mittal Committee and Jain-Agrawal Committee.

Almost 3,000 people were killed, most of them in Delhi, in the anti-Sikh riots that broke out following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. A Bench headed Justice SA Bobde, which asked the Centre to respond to Kahlons plea, granted two additional months to the SIT to complete its probe into 186 cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots reopened in the last two years.

These cases were reopened on the top courts order on the basis of recommendations made by another SIT set up by the Narendra Modi Government in February 2015 for re-investigation into cases closed by the Delhi Police without proper investigation. The extension was given after the SIT told the Bench that more than 50 per cent of the work had been done and it needed two more months to complete the probe.

The petitioner submitted that time was of the essence as there had already been a 35-year delay and there is a strong chance of investigation reaching a dead end for lack of evidence due to long delay

This is for the first time that the Supreme Court is considering our plea for registration of FIRs against erring police officers, Kahlon told The Tribune.

Eatery chain founders conviction upheld
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Noida/Lucknow, March 29

Eight passengers, including a minor and two women, were killed and 30 injured when a privately-operated bus rammed into a tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday, officials said.

The bus was en route to Delhi from Uttar Pradeshs Jalaun district when the incident occurred at 5 am under Rabupura police station limits, they said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the deaths, while top officials of Gautam Buddh Nagar, including District Magistrate BN Singh and police chief Vaibhav Krishna, rushed to meet the victims in hospital.

I am saddened by the demise of eight people in a bus accident in Greater Noida today. Praying for the peace of the departed souls and strength to their families. Also wishing speedy recovery to the passengers injured in the accident, Adityanth tweeted.

Jewar Police Circle Officer Sharat Chandra Sharma said, Eight people were killed and 30 others injured in the accident. The victims were rushed to the nearby Kailash Hospital in Jewar. The speeding bus rammed into a tanker which was moving relatively slowly.

The exact cause of the accident is yet to be confirmed, but prima facie it appears that the driver was drowsy. The tanker was moving at a slower pace and the speeding bus could have comfortably overtaken it, but instead rammed into it, Sharma told PTI.

The deceased have been identified as bus driver Mahesh Kumar (48), helper Bandu (25), passengers Vineeta (32), Arun (42), Asad (12), Suman (35) and Vishwanath Tiwari (75).

The passengers were from Jalaun, while the driver and helper hailed from Dhaulpur in Rajasthan, a police spokesperson said, adding that three women and three children were among the 30 injured who hailed from Auraiya, Jalaun, Phaphund and Noida.

The identity of one of the deceased is yet to be established, the official added.

Earlier, an official spokesperson in Lucknow said the Chief Minister had taken prompt cognizance of the incident and issued directions for immediate relief for the victims.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also condoled the death of the bus passengers and appealed for a compensation for the injured and the kin of the deceased from the state government.

Tragic death of eight people in a bus accident on Yamuna Expressway! Prayers for peace to the souls of the dead and strength to their families. My condolences and appeal for monetary compensation to victims from government. The injured should be given all possible help, he tweeted. PTI
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Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 29

Exuding confidence that the BJP would do an encore winning all seven parliamentary seats from Delhi, the sitting BJP MP from East Delhi, Maheish Girri, on Friday said the AAP and its possible alliance with the Congress were no match for the BJP.

A former international director of the Art of Living Foundation, Girri said: I have served the people of my constituency in all earnestness and worked for its holistic growth.

He was a political novice when the BJP handpicked him to contest in the last general election in its bid to mop up as many seats as possible under the charisma of Narendra Modi.

The BJP had won all seven parliamentary seats in Delhi.

Girri talked about some of the projects completed and initiated in the past five years. These include creation of 150 open gymnasia, giving a facelift to Sanjay lakel, CCTVs at all important points, and widening of various roads.

The AAP has fielded its Political Affairs Committee member Atishi Marlena. There is uncertainty on its alliance with the Congress in Delhi, and it possibly re-visiting its strategy, including withdrawal of nominees on some seats in the eventuality of an alliance.

The AAP has already announced names of its candidates on six seats. Marlena has already begun her campaign.

However, Girri dismissed the challenge from the AAP nominee. She is merely introducing herself in schools, Girri said, adding that the BJP would mount its campaign shortly after the nominees were announced.

Girri had shot into limelight as he wrested the seat from sitting Congress MP Sanjay Dikshit, son of Sheila Dikshit. He had defeated his nearest rival, AAP nominee Rajmohan Gandhi, by over 1.9 lakh votes.

He said the campaign would revolve around Modi and the development work accomplished by the Union government. Its national manifesto would be supplemented by adding a section on Delhi, he added.
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Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 28

Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinhas formal induction into the Congress was today deferred till April 6 on account of fresh tension between the grand old party and its Bihar ally RJD.

The Congress sent out messages last night alerting everyone about the high-profile joining scheduled for 12.30 pm today. But there was no follow-up message from the party and it was only later in the day that AICC incharge of Bihar Shakti Sinh Gohil said Sinha had met Congress president Rahul Gandhi and would now formally join the party on April 6.

After meeting Rahul, Sinha tweeted, Painfully....on the way out of BJP....But hopefully in the best direction under the dynamic leadership of my dear friend Lalu Yadav and the desirable, most talked about leader from the Nehru Gandhi family... the true family of nation builders.

But suspense continued on why Sinha, who came all the way from Patna to Delhi to join the Congress, did not finally join. The reason was  Sinha wanted both RJD and Congress leaders to attend his induction, but fresh tension between the two allies ensured this did not happen today.

Sources said RJD chief Lalu Yadav told the Congress ahead of Sinhas joining today that it would not spare the Darbhanga LS seat for it. This was an embarrassment to the Congress which recently got rebel BJP Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad to its fold, promising to repeat him from the seat as part of the grand alliance understanding in the state. By the end of the day, the Congress had relented to the RJD which took away Darbhanga from the Congress quota amid reports that Azad will now have to fight from Betia. The RJD also wanted Supaul, where the Congress has a sitting MP Ranjeet Ranjan but the Congress finally got this seat.

The Congress feels it can get the RJD on board by April 6. Sinha will be the joint Opposition candidate against Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib.

Painfully....on the way out of BJP....But hopefully in the best direction under the dynamic leadership of my dear friend Lalu Yadav and the desirable, most talked about leader from the Nehru Gandhi family... Shatrughan Sinha
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New Delhi, March 28

India expects space debris from its anti-satellite weapons launch to burn out in less than 45 days, its top defence scientist said today, seeking to allay global concern about fragments hitting objects.

The comments came a day after India said it used an indigenously developed ballistic missile interceptor to destroy one of its own satellites at a height of 300 km (186 miles), in a test aimed at boosting its defences in space.

Critics say such technology, known to be possessed only by the US, Russia and China, raises the prospect of an arms race in outer space, besides posing a hazard by creating a cloud of fragments that could persist for years.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief G Satheesh Reddy said a low-altitude military satellite was picked for the test, to reduce the risk of debris left in space. Thats why we did it at lower altitude, it will vanish in no time, he told Reuters in an interview.

Few satellites operate at the altitude of 300 km, from which experts say the collision debris will fall back to earth, burning up in the atmosphere in a matter of weeks, instead of posing a threat to other satellites.

In 2007, China destroyed a satellite in a polar orbit, creating the largest orbital debris cloud in history, with more than 3,000 objects, according to the Secure World Foundation. Because the impact altitude exceeded 800 km, many of the resulting scraps stayed in orbit. Some of it could still be there, Reddy said, adding India had been more careful in its test.

In Florida, US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan warned any nations contemplating similar anti-satellite weapons tests that they risked making a mess in space from debris. Reddy identified the military satellite shot down as Microsat R, weighing 750 kg and launched on January 24 by ISRO for the purpose of the test.  Reuters
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New Delhi, March 29

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Gujarat government to take disciplinary action in two weeks against the erring police officials, including an IPS officer, convicted by the Bombay High Court in the sensational Bilkis Bano gang rape case during the 2002 riots in the state.

Besides, Bano, in a plea before the top court, sought exemplary compensation from the state government, refusing to accept its offer of Rs 5 lakh.

A Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna asked the Gujarat government to complete the disciplinary action within two weeks initiated against the erring officials indicted by the Bombay High Court.

"On the statement made by the Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Gujarat, that the proceedings for disciplinary action against the erring officers will be completed within two weeks, we adjourn the matter for two weeks.

"On the next date, the orders passed in the disciplinary proceedings be placed before the Court," the bench said.

The top court, terming the Rs 5 lakh compensation offered by the Gujarat government 'interim', said the plea for exemplary compensation will be heard on April 23.

"Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General appearing for the state has offered an interim compensation of Rs 5 lakh, which counsel for the petitioner is reluctant to accept and instead prays for final disposal of the special leave petition. Let the special leave petition be listed on April 23, 2019," it said.

At the outset, Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bano, said that no action has been taken by the state government against the erring officials, who were convicted by the high court.

She said that one IPS officer, currently serving in Gujarat is set to retire this year, while in case of four other officials who have retired no action has been taken against them like stopping of their pensions and retirement benefits.

The counsel further said that these police officers were convicted by the high court for botching up the investigation in the case.

With regard to compensation, she contended that Bano has been leading almost a nomadic life after being subjected to gruesome crime and therefore exemplary compensation should be granted.

Gupta said she is not willing to accept the interim compensation of Rs 5 lakh offered by the state government.

Senior advocate Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government said that disciplinary proceedings are going on against the erring police officials.

He said that it will be completed soon but the top court asked him to complete the proceedings within two weeks.

On the compensation part, Mehta said that state government has a policy of granting Rs 5 lakh as compensation in such incidents.

The Bench said it will hear the plea for compensation on April 23.

Bilkis, five months pregnant at that time, was gang raped while six other members of her family managed to escape from the mob. The trial in the case initially began in Ahmedabad.

However, after Bano expressed apprehensions that the witnesses could be harmed and the CBI evidence tampered with, the apex court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.

The high court had on May 4, 2017 convicted seven peoplefive policemen and two doctorsunder sections 218 (not performing their duties) and section 201 (tampering of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The top court had on July 10, 2017, dismissed the appeals of two doctors and four policemen, including an IPS officer RS Bhagora, challenging their conviction by the high court saying there was "clear-cut evidence" against them. One of the officers did not appeal.

A special court had on 21 January, 2008, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment 11 men for raping Bano and murdering seven of her family members in the aftermath of the Godhra riots, while acquitting seven persons including the policemen and doctors.

The convicts had later approached the Bombay High Court challenging their conviction and sought quashing and setting aside of the trial court.

The CBI had also filed an appeal in the high court seeking harsher punishment of death for three of the convicted persons on the ground that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.

According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2002, Bilkis Bano's family was attacked by a mob at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad.

The convicts had challenged the order on three main groundsall evidence in the case was fabricated by CBI, Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident, proving that she could not have been gang raped, and the failure to find the bodies of some of her family members, which proved that they were not killed. PTI
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Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 28

In an embarrassing turn of events today, the Congress had to put on hold the scheduled induction of BJP leader Suresh Chandel into the party after several state unit leaders raised a storm.

Chandel, a three-time BJP Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur, was to join the Congress at 1 pm in the presence of AICC state incharge Rajni Patil. At 1 pm, however, there was no sign of Chandel.

Chandels entry, it is learnt, was put on hold after party president Rahul Gandhi was informed of last-minute anxiety being shown by Himachal Congress leaders.

Gandhi was told of Chandels effigies being burnt by party leaders in Hamirpur.

Sources said state leaders from Hamirpur and elsewhere in Himachal were displeased at the possibility of Chandel getting the Congress ticket from Hamirpur. They cited his proximity to the PK Dhumal camp and also the fact that he lost the 2012 Assembly election on the BJP ticket and the BJP denied him an Assembly nomination in 2017. A top Congress source said the decision to induct Chandel and consider his candidature from Hamirpur was taken only after all other potential party nominees from the segment had declined to contest. These included former state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, sitting CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri, and Ram Lal Thakur.

Most potential nominees declined to contest from Hamirpur. When attempts were made to clear the candidature of senior state MLA Rajinder Ranas son Abhishek Rana from the segment, they opposed that too. The party was left with no option but to consider an outsider in Hamirpur. Now, we learn there is an objection to this plan. The best way forward is consultation, a senior AICC source said.

The Tribune has learnt that AICC incharge of Himachal Rajni Patil will again talk to senior state leaders to see who among them is willing to contest from Hamirpur.

3 likely nominees

Congress Central Election Committee has more or less cleared three candidates MP Col Dhani Ram Shandil from Shimla, Ashray Sharma from Mandi and MLA Pawan Kajal from Kangra.
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Ranchi, March 28

Noted economist Jean Dreze was detained in Jharkhands Garwah district today for allegedly holding a public meeting without permission. He was later released.

The Belgium-born economist and activi-st, now an Indian citizen, and Vivek Gupta, an activist, were taken into preventive custody.

Dreze, a member of the National Advisory Council during the UPA regime, and Gupta were released after investigation. Police said organising a public meeting without permission amounts to violation of the code of conduct.

Shocking beyond words!



Jean Dreze is a saint-economist, a potential Nobel awardee who lived in slums, written and done more for the poor than any economist, shunned all power and glory, took up Indian citizenship, is a pacifist.



Nothing can be more shameful than arresting him. https://t.co/KagTeBhFV8  Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) March 28, 2019

The organisers did not provide the name of the main speaker. So permission was denied, SDO Kamleshwar Narayan said.

Dreze said: Understanding of democracy is shrinking. Gradually, all freedoms being curbed. Dreze had helped draft the food law.  Agencies
shalender@tribune.com

Bengaluru, March 28

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said on Thursday that the income tax raid on JD(S) leaders overseeing the electioneering of his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Mandya and nephew Prajwal Revanna in Hassan was politically motivated.

But the Income Tax Department has said that no MP, MLA or minister had been covered in the searches and those were being carried out on the basis of credible information received.

Kumaraswamy said he would stage a demonstration against the raid in Bengaluru along with Congress leaders.

I am going to stage a demonstration in Bengaluru. Let the whole nation see how the Income Tax Department is being misused. These raids are politically motivated, a visibly upset Kumaraswamy told reporters in Mysuru.

The pre-dawn raids at 15 to 20 places triggered an angry backlash from Congress as well as JD(S) leaders.

More importantly, the raids were on people who were monitoring the electioneering of the duo belonging to the Gowda family, including state Minor Irrigation Minister CS Puttaraju and his nephew Ashok, who is a district panchayat member in Mysuru.

Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna are testing political waters for the first time under the tutelage of Kumaraswamy and PWD minister HD Revanna.

Asserting that he had predicted the raids on Wednesday night itself, Kumaraswamy said for the first time, I-T officials raided government offices too, such as the PWD office in Hassan and Tehsildars office in Kanakapura.

Accusing the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Department (Karnataka-Goa region) BR Balakrishnan of acting as a political agent, the Chief Minister said he was eyeing a gubernatorial position post retirement.

The raids did not perturb Revanna. Speaking to reporters in Hassan, he said, As long as I have the blessings of Sringeri Sharadamba and Shankaracharya, nothing will happen.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax Department  in a press release in the wake of the Chief Ministers statements to the press  said that no MP, MLA or minister had been covered in the searches and those were being carried out on the basis of credible information received. PTI
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New Delhi, March 29

In a shocking incident, a Delhi-based businessman has been duped of Rs 5.9 lakh by a Nigerian national, who allegedly befriended him on Facebook while posing as a London-based woman, police said.

According to police, Ogbondo Ifeanyi Henrey, 35, was arrested when a team of crime branch raided his rented accommodation in south Delhis Devli on Wednesday.

The accused duped a Delhi-based businessman, Sanjay Banerjee, of Rs 5.9 lakh after posing as a woman from London, Holly David on Facebook. He used to send friend requests to various people previously by using the same modus operandi, Additional Commissioner of Police AK Singla said.

Banerjee told cops that one Holly David claimed to be resident of the UK became his friend on Facebook in January 2017. They were in regular touch on Facebook messenger and Whatsapp. She also sent photos, which later were found to be of a London-based female model, Singla added.

Holly David expressed her love and honey-trapped the victim, the ACP said.

She also told him that she would visit India to meet him in February 2017...On February 6, Banerjee received a call, wherein the caller posed himself as a custom officer from Mumbai told him that Holly David was in his custody and she had to pay Rs 55,000 for customs clearance, the ACP said.

Banerjee later transferred Rs 5.9 lakh from his bank account to the alleged persons account in three instalments. However, the accused continued to demand more money. Banerjee, being suspected of falling in the trap of an organised gang, refused to pay and complained to police, Singla told media.

As many as 21 sim cards, two laptops, two routers and five debit cards that he used while perpetrating crime, were recovered from his possession, police said, adding that it was found that the accused, along with his accomplice, Viveinlly, with whom he was in a live-in relationship, had cheated several others. IANS
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London, March 29

A UK court rejected Nirav Modis second bail application on Friday, saying there are substantial grounds to believe the fugitive diamantaire will fail to surrender.

Looking more dishevelled and dressed in a similar white shirt as his first court appearance last week, the 48-year-old was brought to the dock to be produced before Westminster Magistrates Court Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot and sat behind a glass enclosure as the hearing got underway.

Rejecting Modis bail plea after hearing both defence and prosecution, Judge Arbuthnot said his attempt to try and seek citizenship of Vanuatu, a remote island country located in the South Pacific Ocean, shows he was trying to move away from India at an important time.

There are substantial grounds to believe he will fail to surrender, said the judge, who fixed April 26 as the next date of hearing.

Modi will appear via video link from jail at the next hearing.

Earlier, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of Indian authorities, said Modi should not be granted bail because he posed a significant flight risk and had even issued death threats to witnesses related to his fraud and money laundering case.

CPS barrister Toby Cadman told Judge Arbuthnot that there was a substantial risk that the prime accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud to the amount of between USD 1 and 2 billion, would flee and attempt to interfere with witnesses and evidence.

Given the nature and seriousness of charges and the resources available to him there will be an overwhelming desire to flee the jurisdiction and interfere with the administration of justice, said Cadman.

Giving details of Modis attempt to interfere with witnesses, the CPS barrister made specific reference to one such witness, Ashish Lad, who Modi threatened to kill in a phone call and also offered him an incentive of Rs 2 million to provide a false statement.

Nilesh Mistry and three other witnesses were similarly targeted by Modi and mobile phones and a server holding material critical to the fraud were destroyed at request of Modi, raising fears of further destroying of evidence if bail was granted, the court was told.

Due to the nature of his business he has at his disposal diamonds, gold and pearls, added Cadman.

The court was also told about Modis attempt to attain citizenship in jurisdictions less likely to be willing to extradite him to India, including Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean at the end of 2017 on the basis of a USD 2,00,000 investment. However, Vanuatu citizenship request was declined as a result of the ongoing Indian criminal investigation.

Modis defence team, led by barrister Clare Motgomery  who was also the barrister for former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya in his extradition case  opposed the CPS claims of Modi being a flight risk and stressed that in fact Modi sees UK as a haven where his case will be fairly considered.

The size and nature of these allegations is not a safe touchstone by which you can judge if he should be granted bail, said Montgomery, who claimed a series of underlying issues were behind PNB withdrawing insecure lending.

At the very start of the hearing, Judge Arbuthnot said she was getting a sense of deja vu, in reference to her having ordered the extradition of Mallya in December last year.

Do we know which part of India he [Modi] is being sought in, the judge asked, to try and establish which jail Modi is likely to be held in.

She was told by the CPS that it would be an extradition to Mumbai and that he may in fact be held in the same Arthur Road Jail as that prepared for Mallya, to which the judge said in a light-hearted vein that it could even be the same cell as we know there is space from the previous video submitted during Mallya extradition trial.

In another throwback to the Mallya trial, Montgomery raised the issue of the state of the paperwork submitted by the Indian authorities, claiming it made her cry at one stage. The judge concurred with her and was very firm about proper indexing of all documents to be submitted to the court in relation to the case.

Cadman assured the court that the point had been conveyed to the Indian authorities.

A three-member joint Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) team from India was present in court and handed over a new file of evidence which was review by the judge before the hearing.

Modi is believed to have been living in the UK on an Investor Visa, applied for in 2015  at a time when the so-called golden visa route was relatively easier for super-rich individuals to acquire residency rights in the UK based on a minimum of 2-million pound investment. The greater the level of investment, the faster the process to acquire indefinite leave to remain (ILR).

According to official Home Office data, around 76 Indian millionaires have used this visa category to gain permanent settlement in Britain since 2009, with a peak of 16 Indian applicants in 2013 and seven last year.

The UK government has since tightened the criteria for the category over concerns of its misuse for money laundering purposes. Under reforms unveiled earlier this year, applicants must now prove that they have had control of the required investment for at least two years, rather than 90 days, or provide evidence of the source of those funds.

Modi had been denied bail by District Judge Marie Mallon at his first hearing soon after his arrest by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch as he tried to open a new bank account and has been in custody at HMP Wandsworth prison in south-west London since then.

During his first court appearance, it emerged that the diamantaire accused of defrauding PNB via fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) had been in possession of multiple passports, since revoked by the Indian authorities. PTI
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Kurnool (AP), March 29

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a blistering attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and erstwhile ally N Chandrababu Naidu, calling him U-turn Babu, whose intent was not on states development.

Addressing an election rally here, he sought to reject Naidus repeated attacks that his government neglected the state.

Andhra Pradesh goes to simultaneous elections to the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in the first phase on April 11 with the BJP contesting them alone.

Listing various initiatives taken by the NDA government for Andhra Pradesh, Modi said it was during his regime that the Vizag-Chennai industrial corridor was flagged off and approval for the first National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) given.

It was also the chowkidar who cleared the first Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) besides approving the greenfield petrochemical complex for the state, he said.

Five years ago, your one vote made me PM. Your Pradhan sewak worked selflessly day and night for the people of the country. Chowkidar kept the interest of the state in mind, he said.

Modi also recalled that the NDA government sanctioned first central university in Anantpur.

He accused Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party supremo, of pasting state government stickers on the Central schemes.

For sure, I could have done more work. I just required the cooperation of the state government. I made all efforts from my side, but the person who is running the government (Naidu), his intention is not Andhra Pradeshs development, Modi said.

Levelling charges of corruption and dynasty politics against Naidu, he said the election date of April 11 will usher in the double engine of the states growtha BJP government both at the Centre and the state.

There was debate going on in AP that there were schemes for corruption, ranging from the creation of the new capital Amravati, the Prime Minister charged.

The people of Andhra Pradhesh know whose coffers are being filled... when this chowkidar sought accounts, U-turn Babu took a u-turn from APs growth and walked out of the NDA, Modi lashed out.

Naidu had snapped ties with the NDA in March last year, accusing the Centre of not honouring the promised special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Hitting out at the TDP supremo for getting close to the Congress, Modi said Naidu has found friends who are on bail, apparently referring to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi who are on bail in the National Herald case.

Modi, who had in the past hit out at Naidu for alleged family politics, said the election should also see the son-set, and called for a new sunrise.

He deliberately stressed on the son part to drive home his point on dynasty politics targeting the AP Chief Minister and his son and state minister Nara Lokesh.

Without elaborating, Modi mocked that Pakistan has now accepted Naidus friends as hero.  PTI
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New Delhi, March 29

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has not ruled out contesting the Lok Sabha election from a constituency other than Amethi, saying many party leaders have fought elections from more than one seat in the past and a decision on the issue will be taken by the party soon.

Referring to demands from party leaders that his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should contest, Gandhi told PTI in an interview that she will have to take a call on whether to fight the polls or not.

Speculation about the newly-appointed Congress general secretary contesting grew after she asked people in Varanasi on Thursday whether she should fight the polls from the temple town, the constituency from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a re-election.

Amethi is his karmabhoomi (place where you are destined to work) and will remain so, Rahul Gandhi said, keeping his options open on fighting the election from a second seat amid demands from party units in Kerala and Karnataka that he should be fielded from their states.

Amethi is my karmabhoomi and shall always remain so. I am deeply grateful for the love, affection and the sentiments expressed by our party workers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala who have asked me to contest a second seat from their states, the Congress chief told PTI in response to a question on the speculation over him contesting from Wayanad in Kerala.

In the past, too, many leaders from the Congress and other parties, including Mr Modi himself, have contested elections from more than one seat. The Congress party will take a decision on this issue at the earliest, he said.

In 2014, Rahul Gandhi defeated BJPs Smriti Irani by a margin of over one lakh votes. Both are pitted against each other again from Amethi.

Asked about Priyanka Gandhi contesting the election, the Congress chief said candidate selection is an ongoing process and the party has announced over 300 candidates so far.

As far as Priyanka is concerned, it is up to her to decide if she wants to contest the election or not, he said.

On whether party veterans will be fielded by the Congress to put up a strong fight, Gandhi said the party has a system of identifying candidates and it goes through various processes.

I have looked at young as well as experienced candidates equally because I believe that Congress party needs both. Seniors are fighting elections. We also have many new faces who will be fighting their first election, he said.

There has been a clamour among Congress leaders from the south for Rahul Gandhi to contest from Kerala as well as Karnataka and the state units have already passed resolutions on the issue.

His mother, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, earlier contested from the Bellary Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka while his grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had contested from Chikamangalur in Karnataka.

The process of nominations in Kerala, which goes to the polls on April 23, started on Thursday and will end on April 4.  PTI
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Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 29

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on CBIs plea accusing telecom service providers Vodafone and Airtel of not sharing call detail records (CDRs) of certain mobile numbers, including those of Saradha Group directors Sudipta Sen and Debjani Mukherjee.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi asked the two companies to respond by April 8.

On behalf of Vodafone, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi countered the allegations, saying everything has already been handed over.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta alleged there was absolute anarchy and lawlessness in West Bengal. He recalled the recent incident of the state police harassing custom officials at the Kolkata Airport for attempting to check the luggage of the wife of TMC MP Abhishek Bannerjee who happens to be Chief Minister Mamta Bannerjees nephew.

Senior counsel AM Singhvi, representing the state government, took exception to Mehtas statement and accused him of feeding the media under the garb of making submissions.

Accusing Airtel and Vodafone of not providing call detail records (CDRs) of certain mobile numbers in connection with Shardha chit fund scam, the CBI had on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to the two telecom majors to share it with the probe agency.

In its application filed in the top court on Wednesday, the CBI submitted that till date, despite repeated requests of the Applicant (CBI) and despite the specific direction of the Government of India, the Service Providers have not shared the information as sought

The Supreme Court had on Tuesday termed as very very serious the allegations levelled by the CBI in its status report filed in a sealed cover on interrogation of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who had once headed the state police SIT on Saradha chit fund scam probe.

The top court had said it could not close its eyes if some very very serious facts were disclosed to it and as the CBI to file an application seeking appropriate relief/action against Kumar, who had once headed the state police SIT on Saradha chit fund scam probe. Giving 10 days to the CBI to file the application, it had asked Kumar and others respond to the plea in seven days and ordered that the matter be posted for hearing after that.

The agencywhich is probing the Sardha chit fund scam on the orders of the Supreme Courtaccused the two telecom service providers of being surprisingly evasive in sharing the information. The phone numbers and the period for which CDRs have been asked for by the CBI were actually requested to be shared by the West Bengal Police which initially probe the scam.

The Bench had on Tuesday also refused to discharge West Bengal Chief Secretary and Director General of Police in a contempt case filed against them and the former Kolkata Police Commissioner by the CBI for allegedly obstructing the probe into the Sardha chit fund scam.

The top court is seized of a contempt petition filed by the CBI against senior officials of the West Bengal government, including the Chief Secretary, DGP and former Kolkata police chief for allegedly obstructing its probe into the chit fund scam and destroying evidence.
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 28

India has sought to steer clear of a developing row between the US and China over a fresh move at the UN Security Council (UNSC) to blacklist Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.

Caught in the tug-of-war between China and the US, Pakistan has sought to convey reasonableness and equanimity by asking India to submit more information about the Pulwama attacks.

China says the US is acting in haste by sponsoring a resolution at UNSC two weeks after it shot down a similar move on grounds that it needed time to study the blacklisting proposal.

As deliberations on UNSC listing proceedings are confidential, India has taken the stand that it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage on a process which is entirely within the parameters of informal discussion of the Council and its members.

China has reasons to be upset since this time the resolution has been introduced in the UNSC and not in the 1267 Committee on Al Qaida, Taliban and other proscribed organisations. This means, Beijing will have to publicly state its reasons for blocking Masoods blacklisting.

Privately, China says Pakistan is committed to reining in the jehadi groups but wants the world community to give more time to the duo of PM Imran Khan and the army chief. It also wants the world community to address Pakistans complaint of cross-border terrorism, especially in Balochistan.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has washed its hands of involvement in the Pulwama attack, but is also giving the impression that the final word has not been said.

Its purported Wednesday night statement was released on Thursday shortly after news broke that the US had moved the UNSC to list Azhar. In an effort to relieve that pressure, Islamabads diplomatic corps was informed about the findings of the preliminary report as well as Pakistans consistent commitment to cooperate in the Pulwama probe.

No terror camps on 22 sites shared: Pak
shalender@tribune.com

New Delhi, March 28

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said the 'Nyay' scheme will remonetise what PM Narendra Modi demonetised and asserted that his party's anti-poverty programme has thrown the BJP into total disarray.

In an interview to PTI ahead of the 17th General Election beginning April 11, Gandhi said the 'Nyay' scheme had the twin objectives of giving money to the 20 per cent poorest families and remonetising the economy "damaged" by demonetisation.

"What the PM has done over the past five years is to remove all money from the economy with failed policies like demonetisation and a poorly executed Gabbar Singh Tax (GST). Informal sectors have been badly hit. The aim of the 'Nyay' scheme is two-fold. First is to guarantee a minimum income to the bottom 20 per cent families. The second is to remonetise the economy that has been demonetised by Modiji," Gandhi said.

The Congress chief said there was a reason why the party christened the scheme 'Nyay', which translates to justice in Hindi. "There is another aspect to calling the scheme 'Nyay'. Why have we chosen to call this scheme 'Justice'? Because over the last five years, Modi has simply snatched from poor and given nothing back.

He has taken away from the farmers, he has snatched from the small and medium businesses, unemployed youth. He has extinguished the savings of mothers and sisters of this country. We want to return to India's deprived sections what Modiji has snatched from them, Gandhi said. Terming 'Nyay' (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) a game changer, Gandhi said the scheme was fiscally perfectly doable and would not be implemented rashly like demonetisation and GST.

About apprehensions of some economists that 'Nyay', which entails an expenditure of Rs 3.6 lakh crore annually, could aggravate India's fiscal deficit position, Gandhi said: No, that's not right. He said the party consulted a large number of economists and experts, studied numerous papers and other research material on this subject and run an extensive financial modelling exercise before deciding to include the plan in its Lok Sabha manifesto.

To a question on the scheme being prima facie populist, Gandhi said: "It is not a populist measure as projected by some critics. If giving out Rs 3.5 lakh crore to 15 people by Modi is not considered populist, why should this be as it is aimed at benefitting the poor. Is it only the crony capitalist friends of Modi who are to benefit from government schemes? I'm only asking for fairness, for justice, or nyay for India's poor. Theres nothing populist about that, he countered. He said: We're not rash. We dont take steps like demonetisation and GST without consultations, without conferring with the experts. We have vetted this, tested this, and fiscally Nyay as a scheme is doable.

He did not give a timeline on when the party planned to make India poverty-free and said Nyay would first be tested through a pilot to smoothen out any flaws. Asked if the pilot will be run in Congress-ruled states, he said: This is for the experts to decide. In the 10 years of the Congress-UPA government, we took 14 crore people out of poverty net. Our goal now is to finish the job.  PTI

3-year pass to new ventures, no angel tax
editorial@tribune.com

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Batala, March 28

If the Congress views the Dera Baba Nanak Assembly seat as a goldmine keeping in view the vote-spinning Kartarpur corridor, the Batala seat may turn out to be its Achilles heel. This is because its candidate will not only have to appease the powerful industrial lobby, which is fighting to get the Freight Equalisation Policy (FEP) reintroduced by the Railways, but also have to end the infighting plaguing senior leaders.

The FEP was adopted by the Central government in 1952 to facilitate the equal growth of industry throughout the country. This meant a factory could be set up anywhere in India and the transportation of minerals was to be subsidised by the Central government. However, it was withdrawn in 1993.

Batala industrialists want the policy to be reintroduced. MP Jakhar, whose candidature has almost been cleared, has taken up the issue with the Railway Ministry on several occasions but without any success. Sources reveal the Railways do not want to reintroduce it as several states, including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, are bound to suffer.

The industrial lobby can influence, on a conservative estimate, at least 30,000 votes. Reason enough why Jakhar wants to get the FEP back, said a leader.

The MP says that in order to neutralise the FEP effect he will seek a special package for industries located in the border areas, including Batala, if he is re-elected.

The party candidate will also have to put an end to the infighting among two senior leaders. Former three-time MLA Ashwani Sekhri complains that Cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa is interfering in the political and administrative affairs of the seat. Bajwa, who is MLA from the neighbouring seat of Fatehgarh Churian, dismisses these allegations saying they are nothing but a figment of Sekhris imagination.

Whatever developmental works I am initiating are being done in my capacity as a minister. I have absolutely no interest in the seat, said Bajwa.

Jakhar will have to do a delicate political balancing act with both Sekhri and Bajwa as he cannot afford to lose the support of either of them.

The MP is also pondering over the demand of Bajwa to shift the bus stand to the outskirts because of the traffic snarls that occur at the present location. However, Sekhri is dead against it claiming that hundreds of shopkeepers will lose their livelihood.

For the voters, shifting of the bus stand and the rehri market to the Maal Mandi are two major demands.

Jakhar says he has fulfilled a major demand by upgrading the status of the municipal committee to a corporation. Budgetary allocation will now increase substantially following which more developmental works can be taken up, he said.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 28

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed as infructous senior Punjab police officer Charanjit Singh Sharmas plea for prior notice if he was required for interrogation in cases related to incidents of sacrilege.

The High Court had earlier directed the state and its functionaries to give seven days prior notice to Mogas former Senior Superintendent of Police, but soon after recalled the order and issued notice to the government on his plea. He is currently under arrest in relation to the Kotkapura firing case.

Appearing before the Bench, Punjab Additional Advocate-General Rameeza Hakeem had raised objections to the prior notice order before arguing that the petition was listed in supplementary list and relief should not be granted to the petitioner without hearing the state because the petitioner was already under arrest.

In view of above, earlier order, directing the respondents to give seven days prior notice to the petitioner in case he is required for interrogation in the cases as prayed for, is recalled and the matter shall be heard afresh, Justice Ramendra Jain had ruled.

Just about three years after police fired at Sikhs peacefully protesting in Kotkapura against the incidents of sacrilege, the Justice Ranjit Singh commission of inquiry had indicted police officers. It ruled that use of force at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan was unwarranted, uncalled for and not needed at all.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 29

India on Friday summoned the Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner to register its objection to Pakistans co-opting of India-baiting elements in a 10-member committee for the Kartarpur Corridor.

It has been conveyed that the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistans response, said government sources.

India is objecting to the nomination of Gopal Singh Chawla, Tara Singh, Besant Singh, Maninder Singh and Kuljeet Singh all of whom were said to have made provocative statements propagating hatred and violence. The appointment of such people puts a question mark on Pakistans intentions, said the sources.

India has also raised the flag against Pakistans limitation on the number of pilgrims and their mode of entry. India has sought foot-crossing for 5,000 pilgrims per day and nearly triple the number on festival days.

Pakistan opposes foot-crossing, cites infrastructural constraints to limit the daily number of pilgrims at 500 to 700 and wants to bar access to the corridor to PIO and OCI card carrying people of Indian origin.

Given the sensitivities in Punjab about the Corridor, the government sought to reinforce the impression that India was keen on concluding the agreement at the earliest but needed clarity in order to bridge substantive gaps on some issues. The meeting should be substantive and not held just for optics, said the sources.

That is why while predicating the next Kartarpur Corridor meeting on Pakistan clarifying its stand, especially on the reported inclusion of anti-India elements in the Pakistan committee, the sources wanted to wait for the response rather than prejudging its intentions.

There cant be any let-up in security. India hopes Pakistan will address security concerns. Once the security aspect is cleared and we get a satisfactory response, we are open and keen to take discussion forward and conclude in a meaningful way, claimed the sources.

Indias depletion of enthusiasm surfaced a day after Islamabad resorted to its familiar foot-dragging on investigating Pakistani links to the Pulwama attack. In its first report shared with India, Pakistan has denied that any of the 54 people detained were involved in the attacks. Moreover, it rejected Indian claims about the location of 22 terrorist training camps and made a conditional offer to India to visit these sites.

A gap in perception has opened up because India says it took up Pakistan PM Imran Khans offer for a Corridor because it was open-ended. But India feels the limitation on the number and type of pilgrims besides their mode of travel is not in line with the earlier indication of easy, limitless and round-the-year entry.
gspannu7@gmail.com

Ananya Panda

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 29

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday announced that it will contest all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab alone and will resume its rallies, including by its star campaigners such as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in the last week of April.

AAP Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Harpal Singh Cheema met Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia at the formers residence to discuss the future strategy of campaigning ahead of the parliamentary polls slated for May 19.

The AAP will contest alone on all the 13 parliamentary seats in the state and nominees for remaining five seats will be declared within a week, said Cheema.

In the coming days, the party has decided to counter the BJP-SAD combine in the state mainly on issues of growing unemployment and communal incidents.

It would remind the Capt Amarinder Singh government about the promises the Congress made in 2017 before assembly elections of providing farm loan waivers, reigning in drug, liquor and mining mafia and setting up functional placement cells in colleges.

After the meeting, Cheema said the partys campaign will focus on countering the BJP-SAD alliance over the 2014 election promise of providing two crore jobs to youth and the saffron partys politics of divide.

We discussed how we would take forward our campaign in Punjab. What PM Modi promised in 2014 and what he has done during the last five years is for all to see. Instead of new jobs, the NDA government snatched away one crore jobs. Same is with Punjab Government which came to power with false promises.

He (Capt Amarinder) in 2017 said they will wipe out drug mafia in four weeks, but we saw how since the enforcement of the model code of conduct Rs 84.30 crore worth drugs were seized, said Cheema.

The Dirba MLA also attacked the Punjab CM over granting of loan waivers to the tune of Rs 90,000 crore to affected farmers in Punjab claiming the government has till now disbursed less than one per cent waivers.

Besides, Cheema said lack of a proper policy on transport since 1992 has led to inadequate generation of revenue and the state reeling under Rs 2.15 lakh crore loans from various government agencies is going to be another major issue the AAP will highlight ahead of elections.

We have submitted our campaign schedule of star campaigners starting from April last week and concluding before the stipulated time of polling to be held on May 19. Among the star campaigners are Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, partys Delhi convener Gopal Rai, besides other top leaders, said Cheema.
harinder@tribunemail.com

IT is a matter of common knowledge that one of the grounds on which the passive resistance movement has been condemned is that it will prove futile. Government, it has been said, will leave the handful of Satyagrahis alone and not make martyrs of them. In his message to a Madras meeting, Mr. Gandhi gives an appropriate reply:There is here in my humble opinion if Satyagrahis are left alone, they will have won a complete victory because they will have succeeded in disregarding the Rowlatt Bills and even other laws of the country, and in having thus shown that a civil disobedience of a Government is held perfectly harmless by it. I regard the statement as an unwarranted assumption of fact because it contemplates the restriction of the movement only to a handful of men and women. My experience of Satyagraha is that it is such a potent force that once set in motion it ever spreads till it becomes a dominant factor in the community in which it is brought into play. No Government can neglect it.
singhking99@yahoo.com

Arushi Chaudhary

Indias 2,000-year-old handloom and fabric industry has held the world in awe with the aesthetically marvellous outcomes of industrious and painstaking processes. While India remains one of the few countries that have managed to sustain its handloom sector and holds 95 per cent chunk of the worlds handwoven fabric market, the ground reality for weavers and artisans isnt exactly rosy. Dismal returns on heavy labour have forced a majority of young generations of traditional weaver clans to look for more lucrative employment avenues. Just as this exotic part of Indian heritage grapples with an existential crisis, young designers are working tirelessly to turn things around by evolving their labels with an insightful, sustainable and artisanal outlook. One such label that stands out for its exploration of Indian techniques and handlooms to fit in cross-cultural, contemporary aesthetic is Urvashi Kaur.

The designer behind the label, Urvashi describes it as glocal fashion that stems from thinking globally and acting locally. Glocal in context of my label is a term that summarises our belief in creating a product that assimilates local techniques, resources and production while appealing to the global fashion community, Urvashi says.

Indian handloom and techniques have a special place for me as Ive travelled the length and breadth of the country while growing up as an Army kid, which gave me the opportunity to encounter rich textiles and ancient crafts like tie-dye, block printing, hand pleating and layering. Eventually, this love for Indian textile found shape and form within my label and my collections originate at the fabric stage. The response to this has been incredibly positiv, thanks to this love of handicraft and heritage, interpreted with a contemporary outlook. The collaborative relationships that Ive forged with the talented artisans and craftspeople have been extremely special to me on a personal level. Creating opportunities and nurturing these communities in my own way has led to a very deep sense of fulfilment, she adds, explaining the ethos behind building an ethical fashion brand that focuses on innovation, sustainability and forward-thinking design.

Alongside a play of contrasts with tailoring, fluidity and layering, the brand also promotes notions of gender non-conformism with collections that are trans-seasonal and focused on the individual. The concept of gender neutrality in garments came to me when I launched the menswear line in 2016. It was during this creative process that I woke to the realisation that there isnt a vast difference between the construction of male and female garments, Urvashi says.

Commenting on her evolution as a designer that has led to her stoking an alternate fashion movement, she adds, In my case, the process was organic. Like many designers, I too went through a metamorphosis through my earlier collections and gradual evolution of the signature look of the brand, within the alternate fashion movement. Its very important for a creative person to evolve. With my first collection, I had just stepped forward to what turned into a beautiful transformation. My sensibilities have grown to be more personal and my narrative has become more conscious and mindful and continues to be so with each collection.

Urvashis vision has found resonance with a global audience that appreciates mindfulness and artisanal design. With her designs creating ripples, from the runway to celebrity fashion, the designer feels that visibility and exposure for her label have followed a gradual and organic curve. The fact that gradually people woke up to my aesthetic and realised that organic and sustainable doesnt need to be boring was a major push for my label. Soon there were endorsements from filmstars and other fashion icons. That helped propel the brand immensely. One of the earliest of these that comes to my mind is when Sonam Kapoor chose to wear the brand during her outing at the Cannes Film Festival. That definitively threw the spotlight on the brand and captured the attention of a whole new audience, Urvashi says.

The designer believes it takes a village to build and run a successful brand and considers herself lucky to have a strong support system within the family that has helped her become a force to reckon with in the fashion world. Today, her label has gone international with outlets in the Middle East, Sri Lanka and Europe. The way forward for us is to continue on the momentum that weve built, taking our vision of modern, mindful luxury to more audiences across the world and to celebrate everything that contemporary India stands for, Urvashi says of her plans for the future.
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

London, March 29

LONDON: Brunei will punish homosexual sex and adultery with death by stoning under a new law, which comes into effect next week.

From April 3, any individual found guilty of the offences will be stoned to death in the small southeast Asian nation, according to a new penal code. The punishment will be "witnessed by a group of Muslims," the BBC reported on Thursday.

The country's strict new laws were announced in 2014, and have been rolled out gradually. The brutal new provisions were quietly announced on the Brunei attorney general's website on December 29, 2018.

Human rights groups were quick to express horror at the penal code, which also provides for amputation as a punishment for theft.

"Brunei must immediately halt its plans to implement these vicious punishments and revise its penal code in compliance with its human rights obligations. The international community must urgently condemn Brunei's move to put these cruel penalties into practice," Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei Researcher at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

There was an international outcry when Brunei became the first country in the region to adopt sharia law in 2014, an Islamic legal system that outlines strict corporal punishments.

The tiny, oil-rich kingdom of just over 450,000 people is located on the island of Borneo, close to moderate Islamic nations of Indonesia and Malaysia.

In comparison to its neighbours, Brunei has grown conservative in recent years, including banning the sale of alcohol.

The new penal code was announced by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who also acts as the country's Prime Minister. In announcing the change, the government website quoted the Sultan saying his government "does not expect other people to accept and agree with it, but that it would suffice if they just respect the nation in the same way that it also respects them." IANS
vermaajay1968@gmail.com

Washington, March 28

Donald Trump has said Google CEO Sunder Pichai assured him that the tech giant is totally committed to the US military and not the Chinese army as the President met him at the White House, days after he accused the California-based company of not supporting American interests.

Trump, who has been at loggerheads with several big companies, earlier this month said, Google is helping China and their military, but not the US.

On Wednesday, after a meeting with Indian-American Pichai at the White House, the US President said: Meeting ended very well. Just met with @SundarPichai, President of @Google, who is obviously doing quite well, he said.

Pichai stated strongly that he is totally committed to the US military and not the Chinese military, Trump said.

Also discussed political fairness and various things that @Google can do for our country. Meeting ended very well! said the President. There was no immediate tweet from Pichai.

A Google spokesperson said, We were pleased to have productive conversations with the President about investing in the future of the American workforce, the growth of emerging technologies and our ongoing commitment to working with the US government, said the Google spokesperson. PTI
vermaajay1968@gmail.com

Islamabad: Pakistani minister has branded the US ambassador to Kabul a little pygmy in a high-level diplomatic Twitter row that erupted over ongoing peace talks between Washington and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The furore underscores the delicate balance of regional tensions as the US steps up a push to find a way out of Afghanistan, more than 17 years after the invasion. AFP

Comedia maintains lead in Ukraine president poll

Kiex: Comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice who plays a fictional president in a popular TV series, has maintained a strong lead in Ukraines presidential election race, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday. But support for the 41-year-old remains far below the level needed to secure outright victory in the March 31 ballot, and most voters still do not expect him to become president, the KIIS survey showed. Reuters

Singapore to tighten alcohol norms for pilots

Singapore: The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced here on Thursday that it would tighten the regulatory regime on alcohol abstention to mitigate the risk of pilots operating under the influence of liquor. According to CAAS, the authority will implement the Airport Alcohol Testing Programme (AATP) and start random testing of pilots at Changi and Seletar airports on March 31, the Xinhua news agency reported. Reuters
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Montreal, March 29

Canada's Quebec province on Thursday unveiled controversial draft legislation that would ban a significant section of public servants from wearing religious symbols such as a crucifix, yarmulke or hijab.

The measure -- which applies to police, teachers and others in positions of authority -- is expected to become law by June with Premier Francois Legault's government holding a majority of seats in the Quebec legislature.

But it was swiftly panned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who said:"For me, it's unthinkable (that) a free society would legitimise discrimination against anyone based on religion."

Montreal mayor Valerie Plante voiced "serious concern about the message that this bill sends to minorities about their fundamental rights."

The important thing, she said, was that the process of making laws was secular, not that people divested themselves of religious attire and symbols.

Teachers unions said they would not enforce the law, while pundits and the government's own lawyers, according to reports, anticipate a court challenge for contravening Canadians' Charter right to personal religious freedom.

The Quebec government, however, has already made it clear that it would invoke a rarely-used constitutional clause to quash any rights challenges.

"Some people will find that we are going too far, others not enough, and we are convinced that we have struck the right balance," Quebec Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette told a press conference.

The government said the measure -- combined with the removal of a cross installed in the main chamber of the national assembly in 1936 -- underscored Quebec's break with religion a half century ago, when it rejected the Catholic Church's powerful influence in local politics.

The secularism bill would also enshrine into law a rule previously adopted by Quebec that denies government services to people wearing face veils, reflecting a backlash against Muslim immigration.

Jolin-Barrette argued that this was intended to simply bolster safety and security by being able to verify the identity of people accessing services.

Both measures, along with curbs on immigration, were promised by Legault during an election campaign last year, after a decade of divisive debate on secularism and religious freedom that was influenced by a similar discourse in France.

In addition to France, eight other European countries enforce restrictions on religious attire.

"We will do whatever we can to bring together people," Legault said Thursday before the law was presented.

"That should be the objective of everyone in the weeks ahead, to have a serene debate. We are responding to what a large majority of Quebeckers want."

The opposition, however, accused the government of rushing the legislation, with Liberal Helene David saying not enough time has been allotted to debate its impacts on "living together" as a society.

This is the fourth attempt by successive Quebec governments to pass a secularism law.

What began as a pushback against a few cases of religious accommodation of minorities in public institutions and private businesses led to a public inquiry.

The tribunal heard testimony on the merits of secularism that ranged from the metaphysical to the absurd -- such as outrage that an eatery had removed pork from its pea soup to accommodate Muslims.

Jews and Sikhs were also the subject of controversy, but the focus shifted to Muslims -- Muslim women in particular.

One previous government tried but failed to impose a values charter that would have limited "ostentatious" displays of religiosity.

In the end, the regulations were narrowed to apply only to public servants. AFP
AS the family of popular pundit Mohindra Persad makes funeral arrangements after his sudden passing, the family says they are being caused further pain by being bombarded by comments from strangers attributing Persads death to Covid-19.

The family has been devastated by the news, and while they would prefer to grieve privately, Persads wife, Anita, agreed to do a telephone interview with the Express. She told the Express yesterday she wanted to squash the rumours around her husbands death and celebrate the remarkable legacy he left on this earth.
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Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020
I am calling upon the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to make public the details surrounding the deaths of persons despite being fully vaccinated.

Only this week two people died despite being vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19, and they were not the only two.
The event was part of the Vietnamese ministers Lao visit from March 26-28.

Speaking at the conference, Minister Dung said the event is timely, given the context of the growing Vietnam-Laos relationship. Over the past two years, Vietnam has offered a number of scholarships for masters, doctorate, and short-term training to Laos in the fields of labour and social welfare. Vocational training between the two ministries has been enhanced via experience sharing and short-term training for teachers.

Regarding labour cooperation, the minister asked Laos to continue providing support for Vietnamese workers employed by investment projects, adding that the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) will work closely with Lao agencies to raise public awareness of legal regulations regarding guest workers, as well as enhance collaboration between the two nations enterprises in labour supply.

Saysomepheng, for his part, said suggested the conference review the outcomes of bilateral ties in labour and social welfare, including implementation of the Laos-Vietnam labour cooperation agreement and the minutes of the fifth Ministerial Conference on Labour and Social Welfare, and outline a plan for future cooperation.

Both sides heard a report on the outcomes of a thematic workshop held the day earlier, and updated each other on their new legal regulations on labour, employment, workforce training, and social welfare.

On the occasion, Minister Dung presented the Friendship Order to 11 units of the Lao Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare in honour of their active and effective contribution to the development of the great Vietnam-Laos friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive partnership.

The Lao minister also granted the Friendship Order to 16 MoLISA units.

The MoLISA took the occasion to present artificial limbs, vocational training and office equipment worth VND4.5 billion (US$195,000) to the Lao ministry.

During a reception hosted by Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Minister Dung informed him about the outcomes of coordination between his ministry and the Lao counterpart over the past years and their joint plans in the near future.

The host leader lauded their past cooperation results, especially in personnel training in the field of labour and social welfare for Laos.

At a Vietnam-Laos dialogue on labour and social welfare, co-chaired by Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep and Lao Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Baykham Khattiya, both sides heard a report on the outcomes of cooperation in labour and social welfare for the 2017-2019 period and plan for 2019-2021.

The event featured discussions on labour and employment, human resources development, and cooperation in social welfare.
- Ahmad Iman Ali, also called Abu Zinira, was reportedly killed in Buaale in Middle Juba

- He was hit in an air strike and died alongside 40 other suspected terrorists in Somalia

- The fallen al-Shabaab commander had been declared an international terrorist by the United States

Kenyan-born al-Shabaab militant group leader, Ahmad Iman, Ali has reportedly been killed in Somalia together with 40 other suspected terrorists.

Ali who was under the radar of the Kenyan security forces for years was reported dead following an air strike in Buaale town in the Middle Juba region of Somalia.

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READ ALSO: Somali deputy attorney general shot dead by al-Shabaab militants

Ahmad Iman Ali who was also known as Abu Zinira was hit an an air strike in an ambush attack on March 22, 2019, in Middle Juba in Somalia. Photo: Nation.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Mama Kakamega ahukumiwa kifungo cha miaka 15 kwa kumuuwa mwanawe na kujaribu kujiuwa kwa kunywa sumu

Intelligence reports seen by TUKO.co.ke on Thursday, March 28, indicated Ali who was also referred to as Abu Zinira was murdered on March 22 in an ambush attack by an air strike from an unknown aircraft.

However, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) could not immediately confirm or deny the killing of the Kenyan-born al-Shabaab commander and neither was the Kenyan Ministry of defence according to the Daily Nation.

READ ALSO: Senior Al Shabaab Leader Killed In Somalia

In March 2018, Ali, a holder of an engineering degree from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), was declared one of the most wanted terrorists in the world by the United States.

He was considered a Specially Designated Global Terrorist after he became the director of al-Shabaab operations in Africa and was regarded as the man behind radicalisation and recruitment of youths to join the militants group.

Ahmad Iman Ali was the director of al-Shabaab militant group and had been declared an international terrorist by the United States. Photo: Strategic Intelligence Service.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Former al-Shabaab leader to vie for presidential seat in Somalia

Ali was also believed to be responsible for conducting al-Shabaab campaigns and spreading propaganda targeting Kenyan civilians and even soldiers operating under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amison).

He was also said to be behind some of the deadliest terror strikes ever witnessed in Africa, including the January 2016 El Adde attack which left an estimated 200 Kenyan soldiers dead.

READ ALSO: Details of al-Shabaab commander's capture

The fallen al-Shabaab leader reportedly had his footprints in a number of African countries among them Kenya, Somalia, DR Congo, Mozambique, Uganda and Tanzania.

In Kenya, he allegedly operated small businesses through proxies who TUKO.co.ke understands were also being pursued by security forces.

The US frozen all his assets and banned Americans from doing business with him when he was declared one of the most wanted global terrorists.

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Should Deputy President William Ruto be impeached? - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko
- The statistics were released by the private security guards union

- The union issued government with a 21-day ultimatum to explain how it was going to protect guards

- Five security guards were killed in Vihiga by unknown assailants while manning business promises last month

At least two security guards are killed in Kenya every day, the Kenya National Private Security Workers Union (KNPSWU) has said.

The union national Secretary General Isaac Andabwa said most deaths occur during the night and called upon outgoing Inspector General of police Joseph Boinnet to investigate the deaths of guards killed in the line of duty.

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READ ALSO: Tension high in Vihiga after 5 watchmen are slashed to death in night attack

At least two security guards are killed in Kenya everyday.Photo:Nation Source:UGC

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Anglican Church of Kenya opposes proposal to lower age for sexual consent from 18 to 16 years

Speaking to journalists in Nairobi after meeting with the officials from the Bouncers Association of Kenya, Andabwa said Boinnet failed terribly in reducing cases of deaths of private security guards.

"We lose at least two members each day. We are hoping the newly nominated IG Hilary Mutyambai if approved, will come in with a better strategy of protecting private security officers" he said.

The union gave government a 21-day ultimatum to device a way in which the guards will be protected considering they offer complementary services to national security forces.

READ ALSO: Man forced to show genitals in public after allegations he killed wife with 'giant penis'

The group blamed the police laxity for the killings being witnessed in various parts of the country.

"These cases of insecurity and violence against guards is a matter of laxity or sabotage among the uniformed officers since the killings appear to be calculated and well planned, and some happen near police stations,"he said

Andabwa added the union will be engaging the government to device ways of training bouncers and setting up proper regulations for their operations.

Five security guards were killed in Vihiga county on the night of Saturday, March 2, after being attacked by an unknown criminal gang.

The guards were manning various businesses premises at Kilingili market located at the border of Vihiga and Kakamega counties.

Story by Enock Ndayala- TUKO .co.ke correspondent

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The man who Accepted Uhuru Kenyatta's Rejected House I Tuko TV

Source: Tuko Kenya
- Kiigen has supported Uhuru and Ruto since 2002 when the he made first stab at presidency

- Despite his support, he said Jubilee administration has performed dismally in graft war

- President Uhuru has acknowledged his administration is penetrated by the vice

- An affidavit sworn by Interior Principal Secretary Kibichu indicates corruption has grown by 240% in five years

Former Dagoretti North parliamentary aspirant in the 2017 General Election Kiigen Kipng'eno Koech has admitted he is a big contributor to myriad of problems facing Kenyans at the moment.

Taking to social media platforms on Friday, March 29, the seemingly furious Jubilee politician tendered his sincerest apology to fellow Kenyans who are sweating under the weight of heavy taxation.

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READ ALSO: Kenyans express anger over rampant cases of corruption in Jubilee government

Kiigen inside a voting booth. The youthful politician has apologised for voting UhuRuto. Photo: Kiigen Kipngeno Koech/Facebook.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Jamaa alazimishwa kuanika mjulbeng hadharani baada ya baba mkwe kudai mikiki yake ilimuua binti wake

According to Kiigen, the President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration has nothing to show for it on matters governance and fight against corruption despite voting for him three previous General Elections.

"Fellow Kenyans, allow me to apologise for the hardships Kenya is facing thanks to corruption and poor leadership. I am part of the problem for voting for the UhuRuto TanoTena Jubilee government not once, not twice, but three times,"he apologised.

Uhuru in his address during the 55th Madaraka Day celebrations at Kinoru Stadium in Meru in June 2018, acknowledged corruption is deeply rooted in every sector of economy.

"We all know from reading the headlines daily that corruption has also seeped into many other sectors of our society. We know of teachers who impregnate students. Preachers who swindle their flocks. Lawyers who defraud clients. Architects building houses using shortcuts leading to collapse of such buildings," the president said.

The president's sentiments are further backed up by a sworn affidavit by Principal Secretary Karanja Kibichu which passed on a harsh verdict regarding theft of public resources.

According to Kibicho, corruption in the country has immensely grown by 240% in 5 years since Jubilee government took over in 2013.

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Impregnated and forced to abort by my teacher - on TUKO TV

Source: Tuko Breaking News
From a pioneer aviator to a respected female doctor, in honor of Womens History Month Overland Trail Museum explored some of the many Logan County Women Who Dared to Be Different at its monthly History Cafe program Wednesday.

Museum curator Kay Rich prefaced her presentation telling guests, Im going to tell you just a fraction of the fascinating history of these women, and also encouraging them to think about who the next fascinating woman might be.

Missouri Powell Propst

This fascinating woman came to the plains of northeastern Colorado in 1874 as the young bride of Sid Propst. The couples first home, a tent, was in Buffalo, which is now Merino. They later built a sod house.

The daughter of a lawyer and Methodist minister, Missouri was a graduate of the Methodist Female School for Young Women. In Buffalo, she helped organize the first Southern Methodist Church in the area. But, she soon became frustrated with the typical womans role in the church and in 1891 she drafted an article of protest about womens limited rights and sent it to the Christian Advocate.

Her article was not published and within a year of writing it she had died of typhoid at 44 years old. Propst did not live to see that Colorado would become the first in the nation to give the right to vote to women in 1893.

Madilene Veverka

Veverka immigrated to the United States in 1884 when she was 11 years old. She graduated from Logan County High School in 1895 and went on to the State Teacher College in Greeley, where she earned a masters of education degree, and then studied under John Dewey at the University of Chicago in 1900. In 1931, she received a doctorate degree from Charles University, in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

Veverka went on to serve as superintendent of schools in Logan County, taught early and primary education in Las Vegas, New Mexico, then taught at the University of California at Berkley and Pepperdine College in Los Angeles. She eventually became superintendent from kindergarten and primary schools in the city of Los Angeles and was director of elementary curriculum for Los Angeles.

Xenia Casement

Casement was born in 1901 in Milan, Austria. Her father was a Serbian count and she was raised in New York City. She graduated from Vassar College in 1923 with a degree in botany and minors in history and psychology. Moving to an apartment in New York City, she began her career at Macys Department store.

Xenia met and married Jack Casement, the two moved to Colorado and in 1943, after ranching on the Western Slope of Colorado, the couple and their two daughters came to northeastern Colorado and settled in the Chimney Canyon area, 35 miles northwest of Sterling.

They started what was known as the Casement Cattle Company. The original ranch grew to include 22,000 acres. The Casements raised cattle and world champion quarter horses.

Marvel Crosson

Born in 1904, Crosson learned to fly and became a national hero when she established an altitude record for women of 23,996 feet. She obtained the first pilots license issued to a woman in Alaska and flew many missions in the Alaskan wilderness with her brother Joe. Tragically, she died in a plane crash at the age of 25 in the 1929 National Air Races, which she was the first woman to officially enter into.

Ethel Spoor Johnson

Johnson was one of the earliest trained nurses on the plains of Colorado. Born Oct. 19, 1882, in Nebraska, she and her sister came to Sterling with their parents when their father was appointed first Road Master for the Union Pacific Railroad. She taught school for three years before training as a nurse. Johnson graduated from the Toledo Hospital School for Nurses in 1915.

When World War I broke out she was determined to go to Europe to serve. She spent the rest of the war in Laungres, France, nursing wounded soldiers. She returned to the United States just in time for the Spanish influenza epidemic, and she continued to work tirelessly, earning respect and admiration in the medical field.

Johnson lived to be almost 90 years old. At her death she bequeathed large sums of money to the Logan County Hospital and to the Logan County Historical Society, to be used at museum. The museum funds were used to build the Johnson room.

Dr. Portia McKnight Lubchenco

Discouraged by many from becoming a doctor, she eventually became the first female graduate of North Carolina State Medical College in 1912. She was encouraged to follow her dream by Alexis Lubchenco, a Russian agronomist, who visited the McKnight plantation where Portias family lived.

Following her graduation the two married and returned to his homeland of Russia, where they had three children and she practiced medicine and became a well-known specialist in delivering babies. Political upheaval put the family in grave danger, so they fled Russia, with Portia trading her medical skills in exchange for train tickets throughout Siberia and China.

They arrived in Portias home state of South Carolina, where she became a well respected and beloved doctor and the couple added two more children to their family. In the 1930s the Great Depression made it impossible for her patients to pay their medical bills. So, the family moved to northeast Colorado, where Portia became partners with her brother who was a doctor in Haxtun.

In 1936, she opened her own medical practice in Sterling and she eventually became the chief of staff at Good Samaritan Hospital. Portia was also the first chief of staff of the Logan County Hospital.

Mabel Landrum Torrey

Torrey was born near Sterling in 1886. As a child she loved to draw and she eventually went on to study at the Art Institute of Chicago. She was listed in Whos Who in Art and Whos Who in Women. Torres became well known for the Wynken, Blynken and Nod sculpture that she created, which can still be found at Denvers Washington Park.

Mabel Frank

Mabel and her husband, Guy Frank, came from Kearney, Neb., to Dailey to run the general store in 1915. Soon after arriving Guy died unexpectedly and Mabel found herself a widow with three young sons. She ran the general store, which can be viewed at the museum, on her own for 47 years, never taking a vacation or a day off unless she had to attend a funeral.

During the Depression years Mabel took in three children willing to work for the summer. The three boys would come and work every summer and eventually one of the children ended up staying with Mabel. She treated the young man like one of her own children and even saw to it that he went on to college, eventually becoming a doctor.

Nell Brown Propst

Propst arrived by train from Alabama in the mid-1940s at the age of 19 to begin teaching at Northeastern Junior College. She graduated high school at the age of 16 and went on to Howard University, where she double majored in English and speech/theater.

Nell married Colorado rancher Keith Propst in 1949 and moved to the historic family homestead in Merino, The Bar 3 Ranch.

She later received her masters degree from the University of Denver, in theater. Her thesis was a manuscript on Logan County titled Where the Buffalo Roam. Her passion for the land and the eastern Colorado plains was evident in her many published works, including books, articles and plays.

The next History Cafe program, Wednesday, April 24, will take a look at some of the rare books that can be found at the museum.

Callie Jones: 970-526-9286, cjones@journal-advocate.com
A reward of half a million dollars is being offered to anyone who can provide information th
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is hosting the Ukrainian trade mission, which aims to promote the exports of Ukrainian food and processing products to the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries, the Economic Development Ministry reports.

"On March 27-28, 2019, the Ukrainian delegation led by State Secretary of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine Oleksiy Perevezentsev took part in a trade mission to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The purpose of the mission is to promote the export of Ukraine's food and processing products to the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries. The event is organized by the SE Export Promotion Office jointly with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO)," the report says.

Within the framework of the trade mission the Ukrainian delegation took part in the business forum "Sweet & Fruit Trade: Ukraine-Middle East" in Dubai devoted to the issues of economic cooperation between Ukraine and the UAE, presentation of Ukrainian export potential to business circles of the UAE, in particular, products of the Ukrainian food and processing industry, the Government portal reported.

A number of Ukrainian export-oriented companies working in promising sectors of the food and processing industry defined in the Export Strategy of Ukraine was invited to participate in the trade mission. Participants of the mission had an opportunity to hold B2B meetings with business representatives from the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries, to study the peculiarities of doing business and market opportunities of the UAE, as well as to get acquainted with the peculiarities of pricing in the food markets of the country.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi addresses a panel at the Boao Forum for Asia, Boao, China.  UNHCR/ Peter Yang

BOAO, China  Connectivity is the foundation of security, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi as he urged business and technology leaders in China to collaborate on solutions for refugees and displaced people around the world.

During his first visit to the Boao Forum for Asia in southern China this week, Grandi made the link between security, forced displacement and humanitarian crises in front of an audience consisting of presidents and chief executive officers of Chinese conglomerates. They were attending the high-level annual dialogue in Hainan province that has been compared to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Refugees escape from insecurity, and sometimes their own massive movements can be a cause of further instability, said the High Commissioner. In this globalised world, a war in Africa has consequences here as well. Thats why were advocating for countries like China to help with addressing the root causes of forced displacement and dealing with its consequences.

Technology has a critical role to play, he said, recalling an exchange he had with a Syrian refugee in Greece. The man had fled bombs in his hometown, travelled through war-torn areas and survived the perilous voyage to Europe. When asked at what point he felt his life was most in danger, he said: When I was on a boat at sea and all of a sudden my phone had no connection anymore.

"Being connected today is a fundamental element of security."

It shows that being connected today is a fundamental element of security. That is why the Belt and Road Initiative is so remarkable, said Grandi, referring to the central role of connectivity in the Chinese initiative.

He added: As you know, the motto of the Sustainable Development Goals is to leave no one behind. No one should be left behind in terms of connectivity as well. If you have people who cannot participate in the advantages of globalisation, you create dangerous pockets of underdevelopment which will be more prone to insecurity. That is why I think the investments in technology to ensure that connectivity benefits all are a forward-looking act that China is leading and I hope other countries will follow.

While at the forum, the High Commissioner met with prominent companies at the forefront of technology and innovation including Baidu, Tencent and China UnionPay. They discussed potential areas of collaboration ranging from awareness raising to resource mobilisation, and technology linked to identification and documentation.

As the Chinese economy grows, more and more Chinese companies are increasingly willing to assume their global corporate social responsibilities, said a Vice Chairman of the China Enterprise Confederation, which promotes responsible business practices among Chinese companies.

We have the technology, experience and the heart to work with UNHCR, said Gordon Xie, the General Manager of Media Marketing at internet-based technology and cultural enterprise Tencent. And Chinese consumers are getting increasingly sophisticated, they want to do something for common humanity.

Guided by the Global Compact on Refugees,UNHCR is expanding partnerships with development actors and the private sector. Affirmed by the UN General Assembly last year, the compact aims to share responsibility more equitably in addressing the challenges of global forced displacement.
Naftogaz obliged to secure government's approval for its subsidiaries' major decisions, deals

The relevant resolution was adopted at a Cabinet meeting on March 27.

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Ukraine lifts ban on cattle feed imports from Poland

The ban was in effect for almost 1.5 months.

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Ukraine sees meat price hikes

Chicken fillet, beef and pork jumped in price the most.

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Stoltenberg is popular with allies, particularly U.S. President Donald Trump, who credits him with helping increase European defense spending, diplomats have said.

NATO allies extended on Thursday Jens Stoltenbergs term as secretary-general until late 2022, putting the former Norwegian prime minister on course to become one of the Western military alliances longest-serving leaders.

Stoltenberg, 60, who took up the post on Oct 1, 2014, will now step down two years later than planned on Sept. 30, 2022, after having already been extended once already, Reuters reports.

Read alsoStoltenberg: "Many different tools" already in place to help Ukraine move toward Euro-Atlantic integration

Stoltenberg is popular with allies, particularly U.S. President Donald Trump, who credits him with helping increase European defense spending, diplomats have said.

Allies expressed their support for the secretary generals work to adapt and modernize NATO and ensure it remains fit for the future, NATOs 29 government said in a statement.

Honoured by the decision by the #NATO Allies to extend my term as Secretary General until 30 September 2022. Together we will continue to adapt & modernise our Alliance to keep it fit for the future: https://t.co/ybBwSDOy6zpic.twitter.com/K5CIiqRYjl  Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) March 28, 2019

NATO, once seen by some as a Cold War relic, has also gained new relevance as the West confronts a resurgent Russia, state-sponsored computer hackers, security threats on its borders and militant attacks on European cities.

If he completes his term as the alliances top civilian, Stoltenberg will be the second longest-serving NATO chief, after former Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Luns was in the job from October 1971 to May 1984.

"Honoured by the decision by the #NATO Allies to extend my term as Secretary General until 30 September 2022. Together we will continue to adapt & modernise our Alliance to keep it fit for the future," Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
According to Kulyk, the suspicion notice against Kurchenko is 1,360 pages long. It includes episodes of conspiracy of various persons in the commission of various crimes.

Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) Department of International Legal Cooperation, Head of the Criminal Procedural Management Department Kostiantyn Kulyk says former head of the Presidential Administration Borys Lozhkin, NBU ex-governor Valeria Gontareva, odious ex-minister of ecology Mykola Zlochevsky, and other top officials, to whom on Thursday, March 28, he issued suspicion notices, are involved in the case of fugitive oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko.

The corresponding statement was transmitted to journalists and read out by a 1+1's Pravo na Vladu panel show host Natalya Moseychuk.

In connection with the contradictory information that my PGO colleagues are spreading, I consider it important to make the following statement: I am the prosecutor in the Kurchenko case. The case has been investigated for five years and the evidence of the group's criminal activity amounts to over 3,000 volumes. A year ago, the court gave permission for a special investigation on Kurchenko, and recently, a group of prosecutors was engaged in paperwork on the case and preparing the final drafts of suspicion notices to the persons involved, Kulyk reported in a statement read out by Moseychuk.

According to Kulyk, the suspicion notice against Kurchenko is 1,360 pages long. It includes episodes of conspiracy of various persons in the commission of various crimes.

In order to forward the Kurchenko case to court, procedural decisions must be taken regarding his accomplices. In at least four different episodes, Serhiy Kurchenkos accomplices turned out to be Lozhkin, Shverk, Filatov, Gontareva, Stetsenko, Zlochevsky, and others. Of these, to this day, Lozhkin, Filatov, Shverk, Gontareva, Stetsenko and Zlochevsky remained without official suspicion notices. I affirm that without issuing official suspicion notifications to them it would have been impossible to complete the criminal case against Serhiy Kurchenko. I personally signed 96 of 98 suspicion notices in this large-scale investigation. These documents were either handed over personally or mailed to the suspects, the statement says.

According to him, said defendants were never subpoenaed to the PGO, as they allegedly belong to the so-called "caste of untouchables".

Why didn't these defendants get subpoenaed to the PGO so that suspicions could be handed to them, so we went for sending documents by mail? The answer is obvious for Ukrainian citizens. Alas, in our country, there is a caste of 'untouchables'. It is also obvious what would have happened if there was an attempt to officially establish the addresses of their actual residence for handing over the suspicions in person. The Criminal Procedure Code permits, in circumstances where the place of residence of a person is unknown, to send procedural documents at the address of their registration. I took advantage of this position of the CCP, Prosecutor Kulyk notes in the statement.

The deputy head of the PGO department stressed that the probing of episodes involving the above-mentioned persons has been practically completed, so full investigation could be completed within two months in the regular mode.

I'd like to add something about the remarks of some of the PGO press service staff concerning the elections. None of the defendants in the Kurchenko case is currently in position to be able to influence the presidential election. If 'influence on election' implies that the public will start discussing the entourage of the guarantor of the Constitution as a gang of scoundrels, this can hardly be considered news: everybody is talking about this. Also, according to certain heads of prosecutors' offices, I have low moral qualities. But if the refusal to join any PGO grouping to sell cases is low moral values, then I dont want to strive for their high stats, he said.

Kulyk noted that he is not ready to put up with the fact that five years after the Revolution of Dignity and the change of power in Ukraine, Serhiy Kurchenko continues to gain profit from the operations of the UMH Holding and, being under the control of the FSB, influences Ukraine's information space.

To assess the suspicions that I have put forward against the said persons, one should at least read the text of the suspicion that, apparently, my colleagues from the PGO are unlikely to have done so far. In conclusion, I would like to add: according to the legislation of Ukraine, there should be no lists of untouchables in our country. I'd like to remind everyone that it was because of this that people went out to the Maidan and volunteered to go to the ATO, said Kostiantyn Kulyk.

And stop trying to scare someone who has over 10 years of investigative experience with launching the case at the SBI. Even 'money-hunters' from NABU never succeeded in this," concluded Kulyk.

As UNIAN reported earlier, papers with charges over laundering billions of hryvnias of former President Viktor Yanukovych's "family" have been served by the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine to Ukrainian oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko's accomplices: former head of the Presidential Administration Boris Lozhkin, former Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Valeriya Gontareva, co-owner of the ICU investment company Kostiantyn Stetsenko, Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Oleksiy Filatov, and others. In total, 98 persons were served with charge papers, including 12 senior officials of ministries and departments, as well as the National Bank and six heads of regional state administrations in Ukraine.

Via a comment on Facebook, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko provided details on charges brought against senior officials in the case opened against fugitive Ukrainian businessman Serhiy Kurchenko, an ally of ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.

Later on Thursday, Larysa Sargan, spokeswoman for Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, and PGO speaker Andriy Lysenko distributed an official statement of the PGO that suspicion notices against former NBU Governor Valeria Gontareva, former head of Presidential Administration Borys Lozhkin, co-owner of ICU Konstantin Stetsenko and deputy chief or Presidential Administration Oleksiy Filatov were announced in violation of law.

The identical statement posted on Facebook by both press officers says the Prosecutor Generals Office informs that the so-called notification of suspicion of V.Gontareva, B.Lozhkin, K.Stetsenko, and O.Filatov was carried out with violation of procedural legislation, which requires sufficient evidence, an order of the prosecutors' group leader, and personal delivery." As noted in the statement," none of these requirements were met by prosecutor Kulyk.

Therefore, said persons are not considered suspects in the understanding of Art. 42 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine, according to the PGO statement. The legal assessment of the actions of prosecutor Kulyk will be provided by the State Bureau of Investigation, the spokespersons said.

The official statement of the PGO concludes that election fever clearly spoils people.

The initial report claiming that the suspicion notices have been issued against top officials was published by a U.S.-based Russian-language news outlet Forum Daily.

Later, UNIAN published photocopies of suspicion notices against officials in question the agency received at its disposal.
The Kremlin seeks to prevent Ukraine from moving toward the West by keeping it in a permanent grey zone.

Want to know whats next in Russian election interference? Pay attention to Ukraines elections, Alina Polyakova, of the Center on the United States and Europe writes.

The Kremlin seeks to prevent Ukraine from moving toward the West by keeping it in a permanent grey zone. To achieve that goal, Russia continues to destabilize Ukraine through conventional and nonconventional military means while seeking to undermine Ukraines democratic and economic reform process, says Polyakova's op-ed published by Brookings Institution.

Russia has also used Ukraine as a test-lab for its arsenal of political warfare. This includes information warfare, cyberattacks, the use of energy supplies for political ends, and the export of corruption to gain a foothold in politics. While Russian interference in Western elections came as a surprise to many, Russia has a long track record of intervening in Ukraines elections since 2004. Ukraines experience is thus a bellwether for assessing the Russian tactics that may be deployed against the West.

Of course, Russian political warfare does not stop when the ballot box closes. Russian disinformation on social media platforms targeted Ukraine well before the U.S. or European elections, and Ukraine remains its top target. Russian state media, social media trolls, and bots spread and amplify false stories about Ukraine to undermine the legitimacy of the government and to divide Ukrainian society. Some recent stories claim that Ukrainian children are forced to play with stuffed Adolf Hitler dolls and that Ukraines national church is becoming the Christian version of ISIS.

Read alsoUkrainian Intelligence Service elaborates on Russia's election meddling plans

There have been at least 15 known Russian-attributed cyberattacks on Ukraine since 2014. A December 2015 cyberattack caused a blackout affecting over 230,000 Ukrainians. The malware used in that attack has been detected in electric utilities in the United States. In June 2017, the NotPetya virus, which the United States attributed to the Russian military, originated in Ukraine and spread to 64 countries, including the United States, and affected major international companies, logistical operators, government agencies, telecommunication providers, and financial institutions.

While the United States has led the international effort to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression, including through providing lethal aid and training along with other foreign partners, as well as imposing sanctions on Russian entities and individuals, other elements of this assistance strategy should be increased U.S. investment in countering Russian influence in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, supporting independent media and civil society in the region, and closing loopholes in the financial system that enable illicit activities.

Read alsoKremlins plan to sow chaos in Ukraine

The Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2019 (DASKA) calls for the establishment of a National Fusion Center to Respond to Hybrid Threats, a Countering Russian Influence Fund to be used in countries vulnerable to Russian malign influence, and closer coordination with allies.

"These efforts are long overdue, and Congress should act quickly to pass DASKA," the author wrote.

"Ukraine will need continued U.S. commitment to its territorial integrity and resolve to impose costs on Russia for escalation. Ukraine cannot be permanently relegated to the grey zone. Moscow sees a successful democratic Ukraine as a threat to President Vladimir Putins authoritarian regime. It is in Russias interest to see Ukraines democratic and economic reforms fail," the oped concludes.
The Pentagon official confirmed that Washington supported Kyivs aspiration to join NATO.

Since the beginning of the Donbas war in 2014, the United States allocated over $1.3 billion to strengthen Ukraines defense capability, that's according to spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense, Eric Pahon.

In an interview with the Russian media, the official confirmed that Washington supported Kyivs aspiration to join NATO and, in general, the country's right to freely choose its future and political course without external interference, RBC-Ukraine reported.

"Since 2014, the United States has allocated over $1.3 billion on security to boost defense capability of Ukrainian forces and increase interoperability with NATO," the RBC quoted the Pentagon spokesman as saying (the report was delivered in Ukrainian).

Read alsoU.S concerned as OSCE Permanent Council drags with extending SMM mandate

The U.S. Department of Defense has asked $250 million for the Ukrainian military and national security forces in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget request, to provide assistance and support to the military and national security forces of Ukraine, and for replacement of any weapons or defensive articles provided to the Government of Ukraine from the inventory of the United States,"

Earlier, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine negotiations, Kurt Volker, said that the United States is considering the possibility of supplying to Ukraine more anti-tank missiles, as well as air defense and coastal defense systems.

In addition, the United States pledged to provide an additional $10 million to further build up Ukraines naval capabilities.
The commander of a NATO maritime group said Dutch, Spanish, Canadian, Turkish, Romanian and Bulgarian frigates entered the Black Sea on Thursday.

Two Russian naval vessels are closely escorting NATO warships in the Black Sea that are headed toward Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.

The commander of a NATO maritime group said Dutch, Spanish, Canadian, Turkish, Romanian and Bulgarian frigates entered the Black Sea on Thursday. The warships are part of the Alliances defense cooperation exercises taking place on April 8-12, according to a report by The Moscow Times.

An intelligence-gathering ship and a patrol ship of the Russian Navy began to escort the NATO group when it entered the Black Sea, the Russian defense operations center told the RBC news website.

NATO'ya bagl 3 savas gemisi Istanbul Bogazndan pes pese gecis yapt. Bogaz gecisini tamamlayan gemiler Karadeniz'e acld. Gemilerin gecisine sahil guvenlik botlar da eslik etti. pic.twitter.com/gujkqnSquf  Demiroren Haber Ajans (@dhainternet) March 28, 2019

As UNIAN reported earlier, two of the NATO frigates are scheduled to make a port call in the Ukrainian city of Odesa on April 1.

Russia issued a statement criticizing frequent visitors to the Black Sea in January, when the U.S. Navy-guided missile destroyer Donald Cook entered the region. The Russian Black Sea fleet began monitoring the warship at the time as well.

According to international law, vessels belonging to states that do not border the Black Sea path are allowed to stay there for no more than 21 days.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin earlier stated that Russian observers could not monitor Ukraine elections either from the political or the legal points of view.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, refused to answer the question whether Russia would recognize the result of the presidential election in Ukraine.

Its not our business to evaluate the election campaign [in Ukraine]. We all witnessed and continue to be a witness to the campaign that is ongoing in Ukraine. It's the Ukrainians' business," he told reporters in Moscow Friday, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

"Of course, I would leave your question without comment, on whether it's possible to recognize illegitimate the election result. I will not answer this question. It will also depend on how the elections are held. We cannot talk about this if the elections have not yet been held," he added, answering an UNIAN question.

Read alsoUkrainian Intelligence Service elaborates on Russia's election meddling plans

At the same time, Peskov recalled that there would be no Russian observers in this election.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin stated that Russian observers could not monitor Ukraine elections either from the political or the legal points of view.

Observers from an aggressor state which has violated all possible and impossible principles of international law and moral principles cannot observe the holding of democratic elections, the foreign minister said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that the Russian bill on the non-recognition of the presidential elections in Ukraine, submitted to the Duma, confirms Russia's true position and shows why Moscow had tried to send their observers to the Ukraine elections.

"As long as Russia remains the aggressor state, Russian observers will not be allowed. The real objective of Russian observers is vividly demonstrated in this bill," the president concluded.
Voters are so fed up they might pick a man who played a president on TV.

The most encouraging thing about Ukraines presidential election is that nobody knows who is going to win.

In that sense, democracy in Ukraine is healthycertainly more so than in its post-Soviet neighbors Russia and Belarus, The Economist wrote.

The latest polls show Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian-cum-candidate, leading, with the support of some 30% of the voters who have made up their minds.

Petro Poroshenko, the incumbent president, and Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, are running neck-and-neck for second place.

Yury Boyko, a former energy minister, and Anatoly Hrytsenko, a former defense minister, trail a distant fourth and fifth.

A quarter of voters remain undecided. With none of the nearly 40 candidates likely to garner the majority needed for a victory in the first round on March 31st, the two front-runners will face off on April 21st.

Read alsoUkraine's friends wary ahead of unpredictable election

Yet the campaigns competitiveness masks other ailments. Accusations of vote-buying are flying; Ukraines oligarchs continue to exert outsize influence through their media empires.

The results uncertainty also reflects deep frustration among the people. The Maidan revolution, which overthrew President Viktor Yanukovych five years ago, offered the chance of straightening out Ukraines crooked politics. Some reforms have indeed been implemented and a course towards integration with the West has been set.

Unlike past elections, this one is not a contest between those favoring closer ties with the West and Russia respectively, thanks largely to Vladimir Putins seizure of Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula, and incursion into the east of the country in 2014.
The official also says law enforcers are planning to arrest him.

Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) Department of International Legal Cooperation, Head of the Criminal Procedural Management Department Kostiantyn Kulyk has announced that certain documents has disappeared from the Kurchenko case.

According to an UNIAN correspondent, Kulyk made a statement to journalists outside the Prosecutor Generals Office on Friday.

Overnight, documents were taken out of the offices. I dont understand where some of the documents are now. Suspicion notices to Lozhkin, Gontareva, Stetsenko, and Filatov were lifted. I don't agree with this, this was all in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code, Kulyk stressed.

"I was just told that now, the search of my house and my arrest are being planned, so I will have to go deal with this."

At the same time, the spokesperson for the Prosecutor General, Larysa Sargan, wrote on her Facebook page: I officially inform you: the PGO did not register criminal proceedings against prosecutor Kostiantyn Kulyk. So we can't be talking about his arrest. "

Read alsoProsecutor Kulyk issues statement on Kurchenko case regarding Poroshenko's entourage

As UNIAN reported earlier, papers with charges over laundering billions of hryvnias of former President Viktor Yanukovych's "family" have been served by the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine to Ukrainian oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko's accomplices: former head of the Presidential Administration Boris Lozhkin, former Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Valeriya Gontareva, co-owner of the ICU investment company Kostiantyn Stetsenko, Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Oleksiy Filatov, and others.

In total, 98 persons were served with charge papers, including 12 senior officials of ministries and departments, as well as the National Bank and six heads of regional state administrations in Ukraine.

Via a comment on Facebook on Thursday, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko provided details on charges brought against senior officials in the case opened against fugitive Ukrainian businessman Serhiy Kurchenko, an ally of ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.

Read also"Stranger things" at PGO: Spokespersons say charges against top officials brought illegally

Later on Thursday, Larysa Sargan, spokeswoman for Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, and PGO speaker Andriy Lysenko distributed an official statement of the PGO that suspicion notices against former NBU Governor Valeria Gontareva, former head of Presidential Administration Borys Lozhkin, co-owner of ICU Konstantin Stetsenko and deputy chief or Presidential Administration Oleksiy Filatov were announced in violation of law.

The identical statement posted on Facebook by both press officers says the Prosecutor Generals Office informs that the so-called notification of suspicion of V.Gontareva, B.Lozhkin, K.Stetsenko, and O.Filatov was carried out with violation of procedural legislation, which requires sufficient evidence, an order of the prosecutors' group leader, and personal delivery."

As noted in the statement," none of these requirements were met by prosecutor Kulyk.

Therefore, said persons are not considered suspects in the understanding of Art. 42 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine, according to the PGO statement.

The legal assessment of the actions of prosecutor Kulyk will be provided by the State Bureau of Investigation, the spokespersons said.

The official statement of the PGO concludes that election fever clearly spoils people.

The initial report claiming that the suspicion notices have been issued against top officials was published by a U.S.-based Russian-language news outlet Forum Daily. Later, UNIAN published photocopies of suspicion notices against officials in question the agency received at its disposal.
Leaders of the so-called Ukrainian National Army, founded on the instructions of Russian intelligence, organized massive data gathering on the locations and routes of movement of Ukrainian Army units to commit acts of sabotage and disrupt mobilization efforts.

The Security Service of Ukraine has effectively blocked the activity of an extremist organization controlled from the Russian territory, which was tasked with sowing destabilization, taking advantage of the increasingly pro-active stance of Ukrainians ahead of elections, the SBU press service reports.

Security operatives revealed that the group had been coordinated by U.S. national Rustam Tashbaev, who is a Russia native, a former cadet of the Kaliningrad Higher Naval School, who in 2015 was expelled from Ukraine for the acts of sabotage.

On the instructions of the Russian intelligence, organization members were to create their own military groups of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), based abroad, and the Ukrainian National Army (UNA), based in Ukraine.

In the territory of our state, the process of creating the Ukrainian National Army was led by Yu. Zabolotny, a citizen earlier repeatedly detained by the National Police for illegal arms possession and robbery, who was also brought to criminal responsibility for appeals to overthrow the constitutional order in Ukraine. It has been established that Zabolotny has long been in negotiations with a known asset of Russian intelligence, N. Dulsky, on receiving monetary assistance for carrying out acts of extremism," the statement reads.

Read alsoSBU refutes fake report on "Ukrainian PMC" operating in Syria

As part of the criminal proceedings, it was documented that, at the initiative of foreign supervisors, during the period of martial law in Ukraine, UNA leaders set up a scheme to gather information on locations and routes of movement of Ukraine Army units, to carry out acts of sabotage and disrupt mobilization efforts.

The Russian trace" in the UNA activity has been confirmed by searches carried out in Odesa, where one of the members was a Russian citizen and another one came from the unrecognized Transnistrian Peoples Republic, and the third one was is a citizen of Ukraine, a native of "Transnistria".

Law enforcement officers seized explosives and a thousand copies of newspapers containing appeals to join the UNA.

Read alsoRussian intelligence plotted terror attack in Kharkiv subway ahead of elections  SBU

Also, in the course of 16 searches, firearms and cold arms were seizes, as well as improvised explosive devices and grenades, explosives, military equipment, communications equipment, and paperwork of the illegal military group regarding its operations.
The religious organization has reportedly failed to reorganize its founding documents in compliance with the legislature of the Russian Federation.

Ukraine's independent Orthodox Church is facing eviction in Simferopol, the capital of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, which was seized by Russia in 2014.

Crimea's Russia-installed minister of land and property issues, Anna Anyukhina, told the state-run TASS news agency on March 29 that the peninsula's Moscow-controlled government had filed a lawsuit with a local court demanding the church's eviction, RFE/RL wrote.

Read alsoThreat of persecutions remains: Archbishop Klyment reveals details of his detention in occupied Crimea

"This religious organization has failed to reorganize its founding documents in compliance with the legislature of the Russian Federation and currently does not pay taxes in Crimea and is not officially registered," Anyukhina said.

"Due to the reason that this organization has no reason to remain in the building it occupies, the ministry is working on vacating that building and a relevant motion has been filed with a court," she added.

Anyukhina added that the church would be allowed to use the building for free on a contractual basis if it re-registers with Russian authorities.

In early January, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was granted independence, or autocephaly, ending more than 330 years of Russian religious control in Ukraine.

Moscow long opposed such efforts by the Ukrainians for an independent church, which intensified after Russia annexed Crimea and threw support to separatists in parts of Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Earlier in March, Russia-controlled authorities in Crimea briefly detained the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the region, Archbishop Klyment, for unknown reasons.

Klyment, who heads the Orthodox mission to help victims of human rights violations and persons deprived of their freedom, said in February that Crimean authorities were set to revoke a lease on his church because he failed to register the parish in the Russian Federation.

Russia took control of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after sending in troops, seizing key facilities, and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries.
Joint Forces have delivered an adequate response to fire provocations.

On March 28, Russian occupation troops seven times opened fire at the positions of Ukraine's Joint Forces in Donbas, including four times with the use of 120mm and 82mm mortars that are proscribed by the Minsk agreements, the press service of JF Operation reports.

Four enemy attacks were recorded in the zone of responsibility of the Skhid [East] Operational-Tactical Group. Militants fired from 120mm and 82mm mortars in the area of Hnutove; twice  from grenade launchers and small arms near the town of Avdiyivka; and from large-caliber machine guns  near the settlement of Lebedynske.

In the zone of responsibility of the Pivnich [North] Operational-Tactical group, militants opened fire three times: twice  from mortars near the village of Krymske and from large-caliber machine guns and small arms  near the village of Stanytsia Luhanska.

Ukrainian defenders suffered no losses in the past day.

Read alsoIn March, OSCE monitors record highest number of violations since Nov 2018

No enemy shelling was left without an adequate response on the part of Joint Forces, the report says. According to intelligence data, on March 28, three invaders were wounded as JF returned fire.

From day-start on Friday, no attacks were recorded on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The diplomats recall that Russias "manufactured conflict" in eastern Ukraine has created Europe's largest crisis in a generation.

The United States shares disappointment and "grave concern" stemming from the failures thus far to extend the SMM mandate and to reach agreement on the budget, that's according to the Mission chief Harry Kamian.

"The SMM continues to be a vital component to bringing a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict, and symbolizes the relevance and value of this organization as a whole," Harry Kamian said, addressing the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, March 28.

He added that the U.S. greatly appreciates concerted efforts to bring the matter to resolution. "We stand by to assist as needed, and will continue to engage constructively in this process of finalizing an immediate resolution," the statement reads.

Read alsoOSCE: Russian-led forces fire at two schools in Donbas

The current mandate of the SMM to Ukraine was extended for another year on March 22, 2018, and is set to expire March 31, 2019.

The U.S. Mission to the OSCE, via Twitter, recalled that Russias "manufactured conflict" in eastern Ukraine has created an artificial and heavily armed line of division through Ukraines eastern regions, and forced 1.6 million people from their homes in Donbas.

"As their aggression in eastern Ukraine enters its sixth year, Russia has created Europes largest humanitarian crisis in a generation & has demonstrated its callousness toward civilians living in and around the line of conflict," reads a separate tweet.
The situation in the area of the Joint Forces Operation remains under control of Ukrainian troops.

Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 10 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas on March 29, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as killed in action and another two as wounded in action.

Read alsoRussian-led forces' dugouts destroyed in Donbas  Ukrainian officer (Video)

"One Ukrainian soldier was killed and another two were wounded from 00:00 to 18:00 Kyiv time. Information on the enemy's losses is being clarified," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update on Facebook.

The enemy opened fire from 120mm and 82mm mortars, weapons installed on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of various types, and small arms at the Ukrainian positions near the villages of Shyrokyne, Vodiane, Lebedynske, Troyitske, Novo-Oleksandrivka, Zolote-4, and Zaitseve.

The situation in the area of the Joint Forces Operation remains under control of Ukrainian troops.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel on Friday called for the United Kingdom to clarify its next steps after the British parliament rejected the agreed terms of Brexit for the third time

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2019) Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel on Friday called for the United Kingdom to clarify its next steps after the British parliament rejected the agreed terms of Brexit for the third time.

"We deeply regret another no vote in House of Commons on Withdrawal Agreement of 10 Downing Street. Decision taken at EUCO on Brexit last week remains Europe's guideline.

I call upon UK authorities to act in the country's interest and present a clear way forward!" he tweeted.

The UK government put only the terms of the exit from the European Union to vote on Friday, in a bid to secure a guaranteed Brexit delay until May 22.

That being rejected 344-286, the nation faces a no-deal exit on April 12, which has already been turned down by the Commons, or further efforts to extend the departure until a later date to agree a new Brexit deal.
QUITO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2019) The Bolivian delegation refused for the second time to endorse the ministerial declaration issued on the results of the meeting of the International Contact Group (ICG) on Venezuela, Bolivian Deputy Foreign Minister Maria del Carmen Almendras said.

The group met in Quito on Thursday. The declaration it has issued calls for a peaceful settlement of the Venezuelan crisis through democratic elections and condemns the Venezuelan authorities for banning opposition leader Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself the country's "interim president," from holding a public office for 15 years.

"Bolivia has not signed the declaration. Bolivia believes that states should resolve their crises on their own.

In the case of Venezuela, the crisis should be overcome by Venezuelans themselves ... We have not joined this declaration. We do not share its content," Almendras told reporters after the ICG second meeting in Quito on Thursday.

The diplomat suggested that the declaration shifted from the principle of non-interference in a state's domestic affairs and sought to dictate certain actions to Caracas.

Almendras also emphasized that the Venezuelan crisis had been caused by multiple factors, including international sanctions imposed on the country.

The ICG met for the first time in Montevideo in February. Bolivia then refrained from supporting a joint statement, too, saying that Venezuela should settle its issues on its own.
Chief of the General Administration for Combating Extremism of the Russian Interior Ministry Oleg Ilyinykh said on Friday that the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) was shifting its focus to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia following the militants' defeat in Iraq and Syria

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2019) Chief of the General Administration for Combating Extremism of the Russian Interior Ministry Oleg Ilyinykh said on Friday that the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) was shifting its focus to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia following the militants' defeat in Iraq and Syria.

Earlier in the day, Ilyinykh addressed the international practical and research conference "Priority tasks of international cooperation in countering extremism and terrorism" at the Moscow University of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"The strategic defeat of the caliphate in Syria and Iraq entails a shift in the IS's interests toward the territories of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia," Ilyinykh said.

According to Ilyinykh, IS leaders are planning to establish a global terrorist network and sleeper cells that would demonstrate the group's ability to carry out attacks around the world.

Victory over the IS was declared in Syria and Iraq in late 2017, but certain areas in both countries are still being cleared of militants.
Iran and Russia will conclude a number of bilateral agreements after talks between Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh next week in Moscow, a spokesperson for the Iranian Oil Ministry, Kasra Nouri, told Sputnik on Friday

TEHRAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2019) Iran and Russia will conclude a number of bilateral agreements after talks between Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh next week in Moscow , a spokesperson for the Iranian Oil Ministry, Kasra Nouri, told Sputnik on Friday.

"[The two sides] will discuss [certain] issues, agreements reached by the two countries, which have not been implemented yet.

Bilateral agreements will be also concluded after negotiations between the two parties," the spokesperson said.

The official also confirmed the date of the minister's arrival to Moscow, where Zanganeh will travel on April 1.

Earlier on Friday, Novak said that the agenda of the talks would include such issues as the situation in the oil market and the agreements of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-cartel oil producers.
The United Kingdom's exit from the European Union remains in the fog of uncertainty, but there is now Prime Minister Theresa May's potential departure to consider as well

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2019) The United Kingdom 's exit from the European Union remains in the fog of uncertainty, but there is now Prime Minister Theresa May 's potential departure to consider as well.

In a bid to win support for her withdrawal agreement, May pledged earlier this week to step down if the deal got through the parliament.

EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY OF MARCH 29

The United Kingdom was expected to leave the European Union at 23:00 GMT on March 29. Instead, by that time on Friday, the United Kingdom can at best expect to know which of the two EU-granted extensions it will now use.

The European Council offered the United Kingdom an extension until May 22 if the UK Parliament passes the withdrawal agreement by March 29 or by April 12 if it does not. The House of Commons will vote on the withdrawal agreement later on Friday, after having rejected it twice.

The vote will concern only the withdrawal deal, and not the political declaration on the future EU-UK relationship, although previously they were put to vote as a package. In this way, the government can circumvent Speaker John Bercow's ban on introducing the same motion for vote more than once without substantial changes. The European Council's May 22 extension hinges on the withdrawal agreement, while political declaration is not mentioned.

The vote will show if May's intention to step down can put her deal through the parliament, but this could also mean a new direction for the second stage of Brexit talks.

HOW CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP CONTEST WORKS

Selecting a new leader may take some time, according to Steven Woolfe, an independent member of the European Parliament from the United Kingdom.

"Either there is only one candidate to replace Theresa May, and the members of parliament and party leaders agree to select one and one only, or then there is an internal election by the party members. They need to go to the membership.

Ballot papers have to be printed with the Names of the candidates and the process would take weeks at best," Woolfe told Sputnik.

To choose May's successor, Conservative lawmakers will first select two candidates. The whole party will then vote on the two candidatures.

Potential replacements include Boris Johnson, a skilled and charismatic politician, a former foreign secretary who stepped down in protest against the government's policy on the Brexit deal. According to a recent poll by Ipsos MORI, 32 percent of Conservative supporters believe that Boris Johnson has the potential to be a good prime minister. However, within the party, Johnson is a divisive personality, capable of eliciting strong support and equally strong rejection.

The same Ipsos MORI poll showed current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tied with Johnson at 32 percent. He has fewer Conservative supporters against him than Johnson, but a larger share of the surveyed said they did not know if Hunt would make a good prime minister. A former businessman who is fluent in Japanese, he has earned a reputation as a leader who does not fear challenges, since he spent six years as health minister at the helm of the public health service, mired in deep financial crisis.

Another contender is a former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, who left the Cabinet in November over the disagreement with the government on the departure from the European Union. Raab could bet on a no-deal scenario supporters in the political fight for leadership.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove tried his luck after 2016 referendum at the contest ultimately won by Theresa May. Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Home Secretary Sajid David could also toss their hats in the ring.

However, the deal has to be passed first, and this is not an easy task for an agreement that has already been rejected twice.
Julia Spencer-Fleming: So a little over two weeks ago, I made a trip to Norfolk, Virginia, to do something I've never done before - see my son off on his first deployment. Petty Officer Spencer Hugo-Vidal - known here as The Sailor - and some three hundred shipmates are off as part of the US 5th Fleet operations in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and like all destroyers in the US Navy, is named after a Medal of Honor recipient - in this case, Marine Corps Sgt. Battle of Hue and lost his life after saving his entire platoon. The USS Gonzalez is an-class destroyer, and like all destroyers in the US Navy, is named after a Medal of Honor recipient - in this case, Marine Corps Sgt. Alfredo "Freddy" Gonzalez , who displayed unbelievable courage in the

Two days before the Gonzalez shipped off, Spencer's lovely girlfriend Veronique Pretlow - who also took these gorgeous pictures - and I got to tour the ship! It was amazing how MUCH the Navy manages to fit in these ships. Crew can spread out a bit in the mess, but most of the doors, passageways and ladders are built with slim people no taller than 5'10" in mind. Luckily for Spencer, that describes him perfectly.





Since the US Navy isn't keen on civilians snapping a lot of pictures of the interiors of their ships, I only have one shot from inside: the Gonzalez's name plate. Why did I want this? Because the keel was laid down the day my son was born, both of them on the coast of Maine, only 36 miles apart.

I took Spencer and Veronique out to dinner - we did BBQ both nights. One thing the Tidewater VA area has lots of is fabulous BBQ. Here's my boy with his VERY regulation haircut. When I was a kid, we called these "Baldy sours."

I spent part of the day before they left port helping out with the shopping. The ship has its own small store, but if you want any choice in your toiletries, etc., you need to bring it along. Among the things I bought? One bottle of 80 SPF sunscreen for every month Spencer will be gone. The sun can kill you, you know...





And then it was the morning of their departure! Spencer and Veronique picked me up from my hotel at 0700. It was a beautiful morning, as promised (if you believe the old rhyme) by the red sky the night before. The ship was buzzing - friends and family were everywhere, sailors were showing them around, and at the same time, working on the complicated process of getting an 8,315 ton, 505 foot long vessel underway.





We got to take part in an on-deck briefing for the Internal Communications Electricians and meet the Chiefs and Master Chief. Here's a picture of the whole team.

At 0900 hours, it was time for all civilians and Navy personnel who weren't deploying to leave the ship. Veronique and I said goodbye...





And Spencer watched us as from the quarterdeck as we walked along the pier.





Have a safe cruise, Sailor! Anchors aweigh!




Foreign companies need to be aware of Decree 5 on Internal Audit (IA) in Vietnam.

The decree went into effect on April 1, 2019, however, businesses have 24 months to comply.

The regulation is seen as positive and in line with international best practices.

The government issued Decree 05/2019/ND-CP on Internal Audit (IA) in Vietnam, which came into effect on April 1, 2019.

The new decree applies to state-owned authorities, public service organizations as well as private listed companies to implement and adopt IA practices.

The move is in line with international best practices, enhancing transparency and effectiveness in corporate governance. This is especially commendable as Vietnam looks to attract greater foreign investment.

What organizations has the new decree affected?

Most organizations are unlikely to be affected unless they are listed, in partnerships with state-owned companies, or provide internal audit services. However, we specifically list the organizations that are affected below:

Ministries, government agencies; Peoples Committees (local administrative body) of cities and provinces as well as public service units; State-owned public service units (including those that set aside US$858,000 (20 billion VND) per year for the total fund of wages, salaries, allowances, and hire at least 200 employees); Enterprises including listed companies and organizations with 50 percent of their charter capital held by the state; and Organizations and individuals conducting IA activities.

Those subject to the decree are required to complete all the necessary preparations within 24 months from April 1, 2019 to conduct IA activities as prescribed in the new decree.

While the decree is not specific to what types of internal audits are required, its purpose is to encourage companies to adopt robust systems of internal control and risk management.

How to structure an IA function

Companies that need to create an IA committee reports to the Board of Directors (BoD) or Board of Supervision (BoS) and Board of Management (BoM) in the organization or company. The aforementioned organizations and companies will need to appoint a Head for IA of the committee. In addition, the appointment and salary of the Head of the IA committee should not be under the BoMs authority.

While the decree does not spell out the job description of the Head of IA, companies should clearly define the criteria for competence, expertise, and skills when recruiting the Head of IA in line with the requirements of the business.

In addition, internal auditors must be independent, objective and without any conflict of interest. Internal auditors must also have three to five years of experience with an understanding of laws and business operations of audited units, be able to analyze data with knowledge and skills related to IA. Auditors should also know about IT audit and industry operations.

How can organizations comply?

The new law states that if the IA department does not have sufficient resources with the required knowledge and experience, organizations can consider outsourcing or co-sourcing IA to a professional firm.

As mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is responsible for setting rules on the application of IA. However, in the absence of specific requirements, companies should adopt international IA standards such as by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) as long as they dont oppose the Decree.

Firms are not required to have an independent assessment by a third party but can use a professional service to conduct the assessment or use such a service to develop criteria for it.

While there is no detailed guidance to develop an annual IA plan, executive IA engagement and reporting, organizations should understand and refer to best practices to provide guidance to internal auditors as per the regulations. Further, as with a new decree, the MoF is likely to come up with more specific documents listing out the requirements to comply with the new regulations.

Note: This article was first published in March 2019, and has been updated to include the latest developments.
Born as Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy in 1897 in Salt Lake City, Utah, American talented dancer and an innovative set designer Natacha Rambova brought the Art Deco style to Hollywood for the first time.At the age of 17 she became a protege and lover of Russian ballet Svengali Theodore Kosloff, a brilliant but manipulative dancer who shot her in the leg when she finally escaped from his dance company. She was engaged as an art director by Alla Nazimova, the exotic, histrionic bisexual actress.Rambova's set designs and costumes were enormously innovative, influenced by Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Legendary French artist Erte professed himself a fan of her work. Her dramatic set and costume designs for(1922) were based on Aubrey Beardsley's famous illustrations for Oscar Wilde's play.She met Rudolph Valentino, with whom she had a two-year marriage from 1923 to 1925 when he was working with Nazimova on Camille (1921). After divorcing Valentino in 1925, Rambova operated her own clothing store in Manhattan before moving to Europe and marrying the aristocrat Alvaro de Urzaiz in 1932. It was during this time that she visited Egypt, and developed a fascination with the country that remained for the rest of her life. Rambova spent her later years studying Egyptology and earned two Mellon Grants to travel there and study Egyptian symbols and belief systems.Rambova died in 1966 in California of a heart attack while working on a manuscript examining patterns within the texts in the Pyramid of Unas.Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see the beauty of Natacha Rambova in the 1920s.